Squad #2 (Konran, Shizuka, Akuma & invite)

At the Kuraikage's words and departure, Akuma would laugh a little before smiling and turning to the others. Alec had hit it spot on, if he were honest with himself. He was a sadist, yes, and he was utterly sociopathic. But, that didn't necessarily mean he was cruel at all. Watching his teammates with interest, he noted that they both seemed around his age.

The female was of interest to him due to what Alec had said about her, and not because of her admittedly alluring appearance. She was on the smaller side, wearing an eyepatch over one of her blood-red eyes. Silvery hair hung down to her butt, and a black bikini covered the parts of her that would be impolite to stare at. Not that Akuma minded being impolite, but it would be better not to be.

The other male wore a khaki shirt left open to reveal a black wife-beater beneath, and cargo pants with a pair of combat boots to top it all off. A pair of dog tags hung around his neck, suggesting more to the story behind his parents' mistreatment. Drugs and such to enhance combat prowess? Not that Akuma hadn't heard of people doing it, he had just never seen the need to. His brain was already fucked up enough.

"Well, I wonder what this Kurai will be able to teach us? I can't learn much other than Fuuinjutsu and Taijutsu. Maybe Ninjutsu too, but I've never actually tried. Like Alec said, my clan is unique. We have a hereditary lust for pain, and are all a little messed up in the head, to varying degrees. I'm more of a high-functioning sociopath, myself, but I'll still go crazy if I don't get hurt or hurt something. Our clan's Kekkei Genkai, I guess you could call it, lets us survive almost anything and still be able to fight. Seriously, the only way to kill us is to cut off our heads or destroy our hearts. I wanted to let you guys know that so that you didn't freak out anytime in the future."

And with that, Akuma pulled out a kunai and started spinning it. He considered writing more Kanji on his arm, but it would be difficult to transcribe it in front of people. So far, he had the entirety of the Art of War written on his left arm in scarification, starting on the inside of the bicep and running all the way down to his wrist. On the other side he had "Sin" and "Pleasure" written side by side. They were new, just turning to skin color from the pinkish they were last week. The trick was not to cut too deep, and to hook it just right. For the more intricate patterns, he would use a scalpel while larger patterns he could get away with something bigger.

WC: 966

Alec just seemed to re-appear with how fast he ran back to the mansion. This wasn't the actual Alec, but just a clone. He came to a stop and let out a breath.

"Change in plans," he said. "...Kurai isn't available at this point in time, so until he is, we'll have to go about things differently. This meeting was just an assesment of your skillsets. Konran, Shizuka, the two of you were pushed harder than Akuma, so as it stands now you'd have to slow yourselves in order for him to be able to keep up with you two. So for now, the two of you report to the dock area. You'll receive further instructions there."

Alec turned to Akuma. "Akuma while you were trained and brought up in the manner that you were, While I will admit you have an admirable level of chakra for your age, it's not quite on par with Shizuka and not even in the range of Konran. So what i'll need you to do for now is train yourself. Get faster, stronger. Increase your ability to withstand punishment. Train your eyes. Increase your chakra. I also want you to do some jobs around the village, make a name for yourself. This will prove that you actually want to be a part of this. Someone will be watching you no matter where you are in the Kurayami region, and your performance will be evaluated. So, keep that in mind."

With nothing else to say, the clone vanished into smoke.

/Exit/

Konran was silent. Sometimes he'd look at the girl, and sometimes he'd give a glance to Akuma. So, these were his teammates.

Akuma started talking. He said he wondered what Kurai would teach them, and that there wouldn't be much he could learn besides Fuuinjutsu and fighting techniques; perhaps some Ninjutsu too. He said the Jashin's were unique like Alec had said. Pain and blood... he admitted to being messed up in the head, and to being a sociopath, and also having to hurt himself or be in the position to hurt someone else or risk going crazy. This is what made Konran frown some, and begin to think being on a squad with someone like this was going to be a problem. The hurting himself/hurting others explained why he had named and phrases carved into his skin. Akuma said the only way someone in his clan could die would be to cut their heads off or to destroy the heart. He said he wanted to inform them so there were no misunderstandings in the future.

Then he was pulling out a weapon. Konran almost instantly had out the Shift Blade while jumping back into a defensive stance. It had been hard-wired into him; when a weapon came out, Konran went on the defensive. Especially with what he just revealed. Konran didn't know if he'd really truly be able to trust him.

"...."

Konran was debating on what to do. The notion that this squad was turning into a bad idea was interrupted when Alec returned. He said Kurai wasn't available at the moment, and brought up how Shizuka and himself had been pushed harder than Akuma was. They would have to go slower so that Akuma would be able to keep up, that much was true. So he and Shizuka were being sent to the docks, where they would get further instructions. This seemed fine with him, so sheathing the Shift Blade again Konran, after seeing that Alec wasn't Alec, but simply a shadow clone of him, began walking down the path back towards the village while keeping a cautious eye out for Akuma.

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[Exit]

"......" Reaction. That's all it was. A weapon came out from an individual who admitted that he was a sociopath, who admitted that he liked pain - both giving and receiving it. This was an example of the kind of individuals from her past that she had had to put down: the kind of people who would have killed her would they been given a chance. It was a simple flight or fight instinct now: and flight was never an option.

Her hand went to her sheathed weapon with a high amount of speed due to years of training, unclipping it instantly. With a burst of chakra and a flick of her wrist a series of clicks were let off as what had been a tiny box turned into a full blown gunscythe which was aimed point blank at Akuma. Shizuka didn't speak, she didn't even give any outward sign of attempting to communicate: she spoke with her weapon and the message was clearly 'try something and die'. She had no trust for the sadist: she didn't know much of him, only what he had just admitted to and what he had just said didn't make him look all that great of an individual.

It was then that she noticed Alec Kane, or rather what would later turn out to be his clone. He said that Konran and herself were more advanced than Akuma, and because of this the two of them were to report to the docks. Akuma, meanwhile, would have to undergo some more training, to get stronger before he could work with them. It was fine with her: working with a psychopath wasn't exactly going to be fun.

Still with no word she would free her scythe, the tip of which had been embedded into the earth, and twirl it expertly before placing it on her shoulder. She would take several steps backwards and away from Akuma, not wanting to present her open back to the other individual, before she would turn and follow after Konran. Even as she left she kept an untrusting eye on Akuma: waiting for him to try and stop one of both of them, waiting for him to attack.


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