Wolf's Teeth ~P, NK~

Altar would watch the man walk over to a table, upon which laid several objects that glinted dim light. The man seemed to pick something up, before leaning again and pushing his way towards Altar.

"I didn't get to speak to Haru during his reign, save him granting me a new rank and the burial. I don't think i'll ever understand the weight of being a leader or a Kage. I don't claim to. It seems an insurmountable task beyond possible completion." the boy would say, keeping a close eye on the tyrant as he approached.

"I know what it is like to be a shinobi, Xyxer. I've been living the life of one since I was first able. I very rarely let my own emotions dictate what I do. I tried to kill my mentor, the man I looked to as a father, on your order. Everything i've done has been for the betterment of the village, never once solely for myself." Altar would say, tugging at his restraints. "You say our hatred for one another will make us weak, and yet you breed it like some sort of disease. And when it arises as a problem you let it fester instead of looking for a cure. This? This is not leadership, Xyxer. This is not kinship." The boy would say, gesturing to his position.

"This is torture. You're only breeding my hatred further. This isn't helping anything."

Spinning the blade around in his hand for a few seconds, his eyes scanned over the body before him, one a light blue, and the other a fateful crimson. He chuckled a little at the first example that was given before he spoke in retaliation, "You were given that mission because I knew you were incapable of performing it. If you had got to the moment of the final blow, you would have faltered because of your love for the man. I knew that you were incapable of carrying this burden on your shoulders.. and yet Haru had faith in you to do so." The boy was still attempting to merely survive this ordeal, believing he could talk Xyxer out of what he already had in his mind. It was a shame that Xyxer's words would be lost on him, but alas, he had to do something.

"Your role model was never in this position, Altar. He did his job as any ANBU Captain should, and I respect him for that. Yet, when he left not only does he leave a hole.. he tears that hole open by putting an inexperienced shinobi in charge of my squads. One who's controlled by himself, even though he wants to believe he follows the orders of others ultimately. You're incapable of holding the rank, and yet I'm forced to bow and break to allow you to retain it." Xyxer took a short step away from him, looking up from his collarbone towards his eyes for a few seconds, the light glinting in his eyes malevolently with a smile forming upon his lips. "Wait, no.. Why SHOULD I keep you alive, Altar? You have failed me at every crossroad and task.. you hate me despite my multiple attempts to better you.. You're merely a shadow of Haru, faded away with his absence. Why should I even bother to create an ANBU out of you?"

Altar's own mismatched eyes would look over the man before him as the seemingly threatened to kill him. There were few things the tyrant wouldn't do to elicit some form of reaction.

"Whether you care to admit it or not, Xyxer, i'm the most experienced shinobi you have. Unless you plan to put a chuunin or genin who have no real worl experience in my place, i'm the one best fit for the role." the boy would say, grimacing at what he needed to say next.

"I am but a shadow of Haru. I always have been. Part of my life was dedicated to catching up to him, getting on his level, being able to fight with him without need or worry of restraint. As for you, Xyxer, you've never made an attempt to better me. You've put me through psychological and physical hell. That's not bettering me. You've never tried to train me yourself, or better me yourself." The boy would say, his tone calm but his eyes filled with rage and regret.

"Not experienced enough to be a Captain, and from that position you're relinquished. You're going to fall in line behind another ANBU Captain." He wouldn't bother to tell him the name of the new shinobi that was going to take his place in his squad, after all, it was rather irrelevant right now for the boy. He may not even survive the encounter. Xyxer seemed to genuinely pause, smirking sardonically, "You seem to forget, Altar, about the plethora of times I've trained you. I taught you hand to hand, or at least I attempted to. I've attempted to teach you water jutsu and their most optimal uses.. yet you forget all of this because you want to hate me. You need something to keep you going now. You've lost your best friend. You lost your lover. Face it, Altar, if you didn't hate me, you'd have no reason to want to live. If the desire to kill me will finally turn you into something resembling the notion of a Shinobi, then so be it, but I won't have you pretend I never attempted to train you."

"And who do you expect to lead the ANBU, Xyxer? Again, i'm all you have above genin and chuunin." the boy would say, cocking an eyebrow at the tyrant.

As Xyxer spoke about their training, Altar would slump slightly. Had the man actually trained him before? The only memory he had was a short lived spar after he had acquired the blade he said was Samehada. "...perhaps you're right, Xyxer. I need a reason to keep going, a reason to fight aside from being a tool. Protecting the village isn't enough, and I need a constant target. I need someone to gun for, someone to loathe. I need someone to aspire to be able to compete with, or even defeat. My memories of you actually being kind must have disappeared, but can you blame me when you subjugate me to something like this?" the boy would say, tugging on his restraints once more.

To tell the truth, Xyxer had grown quite tired of this game. He had been playing it with the boy ever since the time of Tengakure, and so he simply went to work on the restraints that bound him to the cross. Undoing them, starting from the ankles first, he soon moved up to release his right hand at the end. He'd take a step back, and turn the sword around in his hands, extending the hilt of Tidebreaker towards his potential murderer. "I merely needed to get you in a position where you'd finally listen. You wouldn't care for my words in the office, truly, you'd still loathe me and listen to my words as if I was spitting venom at you. Now, if you wish, you can end my reign and begin your own. Your role model handed the position back to me from the stress it brought him.. but hey, maybe you're the person we need." Xyxer merely stood a meter or two away from the boy, easily within striking distance of him in case he truly wanted to usurp the usurper.

Altar would nearly flinch as the man approached him, before sighing as he loosened the restraints. As the tyrant spoke, he seemed calm, even when offering his life to the boy he had just berated for not being fit for his role. And the scary part was, he was making some sense to the boy. His hand was shaky as he would reach for the blade, grasping it firmly in his hand and looking the tyrant in the eyes. This was it. He could end it here. He could kill the man and bring an end to his reign. He could become the new Kage, a better Kage, one that wouldn't subjugate his people to...to this.

But he couldn't.

"If I was acting on impulse, letting my actions be purely driven by emotion, I would strike you down where you stand, Xyxer. Maybe it's the fact that you're actually slowly making sense to me now. Maybe it's the fact that you're so readily offering your life to me." The boy would say, dropping the blade and looking the tyrant in the eyes.

"Or maybe it's the fact that as much as I hate to say it, Kirigakure needs you. I'm not strong enough to be a leader. Not yet. Not alone, at least. I could bear the stress. I would willingly bear the burdens of leading the village. I would do whatever I could to work for the people of Kirigakure and their wellbeing. But I couldn't assure it, not by myself. I believe I could be a better leader and politician than you, but i'm not a better fighter." Altar would say. A veiled proposal the tyrant would tear him apart for later, but it was better than killing what may be the only thing standing between the village and complete destruction.

Xyxer's cold gaze flickered over the boy's hand, opening to accept the gift from the Mizukage. He almost thought for a moment that the boy would have the audacity to actually strike at him. Would he accept the embrace of death.. slaughtered by his own shinobi? It didn't really have a nice ring to it.. but life has a way of making you bend to it's will, and perhaps it would be the will of destiny to allow the boy to murder him. He spoke, and dropped the sword. A small smile formed on the pursed lips of Xyxer, and more noticeably, there was no clanging of metal on the ground. Xyxer had dispelled it into his own little dimension, via his ring.

Folding his arms over his chest he continued to listen to the boy, who had appeared far too anxious about the power he had been given, attempt to see himself as a Kage. His lips could only curl upwards towards the end of his sentence, and it was clear to him that the boy knew nothing. He was absent minded and doe eyed when it came to the true workings of the world. He believed the people would rally under him, when they had barely given that privilege to his superior and mentor. What made Altar so different from Haru in his mind? He simply snickered at his comment, shrugging his shoulders, although not making any movement to leave yet. There was hope for the boy, and Xyxer owed some modicum of respect for the wishes of Haru, after all, the village hadn't descended into TOO much mayhem during his absence. "Go on, Altar. Entertain me with your ideas. Tell me how a Kage should act. Explain to me, if you will, how these.. 'better leaders'.. these 'better politicians' failed to hold their position? I did not become a Kage through brute force. I became a Kage out of necessity. How many Kage have you lived through to know what're the best qualities for one? Suzaku Shina. Shinji Uzumaki. Denkiteki. Takeo Tadashi, and of course, Haru." For some reason, the smile of the male never seemed to cease as he retaliated against the boy's words, "You speak about a subject you know little of. You're not fit to lead the ANBU, let alone a village. My prowess in combat is but a minute reason for how great my village has become under my rule, and you're a fool to believe otherwise. Haru needed me to attain the peaks of power he sought. I'm going to offer you a final chance to join our side, and stop being such a brat, Altar. Do you wish to remain a member of the ANBU Corps, or do you wish to return to the ordinary life of a Jounin. If it's the former.. you need to grow up." His words were simple, and likely rather offensive, but that was how the male operated.

The boy would look to the man before him, hate flaring in his eyes again. The two people in this room has most likely been through more than the rest of the village put together. Their paths and pasts were strikingly similar, and yet they were two very different people. They had experienced torment and incredible loss, bloodshed and betrayal abound. But when it came to who they were and who they wanted to be, the differences were stark. 

Xyxer seemed content to be a tyrannical ruler. He'd be the antagonist because it was how he had gotten by. Life had tortured him and now he wanted to deal it all back.

Altar had been bullied and beaten down by life. Everyone he cared about was dead or had abandoned him. And yet, he strove to be better. He wanted to ensure no one would ever feel that same pain except the ones like Xyxer, who wished it on others.

And yet, he hadn't taken the chance to strike him down. Why was that? Why had he hesitated, and failed to take the man's life? He could've killed one of the most antagonistic men he had ever known. And yet, he didn't. And he wasn't sure why. Maybe he'd find out down the road.

"Xyxer, I strive for this village. I aim to make it better. I would protect it with my life if that was what was called forth from me. Perhaps I need to rephrase what i've said. You're not a bad leader, Xyxer, but you're a bad man. I don't understand you, I don't comprehend the motives behind your actions. Maybe if you'd take the time to speak like that day in Tengakure instead of dictating and rushing to action, i'd understand, Xyxer." the boy would say, looking to the man.

"I wish to remain in my position. But I wish to deserve it as well. And that means being able to get along with and understand the one I serve."

Xyxer leaned on the back of his heels with a faint cock of his head as he listened to the words that Altar started to speak. The words that flew from his lips appeared to convey some form of genuine meaning, a true undertone perhaps that revealed either a hint of admiration for Xyxer, or maybe even fear that the man did not know lurked within him when confronted by the Abysswalker. His eyes revealed an intense feeling, a rather intimate one at that. Haru had not taught his protege too well, it had took Xyxer so much time to earn such a leer from the male's peer, and that had only became reality after the Mizukage had offered the death of Haru's sister as a reproach for the execution of himself. Yet here they stood, and that glare was given for free to Xyxer. Altar had not experienced the same level of loss as Xyxer, yet he considered it close enough.. Perhaps, there was an explanation for all of this.

"That's a matter of perspective, Altar. I mistook you for a wise man before this day, and perhaps you still are, but you're having difficulty proving otherwise. My actions appear roguish to you, perhaps even damning for a person of my authority.. The actions that I've taken upon myself I have never hid from. I'm not a coward who hides my abominable acts." Xyxer took a moment, rolling his tongue behind his teeth as if to take in the atmosphere and gauge the crowd "I operate the right way, I lead the way of Old Kirigakure, the way it is supposed to be. To you I'm a bad man for now, tomorrow you may see me as your saviour. In a world of carnage and corruption, where the belly of death continues to grasp more and more shinobi with it's wretched tendrils, do you want the 'monster' who will carve a path out of any other village's shinobi and innocents alike to make way for his own, or the naive leader who merely believes that wanting and hoping for the best will earn the god's admiration, and their miracles?" The eyes of Xyxer lifted up to confront Altar's own as if prying for an answer from the gateway to his soul, a faint half laugh emerging from his throat a few seconds in, "It ain't like that, Altar. Both of us have experienced premature losses that shouldn't have happened. We're loaded with burdens, and if I can prevent my people from enduring the same atrocities by breaking a few perfect, holy eggs, then gods be damned, I will become Doctor Fetus Deletus for chickens, and that's all they are to us, Altar. The rest of them are sub-human, and only our people matter. Do you understand me now, Altar? Do you have any questions?" Xyxer spoke with a bit of a questioning tone, but his eyes betrayed the fact that he was becoming somewhat mocking towards the end of his spiel, and for good reason given the nature of the situation.