Escaping Death [Free/Open]

[Kurosawa Nataku]

A loud noise came from underneath a large pile of rubble. It was what could be best described as gasping for air. Only it was one really large gasp, the kind you would expect of someone who just swam a bit deeper in a pool than they really should have. It was the kind you get when waking from a nightmare rapidly, or from a peaceful dream to someone slapping you awake. It was unpleasant.

The gasp turned into rapid breathing, which quickly calmed to an inaudible level. Within this pile of broken dreams and dirt was Nataku. He was crushed, but breathing. His first instinct, upon returning to reality, was to look around. His Rinnegan eyes shot open as he gasped awake. As advanced as they were, he saw nothing. His next instinct was to check his other senses. He felt pain; incredible pain; all over. He couldn't hear anything over the sound of his beating heart. He tasted ash and dirt in his mouth. His nose was too stuffed up to smell. There was something else. He felt normal.

This usually wouldn't be a problem, but the issue is that Nataku was not normal. He would expect, normally, that he would be among several different bodies. Normal for Nataku was experiencing an order of magnitude more on the sensory scale than most. That was because his consciousness spread across several bodies. The issue was that right now, Nataku only felt one. Himself. The original.

"Am I blind?" was his next thought, but it came out as actual words. They were broken, shaky words that matched his current mental state. When was the last time he was even alive? Did he just come back from the dead? He couldn't remember where he lived, so he had no place to go to. He couldn't remember most of the details of the past few years of his life. To make things worse, everything before that felt like old distant memories. "Am I blind?" he repeated, this time his voice more full and calm. The sad irony it would be if someone blessed with his eyes was blind.

The screaming pain the rest of his body was sending him normally could be ignored. But with all his senses focused on a single body, he had to address it. He realized now that the pain came from being crushed. Something was on top of him, preventing him from moving. That, then, explained his blindness. I need to get out, he thought. He was right. He struggled to move and realized the extent of his situation. It would be no small task. He pushed harder, slowly regaining his strength. He repeated the thought, I need to get out!

This time the Rinnegan faded from his eyes, replaced by a dark red set of human eyes. Well, somewhat human. The demon blood within him boiled and strength rose out from the depths. His body began to transform into a terrifying shape. It was larger, with sharper edges on the joints (knees, shoulders, elbows) and completely dark skin. The skin was rough, even metallic looking, appearing like armor. In fact, it was armor. Large horns protruded from him. His teeth grew long and sharp, to a point.

Spoiler

In his transformation, his size changed. This did not agree with the rubble neatly balanced on top of him, as one of the larger rocks slid off and rolled its way to ground level. Nataku paused, hearing this noise. He took a moment to finally consider observing his surroundings before proceeding to bust out of wherever he was. He listened, using his advanced senses to tell if any living thing was nearby. There was an eerie silence, but then---

 

[Hansame]

Noroi was exploring the kazekage ruins in hopes of finding something he could sell. He hadn't had much time to work in between classes and had little time for work. That meant that there was little money for stuff like dinner. As noroi started to scavenge the heaps of rubble for any valuables, he began to think about Suna. Why would people attack it? After the cabal attacked, he saw that a lot of people seemed to be different. Like when a balloon popped or something broke everyone seemed to get in a defensive position, as if they were going to be attacked. PTSD? Or was it the lingering fear that made everyone resort to violence to survive? Noroi felt hopeless in this situation.

As Noroi was finishing up, finding a few trinkets, he heard a voice calling

"Am I blind?"
Noroi hurried over to the rubble and hid behind a column. What happened next surprised and shocked him. A dim glow began to come out of the rubble, slowly and steadily. Then a large form emerged from the rubble. A large horned being, covered in armor, or was it skin? Flames began to appear on its body, giving it an even more hellish look. Was it a demon? Noroi had heard about demons and their disciples, but had never believed it.

Shaking, he dropped a small paperweight and cursed silently. He didn't want to get it's attention, fearing what it might do.

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

OOC: I am leaving town for the weekend after this post. Apologies for any delay this may cause. Also I promise he's friendlier when he isn't waking up out of a pile of rubble.

There was an eerie silence, but then a noise. Something hit the ground. Something small and heavy. Someone was nearby. Perhaps Nataku hadn't noticed him before because he wasn't a perceived threat. He still wasn't. But there was one small problem, the kid was looking at his demon form, or at least what he could see of it under the rubble. Nataku smelled fear, which was only exciting for him.

He realized that there were three options. First, he could bust out of the rubble and scare the kid away as a demon. Second, he could lay motionless and hope that he goes unnoticed. Third, he could transform back into a human and confront the kid. He mulled over his options for a moment. There was no chance that he would be unseen, so that was out of the question. It was really a matter of scaring the kid off so he doesn't see anything else or allowing him to remain around and see Nataku's human form.

Nataku came to his answer, and suddenly a dark, claw-like hand burst out from the rubble. It shot straight up, knocking clear most of the rubble on top of Nataku. As he stood up from the pile, his body began to change form. He got smaller, the sharp edges on the end of his joints turning round once more. His skin changed from a shiny black armor to pale white skin. The horns disappeared. His teeth were more or less normal. His eyes returned to a human, brown color.

Spoiler

Even still, there was something about him still gave an uneasy feeling. He pretended, at first, not to notice the kid. He looked around, a bit disoriented still. Where am I? he thought. Looking around, he realized he was in Sunagakure. What was this pile of rubble then? Why was he underneath it? He walked around, picking up smaller pieces of the rubble and analyzing them. He came across a familiar symbol and froze. If his skin could have turned more white, it would have. "Is this the Kazekage tower!?" he shouted.

He turned toward the kid as he said this. He was directing the question toward the child, making it official that he was aware of his presence. There was a touch of anger and concern in his voice. His muscles tightened, crushing the piece of rock in his hand and turning it into smaller rocks. He was impatient and wanted answers, so he asked again, "Well, is it?"

 

[Hansame]

Noroi watched as the possible demon looked in around. Did he sense him? Noroi thought so. He hoped that he wasn't going to hurt him,but at the same time he felt a strange curiosity, like a small child holding a knife for the first time. He carefully took a peek of what he saw. The hellish looking figure changed shape, his form becoming smaller, more human. He looked more humane, but there was this ominous look to him. Noroi trembled a little at the realization that the figure in front of him was more powerful then anything he has seen.

Noroi flinched when he heard the shout
"Is this the kazekage tower?"

He thought about what he should do. Should he come out, answer his question, then ask one, or should he just hide? He had heard about disciples that demons had and Noroi was curious about if they existed. He tried to remain calm, but he was shaking in fear. The fear of something terrible that may happen soon. Would he be chopped into bits, or would he be devoured?

"Well, is it?"
He man asked again, crushing a rock in anger. Noroi flinched again in fear. The man/demon did know he was there. Noroi quietly came out and said timidly

"Y-yes m-mister, th-this is th k-kazekage t-tower. B-but this is w-what's remains o-of it."
"S-sorry" he added
Ooc: ok, it's fine, no problem )

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

Nataku's fears were confirmed. This was indeed the Kazekage tower. So why was it destroyed? The boy stuttered to answer him, his fear showing clearly through his words. When had this happened? How come Nataku was underneath its rubble? Questions and ideas began to circulate through the demon's head. There had to be an answer.

Nataku strolled over to where the boy was standing. After a short pause, he spoke again. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Do you have any idea what happened here?" His tone of voice was a much more normal, conversational one. This contrasted what he just sounded like. In reality, Nataku was upset but he was in control of his emotions. He knew that his anger wasn't toward this innocent boy, but rather toward whoever did this to the tower. He just needed information.

His eyes wandered around the scene. He was still trying to get his bearings. How long had he been out? If he was able to miss something as large as the Kazekage tower being destroyed, what else might have happened in his absence? If he was crushed underneath the tower, how was he even still living? Nothing was making sense, and Nataku was not enjoying himself. He was used to being in full control of the situation, and that was the opposite of how he felt right now.

Admittedly, he felt a little bad for interrogating this child, but he needed answers. These answers had to come from somewhere, and it wasn't like there was anyone else nearby.

 

[Hansame]

Noroi's eyes met the strange mans's eyes. They seemed confused. Noroi felt confused too. He still hadn't wrapp his mind around what happened, but he was starting to. Noroi hadn't seen the man before. Had he always been under the pile of rubble, unconsious until now? Or was he just napping? Amnesia?? There were so many possibilities, but Noroi was thinking he was always under there.

He flinched a little when the man came over, afraid that he would hurt him. He shook a little, having a flashback of the incident that happened a year ago. The man in the animal mask. The hallucenations. So much blood. Then the scar. Noroi scratched the deep scar on his windpipe.

When the man asked him what happened. The first thing Noroi thought of was how calmer the man sounded, apologizing. Was he still mad? Or was he just holding it in. Back to the subject. Noroi thought about the Cabal attack. Their first attack was the tower. Noroi tried to picture what the tower looked in its former glory, but he couldn't picture anything. He nervously stuttered his answer.

" th-the cabal t-terrorist g-group attacked. Th-they destroyed a-a lot of the places. Th-then a l-lot of chaos happened. P-people a-and crime happened. E-everyone I kn-knew was d-dead." He said, a few tears forming.

Before he could say something else. His neck scar tissue burst open again. Blood spilled onto his only shirt and the fresh coppery smell of blood appeared. He tried to use his shirt to clot the blood, but it just spread and the smell intensified. Noroi felt a bloodlust come into his eyes, but he barely kept it under control. 'Not now' he thought.
"I-I'm sorry" he said quietly, trembling with a mix of fear and bloodlust in his eyes.

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

Still the boy feared him. It was only natural. There was no reason to trust Nataku. The demon watched as the child nervously scratched a scar along his neck. The horrors of the shinobi lifestyle, eh? he thought. Then he said something strange. He named a terrorist group, called them the Cabal. More than the tower was hit. The way it was being described led Nataku to believe that the entire village was in shambles? His mind was already coming up with horrifying sites of women and children being slaughtered in the streets, total anarchy, and some evil crime lord profiting off of it.

Then the boy's eyes started to water. He was young, perhaps too young to have experienced something like this. It seemed like he was going to keep talking, but then something Nataku couldn't have expected happened. The scar on the boy's neck burst open, spilling blood out everywhere. A feeble attempt to clot it with his shirt was made, but alas, it would not be stopped. Strangely enough, the boy didn't seem scared that he was bleeding. In fact, it seemed more like this was an expected thing and he even apologized for it happening like it was his fault.

There was also another look in his eyes. One that Nataku couldn't understand. However, the medic in him sprung into action. Nataku was fast. One second he was standing a few feet away, listening to what the boy had to say. In a flash, he was right up in the boy's face, his right hand pressed down on the neck wound. To an untrained eye, it would look as though he teleported there. In reality, he was just fast. His right hand was immediately covered in blood, but this did not deter him. He had seen plenty of blood in his day. Instead, his hand began to glow a soft green color. His technique was solid, and he knew all of the advanced techniques there were to know.

The blood would, ideally, clot immediately on contact with his jutsu. Then, it would only take a few seconds to close up the wound and in a minute or two he could possibly even remove the scar itself. Scars were a tricky bunch, as they didn't always go away. "This is a nasty wound," he began, "How'd you manage to get it?"

He was trying to make small talk, and take the boy's mind off of the present injury. It was a common technique, one he often used with his patients. Nataku's mind, however, was elsewhere. It appeared to him like he had failed as a shinobi once again. How could he even begin to consider himself one of Sunagakure's finest when he let terrorists destroy his village? He needed to get a grasp on the situation in Sand, and determine whether or not there was anything he could do. He was strong, but he needed guidance. He had the strength to defeat any shinobi, but lacked the mind. He needed a mentor. In that instant, he knew exactly what he was going to do. He knew who he had to find.

OOC: Nataku is an incredibly skilled medic. That said, I always leave it up to the person to RP themselves however they want. So if you want to say that your wound won't heal, then I'll go along with it. If you say it heals up instantly, that's cool too. It's honestly up to you.

 

[Hansame]

Noroi gratefully nod his head slightly in appreciation. The blood clotted, and the scar looked less deep then before. Noroi would've gotten it treated before, but it was always too expensive or it always opened up again.
"Th-thank you m-m-mister"

When the man asked how'd he gotten the scar, the tears came. He had another flashback. His parents sprawled on the floor. The man with the pitch black eyes and the animal mask. The kunai against his throat. He quietly stuttered

"Th-there was a m-man wh-who came over w-wih an animal mask a-and p-pitch black e-eyes. H-he asked me I-If m-my parents w-were home. I-I said y-y-yes. Th-then...." He paused, swallowed the lump in his throat, and continued.
"When I s-said yes, he held my hand a-and c-caused these hallucenations. Wh-when I woke up, i-i had the s-scar...." He finished, tears streaming out.

The bloodlust in his eyes still retained. He shook slightly. He wanted blood, so he started to suck on the blood on his sleeve. The rush he felt was calming. He felt much better, his head cleared, senses increased and his shaking ceased. He took a deep breaths, and was feeling a lot better. He continued to suck on his bloodied sleeve.

He had so many questions to ask, but he decided to stick with two

"A-are you a demon? Do they really e-exsist and have d-diciples?"

 

[Kurosawa Nataku]

The wound healed quickly and the boy seemed relieved. This was good. Nataku's attempt to make small talk backfired, as the boy relived a horrible memory. Something about a man in an animal mask who likely murdered his parents and left him near dead as well. Whatever it was, it caused the boy to cry and this was the opposite of the intended effect. He began to suck on the blood on his sleeve, which seemed to have a soothing effect. Nataku acknowledged this as something to note, but nothing to comment on.

Then came a question that he should have expected, but didn't. Was he a demon? There was a simple answer here, but he couldn't find it. "I used to call myself that. A demon. Do they exist? In short, yes. Nowadays using such a label would give the wrong idea, though. I am not a demon, but there is demon blood in this body. But even that doesn't explain it. I can't seem to find the words to explain my... existence."

Nataku mulled over what he had just said. It probably didn't help at all. The truth was that he wasn't even sure what he was. He was only beginning to understand what it meant to be more than one person. Trying to explain it was like a funny joke. "Look, the best I can tell you is whatever you're thinking, you are wrong. I am not whatever it is your imagining. No idea what you mean about disciples, but I can't image that's a real thing. The best thing you can do is forget what you've seen here."

With that, Nataku had a new idea in mind. The less he said, the better. If anything about what this boy saw here got back to the wrong person, that could spell trouble for Nataku. More so, it could put the boy himself in danger. Nataku may have failed to protect the village but he wasn't about to let himself become responsible for putting an innocent child in harms way. The type of shinobi that would fight with Nataku would be the same kind of shinobi that could leverage a child like this against him. That was bad news.

"You seem like a nice kid. Keep at your studies, whatever they are, and avoid this subject. The more you investigate here, the more you will put yourself in harms way. Seriously, forget what you saw here. You were never here, and you never met me." Intentionally, Nataku never gave his name. He also didn't ask for the boy's name. It wasn't that kind of setting. Since he was trying to preach that this never happened, it wouldn't make sense to then exchange names which they could later use to find each other. No, that definitely couldn't happen.

Feeling like he had reached a resolution, he had a new goal in mind. He had to find Kuro. He had to get some direction. He had to get out of here. There was, then, only one possible destination: The Toraono Dojo. Without another word, he turned and walked away from the destroyed tower. There wasn't much purpose for him being here any longer.

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