Playing in the dark

The next morning Dix had a good breakfast, took a healthy stroll along the streets of Konoha, then when it felt like a reasonable time to return he teleported close to the Academy then made his way towards the Hokage's Office on foot. During his breakfast Kurama suddenly spoke up, which he rarely does, it seems like he is already used to watching what happens outside in silence. He was lying in his usual pose, resting his big fox-like head on his arms.

*Why are you doing this?* he asked in their shared plane of thought.

*What do you mean? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...* Dix tried to joke.

*Obviously that's not what I mean. Why do you want to join this shadow organization? Don't you have better things to do, like preparing for the inevitable final showdown between you and Madara? Why do you pledge yourself to that woman? This small village and its problems are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, is it not?* Kurama retorted with a snort, and with a bit of sharpness in his voice.

*Well that is a good question. Actually if I have to make comparisons, with all the preparation I already made I'm the strongest person alive on this planet. Obviously I could always find something to improve on, but the clones got that covered. I've spent more than a decade on this, and right now I have more than enough power to take care of the immediate threats. For now I stand down with the grinding and try to make use of my skills. Also its quite annoying to play babysitter with the other kids all the time, with this I can kinda hide away I suppose.* Dix explained. At the last sentence he lowered his voice and quickly muttered the real reason of this facade. Kurama obviously heard it, but didn't know his actual intentions, so he just believed him.

*So you really do plan on playing around...* Kurama snorted another, then after a few seconds raised his head and opened his usually closed eyes. His expression was of realization and shock. *By the way, you said you are the strongest on this planet... does that mean...?*

*... Yes it does. The old man's mother was an 'original' Otsutsuki. She was part of an interstellar species.* Dix said with mixed emotions.

*...Interstellar...?* Kurama interjected, as he didn't know what the word means. Actually Dix said it in English without even noticing it. He scratched the back of his head, then sighed and started explaining.

*It means they can move between planets and stars. It's simply terrifying, if you ask me. They are supposed to be able to traverse the cold vacuum of space between planets just by themselves. These people roam the universe and harvest the life essence of those that live on planets, like us. I don't know what they will do or how or even when, but I know they will come sooner or later. As far as my knowledge goes I can handle a few as I am right now, but I don't know how many will come. Well...* he finished, his voice trailing off, unsure what to say or even think.

*That's... you gave me a lot to think about.* Kurama said in a low voice, like his mental energies were sucked dry just with this short conversation. He put his head back down on his arms, closed his eyes and stopped moving for quite a while.

When Dix arrived to his destination he had to wait a minute or so until Tsunade was done with her official business. Soon two hooded man left the office and he was let in at the same time.

"Good morning, Naruto. It took quite a while for me to find you a good candidate for senior partner. Obviously no one can compare to you in strength, so finding an experienced and relatively strong ninja we can spare wasn't exactly easy. Rand, you can come in." she said, raising her voice for the last sentence. As a response the door opened up and a familiar old man walked trough it.

"Hehehe, kid, it seems like you lied to me. You said you won't be put into a squad, but here we are. I shouldn't be laughing though, seems like I got the short end of the stick..." said 'the' old man, who Dix already met, the one that made the ANBU tattoo for him. Seeing the sudden turn of events and hearing his senior's words Dix formed a frown and made a barely audible clicking sound with his tongue, then quickly composed himself.

"Ah, it seems like you already know each other, but anyway I introduce you. This here is Rand, a senior team leader, a veteran ANBU ninja who has been in the force for many years now. He is the only one we can spare for now to help you out. You guys can either try to work on Rand's previous assignment that seems to be a dead end now, or you can just casually patrol the village for everyday peace-keeping. I will leave him in your care, Rand. You are dismissed."

The new duo gave a short response, then moved out of the room. Outside Rand immediately turned to his junior and asked:

"Well it seems like I am in charge, but I've seen you fight in the training hall. I have to admit, even though I'm supposed to be your senior, you are tough as all hell kid, and I'm not sure if I have the right to lead." he said with a coarse voice, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Seeing this Dix only smiled and opened his mouth to calm his 'superior'.

"Right now it's not a question of power, but experience and other non-combat attributes. I am 'just' a kid, I may be strong but I sill have a lot to learn. When it comes to fighting I'll take care of it, but I wasn't born with the proper way of conducting ANBU missions engraved in my brain. I am willing to learn though. That's what I'd like to ask you to help me with." he said. His voice was filled with respect and ambition. Actually he wasn't really interested, but this buttered voice is like second nature to him, from back when he still had to suck up to his boss in the corporation.

"I see how it is, you are quite wise for your age, actually. You will go far, kid." Rand said, then pat his new partner's back. "So what do you want to do first? I'll let you choose for now."

"Let's check out that cold case you were working on. Maybe I can help with it. I have quite a few tracking abilities." came the answer. Hearing this Rand wasn't surprised at all, so he turned around and gestured Dix to follow him. They headed to the common archives room, a huge chamber full of scrolls and other documents neatly stacked on many-many shelves. Rand knew the place like the back of his hand, for people like him this place was almost like a second home. He spent a lot of time researching here. Without stop he walked over to one of the shelves, took down a scroll, then walked over to the table in the middle of the room, sat down and unfolded the scroll.

"Here, take a look. This is all we have right now." Dix also sat down and started reading.

There were only a few reports of missing people being found dead with all their blood drained at seemingly random parts of the village, or sometimes even outside, but close to it. This kind of homicide was very bizarre and troubling, so the ANBU took over the investigation right away. Dead bodies turn up once or twice every month, but so far even veteran agents like Rand could not find any noteworthy leads.

Rand patiently waited for Dix to read trough the reports, and when he finally put it down he said:

"This is a hard nut to crack, the bodies are always cold by the time we find them, no notable clues at the site, the victims are probably killed somewhere else and are dumped later. We have no suspects or even an idea who or why would do something like this. Any thoughts?" he said, looking at the 'kid' with gleaming eyes of expectation.

"Well, I've got nothing. I don't think I'm cut out for this detective game..." Suddenly Rand's eyes reflected disappointment, then a second later he took a step back and started scratching the back of his head. He himself had no idea what he expected. No matter what kind of genius the kid is, just looking at the reports he won't be able to discern anything for sure.

"... so I'll just bruteforce it like I always do."