The sound of ice hitting the bottom of a glass echoed through the open, spacious apartment. Kyohei poured himself a glass of water as the sun went down, waiting for his visitor with news of their predicament. Slowly he swirled the transparent liquid around, allowing the cubes of ice to clank against the sides. That was the only sound that could be heard in the apartment, Kyohei not keeping much as far as background noise in his apartment.  The apartment was large, luxurious and open, a high ceiling warehouse style apartment that was likely beyond the price range of a normal chunnin. He had only attained this apartment through a relationship with a certain loan shark within the village that he did some enforcer work for back in his younger days.

It was surely a desirable location, but it was not what one would consider homely. Kyohei did not spend a great deal of time in his apartment, and due to his terrible sleeping habits made very little use of his bed. The walls of his apartment were bare. There were no decorations beyond a few mirrors scattered about and no pictures. The air was cold and scentless, and the cabinets were bare. The refrigerator held nearly no food, but instead was stocked with various drinks. The black leather furniture was the same that the apartment had come furnished with and had seen little wear since he had moved in. If one didn’t know any better they would think that the apartment was uninhabited and merely maintained as a display. Kyohei did not keep pictures of himself, nor his family, not that he associated with what was left of them to begin with. The apartment was more of a hotel room that he occasionally laid his head than a home. In a way one could say the atmosphere was rather fitting for Kyohei. His living quarters were as empty and chilling as he had become.

Kyohei was dressed in a matter typical of him when off-duty as he waited for Risu to arrive. A white dress shirt, untucked with the top two buttons undone, sat upon his chest, sleeves rolled up to his upper forearm. On his right wrist he wore a bracelet or red tiger’s eye beads and on his left a black leather, braided bracelet, made visible by his rolled up sleeves. Black pants and boots completed the rather basic outfit, not that Kyohei ever made an effort to wear particularly flashy clothes. While a relatively commonplace style for him, he doubted Risu had ever seen him without combat equipment on, give that they only know each other through missions.  Unless of course she had looked further into his life, which her clan origins made a real possibility, but he preferred to think she had behaved otherwise. Shaking such trivial thoughts from his mind he would refocus on the issue at hand. Had that letter been authentic, there was a very real possibility that he would be getting a visit from some uninvited guests in the near future. Leaning himself back against his marble countertop he pondered his options. Leaving this apartment behind was nothing to him. He had no home, nor emotional ties to this place. There were very few, if any, places however, that he could go to be out of reach of Orochi Enaka, at least not within the village walls. “Not that big of a deal, I guess,” he mused to himself, “I suppose my departure from this village was bound to happen sooner or later. I just didn’t expect the messenger to be someone like Risu. She’s not the exactly the muscle-bound thug type that I’m used to having deliver threats on my life.”

---

628~

Click Here

Her ear was pressed against the wall, while she could hear the voice of an unknown person in her uncle's office. Her heart was beating rapidly, pounding in her chest like a massive drum, almost making it hard for her to breathe normally. The bits and pieces she had heard before she had managed to find the hole in the wooden wall had made her anxious.

It happened not so long after she had given the letter she had found to Kyohei, that an unknown visitor, who told her that he was part of the villages Central Intelligence Division had arrived to the Orochi Estate. This man had a grim expression, which combined with the various scars on his face made him an intimidating person towards the young kunoichi, who had just arrived moments earlier, affriad to confront her uncle. However, when she had planned to simply go an get some scrolls and read some books and reports in the library before going to Kyohei's place, she had noticed that she could hear the conversation through the walls, a conversation between a man she had never seen before and a man she thought she knew all to well.

"No matter the cost or the consequences," The voice of the mysterious man resonated through the wall, a seriously grim tone to be heard in his voice."I suggest you do your job properly, your position is starting to dwindle. I heard some men of the Uchiha clan have been approached by your niece, if you don't deal with that, I will."

For a moment the room went silent, when suddenly Risu could hear that icecold anticipational sigh, one she knew very well, as it was always the start of a discussion between herself and her uncle.

"My dear Taro, I suggest you hold your tongue right this instant, you insignificant pest," The surprisingly dark and cold voice of Enaka rang into Risu's ears. "My niece will be dealt with in due time, as she is standing in my way and becoming a liability to my own plans. However, for now, I might look at her actions with a certain degree of discrepancy."

"What do you mean, sir?" The mysterious man, whos voice had drastically turned from unruly to submissive after Enaka's statement. "I thought those Uchiha were needed for your plans, she could force your hand and help them seek refuge elsewhere. It is known that your niece is garnering a lot of respect with the future head of the Chi clan, has been talking with a member of the senju clan and now that Uchiha."

"All her efforts will be in vain," Enaka answered quite softly, a chillingly friendly tone of voice came out of his mouth at that point."Before the end of our project, she will be sharing the fate of her parents and she will die by my hand."

With a loud inhale, the young girl pulled away from the wall, affraid to make any possible sound. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she had been wrong for so long and now she had heard something she could never believe. Her uncle was planning to kill her and though he did not directly say he had killed her parents, she remembered the words of Hamada sensei, who told her he had disturbing news on her 'dear' uncle Enaka.

Grabbing her things at her room, putting on her usual attire from a purple jumpsuit with the formfitting white t-shirt, she quickly looked in the mirror, disregarding the fact that her t-shirt was probably a size to small compared to before and her curves were starting to show themselves a bit to obviously compared to a few months ago.

Running through the streets with a backpack, the darkness of the closing night smothered her, yet did not protect her from a newborn fear; the fear of watching eyes beyond the shadows. She ran on, looking at the adress scribbled on the small paper, crying constantly, tears still flowing, while she tried to push away the thought of her uncle planning to kill her himself.

When she arrived at the adress, she looked at the name list in the hall, realising there was no Uchiha name on it, but there was a Kyohei though. Pushing the bell of this non-Uchiha Kyohei, the snake girl hoped to hear the Uchiha's voice through the speaker, because when the speaker would be turned on, the person would be able to hear the deep fear within her breathing alone.

765 unused

Kyohei’s introspection would be interrupted by the building lobby’s buzzer, notifying him that someone had arrived. It wasn’t exactly difficult to imagine who it might be. Kyohei did not entertain guests in his house, except for on rare occasions. There was only one person who would know to come here looking for him, and unless for some reason there was a person playing with the buzzer console, he surmised that Risu had arrived. Using his two hands to push himself up off of the marble countertop, he would stand and make his way over to the speaker located on the wall beside the front door.

Sliding his index finger over the stainless steel console, Kyohei would press down the speaker button and lower his face down to the microphone. “Hello?” he spoke into the perforated steel plate that housed the microphone. Before he could question the identity of the person buzzing his apartment however, he would pause at the sound of frantic breathing on the other end of the line. His eyes widened as his imagination began to run wild. He had known the possible consequences of Risu’s actions, but even he wouldn’t have imagined that it would have come back to her this quickly. Part of him hoped he was wrong, but the fearful panting coming through over the speaker set a sneaking suspicion into his mind that something was happening. Was Risu crying? And if so, what about? Had someone hurt her? Were they still with her? Disregarding the potential danger he might now be facing himself we would call out to Risu, hoping that she would be able to respond when he went to see her.

“Hime-chan?” he began, a concerned tone rising in his voice, “What’s wrong? Hold on, I’m opening the door and coming down.” Without a moment’s hesitation Kyohei slid his finger off of the microphone button and over to the switch that unlocked the lobby door. With a flick of the wrist he unlocked the heavy steel lock on his front door and darted down the staircase, not interested in wasting time waiting for the lift. He would leap from down from the last platform on the winding stairs to the lobby floor and immediately scan the area for Risu.

---

1014~

Two pairs of eyes, hidden behind masks as black as the night looked calmly towards the girl running through the streets. The orders were simple: follow her, know with who she's talking, remember all the potential problems for the Organizations problems and when deemed necessary, take action. They jumped silently over the rooftops, avoiding the cables and threads hanging over the streets, just to follow the girl to a large apartment building.

…

She almost fell down when entering the hall, almost losing the remaining bit of composure she had left when she heard the voice of Kyohei through the speaker. Her heart had never beaten so fast and so loud, except for maybe during the time her old genin team was under attack from those mysterious black-masked ANBU shinobi, the first time since then, that she had a high probability of actually dying.

"Kyohei, Kyohei, is it you?" Risu asked with a slightly hampering voice, a shrill farcry of her usually strong and composed voice. Fear was never her ally and at this point it seemed that it was fear that brought her to the edge of a breaking point, because it reminded her about something her uncle had once said to her: that she was similar to him in so many ways that it was almost frightening. "Kyohei?"

When Kyohei would have come down, he would see the girl quivering, hidden in a corner, with a few black envellopes in her hand, her body rocking back and forth, with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was so close to her breaking point and that was obvious, yet when she noticed the Uchiha man, she silently rose up, seemingly back to her more usual self, though her hands were still trembling.

"I…we might have some problems," the snake girl hissed, when grabbing the young man by his wrist, trying to pull him out of the lobby and closing the door behind them, so he could bring her upstairs to his apartment. "I think my actions haven't slowed down the process, but have made the people behind the curtains speed up their program. Thing is…I dont know anything about this program yet, or the scale of the organization. All I know is, that when the person in charge has reached his goal, I'll be executed and so will a few other important figures, along with some clans. These letters and what I've heard in my uncle's study this evening…are…worse than what I could've ever imagined."

1191 unused

It would not take long for Kyohei to locate Risu in the lobby, but what he did see was not a sight he had expected to come across. Fortunately, there were no signs of blood or an injury, meaning that at least for the moment she was unharmed. The manner in which he found her in the building lobby however, was particularly worrisome. The snarky and proud girl that he had known through their missions was nowhere to be found. All that sat before him now was a fearful girl, cradled into the fetal position, rocking back and forth in a corner of the room. It didn’t take the eyes of an Uchiha to see just how upset she was, her body still shaking ever so slightly from whatever it was that had shocked her into this state. Seeing her like this now was odd due to her normal behavior, but not entirely shocking to him. He had seen the extent to which her emotional equilibrium could be offset during their first mission together. Another situation like that would likely be less than ideal at this moment, especially without Kyohei knowing the situation that he found himself in right now.

Rather than running over to Risu hurriedly, possibly exacerbating the situation further by surprising a girl already in shock, Kyohei would make his way over calmly, though with definite haste in his step. He had intended to reach her and kneel down to her seated level, maybe even taking a seat beside her in hopes of providing some comfort through familiarity through his actions, but before he could do that she would rise on her own, a good sign although he could still see her hands trembling. When she grabbed him by the wrist, Kyohei almost pulled himself away purely out of reflex, but stopped himself in favor of allowing Risu to do whatever she felt she needed to do and would make her more comfortable until she gave him the information he needed regarding the situation. He raised an eyebrow at the ominous words she spoke, paying particular attention to her mention of her own execution as part of this mysterious program.

Looking at her now, it was apparent that she had packed up and left her own home in a hurry. She carried with her a single bag that looked sloppily packed, surely from having everything stuffed in rapidly as she fled her home. Her eyes and face puffy and red, typical of someone who had been sobbing heavily in the recent past, and she was dressed in the purple jumpsuit that she had worn during their assignment earlier in the day, this time with a white t-shirt that appeared a size too small, hugging tightly to her body and showing off a more curvy and developed figure than he had given her credit for all this time. “You’re not going to be executed Hime-chan,” he said sternly, seeking to cease the tide of concerned words that she seemed to be forcing out, “We can talk, but not down here. Come upstairs and you can tell me everything.” Allowing her to retain her grip on his wrist, Kyohei would lead her to the lift, which was the fastest way to get up to the highest level of the five floor building. Aside from that, Risu didn’t appear to be in the condition for rigorous physical activity. What he needed was for her to calm down so that they could both discuss the situation rationally and he hoped that his mello demeanor would help ease her nerves a bit.

From the elevator the duo would take a left turn and walk a few paces down the hall to the entrance to Kyohei’s apartment. Having left it unlocked in his rush to get downstairs, he would simply turn the knob and hold the door open for Risu to allow her to enter. “The living room is right to your left, please make yourself at home,” he said reassuringly, feeling a bit strange as he had very little experience having guests in his apartment, “Can I get you something to drink? Water? Juice? Wine? I’m afraid I don’t know your drink of choice, but you must be thirsty after running all the way here. Go sit down.” Should Risu agree to let him bring her a drink he would return with the drink of choice along with the same drink for himself and sit on the leather sofa across from her seat. “Now, tell me everything. First of all, are you okay? Did anyone hurt you on the way here?”

---

1791~

the comforting and reassuring words reached the young woman, making it so she would stop trembling, managing to get a hold of herself, even though what little information she had gathered on her uncle so far had made her full of fear and doubt, a dark cloud settling itself within her already fragile mind. She joined the young man in the elevator upstairs, sighing deeply, trying to calm herself even a bit more before talking about what she had gathered so far, which in all certainty was not going to be pleasant for either of them to be looking at.

"If you have it, you could bring me some sake, because I need something really strong to feel at ease at this point," the snake girl replied to the question if she wanted anything to drink. At this point she really hd a need for something which would ease her mind and body a bit, given the fact she had just heard her own death sentence a few minutes earlier, not really something which a would brighten someone's day or bring peace to their heart and mind. "And regarding the fact I have a lot to tell you, it might be good if you take something strong as well, just to make sure you're prepared for what we're about to read and what I'm about to tell you."

Not waiting for Kyohei's response, the young woman placed herself in the comfortable sofa Kyohei had in his living room, placing the two unopened black envelopes she had onto the salon table, hesitating for just a moment wether or not she would open them and read them or simply discard them. Curiosity and the desire to know outweighed her fear, so after pulling a scalpel out of the pouch on her left leg, she sliced open one of the envelope to take a look at the mysterious contents of it:

black envelope *1:

"Well, this letter doesn't contain any interesting information in my opinion," Risu sighed, while leaning back, rubbing her temples with her fingers, trying to understand what she had just been reading. "It appears they have already caught two Uchiha clanmembers on that list and need more of them, but nowhere there's any implication that they only need the sharingan."

1712

Kyohei let out an amused huff at Risu’s request for sake. Despite her now slightly more curvy appearance in her tight white shirt, he still somewhat saw her as a little girl that needed him to watch over her just as he had done on their first mission together. Part of him wanted to make a snarky comment about her being too young to drink, but given her current, distraught condition he merely smirked and kept it to himself. He dare not deny her now, lest she go through another episode. The best thing he could do for her now is make her comfortable. A short while later he would return from the kitchen with a bottle of sake in hand and two glasses, which he would place on the coffee table between the two couches where they sat. “I find it somewhat amusing that you suggested I take a drink as well,” Kyohei said teasingly as he poured the sake into each of their glasses, “I’m somewhat surprised that you haven’t done your homework and looked into my past. If you had you’d know that I’m no stranger to rough experiences. I’m an Uchiha, after all. But it’s cute that you would be concerned for me. It’s not something that happens for me very often. Thank you, hime-chan.”

On his way back into the room from going to retrieve the sake for the two of them he had overheard her speculation about the letter she had just read, but did not say anything about it, instead waiting for her to compose her thoughts and settle down after she had gotten her drink. To be honest, the abduction of two Uchiha was not really a big issue for him. Kyohei did not associate himself with his clan very often. He didn’t even see what was left of his immediate family. He had been on his own for so long, he no longer felt the need to be a part of a family unit. The fact that they were apparently still trying to obtain more was an issue, especially considering he was listed by name in a previous letter, but since he had seen that letter already he had expected that possibility all along. Someone coming for him at this point was a foregone conclusion. It was only a matter of time before he was paid a visit by an unwanted guest, but he was prepared for that scenario.

Lifting his glass and tilting his head back, he would swallow the entirety of his glass in one go. The sake was deceptively smooth, how easy it went down covering up how strong of a drink this particular make was. One glass should have been enough to calm Risu’s nerves once the warmth of the alcohol spread throughout her body. With his thumb he would wipe a bit of stray liquid from the side of his mouth and redirect his attention to his guest, “So tell me, hime-chan, what’s the situation. What you heard about being executed is a non-factor. That won’t be happening. I can get you safely out of the village well before that if that’s what you wish. No one will be laying a finger on you. But I don’t know if I can make the same claim about myself. At least not without knowing what it is I’m dealing with. You know more about the situation than I do. You don’t have to rush. Take your time. You’re free to use my apartment and anything in it as if it were your own, but you will have to tell me everything eventually. The sooner, the better."

---

2419~

Not a single second after she had been given a glass and the opportunity to fill her glass, Risu did so as quick as she could, filling the glass to about half of it's volume and putting it against her lips, swallowing the contents in one single gulp. She really had been needing a drink and even though this was only the second time she had ever drunk an alcoholic beverage, she knew that it was the only thing that would allow her to think straight and process the information of everything she had gathered so far.

"Ok, ok," The snake girl sighed when rubbing her forehead with her fingers, massaging it so she wouldn't feel the backlash of the sake to fast. "I managed to overhear a conversation between a man called Taro, who I think is part of the Central Intelligence Division and my uncle. Out of what they talked about, I could gather that my uncle's dealing with more than one project, but their main concern seemed to be…well, the fact that they have suspicions that I know about their project and that I am purposely in contact with you because of that. So far they do not know exactly who you are, because I think neither my uncle or that Taro guy handles the assignments personally."

That was all she had so far, not much when considering she had to leave out the discussion on how they would deal with her, at which her uncle surprisingly stated that he would deal with Risu personally.

"If you don't mind, I'll have a look at that second envelope and lay back for a while…I'm exhausted," The Orochi lady said with a soft grin on her face, restraining herself from yawning while saying those words. "Let's have a looksy, shall we."

Second envelope:

"Well ok, it's interesting when you look at it in a financial way, I guess," Risu scoffed, sighing when placing the paper on the table. It was quite anti-climactic to get a budget list out of one of those envelopes, though still usefull in a way. "It does give us an idea on how far his arm reaches, which is way further than I had ever thought. When looking at this, he's got more influence on the world than any daimyo has. So tell me, how would it be impossible for him to get to me or you for that matter?"

2285

Kyohei reached for the envelope that Risu had placed on the table and picked it up as he rose from his seat. Carefully he would scan the document as he began to pace the room, analyzing all of the information he currently had available to him. “Well, we can’t assume that they do not know who I am,” he stated bluntly, “But whether or not they know about me is largely inconsequential. I can take care of myself. What we do know for certain is that they either suspect or have confirmation of you participating in actions that work to undermine their plans and that they have no qualms about killing you for it. That just won’t do. What kind of a knight in shining armor would I be if I didn’t come to the aid of the princess?” A sly grin crept upon his face as he spoke those words teasingly, restraining himself from laughter. It was pretty safe to assume that both of them knew at this point that the “knight in shining armor” role was not his character. Even so, he was now indebted to Risu for her taking the risk of warning him about the probable attempt on his life beforehand. Kyohei hated the idea of debt. He intended to repay it and repay it quickly.

When she questioned his ability to get either of them out of the reach of her uncle Hayato would simply walk over to her on the couch and gently place his hand atop her head. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that, hime-chan,” he said playfully as he offered a reassuring smile, “There are always ways to make oneself disappear if you know where to look… or you look with the right eyes. I know a place that we can go, a place where no amount of money or political influence in the world can buy you access. Trust in your white knight, princess.” Removing his hand from her head he would toss the letter back onto the coffee table and walk over to pour himself another drink, yet again swallowing it all in one gulp as he tilted his head back.

“But for now at least, you should get some rest,” Kyohei said, running his fingers back through his white hair as he let out a sigh, “You were too distraught when you arrived here to simply be okay now. That’s no condition to be doing any kind of tactical planning or careful thinking. The guest room is right down this hall on your right and it has its own bathroom. You’re free to bathe, sleep, or whatever you need to do to relax. The room is yours. I keep some of my clothing in the closet in the guest room as well. If you choose you can put on one of my shirts. It looks like one of mine might be a bit more comfortable than the one you have on right now, although this isn’t a bad look for you either. Take an hour, then we’ll talk some more. You can use the break.”

---

2947~

A soft smile came across Risu's lips when she heard Kyohei make his state on being a knight in shining armor. It would be nice to look at it like that, but she knew it was just his usual form of fake humor, covering whatever true nature he tried to hide so much around her. Because of that, her smile faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"I dont think a knight could save me from any decent shinobi, certainly with an armour on," She quickly joked, standing up from her seat and taking a glance at the amount of windows the apartment had, just to check if it werent too many. "A white knight for the White Snake Princess, how amusing to look at it in that way."

When she was being offered a place to take some rest, the young woman accepted the offer grateful and immediately excused herself, planning to indeed take a bath first, which would more or less take away the usual stress of being a shinobi and might allow her to shake off that feeling of imminent dread she had been having that entire time.

As she entered the bathroom, she made some steamy hot water run out of the tab into the tub, while taking off her shirt and her jumpsuit, looking into the mirror in the bathroom, noticing the distinct marks of tears and fatigue on her face, prompting her to undress completely and step into the bathtub, letting her entire body relax, while the foam on the water started envelloping her.

Suddenly she jumped up, noticing she had almost falled asleep in the bathtub, she stepped out of the bath, pulling the plug, making the water run into the drain. Quickly she dried herself off with a towel hanging near the bath, after which she put on her black set of underwear on again, folding her own shirt and jumpsuit, while looking into Kyohei's wardrobe as instructed, out of which she pulled a rather large black shirt and put it on as well.

Laying her own shirt and jumpsuit at the back end of the bed, Risu started laying down and quite quickly got lost into the soothing embrace of sleep.

…

Spoiler:

Two pairs of eyes looked at the light coming out of the windows, the moving figures behind the curtains. An arm went upwards, with a hand making a short, yet strict movement, after which one of the two figures hidden in the darkness grabbed a Kunai and bound something to it with a string.

A thumb was put up, the kunai was thrown through the window, planting itself next to one of the envelopes on the table, the sound of glass shattering hid the sound of a small ball bursting open, filling the entire room with a thick, black cloud of smoke in a mere instant, during which two men with a tango, a black mask and an entire black ANBU outfit jumped into the apartment's living room, one going towards the youngman in the room, the other leaving to get the girl in the bathroom.

2806

Kyohei shot up from his seat on the couch at the sound of a crash through his window, his eyes immediately being drawn to the kunai that pierced into the coffee table beside him. A low hissing sound proceeded the rapid rise of a cloud of black smoke throughout the room. It looked like trouble had found them sooner than he had expected. Unsure of whether Risu was up or not, Kyohei intended to run to her room, but stopped as the silhouettes of two men in all black emerged from the window just before the smoke blanketed the entire area.

~~~

“No more hesitation!” a man’s voice snarled as he struck down the young Kyohei to the knees, breaking open his bottom lip and causing a small stream of blood to trickle over it.

“Father, I just…” the young Kyohei began before another hard backhand against his face cut off his plea and sent him face first into the ground.

“Your enemies will not give you a chance to explain yourself,” the older man said as he lifted his leg and began pressing his boot down against the side of Kyohei’s face, “Talking is a waste of time. Trying to reason with them will only result in your death. There is only one appropriate response: immediate action. Send them to hell before they send you there.” Kyohe’s father would then begin to apply pressure with his boot, slowly crushing the boy’s head against the hard concrete floor of the training facility. The large, empty chamber would echo with the screams of the young Uchiha boy as his father continually applied more pressure onto his head.

“Remember this feeling of helplessness, boy,” the man continued coldly without letting up the pressure, “If you hate it, make sure that you never feel this way again. No hesitation, no mercy. You are an Uchiiha, the world will hate you. People will come after you just to get a chance at taking your eyes. They will even target those around you, just for being associated with you. Make them regret everything.”

~~~

“No hesitation!” Kyohei roared in his mind as his Sharingan activated almost reflexively, “They will regret everything.” While one man headed off towards the hallway to the bedrooms, the other darted straight at Kyohei. The smoke however, would not provide him cover from the Sharingan. Even with the visual prowess of the Sharingan though, the man’s speed surpassed his own. Trying to outmaneuver him would prove to be futile, and furthermore, he didn’t have time to sit here and play games with this intruder while his partner was headed for Risu’s location. As the man charged forward at Kyohei he would pull out a tanto and proceed to perform a thrust directly into Kyohei’s heart. To the surprise of his assailant however, Kyohei would not move in an attempt to dodge or block the strike, instead he would simply shift his body to the side, allowing the blade to pierce into his left bicep. With his left hand he would then grab a hold of his assailant’s wrist.

“I see you have a fondness for masks,” Kyohei spoke in an almost eerily casual voice given the situation, “As do I. But it’s no fun being in costume ALL the time, now is it? How about we take a look what’s behind those masks?” With his right hand, Kyohei would tilt the bottom of the mask up, revealing his face before taking a deep breath. From his mouth would them flow a stream of flames from point blank range, causing the skin on his face to boil over from the intense heat. When the jutsu was over, Kyohei would push the still body of his charred opponent off of him and to the ground, pulling the tanto from his arm and plunging it down into the man’s throat to secure the kill. Wasting no time he would then chase after the second man towards the room Risu was in.

“Go back to sleep, hime-chan,” Kyohei announced from the doorway to the room with a smile, holding his left bicep and applying pressure to it in an attempt to stop the bleeding, “I’ll deal with our guests. You once made a comment to me about all the ‘masks’ I wear and wanting me to show you what was underneath the mask, no? Unfortunately, it seems like I no longer remember what I look like without one. I apologize. But even still, this feels like something I should do. Please allow me this selfish request. I’d like to feel what the white knight mask feels like, even if only this once.” With that, his glowing red eyes would shift over to the masked man standing in his way. There was still one man left alive… Kyohei would have to correct that.

---

3767~

The other assailant had heard the muffled gurgle of his dying partner in crime, noticing that it had been the young man who had disposed of the other shadow-warrior by apparently using his sharingan to compensate for their difference in skill. The masked man knew his orders, neither of them had to be killed, only sustained, though in the Uchiha's case, getting the eyes was also an option if detainment wasn't possible.

He was standing right next to the bed, his tanto put back in his sheath, when he was trying to use the wires to tie up the girl who was apparently sleeping rather soundly, yet when a voice came into the bedroom, waking up Risu to the point of being groggy, just half awake, yet conscious enough to realise the situation she was in.

"Tsk, that idiot really had to go down so fast," The masked man in the room scoffed with a hissing voice. A single look at the girl, who had registered the words of the young man standing in the doorway, made him decide what he had to do. A single tap against her head and she fell back into a deep slumber, while the man quickly turned his attention back to Kyohei. "Let's not trouble Milady with the death of such a pesky little boy."

The man knew that dealing with an Uchiha, no matter their rank in the village, was always something special, as there were so many factors in play. Using any kind of jutsu which would lessen the vision of a regular person would be less effective on those wretched Uchiha clan members. So the masked man gave a single, high pitched chuckle, placing his hands together and swiftly forming a few hand seals.

From underneath the man's clothes, two black serpents crawled upon the floor, seemingly without an end, as they grew larger and larger every instant, until the two of them had a length of six meters each, forming a formidable barrier of bonecrushing strength and long fangs between the two men.

"Seeing as you're an Uchiha and are probably familiar with a lot of techniques," The man laughed, while a shudder went through his body, as if something had just happened to his body, with the sound of something hardening. "You might be quite familiar with this one. Alas I have not much time and my orders are absolute, so I'll let you play with my pets while I take Milady to her proper home."

When he said those last words, the snakes slithered towards Kyohei, swaying from side to side, ready to strike whenever the young man would move, giving the masked man a chance to try and lift the girl out of the bed.

3271

Kyohei gritted his teeth as the intruder turned his back to him in order to continue with his abduction of Risu. The fact that this man though that these snakes would be sufficient to keep him occupied while the caster ignored him was nothing short of an insult. The fact that he had begun to tie up Risu only made Kyohei’s blood boil even further. Still, Kyohei himself realized that in this situation his options were rather limited, not because he was incapable of facing off with his assailant (as his recent dispatching of his partner displayed), but because he was being forced into a situation where he was unable to use any of his most powerful jutsu freely out of fear of catching the dormant Risu in the damage.

Having to deal with the twin snakes before him before proceeding to rescue Risu, Kyohei would dart to the left side of the room, running along the wall while the snakes darted forward to his location. As the two snakes split off from one another in an attempt to blindside Kyohei, he would leap into the air himself, using the bureau in the room to balance himself into a one-handed hand stand, watching the two charging snakes break through the walling of his apartment through sheer strength alone. Before the two snakes were given the ability to recover from their crash Kyohei would use his arm to launch himself up into the air. Aside from simply giving him the ability to avoid damage that would have otherwise been inflicted by the snakes, Kyohei would also use his leap to reposition himself. While still air born,  Kyohei was able to angle himself above and beyond the snakes, giving him the perfect angle to strike.

Kneading katon chakra into his lungs, Kyohei would inhale deeply before releasing all of the chakra that he had gathered in the form of a massive fireball aimed to incapacitate the two beasts standing in his way, the angle such that Risu’s bed was safely out of the flames’ path. Once he believed the snakes to have been dealt with, or at least out of his way, Kyohei would dart right over to Risu’s bedside aiming for the man attempting to once again bind her. The man’s had not time to even draw a weapon before Kyohei was upon him. His reflexive response to the charging Uchiha was a swift palm thrust aimed high, a strike which was too straightforward and telegraphed to have any real chance of hitting Kyohei while the sharingan was active.

Kyohei would duck down to avoid the strike continuing forward into the man as dodged the incoming attack. Reaching his hand out, Kyohei would grab hold of the tanto’s hilt and perform a counterclockwise spin, drawing the weapon out from his opponent’s waist and cutting a gash into his enemy on the way back around. “Too slow,” remarked, his voice filled with rage. The two men would then begin to clash in a flurry of swift close combat strikes. The sound of the tanto clanking off of the man’s kunai filled the room, with only grunts filling the empty space. Kyohei would find himself disarmed in the exchange before receiving a devastating knee to the rib cage, no doubt breaking several of his ribs. As he fell to the floor, his assailant, complacent in his thoughts of victory, would place his boot over the side of Kyohei’s face, applying pressure and crushing it into the floor just as Kyohei’s father had done so many years ago.

As kyohei’s rage welled up inside him, he would let out a feral roar, ignoring the pain associated with his injuries  in order to grab his opponent’s leg and violently yank him down to the ground. Over and over again Kyohei would bring his fist down upon the man’s face, mask and all. The hardness of the mask left Kyohei more unsatisfied with each successive blow, covering up the crushing damage being done to the man’s face. After what seemed like an eternity of rage-induced savagery, Kyohei would cease his relentless assault, a pool of blood sitting beneath the man’s head from the merciless beating. The fact that the mask was left largely undamaged through Kyohe’s punches however, left him feeling empty. Looking down at his own hands which were now bloody and bruised, surely having broken several of his fingers in that last outburst, Kyohei remained completely silent.

It was only now that he had calmed down that the severity of his injuries began to affect him. Even with the broken ribs, hands, and skewered arm however, he would still manage to hobble his way over to the bed where Risu still slept. The fact that she slept through all of that only told him that the man must have used some manner of sleep inducing jutsu when he had his hands on her, a thought that still disgusted Kyohei. Still, even with a large portion of his apartment now charred from his own katon jutsu, and trails of blood and bodies all over his floors, he was relieved that Risu was unharmed. She looked peaceful in her sleep, as if she had been unaware of anything that had been going on around her. “Tch,” he scoffed with a smirk as blood began to run down from his mouth, “It looks like I’m  stuck looking after you yet again. Don’t keep scaring me. Sweet dreams, hime-chan.” Using the wall for support, Kyohei would begin to slowly lower his bloody and battered body to the ground just beside Risu’s bed where he would do just about the only thing he could still manage, sleep.

---

4736~

Loop: to repeat constantly, endless cycle

With the masked man beaten to a pulp, the massive snakes burned to charred leather and the drowsiness of the dwindling excitement taking its effect on Kyohei, it was more than obvious that he did not notice the events that happened straight after his last fight.

While he was dozing off himself, Risu's breathing was getting more frantic, hastier and less healthy sounding, close to an actual hyperventilation, while beads of sweat started to form on her pearly white skin. Something was obviously wrong, as in most cases a human would wake up, screaming or not, but they would wake up, when having what seemed an incredibly intense nightmare, however the snake girl wasn't waking up at all, as the now deceased masked shinobi had slightly altered her cerebral patterns, forcing her mind to be enclosed within a looping dream and sadly for her, this also freed her suppressed memories to flood into her subconscious like a wave of overwhelming despair and agony.

She was reliving the very moment that had forced her into a catatonic state for four years, one moment that had broken her will and shattered her soul. The moment she had heard the truth about everything.

Her subconsciously repressed memories made her return to the moment between the death of Kaoru, her teammate and the time when the Konoha ANBU found her a few miles away from the main gates.

At the very moment Kaoru had released his final breath, a masked man appeared behind Risu, laying his hand on her shoulder and whispering just a few words into her ears:

"The choice is yours, The masked man spoke with an icecold voice. "You can forget everything or you can die just like your parents did."

Risu remembered the choice she had made that single moment, after which she ended up in the hospital, burdened with a blank in her memory which desperately needed to be filled again, for repressing a memory did not completely remove it and the mind was a tricky thing, yet one thing was clear, as the memory became clear again, so did she realize for the first time who it was, to which that voice belonged, for she had never heard such a cold and cruel voice as she did that night at the walls of the library, never, except now she remembered that she had heard that same voice once before, giving her that one choice that would have today as the outcome: Enaka's real voice.

For so long she had tried to deny the fact that he could've been the answer to all her questions, but now it was certain…Enaka was no longer her annoying, yet loving uncle, no longer was he the only man who would care for her. He had shown his true face behind that black mask, so long ago and had done it again recently: the face of a ruthless and extremely dangerous monster, a monster she had turned against her.

When she finally realized this, her dream and her way to realize everything…simply started all over again.

3796

Time had passed by quite quickly, with both Kyohei and Risu sleeping, one out of exhaustion and bloodless, one induced into a neverending loop of nightmares. During that time, a lot could and has happened, for by the time the sky had been turning black again, a spring thunderstorm making the surprisingly new and unmarked windows clatter in their frames while the wind blew through the streets, splattering an enormous amount of raindrops against the windows and disturbed by the occasional rumble and flashes of light to give an eerie appearance to the scenes that were unfolding in the bedroom of the young Uchiha's apartment.

Spoiler:

A chair was being dragged from the desk to right in front of the sleeping owner of the apartment, the wooden legs of the furniture screaching on the floor, a clean and uncharred floor, with no apparent signs of the struggle that had taken place just half a day earlier, with all the burn marks, blood and bodies removed and all damage to the apartment itself repaired to an almost miraculous extend, as if there never had been anything but a young man simply living his own life in that apartment. The only proof left of the struggle, were the wound on Kyohei's arm, which had been healed to the point of not bleeding anymore, being bandaged and all, as well as the fact that the Ouroboros heir was sleeping uncomfortably in the Uchiha clan member's bed.

Waiting for the young man to wake up, The man sitting on the chair remained silent, his face hidden behind a black ANBU mask, wearing a black ANBU outfit, yet rather than a tanto, this man had two extremely sharp, high quality scalpels of a slightly larger than usual size tucked away in custom made sheaths on the chest of his armor.

When or how the Uchiha boy would wake up, did not matter much, but it was how he would realize the difference in the place that should really make him understand his position.

"Hmm, Impressive," The masked man sighed, looking at the clean floor of the bathroom, yet remembering the scene of how it was when he had entered the apartment with a few other members of the elusive Black ANBU organization. "Quite impressive for a chuunin to dispose of two special jounins, even when considering he has the sharingan in his favor."

A cold, eerie chuckle escaped from the man's hidden mouth, it had been far to long ever since he had last actively taken part in missions. The earlier incident had spurred him to clean up the mess and end the problem once and for all. This was too easy, certainly for someone like him, who when necessary would even be able to singlehandedly kill the hokage himself.

He had killed so many people already, alas to date, there had never been a single challenge, not a single opponent capable of forcing him beyond his limits and as such he knew he was getting rusty, limited by his own incapability of finding decent adversaries, yet at the same time it simply made the lust for power grow ever vigilant within this man's soul.

"Wake up boy," The man hissed rather loud, knowing for sure the kid had been awake already. "I dont like people trying to be smart around me. It's so useless, certainly for someone incompetent as yourself. So do tell, how were you able to kill those two, before we get to the point, I would really like to know…let's call it: getting to know you, not me though."

606

Kyohei slowly opened his eyes, raising his head to look directly at the man sitting on the chair before him, dressed in a similar fashion to the intruders that he had dispatched last night. Kyohei said nothing for the first few moments, instead examining his surroundings in order to get an idea of where he was. Kyohei only became more suspicious of the seated man before him as he looked around only to see that he was still in his own home, but the collateral damage from the previous night had been completely erased. In fact, now that he had time to think about it, he also felt no pain from the wounds that had incapacitated him the night before. He looked down at himself to see that the hole in his right bicep had been sealed and the broken ribs he’d suffered pieced back together. But why? The first thought that would pop into his head was to look for Risu. He quickly turned his head over to the bed, a wave of relief running through him as he saw she still laid there. At least for now, his efforts had not been in vain. Finally content with what he had seen he would once again turn to face the masked man before him.

“How?” Kyohei repeated, a haughty smirk plastered on his face as he prepared to recount the events that led them both here, even though he knew that both parties were well aware, “I’m sure you had a hand in cleaning up the bodies. If you saw the wounds you should already be more than aware of how they were killed, no? The one in the living room had his face melted off and then had his own blade stabbed into his throat. I’m fairly certain that I left the tanto sticking out of his corpse. That really should have been all the evidence you needed for that. As for the second, I simply beat him to death, nothing more nothing less. I didn’t get a chance to get a look at the damage I had done to his however, which was unfortunate. I would imagine it was quite extensive. Perhaps it would have made the kill a bit more… satisfying.”

He would pause for a few moments, staring directly up at the masked man before him, his taunting smirk never leaving his face. “Or perhaps you were looking for a less literal answer…” he continued, raising his now healed right arm and running his fingers back through his hair, “How did this ‘incompetent boy’ manage to kill two of my own? Is that the question you really wanted to ask? You really should just come out and say what you mean. I didn’t even need my sharingan to see through that. If you were looking for some secret trick as to how I was able to kill them both, I’m afraid you’ll be somewhat disappointed.  They were weak and I was strong. Those are the only two things that need to be said about how our encounter went. Perhaps your organization should begin to screen applicants more closely. Either that or be more careful of who you make a target.”

---

4309~

A chuckle came from behind the mask, a sly and cold chuckle, which made it quite obvious that in a certain, twisted way, Kyohei's remarks on the masked man's comrades was at least for a bit as amusing to the man sitting in the chair, as it was for the Uchiha himself. The man simply leaned a bit closer, so that the glimmering black eyes behind the mask would look directly into the eyes of Kyohei and show at least a glimpse of the person behind the Black ANBU mask.

"Perhaps you are correct about my associates," The man scoffed slightly, his left hand raising towards one of the scalpels, sliding accross the bare glistening hilt of the scalpel tucked away in the sheath at the right side of the man's chest. "Indeed quite a ridiculous way to die for those two, though I can assure you that they were competent enough to belong to our fair village's ANBU forces, though I might add that their arrogance and ignorance towards your particular talents in the field of killing has made them…inadequate for their job."

The man didn't even seem to feel impressed by the death of the two assailants nor did he reavt in any different way towards the quite extensive details given on their unfortunate, yet acceptable passing from the world. With another short chuckle, the man leaned back again, crossing his legs, while placing one hand on the upper knee, his other leaning on the armrest with its elbow, placing his head into the cupped hand of that resting arm.

"So tell me Uchiha Kyohei," The man suddenly spoke calmly, no longer with the amusingly light tone in his voice, but now completely drowning every word in a bath of ice water and darkness. "Was it pleasurable, killing your own father? After all, when it came to useless Uchiha members, he reigned at the top. Be honest, it was quite satisfactionary to murder your own kin in cold blood, wasnn't it?"

With that being asked, the man stood up, quicker than the young man would've been able to react, already having placed his foot on the young man's chest, pressing him against the bed with an abnormally large force.

"How do you think a puny Uchiha would be able to stop me in my tracks?" The masked man hissed, while leaning forward again, giving a slight hum to emphasize his question. "What I decide to happen, happens. So I'll make it simple for you, boy. Either you surrender peacefully and come with me or I will be forced to incapacitate you and take the poor Risu with me again."

Spoiler:

Knowing that he had given the young Uchiha a hint to his identity with those words, the man released his foot from the Uchiha's chest, his hands raising towards his mask slowly and steadily and as the mask was loosened, he lowered it, slowly showing his face to the young man on the ground.

Cold black eyes, etched in a slender, ageless face of perfect proportion looked down at Kyohei, a slight grin formed by the thin lips, the man in front of him appeared to be none other than a legend among shin obi, a respected man in the shinobi world and the man once said by Risu to have the greatest mask of all. In front of Kyohei stood the real Orochi Enaka, an embodiment of death and despair for those who had looked into the cold glare of that man.

"Now then," The Ouroboros clan regent said with a sinister smile on his face. "What will you chose: live or die…or perhaps you would dare to go for the third option, which I would not reccomend: Fight?"

Kyohei’s eyes would lock onto the masked man as he leaned forward, black eyes peering from behind the mask. His eyes were somehow… different than those of the two masked men Kyohei had dispatched previously. A lot can be drawn by looking into a person’s eyes. In many cases, a person’s eyes could tell you more about them than their words. As an Uchiha, Kyohei knew this as well as anyone. Perhaps it was this fact that made Kyohei feels so uneasy about this man. His eyes were empty and cold, far more so than any person Kyohei had ever come across. So empty in fact, that Kyohei could surmise nothing from peering into them, which may have been what unnerved him above all else. They intrigued him.

While the man spoke of the two other masked men that Kyohei had slain the night before, the Uchiha’s eyes could only focus on the man’s hand which had strayed too close to the blade-like weapon sheathed on the man’s chest. Kyohei, for the first time in a long time, was unable to get a read on the person sitting before him. There were few things Kyohei despised more in this world than uncertainty and everything about this person before him made him feel just that; uncertain. Kyohei’s eyes would narrow in suspicion at the mention of his father, but before he could even respond the man’s boot would already be on his chest, pressing him down into the side of the bed, causing Kyohei to grunt from the blow.

Kyohei would turn his head slightly in order to glance over at Risu on the bed at the mention of her name. She seemed to be uncomfortable, but for now at least she was safe. When he turned back to face the man however, he would be greeted by an unwelcome sight. As the man removed his mask, the face revealed showed itself to be one that Kyohei was all too familiar with. The situation had just gone from bad to worse, but at least the uneasy feeling that Kyohei had earlier now had an explanation, though it was now replaced with an almost choking feeling. As if his neck were being constricted by snakes Kyohei struggled to get out any words at all while Enaka continued his monologue. With a gulp Kyohei would will himself back into a normal state before replying.

“Fight you as I am now?” Kyohei began with a chuckle, “Please. I may be young, but I’m not stupid. Maybe someday you’ll get to experience the honor of dying by my hand, but you and I both know that is currently an impossibility. But to answer your first question, the answer is yes. I enjoyed every moment of watching the life leave his eyes. But you know, there seems to be an option missing from your list. What about the 4th option, run? There’s little stopping me from simply body flickering out of here. Not even you can keep up with me at that point, at least not until you relocate me. I wouldn’t beat you in a foot race, but as long as I can shake you for even a moment, I win. You want my eyes, correct? Do you really think you’re the first to ever come after me? No, you’re smarter than that. You know that the moment I get away you lose what you want. I’d destroy my eyes myself before handing them over to someone like you. And so it seems we’ve reached an impasse. I’m not afraid of the concept of death, Enaka. I’m no stranger to it. You’re going to have to offer me a better incentive than simply my life if you expect me to go along with what you want."

---

4960~

After hearing the young man speak his mind, utter his witty retorts, his sly comments and smart replies, Enaka took a step back and placed his hands at his sides, suddenly bursting into a fit of laughter, one of his hands rising to his eyes, covering them for only half a second, but even so it would've been foolish to attempt anything in that moment, certainly when knowing the depths of that man's skills.

"Interesting, you really are an interesting fellow," The black haired man spoke with an eerie kind of glee ressonating in his voice. "Before I give a reply to anything in particular, let me tell you this. I was once an ANBU, one of the best, so now, do you really think you'd be able to use the body flicker technique to such an extend that you could get out of my reach without me being able to pinpoint your exact location in a single instant?"

He wasn't telling any lies, Enaka was once the elite of the elite, an ANBU captain of the highest caliber, though that was already about a decade or so ago, he still displayed the excellence in his skills whenever he would decide to use them and he never forgot the ANBU jutsu.

"You were quite right with everything though, if I was someone else, you might've been able to escape with ease, though it no longer matters now, does it?" The Orochi lord spoke calmly now, still grinning though, while he got back on his seat. "What if I were to give you another option, one that might benefit the both of us?"

The man grabbed the mask that was hanging at his side and threw it onto Kyohei's lap, again grinning viciously.

"What if I would offer you a place in my organization? A place in the Black ANBU, which you are in my opinion more than suited for," Enaka continued, pulling his chair a bit closer while leaning a bit forward again. "I could make you a deal. Risu can be 'fixed' so she wont pose me in front of problems again, but you…you are valuable, as I said earlier, either as a testsubject or if you accept my offer, as an asset. Now than boy, do you want to hear more of my offer or do you want to force my hand into teaching you a lesson in pain and despair?"

Kyohei listened, but was largely disinterested in Enaka’s self-praise of his own abilities. None of it contained any information that was relevant to Kyohei’s current situation, nor could it be used to hi advantage later. What was the most noteworthy piece of information from that monologue? The fact that Enaka was once ANBU and is vocal about it. Most people could have told Kyohei that with damn near certainty and those that didn’t know this to be true could likely have made an educated guess. Even so, he would keep his eyes locked intently on the man before him, his distrusting and hawk-like gaze setting its sights on Enaka. He doubted that the man did anything at this point, it’s not like he would need to other than for sheer enjoyment.

He cocked an eyebrow at Enaka’s mention of yet another option, one that would prove to be mutually beneficial for the two of them. Curiosity caused Kyohei to give his undivided attention, but the option in question would become glaringly obvious to him, even without Enaka’s elaboration, when the black mask that Enaka had been wearing was tossed down onto Kyohei’s lap. Kyohei smirked as he saw the black mask fall to his lap, meeting Enaka’s grin with one of his own. That grin however would be short lived once Enaka made particular comment about “fixing” Risu.

“Enough with the threats, Enaka,” Kyohei retorted at the last line about being taught a lesson in pain and despair, “If you wanted me dead, I would have never woken up. Threatening me won’t sway me into doing what you want. There are more important things to discuss than the ‘pain and despair’ that await me should I oppose you.” His eyes would once more wander to the bed where Risu slept, and Kyohei couldn’t help but notice how heavy a sleeper she was for a shinobi, but that was neither here nor there. It was likely better she didn’t see Enaka. “What exactly does ‘fixing’ her entail?” he inquired as he turned back to face Enaka, “Because it’s you, I don’t want to leave any room for grey area or interpretation. I want to know exactly what you intend to do. Answer with the full understanding that any deal we make that involves me joining your organization is contingent on her being and remaining unharmed. You said there was more to your offer. Let me here it, but that is my condition.”

---

5386~

For a moment Enaka grinned sourly, slightly glaring at the young Uchiha after he so obviously seemed to question his methods and his negotiations. It irritated him that this guy, even after knowing there was no certainty for him besides that which was according to the Orochi Lord's wishes, still dared to show defiance and openly showed his despicable willpower, something Enaka decided he would be breaking one way or the other when the young man would no longer suit the prupose he would be giving him.

"Well, I may understand why you are so concerned with my offer to Risu out," The man said calmly, looking at the still sleeping girl at the bed, frowning slightly while he was trying to figure out what would be best to do in this situation. "Let's simply be honest for once here. I will use my medical knowledge to reboot her cerebral activity, opening her consciousness again, though I will also suppress the memories of what has happened in her past. She'll be slightly confused, but that will be your problem. During the length of our contract, you are obliged to keep silence on our deal to my niece. We can't have her form a liability again, now can we?"

He stretched out his arm, sticking out his hand at Kyohei, wanting the young man to shake his hand to seal the deal for now, he would make up a contract when he'd be at his office again. It would also mean he'd be editing a few records on Kyohei to make sure he would have a decent cover for any of his missions, should he accept the deal made by Enaka.

Whether or not the uchiha did or did not shake the Black ANBU leader's hand, the man still walked towards the bed, placing his hand on the sleeping Risu's head, while chakra started clowing around the hand which was resting on her face.

"Now then, do we have a deal?" Enaka asked again, trying to be sure at this point. "When you accept and are certain of it, come see me at the Ouroboros compound this week. In the meantime, not a word of our…meeting to Risu, just figure something out if she starts asking questions."

“Reboot her cerebral activity and open her consciousness again?” Kyohei repeated suspiciously, “What exactly do you mean by that? No, what did you do?” He would look over to Risu, noticing the distressed look on her face before turning back to face Enaka. “Now it makes sense, at least,” he continued calmly, “I didn’t take her for one that would be such a heavy sleeper, but it looks like you had a hand in that as well. I suppose getting into the specifics at this point wouldn’t make a difference. I’ll do my end to keep her out of the loop. I’ll figure something out to deal with the memory loss, just undo whatever trick you pulled.”

Kyohei’s eyes would glance down to Enaka’s outstretched hand for a moment, prompting a smirk and an amused huff. The irony of someone like Enaka inviting him to participate in a handshake, something that is supposed to symbolize trust, was nothing short of delicious. Obviously, neither of them actually trusted the other, but current circumstances dictated that Kyohei cooperate. “Well, it looks like we have deal then,” he replied, staring directly into the eyes of his counterpart, “however, my condition still stands. You leave dealing with Risu to me. If any harm comes to her, the deal is off. Any contract will be considered null and void.”

With that being said he would grab hold of Enaka’s hand and shake it firmly, symbolizing the beginning of their agreement, for whatever such a simple gesture meant. How odd this pairing was, an enigmatic and controversial figure from the Orochi clan once again getting their hands on a young Uchiha, both sides with… questionable intentions for the other. The similarity to the oft-told tales of Orochimaru and Sasuke disgusted Kyohei, who had a general distaste for the stories of old. Still, he would have to bear the situation for now. He would then simply sit back and observe skeptically as Enaka made his way over to Risu and began performing some unfamiliar medical process. “I’ll come, I just need you to clear out of the apartment before she wakes up. It will be simpler for both of us if she still believes we’ve never met, but I don’t think I need to tell you that.”

---

5777~

When he had done his job, The man who had just placed his hand with glowing chakra on Risu's head, put his mask back on and shimmered away into the night, leaving not a single trace of his presence earlier, with exception for the chair which still stood in front of the window. In the meantime, Risu woke up again, beads of sweat rolling from her forehead into her eyesbrows and others rolling down her neck, though her erratic breathing did calm down a bit again.

"What…what's going on?" The snake girl started asking questions, practically demanding answers, while looking around to find a familiar face, which she found in Kyohei, though she did not know why he was where she was sleeping, how she got to that unknown placeand what had happened the day before. her memory was fuzzy. She knew enough though, she knew bits and pieces from what she was tracking down, the organiztion she was trying to uncover, but not much more. "Ok…you're here, I'm here…alone and I'm practically naked, don't tell me we…you know, god I have a headache, did I drink something…god my head really hurts."

Quickly, the Orochi lady jumped up, tried to put on her jumpsuit, which was nowhere to be found, so she could only pull the t-shirt she borrowed from Kyohei a bit more over her legs.

"Let's summarize my memories a bit, maybe I can come up with an explanation," The young woman scoffed slightly, pulling her legs close to her chest, pulling the t-shirt over her knees. "I know of the letter I intercepted with information on you and other Uchiha…I probably came here to talk about it and probably drank some alcohol, right?"

4097

As Risu awoke and begun trying to get all of her thoughts together, Kyohei simply allowed her to speak with a relieved smile on his face. A part of him was surprised that she actually didn’t remember, considering how distraught she was the night before. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Enaka, he wasn’t the kind of man to make idle claims, but such a sudden change was surprising. Upon hearing the conclusion she jumped to about the situation she found herself in, Kyohei froze for a moment. He figured he was going to have to make up a story, but he didn’t piece together her reaching the conclusion that they had slept together the previous night. He sighed as he ran his fingers back through his hair and chuckled, “I’m sorry that you find the idea of being with me so off-putting, hime-chan. You’ll be glad to know that despite what it looks like, no, you didn’t sleep with me.” Well, since it was already on the table he might as play along.

He would approach the bed and place on knee on the mattress to get over to the huddled up Risu to gently press the back of his hand against her forehead, resting it there for a moment before brushing the few strands of hair that fell over her face to the side. “Well, I’m glad you see to be feeling better at least, even if the thought of me didn’t help,” he teased as he rested his hand on the top of her head, “But you don’t need to rush yourself. You took a pretty nasty fall last night, it’s probably best if you take things slow. I’ll answer any questions you have, but for now you should rest, or at least take your time in waking up.”

It was only after she mentioned it that he noticed Enaka had also removed her bag and blood covered clothes from the apartment as well. Lifting himself back off of the bed, he would pull the comforter up and back over Risu’s legs which she was now shyly covering with his shirt. “I’ll be in the kitchen getting breakfast ready, come out whenever you think you can. The bathroom is right there, help yourself to anything you need. Also, I had to put your clothes to wash. That’s why you slept in one of my shirts. They’re still drying, so feel free to use anything in my closet in the meantime.” With that he would  head to the bedroom door and open it to leave, pausing to turn to her and smile once more and say, “I’m glad you’re alright hime-chan. For a while there you had me worried.” He would then immediately close the door behind him and head to the kitchen where he would find a folded purple jumpsuit waiting for him. It looked like Enaka thought of everything before he left. Kyohei would hide the jumpsuit before heading back to the kitchen and keeping his word by preparing to cook, all the while playing as many scenarios in his head as he could to answer Risu’s inevitable questions.

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6323~

Just when Kyohei left the room, offering to make something to eat, Risu managed to find the bathroom again, only shallowly remembering that she had been in that same bathroom before, but in the end it didn't really matter for the girl, as simply enjoying a good bath to wash away the headache and the fuzzy feeling she was having. It felt as if she had forgotten something very important, but Kyohei didn't say anything to her, which made Risu think that all could've been explained by the fact that she felt like she had been enduring a typical hangover.

"By my count, this is the second time I have such a headache after drinking," The young woman thought to herself in silence, looking at the foam at the water of the bathtub, while it floated around her. "Let's see…I can remember…eh nothing actually of what has happened, nor how that I got here. I know Kyohei should watch his back for that organization that I found in that letter from my uncle's study, but apparently so far he's hardly acting like someone in danger."

Not willing to think further on the subject, Risu wrapped herself in a towel, while trying to dry her hair with another one, brushing it after her hair had been dried properly. She smiled for just a short moment when she remembered the first remark the Uchiha had given after she had woken up. He was handsome, sure, but she simply could not imagine herself with someone who resembled her uncle in way too many ways, it would simply be awkward.

When she got back in the room, she could already smell someone cooking in the kitchen, meaning that Kyohei was probably far a better cook than Risu herself, who would only manage to make an omelet and the regular bento side dishes.

Nonchalantly, the snake girl opened the wardrobe in the bedroom, taking out a pair of boxers, which were a bit too large for her, but thanks to the elastic didn't need any kind of belt or cord to stay in place, even with Risu. She also grabbed a white shirt, buttoning it up to right above her chest, since the last button would make her look ridiculous with the collar folded upwards to button up the shirt entirely, so she wore it in a slightly casual and inherently appealing way, with a pair of slippers to top it off, the look of a simple girl in the morning…in men's clothes, in a guy's appartment and with no recollection of the past two nights…awkward anyway she looked at it.

"I hope this is OK?" The Orochi lady grinningly asked, while taking a seat in the kitchen, showing her outfit to Kyohei, though not thinking about the fact that there was a lot of visible skin…something she still wasn't clear on ever since she started getting her late growth spurts.

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