Slay The Cursed Dragon Xanlanth Part 1

Going through a dimension was certainly nothing new to the Mad Mystic. It was similar to jumping into a pool, a suddenly rush of differences, in density, feeling, movement, everything. The unprepared could very well end up in catatonic shock from the event, but those who did it as constantly as Kuro were not even bothered anymore. The truth was that the event was so common for Kuro he barely noticed it. If not for Yaju vomiting, thankfully avoiding Kuro in doing so, Kuro would have forgotten this fact. Dimensional travel was not for the faint of heart, but Yaju of all people... That was when he felt it. The perverse chakra coating the entire dimension they had invaded. Kuro almost vomited himself when he felt it. The very nature of his own chakra was so different... it was as if white meeting black, only instead of resulting in gray, both sides stayed pure. The chakra tried to invade his body, as he was certainly no longer human. Having remade his body various times using COAT, he could never be classified as human again. He understood that, and accepted it. There was nothing he could do to reverse it either, his chakra was too pure, too strange to count as human anymore. Even so, his chakra had always been based around altering, but more importantly, creating. This chakra was so... so utterly, devastatingly corruptive and destructive. It felt more demonic than even Fear did, and considering Kuro had seen inside Fear's mind... It showed just how horrifying this chakra was to him. Each aspect of his own energy was opposite to that of this corruptive one that permeated the dimension they were in. Construction vs deconstruction, life vs death, freedom vs slavery, and light vs dark. While his chakra's visible color was black, if one were to use an enhanced sense to detect it, it would appear as pure white, whereas this chakra was absolutely black, to his rinnegan. He was unsure if it was invisible to the naked eye or not, but it was horrifying dark to his rinnegan eyes. Without a doubt, this was the most pervasive chakra he had ever seen. It was like a diseased snake, writhing around in misery, trying to infect anything it could, regardless of origin. A soulless husk of power, but a husk nonetheless. Kuro could only think of this chakra as a disease, a sick and twisted energy which needed destroyed before it corrupted anything else. Kuro felt his chakra begin to change, his will begin to collapse. What monstrous energy could this be that could affect even him? This... this was disgusting and vile. His mind began to slow. He fell to one knee, holding his head.  He was almost completely converted until a memory surfaced. 

It was hollow, mere words, no images or videos playing through his skull. No... Hollow was not the right word. This single memory held more emotion to him than anything he had felt before. Words, long forgotten by Fear, but they resonated so deeply with him that it became obvious how deeply this memory affected him, to the very soul. Simple words, spoken by Misaki, yet they had given him so much hope. They werent even words directed at him! She was speaking to Yaju, as always... But the words she said. They had given him hope. He knew where this memory came from, though... It was when he had originally tried to end the darkness of his past. He had believed that closet was the last link to his past, and to see it destroyed had both broken and remade Fear. It hadnt lasted long, originally. He was merely broken after that, struggling between two sides, good and evil, trying to understand and become human. It did not work the way he had intended. Instead of becoming human, he had developed a disgust of humanity, seeing it as weakness. He had loathed humans. They were all fragile, so hopeless and pathetic in nature. Only together did they stand a chance, and yet the only person who had ever stood by Kuro was gone! Dead! And what killed her? Humans! Always the cruel beasts they were at heart. The memory brought back that feeling, that hatred of humans, the desire to slaughter them all... and yet... Kuro could not help but feel sympathetic. Could he hate them for their nature, when his own was just as horrific? No... No hate was left in his heart, but a hollow feeling prevailed. Hopelessness, the feeling of having nothing to live for. After all, the only person who had trusted him was dead, the only person he could connect to. What purpose was there in his life, now that he was alone? Yaju was a nice guy, but he did not click the same way Minatsuki had. There was no inspiration from Yaju, only a vague feeling of friendship, dampened by his destroyed memories. He liked him well enough, but he was rather sure Yaju hated him in some aspect. There was always that doubt when he looked in Yaju's eyes. Whether it was from disgust, fear, or perhaps even hatred was unknown. He was friendly, but there was something that made Kuro feel detached. 

The memory was failing, he was corrupting even more, thanks to the perverse chakra.

The he felt it. Or rather, he felt her. Misaki's chakra. She was not Minatsuki, she never had been, but she had always helped him when he needed it, even if he couldnt replicate the efforts. She rarely needed help, never that he could remember. A silent oath was sworn, a long time ago. After she had helped him in a way not even Minatsuki had. She tried taking away his darkness, to make him human. He always felt like she was his only connection to humanity, particularly after Minatsuki died. He had a hard time showing it, but he could tell the truth now. It was like he had been looking through fogged glasses, and the fog had just now cleared. His memories came back, not with a burst of pain or sudden flashback. It was like one moment, he didnt know, then he just knew. Everything of his past had been revealed, in an instant. The pain, the hatred, the loyalty, the love, everything. Each moment of his life had been plagued by a single emotion. Fear. Not the fear most would think Kuro would have, it was a fear far beyond the simplistic fear of death. It was a fear that he had ignored, and that he had felt for the first time when Minatsuki died.

It became clear now, Fear hated humans because he could never relate to them. Only Minatsuki, Misaki, and Yaju stood out to him. Echo, Kurisu, and a few others were fun, but in the end they were acquaintances at best. His truest fear had been realized once, and only Misaki had helped. It was the most amazing fear that he knew, considering Fear's personality. He had expected a fear of death, or of losing his power. No... those were trivial compared to this fear. Fear, the ultimate weakness he had, was simply being alone. 

It was... freeing. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart, as he realized several things. For one, he had indeed loved Minatsuki. Not the hollow crush he had imagined Fear having, but something deep. Something he simply could not describe. Perhaps not the type of love he had hoped to find, but there was no doubt that he loved her in some way. Misaki was different. That much was obvious. He felt something indescribable for her, but whether it was love or not remained to be seen. Either way, whatever feeling he had for her before his memories resurfaced felt absolutely hollow compared to how he felt now. A loyalty so deeply instilled in him that he could not describe it, combined with something few could imagine Kuro having. Empathy. Pure and simple, he wanted her to be happy. Whatever it meant. His own happiness be damned. It was all he deserved, after all. What had he done to deserve happiness? Not a single thing in his life had a positive aftermath. No, it was always pain and destruction. He saw Minatsuki as a way to keep going, to keep going forward. Now though, he saw Misaki as a reason to live, to fight, and to win. No more failures, no more backing down.

The entire cause of this recovery of his memories had been the very thing that was trying to get him to attack her and kill her before he could reach Xanlanth. No! He refused. Every cell in his body, every single aspect of his personality rose up, and like a force of nature, utterly devastated the corruption that had been affecting him. His chakra, while black, had obviously been coming close to being corrupted by Xanlanth, possibly noticed by the others. Yet in that final moment, his entire soul had pushed back and destroyed and influence Xanlanth's chakra had gained. His chakra had been darkening to pitch black before that, but now it was a golden color, showing the sheer change in this man. His very being had been reformed into something different. No more hatred, no more pure anger. Not even towards his enemies. 

Kuro stood to his full height, rising from his position on the ground. Thank god he avoided Yaju's vomit. That wouldve been disgusting. He realized something as he stood up. It was not his inhumanity that allowed him to become so close to corruption. It was a combination of his sensitivity to souls, his sensitivity to chakra, and his natural fears and doubts. That darkness in him had been growing recently, but this had utterly destroyed it. His Rinnegan gave him the ability to see things no mortal was meant to see, such as the shinigami. It, however, enabled Xanlanth to attempt a corruption, knowingly or not. His sensitivity to chakra came from literally everything about him. His byakugan, his sensory, Kamui... each bit of it was linked to nature and chakra of the world. This was not to say Nature Chakra, like Sage Mode, but the chakra, or rather, energy, that was found EVERYWHERE. Even Kamui had this energy, and it was nothing like Nature Chakra. If Nature chakra was green, Spiritual Chakra was white, and Physical chakra was black, then this chakra was red. The exact opposite of Nature Chakra, yet it fit perfectly. The energy of spacetime. That which he was so sensitive to. It could match Natural Chakra when they fought, but when combined they went so well... 

Kuro glared ahead, at an unseen enemy. The densest patch of chakra, though there were several patches which rivaled it. It was the most likely place to find their main enemy, but they had to deal with the army in the way first. When Kuro laid his eyes on these poor beasts, he began to tremble. Not out of fear, not even the slightest sliver of fear was in him at the moment. No, this was pure, unadulterated rage. What monster would use such innocent children to further their own ends? Even in the darkest moment of depravity Fear had, he had never controlled another. Manipulated, yes, but their actions were ALWAYS of their own free will. Not once had he FORCED anyone to do something. Even Fear had a code. You could kill, use, torture, or even manipulate humans all you wanted. There was a single thing, one incredible thing, which set Kuro off. You never, EVER took away someone's will. It was the only thing, morally speaking, which Kuro detested. Killing was necessary. Any horrible act could be explained and examined, or done with positive intentions. But to actively take away the will of anything? Kuro felt sick, and yet, he could not help but relate to the creatures. His own will had been taken away, when he was sold into slavery. By his own parents no less. Kuro idly wondered if these dragons had been given to Xanlanth as an army by their parents. Unlikely, as then there would be no need for the corruption unless Xanlanth was particularly paranoid. Not that Kuro could blame him, as he had now gained the ire of the three monsters of Kumogakure.

"Such disgusting methods..." Kuro's chakra flared, signaling his anger. "Only a worm would resort to such atrocities!" Although Meteor was no longer active, Kuro found himself with more energy than ever. To the others, it would appear as if a sword, with black flame on the blade, had appeared in Kuro's hand. In truth, he had used his armor's ability, with himself as a catalyst, to temporarily break into Kamui and take his sword, Yoru. Kuro held the blade out, his arm straight, and his head shadowed by his eyes. He slowly looked upward, his eyes closed. One of the Grimms jumped towards Misaki, aiming to bite her. Before anyone could even do anything, Kuro was already there, his sword slicing the beast in half, vertically, with ease. The black flames did nothing to cauterize the beast, as the sheer speed of the slice had kept the flames from being able to do so. Amaterasu, the flames which decorated his sword, was powerful, but it burned slowly.

"These creatures have been robbed of their free will, havent they?" He asked Misaki, not turning to her. "All this... caused by a single beast." Whatever anger Kuro had once felt, before this mission, was absolutely NOTHING compared to the burning sun of rage which he felt now. A single beast. What manner of beast had such horrible morals to do so many things that perverted nature itself... A chilling thought occurred to Kuro. If he had not met Misaki, he would very well have been such a beast...

Interring through the portal was something Akihana could only describe as... going back in time. And not just any time but going back to every horrible, corrosive, humiliating and hurtful moment she had ever experienced in her life. For the first few moments, it didn't even matter how or why the experienced left the kunoichi feeling as she did, like she was five again and being humiliated in front of the entire clan for being late to prayers, like she was twelve again and scrubbing furiously at the sash of her elaborate kimono, tears in her eyes at the thought of what would happen if her mother found out, like she was sixteen and looking at herself through her father's eyes, like she was seventeen and looking at herself in the mirror, she was all of those at once. Every point in her life when she had felt worthless and insignificant and in pain rushed to firmly lodge inside her, making her buckle where she stood. Her eyes clsoed tightly to kep the negativity at bay, Akihana only heard the sounds of Yaju reaching up his breakfast and it was that sound which gave her the courage to open her eyes and look at the new world she had landed in. If there was one thing that could keep her mind off her own shortcomings, it was the need to help someone else. Her innate nature somehow overcoming the repulsion she felt within herself, leading to her realization that this world was corrupting far more than she thought it would.

Her now open eyes looked at the blue haired male too, sinking to his knees as the corruption overcame him and the blonde could only imagine what each of them must be going through. To destroy someone great, something of greater value is usually needed. In this case, the medic could only draw the conclusion that the thing attacking them was far greater than the thing attacking her simply because there was a lot more of them to try and corrupt in compared to her tinny presence in this world. As surely as the corruption was eating through her own protective golden shield, it was nowhere near as massive as the forces affecting her comrades. She knew this with the same certainly with which she knew they would overcome it. For all their confidence and for all her own misgivings, there was one thing Akihana could do better than most people, and that was to believe. Fanciful at times and perhaps not regarded as useful by most people, the kunoichi nonetheless knew the power of faith. She truly believed that her teammates were capable of overcoming the obstacles they were about to face and through this belief, the young woman drew her strength. She would never have been able to do this on her own, but when it involved other people, there was little choice in the matter.

As Misaki instructed Musubi to protect ehr, the notion was only reinforced. Even in such times, if they could think of and protect each other, then that was all the evience that anyone needed of the human world still worthy of being saved. Akihana had always believed that it took only a tiny ray of light to keep the world from goign completley dark, and these litle actions, thoighfulness, consideration, understanding, were those tiny lights that eventually turned into the radince of love and lit everything with light.

Light...

The grimms coming at them were creatures of darkness, all black and mindless, being forced to do the bidding of someone much stronger and forceful. And as much as the idea sickened her, she could see it made her comrades even angrier. Yaju's quick dismemberment of the first little dragon left her reeling, his friend's second kill having the opposite affect and jolting her back to stability, driving in where they were and what they were doing.

"Akane, shield your eyes," the ANBU operative turned dragon slayer called out, her palms already above her head as the ball of light formed on her fingers, more powerful than it had ever been before in view of the dire situation they were in. The medic leapt up in the hair, sending the ball hurtling at the dragons, aiming for the eyes. As soon as the ball of dazzling golden light was released, her hands came together to form the familiar chidori variant she'd been working on, her mind focused on the seals. Blinding them would not work for long, she knew. As all animals were want to, these grimms were probably attuned to other senses far better but even they would feel lightning pierce their bodies. Yaju's and the tattooed male's attacks had both proven that these creatures were susceptible to physical injury so if she could only-

Her concentration broke for the slightest moment as Musubi moved in front o her, her right leg raised in a kick so quick Akihana hadn't even noticed it, the only evidence of the kunoichi's action being what looked like a suspiciously cross eyed grimm lying in the ground a few meters away, a suspiciously cross eyed grimm that wasn't moving.

"When did she learn to pack such a punch," Akihana wondered, both pride and worry filling her insides as she returned focus on the seals, finishing the process required for Chidori Sembon and sending fifty sharp lightning charged needles at the grimms approaching like a dark cloud.

"You will not hurt my friends," she called out, watching the sharp needles sink into various little black bodies, dropping them into the ground. Five seemed to have taken in the most needles and lay dead with two more going numb.

Ten down, a hundred and ninety more to go.

All this chaos...given to the world by one single entity, this same entity whose twisted and crazed malice made this world and its inhabitants into monsters of their baser instincts. These things were something Yaju had experience for himself and knew that nothing....no beast or human should ever have to endure," This fate is not something anyone....or anything shall live, so for your own sakes I shall end your chaotic existence," he had no regrets about it....and he wouldn't allow another being to live the life he had once lived, he refused to allow the world to become this way and by his hands he would liberate the tortured souls of those that had been influenced by this power. The feeling in his stomach agreed as the beast, who had been coating his body in its own chakra would speak to him," For this once i'll let you use this power of mine for your goals...remember this well," a smirk began to play on the face of Yaju as he rolled his shoulders and moved his fingers, a simple dance as the wires that had been wrapped around his body would illuminate, the metallic strands dancing for all to see.

The smile on his face slowly widened as he spoke once more," Allow my dance to show how far i have salvaged myself from the chaos...," his eyes becoming a feral yet tame glowing red as five of the Grimm had begun to charge towards him, each of the five baring their teeth aiming to bite and rip him into pieces. Meeting their charge, he slowly walked forward, his eyes watching their feral charge, it was so strange how he could relate to a beast such as these, his own life behind a cage until he was freed....no liberated from a life of a caged animal. As his right arm moved forward, one of the grimm had fallen to pieces, its head being reeled back in and slammed into another one as Yaju jumped into the air, bringing down a scythe into the head of a second one.

The other three instantly surrounded him, the warning of them trying to separate them from one another had been true, but was he ever alone? No he was still with them, not too far but not to close to where he could actually harm them if his wires were to stray to far away from where he was. Well where he once was had become where he never was as the three pounced on him, a loud crash but the fight had never been truly over. Though the three successfully got him, his body was no longer there, only the haori. A bright blue gleam had been in the air as the sound of a thousand chirping birds could be heard by all in the group, his body being covered in an immense silver flame before crashing into the three grimms. The move he had pulled caused an immense upwards spiral of fire as he stepped from it unscathed, the haori being the only thing covering his chest as he cracked his neck," Only six...," his eyes only flickered backwards for a moment to see a grimm heading towards the rest, aiming to attack the side of Akihana and with a quick throw his scythe was sent flying towards teh beast, finding itself lodged in the head of the lost dragon and its body sliding to a stop four meters from her feet.

Although the numbers of the Grimm were dwindling down, he could still see the immense numbers of them coming, each of them charging forward to claim their prey and with how things were going if they were going to finish this and get to their task....he would have to do something drastically crazy. In his time as a ninja he had only created one thing to function off of chaos and malice, the one that had been on his neck since he had been a chunnin. With his sage mode diminished, he activated the curse seal, the marking that would have become black simply moved to become purple, the hatred in the air influencing it, but his body would never give in. He had came from the deepest pit of chaos, and found his light and he would use that power to destroy all that had been in his way. As the Second stage had formed, the black ugly hand wings had no longer grown, a mastery of no other as he smiled and darted forward meeting the advance of a grimm and cutting in half with the wires itself.

Within the moments he had moved forward, he had dropped three more with another group of five encircling him. With his Byakugan activated he could easily see the five of them, all of the circling around waiting for him to make the first move or even the slightest glimpse of a weakness. A brief sigh escaped his lips as he moved forward, his right arm controlling the wires to pull a grimm towards him, the wires compressing into the beasts skin before becoming pulp. The single action causing the others to roar and run at him, but this would be the last action he would complete, no in fact as the first grimm slid in an attempt to bite at his lower back, Yaju's body somersaulted onto its head and with his positioning he drove his feet into the beasts head. The third would have made the mistake going towards his left arm, which had wound up the wires in a large X shape, cutting through its body and dropping it onto the body of the one he had just killed.

The last two had begun their charge, his body facing both as he closed his eyes and waited as the two became closer....closer before moving into the air and bringing his hands down into their skulls. One clad with the fires of the fox and the other clad in ligthning, frying both of their brains in an instant. With the last of the two killed he slid back into the group and flicked his wrists, cleaning his hands of the blood as he looked at the group of grimm still coming," Looks like i have to bust out the last inscription," the glyphs on his hands glowing blue as he held his hands into the air. Above the group a large blue rune would appear, spinning as if it was about to activated, but it would then disappear without a trace. The rune which was above the group of seven would appear over a large group of Grimms, the run turning red and releasing blades of chakra. The blades skewered the sky as they impaled grimm after grimm before the rune disappeared, leaving.... one hundred and fifteen left. As the glyph disappeared a single light would come from his hands as the cigarette he pulled from his pockets would light," This....will be long," the only mental thought as he continued to protect his friends.

The wrong movement could kill a man, in any given situation. Few realize how frail their mortality is, fewer take steps to prevent it. Kuro, having once been a medical ninja capable of reshaping entire bodies with a single jutsu, as well as capable of easily absorbing bloodlines with a single jutsu, knew this far better than most. A single moment changed everything, a fact he knew all too well. Minatsuki's death had reaffirmed that. It filled his mind with so many 'what if's that it had nearly driven him mad once. He always had blamed himself, after all. It was his decision to stay behind while she went on. Not that he had any clue what had transpired. If only he could somehow raise the dead and talk to them, he could learn why she had died. He blamed himself, and that probably wouldnt have changed, if not for a single key factor. Misaki. In the end, she had proven that he was the only one left who truly knew her. Perhaps better than she had known herself, sometimes. Even so, he had no control of her mortality. He had control over his own, sure, but he couldnt call what he had mortality, really. The ability to screw over death itself was an ability which pretty much smacked the idea of mortality in the face. The problem was that others had no idea how easy it was to die. It wasnt just easy, it was pathetically so. A simple misstep on a set of stairs could cause a fall, which could simply break a neck. No matter how strong or how powerful one got, there were some things which simply could not be changed. Death and life were always happening, and could not be changed so easily. Only a rinnegan bearer could truly revive someone, and even then it was costly. Energy, mass, and binding all went into it. Energy to fuel the process itself. Mass to create or recreate the body. Binding was the process of bringing the soul back and shoving into the body. It did not actually require that great of control, but it helped. The fact that the rinnegan, byakugan, and sharingan combination gave Kuro nearly perfect chakra control was not a factor at this point. No, the truth was that he was just as easy to kill as anyone else, if you knew how. These dragons were no different in that regard, as they had their own weak points and lethal areas. Kuro could see each of them, thanks to his medical knowledge combined with his dojutsu. In fact, to him, these beasts were no more than human. Wings, claws, teeth, none of them made that much of a difference to him. To him, it was the same as always, just more and more death. Always ending in ways no one saw coming, which made it much better, but the death was always there, lurking in the shadows like some cruel beast only existing to tear apart the heart of the one who trusted it.

Kuro glanced at Misaki, who was going through the same thing as him. He would be worried, if he didnt know her. Alone, they all had started alone. Kuro, having been sold into slavery, then having the only person in the world who he could relate to stolen from him by the cruel grips of death. Misaki, being unable to relate to anyone her age, having the kage hat thrust upon her, when she needed protection herself. Yaju, having dealt with his father and being caged like a common beast. Kuro could sympathize with both of them, far more than they knew. The slavery he had undergone was far more damaging than anyone knew. For one, it had instilled such a fierce loyalty into him that he was willing to die for anyone he trusted. It removed any value he had on his own life, making him feel as if he were unimportant, even when he KNEW how important he was. No one else could do the things he could! He was an absolute monster on the battlefield, and even off. Where most saw impossible odds, Kuro saw a puzzle, and easily solved it. It was an ability derived from his intrinsic knowledge of nearly everything, combined with his observant nature. With his normal thoughts, he generally saw the most useful option and made it a reality. It allowed him to see the things most missed in their casual glances. Where people often though 'what', Kuro sought further answers, asking 'why, how', seeking the origins of such things. There were very few things he did not understand. One of the few things was why so many people kept letting themselves get hurt, even when they knew they were just going to get hurt. Another was why, in the same situation, people ignored the help they were offered, instead pretending that nothing was wrong. If it were any other situation, Kuro could essentially tear it apart piece by fucking piece and analyze it with ease. Reminding himself of those facts made him come across a startling realization. He was done. He had, in his past, been hurt quite a bit, and did not even try to stop it. From now on, he promised himself, he would not let anyone hurt him. If they did, he was done with them. The idea of someone USING him, as had been done in the past, was enough to send a roaring fire of rage through his body. Speaking of fire, he noticed the coming dragons, thinking he had his back exposed as a weakness. In a single second, right before Kuro was about to slice them into pieces, Misaki's vectors, which Kuro had honestly forgotten about, memory recovery be damned, tore them asunder.

Kuro glanced at her, growing a smirk. First he had defended her, then she defended him... and Yaju, but still. That was what he loved about her. She did not back down like a coward, hiding behind various people. No, she was a frontliner, fighting right along side the people she commanded. Indeed, that inspired respect that few had ever earned, least of all from Kuro. The difference between a boss and a leader was that a leader was right by the people he/she was leading. Misaki had the same aspect as Minatsuki which Kuro had respected so much. A leader... Yes, Kuro could respect her rather easily. She was a woman who held everything in her hand, though he wondered if she knew sometimes, as she sometimes held just tight enough to hurt. Of course, a lot of people did. Kuro was rather sure he was guilty of that himself. Indeed, it was a constant worry, with the way he was.

Kuro chuckled lightly as she dispatched the Grimms. "Thanks." Kuro noticed the blood on his sword, and flicked it off. Unfortunately for the poor Grimms in the way, the blood had Amaterasu on it, thanks to being on Yoru for so long. This created a crescent shape of pure amaterasu flames, which held physical power as well, slicing a Grimm in half, and lighting three behind it on fire. They began to scream in pain, but died rather quickly. Reptiles, even ones as awesome as dragons, tended to be cold-blooded, giving them a special weakness to fire, let alone Amaterasu level flames. Amaterasu ceased the instant they died, as Kuro did not desire causing an enormous fire capable of destroying entire forests, let alone one which could not be put out by normal methods. No, that would be horrible for him to do. Kuro sighed, noting how easily he was distracted by his own thoughts.

A single gesture sent several Grimm flying far too fast to survive their landing. Shinra Tensei, the most wonderful jutsu he knew that was connected to the rinnegan. Rather, it was the best considering how much resurrecting people cost, chakra wise. Shinra Tensei caused the gravity of the universe itself to buckle and create a push effect, shoving everything in its path aside with incredible force, easily enough to dispatch these little baby dragons. Kuro could not help but to feel bad for the things, but not enough to let himself die to keep from killing them, let alone enough to keep the others from killing them. So far, he had killed, including the first one he had dispatched, thirteen. Ha! His lucky number, indeed! Bad luck to Kuro seemed to be the most common kind of luck. Even better, he always seemed to get into the most ridiculous situations. One of which made him feel like he was in a one way conversation, but instead of a single conversation, it was an entire relationship, which made it suck even more. Of course, he would push on, as he always had. He would NOT bow to the little pain others could cause, not even at his weakest. Those few who held such sway over him would lose that, should they try.

A thought occured to Kuro. What makes someone a king? He had called himself a king many times, stating that his power was enough to back it up. But was it? Truly, he was powerful, but what MADE someone a king? Was it dominion? If that was true he was a king, yes. No, it was something more. Perhaps the respect and admiration of his peers? Not even that, though Kuro had that in spades. Was it someone with the ability to create and destroy? They were important to running anything, after all. No, it wasnt. Anyone could destroy, and only creativity was required to create. If not that, then WHAT made Kuro a king?! He was curious. It was not respect, not power, not creation or destruction... it was life. The ability to adapt and change to the circumstances. Alteration was the most needed thing for ANY political office. Especially a king. The other aspects were bonuses, sure, but the ability to adapt was an ability which often got underrated, or underestimated. His ancestor, also named Kurokon Shikyo, because  apparently his family was that uncreative, had used his natural ability to adapt to create not only a branch of science few could comprehend, but a fighting style! Everyone claimed that it was impossible to match an experienced swordsman unless you had a style. Kurokon had proven them all wrong when he pointed out how all styles were simplistic in nature, and predictable.

That is to say, everyone has the ability to adapt. What makes a king special is the ability to adapt at any given moment, at any rate that they wanted. If they wanted slow change, they could match the pace they desired. If they needed something THAT moment, they would adapt THAT moment, no delay. Indeed, Kuro had this ability at a higher level than anyone he had ever met before. His ability was such that his entire life had been based off of it. Each action was unplanned, but adapted to so that he was utterly unpredictable in most things. In truth, the one area he was probably most predictable in was his relationships. His friendship for Yaju, his feelings for Misaki, his amusement with Alice. All of it was obvious, if one bothered to look. It was simply the fact that everywhere else he was so unpredictable that made others lack understanding of his relationships. Truthfully, he saw it all as obvious, and felt bad about it sometimes. His relationships were mostly simple, though varied quite dramatically. One person always sought his advice on things, seeing him as this invincible genius capable of anything. Kuro wanted to knock that out of them, but he simply could not bring himself to hurt them like that. He both loved and hated it, being seen as invincible, that is. On one hand, he LOVED the respect and admiration it gave him. Yet, on the other, it made him seem less human, as if he were not bound by the same emotions and issues as others. Often times, this was the exact opposite of the truth.

Kuro raised his eyebrow as Misaki dispatched many of the Grimms. "Lovely armor" That smirk still plastered on his face. He winked at her,flirting mildly. True, probably not the best place or time to do so, but he had long stopped caring. This wasnt life or death anymore, this was simple business. Same as it ever was, to him. He had always been order to slaughter, to destroy. For once, he wanted to create something, something worth the admiration so many felt towards him. The same admiration which had almost destroyed him several times before. A large issue with that admiration that few ever noticed was that when he did lose, Kuro lost more hope than one could imagine. It would break a normal man, but Kuro did not keep going for himself. No, he had done so for his friends, those he cared for. If he was not strong at the moment, he would become strong so that they would not have to. That was his true goal, not taking over the world, not becoming a god. No, he wanted a peaceful life, maybe a wife and child one day, not having to kill anymore. But he simply could not have that life. No, he LOVED to fight, he loved the blood rushing through his body like water through a river, but the simple fact was that he desired the same things everyone else did as well. He could never give up what he loved, but he could also not help but feel a bit jealous of those who did not have to constantly work for their peaceful lives. If Kuro had a choice, he would always choose the life he had now, but that did not mean the other path was undesirable. It was a life of sacrifices, but Kuro had never been one to give into fear, so why start now? So what if he died? He would do so with pride, with honor. Yes, even a demon like Kuro had honor. He did not show it, but when he was asked to a respectful duel, he refused to cheat or be dishonorable in the slightest. It also made him act far too nice for his own good, letting his friends off with things he would kill normal people for.

Kuro eyed the rest of his group, before swatting his hand as if a fly was near him. Suddenly, beams of lightning shot out and utterly destroyed the remaining Grimms, or at least the ones directly in front of him. Kuro raised his eyebrow as the smoke faded, revealing twenty five more. "Looks like we are just getting started then. Perfect, I wanted to try my new style out." Kuro had previously been wielding Yoru with a single hand, but now he gripped it with both, and his entire demeanor seemed to change. Previously, he seemed carefree, although a bit of rage had flittered through him. Now, he was calm, composed, and... serious. A serious Kuro was a dangerous one, showing his true capabilities. This was fun, sure, but it was no time to goof off. Oh if only he had another sword, other than the spears from Lucifer, then he could maximize his use of this style. Oh well, at least he got to have a little bit of fun with these fodder dragons. Perhaps Xanlanth's generals, as literally every villain ever had them, would be more of a challenge.

Not exactly calm withe her breath hitched and her heart beating loudly in her ears despite her medical knowledge telling her how layman the expression was, Akihana stared out at the dark cloud of Grimms, their number still thick despite the team's various techniques. Sweat dripped from her body in beads as her golden gaze tried to find the weakness within their ranks to deliver optimum damage to the little black flying reptiles. Musubi seemed to be having no trouble punching and kicking, displaying an almost fearful amount of Taijustsu ability but Akihana feared the girl might tire easily that way. It wasn't for lack of faith in the girl's ability as much as a game of numbers. There were simply too many of them and Musubi couldn't afford to strike each and every one. There had to en a way to get to them by the dozens.

Bringing her fingers up to form quick seals, the blonde sent out another shock of Chidori Sembon, striking down another five reptilian creatures to their final end. Usually so opposed to killing, the medic found herself showing no hesitancy at this moment because she knew what was at stake. It was only as she tried to form a third seal to add to the Grimm body count that the connection she with with Misaki began to overpower her. If Akihana had to explain how she felt, standing only a few meters away from the woman she had only met once but felt as if she had known all her life, the young woman would honestly have been unable to put it into words. For how can one put into words the sheer, undeniable instinct that makes your feet automatically turn towards someone you care about, someone who is in an incredible amount of pain and someone you have to console despite not having a clue how to achieve that effect.

Raising her hand instinctively as if to shield Misaki from the internal demons the woman was facing - and here Akihana suspected the expression was far more literal in the former Raikage's case given the chakra coming off of he - the blonde took a step towards Misaki, only to notice a flying vector shoot past her head and shred the Grimm that had been heading her way, taking advantage of ehr short lapse in attention.

"Mother is stronger than this," Musubi said simply, answering Akihana's silent question. Her daughter knew Misaki better than anyone and judging by the armor now spreading across Misaki's body, Musubi was right. Misaki was strong, far too strong, but Akihana got the sense she was strongest when she had something to fight for, something to protect.

They all were. And that was exactly what made this mission worth doing, and succeeding at.

"Yaju look out," the medic called even as the wolfish teen cracked the skull of the Grimm headed towards him, her own hands barely raised in a jutsu to aid him. Of course she was too slow, empowered with neither the gift of armors, awe inspiring jutsu or the natural instincts of a killer. Nonetheless she would fight to protect those she cared about because it was the only way she knew how to live, and to live with herself. There was a lot Akihana could compromise in the name of her village and her duties but abandoning her comrades was not one of them. Moral principals, as hard as she tried to stick to them, were in no way a hindrance when it came to people she loved.

Though her own warning to the crimson eyed teen had been too late, he had no such problems, the kunoichi noted, the smell of burnt dragon reaching her before she saw the charred body fall about four meters from her. Without a word, Yaju had returned the favor she had never done him. "Thank you," she called out, a sheen of determination on her face as she brought her hands together for what looked like the average shadow clone seals, a twin formed beside her as she to meet the Grimms head on. Stopping at the last moment, the blonde crouched down, raising her palms for the clone to use as a launching pad, hurtling the clone into the midst of the reptiles only to watch her explode, another little trick Akihana had picked up while training and never thought she would use. The clone explosion technique was not her favorite but it was effective, taking down another ten of the night dark reptiles heading towards their little group.

"Good job, Aki, we're even now, fifteen for fifteen," Musubi called out even as her hand flew backwards, sending another Grimm flying with the sheer force of her backhand. "Oops, I'm sixteen now."

Akihana barely had time to smile at the girl when her next inspiration came from the flecks of Amaterasu the rinnegan user shook off his sword. While only familiar with his techniques in the way a village farmer was familiar with the idea behind theoretical existence of dark matter proven by the sheer inability to see it in overall universal mass and thus implying its massive presence, Akihana could nonetheless make the simple conclusion - that fire would work. Perhaps not something as dangerous as what the blue haired male was using but both he and Yaju had shown that these things could be incinerated.

Forming the horse hand seal in a quick motion, the kunoichi pushed her faced forwards, taking in a deep breathe as Musubi instinctively got out of the way, just in time for Akihana to expel the fireball from her lips, fifty meters of raging fire directed upwards straight at the flying black dragons. The dropped like flies, the Grimms that took the worst of it and Akihana counted at least 9 bodies dead, with others still impaired in one way of the other. She supposed it was called the great fire annihilation for a reason.

"Forty down, eight five to go," the blonde counted under her breath, clinging to the number which had seemed impossible not so long ago but now looked frighteningly within reach.

The fight had been going at a pace best described as something seen in an epic story found only by the best of heroes and heroines. These seven people had been fighting for something different, either for the protection of their home or for their lives. His eyes slowly surveyed the battlefield as each of his comrades continue to take out bulks upon bulks of the Grimms whose numbers beforehand trumped them, but as a group they killed them off. With each Grimm that dropped, Yaju moved closer to the group to watch out for them as his tasks had been done. Any of the Grimms that had been trying to blindside the others were quickly taken care of without an issue now that he knew how they operated and would react. Within Misaki's armor dawned a smile from the young Raikage, her actions not going unnoticed while he had been fighting. He had then realized that she had not used that power in quite sometime and the fact that she was using it now had made him wonder what had been going on inside of her mind.

It was at one point the air around her was clear...almost serene in a sense which even in an area so full of malice of chaos one would begin to think that it was impossible, but the chaos of this realm was...flowing into her as if she calling to it. His red eyes watched her closely as the chaos continued to flow into her, waiting for the results but hoping it wouldn't corrupt her and make her into one of these things," Be careful...," thinking only to himself he continued to watch her to see the results. The moments that passed however sent a visible chill down his body as a smile for an odd reason appeared on his face, he knew this familiar presence and it was one she used on him when he was yet still growing in power and in person. Yet that time had proven to be...quite painful in a sense with a tree being dropped on him, but now...it had seemed she had gained control over the power of that darkness. As her transformation had finally finished he stood there in awe, of course with his hands at the ready in case all went south, but with the Grimms still coming he had to focus on two things at once.

As he dispatched another Grimm his eyes went towards Misaki who had stepped in front of the group, he didn't understand but as he moved forward to attempt to assist her he was only met by the form of Tsukiumi who had been stopping them from advancing forward to help, but after he had observed her movments he knew that this was something neither he nor the rest would be able to help with. The most painful thing for him was knowing that even with all of the power you accumulate you could never truly help someone overcome their own darkness....you could only be a light that enabled them to strive forward to break the curse. For now that was all he could truly do as he stood there with his fists balled and his red eyes looking towards the field of battle in which Misaki had declared her battle with her own demons.

As the battle continued to rage on he couldn't help but feel his urge to jump over the rest and go help his friend, but the results wouldn't be well for him if he did. It was strange that even in these moments where the situation was under control he simply wanted to be useful to those he cared about, but being here was the best he could do for the moment. The sheer power she had displayed from her Demoness form had both amazed and slightly scared Yaju, if not for its sheer power and nature. It was like he was staring down someone who had amassed power, but at a rate in which it could destroy them if left uncheck. Yet he knew that this darkness would only help the woman in front of him grow and becoming stronger than anyone.

As soon as the battle begun it was soon over, as the mass of dark chakra exploded from her causing all of the Grimm to just...disappear into nothingness leaving only a crater and falling pieces if that managed to survive to the ground. Listening to her words he nodded for a moment, kicking his scythe from out of the dead dragon it was imbedded in and sealed it away, moving quickly to Misaki's side and offering his shoulder to her in an attempt to help her towards the cave. With a small smile he looked to her before looking towards the cave only whispering to her," You worried me for a second going out there alone Misaki....Don't shoulder all of the burdens yourself, you have us to help you whenever you need it alright," shortly after speaking he had sat outside of the cave, not too far into the rain, but just enough to where he could feel is cold embrace touching his face.

While he had been sitting outside he began to clean his weapons, the large amounts of blood and bodily fluids would be the death of them unless he cleaned them properly. The wires were of the first since he used those as often as a wolf used their claws, the strands being cleaned and returned onto his arms. It would be quiet from him until Misaki had mentioned getting some rest, which normally he would argue against and stay up, but seeing how things were going....rest would be the best course of action. After finishing his weapons of course he moved inside of the cave, his body reverting to that of a large wolf which had been his sleeping method while out amongst the world. Slowly he padded over towards Misaki, dropping his body near her and curling around like a dog and its loyal master. He didn't say anything or rather he felt he didn't need to, as he laid there beside her he could only imagine the interal wars she was fighting, but while being her friend he would be there for her every step of the way.

Kuro, unlike the others, saw this transformation with many different views. The Rinnegan saw things only those connected with nature could see, and more. The sharingan saw the way things worked, and moved. The Byakugan simply saw MORE. Now, where he could be hard headed at times, he could probably be classified as the smartest man in Kumogakure, should he desire. The issue was his attention span. If he tried to do something boring, he found it insanely difficult. It was one of the reasons he was so scatterbrained. It helped greatly that he was interested so deeply in science, then. His attention span was both a benefit and a drawback, as it drastically boosted his learning curve when dealing with things he loved, yet shattered the same curve when he wasnt interested in something. Fortunately for the Mad Mystic, he was interested in pretty much anything. It was this, combined with his understanding of life and death, that gave him an idea as to what Misaki had become. The answer was so blatantly obvious it was amazing he hadnt immediately come to the conclusion. The fact that he had to see her with his dojutsu was a bit shameful on his part. He was too reliant on them sometimes... Deactivating his dojutsu, Kuro stared at the new Misaki.

A Demon.

To classify something as a demon, most would think anything with dark energy was demonic in nature. If this were true, Kuro could easily classify himself as an angel. Light energy coursed through him now, purified with his mentality. Granted, he was more akin to a fallen angel, but still, the idea remained the same. Anyone who knew Kuro however, would personify him as Lucifer Incarnate... until recently. Yes, his mentality change had been sudden, dramatic, and amazing. In truth, he had Xanlanth's corruptive chakra to thank for that. Breaking down the mental blocks which kept his memories at bay, and attempting to corrupt his chakra, to disobey his very nature, was all it took to break the depression and cold heartedness Kuro held for so long. It was a shocking realization, just how monstrous he had once been. In any case, to Kuro, a demon was something that had been killed and reborn with sheer darkness, evil radiating from its core, and dark energy as its main supply of power. Although, the line about evil was a bit skewed.

As humans, we see things with different perspectives, and find it difficult to change perspectives unless we train ourselves to do so. Kuro had done so. In the end, he saw the reality of good and evil. They werent. The reality was that evil and good were mere fabrications which had been created in an attempt to categorize actions. Evil was bad, and good was good, right? Well, the problem lied in the fact that when two people had the same goal, but went about getting to it in different ways, they were both really the same. That is to say, two beings who want world peace, one goes about domination, while the other goes for peace talks. The simple fact is, both were good, to most people. The issue came when the casualties started to pile up. A lot of people would question if the end was worth the means. The truth was that it, indeed, was. Infinite lives saved versus a few deaths, yes it was worth quite a bit. 

To take it a step further, a person who has to dig their hands into some dark shit just to survive, was usually referred to as evil. Kuro actually had a fond respect for these types of people. Instinct and will to live winning out over morals wasnt uncommon, it was just frowned upon, for literally no reason. At the end of the day, everyone wanted to live, and to love. So long as their goal was one of those two things, they could justify many things. The only thing Kuro truly saw as evil was corruption, or truly controlling the mind of someone else. Okoimane was his limit, as he considered it high tier manipulation, and nothing more. It was rarely used, as it was close to offending his morals, but he did use it to read memories rather often. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, to him. To be honest, there was another thing Kuro deemed evil. Traitors. Not the kind who abandon a ship because it is sinking, or those who leave a nation because they are unsatisfied, as that would make him a hypocrite. No, the kind he hated were those who truly betrayed their friends. Not just leaving them for a bit, but utterly betraying them. Even coming close to that was enough to anger him, usually. 

That was why he classified Misaki as a demon, ignoring the 'evil' part. If anything, she, to him, was an angel. A fallen one, similar to him, but still. He looked on in awe at the beautiful form of Misaki, and he would not deny it later. This woman was the only person who had fully earned his respect. Yaju came close, but compared to Misaki, well... Yaju was cool and all, but until he did something as amazing as this slaughter that Kuro was bearing witness to, respect was a bit off. The spar helped greatly, and perhaps Kuro did respect him a portion, but not enough for him to willingly admit it out loud. Pride was a funny thing in that way. Anyway, Kuro saw Misaki not as a demon, but a fallen angel... or perhaps, the opposite. A risen demon? It fit, given how she was his opposite. Or perhaps he was the risen demon and she was the fallen angel... yes, that fit much better. Or did it? Fuck, he couldnt honestly decide.

Then, as his awe hit a climax, he was reward with the most heart wrenching thing he had ever seen. Unlike with Minatsuki, Kuro was witnessing what he thought was Misaki's death. Every single cell in his body was screaming at him to move and save her. Acting on sheer instinct, Kuro activated his byakugan, which was still in the center of his chest. If he had not, he would have rushed in and saved her, regardless of her guards. The sight of Misaki's chakra building up for a final attack, however, stopped him... and filled him with rage. 

Kuro let his rage simmer, and walked forward towards Misaki, following her towards the cave. His mind was reeling from the actions of the woman. The sole woman who had earned his respect and lived, the only person he trusted to get his back in a tough situation, was obviously depressed. It was strange, seeing someone who could easily match his own power output in such a funk. Kuro did not like it either. It made him feel a bit sick, and it wasnt from the fact that he had just seen her chakra turn dark, either. It was the fact that she had not only gone alone needlessly, but also seemingly forgot they were watching and had shown them she was willing to sacrifice herself for them. It was not obvious at first glance, but it all fit together so perfectly that even Kuro's blind belief in her could not hide it. She felt alone, even now. This made him rather unsure of what to do. If she had just been sacrificing herself, he would have smacked her upside the head and told her to never do it again. If she had just been scared of rejection for being demonic, Kuro would have rolled his eyes and hugged her, telling her it wasnt important if she was actually a demon, she was still her. If it had just been the lone fighting, Kuro wouldnt have commented, as he did the same thing many times over. He had literally no room to talk.

Kuro matched the pace of Misaki, and was at the cave at the same time as her. Kuro sat opposite of Misaki, facing her, and ignoring Yaju's apparent ability to transform. Kuro noticed the slight cuts and frowned. They were not major wounds, but still. "Here, relax your chakra a bit." Kuro moving his hands forward, pointing towards Misaki. Using Creation of All things to replicate cells from the old ones was easy enough, but a bitch on his chakra reserves. Compared to normal medical techniques, COAT was inefficient. He knew this, but it was the gesture which he needed. Mostly to show her that she did not need to do anything alone. "You... Dont do that again. You have no idea how much that scared me..." He couldnt say that he was pissed that she would throw her life away so needlessly, both because of her obvious depression on the subject and because of his desire to not hurt her with his words. He could rip apart innocents left and right, but he couldnt touch her. 

Kuro frowned but decided to tell her a bit of something that should help her, if just a bit. "When I was growing up in Tengakure, everyone called me a monster for my original bloodline. I was much different as a child too, always playful and helping. I wanted to be a hero, one of those guys who was surrounded by beautiful girls, who saved the girl who he loved and had all those fun adventures. I got part of it right, I guess. Haha... I was way more innocent and kind as a kid than you can imagine. I couldve grown up to be a saint, really. I hated hearing people call me a monster, but I began to realize something." Kuro looked Misaki dead in the eye for this, knowing what was going on inside her mind without having to use Okoimane. His eyes, having his rinnegan and EMS deactivated, were a shade of brown, looking much less... evil, than any eyes he had before, dojutsu or no.

"I realized, at that point, that I wasnt a monster. Keep in mind that I was innocent at the time" Kuro grinned slyly. "But yeah, I wasnt a monster. The entire basis of their claims was simply my bloodline, which determined nothing for me other than a base ability. It wasnt even a dark ability, just a bloodline. Manipulating bones is far from the most evil bloodline I have encountered... So then, what makes someone a monster, or a demon?" Kuro gave her a meaningful look, as he had heard of that moniker. "In reality, I think what differentiates everything is simple. Intent. Power is power, no matter how you look at it. It can corrupt, or it can help. The difference is as simple as intent." Kuro smiled, glancing at his sword. Suddenly, his sword and armor disappeared, leaving him shirtless, only covered by black, loose pants. "So then tell me. What is your intent? Mine... is to protect everything I love." Kuro apparently had changed, yet not entirely. A scar lay on his chest, going from the right side of his collarbone to the left side of his ribs. A reminder to not get too cocky in his abilities. Helping people was harder than he thought, but... it was definitely worth it. He never wanted to see Misaki like that again, even it it hurt him to keep that depression away...

"Think on what I said, and dont you ever forget... I am here for you. Im sure Yaju would say the same, if he werent a dog, and asleep right now." Kuro, of course, ignored Akihana, as she hadnt posted yet, so he had little to nothing to reply to. Kuro yawned, and leaned back. "I may as well take a nap. Ill take next watch if needed." He could probably just make a clone to do so, but that would be cheating and he was tired. "I havent slept in months now..." Of course with COAT, and his altered body, he didnt need sleep.  It helped, but was ultimately unnecessary. Much like food, considering he could simply absorb chakra and use it as fuel. The rinnegan was stupidly powerful in that regard, but it was a tool in the end, and he had to remind himself of that. He would rather not grow reliant on it. With that thought in mind, Kuro curled up, back against the wall, and slept, looking harmless compared to his usual self.

Panting, tired and with every muscle in her body screaming for a relent, Akihana would have collapsed after her own bout with the Grimms had it not been for Musubi who was right behind her. Whether Misaki's daughter had sensed that the blonde was at the end of her rope or simply observed it, Akihana couldn't say. ll she knew was that her knees were giving away and the hard ground was coming closer to her face when she felt Musubi tug at her, lifting her a few feet off the ground to hover over the battlefield, Akiahana hanging on like a rag doll with all her energy spent. Only the most basic of senses seemed to be working in the medic as she surveyed the scene from where she hung. She had never had any grand notions about dragon slaying because she simply hadn't grown up in that environment. But had she had any illusions of grandeur when it came to the art, none of them would have ever come close to what they were doing now, hacking and burning their way through the reptilian black bodies in a massacre that left her both physically exhausted and emotionally sick.

But the emotion that dominated both the above was concern for her comrades.

Watching Misaki transform into her demon form was possibly the most painful thing Akihana had experienced since childbirth.The act carrying so many connotations that it left the young mother both dizzy and unable to move as she watched her friend sprout the armor and then the added physiological structure of the demoness she was now letting out, golden eyes trailing over the black spiked tail and the gigantic chakra signature she embodied. The fact that she would push herself to such lengths was painful enough, painful in the way that it felt wrong. Misaki, despite her prowess at battle, was still something precious, something that needed to be protected, not the one doing the protecting. It was clear in how much she pushed herself that the former Raikage did not agree with Akihana's private thoughts. It was apparent in the way she was willing to sacrifice herself for those around her. Why someone so pure of intention had been deprived of love so much, Akihana could never understand. But she could correct it.

"Akane... let me help," the blonde managed, her breath uneven and her muscles made of lead even as she spoke. It didn't matter though. Akihana could be only able to crawl and she would still go to Misaki's aid because that was what unconditional support meant. It was a thing best taught by parents at a young age to their children but looking at Misaki, the blonde could guess her friend did not have a conventional childhood. From the way she fought and the way she held herself, expecting people to shun her for defending them, the medic could see Misaki had missed one fo the most important aspects of growing up.

The realization that when someone loved you, they did it despite what you threw at them. They did it unconditionally.

"Its, over, there's no need," Musubi pointed out, making the blonde in her grasp focus once more. Hazy golden eyes settled on the now eerily still battlefield as Misaki dispatched the last of the monster and all Akihana could see was the blood. She was hurt. Another futile attempt to get out of Musubi's hold and the medic gave up, letting the young girl carry her towards the rest of the group congregating around Misaki and heading towards the cave.

Akihana didn't even feel the bump as Musubi gently deposited her on the ground, her back against a rock as she observed Yaju and their other companion congregate around Misaki. It seemed her own medical prowess wasn't strictly needed as the blue haired male tended to the cut on Misaki's cheek though at the moment, she was grateful for his work. The kunoichi doubted she had enough chakra left to heal. As she sat listening to him recount the tale of his own bloodline limit which had defined him as a monster in his early years, the feeling of profound sadness pierced her heart once more. How people could be treated in such a way, labelled as hurtful things and shunned into cruel situations she could never understand.

"There are no monsters in the world," the blonde spoke up, her first time admitting an opinion in this group. Whether she spoke to reassure Misaki or as an answer to the rinnegan bearer, even she could not say. It was simply a statement and even though she knew she would gain nothing by making it, she also knew that not making it would mean losing something important. "The only monsters are the ones we make up." It was a lesson she had taught her own son early on, unfortunately the boy had taken it to mean nothing in the world could harm him. At least that would explain his love of all things dangerous.

Using the last bit of her strength, Akihana moved to Misaki where Yaju lay in his wolf form, her hand extending towards the Raikage to stroke his ears gently before the same hand moved to Misaki, glowing softly with healing energy. Her final reserves but they were well spent if they were used to heal the rest of the passive damage she had taken. Running her hands smoothly over the other female, Akihana worked quietly, passing her own chakra to the Ametsuchi before her golden eyes blinked open to take in the shirtless male.

"I can help with the scar," she offered timidly, too exhausted to smile but sincerity nonetheless ringing clear in her voice as she offered the assistance. He had been aloof so far and for some reason it seemed awkward to make formal introductions now. And yet it remained she still didn't know his name.

"I'm Akihana," she added as an afterthought. Any other time, any other place the situation would have been embarrassing. But fighting off two hundred dragons bent on tearing one limb from limb excused one from social norms like proper introductions in a timely manner. If allowed, the medic would spend the final dregs of her chakra reserve to heal the scar on his chest. Though if he insisted on keeping it, the blonde would understand. Being a medic, few people knew better than Akihana did the relationship some shinobi had with their battle scars.

"I'll take first watch," the Kunoichi offered, slipping her slender frame between Misaki and the male. It was unconscious training taking over, a medical ninja always kept to the middle, in easy reach of every member of the squad. one of her hands reached for the other female, her fingers entwining with Misaki's where she sat. Medical aid aside, there was a lot to be said for emotional support conveyed through physical touch.

"I may as well take a nap. Ill take next watch if needed."

"Sleep well, everyone," the words were directed at the whole group which seemed about ready to retire for the next few hours. A glance at Musubi showed that Akihana herself could go to sleep as the other girl was wide awake and sufficient to keep watch but the medic decided to stay up as long as she could. It didn't matter that she couldn't help as substantially as she would like to, what mattered was that she would do whatever she could to help.

The night grew colder as Akihana sat where she was, her eyelids growing heavy to the peaceful sounds of her comrades sleeping. Images of Arata flooded her mind, safe and sound in the world they had came from, in the world they were fighting to protect. Mentally, the kunoichi wished her little boy a good night before giving in and lying down on the ground, curled up on her side as sleep overtook her. And if somewhere in the middle of the night the blonde felt too cold or afraid - an instinct brought on by motherhood to check on one's child even while in the state of sleep - and reached out to hug an arm to herself as reassurance, the kunoichi didn't notice. That was how Akihana fell asleep that night, with one hand still holding Misaki's while her other hugged the Rinnegan's user's muscled arm to her chest as Yaju lay close to everyone to provide warmth.

And despite the danger of the mission they were on, for once it seemed she was safe and warm, surrounded by friends.