Night Of The Living Doll.. [Private Kin]

[Midori Futotta]

Maru's House​

The young shinobi stood in front of his residence right on the outskirts of the village, it was around midnight when he came to the realization that although he had plenty of knowledge on puppets, he was close to reaching the limit on the techniques he could learn. However, there was one more step to take before he could be able to call himself a puppet master and he knew just the person to summon for this occasion. Although he would've asked his last mentor who introduced him to the art of puppetry, he knew that she wouldn't be able to handle doing what Maru wanted done in a faster paste… but there was one who had enough knowledge on human puppetry and had enough darkness within himself to not let emotions get in the way of the task… and the lucky person was the Uchiha!

After making this decision, Maru began to weave handsigns pressing his hand to the ground. The shadows beginning to bend and twist as the beast was once again dragged into this plane of existence. It's head peeking out of the shadows with glowing red eyes that would fill the average person with horror. However Maru summoned the shadow creature so it too was no more than one of his puppets. Maru commanded the ebony nightmarish creature to track the Uchiha down and tell him to come to crater city to meet him. And with that the fiend sunk into the darkness then moved through the darkness to find the Uchiha. When found it would simply say to the Uchiha in a threatening tone regardless of the time of night it was it will get its message to the Uchiha.


Maru has summoned you… Go to the city of thieves where he'll be expecting you... the shadowy creature said in a tone that made it seem like this wouldn't be a friendly meeting, slowly it began to fade but before it would leave this realm it would assert one word to the Uchiha which was… ALONE…..

As the message had been delivered, Maru waited in the cool night with his hands in his pockets. Wondering if the Uchiha had gotten the message or not. Tapping his foot at the ground impatiently waiting within the darkness. “Might've should have gone myself, but oh well. Let's see if he shows.”

[Ooc: Summoning Takeshi]
[Ebony Nightmare B Rank Used]

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi landed on the ground as he allowed himself to stand up it seemed that he had gone for the tactful entry instead of just walking in like a normal person, the red and black mask of the ANBU Sennin lifted up to look at Maru his eyes green in the darkness as they pierced into the very boy’s soul. He allowed himself to glance around as he scanned his surroundings in that split-second pondering on why he was here and alone, but he shrugged it off as his gaze fell back onto the boy that had summoned someone like him directly here.

“You called me I came, what is it you want Maru and what business is so important that I had to come alone, or are you after a second time of what happened recently, from what I can see and hear you have been quite the little fighter since our last encounter any plans on making that stop any time soon or are you just going to keep falling down this hole from which there is no escape?”

Takeshi waited for an answer as he allowed the sword on his back to sway slightly as he knew full well that he was alone, though he looked at Maru he had to give the kid credit he was becoming a quick learner and showed the potential that he remembered seeing in himself for once, as Takeshi decided to drop this scary Sennin look around Maru, his hand coming off as he took the mask off revealing a wolfish like grin on his lips in that split second as he wandered over towards the man his gaze never once turning away as he chuckled slightly.

“So how is it that I can help one of my branch members this evening?”

[Topic Entered]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru stood within the darkness of this cool night, crossing his arms awaiting the arrival of the Uchiha. One moment there was no sign of the man, but then the next Takeshi had landed on the ground before Maru seemingly out of nowhere. The man standing tall, the way he glanced at him with his menacing stare gave Maru a sense of dread. The unfathomable darkness of this man who walked within the shadows of the Leaf made the young shinobi smile a bit, in a way he respected the amount of evil that the Anbu Sennin took in to achieve true power.

“Well Uchiha, learning the ninja arts is for the sole purpose of fighting anyway, it just so happens that I fight more than others. If I don’t fight then I won’t know where I stand as a ninja, nor would I know if I am strong enough to be of use to the branch–” Maru cut his explanation short, staying on that topic for too long could possibly get him benched from going out on missions. "But, I am making progress within my team at least. I mean in one of my battles against Yukio I didn't attack Juko at least or the time I cleverly thought of starting a ruckus within Yukio's lesson to flush him out of his hiding spot…. Well maybe not the second part but I listened to reason at least.” Maru stated.

True enough that after their last encounter, Maru had still been picking fights with a lot of people who rub him the wrong way, he did for the most part listen to Yukio when he was getting a bit out of hand nor when the three sparred he didn't attack everyone like he normally would have done. That had to count for something. Although the Uchiha was a bit threatening, Maru decided to cut to the heart of the manner which was why did he call him here. “Well it was important for you to come here alone because I actually needed your help in making me stronger–” the boy said as the Uchiha approached. “You see there was a woman who came by looking to buy a doll, a cute little fox to be exact. After I made her doll, she decided to use her Yamanaka abilities to switch bodies with one of my Puppets that had already been cursed. Now she is walking around without a care in the world as a living doll. Free to come back here to reclaim her body should she ever want to switch back.” When the story came to its conclusion Maru paused for a moment. He was implying something very obvious that he wanted from the man.

"Then when I look back on my GENIN days, I guess what made me take to dolls would mainly be because of the cool prosthetic Puppet arm Mikasa showed me when I was studying in the medical branch.” Maru smirked at the thought, deciding to stop stalling and just get to the point already. “Where you come in is that I need you to transform me into something more useful to your branch. A human puppet. If I am able to become the very thing I admire, I'll gain access to a lot of perks like making a puppet that has access to strong medical justu in case one of my team members are injured, not being able to bleed, poison immunity, free from exhaustion, and possibly more. I believe I'll prove more useful if I was to have an artificial body that can be rebuilt and replaced. So could you help me out?” Maru said, awaiting for the Uchiha to give him an answer.

“After all you are the only one in the village I've found with enough darkness to do this favor for me.”

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi stood silent and dormant for a few minutes, he just listened to the words that were being spoken and took in the information that he was being given it seemed that this was the best way to do it. Just absorb what was being said then he could go from there and right now it seemed that Maru had a lot to be said, though each word felt like it was coming from the soul, this was something the ANBU Sennin did not expect tonight as he nodded silently as the story continued to unfold, like a knot being pulled on and coming apart it seemed there was more to Maru than what most people believe. Even Takeshi knew that there was something he was not saying but not it seemed that he had managed to get an understand of the boy better from this conversation.

“You are coming into your own this is good news, development and growth will help you achieve the goals you want in the future I cannot deny that much. And I am glad to hear that you are getting along with your fellow team mates, this is something that I wanted to find out from you first hand, even if there will be tension if you manage to work together this is the first steps in a lot. Also, as long as you show this kind of progress I see no reason for you to be benched from future missions with your team”

Takeshi listened to the rest, the story unfolds in front of him as he begun to wonder what kind of request this would be, it was starting to slot together the pieces of the puzzle making sense in each of the words that Maru spoke.

“I am guessing from the direction that this is heading, and what you have found out you want to lose the body, that is the only way to protect yourself, that or get a new power, if that is the case and the ability that you are speaking about with puppets. You want to take your soul out and place it into a puppet thus becoming a human puppet. That would address each one of those issues that you mentioned, and would be a valid option for making sure that you gain power, that much I know full well and I am sure that you know this as well don’t you Maru?”

Takeshi waited for a few seconds, but he wasn’t done with the request for help he knew what that would involve though he wanted to make sure so did Maru, this was not something to be taken lightly and it was not something that just happens even the man in front of him had to know that. He had known that when he acquired his new-found powers.

“This will hurt, and the way that you will obtain it means that you will never be able to go back to be a human body, you are aware of this I hope? You know what you are giving up and what you ask for me, if you do and still want to go ahead with this then think about my request in return. You must calm yourself down, your troubles, your actions with others, it becomes one of someone who has matured, understands and moves with the flow not against it. I will do this for you and you will do that for me. Can you live with that choice Maru?”

 

[Midori Futotta]

After telling the ANBU Sennin that he was at least working together despite having a little tension, Maru smirked a bit after hearing that he wouldn't be benched from going on missions. For the most part, he felt like he was making progress in directing his anger outside of his team to make an attempt to get along with them because they would never get things done if he fought against everyone like he normally would have done. As long as his attitude didn't get in the way of the way of the teams performance, there shouldn't be a problem with him being able to carry out missions whether they be dangerous dark missions or not too dangerous missions.

Now that the threat of being bench was off the table for now, the Uchiha addressed his request for him to take his soul out of this body and place it within a Puppet body. He wasn't a Yamanaka nor one of those ninja's who can possess inanimate objects at will, however they didn't call the Uchiha the reaper for nothing. A dark sage could harvest any soul so it shouldn't be a problem to simply give Maru a new body that would push him to new possibilities. From how the man spoke, it sounded like he was going to actually help him I'm becoming a wooden doll. But… of course there was some con's in becoming a human puppet. He will never be able to go back to his old body if he was to choose this path, honestly he saw that as a small price to pay so that wouldn't be an issue at all. However if Maru agreed to this then he'll have to continue to work on improving his behavior and attitude towards other people, a fair enough proposal. “Alright I can't say it'll happen right away, but given time I can improve. Besides I see more pros in this deal then cons so it's a deal.”

Reaching in his coat, he pulled out a scroll which unmistakably had the very doll that maru wished to possess. “You fix me up and I have to work on improving my behavior. Don't worry you won't regret this.” The boy said and with a puff of smoke there stood Maru's perfect body which was unmistakably a doll. Made of plastic, an exact republic of its creator that seemed to have been made for this very occasion. For the exception of it's black hollow eyes, it seemed to be just an ordinary lifeless doll.. All it's got a music box for a heart, but all its missing is a soul. “Keeping the original look so people would recognize me…” Maru said, pausing for a moment as he set the down his doll look-a-like by his feet. He said that this would hurt, Maru could only hope that it was only for a moment. Besides he was about to become the very thing he admired and cherished.He couldn't help but smile in excitement. "Welp. Ready when you are Uchiha, no turning back now.”

[Maru's doll copy]

Spoiler

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi listened as he watched Maru it seemed the boy wanted to grow but the question that needed to be answered was did he know what growing up was, did he understand that power always came with a price, a sacrifice to be made, a cold road that you have to stumble down unaided. He would soon know all of this. Takeshi didn’t speak he didn’t even make a signal of what was to come, it would be pain and something that Maru would have to deal with, he would have to die right now, he would have to give himself over to the cold that came in life.

“Im sorry this will be as painless as possible”

With those words the lightning was already inside of the Uchiha’s hand the pure power controlled in such a small place, contained and ready to spill out when called upon. It seemed that the hand moved with lightning reaction, Maru had already seen the Sennin in combat and knew what he was capable off in that second, he saw the true raw power as the hand came up and pressed against the boy’s chest. The spear of lightning ripped into the boys’ front spilling its pure light of energy from his back, gore and clothes came away in that split second as the room fell silent as the energy dispersed.

Takeshi allowed the lightning to dissipate as he moved his hand away from the hole, were the heart of the boy should have presided was emptiness, the place around them coming to silence from the noise the Sennin merely stood there and watched as the life that one of his own held onto would slowly be dragged form him in those passing few seconds, though Takeshi hated to watch he allowed his eyes to close as the last thing that Maru would see for a while would be the purple aura eradiating from him as he begun to channel the power of the reaper inside of him. His hand coming out as he slowly begun to grip on the soul inside of the dying body preparing himself to rip it out of his body.

“When you fall into the eternal sleep, I will claim your soul, let the cold take you, let the light fade and darkness consume. Let your soul become mine”

Takeshi opened his eyes the bright red of the Mangekyo Sharingan glaring into Maru’s eyes.

[Maru has been Killed (Body Only)]
[Soul has been taken]

 

[Midori Futotta]

"Heh… So tense, try and look at it as I need a tooth pulled out. “ The boy said in a joking manner. Of course, Maru didn't even know why the man before him had been acting so gloomy, the man got all quiet all of the sudden. Not nearly as excited for him to break the limitations of being a human puppet, honestly he should be smiling… however now that he thought about it, Maru was asking the Uchiha to actually take his life and move his soul into an inanimate object. That was the sacrifice that Maru had to make for the power was however large, he opened his arms to the Uchiha, smirking at him. "Well this would only hurt for a moment.” Maru responded, knowing that the Uchiha wasn't having cold feet.

Lighting enveloped the man's hand, he charged at him and in that very instant he plunged the spear of lighting into Maru's chest. Blood shot out of his back as the lighting pierce right through where his heart used to be, blood started to drip down to the floor but none of it got on the Uchiha. When the lighting finally slid out of the gaping hole, that's when the blood jutting out more fluently. Stumbling back a couple steps, his breathing started to hitch a bit. Two lines of blood where at the corners of his mouth, he was struggling to stand up Maru's eyes were half closed as he stared at the Uchiha who stood in silence. One would think that Maru would have been surprised, all he said was a simple sentence with a small smile on his face, not just because he'll be waking up in a doll body but from the amount of darkness that the Uchiha took in without hesitation.

With that the Uchiha stepped forward, a purple aura began to take hold of him and seeing a ghostly hand grip hold of his spirit. They didn't call Takeshi the reaper for nothing… it was getting cold… darker and darker. The boy saw nothing but the glowing red eyes glaring at him… telling him to let the darkness consume him which he didn't have much of a choice in doing… every growing darker…. And darker…. And darker… then Maru stopped moving completely. Although it wasn't the true end at least he died giving the man good news….

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi watched as the boy let go of everything, let go of the body, let go of this world for the first time in his life, he allowed himself to be free truly free. Takeshi begun to extract the purple aura that was inside of the boy’s chest. Working it out of his body and allowing the soul to finally be free of the restrictions of a living blood-filled sack. As he allowed himself to pull at it the air became cold and the room begun to grow darker. The orb finally came free as a voice echoed out into the darkened room in that silence between the two of them.

“Another soul for payment Uchiha?”

Takeshi stopped the orb pulsating in his hand as he looked around, before feeling the tough of the giant hand on his shoulder. Takeshi head turned sideways as he watched the huge figure loom over him staring at the purple orb that was still glowing in his hand. Takeshi frowned slightly as he considered his options before speaking once more to the reaper that his deal had been struck with, this dark house held more ghosts than just the past for Maru it would seem.

“This soul is being moved to another form, there is nothing for you hear tonight. I apologize, I should have given you a fair warning this was happening. But for now, I only ask forgiveness”

“Forgiveness is earned Uchiha, you summoned me I came, payment must be taken, by you or that soul. I will have my pound of flesh”

“Then take what you must but leave the soul alone, this one still has much to learn in the future”

In that split-second Takeshi knew pain, terrible pain as the reaper reached inside of him, his knees crumpled under the pressure as he coughed blood splattering the floor where he was. He felt the hand slide neatly inside of his body, tearing as it came out he felt his body converse, he felt it shudder and he felt everything trying to fade to black. But he endured, he had to endure he was a Sennin of Leaf and some prices where worth the pain to pay for. As the reaper vanished from sight it left the blood trickling down the lips of the Uchiha. Takeshi pulled himself slowly up right, everything screamed, every muscle tried to deny the very movements he commanded of them.

Takeshi pulled himself to the body that lay waiting for a soul to enter, as he plunged the orb inside a cylinder like container, he forced the connections threw as his body threatened to give in at any moment. As the soul was bound to the object, Takeshi lifted it up the scribing had been prepared and the work carried out before it seemed that Maru had fully expected this outcome. Takeshi plunged the cylinder into the body as he felt his legs give out, he clumped down back sliding down against the table in that split second, his vision blured as he tried to get the words out of his mouth.

“Time to wake up damn it Maru”

Fresh blood coughed up form his insides as he looked at his hands, he leaned his head against the desk, it seemed that the payment had been taken for both. Takeshi just wondered if the soul would take to the body, that part would be up to Maru. Whipping the blood from his lips it was just replaced with a fresh layer, he would need to at least to stay conscious, the bleeding would stop he knew that the Reaper wanted him alive, the suffering would last a while longer for Takeshi summoning him without need or warning.

[OOC: Soul bound to Cylinder]

 

[Midori Futotta]

…….​

After Maru had been set free from his body… all he could remember in those moments were how cold and dark it was. The warmth of a hand grasping him in death felt rather peaceful, however that peaceful feeling was also met with dread.. The soul within the Uchiha hand seemingly trembled as it felt the dark presence of the reaper that wanted the soul, unsure of what kind of terrible fate would he meet if the poor soul went with the spirit of death. But for some reason, the soul of Maru felt that it's interest have shifted elsewhere so the peace that came with the pitch black void came back…. Honestly it wasn't bad being dead as people thought…

However his feelings of peace that he had was replaced with a new emotion, a need to want a body to be in after he was sealed within a Cylinder. ‘Body… need a body… must have a body… need a body’ it began to think to itself, writhing and rolling before being lifted up knowing full in well that what grabbed him had a body. Trying to push down within the hand that grabbed him but didn't quite make it so the soul gave up on stealing that body, however he was then plunged into the chest of a much better body! The Cylinder molding the plastic around itself, seemingly growing veins so it was stuck within the doll body, at least for now. Once the Cylinder was inside, the plastic body began to tremble as if it was convulsing.

It twisted and contort as Maru's soul writhed from within as it made its home within the hallowed body. A dark red aura beginning to take hold of the doll, rising up to it feet as if it needed no hands to get up. Maru's movements were a bit exaggerated, almost like a zombie rising from its tomb Maru began to stagger a bit before finally realizing where he was. His eyes rolled down from its slots and looked around, seeing how they were within the workshop now. Maru now looked at his mangled corpse that still had a smile he had on his face, smirking a bit he looked down at his artificial ball jointed hands. Then he balled both hands into fist.

“Say thanks for waking me up Uchiha!” the newly made doll MARU exclaimed, turning his head toward the Uchiha– who seemed to be looking a little messed up. The smile turned into a look of confusion as he saw the strong dark shinobi look as if he's been stabbed or something. The first thing he thought was that a trap might of went off but then upon look at him good now he looked alright.

“What the hell happened to you?” he said, there was a hint of concern in his voice. After all he just woke up expecting the man to be looming over him welcoming Maru back to life. He wasn't expecting to find the man all messed up like this. “Do I need to drag you to the hospital or something? You're looking like your life is over man.”

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi allowed himself to laugh slightly as he looked around into the eyes of the newly formed Maru, it seemed that he had come back to the realm of the living, something like this could not be avoided. Takeshi knew the work had been done correctly and the creation had been done to the best of his abilities. The laughter turned into a gurgle of blood as he managed to start coughing the blood splattering onto the floor once more, it seemed that he had payed as was per their request and deal, he knew full well that his body inside was burning.

“Damn it….”

Takeshi hauled himself up each movement of his arms, each pull strained his entire body as he gasped for air he allowed himself to pull himself to the full height over Maru, a small smile on his lips as he trued to reassure a member of his branch that the Sennin would not easily be broken, it seemed that there was more he was hiding from Maru but some secrets where not to be shared with anyone, some could be partially told. Takeshi knew that he would have questions, but they needed to be answered first.

“I will be fine, it’s a price that we pay for what needed to be done, you must remember Maru with any ability, any power there is always a sacrifice that needs to be made”

Takeshi leaned against the rock bed that Maru lay on though he new body creaked and cracked it seemed that he had taken well to being inside of the new wooden body, each joined moved and he hoped that Maru was able to find the peace that he needed now he was inside the frame of a puppet. The question would be would he want for anything that he could no longer have, a body that he could no longer use, an existence in a shell that was the true price that Maru would have to pay.

“A price must be paid for taking a soul and not giving it to the one that I made a deal with, you will come to understand that with time. How does that body feel are you able to at least use it?”

Takeshi still felt week and knew full well that his body was suffering and still recovering from the Reaper taking something from him. Takeshi waited to see how Maru would reply, to see if the damage would heal. Takeshi allowed himself to lean there and just watching Maru waiting to see if the boy would reply to his questions, he wiped the blood that was left around his mouth making sure that he looked a little more presentable, it was clear that Takeshi still wanted to make sure Maru was ok and his body was fully functioning before he did anything drastic or left this place.

“How is the new body feeling, and no need for a medic it will pass in time, also you showing emotion is that actual concern you have?”

 

[Midori Futotta]

The ANBU Senin looked badly hurt, but he still had strength enough to laugh which was a good sign. Maru gazed at his wooden hands again, moving his fingers in odd angles, each joint making a sort of clicking sound as he moved although it wasn't to much of a problem. However, admiring the craft of his own body was interrupted when Takeshi started to coughing up blood, splattering onto the floor which made Maru's eyes widen a bit. Automatically the wooden half demon thought that the man was dying, and it'll be a rather cruel end if the Uchiha ended up dying because Maru wanted to become a doll. So within the mechanism within his stomach, Maru began to emit a comforting aura through soundwaves of a music box so he wouldn't be in that much pain. It's a good thing Maru had already built some of the features already within himself. “Not as strong as other medical techniques but it's the only one I got for now.” Maru stated.

It was the first time that Maru made to use this medical technique, it wasn't a perfect solution to Takeshi’s problem but it'll at least ease the pain as he drags him over to the hospital. But somehow, even with his unknown injuries, the ANBU Senin strained to pull himself off the ground but he was still able to stand on his feet with a smile on his face to reassure the wooden AIT that he was fine. Maru narrowed his eyes a bit as the man explained that there was a price that he had to pay for using his ability to move Maru's soul within his new body. “Yeesh, that's a bit much to do something so simple, don't you think? But I owe you one for that one, don't know a lot of people who would do that for a troublemaker like me.” Maru said in a joking manner, but still he wondered if he really should drag the man to the hospital or not.

“Well the new body is fantastic, Uchiha. Now I'll get all the benefits in being a beautiful doll.” Maru said, flipping his hair. "If you woke up seeing a man in the floor coughing up blood after he helped you gain power, you'd be concerned too.” Maru said briefly. Of course when first diving into this, he was thinking it'll be a simple destroy kill the human body, remove his soul out and place it into a doll. But he didn't take in account that the Uchiha would have to pay for this favor, of course he had a rather blood thirsty personality but after being helped he couldn't just shrug off the that Takeshi had to suffer as well for doing something that would benefit Maru in the long run.

 

[Uchiha Takeshi]

Takeshi allowed a sigh to come from his lips as he looked over towards Maru, it seemed he was being nice as he allowed himself to stand there and listen to each word that Maru spoke, not fazed by the new face that he had taken and not even having any concern being in this state around Maru the man was an ANBU. To Takeshi that was all he needed to know about someone that was inside of his branch, each one had been judged and had been found worthy of joining the Branch that was not changing for Maru though his actions made others thing badly of him.

“I think we are done here, the pain will go but remember that you never saw anything tonight, this never happened”

Takeshi spat blood up once more, it seemed that his mouth was still full of the blood, though what could be said about the issues was something that would be talked about at a later date, it seemed that Takeshi was still having to force himself to stand up tall once more, he allowed himself to accept the embrace of pain and the judgement that had been given to him as he allowed himself to push off from the table, his legs holding his body weight just as he allowed each second of pain to be a blessing.

“Lets go from here Maru, we have stayed in this place long enough, moved from the slab and help me go home, take me to the Uchiha household”

Takeshi allowed himself to have a hand come out for help and support from Maru, he was asking him as a Sennin and asking him as a friend to help at that moment. Takeshi had suffered, and Maru had lost his body, the two coming out of this building would forever be changed the question would be how well they could adapt that would be the question that needed to be answered. For now, that answer was unclear and uncertain it was something that fate had decided for both of them and Takeshi knew this well enough.

“Let’s go and rest Maru, now help me out of here as a friend, and finally realise you have a place inside the village when you step out of that door. Your place and family are inside of the branch as an ANBU that is your future I give to you”

[Topic Left Unless Stopped]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Alright Uchiha not a word. No fingers crossed see!” Maru said, raising both hands to show he wasn't lying when he told him that he wouldn't tell what he saw here tonight. The task was now complete, Maru was now a human puppet and Takeshi at least gained the status of being a friend of Maru's. Perhaps if the ANBU Senin didn't have to pay up for moving Maru, he'd probably would have time to think of what he plans to do with his newfound abilities. But Takeshi needed his help now, and sometimes even the strongest of us need a little help. Truth be told Maru would've never thought the Uchiha could even get hurt from how strong he was, but of course everyone had their limits so with that Maru nodded. “Alright I'll get you home.”

Maru moved closer to the man so he could allow Takeshi to support himself on his shoulders. The Anbu Senin had suffered, and Maru had just experienced being dead then coming back to life. But in the end they were both able to walk out of this dark place, both losing something while gaining something, moving toward the door Maru took slow steps to make sure that Takeshi could keep up. Maru listened the ANBU Senin, his words sticking to his mind and Maru smiled a bit. "Might be a tough process, I try and not to cause too much trouble while I'm in your branch. You'll be hearing mostly good news coming from Yukio…….." There was a long pause, thinking for a moment. “Well I'll put in a damn good effort into letting only good news come from my teammates at least.” Maru didn't want to get the man's hopes up but he'll at least try to move forward, he didn't know what the future had in store and if he'll continue to pursue the darkness. As they walked out of the door, heading toward Takeshi’s home he smirked realizing that he had a new family within the Anbu.... For now at least.
[Maru Left topic]