The Cost and Reward of Loyalty - Side Story

Rakdos made his way forward, his wings working to move through Kiri's cold air as he flew back to his home. As one of Kiri's most successful shinobi, Rakdos had a large home at the edge of the city grounds. He preferred to live away from most of the Kiri citizens, it made him more of a rare sight, and thus people were more afraid of him when he did make any sort of an appearance. Rakdos didn't really have friends in the village, only comrades that he used when a mission called for it. If a comrade couldn't protect themselves, Rakdos saw no need to step in and interfere. He'd allow fate to do its best, and its worst.

Rakdos landed outside of his home, retracting his wings as he made his way forward. He opened the doors to his large home and walked inside. The place was large and always had an empty feel to it, though Rakdos was surprised at just how quiet it was. He looked around for some time before wondering if Saki perhaps hadn't finished the mission he assigned her yet. Hmm, perhaps she wasn't ready yet after all. "Saki!" Rakdos said in a loud voice. If she was sleeping or working on something, she'd surely hear the call of her master now.

"Right here!" Saki jumped out from behind the door and wrapped her arms around him in a mock restraining hold. She'd been waiting there for her master to return, wondering if perhaps this time she would be able to sneak up on him. It was difficult, given how much better his senses were than ordinary people, but one of these days she would get him. After a moment, she released her arms and slipped back around in front of him with a pleasant grin.

"So, did I get you this time? Did you know i was there?" She waited patiently for the response, teetering back on her heels.

Although she looked normal as far as most girls were concerned, there was one thing off about her at the moment, which was the large splattered bloodstain across the front of her clothes, and a litle up on her chest and what little cleavage she had. Normally she would have cleaned herself up after a mission, but she had been so excited about revealing her success this time around she couldn't bring herself to do anything but wait for her master to come home.

Rakdos felt movement behind him, and he twitched his head slightly before Saki made her entrance. He felt her arms wrap around him and he just smiled. Always vigilant, just like he had taught her. He had no idea how long she had been waiting to surprise him, but he always enjoyed seeing how dedicated she was to her training. After all, if one day she could catch Rakdos off guard, very few shinobi would ever hear her coming.

"Almost" Rakdos said encouragingly before looking Saki over and noticing her bloody appearance. "Considering how well you're standing and the fact you're not about to pass out I can tell that none of that is your blood. I take it the mission went well" Rakdos remarked as he lifted his sword and placed it on the mount of his wall. "Give me the full details of what happened on the mission. I want to know everything" he said before walking to their study where Saki already had a fire lit. He took a seat and turned to her, awaiting the report.

Saki practically bounced on her toes as Rakdos made his way over to the couch, grinning with a delighted chortle as she recalled the mission. "Oh master, you should have seen me! I don't like to brag, but this was one of my better jobs. I went to the town just like you said to take care of those treasonous little worms organizing that awful coup. There were twelve people at the meeting, and I'm pretty sure most of them were other shinobi because they knew a bunch of different jutsus I've never seen before. But two of the guys had their families with them. Wives, children, the whole shabang."

Closing her eyes, Saki spread her grin wider as she pivoted across the carpet, pacing back and forth with her arms flailing as if pretending to stab and slide with her weapons. "I gave the wals a nice new coat of red. For the better, really, you should have seen how bad the paint clashed before. They thought they had a chance since I was outnumbered, but they don't didn't know who they were dealing with. Oh you should have heard their screams!"

She giggled, reaching down to run her fingers across the bloodstains on her body. "Oh of the kids survived long enough to beg me to spare her daddy. It was touching really." Then, somehow, she made her grin grow even wider, in an almost deranged sort of way. "So I slit her throat and nailed her to the tree outside as a warning to anyone else who might think of betraying us."

Rakdos just rested back, listening as Saki described the mission. It had originally been meant for him, but Saki understood the importance and purpose of Rakdos's personal mission, so he had assigned her to take care of the mission on his behalf. Saki didn't lie to him, so he knew that she did exactly as she said. No one survived that meeting, and that body would serve as a reminder to those that would test Kiri's patience. It was good work.

"Excellent work Saki, by your recount the mission went by perfectly. I'm sure the council of Kiri is already hearing the news of this worthless coup. Your training has gone better than I expected. But now it's time for your training to take the next step" Rakdos said as he stood up. "Go upstairs and get cleaned, you'll want to be ready for this" Rakdos insisted. "I'll get myself some spare blood from the kitchen," he said before holding up a hand as Saki began to protest, "You'll need all your strength for this Saki. I insist" he said, and that was the end of the conversation.

Saki's protest was already halfway out of her mouth before Rakdos silenced her. Granted, all the spare blood in the kitchen had been drained from her over time, so her master still was consuming blood that came from her, but it was never the same as feeling his fangs digging into her flesh, and his tongue lapping the warm fluid directly from her body. Just the thought of it sent a delighted shiver down her spin. Normally she would have made at least one more bid for him to take her in his embrace and bite into her, but his reasoning gave her pause.

"The next step...?"

She didn't know what that meant, but the fact that she would need all her strength for it made her assume it was something important, so she didn't raise anymore reluctance. Instead, she gave Rakdos a bow and scurried off upstairs to clean up, heading directly into the shower. She discarded her bloodsoaked clothes and scrubbed herself down as quickly as possible, before coming out, drying herself off, and grabbing a spare change of uniform. She would have just settled for a robe, but if this was trainign she would need her combat gear. Once she was cleaned, she made her way back downstairs in search of her master.

Rakdos was in the kitchen when Saki returned, just in time to see him down a third vial of blood. He had been away from some time, and this was his first time feeding in a few days. He wiped the last streak of blood from his lips before looking to Saki as she entered the room. "You have done well to make your body powerful, along with that you've also gone and trained and learned many jutsu. To the average shinobi, you are the height of achievement...but you and I are not normal shinobi. We expect more, and more is what I plan to give you" Rakdos said as he made his way to the entrance of his home.

The entrance was large and had plenty of room for what Rakdos intended. He turned to Saki and held his smile. "Your body naturally draws on chakra from itself, but over the years a technique has been discovered that allows the user to draw upon it rather than themselves. This technique is known as the cursed seal. It's a technique only known to a few, but now I shall teach it to you" Rakdos said as his smile grew slightly. "It's going to be painful, and your body will go through hell to adjust to its presence within your body. With the most recent success of your mission, I know that you're ready for it...should you desire it"

Saki listened with eager anticipation, not really understanding what her master was talking about but knowing it was important either way. A cursed seal... a rare technique... powerful... It sounded interesting, and the fact that it would hurt only made her certain that whatever this thing was would be suited for someone like her. The only things worth having in this world didn't come without pain.

"Yes, please, I do!" she insisted, when Rakdos asked if this was something she desired. "I don't care how much it hurts. If this will help me better serve you, if this will make me stronger, then I want it. How does it work? What do I have to do?"

Rakdos held up a hand, signaling the eager Saki to take it easy and relax for the time being. "We'll get in to all that later. First, you need to survive obtaining it" Rakdos said as he slowly began to cast various seals as he kept his eyes locked with Saki. "I won't leave your side until the process is complete, for better or worse" Rakdos said as he made the final seal. "This is going to hurt, but I know you're ready for this" Rakdos said before placing his hand forward.

Saki would start to feel a pain like a hot brand in her forehead. Rakdos held his hand there as he continued the process, his eyes on Saki the whole time as he continued to apply the cursed seal.

Saki tried to be strong throughout the proces, gritting her teeth and stifling her voice in the initial few moments. As the searing grew hotter, though, and the pain grew fiercer, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She screamed, her voice reverberating with terror throughout the home. The seal felt like a hot poker being rammed through her skull, and the more she tried to fight it the more it hurt.

Some time during the process her legs gave out. She didn't remember it happening, only tha at one moment she was standing in front of her master, and the next she was on the floor with him crouched over her. Her vision blurred into searing white until she couldn't see anything anymore, and the only sound she could hear aside from her screaming was a high pitched ringing piercing through her ears.

The pain was always extreme through a jutsu like this. Rakdos considered stopping but he knew I'd Saki could speak she'd insist on moving forward with the technique. So he pressed on and kept the seal forming. He caught her as she fell, using one hand to help prop her up before putting the last touches of the seal. "It's done"

Rakdos pulled back his hand and just watched Saki. He waited in silence for her to speak, knowing she'd need the time to recover at least a little bit.

Saki could barely hold her eyes open when it finished, let alone sit up under her own power. The only thing she could do was lie there in her master's arms, chest heaving desperately for large gulps of air. The whole room spun around her, with Rakdos' face the only stationary constant directly in front of her. She tried to smole, but the only thing she managed was a small twitch of her lips.


"Did I...do it?" she asked, her voice nothing more than a hushed whisper.

"Well, you're not dead. That's a start" Rakdos said as he lifted Saki in his arms and lifted her up the stairs. He walked her to her own quarters where he set her on her bed. "Your body is adjusting to the seals presence, I need you to not draw on any chakra for the next day as the process ends" he instructed.

"That said I'm curious. Ignore the pain, do you feel anything different?"

"Um..I feel a little fuzzy." Saki blinked in confusion. Wait, where was she now? In her room? When had she come here? She could have sworn she was still downstairs. Rakdos must have carried her here...but why didn't she remember it? With a groan, she closed her eyes and tried to settle her spinning head. "And tired...really tired. I'm sorry, master. I promise I'll recover as fast as I can."

"You'll recover when your body allows it, even I can only rush healing so fast Saki" Rakdos said before drawing a blanket over Saki. "I need to report the success of your mission, but I'll leave a clone to accompany you. Just rest for now, I'll be here when you need me..."

The next couple of days were difficult for Saki. Not only was she rendered bedridden and in near constant pain, but because of her condition she couldn't feed Rakdos, forcing him to take the cold, bottled stores from the refrigerator. That made her feel more useless than anything, and it led to her crawling out of bed as much as possible to get her strength back, She couldn't be lying there doing nothing. She was a shinobi of the highest caliber, a servant to the man who would restore the world to the way it should be. She had to to be strong.

The other strange aspect of this entire process was the odd seal mark on her forehead. It wasn't exactly small and it stood out rather noticeably, and yet she came not to mind it. It was a brand, letting everyone know who she belonged to. She belonged to the demon Rakdos, and would forever be his to do with as he pleased. If this mark was an extension of that bond, she accepted it gladly.

When she finally felt well enough not to remain in bed most of the day, Saki pulled on a robe and stumbled downstairs. She would have put on her normal uniform, but her legs were still a little shaky and she wasn't sure if she could shimmy into the leather without falling. Better not to bother for now.

It was early enough that the sun was only barely rising at this point. The lights were absent in the house except for a lone fire which came from the study. As Saki entered she'd see Rakdos overlooking his map of the shimonoseki world. He had various marking and pictures over the map of the kages, known elite shinobi, along with a rough estimate of each villages power.

However Rakdos wasn't looking at any of the main five. Today, his gaze focused on the village hidden within bones: Honegakure.

"Good morning, master," Saki said, as she sauntered into the firelit study. She always enjoyed how cozy this mansion was. The style was so unlike anything else she had seen around Kiri or any of the other shinobi lands, and tended to be rather dark, which was her favorite style of decor. She joined Rakdos on the couch, closely watching him as he leaned over his map. "Are you planning something?"

"Good morning Saki" Rakdos said as he didn't take his eyes off of the map. He thought about asking Saki why she was out of bed, but her days of rest must have finally been paying off. She would only walk if she had the strength.

"I'm trying to understand how someone could form an entire village under the idea of peace" he remarked. "The idea is impossible to exist. They'll be forced to choose a side one day, and I plan on my plans taking full root within that area"

Saki took one look at the village on the map and made a disgusted face. "Ugh, those people are nothing more than weakling insects. They think they can stuff their heads in the sand and accept all the broken little toys of the world that were too pitiful to make it anywhere else. They should be wiped off the map."

Lifting her legs onto the couch, Saki curled up and scooted closer to Rakdos, just a little to test his mood. If he wasn't too surly at the moment she'd try to curl up against him, even offering her neck if he was hungry. She felt well enough for a feeding at least.

Rakdos allowed Saki to get close but he showed no interest in feeding right now. He did allow her to get comfortable though. "The place is little more than a trap for everyone that enters. I'll use them to ignite my plans"

Rakdos looked to Saki. "My mission was a success. I found the artifact right where the book my ancestors write said it would be"

Saki tilted her head back when Rakdos didn't make a move to feed, but she remained curled against him, like some kind of cat snuggled against its owner. She gave the map another frown. "That's good...they don't deserve to have their own village, or live such ignorant, blissful lives. I'll do whatever you need me to, to make that happen."

When her master looked at her, she raised her head to meet his gaze. "You found it? That's good news! Um...what exactly was it again?"

"I know you will, you've lost much in your life, I know you possess the will to do what's necessary" Rakdos said quietly as he touched the eyepatch over his injury. Even after all these years Saki had never seen Rakdos remove the covering.

"It's an ancient orb, one that contains a being of power so strong that she was sealed away until time itself forgot her. She's the most powerful Hanyou to ever live, and she will help bring destruction to this world. For now all I have to do is wait"

Saki sat upright with a surprised gasp. "Even more powerful than you?" Ever since she was nine years old, Rakdos had been the most important figure in her life. After sparing her in the attack on her town, he opened her eyes to the ways of the world and showed her how things were truly meant to be. He showed her his power, how much weaker everone else was, and how they all deserved to be crushed under his heel. The thought of him willingly serving someone else more powerful than himself was a completely foreign idea to her, and not one she ever could have imagined.

"It's very possible" Rakdos admitted. "You need to remember Saki, I didn't have anyone to help train me. I was on my own after Kiri killed my family. She likely knows more secrets about my clan than I might ever know"

"Trust me, she will be the answer. Her reign will be dark and terrible, and when the dust clears the world will be better for it. Even Kiri will learn the true meaning of a purge"