Knock Knock*<i></i>
What was I doing at this apartment today? Oh yeah, I was charged with the duty of telling an ANBU they've lost their job. I had to wonder why I had come to receive these orders. Since when was it common practice to have a random village shinobi tell a trained killer and assassin that they're terrible at their job? What if it had been someone any less capable than myself? This could have ended in disaster. Why couldn't the respective ANBU division leader let this person go? Especially with the chances of this going south.
My mind kept working on the logistics for the mission when the door opened before me and all the machinations in my head came to a grinding halt.
The woman in front of me was surprisingly pretty. A kind face outlined by golden strands of hair, punctuated with freckles, and eyes as blue as the real sky. Needless to say she didn't appear to be the killer I had come to know most ANBU to be. Then again all ninja were trained killers on some level. Med-nin knew the body on unparalleled levels and could kill with precision. ANBU were ruthless and efficient and had to be mentally unshakable or mentally fractured. This woman before me seemed about as normal as normal could be. Her file said she was Uchiha, so she was probably super-observant.
"Are you going to say something?"<i></i> She said with a raised eyebrow.
I swallowed hard. How long had I been standing there in thought after she opened the door? I quickly began fumbling through my satchel to find the sealed envelope with the notice of her termination. The air of uncertainty gathered around this event disturbed me greatly. She felt like a good person, but if she was an ANBU who knew what kind of person she really was? People don't go into that line of work without having a steeled will and ice in their heart.
"Ummmm, right, just let me find the parcel."<i></i> It took me only a few more moments before I managed to find the deliverable. As I held it out to her, the stamped insignia of the Sunan ANBU Corps on the front, she raised a hand and drooped her head.
"I already know what it's for.."<i></i>
My mouth hung agape for a moment as I watched her small frame shiver in place. The death aura I had anticipated wasn't there and instead was replaced with a feeling of disappoint and wounded pride. Her knees buckled and she started to fall, but my reflexes allowed me to catch her at the shoulders and hold her up, using me as support. Clearly she had seen this coming, but wasn't hoping it would never arrive. Stuffing the letter back into my bag, I edged her slowly back into her apartment, settling her down near the small sitting table adjacent to the kitchen. I quickly put together and tea tray and added some cookies from my own personal stash before sitting down with her. After getting her to sip some tea and nibble on a cookie, she got to explaining the whole situation. How all the charges against her had been set-up by another ANBU to make her look bad and despite her attempts to disprove the accusations she had failed.
"It's quite alright. Something like this can't go unanswered. We're ninja after all, we'll just have to out-maneuver him."<i></i> I smiled wide and for a moment she wasn't sure if she should respond in kind. My only assumption could be that after trying to find help all this time and not getting it she was surprised to find it in the person delivering her pink slip, "By the way, I'm Kuroda Uri."<i></i>
She finally smiled for the first time since my being there, "I'm Uchiha Koi, and thank you for the cookies."<i></i>
~*~
Word Count: 646
What was I doing at this apartment today? Oh yeah, I was charged with the duty of telling an ANBU they've lost their job. I had to wonder why I had come to receive these orders. Since when was it common practice to have a random village shinobi tell a trained killer and assassin that they're terrible at their job? What if it had been someone any less capable than myself? This could have ended in disaster. Why couldn't the respective ANBU division leader let this person go? Especially with the chances of this going south.
My mind kept working on the logistics for the mission when the door opened before me and all the machinations in my head came to a grinding halt.
The woman in front of me was surprisingly pretty. A kind face outlined by golden strands of hair, punctuated with freckles, and eyes as blue as the real sky. Needless to say she didn't appear to be the killer I had come to know most ANBU to be. Then again all ninja were trained killers on some level. Med-nin knew the body on unparalleled levels and could kill with precision. ANBU were ruthless and efficient and had to be mentally unshakable or mentally fractured. This woman before me seemed about as normal as normal could be. Her file said she was Uchiha, so she was probably super-observant.
"Are you going to say something?"<i></i> She said with a raised eyebrow.
I swallowed hard. How long had I been standing there in thought after she opened the door? I quickly began fumbling through my satchel to find the sealed envelope with the notice of her termination. The air of uncertainty gathered around this event disturbed me greatly. She felt like a good person, but if she was an ANBU who knew what kind of person she really was? People don't go into that line of work without having a steeled will and ice in their heart.
"Ummmm, right, just let me find the parcel."<i></i> It took me only a few more moments before I managed to find the deliverable. As I held it out to her, the stamped insignia of the Sunan ANBU Corps on the front, she raised a hand and drooped her head.
"I already know what it's for.."<i></i>
My mouth hung agape for a moment as I watched her small frame shiver in place. The death aura I had anticipated wasn't there and instead was replaced with a feeling of disappoint and wounded pride. Her knees buckled and she started to fall, but my reflexes allowed me to catch her at the shoulders and hold her up, using me as support. Clearly she had seen this coming, but wasn't hoping it would never arrive. Stuffing the letter back into my bag, I edged her slowly back into her apartment, settling her down near the small sitting table adjacent to the kitchen. I quickly put together and tea tray and added some cookies from my own personal stash before sitting down with her. After getting her to sip some tea and nibble on a cookie, she got to explaining the whole situation. How all the charges against her had been set-up by another ANBU to make her look bad and despite her attempts to disprove the accusations she had failed.
"It's quite alright. Something like this can't go unanswered. We're ninja after all, we'll just have to out-maneuver him."<i></i> I smiled wide and for a moment she wasn't sure if she should respond in kind. My only assumption could be that after trying to find help all this time and not getting it she was surprised to find it in the person delivering her pink slip, "By the way, I'm Kuroda Uri."<i></i>
She finally smiled for the first time since my being there, "I'm Uchiha Koi, and thank you for the cookies."<i></i>
~*~
Word Count: 646