Starring:
Jiro (as himself and Gyuki), Arika, Itami
Date: September 5, 2015
Summary:
Arika finally makes up with Gyuki!
"The Eighth Tailed Beast: Bonded from Binds"
Sub-Levels [Sunagakure]
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The library is the first sub-floor of the Administration Dome. It is literally just down the stairs on the east side of the Kazekage Administration Dome and it is located one floor below the lobby/ground-floor of the structure. The Library is publically accessible and has a variety of texts in the form of books, scrolls, and similar. Below the Library, on Sub-Level 2, the Records Department lies. These records are more or less also publically accessible and thus there is next to nothing stored there that might be considered "secret" or particularly relevant to the business of ninja. The two floors below the Records Department both comprise Sub-Level 3, or "Restricted Access Records Department". It is guarded, watched, and requires authorization to enter — especially for foreigners, who may also be escorted. The only Sub-Levels lower than 3 are not actually part of the Dome structure at all. Sub-Level 5 and lower are called simply "the Catacombs". The Catacombs are a vast network of underground tunnels that predate Sunagakure by centuries, or perhaps millennia.
People stay out of the Catacombs.
They are very bad.
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Once again, it was time to figure out just what to do with the Hachibi. This time, though… This time, Arika didn't want anyone to interfere. She wanted to do this her own way. The gates for the eight tails was sealed, so he couldn't escape. But she could still talk. And that's what she wanted to do. The girl sat in the middle of underground chambers, Ping and Jiro likely with her as well, and she closes her eyes to send herself into the abyss. The place that the chakra beast lay hidden within…
Like before, there was a huge cage for the eight tails. Everything looked as fine as it usually did. Interestingly… Considering the whole place was likely destroyed from the last little interaction. But no, everything was intact! Arika beams a bit at seeing her own little corner, then faces the cage. "Hello?" she calls out.
Jiro and Ping are indeed with Arika, both sitting on either side of the girl and ready to react should something unexpected happen. Hopefully they won't have to worry too much about that however.
Once Arika has entered that inner sanctum the beast behind the bars is hidden in shadows, shadows of it's own making inside this little portion of the area. At Arika's greeting white eyes appear from the depths and a slow rumbling comes from behind the bars. "Girl. What do you want?" It doesn't sound angry or mad. In fact it sounds almost genuinely curious.
Arika peers at Gyuki to make sure that he really isn't going to kill her. "I wanted to ask you if you'd work with me. We don't gotta be friends, but it'd be nice if you weren't trying to break free every other day," she tells the ox-topus. The girl gives a small nod, then starts listing things out. "If you work with me, then you could prolly do things more easy. I wouldn't have to be fighting you all the time, either. And then I'd be a bit stronger, which means there's less a chance that you'd die just for being in here."
Itami made the descent below to observe the progress of what was taking place in the catacombs. Quietly entering the area, she took a seat against a wall and watched the training commence. Hopefully, she wouldn't be too much of a disturbance, but she had to at least see how things were going thus far. No reports of issues is a good thing, right?
When Itami mkes her appearance Jiro's eyes switch to her and he frowns a little at the Kage. Comin' in and disturbin' things! But still Ping doesn't seem to care that she's there so the boy also doesn't make any real fuss about it. For now!
The squidox continues to peer from his shadows towards Arika for a few moments in silence before he finally comes closer to the edge of the cage and into the light. "Why should I do this? What reason do I have to not only allow this partnership, but also to stop trying to free my self from this cursed place."
"If you're good, I can let you out every now and then. You'll have to use my body, unless you feel like terrorizing the village with your huge form. But still! I know that Kazu-kun sometimes has Sai-kun (the six tails) take over. They don't do it that willingly, but I think that means that it can be done. So if we work together, wouldn't it just make things easier?" Arika tells Gyuki. She has to really crane her neck to even talk to him!
Itami lofted a brow at Jiro, but her expression didn't remain for very long. She had to focus on what was going on here, after all. She folded her arms and decided to make herself comfortable to see the events unfold. It was never a comfortable feeling engaging a bijuu or having to look at them. She'd encountered enough of them and other things to know she didn't want to bother with them too much. Pushed her limits often enough, but not to the point of trying to die at the hands of one.
Jiro scrunches up his face at Itami…then sticks his tongue out at her because…why not? Ping just gives him a look however and he stops. Instead, after looking to Ping and receiving a nod of agreement, the boy stands, stretches, then goes to sit next to Itami. Easier to bug her from here. "Wha'chu doin' down here?" He asks as he sits.
Gyuki peers down at Arika as she speaks, the horned bull seeming to weigh her in his gaze. "So you offer me a limited freedom, hmm?" The bijuu asks with a loud, thoughtful sound. "Tell me girl. If I do give you my strength, what are you going to do with it?" His eyes stare down piercingly, almost like he'd know if she was lying!
"I dunno," she says with a small shrug. "Use it when I should. I'm not gonna terrify any villages or anything, y'know. Prolly just do stuff that will help the village." Arika frowns a bit. "Umm… But I really dunno. There's no real good reason for me to use it unless I'm in super-danger or I just wanna end something real quick."
Itami was halfway inclined to rise up and deck Jiro in the face, but because she didn't want to mess everything up, she withheld her issues and just sat against the wall, finding herself more perturbed than she was previously. She withdrew her legs to keep herself from rocking them in irritation, instead bottling up all her frustration in a locked pose. Legs folded, arms folded, eyes closed.
She didn't see Jiro's approach, but she could certainly sense it from the vibrations his footfalls made. When he takes a seat, she inhales deeply and sighs the breath out, only now deciding to open her eyes as he questions her. "I'm not doing anything aside from watching. I feel I am well within reason and right to be down here. I did give you all this place to utilize towards her benefit," she muttered softly.
Aww, deck sweet innocent Jiro? After all he's done for you? The boy grins toothily at Itami. "Yea', I dun see why ya wouldn' wanna see. Not there's too much ta actually see bu'…you can kinda feel it." The boy shrugs as he turns his attention back to Arika. "B'sides, you guys'r the one tha' put it in her. Shouldn' be too much of'a problem ta use a spot."
"You ask for my help and my strength, yet you don't know what you will do with it should I give it to you? That does not bode well, child." Gyuki's voice sounds almost haunted as he starts to step back in his prison, slowly receding towards the shadows again.
Arika huffs faintly. "I tol' you stuff I'd definitely use it for. I dunno what it's like getting you to cooperate. All the times I had to call on you, you were about as will to give me your chakra as a bee that wants to share its honey. If you /have/ to know what I'd use it for, it'd be to protect people I care about, like Jiro-kun or Itami-chan or Miya-chan or Ping-san. And whatever happens to fall under those categories will be what I'll be poking you for. And maybe the occasional boring mission."
"I suppose so…" Itami remarked to Jiro. "There isn't much to see, no. I can only feel. The sensation rendered by bijuu is indescribable," she offers. "It's a mixture of many things and hard to put into words. Seeing them is an entirely different story, though. I've seen enough to last me a lifetime, felt more than enough to follow me into the afterlife too." She shifted in place to make herself more comfortable.
Jiro's silent for a short time as he just watches the non-moving Arika. "Ya know 'm gonna protect 'er as good as I can, fer as long as I can." It kind of comes out of left field when he says it and he sounds…surprisingly serious. He looks up to Itami then with a bit of a determined look. "So don' try'n put me anywhere else, got it?"
Gyuki stops walking away and looks back to Arika again before turning to face her and walking up to the bars, lowering his head so it rests on the ground and puts him (at least a little more) on eye level. "Come closer child," he says in his low, rumbling voice.
Arika squeaks a bit nervously. Scary Gyuki! But she nods and wanders over so that she's closer to the giant chakra beast. She's determined not to act like a frightened rabbit, at least! She can only look him in one eye from this distance, though, so that'll have to do for now.
"That's all I ever hoped for," Itami offered back to Jiro. "I don't plan on placing you anywhere else. I trusted you with her life and you've far exceeded my expectations. I'm happy for what you both have accomplished together. I wouldn't have been able to do this on my own." She turned her focus to the boy and smiled. "I'd be going back on my own word if I did such a thing."
Jiro looks a little surprised at Itami's words. He knew that she's put them together more often than not but he didn't suspect that she'd really let him stay as her 'protector', more or less. He'll take it though! The boy grins toothily up at Itami and nods. "Goo'!" He considers a moment, then takes a few pens out of a pouch. "I was gonna…borrow…these, but I guess I don' really need 'em." It was pretty much every pen in Itami's office…
As Arika comes close Gyuki inhales deeply through his nose to keep her scent. "I have seen your strength and I know you are able to do much, even so young. And you seem to care for these people, Ping and Jiro, from what I have seen. You are perhaps a worthy vessel. If you swear to not use my power for childish or barbaric reasons, and only when it is truly necessary, then I will grant it to you. If you give me at least occasional freedom of your body, I will stop fighting you for control. These things I swear, as long as you swear in return."
Arika figures that the Hachibi wouldn't really accept her answer if she didn't put some thought into it, so the girl muses over what all that means. No pranks… Well, that was easy enough, she supposed. And she didn't really like destroying a bunch of things, as she said earlier. "Fine," she agrees. "That all sounds good t' me."
Itami nodded to Jiro and was about to turn her attention back to Arika when he spoke of borrowing something. The discovery that he had all of her pens sent her rage flying back up, but she stuffed it back down and simply held her hand back to receive all the pens she was missing. There went a bunch of ryo to shops that sold 'em. They were close the entire time! Why she didn't suspect him of being the ultimate culprit of her missing pen problem, she'll never know. "It appears I'm going to have to keep things locked up. Never thought I'd need to have theft protection for office supplies…"
Jiro looks soooooo innocent as he smiles at Itami with his big blue eyes and that shocking red hair. "Dun worry, I won' borrow 'em anymore," he says with a nod. He'll find something else to go after probably. Why she doesn't suspect him of being the culprit for any missing things is a mystery!
Gyuki continues to look at Arika for a few more moments before he nods a little and straightens back up to his full height. "Swear it to me child, an oath that is binding so that I know you will not back out."
"I swear that I won't be using you t' do silly stuff or mean stuff," Arika says solemnly. Well, as solemnly as she can. The girl is 10 and probably doesn't sound very dignified.
"Borrow is used very loosely in this situation, but I'll let that slide…" Itami snorted softly as she stuffed the handful of pens into a pocket on her person.
"I'm feeling a bit shaken right now. I trust Arika to handle herself well enough, but I find myself concerned at her being like this. It's hard knowing that all of this is taking place inside her and I can't do anything about it," she states. "Not that I could, anyway, but…"
Jiro just keeps looking at Itami all innocent like until she starts talking about Ari again. Only then does he looks back towards her as well, then shrugs a little bit. "I know she c'n do it. She's strong, an' she's fought him from doin' too much bad stuff this long. 'm sure she'll do goo' here too." Lots of faith in this little one!
Gyuki gives a large nod of his large head down at Arika. "Very well, I accept and will work with you from now on." He just stands there for now, still watching Arika to see if she has anything else to say or do before she decides to leave. They would have to wait for someone to remove the bars after all.
Arika grins to Gyuki. "Arigatou, Hachi-jii!" she says cheerfully. She'd probably have given him a big hug if he wasn't behind those bars!
