Dear...[Private;Sousuke +1]

[Uri]

Out on the horizon the steadily ascending obelisks to the recently liberated Sunagakure stretched out towards the clear skies. Both of these nuances had been long too rare for the denizens of the village, a chance to free themselves from the shackles of the earthly prison and to see the sunlight without the risk of diamond particles flaying flesh from bone. While the attack by the terrorists had been brutal and cost many lives, it had sped up what was a long time coming and with it brought advancement. This realization did not abdicate those criminals responsible, but the results certainly could not be overlooked with appreciation. Once slumbering beneath the surface, content to stay away from the rest of the world, Sunagakure now had to face all before them, without a place to flee to when Atlas bore down upon them.

A bare hand wrung the bandaged-wrapped opposite in uncertainty. Feelings of conflict riled in the belly of the long-lost Chuunin and threatened to break his resolve in his mission. Who in their right mind would willingly offer themselves up for execution?

One who had committed grievous atrocities.

One who could no longer live with that knowledge.

One who wanted to spend his life helping their leaders recover, no matter how short it might be.

Inhaling deeply, he released in one slow drag, reaching forward and pushing the small obsidian bird off its perch and onward toward the village proper. This was an old tradition, a habit not long since exercised, but it seemed the most appropriate given the sensitive nature of the circumstances. While Uri had been out traveling, he had wrote to Sousuke about the interesting find concerning chakra theory and metal-working from other countries. It had only been after his fleeing from the laboratory, after reflection of his whole life, did he realize that many of those letters he had not wrote himself, but instead by some pen-proficient lackie whose job it was to send off those messages to make the illusion of his fake life all the more real to both sides. Coming to grips with being only part of the person he thought he was proved difficult and in this state he was struggling to keep himself from performing any rash actions. His current route was the most reasonable, and despite his Mother's protests, he owed it to at least Sousuke to explain his part in the Cabal's sacking of the village.

The letter safely secured in the body of the chakra-created avian read as such:

Spoiler

It would fly and land at the Toraono Dojo's communication's relay center, where one of the numerous operators would recognize the odd delivery and send word for the Kage.

Cerulean orbs stared across the dunes and a sigh escaped through his cracked lips. The village was moving forward, past the damage done, and growing into something greater without him. Time moved forward regardless of his actions. Fingers played at the dual serpent ring hanging from the silvered chain around his neck, and Uri fought back tears as he remembered the terrible things he had committed in his Father's name, the shadowy figure whose intentions had been twisted to appear noble and convinced so assuredly that the chuunin himself could not doubt that what he was doing was wrong.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Uri would see something moving towards him at a steady pace. It was not doubt that it was Sousuke, but for the time being he was alone. Heat waves could be seen emanating from Sousuke looked dead beat tired. It was another night of no sleep. The Kazekage would approach Uri. His eyes were back to their perceived original form of black scalera one. He held his letter that was crumpled in a metallic hand. There was a wariness in him. The contents of the letter only confirmed things that he had feared. Kaito described a member of the Cabal as an artist with explosions. For a while, it drove Sousuke mad. Whoever aided the Cabal was familiar with Suna. For a time he thought it was Harupia. For a time he had thought it was a noble who had lost power. Then there was the briefest moment he had considered it being Uri who had disappeared from the village entirely since the end of the Cabal incursion. It nearly drove the former Steward mad. He had simply chosen to put it out of his mind. He knew though that in time it would come down. A mystery that had driven him mad, as he had drawn charts, strung threads of wool, and had drawn pictures of the one Cabal member that had escaped him. He had cut down Katio, traded blows with Urufuu, was poisoned by Naganisa, impaled by Magnetica twice, fought with Shouki twice.

As Sousuke came to face Uri he would see the tiredness. The weariness, the dread. There were dark marks underneath his eyes. His skin was more tanned now. He was unshaven. There was a time when he had broken his legs, and had went out with lunch with Uri and Shuu. Compared to that he seemed worse than ever and back then he had broken legs. He had nothing to say he merely just stared back into those cerulean eyes. There was something present in the look he gave Uri, but what it was, was a mystery. Not hate. Not disgust. Not happiness. Not sorrow. Just merely something observant.

 

[Uri]

Uri had thought the time it would take for someone to respond to the letter would feel like a million life time's worth of suffering in the anxiety of an addict's withdrawal from their poison of choice. He thought the greatest burden would be carrying his secret any longer than he had to. That seeing Sousuke would immediately offer up solace in the form of confession and release him from the cumbersome guilt that had mounted on top of the man. Alas, in spite of the numerous scenarios he had run in his head and how the meeting would progress, he hadn't considered himself being stunned into silence by the weathered visage of the Steward. Behind those eyes brought with it memories of the last normal thing he could remember doing. Their breakfast meeting with the last Sunahoshi and Shuu, the medical genius from Kirigakure. He had performed magic tricks to entertain the masses, to inspire awe and he lived for those brief moments of inhaled breath where amazement stole away the air from their lungs.

Then not too long later he had caused another sudden inhale through the display of his unique gifts. The destruction of the Kazekage's tower had been simple..easy..a thought and it was crumbling before him. Was he the same person? Was he ever his own person when he was folding origami for children or beheading rich noblesse in the Diamond District as the shadowy mastermind? It was part of the conflict he couldn't resolve.

They stared at each other for a moment, Uri having stood up from the rock he had been previous resting on. The sharp-minded, detail-seeking Steward never missed anything. Would he notice the change of his eye color? The bandaged limbs that concealed the damage of the atrocities committed to him? What of the evil presence dwelling deep within his belly, urging him to ignore the silly meeting and go level Sora and every single living soul in it? Surely he wouldn't see these things through the exhaustion he had accumulated. Surely he wouldn't dig any deeper than he would have to and he would simply comply with Uri's demands.

Enough time had passed and Uri deciding to break the silence.

"Sou--"<i></i> He stopped himself from using the man's name. That would imply they were friends, a title Uri could not bear given his crimes. "Steward, I am glad to see you, both standing before me and still breathing."<i></i> The Chuunin did note that he hadn't brought with him a second as he had suggested, but perhaps that meant fate had sealed his death without another to interfere. "There are many details to divulge, but just a singular point to be made: I am Akio, The Dark Ranger. I was the mole whose presence allowed for the attacks to happen and am responsible for the destruction, death, and maiming of the village."<i></i>

Omitting all other information as to make the decision easy, Uri would ceremoniously fall to his knees, dusting swirling by him in wispy tendrils as if to embrace him one last time before he departed to a world less certain.

"For my transgressions against Sunagakure, please, put me to death. It is what I deserve for the horrors I have wrought."<i></i> Unable to hold the man's gaze any longer, he cast his eyes downward, awaiting the judgement of the sole person whose wounds were greatest from the attacks Uri had instigated.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Die Young.​

Sousuke stood there detailing Uri in his mind. Bandaged digits and limbs. Different eyes. Same white hair. Like Sousuke he was older now. Uri had a few years on him. Something about Uri made the hairs on the back his neck stand on end. Something wasn't right. Sousuke was always one to trust what he saw. Something was hidden from him. Something that was underneath all of this, something ill. Uri was hiding something far more than his injuries. Uri had began to reveal what Sousuke had indeed deducted in his waking moments in the night. He didn't say anything. He merely looked skyward for a moment. He sighed. What followed next though, Uri would be most surprised.

Sousuke laughed.

It was not a healthy laugh. It was a hysterical laugh. Uri in the time he had spent with Sousuke had never seen him laugh. Tears were comes down his cheeks as he finally came terms to this. He stopped promptly. He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to take this. I'm still here. Still here, less of me. Hundreds dead, and I'm still fucking here."<i></i> He held up his metallic arm. The tears were coming down his face now. "That's okay. It's not like I lost anything much. My ward simply abandoned me with Tama, leaving me to look after her son who was kept from her by a vile organization who I had deemed to be a threat to the realm. You remember Okibi don't you? You certainly do, you saw me when Yume had to treat me for diamond sand in the lungs when I went to look for her when she was missing. She had a child during that time, and she didn't want that child, or the responsibility. That child was forced upon her. I went out to avenge her and put to the sword those who hurt her. I did to a degree, less the mirror man who reformed in my household and tired to become me a second time trapping me in a reflection--"<i></i> He stopped mid sentence. "I mean Okibi left me high and dry. I had retake Suna, I had to do that on my own. I had to play a game of riddles with Shouki, which I won, in order to gain access, because if I decided to fight him I would have lost at that time, but more importantly there were bombs in the village."<i></i> He looked to the ground, "All the same, I have a child that is mine not by right, or by blood, or by anything but my good will."<i></i> His arms rose up and then down. His palms slapped the sides of his legs. The frustration was ever apparent. "I could go on. I'm not going to. You're fully aware of your actions, and its consequences. I'm sure you had reasons, everyone has reasons for what they have done."<i></i>

"No longer Steward. Kazekage now."<i></i> Sousuke corrected him. "Should I just not trust people anymore? I've learned this lesson ... two... three times now? It was a long time coming."<i></i> He shook his head. "I'm at the eve of a wedding event to occur, and I am expected to appear in Soon's for what is probably going to be my swift and violent demise. You know what? That might not occur. I may in fact do as my father did, and his father did before him, and his father thrice before him. Endure. The alternative is death which of course you were hoping for when you originally had me trapped on the surface. You knew my lack of properly documented schedule that day and you knew my weakness to overexposure of Diamond Sands."<i></i> Sousuke rubbed the back of his head. He watched as Uri spoke of how he wanted to be put to death. With tears still coming down his cheeks, again that hysterical laughter came upon Sousuke. It was funny. So very funny. Magentica was dead, defeated twice, and in the third time it nearly took him too with yet another bomb. He survived that too, as did Kaito, as did Katuso who was now Mikaboshi. He looked skyward now. "So what do I do now? Do I just apprehend you and put you in the Obsidian Palace? How many are dead and dying? When is it enough?"<i></i> Was he talking to Uri? Seemingly talking to the air. You are who you are. That killer will always be hiding in you. There is only one solution here. Sousuke had begun to consider how to eradicate Uri.Summon the Silver Edge. Unsheath the weapon made to undo Ancients. Target throat. Force slash and cut to the bone. What Uri's red blood or whatever he bled colour the ground. Burn the body with plasma leave nothing. Uri didn't even exist to begin with. He was nothing. He was even the seed of his father. Redact him from history. Sousuke simply stood there. He had in fact not summoned his weapon. He merely stood there looking skyward. He exhaled finally. "True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one. Something my grandfather had said, but no I am not going to execute you."<i></i> Sousuke announced. "I never knew my grandfather, he was dead long before I was even thought of, and my father was a boy. He once told my father that time is a flat circle, and whatever we do to each other will happen again and again. So I... I... I... don't know what to think really. This will happen again. Won't it? Except next time I'm just going to be due to over exposure of some sort. Then Fuu will simply record my end in her great big book, and that will be that. Killed by a person who I thought was my friend. This is the price I pay for trusting people who I thought were friends. There are consequences, and I have paid for them... still am paying for them. Will probably pay for them even after I am long gone and my adopted son will have to take up my mantle."<i></i>

[MFT]

 

[Uri]

"Dammit..."<i></i> Uri pulled himself up to his feet and a small frown pulled at his lips. "You big, brilliant bastard, you had to go and evolve and become so human. Even when you know so little about the events that occurred, you couldn't just let me be selfish and instead you only continue to show me how important it is to do what others don't expect, to be the better, stronger person."<i></i> Uri closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He wanted to be angry, upset at his compatriot for cheating him of his death, but he couldn't summon those emotions because they were wholly wrong. Faced with mounting opposition, Sousuke had only continued trudging through the terrible torrents of anguish and pain, changing and adapting to be able to survive just another day. The hope that carried him seemed diminished, but it was what carried the man forward.

To be able to break such a person's trust completely seemed almost impossible, but it hurt to know that he had played such a significant part in it.

Resolving himself for the moments he was about to have to relive, he opened his eyes and turned to reach for something next to the rock behind him. It was a satchel, the same, small brown leather piece that he had always carried with him. From within its depths, he retrieved a canvas-wrapped journal and presented it to the Kage.

"I wanted you to do the deed and then find this, but it seems you're too complicated of an individual to be so easily driven by a base desire such as revenge.<i></i> Uri's eyes carried a great pain in them. A repeating reel of events sped along in his mind every second of every day he lived and he saw every life he had been responsible for taking, the destruction he had caused in excruciating detail. "This is a detailed account of everything that built up to the attacks on Sunagakure, the events themselves, and my movements during the aftermath in the following year."<i></i> Once the book would be taken from him, if it would be taken from him, he would fall backwards to lean against the rock, the weight of everything always exhausting him beyond a point that was reasonable. "Sousuke, if there's anything I want you to know, it's that I did not follow through with my actions through my own volition. I honestly want you to believe that I would never do to innocent people like what occurred."<i></i>

Subconsciously, a hand rubbed at the bandages of the other, trying to quell a mental itch that always reared its head whenever he tried to think about the deeds he had done while under the mind control of the Daimyo.

"Twelve years ago, when I was eighteen and I had left the village to travel the world, the time we exchanged letters back and forth, I had only succeeded in exploring Wind Country before I was captured by a group of assailants. They held me captive for eight years, experimenting on me, conditioning me, turning me into whatever it was donned that cowl and that dark sword and unleashed on the village."<i></i> That wasn't completely true. Uri had wrestled with the fact that he wouldn't have been so susceptible to the suggestion if he hadn't been holding onto the resentment from his Father's ill-fated passing. "Wait. Part of it was me. During the time Sunagakure was transitioning into the cavern, my Father had taken sick, but due to his pride and the many emergencies stemming from the dangers we faced, he died from something that was treatable. I blamed the village for that. I was a kid, but I was never able to let it go and it stayed planted in my heart until I left the village seeking my own identity. I'm not sure if being a better person and forgiving the faceless people whose fault I made it would have made this situation any different, but that anger was the catalyst for the terrorist Akio. Being trapped inside that haze of rage and retribution was like swimming through an ocean of oil, being weighed down to the bottom by immense stones. There was no surfacing, no reaching the top and gasping for air."<i></i>

So much of what had happened disturbed Uri to the core. To have done so much wrong in the name of the man who had taught him to be good and humble above all else. The one iota of darkness that he had harbored had turned into an infection that, like the Red Death, had swept across the village in a wave of noxious death. Even when he had been under the influence of the brain-washing, he remembered stumbling across some of his father's sculpting pieces while performing maintenance for businesses and there was no greater joy than finding out how valuable others had considered them.

"Those that captured me, I did not know who they were, not until my brain-washing had been broken through a battle with Mikaboshi, when a building had collapsed on me. It had been the Daimyo, and the moment I remembered, I took great pains sneaking my mother out of the village, depositing her somewhere safe, and went to kill the man who had stolen my life and countless others from the village. Unfortunately, the moment I made my move, I had been headed off and captured. In a not too obvious manner, he explained that my orders had been to kill myself and take the village with me if the attacks had failed. My return told him I had broken whatever spell he had over me and I was forced back into the same hellish experiment laboratory they had me in years before."<i></i> He gestured with his hand, the bandages encasing his form. Lifting up the shirt he revealed the singular black mark just above his belly button, and with it several gruesome scars that told stories of several invasive surgeries. "They tried to turn me into a greater weapon to send back to Suna and finish the job, but something happened and I managed to escape. A man in a white mask...I saw myself...I don't fully understand it, but that's why I insisted on meeting so far away. I can't be certain if this story is just another implanted one and I'm suppose to believe I just managed to escape so that I could enter into the village and follow out on another attack."<i></i>

The precaution itself said a lot about whatever was passing through Uri's mind and it wouldn't make him sound anymore trust worthy either because it was obvious he didn't trust himself. The Chuunin wanted to help right all the wrongs he had done, to undo what had happened. Uri wanted to do the impossible and reverse the hands of time to set things right, but he knew that was beyond the realm of understanding to pursue.

He sighed. He sighed heavily and the two remained there, both weary and tired of all that had happened to them.

"I don't know what to do. I can't be sure I am myself, but I also can't bear to carry these memories with me if I can't do anything to try and rectify my wrongdoings. You're the only person whose opinion matters, as I owe what is left of my life to you so that it might be able to help make reparations towards the losses you've suffered; a meaningless gesture, but the only one my addled mind could come up with."<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Inferior. Not complicated."<i></i> He accepted the book and began to skim through it going through the pages of it. The details were extensive. Detailed was putting it mildly. He frowned at it. It hurt to know that Uri had known about his plan of action in Soon's. It hurt him to know that Uri had tried to have him killed by using the diamond sand exposure. He knew Sousuke was weak against it. He looked at Uri now who was resting against the rock. "Mmm..."<i></i> He considered what Uri had said. He was not in control during his slaughter of people. He listened to Uri continue his narrative. Uri was a prisoner. He was tainted then. Transformed him. Sousuke shook his head. "Uri. the people who you conceive to be faceless was my father, and my ancestry myself. I accept blame for your father's demise. Perhaps the Takahashi clan should have taken a different approach fought against the Diamond sands, fought until there was nothing left but bones in the desert. My father did what he thought was right, protect Sungakure. "<i></i>

Uri had revealed that it was the Daimyo who had brain washed him, had him reveal Suna's secrets. He looked as Uri had revealed what Sousuke was picking up. What it was that had made him uneasy. The Daimyo wanted to finish the job of destroying Suna. "Was Shuu a fabrication, or merely a face that a Cabal agent took to get into the village?"<i></i> He asked. He hoped that the older medic nin was indeed real. It was hard to tell when she too had gone awol. He remembered her features. White hair. Black slacks. Lab coat. Older than either Uri then himself. She had ... some features that were over proportionate. "If you do not know if you are truly yourself..."<i></i> Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. "Well, I would suggest you live on the outskirts of the village. That though is a problem. Whether you like it or not, I need to keep tabs on you. It sounds to me like you don't trust yourself--"<i></i> Sousuke stopped as he a summoning circle appeared to their left. He didn't summon it but by the look of things it was his toad contract. The creatures that Shouki had tortured did not react normally to being summoned. Most times they came when they wanted to. The size of the summoning circle it was ... and the symbols... it was going to be the greater of the toads. "Uri."<i></i> He spoke hesitantly. "The summoning contracts. The Cabal had tainted and corrupted them. The bond is not natural, and was forced. Shouki left me his ring. The toads may not take kindly to you being here ... should they recognize you."<i></i> He explained quickly. "Run. Now. No questions asked."<i></i> The large demonic looking toad with multiple piercings did appear but it fell over immediately.

"Hurt. It... hurts."<i></i> rambled the creature. What hurt?

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

The great toad would be in excruciating pain, it was painful being ripped apart from the inside. Lord Jashin understands our disappointment, suffering, pain, fear, and doubt. It is only through pain that salvation can be achieved, and you Toad will know bliss. A giantblade cut the unfortunate, abused beast asunder, through layers of viscera, muscle and skin. Through the slit created, a naked, gore and excrement covered giant would emerge victoriously. His giantblade slung over his shoulder, the Cabal monster known as Shouki traipsed to a space approximately fifteen feet away. "This place smells like shit too," he commented with a wry grin. He did not seem terribly bothered by his lack of attire or his state of poor hygiene as his golden eyes eyed the conspiring pair. "Best vacation ever, and look you are both still alive. Heh, who knew!"

Despite the filth that covered him, he seemed in good spirits and happy to see someone. His long, massive arms attempted to wrap around the Steward as he attempted to draw him in close for a naked manly bear-hug. Into Sousuke's ear he would whisper something before he released his grip and backed away. That was all he really had to say at the moment. He did not see either of them as a threat at the moment and a fight here and now would not be fun in the overall game. He needed them to come at him with everything they had to make it worth his time. He raised his hand to make a wordless gesture of a farewell. Will play later.

Attempting to Leave Topic​

 

[Uri]

"I don't know...I'm not sure of anything anymore."</COLOR><i></i> He raked a bandaged hand through his hair and combed it away from his eyes, "So much of it felt real. So many of those memories still feel like they're genuine and the friendships I tell myself exist might not. It's impossible to know. Shuu could have been an agent or perhaps happenstance of a test-run to see how well my conditioning would hold up in a real-world environment. I am as much me as I was then and that's what make me a danger."<i></i>

Heaving a sigh that was reminiscent of the burden he carried, he could only agree to Sousuke's wishes. That was the purpose of why he was here; to lay himself out before the judge and obey his verdict. The logic was sound enough and Uri understood how Sousuke thought. Memories raised across the surface told him about the analytical mind of the smith from the point-of-view as colleagues, both interested in the shaping and building of worlds, but another part was dark whispers. The side of Uri that was shadow and doom and knew more of Sousuke than was reasonable of conceivable and told him of the things to twist and break to shatter the man into pieces. The figure standing before him was what was left after the pieces had been put back together and his resilience was reassuring. The chuunin could not be the one responsible for destroying the man of iron, Sousuke.

Energy coalesced nearby in that of a summoning circle. Scripture and runes were some of Uri's most intimate passions and he could see the Toad summoning start its emergence into the world before the Kage could prompt him, and deep down in his stomach knots formed, knowing that Sousuke carrying this contract now was no coincidence, that he knew of the previous bearer and what had been done to it.

The order came and Uri could do nothing else but obey. That was what he convinced himself of. Sousuke's word was law from these moments forward.

Heel ground dirt and he spun to flee, but stopped, stunned in place as he watched the beast be bisected. It was not so much the event itself that stopped him, but the weapon that had carried out the act.

Shouki...

Muscles seized up and Uri found himself paralyzed in place by the sight of the giant whose role was so downplayed, but his identity such an important detail during the whole attack. This man had brutalized hundreds just because it was fun; to please his bat-shit crazy religion and fulfill some backwards purpose given to him by his father. Trapped under the same influence, Uri knew how it felt to carry out those orders, but he had been forced to. Shouki did it all willingly. His words made the chuunin physically flinch, as if conditioned to curl backwards at the thought of him; like a puppy who had been hit too many times. However, a fire grew in his belly that was loosening his stiff limbs and gave him a growing courage to step forward. As the gargantuan man started to leave, Uri's skin would burst forth in runic symbols, his virulent chakra pulsing off of him in bright blue waves.

<COLOR color="darkcyan">"You don't get to leave, monster."

A step forward to stop Shouki from making his leave would result in a violent lance of energy jumping through Uri's body and falling to both of his knees, arms wrapped around him stomach. In a small area around him, the sand would shift and distort, changing color, some clumping together to solid rocks, and some withering away into dust.

"It.....it hurts." He'd say, mimicking the frog from moments earlier.

"I can't control it...Sousuke. Run."

There was no way to know for certain the power that was flowing outwards from Uri, but it was evident that it was volatile and dangerous to points that were unsafe for others to be near.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Shouki. The brother that Susumu was not fond of. Half brother that is. Sousuke's fists clenched as he froze for a moment. His field of view changed as he began to run through the needed calculations. Besting Shouki was not going to be an easy feat.

Wait.

What? Best vacation ever?! What the crap. Shouki approached Sousuke. He was reading the movements and ... well, nothing seemed threatening yet. Shouki had yet to pull out his weapon. He... he hugged Sousuke?! Sousuke kicked about as the smell was vile and wretched. Shouki drew him closer and whispered something to him that caused him to freeze. It was something that caused Sousuke to pause his kicking and fighting as he was set back down.

Sousuke's attention snapped back to Uri who was in a great deal of pain and on the floor. His power set was fluctuating? He watched as Uri seemed to be out of control of his powerset. Great. He couldn't leave Uri here alone and in this state. Sousuke pulled the hood of his mesh armour and pulled it over his face. The mesh seemingly began to make clicking noises as it began to take the form of a face plate of sorts. The hood tigtened around his face, and a pair of white eyes surfaced. Just what technology had managed to put together in his waking hours that simple mesh was capable of transforming into a more solid form of armour?

"Afraid I can't do that. Can't leave someone in need, especially ... an old friend."<i></i> Sousuke prepared for the forst. Uri was breaking apart objects around him, but at the same time forming objects around him of great density. This was the powerset, that sense of wrongness, Sousuke had picked up from earlier. It was manifesting most likely due from the shock from seeing Shouki. This was after all one of the men who had wronged and most likely abused Uri.

 

[Uri]

Scenes flashed before him and his mind was ripped back to the moments of unimaginable pain strapped to the procedure table. Blinding, all-consuming suffering swallowed his entire mind as he remembered each and every incision, experiment, injection, mind-altering cocktail that send him spiraling away from his physical form as a means of self-preservation. The symbols across the whole of his body pulsed brightly with the same vibrant blue energies radiating from him in waves, lighting up in random sequences as if trying to sign a message to some unseen watcher. The seal had been meant as a catalyst to rope in the more dangerous mutations of his body, but with it also came additional dangers, that when triggered by high emotional responses, sent every out of control. Uri's chakra had always been different...volatile...and he realized it was better that he had had no ability to manipulate it in his youth lest he have harmed classmates, friends, and family.

Perhaps had he, they would have caged him up and stopped the Daimyo from using him.

...

Before he had been captured for the first time, he remembered traversing the diamond maelstrom, trying to skirt the super storm to escape its grasp, but eventually succumbing its power. Battered, bleeding, and breathing poorly, he was left incapacitated for months as he recovered in a small fishing village far to the south. Memories jump forward to a time when he could walk into the heart of the storm and the sand bent around him, as if afraid to make contact with his flesh lest it be erased from existence. How could he not have seen the mirror of his forms? From boy to man in an instant? It was always easier in reflection of tragic events to see where obvious faults were and victims often used those select moments in time to torture themselves with circular logic. That chaos of self-doubt and self-loathing was Uri's new maelstrom and a place he retreated to when he suffered like he was now. Swirling emotions and pains that can't be confronted by anything normal or reasonable so retreating into the heart of the upheaval was the only recourse.

Screaming outward, the circle around him that was being ravaged by the dangerous power would extend, reaching for more. Like before, sand and stone warped and changed, but more noticeably, small plant life would wither into nothing, while others would grow wildly out of control. The boulder Uri had been resting upon earlier was lifted off the ground and in a striking split-second was ripped in twine by the strange energies, pebbles and dust vanishing into the ether.

Uri would start to whisper, almost impossible to hear over the energy of disorder.

"Fight. Hold on. Survive. You. Must. RETURN."

They were echoes of his struggle when in the laboratory; voices that demanded his life so that he might be able to see his old home built back up before casting away the will that held him together. As far as Sousuke could tell there was no easy way to reach out to his suffering compatriot, one that did not involve stepping directly into the veil of alien power tearing at the world before him.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

MEGALOVANIA​

Sousuke went through the logistics. The best course of action was to simply leave Uri to his suffering and probably self destruction. That was not going to happen. The second option was to merely go through this miniature storm. It reminded him of the diamond maelstrom. This storm was in fact destroying wild life. If left unchecked it would expand and Suna would be affected by this.

Well. Time to make the worst decision imaginable. Go in.

Sousuke would run into the maelstrom of power. No. It wasn't that plant life was being changed and altered. Everything else was. Sousuke included. Black chips would fly from Sousuke's armour was he was seemingly being challenged? Sousuke's sickly blue chakra was conjured and pushed forward. Fragments of the armour was chipping and flying off. Sousuke was reconstituing the armour as quickly as he could. Sousuke was only human though. He was not an Ancient. He was not a demon. He was a simple son of man and woman. "Uri."<i></i> Sousuke called out to his friend. "Uri!!"<i></i> A crack formed in the helmet and Sousuke saw as his own blood whip around him. More armour chips could be seen flying away. Sousuke held out his hand and forced another reconstitution. The armour chips were pulled back and re-formed the helmet. He pushed on, forward. For flickering moments he felt his very form become ... nothing? Null and void? Was he being disintegrated?

Sousuke reached out to Uri again. His finger tips were turning into dust now seeming? Sousuke at this rate was being eaten by the energies? He reached out to Uri and called upon the spirit of the Silver Edge. What the flesh could not do, the spirit could. Next to Uri a great spectral black beast would form. A great black monstrous Doberman with red glowing eyes. It was never entirely clear what the spirit of the Silver Edge was. If it was a spirit created by Judori? If it was Sousuke's imagination? Was it the previous owner of the blade? There had never been a clear answer to it.

Uri in passing had seen Number Seven before, that was the name of the creature that had appeared before him. Uri.<i></i> The spirit creature would attempt to communicate with him. The voice was strong and wizened. There was a chance that Uri would remember this beast. He was Okibi's canine companion after all. Uri. You are not alone, but you need to reign in and control your powerset. Sousuke may be erased. He entered the storm and is trying to get to you.<i></i>

 

[Uri]

Ever since his escape, he had been seeing things around him that seemed unreal, hearing voices that were not his own and not from his own mind. It was as if he could watch whole other worlds pass right along before him like a video might on the television. He stood an outside audience to lives of others and their own conflicts, seeing the outcomes to hundreds of scenarios that seemed to echo outward and effect the living world he stood in, and if not directly, then through Uri himself. These false thoughts haunted him at times, showing him tortured slaves being ruled over by monstrous beings, souls of the innocent being consumed by the things that only existed in nightmares, and so many things that reminded him of the devastation he wrought upon Sunagakure. In some instances, these events only happened when in certain areas, triggered by nothing discernible around him, but on a few rare instances, he could see motes of unusual life energy that he could touch, absorb into his being and witness a vision.

Near as Uri could tell these were his punishment; perhaps a cruel side effect of the procedures done onto him or a planned game of torture by the Daimyo for his treachery.

Around him were countless faces of shinobi, soldiers, and warriors from all ages of Sunagakure; those who forfeited their lives to allow them to stand where they were today. Solemn and powerful, they stood watching the berated chuunin in his struggle, unjudging or uncaring, and they rushed by in a burst of speed, dozens became hundreds became thousands and soon it all slowed down, new faces taking focus. Some of these he recognized, several he didn't, but the ones that stood out to him were the bloodline of Takahashi and the families that supported them, all members and faces implanted into his brain to aid in his dastardly plans as Akio. Brief flashes of generations played by, all from a ever-changing perspective, but as more time progressed he soon realized he was watching it through the eyes of the former-Steward-now-Kazekage. Even though as a child he might not have understood much of what he heard or saw, being able to see it as the person he was now hurt him more than he thought possible. Observing the mantle that would eventually be placed upon him, the burden they would set onto such a young soul, and hope that he would succeed with so much standing against him and his success.

Small glimpses into the lives of others always helped Uri appreciate how simple and fulfilling his childhood was. Even the touch of death cast upon his family set him in such a place that he had only minor obligations to people who did not rely on him as much as the whole village did Sousuke.

Ringing, the noises around him, the dozens of voices all speaking their stories or talking about counsel suddenly resolved to one sharp, piercing tone.

It spoke his name.

Through the cloud of memories and lives past was a beast that spoke to a memory that was his own and not one created. It came with a warning of danger befalling the man who Uri had just pledged the remainder of his own life to. Sparkling blue eyes darted about, looking for the man in question, but he could not be seen through the overshadowing memories clouding his vision. These were Sousuke's memories...his thoughts...his life...He had entered and was trying to reach out, perhaps more than he intended. Eyelids fluttering closed, Uri inhales deeply, battling against the broken glass feeling in his lungs and focuses everything he has into his core, the energy flowing outward from the seal on his abdomen. Pulses of chakra flowed inward now, flashing the dark marks various shades of blue. As the flashing grew in frequency, the bubble surrounding him shrank, closing in towards the exiled chuunin.

He just focused on one thought: Sousuke...Sousuke...Sousuke!<i></i>

Like swallowing a small moon, he felt the bubble around him pop and rush back into his body. Excruciating was a word he had found lacking to describe his pain, but through watery eyes he managed a blink the whiteness away and spot the armor-clad Kage nearby, just as battered as himself. Spitting up a dark-colored blood, he cracks a small, painful smile, "I told you I have issues..."<i></i> He paused, falling backwards onto his butt and supporting himself on his bandaged palms, "But so do you. If I can reign this in, I want to help you fix them...to fix everything...to rebuild Sunagakure to a glory that you deserve to see it in. Whaddaya say, good buddy?"<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The destructive maelstrom was still ongoing. More and more did Sousuke see his very being seeming disappearing. The finger tips up to knuckles had vanished entirely. His metallic arm had ceased functioning. There was a slight flicker to his being as he fought to make his way to Uri. Yet in a matter of seconds did suddenly just stop. Sousuke watched as his fingers were re-constructing. He looked to his metallic arm. It was still very much there and not gone. His eyes narrowed as he focused heavily upon it. What had just occured? Sousuke very briefly looked down at his person. He was still very much there, and very much still whole, or so he had thought so.

That didn't matter though as much as Uri did. Sousuke did make his way over to the white haired chuunin. Uri was coughing up blood but surprisingly he smiled. Uri may have been programmed by the Daimyo. He may had been used like a tool. That smile though was something ... something very real. Uri fell backwards. Sousuke merely shrugged. "Your issues, are my issues."<i></i> He answered first and foremost. Yes. If this ever happened again, it would be Sousuke diving in face first to help his friend, be it calling his name, or punching him in the face to make this sort of devastation stop. Preferably it would be the former rather than the later. "I would take you up on that offer."<i></i> He paused for a moment, "I don't think we're going to see a return to glory just yet Uri, let alone be worthy of it. Any of it truthfully."<i></i> Sousuke spoke initially on the matter. There had been a lot of mistakes made on his part. Let alone earth shattering revelations about the true nature of Sungakure and its secret history. "Progress on the surface hasn't been the speediest. I've been building structures, day in and day out."<i></i> He explained. He looked down to the ground. There was some form of frustration present. "It's not enough. I've been trying to fight warlords who so much as look at local villages the wrong way. Demons and sandworms have returned, and I have battled the former."<i></i> He added. Sousuke hands curled into fists. "While I fight my way into and out of Inferno, it all matters not with the looming threat of the Daimyo. I've been stretched too thin, but I keep going on and on. I have to. So with regards to your issues ... I'm pretty sure mine surpass yours. Heh."<i></i> He laughed weakly about it.

Number Seven who had remained here the entire time shook his head. The great black beast knew the shame that hung upon the Kazekage who dared to become Primus and the short comings of it.

 

[Uri]

Struggling to regain his composure, he stumbled to get back up on his feet and stand upright. Whatever the episode had been did a number on him and he look like he had just taken a brutal beating, but he wore his trademark smile all the same. Uri had imagined that life hadn't gone back to normal or even came close to being good after all of the events he had helped perpetrate, but there was a significant list of things that needed doing. While many of the items on the list were on the home front, helping rebuild, Uri couldn't trust himself yet to lend a hand there yet. The advantage to him having be shaped into this weapon by the Daimyo and being in some form of control meant he could turn his power onto whatever threatened Sunagakure from afar.

Offering a weak bow and flourish of his arm, he nods to the Kazekage, "I am at your service, Kazekage-sama. Use me to lighten your burden by passing some of it off to me."<i></i> While Uri had never quite carried the stomach necessary for war times or even the most average of shinobi work, he had the advantage of the conditioning given to him by the Daimyo that allowed him to compartmentalize and remove the parts of himself that were too kind for retaliation against the wicked, "In time I would like to lend a hand in the construction effort, but only after we're certain that I am me and not still affected by the Daimyo's chemical charm. Until such a time, send me to snuff out those that would harm us. I may have broken the spell over me, but all of the memories and training that they shoved into my head is still there. The side effect of this whole misfortune is that they turned me into a better shinobi."<i></i>

His smile turned bittersweet, but it recovered after a moment and he made a finger gun gesture, "Point, Kazekage-sama, and I'll shoot."<i></i> His thumb pressed down and he mouthed the word boom.

"Other than that, I am at your disposal. Tell me where I should stay and I'll build myself a residence. Tell me what my duties are and I'll fulfill them. There isn't much more I can do at this point, and perhaps send some of your top men to see if any poking and prodding can get answers as to exactly what's been done to me."<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke rose his left hand and conjured his chakra. His hand would glow a low green as he would approach Uri and begin to attempt to heal him with what little medical knowledge he had. Yume had a much wider and extensive knowledge. Sousuke? He had the knowledge to punch or slice some people back to health. A very strange conception and notion to explain to people, but one he could not argue that it was effective. Sousuke shook his head "Yeah. No bowing."<i></i> He began, "Secondly, just because I may make use of your skill sets, doesn't mean that ... things get easier for me."<i></i> Sousuke fell silent for a moment as he considered what consisted of the chemical charm that the Daimyo had. He watched as Uri suggested that he be used as a killing device of sorts. "I understand that you've been wronged by the Daimyo. Are you so certain you wish to rush off to fight him? You need time to heal, and you need to figure out what is going wrong with you."<i></i>

The spiritual version of Number Seven exchanged glances between Sousuke and Uri. The great black beast would lie down. Perhaps Sousuke, you should allow Uri to create a new tower.<i></i> While this was not the original Number Seven. It bothered him that this man knew that when Sousuke was going to leave Sungakure to deal with the threat in Soon's that was beneath the ground. The canine's red eyes narrowed at Uri. It was time to see just how much Uri knew about that mission more importantly what it was that they had recovered. One burning question Uri. Did you know what had transpired while we were outside of the village. More importantly do you know what it was that was recovered?<i></i> Uri had admitted several times that he could not be trusted, and that he did not trust himself. Sousuke agreed with the concept of Uri building a new watch tower, and residing there. The later of the two statements caused Sousuke to eye his spiritual companion. He had a bit of a point.

 

[Uri]

Uri wasn't a fool. There was an understanding about his circumstances that he accepted and that was this: he was angry and unstable. The two logical sides of his brain, that of himself and of the terrorist Akio, said that pursuing the Daimyo in his current state would not be a wise tactical decision and like before he would be met with failure, or worse, death this time. Then there was the seed of hatred that had been nourished and fed and used to plant the soul of the phantom Akio in his personality, the one that wanted to take the uncontrollable, terrible power that was thrust into his hands and cause as much damage as was possible to all of those responsible, regardless of the causalities; civilian or self-inflicted. The struggle to pick between the two was surprisingly overwhelming, but Sousuke's words did help him reign in the chaotic desire to bring upon apocalypse.

"I am quite certain, but--"<i></i> He would start, nodding in confirmation with the Kage, "I am in no shape or state-of-mind to do anything about it right now. I don't think I've been anywhere near my peak for months and recovering might well mean better understanding and control over whatever these new abilities are."<i></i>

The healing would be welcome, but once he felt like he wasn't about to implode, he would wave away the rest, insisting Sousuke conserve his energy.

Straightening his appearance, he cracks several spots across his body, more than possibly sounded reasonable or even human and he turned back to the pair, eyes watching for body language. He was pleased. They needed to maintain a healthy suspicion of him and never let go of it until someone was able to crack open his skull and root around inside to make sure this wasn't just round two of the Cabal attacks. Sousuke's leaving the village had been the catalyst for their attack on Sunagakure, to wake up all of those who had been asleep and take action when the leader was all but unreachable. It was a message meant for Sousuke than the people, to let him know that he was watched so carefully, that his selfish actions allowed for the events to happen. While most normal people would think it harsh, that was the kind of person the Daiymo was.

Combing through the memories of the madman who he shared a mind with, he took a moment in relative thought to suss out a response.

"Akio was only informed of Sousuke's movements through another party responsible for shadowing him. The protocols only went into action upon Sousuke's exiting the village. Whatever the conditions of that was in specific, Akio, nor I knew. It was also relegated to Shouki to maintain Sousuke's status outside the village. I don't doubt that agents trailed and gathered intelligence of the specifics, but they never made it back into the village. This is what I know: Sousuke left with a small party of people with close relation to him, and upon his return did not bolster the same numbers. I do not know what happened during Sousuke's time outside or what it was that was ascertained through said mission."<i></i>

This part felt like an interrogation, a feeling that Uri had grown used to and wanted to feel when he finally faced those he wronged. While it was mostly just crossing tees and dotting eyes, it still satisfied that need to feel like he was being watched as a monster and needed to be kept at arm's distance.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke placed his hands behind his head, and took in what Seven had asked of Uri. Part of him wanted to reveal what it was he had brought back, and part of him didn't. Part of him very much wanted to shout at Uri and blast him for doing what he had done. He had damned and doomed several things in his wake. It was due to Uri that Aki would not know his mother, his true mother. It was because of Uri that Sousuke had lost Okibi and Tama. Curiously Sousuke wasn't showcasing anger, Number Seven had emitted a growl, and had narrowed his eyes. While this would never be the original Number Seven, the spirit of the Black Blade would take the form of what Sousuke needed the most. These days he needed a friend more than ever. Curious it was a monstrous spiritual canine was "Shouki failed, but he was bored and I had entertained him."<i></i> Sousuke answered. He turned to motion to the tortured creature that Shouki had came from, but he was no longer there. Merely a crater now remained.

Sousuke sighed. This was going to be a very long road ahead. He knew the longer that Uri was a potential threat to Sungakure if he lived on the inside. Is that the conclusion one comes to after almost being disintegrated? The structures he had built would be destroyed, and even worse could happen to those within them. If Uri resided on the outside there was the opportunity that someone could descend upon him and put Aiko back in control. What was Aiko exactly? Was it an invented persona, was it some darker persona or merely an instance of criminal insanity that had always lurked within Uri. His thoughts drifted to what he knew others might do to him. For instance Kuro. If he had knowledge of this would most likely tear him limb from limb, devour his soul, or torture it eternally. Sousuke's eyes shifted skyward. He was seemingly to grow more and more annoyed with himself in trying to position Uri properly. Uri was a broken man, who needed mending. Spiritually and physically. "Alright."<i></i> He finally said after some time. "Remain on the outside, I'll visit you from time to time. I may bring others with me."<i></i> He stated, "Rangers aren't in the dark anymore. You may want to change your cloak."<i></i> He suggested.

 

[Uri]

"Is that a promotion, Kazekage-sama?"<i></i>

Uri was only a Ranger in heritage, and even then those had only been stories he got growing up from his father. The obsidian ring of intertwined snakes had turned out to be actual proof of that lineage, but it wasn't right of him to make claim to it in his current situation. However, to keep from rumors spreading, it would be smart for Uri to take on a new title and purpose as to deflect from any possibility of people figuring out what he had done or where he had been for the last year. A hand grabbed at the worn and ragged remains of his traveling cloak and he shrugged.

"I'll make some alterations. I'll have the time."<i></i> While the outcast chuunin had wished for some grand demise in a fit of vengeance, he had a new reason to press forward. Construct a tower, fix up himself, and watch for threats that may descend upon the village. The border border patrol. "Over the course of the next few days, I'll erect a tower and spend my waking hours observing from it. At least if some destructive force is lurking inside of me, it'll dispatch any neerdowells. If anyone asks about me, just tell them I'm another Ranger on a mission."<i></i> Subconsciously he had startled fiddling with the ring around his neck, telling himself that he had no business wearing it like the mad bomber Akio did and slaughtered innocents in the name of the rangers of old.

"Good luck, old friend. I'll be here if you need me."<i></i>

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Something like that."<i></i> Akio was the Dark Ranger. It was time to dispel that. Should that vile monster return, Akio would be staring up at the great armoured entity that was becoming of Primus. The spiritual version of Number Seven would vanish from site leaving the two men to put things to bed. It seemed that Uri had grasped what he had wanted him to do. In time he would have to introduce Uri to the rest of the Rangers, and more importantly Kazuki. "Times are changing Uri. Years ago you would not find me on the surface, less I would have had my lungs filled with diamond sands."<i></i> He warned him. "Sometimes we need to become something else entirely different. Akio died some time ago, I heard he was crushed by a building. I saw the body, and recognized it."<i></i> He said stating a conclusion of what had happened to Uri's darker side. It would indeed be buried, just like old Sungakure.

"I'll check back in a few days."<i></i> He said as he made up his mind to depart. His expression soured slightly. "Uri."<i></i> He hesitated. He was going to say 'do not betray my trust again', or the fact that he watched Magentica die due to the plague bomb he had left. He wanted to tell Uri to put any vile thoughts out of his mind. He wanted to trust Uri to do the right thing. He could of course surprise Sousuke and indeed do just that. It was Sousuke's hope he would do that, but the man indeed was suffering from a crisis of faith. Mother Suna was not the benevolent being he thought she was. It was far from it. To say Sousuke had trust issues was another matter too. "Look after yourself."<i></i>

[Topic completed]