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Tiny shadows, gracefully leaping from branch to branch. Five in total, with grace unparalleled. In front a young man with orange hair and hard features. Directly behind was a young child with curly brown hair and blue eyes. To either side lay two unassuming shinobi. At the back was a young women with sheer white eyes. Despite thier age they gave of a clear sense of purpose, each radiated a serious aura of power.

No speech was needed as they turned on heel making a sharp left. They followed this assumed path for an hour before they stopped.

The leader, Fuu, turned to the boy behibd him. "Shiso, report."

" I can sense six people eighty meters north of us. They have strong chakra, mostly fire based. Two are under a genjutsu if their erratic chakra is to be believed. Forty others are another ten meters to the west of the six. Their chakra is barely active, perhaps recently unleashed by the Four lucid shinobi."

Behind him, Hama nodded. "I can confirm this. The two under Genjutsu are our targets. The Four others are erratic amd nervous, their control is not strong enough for such illusions. There may be another nearby casting. If so, they are out of my range." She turned, focusing her gaze. " The Four have weapons, two katanas, A nunchuck and a bo staff. The thugs are armed with various weapons, few of these weapons are in good condition. Most of the thugs are at least moderately obese."

Fuu nodded, focusing on his own sensory abilities. " I cannot sense the Caster... we must strike now that they are at ease. Ne, go round the west and keep eye on the thugs. Shiso join her, tell her if you sense any intruders. Hama, Bo, you join me. Ne, Shiso, once we kill and capture, take out the thugs. Standard precautions and Mission care."

They nodded, absolute obedience. Hama spoke. "Rendezvous?"

"Six miles from here, at the waterfall we passed." He fixed a powerful glare on his face, gaining their immediate attention. " Do not get caught. According to thenrest of the world, we do not exist. We will not save you."

They nodded again, they all knew this.

"""""" Shiso kept his senses open as he followed Ne. All chakra rhythms clear to him. He focused on this knowing anything else would leave him free to accept what was coming. His first kill, several actually.

By this days end, his soul would be stained in the blood of dozens.

'Don't think about it. Just do it. I cannot fall victim to my fears.' It was hard, he was so jittery. Shiso and Mika both. It was emotional confusion and agony at it's finest. ' Keep your eyes open, beathe softly, be nothing.'

The thugs came into view. They were not stereotypes, they didn't radiate cruelty or evik, they goofed around with each other, burping and arm wrestling and just living. There was no malice in the air about them.

They were just people...

And they were going to die by his hand.

Releasing a tiny sigh, Shiso shifted his weight.

'Close your eyes, focus on the six and Hama, Fuu and Bo.' And he did, their patent pulses waiting. One heartbeat. Two Heartbeats. Three Heartbeats. 'Thier so fast, Hama already killed one. Fuu has captured the two... Bo is hurt... the other two are running... Hama is on thier trail...'

He shuddered, feeling Thier chakras snuff out in mere seconds.

Knowing there was no time to recover, he turned to Ne and nodded. Swords were pulled from their backs.

On the note of the other part of their group, Shiso fell to the ground. Before his feet even touched the ground, he lashed out with his blade, slitting a man's throat.

Rolling on impact, he drew his blade up across a man's inner thigh. Blood splattered on his face, a moment of sheer horror flickered and threatened to draw Mika out from within Shiso.

"Tenzin, Markos! Get them!"

Leaping into the air, six kunai left his hand, crippling six men. He landed on another, his weight and the force of gravity enough to shatter the man's clavicle. The sound made him nauseous.

The screams made it worse.

Two cartwheels and several delicate sword swings ended the crippled men.

Chakra faded from the clearing, only Ne and Shiso remained.

"I sense no others."

Ne nodded. "Gather thier weapons."

Without thinking, Shiso obeyed. Standard Mission care was a simple set of rules, in this case it required the removal of all weapons of thier untraceable kills.

The animals would take care of the bodies.

Hama was bored, the mission was easy. This gave her time to think of Shiso. It was his first real mission, yet unlike any normal ninja it was not a normal D or C rank with little chance of death. This was easily mid b rank, filled to the brim with death.

' I hope he isn't broken.' Far too many ROOT ninja faltered in thier first mission. Many took thier own lives, it cost them more shinobi then any other hazard.

Sighing, she waited for the others to return. Fuu and Bo seemed as bored as she was. Bo was making quick work of the bodies, dissecting them until they were less then mush. Only Thier heads remained so they could cash in thier bounties.

"They are close." Fuu's voice filled her with anxiety.

A full minute passed before they fell into the clearing. Rust and blood covered them, Shiso more then Ne.

" We cleared our part of the mission."

Shiso's voice was cold, tired and empty. An echo of its old self. She would keep an eye on him.

Fuu stood and held out his hand, receiving the scrolls from both Root Ninja. "You did well, Shiso. Lord Danzo will be pleased."

"Thank you." With that, the boy turned towards the water fall. "I will clean up, so others cannot track the blood on my clothes."

' He is gone...'

' I need to get this blood off...' Mika cracked through Shiso as he scrubbed himself free of blood. He wanted to cry, but was entirely unable. ' I'm eight years old... how do they raise people into this life!'

The cold water anchored him to reality as he felt drifting off from his body. His mind settled for a perfect middle and Shiso pushed Mika to dormancy.

"Mika... are you... still..." Hama's soft voice whispered by his ear.

He turned to her, confused. " Mika... my name is Shiso?" The name echoed strange on his tongue. " I am alright, Hama. I merely need to clean my uniform. I will be done shortly."

As he turned around, Shiso missed entirely, the pained look of despair on the girl's face as she realized, without fail, that Mika was gone and only Shiso remained.

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

Long time coming but I wanted this to be perfect.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika, SPN.