The Red Pill

The Endless Summer:

As the Sun set on Mikadzuki Beach, it cast iridescent hues of pink and orange on the cerulean blue sky, and flocks of swans made their way home in formation. Seated at a plastic table outside a local cafe were two Genin whose paths had crossed during their short stay on the Beach. One had dark green hair and the other wore a starred knitted cyan cap over his blonde locks. The shinobi in cyan was the palm reader who went by The Fortuneteller. Saturn Sentobi, and the man sitting across from him whose palm lay rested in Saturn's own was Kosuke Sashihara, a friend that he had made on his journey.

Together, along with a couple of other Genin from Kumogakure, Kosuke and Saturn had covered the day shift at the local beach, acting as lifeguards although one of them couldn't really swim at that time. During their first meeting, Saturn had made a pact to his new friend, that he would give him a palm reading. Soon after, the vagabond had helped the Kumon clique in fighting off a pirate crew comprised of Captain Bartholomew Rogers and nineteen forsaken sailors. It was on his ship, that both Saturn and Kosuke bore witness to a gory gruesome death, that left at least the Genin from the Hidden Cloud scarred for the foreseeable future.

It was an event that he could not discuss with his compatriots, in fear that he may be judged for being soft. The shinobi from the country that he resided in were not faint of heart. He may not confess his empathy for the enemy when telling his tale at the Drunken Kage Bar, lest be he chastised by the audience and shamed for not being tough as expected of a Kumon shinobi.

Kosuke was different. Although he initially came off as stern and serious, he also had a calm jovial aura around him, and his presence felt comforting enough to Saturn. In addition to delivering on his promise to read Kosuke's palm, Saturn had hoped to slip in a reverse therapy session during the rendezvous that the two had arranged. Unfortunately for Saturn, as Kosuke's memories flashed through his own mind while he read his palm, he was forced to relive the events that had occurred during their last meeting.

Thankfully, Saturn did not have to wander long on the horrid ghastly sights witnessed on the beach. Soon, he was reminiscing about the man's journey to the beach. Much like in Saturn's own memory, there seemed to be a blackbox right before arriving at the Mikadzuki Beach. While Saturn thus far had thought that he arrived in phases, drifting in and out of visions of the beach. One time, he became aware of the beach on a long plastic chair where Kosuke and the others found him while he was getting a tan. Another time, he woke up in a wheelchair that he seemed to have stolen. It would seem as though Kosuke's journey was more linear.

Kosuke had left his village, and soon after, found himself at the beach on foot. This somehow seemed strange still.

"Sashihara-san, is your village near a beach?"

"Kosuke-kun, Kosuke, Kos, Baka." Saturn simply said as he cracked a grin, trying to say that it was all the same to him. Personally, he did not care for receiving suffixal formalities on his own name when being addressed by his friends and strangers alike. Yet, as he read the palm of the man who had trusted him, he had not been incautious in treating him with respect and honor. Perhaps he had taken it a step too far, he thought. As an open minded man with many sins of his own, he tried not to judge other human beings he would encounter although some really depraved ones made it difficult for him to accept and understand. Saturn found no such glaring errors in Kosuke's past as he briefly scanned it. The man was a saint. My mother is dead too.. The Fortuneteller wanted to say but he bit his tongue, as his grin turned into a more empathetic, genuine smile. He teared up slightly at the eyes as he looked at his friend but did not let a single drop flow past his long eyelashes. Instead he took a long, calm inhalation through his nose before exhaling out from his pursed lips, peering into the manuscript of lines that was Kosuke's palm.


"There is a woman. She's beautiful. And very strong." He spoke in a deep raspy voice that slightly cracked as he uttered the words, "She's looking over you, Kosuke-kun." He looked up and smiled before peering back into his friend's palm. He had his own agenda for reading the vagabond's palm that evening. His main objective was to find out how he himself had come to arrive at the beach. Perhaps learning how others came would help shed some light on his circumstances. As he looked deeper into the palm he held, he ran into the same blackbox that kept him from knowing how he came. Frustrated, he searched deeper for clues. A dog... Wood.. Now he did not simply gloss over the facts, instead he peered into the depths of the past in his search for answers. He wondered if they had any commonalities together, or if some key missing information since arriving at the beach would be revealed deeper in Kosuke's past to help him connect the dots. Blackbox..

Damage Reduction Shield.. Mystical Palm.. So you can train here and it seems to be permanent.. He thought to himself as he tried to deduce the properties of the beach environment. Stressing his senses beyond, letting his ocular nerves inflate with blood.

"Stop. Looking."

He heard an ominous voice. He heard it around him and in front of him. It was coming from nowhere and everywhere. His heart rate increased, and he cautiously stopped looking as his eyes relaxed. He looked up at Kosuke to see if he heard the female voice as well, but it would appear that he was spoken to directly. Daring to defy the orders of his overseer, he peered again just as deeply, trying to bait the voice to reveal itself. Chakra Anesthesia, Healing Hands..


He narrated in his mind, provoking the strange voice. As he looked back up at Kosuke, the two were now sitting at his regular table at The Drunken Kage. It was a famous bar back in Kumogakure where Saturn would spend many nights both alone and with friends and friends with benefits. He knew the sounds and the smell of the place thoroughly and without a doubt around them now had manifested a perfect replica. Orange lights hung from the ceiling as the sloppily dressed bartenders conjured up cocktails for the customers at the counter. Pints, pitchers and power towers were delivered to the paying Kumons at the crowded tables all around. A group began to sing a viral Kumon hymn behind a green bard, and their endless chatter converged into a sing along.

That's just a rumor! Gritting his teeth upon taking offense to the hymn that dissed his friend and mentor, Saturn's cold blue eyes scanned the bar for the culprit. Having read Kosuke's palm, he was sure that the green haired man from Rice Country was real - at least as real as Saturn was. He could not have come to Kumogakure. Certain that he was under the spell of a hostile Genjutsu, Saturn's mind's eye opened in white. Seeing through the illusion, Saturn discovered that both he and Kosuke were sitting in a spot much different to what he had previously conceived. The sand below was black, and an ominous crescent moon oversaw the tide. The sky was dark and gloomy, and storm clouds loomed close to the waters in the distance. The cafe from which they had ordered their beverages appeared barren and abandoned. The signboard that previously read 'Mika-Mika' in a playful font was tilted, nearly falling off the building. The M's had fallen off and the sign read 'ika- ika' now.

Suspecting that Kosuke was ensnared as well, Saturn used Genjutsu release on the palm he held to be sure, before slapping his black coffee and Kosuke's beverage off of the table letting it spill into the sand below as the cups cracked and shattered. "Don't drink that! We're under attack!"

"Kosuke-kun! Snap out of it!" Saturn pleaded. He was on high alert - his icy blue eyes livid as he scanned around frantically for any signs of the perpetrator. He would not tolerate being killed off while being ensnared in some Genjutsu. That would be an embarrassing way to have your lights switched off on you, he thought. He felt a chill down his spine as the thin hair on his body stood up straight. An ominous presence had left half of his face feeling numb. Peering under the table with the side of his eye, he peeped a dark silhouette. It was a woman with long hair, under the table, about to grab Kosuke's ankle as he reached out to hug his late mother in his vision. Shrieking out loud, the Fortuneteller stood up - causing his chair to violently fall back - and flipped the table to the side with all of his might, tossing it into the black sand to expose the sneaky assailant as she remained in her place, shocked to discover that she had been found out. Looking back begrudgingly at Saturn, she cursed before vanishing into a cloud of smoke.

Horrified, Saturn was on his feet, looking around vindictively for any signs of the creepy woman. His Mind's Eye of the Kagura was still active as he scanned the area. The sand was indeed black and the moon was indeed ominous. He walked towards the ocean and faced the beach, not expecting the bad actor to emerge from the sea. "Please keep an eye out towards the sea!" He asked the doctor. Closing his eyes to focus intently, he then opened them to reveal that his pupils were now completely white[1]. Overhead, seabirds - red crested mergansers - circled around the area. One of them was the leader that was now under the spell of Saturn's mind possession. He was scanning the area from above, hunting for the Genjutsu user that had interrupted his palm reading ceremony. He wondered what could have motivated her - if her real form was even female - to attack the duo.

From overhead, from the sharp eyes of the merganser, Saturn saw the same figure hiding behind the deformed signboard of Mika-Mika Cafe'. As he came back to his body to form hand seals to attack first, she dove from the building towards the green haired Kosuke Sashihara with her wrinkled hands stretched wide open - her long nails looking like claws of an ominous demon from the afterworld. Her rotten teeth seemed to smile and her pale complexion blended her into the gloomy weather that had come forth into the beach in her ghastly presence. "She's coming! Watch out! Behind you!!"