A change of heart. [P]

Age : 30 Posts : 1012

“G-Get away from me!” The young voice shattered into the air while the small figure stumbled with his balance. Falling forward in a quick motion, the male quickly contorted his body to roll on his right shoulder, leaving a print in the earth from his impact. Twisting around, the young male quickly cut to the side in some bushes, cupping his delicate digits over his mouth to hide his quick and deep breathing. The large mob that was chasing him before ran by; thinking that they were still chasing the child. His right hand slowly pulled down a leaf of the brush that he was conceived in, which allowed him to look both directions of the road. The few glances that he gave were short and full of action. His crown cocked, letting the ebony strands cover the left side of his features. “T-that was close.” The murmur slowly left the grace of his lips. Standing up out of the shrub, the adolescent dusted off his bare shoulder while he had the chance. It wasn’t often that he got to stop and rest for a few seconds. The blue fabric that enveloped his torso slightly blew in the mild gust that encased the area. Another breath was swiftly drawn in his nostrils, letting them flare for a few seconds.

The sky, beaming with glorious light over the fire country allowed the boy to pull down the left side of his covering, letting the aqua fabric fall to his waist. Large burn marks covered most of his flesh that resided on his left extension, moving up his neck and stopping just at his orb. The burn marks still looked fresh even though they have been applied much earlier to the child. “Y- Yoi is gettin’ hungry..” The fact that the child spoke in third person could already be applied as not being all that normal considering standards in this world. The tiny appendages that stroked the earth just moments before started their trek back towards the village that he was escaping earlier. Maybe he didn’t have to worry much about the cluster of people from before just to get some sort of sustenance in his body. While moving forward, his grip came up the left sleeve of his cloth, pulling it up to his shoulders while his left arm moved into the fabric. Pushing out his hand towards the brim of the sleeve, Yoi clenched his jaw fiercely; eyeing the village gates just up ahead.

Did anyone see him run out? Could they spot his attire and scarring to point out to the guards of the area? These thoughts only ran the fear up his spine like a glass full of liquid. His small stature tightened once he could smell the aroma of various meats and vegetation on the nearby grills. The lust for a decent, hot meal could be seen from the way he moistened his lips with his tongue. The saliva dropped from his chin, sticking to his chest in a stringy action. Quickly wiping his chin, Yoi’s visuals quickly caught the view of various sausages hanging from a clothes wire. Such a simple snag, even for a small animal in his mind; a swift movement of his legs caused Yoi to rest against the wooden wall on the opposite position of the meat. The smell that invaded his senses caused a small smile to play on the lips of the boy. Looking upwards at a certain angle, Yoi caught sight of the meat, causing his petite body to slightly jump with joy. “I-It’s been so long!” The lisp that he tried so hard to hide suddenly came out with the ‘S’ that came with the word. At least it wasn’t nearby other people so he could get ridiculed for it. Even if he did, it wouldn’t bother him as much; the situation has been done so much before it just doesn’t affect him any longer.

Letting his fists clench, Yoi peeked around the corner of the wall to look for any potential threats or hindrances. The last thing he wants is to start another mob for grabbing food; one is enough. He could practically taste the meat gracing his tongue once he started to turn into the corner. Each step was silent and well placed, not even shuffling the earth beneath his weight. He quickly dropped underneath the table that lay in front of him; not even caring what was on top. Everything was going to plan until a strange sound erupted nearby the table. The grazing of metal against one another shrieked into Yoi’s ears. His hands quickly were brought to the side of his head, closing the sound from entering his head while watching the table shake every few seconds. Letting one of his hands loosely cup his right ear, the sounds became clearer to Yoi. Thu. Thu. Thu. “What is that?” His lisp free voice spoke in his head once he saw the table shaking around him. Two legs of a wide-set man was just a few feet away from the body of Yoi, which caused him to bring his knees to his chest, getting into a small ball.

He had to avoid all sorts of trouble, even if it meant not having any food yet another day. “T-that makes three.” He held up his pinky, middle, and index fingers of his right hand in front of his eyes, glaring at the digits with an intense stare. How many days can one go without a source of food before they collapse and die? Yoi didn’t really know, nor did he want to think of that outcome. The only things crossing his thoughts at this moment were how to escape a fairly large man with a sharp object. A sudden pain shot up his left arm and neck, exactly where the burns were placed. He fell back slightly, catching his body with his hands on the ground. Wincing from the pain, Yoi rubbed the side of his face, causing his head to tilt towards the entrance of the small village.

In his perimeter, Yoi saw a new figure that he hasn’t seen in the village before. Donning a blue robe that went to the back of his knees, just above a black vest to cover his torso; Yoi narrowed his eyes and moved closer to the leg of the table to peek out to the stranger. Black pants with various pockets clothed the figure, leaving the lower features of his face in bandages. The collar around his neck showed the Kirigakure symbol that rested on top of Yoi’s cloth headband. As his head rested against the table, Yoi felt the pain increase in his burning marks; just as he reached to cover his skin, the man at the entrance reached to the back of his neck and ribs with his hands, rubbing the areas in the same manner of Yoi.

A sudden grin came upon Yoi’s face, was this man just itching or was it coincidence? This caused Yoi to forget his placement while underneath the table. He rose up, cupping his hands over his lips while yelling towards the man. “H-hey Mis-ster! What’s your na-ah!” The heavier set man gripped upon Yoi’s ebony locks, pulling him up eye level and off the ground. The child kicked and screamed, trying to maneuver out of the man’s grip.“I’ve had enough of your thief antics! If the guards will do nothing about you, I will take it in my own hands!’ As the man spoke, he shook the cleaver near Yoi’s chest, causing the boy to raise his knees in defense. The man brought his right arm back, letting the cleaver shine a glare towards the man near the gate, catching his attention for a few moments.

“Hm? A thief?” Mokuzai changed his glare from the springs up ahead to the commotion to his right. His neck and sides burning while he caught glare of the child. “What..” The pain resided for a few seconds, until the child started to start his plan. As the cleaver came down with force, Yoi brought up his arms shield his face, causing black wood to quickly launch in multiple directions, making the heavier man drop Yoi on the ground from the blunt hit. This let Yoi grab a sausage from the table and make a break through the gate, right beside Mokuzai.

Holding the sausage in his mouth, Yoi glided down the path with much ease, turning to the left and jumping behind a fallen tree to rest against. As soon as he pulled a large bite from his mouth, a voice pierced the background of the area, with Mokuzai appearing from behind a tree.

“The fuck was that?”

Age : 30 Posts : 1012

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Yoi’s eyes slowly widened with the sound of the strangers voice behind him. He was that easy to follow? He knew he picked the worst hiding places that anyone could think of, but were they this bad? “Y-Yoi was hungry.” It was simple as that; did he really need more of an excuse to explain to this man? Motions of his jaw commenced after speaking, letting him chew the bit of meat that he could muster in his mouth. The meat melted from the heat of his tongue, which cause Yoi to show this in his expressions while eating. His body, while sitting down in an Indian like position, swayed from the left and right involuntarily. If he could forget anything in the world, Yoi did exactly that when he ate. There was no doubt that he could show how well a meal was prepared just from his expressions and movements. His body still swayed while Mokuzai stood behind him, now raising his left leg to rest on the fallen plant. “Are you goin’ to answer me correctly, or are you just goin’ to assume that I’m talkin’ about food all the damn time?” He didn’t really care that he was speaking towards a child; just from the mannerisms shown earlier, it showed what kind of person this child was. Why was he even wasting time to check up on a low- well shit? The reason for checking on the boy was not because Mokuzai was worried (that word should never be used in his vocabulary at all.) it was the fact of seeing how he lives currently.

He makes a living just like the boy below him. Stealing and being a thief just to get a hot meal and some sort of shelter. That was something people would say based on Mokuzai’s lifestyle. A soft breath pushed the bandages away from his jaw line slightly, letting him sit on top of the fallen tree and letting his legs rest on either side of the plant. Yoi finished the meat in his mouth by the time Mokuzai shifted his position.

This was from being both nervous and hungry. Yoi’s eyes flustered slightly, keeping his gaze tightly locked on the ground. If he could avoid any sort of physical contact with this man, it would do both of them well. Mokuzai’s orbs watched a single medium sized cloud move across the sky with the strong gusts of wind. The blue cloak that folded against the round shape of the trunk blew upwards against Yoi’s face, causing him to roll on the ground to get out of the fabric. Once he was on his stomach, Yoi quickly stumbled up on his feet, pointing his index finger out towards Mokuzai. “Who do you t-think you are?!” The child never loses his temper. Rarely to be honest. He didn’t feel the emotion until Mokuzai got near him; in fact he was confused to the emotion that he was feeling. If he could, the child wanted to cause actual harm to this man; not once has he felt this with any other human.

Mokuzai slowly rolled his head to the left so that his right eye could focus on the child. It skimmed the stature of the young male slowly, catching few glimpses of the burn scars on his arm and head. At first, he was going to ignore them and try to get some questions thrown into this conversation to try to lower some of the tension. He didn’t want to end a kid’s life, at least one that he could relate to. “I’m goin’ to keep this little..meetin’ simple and somewhat on the swift side if everything goes well, alright?” His voice tone was deep and serious, trying to frighten the kid more if it would get him to talk. Leaning up off his back, Mokuzai shifted his body to the left so that his legs would hang off the side of the tree. This allowed his forearms to rest on his knees, giving some sort of tension off towards Yoi. “First off, I’m Mokuzai. Mokuzai Kyuusaisha. And you are?”

An introduction was being made? This struck Yoi to become confused for a few seconds. No one has ever taken the time to say their name first while waiting for Yoi to give his own. This was a brand new world to him. He had to make sure that the greeting was done right to make a decent impression. But why should he say his own name to this Mokuzai fellow? For what reason did this ninja want Yoi’s name? “Why should Yoi give you his name?” Mokuzai dropped his jaw with full awe. “Yoi? That’s you? You’ve been saying your name this whole damn time and I missed it?” If there was a moment that Mokuzai felt stupid, this might as well be labeled the biggest situation he’s been in. Why did Yoi speak in third person though? That wasn’t really all that important for Mokuzai to figure out at this moment. Falling off the tree, Moku rested on his knee, looking over the child that stood inches away from him.

Catching glimpse once again of the scar, Moku’s neck felt a searing pain that slowly dripped down his spine. He could tell the child was feeling the immense searing as well from the wincing Yoi was doing. The white iris on his left orb was hidden by his eyelids once he closed it. He couldn’t risk letting the child getting scared from seeing a blind man. “I was talking about the black wood. Where did that come from, Yoi?” There were only two people that Mokuzai knew besides this boy that used black- ash colored wood. Himself and Jericho; both from the lab that Moku was made at. There couldn’t be a way that this kid could just naturally develop a different color of Wood. Maybe it was just an eye trick and Yoi flicked some coal in the air to make it seem like he was using jutsu. That was it! Mokuzai had his mind set on this.

Yoi perked out his delicate lips for a few seconds while thinking of an answer for this question. How does one explain something they don’t really understand? “Yoi d-doesn’t remember.” He honestly didn’t, and he knew that this answer would only cause Mokuzai to lose his temper just like everyone else before him. Mokuzai clenched his jaw with the answer; causing the outline of his lower features to become prominent in the bandages. “What do you mean you don’t remember? How did you get those marks then?” If he could piece things together, maybe, just maybe this whole meeting would start to make some sense.

Age : 30 Posts : 1012

“Y-Yoi can’t remember! He told you!”

A drop of the head came from Mokuzai once he heard those words. Not exactly how he wanted to go about this situation, but so be it. “Look. I’m not here to play games with a kid.” He reached out with his right hand, getting a tight grip on the cloth around Yoi’s shoulder and lifting him up off the ground to be eye level. “I’m going to ask one more time for both questions. I expect an answer or I will start takin’ a different route on how to get my-“His tone dropped once he caught the eyes of the child in his own glance. The tears started to run down Yoi’s cheeks, dripping off his chin while looking over Mokuzai. This usually doesn’t affect Mokuzai at all, but something about this child threw him off completely. The scarring, the black wood, the brown eyes; he had a thought in mind that could explain the situation, but he wanted to make sure before he spoke up about his own agenda. Letting his grasp loosen, Yoi dropped to the ground on his feet. Taking a few sloppy steps backwards near the edge of the cliff that overlooked the forest of the fire country.

Did the child know that he was so close to ending his life if he would just jump off the ledge? Mokuzai had the thought of leaping with his own antics just so that suffering and life could be somewhat interesting. Shaking his head softly, Mokuzai cleared his throat so that he could speak up again. “I’ll ask again. I’ll start simple. How long have you had those scars on your body?” Seemed a bit simple, right? Mokuzai had hopes of starting somewhere and putting the pieces together. Yoi swallowed loudly, enough so that Mokuzai could hear the hesitation in the boy’s motives. He was hiding something, and that’s one of the various reasons that Mokuzai chased him down.

“I can see your chakra. Just so you know. You cannot hide the fact that you are capable of jutsu, but it’s twisted. It’s not like formal ninjas.” This was a tactic that he loved using when he had the chance. To be able to see inside another’s body and see their chakra network; which caused Yoi to flinch in his hesitation. “Yoi h-has had it since he could remember. F-flames caused it.” Did he just say flames? “So those are burn marks. I see.” That’s one piece that Mokuzai could understand. Now, it’s try to gain some sort of information pertaining about the wood. “What are your elements that you can use to fight?” Seems a simple question to ask, right? Yoi could get underestimated as simple minded; however Mokuzai thought this was all just a front to get what he wanted from people. A helpless child beckons anyone to give it attention and food.

Yoi shuffled his feet, quickly changing his expression from a child full of fear to a much darker emotion. “Suiton. Doton.” The lisp was gone! Mokuzai narrowed his right eye, cocking his head backwards while Yoi spoke. “Mokuton.” Well there it was. One of the major answers that Mokuzai wanted to get Yoi to speak up about. This started to get a little on the bizarre side for Mokuzai, who once thought this was just a normal boy with an unfortunate past that made him who he was today. “Where are your parents?” Yoi chuckled softly, letting a swift shake of his head come forth.

“What parents? You mean the ones that gave me up? The ones that abandoned me? The ones that I haven’t ever seen? I don’t even know if they exist.” The child took a dark turn, and it was only growing as this conversation kept on. Mokuzai couldn’t believe it! A loud, gut filled shriek escaped his throat into the surrounding area after hearing the child. “You expect me to believe that bull shit? A generic story for an orphan. Please. You want to know suffering? Try having a torch brought to your skin to test your skin to see if it could redraw from being able to use mokuton.” Yoi suddenly looked down to the ground, placing his right arm over his left shoulder, tightly gripping at the cloth that covered his skin. His expression that was once dark dispelled from his features. All that could be seen was an empty shell in thought with only a grasp on a few threads of linen.

“In a tube?” Yoi bluntly asked Mokuzai while slowly moving down his robe to expose his burn scars on his arm, face and neck. “Ever since the lab was destroyed-“ Mokuzai wanted to show expression once Yoi started to speak about a lab, but he chose to listen instead.

“I had nowhere to go. Bodies were scattered everywhere. The others were gone and all there was left was fire, and the open world. I took off and came here. I had no control over the black wood. I didn’t know how to explain it to people.. Konoha wouldn’t let me in. No one would.”

Mokuzai winced at the sappy story, standing up slowly he dusted off his pants while looking over the surrounding area. “Where are you from?” Moku dragged his gaze back down to the child in front of him, right while he was leaning against the fallen tree. “Takigakure.” Great. Just great. Mokuzai knew where this was going and he wanted to avoid it if he could. There was no way that this child; a baby still, could be a part of something so terrible. Mokuzai’s main goal was to find the man that caused him to be looked at as a monster by most of the population. The man who took away his childhood, and any sense of being normal. Mokuzai could never have that, and from the looks of it, neither could this child.

Age : 30 Posts : 1012

“You have to be shittin’ me.” The boisterous voice Mokuzai echoed from his volume. If he wasn’t a kid, Mokuzai would go on about threatening and taking the others life. Pacing to the left and right, Moku just couldn’t believe the information was real from this kid. First the lisp was just for aesthetic purposes; his own voice was even just to garner attention to get the things he wanted the most. The whole ‘I’m a helpless child’ was just a very well thought out act. He had to give Yoi some props however, even though it is heavily used as an act of attention, the orphan slot really did work sometimes. Mokuzai’s lips were moistened underneath the bandages from his tongue, right before his digits went through his back pockets; pulling out a sliver of metal. Yoi’s body tightened once he saw the glare in the sunlight. For all he knew it could have been a weapon that Mokuzai was about to strike with. Tossing it over his left shoulder, Mokuzai watched as the metal hit the grass facing up towards Yoi.

The Takigakure symbol with an “X’ etched through the two arrows revealed itself to Yoi. “That’s my proof that I’m from Takigakure as well.” Picking up the metal slab, Yoi stared at the symbol for a few seconds; reverting his gaze towards Mokuzai. “You’re wearing Kirigakure gear. How do I not know that you’re from there instead?” A scoff could be heard in Mokuzai’s direction, causing his arms to move to the front of his gut. Unclasping a few of the straps on the vest, Mokuzai let his fingers gracefully pull up on the hard fabric, revealing his side to Yoi. The exact same patterns moved up the right side of his ribs and lower back. “I blew up the lab you spoke of.” He quickly dropped the fabric over his skin and made a few steps towards Yoi, holding out his left hand with his palm flipped towards the sky. Yoi shook slightly, placing the headband back in Mokuzai’s grip and quickly hopping backwards away from the Nuke-nin. All this information was starting to be a little much for little Yoi. “What do you mean?”

Mokuzai sat down, letting his legs straighten from leaning against the tree again. “I’m about to explain some things that you either will believe or just shrug off like a breath of air.” Yoi didn’t move. No expression graced his details that Mokuzai could make out. At least not physically.
“I’m artificial. I’m not real. Well. I am, but I’m not at the same time. I was taken as a child from Takigakure to a lab, which I was apparently born in. I was held there in captivity with multiple scientists and ninja that wanted to see what I was capable of dealing with an advanced element being injected into someone that is not a part of their clan. There were multiple tubes beside me with fertilized eggs that the doctors used to experiment on. They injected my DNA once they knew I didn’t reject the Senju dna from a konoha ninja. There were at least five other test tubes beside me. I thought I destroyed them all once I broke out of the lab, but apparently I was wrong. There was one named Jericho, a missing-ninja that I met in the water country that could smell me. He looks exactly like me with the details; just having orange hair and some black ooze coming from his lips.”

Mokuzai paused slightly so that he could catch a quick deep breath. “Now. You stand before me and say that you come from a lab in Takigakure, and were burned for experimental reasons. It’s hard to believe that, to be honest but, I don’t see you would make this up, honestly. The point is. At least from the data that you’ve told me and I was able to put together.”

Yoi kept his eyes locked with Mokuzai while tapping his hand against his stomach. “You’re just another form of me.” Yoi dropped to the ground, landing on his backside and shaking his head furiously. “No. I don’t believe that at all! I refuse this!” Mokuzai shook his head, and stood up to bring his hands above his head. “Why do you think you can use black wood, hm? Jericho is able to use it. I’m able to use it. It only fits together to be honest with you. You came from my DNA, and I am positive of this.”

It’s not every day that you get told you’re practically a clone of someone with no real existence to follow. How was a clone of an experiment supposed to make their own identity? “You’re lying. Just because you have the proof of being from Takigakure and the story of this so called ‘lab’ doesn’t mean anything, Mokuzai.” Once the name slipped by Yoi’s lips, he fell to his knees with the pain that erupted up his left side. The boy shrieked loudly in pain, convulsing to his right side and slowly curling into a ball on the ground. Mokuzai knew this pain all too well. Flash backs from their memories being wiped, or faked. Whoever this man was that created these..creatures, was going to pay.

Age : 30 Posts : 1012

“A-Ah! Ahhh! S-Stop, make it stop!”

Yoi’s miniature body twisted into the earth from the pain. His burning becoming much more intense than earlier; this had to be the first time that he had experienced something like this from the actions he was showing in front of Mokuzai. The nuke-nin sat against the tree while the boy struggled around at his feet; there was no reason for him to interfere with this situation. This was how Yoi was going to learn the truth and accept it without taking Mokuzai’s word for it. Leaning down on his knees, Mokuzai kept his forearm on his thigh. “Yoi. Focus. It’ll stop once you learn to control it. It won’t be an instant manner, but over time you will learn to numb it out. I could end it for you right now, if you really can’t take it. A simple stab in the head and you’ll be able to be free of all your pain, all your suffering would be gone in an instant.” A shimmer of metal was slowly rising from the back of Mokuzai’s waistline. A kunai in hand to strike whenever Yoi gave the word to.

It would only make Mokuzai’s travels easier knowing he took care of one experiment that was roaming the lands. If this one was out and about, as well as Jericho, could there be more of them wandering around with no place to go? This actually terrified Moku slightly. Just the mere thought of what kind of monsters could be roaming around for God knows how long. The thought quickly diminished from his head with a swift shake when Yoi stopped convulsing on the ground. The panting and total movement ceased while Mokuzai gripped his kunai tightly. Blood dripped down his hand from the tightness of the grasp; having holding the blade from the serrated side, Mokuzai didn’t really have time to move towards the hand with his fingers.

“I-Idiot.” Yoi placed his palms on the ground, pulling some dirt and grass up with his strength. His arms trembled underneath the weight of the boy’s body while trying to push upwards. His knees slowly dragged upwards just to lie beneath his waist, allowing him to be on all fours for a few moments to catch his breath. It might seem like Yoi was over exaggerating the pains that ran across his body moments before, but that was the least important thing right now. Mokuzai was still waiting on Yoi to give him some sort of signal to end his life. It did seem brutal if others were to watch, but for an experiments life, which turned out to be fake and a misunderstanding, it could mean a better ending than what they have coming.

Sweat beads dropped from the forehead of Yoi, whose hair dangled in front of his face, letting his features and expression to be hidden slightly. Yoi did catch a glimpse of the kunai in Mokuzai’s hand, which didn’t frighten the boy, overall, it did let him relax slightly to know there was a way out of this world if it ever came to it. “N-No need.” He spoke softly with a shake of his head. Yoi shook while pulling up his head to look over Mokuzai. “I-I’ll do it after the o-old man is dead.” Mokuzai’s eyes narrowed slightly, putting the kunai back in his pouch. Reaching down, he picked up the child, placing him against the tree and pushed his head up with a finger to the boy’s forehead. “When he is dead? You’ve seen him?” Mokuzai needed this information more than anything.
If he could find this ‘God-like’ being who just wanted to play doctor, then maybe his life could have a bit of a meaning after all. Yoi was still in a daze from the sudden trauma that his body took earlier. He heard Mokuzai’s question, but he couldn’t express into words what he was trying to say. This only aggravated Mokuzai, shaking the boy violently.

“Come on! You’re the only fuckin’ lead I’ve had since I left the lab! You cannot pass out on me right now. I won’t allow it.” If Mokuzai hadn’t matured slightly, he would be using a childish antic to wake up Yoi. From cold water and ice, to dirt being thrown at their face just to make them shake the element off the curves of their features; which even now sounded somewhat entertaining considering the situation.

“W-wat-“ Yoi’s voice was weak and could only be made out in a slight form. Turning his head so his left ear was near Yoi, Mokuzai shook the kid once again. “Come on!” The point of him being aggravated was thrown out the window. He would do anything for any sort of information on the old man however he could get it. With the shaking coming to a stop, Yoi dropped his head, letting his body loosen from the tightness it had earlier. Mokuzai stood there, looking over the boy. “Y-Yah! Yoi!” He placed his head to Yoi’s chest, hearing a heart beat with a soft sigh coming from Mokuzai’s lips. Passing out was better than dying at this point.

Mokuzai was already coming in to just rest for a few hours to get some energy back from traveling around, so it wouldn’t bother him to wait a few more hours for Yoi to get back to full energy. The only problem was that he couldn’t bring back Yoi into the nearby village, since he was notorious for jacking food from merchants. Various ideas came into Moku’s mind, with some just taking him to Kirigakure to have his mind read by Inoshi, or to just travel around with the kid until he woke up.

The nuke-nin wasn’t one to travel in groups, or pairs since Tenshi and the whole Tensu thing. Having to baby sit full time would be an event to say the least, but at least he would know the placement of one experiment. Even then it was a risky thing.

Pulling the body of the child over his shoulder, Mokuzai leaned up and looked over the road that he once crossed.

“Well. One step closer to finding him.”

[end]