Scars from the past (Private)

[Chigokai Yuna]

Ziren's attention turned to Maru. He knew that in that dark husk of a shell was a mind that wanted to help. "Thanks Maru. But this falls on me. I am going to train harder and harder until I can beat him. I won't let him hurt anyone in the village."

He then noticed Hana looking at Soku, "Hana, Soku. Soku, Hana.
Now Hana. As you heard, I have some issues. I have um... A brother. And. Well. He wants me dead. He had my parents killed when I was just born and now that he's here in the Leaf,
he wants me dead. That and, well, Soku has been having problems with an evil scientist which has taken a liking to my blood. This is what I want to tell you. I just want to let you know if someone starts targeting us, while we are together."

He looked at Soku as she talked. "He won't be. But that's why I can't just give up and let him wreak havoc around the Village. Especially since he will be mostly after me. I can't let any of you get hurt trying to protect me."

 

[Midori Futotta]

After Hana said hello to him, Maru remembered that I'm their little game of tag he had kidnapped the poor girl and trapped her within his coffin until Ziren came to save her. Surely there weren't hard feelings about their little game since Ziren seemingly had let what he did go, but of course he couldn't be too sure."Hey there Little Red.” he said teasingly when he was greeted by the red haired girl. Then continued to keep watch for anyone that may have been lurking around, when suddenly he heard Soku make fun of his wooden limbs. “Well at least I can make myself taller, unlike you chibi.” He shot back, a small smile on his face the dark puppet master folded his arms to hear what Ziren had to say.

… So what he got out this conversation was that in addition to this thing with Soku there was another threat looming over their heads. Zirens brother who seemingly wanted his own brother dead, Ziren seemingly had the great idea of going into this alone. Maru clicked his teeth. “So you train, go after him, and beat him by yourself is the plan you have. Well I'll be the first to ask how long will that take.” Maru began tapping his cheek, looking over at Soku and Hana."Because if he is stronger than you now, he could use your friends against you to draw you out. So let's do a little scenario my friend. “ Maru paused, then began.

“Going into his mind if I wanted you dead, the easiest way to draw you out while you're still weak would be to hurt your friends and let you look for me since I'll get tired of waiting for the right moment.” Maru gestured his head to Hana. “If he knew about her, its more than likely that he'll go after little red since she is someone you care a lot about… but.” He now looked over at Soku. “Since he saw Soku, he'll more than likely come after her. So what I need to know is how long is this training going to take you, because when he attacks I'm going to trust the fact that you'll deal with him when that day comes.” truth be told, he wanted to deal with the problem but since Ziren wanted to deal with this problem on his own, he wanted to see how long would it take. Since he couldn't always watch Soku and she seemed to be around Ziren mostly he'd have to get strong enough to protect her when he isn't around. After all Soku seemingly doesn't call for help when she knows that more than likely he'll come. But then again Maru wasn't a trust worthy individual and it seemed Ziren was a lot easier to trust, he just needed to be sure he had the skill.

 

[Uchiha Hana]

Ziren looked towards Hana and introduced her to Soku, Hana seemed to like Soku, it seemed she took no one’s dirt thrown at her she had kick, Hana liked this. She smiled than took her attention back to Ziren, he told her what he needed to say about some issues he had with a brother, that wanted him dead and killed his parents and some mad scientist that liked his blood. Hana’s eyes drew big. As he went on of everything.

“Ziren you have a brother, I thought you were an only child, and why does this scientist like your blood?, how did this all happen?”

Hana was trying to understand all this, meanwhile Maru Greeting her with say hello to her and calling her little red as he always had. She still wondered why he was here. But nevertheless, she was sure ziren had a good reason with what he said was all going on. She wasn’t so happy about all this because she also had some things to tell Ziren, since last seeing him on their date night. She just hoped this didn’t add to the chaos that was already stirred up.

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

Maru lay out a scenario and established some good points. Soku for once was surprised at his calm demeanor and level-headed planning. Maybe if he wasn't so...dark, he wouldn't be so despised. "As much as I hate to say it, Maru does lay out a good point.He can't be around forever and I wouldn't put it past Ibumo and Jirosho to use our allies as a means to achieve their goals. They already killed, what do they have to lose?" In fact, Ibumo would probably laugh at the fact if Ziren tried attacking him. He had the Chigokai blood now and who knew what crazy thing he was doing.

She dusted off a pamphlet she'd acquired and read it out."I did some digging on our engineer of death and it seems he's just like you and your dark self, Maru, except for one tiny thing. He failed the genin exams thrice and that's why he took to experimenting. Something he actually had a talent in." She'd had to pay a hefty price in Crater City to acquire this info and Maru would freak if he knew she'd been making daily trips in and out to the City of Thieves.

"You haven't told Hana, Ziren?"Hana looked she was hearing this for the first time and Soku was unsure about her positon on this. She'd only just met the girl but already taken a liking to her. Al, she knew was that her and Ziren were close, very close and she seemed to have met Maru already which was never a good thing. Anyone who met Maru was never a good thing. She turned a eye to meet Marus."How do you know her?"She asked pleasantly with a smiling face but her eyes told a different story as they stared daggers at the human puppet.

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

Ziren nodded when listening to what Maru had to say. And interesting enough, he had a slightly different answer than Yukio. Yukio said that he needs to depend on others. Maru kinda said the same thing, but differently. How does Ziren expect to become in anyway stronger than his cousin? They both have said that with limited time, he won't be able to. And his answer?

"Then I'll just have to train a million times harder. Look, either way, people who I care about will get hurt. And he said so himself. He wants to kill me when I'm at my strongest. I don't know the means behind his motives, but they are sinister to say the least.
He will undoubtedly make it hard for me. But I will gladly lay down my life to protect each and every one of you. That's why, I'm going to train even moreso than ever. I will be the one to beat him and show him what a true Chigokai can do. Look, I know you think that I may be thinking childish, trying to take him head on. But this right here is my responsibility. I want to show the Leaf that I'm not just someone that has to depend on them twenty four seven. But I want to show them that I can take care of the village. I will make myself into a very well known shinobi Maru.
I won't let my brother be the death of me. And I will protect those who I care about.

Ziren then turned to Hana. He held her hands in his as he looked at her eyes with his own. "Yes, I have a brother. I haven't found out until a few months ago.
I'm still trying to piece together why he hates me so much, but I think it has to do with my parents. It started with them somehow. As for the scientist, Soku has been having troubles with him. And then when he found out that I'm her friend, a Chigokai with powers over blood, he sees that as a possible tool for a weapon that he's been making. And Maru... Well, he's gained my trust when he finally stepped up and helped look after Soku to keep her protected."

Ziren listened as Soku spoke. She seemed to go along with Maru said. He sighed. He can't change the way that they both have had a more dark history than him. Of killing someone. Ziren hasn't. Not yet. "No Soku, I haven't told her.
I didn't want her to worry."

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru nodded his head, he knew Ziren had probably would be up for the challenge when the time comes and he hoped that he'd stay true to his word with training a million times harder. Because if the situation plays out like he expected, Ziren may would have to call for help instead of trying to play hero… Of course Soku agreed with him that he won't be around her forever because he did have his own team to run and he's already agreed to train some academy students in the way of battling all in a while trying to keep Soku safe from harm. Not to mention his brother wants him to get stronger, so hopefully when the time comes Ziren would be prepared. "Just know you don't have to play hero. If you need help with dealing with this guy don't be afraid to ask.“ Maru said before turning his attention over to Soku.

As she pulled out pamphlet she began to explain that the man who had been hunting them down had been failed his genin exam three times which is why he took to experimenting. However, the part about Doctor Death being just like Maru seemed to be more of an insult to the dark puppet master. "And you're also forgetting that I'm not trying to kill you, that's another difference." Maru narrowed his eyes at Soku, he wasn't with her when she got this information nor was he following her around that time. "And where did you get that info from? You know if I'm going to be your bodyguard or whatever the least you can do is tell me.” He said bluntly. However, when she asked how did he know Hana, suddenly the tables were turned on him now.

Soku had a pleasant smile on her face, but he could tell that she was staring daggers into him. “Well…” Maru gave a nervous smile, touching both index fingers together knowing that he'd have to explain himself. “You see. I was bored and looking for something to do. So I saw Ziren and Hana then thought ‘Aye wouldn't it be a good idea to play with those two.’ So I came up to them, and Ziren was all like 'PUPPET GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, YOU DUMMY!’ Maru motioned his hands to sounds convincing."And to us living puppets, being called a dummy is really offensive, and since I suffer from fits of rage I ended up kidnapping Hana. Then Ziren was all like 'Alright puppet, you got something I want so how about a game of tag. If you win you can run around all night with little red on your back, but if I tag you.. You give the girl back so I can have some fresh blood to drink.’ Maru looked down, acting defeated. "I lost and he started to drink poor Hana's blood right in front of me. True stuff!” She would probably would be able to see through this lie, most likely someone else would tell Soku what really happened because he was putting the entire situation on Ziren to take the heat off him. But you can't blame Maru for trying, after all the truth will more than likely end in a screaming match if he was lucky.

 

[Uchiha Hana]

The words Ziren spoke to Hana echoed through her mind, why all this trouble now, when she too had something important to tell him. It seemed Ziren was in trouble a lot, which Hana wondered why that always was. Her held her hands ever so gently in his as he looked deep into her eyes, she looked over at others for a moment, then back to him. She felt bad what his brother was doing and about all the other things going on. Than he told her Maru gained his trust, she gave Ziren a look of surprise, because she knew he didn’t like Maru for what happened in past. Hana gave a sigh and then said a few words to him with a nod.

“Ziren, I’m sorry of what’s going on, and I fear for you, I can’t let anything happen to you for reasons, and if you trust Maru, I suppose, I should give him a chance, I trust your judgment though.”

Hana looked over to Maru talking to Soku, she sort of overheard Maru telling something about the game of tag they had before, Han just gave a grin. She focused back on Ziren. She held his hands tighter, taking a deep breathe she knew he needed to know this and now, even if it’s at a bad time, she was afraid she might be able to tell him again.

“Ziren, my love, I must tell you something very important as well, that I discovered while you were away”

Hana paused a moment, tears started to flow in corners of her emerald eyes as she looked straight in his blood red eyes.

“Ziren, I’m….. I’m pregnant!!”

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

Soku sighed. She'd have to confess and if she didn't, he'd pester her all njght."If you must know, it was Crater City where I got such valuable information, now anwser the question."She nodded slowly slightly amused by his motioning of hands as he attempted to explain the situation of how he ran into Hana.

She'd expected no less of the puppet but was seriously doubting some of the pieces of this story. She held up a hand to stop his rambling before he could continue.Maru..I highly doubt Ziren yelled at you as you say from your hand motioning and drinking blood?The Chigokai is not the yelling type, however I am, as you should know by now, you crafty fox."She was about to say something when Hana made her pregnancy announcement.

That was when her mind went on total shutdown mode. She did a full 180 turning to face the couple, a look of disbelief on her face. Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Everyone was in too much of a shock to speak. She looked at Ziren to gauge his reaction. Soku wasn't sure how he'd take the news, she'd had merely thought they are a couple, wasn't aware it was that serious.

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

Ziren glared at Maru, as the puppet concocted up some false statement of how he knows Hana. Making it sound like Ziren was the bad guy of the situation. Once he was done, Soku spoke, immediatly striking down the idea that Ziren would do such things as Maru stated. But then Soku spoke of getting information at the City of Theives.

"Wait, what? Soku, you decided to do this without having Maru around? What if Ibumo caught you? Then what? We wouldn't have known anything about this and he would have probably been torturing you, experimenting on you. May even kill you in the end. You can't just do this without letting us know of the situation."

Ziren was surprised that Maru would even go as far as helping Ziren with his problems. Even though he is a butt head and so annoying to the point of almost hating him, he still wants to help not just Soku, but now Ziren himself too.

But what was more surprising? Hearing that Hana was pregnant. Ziren's eyes got wide. He felt a little bit woozy. So he sat down. He couldn't really process the information that he heard. On top of everything that was happening in his life, he learns that he is going to be a father. He wasn't so sure about this now. About his own life.

With what little hope he had of beating Jirosho, was gone now with worry of the woman he loves and his soon to be child. Ziren stared off to space for a while. Trying to find his voice to speak, but couldn't. He could feel a lump in his chest.

He didn't speak for the longest time, not reacting to what the others were saying to him. Ziren was deep in thought, the look of shock was still on his face, as he couldn't find the words to say anything.

(317 words. MFT)

 

[Midori Futotta]

Before Maru could add anything to his little lie to get him out of trouble, Soku held he hand up to silence him. It was right then that the dark shinobi knew that she didn't believe a word of it. She knew Ziren wasn't exactly the yelling type, but blood lust Ziren was and he was around when he did kidnapped Hana but he found something to throw back at her. Her trips to the city of thieves alone. After Ziren spoke his piece Maru decided to agree with him right off. "Yeah, I don't see why would you go there anyway. Don't you know that there are blood thirsty bandits hanging around there. Hell I live there so you ought to know that place is bad.” Maru folded his arms, shaking his head. He's at home thinking she's talking with Takeshi or going to school but she's running around in the city of thieves that had been well known for its criminal activity. He's gonna have to keep a closer eye on her now because it looks like she's walking into where trouble was.

He would also need to keep an eye on Ziren now because of this whole brother issue he has, sure he understood he wanted to handle this himself but perhaps with him watching over him or even training him that he'll get what he needed to possibility handle this threat….

Then Hana broke the news to the group that she was pregnant. Maru's face had a look of shock and confusion, he knew Hana and Ziren had been a couple but for her to be pregnant? Didn't knew Ziren had it in him, and Maru went over to give him a pat on the back. "Welp, congrats bloodstains you are gonna be a daddy.” Maru said half jokingly, the look on Ziren’s face was priceless. He would have to say exactly what he'd expected when the cat was let out of the bag.

 

[Nanjirou Soku]

There was a silence that settled over the group. None of them had been expecting this annoucment, at least not so publicly."Do we know if it's a bo-..."Soku was interrupted by a feeling. Someone was here with them but not visible. A ghastly presence, slowly the girl drifted away from reality and into the world of spirits. Hemother Nasaki Sana shimmered into existence, a smiling figure."M-Mom?" The young kunoichi asked not believing her eyes. It was actually her.

The ghost drifted over to her looking her and up a smile peeking out."How you've grown, Soku The phantom said putting a hand to her cheek. The touch was warm and instantly Soku felt...complete."But how is this possible? Where am I?"The girl said looking around her not realizing she was envisioning all that was happening before her.

"This is not the realm of the living. You have ventured into your own mind. I am a manfestistion of your memories.The older woman said smiling down at the young girl. Soku still speechless for words tried to piece together a sentence."But how?I never knew such a thing existed."Sana gave a small chuckle before answering."Take a seat, my daughter. I have much to explain but time is short."
[Ghost NPC entered topic]

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

Ziren noticed Soku acting like she is seeing a ghost. But there was nothing there. He finally got up and took Hana by her hands.

"Hana. Let's go talk in private. We can go back to my place so that your more comfortable than just here."

He took her by her hand and walked with her back to his place. He never knew that this would happen. That when she told him that she was pregnant, everything changed in him. She became his first priority before him. He needs to make sure that she is safe. And for that. To secure a bright future for the woman he loves and his son or daughter. He needs to put an end to his brother.

(Topic left with Hana)