Daidai was in the Hokage's room, after having gotten his tattoo which was on his shoulder similarly to other Anbu members. He had his first mission, and though he didn't think it would be anything too hard he would still give it his all.

Minato looked at the pair, nodding at the two of them. "Hebi, Hitsuji, the two of you will be joined by Weasel on this mission," he told them, giving them a warm smile. The other anbu knelt down to the Hokage and then stood up once more, nodding at the two other people in the room. He himself was quite young, only about twelve, but he was clearly experienced and strong. "Normally I would not allow people younger than thirteen to join Anbu, but Hitsuji here is quite exceptional. Weasel, as you are also young, I believe it would be good if you two paired up from time to time, as you two can understand each other better than adults."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the weasel masked boy said, nodding and keeping his eyes on the Hokage. "What is our mission, sir?"

"Seeming as Hitsuji scored particularly well on tracking and stealth, that is what you will be doing. It is a B rank mission. There are a group of bandits that are starting to take over Wave country, their leader being a man named Gato. While it doesn't seem like much, I need to know if any of the other nations have anything to do with this. As you know, we have a strong trading relationship with Wave, and if another country is interfering with their ability to fish and trade with us then that will mean most of our seafood supply will be limited, thus effecting our economy. Additionally, many of the people in Wave are reliant on fishing and trade for their own economy. Once you find out what is happening behind the scenes, it is your choice what action to take, but I would prefer not to have political distrust between another great nation if we kill their shinobi. More details are in this scroll, you know the drill. Dismissed."

With that, Hebi retrieved the scroll, nodding and looking towards the two other members in their team for the mission. "You have your provisions in storage scrolls, correct? Then let's move out," he told them with a nod. It was midday, and if they moved quickly they could get there by evening, which was the perfect time to do some investigating.

The group shunshined to the edge of the village, and headed off into the forest, jumping through the trees silently and at a good pace. A couple of times they stopped to have a break, but their stamina was good enough that it wasn't too much of an issue. The hardest part was staying concealed whilst running across the water to get to their country, as the bridge hadn't been built yet and there were only plans being made. Still, the heavy mist allowed the group to make it there unnoticed before sundown. Once they scouted out the building that Gato and his men were in, a luxurious house with a large backyard that about thirty bandits were camping out in. They hid in the forest, having their dinner and discussing plans for that night.

"In the scroll it says that there has been more crime in Wave country, and there have been a couple of smaller businesses taken over by this man named Gato. More bandits have been in the area, and they have been destroying stores, stealing, and generally causing trouble. A troubled owner sent us a message, and a chūnin team came to investigate. They discovered from talking to the people that they seem to be working for a man named Gato, or at least be associated with him.

"Hitsuji, I want you to send in a transformed shadow clone into their camp when the time is right. I know you can keep your chakra concealed well, but it's safest to use them as the memories they give us can allow it to simply disappear when you find out what we need to know. That way we only need to worry about getting you inside. I'll be keeping guard of the building from the outside, and Weasel, you'll be keeping an eye on the bandits that are camping out back. If they start a fuss, cast a genjutsu and keep them from causing too much noise that will alert Gato of our presence," Hebi told them, drawing out their plan on an empty scroll with the positions they were in. The man had a photographic memory and so was good for scouting out places, though he wasn't the most suited to stealth and rather fighting.

Daidai nodded, as did Weasel, and they both got ready to set out once more. He was just about to jump into the trees and get going, when he heard his captain's voice. "Hitsuji, come here for a moment," Hebi told him, waving him over. "It's your first mission, and while it is important it doesn't matter if you stuff up a little. I want you, the original to stay with me. When we find out what we need to, let me know and I'll tell you what to do. Missions like these can easily turn into assassinations if necessary. If Gato isn't working with another nation but just wants to take over Wave, then we'll most likely have to kill him. We can't leave him here. You'll be the one to kill him if that happens."

Daidai nodded, gulping a little. His heart was beginning to beat a little faster, it was his first mission and potentially his first kill. Nothing could prepare him for this. Even footage from Kurama of war and death, which he'd seen many more times to accustom him to it before Anbu, that could only do so much. "Y-Yes, Hebi-taicho," he told him, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, before opening them and then looking up at his captain. Hebi had vouched for him, that was something that Shikaku told him. He wouldn't let him down. "I'm ready," he said, more confidently that time.

"Good, now let's move out."

x-X-x

The mission was going smoothly at first. After their talk, Daidai had shifted into a focused and calm state, blocking off the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions that had previously plagued him. He made his clone and then kept his chakra hidden. His clone turned into a rat, slipping inside the house unnoticed. It made a few clones of itself, which changed colour and then moved around the house, checking every room and listening to conversations of both maids and staff that worked there and of other people living there. The original clone was the one that found Gato, having gotten into the vents and wandering through there.

He supposed he had gotten lucky, as he was with a group of people, presumably the leader of the bandits outside and some other higher up people in their organisation, planning out what would happen. It was a plan spanning multiple years, that they would take over waves merchant and fishing district. They would take over trading, take all the money and let the city run dry.

"Sir, we've heard rumours of a plan to build a bridge in the next few years," one of the men said, pointing at the area that was the smallest distance between the island and the mainland. "What if they manage to begin construction before we can take over? It'll ruin everything we've worked for."

Gato just laughed and shook his head. "Don't you worry about that, Akaashi. Even if they do begin it, I can assure you it will never be finished. And if that plan fails, well, it'll help us expand our trading business and we can get more money. We can even tax the people for using the bridge, so that we can make money from it. Yes, whatever happens, we'll make it work. We will succeed. And in the meantime, we can gather more men for our army because they'll be so in awe of our plan and the amount of money we can 'pay them'. It will be us four that will get the money, and there will be a lot of it," he assured them, taking a swig of a mug of alcohol. "Those stupid 'great villages' won't be able to do anything about it since they won't realise until it's too late!"

The rat-clone let out a quiet, angry squeak and then disappeared in a poof of smoke, nobody even noticing he was there. Some of the other clones followed suit, other than a couple that were still listening to a conversation with some of the maids and workers that clearly weren't happy but were only there because they had no other choice to be.

Daidai used the anbu code to sign to Hebi what they were talking about, and he nodded at it. 'One of the men is probably the bandit leader, and there's a good chance that they know how to fight. Send a clone to Weasel, tell him to take out the bandits. You'll be with me, I'll need your help taking them down and capturing Gato. Once we find out what we need to know, we kill them,' Hebi told him. Daidai did as told sending a clone to their other member, and the pair then silently slipped into the building.

It was easy enough to get into where they needed. Daidai used his physical transformation to turn into a rat once more and slipped inside the room like that. He got into position, and then when he was ready he switched off the lights, released the transformation jutsu. Using his chakra chains he trapped the men, the captain of the bandits and one of the other men being able to escape. Gato started yelling, but a hit to the back of the neck shut him up pretty easily. One of the men fumbled around to hit a light switch, and Daidai had managed to knock out one of the other men, who was rather scrawny and likely the strategist, allowing him to remove his chakra chains before they could be seen.

"A Konoha anbu," the bandit leader, Akaashi, growled out, pulling out his sword. The other man pulled out a kunai with one hand, staying silent. They both had some ninja training at least, since they were able to escape from the chakra chains via a substitution jutsu with a piece of furniture. The silent man was about to make his move, seemingly much more dangerous, when Hebi revealed his position in the room (having entered when it was dark) and engaged in a fight with his tantō blade against the man.

That left Daidai against Akaashi, who smirked and gestured at him in a taunting motion. "I didn't know that Konoha were using brats for their top secret ninja now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. They sure have gotten horrible since that beast attacked, I'm glad I ditched the academy and left," he said with a laugh, lunging forward to attack him with a sword.

Daidai stayed calm, easily dodging the attack and creating a shadow clone that attacked him from behind with a kunai. It jumped onto his shoulders, holding the blade against the man's neck. Of course, he was stronger than Daidai and shook the clone off, and it poofed away as it hit the ground. Akaashi laughed cruelly, enjoying the rush of adrenaline he got from fighting. "Don't think that you'll beat me that easily, Anbu gaki. It'll take a lot more than that."

Not wanting to let his emotions cloud his judgement again, he stayed silent and calm, sending a one handed great fireball jutsu towards the man. Once again he substituted and escaped, this time ending up behind Daidai. The small size of the room, which was rather cluttered, made it difficult to fight, especially when he didn't want to make a big move that would injure the people they needed to interrogate, or his comrade. Meanwhile, the opponent didn't have those constrictions, or even any moves that would make that much damage.

Akaashi lunged once more at him, Daidai intentionally waiting and substituting at the last moment. The blade sliced through the wood, not getting caught in it as he had hoped it. That was okay though, there was still more chances, as the battle had only just begun.

x-X-x

(Trigger warning: they're ninjas, people are going to die in this half of the chapter)

Hibiki Naoki was not usually one for making friends. He had distanced himself from everyone at the academy. He had fought in the third great shinobi war, something that had scarred him mentally. He worked solo in the anbu, or in small groups, and he never had a permanent squad. He was often harsh, and had barely any qualifications for leadership, yet he had been the one chosen to be the captain of the Anbu. Maybe it was because he didn't make connections with people and could put the mission first. Maybe it was because he didn't often talk, so when he did it was seen as important. Who knew what it was about him that made their Hokage choose him of all people.

There was something that he'd seen in Daidai though. Maybe it was something to do with the people that had been interested in him, very influential or at least well known ninja for one reason or another. Maybe it was the way he had fought so well when he was so young, or the desperation he seemed to have to prove himself. Maybe it was the feeling in the air when he was finished with that attack, the attack that showed his potential. Maybe it was that he couldn't help but imagine if this is what Minato had felt when he chose him. Minato, the man he no longer knew how to feel about. Daidai seemed to want to prove himself to him, but the man seemed to hate him for some reason. He didn't know how to feel about it, because he trusted Minato wholeheartedly. Maybe Kakashi would know how he felt, he'd thought, but when he went to the man he was just as clueless about the situation. He'd thought maybe Shikaku would know, but his answer had been to leave it be until they knew more about what was wrong.

Hibiki was a maybe person, he thought of many possible situations and how to handle them until he found the best one. No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn't help but come to the conclusion that for some reason or another, Daidai had to be in the anbu. It was strange, he had never felt this way before. That was why he'd been wanting him to join his team, to work under him. There was something that told him that the boy wasn't as innocent as anyone else his age, even the Hokage's own children. They were damaged souls, but unlike himself, Daidai still had hope. Hibiki had no way of finding a happy life after so many years of killing, he was disconnected from society.

If Daidai was going to join the anbu anyways, well, he would do his best to make sure that he would come out the other side with a smile on his face and life ahead of him. There was no maybe about it.

His own battle with the silent man was going as well as one could hope. It was just like any other anbu battle, the man was strong but Hibiki was stronger. He could find weaknesses and flaws with his defence, find a way to get past his attacks. He was worried about the boy, but he just had to trust in his skills. He knew Daidai was strong, it was just the lack of actual battle that was the issue, as well as the space. It was why as soon as he could, he got the man to exit the room with him so they could fight outside.

It gave them both an advantage and a disadvantage. It was darker, but they had more room. More room for big jutsu and running away or whatever it was. Hibiki just wanted the battle to be over as soon as was possible. It was close combat at first, something he wasn't as fond of as he preferred long range attacks, or killing the target before they had to start fighting.

'At least I won't have to use that' he thought, closing his yellow eyes and focusing his chakra. The man sent an earth jutsu his way while he did so, but Hibiki countered it with a combination jutsu of wind and water. It wasn't a bloodline, but instead the simultaneous use of two jutsu that caused an extremely fast missile effect. He pulled water from the air to create it, and then sent it towards the ninja, rendering his jutsu useless. He attempted to dodge, but more bullets kept coming.

The wind jutsu cut his skin, causing the initial blood loss, and when the water jutsu landed he used a similar principle to taking water out of the atmosphere, but instead out of the human body. By keeping his chakra in the water jutsu, he could control it to gather the water through the openings where the opponent was bleeding. He sucked people dry of water, it was one of his special moves. He then lifted the water away, shaping it into a shape similar to senbon, before slamming them into the body to finish them off. The man dropped dead to the floor.

x-X-x

Things were going significantly different for Daidai once Hebi left the room. He was able to use a wind jutsu to send the furniture flying to the side, thus giving them more space to fight. Akaashi didn't know much else than the basic three, but he was still a strong opponent. Daidai was much stronger than him, yet the only thing holding him back was the unwillingness to kill.

He gritted his teeth, having already had many opportunities to slide his tantō across the man's neck but not using any of them. He just couldn't do it, in the end he was useless. Daidai looked up at the man, his weapon at the ready, but he just stood still.

"Hey, kid, where's that fire from before, eh? I knew it, you're just a weakling kid who's probably never had his first kill yet. You can't kill me, can you?" Akaashi said with a laugh, taunting him in the hopes he would lose his cool and become sloppy in his movements and attacks.

Daidai continued to stay still, hating that the man was right. He couldn't do this, he just couldn't. What if the man had a family? What if he was fighting to protect someone like he was?

From inside of him, Kurama watched, letting out a sigh, speaking from within him. He hated giving out pep talks and mostly used tough love when they trained, but now was not the time for that. "Kid, remember what I showed you. Life isn't fair, especially not the life of a ninja. Don't think, just get rid of him. It's you or him, and you've worked too hard to give up now. You are Uzumaki Daidai, brother to Katsuko and Shizune, friend to Shikamaru, Grandson to Tsunade and member of the Nara clan in all but name. You are better than this. You are not a sheep, you are a Kitsune. Now, Hitsuji, prove this man that he is wrong, and prove to not only me and your commander, but yourself as well that you deserve to be a ninja!"

Daidai's crimson eyes turned silver.

He took one step, and then the next, the world seeming to slow around him.

One moment was all it took, one thought.

Akaashi burst into silver flames, the tips burning blue.

Daidai closed his eyes.

When he opened them, the man's body was gone.

Behind him, Gato had gained consciousness, and screamed.

"You did well, kit. Now, go and make sure you get every last piece of information from that man. Your mission is not over yet."

'Hai, Kurama.'