Aftermath [IO]

Yurei sat in his bed – in thought. His back faced away from Damon, who now shared a room with him. His mother, Takia, did not know this, not yet. Instead, Yurei had elected to offer Damon shelter and his mother a chance to sleep. She didn’t need to be disturbed, not right now. He’d have to make his case later, but his mother was not one to deny another shelter, not usually. Maybe it was best she didn’t know he was a shinobi, though. With how things have been as of late…

The Uchiha glanced out of his window, staring at the city - it’s glowing lights, the brilliant night sky with the wonderful blue hues against the tanned sand. It was beautifully crowded. And despite the thousands of people, the billions of stars, Damon in his home, and Esu at his bed, Yurei had never felt so alone. So confused.
Kenshin Uzumaki and the revelation of Akio’s death had left a hole in him. A question he hadn’t considered. What did humanity deserve?

Throughout his life, Yurei knew few things but cruelty. Whether it was hiding his lifestyle, the death of his father, the constant conflict between shinobi and villager, the pain of his friends, his family, the death of Akio… few things were bright in his life. The only real things being his friends, his mother, and the future. But now he had lost a friend, and, though unsure of it, he felt he was losing Takia. It was as if he wasn’t her son, sometimes. More like her husband’s murderer. Simply bringing Roshi up in conversation was too difficult for her, and Yurei understood why.

Was he reckless and Akio had been? The death of the man at the gates was one thing, a mistake perhaps. Yes, Yurei knew Akio didn’t mean to. That was something he had accepted into his heart. But what was the circumstance of Roshi Uchiha’s death? Was it not the same?

Yurei closed his eyes, if only briefly, sheltering himself from the sights extending beyond his room. What does this world deserve? He repeated within himself. Did it even matter what they deserved? Was his genjutsu plan not a forgiveness of that? But should this world be forgiven? What was the best way to defy its coldness – its cruelty?

The alabaster Uchiha’s eyes opened once more, drifting from the window and onto his bedsheets. He softly extended his hand, stroking the soft sheets in a rhythmic motion. It was a trance, a distraction, really. He could not afford sleep, not now. Even with the exhaustion he suffered, his mind had never been more alert, more awake. But it was a different consciousness. It was a painful one, as if thousands of voices were speaking all at once in a crescendo of shrieking nails on a chalkboard. Yurei’s blood thinned as the voices cried out, arguing and debating, fracturing his mind in an inability to understand what had happened that day, what its events had changed. The Uchiha winced, closing his eyes tightly. Tears left them, dripping onto his pillow.

For a moment, there was silence.

Peering from the void of sound was the sliding of his door and the pattern of footsteps leaving. Yurei turned, facing it with his pale eyes opened. Damon had left.
The Uchiha rose from his bed, following the sound of his clansman’s feet. He extended his hand, sliding the wooden door across the cold floor, the temperature stinging his feet lightly with every step. Yurei ventured forward, shutting the door behind him and descending though the hallway to his front door.

Stepping outside, the cool breeze hit Yurei. The Uchiha wore only a dark blue pair of pants and a shirt, equal in color, bearing a netted design halfway down the collar.
Cherry blossom blooms fell to the ground, draping over Damon like dozens of small blankets. The flowers, typically a subtle, bright pink, were now violent in the blue hue of night.

“Can’t sleep?” Yurei asked, cutting through the silence of the crisp air and light wind. The Uchiha’s white hair danced in the breeze, now reaching his shoulders and bearing a spiked shape.

Yurei gave a thin chuckle that amounted to little more than hot hair from his nose. His light smile quickly faded, reaching a sort of subtle grimace. “I can’t either,” he would say, his voice somber and almost hoarse.


WC: 737

Yurei stopped walking just before reaching Damon, standing behind the dark-haired Uchiha. “Not at all,” the boy answered. The question had been rhetorical. Yurei knew what kept Damon awake. It was keeping him awake as well. Every time the alabaster Uchiha closed his eyes, those voices rang within his head. They vibrated so furiously, tempting Yurei’s ears to erupt with blood.

The Uchiha sat in silence for a moment, allowing Damon to speak. He no doubt had much to say, but whether or not he could find the words for it was another question.

“What does this mean?” Damon asked, staring up at the intrinsic blanket of darkness above.

Yurei did not answer, instead shifting his   to the flower metals on the ground below. This meant something. Too much. Perhaps too little. The Uchiha felt a tightness in his stomach – a tension that nearly sent him reeling over. He, however, endured, pursing his lips and retreating into sparse surface thoughts.

“I can’t stop thinking about what Kenshin said. Do… Do you think we’ll end up like him? As a shinobi trying to achieve peace, is that what our destiny is?” He turned back to the trees. “Is that what justice is?”  Damon asked. His voice was rife with uncertainty and a plea for answers.

The pale Uchiha had none, only theories and vague conclusions – things he could formulate when the pain wasn’t too great. The world creates monsters… doesn’t it? It that not what we are already? What defines such a thing – a monster? Is it that detachment that Kenshin possessed? Or something more?


Yurei exhaled, concentrating as best he could. Peace… how could I achieve peace in this world? My genjutsu? I can bend the hearts of others, but… should I? Who are the real monsters here?

“The only way peace seems to be attained is through violence. What if one person’s peace can only be achieved through someone else’s pain? His agony? Is justice, vengeance, whatever you want to call it the only way to help the world? And if we follow down this path… will we end up like Kenshin? If we had fought him, he would have fought and killed us. We were in no state to fight, especially a jounin. But… say we had fought him. Say we had killed him for killing Akio. What then? Then we’re branded criminals. Our justice is seen as vengeance by the village and we’re killed. It’s cyclical.”

Yurei nodded, theorizing on what Damon had said. It was a complex question. The Uchiha examined Damon’s body, noting the pent-up stress, the anger – it was all there. Yurei felt it too.

“Is this way of life even worth it? Is justice, is peace even worth it?”

Yurei sighed, taking all that Damon had said in.

“You’re asking the wrong questions, Damon,” Yurei concluded, maneuvering to one of the cherry blossoms. He placed his thin hands onto the bark, taking a deep breath before continuing – as if to center himself. “Vengeance was never my goal. I’ve felt vengeance before. When my home, my mother was attacked, I followed those villagers to their hideout. I outed them, beat them to a pulp. I blooded my knuckles with every punch, and I scarred my body in my fight against them. They threatened me, my mother, my home, my way of life. I couldn’t allow them to do it again, could I?” Yurei paused for a moment, looking directly at Damon. “I was proud of myself after… I had saved what I loved. However, later that feeling was gone.” The Uchiha removed his hand from the bark, taking a small step to Damon. “I realized that I had extended the pain I felt to them.”


The boy chuckled softly, turning away from Damon. “I used my genjutsu to make them understand. That is what I wanted for this village. To show them what I felt – everyone. To unite both shinobi and villager through understanding.”

“That was peace, Damon. Not some personal quest of vengeance. That’s not justice. That’s just glorified revenge.” Yurei took another deep breath, now rushing his hands through his long, white hair. “But now I want to know something else. Kenshin… He… I had never seen such emotionlessness in a man. And I believed him when he told us his story. But I’ll tell you something else, Damon. I stand by what I said.” Yurei swallowed, clearing his throat. “Kenshin fell to the world on his knees. I won’t.”

The Uchiha turned to face his brother in blood, now posing a new question. “The real question is how peace should be achieved. Like I said, I wanted to use my genjutsu to make people understand. But I don’t know. I just don’t know…”


“Kenshin made me think of something. He was like us, right? But now he’s something else, and I don’t know if I can save him, not really. He’s so detached – so cold. I don’t know if I can show someone like him the world I wanted to make. And there must be more like him.”
 
WC: 1584

“Those men… the ones that threatened you. They deserved it.” Damon had said. Yurei could hear it – the undeniable belief in what he said, that anger. “The problem with this world is that no one understands each other. No one can put themselves in another person’s shoes because they’re too focused on themselves. Or in Kenshin’s place, too focused on the village that they don’t see the error in their ways.”

Yurei nodded, agreeing with what Damon had said. “That is why I wanted to use my genjutsu. I wanted to show the world that understanding of one another. To make them all step in the shoes of another person, the person they hated. You were right about those men. I think they did deserve it. But that’s not what I wanted. That wasn’t my goal. And, in the end, it didn’t accomplish anything.” Yurei sighed, now watching Damon’s eyes with his own and vice versa. The two locked in a stare, both brimming with anger.

“Yurei, there’s no way to use genjutsu to save the world. We can’t just. Just change the way people think. Is peace even peace if we have to manipulate others into doing so?"


Was there? What was a manipulation? Really? Was convincing a man to share his food with a pleading child manipulation? That was what took place in this world. Yurei’s genjutsu was to unite the world through a push, a manipulation of his own. This world needed sustenance, or it would be doomed to starve.

“Maybe genjutsu can work, I just… I don’t understand it. Could you explain it to me more in depth another time, I’m just… much too tired to try to grasp that concept right now. Maybe your genjutsu can work, but do the ends justify the means? That always seems to be the question.”

Yurei shook his head. “The ends justify the means if it’s the world at stake. But I want to tell you something, Damon. My genjutsu – whether it will work isn’t the question. I know it will. However, what I want to know is if these people deserve it? Do these people deserve such easy peace in the world that they have fought and killed in? Really?”


The Alabaster Uchiha paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I don’t care about vengeance. Not really. But my genjutsu is too easy. And even with it working, there would be outliers – those like Kenshin. Those so detached that they would continue as monster and become an even greater threat to the world.”


“I… I’m not really sure. But one question that keeps coming up when I think of or hear ‘peace.’ It’s… unexpected. But I think of my father. He believed as Akio’s parents did as I’ve told you. That shinobi made this world what it was. I’ve considered what he said numerous times, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so close to agreeing with him. There’s a problem with that, though. I don’t think it’s just shinobi, but everyone. People make the world the way it is. I don’t believe in fate – I never had. People decide what goes on in this world, and that is why it’s so bent out of shape.”


“But I think I can do better. Akio killed that man, Damon. I loved him, but he was reckless.” Yurei turned away for a moment, pursing his lips. He strained himself keeping the tears at bay. “Too many people with power are reckless, uncaring, cold, or selfish. That’s what the kage is to me. Akio. This whole village. This world, even.” Yurei clenched his fist, gnashing on his own teeth. “People abuse what they have, and teaching them love isn’t going to stop that. And they don’t deserve that unity. They should be denied of it. Not out of vengeance, but because that they need to be taught this lesson in a way that they can remember it. Love is fleeting. It becomes hatred. Switching shoes won’t change that for long.”



“I know you want to become famous, Damon,” Yurei said, controlling his breathing. His hands relaxed and his breath ceased to shake. “Infamy is easier. But there’s something interesting about it. Sometimes what’s hated now is respected in the future.”

WC: 2293

“Do these people even deserve to be saved?” Damon had asked, anger boiling in his voice. The pale Uchiha knew the answer. No. The Uchiha struck the cherry blossom, summoning its flowers to the ground. “Does this world deserve anything?” Nothing good. “Does this village? Did Akio?”
Yurei tensed.
What did Akio deserve? Was his fate necessary? As difficult as it was to admit, Yurei thought so. His recklessness got a man killed, but it was not solely Akio’s failing. This world failed Akio, warped him, terrified him. These people shaped him into a murderer, intentional or not. Akio should have never been gifted chakra. If he hadn’t he’d still be alive.
And now Damon showcased his rage, rupturing the bark against his strike. The wood splintered, cutting into his hand. Then, something curious happened. Fire erupted onto the tree almost instantly. It did not bring light, but darkness. A scorching shadow. And this power grew, encompassing the entire tree.
Yurei stood in awe, his mouth agape. The dark fire reflected off of his pale eyes, contorting, twisting, and taking shape along the tree. It was hot – hotter than anything he had ever felt, even at this distance. It was as if this fire scorched the air around Yurei, burning him.
Damon… what did you do?
For a moment, Yurei saw Damon’s red eyes. His sharingan. Was this a jutsu of the Mangekyou? Was this Damon’s power?
Ironic.
Yurei’s eyes drifted as the tree became ash, recalling the day he had met Damon. The two had practiced their jutsu, Yurei utilizing his genjutsu. He brought fire to Damon, a symbol of his trauma. And now the Sharingan had gifted him with this same power, only intensified.
A ninjutsu without handseals… a man living in fear of fire had attained its power on a scale greater than Yurei had ever seen. Black flames…
The pale Uchiha closed his mouth, shifting his gaze to Damon. The dark-haired boy had begun to panic as Yurei expected.
Despite his urge, Yurei could not extend his hand. Instead, he stared at the remains of the once beautiful tree, now distorted by the Uchiha’s power. The albino sighed, closing his eyes. He could not shelter Damon. Even in this emotional distress, he, too was reckless. Was this Kenshin’s safeguard? Emotions made people do horrible things. Perhaps he thought severing them would free him from the world. Instead he became its pawn.
But still, emotionlessness. Would Kenshin be prone to make the same mistakes as Akio had? To feel the same hate the villagers and shinobi did? Or was he simply a tool of destruction?
Deserve… This world deserves nothing but misery and hate. But to grant it something else, to safeguard it no matter the cost, that’s what Yurei wanted to do. But how? What made people bend in the way he wanted to? Love? No, love created hate. Understanding could not affect people as Kenshin, could it? No, Yurei needed something else. Something systematic, complex. A way to shape the world to his will even after he died.
But what?
“Get up, Damon,” Yurei said, clenching his fist. His teeth tightened. It was difficult to speak to him this way.
Yurei swallowed, staring at Damon. He saw Akio in his friend. That recklessness… The Uchiha’s spine tingled with fear and anxiety. I won’t let you have the same fate as Akio. I won’t. But you’ll have to be strong, Damon.
“I need you to help me defy this world, Damon. One way or another, but I’ll find out. You’ve been granted a power, and you’ve got to use it! Akio gave you that power. And whatever we decide, we’ll need it to change this world. That’s Akio’s gift to you, I know it.”


WC: 2921

The fire burned against the tree, turning the lightened wood to darkness, burning away all sense of purity. He found his eyes transfixed on the destruction, watching it burn. Everything burns and fades eventually.

Damon did his best to listen to Yurei, but his mind was elsewhere. Can I even control this… this power? This curse? What’s to stop it from controlling me, from burning me up inside? He tried his best to snap himself out of it, only barely registering Yurei’s words. This is wrong, Yurei is my friend, I need to listen to him… But the words fell on deaf ears as the Uchiha could only hear the echoing sound of his heartbeat thumping rapidly throughout his entire body. One line stood out above the rest: "That’s Akio’s gift to you, I know it.”

Akio… why?Damon did his best to pick himself up, pushing off of the ground with his well exercised, but sore arms. As he stood, he began clenching his stomach with one hand and holding his forward with the other as a searing migraine kicked in. The jutsu had seemed to drain a lot of his already low energy, as he stumbled towards the homestead. He mostly kept his grey eyes closed as he began to walk back towards the house, the tree still burning behind him. The black flames seemed to make the night darker as the boy was walking away. The fires even seemed to overshadow him, their shadow following his silhouette in the darkness even as he fell to the ground. “Dammit!” he said under his breath. He pulled himself towards the stairs, using them as leverage for him to lift his body up. Damon gave one last effort as he stumbled inside the house, collapsing on the hallway floor. He extended his hand to try one last push, but could not find the strength. The only thing he found was a temporary peace as the world faded away into nothingness.

--Exit--
WC: 1801
Claiming: 9 stats, 1000/1000 words towards Phoenix Flower which was memorized from Here, remaining 801 words towards Uchiha Flame Formation, putting me at 2002/4000

Approved unless interupted