Blood, and dirt covered the girls body. She was tired, and exhausted. Not even just physically so, but after having endured dying several times to the wilds of the stone village, and watching her family get slaughtered she wasn't even sure that there was much sanity left. Her dress that her own mother had sown together for her, with her own help of course, was in complete tatters. Shredded and torn beyond recognition also covered in dirt and a lot of blood, mostly around the tears. It was her own blood, not that you could tell, because other than the notable exhaustion in the way the girl walked, and moved, she looked perfectly healthy, aside from a few minor scratches here and that she had gathered after her latest revive. from what she had revived from she honestly couldn't even remember at this point. the journey here had been such a long and treacherous one. But it was here she stood, in front of an open gate, though she had hoped it would have been Iwagakure, but looking into the town now she could see that it was a much smaller town, probably just an outpost, but the girl didn't feel safe. After having to watch her back for the past few days, if not weeks, nothing felt safe any more. And even though the timeline felt fuzzy, she could remember each and every painful death as clear as day. When she was younger she used to think that things like slivers and small cuts hurt, but that was until she had experience death. True and unhindered in it's form, and all of the pain brought with it, and she certainly didn't want it to happen again. So not even the outpost that she stood before felt safe anymore. The whole world was cold.

But still, this is the place Katsuko had chosen to go, why? she didn't know. at the clan compound she probably thought someone might be able to help, that someone could restore her fallen family members, and track down the bandits that had done that to her family, but now she understood that the world, in it's truest form, didn't care. It would beat you down no matter how many times you stood, and so even though she was here, she still felt simply defeat, but she was here, and so on wobbly feet, she stepped forwards into the village. But it was then that the massive hunched black creature that had been right behind her sprung forwards into action, having found a creature to kill. That creature which Katsuko now simply referred to as "Kuro" had been the only reason that Katsuko had made it through the forest. Saving her from several animals that would have loved to simply tear her limb from limb, until she stopped getting back up, which Katsuko didn't even know if that was possible, but she trusted her back to that creature, and it hadn't let her down yet, and so when it sprung forwards to attack the nearest guard insight, catching the poor man by surprise and sticking its massive black claw through his torso, she didn't even flinch. In fact she just kept walking, her legs wobbly and weak, and the expression on her face was blank.

As Katsuko kept walking her legs kept getting worse and worse, until she eventually just collapsed in the middle of the town. Kuro, however just kept slaughtering. targeting civilian after civilian, only to kill them and then move to the next closest one to Katsuko. It was painfully apparent however that the creature, was ignoring her, if not protecting her, but bloodthirstily killing all else in it's path. Even a few of the shinobi that had chosen to stand up to it were simply getting out classed by it's speed and strength, as they threw kunai at it, only to have the kunai tear through a small part of it's torso and have little to no effect on the creature at all. Katsuko at this moment, was simply just trying to stand, however her legs were not functioning properly. And she figured this was probably due to the fact that she hadn't revived in a few days at most, and having done nothing but walk within those days. but after a few moment's of trying the white haired girl managed to stand on her feet, but she heard something behind her and turned around to see what it was, putting Kuro to her back.

---

WC: 769
Total WC: 769
Chakra: 110/130

Technique's used:

The four of them sat there together in that tea shop, two women and two men dressed in their ANBU armor. There wasn't much to be said for them, they were all uniquely selected and chosen on a variety of issues, personality meshing and skills to cover each others on top. As far as creating a team for an effective mission, they were nearly as good as it got for the base level jounin of the village. Karumo sat there amongst them, in that tea house they so enjoyed after the completion of their mission. The two women, both medics but on clearly better while the other was talented for genjutsu beyond belief, the second man was an expert in weaponry and demolitions, given by the fact that he carried an assortment of weapons along with him. Two katanas on each side of his waist, a smaller katana on his back, a bo-staff, and a scythe as well that he carried by hand where he was going. While Karumo, the fourth member sat to himself, more of a ninjutsu expert than anything and a tactical mind to lead the group. For them, and the others that would recognize him as the Tsuchikage, it would be more of a deal but he wouldn't play up the position.

For the other three, Emi sat across the table from him, another of the Fantomusodo clan like Karumo, but her eyes hadn't developed at all. Remaining a solid color of purple without the lines, she had become far more of the medical specialist and it served her well. Fair and clear skin and a very quiet personality to say the least, and on top of her healing prowess, Karumo had taken a special eye for her, as on off-hand note to it all, there was more than one reason he'd chosen her to join them.

Next to Emi was Akio, the partial medic and genjutsu expert with blonde hair and blue eyes. A usually friendly demeanor she was far more talkative than Emi and less relenting of mistakes. There wasn't much else to add to her, she was fairly normal by any standard and didn't hold the special abilities of any prominent clans or kekkai genkai.

The last of their group was the red and shaggy haired weapons expert himself, Renji, sitting next to Karumo and across from Akio. He was loud and often a bit abrasive but friendly at the same time. Not mincing his words, giving three when five would do was his style and telling it like it is. Often times he would be the first to act in a situation but he was quite skilled in his art, it was the reason that Karumo let him do so much and brought him along. With his weapons and his prowess, there weren't many that could stand against him.

The group sat there at the tea house, sipping on the warm drink and enjoying a plate of dumplings between all of them, a small reward for another mission complete and this was becoming one of their favorite stops in the area. Renji grabbed a wooden stick with a variety of dumplings and bit into them, taking one with a single bite and then speaking with a full mouth, "These are so good! Akio try it!" he said holding it out in front of her face with an eccentric look on his face.

Akio had leaned back and away and shook her head, "I don't want that after you've stuck your mouth on it..." she gave in retort and solicited a stiffled giggle from Emi. Renji looked over with one eye squinted and the other eyebrow raised before he spoke up, "And what are you laughing at? We all know that you'd pass out for Captain Karumo here to feed you dumplings...." he held a sly smile and laughed to himself. Akio turned towards her to see her reaction, and Karumo glanced up from the menu at her as well. It seemed Emi's face was beginning to turn red and she straightened up in her seat as if she'd seen a ghost.

"That's not true!" she responded rather eccentrically, "It's not like that at all, I wouldn't eat after him either! It's not sanitary, and..." she was beginning to rant and would get cut off by Renji again, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Try not to hurt his feelings... calling him dirty and all..." he then looked towards Karumo who cracked a smile and shook his head, "It's fine Emi, don't let him get you so riled up, he's just jealous since Akio rejects him so often..." he offered with a calm silence as he held the menu down. Akio nodded and hummed to affirm his statement as she bite a dumpling from another stick of her own.

Renji's mood fell off as he sat back down in his own personal space, "You don't have to be so blunt about it..." his arms crossed now like he was pouting. Akio chimed in to enter the conversation again, "It's okay Renji, I'm sure the perfect someone is out there for you... not me, but you know, someone." she added on confidently. Renji laughed and threw his arm around Karumo who turned his head with open eyes towards him as he spoke up, "How about it Captain, want to help me find the perfect woman?" he held his glance looking into Karumo's eyes with a dumb grin. Karumo blinked for a second before speaking up, "She said the perfect someone was out there, not that you had a chance with them... why would I waste my time with that?" he held a neutral face as if he were totally serious and watched Renji shrink up in melancholy. Akio and Emi both laughed at him as he sighed and gave a depressed look.

Then Renji spoke up with a normal tone, "On a serious note, what about you two? You two are pretty chummy and all..." he asked. Karumo laughed a bit and his hand subconsciously moved and rested ever so briefly on top of hers as he spoke up, "No, no, there's nothing like that going on between us..." he scratched the back of his neck and laughed with his other hand. Her hand retracted almost the instant that his hand landed on hers, as Karumo hadn't noticed what he'd just done, seeing the twitch and turning his eyes to her as the others did as well. A look of shock from Emi as Akio and Renji smiled on at them while Karumo looked on in confusion as to what just happened.

Whatever berating or commenting on whatever connection the two might hold would have to wait, as the group all perked up at once hearing the screams and shouts of a man from outside. Someone screaming bloody murder as they heard the sounds of it all, each of them knew instinctually what to do. Placing their ANBU masks back on and standing up before quickly dashing out around them into the alley way that is the town. From the gate sat two rows of buildings on each side of the street leading in, the citizens and people running away into the shops and screaming in terror, the sight from the gate was none but horrifying.

A girl laying down and aiming to stand up as some black devil stood nearby and ripped the guards to shreds. Karumo nodded as they stood off to the distance and watched more of the town's own makeshift guards try to intervene. They knew what to do, Emi and Akio to a rooftop to each side and crouched down to watch the scene of the devil, while Karumo stood boldly on front of the creature and Renji jumped all the way behind the gate to stand guard and prevent its escape.

The girl was as ghastly as the being itself, the white dressed stained and tattered, she looked a bit older than a young girl, but still a child. She looked broken and beaten, her eyes cold and her face seemed weary and exhausted. Karumo was concerned, she was in awfully close proximity to that being inherently, he gulped and looked at his squad. Renji's hands placed on his staff as he stood at the ready to move in, Emi and Akio both obviously nervous, seeing the slight tremble in Emi's hands at the foul looking creature and Akio already in a position to begin weaving hand signs. Karumo would call out towards everyone and the villagers especially,

"Everyone, get away and lock your doors, stay away from the windows!" he shouted out as his voice was distorted by the mask. He didn't know if the demon could hear him or just attacked at whim, the horrifying figure of mangled bodies and the smell of blood began to fill the air as the syrup soaked the ground. The girl though, she didn't seem concerned about the dark figure in front of them in the slightest. Was she dazed to what was going on? She looked in awful shape to say the least. Karumo immediately knew that he had to act to get her out of the way of the ghostly figure. With a quick glance at each of his squad members, he would take their measure as he waited at the helm, preparing his thoughts he would call out, knowing that they would have never seen or faced anything like this. Wondering what it even was and if their jutsu or actions would have any affect on it in the slightest.

"Little girl, get away from that thing, quickly!" he would give in a concerned tone, nearly shouting out at her, kunai drawn and keeping his eyes carefully on the situation in front of them. Waiting to see what would happen, all four of them at the ready to move in on the being if it should go anywhere near the girl. As beaten up as she looked, she was still living and that was the most important part...


[1714 words]

The body of the last guard guarding the gate slumped to the floor, as Kuro removed it's claw from the man's stomach, and the crimson red liquid that allowed the man to live now spilled out all over the ground. Kuro, even though the creature didn't have eyes, it watched the man fall. It didn't consume him, or attack any further as it knew the man was no longer among the living. it just followed his lifeless body to the ground and watched it with a sickening thud. The screams of horrified mothers and children, in the village filled the air, as the did the vile smell of the blood the surrounded the gate. The other guards that were in the village had watched the scene unfold, frozen with fear in their place. Rooted to the ground on which they stood as if they were statues. Paralyzed with fear, they had seen their friends and comrades get simply thrown around as if they were mere toys, for the large menacing black creature which was now slowly making it's way to the girl in the white dress slouched over attempting to stand.

It was about this time, that the small squad of ANBU made their way out of the restaurant. Katsuko, saw them exit the store, but with little care. Her eyes were more focus on Kuro in front of her. The large black creature that had just stopped, straight in front of her, and was simply standing there. Not moving and inch. And continued to do so, as the girl reached her hands up to grab the bloody arm of the creature, and used it to pull herself up, so that way she was standing on both of her feet, albeit wobbly. It was then that the Squad of ANBU members moved in, surrounding the girl. And although Katsuko didn't notice the two standing on the roof tops, she definitely saw the man standing in front of him. Now Katsuko had rarely left her small clan compound deep in Iwagakure's wilderness, and it was mostly to gather resources and/or hunt. But she had seen enough of their clan members, dressed in shinobi attire, as well as read enough books and heard enough stories to know that the person in front of her at the very least was a shinobi, and due to the mask, probably one of higher standing, and so she looked at him, with eyes filled with pain and exhaustion, and stumbled towards him, only so much as whispering the words "Help me" not so much that any of the other ANBU members would have been able to hear it, but Karumo at the very least should have been able to lip read it. However in the girl's stumbling forwards and Kuro close on her heels, she had dragged the monster close enough, that it now recognized Karumo as a being close enough to pose a threat to Katsuko, and charged towards him as quickly as the creature could. With it's jaw spread almost impossibly far open. As the creature neared him with would raise it's right claw looking to make a diagonal slash a crossed Karumo's face, neck and chest. Kastuko on the other hand, was merely slowly moving and stumbling towards Karumo.

The man before her Katsuko recognized as a shinobi. and maybe... just maybe, he could help her. She honestly didn't know what she needed help with, she knew all of her family was already dead, but she had been raised to trust shinobi. She had been told countless times that they were there to help, and she... she desperately needed help. Her body ached, and hurt. And in more than just a physical way. Her family had been slaughtered, and she had watched it all happen, and even if shinobi couldn't bring her family back, maybe they could take care of the bandits that had killed her family. Maybe they could kill them in the same fashion her family had died. As these thoughts passed through Katsuko's mind a small amount of tears began to flood her eyes, and at about the same time the black creature would strike Karumo, the first tear would slide down her dusty face, leaving a noticeable tear through the dirt and the blood. Maybe now, even if she couldn't get her family back, she could at least get the justice she deserved.

At this point, most of the people around he village had done as Karumo had asked them too and gone inside. There were still a few watching from the windows as the scene transpired, curious to know what was going to become of the new challengers to the black creature and the strange girl, but others were simply hiding inside their house, hoping that if the ANBU squad failed, they'd at least buy some time before the black creature came searching for them, and others still had gone out the back of their house, and through a varying number of small exits were already fleeing the village entirely. None of the words that Karumo had spoken however, had really registered with Katsuko. She was too broken, too exhausted, and too much in her own head for them to have even registered that she heard them. And at this point she was just hoping with all her might that the man standing before her would be able to help her, at the very least get some closure with the her deceased family, but little did she know, that to the four standing before her, she looked like a monster in there eyes. like some sort monster out of legends, that controlled and even worse monster and of scarier legends. Or at the very least, this is what she would have assumed of herself had see been in her right mind. Still she continued stumbling forwards, and if the creature missed it's attack or if the man took the blow and still wasn't dead, then Kuro would simply keep on attacking as well.

---

WC: 1024
Total WC: 1793

Karumo watched it stand there still as the night it so imitated, the others around them each tense as they watched the scene in front of them. The creature was seemingly still as the girl grabbed its arm to stand up, Karumo wondered if the creature was sparring her? Some form of sentimentality and understanding in it after all. Karumo's eyes met her as she stood up from the ground onto her own two feet, the words read out on her lips, clear as day could be, "Help me..." the words rang out and struck Karumo in shock. He had no idea what was going on here, what was happening with the girl and this monster. But her eyes, despite the horrid and mortifying condition of her clothing, and her words had struck a nerve of emotion with Karumo. That small part of him that was too good to ignore any plea for help from someone who couldn't seem to defend themselves. He would step forward, his sandal grinding briefly against the road in front of him to make the same noise it always did.

The monster turned it's attention towards Karumo, dashing forward with a horrible jaw open, Karumo knew he had to act, at least it wasn't anywhere near the girl. Even though it was ignoring her, he didn't trust it in the slightest, sitting down into a stance and inhaling fully, using chakra to create an oil in his mouth and throat. Karumo would pause, and wait for the creature to get closer, aiming to squad in mostly underneath it as it attacked him. He noticed in the background, both Emi and Akio jump downwards to the ground as Renji ran forward with his scythe drawn. They wouldn't be quick enough, that being had quite the jump off its base, and by the time Karumo reached it, it would be blown away in a huge volley of flame in the form of a bullet. Aiming to place the very center of the bullet aimed upwards at its neckline, that way when it burned past the beast and flew beyond it, it would fly in the air and away from the village itself.

Intense heat and flames as the ball moved out in one instance, the creature would be caught in its blast for sure as long as it kept on a straight path at him. As for the others of the squad, Emi and Akio would each have landed at the ready on each side of the girl. And Renji, scythe drawn in both hands, would be no more than a couple feet behind the girl herself when he would stop to see the attack play into motion. Hopefully that would be the end of it, enough to knock it out of the game completely or maybe enough to at least give them another clue on how to combat it from there if they were to fail.


[496 words, 2210 words total]

[280/300 Chakra]

Jutsu Used:

Dust consumed the air, as everything went from a complete standstill to, as if on cue, everyone moving at once. After Katsuko had taken a few steps forward and provided her plea to the man in front of her, and began to move towards her as to respond to he plea, but doing so triggered the attention of Kuro whom was only out for blood. It was then that the creature moved forwards at full pace, heading straight for the man in the mask that stood before Katsuko. This provoked the reaction of the other people in masks, two of them moving from the rooftops quickly towards Katsuko's side. As well as the one behind Katsuko began to charge her with his scythe at the ready, though not that she would know about the latter. All of this sudden movement seemed to happen so quickly, as well as so uniformly that Katsuko could barely keep up, especially with how tired and exhausted she was. However her eyes remained focused on the man in front of her who dropped down as Kuro approached him, and then he inhaled, and even though Katsuko couldn't see his mouth, this action was very plain to see due to the large swell in the man's chest, however Katsuko had no idea what it meant, simply because she hadn't been around a lot of chakra users before, and most of the chakra in practice and use she had seen was due to her clan members teachings and it was simple things like the supernatural walking practice.

However it was very quickly the girl learned what the sudden and rather large inhale meant, as Kuro approached the man, and got very close, the man exhaled, and a large ball of fire erupted from his mouth. Completely consuming the black monster, and having it angled in such a way that it went above the gate so it didn't do any harm to the village. However the ball of fire was still so bright and unexpected as well as intense that Katsuko's arms naturally went up to shield her face from the intense heat that she could feel even though the blast wasn't very close to her. However because of this, and regardless of the two masked people, whom Katsuko could now tell where female due to their close proximity, Katsuko had kept slowly and shakily moving towards the masked man in front of her, but due to the sudden movements of her arms the girl stumbled and tripped over her own feet, crashing to the ground once more. Kuro however had not been able to take the burn the and after the roar of fire finished erupting from the man's mask, the creature could be found collapsed on the ground, disintegrating, though not from the fire, and at a much faster rate then the fire would allow. The black creature was breaking apart into various sized bits, and flowing straight back into the girl that was now pushing herself up so she was on her knees. Each bit of this black chakra would surround the girl briefly before disintegrate further and absorbing into the girl. The girl would look up, her exhausted, defeated, and bright crimson eyes staring straight into the masked man before her, as she finally heard the rapid. footsteps behind her, but it was probably all too late.

---

WC: 571
Total WC: 2364

The girl would fall back to the ground, but Karumo wouldn't notice it behind the heat and flame of the fireball as it burned through the creature. Surely enough it would stop the creature in its tracks but was it enough to dispel it? Or would it be enough to perhaps scare away the creature from the scene and force it to consider its actions.

After the bullet had cleared it's path, Karumo would calmly and wearily stand back up and look at the collapsed creature. Sliding his feet back in caution with kunai now in hand, he watched as it fell apart to pieces, like dust carried away into the wind. Each of the fragments headed straight for the girl and circled around her for a time, before falling back into her and then seemingly being drawn into her. Karumo gulped, unsure of how to act, was it weak and trying to possess a hostage or something? What a demonic creature! Karumo would take his kunai and throw it through the fragments, seeing if he could have any affect on them in any form. He noticed in that moment, when seeing where to aim his kunai so that it wouldn't hit anything living in its path, that they had both taken steps back and were kinda nervous.

The kunai hit a few fragments and cut them, but it didn't seem to slow their descent towards her. Karumo didn't know what to do, but it seemed his subordinate did, Renji had tightly gripped his scythe, Karumo saw the look in his eyes, that bloodlust. "It's alright captain! I won't let this demon escape away!" he yelled out and it was then that Karumo saw him bring his scythe behind him in a large rotation to hit her. Dammit, he'd already thrown his kunai and that scythe was about to come down hard. He began to move forward as the last of the fragments circled around her, he shouted in movement, "Renji, No!" he extended his right arm out, dramatic. He knew he wouldn't get there in time to grab the scythe and pull it away from its target, but something stupid in his mind told him to try. He was never that illogical, only for those innocent few caught either in the path or in the fire of shinobi.

The blade itself though, it came down hard, the sound it made as it hit her back was horrifying. The bone couldn't even be heard cracking, just the shimmering of a clean cut, as if he'd just rubbed his blade against more metal. But the image on top of it, the scythe was long, it pierced through her and emerged from the center of her chest as it forced her into the ground before the scythe cut into that too. Blood spewed out quickly, lightly from her back but heavily from underneath her, that awful red liquid. Karumo stopped paying attention to everyone else, he would miss Emi gasp and cover her mouth and Akio's wide eyed and shocked face. He'd also missed Renji's pant, he put his full force into that blow, a heavy exhale from the red haired man as he'd finished his task. It wouldn't have even hit him yet that he'd just cut down a little girl, his mind totally enveloped on stopping that creature from escaping away.

Karumo would stop his running a few feet from her and immediately drop to both knees in front of her. The pooling blood was building up rather quickly, Renji pulled his scythe out, the thick red lacquer clung to it and her as he pulled against her. She came up with the blade a bit as he pulled, but eventually fell back down all the same. Karumo panicked, looked around, the last of the fragments had seemed to disappear away from the scene. He spoke brokenly, hardly able to get his words together, looking towards both his medics he would shout out orders again, "Emi, Akio, quick!" they immediately knew what he was talking about, they responded in tandem, "Right/Right!"

They both rushed forward, Renji looked on a bit as Karumo helped roll the girl to her back, taking her right hand into his own. Renji spoke up, almost as if he was confused, "Captain..."

"Not now Renji, we have to help her..." he spoke as he looked onto the other two begin to push medical chakra to their hands and start examining her quickly. Akio was the less capable medic, she just followed Emi's lead who began to shake nervously and quickly around. Karumo tried to consol the girl, saying whatever came to his mind, "Hang in there, you're gonna be alright... just listen to my voice.... stay with me. What's your name little girl? Can you remember your name? anything to get her attention and keep her conscious.

Renji tried to speak up again, interrupting his musings, "Captain..." Karumo inhaled heavily. "Just wait Renji, keep an eye out or something. Just wait..." he kept going, looking towards Emi to see what she said.

Akio glanced at Karumo, she didn't understand him, his incessant need to help everyone so often. To risk himself unilaterally over nothing and put so much effort and emotion into this little girl, nothing more than a citizen caught in the crossfire of a small battle. Akio understood how Renji acted, as appauling as it might have been, but she couldn't understand how someone who was so dedicated to hard logic had such trouble at restraining these bits of emotion from time to time. He'd always done it, throwing himself in the blade of a comrade to save a bandit for a girl so long ago. He always acted quickly and decisively in missions and never ordered a kill unless necessary. Even in team missions, he would beat his enemies to a pulp but rarely delivered the finishing blow to them himself.

Emi coughed a bit, nervous and with heavy breath as she began to speak, "Karumo..." she'd lost the formality. He noticed it immediately, it must not be good news in the slightest, "It's not looking good. Aside from the major puncture damage, he cut the vertebrae and spine clean through at the C11 spot, a critical juncture... on top of that there's too much blood. I can't stop it... he must have hit an artery near the heart or something along with it." her breaths were labored as the chakra grew brighter. She was putting out more and more to compensate and the chakra thickened around her hands, "I don't think we can help her... she's gonna die..." the words rung out like a bell at midnight.

Heavy words and a heavy sound that quieted the three of them, Karumo sighed, his chest felt heavy as he pushed the air out. His eyes glanced down at the eyes of this girl, opened or closed, he would close them with his hand and speak up, "Alright then, that's enough." he would let go of the girls hand and let it fall as he stood back up. Karumo stood up and let his head drop downwards over the body of the girl, Akio fell back on to her butt and scratched the back of her head, Emi stood up too and reached her arm out to grab Karumo's shirt. Just pulling on it gently as if a reminder that she was there too, she knew how he got in the face of death, especially needless death. Renji stood leaned into his scythe, the bloodied blade down towards the ground, Karumo spoke up again,

"Renji, go clean your weapons, we're gonna find somewhere to bury this body or someone who might know her..." he spoke and looked towards Renji, he ignored Emi's hand now. He knew he had a job to do, their mission over, but they had a responsibility to take accountability for the life they'd just taken. Karumo looked around the town to see if anyone had lingered around, but it seemed that they had all just left. It was almost deserted, people fled and hiding in the buildings, nothing but a solemn sigh would leave his mouth. A melancholy face hidden by a mask, for just that reason, to prevent anyone seeing the emotion of a shinobi, but his tightened fist would speak for itself. It was such poor luck that they'd have to show up to deal with this, there were also the guards to take care of, those trashed bodies would need immediate attention and probably to be buried as well.


[1467 words, 3677 words total]

Black chakra flowed back into the girl, as Kuro slowly but surely finished up reabsorbing into the girl. This had happened a few times during her trip here and so she was relatively used to it. As tired as she was Katsuko watched the man before her slowly push himself back up after blasting Kuro with a fireball that was probably more than necessary. But it's not like it mattered much to her, he had silenced the black creature, at least for now. Until katsuko felt the need to bring him back out for her own defense and safety, and so she began to push herself up. However she heard words come from behind her, and at the same time, the man before her shout. She was too exhausted to really pay attention to what they were saying, but it sounded frantic. And then she felt it. The sharp and sudden pain through-out her body as she was slammed back into the ground. What felt like a spear being shoved through her back out and her chest pinning her to the ground. All she could manage to do was cough up way too much blood before she could no longer retain consciousness.


but, she did know one thing. She had died again.... That was the funny thing about death. most people assumed it was pleasant, quick and painless. that it was the end. Some people believed that when you died you simply woke up to see pearly white gates, or the fires of the underworld. Or that it was simply the end. However they were wrong. It hurt. It was painful. Katsuko screamed in pain as she gripped the massive hole in her chest, as she started out at the endless void in front of her, and that was all she could feel, was pain. Pain that chores through-out her chest this time. She could feel what felt like each and every nerve ending in her body scream at her, as though she had done something wrong. As though this whole in her chest was her fault, and all she could think of was that it hurt. Death wasn't a release to her. It was an torment that felt like it never ended. How naive people were, to think that the thing that was most painful, that was nothing but pure unaltered pain, could be a sweet release. That it would be kind and gentle. It was bullshit. Katsuko had long sense collapsed on her knees as she continued to scream out in pain, grabbing the whole that was her chest as though it was going to help at all. However looking down she noticed it. the black feet of Kuro. She looked up to see the creature standing before her, as though he had done every time the town had gone through this routine. Then she slowly stood up, fighting through the pain. The creature then stood there for a brief moment before walking into her, and the endless void that had been previously bright went dark.


outside of that, the trio had been desperately trying to save Katsuko to no avail. renji having long since pulled his spike out, and Emi having just called her dead. Karumo was upset. There was no hiding it. If Katsuko had been alive during this point she could have plainly seen it too. However only a few moments past as she turned away before something started to happen. It started off with only one small fragment of black chakra, that rose up from her wrist, into the sky. It was so small it was barely noticeable. However not but a second later, three more rose up all in different locations heading towards the sky, and trailing after the first. and it didn't but 10 seconds for the small girl's dead body to start radiating pure black chakra fragments. Almost as if she was pouring chakra out of every single chakra pour she had. She was clearly still visible through it, but she was radiating massive amounts of black chakra from all over her body, much like the creature that stood before them only moments ago had done. However, there was still no signs of life in the girl. Not even a single muscle twitched, and nothing more than her radiating black chakra.

---

WC: 730
Total WC: 3094

Renji had gone off to clean his scythe at a creek just outside the town gates, the other grabbed the bodies of the others and tended briefly to their wounds before declaring them dead. It wasn't long after, that Karumo glanced back at the girls body was radiating those black specs again, his fist clenched tightly as he watched it increase gradually as it radiated around her. Karumo took a few steps forward towards her body to watch it happen, the body itself was still lifeless. He called out to the two medics nearby, in case they hadn't noticed it yet, "Heads up..." he wasn't yelling or anything, but his voice displayed his urgency to attention.

A few other townsfolk had started to venture outside when they heard things quieting down, but as blackness leaked out from her, he yelled out at them, "Go back to hiding! We'll tell you when everything is clear, and be ready to run away...."

Akio stepped forward to his left side a few feet off and Emi to his right standing almost just behind his arm, to separate herself and that horrid feeling in the air. Even though she held her kunai calmly, he could see that she was in a nervous stance, not even wanting to fully face it, but they stood in silence for a short moment as they watched onward, wondering what was happening. Whether that horrid creature was returning after discovering that the body was dead and not use able, or was it trying to take control of her anyways and use her corpse as a puppet. Karumo stood at the ready, preparing to blast the body and incinerate the thing from the very earth in the contempt he held for the being that possessed her and what he blamed for her death as well.

---

Moments later Renji would arrive again, taking no more than a minute or so himself, arriving quickly and landing off a few feet to Karumo's right. Filling in the gap that Emi had left, he held his scythe and spoke up quickly, "Captain, what's going on here? Is that thing coming back??" he wondered, his voice sounding a bit nervous as his grip on the blade was tightened. Karumo didn't waver as he watched onward, "I have no idea, we've just been waiting and watching, we don't want to make any sudden or foolish moves against this thing..." he continued on. It wasn't an order, but Renji understood it as one. They would watch and wait until something happened, waiting to see what would arise from everything happening before them.


[445 words, 4122 words total]

Katsuko stared Kuro in the face, in the world of white. A black spot, in a world of pure white. He didn't leave a trail of darkness, or anything, but there he was just sticking out like a sore thumb. He raised his hand, and without even her own consent, Katsuko did so as well. In fact if she had a chose she wouldn't. She knew what was coming next. As their hands touched, Kuro began to disintegrate into her, and the pain slowly ramped up, as the world grew more and more black, until there was nothing left to be seen, and only Katsuko's screams could be heard. The inside of her body felt like it was tearing its self apart, bit by bit slowly and she could feel every inch of it. It felt like every single peace of her was being torn in half, and it was never going to end, as her spirit ripped its self apart to restore her own body. the pain she felt was too much to heard, until slowly but surely, the sound of her own screams, just turned into ringing in her ear, and then it slowly faded away as from black out from the world of nothing but black.


Katsuko's body still sat there motionless, and unmoving. the blood from her chest had long since stopped pouring as if she had run out. However that's just where things began to get weird. As the black mass erupting from Katsuko's body came to it's peak, her body was almost unseeable, but if one was looking long and hard enough, they could slowly start to see the massive hole in the girl's chest begin to slowly close. And for the small parts where her rips were visible, and she looked starved, a small amount of meat slowly began to surround her ribs. The bags under the girls eyes from lack of sleep also slowly began to fade away, all of this as the black chakra was radiating off of her like she was some sort of black sun, and after a few moments it slowly began to die down ever so slightly, as it slowly began it's decline. It would not become much more apparent that the wound on her chest was gone. Katsuko's eyes slowly opened as she pushed herself up off of the ground, and stood. The black mass still radiating off of her. She faced the group of shinobi looking noticeably horrified at her. "It's fine" she thought. She knew she was a monster anyways. The girl looked down at the white bloodstained hole in the center of her chest. Not enough to fully expose her breasts but, it was enough to show was little cleavage the girl had. As she looked down she wiped the blood from her mouth, and muttered the words. "You killed me." with no real emotion. Just soft, and without anger. Making a statement of fact instead of one of anger or sadness. Her voice sounded empty. She then looked up straight towards the group of shinobi who were looking at her, black mass radiating off of her, though much less that it had been during the revival process.  She looked at them with the same broken, and mentally exhausted gaze she had been before. However aside from the mental side of things, she looked perfectly healthy. And in fact more healthy than most people around in the village, despite having walked into the village much more the corpse. She was standing on her feet perfectly fine, and she was breathing normally despite having a scythe recently shoved through her chest, but the emotionless face staring at the group, and with defeated eyes, she stood before them. This is what she was. An undying mess.

---

WC: 642
Total WC: 3736
Chakra: 55/130

It was merely moments after it had begun, the four of them watching the scene in front of them nervously. The blackness from her had intensified several times from its starting point, all of them carefully ready to move, and suddenly, small details emerged. The girls body below seemed to clear up under the weight of whatever it was, the large wound sealing shut and the coloration of her skin returned. Karumo eyed it, he noticed it quickly, and so did the two medics who gasped as they watched it happen but Karumo held out a hand to silence them and keep them at bay. It wasn't that he didn't want their input, but the distraction of conversation and questioning wasn't needed for the moment.

The black masses began to decline rapidly, falling away, and as they did so the strangest thing happened. The girl's eyes opened, and she pushed herself up, seemingly slowly as she stood up from the ground. There was still more blackness radiating around her as she gave them a look, a seemingly calm stare and then examined herself. Karumo took three steps forward cautiously with his arm out as she spoke up, "You killed me." the statement bland and just thrown out there. Karumo couldn't tell if it was sarcasm or a joke or anything but he stopped to leave some distance between them. Karumo wasn't sure what to do, she seemed fine, the hole in her chest had closed up and without scar to boot.

He turned back briefly to the squad, a quick glance, seeing that Renji had brought his scythe up to chest level and had it gripped tightly. Akio's hands were at the ready, the fast action twitch for her jutsu, always ready to leap into action. And Emi, standing nervously at the ready, always scared to jump into action first but with Karumo and the fear that this thing had instilled, she knew to swallow her own fear. Karumo would turn his attention back to the girl and reached to his mask, pulling it up as it clicked away and came off his face.

Karumo's black hair and purple eyes revealed, he hoped it would be a bit of a calming factor for her or... the thing that might be controlling her. He slid the mask into the inner pocket of his coat as he spoke up, "Little girl... I have so many questions but I'll stick to two for now. Firstly, what is that... thing. Or are you that thing?" he spoke calmly and clear completely of any nervousness or fear. His stance and posture absolutely straight and his shoulders at par with his body and he spoke up again as he relaxed a bit and began to breathe normally, hoping his calm would spread among the rest of the squad. "And secondly, what is your name, where are you from, who are you?" he continued on. He knew that was more than two questions, but he had no time or want for conversation at this time, he needed answers and resolve.


[522 words, 4644 words total]