🔥 || A Sword Sealed :: A Fate Unsure

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

Konoha Forest | Compound of the Noble Hatake Family

The peace of the forests surrounding Konohagakure suited the solitary Hatake who had returned to his family compound. Though at the compound he was not alone, his family held true, and his return had placed him back in the fore of a bureaucratic headache, the tentative quiet was nice. An air of pain, however, hung over a section of the complex. Unused and sealed from the rest of the family, it was where his third wife had been murdered, months after their separation but as they entertained the world in good faith for their child.

The compound was traditional, with high stone walls and a steel reinforced Mokuton gateway. Black tiles adorned the various buildings throughout, absorbing the light that filtered through the canopy above to keep the houses warm, and melt snow in winter. Various gardens dotted the different homes, with white spider lillies growing around the lillies growing at the entrance to the home of the former Hokage and his own brood, Masaya and Klaus.

As morning solitude broke, the retainers opened the gates of the compound and the Twelfth smiled as his eyes cast out into the forest toward Konohagakure. He had been home for a few months now, and considered travel to the village, but this life was easier, and gave him time to mourn the death of Sachiko.

All she had wanted from him was more time as a family. Then for him to mourn the death of their own child.

He never gave her either.

Still more he thought back to all those he never mourned over his life as a shinobi. And his mind wandered back to a young priestess he met in the desert as he closed his eyes.

"What is... the price of freedom?"

Koresephone

 

[Koresephone]

Wolfe Whitehorn

"A fuin that slowly kills you, apparently..." A soft voice answered the former hokage from just to the right of the gateway. The voice sounded young, but tired and worn. Upon looking, Masahiro would see a small girl-- no older than twenty --slumped against the wall that surrounded his home. Her short black hair was dirty and matted, and her clothes were torn. Across the rips in the shoulders and chest, Masahiro could see the bright red intricate mass of fuin that glowed softly in the shade of the wall.

Torgrita looked up at the Hatake, an exhausted but cocky smirk playing across her lips. Her eyes were still bright despite the bags and dark circles that enshrouded them. They were a dark slate gray in color, and there was a beauty mark just below her right eye. Her canines were sharp and pointed, a fad in Kumogakure some years back called yaeba.

Torgrita forced herself to stand, her muscles straining under her own weight. The unknown fuin pulsed with her strain, causing a gasp to escape her lips. She wore a simple tan sweater with black plants that fitted to her body and black combat boots. It was clear with her stance that her legs were likely to give out at any moment. "Speaking of, any chance you could help me with that? I'd... I-I'd greatly appreciate that. You are, literally, my last hope of living."  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

A soft voice brought the attention of the former Hokage from his musings to the girl who slumped against the entrance to his manor. Distressed and unkempt, matted hair, her clothes torn and shredded. His Sharingan swirled as he looked her over, two different chakra patterns, similar in nature, but just discordant enough that the man could see the difference in them beyond the physical lines. His facial expression contorted as he looked over the lines of the seal, the points of it he could see aligned with what he recalled of the Tenketsu.

"A Fuuinjutsu, hopefully, mislaid by a member of your own family. The chakra nature of it is similar to your own from what I can see of it. The Hatake spoke as he rose to his feet and made his way across the yard to the woman, a hand resting upon her shoulder as she steadied herself.

The more she tried to move and speak the more the fuuinjutsu seemed to strain her, her body weakening and the chakra within her frame faded. The Hatake clenched her shoulder and he pulled her toward him to keep her from falling. She had been in luck, fuuinjutsu had been his specialty, but this acted more akin to juuinjutsu, curse seals. Something on this breadth would not be easy to break. He was not pleased, he knew this was on course to cause many sleepless nights ahead.

"You're in luck, uhm... I'm afraid I don't know your name. You've come to one of the few people best suited to help you in Konoha Forest." He led her to the communal hall, where the family usually came together to greet guests and where they ate together on good days.

Though today he closed the outer doors for her privacy, in case the same being who saddled her with said seal dared to follow her.

"Come, rest, eat and drink with us before we do anything with that seal. You'll need some semblance of strength before I attempt to dislodge or interfere, at all, with that seal." He offered as he took a kettle and pressed a palm to it, activating a container seal within to fill it before placing it upon the hearth boil.

Koresephone

 

[Koresephone]

Wolfe Whitehorn

A rough snort forced itself from Torgrita's nose as Masahiro made his way to her and began to lead her inside. From her own family? She hadn't seen anyone from her own family since she was eight... but it was possible it could have been a family member. An aunt, a cousin, and half sister... Torgrita's cheerful air quickly dissipated as she sunk in to one of the seats at the table. She had wanted to see her family again so bad... was the monster that placed this on her really related to her? "I sure as hell hope it's not a family member..." she mumbled, sinking further down in her seat.

"As for my name... The illustrious Torgrita Kanna Uchiha at your service... Formerly of the Land of Waves, then Kumogakure, then the deep pits of sandy hell in the Land of Wind from age eight to now." Tired slate gray eyes followed Masahiro as he began to make tea. "You're Masahiro, right? I heard some guy talking about you earlier... I was sitting against that wall for longer than I would like to admit..."

Sitting in the chair, Masahiro would be able to get a better look at her. She looked somewhat frail. If Masahiro looked at her chakra network, he would see that the branches furthest from her core had begun to die. They dulled against the technicolor hues of her chakra in till they became nothing, blacked, gone at her fingers and feet. It was evident she had been afflicted with this fuinjutsu for some time. Months, most likely.  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

"The Illustrious." Masahiro quipped as he was asked of his own name, his busy nature around the small tea set before them resulted in several more small seals activated to retrieve cups, a tray of snacks, and a blanket for the girl.

"The chakra signature wrapped over top of yours coincides with, but is not, your own. I saw this kind of seal a lot with the Hyuuga family years ago, when the branches of the family attempted to maintain purity and dominance over one another. But..." The Hatake paused at the thought of the archaic Juuinjutsu. "their method was less than ideal, and it caused intense pain and brain death of its victims when over-applied."

It was a stark realization just how much the village. and its inhabitants, had changed in his forty living years. And just how worrisome this girl's situation was.

"Your seal is deadening your chakra network, or draining it. I won't be able to tell in depth, until I get you down to my lab for a full work-through and diagnostic analysis since I'm not myself a medical shinobi. But, hopefully we can take care of that seal before it does the worst damage."

Koresephone

 

[Koresephone]

Wolfe Whitehorn

Torgrita would take the blanket once handed to her and wrap it around herself before staring up at the ceiling of the room, a frown forming on her lips. It had taken her weeks to get here, weeks to find anyone that could help. Even if Masahiro removed the seal, would he be able to reverse the damage done? Would she ever mold chakra again? All those dreams she had of being a shinobi, of taking revenge for the wrongs placed against her, of seeing her family... they would never come true, would they? Hazel eyes closed slowly and the young woman took in a deep breath.

"If it helps, the seal was placed on me by a scientist-- a medical shinobi." The face of the man was so clearly burned into her mind. She could see him in clear relief against the back of her eyelids. She opened her eyes to make the image go away, opting to once again look at Masahiro. She forced a pained smile, sweat beading on her forehead. "The price of freedom. Freedom from that hell. I'd make the decision a thousand more times. A shortened life is better than a life surrounded by white walls and cold floors."  

[Wolfe Whitehorn]

Koresephone

"Scientist? His work and the feel of his chakra seem more like that of a Madman to me. Someone obsessed with control, dominance, whose methods are literally killing a young woman. Just what I can see shows a depth and complexity that may take a lifetime to unravel, but I can work with you to attempt to give you some semblance of a life again." Masahiro said as he investigated the foundations of the seal.

"This work feels heavy, sloppy, and angry. It reminds me of an inexperienced butcher, but it is also rare. It's a level of complexity and depth not often seen even among the scholarly side of Fuuinjutsu. That's not to say I have not seen similar work, some are even used as readily prepared battle jutsu, designed to draw chakra from opponents. But this is so deeply ingrained." He mused as he looked her over, his eyes settled on the crux of the seals.

"So, tell me a little more about yourself then. I'll need to know more about you and learn about the basis of your personality and chakra network before I can attempt to separate it from this layer of madness." The Hatake opened as he motioned with one hand and a small static discharge rang a series of bells throughout the complex and soon a retainer would enter with an assortment lunch tray.

Masahiro worried that he had taken on a larger promise than he could deliver for this woman, but hope, even if tempered with failure, was better than despair to the end. At least he could try to give her a life to the end.  

[Koresephone]

Wolfe Whitehorn

He wanted to know about her... how much could she tell him? Should she tell him? Torgrita took her thumb nail between her teeth, thinking. She could start with the basics, she guessed. Things that wouldn't end her in trouble. She would have to tell him everything, eventually. The experimentation, the torture, the pain. If she wanted to live, she would have to fight against herself till the last.

"Well, I'm eighteen. Hobbies are not a thing I've been allowed to have, but the seldom few times I've... had time by myself, I've found I liked artistic pursuits. Drawing, sculpting, things of that degree. I don't know much about my family; my parents come from a split branch of Uchiha from Kirigakure. They moved to Kumogakure shortly after I was born. From there... I was taken. I don't remember by who or why."

Torgrita reached down with her free hand and pulled her legs close to her, trying to withdraw on herself as much as possible. Hazel eyes stared at the grout lines in the floor, as if they held the story of her entire life. "From then I was part of a UHV experiment sect. I've spent the past ten years of my life underground. Secluded. Alone. Others with bloodlines that yielded potential kekkei genkai were also there, but they never allowed us to intermingle for long. When the UHV occupation ended, the scientists abandoned the facility-- but by then I was the only subject left alive. They... They placed this ******** seal on me, then left me there to rot."

Anger and fire filled her features, her brow furrowing, her eyes blazing. Her jaw clenched as the man's face came to her once more, his snide smirk, the pmpous air about him. "Even if you escape here, you will never leave. You will never live. That's what they told me before they sealed the doors with me behind them."