New Lives of The Cursed

(Ok I have to warn you now, this chapter has a very graphic scene of non-consensual sex. I will put a disclaimer where it starts and where it ends for you the reader to choose to read it or not, you've been warned)


The shadows flickered over the stone walls while harsh rays of sunlight beamed in through the cracks in the walls. The uneven sandstone reflected some light off the walls and onto the figure in the room, her light blonde hair was the brightest thing in the room and her skin was a few shades lighter than it should be. She didn't believe in karma but that was really changing as time went on. "Twenty eight days..." It was bullshit! How the hell was she supposed to know everything that could've went wrong would go wrong?! "I don't even fucking know!" She was starting to crack from being stuck here. The interrogation wasn't even the worst part of it, hell the paste that they wanted to call food was probably worse than the sessions of being questioned and what these assholes called torture.

She didn't crack from the torture, she might be a lot of things but a snitch definitely wasn't one of them. Every time they did something she managed to hold her tongue, bite her lip, or clench her teeth. Every beating and every time she nearly suffocated from being buried up to the neck in sand she managed to keep herself from talking about what they were doing here and why they tried to kidnap that brat who couldn't even have the decency to get the hell away to Kuzo. "I fucking hate everything." She looked around the cell she was confined to; the dingy excuse for a bed with a thin sheet as a blanket that she was seated on, a single bulb for light that didn't even work, and a toilet that probably didn't drain properly since the room reeked to high hell.

Now the anger kicked in. The anger that she went from having her own room at a base to being here. The anger at losing the team of fucking idiots she was on, she was more angry that she couldn't even stay dead and have one of them be here instead. "That little bitch couldn't even let me stay fucking dead!" She kicked the wall by her bed and then clenched her foot which was now sore because… she kicked a stone wall. She drowned in that river when the weird crystal brat dragged her in there in that stupid dome but of course the kid decided to resuscitate her… then after she wakes up coughing and hacking water she gets her legs covered in those crystals. Akane put a hand over her navel and felt an absence, more specifically she felt weak. After her technical death, the influence behind her curse mark left her body and with it went most of the power it had to offer. She was weak. She was weaker than she'd felt in years and it's what affected her the most. The food she was being given was barely enough to keep her alive and water was so scarce to the point where she started drinking her own urine just to survive… This was a hell in its own and it all started from trying to bring in a new recruit.

The loud creaking of the metal door for her cell drew attention back into reality, and the heavy steel door opened slowly revealing three ANBU in nondescript masks that didn't even give her an animal to base them off of. Akane scowled once they came in and the door was shut behind them. She wouldn't break no matter what they did and she kept her attitude despite her situation not giving her any leverage. "Already time for another beating from you fags?" She looked between them and her mind started running through the problem, these guys were all black ops. Where was the interrogator? The ANBU on the left stepped closer to her and was in striking range… if she had the strength to do it she'd nail him right in the gut. Unfortunately he had the strength and gave her a left hook across the cheek, sending her from the bed she sat on to the cold floor of the cell. She felt where there was fluid on her face and she realized that it was blood because she wouldn't cry in front of these bastards.

"You feel tough?! Beating on a girl who can't fight back?!" She managed to work herself from being almost face down on the floor to being flat on her ass with her arms keeping her stable. The one in the middle almost laughed at how she was still being so defiant. Her body was trying its best to make her seem more intimidating despite the fact that she was a girl in her early teens, and they were three grown men who weren't malnourished or unable to use chakra like her. It almost made him laugh… Almost doesn't cut it though. He kicked her across the face and she could swear that a crack resounded in her pulsing ears. He used the heel of his right foot to strike her so she ended up back on the bed when she landed. The throbbing pain in her jaw led her to think that something was definitely broken from that kick. Akane managed to just barely get onto her feet and turn around to face her tormentors, she threw a punch but her world spun around and she was pinned down against her bed.

The leader of the group thought back to the orders they were given. "We aren't here to interrogate you… Not in a direct manner." Akane wriggled beneath his grasp and started to see how compromising her position was. Being nearly face down on a bed with three men behind her while one held her down, but she wouldn't waver and she wouldn't be intimidated.

"What is that supposed to mean, pig fucker?!" She tried to struggle but she really didn't have the strength to fight back, and she wouldn't acknowledge that regardless. The leader of their trio knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant, at least not for her.

The room was barely illuminated by the lamp on the desk and the three masked men stood by it, awaiting command from a large man by a window with closed shutters. The man there was described as a demon you didn't want to meet in person because if you did then it meant you knew something and one way or another, he'd get you to squeal about it…

"Why hasn't she talked yet?" His voice was colder than ice but as level as a plateau and it made the ANBU step back reflexively. "It's her fault that my little girl got hurt and she's the only one still alive… Get. Her. To. Talk."

"We're trying Toshiki-san, but she's tougher than she looks. No matter how much we beat her she won't talk, no matter what we say she won't talk."

Toshiki slammed his fish through his desk in a fit of rage and the ANBU recoiled in fear from the sudden display of anger. "You've had female inmates! She's not any different. You know how to break them."

The men knew exactly what he meant but that didn't make it any better to think about. "But Toshiki-san she's just a teenager-"

"I don't fucking care!" In a display of genuine fury he grabbed half of his smashed desk and flung it through the window, and the sudden influx of light made him want to cover his eyes but he resisted that urge to keep his aura. "You have your orders, get out of my sight." The trio bowed and hurried out the door. "I'll know why my precious Erumi got hurt one way or another."

"I know you hear me needledick!" He never answered what he meant in saying not directly and it pissed her off to be ignored while he was off in la la land. She tried to struggle again but this time her wrists were bound by some, suddenly present, cloth. She turned her head and saw that her thighs were being held down against the bed now, courtesy of the other two mooks, and if she was being honest, she felt like a frog from this position or maybe a turtle. Akane also saw that the ringleader's hand was coated in chakra and he was bringing it closer to her body. He made contact and the results were instant, her clothes that she took a sense of pride in just… disintegrated. Her vest was already gone post drowning but her sleeveless shirt and pants joined it with whatever technique was just used on her.

(It Begins)

The leader was surprised to say the least. This girl was actually made of flesh and blood instead of anger and profane words. He put his gloved hand against her rear and felt that her skin was supple, it'd probably be softer if she had a proper diet going on while she was here. Akane felt the chill of the air against her skin and her fears were confirmed when she looked at herself and saw that she was bare as the day she was born. Three grown men in a cell with a nude, female, prisoner… she finally understood what he meant and she looked to her sides in trepidation. "You wouldn't…"

They had reservations over doing something like this to someone so young but they were surprised at how her body was already formed quite well. She was lithe and slender like a model but her pale skin and loss of weight from the conditions she was under were obvious since she was entirely visible now. 'Might as well get down to it.' No more filibustering. He started unbuckling his pants.

The room was silent save for the heavy breathing of the pinned girl and a soft sound entered her ears, one that put fear into her body. She craned her head down to look through the gap of her body and the bed, and saw that the man behind her dropped his pants around his ankles. His toned legs were entirely visible and Akane knew exactly what was about to happen, but she refused to go down without a fight. She struggled as much as she could against the men holding her legs in place but a hand on her back sent chills down her spine and prevented her from resisting in full. She could see the man's girth and she wasn't looking forward to what was going to happen to her. "Don't you fucking dare! I'll cut your balls off and feed them to the- the rats…" Her voice faltered as the men on her sides pulled her thighs apart more and exposed her slit to them all. She was terrified and knew that she didn't want this… but her body was betraying her in a good way.

The man prodded her slit and Akane's breath hitched as she felt something about to intrude on her most sacred place. The size is what concerned her the most, this wasn't an entirely new experience but that was with her team who was around her age. This was a man and as she felt him slide into her she clenched her teeth at the feeling of her walls expanding to accommodate his size. 'How big is this faggot?!' She thought as she felt the bastard moving inside of her more and more. Searing fury burned in her mind. She hated this. She'd kill them all no matter what it took. Mocking laughter entered her ears and she only grew more angry.

"Hey guys, the little slut's wet!" He wasn't wrong. In some cases of forced sexual encounters, a woman's body will do its best to reduce injuries by lubricating the vagina and sometimes even trying its best to be aroused despite the circumstances. Unfortunately for Akane this was one of those times and it only made it all the more humiliating that they now believed that she wanted this on some level. She'd make them pay for this a thousand-fold, maybe return the favor with rusty pipes? The bastard behind her started to thrust at a quick pace, slamming his length into her with reckless abandon. Akane was holding back her whimpers with all the willpower she could muster. She repeated the mantra of not letting them break her over and over again in her mind. Her eyes were watering at the corners but she slammed her eyelids shut and almost sucked the salty tears back in with her will. 'I will not cry. I will not cry! They won't see me cry!'

A weight on the dingy bed brought her out of her meditative state. The son of a bitch on her left thigh let go and left holding her to the guy behind her. Something pressed against her cheek and scared her, she opened her eyes to see what it was and in the process the tears she was holding back started rolling down her cheeks. She saw that he whipped himself out and expected her to service him. She couldn't see behind that blank mask but she knew there was a smile of some kind there. Her glare promised him a world of pain. She reluctantly opened her mouth and extended her tongue, laying it like a welcome mat for his length. He wasn't fully erect but she could tell he was bigger than the man abusing her sore hole, she made a quick prayer to whatever god there was in thanks that it wasn't this guy fucking her.

She leaned her head back slightly to welcome the man into her mouth and he slid forward to rest his tip on her warm tongue. He let out a small sigh of pleasure but the air in his lungs practically froze when he saw the grin on Akane's face. He could've sworn he was staring at a demon from the deepest reaches of Hell and his error was realized far too late. Her canines glinted in the light of the room and she pulled her tongue back into her mouth and bit down right where his glans met his shaft, the coppery taste of blood entered her mouth and the screaming that left his mouth was a symphony to her ears.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! FUCK! FUCK! GET HER OFF!" He started punching her in the face to free himself but she didn't let go. She promised that he'd be in pain and she was making good on it. But it wasn't enough. Humiliate her like this? Put her through this awful torture?! Like hell it was just going to fly! She was gonna bite his dick clean off! The man on the right finally acted and grabbed her dirty hair then yanked her back until she couldn't keep her teeth around the cock head anymore and she let go. She spat the mixture of her saliva and his blood at him as he sat on the floor, holding his bloody crotch and yelling profanities alongside threats of vengeance. Akane was going to taunt him but she was turned around and punched in the face again by the only man who'd penetrated her so far. Her face was bloody and leaking tears but she still managed a half smile on her mouth even as another hand wrapped around her throat and her bite victim pulled her to her feet. "You bitch… I'm going to make you regret crawling out of your mother's snatch!"

"Sorry…" Her energy was gone. The punches to her face drained the last of whatever she had and so her voice was barely a whisper. "Guess you don't like teeth?" His hand tightened around her neck and her smile faltered at the loss of oxygen. She was viciously slammed against the wall of her cell and her right leg was lifted, she braced herself for more pain in her already sore vagina but it never came. Instead she felt him grab her ass with his left hand and he spread her cheeks apart. "No! No no no NO!" Panic was in her voice and she weakly tried to struggle against him.

He put his face right by her ear and whispered a sentence that would've made her wet herself if she had the fluid level. "You're about to scream more." His still bloody length was aligned with her ass and he was closing in.

"Please! I'll do anything! I'll talk all you want just don't do it plea- AAH!" Her pleas turned into a sharp squeal when her senses exploded in pain from the sudden entry. She could feel his girth tearing her anus apart and he wasn't even all the way in. He finally managed to get himself as deep as he could go and Akane's yell turned into gasping for whatever breath she could get. Her and the ANBU were situating the intense feelings they now had, hers was intense and horrific pain from the sudden penetration while he felt not only the physical pleasure of what he was doing but the sense of satisfaction for his revenge.

"Please… I'll do anything you want… No more…" Heavy breaths left her mouth while tears rolled down her face. She couldn't even make a coherent sentence because of the pain. In spite of her submission she felt hands grab her waist and a voice that dripped with sick pleasure whispering in her ear.

"I'm just getting started. I hope you're ready." He pulled back and left a void in his wake but that was temporary since he slammed back into her with enough force to push her stomach and chest firmly against the stone wall. He was going at nearly inhuman speeds pistoning in and out of her sphincter with unmatched fury. Akane wanted to scream, she wanted to cry out in hopes that someone would save her but she couldn't even breathe in enough air to try and talk before her ass was split apart again and again. Her body shook with every thrust, her head was going back and forth with no resistance as if she were a moving corpse, tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped from her chin to the floor where they were drunk in by the dessicated floor.

It felt like days and weeks before he finally plunged as deep as he could, but in reality it was barely five minutes. His thrusts stopped but it was a lie to say the torture was really done, she was wracked with pain even as his shrinking cock left her body. She felt something warm leave her gaped orifice and slowly trickle down her leg as she used all the strength she didn't have to stay on her feet. She wouldn't let them see her break, she wouldn't let them know she was cracked, she would at least appear strong just to spite them. "I hope this whore didn't give me something from that bite." They left the cell and with the sound of the door slamming shut, Akane dropped to the floor in a heap of blood, sweat, and drying tears.

(It Ends)

She sat there composing herself for who knows how long before she heard the sound of the slot she was given food through open. Another bowl of grey slop. She managed to weakly walk to the door and get the food then work her way back to her poor excuse of a bed and start eating. "This stuff still tastes like shit…" Yet she had to eat it to survive. "Almost makes me wanna take a load in my face, no jizz tastes like shit t- I'm talking to myself…" She realized that there wasn't anyone else present and that she really started talking to herself in her loneliness. "I'm gonna buy the best tasting food I can when I get out of-" She froze. Spoon in front of her head. Her hand shook and dropped the utensil back into the bowl, at the very least the salty tears falling into it might add flavor.

The reason that she dropped her spoon, the reason that she was crying was something that finally decided to click in her head. It was something that she'd been in denial about for nearly a month but now it was obvious. Kuzo didn't come back for her, hell, they didn't even send some brainwashed grunts to try and spring her out. Nobody was coming for her. There more than likely wasn't going to be a 'When' she got out… As it stood it would be 'How' and that how didn't seem like it involved her living. It's been a month and she's been getting beat, starved, and now sexually abused. This was going to be her life, abuse and sexual torment just for information that she more than likely doesn't have and it was only going to end when she gave in and they killed her or if she died before then.

She broke. She was crying into her hands, and finally letting it all free. Akane finally realized, "I'm going to die here." Tears and blood were falling from her face and staining the floor below her. Maybe, maybe if she treated them nicely and willingly accepted whatever they had to throw at her they'd ease up on her. She wasn't happy that her thinking went down this pathway but she didn't have any alternatives. As it stood her best bet was acceptance and hoping that things would get better, even though her hope hung by a thin thread and somewhere in her mind she hoped they would get complacent and she'd be able to escape. "I can be good, I'll show them I can be good." Something hit the door hard and scared her out of her personal crisis. She looked at the tiny gap that acted as her window and saw that at least an hour had passed since she started her breakdown, and she decided that now was the best time to show that she could be obedient.

She got off her bed and painstakingly knelt on the floor sitting on her heels and slightly parting her legs to offer a full view of herself, and her hands rested beside her knees. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before tilting her head back and putting her tongue out like a panting dog. This was her offering herself and admitting defeat, posing like a dog waiting for its master. Hopefully whoever opened this door would be content with her compliance.


In a different part of the T.I building was the physical research center, it was called that because that was where research was conducted on the deceased or sometimes willing living who clearly had something more beneath their skin. Right now an autopsy was about to be performed on a young man with grey, scaly, skin. "We ready?" The two other surgeons nodded and put gloves on as required. "Time now… fifteen twenty four pm. Let's begin the autopsy of the youth called, Goji." His companion picked up a scalpel and made an incision right over the sternum while the other one held a sterile tray. "Skin is surprisingly soft and gave way with little resistance, a durability test of the scales should be considered." He watched as the sternum was exposed but something that he'd never seen in all his years started. The body moved. "Something's wrong!" Goji's corpse shook and his mouth opened wide to reveal that it was spitting something out.

"Can't have an autopsy when I'm not dead!" He was alive and just shed his previous skin like the snake he appeared to be. He was shirtless and the surgeons could see that he was entirely healed from the wounds that should have been lethal, even his arm was regenerated. Goji flung some type of medical instrument at them then made his escape from the room and into the hallways of the building. His senses let him know that Akane was somehow alive and that there were a few high level shinobi in the area but he'd be able to plow through them in no time.

He ran through the hallways and bowled anyone who was in the way over. He moved through the passageways with a vicious level of efficiency and avoided actual line of sight with anyone who could have stopped him in his tracks.

He burst through a door right as a blast of wind headed straight for him and he intruded on a mountain of a man standing by a broken window. "What the- Who are you and how'd you get here?" Goji leapt and threw a punch but this giant man caught his fist without much effort on his part, probably because during his running through the halls his curse mark deactivated and he was normal again. Toshiki spun and threw Goji through the wall… right beside the open door. "You're one of the bastards my little girl was on a mission against! I'll tear you in half you little shit!" He rushed but Goji was a little faster and managed to spit a cloud of poison mist into the air. The grown man stopped and covered his face to keep the poison out of his lungs and in that moment Goji was gone. 'Damn it!' He slammed a hand against the wall and went back to the open window of his office and removed his hand from his face. He pulled out a microphone and turned it on for the announcement system. "Attention all personnel! We have an enemy in the building! Shirtless, young adult, bring him in alive if you can!"

Goji heard that right as he entered a hallway that was just plain depressing with how it appeared and the crying from inside of some of the rooms didn't help. Three guys in masks were walking away from him and chatting while they did. "Another round on the dark slut?" And with that Goji activated his curse mark again, straight into second stage just from what he heard. "What the-" The ANBU managed to dodge the foot that would've sent him straight into a wall but the snake that emerged from Goji's shoulder and bit his arm hit its mark perfectly. The other two masked men rushed with their swords ready to bisect the teen but he ducked below their slashes and swept them off their feet.

He grabbed the ankle of one and flung him down the hallway, he backed up to dodge another slash from a wind enhanced sword. "Do you know some dick with a fake right arm? Just curious." Goji was avoiding the attacks with movements of his body that his enemy couldn't account for, he was almost boneless in his contortions and he finally countered the ANBU by grabbing his wrist. Experience showed when the grown man kneed him in the stomach and nearly killed him by chopping his head clean off but another inhuman dodge saved his life, and gave him the momentum to spin and roundhouse the masked man into the door he felt a familiar presence behind. With speed he didn't know he had, Goji struck the ANBU in the side of the head and threw him to the side.

The door started to open and Akane was more nervous than she'd ever felt, what if it didn't go right? What if her offering herself made them be rougher this time? So many what if's and so little time since she felt the warm air of the hallway on her, and someone was there looking at her but not acting. 'Come on, I went through the trouble. Am I not good enough now?!' She was starting to get angry at the lack of action and when her eyes opened to see who was standing there… She almost cried.

"I'm not against the offer but now ain't the time." Goji was standing there shirtless and transformed, the scales adorning his face practically glowing to Akane. She stood up and managed to keep herself solid despite the lack of energy.

"Y- You're- They said that I was- How?" She was in disbelief to say the least, they said that she was the only survivor because of how everyone else died. They told her that Goji took one right in the heart so how- Of course! He molted and hid in his skin all this time. Hold up. He was hiding in his skin for a month? He was hiding in his skin for a month! She sloppily threw a punch but it didn't even come close before she fell over and he caught her. "You couldn't have done this sooner?!"

He actually looked sorry for his actions and it wasn't a good look on him. "It takes a lot of chakra to shed so I don't die. And if I did it sooner they woulda been on high alert since they just got us. I had to lay low, I'm sorry Akane."

"He's in that room! We're fine, just help us get him!" They both knew that voice in different ways. Goji sucked his teeth in irritation since those ANBU wouldn't have been so easy if he didn't paralyze one of them and that trick won't work again, and now they had backup. Akane was shaking in… fear? He never saw her like this before and it made him angry knowing his underling went through something so terrible that it made her feel fear.

He drove his bare foot into the wall and opened a hole big enough to jump out and he leapt out and landed on a rooftop, he turned his head back and saw that the ANBU were right at the hole and so was that buff bastard. "Shit! Hang on!" He started leaping from building to building with their pursuers right behind them. He landed and was about to jump again when a blade of wind sliced his Achilles' tendon and he fumbled like a boy who didn't understand the incredibly subtle hints that a girl drops. They managed to clear a gap between buildings but their landing wasn't as graceful as they'd have wanted. Akane took it worse since she had no clothing on, her skin was scraped from the sudden impact against the scalding sandstone and the pain wouldn't stop since she was barefoot. Goji was the first on his feet as the non-descript ANBU and the buff man landed on the rooftop.

"You made it a whole kilometer before we stopped you. Not bad since there wasn't a plan." Toshiki stepped forward and Goji tensed but the situation-

"Sen'ei tajashu." (Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes). Went from bad to worse. Akane was wrapped in a mix of black and white snakes and Goji was no different. Toshiki grinned once he saw who captured the two and Goji was in awe at who it was.

"You?!"

"Zeko!" Toshiki relaxed and the ANBU did the same, they didn't have anything personal against the boy so why would they be tense? "You managed to catch the prisoners in no time at all, but the snakes are new." Zeko was seated on a rock with the snakes coming from his purple sleeves. A quick motion and they left his clothes and fully coiled around the two teens.

"What's going on, Toshiki?" Zeko said cooly as the ANBU looked directly at the captives. A sound of swirling sand to his left showed that Hiro made his appearance. "Why'd you show up?"

Hiro pointed at the leader of the trio. "Well when Ryu told me that there was a breach in the T.I building, I knew you'd be there to help out." He wrongly stated. Zeko wasn't actually there to help because he knew there was trouble, he just happened to be walking by and caught the sounds of confrontation. But he wasn't going to burst his mentor's bubble. Wait a minute.

"Ryu? That's you under there?" He removed his mask and showed that it was in fact, Uso's other aid. "Well you might as well get these two back where they belong." He leaned back on the rock and watched as Ryu and the other two approached Goji and Akane but his relaxed demeanor changed when he saw their reactions, namely Akane's loss in bladder control.

"NO! NO PLEASE NOT ANYMORE!" If the boy knew one thing it was what genuine fear sounded like and right before they could grab either of them a wall of sand cut them off. Akane was still muttering pleas of leniency while Goji struggled against the snakes.

Ryu looked at Zeko with a cold indifference. "You're obstructing detainment, you better have a reason." Zeko leaned forward with narrowed eyes. His demeanor was like that of a viper ready to strike, and Ryu wasn't helping with the implied threat.

"Why's she so afraid of you?" Six words with a calmness behind them that put Hiro on edge, whatever his reason was for stopping Ryu it more than likely wouldn't go well.

Toshiki stepped forward to answer that question. "She's been detained for a month now, and our means of torture have gotten more intense. I know Akira told you what we do in that building." Zeko nodded but his curiosity wasn't sated.

This was a make or break moment, at the very least he could take these bastards down with him! Goji turned to Ryu and put all the anger in his words that he could. "What kind of torture makes you say, 'another round on the dark slut'?!" And the shoe finally dropped and sand whipped at the base of his improvised chair.

"I'm curious too, what kind of torture does that?" He was cold and his tone was unforgiving. Unfortunately there was another misstep done that drove his anger even more. Ryu decided to answer that question with so much conviction to show that it was the right answer, but believing it's right isn't the same as it being right.

"There's a certain way to break female inmates Zeko, Toshiki-san gave us our orders and we followed them. Whatever information they have is too valuable to let go, and it worked because now she's willing to do anything we say." The wall of sand dropped and he placed a hand on Akane's cheek which made her cry fresh tears as her puddle grew slightly. "It's for the sake of discovering who and why, do you understand?"

"Those bastards are responsible for your friends being hurt, my precious daughter being hurt! Don't you want the truth to be out there?!" Toshiki was fuming but his point was valid to the boy. The truth did need to be heard.

"I understand. I understand completely…" Ryu smiled but Hiro narrowed his eyes and idly scratched at his bandaged right arm. Ryu saw this as him understanding that what they did was right because it was for a greater purpose, he motioned for the other two to grab Goji but they didn't make it that far.

Sand wrapped around all three of them and stopped them from doing anything other than breathing. "Zeko! The hell are you doing?! Let us go!" They rose into the air and floated over the street, passerby's saw the shadows and raised their attention to the trio. They yelled about the demon getting ready to kill them but if only they knew who the real demons were. Toshiki stepped forward with clenched fists.

"Zeko. Put them down now, or else I'll have you listed as a trait-" He froze once crimson eyes met his.

"You said the truth should be out so go tell Aunt Yuno what you had them do, and then…" He clenched his hands and made it rain blood over the street. Most people panicked and ran as fast as they could, scooping up their kids and booking it for their houses.

Some people who didn't fear the boy stood in the rain and accepted the bloodshed, they were the ones who could understand him and his actions because they saw that he wasn't the monster that some portrayed him as. One of them was a girl who had unmatched beauty and followers at all times but this wasn't one and she stood in the crimson rain with a smile on her face. Asui had her own obsession with Zeko the same way others had an obsession with her, and maybe the best way to get his attention was to bathe in the blood of those he deemed as needing to die. Despite her standing out so much in contrast with the few others doing the same, nobody actually saw her serenely standing in the shower of blood. 'I can even make blood look gorgeous.' She licked around her lips and savored the metallic taste and watched the show continue.

Meanwhile Zeko had to finish his command and it was something Hiro was proud of in a way. "After you admit what you've done… I want you to kill yourself like the scum you are, and I want you to leave a note saying you want to be burned and thrown away like trash." The man moved as if he were under a spell, his actions his own but at the same time they weren't. He left the rooftop and headed for the Kazekage's office while Akane mumbled to herself and Goji stared at Zeko.

"So kid… You're a snake summoner too?" He was trying to act casual but he was still tied up in snakes so it didn't work very well.

"You know that you're gonna get backlash for this, I hope you have a plan." Hiro said as his shoulder bulged but this time Zeko noticed it and took note of the odd movement. But Hiro was surprised when the boy turned to look at him and crimson eyes were there instead of coal black ones.

"I'll watch them and get answers. Put them on a team with me since I've been solo for a while. They'll be my con- constit- what's the fancy word for teammates?"

Goji wanted to facepalm at how this kid was good enough to just kill three ANBU and order a man to confess his sins then commit suicide, but somehow didn't know the word he was looking for. "Constituents! And why should we join this shithole in the desert? It's hot and there's sand everywhere!" Zeko smiled at that one.

"It's great isn't it?"

Hiro was stuck on the red eyes that were staring into his very soul a second ago, all the time Uso wanted to know what clan Akira was from and here his son just dropped that information without even trying. It was perfect. "Alright they can join your team, but you better get them in fighting shape in the next two weeks."

"Uhm, why?" His eyes were normal again and he was back to his usual, non hostile, self.

Hiro was grinning at the three and none of them liked it one bit. "Because with them joining your team, you'll all be Genin." Goji took offense to that while Akane finally managed to calm down.

"They hell you say? I'm a Jonin rank."

The man shook his head and pointed to his own forehead protector. "Not anymore you aren't, wherever you're from isn't recognized as a village so you're a genin, perfect because I already put in Zeko's name for the Chunin Exams."

"You did what?" That was one of those questions where you needed a very good answer because whatever you did was pissing the person who asked it off.

"I signed you up for the Chunin exams, I was going to give you two randoms to go with you but this is better since it's a clean slate. You should hurry to the Kazekage's office to let her know what's going on… After Toshiki-san is done, of course." With that he vanished in a swirl of sand and appeared a few blocks away, and once he did he punched a hole through a wall with his bandaged hand. "Shit! He wasn't supposed to kill Ryu! This is not good! Okay calm down… there's still time to make sure nothing else goes wrong. Let's just get through the Exam and then things should be par for the course.


Yuno begrudgingly accepted the idea to leave Akane and Goji under Zeko's watch but it came at the warning of him being punished if anything went wrong at all. Akane's chakra was unsealed and she finally felt some of her strength return to her, of course it wasn't enough to deal with her malnourishment but baby steps. At the moment they were walking up the stairs, well Goji and Zeko were since Akane didn't have the physical ability, and they had no money for their own place so it was deemed best to keep them right under his nose. "Damn kid. You live here?" Goji was genuinely impressed by the dorm once they entered the main door but the cowering desk worker should've been a sign to him, now he was seeing the place from the inside and it was nice.

"If there's any packages left in front of the door, don't open them. Hate mail is annoying." He said that as he saw a package in front of his room door.

'I still say we figure out who's doing it and just kill them.' He actually considered that but- Yeah no he couldn't find any reason not to do it so he just kept quiet. He looked around his living area and pointed at his empty couch, he figured that Ichika woke up and let herself out.

"She can rest there, I'll make something to eat." The sound of feet made him take back his earlier thought and he was right as Ichika burst out of his bedroom with Chomusuke looking out the doorway. "You're still here? I thought you'd have left." The panther left in a puff of smoke while Ichika hugged her cousin with all her might which managed to take some of his breath away.

"I missed you so much, Chomu-chan said you got your own summons. Can I see what they are?" Zeko squinted and remembered something during his six hour trip in Ryūchi Cave.


It was a large room with clusters of eggs in nests. The Hime trio led him into this room, at the request of the Great Snake Sage. He was going to pick a partner from these hatchlings. "So I can pick any egg I want?"

"Yes, and you'll give it some of your chakra so they bond to you." Tagitsuhime said with a smile. The three of them were glad that he managed to pull through the trials in the end and they showed him all the respect that he gave them, which was plenty since they were the ones who'd been helping him learn the basics of their fighting style. They were not ready for his sand coming to his defense when they tried to hit him as a demonstration.

Zeko looked over the clutches of eggs that were all nestled together and could tell that they all would've been great partners… but he wanted the best partner. His searching brought him to a lone egg on the far side of the room where three eggs rested. "Why are these three further away?"

Tagorihime decided to clue him in on that and his response would surprise them. "They're weak compared to the other ones, so we decided to move them away so you wouldn't have to pay attention to them." Zeko looked at the eggs then back at the snake women he shot them a look that said, 'Really?' As he used his sand to lift the eggs to his hand and flood them with his chakra. The eggs started glowing a light purple and they began to crack lightly as hatchlings broke through their shells and entered the world.

The first one was mostly grey with a purple diamond on the top of its head. "Mamushi." The next one was white with a streak of purple along the top of its body and black scutes on its underside. "Raida." Last but not least, the design of the final snake was possibly Zeko's favorite since it was a mixture of black and purple scales with white scutes at the bottom. He decided to name this one after a friend who made a bad choice in the end. "Randa." The hatchlings slithered up his arms and onto his sleeves without any trouble, their blue eyes were focused solely on him and he on them.

"I like those names!" Ichikishimahime raised a hand to the ceiling in celebration over another snake trio being brought into the cave but the other two didn't go so far as to show their own feelings. Zeko was busy having an unspoken bond so he didn't pay much mind to what they were up to after all he had three beautiful partners to work with now.


"Zeko-nii~" Right he was in the present not the past and Ichika didn't get an answer for her question just yet. "What can you summon?" He was about to answer but he looked at her neck and was reminded about something from before.

"Ichika, I'm gonna take that off." Goji and Akane took their attention off the family photo on the wall and set their eyes on the cousins in the room with them.

Ichika was caught off guard by his words and her surprise flared with him grabbing her shirt. "Huh?" He tugged the article of clothing and spun her in a whirlwind. "Wait- Why- What?" She was shirtless and on the floor with her cousin over her in a split second. "What? Why? I didn't have time to get ready for this, my heart isn't ready for this yet Nii-chan!" Zeko was staring at her chest and he exhaled softly before letting her go and placing the shirt back on her.

"I was just checking on your bruises. I do need you to go back home so I can talk to these guys." Her pout melted his heart but he had to be strong no matter how adorable she could be when she wanted something. "I'll show you next time, I promise." She reluctantly put her shirt back on and hurried out the door with that promise, then there were three.

Two of those three were wondering how this kid lived alone when he had a family photo framed and everything. Akane decided to open her mouth and ask the question with all the tact she could manage. "Did your asshole parents kick you out?" It was already a sensitive subject and she didn't make it any better by asking that way. The next thing they knew they were being suffocated by a murderous aura and when Zeko looked at them they swore that they could see someone else behind him, with long brown hair and a gaze that deemed them as dirt below his foot.

"They're both dead." He stepped closer to them and the closer he got the more clear the image of a person behind him got, his red eyes bored into them and made them feel more fear than they thought was possible. "I already dealt with my mom dying three years ago and now I'm figuring out who killed my dad."

"You got any clues?" The fact that Goji could speak amazed him, but the best way to calm someone down was to be calm yourself. "If it helps us get out of this probation we can-"

"So far I know that there were people who could summon giant scorpions, and they were from this village. I don't know anything else." The oppressive aura left the room and not only relieved the teens on the couch but most of the people in the building. The ghostly visage behind him was still there for a few moments but it vanished in time.

"Someone wanted your dad dead? Is it related to how people are scared of you?"

Zeko was about to answer that question but he decided that the law of equivalent exchange had to be enacted. "What group are you- Were you apart of when you kidnapped Ran?"

"Hm. They're called the Ao Akuma, I can't tell you much about why but I can say how." Zeko sat down to listen. "They want to get people who're strong or have bloodlines, like Akane. We were in the Curse Squad and we had to recover anyone who got the serum to give them a curse mark."

"What's a curse mark?" Goji squinted to rack his brains on that but he didn't have a proper explanation himself.

"I guess it's some kind of boost that lets people increase their power by a shit ton. It was originally made by Orochimaru of the original Sannin but whoever's in charge of the Akuma managed to make it into something new."

Zeko was writing all of this down on a notepad that… that Goji swore wasn't in his hands a second ago. "What do you mean by new?"

Akane decided to pipe up this time. "The first curse mark had a low survival chance, this one accepts pretty much anyone. And there might be something above the second level." The boy was glaring at her for good reason, he saw how injured Touka was after she managed to beat her and he wasn't happy with that. "Hey hey! Since my heart stopped I lost the connection with our leader, my curse mark probably can't even go second level."

Now he set his eyes on Goji and this time there was rising sand that threatened to spear him, but he raised his hands in submission. "Take it easy! Whoever they are, they can't actually talk to us or anything through the marks. I've never heard him talk to me." Zeko seemed to accept that and the sand retreated back into the gourd beside his chair.

He finished his note taking and decided to indulge the earlier question. He might be uncaring about the people who hate him but that doesn't mean he's totally oblivious of the ones who don't. "Some people are scared of me because I'm the host of the One Tail." His sand made a model of Shukaku's head in the air beside him. "But some of them respect me because I don't go crazy or kill people."

"You killed those ANBU…"

His face was expressionless and his words sounded like he wasn't addressing people but instead mites, scurrying between rocks. "I killed three monsters that didn't deserve to live." His oven beeped and he made a shadow clone to take care of prepping the food. "There were some people who sat in the bloody rain and accepted it, they know I have the magnetism release and they think I'll be the next Kazekage… I don't really know how many people don't hate me but this last month there's been a lot of red rain and they're standing in it like it's normal."

Goji put his face in his hands while Akane looked to be going over a minor mental crisis. "So we have a kid with cultists following him as our caretaker? Great." The shadow clone put the fish into the oven and dispelled itself.

"Well we can eat in half an hour at least."


It was a calm afternoon, was being the operative word. They were just out getting some groceries for dinner that night and it should've been a quick trip to a store and back from the underground but no, they had to run into a trio they didn't need to see. "This time I won't do CPR on you!" Crystals were jutting from the ground.

"I crushed your friend, I'll do it to you next!" Knuckles were cracking and teeth were grit.

"I'm staying out of this one." At least one of them had some common sense. At the source of all this commotion was Goji dressed in lounging clothes and Akane in his sweatpants and a grey shirt riding his back. Three days passed since they started staying with Zeko and he decided they could be out of his immediate line of sight when they were shopping, unfortunately they wound up in sight of team Zandaka and the reunion wasn't going well.

"Hey, hey, hey. Let's all calm down before you do something you regret." A spire of blue crystals nearly pierced his throat and Touka smirked since it would've been done if she wanted it to be.

"Is that a threat?"

Erumi stepped forward and grabbed Goji's arm. "Why are you here?!" He looked at her with a confused expression.

"We're shopping." That made the two girls of the Balance team angry while Rei noticed something and took two steps back.

"No I mean- How did you get here?" Again he looked at her as if she just grew a second head.

"The door obviously." She had enough of him being a smartass and she threw a punch that had enough power to knock down a single story building but it didn't hit his jaw like she wanted, but her hand caught nothing but sand and some traces of iron, possibly some steel in there.

Dressed in purple with a gourd on his back, the boy who was always ready to be on the attack. "Don't be hot headed Erumi-chan, they're my new team." Rei was the only one on his team who didn't look beyond furious at him and the two who were still acting totally casual despite the situation.

"Why are they with you? They helped take Ran away." His rationality disturbed Zeko the most, these two were responsible for his brother dying and yet he was being more civil than the girls who didn't lose any- Wait. The girls who didn't lose any family mem- Hang on. The girls who didn't- Touka didn't lose anything, there.

"Toshiki was responsible, I'm glad I made him kill himself." He wasn't ready for the solid right hook from Erumi that sent his sand armor flying off his face but she wasn't done yet, she hit with her left then slammed her fist into his stomach. Each of her hits was like a boulder breaking the surface of a pond, impactful.

"You DEMON!" She was the figure of rage from her bloodshot eyes to her shaking body, but her tears showed her real feelings in the end. The boy she just got done assaulting didn't look fazed by her attacks, and the sand falling from his face revealed that his real expression was just as stoic as his armor showed. Touka was speechless and Rei was just as silent with that sudden drop of information. "He didn't do-"

"He had three men force that girl to do things just to get information." She stopped because she had no comeback but he didn't stop right there. "He gave them the order to do it and he probably did it before. If my dad knew about it then he'd have done it himself, your dad was scum in Suna and I did everyone a favor." He wasn't right but he wasn't wrong. Someone with more experience would argue that she was captive and at their mercy for interrogation but that still didn't make it right, even a prisoner didn't deserve that type of trauma just because they were loyal to someone. "I made sure he told the Kazekage everything he'd done first and I'm glad he's gone."

"Zeko you can't- You should go to the police force if you have that problem!" Touka objected, her mother being brought up gave her some motivation to speak. "And what about me?! I came back pretty messed up from her!"

"I'm not saying I'm okay with that, but she didn't deserve what happened to her." He turned around and handed a bag to Goji. "Let's get our food." The three of them just turned to leave with Akane sneering back at them as they did, but Rei was quiet for too long in that.

"Zeko." He turned back slowly to hear what his… whatever he could be called at the moment had to say and it surprised everyone who was present. "I don't hate you for it. I saw the signs but I didn't say anything about him and- And now my brother's gone because I didn't-" Zeko was in front of him with a hand outstretched peacefully, and Rei took it without hesitating. They got each other in a brotherly half hug that explained everything between them wordlessly, and the girls of Rei's team were shocked that he was willingly doing anything involving his brother's killer and they were surprised that he wasn't angry at the people responsible for taking him. It didn't make any sense to them at all.

The two released each other and went their separate ways in the store. 'He's still my friend after all.' The boy had a slight smile on his face but his layer of transformed sand showed a completely blank face instead of the contentedness that he had at the moment. Now he just had to get these two back into his house so they could get ready for their training in the morning.

Akane was looking much healthier since she was getting real food, but Zeko couldn't get the image of her vomiting her guts out into his toilet out of his head. He decided to not tell her that suddenly eating a lot of food when you've basically been starved wasn't a good idea for reasons beyond understanding. Goji wasn't sympathetic to her pain then since she should've remembered that basic fact before stuffing her face with everything in sight. 'Still weird how that Hiro guy sent a messenger to tell you that you're training tomorrow.'

'How's that weird? Maybe he was busy.' The scorpion that brought them a slip of paper that afternoon was almost crushed by an angry teenage girl who really didn't like creepy crawlers but once they saw the note she backed off for a bit.

'Eh, maybe I'm thinking too much, it's not my thing to do anyway.' Sounded like he just decided to go back to sleep after that. The boy shrugged as they walked out of the store with their goods in hand. As long as Hiro makes sure they can kick ass at the exam then why should he care about how he tells them they're going to train? Either way dinner was going to be an undertaking tonight since the menu had beef steak on it and Zeko didn't know how to cook it.

'I hope they like improvising cause I got nothing.'


A/N: I uh, I hope the people who read everything enjoyed it. I've said this story gets dark so you had fair warning. I also forgot something again and I hope it wasn't important, see ya within the next few days.