Long time, No See Right?
To put it mildly...Life's been busy! Between my job, family, and school I've deligated myself to the 'when I have a spare moment' lurking. I've also decided not to apply for the teaching program in Japan - after further research, we realized that the resources for my youngest son just weren't there. And with Down's you want to make sure he has every opportunity possible to get help, you know?
I've also begun writing again - after losing 90% of my previous writings when my hard drive crashed it took awhile to get back into it. I thought the best way would be for me to find an RP - and I'm still looking for one, since the one I applied for didn't accept the application story. They said it was good - just not quite good enough. And that cool - it just means I need to brush up a bit more before I try again.
So here's the deal - under the LJ cut is the story. The perameters were to write, not in first person, on the character having to kill a child while in ANBU mission. If it bothers you, please don't read the story. Oh...and the character I applied for was my fave Naruto character - Umino Iruka. If you read it, any con crit would be greatly appreciated.
Other then that - I'm off to work on a dreaded term paper!
Iruka shifted his position, adjusting himself until his back rested more comfortably against the ancient pine he’d chosen as his surveillance point. As he pulled his cloak more securely around his too-cold body, he thought back to the official mission brief. It had sounded simple enough - kill the six year old son of a feudal lord who has been placed with a clan rival as a hostage-adoptive son. However, the mission parameters outlined a much more complex and delicate situation.
Apparently, the father's spies had discovered the daily discipline administered by the other feudal lord - discipline severe enough to consistently leave bruises on his youngest child. The likelihood of getting an approved appeal for his son’s return was minimal at best; thus the father wanted to take step to both end his son’s misery and implicate the other feudal lord as the culprit. It was imperative that there was not even the slightest hint at any other reason for the child’s death.
It didn’t take a genius to see how deep the political intrigues went with this particular mission.
Thus, Iruka had been observing his target for two full days…and the more he saw, the greater his disgust grew. As the time slowly dragged on, he found himself losing more and more of his calm detachment. He wanted nothing more than to barge in there and exact swift and painful retribution on behalf of the little boy…more than once, his body had shifted to do just that before he caught himself.
The little one’s suffering would end tonight. He would end it.
He continued to watched impassively as the guards rotated shifts - waited patiently as the new patrol made a quick sweep of the grounds while the relieved guards settled down for the night. Within an hour, the household had settled once more into a peaceful serenity and the young ANBU agent slipped into action. Ghosting silently through the trees, Iruka carefully circled the compound until he was as close as possible to the head family’s sleeping wing. The child’s room had a small air slit for a window - which was more than enough for Iruka to get his bearings. A rapid series of signs and a small poof of chakra smoke found him standing next to the miniscule form on the thread-bare bed.
For a moment, he could only stand there and watch helplessly as the boy thrashed around, twisting the bedding around his tiny frame. A tiny whimper, though barely even a sound, galvanized Iruka into action. Kneeling down, his hands blurred through a short series of signs before they were placed on the kid’s temples.
A simple genjutsu unfurled delicately through the younger mind, releasing the boy from whatever terror had gripped him so tightly. Iruka gently constructed the image of a field full of wildflowers, sunshine, and even a soft brown-and-white puppy. Iruka refused to inflict further pain on so small a child, no matter the situation. Thus he felt completely justified in doing something that was not exactly necessary to the success of the mission.
He had decided to use Taicatoxin, a venom-based neurotoxin that would both numb the pain and rapidly shut down all of the victim’s vital systems as the means of administering death. It was designed to break down into harmless proteins within a few hours of injection and by the time the household began to stir, it would be all but traceless. Not for the first time he wished he had been able to talk to Genma-sempai before leaving, as he would probably have been able to recommend a better poison. Unfortunately, the other ninja had not yet returned from his own mission, so Iruka was on his own. Taking the syringe out of his weapons pouch, he carefully uncapped it before gently exposing one small forearm. With one smooth strike, the needle slid into the vein - contents delivered.
The pain was just enough to break his carefully constructed illusion and the boy’s eyes snapped open. The agent’s free hand shot up and gently covered the kid’s mouth before he could make a sound while the other one fumbled to get the cap back on the needle (fat lot of good it would do if he managed to poison himself) before shoving it back in his weapons kit.
When he looked back to the child’s face…wide fearful eyes sliced him to the core.
He couldn’t breathe, the mask was blocking the air and he couldn’t breathe. Frantically pushing the obstacle up onto his head, the shinobi took a calming breath before he began to whisper gentle reassurances to the child. He made himself watch as the fear ebbed from crying eyes and the pain induced tension drained from the small frame. He brushed the bangs away from those suddenly trusting eyes, mentally condemning himself even as the light finally faded from them.
The injection site checked to ensure there were no traces, tiny clothes swiftly straightened, eyelids pressed closed…gone.
A life barely started - gone.
And for the wraith-like shadow flying unerringly towards home, a new stage was truly begun as something within him, too, died a little.