Vulnerable (Yaju)

The flash of lightning that shortly followed the roar of thunder  pierced the sky outside, lighting the tiny apartment through the only window in the common area/kitchen of Akihana's second floor apartment. The kunoichi herself curled up on the couch in a fetal position merely looked blankly at the window, dull realization glimmering in in the gold irises holding back tears that one window, two in the whole apartment, was all she could afford. How happy she had been when she had first movies into this building, with two bedrooms and a proper kitchen. It was a far cry from the room she used to rent and share with Arata as a baby but now, as she looked at the window, all she could think of were the things she had never been able to give the boy she loved so much. The window seemed to stare back, aloof and insulting, and confirming all her fears and for the first time in a long, long time, the young woman wished the rain would never stop.

She should have known something was wrong the moment she picked him up from the academy. After finishing her hours at the Raikage building, she had bid Yaju farewell and as per her daily routine, made the short walk to the academy to pick Arata up, fully expecting to wait the ten minutes it took him to say goodbye to his teachers and various friends. How her son had gained such popularity among everyone, she couldn't say but she sure was glad of it. Akihana hadn't been popular in her time at the academy and it was good to know charisma - or lack therefo - was not something she had passed on genetically.

Perhaps he got it from his father...

The blonde had quickly shook her head, dispelling all thoughts of the offending person in favor of moving to the academy gates where other parents were picking up their kids. Instead of having to wait for Arata to emerge however, she found him waiting quietly by the gates.

"Hi sweetheart, you got out early?"

"Yes mommy," the boy had replied in somewhat subdued tones which she had mistaken for tiredness. After all, his enthusiasm at the academy had been boundless these last few weeks, it was bound to catch up with his little body sooner or later. Despite knowing that if she let him nap after school he would stay up way too late that night, she had decided to let him rest, carrying him slung across her hip in the way she used to when he was a lot smaller. She had also put down his lack of reluctance to be carried around like a bay as another sign of fatigue and if his arms clung to her neck a little tighter than usual, the blonde had failed to notice.

The first drop of tear trickled out of a single golden eye despite Akihana's attempts to keep it in. Cutting a small wet path across her pale porcelain cheek, it glided down to the ends of her face before disappearing into the depths of the couch she was currently curled up on. Perhaps if she focused on that little drop of saline, others would not follow, the medic reasoned only for a second drop to join the first and soon, lots more drops were forming tiny rivulets down her features, shedding from her eyes like the rain outside. How long had it been since she'd cried like this, Akihana couldn't remember. There never seemed to be time. In a house where she was the one in charge of wiping tears, cleaning noses, laying cool towels on warm foreheads and singing Arata to sleep, the kunoichi had learned to keep her own feelings secondary. Everything in life was secondary when compared to Arata. It was the motto she'd lived by the moment she had decided to go through with her pregnancy. There were a number of medics in Kumo who could have done the simple procedure required to get Akihana back into active duty at sixteen but the blonde, confused and scared about everything else granted, had known even then that she was going to have the baby. It wasn't going to be easy and it wasn't going to be fun all the time but it was going to happen. She had firmly believed that a mother would be enough, and for the next six years, she had tried her best to be enough.

And the tears now clogging her throat and running down her cheeks were proof that she had failed at that, she had not been enough.

"Come on, sweetie, dinner's ready," she called to Arata who was on the couch, mindlessly staring at the TV. The first signs of suspicion hit when he didn't jump up from his seat like always, asking what was for dessert. "I made pizza, and then we can have ice cream for after."

Arata only managed a half smile before quietly scooting into his chair. The dining table in the kitchen had only ever seated three at most due to its size and the number of chairs available to put around it but at that moment, Akihana saw her son as if he was on the far side of a great big hall, eyes downcast, dark bangs attempting to cover his face and mouth set in a small, unhappy line.

"Arata, what's the matter, did something happen at school?"

The boy shrugged, an action Akihana didn't particularly care for. At his age, if she had shrugged in front of an elder, she would have been punished severely but this was not the Akari compound and the blonde could never imagine hurting her son. Arata lifted his gaze from his pizza, appearing to contemplate something before he finally spoke, his tone hushed and almost frightened as he asked the question that shook her to her very core.

"Mommy, what's a bastard?"

The chunin had thought that a few tears would be the end of it, that letting it all out for a while would cure the problem. She was an adult after all, she had work in the morning. And more importantly she was a mother. Despite how much it hurt her to do so, she would have to make sure Arata never found out she had spent the night curled up on the couch crying, her sobs muffled on the cushion so as not to disturb his already troubled sleep. The feeling was all to familiar to her, she had first encountered it when Arata was only a day old. The baby smaller than her arm had attempted to sneeze, but somehow, in some way, his little lungs couldn't manage the simple action, making his tiny pink face turn blue as he gasped for breath. Every type of medical training Akihana had ever received up until that point went out the window as she watched her one day old child struggle to breath, the cold dread taking over her entire body as she screamed for the medic in charge to come in and help the baby. The delivery had not been easy on the kunoichi, a slender figure and sixteen years of age did not exactly promote a healthy pregnancy. There had been so much blood and pain and multiple spells of unconsciousness but as she had watched little Arata struggle, she had forgotten all about her own pain, the only thing in the world that mattered was that he was okay. That moment had set the precedence for the rest of her life. All her own pain, anger, sorrow, all if it had to be kept aside in favor of the thing she valued most, the boy currently sleeping in the next room while his mother sobbed her heart out. So caught up was she in her own personal hell that the blonde didn't even notice her Norito seal activate somewhere along the way.

"Mommy, did daddy not love me?" His voice is quiet, too quiet compared to the usual chatter Akihana is used to. This tone of voice doesn't suit him, not at all. "It's okay you know, you can ell me. I know he doesn't love me or he'd be here right?" The simple logic with which he presents the statement breaks her heart all over again.

"No sweetheart, he... he didn't love me," she confesses, squeezing his arm softly underneath the blanket. Arata s too old to sleep with her by right, and sans the occasional night when he has a nightmare and crawls into bed with her in the middle of the night, he has done a good job of sleeping on his own. But tonight she refuses to leave his side until he falls asleep, feeling his warm body curled up to hers as she gently strokes his dark silky hair.

"Why not?" She can hear the anger and frustration in his voice and she doesn't blame him. He sees father's every day doing things for their children. Why couldn't he have one too? Akihana both udnerstood his anger and felt useless in light of it. Because no matter how much she wanted it otherwise, the truth was the truth.

"I don't know, sweetheart," she answered honestly, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

There had been silence after that, and much, much later, the soft sounds of his steady breathing as he slept. Akihana had made sure to stay well past even then just to make sure he was okay. And once she was sure, the kunoichi had silently crept out of the bed and headed to the couch as the storm outside had begun in earnest, the first flash if lightning cutting through the sky like the invisible blade that had just done the same to her heart.

Another clap of thunder rang through the apartment, threatening to break the little home in two, and though it may not succeed, it had already broken the young woman that dwelt within. The kunoichi that currently sobbed on the couch had never felt more broken and alone in her life as she did right now, wishing for the rain to never stop just so it would drown out the fact that she, Akihana Akari, had failed her son.

The dark sky above held so many omens over the village of Kumo, for once the office of the Raikage was empty, his work completed following the moments before the clouds became dark. The people of the night that would usually be out and about in the village had stayed in, somehow knowing that the sky above was about to release its earnest feelings onto the world even the animals that had lived within the village stayed in their dens. In the mountains however the wolves stood solem, watching the sky in place of their master who was at the root of the devulged moutains, meditating and listening into his inner self.

Within the depths of the mountain that had been excavated to be a sort of home for the late Raikage, it housed so much more than a simple escape....it housed everything he had strived and worked towards. In a sense these mountains were a prison that he had built just for himself in a sense, housing his emotions and more importantly his heart so to speak. Within the caverns of this sacred moutain, Yaju sat underneath one of the famous underground waterfalls, meditating and speaking to something that had been housed in him for a little more than three days. No matter how he spoke, the entity would only stare and observe, giving no insight on itself. It was almost as if the collosal amount of chakra did nothing but hide its nature from him.

"So we've been here for the past three days not talking....i know what you are now so why don't you speak finally," his red eyes scanning over the being until he finally heard a movement come from behind the cage."You...killed just for my power what sort of human are you? He was one of yours...wasn't he," the hesitation in its voice was apparent, but there was also anger in there as well. A smirk played upon Yaju's face as he shook his head and stood close to the cage, eyeing the beast as if he wasn't scared," Power in the hands of the weak is a hindrance and even if he was one of mine, he wouldnt have been able to use the power like i can....I need to be stronger to protect those that cannot protect themselve's and with you i can do that," the beast didn't respond right away but it simply eyed the human in front of him like he was a liar.

The beast only responded with a simple, yet inifinitely wise retort that shook Yaju to his core," Maybe you are just weak because you need all of this power....Those that continue on the path of power destroy themeselves in the end and become the thing that they were trying to protect others from," the single sentence almost sent Yaju into a rage, but instead he would have cancled the link and stood up in the midst of the waterfall and huffed," Stupid beast...what does your timid ass know, you're just a beast of power," walking out from the cold and freezing water, he would have grabbed his shirt and jacket, throwing it on and walking through the caverns of the mountain. It only took him mere minutes to arrive to the surface where he looked up to the rain stricken skies in a thought that shook his very core.

Was he really only weak because of the power he had been trying so hard to gain? Or was the entity simply messing with his head in an attempt to anger him? Either way it was something that he did not want to think on any longer. With the downpour of rain he stood there looking amongst the village with a blank expression, the lightning clashing in the distance behind him as he blinked twice and spoke to the heavens as if he was confessing something," What will be the power be that i choose..," stopping for a moment he would choose to actually answer his own question for a moment. The entity caused him to doubt himself, his soul and mind had begun to waver but his route was already known before hand. The thoughts of the past had been known, but tonight was about his conviction or so he thought.

It was for a moment he would immerse himself deep in thought before a strong surge of emotion and turmoil hit him like a wave of heat. Turning his head towards the direction of Akihana's house, he would slowly move towards the direction of the home, taking small strides at first before taking on a full on sprint, jumping from rooftop to rooftop before landing ten meters from her home. His presence unknown to her he would more or less let himself in, how many wonder? He just broke the door's lock with a simple and precise blow to where the lock would have been, although it would have been a light thump if anything else. Walking into her home he would head to where she was and simply lean against the wall, looking at her for a moment before smiling," I could hear your emotions from across the village," moving to sit beside her he would rest his hand on top of her head and tilt his head," What's wrong dear? Its not like you to be like this...," trying to console her as best as he could in this time of need.

Through his chakra senses he could feel the sleeping boy upstairs, putting two and two together for a moment he would sigh and pull her into a hug in which he would hold for a few minutes before letting her go if she wanted and would listen to her problems before speaking or even moving. In the back of his mind he would hear the beast stir with a simple phrase," So you can act human after all...," of course out of all the times to say this....

Crying was an exhausting activity, Akihana had completely forgotten how much wracking sobs took out of an individual and yet she couldn't seem to stop. It seemed the floodgates she had closed the emotional door on upon Arata's birth had finally opened, and now as she curled up on the second hand couch she had salvaged from a jumble sale years ago, the blonde wavered between states of wanting to be quiet so as not to wake up her son, wanting to keep on crying simply because she couldn't stop and wanting to pass out so she could stop. Of course it wouldn't be her choice in the end, nothing ever was. Every decision she had made these past six years had been made with only one person in mind and nothing would change now. The kunoichi would cry herself to sleep or pass out when the exhaustion was finally beyond reprieve or clean herself up and move back to her son's room to spend the night awake in a chair beside his bed, just staying there to ensure he was safe, that no nightmares troubled him in his sleep. In the most likely scenario, it would be both of those things, one after the other.

The loneliness that realization brought with it came like a crushing blow, worse than any physical attack she had ever experienced in her ninja training. Physical blows could be healed with medical chakra, countered with increased strength or combated in other ways. But how did someone heal the sheer raw pain she felt now, the pain of having let down the one person she had swore to herself she would never let down. As the rain pattered hard against the window, the shattering sound only driving the point in harder - when did rain sound like thousands of tiny hailstones trying to smash her fragile little world? - making Akihana sob harder. The next flash of lightning that lit up the small apartment briefly illuminated the living area, the pile of clean but unfolded laundry,resting in a basket towards the corner, the remains of a card game she and Arata had been trying a few days ago and which the boy refused to move because he wanted to "continue" the game, the slightly threadbare rug that adorned the otherwise plain marble flooring and the small shelf to one side holding framed photographs of Akihana and Arata at various stages in their lives: The day they had moved in here, Arata had been two and laughing with his head thrown back at the idea of so much space to run around in, the space he had now outgrown. The framed picture of him on his fourth birthday, face covered in cake because he had decided the most efficient way to eat it would be to slam his face into the whole thing. Another photo beside it showed him and Fenn having an icing war. A frame below that showed Fenn and Akihana with their new Chunin scrolls displayed proudly in their hands. The small shelf told a rough story of the life she had attempted to lead in Kumo, only briefly illuminated by the lightning before but was now plunged into darkness not unlike the medic who lived there.

"H-Hika- Hikarit-," the kunoichi tried, doing her best to garner enough concentration for the simple blinding ball jutsu just to dispel the darkness. She had once said that even a little bit of light could keep darkness at bay but now, emotionally exhausted as she was, the young woman could not even bring herself to perform the small jutsu, prompting a fresh round of sobs that left her feeling weaker than before. Time passed but the tears did not and all she could wish for was detachment, even if for a moment so she could observe her own emotions in action. But that was the thing about emotions, they left little room for observation when coursing through the human body. On any other day the blonde would have been able to pinpoint the exact serotonin levels required and involved in the reaction she was having right now but today, today she couldn't even conjure a small ball of light to keep the darkness at bay.

Some light user.

" I could hear your emotions from across the village,"

The first sign that he was in her house were the whispered words from his own lips, making Akihana look up from where she'd been crying, golden eyes awash with tears landing on his dark red ones before flicking towards the door. When had he had time to unlock it, break it, move so silently that her chakra sensory had failed to pick up on his presence, she didn't know. And while under normal circumstances this would be alarming, at the moment, the blonde could not bring herself to care. Usually smiling face now crumpled up with the effort of crying and normally neatly combed golden locks now strongly and damp, Akihana no longer resembled the calm and efficient adult she appeared every day. No, this Akihana held herself like the scared child of sixteen who had just found out she her life was going to change forever.

"Y-Yaju,"

" What's wrong dear? Its not like you to be like this...,"

As he touched her head, fresh tears coursed down her cheeks, only to intensify to sobs as he hugged her close. Whereas she had been abusing the cushion for the last hour, it was now his shirt she treated in the same way, subjecting it to all the tears and choked sounds she had been trying to hold back in vain. Even as she cried in his arms, some part of her must have realized that he had ran all the way in in this weather. The dampness clinging to his own clothes and hair and being transmitted to both her and the couch was no from tears alone. The crushing weight of loneliness she had felt earlier was not true, not if someone had traveled through thunder and lightning and whatever else was out there on a night like this.

"It's A-arata," she managed in between sobs, still slinging on to him like a child. "He- someone at school called him..." She couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud but she knew he would understand. It had been on her her main fears all her life, that Arata would be the one to suffer for her mistakes of the past. They had discussed the matter briefly upon meeting and though seven odd months had passed since then, she was sure he would remember.

"How could I let this happen?" she asked, fully aware that it was her fault. The technicalities didn't matter because every time a child was hurt, it was always the mother's fault. "I have to make this right... find the other kid's mother, apologize... request her son not bully Arata anymore." Just the thought of approaching some strange woman to beg for a little kindness was enough to make her stomach turn but what else could she do? Anger never solved anything and the last thing she wanted was to escalate the situation further. Today, one boy was raising questions on her son's parentage, tomorrow it would be more if the situation wasn't handled properly.

"What do i do, Yaju?" she asked, dull golden eyes looking up at him for some sort of advice, some magical solution that would make it all go away.

He didn't like this...He hated when those cared about began to get so amassed in their feelings they became like this. The feeling of sadness and depression was something Yaju himself loathed....it wasn't out him being raised and knowing as a weakness, but it was because everytime he allowed these feelings to take over he became a hollow shell for his rage and agression, something he didn't want to turn into again. Slowly he sat there and held the young Chuunin in his arms, comforting her like a parent to their child despite him being drenched in the rain of the heavens above, his duty was still in even if he wasn't in the office his job as a Kage was never over. Through the drenched shirt he could feel her tears on his body, a weird sensation for him as no one had cried on him...it was as if the feelings of this woman were seeping into his soul and the feelings she was expressing were falling into him causing a chain reaction.

The somber red eyes closed as he continued to listen to her words, however broken they might have been he could hear them perfectly. His eyes trailed up to the ceiling for a moment as if he was looking towards the sleeping child, his mind feeling a sense of connection between the two. Sure he wasn't a bastard, but his father was never there....only a the shell of a man wanting power for himself and that of his son. The troubles of growing up without a father were a thing in this village it seems, but it wouldn't be the end of something bad, instead it was something that could be fixed. Slowly he would begin to speak as he rubbed the blonds head softly," I see...I knew this would happen at some point, but I....didn't forsee this. Words can cut deeper than any blade and wound worse than any jutsu known to man...Its not your fault for letting this happen Akihana Akari...and you shouldn't blame yourself for the actions of a man who couldn't stand with his family," the anger in his voice had shown a side that most had not seen from him in a while.

It was to a point in which his chakra which was normally tame was slowly boiling over, his anger taking charge before he mentally slapped himself and took a deep breath. He didn't want to go back to that route...was it the beasts influence? Feeding on his hatred and pulling it into the surface? He wasn't sure, yet he knew that his anger wouldn't help this situation. For a moment he would shake his head at the solution of Akihana and smile," There is nothing that can be done my dear...unfortunately all that can be done is for Arata to stand up for what he believes in. I know deep down that he knows he's not a bastard...for a bastards eventually fall to the same banner of their fathers, but he will rise so much higher. If he doesn't let the words get to him and pass those who are stuck on simple words...he will be fine. Now if these boy's lay a hand on my student," he red eyes would begin to glow in the darkness as he grins," Then i'll be paying a personal visit to their families and they will know the true meaning of fear," that was weird of him to say, but his voice held a strange aura of truth.

With a slow tilt of his head he would stand up, slowly standing her up with him and placing a small kiss upon her forehead," What should you do? You should continue loving your son with the love of two parents...as you have always done. If he requires a father or even a father figure, i'll be there for him, but know...you should never bow your head to change someone's perspective. You never know if its the parents that raised their children like that or not, but like i said if it happens again...i'll be personally paying a visit to the academy alright," there was his trademark wolfish smile as he turned her around and pointed her towards the stairs. With the night going on as it was, he knew she needed sleep and that was exactly what she was going to do ," Now you are going to bed missy and if i feel you crying again...i'll make sure i'll give a fitting punishment. So don't worry about it and be the best parent that boy could ever ask for," with a small hug he would walk out of the house, only stopping to come back in," I'll fix your locks tomorrow by the way....sorry," with that he closed the door and made his way back to the mountains.

As he walked he began to look up to the sky and frown for a moment, his mind in a constant state of confusion from himself and that of the influence," Looks like i now have another obstacle to overcome...first with myself," at that moment he would appear back within the confines of his mind and stare the beast down," and secondly with you....your malice and hatred...i felt it. You don't like it in here and want to be free? Well eventually you will succumb to my rule or i will make you," the beast for a moment would stare the young male down before laughing," you amusing human....you think you can tame what you don't understand? I will enjoy taking your body and when i do...ill make sure you kill those you care about," with that the ink haired male would keep walking, a visible smile on his face as he anticipated the future. With all that was going on, it would be interesting to see how things would go, but for now....this Kage had something to do.

[Exit, ]

2012 Wc all towards v1 tail, +10 AP

" I see...I knew this would happen at some point, but I....didn't forsee this. Words can cut deeper than any blade and wound worse than any jutsu known to man

The Kunoichi nodded from her position still curled into him. The apartment lit up with another flash of lightning, the only source of light in the otherwise dark living area where they sat. How his voice sounded clear and sincere amid the cacophony of noises barraging the little window and her entire world was a mystery for another day. All the blonde wanted right now was for someone to tell her it was going to be okay. Too many nights and for far too long it had been her job to do that, to reassure people that things would turn out for the best. Her incessant optimism and stauch faith helped with that. But then there were moments like these when she felt weak, weaker than anything she had felt before and her world temporarily unraveled to reveal exactly who she was.

A nobody trying to protect the greatest treasure in the world. A nobody in no real way equipped to the task at hand. Perhaps he sensed the insecurities clawing at her insides as his next words absolved her of fault or blame in the matter. How he even had the power to do that was beyond her but a that point, all she could do was be grateful. Surely if he thought she was doing a good enough job... he had once told her he would be her sounding board, a pillar of support and he was keeping up his end of the bargain as his solid body provided the structure for her tears to flow. And now she in turn had to keep hers. She had to stop crying and feeling sorry for herself because at the end of the day, her child was stuck with her. And she owed it to him to be the best mother possible. And if that meant swallowing her pride, her loneliness and even her tears then she would damn well do it because nothing in the world was too much to do for Arata and his happiness.

Something odd happened in that instant, something seemed to... spike. Devoid as she was of her usual level of chakra efficiency, perhaps it was due to the proximity between the two, or the activation of her Norito crest still in place, but the blonde felt a chakra disturbance in Yaju, something too mild to register on a normal day and quickly contradicted by his next words as he soothed her, telling her there wasn't much to do be done until Arata stood up for himself but the Kunoichi noted it nonetheless. Akihana's chakra training aside, she spent enough time with the dark haired teen to know his chakra like her own, probably better since she didn't spend time trying to analyze her own. And no matter if they acknowledged it or not, a spike had been there.

A kind of chakra spike she hadn't encountered before, not in Kumo anyway.

With a soft kiss to her forehead and a gentle push to go get some sleep, Akihana felt a small smile waver on her otherwise mess of a face. It was barely there and lost the moment it appeared but it had been possible to salvage something from the evening. He had faith in her ability to love Arata more than two parents combined, and just in case she felt short, now the medic could say with confidence that he cared for her son to a great degree. The dangerous tone in his voice as he had spoken of someone hurting her son hadn't been a threat, it had been a promise. Yaju was well capable of protecting the boy more than his biological father ever could. And perhaps... perhaps between that combination of her unconditional love and his dedication, Arata would be okay after all.

"Thank you," she whispered as yet another flash of lightning tore silver chunks of light through the apartment, picking out the details in her gold irises as she looked up into his equally red ones. The dash through the rain hadn't done him any favors, she noted with a pang of guilt, his obsidian hair plastered on his forehead. She imaged she must only look slightly less worse for wear after her crying session. Tentatively, she reached out to give him a hug, disregarding his damp clothes and sheepish promises to get her locks fixed.

"Don't worry about it," she managed. "I'll get the sup-" Akihana's gold eyes went wide as she sensed it again as she hugged the teen, her muscles freezing mid action. There it was again, the hint of spiteful chakra she had never detected on Yaju before. Of course he got annoyed, who in his position wouldn't. But the raw malice her chakra sensory picked up was...

"Yaju are you-" But it was too late, he was already out the door, quick as silent as a ghost. Akihana could respect someone's privacy. If they didn't want to share, she would never pry. Which was the line of thought that carried with her all the way to her bedroom. where, on instinct the blonde picked up a hairbrush. As a little girl, she had been instructed to run a hundred brushstrokes through her hair before bedtime. Not ninety nine, not a hundred and one but a perfect hundred. Her mother had said it kept the mind sharp even as the body neared relaxation and her grandmother had said it kept her hair shining and golden, just like all the other girls in the clan. Now, Akihana was lucky to even get ten strokes in before she went to sleep but the habit of picking up a brush had remained, as did the companion habit of looking into the mirror.

All it took was one glance at her red rimmed golden eyes and the brush was tossed back down as the chunin ran from the room, only stopping to put up safety wards around Arata's bedroom as she dashed out to the door, praying to the goddess that for the first time in her life, she would be fast enough to catch him. Activating her golden eye to be able to see better through the downpour of rain, the blonde directed chakra to her feet, running as fast as she could in her pale blue nightdress and with bare feet, her hair clumping into strings around her face in a matter of seconds in the heavy rain.

"Yaju wait!" she called out, detecting his silhouette, her chakra sensory now on full activation and her Norito seal connection trying to zero in on him. He was heading towards the mountains, she suspected. It was the place where he felt most at home. The kunoichi hoped she was right as she sped through another crash of thunder, trying to pinpoint his location.

There he was standing in the rain looking up into the sky with a look that could be best described as void of some sort of emotion and in the midst of it all it seemed like two being arguing inside of him. The beasts chakra had been somehow influencing him and he was one who had battled his own demons in a sense to get where he was began another battle altogether. It had become such a battle that he could feel his body heating up and cooling down rapidly, the chakra that had once been dormant and timid was now feeding in on his anger and insecurities like an all you can eat buffet, causing his anger to flare at an all time high yet the young Raikage wasn't as weak as this monster thought him to be. The red eyes that were once looking towards the bleak grey sky were now void of all color and simply standing there.

From the confines of his mind he began an argument with the monster that had, for all intents and purposes been as black and white as the literally meaning. Yaju, who had been pacing back and forth yelling at the beast simply," What the hell do you think you are doing to me?," a simple question but all of the anger had been apparent as he stopped pacing and stared into the eyes....eye? of the monster. A small chuckle had been its only response as it moved closer from the darkness of the cave and stared him down," I am something your mind cannot comprehend and a being that your body cannot contain. Your anger will only help me in gaining my freedom and when you finally lose yourself to the anger and the malice? I will take it over and do with it what i will," slowly it had retracted back into the darkness as its eye was the only thing he had seen.

In a fit of rage he struck the cage and growled at the monster," We will see who takes over who....you will not have your way," unknown to him the beasts chakra had slowly begin to form over his body for all to see. It was after he felt the sensation of the seal on his neck burning, he began to slowly come out of his trance and look around, hearing the voice of Akihana and slowly slipping his hands into his pockets. He did not know why she did not stay in her room and sleep like he had said, but if it was important then he would let it slide this once that she had disobeyed him. As she came closer she would be able to see the cloak dispersing, small steps being taken before he stood before her and tilted his head," Any reason you aren't in bed missy? I could have sworn i told a certain ninja of mine to go to sleep," his smile had betrayed his eyes which had shown some form of clouded judgement, but at the same time he had simply tried to push it off until he had time to take care of it himself.

It took some looking both due to the combination of the weather as well as trying to find the light trace he left behind in his movements. Usually so adapt at tracking in full daylight, this was the first time the blonde had attempted it in such a compromising vision. Rain hard enough to virtually blind, flashed of lightning adding detail to scenery that wasn't there and claps of thunder disorienting the process ever few minutes. On top of that it wasn't some normal ninja she was trying to locate, it was Yaju who could run circles around her in a dark blur and hide his chakra just as expertly without her noticing anything. Still, through sheer determination the blonde had kept on running, topaz eyes glimmering through the dark trying to differentiate his trace from that of the onslaught of tears from the sky. She had to get to him, there were no ifs about it. Something was seriously wrong.

In the end, it was the massive chakra glow that became instrumental in helping her. Even from a distance and though the distraction she could make out the massive chakra cloak far off, a cold dread filling her body as realization dawned. She had been right, it wasn't the teen's chakra earlier that she'd detected. The sheer malice in it could never be Yaju's, not now. How he had ever managed to control himself enough to come to her aid with that thing still preying on the deepest recesses of his mind, she could never guess. Perhaps he was more powerful than even he let on. But Akihana was aware of what such things did to the mind and body. Most children died simply from chakra pollution...

" Any reason you aren't in bed missy? I could have sworn i told a certain ninja of mine to go to sleep,"

"I... was worried about you," she managed as she drew closer, eyeing the dissipating cloak with both fear for it and fear for him. "I know something's wrong... That chakra, it's not yours." She shook her head, dull gold locks gathering in heavy swirls over her shoulders with the action. And she had to force herself to say the words.

"Y-you're a jinchuriki now... aren't you?"

Worried about him? He figured the shoe was on another foot since he was concerned about her....no something else was amiss here and he could see it in her eyes for a moment. Taking a step forward to match hers he would smile and push the matted obsidian locks back onto his head and speak," Thank you for the concern dear, but I think you need the rest more than I do. Was there something about me that had thrown you off or maybe you had a question for me?," he was unaware that the young female had already known about his new state, but as time would happen to go on he would learn that she was more astute that the gave her.

When she spoke of the chakra that wasn't his he blinked for a moment and chuckled, his hands retracting from his pockets and slowly sitting on the sides of his hips although not in a flamboyant was as he spoke," You're more of a sensor than I thought if you picked it up before anyone else," with a flash of lightning his eyes would glow as he nodded," Yes....i think that is the word for what i am now... A jinchuriki," the words fell out of his mouth rather plainly as he rolled his wrist and looked around. At this moment something weird was about him, the way he was acting and his mannerisms weren't what he usually displayed and what was worse....he was showing this to someone he had actually cared for and considered a close comrade.

In almost a flash of lightning he would have begun to kneel as if something was affecting him, the aftershocks of his anger getting the best of him again before a small, soothing sigh escaped his lips and he recomposed himself," So what else was there Akihana that you were concerned about? Seeing as you know the secret before anyone else, it would seem that we should talk about that now or later?," a slow raise of his brow would show that he wanted to see the reaction to the young maiden that just seen her Kage in such a madness induced phase.

" Thank you for the concern dear, but I think you need the rest more than I do. Was there something about me that had thrown you off or maybe you had a question for me?,"

This wasn't him, she refused to believe this was him. Akihana wanted to believe that it was her expertise in chakra sensing alone but what people didn't understand, the curse or blessing of being a ninja, was that ordinary people, civilians who never activated their chakra even once in their life, went on to form close knit bonds and read their loved ones better than any chakra induced techniques. She had known the Raikage for well over half a year now and been working with him for weeks. He had been around her, her son and she had seen in him in various forms though she doubted those were all he could take upon. She had picked up on his chakra as a wolf, as a fox, as the beast who had granted her chunin promotion, as the red headed teen with all the hopes, as the man who had made the sky sparkle for his village. And now here he was in the throws of inner turmoil because of a parasite inhabiting his body, feeding on his soul and filling his mind with doubt.

I've seen them before," she admitted, her voice both terrified and determined. The kunoichi had never pretended to be fearless. She in fact had a number of things she feared losing and the friend in front of her was now one of those things. "In Konoha, my clan had a medic who specialized in infusing the bijuu into expecting mothers..." The words were torrid, broken and spoken with a kind of horror that she had forgotten she was capable of. The first time Akihana had seen the procedure done, she had been thirteen and vomited violently. "It doesn't like it's space being shared," she provided, her tone still horror struck as she took in the teen who appeared to slowly be losing his senses. His eyes, usually the dark signature red that assured her of many things, now seemed flatter, fuller, faded somehow.

It was as though the beast was trying to take over.

"They usually lock the child in with the mother to test if it has the stamina to control the bijuu. If the beast kills the mother, its considered a failed experiment." She didn't mention that the technique ha originated from Suna at one point, the exorcists turned medics there deciding to bond unborn babies to the demon as opposed to waiting for them to breath, guessing that the more used to a malicious chakra presence a child was early on, the better his or her chances of controlling it. If the experiment failed, it was on to the next child.

"Yaju you can't just control it like that," she pleaded, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder briefly, knowing that the foreign touch would spark another bout of hateful chakra from the demon inside. Bijuu, form what little was known of them, were territorial by nature. Due to their size and strength, they required massive amounts of space to house themselves in such as lakes or underground caverns. To find themselves locked into a body, a small, human body that couldn't begin to contain their chakra anymore than thimble could contain a waterfall, made the beast want to rip everything it could get its hands on, especially those who encroached on its already tiny container.

"It's going to hurt you, its going to hurt those you care about."

There he stood listening to the woman as she explained her history with the beasts of burden, each word implanting itself into the core of his mind, his head slowly nodding to show that he had been understanding and through her experiences he was learning more than he needed. One thing was for sure....she had a point when she said it didn't like sharing its space, that he knew for himself because of the outbursts of the beast itself," Tch...Figures i would take in something with a psychotic territory complex," it was by no means a joke although he couldn't find himself but laughing at it, what part of him found that funny was definitely on the naughty list this year.

Looks like he wasn't going to go through this without any scars and if he did, it would definitely not go in his favor considering he was still unknown about the powers of the beast within him, but whatever it could do....it needed his body to do so. The beast at this point was beginning to get active, its body slowly barging against the cage as he grabbed the place where the seal was and stopped moving. He didn't register her hand on his shoulder until he came out of the fit and looked up to her with a small smile," Hurt me? My dear I have been through so much abuse in my life that this thing wouldn't be able to understand....i will not let this control me," falling short of words the cloak would once again appear as he grunted," Get AWAY!!," his voice growing into gutteral growl before dropping onto his knees and punching himself in the face full force.

For a moment the lightning would be the only thing heard as he panted heavily and sighed," Shut the hell up you stupid cretin....Its one thing when you try to harm me, but don't you EVER try to use me to harm those i care about," the cloak slowly disappeared as the gnashing and clawing stopped for a moment and all that was there was him and his ninja. Standing up he would simply motion for her to follow him into the mountains where he would walk for a bit before getting to his home and opening the door. Once inside Akihana would be able to see where he actually stayed, the lavish home that was built by hand by him just so that he could have a place away from the village.

Reaching into a nearby closet he would throw to her a T-shirt, shorts and a towel," Here...Bathroom is up the stairs and to your right. Just meet me down here when you are finished alright," With that he would disappear up the stairs and into a room where the door would close quickly. Inside of his own room he would change into a sleeveless red jacket where the collar covered up all of his neck and reached to his face, and a pair of black pants. Sitting onto the couch if Aki had came down, she would be able to see him in a whole new light. On his nose or more specifically going across the bridge of his nose there was a scar, something that had defined his life for the longest.

From how he was dressed and sitting he looked...older in a sense. As if everything was finally catching up to him in one large blow, but at the same time he held his air of youth. It was an odd occurance and somehow he was content with it. The worst had been over for now as he sat there reclined on his couch with a smile on his face, why?  Well he couldn't really put his finger on it but it was there.