Kensaku closed the book, which covered minor theories of doton application, with a sigh escaping his lips. While the book was entertaining, giving him new ideas to potentially work with, his mind was focused elsewhere. A day ago, he and his twin were assigned a mission to deal with bandits who were raiding a nearby town within one of Iwagakure no Sato's province. The parameters of the mission gave them discretion in handling the offenders. They could deal with them in any way they saw fit. Nothing of importance happened on their way to the village, but things got interesting upon arrival.

They had got there at the right time, for bandits were circling a woman and child. The thoughts of what would happen to the woman and her child crossed Kensaku mind, at the time, but was fleeting when Niala took control of the situation. There were many ways Kensaku had thought the particular mission would have gone, but, never did he think it would be Niala to draw first blood and kill a bandit during their first unsupervised field excursion. The little sister who he had sworn to protect from everything that would cause her harm was the one who took another's life.

At the time, he did not think much on her actions. No, he had to deal with the other bandits who threaten to harm his sister. He remembered how, upon unraveling his puppet, everything changed. He no longer spoke, speaking through his puppet instead, building a personality for the demented creation right then and there. The blood. He remembered all the blood which his puppet spilled, and the screams which came from the men being slaughtered, or, in the last one case, having his throat ripped out, by the puppet. The image of gore and viscera would not be something he would forget anytime soon.

"I wonder how she is holding up.", He silently mused to himself. When they returned, other things took precedences, with both parents questioning how the mission went, and if there was any difficulty while handling it. The two answered the questions truthfully, omitting nothing. The reactions received being what was expected, both parents feeling relieved and proud, along with making sure they were both okay with what they did in the name of a village. Once they were satisfied with the answer, the family went about their normal routine, eating dinner later that day, and eventually went to bed.

He did not know about Niala, but, sleep for him was sparse. The memories of those who he killed weighed heavily on him throughout the night. The screams of the men and the excessive amount of pain he caused to them woke him up several times throughout the night. It is thanks to the dreams that Kensaku was up at 4 am this morning and finishing the book over doton applications by 6 am. He could not sleep because of what he did that day, and he wondered how his twin was holding up.

Stretching and yawning, Kensaku got up off the bed, and made his way towards the miniature bookshelf, and placed the book back were in belong. “I wonder if she is up?”, He questioned, opening the door to the bedroom and walked to across the hall to Niala’s bedroom. Along the way, he heard their parents’ voices talking before hearing the door closing, their father heading off to work. Dressed in a plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants, Kensaku knocks on the door, “Niala, it is me, Kensaku. Are you awake? Want to talk to you.”, He spoke, patiently waiting for his twin to answer him if she was awake.

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616

Waiting for his twin to answer the door, Kensaku thought about what he was going to say to her? If the mission affected her as it did to him, what could he say to soothe her mind? He could go with the typical and generic response of “it will be okay” or “try not to think about it too much,” such responses that someone who did not experience what did have done would say. The types of answers which he had given to himself late last night, and which did nothing in helping him. How hypocritical would he be if he told her words that himself did not even believe? Could he really tell her those words? Lie to his twin’s face in hopes the words would help her more than they had him?

The answer to his unspoken questions revealed itself when Niala’s door open, and the person on his mind was standing right in front of him. “You have been crying.”, The words coming out before his mind could register what he had said. It was not a question, but simply a fact. The dried running streaks of tears down her face. The crumple, and probably wet, tissue in hand. All of the aforementioned were signs that his twin had been trying. Seeing her like this broke his heart, and made him regret allowing her to go on the mission. The regret paled in comparison to the other emotion he felt at the time.

She looked so small and tiny now. The vibrant, happy-go-lucky girl from two days ago, before their mission, having disappeared leaving behind this shell. Looking at her, his eyes soften considerably, as he closed the distance between them, stepping into her room to wrap his arms around her. For a few moments, nothing was said as he simply held his sister in his brotherly embrace, “I want to talk about what happened yesterday.”, He spoke, finally letting go of her to look within her eyes.

Closing the door behind him, Kensaku guided Niala towards her bed, gently sitting her down and sitting beside her. Silence descended in the room as he tried to figure out what he was going to say, yet, nothing was coming to him. Having no idea what to say, he decided just to start talking, hoping something would make sense, “Despite what I told mom and dad about our mission, I am far than okay what happened. What occurred, the people killed haunted me thoroughly throughout the night. I kept on seeing the faces and screams of the men who live I took. Last night was far from peaceful for me, nor does it seem it was peaceful for you either.”, He paused, allowing his words to sink in. He did not know where he was going with this speech, only saying whatever was coming to mind right now. He just hoped it made sense. “I tried telling myself that everything will be alright, that I will eventually get used to taking the life of another. But, I do not think none of that is true. For better or worse the mission has changed us, and it is up to us to determine that change. Killing should never become an easy and meaningless task. The moment it does is when, in my belief, we lose who we are as a human.”, He spoke, sighing softly. Why was this so hard? If they had told their parents the truth, he knew they could have to give them the advice they needed. “While things have changed. I think we should never forget who we are; that we are the proud children of Koizumi Hanae and Genki, and that, whenever we take another's life, it is to protect those who we care for at home. Having a reason why we are killing, asides from the village safety could help with us dealing with the aftermath of the act."

Did he believed the words spoken? Honestly taking to heart what he just now told Niala? Yes, he did. The words might not have been something their father or mother would have said to them, for nothing can be advice from experience shinobis, but, it was the best Kensaku could do for now. He had spoken what he felt was right, saying words that came from his heart. Looking at his twin, Kensaku’s right arm wrapped around her shoulder, bringing her against his own, “What do you think, Niala?”, He asked, wanting to get her opinion on what both of them was dealing with.

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765 |1381

Waiting for Niala to comment on what he had said, Kensaku’s thoughts started to analyze the words which he had spoken only moments ago. Logic had no place in the words spoken. Nothing that was said could be backed up by facts or some statistical data somewhere. Everything he spoke to his twin about came from his heart. It being the thing guiding his words, more like ramblings, as his brain was trying to make heads or tails with what was being said subconsciously. Throughout out the entire speech, there were times where the words came out of his mouth before his brain could properly register them, and once the words were said, he just went with the flow of them. There was no way he could take back what he had said, and it was not like he wanted to take them back, to begin with. The words steadily became easily as the more and more of them was spoken, and before he even realizes it, he had finished speaking, and now was just waiting for his twin’s comment.

Who knew silence could be so heavy? Kensaku did not realize waiting for his twin’s comment could be so nerve-wracking. Niala’s opinion was invaluable to him, and he knew that, but, never did he realize waiting for her to say something could be so nerve-wracking. Luckily, he did not have wait long before something was said. There it was, that soft smile of hers. Even before she began speaking, Kensaku knew his words made sense, and they had been validated by such a simple gesture from hers. Arms wrapped around his twin, returning the hug which she had given him, “I am glad that I was able to make you feel better. I was worried about you.”, He confessed. “Indeed, knowing that I am doing this to protect mom, dad, you, and my friends is a good enough reason for me to continue on this path. I will do what I need to protect those precious to me.”, He spoke, the smile on his face becoming bigger than what it was previously. Letting go of the hug, Kensaku stood up and stretch, a few joints popping from doing so, and chuckled at Niala’s comment of being hungry, “Haha, I am too. I know mom was cooking breakfast when I came over here. So, she might be done now.” Looking back at his sister, he nodded in agreement, “Yeah, though I would not be surprised if she somehow knew about this. Anyway, I will be waiting for you downstairs.” With that comment, he would wait to see if Niala had anything to say before exiting her room and heading downstairs. It is here where he greeted his mother before taking a seat.

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Earth Release: Earth Shore Return | 900 out of 900 words | 150 ryo