Rebirth [open]

[Sarutobi Sio]

No more than two others please.

It was almost like looking at a stranger in the mirror. Sio couldn't take her eyes off her reflection, even as the sink began to fill up and the water flow over the side onto her bare feet. Blinking hard to break the trance, Sio forced up the corners of her mouth...not the strongest smile ever, but it would do for the moment.
"Today's a new day." she said, mustering her most confident voice. "No more being afraid. I don't have that luxury anymore."
She gave her reflection one more gaze before nodding firmly, pushing off the sink.

It had been three days now since Naruto's death. The first day, Sio more or less stayed by the water, not speaking to anyone or going anyplace. The second day, she had stayed in bed. But there was to be no more of that. Naruto didn't devote six of his last years to train a couch potato. She was a shinobi. Not just any shinobi, but she was Sarutobi Sio. Her grandparents and mentor had taught her that her name meant something. And so she forced herself out of bed likely far too soon.
In this time, Kurama still had not said a word to her. To be honest, Sio was afraid, too. He and Naruto had been together for more than seventy years. Their teamwork to end the Fourth Great Shinobi War was legendary...there wasn't a shinobi alive today who didn't know about it. Though it might be a stretch to say they were friends, they were comrades, at the very least. Naruto had to mean something to Kurama. She wasn't sure if he was grieving, or maybe he was mad. She knew she was going to have to talk to him eventually. But for now, she would give him time.

For now, she would use this time to clear her own head. Her feet would take her to the Training Field...a place that held special meaning to her. Today, she would train for him.
She only meant to get a warmup going...maybe an hour or two. But nine hours had gone by and by the time she had finally collapsed, unable to move, the sun was finding itself low in the sky, splashing the backdrop vibrant orange. Sio just looked up at it, sprawled out there on the ground, breathing hard and peaceful for what felt like one of the first times of her life. Her hands were raw and blistered from practicing the Rasengan, chakra taxed from making Shadow Clone after Shadow Clone. If a muscle so much as twitched, it sent torrents of pain across what felt like every nerve in her body. But she was happy.

I see part of why he chose you.

The voice surprised her to the point where she almost sat up, but she only got halfway up before the pain brought her smashing to the ground again. His first words to her. They were a simple statement...it sounded like a compliment, but wasn't spoken as one, necessarily. Still, it made her smile a little bit. Today really was a new day.

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[Osa]

The death of Uzumaki Naruto had taken its toll on the village. The man was not only a hero but he was the brightest light in a world shrouded in darkness. For Osa, Naruto was one strongest supporters for him to become an ambassador to Kumogakure, believing the merging of his bloodlines to be a symbol for peace between the villages. Knowing he had the support of the Hokage allowed for him to ignore all those that would question his loyalty.

It had now been three days since his passing and the village was still in mourning. The funeral wouldn't be held for a few more days, so everyone was on edge waiting. The tensions were high and everyone was trying to figure out the best ways to cope. Drowning himself in bureaucratic paperwork regarding how this information should be spread to the other countries was not cutting it for Osa.

He needed to get his blood flowing. His chakra too.

Stepping onto the training grounds however, would nip that notion quick. Seeing Sio slumped over in the dirt sent him into an immediate panic. Rushing over to the girl he crouched down next to her to check and see if she was alright. "Speak to me, Sio."

[Sarutobi Sio]

The setting sun was hot and bright on the side of her face, and though her eyes were closed, she could feel it creeping down, slipping further from the sky. The air was cooling now, the crickets starting to chirp. If Sio could take this moment in time and bottle it, she would have. She'd have photographed this portion of life and kept it for herself for when times felt like they might be unbearable. While she felt a certain surge of something deep in her guy, Sio decided to try...it couldn't hurt, after all. Taking a deep breath, she let her conscious slip a little further, directing it ever so slightly.

...Ku-Kurama? she called out gently, her voice echoing through the recesses of her own mind. No answer. Kurama...I know you're here....and I just wanted to say...I'm sorry about Naruto. I was close to him, too. And...I hope we can be close, too.
She felt the fox stir, but he still said nothing.
I know Naruto promised you that he was going to do something with all the hate that was inside you...So I'll make you the same promise now. I'll do whatever it takes to erase that hate, and to keep this peace. And maybe someday, you'll find your peace, too.

An annoyingly saccharine sentiment...I'm interested to see how you plan on going about this. You're barely a fraction of the ninja that he was, after all. More idealistic whelp than action, it seems.

The statement kind of took Sio aback, and she felt anger and embarrassment welling up within her. Still, she took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Kurama's interest peaked at this as Sio spoke again.
I'm not at his level, that's true. I don't know if I'll ever be. But I'll never stop working until I come as close as I'll ever get. And I'll never give up on you, either. After all, you're stuck with me.
Kurama laughed heartily at this, so hard that Sio could feel it rumbling through her insides.

Well, we'll see then, whelp. I do always get stuck with the loud, spirited ones, don't I?

Sio opened her eyes as Osa's shadow fell over her. Smiling, she attempted to push herself up a bit until she was sitting up, slumped and a little wobbly, but sitting.
"Hey, Osa-kun. I'm fine...just resting after training. It's the first time I've been out in three days. Just felt like I needed to get out and do...something. Anything, really. Is that why you're out here, too?"

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[Osa]

As Sio began to stir and push herself upright Osa's concern slowly began to dissipate, but it was far from gone. There had been rumors within the clan for a while that Naruto was grooming Sio to be his successor as the Kyūbi's vessel, but seeing the whisker markings on her face just drove the point home that the Hokage was no longer with them. He then glanced around to see the ravaged training dummies along with the general signs of excessive training.

"Yeah, I understand. Paperwork just wasn't cutting it for me," he said as he rubbed the back of his head, and offered her a smile. "A little destruction here and there helps clear the mind right up. But you should take it a little easier." Osa then reached into a pouch and pulled out a soldier pill and broke off a very small piece of it. "Take this. It should help regain some strength."

[Sarutobi Sio]

Sio smiled up at her grand-uncle. Even though he was her superior both in age and familial rank, they behaved almost more as cousins or friends than as an uncle and niece would. Thusly, she always called him 'Osa-kun'. And much like now, as far as she could remember, he always doted over her and worried over her, which embarrassed her a little bit, but even moreso made her feel good. Particularly right after the incident where Konohamaru took her from her mother for good.

"Naruto always said that, too..." she said, smiling sadly and looking down at her bruised hands bracing in the dirt. "He loved being Hokage, but he always said that he would much rather be training than doing paperwork."
The memory made her laugh a little bit. When she would arrive at his office, and he would begin hammering out his paperwork at a feverish pace just so he could get out of that chair and out on the field that much faster. And the way his eyes lit up when he would show her how to throw a shuriken, or the handseals for a jutsu...
It would be a moment before she would feel hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Hurriedly brushing them away, she noticed the piece of solider pill that Osa was holding out to her.

"Thank you." she said, smiling bravely and taking it. Almost immediately upon swallowing it, the sharp pain that had been cycling through her muscles became more of a dull ache. Some of the weariness seemed to lift from her as if she were shrugging off a cloak.
"I feel a little bit better already. I could train with you for a little while, if you like!"

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[Osa]

Seeing her smile eased his spirits and he ruffled her hair after she ate the pill. Standing to his feet he began to stretch his arms, a satisfied grin on his face. "Sure," he said as he scanned the training grounds. This particular zone was a fairly decent sized area. More than enough room for him to spread his arms, so to speak.

No need to worry about any fire hazards.

Putting some ample distance between his grand-niece and himself he assumed a battle stance. "Show me what you've learned since I last saw you," Osa baited as a few flames flickered around his body.

[Sarutobi Sio]

Sio's eyes lit up at Osa's acceptance of her offer. She was almost completely sure he was going to shut her down, tell her that she needed to rest more and not to waste the energy that she had left. It was one more parallel that she could draw to she and Osa's relationship being more friendly and less hierarchical. To repay the favor, Sio decided that she would not overtax herself again.

It was then that she realized how long it had been since she and Osa last trained. His work had him traveling a fair amount, and in the office the rest, so to her recollection, the last time they had sparred, her Rasengan was still imperfect, she was only able to make a single Shadow Clone, and her belly wasn't chock full of Nine-Tailed Fox. She was getting amped up now...she had a lot to show her grand uncle.

She would start off slow and simple, though, before upping the ante. Despite her demeanor and her history, Sio loved to fight. It was almost like art for her. She painted with combat, the same way some others might with acrylics or tempura paints.

Taking a stance, she took a deep breath before stepping in, arm raising and cocking back to punch toward Osa's opposite shoulder. Flame would flicker and grow round her fist as it sliced the air, toe angling to pirouette Sio into a sweeping kick toward the back of his right knee in an attempt to rotate herself behind him. In the same manner, her foot became shrouded in flame. It would be enough to heat the impact which would be hard enough on its own.

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[Osa]

And before he knew it their little sparring session had begun. It really had been quite a while since he got the chance to spend time with Sio, so Osa decided that he would make the most of their bout. Seeing the flames flare up around her fist brought out a smile. Elemental recomposition was not an easy feat to accomplish without the use of handseals, especially for a Genin. Just went to show how far you can advance when under the tutelage of a legend.

Not backing away from her attack Osa deflected her punch with his forearm, using his own fire to buffer her flames. As she pirouetted into the sweeping kick his eyes remained locked on her the entire time. Jumping high to avoid the kick he offered her one word of advice. "Move," he instructed as his free fist ignited. In the short time he was in the air Osa began to shift his body, launching his massive fist down towards the ground where Sio currently was.

In all, these actions took place in a matter of seconds, but it was clear that this was a spar transcending the skill level of many of Sio's peers.

[Sarutobi Sio]

More a move to see where Osa was at than to actually cause some damage, she was none too surprised when he deflected her first attack and cleared the second. Just as his hand deflected her punch, Sio's eyes would narrow, a slight smirk playing upon her lips as her hands came together to form the seal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

There would be no extravagance. To her knowledge, she was capable of making two clones. Unbeknownst to her she was capable of making seemingly countless more with Kurama's chakra. But for now, only one other would materialize in front of her. Pushing off with her planted foot, Sio jumped back, her clone following suit but still catching a glancing blow of Osa's fire-infused punch. Clone landed next to maker, frantically swatting flames from the tip of her maroon scarf.
Sio would waste no time while her counterpart was putting out fires. Heading toward Osa, she kept her stance low and wide, dropping to one hand for a roundhouse of flame-charged kicks. But she would not stop there. The attacks were aggressive, aimed at his knees and ankles, fast in an attempt to keep him moving and likewise not give him a chance to gather for a counterattack. Fluid roundhouse, ground-sweeps and kicks at his feet would hopefully keep Osa on the move, thec onstantly-bursting fire attempting to obscure the clone rushing in now with a fresh handful of Rasengan aimed right at Osa's chest.

The ball was not nearly big enough or strong enough to do any real damage aside from possibly shred Osa's shirt and scuff up his chest real good if it did manage to connect. While Sio did consider herself to be an artist of combat, she had no interest in harming comrades and especially family.

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[Osa]

Osa just could not wipe the proud grin off of his face as Sio's onslaught continued. He strikes were swift, precise, and each one flowed almost seamlessly into the next. If he had to come up with a word to describe her right now it would have to be squirrelly. What he was most impressed by was her choice in tactics. Making use of their size difference she kept low, constantly aiming to force him to lose his balance.

For the most part, her strategy appeared to be working. She was keeping Osa on the move, constantly dodging her attacks. But this was fine. As long as she was focusing her efforts in her barrage then the odds of her noticing the temperature around them steadily rising would most likely be chalked up to her own flames.

That was when the clone decided to cut in on the dance, and for a brief second Osa forgot his place. Raising a leg to avoid the real Sio's latest attack he swiftly stomped the ground, causing a swift burst of flames to rise up in front of her with the intention of driving her back, if only long enough for him to deal with the newest attacker. As the sphere of spiraling chakra inched closer to his chest Osa sidestepped to the left, and in the same instance grabbed the clone's extended arm. Then, with more strength than he intended to use in this spar, launched the clone skyward.

No sooner had the Sio left his grasp did he realize the repercussions of his actions. "Oh shit," the smile fading from his face. He turned to the Sio still present. "Please tell me that was the clone and not my actual niece."

[Sarutobi Sio]

Sio was very pleased with the way things were going. Osa was on the move. She was backing him up, and this knowledge made her more relentless as she continued her onslaught. A drop of sweat began to form on her temple, and she could feel it creeping up, then slowly rolling down the side of her face. This was soon followed by another, then sweat on her neck, rolling down her back.
Still, she continued. Even as fatigue began to set in, the heat lulling her more and more tired, seemingly sapping her energy. Her clone was almost there...she just had to keep it up a little bit longer. Still, her strikes were beginning to weaken. The flames round her hands and feet were getting smaller, less concentrated as time went on.

Her clone leaped over her back as Osa flared up a wall of flame, forcing Sio to fall back. But she had done what she set out to do. It was truly magnificent, that Rasengan soaring in overhead. A true symphony of attack.
And then it went down.
Osa's hands connected with the forearm of her Kage Bunshin, and she was hauled clear off the ground. Swung as easily as a sack of potatoes, she watched as clone and Rasengan went airborne, disappearing into the sky.

Sio stood, walking up next to Osa and watching in the direction that "she" had gone soaring off in. It was probably the most epic thing she had ever seen. Compounded now by the fact that Osa had clearly taken it up to eleven without meaning to.
"Oooh..." Sio said with a wince, looking up at him. "Umm...bearer of bad news here...you might want to go and find where she landed..."

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[Osa]

A lot of things were racing through Osa's mind at the moment. The first of which was that he just launched his grand-niece into the sky. Who does something like that? Well, he did. Quite regularly too. But those people generally deserved it. Regardless, they weren't family. To top it off she was the new host for the Kyūbi. That in itself was a whole other can of worms. "Oh shit," repeatedly made its ways out of Osa's mouth as genuine panic swept over him.

"Shiiiiiit....," he said as he picked up Sio to figure out how much she weighted, set her down and began to run through a lot of mental math. Taking into account wind speed, force, trajectory, he could only guess where she would be landing. Osa never really had to wonder where people went when he threw them. Just that they wouldn't be an issue in the foreseeable future. "Dammit!" he swore having already spent too much time being idle.

With great strength Osa leaped onto the top of the closest tree. His body ignited in a vibrant red flames before he launched himself into the air, using his flames to propel himself further into the sky and in the direction the Sio clone would likely be heading.

[Sarutobi Sio]

This was all far too much for Sio. Her poker face was in full effect as she watched the wheels in Osa's head go into hyperdrive. She was whisked up off the ground for weighing purposes, and barely another few seconds worth of thought was offered before Osa shot off in a fury of flame in the direction that the clone had soared off in.

A part of her felt kind of bad. Osa was likely really worried. He would be even moreso when he got to the location and there was no clone. Or would there be? She had no idea how much punishment her clones could take. Ew...what would he find if her clone was there? Probably something absolutely nightmare-inducing. No...no there was no way she would survive that. Right?
Sio began to Shunshin after Osa. This was getting that much more interesting by the minute.

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[Osa]

Osa's eyes scanned the area frantically as he soared in the sky. A few of the locals were looking up in shock and awe to see a flaming man in the sky, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. Even though she had been trained by Naruto himself he doubted that Sio had anything in her repertoire to deal with a fall such as this. The best case scenario would have the Kyūbi intervene in order to save her life, which was in no way ideal. Worst case, she plummeted to her death and soon the Kyūbi would take its chance to escape. Also not ideal. At all.

After a few moments, he spotted a cloud of smoke coming out of a recently damaged shed. "Dammiiiiit," he said as he cursed as the flames around his body began to dissipate and he dropped down on the shed's roof, using his flames to slow his descent.

"Oi! Sio, you in there?"

[Sarutobi Sio]

Surprisingly enough, Sio's clone had survived that impact, only through the virtue that the tree coverage in this area was so thick. Rocketing through the branches was enough to slow her momentum and crashing through the grass-covered roof of the shed was just enough to keep her from dissipating right at that moment.

But man was she wrecked. Forehead was gashed open, sending torrents of blood down her face. More than one of her fingers was broken, and she was barely able to move.
"Ohhh man....the hell there, Hero?" she groaned from beneath the wreckage, feeling the last of her energy sap away right after those pained words.
Sio, herself would arrive shortly after Osa, her final shunshin practically flinging her onto the scene, panting and heaving for breath.

Slowly pulling herself to her feet, she would stumble over to the shed, pulling the door open. The rubble would stir ever so slightly, and Sio began pulling the wood and grass away to reveal the bloodied and battered clone underneath. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. The durability of her clones now was unreal. Though she could feel somewhere deep down that she wouldn't be much longer for this world, just the fact that she was even here at all was blowing Sio's mind.

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[Osa]

Osa didn't hesitate after he heard her pained groans. Dropping down through the she'd roof he crouched down next to the battered Sio. All hopes that this was all some kind of perverted joke were dashed. His heart sank seeing Sio in this condition. His hands hovered over her, unsure of what he could even do. He had already caused this much trouble for her. The arrival of the actual Sio went largely unnoticed in the beginning.

"Hang in there, Sio-chan," he said as he as he moved some of the debris around her. Turning to Sio standing near him Osa's expression became more serious, not really caring how or why the clone would still be functional with her in this state. "Find a medic. We're not too far from the hospital. I'll not too well versed in medical stuff, but I can at least stop the bleeding," he said as he withdrew a kunai. Cauterizing the wound would hurt beyond belief, but it would prevent her from bleeding out before help could arrive at least.

"GO!" he barked, his anger about the entire situation finally catching up to him.

[Sarutobi Sio]

"Fuuuuuuuck...." Sio groaned as Osa raced to "her", kneeling down and drawing a kunai. They had taken this too far. Why wasn't the clone dissipating? She was hoping for it to go on its own, but the stamina that this clone at least possessed was mind-boggling.

She could sense the urgency in Osa, and it began to kick up something subconscious and frantic in her. He was going to be angry. He was going to be angry with her and he was going to do something. She just knew it. She could leave. She could run away and hide someplace. That was what her mind was telling her to do. Her feet twitched as if in preparation for the order from her mind to just go and never stop.

But she didn't move. She couldn't. She had to make this right. And almost as if on cue, when Osa brandished his kunai and screamed for her to go, the clone buried in the rubble finally disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sio took a step back, eyes wide.
"Osa-senpai..." she said, automatically switching to a more formal honorific out of fear. "I'm so sorry...I was just joking, but I had no idea the clone would still be here. I-I thought it would have disappeared by now and I was going to tell you when you got here but then you got here and it stuck around longer than I thought it would..."

She was beginning to choke on her words now, the fear kicking into overdrive. This was not a spilled glass of milk or soiled clothing. This was serious. Flashes of the basement came back to her, of fire and belts, knives and pain. Darkness, loneliness, isolation. It hit her soul like bullets until she just couldn't take it anymore. Sio crumpled in the corner of the shed, curling up into as tiny of a ball as she could manage, hands over her ears, catatonic and paralyzed with emotion.

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[Osa]

It was a very complex moment for Osa when the clone finally vanished in a plume of smoke. Considering he had just managed to work through his panic the timing was good, for his nerves at the very least. A wave of relief washed over him as he let out an almost inaudible sigh. But that was quickly overtaken by his anger. His hands clenched into tight fists, the temperature around his body began to skyrocket, and a vein became very visible near his temple.

Despite being known for his calm and level-headedness there were situations, generally involving his family and nakama, when his emotions got the best of him. Afterall, Osa embodied the bloodline of the Raikage as well as the Sarutobi, and stories of A's wrath was as legendary as his might. Slowly her turned around to face the actual Sio, flames flickering around his body.

"You...," his deep voice did little to mask his rage. However, seeing his grand-niece curled up the corner forced him to calm himself. He knew about her mother. How traumatic an experience she went through. Now she was flashing back. With a heavy sigh he kicked a nearby bucket and slowly made his way over to Sio, the temperature now returning to normal. "Oi, Kozaru¹, we need to work on your sense of humor," he said in a calm voice and patting her on the head, even going so far as to use his old nickname for her in the hopes of settling her down.

---

¹Kozaru = Small monkey

[Sarutobi Sio]

She was back there. Back in the basement. Amazing how much the shack reminded her of there. She felt as if she were being consumed. It hadn't been this bad in a long time. Feeling the sharp increase in temperature did little to temper her feelings, and she was thankful that at that moment, she didn't have anything in her bladder. His voice would have done the trick on her bowels, and she responded by curling up in a tighter ball. She was visibly quaking now, so unable to control her shaking that it was becoming impossible to maintain her ball shape.

But then she felt his hand on her head. On the first pat, she flinched, crying out and rolling up again. But it was just a comforting motion. Slowly, she rotated her face upward to look at him, eyes wide, questioning and fearful. He was mad...she could tell. But as far as she could see at that moment, nothing bad was going to happen to her. Slowly uncoiling, she listened to him as he spoke, referring to her by a nickname she thought was long gone.
Before she knew it, she had launched herself at him, clinging tightly to her grand-uncle, face buried in his clothing.

"I'm so sorry, Osa-sama." she said into his muffled clothing. "I'll never play another joke again. I didn't want it to go this far..."
And she was being honest. This was one of the worst days of her life, to date. She never again wanted to hurt someone that she cared about.

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[Osa]

And just like that his anger started to melt away. It was hard to stay mad when a child is bawling their eyes out on your shoulder, showing genuine remorse over what they did. Embracing the hug he simply allowed for her to go through her emotions. This was an extremely rough time for her, and today only compounded that issue. "Sssh, Kozaru. It's okay. It's okay," Osa consoled. "You're not hurt. That's the only thing that I care about."

Pulling away from Sio he slowly rose to his feet and looked through the hole that the clone had made. It was getting dark and the longer that they stuck around the higher their chances of getting caught became. Personally, Osa was tired of getting lectured about destruction of property from village officials. "C'mon. Let's get some food. You've had a pretty long day, and you need to regain some strength."