"Tsu-Tsukiko! Don't!"
Levine's words were lost amid a cacophony of noise as the courtyards residents for the morning, a flock of decrepit grey doves, took flight at the sudden busyness of the scene. They were mangy beasts, worn down by the mist like everything else, but in Tsukiko's mind they were more than enough to provide dramatism to the tableau. It was all a matter of shoving the word epic into just the right slot in a paragraph and the scene was as powerful as a final farewell on a sun soaked Cliffside. To be fair this too would contain a final farewell of sorts. Tsukiko was positioned over the prone figure of a middle aged man, one eye covered in black cloth but otherwise dressed in the outfit of a chuunin from the Village of Kumogakurne. A lean figure he wore a scraggly beard as a soft defiance from his reddened complexion. Tsukiko had him pinned underneath a web of dull blue chains, their temperature spawning a slightly lighter addition to the already volumous morning mists. She stood to the left of his head, one leg raised so as to almost be touching her shoulder, an impressive feat considering what was there to provide it with extra weight. The blade glistened with malicious intent, translucent melodies played through the ministrations of soft dawn light.
"This is what he deserves, Kerberos." Tsukiko retained her expression, manic joy at the situation coupled with a burst of undirected energy leading to her stretching a smile and a wide eyed gaze as far as possible. Somehow, she managed to twitch without moving her stiff right leg. "He wanted to steal me away. We don't want that do we?"
"But…You can't kill him Tsukiko! That's not something we should want to do!" Tears, for once legitimate, welled in Levine's eyes. This was something cemented into her psyche. She couldn't let Tsukiko do this. More than the killing, she hated the idea of Tsukiko acting this way towards anyone.
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"What happened after that, hmm?" The Mizukage was an unimpressive looking man. His white robes of office did little to brighten a figure dulled by years of stagnation. If anything the Mizukage represented perfectly the changes in the village, a body bred upon action and blood forced into a state of docility and worn down because of it. He had an impassive look about him, of someone too bored in the conversation to fake an interest.
"Miss Kitsuraiga threw her robe in my face and left" Gentra spoke with fatigued tones as ever, staring out the window at what little the mist did not obscure. Everything was ragged and decayed anyway "Tsukiko and Levine did the same. I worry about the relationship those two have-"
"It is not your concern. Tsukiko keeps Susa-" The mizukages eyes gleamed just a little as he corrected himself. Gentra could take a hint by this point in her life and noted the little fragment into her mind. "Slip of the tongue there. At any rate, one keeps the other under control. It works. We need…loyal soldiers, especially now. The news these days is indeed quite frightful. Every village has its own stake in a secretive war these days it would seem." The Mizukage had milky blue eyes, though this did not reflect on his ability to see. He gazed out the window from his desk, unblinking.
"We've had enough wars." Gentra scowled a little "We are involved, technically anyway."
"While fearsome renegades are helpful, in a way, for our villages reputation they are not profitable. Perhaps they will all end up casualties, forgotten in the face of greater foes. There is little doubt that we will need to add our own to the fight one day…"
"Little doubt? What stake do we have in these squabbles over the tailed beasts? You don't honestly plan to make it a proving ground for those two do you?"
The Mizukage took a more imploring tone "I'm not that foolish yet, Gentra. This is a chance to take advantage of a situation while avoiding all consequences for doing so. If they want to believe in a man behind the curtain so much then let them see our actions as theirs and act accordingly."
Silence filled the gap in the conversation this spawned. To Gentra the glory of success and the intricacies of espionage paled in comparison to the fact that it would mean more work for her. Missions like this always ended up that way.
"…Tell me, Gentra, what happened to Ceyla's coat?" The mizukage began rapping on his desk, clearly among the wrong company to be lost in grandeur
"Levine set it on fire while I wasn't looking."
"That coat was a gift from the Hokage. I suppose time must take its due course but still…" The Mizukage did not sound disappointed at this revelation in the least.
"I swear she was spouting poetry while she did it too. I do NOT look forward to teaching something like that. It's just so obvious she's damaged."
"I assure you that La'fens is perfectly fine mentally. Obedient as well.
"That's the problem. Her behavior indicates loyalty to Tsukiko over any other authority figure."
"You will move past that in time, no doubt. I have great faith in your abilities."
"Of course, sir." Gentra said, voice dripping in sarcasm. It had been a long time since the Mizukage had done anything worthy of respect. "Time made all the longer by your inclusion of Ceyla. An average child by all accounts bar her judgmental nature. She will complicate the training process with her cockiness."
"Don't underestimate her resolve to learn. She just has her own problems to deal with. Act impartial and wait for the Chuunin exams. "
"And what will that change?"
"Everything no doubt. I remember when you were a genin you were always complaining about being partnered with Zabuza, always saying how much you hated it because he was younger than you." A series of low chuckling, like the clogged sputtering of dying machinery, emanated from the Mizukage, causing Gentra to shoot him a scowl. In the distance a bell chimed the hour as it usual did. Time kept on slipping…
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"We are Shinobi, Kerberos. We have to kill to survive. If our bread is buttered with blood then we must learn to love the taste or starve." She leaned in close to the chuunin, eyes gleaming with nothing but barely restrained malice "That's what this was about, wasn't it? My blood? How, in my veins, runs a dead clans curse? Can't you just feel it pulsing, just inches away from your face?" Sudden fear chased down the misery rising in Levine's spine, ripping into everything and leaving her immobile, unable to speak or resist. Every part of her brain not paralyzed was dedicated with what, to her, was the most important thought to have. Remember, this is not Tsukiko. This is not that thing which you love, but something entirely different. DO NOT BE FOOLED.
Tired of being insulted by a sixteen year old girl of minor stature, even with his major disadvantage the Kumogakurne Ninja spit in Tsukiko's eye. It was an impressively accurate shot, but the girl was unphased.
"You ignorant little bitch!" His voice grated on the nerves, a gravelly tone betraying the speakers undoubtedly harsh experiences in life. "Do you think you can just get away with this? Do you actually think you are capable of killing me? If you think you can hide away here while you stall for a little backbone to emerge, you're forgetting that something like this wouldn't be a solo mission. So go get a grownup before you get hurt, 'kay?" Everything about his demeanor, sans physical position, screamed patronization and, against all odds, he managed a self satisfied smirk. Tsukiko suddenly lost her grin and began slowly lowering her leg.
"That's right, now-"
"-I'd forgotten about the other two." Her hand reached into her jacket, shaking slightly.
"-I'm not surprised now-"
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Above the office, Ceyla sat on the roof, her black banded outfit revealing navy blues and subtle ember red patterns on her attire, flowers weaving poetry across her body. The distant lights of the village illuminated the sky giving the sunset an extra reflected tinge. It was good to look above the mist once in a while. As always her thoughts turned to that one night, looking above her at that length of metal seemingly stretched on for ever. It was not a bad memory anymore. It was justification. Her own scythe lay uncoiled around her on the roof. It had felt uncomfortable to leave it behind. Ceyla ran the events of the day though her head again, enraged at her lack of control in the situation. Then she had a thought, about something she had heard somewhere. Lightheaded and furious, Ceyla thought of gods.
Eventually, one thought back. It was…convenient.
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Tsukiko's hand returned with two bloodied headbands, the dull red sheen betraying the symbol of Kumogakurne. She brought one to her mouth and lapped up the almost dry plasma with a look of sheer bliss on her face, the light highlighting her teeth as they were stained with red. The chuunin gasped for words. Levine bit her arm as she tuned away, the tears flowing freely as purple welts appeared on the bone white skin. She was now repeating the thought like a mantra, over and over again, though muffled by her skin and, now, blood "Its not Tsukiko, Its not Tsukiko, Its NOT TSUKIKO…"
"It's a shame really. Such bland flavor. It's worthless." The grin returned, this time highlighting her particularly sharp incisors "I wonder, shall I tell you a secret? Did you know that while you three were bumbling around my home waiting for me to go to sleep, I was surveying this exact spot? You would be surprised how much foot traffic it should be getting right now." Suddenly shapes in the mist became very human, very fast, when seconds ago they had been minor blemishes occupying the chuunin's peripherals. This was, after all, promising to be a good show and the people of the village were not ones to pass up free entertainment. By this point Levine had collapsed to her knees, unable to stand with the effort being concentrated on forcefully editing the scene from her mind.
"Your friends simply happened to be too concentrated on one thing at a bad time" One source of blood exhausted, Tsukiko switched to the other headband "Of course; you had the gall to actually enter my room. I'm surprised a cowardly piece of shit like you could even do it. But I don't have a reputation yet. That's something that this is supposed to change. Do you get it yet? This is a public execution!" Tsukiko leaned in closer still until she was face to face with her captive "Do me a favor" her whisper sounded feverish, like a woman on the sharp edge of a particularly nasty addiction "Try not to taste too much like piss, you worthless son of a bitch 'kay?"
The leg was raised again, then dropped, a soft silken sound precluding an vast null point, a thick, heady silence spreading from the point where the blade hit the mans neck, until a final slight grating signified it had gone through to the stone tiles. It took more time than you would think, though Tsukiko always made a clean cut, with a beautiful finality to the act of execution. It was a brutal assault on the senses to watch but to her it was an almost divine experience.
His body eventually realized what was going on and spurted blood furiously from the wound, further staining Tsukiko's white outfit and managing to hit Levine square in the face. She sobbed once, but then returned to silence as Tsukiko calmly padded over to her, hefted her over her shoulder and carried her back to their apartment. The crowd had dispersed quickly once the entertainment was over.
The mist gained a red tint for a few hours. To some it was an overdue comfort.
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Levine stared at the moon in search of the voice. It wasn't that it was necessary for anything but it gave her an excuse. Justification was everything and It was a full moon, so the voice should be angry. Tsukiko slept beside her, collapsed onto the bed after a hearty meal. Levine brushed her hair with her hand absent mindedly, as it was something she felt needed to be done.
Perhaps Tsukiko was justification enough.
