Bees? [Contract Search!]

[Morishige]

Itsuki ventured along the road, on her way home from a simple mission out in the country. But like every venture she had been on, the young Kyokuju had her mind on the past. Specifically... the letter B...

"It's such a peculiar letter, B. It's almost as if someone created the letter P and then made a mistake. The sounds are basically the same, and yet we have two distinct letters." she began, but her mind drifted once again as she passed a nearby flower. There appeared to be an insect on it... a bee. Itsuki stopped in her steps to admire the small creature, and how it flitted about from each individual set of petals. It even seemed to notice her for a moment before going about it's job.

The young girl stood watching for a time, letting her mind wonder. "Bees are quite the funny little creatures aren't they. Going about their business, collecting pollen to make into honey so that the hive can survive. All in service to the queen. They are almost like shinobi, I suppose. We are all busy little bees working for the Raikage who we hope makes the right decisions to keep us safe." she thought with a smile. But then the bee began to fly off through the air, bobbing up and down, side-to-side due to the wind. Naturally, Itsuki gave chase.

It almost seemed like the little creature was purposefully trying to avoid being followed. It would dart about in strange patterns and make unexpected turns that put Itsuki off balance at times. She even had to activate her bloodline to follow the small speck of chakra easier. But within minutes, a bright chakra source appeared and she knew they had arrived at it's home. She slowed her step and smiled. Such a simple life they had, and yet it was so essential for the world's ecosystems to flourish.

"Their home is surprisingly simple for looking so complex." she thought. "The guards of the door waited for unknown intruders, while those within did their job as well. I can see where the queen is inside thanks to my eyes." Itsuki noted, the bright mass of bees was large and more gathered then the rest. "They cherish and protect her, for she is the way they flourish; just as the elder shinobi keep us younger generations safe."

"Such strange creatures. I've heard there are also types of bees that don't live as a group. Why would they choose to live on their own outside of the safety of many? Perhaps they were exiled by the guards for some reason, or tricked by others in a different family." she thought, thinking back to her childhood and a book she had been given. It was all about the bees. But just then a small group of wasps appeared around the hive and things got chaotic very quickly. The sound of their wings intensified and Itsuki looked on with worry. Wasps were dangerous and mean, but the bees were many.

With toxic bites the wasps took bee after bee, while the honey bees stung and stung, killing themselves for the hive. But soon, the sheer amount of workers that arrived to help overwhelmed the wasps and their bodies were discarded over the edge of the branch. Itsuki sighed in relief and wondered just how often these attacks came. "All people have natural enemies, except maybe humans. We are our own enemies..." she thought, he mind thinking back to her dead brother and the dead students of the academy. "But we unite under duress and come back stronger than ever."

Itsuki looked to the hive and bowed slowly. "Thank you for this lesson." she said, before turning away.

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Congratulations!
You have found the Monkey contract! Do you accept?​

 

[Morishige]

Yes please!

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Gosei turned his face to the wind and sniffed, his face screwing up at the scent. "Dere be someting strange in da wind today metinks." The baboon's voice was uncharacteristically worried. After many years he was accustomed to life in the mountains, a place no self-respecting baboon would normally reside, and he had a very good feel for the nature of the area. One could say he was in tune with it, a guru of sorts. It was not uncommon for animals and humans alike to seek out his counsel, though it had been some time since he had seen the latter, and such beings usually found him quite knowledgeable. This scent though, this...presence, it was unfamiliar. It was wrong. It did not belong here among the natural and pristine beauty of the mountain crags.

Normally in times like these he would scry upon the elements for information, but the feeling unsettled him so much that he went one step farther. He would consult the spirits. He returned inside his cave dwelling and fetched various fruits and flowers that hung from the ceiling, along with a large bowl carved from a massive geode. From the fruits he squeezed juice and tore off peels, while the flowers contributed petals and pollen. All of these he ground together in the bowl til it was fine as sand.

This in turn he poured into his hand and tossed into the air. All at once the winds rushed into the cave and swirled around the old monkey, ruffling his mane and beard. As the dust swirled around him he began to see images forming: Shadows creeping forth from a hole in the ground, animals going mad and fighting each other, plants withering away to husks of themselves.

"Tings be worse den I had tought. What is dis corruption? Where is eet coming from?"

The winds swirled even faster, though no more images came forth. If anything, the rushing air sounded like frustrated denial.

"Some help you are!" He shouted over the howling winds, only to get knocked upside the head by a wooden bowl. "Okey okey, I get eet! Do you have a plan at least?"

Instantly the winds died down and reversed direction out of the cave, the trail of dust flowing through the air a rather obvious indication that he should follow.

"I sure hope you know what you are doing!" He called after the departing spirits before grabbing his trusty staff and giving chase.

Some time later the winds brought him to a meadow not too far from one of the human roads. They blew up into a tree, the vision dust swirling among it's branches one final time before coming to rest in a small alcove among it's boughs.

"Dis is eet?" A small gust in reply seemed to satisfy the old baboon, and he climbed up to wait for whatever may come.

A few hours (and several naps) after that, the sound of rapid footsteps caught his attention. A peek down between the branches showed a young human girl chasing a bee, of all things. He tilted his head skyward and quirked an eyebrow. In response, a slight upward breeze blew his beard up over his face. Muttering silently to himself he brushed his beard back and quietly climbed down the tree, hanging upside down from one of the lower branches to watch the girl. She seemed to be enraptured by the bee's hive, staring at it as if she could see straight through.

As the girl watched a party of wasps attack the hive in fascination the wind whispered in Gosei's ear. I see, I see. So dat's what you have in mind. The old monkey smiled. I tink dat just might work.

With the wasp attack over and the honeybees safe for the time being, the girl appeared to be satisfied. She bowed slowly and turned around....

...and was suddenly face to face with the monkey, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. "Dose are some nice eyes you got dere girl." As she jumped back, recoiled, or remained completely dead-pan impassive he would hop down to the ground and lean upon his staff. "What might a little human girl like you be doing out here?"

 

[Morishige]

And face to face she was with a monkey who was admiring her pupil-less eyes. Itsuki's expression changed to that of surprise and she was immediately put off balance, falling quickly onto her small rump. With a small squeak, Itsuki looked up to the strange creatures face only to find it still looking at her and actually speaking. Wait he spoke!? Unlike most individuals in Kumogakure, Itsuki had never taken a class about the contracts animals of the world. In fact, she tended to isolate herself in work while at the academy, so even on her free time she didn't get to talk to others much.

He was on the ground now, and Itsuki was quickly getting to her feet in a somewhat disbelieving manner. "What does it matter what I'm doing out here... you can talk!?" she exclaimed her eyes wide. The basically a universal truth that animals couldn't speak was being challenged here! But Itsuki wasn't blind, no not all, she could tell that the monkey had actually been interested in talking to her. Perhaps he was lonely, as she didn't sense any other of these primates nearby. She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry..." she began, and then a blush crept onto her cheeks from embarrassment. "I guess I got side tracked by the bees and just, well, wondered out here on accident." she concluded and looked back up to the Baboon's face. "Seriously how can you talk..."

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Gosei would cackle madly at the girls confusion as she gathered herself back up from her fall. "I can talk? Of course I can talk! Is dat so strange to you? Hmph. You hoomans, always tinking you are so smart." He would roll his eyes in mock exasperation before quickly leaning in so his face was once more right next to Itsuki's. "Everyting has a voice girl: You, me, da wind, da trees, even dose bees you find so interesting. Here, look." He would put an arm around her shoulders and gesture with his hand back to the beehive where another bee was just arriving from it's pollen gathering trip. "Tell me what you see."

 

[Morishige]

The primate laughed rather rudely at her and proceeded to criticize humanity and their arrogance in intelligence. Itsuki couldn't help but frown while he rolled his eyes, but even she couldn't deny humanities nature to assume they were the superior beasts on the planet. But that was beside the point; it appeared this cheery monkey was on a path to educate the young woman. But not without getting close once again and making Itsuki practically freeze in fear of it being so close to her. She had issues with people getting close to her at all, so when this animal approached it was far more petrifying than usual. He even proceeded to place an arm around her in a friendly manner, which only made things worse. Her breathing grew quick as he instructed her to look back at the bees and tell him what she saw. With a shiver, she turned to look back at the hive.

The newly arrived insect seemed apprehensive to enter the hive. Why had she not seen this before. It seemed to have the attention of it's other brothers. After bobbing and weaving through the air, all the others seemed to take flight in the direction it had arrived from. They really were talking to each other...

"That one, who j-just arrived. He did something a-and the others were listening. He told them something I guess? But I-i didn't hear anything..." she managed to sputter out given the predicament she was in.

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

The monkey chuckled and patted her on the back before stepping forward to peer into the hive with one eye over the entrance. Strangely none of the little insects seemed to mind his presence so close to the nest, instead flying around him as if he weren't even there. "Not everyting speaks like you and I girl. We talk in words you know, so you understand what dey mean. Dese little ones are just speaking words you do not know." He would then reach his pinky finger into the hive and pull out a tiny amount of honey which he would in turn sprinkle a few grains of dust upon. "Here, let me show you what dey hear." He would reach his hand forward to write a small sigil upon her forehead. Itsuki seemed apprehensive, but the monkey simply cocked an eyebrow till she showed acquiescence.

Continuing on, he would draw a small upside down sickle in the middle of her forehead with the golden honey. As soon as the symbol was finished Itsuki's eyes would fly wide open, but mind would be seeing something entirely different than they did. A rush of images and sensations would fly through her head: the sun over head in a specific position, it's heat on her body changing as she moved, the smell of different plants somehow arranged in order, the feel of wind buffeting her tiny body, and also a sense of time without reference to minutes, hours, or days. Somehow she would be able to make sense of it all, the information leading her to a specific location: another small meadow about half a mile from here. There was nothing special about it to her, but to the bees it was a treasure trove, another endless source of food to give life to their small community. How she would take this information was up to her, but Gosei would consider it a lesson learned.

The vision over, he would rub off the sigil from her forehead, stepping back to lean on his staff. "Dere, you see? Everyting has it's own language, a way to find it's place in da world. Whedder it be big or small, everyting has someting to say. Dis is part of how da world stays in balance, how it maintains harmony." All of a sudden the old monkey would turn serious, the lines that covered his face flattening out as he leaned towards her once more. "Sometings doe, da words dey speak do da opposite, trowing da world off balance. Wen dis happens someting else must be done to restore harmony." Slowly he would walk over to the edge of the nearby cliff as he kept talking. "'What is dis crazy monkey saying?' You are probably asking. 'What does dis have to do with me?'" His gaze would narrow as he looked out over the nearby mountains and valleys. "Someting out dere is disturbing dat balance, and metinks you might be able to help me find it. What do you say hmm? Care to help an old baboon restore harmony to dis little piece of da world?" After a moment of speculation spent stroking his beard Gosei would add, "I suppose it bears mentioning dat if left unchecked dis ting, whatever it is, will eventually treaten dat village of yours too."

 

[Morishige]

It was pretty remarkable how the insects just seemed to mind him. As if they already knew he wasn't a threat. But the answer to 'why' was beyond the young Kyokuju girl. Instead the strange Mandril continued to educate her, and actually put a finger into the hive! Itsuki was ready to bolt if the sound of angry wings started up. However, the small theft of honey went unhindered and the primate sprinkled some dust on the honey. "Huh?" she said with apprehension as his finger came forward to press upon her forehead. "Hey stop that!" she struggled, though finally giving up when she noticed he wasn't going to stop at a simple request. It was just honey after all, what was the harm aside from having to clean it off later...

The vivid imagery and new sensations on and around her body replaced those she normally felt. Though out of ordinary, it all made sense somehow. It wasn't so much thought as it was instinct somehow. She just...knew. Somehow she communicated with the insects before her and to be honest, felt useful for once. And soon it was over, just as quickly as it had began. The sigil rubbed off with little residue, Itsuki was left looking at the monkey.

As he leaned on his staff and finally got his point through to Itsuki, it was a change of the mood that caught her attention the best. His expression and tone were filled with concern and the young girl spoke up. "What do you mean throw--" she began, but was quickly interrupted by his continued speech. He wasn't any old crazy monkey. This guy really was smart! Smart and concerned...

He concluded with a warning about the village. And while that would have been a call to action for anyone living there, Itsuki had already decided to help him when he mentioned that something needed to be done. "It would be my pleasure. I don't get to use my abilities that often, especially not to help others. But how do you know where to go? And what will we be doing? I don't like going into situations blindly..." she said, making an unintentional quip about her spectacular vision.

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

The young shinobi's words brought a smile to his face, though she would be unable to see it with him facing away.

"Well, you see my girl..." he replied slowly, his tone solemn."I would like to tell you dat I know exactly where to go, and exactly what to do. Buut...."

He spread his arms wide in a shrug, then suddenly spun and bounded over to look her in the face, his eyes only inches away.

"I don't."

The primate was still grinning as he added, "Dat is where you come in!" lightly bonking her on the head with his staff.

In one quick, smooth motion Gosei bent down and picked up a handful of dirt, then stared intently at it as he slowly let it dribble down through his fist. Although the wind remained still after it's earlier outburst, the dirt didn't quite fall straight. The trail of dust and pebbles falling from his hand twisted and turned as it sought the ground. The effect was subtle, and had Itsuki done the same earlier she would no doubt have missed it, but now that she was paying attention the discrepancy was rather obvious.

"See girl, da spirits be in turmoil. Dis force be driving dem crazy: dey cannot go near da place, nor tell odders where it be. My gifts are useless here, it's powa is dat strong. Howeva..." Gosei let the rest of the dirt fall to earth and leaned on his staff, looking the girl straight in the eyes with a knowing gaze. "You have gifts of anodda sort."

The monkey draped an arm around her shoulder once again and gently led her over to the cliff face, gesturing with his staff.

"Out dere, somewhere not too far, is a hole in da world, and not just a physical one. Whatever dis ting is it's tearing holes in da spiritual world as well, and dat's what's causing all da corruption. Now girl, look out dere with dose eyes of yours and tell old Gosei what you see."

[OOC: You can RP seeing whatever you wish, the intent is for you to use the Byakugan to scope out the area. You can succeed or fail in finding it on your first attempt as you please.]

 

[Morishige]

His manner shifted, and Itsuki could have finished his sentence for him. This wasn't like the missions back in the village where that had a set of instructions and intelligence at the very beginning. This was the type of job she tried to avoid. But it also wasn't everyday that one comes across a talking monkey either.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a rap on the head with his staff. Itsuki scowled and rubbed her noggin where the hard wood collided as the ape bent down to pick up some dirt. "What did you do that for..." she trailed as her eyes watched the dirt fall. No wind and yet it drifted in a playful manner of sorts in a specific direction. He spoke again, explaining why it was up to her to get this done.

His arm was now across her shoulders, directing her towards where the dirt had drifted. The faint body order of a member of the animal kingdom was present, but Itsuki paid it no mind. She was focusing the power of her doujutsu. Most people didn't know that the ocular powers of the Byakugan could actually act as binoculars. The world around her seemed to skew as he focused her vision. The cliff face grew closer and more vivid and there was something to be seem. A dark chakra, no, more like an aura seemed to be emanating from a cave. It resembled black smoke, but only on a plane that Itsuki could see. She felt as though if anyone were to approach they might be choking by it alone.

Her words were soft, and monotone. Like a trained scout. "A cave deep within. There appears to be some kind of chakra emanating from it? I can't be sure. I've never seen anything like this... Perhaps it's the corruption you speak of. But I have no doubt there are clues of what might be going on there."

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

The old mandril guffawed and slapped his knee at the speed in which the young Kunoichi found the object of their search. He turned his back to the cliff face and threw his arms wide, still cackling as he shouted into what appeared to be empty air. "Did you see dat? It worked!" The wind gusted forth all at once as if responding to his shout, almost bowling them both off the edge of the cliff face. Gosei only braced himself with his stick and cackled some more of course, though he would reach out a hand and grab Itsuki if she looked to be on the verge of falling over.

"It seems da spirits be pleased you were able to find da place so fast!" Gosei shouted, turning his head to address Itsuki, his arms still spread as he faced the roaring wind. "Now for da next part!"

Spinning rapidly, he pushed the girl forcefully off the cliff and then followed suit himself. Though she might initially feel panic and perhaps indignation at the apparent betrayal, she would quickly notice two things. One: the wind itself seemed to buoy her up without slowing her down, allowing her to descend rapidly while helping her to control her movement by keeping her close enough to the cliff face to kick off the craggy surface and guiding her away from any potentially lethal collisions. And two: Gosei was slightly behind and to her left the entire way, howling gleefully and performing all sorts of acrobatic stunts by using his stick as an extra limb.

When they had descended about half-way down the old primate shouted at her once again. "Okey girl, kick off and let da spirits carry you!" As he did the winds would change direction, halting Itsuki's downward motion for just long enough to allow her to use a nearby protrusion as a springboard, and begin gusting in the general direction of the cave she had pointed out earlier. For a few minutes the wind would carry them through the air before Gosei spoke up again, worry in his voice.

"Uh oh. I was worried dis might happen. Da corruption be spreadin' furder den I thought. Dis is not da place I saw in my vision, yet da corruption is still here...but it is still weak. Da spirits will be able to carry us to da cave, but no furder."

In short order the wind began dying down, it's strength palpably decreasing by the second to the point that by the time they reached the cave it had died away completely, depositing them unceremoniously on the rocky ground. Gosei sniffed and immediately regretted it, shaking his head viciously to clear the charnel stench from his nostrils. To one with eyes to see as Itsuki had the source of the stench was readily apparent: tendrils of dark chakra snaked lazily out of the cave, visibly draining the surroundings of color where they touched. Disgust nearly doubled the wrinkles on Gosei's face as he turned to the Kunoichi.

"Are you ready girl? We're only gonna get one chance at dis, and dere will be no turning back.I doubt dat whateva's in dere is in da habit of letting tings go."

 

[Morishige]

With his explanation, the winds picked up and Itsuki was immediately taken off balance and was just barely caught by Gosei in time. A sigh of relief was muffled by the intense force of weather, as she thanked Gosei mentally for helping her avoid yet another bruise. The worst part about being a ninja wasn't the fighting. It was usually the lengthy recovery afterwards that was a pain in the butt!

In a flurry of words and activity, Itsuki was suddenly forced off her feet into the air. "Aaaiiiieeee!" she screamed as Gosei followed quickly behind her. However she wouldn't realize that till later. She was focused on what jutsu she might know to save herself from a long drop and a quick stop. His shouts and exclamations weren't doing any good at keeping her calm at first, but even Itsuki would realize that the strong wind was slowing her descent more than normal. His reactions were that of glee! And while her feelings were that of anger for the lack of warning, the falling sensation was proving to great a feeling for that emotion to remain.

Even a smile was elicited from her usually serious demeanor. This wasn't an ordinary smile either, it was a grin from someone who looked like they hadn't had fun in years. Almost like a revival of the spirit had occurred. But her moment of bliss was interrupted by his instructions. She had been pushing off every so often, but now was instructed to give one final leap. She did so without hesitation and the new winds carried her forward in her new direction. She let herself enjoy the moment even so quickly before returning focus to the task so she wouldn't spin out of control. Maintaining balance, even while in the air, was important.

As we traveled far and wide, trying to catch all the updrafts with skill, Gosei informed me of the situation being worse than we had assumed. I could feed the wind dying down even as he spoke.

We soon landed and were assaulted by the stench of the cave. Unsure if it was wafted outside from within, or it was the dark chakra, Itsuki immediately pulled her undershirt over her nose to try and keep it from being overwhelming. Thankfully, the human body was able to acclimate to smells and render them odorless if an individual remained in their presence long enough. Though, Gosei might have had a tougher time.

Itsuki looked to him with a determined look. "Hai." she grunted, keeping her mouth open just long enough for the word to escape. This time she would take the lead. Her eyes would allow her to see any potential danger if it had a chakra signature, as long as this black chakra didn't obscure her vision. So without hesitation, the young Hyuuga began the descent into darkness....

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

While the dark chakra didn't fully obscure Itsuki's vision it did cloud it somewhat. The noxious strands drifting through the air were like filthy strips of gauze: individually not a huge hindrance but piling up to obscure her vision if she looked too far. Something about the dark chakra twisted their perceptions, and perhaps reality itself: the rocky passages seemed to have no clear pattern, and when they doubled back after a dead-end they found the tunnel going in a completely different direction. That however, would turn out to be their saving grace. Although the dark chakra impeded Itsuki's vision in large quantities it in turn told her where it was the thickest, allowing her to find the paths through which it was flowing in order to follow them back to the source.

Gosei, for his part, had stuffed a strange, spongy material into either nostril. Upon closer inspection it would appear to be stinkhorn cap mushrooms, which grew locally and emitted a stench renown for it's foulness. When the Kunoichi had looked questioningly at him he simply replied, "Dey stink, but not as bad as dis. And it's natural. I cannot say da same for dis smell. Plus stinkhorn washes out," with a goofy grin on his face as he offered Itsuki a stalk of the fungus should she decide the trade-off was worth it. It was obvious the primate wasn't having an easy time of it, but he trudged along behind the girl who led him nonetheless. Should Itsuki have listened close, she would have heard him reciting a mantra that sounded like gibberish to her ears.

After an hour that seemed to last longer than it should have and gods knew how many dark corridors the tunnel they currently walked along made an abrupt turn, almost as if whatever it was that tried to keep them away had given up. As they turned the corner the pair suddenly found themselves standing upon a rocky shelf overlooking a massive cavern, it's interior littered with crystalline stalagmites reaching like twisted fingers toward a ceiling of matching stalactites. To a normal eye the space would appear unremarkable save for a circular open area at the center of the cavern that seemed to be covered by a sheet of the same crystalline material, but to the young ANBU's piercing eyes the same dark energy they had been following coursed throughout the cavern, ribbons of the foul energy streaming from the tip of each projection that sprouted from the rock, the worst of which came from the center of the cavern in such amounts that it would hurt Itsuki's eyes to look at directly.

The crystals gave off a dim purplish glow, pulsing slowly like a beating heart, but it wouldn't be much to see more than a few feet from each one, much less make out whatever was in the center of the room besides the circular sheet of crystal. Gosei turned to the girl with a solemn look in his eyes, waiting for her to decide what to do. The spirits had led them to this place, but they were powerless among all this dark energy. It would be up to Itsuki to come up with a plan of action from here on out.

 

[Morishige]

As she lead the pair ever towards where the black chakra was emanating, Gosei introduced her to his version of saving their senses from the incredibly powerful fumes. Unfortunately that relief only consists of enduring a different kind of stench, an arguably less potent one. Regrettably, she followed his advice and played the stalks into her own nostrils. With the new, smelly defense in place, they continued inwards; it would be good to mention the wise monkey was talking to himself for a good portion of their trek.

It was a good long while before they had stepped into the cavern, and Itsuki had her small lesson with Gosei to think about. "Everything has a voice, it's how it stays in balance... But I take life often, I wonder if that upsets the balance..." she pondered as their footsteps echoed quietly off the walls. She looked inside herself and questioned the horrible things she had done with her hands. "I don't regret them I suppose. It was in the name of Kumogakure. Right?" Was it? Did she kill because she wanted to or because she was made to do so. Her thoughts returned to her exam in the forest. The various missions she had been on. Not once had she decided to take a life where it could be spared. "Does that make me weak?" she questioned. A troubled look spawned on her face as they arrived at the rocky ledge that gave vision of a huge cave.

The sheer amount dark chakra emanating from within was overwhelming. To get any kind of view it needed to be eliminated, and that was imperative. Sight was Itsuki's greatest strength and if something was obscuring he remarkable vision, then that was an issue. Her left hand came across to hold her right elbow as she tapped her temple in though. "How does one destroy this much chakra..."

Her hand slipped into a pouch and pulled out was appeared to be a prepared leech seal tag. "I need one on a large scale..." she said looking to Gosei and then back to the tag. "Normally I use these against chakra-using opponents as a quick means of sapping their strength. But this," she paused, gesturing with her hands. She forgot that he wouldn't be able to see what she was viewing. "This is something completely different."

"The only thing I can think of that might be able to contain this would be--" She broke mid sentence. It had never occurred to her, that despite her general fighting style of debilitating the enemy, that she might need to resort to using herself as a means to an end. Her mind went over the risks. It was possible this stuff was going to kill her. But if not her, then whom? She was inclined to believe that what Gosei had said was true and that this was a threat that very well could one day challenge the mighty outside of this cave. On the plus side, theoretically the dark chakra would be absorbed into her giving her sustained chakra to power the jutsu. Basically the noxious energy would consume itself.

"Well it's worth a shot." she concluded and began to copy the leech seal onto herself, with some variation. As a skilled shinobi in the realm of chakra draining techniques, she felt comfortable she had it correct. Instead of consuming her own chakra, it would seek an outside source until she cancelled the jutsu. "You should retreat a few meters, I'm not sure how successful this might be." she said, forming the hand seals as she walked farther into the cave, away from Gosei. And, with one final seal, she activated the leech seal that covered her belly.

[Basically, the seal is directly over her primary chakra coil. Looking to absorb the energy into her body, then convert it into what is needed to sustain the jutsu.]

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Gosei nodded, his face filled with trepidation as Itsuki prepared the modified leech seal. "Aye girl, dat might do da trick. But be careful, mucking about with dark forces never ends like you tink it will. Good luck girl." The primate stepped back a respectful distance, far enough away that he would be out of the way if everything went right but close enough so that he could intervene if things turned sour.

The monkey covered his eyes as Itsuki formed the final handseal, expecting an explosion or something equally catastrophic. To his surprise, there was no explosion, no reaction at all. Nothing happened. Gosei scratched his head for a second before the problem occurred to him. "Girl, da seal has no powa. It is feeding off outside chakra, not yours, and we are too far from da energy. You need to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a questing tendril of energy floated over and made contact with the tag. The reaction was immediate: purplish energy flooded the lines of the seal as it sucked in the tendril like a noodle, drawing it out of the parent crystal with steadily increasing speed. After a few seconds the crystal could be seen turning visibly whiter until the tendril thinned out and ceased entirely, leaving behind a shard of pure quartz. Gosei smiled, but there was no time to relax. Another strand was immediately pulled in, followed by another, and another, and another, each being consumed faster than the last. In no time at all a furious vortex surrounded the seal with strands being pulled in from across the entire cavern. With each tendril that was consumed the cavern grew a little brighter, Itsuki's vision a little clearer, but at the same time something was amiss. Whether or not Itsuki could detect it from the epicenter of the maestrom, Gosei could sense something going horribly awry with the process. The darkness wasn't just consuming itself, it was growing, changing, mutating the seal itself as it ate tendril after tendril, strand after strand.

"GIRL! YOU HAVE TO STOP IT! BREAK DA SEAL! END IT NOW!" The mandril shaman braced himself and howled into the hurricane of energy, but his frantic shouting was in vain. Even if Itsuki could hear his words the seal had already altered itself beyond her control, eating any chakra she channeled to try and shut it down. It was if a whirlwind with teeth had sprouted from her stomach; she could almost feel snapping jaws consuming the dark energy with ravenous bites, and when she looked down she thought she could see the flash of teeth tearing chunks out of the tendrils. Then, all of a sudden, the maelstrom stopped, the onrushing tide of energy consumed to the last drop. Every crystal in the cavern now mirrored the first, turning pure quartz and letting out a dim, lucent glow. All, that is, save for the large circular area in the center of the cavern, which if anything grew even darker and pulsated more strongly than before.

Gosei, however, was less concerned with the seal's effect on the cave and more concerned with it's effect effect on it's user. Almost immediately he rushed over, drawing back the shirt that had fallen back over the seal. Just as quickly he pulled his hand back. "Dis is not good girl, not good at all. Here, look for yourself." He spoke, gesturing toward the shirt. Should she pull it up a second time the now-useless tag would fall off and flutter to the ground, revealing...

Spoiler

The seal had mutated in a set of jaws emblazoned on her skin, opened wide as if to take a bite out of anything foolish enough to come close. The moment her eyes fell upon it a deep, echoing laugh emanated throughout the cavern, and in response an unnatural hunger crept through her belly. It was almost as if the seal could sense that the source of the dark chakra yet remained, and hungered to consume it as well.

Worry filled the shaman's eyes as he looked out at the dark crystal lake, back to the seal, and finally back to Itsuki's face. With a sigh he closes his eyes and squared his shoulders, standing as straight as his age would allow.

"We will have to worry about dat later girl. For now," He reached out and pointed towards the center of the dark crystal while the laughter continued to reverberate throughout the cavern. "We gotta take care of dat."

 

[Morishige]

Itsuki had her eyes closed, much like Gosei had covered his own expecting something to happen. But when nothing happened, her anticipating expression turned into a frown, no, more like a scowl because of how it didn't work. Gosei spoke, with the correct assumption on why it probably wasn't working. Transcribing the seal exactly wasn't going to do them any good since it needed to be on the person or object to remove it. Itsuki's eyes were on him as he spoke, unaware of the approaching tendril of dark power. Before he finished, it found it's mark, whether by luck or intent and the consumption of the energy began.

It had all begun to go according to plan and it seemed to be working fine, but unlike before, the tendrils trapped without the crystals of the cavern began to seek her out on their own. Initially, Itsuki couldn't feel any real issue coming from the seal itself, but as more of the energy was pulled inside, the more unstable it became. After all, the jutsu wasn't meant to absorb unlimited amounts of energy. As the one tendril became many, and the mutation of the seal began to occur. Itsuki feel to her knees, screaming out in pain. It felt as though her insides were being torn apart by the very thing she had scribed on herself. Gosei yelled out to her, but his shouts were faint against the roar of energy that was being consumed into the seal. Even if she wanted to end it, it was self sustaining. Her eyes pressed closed as the dark power sapped her own life force, at least, it felt that way: her arms felt heavy, and she felt sleepy.

Still, she managed to open her eyes once again only to be horrified at what appeared to be a mouth extending out of her to eat at the dark energy. What seemed like ages was over in moments and the teeth disappeared from sight. At first, she could only hear the repetition of her breaths. But slowly the world around her returned to life and her eyes opened to a much clearer version of the scene she had seen minutes before hand. Suddenly Itsuki felt his hands upon her, but they were quickly removed there after. "W-what?" she asked, hesitation to know the answer in her voice. Looking down, she slowly drew the cloth over her belly upwards to reveal what the seal had turned into. At first, confusion. Then, terror. Finally, worry. The laugh...the hunger. Itsuki reached her hand forward to touch the black seal that was etched onto her skin. Gosei spoke again, and she quickly nodded her head, lifting herself up to position as well.

Itsuki wasn't sure if the crystal was laughing, or if it was some foe within that awaited them. But perhaps whoever it was knew how to remove what had been placed over her primary coil. If there was one thing forbidden in her family, especially by her father, it was the use of forbidden jutsu. If she came home with a seal such as this... "I'll be shunned and disowned for sure." she thought, clenching a fist.

"Then we take care of it and stop the spread of..." she began, looking down at the jaws upon her skin before pulled her shirt downward to cover it. "Whatever the hell this is." she said in a determined tone. "I can see more clearly now as well, if there are any traps, they should be very easy to see." she added and then quickly made her way down to the level upon which the dark crystal was located. This had been made personal. It wasn't just about the safety of the country, but now about her future. For all she knew, the seal was going to start eating her too... She followed the sound of the laughter to the best of here ability, the the crystal still clouded her vision around it. (Assuming that is how it works)

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Nothing untoward happened as the two approached the center of the cavern, but the moment Itsuki set foot upon the crystal lake it thrummed as if she had just struck a tuning fork, sending out a resonating tone that set an odd, high, grating counterpoint to the laughter. Within seconds the sound merged with the laughter, and as it did the dark clouds obscuring her vision swirled and coalesced into a figure:

The laughter stopped, seemingly sucked up with the dark chakra, and as they looked on, the figure stretched languidly before turning to face them. Though they could not see its eyes, the two could very definitely felt a sense of awareness, of its gaze upon them, studying them. After a few moments of tension-filled silence it spoke, its voice alternating pitch between male, female, and a strange mixture of both.

"So, child." It said, adressing Itsuki. "What brings you and this...primate...to my domain? Is it curiosity? Desire? Destruction? Hunger?"

As it spoke the last, Itsuki could feel its focus shift briefly to the fresh seal on her stomach, to which her belly rumbled in response. The figure simply laughed, and its attention returned to her. It seemed to be ignoring Gosei entirely, a favor which the mandrill was content to return, instead keeping a roving eye on their surroundings as the being continued.

"Or is it some misguided sense of duty that brings you here? No matter. Answer my question girl, and perhaps I will answer yours."

 

[Morishige]

The young kunoichi glared at the creature as she spoke. Her muscle tense, ready for a sneak attack of some kind. Her sight was constantly surveying her surroundings thanks to the Byakugan. But for the time being, it seemed that whatever this woman was seemed to just want to speak; to her most specifically. She wished to know why they were here, and it was a simple enough question to answer. Though, the figure's quip about hunger seemed to put her on edge. Like she knew exactly what was going on. Was all of this exactly as had been predicted? Whether or not, she continued to speak as the feeling across Itsuki's belly shifted and continued to be a distraction.

To the best of her knowledge, she would respond in kind. "You pose a threat to not only my home, but the stability of the world itself. Your evil cannot go unchecked. We are here to stop whatever you intend to do."

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

The figure chuckled, it's shoulders moving in concert with the disjointed melody that was it's laugh.

"Evil? That is such a subjective term..." It said contemplatively, leaning back. As it did so tendrils bent and twisted around to form the framework of a throne, tall-backed and ornate, complete with solid shadows filling in the gaps as soft brocade. The figure sat imperiously upon it, lacing it's fingers and resting it's chin upon them as it regarded Itsuki.

"I suppose I may seem evil to your sensibilities, but consider things from my point of veiw. Here I am, alone and bereft of company in a foreign landscape unsuited to my needs. Were you in such a predicament, would you not take steps to make your surroundings more accommodating? That is what you humans do with your cities and your roads, after all. Are you not more of a blight upon this world than I?"

The figure leaned forward, the feeling of it's gaze growing more intense. "Dear child, I would not think it unfair to say that it is your evil that cannot go unchecked. How can you hope to stop me when my actions are simply a mirror of yours?"

As the figure spoke, Itsuki would be able to feel the weight of it's gaze upon her, clouding her thoughts. Should she take too long considering her reply the weight would intensify, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. Cordial as the figure may be, it was clear that it was by no means friendly. It was anyone's guess how things would play out.