A Mother's Love (Private-Sousuke)

[Toraono Kuro]

Nestled along the dunes near the oasis is the dojo an ancient stone building a former coliseum converted by Toraono Kaibudo and his wife Azame into a specially domed dojo; a place of perpetual learning for the martial arts, and combat at its finest. One side was dedicated to weapons more specifically the sword but weapons the other side of the house was dedicated to unarmed combat. A finesse and power that was understandably overwhelming and set for bloodletting. The stone pillars upholding the building were set with skill, chakra, and care to promote maximum stability throughout the entire structure. The dome was added to promote an atmosphere and provide air conditioning in a round-about way through specially placed vents. The floors of special marble in some areas were be-speckled and set apart by floors coated with special disinfected sand that wouldn't infect a bloodied warrior. Weapons racks lined the walls of the second area with meticulous care in stands. On the northern side of the dojo were padded wraps and leggings, for martial arts training. The Toraono Clan Dojo once sat at just over thirty feet in height with an additional ten feet higher in dome. The steps leading up to the main antechamber were an odd sand red marble, brown marble stained by bloodied sand. Six chambers were divided in shapes necessary to provide optimum training in various forms of combat. Two more additions had been made due to the children of the Toraono clan actually becoming full fledged ninja were dedicated to ninjutsu and genjutsu. The ninjutsu chamber was in an underground cavern while the genjutsu chamber was in a calm hand dug bath chamber irrigated ever so slightly by the Oasis itself and heated by the sun.

The entire east wing of the Dojo and a portion of the coliseum itself were restructured from a small mountain. The massive amounts of Earth chakra released by its formation helped to significantly repair the master seal pervaded the underbelly of the dojo. The resulting work had caused many once sealed underground chambers to open and with the newly forged mountains the Toraono Dojo now had a natural barrier to prevent further access to Sunagakure from the west and it also provided a new area to train for future students. Over two hundred chambers existed in the Toraono dojo and the general public only had access to fifty percent of that. The remaining rooms were specially sealed chambers for specific clan members affiliated with the dojo and their blood relatives. These chambers were built and sealed so that only they or a Toraono Clan master could enter them.

Lady Azame could enter any chamber or simply rearrange the structure of the dojo by will alone as she had imprinted the structure with her own energy under the tutelage of her cousin Sunaku Sashi.

She sat before a wall mural dedicated to her friendship with Sousuke's mother.

​

After reviewing it she went through a sword kata to calm her nerves.
This mural was hidden amidst the family tapestries in Azame's private chamber of reflection, not even Kaibudo or Kuro could enter this chamber without her will allowing it. It was time for her to check on her second youngest child. He worried her so but then again she loved every one of her children even those not born directly to her. Her little Takahashi brat had begun to change, she could feel it within as she had with all her other children. Yes it was definitely time to have a heart to heart with her wayward Godson. News had reached her via Kuro that Sousuke was experiencing changes and that it was time for the bandage to be removed so his healing could be complete.

Passageways not open to any other were left slightly open in a manner that only a perfectionist like Sousuke would notice in his infinite logic. She had kept a weapon of both ancient power and recent technological advances. She would empower her final son this last time and say good bye to the son she had to give up so that her Godson could live on.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke had been feeling better, slightly. The blue grid pattern on his face did not recede. His journey to the dojo was a slower one. It was tiring. The last time he had this affliction it was during his duel with Seika. At that time it was just that Sousuke had been overly tired. He had been burning the metaphorical candle on both ends. He wasn't sleeping and it was not healthy. Due to a firm talking to by Enzeru, Sousuke had acquired a sleeping schedule of sorts. It wasn't the best, but it was certainly better than nothing.

The Primus Armour, and the weapon were locked away. It took Sousuke a great amount of time to put together the facts. Using both were exhausting. While the method of making the original armour was theorized and in whispers, the first Takahashi to have built the armour died doing so. In the case of the weapon, well the Silver Edge was no Shoki. It was a powerful blade, but he could not erase Suna when he had sliced her with the weapon. It certainly had hurt her greatly. If Primus had not died, would have he suffered from these side effects? An impossibility to know. It was these thoughts that had allowed to Sousuke to continue believing that he was who he was. He could have been this other child named Tsume. Maybe he was Tsume all along? Stranger things have happened. It really just was a name change. Kuro had mentioned several other biological changes. Sousuke was bound to Sungakure as he was indeed the Stew-- no Kazekage. He had been pushed into that due to Katuso's inability to take the throne, but more so due to his possession by Mikaboshi. It was not the way how things were supposed to unfold.

Sousuke waited with Kuro He leaned against the wall. He had closed his eyes as he was resting, sort of. Sleeping while standing in a way. Sousuke had conditioned himself to do such things during times of downtime. His mind was rapidly running about with plans and strategies in the future but it was an operation in the back of his mind. It mattered, but not at this exact moment in time.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

The walls softened then slid away as chakra powered gears and distant seals and wards dropped, activated, and reset to Azame's will. Where once there was no path now stood a long yet somehow well tended hallway. From Kuro's feel of things, this area was set by his mother's chakra, in his head he had wondered when she did this but in his heart he knew she had done this long before he was born and this was one of those family secrets that simply were. It was unspoken, yet known and in being a general knowledge easily forgotten and in this case easily used against invaders. This was how she had hidden the children of the warriors away and sealed against Cabal explosions, she had melded the dojo to her chakra and will. Where Kuro could only ward it against intrusions and place alarms his mother had actually empowered and found a way to control the very walls. It was both humbling and exciting as Kuro slowly led Sousuke to mother. Then just as they seemed to be lacking in speed the very ground beneath their feet lurched forward like a treadmill but instead of making them run against the occurrence it pulled them down the hallway quickly causing them to miss tapestries made by Sunaku Sashi, his mother's cousin and the family pediatrician. At the end of the hallway was a large chamber in the near center sat Lady Azame meditating as she will the stone to do her bidding. At her right hand sat Sunaku Sashi whom also seemed to be concentrating as crimson sand swirled about her body like a small wind dervish. At her left hand sitting in traditiona samurai kneeling position was Daibatsu Toa, family surgeon and master engineer.

Standing at five feet eleven inches and weighing in at a healthy, muscular, 160 pounds, Nobuku Sunaku Sashi was one of the few women capable of being a royal medic. Sashi was the only surviving Sunaku cousin of Toraono Nobuku Azame. Sashi bore a remarkable resemblance to a famous actress named Ryushi Ryu (Lucy Liu) so much so that they would be identical twins were it not for devilishly red hair. Her mother had died shortly after birth and her grandmother raised her till the age of six giving her a strict religious upbringing so she learned a lot about the old gods, Mother Suna and healing. Her Grandmother's family was reasonably well off, so they had enough money to live comfortably as they worked as medics and entertainers for other royal families after the attempted coupe that set Azame on her path. Sashi’s hair is a lustrous vibrant crimson with gold overtones. Her eyes are a beautiful hazel like amber from the lost Elderwoods they can turn crimson when her emotions surge or she called upon the crimson sands. Sashi is all speed and ability when she wields her giant sand touched blade. She takes after her mother and grandmother in that she never allows herself to sweat without a good reason. Her soft off white two piece medic uniform made her resemble an exotic swimmer, as anyone could tell she was well muscled. Her skin was more honey brown than pale white and sparkles gold and crimson in the sun. She wore six leather bracelets with gold seals upon each arm and beautiful silk and sandalwood sandals upon her feet. Around her waist she wore a ruby and amethyst obi with pearl white threaded runic terran sigils marking her as old nobility.


At a glance Sousuke would recognize the advanced ninjatech of Toa's reforged body, all his prosthetics, carefully and painstakingly placed inside his regrown fully living flesh although he had no heartbeat, nor did he need to breathe. His flesh was maintained by a special nutrient feed system from his endoskeletal system. It was obvious to someone graced with high perception like Sousuke that half his body was unnatural because of the ninja wire and chakra lines that interlaced his right side. What gave it away the most the way he smelled like an old man but had the look of an exceptional adult in his prime. The final giveaway was the loose grip in which he held the hilt of his ancient steel blade which only could have been made in the old country. He carried himself like a samurai, but his eyes and permanently manicured features gave away the mark of something inhuman.

They looked up as Azame opened her eyes and looked upon Sousuke with sadness, she reached out for him and subconsciously willed the ground itself to place Sousuke within her waiting motherly grasp. "My dearest Sousuke what has happened to you to break you down to this point?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Wait. Where the walls moving? Sousuke's brows furrowed as he watched his surroundings move. Had he finally gone mad? Yes. Yes. No. No. No. They were on a conveyor belt. He stood on it and looked around as things were indeed passing the two of them by. "When was this installed?"<i></i> He would ask Kuro as the two of them were approaching their goal. The small man looked at Kuro and then the ever ingenious Dr. Toa. The engineer of the Toraono clan had always put Sousuke at odds slightly. More machine than human really. It made him wonder about the limitation of the human mind and that of a machine mind. While Sousuke was oftentimes mechanical like in his emotions of lack of, lately he had been at odds with having it. Sousuke knew of love, anger, depression, but lately it had become more and more present in his every day activities.

Sousuke would find himself before his god-mother. The woman who his mother oftentimes referred to as her best friend, her sister, and at times even a motherly figure. It always surprised Sousuke how his mother could refer to so many characteristics in a single person. His father spoke well of Kaibudo, but he never quite referred to him as a brother. A friend, certainly. Sousuke never did know the full history between these two men. Judori always kept secret his relationships and what he had done. The former Steward was not a man to share his problems or his grief.

Finally Lady Azame would ask the one question he didn't really want to answer. He was in a way shameful of the answer. He exchanged glances with Kuro and thought about how best to answer this. Kuro knew the answer. Sousuke had explained it. Sousuke looked down to his hands. The blue grid pattern had been some patches in his flesh. "I tried to become Primus."<i></i> He answered. The words of Mikaboshi hung upon him. He was not Primus. No, but like all humans it was something he could aspire to be. Children used to pretend to be him when they played amongst each other. "I had fought Ancients, and in my first encounter, I had-- well crafted an armour in the image of what I thought Primus looked like."<i></i> He answered finally.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Azame calmly sat down as she let the knowledge process through her before she turned a fierce gaze upon Sousuke and Kuro, the likes of which froze Kuro like ice or petrified him into stone. Kuro even stopped breathing before her gaze finally softened and a single tear fell from her left eye as she crossed the floor so swiftly and gathered up Sousuke as if he were a child and for her he always would be her youngest child. The baby boy fate took away from her but she reclaimed in her own manner, it was the same way Kuro treasured his daughter Reikiko and fought off the very powers that were tearing her apart as well. Kuro looked away unable to bear his mother's suffering and unable to save Sousuke from himself. Dr. Toa stood straighter at the mention of what Sousuke had done to nearly destroy himself. Azame cradled her wayward son Sousuke and fought off her sobbing before taking a deep breath which alerted Kuro and Doctor Toa that Azame was herself again. Doctor Toa gently pulled Sousuke away from her and had him sit down as he produced a scanning tool and proceeded to analyze Sousuke's condition.

He shook his head 'No' as the readings began to fill up several medical crystals.

He spoke while Azame cradled him as she would a small child.

"SOoOOoO Master Sousuke, you have managed to shatter a great many seals on your spiritual being, would you like to discuss your armor with me so I can analyze how it did this to you or do you have your own theory or thesis?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Lady Azame's reaction was well ... quite heavy. Emotions ran far and wide with her as she cried? Sousuke simple stood there was he was embraced. He did not move. He merely stood there and waited for this to end, which eventually it did. He wasn't used to this great outpouring of emotion. After some time later it ended. Sousuke hadn't realized it but he had actually stopped breathing. Lady Azame then took to cradling him, which... Sousuke did not really want. That was evidenced by the awkward look he gave Kuro which suggested that he was really not comfortable with this.

He was being scanned by Dr. Toa who began speaking with him. Sousuke scratched his head. "Well. Uhm... wait there were seals on me?"<i></i> He would question first and foremost. Sousuke would roll up his sleeves and look at his arms. There were no usual seals on his personage. "I did some research on some ancient techniques. Smithing techniques of old. I tried taking one of Dad's old armours and I overcharged it with chakra, and then I reworked the ley-lines to react accordingly to its surroundings. I was also relying on my own chakra instead of relying on elemental metals as a channel."<i></i> The technique he was speaking of sounding like something akin to that of the techniques of old, the First Men rather. The use of chakra ley-lines was something that had not be used in a very long time, not since the elder days. Not even Judori had made use of the chakra ley-lines. Mikaboshi had claimed that Sousuke was not Primus, little did he know that his smithing techniques was certainly on his way to making another one in some form. "Using Ley-lines are dangerous though due to the level of strain and the power output. At the time I was further empowered by my insect contract, willingly."<i></i> He explained.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Dr. Toa brought forth a viewing crystal set so that Sousuke could see his physical and spiritual medical analysis. The first crystal showed that despite the damage he had done to his body he was still remarkably fit even by shinobi standards. His mental readouts showed his intellectual capacity far exceeded normal human limitations, it showed that Sousuke was capable of near quantum level thought. He then showed his spiritual readout and the reason he mentioned seals they were not physical seals but weaponized spiritual seals. Dr. Toa took over as Kuro comforted their mother before she grew violent which she eventually would it was he natural cure all to any true emotional breakdown.
"That explains a great deal, the reason you are not dead is because you are multi-souled and as a Takahashi you are genetically superior to the rigors of chakra usage. It is the reason you can create puppets and weapons so easily. There are major issues due to the your near assassination in utero your soul had to be reinforced with a weaponized soul from Azame's Omega power leveled son, Tsume. His powers were all but separated from the soul grafted unto yours to keep you from becoming something akin to the undead or the unbent but in a far more fatal fashion. What you are currently experiencing is chakra poisoning, but fortunately because your soul is reinforced despite the constant stress, strain and apparent loss of major portions of it you can and will recover. There will be repercussions from your actions... you may lose some natural capacity for a normal facet of life to compensate for what your mind and heart need to be capable of wielding the chakra leylines you touched without proper protocol. What I mean is wards... if you had only come to Kuro or myself you could have warded your armor to prevent the chakra poisoning you are experiencing now. You might find yourself capable of bending or outright breaking the common laws of reality. You have already mastered photon arts so it would be a relatively easy thing for you to accomplish after what you have done to yourself. Now what questions might you have that I can answer while Kuro keeps your Godmother calm."<i></i>



ooc: Pics for the Sousuke analysis will be made available once photobucket is back up and I have some real free time

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke thought about what questions he had but before he did so he did have to correct Dr. Toa. "I do not own any photonic jutsu."<i></i> He began, He paused for a moment and considered the other item. "I am not a Seikon and nor am I a Sunahoshi."<i></i> He hesitated for a moment. "I know I am certainly not an Outsider either. "<i></i> Sousuke added. That much he was certain of. "Chakra poisoning? How is it chakra poisoning?"<i></i> He wondered out loud. That much did not make sense. There was nothing new in his system was there?

"Am I Tsume?"<i></i> He ultimately asked. It was the one question that had been bothering him this entire time. "If I am ... then so be it. I guess that is fine? Have I ever truly been myself, or have I been someone else. If you place the soul of another in the body of another ... doesn't the soul then determine all the characteristics of that individual? Was Tsume destined to be a very serious analytical individual?"<i></i> He would ultimately inquire of not just Dr. Toa but of everyone in the room. "His powers might have been seperated, but I have some characteristics of his do I not?"<i></i>

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Dr. Toa explained things as best he could "Sousuke san your soul was all but destroyed when you were nearly assassinated in utero. Tsume's soul was sealed over yours like one would do to place a man in armor. So indeed you do have some of his abilities and powers but you are your father's son. You are everything Judori and your mother could have ever created in their love. Your blood, bone, mind and heart are all Takahashi and purely you. There are reverberations of Tsume but his soul cannot influence what genetics has wrought. His soul can only grant you access to abilities that your body would not have naturally and with that access small changes within your capacity. Using soul forging techniques capable only by Lady Azame and the ingenuity of your mother who reaffirmed the processes of Ancient Ghola creation techniques. Together they created an item of Ancient and Sunan capabilities and placed inside of it the remnants of your soul recovered from the ethereal blade of the assassin we learned was sent by the Imperials. When your arm was lost Lady Azame had me use your mother's research and the information from constant studies of your current arm to create an upgrade that would allow you to wield the powers within you without the strain your armors and soul straining weapons cause.

Lady Azame had finally regathered her wits and with them she reached out and placed a cool yet heavy hand upon Sousuke's forehead covering his eyes ever so briefly before she gave the signal to Dr. Toa. "By the spirit of Lady Takahashi and the love I bear for both my sons whom exist in you I embed your limb with the light of the stars. Receive Tomoshibi no Takahashi..." With Azame's grasp upon Sousuke's head her soul forging techniques activated as crystalline machinery emerged from the flooring at her will grafting Sousuke's Mothers' efforts upon his mechanical arm granting it a decisive and much needed upgrade.

​

Now Sousuke only needed to manifest the will to master himself and his true strength.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Tsume was soul-armour? That is what the remains of Kuro's dead baby brother was? It seemed unreal and certainly outlandish to Sousuke. Then again this was a man who worked impossible sounding metals together and formed weaponry and armour. The sword of Primus had no equal, but Sousuke was working on creating a successor to that weapon. The weapon indeed worked, but it was originally from Fire Court. Sousuke had honed and worked on the blade consistently in order to make the weapon more and more powerful over time. He needed to have the tools in order to best Ancients. To know that his mother and Kuro's mother had worked together on something gave him pause. Something didn't quite fit though. Who were the Imperials? Sousuke had it confirmed that a demon had attacked her when he was but an unborn child. As Sousuke stood there to consider it, his mind was not at ease. The Silver Edge began to detect the unease and how it was starting to undermine what Sousuke had come to understand about his life. Pity for Tsume and what he had become.

When Lady Azame reached out and touched Sousuke's eyes to close them for a moment. The Silver Edge reacted. Lady Azame would see in her mind's eyes the image of a great black canine. It was a monstrous black Doberman that seemed to be a failsafe of sorts when Sousuke was mentally challenged. At least that is what the sword thought. Lady Azame or Kuro would better know this beast as Number Seven. This was merely the blade's version of the beast. The current Number Seven was a white Doberman, who Sousuke did not speak of lately. The creature in question would begin to receede back into the depths of the mind once it had ascertained that what was happening was indeed not a danger.

Sousuke's metallic arm was being worked on. It was an odd sensation. At times painful, and at others Sousuke had felt like he was going to fall over due to the weight of it.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

The effort took but two minutes as Sousuke's studies of Ancient forging were near identical to his mother's own. What was not identical were the Nanjirou soul forge techniques used to empower the attachment. Just as suredly as Sousuke felt weight and phantom pains from where his real arm would have been he felt nothing more than a distinct surge of capacity now. It literally responded to his will and spirit, as quickly as Azame removed her hand the soul seal faded and the device became ethereal or practically phased outside of normal dimensional states of being. Matter had reverted to residual spiritual and plasma energies as indeed Sousuke had never taken to using pure photons. Kuro might be able to teach him how one day if Sousuke even bothered but his plans were his own. What he might do with such a device at his beck and call was also up to Sousuke as even his mother had never attempted to do more than make it humanly compatible. She could never test it or have Sousuke test it for fear of harming Sousuke's remaining soul but now Sousuke had overwhelmed himself and this type of device could serve as a reserve, a shield, or a weapon depending on whether he even bothered to learn a method of using it.

Lady Azame saw the black hound for a brief moment emerge to psychically guard Sousuke's mind and she smiled at her God-child's ingenuity even on a mental level he was still a true Takahashi able to create armor and weapons both physical and metaphysical.
"Open yourself to the forces within yourself and without Sousuke-kun. As you have forged weapons like your family for generations before you, I ask you to reforge yourself and create your own spiritual armor and physical weaponry. Do not rely solely on the capacity of the Ancients, you are a Takahashi and capable of going far beyond what the Ancients were capable of. Discard their base line and become something new and unchecked in this world, my god child is far stronger than this so called Mother Suna and you former black guard Mikaboshi would believe you to be. Speak with me whenever you need I will need to rest soul forging a living being is very taxing even when you are supported by leylines and a near immortal husband's energies. I love you Sousuke, never lose yourself. Kuro, YOU WILL PROTECT SOUSUKE...and I love my baby boy too."<i></i>

Kuro knelt before his mother and she touched his head lovingly yet sternly as if to say she was approving but still worried.

Doctor Toa nodded to both Sousuke and Kuro, Lady Azame didn't have to say or else to Kuro, not that Kuro would do any less but a direct command from his mother meant no more playing around. Sousuke would be under constant surveillance by Kuro without disturbing Sousuke's privacy. If Sousuke were to be attacked ever again Kuro would be there as near instantly as ever. Doctor Toa took Azame's left hand to lead her to her chambers where Kaibudo was waiting to place her in a regenerative bath. Theirs was an eternal love and Kaibudo would never let her suffer, even from her own mechanizations.

Sousuke could feel some changes about his mechanical arm, it felt lighter, yet a tad bit stronger, as if he could use it in new ways beyond that of a replacement limb.