It had become a ritual.

The man known as Syekren Uchiha was silently getting dressed in his quarters of the ANBU facility located in the depths underneath the administration building of sunagakure not sato. He always wore black clothing and today was no different, only the black clothing he wore today was itself different. Instead of his normal outfit, he pulled on his shinobi slippers over his feet, after he had put on his shinobi tights. On his torso he worse a tight black shinobi shirt, which had a sleeve over his right arm but not the left, showing his ANBU tattoo off on the left shoulder. Over this tight shirt the ninja pulled on his ANBU armor vest, then making sure to pull on the leg portion of the armor. His shoulders, torso, and legs were protected by the armor, but he didn't plan to need it. After he was finished, the ninja grabbed the smiling feline ANBU mask from his table and pulled it on over his face, walking over to his mirror.

Five years

There was a time before all of this when Syekren was a sixteen year old genin. He'd hated how things were at the time and had vowed to become stronger to change it all if he could. Alas he could not. He didn't become a chuunin for a while and even then he was passed over for training to be Kazekage for someone who essentially abandoned the village. It was funny, once he had fought her and completely over powered her to the point there was no contest. He had destroyed her without a second thought and won a date from her to the museum of glass where he'd sworn he would end up one day. Joke was on him as she  had that honor so long before he would, and she got it without making any effort.

He was angered and spurned and worked harder than ever to reach new heights. First chuunin, then special jounin. He trained hard and became the first and youngest special jounin in his village. After that it would be on to jounin but before he decided to make that journey, Syekren had joined the ANBU black ops. He had to serve under the woman who did nothing for the village, but he would serve his village with pride. Saving it from any who would pose a threat. He had taken an oath that day, one he did not intend to go back on. It was by his will alone that he could stay and watch the village with an unwavering loyalty. Enemies of the sand village would have no quarter.

Was that boy an enemy then? Or did you just murder him for no reason?

Syekren's one eye glared through his mask into the mirror. His reflection; the grinning feline mask stared back. It grinned almost as though it were laughing, grinning and laughing at the shinobi before it. The man who had lost three fights due to his foolhardy nature, one of them costing him his eye. So he chose to prey on weaker people, is that what it thought? Did it think him someone too weak to find an opponent at his level? Was he too weak? Or were they too strong? What was it?

You are weak, you'll never be good enough, Uchiha.

Syekren glared into the mirror once more. Hating what he saw. A faceless ghost of a village that didn't know his work, didn't know to appreciate it. But what could he do other than continue working for it? He wanted to be the strongest ninja the village ever knew as well as protect it to the best of his abilities. He viewed everyone and everything from the outside world as a threat until they proved to him beyond the shadow of a doubt that they meant no harm. He had to be cautious because you never knew when someone was going to come along and destroy your home or possibly kill the people you knew. Everyone had to be viewed as dangerous or one grew too soft.

This could be classified as paranoia, but Syekren was no fool just yet. He knew many of the outsiders had no ill intentions towards his village. But as an ANBU one had to see death in every shadow or they would soon find it catching them unaware. This was the life of not just an ANBU but the life of all ninja. The ninja world was one of deceit and death. No matter who you are, both will find you inevitably and both will make your life that much harder or shorter, depending on which you find. So you had to be prepared. You had to be sure that you struck first, fast, and hard. To make sure that death would not find you and that you would live to see another day. That was the way of the ninja world that Syekren knew and lived in. It's what they all should know.

That young Uchiha you killed didn't seem to think so.

This thought reminded him of his purpose for the day. He was going to tie up a loose end that had been haunting him for years. Years ago, he'd killed  a young male named Ukio who turned out to be an Uchiha. Syekren had only found this out after taking his eyes from his skull in a fit of anger. Upon observing them in the jar at a later date, with his own sharingan, he'd found them to be the sharingan of the Tsukiyomi path uchiha, being in their infantile one tomoe state. Without truly knowing it, he'd killed a fellow clan member for a foolish reason and buried him in the desert. Not to mention the fact that he was a ninja of Kumogakure no Sato and this could spell bad news for Sunagakure no sato if the body was ever discovered. Syekren would make it a point to ensure that didn't happen. He was off to finally destroy any and all evidence of his misdeeds and would let nothing stand in his way.

His fist unclenched as he stared into the mirror more. He had just realized how far he had actually come in the small amount of time he'd put in the effort. It seemed like he was getting slower with age and other ninja were passing him easily. This was due to the fact that once he'd joined the ranks of the ANBU he hadn't done anything else to further himself towards his goals of power and prosperity. He'd merely thought that rank and title would be enough. But his body was weaker than it should be, his rank was nothing special, and his title was unknown to the village thanks to ANBU being secret to all but the current Kage. This was something that irked him to no end and it made him realize just how lax he had been in his training. No matter what his next move would have to be one of moving forward and training harder. He had to do more than everyone else so he could reach his goals he had set so long ago. He didn't need to forget why he'd become a ninja.

What about the promise made so long ago?

He'd forgotten his encounter with a specter of a dead Uchiha five years hence as well. Why so many dead Uchiha? He had seen two in his life and was sure there were more after his run in with the woman named Seimei. So many had died and he'd been unfortunate enough to meet one of the most powerful, and kill one of the most infantile. As for the most powerful, he'd met the ghost of one Hao Uchiha. This specter had instructed him on the ways of the Uchiha, the ways to gain the Eternal Mangekyou sharingan and what to do with his life. He would continue on the mission that the elder Uchiha had set for himself, passing the torch along to Syekren on that day. To this day though, Syekren still wasn't sure if that had really happened or if it was a dream. But since then he'd made moves in secret to continue on the goal of his predecessor. It was only what he promised he'd do.

Stand by your words, and stay by your convictions.

It was time, and Syekren was ready to move on with what he'd set out to do today. He made his way out of his quarters, closing the door behind him. Once more, he walked into the maze of tunnels underneath sunagakure no sato. The ANBU facility itself was directly under the administration building but the tunnels spanned the entire village, making it easier for the ANBU to move in secret. If one got lost in here or didn't belong they'd soon die from starvation or thirst. If the ANBU didn't find them first, that is. Syekren sighed at the thought, and began to make his way through the tunnels, following a very specific route he was taught and forced to remember through experience. It was something of initiation. If the ANBU prospect wanted in to the elite ninja squadron, they'd have to find their way through the maze to the outside world, otherwise they were lost to the tunnels. It had taken Syekren six hours to find the exit and he did so quicker than most. He remembered the way perfectly and made no mistakes, reaching the open area under the administration building. Turning to his left, he touched the ANBU symbol on the wall amidst numerous other symbols, a wall coming up from the ground to seal off where he'd just exited. It was as if it never existed. When this was done, he moved into the open area more to a ladder that led up a ways and began to climb it. He'd done this many times before so this time it didn't take him too long to reach the top and arrive in a box like structure that sat on top of the administration building. It would be strange to see this type of carpentry at work if there weren't seven or eight more of them strategically placed around the roof. The only discerning feature that marked this as different from the others was a small symbol of a sand gourd with a line over it signifying the lid. This was the image of Sunagakure no Sato but only an ANBU's trained eyes could see it given the minuscule size.

Listening outside for any signs of others around him, Syekren waited until he was sure he was alone then slid open a small door on the side of the structure. When it was open he slipped out of it, closing the door  once more so that it looked as it normally did: as if nothing was there. The ANBU operative looked around on the roof, sighing behind his mask. It was dark and there were very few out in the city tonight, the only person on the roof, or any for that matter, was Syekren himself so his cover of night fall would make things easier.  With quiet conviction he ran forward at a steady pace, leaping into the air to land on the next roof quickly. He was a shadow of the sand and did so without being seen by any onlookers there might be. No matter how curious. He'd repeat this process on his way out of the village, being as silent as death as he did so.  On his way to the gates, or rather the walls by the gates that he would climb, Syekren went over what he'd do in his head.

Reach the corpse, destroy the body. Kill any who witness it. Do not be seen.

This ran over and over in the ninja's mind as he made his way across the village using the rooftops as his transportation. This was much quicker but would tire out a normal ninja not on a mission. Upon reaching the walls, he focused chakra into his feet and leaped from the roof to the wall, running up it thanks to his supernatural walking practice jutsu. Upon reaching the top of the wall the male sighed and shook his head, continuing to run forward, leaving up the staircase-like wall as he headed towards the top to go over. Once at the top he took the same staircase-like walls in the direction going down, making it to the other side, running down the wall using supernatural walking practice. Once he was on the ground he disengaged the jutsu, looking around to see if anyone was around him.

There was a guard on duty at the gates, twenty meters to his left but otherwise nothing came to his eye. Nodding to himself, Syekren turned right and began his steady run towards an undisclosed location in the wilderness. He remembered exactly where he needed to go, for every night he revisited the instance in his dreams over and over again. It was gnawing at the back of his mind always. Not because of guilt, but because he had been dumb enough to leave the body there for five years instead of destroying it before as he was trained to upon becoming an ANBU. He'd left it there as evidence to his crimes, and should a Kumogakure ninja have found it then he would have caused the village great strife. He couldn't have that.

It was so quick, over with so fast.

Syekren was back among the dunes of the Kaze no Kuni, near the border. He was on his way out of the village and happened across a young both with black hair and eyes who had just arrived. He was looking for Uchiha in the village and made no other conversation except for that point. He also made no effort to explain his reasoning behind his need for an Uchiha and left it at the words he'd spoken. Syekren was angered and fell on him like lighting. Quick, violent, explosive. The battle was over before it started, Syekren's taijutsu winning him the day, which was followed by an Uchiha fireball technique. With his anger still boiling his blood, he'd taken the items the boy had on his person as well as his eyes. He wanted a collection of non-Uchiha eyes for himself, not knowing at that point what he'd had.

You're getting closer to your destination, don't lose heart.

It was only a twenty minute run until he reached the place burned into his mind, into his memories. The place his life as a shinobi had changed. He'd killed before: gang members and untrained ninjutsu using bandits. But this time was something unique. He'd not only killed a fellow Uchiha, but he'd killed a ninja from another village. Possibly one of the stronger villages at the time. There would be hell to pay if anyone found out about it, but Syekren couldn't help but feel as though he'd done a service. There was one less person who might one day try to take his eye, one less Uchiha to contend with for power, and one less ninja in his way to realize his goals. He wasn't going to let anything stand in his way, no matter who they were. This man could have been a threat to the village as well, there was no pity from Syekren for the death of the boy, taken from this world so young by one he called clansman. This was the way of the world and if one could not learn it they would find themselves dead. That is how it worked.

Syekren moved among the dunes, finding the dune that he'd dreamed of for years. He knew a foot or two into the sand he'd discover the decomposed but preserved and slightly mummified body of Ukio, the sockets having their eyes missing for some time as they'd been violently ripped out five years hence. There was slight hesitation in his movements. He wasn't sure if the body was still there now that he thought of it. What if someone discovered it? What if it was gone? What if the kid wasn't truly dead? There were so many alternate possibilities running through Syekren's mind that he'd almost forgotten he was a different person now. He was no longer Syekren when he donned this armor and mask. He was Hizencho. He was a shadow of the sand and anything that he needed to do, was done without emotion or question. This was a new mission for him, to protect the sand by destroying evidence. It was the only thing left to do and war would be avoided. With a sigh, the male began to dig into the sand with his hands, searching for the body.

Do what you must, and not a bit more, nothing less.

It only took seconds to find the body. It was charred, and decayed a bit, the minerals and salts in the sand preserving it only slightly since the time of death. Syekren could smell the rotting flesh through his mask and shook his head quietly, standing up and focusing his chakra as he looked down at the body. There was so much that had happened since killing this boy and so much that could have happened if he hadn't. He could have made his first Uchiha ally. But then again, he didn't trust any Uchiha and may never trust them. He'd had bad experiences with them and did not wish to go through them again. Maybe that's why he struck so quickly and without pause. He looked down at the body as he readied his chakra into his palm, his gaze penetrating the body as though he wouldn't look directly at it, but through it. He was going to finally destroy the last bit of his past, the last of the time when he was too weak to help himself or anyone else. This was the time he would finally become a true shadow with nothing left to hold him back. He would finally be free of any strings that would tie him down. This was it.

Body Destruction Jutsu!

With that Syekren pushed his palm to the corpse in front of him, bending down to reach it. His chakra flowed into the body, burning it up and instantly reducing the body to nothingness within seconds. That was it, there was nothing left of the body and no witnesses. All evidence had been destroyed and Syekren was finally free from the burden of having this corpse on his mind. Not only that but if anyone HAD seen him, not that they would, but if they had they would only see an ANBU ninja destroying a body for whatever reason ANBU do what they do. This is why he dressed this way for the day. He wanted to be sure that he would not be recognized no matter what. He wanted to protect the village and if he was seen destroying this body then that would have the complete opposite effect. But it was done now, and he could rest easier. No longer would he trek out here every day to visit this site and look at the corpse trying to talk himself into destroying it. He hadn't the guts before but this time he'd done it without too much hesitation. He had only done it because he knew deep down this is what needed to be done. He'd proved that he could do what was needed and not always what was right.

Though this wasn't right in the first place, war is averted.

The ANBU turned back towards the direction the village was in, making his way leisurely back under the beautiful star dotted sky. The millions of stars above his head as he walked felt like the eyes of his ancestors, nodding their approval for his deeds upon him. Or perhaps they were a map of his long journey through life, each star a step on the path that would immortalize him as the greatest ninja the world had ever know. Though he could also be known as a murderer of the innocent and a dog of the Kazekage, begging for scraps and killing without questioning the motives. There was so much left up to chance and Syekren stopped in his tracks, staring at the ground with his fists clenched. There was so much that could be pointing him out as nothing but a dog or a murderer. He was going to be the greatest shinobi, no matter what!

Just have to prove them wrong.

Syekren's form moved among the sand dunes, not as quickly as before, but still at a brisk pace. He stepped with renewed vigor and purpose. Each step was a commitment to his goal and to the mask of the grinning feline he wore. He would see his dreams made real, everything he wanted in life made a reality. No one and nothing was going to stand in his way. If he truly wanted it and pushed himself to achieve it he would be the one standing on top, wearing the crown of the best shinobi. Not really a crown or anything but he would definitely be revered throughout the land. And then he could work on bringing Hao's dream to fruition. All he needed was a bit more time. Time was something that was a bit of a commodity in the ninja world and was getting harder and harder to come by. This was something Syekren needed the most and would have to actually move his training around just so that ample time could be dedicated to his cause. He was the last line of people able to make this goal a reality and he wouldn't fail. He was sure of it as he was sure of his bloodline. He would be the one person to continue the work of his predecessor and the one person to rise above all the others at the top of the food chain. It was his destiny. It was his mission.


EXIT THREAD

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