Starring:
Date: October 5, 2015
Summary:
Ishino wakes up
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Fujikujo Feud - And our Kidnapper is…"
On a ship in the middle of the ocean
Fujikujo Ken had led Ishino onto his ship and Ishino had managed to get one gremlin along and hidden. He was not treated roughly tht day or night and had allowed Ishino a bit more chain to feed himself as well. Of course he was then retrned to the same position. The bed he was offered was oddly comfortable considering it was basicly a pile of furs.
When Ishino woke it was dark, just the moonlight shining through the small window in the wall. He would feel the warmth of another person by him, under his head, a soft hand stroking his hair. If he looked up, he would find tht he seemed to be looking at Akane, stripped of anything that made her the imposing warrior she was, hair down and mussed, a strange collar about her neck. She looked bruised but alright. His head was in her lap.
Ishino blinked awake and realized something was off. Focusing on his surroundings, the woman who's lap his head was in would have him jerk up and shift away, as the chains would allow. It was hard to form hand seals, but even without being able to have hand seals Ishino started to focus himself on purging a genjutsu. Being a man that constantly used mind games, he was weary of such in return… especially as the sharingan user showed a match for his skill. "Greetings madam. While you happen to look like my wife, you are not necessarily her. Therefore I do ask your pardon on my hesitancy to allow continued interaction on a physical level."
The woman blinked and jumped at Ishino's movements, looking somewhat hurt at his sudden withdrawl. Her image did not shift or fade when he tried purging a gejutsu and there was no pressure on his mind. She felt real enough too. She had all the markings of Akane, scars and all. Even Ishino's brand on her hip. But she merely watched him warily as he spoke coldly to her. "I…I don't know your wife." Her voice was gravelly and her eyes were more grey than green but she was a horned good stand in for someone not Ishino. Still, she was not a genjutsu.
"Who is Kitaru? You were mumbling in your sleep."
Ishino looked honestly confused. It lasted a moment, but it passed. Ishino shook his head slightly as he'd look around. "That is interesting to know, Madam. Might I inquire into your name?" He would smile briefly then. "That would be my son. Whom I traded my current state with him being the one captured."
"Rika." She offered her name quietly, unsure about Ishino herself, but when he spoke of his son and explained he'd traded himself for his son she smiled faintly. "I see. Tat was… very nice of you." Apparently where Rika came from the parents were more used to kids being taken. She leaned back against the wall and peered up at the moon outside. Ken had done a job on the woman, showing an intimate knowledge of Akane's details. "I guess I was supposed to confuse you."
Ishino would watch, musing contemplatively before nodding slightly. "Undoubtably. The similarity is quite striking. There's been a lot of work and detail put into this task it seems." Ishino would motion towards Rika. "You do look like her. I would not be surprised if there was at least one or two items involved with this scenario. I will apologize in advance if I have to kill you. I have been forced into a poor scenario and will have to keep all of my options open."
Rika looked startled when he said he might have to kill her and showed a very un-Akane-like fear, pulling back from him and her knees to her chest. Outside te door was a oud scoff before Ken walked in, looking annoyed. He beelined for Rika and backhanded her. "What did I tell you, hmm? She's not afraid of anything. Get your head straight or I'll /let/ him kill you." He pondered a second then growled. "You were drummed expensive too."
Turning to Ishino Ken motioned for him to hold still and gave the Doihara a little leeway on his chains before setting the food scroll down again. "Eat. Feed the cello if you want." He turned then and headed for the door, pausing at the entrance. "Oh, I spotted a stowaway… I almost forgot." He spun and moved to Ishino in a flash before reaching down and with a single crack, snapping one of Ishino's fingers. "Wht did the Fujikujo Master say about puppets? Hmm? Bad boy." A smirk crossed his face at the degrading tone he used to chide Ishino, watching his ever fiber, sharingan activated.
Ishino was stoic about it. The pain flared, then receeded. He'd look at his finger idly before shaking his head slowly and staring at Ken. "You stated to disengage with Time Keeper. Who is not here. You did not state to stop using all puppets. Therefore I have not done anything out of line." Ishino would glance at Rika, then back to Ken. "You're not able to replicate Akane. You should know that. So I don't understand what this was, but I would say it failed." Taking the scroll, he'd summon the food and calmly start eating, tearing off a piece of his shirt with the spoon included in the food to splint the broken finger. "You, Fujikujo-san, are hardly a master of anything. You're a puppet of a bigger game. I let this happen so I can see who the real puppeteer is." Ishino's attention turned from the food to Ken. "And you will die, before it is over. So know, walking corpse, that it's a matter of time." Ishino was careful with the chakra strings. The red gaze meant they could be watched. But they had to have line of sight to watch and Ishino would keep the one hand out of sight as needed, to make sure they were not seen clearly.
Ken snerked and shook hishead at Ishino while Rika watched the two with such blatent fear frozen on her face that Ken was tempted to hit her again. But he supposed it was understandable considering the abilities of those surrounding the idiot slave girl. To Ishino Ken smirked darkly. "Who said she was for your benefit, Doihara?" And with a snicker he walked out, locking the door again behind him.
It took a moment but then Rika moved hesitantly over to Ishino, reaching out to take his hand carefully. Interestingly enough the bruises seemed to be fading slowly. She lifted her hand and bit into her wrist, drawing blood which she then applied to Ishio's hand, instantly the pain lessened for the puppet master. Apparently this slave girl was also a blood user. She clearly had little to no training and it was just the natural advancement of Ishino's healing that advanced, but she looked up at him with a look on her face that begged forgiveness. "He.. he didn't need to do that."
Ishino hesitated but didn't move away when Rika would take his hand. Raising a brow, he'd watch passively as the blood allowed his finger to recover faster. "Of course he didn't. That wasn't the point. The point was an attempt to punish me." While Ken had been in there 'punishing' Ishino, Ishino had the puppet chew a hole through the closet's wall to get into the boat further. When Ken resumed his work, the gremlin made it's way to under where the cabin was, chewing a hole that'd be covered by the bed easily enough. There, it'd cough up the lock pick Ishino needed to pop the cuffs. They weren't discarded, instead Ishino would keep them handy so he could finish eating, then use a stored scroll in the gremlin to feed Rika. Once that was handled, Ishino would get in a fresh tux, purposely a different color via that quick change and after covering the hole would reattach the cuffs, keeping the lockpick stashed on him. He would not let Rika talk to him during this transition, roughly 10 minutes at most, until it was her turn to eat of course. Only after that, would he watch her and let her eat. "So he purchased you then? Might I ask for your name? I am Doihara Ishino."
Rika nodded a bit at Ishino's initial statement. She understood punishment well enough. She had been impressed by his lack of a pain response. She rewrapped his finger thenand sat back. She watched quietly as the gremlin appeared to help out and her eyes widened. Lock picks and gremlin monsters and… scrolls. She blinked at the food and simply ate quietly, waiting for Ishino to have a use for her. Though he seemed to be daring Ken to punish him further….
When he finally turned back to her and introduced himself her eyes widened. "S..Sword Doihara???" She looked stunned and now .. quite afraid of him. "R..Rika.. I'm just RIka. No one g..gives us family names…."
"Ex-swordman. I retired from that duty once I got married and had children, actually." Ishino smiles lightly with a small shake of his head. "There is nothing to be afraid of, Rika-san. As I mentioned, I let this happen. He's a tool so I am attempting to find who is wielding him. If I had so desired, this boat would already be sunk." Shrugging slightly, Ishino looked about again. "With only him as the crew and using shadow clone, he's pushing himself. That means that the longer we're out here with him not getting rest, the weaker he'll be. So unless you are a plant to distract me, then I believe a chance to leave will come soon."
Rika looked at him and shook her head. "I was never told to do anything with you. I .. I think this is the only place on the ship to put prisoners." She sighed softly. "I'm not going to survive this anyway. So if.. if I can help.." She shook her head again and shrugged. "Thank you for the food." She reached up and itched at the collar with a wince, as if something about it was causing pain. It was tight, yes, but it shouldn't be that uncomfortable.
She leaned back against the wall again then tensed up when they both heard a loud laugh from ken on deck. He'd found the hole in the closet. "Took you long enough Nephew!" Rika blinked. "You're his nephew?"
Ishino snorts. "He has the last name as my wife. I'm guessing he's a long lost uncle that didn't stay lost long enough." Shaking his head slightly, he'd then shrug. Motioning Rika closer, Ishino would check over her neck collar for any potential traps to unlock it, before using that pick to do just that. "There is definitely something here going on. I want more information." Once her collar was removed, he'd leave it off of her. Ken could deal, the pick put away again.
Rika blinked but moved closer when he motioned, hesitating, pulling away at first whenhe began messing with the collar. But she figured what the harp death now or death later. Ishino would see puncture marks alng her neck, Four to be precise. They leaked blood watered down by ..something. Inside the collar was an injection system and a green liquid. Rika shook her head though. "I.. Don't know anything really. Hechanged my hair and made all these marks on em and then put the collar on ad threw me in here. It's .. it's been…" She thought back. "A week? Since he bought me? I have't seen anyone else." On deck Ken had apparently summoned clones again and they were messing with the rigging. The ship made a turn due East.
Ishino paused at the feel in the change of motion. Glancing back, he'd motion, one of the gremlins that had been outside rushing closer, diving under to avoid sight, it'd latch onto the rudder and try to keep them turning so that it would orient the boat back towards Kirigakure. "The chemical is stopping your healing factor I presume. At least partly. I'm guessing attempting to take off the collar will kill you?" Ishino would continue to work on her collar as he talked, keeping it casual and to make it sound like they were just talking and he wasn't actually trying to take her collar off. "I know someone you need to talk to.."
Rika shrugged. "He didn't say it would. I can't imagine he'd make it this easy if it would before he wanted me dead." She sounded quite acceptng of the fact that she was going to die and soon. As the boat continued in a circle, there came a splash and Ishino found a chakra net around his gremlin, yanking it out of the water. Footsteps sounded and Ken opened the door, raising an eyebrow as the newly captured gremlin was floated along behind him. "If you think for a minute I wn't just put you in a cage you're stupid Doihara." e looked at the collar and snerked. "Go ahead, it doesn't matter at this point. It won't kill her. Yet." He then turned and drew a sword, lighting it up with lightning he proceeded to slice at the gremlin in an attempt to cut completely through the puppet. If successful, it would fall in several pieces. "Don't interfere with the boat again or I'll just drown you and use your corpse as bait." His eyes shone crimson with the sharingan, three tomoe glaring at Ishino. "I should just break your triangle arm."
The gremlin of course would promptly get lopped in half, dropping to the deck with a clattering of wood and metal. Ishino didn't even bother trying to stop at Ken's look about the collar, working the pick to finally pop it free. "You do realize the only reason the boat isn't sinking is because I'm not done figuring out who put you up to this, right?" Ishino would tilt his head to the side, studying the man with his sharingan. "I'll save your eyes though. I know a medic that would pay top coin for them. He will probably enjoy the story that goes along with me taking them from you." Finishing with the collar so it could pop free, he'd sit back and look at Ken with a shake of his head. "Attempting further bodily harm to me will be met with worse resistance. You can turn this boat around to Kirigakure, or you can deal. My advise? Surrender now. The longer you are a walking corpse, the worse it will be."
Ken scowled at Rika and yanked her to her feet by the throat. "Go. Now." Shoving her out of the room he shut the door, a clone taking her arm and leading her away. Ken leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "Tell me, Doihara, what idiocy made you fall for that bell of a niece." He looked to be in a bad mood, though why was unknown. He certainly had issues with Akane, that was clear. What wasn't clear was what those issues were.
Ishino would shift, leaning back casually against the bulkhead as Ken shoved Rika out then glared at him. "Hmm? Oh. A facinating experiment that proved to be fundimentially acceptable to both of us to continue on in an indefinant time period. It's been wonderful having Akane close for the full study of all the particulars of her livelyhood." He'd motion, the clink of chains on his wrist accenting it. "You are a facinating subject as well."
Ken raised an eyebrow. It seemed to take him quite sme time to come to a conclusion and when he did he frowned even deeper. "My niece…" He sighed, disappointed in what he had heard. "So she's just a coward after all. Perhaps I /should/ let you go. If she's that much of a coward she's not worth as much as we thought." Had he just given away that there was indeed other people involved in this whole thing? Perhaps. But e did look genuinely disappointed in how Akane, in his mind, had merely sought out somene powerful to protect her.
Ishino would raise both brows, before chuckling lightly. "Hm. No, no nothing I said was in relation to her being a coward. She is actually completely fearless. I also believe she's already on our trail. I've done fairly well at making sure there is a path to follow." Smiling lightly, he'd shake his head slowly. "So what I don't understand is where your particular issue with her comes from. Other than the fact that she hasn't been anywhere near you for the last couple of years.. I would know."
Ken moved to sit on a barrel of.. well it smelled like fish but.. they were at sea. Everthing smelled like fish. Leaning forward he rested his hands on his knees. "I do not wish for her to be a coward. But if she merely sought you out because of your power… she would leave much to be desired." He chuckled softly. "I'll tell you a story if you would like. I exchange for this story and me allowing you to keep those lock picks, I expect you to behave yourself."
Ishino tilted his head to the side with a chuckle. "You could have them. I have approximately 324 more pairs around here. So it would not be a big loss." He'd motion lightly with the chained hands, pause, shrug and simply remove the cuffs to set them aside. Ken probably already figured that part out anyways. "I am, however, quite interested in the story. Please, go on."
"Many years ago a samurai fell in love with a woman from one of the shinobi clans. They ran away together, living in the Land of Iron for quite some time. They built a strong family with many branches. Other shinobi outcasts became part of this family and thier blood mixed freely. But they were not aware of most of the available powers in thier bloodlines. Tenjin and Uzumaki and Uchiha and Senju. All evetually became part of this family. It was impossible to know who would have a child with what abilities. But it was also not thought of since most of he shinobi parents wanted out of 'the game' anyway."
Ken leaned back again watching Ishino closely. "The family eventually broke apart again and one line was especilly strong with a certain clan's dojutsu and fire abilities. They took the name Fujikujo. Directly it means 'Wisteria of Destruction' but it also has a second meaning. "The bleeding Wisteria". Of course you know what clan the children would be considered. But because the sharingan was not something that manifested easily, many members after many years forgot about the connections in thier blood. Some ended up in the Land of Fire. It was Akane's mother's name. My sister's name. She married an imbicile from Konoha's peasant ranks and of course be turned on her. He was a mean drunk. He liked to push them around. I did not find this out until later. Of course when she saw her family being killed, Akane reacted as any Uchiha would and killed the organ. Unfortunately I dd not get there until the children were gone and the parents were both dead. That was the day my niece awakened her sharingan."
Another pause and for a moment he looked almost concerned. "My cousin ran into her on a mission and recognised her and her sharingan. I must say I do not quite believe the story that hers is green, but I digress. Something happened and she did not awaken again until …well something happened to awken her sharigan again." He was talking bout the assault in the oasis. "I am here to see f she can handle the power she holds inside her and if not I'll kill you both. If she can be useful.. well we shall see what happens."
Ishino would listen attentively, nodding slightly. "The green aspect comes from a curse put apon her while in her travels with a Uchiha. It was removing her sight and she had to get cloned eyes to replace them." Musing, he'd shrug then. "She's not a coward.. She can also handle the power just fine. We are a very potent team you see." Ishino would smile at that, thinking back on other scenarios where the two of them had teamed up. Shaking his head then, he'd chuckle. "As for the whole killing thing? Well, it's interesting having a walking corpse warn you that it will kill you. But rest assured I take such things quite seriously and will plan appropriately. You see, I have studied your neice's pyche. I know the reasons for why the awakening happen. I also know that what you have done is triggered enough points to throughly marimba her off. So you have a choice.. I kill you, or she does."
Ken watched Ishino ad his reactions to the story. The collective history of the Fujikujo clan was something few knew about. It could be verified of course. Ishino'sbravado, assuring Ken that he would be the one dying made the man laugh and stand up. "Well that's not the whole story, but it's enough. As for you and your lovely wife… I have something she does not have." He leaned down, and his eyes shifted suddenly, a spiral design in his eyes, the same as a birthmark on Akane's shoulder…. Mangekyou. He gave Ishino a few seconds to register that befre he threw a heavy genjutsu at him, trying to trap him in his own mind for some time which would allow them to fiish thier journey by sea without the gremlins chewing a hole in the boat.
