Where the past may find you (p,mission)

The assassin’s last words only served to cause a rage to grow within the former shinobi.  It also served as the proof he needed, even though it was further padded by the disappearance of the clone.  His main regret was he did not have a chance to provide one last insult before the vanish…..Using clones in such a way; he never could stand the tactic.  The gentle northern breeze slowly caused the plume of smoke to vanish.  Maku’s own chakra sensory reached out within the forest searching for any one hiding.  He’d been searching, but the difference now was using a maul as opposed to an axe, and yet it didn’t seem to matter as nothing was found.  His hands started to tremble slightly, his humors still up and now he had no outlet to release them upon.  Left alone, another challenger, another ghost, and still he was left to be unfulfilled in both life and death.  A scream tore out his chest, he was not aware of wanting the challenge as he felt now, but that desire was deep within him.  “COWARD!”  He would shout at the top of his lungs, unsure if anyone would actually be able to hear him.

               His hands continued to tremble, unsure on what he could even do to unleash the furry that was beating within his heart.  Years had gone by without combat, without struggle.  These thoughts had been removed in isolation, and had not tempted him, but now these forces raged through his mind and heart.  His skin started to shift, unable to hold in the natural energy he had stored earlier.  Flesh start to turn gold as his very chakra circulatory traced in gold markings.  Veins of chakra lighted, and his own aura becoming denser to the point it seemed to want to solidify.  He had never activated the Sage energy that Den had only spoken about, but now it found its way to the surface.  The increase of power and energy rushing through his body.  Still there was no outlet, still there was silence.  His friend still laid dead, and this pretender, this tease of the past had come and gone only to leave Maku wanting.  A quick seal, and a spout of flame burst through from his throat scorching the trees in front of him.  The great fire annihilation was a poor outlet, still only serving as a tease to what he really wanted to release into the world.

               Tears began to fall, his body collapsing to his knees.  The tears started as wet, but soon drops of flame began to fall from his open eyes.  The golden fire of his Amaterasu washing over his hands, and even it nothing but a tease as the fire refused to burn his skin even as it sizzled with the ground.  He was not sure how long he sat there, how long he simply let tears fall in this quite place.  He had not come looking for a fight, but when it had presented itself, he was reminded of how much he needed the distraction.  With it gone so unexpectedly, the dam he had built within to seal off his emotions had burst, and now there was nothing left to hold it all.  Deep body shuddering breaths, and finally his heart started to still, and the cold numbness took hold.  Swallowing, he forced himself back to his feet.  Walking slowly, he made his way just within the boarder before falling back to his knees, and then to his stomach.  The gold chakra linings evaporated, and a deep sigh left him exhausted.    Laying in the dirt, he felt the cold ground against his throbbing and swollen face, and he could not help but think how nice it would be to close his eyes, just for a moment.

               The rest of the day passed in a stupor.  What had started as hard was only made worse.  Through the day, he would already felt like he was dying, and now it was only more real within his beating chest.  It had been his hope to finish the tomb, or at least get it started, yet now he did not have the strength.  Physically he was exhausted, and emotionally he was truly done.  The thought of bringing more death down upon this place, even if it was just acknowledge that which was already dead was not something he could comprehend.  With that in his mind, he walked out of the cave.  Looking towards the trees that he had burn, still crackling with flames and embers that where slowly dying under the cold northern winds.  His eyes transformed back to blue, and he felt the strength returning into his body.  Sitting among the embers, he felt the contrasting sensations.  The warmth of charred ground, and the chill of cold breeze.  Focusing on this, he felt the life around him as it lived with the struggle, not against it.  Perhaps that was one of his problems, only living through the struggle, instead of the live that dwelt within.

               Within the burnt forest, he focused on the living things within.  His first couple hand seals helped mold his chakra, and he felt it expand from where he sat.  The fire seemed to meld with is chakra, even as the wood release technique started to take control.  An aroma started to fill the area, one that almost reminded him of his restaurant, a comfort.  The herb garden he sat in the middle now helped cover the burnt smell with varying fresh smells.  The leaves and steams however resembled no plants that one had ever seen.  They each had a soft glow, as if they had absorbed the fire chakra within the area.  This small growth of life helped calm some of the fire within, though it was merely a distraction than a solution to the problem as a whole.  He worked on expanding the garden, on expanding the life in the wake of what had happened.  Another hand seal, and branches started to appear.  These also seemed to grab hold of the natural fire chakra, and have it imbue them.

               The cutting technique he had learned from Den seemed to maintain this, and Maku found himself expanding and expanding until he was surrounded by multiple branches.  A simple technique, but the long branches seemed formidable.  Pricking his finger on one, he watched, as a red stream seemed to spread down the glowing wood shaft.  Putting his finger in his mouth, his mind went to the Kyuubi and a simple splinter….a much simpler time.  When his emotions where capable of being subdued, not like now…..now that they thought they could freely come to the service.  Flicking his wrist, he sent several of the branches whizzing through the air to get stuck in one of the branches nearby.  His mind thought on the technique, and the molding of earth and water, along with this new fire.  His eyes glanced back to earlier, the Amaterasu flames still cackling on the ground where they had fallen from his tears.  Blue giving way to black and red, the flames seemed to expand, before snaking their way across the ground.  They soon found him, completely covering his body in a comforting warmth and glow.  Putting his hands together, he felt himself make several hand seals, and then hold.  The chakra in his body waiting for a command.  A sigh and the flames spread outwardly covering the earth around him, leaving him the epicenter of the jutsu.

               Expanding on the cutting jutsu, Maku saw the trees for in his mind, spreading out.  He saw their whole lives from seed to fruition.  He watched as they grew, as the chakra bolstered the bark and made it strong.  A forest of trees, a forest of life that would not have been if it had not been for him.  He saw the yin to the yang of his fire destruction.  All of these images passed through his mind, and he saw it all occur.  Then with a final seal, he opened his eyes and saw it without the use of imagination.  Trees started to from around him, replacing the charred and broken woods that he had had a hand in creating.  In a matter of moments, what had been saplings where adolescent trees, and then it was as if they had lived over a 100 years.  Around him, a forest glowing in gold, the flames of sorrow absorbed in the growth of new life.

               Placing a palm against the trees, he could almost see the golden fire infused within the bark of the tree.  He could feel the same warmth, still within the living tree.  Smiling, he was happy that at least one good thing had come, and that he had found at least a small comfort in this place.  Den of Inequity, it was a fair name for more reason than one.  It was not the first time he had thought it, and before he was done, he doubted it would be the last.

               Moving back to the cave, he covered it leaving Youka’s body covered.  Looking through the cave, he would allow it for just a little longer to remain as it was.  It was not time to say good-bye just yet, but it was coming to a close.  Ghosts needed to be buried, and perhaps that meant him as well.  Only time would tell in the end if that was what really needed to occur.  For now however, he needed to recuperate, to take a moment to regain some of his strength for what he needed to do next.  Not just his physical strength, but to wall off these emotions so he would be strong enough emotionally to do them as well.  Swallowing, he would let his head fall back.  Breathing in the air, he would catch a whiff of the life that he had created and he would smile.  Well assassin, you escaped this time….however you know where to find me………I think we will meet again, and I hope next time your blade is more true, so we can reconcile the past.  His body would start to shimmer and then vanish in a flash of gold.

(Exit-Mission Complete)
TWC - 4553
Getting A rank version 2500. I know it’s not approved yet, so won’t use until it is, it otherwise if that’s not ok, putting 2500 words towards the old version until this is approved
Good forest - 2000 words of 2000
+11 stamina

Claiming successful mission and the rewards that come with

Approved, you may claim the old version until the new one is approved

TWC: 1686

Claiming for Kaito Hoshigake

8 stats
All wordcount into Shark Bolt (currently 361/2000) to complete it. 

Approved