I May Have Deserved That (P)

The lycan tagged along as Kira lead them to the gates, dealing with some paperwork and the gate-guards and so-on before heading out into the golden wastes once more, the area JUST AS EXCITING as one might think it would be: With the occasional wind blasting sand in one's face, the sun constantly coming down like a hammer, the ground more uneven than stable... it really was quite a wonder why more people didn't vacation here. Of course, while he mused on sarcastically about the environment, he kept his senses open, peering across the rolling dune for any smells that might indicate trouble. Explosive powder, blood, but all he could smell now was a dry earthy musk that was the sand. With a sigh, he stuffed his hands into his jacket-pockets and continued on his way, the pair walking for maybe a full 10 minutes in silence before the attractive red-head broke it. When she asked if he knew medical ninjutsu, the sanguine-eyed ninja tore his gaze from their ever-so engaging surroundings and back on her again, not knowing where exactly she was going with this.

"Sure, I know some." She asked what "the trick" was to it, that she had a knack for funin (symbols and such), but was still having issues with medicine. Well, he couldn't really blame her he supposed... After all, funin was about forcing chakra into someone's body through symbols to achieve different effects. Medical ninjutsu was more... elegant...? "Well... I don't know too much about funinjutsu, but when it comes to medicine, one can't just force their chakra into someone and expect them to come out okay... When I first tried healing something this way... well... it came out differently than I intended... Its all about suggestions, see?" The lycan began gesturing, talking with his hands as if it would make his point any more clear. "Your chakra must be gentle, charismatic (for lack of a better word). It must convince the cells to heal faster rather than forcing it to undergo it's growth as the latter causes some grotesque mutations, believe me." He looked over to Kira to see if she understood. "Think of it this way. Your chakra needs to act more like a.... an advisor of sorts, but also the supplies. It needs to tell the body to accept your chakra to fulfill a certain function, but also cease once it's used up. Beating down it's door won't get it to work for you better and, as a result, the finished result of the healing process would be... perverted."

He tried his best to describe what healing was all about, reciting and rewording knowledge he had obtained in his studies on the art.

"Its not so hard once you get momentum, trust me." And with that statement, a particular town faded into view through the warped air of the desert, a town that looked... wrong. Specifically, the town looked as if whatever was sustaining it had left it long ago, leaving only a hollow shell behind, upkept by the most mundane of supports. He couldn't yet see nor smell any signs of life within, but it certainly fit as a location that would be inhabited by their targets.

"What do you think?" He asked, nodding in front of them towards the waste-of-a-town. "Think they'd be hiding in there?"

Salzem only let out a sigh as the town spoke for Kira, an explosion going off not a moment after the words left his mouth. Somehow, it seemed almost ironic how the town came alive at the mention of their mission, giving them even more incentive to check it out.

"Yeah... yeah it does." The lycan simply responded. With Kira fully embracing her leadership role, she declared that she would search the left-half of the wasted town while Salzem did the right before speeding off in her declared direction as enthusiastically as she might in the direction of fine dining and breathing. He waited a moment, then two before following in afterwords, trying to make it appear as if they weren't related at all to anyone that might've been watching. Normally Salzem wasn't this smart, merely for the sake of fighting someone, anyone who might be a challenge, but now he simply decided to let that go. Every one-in-a-while he had to entertain the idea that he was smarter than he seemed, especially since this mission had higher stakes than usual. And so, Salzem entered the right side of the wasted village, the side in which the explosion had gone off at...

The little town was even less appealing up close, the rot more prevalent, the decay most obvious, perhaps more in smell than actually looks. It was the scent of decayed saw-dust, or fermented wood, but dry so it floated around in your senses far longer... It was a smell that filled Salzem's head and put pressure on his brain and it only got worse the longer he traversed this place... Soon his vision started to swim, his skin starting to numb... It was like he could feel his own bones beneath the meat of his body... until... Salzem fell over, unable to move and only half conscious. Through eyes slowly drooping shut, the lycan saw a pair... no... several pairs of feet clamored all around him, the shifting of their feet in the sand besides his head almost unbearable.

"HEY! ROKU!" One voice yelled out. "GOT ANOTHER ONE!..... AND HE'S STRONG!" Not an instant later, Salzem felt something jab into his spine, something cold, metal, thin.. a needle as it pushed something into his blood system. Instantly, the lycan's immune system was overcome, not built to fight against poison of any kind. Salzem's pupils dilated substantially, almost as if they were to take over his entire iris, his breathing slowing, his feelings (both physical and emotional) numbing.

"He's ready, Roku." Another voice declared, Salzem neither wanting or able to free himself.

Salzem hardly noticed Kira's approach, let alone the take-down of each of the men that surrounded him with her flurry of ninja-stars. Of course, some had the good sense to dodge or deflect the deadly projectiles, but most fell flat to the ground, humbled by the uzumaki's hand-eye coordination. The men backed off as Kira approached with her scythe, shaking the inebriated lycanthrope in an effort to shake him from his state and got more than she bargained for... The moment Kira's fingers touched his shoulder, a jolt shot through the ninja as if he were hit by lightning jutsu, his body beginning to twitch and contort unnaturally, even stomach-wrenching sounds of muscle and bone tearing itself asunder being heard. Blood began to pour from Salzem's mouth as the poison inside began to pull against his own bodily control, forcing him upwards as his shoulders spasmed, his eyes twitching, his fingers clenching and unclenching as if testing them out for the first time. Slowly, his body began to contort some more, growing larger and larger as Salzem cried out in pain, shifting against all his efforts to resist, taking on his lycanthropic form as he stared down Kira...

Salzem let out heavy breath after heavy breath, blood still pooling in his mouth as the internal damage from his own resistance continued to take it's toll on him. His lycanthropic regeneration kicked in instinctively but even still... He felt sick... Infested.... Mustering all his strength and risking breaking his own jaw, Salzem forced his mouth open against the contagion in his blood:

"K-K-Kira...." He hissed through his pain and clenched jaws. "S-s-s-stop...... m-me....." And with that, whatever control Salzem still had over himself was lost and he immediately lunged for the red-head, growling angrily as he swiped at her razor-sharp claws that put katana to shame (Speed 145, strength 75, sharpness 75). He (rather his body) aimed to split her in half with jerky, feral cuts down the center of her chest and across her middle, occasionally snapping at her throat with his teeth whenever she got in range. The only thing that kept Salzem from going Shadooukami right now as his own force of will! It would take another injection of that stuff to force his own integrity down a hole with the rest of him, to unleash his untamed potential.

Salzem's claws narrowly missed Kira's neck (thank god), raking against her scythe blade instead in a burst of angry sparks. Two chains erupted from Kira's back, before the Lycan could make another move, speeding past his head before turning back around in an arc in an effort to wrap around him and render him immobilized. With a growl of annoyance, the lycan's body ducked low so that the chains passed over his head instead of around him, shooting out a leg and swiftly spinning to the right, effectively taking Kira's legs out from under her (speed 145, strength 75). As she fell, Salzem would kick her weapon out of her hands, leaving her defenseless for a moment as he stood over her, arms raised above his head, fingers curled into fists like two hammers about to come down on a nail.... But they never came down... Salzem froze, staring down at Kira, his best friend as tears welled up in his eyes, fighting against the control of the venom as much as he possibly could. Maybe it was his healing factor that was giving him some amount of control in this moment, maybe it was Kira's face that gave him the strength he needed... Either way, with every last ounce of will and muscle-strength, the lycan forced his arms down, turning his massive wolven form to face his previous controllers.

"How.... DARE you..." He snarled, his fur slowly fading to black, a dark mist radiating off his body. Whatever poison was in his body now was completely purged by his new body's immune system. With a health of 110, Nothing in his system now would stay in there. With a roar more inhuman than that in his white-furred form, Salzem would dash at the men who once held him captive as their slave, his claws ripping them to bloody shreds at speeds of 215, leaving nothing behind but blood and strips of flesh... There wasn't even time to scream for help or pain.... And once each of his puppet-masters lay completely destroyed at his feet, His form would fade, shrinking back down into his little human shape, tears in his eyes... What had he almost done...? He'd almost KILLED Kira, that's what! And because he was careless and let his guard down here.... Salzem looked back at his friend, almost as if he expected her to shun him, scold him or something... He then looked down at the blood surrounding him, and miraculously he had none on himself besides that dripping dry from his fingers, and that pooling before him. He had to do this though! Without Kira... He didn't know what he'd do! She was... well... They've been through so much together... He probably cared about her more than anyone in this whole-wide ninja world and he'd almost crushed her...

"Kira..." He whispered. "I'm so sorry... I couldn't control myself..."

Kira was left in shock as the boy seemed to break out of the Self Cursing seal with ease, causing him to easily dodge the chains she launched. She knew that her seals were powerful, strong enough to even subdue the lycan in front of her. But somehow, whatever was happening to Sal, it gave him the strength to snap through her seal. The girl, still in shock as he broke out of it, we swept from off her feet; and not in a way she would like. Her scythe, was kicked away leaving her almost defenceless to the boy who stood right above her. the chains that she summoned diminished as she felt helpless. Tears built up in her eyes as at this moment, it was going to be either him or her, and she didn’t know if she could go with killing him for it to be her. She was about to give everything up so that he may live. She closed her eyes, a tear sliding from the edge of her face as she prepared herself for whatever happened next. Her story had come to an end too soon.

Moments passed, and she had felt no pain yet. Had the lycan made it quick that she didn’t even notice that she was now dead. The red haired beauty opened her eyes to reveal that Sal has put his hands down. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but maybe the her Salzem was back. The girl slowly stood back up as the Konoha ninja turned into his full wolfen form. She watched as the boy savagely tore the criminals to shreds, leaving nothing behind but bloody remnants of what they once were. Once it was over, all that remained was a massive pool of blood and the unturned boy. Kira approached Sal at a slow pace, unsure if it was safe. She stopped herself as the boy turned around to face her, tears built up in his eyes as he apologized for what he’d done. He was back. Whatever it was that had taken him was gone. With relief, the girl ran into the boy, embracing him in a hug as she wrapped her arms around his mid section. “Sal.” Was the only thing she can bring herself to say at the moment before she let herself to cry in his arms. Just moments ago, she was certain that she’d be dead, with Sal following closely behind. Somehow, by what seemed like a miracle, they both made it out alive.

After the moment passed, the girl would detach herself from him, wiping away her eyes as she let out a laugh of relief. “No more splitting up.” She’d say, picking up her weapon that was about three meters away. She’d let the large scythe fold into itself before placing it back onto her lower back. “I have one of them tied up in one of these shacks. Let’s get him and get out of here.” She said mentally exhausted. She was in dire need of a vacation.

Salzem's eyes widened as Kira threw herself on Salzem, knocking him over (thankfully in dry sand) as she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him for all it was worth... For the second time today, the strong, loud, outspoken uzumaki did another thing he thought she'd never do and that was sob... she sobbed into his chest, speaking his name only once as she held him like he'd revert back into that beast it she let go. His own tears pouring over the ledges of his lids, Salzem wrapped his arms around the girl's shoulders and let himself cry with her, hugging her just tight enough not to be uncomfortable, but enough to let her know just how much he needed her there. He didn't think he's ever acted this way once, not sense his innocence died along with the rest of his original lungs. He never allowed himself to be this vulnerable, to let his emotions flow this much.... until now....

"Kira..." He whispered softly, moving one of his arms from around her shoulder to placing his palm on the back of her strawberry-red-head. For the (seemingly) longest time, Kira and Salzem simply sat there in each-other's embrace, breaking shinobi rule 25 to the upteenth degree. Eventually though, even moments as nice as these had to pass... They had to or everyone would be stuck in limbo forever... Kira was the first to let go followed shortly by the lycanthrope, the two getting up and sharing a relieved, almost uneasy laugh. Kira stated that they would never split up again and Salzem only smiled quietly, warmly, Getting up as Kira did, watching as she went to retrieve, fold-up, and replace her scythe. They lycan again only grinned when the uzumaki claimed she had someone tied up back at one of the shacks, that they should grab him and get home... there was one thing he needed to confess first... One major thing that this whole mission enlightened for him... he had to tell her before anything else happened...

As they walked back over to this supposed shack, The lycan seemed more flustered than usual, more... quiet and nervous... How did one even EXPRESS these feelings? Should he just spit them out? Give her some kind of gift to help embolden his task? Did she even feel the same way...? Perhaps he should be doubting himself less given what had happened mere moments ago but it had the opposite effect...

"K-Kira...?" Salzem finally spoke, his heart pounding so hard it felt as if it might A. burst open his chest and B. Pop his eyeballs from their sockets. "Uhm... We've been friends for so long... You've saved my life so many times and I think... because of you... I'm here at all as a ninja of the Leaf... but it's more... than that... Kira... we... we're friends but... I think... I like you more... I...." He paused, his face as red as her hair. "I... love you..." He stopped walking as he said that, straining with all his might to maintain eye-contact. "I love you..." he said again, louder, more confident, but not much.

Kira walked ahead of her male counterpart, trying to remember which shack she had left the man tied up in. They all looked like same, like a pile of complete trash. As she walked through the small shanty town, the girl suddenly stopped as the boy called her name. The Uzumaki quickly assumed the worst by the tone of his voice. Did one of the men just grab him hostage with a kunai to his throat? Was he poisoned again with whatever atrocity these evil goers had produced? She was scared to turn around but did so after a short beat of about five seconds. She observed the male who seemed to be choked up on his own breath. Maybe it was some sort of side effects from the thing he was injected with earlier? “What’s wrong?” The Uzumaki wondered, taking a few steps towards Sal leaving about three meters in-between them.

She listened to the boy’s stuttered words as they left his lips. Her heart began to pound ferociously as the boy poured out his feelings towards the Uzumaki. As the second half of his nervous confession left his breathe, the red haired girl’s face went completely blank. The last three words left her in a daze as her glance left his, staring at the sand below her; the roots of what she was feeling delved further than Sal could ever know.

After the second time it was said, a shiver launched down the girl’s back as she tried to hold back the tears; tears that she’s held ever since that day she became stranded in the nine world, an orphaned child with no one left in the world. The last time she had heard those words, it was from her mother before the tsunami hit their small boat. Those words were linked to years of pains and loneliness that Kira had tried so hard to bury, and here they were; being said to her once more.

Kira’s reaction to the boy telling her this wasn’t because she did not feel the same way, but because of the fear that if she said it back, if she accepted those feelings, then she’s opening herself up to being hurt once again like when she lost her family. She didn’t want to open herself up and allow someone to get that close, only to have them be ripped away from her again. “Sal I...” Was the only thing the girl could muster to say as she covered her mouth with one hand, trying to fight back the emotions that came pushing through. She took a moment to calm herself down. If Sal had tried to come in closer, she’d take a step back and place her arm out as if telling him to stop. Once she composed herself, she’d look back at the male, her face strict; unusual for the typically playful girl. “We’re on a mission Sal. This isn’t the time...” The girl quickly turned around and continued on to grab the male she had tied up, unable to look at the possibly hurt in Sal’s face from her reaction. She couldn’t handle those emotions, not at this very moment at least.

The Uzumaki proceeded to enter one of the shack’s grabbing the tied up unconscious male and throwing him over her shoulder and proceeded off towards the village, Sal presumably behind her. It was going to be an awfully quiet trip back.