Shattered Chains [private]

[Rounin Nao]

Rounin Satsu was sitting in his study silently, doing his paperwork for the branch. His mind was drifting from work to his brother. It has been two months since Tao brought his brother back, and Satsu could barely recognise him. It was as if some one took his brother's shell and replaced everything inside, and in a way they may have done just that. From what Nao told him and Tao it would seem that Nao was no longer the same boy who was taken from their home, he was remade for the purpose of battle, insertion, and assassination. The skill sets that Nao received could be used for a greater calling then simply killing, they can be used to make this world a safer place and a better life to all.

Satsu piled up the last folder on the stack to his right and got up from his chair, and after a small stretch of his extremities he stepped over to a small oak table which hosted an expensive bottle of scotch and some crystal glasses, the man poured himself a drink and sat back down in his chair. Ever since his brother has returned he was thinking how the both of them and Tao can use their collective skills to aid the people of this village and the world in general.

"Nina-chan..."

He called out to his assistant who sits at her desk outside his chamber. The door opened smoothly and the young lady dressed in an elegant black skirt and blouse stepped into the room.

"yes Satsu-sama"

She replied briefly, Satsu took a sip from his drink and placed his glass on the table.

"can you please call in my brother and Tao"

He asked politely of the young women, to which she simply nodded in approval and exited the room. He then turned his gaze to the window overlooking the back yard of the mansion, the sun slowly setting, and ember glow washed the grass outside, a calm wind swayed the trees this way and that way, like a metronome on a slow rhythm. The world seemed peaceful and silent, but Satsu knew that it was not so and he knew that there are measures that needed to be taken to ensure the true safety of peace, and that is why he set in motion an initiative to bring together the people who care about that precious peace and that they could defend it as one from all who would seek to destroy it. But it needs to begin with the people he trusts most.




-------------------------------------------------------------- in the same time not far away --------------------------------------------------------

Nao watched the rays of light pierce the leaves of the tree he was laying under, a lit cigarette pressed between his lips, the smoke flowing gently upwards and away in the summer breeze. He could feel a presence growing near, he didn't mind it any heed.

"Nao-sama, Satsu-sama has requested your presence in his study"

Said the voice of Satsu's assistant Nina, Nao took a moment to focus himself. He dose not like to be called on like a dog, but he knew that his brother did not mean it that way. Nao got up and started heading towards the mansion without speaking a word to Nina, he didn't care much for her, he didn't care much for anyone besides his brother and his comrade in arms Tao.

Tao and himself were sent on a couple of errands and tasks on Satsu's request, some more dangerous then others. Fighting alongside a person creates a bond after a while, and Nao felt a sort of connection with Tao, much like two sides of the same coin, one was light and the other was darkness, both in skill and in personality.

As Nao entered the main entrance hall and made his way on the staircase to the second floor he started forming an idea about what his little brother wanted to discuss with him, most likely it was his little brother's pet project. Satsu has shared with Nao a plan he had to form some sort of group to protect peace, Nao told his brother that he is being naive to think that he could make the world peaceful, but he still aided his brother in his endeavours since he is his little brother and also most of the missions gave Nao an opportunity to kill someone and take off the edge he often gets .

He reached the study where Satsu spent most of his time when he was home and entered.

"Brother!, its good to see you!"

Greeted Satsu with a warm then got up from his armchair and hugged Nao. As much as he disliked it Nao hugged his brother back, Satsu was the one of the very few people he had any kind of pleasant feelings towards.

"good to see you too brother"

Replied politely and took a seat while his little brother leaned on his table.

"so Nao, I believe its finally time to start phase two of the initiative, construction of the HQ is almost done, we just need to start recruiting"

Started Satsu without wasting a moment, he was in some sort of rush as it seemed to Nao.

"what about Tao? did you get the chance to inform him of your little plan?"

Asked Nao, curious to know whether his brother even intended to notify their companion and incorporate him in the grand scheme.

"actually Nao that's why I have called you here, you see I actually need to go and oversee an investigation, it will take me a while and I was hoping you could explain to Tao what we are planing for the near and distant future, I only hope he will feel the same way we do about this project"

Said Satsu, and Nao was not surprised by the request. The sun was almost gone completely and Nao felt like he was not given much of a choice in the matter at hand, but he had nowhere else to be and nothing more important to do so he just shrugged and gave his answer.

"sure why not ill talk to him, but don't expect me to pass on your ideology for you as well"

Said Nao with a careless expression and a monotone voice.

"never expected you to brother, but thanks anyway... well I need to get going and Tao will be here soon I believe, I leave the rest to you Nao"

finished Satsu then grabbed his coat and exited the office where Nao was now sitting alone, awaiting the expected company.

 

[Tao]

things often seem odd and out of place from time to time. To Tao that sort of thing was often the best way to describe his newly found relationship with Satsu's older brother Nao. They were sent to do missions together, or rather, errands, and every so often he caught a glimpse of Nao killing people during work, sure it assisted their objective quite a bit but for Tao that was always a bad move, more so, something that he could hardly tolerate, but for some reason which he himself could not explain, he never even once mentioned that small piece of information to Nao or Satsu despite how much it bothered Tao to no end. He was resting from his last errand, it was exhausting to try and keep up with Nao's hyperactive motions when he has his... Episodes, and even more to make sure he wont be harmed during the missions, especially since Tao didn't exactly like attacking to begin with. He stared at the floor while sitting on his bed in his usual robes with a blank expression, trying to recover as much of his energy as he could in the shortest time possible.

*Knock, knock*

Sounds of knocking came from Tao's door.

"Tao-sama, are you there?"

A voice of a young woman came from beyond the door, a sound Tao quite enjoyed even though he never cared to mention anything about it to anyone.

"Yes, you can come in."

Tao replied and the door instantly opened. A girl whom Tao knew for quite some time entered into his room, she was the daughter of the head of the butlers and now she has also became Satsu's personal assistant, sort of a secretary.

"Tao-sama, Satsu-sama requested your presence in his office"

Tao smiled as he turned his head to look at her, his expression unlike before has lightened up and became somewhat cheerful

"Thanks, I'll be there in a moment"

He spoke and got up, his pale skin look a bit paler today, it seemed almost as if he was sick, although that should be impossible for a person like him, who is not even a human to begin with, he probably didn't have enough time to recover, that's all. Nina made a small bow to Tao and left to continue doing her errands, whatever they were. And along with her, Tao walked towards Satsu's office. It didn't take long before he got there, but when he did, something quite odd happened. When Tao have opened the door, in a quite rude and cheerful way as he always have without the slightest need to knock even once prior to that, he found that Satsu wasn't there, but instead the one who sat in that room and waited to greet him was none other than Nao. With one foot already in, Tao knew that it was a bit too late to turn back and walk away and here he stood in a perfectly awkward situation where he was left alone with him again...

N-Nao... W-what are you doing here? Where is Satsu?"

He asked, his smile now seemed more goofy than cheerful, almost as if he made some sort of mistake and now tried to cover it somehow by pretending it never happened. He looked around again, just to make sure that Satsu was not hiding in one of the distant corners to make some sort of a prank on him, he really wasn't there, how odd.

[MFT]

 

[Rounin Nao]

Subject 46 paced for a while in his younger brother's study, as the sun completely vanished from sight outside he turned on the dim light in the office. Nao briefly went over some notes he needed to share with Tao and it didn't take too long before the door opened abruptly and the pale skinned man stood there at the entrance. It was clear that Tao did not expect Nao to be there, especially without Satsu's presence as well.

"N-Nao... W-what are you doing here? Where is Satsu?"

Said the man with an awkward demeanour about him, Nao in turn gave a polite smile as he should and indicated the arm chair at the visiting end of the desk. While Tao took his seat Nao went over to his brother's liqueur table and poured two glasses of Satsu's finest scotch and placed two ice cubes from the bucket in each one. Nao then stepped over to the desk placed a glass in front of Tao then he took his seat on the large armchair opposite of Tao, the seat which mostly hosted Satsu.
Nao took a sip from his scotch and took out a cigarette to go along with it.

"please Tao-san, drink..."

He asked of the pale man politely and indicated the scotch in front of him, Nao would sit there staring at Tao with penetrating eyes until he would take a sip.
Once Tao did so Nao began a speech he had preprepared while he was waiting in the room.

"well now that we are all comfy and warmed up we can begin the purpose of this meeting we found ourselves in..."

He said while maintaining his polite smile.

"...you see Tao as much as I like you this is not a social occasion..."

He said semi-sarcastically.

"...as you have already noticed my brother's small obsession with a very naive idea of a peaceful world where we all hold hands and chant love songs, and while it is obvious I do not share his ideology I would still gladly help him in his endeavours..."

He said reluctantly and honestly and continued while he kept indulging his burning habit.

"... any way Satsu and I have been working to start a sort of project to try and aid him in his ideology and the time is nearing when we will go public with the announcement and start applying the enormous amount of time and money in more practical measures, and Satsu asked me to give you a briefing on what exactly these operations are and what is their purpose in our deformed world..."

Nao paused and took a sip from the exquisite scotch which was already cool and refreshing as waters from a chilly spring and yet warming from the inside as a fire Jutsu making its way to the very centre of the body.

"...well to swiftly get to the point the purpose of what Satsu called the 'Kagerenmei initiative' is to keep the peace and balance of this world at check and to help make a new generation of peace keepers for the good of all humanity, we will keep the peace by both political means and if necessary aggressive ones as well while trying to do as less harm as possible..."

Said Nao and sighed after the last part, he was one more for actions then for words yet he was still willing to do much he disliked for the sake of his brother.

"...we are already at final stages of building our facilities in Arcadia, and I must say they are quite impressive to say the least, housing, training rooms, council chambers, lecture halls, an arena and even a grand garden in the very centre of it..."

He said while he extinguished the smoke on his palm and threw it in the trash can, Satsu didn't have an ashtray in the study...shame.

"...now.. me and Satsu are co founders of this Kagerenmei and the first two of what we hope to have as six council members who will discuss all sorts of topics when we are fully operational, we would also like you to be the third council member and we need to start our first stage which is recruiting both younger Shinobi and more experienced ones to our noble cause, we will open our doors and our teachings to all who would wish it but only few who will be tested could become more valued and trusted members of the Kagerenmei order, but we have yet to form a ranking system so it is all still in the future..."

Nao finished took a sip from the drink on the desk and then folded his hands and looked at Tao once more with his penetrating gaze.

"so...what say you? my friend..."

 

[Tao]

Tao was clueless on what was going on, his meeting with Satsu ended up forcing him into a room where he had to be alone with Nao, a man who he have personally seen killing others before. The man gestured Tao to take a seat and then offered him a drink. Tao stared at the glass for quite a while and it seemed like Nao was waiting for him to drink that liquid as well. Tao looked up at Nao and then pushed the glass further up the table

Sorry, but I don't drink"

He have had this scenario before, but unlike back then, Tao did not care too much for unpleasentries with this man, especially considering how unpleasant this very meeting was to Tao to begin with. He then listened to the man go on about something called the Kagerenmei initiative, an idea so wonderful on it's most core aspects that Tao could barely believe that it would come out of that man's mouth, but then again, it seemed like he was talking on Satsu's behalf so some of those aspects began to seem more realistic to him than it being Nao's idea. He then mentioned that he wanted Tao to be on the higher ranking of that project as part of the founders. To Tao it seemed like an opportunity he wouldn't want to miss and hearing that Satsu will be part of that project it.

"It sounds like a great idea, you can count me in"

Tao could not even begin to imagen what he have brought onto himself, an order solely dedicated of keeping the peace around the world, that was like a dream come true, he could relate with it's ideology and wanted to use it to make the world a better place, but he knew that he was not strong enough to do it on his own, now he had people who would help him achieve that goal as well... No, its not enough, he haven't achieved his original goal yet, he had to become stronger to be able to protect the people living in this estate, in this village and maybe even the world, he needed more power, and this man who could become instantly stronger might be the key to his ambition.

"Now that I've got a chance to talk to you face to face, I'd like to ask something of you as well... Can you make me stronger?"

Tao asked bluntly, he knew that it was a fifty-fifty chance that anything would come out of it without him sounding like a complete idiot, he had to give it a shot nonetheless.

[MFT]

 

[Rounin Nao]

it is rarely an opportunity to ask for the improbable and receive it, but make a deal with the devil and you will be in his debt for as long as he wishes you to be


It seemed that Tao would not participate in the drinking of what should be a very momentous occasion. Never the less when the talking was over and done the pale skinned man was indeed interested in the Initiative, although he wasn't too talkative or even showed much enthusiasm throughout the conversation. It seemed to Subject 46 that as much as them both didn't really hold much regard to one another, or even the slightest compassion they both has Satsu's best interests in mind, and Nao appreciated that.

Nao wished not to overdue this conversion more that he had to, but when he started getting out of the chair the other continued talking, he asked Nao of something that he didn't really expect to hear. Tao asked to become stronger with 46's help, more accurately he asked if Nao could make him stronger.

"ohhh.... well isn't this a surprise... I think I'll sit back down for this..."

Said Nao coldly and sat back down while on his face a mischievous smile. He folded his fingers in front of his face and leaned into the chair.

"well Tao-san, I do indeed have the power to make you stronger, in ways you cannot even imagine my dear comrade..."

He said and looked at the pale man with his dead piecing eyes.

"but you must understand that what I can give you is what many call a curse!, yet I call it a blessing...the mark of the cursed seal, it can make even the most inexperienced academy student a ruthless killing machine, and by scribing the right seal on the right person it can make them an unstoppable force!...."

He paused for a moment to let the other understand the great power he can receive.

"so in summery, yes I can make you stronger!, but if you want my gift you will need to give me something in return... If! I give you my gift you must make a vow to me that when the day comes... and it will!, when I ask you of this one favour you will preform it blindly or you must give the gift back!, so it is up to you dear Tao... if you are prepared to make this hallowed vow and swear to me that you will uphold your side of this deal or give back this powerful gift!... if so then I will gladly make you stronger then you could ever imagine!, all you need to do my dear Tao...is say 'yes'..."

Finished Nao, hiding that same smile behind his folded hands, he actually had nothing to ask in return from Tao... for now.

 

[Tao]

Tao saw the man leaving, or at first it seemed that way, but when he made his request Nao stayed, he even seemed quite interested to hear such an odd request from Tao, a man whom he practically didn't even know. Tao sat silently and listened to every bit of information given by Nao regarding that power he could give him. The cursed seal, a curse which will give a tremendous amount of power to it's wielder but in return will take something away from him as well... Tao have seen it before, he saw what it can give and what it takes away, the man in front of him is the living proof that it exists and that it is a force that cannot be controlled, normally at least, since at the end of the battle these two shared, Nao managed to gain control over his power, that very instance made him stronger, much stronger than he've been before. Tao had to risk it, it felt to him like he was selling his soul to the devil and probably that is exactly the case, but he needed this power, the power that can protect the world against these monsters called Shinobi, each of them can easily take many lives let alone destroy entire villages and even countries single handed. He have made up his mind, regardless of the cost he must have it, even if it means that the favor Nao spoke of will force Tao to do unspeakable acts against the very thing he believes in.

"I accept your terms, Nao. I vow to you to uphold one request of your choosing, regardless of what it is..."

A small sign of hesitation came from his voice near the end of the sentence, but it was too late now, he had to go through with his decision.

"I'll do it."

Tao concluded, he hoped the day to uphold this request would never come, he was terrified of the possibilities it could hold, but he must assume this absolute power no matter what. He then still was inexperienced, so whatever crossed his mind thus far were things that that he experienced before or seen Nao do during their errands, but Tao did hope that the day will never come where he will find himself killing another man again. He then put both arms on the sides of the armchair.

"You must excuse me for not talking too much today, I must be a bit exhausted from the last errand we ran,"

Tao paused for a moment, he still felt a bit at a lose due to this sudden conversation, he didn't expect himself to ask of Nao for power nor to even agree to his insane demands. But it didn't take him long before he continued

"You know... I could really go for some fresh air, want to join me?"

He stated, he felt like he was losing his mind, offering Nao to accompany him off work was not something he could even imagen himself doing, maybe he really was out of his mind and every single thing he said today was actually a mistake, but he decided to just roll with whatever life throws at him. This will probably be the day Tao will regret the most.

 

[Rounin Nao]

Nao sat there and awaited a moment while the other clearly contemplated heavily the answer he will give.

""I accept your terms, Nao. I vow to you to uphold one request of your choosing, regardless of what it is...""

Said Tao finally, Nao smiled still, he found the situation amusing and very interesting. It was no secrete that Tao didn't really like Nao, and yet he accepted the terms of the agreement, is this man so power hungry that he will do whatever Nao will ask of him, or are his motives more pure then they seem?. It mattered little to Nao, even the request he would one day ask of the pale skinned man mattered little to him, he only wanted to do what he always dose, play a game.

""You must excuse me for not talking too much today, I must be a bit exhausted from the last errand we ran,""

Continued the man before him, Nao now leaned back in his chair, his demeanour calm and his expression was almost warm and kind with a small smile and this time his eyes weren't piercing or engaging, the were just calm and considering. The reason for that is that he knew that cursed seals indeed give power to the cursed one, but they also create a connection him and the man who inscribed it, what it actually meant even Nao didn't know as it was his first time scribing a seal on someone.

""You know... I could really go for some fresh air, want to join me?""

Suddenly asked the pale skinned man, Nao was taken by surprise for a moment but after a short second of thought he answered back.

"sounds like a good idea Tao-san, a bit of fresh air is always pleasant"

Nao said and got up from his chair and went to the door and opened it, he stood there until the other came to join as well. Once they were out side walking on the neatly cut grass of the mansion grounds Nao would look up at the starry sky, the moon is at its third quarter and there were no clouds in sight. The cool breeze was subtle and inviting, as if the world itself knew what was happening here today and was approving it.

"ya know something Tao...every now and again I look at a sky as calm as tonight's, for a moment I forget about all I've been through and I see the beauty of this world, for a few moments I forget how cruel this world actually is, I forget that this world will never change because people will never change..."

Nao stopped for a moment, he didn't really know why he was sharing this with Tao, maybe the connection between them was already growing stronger, maybe it was just the calm night taking its euphoric effect.

"...I only have one hope in this world... I hope that I will one day be proven wrong and my brother will bring actual peace to this vile world, even though it is a very scarce hope..."

He said and then paused once more. He readied himself for the ritual, gathering chackra to his right hand.

"whenever you are ready we can begin Tao-san"

He finished and awaited the others response.

 

[Tao]

As soon as Nao approved of Tao's request, both of them took their leave and exited the office. With a couple of turns and open doors they have found themselves outside of the main building. The moon shined especially brightly today although it was only three quarters full, it seemed as it's silver rays were illuminating everything in this special kind of divine coating that made everything look beautiful and maybe even a bit less colorful, that is of course only coming from Tao's personal point of view, in fact, everything about that day felt off to him for some odd reason, the way that he felt, the way that he perceive the world and even his decision making, all to this point were off and unsettling for some odd reason he could not quite explain himself. And then he suddenly got caught within a conversation with the man who began to show some more emotion of himself, something that Tao never actually seen happening before, he was opening up.

It seemed that Nao have been through some horrible experiences before and had hoped that somehow by a streak of luck or maybe some sort of a miracle his brother's vision would come true, a vision of a better world in a state of peace, maybe even eternal. Tao let him talk as much as he needed, he didn't want to ruin the moment by engaging further into conversation, but soon enough it all ended, and Nao asked if they could proceed with Tao's request. Little that he know that far away from where they stood in the forest somewhere deep within the continent the one who gave birth to Tao was fleeing from what at first appeared as lost souls and later on discovered to be hunters who wanted to claim the mystical being that was roaming that same forest.

Tao began feeling even more uneasy then before, his legs were trembling, not from fear, or any emotion in particular, it was just a sudden reaction he could not explain, but he decided to shake it off, he waited enough as it is for the power that was about to be handed down to him from the man who stood next to him.

"I'm ready, please begin"

Tao spoke, this time without a shred of hesitation, he decided to take it as it is, for the better and for the worst and no matter what is going to happen from now on, he will stay true to his one and only divine mission, to protect the world, or maybe even to save it from the monsters that roam it freely and destroy it every given moment. He closed his eyes shut and clenched both of his hands to his chest, knowing that what will happen next will most likely be the most horrible experience he have ever had the chance to come across, or at least that was his speculation considering Nao's speech from earlier. His legs stopped shaking and when he opened his eyes again, he realized that the ritual haven't started yet, but some of the colors began to come back to him, he was feeling slightly better too, he couldn't explain it, maybe it was because of his conviction towards his ultimate goal or maybe there was another reason behind it, it was all too mysterious to him.

"... Will it take long?"

He asked, just realized that this is one of the things he should have asked back in the office, how long would such a ritual take, was it even a ritual to begin with? Now that he thought about it, he knew nothing about this curse aside from the way people call it and that's only from what Nao have stated so far, which is probably nothing in compared to what he actually had to know about this... Curse.

[mft]

 

[Rounin Nao]

Tao was ready, the setting was set and it almost seemed as if there was something else there in the night with them, something watching, observing setting in motion something far greater then they even understand. Nao felt the chakra flowing through his right arm, he took one last look at the moon up high, looking for some sort of eye looking back at him... there was nothing there but stars.

"... Will it take long?"

Asked Tao, Subject 46 snapped back to focus. the preparations were complete, all was ready.

"not at all my friend...."

Said Nao with a calm voice and pressed the cakra filled palm onto the back of Tao's neck.
It was odd, it only took a split second to finish the procedure never the less it seemed longer and Nao could feel at that time their very beings connecting, he felt his own thoughts and memories mingle with the others, emotions, visions and pictures flashed before his eyes both of his and Tao's. A split second that seemed to last and hour at least, until at the end of things he found himself standing in a dark space in front of the pale skinned man, there was nothing else there no sound nor scenery only the two of them and nothing more.

Nao opened his eyes and fell down to his knees. Scribing cursed seals is not a light task to take, it could be a while until he could do it once more.
46 looked at the other, in his eyes both wonder and manic joy.

"tell me Tao...."

He began, breathing deep and heavy.

"What do you feel?!"


[celestial seal given]

 

[Tao]

Tao closed his eyes and waited for it to be over. The man reassured him that scribing the seal didn't take a long time, so there was no need to worry, and then he began to press chakra into Tao's neck from behind. At first nothing in particular happened, but there was a strange feeling, as if something invaded his body, something that should have never been there in the first place. He could feel how the inserted chakra began to pass his artificial skin and began to mix with Tao's chakra, spreading like wildfire through Tao's body. He then began to see images of people confined in a room dropping dead and corpses falling from all over, many dreadful images of death and suffering. And then Nao collapsed on his knees and asked Tao how does he feel.

"W-wrong... This feels wrong..."

Tao spoke, his voice was shaking. Tao began to cover his face with his hands, he began to form claws with his fingers around his eyes and suddenly it felt like the world stopped, a brief moment where he could see everything still in it's place, the falling leaf, the cloud, the grass, and even Nao, everything stopped... Including him. Something was strange, he couldn't understand what was going on but it was definatly wrong, it shouldn't happen, he shouldn't have requested Nao's help, everything seemed like a mistake at that point and then Tao screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Dark purple crystals began to form on Tao's skin and it crept through his body like it was a spreading virus, his body began to grow crystals randomly which expanded further and further until Tao was no longer there, or at least so it seemed to anyone who would look from afar, all that remained was a large lump of crystal standing where Tao used to stand. The crystals then shot out into every direction, and a spiral of crystals began to form around what seemed to be Tao, it looked a lot like him, but it was hard to tell, most of his skin was crystalized and there were crystals sticking out of his head, shoulders, forearms, forelegs, lower jaw all the way to under his ears and on his back. Tao then extended his hand out towards the sky and his forearm began to crystalize further, it turned into a thick spear which surpassed by quite a bit his elbow and his hand.

"gRRRRRRRRR"

Tao growled like some sort of animal, it seemed like he instinctively began to mimic things he saw early in his life back when he was in the forest, or at least partially mimicking them. He bended his knees and lowered his upper body while stretching back his lance while pointing it out forward, it seemed like he was about to attack, something that only he could see, but as he began he dash, he collapsed onto the ground, what looked like he tripped over something, in actuality his body just gave away and he no longer had the strength to stand up, he just fell with all the momentum he created and rolled through the ground for a short while. The crystals that formed around him and on him as well as those that were shot out began to break into smaller and smaller pieces, as if it was slowly disintegrating. Tao lost consciousness there, actually he lost consciousness a while back but now even his subconscious mind stopped functioning and so did his body, for the first time in his life, he was sleeping.

[MFT]
[Topic Left Unless Stopped?]