Drip, drip, drip.
There it would go again, that sound of a small amount of water attempting to break free. He had heard it before, with the most prevalent time being out in the desert while training with Natsuru. At the time, he was confused by the sound. Being near a body of water it shouldn't have been that out of the ordinary, and yet, it dripping sound would give the impression that water was landing upon something. The little man-made lake was still, there was no way it could have been the cause of the noise. But here he was, hearing the noise once more. Unfortunately, this time he understood the source of the commotion.
Attached to his body was an IV drip, much like before. This time the drip was intended to serve the purpose of not restoring or maintaining his own liquids. No, this time it was intended to keep him docile. At this point he was no longer sure how long he had been within this encampment, but he was sure it had been at least a week and no longer than a month. While the constant forced sedation clouded his mind, it was more the treatment he was receiving that continued to blur the lines of what and where he was.
The IV was attached to him and he was attached to shackles. The shackles were attached to chains and the chains were attached to the ceiling. His full frame was extended to its limit, as if he were some hunting trophy that was being prepared to be skinned and cleaned. In fact, it was exactly that. Each day, the man he once assumed was a doctor who had saved him, would enter the room roughly twice a day. Each meeting would go roughly the same way.
The escaped criminal known as Toru, a man known affectionately as a butcher, would go through his normal routine. First, would be the round of verbal nonsense. Toru would waver between anger, affection, admiration, rage, curiosity in an endless loop of insanity. He would remark on his body, how the Sennin happened to be "built" different than anyone else he had cut up. He would be angry at his own bodies inadequacies and ultimately he would just be generally excited about the opportunity of cutting up "one of the six". This was by far the easiest portion of the ordeal to overcome.
Next, he would move to the more interactive round. Very systemically and methodically Toru would completely flay the body of Roku. The upmost care would go into essentially dissecting a living person without killing the subject, and Toru had seemed to fully grasp this art. From what he could tell, Toru at one point did learn medical jutsu and skills, and was probably very skillful with the trade. The flip side would be that he was secretly a monster with evil buried within him that he quickly succumbed to, which is why he found himself in the spot he was in now. Separating flesh from muscle, muscle from bone, he would do it over and over. Each time he would start and finish in a different manner. In the beginning it was literally a living hell. By this point, however, it was just an experience. There was a complete numbness that was not entirely due to the sedating liquid.
Drip, drip, drip...
Lastly would be the moment where Toru would sit back and admire his work before ultimately healing the Sand shinobi back to nearly perfect health. The man made sure not to restore one thing; his chakra coils. This was something he knew himself was deteriorating due to his overuse of the Eight Chakra Gates and the infusion of consuming the energies of the woman of the desert, Kazuki and the flesh of Barnyx. Each of it was like a swirling madness that his body seemed to react to but ultimately led it to decay. The skillful Toru would notice this internal wreck and would remark;
"I am not sure what you are or what you've done, but this body's chakra system is completely wrecked. It was like everything was shutting down... so let me help you out, my most favorite pet."
On top of this, the power to summon forth a blade of pure chakra, his Rose Blade, was made completely ineffective at the gutting of his internal chakra system. Everything he had just barely scraped by to build up within his body to keep it functioning and fighting was finally completely destroyed. He was stripped of everything. Maybe it was for the best? As if finding some silver lining in this situation was needed. He could no longer use the skills associated with the legendary Hachimon arts, he was at the complete whim of a psycho and to top it all off he was more than likely going to be killed by the manaic before too long. But, if there was a silver lining, it would be this singular thought;
Best amount of sleep I've gotten in years.
His sense of humor, his ability to step into his own mind, seemed to be the only thing that had not been stripped away during his personal sessions with Toru. There must have been some divine humor in all of that, the man who could not remember his past happened to only have his mind left as the last 'intact' thing of his.
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip...
What the hell is it now? I shouldn't be bleeding that much, he wakes me up to make sure I can see the blood pour from me. Fuck, I'm like a leaking boat... maybe he forgot to heal something before putting me down? No, he wouldn't be that careless.
"Hello, boy..."
The voice, it was one he had not heard in awhile.
"I know your body has been struggling so far, but we are going to continue. This time we are going to see if you can replicate Number 3..."
Hearing this voice play through his mind would cause a sensation to shake through his body he did not feel he was capable of experiencing again; pain. An unbearable amount of pain would wash over his body as the sensation of being torn apart once more would come flooding to him. He had been in this situation before, he had been opened up before, and while the more he learned of his murky past connected to Nao, the more this shouldn't shock him. However, this time it seemed that there was a specific reason this memory was floating back up to the forefront of his mind. Something once more was awakening within him.
"Wakey, wakey... time to play, my number six~"
His eyes would snap open as Toru was preparing to start cutting into him. It seemed that he had blacked out through the initial process, and the disdain in the face of his captor only reinforced that notion.
Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip...
His eyes would narrow in on Toru as he approached with blades in hand. The rushing sensation would continue pouring through him, no longer as a feeling of pain but now as a sensation of release. Something in him had been damned up and it was about to break free.
"Now this isn't your final stop... this is just a test..."
Chuckling would echo through his mind as his teeth would begin to grit. The sound of water would intensify, no longer being a mere drip, but now sound like rushing river.
"Oh? You wait until now to want to put up a fight? How boring... I guess you are reaching your last legs..."
No, I can't die here. I have to know. I have to know...
"I have to know..."
While the words would come from the mouth of the Sennin would be shocking to Toru because it would be the first time in weeks he had heard the man speak, they would also be shocking in the sense that the voice seemed to carry something with it. Something was mixed into the voice of Roku, something else.
I see, so you are finally wanting to talk to me? You consume me, lock me away in your purgatory-like essence and just now, when you are in this stupid situation, decide you'd like to finally utilize me? This is why that other human considered you a failure...
Wait... what...
Before the internal dialogue could continue Roku would feel another sensation he had not felt in awhile; freedom. With a splash of water, his hands would be freed from the shackles.
"Wait... what the hell..."
For whatever reason, the drug that had been keeping him in a paralyzed state would no longer be effecting him. In fact, he would be feeling great.
"NO"
Toru would exclaim as he would send the blade jutting forward, piercing into the chest of the Sennin. There would be a sound that you would expect from being stabbed, a kind of wet sound, but instead of blood pouring forth there would only be water. Roku himself would look down in astonishment as the blades were clearing inside of his flesh, but there was no pain. There was no blood. There was, however, the appearance of water rushing around the blade itself. Toru would release the blades as they would seemingly get pulled into his body, as if caught in a current, before being expelled from his ankles to the ground. The soaked blades would just sit there, as if they had been sent through a power washer.
Both men in the room would be rather confused by this, but reason would come flooding back to one much quicker than the other.
"Thanks for the care, Doc."
His hand would raise up to the chest of Toru as his index finger would extended outwards and tap the chest of Toru, right where his heart was. The figure would turn translucent, water-like, before quickly converting to ice, taking the shape of a sharp icicle. Without hesitation, he would push his finger forward with all his might, piercing directly into the heart of Toru.
"I really mean that... you spurred a change in this body that only death, or I guess near death, can... I have no idea what I am now, but I do know one thing; you are dead. Adios."
So this is how you choose to use these gifts?
Who are you?!
Not important. Very well, for as long as this body is willing to accept this form I suppose we are in this together. I believe your very soul cried out that you wanted to settle things with that other human... well, whatever he was, that forced us together? Well, I support that, and this power is yours in those efforts. But for now, let me stretch...
What...
The rushing current of power he had felt before would once more intensify, this time to the point that it was like a waterfall or a geyser erupting. Energy would explode forth from him, consuming his entire body, consuming the entirety of the room and the building he was being held within. To any looking outside, it would appear like an orb of water had encased the make-shift hospital. Within, a strange humanoid figure would seen. It's cold, glowing eyes glancing down at its figure before the water encasing would disperse, the immense aura filling the area would subside and the humanoid appearance would disintegrate revealing a drenched Roku.
"I... wh-what?"
He would look down at his hands, which to him looked like flesh and bone. However, it was almost without certainty based on what had just recently happened. To test the merit of what he was seeing, he would calmly, and very much like the adult he was, punch the nearest wall. Based on what had happened earlier, he half expected his hands to erupt into puddle of water. Instead, his fist merely would connect with the wall causing an indention.
"How in the hell... am I... is this... I am dead?"
It appeared it was now time for him to attempt to rationalize the situation, in hopes of better understanding what it was that he just witnessed. It wasn't every day that your body would absorb blades as if they were being tossed into a pool of water. Then there was the strange voice in his head that seemed to be less like Nao's voice, which he could feel was a memory replaying. This voice felt much 'closer' and was very much directly talking to him in the here and now and not from a past perspective.
My goodness, if I had known you were going to drive yourself mad over this I would have just stayed locked up. While I can't provide you with all the answers you seek and want, I can provide you with one thing; I am very strongly associated with the element of water, and because I am a part of you, through barbaric consumption, you are now very much attuned to water yourself. Luckily humans are most composed of the substance, otherwise our compatibility would have been dreadful. Yet, to think it would take this long to manifest, I can't say I disagree with that 'man'; you are a failure.
"Ok, ok... this has been fun but you can shut the hell up now."
Oh, no, I am afraid we have some things we need to discuss before you go off and squander this new gift.
"Sweet hell... can I go back to the other torture..."
To Be Continued
MFT - 2267 words
OOC: These two posts are serving as my application for Kinjutsu removal (Hachimon), Kinjutsu application (Jinchuuriki - Water Spiritual), BL/CA Removal (Nanjirou) and BL application (Water Adept).
I purchased a Swap Card for the BL and a Kinjutsu Removal Card for the Kin changing.