Chapter 21 : Changed

Aye. twenty one twenty one. Esketit.

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Kenji skinned the Commander alive. He savored the screaming of the man. Kenji ripped the skin from his body, each body part after the other. Eventually, Kenji managed to skin him completely. Even his face. The once proud man of the Mist was nothing more than a sack of meat, hanging from rope. He looked nasty. Blood oozed from every part of the man. The fine lines between his bones and cartilage pulsed with a smacking sound, struggling to stay alive. And alive the man was. The Commander had crazy vitality. Kenji split the skin from his entire body, but he was still breathing. Kenji actually preferred it this way. The meat was currently passed out from pain. Kenji had to put a rag in his mouth from the obnoxious screams.

The boy was heating his kunai in the fire, to prepare for his next attempt until Kenji sensed an unusual signature from outside his base.

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Sasuke and Rei followed the directions of the radiant woman. It led them towards a small cave system under the branches of lowly laying limbs. The two kids looked at each other, readying themselves for whatever may come. Sasuke activated his sharingan. Rei took a defensive position. They both entered the cave.

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Kenji waited beyond his plaything that was hanging. He stood straight, waiting for his intruders with Mangekyo eyes ready.

Two shadows fused into the light radiating from the fire. Sasuke stopped in his tracks, as did Rei. Sasuke worked furiously to achieve his three-tomoe sharingan, but someone his age was actually ahead. He was intrigued and also upset. Two sets of glowing red eyes played in the darkness of the cave. Kenji's eyes, especially, made the two teammates fear shoot through the roof. Rei began to sweat. Her red hair matted to her forehead. She glanced between the two boys, actively staring each other down.

Rei noticed Sasuke shaking a little in his shoes. She swallowed and tried to calm herself. She focused.

"Hmmmm. So the Mist disguises as the Leaf in order to bring me back." Kenji lowered his eyes. "Too bad for you I guess." He shot towards Sasuke as fast as he could at the moment. Sasuke noticed the bandage wrapped around his opponent. All he hoped for was a fair chance, with him being injured. Even Sasuke had to admit, this guy, his relative, was scary.

Rei couldn't even tell what was happening. All she saw was dirt and dust causing a ruckus around the cave. She couldn't count the amount of clangs and clings of weapons she heard either. Comprehension at this point, was impossible.

Sasuke pulled back into a Great fireball Jutsu. Kenji did the same. At the same speed as Sasuke, he seemed to be having fun. The realization of the truth was also seeping into Kenji's mind. He could have only stayed up this far with the sharingan, was Kenji's mindset. Despite that, Kenji didn't care. He resolved himself many times over, to kill anyone that stood in his way.

The two fireballs collided and shook the cavern, almost to pieces. Sasuke knew this was his chance. He sped through his signs. When finished, he grabbed the crevice of his arm quickly. He had to hold Kenji off at all costs.

A raging fist of lightning chirped around Sasuke's left hand. Kenji widened his eyes. He figured it would be something flashy. Kenji was playing with him at this point. He could burn him to death in an instant, but that would be no fun. Kenji thought, 'Might as well try.'

He repeated Sasuke's hand signs as fast as he could. Sasuke began his descent to Kenji. He sped through to his enemy, obtaining the deadliest tunnel vision. Sasuke was surprised beyond measure. Kenji revealed a ball of lightning similar his own, chirping in his hand. It wasn't as refined as Sasuke's, or even as big, but it was still something. Sasuke was in awe of Kenji's sharingan.

Sasuke fused his arm into Kenji's direction. "CHIDORI!"

Kenji decided to release as much chakra as possible into this technique. He also sent his fist flying towards Sasuke. The two hands collided. This cave couldn't take much more of this. Rei emerged from the ground, she fired chakra chains from her sides. They homed towards Kenji, galloping through the air. He caught himself before impact.

These two were actually pretty good. Too bad.

Kenji's face dripped with blood. Black flames caught the chains before restraint. Rei grimmaced. the unexspected act forced her into a hold. Kenji grabbed her arm and flung her into Sasuke, who was just getting up from his duel.

Kenji stopped and squeezed the remaining blood from his socket. His mind shouted Amaterasu!

A voice trailed through the cave. "Kamui!"

Kenji's flames were sucked into a vortex of nothingness. Gone. Kenji stared into the distance. Kakashi entered the fray, sharingan out. Behind him, Aya appeared. She had the look of sorrow. Just one look at Kenji told her. She messed up. Why would she leave the village during such an important moment. Stupid!

Her gaze didn't change when she noticed the body hanging from the ceiling. That man didn't matter, they had to leave. She and Kakashi noticed the Mist organizing shinobi.

"Kenji, honey. I said I'd be back and I'm sorry I took so long. Please come with us. I'll tell you everything when we get there. I mean it this time."

Kenji sported a cold, emotionless face. To be honest, he had excelled at this face for the past few hours.

The silence in the area was stressful for Aya. She didn't want to fight him.

Kenji's next move was a head scratcher. He stood straight ahead, foot to foot. Kenji rocketed his stiff hand to attention at his forehead. He still didn't show emotion.

Aya stood there confused. Kakashi dragged his eyes onto her. But he didn't dare say anything. This was strictly for Aya.

Click!

Kenji attached his kunai in his free hand. He slowly lowered the kunai out of his hand to the ground, revealing a glimmering wire. His patience was waning.

Then, it hit Aya. Images of her son, in their house, at the academy. Standing at attention. She only had one chance. And she took it.

"YES MA'AM!"

Silence. The kunai stopped, but Kenji's face remained.

"Hey mom, I just learned how to stick a leaf to my finger with chakra." He said it as cold as possible which slightly hurt Aya inside.

She thought for a minute, never leaving the new red eyes of her son. His eyes now scared her a lot more than before.

"That's great honey! But make sure you don't show off too much. You understand me?"

Kenji felt a little hopeful in his heart.

"What's my birth mother's name?"

Aya was a little upset he asked this question, but she couldn't do anything in her position.

Kakashi looked a little scared until confidence surfaced from Aya.

She answered, "I don't know. Her name was smeared in the letter I received." She looked towards Kakashi. "And I never asked. " Shame hit her.

"Fine. What do you want?" Kenji asked. This struck a nerve in Aya. Her brow anchored itself.

"LISTEN HERE! YOU'RE COMING BACK WITH ME AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD!!!!!!"

Oops.

Kenji didn't even flinch at her words. He just wanted to die. After he killed everyone of course.

"Ok just let me finish something." Kenji turned. He wasn't really planning to go. Just to plan his diversion. Aya couldn't take it when he moved towards that man. He had already had enough. Right?

Kenji smiled on his approach.

"Well Commander, looks like our time together has come to an end. I will deeply miss you." He smiled and exerted his black flames to the body.

The commander woke up when the flames hit. Kenji stood right in front of him, screaming his last breath in this world. Kenji looked towards the sky with closed eyes and bathed in the warm solace of burning human.

Aya wanted to stop him, but he did what she couldn't. Something in her wanted Kenji to feel some sense of closure. She didn't want to imagine what that man put him through.

His battered and scarred torso reflected in the sun. The group took it outside. Rei seemed to be the only one remotely suprised by the turmoil of Kenji's body. She thought ninjas were cool. That was her reasoning for joining. At this moment, she realized it wasn't all fun and games. She felt sort of sympathetic too.

Kenji plotted his escape. Before he could get too far, the pain enclosed on him. He fell headfirst into the grass. The team was startled, especially when Kakashi flipped Kenji over. To accompany his flickering red and white eyes, was veins trailing up his cheeks.

Aya glanced at Kakashi with urgency. "I'm sorry I never asked, but can you tell me who his mother is now Kakashi?"

The man looked over Kenji, until meeting the eyes of a determined woman. He signed. "Haruka Hyuga. She was the heir to the Hyuga clan.

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Note : Damn that was long. Trust me I've never heard that before. I'm tired feller and I'm also out. YERRR!