The Letter's Message (Private/Kanshi)

It was quiet in the household that Takamitsu lived, the house he had stayed in ever since he joined the academy and left his mother while she traveled the nations selling different mixtures of flowers and herbs, creating potent poisons and cures. The boy wanted to become a ninja, and to become a genius of different ninjutsu, but most of all, he wanted to experience what his family before him had felt when they had committed themselves to their nations and became shinobi. And, although he was told many times to give up his false hopes, he wanted to find and reunite his family, discovering why his brother and father had left the village. Tonight was that night. He knew that he needed to throw up some sort of distraction in order to prevent anyone tailing him, so the boy performed Shadow Clone Jutsu, and he parted ways with his second half. One part of him quietly began to head out of the village, and the other towards a small ramen shop, where the boy wanted to 'Treat Kanshi to a meal.' He didn't quite know how well this plan would work, but he had already began to travel out of the village as fast as his legs could take him, deeper and deeper into the Land of Fire's borders.

His clone walked unarmed into the small ramen shop, taking a seat. He was several minutes early, but a part of Takamitsu felt that he would need to take several minutes in order to calm his shaking hands and steady his nerves. After several moments of waiting, it would seem that the clone had finally calmed himself. He was still unaware of what was inside of the letter, but he had several sound guesses on what it might have contained. The letter wasn't important, though, as Takamitsu had his mind made up on what was going to take place during the night. His information from a shinobi he considered his friend seemed reliable, and it was likely to stay that way, no matter what the letter could have said.

WC: 350/350
AP: 198 - 30 (Shadow Clone) = 168
168/2
Takamitsu: 84
Clone: 84

Kanshi is the worst squad leader this world may ever see; this became very evident when he sat down next to Takamitsu with a bottle of sake and was obviously intoxicated as he would go pull the clone into a hug.
"Ey Takamitsu, buddy. So I am assuming you didn't just take me out to dinner for a romantic date, so let's get down to the point. You want to talk about something on your mind and probably will skip around a bunch till you feel confident enough or even postpone it till tomorrow if it really bothers you. Go on, out with it already!"
He would squeeze the clone and would chuckled after talking in his slurred speech. Kanshi honestly would rather forget his past with alcohol than remember it in bits. Recently, all he can see is flashes here and there and new memories hitting him. While there are a few ones, most of them make him wish he was dead again. All of this, however, was going to be the last thing to stop him from dealing with his squad and being the best leader he could. From what Kanshi could tell, this was Takamitsu due to the chakra signature and no more thoughts on the matter were presented. The leader would then release one of his arms from Takamitsu and kept his left around the Genin's shoulder like a father, a drunk father at that. 

[239]

Takamitsu's clone slowly glanced over as an intoxicated Kanshi stumbled towards him. The state of his mentor actually calmed his nerves slightly, as it meant he'd be less likely to pick up on Takamitsu's behavior.
"Part of me just wants to eat, but I'm guessing you realized that since I didn't invite the squad, something is up. I'm curious about that letter, I know something was inside of it."
He shifted in his seat, facing his body towards Kanshi. Although it didn't seem that way to his squad members, he knew something was up with Kanshi.

The genin swiftly ran through the trees, several light droplets of rain falling onto him and his surroundings. Nearby sounds were slowly being overtaken with the loud roar of a river, Takamitsu was about to reach The Valley of The End. Between the branches, Takamitsu saw flashes of blue, likely the river. He jumped down from the trees and onto the ground, looking up and down the river. His eyes locked onto a mass of shimmering red, a heavy cloak obscuring the figure of a man slightly taller than Takamitsu. The genin knew the cloak, it was a form of defense designed by his father, one that used chakra infusion to keep the cloak ever moving, making it harder to read the wearer's movements. Despite the information saying the man would be traveling, he seemed very stationary.

Takamitsu's mind flooded with thoughts, and he fell to his knees, not sure which emotion he wanted to feel. Anger? Happiness? Should he acknowledge the sadness he felt? Should he feel the hatred of his brother for what he did, or the bond that kept Takamitsu following him all these years? A single tear fell down the boy's face as he struggled to stand back up. The only word that could escape his lips was the name of the man, the name of his brother, Kurushimi, the missing ninja

WC: 322/672
Takamitsu's AP: 84 + 20 (Uzumaki Longevity) = 104
Clone's AP: 84 + 20 (Uzumaki Longevity) = 104

Kanshi smirked as he released his hands from Takamitsu. Taking another swig, he thought about why he should even care anyways. If his squad member got killed for his stupidity that was his problem, he wasn't their parent. Hell, he felt they could all be dead and he wouldn't give a single care. Putting down the bottle, he looked at the boy.
"Your brother is at the Valley of the End and they said some shit about you being idiotic enough to run away and go all teenage dream on us. Go ahead and meet your brother and die at your little sweet family reunion or stay here and maybe, you know, live another day. Either way, I don't control where you walk, you do."
He chuckled, not even thinking for a second that this was a clone. The leader than spoke once more after being satisfied by the entire thing being over.
"So did you learn any jutsu you would be able to teach me? I feel like your jutsu is probably just all easy."

[176/415]

The clone sat silently as the situation was explained to him, eventually nodding when Kanshi was finished.
"I haven't studied any more jutsu since the last training session, I've mostly been preparing to find my brother. Sure, I do guess it was foolish of me to leave, and especially for me to divide my chakra into a clone. But if you knew, I figured there was a possibility you'd try to stop me."
The clone gave a small smile, as Takamitsu would have just arrived at the valley if everything went to plan.

The man stood silently, choosing not to respond to the boy's cry over the roaring river. Takamitsu slowly approached the edge, prepared to run across to meet his brother. Suddenly, something in his head clicked.
"Where's our father!?"
Kurushimi finally turned, locking eyes with Takamitsu. His world seemed to change around him, the sky's gray clouds began to 'bleed', a dark red leaking across the vast expanse of the sky. A voice spoke in his head.
"Father? I haven't seen him in years, I killed him before we even reached the Land of Lightning."
Takamitsu's eyes widened as he heard the information, and he attempted to look towards his brother, but he had vanished. Takamitsu began to look around, he realized suddenly that he wasn't going to get the answers peacefully, and that he needed to dispel the Genjutsu.

The clone's eyes would widen slightly, a brief "Oh shi-" escaping his lips before he was dispelled, Takamitsu had needed chakra, and he needed it quickly. Kanshi would be left alone in the restaurant as the clone vanished, leaving behind only news of what Takamitsu had done.

WC: 279/951
AP: 104 + Clone's AP = 198

Kanshi's carefree face solidified into a serious look sprinkled with malice. He slammed his hands down onto the table, thus shattering it, and looked at the Takamitsu clone abruptly.
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU ACTUALLY WERE OUT LOOKING FOR YOUR BROTHER THE WHOLE TIME AND JUST THROWING YOUR LIFE AWAY? I AM GOING TO SHARPEN EVERY BONE INTO YOUR RIB CAGE AND STAB YOUR DUMB ASS DEAD. YOU BETTER DAMN WELL HOPE YOUR BROTHER IS THE ONE THAT FINDS YOUR SORRY ASS FIRST."
He was a bit too comfortable earlier when he had spoken. It was more so just something cool to do in the spur of the moment; however, hearing that Takamitsu actually had done it made Kanshi feel as if he just failed as a leader. Sure his temper was a bit too large for him, but he was the kind to get angry instead of whining and crying the blues. To add salt to the wound, Takamitsu's clone vanished and left Kanshi staring at the empty seat with his left eye twitching. He calmly set aside enough money to pay for the broken table from funds he got from smithing then just stood up with his sake bottle in hand. Around him, many were watching the scene he just caused, but that was no matter compared to what was about to happen to his squad member. In a dash, Kanshi fled towards the location of Takamitsu's brother with fire nearly flaring from his nostrils.
"He better pray to god that his brother kills him before I pick up his sorry ass."
It was around here where Kanshi decided to calm down by training a new taijutsu technique he had been working on for quite some time now. A simple block, perfect for combat. With a book in one hand and the empty bottle of sake in the other, he dashed towards where Takamitsu was with deep breathes and some knowledge along the way.
 
[327/742]

Takamitsu quickly attempted to dispel the Genjutsu, knowing that he was under his brother's fingers unless he was able to get rid of the illusion that he was under. The red slowly began to fade to gray, and the landscape that was blurred slowly began to come into his vision. When the jutsu was finally dispelled, he quickly turned to the side, hearing footsteps move towards him. An extended arm met the boy's neck, throwing Takamitsu down the valley and towards the ground. His feet met with the waterfall that poured into the valley, and he attempted to catch his breath with his injured throat. His brother slowly approached the edge, which was roughly 10 meters above Takamitsu, and spoke quietly to him.
"I told you not to follow me, and I told you there would be consequences. It is only because you're my brother that I'm giving you the choice now to run back to your village."
"You... You killed our father."
"He was a traitor, and that's that. You're a ninja, you should be prepared to raise your fists towards anyone."
"How could you do that to your own family!?"
"You're too young to understand. Hell... Maybe if you came with me, I'd be willing to show you what it means to be a ninja. I could show you more than anyone from Konoha ever could."
"...I'd never go with a bastard like you."
Kurushimi gave the boy a slight grin,
"So be it."

Takamitsu locked eyes with his brother as he performed a series of hand signs, a loud chirping emitting from his hand as he crouched slightly, staring his brother down. He began to charge forward, his brother remaining stationary as Takamitsu bared down on him. A flare of anger seemed visible in Takamitsu's eyes as he extended his hand towards his brother, who swiftly brought his hand down on his arm, knocking him off of his course and sending him once again flying down the waterfall. The boy's hands clawed at the water, trying to slow his fall. Eventually, after 20 meters of free falling, his feet reached the water, and he once again ran towards his brother, closing the distance. Takamitsu grabbed a kunai from his bag and prepared to slice his brother's face. Kurushimi deftly pulled a sword from the inside of his robe and stopped the kunai with ease.
"It's such a shame, I thought you'd have progressed more."
"Don't mock me!"
Takamitsu began to infuse his chakra into the kunai, hoping that the extra power would let him gain an edge in the struggle. His brother knocked Takamitsu's hand to the side, and cleanly sliced the sword towards Takamitsu, leaving a gash on his right cheek.
"It's just like when we were children. I'll always have this edge on you, Taka."
The boy held his face with his left hand as his right returned the kunai to his bag. Kurushimi re-sheathed the sword, staring towards his brother.
"Why did you leave the village?"
"It's none of your concern."
"What did you steal!?"
"It was a gift from Father and me to our new village, information about Konoha. It never made it to the Land of Lightning."
"Kurushimi... What happened to you?"
His brother gazed coldly towards him, and Takamitsu faltered slightly.
"If you're not prepared to kill me like the missing ninja that I am, you have no business wearing that damn forehead protector."
Anger once again flared in Takamitsu, who charged forward with Leaf Whirlwind. His brother easily caught the first kick and threw Takamitsu's body away before he could give a counter attack. The genin's feet caught the waterfall, and he glanced down towards the river below them. They still looked to be roughly 30 meters from the ground, and they had only traveled around halfway down the falls. A tear fell from Takamitsu's eye toward the ground, he was furious at his brother over what he had done, but he also was angry that this fight was happening. He wanted to bring his brother back to the village, he didn't want to need to attack his own family.
"I'm going to bring you back."
"I'd like to see you try, little brother."

A chain erupted from Takamitsu's hand, and he grabbed it, swinging it towards his brother. Without batting an eye, a chain erupted from Kurushimi's shoulder and wrapped around Takamitsu's chain, immobilizing it. Another erupted from Takamitsu's chest, and it extended towards Kurushimi's face. Kurushimi jumped towards the side and let a chain of his own extend from his hand towards his brother. Takamitsu's chakra flow to his feet stopped, leaving him to plummet towards the ground, avoiding the chain. The two chains that Takamitsu created vanished, and he waited several seconds before planting his feet once again on the water.
"You're a disgrace to our clan."
"You're a disgrace to our village!"
The genin once again ran forward, this time only attempting to punch his brother.
"Enough with the games."
Kurushimi caught the punch, delivering his own to the stomach of Takamitsu. A spurt of blood expelled from the boy's mouth, and he arched backward, falling limp in his brother's hands. It was a pain unlike anything Takamitsu had felt before. A blue hue was created around Takamitsu's free, left hand, and he drove it towards Kurushimi, slicing into his arm. A sizeable cut was created, which led Kurushimi to use a jutsu of his own. He opened his mouth, and flames were let loose directly towards Takamitsu. The genin yelled in pain as he kicked off of Kurushimi and fell several feet before replanting himself onto the falls. His clothes were smoldering, and a large burn was created on his chest where the fireball had hit him. The nerves were fried, and a mix of searing pain and numbness were felt across the inflicted area. On top of the burns on his chest, his left arm was burned, and his right hand was cracked in Kurushimi's grasp. There wasn't a way that Takamitsu was going to be able to win the fight, it was something he had accepted. The genin was probably going to die if Kurushimi did another jutsu of that caliber. Takamitsu weakly moved forward, struggling to speak. Blood covered the lower half of his face, and the bleeding didn't show any signs of stopping.
"Why... Why would you leave with Father only to kill him!?"
"He grew a distrust with the village, and I knew that the ANBU was likely going to hunt him down, and I'd rather have family die at my own hands than some strangers. After that, I grew a distaste for the ninja system in general. No man should ever need to experience war, nor should he need to kill his own comrade."
It was slowly donning on him that Takamitsu had no choice, his brother wasn't going to be able to be saved. He was a threat to the village, and he was a missing ninja, family or not. The genin did agree with the sentiment, he would rather take his brother's life than have some stranger do it, but the pain either option caused would be immense. He once again tried to run towards Kurushimi, his movements were strained, and he was losing the will to fight. He tried to perform Lightning Rod, but his brother moved out of the way, grabbing and breaking Takamitsu's right arm. With both of his arms now limp at his side, he once again approached his brother, who slowly drew his sword.
"I'm... I'm gonna bring you back... Kurushimi..."
His voice was faint, and each word was strained. His brother shook his head and looked towards Takamitsu one final time before bringing the sword upwards, extending the cut on Takamitsu's right cheek, the final result starting at the bottom of his jaw and extending upwards through his eye. The genin fell limply towards the water, no longer conscious. Kurushimi sheathed his sword and jumped down towards his brother, catching him. He landed on the water, before walking towards the side of the river and softly setting him down on the land. He turned and started to walk away, continuing his journey to the Land of Wind, slowly leaving his wounded brother behind him.

WC: 1384/2335
AP: 198 -5 (Genjutsu Release) -1 (Tree Climbing/Water Walking) -45 (Chidori) -12 (Leaf Whirlwind) -40 (2 Chakra Chains + Upkeep) -40 (Hell Stab) -20 (Lightning Rod) = 35 AP

Along the way, Kanshi calmed down much more and began to think to himself about what he was jumping into. Worst case scenario, he kills them both and the best case is taking his brother away to prison. He wasn't afraid to kill the brother of Takamitsu, but if the idiot aligned himself with his brother..., things may get difficult for him. He had to focus his new chakra system to a position he could control it all. It felt like a rush to have a new body, but to have this to deal with on top was worst. There was no time, he felt incredibly slow as he ran. Kanshi needed to get there Asap because that clone didn't look like a happy camper before it left. A fight occurred most likely and Takamitsu certainly would lose due to lack of experience. He absolutely doubted that this Genin could take down his brother. Thinking about how Takamitsu could be getting sliced to little pieces right now, Kanshi felt the anger rise up in his chest and burn him from the inside. He would do double, no, triple the amount of damage to his brother when he saw him. First he would squeeze the legs to pieces, the wrists and shoulders to dust, then probably leave him to die with his body dangling upside down from a tree. The legs beneath him cracked the earth with each step as he grimaced at what could be next.
"If you're not okay...."
His jaw tightened as he muttered this.
"You better just hope I don't find you first."

The scene Kanshi came to was one that melted him a little, just like Takamitsu's skin. In the distance he saw what he assumed to be the brother that was so troublesome setting down the body of Takamitsu. He wanted to say it wasn't him, but he could see that chakra signature anywhere. Kanshi tried to emerge immediately from the forest to confront the missing ninja, but was frozen in his steps. It was the perfect thing to scream to: Go after his brother and risk the two of them both dying or do nothing and let their chances of living become much greater. Nobody knows the two were out here and Kanshi wanted to die right there knowing this. His logic was eating him from the inside and irritated him deeply.
Takamitsu could be dead and his killer is before me. Come out from hiding and Takamitsu will surely die. My orders are to protect three Genin and ensure their progression as ninja. Turn my back on my orders, and I would have failed not only to them but also to the Hokage himself. Someday... someday that asshole is going to be six feet under, but sadly not today.
Watching the brother leave at this point, he came out of the forest with haste to see the damage. It was only some intense burns over his body and a cut that went from his jaw to his eye, nothing fatal luckily. Kanshi wanted to scream and yell or even kick down a few boulders, but he knew the best course of action was grab and go. Assessing Takamitu's mangled body, he could only think about how much he wanted to stab through his brothers head.
"When you wake up, you will have more problems then those wounds to deal with. Count on that."
He whispered this to Takamitu's unconscious body before lifting him up over his shoulder. Memories from the fight on the last mission arouse and Kanshi chuckled under his breath sheepishly before going full speed towards the village.

Within the forest, around 5 meters from the village, Kanshi spoke once more.
"You know, I probably couldn't have killed your brother myself if you could barely do a thing to him. Maybe next time we could at least tag team."
Kanshi was talking to an unconscious body, but that was no matter to him. Running through the gates, he made no hesitation toward the hospital. He knew the boy didn't appear to have a broken spine, but he barely checked the rest of the bones. The boy could have been a blood bag with a sprinkle of what was left of his bones for all he knew. Along the way, the leader had a good amount of time to think of what he was going to do about all of this, and now he felt confident in his plan. Snickering, he made his first steps into the hospital and checked him in before handing him off.
"Make sure he gets a message upon waking up. Tell him Kanshi said "he wasn't lying to the clone."
Walking away, he sighed and decided it was about time to get another bottle of sake to try to get the mental image of Takamitsu's transformation into Darth Vader. Taking once last glance a the hospital, he sighed in frustration before seeing it. When he had looked at the hospital's name, he turned pale for a second as he began to remember seeing a kid die here. All would have been fine if he couldn't get his mind off one detail about the death: the kid was him.

[871/1,613]
8 Stat points gained
Remaining word count for Taijutsu Style: Block completed. (1,043/1,043)
Remaining 570 words towards Ninjutsu
[Exit]

Kurushimi continued to walk as Kanshi approached, a quick pace. It didn't seem like he was very worried, just a little rushed. He stopped suddenly when Kanshi began to approach the treeline, and he stayed still for several seconds. After the brief lapse in his movement, he used Body Flicker, moving away in a puff of black smoke. When Kanshi approached the body of Takamitsu, some of the injuries were immediately obvious, while others weren't so much. His left arm's shoulder seemed dislocated, and the burns on his chest extended upwards to the bottom of his neck, and they covered a large section of his gashed cheek. The gash itself appeared to extend past his eyelids, and if Takamitsu wasn't likely, it might be inferred that the sword could have damaged the eye beneath. Once Kanshi picked up the boy, both of his arms swayed limply in the wind by his elbows, indicating that they had cleanly broken. In short, Takamitsu was having a really bad day, and it likely would become even worse when he wakes up. This waking up, however, likely wouldn't happen any time soon. It wasn't due to exhaustion or the lack of the will to fight that he was limp in his superior's arms once again, but instead that he was beaten senseless by Kurushimi. Even if the boy wanted to, there wasn't any chance of him opening his eyes, much less to fight his way out of Kanshi's grasp. He only things on Takamitsu's mind as he was helplessly carried back to the village once more were the searing pain that covered every inch of his body, and the thoughts of how he was too weak to stop his brother. His display was almost pitiful, all he managed to do was give a minor wound to the man who had killed his father and brought the genin inches from death. If it wasn't for Kanshi, Takamitsu would likely be dead, and his brother wouldn't have anyone left to try and stop him.

As Kanshi started to arrive at the village, he spoke to Takamitsu, who couldn't quite hear him. The genin heard noise, and he felt the movement and breathing of the man carrying him change, but he wasn't able to make out any of the sounds that were made. Takamitsu's mind focused onto the steady movements of the Chuunin, hoping to distract himself from the pain that was slowly becoming more and more prominent as the adrenaline from his fight wore off. His body screamed for help, and luckily Kanshi was taking him to the hospital instead of fulfilling him promise to the clone and beating the rest of his life out of him. When Takamitsu was delivered to the hospital, he was immediately shipped off into emergency surgery. Most of the wounds were not fatal, and it almost seemed like Kurushimi was aiming to inflict pain and to immobilize Takamitsu more than he intended to kill him. The slice with the sword could have easily been a stab to the heart, or the breaking of his arm had the chance of becoming the breaking of his spine or neck. Whether it was purely by chance and skill that Takamitsu wasn't dead, or by the choice of Kurushimi, it didn't currently matter to the surgery team. All that mattered was that the genin was able to be healed, and that the missing ninja weren't able to take another life from the Hidden Leaf.
-Exit-

WC: 580/2915
+A whole lotta injuries
+14 Stat Points
+2915 Words towards Chidori Mastery (2915/4000)

Approved