Spy Anya

Should I turn it in?

The thought surfaced instinctively in Uzuki Yugao's mind. She was a Special Jonin of Konoha, after all.

But in the next instant, another image forced its way into her mind.

Gekko Hayate's pale, smiling face. He was always reminding her, "Yugao, be careful on missions. Don't..."

Now the man who had so often told her to be careful was gone forever.

And the killer, that butcher from Sunagakure, might even now be enjoying Konoha's forgiveness. Hayate's sacrifice seemed to have become nothing more than a bargaining chip, something a large quantity of Gold Dust could make up for.

Her heart felt as though an invisible hand had seized it. The pain nearly stole her breath.

Gnawing hatred and a crushing sense of injustice wound around her soul like vines.

Slowly, trembling, she reached out. Not with her gloved hand, but with the hand Hayate had once held so tightly. She closed its warm palm around the Rooster Talisman.

The stone felt smooth and warm. A strange sense of power seemed to flow through her palm and into her cold, despairing heart.

Turn it in? Give it to the Konoha that had so readily forgiven his killer? To the people in power who shouted about "the greater good" while trampling on the dead?

No.

The thought burned through every last trace of her hesitation like wildfire.

She clenched the talisman, her knuckles whitening.

She pressed it to her heart as though it were the only thing Hayate had left her, the only chance at revenge she could grasp.

Moonlight spilled into the ravine, cold and pale, outlining her solitary, resolute figure.

She carefully hid the talisman against her body, picked up her Ninja Sword, and walked out of the deep ravine without looking back.

Her steps