The Annual Fighting Fangs Parade (IO)

The thought of a bijuu dying didn’t make a lot of sense.  It was his interpretation of the beasts they were chakra incarnate.  He’d spent a great deal of time within the mind of the Fox demon thanks to the Tsukyomi genjutsu.  He’d traveled back to their beginning, and had even almost got lost within its mind.  Yet he’d come out, and he knew the beast was as close to immortal as about anything could be.  It’s death causing a reformation process to take place.

“Are you sure she’s really gone?”  He would ask, not hesitating and taking a bite of the omelette.  There was no reason to let doomsday proclamations ruin a perfectly good appetite.  “I don’t think fox boy could die....not from what I saw anyway in his memories.  Though maybe they weren’t the same...”. He would shrug at this.  He hadn’t had enough time to truly learn about the silver beauty that had lived within Akihana, only that he had found it to be......sensual.

To some the subject of their best friend dying and suffering would cause a pang, or even a hesitation.  For Maku, it caused him to roll his eyes and scoff.  “I tried to save that fool.  God knows he saved me.”  He let his fork hit the plate a loud chiming sound.  Standing he grabbed a bottle from a top shelf that had a kunai stuck in the middle, a paper arrow pointing one way saying Maku and the other Denkitiki.  A dark amber liquid, that he splashed in a cup that still had soap suds bubbling.  Drinking he refilled it and sat down, taking another bite in silence.  “I could have walked through Aki, left all this shit behind.....yet I didn’t.  He told me the work wasn’t done.....”. He pressed his finger hard into the table looking at the blonde.  First show of genuine emotions. “So I came back.  I saw the pain he was in.  That was his fault.  You think he couldn’t have subdued that beast?  No he could have.  He was a masochist until the end, and then he left.”  He drank again from the liquid looking at it.  Resisting the surge of chakra that wanted to flow to his eyes, his chakra beginning to spiral as his control was tested.

“I held him when he died.  I was there.  That’s why I left Kumogakure.  Took his body with me.  Hid it from the world.  Was he content in the end?  I doubt it.  Sometimes I don’t believe he’s really dead to be honest.  That thing inside him is gone though.......he’s just Youka Tau now......Mortarion is gone.”

A long silence followed those words as Maku’s own mind thought on the preserved corpse and the resting place he’d left his friend.  He hoped to do better for him eventually.  Though for now it was enough.  His defense of changing the subject to a mission had worked, and he tore his kind from that reality to a less painful one.

“Well that’s fine.  Not like we are ninja anymore are we?  Just going out to get some goods for the restaurant.”  He’d smile and look at her.  “For heavens sake, Den is blind, so you are already a step ahead of him.” 

TWC - 4124
2 stacks nature energy

"They weren't the same," Akihana confirmed as the man across from erh dug into his food. It was comforting to see some things didn't change, and her cooking bringing someone else still felt dangerously close to purpose. her sleep imbued knowledge had made certain tinsg clear. Makona was not the same as the original tailed beings, and neither was Epidemius. The blonde wondered if, in the end, who had finished whom and fruitlessly found herself hoping it was neither. As much as she didn't want Youka gone from this world, the kunoichi couldn't physically bring herself to wish ill upon the creature of death and decay that had held her husband captive for so long.

Had she known Maku less, she would have drawn the conclusion that his brother's death did not affect the male at all. But Akihana had seen Maku take everything with a small. The death of Echo, the departure from Haven, the Resurrection from the deep dark beyond and now this... The only person he fooled with his smile was himself, and that too on a good day.

"I felt his death," she explained, reaching for her own glass of water while he opted to partake in something stronger. "But I didn't want to believe it. I still don' think i do. I promised to always believe in him, and I don't think I'm relieved of that vow yet." That much was true, she had stood in front of thousands of people and declared that all her faith was for him, the universe could not take him away from this earth thinking she had given up.

When Maku divulged that his brother was blind, the former medic looked up with a raised eyebrow, silently seeking an explanation. Should Maku provide one, she would listen and if he did not, she would not ask further. If Den lived here as his brother suggested, then there would be time enough to see the previous Hogokage's condition herself. She had no trouble at all believing Denkitekiw was serving the people of this town, he had always done his best by others.

"Is he still in communication with the Ryūchi Caves?" she asked, wondering if this was all intended or a coincident. She had not set out to find the blind doctor yet he definitely held the key to the rest of the puzzle.

They weren’t the same.....an over simplification of a very abstract fact.  Yet still, it was a welcome one.  He’d seen the contempt Karama had for the others, and now it made even more sense to as why.  The beast had been all about pride and power, especially in its youth.  Certainly another clan of creatures trying to usurp them, well that couldn’t be taken laying down.  Yet it had, as for as well as he knew the two groupings had never combatted each-other.  What spectacle   that might have been.....still, time moves in, the even more simplified explanation.

“Well it’s not causing me to dance....”. Maku would say in relation to Youka’s passing.  Vows......what did they really mean to a shinobi.  It was hardwired in that they were useless unless they weren’t.  An abstract way of thought but one he’d learned early on.  He merely sighed and continued to eat until his plate was clean.  He had no words for her in regards to their marriage.  The whole ceremony was something for her and Youka, not him.  Perhaps he had a chance once, but he’d stepped off that ledge and didn’t think there was a way to climb back.  Even if there was, he wasn’t sure he would want to.  Everything had to have a purpose, would there be one there....or would it just lead to a greater loss.

“You’ll have to talk to him to get the full scoop.  I don’t get it all, but what I can tell is Sanctuary is gone, same as Discord.  Must have something to do with that if I had to guess.  Can’t help but wonder if mine falling first led to his.....”. Looking out the window the distant trill of music and voices could be heard.  Not a full parade yet, though it was working up to be.  His mind drifted to the dimensional landscapes they’d created together.  He still hardly understood how it happened, Den was the smart one after all.  Maku learned he could do it, so he did.  Never stopping to ask if he should, or how.....times were simpler then, yet it was still yet to be said if they were more fulfilling.  “He’s doing alright though.  We’ve been working on it, making sure he gets around, doesn’t bump into things to much.  I gotta feeling he could get it back if he had some help or the inclination.  Maybe he’s waiting for something, hard tellin.”  

“You mean them sneaky snakes.......yea he’s still gottum.”  Maku would say answering what seemed like an off color question.  He had seen Den working with the snakes, just as Maku had begun work with the toads.  He had told him they could help with his new form of meditation, and the awakening of energy he had discovered.  “Now you mention it, I’ve got back into contact with the toads.  Funny thing, when discord went down a couple escaped.  Made it in with the rest of them in the forest.  Not many, but some.”  He’d trained specifically with two.  However, it seemed that Ukam had not made it out alive.  Though he wasn’t sure if that was for better or worse.  

Standing he’d take the plate and put it in the wash.  “I’ve gotta get to work downstairs Akihana......but you are more than welcome to stay here.  Den won’t care, in fact you should go see him.  Guarantee it’s put a smile on his blond face.”  Maku would say smiling.  He didn’t want to cut the conversation, but he needed to.  Things were coming back, and he wasn’t certain if they were for the better.  There were reasons he’d left, and reasons he had stayed in the Fang village.  In the past he’d already have gone to multiple villages, stirred up some trouble, yet now that was low on the priorities.  Still, habits die hard and his own needed breaking.  

“Come on, I’ll point you and you can enjoy the parade.”  He’d usher her up and out.  Ignoring her food.  If she went with him, they’d go down the narrow stairs and through the very active kitchen.  Leading her through the dining area where only s few patrons were sitting they’d come out on a very busy street.  “Four buildings down to the east.” He’d say pointing.  “You’ll find him in a run down place that he’s turned into his clinic.  No real hospital round here.”  Turning back to her his blue eyes would meet hers.  “It was nice seeing you, I hope you stick around...”. He wasn’t sure if he meant the words or not if he was honest with himself. Yet, it seemed the polite thing to say.  Awkwardly he leaned forward and hugged her, doubting she as ready for it.  Clumsy, and much to brief for any real comfort he paused for just a moment as he released her......before clearly thinking better of it.  He wondered if she’d notice the pause, and hoped she hadn’t.

In the past he’d of vanished in a purse of speed or ethereal energy, but now he merely smiled and walked back inside.  Calling for a chef coat and going to a regular place of work.  In the kitchen he grabbed a sponge and started washing the dishes........because after all.......it was just washing the dishes.


(Exit)
TWC - 5002

25 stats towards chakra


Cutting
Added weight

“Well it’s not causing me to dance....”

Was there a hint of... soemthing in his voice when he aid that. They had never really talked about her and Youka's relationship. Foolishly perhaps but both had pretended that there was no need to. Why would they talk about something that effected another thing that didn't exist? Akihana herself had never brought up details of her and Youka's personal life to Maku and her husband... Perhaps he had respected their privacy too? Or perhaps in his final moments he had told Maku everything? Whatever she and the former Yuki nin had... it existed out of time. And back then, that had served as a good reason to never bring it up.

And yet, he was the first familiar thing her feet and heartbeat had sought out. Not the far more comforting presence of Den, not the dutiful role of a wife by her husband's final resting place, not even in search of her now dead child. It was Maku she kept coming back to despite reminding herself over and over again that she had no expectations from the man,

That she could not afford to expect anything from him any longer.

And maybe if she repeated it enough times, she would finally believe it.

The bearded man confirmed that his brother still conversed with the snakes, bringing to light the fact that perhaps Akihana wouldn't have to do this all atone. And of course the brothers paths never strayed to far, whether through fate or their own design. The Hayato brothers had always mirrored each other, but in exactly opposite ways. Maku had begun working with his toads too. She briefly wondered if any of them had an inkling of the shift in gravity about to overturn the earth?

She wondered if she would be brave enough to tell the brothers of their role in the coming months.

Maku was on his feet once more, Akihana following out of politeness despite not having touched a single bite of her food. Depositing the plates in the sink, he guided her down the stairs again, promising  to lead her to Den without really considering if she was ready. In a way, the kunoichi was grateful for his lack of thought in that regard. If left to her own devices, Akihana might never be ready. This was easier all around.

When he pointed out the building to her, the young woman froze for a second. He wanted her to go alone, he wasn't coming with her. For a moment, the street with its bright colors, loud people and jostling looked frightening. But of course he wouldn't come with her... He always had better things to do. The blonde blinked in surprise when he leaned forwards to hug her, but before she could react visibly he was gone.

Always dancing at the edge of her vision, at the edge of whatever imaginary line they had drawn in the sand a long time ago.

Returning his wave tentatively and definitely without the smile, the kunoichi moved forwards, taking one step at a time into the unknown.

(Exit Akihana)  

(4, 211 words)

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11 Chakra stats

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