Follow Up Appointment

[Tsedas]

Shadows draped across the cells and corridors, a facility of cages for the ne'er-do-wells that were apprehended by Konoha. It was a hole, a void, devoid of hope for some and a place to leave things to be forgotten. The silence through the place was deafening as the darkness shifted with the silent moving forms of ANBU members that oversaw things within the place. For those that dwelled it, it wasn't uncommon to feel as if you were being watched. Even the guests could feel the eyes upon them, scrutinizing their every move when there was such a guest to be had. A grunt here or a sigh while uttered or quiet still traveled through the place.

When the sound of a door opening shed a sliver of light down the corridor, eyes and ears throughout the place shifted to listen and watch. It was on this day that a guest had appeared as foot steps tapped through the hall, the sound not muffled or hidden. Every step told of a solid stride, one relaxed and with confidence only stopping to glance into the cells as if looking for something. A sound escaping the figure, telling any who listened that their guest was male and seemed to be drifting into through after each stop and sound he made, almost like a hum of intrigue or amusement. Continuing through the row of cells, the figure was wreathed in shadows but upon every stop the guest caught the eye of anyone who could seem him only to cause quickened heartbeats in some before moving on. Those that recognized the man knew him by reputation alone and not of his recent deeds or years.

At long last the shadow clad man found his place and as he peered into the space that was occupied by the one he sought, they would find a shadowy figure with green eyes that practically glowed in the darkness like a phantasmal figure looming in the darkness. It wasn't until the ANBU silently tailing them reluctantly unlocked and opened the door that the green eyed man brought out a small lantern and lit it. As dim but warm light filled the space and banished the shadows form his silhouette, Katsu would find the form and face of the Doctor greeting her with an ever spreading grin. "You failed to schedule a follow up appointment after our encounter in Aroma. Once word crossed my desk I thought I'd do a little..." His eyes wandered the cell before snapping back to the tall woman. "I would say house call, but that's definitely not this place."

Stepping into the room, he looked back to the masked shinobi and gave them a nod to which they closed and locked the door but remained outside and vigilant. Looking around the space he made another noise of intrigue before turning his attention to Katsu. "I've not been privvy to why or how you came to be here, but at least it gives me a chance to check you out and make sure you're healing properly. I would ask if you have been well, but given where you are now I'm not sure how rude that might be." Walking over, Saigo raised his free hand and pressed it against the stone of the wall and found it a little humorous that he never truly spend prolonged in a place such as this. He was detained and interrogated and even had his mind read when he arrived in Konoha, but he wasn't imprisoned so blatantly like this. Then again, he had made himself extremely useful in his time since arriving.

[Das Kirb]

The echoing sounds of metal doors and footsteps against stone stirred the demon. Katsu flexed her tail to come behind her, out of sight. Doubtless the ANBU knew she wielded the weapon but it was a sign of faith that she sheathed the weapon whenever activity rustled the dusty halls. With a shake of her head to banish the most recent nightmare Katsu claimed a spot upon the bed and stayed towards the back wall, a ritual that was demanded any time marching came down the path. However, the titan had stubbornly refused to fully accept it. Especially after this last outing. No, her wings wouldn't allow her to do anything but stay there, braced against the wall and using one to cover herself as if to hide a weapon. Some small comfort when some bastard guard made a move, though Ookami would never let such a thing come to pass.

An unfamiliar silloette graced the door though, one she knew but couldn't place. The feral woman moved a wing now and began to rise, but the scent caught her attention. Within an instant recognition came over her, and the next it was confirmed as the lantern lit the room. He stood there just as before, granted not in beech wear. His soft face aged by wrinkles and worry, his smell of chemicals and soap, and even the dumb ass white hair that flowed down his shoulder. When the voice spoke Katsu's face was one of shock and joy, before emotions flared and instinct was taking hold. Not a violent reflex, but a weeping of tears at a familiar and friendly face. The shadows banished and Katsu used both wings and tail to latch into the walls and bed, launching herself towards the man with arms outstretched. She'd embrace him and squeeze hard, crying into his shoulder.

"Saigo you old bastard you are alive! Fucking shit I had thought they'd banished you keeping you away so damn long! How's the wife and kids? Is my godchild doing alright? Growing well?"

[Tsedas]

The reaction wasn't one had anticipated as he braced a leg back and felt her weight against him. He gave a hearty little chuckle as she started squeezing him in an embrace, her head buried in his shoulder. "Of course, I would have made an appearance sooner but I tend to be buried in work. Hospitals aren't as easy to run as one would have thought." He smiled as the arm that wasn't holding the lantern shifted to pull the woman into the hug. As his hand was upon her back, he'd shift it in a soft motion to rub against her back. He'd pondered using Iijutsu to check on her physical health but decided against it. Why sully a reunion like this with business when there was time enough for that to come. "Your godchild is doing quite well. Bundle of joyful energy who apparently has a knack for Tenkujutsu and Ancient Runes. I'm sure a meeting can be arranged sometime. But like any happy child, she's incredibly optimistic and will see the good in things so be careful or she's gonna start doing the same with you."

Glancing over at the ANBU would make sure they hadn't seen the leap as anything hostile before turning his attention back to Katsu. "What brought you to be here of all places? This is the last place I would have expected to hear any news of your location." He would hold that hug for a moment until she felt she was ready to pull away and his own arm would slacken to let her back away as much as she pleased. The Doctor did indeed show signs of age, seemingly letting his routine of looking youthful slip for a change to look a little closer to his actual age. Despite the wrinkles and crows feet coming off his features, he still had a wild luster of life shining in his green eyes as they looked at the woman's face. "How's your body been holding up since we last met? You were in pretty rough shape then so I was trying to keep an ear to the ground for news of you... Of course, I think some of that information might have been intercepted before it reached me since I didn't learn of you being here till recently." Saigo's eyes once again looked to the ANBU member who seemed to suddenly find the doorframe quite interesting as if trying to look like he hadn't heard the Doctor's statement as they picked at a piece of stone like it was exceedingly interesting. Shifting his gaze back to the winged woman, he snorted in amusement. "Still, you're alive and that's a great piece of news to hear."

Saigo would shift to set the lantern down near the door to the cell, letting the light do it's job and bring a warm glow to their surroundings. Compared to the drab darkness that permeated every corner of the room before, it almost felt like a secret hide away in his mind rather than a cell. He knew how much difference a little light can make in a dark cave, having been hold up in one for ages behind a waterfall in times past. Only difference is, he had more toys to play with in his little dark hole in the ground. "Still strikes me as odd being here, I never really stayed in this place." He mused aloud, having been a missing ninja but never having spent any time in a real prison. House arrest was luxury when the village gave him a place to stay, but this? This would probably have made him the most restless prisoner on the planet. Glancing to her, he gave a sad smile "Please tell me that you've been treated decently at least, otherwise I'm gonna have to get upset with someone."

[Das Kirb]

The woman broke the grip only reluctantly as she took a few steps back and pulled her appendages out of the stone and fabric. Standing in the cell she looked downright cramped now that she wasn't huddled up and miserable. However, she made herself as comfortable as possible, sitting on the bed and smiling like a girl again. "I'm not good but I'm alive. Considering everything I'd consider my treatment downright pleasant actually. Kiri would have me in several pieces with a stick so far up my ass it's coming out my mouth. But I get supervised time to stretch my wings out in the grounds so it's bearable. Besides, I came and let myself get arrested. Made a deal with the demon it seems."

The feral woman used a tail to pull up the lone chair for Saigo to sit across from her. "The shard keeps pushing more and more, demanding the old bloodlust. But I will keep that divinity as my own, not the other way around. I made that promise so many times. The head parasites here have already seen some of what it does. Said it's not like my god Vorashu. It's more like I'm in constant chaos. I mean, fair enough. Just means I need to try harder." Katsu said matter of fact before flexing a wing. "I've already gotten a good part of it under control again. Once you took the edge off the pain it was easier to think. Why I'm here. Tengu promised to help me find my people and let me use this place to get back up to snuff. But not making the same mistake. Learning a thing or two. Like for one I'm truly immortal, and for two I apparently have an animal magnetism." She said the last part with a grin. "Your women can't seem to control themselves around me. Who knew your lands were filled with gay sluts. Shoulda came here sooner."

Katsu took a second to dry her face before continuing. "Even learning how to blend in a bit better. Be less. . . aggressive. Truth told it feels fucking off. There are times. . ." The mask slipped slightly here and Katsu's old animalistic traits began to seep through. A tension in the shoulder and a twitch at the tail. "There are times I want to break that promise and just rend into them. More times than not. That time will come, just not now." It took but a second for her to reclaim herself and put away the monster. It took a second, but a lot of effort. "So yeah, that's about the summary doc. Now, tell me about that pretty little thing you call a wife. How's she hanging in there with Mr. Bigshot doctor and his two little crotch goblins?"

[Tsedas]

Saigo listened to Katsu speak as she took a seat on the bed. When he tail shifted that chair into place, he stepped over and took a seat. His posture relaxed into the seat as hehung an arm off the back of it while crossing one of his legs over the other as he took in her words. She spoke of head parasites and constant chaos, the bloodlust and the shard. It was worrysome that such turmoil was whorling within but as she turned her words to speaking on how the edge got taken off from her first treatment at his hands. It helped bring some form of clarity, enough to come here and deal with Tengu. It was a name he didn't rightly recall from a personal interaction but he might have seen or heard it mentioned during some meeting or another. Still the idea of her finding her people sparked memories of their conversations from before as well. "So in all this time you never got around to going back to your family?" His brow furrowed a bit as he asked that question. "I know you said they would have to wait back then, but did you at least manage to send word to them of some kind?"

His brow went from furrow in concern to shifting into amusement as he blew a raspberry in an attempt to stifle a raucous guffaw at her comment. "Maybe an eager thing to will sooth the soul? Certainly helped in my case, although Isane wasn't much of a slut or gay when we met. Still, maybe among them you'll find someone who can bring some sense of calm to your life." His jovial nature softened into a harder one as she spoke of wanting to be who she was. Tilting his head a little and humming in thought, Saigo remembered those urges himself. "The urge to be what you feel you are and fight the change you are working toward. It's a difficult thing to fight what you have been for so long. There were times when I had been working towards building myself into a real doctor during my Missing Ninja days, sitting in those makeshift medical tents and elbow deep in a wounded man... There were times when I saw them laid open before me during surgery when I could have taken the scalpel and started working to craft a better human. Harvest an organ, modify their body, swap their brains with someone else... The Dark Urge. It's not easily pushed aside and throws a tantrum when you're at your weakest to get what it wants. It'll hammer at the back of your mind trying to steer you back to the path it wants and not what you might actively seek to become. It's a battle of will and when faced alone it's most difficult to endure."

Glancing up, the luster had dulled and the steely green eyes shone with a repressed ambition and malice that lingered deep within. "But one thing you must embrace and force that urge to accept is that you are it's Master. It's not something you can discard but must learn to channel in other ways. My desires to experiment still exist, but I have harnessed it into something else." Closing his eyes, Saigo leaned forward and started to extend his hand, leaving it halfway between the two of them. His eyes opened again, the luster burning like an ember once more as he smiled. "Beating that urge into submission is one path you can take but it might lurk deep down waiting to blow like a volcano. Instead I suggest treating it like a wild stallion that needs to be broken in so it can work with the young colt of your new ideals or path you seek to embark on. In time, they'll learn to pull the wagon of your mental and emotional baggage together... until some rampaging gay sluts spook them and they try to run in different directions." Saigo chuckled before giving the woman a nod. "And if you need someone to lend an ear or be a sparring partner then let me know. I know how to be a brilliant punching bag and I'm also hard to get rid of."

With his hand extended to offer support and an offer, he waited to see if she'd take it when she started speaking after his wife and she was doing. "Oh Isane? She's doing just fine. I think she's happier as a housewife and a mother than she ever was before we came to Konoha. However she's quick to smack me upside the head if I get to frisky with her sometimes. She thinks two kids is more than enough, but I always kind of liked the idea of three. Maybe she'll come around if I pull out all the romantic stops and stop acting like a such a goofball.... I doubt it though." Saigo gave a laugh as he knew there was no way he'd be able to be serious all the time like that again. "But yeah, she's doing great. We're happily growing old and watching our kids blossom into teenagers. It felt like a dream all those years ago that we'd actually get a chance to stop running and start living. I'd gladly sacrifice everything to let her keep this happiness." His eyes seemed to wander towards the wall, his mind pulling up memories both old and new of the woman who'd been such a driving force in him changing his life. The smile that crossed his face was one of a man who could drop dead that moment and he'd have no regrets.

[Das Kirb]

Katsu smiled. A soft and genuine smile of happiness as Saigo spoke of Isane. The idea had merit to it and it was an idea Katsu truly liked to chase. The safety of peace and the laziness of just enjoying a day with some dumbasses running around, a woman to lay her head on, and just a lake nearby to swim in with a forest to hunt. It was an idea that'd caused her to pause on chance, but it was so far away. "My lovely demon would never accept it. She wants blood and chaos and to see the world in chaos. Not just this but beyond! My monster will always be a monster. But a monster needs to sleep and my lap is a good pillow. Pretty demon, we will show this world the worlds beyond." Katsu spoke beneath her breath. "I'd sunder oblivion just to see you again. I miss you, Arsa."

The titan had to banish the idea for now before returning to Saigo and once again smiling. He spoke so plainly it was refreshing. So much empathy and passion in every word that it lifted the room. Even when he spoke of darkness and madness Katsu could only feel the true nature and enjoy the comfort. She felt this man in a primal way, an intimate way, a way that soothed the soul in just how. . . honest he was. "Saigo, you need a woman to smack you around on occasion. Otherwise you'd fuck up a good thing. Shit, we're the same in that. If even the thought of Arsa being disappointed in me didn't stay my hunger I'd probably have a literal chain around my neck." Katsu had to chuckle. "Granted, I wish I knew where she was. I went back to River and found it taken over by someone else. Some local who took the land and people back. Fucking bitch pushed out my family and they're scattered to the realms. I have no damn clue where they are. Why I came here. Bear had a deal with the alpha of this place to provide resources and medicine. Figured here was as good as any to find them."

"As for who I am, who you are. . . Let's face it Doc, we're monsters. I've no regret about that and frankly I doubt you do too. But this world demands demons, monsters, and things that bring actual fear to a suffocating system. You can't tell me the gods of this fucking realm haven't been chained and now people run roughshod over everything. No fear, no loyalty to anything but a fucking hope at peace. . . Or maybe an escape." Katsu remembered her time in that darkness she called oblivion. A place with no light or sound. A place with no scent or touch. You weren't cold, hungry, or anything. There was nothing except the infinite loneliness. Lonliness and absolute stasis. "I've seen what that peace looks like. It's stagnant and. . . I'm scared."

"You're right though." Katsu looked at the doc. "If anyone knew it it'd be someone like you. A blooded beast like me. Someone who knows that hunger. That bloodlust. I want nothing more than to see these people dragged down into the mud. I want to make them face the darkness and hatred and see them struggle. They're so fucking sheltered and they hide their heads in the fucking sand. I get wanting to be comfortable but for fuck sake. I just APPROACHED a girl here and she wet herself in terror! These people. . . They're unblooded. They don't know what's out there, Saigo. They don't know I'm just one god and there are others. They need to know. Need to know that survival instinct. Need to stand and face the hatred. Cause this world. . . it doesn't suffer the meek kindly. . . And not dragging them down into a pit of mud and grief is one of the hardest efforts of self control I've made here. Cause I don't want them to see what I've seen. . ."

Katsu began bouncing her leg. "Saigo, I want my grandkid to one fucking rule, the same rule I want to show the rest of them. The same struggle we know. Peace is earned through. . . pain. It's earned through fucking baring your teeth and tearing out the beating heart of anyone who threatens it. It's earned through taking a bite out of that living organ and DEMANDING the next person step up. There are gods chained in the effort of peace. But too many hide while only a few truly know how to fight. Saigo, I want to change that so fucking bad and rip out the throat of anyone who ever subjugates another. . . But not yet. It's not that time. It'll come, but not now."

The hightened emotions and ranting came to an end as Katsu looked at Saigo with sad eyes filled with hatred. "But maybe you're right. Maybe I just need to fuck some of these gay sluts and that'll put everything right. Shit, I already turned one of y'all's jounin into me. Poisonous girly named Hanayo. Can't wait for her to come to terms with it all and come back cause yeah, I do intend to fuck her crazy." The last part was said as a bit of a joke to lighten the mood, though there was a sultry hint to the last words.

[Tsedas]

Saigo relaxed into the chair once more, the wood creaking from his weight as he could nod at her comments about a good woman needing to smack him around. He recounted a number of times he'd been pranking his son and getting a frying pan bonked up the backside of his head. He then had to clean up the pie he'd attempted to hurl at his son to keep him on his toes that slipped out of his hand when he got whacked in the head. Isane was probably the only person he could see the attack coming from and would do nothing to dodge or block it, his wife had long abandoned any combat prowess she once had in favor of house keeping prowess. "I need to take that woman out on a date sometime soon and show her a romantic evening. She deserves to be treated right after all this time. Been way too long since we had a night to ourselves to act like goofy love struck kids again, but the kids are both shinobi now so we can probably afford a night out on the town."

As Katsu continued, recounting her attempts and finding her family or friends or whatever they were, he never did learn their exact relationship to one another. It all clicked on the connection when she called them 'her family' and he nodded in understanding. She mentioned someone named Bear having dealings with someone here and his brow furrowed. He'd have to look over the hospital books and see if any of the medicine they manufactured had gone anywhere, if anything a suspicious amount going missing or a delivery elsewhere might be a solid lead. He had unfettered access to the hospital's records since he basically ran the damn thing so that shouldn't be a hard task. Then her statement about the two of them brought his attention to the present as he filed away checking records for another time.

Monsters.

The word might sting most people to be called such a thing but Saigo listened in silence as she spoke, including her speech that was starting to flare her emotions. When she finished and broached the subject of conquering a few of the woman around the area as a means of bringing levity back to things he snorted in amusement while cracking a smile. "I say go for it, what do you have to lose? Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. Still, you raise a point. But the thing is, we're not as monstrous as we believe. Other people see us as monsters, we're just self-aware of who we are and what we're capable of. We can do great things, terrible yet great things. It's how we choose to apply ourselves that makes us monsters or messiahs. I honestly haven't put much stock in how people around the world view me, just those that are close to me. What those few think matters in my eyes and I honestly have grown so attached that I don't want to let them down."

Saigo raised a hand to his own chest, resting it over his heart while those green glowing orbs closed for a moment. "I know I play the fool and act like a clown, it's mostly an act to make people relax and view me as approachable. It works for me because I have things I will do my damnedest to keep safe. But mark my words, the minute ill will befalls my family the fool takes a bow and the thing they think of as a 'monster' will surface. I'd burn the world to safe a friend, Katsu." Opening his eyes, he realized he was gripping his shirt tightly as he had that flash of 'what if' in his mind of harm coming to Isane. Relaxing his grip, he sighs before shaking his head. "But in the end, us monsters are like anything else in this world. Dangerous in the right light, beautiful in others. Kiri might be seen as brutal in the eyes of other villages but I see them living by the motto of 'survival of the fittest' more than anything. Different ways of life breed different creeds and it's hard for most people to wrap their minds around another's way of life. Jarring their minds awake and opening their eyes is no easy task but it's not something that should be done by violence. If you rip and tear their worlds apart you'll just bring resentment down upon your head. I'm not saying don't give them a wake up call, but with different people you need a different approach. After all, no battle is fought the same way is it? Opponents are always learning and improving to beat each other, right? Waking the world isn't just about action, it's about words too. One doesn't trump the other, they work in tandem. Find the best approach with words then back them up with action. The only other way violence is the main course is..." Saigo knitted his eyebrows close together as he stopped himself. It wasn't an ideal solution or idea but it was one that had a probability of success in the end. It would definitely achieve faster results but was the cost worth it?

Looking to Katsu, he frowned as he shook his head. "If violence is the main course, it'd only be achievable by uniting everyone against a common enemy. Something that threatens all creeds and ways of life. I highly recommend against that option, because in the end you're either going to wind up making an enemy of the world and dying or ripping everything down. Starting from zero isn't an ideal scenario in my opinion." Tilting his head back, he stared at the ceiling as he took a moment to think. "Maybe that's what we both need. Find ourselves a woman and get that post nut clarity, that'll clear our minds up real quick." He mused jokingly as he laughed softly at the ceiling.

[Das Kirb]

Katsu didn't react, merely sat in silence until Saigo was done. For the time, the beast let herself feel what lurked deep beneath the surface. It was only barely ocntrained, a chained demon that threatened to lash out. It wasn't just the hunger of the parasite though it amplified the sensation. It wasn't the longing of her family though their missing did nothing to quell the emotion. It was something she tried so damned hard to court yet surpress. A fear that overwhelmed her more than fire ever could and consumed just the same. The emerald eyes didn't even grow bloody with the parasite's influence. Instead they grew malicious and hot. The emotion the woman surfaced was nothing more, nor less, than naked hatred.

A mix of disgust and regret for what had transpired to this point that became a vile toxin known as true loathing. That toxic tonic that befouled even the most pure of souls and seethed so pure it tainted the realm it walked. Katsu became subsumed in the tonic. such a perverse mixture of emotions only manifest in a glimpse though as his words continued to roll forth, but it was enough. Even the beast couldn't hide that look, nor the foul air it created. "I could devour a hundred welps and my thirst wouldn't be slaked. I could take just as many whores and I'd still want more. I could sleep on bodies both alive and strictly for my enjoyment and my lust wouldn't subside. . . Saigo. . . I don't think I'm like you as much as I want to be."

"You found peace and happiness in a family and protection. Your work is to save lives and practice your trade. You're a good man who harbors a wicked beast. There's only one woman who'd sate my hunger, my lust, and my. . . anger. Her name is Arsa. She's a shaman from the land of stars. The woman has seen worlds so vast and great I can stare at them in pathetic awe. The evergreen forests of Tir na Nog, Kori's home of Gehenna, the verdant plains of Elysium. They're more beautiful than you can imagine and she willingly took me there. Places where only instinct mattered. Where the politics of these fucking people were a memory. I've even seen oblivion. Yoru and Shinji showed me what true horror is." At this the woman began to shake. "A place after death where there's nothing. I've heard stories of paradise and infinite punishment. I was told I'd be raped for eternity as some monster's slave if I didn't change. But when I died none of that happened. There was simply nothing, Saigo. It was the first time I cried since I was a girl. And it wasn't because of pain or torment or even the sensory void. It was because it was. . . unchanging. It was a stasis. There was. . . nothing."

"Want to know what she kept saying? I could hear her voice in my memories. It's so pure and honest and completely fucking empty of anything besides blind love." Katsu went silent for a moment as her throat shifted. "My pretty demon, come home. I'm waiting and know you roam. Just come home to me. I know you'll find the way. Even mighty Thor would stand aside as you cross the bridge. Just come home my monster. Come to Tir na Nog. I'll wait." Katsu shifted her voice away from the sing song bubbliness of her lover before continuing. "That fucking shaman doesn't know the meaning of failure. . . There's a reason I love her. But it was the first time I ever saw her cry. I never want to see that again."

Katsu wiped a tear from her face. "Doc, I say we're alike in a lot of ways and I mean that. But there is a key difference. Something I don't know how to stop. The shard keeps. . . pushing. It festers and swells and I can fight it. You know that kind of rage. I trust that. But there's a difference, cause you're a good man who caged the beast. You're someone to look up too. I'm a monster through and through. There is no cage here, doc. There's just me." Katsu looked away now, finding the bed sheets unusually interesting. "And all I know is violence at the moment. But I'm working on that."

Katsu shook off the hatred and violence, the disgust and sorrow. She buried it once more beneath the mountains of driven goal she had piled up now and once again forced herself to relax, even if it was a mask. "So maybe you're right. Actually, no maybe about it. Vorashu was a god of adaptation and change. And I am his parody, a god in my own rite. Maybe I need to change too. I just don't know into what. But if you're right maybe a good gangbang is in order. A haram of girlies all buck naked and waiting for me to send them to heaven. Won't be nearly as good as a single evening with Arsa, but maybe that's okay. Leave them all gasping for more and sleep on a pile of cunts and tits then find her in the forests of heaven later. If nothing else, be a damned good night. Wake up with a fresh head to consider the next steps."

[Tsedas]

Saigo watched her, saw he release what was there if even for a moment. He could see she was still in the beginning steps of the change. It wasn't going to be easy but it was something that could be done. Rising to his feet as she began to relax, the chair creaked under him. Closing the distance between them, Saigo's hand slowly started to shift toward her before coming to rest upon her head. "I eat my wings to keep me tame..." He stated softly, a statement that reflected what he'd become and what'd done in order to change. "This process isn't easy, but the biggest thing to remember is that it's a battle of willpower. And if you say you lack that willpower then you're either lying to me or to yourself. You couldn't have made it this far with the life you've had without the willpower to push through. It might have been augmented in the various moments of your life, sure... but that's because we're more than one piece or part. We're a sum of our whole being. The rage is only one part and while it might be seen as the biggest in the moment, moments change like the flow of a river. Adapt and overcome, Katsu. This is but a hurdle on your path towards more important things."

Shifting his hand away, the Doctor looked at the seated woman and kept his hand where she could see it, offering it to her. "But in order to work your mind and spirit towards that change, I still wanna make sure your body is up to the task. "I eat my wings, but I see you more as the Uroboros. The dragon eating it's own tail, a cycle of destruction and rebirth, in this case you must learn to destroy your old self to be reborn anew. Tear down crumbling or cracked foundations in order to build upon a more solid layer." Saigo smiled at her, his eyes glowing warmly as he chuckled a little. "And for the record, you're going through what I did back then. Only I didn't have a shard of Vorashu inside of me. But I did have someone there willing to listen through it all and help give me a fresh perspective. Did having a familiar face and friendly ear help any, if at all?"

[Das Kirb]

It took several long moments for Katsu to actually process it all. "The bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to keep me tame." Katsu had to chuckle a bit with Saigo. "Varu used to quote that. Said it comes from some scroll he heard about. Something about creating a special stone that can make anything from anything." The woman looked at Saigo and actually cracked half a smile. "Said the story reminded him of all of us. Me for obvious reasons but even the bear. Said when Bear was the merc king he had a knack for changing his plans in smart ways. Never got caught off guard cause he always had a plan for anything. I always thought the big idiot was never surprised because he didn't plan at all, just got really fucking good at reacting at random shit."

"Oroboros though, that's a new one. Though it sounds something like what Varu and Arsa used to go on about. A snake so big it wrapped around the whole world and bit it's own tail. Can't remember what they called it but it was a creature from another realm. Somewhere Arsa called Asgard." Katsu chuckled again at the memories. Such conversations used to annoy her to no end. All the feral creature wanted to do was go there and explore. She wanted to hunt and see what all there was. Maybe in time. If she could master this new reality she found herself in.

Katsu took Saigo's hand.

"Yeah, it did Doc. Not sure what all people here would ever consider being friendly with a creature like me. To be fair, I've been far from friendly back. Got a mission to complete. But it's a nice reprieve from it all. Thanks, Saigo." Katsu dried a last tear before smiling bigger, more genuinely. "What do you need to do this time, Doc? I can shift things around to make it easier if you need."

[Tsedas]

"If your mission supersedes manners in the present, can always get them a a bunch of fruit cut into the shape of flowers as a show of apology without actually apologizing. Some people really go for that." He chuckled as he remembered sending one such edible arrangement to someone in a minor country once after he'd broken their legs in a bar fight. Then Saigo had to ponder why he was even in a bar fight in the first place... He shrugged at the thought since he wasn't the kind of man to get drunk and it seemed a bit odd in his mind. Still his mind was needed here in the present, not bouncing through memories of more obscure times.

With Katsu asking what he needed to this time, he just let his glowing eyes met hers before shaking his head. "We'll get to the shifting in time, I need to see how you stand now in this form. I need to establish a baseline and this form will do nicely." Closing his eyes, he set his other hand atop of the one she placed in his first hand. Cupping her hand between his, they began to glow with that trademark green hue of Iijutsu. As he focused, her breathed steady and slow as he focused on the woman's body, letting his chakra be his eyes and ears. After a moment the man's lips parted and he started muttering to himself softly, listing off all manner of things about her body. Blood pressure, breathing, heart rate, something about lymph nodes and cell counts, the gibberish went on for a moment.

After he finished, the green glow from his chakra faded and his eyes opened once more. "So far so good, some minor damage still but nothing that isn't already healing fine on it's own. I think all you'll need is food, rest, and some exercise to help stimulate your bodies productions the rest of the way. Most of the major damage is healed or scarred over. If you could shift in some way for me, I can tell how your body is doing in regards to it's changing. But for now it seems more like your body is just reaching the end of it's recovery more than anything from what I can see. It'll probably still take some time, but it's getting there."

[Das Kirb]

Katsu let her hand be taken and forcibly relaxed every single muscle in her body. The green chakra radiated over her and she made it a point to keep the tail and wings from twitching. As Saigo did his work the woman fully embraced the trust of this man, allowing even her instincts to take a brief relaxation. It was so dearly needed. To be able to fully embrace peace if only for an instant. Katsu couldn't help but grin. And in the back of her mind, in the depths of her soul, she felt Arsa smile.

When Saigo asked her to change Katsu thought about it for a moment. The relaxation had to vanish for the time and she had to consider what she actually needed in this moment. With that she had to brace for the incoming pain. The parasite's augmentations were never pleasant but always needed. After a brief moment she set her mind to a shift, a mild one but extreme enough to provide the level of change that'd register. The sound of flesh stretching and rending mixed with her grunts. Before lock the sound of bone forcibly being removed from it's socket was joined as a particularly sharp cry of pain came from her. The next part made her jaw bleed. Crimson blood dripped down her chin as her teeth became hostile, predatory, and hungry. Once the pain subsided a moment later and her face stopped twitching Katsu looked at Saigo and grinned. The predatory and lethal grin contrasted brilliantly with her truly amiable smile, even if it did mask the lingering pain.

"That work?"

[Tsedas]

Saigo's eyes were glued to Katsu's form as she tensed up and seemed to focus herself. Her jaw visibly clenched as she braced for what was to come, her body making a cracking noise while she made pained noises. It wasn't a pleasant thing to watch nor did it look pleasant to undergo but Saigo watched on all the same. his medical brain furiously trying to break down and create summarization of the changes unfolding before him. One arm cross his body to rest a palm under the opposite arms elbow as his other arm curled atop the palm cradling it, raising his fingers to his chin to rub it in thought. Unwavering in his observations, when they finished he noted the bleeding, the pointed teeth, and the truly wicked grin sporting a smile in his direction.

"It will work..." Saigo nodded, his arms unfurling out to make contact with her hand once more. Closing his eyes he let the chakra flow from his body once more. In his minds eye he saw her silhouette before it illuminated and filled with informational displays of her muscles, nerves, bones, organs, and all manner of visual cue that he might work off of. The jaw was morphed and the biggest thing he focused on. Watching the change take place, he knew some things weren't shifting properly from what he could see. If this parasite within Katsu was malicious in any way, like most parasites are oft to be, then he would need find a way to fix the pain receptors within her body. Perhaps he could modify them that when a specific signal, or trigger, happens then the brain could temporarily disrupt the flow of signals from her nerves and pain receptors to prevent the discomfort and pain.

"The shard, is it conscious? Malicious in any way? Would it want to harm you with each change or is this just a by product of the alteration to your physical form? Perhaps modifications can be made to the body that would keep the nerves and pain receptors from being at their level of sensitivity. Maybe utilize the transformation as a signal or trigger to initiate some kind of disruption signal to make it so you feel less pain and discomfort or none at all. There's always attempting an examination of the shard to see if there is something that can be done to modify it, but that's a little out of my depth of expertise." Saigo blathered on before releasing contact with Katsu. The silhouette faded from his mind as his eyes opened to behold the real thing before him. "Or do you think the discomfort is a 'growing' pain of adapting to the altered transformation process?"

[Das Kirb]

Her jaw twitched again before Katsu finally settled it down and rubbed the aching area. "I don't know." Idly a finger went up to rub at the new teeth and she retracted back as it started bleeding. The strange state of comfort allowed her to regress back into a softer mindset and she began sucking on it before shaking her head. "I've never thought to try and do anything of the like. Honestly I rarely think about the changes at all. They normally just happen when I need something. I need to fly, I grow these. I need to eat, I grow these. I need to hide, my skin starts shifting. After a while I got used to the pain. When you've lived like I have pain is just something that's there. Iffen you're not dead then you're fine."

"As for the shard itself. . . I don't know. It's always there and I can't tell what's it's doing and mine half the time. I can't tell if I'm hungry or literally starving or it's just wanting something. I wish it'd fucking talk like Vorashu did even if all it said was fucking feed me. But it doesn't. Though sometimes I swear it does. . ." With a furled brow Katsu looked up at Saigo and cocked her head. "It's like it's below me sometimes. Below all this, when I can't think or talk and all there is becomes action and reaction. When all that matters is pure intent something is there. But I don't know if that's the me I said earlier or it. Though, when I'm trying to sleep there is something there. Always there. It's my face looking over my shoulder or directly at me. I remember begging it to go away. I fought it, I lost, and I was begging the fucking thing to make it stop hurting and bring them back. All I heard was "no" "

[Tsedas]

Watching the twitch in Katsu's jaw, the old Doctor took in what she said about shifting her form so naturally that she didn't pay much heed to it all. It brought to mind the kind of effect and modification that might help in this instance. Something that reacted subconsciously to the stimuli of change and was able to inhibit nerve receptors to produce a kind of 'dead zone' in her sense of pain for the process of the change. His mind was a whorl of concepts and diagrams, drawing out neural pathways in the body and creating redirects and bypasses to the nerves or breaking the circuit of sensation altogether for a brief period of time. However she continued speaking and he filed away his mental notes for later revision and updating as he let his glossy eyes regain their focus as he listened on.

The tale was almost one of lamentation as Katsu recounted the feeling of this shard and Vorashu within her. Crossing his arms, Saigo hummed in thought before shaking his head. "Sadly spirits and shards of them are beyond my forte in the medical field. My daughter on the other hand, she has a knack for Ancient Runes and has apparently found a way to use Tenkujutsu to speak with spirits. If she wasn't a freshly minted Genin and had some more authority on the matter I might actually consult her..." Thinking for a moment, Saigo's eyes searched the ceiling before he made a noise of enlightened realization. "Or I might see if she has a tutor or expert she consults and learns from. Worst comes to worst, she might be able to provide a way to speak with the shard if it's capable of being communed with. Either way, I think I can devise a modification to your body that would allow for a more subconscious reflexive dampening of your sense of pain during a transformation but I would need to consult a few of my journals on medicine to see if they'd pan out properly."

[Das Kirb]

"It sounds like your daughter and my mate would get along almost too well. Arsa is always on about the land being alive. Won't shut up about the spirits of other realms. Get those two together and they'll probably end up trying to summon all the gods at once just to say hey." She couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "Granted it'd be fun as hell to watch for as long as we survived." Her thoughts turned to Arsa. The shaman dancing in the glade beneath a thunderstorm with nothing but joy in her heart was a wonderful thought.

"Granted, another reason to wish she was here. She'd asked about the shard before. When we slept in the same den she would wake me up. Claimed I was having a nightmare, that the spirits were dark and there was something within them. I always waved her off before holding her back to sleep. . . it helped. But you kinda hit the nail on the head here, doc. Maybe it is time to try and drag this thing out. See what it is, if it can talk. If it can then see what the fuck it wants. If we're lucky you can deaden the pain and we can talk to this damned shard."

[Tsedas]

Saigo snorted at that thought, Kanako would probably try to summon Gods but instead of saying hey she might invite them to a tea party or something. A strange mystery she was, a being of joy and infectious good will. Thinking about his family brought a smile to his face, the old man's green eyes shining beyond just the glow of chakra. Shifting his attention back to Katsu, he shifted a hand and gave her a thumbs up while grinning. "I'm sure I can arrange for your godchild and you to meet. She has a desire to help people and even thinks she might try to become a medical shinobi like her old man. Be careful though, she's happy and naive."

Hearing Katsu talk about her mate struck a chord with the Doctor. He remembered having nights like that from time to time with Isane waking him up. Luckily the man didn't have a fragment of divinity shoved into the core of his very being so he didn't have to struggle as much as Katsu had been. As she admitted he might have a point, Saigo gave a nod before lifting a hand to tap the side of his head. "I have been known to have a good idea from time to time. But you can take solace that you won't have to face this alone. Where there is a will, there is a way and all that hoopla."

[Das Kirb]

With a heavy sigh Katsu allowed the memories to wash over her. She allowed herself to just enjoy relaxing for a bit. Even with her family these moments were extremely rare. Only when the stars above shone like brilliant gems in the sky and frog-song grace the air was it this peaceful. "You're a good man, Saigo. I promise to teach the kid well. Just make sure you live long enough to see what she becomes. Man like you should only die when time takes you, nothing else."

Katsu stretched, filling up the frankly cramped room a bit before sliding back into her corner. "Let me know if there's anything you need, aye? There's always a way but sometimes two can cover more ground through the fog, specially iffen they keep in touch."

[Tsedas]

Watching as Katsu stretched and reclined within the corner, the Doctor took a moment to glance toward the cell door. Reaching an arm out, Katsu would see the limb stretch unnaturally before tapping against it to signal to the ANBU guard outside that the man was ready to depart. The masked guard peered into the cell as Saigo's elongated arm shifted down, grabbing the handle of the lantern before shrinking back to it's normal length. "Somedays it truly feels like old age will claim me, especially with how peaceful my life here has become. But I feel like a stormhead is upon the horizon and I can't shake that feeling. But that's a problem for future Saigo, present Saigo needs to worry about getting home before his growing children forget to leave their old man some dinner."

As Katsu slipped back to the corner, the lock on the door clicked and the metal creaked in the silent halls beyond as the guard came into view, their masked features trained on Katsu like a hawk. Giving the woman one final nod at her words, Saigo smiled one last time as he started toward the door. "I'll be in touch, and I'm gonna try to figure out a way to help you use that transformation ability of yours without it causing unwanted pain." Glancing back, he grinned like an idiot properly as the guard started to close the door. "I'll also tell Isane you say hi!" He chuckled as the door shut, the light from his lantern still illuminating the halls but fading with the tapping of feet, the lock on the door clicking before the ANBU followed after the Doctor to escort him out.