Chapter 69 - Arc X: True Form- Chapter 3

The two took off, clashing a few times, testing each other, until they collided with a resounding ‘bang!’ in the center of the genjutsu paradise. Balls of red and black fire rained down from the sky as Yuji’s two selves met in lethal combat. Each cut yielded not blood but fire, either red from Yuji or black from his mirror-self. The cuts healed instantly and hurt little. This wasn’t about killing- this was about dominance. Yuji needed to overcome his demons, while his demons tried to overcome his growing influence.

I can do this! Yuji thought, genuinely feeling a ray of hope. I’m going to do this!

Yuji’s mirror self felt the optimism and courage Yuji displayed, and smiled, drawing a black sword from his waist.

“Well then, Yuji. It comes to this. Can you, as ‘Heaven’s Temper’, defeat me- the self that would have been? The self that may still be? To defeat me is not to silence me, but to accept me. Do you understand?”

Yuji nodded, again grim. “Yes, I do. It means that I will never eradicate you completely. You are me; I am you. Two sides of the same coin. However, I get to decide who is ‘heads’ and who is ‘tails’.”
Yuji smirked.
“That about sum it up?”

His counterpart gave another genuine smile. “Yes. To win here today is to damn yourself to constant vigilance. Because I’m not satisfied as being ‘tails’. You have momentum today- will that carry the rest of your life?”

“You know, I don’t believe you have to be a part of me. I think I can win. I think that the people who tell me I can’t are wrong. Even when I’m the one saying it.”
Yuji drew his own sword- much like the one he used to carry in the real world, though this one was far more ornate and damaging. It felt like a feather in his hand, and the hilt fit his palm like no other. He held the sword out with one hand, pointing at his mirror-self.
“I will defeat you. You’ve ruled enough of my life. It’s time I took control.”

Yuji put the sword up in an overhead position. His mirror counterpart did the same thing. They both narrowed their eyes and nodded, kicking off red and black fire.

That was when Naruto and Sakura chose to enter. Amazed; no, beyond amazed, they watched Yuji clash with himself. They couldn’t tell which was the ‘real’ Yuji. But they knew enough not to interfere.

Yuji (red), the real Yuji, made his cut, passing off on the side of Yuji (black), the demon Yuji. Red Yuji’s left shoulder was cut. Black Yuji…

“Control is yours. For now, ‘Ten no Kishootsu’. Master your power- and mine.”

The demon Yuji exploded into a million fragments. Black balls of fire stained the pristine landscape, burning all it touched.

“Bastard. Couldn’t have just died quietly,” Yuji murmured, smiling despite his complaint. For once, he felt it. Power. Control. Over himself. Something most people had felt everyday and took for granted now belonged to Yuji. For one who ached to belong but didn’t now how to do it, it was the ultimate prize.

Yuji raised one hand, drawing in the black fire balls. They coated him for a moment, covering even his wings. Slowly, controlled, he let himself fall back to ‘earth’.

His hair lost it’s black color, returning to it’s normal dark brown. His skin lost it’s red tint, returning to its usual pale state. Other than that, Yuji didn’t change again. The power he radiated stayed. And the smile on his face remained.
--
-

Sakura and Naruto remained speechless as Yuji tied the curse bindings inside his stomach without twinging from pain or discomfort.

“Oh, hi! Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean to ignore you. I just wanted to finish that,” he told them simply. “We can get out of here now, if you want.”

They weren’t in any rush. This was the best place for the discussion they had in mind.

“Master Jiriaya asked me to remind you of your promise from a few months ago…” Sakura’s voice held a note of question, wondering about the contents of this promise. It quickly dawned on Yuji that she could only be talking about one thing.

“Right, right, I did promise that…” he muttered. He took a few moments to breathe deeply. When he was composed, he turned to Naruto.

“You should take that training, Naruto. Sage Jutsu will be handy, if not necessary. I promise to look after Sakura. Look, but not touch,” Yuji added. “You know I’m nothing if not a man of my word. You need that training; Sakura needs company. I won’t do anything I wouldn’t do in front of you.”

Naruto still looked a little apprehensive, and was more than a little distracted over the power Yuji had just displayed. God knew there were questions he wanted to ask. But he contented himself with just listening for now.

“Oh, there’s one other thing that helps this situation,” Sakura noted. “Shoki wants to learn medical ninjutsu from me. With your permission, I’ll train him. That’ll keep me busy for a little while.”

Sakura turned to Naruto, forgetting that Yuji was with them for the moment.

“It would only be for a little while, and I won’t love you any less, you know. I’ve stuck with you this long, haven’t I?”

Yuji mentally distanced himself from this conversation, dreaming about having such a loyal girl waiting patiently for him. ‘Heaven’s Temper’ may have been complete, but Yuji was not. Not yet.
--
--
With Sakura training Shoki for a few hours a day now, Yuji was spending an increasing amount of time with the remains of Team Kakashi. He and Yamato wound up sparring a lot, while Kakashi observed, offering advice to Yuji and occasionally Yamato. Yuji loved this, as it was the first time since the Third Hokage that he’d had a real teacher.

At one stoppage, when he and Yamato were toweling off and drinking water, Kakashi ambled over, looking at Yuji closely with his Sharingan eye.

“Something’s different about you. A different level of power. A change in chakra…”

Yuji gave a genuine smile. “Glad you noticed. Care for a demo? I don’t think I’ve shown you or Yamato-senpai this yet…”
--
--

Shoki rubbed his eyes, pawing at the bright dots swimming before his eyes. Those surgery lights were bright as all heck, especially when the rest of the emergency room was so dim.

Sakura had showed him a few basic techniques. Chakra Scalpel, Poison Removal, Healing Palm, and so on. The boy picked up the techniques with relative ease. They had started at eight in the morning or so. By noon, Shoki’s eye hurt. By one, he realized there was a real problem.

So that’s what the scroll meant… he thought, leaning against a surgical table. He could hear Sakura in the distance, even though she was right next to him.

“Don’t worry. I knew it was coming,” Shoki told her. “In the scroll. The one about my eye. It’s ‘evolving’.”
I might have said I knew it was coming, but that’s not right. I knew it was possible. I never thought I would get my eye to that level, though. It’s all theory. The scroll said ‘mastery of the three disciplines will enable growth’. If medicine is one discipline, and combat another, what is the third I‘m supposed to have mastered?

After a few minutes, the spell had passed. Shoki’s eye now had three pupils, one in each diamond (or half-diamond). His vision was unchanged, however. The change was merely cosmetic at this point. But Shoki knew that his eye was not done evolving yet. The only thing he knew for certain was that the end result was not something that had been document effectively. No one had successful attained an advanced state of the Issekigan. How the eye would change or what it was called was a mystery to Shoki. He aimed to solve that mystery.

If I’m going to be a weapon, or even just a good human, I need to have mastery over myself in every aspect. This eye is the perfect place to start.
-

The village spent the entire day preparing for the festival celebrating the Chinese New Year. It was a rare treat to get away from work for a whole night like this. Most of the other villages also held celebrations, so missions were more or less nonexistent for the night. That meant more time with your loved ones- or people you hoped to have as your loved ones.

Yuji allowed himself a small half-smirk. Sure, he was alone again this year. But he now felt whole for the first time in a long while. If feeling that satisfaction came at the price of a relationship that probably wouldn’t last then it was well worth it.

Besides, I need to keep a strong front up for those two. If I waver, it will be in private.

In spite of himself, Yuji felt a small ripple of concern. He might have inherited a new attitude with this new power, but the same thoughts still drove Yuji. And he had to wonder if Naruto remembered the significance of this particular festival. God help him if he didn’t. Yuji had considered reminding him, but decided that it wouldn’t be fair to act as a safety net for Naruto.

I read somewhere that staying celibate into your twenties can affect you in a bad way, Yuji thought with a hint of amusement. He hadn’t found himself thinking so much about his lack of…well, anything having to do with girls. Seeing all the happy couples, and even the people who were clearly out just to hook up for one night made him seriously think about relationships again. He had always thought himself to be above a one night stand, but was it really so immoral? Was there really any harm in it?

It just wouldn’t be me. It’s not a matter of principle; it’s a matter of me being a different breed of cat.

Yuji found that the thought amused him a little. He chuckled to himself, not realizing that the smile on his face had earned him some attention from a crop of cute, giggling girls in yukatas. They knew Yuji from before; a lot of people did. But they’d never seen him so relaxed and…happy. It made him seem human.

“I hadn’t noticed it before, but Yuji-kun is on the hot side,” commented Satoko. She had just turned eighteen a few weeks ago, and was definitely in the market for a boyfriend to celebrate. Or at least a hot fling with a good looking guy.

“Mmm. Wonder why we didn’t notice before? I mean, he’s not an ANBU agent or something…” added Kuroko. She was conservative in nature, and very pretty when she let her hair down. The other girls privately thought she might be a good match for Yuji, as she tended to keep to herself.

The last girl, a small blond girl name Kasumi stammered her two cents. “B-but Yuji-san trains a lot, right? Co-Could any of us keep up?”

“Girl shy,” Satoko instantly said. “I could eat him alive. Have him on a leash in a second.”

“You’re talking out of your @$$,” Kuroko chimed in flatly. “He’s very clearly not into superficial, high-maintenance girls.”

Silence. Solid point by Kuroko. She reached up behind her head. The other girls gasped- Kuroko only did this when she was going in for the kill!

“No way…” Satoko said in barely a whisper. Kuroko had done it. If there was a ‘cursed seal’ on Kuroko, it was her hair. She kept it tied up behind her head, either in a short ponytail or in a bun. But she had released it. With a shake of her head, her flowing black mane fanned out across her shoulders. Her eyes came to sharper points than the other girls without losing any of the round shape they held. It made her look exotic. Truthfully, she was breathtaking when she felt like being breathtaking. She could turn her charm on and off at will, giving her the ability to fit in anywhere. That was a huge asset for a kunoichi.

“And damn it, your voice isn’t fair!” Satoko snapped, an accusing finger pointed towards Kuroko. “You get that low, sultry tone, with those looks, and you can get the boys eating out of your hand!”

“But I don’t,” Kuroko bluntly informed her. “I’m picky when it comes to boys. I don’t just saunter up and ‘turn on the charm’ unless I happen to like them. And that isn’t often.”

Another point Satoko had to agree with. And damned if that didn’t sound like the sort of thing that a mysterious, newly-emerged hottie like Yuji wouldn’t respond to!

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