'I hate life… it has no meaning… why do I live…' Taka cries, but only internally.
His Lord hovers above him, fresh from administering the seal that would prevent his newest pet from revealing any information about his Lord, "You are mine, you will follow any orders I give you or any orders a superior gives you without hesitation. Is this understood?"
'Kill him… it'd be easy.'
Taka resists the urge to bite his tongue off, "Yes… Lord Danzo."
The horrid man gives what passes for a smile on his face, "Good, you're first mission will be given to you by your squad leader, Karumiki; she isn't of The Foundation, so do not do anything suspicious. Go, and do not fail."
Taka disappears into the shadows, "Yes, Lord Danzo."
Taka's mask fit him like a glove, as odd as it sounded. The snout protruded slightly into his vision but wasn't anything of a hindrance. His armor was lighter than he thought it'd be considering it was made of metal.
The supplier also had given him a tanto, just for when a kunai simply wouldn't cut it, he was jokingly informed. Taka didn't find anything funny.
Karumiki was found to be waiting at the top of the village's northeastern part of the wall, as were two other ANBU members: Furatomi and Tichi.
Taka heard who he assumed to be Furatomi laugh, "Hey, who wants to bet he's from the Inuzuka Clan?"
Tichi finished categorizing her vials, some filled with medicinal liquids, such as antidotes, and others filled with the deadliest of poisons, "Tomi, that's kind of insensitive. None of our masks symbolize what Clan we're from, if that were the case then you'd be the one from the Inuzuka Clan with that dog mask of yours."
"Well, what is your guess then?"
She put her free hand to the chin of her primate-themed mask, "Judging from his silence and anti-social behavior, I'd say Aburame, but I don't hear any insects..."
Karumiki shifted to her other leg, "He's a Hyuuga."
Taka flinched, "How did you know?"
She tapped her turtle mask's nose, "It's in the scent; by the by, I'm the Inuzuka member here."
"Oh... ok."
Furatomi stood up and dusted his legs, "Alright, so since you are the newest here that means you have to show us your face."
Taka shook his head, "There was nothing in the guidelines about that."
Tichi heaved a deep sigh, she had obviously dealt with Furatomi's antics for quite a bit now, "It isn't, he just likes hazing the new recruits."
Furatomi scoffed, "No, it's how I'm able to establish trust with the rookies. I see their face, they know I'll kill them if they become turncoat."
"Oh can it, when has-"
"Shut your mouths, it is time to head out," Taka made note of the authoritative presence thatKarumiki made.
The Land of Fire's Northeastern Border:
"Alright, we are entering a highly contested area, prepare yourselves for any trouble."
The three other shadows nodded their heads in acknowledgment.
They were besieged just as they made it to the treeline. Their path halted by the shifting of the earth below them, 'Is it Hidden Stone?'
Taka activated his Byakugan and spotted three ninjas coming from South, East, and West of them, the northern side being barred by a force of five shinobi. He relayed this information to his team.
No words were said as they waited for the enemy to come to them, it was obvious they had a sensory nin, but the enemy would keep them away from direct combat to prevent them from being killed. That meant these three were both out of the range for any warnings and out of range from any immediate help, they wouldn't even be able to be told whether or not that Taka and the others had been killed.
Taka hid under a stone cover, Furatomi and Tichi hid in nearby bushes, and Karumiki hid inside a hollow tree.
Three sets of footsteps stopped by Taka's cover, "Well?"
"Nothing, I didn't see hair or hide of anybody 'cept the dead bodies that were already there."
"Great, somebody needs to tell Koishi to get some rest, one more false alarm like this and he won't have to worry about the enemy getting-"
A spray of red came from the man's neck, the gleaming silver point of Taka's Tanto finishing the fatal bouquet.
The other two were still caught off guard, Taka took advantage of that with a few well-placed kunai.
Furatomi jumped out from his bush, "Yep, he's definitely a Hyuuga. Only other Clan other than the Uchiha who could pull that off with such precision."
Karumiki sniffed the air, "We've gotta go, their comrades are on their way."
Three Shinobi found the bodies of their comrades, the two younger ones turned their heads and hurled their breakfast on the nearby tree.
The remaining Shinobi, who had obviously seen his fair share of war, just frowned at the scene, 'Might as well recover their bodies while we can.'
But as he shifted one of the corpses to get a better grip he heard a fizzling sound, "Oh sh-"
To the South of ANBU team, the explosion was heard, "Ha ha! Boom boom baby!"
"This war is dreadful, it allows people like Furatomi to get a hold of explosive seals," Tichi said.
'Is that it? Just because of that?' Taka didn't hate this war, he was only thrust into it today. Heck, this morning he had been eating breakfast with Tsuki...
Taka's emotions had a knife taken to their throats once more, "What is this mission anyways Karumiki."
She didn't speak, so Taka decided to leave well enough alone.
Taka felt somebody move closer to him, he had to restrain the initial instinct to pull a weapon as he soon found it to be Furatomi, "We're looking for a rogue ninja. It's kind of odd you don't know."
"Why is that?"
"She's a Hyuuga."
Karumiki dropped to the ground below and the others followed her example, "We'll stay in this cave for tonight. There is a massive storm coming and I do not feel like getting caught in the middle of it. I'll take first watch."
Nobody argued.
There was no fire, to make one would garner the attention of unwanted visitors; they had to muscle their way through the cold for hours.
Taka sat still, feeling eyes bearing upon him. He still said nothing, at least until those eyes became prodding finger. He had enough, he tore off his mask, "There are you happy now?!"
Taka frowned when he saw it was Tichi, "Oh... sorry, thought you were Furatomi."
Tichi took off her mask and Taka eyes wandered to her hair, it's color matched only by the darkest corners of the damp cave, her smile seemed to exude light, "It's fine, I understand. Furatomi can be rather annoying, don't worry I won't tell him I saw your face before he did."
Taka fought his smile down, he didn't deserve to smile; he lost that privilege the same moment he lost his sister, "Thank you."
Tichi knew something was up, "Alright, who was it?"
"Excuse me?"
"Who was the girl that broke your heart." Tichi smirked, "You are at that age where boys take an interest in girls, and you are definitely not part of the Hyuuga Branch Family, so you prolly have some freedom with who you can court."
Taka could feel the tears coming, he refused to let that happen. He sealed his eyelids shut with the very anger that threatened to break his inner plumbing, he took a breath in and exhaled, "I am not interested in girls."
"Oh, so you like men?" Taka tensed, how long had Furatomi been listening?
"What makes you think that?" Tichi asked.
He sat up and stretched, "I mean he said he wasn't interested in girls, in this day and age it ain't too uncommon. Strange, sure, rare, no sirree."
Taka clenched his fist, he was getting rather annoyed. But before Furatomi could escalate things any further Karumiki returned, "Fura, you're up."
"Alright, want me in a tree or on the ground?"
"Take your pick."
"Top of the cave it is."
Taka frowned, how much more annoying could this guy get?
However he heard snickering, the perpetrator being Tichi. Taka threw her a look of confusion, "What's so funny?"
She gave a slight grin, "We've all seen people die, we've all brought death, yet he can still joke around."
Karumiki snorted, "It's childish if you ask me."
Tichi shrugged, deciding now to bear a melancholy smile, "Yeah... I guess it is..."
This scene confused Taka, they've all killed people, they've all surely had loved ones murdered, how were there not any emotional scars? How did they not have to kill their emotions, it didn't make any sense!
Tsuki's face kept replaying in his head, his cheek began to burn from the memory of his sin. He didn't even know if she was given a proper burial. For all he knew, her body could have easily been hauled to some cave, not unlike the one he currently sat in, being picked clean by some animal.
The image of his caring elder sister being eaten bit by bit was the final crack needed to burst his dam; the tears flowed like the river they had passed hours ago to refill their canteens, his sobs thundered like the nearby waterfall.
Tichi wraps her arms around Taka in an effort to console him, "Shh, it's ok."
No, it wasn't, Taka was sobbing rather loudly. He had lasted seventeen hours before he had broken down, "I'm a murderer..."
Karumiki grew rigid, the way he said it wasn't like they would have said it, he didn't kill some enemy ninja, "Come again?"
Tichi shot their captain a glare before resuming her care, "Taka, I'm sure you had to."
How could she even say that she wasn't there, he was, and he didn't have to fight. He remembered walking in the light, remembered the intensity of it. But before he could go, the white light suddenly became blue. Next thing he knew, he had crushed his eldest sister's windpipe.
His voice was but a whisper, "There is always a choice... guess I chose wrong."
Tichi, for some reason, refused to surrender, "No, no choice is ever the correct one. The choice we choose is the one we had to, not the one that was right. If that were true then we would have a perfect world, but we don't."
The young ANBU stopped sobbing, that was a start. His tears still drowned his face, but he had at least calmed down enough to speak at a normal volume, "Sorry... forgive my outburst..."
Kuramiki was still wary of the kid, but she did somewhat relax. With a heavy sigh, she patted Taka on the head, it was quite possibly the most motherly she had been her entire life, well at least while on the battlefield, "Just calm down kid, as long as it happens out of battle it's fine."
"Yes ma'am..."
Tichi released her grip on him, and for a second Taka could have sworn he saw a strand of vermilion hair, but it had turned out to be just a grief filled illusion.
Hours pass and Tichi goes on watch, hours pass after that and it is now Taka's turn.
As he stands guard at the very tip of a tree he steals a quick glance at the giant, white disk located in space. Though he meant for it to be short, Taka found himself enthralled by the moon.
It seemed to call to him, and he soon motioned a hand towards it as to steal it from its lofty perch... no, he seemed to be grabbing for something to take him there...
'No... not yet...'
What? Who had said that? Nobody was around him, and he was certain nobody could have put him under a genjutsu.
He stood at attention, waiting for the voice once again to form words. He stood there until the morning sun broke over the horizon without any other word being spoken.
Until, "Taka! C'mon dude, it's time to get going. Kuramiki is getting antsy!"
Taka looked down at Furatomi, "Alright, move on without me. I'll catch up!"
Taka looked opposite of the rising sun and took one last look at the moon, it's pale body invigorating Taka for some odd reason.
He readjusted the straps of his armor and tightened the band of his mask, and inhaled deeply before trailing his squad.
