Atonement

From the clutches of tragedy (Part 1)

When given a mission there is only two options at hand. Failure and success. In this ninja world, hundreds if not thousands of ninja return safely to their homes after completing a task given to them. On the other hand, the same number of ninja perish, losing their lives to the tragedy of battle.

However, not every ninja falls into these two categories. At times, one may be considered dead but is very much alive, others are MIA never to be seen again, and some simply claw their way back to see the light of day. If you were left to rot, assumed dead with no concern of even retrieving your body, how would you react?

***

Blood... that's it, that's all there was. It littered the battlefield like some sick twisted canvas splattered with red. One man, his back against a rock, slumped forward. Red gooey liquid oozed out from his eye socket - a kunai lodged deep into his skull. Another person, a woman, crawled along the grass, desperately trying to keep her innards from falling out. She fell to the side as her intestines spewed out in front of her while she basked in a puddle of her own guts.

   The last person, a different man, clutched the side of his body. Blood slowly leaked out from his wound but not enough to take him out of the fight. He stared at his two fallen comrades in utter shock, unable to process the scene in front of him.

"Hiroka... Kensuke... it wasn't supposed to end like this. I-I'm sorry..." He whispered under his breath.

The encroaching darkness began creeping in on the edges of his vision. He collapsed to his knees as the cold grasp of death clenched his soul. Tears began to seep out from his eyes as he sobbed to himself.

"That'll teach you Leaf ninja to think twice before coming at us!" A voice yelled from seemingly nowhere.

The slowly dying man looked around, desperately trying to pinpoint the location of the voice but to no avail. Him and his team were ambushed all of a sudden, unable to react or even fight back. They had no chance, no choice but to sit there while being completely and utterly brutalized.

   However... on the brink of death anything can happen. When a person is pushed to their limits, backed into a corner with no way out... it's either fight or flight. And in this case, Taizen had no choice but to fight. Throwing it all away, the lone ninja sacrificed everything, giving away his body and soul. What emerged from that instance was something so gruesome and grotesque that the Leaf ninja sent to retrieve the bodies two days later came back to the village as white as ghosts, empty handed as well.

   One thing that spooked them the most. Is that that lone leaf ninja, Taizen, was never found after the fact. Nobody bothered looking for the missing nin. The only thing they found - was blood and the rotting carcasses of the rogue ninja they had been sent to dispose of.

***

    Glorious sunshine graced the Leaf Village with its presence. The hustle and bustle was in full effect with thousands of people all attending to their own business. Although, not everyone was too keen on waking up, especially a certain Uchiha.

   "Kutuya... I've just done a whole morning patrol and you're still passed out," Shizake said.

   The dark blue haired girl tossed around in her bed, waving the older Uchiha away, "Not right now big brother, my muscles are still killing me from Ky sensei's training," She groaned in agony.