Starring:
Date: September 30, 2014
Summary:
Nanashi contracts a seal master named Nina to assist her in taking on her inner self to finish the struggle for its mind once and for all.
"The Unknown Reflection - Jekyll and Hyde"
Land of Rice Paddies - Abandoned Temple
Evening time in the Land of Rice Paddies, and the day has finally come that the seal master Nanashi hired should be arriving. The location they're meeting at is a bit odd, an abandoned temple with an underground passageway that its done a bit of work to make it serve as a containment field as well. With the seal master's help, hopefully this will go over quite well. Still, the being can't help but be nervous as it sits waiting. Today is the today it must face the woman it fears the most… The one whose side even Shukaku itself is on. Chances of defeating her seem slim enough to be rather frightening, but this has to be done, or it risks a rampage that could flatten everything in its path, including its friends. Thus it paces back and forth in the temple, trying to calm itself as it waits…
The Seal Masterwas a youthful looking woman with short auburn hair and sharp green eyes. She stood just over 5 feet tall and wore a nondescript top and pants over boots. Her arms were covered by tattoos, seals written into her very flesh. She carried no visible weapons on her person. She had recieved the purse with instructions to meet her employer at the old temple and thus here she was. She watched Nanashi pacing, taking it in with a calm expression. Finallly she stepped forward and descended the stairs the rest of the way. "Hello. You are the one who sought me out?"
As the woman finally walks in, Nanashi stops pacing and turns to look at her. "Yes," it says with a nod. "I need some help. I imagine the size of the purse you were given indicates enough to you that this job is potentially incredibly hazardous." After a brief pause, it explains, "I am a Jinchuuriki with two seals, one containing the Bijuu and one in my brain that seals off a piece of my identity that has proven to be rather malicious. What I need you to do is unlock these seals so I can access them and take both of them on. I won't deny there's a chance you won't survive this, so, if you don't have the stomach for it, I will understand if you want to walk away. If you are willing to give it a try, however, follow me into this passageway, and we can begin." With that it'd turn to walk into the basement area where the containment field has been setup, hoping the woman will come along.
The woman nodded to Nanashi's words. Indeed, the size of the purse had told her this would not be a simple job. "You may call me Nina." She said as she moved to follow Nanashi into the passageway. "I have already arranged for if I do not survive, If you don't mind I would like to examine the seal that is visible on your body first. the one in your mind may be harder to find but I have no doubt I shall." She smiled a bit and once they were well inside the containment field she waited for her employer to show her the seals that were visible. And what order would you like to face your foes in?"
"Alright," Nanashi says with a nod, turning to face the woman and nodding. Luckily enough the clothes it wears in its Kagura form do not cover its stomach, thus it merely focuses a bit of chakra to force the seal pattern to make its appearance on its stomach. This should easily enough make the seal in its brain more findable, especially since there's already some chakra leaking from it due to previous damage. "I imagine I need to face my other self first before I can take on Shukaku. It's probably also safer since that seal's already a bit damaged."
Nina nodded and went closer to study the seal on Nanashi's stomach. "Ahh I see." She nodded a few times and without touchin, traced a part of the intricate pattern. "Very well. Please excuse my touch." She reached out with both hands, one on either side of Nanashi's head, her eyes closed as she reached out with her chakra, searching for a seal marring the mind of her 'patient'. It was there, it was indeed leaking and damaged but it would not be too awkward to release it. She pulled her hands back long enough to form several seals and her palms lit in an intricate pattern, a Key so to speak. She pressed the palm against Nanashi's forehead, making contact and unsealing the mark on it's mind.
"Do whatever you need to," Nanashi says with a nod before closing its eyes. Within its mind the being finds itself standing in front of a large gate much like the one Shukaku is trapped behind, except this one has a large crack in it with chakra leaking out in a fiery glow toward it. As the handseals are made to release it, its eyes narrow as the paper covering the lock on the gate falls to the wayside, allowing the lock to spin and be undone. All at once, the gate is blasted open by a wave of sand that sends the massive structure flying in four pieces past Nanashi into the distance. "Well, well, well," the gleefully disturbing voice of the woman of Nanashi's nightmares rings out as the dust starts to settle, revealing her stepping out from where the gate once stood. "It seems you've finally come to try and take me on, hmm, Nanashi? Tell me, now that the memories of who you really are can start to flood back into your mind, how is it that you hope to defeat me? I'm afraid you don't have the same advantage most Jinchuuriki are afforded by having a rightful claim to the full mind you inhabit. You were just the shell of a powerful kunoichi that tried to take on a life of its own thanks to the meddling of that annoying Uzumaki that put us in this predicament. Isn't that right, Shukaku?"
From the other side of the realm of its mind, the yellow eyes of the corrupted Shukaku glow from its cage. Its shrill, dark laugh rings out thunderously. "Don't worry, Nanashi, we'll kill him for you. Just let the drums carry you away into your rest, and we'll take care of the rest. This world of weaklings can all bite the dust to the rhythm of the drums. We're gonna teach them the lesson they need to learn, eh, Keiko?"
"Keiko?" Nanashi asks, blinking as it looks from Shukaku back to the woman before it. "I… Is that your name?"
"Yes, that's your name, shell," Keiko says with a dark smirk. "You can feel it, can't you? Wave after wave. That's me coming back into my brain. Those memories are mine, good and bad. I thank you for keeping me alive and strong while I was locked away, but your skill is nothing compared to mine. It's time the sandbox became a part of the raging desert once again."
Nina felt the seal loosen and come apart. The shift in the chakra was disturbing and for a moment she wondered what she had set in motion. But then she reminded herself it was not her concern. As long as she walked away from this she would be content. When she unsealed Nanashi's mind, the thing's body went limp and Nina caught the body, gently lowering it to the floor before moving back and away from it, watching but keeping her distance. The battle would be inside Nanashi's head….
Nanashi stares hard at Keiko for a bit, almost if in disbelief, but it's more a failed attempt at denial. It winces a bit as it feels exactly what Keiko describes coming to pass. "… No," it says sternly, brows furrowing as it steps into a fighting stance. "I won't let you erase me." With that it points a hand forward, sending a wave of sand around Keiko to wrap around her and try to crush her on the spot.
Surprisingly Keiko doesn't even attempt a dodge or block. Instead it lets it come… and literally absorbs the sand Nanashi tries to destroy it with. "Do you really think something so simple is going to work against me?" she asks, chuckling darkly as a tail and arm of sand begin to sprout to take on a half-body of Shukaku's form, sending a hand out to grab Nanashi and squeeze down to try to cause a far greater amount of damage to it than it would have done to her.
Nina sat back, pulling some food and water from her pack, settling in with a book and the food as Nanashi faced it's demons litaral and metaphoricaly. She'd brought along plenty of food anda couple of books just in case this took longer than expected. It seemed she would have quite a bit of time to wait for this first seal to be dealt with. She did not envy Nanashi for what had ben done to it, but she hoped she could help even a little. And she'd learned a few things about the seals already. Fascinating it was.
Despite trying to respond in kind in how Keiko defended herself, Nanashi winds up caught in the bind. Outwardly the being would start to sweat a bit and tense up as inside the realm of its mind it is squeezed hard by the monstrous hand. Spreading from it as it cries out, however, are an arm and tail to match those Keiko bears as it sends a monstrous arm out in kind to try and grab her to squeeze down and damage her in the same way.
Despite Nanashi's effort, Keiko absorbs its attacks once again. It quite literally laughs, asking, "Not so easy when you're facing someone who knows your jutsu better than you do yourself, is it? This isn't a battle you're equipped to win like your others." The sand then turns back against Nanashi, going to wash over it and quite literally crush it under its weight and force. It seems Keiko's words aren't just cocky exaggeration. They're facts stated by the one whose spent time training under Shukaku's tutelage inside this realm for years.
Nina watched Nanashi's body, watched as it lay still as deal. She could sense the chakra rising and falling breaking and swelling like a wave against the beach. She had no illusions as to what such erratic chakra could do to a person's mind. Then she spotted the twitching. The expression on Nanashi's face was a hint of pain. Nina took another bite of her food. If Nanashi showed much more pain, she would try to do something abotu it. But she did not wish to give the energy or healing to the wrong side. She didn't even know which side she should be cheering for…
Another cry of pain escapes Nanashi's lips as it is crushed under a large pile of sand. It starts to shake a bit, except it turns on the offensive now again, absorbing the sand to make it cover its entire body to take on the look of a real miniature Shukaku. It lets out a shrill battle cry, pointing both hands at Keiko as it fires a barrage of sand orbs at it with intent to strike it in huge mass.
Nanashi at last makes a hit, the orbs striking Keiko over and over and sending it falling back. From the other side of the realm more and more sand has begin to blow in, Shukaku doing what it can to make this battle more intense for its own amusement. Keiko takes advantage of this to the fullest extent, returning fire by bringing its hands up to create dozens of sand orbs to rain down on Nanashi in return.
Though it tries to absorb the sand, Nanashi winds up taking strike after strike and is sent back a few times, skidding along the ground through the ever-growing sand that seems to rain from all around. As it moves, it points a hand up at Keiko, stretching it out toward her and sending it to try and grab her.
Caught by the arm, Keiko is unable to dodge as a massive wave of sand flies up over her and washes down onto her with crushing force. There's not much time to act further, however, as giant hands stand to rise up out of the floor, attempting to grab it and yank it down into the sand. Reacting quickly, Nanashi flies up off of the floor on a large chunk of sand. This gets it away from the first wave, but it is then yanked down into the and by a second wave coming up behind it. Before it can do anything, a massive tsunami of sand rises up and crashes down on top of it, trapping it under a giant mass of sand with crushing force.
After several moments, the sand would clear away to form a valley around Nanashi, revealing Keiko stand over it. At this moment the drums begin to play, getting louder and louder by the moment until they've reached a deafening volume. Yet, through this sound, Nanashi can clearly hear Keiko's voice as if it were simply talking to itself. "It's time, Nanashi… I know it is all starting to make more sense to you now. You can feel my thoughts taking over your mind. This is what you've been searching for all this time. It may not be what you'd hoped it would, but this is who we are." With that she looks back at Shukaku with a dark smirk.
"But what's going to happen to me?… Do I just die? Fade away?"
"No, you become a part of me and live as you were always meant to," she says as she looks back. "You only exist in this form because I was sealed off from you, after all. You know that by now. I wasn't always this way myself. In fact, I was a normal girl in a normal clan, but that Uzumaki who captured Shukaku and then took our family made me into this. I am the only one of us left. At first I tried to resist, but then I realized I could only survive and get strong enough to make my return if I heeded the calls… The drums… The never-ending drums… The call to be stronger… The call to war. Now join me…. and we'll teach this world a lesson." With that she looks back at Shukaku, smirking again. "Starting with him."
As Keiko looks back down to Nanashi, it seems to hesitate a long moment, but it can feel itself getting weaker by the moment… Finally it reaches up extending a hand, which is promptly met by that of Keiko who grins madly as Nanashi is literally absorbed into her.
Outside, Nanashi's body quite literally changed before Nina's eyes, growing taller and more voluptuous, clothes and hair even changing to those of Keiko. Finally the woman opens her eyes, that same made grin crossing her lips before she leaps to her feet and starts to stretch out a bit. "Finally! That cage was such a cramp," she says, voice completely changed, replaced by the mad voice of Keiko. It doesn't stop there, however. She turns to look at Nina, saying, "I think I paid you for more, right?… Unlock the other one."
