Beat the Devil's Tattoo

[Toshi]

It had been a long night, much longer than Aya would have liked. Not to mention boring.

With her companions dispatched like they were little more than afterthoughts and her scroll in pieces, Aya knew it was time to play nice. The color had somewhat drained from her face when she watched the codger of a Nara put a strange, rust colored pellet of chakra through Kuga's head, yank her scroll away from her grasp quicker than she could react, cut her precious tool in half with that same rust colored chakra, and then declared that he was a former Hokage.

Even if he was bluffing about the Hokage thing, the Nara was too much to handle on her own. Especially without her scroll. Aya had stood there, a calculating look wrinkling her brow, as she weighed her options. She could have made a move towards the unconscious brat, used him as a hostage, but the Kunoichi reasoned that she'd never make it to the kid before Mr. Hokage intervened in a way that was detrimental to her staying alive.

Aya also remembered that before the fight had even started old man Nara had tried to talk his way out of it. For some reason he didn't default to killing his opponents like the Tiny Terror, who had dispatched Kinomaru without so much as blinking. So all logic pointed to her cooperating for as long as she needed to and then trying to escape when the codger's guard was down.

It's not like she harbored any love for her employer anyway. When the cards were on the table, Aya would choose her own skin over anyone else's. It was part of her charm.

Finally the blue haired Kunoichi raised her hands and sighed, her heavily lidded eyes rolling in exasperation. "Fine. What do you want to know?"




Many hours later the blue haired Kunoichi found herself sitting on a rock and watching the Nara pull out a travel-sized parcel containing a portable tea set. He'd started a small, crackling fire and poured some water from a canteen into the quaint, battered metal tea kettle before placing it on a flat rock resting in the embers.

Aya's hands were bound in front of her, the rope interlaced between her fingers to prevent her from weaving any seals, but the Nara hadn't touched her otherwise. In fact, It was almost aggravating how amicable he was being. At least she knew how to process pain and cruelty. Politeness? What was she supposed to do with that?

Even stranger, he hadn't asked her a single question while they waited for dawn to break. Which, thankfully, it was. But what was he waiting for? Was he waiting for the brat to wake up? At that thought, Aya glanced over at where the boy was laying on the ground. The Nara was sitting partially between her and the boy, no doubt to defend his ally if she tried anything stupid. The codger had bundled up a small towel and rested it under the brat's head before taking off his sturdy traveler's cloak and draping it over his body like a blanket. The Kunoichi swore she even saw the old man tuck his ally in a little to make him more comfortable.

Then her heavily lidded eyes rested back on her captor, a supposed Hokage, rummaging for a moment before producing a few small, stackable cups. They had tiny tea leaves and hearts painted on them.

"Do you keep an emergency tea set on you all the time?" Aya asked, staring at the Kage with something between annoyance and disbelief.

Tousha shot the young woman a quizzical look. "Do you not?"

The Kunoichi sighed angstily. "Please just kill me," she said, her expression one of shallow anguish. "This is cruel and weird and I hate it."

Tousha smiled like a fool at his captive. "Maybe after breakfast," he said, pulling out two tea bags and holding them up so Aya could see. "You strike me as a Tea Country Morning kinda gal, but I have peppermint too if that's more your speed."

Aya groaned and hung her head limply. It looked like it was going to be a long day as well.

[Kao]

Kotaru rarely dreamed.

Most nights the bannin enjoyed pure unconsciousness when he slept. Fantastical sequences eluded him, passing him over and leaving him in silence and darkness instead. He didn’t mind a mostly dreamless existence. Once or twice he’d even joked that the “Dreams are a wish your heart makes” bullshit didn’t apply to him. And on the flipside, in that world of nightmares, whatever horrors his mind could conjure up were channeled into his genjutsu. Those experiences were meant for others, never him.

Kinomaru’s poison seemed to turn that on its head.

At first the Iwa bannin thought he was dead. The emptiness that greeted him after his body hit the ground was different than anything he had ever experienced after losing consciousness. This darkness was immeasurable. Endless. Everything and nothing all at once. Kotaru neither stood nor floated in the void. There was no direction, no left or right or above or below. It wasn’t comparable to an out of body experience. The Akari had no body to experience, and there was no boundary between himself and that emptiness. For hours or years - he had no way of knowing how much time had passed - Kotaru and that endless darkness were one and the same. So surely he was dead, and every theory and belief regarding life after death was wrong. There was nothing there to greet you when you died. Absolutely nothing.

And then there was an explosion of agony. No matter how much Kotaru opened his mouth to scream, to beg and plead for someone - anyone - to make his lungs stop melting within his chest, no sound permeated the black expanse. No, he wasn’t dead. Not yet. But something certainly wanted to end his life. It writhed and lurked in the emptiness around him, slowly filling that space until it wasn’t the silent abyss Kotaru felt pressing in. It was the faces and eyes and fingers and tongues of Death.

He fought. He wasn’t ready to die, not by a long shot. He struggled and bared his teeth against the shroud that threatened to devour him. Even when he grew exhausted the young bannin didn’t stop fighting. Then finally, finally, the encapsulating void loosened its grip on him. Kotaru felt a thread move past him, fragile and thin, but that thread felt warm and familiar and alive. He grabbed it, pulled and tugged at it, instinctively knowing that it was his only chance to find his way back.


When Kotaru opened his eyes he was immediately greeted by a pounding headache. A groan rumbled in his chest, rising to his throat until it passed his lips in a high pitched, almost imperceptible whimper. He could feel a layer of sweat coating his skin, made worse by what felt like a heavy blanket tucked under his chin. When he moved to pull himself out of the too-warm cocoon, he found that he couldn’t lift his stiff, heavy arms. He felt like he was being both squeezed and boiled from the inside out.

“What the fuck.” The words were no more than a whisper as he turned his head very, very slowly towards his companions. Another groan reverberated in his throat before he added, “I forgot you’re useless when it comes to healing, Tousha.”

[Toshi]

Tousha was handing Aya her tea when he heard Kotaru groan behind him. The Nara's head whipped around just in time to catch the young Shinobi's beratement to the face, which didn't diminish the relief he felt in seeing his companion awake and speaking. If he was well enough to insult him, Tousha figured Kota was through the worst of whatever he'd breathed in during the fight. The former Kage shot a crooked grin at the young Shinobi, glad to feel a tight knot of worry in his gut unraveling by the second.

"Is that how they say 'good morning' where you're from?" Tousha asked, standing up and patting the dirt from his pants. Then he added much quieter, "Not that you're wrong of course. Still rude though."

Tousha took a few strides in Kotaru's direction, paused, turned to look at Aya, pointed two fingers at his eyes then in the young woman's direction, and continued striding over to the Iwa Shinobi. Aya rolled her eyes and kept blowing on the piping hot cup of tea in her hands. Once he got to where Kota was laying Tousha crouched down and looked the boy over, trying to pick out any obvious signs that the poison hadn't completely run its course yet.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, his tone taking on a more serious timbre. "What do you need? I'll do whatever I can."



Aya eyed the two Shinobi over her steaming cup, her usually uninterested eyes sharpening a hair. They were about ten strides away, not much distance to work with for much of anything. The Kunoichi was fast, much faster than she looked, but she doubted she'd get very far before they caught her again. And if they did, when they did, something told her neither of them would be stoked about it. Sure she was their prisoner, but the old Nara seemed patient enough. Weirdly tolerant, given the situation.

The blue haired Kunoichi took another sip of tea. How did he know she liked Tea Country Morning? What a weirdo.

[Kao]

"You can help me by getting this thing off me." His voice was still hoarse and strained, but Kotaru somehow managed to maintain a level of venom in his tone that had the potential to be ten times as lethal as the poison Gangly had within him. Eventually he wiggled his way out from beneath the heavy cloak, his chest still heaving with effort as he struggled to breathe. "Help me sit up." The demands were given in a way that indicated Kotaru was used to giving orders. Once he was upright, the bannin peeled off his shirt and then channeled chakra to his hands. First his skin warmed pleasantly, then his hands ignited with green flames that gently danced and flickered as its light illuminated the young bannin's pained expression.

Kotaru groaned as he placed his fiery hands onto his bare chest, eyes closing as the chakra began its work. Without an open wound it would take slightly longer than usual, so he used the brief moment of silence to simultaneously concentrate on healing himself and force the wave of fury within him to ebb. After a few minutes his eyes fluttered open and he looked over to Tousha. There was not even a hint of kindness or gratitude in those seafoam eyes. "Explain to me," he began through clenched teeth, "why a former hokage is romping around in Rock Country. I should kill you." And he would have tried if he had the strength. If he wasn't injured, Kotaru would have abandoned this whole farce of a collaboration with the man and simply killed him. The parade and parties that would have been thrown for him if he presented Tousha's head to the Tsuchikage and village council would have been legendary.

"I'm practically obligated to kill you on sight. So give me one good reason why I shouldn't give up on this stupid impromptu mission and cross out an entry in the bingo book."

JutsuShow

Purify
A-Ranked Iijutsu
After focusing chakra into his hands, they'll be coated in green tinged flames. Kotaru will place them over the wound in question and direct the flames to it. The flames will seek and burn out the poison within the body, ridding it of A-rank or lower poisons over the (3) posts it takes to work, but also induces an immunity in the patient which lasts for seven (7) posts.

[Toshi]

Moving carefully but confidently, Tousha helped Kota free from the cloak covering his body before propping him up against a nearby boulder. Once he was upright the Iwa Shinobi quickly went to work gathering a dose of fiery chakra into his hands, pressing them against his chest and flooding his body with healing energy. Not wanting to crowd the recovering boy, Tousha found a seat on another rock nearby where he sat silently. His thin, dark eyes shifted slowly between Kota, who appeared to be struggling to concentrate on the task at hand, and Aya. Thankfully the blue haired Kunoichi seemed content to sip at her tea and enjoy the warmth of the fire while staring them both down behind those same disinterested eyes.

One less problem to worry about. Things were starting to finally look up. Soon Kota would be on his feet, they could get the information they needed from Aya - ideally without resorting to torture or violence - and they'd be on their way to making Rock Country a little safer.

When Kota began speaking again, sounding much more like himself, a lump of pure dread plunged through his stomach and crushed whatever hope he'd gathered that morning. Tousha held the younger Shinobi's hateful glare as he spoke, Kota's words burning through him as if they were as venomous as his tone. The former Kage reasoned that Kotaru had pieced together his real identity during last night's fight. He hadn't exactly been subtle, what with the Sankaton and Nara jutsu on full display.

There hadn't been much of a way around showing his hand after negotiations failed, but Tousha still felt a pang of self resentment that he hadn't been more careful. Less... Like himself.

Tousha breathed deeply when Kota finished speaking. It was a lonely, regretful sound. "I'm here because I'm trying to help," Tousha answered simply, his tone somber. There was a weight behind his words that a thousand others couldn't explain. Just as Kotaru's commands carried the authority of someone comfortable with leading, Tousha's words were mired in years of making impossible choices. Choices that Tousha still carried, all these years of wear and tear later.

"That's all. Really."

Tousha's brow softened slightly, knowing that answer wouldn't be enough for the Iwa Shinobi. They were enemies after all, no two ways about it. Even if Tousha felt no hatred in his heart for the young boy staring back at him, he knew this world had pitted them against each other without consulting either of them on the matter. That's just the way it was.

Tousha breathed again, very slowly. "But," he added, his timbre darkening only slightly, "If you know who I am then you know what I'm capable of. Maybe you even know what I'm trying not to be these days." A hardness grew in Tousha's stare as Konoha's Blackbird emerged from the inky depths behind his thin, dark eyes. Just for a moment, and then it receded back into a pool of self restraint. But it was still there. Always there, waiting for any opportunity to be set free.

"I'd rather it not come to that. I'd rather work together to help these people," Tousha said. There was a genuine intensity there that surprised even him. He hoped Kota heard it. "If you ask me, Kotaru, not dying so far from home's a good reason to let this go. For now."

[Kao]

Kotaru drew his head back as if he'd been struck. This bleeding heart act had to be just that: an act. But there was a sincerity in Tousha's tone that the young bannin didn't know what to do with. With narrowed eyes he grumbled, "We don't need your help." Any additional comment momentarily disappeared from his mind when a sharp pain shot through his chest down to his stomach. He grimaced and slumped backwards, letting his head fall back against the cold boulder.

At first he returned Tousha's stare with hardness of his own. But the longer they held one another's gaze, the more he recognized the look that the former hokage levied against him. It was the look of a man who held back a tidal wave of strength every minute of every day. It made Kotaru's resolve waver. He was cocky when there was no doubt that he could take on an opponent; but the confidence he'd exuded earlier in the night was slowly evaporating as he stared down Tousha. This man was more than he could handle alone, and what he uttered was no idle threat. Kotaru had heard stories of the Juurokudaime Hokage, of his strength and prowess and how he had taken down entire squadrons alone. The Iwa shinobi would need help, ideally from his two best friends. If not them, then from the squad of jounin that were under his direct command.

Outrage burned him from the inside out. Many things irritated the teen, but being unable to kill someone the village desperately wanted dead was somewhere near the top of the list. "If I take you down with me, it'd be worth it." That was a big if. Kotaru may have had the drive to try, but Tousha had decades worth of wisdom and experience under his belt. Kotaru only had rage. As potent as that fury was in this moment, it wasn't enough to take down someone of Tousha's caliber.

So once again, he yielded.

"Fine. Whatever." The bannin lowered his eyes, settling his gaze on the dirt and grass at his feet. That fearlessness and boldness he had fizzled out. Head still throbbing, he seethed. "I think," he breathed, "I hate you."

[Toshi]

Tousha's shoulders dropped an inch as he relaxed, feeling Kota's overwhelming urge to chop off his head relenting. Even if it was only by a little. The former Kage sighed deeply and rubbed at his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. But there was work to do and very little room to show any signs of weakness. Especially now that a moment's lapse in judgment or a single sign of vulnerability could prompt an attack from the Iwa Shinobi.

Kotaru was talented, ruthless, and possibly the most stubbornly spiteful person Tousha had ever met. And he'd met a lot of people. Given the chance, the boy wouldn't hesitate to put him down. As much as he wished it wasn't the case, that was the new, grim reality of their tottering partnership.

"Well," Tousha said with a sad smile, "I don't hate you. So we're even."

The seasoned Shinobi patted his legs and stood up before leaning backwards with a groan, stretching the stiffness out of his low back. "Do you want breakfast? Maybe something to drink?" Tousha asked, pointing a thumb back at the campfire, where Aya was still sitting contently with her cup of exquisitely brewed tea. Seeing the blue haired Kunoichi made Tousha scratch the stubble lining his jaw, his brow pulling together with concern.

"Oh. Right," he muttered, remembering that Kota had been knocked clean out before their fight had concluded. "This is Aya. She uh... Was trying to kill us last night, but now she's not."

[Kao]

The teen rolled his eyes at the offer of food, deeply annoyed that Tousha's ferocity had briefly seeped into his words but had faded just as suddenly as it had come. Now that things were completely calm, curiosity practically besieged him. It was rare for two bannin from their respective villages to meet in such a benign manner. Evidently the former hokage had single-handedly defeated the burly leader of the Brotherhood trio and had decided to keep the female as a hostage. Or a perhaps as a pet, since he was feeding her and now knew her name.

"And why isn't Aya dead?" he deadpanned, raising his brow at the woman.

"Don't sound so disappointed, kid," Aya drawled before taking a sip from her cup. She despised how wonderful the tea was, and was determined to control her facial expression so that this guy who claimed to be a Hokage wouldn't know how much she enjoyed it. Hopefully he cooked as well as he brewed tea. "I've been asking the same question since he brought us here, though."

"And where's the other one? The big one with the sword." The young bannin lowered his hands from his chest and dissipated the chakra, and he clenched and unclenched his hands to stretch his fingers. Kotaru hoped he had left a tiny bit of the poison within him so it could be analyzed later. It may serve as a decent weapon in the future. Hopefully the poison wasn't the kind that could regenerate. "I assume your skinny friend with the rancid breath didn't survive what I did to him."

"No, of course not. And we weren't friends. Co-workers. Unwillingly."

Kotaru scoffed. The details didn't matter. "Whatever. Time for the interrogation." He tried to stand, but he was infuriatingly still weak and his legs refused to cooperate. With a guttural groan, the Iwa shinobi cut his eyes to Tousha. "...after we eat."

[Toshi]

Tousha sheepishly rubbed at his neck as Aya and Kota went back and forth. He'd been worried about how the Iwa Shinobi would react to learning that she was still alive and well. Mercifully, Kota only seemed mildly annoyed by the Kunoichi's presence. Maybe the poison had taken more fight out of him than Tousha thought.

"The 'other one's' name was Kuga," Tousha said, bending down to offer Kota a helping hand. "I buried him not too far from here. There wasn't enough of your skinny pal left to do much with, though."

Aya took another sip of tea, remembering the old man asking for the meathead's name before carrying the body just out of her line of sight. She'd sat there wondering why he would take the risk of leaving her alone long enough to pay respects to someone so awful. Would've been safer to leave Kuga to rot in the wasteland sun and be done with it. She sighed quietly and stopped trying to understand the codger's choices. It wasn't worth the effort.

Kota hesitated, weighing his options as he glared at Tousha's outstretched hand. Grumpily, the Iwa Shinobi relented. Tousha smiled and helped his ally to his feet. They walked towards the campfire together, Tousha bearing some of Kota's weight. Hopefully some breakfast would help lighten the mood.



Nearly twenty minutes later Tousha pulled the lid off a small bamboo steamer, revealing a half dozen scrumptious looking buns. Plumes of steam rose into the air, intermingling with campfire smoke as it did. The mouthwatering smell of freshly made food overran their modest camp in a matter of moments. He grabbed three small wooden plates and a pair of travel tongs, his excitement on full display. Carefully, Tousha pulled the first steamed pork bun from the container and set it on one of the plates.

"Be careful, it's hot," Tousha said as he handed the plate to Aya. Her only reply was to look moodily aggrieved. Still, she took the plate without any verbal complaints.

Tousha loaded up another steamed bun for Kota and handed it to him with a smile.

"How's the tea?" Tousha asked, looking at the Iwa Shinobi expectantly.

[Kao]

He had briefly thought the tea may have been an attempt to poison him and had hesitated to take a sip. It certainly seemed like the kind of underhanded ploy that a top Konoha shinobi would employ. But so far Tousha appeared to be the embodiment of the sentimental, cloying disposition that Konoha was known for. There was no hint of his kindness being the disingenuous and performative facade that Iwagakure generally suspected of them. If the past several hours were to be believed, Tousha didn't have a conniving bone in his body. When he did finally take a sip, eyes glued on the former hokage, he found that the drink wasn't...bad. It was fine. Kotaru even took a second sip soon after the first, trying to figure out what flavor it was. He was far from a tea connoisseur, but he supposed the warm liquid had an overall pleasant taste.

Finally he grumbled, "It's good, I guess," and then took the plate while examining the bun with a ravenous gleam in his eyes. He devoured it in seconds, immediately regretting not taking his time to savor the decadent filling. Kotaru craned his head to see how many of the buns were left. "Why do you care so much about these people?" Kotaru began, his voice taking on a more serious timbre. He paused only long enough to take another sip of tea. "I don't give a fuck that his name was Kuga, and I definitely wouldn't have wasted time in burying him. They tried to kill us and they're terrorizing the area. They don't deserve a burial."

He looked to Aya, antipathy burning behind his eyes like hot coals. "You're a rogue, right? Why is this Brotherhood recruiting a bunch of country bumpkins with no talent for chakra control when they're clearly employing rogues like you?"

[Toshi]

"It's good, I guess,"

A warm, fuzzy feeling bloomed in Tousha's chest and his smile broadened to foolish proportions. He'd learned years ago that compliments weren't made equal. A kind word from a kindhearted person, while lovely, didn't have the same weight as praise from one less willing to dole it out. Kota's words of affirmation were only amplified by the nature of their tenuous partnership; The Iwa Shinobi believed he had every reason to harm the former Hokage in any way possible and would likely leap at any opportunity to do so.

If Kota said the tea was good he must have been enjoying it immensely. That had to be it.

"Aaaahh!" Tousha sighed happily, his face mostly doofy grin, "I'm glad you like it, my friend. If you want I can teach you how to-"

His offer was coldly cut down as Kotaru asked why he cared about 'these people.' Tousha's grin faltered and slowly receded into a toothless smile as the Iwa Shinobi continued speaking, fueled by a vindictiveness that felt all too familiar. He still carried a less than healthy helping of the stuff with him to this day, regardless of how hard he tried to leave it somewhere behind him in his travels.

"They tried to kill us and they're terrorizing the area."

Images flashed through Tousha's mind. Explosions, the faces of the Hokage shattering, screaming. His home was on fire. How satisfying would it be to pay that pain back tenfold? A part of him wanted to find out. Still did, even as he sat there, half ready to try to impart wisdom as if he was any better. Kota was entitled to his anger just as anyone else. Now wasn't the time or the place to say otherwise.

So Tousha remained quiet as he placed a steaming hot bun onto his own plate. As Kota began interrogating Aya, Tousha sat with a small thud on the stony ground a few strides from the Kunoichi. He hoped Kota wouldn't take offense to placing himself between the two, just in case. He'd quietly munch on the steamed bun while the two had their chat.

Aya set her disinterested gaze on her own half finished meal and said, "They're cheaper for one." Her voice was flat yet somehow genuine. It was almost like she didn't see the fun in lying to her captors. "Us 'rogues' are heavy on the boss man's coin purse. Talent is expensive." She swirled the tea cup in her hand and took another long sip, weighing her options.

Then she leveled a look at the Iwa Shinobi and said, "I'd tell you the whole story if I knew it, kid. Knowing the plan behind the plan was above my paygrade. 'Go here, do some recruiting there, teach some bumpkins this and that.' I didn't ask many questions because I kept getting paid."