Last Second Power-Up pt1 (Natsuki and Innocence)

Innocence had been uncharacteristically quiet during the trip back to Konoha. The young girl had seen much and little of it good. The mission was difficult but she got through it and in the process learned quite a bit about herself and her new abilities. But it was the appearance of yet another Bijuu that had shaken her to her core. The creatures had attacked two major human settlements and with a tenacity that bordered on insanity. Innocence knew precious little about the beings but their erratic and sudden behavior concerned her. If that wasn't enough, the pressure of the Exams was starting to get to her. By the time they got back to Konoha, Innocence felt exhausted. The intense training schedule had taken its toll on her and the reality of her lack of innate talent was crushing to her morale. It might have been the pre-Exam blues or maybe the slow realization that the monsters that had taken her father and now threatened her village were still lurking out there. The knowledge that she was so far behind where she wanted to be didn't help things.

When Innocence got the summons from the Hokage, she had to fight herself to go. You can't refuse. You were already rude to her sister in her own office....and that was after she handed you 200K She reasoned. With a sigh, she tucked the letter in her lab coat pocket and headed out to the Kage's Office. She assumed that was she was in trouble due to her outburst at the Genin Meeting, or perhaps the Hokage had heard of her mission to Kiko Island and wanted a report. Either way, Innocence would arrive promptly and on time wearing the same lab coat she had shown up to in the Genin Meeting. It was pressed and her hair was neatly combed with a pair of snow white bows holding her voluminous ponytail in place. The moment she arrived, she bowed and stood at attention with her hands behind her back. Her eyes gazed down and to the right lower corner of the room.

"Hokage thama....if thith ith about what I thaid about your thithter...." She began.

Much had changed for Natsuki as well. He had spent many years since graduating the academy just coasting on odd jobs and generally doing the bare minimum to get by. This was a job, and one he wanted to keep simple. But everything changed when that beast attacked. The world, and his casual slice of it, now looked more fragile to Natsuki's keen eyes. So he did what he never had done before; he worked hard, and it seemed to be paying off.

Tori, Sera, Hibiki, Kaori, Innocence; they all believed in him, they all expressed some degree of impression by his talents in a way that caught him off guard. There were words of encouragement the likes of which were never expressed by his mother during all those harsh years of training alone with her. In her eyes, he was the Screw Up of the Uchiha. In their eyes, however, that thought seemed to never cross their minds.

So this time he walked with his head held high as he marched towards the Hokage's office, having been summoned once again, though he was still a little bit of a mess. His haori was wrinkled, his hair was unkempt, and the odd specks of dust and dirt still adorned his whole body. He stopped as he turned to enter, recognizing Innocence immediately. Natsuki walked in, unsure of what this could be about, and adopted the girl's stance.

"Lady Hokage," he said with a slight, but respectful, nod. He glanced to the side without moving his head, catching his kin in his periphery and continued his greetings: "Innocence."

What the Hokage wanted, much less with the two of them, was a mystery- and one with no less gravitas than when Ren had summoned the pair of them.

"Innocence."
"Wolf Thlayer"

Innocence was a bit surprised at Natsuki's arrival and when Airi immediately dismissed this as having to do with her insulting Hibiki, she breathed a sigh of relief. She then assumed that this would be yet another genin meeting. She expected Airi to wait a bit for the other genin to arrive, but instead the Hokage proceeded to drop a bombshell on the two Uchiha. Innocence's heart skipped a beat as Airi explained that it was her intention to ensure Konoha's dominance in the Exams. She felt so strongly about it that she was willingly to provide them with a substantial boost in power. The young surgeon knew about the "monster" that Airi had turned into during the battle against the insectoid Bijuu. The cameras probably didn't do it justice, but the sight of it was more than enough to make anyone's blood run cold. Well, almost anyone's.

Innocence wasn't easily scared by death or what lay beyond it. She had dissected too many living things and seen too much suffering to be cowed by Airi's transformation. To the contrary, it drew her curiosity and attention. Like a moth towards the flame, Innocence couldn't help but be drawn towards the macabre. A trait that she was now beginning to understand was intimately connected to her newfound abilities. She wasn't sure why Airi was so freely discussing it, and even more strangely, offering it in such direct and blithe terms. But she would not shirk from the offer of more power. Power to live up to her father's legacy. Power to save more lives than her insignificant hands could manage. Power to be free from fear and insecurity.

The "costs" that Airi spoke of seemed abstract and distant. Voices from from otherworldly gods? There were no such thing as otherworldly gods. Everything the Sage had done, everything that any ninja could do, could be explained by the principles of chakratic science and biology. Pure Lands? There was no such thing. No shinobi had ever provided conclusive proof that such a plane existed. But part of her hesitated at the mention of the celestial abode. It was the place where the dead were said to reside in blissful paradise. A place where her father would be waiting to meet her when she finally passed on. Even if there was a less than 1% chance that it was true....then maybe...

No.

You'll never see him again...The Pure Lands are a myth. A fairy tale that we conjured to make ourselves feel better for dying in trenches. It's not real. He's dead but his memory lives on. So will mine.

"I want it. I want that power."

A small smirk crossed his face as she called him Wolf Slayer. It was beginning to grow on him; despite its humorous and practical bullying-esque origins, it did convey a certain something for those out of the know.

Wanting to give another edge up to them was also quite appealing, but his smirk soon faded with what came next. Bijuu... So that's what that thing is called. Mention of her becoming a monster, too, struck him. He had recognized her chains but, in the chaos, it was hard to imagine that she was that. And, whatever that was? It seemed horrible.

Voices from otherworldly gods..? Even if there were no such thing, this was Airi's explanation of her experience and it sounded nightmarish. And a guarantee, if the Pure Lands were real, that you wouldn't see them? How Lady Hokage got wrapped up in all this was a mystery but, now, more than he has recently, he would stick to his mantra. Don't stick your neck out.

He reflexively reached up and gripped beneath his undershirt, at the necklace he wore bearing a stone he found as a young boy. "I want it. I want that power." Natsuki's eyes narrowed in concern as he quickly glanced over to Innocence. He opened his mouth to express his concern, to try and talk her out of it, but he quickly closed it. She seemed resolved. She was smarter than him, by a lot, and if she wanted to risk this, she had her reasons. He closed it, breathing heavily through his nose as he turned back to Airi.

"Thank you, Lady Hokage," he'd start with a bow, his voice shaking with concern for Innocence. "But no thank you. If there's nothing else..." He would wait for her to dismiss him; at which point, he would give another polite bow before turning to the door. He would offer Innocence a quiet "Just... be careful" before he left.


[OOC: Refusing the Cosmic Horror Sage Mode in favor of drafting my own custom Enhanced State.]

Innocence heard Natsuki's whispered advice but ignored it. She wasn't shocked that he had declined her offer. He was a nice guy and all but the tenacity had been whipped out of him by some unknown female. Psychiatry wasn't Innocence's specialty but her limited knowledge of the subject informed her that it was probably his mother. Either way, it would make sense that he would flee from raw power on the basis of some token warning. Innocence stood with her hands behind her back as Airi warned her of what lay in her future should she accept. The Hokage was working hard to convince her to re-consider her decision but the more she spoke of "voices" and "souls" was the more Innocence was determined to press forward. She dug her heels in and responded the only way she could. With the skepticism of a scientist.

"With all due rethpect Hokage-thama, I don't believe in that thtuff. Whatever'th bothering you ath a rethult of thith power ith a product of thcienthe not thuperthtithion. It'th all brain themithtry and thelethtial phythicth. It can be fixed and thinthe i'm going to be the greatetht thcientitht Konoha hath ever theen...I'll be the one to fix it."

Innocence spoke with such confidence that she almost believed herself. She was way in over her head and she knew it. She didn't know much but she knew there was some things that scientists didn't fully understand about reality. Things that perhaps only the aliens that and occupied their planet fully understood. If this contract required her to surrender her soul, she would be making a choice that she couldn't readily take back unless she discovered the secrets of the after-life. It was a challenge that no normal person would accept. But Innocence was not normal. She had seen a dead dog writhe with life before her very hands. She had sculpted illusions that would make even this apparently mad Kage blush. She could handle this. And if she couldn't? Then, she'd bear it anyways. Innocence remembered the humiliation she had experienced in this very office at the hands of the other genin.

Never again. Even if I have to become a lesser demon. Even if I go crazy....I won't be the laughingstock of this village.

Natsuki was right. Innocence did have her reasons for becoming a Slave to the Collective but she wondered what Airi's were. The Hokage seemed to have everything a woman could want. A dynamite body. A position of power, wealth and influence. The adoration of the people and the ability to fight with some of the strongest beings to ever walk the continent. As the horrid scroll was summoned and displayed for signing, Innocence couldn't help but speculate as to how Airi had come into its possession. A story for another time.... Innocence thought as she nodded at her leader's words. She reached into her lab coat's pocket and produced a scalpel. She held up her right hand as instructed and performed a light incision across the surface of her hand. The act drew blood and she stepped towards the contract with a tad less certainty than she had projected. She immediately recognized that this was no normal summoning contract. The parchment appeared to be breathing and that eye was twitching around madly. As crimson dripped down her hand, she looked at the contract then at Airi.

She could fight a Bijuu with this power. Imagine what I'll be able to do with it. I don't need to see Dad in the Pure Lands. When I'm strong enough, I'll bring him back!

Innocence made eye contact with her soon-to-be slave sister and slammed her bloodied palm onto the parchment. The minute her hand made contact with the contract, her mind was whisked into the starry night sky. The budding surgeon felt the universe open up before her eyes as her entire being was thrown from the office and into the ether of reality. As she hurtled into eternity, she could hear things. The horrors that Airi spoke of. The Ones that made her own visions and fantasies pale in comparison. They spoke in a strange and foreign language but to Innocence it was understandable as her mother tongue. They've been waiting for me...they've been Calling me my whole life. I just couldn't hear them.... Innocence realized as her soul slowed to a stop. She was now set before a grand tear in the beautiful celestial portrait of the cosmos. The voices were coming from that hole and with every word, she could feel her mind fraying at the edges.

"What is this?" Innocence said hearing her voice echo through the emptiness of space. Her eyes widened as she heard the words. My lisp! Its gone! Innocence thought. The excitement was quickly tempered by a feeling of dream and alarm as a gurgling sound emerging from the hole in the sky.

"Fahf ng ahog ymg' ilyaa. ymg' mgng ymg' ah nafl doubt c' r'luh"
Innocence looked up into the abyss and something in her steeled resolve. The same power that had tamed death itself gave her the strength to respond directly to the Old Ones.
"I only believe what I can prove. I can prove that Hokage-sama is one of the strongest people in the village. I can prove that your connected to that power. I want that power for myself. Nothing else matters."
"Nafl n'ghftephai ymg' mgr'luh gnaiih ephaii?"
"I'll see him again and I'm going to use you to do it."
"Ng if ymg'?"
"I won't."
"Ymg' llll ai such certainty.  Ai ya lw'nafhnah ehye mgep c' nyth'drn ymg' ot ahf' fate ah'legeth ahead ot ymg' ahnythor ymg' choose l' ahmggoka?"
"Yes"
"ymg' h' ah'hri ngnah nafl ah irrelevant  l' c' mgng c' detect ph'nglui ah'lloigshogg ymg' gn'bthnknyth"
A word flashed across Innocence's mind. Reticence.
"Its nothing. I want this. I need this."
"Ahh? ymg' ot ai ymg' gnaiih ng h' tharanak back mgng c' Ahf' h' ah ymg' gotha?"
"To make it so that I can save others like him."
"Ah cahf nilgh'ri?"
"To have them respect me"
"Ahog. Ai ahog"
"To have them accept me."

The hole grew silent. When it spoke again, Hell shook. The words were not like what it had spoken earlier. It felt natural to her now. Painful. Grating. Slow-wrenching. But natural. It was as if it were speaking to her soul. They posed a final question to her. One that represented the point of no return.

"Wilst Thou Join the Collective?"

Innocence closed her eyes. She remembered the happy memories with her father, mother, Mercedes and Yui. She remembered the thrill of performing her first surgery. The excitement and validation she felt when successfully performing her first technique. She wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she had an inkling that these memories along with every other positive thought she had ever had would soon become tainted. She wanted to savor them one last time. When she opened her eyes, she spoke with cold determination.

"Yes"

The second the words were said, Innocence could feel a wrenching inside of her. She was bombarded with images of grotesque horrors and cosmic devils beyond understanding. She felt a sucking, a draining of everything that was her. The void that was left was replaced with power. Lots of it. Innocence could hear chanting, screaming and sounds that made her want to retch. She thrust into the hole that had opened before her and on the other side was that which she could not ev-. Innocence's neon green eyes widened before turning a dark forest green as she took in the true visage of the Old Ones. She opened her mouth to scream only for nothing to be let out but flies and maggots. She felt her mind bend and then break. A flood of pain and anguish erupted from her as everything she knew and experienced was warped by the Cosmic Horror before her. The abomination tormented her mind for what felt like centuries before she succumbed to its power completely.

I'm going to die. I can't take it anymore. Innocence thought.
THEN BE REBORN

Innocence felt the power that had destroyed her mind and soul slowly put her back together. She was mended but it was different. Something was missing. Something she could never get back. It was like her soul was being held in some kind of cosmic escrow account. It was no longer her's. It was being held for the guarantors of her newfound power: The Old Ones. Innocence felt what remained of sanity being re-grafted onto her consciousness and with it an intimate knowledge of the Eldritch. Slowly, she was pushed backwards until she was forced from the hole that had consumed her. She could feel herself accelerating back to Earth, reality or whatever it was that she called home. The stars grow fainter and dim and with it the memory of what she had seen. A part of it would always remain within her but just enough was erased to allow her to function. If only just barely. Innocence rocked back as she suddenly found herself back in the Hokage's Office. She slowly moved her blooded hand away from the contract. Her handprint was now emblazoned next to her Sage sensei's. She raised her hand and stared at it for a few seconds.

This was real. This was reality right?

Innocence could remember some of what she had seen and heard but not all of it. Unfortunately, it was enough. She had seen mountains of corpses, billions of lost souls, torment beyond comprehension and worlds that seemed to leak pus. How could she go back to life after seeing the horrors of the cosmos? How could she bring herself to care about the Chuunin Exams? About her family? About anything! Innocence took a deep and shallow grasp as her mind sprained under the weight of repressed memory. She lowered her hand and collapsed to the ground holding her skull as she tried to reconcile the fact that she had just given up a piece of herself in exchange for terror and power.

She screamed

"They were marvelous, were they not? The Elder Gods? The Primordial Gods? The Old Ones?"

The Hokage's voice called out to her, but as far as Innocence was concerned it was like hearing a faint echo. She was lost in a sea of madness and terror with only faintest of words from her new Sage-sensei to help her navigate the treacherous waters of the eldritch. The young girl continued to hold her head and scream as she released all of the pain and despair that had filled the spot where her soul used to be. She needed an out. She needed a life raft. Something to keep her from drowning in this hell. It didn't matter if her eyes were open or shut, all she could see was brutality on a cosmic scale. The beings that she had seen were anything but marvelous. They were horrid and the Hokage's voice, it was different when she spoke now. There was an unhinged tenor to it now. She was speaking in the tone of a fanatic and it was so unlike the professional and neutral cadence that she had used in the prior meeting. Is this what she truly is?! Is this what our leader believes in?!

Ignore the feelings of impending dread. That will pass once you grow intoxicated by the pure power given to you. Now, you just need a pair of Byakkugan and you can fully realize the power that They provide,"

Innocence tried to ignore the all encompassing sense of loss. She tried to ignore it, but she couldn't. It was like trying to ignore being drowned by the might of the world's oceans. The only way she could ignore it was to do as Airi bid and focus on not what she had lost but what she had gained. Power! In her mind's eye, Innocence ducked beneath the waves of dread and swam straight to the bottom. She fought against currents of regret and hatred until she discovered the treasure laying at the bottom. Power beyond anything she had experienced before. Over the sounds of her own screaming and the wails of the damned, Innocence could vaguely hear something about the Byakugan but she was too busy fighting for her own psychological survival to dwell on that now. She stared at the power and focused on what it could do for her. What it could do to make her choice worth it.

She remembered the humiliation she had experienced at the hands of Nao and Kaori. She remembered the laughter that she had endured at the Academy. The petty stares and whispers that her, Yui and Mercedes had to choke down after the death of her father. This power would help her silence those critics forever. That is how she'd ignore this unending dread. That was how she would regain enough of herself to function. Vengenance . Slowly, Innocence's screams died down. Her voice was hoarse and she was now aware that the Contract had been screaming too and as her voice lowered so did the harmonized doppelganger. When she ceased, the construct poofed and with it some semblance of normalcy had been regained. Innocence remembered where she was and what she had been doing. She looked up to see the Hokage standing before her and she slowly rose back to her feet as she tried to re-stabilize her own mind. This time she was very careful to dance around the locked door that she had created in her own mind. She focused on the bounty that had been laid out before her. In time, she'd need to deal with what was behind that locked door. The memories of what she had seen in the hole and what it meant for her future. Innocence held onto the wall for support and cleared her throat which had been yelled raw. She had a vague notion of embarrassment and wondered who could have heard her scream.

It didn't matter...they'd be screaming themselves once they saw what she could do.

Innocence slowly straightened herself and took a deep breath. These "Old Ones" and this "Senjutsu" were real, but that didn't mean the mumbo-jumbo about souls was. Its just....its just....science that we haven't gotten around to explaining yet. She thought trying to rationalize her decision. I need to study it...need to understand it. But not yet, gotta deal with these side-effects first. Innocence was loathe to jump back into those depths. She only just regained her bearings. Better to do as Airi said and ignore it for now. Instead, she'd focus on training this newfound power. Innocence looked at Airi, her eyes weren't accusing. She had willingly made this choice but now it was a matter of using it. She'd need the woman's help in that regard.

"I...I-I'm ready to begin my training uh'eog" Innocence said. Her mind subconsciously sub-planting lisp prone word sensei with something more suitable. A word that only another servant of the Collective would be able to understand. Now that she had signed away her soul, the pair would begin their training in earnest. Over the next few days, Innocence would learn the secrets of the Cosmic Horror Sage, Senjutsu and all the boons that the ability provided. The only thing more arduous than the training was the mental and physical toll that it placed on her. And that wasn't even touching how those close to her would react. Innocence wasn't sure what her family would say, but she knew that Senjutsu would give her an edge in the upcoming Exams. And for now, nothing else mattered. Nothing.

[Fade to Exit]

(OOC: Innocence has obtained Imperfect Sage Mode and has trained in the basic understandings of the Restricted with Airi)