Scribes of the Soul

[TyDie]

As the sun set in the west, slowly falling over the valley walls of Sunagakure, Takuma made his way through the village, a light blue poncho draped overhead as the temperature began to swiftly drop and the harsh winds of the desert night began to build. Since returning to the village from Amegakure, Takuma hadn't seen hide nor hair of the other Suna jinchuuriki - Junpei. But at the meeting, he got the feeling that perhaps there was something deeper going on... Jun seemed incredibly uneasy there at first, and made clear that he didn't feel he could trust any of the handlers. But he trusted the other genma hosts, which meant that he trusted Takuma.

He wasn't sure what he expected to gain here, especially being the younger jinchuuriki here, but he had made some impressive progress with Janesisu over the past few months or so. He had to be there for his fellow host, to make sure he didn't suffer the same fate as the Life Genma host... The same fate as Kiyoshi.

"Let them not struggle with these powers alone, like we have. Let them stand on your shoulders, and perhaps they'll see farther than we ever could."

It was clearly more for those like Shinjiro and Masami, the senior jinchuuriki who had had years to master their genma, but that didn't mean that Takuma couldn't take the time to support his fellow newbie. As he approached the man's door and gave a knock, he stood for a while and didn't hear anything. Curious... a moment later though, he heard a somewhat loud curse from the back of the house, and Takuma's sleuthing instincts kicked in as he circled round the house to view the back porch, getting a glimpse of his fellow Jinchuuriki with a series of scrolls laid out before him. And suddenly, the cursing made sense - It was getting dark. He couldn't read that well out there.

With a grin, Takuma gathered some chakra within himself and held up a hand, and before long a rather large, ornate brazier was formed in front of Junpei. With another small snap of his fingers, Takuma would ignite the brazier with a spark, illuminating the back porch with surprising efficiency. "That better?" The young boy was getting far better at the simple creations...

[Willoria]

'All the studying in the world won't help you with me... just listen to me for once, child. I can help you. I have lived a thousand years, stop reading the scrolls, use the tools you have at hand, use me... use my knowledge...'

"Shut the FUCK up!" Junpei had had about enough. He felt like he was going mad, listening to the constant whispers of the spirit in his head. He had been sitting on the back porch of his family's home, trying to study ninjutsu theory again, leaning against a post. Of course, the spirit had started in with his talks once more and eventually Jun had just shouted at the thing outright. He jumped to his feet and flung the scroll in his anger, running his hands through his already disheveled hair. "Can you just not, for five seconds! Just give me peace!" he was yelling, exasperated and lost on what to do. He yelled at the setting sun, but as he turned to start pacing an ornate brazier suddenly came into view. If it didn't suddenly come to life and light up, he might've tripped over it. The older boy yelped and fell backwards, Shishire's laughter echoing through his head as he looked up, blinking at the sudden light as he tried to see what happened.

But he knew that voice and quickly breathed a sigh of relief. "...you're getting good at that, Takuma." he said quietly, pushing himself up on his feet before going back to the edge of the porch to sit down heavily and look around him a moment. "I guess it did get dark, didn't it? I lost track of time..." Jun was looking pale, distinct bags under his eyes as if sleep had been difficult. Lifting his head and looking across the brazier at the yard Junpei sighed heavily as he could swear he could see a black haired girl staring at him from across the fire. But he'd grown used to this visage, it was just Shishire taunting him again.

[TyDie]

Takuma had caught most of what Jun said to himself, or rather to the spirit residing within him, but chose to leave it where it lay - It wasn't worth it to dwell on those sorts of things. However, he let a small chuckle rise from his chest as the older boy got spooked by his creation, then proceeded to compliment him on it. "Thanks... I've been making some pretty big strides with Janesisu truth be told. But you know... there's still pushback." "There always will be, love. You can't control me forever. Enjoy it while it lasts..." The strangely threatening tone of the genma took the boy off guard for a moment, he wasn't used to such an obvious, dangerous tone from the creature.

But he wouldn't let that stop him, he was here for a reason - to check on his friend. Not to be checked on. "It did get dark. But it's alright. the fire will keep us warm, and the light will let you read." Takuma looked around the porch and found a chair nearby, electing to pull it closer to the brazier so that he could warm himself by it's fire. He noticed that he hadn't really created any wood for the flames, and so another wave of his hands and a bit of chakra would create a couple decent logs for the fire, the flame crackling hungrily as the wood lit up.

"Why don't you take a seat with me? Put the scrolls aside for now, let's talk. I haven't seen you since we returned from Steam Country... how is everything, Junpei?" Takuma let out a small sigh as the warmth of the flames flowed through him, then turned his head to look at the other host with a smile. It wasn't small talk he was after, but he did want to hear what the man had been up to. He needed to establish a connection first, before any kind of headway could be made.

[Willoria]

Junpei nodded as Takuma confirmed that he'd been making progress with his Genma. He couldn't admit it out loud, but he felt the claws of jealousy sinking in at that. Where Takuma had found he could at least work with his spirit on some level, Jun felt terrified to delve into the spirit's abilities at all. He considered him just a prison of flesh for the creature for the time being, and hated that about himself. He felt robbed and lied to, offered a power to protect others and instead stuck with a ticking time bomb he had to constantly keep an eye on. Perhaps it was because of that he stood around awkwardly until Takuma got his attention again, mentioning sitting by the fire to catch up.

The boy sighed and finally nodded, pulling up a chair beside Takuma and sitting heavily in it. He was asked how things were and he simply shook his head. "It is what it is." he said idly. "I'm a prison for something that wants to kill me... pretty sure my own sister is terrified of me, I don't see much of her lately. Rika, my girlfriend, is either busy or avoiding me... I'm.... I don't know." He looked up and saw the girl across the fire again and grunted in frustration under his breath, his eyes quickly focusing downwards again. "And Shishire won't stop showing me past dead hosts so..."

Meanwhile Shishire's voice floated out towards Janesisu. 'This one is going to be so easy... its delicious. He thinks by not using me he's keeping me contained... I'm going to break his mind so much sooner than I thought... shishishishi... are you jealous, dearie? I'll get out of this cage in almost no time at all this time around....'

[TyDie]

At the thought of getting out of his cage so easily, Janesisu couldn't help but break out into a fit of laughter. 'Hahaha! Oh Shishi, as always you underestimate the fortitude of these humans. That hubris will be your downfall, just as it has been so many times. But it's alright, your buddy Janesisu will still be here for you when your defeat comes!' It was almost like Janesisu knew something Shishire didn't. But that made sense - after all, Janesisu had some level of connection to Takuma's mind. She knew exactly what the boy was about to do, why he was here... And Shishire was going to be pissed about it. The creation genma could hardly wait for that explosion, she so loved to see Shishire's plots foiled, to see her brother taken down a peg or two.

The young blue haired Kouseki would scooch his chair closer to Junpei as his troubles were laid bare. He felt alone and lied to... which he could honestly agree with on some level. "You feel lied to because you were lied to, Takuma. You thought this power would help you better protect the village, that it'd make you a better shinobi. Akihito sold this to you in such a poor light... At least my genma seems to be more comfortable with me so long as I appease it in some way. She loves it when I create things, when I flaunt her power. But yours... All I ever feel when I hear his voice is cold. Like a deep, frigid chill that shakes me to my core. I'm truly sorry for you, Junpei. Even as a host, I can't begin to understand what it's like."

As the boy got closer to Junpei, he'd aim to rest a hand on his shoulder, turning his gaze to the crackling blaze in front of them as a small smile crossed his face. "But you know what, Junpei? There's still hope. It's not impossible, I promise you that. One of our own kages was host to Shishire, the 8th Kazekage in fact. It can be done. And you can do it. I believe in you, friend." Takuma would squeeze the other jinchuuriki's shoulder lightly as he turned his head to the boy, smiling at him and scanning him with those gorgeous eyes of his.

"...There was another success, even more recently than the 8th, actually."

[Willoria]

Jun sighed heavily again as Takuma only confirmed that he was lied to. Of course at this point he'd realized it, Shishire had practically confirmed it. But hearing someone else say that the spirit in him had told him the truth just made him feel ill. As Takuma described what it was like listening to Shishire speak, Shishire himself chuckled at Janesisu's remarks. 'Oh please, this one is weak and cowardly, he could never be my downfall.' Still, Jun felt Takuma put a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to look at him hesitantly, looking almost confused as Takuma spoke of successful hosts.

Junpei shrugged haphazardly. "What successes can their be? Shishire has shown me dead host after dead host... they've all failed. Hell I've met one! I though she could give me answers... instead I was staring at a corpse whose life was returned to her and it... it was just sickening, Takuma. This thing in me, its disgusting."

Shishire caught on the conversation going on and Jun could almost feel him begin to tense up, though what he thought might be worry from the spirit didn't come out in his voice. 'There are no successes, I've shown you their deaths, child... they are only dead former prisons. If I didn't kill them, their guardians did, just as your would-be murderers will do to you one day...'

Junpei cringed visibly and shook his head. "Hell we can't even trust the Genma Guardians, Takuma. If this thing doesn't kill me, one of them will and you know it."

He could almost feel the damn thing smile inside of him.

[TyDie]

Takuma could feel the hurt flowing through Junpei, like his touching Jun's shoulder allowed him to tap into the man's emotions as if they were his own. It was so palpable, the boy could only shake his head and sigh as sorrow filled the space surrounding them. But no, Takuma wouldn't allow it - He would help his friend overcome this, he'd give him hope one way or another. "You once told me that Shishire showed itself to you in the form of the most recent host... Souta's daughter. Sakaki." Takuma knew little of the woman, only what Rokuro had told him once, but that little nugget was all Takuma would need to show Junpei there was light at the end of his long, dark tunnel.

"Have you been told how she died yet, Junpei? You read the reports, I remember that, but I don't know how detailed those were. I spoke to Rokuro about her once... Apparently they were really close. Almost dating even. He... he was there the day she died." Takuma would scooch his chair a little so he could truly face the soul Jinchuuriki, and if allowed, he'd take a hand in his own and squeeze it lightly. "She never fell to Shishire, Jun. Never. She was slain in battle during the war, but even as she drew her last breath, she was still in control. Her guardians didn't kill her, the enemy did, and she died saving lives. That demon would never tell you the truth, but Rokuro and I... we're bound by blood. He wouldn't lie to me."

The sun was truly set now, the last few minutes of twilight hanging over the valley of the village's walls, but even as the chill of the desert night came through Sunagakure, Takuma's flames would keep them both warm. "Shishire doesn't want you to know because he wants to leave you hopeless. But I won't let that happen, Junpei. Sakaki controlled Shishire to the last, mastered his power and made it her own. And she was just a no name orphan; If she can do it, so can you. I'll be with you every step of the way."

[Willoria]

"Yeah, Sakaki is his favorite." Junpei replied, almost pointedly glancing across the fire where he could see her staring at him from where she appeared to be standing. It took him a moment, but his brain suddenly caught up to what Takuma said and he turned his head to look at him. "Sakaki was Souta's daughter... I think I knew that..." he remarked, sighing heavily before running a hand through his read hair briefly. "I meant to talk to him about her but... it didn't seem fair. Seemed pointless after talking to Sachiko even. Talking about a failed host is just... pointless. What can I really learn from them?"

But it seemed Takuma would keep going, and Jun would turn his head to look at Takuma with an almost uncomfortable expression as the other boy took his hand in his and told him the truth about Sakaki. Junpei visibly froze as those words came out of Takuma's mouth, as he told him the truth about the girl's death. "She had him under control? And was able to use his power? H-how?" He knew Takuma wouldn't have all the answers, but the information he was given stunned him. He wasn't sure he could believe Rokuro's words, but what he could believe was the sullen silence Shishire had fallen into. The beast loved to boast and gloat, and the silence was very telling.

Takuma was still speaking as Junpei suddenly stood, almost kicking his chair over as he looked around wildly, finally spotting the form of 'Sakaki' on the other side of the fire. "You damn liar!" He charged around the brazier at the shadow, the girl seeming to stare at him in amusement as he yelled at her. "You told me she lost control too! That you were the reason so many died that day! That she died! That's why... that's why I haven't seen Rika, or Ayako in weeks! I cut them off because of you!" He aimed a badly formed swing at nothing as the girl faded from his sight and he dropped to his knees, tears burning at the corners of his eyes.

He could feel his breaths coming in quicker, some kind of panic setting in perhaps. He didn't even notice the rings on his wrists and forearms were shifting, the first of the four rings slowly began to break apart, as if opening and releasing a splash of ink across his skin. Black chakra seeped across the young shinobi, gathering at his back as large wings began to form. Junpei had entered his first stage.

Shishire was cackling in the back of his head. 'Come now, dearie, do you really believe any of that?' The girl appeared in front of him again, pacing.

"Stop lying!"

[TyDie]

Takuma understood not wanting to speak to Souta about his daughter. After all, Takuma didn't want to do that either - If not for Rokuro, Takuma never would have learned about the girl. But that knowledge was all Takuma needed to prove to Junpei that he could do this. That Shishire was a dirty liar, and he could be contained just as any of the other genma could. And it seemed that Junpei was finally sick of hearing the Genma's lies, as he stood and swung at thin air as if it was a person. Perhaps he truly did see a person there? The genma were all capable of notorious trickery when they wanted to... "Its true, Junpei. I swear it. Sakaki had Shishire on a tight leash by the end."

He wasn't expecting what came next though... the wings were beautiful in their own creepy sort of way, but he quickly understood what he was looking at. Junpei had just experienced his first form unlock. In response, Takuma too would close his eyes a moment, the seal on his back glowing with power as his body began to turn white and black. A single star of white chakra would begin to orbit his head like a halo, and his stomach would turn black with white speckles throughout, just like the night sky that was beginning to reveal itself above them. "Junpei!" Takuma rushed to his friend, the both of them now in their forms, hoping to calm the boy.

"It's okay Junpei, it's normal! Look at me, I can do it too, you saw all of us in Steam country tap into our forms! Just relax, deep breaths, don't let the power overwhelm you!" He tried to calm the boy, but in a flash of movement, a large chain of maroon chakra would fly across the back yard towards Jun, aiming to wrap around his torso and bind his arms by his side. Takuma looked in the direction of the chain to find his handler, Makoto, standing on Jun's roof. With a grunt she'd jump down to the back porch and begin walking towards the two, her hand on her blade while her other hand held the Tenkujutsu chain.

"Makoto, don't! He's in control, he can do this!" Makoto leveled a glare at the young Kouseki and let out a small grunt as she pulled harder on the chain, making sure Jun was kept on a nice, tight leash if the chains had successfully caught him. "Relax. Believe it or not, I did learn something that day when you first turned, Takuma. I'm ready to kill, but he deserves a chance to come back to us. He needs to realize, you both need to realize, that I'm not your enemy. I was... harsh. But I've learned. Trust me." Takuma's eyes went wide as the woman made her claim... had she really learned something from her mistakes with him? Maybe he had been too harsh on her...

He took a step back and let Makoto take the reins, literally, as the woman's puppet leg would step on the chain, intending to bring Jun down to his knees. "It's okay, Junpei. The spirit is trying to overwhelm you with it's power, but you're stronger than that. If this little pipsqueak could survive his first unlock, surely a big strong boy like yourself can handle it, right? Come back to me, show me you can do this." She hadn't even realized that in the middle of this, her other hand fell away from her sword... she didn't want it to come to that, and now her body language reflected it.

JutsuShow

*Shizumeru • [Shackles of Authority]
C-rank Tenkujutsu (Nin)
After performing a set of hand seals, the user focuses chakra towards their hand. A chain made of Maroon chakra will shoot from their palm towards the target at [Control] speed, up to 20 meters away. If it hits a spirit, a jinchuuriki, tsukimogami, or other such being, the chain will wrap around them, placing their arms, if they have any, to their side, stopping them from performing hand seals. These chains cling to the chakra of the Spirit itself, and are unable to be broken through physical means. If the target has a related Mastery stat or a Spirit has a strength stat higher than 10, they are able to break the binding. If the chains are able to stay on their target, they will drain away -1 Mastery from hosts or -1 Strength from Spirits until broken free of.

[Willoria]

Junpei was quickly on his feet again, looking around wildly for the girl. He didn't even seem to register the things Takuma was saying to him anymore or that the other boy was approaching him. He was practically panting as he tried to catch his breath, looking down at his hands now and the way the marks of the Genma within him had changed. "Wh-what's... what's happening...?" he gasped, looking up and seeing Takuma approach. His eyes went wide as he saw the changes in the other boy's appearance as well. But before he could say anything he suddenly felt something wrap around him and cried out in shock, looking down and saw the maroon chain that had latched onto him. "Tch!" He heard her mention killing and immediately the other woman near him started cackling.

'Don't you see, dearie?! This is what they want! They'll chain you, and then they'll cut you down where you stand! Fight them! With my power you can fend them off permanently!' Her ghostly form reached out towards him with a hand. 'Just take a little more...' she cooed at him.

Junpei gasped and tried to back away from the form, suddenly feeling himself being pulled to his knees and his arms stuck to his sides as he snarled and cried out. There was a new edge to his voice, a tone as his eyes had gone fully black in the moment and he glanced wildly between Makoto and Takuma. "Don't you see her?!" he asked of them, nodding towards the ghostly visage of Sakaki trying to offer him a hand. "Please... do you see her?" he begged. His eyes turned to Takuma in particular. "I didn't ask for this..." he whispered. "I refused this... I refused his power... why... why is this happening..."

[TyDie]

Takuma felt so bad for the older boy... By the light, he really didn't ask for this, but both of them were put into this position. They were the best choices, based on some kind of unknowable criteria that neither of them understood. He was losing himself, looking around frantically and motioning to some unseen ghost. Takuma looked as hard as he could, his starry eyes scanning for any sign of another presence, but he simply saw nothing. "I'm... I'm sorry, Junpei. I don't see anything." He wished he could help, but he had no doubt it was Shishire playing tricks on him. What could Takuma do if he couldn't see? It'd just make Jun feel crazier.

"I can."

Takuma turned to look at his handler as she flew through a set of hand seals, funneling maroon chakra into her eyes as she completed her jutsu. And once completed, her eyes fell on the visage of the late genma host... With venom in her voice, she spat the creature's name. "Shishire." Makoto took a step towards the spirit, her hand glowing with maroon chakra, making clear she intended to banish the vision with her power if it didn't dissipate on it's own. "It's all a trick, Junpei. You can't refuse it's power, but you can control it. But to control it, first you have to accept it. You can't let fear rule you forever, boy. Sack up and fight back like the shinobi you are!"

Takuma was kneeling in front of Junpei by now, staring into the blackened orbs that were now his eyes. "Jun, Shishire is darkness, it's true. But light can't exist without dark. You agreed to this because you wanted to protect the village, your sister, with this dark power. You have to come to terms with that... Please. Don't leave me alone with Janesisu." Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at his friend, hoping desperately that he could make it through this.

JutsuShow

*Shizumeru • [Vision of Spirits]
C-rank Tenkujutsu (Nin)
Pre-Requisite: Sensory Concentration
After performing the needed hand seals, the user focuses chakra to their eyes, causing the Maroon chakra to flare up around their eyes. This works similar to a doujutsu, but with no physical change to the eye itself, allowing the user to see the chakra of spirits and spirit related objects/people as an aura of Maroon. While useful for a quick glance, it can be used up to [Chakra Pool]/5 posts, before needing to be refreshed.

[Willoria]

"I'm going insane..." Junpei whispered to himself as Takuma confirmed he couldn't see her. He never expected however for Makoto to be the one to comfort him in this. He turned and looked towards her suddenly, eyes wide in surprise as he saw her form the seals and for a moment he thought he saw another flash of maroon chakra. He was still bound in chains of the same shade of chakra and watched the genma handler address Shishire directly before the spirit seemed to vanish into thin air. He heard what she had to say, and nodded slowly. His face was wet with tears, though he wasn't sure when he had started to cry. He turned his head and saw the black chakra wings on his back even as they began to melt away as well. Shishire raged in his head about the chains and Jun took a few deep breaths.

He turned his head to look at Takuma for a moment as the other boy knelt in front of him and nodded slowly to him as well before leaning forward to rest his forehead on the younger boy's shoulder. "I won't." he promised. "I won't leave you alone..." he added before turning to try and look at Makoto. "I-I'm okay... Please... I think if you leave these on I might pass out..." he said, swallowing thickly.

"And... and I think I need to see Souta-sama tomorrow..."

[TyDie]

Makoto let a small smirk cross her face as the boy's form began to recede, and it was clear now that Junpei was back in control of himself. Junpei leaned forward against Takuma, and the young Kouseki put his arms around the chained jinchuuriki, holding him tight even in spite of the chains. In his head, and heard by Shishire no doubt, Janesisu taunted the other genma with a laugh and spoke in a sing-songy voice. 'I told you so, Shishi. As always, pride and arrogance are your biggest failings. You never learn, poor baby, hehehe.'

Makoto seemed convinced that Jun was back in control of himself now, and nodded to the boy before releasing her hold on the chakra chain, allowing it to vanish and release Jun from it's clutches. "That was good, Junpei. And I think it's important that you see Souta. He may have lost his daughter, but it was not to that spirit within you. I assure you, he does not blame you for anything. And if anyone in this village can help you come to an understanding with the Soul Genma, it's him. Her gaze flitted back to Takuma, who still held Jun close, and she gave a small nod. "You have this under control it seems. I've gotten better, but my bedside manner still isn't the greatest. I'll go back to watching..."

Without another word, Makoto would simply walk over towards the still-lit brazier, take a seat, and watch the two from afar.

Takuma nodded to Makoto as she walked away, and would try to help Jun back to his feet. "Easy Jun, it'll be okay. If it helps you, I passed out during my first unlock, so you're already doing better than I did." He hoped building the other boy up might help him to ease back to reality, and to stop being so damn hard on himself. "You're not crazy, Junpei. No crazier than the rest of us anyway, hehe."

[Willoria]

When the chains holding up Junpei were released, he wasn't expecting the sudden effect it would have. He suddenly moved forward, trying desperately to catch himself with his hands. Because he had been leaning against Takuma this meant knocking the other boy over, though thankfully he was able to catch himself before his whole body weight fell on the boy. He simply ended up mere inches from squishing him under himself, chuckling nervously before pushing himself up to a seated position. It took a great deal more effort than he had expected honestly. He let Takuma try and help him to his feet in spite of the pair's very noticeable height difference and sighed heavily. "This shit is exhausting." he muttered, reaching over and pulling the other host close to him briefly in a sideways hug and kissing him on top of the head like he might kiss his sister at times.

Carefully he made his way back over to one of the chairs as well and fell heavily into it, groaning with the effort and pain of it. He was thankful however as Shishire was still in sullen silence, he had no idea it had more to do with the other Genma's taunts than anything else as he looked over at at Takuma. "It's not fair you know." he said quietly. "You get to look like a galaxy and I look like a bad emo kid..." he joked, snorting to himself a moment before groaning in pain again.

[TyDie]

Takuma thought he was ready to keep his friend up... he was most definitely not. A moment later, the young Kouseki was squished underneath his friend, letting out a grunt of discomfort as the extra weight bore down on his chest, His eyes were closed at first, a little pain flowing through him and his chakra left him, returning to his normal form. But when he opened his eyes again he was looking Junpei eye to eye, with Jun overtop of him. The boy completely froze, a blush working it's way across his face as his eyes went wide. "Oh my... What a compromising situation you've found yourself in, love. Heart racing, blood flowing to your cheeks... Hehehe. You're so adorable when you're embarassed." Takuma couldn't even say anything at first, waiting for Jun to start getting up before he managed to snap out of it and help him the rest of the way.

"Heh, yeah it is..." The boy scratched his head nervously as he held the older boy up, a small hum of happiness rising from the boy's throat as Junpei kissed his head. As he helped Jun back to the flame and into a chair, Takuma would notice that there wasn't a third chair for him with Makoto sitting there. And so, with a simple wave of his hand and a bit more chakra, the boy would simply conjure up his own identical chair, taking a good hard look at the furniture Jun was sitting on before replicating it perfectly for himself. He couldn't help but laugh at Jun's comments about their forms, shaking his head in disagreement with the older boy. "Haha, I wouldn't say that about your wings, Junpei. They were pretty, I liked them a lot actually. I bet with some practice you could even use them to really fly!"

As they sat by the fire, which was slowly dying, Takuma reached out a hand for one of Junpei's to lightly hold it again while an idea came to him. "You know now that you aren't alone, Junpei. But Shishire will always seek to use lies and misinformation to trick you. If you're so worried about being manipulated against your friends and allies, maybe what you need is an objective source of knowledge to draw upon. Maybe... you should join up with the Scribes." Takuma knew that Junpei knew of the Scribes - He was dating their archivist after all. He was honestly surprised that Jun hadn't made a move to join them sooner.

[Willoria]

Jun snorted at the idea of flying with the wings. They had seemed flimsy to him, made only of chakra he wasn't sure how they would hold up his weight. Though he supposed that like most jutsu that might just require the right technique applied properly. His mind was already going through theories he had read up on previously and thinking about what he might need to do to gather more research on the subject. Ironically then Takuma suggested something that was brilliant for more than once reason. Jun looked at him for a moment in thought and nodded slowly. "Not a bad idea." he remarked. "I already spend a lot of time in the library anyway, Rika forgets to eat more often than she remembers so I'm always bringing her lunch..." his voice trailed off as he remembered he hadn't done that in awhile. In trying to protect her from the Genma he had also been avoiding her. "I guess I owe her a visit tomorrow too." he remarked almost sadly. He couldn't help wondering how angry she was with him at this point.

Leaning back in the chair, he felt the exhaustion pulling at him and glanced across the fire at Makoto in her chair for a moment. "...thanks for not killing me." he said in an odd tone. "Shishire is damn determined to convince me thats all you want to do..."

[TyDie]

Takuma smiled at Jun as he nodded in agreement with his idea. Truth be told, there was more than one reason for this as well - if he was part of the scribes, he'd have a sense of direction. And, perhaps most importantly, he'd have allies and friends... like Takuma. "I mean, you may as well already be a member of the Scribes... even if it's just as Rika's personal assistant." Takuma laughed and dug an elbow into Junpei's side as he joked with the boy, happy that the stress from earlier seemed to have already passed. Junpei was already looking better... He just needed proof that everything was going to be okay.

Makoto's arms were crossed as she leaned back in her chair, clearly a little chilly after standing in the desert winds for so long before coming in to help Junpei with his unlock. As she was addressed though, she tilted her head and rapped her fingers on her bicep for a moment, the metallic whirring and clicking of her puppet limb barely audible as she moved. "I'll always be honest with you two, even if maybe I shouldn't. You shouldn't thank me though Junpei - One day I may have to do it." She wasn't trying to scare either of them, but she wanted to state the fact. "Makoto, what the hell?"

Takuma was clearly upset by his handler's response, but she shrugged and continued. "I'm just stating facts. Souta-sama has made clear that my role as a guardian is to teach and guide first and foremost. That doesn't mean that protecting the people of Suna isn't part of my duties though. Make no mistake, I don't want to do that, regardless of what Shishire or Janesisu may try to convince you of. If i'm being honest, I dread the possibility now. After I jumped the gun on Takuma and got my ass chewed, I reflected for a bit... and Souta is right. We should try our best to be your allies and friends first, and your murderers last. But... just because it's at the bottom of my list of duties doesn't mean it isn't on the list at all. That's all I'm saying."

Takuma glared at the woman and sighed... she just didn't understand what her 'truth' sounded like to them. "True or not, I think we both could have lived better off without that explanation, Makoto. Believe it or not, ignorance really is bliss sometimes..."

[Willoria]

Jun snorted at Takuma's joke about being Rika's assistant and gave the boy a simple look and shook his head. "Hey, I wouldn't complain." he replied with a bit of a wink and a laugh. "Just don't tell our mothers, they still think we're upset about the arrangement... we aren't supposed to be happy about it." he added, laughing even harder.

Though a moment later the conversation was brought down into a more serious note by Makoto's comments. Junpei sighed, though Takuma was upset by the woman's words Jun honestly understood. He shook his head as the younger boy spoke of ignorance being bliss. "No, she's right to tell us, Takuma." he said quietly. "These spirits in our heads lie to us every day... our guardians shouldn't lie to us even once. Not even a white lie to comfort us, not even a lie of omission, nothing. We have to trust everything they say and don't say." he said quietly, turning his head to look at Makoto for a moment before looking into the fire again. "Because especially those things that seem so little, ignorance being bliss? They like taking advantage of that... that's what Shishire had been using against me."

Jun sighed, chewing on his lip in thought for a moment. "I went and saw Sachiko, a former host who is now a zombie... Souta killed her. He was forced to after what she did to Rokuro, she's the reason Rokuro is what he is..." Junpei shook his head. "She admitted as much to me... these are the things we have to know, even Souta who preaches about teaching us knows that sometimes there's no other choice. And in Rokuro we can see the consequences of hesitating..."

He looked at Takuma almost sadly. "We have to know these things, we have to understand why we have to be strong, not just because of what we saw in Kiyoshi... maybe you should come with me to see Sachiko next time too..."

[TyDie]

Takuma had half a mind to tell Makoto to take her leave, go and get Rokuro or something to watch them, but he didn't want her there with them anymore. However, to his surprise, it was Junpei who defended her. All the talk about his worries of being slain by one of his guardians, and he was supporting them now? He didn't understand it in the slightest at first. But as his words sank in, Takuma let out a small sigh, his eyes falling to the flame that was slowly dying. "...You're right. Even the smallest lie can and will be manipulated by the Genma to sow seeds of doubt into us. Those seeds are what give them their power over our minds. Makoto, I'm sorry... You were right to explain yourself. I guess I'm just scared, I don't want to think about the worst case scenario..."

Makoto let out a small sigh, a smirk crossing her face as she shook her head. "That's fine, Takuma. You don't have to think about it. That's my job, not yours. Let me and the other guardians bear that burden, you have enough to handle as it is without thinking about what happens if things go wrong." It was a strange solace that Makoto was offering the two jinchuuriki - Don't worry about the consequences of failure, because in the end, they aren't the ones who have to deal with those consequences. If either of them lost themselves to the genma, if they were corrupted beyond redemption... the rest of what happened wouldn't be their problem. They'd already be gone. But that thought, that was something Makoto would keep to herself...

Junpei mentioned another host that came before Sakaki, this "Sachiko". Takuma had never heard of her, but apparently she somehow still lived? As a zombie? "By the light... such an existence can't be enjoyable. Maybe I should meet her, you're right. If she was a former host, she may have something to tell me, even if it's not about Janesisu specifically. But... Well, I think I've taken enough of your time tonight, Junpei." Takuma would stand over the boy, and as he did, he'd hold his hand out once more to the Brazier, creating another couple of logs for the flames to consume. A parting gift for his fellow Jinchuuriki.

"I'm proud of you, Junpei. You can do this. We can do this. I'll let Rika know you're interested in becoming a Scribe, and you... you should see her more often. Don't shut us out Jun, we have to stick together."

[Willoria]

Jun looked at Takuma almost sadly as he spoke of meeting Sachiko and shrugged lightly. "She seems oddly at peace with it." he admitted. "She's the Kazekage's sister... she lives with them actually. Spends her days helping with the kids... pretty sure I saw one of them running around with one of her digits like it was a damn toy." Junpei couldn't help a chuckle as he forced himself to sit up better as his friend was clearly getting ready to leave. "It's definitely an odd life, but they seem to get along alright."

The boy talked about being proud of him and Jun couldn't help a smile. "You know, I went into this thinking I was going to be the one taking care of you and already you've reversed roles on me... I've got some work to do to catch up to you, kid." he remarked, standing up briefly before reaching over to pull Takuma into a hug. He was a touch wobbly on his feet still but steady enough for this at least. He knew he'd be outside for a little bit yet to recover himself, but he was okay with that, especially as he'd noticed Takuma put another log on the fire for him. He knew there was probably another guardian lurking in the shadows somewhere watching him too and idly wondered if they were keeping warm enough in the dark.

"I'll go see her tomorrow, I promise." he told Takuma before looking over to Makoto and nodding. "Take good care of him, eh?"

[TyDie]

Takuma grunted lightly as his friend hugged him, returning the hug with a smile as warm as the flames he left in the Brazier. Jun was right, he did have some catching up to do - but he'd get there. "All things in their time, Jun. And everyone grows at a different pace. Don't keep yourself to anyone's standards but your own. But, if you need help, or just want to train together, or even just talk... You know you can always reach out to me." Stepping away from the hug now, Takuma would move towards the other end of the back porch, clearly intent on heading back home now that it was dark out. "And call me 'Taku', I'm not that young." The boy turned to frump at Junpei before turning to a quick smile, and then walking around the side of the building.

Makoto rose to follow her ward, but Jun addressed her too before she could leave, and with a small smile and a nod she would start to follow Takuma. "Don't stay out here forever. I don't want a sick host on my hands."