Hokage's office, Konoha
Tsunade was used to long days, hours spent working on documents that would be lost in her pile of work, the sound of the wooden tiles groaning under Shizune's footsteps is a tune her ears hate and the mental battle of giving into her day drinking to ease the stress is a ever present.
But today felt different. Since entering her office, she couldn't shake off the feeling of impending death, for a woman who has experienced devastating losses in her life, the anxiety of death is more cruel than the actual outcome, it's like giving a person false hope just to crush it in their face.
Tsunade taps her pen against her desk, the pace full of impatience, her hold could break a sake glass and yet this pencil is resistant.
"Taiju..." She sighs.
The memory of their night together sticks to her mind, from the soft chatter about village life, the lingering taste of ice cream and his flesh kissing her own.
It was suppose to be a casual hookup between two adults, just fulfilling their physical needs, nothing else should've developed from it but Tsunade couldn't suppress the budding feelings of love?
A feeling she once had for her late partner, not a violent Anbu who leaves trails of blood in her office after a missions.
"This can't be happening. " She rubs her forehead, her wrinkles were the least of her worries.
'He left with his team to investigate the rise of a group of rogue ninjas near the Land of Iron.' She reminded herself, biting down on her bottom lip, she looked out her window.
"Even the sky is grieving..."
[ Land of Iron]
The snow infested land of Samurai is a grueling environment where man are sharpened like the steel they carried.
Moving along the ankle deep snow, Taiju and the rest of the members of Squad-0 kept their pace.
Tayuya breaths heavily as cold air fills her lungs, her head wrap kept her red-locks hidden with the exception of a few strands, the white jacket did it's best to keep her warm. "I swear Danzo hates us." She growls.
Kin walks shoulder to shoulder with Tayuya, hugging her jacket with all her strength, "This was definitely deliberate. Sending us to deal with issues near Samurai territories is bound to cause chaos. "
Yugao moves in front of them, Taiju on her left, "We're almost there, keep up."
Taiju barely said a word, his eyes focused on the snow-eating fog ahead.
"You haven't spoken since we, oh–left dear captain." She teases.
He looks back at her, his eyes calm and focused.
"I know that look." Tayuya groans.
"What look?" He smirks.
"That's the look you get when you sense a strong opponent."
Kin rolls her eyes,"He always looks calm before turning into a rabid dog."
Taiju snorts, his gaze on Yugao. "You know I had a chat with Kakashi yesterday?"
"What did you talk about?" The purple-haired beauty asked.
"We talked about the futility of war, how it only benefits the rich who dictate it in the comfort of their palaces."
"I didn't know you're in to politics?" Tayuya jabs.
He ignores her taunt,"We were talking about how these meaningless wars only create broken shinobi. " exhaling cold air he continues. "For those lucky enough to survive, they live with trauma they eventually heal from...but there are the unfortunate who live and have to move on with trauma that dominates their minds, making them erratic and too violent to control. "
"What are you on about Taiju?" Tayuya clicks her tongue in frustration.
"Let him finish. " Kin scolds.
Taiju unsheathes his blade, looking at the luminous steel.
"That's who we're hunting, war veterans exiled by their home nations as they were found unstable to be a Shinobi. Even when you sacrifice everything for them, they chase away like a mad dog." He concludes.
"That's a mean thing to say Konoha boy~" A feminine voice purrs in his ear.
Taiju's body stiffened, the hairs on his erect and sweat drops freezing at first contact with the snow.
"How?" He stutters, lip shaking through every word, he felt his legs wobbling in fear, a foreign feeling to him as he lived off the adrenaline of battles, not knowing if this clash would be your last day on Earth excited him like no other dopamine rush, but now he finds him in crippling fear, an emotion that was hidden in the shadows of the maggots pits from the minute he could hold a sword, another child of a failing system that chose is path before he could manifest the thought.
"Are you scared?" His female captor teases, her blade resting by his jugular, one swipe and his blood will paint the snow in a crimson splatter.
"Let go of him!" Tayuya growls, releasing her twin swords, she points them at the woman holding Taiju hostage.
"Tayuya wait!" Yugao plants herself between her pupils and the rogue nin. "Look at her weapons." She warns.
"You mean Kiba?"
The lady who has Taiju shaking has red hair, a shade darker than Tayuya's, charcoal eyes, shark-like teeth and wearing a grey Samurai armour.
"You can't be her?" Taiju panics, a cold shiver travels down his body, not from the cruel cold but an unexpected revelation of facing a member of the Seven Ninja swordsman of the Mist.
"You're Ameyuri Ringo." Taiju swallows.
"Hah–haven't heard that name in years...good to see the new generation still fears it~"
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Of course but you're friends seem ready to stop me. " She hums.
Crackling...crackling
The sound of lightning screeching fills their ears, the two swords she's holding have lighting dancing around them.
"TAIJU!" Tayuya rushes over to him.
"TAYUYA ,NO–" Yugao leaps at her.
Kin throws senbon at the captor, all logic left their minds once the threat of Taiju loosing his life became a possible reality.
[End of chapter]