I feel like such a bad author lovelies I'm sorry. I finally made myself sit and write this, and I'll hopefully have another chapter for you in the next few days. This chapter is Yagura, the jinchuuriki of the Three Tails. Also, I have to say, I'm actually quite happy with how this turned out. Enjoy! c:
P.S. I'm really so so sorry I feel bad for not having updated in forever. :c
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
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It rains—pours, really—on the day that the beast with three tails is sealed into a small child. His hair is pale and blonde, his eyes purple and as bright as his hair is pale. His name is Yagura, and he is one and a half years old. His parents have given him over willingly to become the jinchuuriki of the Three-Tailed Beast, and they take him back into their home just as willingly when the process is complete, once an ink seal is traced up and around his left shoulder.
It is uncommon for anyone to do this; jinchuuriki are demon containers, and seen as demons themselves, though it is not true; the mind of the beast is held away from that of the jinchuuriki, leaving them two separate creatures, even if they bond, which is rare.
It is the first of ways that Yagura is different from the other jinchuuriki.
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He graduates at the age of eight years, and becomes a chuunin soon afterwards. He's turned out to be able to perform all of the three main ninja arts—ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu—and ones that aren't as well known too. He's shown a surprising proficiency in fuuinjutsu, the art of sealing, and it helps his status as jinchuuriki immensely. Even at eight, he knows much of it, and it helps to keep the seal steady.
Even at eight, he is a prodigy, well on his way to becoming the next sealing master of Kirigakure (the previous one, who had sealed the Three Tails into him, died two years ago. Yagura had mourned his passing; he had often come by the house to check on him, and it had been him who had started Yagura on the art of sealing.) He is also well respected, at least for his age, an oddity for his age. He has heard stories of jinchuuriki in other villages, how they are hated, and he knows to be grateful for it.
He also tells himself that, if there is ever another jinchuuriki of Kirigakure while he still lives, they will not have that experience either.
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At thirteen, the Three Tails speaks to him for the first time. It is not because of a conspiracy, or to ask to be let free; no, it is only to offer a suggestion of help. He is bent over a scroll, working on a seal that he just can't seem to properly finish.
"You're curving the top part of the seal too much. Bring it back to the left a bit, and it will work."
That is what he hears in his head, and he knows instinctively that it is from the Three Tails. While he does wonder why the beast is helping him with a seal, he does as it says, and it works. To be honest, he isn't surprised. The Tailed Beasts have been around a long time, and he supposes they've all picked up bits and pieces of the ninja arts.
"You're quite right about that. The Sage, for one, is where we found some of our knowledge; and, of course, our previous containers have helped. Even pressed here, kept away from the bulk of your minds, we do pick up snippets."
That is when the barriers between himself and the beast begin to break down. Neither of them realize it at the time, but it will lead to their downfall.
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When he is twenty, he is named Mizukage.
For the last seven years, he and the Three Tails have grown closer, and now, he has learned to harness its power fully, becoming a near unstoppable force. Simply on his own he is formidable; with his own powers combined with that of the Three-Tailed Beast, he is invincible.
He faces his first challenge as Mizukage exactly ten days after being named the successor to the Third. The Six-Tailed Beast is close to breaking its bonds, the seals that hold it inside a simple container, and they must seal it. It leaves him with no choice; he has to create a new jinchuuriki.
He calls for another sealing master—Mizukage or not, he will have as little a part in this as he can—and the child is brought to a room with a solid four walls, patterns of seals drawn on each. ANBU stand guard, and he goes off slightly out of the village limits for the night. He had considered going farther out, but had figured it would be good to stay near the village.
He is right to do so.
The sealing does not go well: the Six Tails breaks through the seals holding it earlier than expected, and rampages. The sealing master and the ANBU are all killed instantly; somehow, miraculously, the child (Utakata, he believes is the name) survives. His family, along with a good number of Kirigakure's citizens, does not; the Six Tails kills many in its rage, and would have gone on to destroy all of the village and then the rest if Yagura had not arrived.
Between his own power and that of the Three-Tailed Beast (its name is Isobu, he has learned, though he does not share this with anyone), they easily subdue the Six Tails. They seal it temporarily, and then return to the child. He himself seals the Six-Tailed Beast, pouring both his own chakra and some of the Three Tails into it to ensure its strength.
He leans down to whisper to the child as the process is completed. Ten simple words that he thinks will make no difference, that the child will not remember (he is wrong, in fact; Utakata remembers these words until his dying day). "Do not be afraid. Be strong, for all of us."
(Yagura also ends up taking the boy to live with him in the Mizukage compound. He refuses to leave him to face the world alone; and, with the destruction and chaos that followed the Six Tails' rampage, he will not be liked. He'll be safer in the compound and, while he doubts he'll be able to do too much, even as Kage, he'll shield him as well as he can.)
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When he is thirty-three, he dies.
It is not from being captured by an enemy group (no; in fact, the Akatsuki are not known as evil at the time of his death. It is only after that they rise to power and, while they will eventually take the Three-Tailed Beast for their own, it will not be from his body.), and not natural, either.
It is from having Isobu extracted. While he had not wanted to do so—the Three-Tailed Beast had become his closest confidante over the years, and their power blends seamlessly, as do their thoughts—he has no choice. Isobu agrees with him, and they arrange it together, breaking free of the control temporarily to order it.
There has been a man controlling them, both of them, ordering the purges and other things; the village is known as the Bloody Mist, and Yagura has watched it all from a hazy veil. He has been shoved back, his mind effectively taken over, and unable to escape without help. It is a fluke that he manages to make contact with Isobu, that they can make a plan, that they break free.
Just as he is making the order, his jonin chief walks in. He has discovered the truth as well, and he backs up the order; they are not listening to him, because he seems so different, but the word of the jonin commander finalizes it.
It pours on the day that Isobu is extracted as well. They have a brief contact before it all goes black—it goes like this:
Isobu. Thank you, for all of the years. Live well.
It is I who should be thanking you. The control will be gone now, from both of us, thanks to your orders. May your death be a peaceful one.
Then, there is a thought from both of them, at the same time, just before it goes black. It is the same three words, at the exact second each other says them.
Truly, thank you.