Hello again everyone! Another quick update, but this time I promise it's not an author's note begging for more reviews. Nay, I say! THIS, is a REWARD! A reward to you, my kickass and invested readers. I had just uploaded Chp. 8 a day ago and the number of reviews I got were a total surprise! Never had I gotten so many reviews for a single chapter and it wasn't just the quantity either. The quality and actual thought put into the reviews were the best kind of feedback I could ever hope for! It told me so much about what you all liked a lot and were looking forward to discovering, so I decided to do something a little nice for ya'll. Here lies an alternate ending to chapter 8, a whopping seven pages I decided to completely cut out. It picks up right after, "Every time he tried to focus on anything shinobi related the smell of burning bodies filled his nose and the sounds of agonized screams echoed in his ears. So he sat there, drinking his tea and staring blankly at his notebook." It's the second paragraph under the scene change that is labeled "With Kouken" that comes after Anko's mission report. I hope you all enjoy it and I hope you let me know which ending you prefer; this one had a significantly…denser, I suppose, tone to it and I took it out because I feared the descent into such a darker tone would clash with the recently lighter ones and make my character out to be a bi-polar mess. To me, it's all about the character progression; I want to get it just right. So if you have anything to say about this ending in contrast to the one you read, drop a review, lemme know which you liked better. SLIGHT NOTE: In this one, the time he spent cooped up in his workshop was significantly longer, that's why it's night time and I included what I originally planned for Anko's scheduled meeting with her student. But I've rambled on enough, go forth, my ravenous and audacious readers! And as always…enjoy the show.
Chapter 8: Alternate Ending to The Nature of Man
'I'm not going to get anything done like this…' He thought with a sigh and pushed himself away from his workbench. For the first time ever, he didn't feel like training, and because of it he was lost. He had no idea what to do to occupy his time with. Growing up it was always the same routine; train, work, steal, and nothing recreational could fit into that schedule.
He found himself walking out of his apartment and floating about the streets like some wayward ghost. Hands in his pockets he strolled the streets that he called home. The Red Light District was always a dirty place to live, but it had a certain charm that he couldn't ignore. The streets felt alive! Vibrant and breathing as if it was a being that thrived off various acts of debauchery.
'Human's disgust me, but the way they live is so enticing… like a moth to a flame, I judge from afar while secretly envying them.' He chuckled as the neon lights and signs illuminated his path. 'I'm a bloody hypocrite. A coward whose too afraid to admit that I want to live as they do.' He saw a hooker come walking out of an alley wiping her mouth of her latest labor and frowned. He wanted to enjoy what that man in the alley most likely did, but there was something that kept him from doing so. It felt like pride. The lip he curled in disgust at the working girls turned on himself whenever such thoughts slipped through the cracks of his mind, but now they ran rampant.
His eyes were glued to the form of the hooker, her curves exposed to fresh air due to her sparse clothing and he could feel his own tighten. Unbeknownst to him, this hooker was making her way straight towards him and his frown was still clearly etched on his face.
"You disappear for a few days and the first thing you do is frown at me?" She asked with offended incredulity. Kouken snapped out of his stupor and stared confusedly at the woman in front of him. He had never seen her before in his life…
"We were looking everywhere for you! Where the fuck did you run off too?!" She seethed as she stabbed him with a withering and…disgusted glare? Why was she disgusted at him? She was the one who just blew some random fucker on the street for money! He had felt his anger and pride rear its ugly head as his lip curled in disgust, ready to deliver a verbal lashing that would've torn this creature in front of him to shreds.
Or at least, he would've, had he not finally realized that this was the Old Man's informant. His anger fell at his feet and his confusion came back full force. He was caught flat-footed and stuttered out a pathetic answer.
"I was on a mission! It took me out of the village and I just got back." Her glare didn't lessen, but it did change targets. It turned with her head and speared into the distance as she began walking away with him following a step behind. He took the time to recollect himself and adopt the usual mask of dry indifference that he held whenever he walked amongst civilians. Normally, they would've been considered sub-human in his eyes, especially after what he witnessed on the mission; but his thoughts of suppressed desires had forced him to view them differently. It wouldn't stay like this, he'll pick himself back up and reestablish his boundaries that separated him from these insects. He was sure of it.
"You got some fantastic timing, Kid. Really dicked us good by leaving when ya did." She said in a tone that caused Kouken to get aggressively defensive.
"I'm a shinobi. I apologize for not checking my schedule with yours; I'm sure I missed out on some killer special you had going." He replied venomously that elicited a scoff from his neighbor.
"I got one going on right now. I'll punch you in the dick, free of charge." She said and tossed her hair over her shoulder. Kouken's eyes roamed over her form once more, but in an appraising manner. She looked pretty rough, as if she didn't shower or sleep for the past day and a half.
"You look like shit, what happened?" He asked bluntly which caused her to turn on heel and glare fiercely at him. The intensity of the look took him by surprise and he unconsciously found himself folding his arms across his chest.
"YOU happened! You left us high and dry and we got cucked real good! I've been gathering information almost non-stop since you left." She said with a snarl of disgust that surprised him once more. She was a hooker and here she stood acting disgusted with the methods in which she acquired her info…Kouken never felt a closer relation to a working girl than at that moment.
His arms fell back towards his side and his high and mighty look vanished replaced with something much softer than what the hooker ever saw him wear. Silence reigned between the two as she stood there glaring at him a while longer before turning and continuing with her walk. The silence stretched on and she found herself shooting her young coworker glances.
"What? No snide remark, or disgusted look about how I did it?" She asked rhetorically and defensively. To her surprise, the pink haired shinobi merely shook his head.
"No, you did what you had too to get what you needed. Besides, there are far worse methods to be used…" He said softly as he stared at the ground in front of him. The answer threw her for a loop and she found herself huffing out the readied insults and the silence dragged on.
"What happened? While I was gone, I mean." He asked showing a timidity that she almost mistook for shame. But she knew better, that kid would never feel shame for letting down the likes of her.
"You'll see." She said as she pushed open the door to the Old Man's base of operations.
Immediately he was besieged by the bustle and sounds of activity within. The place was more packed than the last time he was here and he saw working girls of all ages running about with what seemed to be blood soaked rags and bandages. Men were laying about the floor propped up on pillows and many emitted some kind of sound of pain. Their injuries ranged from bruises and swelling to gashes and stabs. It looked as if this was some war camp for the wounded.
Kouken's concern for the people bled through his shinobi mask, but it would never get picked up by any around him. As he walked towards the back, passing and stepping over people he got glares and harsh whispers from anyone not busy or injured enough to spare the time.
"Told you he wasn't here to help us." Said one male voice to his partner next to him.
"Yeah, you were right. He's only here to leech off us." The man replied to his friend whom he recognized as the man who had hopefully identified him as their savior the last time he was here.
"I bet he's here to shake down the Old Man!" One of the younger working girls said in alarm to her older coworker.
"He's nothing but a thug." Came the final whisper before he walked into the elder man's office without knocking. Again he found the man in a formal kimono, dragging slow, measured strokes across the giant poster. Still the ink dotted the paper sparsely, giving away little to what it might become. As of now it simply looked like a bunch of random shit. Shit that Kouken had no interest in.
"Your manners seem even more deplorable than the last time I saw you and yet your eyes seem much wiser…" He said not even looking up from his workings. Kouken stood there for a moment before taking his seat before the man, this time electing to at least sit straight, but still improperly.
"What happened?" He asked completely out of patience for any of the man's games. Said man simply put the brush down by the side of the paper and rested his hands on his thighs. He stared sternly at the pink haired boy and silence filled the room for a short while.
"While you were gone, your plan of sparking a gang war had backfired. It had caused the death of your scapegoat, but failed to strike off the other two officers." He said and Kouken bit back a curse. His actions were rushed, not measured as they were whenever he does something against thugs and gangs. He was eager to consider to the deed done and get to studying his rewards and for that others had suffered.
"Do you know who the gang you targeted was?" The man asked in a tone that told Kouken he had already knew the answer. "They were the Koshi Enmu, The Withering Smog…Tell me, do you know who leads the Withering Smog?" He asked with a curious yet hard edge that Kouken faltered under.
"No, I don't. I'm assuming since you are asking it is relevant to the situation at hand?" Kouken asked in a bland tone to cover up the fact that he felt like a child being admonished.
"The man who leads them is called Raiken Itsubaki, and he is not some average gang-banger. Raiken Itsubaki is the disgraced son of a since passed Yakuza boss. The details are not important, but his actions had caused the death of his father and the exile of him and all that worked with him. He managed to find a home for him and his merry band here in our district, and quickly assumed control of three blocks above us." He pulled out a map from his sleeve and rolled it out towards the side and pointed to a highlighted area.
It was a block by block map of the Red Light District with places grouped and highlighted various colours. He pointed to three purple blocks shaped like a tri-level pedestals used in games between countries above their two green. "That is their territory," He stressed pointing with a bony finger before hovering over the two green, "this is ours." He stared at Kouken to see if he followed and Kouken stared blandly back at him.
"I can see that. Now what does it have to do with us?" Kouken asked, anger rising into his voice at being treated like some academy retard.
"Well that's odd, because you didn't seem to know who they were or who lead them when you had staged a gang war between them, but now it's as if I'm telling you the sea is blue!" The man finally yelled and threw his hands up. Silence took its usual place in the room and Kouken felt as if the tension was leaving through any cracks available. The old man sighed and rubbed his brow wearily.
"Raiken Itsubaki was looking to subsidize the Silver Riders' for a long time, but couldn't because it would've upset the power balance between the local gangs. He's a smart man, and is used to dealing with actual organized gangs. Your ploy was seen through and he quickly swept to the remaining two officers with a deal. You forced those two officers right into his hands and he was able to engulf the remainders of the Silver Riders'. Since then, he's been attacking our territory and destroying any progress we've made. Many are wounded and many more are retreating back to the usual status quo of our district." The news was grave and Kouken felt solely to blame. However, he couldn't have not gone on the mission and felt that the old man needed to be aware that his shinobi duties come first.
"I understand that you had your mission," he said, cutting off any retort the boy had prepared, "I knew the moment you left the mission control office; but we need to know in advance. We had nobody to turn to and were left to the dogs. This mess is yours to clean, but be aware that this raises a problem, what do we do when you're away?" Kouken sat there contemplative, running scenarios through his head before he checked the time. He was going to be late to Anko's meeting!
The Old Man must've picked up on his alarm at the time and sighed. "They won't be making a move for a while; their aggressive actions have triggered some discomfort from neighboring gangs and it will take a while before they can move in for the kill. You've got a month at best to get this under wraps, but I need a solution within the week."
Kouken nodded and rose from his seat, electing to leave out the door the man had in his office so he could avoid all the glares he received on his way here. As he exited into the street and disappeared amongst the rooftops, the only thought circulating through his head was, 'What the hell am I gonna do?...'
With Anko
"Bahahahahahaha!" Anko laughed uproariously with a drink in her hand as she watched a chunin get kicked in the dick by a drunk kunochi. She was carrying a tray of drinks to her usual booth filled with all of her friends and ducked abruptly to let a stool go soaring past her head. She placed the tray on the table and everyone grabbed their drinks with gusto.
"Man Anko! This place is waaay better than the jounin lounge!" Said a slightly drunk and earnest Asuma as he stared at a waitress's ass walking by. Said waitress tossed a wink over her shoulder at him and received a glare from his raven haired, ruby eyed companion.
"Yes my youthful friend! But I have to ask, what made you choose this no less youthfully burning establishment over our usual one?" Guy asked with his constant bravado.
Anko shrugged and downed another shot of sake, "I felt like a change was needed. Besides, this place is the absolute TITS to get shitfaced in!" She exclaimed jubilee causing Hayate to chuckle and shake his head with a cough.
Outside the Bar
Kouken picked himself off the floor as a bar stool laid by his foot. He had just arrived and was about to enter when the fucking thing came flying out the goddamn window and hit him in the fucking head!
"Who in the bloody fuck…" Kouken grunted to himself as he gripped the stool tightly by its leg and stomped towards the door. Anko may have given him the wrong address as this place was a bigger shithole than some places in the RDL, but he was not leaving without returning the stool to its rightful owner. And making sure it doesn't separate itself from their ass anytime soon.
He kicked open the door and waved the stool above his head, lacing chakra with his voice and flooding the room with his arura. "WHO THE FUCK THROWS A FUCKING STOOL OUT THE GODDAMN MOHTERFUCKING WINDOW?!" He roared angrily as the joyous and rambunctious atmosphere tapered off. The entirety of the bar stares at him momentarily and Kouken immediately recognizes numerous shinobi head bands. Still holding the bar stool above his head with a much weaker glare the silence is so awkward Kouken felt like apologizing and setting the stool by the door.
"Hey Brat!" Said one voice as a familiar mop of pineapple shaped purple hair bobbed around behind all the people. And like a switch every resumed their drinking and destructive merriment while Kouken is left with a bar stool and twitching eyebrows.
Shoving his way through the crowd with bar stool still in hand he gets shoved by one drunken monster of a man and falls face first into the pillowy chest of some kunochi. Placing a palm on one heavenly slope he pushes himself up enough to see a fist cocked back and feverous rage before he is sent sailing over the crowd and bar and landing on some other shithead's table…with bar stool still in hand.
"Fucking dyke…like I would willingly shove my face into those flabby tits…" He muttered as he rubbed his cheek. A sharp stinging sensation emanated from his left ass cheek and a resounding 'Slap!' filled his ears. Body going ramrod straight and eyes blanking out for a second he turned his head with creaky bones to see…to witness who had the fucking balls to slap his ass like some bitch!
"Hiya there brat! Glad you could make it!" Anko said with a giant grin with her hand still firmly clenching his ass cheek. Kouken felt his chakra swell uncontrollably and made his skin hot to the touch, actual steam rising from his body.
"Anko…" He grounded out with a face that looked as if the smile he was plastering was doing physical and spiritual harm to his self, "Dearest and benevolent sensei of mine…Why am I in such a place under your strict orders and why…oh why…is your hand ON MY FUCKING ASS?!" He yelled and threw a punch at her throat which she dodged by lolling her head sideways. Said punch went through the booth's wood and ended up hitting some poor sod in the back of his head, sending him face first into the table and knocking him clean out.
"So this is him, huh?" Came a voice from behind him and a cloud of smoke washed over his shoulder. He craned his head slightly to see who was talking to him and could make out only a scrappy beard in the dim lighting of the bar.
"Yeah and who the fuck are you? Anyone ever tell you that you got pubes glued to your chin?" He remarked rudely before a snort came from another direction and his sensei was sent into a fit of laughter. He rolled off the table and felt sharp glass and liquid roll down his back. Shaking his shirt out he tried to get all the glass off it before he realized he was still holding the stool and set it down to sit on. His laughing sensei turned towards him and wiped a tear from her face.
"Oh man..hey kiddo! Nice entrance although you kinda smashed our drinks," She frowned momentarily before smiling again and jumping from her seat, "Not to worry! I'll get more! Acquaint yourself with my dear friends while I'm gone eh? And do try to keep your face out of their tits!" She said before erupting into uncontrollable laughter and walking towards the bar.
Kouken sighed and shook his head before turning back towards the group of faces looking at him curiously and one angrily.
"…The fuck you looking at?" He asked bluntly and receiving some chuckles and others mutters. All Kouken knew was that he couldn't see shit in this lighting and that he would kill Anko after this was all over.
Little did Kouken know that once the night was over there were good chances that he wouldn't even remember it at all.
Ask and ye shall receive.