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Pain...

Everything hurt.

It hurt to breath.

It hurt to think.

It hurt to move.

But that is exactly what he did. His fingers flexed in the dirt of the forest floor as the body lay sprawled out upon it. Several other bodies lay strewn around him, or slumped up against trees. He could only see them because of the light of the dying campfire illuminated them – the eerie orange glow painting them into a ghastly tapestry. Despite the number of bodies, only his drew breath. Only his body ached with the pains of being alive, the painful throb that each thought brought with it as it passed through his mind.

You have to move, Chylde. Get up.

There it was again, that voice that spoke to him. The same voice that he remembered, the voice that 'woke' him from his slumber.

More will be coming, Chylde.

He had to move. That voice had yet to be wrong in anything it told him; it had told him he would find this location, and that it would be scarcely guarded. He'd acted upon the impulse, but found himself surrounded by several people, each armed and looking to harm him. The resulting fight had been messy, to say the least; bodies were strewn in places, ripped apart as if pulled in two by horses. One poor woman, the last person to fall, was skinned alive – her flesh grabbed and ripped from her body while she kicked and screamed in the monster's hands. But he remembered none of this – no, his mind hurt too much to remember much of that. Thier screams had pushed all rationality from his mind, leaving only a monster hidden in human flesh behind. When the screaming stopped, slowly the mind returned, like a timid animal peering its head out of the burrow it hid in when it sensed danger.

Get up!

Another thought, another shot of pain through his skull. With a groan, the male began to flex his limbs and digits once more. As he began to attempt to sit his seven foot four frame up, he came to realize just why his chest was hurting when he drew breath; there were several slashes and cuts upon it were still bleeding, as well as three shuriken embedded in in his left side. The did not seem to have hit anything vital, but they did bleed as he removed them with his right hand. He would have used his done it with his left hand, but the kunai that was protruding from his palm was making that rather difficult; a sharp tug, and a scream of pain later and the Kunai was free. The bleeding grew more intense with the kunai free, and the male had nothing on hand really to stop the bleeding. Unless...

Cloth was ripped from the dead bodies to form a dressing. The Kunai was heated until it glowed in the fire, then pressed to the wound to cauterize and close it. Once the cloth was wrapped and secured as best he could on his had, the male looked around. There were supplies here; food items that he could take with him to keep himself from going hungry. He did not care that he was looting the dead – if they valued their lives, they would have just given him their stuff when he asked, he would not have to given them death in the manner that he did.

It was truly better to give than to receive.

But it was fine to him. Now that he was calm, he did not mind killing. He simply viewed their deaths as a matter of necessity – it was either going to be him, or them, and obviously, he was still standing. Speaking of standing, one he gathered what supplies he felt he would need, he would begin to walk, not particularly caring or noticing what direction he was heading in. Something told him that the metal head bands each person he killed was wearing meant something – they were all identical, so the male assumed they were part of some organization. He had no clue if it consisted of just them, or if there were more of them, but he did not want to chance it...

714 wc

This was around the location of the day when it happened. Still remembering like it was yesterday, the blood covering his father’s lifeless body seemed as vivid as ever. He was helpless, just like his father. The path that his father took definitely led to his own destruction, which Susumu wanted to avoid if at all possible, not realizing that at this rate, he’ll suffer the same fate as his father. The faces of the people around him, although somewhat unclear in his memories, were sought out by Susumu himself and found out their identities. But that only led to disappointment. Most of them were either dead or had vanished, the only one left being Senju Sousetsu; Hokage of Konohagakure. During his travels, all he ever thought about was confronting the man that took down the strongest man that he knew himself; his father. The only way to surpass him was to accomplish what his father could not. His methods were a little different from Hao’s, but that doesn’t say anything. For all he knew, Hao’s personality might’ve just changed because he got drunk on power, achieving the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. The last image that crossed his mind was Hao’s body being reduced to ashes; not even able to give it a proper burial. The ashes got blown away with the wind, spreading across the fire country’s lands. You could say that this is being returned to the Uchiha’s origin; dying where it originated, but it just made Susumu furious. The flames in his memories were so bright, it practically reflected on his blue eyes from the outside.

Grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, he left behind a trail of footsteps leading through the wilderness, near Konohagakure. This is one of the benefits of being this young, yet have freedom. He doesn’t affiliate him with any village, as you have restricted freedom. Or so he thinks himself. One of the disadvantages is that you might encounter someone out of your league. Without any companions, nor a village to back you up, you have to deal with the problem you encounter yourself. For that, you need independence and what you don’t need is fear. The necklace he normally wore was hidden beneath his clothes, wearing his usual, dark purple cloak and just barely showing his black pants coming from underneath it. His black hair swayed from side to side with every step that he took, unaware of the individual that coming into his direction, until he came in closer. Besides hearing his own footsteps hear the ground, he heard another set of footsteps, somewhere not too far from him. He stopped in his tracks, his blue eyes scanning from left to right into the distance, back and forth, to locate an unknown individual right in front of him. He narrowed his eyes, still being unable to see the traits of the person and try and determine if it’s a threat or not. At the pace he was walking at before, he moved in closer but didn’t get distracted by thoughts nor surroundings anymore. This was the thrill of being outside of the village. That man over there could as well be someone that has a major bloodlust and strives to spill blood, or just someone that’s much closer to a pacifist than a killer.

Susumu’s movement showed that the closer he moved to the individual, the closer he got a look at his appearance. Although you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, it was impossible in this case. The first thing he noticed were the wound scattered across his body. Being really visible, it would be fair to assume it’s probably from something recent. Was the man the one that attacked, or got attacked? Did he kill them or beat them senseless? He probably already knew the answer. They hadn’t even met face to face yet and there was a certain feeling to the individual that Susumu just couldn’t place. The moment he got his thoughts together, they were already a few steps apart, Susumu just standing there, not averting his gaze from what’s in front of him. Danger? Was that his instinct kicking in? He didn’t know this man’s abilities, nor if Susumu could take him or not, but in this case, he’d rather first figure things out for himself than to actually start a fight. “You seem awfully wounded, mister.” He couldn’t help it. Although the first part of his sentence was voiced with an innocent tone, that of a young child, but suddenly gotten a heavier atmosphere and a serious tone when he addressed the individual. This attitude of Susumu is usually what gets him into trouble. Best just hope this man’s lust for blood has already met its end for the day.

Word count: 797

“You seem awfully wounded, mister.”

In a moment, the monster paused his stride mid-step; there was a child before him.

A child that spoke to him.

Was this a trick? Was it an attempt to stop him, distract him so that someone could take his hard 'earned' gains? To put another knife into him? Another shuriken? Maybe something even worse?

A bigger knife? A bigger shuriken?

No. No.

He watched the child warily, taking a moment to carefully think on his choice of words. Each word was spoken in a child like manner, save for the last one, which held the undertones of sarcasm. A light smile tugged at the monster's face as he dropped the bag that contained his stolen goods upon the ground. Those violet eyes peered at the child through the hair that fell over his face, taking note of his diminutive size comparable to the monster's own. His head tipped to the right, carefully considering his response and reaction to this child. The devious mind began to turn its gears, imagining out the child's death; perhaps Ikari would open him like a book, each slice of flesh a page in a novel written on the subject of pain and suffering. Blood would be ink, his organs and bone be the bindings of the pages. A delicious idea; the monster actually took a step towards the child in order to begin acting this idea out.

This boy is of importance, Chylde. Do him no harm.

Very well. The monster would not harm this child, but a curious spark took hold of him. Who was this child that the voices told him not to harm him? A frown crossed the monster's face, as he took another step wards the child.

“My injuries are none of your concern, child. But tell me... what is your name, child? I would like to know what needs to written upon your tombstone.” The smile was back, that delicious, wicked smile. The tongue snaked between the parted lips, licking away at a drop of blood that dripped near his mouth. If the voices did not want him to harm this child, then there was nothing against making afraid, no? He was curious as to how this child would respond to the 'threat', if he even were to percieve it as such; many would, but this child knew nothing of those whom spoke to Ikari. Those terrible voices that stroked the madness that crept through his veins alongside and betwixt his blood; the song that lulled him to sleep, that woke him in the morning and drove to treat the people around him like toys, pieces of a deranged game that none knew they played in his presence.

No one else could know, no one else could comprehend it. Unbeknownst to Ikari, it was his clan focused so much on the art of casting illusions, or Genjutsu. Thier minds didnt not work the same as most people -- their view of the world was askew, a bit off center, and they loved it. A mind that could not be understood that operated a body that contained a soul that was born of fury. It was a most interesting combination that made Ikari an unperdicable person to be around.

714 + 544 = 1258 wc

Susumu noticed that there was a brief moment that a sinister thought crossed the unknown individual’s mind. This was shown by the light smile that slightly crossed his lips and in the manner that he almost immediately dropped a bag of unknown goods next to him. This made Susumu realize he probably did have to keep his guard up around someone like this. His entire body had been battered, yet still walked around like it didn’t faze him at all. He was indeed durable, much more durable than someone with a body like himself. His eyes, although barely visible, were shown through the strands of hair falling in front of his vision. He seemed like an animal; a brutal one at that. It’s like Susumu stared into the eyes of his predator. That was the kind of sensation he got from this.. creature, better to put it. Susumu narrowed his eyes, not really being able to determine what was on his mind. He didn’t move an inch, but rather just stood there. It was kind of a strange situation, being stared at by someone several heads taller than himself, covered in blood at that. Susumu chose not to speak either, because why would he carry on the conversation if this man couldn’t even speak out words? The silence, however, would be broken by the individual taking a step closer to Susumu; somewhat like an alarm going off in his head. At the point where the creature stepped towards Susumu, there was a bad feeling and the man didn’t have any peaceful intentions towards him.

For a moment, the individual stopped in his tracks, as if being spoken to by someone, or like his mind just wandered off on its own. No reason to lower his guard, however. He didn’t have any weapons on himself, so if something should happen, he’d just have to rely on the training he’s received, unaware of what this man is capable of. Another step was taken into Susumu’s direction. His eyes didn’t wander off the monster in front of him, as he still hadn’t spoken nor stated his name. This was more than enough evidence to prove that this man was with ill intentions. Although Susumu couldn’t judge him on that one. But the vibe he got from the man was completely different from what he encountered before. Not even his father had that much bloodlust dwelling from him. Finally, he spoke and broke the silence that fell upon them. It wasn’t something friendly, but that was the least what Susumu expected. It was a death threat. This was yet something else that life threw at him. Someone with such a murderous intent crossed his path. The smile he showed was one of the thing that made Susumu realize this individual isn’t sane. He needed to choose his own words carefully, as well, because with people like this, anything could set them off. Susumu put on his self-defense. “A tombstone is all you’ll get. This body of mine will never be buried six feet beneath the ground by the likes of you.” He didn’t want to be talked to the ground by this man, as intimidating as he may be.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, is what he thought multiple times upon encountering new individuals. That goes for this guy, as well. Although his appearance may be, in fact, physically strong. There’s no way of telling how this man actually functions. He didn’t seem like the person that was able to be reasoned with, but there wasn’t any reason to even do that. “I’d like to know the name of the person that’s aiming to kill me, however. I’ll never forget it, even long after your death.” He returned the threat, not knowing what he’s getting himself into. He legs felt as if they were going to tremble, holding it in either way. He didn’t know it was because of the excitement or the sense of fear that was making him shiver down his spine, but to him, that’s all the same. In a sense, fear is needed to know what your limitations are. Unfortunately for Susumu, he has barely felt any fear during his lifetime, mainly because he’s still that young and hasn’t seen much of what other people are capable of. Once against crossed the thought that this man was indeed a very unique individual. Seemed definitely unstable and had the lust to fight battles without any regard for his own body. In fact, it seemed like the wounds he had been delivered were closed, by apparently himself. This man definitely seemed experienced with battles, getting more and more intrigued.

Words: 780

“A tombstone is all you’ll get. This body of mine will never be buried six feet beneath the ground by the likes of you.”

Ikari could not help but chuckle at this child's boldness. This child had balls as big as church bells, and made of brass, it would seem. He was brave, doubt about this, but bravery would only carry him so far in this world.

“I’d like to know the name of the person that’s aiming to kill me, however. I’ll never forget it, even long after your death “

Oh? The Unspeakable Horror grinned even more now, head tipping again as the he took another step towards the child. The child thought of him as wanting to kill him? Good, good.

Trust no one. Chylde.

Ikari spoke again, staring at the child before as if looking through him. The expression on his face was that of amusement, as if he were remembering the funniest joke in the universe, but could not quite remember the punch line. Perhaps this child was the punch line? Perhaps not. Either way, it was amusing as hell to him.

“You ask the wrong question, child. I do not aim to kill you; more so to the point, you interest me.” A straight answer, something rare from his kind, but it was the truth. He could not help but be curious as to why the voices he heard specifically told him not to harm this child. There had to be something special about him, something worth seeing. “If you wish to try your question again, please, by all means.”

He would and could continue to amuse himself for hours on end with this child; toying with him through word play and the like. It was the most amusing game that one could play with another idividual...

1258 + 301 = 1559 WC

Although the man did seem to have some hostile intent towards Susumu, he didn’t even raise a finger towards him yet. There was something off about him, but he couldn’t place exactly what it was. The man was interested in Susumu, but for what reason, Susumu himself didn’t know. Even though he admitted that he had no intent to kill Susumu, that didn’t mean he was letting his guard down even for a second. The large man mentioned, should he have any questions, he’d be happy to answer them, at least as best as he could, probably. Even though that being said, the man still didn’t answer his previous question, what his name was. But then again, maybe it was only fair given that Susumu hadn’t given his name yet either. Was there any information to get from this man, other than his name? For once, Susumu couldn’t put his thoughts into words and actually drew a blank regarding questions. In the meantime, his mind wandered off, figuring that he should start off simple, beginning with a slight sigh escaping through his lips as his blue eyes fixated on the man’s face. “I have a feeling you’re not going to introduce yourself, I might as well introduce myself.” He began, thinking that should he introduce himself that the man should have nothing to hide either. His identity wasn’t a secret, nor was his clan. Should this man have any ill intent towards the Uchiha, that should become apparent soon enough.

“Uchiha Susumu is the name.” He introduced himself briefly, because for now, all the man needed to know was his name. Until Susumu found out the man’s true intentions, only then would he be willing to get into a bargaining situation and exchange information between them, with the limited information that they probably have. “You didn’t introduce yourself previously, either. So it’s only natural that now, you do the same.” He didn’t plan on waiting for the man to dodge the question again, should that be the case. Should the man not reveal his identity, it would be fair to say that this conversation is as good as over, possibly even risking to walk away from relatively good knowledge that the man has. Given his posture, he’s way older than Susumu, maybe even close to his late father’s age. He might be wise enough and experienced enough to share with Susumu. Although he was being pretty harsh towards the man, he was certain that this definitely wouldn’t scare him off. “Other than that, what is a man like you doing here? With those wounds, at all. They look pretty fresh.” Although he previously mentioned the wounds directly towards the man, this time he didn’t want to clarify why exactly he was covered in those wounds. Would this man be interesting to have around Susumu for some time? If he would prove to be a valuable asset, Susumu would give it some thought, but then again the question remains if a man like that thinks the same. It didn’t seem like it, but it’s always worth a shot.

Word count: 517

“I have a feeling you’re not going to introduce yourself, I might as well introduce myself.”

Oh, but Ikari was more than happy to introduce himself, but this child did not ask the correct question. He'd previously asked Ikari for the name of the person who was aiming to kill him; this was information that Ikari could not provide, since Ikari was not aiming to kill the child like he assumed. Not that Ikari could blame him for assuming as such, as it was Ikari's intention to be confusing with word play. But for this child, Ikari could imagine him to be a source of great entertainment for some time.

“Uchiha Susumu is the name. You didn’t introduce yourself previously, either. So it’s only natural that now, you do the same. “

Ah, now he was playing correctly, and asking the correct questions and making the correct requests. He wanted to know Ikari's name, then fine. At that moment, he had idea of the history and legacy of this child's name, nor did he care. He only know the Uchiha clan to be summarily as this child that stood before him, and it satisfied him. He would be told the larger male's name, since he asked ever so nicely. The larger male's lips curled back, revealing teeth that seemed to be a bit too sharp for a normal man, in a wide grin. He was about to part his lips and address the child's concerns as to his identity, but then Susumu opened his mouth and bumped his gums together again, tongue twisting and moving within its home to formulate yet another question for the Unspeakable Horror to answer.

““Other than that, what is a man like you doing here? With those wounds, at all. They look pretty fresh.”

Again with the concern for his wounds? For a rude child, he seemed to have a bleeding heart – perhaps this was something that could be exploited at a later date when the time was right. For the moment, the male did not respond; instead his right hand moved, with his finger extended. Said digit would find the wound that once contained the kunai and disappeared into the bleeding orafice, a soft sigh escaping from betwixt his lips as his fingertip curled within and tugged on the edge, stretching the wound another half inch across to the sound of flesh ripping and another sign of pleasure from the Unspeakable Horror. The entire time that Ikari did this, he stared directly at this child, his gaze never wavering. Those violet eyes would lock with those of the child if possible, as if searching his mind for something. After all, the eyes were the windows to the soul.

After freeing his finger with a wet sound, the male would move the blood-stained digit to his mouth, licking the vitae from it before he began to respond to the child's question. “These wounds...? They are scratched from a desperate animal, one fighting to keep his own life.” Eyebrows would raise, that too sharp grin spreading wider like a Cheshire Cat who found a new toy to torment. He would not tell this child that the animal that inflicted them upon Ikari was another persona – he did not lie to the child, but rather neglected to give him to the full story. Man was just another animal in the world, after all. “But as for my name, it is Ikari. Unfortunatly, I do not know my last name, nor anything before this time yesterday...”

Why did he reveal this to the child? Why reveal a weakness to someone who could potentially be an enemy? Simple; to lower their guard, to make them believe they possessed the upper hand, to make them feel as if they were in control. That way, if and when the tables had to turn, Ikari would be the last person suspected.

Thats right, Chylde. Keep them from suspecting you, keep them guessing. Never reveal your true hand; never show your full power. Play the part of the poor, pitiful lunatic. Keep them guessing.

“As for me being here, well... I was just passing through the area. That is, until I was attacked by that pack of animals. Now that I've taken care of them, I suppose that I can continue on...”

The larger male would shift his body some, bending over to retrieve the sag of supplies that he'd 'won' and lifting them to his shoulder, despite the wounds on his torso. “Do you have any more questions, Susumu of the Uchiha clan, or shall I be on my way?”

770 + 1559 = 2329/1950

E-0 to D-3 STR Completed

379 WC remaining
Thread total 2329

Everything about this man seemed out of place. The bulky, twisted individual mentioned that the wounds he had scattered across his torso were delivered by a wild animal, or multiple in this case, even. This was a story that wasn’t that hard to believe, really. It’s not uncommon that, every now and then in the wild, an animal will try to corner you and make you into their food to survive, just like men does that to said animals. But for some reason, he couldn’t connect the dots himself. This became ever so much clearer as the conversation dragged on. Their eyes were locked; Susumu noticed the violet eyes of the man reeking of violence and blood while his own blue eyes didn’t slip away from the man’s gaze. The uneasy feeling, what some people would call ‘fear’, still hadn’t completely vanished. In fact, it just remained and didn’t grow weaker nor stronger. His body trembled once again just a little, but fear is the thing that makes someone feel alive. Fear is the thing that keeps people alive. Knowing your limitations is what fear is trying to tell you, but pushing yourself beyond those limitations is something only the person him or herself can accomplish. This is the kind of situation Susumu has found himself in right now. It was silent for a moment, Susumu not moving an inch as if he was frozen by fear, but that wasn’t really the case. The silence was broken by the introduction of the man; finally. He didn’t really know whether or not he was going to get an introduction out of him, but he got more out of it than he actually expected.

Ikari was his name, making him think if it was an uncommon name around these parts, since it’s definitely a name he hadn’t hear even once. His surname, however, was unknown and even unknown to the one before him. This wasn’t the unsettling part, however. It was the part where he couldn’t remember anything in a certain period of time. Was it some sort of condition? Or was it just him going berserk, seeing nothing but darkness from his very own eyes? Looking back at how they met and their earlier conversation, plus their staredown, his personality had suddenly changed just a little bit. At that moment the thought of him being ‘bipolar’ crossed his mind, but that was only just a theory. He couldn’t be sure unless he had seen it himself, but that wouldn’t be in the near future, he’d think. Everything from his story seems to check out, but only because Susumu has little evidence, no matter how much he might suspect the one calling himself Ikari. Susumu’s eyes averted from Ikari’s the moment he bent over to lift up the bag with his belongings. What was in that bag, anyway? There was no reason for Susumu to ask him directly. It was none of his business nor what he did. Those wounds might as well be from killing, but Susumu isn’t really one to judge, considering his own lineage.

Any more questions? Susumu thought for a moment before Ikari went on his way. It didn’t matter whether Ikari would answer it or not, but it was only for his own confirmation. “Your behavior has made a slight adjustment since a few moments ago. You were the silent type and intimidating, yet now you share with me the information that you don’t know your last name. Let alone the fact that you, what I assume, are black outs.” He just said it. Does this truly point to him being bipolar in some way or the other? Would he openly admit to it, posing his question like this? “Perhaps.. Did the warmth of an innocent child such as myself open up your heart, old man?” This definitely wasn’t articulated with the tone of that of an innocent boy. He figured pushing him a little might open him up, but giving his posture it might as well end with him tearing apart Susumu’s body with his bare hands. The trembling of his body has stopped, knowing full well that what he just did could probably spark anything with an unstable individual such as Ikari. He didn’t seem to be in a defensive position, but his eyes followed every bit of movement happening in front of him.

Word count: 729