Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
[ https://www̧̧.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis
———
.
Kon wheezed in pain as he hobbled his way through the field with a bloody hand on his aching belly. He had a trail of blood going down from the edges of his lips, and the simple act of swallowing blood and saliva felt akin to downing needles because of his bruised throat.
He almost fell over when he heard the thunderous roar of the Lightning Release ninjutsu. He didn't dare look back and tried to hurry his steps. He hoped that the Gemini Brothers had used their B-rank combination ninjutsu to kill Takuma. He didn't think they would need to use their final weapon against someone like Takuma. The Gemini Brothers had an impressive 100% success rate and were among Lord Danzo's favourite agents when he wanted something done.
So, then why was he hurrying? Because he was afraid.
Kon closed his eyes when he heard approaching footsteps behind him. It seemed that the Gemini Brothers weren't enough. A part of him hoped that maybe the footsteps belonged to one of the brothers, but that hope was crushed by a boot to his back. He tripped to the ground, and his stomach lurched in agony as he was kicked to make him face upwards.
And there stood Takuma, staring down at him with a sword in hand and the sun shining behind him, casting a shadow on him. His hand was trembling like a faun's legs and it looked like it was taking everything in his power to maintain the grip.
"You must think you're so great," Kon said with a bitterness so strong that it took away the pain. "Do you think you're safe because you survived this?" he scoffed. "Get used to looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life because Lord Danzo will have his eye on you."
"Then I'd better live a long life. Saves me the trouble of going out seeking your kind if you willingly come to me," Takuma said.
Kon felt his blood boil when he heard the nonchalant voice. He gritted his teeth before screaming, "You ruined my life, you bastard! You're going to die, but before that, we will kill everyone you hold dear! That fucking old man you live with must love being a shinobi at his age, then he's going to die on the field as a shinobi—"
The sword blade glinted in the sun as Takuma stabbed Kon's good arm just below the elbow, pinning it to the ground.
Kon's screams filled the practice field. The screams devolved into broken cries as he painfully shifted his torso and dug his heels into the ground, but the sword forced him to stay put.
Takuma, who hadn't removed his eyes from Kon, turned his head to the side and stared into nothing as though there was something only he could see. After a moment, he returned his gaze to Kon and asked,
"Do you remember me?"
Kon didn't reply and continued to sob. His empty shoulder moved up like he was trying to reach the sword with the hand and arm that was no longer there.
Takuma looked to the side once more.
"…Project Sprig. I'm Runt. Don't you remember me?"
Kon stopped sobbing and looked up at him with an utterly stunned expression.
"W-What did you say?" he asked.
Not in a hundred years did he expect to hear something from his past here. Project Sprig. It had been a decade since he last heard about the ROOT project he was part of. Not only was it a complete failure, but it was also shut down after ANBU discovered its existence. He barely managed to escape the aftermath unscathed.
Before Yu, it was the greatest stain on his record.
"…It's me. Don't you remember?"
Runt. It was an informal name he had given to one of the test subjects. The child was named so because of his small size and light weight. Despite his size, he was among the longest surviving test subjects, showing an astounding resilience that had caught the interest of the head scientists who wanted to see how much the child could handle.
But didn't that child die? Kon had ordered the elimination of all the test subjects. Then how? He could only think of one reason. Someone had screwed up and not done their job properly. Everyone was stressed that day because they had been informed that the ANBU would raid them in a few hours.
"H-How?" Kon asked, completely baffled.
"I survived," Takuma said as he stepped forward until he was standing over Kon before dropping to his knees. One of the knees landed right over the good arm that was already pinned down by the sword.
Kon screamed in agony as the sharp sword cut his muscle and the edge ground against his bone.
"But that's not why you're dying today." Takuma wrapped his shaking hands around Kon's neck and began squeezing. "You're dying for daring to harm this village. For sending assassins after me. For killing my friend!" The grip was embarrassingly weak for a shinobi, but as he spoke, it began to tighten. "Her name was Rikku. Remember it. She had the rest of her life ahead of her. You, on the other hand, are way past your expiry date."
Kon's already bruised throat began to close up as Takuma's trembling hands tightened, while they began shaking even more from the sheer effort he was putting into pushing past his injuries, fuelled purely by the hatred Takuma had for Kon.
"Every day you live is an affront to her memory. It's a mistake made by this world, but don't you worry, I'll fix it in the world's stead."
Kon stared at the rage-filled eyes and the face that was twisted by hate, glaring down at him. Would he have thought, all those years ago, when he sent four trainees on a mission he considered easy, that his life would change? That his life had crashed into someone who just refused to die and became a bigger nuisance every time they met.
And now he was being told that they knew each other from much further past.
Was this fate?
"Go on to wherever's next. I'll do you a favour by giving you peace because if I had my way, peace would've been a dream for you."
He didn't want to die. There was so much more he wanted to do. He wished to see ROOT's return to the Hidden Leaf. Seeing Lord Danzo become the Hokage. Joining him in his plan to take over the Land of Fire. Showing the other villages and the world that they were superior and teaching them to bow to greatness.
He wanted to be part of that future. And with those thoughts, the life of a ROOT agent came to an end.
———
.
ANBU Lieutenant Barbary gazed at the cremated remains of two ROOT agents lying in the middle of the field. An iryō-nin and fūin-nin operatives sifted through the remains, careful not to disturb them.
"So?" Barbary asked.
"These remains match those usually observed with death-seal ignitions," said the fūin-nin. He looked at the iryō-nin who nodded as well. "We can confidently confirm that these remains were cremated by a death-seal."
Barbary nodded and then exited the white tent that had been erected around the remains to protect them from being disturbed.
The entire field was busy with ANBU-nin running around to secure the location. ROOT agents infiltrating the village to assassinate an ANBU operative—one that is currently the lead expert in ROOT-related matters—was a huge deal. The fact that their informant network had no idea, and there was no chatter, made the matter worse because it meant that ROOT took extreme precautions to ensure that the mission was successful.
However, they ended up failing.
Barbary gazed around the shattered training field. There were so many crevices and shallow ravines that barely any flat surface remained on this side of the practice field. Burnt ground from explosive tags and signs of destruction, which, according to someone in the know-how, were made from strong Lightning Release ninjutsu. And the presence of B-rank ninjutsu. Another proof that ROOT wanted the assassination to be successful, regardless of the consequences. Even the location was carefully chosen to be a training field where no one would suspect the cause behind a commotion.
Barbary made his way to the other side of the field, where a larger tent was set up.
He looked inside and saw Ratel lying on a bed with iryō-nin around him. His life wasn't in danger, but he had suffered significant injuries. It was a miracle that he had managed to alert them about the situation and then stay awake until they managed to reach him.
"Lieutenant Barbary."
He walked to the two ANBU captains who had come after being informed of the situation. ANBU Captains were busy people with packed schedules. The situation had to be serious for them to break away from their responsibilities.
He greeted them.
Tachanid and Weasel.
Ratel was leaving Tachanid's umbrella for Weasel's. Even though the decision was final and things were already in the works in the background, the transition hadn't been made official. Thus, both of the captains had come when they heard that "their" operative had survived an assassination attempt.
"He was wearing custom tactical gear," Weasel said as he gazed inside the tent. "He was expecting something. Who was he meeting here?"
"Chūnin Enomoto. An old acquaintance," Barbary answered. He had talked to Takuma upon arrival. "However, it seemed that it was a ploy by ROOT to lure Ratel here. We are searching for Enomoto; he's missing, but we suspect that he's already dead."
"What was their relationship for Ratel to show up fully-geared?" asked Tachanid.
"Enomoto was Ratel's referrer when he joined The Ring as a prizefighter. They didn't part on amicable terms," Barbary replied. He didn't mention that Enomoto was connected to the drug trade and that Ratel ran the Narcotics Taskforce at the Police Force. Though there was no concrete proof, anyone with a brain would see that there was something there.
"According to Ratel, the third agent went by the name Kon. They met before, when Ratel was deployed in the Steam-Frost war. And this agent is also suspected to be involved in the last attempt at Ratel's life," Barbary continued his report. "The other two agents had identical personas—everything from gear to mask—the only difference was the colour of their masks."
"The Gemini Brothers," Weasel suddenly said.
"You know them?" asked Tachanid.
The youngest captain in ANBU history nodded. "I've heard about them before… Danzo must really want him dead to send those two so near the village."
"I heard something about a barrier," Tachanid asked.
"According to Ratel, there was a barrier of unknown characteristics around the practice field, which went down soon after the fight. They didn't come after him, so it's safe to assume they escaped," Barbary replied.
"Were they agents?"
"It's hard to say."
Tachanid and Weasel exchanged looks. This wasn't looking good. A breach this big didn't look good on ANBU. It questioned their competency. If they couldn't protect one of their own, how were they supposed to guard the village and the nation at large? Things were made worse when the perpetrator was homegrown right in Hidden Leaf's boughs.
As they were talking, Kestrel stepped out from the tent.
"Uhm, boss… Ratel is asking to leave," she said awkwardly.
———
.
Takuma's request was rejected. Even before Barbary or the captains could say anything. Campbell denied his request in his face with no further discussion, and he was shipped off to a hospital where a top team of iryō-nin looked after him for the next twenty-four hours.
Thankfully, they allowed him a phone call, which he used to inform Maruboshi that he was fine, but wouldn't be able to come home. It felt like he had many questions, but he only asked if he was in good health. Takuma didn't lie to him and revealed that he was injured, but immediately added that he was already at a hospital. Maruboshi, of course, wanted to visit, but ANBU didn't allow him visitors for the time being.
Fortunately, the iryō-nin discharged him after a day of observation. They wanted to keep him for another day or two, but he managed to persuade them to release him within a day on the condition that he was to visit every day for a week to get the mandated healing sessions. Even though he was only hit by half a B-rank jutsu, it wasn't something that he could shrug off with a day in the hospital.
For complete recovery with no future complications, he had to go through the full course.
He promised them that he would visit and fully intended to keep it because he didn't want any future complications. The only issue is that they barred him from any significant training or chakra usage for the next week, along with no work for at least three days. It was a bad time to be off work because he had meetings to attend with people in the coming days. There was a lot of work to be done for the new squad he was going to be leading under Itachi.
He was forced to reschedule those meetings.
"I'll see you tomorrow, miss," Takuma said to the nurse who had taken care of him during his one-day visit and left the hospital. The two plain-clothed operatives who were standing guard outside his room followed him outside.
"Thank you for the hard work. You can leave now," he said to them.
"Our orders are to stay with you for at least the next few days, Operative Ratel. We are going to escort you home," said one of them.
"And I can't say anything to persuade otherwise?"
"No," the second one said bluntly.
Takuma looked at both of them before sighing. "Alright, follow your orders, but we aren't going home. There are a couple of places I want to go before."
It was time to do the thing he had wanted to do since asking to leave right after the fight.
———
.
The destination was a posh residential area near the centre of the inner city. It was home to many of the smaller yet significant and powerful Hidden Leaf clans. Takuma stood in front of a traditional house built on a big plot of land. He turned around and addressed his bodyguards,
"I'm going in alone from here. It won't take long. You two should hide yourselves."
His guards readily agreed. It was definitely a surprise because he fully expected them not to have any flexibility. He had an attempt on his life literally the day before, and not everyone involved was caught. But they seemed to hold respect for him because of what had happened the day before, and entertained his request as long as he didn't make their jobs difficult.
Takuma walked in through the front gate and rang the bell.
He wanted to do this the moment he confirmed Kon was dead when his body turned to ash. It had to be done even though it would get him in trouble with ANBU. He could've waited a few more days until the protection detail was removed, allowing him to do it without scrutiny, but he felt they needed to know as soon as possible. He didn't care if it got punished for it.
The door to the house opened, and there stood Taketori Kameko, his academy classmate and teammate when they were both deployed to the Steam-Frost war.
"Takuma? What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.
He took a deep breath and pushed down the emotions that threatened to bubble over to say what he wanted to clearly,
"He's dead… The bastard who killed Rikku. I killed him."
.
———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!