[Graded][plotboard] A horrible Way to Find Out...

[TyDie]

Never before in her life had Kiyori moved through Sunagakure as fast as she was now, except for maybe during the Prison Break. Across the roofs of the nighttime Sunagakure, Kiyori flashed across rooftops with a sense of urgency. The information of what had happened to Sachiko was kept away from the ears of most of her family, but Kiyori's connection to the scribes and the hospital itself affored her a better sense of 'hearing' in terms of the goings on around the village. A particular nurse, one that she had always had a crush on, let it slip that Sachiko had been admitted to the hospital. At first she had thought the poor young girl had pushed herself too far, as she often did... But when the woman informed her of Sachiko's condition, and the weird rings around her wrists, Kiyori realized very quickly what had happened.

"Goddammit Akihito... What have you done."

Thus the tattooed Henrin dashed along the roofs and tore through the streets, leaving plumes of dust as she made her way to the hospital. She tore in like a bat out of hell, and immediately was stopped by a passing nurse. "Woah, Kiyori, where's the fire?" She took in a few deep breaths to stabilize herself "Sachiko... Where is she?" The woman stopped for a minute, thinking about the newest arrivals... then snapped her fingers. "OH! There's a Henrin in room 204, on the second-" She didn't even get the chance to finish the sentence before Kiyori was off to the staircase, flying up them in record time before dashing down a hall.

She was moving so fast that she actually skid right past the door, sliding all the way to 206 before turning around. However, she turned to find a nurse barring her entry into the room. "Kiyori wait!" Kiyori froze, an annoyed scowl on her face, before narrowing her eyes at the nurse. "She's been in and out for a while now. She' stable, but you've got to keep your calm, you hear me?" Kiyori took what the woman said into her mind, processed it... and eventually relented. She was right, Sachiko's recovery was more important.

She nodded, then pushed past the woman into the room, shutting it behind her. There in the bed sat her sister, eyes closed and an IV attached to her wrist. Tears began to form as she looked at the young girl... So peaceful. But those rings on her wrist, they were exactly what she had feared; She moved closer to pull back her sheets slowly and carefully before lifting her shirt to get a look at her stomach.

She had been sealed. She was now a Jinchuuriki.

[Willoria]

"Come now Child... are you really going to sleep the day away..."

Sachiko groaned from where she lay, sprawled out on the ground beneath the shadows of the Willow Tree. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled as she felt the cool of the shadows, the warmth of the light couldn't permeate to the base of the tree and somehow that brought her comfort. "I used to hate shadows." she muttered.

The skeletal form that sat beside her chuckled eerily and shook his head. "You are here with me now. There are many things that will feel different to you." he said, turning to look at the girl with a hint of anger in his smoldering eyes.

"What?" Sachiko asked in annoyance, sitting up with a sigh and turning to look at Shishire.

"This place is boring. Perhaps you could come up with something more... entertaining?"

Sachiko rolled her eyes even as she stood and stretched. "I'll work on it." she said in obvious annoyance. "Is that really what you woke me for?"

"No... someone else is trying to, Child."

---

Sachiko came to with a gasp, her hand with the IV in it reaching out and snatching at the wrist of the person who touched her. For a moment she just stared at the woman leaning over her, and it took her a moment to register it was Kiyori. It was then she removed her hand from Kiyori's wrist and blushed slightly. She shifted around, working to sit up carefully with a groan of pain before reaching up and touching her head. "What do you want?" she muttered in some form of annoyance. "You've never visited me in the hospital before." she added, looking at her older sister curiously.

"This time isn't like the others though, is it, Child?"

Sachiko had to refrain from making a face at the sound of Shishire's voice, managing to keep her reaction to a slight squint. 'Oh that's going to get annoying...'

The only response the spirit gave was laughter that rang through her ears.

[TyDie]

The flash of movement startled Kiyori as well, freezing as the girl grabbed hold of her wrist. When she came to and realized it was her sister, the reaction didn't get much better. She still bore resentment towards Kiyori it seemed... "Just because I didn't visit doesn't mean I wasn't aware of it Sachiko. A couple training injuries isn't worth getting worked up over... But this is." She looked down at the girl's stomach again before turning to face the window outside. "Why you? Why did he have to come to you for this?" She placed her hand against the glass and let out a sigh, trying desperately to fight back the pain and tears.

"No one else in the family knows yet. They likely won't be informed of the situation until later, and I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't told about... the sealing. Likewise, you'll be instructed to keep this to yourself. Sachiko... your life will never be the same now. You..." She trailed off, wanting desperately to continue asking the question 'why'. But the nurse's words flew through her head, and she relented, staring out into the dark village streets.

[Willoria]

Honestly if it were a normal day Sachiko would probably be huffing, puffing, and maybe even angry and yelling already. But as she shifted in bed she felt a pain ripping through her gut that kept her in place. She groaned quietly and swallowed hard, tasting blood in her mouth and keeping her hands on her stomach. Though she did take the time to pull her shirt back down over her sealing mark and pull the blankets back up over her. For some reason she felt cold even though she knew she shouldn't. "Why me? Why? Because I'm not strong enough? Because I'm not you? I should just keep my place right? Forgotten and useless?" she countered, still feeling a snarl in the back of her own throat as she inferred her own assumptions of what she felt her sister must've meant by her questions.

"So this is she? This is the one that has held you back, hm? How interesting..."

The young Henrin rolled her eyes and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm glad my life won't be the same." she said, trying to ignore Shishire's whispers. "I finally have a chance to be something great for this village. My own chance. Without your goddamn shadow."

"This rage she brings in you... it is thrilling..." Shishire cooed in Sachiko's mind, causing the Henrin girl to snarl.

"God you talk too much..." she muttered to the spirit.

[TyDie]

As always, Kiyori's little sister misread her meaning entirely... thinking that she wanted her to just be some face in the crowd, no aspirations of greatness. "Are you that dense Sachiko? I could care less about how great I am, or how great you are. I didn't ask for what happened to me. And what happened to me didn't involve one of the most sinister creatures to have ever existed in this world!" She caught herself yelling and worked had to tone it down, for Sachiko's sake. She let out another sigh of frustration, but finally turned her attention back to her sister.

"Sachiko... Greatness isn't as simple as being powerful, it's about using whatever power you have to do great things. And what do you mean 'my shadow'?" Kiyori knew that she was out of touch with her family, her sister included, but this was the first she had heard about her sister feeling inadequate in comparison to her. Kiyori was a hell of a ninja sure, she wasn't about to deny that, but...

[Willoria]

Sachiko rolled her eyes as her sister got upset, the young girl turning her head away from Kiyori to look at the opposite wall. "Well its happened, so you get to just get over it now." she replied in a nasty tone. "I'm sure before long you'll just forget about it and me, Light knows you always do." she added, crossing her arms and staring down at the rings around her wrists as tears stung her eyes. 'Of course she makes me mad... her perfect little life, all the attention she could want. Did you really think I agreed to this because I wanted a stalker in my head?'

Of course the thought only served to make Shishire laugh once more. She could almost feel the spirit shaking his head in the background somewhere, and it was a rather strange sensation. But as her sister demanded to know what she meant by her shadow, Sachiko turned to look at Kiyori, incredulous. "You really going to act like you don't know?" she snapped at her. "My graduation from the academy, my rank up to Chunin. Do you remember them?" she asked sarcastically. "Oh wait, you couldn't possibly. You weren't there. No one was, not even mom and dad. They were too busy with you."

The tears that stung her eyes had begun to spill, but Sachiko turned and kept her gaze on her own wrists, forcing herself to keep from actually full on crying. Despite the fact that the pain echoing through her body should have been enough alone to send her into sobs. "I finally have a chance to do something great for this village, why shouldn't I have taken that chance?" she said, returning her own part of the conversation to the subject at hand, to Shishire. "Akihito-Sama gave me a choice, and I took it."

"Greatness indeed... the things I can show you child... if you would only fight me less. That is why you hurt, the sealing was not a time for fighting. It was the time for acceptance. You almost died for that fight in you..."

[TyDie]

Kiyori wasn't sure which was worse, the fact that Sachiko felt such a disdain for her and her family for her perceived abandonment... or the fact that she wasn't even aware she had ranked up to chuunin. She did what she could do hide it, but it stung to know that in at least one way, Sachiko was right... Kiyori was the center of attention, and that was only made more prominent by the blessing she received. "Sachiko... I never meant for it to come off like that. I admit, I've lost touch with many of my old friends and family, including you... But that doesn't mean I forgot about you."

God, she had every right to be mad with her, and yet Kiyori couldn't help but feel as though she was making a big deal out of nothing too. Such conflicting emotions in the room right now, so many conflicting thoughts. But what was important was that Sachiko was right; what was done was done, and there was no going back. Akihito no doubt mentioned that himself. "You're right. While I may not agree with your reasons for agreeing to host Shishire, I do agree that it was a moment for you to rise up and serve the village. After all, you survived... many in this village wouldn't. Myself included, most likely..."

She wasn't actually sure how truthful that was, as Kiyori had endured quite a lot in her lifetime. However, maybe admitting that Sachiko did something she couldn't would help the girl feel a little better about herself? It was a hope...

[Willoria]

Sachiko laughed and rolled her eyes once more as Kiyori spoke of what she had 'meant' or 'not meant' to do. "You didn't even know did you!?" she accused, laughing again as she shook her head and brought a hand up to wipe away tears that had slipped down the right side of her face. "Weeks, and you didn't even know. So absorbed with your damn tattoos and your boyfriend!" she accused, shaking her head again and settling her gaze back down to her arms with a huff. The girl sniffled, trying to ignore the whispering laughter of the spirit within her own mind.

"I know the risks." she said rather bluntly. "I didn't memorize the scroll but I know the risks... and I memorized what he told me about the last host. I know how bad this can get. But that isn't going to happen to me, I won't let it." She sighed heavily, not even noticing that blood dripped from her nose, albeit slowly.

"Strain yourself too much and I won't need to push you..." came Shishire's voice within. "You're still fighting the seal... its interesting. Are you so inexperienced you have no idea what is needed of you? You need to work with me, Child. Whether you like it or not. Ignore me, and you'll die from that seal..."

[TyDie]

Kiyori wanted to be optimistic, to believe that maybe Sachiko could be the one to succeed where so many had failed. She wasn't quite as jaded as Akihito was regarding Shishire, but she wasn't too far off either. She had read the history of that genma, not the detailed history that Akihito held in his office but general information regarding the misdeeds committed by the evil Shishire. To think that that ancient evil now resided within her younger sister... the thought sent a chill down her spine. "I... I can only trust in you Sachiko. And trust that you know what's best for yourself. What's done is done, like you said... There's no good to come from me-"

She trailed off as her nose began to bleed, Kiyori rushing to her side immediately and grabbing a tissue off of the table to her left. "Easy Sachi, you can't get worked up like that. Your feelings about me can't get in the way of this, you know that that... thing will use that against you." She spoke the word with such disdain... 'thing'. That's all it was, just some shapeless, aberrant thing that now inhabited her sister's body. It made her want to be sick.

"...No. I didn't know. I'm sorry. Things have been... hectic since my return. I have much to do, and my attention is divided amongst multiple projects. Hito put me in charge of the scribes officially now, promoting me to Jounin at the same time. There's... no excuse for my ignorance though." She did what she could to help with Sachiko's nose, assuming she let her anywhere near her in the first place that is. At least, she would at least give the tissue to her to take care of the bloody nose herself.

[Willoria]

Sachiko didn't stop her sister as the woman went to help her with her nose, but there was certainly an odd look on her face as Kiyori helped her. Though Kiyori was the closest to her in age of all their siblings, Sachiko wasn't used to being doted on by her at all. In fact... this was probably the longest the two had ever spent in a room together.

"What a sweet little act she puts on for you, Child. Wanting so desperately for you to see her, to value her, to be her friend. Now that you're the one with the power... the tables have turned and she sees you."

A small smirk crossed Sachiko's lips, but not for long. Realizing that momentary give in to Shishire, Sachiko cleared her throat and shook her head. "I can do this, Ki. I know you don't think so... but I can do this."

[TyDie]

Oh there were a dozen things she wished she could say. She wanted to tell her to ask if it was too late to remove it, despite knowing the answer already. She wanted to tell her to avoid ever using it and simply live out her life serving as Shishire's prison, never giving it a chance to manipulate her... but that might just lead to psychosis down the road, having a voice in your head that never shuts up. There were more ideas in her head, but ultimately she relented and simply smiled warmly at her sister. What else could she do but believe in her... a thing she had clearly never done before.

"I know you can. But you know how family works, I have to worry about you. It's not even a choice, it's hereditary I swear." She laughed at her own joke, silently hoping that it would help to bridge the gap between them at least a little bit. Of course, she had no idea what lies and filth Shishire was feeding her sister even now, but it did her no good to speculate. Perhaps she would have to speak to Akihito soon... if her sister was bearing this spirit, she'd have to figure out how to interact with it...

And if necessary, suppress it.

[Willoria]

"Do you hear it? She wants your attention now, tables have turned, and yet she just can't resist putting you down still! She speaks like your relation forces her to value you. With one hand she seeks to compliment you, and with the other she seeks to swat you back. She hates that she's no longer the first in your family. The talent is yours now, and she is jealous of this."

Sachiko sighed heavily and closed her eyes, tightly, that her eyes wrinkled up at their corners as she turned to look away from Kiyori and took a deep breath to steady herself. "Sometimes I can just ignore what he says, and its okay. Other times it causes me physical pain..." she shook her head and leaned back, looking over at her older sister. Part of her wanted to yell at the woman, level the accusations at her that Shishire himself was making in her mind. But if only because it was Shishire who said it, she felt as if she couldn't trust the feeling of it all.

"He says I'm fighting too much, when I should be working with him. That that's the difference between the moments when I'm okay ignoring him and when I'm bloody." She shook her head lightly and looked to her sister. "Its hard to know if he's trying to help me genuinely, or trying to push me."

"You'll learn to trust me eventually."

[TyDie]

Kiyori didn't want to admit the truth to her sister... if it were up to her, she'd have Sachiko serve as a prison for Shishire and nothing more. Tapping into the genma's powers meant giving something up, it always did. But Kiyori knew that she couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way forever... and serving as a prison for the genma would actually make things worse for her in the long run. "It's right. If you want to have any hope of using Shishire's powers for the good of the village, you're going to have to find some way to work with it. That's the curse of being a jinchuuriki."

She took in a deep breath and sighed, looking down at Sachiko's wrists once more, hoping that she would wake up to find that this was all a bad dream. She knew better of course, but she could always hope. "I won't sugarcoat it Sachiko... You're in for hell. Every conversation you have with Shishire, every ounce of power he grants you, you'll constantly be asking yourself 'what does it get out of this? How does this benefit Shishire?' Because Shishire won't do anything that doesn't somehow further it's goals. You may not see it at first, it might come months or even years later, but everything Shishire does, it does for itself. He's not trying to help you, he's trying to give you just enough rope to hang yourself with."

She looked up into her sister's eyes, once more fighting tears as she had to relay all of this information to Sachiko, though part of her felt she already knew what Kiyori was telling her. "I'm not trying to scare you... But i'm scared for you, Sachiko. I've got no shame in admitting that that thing inside of you scares the hell out of me. I just hope that you're as strong as you believe yourself to be. I don't want you to fail... like all the rest..."

[Willoria]

"I don't ask for much... you have nothing to worry about, my Child... We are bonded now. My strength is yours to take." The voice was almost sing-song and caused Sachiko to close her eyes and sigh, almost as if trying to shut it out. "I know your game, your strength is mine and mine is yours, right? That's what you meant to say." And of course there was more laughter. Sachiko sighed again and opened her eyes before looking towards her sister. "I know you're scared. Even Akihito is scared. He tried to hide it, but he's scared. He thought the sealing was going to kill me, he thought I failed then." she sighed again and chuckled, trying to find a comfort in the fact that she had survived it. But she was starting to really feel the fact that no one thought she could do this. There was only so long that she could hold up her own confidence without help.

"I can't fail." Sachiko said quietly, smiling at her sister almost sadly. "My sister holds the Light itself within her, everyone here thinks you're a god. Maybe some day they'll make you one, appoint you Kazekage. But you're still my sister, and I hold the Darkness itself within me now. I have to measure up to you still." She shrugged and chuckled, saying something that usually started a fight between them but she was sure would get a laugh this one time. "I have to find a way to be better after all. I have to be stronger than you one day."

[TyDie]

Kiyori was having a really hard time being optimistic about all of this... She knew that all she could do was try to see the silver lining, but how did one see the silver lining in such a dark and sinister being as Shishire? Even if Sachiko did manage to utilize the powers of the Soul genma to raise the dead and protect Sunagakure, the cost... Sachiko's words brought Kiyori back to reality for a moment, as she looked at her confident sister and smiled. "... Yeah, you're right. You won't fail, you've got too much to live up to to just give up. After all..."

She stood and performed a silly, over the top pose to show just how sarcastic she was being. "I am Henrin, Kiyori! Master of the light, Bearer of the blessing of the sun itself! Who could ever hope to be my equal!?" She flexed her muscles in jest and grinned before finally losing her composure and falling into a fit of laughter. When she finally got ahold of herself again, she simply looked at her sister with the happiest smile she had mustered all day. "Trust me, you'll get there Sachiko. You're too motivated, too good to stay in anyone else's shadow."

She stood and walked towards the door, getting ready to leave and let her sister get some much needed rest. Part of her hated that she had to leave her alone with that thing inside of her... but what could she do? "I'll be in touch, and I look forward to hearing about your accomplishments Sachiko. Get some sleep." When she finally left the room, she rested herself against the wall out of view of her sister and let out a long, drawn out sigh.

I have a lot of catching up to do with Sachiko...