Private A knife in the dark is worth more than an army at dawn

[Keiji]

Regardless of how defensive, closed off or warry those of the Inuzuka household was, within Keiyaku's room sat a Kunai. The Kunai would seem delibaretely placed, like someone had walked in, and placed it there, upright with the point down onto the table. Perhaps Keiyaku's father still had contacts and was asked to do so, or someone had successfully sneaked in and done the deed. Regardless though, there it was. A knife in the dark with tidings for their future, sitting and waiting for when Keiyaku would awaken to see it before the day properly starts.

The note would read "At Dawn. Forest of Death, entrance 8."

The walls around the Forest were tall, tall enough that a Student would barely be able to jump it. But also tall enough to keep in most beasts within the forest, enabling safety for those villages and outposts surrounding the forest. Strange times were afoot, and several doors had suddenly been cut open by a sharp blade, reports were of a weird cackling manic laughter. They ANBU and the Harvesters were first on the scene, able to cut down most of the beasts within the first hour. While they were busy the Main Branch had secured the fire that had been spotted via the smoke, and while a lot of the inner sanctum of the forests were burned to crisps, leaving a large open area in the center of the forest, at least only a few Shinobi died in the process.
Keiji had been there since the start, he heard the thunk of the first doors as they fell onto the dirt. And as he closed in he was attacked by some of the great beasts within, barely escaping with his life the shock of the event that had transpired unnerved him greatly. And thankfully the flare he launched afterwards helped speed up the process of handling. There'd be lots of work to do this night.

The efforts put in from all branches were great. Thanks to this efforts the damage was minimized to the areas closer to the forest. None of the clan houses were in any danger at least, but civilian sectors had to be abandoned and rebuilt within the next few months.. They'd seen worse from the Samurai invasions he reminded himself before succumbing to feeling too much pity for them. The people of the village hidden among Leaves are stout, harsh and strong, their houses were of small value compared to the value they set in the lives of friends and family. Almost buddhist in their feelings to objects of vanity. He liked this mindset and he valued their insights into this.

After possibly the longest night he's had in a long time, he saw an opportunity, the reports was that Entrance 8, a little far off one was sliced as well, but the tracks only showed a single beast ran through. This was an opportunity he'd be sad to miss out on. A missive in the form of a knife was given to the Academy student that had shown interest in his branch. It was time to test their will, their will of fire, and their will of spirit.

He sat himself clad in his ANBU robes with his Raven mask on, as the earliest sun rays came forth, at the edge of the broken gates, partially to keep watch if any other beasts were to approach, and to wait his student. On top of the wall his dark and hooded shape would look almost resemble that of a statue, sitting and looking down towards the forest. And as Keiyaku would approach he would remain unmoving until he was within close enough distance to the gates to see the large, hooved footprints on the ground, where he would turn instantly to assess the child again.

The hunt starts now.

[Private tutor thread with Inuzuka Keiyaku]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

It was perhaps a mark of how heavy a sleeper Keiyaku was that not even someone sneaking into his room let him know anything was amiss, much less wake up. He lay quite unconscious in his bed, Morutobu sprawling out on his back next to him, mouth agape and tongue flopping out. It was only when the first chorus of birds began to chirp beyond his bedroom window that boy and dog began to awaken, further roused by the first tiny flecks of sunlight that guttered into life over the dense canopy of trees beyond the house. Groggy and bleary-eyed, he felt his nose twitch, picking up on a subtle change in the atmosphere and various scents present in his room. Moru seemed to pick up on this as well. The culprit would turn out to be a kunai knife eerily stabbed into wood of his dresser, bearing a note with a slightly ominous missive scrawled across it.

'Forest of Death at dawn....'

⁂​

Terrified at the prospect of proving himself a poor candidate for the ANBU, Keiyaku had dressed at top speed and hurried off, Morutobu bounding up beside him, giving him a look as if to say 'thanks for almost leaving me behind.. There wasn't even time to eat as they were running slightly late already. Whatever the task was, he was fairly confident the two of them would manage; they spent 80% of their time exploring and foraging in the woods surrounding the village, after all. Morning had broken but there was still a noticeable chill in the air as the duo arrived at Entrance 8, its door pulled out of its hinges and away from the protective wall around the woods. Moru let out a shrill bark, jumping energetically about the track of hoof prints left behind by god-knows-what creature, eagerly sniffing around them to pick up any scent. Keiayku, however, was preoccupied by something. There was a far more familiar scent lingering about the place, his eyes darting about to look for the source, his heart beginning to pound as he processed the implications of all this structural damage. Finally, he spotted the state-like figure perched atop the wall, remarking the raven-faced mask which has just began to shine in the first rays of sun.

"Wha... What happened here? What's going o-" his words were cut short by a sudden realisation, that being these hoof prints seemed to lead off dangerously close to the village. There was little time to waste, "Moru, get going!"

Primed with his big brother's order, Moru gingerly began following the trail, sniffing along the ground as he did so, leaving Keiyaku free to ask his question properly, albeit not very respectfully given he still didn't really know who this mysterious ANBU officer from the Sakuro clan-house was.

"What's gotten out?! What's happened to the forest?!"

 

[Keiji]

"We were attacked." The words were said in their finality, as if no further detail would ever be needed to further the comprehension of the situation. While during the pause from those words were spent getting up, and down the tall brick and steel walls, with the doors hanging off the side, clearly cut through across the center from one side to the other making the smallest little push of air able to push it closed completely.

Standing a few feet from Keiyaku "You're on the right idea, that's out target." He said pointing down to the hoofed prints. "I have others watching the door for repairs, our job is capture, death if necessary. Alive if possible." He turned the direction the Inuzuka puppy began to sniff and run and began a slow paced run. Not a full sprint, at least not until Keiyaku was with him, and clearly able to follow along properly, where they would both increase the speed, keeping the hooves within sight.

"We're unsure exactly how long time this one has had to rampage on, but most likely it's had all night." A small pause while running. "The attack was on the doors and a fire ignited within the center of the forest forcing some of the worst beasts out towards the gates. Forcing us to have a long night's efforts. Now we need fresh eyes and fresh faces to take over from us who were there from the night." Their run lasted only about 10-20 minutes, so their conversation wouldn't last long.

In front of them was the result of just one beast. Just a single one. A small village had its' gathering hall, where usually people would gather to hear news, and talk politics within their local society, the building had been smashed into and the only thing remaining standing was maybe 15-20% of one corner of the building. The wooden and structure and thatched roof couldn't stand a chance to the animalistic raw brutality and muscle that had rammed into it. Landing on top of the parts still standing, looking down, assessing the damage. There was blood strewn around across the grounds, an arm, a leg, almost like it had broken in only to brutally grab lunch and yank them out only to throw the flailing bits and then continue on. Two, maybe three dead. Thankfully, he sighed silently to himself, the damage did seem to indicate a solid idea of the direction it was going, now with a blood trail to follow on top of the damage.

"Not far now." he said as he jumped ahead and began running, not even stopping to asseess the child's reaction of the sight.
On their path was now more small buildings and body parts, with blood, brick and wood as the main similarities between them.

At least it was easier to track.
There was a job to do.
Prevent further damage.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

'All night?'

Keiyaku was rather amazed the ANBU officer was still standing if he had gone toe-to-toe with something this big for that long. He started moving in step with the man, side-by-side as they followed Moru who already seemed to be on a scent trail, following these giant hoof prints into the nearby village. Whatever was going on, it seemed really bad - who had ignited this fire and damaged the gates? It wasn't completely unreasonable that some rogue asshole would want to cause carnage; his stomach turned over at the though. The closer they got to the nearby town, the stronger the stench of blood became, which, for Keiyaku, soon became rather overwhelming. Feeling his pulse raise and his face drain of colour, he shouted for Moru.

"Stay with me, little bro," he said to the pup with a kind of frightened yet affectionate concern. Moru heeled by Keiyaku's ankles, eye vigilantly scanning the macabre scene before them. Destroyed buildings, torn limbs, the stench of death filling their noses. The Inuzuka boy felt his legs quiver and was inwardly thankful he had neglected breakfast that morning.

"Come on," he said, his voice raising to a slight panic. Whether it was to get away from the severed body parts, or because the scene had inspired some kind of steely resolve - it was hard to be sure with this boy - he dropped to all fours and charged ahead, seemingly much faster and much more graceful than he ever was on two legs, speeding ahead of the ANBU officer with reckless abandon. Moru matched his speed as they followed the trail of devestation, hopefully to its zenith. Even if he had to throw himself across its path, he could at least try to stop it from killing anyone else today.

 

[Keiji]

The sounds of brutal and senseless destruction could be heard in the distance. Screams of pain and fear, some getting silenced the second their voices escape their lungs, the smells of death, blood and gore getting more and more intense. It was still bright and early morning. The people of the village most likely had a lazy morning, and was by no means ready for the attack that had come charging in.
A few more houses, muttering and pained groans could be heard from some of them.

As they both approached another building was charged into, and about 9 meters ahead they could see the back of a burly, orange haireed, strange beast, taller and wider than the largest bull they've ever seen at least 4 meters tall and 2 meters wide. The lengthy tail flickered as blood sprayed from where it's head was and a gurgle of another person being devoured. Presumably it hadn't noticed the danger approaching from behind, and most likely didn't care for anything besides it's next snack building.

As they got a little closer Keiji stopped, and held his arm out telling him to stop as well. Silently he stepped up next to Keiyaku. Leaning down close besides the child his corvid mask up close and whispered "You're up, Inuzuka child." straightening his back and standing tall again, thinking to himself "Let's see what you got."

As they had stopped, so had the beast. Like it just caught their scent. Slowly but determined it turned around with it's mouth still full of an arm, revealing it's large and bloodied tusks, the teeth that was visible showed them being large, sharp and brutal in nature. It's bright green eyes stared deeply at the two Shinobi. Waiting for their first moves.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku's eyes grew wide as he lay eyes on the beast, while Moru let out a squeaky whimper. They both froze as the ANBU officer forstalled them, letting them take in the sight in front of them. The quiet whisper in his ear sent a jolt through his spine, the air raising on the back of his neck, not daring to take his eyes off the huge wall of fur before him lest it suddenly turned on him. When the thing turned around, Keiyaku stifled a gasp, feel his legs shaking at the sight of mauled flesh in its maw. He wanted to believe his new mentor wouldn't let anything bad happen to him, but the evidence thus far certainly did not bear that.

'I'm gonna fricking die!'

He looked down at Moru and gave him a determined nod, his eyes focused, the pup returning the nod and lowering himself down slightly. Keiyaku focused on the creature, brown eyes glaring into green. However, despite his apprehension, he couldn't help but admire the beast on some level - it had a kind of loping grace, a perfectly evolved predator. He let out a grunt which Moru seemed to interpret as a sign to get ready to pounce. Performing a deft series of hand signs, Keiyaku would attempt to produce a Genjutsu, one that, if successful, would cause the beast to feel as though it's front leg had been shattered. If this worked, he would seize on the opening, dropping to all fours and lunging forth. Moru would mirror this action, both of them reaching out sharp claws to pierce the animal's eyes, attempting to blind it.

 

[Keiji]

The beast stared intensely at the child. Seeing an easy meal to fill its maw. A perfect little snack sized morsel. Drool collected by its mouth as it swallowed the arm it held there before. It seemed to ready to pounce as the hands of Keiyaku moved swiftly and the eyes of the beast seemed to haze. Suddenly it roared in apparant pain and seemed to drop forward losing its balance and slapping its jaw on the ground below it, stunning it briefly.
Its eyes seemed shut for a brief second, allowing the child and the puppy to get close, and just as it seemed perfect and their claws managed to scratch the eyes it reaction and screamed, immediately waving its tusks around, potentially smashing its tusks into the side of either of them.

It screamed again, wildly, and intensely, shaking the very air around them serving as a shockwave, potentially hurting the eardrums of those closest. It was blinded, closing off at least one of its senses. It seemed to shake off the Genjutsu and managed to get up on its front legs again. Now its ears flickered and its head shook about in whatever direction the two stood if they were to make any sound.

Keiji stood still as everything transpired, pulling out his own Kunai slowly ready to assist if needed. His Byukugan eyes active underneath saw the chakra veins across Keiyaku's eyes, knowing he concentrated chakra to throw a Genjutsu, then seeing the reaction and result.
"While an admiral attempt. Genjutsus are highly effective on lesser intelligent creatures. Perhaps the scope was limited.. But at least now they weakened its potential substantially. Now we'll see how sneaky they can be.."

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

The moment Keiayku felt his claws become wet with blood and yucky eye-juice, he knew they had succeeded in blinding the thing. However, among the flailing and thrashing, he felt a large tusk slice across his abdomen, knocking him flying. Moru, being so small, had managed to bound to safety, using the creature's face as a launch pad to jump a fair distance.

The Inuzuka boy took the brief moment of confusion to inspect himself; the gash wasn't deep, and he could already see the blood starting to clot - he was a fast healer even at the worst of times. Wincing, but forcing himself not to make a sound, he caught sight of the Shiba puppy on the boar's other side. He held up a hand to both silence and forstall him, watching the thing's ears twitch as it was forced to rely on its secondary senses. They could work with this; it was just like stalking prey in the way they'd been taught. Once again arranging himself on all-fours to dampen the sound of movement on the grass. He thought for a moment, eyes wondering to the beast's head.... If he could make a sizeable gash through its neck, the blood loss would definitely weaken it, but he was putting him in range of those horns again, and that thick hide would take more than a few whacks to pierce. Maybe there was another way...

He made a series of gestures to Moru who seemed to instrinsically understand the plan. He began darting around the beast, letting out a serious of whines and barks, quickly darting past itand making more noise, aiming to confuse it. While he did this, Keiyaku darted forward, his hands and feet hitting the ground almost in time with Moru's barks, disguising his ground-pounding. He would direct his claws as the base of the beast's leg, running underneath it; he would continually pass through underneath it, every time, slicing at the beast's ankles, trying to hobble it while Moru kept it bewildered.

 

[Keiji]

Silently watching, judging their every move and their communication, Keiji wondered if the child had any actual potential. The first decision with Genjutsu is an average ploy at best, barely something to write home about. This however was great to see, teamwork and communication, completely silently, recognising hand signals and eye movements alone.

The barks and whines seemed to make the beast turn with a brutal tenacity and pounded its front legs as if ready to pounce at every bark, although slower than the tiny puppy, still fast enough to be a real danger to the hound. But as it moved around so quickly it was like it dawned on the beast that something was up, and instead opted to stand still and instead listen to the location of the dog, opting to focus on the intesity of the loudest noise, being the barks and whines.
With the angle right, and the beast distracted it winced and screamed as the first gouge came to it's hind ankles. Thanks to the small frame of the child, they managed to slide and crawl swiftly underneath and run out as the second pair of gouging cuts came to the front ankles.

The timing was perfect, as the first slices came the back of the beast tumbled backwards, resulting in an ease to reach and slice the front ones causing further distress and reaction causing it fall forwards, again, thankfully slow enough for Keiyaku to roll out and away from the loud thump that came as the beast hit it's chin against the ground again.

This time it lay there for a few seconds, enabling Keiyaku to stand tall or watch carefully the beast's reactions. Its' mouth watering as it tried to regain some semblance of self control, its cut eyes jumbled about underneath the eyelids like it was trying to see, but knowing the eyelids movement only hurt it more. The beast pushed ahead its body forcing it up on its legs again, but clearly it struggled to do so but held firm with slightly wobbly legs. It's head shook and it reverberated through its whole body almost like a dog, except massive and heavy, the shake ended with a wobble of the hooves and it firmly placed its hind legs into the ground, covering the newly cuts with dirt. Heavy grunts escaped its gaping maw and nose in affirmative tone to almost signify its next decision. Now firmly in place it turned its head again around almost like it was scanning the surroundings, this time the ears moved more swiftly separately trying to narrow down where the child and the dog was. Almost waiting, patiently for their next move.

Keiji nodded affirmatively, in an almost salute to their decisions so far. Now the final strike, they had this. Hopeful he squeezed his grip to his knife and tightened his muscles, ready to pounce the second something might go wrong, while still hoping for the best. They got this. He thought to himself.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku realised he had to quickly make himself scarce as the beast's massive legs began to buckle under its own weight, weakened by the lithe lacerations the Inuzuka brothers had worked on inflicting. He squirmed out quickly from underneath it before the thing's weight crashed on top of him. Remaining on all-fours, with Moru by his side, he watched for what the beast did next as it forced itself to try and regain itself. As he watched the thing's eyes roll around, groaning he pain, the boy couldn't help but feel a pain in his chest for the thing; the thing was a slave to its baser instincts and now it was being put through horrendous torture. Everytime Keiyaku let this thought cross his mind, he reminded himself of the vista he got of the thing chewing up a severed arm. He immediately clenched his teeth.

Finally, when the creature was able to face them on wobbly legs, the boy turned to his little brother and let out what sounded like a quiet, albeit firm snarl. This obviously meant something to Moru, because he nosed inside Keiyaku's hip pouch and withdrew, now biting onto the handle of a kunai knife which stuck sideways from his jaw. The logic here was that a new, louder distraction would throw the beast off guard, pull the rug out from underneath it. He began to run, left and right in front of the bull's face, making sure to keep a safe distance from its horns. He screamed and shouted as he did this, making sure to drag his claws along its face when he felt safe enough to get in close for a moment. The screams and shouts were intended to hide the sound of Morutobu pitter-pattering through the grass, running beneath the thing and slashing at the heels of its hind legs this time, aiming to completely hobble it. He mirrored his big brother, diving underneath the thing's belly and taking great slashes on each pass, mindful to avoid taking another pass if it seemed the thing might fall.

 

[Keiji]

With the roles reversed, their angle of attack shifted as well. Causing Keiji to chuckle to himself behind the mask.
Now the child jumped around, a larger target, more tricky to avoid attacks but perhaps it might still work, considering the wobbly nature of the beast's stance it does make sense to have the smallest one to do the cutting. However their cuts might not be the deepest, and leathery skin is hard to make any decent cuts on anyways.. Stabs might serve better..

The child jumped and evaded a swing of the beast's tusks, narrowly evading it. Keiji felt himself tense up, he was ready with healing chakra in case any real damage would occur, one good slap is hard enough to deal with, but a second hit or a thrust of the tusks might put Keiyaku out for good.

Almost like Moru had read Keiji's mind, as soon as it was underneath the beast it jumped, angling its' head to give the most weight into the thrust it forced the Kunai deep into the thinnest part of the beast's leg, forcing the muscles and bones to be forced apart and cutting into the veins that made the beast able to even hold its own weight on the leg. Making it scream again, leaving the kunai in, Moru jumped away from underneath it before the beast fell again, this time a loud thump following by a whimper.

The Beast was still noisy, and its head rotated wildly trying to reach the wound but it's sheer size and weight prevented it from reaching it. If the Kunai had been pulled out, it might have been able to withstand it, but leaving it in with that pressure it made the beast unable to stand.

With it down, there wasn't much more work to do. Standing up Keiji reach for his own Kunai and walked towards the beast, standing by it and looking at a slightly down angle at it he uttered the words "Now, finish it Keiyaku. He's your kill and you deserve the honor and praise of having saved this community from this beast." He stood awaiting their next actions against the whimpering beast.

The sides of the beast were still quite massive, Keiyaku's height was about the same as it's width. So the final cut had to be deep, gory and bloody to finalize the mission.

[Congratulations!]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku watched as the beast howled a piercing shriek of pain before succumbing to its injuries, its full weight buckling on top of now almost useless legs. The boy knew a brief thrill of fear for his little brother before he saw the little brown bullet shoot out from underneath the beast and dive at him. He knelt down and opened his arms, hugging Morutobu tightly to him, singing the pup's praises. Moru was simply thrilled. Then, as the ANBU officer approached, they both started. Getting up to greet him again, Keiyaku couldn't help but grin with pride at what he had managed to do.

"H-Hey, we did it! I figured on a mission, if we're running someone down who's gone rogue, the best thing to do is bring them in alive, right? So I th-"

He broke off, blinking as the man handed him a kunai, telling him to put the beast down and be done with it. He took the knife slowly and looked up into the masked face. The thing was helpless now, pitiful; he almost didn't want to do it, feeling it would be too cruel. Then again, he needed only conjure the image of the thing gulping down a fresh human arm and suddenly the idea of putting the thing out of its misery seemed almost too humane. Without a word, he turned about, analysing the creature. He could almost see a grid appearing before his eyes, each square showing him where to stab.

'Head's no good; can't work a knife through a skull. Torso is massive; it'd be a job reaching the heart. Ol' reliable it is, then.'

Approaching the beast's head, still staying wary of its horns, he traced his fingers up the side of its throat, looking for the area that would cause the most damage. Then, kunai in hand, he pulled the knife firmly and quickly, through the weakest point in its hide with one great slash, then quickly leaping back to avoid being gored. He figured he might even need to wait for the thing to become a little more woozy with blood loss.

Morutobu seemed a little put off by this, so approached the ANBU officer and began groaning and barking at him. Keiyaku interpreted for him.

"H-He uh... he says that you never told us what to call you?"

 

[Keiji]

He analyzed the child's actions as he took the knife, the calculation, the inner turmoil, he knew those thoughts intimately and knew the considerations. The innocence leaving his mind and soul with every tense of the hand holding the knife. As the cut came across the throat he smiled underneath the mask, nodding approvingly. The rest of the village survivors would be able to utilize the meat, skin, bones and tusks entirely. They will receive help from Kumo who will send helpers, mednin and builders to help rebuild and fix whatever they could.

He scanned the environment to get an estimation of the amount of helpers that would be needed, how many wounded would there be. He lifted his hand to his ear to activate the communication device that sat within as Moru's barks came, his dark eyes and white bird mask looked down, assessing the aggression and peering deeply into the puppy's eyes. Enabling him to send forth a simple Genjutsu to help calm his nerves. Hearing the supposed translation from Keiyaku he looked back up and responded in a warm and pleasant tone.

"When we are out on mission, whilst the masks are on you will address me simply as 'Corvus' That's all the pleasantries and designations that should be between us." His hands adjusted up and pulled the straps tied behind the mask all three pulled one by one meticilously and calculated and with the final strap held the front of the mask with a hand and pulled it off his face.
Behind the mask was a tanned, warm, worn, tired face with bruises and gashes across his brow, cheek and chin, some still bleeding but yet still he mustered a smile as his grey, white and tired Hyuuga eyes addressed Keiyaku. His hair was bundled in the back, hidden behind a cowl pulled under the mask, revealing brown dreadlocks, not a common sight in Leaf. Revealing his origins of being a foreigner from a different country than that of Fire.
"But in all other scenarios you may call me Suzaku. Henceforth your ANBU Sennin. Our identity behind the mask is secret only while we're on mission. Your name and mask is yours and yours alone. Being an ANBU means all missions and their contents are locked to this mask." He paused, sighing briefly. "Makes it easier to live with actions I have heard."

He pointed at the beast still profusely bleeding, with its life energy draining. "You did good there, congratulations." His finger moved and ended at pointing at Keiyaku's chest "Congratulations, Inuzuka Keiyaku, you are no longer a part of the Academy and instead under my wing, as an ANBU in Training."
He lifted up his mask again and strapped the fabric behind it leaving Keiyaku to consider the implications of his words.
His head turned and addressed the child again. "Next we will show you the entrance to our base of operations and your next orders and assignments will be handed to you. Your new life is about to begin." And on those last few words he turned back towards Kumogakure and made his way back, expecting Keiyaku to follow along.


[Thread Left, Tutor complete!]

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Keiyaku looked up at the masked man again, curious about the answer. He was, however, slightly uneasy as many people seemed to interpret Moru's enthusiasm as aggression or discontent - the pup was just boisterous and struggled to phrase things in a politer way; Keiyaku's interpretation of his vocalisations was always a little less 'coloured'. Nonetheless, the man seemed to soften a little toward them. Keiyaku was curiously if his name would be one he might recognise, but then again, outside of other clansmen, his father, nor Kiiromaru ever spoke of their colleagues or discussed them - the ANBU operated in great discretion, of course.

'Corvus? Suzaku? Not ringing any bells...'

"Oh," exhaled the boy, feeling the tension release with the man pointing ominously at his chest. He beamed broadly and scratched at the back of his head, "thanks so much, Suzaku-sensei!"

Moru did likewise, jumping up and down excitedly in place, tail wagging madly as if to say 'Hey, what about me?!?!'

"Hey, buddy, chill out," he said, kneeling down to calm his little brother, and reassure him, "he means you too; we're a team, alright? You know that..."

Moru let out a little yip, prompting Keiyaku to look up in time to see Suzaku-sensei removing his mask, piercing him with white, very faintly lilac eyes. The boy's slitted eyes looking back into the Hyuuga's, he smiled warmly, no longer feeling the waves of apprehension that came with the void of uncertainty a mask presented. Something the man had just said seemed to click into place as he got Moru to settle down, however.

"The... Sennin?" This little tidbit left him a bit shellshocked as to why such a high-ranking officer would agree to take such an interest... but at the same time, he was exhausted from the battle and his emotions needed time to charge back up.

He had to admit though, he thought graduating the Academy would be a little more official, with a little more fanfare. Would he be presented with a headband? He had a million questions, but put them to one side as he got back to his feet, following his new mentor back towards the village, an excitable Moru bounding along in his wake.

[Yaaaay! Topic left~]