Danzou's piercing stare seemed to penetrate my very being. I felt the slight urge to cringe, but I knew better than to betray any emotion in front of him, especially fear. The hard look was nothing new, of course. It was always the same glare plastered on his face, whether he was angry or pleased. I sometimes thought that one day I would be able to face him without any fear, but it is always the same; I nearly quake in a boots when I am forced to meet with him for my missions.
"Come," Danzou said, his authoritative voice booming off the walls of the large room that he and I were in. I walked slowly, keeping my head down in respect. I stopped a good distance away from him; he did not like any member of the ANBU Root to come within 3 meters of him. There was no reason as to why, since no one ever asked him. I knelt down, my head still facing the floor.
"Uchiha Sasuke. That is the next in your book, am I right?" he asked, holding out his left hand. His right arm was of no use to him, since it was bandaged and in a sling. No one knew why his arm was bandaged; I always assumed that it was due to some accident that rendered his arm useless long ago. I nodded, and pulled out a slender, grey book from the small knapsack that I always kept with me. I placed the book on the ground and pushed it towards Danzou. He caught it with his foot, and he bent down to pick it up, opening the book as he did so. The book was about halfway through; I had killed numerous shinobi prior to this mission. One would think that my guilty conscience would have kicked in by, if I had one. But I didn't. In fact, I was void of nearly every emotion in the book. Happiness, sadness, you name it, I rid myself of it. It was all part of the training, or so Danzou said. He believed that emotions are only a setback, and having bonds would eventually ruin a person. I remember not thinking so at first. But the memories that I held seemed useless and just a way to fill up space in my mind. I gave myself a mental slap for letting my mind stray, and I focused only on the words of Danzou.
"It is convenient that he should be next," Danzou started, fingering something in the book. "He was a part of the original Team Seven, after he deserted the village, of course," he continued, and shook his head slightly at the end of the sentence. "You are to act as a liaison to Orochimaru. That is where Sasuke is being held at the moment. When you are gained access to the base, you will find Sasuke and eliminate him immediately. Understood?" he explained to me. I wanted to shake my head right back at him. Of course I understood. Danzou would never have assigned me this mission if I didn't even understand the directions.
"Of course," I said, and stood up. Danzou threw the book at me and I flicked my hand quickly in the air to catch it. I stowed the book back into my little knapsack and zippered it tight. I could see Danzou nod out of the corner of my eye, his stony face still set in the same expression that he indefinitely held. He turned around and walked towards the dark opening that he had come from. I always wondered what was behind the inky curtain of darkness, but every ANBU Root member knew better than to question their harsh leader. I turned around and finally lifted my head up, staring at the soft light that emanated from the iron-clad door. Something felt different about this mission, although I couldn't quite put my finger on it. A small voice in the back of my head told me quit this mission immediately, but I knew better than to drop a mission so suddenly. So I opened the door and walked into the bright sunlight, going through the mission in my head.
"Whatever happens, happens," I said quietly to myself, looking back at the imposing building that housed the leader of our secret branch of the ANBU.