"You look awful."
On the way home, Byakuya ran into Shikaku.
There was nothing about what he had done that he could be proud of, so he awkwardly looked away. But Shikaku simply approached him with that same gentle smile.
"I left the others behind. Figured they'd just make too much noise for you. Everyone's worried about you."
"...Why are you here?"
Byakuya had never told Shikaku where he lived. Wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere, he asked something else instead.
The past few days had already worn him down enough. Just having that subject brought up again made his whole body feel wrong.
"I heard you're being transferred to the Hokage's direct ANBU. Leaving without even saying goodbye feels a little cold, doesn't it?"
"If you came here just to make small talk, then you should leave."
In the past, Byakuya had never minded the way Shikaku acted familiar with him.
Now it only made everything feel worse.
Even he had not expected those cold words to come out so naturally.
"What, were you hoping I'd tell you, 'This isn't your fault'?"
"..."
No. That was not it at all.
When it came down to it, this was the path Byakuya had chosen himself. If anyone was to blame, it was him.
Being ordered around, being cornered, being unable to refuse, those were all just excuses.
Who stabbed that old man? Byakuya.
Who killed those children? Byakuya.
In the end, all of it had been done by his own hands.
So from the beginning, words like this isn't your fault had never meant anything.
"It was my fault. If you're disappointed in me, that's fine. I never expected anyone's approval for doing things like this."
"Then everything I taught you over all this time was for nothing."
Shikaku said it as he walked past Byakuya, then suddenly stopped and added quietly,
"Take care of yourself."
Byakuya had not expected him to leave just like that. By the time he turned around, Shikaku was already gone.
He stood there blankly for a long time.
The truth was, Byakuya knew why Shikaku was disappointed in him.
About comrades. About teamwork. About what it meant to trust the people beside you.
Shikaku had talked to him about those things more times than he could count. It was the very thing the Hokage had entrusted him with in the first place.
And when the refugee incident happened, no matter what else he chose to do, he still could have told Shikaku the truth.
But he did not.
That was why Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chōza were all so disappointed in him.
"...Was I really right to do this?"
Betray everyone, play the villain, bear all the pain alone, and in the end die at Naruto's hands...
Was that really the right path?
---
"So that's him."
"They let someone like that into the ANBU?"
Same everywhere, huh.
Now dressed in the standard ANBU uniform, Byakuya lifted his head and stared blankly at the sky.
He had a feeling it would take a long time to get used to the mask covering his face.
The whispers behind him, on the other hand, were easy enough. He had already lived through the same kind of thing back at the Academy.
"You must be Byakuya. Good to meet you."
"Hello."
The ANBU standing in front of him, who looked to be the squad captain, was a middle-aged man with a solid, unremarkable face.
Of course, Byakuya had never seen that face before, and this was the first time he had heard his voice as well.
He did not know a single person here. There was not even anyone from the original story among them.
Honestly, that made things easier.
He kept that thought to himself while listening to the man explain how the organization worked.
Apparently this was not yet a fully formalized ANBU branch recognized as an official structure, so their numbers were small, and the missions assigned to them were not especially frequent either.
"What kind of missions do we usually handle?" Byakuya asked.
"That depends entirely on Hokage-sama. Until then, we remain on standby."
As he spoke, the captain reached into his robes and pulled out several jutsu scrolls, then handed them to Byakuya.
"These are jutsu scrolls the Hokage selected as suitable for your training. For the time being, focus on mastering these."
"..."
Yes!
Byakuya nearly shouted it out loud, but hurriedly suppressed the reaction and accepted the three scrolls.
Judging by the mildew stains on them, they looked like they had been dragged out of storage somewhere deep in a warehouse.
Space-Time Ninjutsu
Cursed Seal Jutsus
Intermediate Water Style Ninjutsu
They looked decent enough at first glance, but something about the selection was undeniably strange.
Byakuya stared at the scrolls in his hands for a long moment, unsure what expression he was even supposed to make.
He had honestly thought he might be given some powerful finishing moves, something like Chidori or the Rasengan.
Instead, one of them was literally called Intermediate Water Style Ninjutsu, which told him right away not to expect much.
As for Space-Time Ninjutsu, he had no idea whether he could even learn that at all.
And Cursed Seal Jutsus definitely did not sound like some great trump card either.
"...Thank you."
"If you want to thank anyone, thank the Hokage."
Was this really the sort of thing that deserved gratitude?
Then again, everyone else had clan jutsus passed down through their families. An orphan like him normally would not even have the chance to study intermediate-level jutsu.
Maybe even receiving something like Intermediate Water Style Ninjutsu was already reason enough to be grateful.
Trying his best to look on the bright side, Byakuya tucked the scrolls away and started walking.
For now, he figured it would be better not to think too hard about anything else.
He should just focus on training.