Vengeance for the Victor [Haru/Roku?]

[Sunaku Harupia]

That’s was…disturbing. The trashing of the men, how his face lost color with each second…teetering between life and death, flailing his hand in the air and catching he tendril to try and save himself…He wondered just how many members of the Anbu used sand jutsu during their interrogation. He had heard about how simple water could be used to drive a person insane… and seeing how sand was just as easily manipulated, and yet much rougher in texture and density, one could only imagine the potential… But that was one form of “art” Harupia was never interested int.

And yet here he was, tormenting another me. Deservedly most likely…but could he be sure? He was a member of the Cabal, this much he admitted…but as much as he talked about violence, he never saw him do anything. And to top it off, the men seemed to be in a blissful afterglow, begged him for more. Harupia could consider himself lucky. In only two visits within the Obsidian Palace, he learned the nature of the place was just as stomach churning as he feared…though he could not be certain this was a fair representation of how it worked on usually…these were insane times all things considered.

He soon started talking again. An while Harupia didn’t want to have a conversation about definitions of nature phenomenon, the other things he said were…interesting. As crazy as it seemed, he seemed to be getting somewhere. Or at least the men was leading him to think so. He talked about Sousuke again…and a few chunin, letting them in. No one was let in or out…no one tried due to the threats of explosives, but they would be foolish to simply rely on fear. A gatekeeper…was this men responsible for guarding the gates? He mentioned missing out on the fun… one could assume having to be rooted in one spot would give you less time to rampage through the village. And yet he was here now, rather than somewhere outside waiting for the rest of the Cabal. Perhaps his was to bloodthirsty for his own good?.. Well, he guessed he could safely assume that much for some time now..

But all the other things he said…them venturing into the center of the Storm and failing to stop it…one of them causing the Storm…And Akio, that damned men. After a bit of silence, again attempting to bore the captive a bit he would say “It is true, Suna did not do enough to help those still on the surface… we didn’t do enough to help those within the village…It’s something that had been weighing down my mind for months now…But without that, this whole underground village, there would be even more dead, there would be no hope at all. And if you mean the fact that a Sunan is causing the storm is how we betrayed you…If anyone one of you came telling us that, I’d be the first to try to get us to the center. Digging through the underground. trying to drop from the air, I don’t care. I’d give anything to stop the storm from happening…but now here we are, having this little chit chat, while the dead bodies grow cold on the streets. I’m sure it’ll be reassuring to those who are suffering from the storm to know even more people are dead…and no progress in trying to calm the storm has been made because of it. Congratulations”

As he spoke he sand used to black the men’s nostrils and earlier to hold in his body retracted. The men was starting to break away from the bonds…but Harupia felt he knew how to appease him. Even though the though itself made his stomach churn. Still, he needed to know more…to see if any of this made sense. And even if all of this would turn out to be a lie...a part of him enjoyed making the Cabal member suffer. Even if he enjoyed it as well. Leaning in closer Harupia said “Who are the Cabal? Who do you represent?” and from the sand pulling behind him, two thin tendrils with a point end erupted, lodging themselves into Shouki’s feet, sliding slowly deeper and deeper with each passing moment. Harupia spoke on “When did you meet the Steward? Who was with him? What “game” did you play with him? What do you know about the Storm exactly? And just how much do you know about Akio?” With each question one more tendrils shoot up, skewering through the masochistic captive. The hands, the shoulders and one trough the men’s middle fingers. The tendrils would slowly bore into the men’s skin, twisting around, the grains of sand scraping against the skin. He could feel his own stomach churn, imagining how it could feel, what he was doing to the men…And he simply hoped it would turn out to be worth it.

Mft, Wc= 809

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

“It is true, Suna did not do enough to help those still on the surface… we didn’t do enough to help those within the village…It’s something that had been weighing down my mind for months now…But without that, this whole underground village, there would be even more dead, there would be no hope at all. And if you mean the fact that a Sunan is causing the storm is how we betrayed you…If anyone one of you came telling us that, I’d be the first to try to get us to the center. Digging through the underground. trying to drop from the air, I don’t care. I’d give anything to stop the storm from happening…but now here we are, having this little chit chat, while the dead bodies grow cold on the streets. I’m sure it’ll be reassuring to those who are suffering from the storm to know even more people are dead…and no progress in trying to calm the storm has been made because of it. Congratulations”

Congratulations... "We have been anathematized by that cataclysmic maelstrom for over two decades," Shouki reminded Harupia. Why would he or anyone brave the storm, against the force of an impossible gale. He and the remainder of these anarchists were exceptions, not the rule for what a man or in some cases questionable woman in Wind Country could endure. Lesser had killed his family. It took their entire lives to each these pinnacles of strength, they had no honored families or legacies their parents passed down to them to help them grow in strength. They clawed, scraped and stole the powers each of them had. "Why would I come to my enemies and tell them that they are doing bad things?"[/b] Having one, means having something to follow. Once you question it, it means having none. People seek it, but some do and some don't find it. What is it? -- Purpose. It had been his purpose as well as that of his 'allies' for a lack of a better word to become strong enough to do what Sunagakure has failed to do all these years.

His bloodied arm broke from the bindings. Deep self-inflicted lacerations dripped with dark blood that ran between the muscles of his forearm to his fingertips in small tributaries before trickling off the most distal point. As Harupia leaned in, Shouki reached for the captor's throat but his legs were still bound and kept him grounded. The highest he would reach would be Harupia's clavicle or shoulder if the Sunaku failed to evade, his surprisingly long and pointed nails (considering his gender) digging into any flesh he could. "I told you that I would make you scream darling," the restraints about his legs groaned as he exerted force.

“Who are the Cabal? Who do you represent?”

Shouki let out a laugh as he leaned forward. The bindings about his ankle starting to stretch for the efforts exerted. Then without warning, something pierced his flesh and dug into and through his foot. Drilling deeper through thin skin and between tiny metacarpal bones. Ripping through capillaries and blood-vessels and tiny nerves. Pain shot from his foot up his leg to his knee. It burned. "Fuck!" Shouki snapped, his grip loosening if he had grabbed hold of Harupia. His claw-like hand swiped at Harupia while he answered through gritted teeth. "We are mercenaries, we take jobs and make our own. We... represent... ourselves!" It was the truth in a way, he did not know that he was being sent on this particular mission by the Diamyo nor did he know the intricacies of a hierarchy above Akio.

“When did you meet the Steward?"

Something broke through his right hand, nailing it back down to the chair. The slow-moving current of sand, stained with blood made Shouki hiss. "The day we invaded."

"Who was with him?"

Another tendril of sand broke through his shoulder, pushing him back into his chair. He tried to push forward, forcing the sand drill to dig deeper into his join. "I dunno!" His brow furrowed.

"What “game” did you play with him?"

A stream of sand shot through his left hand. Pushing it down onto the arm of his chair. "A riddle! I wanted him in!" He yelled, biting down on his lower lip, his pointed teeth piercing the flesh. Blood pooled into his mouth, the warm metallic fluid soothed his palate.

"What do you know about the Storm exactly?"

A spear of harsh sand shot through his left shoulder, skewering him once again. He let out a gasp, his cheeks flushed as his breath hastened. "Because I live there and have spent my life trying to master it!"

"And just how much do you know about Akio?”

A final dagger of grit broke through his middle finger, pushing into his phalanges. His face contorted into a twisted image of bliss. "I do not even know his face, just that he is one of your... s." His head rolled back and rested against the back of the chair. "I fucking love you."

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia remained calm as the man reached for him, digging his nails into his shoulder, after leering at him earlier. He was expecting him to break free at some point… and he had his idea prepared before that. As his sand priced through his skin, Harupia pulled back, avoiding the hand clawing at him as the men cursed. It seemed his little…idea was working, causing a barrage of screams and curses, but also some answers. Were they true, were they lies? Were they worth anything? He didn’t have anyone writing down these, nothing as proof besides his own word…and he was further hurting the men before him. In retrospect, letting the medic walk of seemed to be an…unfortunate decision.

And yet here he was, pricing the skin of the men, his sand slowly drilling in this skin…He knew nothing of him besides him guarding the gates and being a creep…there were the rumors of the carnage found at the gates once people went through it, but he couldn’t say for sure it was this man…but he was part of the people who caused this whole mess…he seemed to relish in all the violence and tragedy that happened here…He was in his control, at least for now, he could rip him to shreds if he wanted to. But the men was laughing about it, He was enjoying it, praising him like he was some courtesan…the Sunaku’s stomach churned, just as the sand in the men’s wounds…

But he needed to know more…and part of him wanted to hurt the men…to try and brake him, to see if he truly was a masochistic lunatic, or was it all just a very well maintained pose. Stepping forward, he shoved his hand towards his forehead, attempting to shove the back of his head against the chairs back as he said “Maybe if you weren’t fucking idiots and instead of deciding we were you enemies, and come to us asking for help, maybe we could have saved lives, instead of late them waste away for your entertainment or sense of justice!” rising his voice, hearing it echo through the halls. Stepping before the men he spoke on “Make your own jobs huh? Well I don’t think a crusade against a village is cheap…someone needed to fund this, who?” for a second making the sand drill harder into the men’s flash, his hand slapping him across the face “Who was with the steward? How did they look, how many people were there? And if you wanted him in, why keep him out in the first place?!” Another slap, and the tendril by the fingers split gently, a smaller stream of sand starting to creep under Shouki’s nail, the sand in the finger moving slwoly since he felt this was the most potential damage he could do. He finally shouted out “IM NOT ASKING HOW YOU KNOW, IM ASKING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE STORM! AND WHO IS AKIO? A MISSING NIN? A SON OF A LONG LOST SUNOHOSHI,WHAT DO YOU KNOW?” The last question was a bit of a trick, since he did know about Akio being a former ranger…at least from the men’s words. He wanted to see if Shouki would repeated that or say something new. Though by this point it was hard to tell whether he would gain truth, or did Akio lie before…though Kuro did seem to have some familiarity to him. And there was the pressing question…what happens after all this as he kept boring through the men's skin, slowly but surely? He wasn’t sure…but he was braced for anything.

Mft, Wc= 566

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

The sandwitch held his head against the back of the chair. He was starting to get into this. Shouki choked out a raspy laugh as pain shot through his body, causing his back to arch as the grit drilled into a nerve. The maladies of the flesh should be avoided, that is the heathen word. Look onto torments of the body with dismay, panic and flee. Lament and plead for safe harbor. Agony such as this is what makes them men. It is this that truly makes us divine and yet so mortal. It warns of of peril and it is a consequence for a foolhardy act. PAIN, the most necessary ally. As weakness attempts to consume one back to the darkness and the nothing, pain holds him to this world. It reminds him that he is alive!

“Maybe if you weren’t fucking idiots and instead of deciding we were you enemies, and come to us asking for help, maybe we could have saved lives, instead of late them waste away for your entertainment or sense of justice!”

The Sunan roared. Shouki frowned, "...that hurts. No need to be rude now. We were having a wonderful time with the torturing and the ...blood." Harupia's body directly before him, the large and powerful man looked him over. So much red sand, was that all his blood making those pretty colors. "You like this don't you. Hurting me. Doing to me... a gentler version of what I have done to your fellow shinobi. It is utterly liberating itsn't it? To forget your pride, your petty boring morals and to stain your hands red!"

“Make your own jobs huh? Well I don’t think a crusade against a village is cheap…someone needed to fund this, who?”

The grit moved against his open wounds, piercing through his limbs and binding him to this chair still. He lifted his arm, pushing it against the sand, watching it turn dark as the granules stole his blood and it swirled into the golden earth. "I do not know," Shouki grinned through the blinding pain that left his eyes seeing white hot lights. *Crack!* A slap to the face made the room briefly turn black. "Please sir... may I have another?" Shouki quipped. It did not change what he knew, but his mind ran through various scenarios. Haru did ask the right question, but Shouki was not privy to that information. The sandrill pressed into him even harder as his mind attempted to wrap itself around each and every scenario. "Took you long enough," Shouki taunted, his mind elsewhere. His breaths raspy and rapid. Money was not something Wind Country had an abundance of and he was not cheap. "I cost more than dinner and a flick," Shouki grunted as the sand drilled through another nerve, this time in his shoulder sending a current of pure pain through his arm that would have made a lesser man scream.

The Merchant Lords? Not possible, they had too much to loose and no reason to hurt their own clients.

The Sunan Government? No... they lost most of their own infrastructure during the attack, they were never given any instruction to avoid hurting a particular family or structure.

That rules out anyone actively living in Sunagakure in fact.​

"Sunagakure has been a shit-stain on this whole nation for centuries," Shouki griped as he felt sand grate between his bones. Sunagakure has attracted all forms of ne'er do well and have created the means of destruction and war that has nearly led the entire nation to ruin. In the end, all Sunagakure serves as is a military force. A military force without leadership or at the very least not under the purview of the Wind Country government. "Could it be that high up?" He muttered to himself out loud, beads of sweat collecting on his brow and neck. Could their orders be trickling down from such a distant source? But who... and how? "I... dunno..." Shouki admitted, his voice grim. "Someone rich... and someone that hates you." Shouki mused, stating the obvious. He was not giving Haru any answers that the shinobi did not already have an answer to. "Erghgh," Shouki complained. He was having a hard time keeping track... making sense, his thoughts anesthetizing the pain.

"Diamyo...?" It was a guess and nothing more. It was someone up there, someone dam close in power, wealth and with similar gains. The many nomadic, neanderthal-like tribes of Wind lacked the sophistication. The wealthy in this country had too much to lose from a purely fiscal standpoint unless they could replace them. Sunagakure was intended to serve as the army of Wind, a station they have failed to occupy for decades.

“Who was with the steward? How did they look, how many people were there? And if you wanted him in, why keep him out in the first place?!”

The sand digging into his hand forked off, providing him no respite as it plunged beneath the Cabal member's thick fingernail. "Fuck!" Shouki snapped, the new pain unexpected. "Was waiting for them! I knew they were coming: Three Sunans and another: mother and child, three men... one being your Steward, one foreign and another man." They were not important people, not to him at least. They asked all the wrong questions and left the way they came on top of some giant beetle. He should have killed them, leaving a terrible mess for the ninja janitor in the morning - but NO the boss wanted to let them live. "I played doorman, I was not supposed to let them in and I was supposed to tell them what was going on. Three Questions. But I gave them more." That was his good deed of the day, yet he grew weary from the searing pain. The jokes were coming few and far between. *CRACK* His head fell forward with the last strike of Haru's hand. His fiery hair a tangled mess and blood dripped from his wound, slow and dark. He sucked in a lungful of air through his pointed teeth.

“IM NOT ASKING HOW YOU KNOW, IM ASKING WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE STORM! AND WHO IS AKIO? A MISSING NIN? A SON OF A LONG LOST SUNOHOSHI,WHAT DO YOU KNOW?”

"Just that he is probably one of yours and that he is a fucking dick." Shouki answered as he hacked up a mouthful of blood. "WIND," he coughed. "Someone controls it," he rasped. They never could get to the center of the storm or learn that they were patsy's too. A wall of lightning and a gravitational force flung them into the dangerous wilds before they could face the cause. He had not idea what or who was beyond the veil, only that for a brief moment he saw a calm expanse behind a wall of crackling electricity.

 

[Sand Council]

Haru... Haaaaarrrruuuuu....! DoN't YoU wAnT tO pLaY???

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Haru simply listened to Shouki speak, the sand still embedded in the captives body, throw calming down into he drilling by the time he talking about the storm again. His words echoed through hi mind…some more then they should. The information was there, though an unreliable source it might have been. Still it was better than nothing. He seemed to truly not know who was paying for this or who was stopping them from entering the eye of the storm…The mention of the Daimyo seemed more like someone throwing wild guesses…but in terms of the people who had enough influence to pull something like this of, it was pretty high there. One could think then coming to ask before ordering the annihilation of part of you armed forces would be a smart move… What weighed mostly on his mind was him talking about his feelings, the enjoyment of the act…he couldn’t deny he was right in part. It felt enjoyable to pay back for the things that happened. Getting his hand dirty, quite literary from the strike she made, covered in the men’s sputtered blood. Shouki seemed to understand this feeling of power and freedom quite well…and this connection between them filled him with shame.

One by one, slowly, he started to retract the sand from the wounds of the captive as he said in a somber tone “It was as enjoyable as going to the Black Bazar, finding a lady who had a low price of negotiating her affection and spending the night with her…” he used as the sand moved over his hand’s, starting to scrape away the blood as he said “It might feel good when you do it, but then you spend the next few day’s wondering if there isn’t some sickness rotting within you. To ashamed to try and ask for help, until its perhaps too late. You make fun of my pride and moral’s… They are the things that keep me sane. I am a Shinobi, who many see as mere tools and weapons…and it would be quite comfortable for them if we were just that. But I know I am more than that…I’m more than some maniac who needs to clean his pants of any time someone stabs him in the gut”

Quite crude speech coming from the artistic mind, but he was getting more and more tired of the entire situation. He never flaunted the fact he was of higher status then the people he might be dealing with. He did his best to help the entire village prosper…But having this savage animal in human skin push him to such extremes…even if he learned something he couldn’t feel like he was just as damage, though in different ways. But he couldn’t keep trying to hide whenever he was distressed. He needed to make this failures into a lesson…better himself.

After cleaning the hands he rubbed his wrists gently, the sand returning to a more neutral position, binding down Shoukis hands and legs as he said “And for all your talk of being such a liberated spirit, you were the one being a mere underling within the Cabal. I mean, from what I understand, you were just there to guard the gates…I guess you were to afraid to have Sousuke in the village to stop you and just wanted him in the village so you could finish him off, hmm? That didn’t work out to well did it?” he turned to Shouki, his gaze calm though determined as he asked “Was It worth it? Being a little monkey for people? I’m sure you get to guy some helpless civilians…did that make any of the paint you felt go away? Brought back the life of those who suffer dint he storm? Or is it just that the people on the surface are a comfortable little front for you to excuse the animal you have become? A savage psychopath who believes to be avenging some great injustice, while in reality he was just lashing out at innocent people due to his own impotence to deal with the true threat?”. He moved in closer and said, staring into the men’s eye’s “ In different circumstances we could be standing on the corpse of the one who caused the storm…now your barely alive in the ruins of a city, over the piles of dead bodies, and everyone else still suffers. Was. It.WORTH! IT?!” he finally asked in a shout, once again echoing through the halls of the Obsidian palace. It was one thing that Haru repeated in his minds. IN spite of the pointlessness of this whole situation, the chaos and suffering, in spite of all the decks stacked against them, they one. Even if the Cabal would think that dealing such a crushing blow was a victory in itself, they were still standing. They would grow stronger. And the Cabal would pay for what they done now, or next time they faced off. He was bruised and battered, physically and mentally…But he would come out of this standing, stronger…though perhaps, not quite the same person he was before.

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

As the twisting sand retracted from his wounds, the grains blackened with dried blood Shouki eyed his fresh, deep piercing wounds that broke through his flesh and bone to the other side. The air touching the raw wounds stung, but it was his drill like manipulation of the sands that nailed him to his seat. Unhindered by Harupia's penetrating sands he pulled his back from the chair; he was not attacking the Sunan physically but he had been attacking him the entire time without his knowing. He was a man of barbaric strength, as evidenced by his greatblade and his successes in killing so many before he was eaten by the sands.

“It was as enjoyable as going to the Black Bazar, finding a lady who had a low price of negotiating her affection and spending the night with her…”

"Spending the night... how romantic," Shouki cooed as the next skewer was pulled from his flesh and a sardonic smile masked his paroxysm as freed nerves shot burning pain up his limbs and blood dripped from his gaping wounds.

“It might feel good when you do it, but then you spend the next few day’s wondering if there isn’t some sickness rotting within you. To ashamed to try and ask for help, until its perhaps too late. You make fun of my pride and moral’s… They are the things that keep me sane. I am a Shinobi, who many see as mere tools and weapons…and it would be quite comfortable for them if we were just that. But I know I am more than that…I’m more than some maniac who needs to clean his pants of any time someone stabs him in the gut”

Shouki's golden eyes cast down at his crotch. "You noticed eh?" He cracked his neck side to side, making a sickening popping sound that could easily be heard from Harupia's vantage point. "Let me ask you this..." Shouki inquired with the same mordant expression on his face. "Why is doing what you enjoy so wrong? You eat... drink... fuck... and then berate yourself for savoring it, calling yourself a glutton, drunkard or a slut. You make yourself feel unclean because of some arbitrary list of rules someone set before you telling you how to be a good boy. I am a bad man. A monster in fact, but now are you really any different from me? Mine died quick, most of them anyways but can you truly hold their stubbornness against me?"</I><I>

“And for all your talk of being such a liberated spirit, you were the one being a mere underling within the Cabal. I mean, from what I understand, you were just there to guard the gates…I guess you were to afraid to have Sousuke in the village to stop you and just wanted him in the village so you could finish him off, hmm? That didn’t work out to well did it?”

Shouki's eyes looked up at the miffed shinobi as the sands wrapped around his limbs again. 'Tighter... Tighter please...' he mouthed revealing his pointed teeth yet again. "I am free, I am more liberated than you will ever be. You are probably feeling sick now, sick in the pit of your stomach because you enjoy this in some twisted way. Apologetic because your sadistic pleasure may have offended someone, but who is going to know what you did here besides me. Are you going to apologize to your victim? Commit yet another sin by taking my life? An eye-for-an-eye they say, the only problem with that old adage is that you will sacrifice your eyes rendering this vengeance you so enjoy." He took in a breath, the grainy binding fetters did not serve as a true tourniquet as more of his divine blood dripped away. "You are restrained even more than me, nothing holds me to this chair besides your grime and your will. A hell of a lot more than that is holding you back. STOPPING you from doing what you want to do, telling you what you should do... WHAT YOU MIST DO! I don't give a shit that Sousuke got into the village, he is just a stupid man who thinks he is superior in some way when he is inferior in most. He satisfied a need of mine so he was more than compensated for his time while I am rarely for mine." He was alluding to the ring he provided Sousuke assuming that the Steward figured out the childish riddle and found what he had left behind.

“Was It worth it? Being a little monkey for people? I’m sure you get to guy some helpless civilians…did that make any of the paint you felt go away? Brought back the life of those who suffer dint he storm? Or is it just that the people on the surface are a comfortable little front for you to excuse the animal you have become? A savage psychopath who believes to be avenging some great injustice, while in reality he was just lashing out at innocent people due to his own impotence to deal with the true threat?”

"Fuck yes," Shouki replied without hesitation. "I am living the life I wish to live, a king in my own mind. Sure... the last few minutes, maybe hours might suck, but until then bonanza!" He exclaimed as he let out a cackle. "You, on the other hand, have been putting yourself through an unnecessary hell for what. Because you need to follow rules. Protocols. Afraid to live with the guilt or the consequences of your heart. I am everything I ever wanted to be. I am what I should be, YOU are the one who is built wrong." He countered. He pulled against the sands that held him to the chair, the chair that was not going to be able to hold him forever. The chakra Harupia was exerting was significantly more than his own and soon enough it would eat away at the ninja's life force. Shouki may be injured, but he was not out of the fight just yet. All this time, despite new wounds he was resting... rebuilding... repairing. Those trained to the peak of their potential healed fast. SO FAST. The bleeding from those fresh wounds was starting to seal.

“In different circumstances we could be standing on the corpse of the one who caused the storm…now your barely alive in the ruins of a city, over the piles of dead bodies, and everyone else still suffers. Was. It.WORTH! IT?!”

"Are we back on this again," Shouki complained. "Who said that whatever is causing this storm is alive?" Think about it, just for a moment. How can one person constantly keep a storm as large and as powerful as this raging for thirty years. No cessation. Did this person, these people not sleep? Not eat? Never a hiccup in their activity. "Something was in there, but it was definitely not alive." Shouki explained with a sneer. "But even if it were, YOU'D KILL him... her... it? Won't that hurt your mother's feelings, you cannot disappoint your mother now." He shook his head as he made a tsk'ing sound with his tongue and teeth. "You cannot have it both ways. You can never have it both ways. To be the man you want to be... the man you must be, you have to become what you never wanted to be. There is nothing wrong with embracing your nature. At heart we are all petty and terrible - we hold grudges, keep secrets, tell lies, HURT the people we love. You do it, I do it! The only difference between you and I -- I do not hide it." He waited a moment, he let everything he said sink in. Even heros were bad guys. To the victor goes the spoils and the winner always writes history in a favorable light.

 

[Sand Council]

Haru... Haaaaarrrruuuuu....! DoN't YoU wAnT tO pLaY???

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Haru remained silent for the most part, seeing how the men joked around even more, but then he went on another little tirade. A series of tirades even. It was quite astonishing that the men still felt he was better than him, and he assumed most of the people in Suna. He made a bold claim calling Sousuke a lesser man, but Haru dint speak, just watching him. He saw the wounds heal, him growing all restless in the seat. The men’s body was truly astonishing it seemed…yet it was clear he could be incapacitated, seeing how the medic from before needed to heal him. The men was once again going for the verbal beat down. Some of it of course did strike hit the mark, Haru pacing before the men, adjusting his wrists constantly.

After the final words of Shouki he said “Seems the pain is starting to confuse you a bit. A glutton eats so much his body grows weak and soft…a drunkard drinks so much his body and mind erodes into nothingness. And after a passionate night with a women or men, one can find it hard to muster pup the his full strength as well… Anything in excess is probably bad…and here we have you” he paused turning to the Captive “This lone wolf, the wild raider of the desert of whatever you call yourself out there...bound by no code, doing what he wants, a true king of his own destiny…and yet you were here for the past few days, a faithful little guard dog for the Cabal until it turned out you knew master weren’t strong enough to finish us of…and earlier on you claimed to be here to avenge the woes of the people out on the ground. Would they know you as a hero, or just as a random psychopath?” He started at Shouki as he said “You claim you are free, yet you try to justify why you’re here. A king of your own mind…I could go out into the desert, draw a circle in the sand and claim myself king of that land. What is there to rule in a barren wasteland?”

He leaned in closer as he said “Did I enjoy causing you pain? I did. And it does make me feel sick. Because I know I can be better. That I can do better. You make fun of laws and rules, and what did life without them give you? A lot of scars, pain, and fun, but it’s never enough is it? You like a wild dog, running around with no goal, biting anyone who comes close to you, and covering yourself in filth. And you think you can call any man inferior?” At this point Haru stepped back, holding his hand behind his back as he said “I will be the man that I want to be…because of animals like you, it might be harder for me than I anticipated. But the fact that your heart is so black that you see no value in life and that you seek pain and death…well that just makes you a really shitty person”. As he uttered the last words he took steps forward and griped Shouki’s shoulders and arm, his hand enveloped in his black Sand Gauntlets as he said “Ill lead you to a cell now. You might be a quick healer but I’m pretty sure it’ll take a while for you to heal up, so you’ll probably end up beat up again if you try and fight. And before you talk about how much of a shackled person I am for not killing you on the spot, I think it’ll be much more punishing for you to sit alone and smack your head against the wall. You love doing nothing after all, don’t you?” he finished trying to rise him up. He was fully prepared to this to not go smoothly…though by this point, he could really say what to expect.
Mft, Wc= 663

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

The searing gaping holes drilled into his flesh grew smaller. The blood dried at the site of his wounds, his flesh pallid and cool. He was getting tired, weak despite his formidable size. He had the physical power to break his fetters, he demonstrated this skill already. While Harupia was not a witness to it, he was more than capable of killing scores of fully armed shinobi single handedly and yet here he was being tortured by some sand shinobi and egging this man to continue on.

“Seems the pain is starting to confuse you a bit. A glutton eats so much his body grows weak and soft…a drunkard drinks so much his body and mind erodes into nothingness. And after a passionate night with a women or men, one can find it hard to muster pup the his full strength as well… Anything in excess is probably bad…and here we have you”

Yes, there you have him: Shouki, a man of excess. A man of substance! For some reason, it just did not seem to have the proper flow. He had been called a great many things, but a man of 'excess' was not one of them. "Are you calling me a glutton or just saying that there is an excess of me in the world?" Shouki let out a laugh. "I tell you now, after all this quality time we have spent together, I am hurt" Shouki announced melodramatically. "We have become friends... wonderful friends," Shouki declared with an eerie confidence.

This lone wolf, the wild raider of the desert of whatever you call yourself out there...bound by no code, doing what he wants, a true king of his own destiny…and yet you were here for the past few days, a faithful little guard dog for the Cabal until it turned out you knew master weren’t strong enough to finish us of…and earlier on you claimed to be here to avenge the woes of the people out on the ground. Would they know you as a hero, or just as a random psychopath?”

"A hero of the people," Shouki answered solemnly shaking his head. In a way this was true, even in his own heart. For all of Harupia's posturing and semantics the truth of the matter was, when the storms came Sunagakure closed their doors and left the entirety of Wind Country to fend for themselves. Sunagakure had broken their covenant with the rest of the country, their 'leader' was not a man of wealth or wisdom but rather martial power and leadership potential being that they came from the seed of Primus. The Kazekage was the military strength that was supposed to protect this country and these people, but they have gotten so caught up in their 'rights' and their 'privilege' that they have become nothing more than selfish bullies kicking sand about in the sandbox caring not for the denizens of the country. Sunagakure is a city of monsters, selfish fiends but he was no better than them and he knew it. Sure he was 'fighting the good fight', but he was also having fun doing it. He did not enjoy this whole song and dance involving being the subject of torture, he was more a sadist than a masochist but everything served a purpose. A guffaw escaped his chapped lips, "Who am I kidding, I am a sociopath..." He admitted, it was a point of pride for Shouki to be honest. There were few things in this world that gave him the warm fuzzies, among other things like a little bit of blood and a little bit of pain -- just other people's blood and pain.

“You claim you are free, yet you try to justify why you’re here. A king of your own mind…I could go out into the desert, draw a circle in the sand and claim myself king of that land. What is there to rule in a barren wasteland?”

"Nah, that sounds like crazy-talk," Shouki muttered one madman to another.

Harupia learned in close. “Did I enjoy causing you pain? I did. And it does make me feel sick. Because I know I can be better. That I can do better. You make fun of laws and rules, and what did life without them give you? A lot of scars, pain, and fun, but it’s never enough is it? You like a wild dog, running around with no goal, biting anyone who comes close to you, and covering yourself in filth. And you think you can call any man inferior?” Shouki could feel Haru's hot breath against his raw flesh. His toes curled inside his shoes.

Shouki cocked his head to the side as Haru backed away. Something happens to a man when they abandon their morals to met an ends. When duty and obligation become something to relish. "Then you finally understand what I am," Shouki announced. But as they say: it takes one to know one so you are no different from I," his voice seemed relieved. As if a weight was taken off his shoulders. An insurmountable anguish and despondency that made his injuries pale in comparison. "I LIKE hurting people, their morals are irrelevant. Having the excuse to hurt them, is just an excuse and you know it. You lie to yourself, but people are shitty liars when lying to themselves. It is like a woman claiming you are the only man they have ever loved. You know they are full of shit but you roll with it because it sounds nice."

“I will be the man that I want to be…because of animals like you, it might be harder for me than I anticipated. But the fact that your heart is so black that you see no value in life and that you seek pain and death…well that just makes you a really shitty person”

The arbitrator of value and morality. "Yeah, you got me," Shouki shrugged. "But, you hurt me because you see me as bad. I hurt your friends because I see them as bad. It is never going to stop, whoever is strongest gets to do the hurting. Harupia clasped Shouki's shoulders and arm with his hand. "You're a good man now, or so you would like to think. But you can only toe the line so long." Shouki warned, knowing fully that it was he who pushed him to that brink.

“Ill lead you to a cell now. You might be a quick healer but I’m pretty sure it’ll take a while for you to heal up, so you’ll probably end up beat up again if you try and fight. And before you talk about how much of a shackled person I am for not killing you on the spot, I think it’ll be much more punishing for you to sit alone and smack your head against the wall. You love doing nothing after all, don’t you?

It was true, this sick conclusion. There were worse fates than pain and humiliation, there was the unspeakable void. That place where there is nobody, nothing, a place where one could find their personal hell. That was where he was going, that was to be his fate. Down those twisting, broken halls his comrades had breached once before. Those same halls that housed countless fiends, almost as dastardly as he. But there was one thing that even Harupia could not take away, his game. The game that led Sousuke back into Sunagakure. The game that allowed Harupia to torture him without recourse. The game that would seal him away, make him suffer an unspeakable fate. Would it be for a time and a time as penance for the atrocities he has committed? Was this just part of a bigger plan? Was it simply the consequence for a series of poor decisions? He let Harupia lift him to his feet, his height towered over Harupia. "The worst room in the house if you please."

...actually leaving willingly to his cell.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

The conversation had seemed to have been Winding down with Shouki more reacting to what Harupia said then anything. He didn’t ask more questions…he wasn’t quite sure if he could learn more…nor if this was all worth it. After all, he had no real indication how much of what the captive said was true…As Harupia lifted the much larger men, and held onto him leading him out of the interrogation room, picking up a set of keys which were lying on the ground. He could only assume there had been someone interrogated when the breakout was happening… would surely come in handy now.

For a while the Sand Shinobi was silent evaluating it al in his head. Shoukis words about what happened outside…and about him. From the outside, he wonder, if there would be someone seeing him then…still, after a moment of silence he simply spoke “Just because I can recognize a rabid dog doesn’t mean I have rabies myself. And at least you have a clear enough mind to see your reasons for what they are: excuses. You just decided that Suna is your enemy because killing people sounded fun. Not sure if you truly belive on blaming us for the whole storm, I’m pretty sure you don’t. But even still, you just decided to blame us for the storm cause it gave you a good excuse to kill some people…”. By that point they reached the cell number indicated on one of the key’s. Opening the cell door, he shoved Shouki inside before closing the cell’s bar.

Looking at Shouki he spoke on “Even in the end all you can muster up are excuses. Strongest survive, everyone is just evil inside, such deep thoughts. And it so comfy to be a psychopath cause everyone is one as well, they just aren’t honest with each other. This great mind of yours, which knows all the secrets in the world, and all you can do is be a dumb guard dog and a butcher. While here I am lying to myself thinking that if people would maybe decided to get together and help each other, maybe something good might happen. The Ill be able to help rebuild the village and lead it to a better place, and help restore the surface after all its been through. To try and help people work together to build something meaningful. Perhaps I lied to myself in the matter of thinking how strong I am. After all, I did let you get to me a little bit. Probably the wall’s having a bad influence on me. So I best get out of here…do something meaningful. While you rot away here, thinking that you this wise sage who has the world figured out. We’ll see who’s going to be remembered more fondly in the years to come…see you never hopefully…for you own good” he concluded before he started stepping away from the cell, moving towards another corridor.

He was trying his best to act though now, to seem indifferent to what was going on. In his mind, his thoughts weren’t that different. There was a fear of how much he’d need to sacrifice, how many times would he have to push himself to stop madman like that. The fear of becoming less of a man and more of a tool like many people thought of Shinobi, or a madman like the one he just locked. But it wasn’t a new feeling. Lately there has been a lot of entities or people claiming Suna wronged them, how they were nothing but mere bugs who dared to cross them, yet at the same time were the cause of their grief…and yet they were standing. More wobbly than ever, but standing. And so many people claimed he would lose his sanity in the Shinobi world, that he was to soft, to kind…and here he was after an impromptu interrogation… He didn’t feel well with it, but it would pass. He had his family, his friends to take care of, and which he would be glad to share his own happiness with as well. And he would do his hardest to keep the right to be what he wanted when he had the luxury. Even if he had to become something different when the time allowed for it. Right now…he was looking forward to presenting some ideas how to rebuild Suna… Since the home wreckers were dealt with for now.

Attemtping to Exit
Mft, Wc= 741

 

[Sand Council]

Shouki​

Shouki was complaint, the massive man towered over the epicene shinobi. There might have been a bit of a grin that emerged on his face as his gargantuan hand clapped down onto Harupia's shoulder. He was even heavier than he looked, he weighed almost a full ton at over seven feet in height he did not appear to be a 'hefty' man, but he was built solid. It was strange that he was so easily captured. The chair he sat in let out a groan of relief, as the bowed legs of the seat straightened.

“Just because I can recognize a rabid dog doesn’t mean I have rabies myself. And at least you have a clear enough mind to see your reasons for what they are: excuses. You just decided that Suna is your enemy because killing people sounded fun. Not sure if you truly belive on blaming us for the whole storm, I’m pretty sure you don’t. But even still, you just decided to blame us for the storm cause it gave you a good excuse to kill some people…”.

There were many untruths to be uttered in this world, but their part in that storm was one thing he did in fact hold true. How quickly or convenient it is that these shinobis come to forget the covenant they had with the rest of Wind Country. When Wind Country needed them... truly needed them, they receded into the earth where they hid for the last near three decades. The killing was fun," Shouki admitted with a now chortle as Harupia pushed him inside his cell.

There was something exceptional about the Obsidian. The fact that something seemed to draw from the residents, slowly reducing the captives housed within to mere mortal shells of what they used to be. The pain was minimal here of course, it got worse the deeper they went in the Obsidian. Something hungered and withdrew from him... them... everyone. It was of lucky circumstance that he ended up here, in this place even if it was because he was dragged here by some shrew and then prodded by some androgynous shinobi he would have enjoyed reversing the tables on.

“Even in the end all you can muster up are excuses. Strongest survive, everyone is just evil inside, such deep thoughts. And it so comfy to be a psychopath cause everyone is one as well, they just aren’t honest with each other. This great mind of yours, which knows all the secrets in the world, and all you can do is be a dumb guard dog and a butcher. While here I am lying to myself thinking that if people would maybe decided to get together and help each other, maybe something good might happen. The Ill be able to help rebuild the village and lead it to a better place, and help restore the surface after all its been through. To try and help people work together to build something meaningful. Perhaps I lied to myself in the matter of thinking how strong I am. After all, I did let you get to me a little bit. Probably the wall’s having a bad influence on me. So I best get out of here…do something meaningful. While you rot away here, thinking that you this wise sage who has the world figured out. We’ll see who’s going to be remembered more fondly in the years to come…see you never hopefully…for you own good”

There was a problem with his confinement. There was this narrow dividing line between being too shallow and too deep. These easily accessed areas near the 'surface' so to say for a lack of a better term to describe he could simply muscle his way out of. If he was confined to the deepest depths, the wilds of the dark below where there were no cells and his task was to simply survive in the pit then he would be close to his objective. He was left to a cell, rather than the pit. Pity. There were plenty of things to do and an escort, or a bony sacrifice would have made the descent all the easier for him.

But at least he was inside. And he just broke a man without his knowing. The grisly truth of this world is that all manner of man is evil at its very core, just few realize and embrace this true nature. Social convention and fear of reprisal limit them. He would see this Harupia again, Harupia on the other side of these fetters. So farewell for now dear, kind Haru. I will be seeing you again.

[[Topic Departure Granted]]

[[Topic Complete]]​