Excruciating (Takeo)

The preparations were in full swing. Where only a few weeks ago grey and bleak hues had dominated the village of Kumogakure no Sato, a splash of color had appeared, almost as if lost on its way to a rainbow. The sun Akihana was sure no longer shone on her once home was starting to make an appearance, thin, waning and sallow but with a breath of warmth that had made Akihana almost cry tears of happiness. The first streamer to appear in the main village was a bright green, appearing in the middle of the night and laid stark against the grey building and decaying scent of flesh. No one had claimed responsibility for it, no one had dared to.

But like all acts of rebellion, this too had doubled when left calculatedly unattended. Over the course of the next few days, more ribbons and streamers began to appear, some in shop windows, some on the side of apartment buildings and one bold decoration on a street sign announcing the upcoming nuptials of the Raiage. Akihana had taken to walking around the village each day, both to see the colours coming to life and to carry out her own personal plans. She was still a creature of the people and it seemed they were warming up to her now too. It had taken a month but she must have done something to prove herself given the indifferent and friendly looks she now received as opposed to the hostile glares she begot when she'd first arrived.

Of course, no one dared approach her except Hikashi what with Akuoy's constant presence by her side. The clone only left her when she was with his master and Akihana did not spend much time in the Raikage's company. There was no need to. Nor did Youka particularly care for her company which in itself was reassuring.

Today, someone had found pink in spray paint. The word "CONGRATULATIONS" spelled out in loopy font all over the side of a warehouse used by one of the local businesses. Whether the colour was a coincident or someone had somehow found out she particularly liked it, Akihana couldn't say. It did make her smile though. Not the congratulations itself that was scrawled in childish letters of pink but the though that someone had taken yet another step to defy the bleakness of Kumo now, attempting to make it more cheerful. Slowly, life and light were returning to the village.

And at least the light intended to keep on shining.

Just as she was about to politely ask Akuoy who he thought was responsible for the latest splash of color in their otherwise dull existence, a familiar snort reached her ears, making her golden eyes widen in surprise. Did she really miss home that much? Was she hearing...The blonde's gaze traveled to the source of the noise and almost immediately, it was met with the stout frame of Pig, laboring his way towards her as it snort-panted, its snout covered in dirt and what looked like...

"Oh no!" the blonde let out a cry of distress, scooping up the hem of her dark blue dress and jogging over to the pig who was struggling to move. Kneeling down beside the animal, her hands already glowing green with healing chakra, Akihana assessed the animal quickly, finding out that while the splashes of red were indeed blood, it was human.

"Pig, where's Takeo?" she asked in a panic as Akuoy stood stoically by her side. the animal ignored the clone, snorting a short series of snorts at her. "What do you mean he's hutr? Where is he?" she asked, the panic in her voice growing. Pig tried to lead the way, only for his plump frame to finally collapse from effort. Wasting nobtime, the medic picked up the animal in her arms, getting dirt, blood and pig perspiration all over her dress but not caring about it in the least.

"Just show me the way, I'll carry you," she offered. Pig snorted , resigned to being carried around like a tiny piglet for the time being. Together, Akihana, Akuoy and the porky familiar arrived at the village gates where they found Takeo on the ground, lying in a pool of his own blood.

"Oh no, please be alright, please be alright," the kunoichi murmured under her breath as she sank down into the mud and grime beside the unconscious male, her hands once again applying medical ninjusu to Takeo's injuries. Why was he here? She had left him to look after her home? Was there bad news? Who could have hurt such an able shinobi like him?

All those questions would have to wait though, as her white haired friend didn't seem to be in the mood to do anything but lay where he was, his eyes closed to the world and his heartbeat erratic as Akihana worked to stop the bleeding, clean the wound and heal it accordingly.

Alas. The was no light in Takeo's eye. No sign of life. Nada, negative, minus one hp. Of course that was his Byakugan eye, which even on a good day was completely devoid of anything except white. He was alive of course. Heroes never die. And he was obviously a hero, he had Hero Water after all. No the young man was merely sleeping off his injuries. That's what he'd convince himself at a later day anyway. To everyone who wasn't in denial it was clear he had fainted from blood loss. Naturally, with the healing prowess of Akihana he would live. But for now he would remain unconscious. If only because there was past tense things to mention.

It was strange. That was the only way he could describe it. The feeling of dying that is. He had not experienced it before, and he had to say he wasn't a fan.

How long had he been lying here? He wasn't quite sure. Takeo recalled falling off of Pig as they entered the village. The rest of it was quite hazy. Mostly due to the lack of blood and all that. Pig had abandoned him. He remembered that. His faithful companion had left him for dead. Not surprising all things considered, Takeo hadn't exactly been a great owner or anything. The dumb beast had probably smelt food. How typical. That someone he considered close to him betrayed him. It was the story of his soon to end life.

Now would be the time in which a dramatic one liner was said. That usually tended to happen when someone died, right? Takeo wasn't sure. And if even if it was the case, he was far too tired to do that. He'd just close his eyes and rest. He'd figure this out when he woke up of course. His eyelids dropped close, and his consciousness slipped away.

It was strange. That was the only way he could describe it. The predicament he was in that is. The young man was in complete darkness. Was this what it was like when one died? Weird. He had expected something...more. Where was all the demons? The other spirits? The pain and suffering involved with death. There was none of that. Just darkness. Strange. He didn't like it. Takeo tried to move. He couldn't. It was like something was pressing against the front of his body, preventing him from progressing forward. Surely there was something in this ocean of darkness. All Takeo had to do was explore it. But he couldn't even do that. The ultimate punishment indeed. Dying sucked.

He bet that Xyxer and Pig would have found this awfully amusing. Those traitors. That shitty animal was probably feasting right now. Takeo imagined it, Pig munching on food as he snorted and grunted away. Damn, he could even hear Pig snorting now. This truly was hell. It was almost like Pig was right there, trying to get his attention. Annoying pig, why didn't it let him be dead in peace.

The snorting grew louder, and he felt a nudge in his side. Takeo assumed that torture had begun. But then it dawned on him. How awkward. The eternal darkness, his eyes were still closed. His senses slowly came back to him. Takeo slowly became aware of his situation. So he was still alive after all. Unfortunate. That most likely meant he had been found by someone. How embarrassing. H'd have rather died honestly. He still felt rather out of it. His senses weren't entirely all together, it was hard to gauge the strength of number of beings around him. Pig was definitely there though. He could still hear the animal. This sucked.

Nothing changed for several seconds. Takeo was reluctant to react. Part of him still wished that he would just fade away again. But it didn't seem like it would happen. He still felt weak. The best course of action would be to regain his bearings. But that would take time. Time to assess the situation. Takeo opened one of his eyes barely. His vision was blurry, and light assaulted his eye. What a pain. It seemed his eyesight was faulty as well. White covered most of his vision. Perhaps the loss of blood had caused this? Takeo had boiled it down to that. Then he remembered that he had white hair. It was obscuring his vision as usual. He would have cursed, but he effort to do that required more energy than he possessed.

His eye remained cracked open still. Takeo's vision regained slowly. As did some of his other senses. Now aware that there were two individuals here, as well as Pig, his mind began to race. What would be the fastest way to deal with them? He needed his Byakugan activated for one. Though Takeo wasn't sure if he could even do that. For now he would have to lay there and recover.

A minute would tick by before Takeo's sense came back to him. Pig had found these people and brought them here. He wasn't aware of who one of them was. But his vision had recovered enough for him to identify the other. "Hello Akihana." Takeo spoke casually. Or attempted to. It came out more as a whisper honestly. Though it was enough for Pig to realise he was still alive. At which point he snorted and collapsed in a heap once more. Poor animal had really worked hard in the last few hours. Also seemed to have been worried. Takeo was touched, it really did care. Or maybe it just wanted food. Never knew with that animal.

"Takeo,"the blonde called out, hoping he could hear her voice as she knelt by his side, The blood loss appeared to b the major problem causing the weakness but the wound, despite many attempts at immature stitching and breaking open, was festering. The white haired shinobi was no doubt also suffering from an infection that was attacking his immune system along with the blood loss. Shifting carefully to sit with her feet tucked neatly underneath her, the blonde pulled Takeo's head into her lap, one hand over his chest to assess the heartbeat while the other glowing green with replenishing chakra and blood. He had lost way too much.

"He's going to be okay Pig," she mumbled as she worked, more for her own assurance than the familiar's. Akihana had no idea how her friend had gotten into such a pickle but she did know that he must have been nursing that infected laceration for a while. As she worked, a series of assurances spilling from her lips to both Pig and Takeo, the medic could only hope she wasn't too late. Akouy, after the initial shock of a stranger showing up at the village nearly dead, seemed to have recomposed himself into doing nothing save witnessing the event. He wasn't helping but Akihana was at least grateful he wasn't stopping her.

Switching over to chakra scalpel, the kunoichi made a quick cut near the original wound, applying chakra pressure to make it bleed more. It wasn't working, the blood coming out was still too dark, too congealed, too devoid of a healthy hemoglobin level. Pig let out a stressful snort as he noticed ehr making incisions along Takeo's side and she had to keep the familiar calm as she worked. "We have to get all the bad blood out first sweetie," she murmured, her golden eyes focused as the blood continued to flow. "We can't let it stay in him or he'll get worse." Whether Pig trusted her or didn't understand, he simply grunted in defeat, crawling up to curl against his master in a comforting fashion as said master bled out.

Finally, after what seemed like hours though in reality would have been only a few minutes, the blood texture changed. Healthy red blood cells transformed from the black sticky substance that was pouring from the wound. Working quickly to clean the area and ensure all trace of infection were vanished, Akihana began the careful process of stitching not just the original would but the small incisions she had made too. Her nimble fingers working quickly to cover his flesh before healing the skin over it with medical ninjutsu so they wouldn't tear.

"He should be fine now," she whispered, reaching to check his pulse once again to reassure herself that he would indeed be fine. The blood was substituted and generated, the wound was cleaned and stitched, the infection taken care of, his immune system would be back on track soon enough... So why wasn't he waking up?

"Takeo," she called out, tapping his shoulders gently as she tried to get him to open his eyes. "Takeo you have to try and listen to me. If you can hear me... Blink, or breathe out a little harder. Sweetie I need a sign that you can hear me," she pleaded, trying to stave off the panic she knew was slowly taking over her voice. When no response came, the blonde wasted no time. He had all the physical properties needed to live, but his life was waning, his soul, his very essence was thinning.

Pig let out a snort of surprise at what happened next, Akihana began to glow a soft gold where she sat, the white haired young man's head cradled carefully in her lap. As the light began to spread to Takeo and then Pig who was curled up against his master's fee, a golden barrier stretched all around the trio. Akouy still chose to watch safely from the distance as the bright gold barrier wrapped around the three on the ground, filling the enclosed space with the purest form of nature energy accessible in the world. Focusing her own chakra, Akihana directed the nature energy into her patient, forcing it through his skin to his very core to jump start his system once more. He was far gone, but not far enough.

Her own heartbeat jumped the same time his did, the barrier faltering around the three and excess nature energy retreating back to Akihana, one of the few people in the world who could safely contain it. Even before he opened his eyes, the relief was evident in her own golden gaze. "He's okay," she announced, hands falling to her side in exhaustion as he finally, finally opened his eyes.

"Hi," she greeted back, tears swimming in her in her eyes and watery smile on her tired face. The young woman had no idea if he knew how close to death he'd been but she hoped if he didn't, he never found out. "You're okay now," she added as continuous waves of relief flooded her and Pig. Lowering her head, the kunoichi greened before lightly dropping a kiss to his forehead. "You frightened Pig and I quite a bit," she confessed, wiping the tears from her eyes. There was no reason to cry now, he was safe.

"How did you get like this? Who hurt you?" she asked. Now that he was okay, she could ask her questions. "And don't try to move just yet, stay put a few minutes, your body will feel tender for a bit and you might have a spell of dizziness if you try to sit up or stand up too fast."

While still somewhat out of it. Takeo was now pretty much aware of his predicament. Akihana was directly over him, and his head was definitely not on the ground. So he was in her lap. How embarrassing he thought to himself. Honestly, he would have rather been dead right now instead of stuck here like this. A frown would have appeared on his face. But he didn't really have the energy to bother with that. So he just lay there, feeling awkward. Takeo was fairly sure that his cheeks were red. Though he hoped that the blood loss made it so that it wasn't so. He didn't say anything. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say.

Then he caught something through his gaze. Was she crying? It was hard to tell, maybe Akihana had gotten mud in her eye at some point. Yeah, that was probably it. Takeo didn't make people cry. It's not what he did. Even when he had cut off someone's arms and legs they hadn't cried. Mostly because they were close to death, but the details didn't matter. So obviously, she must have gotten something in her eyes.

She said something. He was okay? Takeo yet again would have frowned if he could. How was he okay? He didn't feel okay. She must be a pretty bad healer if she couldn't even tell that. Then again, it was her that healed him from the looks of things. Must have taken a lot out of her as well. It looked like the woman was about to fall over. Takeo blinked. Oh wait, she was falling. Her head was getting closer. Takeo really wished he had the energy to do something about this. A headbutt from an exhausted woman was not what he wanted right now. Might as well brace for impact he thought to himself. He sighed.

The impact came. It didn't hurt as much as he had expected. That was certainly not a headbutt. Takeo blinked twice as Akihana straightened up again. It was all a ploy! Takeo realised this too late. Curses. It seemed the woman had taken advantage of his vulnerability. How dare she kiss him on the forehead like that. Embarrassing, utterly embarrassing. He was fairly sure that this time that he was blushing. He'd kill her for that. This evil woman would die by his hands! Though the thoughts of cold blooded murderer left him for a brief moment when she spoke again. Why had she been frightened? Sure he had been bleeding out fairly badly. But it hadn't been that bad. Then again, Takeo was no medical expert. And considering he was alive, he'd just have to take Akihana's word as the truth for now.

He still hadn't moved yet. Takeo didn't feel like doing it right now. Quite honestly he felt rather comfortable. Even if he was lying in the mud. He felt like dozing off. Takeo felt his eyelids begin to droop. He'd just take a quick nap here and then he'd do whatever he was supposed to be doing. Yeah..that seemed like a good idea.

Then she started asking questions. His eyes ceased in their closing, and he glanced up at her. The awkward questioning had begun. He didn't really want to answer this. Mostly because while what happened made perfect sense to Takeo...sort of. It wouldn't really make sense to any other living or dead creature that ever existed. "Doesn't matter." He muttered in response. His gaze shifted to the sleeping pig beside them. Looking at that round and succulent pig made him hungry. "I want bacon." He said, moving to sit up while Akihana was saying something. Stupid woman, always going on and on. What was she talking about now? Something about not moving yet.

'Oh.' Takeo managed to think. His body stung. Stung being a very light way of putting it. And he felt the dizziness hit him. His upper body slumped backwards again. "Fuck my life." He muttered to himself now back to where he had been before his movement attempt. He felt somewhat exposed out here. Something felt off, yet he wasn't sure what it was.

Then it hit him. His vision wasn't what it usually was. His instincts kicked in, and the Byakugan he was given by Haru sprung back into life. While it took some effort to achieve this, it felt right. Takeo felt more at ease. Allowing himself to recover his energy for now. "I got your letter." He said after a few minutes. "You're an idiot you know. You could have gotten yourself killed." Takeo almost laughed, the irony was not lost to him. He felt more at ease than he had been in a long time. Strange. "I can't work with Denkiteki." Takeo said finally. "He's the man whom I usurped to become Tenkage." He paused for a moment, "I tried to kill him after you left. He's annoyingly difficult to kill." His mind flashed back to the fight itself. If it could be called a fight. He wondered if there would be a next time. A chance to end the man once and for all.

But why did he want to do this? Takeo wasn't sure. It was a singular goal in his mind that he had had for awhile. And would he be without that? A man who has no purpose. Was his reason for being here to try and bring suffering to others?

The color on his face caused even more alarm in Akihana, making her touch a hand to his skin to check for fever. Indeed he was warm, but not warm enough to warrant distress. Perhaps she was just worried given her recent brush with death. As he tried to get up against all her warnings, the young woman had no chose but to wait it out. The pride did come before the fall, as they said. And sure enough, he white haired male fell, right back into her lap, making her smile despite the situation.

When would he ever learn to listen? Probably never. But then again, she wouldn't have him be any other way then he already was. Which - for now - was alive and well, for the most part.

The smile didn't remain long though as he admitted that he couldn't work with Denkiteki. "Den did that to you?" she asked, ignoring his concern for her safety at the moment. There would be time to tell him everything later, hopefully in private and away from prying eyes and ears. The blonde couldn't believe Den - the Den she knew - wouldn't hurt someone this badly. Sure he was a ninja, a supremely powerful one but Takeo's bloodstream had been polluted with infection and anomalies. If Den was trying to kill the wanderer, he was going about it in the slowest, most painful way possible, not something she could ever believe of her close friend.

"Hang on a minute," she cautioned, glancing up at Akuoy who still stood far enough to see them but not overhear the conversation exchanged between the two. Nodding his way, the kunoichi turned her golden eyes to Takeo once more. "Don't be scared, this might feel disorienting for two seconds," she warned before closing her eyes in concentration. No sooner had the world blinked out from behind her gaze, so did Akihana and Takeo. The two ninja vanished where they were, only a small sparkle of light shimmering in their place for a second before that too melted underneath the dreary grey sky.

When they reformed next, they were in Akihana's living room, on a plush white rug now muddy from Takeo and the blonde's clothes. They reformed in the same position with the male's head in her lap but it was immediately clear that they were in a different place. Gently lifting his head, the kunoichi moved from underneath him before she gave him a hand, helping him up to the sofa and trailing mud on that bit of furniture too.

"There, just sit back and relax, and you'll feel better in a few minutes. Then we can talk." Despite hearing that he had tried to kill Den, and that he had almost died himself in the process, Akihana was glad he was here. Takeo may have arrived unconventionally into the village - to say the least - but he had arrived a familiar face, one Akihana had longed for in the midst of all that was happening to her. Perhaps this was a good omen.

"I'll go get you some food," she offered, remembering he had mentioned being hungry. The medic rose to her feet, making her way to the kitchen. There was nothing else ready so she simply settled for putting together some ham and cheese sandwiches, Pig nosing around in her kitchen beside her, his snout already investigating the content of her fridge. Akihana let the creature explore. He probably hadn't had a good meal in a while.

Piling the half a dozen sandwiches on a platter and fetching a jug of apple cider to go with them, the medic made her way back to the living room where Takeo sat. "There we go," she announced, placing both items in front of him before going back for a glass. "I hope you don't mind ham, eggs and cheese."

A hearty snort came from the kitchen, indicting that Pig too had found his meal.

Akihana kept prodding. It was inevitable. "Nah, it wasn't Den." He said with some reluctance. "It's complicated don' worry about it." Takeo would have waved it off, but of course he couldn't. It was unlikely he'd elaborate any further. Unless she literally wouldn't shut up about what happened. And even then it would require too much effort to do so. So he really hoped that would not be the case.

After a moment or two Akihana spoke again. She said to not be scared. Takeo gave her a look. It was a look that basically said 'are you being serious?'. It was after all quite a ridiculous thing to say. But he didn't bother to argue with her, not right now anyway. Takeo watched as the woman closed her eyes. Seemed to be concentrating. He blinked. When his eyes opened the scenery around him had changed. Takeo felt ill. Though he wasn't entirely sure why that was. The two were definitely not outside anymore. He was laying on something far more comfortable for one. It was certainly better than being in the mud by any means. Though Takeo had no idea where he was.

Akihana finally moved. She helped him up, he winced. Together they moved the short distance to a sofa, which he was deposited on. The older woman told him to sit back and 'relax'. Takeo wasn't going to argue with that, why would he? The young man relaxed himself on the sofa. Gingerly, he'd reach out and prod at where the wound had been. Takeo immediately regretted his actions, "Ow, fuck." He cursed, and decided to keep his hands far away from the area. Through the vision of his Byakugan, he watched as Akihana went off to what he assumed was the kitchen. Naturally Pig trotted off with her. "Thanks for the concern Pig you greedy bastard!" Takeo would call after the pig. A serious of snorts came back in reply. Takeo was shocked by the harsh language of the animal.

While Aki was busy doing whatever, Takeo grew bored. His eyes examined the place slowly. It was awful boring, being unable to do anything. Takeo shifted his body about, his mind starting to wander. His fingers tapped against the arm of the sofa. "Bored, bored, bored.." He repeated to himself with a mumble. The pace of the tapping increased, his fingers drumming against the arm. He relaxed his body back against the sofa and closed his eyes. He could really do with a nap. Takeo was beginning to drift off, but once again found himself interrupted. His eyes snapped open, and he eyed the food in front of him as well as the jug. As Akihana left, probably to get something else, he began to eat.

When Aki returned to the room Takeo would be currently biting into his third sandwich. Washing it down with a gulp of the cider from the jug. He took note that she had a glass. That would make it easier. "These are nice." He commented to her with his mouth full. He swallowed, and glanced around the room yet again. "I didn't expect for you to be living here now." Takeo commented. He didn't speak his true thoughts of course. Takeo was surprised that Akihana had not joined the humans on the pikes that littered the outside of Kumogakure. "Did you meet with Youka? Did you kill him?" Takeo questioned between bites of the sandwich. He had slowed the pace of eating down, mostly in case Akihana decided to scold him for it.

The kunoichi may not have known who had done this to Takeo, but at least he had admitted it wasn't Den. Akihana had known Den would never stoop so low but the reassurance was nice nonetheless. When she returned with the glass, Takeo was already halfway through the sandwiches, enjoying them greatly. She wondered when the male had eaten last. She also wondered hat to make for dinner if he decided to stay.

"I don't live here..." she tried, before shaking her head and correcting herself. "Well i suppose I do, it's a bit of a long story." As she contemplated telling him, she realized how long it actually was. the last two months seem to stretch to two years and Akihana had no clue where to begin. So she began where he did.

"No, of course I didn't kill him, you know I would never do that," she answered, golden eyebrow raised in approval a the idea of killing. "I came here to help the people of my village. The last thing they need is one murderer replacing another." It was true, aside from the fact that she could never kill someone Maku had loved so dearly, it would have been counter productive. All the killings in the past had made one thing clear to Akihana. Death was not the way to go.

"And as you cna see, he returned he courtesy and did me no harm either," she continued, the hesitance clear in her voice. While it was true no physical harm had come to her, emotionally she was more batched than she would care to admit to her friend. He was technically in recovery, and she didn't want anything to interrupt that. "He gave me a nice place to saty, he did not harm my guards.. And he proposed a rather unique solution to both our problems." Closing her eyes briefly to muster the courage needed to repeat the words out loud, she finally said:

"He proposed I act in the best interest of the citizens and Kumo and accept his hand in mariage. The wedding happens in there weeks." The words drove a deep shudder through her narrow frame though Akihana tried to put on a brave face. "You made it just in time for the festivities."

Taking another bite from the sandwich, he looked Akihana over as she replied. Denial was the first step towards acceptance. Or something along those lines, Takeo didn't remember. But it seemed she skipped whatever other steps there were. Hearing that it would be a long story, Takeo just glanced towards her. He finished the third sandwich with another bite. It's not like he was going to be doing anything for awhile. Like honestly. Given the situation he didn't voice his opinion yet again.

Aki told him she didn't kill Youka. He voiced his disapproval with a tutting noise. "Really Akihana, you are quite useless." He between mouthfuls of sandwich. The explanation that came afterwards made him shake his head. Useless. He chugged down a glass of the cider, and refilled it from the jug. "It would have been easier to slaughter him and liberate the people. A saviour would have given hope to the people." Takeo said this plainly. He began to eat the fifth sandwich after a quick swig of cider.

Something was up however. He could tell by the way Akihana was acting. Even if he wasn't at one hundred percent he could tell this much. Biting into the sandwich, he'd once more examine Akihana when she said she hadn't been harmed. Seemed like the truth. Takeo had no reason to not assume this was the case. Youka seemed like a pleasant enough fellow when he met him. As she listed off the things Youka had done he kept eating. Takeo nodded. Seemed about right. Honestly why had he even came here? Ah well, he was here now. Might as well relax and enjoy the food. He stuffed the remainder of the sandwich into his mouth. There was a slight pause. Perhaps Akihana wasn't all for this 'idea'. She explained the situation to him. Takeo nodded and kept eating. Marriage, seems reasonable.

Wait. What?

Takeo choked on his sandwich. His arms flailed about for a moment as he leaned forward. Grabbing the jug, he downed the rest of the drink in order to unclog his throat. After a good few seconds he finally spoke, "What?" He sounded confused. Who could blame him? This was perhaps the most confusing thing he had ever heard. "You? You're marrying Youka. The one who destroy your village. The one who has your people on spikes outside of the village." He ranted, he'd have likely destroy something if he had the energy. "Have you completely lost your god damn mind you idiot?"

A small amount of panic spiked up inside the kunoichi as Takeo began to choke. It seemed the more she tried to keep him alive, the more ways he subconsciously found to defy all her efforts. First the bleeding, then the near fever, then the disorientation and now choking on his food. If any shinobi had a death wish, it was the white haired young male sitting on her sofa. At this rate, the blonde would be afraid to let him stand up unaided in case he decided to trip and fall, breaking several important bones in the process.

Still, she could understand his surprise. Even as his will to live on won over his rebellious urge to perish from this world, she could see why he reacted the way he did. he had arrived in Kumo half dead and delirious, of course he had not noticed the significant changes all over the village. Namely there were no longer people on pikes. They had either been buried or healed or returned to their families. There were few citizens out in the fields of blood and gore and excrement too, the majority of them pardoned. Takeo certainly hadn't been conscious long enough to witness the splash of color that seemed to have somehow found its way into the dark and dreary atmosphere of kumogakure, and she didn't blame him for that one bit.

But the truth was, a stray sliver of light had indeed entered the Raikage's dark domain, and it was a stubborn ray of gold at that, one that refused to be extinguished.

"I was left with little options," she confessed once he had drunk the entirely of the cider straight from the jug. It was a mark of how grave the discussion at hand was that she didn't chide him on his table manners. "When someone tells you that your actions can result in the saving of hundreds of thousands of lives, don't you owe it to those lives to do it? Don't you owe it to yourself?" The words were meant to sound brave, as if she had made her peace with the deal struck with Youka. And yet they came out feeble because it had been so long since she'd seen a friendly face and her facade was slowly cracking.

"I said I would do anything... This falls under the "anything" I said I'd do..." Golden lashes lowered, Akihana couldn't look straight at Takeo as she said all this, afraid that his face would be the breaking point and all the fear and sorrow she'd been cultivating inside her would break loose. "You once said if we wanted to save something, we'd do anything... I'm doing everything i can, and hoping it will be enough."

Takeo listened to the explanation of the woman. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The situation seemed quite upsetting. Though Takeo assumed this was the effect of downing a jug of cider. He listened with a stony expression. The logic of this woman wasn't exactly flawed. Yet it wasn't sound either. "You do not owe anything to these people." Takeo said bluntly. "They were weak to bend the knee to Youka. Listening to his demands will only bring about a temporary reprieve." He flashed back to his time as the leader of Tengakure. It felt so long ago now, but the memories were still fresh in his mind. Etched into his brain as a harsh reminder. "Eventually he will go against any promises. That is the nature of the human being." The young man sat forward. As he did so his face contorted in pain for a slither of a second before returning to the blank, stony expression it held before.

"Hundred of thousand of lives saved." He said this out loud to himself. "The lives of these people ended when Youka came to power." Takeo's focus faltered slightly. Pig had entered back into the room. Perhaps he had finished raiding the fridge. The animal snorted and made it's way over to Takeo's remaining sandwich. The man shooed the animal away with a lazy motion of his hand. Now, where had he been again? Ah, he remembered now. "Do you think living in constant fear that one day you will be slaughtered by a conqueror is living?" Takeo questioned rhetorically, his hand reached over and rubbed the top of Pig's head. "You think marrying a man like him will change any of that? It will not." He grinned slightly despite the tone of the conversation. Trying to talk someone out of something wasn't his forte. But trashing on the weak nature of human beings? Easy.

"Let's say for example it works. You go two or three years, blinded by your own arrogance into thinking that everything is okay. Then one day, they snap. The citizens riot, several are slaughtered in the process. You think to yourself, why would they do that? Everything had been okay up until now hadn't it? Surely it was a fluke right? The human mind is a mystery sometimes after all. Everything is okay. Then it happens again, more people die. A man like Youka is not fit to lead a village. Incidents will continue to happen. When a human is driven into a corner, they have nothing to lose. The citizens of this village do not have anything to lose." He was rambling now, but it was a subject he had some interest in talking about. The failings of the human being, a fascinating subject.

"The only way in which you can help these people, is killing Youka. Ridding the world of a monster that destroys the lives of other. What a fitting mission is it not?"