𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

thegoodtimesareover ~ Age 12

AN: Okay, so, I know there will be confusion about how long the Third Shinobi World War lasted, but I honestly don't know the right answer to that. Here, it will be lasting for a few months.

It was already expected for things to change after that day, but he didn't expect for them to change that much.

_

The oncoming war was disclosed to the public and the awaited uproar came.

There was initial panic at the news, but the Hokage did his best to calm everyone down.

It did the job.

_

"Was it needed for things to end up like this?"

The air was cold and he watched his breath leave his lips as white steam. Snow hadn't fallen yet, but it wasn't long until everything around him will be covered in a thick layer of it.

"No, it wasn't."

From besides him, Hanae stood leaned on a wall, hands stuffed inside her coat pockets. Her body was lightly trembling, but not enough for it to lit aflame any kind worry within him.

After her outburst, the two of them didn't talk much. Once her crying subsided, she stood up and left without a word, leaving him to think about her words.

"Hikaru?" He called out to the other boy, finding him unusually silent.

He always had something to say in times like this. It was funny, somehow.

After his encounter with Kakashi that day, he... distanced himself from Aizen? Maybe he was looking into it too much, but that was how it seemed to be to him.

"You already know how I feel about everything. Another war was the last thing this world needed." The boy's head was lowered and Aizen only saw half of his expression, but it was enough. It was blank. It lacked everything, and so did his tone of voice.

What was war?

A three-lettered word that could obliterate everything.

Their peaceful lives were something which wouldn't remain peaceful for long.

"I'm sorry you've waited so long," Aizen turned to the side, catching sight of an approaching Asao, "I seem to be more and more late each time." He was right about that part.

He pushed off the wall and took his hands out of his pockets, "It's fine, sensei." A moment later, his nose scrunched at the inevitable sneeze that awaited him. He turned away from them and his voice resounded through the vacant street, echoing around them. He sniffed, furrowing his brows in annoyance.

A tap on his shoulder caught his attention and he found himself staring at a tissue, "Here." Glancing up, he was met with averted lavender eyes.

"Ah. Thank you." A light smile curled his lips and he took the offered tissue. Once again turning away, he blew his nose and then looked around, trying to see if there was any sort of bin around them. When he caught sight of one, he took a few steps and threw it, making it go right in.

Kind of proud of his achievement, he excitedly looked at his team members, but they didn't seem all that amazed at his actions. Asao clapped his hands, "Well done, well done!" Aizen found his words embarrassing, "Now, I have called you here because we were given a mission. A rather difficult one."

"What kind of mission?" Hanae was the one who asked, voice coming out lower since she tried to force her trembling down. Seems like she was sensitive to the cold.

Asao glanced at her, before sighing, "This is something which wasn't disclosed to the public and also something which you three didn't need to hear about until later on. The reason we hadn't been having missions for a while is because an Iwa shinobi was being held captive in our dungeons."