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| - Life in Takigakure was always busy nowadays. Experiencing a baby boom after the Fourth Shinobi War, even the once tiny village of Takigakure had at least tripled its' population count. A growing young population would always find the need to bustle around the cramped village in the glorious sunlight, but none on the surface would probably know about the vast underground network of tunnels built under the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. The damp smell of the network was however a small price to pay for the immense security it granted, or so Minatsuki Kanata noted. She stood in a rather well lit room with five of her top dogs. 'Generals' in a tiny army of less than 50, maybe 70 if they involved mercenaries; but a force nevertheless. Minatsuki's slender fingers swiped a few strands of hair away from her face as she awaited the arrival of two peripheral figures in her rebellion. The ancient Hougou and her own flesh and blood. Her eldest son, Kenta Kanata. Minatsuki sighed to herself. She hated herself for bringing her son into this, a battle that had been hers from the beginning. She hated the fact that she had left him nothing but a rotten reputation. She hated a great many things, and more often than not she wished that she had never participated in that enhanced human programme. Life would have been so different if this had been someone else's problem. She could have been a decent wife and mother, doting over a teenager and a newly crowned man of twenty and a husband in his mid forties. Maybe in another life, or another universe, she thought to herself, her sense of longing only deepening. Another one of her comrades in arms saw the sadness reflected off her eyes, moving in closer to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Mina?" He asked, a brow raised in concern. She exhaled strongly and nodded, replying him with only a smile in confirmation. She'd see this through, she had to. World peace wasn't a trivial thing, and when you could do something to preserve it, you did. But Minatsuki's intentions were not that altruistic, they were devoted more towards self-redemption. All those experiments on all those orphans; just because she refused to test the serum on its most important candidate. A specimen originally conceived for the pure purpose that it would share her genetic structure when coming into being; her all too important genetic makeup which was so compatible with the tailed beast Taki had owned before the war. But maternal feelings had interrupted that sacred mission she had undertaken. A mother's love had saved one child but the need to compensate saw her sacrifice dozens more. She needed to somehow find a breakthrough or, as the open threat had sounded, she would be forcibly 'revoked' of her child. And so a mother's love became her ultimate weakness as a human being. Horrible experiments on babies floating in giant tubes in one of Taki's research facilities. Many had died, but enough had remained. Minatsuki had found the coveted formula to success, which however came at the cost of 'extended immersion' in those sickening tanks. Thus all the children had floated for more than fifteen years. All but one, of course. A beautiful girl, as Minatsuki remembered, whose genetic code contained a rare anomaly that allowed her to directly assimilate the Tailed Beast's dangerous, corrosive chakra. She had come out in a year, but Minatsuki hadn't heard of Taki using her. In all possibility, the chakra of the beast had poisoned her for adapting so early, killing the child painfully. There simply was no way she knew for sure, as she had escaped from the village before knowing the child's fate. This was all because of her own dedication to the science of bodily modification and eugenics, and Minatsuki knew it. She would stop this programme and she would stop Taki from building their world conquering army. One perfect pseudo Jinchūriki was a challenge, five were capable of razing a village single handedly. Several dozen could take over a vast majority of the Five Nations in a few days. She shuddered at the thought of this. But Kenta had seen the importance of this fight. While she had just wanted his help for sabotage and infiltration, but he had born the weight of this revolution with the might of Hougou behind him. Hougou and Kenta had done their parts wonderfully, but now they had taken over the whole mission—Viper's Nest were now playing support. But Minatsuki was determined. She would not let her precious child, the one she sacrificed so many others and her own self for, bear the brunt of her fight. Kenta could pull his weight however he pleased, but Minatsuki had already prepared herself secretly to take the fall for him. There was no possible way Kenta could know just how much she loved him, and she was fine with that. A child separated from its mother would understandably not cherish her as much as it would if never apart. But things were different for a mother. Minatsuki still saw him as he had been when she left, and she loved him even fiercer. But she would not risk him discovering her true motives to sacrifice herself in the aftermath. He deserved to live his own life, and she deserved to end her own battles. The sound of footsteps echoed through one of the narrower tunnels overhead, as shadows loomed. The doors shot open as a shadow shot through them, its pace quick and its presence enormous. It kept moving until it reached the table they stood around, a map of Takigakure, and slammed it's hand down on the table. Everyone's eyes looked to what stood before them, A monster of a man. His loosely stitched mouth was set in a perfectly straight line. His pale brown eyes seemed to shimmer with determination. His dulled white hair still caught the light of the lanterns, shimmering as best it could. "Minatsuki we're set to begin whenever your army is ready." The man spoke, his words perfect even through his stitched mouth. "Jouman will enter the battle soon after, towards the bulk of your units. If any of you come into contact with him he'll send you back to the tunnels in cubes that will reform. If any of you need to be healed charge him and he'll send you back. Once I being my grand performance he'll come for me and I'll send him reeling, out of commission just long enough for us to finish." He finished with a swish of his hand, causing his sleeved black cloak to flutter behind him. Hougou was quite pleased with how the preparations were going however as he looked around he noticed Minatsuki seemed to be mulling something over, he knew what it was. With another swift movement he pushed past the generals and lightly gripped her by the shoulder, guiding her to an adjoining room where they could talk privately. He shut the door behind them and activated a simple soundproofing technique. His footsteps echoed as he crossed the room, before truing back to look at her. "It's Kenta isn't it." His guess was perfect, he'd become quite good at reading people in his time. "You worry for him constantly and why wouldn't you. He's your own son, your flesh and blood that you wronged." He was now staring directly at her. "You need to understand this though, Kenta is no longer the boy you once knew. I've trained him tirelessly, every damn day for the past four months we've made constant progress. You realize that ever since we've known each other I wanted no part in this entire process, no part." He paused for a moment, collecting himself. "Every single time you asked me to help I declined until finally you told me you'd stop if I trained him. I planned to get it over with ad toss him back to you as fast as I could but look at where we are now. I'm attacking Taki now, helping plan and lead the assault, those very things I said I would never do. Your boy did that Mina, Kenta's the only reason me and Jouman are helping you wage this war." His voice was to the point, he wanted no misinterpretations. "His will brought us to this moment here so I'd say he's more than qualified to wage this war. You know I'd never let him go if I didn't think he was prepared." Hougou finished as he stared Minatsuki down. "Please leave your worry behind and focus on the task at hand, I promise you Kenta will leave Taki alive." Minatsuki's eyes darted towards Hougou at the mention of Kenta's name. She let Hougou finish before she began to speak. "To be fair I never expected you to participate in this, and I still can't believe that you've joined us. Everything in the form of assistance from you and Jouman-san is a bonus that I can thank the gods for." Having stated her gratitude, she then returned to the topic of Kenta. "It's not the reason that I wronged him that gets me—it's the fact that I continue to wrong him that keeps me up at night. He's my son and I trust him. I believe in him more than anyone else in the world does: just like any other mother," she proclaimed fiercely before lowering her eyes in sadness. "There's no two ways here. He's engaging in treason while doing this; treason of my doing. It's my fight, I should be the one ending it, but call it maternal foresight—I know Kenta's going to try to end it himself." She leaned against a wall in the chamber and rolled a coin between her fingers back and forth. "Kenta is well known throughout the village, and even if he's covert as hell, with the village in such a state of high alert, the chances are extremely high that if he isn't killed, his cover will be blown. Conveniently the son of a traitor turns traitor, twists a dagger into the back of the village that loved and sustained him. And now we're on borrowed time. Things could very well have changed, especially with the quality of the scientific research team we have. Because of how secretive the facility and its personnel are and have been, the only time we'll be able to know what's in there is when we actually attack," she stated as he rubbed her temples. Upon glancing at Hougou, she decided to elaborate even further on the cause of her worries. "Seventeen years ago, one of the babies was able to fully accept the new modified chakra of the tailed beast we once possessed. I'm sure as you already know, we tinkered with the said chakra as much as possible—leading for what we believe to be power surpassing the Nine Tails' cloak together with full control over the available power. Of course we encountered some rather extreme side effects. That one baby however managed to survive the process and host the corrosive chakra immediately without any adverse effect, and all we could ascertain was that her genetic code had some minor anomaly which allowed the effortless integration. My point is, at this time, they could already have awakened several test subjects for all we know—and we'll know for sure by tonight. Perhaps you would be able to handle them; but would Kenta? Without even semblance of injury?" She exhaled lightly without breaking eye contact. "Even you know that the risk here is high, no matter how well he has trained under you, no matter how ready he is. I just can't come to terms with the fact that I'm sending my own son into hellfire, headfirst. It's not fair. It wasn't fair that I asked him to take this mission. It wasn't fair that I disappeared from his life when he needed a mother most. It wasn't fair that I let an entire village spit on him because of my own determination. It's not fair that I'm now sending him into what will be, a colossal battle with only knowledge from almost twenty years earlier." She shook her head as her voice took a more hoarse tone. "It's not fair that my boy has to face this for the sake of the greater good. That I'm putting his life on the line for hundreds of millions of people who won't even know his name. But you see Hougou, even so, I approached him in that forest like the merciless bitch I am, and I coaxed him into this with maternal love." The words maternal love reverberated with scorn and self loathing, coming out as the mixture of a snarl and hiss. "By hook or by crook Hougou, I'm not going to let him take the fall from this one. That much I swear. If someone pays a price, I want it to be me." She stated, her voice mildly shaky, but her strength keeping her emotions intact as she voiced the power of her will. Hougou sighed, he would eventually have to tell her. "Your son has already accepted all of that Mina. He knows he'll have to flee and we'll help him. There's no way he was breaking in there without getting spotted. We already planned for this though, Jouman's gonna help. At the end of our raid Jouman will appear again and turn everyone to cubes including Kenta and I. We'll all be sent back to the tunnels, free to leave once again or even go back to society. Our cause is just and for most Jouman could pardon them. Kenta has decided that he'll be the one to accept the burden along with me, our false deaths will allow the rest of you to live in peace." It wouldn't be an easy thing to say. "As for their science project my distraction should draw any active experiments." He ignored her comment on Kenta's ability to handle them, it wasn't time just yet. He then moved closer and rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I tried all I could to send him away from this, gave him every excuse to leave. He wants justice against this corrupt system, to free you and his family name from their burden." He removed his hand though as her next words were all too true. At the heart of it all she felt bad for manipulating Kenta, for sending him down this path. "I agree with you there that was a pretty shitty move, however you aren't looking at how you were back then. Your entire goal all this time had been to stop this conquest of the world, this sick science project of theirs. This whole time your goal has been for the greater good. You saw an opportunity and took it, manipulated your son for the good of humanity. If i'm to be honest his life now is probably better than what it was before, mine too." He paused for a moment, a small smile resting on his face before it returned to its stern glare. "You chose this path so follow it, the rest of us are." He really didn't want to tell her, he really didn't. He then sighed as he decided to address the final issue. "As for his ability to handle the Jinjuriki." He paused. "You're probably going to hit me for this." Here it goes. "As he was Kenta still wasn't in shape to take on the jonin exams, as you know he needed to become a jonin for this to go down. I didn't want to but with no other options at hand I gave him a choice, to run or to fight. I encouraged him to run and leave, get away and save himself from the price of my power." His voice grew grim as he reached the climax of his speech. "Kenta accepted my proposal to gain a modified version of my threads." The secret was out now, the cards lay upon the table. "His is suited more to stealth and defense but nevertheless he can take at least one Jinjuriki." He stood motionless, awaiting her response. "I'm sorry Mina." "The two of you have given this a lot of thought," Minatsuki stated, noting just how far the duo had planned, utilising Jouman's skill to their advantage. Everyone knew who Jouman was, but Kenta and Hougou had leaned on his reputation as the perfect substitute for the leader of Takigakure. More than just the Jinchūriki army, Minatsuki could clearly see that her son had held these intentions from the start. He was mounting a massive coup d'etat together with Hougou and blood would flow tonight. Kenta had picked the most unlikely period to mount his assault, timing it when the strongest shinobi in the village were away on important affairs. Attacking on a moonless night. But the biggest surprise was that this was an internal attack. Taki would be overrun quickly, and she could already see it: the Leadership would retreat to emergency bunkers, where Kenta would pick them off. It was great luck that the bunker was directly above the underground facility where the Jinchūriki were cultivated. Her thoughts had consumed her. So much so when Hougou said it, Minatsuki almost thought she was imagining things. It took awhile to sink in, but all she could do was look at Hougou in shock. "You...what?" She asked. But it got clearer every second that passed. She had known that Hougou possessed the village Kinjutsu, and she had discovered data on his feats in his long since passed youth. Hougou was simply put, a monstrous existence with massive amounts of power. He lived a cursed existence for his plethora of abilities; but he had been known to have soft spots for the right people. Students who were capable of immense feats of willpower. That was what Minatsuki had banked on when she sent Kenta to him. But Hougou was now telling her that he had given her son that very, cursed power. Her boy had accepted that monstrous Kinjutsu, stored away by the village for very good reason long ago, in order to succeed in this mission. Immediately her eyes blazed with fury as she stepped away from Hougou. Her fists clenched and though all she wanted was to lurch forward and snag him in the jaw, her body refused to move. She was in shock. "That technique was a curse to mankind, that's why the village tried to lock it down! He's just a boy Hougou, a boy!" She was bellowing now as the veins under her neck surfaced. "I knew I had gravely sinned the moment I got him into this, but now...now you've condemned me to hell, Hougou. How could you give him something so vile and sinister, something that turned many of our people rabid all those years back, how—" Her screaming halted immediately as someone's shout echoed throughout the room. "Mother, enough!" Minatsuki turned around away from Hougou, to see the figure of Kenta step forward, his face lit dimly by the lanterns. Thinking back on everything that had recently happened, it now made ominous sense. Hougou had wanted to talk to her alone. Sound-proofed the room. Separated her from her generals. And now in this supposedly private room, her son happened to emerge from the shadows. Minatsuki was an extremely intelligent woman, her position in the science team and her ability to outfox Takigakure on numerous occasions had proven that much. But even a person of lesser aptitude would be able to sniff out the suspicious circumstances. Kenta stepped forward towards his mother. In that moment, she seemed to take note of every inch of her boy's face. He had inherited her sharp face, her smooth black hair, but those stunning blue eyes were undoubtedly her husband's. That young toddler she had left behind had grown so much, so fast. Too fast.
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* Kenta stood in front of his mother, and though the rage was so apparent in her face, she was just as beautiful as she had been the day he had last seen her. Of course they had seen each other plenty of times during the course of planning the uprising, but this was a pivotal moment for both of them. Kenta had a horrible feeling in his gut, a terrible sense of foreboding that told him it wouldn't be a happy ending. This meeting with his mother was a gift, and there wouldn't be guarantees of another meeting after this. He had to make it count. "That's enough mother, Hougou-sensei means it when he says he tried to talk me out of it. It was a choice I properly made after hearing just how dangerous it is. We're at a crossroad here, and sometimes risks have to be taken for the greater good." Minatsuki's eyes widened as she reeled on Kenta, furiously reacting to the word. Greater good. Her spite for the word spoke through her fist as she brought it across her body, snagging Kenta in the face. It made bone crunching impact as Kenta staggered backwards, clutching his face in agony. He had forgotten just how good a fighter his mother was. But she wasn't done. She kept walking forward, trembling in uncontained anger. "Again, again and again I hear that stupid word. The greater good, that stupid phrase I used to get you into all of this. God's sakes Kenta, I already felt worse than shit for bringing you into this but I did so because it was my fight to end! Not yours," she spat out as she let out another hook, this time with her opposite hand. Kenta let it impact his face as he staggered back a few more steps. Minatsuki was far from done. "How many more times are all of you going to mock the decisions I make. Just think for a second. I get my own son into the world for the most terrible reason, I abandon him as a child, I see him after almost twenty years to help me complete a mission and then..." Her voice faltered. "...and then I hear he's planning on doing more than helping me, that he's received the most cursed ability in our village, that he's become a monster without his core humanity and that he's planning on cleaning his mother's sins with his own hands. How much more must I suffer to wash my sins?!" She let out a scream as she hurled another punch at him, but this time Kenta intercepted it with his palm. "Mother," he began as she slumped to her knees, her eyes blank. "The day you met me in the forest was the day I had an awakening. It changed everything. I was living a life I hated, I didn't know what to do except work foolishly to renounce that label of being a traitor, but above all I didn't have a purpose. That simple request you made to me made me realise that I chase something much more important than just this village. Justice has to be done, for us, for the world and for the sake of peace. All this time my motivations to Takigakure were under false loyalty, but now I've finally got the chance to do the right thing. These are bad people mother, you above all people would know that. I know it too. Let me follow my heart, please." He looked her in the eye expectantly, but wasn't surprised when her expression hadn't changed. "The blabbering of an adult fresh out of adolescence. You don't know anything, Kenta—" she stopped. She noticed she couldn't move a single limb. And then she saw it, he markings on the ground; a trapping technique. Kenta came closer and finally wrapped his arms around her. "It's the only way mother, you've suffered enough. You've tried enough. You're not going to be part of this any longer. Father's a wreck, and Eiji didn't have a mother as much as I did. You never met your youngest didn't you? You left him when he was just two months old mother. Reconcile, heal again. I've given this thought, and it's something I want, something I can do. I never gave so much thought to good and justice when I was younger but now, I know it's something important to me. I have to do this, and along the way, I'll save you as well." He pulled away and pulled out a syringe, sliding it in her forearm as she glanced at him, half in anger and half in sadness. Just as he pulled it out after injecting a small dose of some liquid, her tears flowed. Even if Kenta hadn't spoken again, she already understood what he was going to do and why he was doing it. "That's going to keep you unconscious for the next six hours, at very least. Jouman-San will come in once the firefight is over. We've got it all planned through, once he's up top, you're safe. Takigakure's higher ups will be moderates we know won't resort to evil measures. It's a fairer future for our people and one that doesn't lead us and the world into another war." Kenta sighed as he finished. He wanted to turn around and let the deed finish itself but he couldn't. His mother deserved some closure to this, even if it was a false confession. "I'm going to kill some very important people tonight," he started, his voice cold and almost unfeeling. "They're as evil as it can get, but they're still members of Takigakure. They're still nakama. People who slaughter their own comrades are worse than scum, I'm committing an unforgivable sin for the sake of maintaining the fragile peace. One way or another if I chose not to flee, too many things would not add up. Eventually fingers would be pointed in my direction again, and eventually Jouman-san would be labelled a traitor; and then everything repeats itself. If by some miracle I weren't to be detected that way, I would have lost my right to be a member of the village with the blood on my hands. It's for the best that Kenta Kanata, to all public knowledge, dies today. In defence of the village, as it really is meant to be." Though attempting to put on this stoical and determined front, Kenta hurt inside. Of course this wasn't the true reason. After hearing so much about Jiongu, what it could do, what it forced its wielders to do...how could he stay in Taki and endanger all the people he loved? His small group of friends, Inoue, his father, his brother...his mother. He knew very well why that Kinjutsu was forbidden. It corrupted humanity and loathed love. Mastering it was impossible without personal sacrifice, as Hougou had so heartbreakingly discovered. He turned around as his mother's eyelids began to close, drifting into unconsciousness, as the heartbreak was evident in her eyes. But before she fell into that induced slumber, she noted the pain seep through Kenta's face and she instinctively knew that his bombastic and rather immature excuse for leaving was a smokescreen. I've failed as a mother. To hell with this mission, to hell with it all. These words kept resonating in Minatsuki's mind as she dropped out of consciousness, renouncing what, until that day, had been twenty years of determined efforts to foil an evil plan. In all her seriousness and dedication to the great task at hand, she had never expected that it would rob her son from her like this. A minor miscalculation that led to tremendous personal cost, a crusade she'd never have taken up had she seen this coming.
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* Kenta stared at his now unconscious mother. Jouman would have a variant of the infamous Root Fūinjutsu ready for Minatsuki Kanata. She would not be ever able to mention her involvement with Kenta and Hougou, or divulge details of their battle against Taki's corrupt core for as long as Kenta remained alive. A timed word seal. He then averted his gaze to Hougou. "Sensei, it's time, please have that replica of mother ready and we'll be set to meet the generals again." Hougou stood silent as Kenta stepped out from the shadows, the plan went off without a hitch. Kenta had been the one to suggest the plan to Hougou, knowing his mother would never agree to their reasoning. The end of it was swift and the clean up would be minimal, his student really had grown. Hougou moved to Minatsuki's body before placing a small concealing technique on it and laying it against the wall, there was no need for others to stumble upon it. Then from the rocky ceiling came a flood of threads. They rained down from the crevices and weaved themselves into the vague shape of a human, next Hougou summoned a heart to his hand and placed it within the writhing mass. In moments the threads coilind together before walking their new body to Minatsuki and placing a hand on her. Then with a single sign from its other hand a powerful henge formed. In place of the monster stood a replica of Minatsuki. "Oh hello Kenta dear how's my boy doing?" A perfect voice match. It wasn't hard for Hougou to do. The heart contained the knowledge of the technique and thought Hougou had to remotely force it to talk it's voice was spot on. "The decoy's ready Kenta." Hougou spoke, moving to the door before stopping. With a wave of his hand the soundproofing was dispelled and the three walked back into the spotlight. "Alright men now that everyone is here we're going to finalize the plan." The new Minatsuki spoke. "Tomorrow morning we strike, 5 o clock sharp. Squads one through three will create a diversion at the eastern side of the city, drawing fire away from our main invading force. Squads five through nine will attack from the north after the initial strike. You guys will begin to move south as you go, drawing even more fire from our goal. Kenta, Hougou, and I will move with squad ten through the shadows in the commotion, using a secret tunnel about three minutes from hospital to the underground labs. From there Hougou and I will spit off with Hougou becoming a main distracting force and I finding the documents that legally prove the experiments. Kenta will continue to the lab and shut down the project. Squad ten will guard the tunnel entrances making sure no one disturbs us." Minatsuki finished, resting her hands calmly. "Wait you're giving that kid the job of breaking the lab apart? Why would you do that? Why not let a real shinobi get the job done?" One of the generals shouted. He was immediately cut off by a storm of threads pinning him to a wall, Hougou loved intimidation tactics. He marched forward towards the man with his eyes cutting the air in a piercing gaze. He reached the man and stood before him, well more like towered over him. "Oh I'm sorry can you take a jinjuriki out on your own? Were you trained specifically for this job? Do you have the know how of the damn project and the city itself to even do this? No. No you don't. So sit down and next time think before you open that trap of yours." Hougou calmly spoke as his threads receded and he walked back to his place. How icy and emotionless his tone was made it far scarier than anger. "Mina I'm going to fill Kenta in on some other matter for a moment. Make sure they know their damn places." Hougou stated as he calmly led Kenta to the next room. "Next time you find yourself some manners before you yell at my generals you rag doll." She yelled to him, Oh it was fun to play both sides. "Kenta there's something that we need to go over before tomorrow." He whispered as he lay against the rocky wall, silver hair hanging around his face. "You might have thought of this already but it's my duty as your sense...friend to remind you. Minatsuki, Inoue, your family. You won't be able to see them again after this." He stopped for a moment. "Jouman can get you a last moment with your mother. However your family and Inoue are on you. You may not want to see them before you go or you may, either way think. Think about what you want to say to them, think about what you want your last memory of them to be. Once they're gone from your life all you'll have left are memories, so make em nice." He spoke from experience, too much of it. He'd think back to those days when he was still just a boy. He'd remember the days before he left his home, before he became a monster. His parents must have missed him, that's what he'd hoped. He'd visited their gaves once after he left Takigaukre. They were part of a sprawling garden of stone in the desert, his old home. If Kenta was to leave his own life behind and all he had known, he deserved his own form of closure. "Just think about it ok." He spoke as he turned to walk back to the meeting. Hougou was right. Kenta nodded in agreement. "I might as well do that, since I've got just enough time," he replied. He preferred not to see Inoue at this time, having already seen her just earlier. Having to say goodbye to her wasn't something he needed, it was already difficult enough to follow through with his choice. The things they had some together, they experiences they had, the love they shared...it all mattered to Kenta, but he had made his choice. His heart was still crying out for him to remain, to stay in Taki. A foolish sense of optimism telling him that he could stay, with Hougou as well. He could disappear, resettle under a new alias—or even live underground in the tunnels. He could keep watching over his loved ones that way. I could do that, he thought to himself as his thoughts shifted back to reality. "In that case, I'm going to take a walk outside Sensei. I'll be back in a bit, probably when everyone else involved has gathered." Excusing himself, he made his way to the surface by one of the routes he was familiar with. Saying goodbye to Inoue could be avoided, but saying goodbye to his father and brother...that he legitimately felt burdened by. He wouldn't be foolish enough to directly state his desires of course, but it was tough knowing that you were going to leave the people you loved. It always was. After walking through he streets of Taki and savouring every sound and smell he could detect, he reached his humble domain. Kanata, read the wording on the placard next to his door. Kenta's eyes darted to the smaller characters on the placard. Kazuto, Kenta, Eiji, the three occupants of the house. And of course the name crudely scraped by a kunai—Minatsuki. Kenta smiled sadly as he glanced at the old placard. Since he was going to be 'dead' that night, they'd probably just cover his name with some black ink, instead of defiling it so violently as they did his mother's. Kazuto Kanata, father of Eiji and Kenta had never forgiven Minatsuki. He'd always taken pride in his two sons when not enjoying his bottle's embrace. Kenta knew he'd probably pick the habit up a notch after the night's upcoming incident. There were bustling sounds inside. Dinner. Taking a deep breath, Kenta twisted the knob after entering the key. "I'm home!" He called out, closing the door behind him. The dining room was around the left corner, down the hall the doorway opened up to. His brother peaked from behind the entrance to the dining. "Ohhh! Welcome home nii-san!" He called out customarily before disappearing again. Kenta sighed to himself as he made his way in, ditching his sandals at the rack. Hougou nodded to his student before watching him wander off, probably to go home once more. He turned and walked back through the planning room, Minatsuki was operating fine and the generals didn't see anything. He excused himself and walked back through the tunnels again, some of their old rocky walls smoothed out and held with wooden beams. Maps and posters hung all around too, not to mention shelves with supplies. He approached a large iron door and opened it before passing through a wall of threads. Home, a place untouched by his new dealings. A place where he could just lay down on the floor and never be bothered. It wasn't the idea of a home to most, a cave system, but to him it was all he'd had for many years. He'd originally found it when he'd fled the village for a week after the death of his beloved. It had kept him safe then, it kept him at peace now. He calmly walked over to the flowing river that ran through what he liked to call the main hall. He gingerly dipped his hand into the flowing stream and lay beside it. Oh if only sleep could claim him again.
- Into The Inferno is an Australian doom metal band Winter's Soil's ninth studio album, released on June 15th 2008. It follows 2007's Of Queens of Lost Salvation and is followed by 2009's In Umbra.
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