---

After the discussion with Daitarou, Kyousuu needed some time to clear his head. So much was said, and even though it all made sense, he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that his brother needed time to separate the beast from its host. That, and the fact that he harbored the same feelings about their parents, yet somehow felt he had to steer away from violence toward them.

Sure, he could understand why it would be wrong on a superficial level, as he was a ninja affiliated with Konoha, but he really thought that his parents deserved to see just how cruel they'd been. Perhaps he'd just let them suffer knowing that their only living children were abandoning them... but letting them know that Daitarou was alive could put him and the rest of Hanketsu in danger. It was a complicated situation, and he didn't want to make things even more complicated before everything else was sorted out first. Was Daitarou's reason for leaving them alone the fact that he didn't want to break Kyou even more?

Above all, he had to come to a decision on how to respond to everything his brother told him. He wasn't angry with him, just a little bit lost. If the bijuu's presence really caused so much internal conflict for him, how would he feel about the fact that Kyou was planning to try and see if he could tap into the beast's power? He doubted the man would be happy, but it had been a long time, and he guessed that Daitarou would be able to make a more rational decision on the matter. They couldn't change the fact that Son Goku was sealed inside of Kyou, and just having the bijuu within him painted him as a target anywhere he went. He could end up becoming a liability if he didn't at least try to be more proactive about things. He would rather become an asset than a liability, and unless he learned how to harness the power that the bijuu could provide, he'd just be taking up space.

Yuuto could pretend to like him continuously, but men like him didn't truly like strangers, much less those that might bring harm to the very thing they're trying to protect. It was a lose-lose situation, as he was certain that Yuuto would make it a point to leave Kyousuu to die at the hands of any attackers, or even worse, die at the hands of the power he would be attempting to control.

Kyousuu had been walking aimlessly about the area, and somehow found himself walking through a narrow street that seemed more like an alley than part of the shopping strip. There was a dumpster blocking most of the walkway, but the brunet made his way past it. Just as he cleared the dumpster, he tripped on some sort of log?

Quickly catching himself before he had enough time to fall on his face, the jinchuuriki turned around to look. In the dark alley, he had assumed that he was passing by a dumpster, but on close inspection... that... was far from accurate.

"Ehhhh, aren't you going to apologize? You kind of kicked my tail."

---

---

"I-... what?"

Kyousuu waited for his eyes to adjust in the dark alleyway, but from the looks of things, it was a very large animal of some kind. It was on its back, but curled as if it were in a recliner. It had a long snout, and though he swore it spoke, he couldn't locate a lip line.

"Are you hard of hearing, or something? Do you not understand Japanese?"

"I understand Japanese just fine, thank you. Maybe it's just because you don't really have much of a mouth to move that I can't understand you, ki."

The creature made a sound before rolling onto its feet.

"That was a pretty decent comeback, I suppose. I like you, uh... guy?"

Kyousuu rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Yes, I'm a guy. But it's- ... why am I even talking to you right now? I must be going crazy, ki..." Kyou rubbed his temples, attempting to make sense of the situation. There was a weird animal bigger than him that could speak Japanese.

"You're not crazy. If anything, I think you should feel blessed that the great Nori has graced you with his presence!" Nori had his arms in the air and almost seemed to be puffing out his chest.

"Uh... I'm not sure if bumping into you in an alley qualifies as graceful."

Nori froze rather comedically.

"He got me!" the animal muttered under his breath, almost too quiet for Kyousuu to make out.

"If I'm no crazy, and you're actually standing here talking to me, then I have a question, ki. What are you, exactly?"

"What am I? What am I?? You've never seen a pangolin before??" Nori made a noise of disappointment. "It's not like I'm all that special. There are a bunch of us back home."

"Do they all speak? I mean, do they all speak Japanese? Are they all this... huge, ki?"

"Well, no, some of them are smaller, but some are a lot bigger. And I mean a LOT bigger. But enough about me, what about you? I don't think I've really seen a lot of human guys dressed like that. I mean, I know you humans like to bathe together naked even though you always cover yourselves up when you go out, but every species has its quirks."

"Well, to be fair, even a lot of humans give me funny looks because of the way I dress, ki. But you know, I personally think it's comfortable. The naked thing isn't really for everybody, either. I mean, I like to relax in the hot springs, but I don't like to think about the fact that there are a bunch of other naked men in the water. It just... feels so wrong, ki."

"And one more thing, what's with that 'ki' thing? What are you, some sort of advanced form of monkey? Well, I mean, you ARE kind of- ... nevermind. Forget I asked that last question."

Kyousuu shook his head.

"Well, uh, this was a nice talk, Nori, but I... have some things to do."

"Hey! Hey! Don't just leave like that! You're pretty interesting. And I see that Konoha symbol there, so that means you're a ninja. I don't think I've met any other ninjas like you, K-man."

K-Man?

"Yes, I'm a ninja. And I've run into a bit of a wall, so I'd really like to have some time to clear my head and think things through, if you don't mind, ki."

"I'm a ninja, too! Look, look, I can walk on walls and junk!"

Kyousuu groaned and tried to ignore the pangolin. After making his way out of the alleyway, he continued wandering around, trying to get that encounter off of his mind.

---

---

No matter where he turned, Kyou could still sense Nori following him. It was horribly distracting. Once he reached another alley, he slipped into it and looked up at the pangolin trying to sneak about on the rooftops.

"Why are you still following me?"

"Well, I figured you might be doing something interesting. I've always wanted to watch a ninja at work."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not really working right now. I'm just trying to think about some things, ki."

"...Oh. Well, I still think you're interesting, so I want to ask you for a favor."

Nori skillfully dropped into the alleyway and pulled a scroll from between his scales. After unrolling the parchment, he held it towards Kyousuu. It looked like some type of cult scroll. There were columns marked "signee" with names in the spaces below. There were still some blank columns, though, and the pangolin pointed to one of them with his claw.

"Can you sign your name right here? Once you do that, whenever something exciting happens, I want you to summon me! The others never let me in on anything good, so if I tell them I made a ninja friend, I'm sure they'll be super jealous, hehe."

"Uh... what's the catch? And what's this about summoning, ki?"

Nori began to gesture as he explained.

"Well, first you sign the contract with your blood, and then every time you want to summon me, you need a bit of your blood and then just do this with your hands-"

"Wait, wait, wait... my BLOOD? You want me to sign it with my BLOOD?"

"Well, yeah, otherwise it won't work. It's gotta be your blood, K-Man. But hey, in exchange for taking me with you on your crazy adventures, I'll help you out if you're ever in a pinch! I'm pretty strong, you know. And I've never been able to hang out with a real live human ninja before!"

Kyousuu wasn't so sure about all of this, but figured if he did what Nori wanted, it would shut him up so he could get some peace and quiet.

"Fine, fine, just... stop talking. Please."

Pulling a kunai from the pouch at his hip, Kyou pressed the blade to his thumb to break the skin. Once the blood began to flow, he quickly signed his name in the blank space.

"Sweeeeeeeet~"

Nori's sing-song voice was only mildly irritating. Licking his thumb, Kyou raised an eyebrows at the pangolin.

"Soo... are you going to leave me alone now?"

"YES!"

"Good."

Kyou turned and walked away from Nori, hoping that this would be the last time they'd speak for a little while.

"HEY!"

This time, Nori didn't follow him. With a relieved sigh, Kyousuu decided to just make his way back to the inn. He hadn't completely figured things out yet, but he could certainly use a bed. All of Nori's chatter had just tired him out. Kyou paused, realizing that Nori never explained what the catch was. Brilliant. Fantastic. Wonderful job.

"Taro's not going to believe this..."

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