8 Anbu

Mori was walking down a misty path, the sky was red and smoke came from where his home should be. He was scared of going further, but he had to.

"Get them!" the voices of enraged men resounded, they were chasing one or many people. Mori ran down the path as fast as he could.

He saw this little boy getting savagely killed, his screams of suffering and pain filled Mori's heart with sadness, rage and confusion.

What seemed to be a man appeared before him, his back turned towards him. Suddenly, the man turned his head. Showing his demonic grin and features off to the terrorized Mori.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Mori jumped from fright, he was sweating and panting exceedingly. A sharp pain struck his head, he held it in pain.

"That fucking.....nightmare." the chants of the grasshoppers calmed Mori's agitated heart, he stood up and looked fixedly at his forhead protector that was quietly sitting on his nightstand.

*************

"Yeah she is hot and burning, I'm telling you!" Mori was sitting against a tree, his katana by his side. At the same time, he listened to Yuri's story.

Yuri looked at the dark circles around Mori's eyes, he shook his head "You gotta sleep, it looks like your soul has left your body! You're already creepy with your face, coupling that with the dark circles....well...you could scare the devil himself." Mori stood up and looked deep into Yuri's eyes.

"My soul may have already left my body." his deep and composed voice made Mori very intimidating at this exact moment.

Seeing how Yuri's eyes widened, Mori took his distances "Tell me, Yuri. Have you reported to the Mizukage yesterday?"

"Yes, we told him about how Konoha funded the group and all. Lord Mizukage is determined to make Konoha pay for their actions." Mori walked near the tree and placed his katana on his back, he walked away.

"Hey! You're gonna leave me like that?" Yuri was dumbfounded. Even though Mori did this all the time, he couldn't get used to it.

Mori's silence was Yuri's answer, he looked at him going further and further until he could see him no more because of the mist.

'I need to get stronger than I already am. The shinobi world smells of incoming war, it could be today or tomorrow but war...WILL come.'

Around the area, mist was very thick. Seeing further than three meters was a near impossible task, there was a forest around those parts.

The sound of the cracking dry leaves, Mori enjoyed it. That's why he liked coming here and have some time of his own.

The wind blew, making the dry leaves hover in the air "SWIIISHHH!" the many leaves were all cut in half before they could fall back to the ground. Mori stood in stance and slowly unsheated his blade.

Mori slashed once, ten slashes traveled forward to the trees. They fell down and were completely cut, Mori was satisfied of the result.

"My blade is my soul, it reflects me. It is sharp and deadly, one strike is sufficient to kill many." Mori straightened himself and sheated his blade.

"What do you want from me?" Mori looked to his right, a man came out of the trees. Only now did he notice it.

"Is it to recruit me? I refuse, I will not join the Anbu." Mori made himself as clear as possible.

Something was off, the Anbu didn't answer. He dashed forward and seemingly unsheated his blade. Mori stood still, he didn't know why he was being targeted.

From the corner of his eye, Mori saw the Anbu's blade coming for his head. The blade stopped when its pointy end slightly entered inside of Mori's temple.

"Ito, follow me." Mori moved his head to the left. The pointy end got out, blood came out of the little wound. The Anbu sheated his katana.

"I told you....I do not wish to join you." the Anbu walked away and motioned Mori to follow behind him. As much as he wanted to, he had no choice but to oblige.

"Ito, your talent is....necessary. We need you in our ranks, you do not have the choice anymore. It is the order of Lord Mizukage." the Anbu talked while walking.

"Order of the Mizukage? I've been told by him to rest until those of the Land of The Sea invade." the Anbu stopped and looked back at Mori.

"Nothing goes as expected. The Mizukage has changed his mind, you are forced to join us." the Anbu formed hand seals, the mist around the placed scattered.

Mori looked around and saw what the thick mist was hiding, a little cone-shaped building. The Anbu opened the door and Mori followed inside.

The headquarters of the Anbu. Mori looked around, there were people taking care of a lot of paper works, they didn't even look at who entered inside.

The Anbu opened a metal door, behind it was an ampty room. This empty room had another door, only that there was a little opening in the door.

"You found Ito?" an Anbu behind the opening asked "I'm here, can't you see?" the Anbu looked at Mori for a few seconds before opening the door.

The Anbu unlocked the locks and opened the metal door "Enter, Ito." Mori entered, a large facility welcomed him on the other side.

Maskless men were eating around tables, they ate in silence. Nobody looked at Mori, they didn't care too much.

The Anbu tapped on Mori's shoulder and motioned him to follow him. He led Mori further to the armory.

There was a lot of equipment, from kunais to shurikens and all kind of swords. A stockpile of masks layed on a table.

"Ito, this will be your personal equipment." the Anbu gave Mori a mask with a blue triangle that streched from the whole chin and mouth area to the nose area.

He also placed the uniform on the table. An all black loose top with a hood, the black pants were also loose. There was also a very light armor that would cover his top and shoulders.

"Welcome to the Anbu, Ito. You'll be integrating one of the teams that takes care of the most dangerous missions."