The early bird gets the worm…

That saying means well for the bird, but not the worm. In this case, the early bird gets to eat the first worm that it sees, thus getting food earlier than other birds. If only that worm shows up later than it did, then it will have survived and live to see another day. So, by seeing the saying from another angle and perspective… one can say that the late worm survives the bird.

Unfortunately for him, he is the bird in this situation and his worm is nowhere to be seen.

The sound of his tongue clicking softly escapes his lips. A little bit of irritation and annoyance has filled his head. Four hours of fruitless waiting will do that to someone, but thankfully, the place he's waiting at is not as unbearable as an abandoned scout outpost or the ruins of a broken down house somewhere in the middle of the battlefield. He sees himself on the reflection of a mirror hanged on the wall of the establishment for the sole purpose of decoration, but at the moment, he's exploiting it for another use instead of its original intended purpose.

Blurs of customers entering the small, cozy, quiet and comfortable café goes unheeded by him, although he is fully aware of the increasing number of people inside the establishment. A small shop this place may be, but it seems that it has been doing a good job in rounding up customers. Blue eyes flicker over to all four corners of the shop, double checking for any speck of details that they might have missed minutes ago. Strange and off-putting hints on the serene scenery are what he's looking for.

Seeing nothing like those causes a sigh to escape from his lips.

Maybe his 'friends' from Parabellum are wrong about the intel? That's very unlikely. Not only they're wasting his time by sending him to a place where his objective may or may not be in, they will also waste their time in doing so. Or maybe this is all one huge trap? No. That's even more unlikely. His gut instincts are telling him that, whatever beef that Parabellum has with LeafCorp, it's all real and that kidding around and sending someone like him off to random cafés in a certain region of Japan sounds too much of an outrage and waste of effort.

If not those then… it only means two things:

His mission is leaked.

Or…

His target is really, really, really late.

This time, the former is actually the unlikeliest of reason. He finds it more believable for his target to be really late. From the reports sent to him by his partners, the guy is supposed to be here right after work hours. Though it varies from people to people, especially considering the position they have in their jobs, the common Japanese worker should already be out of their work by 1800 hours. Now, it's 2000 hours. Sitting here for hours isn't only going to make him lose his cool, but it'll also make him look suspicious. Thankfully, his disguise is working well enough to reduce the amount of attention directed at him.

Ditching his school uniform, he opts to wear the skin of your typical Japanese salaryman. Though he's failed miserable on the 'Japanese' part, at least he gets the salaryman part nailed to the coffin. White buttoned up shirt, black slacks, tie, shoes and coat. Those and a briefcase filled with dummy papers and fake documents that he's currently pretending to be checking should be enough to make him give the impression of someone who's taking his time to rearrange his files and documents after work. The glasses are just for show, but he'll take any chances he has in order to prevent people from recognizing him in case if he has to be here again next time in a different persona.

JINGLES

Blue eyes dart towards the door fast, as expected from a trained soldier with years of battle experience. Immediately, all sense of irritation and boredom disappears, as if they are never there in the first place. His eyes and brain recognize the face of the person that has just entered the establishment in an instant. The small forehead, narrow eyes, wrinkled expression and easily noticeable balding and greying hair are all criteria with check marks filled. The man moseys over through the floor in a very casual manner, whether it's due to him being a frequent customer or the aftermath of stressful work, he'll never know.

He sits on the bar, directly in front of the barista making and serving drinks for the customers inside the café. It's near the entrance and exit and also an excellent place to cause a common blunder such as tripping over and 'accidentally' planting a tracking device onto a person's body. After reciting the plan in his mental storage hardware, the blue eyed blonde shifts his priorities.

Pulling out several Yen bills, just enough to cover up eight cups of coffee, he then begins to clean up his belongings, stuffing everything he has pulled out from his briefcase and placed on the table back inside the storage item. Staying still for exactly three seconds, the same amount of time needed to prepare himself for this 'daring' move he's about to pull, the disguised teen then stands up. Stiffly walking out of his seat, giving off the impression of someone who's suffering from slight muscle pain from sitting too long, the blonde limply walks through the floor to carry out his mission.

With carefully staged clumsiness, he falls to his knees and dropping his briefcase in the process. This, naturally, draws out attention from everyone inside the café, especially the person he has 'accidentally' bumped upon.

"Hey, watch it!"

"S-Sorry!" the words escape his mouth in a very heavy accented manner. "A-Are you hurt, sir?"

While the confusion is causing enough distraction for everyone, and the person himself, to not pay attention on his hands; he carefully slips the small, SD card-sized tracking device into the man's coat collar. The surface of the device has been coated in a sticky substance intended for this purpose; looks like Parabellum knows what they're doing. A string of apologies spits out the blonde's mouth to act out the role of a very apologetic Japanese stereotype in hopes to make his role all the more convincing.

After a full two minutes of apologizing and bowing, the man relents and finally lets him go. Uttering one last apology, he exits the café.

"…that was unexpectedly tiring."

Sighing, the blonde fixes his crooked collar and tightens the grip on his briefcase's handle. He gazes off to the far distance, eyes trailing skyward to see the darkening sky of Chiba with tall skyscraper protruding as if to pierce the clouds. His mission is done, though there was a slight delay, it is finally done.

He makes his way out of the area in a leisure place, trying to be as casual as he can. Whilst walking, he pulls out his phone and dials a specific number.

"Mission accomplished."

"Good. You're free for the day, we'll tell you when we have the location."

"…right."

The call ends without any goodbyes or any sense of finality. Pocketing the handy utility back inside his coat's pocket, he makes his way to the station, eagerly so if one might add.

He has no problems with waking up early in the morning. His previous career basically includes sleepless nights as its job description, not that they really wrote that down, but he's not a stranger to sleep deprivation. However, today, is a very special case.

He could not sleep last night, not even a wink. He's participated in going against LeafCorp along with the help of his new partner Parabellum, which is not the main reason for his lack of sleep. It's the uncertainty of LeafCorp's knowledge about him that's keeping him on his toes. LeafCorp has gotten a three months head start to learn everything about his new routine in Japan. Back then, when he was still working with LeafCorp, he didn't have to worry about being tracked down by the organization that was hiring him.

Well, mainly because he's always away with his master's supervision, but that's not the case here anymore.

LeafCorp is his enemy now. They have made an enemy out of his master, even as far as framing him for the murder of his own team. Though it is still unclear whether this is true or false, Parabellum can just fabricate this lie to make him work with them for all he knows, he will need all the help he can get in order to find out more about Kakashi. He is a soldier, not a fancy-shmancy secret agent with experience in infiltrating powerful organizations. He's used to charging with guns blazing into the field, not sneaking behind enemy's lines or crawling through air vents.

Looks like Shikamaru is right. This is different.

They say that as time advances, so does war. But not in the way that one might think. It changes, definitely, but the people fighting it are still the same faces. Sure the objectives might change, the way it's fought might change and the outcome may just be different, but the fact that war happens in itself is enough evidence that war, in fact, does not change… but evolves.

The idea of having to go against a powerful and influential organization like LeafCorp is surely wrecking his nerves, but he won't crack under pressure, his master has trained him to persevere and endure. It will be hard, and no one's saying that it won't, so he'll need to get ready.

He might have lied a little bit to Shikamaru last time during their talk in the bar. He's… handled a few businesses before, the kinds that don't involve someone dying, and he's confident enough to say that he knows what he's doing for most of them time. His master, from the countless times they've travelled through different countries and nations, has ingrained into him the importance of knowledge and intelligence. Knowing is half the battle, after all.

Preparation is one fourth of it.

Approaching the 'right' people, he's managed to get his hands on some tools that will help his job in the future. Though the term 'right' isn't the right term when used to describe members of the local Yakuza family, he'll settle for it since his previous job isn't exactly the legal kind of job anyway. He's procured illegal weaponries. Guns, a lot of magazines to go along with them and other trinkets that will hopefully help him in the near future. It's hard getting these things in a country like Japan. Unless you're a rich politician with money and influence to throw around, you'll have to snoop around in order to get these kinds of goods.

That begs the question as to why isn't he approaching Parabellum for equipment. The thing is that he does not trust Parabellum enough to send him equipment, especially if it's the kind that he'll often use. As time progress, tracking devices are becoming more advanced, better and smaller. He should know. That and he is also still a little bit nervous when it comes to receiving packages after that little dagger that someone sent him. He still hasn't found out anything about that. Parabellum, and LeafCorp too, probably has his house wiretapped or on surveillance. He'll need to do some early spring cleaning later.

All of this cumulated effort took days and hours of thinking and moving around, especially when it came to acquiring the tools. He had to use some of his savings too in order to purchase them, so it's safe to say that he won't be eating out anymore. Here he's hoping that he'll somehow get paid while doing these things. In any case, getting a little bit sidetracked there, it is safe to say that he has not been this busy ever since he was working with LeafCorp. He can enlist Parabellum's help in organizing and supplying, but again, he does not trust them one hundred percent.

"So… Naruto, care to explain why you're late?" Despite how intimidating and nerve inducing the question might be to most students, Shizuka is being casual. For her, it's a little bit surprisingly honestly, seeing one of the most mysterious and interesting student arriving at school late is something new to her. She's seen the blonde's first year attendance list, and he has perfect attendance back then. But it looks like he won't have it again this year.

"Sorry, sensei." It's obvious how tired he is just by looking at his eyes and the large black bags underneath them, but his voice still won't show it. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately."

Shizuka does not miss the informality of Naruto's speech. Though his register is still as foreign and clear as it is usually, it seems that he's using contractions to show he's really tired. "I can see that alright." Sighing, Shizuka puts down her pen and the file carrying the attendance list for her class. "I'll let you off the hook just this once, this is your first time being late after all." Then she smiles slyly. "But don't you dare sleep in class, mister. I won't like that."

Rolling his eyes, making sure that he's doing it discreetly, the blonde nods. "Affirmative."

Whilst these two are having their conversation, another late comer arrives into the scene. The other students, sans Naruto himself, are getting ready to prepare for their first morning class. So they're occupied with preparation, but if only they are willing to spare a little bit of their attention towards the door, they won't miss the sight of a very… intimidating girl walking into the classroom with a mean scowl on her face.

Shizuka, being the observant individual she is, notices the additional presence inside the room. Naturally, she calls out this newcomer. "Kawasaki, late again?"

The girl stops halfway through her walk when her name is mentioned. A soft but undeniably irate sigh can be heard escaping her lips, looks like she has no plans on being caught today… still she is caught. Turning around on her heels, miss I-give-no-fucks deliver her teacher a look that's a mixture between a glare and your usual 'whatever-ish' look.

"Was that question rhetorical, sensei?" the girl asks back in her low, unwilling and conservative voice.

Shizuka lets out a nasal snort. "Ha, ha. Very funny Kawasaki. Just for that, you owe me more papers than what your classmates owe." She keeps a mental reminder about that. "Anyway, go and take your seat Naruto, we'll begin today's lecture immediately."

The blonde shrugs. "Sure."

Something is telling him that today is going to be different.

"Totsuka…san?"

"A-Ah, Naruto-san, didn't see you there… ehehe…"

That is a lie.

The boy sits four tables away to his right, though the classroom is quite spacious – since it can fit around thirty plus people – Saika not being able to see him is obviously a lie. That brings up the next topic of question: the intention for lying.

Raising an eyebrow, the blonde foreign student shrugs. "I see. Is there anything I can help you with?" at the moment, they are just outside of their classroom. Since it's recess, they have the freedom to roam around the school until it ends.

"Ah, no, it's… eh… um…" nervous? Absolutely. Confused on what to say? No, it looks like Saika knows fully what he wants to ask of him. "D-Do you mind if I request the service club something?"

Just like that, the tension is lifted. Nodding his head, the blonde offers his shorter male companion an understanding look. Well, at least it's as understanding as Naruto can make it look like.

"Sure. Why don't we go to the service club now?" the blonde suggests. They can have their lunch there and he reckons that his club members are there as he's speaking now. "We'll consult this with the others."

The uneasy frown that is present moments ago on Saika's face has disappeared. In fact, it is replaced by a more fitting smile. "Really? Thank you! Wait for me, I need to take my lunch box!"

So he waits for the silver haired tennis prodigy outside while the aforementioned male rushes into the now desolate classroom to grab his lunchbox. Once he's done, Saika returns to Naruto with his lunchbox in hand. Looking up at the taller boy, Saika smiles. "Let's go."

"Sure."

The pair walks to the service club's home base of operations. It is not far from the classrooms, due to it being on the same floor, but with the canteen being located on the second floor, a place where almost everyone from school is currently at, their journey is not a quiet one. Students of both gender roams the floor's hallways whilst chatting or conversing with each other. There are no lockers placed on the halls, as it is for most Japanese high schools, so there's enough room to fit a lot of students who are roaming around from the canteen and back.

Naturally, Naruto remembers his way to the club room. He can journey there with his eyes closed if he has to. Never mind the exaggeration, the trip would have been shorter if it isn't for the bustling hallways filled with students transiting between specialized classes or lunch. After their abnormally lengthy walk, they reach a section of the building where it's quieter than the rest. This is where the clubs are located. This part of the floor is dedicated for club rooms so that clubs can conduct their activities comfortably. Of course, not all clubs are placed here. It'll be weird to see the soccer club headquartered here rather than the field, right?

Likewise, it isn't strange for a very… niche club like the Service Club to be headquartered inside rather than out.

With three soft taps on the wooden sliding door, Naruto waits for a reply from the inside.

A soft, borderline inaudible voice seeps through the door.

That's his cue. Sliding the door open, he's greeted by a sight that's steadily growing to be a familiar scene for him. The excess chairs and tables pushed towards the corners of the rooms to make up space in the middle, the lack of curtains covering the window panes and the strong but soothing scent of freshly brewed green tea leaves invading his nostrils. Yes, this is definitely an experience that he can definitely get familiar with.

"Ah, Naruto! Eh, Sai-chan, you're here too?!"

"Ara? It seems that you have brought us a potential client, Naruto-kun. Please, take a seat."

As always, their greetings are diverse from each other, but they carry the same intent. Welcoming. Yui has brought a chair for their client to sit on and it seems that Yukino is pouring tea into a paper cup, if her being at the brewing station is any indicator.

A soft and quiet nod is Naruto's acknowledgement of his two club mates' greetings. Saika is more outgoing, saying thank you and pleasantries. He moseys over to his usual spot, in the middle of the table with the most space. Yui sits opposite of him, occupying the other larger space of the table and Yukino has rightfully established her place on the smaller end of the table, as if emphasizing her position. The empty chair for Saika to sit on has been placed next to the male member of the Service Club, so, Saika finds his seat there.

"T-Thank you for having me here, Yui, Yukinoshita-san."

Yui smiles, as if it's natural to her. "No problem Sai-chan! So, do you have any requests?"

But Yukinoshita interjects strictly. "Yuigahama-san, I would like to kindly remind you that we do not deal with requests. We assist people, meaning we provide them with the tools necessary for the job, not doing the job itself."

"Oh yeah, ahahaha…"

Chuckling, the dangerously feminine boy finds the exchange amusing to his eyes. "I see. Then… would it be too much trouble to ask the Service Club to improve the overall performance of the tennis club?"

This naturally draws out several raised eyebrows, notably from Yukino and Naruto.

"Oh? Is the tennis club experiencing any difficulty, lately?" Yukino questions.

"No… well… it's hard to explain." The sigh that Saika has let out is equivalent to a sermon. "You see, lately, the tennis club hasn't been very effective and efficient when it comes to performances… and attendance. Every practice sessions you'll have members lazing around not doing anything and the ones that practiced aren't motivated enough to improve. This causes a drop in the number of attendance and we've been having more ghost members than ever."

So far, Saika's explanation has been textbook. A common problem for most sports club in schools.

"And… the only reason I can come up with is… uh… is me not being a very good captain." He finishes with a very sullen and demotivated look on his face.

His reason immediately receives a very vocal rejection. "Eeeh?! But you're a very good tennis player though, Sai-chan!" Yui wastes no time to go against her friend's idea. "T-They're probably just being ungrateful and lazy, that's all!"

Yukino hums, scratching her delicate porcelain-like chin. "Hmm… it would explain the decreased performance of the club, but not the lack of motivation." She says in a very contained tone. "Not to trample on Totsuka-kun's feelings, but just because he's a good tennis player, doesn't necessarily mean that he's a competent captain."

Saika winces, even though he's fully aware of the girl's intention. Yui makes an uneasy face and Naruto remains indifferent. A brief moment of silence consumes the room, making the air uncomfortable and strained. Yukino, finally feeling what the atmosphere has become around her, realizes the error she has made.

"W-What I meant to say is that… we should find… alternatives to deal with Totsuka-kun's request…" she has lost her spark, doused down by the flood of guilt.

The now awkward atmosphere reigns longer, showing no signs to leave or disappearing.

Naruto is beginning to feel the air himself. Looks like he'll have to say something quick.

"…practice?"

"Hm?" Yukino, eager to lift the mood, responds. "What was that, Naruto-kun?"

"A practice session for Totsuka-san could probably improve his own playing performance and his leadership skills." The blond elaborates his earlier concise suggestion. "It may not guarantee the latter, but at the very least, he'll be able to improve his performance. That way, members of his club might just take notice and ask for his suggestions."

"Hm, that is a rather interesting solution, Naruto-kun." Yukino follows up, looking pleased with the idea. "The leader must show exceptional abilities and skills in the field in order to be respected by the members."

"Hmm… I dunno, Yukinon…" the other students present in the room turn their heads to look at the pink haired girl. "I mean, Sai-chan's already an amazing tennis player, I don't see why the others wouldn't approach him for advice if they're serious enough."

"Then the only conclusion is the lack of motivation." Naruto says with a final edge in his tone. "If Totsuka-san is a good player like you said he is Yui, which I do not doubt, then yes; members are supposed to flock him for advice but only if they're serious enough."

His idea is then continued by the club president herself, who is in the same thought wavelength as the blonde foreigner. "Then that means the others aren't serious enough in their club, thus proving that lack of motivation is indeed the main cause." She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We're just beating around the bush here, something I would've liked to avoid doing. But in any case, Totsuka-kun, it seems that the only suitable solution now is to follow Naruto-kun's suggestion of practicing to make yourself look good and competent in the eyes of your club members."

Delighted at the outcome of a decided solution, Saika nods happily. "Thank you, Yukinoshita-san, Yui and you too, Naruto-san!" for some reason, he only smiles when he's addressing the last person. This goes unnoticed by the members of the Service Club themselves.

A secured conversation
Soubu High School third floor janitor's closet
Date undisclosed

"Speak."

"Are you secured?"

"…I told you, I'm no amateur."

"Yeah, yeah… look, I'll cut to the chase."

"…what?"

"…your high school has been infiltrated."

"…how?"

"Some of our agents managed to fish out a lot of valuable information from blacklisted targets. I have to tell you, this is the accumulated result of years – even before my time – and years of info gathering and… dare I say it 'espionage' efforts. We have sorted and arranged everything as best as we could and so far, things are looking good."

"…don't beat around the bush."

"…right, was getting to that. Ahem, anyway, LeafCorp was more than aware of your presence in Japan. And as a matter of fact, you're late by several months, maybe even years, which means that they got a head start. Of course, we know this. Because of that tracking device you put on that guy, we managed to discover his real personal residence and send agents to sweep the place of any useful intel that they could gather."

"And?"

"…you're not going to like it. They know where you live, have been keeping constant lookouts for you for the past three months and are planning to take more steps than what they've already done now. In other words, you're as good as compromised."

"…"

"But don't worry. They don't know you know. It was cryptic as hell… but we managed to deduce that the guy that you put that tracking device on may actually be one of the people tasked by LeafCorp to spy on you."

"Are you telling me that my being 'undercover' that time was useless?"

"Well, not exactly. Of course he noticed you, but he didn't notice the tracker you placed on him. This can probably mean that he's not expecting you to be working together with us..."

"Yet."

"Exactly. Anyway, we're confident that your school's been infiltrated because of an e-mail message that we extracted from the person's PC. It says something about someone being out there… out for your blood."

"…anything else?"

"Look, dude, I wasn't kidding when I said they're being cryptic as hell. The whole fucking e-mail was a constant exchange of separate one lined mails. It was freaking troublesome to gather because this guy somehow managed to rearrange his mails in a random order. This whole damn thing is troublesome. If it helps you figure things out, the message tells something about a… Kestrel? Kesu-tre-ru?"

"…"

"Naruto, man, you there?"

"I'm here. Sorry… I just saw something weird."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Anyway, what else?"

"Well… aside from the fact that you have someone out for your head in your school and the fact that our fight against LeafCorp is going to be harder and more troublesome than before… nothing else."

"…tch."

"We're all annoyed here man, but if it eases you a little bit, so far, we're confident that they won't do something drastic. And by drastic I mean sending in a Mobile Task Force to swat your house or anything similar to that. They're still new here and they're going to have to deal with Japan first before they could deal with you."

"…you're telling me that an organization capable of spending millions of dollars is going to be slowed down by you Japanese's politicians with a hard on for money?"

"Heh, that's exactly it. They'll have to deal with bigger fishes before they could catch a tadpole like you. And for the record, I do know that tadpoles aren't fish."

"Whatever. Anyway, is that all?"

"Yeah, man, this convo's long as hell. Troublesome. See ya."

"Hn."

Discreetly stepping out of the empty janitor's closet, Naruto curses his luck. Looks like that luck of his is beginning to expire. He's a fool for taking things too easy, he should've known that someone's going to be after him. It's been two years, three counting his last involvement with LeafCorp, so it's only logical for past enemies to look for him. Whether LeafCorp sends them is another thing, in fact, he prefers it if that is the case. That way, he can get some questions out of the person they send after him. But judging from Shikamaru's intel, it's someone related to Kestrel.

Kestrel… was not a good memory, a nightmare more like. The mere act of thinking about the name renders his senses dull and numb, actually thinking about the events that transpired back then is even worse. Kestrel was his hell. No, not only his, it was hell to some people too, but he's the only one who made it out of that hell. It's a scar that will never heal and fade, damning him to death. No amount of therapy, time off or even a switch of lifestyle can make him forget what happened during Operation Songbird.

Operation Songbird was… a mistake. It's one of the reasons why he left LeafCorp.

The whole operation was sketchy from the get go, even then, he still had to carry it out despite the sinking feeling, despite knowing that things were strange. He was only fourteen back then, but age is not an excuse for his failure. LeafCorp was hunting for a top priority target on their hit list, given the codename Songbird – hence the name of the op – but finding the person was as easy as finding a drop of tear in the ocean. In other words, it's damn impossible.

Until someone tipped them off.

The intel had seemingly come out of nowhere, it might as well be, because the group that leaked it was never heard of previously. They called themselves Kestrel. A quick background check revealed that Kestrel was a small private security firm established and funded by a group of multiple organizations in Siberia. It was small, so it was really unexpected for LeafCorp to receive such an important intel from them. If anything, it's supposed to be impossible for them to get the kind of intel that they had. Probably luck or chance. Regardless of whatever divine works that happened that day, LeafCorp bought the intel and set out immediately.

It was not long until LeafCorp confirmed Songbird's presence. And he was all the way across the pond over in an unnamed settlement in Africa.

His team was sent to secure Songbird. Securing him is secondary to his death, so at that time, he wasn't going to take any chances. With how easy they got Songbird's location and after having confirmed said location, finishing the mission quickly was the only thing on Naruto's mind back then. Touchdown on AO, put a bullet between Songbird's eyes and Audi 5000 the hell out of there. That seemed simple enough and considering that they were equipped with the gear and intel, it wasn't wrong to think like that.

But how wrong he was.

When they reached Songbird's location, they were only greeted with little resistance. But Songbird was not there. It was as if they were short, Italian plumbers going into a castle looking for a princess – not to save – but to kill, but the only similarity between that world and them back then, there was no talking mushroom to tell him that their target was in another castle. Naruto realized that things were wrong and that he was right. It wasn't going to be an easy job and he was right.

He tried calling in for evac as soon as they confirmed Songbird's lack of presence within the area, but the whole place had their comms jammed. It was a setup done by Kestrel. Explosions went off both inside and outside, the worst thing was, it wasn't done by C-4s or any remote explosive devices. It was full blown artillery fire, volleyed over their coordinates with no intentions of ceasing. The location they were in was a small compound in a very remote settlement, it took no more than minutes until everything was flat rubble on the ground.

He lost consciousness when an artillery shell near-missed him, though it did send his body flying a couple feet back. The next thing he knew, he was awake inside a dark room, head covered in sack cloth with his clothing and gear stripped off from him. Not necessarily naked, but vulnerable. Then they showed up. Kestrel. Several men questioned him in Russian regarding LeafCorp. They wanted to know everything. Secret facilities, infrastructure, procedures… you name it.

He was not being very cooperative with them, so they made him talk. At least they tried to.

He remembered… pain. Lots of pain. The pain from being cut, stabbed, burned and beaten. But he held off… barely. He couldn't keep count of how many hours have passed back then, it could've been days for all he knew. Then, when they stopped giving him beatings physically, they decided to mess with his mental state. They took off his sack and they brought in four men which he knew very well. Then… they told him to answer everything or else those men will die right before his eyes.

He… could vividly remember the expression on their faces.

Pain. Fear. Hurt. And… bitter acceptance.

They knew that they couldn't compromise. He knew that he couldn't compromise. Whether it was the pain, mental fatigue or the substances they injected him with… he didn't know… but what he did know is that he's responsible for the death of his four men.

They murdered him. Their daggers swiftly cut through the skin and bones of their throat as if they were poultry products, blood flowed like silk and their faces as they rot away on the cold hard ground had been etched into the deepest part of his memory.

After the deed was done… they beat him again, this time even harsher. They doubled the pain and dosage of substances that they injected into him. It came to a point where he could no longer tell if he was awake or dead. A minute there was like hours, hours became days and days became weeks. A long time had passed ever since his initial capture yet he did not have the strength to fight back, he couldn't.

Then… everything came to a halt.

In the midst of a questioning session, the place he was in shook. Alarms were raised and people began panicking. His mental state was all fucked up. He couldn't tell from left to right, soldiers and civilians, but that had not been a problem for him. His body regained strength, as if he had been possessed by a demon straight out of hell. He fought back, killing everyone in the room with him. He set out on a warpath, making body counts and kills on each hallway he walked through. This day, the experience was lost to him. It's as if he wasn't the one killing those people on his way out of there.

When he was sure that he'd killed everyone inside that hell hole… he went top side, encountering multiple LeafCorp operatives in full combat gear. His mind was not able to register them as friend… he fired at them. Thankfully, casualties were minimal on their side and his master – who was there at that time – managed to subdue him.

Waking up… he was strapped to a bed inside one of LeafCorp's medical facilities at the main HQ. They barely saved him. The doctors did not know why… his master did not know why… he, himself, did not know why…

…why he was still alive after the hellish experience Kestrel put him through.

Dumb luck… is all he'll say.

"…oi… Oi!"

Blue eyes flicker over to the owner of the irritated voice. His head snaps instantly, eyes glued to the person standing on his back. The movement is so quick and sudden that even the person who's been calling out to him is surprised herself.

"Y'er on the way. Move."

Naruto blinks several times, reminding himself that he's no longer stuck inside a dark room with power tools stuck to his limbs. This jet-lagged state of his seems to only increase the level of annoyance that the girl is feeling.

"What, ya' deaf? I said y'er in the way, move."

After the second time, he is finally able to register what is happening. He steps aside, drawing a path for the girl to walk through, muttering a small 'sorry' before walking away towards the direction of his classroom. He walks away, but even without looking back, he knows that he's being observed.

And he doesn't like it.

"So, we have decided to help Totsuka-kun with his tennis skills, yes?"

He'll say it now: he doesn't play tennis often.

"Yup! I'm not a very good tennis player though, Yukinon, so I'll just do whatever you want me to do!"

Unfortunately, he cannot let that happen to him. He'll have his own role to fill and a very hard time keeping an eye out for the nemesis that has infiltrated this school. However, he's sure that his foe would not dare do something out here in the open on broad daylight without fearing repercussions of any sort, which is why he's also using this moment as a chance to observe for any suspicious activities around him.

"Hahaha, I thank you guys for doing this for me." Saika says with a sincere smile while holding on to his tennis racket. His short and dangerously feminine form looks natural in the attire he's currently wearing. A combination of green shirt and a pair of matching green shorts, with a pair of white trainers to finish his looks, he already has the tennis player part perfected. Now all that matters is the leading part… but it's not something that they can exactly help with.

Taking his eyes off his surroundings, the blonde haired foreigner eyes the tennis net and over all equipment that they have prepared for Saika's training session. The court's condition is what one would expect from an ordinary school standardized tennis court. The outlines of the court have been marked and painted perfectly according to standard measurements, the tennis net has been adjusted to its normal and usual height and the field itself, though dull, is in proper playing condition. Really, the only things that barely make this place shabby-looking are the dents on the metal fences that surround the court and scratches on the green floor paint. But those are normal when it comes to a frequently used tennis court.

The tennis court also comes with a changing room nearby, placed just outside of the court. They placed their things there earlier and Saika has locked the door to prevent any unwanted mishaps. Right now, the members of the Service Club and Saika himself are the only ones on the field.

"Fumu, fumu! Tis a fine morning if I have to say so myself!"

…well, they're not the only ones.

Ignoring the additional cast that has, for some reason, decided to join them for today's practice, the Service Club's president is standing on the field with her hair tied to a ponytail. Unlike her black haired friend, Yui does not have to bother restyling her hair into a similar style. Naruto, however, is still wondering whether or not it'll be a good idea to skip self-study session in favor of club activities. Meh, he'll deal with that later, it's not like his scores are dropping or anything.

"So, how are we gonna do this, Yukinon?" like a child who's never been to Disney Land and is told by her mother that they're going to go there, Yui seems to be the most excited one of the bunch.

"Hm, that is indeed a very good question, Yuigahama-san." Despite the simplicity, the question asked by her pink haired school mate still raises some points. With a swift turn of her heel, the black haired girl directs her attention to the tennis captain himself. "What do you usually do for practice, Totsuka-kun?"

"I usually do shadow practice."

"Shad…ow practice?" it seems that Yui is unfamiliar with the term. Unsurprisingly.

"Basically, it's a way to do warm ups by practicing strikes or swings." Naruto is the one who supplies her with the helpful trivia. "This is not only seen in tennis players, because the term applies to other sports as well. Baseball, badminton, boxing and even penmanship." He shrugs.

"Eeeh… you play tennis often, Naruto?" asks the pink haired girl, eyes filled to the brim with curiosity.

The blonde shrugs casually. "Not really. I've played one or two match in the past, but nothing that will guarantee perfect performance." He's not going to lie, even if he does lie, they'll find out about it and he'll be busted.

"Perfection is not our goal here." the voice of the Service Club's club president cuts through the air like a lull in the wind, converting all attention towards her. "Our main objective is to help Totsuka-kun improve in his tennis performance. I think, since we're delving into a territory of self-improvement, we should ask Totsuka-kun about his weaknesses first."

"Eh, me?"

Yukino nods her head; her calm look is borderline stoic, like a certain blonde's. "Indeed. As I've said before, this is a request that heavily hints self-improvement at its core. What better way to solve a problem than to look for the cause itself? So, Totsuka-kun, is there anything that you're weak at in tennis?"

"W-Well…"

If this is some sort of sports themed, B-rated motivational movie with an underdog protagonist who has Morgan Freeman giving him motivational speeches whilst he's training to be the world's best boxer, the uplifting music would've played and the scene would have showcased said protagonist's training progress while doing fade-outs between scenes. Sadly, this is not a sports themed, B-rated motivational movie with an underdog protagonist who has Morgan Freeman giving him motivational speeches whilst he's training to be the world's best… tennis player, in Saika's case. And there's definitely no uplifting music playing through the scene showcasing Saika's training progress while doing fade-outs in between the scenes.

It took some effort, both from their side and Saika's, but improvements are getting easier to see. As it turns out, Yukino is rather acquainted with tennis. She managed to last three consecutive rounds playing against Saika and even came close to beating him, if it wasn't for the fact that she has a rather weak stamina. Yui, as she had said so herself, didn't prove to be very prominent in tennis; the best act she pulled was when she did a very powerful swing that hit Zaimokuza right on his tubby stomach. The ball, thankfully, did not suffer any damage. While Naruto, on the other hand, did not get to have an official match with Saika, but instead help him when it comes to aerobics and cardio.

It's no professional training regime, but sometimes, the most basic of things give the best result. Huge results start from small beginnings, and that's the case with most athletes out there. They start from the bottom, when their names were nothing more than just another plaque in the neighborhood. Then, when it's their turn to shine on the field, they shine bright. So bright that they achieved the recognition and reward that they rightfully deserve. They work with what they had and used those things to the fullest. The equipment, place and exercises they worked with were not fancy or specialized in any way, but still, they used them to their fullest.

As the Service Club's esteemed club president have said it…

They've done a rather 'satisfactory' job.

Yeah right.

"Thanks for the hard work."

Naruto isn't expecting Saika to press the cold, metallic can of energy drink on his right cheek. But regardless of what's been done, his reaction to it is minimal. Outwardly, he turns his head to the boy in a calm and unenthusiastic manner, grabbing the cold drink. Inwardly, however, a memory from back then plays; it shows Naruto barely dodging a stab that is aimed for his neck before twisting the perpetrator's hand, bending it, dislocating the hand and then shooting the perp on the temple with his pistol. His mind, thankfully, is still capable of telling which one's reality and which one's memory. If it can't… then, let's just say that he won't be able to go to school here again.

"Hope you don't mind pocari, it's what I got for myself, see?" Saika chuckles as he shakes his own can of energy drink.

The blonde shakes his head, standing up from the low indoor bench that he's been sitting on for the past twenty minutes or so. The locker room has minimal light seeping into it, thanks to the almost non-existent presence of windows and the darkening sky outside. The stench of their sweat and odor fills the room, but nothing that some outside air won't clear. Naruto has switched to a fresh t-shirt and his school pants. He can't be bothered to wear the school issued shirt, but as long as he wears his blazer over his t-shirt, it'll be fine. As for his pants, he put on the normal school slacks.

"We really did a lot today huh?" Saika says after taking small sips from his drink. "The same goes for yesterday, in fact, I think we've been doing a whole lot this past week."

A week, huh? So they've been helping Saika for that long, huh? "True." The blonde quietly comments, but not before taking a sip from his drink too. "I believe that the progress we've made are... significant?"

Naruto does not receive an immediate reply. Instead, it is delayed. It seems that Saika has spaced out for a while, it takes the boy a few seconds to realize that he has yet to answer the blonde.

"Oh, yeah, I feel like I can take on the top aces at the nationals!" the shorter boy replies cheerily. He swings his slender arms back and forth, displaying a fervent act. "In fact, I've never felt this good before!"

"...I see." a thin, hollow smile appears briefly upon the blonde's face. "It's nice to hear that we're all benefiting from this exercise."

"Yup."

Uncomfortable silence reigns through the locker room, making the already sweat damp and polluted air all the more unbearable for the two males. Saika, despite the air, is still as friendly as ever. The blonde ex-PMC, however, does not share the same persona.

He is feeling uneasy, almost as if he's being exposed to the open wintry air of Siberia. Looking at the small clock posted above the door, it seems that he's been staying here longer than he intends to. Sighing, Naruto glance sideways, giving the shorter boy a brief look.

Sensing Naruto's eyes on him, Saika cutely tilts his head sideways, wide doe-like eyes blinking innocently.

"What's wrong?"

"...nothing." The blonde shakes his head, bending down to pick up his sports bag. "...I just know I'm gonna regret this."

"Hm?"

Imagine a bird hitting you right on the face with one of its wings. That's something that doesn't happen everyday, if not at all. So, to emulate that unpredictable analogy, Naruto swings the sports bag upwards, nearly hitting the silver haired prince of tennis on his pretty little face.

Clue word: nearly.

"N-Naruto, w-what are you doing?!" Saika shouts in outrage, his posture showing meek defense. Through glassy blue eyes, tears threatened to escape.

The bag that he's used as a preemptive weapon is now on the other end of the narrow locker room, its content spilling, littering the floor with sweaty gym clothes and shorts. Without the slightest hint of feeling sorry for nearly harming the precious boy, Naruto's cold eyes bore through Saika's very being.

Their drinks are spilled, drenching the floor with sports water and leaving a mess for the janitor or whoever is in charge of cleaning. But the mess made isn't in his mind, what's in Naruto's mind, however, is the true identity of the boy in front of him.

"N-Naruto, you're scaring me, q-quit it!"

But no response. The silver haired boy cowers in absolute fear of the taller and more imposing boy looming over him with eyes colder than steel that has been buried under a pit of snow. His thin, slender shoulders are quivering; as if he's been hit by a blast of cold winter air. But there is no air, much less snow.

Saika is sweating, even more than before when he's doing sports. And this is not the type of sweat one would normally released when exhausted, this is the type of sweat that people will only release when they're scared.

A cold sweat.

"P-Please... you're scaring me... Naruto..." the whimper is barely heard. The boy cowers, drooping his head down, hands clutched close to his hands. "P-Please... please... please..."

Naruto's fingers twitch, eyes are flickering.

"...please... please..."

Then, the Prince of Deceit reveals his true nature.

"PLEASE DIE!"

With a box cutter gripped tightly in his tennis playing hand, Saika is out for the kill.

"Sir, here are the results you requested earlier."

"Thank you, Suzuki." he pauses. "And don't call me sir, you're older than me, man."

Suzuki grins playfully, barely capable of holding back chuckles, before retreating back to his station.

In an undisclosed location, acting as Parabellum's main HQ, one Nara Shikamaru is sitting on his own command station with multiple files, folders and many other form of physical documents scattered all over his supposedly clean and tidy work space. Right now, his work space is a mess thanks to his annoying paranoia and curious nature of wanting to know more about a certain blonde haired enigma who's forced to worked with them.

"Kestrel... Kestrel..."

He asked the boys from Intel to do a thorough search, meaning he asked them to search everything they have – or had – about this 'Kestrel' entity. Opening the files that Suzuki has delivered him, he resumes his search of the unknown – at least to him – entity. Looking at the date of the files, they seem to be dating back to the early 2000's, meaning waaay before his time in Parabellum. If he remembered correctly, the acting Head Handler back then was a retired Parabellum agent who no longer wants any ties to the underworld.

Thanks to the endless amount of liquid caffeine he has consumed earlier, Shikamaru manages to skim – but carefully – through many excerpts without missing details. What he's reading is very surprising to him. Looks like there are still things that he, and Parabellum, still has no clue about.

"Holy..."

Kestrel... no survivors... captured LeafCorp operatives... tortured... one survived... ANBU invasion of Kestrel facility...

What he's read can be considered a scarier and quicker plot of a Tom Clancy's novel.

After reading enough to sate his curiosity, Shikamaru drops the file on the table, leaving it to join the other mess he's created. Slumping back into the chair, the young handler lets out a very long and tired groan. His eyes are heavy, even if it's still quite early to be sleeping, but in his defense, all of that reading and information processing is taking a toll on his brain.

"What kind of beast are we working with?"

The young handler can only wonder.

They say that center mass is everything in a gun fight. Following that rule, if center mass in everything, then there is no need to attack or hit other body parts such as the limbs, head or even groin. Yes, center mass is important, but it is not everything.

People have designed a lot of countermeasures to combat this. Bullet proof vests are made to prevent shots mostly aimed at a target's body, the so called center mass is now a not so likely option if a shooter's looking to score a clean hit. This means that the shooter will have to hit, provided if the bullet caliber is not large enough to punch through armor, other parts of the body.

A well aimed shot at a target's center mass may put him down on the ground with one shot, especially when the bullet used is big enough, but when it comes to CQC, you can forget center mass and kiss it goodbye.

Naruto has learned, through years of ruthless mentoring from his master, that every part of a person's body is a potential weak spot. Ignoring obvious locations, the kind of mental drill that his mentor was trying to induct into him is that all people will break if you hit them at the right spot, with the right amount of force and with the right amount time.

At the same time, for Saika, he has been trained that every part of a person's body is a potential weapon that can be used to cripple the opposing enemy. This means using every single body part in a way that it has never meant to be used before, be it as silly or outrageous as it is. Using his forehead to deliver a brain scrambling headbutt, using his legs to choke an opponent into submission or something as simple as biting an opponent with his teeth.

Currently, the two of them are using whatever training regime and knowledge that they have accumulated in their brain to fight the other.

In a close quarter engagement inside a narrow as fuck locker room.

Metal lockers are visibly dented, there are fist marks on the wall, scraping off the thin paint coating off the concrete. Multiple tiles are cracked and in dire need of replacing, one of the bench has is broken with one of its limbs broken off. Yet, amazingly, not a single drop of blood has been spilled from the two males. But make no mistakes, damages were done.

In terms of hand to hand combat, he is slower than Saika. Saika moves more fluidly, quickly and is capable of dodging more agilely. This contributes to the fact that the shorter boy has less bruises than the blonde, but that's like saying a tiger has more stripes than a leopard has spots.

Being taller and just bigger built than Saika, Naruto is able to deliver more damage. He can withstand the burnt of Saika's blows to a certain degree and counter more effectively. Every attacks he delivered is fatal, prompting the shorter boy to increase his effort on dodging them.

But when fights get balanced like this... in the end, it's a matter of stamina.

And in this fight, Naruto is winning.

Unlike Saika, who is panting and breathing heavily, Naruto is more composed and retained in terms of exhaustion. Just by a glance, it's obvious who's going to get overwhelmed.

Unsurprisingly, Saika make uses of grapples and kicks to deliver damage. They hurt like hell.

The silver haired boy side steps, catching the blonde off guard. But after the short minutes they've exchanged blows, Naruto has come to grasp his opponent's fighting patterns.

The shorter boy leaps off, performing a feint. He twists his body in mid air, right foot extended to deliver a terrifying roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, it is dodged by the blonde. But Saika is smart enough to follow up with another kick, this time it hits Naruto, but is blocked at the last second.

'Okay, that hurt.' the blonde dashes forward, cracking the tile underneath him. He closes the cramped distance in a matter of milliseconds, appearing before Saika in his tall glory.

Lunging back, the silver haired boy avoids the blonde. But he hits a locker, crashing to it on his back. Wincing, the prince closes his eyes as he braces for impact.

And, yeah, it's exactly as painful as he expects it to be.

Naruto plants his fist right into the boy's solar plexus. Hard enough to cause the shorter boy to choke, vomiting out saliva. It doesn't stop there though. His right hand goes for Saika's neck, gripping it, pressing him against the cold and now dented metal locker. He applies pressure on his choke, causing the shorter boy to squirm.

Naruto watches with narrow eyes as the boy squirms and struggles under his choke, attempting to break free. But, as expected, Saika has no energy left to make that a reality. His eyes are leaking tears, and one can tell that he's losing air from the discoloration of his face. Seeing that he has had enough, Naruto pulls him roughly by the neck, sending Saika crashing to the floor.

"Uguh...! Hack... hah... uuurgh...!" the silver haired tennis player attempts to stand up, but finds his legs to be weak. The lack of oxygen in his lungs does not help. "...Gurgk!"

"Who sent you?"

Saika's legs are no longer touching the floor. A pair of strong arms are lifting him up in the air by the collar of his tracksuit, showing no signs of letting go even after scratching them with his nails. Frustrated at the lack of answer, the blonde slams the other boy's back to the locker, causing it to rattle, and probably even the boy's spine itself.

"Who. Sent. You?"

Saika, in his dazed state, struggles to look at the blonde. But he still has enough strength to smile in spite.

[Go to hell.] He spits on the taller boy's face after speaking in Russian. This causes the hold on his collar to become even tighter, adding more pain to the injured tennis player.

[You want to speak like that? I can do it too.] If glares could kill, Saika would have been dead three times by now. [Who sent you? Last chance.]

Instead of an immediate answer, a shrill of broken laughter breaks out of the silver haired boy's mouth. Even in his bruised state, Saika's smile shows no sign of disappearing. However, the look of playful spite transforms into righteous fury and anger.

[I've been hunting you myself... Красный...] the boy gasps out. [For what... you've... done to my people... and... father...] Saika's glare rivals Naruto's own. [I... swear... that I'll... kill you...]

Naruto clicks his teeth. "Kestrel..."

"Yes... Kestrel..." Saika says back in Japanese. "...my father's pride... our family's... everything... you took it away from us... from me..." a growl escapes his now bloody mouth. "I'll... kill you..."

"Do you even know what happened back then, huh?"

"...does not matter... you killed them all... and you will pay..."

"You killed our men too." his voice is on a borderline. He almost lashed out. "My men."

"...so what..." Saika coughs out. "...I won't rest... until you're dead..."

Naruto sighs. This is getting nowhere. Releasing one fist from his hold on the boy, he cocks it back before delivering it back again to the shorter boy's stomach. This time, instead of gagging like earlier, Saika faints. Out cold. Seeing the damage done, Naruto lay the now unconscious assassin on the only intact bench inside the room. Retrieving the bag which he threw earlier to the other side of the room, he pulls out his phone.

As soon as he unlocks the screen, he dials a number.

"Hello? Naruto, man, listen-"

"Don't..." the blonde starts, sighing out loudly. "...I know."

"...Oh. I see... so, uh, is he taken care of?"

"Yes." Naruto replies, his eyes glancing at the unconscious boy in a brief second.

"Do you need a cleaner for the body?"

"No need. He's still alive."

"I see. That's good." on the other end of the line, it's very clear that Shikamaru is relieved. "We'll send in some guys to pick you and your... classmate up to our headquarters, don't worry, we'll be discrete."

"Thank you." Shikamaru will have to excuse him for being tired. "And are you sure you'll bring me or us for that matter to your HQ?"

"Yeah, the higher ups here kinda want to meet and talk to you."

"Hm. Fine."

"Good. They'll be there in ten."

The line is closed and Naruto pockets his phone into his wrinkled pants' pocket. Looking around, there's no way he'll escape suspicion for the damage caused here. His eyes land on his supposedly assassin. Without hesitation, he says,

"Okay, time to tie him up."

First: I know, I suck at writing fight scenes.

Second: Looks like I'll be focusing more on Immortal than this for the next few weeks. So, sorry to those of you who are only following me for this story. But don't worry, I have a lot of plans for this baby.

Now, personally, I kinda dislike this chapter. Why? It feels like I've revealed too much in just one single chapter. It sucks. I suck.

Well, anyway, that's that. I promise that chapter quality will improve in the future. And, please, do expect more cliffhangers from now on.