[Graded]Visitors in the Night

[Sanjuro]

The sounds of sizzling fish filled the small kitchen of the Nukegara household, the smell of the mackerel wafting through the hallway and up the stairs. Sounds of stomping feet and screaming quickly followed and Sou chuckled, dishing up the last plate of food for his sisters. It had been a while since he had cooked for his family, having spent most days training and otherwise purposely avoiding them. He was a little self-conscious of the spikes that jut from his elbows, but he had explained them away as the side effect of a new technique and his younger sisters had swallowed the excuse. His other siblings had given him the 'look' that said they smelt bullshit while his parents had merely smiled sadly.

Shaking away those thoughts, he dumped the tables on the kitchen table just as the twins barged through the door fighting each other to get to the 'good' seat first. His older sister followed, her nose buried in a book as always. He had no idea why she was home when she had a place of her own, though he had a feeling it was to try and figure out what was going on with him. He shrugged, smiled, and nabbed a bit of the grated radish from one of the twin' plates as he walked past, chewing on it and laughing as he made his way up to his bedroom.

The second he was safely through the kitchen door his cheerful smile vanished and he let out an exhausted sigh, slumping against the door for a second. It was harder than he thought it would be, being home and seeing their faces. After the visions Konegu had shown him he constantly saw their faces dripping with blood and twisted in agony. Running his fingers through his hair, balancing his own plate of food in the other hand, he shook his head again to clear his thoughts and took the stairs up to the second floor and his bedroom two at a time.

Ducking into the room, seeking a bit of solitude to eat his dinner in peace, he almost had a bloody heart attack when he saw who was waiting for him.

[Nafan~]

From the shadows of the unlit room, the leader of the black operations unit's single uncovered eye reflected the light from the hallway. On his right hand five of Sou's knives, collector's pieces, balanced tip down on his fingertips. The man's one dark iris turned slowly from the glinting steel to the boy in the doorway, examining him much in the same way. The same look, as if grading and assessing the quality of the tool and how best it could be used. "Fine pieces these." He said before flicking his hand outward and planting all five in the ceiling above him.

Banri's legs were folded calmly before him as he sat formally upon the young boy's bed. He brought his hands together contemplatively, resting them atop his knee and leaning forward slightly. After a few moments waiting expectantly, with Sou simply standing still in shock, Banri finally spoke once more. "Come inside before somebody else notices your perfect transformation into a stunned mullet." He commanded in a totally level voice, not a trace of humour to be found in his developing half smirk.

The man wore a black coat, a white fur collar warming his neck on the winter's evening. His trademark canvas pants and scruffy hair remained unchanged, as did the look in his eye. The way it's darkness seemed to draw in everything around it, absorb, examine and carefully weigh everything that it saw, and quite a few things that it didn't. The man waited patiently, clearly expecting something from the Chuunin.

[Sanjuro]

"This whole breaking into my room thing in the dead of the night?" Sou started, closing his door behind him and sending a wary eye at his knives. A few of those had taken him a lot more time and effort than he cared to mention in finding and he really hoped Banri wasn't planning on using them on him. "It's got to stop." As if broken from a trance when the knives embedded themselves into his ceiling, Sou took a few steps across the small bedroom and carefully placed his dinner on his desk, never taking his eyes of one of the most dangerous men he had ever met.

Of course the old bastard was perfectly comfortable, making himself at home on Sou's bed like it was an everyday occurrence. The silence reigned in the room, heavy and uncomfortable for Sou but likely not even of notice to Banri. The young man stared at his one visible eye as if it held the secret to figuring out the man's purpose here. It gave away nothing, of course, and Sou felt like an idiot for trying. Slowly he pulled out the seat under his chair and sat down, his hand going to the pocket he carried around the playing cards Banri had given him in.

"So, how can I help you this evening, my lord?" There was only a little sarcasm in the title. "If you're here for dinner, I'm afraid I didn't cook quite enough." Yeah, because cracking jokes with the guy that could kill him in a heartbeat was a great way to break the ice. Still, it was better than the awkward silence. Anything was better than awkward silence.

[Nafan~]

Banri raised his singular eyebrow as Sou's attitude flared, the only display that Sou's sarcasm had any effect whatsoever on one of the most dangerous men in the whole village, if not the most. Banri did not reply, however. He simply sat in silence. It was on purpose of course, he wanted the anticipation to torture the boy. It was his own form of punishment for his insolence. After a few precious seconds which must have felt like hours, Banri finally spoke once more.

"I am here for.. a number of things." He began, drawing out the reveal once more. He intended to make this just as vexing for Sou as the boy obviously intended t make it for him. "One of which is a report. I have heard things from my subordinates but second hand information has a way of... deteriorating. Tell me everything relating to your situation. How you feel, what the beast's moves are, the progress of your training. Everything."

Banri continued to sit comfortably upon the other boy's bed, totally ignoring the fact that he had been more or less commanded not to do something. He bored into Sou with his steely gaze, staring directly into those blue eyes. The boy would learn some respect, given time. "Unless your royal highness would prefer that I cease being as kind as I have been thus far, since despite my every attempt to assist you, you continue to act like a spoiled child." He countered, dangerous tones of irritation seeping in through his baritone voice.

[Sanjuro]

Silence. Always with the bloody silence.

And then when Banri finally decided to end his suffering Sou suddenly wished for the silence back. A shiver ran down his spine and he gulped audibly as Banri laid out exactly what he expected. And yes, being sarcastic with the man had definitely been a bad idea. A very, very bad idea. He fought to still his thumping heart and ignored the urgent need to get the hell out of his own bedroom. Sou had faced a monster of epic proportions which was now sealed within him, had fought against the Raikage and felt a little fear but mostly anxiety and worry.

This guy though? This guy terrified Sou.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he nodded contritely and folded his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry, Lord Banri. I, ah, I am grateful for everything you've done for me." He almost slapped himself when he heard the quiver in his voice and kept silent until he could force himself to relax. A few breaths and looking anywhere but directly into Banri's eye and he tried again, this time his voice was much smoother and his shoulders visibly relaxed. "Training has been going… well? I guess. I can achieve reach the second form relatively quickly and can shape the basic aura well enough."

The more he spoke, the more Sou's tongue began to loosen. "The damn thing never shuts up though. It's always there, you know? Whispering in the back of my head, laughing at my attempts and mocking my failures, trying to get me to hand over control to it. It keeps showing me these visions, of what it can do to my family if I don't give in willingly and it has to force its way into control. And then it shows me what it could do to protect them if I just gave in and… it's so strong."

[Nafan~]

Banri gave no sign of a reaction as Sou began to speak. This time with a little less snark in his voice, thankfully. Once Sou finished his report, Banri considered it all for a moment. He closed his eye and tilted his head skyward for a moment, losing himself in thought. "That's all?" He asked after a time.

Banri then released his hands and gestured for Sou to come closer, opening his eye once more. "Come here, remove your shirt." he commanded abruptly. Clearly he had spent every moment he had intended to spare on thought.

Once Sou did as he asked, Banri placed his hand onto Sou's seal and concentrated for a moment, chakra coating his hand as he examined it. A slight tingling sensation would be all Sou felt of Banri's inspection, and once he was done he was commanded to once again re-don his clothing. "The seal seems to be fine." the man said, knowing full well he had intended to tell the chuunin the same regardless of what he actually found.

The Bannin was silent for the whole time that Sou re-clothed himself and sat down once more. "Now, I have another question for you. This one is very, very important." he stressed, standing up from the bed. He walked slowly over to where Sou sat, and stood uncomfortably close to the boy. His hungry black hole of an eye stared down into Sou's clear blue pools, drawing them in and crushing them beneath it's intensity. "Do you take me for a fool, Nukegara Sou?"

[Sanjuro]

That's all? No, not really. But Sou had gotten lost in his own thoughts and forgotten that he was giving a report. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off when Banri motioned for him to stand. And again with the stripping. It was tempting to crack another joke about it but the Jinchuuriki figured he had already pushed his luck enough for one night. Where when they had first met Sou had been nothing but another Chuunin, he was now one of the most important tools of the village. Which meant he had more scrutiny on him now and would be held to a higher standard. Peeling off his shirt, he held his breath as the man flowed chakra through the seal.

He watched with fascination as the seal glowed as Banri's chakra passed through it, feeling little more than a tingling and almost ticklish sensation. The urge to fidget under the black ops commander's inspection was getting to be almost overwhelming when he finally backed off and let Sou put his shirt back on, which he was quick to do and then scrambled back to the perceived safety of his desk chair. His food was all but forgotten at this point, his hunger the last on his long list of worries. The first of which was: if the seal was perfectly intact then why the hell was Banri actually here?

Sou leaned forward a little when the old man spoke up once more, this time deigning to stand up from Sou's bed and got right up into Sou's personal space. The blond craned his neck back and pushed himself as far back into the chair as he could, trying to put as much space as possible between himself and his oncoming demise. He tried to look away. He really did. But that damn eye that seemed to suck in the light around it bored into his own like he was staring straight through to Sou's very core.

Did he take Banri for a fool? Only a fool would take this man for a fool. Sou was many things, but a fool was not one of them.

"No, Lord Banri. Of course I don't." The boy's jaw clenched and he steeled himself against the fear that threatened to make him break down and find a nice dark corner to hide in. "I swear I meant no disrespect or dishonesty. I simply… hadn't gotten to the finer details of my report yet?"

[Nafan~]

"That is the smartest sentence you've finished since I got here." Banri commented, still looming dangerously over Sou. "However, one of us here is indeed incredibly foolish. Either I am a fool for extending my hand for you to take or you are a fool. For hedging your bets. You train with my agents in one of my hidden safe houses out of my gestures of kindness. Did you think that if you simply did not pick a patron you could reap the benefits indefinitely? That I would just meekly keep doling out assistance to you? And trust me, the very fact that you have made such a foolish move proves how much you need my assistance." Banri explained, beginning his tirade. He turned away suddenly, striding over toward the bed one more. He stretched out his hand and stomped his foot, bringing all five knives down around him. All five were snatched up by his hand moving faster than Sou could comprehend with his young eyes.

"Now, we're going to play a game. By the end of it, you'll understand why I am slightly upset with you. It will be a quiz game." Banri announced, turning one more to face Sou. "The first question. Who is Hiruko spying for?"

[Sanjuro]

Once more his hand strayed to his pocket. He had never understood the cards Banri had given him, never really got why he would be forced to choose between three potential allies. He knew he needed help, of course he did. He had no idea what being a Jinchuuriki really meant when he agreed to this. Hell, it hadn't even been more than a few months since the sealing. And now Banri just expected him to up and choose? Weren't they all fighting to protect Kumo? Why limit his options to just one? Obviously there was more going on in the politics of the village than he had ever dreamed of and now he was a key piece for the three major players. He watched as the terror stalked away from him and back to his bed, only to retrieve the knives from the ceiling and turn to face him again.

Blue eyes darted between each of the knives and Banri's lone black eye, wondering exactly how the man planned to use them. He got the feeling the man had a twisted sense of what was a game and it likely involved great physical and psychological trauma for him. The first question came and Sou immediately frowned. Hiruko? Why would Hiruko be spying for anyone? Hell he could have been spying for anyone. He had just shown up one day and told Sou he was his new handler. But the black ops that Banri always had watching him had let it slide. Was it a test? Was Hiruko actually spying for Banri? Would Hiruko even spy for the man who had been partially responsible for getting his mother killed?

There were too many questions and Sou didn't have any answers. He shook his head, keeping his silence, and fearing what was to come.

[Nafan~]

Banri waited. First three seconds. Then five became ten. Ten turned into twenty. And five knives became four as pain blossomed from the top of Sou's left ear. He had not even seen Banri move to throw it and yet the sound of it biting into the wood behind his head was unmistakable. "That was the worst possible answer. At least make an educated guess. The answer is that he spies for Ote, Syaoran. The administrator of shinobi assignments. The majority of the city's clans flock to him, including the Ishiguro. Enough that he managed to get Hiruko's mother to act double agent for him within my own organization. Shame that the protective seals happened to be just weak enough around her that she died during the ceremony, isn't it? Truth be told I'm not sure if the boy even knows where his reports go to."

Banri waited a moment for it to sink in before continuing. "Second question. Who has been using your parents to gain information on you?"

[Sanjuro]

Sou's fists clenched hard and he grit his teeth but he accepted the criticism and the pain in his ear as one of his own knives sliced through it. He was a shinobi, their entire existence revolved around gathering information and fighting wars from the shadows. Banri had warned him the day he had awoken after the sealing, hadn't he? That people would want to try and control him? Banri himself at least had the audacity to be upfront about it. He hadn't even seen Syaoran and the only time he spent with the Raikage was when the man had tried to draw out the power of the Okigenma so Sou could get a better feel for how it was supposed to go and gain some level of mastery over his transformations.

And then his eyes widened to the size of saucers and every nerve ending was tingling with the urge to flee. Banri had… killed Hiruko's mother? Just like that? Sou surged to his feet, ready to scream and shout and rage. But nothing came forward. None of his anger or horror at the fact that he was standing in the same room as a cold blooded murderer. Only a sense of reality. Just as quickly as he had risen he fell back into his chair. "Is this really what the village is like?" He whispered, more to himself than to Banri. "Spies and plots and assassinations of our own?"

His head hung in his hands and his fingers threaded through his blond locks. When the next question came he didn't even stop to think about it. He answered straight away for fear of one of those knives finding something more vital than his ear. "You. Or the Raikage. My family doesn't have any ties to the clans and if what you said is true then Syaoran would have a harder time setting up a spy on them."

[Nafan~]

Banri actually let out a single grunt of mirth that could not really even be called a chuckle at Sou's answer. He gestured around the room with his arms as he asked, "What need do I have for your parents? I know that there were exactly 48 flakes in your cereal this morning. You are half right though. The Raikage has spoken with them." The man praised. And yet still another flower of exquisite pain burst forth from his other ear, another notch taken out by another of his own knives.

"10.26am Tuesday morning Nukegara Akiko and Shunichi met with Ote, Syaoran for 45 minutes, Akiko had two cups of tea while your father refused to drink at all. However judging by the sweat on his forehead the entire time he must have been thirsty. You were their main topic of discussion. Syaoran was also the one whom included them in the circle of people who know about your situation. I expect he intends to have them be his eyes and ears in your life. Well, some of them." He reported, before waiting once more for Sou to consider his circumstances.

"The third question. Who does Kojima, Nao work for?"

[Sanjuro]

Yet another burst of pain as he missed something. Syaroan was pressuring his parents and the Raikage was 'talking' to them. He missed in annoyance and pain, lifting his head from his hands to glare at the man. Now he was asking about some random girl he had seen once? "I don't bloody well know who she's working for! All of you, for all I bloody know! I get it, I can't trust anyone! Not some stranger, not my teammates, not even my own parents! I get it!" His own damned parents were being turned into spies against him. All because of a stupid decision to agree to become a monster.

His breath came out in harsh gusts. He hated this. He hated Banri and his thrice forsaken black ops. He had hated the faceless group even before he had become a Jinchuuriki. Heartless bastard. He hated the Raikage for convicting him that this was a good idea in the first place. The man had started a war, become a missing ninja, but somehow had returned and ended the war and gained the position that had caused the strife in the first place. That man couldn't be trusted either. And then the man who sat back and got other people to spy on him from a distance while never revealing his face, of all of them he probably distrusted and hated Syaoran the most.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the cards, staring at them. The King, Hatate. The Joker, Banri. The Jack, Syaoran. The first wanted him as a strong solider, a front line fighter and deterrent to others that would threaten the village. A weapon. Syaoran hadn't seen fit to even show his face, instead positioning others around him to gather information and even using his own parents. Without thinking, he tore the card in two.

The King and the Joker remained.

[Nafan~]

"Kojima, Nao is a genin of the village. She works for it, just like you do. Just like I do. Just like Hayate and Syaoran do. She is totally apart from this politicking. But you are not." Banri looked distastefully at the torn Jack card, letting a small tsk escape from his lips. "I'll be honest with you, of the two I would have preferred to lose to Syaoran. He's intelligent." Banri revealed, truthfully for once. Even though Banri had revealed all of the evidence against the guardian wolf, he had not given the full story.

Banri knew that Syaoran had a reason for hanging back. The other bannin would have already considered himself behind in the race, and knew he could not offer Sou the training that Hayate and Banri could so readily provide. It would have been better for him to watch and wait for an opportune moment to introduce himself, when Sou had grown enough to not suffer from Syaoran's lack of suitable teachers. But the black ops commander wasn't about to explain that to the boy, he wanted the jinchuuriki to rely on his guidance after all. Now he just had to remove Hayate from the picture, and everything would be perfect.

"You may hate this but it is part of your life now. And I am not telling you not to trust anyone. To not trust anyone is to become so paranoid you become useless. All you must do is be aware of your surroundings and aware of your situation. You're playing the great game now, whether you like it or not. And in this game even choosing not to move is a move. Already people speculate on your allegiance, or lack thereof. You are one of only ten Jinchuuriki to the great phantom beasts in the entire world. You are a symbol of power and strength. Anyone you decide to stand beside will gain a huge advantage over any other person. But alone, you will wither. The village needs you to be strong. And I intend to protect the village at all costs. The village is who we work for." Banri finished, ending his lecture. The man turned and carefully placed the three knives back onto the bed.

"Do you understand now? Not just this village but the entire world is a living organism. The shifting of power will always make great waves in your life, and you're far too important to remain as ignorant of it as you have been. Open your eyes and listen with your ears, or you will be manipulated."

[Sanjuro]

Sou said nothing to Banri's lecture. He just stared at the card he had torn up in a moment of childish naivety. He knew that Banri was a killer. He had all but admitted it to him. He knew that the Raikage had started a war which caused Sou to lose friends. He had fought in the damn thing. But what did he really know about Syaoran? That he had spoken to his parents and was using Hiruko to spy on him. That was it. Nothing else. Nothing about his agenda, nothing about why he should side with the Ote. He had simply heard the man had spoken to his parents and was trying to turn them into spies and got angry. Except ignoring the man would do nothing to stop that. He was part of the leadership of the village, of course he would keep tabs on Sou whether he chose to follow the man or not.

He felt like he had just made a huge mistake.

"I took this duty to help protect people…" The Raikage had convinced him that he was the best suited for the role. That he could protect his family and friends and home by becoming this Jinchuuriki. But… "All I've done is put my family in more danger, haven't I? No one would have looked twice at us before. We're clanless, just another family of generational ninja. And now because of me they're always going to be watched, always going to be under threat." He barked a single harsh laugh, devoid of any mirth. "So my choices are the man who started a war and a man that would kill his own countrymen. Great choices."

They aren't your only choices, my dear container. Sou's head jerked up slightly at the new voice. The Okigenma had been oddly quiet all night. Had been oddly quiet since he been defeated in a fight by Senji, a guy who was his junior. You have the power of a god at your fingertips and you would let these mortals manipulate you into believing they were the only options? Have you truly learned so little in our time together?

He had never considered that as an option. The thousands-year-old spirit stuck inside him, for all its threats and desire to take over his body, was power incarnate. If he could wield that power would he really need to stand beside Banri or Hayate? He would be his own power source. It was tempting, he had to admit. More tempting than any other offer the Okigenma had made in the past.

But wasn't that just the beast manipulating him as well?

Sou laughed, quietly at first, but it steadily grew louder and more hysterical. He felt like he was being pulled in three different directions and none of them were the right choice. But unless he made one he would be pulled until he split at the seams. "You're all insane. You, the Raikage, this entire damn world. And you're all dragging me right down along with you."

[Nafan~]

"I remove any and all obstacles to Kumogakure. So long as the detriments of its existence outweighs its benefits, it will be destroyed. No matter what or whom it is." Banri replied flatly, clearly implying that Sou should watch himself as well. "There's only one way to truly protect something Sou. And that is to control it." Banri intoned wisely, before walking past the boy and standing at the shut door to his bedroom.

"I will expect your answer by midnight tomorrow night. If you do not give it, I will assume you have decided against me. I will still provide you with the respect and assistance that any Jinchuuriki deserves, but I will no longer play favourites with a boy that cannot face reality. You never had any real choice in this, Nukegara. You were selected and you would have been sealed regardless of your opinions. You only have two choices. Adapt, or perish." and with that he opened the door and walked through, flicking it shut behind him.

On the back of the door, the King and the Joker stared eerily back at Sou.