If Promises Could Be Kept

Ten

"It's easy to forget what sin is in the middle of a battlefield." — Solid Snake, Metal Gear

"So," Sakumo said casually as he ran beside Akio on the way to Iwa. They were heading to a rendezvous point located halfway to Taki that used to function as an underground ANBU operations base during the Second War. It was abandoned now and largely ignored, most forgetting it ever existed. It was the perfect location to use Sora's seal.

The Bolting Arrow, after being tested and retested by both Sora and Jiraiya, was brought straight to the Hokage for classification (fuuinjutsu), rank (S-rank), and any further instructions on its use. To avoid other villages getting wind of Konoha's new seal or up-and-coming seal mistress, especially those of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, the Third instructed Sora not to use the Bolting Arrow straight out of Konoha in case of spies. Since the abandoned ANBU base was largely forgotten and decently out of the way, it was the perfect spot to slip by unnoticed.

It was a five hour run, which meant Sora, even within limitations, could transport a whole team easily to anywhere in the world within five hours. It was even better that she was so good at infiltration, as she'd planted her seals within every Kage's personal office, including Iwa, two in each nation in the world, and one in the underground crypts of Uzushio. That particular location had been more for convenience so as to reach the island quicker by bypassing the whirlpools surrounding it.

Once they reached the rendezvous point, Sora would pin their clothing with an arrow and activate the seal, hopping them to the second seal inside Iwa.

Akio inclined his head in Sakumo's direction with a resigned look on his face that Sakumo thought looked a little forced. Obviously Akio didn't want to talk to him, but knew there wasn't getting out of his inquiries, especially as Sakumo wasn't known to be a patient man, and highly suspicious of most everything.

"Why did you really come along with us? Any ninja worth their salt knows you never truly leave ANBU and most die in the Corps anyway. So what strings did you pull to get on this mission?" Sakumo asked rather bluntly. He was a pretty straight shooting kind of guy and didn't appreciate when people tried to dance around a subject, speaking in riddles and uncertainties, only giving as much as 'maybes' and 'perhaps'.

Akio didn't answer at first, seeming to think over his answer carefully, probably because he knew Sakumo Hatake as well as anyone could know the man and was weighing the possibility of him getting away with lying straight to the White Fang's face. The expression of resignation flickered over his features again, and Sakumo was fairly sure he would get the truth, or at least a vague version of it.

"I..." the ex-ANBU started, but trailed off in favor of averting his gaze. After a short pause, he found his voice again. "I couldn't handle it."

At first, Sakumo wanted to press for further information, especially since the emotions that briefly flittered across the young man's face were intense and dark, but he caught something, something of a warning in the set of Akio's jaw, the grit of his teeth, or maybe the tensing of his shoulders and biceps, as if he completely expected someone to jump out of the trees and kill him for saying anything.

Vowing to figure out what was wrong when they weren't trying to complete a SS-rank mission, Sakumo just shrugged it off and filed the slight relieved expression from his old student in the back of his mind.

Akio Hanari was somewhat of an anomaly. As soon as the boy had been assigned to Sakumo's Genin team he'd shown his adept weapons skills, lithe and graceful taijutsu, powerful ninjutsu, and the uncanny ability to manipulate just about anyone around him. Typically a sarcastic, joking kind of guy, Akio used his outward nonchalance and cynicism to steer people away from what he hid. Sakumo had seen the evidence of this "mask", for lack of a better term, on multiple occasions, but Akio had been able to trick even elite Jounins because he was so masterful at lying and deceiving.