Gene stood up and trudged over to the brown table top desk that he'd only just recently had installed for the sake of trying to keep organized. On it, were several documents spread out in a wild pile where he had thrown them and promised to get back to them - yesterday afternoon. It was now the following morning & had he not spent the entire night reading Cloud of sparrows he probably would have finished by now. Eyeing the first document as he sat down Gene furrowed a brow and scooped the piece of parliament into his hands. "Report orders?" He wondered if it had anything to do with Mamorinuku. The process of entry had been simple for him but he'd been advised about the paper work that would accompany it - from the looks of things, those papers had finally come.
Setting the first paper aside Gene affixed his eyes to the next document and read through the contents. "Mitsurugi, Gene. After careful consideration it is with great joy that we of Mamorinuku inform you that your app has been accepted and you meet the qualifications required to join us. However, further examination of your track record shows that you're already above Chunin level. That said, we'd like to issue a meeting with you personally to discuss potential promotion and further employment possibilities. This is, however, not a guarantee that you will be promoted only a meeting to discuss the potential option. Whether or not you advance in rank strongly depends on not just your current abilities but experience as well. " Gene paused, his eyes were wide in shock, mouth open in awe. This news was great! Though at the same time, he wasn't sure if he'd been looking forward to the work load.
Setting the letter aside with the Order form, Gene picked up the third and final document and read through it. It were times like these that actually made him regret taking the Chunin exams and getting promoted, things were much easier back then. "This is.." Gene spoke aloud, appearing as though he'd just read something life changing. However, before he could read any further, there was a sudden knock at the door that drew his attention. "Come in." The door creaked open slowly and from the other end came a shadow, a mere blur at first. It was the candle flame that had given the figure some semblance of definition in the wee hours of the morning; Mitsurugi Ken, Gene's father, entered on cue.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Asked Ken with a bemused expression. It was rare to see his son up so early in the past but now, he feared that the boy hardly slept at all. What was it that kept him up at night? Ken wondered. Looking Gene in the face Ken could see signs of fatigue - not the kind created from training, no. There was a certain chill to Gene's eyes that worried Ken...It was like his son was there but he wasn't really 'there'. That was never a good sign. Perhaps it had been too soon to push him into the ninja life...maybe Gene wasn't ready like Ken thought he was. Or maybe, just maybe, Ken had been stuck in the memories of his own time as a Leaf Shinobi at Gene's age. The times were certainly more rough then. Ever since the invasion Ken took note of a noticeable change in his son...was he still holding on to all that pain?
Gene was about to answer but he noticed that his father was acting strange especially for it to be so early in the morning. Was something bothering him? Gene wondered if he could ease the tension but dared not attempt to hit the button square on in fear of opening a can of worms that would have been best left closed. Besides, these days he had his fair share of problems to worry about (thinking of the third document he'd just read moments ago). He wasn't sure how much time had gone by already but for some reason it'd felt like an eternity and before he knew it, Gene had caught himself thinking too much. "Uh..no. I was just finishing up actually," Gene lied. He'd put them off this long, those order forms could wait a little while longer. Besides, he wouldn't be able to do much with them until resolving that third issue anyway. "Something up?"
When the question left Gene's lips he noticed that his father batted his eyes. First to the left then up toward the ceiling. The occurrence lasted for all of about a fraction of a second but with the boy being naturally and systematically refined to notice the smaller details with his ninja training, the tale may as well have lasted a life time. What was going on? No, the question had been, was Ken going to lie to him or tell the truth? Whatever the truth was. "Well son...I'm glad you're sitting down for this..."
Two days earlier "They've been bringing in supplies for a while now, what do you think they're up to?" Came a whisper from beyond the shadows of the night, masked by the sound of swaying leaves and a steady pitter patter of rain. "Hard to say," a deeper voice replied, "though whatever they're planning it must not be good." Both felt a tension growing between the two of them as they watched while a large gathering of pirates stepped on and off a large ship, bringing with them each time, large crates filled with a strange black powder (evident because one of the pirates had dropped a crate and the contents spilled over on the sand). Both of the Hidden ninja had examined the boat for any signs of affiliation with another nation yet neither could find anything noteworthy-it appeared as though the pirates were just that, roving thieves with a sour agenda.
Even still, that wasn't enough to go on. Why were they here? What were they planning on using all that firepower for? There were far too many unanswered questions...but not for long. "This could take a while," came the more feminine of the two voices. It was clear that more surveillance would need to be done - they couldn't afford to pull back just yet. However, what little information they did have would need to be reported...someone had to stay behind and someone had to go and give the report. "Yeah, but for now I don't think we should engage them. I'll keep an eye out here...Guren, you should get back. You think you can handle things from here?" She asked, feeling unease but due to the shinobi way, wouldn't allow her doubts to show. "Yeah, after all this is just a routine inspection right? Shouldn't be too tough to handle. Just make sure you get this information to Lord Hokage."
Saying their goodbyes for now, the two parted ways with Mitsurugi Guren, racing at top speed back to the village. Because of the heavy rainfall, traveling by way of tree was too risky and forced her to sprint along the ground level roads - meaning she'd been more exposed than normal. Knowing this, Guren frequently checked her six to make sure that she wasn't being followed and pressed onward with her task in mind. Just what were those pirates planning? She wondered if they would become a problem in the future; if so, then she along with the other higher ups would put an end to their plans before they could even get off the ground. Speaking of which, with each hasty step taken forward mud sloshed underneath her feet. If she could help it Guren would have done away with the noise but at this point there was nothing else that she could do - reaching the village was a priority and there was nothing in the way that would prevent her from doing so...but what was this feeling?
The closer she'd gotten to the village, the more Guren couldn't shake the pair of eyes beating into the back of her head. Until finally she came to an abrupt halt, spinning around in a swift 180 and drawing her Ninjato. "You may as well come out! There's absolutely zero chance of getting beyond this point." She declared boldly. For a while, no one had surfaced but soon, the silhouette of a tall and rather muscular fellow was made out in the night - they wore a cloak covering their face an the shadow cast where the head should have been made it impossible to see who they were. But this person's eyes...they weren't normal. Crimson and filled with an unnatural amount of blood lust, Guren had wanted to avert her gaze but faced her foe with unwavering determination.
"You discovered me...Interesting." The cloaked figure spoke, his voice holding the depth of an ocean. "Who are you?!" Guren shouted, gritting her teeth while the grip on her weapon tightened. Guren would receive no answer as the cloaked figure simply flicked his wrists upward causing two concealed Kunai to shoot from his sleeves and into his hands; whomever this person was, they weren't about to give an iota of information without a fight.
And so, the two fought profusely....after a hard battle Guren had fallen. The commotion of the skirmish attracted the attention of other Konoha ninja nearby which forced the cloaked figure to retreat - however, the damage had been done.
"She's still alive!" Shouted the medic after checking for Guren's vitals as he had been trained to do many times over. However, there was a look of great concern on his face because in his inspection he'd discovered something else, something...very wrong. " Hurry and get her to the medical unit quickly! She's been poisoned!"
Present day:"I see...So that explains why she hasn't been around..." Said Gene with a false sense of calmness. He'd managed to keep a straight face but even Gene couldn't get past Ken's sense of observation. His father could see the pain in Gene's eyes and sought to reassure his son. "Listen..Gene I - "You don't need to explain anything else. In our world, these things happen." Ken's eyes swelled with tears and a lump formed in his throat his son was right but even still, there was more to it than that. "Son..listen." "I'm sure with the medical specialists she should be able to make a full recovery then-" "Gene. She's gone...forever."Back in the dimly lit confines of Gene's room the young Chunin struggles to wrap his head around what his Father just told him. he put on his best Shinobi front and kept his raging storm of emotions bottled.
No sooner had the words left Ken's lips did the room become ground zero as paperwork, the desk, and various other items all find their way violently to the ground. Gene had contained himself thus far but no longer could he sit and listen, his mother had been killed by someone for what cause? What was the significance of the mission that required her to die?! Unable to find the words needed to continue a conversation Gene took a deep breath, grabbed his gear and left. He was dealt a heavy blow to the heart at the loss of his mother, he wouldn't suffer yet another blow by weeping in front of his Father.
To Gene, the world may as well have crashed and burned for the hole left in his heart would never be filled.