Birth of the Hyakki Yakko Chapter Five String Murderer and Courtesan (age, 12, 3 months after Ibaraki Douji)
He had always liked playing with string. Whenever he was not training or doing what was necessary for life, he played with string. Fiddling with it, toying with it, even manipulating it with his chakra.
After That Night, he became obsessed with string, he carried massive amounts of it with him everywhere. He was always fiddling with it. Even when training he was playing with string, even it was not quite string, Ninja Wire was almost as good.
Then, he discovered a new obsession, another Academy Student, Haruno Sakura, had suffered an event similar to his... Her family was prone to every type of insanity there was. And one day, her uncle, went mad... her uncle had been the only member of the family judged stable enough to undergo shinobi training... his break from reality was all the worse for it... in the end, fully half of her family was dead before their screams alerted the ANBU. After all, an insane Chuunin does not kill with the same precision as an ANBU Captain in full control.
His twin obsessions led to him spending almost no time in his house... there simply was not enough room for the masses and masses of string he collected, nor did Sakura want to enter the Compound where a massacre so much larger than her own had occurred.
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She sang, she danced, she dressed wonderfully, she wore make up, she recited poetry, she played instruments. And she did it all to fill the hole left in her life because of what her uncle did. She became a Courtesan in every way one her age could. Because it felt freeing, to simply stop worrying about anything but having fun, and ensuring those around her were having fun.
In a short time, the one she had previously been crushing on, Uchiha Sasuke, decided to take notice of her. She finally had some one to take note of her skills. She was... Happy? She thought so... but her parents thought that she was merely content. But for a Haruno, even just that was rare enough that everyone else was Happy for her.
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“The Flow of Fear through Nuega-Ike is increasing.” Commented Hagoromo Gitsune.
“It is to be expected, Hagoromo, the number of Tales told and believed are increasing as well. And, with them, the number of Ayakashi generating more Tales. And ever increasing Cycle until equilibrium is reached” Replied Nurarihyon, still the most knowledgeable, despite not knowing where much of that knowledge came from.
“Hmmm, still, there was a recent jump, there are new Ayakashi within Konoha.” replied Hagoromo.
“Hoh... interesting, we shall have to see if we can recruit them...”
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String Flew as Hair Coiled, Fear Danced. They Danced, well, She danced, he just Fought. But Battle is a Dance all its own. And he was as close to being a master of it as a child of his age could be. String and Hair, Murder and Courtesan. Soon, both were caught by the other.
“Heh, another tie.”
“Don't feel bad, if you used everything...”
“Sure, I would win, but you would be dead... at least with my strings you do not burn up like a piece of hair.”
“True, true... still, why do you always fall for that trick...”
“You are just good at it... it is your specialty after all.”
“Heh, true enough.”
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“Hoh... So, these are the new Ayakashi... so carefree, neh Shoukera?” Commented Nurarihyon from his perch on a low hanging branch.
“They certainly are, Soutaicho, but, I doubt they know what they are...” replied Shoukera from across the clearing.
“Who... who are you.... what do you mean?” asked the female of the two on the ground.
“I am Nurarihyon, the Soutaicho of Ayakashi within Konoha, and you, happen to be Ayakashi. You may have just become Ayakashi recently, but I doubt it, you were after all, using your 'Fears' rather effectively in that little Spar.”
“Ayakashi?”
“Beings born of the 'Fears' of Humans, some strong, some weak, some long lived, some short lived, some all but immortal, some easy to kill... provided a condition is met.” answered Shoukera to her questioning tone.
“Born, of humans 'Fears'... does that mean that my Brother fears this form?” asked the male.
“No, 'Fear' is merely an encompassing term for 'Acknowledgment' and 'Belief'. However, many modern Ayakashi are born of Humans, and frequently, it is the Fear of the Human the Ayakashi was born from that is manifested.” Replied Nurarihyon, not having moved.
“I see...”
String flew, Hair Coiled... Black flames burned and bug wings hummed.
“Hoh... so you want to fight, I suppose we can test you right now, to see how well you have mastered your Fear.”
String danced from fingers, Hair swirled, disguising his motions and shielding them from attack. Then, in black flame, Nurarihyon vanished... and Sasuke felt cold steel at his neck.
“Test over... you are pretty good... but you have yet to fully become Kubinashi and Kejouro. You have only begun to walk their path.”
“Wha...”
“Come, exchange Sakazuki with me, become my subordinates, and I will teach you what you must learn to follow your path to its completion.”
“We are not Ayakashi... or whatever you think we are...”
“Oh no... then, does this not feel familiar...” Nurarihyon asked as he released his Fear, releasing a portion of it upon them.
“Yes... it does... why, does it matter.”
“This is the Fear of an Ayakashi, this, is what you have been using to manipulate your strings and hair. And, what marks you as Ayakashi.”
“Tch... alright, we will become your subordinates...”
(Posted Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:25)
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