It felt so strange. He had worked his entire life towards one dream, one goal, and now that he had finally achieved that goal it just felt so surreal. He stood at the border of the Land of Fire and looked back at his village, the village that it was his task to protect from the most heinous of criminals. He felt a moment of extreme pride as he looked back, finding it hard to believe that he had done it. He looked down at the grey vest that he was now wearing over top of a black shirt that also sat over top of his regular chainmail, his usual bracers and gauntlets still strapped in place, and a full set of leg armour hidden beneath his pants. It was different to say the least, he certainly wasn’t used to having this much protection. He swung the white travelling cloak which pinned him out as the ANBU Captain over himself, waiting to bring the hood up for now, watching as the fabric draped over the newly inked ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder.

He was a little sad that he couldn’t wear the Sarutobi Clan sash that he usually wore around his waist, not being able to give away his identity and that surely being a red light for most. He looked to the ground and whistled slightly, seeing his long time companion approaching him from the distance. He smiled as he laid his hand on the king cheetah’s head, patting him and listening to the soft and reassuring sound of the cheetah’s purrs. He would be searching for a shinobi who was especially good at not being found, and Chisoku’s assistance would be extremely valuable in this mission. The last thing he did before setting off was look at the mask he held in his hands. The iconic ANBU mask was really a wonder to behold and had the ability to strike fear in people so easily. He admired the paintjob on the mask, the red and black stripes, black around the eyes, the feline-esk mouth, and the teardrops down the face marking it out as unique to him.

The Chita Sennin smiled softly and put his mask on, dawning it for the first, and certainly not last, time. He was no longer Sarutobi, Mitsuo; head of the Sarutobi Clan and Sword Saint of the Hidden Leaf. He was Chita, Captain of Konoha’s ANBU Black Ops, and weapon of the Hokage. He was a sharpened blade that had been turned on its target and he would not stop until his mission was complete. The target he was hunting had defected from two villages, stealing and selling information from both, one of those being Konoha. He has set fires and was a general problem, and Takeshi had decided it was time to remove the menace from the face of this earth. Chita would carry out his task no matter what, he would find that which was unfindable, track that which was untrackable, and kill that which so far had seemed to be unkillable.

He drew Seijin no Ken, the Sword of the Saint, and the weapon that had given him his nickname, and looked down the blade, the gleam from the sun barely noticeable from the smoke that obscured it. He gave it a few swings, the blade lightning fast in his grip, and then put it back away. This was him in his element, this was what he was born to do. He turned to Chisoku and, with a low and distorted voice through the mask, he said, “Let us go, Chisoku. The time has come for us to take to the road, and to meet this Synn. He shall quickly be put to the blade and we shall be victorious.” With that, the two set off.

(638/600 leave thread)