The Shinobi With The Straw Hat

2The ceremony ended and my eight fellow comrades were celebrating with their families, as for me, my father was not present.     

He wouldn't even come congratulate his son's success. I couldn't be mad at him, mother's death had ruined his mind.     

We were given two weeks of rest. This sounded absurd in my ears, we had suffered everyday for one year but they only gave us this much rest time.     

I returned to Tokyo, to find my father. I knocked on the door and noticed that the door wasn't even closed.     

I opened it and entered, he was there, sitting on the couch with tens of bottles of sake by his feet.     

"Dad? It's good to see you. How are y-"     

"What do you want! Little devil, get out of my sight!"     

Those were the words that came out of his mouth when he saw me for the first time after my period of absence.     

I walked towards him and tried to grab the bottles that were on the ground. This place was a mess after all.     

"What are you doing, bastard?! After having taken my wife away from me, you also wanna take my sake!"     

His words hurt me more than the sharpest of blades.     

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT... I... I TRIED MY BEST TO STOP HER KILLER! HOW CAN YOU.... SAY THAT TO ME, SHE WAS MY MOTHER, I LOVED HER!"     

I grabbed my father by the collar, I really wanted to punch him. I was enraged. I loved my mom, but it's like he didn't understand that I saw her getting fucking stabbed. I HAD HER BLOOD ALL OVER ME!     

I let go of my father and left the house, hurting him was something I shouldn't do.     

For the next two weeks I slept in a hotel, I did workouts everyday to forget my sorrow.     

Making myself suffer like this made me forget everything. I didn't need to plunge my face into alcohol to forget things.     

The two weeks passed and I joined my unity, the third intervention group of the special assault team.     

Our unity was comprised of thirty men, me included.     

The third intervention group was known as the most efficient in hostage crisis and terrorist threats.     

In my first day, we all had to gather in formation before the lieutenant, he was checking who was present and who was absent.     

"Omoi Erizu!"     

"Present, my lieutenant!"     

"Kentaro Takahashi!"     

"PRESENT, MY LIEUTENANT!"     

The first time he called my name, I shouted from the top of my lungs. It didn't please him.     

Lieutenant Hiroto came before me and shouted in my ears, It was not pleasant at all.     

"Takahashi, Is it pleasant when I shout in your ears? NO! Then why do you shout like that?! One hundred push-ups, if you stop while doing them, everybody here will also do one hundred!"     

I began doing my push-ups without pausing once, unfortunately for me, lieutenant Hiroto was a real bastard.     

He kicked my arms, making me fall on the ground.     

"Takahashi, I told you that if you stopped while doing the push-ups everybody will also do one hundred! Everybody, thank Takahashi! Everybody in push-up position!"     

Every one of my comrades got in push-up position, I was ashamed of myself. Because of me, they were punished.     

"one.....two.... Three.... Watanabe, why do you stop?! One..... Two... Three..... Four....."     

Lieutenant Hiroto truly loved the sight of us suffering.     

After the push-ups we were sent doing a fifteen kilometer march with a twenty kilogram backpack.     

We all returned exhausted to the barracks, We were full of dirt and sweat, we were hungry.     

We placed the bags outside and from what I heard from my comrades, it was time to eat.     

I followed them to the refectory. I took a plate and served myself food, we were allowed to do it.     

I found myself a place and the others soon came sitting next to me.     

"Hey, Takahashi. You must be a newbie right? My name is Omoi Erizu."     

Omoi was a nice a guy, we began talking with each other on my first day.     

He was in the third intervention group for already four years now. He was three years older than me, that made him twenty-six.     

Omoi and I became best friends, no, brothers.     

The third intervention group became the family I had lost, I tattooed the groups logo on my back.     

It was like a buff. With the snow tiger on my back, I felt a thousand times more confident.     

My union with the group was written in ink and on flesh, hahaha. Those were good times.     

Like this, five years passed and I participated in numerous operations.     

I remember one of the operations. There was a man who had held his daughter hostage while threatening to kill her.     

We were dispatched immediately. We first tried to talk him down, but it didn't work. The man would not listen.     

Omoi managed to get him near the windows while talking to him.     

One of our snipers shot directly into the man's head, killing him instantly.     

When I forced the door open, I found the little girl kneeling next to her death father's corps.     

I grabbed her and tried to comfort her. She made me think about myself, I had seen my mother dead too.     

Four months later, I received a message while being in the barracks. It was a message from my uncle, I had never heard of him until this exact day.     

Apparently my father was dead, he had choked to death with his own vomit while being drunk.     

I asked permission to attend to his funeral and it was obviously given.     

I met with my uncle for the first time in my life. He looked just like my father, he was just in better shape.     

"Kentaro,...."     

"Hello, Uncle..."     

We had nothing to say to each other. We went to the cemetery and burned incencse sticks.     

I got on my knees and prayed for my father's soul, it was the least I could do for him.     

I returned to the barracks and lieutenant Hiroto informed us about an operation that we had to prepare immediately.     

This would be the operation that would change everything.