Echoes of the Past <Request Sousuke/Open>

[Toraono Michino]

The tower loomed over the young teenager as he craned his neck back to try and see the top. A stray gust of warm wind blew across the back of his neck and he shivered. Michino reached into a pocket on the back of his leg to pull out a little notebook. He flipped it open to where the marker ribbon had been laid down at. 

Your father is connected to the tower.

The message was scrawled in an unfamiliar handwriting. Most of the pages of the notebook had been torn out long ago as his alter-ego had a bad habit of writing weird stuff when he was asleep. So why would he follow the message written in a notebook that was meant for maniacal ranting? He had thrown the book away months ago. He has also since learned to control the part of him that was trying to drive him into madness so waking up this morning to see that old leather notebook resting on his bedside was weird.
Yo check out the butt on that one.
His eyes shot in a downward angle before he realized what he was even doing and without hesitation slapped a hand over them to avoid looking at what no doubt was a woman bent over near him to pick something off the ground. He mostly had a handle on his Otherside. The voice in his head was essentially the Id of his personality and thus really only cared for the base pleasures. To add on top of everything he was in the swings of puberty so aside from literally hearing voices of his own Id, hormones were driving most of his ideas and traits. He hated it. Michino's mind was something of a bit advanced in intelligence from having to push himself three times harder than any of his peers to get where he was. Going through a time of his life where his body was controlling his actions more than his common sense was driving him crazier than having a voice in his head with its own personality. 
However he wasn't hear looking at crazy scrawl about his father nor to look at the ample rears of Suna's beautiful women. No he had deduced that the key in figuring out who his father was had to do with either someone who worked here or some kind of private record. Either way he had a feeling that it was going to require a talk with the Kazekage. He took a step towards the doors and watched as they swished open automatically for him. His heart suddenly decided then that its home was in the center of his throat. He hated talking to officials, super clean offices, and the look of annoyance most adults gave him when he came to ask questions.

[Topic/Tower Entered]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Michino would find one of these officials he so very much hated outside the Kazekage tower. What he found? One Takahashi Sousuke, the third of his name, former Kazekage, and once again Steward. The violet haired man was working at the door to the Tower itself. To much of Sousuke's annoyance one of the village members broke the sensory mechanism for the sliding doors. He had in his teeth a screw driver, and in his hands a circuit board. He was looking at it up and down trying to figure out what the person had done. The culprit was a teenage girl dressed in black, with pig tails, pale white complexion and wore clothing with skulls on it. She looked embarrassed at the whole situation. "I promise, I really do, that I will not walk through the door again using my ghost form." She spoke hesitantly and quite concerned. "My friends dared me to do it, because they were going to tell a bunch of people..." She stopped talking as Sousuke's eyes shifted to the side. He was not pleased, but he did not seem overtly angry or anything of the sort. The teenager poked her two index fingers together. "I thought you'd be taller, is it true they say you lost your arm to a sandworm?" Sousuke nodded his head, and his eyes turned back to the circuit board. His left hand was indeed metallic. He removed the screw driver from his mouth and began taking it apart. "That's so metal." The teenager chimed in. "I mean literally. Metal! Do you think you could make me a metal arm?"

"No."<i></i> Sousuke answered, "You don't need one."<i></i> sparks began to fly from the control panel as he did his work. "Having a metal arm is not as ... great as one thinks it may be. Yes, it can do minor transformations, but I would have rather a flesh arm. It's mentally reassuring."<i></i> He answered. The goth teenager in question titled her head in confusion.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"Makes you far more human, mentally that is."<i></i> He answered. He looked up now to see Michino. Yes, more teenagers. Grand. More pre-adult individuals who liked to think very highly of themselves, and self proclaimed worldly experienced in all things. "You with her? Are you one of her peers, who dared her to mess with the door scanning system with ghost form?"<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

Possibly the last person Michino expected to find, though it was the one he needed most, stood before him manually fixing the front door to his tower, himself. Of all the oddities he had heard about the Steward growing up he never imagined even half of them to be true. Often people speak ill of their leaders when they simply disagreed on over opinions; 'twas politics. Yet here the tan teenager stood in sheer disbelief as he watched their leader fix his own door. Didn't he have people to do this for him? 
Somewhat disarmed by the lack of royalty the man exuded Michino began to approach the worried looking teenager and the Kazekage, catching only the end of the conversation, and jumped when his presence was acknowledged. For a moment all he could do was stand there and stare, trying to come up with something to say, and probably would stayed that way if it weren't for the Otherside.
Hey, snap out of it, the Golden Boy wants your attention.

Michino shook his head no to answer the leader and to disagree with his inner voice's choice of insult,
"No sir, I...I had nothing to do with this door, um, breaking. I'm here on personal business trying to...er...track down who my father might be. I've burned out all my resources back home at the Toraono Dojo and one of my cousins said I might find something here. Then this morning I found an old notebook I thought I threw away with handwriting in it I don't recognize saying he might be connected to 'the tower', and since this is the only tower in...I'm sorry, I'm rambling on," the young teenager held out a hand in a style most unlike his age and tried to put on a nervous smile, "My name is Toraono Michino, local bastard."

The word bastard didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. It wasn't even something he had intended to say, it just kinda slipped out; no doubt due to the Otherside messing with him. While he held his left hand out to shake he noticed that the Kazekage had an arm made purely of metal and his eyes were immediatly drawn wide to it. The work was intricate and almost artistic. The way it moved looked as smooth and fluid as moving a flesh and blood one. Naturally his sponge like mind, always waiting to absorb more knowledge, found its curiosity peaked. He wondered how long it would take to build something like that, what kind of metal it was made from, how painful was it to attach his nerve endings - could he attach his nerve endings? Did he even feel the arm? Was it moved through chakra or brain power? 

My Kami you're such a nerd.

[MFT|466]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would finish fixing the door panel. He would insert the panel and would point for his teenage companion to try the door. She would approach it and the door would open up. She would clap her hands happily and would look to Sousuke. With his task done, the teen would bid Sousuke a goodbye which was heart filled, literally, Sousuke wondered why people spawned hearts at times. Sousuke never quite understood why he was liked. Was it because he didn't shout at people, or was it he treated most people in some form of decency. He listened to Michino talk and refer to himself as a bastard. Sousuke did not like the term as it was one of a crass and harsh sounding nature. He said nothing at first. He thought to correct the boy and he did in his own way. He raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "Michino of the House Toraono, the first of his name."<i></i> He spoke, "History will reveal in time what the first of his name can do."<i></i> He shook Michino's hand with his metallic one. "Takahashi Sousuke, the Steward of Sungakure. As it should be."<i></i> He noticed that the boy would look at his arm and seemed quite interested by it. Most people did that. It was something that always drew attention.

Sousuke was at a pause when he said that the boy's father was tied to the tower. Sousuke would look to the tower, which he built himself. It was Katsuo's tower now, but Sousuke still resided in it. "Various family names are on the tower."<i></i> He looked to the boy once more. "Can you show me the note? I might be able to recognize the writing in it."<i></i> He offered. So today's challenge would come today in the form of aiding this child in discovering who his father was or is? "Curious. Not many people claim that others are connected to a tower, unless it is in a manner of construction or planning. Both I know who did what, where and when."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

A thought that had occurred to Michino but had been forgotten of was brought back to the surface. He had planed on letting the Kazekage see the writing on the paper in the hopes he ever got to meet the man. The day he had planned out, reasonably, was going to be a few minutes with a clerk, maybe a request note, and waiting. Instead he simply met the man who would give him the fastest answers fixing his own door. Without waiting but a moment longer to dwell on his luck, Michi reached into his back pocket to pull out a spiral notebook.
The copper spirals had long been worn flat from something heavy being sat on it. The cover and pages in between looked like it had been sitting in the trash for some time now; as it had. Carefully the boy opened the book up to near the middle and with effort manage to fold the old pages past the flat rings. On the page inside with a brown coffee stain, or at least one hopes it was coffee, was a message scrawled out on the pages,

Your father is connected to the tower.<i></i>

The hand writing was unfamiliar to Michino but for Sousuke one would imagine either a chill or a weight dropping into the pit of his stomach at the sight of it. For while it was indeed hastily written there was no mistaking the way the letter "t" was looped and crossed; a signature in the way Ryuu Tama wrote. It wouldn't be hard to compare the writing either as the old scientist had sent hundreds of letters for recommendations towards reviewing his new surgery methods. Yet at the same time there was something off about the words and the way they were written...almost as if done by an older hand. For Sousuke it would probably only take a second of clear thought to realize that either someone was messing with him, this really was Tama's lab note chicken scratch, or there was something far deeper than what was being revealed here. Michino looked up at Sousuke with hopeful eyes and with both hearts beating.

At the very least, it didn't seem like a bad prank. The boy was somewhat of a sore thumb when it came to the Toraono clan as someone who was uncommonly weak and it reflected in both his size and build. In fact, if the Steward were to take a good look at Michino, he would see a ghost form his past. His build, the look of curiosity in his eyes, and even the shaggy long white hair were reminiscent of the boy scientist that had grown up around him. There was even a strange mark on his chest in the same place Tama carried his clan's mark; though Michi's was of the Toraono and it was a mark given to him recently. It wouldn't be hard to believe that the boy could possibly be the son of Ryuu Tama, however, given another good thought there would be more than a few plot holes to fill if that were true. 

[MFT]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Theme​

Sousuke looked at the boy, and felt something off. He knew Toraono Michino, but he had the knowledge stored in the back of his head. Knowledge in Sousuke's mind was a library. He mentally had to go to the shelf pull the book and open it up. There was a considerable drawback in that ability. He sometimes did not have the knowledge to recognize a person or a place he needed to in an exact instant, he needed to conjure it which was not a hard thing to do. In this moment he was opening up the book in his mind entitled 'Toraono Michino' he was stuck staring at the boy with hawkish but analytical eyes. He did not necessarily meet the requirements of a textbook Toraono. His mind was processing the data, and there was something not right about it. There was a glitch in the data, a virus, something wrong.

Sousuke took the child's book and looked at it. He turned his glance down from looking at the youth to the contents written. Sousuke stumbled for a moment the microsecond he saw the writing. He took a step back and dropped the book. The book hit the ground and bounced. The page of import, still opened. He knelt down the sounds of metal shifting and bending could be heard as Sousuke's unnatural legs did as most human legs could do. He reached for the book with his flesh hand, but his hand quaked and recoiled. Odd. His body never did this before. He then reached forward with his metallic hand. The hand picked up the book without hesitation or flaw. "The writer, based on what I can see here belongs to, is one Ryuu Tama. Someone who I believe to be quite dead or lost to the winds."<i></i> He spoke first and foremost. He stood back up but not before giving the boy another analytical look and seeing something in the boy he was now piecing together himself. "Perplexing really."<i></i> He spoke lowly to himself. Sousuke's eyes narrowed. His expression, if one could call it that, hardened. The Steward's mind replayed the last memory he had of Tama. Tama said nothing but looked at him helplessly as Okibi said what she said to Sousuke, and left him with Aki and Seven. There was a hint of anger present, a minor hint of it. A black mark left upon Sousuke and his eyes focused on the Toraono marking.

He collected himself as he normally did. He did something strange as he stomped his foot. An odd outburst, but one nonetheless. His eyes glared skyward into the purest blue sky imaginable. "The writer of the letter, unless a member of the Uchiha clan or a master forger has done this, is Ryuu Tama."<i></i> He could not really bring himself to say what he truly felt about Tama and Okibi. If the two of them could see him now? What would they think or say? Sousuke of today was still the same, but in other ways he had changed for the worst or the better. A supreme pessimist. Okibi never understood the import of a Sunahoshi but perhaps now she would. "Ryuu Tama is ... "<i></i> He paused, and stuttered. "H-He is no friend of mine, he left me during a time period when I needed him the most. He abandoned me and left me to deal with the Cabal threat alone. Thankfully others were present to help me from within the village. He is not connected to the tower. Not the present tower, and not the previous tower either."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

Emotions of a Toraono​

Michino waited for what felt like a thousand years for the Kazekage to look down at the page. When the man finally did the teenager felt a lump form in his stomach the moment the book fell away from his leader's hands. A cold grip clutched at his heart and knew immediatly that something was wrong. He couldn't help but find amazement in the mechanical workings of Sousuke's body but a feeling of dread still clutched him. Once the Kazekage explained who he thought it was some of the doom was lifted. For a moment he thought the writing was done by a man who was long dead and that his search would end as fast as it started, however, the name gave him was something he had never been given before; a lead. It wasn't overly familiar however and so he tapped his seal with an index finger causing his eyes to glaze over for just a second. His Otherside decided to take over after a second. Michino's eyes became a little more feral, his stance a bit stronger and dominating, and there was a strong confidence in his walk as he strode past the tormented leader over to the girl who had broke the door.
During this the "real" Toraono was inside of his head flipping through the mental library trying to find that name and what it was linked to. His hands ran across books of all shapes and sizes with different titles. In doing so he could get an idea of what each subject was before really opening it up and not a single one had the name he was given written down. Not one until his fingertips stroked pass a very small leather bound journal. A whisper of the name "Tama" echoed in Michi's head. He pulled the small book out of the shelf and it floated before him. Waving his hand the journal unbounded itself and opened to be read.

The Other that had control of his body for the moment was now crowding up on the girl with a hand planted firmly above her and his face rather close. All concerns about Michino's dad or whatever they were here for was of little concern to the demon harboring Id. All it wanted was the base pleasures of life and with the teenager going through the part of puberty that raged the hardest with hormones it was clear what the feral side hunted for. However before he could even open his mouth to utter a pick up line the boy's own right hand reached up and slapped him, turned to face back to his leader, and tapped the seal again. All the "wildness" about him disappeared as quick as it came. He stumbled a little at the speed of which he switched but this was far more important to him than anything had been before,
"I looked up what I had on Ryuu Tama and there isn't a whole lot there. He invented a type of surgery that revolutionized combat medics and was known to be close to you but...really other than that there is no information on him. His birthdate, where he came from, if he ever was with anyone that could of...sired children..." Michino looked a little distraught because he knew the answer was probably going to be no. It was obvious before he even told the boy that his dislike for this man was large, but this was the first lead he ever had. He couldn't give up now, even if that meant making an enemy of their leader,
"Please, ser, I need to know everything you can tell me about Ryuu Tama. He...may be my father, and I need to find out who he is for biological reasons. I have a very powerful heritage of the Toroano clan, more so than usual, and we need to know who my father is so that I can better know how to tame it. There's the possibility that it's the blood of two sperate demon clans and if that's true then I still have a lot more left to be afraid of."

While the boy pleaded his case to the Kazekage a cold wind began to blow down the street. The day was barely approaching its heat apex and yet it felt closer to dusk. A roll of thunderclouds began to darken the street before the Tower and the wind grew stronger. Yet no matter how strong and cold the wind became, blowing against the young Toraono's back, he stood firm until he knew for sure if Sousuke was going to help.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke looked to the sky and noticed the weather change. It was moments like these that he despised. He needed people to control themselves like he could. People like this could be a threat if they berserked or were overly emotionally invested. Katuso had worked long and hard to control his emotions, and thus was one of the reasons why Sousuke's reign lasted quite a bit longer than it did. Katuso thought himself a hothead, but now the heir had become far more tempered. Not only did the sky change, but also did the physical appearance of the boy. He became wilder, and that was also another alarm for Sousuke. This was the Toraono aspect that caused Sousuke to grow concerned. Kuro too at times raged and unleashed his devastating power. Unlike the weather, the wilderness disappeared, and that was settling for Sousuke.

Sousuke let out a sigh, and a long winded one. "Control yourself better than this, and I will help you. Cancel the sky control, or I will do so myself, and I really do not want to."<i></i> Sousuke answered sharply like the edge of a sword. His voice was cold and had a metallic ring to it. He was not going to deal with this. The prospect of this boy being a procreation of Tama and the Toraono clan made Sousuke ... profoundly disappointed. It wasn't Michino's fault. Where did Okibi go then? Tama was in love with her, and somewhere in this he had given her up? Maybe she gave him up. Seven entrusted Okibi to Tama. He told him so. When Sousuke next spoke his voice did not carry the harsh metallic resonance like before. "Tama was not a Toraono. Your mother most likely was one, and there are limited numbers of those at that. One of them is to wed Akkuma of the Miroku clan."<i></i> He told him. "It makes very little sense. Tama was very personable about his own findings and research. I will tell you, his body betrays him. I'm older than him, but he in truth looks older than me. Could be that I age well, which I have been told."<i></i> He considered the prospect of two demon clan genetics present in the boy before him. Unlike Michino, Sousuke knew the risks present, but his expression did not display fear or anything of the like. He was unflinching and resistant to the cold, he stood there overpowering the elements like as he had been there since the dawn of time. "Tama was born in a summery month. He was born on an odd numbered day. There are some things even I am not fully aware of the details of. You do look like him, when he was younger - that much I will say."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

Michino was taken a back at the response. The voice was loud and it reverberated inside of his skull. Where that he had such loose control on his power or if could even do so, the weather would of straightened right up. However it wasn't the unnerved boy who was making the air colder. The voice of the Steward shook some out the courage out of the boy he was facing and Michi cowered away just a little but the joy in his eyes at agreeing to help him was exuberant. Even being told that he looked a little like someone gave him hope to finally know who his father was and how that tied into his lineage. A step closer to proving himself to the clan.

"I-I, I don't know how to control weather, even on accident! I've read about power being able to do that but, ser, my power is firmly locked away by Cousin Kuro," Michino pointed to his chest at the seal. On closer inspection one knowledged in the art of the Seal would note that it wasn't just chakra and ink holding the demon inside of him inside of a cage but Kuro's memories as well, woven in articulately. There wasn't any way the darkness dwelling inside of Michino was getting out, even a slip, without the boy allowing it to do so,
"Also I only excel at Genjutsu and Taijutsu, and excel is very strong word. I have no idea what is going on with this, but perhaps it'd be better if we adjourn inside. I'm really not dressed for c-c-cold weather!" To emphasize this expression he began to rub the skin on his arms as the wind had turned the flesh to feel of ice. A snowflake fluttered down and landed on the Toraono's nose.
"Wha-?"

He didn't get to question much of the snowflake despite the time of day or the fact they lived in the desert and far enough away from mountains that snow was sort of impossible in Sunagakure. As soon as the ice melted into water a wave of overwhelming warmth flooded his mind and the boy crumpled to the ground. The goth girl who had broke the door gasped and followed suit the moment snow touched her. The only person who seemed to be unaffected by the sleep cursed ice was the Kazekage even as it began to fall down harder. 
Far down the street the light began to fade in a most eerily fashion. A figure moved out from the shadows of an ally and into the center of the bricked road. Light from the chakra crystal lamps that had turned on due to the sudden darkness began to fade away. The being was tall, nearly seven feet in height and his physical features all save his face were shrouded in a black cloak that seemed to absorb light itself. Long thin white hair cascaded over the shoulders of the cloak and it too seemed to have an unnatural luster that was stolen away the moment it touched the cloak. Before Sousuke stood the man whose name he refused to utter for nearly a decade until now, and now he was there as if summoned:

Ryuu Tama.

The mismatched eyes pierced down the street towards the man he had set out to torment. Despite the good distance of at least ten yards between them the gaze was strong enough to feel as if he was right next to Sousuke. The wind howled again and a furious blizzard began to form as lightning from the clouds shook the street with their thunder.
"I haven't heard my name spoken from your lips in quite some time, Sousuke," spoke the Ancient in a voice that felt like it was dripping venom, "Another goes missing tonight. Will you ignore this one's pleas for mercy as you did to those you claimed to love?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke was not overly happy to know that it wasn't Michino who was messing with the weather. He was pretty darn sure Katuso wasn't screwing with him either especially when the weather turned into a cold snap. Snow was something Sousuke had seen once before but thats because of Mikaboshi's power set on one particular occasion. Why would he have an interest in this? It was something off putting. Sousuke would hear the confusion that was genuine and the concern in Michino's voice. Sousuke would raise up his hand he would conjure a plasma orb and begin to start heating things up. He was very much the answer to cold things. The other troubling prospect in all of this was that Kuro locked the boy's powers away? Sousuke would be very concerned in this as Kuro claimed what he did was best for the village - what was it that the boy had in his power set that was so very concerning? "My apologies."<i></i> He spoke to the boy. His eyes focused about trying to pinpoint a source of anything. Sousuke would raise the plasma orb, but then Michino would fall over. This ... this was odd. Sousuke's mind snapped. Genjutsu? The boy said he had specialized in genjutsu, and the effect it was having? Sousuke's mind sharply reinforced itself as a cancel went off at will. He looked about and watched as the snow began to disappear.

His sharp hawkish eyes found the surroundings changing as the lights were changing about and a tall person emerged. This person was taller than him. Sousuke rolled his shoulders. He exhaled slowly as he knew who those mismatched eyes belonged to. He stepped forward and as he did so armour began to conjure about him as he was pulling metal towards himself. At will he was conjuring armour to stare back into those eyes. Sousuke's eyes beneath the lenses glowed white as he knew who he was looking at and the monster he had become. Sousuke looked up slightly. "As former Kazekage and Steward once more, moving on is a luxury for me, and something very costly and expensive."<i></i> The voice rang out with a harsh metallic resonance. He conjured his sheaths containing his weapons Perdition's Arrival and Thunder Talon. They sat on his back as he stared back at Tama. "I don't ignore pleas for mercy. You forget yourself and what I've done for this village. Do you really want to make a show here on the tower grounds? I'm used to this, but you aren't. I give you three minutes tops before ANBU arrive and ... well let's say I know real lightning better than I do snow."<i></i> Sousuke spoke at Tama with what one might call disdain. This was not the Tama he was used to, he was bigger and stronger. Sousuke shouldn't be counted out yet. The Steward had been underestimated many a time, he was still in fact growing in his superiority compared to his former self. "Who goes missing? Who's plea did I ignore? Don't tell me you're talking about yourself and ... her."<i></i>

MFT 300+

 

[Toraono Michino]

The snow snapped clear but the clouds overhead did not. The Ancient's eyes narrowed as the Steward rose to his challenge without a flinch. The creature glided a little closer as one of the few real humans of Sunakagure advanced and gave his warning. Three minutes? One was more than enough for an actual battle between the two giants in power. He had not originally intended to do anything more but torment the man, however, the comment still stung his legendary pride like an insult. The being's porcelain face glowered as Tama lowered his head a little, never taking his dual eyes off Sousuke. A shockwave pulsed from his body once and caused the buildings in the area to suddenly form cracks on their faces. A single hand slid out of the black cloak like an arm out of liquid and reached above him to grasp the air. Power began radiate from around the being as the hood of his cloak began to form into the grasp hand. All he'd need to is pull the rest of the cloak over his head and it would unleash all of his powers right there.

Thunder began to stir in the clouds above as the oppressive evil energy Tama shed from his cloak pushed the heat from the street upwards. An honest chill began to settle in from the lack of heat as his heritage to the Sky Courts started to show it's true form. A bolt of true lightning struck nearby and exploded a house into flames.
"A battle between us would be most unfortunate for those around us, don't you think? Surely you're not forgetting the boy and girl behind you? They would be the first victims in a fight between us...however..." The man released the air above his head and the pressure loosened immediately though the clouds above only continue to grow more and more dangerous looking.
"You claim you can move on, yet you still ask questions about the woman who left you? Who left me? There is no letting go for Okibi is there? A black mark ever staining our minds and pushing us on in one way or another...you for your people...me..."

The Ancient righted himself and his presence suddenly seemed relaxed; even playful. He closed his eyes and held his hands aloft in front of him then began to hum a tune and move as if he was dancing with someone. To the normal passerby the entire scene would seem bizarre if not down right weird. That was until he moved his arms in a way that made his cloak cover his body for a second. When he revealed himself again a female skeleton, held together by Kami knows what, was in his arms dancing with him. The body structure, the movements, and even the loving way the skull peered up at the Ancient were all a mockery of the dance two lovers once shared in a time lost to the memory of most.
"...for my own self destructive goals. If you must know, and I feel like it may ease your conscious a little, I do know what eventually happened to your precious Ward. However..." the creature's hands gripped the female skeleton until the bones he held onto became dust and the rest followed, "I have no reason to share my secrets with you. I will, however, let on who it is going missing tonight. Since I'm already here, boring you."

Tama's eyes oddly held a deep sadness as he looked down at his arms. The skeleton wasn't real and had been a creation all of his own will and nothing more, but the memory he had reenacted to torment his old friend was. The Ancient before the Steward looked more like a man at the end of his rope than a hell-raised creature bent on destruction. Yet a flick of his hand and a strong gust of wind blew in hard enough to blind everyone there looking on. When it died back down the Gothic dressed teenage girl was held up by her neck in the crook of Tama's elbow, with no care if she suffocated. The sad eyes turned away from where they had remained pointed and back up to the Steward.
"I have never forgotten what you have done, ex-Kazekage Sousuke. The people of this land are very fortunate to have a man willing to sacrifice everything he loves for them..." Another blast of strong wind and a few lightning bolts to guard his exit and the Ancient had disappeared with the girl in tow. 

Without the presence of the Ancient and his malicious energy the boy who had been put to sleep woke up with a start. He gasped in a lungful of air as if he hadn't breathed in a couple minutes and began to cough violently. It only lasted a few seconds though as Michino was still young and catching his breath came second nature to those of his age. Placing his hand and knee on the ground he pushed himself up and stumbled back. His head was still a little fuzzy and the voice of his Other was eerily silent. Looking around he noticed three immediate things that flipped on switches in his mind built in there by the shinobi training he had received his whole life. The city street and buildings had damage, the Steward looked like he was fighting something, and the goth girl who was here with them had suddenly gone missing. The old sense of panic of being in a tough situation began to boil in his stomach but he fought down the rising fear and strode forward to the powerful man before him,
"What's going on? Where did the snow go and why does it look like someone set off a bomb? Did your plasma ball do all of that? Also, where did the girl go? Actually, why the hell did I pass out? Was that you too?"

[MFT|WC=993]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's field of vision changed into a series of recitals indentifying all of Tama's weak points. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Eyes. Everything was showing up and registering as a target. The fact he was setting a house on fire saw to it that Sousuke was going to engage in fatalistic combat measures. He was already not happy having to face Tama, he was even more not happy that he was messing with the environment, and one might even think that Sousuke could have actually been angry now that he had caused a fire. Sousuke having learned from dealing with fires due to Mikaboshi formed hand seals and called for his crone companion. The toad appeared in a backpack on his back who then crawled out. Sousuke pointed to the fire, and the elder crone toad conjured arcane runes and summoned a deluge to put the fire out. "The devil takes another face. He who should be dead by all rights, and even then death may yet acquire a time to die."<i></i> Maaya spoke in her less-than-mentally-sounded self. The crone with blind eyes gazed at Tama. There were no pupils just only milky white eyes that were truly gazing at him. "Even the dreams of the dead linger and echo, but you won't be permitted even that."<i></i> Who knew truly what Maaya the Elder Toad Crone spoke of. Some claimed her a prophet. Others claimed she was mad. Some claimed it was somewhere in between. Sousuke trusted in her powers, not her words.

Sousuke watched in horror as Tama had acquired the goth teenager who had been with him as he fixed the door. His line of vision changed to less of targeting all if not several vitals of Tama to the signs of life on the teenager. People of sand first, then the enemies. Sousuke was at least to determine that she was alive. That was good for now, but not in the long run being that Tama had ran disappeared. Sousuke reached out and attempted to psionically bind Tama and keep him down unfortunately Sousuke's mind while indeed it was fast, he was not fast enough to stop him. He was able to catch some of the bolts of lightning with his mind and deflect them back into the sky. As that happened, several shrouded members of the ANBU had arrived. "Lord Steward? Is the Kazekage alright? We saw lightning." One of them inquired.

"It was not the Kazekage. We have a missing person's case. I'm taking ... I'm taking it as a personal job."<i></i> He answered. He looked to one of them masked individuals. "Make sure no one is hurt out there, I've contained the fire but make sure its not spreading. After that return to your posts. If I need assistance, I will request it."<i></i> He answered, and without a further word they dispatched themselves. By this time Michino was waking up. Sousuke rolled his shoulders while in his suit of armour. He looked down to the boy. "The snow was an illusion, and ... your father ... ... he made himself known. He appeared, we had words, and then he kidnapped Sayuri, that was the name of the teenager who was present with me. You passed out because you were overwhelmed by a genjutsu... and so was she."<i></i> Sousuke's faceplate deconstructed itself revealing a rather angry looking Sousuke. "Your father has committed two crimes, kidnapping, property damage, and ... well that's for starters."<i></i>

Maaya would peer down at the boy. "He who you seeks had laid down and slept with the devil to make a pact. Those who sleep with the devil and have consented to a rotting soul forfeit everything. A dead soul has no place amongst the living. Even Revenants have a living soul, a damaged one, but never truly dead."<i></i>

 

[Toraono Michino]

Michino stared off into space in disbelief at the idea of the man who caused so much destruction in a small amount of time could be his father. He looked down at his own hands in wondering for a moment if he too was destined for such horrible acts. The boy looked up at the strange frog creature and felt his heart sink for some reason as she spoke to him. The words made little sense to the boy who was infused with demon blood so powerful it was manifesting an actual creature...but they still felt painful for some reason. His sky blue eyes turned back down to his open palms wondering what it was he was going to do. This man that the Steward claimed was his father was a wanted criminal and probably worse from look on Sousuke's face. 
The Sunan closed his hands into fists.
Regardless on how painful the future was going to be he needed to keep walking forward if he had any chance of reigning in his own power. Witnessing the raw evil of his biological father made his heart beat in fear, not of Tama, but in fear of becoming him. The lesson the Toraono took from this experience was this was his future self if he tried to live life normally and ignored as much of the darkness as he could until it swallowed him up. He would not, could not, let that happen to his clan. They had suffered enough from the Cabal and needed pride to return to their noble halls. Michino would not be the dark child that would be a stain on their pride. On that day, in that moment when he needed courage, he swore to become a great source of their pride instead.

"I-I'm going to go after him," he said nervously without looking for Sousuke's approval, "If he really is my father then it is my duty as a member of the Toraono clan to put down evil using the evil we're blessed with. I promise...that I won't try to save him."

The words cut his core harder than the teenager was willing to admit. Michino still hadn't even so much as seen this man who might be his dad let alone the fact that he was already steeling his heart to kill the man. His hand patted to check his pocket for his mother's heirloom and with a swift movement removed his opened shirt. He had a feeling he was going to have to move fast and track the villan if he wanted to be able to fight by the Steward's side. The boy's heart was beating ninety-to-nothing. This was the first time he was getting ready to be a serious shinobi in his entire career since graduating the academy almost two years ago and a whole year since the incident that broke his mind into two halves. He would take a deep breath in and let it out,
"Steward, I promise not to hinder you...but also please don't think I'm evil. I fight for the side of the people, I swear. I swear on the pride of my clan."

His right hand reached two fingers charged with chakra to touch the seal on his chest. He twisted it counter clockwise and a heavy purple aura exploded out of the fourteen-year old's body. In that instant he seemed to grow half a foot, his facial features turned feral again, and a cat's tail had manifested itself through his pants; which would be a pain to fix later but it was the last thing on his mind. The demon cloaked version of Michino looked up and with a hand waved a casual,
"Yo, sup Sousuke. Ready to go hunt sum bad guys?"
This was the Other, the Dark Id, the side of his mind that Michino sealed a demon inside of that Kuro reinforced. When Michino wanted to fight, and actually fight, he had to drag this side out into the forefront while he rested his mind in the subconscious. The Steward got a brief view of this one when the boy went to go look up what he knew about Tama before the attack; now he'd be fighting by its side. The wilder Michino turned away from the old Kazekage, walked forward a few steps, and took a deep long inhale of the air. He smacked his lips a few time, spat, and nodded to himself,
"Yep, taste like evil. Not demon though...so this should be fun. If you can't track Michino's dad then just follow me. I can bloodhound evil with the best of them."
The teenager crouched down and placed his feet behind him like a track runner. His fingers dug into the ground a little as the purple energy that was flowing around him seem to spike up and energize. With a push of his dominate leg his body seemed to flicker out of view and back in at the end of the street then off again as it turned a corner. An explosion of air from his speed and sudden movements caused the houses that were already damaged by Tama's attacks to creak wearily at the antics of the ninja they housed. If Ryuu Tama really was Michino's father then there was one thing they already had in common; natural destructive tenancies.

[Topic Left Unless Stopped, Next Thread Opening Soon!]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke was not pleased having to accept that Michino was going to be coming, but there was little he could do about this. He let out a sigh. Tama was unpredictable at times and very dangerous. "Is your clan truly the Toraono or the Ryuu?"<i></i> Sousuke would ask as he began his trek. Tama was not stupid. This was not going to be some grand brawl between the two of them. This was going to be tiring. This was going to be long. Sousuke wondered what part of him next was he going to part with? Michino pledged that his power was not evil, and he was going to fight for the people. That was good, at least in concept. "Pride is a dangerous thing."<i></i> He remarked and watched as the boy reveal another side of him. He looked to the more casual and colloquial speaking entity before him. He would nod his head. "Yes. I am ready to hunt people of moral insanity."<i></i> Sousuke would tap the side of his head. He would put in a call to a certain someone who owed him a favour. Secondly, she pledged herself to do something should one of the survivors of Battlecraft go wrong. "Grandmother. Tama has returned and gone wrong."<i></i> He spoke simply and plainly.

The voice of his old proctor crackled over the open mic. "Will you be capable of doing what must be done when the time comes?"<i></i> Mako was a great aunt to the present Kazekage. There were few Masashi present in sand, and Mako had a very different outlook and opinion than Katuso did. They were of the same family line, but the two had very different life experiences.

Sousuke considered it, could he in fact kill Tama? What would Katuso do? Katuso was capable of sparing people, and work things out. How did he act when people were on the line? Tama had taken a hostage. This was not the most pleasant situation to work with. Tama had already shown that he had no problem with putting people at risk. "We'll see."<i></i> He answered. With that he would prepare for the worst. Tama was unhinged and very dangerous. It would take Sousuke sometime to put together that Tama was using an Ancient powerset, but given what the other side of Michino revealed - it wouldn't take long.

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