Open Once Disgraced, Never Forgotten

[Nanjirou Soku]

Thwack.

Steel met wood as the edge of the blade cut several neat slices into the post, beads of sweats decorating Soku's forehead as she eyed her handiwork before attacking her target with a frenzy and focus spoke to years of experience and..sacrifice, a term she had gotten all too familiar with.

Thwack.

"The failure of your Captain.."

Those same words, those very same words had come back to haunt her the day the Hokage Tower had been attacked and she had lay bleeding, unable to honor her oaths to the village and so wounded, virtually unable to do anything. It reminded her of the time that once someone she trusted, someone she had grown close to had instead thrown the morals of the village in her face and that had made for a very nasty encounter.

Thwack.

The village had fallen into disarray, it sought a leader and Uchiha Takeshi had swept into the role. Unable to handle her duties due to the extent of her wounds, her post had been reassigned and some whispered at the motivations behind it, perhaps it was because she had not given enough? People talked, the kunoichi knew that but she marveled at despite at how everything had turned out, doubt was still cast on her, the thought causing her expression to darken as she cut the wooden post out of existence, the wooden ribbons falling at her feet.

She paused looking around the open courtyard of the clan manor, it was empty spare for the flickering lanterns that gave her some respite on this dark evening hour.

"What will it take? How much it will take?"

She muttered quietly to herself sheathing her blade as she went up to stand another post keen on repeating the process just like she had done before.

It seemed like an entire era had flown by, the sweeping changes in the village, Asuka practically having disappeared off the face of the earth and she was gripped by a sudden fear that that bore an ill omen. She had lost too many, suffered too much, perhaps this was life's way of saying to her that her time was up. It was time to put to rest, let a fresher face take the reigns.

That was if any face remained. Several ninja had perished in that attack and as usual, the failures rested with those tasked with leading the village.

"I don't know anymore. Right seems to lead to wrong and wrong seems to be right, perhaps it is me."

That was what it always boiled down to after all. Each time she lost someone, each time tragic gripped the village, there always appeared to be a flaw as her sword freed it's scabbard looking at the wooden post awaiting it's demise.

Thwack. Thwack.

"Never good enough."

The post split in two and crumbled in a cloud of dust as the woman looked down at it quietly.

"Never will be."

 

[Yong]

"There is a way..."

A low harmonic accompanied the words as they seemed to echo through the open courtyard though not spoken above normal speaking volume, the flames of the lanterns bordering the open space flickered for a moment as the presence of the Sage of the Dark Waters made his presence known.

The Armoured Shinobi moved into closer proximity with the warrior standing before him, his unarmoured right hand held a simple looking katana, the wooden saya sheathing it was unvarnished though it did not look new, the raw timber bearing the scars of many years and many journeys. His other hand reached up to the finely painted mask which covered his face and removed it slowly, affixing it the unseen mechanism at his hip with a metallic click.

The perspiration of the warriors efforts glistened on her forehead, her blade still in hand. Her power shone like a beacon to him, the arua of her chakra seemed somehow tainted though, the kind of scars that only close contact with one of his kind could leave... This must be the one that Kiko fought... The one that Kiko had left heartless at the Hokage tower! His daughter had told him much of her time in Konoha, of the conflict with the Sennin and the strange ANBU and how she had framed the Sunan named Kaen. His daughter had literally taken her heart to that devil in Suna as a token, yet here the Sennin stood, blade in hand and sweat on her brow.

The flames of the courtyard lanterns danced once more, their light seeming to dim Inspite of their best efforts as the sages dark chakra permeated the air of the courtyard. The Armoured Shinobi slowed to a stop a few feet away from the woman, his empty hand moving to the small of his back as he extended the other towards the woman, his fingers loosening their grip on the weapon as if offering it to her.

"...all you have to do is take it."


[Ooc: Hope you don't mind me joining Soku

The sword the one from this topic -> https://ninpocho.com/threads/doing-something-unholy.66194/#post-367277

It contains part of Kiko's soul, if you accept the weapon it would give Soku a Dark Sage Curse Seal if you would like]

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

A presence.

Was it an unwelcome one? Soku knew not but stood, her back to the arrival of the stranger on the sacred soil of the Santaru, the place she had called home.

"Is there?" A simple question yet it posed an heavy truth as Soku turned to face the stranger from the katana to the mask which had been removed allowing her a visual into the depths of his details, a likeness which she had not seen before. She bothered not to ask how he had slipped past the Levin Corps, this was someone who possessed an capability.

She could sense that much.

A slow, steady beat of her eyes as she grasped the appeaarance and the figure of the lone figure who had dared to make it all this way. He was offering something, a chance, an opputurnity and a tool to execute that potential with.

"Many have tried to buy my loyalty before. You would not be the first."

It was how the world ran. You give something, expect something in return as she examined the simplicity of the weapon offered to her. She had her own blade, a finer steel but it wasn't the forges that determined the weapon, it was the shinobi.


"What is the price for this offering?" She inquired still unsure. He had sought her out in the midst of the security of her own clan premises, Soku could have easily summoned the Levin Corps to have him thrown out but the mere presence or perhaps it was something else, it seemed that route would only lead to bloodshed.

The former Sennin was seeking respite, an solution and he had come with something although whether it was the path she was seeking was yet to be determined.

"I would have the name of the one so bold."

She made no move to grasp his professed instrument, the gods above knew best what sins or deeds it had commited perhaps as she ran her hand over the hilt of her own sword giving it a light twirl easily before sliding it back into the scabbard. "I have my tools, stranger. They have seen much, done much but whether they left the marks I desired, that is what I wonder."

Wonder and doubt.

Time and time again.

She bent to pick up a fallen leaf over from the stone surface of the courtyard running it over in her palm. "You see? Konohagakure is weeping and I do not know how to dry those tears." Black pupils rose to meet his for a moent gauging, assessing.

"What is your way?"

Did he weep like the village did, Soku wondered. Did he know how to wipe the stain of murder and war that hung like a plague over them?

 

[Yong]

Yong could feel the fierceness behind Soku's words, his daughter had chosen her as the means of retaliation, he could sense the turmoil in the woman's soul and he could take an educated guess. She spoke of past requests of loyalty asked of her, letting him know she would not easily be manipulated or bought.

"I would never ask one such as you to be beholden to me... It would sadden me to see a caged wolf or a cowled hawk. No, quite the opposite, it is because of your freedom... Because of your fire..."

Yong let the words trail off, lowering the sword to his side as he relaxed his posture. He gave the woman a small nod in way of introduction.

"Forgive me... My name is Yong... Sennin of Yamigakuri, a village far from here. The Yamikage and I have come to your village on the eve of this war, but with flames on the horizon we find Konoha asleep and the old Hokage crying all is well from his tower... Asuka disposed... Disappeared... All is well..."

The Armoured Shinobi walked slowly closer to the still perspiring woman, he could sense no fear in her at all despite her obviously weakened condition and carefully concealed wound. He could see why his daughter had chosen this one as her mark, Kiko could never resist a challenge.

"The Yamikage came with a gift of the past and an offer of a new alliance with your... new... Hokage. My gift however is more practical, in my brief time here I have seen the weakness that pantomimes as strength behind these great village walls. To protect those who cannot or will not protect themselves, I would give my weapon freely into your keeping in the hopes that one who shines so brightly with the Will of Fire will use its keen edge with the wisdom and courage to do what must be done... This is the only cost."

This wasn't the only cost, but he decided against mentioning that the more the blade was used the faster the unholy ritual fusing his daughters soul and the preserved corpse of the innocent would progress! Yong raised the sword, once more offering it to the warrior once more. She had requested to know what was his way, the question had almost caught him off guard with the ernest edge of desperation in the woman's voice. He could sense the Sennin that his daughter had left bleeding against the crumbled walls of the Hokage tower had lost her path, he was proud of his daughter, she had truly mastered the way of the Myakashi... all warfare is deception...

"I made this weapon for my daughter... She was a great warrior of our clan..."

Yong hesitated for a moment, his gaze lowering to the blade still held in his hand. He slowly drew the weapon, the edge pointed towards himself, the raw timber sheath held in his unarmoured left hand, the blade resting across the back of his wrist.

"...These devils of Suna have taken her from me... Take this weapon, show the world that the will of fire has not grown as dim as it appears... Do for your people what the Hokage will not and take the head of this beast..."

Yong resheathed the weapon, lowering his hands into a relaxed posture once more.

"My way is violence... Blood for blood... I sense that, though you ironically fight it, your way too is a way of violence... Use this weapon to strike your enemies down... I ask nothing more."

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

So, he wasn't here to purchase her support although how much faith she put in the stranger's word, she wasn't quite sure. After all, to have an mysterious shinobi show up on the eve of a village crumbling into ruin and offer her an alternative, an tool, an way for some sort of recompensation for what Konohagakure had been through so far was granted to be a bit sudden after all but Soku supposed if he wanted to do her harm, there would be far less talking occuring right now.

She nodded filing the name away. Yong, he uttered and perhaps if she thought hard enough, she might recgoinze a flash of familiarity from Konohagakure's bingo book but those times were so long ago, so foreign that it barely crossed her mind. Her expression was visibily disturbed as he brought up Asuka.

He spoke daring words against Takeshi with a sentiment of truth because all was indeed not well. Far from it, actually.

"Yamigakuri certainly seems well informed of our troubles for being many leagues away." Soku said slowly.

If truth be told, it was on account of her own transgressions that had led Soku to thiss state. She had spent many years blundering about, wandering seeking a peace that could never be sought. Soku had fought for such a peace and learned the more blood that was shed on accounts of such a abode, the harder the consequences seemed to be letting the man speak as he offered the weapon once again calling her to arms.

A rueful smile crossed her face at his last words. "I served many years in the ANBU division, I am no stranger to blood and violence, that was drilled into me from a young age, we killed when was commanded and far worse things but this thing you ask of me, this deed, it smells almost like revenge, some would perhaps even call it redemption."

It consumed some people leaving them blind, she did not want to be blind as she lifted an arm, a prosthetic,, the silvery sheet of the metal that made up her arm for the man to see. "This is what violence did to me."

She lowered it, the fingers flexing as they came to rest on the hilt of the blade curling around it.

"So, I ask you, Yong of Yamigakuri, is it for your daughter that you seek to utilize my Will of Fire or has Konohagakure found another loyalist to it's crumbling foundation?"

Devils, he called them. There was much yet she did not know about Sunagakure despite having traveled there once, the village itself held a shroud of mystery for her. Her eyes bored into his trying to read him, the undying support he professed to her, Soku need only take it to sooth her anger.

In essence, he was asking her to trust him, all things considered. "You entrust me with something so close to your heart, I daresay."

The next words were spoken quietely almost full of hurt. "I trusted someone once, they quickly showed their treasonous side. I trusted again and I was left to fend for myself among the chaos and flame that Konohagkure has to rebuild with no one to turn to and no path to walk."

"After all that, you still think me, a lost and blundering soul still capable and worthy?"

 

[Yong]

A small chuckle came unbidden when Soku questioned how well informed Yamigakuri was.

"More than you know Warrior of Konoha... One of our kunouchi, was present here in Konoha when the village was attacked. Before the intruders final attack on the gates our agent made contact with the Hokage, she offered her the aid of our small village before fleeing to report what she had learned..."

Ironically the words were all true, though they painted a very different picture of the role that their agent had taken in the night's events, one of observation rather than active participation.

Soku spoke of her days in the ANBU corps as if they were behind her, perhaps this is why she did not recall his face from the Bingo Book? She spoke of her training as a killer and good little soldier, though she showed she was more perceptive than the run of the mill Shinobi that now populated Konoha. Of her betrayed trust and the pain that it had caused her, she would be reluctant to trust again.

"Do not mistake this one kindness for what it is not... I hold nothing but mild disgust for this village, I do not do this thing for any one of them but for some reason the Yamikage still sees Konoha as a place worth protecting..."

Yong shook his head slightly as he spoke the last words, for in truth he would shed no tears if Konoha was consumed by the war on the horizon, he did not share the history with this place as many others of his clan did. No, he was here for one reason and one reason alone... to keep Migoya alive.

"You seemed shocked at our knowledge but know that we were equally shocked when learning of Konoha's lack of it... This force gathering within the boarders of Wind, I don't think they mean to concor as those who have come before them... No... I hear whispers of a holy war, of righteous justification... Of eradication..."

Yong raised the weapon once more as if to offer it, his other hand moved to the mask on his hip. There was a small mechanical click as the mask released from its concealed mechanism, he then lifted it's mask in to place over his face, once more a small click accompanied it's placement.

"You question yourself worthy of this weapon whilst the litters of your training target lay scattered around you and your heart in a distant land! Worthy or not, capable or not, we both know we must bring down those who threaten our world. You already know what you must do or is dying here wondering what more you could have done as Konoha and the world burns around you really your only plan? Do not think we do nothing to stave off this coming conflict, we were here hoping to stirr Konoha into action against forces greater than us! Hoping to gain the might of the Leaf Shinobi to snuff out these demons of Wind imagine our disappointment at instead finding greed, decadence and 'commerce' where we once found the Will of Fire burning brightly!"

His words became more passionate, though now slightly distorted by the subtle voice modulation hidden within the complex ANBU mask now covering his face.

"I tire of Konoha's hesitancy to defend itself and now you do the same! It does not matter if you trust me, or trust the Hokage, or even trust yourself... But trust in this... When the shadows come for you all it will not be for honour that you are fighting for... It will be for your world."

His eyes once more locked with hers, the eye holes in his mask open for unobscured vision also left his eyes completely exposed and visible behind his mask.

"Now, once and only once more... Fierce warrior of Konoha, I have a gift meant for another that I now offer to you in the small hope that you still have the will to do what must be done. Will you hide behind your walls waiting for the dark waters to come and consume your pathetic little village... Or... Will you do something... The choice is yours but you do have to choose."