Eight: Animals

Hatake Kakashi worried. He worried and dreaded and flinched at the thought of what he left in that house. The worry drove him to distraction on a level he wasn't familiar with, anxiety crawling up his throat like bile.

It was fortunate, then, that Kakashi didn't exist. Only Wolf.

And ANBU Wolf didn't worry, or fret or brake the spine of his favorite Icha Icha book.

Even as he drove his sword through the brain stem of the fanatical occult leader he'd been sent to terminate, blood splattering in his weapons wake, Wolf felt nothing. The cold, sharp clarity of his mission parameters did not deteriorate under the warm, misted spray, nor did they falter as Wolf slipped silently away from the scene.

An entire compound of religious zealots purged with nary a whimper.

Eight men, three women, and a single, solitary child, tucked carefully between its parents arms.

The empty night rang with silence as Wolf reached the rendezvous point, flicking his fingers in sharp command when the rest of the pale-faced animals turned to him for instruction.

The hunt was over.

It was time to head home.