Bound by Curiosity [Private|Natsuru]

[Senju Shizuka]

The world grew heavier. She wasn’t sure if she was stumbling or slipping because just like her hearing and sight her feeling vanished mere moments after the previous two. Everything went so quickly that she couldn’t even finish the thought of having been poisoned. All she managed to briefly think was the drink being a mistake. There hadn’t even been enough time for panic to start spreading. She was gone before any real reaction could form itself.

An odd sound echoed through her skull. It repeated itself over and over again - she groaned, the rhythmic noise wasn’t helping her headache at all. Weakly she rubbed the side of her head, then tried to open her eyes. It cost quite some effort. Her skull felt like it was about to burst. She suffered through it with gritted teeth. Hoped to curl up tighter and have the sleep take away the pain, but a familiar voice forced her to deal with the reality of things.

Opening her eyes she found herself anywhere but the room she had been in. Had Natsuru kidnapped her to some distant location? If so, then what for? What wa-

By then she focused on the one whose voice was mocking her in a way. Byakugan, but Natsuru didn’t have those eyes.. why was- Shizuka peered at the kunoichi sitting on the other side. Rubbing her head again, she then concluded that this had to be a genjutsu. Either that or she was hallucinating from the drink. With her head on the verge of exploding, she found it too hard to concentrate on her chakra flow. Well, she could, but finding a foreign one mixed into it wasn’t working out well. Either this genjutsu was out of her league or the drink had, indeed, been a drug of sorts.

Stay calm

“Mission?” she wanted to know, confusion mixing with worry. With a quick, but sloppy, motion she managed to catch whatever had been thrown at her. A mirror - for the bump?

Wide-eyed she stared at what had to be her. “Wait..” the lips moved as she spoke. Touching her cheek brought a couple of fingers in the vision of the mirror. By now she wasn’t worrying as much about the location and the oddly young looking Natsuru - or whoever it was that sounded like the ashen blonde, all of Shizuka’s briefly reflected in the mirror. She put it away.

Stay calm. Genjutsu.. Hallucination.. Whatever this is, I’ll get out.

She would have to get out one way or another. For now, though, it was best to learn about her surroundings and the only living being around. “Give me some intel, please. My head..” Shizuka mentioned toward her forehead, as if the headache would have given her amnesia. In any case, she had to know more before they would move out of .. what the hell? They were inside an enormous tree?

This trip was getting out of hand.

* * *​

MFT: 493

 

[Uka]

"You really went and reset your clock didn't you."<i></i> The Senju would shake her head in a very obviously mocking manner. "You keep hearing all those stories about anbu being top ninja, the best, but just look at you. Slipping on a branch and forgetting all about your mission."<i></i> The teen would stand up, taking the mask in her left hand as she made her way over towards Shizuka, attempting to poke her forehead with an index finger, her motions very obviously being far too relaxed, as if she wasn't on guard at all around Shizuka, as if she had known her for a very long time.

"Investigate the disturbance in the forest of death and deal with it appropriately, amnesia girl."<i></i> Natsuru would finally answer with a grin plastered over her face. As Sousuke had described it it appeared as if it was that of a wolf. A weird choice, but somehow it appeared to be true. A predator stood there in the form of a teenager. The stark comparison between the woman Shizuka had met and this version was frankly terrifying. She would reach over to the side, somewhere behind Shizu, before quickly bringing over a leather canteen and placing it in her lap. "Drink."<i></i> The young Natsuru would note, her expression growing neutral as she stepped back, sliding back into her previous position. "We managed to find the source of the disturbance, but frankly this is no anbu mission anymore. It's a Senju one and you got dragged into a world you haven't even got the simplest of ideas about."<i></i>

The mood had suddenly changed completely. Gone was the predator, gone was the smile, all that remained was a very serious individual, one with a cold and calculating tone, someone seemingly wise beyond her years. "We tracked a number of animal corpses to a cave a few miles out. Within it we found piles of skeletons alongside a couple of hounds. Those were simple enough to deal with, but soon their master returned. We couldn't deal with it after fighting those hounds off and ran. Around the halfway mark you hit a branch while looking back and fell. I was barely able to grab you and run away from that... thing."<i></i> She began explaining, not a hint of emotion in her words, rather only that cold, harsh reality. "I had marked this place in case we needed it and brought you over before I treated your wounds. Frankly I didn't think you were going to wake up and was about to leave in about five minutes. The mission turned out to be a lot more dire than originally anticipated and I was going to do it by myself, but luckily I'm not alone now."<i></i> She would explain, growing quiet all of a sudden.

"I doubt we have much time before that thing catches up. We need to get moving qu...."<i></i> She was cut off by a sudden roar from nearby. "Get your weapon, we're going now."<i></i> Natsu would state, putting her mask on and rushing out of the tree trunk....

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Staring awkwardly at the stranger she felt the poking before it actually happened. Somehow she had anticipated the feeling of that finger touching her skin. She frowned and a thin line formed itself across her forehead. If she was to keep on doing that then surely wrinkles would form there in about a decade. Still, habits die hard.

The canteen was familiar as well. She briefly wondered if she was about to drug herself even further. However, somehow, she found it hard to believe that this woman was out to hurt her. There was something, underneath it all, a faint feeling, barely noticeable, that told her this was not the enemy. Whatever was going on here, the dark haired kunoichi was the one she had to side with. And so she drank, thinking that she might have bumped her head too hard. This was insanity, yet she went with the flow.

It made her feel better, but the relief didn’t last long. Her ‘partner’ for this mission shifted gears and showed the shiny steal beneath those pretty looks. Sharp and lethal - Shizuka got up onto her feet, fingers tracing her clothes just to notice them being matching with those of Natsuru. Here and there a rip-

Speaking of, the roar ripped through the silence of her foggy mind. She shook her head, eyes wide like they were when she woke up. The raven head was already out, so, finding exploring a better option than sitting here and hoping for the dream to be over, she followed.

As they proceeded she wondered why they hadn’t been able to deal with the ‘thing’. Breaking her mind about it didn’t bring back any memories of whatever they were fleeing from. The roar, however, did force her to focus and get a firm grip on her weapon. Don, the warhammer, at least she still had it. Something familiar was always a good thing to hang onto during dire situations like these. She felt a rush, a flow of energy and confidence, her steps quickened until she had caught up with Natsuru.

“Natsuru..” she tested the name, watched for a reaction and continued. “what do you mean by it being a Senju one..? I need more to focus.” The threatening presence remained in the back, but didn’t fade even a bit. It brought a chill with it; Shizuka tensed while her mind tried to prepare for various scenarios at the same time. An unknown enemy was always worse to deal with.

“Can we.. trap it?”

At least, maybe that way they could either prepare a full out attack or delay the beast enough for them to get back up.

* * *​

 

[Uka]

"That thing is no human or shinobi. "<i></i> The Senju would answer, pausing at the entrance for a second before she fastened the straps on her mask and ran out....

As soon as Shizuka managed to get outside she found herself completely alone in the middle of what appeared to be a humongous forest. If she had been there she would know that this was the forest of death. Everything seemed as it should be if it wasn't for two things - one Natsuru had vanished into thin air and it was quiet. Far too quiet. Or it was until a second roar echoed through the woods, this time much closer. It was as if it was literally just behind her.

Only a few moments later she would hear the crunching of leaves and breaking of twigs coming from behind her, followed by a second roar, one that came from just behind her.

There stood a creature that came straight out of a lucid nightmare. It stood over three meters tall with a bull skull for a head, with horns much bigger than they should have been.It's four eyes were shining bright red and its entire body appeared to have been made out of what appeared to be tree branches with two giant cleavers as weapons.

The thing would stop, standing up straight as it looked down at the girl, hatred, pure hatred radiating from it as it snarled, raising it's cleavers above it's head, preparing to drop the massive weapons on it's victim. Or that is what it seemed to be trying to before it got hit with a large fireball from behind, making the thing turn around and roar. "I thought I told you to run!"<i></i> She would hear Natsuru's voice from that direction, but if she was to look she wouldn't be able to see the kunoichi anywhere. The thing appeared to have the same problem, turning to face her once more....

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Hideous, was the word that came to mind when she first set her eyes on the monster hunting them down. Out of nowhere it came, its red eyes shining ruby red, horns as lethal as its jagged-edged blade, the thing reeked of death. She felt the panic claw at the back of her throat. For a brief moment her voice was nowhere to be found. The other Senju didn’t appear to have that problem because right after the fireball came the warning. Shizuka wasn’t sure if that would work, though. Of course, the two pair of eyes and mostly the aura coming off the giant sent shivers down her spine. But to turn her back on it was to leave herself open for an attack.

It’s why she did as little as she could in such a short time. Starting out with Vine Tangle in an attempt to at least have the monster trip, she followed up with a quick but rather weak Atomic Shockwave. The ninjutsu was concentrated enough to to hopefully deal some damage. Through training she had learned that it was better to try to weak your enemy from the very start. If not in the obvious way than in one you could manage. Like having them put more energy into future attacks. Even if only a little, it still did tax them throughout the battle. And from what she had managed to gather since her dull awakening, they would need every bit of it.

Already running through the forest she wondered where her partner was. The beast was following with no attempt at being subtle. It collided with trees and broke through them on its way to crush Shizuka. It’s massive presence towered above her, a dark shadow ready to strike. She managed to dodge it, slipped over the forest ground and rolled behind a trunk. A rain of splinters fell from the sky when her last protection scattered. She was weaving signs but hadn’t gotten through all of them - so she modified what she could in a reflex to protect herself from the incoming blade that was ready to cleave her in half.

Extending her arms outward Shizuka let her chakra flow through her flesh and bones until it exploded outwards in an invisible wave of gravity. With emerald eyes burning bright from the pressure she kept up the flow to generate enough power for the defense through which the beast was trying to break. Cracking beneath her, the ground was starting to give away, just like the roots and trunks around them. Then, with a barely audible sound, the gravity spread throwing chunks of trees and rocks into the air. Shinra Tensei. It rushed further outward until the beast’s weapon was no longer a threat and only a small crater was left of the area the size of a football field. Not too large, but big enough to have created space between Shizuka and her enemy.

Left in the open, she scanned the area with a rapidly beating heart. “Natsuru?!”

* * *​

MFT #507

 

[Uka]

The attacks seemed to be effective, causing the thing to slow down enough for her to manage to escape, though it was a bit too close for comfort really. Her attack didn't really seem to harm it whatsoever. Sure it did stop it in its tracks but it had already been making it's way out seconds later.

"Keep running. Clearing to the south east. Cave."<i></i> The voice of the other kunoichi came from somewhere around her, but once more it was difficult to quite figure out where it was coming from. If she really focused she might be able to see the shadow within the trees before it disappeared a few moments later in the direction she had just been given.

If she was to follow she would soon find the mentioned area. It was a small clearing with a cave at the side, clearly wide enough for a human and scarily enough for that thing. At the entrance stood the young Natsu, still wearing that leather mask. "Follow me."<i></i> The woman spoke up as soon as Shizuka neared, not waiting for once more as she headed into the cave and pressed against the stone, opening a hidden door.

The room it opened to was fairly small, a table with a couple of chairs and a light in the center. As soon as Shizuka had entered the door would close behind her, leaving the two in total darkness for a few moments before Natsuru turned the oil light on, the shadows making her mask much more horrible than it had appeared at first. After a few moments she would finally take a seat at one of the two chairs and take her mask off. "Nastly little bugger isn't it. Senju business really, but it'll have to be me and you that deal with it this time... not that I'm not one, but hey you get to have some fun."<i></i> The Senju would chuckle, her grin as ever-present as always.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Dust and debris settled down to reveal the beast basically unharmed. The shock of a jutsu so powerful doing so little to the creature frightened Shizuka to the bone. She rushed to the side, following Natsuru toward the unknown. Very little could be worse than the huge shadow that hoped to rip into the smaller Senju with its jagged blade.

Sweating and shaking, the girl arrived at the mentioned cave. It was dark and she had to peer to make out the entrance. Luckily Natsuru was there to show her the entrance or she might have missed it entirely. As she slipped between the stony walls she did wonder if the beast would try to break through with force. Surely that thing had the power to damage the wall enough to get a glimpse of those behind it. Shizuka really hoped that it wouldn’t happen, but couldn’t simply let go of the terrifying thoughts of what that would look like. The darkness she found herself in didn’t really help her panic either. At least that was briefly - the candle let shadows dance across the walls.

Breathing heavily she stood there, waiting. When the mask came off she couldn’t help but to stare at the face that’s been hidden so far. She had not seen it before, but the voice was the same. That or she was growing mad. Perhaps both. Honestly, the familiarity she felt around this one was frightening. Maybe it rivaled the worry she had when it came down to the enemy outside.

Regardless of the mixed feelings, she took the seat on the other side of the table. There were things that had to be done. They couldn’t possible sit here and wait for the enemy to leave or for it to decide that the stone would give in. It definitely would. They needed a plan, but first Shizuka really had to understand a little bit more about what was going on.

“Why is this Senju business? I’m.. still confused.” Was the best she could offer. Empathizing it she rubbed her head. As if that would help, the thought had her grinning. Who knew how Natsuru would take that sign.

“Can we seal it? .. Trap it?” The second offer came out with some hesitation. If the gravity jutsu hadn’t worked, well, she didn’t quite think she had anything in her list of jutsu to confidently say that she could indeed trap the beast for long enough to come up with a lethal plan.

Leaning back a bit, she inhaled. A lot was running through her body - genjutsu seemed to be none of that. It was annoying, because never before had she been faced with an enemy she wasn’t sure was real. There had been cases where she hadn’t been able to break free until allowed to - harsh lessons - but back then she had been aware of her situation. Right now, unfortunately, everything turned out to be a gamble of sorts.

“Can it die?”

* * *​

 

[Uka]

The girl would notice that the woman in front of her was.. different. Even the voice was softer and a bit more expressive in some ways. After a few moments she would notice some traits that showed that person was likely who she believed - the eyes, mouth and contours of the face, even though the hair colour was quite different and the skin colour was a lot more.. normal. ”Demon. A Capra demon to be specific. Tend to work with demon dogs, but otherwise are fairly solitary. Primarily they use a pair of cleavers as a weapon and they are also known to be able to puncture human eardrums with a cream at close range. Nasty buggers really.”<i></i> The older Senju would shrug as soon as she finished her explanation before growing quiet once more, leaning back onto one of the nearby walls.

She would finally let out a quiet chuckle, reaching over to pick her mask up, turning it in order to get a look at it once more. ”Killing it is the only real option, though that is a lot easier said than done. The only real way is to a - burn the demon alive or b - chop it’s head off after killing the demon dogs that accompany it. There is another way, but that one is… difficult.”<i></i> Natsu would explain in a full matter of fact tone, as if this was something absolutely normal for everybody to know and it was necessary for her to be explaining it.

”So what’s the plan then? Head or burning?”<i></i> She would ask, slowly moving her head from left to right as if to pass the time.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Everything the older kunoichi was telling her sounded foreign. Never before had she dealt with a demon and to be honest she had no idea how to get rid of one. As far as she knew this truly was a nightmare. The worst part was her being stuck in it like a fly in a spider’s web. The thought had her shuddering as much as the screeching of the beast had. Only now did the idea of being stuck here forever occur to her. In an insane scenario of living in a personal hell of sorts with only a version of Natsuru to keep her more or less sane.

No - the young Senju shook her head to get rid of such dark thoughts. She would not stay here forever. There had to be a way out and from what she had gathered so far killing the thing - no matter how unlikely that seemed at the moment - was the only option to move on from whatever this ‘mission’ was. Hopefully that would let her ‘wake up’ or return to where she belonged, because she truly felt mentally split. Unless the fall was causing her to grow mad at a very quick rate something about the here and now wasn’t right.

“Alright.. Let’s go with the burning, but I still want to know what the third possibility is. Difficult isn’t impossible, and I mean, look what we’re about to do, can’t get much worse than that.” A vague gesture to the ‘outside’ where the beast was lurking made it clear what Shizuka was referring to. Some of its previous vigor returned to the girl. Her eyes showed the gathering of both power and strength. When they would head outside she wouldn’t be blind by fear anymore. This time she had an idea of the creature’s weaknesses. It helped her to focus and start mapping out a strategy out sorts. Even if the plans were vague, they were there. No longer did she feel desperate after witnessing that her shinra tensei had been survived with no damage - she had simply used the wrong element.

They could kill this thing. They would. A toothy smile revealed itself when she mentally bit herself into the decision she had just made. “Let’s go?”

Of course her instinct told her to stay in the relatively safe place. The moment they left behind the cave both the wind and the ever-present feeling of dread cut into her skin. Clearly this demon was working its magic to get on their nerves. Right now, though, Shizuka held onto the plan she had and refused to be distracted by the howling wind and the slippering shadows. Only when some of the latter came close enough for her to kill did she give them her full attention.

Without delay she sent some wooden tendrils to deal with the ‘dogs’. Sharp wood tore through flesh where the spears came from beneath the ground and bore themselves into the beasts. Howling and wiggling the creatures were snapping their fangs at Shizuka who prepared her next jutsu. Fireball - the jutsu raged through the air between her and the targets before engulfing them. It left nothing but burning chunks of roaring meet and bones on sticks. The wood cracked now that it was weakened by fire, but held long enough to act as torches for the young kunoichi to see the form of her true enemy somewhere in the back. It seemed to be wary of the little fire going on next Shizuka, but clearly this jutsu wouldn’t be enough to bring it down.

Leaving behind a wooden clone, she hoped that Natsuru was somewhere near. With some of the dog-like creatures out of the way and others clearly afraid to meet the same horrific fate as its brethren had, now was the time to trap the demon and burn it to ashes.

* * *​