Riku was standing up straight with his hands behind his back as he stood in front of the angry Mizukage. He was furious, but you could never tell by his straight face. All he did was stay silent and kept his eyes closed. Riku knew well enough how his friend acted due to growing up together, but that doesn't mean he didn't fear him any less. There was a awkward silence before the Mizukage threw a cup at Riku. He didn't move because he knew the cup wasn't going to hit him, but it smashed against the wall he was close too.

"I know I'm late... but I have a reason!" Riku spoke as he was sweat dropping. He could feel his friend's deadly aura from across the room.

"Explain." He said sternly.

"I finally chose someone today. You were relentlessly trying to make me select someone to assist me when I denied it many times, but I did! That's why I took so long... hehe..." Riku said as he laughed nervously. The pressure he felt was ongoing. The Mizukage sighed before he spoke again.

"Your successor's name?"

"Hikairi, from our assassin's unit." Riku responded hesitantly, afraid that his friend wouldn't approve of her. Suddenly, the Mizukage smiled and sighed in relief. His anger faded along with the intense aura he was omitting. Riku sighed himself before he loosened up and sat down across from him.

"It's about time, Riku. I thought I was going to have to put you in your place for taking so long."

"You always try to find an excuse to fight me, you know?" Riku sweat dropped as he helped the Mizukage sort out his paperwork.

"False. You just need to be disciplined." The Mizukage opened his eyes a little to show the seriousness in his expression. Riku looked back at him with a poker face and nodded.

"Hey, we're friends. No one's disciplining anyone here. We agreed no matter what that our positions wouldn't come between our friendship." Riku smiled as he spoke.

"That's true, and I have upheld to my end of the bargain. You just make sure to do the same." The Mizukage has a small smile in response to Riku's words.

"Yeah, I know. Best friends, right?"

"Best friends."

~ Time Skip ~

Riku had been walking back to his office lost in thought. He was thinking about the conversation he had with the Mizukage. He couldn't believe that his friend had authorized an experiment to create super soldiers. Most, if not all, of the participants listed didn't survive the experiment. What's worse is that Riku found Hikairi's name in the participant list in the very last study, which was set to happen today. He tried to oppose the experiment but the Mizukage scolded his friend instead saying things like 'We are at war! I know you're against anything inhuman but we cannot put this into consideration. Our men are dying! We need to do what we can to survive!'

Riku cursed under his breath as he slowly found himself in front of his office door. He thought he had saved Hikairi from danger but he was completely wrong. She might not even survive this experiment...

"Hey! Sorry I took so long." Riku said as he slowly entered his office. Hikairi quickly stood up and bowed to Riku, which he couldn't help but blush a little. But he quickly grabbed your shoulders and made you stand up straight while laughing nervously.

"It's fine. However, I do have to take my leave at some point. I have volunteered to participate in a study that Lord Mizukage himself requested my assistance in."

"Yeah... about that..." Riku looked away from your gaze as he was thinking of a respectful way for him to ask you not to go through with it.

"Don't worry, I was told the procedure is short. But for now, what do you require of me to do?" You asked while not making eye contact with Riku, fearing you would be flustered looking at him.

"Hm? Oh right, I forgot about that. You would just accompany me and assist me like any other assistant. But at the same time, I might have to send you on some missions so it doesn't look like I'm showing you any favoritism. You understand right?" Riku spoke as he sat down behind his desk and smiled at you. His smile caused you to blush slightly but frown.

"Yes I do. Thank you for the opportunity." You bowed again to him. He couldn't help but laugh a little and blush.

"No, I should be thanking you. For becoming someone I can rely on." Riku said with a soft expression. You became entranced for a second before panicking and remembering you had to leave.

"U-Um... I must be going now..." you said while fidgeting. Riku nodded his head but seemed frustrated. As you turned around to open the door, you felt Riku grab your hand and close the door with his other hand. You quickly turned around and found yourself pinned on the door.

"Please... don't go through with this experiment, Hikairi. Every participant that has ever participated has died... I don't want to lose you when we only just started to become close..." Riku spoke with a low but pleading tone in his voice. You were surprised by the sudden plea of his. It almost... made you want to stay with him. But you thought forming that kind of relationship with Riku would be forbidden given your different statuses and ways of life. You were a tool... a killer... a monster... so it's only natural to push him away.

"Thank you for your concern, but it is my duty to go through with this study. It's what is expected of me. Not going through with it is the same as abandoning a mission. I must not fail the expectations of the higher ups. Now let go of me or else I will go back to the assassin's base." You replied back harshly as you glared at Riku. He was taken back but frowned as he felt his anger rise.

"Why do you care about what they think?! I'm a higher up and can't even get the same respect I give! What will it take for you not to go?! Do you want me to order you not to go is that it?! Do you want to be controlled?! Used only as a weapon to murder people?! Lose your humanity?! Weren't you the one to say stick to your own beliefs and opinions?!"

"And this is mine! What right do you have to judge me when this is all I have?! I wasn't trained to be some regular woman that wants to find love and have a family. I have already LOST my humanity. I AM A KILLER. If you can't accept that I do not belong to this life as anything else other than that then there is no way we can ever understand each other. Now let me go!" You yelled as you tripped Riku and pushed him back to the ground. Then you took the opportunity to run out the door and slam it. You kept running as you started to feel your chest tighten and your throat burn as tears fell from your eyes. There was no fathomable future where anyone could actually care about you.

Riku just sat on the ground, frustrated that he couldn't get through to you. That he didn't at least try to understand you. But what made him feel worse is that he almost used his authority against you when he swore to use it to protect you.

"Dammit...!" Riku said as he punched the ground.

~ Time Skip ~

"It is time to execute the experiment on the two new test subjects. Have all the necessary preparations been prepared?" The main researcher asked as he approached the other researchers.

"Yes, sir. We have already put them to sleep and we are ready to fuse them with the artificial beasts." One of the researchers replied. The main researcher smirked and licked his lips with his unusually long tongue.

"Which beasts are up next to use in the experiment?"

"The white tiger for the female participant and the Gorilla for the male participant. The beasts are the last ones that survived the fusion between all of the tailed beast DNA combined." The main researcher frowned as he tied his long hair up. If this test doesn't succeed then all the rare resources put into this study would be wasted for nothing. But he somehow felt like this wasn't going to be the case for these subjects since they meet the conditions needed for the fusion to be successful.

"Do not worry, I have a feeling the results will be rather pleasing." The main researcher smirked.

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama." All of the researchers spoke together in unison as they bowed.

"Now let us begin."

~ Time Skip ~

Riku sighed as he finished sorting out his paperwork. The sun was setting and he felt too anxious about Hikairi. He stood up and was about to head for the door when a sudden explosion happened and shook the entire building. Riku stumbles back into his chair and looked outside to see fire coming from the facility where Hikairi was getting the experiment done.

Riku's eyes widened. He looked out the window and saw someone crawl out the fire. Not a second later, you could hear the cry of a beast echo throughout the village. When Riku jumped out from the window to a closer building, he looked at the person and noticed black stripe markings all over their body. They had black hair, sharp claws, and a dark beast cloak surrounding its body. The person looked up and started growling. It turned out to be Hikairi herself with a different appearance.

"What did they do to you..."