It's been two big weeks since I started dealing with Gura's mental problems and... Not gonna lie, I think I made a breakthrough in both her and my case.
Still, let's try to be a bit more specific on the matter: Gura's situation was nothing short of a clusterfuck. No matter how one tried to perceive her through her 'surface personality', it became apparent early on how the girl just had two sets of attitudes. A first one meant to be used as a 'focus' to express normality and 'humanity', and a second one, a 'deep one', which was deeply sealed away willingly and unconsciously at the same time. I was a bit surprised when that 'difference' came up. Gura tried her best to appear 'fine' before others, but the cracks of her traumatic years went a bit beyond just 'her brother was bad'. The things she did- while her consciousness didn't catch up with the feelings tied to the notion that she had been forced to do these things, her physical reaction suggested she did feel something 'subconscious'. She felt guilt, shame, desperation and... hope.
Hope in death.
Not what I expected when I pressed Gura on why she wanted me to kill her. And it put things through a rather unpleasant perspective: Gura was so 'defeated' as a living being, that death felt as the best option. It felt so cold and unforgiving, so horribly self-loathing- and yet... I couldn't blame her for coming up with such a notion. Her brain had been controlled for years, her life not hers, her current situation 'borrowed' in certain aspects by the one that was manipulating her. Did she even dress like this before she got mind-controlled? Did she behave like this? Did she have the same likes? As I've already mentioned, the cracks weren't as light as I expected those to be.
Two weeks weren't going to do much in terms of setting her straight for a recovery- heck, I would be lying if I said I even made much progress with how tight-lipped the girl was with these topics. I had to dance around the subjects and make sure that she still spoke to me and not take it so personal to keep quiet the entire day. I tried, I did my best in these two weeks, but I could tell that she was worse than I was in terms of trauma. And I had just made a good breakthrough which barely set me half-way into a 'solution' to my problem.
Deep meditation allowed me to tap into more aspects of my soul. Not something pleasant at first since the 'taint' left behind by the notion of 'killing' other living beings had stuck around a lot. I tried to reason with that unease, to ignore it- but for some reason it tugged at me whenever I got too close to it. More meditation ensued, and more enlightenment came out of it. Specifically on training with Senjutsu. I made a big step into unlocking my Sage Mode but... I could barely hold it for just a few seconds before being forced to let go of the Nature Chakra. For some odd reasons, my body just rejected the Nature Chakra after a while, possibly because I wasn't trained well enough in having it in my body. I had the mental grasp on it, I knew the right amount to fit in my body, but my own body just wasn't experienced with it long enough to handle the stress behind its use.
So yeah, progress and not-progress. Hence why I decided to get someone else involved to help me on the matter. Someone I was quick to regret asking because of how persisting he was on a specific topic tied to setting his sibling with me as a potential wife.
"My sister could have handled this well enough," Hirotada argued politely, trying his best to be convincing and yet not pushy. Sadly, the notion itself was pushy enough for me.
"I need someone that looks at me to help, not ogle," I remarked flatly, causing the Hyuga heir to huff as he calmly studied my chakra flow. "Also, how is it now?"
After I said that, I proceeded to finally open my eyes and show him that both were now glowing yellow instead of black. Yeah, it's not a Doujutsu so I wasn't exactly expecting anything too complex in that regard. Hirotada gave me a full look, grasping at all sections of my chakra while appearing relatively surprised by the sight of Nature Chakra. Eventually that control faltered within seconds, and the boy nodded.
"So?"
"Your body is not accustomed to it just yet," He confirmed my theory. "I would say you just need to train some more with that kind of Chakra and... quick question, what is that?"
I blinked. "I'm training with Nature Chakra. Kind of like normal chakra but this one is denser and, sometimes, more troublesome to handle."
"And?"
"And if I get hold of its full power, then I can get a boost out of it. Similar to how the Hokage has his own 'Sage mode' where he attains power from Nature itself."
Hirotada's eyes widened up to the size of platters. "You... what?!"
"Hmm?"
"Don't 'hmm' me! What do you mean that you can do that too?"
I gave him a brief explanation. He didn't look satisfied, but I could tell that wasn't something his clan wouldn't have condoned. One thing was to rely on Elemental Jutsus, while another was relying on 'others' that weren't Hyuga. Yes, despite the good progress in pushing for the removal of the Caged Bird seal practice, some people were still being stiff pricks with no interest in changing for the best. With time that was going to change, but I doubted it was going to be happening anytime soon. Meanwhile I just relied on keeping good relations with Hirotada and his dad with the process of 'changing things for good'.
Not only that, but I decided to spend more time with Yoshiko and Reira. The former was dealing with some intense training under Mito. Ever since she got out of her short depression period that was dealt with affection, cuddles and shoulders to cry on, the little redhead had put an extra effort to train so she could be ready to 'take her inheritance' as Lady of Uzushio. It felt incredibly serious coming from the girl, but I had no reason to tell her she was wrong. Not when it was the truth. Yoshiko was expected to fill up that role once she hit 15, the minimum age which was considered adulthood in most of the continent. And yes, that 'loose law' was definitely going to bite me somehow once I reached teenagehood, but for now I focused on living my 'childhood' as romance-free as possible.
Sadly, that proved to not be possible with Reira putting a serious effort to get somewhere with her chances to seduce me. I don't even think it was something she had been coerced to by her parents as she had already said it was all her in that regard. Did it make it any better? Nope. And that's what really worried me. One thing was to mentally tell her no and be done with it, another was to have a body of someone going through puberty and starting to 'see' things in a different perspective. And if my 'childish' brain was picking up a sense of attraction from the female Uchiha which was instantly shot down by my adult self, I was definitely going to have trouble the moment I ended up facing Kaguya again.
Ah yes, puberty is trying to screw me again in my new life. What an unexpected development...
Still, ignoring these awkward circumstances, I had gotten back to my standard life of going out for missions around the village, by the outskirts or by the smaller settlements around. Nothing too extreme, and things were pretty calm considering I was handling multiple stuff at once. As usual. Still, I think that Hashirama was directly moving to give me 'mediocre missions' as I had heard a few issues unfolding by the northern border. With the Land of Rice Fields slowly descending in one of its first civil wars, some troublemakers had started to raise hell beyond the border and had forced the Daimyo to dispatch more people by the border to keep the issue from worsening. It persisted, but things were under control for the time being.
I bet I could have done something to stop the issue altogether.
I did think of asking, but I decided against bringing this up to Hashirama. Thing is that I did mention something like that to Madara and... that may or may not have landed me in that string of silly and disappointing missions. It was still stuff for me to do as I wasn't being outright deprived of the chances to be in action, but it seriously left me upset at the notion my age was stunting my chances of being further away from the village. It wasn't even a matter of hating being stuck in Konoha, but I felt 'suppressed' by being forced to take on lighter missions on the basis that I was too young and the prospect of breaking my mind up by being pushed into danger.
I wasn't made of glass- and yes, I understood where that worry was coming from, but I was a fucking shinobi with a fucking potential to kick asses when necessary. If there is a problem which could threaten the peace I was living in, then I wished to be given the chance of solving it at once. No mercy, no hesitation, just drill the troops at the border and let them do their work. That's all- I wasn't even planning to pull any radical against the Land of the Rice Fields, now that I knew too little of the situation to pull any suggestions on how to help the 'right side' to win that conflict.
Soon that desire to help turned into something a bit more general and less specific: I wanted to do something that wasn't just wandering around Konoha and help with simple things others could do already. And something like that happened. Hashirama had ultimately decided to test me out by sending me in a slightly 'bigger' mission as he called it. C-Rank Mission out of Konoha with the purpose of investigating and detaining a murderer, I was to visit the Land of Waves to check a few things tied to some mysterious disappearings and deaths. Nothing too suspicious since bandits were still a problem in these lands and I could tell that I was going to have an easy time with how the parameters were. I expected some more heat due to the 'infamous setting' having a thing for surprises tied to ninja-related missions.
I just didn't expect things to get as intense as they did.
The trip was a bit lengthy, but lacking any issues in the middle of the path.
No ambushes, no bandits, not even any merchant wandering this road. That last one struck me odd as I knew that activities between the Waves and Konoha were still active and quite intense due to how reliant the former was on Konoha's own resources. I used this quiet walk to study more about what the mission's details were. It's been a week now since a strange line of murders have been unfolding. When the first victim was found, the news was received as some vicious animal had been behind the heinous deed. Nothing unusual beyond putting more guards around to keep things clean.
Then more people turned out dead. The second and third were found around the same time in different parts of town, each missing their tongues and their eyes. Finally, a fourth victim came up and it cemented the idea that there was a killer on the loose. The old man that was last killed was found in his home, alone. The doors and windows hadn't been forced open, so the killer had to be trusted by the old man... and that much trust had been misplaced from the fact the victim was found lying on the table in his living room, chest cut open and missing heart, lungs and other organs.
It had been a clean job, but it hadn't been the only thing that had caused panic. While the murder was enough of a reason to hire a shinobi, the other issue appeared to be tied to some clues which had been considered fairly 'upsetting' in their nature. It was already setting up to be quite an interesting mystery to solve and I never thought I would have been set up to become a detective just like that. And I have to say, I was surprised when things started relatively chill, with the head of the Land, a humble carpenter, who had a young child that bore a familiar name.
Hello lil' Tazuna.
I decided against trying to establish any contact with the brat. It wasn't Inari, he didn't have any issue that would really compel me to try any of that. After all, I had a mission to take care of. Speaking with the future bridge-builder's father, I learned a few things about the Land of the Waves. It was considered Konoha's prime fish exporter, second only to Uzushio in terms of production and thus received an economic boon in the form of merchants visiting to gain sea-related things at a fairly reasonable price before selling it back to Konoha at slightly higher prices. I was a bit surprised by this detail as I could clearly remember Konoha having no dependence on fishing. Then, I realized that this could be tied to the idea that Konoha may have switched to a more direct acquisition of seafood through its coastal region after the fall of Uzushio. Maybe the fright of losing another seafood exporter nation due to how weak they were on the map had forced them to outright cut on that dependence.
Nonetheless, I focused my attention on the case at hand. After sharing a few cordial topics with the leader of the settlement, I managed to get the serious bit rolling and give me more insight on the matter. Which also prompted me being led to the house where this last murder happened. I was given a description similar to the one I knew already of this spree, but I was also given a few details that added more perspective on the matter: the first victim was found by the town's outskirts, thus the idea that his body had been mauled by a feral animal had been legitimate. The other two had been odd cases that had some people doubt it was a matter of animals due to the setting and the way those corpses were recovered. The missing tongues had a few guards convince the rest it was just someone 'taking revenge' against these two. The victims themselves were fishermen which had debts with many people, so it was truly that improbable they ran into trouble with someone that wasn't willing to deal with their unwillingness to pay.
Finally, the last victim. Old man, around sixty. He was considered the wise man of the village. Nothing that could explain some 'revenge' against him. Yet, there was something else to keep in mind. The fact that the elder had lamented 'missing a book' just a few days before the killing started. He never explained which book or why that was important to recover 'at all cost'. Ninomae Masami was a man that had lived a full life as an explorer and literature expert. He wrote poems, and he had sought many pieces of literature- some of which are common sights on book shops and some so rare that they were unknown to fellow experts. His wife passed away when she conceived their only son and then his son passed away with his wife while living in one of the houses located far from the normal borders. A 'hermit house' as many had called it, and that departure caused by bandits that were passing by led to Masami to outright retreat from social life on most occasions.
Nothing really telling on any enemy or threats aimed at him. He was just too detached and poor to be considered a pleasant target by debt-collectors and thieves alike. There was just nothing that could have sparked any interest in having him killed. At least, that was what the surface investigation confirmed. Then some of the people that were checking the place started to explore for anything that had been stolen. Some books were missing from their shelves, a couple of those having been torn apart from the mess of torn paper from those and scrolls that had been piled up in the long table by the library room.
Yet, the worst had yet to unfold as I was finally taken to the place where it was confirmed that something sinister was afoot. The attic. It wasn't unusual in houses like that one, with the Waves' leader confirming he had a dusty old place like that back in his house. Nothing suspicious at first glance, but then that changed when one got inside and had the chance to see what was inside of it. Paintings, drawings, doodles and a terrible stench. The drawings- I... I was speechless. I don't know how long I stood put- how long I stared at the abominations that had been left behind by either the victim or the murderer. The sight had me shocked, eyes wide open as I recognized what I was looking at. In part. The villagers were unnerved too, at least those that saw them. The fright was evident, but it was less driven by knowledge and more by ignorance. Primal fear, caused by just paper and ink. Or... what I perceived as ink at first.
My nostrils finally processed the hideous stench wasn't some cheap ink going fool. It wasn't ink. It was...
"Blood," I muttered, my brain finally getting through the horror I was witnessing. "It's all... blood."
The sheer amount of 'ink' and the way the blood was pitch black- this wasn't just a killer on the loose. There was a cultist around. And I doubt it was Hidan behind this shit. Not when the subject of most of these drawings was a monster. Pure black in its frame, with empty white eyes. I thought the white was the same color as the paper, but it was somewhat whiter. How? I couldn't tell on the spot and I refused to study these any further. In fact, I decided to deal with those at once.
Some of the guards were surprised when I retrieved all papers, sparing them not a single look as I pulled the entire thing outside and lit all of that on fire with a Fireball. Sure, it sounded quite the extreme reaction to just some creepy drawing- but those weren't just that. The way they were 'pulling' at me was unnatural, wrong- those weren't normal papers. And as the fire consumed them and destroyed what they represented, I felt my capacity to breathe less tedious. I didn't even notice, but I had been struggling to breath for a while. No more as the papers were no longer there to haunt that place.
After that assessment, I disposed of some harsh orders that had to be taken as I dealt with this case. There was a cultist, maybe multiple of those, lurking around and claiming victim for some demonic summoning ritual that could genuinely cause trouble. I don't know how it was possible, but it was happening and I had some strict rules to enforce. First, there had to be a curfew. Once a certain hour struck, everyone had to be back in their homes and close everything down. Second, if someone asks for a place to stay, refuse them outright. No matter if they looked old and weary, or even children. Especially children. When I brought this last bit up, I was pressed on why that was important and I provided them with a committed response.
"Whoever killed Masami-san was someone he felt the need to not consider a threat. And it could have been someone passing as a child. They are not real children, but bear that appearance. Genjutsu is, after all, a technique viable to someone with this kind of skills," I reasoned, trying to grasp my mind over what else to keep up with.
Never stray out far from the village, seek shelter by the local bar if anyone can't get back home in time- don't be alone at all costs and keep everything closed shut with no means of anyone entering. It sounded extreme, but they listened without putting much resistance. Those that were judging this kind of ruling were among those that had seen the drawings. They knew that whatever was driving me to act this harshly was nothing they could challenge on their own. With the new rules established, I proceeded to waste the whole night looking around for anything suspicious. I wasn't planning to keep quiet and let another murder unfold, so I tried my best to try and find the culprit through the whole night. No rest, no break- I was patrolling left and right through the settlement and... nothing. I had this itching feeling something wrong was wandering around, but I couldn't pinpoint where it came from.
The new morning came and I got the chance to check with the villagers. No one had died or gone missing, however some people had to bring up odd instances where someone was banging at their door quite incessantly. I took note of this for the next night, understanding that whoever was behind this kind of attack didn't have access to the village's own news as they weren't aware of what kind of rules had been set up. Whoever was behind this could now understand that something was up, but not do much about it but go forth with their usual plans. And I had to catch them before they caused any trouble. With that in mind, I ate some snacks for breakfast and went to sleep early. The guest room I was provided was triple-checked to be devoid of any way-ins with how many seals I placed down. I was going to find out if someone tried to get inside the place somehow. And with the tiredness finally kicking in, I planned to catch myself some rest and hopefully enjoy enough sleep hours to handle the next long night.
How wrong I was...
This wasn't my classic dreamscape with Kaguya.
That was something that became apparent as soon as I started to look around for my surroundings. I was in a forest, it was winter but there was no snow around. It was cold- so cold and yet so upsetting. Why? I looked around some more, and then I saw something was casting a shadow over me- something was covering the sun. My sight snapped to the source of this issue and my jaw dropped as I saw it. And it was as terrifying as I had expected it to be. A being of tendrils and tentacles, dark-purple, standing ominous as its frame was contained through two pairs of angelic wings. The upper pair spread open, while the lower one enclosing its figure. Its 'face' held two pairs of eyes, both shining a chilling orange shade. Behind it a dull-gold halo stretched and covered most of its frame. I was stunned, but not enough to be unprepared for when it actually spoke.
Y̷̩͚̺̞͐̃ò̸̠͜ū̴̡̦̪́̓̄ ̸̨͙̹̱͌͂̆r̵͕̙̦̂͆ė̵̙̼̒̂e̷̺͜͠k̶͓͓̗̪̈̂͘͠ ̶͚̩̩̼͝ò̴̜̤̥̋͠f̶̠͎͎̍̀̀ ̸̲͈͙̲̂̊͋ș̸̣̽i̴̛͓͂̌n̷̲̫͋͐̕
"What?" I muttered quietly and, to my surprise, it 'spoke' again.
̵̯͔̠̙̚Y̴̡̦̆o̶̼͎̕ṷ̷̏͗̿ ̸͎͋̎͑̾r̸͈͌̕͘ĕ̴̲̹͉e̶͙̒k̷͉͑̄́ ̷̡̙̘̽͆́ö̵͖́͋̈́̒f̷̥͉̩̾̄ ̷̮̟̻̮́̾̓b̵̹͝l̶̬̻̀ö̸̧̯̞̙́́o̴͍̠͑̊̕͝d̸͚̱̓
"No- I- That's-"
̷̺̯̙́̌̈́Ý̷̗̹̦͗õ̵̳̞̹͜ũ̴̫͎̭̝͌r̸̘̠̤̙̓͌ ̵̛̘̤͛̚̕s̵̺͈̍̌͠ó̵̠͕̘̣́̌u̴̠͚̙͒̚ĺ̸͙͕̀͆͝ ̴̗̊͋̆̑i̸̱͌͆͘̕ş̷̺̤͚̐̐͌̀ ̶͙͋̋̓͠t̸̨̡͕́͛̈́ả̶̹̞͛́í̷͍͙͛̄n̸̜͖͑̏̂t̷̳̍͝e̷̥͇̩̐ḍ̶́̽͜͝
"..."
̴̗̋̚ȃ̵͙̝̜̞̀͋n̵͍̩̏̎͒ͅd̶̻̬̑ ̵̥̬̈͋́͘ŷ̸͍̤̞ȩ̶͈̜̤̐̐t̷̗̺̮͗̾̒ ̴̩̤̯̩̿̐́̕n̴͕̱͇͇̽͆̆͌o̸̻͈̹̥̓̃͠t̸̩̆
"A-Are you Chtulhu?"
̵̻͈͛ņ̵̩̊͆̾o̴̖̲̖̝͊̀̐̚
"A Drowned God?"
̶̢̛̛̭͇̙̀͊n̸̨͎̘̠̈́̈́̋͐ǫ̶̲̗͗͘͝
"An Ancient One?"
y̶̜̻̌̓̄ȩ̵̙̣̫́̎͊s̵͓̽?̵̗͙̭̻͌͒̑
"What are you!?"
I̴̕͜͝'̶͎̳͉̐͛̀̾m̸̲̬̺̪̎̚ ̸̬̉m̸͇̠͎̀̅o̸̧̩̍̒n̷̞͌ụ̷̗̘̍m̵̗̊̈̄̈́ẻ̴͈͍n̴̹̥̲͇̒t̷̛̠̪̙̊͛͋ ̷͙̦͉̓ͅt̶̜͌͂͛̄ō̴̥͜͠ ̴͙̹͌͛y̵̹̙̙̳̓͂̆͠o̸̳̹͝u̴̖͒́r̷̲͕̀͊̌͝ ̷̩͎͛d̷͉͍̗̩̿ë̸̛͓́̃͊ś̶̤̞̭͗̈́̇p̵͍̣̺̻͝a̴̙͚͊͂̊͌í̵̡͖͉̞̂͝͝r̷͙͒̑̀̊,̷̩͕̾ ̵̠̈́m̴̨͎͎̀̉õ̴̪͈r̵͇͊t̸͍̟͇͖͛͋a̸̗͖̕l̴̨͙̊̍͗͌ͅ ̴̳̮͔̿͒̕ͅi̴̦̤̗̅̈́̄n̶̤̼̺̮̄v̷̱̀a̷̝̬̤̋̇͐͆d̴̩̿ē̶̮͍̰͝r̴͈̉
...Fuck that.
I swiftly unleashed my Sharingan as the tendrils started to drill faster through the trees, trying to catch up to me. Just as my Doujutsu was unleashed, I felt extreme pressure. The eye had caught the anomaly and I was instantly working on removing the problem altogether. The eldritch creature quivered in what felt pain as its presence was being rejected. My Sharingan burned through the process, and I lost some hope as the tentacles didn't stop in their advance for a while and... then they stopped. The creature let out a mind-cracking roar and I felt its presence ejected the very moment I woke up.
Eyes wide open, drool pouring out of my mouth and my head burning in the worst headache possible. That... I had to hunt down the cause of this. Whatever I faced wasn't something I could deal with anymore. This cult had to be put down at all costs. But while I was so confident about this kind of matter, there were two questions which continued to drill into my poor head.
How did an Ancient God find its way here? And why this dimension?!