By everything that was holy in this world, what the fucking hell was the source of that noise?! The loud crashing, sounds of large explosions and weapons clashing rang through the entire wilderness that surrounded the Hidden Mist Village. And holy hell it was annoying. Well, truth be told, the sound was nothing new to Gin. In fact, it was rare when a day passed that she didn't hear something similar. But, for some reason, she was pissed off by it right now. Maybe it was because of the internal turmoil she was dealing with. Maybe it was because she missed hearing her own thoughts in her head. It was most likely the latter.

Gin had been trying to keep herself uninvolved with what didn't concern her in the least. This whole ordeal with Seven Bells just happened to start as she was arriving to the Hidden Mist on behalf of the Aoi Bara, on some business that Tsuyo had sent her. She no longer remembered what it was. It must not have been as important as she initially thought. Maybe he knew what was happening here and had made that task up to get her to the Hidden Mist. But that was hardly the question in her mind.

The plague that was Seven Bells had been spreading more day by day. It's horrors had overtaken the village and had made fools out of every shinobi involved. Hell, she didn't even want to look at the death toll so far. The bodies of the deceased entered the village on a daily basis, with bodies piled onto them as if they were haystacks. She wondered what she would do if she received that Sunagakure was in the same state... Of course she would go for Chie, and Reiko, and Shinji and Kiku. But after that... Would she stay and defend her former home?

She didn't know.

Just as she didn't know whether or not to get involved in Kirigakure's troubles. The damned place seemed to be a magnate, attracting every damned criminal as if it were some damned rite of passage to go into the damned big leagues. Gin was pissed off - at herself more than anything - and she knew it. Before even realizing it, the young woman had arrived at the source of the noise. She was standing atop a tree, looking at the scene. There were about twenty shinobi attacking one boy. Their form was off, they were slow and their attacks were weak. But their numbers were a challenge to the boy. He launched attacks and dodged to and fro. Gin watched from afar. She watched as he was wounded, slashed across the chest. It didn't take long for the boy to fall after that.

With a shake of her head, Gin leaped from the tree unceremoniously. She approached the boy - covered in blood and dirt, his black locks in disarray. She threw his unconscious body over her shoulder. In a few minutes, she left him in the hospital - or at least that was her plan. Since she had found the boy and brought him to the medical shinobi, she was officially in charge of him according to the hospital's personnel. She hated the place, just like any other hospital she had been to. It gave her the chill. Regardless, she had wound up sitting next to the boy's bed, waiting for him to wake up as she stared at him.

[Word Count: 583]

<sup>He mumbled as he was laying n the hospital's bed "You have no family, no friends, no loved ones, no one cares for you, and your own village betrayed you, why do you live, Is vengeance really your reason for living, perish that thought, you were born to destroy."  It's his mouth and voice, but not him, the darkness within him was speaking to Tsuneo, why must It torture him, why must he feel pain beyond what he's feeling, Tsuneo drifted Into the world of his dreams.
He saw another frightening scene, his family was laughing and enjoying their time, his sister, his father, and his mother, but what seemed odd was that he was not there, he was shocked, why did what he see look so believable? as he was sleeping a tear rolled down his cheek as his eyes opened up.
This smell, the white ceiling, and this odd feeling....He was at the hospital, he saw bandages surround the area's he got Injured at, he looked disgustingly as he spoke "weak" he clenched his fist, but he was barely capable of doing so, he was out of chakra to even move a muscle, he looked around, and said "great no one's here" he lifted his body up trying to get out when he saw a woman sitting behind him, was she a doctor, he wondered yet again after focusing, she seemed similar and after focusing even more, Tsuneo recognized the woman, she was with them when Tame recruited him. He spoke to the woman "yo mummy woman, he saw her power at konoha, and he's certainly a fool to think she'd let that slip. He continued his sentence "what are you gonna confess your love or something? I know I am hot but I thought you'd be more difficult to get" was he flirting with her? sadly yes, he was trying to flirt, but.... he's too smart with women to say something nice.


He looked away "you're the one that took me here correct?....thanks, though am sorry I've got no money, I am basically broke, anyway, nice to meet you I am Uzumaki Tsu- " he almost said It, he coughed and spoke "Uzumaki Izuna", he almost exposed his true Identity, she's from the aoi bara, but he was not sure he was capable of trusting her, and so he tried walking  away despite the pain he felt. he wondered about what the dark figure said to Tsuneo, what It said was correct, Tsuneo had no friend, and no ally, no family, no lover, no one. perhaps, he was truly born to destroy</sup>.

Arms crossed over her chest, gaze set on the young boy in front of her and the scent of antiseptics overwhelming her capacity to smell anything else - one of the many reasons why the older woman hated hospitals. Of course, there were many other negative experiences linked to places like this one.

The white room spun around her. Blood covered her body. Wounds were etched on her skin - jagged and torn. She should feel pain, but she didn't. She felt something worse. Her heart shattered inside her chest. He was dead. Her unborn child was dead. Life held its grip tightly on her. Why couldn't she die?! Why couldn't she join them?! Why were the medics trying to save a life she didn't want?!  

Gin shook her head, as if ridding herself of the memory that had taken over her for a few seconds. After that... After that Gin had never been whole again. But over five years had passed since then. In fact, it had been almost ten years. And of course, she was happy that things turned out the way they did - she wouldn't have had either Shinji or Kiku otherwise. Oh how she missed them... She could only hope that the plan she had developed to transfer them to Kumogakure under Sanosuke's protection and guidance would work.

But she still couldn't help but wonder what things would have been like if Sake had lived, if they had gotten married like they were planning, like they had both always wanted since they were children. She wondered what their baby would have looked like, what his or her smile would have been like. It still haunted her dreams - the idea of a perfect life in Sunagakure with the two of them and Chie and Reiko - which turned into nightmares ince she woke up and realized that she was still in this hellish world. She felt empty, but oddly with purpose. She knew both things were contradictory, but then again, humans themselves were a walking contradiction.

Like this boy, lying in bed now, shifting in his sleep and beginning to wake up. She could see it in his eyes while he was fighting. He had eyes like hers had been once - empty, cold and uncaring. He probably had nothing or no one to live for. And yet he fought to keep himself alive, still not knowing why. In a way, she saw a bit of herself in him. He opened his eyes and sat up while Gin only watched, legs perched on the end of the bed, slumped on her chair. He didn't notice her at first, Gin let out a grunt as the boy finally noticed her there. She still looked at him carefully, wondering how he would react to her presence and what he would do.

Looking at him now, she realized that she had seen him before - he had been there in Konoha when she had set off to get Tame. He had been the one to explode the building near the outskirts, hadn't he? Interesting that fate would push them together again. For now, Gin said nothing, letting the "Mummy Woman" comment go for now. But her eyes narrowed ever so slightly - or at least the only visible one did. "Pfft, brat, I'm old enough to be your mother. Now show some goddam respect for the person who saved your life. You've been out for over a day and I've been kind enough to keep you company, seeing as no one would claim you as a relative or even friend, a little pathetic don't you think?" She was openly provoking him now, prodding for a reaction as the kid walked for the door.

In a flash - barely visible due to her astonishing speed - she was blocking the doorway, not letting him leave. She simply lifted her knee to make contact with his stomach, using her superior speed and reflexes just to prove that he was still injured, still unable to fight. Regardless of whether he tried to dodge or not, she would speak. After all, if he did manage the unlikely task of  moving out of the way, his wounds were almost guaranteed to open again, staining his hospital robes to crimson red. "Go lie down. You're not allowed to leave this room until you're able to bypass me, got that, brat?" That sentence sealed it. His training had begun and Gin Kuroka had claimed him as a student.

[WC: 1341]

Gin stood in front of the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, gaze fixed on the boy who had been knocked back by her kick by a few meters. She saw the chain coming from the center of his torso. The older woman let herself get caught in it. The chain wrapped itself around her leg, constricting tightly. She had already seen this technique before, multiple times over. It brought back memories, some more pleasant than others. She remembered being tied down by those same chains, her will broken, her heart shattered. And then her arm was being sliced off like it was nothing – like she was nothing. Gin had always wondered why he hadn’t killed her then and there. Maybe he had spared her life on a whim. She would never know now.

Gin let out a chuckle. It didn’t sound quite right – it had a dark and somber undertone. “The legendary chains of the Uzumaki. A good technique, but not without its faults.” She drew Soul Cutter from its hilt. She carried it out in the open these days, just in case she was forcefully involved in the fight against Seven Bells. Gin had always been paranoid, always having multiple plans in her head, quickly formulated and adapted to the situation. This legendary sword with such a common appearance allowed her a great deal of flexibility. She sliced through the chain with little effort. “And now you’ve exposed your signature technique, your clan and your main specialty. I’d restrain from making that my first move if I were you,” she said as she returned Soul Cutter to its sheath.

The former Kazekage stood tall and firm, still looking at the boy. Oh the expression hidden in his eyes… It was full of fire and anger of the deepest kind – the sort that he would latch onto anyone. There were the eyes of someone with nothing left to lose. It was a wonderful and rare site. Even in the shinobi world, people always found a reason to fight, even if it was for something as vain as to keep themselves alive. But this boy was quite the contrary. She supposed that look was the reason why she would later on become his master and he her student. Gin was one of the few people that could truly sympathize with him. But of course, she wouldn’t say that out loud just yet. She knew the drawbacks of wearing your heart on your sleeve and showing everything you thought and felt to the world. She had been naïve enough to think that being that way in such a cruel world would work out. My, what a fool she had been.

“And to answer your question, call this a whim of mine. You remind me of someone I used to know – the former Kazekage, if you’re curious. So I thought I might as well do you this favor. And so, on a whim, I’m offering you a chance to be my apprentice. Of course, that’s if you manage to bypass me,” she said, smiling underneath her bandaged face. There was a new fire in her eyes – a look of excitement. Through this simple training, she would get the kid to realize the value of strategy, the need for self-preservation and the wonders that a good battle could bring. “So how about this: Land one solid hit on me or force me to take a step. If you do this, you win. If not, well I was just mistaken about you. Fair warning though, my instincts are hardly ever wrong when it comes to people.”

[WC:1962]

Gin's face remained in an amused expression. She listened to his ranting, and even so, the smirk under her bandaged face remained unwavering. Trust. Yes, she had made the mistake of trusting the wrong person several times across her life, but never had she decided that she would forgo everything, never had she decided that she would stop trusting nor had she ever made her life sound as dramatic as this kid was saying his was. She had been used. She had been thrown away. She had known pain. She had known suffering. She had been through hell itself many times over. But she had never been in such a state of self-pity. She guessed she would just have to beat that out of the kid. Standing idly at the door, Soul Cutter still in her hand, she spoke. Her voice was dead serious, chilling and almost threatening. "I'm not asking you to trust me. Hell, if you want to and if you think you can, you can try to kill me. But you are just a child. You know nothing. I will teach you how cruel life can really be. I will show you what hell really looks like," She placed herself in a stance, holding her sword with one hand, still. "But above all I assure you that I will teach you how to get the fuck up every time you're beaten down to a bloody pulp. Now quit sulking and show me watch you can really do!"

She yelled now. The hospital personnel probably knew better than to intervene, despite the loud noises coming from this particular part of the hospital. She supposed that altercations like this one were a common thing. Besides, the nurses had better things to do, considering the amount of injured shinobi and kunoichi coming from the battle against Seven Bells. The lights went out. It was only a cheap trick so far. A crackle of lightning and a quick transformation made it clear that the Shadow Clones were nothing but a fake ruse. A quick swing from Soul Cutter and they would be gone, dispersed by the sword's power. But Gin had made it her purpose to remain at the door. She would counterattack and defend. Of course, there were multiple things that she could do to attack from a distance. She would wait to see if his skills merited the use of her Kekkei Genkai.

The three clones stood idle around him. He goaded her, but Gin scoffed. "You assume too much, kid. For all you know, I could be a wandering thug, not this noble person you're making me out to be," She said. There was something that she wanted to try, a jutsu that she had thought up a good while ago. She would have liked to test it against Sanosuke or someone else that was closer to her skill level than this kid. But she supposed that if he survived it, that was reason enough to earn at least a shred of respect from the former Kazekage. All she needed to know was open her mouth. She concentrated the flow of her chakra towards her lips. A seal formed just in front of her lips, glowing a faint blue. Perfect on the first try. Gin almost smirked. She had come a long way from her days at the hospital all those years ago, learning how to draw basic seals with chakra as a distraction from her pain. Now she was a master of sealing.

A wild current of wind spread through the room. Gin was careful not to expand it enough so that it would cause damage to the neighboring rooms. The items that were inside were sucked in by the rapid winds and quickly disappeared into it. The bed, the nightstand, the chair that she had been sitting on - all of them were gone. If the clones didn't hold onto something, they would surely be drawn in and absorbed as well. Tiles on the floor were coming loose. The window broke, leaving shard of it in the current of circling air. The room was sealed off. The only way to escape the jutsu was through the broken window - in which case he would escape and admit defeat - or past the door that Gin was blocking. She wondered how this would all play out.

Chakra: 300/325:

[Training Heaven Style: Void Seal - 2000/2000
[Training Heaven Style: Vector Plate - 695/1500]

If there was something that Gin despised it was lack of respect. The former Kazekage knew well enough that respect was something that had to be earned, not something that was given out to everyone who demanded it freely. But this... this haughtiness, this disdain... It angered her. This kid didn't know his place. Her power surpassed his by several times. He needed at least one hundred more years of training before he thought he could toss her around like he was planning to. He needed to be taught a lesson in humility. This hubris would otherwise kill him. Hell, if it were in any other circumstance, in any other place that wasn't Kirigkure, it would be Gin herself that ended his life. But she had made a sort of promise to herself. She had already said that she would train this boy. If there was something she never did, it was go against her word. It was in Gin's own strange and twisted code f honor to follow through with every promise she made, regardless of how big or small it was.

And so she would teach this boy how to live and how to survive. He was desperate to throw his life away. Maybe that was why he taunted her even knowing that he was at a severe disadvantage. The jutsu that Gin had used, despite the fact that it had been absorbed by Tsuneo - at this Gin had been mildly impressed - had left the room in disarray. The furniture that hadn't been absorbed into the seal was thrown all over the place. Despite the fact that Gin had been slightly surprised at the Chuunin's display, it had been quickly overshadowed by his own words. He was now blindly rushing towards her. Did he not see that she was armed with a weapon that had cut even the chains of the Uzumaki? Was this bravery, foolishness, or something else? In any case, Gin would not let him or his attack get any closer.

The former Kazekage didn't even move. But she knew what she needed to do. This was a perfect opportunity to use that technique... yes, she had perfected the theory behind it but had yet to put the technique in practice even once. But she was an expert with seals now. She had come a long way since her days in the hospital with her former and deceased husband teaching her basic fuuinutsu. She had to admit, he had been quite the prodigy, even for an Uzumaki. She supposed it was because of him that Gin knew exactly what people from that clan were capable of. She had a rough estimate of what this boy's talent level was, his determination and and the amount of knowledge that the boy had.

Like most Uzumaki, he was determined and hard headed. She wondered if that was one of the traits that came with the Kekkei Genkai of the ancient clan. Whether or not that was true, there was one thing she was certain of: this kid had talent. If she could beat the hubris out of him, she could make him an exceptional warrior. But in order to do that, he would have to let go of this need to see everything destroyed without reason. Gin placed the seal on the floor as Tsuneo rushed towards her. It was in the shape of an arrow, pointing at Tsuneo himself. Whatever jutsu or person that stepped on it or even over it would be launched back against the wall and most likely through it.

That was the power of the Heaven Style: Vector Plate. It could launch most head on attacks back at the person who sent them. So as soon as both Tsuneo and his jutsu made it onto the arrow, extending a little over a meter from Gin herself, they would both be launched back to collide with each other. There was hardly any way arund it if Tsuneo wanted to continue his attack. Not only that, but seeing as he was distracted and blinded by his own rage, it was unlikely that he would even notice the seal, much less figure out what it did. And even if he did bypass her somwhow, armed with Soul Cutter, Gin could slice through the jutsu with ease. "Listen up kid," Gin began, her tone leaving no room at all for questions or doubt. She no longer sounded nonchalant and playful. She was cold, serious and frightening. "If you're so desperate to die, I'd be willing to put you out of your misery now. But if you want to learn how to survive, if you want to make something out of yourself, if you want to show those who made your life hell what pain really is, then come with me and make yourself strong. Live, learn to survive by throwing away that pride you're so fond of," She would speak as she repeatedly kicked and punched his already injured body. She was much faster than he was and she was no longer holding back. The probability of him dodging was minimal. Assuming she hit him repeatedly, his bones caving in with each blow, she would speak again. "Now get the fuck up and show me just how far your conviction goes!"

[Training Heaven Style: Vector Plate - 1588/1500]

Destroyed~

She destroyed him with her attacks, nearly every bone in his body was broken, he lied down on the ground before her feet, landing a solid strike, you must've been kidding, that's more than easy, as she anticipated his next course of action, Tsuneo would barely sttand up, with his whole body trembling, he would glare at her with eyes that held no light, he was unconscious, still he stood up, and threw a broken small piece of rock at her as it her, and with that he continued standing up, despite the fact, that he was no longer conscious, Tsuneo never was the type to give up, his life was a difficult one, but still he survived, with the hopes of one day eradicating everything in this wretched world, or so he saw it.

Tsuneo truly yearned to be loved, he wanted to be loved and to have someone cry for him once his life ended, but in his path, his only friend was the emptiness and darkness dwelling within him.

These lies are leading me astray, it's too much for me to stay, I don't want to live this destiny. It goes on endlessly. These lies.....These lies.....Please stay strong....I see you...so sadly distraught. This love...This hate....is driving me insane, I must stay strong. . . . .I MUST SURVIVE!!!!!

He blinked regaining his burned consciousness, he paced the distance between him and her, and threw another small piece of rock at her, it would barely be felt by her, it was like tickling her but he spoke “H-Here I landed a solid strike...”He paused for a moment and spoke with difficulty “I-I don't want to die alone, never loved” He spoke as his tears rolled down he's a child a merely fifteen years old kid, and as he said so he lost his consciousness once again and fell, whether in her arms or on the ground, he didn't know, and in honesty he knew nothing, he was merely a tortured child in this cruel world.