Not a Cloud in the Sky [Flashback, P]

The sky was a scarlet and pink canvas as the sun set over the horizon. Not a cloud in the heavens nor a bird passing by could be seen in any direction. The lush green field that Reizo found himself wandering into was still and flat, the grass surprisingly well-kept and short. In a sense, the calmness of nature foreshadowed the disaster that awaited. The blonde shinobi had matured into adulthood, and although he had kept his youthful charm his countenance had grown to be dark and foreboding. Everyone he had come to know and love was dead. Reizo took years to summit the mountain of grief that the death of his best friend and comrade, Senshi, had stricken him with. The ponderous lamentations of his past continued to haunt him when he learned of the deaths of Max, Komon, Komori, his sensei Itami, and Sakana. Perhaps most recently, as he had found his way into Rice Country in pursuit of a lead towards somebody he trusted would still be alive, Reizo had been burdened with the news of Maku's disappearance as well. With nobody alive to commune with and no further purpose in his life as all of his friends were killed or at the very least presumed dead, Reizo found himself at the ultimate crossroads.

Boy... you're not serious about this, are you? All those years you spent repenting in isolation, and for what? Matatabi berated Reizo in his mental space. It was unusual, even after all this time that they'd been integrated, for Matatabi to show any sort of concern for the Jinchuriki's well-being. I wouldn't expect you to understand. Even after all this time, I'm still only human, if I can even call myself that anymore. There is nothing left here for me. No friends... no family... no purpose. I'm no shinobi, I couldn't save anyone. I let my own emotions run rampant for all those years and let them control me. When my comrades needed me I was never there. How can I POSSIBLY call myself a shinobi?!

Reizo had tears rolling down his flush cheeks now. In his tortured anguish, he absentmindedly navigated into what he thought was a bog as mud sloshed between his toes. Darkness had fallen by this point. The former Kumo Jounin, now dry of any tears he could muster, collapsed onto his hands and knees in the desolate rice paddy that had been flooded in anticipation of the growing season. The soil and slosh stained Reizo's dark shinobi trousers. Gasping for air and heaving deep breaths in between his bouts of weeping, Reizo clawed at the ground like an animal. "It's the same story... again and again and again and AGAIN!! I'm never able to save ANYONE! First Senshi... then Itami... Max, the twins... even Maku somehow. Damn it all...!" Reizo cried into the void. There was nobody around for miles as far as he could tell. There was nobody to hear his lamentation nor to pity his existence. He was all alone.

The disheveled young man retreated back to his mental space once more to confront Matatabi for the last time. Having made peace with his decision, Reizo could no longer cry. Instead, his countenance was now drawn and somber. Looking up at the iron gates that held back the tailed beast, Reizo found his gaze wander over to meet that of the demon cat. Her heterochromatic eyes were like cold gold and emerald marbles fashioned to a pulsating, breathing cerulean flame. You don't have to do this, Reizo... you're stronger than this, I've seen it myself, the twin-tailed beast's concern hung in the atmosphere. She never called Reizo by name. This decision is mine and mine alone. You have nothing to worry about anymore. You can be free, Reizo's inner voice quivered as he extended his right hand and brushed it over the Iron Seal that Komori had placed there years prior.

The timeless seal overwhelmed Reizo with Komori's long forgotten chakra. While Komori's chakra was never warm, it was fond and familiar to Reizo and made his heart leap in his chest. It was perhaps the last remnant of his former life that he could still acknowledge. Reizo lifted the upper right corner of the seal and a shocking sensation pulsated through his nervous system. A lame security measure Komori had installed just in-case the unthinkable were to happen. The flaming cat howled as only a demonic beast could. Reizo looked up at Matatabi lovingly and smiled, the last of his tears rolling down his face once more. You're free now, Matatabi. Farewell... Reizo yanked the seal off the iron gates and chakra flooded the mental space. A great white light filled Reizo's mind and everything went blank.

A colossal amount of chakra and blue flame bombarded the landscape as the seal was undone. The Bijuu unleashed another howl, one that could be heard for miles upon miles. Despite the flooding and irrigation of the rice paddy, everything was set ablaze in a torrent of blue fire. The summoning of Matatabi launched mud and water to the heavens above causing a momentary downpour of rain despite the cloudless atmosphere. The cat would linger for a few moments, taking in its new environment. It would only briefly glance at the mangled husk that was once its host before deciding it was too strange a sight and averting her gaze, looking towards the moon. Not wanting to be caught now that she had finally recovered her freedom, the demon cat bounded through the rice paddy and vanished into the horizon.

The former Jinchuriki's vital signs were fading fast, and with nobody seemingly for miles, it would take a miracle for him to survive this final act.

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958 words

NPC's Present:

The rain poured over the rice fields, the torrential weather causing a minor flood over the land and roads. As water poured from the sky like the tears of a crying god, a mother and daughter huddled together, under a wagasa as they rushed towards the village gates and the promise of shelter from the wailing winds and freezing water, across the rice fields this image repeated itself, workers and wanderers alike keen to avoid spending their time in freezing rain any more than necessary. All but one individual that is, Areshi Senshi had never been one to be bothered by discomfort, no whilst the civilians and merchants alike rushed for cover she simply continued her work, harvesting herbs and weeds for her experimental concoctions, recently she had found a varient of Valerian root that had shown promising results in the trials so far, capable of calming an individual suffering from severe anxiety in the appropriate doses and causing Cataplexy in less appropriate doses; with the right preparation it showed promise as both a poultice and a poison... and yet as she approached the site of this new herb she found herself disappointed, for right atop the plant stood a ragged looking man, a drunk no doubt judging by his gait, the ripped and torn robe marking him as likely a wandering beggar... yet as she approached, fully intent on ushering the beggar away from her precious herbs she was left dumbstruck as her senses screamed at her, the figure's chakra rapidly spiking far beyond that of any normal person. 

Leaping backwards and suddenly on guard Areshi watched as the figure was wreathed in deep blue flames as chakra poured out of him coming to form a figure of myth and legend, a cat of living fire.

Crouching down in amongst the fields she forced herself to suppress a shudder as the creature howled to the heavens, a cry wreathed in pain and anger, before running off, thankfully away from the village, with the kage away fighting such a legendary beast would have left the village in ruins, and she really did not desire to spend the next year healing wounds from such an event. The woman stood, debating whether to leave the man there or not... yet just as she was about to turn back to the village she felt something deep within her, a whisper of compassion perhaps? Or a sense of some wish passed on from the realms beyond? But whatever it was the woman felt compelled to at least check on the man... Striding forward she would come to stand above the man, her form sheltering him from the rain for a moment even as she looked down on him. This close she could tell he was dying, tho there was nothing wrong with him physically his chakra was bleeding out from him at an inordinate rate. Yet again she considered leaving the man to his fate before, with a reluctant sigh she knelt down, beginning to channel her chakra into him, attempting to stem the flow of chakra... at the very least this would be a learning opportunity for her, such wounds were something one rarely had the opportunity to work with. 

WC:537
Techniques Used
Mystical Palm

Reizo laid on his back in the mud, his Akatsuki-styled robe in tatters once more from the hostile blue flames of the 2-tails. It wasn't the first time his clothes had been scorched to this extent, but it would be the last. The last time Reizo was left in such a sorry state would've been nearly 6 years ago when he defeated the 2-tails with Komori. His body was soaked and his clothes were torn, exposing his well conditioned and lean torso to the elements. Where the seal had once been on his stomach now exhibited a gaping black hole. His chakra gushed freely from the open cavern. Despite his conditions, the crimson cloud motif of the Makukage was unmistakable against his dark cloak. The remnants of his outfit struggled to cling to his nearly lifeless body in the freezing wind. Reizo's golden locks were soaked from the rain and mud, cascading down his face concealing his right eye and much of the right side of his face. The Kumo jounin's diaphragm painfully contracted with each attempted gasp for air. His body was fighting to stay alive yet none of his body's systems were responding properly. It was as if they had become so dependent and intertwined with the 2-tails' spirit that they could no longer function in tandem with one another. The pain was excruciating and the man's vision was cloudy and gray, desaturating with each passing moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, just as he was skirting the hazy border between life and death, a woman rushed over to his side. He struggled to make out any of her features before his exhaustion overwhelmed him and his eyes shut to prepare for death. Reizo's body demanded rest, his breathing slowing as his consciousness faded. He could feel a warm glow from where the seal had ruptured on his torso, but he wasn't sure of the origin of this new sensation. His body was starting to go numb and soon even the sounds and sensations of the freezing rain could no longer be discerned from the cold and clammy embrace of death.

Despite the medic's best efforts, it appeared as though Reizo's lifeforce was still fading quick. His heartbeat getting weaker and weaker, Reizo was now suffering from bradyarrhythmia - his heart struggling to pump any blood at all and failing to circulate oxygen throughout his body. It wouldn't be long before he flatlined and would need assistance from some kind of AED.

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WC: 958 + 418 = 1376 total

Areshi knelt in the mud; the pouring rain creating a disgusting slurry of wet earth and muck that squelched even as she moved over the young individual's body, a shinobi no doubt; though not one who she had had any interaction with, even so she worked desperately trying to shore up the damage to his body, as she pulled aside the tattered robes the man wore she had to stifle a gasp, even exposed to numerous experiments of her own design such a wound was confronting to witness; like a tear in the world itself chakra leaked and bled from the man's stomach and any attempt to heal the wound did little to stem the flow of chakra.

Even as the young medic channeled her chakra into the wound, causing the flesh to began to heal she felt her own chakra bleeding out from the man, as if trying to fill a bucket riddled with holes the chakra she pumped into the man did little more than slow the bleeding; worse still rather than stem the tide of chakra weeping from the man's body this only seemed to exacerbate the process, his chakra fading at an even faster rate as her own energy seemed to sweep up what little chakra remained within the body, pulling it along with it even as it was pushed from the myriad of spiritual wounds. Try as she might Areshi could not stem the tide of chakra flowing from the body, even as the flesh knit together the man's spiritual presence faded, flickering like a flame without a source... even as the man's heartbeat slowed, to a stop and the last of his chakra began to fade she continued, that same strange sensation that she needed save this man itching at the back of her mind. As his heart beat finally came to a stop she continued her work, clapping her hands together and forming an electrical charge as she tried to bring back the man's heartbeat... again and again she pushed the electrical charge into the corpses chest, the rain pouring down around them, sparks of electrical charges pulled away by the stream of water even as the flesh of the body began to cook under the repeated waves of energy...

Time passed and the rain passed as the young medic carried a corpse through the city gates, the guards giving the woman a wide berth, her reputation for such odd occurrences more than enough for them to do little more than send a runner to inform the acting kage of the new development. Through the city the woman brought the corpse until she had made her way to the warehouse lord codex had provided her for her experiments. Once inside the woman began to work, preparing an elaborate technique formula, imbibing various potions and herbs she had collected and tapping into a number of chakra storage arrays before beginning the technique she had been working on for months.

Knowledge pulled from deep in the castle vaults was combined with rituals and superstitions as the woman gathered up a mass of chakra, pushing towards the corpse, condensing it as she reached through the body, throwing her will against the walls of The Pure Land, burrowing into cracks and crevices as she sought the path the former soul had taken. Every second she felt her energy wavering, her body weakening as her very lifeforce began to drain; she tried to stop, to pull back, but death did not abide meddlers, and she found her will wrapped in the boundary between life and death. For a moment she was wrapped in panic, in terror, but left with no other option she redoubled her efforts, throwing her will against the walls of The Pure Land again and again, until with the sensation of cracking and breaking bone something shifted, the walls caved in but for a moment, and she found herself thrown back into her body... along with someone... or something else. 
WC: 665

Reizo's body lay limp in the doctor's arms. The smell of burnt flesh from her repeated attempts to restore his cardiac function hung in the air with a pungent and foul odor. The stench encompassed the pair as the doctor scurried through the village back to her lab, garnering gasps and looks of awe from bystanders. Even the freezing rain could not be felt by Reizo at this point as he assuredly would be declared dead by any medical professional. As the two arrived in the pharmaceutical warehouse, Reizo's previously grimaced expression was now still and lifeless, his eyes closed in eternal slumber.

Reizo passed from the Land of the Living to the Land of the Dead. In the spirit world, Reizo now found himself back at the bench in the Execution Square of  Old Kumogakure. The man felt odd reminiscing at this scene where he had witnessed the death of an alleged child smuggler. At least, those were the charges which were tantamount to treason in Mortarion's domain. Her actual business was saving orphans from the despotism of Mortarion and ferrying them to safety beyond the lands of plague and disease. Reizo's emotions flared with enmity as he recalled the execution and ritual involving the plague priest and the burly executioner who gruesomely crushed the woman's head with a stone hammer. That's how the village was run back then, but now in the spirit world, this village square was empty. Just rows of empty auditorium-style seating. Reizo took a seat, as though he were waiting for the show to begin, and reflected on his life.

The Kumo Jounin thought about Team Red- his sensei Itami, Max Yamaguchi, and Senshi Kobayashi. He hadn't been able to defend or save any of them, and despite all of his regrets he only wished he could've seen them one last time. Reizo dropped his head into his palms, his elbows on his knees, and began to silently sob. "See Max, I told you he was always going to be a big crybaby," a familiar cynical puppet would chime. Bewildered by the sound of Napa's voice, Reizo looked up from his pouting to see a young boy standing before him in the Raikage's garb. "M-max... could that r-really be... you...?" Reizo stammered, his gloomy countenance transforming into relief and exhilaration.

Reizo bolted out of his chair and began to cry tears of joy, strongly embracing the boy who had long since passed. "It's good to see you too... but if you squeeze any harder I'll be even deader," the boy winced from Reizo's strength. Reizo relaxed his iron vice from the puppet user. He was still in incredible disbelief that he was seeing Max in the afterlife. "Max... I'm so sorry... if I had been in the village then this..." Reizo struggled to confront his regrets standing before him but managed to finish, "...then what happened to you would never have happened. Please, I don't expect forgiveness, but now that we're here together, perhaps we can make amends?" Reizo begged. Max was such a kind kid, he didn't deserve this fate. He didn't need to be burdened with the responsibilities of the Raikage and he especially shouldn't have been killed for it either. Reizo put his hands on Max's shoulders and pulled him in for a softer embrace. Reizo closed his eyes as he relished the memories he had made with his friend. When he opened them again, Max was gone and had vanished from his embrace. In fact, the whole scenery had changed to be in an open training ground atop a hill, surrounded by dead trees and mounds of snow.

The snowfall was light and gentle, but a thick fog obscured the area. Strangely, Reizo didn't feel any sensations of the freezing chill of the air. All he could feel was a warm fondness materializing in front of him as his old comrade and best friend, Senshi Kobayashi, stood not more than 4 feet before Reizo. Upon seeing his old comrade, Reizo brought himself to full attention. It wasn't the same as with Max. With Max there was always a cheeriness and friendliness to the atmosphere and greeting. With Senshi, everything was straight down to business. "At ease, Reizo-sempai. We have no need for such formalities here," the brusque Jounin would command. Reizo found it funny to see Senshi out here still, dressed in his usual combat garb. Reizo recognized these training grounds as the location of his capture the flag joint training with Max vs Komon and Komori. Even in death, Senshi was still performing the role of the model soldier. "What brings you out here? Besides, you know... death?" Senshi's sardonic humor was laid as thick as ever. "You're training even after death... you truly are the greatest soldier I've ever known, Senshi. I'm here to apologize for my dereliction. In your absence I simply wasn't strong enough to fight on like you. Because of me... Itami, Max, even Komon and Komori have passed onto this realm. If only I were more like you, I could've protected them," Reizo grit his teeth and bowed his head in shame as he listed his failures. He could hardly call himself a shinobi at the end of his life, given how the last few years had turned out. Seeing his friend's dismay, Senshi eased up. It was perhaps the only time Reizo had ever seen Senshi in a friendly, almost brotherly light. "They say that in death, you confront who you truly are. I'm glad to see you're still the same even after all this time. You have nothing to be ashamed of Reizo. You survived far longer than any of us while carrying burdens we couldn't possibly fathom in life. I'm proud of you for persevering," Senshi would say, his tenor voice strong and solemn.

Just then, Reizo could feel a force pulling him from outside the realm. "It seems you in fact still have some more persevering to go. Reizo, this will be the last mission I assign you on behalf of Team Red, Mortarion, and General Slaanesh. You must live and strive every day for all of us. I don't care what you think of yourself, I know that you're strong enough to manage this. When your time does come, I'll be here waiting," Senshi's voice began to grow distant as it felt like Reizo's soul was being vacuumed out of the training grounds. Reizo's voice failed him as an immense pressure was placed on his lungs; he couldn't even utter a gasp or a sigh.

When the vacuum sensation ended, Reizo couldn't contain himself as all of his senses regained functionality in the land of the living. Bolting upright from where he was laying as though he had been struck by lightning, Reizo cried out with tears in his eyes, "Senshi! Thank you very much!" Still in shock from the whole ordeal, Reizo took in his bizarre surroundings, unsure of where he was. Looking down at his open palms, Reizo surmised he was alive once more somehow. The Kumo Jounin felt a dull pain on his chest where his skin had been flayed and charred, and scanned his body for damage. The Iron Seal that Komori had placed was no more and the gaping hole that had replaced it was now filled with normal flesh and muscle tissue. Though his skin was a bit burned, all evidence of his Jinchuriki past had been physically erased. Reizo spoke softly but more sternly this time, balling his hands into fists filled with grit and determination. "I promise I'll make things right. Not even death can sever the bond between us, Senshi."

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Wordcount: 1376 + 1280 = 2656 total

[[OOC: I don't have the headspace to write senshi atm so granting Reizo permission to handle the npcing of senshi for this thread]]

Areshi lay collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the effort of effectively resurrecting the Kumo Jounin. Though still conscious, she was making a concerted effort just to breathe and not pass out. "How... do... you know.... my........ name," was all the Tanbo medic could utter before losing consciousness. Reizo heard the dull thud as her body plopped to the floor just a few meters away from him. He was so preoccupied with his dreams that he hadn't even realized there was a woman who was responsible for saving him just a few steps away. Coming to his senses, Reizo stumbled over to her side. His legs felt alien and unfamiliar to him and his body was hardly responding to his brain's commands.

The ex-Kumo nin fumbled over the woman's lanyard and labcoat, discovering her medical ID that identified her as Areshi Senshi, head of Tanbogakure's Medical Society. Was he dreaming still? The woman's name was Senshi, just like his fallen comrade. Taking his miracle of rebirth as a sign from God, Reizo frantically tried to recall the normal procedure for identifying medical conditions that he had learned over 5 years ago as a medic-in-training in Kumo. First, he checked her breathing. Nothing. Next he checked her heartbeat by placing his ear to her heart. Still nothing. She may've already been dead, but that wouldn't stop Reizo from trying with his Mystic Palm Technique to squeeze out some signs of life. "Senshi... even though this woman didn't know me, she still tried to save me. What I just said ended up being more true than I ever could've expected. Not even death..." Reizo closed his eyes, reminiscing in the times he shared with his lost comrade. This time, he didn't cry, he simply focused on the task at hand.

It was at this moment that Reizo began to closely observe his surroundings for the first time. He recognized it as some sort of medical laboratory, not totally unlike the facilities he had trained in back in Kumo. After 30 seconds had passed, the woman still had not shown any progress or any vital signs. Reizo determined that his efforts would be futile as he didn't possess a medical jutsu strong enough to revive the dead. Instead, the shirtless Reizo darted around the lab, opening every drawer and reading every schematic and note he could find, searching for anything that might prove useful in revitalizing a dead woman. Alas, nothing in the lab seemed to hold the answers he was hoping for, or if it did, he couldn't understand the language and schematics. Overcome with guilt once more as he felt responsible for yet another death, Reizo trudged over to the slump corpse. The woman's raven hair draped chaotically over her amber eyes and sharp features. The shinobi brushed it aside with his right hand to take in the woman's beauty. If Senshi really did use this woman as a conduit, he had really good taste. He never really thought Senshi was into women like that; he always seemed far more focused on the job.

Without missing a beat, Reizo scooped the petite woman up and cradled her in his arms. Carrying her out of the laboratory and into the adjacent yard, Reizo placed her beneath a towering 25 m tall weeping willow. The leaves were yellow-green and draped over the gnarled trunk, providing a spacious canopy and an abundance of shade. Though it was the middle of the night and freezing cold, Reizo began to dig a hole at the base of the trunk with his bare hands. He couldn't find a spade or any ordinary tools to help him with this task, but he simply refused to let Senshi be without a proper burial. From the pitch black of midnight to the early twilight, Reizo worked his fingers to the bone carving out a 2 meter deep hole just long enough for the woman's corpse. His hands bloodied and gritty, with several disgusting blisters on the verge of bursting, Reizo finally took a step back to admire his work and the woman, whose body had long since gone cold. The man had been working so hard for so long, he hadn't even realized just how chilly the night's air had been. His skin was showing early signs of frostbite and his hands had gone numb hours earlier. Nonetheless, the shirtless man was sweaty from the hard labor he had endured through the night.

Kneeling down by the woman's now stiff body, the former Kumo nin carefully removed her lanyard and ID so that the grave could at the very least be identified by passerby. He would then steadily lift and then lower her body into the makeshift grave, lowering her as gently as he could until his arms could no longer reach any further down into the earth before letting go and dropping her into the soil. Not willing to bear the sight of the mangled corpse any longer, Reizo immediately got to work on the burial, at first shoveling the dirt into the grave with his hands before deciding that kicking the mounds would be much faster. It was all over in a matter of a few minutes, ending with Reizo walking over the grave to level the soil. He placed the woman's ID and lanyard at the head of the site and found a decent square headstone about a foot across with which to lean the artifacts against.

Standing in front of the grave, the blonde man would proceed to lower his own body to the ground and knelt in a seiza-style position with his hands pressed together in prayer. He thanked Areshi for her service and also thanked Senshi for his as well, bowing his head in deep respect. The sun started to rise over the horizon and Reizo knew that he had to get going before somebody spotted him and suspected him of unsavory deeds. A shirtless man in the middle of the night with a dead woman would be extremely hard to explain away, even for somebody as sly and eloquent as Reizo. Understanding these implications, Reizo stood up and gathered his belongings from the laboratory including his shredded Akatsuki-cloak, with full intentions to repair it and have it tailored once more. Though he had now parted with the 2-tails and once more with Senshi, he couldn't help but feel he had gained new purpose and recovered his lost comradery with his old friends. This night's events and the dreams that had transpired would be permanently inscribed in Reizo's memories; the oath he had sworn to Senshi serving as the core for his motivations and aspirations. Taking a brief pause to glance back at the willow tree, Reizo managed a mournful half-smile before walking back out to the rice paddy illuminated by the dawn's golden light.

Rest in peace, Senshi.

[EXIT]
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2656 + 1145 = 3801 total word count

Claims:
Death of Areshi Senshi [NPC]
38 stats: 30 to speed; -8 to strength (untraining to keep stat total below 150)
2000/2000 towards Storm Talon Style
1801/2000 towards Clanless Pureblood

Approved