'Thoughts'
"Speaking"
(Author's Note)
★★★★ ★★★★
The Next day...
Ken and Might Gai entered the hokages office after recieving summons from him the previous night.
'I wonder what the old man wants to talk about, Did he peep on my spar with the Uchiha duo yesterday?',thinking so Ken looked at hiruzen curiously.
"Greetings Hokage sama for what purpose have you summoned Me and my student here for?", Gai questions the man.
"Ahem,Well~ You see I have been observing young ken's progress and find it would be much more beneficial to him If he focuses more on the other aspects of being a shinobi, As fighting isn't the only side of the job",Hiruzen notifies them.
"Are you asking my disciple to join the Anbu,seeing his talent being of great use for the darker side of Konoha", Might Gai solemnly asks Hiruzen as he regards the man with a cold gaze".
"My Eternal rival has been reduced to a mere killing machine after the losses he suffered, Give me a valid reason why I should lead my disciple to the same fate or much worse let him die even before he can unlock his full potential".
"Sigh...Ken joining the Anbu is for kakashi's sake too, I was going to choose Uchiha Itachi for filling in but instead chose ken as from his mission reports I find Ken's mode of operating much more in line with that of an Anbu operative".
"Itachi while a prodigy shows restraint in killing as further examined from his reports and needs time to mature,As I have to choose between them both I find it viable to choose Ken as he has minimal possibility for falling into darkness".
"As for Kakashi, You are right his loss of loved ones has caused to him to emotionally repress himself and seeking a way out he has started a relentless mission spree, At this rate he will jeopradise his lives and and that of his team".
"Ken's role in this is to act as a buffer to kakashi and slowly bring him out of this self imposed torment, Seeing as he is only furthering his suffering by running away from his feelings".
"With all due respect hokage-sama, I don't think I can help Kakashi san with what he is going through,Me trying to understand and pity him shall only make the man think about his loss", Interjects Ken.
"While that is true, I do not need you to be his therapist, I want you to befriend him and make him slowly extricate him from his self-inflicted suffering",Replies hiruzen.
"I accept the offer Hokage-sama"Ken replies after thinking for a moment.
'Kakashi really got done dirty in the series, I'll have to pester him everytime like Gai if I want to change his mental state'.
"Good,Since everythings been decided you are to report to the Anbu headquarters located on top of Hokage Mountain tommorow, thats all I have to say".
Saying so hiruzen dismissed them.
The duo nod and leave the office while in deep thought.
Might Gai stares at ken and asks him when they reach the training ground.
"Even though the Hokage asked you to join the anbu are you sure its the right choice".
"I'm sure sensei,I don't just want to be a taijutsu specialist, I'm trying to be an all rounder so joining the anbu will be a step forward in mastering espionage, stealth and other factors in being a shinobi". States ken.
"I understand your worries sensei, Anbu is no joke and the risk I face joining them is no simple matter, So being in kakashi-San's team should provide me with protection".
"And besides,Don't you want kakashi san to move on with his life, this may be the chance to do that, I'll try my utmost in achieving it".
Gai stays silent for a few minutes contemplating the pros and cons of Ken's choice and finally comes to his conclusion.
"Sigh...I understand Ken, I'm just worried that you may fall into the same state as Kakashi that is why I was hesitating, No matter, You are a shinobi and understand the risks of what you are doing,me denying your decison is a disrespect to your youth and I will do no such thing,so I can only offer you advice because in the end it is still your path to walk".
Ken bows towards Gai knowing how hard it was for the man to come to such a verdict.
"I'm grateful sensei for your concern and can assure you that I will not turn into a puppet who only knows how to kill, and even if I do I still have you to bring be back to normal".
"Haha~You are right,As your sensei I will be there to bring you back should you ever fall into the darkness and reignite your Youth should circumstances ever arise". Might Gai pats his chest while assuring Ken of his stance.
"I know sensei and I will count on your word for that", Ken replies.
"Yosh!!, Enough talking as a show of youth we will double todays training, Let us immerse ourselves in the power of YOUTH....".
"Hai, sensei!", exuberantly replies Ken as the duo starts training...
The Next day...
"Ahh~My back, Freaking hell I was conned by Sensei's enthusiasm and did all he asked for while training".
Ken groans while internally promising himself to never go along with Gai's shenanigans.
He reaches the Anbu headquarters on top of hokage rock and finds himself infront of a conspicuous building painted fully in black.
Ken enters to find himself alone in the building and he sees a staircaes going downwards, he moves along and finds a long and wide passageway for the path ahead.
He starts walking ahead while keeping an eye out for traps or any other things.
'The place sure is eerie, gives me the haunted building vibes'.
Ken walks forward and finds his senses suddenly warning him, without hesitation he ducks feeling something move past the spot where his head was and hears metal colliding.
He goes fully alert and moves forward and suddenly punches to his left, where a shadow suddenly materialises and is forced back.
The assailant is revealed to be an anbu operative and without any word starts a taijutsu bout with ken.
Ken retaliates with vigor and after a few exchanges gains the advantage and taking chance of an opening moves in to finish the fight.
His instincts flare and he suddenly jumps back and finds the area where he stood to be turned into mud.
He substitutes himself dodging a volley of shuriken thrown at him from behind.
Ken moves to a corner of the passage and completes handseals for: Water release;Rising Water Slicer.
Releasing a linear wave of water that travels at high speeds to attack the target, the water wave having enough strength to slice clean through rock.
The newly appeared anbu dodges while retaliating with Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet.
A dragon-like head appearing in the area where the earlier mud trap was used and starts to shoot mud balls at Ken.
Ken activates the gates, directly opening the gate of healing and punches the projectiles destroying it upon impact.
He blitzes forward to put an end to the fight when his two opponents retreat.
Ken stops and stares at them confused when he starts hearing footsteps.
He finds another Anbu appearing and motions to ken to follow him.
To be continued....