"Next stop Konohagakure no Sato. You're up kid." The older man sat at the front of the carriage pulled on the reins making the horses halt. Wise brown eyes turned to look at the cloaked figure sat at the back of his carriage. He and his wife had run into the boy after they'd left the Fire Capital & considering they were going the same way, Konoha was a little ways before their destination, they had offered him passage instead of having to spend weeks walking alone in presumed solitude. The young man in question had been unusually quiet most of the way but had spent his time keeping their young children amused with a few stories here and there so the journey, usually a loud affair that frustrated his wife to the point of pulling at her hair, had been relatively peaceful.
Climbing out of the carriage and grabbing his bag the cloaked young man sent a look at the two six year old girls who were waving at him. "You two behave for your mom and dad. I know you have the energy to burn and find these long journeys where you have to be stuck in this carriage between your home and the Fire Capital boring but they do it all to make sure you two have the very best they can provide for you" he said, his voice a light brotherly like scold but gentle as he ruffled their hair with his hand. Reaching into his bag he pulled out two stuffed animals, small stuffed knit rabbit like stuffed animals he had bought on a whim without thought in the capital from a flea market off an older womans crochet and knitting table housing various hand made scarves hats and stuffed animals, before offering them to the girls. "Its not the same as being able to run and play with other kids but maybe these will help keep you busy til you get home."
The girls faces lit up taking the gifts into their hands and hugging them to their chests. "Thanks nii-san" the girls said with a grin pulling at their lips.
The two adults laughed to themselves seeing their daughters light up at such a simple gift. While they did relatively well as traders of speciality goods, they had specially bred giant spiders that weaved chakra conductive silk, a lot of their money was invested in their business which meant as much as they wanted to spoil their children to a degree with gifts they usually couldn't. "Hey kid" the man called after the cloaked boy making him stop and turn his head making the hood fall back revealing his features to the man. Black hair like pure onyx, red eyes with gold tinted slit pupils, pale skin and black symbols that almost looked like a tattoo under his left eye met his gaze.
"Hai?" he asked slinging his bag over his shoulder making the cloak he wore shift slightly exposing the hilts of two swords hidden underneath. He didn't have to stop to listen to the man but the older male was kind enough to offer him passage with himself and his family so the least he do, besides give the two girls a few stories to keep from driving him nuts with their bickering, was hear what he had to say. It wasn't likely he would ever meet the man again anyway.
"Lighten up a little there young man. If you keep that grim visage about yourself you'll have white hairs before I do and I have at least thirty some odd years on you. Live a little, you're only young once you know" the man said.
"I'll keep that in mind. Your concern is duly noted" he said with a false sense of taking the advice seriously. If he was bound to get white hairs he would have them well before he was in his mid twenties and he knew that all too well. 'Damn thing about this whole situation' he thought nodding his head at the man and his wife as the carriage passed, his hand raising in a lazy wave as the two little girls waved goodbye from out of the carriages back flap held open to the side.
"Theres better ways to deal with other humans than to do the bare minimum hatchling."
The young man ignored the puff of smoke to his left he began to walk toward the large gates that were one of the entry ports into Konoha. "Maybe so but that requires me acting like I give a damn. Theres only two people I did give a damn about and I had to give them up when I faked my death. Their association with me was dangerous to their standard of living and their projected number of years on this planet. They probably don't even me remember me anymore. Its all for the best in the end" the young man muttered with a sigh.
"You don't have the heart to even put oomph behind words like that. How do you expect any of us to believe thats how you truly feel when we know it is far from it?" A slender tanned arm gripped the boys shoulder stopping his gait. "I know you cared a lot for them hatchling but those two-"
"Are better off thinking I'm dead than knowing the truth" the young man said cutting off the womans tired point. His eyes turned and traced the slender arm to look at the owner with a tired expression, her own amethyst colored eyes mirroring the same look. Not for the first time he pondered the beauty that was his summon, well one of them anyways, presented to the world as her incognito human form. Silver hair reaching mid back slightly tamed in a half done braid, tanned skin like bronze, expressive amethyst eyes that begged of much, a body most women would kill for that seemed to be a seamless blend between career kunoichi and professional dancer & a soft heart shaped with an aristocrats sharp facial features- she was beautiful but the beauty was too high class to ever fit in with anyone who wasn't rich. "Lets be honest with ourselves Kiara. If I didn't come into my situation when I did and I kept my association with those two we all would have been dead by the time we were ten. The girls would no doubt have been mass raped by intoxicated asshats while I would have been forced to watch the light die in their eyes before they actually died. My death would have followed and it would have been a thousand times more painful than their deaths." His eyes turned back to the dirt path as he shrugged the hand off his shoulder. "I don't want to be back here. I want to burn everyone but those two alive in their own skin.."
Kiara felt her muscles tense slightly at the ache she could hear in her summoners tone. As much as he professed that it was for the best the two people he cared about to truly believe he was no more than a corpse she knew he was lying through his teeth. Lying to himself and to them. "Lets go then. You can tell the Daimyo it was a lost cause. He doesn't question you so writing a fake report is.."
"Out of the question." The young mans eyes closed for a brief moment as he tilted the head to the side. "I have a mission to complete and you may have not noticed it but theres a tail following us. Just because the Daimyo trusts my word as truth does not mean the entirety of his staff does. Even with my efficiency, lethal skills and long record of successful missions that would be certain suicide for most I'm a kid to them & they are the wise adults who have their heads so far up their asses they spout more shit from their mouths than they do when they use the bathroom" he said opening one eye. "I'll do what I have to do to complete the mission and then I'm gone. The less time I'm here the better it is for everybody involved."
"And what will you do if you see them?"
"Nothing." The onyx haired boy began to walk once more. "The person they cared about is dead and buried. I'm just another face in the crowd and its going to stay that way. Kami allowing."
Kiara hesitated a moment watching her summoner walk away. As much as she didn't like to admit about him out loud in areas where Kami knew who was listening, she and the other bosses had come to care about the onyx haired boy like a little brother. To see him torment himself, even if he claimed to feel nothing about other humans for years now, killed them all. It had been an uphill battle just to break through to him that in order for the four of them to work together he needed to let them in and not hold them at arms length. "Hes not dead little brother... That little boy is still there but hes scared. He still wants to protect the two girls he viewed as more important than his own continued survival in the most dangerous part of his life" she said to herself.
"I wouldn't worry about this Kiki."
Kiara looked feeling a light weight settle on her head. Spotting the white fur she snorted and rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here bun bun? You're supposed to already be in the village waiting for him" the silver haired woman said picking up the white furred rabbit by the scruff of the neck and holding it in front of her face.
"Oh I am. This is a shadow clone that I possessed. By the end of the day you might want to have some liquor ready. I'm staging an intervention of sorts for that boy and whether he likes it or not, I am betting on not, he will face his past. We are getting back the boy that hides under the callous shell hes developed for his own protection" the bunny said with a haughty sniff and head turn like it was offended. "Theres such a thing as being a product of your environment but him, hes beyond that. His detachment was born out of mistreatment and that just grew into a shell but we all know theres a heart under there that is waiting to shine. We just need to give him a reason to crack his head out of his shell. It'll get me hell for it but for him its worth it."
"Is it really? His jaded nature towards humanity and the people of that village is totally justified. Obvious exceptions aside of course. Why do you want to poke the hornets nest and anger the hive?" Kiara asked poking the shadow clone rabbits belly with a finger.
"A mother will go to hell and back to see her children truly happy." The rabbits head turned where its gaze landed on the cloaked boy. "My son has not been happy for a long time Kiara. If the price to restore his happiness is that I have to purposefully make him mad at me or even hate me for a bit so be it." When all that was said the rabbit poofed into smoke.
"State your name and purpose in the village."
The cloaked youth rolled his eyes adjusting his bag on his shoulder. "My name is Daemon Morningstar and I come on official business from the Fire Capital" he said offering up a black and gold edged scroll bearing the seal of the Daimyo on the front.
"What business would that be precisely Mr. Morningstar?" one of the chunin said examining the scroll while his partner examined the offered identification documents.
"My father Jacob Morningstar is the head of the Daimyos personal security team. Being that I am his heir it was suggested by my father to Lord Katsuro that I obtain field experience before I ascend to head his current position once he retires. Lord Katsuro was quick to agree citing the quality of ninja and sword wielders coming from Konohagakure in recent years had increased tremendously. Hence why I am here. My father and Lord Katsuro seek that in some capacity, be it as a part of a ninja squad or apprenticed to a senior ninja, I be trained in the real world so that when I take my fathers position as my own I will be more suited to protecting our Daimyo from threats" Daemon said taking back his ID papers and the scroll.
The pair of chunin raised eyebrows at each other as the boy spoke. To send the next head of the Daimyos security team for real world combat training was both extremely smart, Konohagakure no Sato had one of the largest standing military forces out of the five Great Villages, but extremely suspicious too. An ink seal could be faked and this boy could be easily be a spy sent to infilitrate their military structure to steal their secrets for one of the other Great Villages. "Give us a minute to get you an ANBU escort to the Hokages office. He'll verify the authenticity of that seal before a decision is reached. Proceedure you understand, you can never be too careful" the first chunin said.
"I'd be disappointed if you took my story at face value" Daemon said bluntly as he cracked his neck. True to their word a minute later a ninja, specifically a kunoichi with strands of purple hair he noted absently, was there making a follow me gesture. Following behind the woman his eyes wandered the village taking in the sights. Some places were still there, others were gone and replaced. For a moment he felt a pang of something in his chest seeing the spot where the old Ichiraku Ramen stand used to be before it got burned down and the father-daughter pair that had been murdered for standing up for him against the mobs; in its place now was a small sushi bar. A sharp tap on his shoulder brought him back making him realize he had stopped in his tracks. "Apologies ANBU-san, lost idly in my thougbts comparing the Caital city and here."
The kunoichi seemed to find it minorly suspicous, there had been hints of something not even present for a milisecond in the boys eyes, but he hadn't done anything to warrant a threat to anyone. Another impatient gesture was made before she pointed ahead to the large tower that dominated the center of the village. It was a nuisance not being able to speak to anyone who was not the current Hokage, it made her job so much more difficult in her opinion. Especially when it was moments like thise where proceedure demanded an ANBU escort to lead those not from the village to see the Hokage immediately before they could conduct their business in the village.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. No need to get your panties in a bunch." Daemon could feel the glare being directed at hing through the porcelain cat mask as the kunoichi violently pointed at the tower.
There were just days where Minato Namikaze hated being Hokage. It wasn't that he hated the job itself, he had dreamed of it since he was a kid, but how tedious and time consuming it could be. Mountains of paperwork sat on opposite edges of his desk awaiting his signature for various new laws, taxes, fees and other things but his attention was focused on the woman standing before his desk. "So you want to run this by me one more time" he said setting down the black and red trimmed scroll she had given him.
The woman scoffed and crossed her arms under her chest. At just slightly about averave height for a woman with striking green eyes and red-brown hair that reflected hints of dark blonde highlights she knew she stood out amongst the villages women. "As you have already read and verified the authenticity of Lord Katsuro-donos seal on that scroll you are being ordered to grant me a team consisting of my student who should be arriving in this village shortly and two others of my choosing. My student is here for real world combat experience to make him more effective as the head of the Daimyos guard once his father Jacob retires" she said tappjng her foot impatiently. Honestly, what was so hard about reading a damn scroll to understand what was being said to you?
"Right Ms...?"
"Usagi, Sayaka Usagi" she said as she sighed in annoyance.
"Right Ms. Usagi, normally I would say that you are out of luck but because of the three separate checks for the Daimyos seal bore authentic marks I have no choice but to say here are the files." Minato shoved a pile across the desk in front of the woman who immediately began digging through the files and skimming through them quickly before settling on two and pushed the rest back. "This student of yours, is he competitive with those of his age group?" he asked folding his hands before him.
"Daemon is a lot of things but ineffective is not one of them. Every single one of his tutors in the shinobi arts in the Capital raved about his unparalleled potential yet to be realized. Though excels at combat related forms over those meant as supporting types, like genjutsu or medical techniques, some of the Twelve Ninja Guardians put him on par with a newly promoted chunin. When factoring in his sword skills taught by the samurai who protect the palace and his devastatingly unique form of taijutsu hes a one man wrecking squad. At least in theory anyway, he never truly goes all out. Theres never enough reason for him too" Sayaka said. "Well I'll be back shortly when you gather everyone to pick their teams."
"Ms. Usagi, you'll need this" Minato said tossing a jounin flak jacket at the retreating woman who only reached a hand bebind her catching it effortlessly. "And maybe you could humor me two questions before you leave to prepare."
"That entirely depends on the questions. Somethings I can say and others I can't. Lord Katsuro-donos orders you understand" Sayaka said looking over her shoulder.
"The timing of you and your student is impeccable considering today is the graduation exam for this years graduating class out of the academy, a class that was one candidate short of a full group. That wouldn't happen to be coincidence would it?" Minato asked.
Sayaka scoffed at that and almost looked insulted at the question. "You rely on the Daimyo to fund the budget in part for this village. Nothing is coincidence, its all by his design. There isn't anything that goes on in this village he doesn't know about" she said like it was the most glaringly obvious thing in the world. "Your second question?"
"This student of yours, Daemon, I assume that he'll be easy to find?"
"Knowing him you could look out the window and follow the trail of ice on the ground. Kid doesn't know the meaning of the words lighten up if you curb stomped them into his skull with a mega ton brick boot." Sayaka sighed kneading the bridge of her nose. "Being more serious hes probably getting the same royal escort courtesy of your ANBU. Hes a pale kid, onyx black hair, red eyes with a gold slit pupil with a sealing tattoo under one eye and hes wearing a slight variation of an apprentice samurais combat outfit with a cloak on top of it."
"Thats specific" Minato said unfolding hands and jotted down the description on a scrap of paper. "What kind of variation are we talking about in terms of his clothing?"
"The color. Its black and dark crimson red compared to a normal apprentices pure white. I have things to gather for preparation." In a moment Sayaka was gone before the blonde mans eyes.
"Sir, there is a Daemon Morningstar here to see you. He claims to be here on business from the Fire Captial and has a scroll he says is sealed with Daimyos crest" Minato heard through the intercom on his desk.
"Send him in." Seeing the youth before him Minato shuddered internally. Maybe it was just his time during the war that made him paranoid about complete unknowns but his senses told him there was something wrong, something so very off, about the young man before him. He was dressed as his teacher described and a momentary switch of his gaze between the scrap he jotted down the boys description on said this was the boy. "Mr. Morningstar, I hope your trip from the Capital was no trouble" he said standing and offering a hand out to shake.
Daemon looked between the hand and the mans face with a blank expression before offering his scroll out. "Hokage-san, please verify the seal and lets get this over with" he said with a completely business bluntness. The less time he spent in the mans presence would do wonders for his health.
Minato grimaced at the rudeness of his gesture being ignored but if the young man had been trained from a young age to eventually replace his father such niceties were probably not exactly required lessons. Taking the scroll he read the contents first before running the same diagnostic technique to reveal the authenticity of the seal crest, handwriting and ink mixture used by the Daimyo for official reasons. "I was informed of your pending arrival."
"I would imagine so. Where is this academy that is hosting its graduating class? I do assumed you'll be sticking me on a genin squad instead of apprenticing me to one of your more senior ninja" Daemon said taking the scroll back and pocketing it with a dull tone.
'Wow... Tallk about all work and no play makes Jack, or in this case Daemon, a dull boy. Does this kid even know the meaning of the word fun? Or what the concept of 'enjoy your youth while you have it' means?' Minato thought with a mental scowl. "The academy is about to begin its testing in twenty minutes. Give this note to the chunin instructor Iruka Umino, it'll give you entrance to take the exams with everyone else" he said handing a quickly scribbled note with his stamped Hokage seal. "Tora will guide you to the academy."
"You mean the ANBU kunoichi with purple hair? I don't think she likes me" Daemon said with a scoff as he took the note from Minato. The slamming of the doors opening inward made him scoff again as a gesture of his hand kept the doors from banging into the walls from a tiny use of wind jutsu. "I don't think shes pleased."
"Her being pleased is inconsequential to do doing her job." Minatos words were edged with annoyance looking at the kunoichi in question. "Lead Mr. Morningstar to the academy and to Iruka Uminos classroom, he'll be filling in the missing spot on the roster left by coucilwoman Harunos daughter being hospitalized" he said with a no-nonsense ordering tone.
The cat masked ANBU scowled behind her mask and made a rough gesture for the onyx haired boy to follow her. Why was she getting the grunt work?! She had seniority over a fair portion of the current stock of ANBU so why was she being stuck being a gopher when that was the newly iniated grunts main detail?
"Ball of sunshine she is isn't she?" Daemon asked sarcastically approaching the ANBU. "I can see why she has the Tora mask. Shes just as much a ball of pleasantness as Lady Shinjis little monster." His parting comment drew the womans ire as he followed but he didn't truly care. Karma was a bitch and he tended to call a spade a spade
"The first section of your exam is-" Iruka was interrupted by the sound of knocking on his classroom door before it was opened. "Can I help you young man?" he asked looking at the boy before him.
"Yes you can actually. I was told to give you this note by the Hokage" Daemon said offering the note up.
Iruka looked up from the note and back to the young man. Was he for real? Did the Hokage really think a kid off the street was competitive with this years group of graduates consisting mainly of clan heirs? His eyes shot to the ANBU posted in the hall who barely nodded her head. "I guess Hokage-sama knows what he is doing. Come on in."
"He doesn't have a choice in the matter considering the order was given by Lord Katsuro the Daimyo" Daemon said following the chunin in. For a minute he couldn't breathe, not that it showed on his face or in his body language, as his eyes landed on them for the first time since he was seven years old and faked his own death. He knew instinctually they would be beautiful back then but seeing it face to face for the first time in years was a different beast entirely. This was going to be a whole lot harder if just seeing them was going to affect him like this.