A Less-Than-Fond Farewell

I slowly pushed open the huge double-doors to the Kinzoku Castle. I walked in timidly, not knowing what to expect. The only other time I was in here, it had been to break into the library. I had come from my home.. er.. my shack. It wasn't exactly an extravagant home.. but it was a home nonetheless. I wore my white T-shit and black jeans. I had my supply bag hoisted up over my right shoulder, and a black leather jacket slung over my left. One of my fangs jutted out over my lower lip, and my brown hair was messed and wildly, giving me a slightly rabid look. I walked up to the receptionist. "Excuse me, ma'am.. I request an audience with the Hebikage. When is he available?" I asked politely, against my better will. She replied in a loud and slightly obnoxious voice, "Sure honey. I think he actually just got back from the Templeof Thor." She then gave me directions to his office, and I began making my way through the castle.

I would finally make it to the office, and would push the door open a little more harshly than I had originally intended. He was sitting at his desk. I opened up conversation. "Hello again, old man." I would say before making a sarcastic bow. Hey, I said I'd be nice to the village, not him. He was just another jerk who hopped on the long line of rejection for my life.

Takeshi looked up from his desk, he had been dozing in and out of a light nap which helped him get a little rest. He saw Lee and the first thing that came to mind was how he had responded when the kid showed up for an on the spot training session, he regretted the way he responded now but he knew Lee and that an apology wouldnt amount to anything so he just gestured towards the high backed chair in front of his desk. The room was lit by the large fireplace on the far wall, giving a rustic feel to the space as well as a pleasant amount of warmth for discussion. "Need something kid?" His response was short but his tone was back to his normal voice, a mixture of calmness and caring like a father talking to his kid. He was curios what was going on, Lee had a rather stuffed pack with him and he wasnt aware of him being sent off on a long term mission but he would wait and see if things cleared themselves up first.

As Takeshi, the "honorable" Hebikage gestured me to sit down, I was inclined to refuse. I would shake my head as he pointed at the chair, and start my blunt proposition. "Not necessary," I would begin to say, "I'm leaving." I walked over to his desk and and leaned on it with both of my arms after dumping my belongings into the chair he had offered to me. I continued my request, which was less of a request and more of an inquiry, "I'm sure you know of me. Whether it be through local gossip or your ANBU, it shouldn't have been to hard to figure out who I am. I'm your second Jinchuuriki. After a life of confusion and neglect, you were the last person whom I had a chance of depending on. After stealing from your library information about the Bijuu. And before you start, yes, I stole books. I admit it. Sick your ANBU on me for all I care. Prison can't be worse than my home now, and the solidarity of the cell might even be good to study in. But hell, I doubt confining one of the great tailed beasts would work out in your favor, hm? Anyway, back to the matter at hand. You were my last hope, and you turned out to be another disappointment as well. Save your excuses, if you even cared enough to make up any, because it's too late. Like I said, I'm leaving. I'm fed up with your pathetic village full of hypocrites who would create a problem like me, and not even care enough to pay attention to it. Who would even go so far as to reject it even though they were at fault and not the problem itself. Your people are gods-forsaken ass-shits, and frankly I doubt you're any better. Do what you will in response to my insults, I doubt my life could be any more painful, and I won't forsake my blunt personality for the likes of you, Kage." I said this in a mocking tone and held out my arms so as to take a hit from him, "Go ahead. Try me. If not, I haven't finished. As I've said, I'm leaving. But not I won't be leaving as a ninja of your village, no. I've decided not to give up on your village, even if they have on me. I will be leaving your care, however. I will escape to the North. Away from villages, away from prying eyes, away from ridicule, and away form you. I will train myself in the frozen tundras of the land of Northern Frost, because if your people have taught me anything, it's that I can only rely on one person. Me." As I finished, a re-tied my shinobi headband to my forehead as a symbol of perseverance. "Anything you wish to say, old man?"

Takeshi sat back and listened to the kid, his tone was less than respectful and although he normally didn't care about such things it seemed he was doing this on purpose which was odd. It seemed he wanted to leave, there was a standard procedure for a Jinchuuriki leaving the village so he would just explain it to him and see where he stood after that. "Jinchuuriki wanting to leave the village is fairly common around here, at least with those hosting the Yonbi, there is a simple set of things that needs to happen before we let you be on your way. Well really its only one thing, you are free to go wherever you want but the bijuu will be staying here. As you read up on the beasts Im sure you know what happens when you two get separated." The answer was a bit morbid but it was honest, his tone of voice would tell that much. "I'd really rather not do that though, youre a nice kid and a shinobi of the storm even if they havent exactly been great to you personally. The choice is yours though so what will it be? And dont think of running out of here because as Im sure youre aware coming into my home is walking into my element quite literally." He didnt want to hurt Lee, he didnt want to hurt any storm citizen but letting the yonbi out on its own was dangerous and a slight mistake in his training could release it and the beast didnt have a good reputation with the village meaning those he had sworn to protect would be in danger and that was unacceptable.

I began thinking rapidly of every possible course of action to take after the Kage had given me my options. Idiot! I should have just left. Fuck respectful farewells. However, it was too late. I could try to run, but that would be futile. I had done my research. This man was Kinzoku, and this castle made of metal. Bad combination to be fighting against. Diplomacy, it seems, was my only option. "So, Hebikage," I began my attempt at persuasion as I stood up straight and crossed my arms, "You plan on taking my Bijuu to prevent me from leaving to train it, when you yourself proclaimed your obvious distaste in training me yourself, when you are the only one capable of training me? No one else knows how, or has the capability of finding out. That is, unless I train myself. And I refuse to train one of the great tailed beasts in the middle of a crowded village. That would only lead to even more chaos, and judging by the looks of things," as I said this I pointed out the window to the slums below, "You do not need anymore chaos. Let me leave with my Bijuu to train. I will be away from other villages, so you will not lose my allegiance. And besides.. from the intel I've gathered myself through.. certain skills.. I believe you have a Summit coming up, eh? In the Northern Frost to boot. Pick me up on your way back from there. Let me leave. I've suffered enough at the hands of your people, but this thing is a part of me now. Removing it from me.. would be fatal in more ways than one."

Takeshi slammed his hand on the table and with the use of metal bending the room erupted in a change in shape. Claws reached out from the wall and buried themselves in the door and only exit, sealing it tight while the rest of the room was covered in giant spikes. Some of these spikes coming within inches of Lee. The Hebikage rose from his seat, his already red eyes glowing with anger as an expression Lee had never seen on the kage in his life was expressed. This was the look he often had when he was charging into battle during the civil war over twelve years ago. "Insolent child, you try to reason with me on this? I have given you the option to either stay here and train in a safe environment or the only alternative which I assume by your words you never read in the book I knew you took. The second I have someone take that damn wolf out of you your heart will stop beating and you fall over dead but not instantly. I gave you and Rosuto both the chance to live normal lives and be regular people but all of a sudden the village requires me to turn him into a simple weapon and you seem to want the same thing. You want to be nothing more than a tool for us to use as we see fit? Fine, I can make you the ultimate tool but you will start showing respect to those that could snap your neck like the thin twig it is whenever they damn well please." He would hold a look on Lee like a crazed hunter with his prey trapped, he was no longer in the state of mind he normally held and was irrational but considering the company he was speaking with it seemed fitting.

As the room morphed into a steel-shaped hell.. I remain unwavered. This man underestimated my harsh perception of reality, and more importantly, what I wanted. Perhaps I hadn't been clear enough. I was surrounded by metal hooks, spikes and claws on all inches of my body. I moved my neck in closer to the one pointed at my throat, and forced it to dig into my skin, causing a small trickle of blood to run down my chest and stain my shirt. My eyes began to glow, and my skin began to try to tear itself apart. She wanted to come out. "Do it, Kinzoku. I give no respect to those who show none to me. You will never understand the hell I've gone through. You will never understand the pain of this beast trying to break out of my very flesh at the mere thought of me being a little too angry. You will never understand what it's like to be constantly kicked down by everyone around you when all you wanted was a friend. A tool? A weapon? That's what you think I want?! Ha! I envy you, Takeshi Kinzoku, Shadow of the Snakes, to be so naive. I do not want to be a weapon. I want to finally conquer this.. this THING!" As I shouted that, a large wave of scorching chakra shot off my body, melting the tips of the metal claws around me, and raising the temperature of the room to the heat of a hot Summer's day. The heat did not come from me, however. It came from the demon. "I cannot live as a slave any longer. I cannot live as a plaything, as a storage container for this monster for the rest of my life. I will control it. I will defeat it. It will be mine, instead of the other way around. And I will accomplish this whether you help me or not. My will is too strong, and my pain too great. Kill me if you wish, I am very aware that you could 'snap me like a twig' as you said, but your castle would be missing large section if you tried. You know more than anyone what happens when the host is killed. And for the record, you didn't offer me anything. I was less than a month old when this monster was put into me. I grew up in hell, not in normalcy, not in comfort. You didn't offer me training either. You spat in my face, or did you forget about that? And you blame me for wanting to go out on my own and doing it myself? Well do you?!" I felt my anger well up inside of me, as I fought desperately against what was boiling inside of me. I.. had to.. hold it.. back..

"Here I come, Akuma. Demon of the Storm. Here I come.."

The boy kept talking about how he wanted to leave this village so bad, it cut him dee as he remembered his youth when this village that he loved more than anything was ripped away from him and he was forced to walk the world around his home, forbidden from returning but being forced to sit and look at it. Then it happened, the thing that he had been trying for, the demon emerged on the surface. He reeled in his emotions suddenly, his angry act had succeeded in its purpose and he was able to speak with the real problem here. "Welcome Okami, its been what? Fourteen years?" He sat back in his chair and smirked, it was time to have a meeting with a demon. It had indeed been that long, he had been there when the beast was sealed into Lee after it broke free during one of the final battles of the revolution and it was due to that encounter that Takeshi knew something very interesting about the yonbi. She was terrified of serpents, he knew exactly why as well. Over five hundred years ago when the four tails was originally captured by Senso Kinzoku he used a world serpent that was a direct ancestor of the beast Takeshi had the power to summon and being captured a second time by a Kinzoku using the exact same tactic meant she had a weakness and all he could do was laugh at her.

He wasnt sure though if the beast was all the way to the surface yet but it was close for sure and he planned to bait it out as its influence must be having these negative side effects on her host. He had made it very clear to everyone in the village that the temple was offering food and a place to sleep to anyone in need so there was no need for him to live in the slums but still he chose to do so which did nothing but stir up a hatred. He moved the spikes closer to Lee so that they held his body in place, no longer having a cutting edge but securing him in the single location in case the bijuu's chakra decided to surface along with its personality.

I was locked in place. The spikes had been blunted by the heat coming off of my body melting the tips. I felt every limb lock in place, not being able to budge. I fought back so hard.. but it was worthless. Images of my past flashed before my eyes..

Images.. of death..

"Honey, get ready for school! You don't want to be late for your first day!" chimed my mother from the kitchen, "C'mon Lee.. you're so lazy!" she would finish jokingly. I was 6 years old, and it was my first day at the academy. My father had been dead since the first year of my life, and I didn't know him well at all, let alone how he died. I remember rolling out of bed and onto the floor, crawling to my closet to get dressed for the academy. After putting on jeans, I heard a loud bang from the kitchen. "No! Leave!" I heard my mother yell. I ran downstairs to see what was going on. I got down the stairs to see the back of one of the people that had entered my home. He was dawned in all black, and had several weapons. I would run to the closet to his left before he turned around and saw me. When I reached the closet, I cracked the door. I saw.. everything.

There were three of them. The men in black compression suits, wearing large headbands on their foreheads. The headbands showed the emblem of the village hidden in the Oasis. We were at war.. It wasn't odd that they had infiltrated the village. But why were they here? One of the men picked my mother up by the neck. "Where's the boy?! We know he's here!" he yelled. As he yelled this, both of the other men withdrew katana. "I don't know what you're talking about! I have no children!" my mother yelled back in fear. She was protecting me. "Liar!" as he yelled this, he withdrew a kunai with the hand not holding her throat.. and thrust his arm at her. As his arm drew closer to her neck.. she looked right at me through the crack in the closet door. The kunai slashed through her neck, dropping her to the floor.. killing her instantly. I curled back into the dark corner of the closet.. in the shadows.. hoping they wouldn't find me.. I fell asleep holding back sobs.. why live now though?


I felt a tear fall down my cheek.. as the first tail shot out of my back. My skin began to tear off. My eyes began to glow. "A Kinzoku.... how quaint..." I heard ring through my mind. She was beating me.. I had to fight! But.. more.. images..


It was white.. everywhere. There was nothing. I was nothing. I stood in nothing, looking around to nothing. In the distance.. something appeared in the void. It was.. who was that? Was that me? Sitting on the ground.. crying? Around the crying me, a crowd of people began to form. They pointed.. they laughed.. why were they laughing at me? Then I saw myself stand up to ask for help.. from anyone. They screamed and ran.. I was.. monster.. monster.. I was just a monster. Then a huge wolf covered in fire stood next to me.. the heat.. it was so hot.. "Child?" it would say, "Child, why do you cry?" she sounded like a mother. She sounded worried. But.. it was her fault that they screamed.. it was because of her I was a monster.. how could I let her care? How could I take her help? How could I let something that tried to take me over every time I so much as cursed care for me? But.. I had no choice... who else would care? I saw myself leap up onto the wolf's back, and then the image burst into flames.



"Child.." she called out in my mind, "I would not be able to beat him even if I took control. You must do this alone. I will be here. I will be here."

My head.. hurts so bad..

I opened my eyes as my conscious came back to greet me. I looked at the Hebikage with eyes of forsakenness. I had given up. If he wasn't going to let me train myself, and he wasn't going to want to teach me himself, what else could I do but give up? "No, Lee. Fight. Fight for your dreams. You'll get there, but you never will if you give up here." I would look to the Kage now with renewed vigor. I had to press on, and I had to endure. As always. "Help me, reject me, or kill me. Make up your mind."

He was impressed with the progress already made, Lee had come to me earlier today for training to try and master the beast within himself and although I had not done my job at that point I was making up for it now without telling him until we got some results. Already the beast seemed to be withdrawing of its own accord in addition to the boy fighting through it, all Takeshi had to do at this point was continue to act like a dick to bait it on until at last Lee would be able to more or less tell the Okami to go to hell whenever he pleased. "Hmm, let me think for a minute. How about I just dont decide at all and keep you here like my plaything just like my clan has kept your little wolf buddy in place for all these years. Sound fun to you?" He was working hard, making sure not to let the kid know that he was just putting on an act from the start otherwise all of this would have been for nothing.

And now, the real fight began. Takeshi began insulting me, as well as the Bijuu. I, for one, knew exactly what he was doing. He was coaxing the demon out of me. My Bijuu, the Yonbi, was extremely cunning and intelligent, but also very short-tempered. This would be her downfall. So, as soon as I had fought down the 4-tails back into my chakra system, it burst right back out. Still held in place, I began losing control.

First, the Bijuu took control of my voice. "Kinzoku, you insolent pup! How dare you insult the Yonbi!" flowed from my mouth in the voice of a demonic woman. Then, she took control of my body. My arms began twitching, and my body gave off so much heat the the metal spikes and claws began to melt even further, slowly granting me more and more movement. The Bijuu forced me to keep lashing out at the Kage, even though he was well out of my reach. The first tail shot from behind me again, and began whipping at each spike in an attempt to break free.

As I was calm in my head, the Bijuu was not, taking serious offense to this insult. "Puppy?! Of all the stupid things to test my anger.. You use 'Puppy?!'"

I was getting angry as well, but not at the Hebikage (for once). I was angry at this wolf spirit inside of me.. engulfing me. I was the host.. I was in control, not it! No!
"Shut.. Up!" I said with an irreplaceable firmness. With a sudden outburst of my own chakra against the demon's, I forced it to quell back inside of me. I had won.

The first tail was mine.

It would appear the kid had done what he needed to and the beast was sealed up tight once more within the confines of his chakra system. With that done Takeshi tapped on the desk once more, sending his chakra through the room to put it back the way it was with a few scorch marks added from the bijuu chakra. He once more gestured to the seat in front of his desk and sat back into his chair. "Well Lee, it seems you are starting to make some progress with your bijuu and all it took was someone else insulting her. I know a few other things about the Okami if you want to know but if not Im sure you want to get on the road quickly am I right?" He smiled like normal once again, he had helped Lee and hoped his on the fly training could help convince him to stay.

The metal claws were gone in an instant, and I was right back to square one. Takeshi offered me a seat once more, and this time, I took it. As I sat down, I was slightly confused as to what had just occurred. Had he just trained me? Yes.. I think he did. How in the fuck did that happen?

I scratched my head. I had obviously been outsmarted. And even more obviously, I was still very lost. "Wait.. so, uh.. you're not killing me or killing me by taking the Bijuu.. and you actually want to train me? Old man, what's wrong with normal training? Like.. meditation.. push-ups even.. mind-raping me was definitely not how I expected you'd go about doing things," After saying this I began to rethink my strategy. With circumstances changing so drastically, I now really only had one choice. "Fine, I'll stay. What crazy shit's gonna happen next? Whatever you can think of, I'll do it."

He just chuckled, Lee was going to stay but he was also very confused about all this which was completely understandable and it was time to explain. "Of course I want to train you Lee, without mastery of that thing your life will be the same hell it has been up to now. You were just to young before now, doing something like drawing out its power would have had some bad results." He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out his cigarette case and lighter. Lighting one up for himself he offered one to Lee.

I took the cigarette from the Hebikage and lit it using a minuscule amount of my scorch chakra. As I took a puff, I began to ponder. "So you're saying.. you actually want to help me? You want to help me as an individual and not as one of the Hosts?" I began to ask, "You confuse me, Takeshi Kinzoku. No one has ever done such a thing before.. why should I trust you? No.. nevermind. If you're lying, don't tell me. I'll take it even if it's a lie."

I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder once more, right after tearing off my white T-shirt that had been stained by blood and tattered when the Bijuu emerged. I revealed a well-trained body. Lean, not bulk. I had been training for this day for years in the solitude of my shack. 14 years old, and scars bigger than some of the most noble war veterans. Most notably was the huge crater in my chest cavity. That had been from a suicide attempt when the Bijuu had broken out to its second tail. I tried to kill myself with a fire prod in a bad attempt at ending the beast. Turns out, all I had done was piss it off.

"So, where do we go from here?"

The kage sat back and listened after the kid took his smoke, he eventually asked where they went from here and it was time to respond. "We go wherever you want to from here, although since it looks like you have your things packed up and here with you I can arrange for you to have a room here in the castle. That way you not only have a safer place to sleep at night but better access to the library. Maybe during the day this time?" He sat there and looked the kid over, his scars were more than he expected and almost as bad as his own after several wars. He wished he had acted sooner to try and prevent some of this pain but in the end it would only make him stronger.

I felt kind of sorry when the Hebikage brought up the library, but ecstatic to be offered a place to stay. "Yeah.. sorry.. I can pay to fix that window if you want?" I said as I put my hands on my head and grinned, bearing my right fang. "As for the room here in the castle, you're damn right I want it. Do you know how shitty is out there?" I said as I gestured out the window in the general direction of my previous home. "Thanks, by the way. I still have a lot of questions, however. Firstly, involving training. When can we start up again? Secondly, the other Jinchuuriki, when can I meet him? I wanna meet him. I have more questions, but I'll save them for a later time. They're not too important right now." As I finished that last bit, I shrugged my shoulders so as to hint my uncaring of the un-asked questions. "Now... about this room. Do I get to pick it?"

He chuckled again, it seemed Lee was excited about this turn of events which made him happy. "So many questions already, we can start some more traditional training tomorrow. In fact, you can meet Rosuto then. As for the room, sure, there are a few open in the west wing. I'll have someone walk you over there later on, in the mean time I have a bit of that famous kage paperwork to do but dinner is in a few hours and we will see each other again then." He nodded to Lee and scribbled a quick note which he then rolled up and dropped on the floor. The floor itself opened up and swallowed the note before closing up, this was the way that Kinzoku sent messages around the house. Soon after it popped up and the woman on duty at the desk came into the office, she asked if Lee was the kid he had wrote about and he nodded. "Alright honey come on, lets get you moved in."

"Alright," I said as I smiled, "See you at dinner then." My stomach growled. "Dinner.." I thought to myself. I hadn't had a dinner in a very long time.. Images of pork and steak flashed across my mind as my mouth began to water. I made my way down the hallway with the secretary dreaming of extravagant meals.. and a bed. Having a bed that wasn't a pile of straw was going to be new for me too. I was excited for this change in my life. But it came with a price I was more than willing to pay. Training beyond my wildest dreams was on its way. I would meet the other Jinchuuriki, and it would all start.

But for now.. the adventure of picking a room.

[Exit]