The World Changes, but not Us

Denkiteki was enjoying the simple life. While his brother had to constantly come up with new ideas to occupy himself in this small space, the ageless sage found it easy to spend his days healing the ill in a broken down shack. It was simple, it was good, it was easy. Certainly less profitable than Maku's new business ventures, but Denkiteki had little appreciation for money. Instead he preferred the thanks and praise he received from his patients, who thought his medical ninjutsu to be magic. Occasionally there would be someone who would get upset with him upon finding the limits of his healing capabilities, such as when a one eyed man had grown angry upon finding out Den couldn't restore his missing body part, but the majority of the people who visited him left much happier than before.

Luckily that day he found himself dealing with the majority. People came in with scrapes, bruises, broken bones. Den did his best to heal them, though he had to take time to rest as his chakra capacity wasn't what it used to be. He could only cast Mystical Palms a few times before sweat began to form on his brow. Throughout the day he had to take a couple of breaks in order to eat and rest, so as to avoid accidentally pushing himself to unconsciousness by overworking himself.

Den was in fact resting now as we find him in this story. It was a bit into the afternoon, at least as far as he knew. Unless the sun was directly shining on him he found it difficult to keep time these days. He was lounging in a simple wooden chair, his left arm resting on the lone table within the dreary room. Beyond the two pieces of furniture there were a few simple beds for anyone Den needed to heal, but for the moment they were all unoccupied.

The blind healer was lost in thought, as he normally was. He was wondering how soon it would be before someone came after his brother, or maybe even him. Den had only garnered but so many enemies along his path in life, but he knew his brother was a more combative person than him. If something got in Den's way he tried to find a way around it, Maku on the other hand wasn't afraid to step on someone's toes if they were in his path. Now that Maku was starting to become a celebrity within the town it was only a matter of time before someone who held a grudge came for him. Maku seemed as powerful as ever, at least as far as Den could tell, so there was no worry for his safety. No, Den's fear was that he would prove to be a hindrance to his brother. What if some skilled shinobi captured this blind fool, and used him to force Maku into a position of disadvantage?

TWC: 489

+1 Nature Energy from Natural Berserker

Den's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hesitant footsteps, it's seemed the person outside of his shack was finally entering. When he had first sensed the approaching chakra signature his reaction had been one of disbelief. Maku had told him that he couldn't find Akihana with his jutsu, and from what Den understood the technique could only be stopped by powerful chakra suppression. How could Aki's chakra have been suppressed for so long? No, it was more likely that some assassin had figured out her chakra signature and was using it to get close enough to strike. Yet when he focused his chakra on the the figure to pierce this cruel illusion he still only felt Aki's presence. Had she really managed to find him? It seemed impossible, yet as she got closer all of Den's senses told him that this was indeed his long lost friend. But everything he knew said it couldn't be.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this was some form of trap, and so Den's chakra scoured the nearby buildings for the creator of this illusion. The only potent chakras he could find were his own, Maku's off in the distance, and the one approaching him. Perhaps this was some of form of Ninjutsu then, the Transformation technique mixed with some sort of chakra signature copying? That must have been the answer, it made the most sense. It was a cunning plan, Den had to admit it. But it was also cruel.

Well if this assassin wanted to try and lure him into a false sense of security, he would do the same. He pretended that hadn't acknowledged the footsteps, acting as if he hadn't heard them at all. If this person thought Den both blind and inattentive they might get sloppy, thinking he was an easy target.  He wondered how they would react when he revealed that he wasn't quite as disabled as he appeared. As far as he could tell his ruse seemed to have worked, as the figure walked right up to him. He waited to sense the forming of hand seals, the drawing of a knife, but instead he was pierced by a word. When he heard Aki speak Den lifted his head up to face her, though his eyelids would remain shut. He felt a gentle hand reach out and touch his. He sensed the tear as it made it's way down the face that seemed exactly as he remembered it. He listened as Akihana told him that she missed her best friend.

"Aki.. is that really you?" He tried to lightly squeeze the hand that had reached out to him, as though that would somehow help him figure out if she was truly there. He then used his other hand to balance himself as he got to his feet, he wasn't sure he could handle this sitting down.

"Maku said... I thought..." Maku said he couldn't find you, I thought you were dead. He couldn't finish the words, they seemed to catch in his throat.

TWC: 508

2 Nature Energy Stack Stored
45 AP used on Minds Eye (Sensory Range is 250 meters once active, power is 130. Jutsu is used as soon as Aki entered Chakra Sensory range)
+5 AP from Natural Berserker
40 AP used so far

"Aki.. is that really you?"

'Almost," the woman replied, as always conforming to ehr honest nature. She definitely was the Akihana he meant but whether she was the same person he remembered was still unclear. The Akihana he had known was a mother, a sister, a wife and a friend. The kunoichi that stood in front of him now however lacked all the relations that had defined her. "But getting more real every second," she added, hoping to laugh. Instead, a choked sob emerged from her lips.

And then it happened, so naturally as if it was always that way. The medic found herself hugging Denkiteki's tall frame tightly, almost as if to reassure herself he was really here and he was really Den. More tears flowed from her eyes and directly into the good doctors shirt as she held him and cried, his arms comforting around her while she unintelligibly sobbed and sobbed. She could only ever do this with Den because Den was possibly the only person who would understand. His brother might be the one who's path was inexplicably linked with her's but Den was who she would always go to for comfort.

Akihana didn't know how long she cried on Den, only that somehow, he man had guided ehr to a chair in the midst of it all. When he explained that Maku couldn't find her, the kunoichi merely shook her head.

"He mustn't have tried hard enough," she managed, quietly drying her eyes on the edge of her cape. There was more truth in that statement than originally meant but the blonde didn't explain further. More than not wanting to worry Denkiteki, Akihana couldn't speak ill of anyone even if she tried.

"How about you, you haven't aged a day in the last two years?" she asked, finally taking in his youthful features properly. If it wasn't for his closed eyelids, Den could be the same young man who stepped out of Sanctuary to attend meetings with the elders of Hoshi. "May I ask... What happened to your eyes?"

The first tear was joined by a second, then another, and then even more until Aki was sobbing in front of him. Had she really missed him that much, or was there something wrong? Den's feelings of doubt were replaced by concern as he reached out to embrace her, holding her close as he felt warm tears begin to seep through his shirt. The former shinobi rested his cheek atop Aki's head as he wondered why she came back to the Hayato brothers. Had her life really not gotten better after they had stopped meddling in it?

The blind man held Aki until the flow of tears began to slow. Guiding her to the chair he had been resting in, he helped her sit down as he tried to speak. His words caught in his throat, but Aki managed to get the gist of what he had meant to say.

"He mustn't have tried hard enough."

Though he knew it wasn't her intention, the words cut into Den because he knew they could be attributed to him as well. Maku may have failed to find her, but Den hadn't even tried to look. He had run away into Sanctuary like the useless coward he was. If he had eyes Den would have looked away from Aki in shame, but one benefit of being blind was that he didn't have to look her in the eyes in the first place.

"How about you, you haven't aged a day in the last two years?"

So that's how long it had been? Den had avoided asking anyone how much time had passed, and unfortunately was unable to look at a calendar to see what year it was. He'd been unsure as to how much time had passed in the real world compared to the decades he had spent in Sanctuary until now. Pocketing that knowledge, Den decided to avoid telling Aki just how long he'd been gone.

"The Snakes of Ryuchi used a technique on me once to grant me Sage abilities, and it seems to have the side effect of keeping me young. What about you, you don't seem to have aged a day either. " He hoped to draw attention away from his features by revealing he could 'see' her despite the fact that he was blind. The jutsu that the Snakes had performed on him was something he didn't talk about, he didn't want to have to explain that since that day he'd been a monster in human form.

When Aki asked about his eyes, Den found himself once more trying to fabricate an answer. If he answered honestly then he'd have to openly admit how pathetic he was. That he had gone to Sanctuary to die and left his eyes in Hoshi so that someone could find a use for them.

"They're gone. I messed up an experiment whilst trying to progress them to the same level as Maku's and it ended up destroying them."

WC:497
TWC: 1494

3 posts of NES stored
+5 AP from Natural Berserker
35 AP expended thus far

The blonde listened quietely s Den explained what the snakes had done to him. Once upon a time, she and the doctor had been sages together and now, well, now Akihana wasn't sure what she was. She did understand however that he had not been sent to Maku by accident. Perhaps they had known...

"It's all an illusion isn't it?" she answered his question with one of her own. The woman could sense the irony in the situation. She, who was painfully honest in all she did, looked like the most deceptive illusion a lie could conjure. "I have never felt older or more worn out in my life," she admitted because with Den, it was somehow easier to admit these things. She could tell Den she had failed at everything she had ever tried, she could tell him how she had died a thousand deaths while asleep in the mysterious forest where even light was not her ally.

"The Summons have ways of preserving their sages," she simply settled for saying even as a shudder ran through her body. Whether they had done something to preserve her appearance, the blonde did not know but she was very aware they had changed her body. In addition to the pain of the world and the personal losses she had suffered while asleep, there had been other pains too. Akihana had almost expected to find herself bandaged when she woke up, scars covering her body from the alterations performed on her during slumber. The fact that she had woken up to find herself scarred, unbandaged and superficially unchanged had felt even worse. As always, her wounds would never be visible to the world.

"I've been asleep for the longest time," she added, trying and failing to explain where she had been and what she had been doing. It was still difficult to piece it together. the snails had kept her away from the world for years only to push her back into it and the light that had always been a friend was now too bright and unsettling. "In Shikkotsu forest, I felt them change me, to what extend I don't know."

Den would know about the forest, just as she knew about eh caves. Kotsuya-sama had said as much.

"I heard about your parents," Akihana spoke softly, changing the topic because there would be time to tell him all about that later. In fact, the blonde worried that the time would come all too soon. "I'm very sorry for your loss." And she was, she was truly sorry he had ever had to suffer loss. Akihana had only met his parents a few times but they had been good people who had raised a good son. In the end, her attempts to convince Maku to meet them had been in vain.

When Denkiteki explained what had happened to his eyes, the former medic didn't see a reason to question him. Den wouldn't lie to her, he had no reason to. Even if it sounded unlikely that he had messed up an experiment. the blonde had always claimed he was a far better medic than herself.

"Is there nothing that can be done? At least to restore your vision? Or is it better this way..?" The question was not as awkward as she had feared it would be. Akihana could completely see the merit in not having to sense things for a little while. If she could shut off part of her own sensory, the kunoichi couldn't honestly claim she would not do so.

So Aki's summons had kept her youthful as well? Den wouldn't have expected the Slugs of Shikkotsu to be the type of beings to try to alter their summoners. He had believed only Hajime and the Sages of Ryuchi were the type of beasts to do that sort of thing, but it now seemed to Den that their were beings with similiar interests among the other summon races. If the slugs had only chosen to keep Akihana's appearance the same however, he supposed that wasn't to bad. He knew it could be disorienting to not look as old as you felt, but there were worse fates.

Den listened as Aki continued to explain, and he began to realize that perhaps his friend had not been treated as well as he initially hoped. They'd put her into a coma? Altered her in a way she didn't yet know. Den's body became suddenly tense, his mind reeled with possibilities as he began to worry about what had befallen his friend. Had she perhaps been inflicted with a mutation like the one that he once suffered from? The snakes had transformed Den into a monster, what had the slugs wanted to do to Aki? Did these giant beasts really think that just because they were older, that gave them some sort of right to decide the fate of those who made a pact with them? Den had been just a boy when the snakes had tricked him with their promises of power, and now Aki had been taken advantage of as well somehow.

Before Den could compose himself enough to ask Aki if he could help her figure out what the slugs had done, or attempt some feeble apology for not trying to save her from that fate, Aki changed subjects. She mentioned his parents.

"Th..thanks. They died peacefully." His voice was quiet. His parents had managed to live decent lives within Den's fake Kirigakure for the last few decades of their lives. Compared to anyone else he'd known, Den liked to think that theirs was the most comfortable. He'd done everything he could to take care of them using Sanctuary and his medical skills.

Aki seemed willing to accept his lie about his eyes, asking him if he believed there was any way for his vision to be restored.

"I don't think I damaged myself beyond the eyes. If I got a hold of another pair I suppose I could implant them. As for whether or not it's better this way.. I'm not sure. Maybe." Part of him thought it wouldn't be so bad, to just be the Blind Healer. He'd spent most of his life chasing vengeance and power, perhaps it was time he gave up on such things and lived a simple life? He preferred the idea of  doing his small part for the community within a fishing town as opposed to training an army of super soldiers that contained children. Perhaps Aki would join him and Maku and all 3 of them could live simple lives from now on. This place would certainly be a safer place for Aki to finish raising her son compared to most shinobi villages.

"Did Arata ever come back to you?" The boy had struck out on his own at a very young age, wanting to become a powerful shinobi. Den had kept an eye on him for some time before removing Kokou from himself, but it seemed that quite a bit of time had past since then.

WC:584
TWC:2078

4 NES stored
+5 AP from NB
+10 AP from resting
20 AP expended

Upon the confirmation that his parents had passed peacefully into the great unknown, Akihana boded. It really was the best outcome in these times. Mr. and Mrs. Hayato had lived a long, good life free of the burdens that ailed their sons and those close to them. Had she been capable of it, the blonde would have envied them both. As it was, she merely hoped Den was at peace with their deaths as he claimed. Their other son, she knew, would never make his feelings known. Not directly anyway, maybe not even to her.

When he asked of Arata, another silent knifed pierced through her heart. It was unreasonable of her to have harbored any hope. She had felt her only child die while she wept in her sleep. The slugs and the forest they kept her in were strong entities but nothing could stop Akihana from feeling Arata's chakra get erased from the world. The blonde didn't know how it had happened or if it had lasted long. All she knew was that she had felt a part of herself erased, possibly the most important part of her. And it had hurt far worse than any body alterations or purification they had put her through.

And yet, returning to this world and then finding out Denkiteki still lived and breathed, the tiny bit of hope that was so deeply embedded in her it may as well be the building block of her existence now, had sparked. Den had been looking out for ehr child through Sanctuary. She knew now of course that Sanctuary had been destroyed, Maku had confirmed as much. But still that bit of hope had sustained, praying there was another way the Snake Sage had kept an eye on her son.

That Den would somehow be able to tell her Arata's whereabouts, confirm to her that her baby was still out there somewhere.

All for naught.

"He's gone,' she almost whispered, another tear rolling down her pale cheekbones. How could she possibly have any more tears left to cry, the kunoichi could not explain but she did. She had wept for the whole world in the two years, and now she had to weep for herself and those she had lost. "They kept me unconscious while they... But some things I could feel more intensely than others, even in that state. I felt it when Youka..." A pause once again because Akihana didn't know how to explain mourning for someone you had so little time with. Of the two brothers, Den would perhaps be the best at understanding whatever bond she had shared with the Raikage but disclosing it still felt like a betrayal, one she was not yet ready to commit. Perhaps she never would be.

"And then Arata,' this time, her slender frame convulsed with grief, dislodging more tears from her golden eyes. "I felt it so clearly as if I was the one doing it," she admitted unable to look at Den even if she knew he couldn't see her. The shame of failing at the only thing she was ever supposed to do couldn't overcome the cloud of grief she was constantly surrounded by but it did enough. It did enough to tell the doctor how she truly felt about herself in this moment. "It's all my fault... I should have never left him..."

Den gave her time, time enough to compose herself, time to gather her thoughts and stem the flow of her tears. He provided the kind of comfort his brother never could and then, when talk finally turned to his eyes, he admitted the possibility of implants might restore his sight. It sounded absurd in another universe, the man who had performed thousands of alterations being unable to now heal himself, but Akihana understood. They were all in Antone universe now, one where nothing was the same.

"Sight or not, you seem to be doing okay," she replied, taking in the fact that despite his lack of vision, Den was able to respond to everything she had said and done up until now. Not having relied on her own ninja abilities for too long, she couldn't assume if Den was being aided by his own gifts but he probably was. No wonder the lines at his makeshift clinic were long as they were, a blind healer would be an enigma to the civilians of this place. "I would offer to take a look at your eyes but I'm.. I don't know if I can anymore." Another shameful admission, the blonde no longer trusted her own chakra to act as she wished it to. "I don't know if I can do anything anymore."

So the boy was dead? Perhaps Den should have expected that, this world was cruel after all. The blind man briefly wondered if Arata would have survived if Den had simply dragged him back home before leaving this world, or if he would have still perished after his mother was put into a slumber by the slugs? But the thought was quickly thrown out of his head, as much as Den wanted to pass the blame onto the slugs he knew that he should have gone after Arata. Den could have at least given Akihana another chance with her son, and it was hubris to think he could predict what would have come after that. There had been a possibility for him to help Akihana's son, and he hadn't taken it.

As much as Akihana was willing to shoulder the blame, as she always did, Den knew he was responsible for the boy's demise as well. The blind man did his best to comfort Aki as she cried, but he knew there was only so much he could do for a mother mourning her son.

In the back of his mind he noted that Aki said she felt Youka's death as well. If Maku and Aki had been unable to find him, his closest ally and his wife, then perhaps the Rinnegan wielder truly was gone. For Den it was a relief to know that the man who seemed to possess the power of Indra was no more, but he was sure Aki felt differently about this outcome.

Den nodded in understanding when Aki told him that she didn't trust herself to look at his eyes, and that she wasn't sure she could do anything anymore. "Well, you managed to find Maku and me. And while I know you've lost so much, perhaps together we can pick up the pieces of what's left. I don't know how useful I'll be, but at the very least I could try and help you get back into practicing medicine. "

Den wished he was more gifted with words, that he could easily pick the right ones to comfort Aki, but in the end all he could muster was this small offer of assistance.

WC: 369
TWC:2447

5 NES stored
+5 ap from NB
+10 from rest
5 AP expended

As always, Den's silent understanding helped more than anyone's words ever could. He didn't seem to be judging ehr for Arata's death, or Youka's demise. He wasn't pointing out how she had failed at everything she had tried. He was just there, listening to everything, as if he could absorb some of the pain she was exuding so there would be less of it inside of her. The blonde found herself wishing the slugs her guided ehr to Den first instead of his brother. But a moment later, she had to shake that thought easy. As much as she wanted to credit ehr walk to Fang on the summons, she knew what had come looking for Maku.

It was her silent, stubborn, broken and still somehow beating heart. It was the thing inside her that found him like a homing signal, no matter how much it hurt.

But she would do things right this time. Den wold be the first to know, when she finally worked up the courage to tell him, why she was here.

"Yes, perhaps us being together is... better than nothing," she tentatively agreed. It was hard to imagine things getting any worse than they already were. but within the span of her first day back into the world of the living, she had found at least one ally in the form of the blind doctor. And in a world constantly changing, it was grounding to know Den would always be her support.

At his offer to help her get attuned to practicing medicine again, the blonde shook her head, terrified at the idea of being around people she could hurt. But the former Sanctuary creator was quick to insist she could help in any capacity she wanted, even if that meant not properly using jutsu or medical procedures of any kind.

They sat there for a while longer, not saying much, not really needing to. Den didn't rush her out, neither was he in a hurry to get somewhere. And Akihana was glad for his calming presence. Their peace was only disturbed an hour later when a knock came on the wooden door.

"Hi, are you guys open, I'm here for my check up."

"We are," both former ninja replied in quite unison, and almost as silently, fell back into a routine that felt old as time.

(Exit Akihana)

Total Words: 2801

Claiming: One Uchiha kidney transplant and one Sharingan transplant in left eye (As performed by the Slugs in the forest on an unconscious Akihana)
Claiming: 14 Stats (to chakra)
Claiming: Hiding in Ash and Dust - http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t40912-fire-release-hiding-in-the-ash-and-dust
Claiming: Flickering Lantern - http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t40982-flickering-lantern

Doing the coin flip to determine transplant success.