The Awakening, a Call to Duty (private)

It was a nice day outside, the sun wasn't too hot but was still shining. The grass blew in a slight breeze as small spot on the ground released... Carbon Dioxide? It was a small seal linked to a number of others in a complex system. It contained a total of fourteen seals. Nine were on the outside, and there was five in a secret bunker deep underground, and away from the world. Twelve of these fourteen seal were designed specifically for transmission of Carbon Dioxide out and oxygen in. The four underground seals for this did both of these jobs, and the eight above ground did one job, four in four out. but they all had another purpose.there was one seal directly north of the underground base that could be used to transfer oneself to this base, and one inside that would transport them out, due to the complexity of the seal if summoning was not done correctly the transfer from one seal to the other would not work and their molecular structure would be broken up and expelled as a gas to the seals putting out carbon dioxide. This was the genius of Gen's twisted mind at work, it was the safest way for people to get to him if need be without him going outside or allowing unwanted people to get to him.

--------------------

Gen sat, thinking in his lair about what he should do in this predicament he found himself in. He was supposed to take power in the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist but with his disappearance he wasn't sure if anyone would think he was alive. Something then came to him, the boy, he could trust the boy with this location, and then through him he could re-inject himself into this world. Before he would make any attempt to reconnect, however he needed food. So he transported himself tar away, summoning himself to the farthest out place he had ever traveled, a place far from the ninja world. once he had the supplies he needed to brought is all back to his base in one puff of smoke. He stocked everything away and decided to was time. He reached out through ground and trees stone and insects with his mind, he traced outward following one mental wavelength to it's source. He then cut into that boy's mind and planted something, a thought, knowledge and a pull, a pull toward a seal on the ground a ways away.


It was time.

Daisuke was now walking through a bamboo forest for several hours now. He was still wondering why he felt the need travel here, but apparently it was extremely important to just give him the biggest headache. At first Daisuke just thought it was a migraine, but now he had time to think about it and he had a theory that someone may be trying to reach out to him. Whatever it was Daisuke would most likely find out soon though. Tomoe, Daisuke’s pet ninja wolf, was traveling by his side, sniffing up anything that may seem suspicious.

Daisuke’s mind went to two of his other dogs and hoped they were alright. He was also wondering if he really should have done what he did. Yeah, Rain might be in danger now because of her mother and status, but Riku was there and he was sure he would protect her. But maybe that’s the main reason behind spying on them in the first place. Daisuke’s thoughts were interrupted when Kiba barked at him, he looked onto the direction his dog was leading to and noticed a clearing. Daisuke went over to it. He saw a large collection of walls and a seal in the middle.

Daisuke looked at it with a puzzled expression for a second before coming to the realization. Gen was back and he wanted to see Daisuke for some reason. Daisuke had wondered what happened to Gen for he had not seen him since his invite to the seven swordsmen and he knew Gen had taken command of it now, but had reason to believe that it was no longer existing due to Gen’s absence. Daisuke wondered if he should try to open it, but decided against it for fear of a trap. Knowing Gen probably knew he was here, Daisuke sat down in a cross legged position and waited for Gen's next move. Tomoe transformed into his puppy self from when he first met Daisuke and sat on his lap, closing its eyes as Daisuke put a hand on top of his head.

Gen sat quietly biding his time by forming a new blade and making sure all his were in prime condition. His way of doing this was strange to watch, as he bound them through bone to his own body made modifications through just adding chakra and focusing on the form he wanted them in, allowing the cells to change through his own instincts. As he did this to make sure his normal blades were in peak condition, The new blade he was forming took a general shape and then he set it aside, planning to return to it shortly. He then felt for the boy's mental presence again, and realized he was at the seal. He then reached out and activated the mental lock in Daisuke's mind.Gen didn't often consciously think about things at all related to him, a trick he gained from years of living with the images of the deaths of those he knew, but now he began to yet again. He wondered if what he was doing was the right decision and if giving this responsibility to this young boy was the right thing to do. He knew that there were others, most of the Seven Swordsmen in fact, that were better qualified for the position, but none he trusted to follow his guidance like he hoped the boy would. He then sighed as he put his own swords away and pulled out five razor sharp and equally thin special blades. They were just blades, no handles, and placed them inside the bone guide he was forming.

--------------------

A moment later something clicked and Daisuke would see the area he was in now from the top down. It would then begin to change, certain stones moving to different locations and orientations. The finished result was then locked in his mind and he woud know he had to make the alterations.

Daisuke sat down with Tomoe on his lap, he felt another short headache come at him and closed his eyes,holding his head to try and stop the pain. When the pain finally subsided,Daisuke opened his eyes to see the area from the topdown. Rocks were constantly moving as if in a pattern of a certain puzzle. Daisuke view turned back to his original 1st person and he noticed that Tomoe was looking at him with a worried expression. Daisuke gave him a look that said he was alright then slightly nudged him off his lap and stood up, trying to use his memory to help him with this puzzle.

Daisuke walked over to the first stone that he saw and moved it accordingly to the spot of the first stone that he witnessed that had moved, Tomoe following him still in his puppy form. As Daisuke went on like this, he noticed that the entire solution to the puzzle wasn't given to him so he just had to figure out the rest. After about 10 minutes of moving rock, Daisuke had finally finished the puzzle. All of a sudden, the seal glowed and Daisuke walked over to it, his dog by his side. Once he reached the seal Daisuke was instantly transported to an unknown location. He was in some sort of cave or something. As Daisuke looked around confusedly, he noticed Gen doing something with his blades and bones.

Now, Daisuke was a little bit surprised, he hadn't seen Gen in months,possibly even a year. He seemed to be so isolated from the world that it would be safe to assume that he was dead like Kaji was, or seemed to be. Daisuke looked at Tomoe who was just as confused as he was so they just waited for Gen to finish and possibly explain what was up.

Gen sat and fused the blades into the structure of the blade, and as Daisuke entered Gen felt his presence but ignored it for a moment before sighing and standing up. He thought about what to say, how to explain his situation and the solution he found to be most valid. He then spoke;

"Hello, it's been a while... I'm gonna assume everyone thinks I'm dead and that the SSOM as it was is dead along with me. That saddens me that no one took up the head in my absence..." He paused and walked over to a large door and stopped in front of it before continuing. "I need you to do something, I need you to lead in my place, I will guide you and help you as I guided Kaji, but I cannot lead. Leading is something socially strong people should do, and if you haven't been able to tell yet social speaking is not my forte."

Gen reached out and turned a large wheel on the door he stopped in front of, as he did this it unsealed the room beyond, revealing it to be similar to a cold storage room, and there was food stored right in front on the sides, but in the back of it was a large insulated tank. (Like a tank of water, not an armored vehicle.) Inside was suspended a body, seemingly lifeless, with tubes connected to various places on the body. It appeared to be male, but had feminine traits as well, and small jolts of electricity could be seen occasionally jumping from hair to hair.

"This... is how I will reenter 'that' world. you must call it by it's name, not Gen but ACReST. Do you understand everything I'v said?" Gen stood in the cold room with his even colder stare that seemed to pierce even the thickest defenses. "Well?"

Daisuke thought about Gen’s offer to lead the seven swordsmen. In all honesty, he wasn’t the social type either, preferring usually to not speak unless spoken to, which was extremely often. Despite this though, Daisuke appeared to be a great leader, improving Kusagakure’s moral by an outstanding amount, plus , this might give him an excuse to see Rain and get some things straightened out. He wondered exactly what’s been going through her mind, especially with this whole Riku business. Just the thought about it made his breathing harder as his anger started to rise again. After he calmed down, Daisuke sighed. She was certainly a hard person to figure out, though.

When Gen went through a door, Daisuke followed suit, his jacket and scarf keeping him warm so he didn’t really feel the cold of the room. He kept a calm expression, but was really a little bit shocked at what he saw. In the back of the food storage room, there was a tank that had a body inside of it. The person seemed unconscious as there were tubes and wires coming from his body. It was as if it were an underground science lab used to test out forbidden experiments. As Gen asked him a question, Daisuke continued to stare at the figure, seemingly unfazed by Gen’s gazed. Then Daisuke turned back to Gen. “What do you mean by ‘that’ world?”

Gen stood and waited for the answer but as he got the response he realized what he had actually said and more importantly how he had said it. His eyes were still locked their normal form of his expression for a moment, the cold and nearly emotionless glare that left only room for disdain and an innate hate. After a moment he blinked, his eyes locking to the ground as he did, but with his head still turned toward Daisuke. A moment later he breathed in as if about to speak but froze, unsure of how to explain his meaning. His head swiveled to the tank as he breathed out, and then both his head and eyes went to the ground as a look full of emotion swept over him, something not common.

As he stood the silent and with his mouth drooped open a tear formed and rolled from his right eye as he began to try to explain what he said. "I... My meaning is..." He stumbled and struggled with his wording as his voice got slightly shaky. "I mean 'that' world, the world you live in every day; a world of interaction, of the demons that call themselves men. A world seeded and forged in hate, blood, and flame; and founded on the edge of a blade. The world that I run from every time I lose someone... The world that took 'her' from me... and 'him'... My love and my family were taken by 'that' world and for this, I deem it 'that' world, for 'this' is my world, this place of isolation, haunted by the constant deaths of all those I care for at every moment, millions of different ways. I live to protect, but when I fail I recede to hide in the shadows yet again, waiting for those I still see in my mind to die off and allow me to venture out again. Once one dies I cannot stop the wave, but this time I think things are different... I knew Kaji was to die, it was part of the plan... I must move past it and stop the wake-" Gen paused and looked up at Daisuke, tears still on his face, "before it catches the rest of you up in it."

Daisuke watched as Gen seemed to break apart in front of him. This wasn't the type of response he expected from him. Something must of happened in the past that traumatized him to an extreme degree, something that may make them seem alike in a way, losing everyone they cared about, the most important people in Daisuke's case. This world did seem, no, is corrupted in many ways, especially with this whole conspiracy going on. And Daisuke was catching on to it, the hatred and a desire to kill. He thought about Riku, Daisuke by now that he was going to make a move on Rain, it was obvious. What wasn't obvious was if she accept him... as a... Daisuke tried not to think about it, but he couldn't help it.

Riku was Kyouken Shikyo's son after all, former Mizukage of Kirigakure. Rain was the daughter of Amai Inkaondo, even if they didn't share the same looks or last name, they shared the same eyes. It was a match made by birth right, ninja heritage. That's how it's always been, the ninjas that were born with talent and status gets looked upon first and the ones that train till they're near death gets looked down upon, it wasn't fair but it was life. As he thought about his hopelessness in this futile battle for an empowered female, a tear started to stream down his right eye. Tomoe looked at his master with a worried expression and turned back to his wolf form, trying to rub up to him in an effort to comfort him, but to no avail

He couldn't help it though. No matter how much of a lover of peace he is, no matter how he wanted to be mature about this, he hated Riku with everything he had. As said before, Daisuke dealt with alot of beautiful girls in the past and never get a chance thanks to someone with a damn bloodline or heritage take her. His anger started to raise once again as he tightened his fist and he let his head fall. "What kind of bullshit plan is that." He stared at Gen with his teary eyes of hatred. "Things couldn't ever change, no matter how much you wish and plan, especially in the ninja world. You can try to bring peace if you want, but there's always going to be someone that will come along and just selfishly take everything from you, then what do you do. I now you can see into the possible futures, but tell me. Is peace in any of those visions? I've already tried to save the world from self destruction and it failed, what would make this time any more possible?" Daisuke would usually never get anger at people, he actually wasn't even angry at him in the first place, but he was just getting fed up with the way the world was operating. Especially with his most recent cause of despair.

Gen couldn't help but to feel the boy thoughts and feelings, a curse brought from his version of enhanced sieshin. then as he felt the anger he became curious, reading the boy's thoughts without cutting in, then as the boy began to speak Gen listened silently. Then, however, as the boy spoke of the tendency for others to ruin things, a sadistic grin formed on gen's face and he suddenly began laughing. "Peace? Peace!? That is a fool's dream boy! Peace doesn't exist, it's an illusion, something people use to blanket themselves from truth! Peace as real as perfection, There is no - such - thing! Even in death there is no peace! The future, that is the only real thing, an alterable enigma, a complex riddle, and we each hold it's key. I, however, hold it possible answers, right here!" Gen pointed at his head fight the index and middle finger of his right hand. "do you want to know what the future holds!? What it could hold? Here!!!"

Suddenly Gen cut into Daisuke's head and flooded him with the vision of his own death, the actual feeling of it in it's entirety a thousand diferent ways. then he would hear Gen's voice: "This is was I see and feel a million times over every moment! Next time don't mock me!" At that the real world flashed back to Daisuke as the pain lingered Gen stood looking him almost disgusted. "Don't fear what hasn't happened, plow into it head on, take the risks and beat down those who would try to ruin your life lest they mannage just that!" With that Gen turned his back to the boy and stared at the tank he was still next to.

Daisuke noticed the immediate change in Gen's personality and became somewhat confused at how it could change from tears to sadistic smile so suddenly. He listened to his speech about peace being nonsense then, all of a sudden, the headache came back with a vengeance, this time much stronger. Daisuke dropped to his knees while holding his head, Tomoe curiously went to him, wondering what was the issue. But Daisuke was frozen for a second,screaming in pain as his mind was overflowed with deaths, all for him. He watched as one by one,but at a rapidly fast pace, his body dropped to the ground as it grew lifeless.

When it finally subsided,Daisuke brought himself to one knee,but still not standing up just yet. He was panted heavily as he looked Gen, listening to him speak once more. Daisuke's darkness of the heart started to take him over again as he nodded. "What is it do you want me to do for the seven swordsmen, call a meeting?"

Gen looked back at the boy and then back at the tank. He then simply said "Yes, that, but also I want you to usurp control over the group, I in this form-" Gen motioned to the body, "will still be truly leading the group, making it's tactical decisions, but I want you to take the figure of the leader. I don't trust any of them like I do you. Do you understand?"

At that Gen stepped forward and placed his hand on the tank, and in a moment the liquid in it drained out and then the tubes connected to the body disconnected and the body summoned outside of the tank, on the ground. Gen then pulled out a pair of rubber gloves and moved the body to the main room, placing it into a special device. Suddenly he began to take off his clothing and shortly after summoned himself into the same tank he had pulled the body from. he placed tubes and connectors into his body and touched the inside of the tank with his hand and it began to refill. He closed his eyes and did a focusing seal. in a moment his body jolted and went limp. a moment later the body in the device jolted and opened it's eyes, removing itself from the device to look at the other body, it's true body. ACReST looked at Daisuke and spoke.

"This is to be a permanent body for now, I can transfer back to that body at any time, so if I come into danger I will leave this body behind. I must warn you, if it falls limp... run" he then turned around and grabbed a set of armor, the bare skin on the back of the body revealing a large scar down it. Once the armor was on it showed the spine of the armor was open, a moment later Daisuke would see why as bone spikes began to form from the body's spine, and then spread to fuse the armor to the body and leave an obvious mark of control over the bones in the body. similar bone forms showed at the joints as Gen fully fused the armor to the body and then grabbed it's blade, a common metal sword, something odd for Gen, it was obvious Gen wanted to show a bond to his own clan but hide his identity.

"It's best if only you know I still live... so what do you say?"

Daisuke nodded as Gen asked if he understood. As Gen took of his clothes to switch bodies with the other, Daisuke stared at the ground in order to keep him from seeing something that will mentally and emotionally scar him even more than he was now. Daisuke continued to stare at the ground as he came up and spoke to him, waiting for him to dress himself. When he finally did, Daisuke looked up at him and noticed the spine was open, Daisuke wondered about this, but was soon answered as spikes formed around the spine and fused with the armor, an ability only known to a certain clan thought to be extinct, but Daisuke decided not to question it now.

Once he spoke again, Daisuke stood up and examined at this new form. He smirked and nodded. “I’m game. But we should be getting a couple of new recruits for this organization, last I checked, it wasn’t called the five swordsmen of the mist. Welcome to team, ACReST.” Daisuke took a look at the environment around him before looking a ACReST once more. “So, when is this meeting?”

Gen sighed in his new body and thought for a moment before turning around. "I think we should have it sooner then later, maybe as soon as word can get out. otherwise there is no reason to lag on this." He then moved over to his normal equipment and looked it over, he didn't want to give his identity as Gen away so he left most of his equipment and just grabbed his seven swordsmen blade, a blade that belonged solely to him. Well, we should head out. Acrest made some modifications to the seal in the center of floor using his blood and then motioned for Daisuke, once he came over Acrest would activate the seal and transport them out and in an instant transport them to the mist.