Patrol. Such a mundane part of his duties of as a shinobi, but vital. As a former captain of Konohagakure no Sato's ANBU, he was required to perform it while on duty. It wasn't bad, though. Where as most Anbu members often picked a single high-profile area to monitor, Hanzo liked to stay on the move. He often used it to check up on the few people he liked within the village; checking to make sure that Jinx was not getting into trouble, seeing if Amaya needed help with something or the like, and keeping an eye on a particular little Senju-tobi to make sure he was alright. Often times, he would leave the Senju-tobi a small gift of his favorite fruit, or something new for him try out.

Even years without contact, some things never changed.

Stopping for a moment high atop a telephone pole on the outskirts of the village, the male would adjust the mask that covered his face and tug the hood of the cloak tighter over his head. He was dressed in this full ensemble of his patrol gear, complete with the Statikk Shiv mounted on his left forearm. To most people, he was simply a ghost, appearing only when he wished to be seen by the common people, and even then, he was usually gone before they could process what they just saw. But this time, he would take his time, casually gazing around the area. Usually, the sight of an Anbu member was enough to deter most criminal activity in an area for a for a period of time; where there was one Anbu member, there was usually more.

Usually.

Hanzo preferred to work alone, and others tended to avoid him, once they realized whom he actually was based on his skillset. It was perfectly fine for him; he hated having to 'pull his punches' in order to try and avoid killing a team mate. Hanzo tended to favor wide spread destruction when he fought multiple enemies, or pin point assault when fighting one on one. As he liked to put it, he 'did not have time to babysit children who barely knew how to walk'.  He was quite content as a lone-wolf, and preferred to keep it that way.

With a leap and burst of chakra, the male launched himself forward through the air to land on a rooftop. Another leap and burst of chakra later and he was well within the treeline, moving through the forest.  He moved at a good pace to ensure that he could keep it up all day without tiring himself. He'd been at it for a while when something caught his eye; a broken branch high up in the canopy. After adjusting his movement mid air to launch himself up to land on a nearby branch, he would take a closer look. He knew this to be a common Inuzuka route, yet they tended to keep to the forest floor. To his knowledge, no other Anbu team patrolled this route. Perhaps it was just a ninja looking for a new place to train?

Perhaps, but with another quick glance around the area, he would discover another broken branch, followed by an indentation of a footprint headed deeper into the forest. The trail seemed fresh, so the person could not be far off. It would be in his best interest to investigate it, and err on the side of caution. He would rather not find out later than his negligence lead to a criminal slipping into the village. Mentally preparing himself, he would set off into the forest, following the light trail through the treetops.

As he moved, he could not help but wonder as to what he would encounter; part of him hoped that it was merely a ninja of the village, moving through the area a bit carelessly, while part of him wished it was something more. While he didn't want anything to come to harm his village, he was itching for some action. He'd spent too much time on the sidelines, and he felt as if he was growing dull. Though he still exercised, he felt that his skills had reached a plateau in terms of growth, at least as far as his Taijutsu skills were concerned. There had to be something else out there for him to undertake to make himself stronger. Perhaps, he would do well to learn how to utilize weapons? Maybe.

As he followed the trail, the male would note that it began tot turn somewhat, angling itself towards the Hokage Monument, and the male felt a fleeting tinge of apprehendsion. While it was not outright restricted to train on top of the Hokage monument, it was heavily frowned upon, as the use of jutsu could have an eroding effect upon the stone. But then again, if the person the Anbu Captain was following happened to be someone with ill intentions in mind, then causing damage to the Hokage Monument would surely be a devastating blow to the village's morale. That was something that could not be allowed, and so the male increased his pace.

Up ahead, in the clearing stop the monument, the male could see someone standing, wearing a cloak and looking over the village. With a final burst of chakra and leap, the male would land in the clearing some 10 meters behind the hooded figure. He was silent for a moment – he made his entrance no secret – before speaking up and alerting the persona to his presence, if they did not realize already. As he spoke, he took care to change the pitch and tone of his voice from normal, so that this figure would not be able to have a confirmable audio record of his vocal pattern. The words he spoke were simple, and well within his rights as a captain of the Anbu

“Do not make any sudden moves. Turn around slowly, and present your identification papers.” Beneath the mask, his eyes would mutate and swirl, turning the iconic red of his clan, complete with three tomoe as indications of his visual prowess. If this person meant harm, he would see it coming, and react accordingly...

He had no idea what would happen when this persona turned around, but he would not take any chances. If he was up to no good, then this persona would be put down in the name of Konoha.

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1080 WC

Amaya was being followed, of that she had little doubt. She wasn’t sure who the individual was but she definitely was going to congratulate them for having such big balls – right before she fed them to them. In fact, she even decided to make it easy on them: each push off as she jumped and leaped from tree to tree left behind an indication where as usually there would be none. The path chosen was one often frequented by Inuzuka, those whom she knew all too well and had for years: though she kept to the trees where as the Inuzuka tended to keep to the ground. Of course, her final destination was a bit of a ways away, though that didn’t matter to her in the slightest. Even though she was naturally fast she took her time, ensuring that her brave pursuer would be able to keep up.

Of course this hadn’t been her original intentions in the beginning. The location she was headed to was the monument, a place that tended to be fairly quiet – a place she liked to go to think. She had had every intention of spending the day meditating and just relaxing; she wasn’t on duty, her squad was busy doing their own thing, and the hospital for once hadn’t actually needed her. Her daughter Mittens was playing with the triplets and Kenta was doing well enough to be left alone for a while – she was certain he was tired of being poked and prodded anyway. She had wanted nothing more than a day of calmness and relaxation: of course that was too much to ask for a Uchiha to receive.


Either way, if someone was going to follow her she figured she might as well have some fun with it! So, she continued on her way to her destination, figuring the location would spice things up a bit. There were generally rules regarding specific areas of the village where sparring or training weren’t allowed: this was one of them. Of course, Amaya wasn’t exactly a rule follower – oh sure, she might respect whomever was in charge, but if she wanted to do things her own way she was going to do them. This was the case now – if for no other reason than to see the reaction of the person following her once they had arrived.

Upon reaching the monument she would come to a stop, not bothering to turn her cloaked form around as she waited for the individual to arrive; the smallest of sly smiles playing across her otherwise emotionless albino features. The individual caught up to her, of that she was sure, standing fairly far back which was in a way very wise. She didn’t so much as twitch as the other individual spoke, though the words spoken caused her to raise a single slender eyebrow in disbelief. Someone was demanding her identification while also demanding no sudden movements? That was funny. That was very funny.

”Sure you can have my identification, right after I shove it up your ass… How’s that sound?, Amaya spoke, turning around and letting the hood of her cloak to fall backwards, revealing her pale face, her naturally red eyes, and her snow-white long hair. The braid her hair was in fell down over her back, bangs framing her face blowing gently in the wind. Her stance was calm and relaxed, the look on her face amused, but that meant nothing when it came to this particular Uchiha – she was dangerous even when she didn’t show it. ”Or, you could **** off and leave me to meditate in peace, yeah? Her gaze would remain glued to the individual, missing nothing about him or his masked and clothed form: she cared little for title or rank at the moment – Kenta having to suddenly step down like he had had shaken her in a way she hadn’t really thought of or over-analyzed yet, so there were only a few people who could be beneath that mask she’d show any respect to. She cared little for what consequences she might face for being ‘disrespectful’ either: she changed for no one, people could take her or leave her how she was, especially when it came to someone she might not know making demands of her – even if it was well within their right to do so.

Word Count: 740

"Sure you can have my identification, right after I shove it up your ass… How’s that sound?"

At the sound of that voice, the male almost laughed. There were few people in the village who had the balls to mouth off to someone dressed as ANBU, and with his eternal luck, he had to pick up the trail of this particular one. He did not know what was funnier; the fact that she was serious in her threat to shove any identification papers she had up his ass, or the fact that once she realized whom she had done it to, she would be required to retrieve them while apologizing.

”Or, you could **** off and leave me to meditate in peace, yeah?"

It was at this point that the male reached up, fingers extending to grasp the hood and ANBU mask to remove them. As the cloth and procelain came away, his visage would be revealed to her plainly, a small smile cross his features. Those red eyes spun within his sockets for a moment before returning to thier normal brown color. The male put away the persona of Hanzo, his Anbu code name and returned himself to that of Uchiha Naota, Sannin of Konohagakure no Sato under the Jūkyūdaime Hokage, Inuzuka Kenta; but most importantly and before all of those, he was her elder brother. The smile on his face widened a bit, and shifted his stance some what. A slow drawl of a voice left him now, his voice no longer changed by the chakra of his ANBU mask.

"But if I leave, who's gonna tend to my wounds as I fall off the mountain?"

A joke, but still. Without waiting for her reply, the male would drift closer to his younger sibling, stretching somewhat like the lazy lion that he was. Each movement was graceful, fluid and yet seeminly effortless, the same lethal grace that blessed his sage animal. There was no wasted energy, As he came closer, one could catch the sent of something burned, as one always did around him...

"How are you today, Amaya dear?" Again with the slow drawl, and the languid movements he moved past her, taking up a position to overlook the village from atop the Hokage monument. The sight of the village was calming somewhat, but the male knew it would only do so much for him. Things... were changing lately, and the male was not sure if he liked the changes. His long time friend and brother was no longer the leader of the village, and it seemed like every person who showed even the slightest loyalty to Kenta had been ousted from thier position of power. It would seem that the reach of the Wolfpack was being forced to retreat, and the lion was not sure what he though of the current chief replacement for Kenta. He had never met the man, yet still was forced to obey the order dismissing him from his postion as an ANBU captain.

As far as the lion was concerned, his loyalty for this village left when Kenta stepped out of office. And he would not step up to actively defend it unless the Wolfpack was directly attacked, he had no reason to leave so long as his family remained here within it. But, he needed to speak with Amaya, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

And so, his attention was pulled away from the sight of the village and set on the younger, female Uchiha, those brown orbs carefully waiting for her to speak, if she had not done so by now. She would hold his attention aptly if and when she began to speak, as the male held his sibling's opinion in high regard.

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She watched closely as the male’s hand began to move, half expecting to be attacked due to her disrespect and yet maintaining her relaxed stance as if the whole prospect didn’t other her in the slightest – and knowing Amaya it didn’t. Yet, that wasn’t to be the case. Instead she watched as his hood and mask were removed, revealing a very familiar face beneath: her brother, Naota. The hostility she had been feeling seconds before instantly vanished at the revelation, her usual relaxed and kind smile saved for those she considered family immediately appearing on her face.

"But if I leave, who's gonna tend to my wounds as I fall off the mountain?"


Amaya couldn’t help but grin a bit: she knew her brother to be joking but she couldn’t help but to reply as she watched him move and stretch like an over-grown cat. ”Cats land on their feet, dear brother. There would be no wounds to heal.”, she would joke back, turning as he walked past and overlooked the village. She stepped up as well, standing shoulder to shoulder with the elder Uchiha, her naturally red gaze sweeping over the village as a whole as her grin faltered and left her face – a more sobering look replacing it. Things had changed dramatically in a short amount of time: with Kenta no longer holding the position of Hokage and a new individual having taken over it felt as if the village was an entirely different place though physically it had stayed basically the same. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

"How are you today, Amaya dear?"


The question startled her from her train of thought, though she found herself unable to reply at first even as her red gaze shifted off of the village and onto her elder sibling. How was she? She wasn’t actually sure. She hated that Kenta no longer held the hat, she hated that several of her best friends had left the village right on the heels of the hat changing heads and she had no idea how they were doing, she hated that she felt powerless to do anything about the whole situation. She just simply had no idea how to put all of that into words without going on a twenty minute long rant and risking the wrong person overhearing things. Of course, if anyone would understand how she felt it would be Naota. ”I feel… probably the same way you’re feeling right now.”, she responded, frowning. It was an easier response than putting all of her emotions out of the table and risking someone overhearing – her and Naota were in the same position after all, and she knew it wasn’t too far of a stretch to make the assumption that they felt similar about everything that was going on. ”I think what’s worse though is I feel powerless to fix it… any of it.” Brutal honesty, but then again she knew she could go there with her brother: she didn’t have to hide her frustrations and feelings, with her family she could be honest both with herself and with them.


Her attention would then shift back onto the village, her frown growing more pronounced as she took in the view of the place that had been her home her entire life. She liked to think that she knew the village like she knew the back of her own hand, but with Kenta out of power everything now felt new and different and as if she didn’t know the village anymore. As the thoughts played across her mind her attention would shift once more, moving to rest back on her brother again as the question that had been burning for so long came tumbling from her lips, ”Do you know if the plan is to leave?”, a simple question, one that didn’t give too much away in case someone happened to be lurking about, but a question that could be answered all the same – one she needed answered. She had no idea what the current plan was, and she definitely needed to know.

Word Count: 710 | 1,450

”I feel… probably the same way you’re feeling right now.”

She felt the same as him? So, that was a interesting answer from her, to say the least. At the moment, the elder Uchiha was a veritable mixture of emotions: apprehension and rage, mostly. For once, the male had no idea what the future held for him; what was once a bright and shining landscape painted in rich and vivid colors was now dull and lifeless, a place so foreign that Uchiha Naota was sure that he did not want to be there anymore. There just seemed to be no future for him in Konoha, and yet, he knew there was not one anywhere else he could possibly go. He wsa too famous in 'history' in a sense; his former rank would never allow him peace. His name carried an air of fear when spoken in foreign nations, and held stigma here at home; the broken lion, once a shining symbol of Konoha, now a shadow of his former self. His only loyalty was to his former Kage and family, and yet to everyone else, he was a no less dangerous to them than members of a hostile nation; his wrath was as legendary as the black flames that his clan was known for producing.

But even through all of his emotions, something  about the way Amaya spoke, and the words she chose to say seemed.... peculiar. It seemed as if she did not want to truly say what she meant, but Naota could easily come to the conclusion as to why she did not simply say precisely what she wanted to say. A ninja was a spy by nature, and in a village full of them, it was easy for someone to overhear something and misinterpret what the intention was, or even worse, for the for the ears to be deliberately turned against them. If the latter was the case, then it was to be expected. With a powerful, dedicated group of people loyal to a what was essentially a rogue element, it would be foolish not to watch them. One could never know what was being planned against them.

”I think what’s worse though is I feel powerless to fix it… any of it.”

Once more, Amaya spoke true words that the elder Uchiha could completel relate to. With Kenta no longer in power, and Naota removed as the captain of Anbu, thier power was reduced by two thirds. It would be too easy to be branded as a traitor to the village at this point, and a bounty placed upon thier heads. Amaya was too valueable as a medic to lose, Kenta was a former a Hokage and thus a national icon. But Naota? His strength was impressive, but he was also an Uchiha. Another could potentially gain his power, but that would require vast amounts of time and resources. But power without skill was nothing, and Naota's loyalty to his kage was something that could never be reproduced. That was something that the people pulling these strings had to learn the hard way, it seemed. There was a reason as to why the three of them worked so effectively together. They were a pack of vicious killers who knew each other inside and out, and had bonds of trust and love that could not be corroded or replicated. They were the original Wolfpack of Konoha, and that name would remain with them until they passed it on.

A fist balled at the male's right side, nails digging into flesh of his palm like knives to draw blood. He was not angry that Kenta was no longer Kage, but rather he was angry of the aftermath. In the following days, the elder Uchiha was stripped of ihs person power within the village that was not purely based on his position within his own clan. It was a slap in the face, and the pride of the Lion would not stand for it. If not for the thought of his family being held hostage, the male would have set fire to something, or someone within the village, and walked away.

”Do you know if the plan is to leave?”

The elder Uchiha's attention returned to his younger sibling yet again, a small expression of suprise crossing his visage. Sure, they shared the same thoughts just now? He would love to simply leave this place, this muck and haven of stagnation, but there was simply no way for him to do so. He was too famous.  But perhaps, there was another way....

"As far as I know, nothing has been planned, my dear. But perhaps, even if we do not... our will can remain, and move forward to pick up where we leave off..." It would not obvious to most outside of the Uchiha, or even those within the clan, but the elder Uchiha was sure his sibling would pick up on his meaning; there were certain times in thier clan's history where the most treasured possession of an Uchiha, the eyes containing thier Sharingan, were passed on to others along with the will of the user to protect thier village, or to accomplish a certain task within the world. "Perhaps... My will can be passed on to someone worthy of it, Amaya. Someone who can carry it forward and further themselves..."

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It was dangerous territory they stepped within; anyone overhearing them could assume the worst and cause them both trouble despite neither of them speaking plainly, and yet Amaya no longer cared. She had suffered in more ways than she wished to imagine: she had lost the love of her life while serving the village, and their daughter Aisling to boot. Yet, she had remained. She had pressed on, she had broken herself down more times than she could remember while at the hospital or off on missions. She had put her life on the line for people who didn’t even know her more often than naught… and for what? For this? To see her family fall from grace. To see them stripped of power, to see them lose what they had earned and fought for. It wasn’t right, and no matter how well she tried to paint the picture the colors were coming out a mixture of grays and blacks – no color, no hope, in sight.


Her brothers idea… there was something to it, something that struck a cord within her. She was tired of fighting, she was tired of just scraping by with death. It was time for a new generation to step up. It was time for both of them to pass on their wills to another – yet there was something that had to be done first, something that would ensure there were no repercussions, no hiccups later on for the future generation to have to deal with. ”I agree, dear brother. Perhaps it’s time both of our wills get passed on to the future.”

Her naturally red colored gaze shifted then, moving about the village she could so easily see from her position. She had been born in this village a sickly little girl, and had spent the first twelve to thirteen years of her life fighting to survive and to overcome the disease that ravished her young body. She had fought to become a proper shinobi, and one of the best medics the village had ever seen. Yet sometimes, such as now, it felt like to her as if it were all for nothing. All for it to end like this. ”I’m tired…. I want to spend the rest of my life in peace. Or as close to it as a demon like myself can get.” She knew if anyone would understand it was her brother. If anyone knew how it felt to be worn down and used up it would be him. She knew she couldn’t fully call it quits, not so long as Kenta lived and breathed – he needed her, and she would not skirt from that duty. But, that didn’t mean she couldn’t find a peaceful place to do it in, a place far away from the rest of the world. She knew the Inuzuka would like it: living in the wilds with no contact with civilization was something just about every member of their large family could get behind.

Amaya tore herself away from her train of thoughts to focus back on her elder brother. ”Do you have someone in mind? If not, I perhaps might be able to find someone suitable...” There were a few people in mind already, those who had proved themselves or proved themselves loyal when Kenta was in office – those who had proved themselves since then. She wouldn’t pass her brother’s will along to just anyone: no, only a worth individual would be granted such a gift and such a curse at the same time. It would have to be someone she could trust to handle it, someone who she knew the power wouldn’t break or destroy: someone strong, someone who wasn’t blinded by the lies and politics.

Word Count: 645 | 2,095

”I agree, dear brother. Perhaps it’s time both of our wills get passed on to the future.”

Then she was in agreement with him, and with it came a strange feeling of grim satisfaction. It would seem that like the elder Uchiha, Amaya felt that this place was beyond thier help with Kenta not in charge. Naota nodded his agreement to this statement, hands reaching up to rub his face, as if to literally pull the stress and fatigue from his mental state. This shit was tiring, after all. The combined stress of Kenta's health failing and the sudden removal from his position just did not sit well with the elder Uchiha. It stirred things within him that he had not felt in a long time, not since Kenta took him under his wing and led him out of the darkness.

”I’m tired…. I want to spend the rest of my life in peace. Or as close to it as a demon like myself can get.”

Was Amaya feeling the same as he yet again? Demons such as them were often killed on the field of battle, but those truely effective ones died fighting themselves. Thier own inner demons often got the best of them later in life, succumbing to decades of internal conflict. For  those such as he and his younger sibling, it would be harder for them to succumb, as they still had something to keep them stable: each other, to say the least. So long as one lived, the other would remain.

For now, at least...

”Do you have someone in mind? If not, I perhaps might be able to find someone suitable...”'

The elder Uchiha did indeed have someone in mind for the task; not one, but two people. One would be one of the newer additions to the expanded Wolfpack, a particular chuunin that had caught the eyes of Kenta recently. This particular person drew the interest of the elder Uchiha as well; if the male had not known better, he would sear the boy was the spawn of him and a late night with a kunoichi... The boy showed promise, both in power and spirit. Another that caught the elder Uchiha's attention was a a blue haired kid that was running around the village lately. That one seemed to leak chakra in droves, something that Naota only saw in the strongest of ninja. Plus, the child smelled of Sage Chakra for some strange reason, as if he had some sort of sage training.

"I have two in mind, sister dear. Do you remember the child that Kenta entrusted to go with him Iwagakure no Sato? Not the one who became a Sannin, rather the other..." The elder Uchiha shifted his stand some, turning to face his younger sister with each word. "The that smelled of Lightning and anger. He would make a fine carrier. But there is another..."

Once more, the male rubbed at his face, as if attempting to draw his stress out, and when he was done, he would resume speaking. "There is also a blue haired male that has been in the village for some time... He seems powerful, despite his age. I suppose he could do, especially if convinced of the cause." The male looked away, arms folding yet again. "I suggest him for a simple reason; he is not connected to us in anyway, shape or form. He is an unknown factor, something we can use to our advantage at some point. If my faith in the Natake child is misplaced, or something happens to him, we still have a chance."

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