A new path

Miyamoto was back inside of Hoshigakure, he had made moves against the enemy of the village and he had kept to the shadows as he was asked to do...for now.  He was complacent in the fact that Akabayashi was at least attentive while in the house of Terumi.  When push came to shove, Miyamoto was the one that was brought out to do the heavy work so that the village could keep clean.  Long had the people forgotten about Miyamoto Terumi, now all the former traitorous shinobi were...was a ghost that was talked about in hushed tones across the village.

He received a summons from Ayato, he was to meet him at Unseen campus, at the leader’s conference room.  He wondered if it was time to finally make a move against that man, he was often seen at that coffee bar and hanging around with the scum that society forgot about.  Nobody suspected him anymore and he had successfully infiltrated the core group of members.  If he was to go now on orders, then he could finally be free...yet here he was...kept on a leash for now to do what needs to be done in the dark to preserve the light.  He was dressed in his usual dark attire, he had now long since grown out of his “dungeon clothes” and was wearing a long sleeve polyester black shirt, his pants were sleek and nearly form fitting while being black in color, and tucked into his lightweight boots. His hair was no longer wild and now was pulled back into a ponytail to show his many scars.  He no longer proudly displayed the Hoshi Headband because of the nature of his often clandestine missions.  So he now walked into the meeting room, looking at the night sky through the window as he waited for Ayato to arrive.

He did take a moment to think back on a few key things...when he was last an actual member of the village, he took pride in being a weapon...the monks had grown to hate Miyamoto and often there were skirmishes...yet now there was nothing...every so often a dumbass would come to try and attack the village...he heard about the latest from his older...elder roommate and it made him laugh.  Apparently good villains were hard to find in this new era, and perhaps there would soon come a time when the shinobi like Miyamoto were no longer needed.  He thought back on love lost...or what he thought was love, the people he grew up with lost to time or to combat...he lost...many friends due to mistakes, and not a night went by where he did not wish to place himself in their shoes instead.  

He stared at the moon in silence.

The doors of the desolate hall opened, with cracking of the hinges and the Kage of Hoshi walked forward. Ayato wore long-sleeve elaborate robes as black as the night sky, tied with a white linen sash around a thin, free muscle fat waist. A high collar purple cloak danced like a living thing behind him. Instead of the traditional rectangular hat of the Kage on his head, Ayato wore a red veil.

A white shadow was following the Kage. Dusk Tachibana in scaled armor the color of milk, his cloak as white as freshly fallen snow. His golden eyes barely seemed to recognize Miyamoto as he walked over to his side, sizing him up. “Is that you, Terumi?” The last time these two had met, Miyamoto couldn’t have been more than fourteen. But in place of that skinny kid, there was a muscular, battle-hardened shinobi whose battle scars made him look older than his eighteen years. The Jugo-Terumi chimera had pale skin, dead eyes, and silvery-white hair that he had tied in a ponytail that ended at the base of his neck.

“Look at us, the three amigos in the same room, just like old times.” Dusk Tachibana frisked Miya for any equipment and weapons to his person, ended up finding a bag or ryo, a few kunai, and an old headband of Amegakure. “You still carry this old shit?” Dusk faked a yawn. “Oh well, that sentimental side is still with you from our Genin days. Unlike the color of your hair. That’s a fiery ponytail, but otherwise, you look terrible.” 

“Dusk.” The Kage’s voice was sharp as a kunai. “That’s not necessary.”  He told his Nova and trusted companion. “Oh, you are the strong silent type Lord Seventh, but unfortunately, I am a poor kid from the Land of Rice that lacks that sort of inner strength.” Dusk smiled, showing a set of perfect white teeth. “Besides, I once saw repenting hero here, stab an outlaw in the face with a brick. I can’t possibly leave him armed in the presence of my Kage.”

“I meant the insults. What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong is that bricks don’t have edges. You can’t possibly bury a brick in a man’s face unless he has been born with a bloodline that turns his bones into clay dough.” The Nova, with Miyamoto’s equipment in hand, would begin to walk back towards his Kage. “Anyway’s I’ll be outside. I don’t want to be caught in the crossfire as you two argue about your ideologies. See you later, space-ninjas.” Dusk finished, and the chakra flared around him.

“Use the bloody doo-” But before then, the Senju descendant had already submerged himself into the ground, the same way that an everyman would swim through water. 

“I wish he’d stop doing that.” Ayato admitted to his former teammate when they were left alone in the room, “That particular technique gives me the creeps.”

WC: 488

As he waited the door slowly opened with a creaking sound, in stepped Ayato, the ever vigilant leader of Hoshigakure and a man that he had not seen in a while...Dusk Tachibana.  The shinobi before him looked more mature and as always, had a little bit of a rude mouth as he asked if Miyamoto was really who his eyes had laid upon, and before he could answer the damn man he was right there, searching him and taking away that headband, his ryo, and the kunai he had on his person.  Miyamoto was about to reach back and take his belongings back, yet his body did not move...not because it could not, but because he was used to being treated like a criminal.  Then Dusk went to call him sentimental, beguiling about how he once killed a man with a brick.  The Terumi was not dumb enough to try and kill a kage, on his home territory no doubt...with a guard nearby...and with a kunai...did Dusk really think of him so little. 

Miyamoto listened quietly as Ayato and Dusk argued for a few moments, then he said his goodbye and left in a rather unconventional way.  Ayato then quipped about the departure of his guard as he looked at Miyamoto.  The man was dressed less like a leader of a village and more like the leader of a gang, but the shinobi followed him...so he was doing something right.  “There was a time when I was actually higher ranked than him...before I tried to save my family.”  He said as he only used that remark for what he thought of Dusk’s way of treating him.  “Yet I am still the one that is a rogue after all so it is what it is and I am ultimately a weapon here to take care of threats and problems we do not wish for Hoshigakure to see make it to the light of day...now please Ayato, why have I been summoned...this could not possibly be for the infiltration and destruction of THAT target could it?  I am just waiting on the word before setting fire to the place as is.”  Miyamoto said with no hint of emotion in his voice, he only spoke in such a way to find out why such an important meeting was needed when usually he received word by way of the Terumi Elder...or by courier...each time he had to hide his face for his original mission was not yet complete.

Outside the wind clouds that rolled in, finally darkened the moonlight by the window, the pale-faced shinobi seemed to melt away with it, his body did not move, and contrary to what Dusk might think...Miyamoto is loyal to Hoshigakure, not out of obligation, but because of the past he held with this place...he did not want to see the birth of another person like him in the world so if he had to become the worst person just to ensure that of never coming to fruition...he gladly would.

WC:517/987

"A different time and a different Hoshigakure." The Hyuuga Scion responded to Miyamoto's remarks about him outranking Dusk once. "He is now a member of the Seven Nova Corps, a fabled hero in Hoshi, and you know your duty. Our paths chose us in the village when we met as fresh Genin to clean the gardens all those years ago. Dusk's to become Nova, mine to become the Kage. And yours..." Ayato paused, feeling his shoulders stiffens. Miyamoto was the last soldier that Kyousuke had implanted, with his DNA nonetheless before committing suicide. 

"Your path was to work in the darkness to serve the light. For the sake of our shared past, I will be lenient about transplants being in your hands." Akabayashi's examination had shown that the Jugo bloodline had fused with Miyamoto's to the point that it would most likely end up killing him upon removal.

"You are combat dangers that would otherwise harm or kill the people of Hoshi. At the same time, your new mission is to scour the land for transplants that the wrong hands could misuse. Like Stein's hands did.” The Kage sounded disappointed.

“Every two years, a rebel without a cause shows up at our gates to give some performance. Expecting us to roll over and take their shit.” Ayato told his old teammate and friend, “The last true S-rank missing Nin, the Menace of Konoha. The man who terrorized the shinobi world for four decades—died with a whimper.”  Missing Ninjas were in their majority evil men, driven by greed, soured by malice, and caring only for themselves. Akihana taught them that broken men are more deserving of our pity, but all Ayato saw was that they were just as dangerous.

Those men cannot survive the peace. However, certain lines need to be crossed for peace to continue and for their village nation to drive to prosperity. Ayato brought out a folder; the clouds outside the window started to gather. It would rain tonight, or perhaps a massive thunderstorm.

Ayato scribbled his signature on a piece of paper. The paper read level 5 clearance, Transplant authorization. With a sigh, Ayato passed the form to Miyamoto. His signature, too, was required on the document. Shina would also add it to his shinobi folder, which was gated behind master-level knowledge—one of the two shinobi in the village. 

"Sign here so that we can get this over with." 

WC: 398
TWC: 886

The answer from Ayato was just as he expected it to be, it was in fact absolutely as he had said...times long gone and the two people in that room now...were drastically different.  One a hero of the highest order, while one was a forgotten stain on the shroud that kept this village hidden amongst the stars.  He then felt the need to educate them on their roles, in which Miyamoto just cracked a small smile.  He already knew what they were to each other, this little working relationship was just that...a working one.  Then Ayato decided to tell him that because of their shared past he is being lenient with transplants and Miyamoto knew then what the meeting was about.

This was in regards to what they would be doing with a man with no name…

Mentioning Stein brought back memories of a past he would rather forget, yet here he was in this room.  Ayato spoke about the random missing-nin that would arrive at the gates and look to bring Hoshigakure under heel and the Terumi just sighed with melancholic memories in mind of when the village was once ruled by another.  “Honestly if one wanted to take over a village they would need to play the long con...providing a show of force is no longer the way to go...ninja of the new era have proven this...time and time again.  According to the reports I intercept, that is...for instance...a fight between the two of us, with me at my current level of power...would only result in my own demise.  If I wished to take over, it would be through gaining the trust of the administration, then the shinobi that I could use as cannon fodder or as a way to spread dissent...However, I have no desire to be like my father.  A Kage has to be many things and I wish to just have...freedom.”  He said in observation as he looked back at the window, he heard what Ayato wanted and he nodded.  “I will always protect Hoshigakure until my dying breath...that much is at least known.  I will ensure that no shinobi that should not be here remain if told to do so.”  

When the folder was brought out and laid on the table, the scribble of signage could echo throughout the room before the folder was then handed over to Miyamoto.  His words gave him pause as he quickly scanned the document...basic clearance papers and then some wording about transplants...a clause that was at the bottom stated that in his death...his body was forfeit to the village to do with as they wished.  “Your administration think I do not know what it is to be a shinobi...or rather is it because you believe that if I am given the freedom I will one day seek some sort of revenge against the village?”  He grabbed the pen and signed it without a second thought.  “I am in no mood for games Ayato...I respect what you have done with the home we...you fought hard to protect.  I know I am nothing more than a weapon here, and even in death, I am as such.  Now please tell me what new tests are going to be run with my body so that I can begin this mission for the village.”  Miyamoto said with that same hollow look he had carried since they began talking.

The Hybrid spoke the truth, it seemed. The era of villains and heroes was over.  The time that an S rank missing Nin would show up and defeat an entire army by themselves as the world burned around them would only be in science fiction. 

“Yes, you are correct; if one man could defeat an army, why would you amass an army in the first place?” The Kage asked rhetorically. “Although war is easier than politicizing.” 

Ayato was in this very office when he first heard of Stein’s plan to attack the village. The Kage had stood up from his chair and walked to his window, a smile forming on his thin lips. Underneath his anger, he had also felt relief, as he did now. “The ink is dry on that paper.” He said when he saw Miyamoto sign the paper without a hint of hesitation. Everything was in place. “After today, you start a new chapter of your life, doing what you always did best. And you can fill it with whatever you desire. 

"Would you rather be Miyamoto the Hooded, the last person many people see or a man who made a mistake, took responsibility for it and cleaned up his act?” The Kage left that question hang in there for a minute.

The doors would open again, and a silver-haired kunoichi would walk in her lilac eyes, examining the darkroom and the figure next to the Kage. “I don’t believe you’ve met my sweet sister before Miyamoto. Natsuki is great with the Gentle Fist, even better with Iryojutsu. She is the one that will be performing that operation on you.” 

She performed the handseals for the summoning technique, and items would appear with a puff of smoke. A clean medical bed, a disk containing sterilized tools, a tube filled with anesthetic gas, and Natsuki’s surgery kit included additional peripherals. A white box was there, too, having the product necessary for the operation.

"Lay on the bed when you are ready. " The girl said. " I am going to administer general anesthesia to..."

"He knows the drill." The Kage interrupted with a voice that was sharp like black steel. Thunder roared faintly outside.

WC: 345
TWC: 1,231

Ayato quipped back with a phrase that made Miyamoto honestly think about why he let himself be captured...not that he was now having cold feet, but this all seemed to be a little much...especially for someone labeled a traitor.  Then after a few moments with no words being said Ayato spoke once more before taking the file and telling him he starts a new chapter in his life.  Miyamoto did not know whether to keep silent or if he should laugh, but luckily he just kept it to himself.  At his next question though, Miyamoto did not give it time to hang for long.  “What I want…is to be free again Ayato…you know me more than my own family did…I want to be happy...and I do not want anyone else to grow up like me.”  Miyamoto said as he soon went quiet again, he could feel the chakra of someone else approaching the door and it felt familiar, which honestly scared him.

When the door opened and the woman walked in, Miyamoto remembered that Ayato had a family as well.  When Ayato went to introduce her, the shinobi stuck his hand out in a non-threatening way, something he has not even done for Ayato since he has been back in the fold.  “An honor to meet you Natsuki, thank you for whatever you are about to do...I will be in your care..”  He said calmly and with a tone of voice that would honestly remind Ayato of that young boy he used to know.  Her performance of the summoning jutsu to bring out her tools then asking him to proceed to the bed as Miyamoto stripped himself of his shirt and revealed his scarred and damaged chest.  He looked like a freak accident that was pieced back together, and he absolutely refused to let any other shinobi to heal him...as if he took pride in the wounds he had earned.  Ayato interrupted her and told her that Miyamoto knew the drill and it was true as he climbed into the operation bed.  “Do not worry about the anesthesia...the time can be reduced by up to twenty-five percent if you go through with the operation first, then numb it after.  That way there is no waiting.”  He said...Ayato should remember he had at least some knowledge of medical practices.

He was motionless and waited for whatever was about to come, if the pain was too much Miyamoto would turn that part of his brain off and breathe normally...compartmentalizing the pain for something much later when he was alone.  He knew his body well enough now to know that the surgeries needed for any sort of transplant were excruciating, but there was no gain...if there was no pain.


WC:467/2,037

“Yes, that’s a noble sentiment.” The Kage said in response to Miyamoto’s wish. The brother he had chosen. The boy he once knew quite well that somewhere along the way had taken a wrong turn. “You don’t become free so save the village, but you save the village to become free.”

Miyamoto looked happy to meet someone. That was a sight that the eyes of  Ayato Hyuuga hadn’t seen in years.  “Your vigilante act has made you grown uncustomed to matters outside of warfare.” The Kage noted the moment his sister returned the Hybrid’s handshake with one of her own. Natsuki’s delicate hands almost seemed lost within Miyamoto’s far larger one.

“I will have to knock you unconscious regardless,” Natsuki told Miyamoto with a smile, wide and bright. “The protocol has to be followed to the letter, and Lord Seventh and I find the practice of cutting open the living while conscious, distasteful.” She said as she was readier herself: a new robe, a surgical hairnet, and mask. Natsuki did not need light, artificial nor natural. Her Byakugan activated, the veins bulging across her temples.

She put a mask on Miyamoto, and provided he didn’t move; the anesthetic effects would take effect. The Hyuuga princess would then did what she knew to do best. The village required her services in the hospital and war clinics after Valen’s coup. And the far worse Hoshimura rebellion. The wars left countless injured in their wake. She had to amputate many limbs thorough her years and clean the dead of any usable organs they had agreed to donate in their lifetime.

Natsuki's chakra scalpel would cut through flesh, muscle before surgically doing the same with the warrior's kidney. Placing it inside a metal bucket, her hand would reach inside a white cooler for the same organ but that of a different DNA entirely. Senju, the same bloodline that Dusk descended. Suppose Miyamoto would grow to use the lineage and their former rival, a mystery for a different day. Once she was done with step one, she would move on to his lungs, where she would remove Miyamoto's and replace it with an Uchiha's. 

Natsuki would stitch Miyamoto's flesh back up and then seal the replaced organs inside the cooler. "Wake him up," Ayato said, and Natsuki looked surprised. Regardless, it seemed she had prepared herself, bringing a portable IV bag she would inject it on the back of Miyamoto's hand, right on the most prominent vein. She began to wake him up, and once the Terumi's eyes opened, Ayato would ask.

"Feeling any different?" The Kage waited for his old teammate's response.

WC: 438
TWC: 1669

Claiming:
-Senju Kidney, -1 Uchiha Lung transplanted to Miyamoto
+1 Terumi Kidney, +1 Terumi Lung (sealed inside cooler)
and with 50% universal LC discount for Natsuki
1375 to Vacuum Wall Palm 
294 to B-rank Overload [294/750]

Coin flip for Miyamoto per discord discussion

1 = Heads since heads is success

First flip for Senju, second for Uchiha. Good luck

The member 'Ayato Hyuuga' has done the following action : Roll Dice/Flip Coin

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#1 'Lucky Coin' : 1

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#2 'Lucky Coin' : 2