It was early morning in Iwagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the stone. The sun just starting to rise, painting the sky in oranges and yellows. People beginning to slowly wake up and start their day, merchants getting their shops ready, parents making breakfasts for their children with said children getting ready to go to school with some learning the art of murder and others learning the essentials needed to live a civilian life. All the while, high above the streets, away from the people below, shinobis of varying ranks and statues were moving across the rooftop, their barely touching the tiles before launching them off to the next, all the while, the populace below were unaware. This was just another day for those who called the village home.

As the sun shone into his apartment, one Guanyin Kido groaned, an uncharacteristic action for a man of his disposition, turning over so the sun's rays wouldn't hit his eyes. Normally, the Sannin would've been up by now, going about his day like many others were, however, a combination of multiple all-nighters and his current alignment left him not wanting to wake. Unfortunately or not, someone, no, something was planning to wake him.

"Young hatchling, wake up."

Nanashi's eyes lazily flickered open, having responded to the archaic language that urged him to awake. Yellow and animalistic, the reptilian eyes peered unblinkingly into a pair similar to his own, with the only difference being their coloration and intensity. "Morning," the singular word being spoken in the same archaic language the being, currently sitting on his chest, had spoken moments ago. To anyone else, it would sound like gibberish, but it was anything but that to him and the creatures who spoke it.

"Time to train.", he nodded in agreement with that settlement, getting up from the bed once the creature had moved, having to decide to curl up on the opposite side.  "I won't be training with you today.", Nanashi didn't respond to the comment as he moved about the spacious room, putting on his attire for today, "Mother and Father want to talk to me about your progress to see if you are ready to take the test. So, far, you have handled it well, and seem to be ready. Only time will tell though.", Nanashi could also picture the creature shrugging after their statement before disappearing with a plume of smoke in it's wake

Twirling a pair of large senbons, the unorthodox weapons disappearing, being tucked within his flak jacket, Nanashi left his room and house entirely dressed in typical shinobi attire.

Stepping outside, a light breeze greeted him, causing his near waist length hair to shift a little. With a single bound, his form vanished from view, appearing on a nearby rooftop before flickering out of existence once more. Moving across the house's roofs, his thoughts shifted towards where he could train without being disturbed. The training grounds were out of the question with many of them usually being occupied by others who wish to hone their skills, not that he could fault them. The underground caverns littering in the wilderness was another option but was quickly dismissed. Some of them weren't the safest of places due to cave-ins and what lurk within them: not like he couldn't possibly deal with all of that, he simply didn't want to.

However, it seemed like fate, or maybe it was him subconsciously, had decided where he would train for the morning. Flickering into existence at the entrance that led to a familiar place. "Sightseeing Cliff.", he silently mused, walking along the trail that led one of Iwa's most notable landmarks. It had been a couple of years since he had stepped foot on this path, and even longer since he visited the landmark. The last time being with his former student, Yuurei Jet.

Jet

The name of his former student and apprentice, in his eyes at least, cause him to think back about their last encounter. A less than pleasant one that took place within Kumogakure no Sato. He remembered the rage he felt at the thought that she had kidnapped and hurt one of the many geishas that fell under his protection. Needless to say, he attacked her, and they fought with him coming extremely close to ending her life but staying his hand at the last moment and healing her, but not out of remorse. Finally, reaching the top of the cliff, he remembers the guilt he felt when the geisha, that he thought had been kidnapped by his student, told him the truth. Jet, the student he shouldn't have doubted, didn't kidnap the woman but saved her from some unsavory people who had less than pleasant plans for the geisha. The tongue lashing he received from the woman left him speechless, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. The woman had ever right to yell and scream at him back then, despite his younger self-beliefs, he didn't have complete control of his emotions then.

Now older, in his early thirties, he would like to think he had better control of his emotions.

Having reached the peak of the cliff, Nanashi shoved the thoughts to the aside, mentally preparing himself for the training that's he about to endure. Removing his flak jacket and deep maroon undershirt, one would notice a rather large bite mark on his right side.  The tan skin around the mark is a nasty blackish-purple with blackish veins coming from it that seem to pulsate with each breath he took. A price to pay for what he wanted to learn.

Sitting down cross-legged, hands in a prayer fashion and head bowed, he released the restraints on his chakra while keeping it confine within him. A searing pain shot through his body, following the same path as his chakra paths, circulating through him endlessly. He tried but fail to hide the wince from appearing on his face as the pain seems to spike. All the while, the wound on his side began pulsating more quickly with the blackish veins beginning to encompass the entirety of his right side as nature chakra was being taken into his body.

So focusing on keeping the chakra from taking over, and the pain coursing through him, Nanashi wouldn't be aware of anything unless something broke his concentration.

---

1082

Dark...it is dark. Why is it dark? Someone...someone turn on the light. Please. I do not like the dark. I hate it. I do not want to be here. Please. Take me out. Get me out. I do not want the darkness...the darkness to swallow me. Her body felt like it was floating in an empty space, devoid of life, light, or anything of substance. It was not particularly cold. Rather it was a bit warm. Her arm felt slippery, like something wet was sliding down it. Her nose prickled as a coppery smell invaded her senses along with incense, spice, and some bleach. It made her nose burn and suffocated her. She struggled to breathe and get past the sense. Her throat hurt and felt like fire scorched her. Hands clawed at her nude body and pulled her down in water. A pure black water, thicker than it should be. Pure darkness, like an abyss. The voices kept calling her, screaming at her, so much screaming, begging, crying, yelling, hating. So much hate. Who was hated? Who was hating? Why is there so much hatred? Why was it here? Who? Who? Who made it so loud? Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it STOP IT....


Peaks of sun light and black dots were part of her vision as she struggled to wake up. Her eyes burned from the florescent lightning, making her hiss in pain and shield them from the ray. Her back hurt, as if she slept on a hard surface and not her bed so she tried to get up. Yet when she did, her hand slipped ,and the back of her head hit the floor loudly. "Fuck...ow" With her head now throbbing, she really needed to get off the floor and get an ice pack. Pushing some fleshy thing out the way and avoiding more crimson puddles and shards of glass, Jet got off the ground and made her way up the stairs away from the basement. If a broken mirror, you could see some jars full of odd substances and creatures before the light went out.

It was now morning and Jet has not gotten any sleep in the slightest. Jester went on another free for all and left Jet to clean up the mess afterwards. When that was over, Jet had to go on a mission suddenly to go capture a traitor who ran off with some intel and dragged his sorry ass back to T&I to interrogate him. She had to stop him five fucking times from killing himself and even then he was hard to crack. By the time she broke most of his will with her genjutsu friend and there were less bones than there should be unbroken, she had to stop because the overseer said she was taking too long and gave the assignment to someone else! Seriously! No recognition and she went through all that effort! Nozara's smirking face made her blood boil but she could not do much in such a public space so she settled for making him trip into her fist and breaking his nose. Still that cause some commotion and she was finally let go with a light warning. Whatever, not like she cared. As soon as she was out, the morning sun just had to fuck her day up even more by making her blind. But she could not help a thought arise from this ordeal. "We wonder where Maki went....we have not seen her in a few days. What could have happened?"

She had not seen the Uzumaki in some time. Sure she was busy and could not check up on Maki all the time but Maki was retired, did not have many friends and was not the type to randomly go out. So why was she not home? She could have gone on another trip to get rare materials for her blacksmiths business but usually she tells the Yuurei beforehand. Maybe they just missed each other? Jet doubted it but she can not find a good reason for Maki to avoid her."Good...nobody here. Maybe now we can get some peace. It has been hectic the last few days" Jet sat down at the branch of a tree, hidden to all sight and chakra sense. She sat upon a tree that was dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. It was near the barred sightseeing area only half a mile a way. This still in the area. She liked this cliff...it brought fond memories. She came here whenever she needed to clear her head and just let her mind find solace in the quiet serenity of nature.

The feeling of chakra in the area stilled it and disturbed her. Her eyes suddenly became after and she grabbed a three kunai in one hand, throwing it at the source. It did not feel like a civilian from the output and for some reason she felt off about it, like there was something to worry about. When she launched the kunai, her head snapped to the source to see what it was. Eyes widening slightly, she did not even notice her heart stop for a moment "Nanashi..."

883~

Senjutsu is an art of learning how to cooperate with the forces of nature, coming to an agreement that will allow one to harness said energy, becoming a Sage in the progress. In order to attain the ability to use nature energy, one has to get a summons, usually the one that corresponds with them, in agreeance to train them in the art.  This is easier said than done, for venturing into the home of a summons can be dangerous. While the number of cases where people had died from being killed by a hostile summons has dwindled in the recent era, one still has to be cautious.

After surviving the summon's realm and making it to their home, one still has to get an elder summons to train them. This includes a test that, even if you pass, doesn't guarantee you the right to learn Senjutsu. Reason being because it being sacred art to the summons. It's being the pinnacle of what they know. After gaining permission training begins in the form of meditation in a nature chakra enriched environment with an elder summons overseeing the training and making sure the practitioner doesn't accidently turn into stone.

However, not all summons are like this, with some not overseeing the beginning of the training. Believing those who show this courtesy are disrespecting the originators who didn't have the same luxury. If they couldn't properly collect and harness the energy, henceforth, turn into stone. It's their own fault and means they weren't ready to handle the power of nature.An old school of thought that is still practiced by some summons.

This ideology is shared with a Nanashi's summons: the Komodo Dragons. In the beginning, they do not train anyone who seeks to learn their unique style of Senjutsu. Instead, like which they did to Nanashi, they allow one of the weaker summons to bite the person who seeks to learn from this. This bite pumps a person with a mildly diluted nature chakra that attracts ambient traces of it to the person. It attacks one's body in a similar fashion as a venom or a poisonous but only more vicious, and tries to take over the body. The recipient is then forced remove from the summon's home and told to gain control of the nature chakra circulating within this. They are not allowed to get outside help, being forbidden to ask other Sages for any advice that would prove to be helpful. The would be sage must learn how to harness and control the energy by themselves. If not, they will die. A difficult task? Yes, but the Komodo Dragons pride themselves on that fact.

Simply introducing another form of energy into a body not adapted to it comes with some consequences, at least, when it comes to the Komodo Dragons' unique take on Senjutsu. With the wound attracting nature energy, it being forcefully pulled into the body, the constant sensation of it feels like being continuously stabbed by an overly large needle. Painful and irritating, the constant of it makes doing the everyday activity a chore. However, it is manageable and preferred over the mind numbing pain that comes when actively using chakra. The faster circulation of chakra increased not only the absorption rate of nature energy but the ferocity in which it enters. With it being likened to getting repeatedly shot by a nail gun using dull, rusty nails. All the while, the blackish purple bruise formed from the back is pulsating with black root-like veins branching out from it. Only through deep meditation and an iron clad will can truly bear the forefront of chakra's assault.

Nanashi is only able to withstand the onslaught due having experienced it multiple times within the two years and had built up a slight tolerance for it. However, this only help a little, that is why minutes into his meditation perspiration had already formed on his upper body and was rolling off of him. With each force entry, muscles twitch involuntarily, and he held back the want to wince. Wisps of greenish chakra would seep out of his pores before being reigned back in as he tries to handle the energy inside of him. His youthfulness of old wanted nothing more to dominate the energy flowing into him, making it submit to a will greater than it's own. It's a foolish notion, however, for no will is strong enough to dominate something who's will has no limits nor bounds. Nature's will is limitless and all powerful, there isn't a single thing that could forcefully make nature submit. The only thing one could wish for is to come into agreement with nature, accepting the contract it had laid out. Something that Nanashi is struggling to do. His body not wanting to submit to Nature's demands, wanting more out of the lackluster deal. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly going well, but, the Sannin wouldn't give up. Giving all his attention to trying to find a middle ground between him and nature that was currently attacking him.

Even before settling down, Nanashi had plans to train for several hours before calling it a day. However, fate seems to have other plans, for only an hour into the training he was disturbed.

A sharp pain originating from his back caused Nanashi's concentration to break. Eyes shot wide open, at the feeling of something stuck in his back, as he clamped on his chakra - preventing it from lashing out. However, he was seconds too slow for a portion of his chakra was released and along came an all familiar killing intent. The sickly, stomach turning, vomit inducing, diseased filled intent, tainted the surrounding air with its vileness, before being reigned in by him.

"Nanashi. . ."

Turning around, facing the direction where he thought the kunai, that he already yanked out of his back, and was now in hand, ready to be thrown, he paused. Animalistic eyes locked on a person, a female, sitting on a tree branch precariously close to the cliff edge roughly a half a mile away. Despite the distant, he took notice of certain details, specifically their face, that reminded him of his former student. However, the eyes and hair were different, while she could've simply dyed them both, there wasn't any way to be sure. Only when he recalled the single word spoken earlier, in that all familiar voice, did his assumption seem more likely. Still, even as he spoke the name of who he thought the woman was, one could hear the uncertainty and guardedness in his voice, "Jet?"

Not entirely sure if it was his former student or not, Nanashi's training as a shinobi kicked in. Before the female, who sounded like his student, could react, they would feel a hand on their chest milliseconds before being launched backward, back slammed into the tree trunk, jarring them, courtesy of Nanashi. No sooner afterward, did his hand wrapped itself around the petite woman's throat, lifting her off the ground, his knee slid between her legs, pressing up against her, as she was literally forced to straddle his knee. A certain pressure on her kidney, his off hand holding all familiar kunai at said location, would hopefully make the choice of fleeing not an option. "Jet?", now he was closer, the woman did look like his former student, then. . . "Why did you try to kill me?" Why indeed? What could have --- his grip on her throat tighten and the kunai was almost puncturing her shirt. "I doubt anyone would send someone like you to kill me. They would send someone who actually does clean work, not makes a mess of the situation. So, this about the shit that happened in Kumo, isn't it?", he didn't plan on giving her a chance to reply yet, "It is, isn't it? Changed your hair from green to silver. Are you trying to idolize me or something? Then you try to attack me from afar. Knowing well what the result would have been if you fought me head on?", at his hand tighten around her throat, almost to the point of cutting off her air supply, "You do remember what happened last time, right? I know I healed you of those wounds, but I bet you still remember where every last one of them was.", he knew the words could possibly bring her back to that specific moment. Did he care? No, he didn't. His chipped yellow eyes, unnaturally sharper and more reptilian than normal, stared at the woman before them as he waited for her rebuttal.

Iwa's Pestilence and Ghost meet once again. But, one question how the last encounter ended, what will come of this meeting? A faithful meeting between a teacher and student.

---

1491[2573]

The reflexive instinct to attack at a moment's notice had saved her life many a time under less than desirable circumstances. Yet it was actually doing the opposite of protecting her right now. As the kunai launched, she had but a moment to process to whom she sent them to, and her stomach lurched. Nanashi was here, but why? He must have come in when she was sleeping in the treetop and there was no doubt he did not see her. Did he frequent this place just as often as her? To think about life, process the day, maybe train just the smallest amount when they knew no civilian was close by? She came here in moments of distress because she liked being so high up, overlooking the village.

All her life she spent groveling at the ground beneath others, the wealthy, the normal, the slavers, her patrons, everyone. She was forced to submit herself or die a dog in a ditch, tossed away, used for parts, and forgotten. She gained power in whatever way, morals be dammed, so she would not have to stand underneath someone again. Nor to stand their equal as there would never be true understanding. She was someone of low birth and heinous accession. She will always be regarded as lesser. Less strength. Less power. Less ability. Less class. Less beauty. Less intelligence. Less standing.

Every person she has ever met has always shown her that save for a few. To Karumo, she was an ally, though she was less trustworthy than others and never gave her the full story. To Fukai, she was an unfortunate colleague, and regarded her as something less than human ever since Kumo. To her business partner, she was a childish tool, less likely to succeed on her own and escape the troupe's grip, no matter how loose it may be. To Nanashi, what was she?

At one time a student, one who despite now meeting each other for length periods of time, they were always able to reconnect and get to work. He saw her for the weakling she was, the point that no less enraged her, but he also saw potential. She needed guidance and patience, of which he could provide, and she was thankful for it. It was not until her promotion to spec. jounin did she see it was under orders. Loose cannon. Deadly. Mental Case. Flight Risk. He only offered to teach her, and stay with her because he felt he could get close and take her out if she proved to be a threat. She should have expected it, but it still broke her heart. He was the only person to give her what she needed to get better and she trusted him.

She reached a point that she sought his help, albeit in a very unorthodox manner but still. She prayed that with their time spent together that he would understand the hidden message and help her. She was so tired of running, of needing help, of having the nightmares of her childhood plague her. Yet he only saw her for the persona the village put up and she herself built. Trackless. Mental. Ruthless. Disloyal. When he showed up to the arena, she already knew what course of action he would take. At that point her mind broke. Was she so stupid to think he could help her? Much less want to? He taught her a few things, but they never established any real bond.

What did she know of him aside from digging around? What did he know of her outside rumors and broken pieces of information? They were student and master in paper only. Their relationship was just as thin, and broken just as easily. Almost transparent. She was the only who got lost in the folds, and denied the dents in it. A small part of her hoped otherwise, and attacked in a midst of raging. Her mind was a mess yet a inkling in her hoped that with an exchange of blades he would understand. If not, it might have had been better to die that day.

When he violently knocked her out in a torrent of pain, she figured that day would be her last. She hated it, fought against it, despised it. But as she felt her skin rot away and electricity course through her veins, she felt a slight moment of relief. Maybe it would be better this way. She was regarded as a curse since the day she was born. Struggling made it no better, only worse. Perhaps death was a good thing. She did not believe in an afterlife. If there was truly a god in this world he would let all these atrocities pass. If there was, she was truly evil for she created, played all she want as her children fought and destroyed one another. What a twisted form of love.

So when she accepted death in her last moment of consciousness, she did not expected to wake up. Initially, the bright lights blinded her, sending pain to her eyes. She thought, is this the light people always spoke about? When they died? The fact she felt cold instead of heat indicated there was no soft blanket of her creator nor the fiery lash of the king of hell, made her feel alive. It came together once her vision cleared. A bedroom. His bedroom. The sound of a running faucet and shower made her hyper away. The feeling of goosebumps littered her skin. The bed sheets had his scent and it was not comforting. She was healed and her body was no longer turning that sickening color. So why did her body and mind still ache? She could not understand and ran away. She was found by him, the green haired bastard, and ran as far as she could. When she heard the explosion in the distance, she thought she truly pissed him off for running away. And that upset her. But she would not turn back.

If he already tried to kill them once before they could explain, then he would have her head if she tried her hand at diplomacy. She wanted to explain herself to him, but could not. It upset her to no end. It made the officials in Iwa even more pissed at her. Interrogation, questioning. Her position only got worse the longer he did not show up to Iwa. She did not know why he did not return. But she did not go looking either. She did her best to ignore them all. They did not matter to her. She had to train hard and prove to herself that she did not need the village, nor Nanashi, nobody. She kept distance from her partner most of the time, only meeting up when necessary. She was fine with doing more of the grunt work. Working with people in the underground and surface was not her cup of tea.

And although it was hard, she succeeded and climbed the ranks. She past it all. She was above others. Here at these cliffs, she felt like she had somewhat of a place here. It's rocky, less than sturdy, and constantly under attack but it was something. She cemented her place as a valued assassin, strategist, spy mistress, and even adviser. She was met with respect in the Crimson Elite. She had a friend of sorts in the Kage. She was starting to be hated less by the populace of Iwa. Her life was seemingly getting better. So why did he show up now? He met her with deadly precision, knocking her back into a tree and wrapping his hand around her throat. A kunai by her kidney, eerily pressing into her shirt. His body loomed over her and she was practically forced to straddle his knee, her body small and insignificant compared to him. It took her by surprise finding who it was, but even more that she felt like history repeating itself and she was practically at his mercy. How delightful.

At the abursditiy of this situation, she felt no feel in his prescene. No hate. Contempt. Nothing really. She just felt...funny. Her chest bounced, as it raked with laughter. Not the sensible kind. It actually was pretty similar to how she sounded that faithful night. Yet she still had her sanity. Most of it anyway. He was here! Here! Nanashi was back in her life and she did not know how to react except with laugher. His words were spiteful and full of vemon but she did not care. Normally it would anger her to no end and she would have taken the kunai to the kidney if it meant she could land a blow on him. Yet all she could do was laugh. Laugh until a stray tear from laugh fell out of her left eye. She took that as a moment to gather herself and speak, albiet it was a bit weezy "Get over yourself Gaunyin. A lot has happened in the past few years. If you think it's all about you you are sorely mistaken. Why would we bother being anyone's pet? We may still not be totally trusted but things have changed. We are not the same girl we once were. If we truly wanted you dead, this would have gone in an entirely different matter. Haha. So now we did not try to kill you. You see the way our body reacted to your chakra. It is so much more potent that before. Our body remembers each place you penetrated well. It would be suicide to confront you up close. So would you mind letting us go now?"

She was still mad at him and wanted nothing more to run away, somewhere far and he could not follow. Her tone seemed jovial, fun, as if nothing were amiss. Wrong. Oh so terribly wrong. Her mind could not handle this, of him being here. Something inside her was desperately trying to keep her sane but her smile was slippy and her body trembled. She was going to explode at any moment. If she did, they might have to settle what they never did all those years ago.

2593~

The man would watch as his former student sailed through the air, after having been thrown by him, and land perfectly on the ground with the grace of a cat. Any other time, he might have given her a backhand compliment on her skills at landing, but the current situation wasn't ideal for any of them, especially him. The visual of anger was still present on his face, his eyes having slitted further, becoming more reptilian-liked, look at the woman with disdain and hatred. A raw primal fury was present within those orbs, and it wanted nothing more than to rip apart the woman before them. Only the more thing stopping himself being his more rational side of his mind that's was making some leeway through the pain-filled area.

Ever slowly did his breathing returned back to normal. His eyes becoming less animalistic, returning back to their normal state. The pain of senjutsu chakra flooding his veins lessened, with the grotusque wound no longer pulsating, it's black veins residing back. Now with a clear head, Nanashi made his way back to the clearing, grabbing his stuff before leaving in a body flicker. Not once speaking with his former student.

There was nothing left to be said. For from here on out, their relationship was finally over. While a part of him would be sad, he would be thankful for this.

[Exit]

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