In Their Shadow

Chapter 6

Yuma was tied to the back of a tree with ninja wire as Kakashi sat on a tree stump across from him. The moon was shining down on the two as Kakashi stared at Yuma trying to get out of the bindings.

"Why do you got me tied up!? Whats going on, and whats with you talking to that masked person. You've been acting strange ever since this mission started, whats happening!? Why did that person mention Gato!?"

"Hey, enough with the questions, jeez. This is a mess, it would have made sense if Naruko or Sasuke had figured me out, but you Yuma? how embarrassing."

Kakashi complained, his voice over exaggerated as Yuma glared at him.

"Just what about me figuring you out is embarrassing, huh?"

Kakashi merely ignored Yuma, whistling for a bit before answering back with a question of his own.

"I got to ask, how much of that did you hear?"

"All of it, I heard every single bit, whats going on Kakashi? Are you betraying the Leaf!"

"Now, Now, what makes you think I would ever do anything that stupid? Jeez, guess I have to come clean."

Kakashi's lazy expression shifted into one of complete seriousness as his lone eye pierced into Yuma's own.

"What I am about to tell you can not leave this forest, you can't tell anyone, not even Naruko or Sasuke, understood?"

Yuma nodded his head enthusiastically, keen on learning something the other two are unaware of.

'Something not even Naruko or Sasuke can know, Kakashi is entrusting me with something like that? Ha, Suck it Naruko and Sasuke!' Yuma thought, pride momentarily showing on his face.

"Now, since we have that out of the way, I should probably explain what's happening."

Yuma looked at Kakashi with anticipation as the truth was now being revealed.

"You see, our mission is to help Tazuna complete the construction of the bridge, that is true, but our mission isn't to make sure the bridge is built for Tazuna, but for our real client, Gato of Gato Enterprises."

Yuma's expression changed to one of shock and confusion as Kakashi's expression turned to that of a professional.

"W-Why, I-I thought Gato was the bad guy?"

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Bad guy he says, listen Yuma, we are ninja. Ninja kill, trick, sabotage, and deceive others. Wouldn't that make us just as bad as Gato if we were to follow your logic?"

Yuma's eyes widened as he began to see what Kakashi was trying to say.

"B-But, we help people don't we? We're not all bad, right? We're just following orders for the sake of the village, what we are doing is good, right?"

Kakashi stood up, the tightness of the ninja wire loosening just a tad.

"Who knows? At the end of the day everyone is just trying to live their life, what we consider evil, others tend to disagree. The world is a big place Yuma, with many different people, who have many different views. Because of that, things like war, hate, violence, discrimination, genocide, and many more atrocities such as those are committed."

Yuma began to look down at the floor ashamed at himself for thinking so naively.

"At the end of the day, its not about if what your doing is wrong, its about if what your doing serves a purpose bigger than yourself, what we ninja do can be considered cruel and many times evil, but its necessary Yuma."