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“You’re right”. He heard her say. She leaned back into her seat, a defeated expression on her face. Her honey-brown eyes looked tired. “I have made my decision”. She admitted. “Uzumaki Akashi, I raise your suspension and…”, she trailed off, a slightly unsure look in her eyes, “… welcome you to the ANBU”. The said boy bowed his head.

“Thank you”. Seeing him bow, Tsunade let out a sigh. What was she doing? Letting a not-even-thirteen-years-old boy into the ANBU? Isn’t she supposed to protect the children? And here she is… letting a child join the most dangerous organization in the village.

Shaking her head, she straightened up. “One of my personal ANBU will escort you to the ANBU Headquarters, he will also explain what your job will be”. She gestured with her fingers and a masked ninja appeared next to Akashi. “Eagle, you will decide on which team he will be put on”. The said ninja nodded and turned to Akashi.

“Follow me”. Without another word, he turned around and walked through the door. Akashi cast one last look at the Hokage, before following after him.

Tsunade was left in the office, wondering if she had made a good decision.

_

Akashi ran across the rooftops after the ninja. They ran and ran and ran, until they reached an old-looking building. He followed him inside, and an old lady was standing behind a desk, various antique things on shelves behind and around her. The ninja came closer and whispered something in her ear. The lady nodded and a moment later, the shelf behind her moved, showing a passageway.

Akashi’s brows furrowed, watching as the ninja went inside. He glanced at the lady and found that she was already looking at him. There was a brief moment of silence, before her dry lips opened. “Young boy, your life is a unique one… The path you walk leads in two directions…”, she stopped, a cough ripping through her throat, before she calmed down, “… and only you can choose which to pursue”. She finished.

Akashi huffed at her cryptic words. “What do you mean by that?” He came closer to her, wanting to know what she meant. His life was unique? Path? Two directions? What the hell did she mean? She gave no answer. “What do you mean?!” He raised his voice, but she was still silent, just blankly staring past him.

Sighing, he stomped past her and through the passageway. As soon as he walked through, it closed behind him, and basked him in darkness. A moment later, torches lit, one by one, and cast light on the dark hallway. Akashi glanced down and noticed that the hallway had a stairwell which led down. He reluctantly went down, following after the masked ninja’s Chakra signal.

He walked and walked, until he reached the bottom of the stairs. The ninja was waiting for him and he was holding a white mask in his hands. Akashi glanced between the mask and the ninja, confusion written all over his face. “Put this on and seal it with Chakra”. Gingery taking it in his hands, Akashi put it on, surprised at how easy it was to do just that.

“From now on, your code name is ‘Wolf’, you will not let anyone other than the rest of the ANBU, only when necessary, know your true identity”. He nodded dumbly, and followed after Eagle once he walked away. He led him to a different room, one which had about 10 or so masked ninjas. They all wore different animal themed masks.

At their entrance, the others looked their way. Eagle gestured for him to come closer and he did. “This is Wolf, he is our new member”. Was what he said. Akashi glanced at each and every one in the room. They were staring at him, their Chakra was calm, silently spiraling inside them. He also felt nervous because he knew he was the weakest one in the room right now.

All of them were top-notch ninja. Ones trained for infiltration and assassination. He was trained for none of that. He was not even a ninja for a year, and yet, he was allowed to join their ranks.

“You will have a spar with one of the members so we can see on which team you should be put on”. Hearing that, Akashi turned to the man in alarm. Spar with an ANBU member?! Is he nuts?! They’ll wipe the floor with him! Seeing that the boy was alarmed, Eagle shook his head. “There’s no need for that, it’s just a spar, we need to test your abilities”. Akashi grimaced, not that the man could see, and turned back to the other members.

“So, who will I be sparing with?” He asked, looking over the members. Nobody seemed interested and for a moment, Akashi thought he was going to be fighting Eagle, but one voice spoke up. One that sounded eerily familiar.

“You’ll be fighting me”. One ninja stepped up. His Chakra was also familiar, Akashi deducted. He was wearing a Coyote mask. He walked up to the middle of the room, about 15 feet away from the redhead.

Eagle glanced between the two of them and nodded. “Coyote… go easy on him, will you?” He reprimanded the boy, making him shake his head. Akashi sensed a hint of amusement in his Chakra.

“Yeah, yeah”. He waved him off, reaching for the katana on his back. As he readied it, Akashi was hit with a flashback of that day on the Chunin exams. Coyote bent his knees, prepared to go off, but Eagle raised his hand.

“Wait”. He said, reaching behind his back. He grabbed his katana and offered it to Akashi. “Take this”. The said boy grimaced at the long blade. He had no idea how to use one. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Eagle patiently waited for the boy to take it.

Coyote settled his blade on his shoulder, waiting for the boy to take it. “Come on! Take it already!” Akashi could almost feel him grinning. “Or are you scared?” Coyote taunted, twirling the katana in his hands.

Scared? It was far, far from that.

Akashi glanced at Coyote and reached for the sword which was offered to him.

Alarmed, Coyote gripped his katana and readied it again. He had sensed the shift in the boy’s behavior immediately and he knew that he no longer had any time to mess around.

He saw him test the katana’s weight in his hands, shifting it from one to the other, before he let it stay in his left hand. It was highly unusual for a ninja to be left-handed and Coyote furrowed his brows. If the boy had any skill with the sword, it will be difficult for Coyote to block his hits, since they will come from the opposite direction than usual.

“Ready?” They heard Eagle ask and they both nodded at the same time. “Then start”. He quietly said and moved back away from them, leaving them in the middle. The others also moved back, letting them have more space.

Akashi barely had any time to move away, as the katana swished past his masked face. He spun on his feet, shifting around and forcing his blade down. There was a distinctive ‘clink’ as their blades collided. “Your blade technique is awful”. Akashi heard Coyote speak. Scoffing, Akashi let their swords grit together as he shifted around Coyote.

“It’s not really surprising, it’s my first time using it”. Coyote laughed and with one flick of his wrist, the blade left Akashi’s hands. It fell to the ground and another blade was pointed to the redhead’s neck. His ears started ringing as even more memories rushed to his mind.

Gritting his teeth, Akashi disregarded them. They won’t stop him now.

Without another word, Akashi grabbed the blade with his hand, not even wincing as the sharpness of the steel slipped through his flesh. Coyote froze at the scene in front of him. Then, unexpectedly, a fist flew straight towards his face. He ripped the sword back, feeling it slash even further along the other boy’s skin.

He had jumped back, evading the punch aimed at him.

Akashi shook his hand, letting the blood splatter in front of him in an arch. A moment later, a green glow emitted from his hand and a few seconds after that, it stopped. Akashi turned his hand around, looking at the previously bleeding wound. It was as if there wasn’t a cut at all.

Slowly, he bent down and grabbed his discarded sword. Raising his masked head, the wolf on it stared straight at Coyote. “Didn’t you know coyotes are nothing against wolves?” He taunted, wanting to make the other boy come closer. It worked, because Coyote scoffed and dashed forward.

Akashi took a step backwards, not even raising his sword and watched as Coyote stepped into his blood. The blade, which was meant to go down atop him, stopped inches away from his face.

“See? Nothing“. He watched as Coyote tried to move, but it proved futile.

“What did you do?” He demanded, the veins on his neck bulging from the tension.

“Oh… nothing, nothing at all”. He pointed underneath his feet, at the blood. Coyote forced his head down and looked under. The blood was spread in a circle, tiny little seals were formed out of it, and they were all connected. “Just a little blood seal”. Coyote sighed at his words.

“You purposely taunted me”. He accused, disbelief clear in his tone. Akashi nodded and turned around, walking back to Eagle.

“Thank you for the blade”. He handed it back to him, before looking at the stuck Coyote. He raised his hands in a hand-sign. “Release”. Coyote stumbled forward, not expecting that. He almost fell onto his face, but managed to keep balance.

“I see you’re indeed very adept at using seals”. Akashi glanced back at Eagle. “I heard your other skills while I was guarding the Hokage, and I’ve made my decision on which team to put you on”. Akashi waited for him to declare his answer. “Congratulations, Coyote, you’ve got yourself a new team member”. The said boy glanced at the redhead at the same time the redhead glanced at him.

“Huh?!” Both of them exclaim in unison.

“Since he has exceptional tracking abilities, I found it fit for him to be in your team”. That was Eagle’s explanation. Akashi looked at Coyote and noticed he had crossed his arms and looked away. As if he was sulking. Who would have thought he was an ANBU? He was nothing like the rest of them! He acted like a brat!

That reminded him. “Do I know you from somewhere?” Coyote looked at him and shook his head. Akashi didn’t buy it. “I definitely know you from somewhere”. He took a step closer, trailing his eyes over him. Coyote grimaced at him, not that he could see. Akashi focused on the other boy’s Chakra and then it all clicked.

“Oh! I know you! You’re that green-eyed kid that always bumped into me!” Akashi pointed at him in accusation. “Why the hell did you always bump into me?” He demanded, making Coyote snort.

“As if I did that on purpose”. He pointed back at Akashi. “And why would I want to bump into you?” The redhead raised his brows, a little surprised at his words. A tick mark appeared on his forehead as he stomped up to Coyote. He was a little discouraged at the, approximately, 3 inch difference in height, but that didn’t stop him.

“What’s wrong with me? You wanna fight?!” He glared at him, gritting his teeth.

“Fight? You mean the thing where I kick your ass?” He argued back.

“Kick my ass? Might I remind you who won the previous match?” Akashi bit back, hands clenched at his sides.

“That was pure luck! You used tricky methods!” Coyote continued arguing back, not giving in to Akashi’s convincing words.

“How are seals tricky methods?! You fell for my taunting!” Before their fight could escalate further, Eagle interfered.

“Stop your childish antics, both of you”. They froze at his tone, shakily turning to him. Even if his face was masked, they could still see that he had an angry expression. Akashi noticed it in his Chakra. He was beyond irritated.

“Wolf, you still haven’t completed your joining into the ANBU, follow me”. Eagle turned around and started walking away. Akashi followed after him, but not before raising his middle finger towards the other boy. Before Coyote could retaliate, Akashi exited the room after Eagle.

_

“What’s left?” He quickly trailed after the man.

“The official brand of the ANBU, a tattoo”. Akashi grimaced at his words. A tattoo? He’s gonna get a tattoo at the early age of 12? Eagle opened a door and inside was a woman sitting behind a desk. Around her, there were a lot of needles and bottles of clear and colorful liquid.

“New member, he needs a tattoo”. Was the only thing Eagle said to the woman. She sighed and stood up, heading over to him. When she reached him, she looked him over. Without a word, she grabbed his mask and removed it. Akashi’s eyes widen as she did that, but Eagle said nothing.

“A kid? Seriously? What the hell was the Hokage thinking?” The woman sighed and reached for the table on her left. She took a small cotton ball and some clear liquid. Using the liquid, she wet the small cotton ball, before applying it just under Akashi’s left shoulder.

Once that was done, she placed her hand over the spot. A moment passed, but nothing happened. Then, out of nowhere, a harsh, stinging sensation went through his shoulder. He bit his lip to quiet his gasp and then it was over. The woman moved her hand away and blew over the spot. Akashi blinked and looked at his shoulder.

There were two dark red lines. One was longer and curled into a spiral at the end, the other was just under it and it was in a light wave.

“There, that should do it”. The woman went back to her desk to sit down and whipped out a cigarette and a lighter, before lighting it. She took a smoke and breathed it in, letting it out a moment later.

“Me joining the ANBU wasn’t the Hokage’s idea, it was mine”. She glanced at him, her dark brown, nearly black, eyes almost tore a hole in him. She spun on the chair, her light brown curls bobbed over her shoulders. Akashi stood his ground.

“You mean to tell me you joined out of your own free will?” Her tone was incredulous, as if she didn’t believe a word that just came out of his mouth. He nodded his head.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you”. He answered, his violet eyes stared right at her.

“Why would you do something like that?” She asked, gently placing her hands on the desk. She didn’t look like it, but she sounded concerned.

“I had no one to tell me otherwise”. Her face hardened at his words.

“No friends? No family? What about your team mates?” She inquired. Wondering what made him do what he did. There was no way he did it just because he wanted to.

“My only friend was also the only family I had, and he’ll be out of the village for the next three years, he was a part of my team”. The woman winced at his words. “One left the village in pursuit of power and is now a missing ninja”. She could do nothing, but listen to him speak those painful words with a blank expression on his face. “The other became an apprentice under the Hokage… and the Jounin is too busy with his missions”. She regretted ever asking.

“So, to answer your question… no, I have nobody”. He said with a face as blank as an empty sheet of paper.

The woman sighed and leaned back into her chair. “I understand and I apologize for asking”. Akashi shook his head, a small smile raising to his face. The woman noted it looked forced.

“It’s alright, it’s not as bad as it sounds”. The woman almost laughed at his words. It’s not as bad as it sounds? She was certain that it was even worse.

“If the tattoo is all you came for, then you can go”. Eagle nodded at her words and turned around.

“Wolf, let’s go”. Akashi followed after him, before the woman stopped him.

“You forgot something”. He turned around and saw her waving his mask in her hands. Nodding his head, he walked over to her table, but before he could take it, she pulled it back. “You’re too young to be wasting your life here… This job is a very dark one, one capable of leading you down a long, dark path… I don’t wish to see a bright, young boy like you walk it”. Her eyes radiated sincerity.

Akashi shook his head and took the mask from her. He sent her a small smile, before he put the mask on.

“I’m grateful for your concern, but…”, he trailed off, walking to the door, before he turned to face her, “… I think it’s too late for that”. With that, he went through the door, leaving her alone in the room.

The woman chuckled and it resounded through the room.

With her head leaned back and eyes looking up at the ceiling, she spoke.

“I think so, too”.

AN: I apologize for not posting yesterday, had a bit of a tight schedule.