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"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Property: Capitalism 101." |
His fist clenched as his heart thundered. He was surprised they couldn't hear it. Then again, they were sound asleep in each other's grasp. In his bed no less. Fury raged within as for one awful moment he considered killing them. They could die right there, embracing each other without a care. Yet his mind was besieged by all of the scenes he had witnessed from the shadows. Carnage that he conveniently forgot for the sake of the woman's alluring appearance. They rushed back now as a cautionary tale of bloodlust gone horribly wrong. Then again, when had bloodlust ever ended well? Regardless, it was enough to bring him back to his senses. He wouldn't engage in some happy massacre to sooth his angst. That would make him no better than she was. He should have known better.
No, what he would do instead is take the girl away from her. Away from that lecherous, malevolent whore. She didn't deserve to be responsible for that child, not if she was acting like this. Inoiki took one more look at the sleeping couple, a handsome man and an equally beautiful woman, resting against each other without worry. Yet all he saw was betrayal that stoked the rage in his mind and heart. This confirmed what Ino had tried to ignore; that their relationship was over. "A monster will always be a monster," he thought before moving to the room where a dozing Sachi lay. Picking up his child (he refused to consider the girl hers), he carefully folded her into his arms. Making use of hard earned stealth, Inoiki disappeared into the night, quickly leaving the quiet Amegakure backdrop. He had to place as much distance between them and her as possible else this would all be for naught.
Early Mornings and Late Afternoons[]
The steady pitter-patter of rain awoke her from a comfortable slumber. Eyes opening slowly as she took in the large confines of the bedroom. Her bedroom. The scenes from last night overtook her mind once more. The reunion, the conversation, the midnight stroll, the union in bed. This bed for that matter. Feeling a casual arm across her waist, she peered downward, finding the warm cinnamon skin tone that belonged to her love. Was it too early to call him that? Probably, but she found herself unable to care about the repercussions of such a declaration. The deadbeat was out of the picture now and would remain as such. Though his appearance in her minds eye brought about the fuzzy memories of a little one. She was already four years old now. Where had the time gone? Her ruby eyes softened as Misora sat up, stretching lazily before deciding how she would start her day. Standing, she delivered a warm smile to Okuyuki's sleeping form before exiting the room.
Turning the corner, she made her way down the silent hallway. Only now did she begin to register just how quiet it was. Sachi was a happy and very loud child by nature, reminiscent of what her mother could have been in her adolescence. She was also an early riser; another inherited trait. Hearing nothing would cause Mi's pace to accelerate, reaching the doorway only to find emptiness. Yet that wasn't the cause of her scream. No, it was the signs of obvious disturbance; an unmade bed, a few small things strewn about, a haunted air. She had been taken with great haste for Misora knew she had tucked her little Sa-Sa into bed before leaving for the night. Making sure that she had everything she needed while her mother was out. Protected by specific mechanisms that would eliminate any who threatened the little girl's safety. There was one person who could bypass those sequences thought: that parasite. She screamed again, this time with fury before feeling arms encircle her.
The first scream was sufficient for rousing him from blissful sleep. It had all happened so fast. The chatter, the hugs, the picking up from where they had left off. Yet it was what came after that still made his heart race. Never had he anticipated her being so forward nor did he expect himself to reciprocate so easily. However, it felt right on both of their parts to do so. Hence, it happened with rapidness that still left him breathless, every moment worth it. Before he could reminisce further, Okuyuki heard a second scream, filled with a lividness that dissipated even his unflappable disposition. Flush with concern, he would be at her side in seconds, taking the shaking woman into his grasp. They would stand that way for several minutes, bitter tears sliding down Misora's face as Okuyuki held her.
"He took her," she said finally, settling into an icy calm that almost always preceded a massacre. It was the temperament that led to the death of her "parents", the murder of every single academy classmate, and the demise of countless gangs. Anyone worth their salt knew it spelled trouble. Especially when it came from her. "He took my Sa-Sa," she repeated, separating from Okuyuki as her ruby gaze became an angry blood-red.
At first, Okuyuki had no idea who or what she was talking about. Then he remembered on time when he saw a little blonde girl tucked in the folds of Misora's arms. Never had he seen her so happy, so devoid of malice. Even her Killing Intent was non-existent, a rare feat considering it was the woman's shadow. Anyone could see that she adored this child, was completely devoted as any mother would be. "Sachi. That was her name." Oku thought to himself. He had always wondered where or who the father was. He was never brought around during the time Okuyuki was there so the man had assumed the dad had moved on. Apparently that wasn't the case though.
Her mind's eye drifted as she began scheming, locking into her hunter mentality. Years of tracking missing-nin, rogue anbu, even a stray hunter-nin or two settled into her bones. She stormed up the hallway, grabbing clothes before sliding into them, Okuyuki following up the corridor. Any words that he had died on his lips as she turned to face him once more. Regardless, he pulled out the strength from within as he laid his hands on her shoulders. "Think before you do this. Your little girl is there, don't do something that you would hate for her to see. She is what matters here, remember that," he said, his emerald gaze unflinching as she stared him down. He could see it, the luxurious stretch of a beast within her, furious and unrelenting. A leviathan begging to be released from its cage.
"Remember. Sachi. Your Daughter." She breathed in once. Out once. Misora didn't trust herself to speak as her sclera turned black as pitch and her eyes welled into a maleficent red. Then she was gone. The predator already on the loose as it sought out its prey. Okuyuki sighed, searching for the clothes he wore yesterday. Finding them crumbled in a heap he beat out a few wrinkles before making chase. Realizing that his only hope of catching them was to rely on his skillset. "Here goes," Oku said, speeding off.
Silence of the Lambs[]
Inoiki continued running, making all haste. Every second counted if he was going to make the cut. He then cursed, waking up the sleeping girl. How could he forget? She was a hunter-nin. Former anyway. Not that it mattered considering she stayed sharp all this time. Yes he was anbu, but she used to be anbu as well. His thoughts were broken by Sachi's voice.
"Daddy? Where are we going? Why isn't mommy here?" she asked, her eyes wide as realized just how fast they were going. "Mommy won't be with us. She cheated on daddy with another man and left me to discover it. She completely forgot about you because she was too busy spreading her legs from so she could get fucked," Ino retorted, somehow forgetting that he was talking to a child. "She's a whore and a bitch that forgot the needs of her own child."
As he said this though, an idea began forming in his head. One that would be perfect for hurting her. Inoiki pulled to a stop, ignoring the trembling frame of his daughter as she began putting two and two together. "Why did she cheat on you?" she asked, her voice quivering. "Because she's trash and a monster who loves hurting people. Who finds a high whenever she's surrounded by misery. She couldn't be kind if someone gave her a damn manual on how to do so," he retorted, stunning Sachi into silence.
Ino took advantage of this by painting a mental picture of the girl's mother as he found her. Maybe he embellished a bit for the sake of reinforcement. Yet he could feel the quivering lessen as the picture was understood. Good. She would see just how terrible that diabolical witch was. Never again would he fall for such shit.
Taking further advantage of the cooperative silence, Inoiki would place Sachi carefully out of sight, placing her under the cover of a few techniques so she would be out of sight and out of mind. He then did the same for himself minus the suppression technique. Weaving a web of genjutsu that centered an exact replica of Sachi. Made tangible by shadows. For further effect he would place fear in the child copy's face, nervousness at being abandoned. Admiring his work, he would lie in wait.
With only seconds to spare it seems. A hunter never loses its prey. Especially one with her pedigree. The woodlands leaned away from her. The rain sizzled against her skin before neatly avoiding her. Fury rose unbidden in her mind, body, and spirit as she slowed. Settling into a crouch as her Killing Intent congealed around her, corporeal now as it formed a woman into grotesque nightmare. The landscape stilled as what little life was around fled. She sniffed, catching his scent on the breeze. Mixed with hers. The little one. A one-track mind that locked solely on the girl. Her girl. Her daughter. "WHERE IS SHE?" Misora roared, the trees quaking as she stormed into the space. Leaving a widened path of broken branches and flattened land in her wake.
Only to stop short when she saw what sat in the center. Eyes the color of carnelian, and innocent air as her lip trembled. Golden locks trailing to her back. The presence receded, the familiar figure of Mi appearing once more. Her hand reached out to gently caress the girl's shaking cheek. "My little Sa-Sa," she murmured, ready to pull the child inwards. Her expression tender, a mother's love made stronger by her deranged nature. "Why did you cheat on daddy? Do you hate him? Do you hate me?" Sachi questioned.
Misora froze. "Do you hate me? Do you hate me? Do you hate me? Do you hate me?" the voice kept repeating over and over and over again. Distorting, magnifying as it became disembodied. She didn't see that Sachi had disappeared turning into a substance that continued to fill her with that phrase incessantly. It surrounded her, words giving tangibility as they pressed against her, filling the space as they became massive, claustrophobic. They smothered her as she felt the words sink into her eyes, reinforced by the image of the one saying the question. "No. NO. NO!!" she snarled, clawing at her head as things began to explode around her. Heaps of blood abounded as instability increased. Expanding as animals found themselves turned into ticking time bombs.
Then it stopped. She fell to the ground as the madness dispelled, neatly cut in four pieces. Inoiki sighed as he stood over the remains. "The bitch had to be put down, no unhinged psychopathic wench is going to raise my child. You couldn't even take care of yourself slut. Falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book," Ino commented, his voice gloating at the end. He made sure that this part wasn't seen by the hidden Sachi, though he couldn't and wouldn't do anything for the sound. It was essential for him that she remember what her mother was truly like. An example of what not to be even as he could hear sniffles.
The sound of Sa's confliction didn't matter to him for he had offed the bitch. Now he would collect the bounty on her head and be on his way with his daughter. Create a new life somewhere with loads of money to burn from catching the Murderess. Pulling out a bingo book, he went to cross out her name, already seeing the money that he would gain. He'd make a good life for himself and the girl. He chuckled, realizing Misora was worth more to her daughter dead than alive.
She continued to whimper. Her mother had broken a promise and left her dad for some other guy. Her dad called her a whore, a tramp, and a bitch. Even a wench. Sachi didn't necessarily know what these words meant, but the way they were spat out by her father made it clear there wasn't a positive connotation. Yet she heard those words that her mother spoke: "Sa-Sa". A small, seemingly meaningless pet name. Yet four little letters and a hyphen contained an unquantifiable amount of love. Adoration, devotion, protectiveness, all of them could be found in that tiny word. It drew memories that she wouldn't normally remember. Rocking, coos, murmurings of sweet nothings. The warm and absolute embrace of her mother. These cherished sentiments warred with betrayal. Hadn't this been the same woman who just lay with a man that was not her dad? Sachi's brain hurt as she struggled to reconcile these two sides.
The pen dropped from his hand. "Eh?" he bent to pick it up as a chill went down his spine. His hand wobbled as he forced it downward before stopping completely. Why wasn't his hand working? Suddenly, his hand began pounding. Struggling he began to turn as his legs locked, falling to his knees. She was back. Whole and beautiful, a wicked smile with crimson eyes and night colored sclera. Ino tried forming words as his lips began to turn blue. He needed something from the Yamanaka parts bin. Anything would do. His hands and legs wouldn't respond, his mouth couldn't move as the corporeal entity molded itself into something darker, more malevolent.
You made a most unfortunate error.
She tightened her hold as she could his eyes beginning to roll backwards. Easing slightly so he wouldn't lose consciousness, she crept closer. "So there's something your possession that belongs to me. And me only. You wouldn't happen to know where my daughter is? You're nothing more than a seed donor. Who is so so fragile," she flexed as his body stiffened. "Where. Is. She?" Mi asked once more. Somehow, he mustered the strength to spit in her face, nearly choking as he did so. On instinct her hand encircled his neck. "Fucking wench. Slut," Ino barely gasped out as she exercised her mental strength and her physical strength as one, his eyes bulging as his face began to turn blue, his body cracking slowly.
"So eager to die.....nothing more than a memory and deadbeat..." she hummed while bringing further agony. Blood vessels popped one by one like clockwork as he could feel him attempting to scream. Alas, it's so difficult to speak when your brain cannot function. Dialing back this portion, she heard the grunts of pain and saw the tears that she was waiting for. Now, she began twisting as she contorted his frame into unnatural positions, hearing the snap of bones. Now came the screams. "You took her. Now you will return her. Understand?"
"STOP." The word echoed through clearing. A small voice reverberating with raw emotion. All of his techniques dissipated, revealing the torn and sobbing child. "Stop..please. Just stop being a monster." Tears flew from her eyes at will as she moved into the clearing space, staring at what her mother was doing. Is this what he meant? Was this her mommy's true colors? The tears clouded her vision once more as the little girl stumbled, unsure of who to trust and who to believe.
She discarded him like trash the moment she heard that familiar voice. Her thoughts raced as her child came into view. It was her. Not a fake, not an illusion. Her. How could she mistake a copy for her own? It was clear this child was hers. The birthing pains, the adoration, the unbidden love. Hers. Instinctively, she caught the little girl as she stumbled. Sachi's pleas sinking into the woman's crooked heart. She noticed her wet face immediately, slick from sadness not rain. Despair that had no place in a child's heart blooming with reckless abandon. It was Misora's fault. "My Sa-Sa. I am a monster.....only to protect you from those who want to harm you. To hurt you in an attempt to hurt me." She took in her child's tear-streaked expression, deepened by an adult pain. She had betrayed what was most precious to her, hadn't she?
Sachi allowed herself to be held for a time, questions rising unbidden to her lips. "Why were you trying to kill daddy?" she asked frankly. For her to see her parents fighting without care for each other's well-being was a traumatizing affair that was the cause of the girl's continued shivering. "Why did you cheat on him with another guy?" Unable to shake the sense of betrayal that still stalked her small figure.
Misora held her trembling child tighter, desiring to display the affection she held for her most precious. "Because he took you from me. To hurt me because I had hurt him. He knows what you mean to me and decided that it would be perfect to snatch the apple of my eye away. Not caring if you were hurt in the process." She saw no need to mince words, not when asked so directly. Her eyes pricked as she heard the sounds of shuffling. Bitches were always the hardest to kill. She also heard the sound of wind, bent from an oncoming force. Okuyuki.
She continued, the second question a familiar one. This time Miso was prepared. "I cheated on him because he wouldn't accept me. All of me, the vigilante who was out their making the streets safe for little ones like you to play instead of being recruited into gangs and crime rings. He didn't like a part of me that wasn't so nice, wasn't so forgiving, that at times appeared downright evil..." It was weird, the shame flooded her. Never had she cared about opinions on her sadistic, destructive temperament. Yet exposing her little girl to this diabolical, insane woman that lived inside of her was out of the question. Had she become soft?
"Because he erased parts of me, I erased him. I didn't see any need for another fake face. I had already exorcised the other falsehoods in my life so I wasn't in the mood for a new facade." Her face softened as her thoughts drifted to Okuyuki. "Then I met him. Okuyuki. Dashing, gentleman-like, who was at home with a night on the town or curling up with a good book. There's was something about him that was so...pure and all the better because of it. Welcoming, warm with no pretense. He saw the best and worst of me and accepted each as they arrived. He's the kind of person I want to be around, the one I love. The reason why I completely removed your daddy from my life. Perhaps I should have handled it better..."
Sachi processed all of this with notable silence, a new question popping into her head. "Does that mean I was a mistake? Will I be removed too?" The words weighed heavily, formed from candid truth and lingering feelings of let-down. Seeing that her father had been removed, so thoroughly (the child did not miss her mother's possessive use) brought the awful fear that she was next. If this Okuyuki man was as great as her mother made him out to be, what was stopping her from having a ton of children with him? Leaving Sachi behind in the cold.
Misora's heart stopped. Had he taken away her little girl? "Never say that again. You are my everything Sa-Sa. You are my world and the reason I clear this land of filth. Trash that I want nowhere near my little one. To see you happy and enjoying all this world has to offer is what matters to me. I love you Sachi." Her lips brushed across the girl's forehead, as if sealing the heart-felt truth in the child's mind.
Hard Truths[]
His head spun as he grasped at something, anything to steady himself. Head pounding like an anvil, Inoiki struggled to stand, his legs wobbling as blood flooded back into his system. He wondered when she learned to do that, to effectively isolate blood in parts of the body as naturally as one breathes. A monster who was no longer about mindless carnage, but now refining her craft, learning how to optimize the desecration of a person to sooth her insatiable sadism. "Lusus naturae....hellion," he whispered as he began dredging up what strength he had left. Only to find an arm blocking his way, charged with lightning. him.
"Whore. I will break that arm if you do not remove it immediately. Leave so I don't have to see your ugly mug," Inoiki spat. Only to find himself walled by maleficent lightning and water, spun together in an airtight manner. He smashed his hands against the cage, only to feel a shock that brought him to his knees.
"No. Think about what you're doing. You want to attack her again don't you? I can't allow that to happen. Do you see who is in her arms right now? Your child. A beautiful girl with a bright future ahead of her. One that could be destroyed by the quarreling of her two parents, tearing her apart at the seams. Do you want that to happen? You sling insults at a woman who has endured so much, who lost herself only to find purpose once more in that child. To love and be loved. Yet you desire to take away the one person capable of helping her piece together a proper existence," Okuyuki commented.
"Shut up mongrel, I have no need for lecture from a home-wrecker," Ino snarled, seeing the happiness that enveloped Misora as she held and kissed his child. Such a beautiful thing could not come from a grotesque wench like her. More worrisome was the softening he felt from Sachi. How could she even contemplate loving the monster? "No. I won't let this happen. I WILL NOT LET THIS STAND."
Okuyuki's voice remained candid. "This will happen and you will let it stand. What you won't do is interrupt this. A mother who who completely loves her child and will do anything to ensure their safety and well-being is a normal thing. They need this and they need you to stay out of it. Until you release the fury that resides within you."
Ino punched another wall, his fist colliding with solid, unforgiving water. "Fuck off. And what of you cur? She used you to get back at me. Blew you like a napkin and now ready to throw you away," he sneered as his hand throbbed. He attempted to reach out with his mind only to encounter incapacitating levels of static that appeared to permeate all parts of his brain as he writhed on the ground. Then it stopped.
Oku shook his head in disappointment as the man continued to spew vitriol, becoming a rabid beast. "You are not the first Yamanaka I have encountered. You will not be the last. I will worry about me when they are taken care of. When mother and daughter properly reconcile and find each other once more; then, and only then will the idea of that conversation even cross my mind. Their well-being takes precedent."
"How NOBLE of you. Surely you don't expect me to believe that is what you think," he retorted, voice still venomous even as he watched Misora, Sachi firmly tucked in her grasp as her eyes turned towards him and his prison. He bristled as his mind memorized the scene.
"That's not what I think, but what I know," was the affirmative response, "if you care for your daughter as much as you claim to, you will realize that this reconciliation must happen." With that, he released the prison, only to watch Inoiki charge at Misora. He sighed, disappointed once more.
Only to be wrapped thoroughly in a cocoon of blood. An evasion maneuver would only result in a new cocoon. Tightly constricting his body to the point that he could barely breathe. "The only reason you are still alive is because of Sachi. As hopeless and deadbeat as you are, she still manages to find love in her heart for you. Something that you failed to do repeatedly. Extending and withholding love as if it were an economic transaction is something I don't want her around."
Misora took a breath. "Go. My patience is limited and if I see you here again..." seeing Sachi's anxious face, she squeezed her reassuringly, "uninvited, it will be your last visit." A small tendril of Killing Intent reached Ino, painting a vivid picture of exactly what she would do to him. She extended him a warm smile. The signature to a promise that was somehow more terrifying than a maniacal grin. The tendril returned to her as she unceremoniously dumped him on the ground.
Confronted with a subtly hostile figure holding his child on one side and a calm yet powerful mongrel, he turned, blending into the mist tree-line as he ran. His injured pride coupled with a batter and broken body meant the odds weren't in his favor. He knew that Misora's words rang true. If he so much as sneezed the wrong way he would be dead, never mind showing up uninvited. Regardless, some small part of him was in awe regarding her restraint. Did Sachi have that much of an effect on the woman's psyche? For now, what mattered was returning to his home village safe and sound. He had no idea who else could have been watching and how fast news spread.
A blue-headed individual watched his retreat from overhead, quietly keeping pace with his hasty retreat before stopping. The masked person pulled out a phone, dialing unspecified digits while waiting for someone to pick up on the other end. "Yellow-tail flees east. Trees lose their leaves. A confirmation from the person she was speaking to and that was that. Closing the phone, she would proceed to wipe it from existence before fading into obscurity. "What fun awaits him...."
Seeing her father turn tail was a sight that Sachi would not soon forget. Abandonment? Seeing him give up so easily......that would bother her for a while. Yet her thoughts would be occupied by the man leaning against the tree. His emerald gaze enrapturing, paired with white locks worn at shoulder length. Part of her could sense her mother's affection rising as she walked towards him, only to feel it dampen as guilt creeped in. "Mommy?" she questioned hesitantly.
"I'm fine Sa-Sa," Misora responded, even as she felt anything but. Seeing his gentle expression and warm gaze only brought further guilt. Had she used him? Taken advantage of a kind soul? If she did, why did it bother her now? Love? Was that what stirred her chest now? "Okuyuki I-" he held up a hand. "Worry about me later. We have time to figure that out once you and Sachi are taken care of. She comes first." Misora's shoulders seem to sag with relief, nuzzling her precious love. Wanting to truly display how much Sachi mattered to her. A girl who held the key to one who could desecrate villages with ease.
"Let's go."
With that, the group would leave the clearing, as the steady pitter-patter of rain returned, saturating an already damp ground. Quiet prevailed once more as groups returned to their respective corners of the world for the time being. Content to rest a bit while thoughts pandered around. Elusive concepts built upon abstraction and the aftermath that follows. To tempt a mother's wrath is to make a dreadful mistake.