Bored and Curious [Shihouin]

Since yesterday's training episode, Nasamea rested in her beast form for quite some time. Nobody was near the area to disturb her or the cockroaches thus she was able to nap peacefully. When she finally woke up she got up and stretched before she finally returned to her human form and collected her items. She gazed for any scars as she wrapped herself in the blanket. Turns out, the spot where the shuriken engraved itself and burned her had actually left one after all. She didn't mind it though. It was in a place her mother wouldn't see it and that's all that had mattered. Afterwards, she took the back routes home and sneaked into her house before anyone noticed her naked. It was surprising nobody noticed her running home naked yet. Well, she had the blanket around her but still. Maybe someone did but didn't want to report it out of fear of being considered a pedophile. Anyway, after returning home she showered and got dressed for the night before finally relaxing in front of the TV until her parents came home. Her mother casted her off to bed which she obeyed without complaint and was later off to sleep.

The next morning, she was out early as always. This time she left around maybe 6 in the morning to go hunting. Due to the fighting she needed to refuel which was what she did. Ever since he fed before the mission with her team, taking a whole bunch from multiple people, she found herself doing that all the time. It meant she didn't have to feed as much and wouldn't have to worry about asking for anything around Shihouin or even her teammates. Which she never would probably ask her team due to the awkwardness and because, well, she didn't have feelings for them. It was noted that those who took blood from people they knew personally normally did so from those close to them. Those that could be considered bf or gf, even more. Otherwise they were flat out starving and lost control. On Nasa's part, it was the first. She was still a bit reluctant to take any from Shi though merely because draining could weaken and she wanted him to stay strong.

Nasamea walked the streets and found herself sitting on a rooftop to kill time. She was bored and had nothing to do today. No, she was VERY bored. She could hunt more but doing so to kill boredom was something sick members normally did. Those without control anyway. Plus it was like eating to much which makes members feel bloated and weak. She didn't want that. Lazying about on the roof time continued to pass until finally it was around noon. She returned home then and did some chores. This killed a lot of time and upon finishing she cleaned practically the whole house and caught them all up on laundry. Afterwards she showered, got dressed, and finally decided to do something.

Exiting their apartment she locked the door and took off towards Shihouin's. By then it was about 6pm or so. She thought about going over around 4 earlier but was busy cleaning. Once she started she couldn't stop either unless she stopped or distracted herself; or if someone else intervened. Since nobody did, she cleaned until later. She decided to go over thinking maybe she could help him and the man who gave him a home at the weapon shop. Was that his dad? She never really knew. Maybe she would find out tonight though. Maybe she would learn more about him to. Who knew, as long as it was something that killed time she didn't really care.

Upon arriving at the doorstep of the weapon shop, she pushed it open and carefully entered. A man suddenly whisked out beside her, nearly knocking her over as he ran.

"Sorry!" he shouted, a cellphone in hand as se ran off into the crowd. He didn't seem suspicious to her so she thought maybe he was just in a hurry. Turning her attention back to those in the shop she searched for the weapon smith or Shihouin. At least someone who she could point her to Shi. Nasamea searched until she could. At the moment though, the place seemed empty.

"Shi?"

Her voice was very quiet in the shop as she looked around. Soon enough a sword caught her eye as she walked over to the different types to look them over while she waited. Again, something to kill time.

Shihouin had been resting since the fight and practing his new technique on his own time. Since he didn’t practice as much as he had wanted with Nasamea, he took a hour or so at night and made sure hehad the technique under his grasp. The jutsu was now workable, and he could also clean up on some other aspects of his battle strategy. His Sharingan was getting better; he could feel that he was able to use it considerably longer that he previously could without feeling the drain of chakra take its toll on his body. If he continued to train in a fight like that, he could master his Sharingan in no time as long as he trained for long enough.

After training he had decided to take a nap. The weapons specialist was gone on a trip for more ore, a special ore that he planned on using to make a sword for someone who had paid extra for the order. He wouldn’t be back for some time, and kept the shop open while Shihouin was there, expecting him to run it. That was an easy job for him, and since no one really seemed to be coming today, Shihouin took the time to take a quick nap, relaxing in the back room. Meanwhile, something unexpected would be happening up front where Nasa was.

A deep voice would surprise Nasa. It was full of cold bass, which echoed around the room in a low grumble. The voice was coarse and harsh, yet full at the same time. It spoke directly behind her. ”That’s a wonderful sword you have chosen my dear girl. I’ve used that sword quite frequently it is very versatile. Don’t you think?” Nasa would be able to tell that was a rhetorical question, just by the way the evil voice ebbed. She was staring straight into a middle aged man, with long dark hair that was wrapped in a pony tail behind his head. A goatee hung down the middle of his broad chest, falling about six inches over a perfect white suit. His face was reminiscent of Shihouin a little bit but not exactly like his. His eyes were deep black, contrasting the fluffy white of the double breast suit he adorned proudly. He kept his hands politely behind him as if he was waiting patiently for something, not worrying about how long it would take. He causally walked over to where she was and picked up another sword just like it. He held it professionally in his hand and examined the blade work. ”Quite the expert work here. Look at the way the lines bend and flow on the blade. When they make these swords they fold the metal, over and over and over again which makes it stronger and sharper. The more the lines wave the stronger the blade. It’s worth every penny, maybe more.” He placed the blade back on the shelf and looked at her, speaking coldly again. ”Where are my manners, dear me. My name is Takumo and I have forgotten to greet you properly. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me and tell me your name that would be greatly appreciated.” The cold in his voice was almost like some type of glue, sticking around the air as if it had taken control of it. He stared at her and waited for her to respond.

Nasamea continued to gaze at the blade, examining the way it was crafted before her ear twitched. She picked up on a sound before her and from what she could tell it was someone walking in her direction. The steps didn't sound familiar and neither did the voice that followed.

”That’s a wonderful sword you have chosen my dear girl. I’ve used that sword quite frequently it is very versatile. Don’t you think?”

'Who...?'

She wasn't sure whether to turn around and look or not. He was just a stranger right? But what did he want? Soon enough her curiosity won out as she slightly angled her body towards him. It was just enough to where she could turn her head and get a good look at him.

"Ah..yes...appears so.."

She honestly did not have much of a clue.

Immediately her impression was that she was talking to an older version of Shihouin mainly due to the curve of his face and his examining onyx eyes. It made her rather surprised but mostly confused. Thus she was left to wonder yet again, what did this man want with her? She wasn't used to a stranger randomly coming up to her about anything unless it was to ask if she wished to buy anything or asking for anything in general. This man must have wanted something from her right? Maybe she was over-thinking the scenario. For all she knew he was just a fill in for the owner. But why did he look so much like Shi? Despite his age and physical composition he resembled Shi more then anything. Yes, this was how much Nasamea studied people she met. Mainly those she knew she would be around more than once.

Allowing the intriguing being to come near, Nasamea turned her attention back to the sword. She kept a very solid gaze, her body appearing rather relaxed despite the fact she was a bit tense at the moment. She appeared to be evenyl balanced on both feet but was actually standing in a manner that would allow her to be able to shift from right to left at any given moment. He just used the blade yesterday? Then why was it still in here for sale? Maybe he was the guy who tested the blades out and... cleaned them as well. This situation was already making her skeptical. Most would probably tell her to chill out at this point but she just couldn't. Ever since hearing about the other Kisaki, she couldn't. He didn't smell familiar... which was exactly what was gnawing at her too.

Her calm appearance continued up the the point where the man picked up another sword, causing her pupils to slightly narrow to that of a cat's. She grew a tad more tense, her eyes never leaving his center point now as she watched him gaze over the blade and speak more about it.

'Your muscles will tell me...' she thought, staring at his center point with an unreadable intensity.

”Quite the expert work here. Look at the way the lines bend and flow on the blade. When they make these swords they fold the metal, over and over and over again which makes it stronger and sharper. The more the lines wave the stronger the blade. It’s worth every penny, maybe more.”

He placed the sword back on its shelf. She just barely relaxed.

So far he was rarely showing his hands unless he held a weapon, not helping her relax at all. He was acting very suspicious on her opinion and seemed as though maybe he was beating around the bush. Maybe she was worrying way to much. Maybe she was to overly cautious and overly skeptical. Maybe she was turning an innocent man into a criminal. What was with him though? His voice, his stride, the way he hid his hands. he just used the blade? Again, why was it back on the shelf then? He had to be a tester yes? He obviously knew what he was talking about with the weapons so he must have worked here. Unless he was buying goods. But then why did he look like Shi? Was it Shi in disguise? No it couldn't be he didn't smell the same. Didn't exactly smell like this shop either. Was her nose tricking her?

Her thought were racing to the point she was on the verge of turning tail and leaving. Her nerves going hay wire. Then he spoke again...

”Where are my manners, dear me. My name is Takumo and I have forgotten to greet you properly. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me and tell me your name that would be greatly appreciated.”

His voice, his tone, the way he talked in general was ominous and yet somewhat calming. It gave her a sense of calm but more like an eerie calm then that of relaxation. She didn't like it. But she accepted it.

Finally getting herself to release some tension she appeared to relax a bit more, her face becoming very flat. She didn't appear happy nor sad nor angry. In fact she barely showed any physical evidence that she was mentally freaking out to begin with. Now, she appeared a bit more defensive as she tried to match the same tone and expressions he was giving her. This was Nasa's shield, or facade. The very thing that allowed her to mimic what she saw and turn it into her own creation.

"It's fine" she began, searching for the words she wished to say and contemplating on whether she should say them.

"Forgive me for acting very defensive. I'm not used to someone randomly coming up to talk to me like this. Normally people ignore genin I guess..." Yeah yeah, genin. Good word usage. Right?

She removed her attention from him finally, her stone gaze falling on the blade before her. She reached over and very lightly touched its sharp side. It barely left a small cut but this healed before the blood even had a chance to touch the blade. She didn't doubt it's sharpness now. Feeling the blade still, examining it for possible usage, she continued; her eyes not leaving the sword as her ears never left him.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you Takumo. My name is Nasamea," 'and you're not getting my last name' she thought to herself before she continued.

"You seem to know a lot about swords. Sadly I can't say the same for myself. Do you by chance work here?"

She didn't have to try to hard to get a old tone to come out. Her's sounded more skeptical then his though. She didn't care if this was obvious or not though for truthfully she just wanted answers about who he was and why he was even here to begin with. Maybe he was looking for a job if he didn't necessarily work here. But why did he look like Shihouin? Was this a family member of his? His dad? She thought Shi was living alone...
Something wasn't making much sense but she planned on finding out why not.

Her amber hues slowly floated back to the man's face; her attention more so on his nose. She never once looked him in the eyes.

Even though she thought she had heard him she would still be startled. Takumo was someone unknown to most people of this age and the only ones that really knew about him was the Hokage and Shihouin seeing that he got the information from his lion summons. She turned around a second later than she thought she would, and she’d only heard him when he started to make his steps and movements obvious. He could easily tell that she had been threatened and had raised her guard to an all time high. Her body was in the perfect position to move and he could see the slight sets of tension over her body, almost as if he was a hawk swooping down in a fear frozen rat. The way she kept her feet evenly balanced. Her mind, it was probably in a state of confusion. She was probably trying to pick up every single detail about him, trying to put together everything that he was saying in an attempt to poke little holes into his logic to see what he was really up to, but not matter how much she thought he wouldn’t give up anything unless he wanted to.

He noticed that she was looking at his center point, hoping to find some way to read his muscle movement, obviously scared that he might attack her. It wouldn’t mean anything. If he decided to move, no matter how much he was watching her he could move if he wanted to, and without her catching the movement at all. His time in the black ops, among the highest of the black ops had been well spent and he had mastered movement and simple mind tricks in his time. She could already be fooled, but she wouldn’t know it. She was too scared to even think about that option. The way the air stuck to his voice, the harsh calm it brought down on to her, his words were working on her.

Being so defensive, it wasn’t her fault at all. There wasn’t anything she could do about it. He wanted her to be defensive, he wanted her to pull her guard up and he wanted to scare her to the point where it would be difficult for her to control herself. When she had admitted that she had been defensive, he was sure that he had scared her badly and almost against her will. It was almost funny; he almost laughed but kept it entirely hidden from her, the fact that she forgot her last time. Or was that what she wanted him to think? No way he would fall for that, she knew he was hiding it. He responded, letting the callous, icy words break the air. ”What a beautiful name, I will remember it for as long as I live. And I don’t know much about swords as you might think, just a little bit of collected knowledge from my memorable past. I’ve been in this place before. And no, I don’t work here at all; I was looking for a young boy who works under the under the head store keeper. You wouldn’t happen to know him would you? His name is Jiro. He’s quite the skilled weapons smith.” He shook his head a bit and blinked hard. ”You’ll have to excuse my dabbling, the young boy is in the back and there is no bell to call him to the front. I would venture in the back but I’m not sure if I’m allowed. There could be traps back there and a man at my age might not make it out of a trap. You said you’re a genin though, so you do have some skill as a ninja, do you mind venturing back there to fetch him for me?”

Was she willing to do it?

”What a beautiful name, I will remember it for as long as I live."

She didn't like the way he said that. In fact it even reminded her of when she told her own team not to throw their names around casually. Now she was kind of pissed off at herself for being a hypocrite. This guy even looked more like a threat then them. It was irritating.

She continued to listen, shaking her head when he asked about the weapon smith. She thinks she may have met him once but then again he could have been some random employee. Was best to say no rather then possibly lie.

”You’ll have to excuse my dabbling, the young boy is in the back and there is no bell to call him to the front. I would venture in the back but I’m not sure if I’m allowed. There could be traps back there and a man at my age might not make it out of a trap. You said you’re a genin though, so you do have some skill as a ninja, do you mind venturing back there to fetch him for me?”

A slight grin crossed her lips in a final attempt to mask her uncertainty. He had now provided her some information, although whether it was true is questionable, and thus made her more skeptical. Ok, how exactly did he know where Shi was if he wasn't allowed back there? Second, how did he know she was allowed to go back there? Apparently he must have had more knowledge of her then she thought. Genin or not, at the moment he didn't provide her any solid proof that she was allowed back there and thus she decided she wasn't going to go. However, she did know what was allowed in every building. Something so small and average, it would never be accused of being associated with a ninja.

"I'm afraid that I am unsure if I am allowed back there or not," she said with a sort of fox smile. Yeah, she was hiding something. Honestly though, when the owner was away who said she could go back there anyway? No "parental supervision". It made her want to laugh inside.

She started to cross the room, raising her finger up and bitting at it before forming seals.
"However, I do have another idea in case there are traps."

She soon stopped at the doorway leading into the back before she placed her hand on the wood. Her ears remained on him as she listened for any movement while her eyes studied her surroundings for anything. She hated being skeptical of her own boyfriend's living space. This was also kind of irritating but then again it would be a good safeguard to set traps.

Releasing he hand from the ground roughly 5 roaches appeared. If there were traps, they would know and relay the message back to her. She tapped her finger a few times which resulted in them squeaking before all but one scurried off into the back. Four woulds search and the fifth would find Shi soon enough. Nasamea reached back and removed a piece of paper and a pencil from her pouch. She wrote a quick message that the man wouldn't see and attached it to the roach, telling it in morse code to make sure the others know he gets it no matter what. The roach squeaked back and scurried off.

Nasamea soon stood back up and gazed over at the man, "one moment please."
She continued to study his facial expressions. Anything and everything that could give away his motive. This was all to questioning still.

The roaches scurried back, the four searching for any traps while the fifth made its way to Shi's room. It squeaked to the others that it had an important message to give him him as it hurried in. Wherever Shi was, he would eventually see a little roach sitting on his shoulder, desk, wherever, squeaking at him and trying to give him a little piece of paper. Hopefully he would read it...

Message:

He could tell that she took way too long to think things through, that she was constantly trying to nick and nag at everything he said, it was obvious to him that she was scared of the situation, but more importantly scared of what might happen. It didn’t matter though, because her time on the earth would be short if he got what he wanted, if he could depend on Shihouin to deliver it to him, then she wouldn’t have to worry anymore about what was going on, she would be dead on a whim. At least, he hoped that Shihouin would deliver.

She was becoming bothersome, the annoying little smile on her face, had he his old power he would remove her face and fill her body up with knives to see how good she wanted to smile then. If she planned on making any moves against him, that fox smile wouldn’t help her with anything. And why would there be traps? He was in here all the time, just at different parts of the day when traffic was thinner. The only reason he knew that Shihouin would be in there because the manager told him; he always came before it was Shihouin’s shift and never stayed too long. He didn’t want to venture back there simply because he felt it would be disrespectful to the owner, nothing more or nothing less. This girl was paranoid and stalling beyond all belief. He knew he was scary, but damn, for her to be trying to stall and use ninjutsu instead of just going back there and getting Shihouin; she had to be crazy or something. Writing notes, it didn’t matter what she was writing, but all she had to do was yell to him. Crazy.

Meanwhile, Shihouin had been deep in sleep, catching lots of hazy dreams that drifted across his eyes. He couldn’t make out exactly what was going on in each one, but the feeling of the dream was surreal, like nothing he had felt before. It didn’t feel like power, it didn’t feel like weakness, but it felt like some strange combination of feelings he had felt before, all into a misty euphoric experience which he couldn’t grasp, but one he could understand at the same time. Images of his past raced across his eyes, giant vast spaces, deep forests, grassy wide plains and a squeak. The moment he heard the squeak he erupted from his sleep and grabbed the kunai he kept under his pillow and tossed it towards the roach. It all happened in less than a second, and his breath was extremely heavy. The kunai would more than likely split the giant thing down the middle and spill it’s guts out.

Getting up from his bed, he went over to the note and picked it up, wary of some unfortunate situation or maybe even a mission that might be waiting for him. His thoughts scampered across the idea that something had happened to old man Jiro, but he was suspicious of the delivery and roach at the same time. Wait, this roach. The biggest roach he had seen had only been about two inches and this roach had been way bigger than that. These were the same roaches from Nasamea’s summoning attack. Shihouin would have to assume the worst, and in doing so he carefully opened the note and read it quickly.

He was confused about what was going on, but he didn’t want to take chances. He was pretty much dressed, but he brought out his sword and strapped on his ninja pouches on his hip. He was in white sorts and a matching white wife beater, so there was no need to put on anything else. His thong sandals slid right in between his toes and he carefully marched outside. His eyes began to wander, back and forth in confusion and the expectation for the worst. When he reached the door, he opened it slowly, gingerly looking through the door with the worst intention on his mind. As he opened the door he saw Nasa first and then turned his head and looked directly at a middle age man, broad chest and evil face.

His world seemed to float off into darkness, gravity gripping it like a black hole and pulling it in. His knees didn’t buckle, he didn’t feel himself grow weak, but he could definitely tell that fear had gripped him. No, it wasn’t fear it was an odd twisted version of surprise. The same surprise one would find, if they walked unknowingly into a mine full of explosive notes. That same fear, littered with death and darkness covered him. Two emotions erupted from him and his eyes went three tomoe instantly. Anger and surprise filled his head and his heart thumped, hard. He clenched his fists and spoke. There was no way he could get around this man, but to deal with him head on. ”It’s too soon… It is way too soon for you to be here.” The older man smiled and began to slowly lumber closely, taking every step as if he was savoring the sound of his pure white shoes sliding across the floor. ”Quite the contrary boy, I have come here to speed things up. You are progressing far too slow.” Shihouin didn’t answer, he kept his eyes locked on his and changed his one tomoe to two, and then to three. They spun in his eyes like a Ferris wheel of mystifying death. Takumo looked back at him surprised and he spoke with an uplifted voice. ”Oh! What progress! You’re still genin yet you’ve unlocked all three tomoe. I think it’s fair to say that at this point your life hasn’t been boring. Anyways, if you had unlocked its genjutsu abilities you wouldn’t be standing there shivering like a spineless frozen dog.” Shihouin blinked hard and signed.

Takumo walked close to him now, and placed his hand on his shoulder. He bent down to his eye level and looked him in the eye and talked with a grave voice, almost as if he was speaking from beyond the grave. ”I need you. I need your power. I need you to kill this girl. I need to see if you are willing to grow stronger for me.” Shihouin sighed. His body tried to pull back, but the thick fingers held them there. ”It’s too early, it’s too early. I, I love her, I cannot hurt her. “ The hand on the shoulder disappeared and slid across Shihouin’s face in a violent slap. A bright red mark appeared on his cheek and faded away as he brought his hand back to his shoulder. ”All the more reason to kill her. She’s holding power, she’s holding it away from you! You kill her! NOW!!!” Knowing that he would not leave until something happened, he drew a kunai from his pocket and held it lightly in his hand. He closed his eyes and his tomoe fell back down to one. He gripped it properly and threw it.

Directly at Nasa.

A small smile upon his arrival grew into nothing but a cold shiver to the bone. The look on his face, his eyes immediately turning into the crimson red otherwise known as the Sharingan. Her attention was on Shi until that very moment, her eyes floating back to the man once more. She had a rather bad vibe about all this, her animal instincts not helping a bit, but Shi's face now took the cake. She wasn't sure now. She did not know how to react to this situation between the man and Shi. Oh how they looked oddly alike. It made sense that he was a family member of Shi's but who? She hated not knowing.

”It’s too soon… It is way too soon for you to be here.”

A soft whimper beyond their sense of earing escaped her throat as she tried to figure out the mystery. She had little to go off of which didn't help either. With each new sentence her anticipation grew. Who? What? When? Where? The normal question roll was running but then was disrupted by her intervening in her mind to stop them. She tried to remain calm and soak it all in but bottom line was nothing was making sense besides Shi was afraid of this man and this man seemed to be holding a shit ton more power then what he was letting on. She sort of saw this coming though. Minus Shi's fear. What she didn't see coming though, was what was next in this mystery man's agenda.

”I need you. I need your power. I need you to kill this girl. I need to see if you are willing to grow stronger for me.”

Mystery dude say what?

Her eyes narrowed out of defense as her muscles tensed some. She was still nimble but now she was doing the old "i'm going to breath in and make myself look bigger" technique. She wanted to appear more threatening despite what she probably left off. Her nails and teeth began to form chakra. She wouldn't change completely. That took to much time. But with her life possibly being put on the line there was no way in hell she wasn't going to stand pretty and take anything that came at her. Her iron will was spewing out throughout her body.

”It’s too early, it’s too early. I, I love her, I cannot hurt her."

Her nails began to form, her teeth already sharpened as she raised her lip slightly. Her eyes seemed surprised and yet pleading at Shi. To early? For what? Love? Love..., another low whimper escaped her before it turned into a low rumble in her chest. She felt the same for him. Now that she was given a confirmation of those feelings she wasn't sure how to handle it again. 'Don't let emotions get the best of you...don't let them cloud your mind...that's not the ninja way' she thought. Two tiny roaches scurried out from the hall now, heading towards her out of the corner of her eye. 'Hm?'

The slap now echoed through her mind as she honed in on the man, eyes solid on him as she glared with an intensity to kill. She was just a genin though. She wasn't in full form. She didn't think she was still weak but...what to do?

As the kunai was removed from his pouch, gripped, then aimed at her. Her eyes narrowed and she immediately leaned towards her right to dodge. She wouldn't have enough time to necessarily deflect this one but now she was grabbing for a tool anyway while moving, her other hand raised as defense. When the kunai drew near she flicked her hand at it; using her sharp nails to graze it and knock it away. From there she then removed the shuriken from her own pouch and threw it towards the man's chest. Her eyes flicking back and forth between he and Shi while listening to the door for any new visitors.

The four roaches flew out from the hall and made a dive bomb assault. One aimed at Shi's head and the other three aimed at the man. If only they had the hardening jutsu....

Nasamea prepared her next defense as she let out a snarl, her grey hues locked on the man as she watched Shi from her peripherals. Was this really happening? It was like a repeat of the past...but worse. This couldn't be right. She wasn't exactly sure what to think. Thus, she merely welcomed it in open arms as she planned out what she should do next. Mostly she was trusting Shi and his decisions...

He watched the spectacular events unfold like a dazzling display of inauspicious origami, all falling, no not falling, crashing. Here he was, at the center of the activity, like a puppet master up close next to his creation, tickling his fingers as he led his new toy wherever it pleased him to do so. Takumo watched with a giddy, evil excitement which ran a snake-like cold shiver down the back of his spine, and even deep into the soles of his feet. He wanted to scream out in ecstasy, and bask in the moment of his own darkness. He now had a Sharingan, and a good Sharingan at that under his control. The things he could do when he had it ripened to perfection, he could pluck both juicy red eyes out of his head and deliciously replace them into his own eyes and take the fruit of their power. It was far too much for him to conceive at this point, that the tiny seed that he had placed in his own child was now blossoming into a tree of death, yielding out horrible fruits of mistrust, anger, and betrayal. Fruits which he longed to keep picking from.

Shihouin didn’t fail to react at Nasa’s attack though, he knew that she would go on the defensive. Even though his emotions had been cloudy and dark, that didn’t mean he had failed to realize what was going on. After turning on his three tomoe, Shihouin watched her every move, and could read and predict her movements with the accuracy of a trained hawk. Quickly reaching into his pockets for shuriken, he held both of his hands limber and threw all of the shuriken with a move that could only be best described as a perfect twist. His body turned around and shuriken flew everywhere, it seemed. The shuriken aimed at Takumo’s chest would be deflected, while four shuriken would pierce the roaches with ease, and the last shuriken was aimed directly towards Nasamea. He moved back a bit and stared at her directly while performing hand signs quickly and preparing his next move with subtle ease.

Out of this mist of all this confusion, the confusion which clogged both of the children’s minds, one thing was true. They were beginning to doubt each other. Shihouin was beginning to doubt himself the most however. It settled in like a stone, sinking down to the innermost regions of its heart with an unusually heavy density. While it fell, it began to drag several things with it, and one main one being love. Without feeling any hope in gaining it back after this, he let it die, without a fighting chance. He simply let go and let it sink, mentally and consciously ignoring the will to struggle to survive. It would continue to fall and be locked into those depths where he hoped he might be able to return to it later, many years later. He knew, Takumo knew, that from this point on out, as long as he kept threatening her with this betrayal things wouldn’t be the same. With each move he made, with each shuriken he threw, each hand sign he wove, she was beginning to trust him less and less. It would continue to recede like a wave, leaving them both bare and stranded. But with every single second of it, Shihouin would continue on.

Because this was the only way it could be.

A human or creature placed in this sort of event would no doubt wish they possessed the ability to read minds. If not read them, then see the future to thus change it. Maybe this was supposed to happen though. Maybe there was something down the road neither of them could see or sense. It was this dark veiled mystery that caused a tiny bud within Nasamea to twitch. Her anticipation for a possible event, let alone this one, was making her far more subconsciously wary, and worried, then what she was, or needed to be. Up to this point she was feeling tied down, restrained, but now it was as though the times were changing. She wasn't entirely sure if she liked it or not. However, overall, she felt that maybe this was the sign she had been searching for. No matter when each attack came or was made,she would continue to try to defend herself in every way possible; not exactly sure what to do. She desperately wanted to look Shihouin in the eyes to possibly get a glimpse of what was going in his mind or to study his expression. But she was afraid...

For the first time she was actually fearful of something besides being hunted; the sharingan. The well known 'cursed eyes' held a lot of ability. One aspect being genjutsu. She heard that by looking into the eye of the holder one could be placed in a genjutsu without even knowing. She didn't think Shi would do this to her but at the same time she knew she couldn't be to certain. He knew of her ability to transform into something well, powerful. Or so he says... Would he try to harness her power for himself? She didn't think he would, as previously stated, but she wouldn't put it past the man he was with. Who was this man anyway?

The barrage was launched, causing Nasamea to react by puling out a kunai and a few shuriken; her position moving towards the right of where she stood. First she launched out her shuriken to counter those coming her way. This created a chain reaction of a few but didn't stop them all. Next, she slammed the kunai down to deflect three back at Shihouin. The remaining few then snagged her arms and shirt; casuing scratches and tears. This caused her to whimper as they did while she prepared for the next defense. Her thoughts were everywhere while her eyes glared at Takumo's chest for a split second and returned to Shi's center. She just wanted to look at least once. But she couldn't...

Deep down she wasn't necessarily questioning Shihouin still. It had to be the man. Was Shi in a gen? He did look him in the eyes. That man did have the sharingan. But that same man also slapped Shi. Didn't pain bring someone out of a gen or was that a trick? It made sense to her that he was under but then again she wasn't sure. Taking a chance and getting near was kind of dangerous too. By getting struck she would let herself know if she was caught. But Shi?

Ancient black markings began to surround her body right after the shuriken were deflected, countered, dodged, or struck her. She was still waiting.

With his Sharingan, he could see her chakra activity increasing from the moment it started each change in her physical make up, her body, everything was getting noted and watched and he could watch it. Her movements were all seen, all predicted and he couldn’t let them go out of his eyesight, but he had been looking at much more than her movements, but rather where she was going to and how long it would take for her to get there. The smallest movement for a kunai or any thrown tool would be for an open pocket or something near the general vicinity of arms reach. The ninja pocket was perfect for that, but it always carried one flaw that separated it from perfect. The flap always remained closed, so the ninja usually dug their hands under the flap to reach into it. It was exactly why Shihouin had placed a three shuriken in each of his pockets so they could be reached easier, and he also knew that she had never caught on to that concept.

Since throwing those shurikens took little time, he had started on hand signs after that. He could watch her reach for her pocket to counter the shuriken ahead of him and predict where she would end up before she could consciously make her next move. Though watching her every move was great, that didn’t mean he would necessarily get the time to speed up his hands. When she reached to deflect the extra with her kunai, he could easily avoid them while weaving hand signs at the same time. She hadn’t moved after that, which would make the situation grave. In this room there was nothing to kawarimi with, it was a weapons shop that sold ninja tools. Shihouin was at the advantage, since they were within range of each other, at least 3 or 4 meters and she had never moved a considerable distance back. He had a clear shot and her and he intended to continue. As the shuriken caught her and she remained still, he launched his technique at her; three full fireballs would race towards her. It wouldn’t kill her, but she would definitely need serious medical condition if it hit.

Spoiler:

A sinister hiss escaped as breath. The tools left her fingertips. She began to move back into another readied position as his tools clipped her and caused the scratches. She began to instinictively heal but before she could really react to anything a blast of fire was preparing. A whimper began to build deep in her throat as her eyes not only widened from surprise but narrowed like that of a cat's. It was the face of fear, the face of questioning. In these final moments her mind ceased thought as she instictively turned towards the door to flee. It was the first possible exit she had in mind seeing as how this place failed to have windows near her. But before she could really even turn, she was engulfed.

It was all like clockwork, much like how she fought. But this time, the clock wasn't in her possession and thus wasn't in her technical control. She was strong but her strength was something that came through time, patience, and energy. It took to much and was better in wider areas. In this small little room without much but weapons to work with and very little time; she was out of her element.

The flames ceased to reveal a burnt Nasa fallen to her knees. Her head was down and arms lying against her sides as she seemed to stare at the ground. She was vulnerable. There wasn't any denying it. She could die right here, right now, and there wasn't anything she could do. She hated this feeling. Hated it more then anything this world could produce. At least she kept some of her clothes right?

A single small whimper escaped her breath as her skin healed. It would take to much time to heal it all completly and to much energy. She would need to feed again after it as well. How annoying...

An attempt to move proved to be futile as well. This resulted in pain she didn't wish to deal with at the moment. She wasn't sure what hurt worse. One thing she was sure of. This would probably be the last times he would possibly see her. Now, he would probably have to venture elsewhere in order to. And at this moment, the last face he would see is her glare as her hues turned from gray to red before she closed them and whimpered. She didn't know what to do. She had given up.

The first stage was at its completion. The fireball exploded in a dangerous glow of bright orange, singing everything in his path down to a warped metal or a pile of gray ashes. The explosion busted all of the windows, filling them up with a bright light and breaking them under the tremendous shockwave. He knew mentally that the only way to take her down was before she could change, he would have to hit hard and hit fast if he wanted to get her before she could become more powerful than him. The fact that he had now gone this far was a testament of his own strength and also the lack of his emotions now towards her. However, it didn’t bother Takumo any. Takumo was getting what he wanted, and seeing this was evidence enough. He knew at this point, the boy was ready for anything he wanted to throw at him. Even though he felt like it was good enough for him at this point, he would watch until completion. He had to make sure.

Shihouin walked somberly over to her position, pulling out his ninjato on his back as he gripped it in his right hand. He walked over her body, keeping his Sharingan on as he did so, making sure that she wouldn’t move and was still entirely knocked out. The burns on her body had healed, but the regenerative power she had wasn’t enough to combat everything the explosion had done to her. She had tanked the entire attack in its fullest, and was still alive. He reached down with his free hand and grabbed her tattered shirt by the neck pulling her back up to her knees. Reaching for her throat he grabbed her and held her up and slammed her body into a nearby wall, pinning her up against it. The sword in his right hand was ready; he was going to do it. Takumo came closer, watching him with every move.

The blade of the sword moved up, tipping right in between her chest. He pushed the blade and broke the first later of skin, and continued on slowly pass the muscle. Was he savoring this? Was he savoring the fact that he knew her entire life had been flipped upside down because of him? He was literally only one inch away from receiving a new power, and with every second that new power got closer and closer. Had he been willing this entire time to use her just for what he could get off of her? Takumo was convinced. Without a word, he placed his hands on Shihouin’s shoulder and gave him a content smile and turned around. He continued to push the sword in deeper and even slower now, getting the perfect angle as he dug into her body. The sword pierced through to her back, poking out as her body seemed to slump. He pulled it out slowly as well and let her fall to the ground. Takumo smiled and laughed and just to top it off, Shihouin kicked her in the side of the head, watching it jerk unusually. Takumo placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a content look and flickered away. His body left no evidence that he was there, only the sinister feel stayed behind. Once he was gone though, Shihouin decided he wasn’t done.

One of the small lion cubs, Shiro came out of the backroom. It pounced its way up between Shihouin’s leg and looked around and eyed the body and then looked back up at Shihouin in confusion. Squatting down to his level, Shihouin grabbed a piece of paper and a small pen out of his back pocket and wrote on it. Even though he was willing to go to the point where she would hate him for the rest of her life if need be, he wasn’t ready to kill her yet. He had been careful with his sword for a reason, purposely missing her heart and bursting her lung instead. She could still die though, but this was now Shiro’s job. He couldn’t stay here anymore, and he would be continually ducking Nasa and attacking her for the rest of his life. He wanted her to stay away from him, and hopefully maybe to hate him. Even if Takumo had found out that she was alive, he wouldn’t have to worry. Putting her in that situation had already proved dangerous; he had almost killed her just to save her. She would have to wait for love some other time, as long as he was here, Shihouin would have no freedom. Shiro bit down on the note and transformed into a regular orange tabby cat. He was making his way to the hospital, while Shihouin was making his way back to his father. They would live very different and separate lives from now on, with hate in between them.