Obtaining Matatabi

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Obtaining Matatabi
 
Izu Uchiha: A gentle breeze blew through Kumogakure, something to cherish on a summer day, as it masked much of the intense heat. It stirred through the trees, whispering in the leaves as the branches swayed softly. The sun shone down brilliantly, the only refuge outside was the long shadows it cast from the trees and various buildings the village was made up of. Standing on top of the gate literally hundreds of feet in the air, Izu Uchiha, a Jounin of Konoha, stood silently surveying the distance. His onyx eyes solemnly contemplating the horizon as the breeze played in his hair. Sounds from the village below echoed up to greet him but he cared not for the happenings below. Today there was something much more important on his mind. Today was much more important than most to him. The breeze whipped around him and rippled through his clothing. He'd dressed different today, forgoing his usual Jounin attire. A long, black coat fit him snugly. Its collar lay open to reveal part of his chest, his pale skin warm from the sunlight. Its hem fell just passed his knees, splitting just below his waist. It was held close to his waist by a red belt, fitted with a crimson bow. Underneath he wore simple black pants that tapered down to his ankles, the material fluttered in the breeze wildy, billowing out from his body every now and then. He wore his usual simple black sandals upon his feet. Completing his outfit were two ninja tool pouches, fixed to the back of his hip though normally he carried four. He shifted his weight slightly, seeming a little impatient to get moving. He turned his head slightly towards the man standing by his side without taking his eyes of the horizon. What can you tell me before we leave? The other man was silent a moment, almost contemplative before answering Izu. You must rid yourself of any hatred before attempting to tame this beast... Izu turned his head, his eyes on the other man now. He stood close to Izus height, completely shrouded in a long, hooded charcoal cloak. Shadows covered most of his face, hiding it from view save for his expressionless lips. The sun glinted off the stubble along his jaw, the wind rippled through his cloak as he stood completely still, almost seeming like he hovered in place. His head was slightly bent lower, though one could tell he was looking straight ahead. It will not be easy, Izu. His head turned slightly, regarding the tall Uchiha next to him. Izu smirked and turned his head back to the horizon briefly before looking back at the other man, his black eyes serious. Of course... Izus tone was light but it veiled a deep determination...and something more. Seeming satisfied with this the other man merely nodded. Izu watched his closely as he voiced his thoughts, his voice low, You seem to know much about the Matatabi. How is this so? The corners of the hooded mans lips lifted in a small smile. I am one of the many Guardians of Matatabis Chamber. It was forged shortly after the fall of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His small smile faded as he paused slightly. His tone was grave as he continued on, After our last Jinchuriki was stripped of Matatabi...we have increased our security. No one gets near Matatabi without one of us.This time...if someone like that masked man were to show themselves... He paused again, his mouth set in a thin line of grim determination. This time we will be ready for them. Izu watched the man quietly. He knew what was about to come and the man next to him didn't disappoint. We Shinobi of the Cloud find it very hard to trust you, being of the same clan of that man. Though you seem to be a reasonable man and have proven to be a great asset to us thus far. He paused slightly, almost hesitant to go on. If you betray us, Izu Uchiha, you will suffer the full wrath of Matatabis Guardians. Izu made a small sound of impatience, barely audible in the wind as he bit back the first words that came to his mind. I understand, Guardian. He turned back to the horizon and closed his eyes, allowing the breeze to calm his mind as it whipped through his hair. Any more surprises then? His question came out more as a demand. He was more than ready to get started. The shorter man beside him was silent a moment before lifting a hand and pointing his finger to the distance before them. That mountain top is our destination. Though... Izu waited for the man to finish. When he didn't Izu prompted him with impatience barely veiled, Though? The Guardian shifted uncomfortably. Though that mountain top is on another island. Located there are the Tailed Beast ruins as well as Matatabi. The man shifted again as Izu watched him expectantly but said nothing more. Izu ran his fingers through his hair, turning his eyes to their destination. Very well... He knew the man was hiding something from him. Deciding not to push the issue any further he added in a low murmer, Let's get this over with. No sooner had he spoken his last syllable, Izu leapt fearlessly down from the gate with his coat flapping behind him. The Guardian watched on in amazement, watching Izu free fall through the air, hundreds of feet down into the forest below them on the other side. As the ground came into view, Izu stuck out his arms, latching onto a branch mid way through a tree. Keeping his momentum from his drop he spun around it, his body twisting in the air as he released it and dropped further and grabbed ahold of yet another branch much lower down. The branch shook, its leaves rustling as he hung for a moment before dropping down to land crouched on his feet upon the forest floor. Twigs and bits of forest debris crackled underfoot as he landed and he stretched to his full height.The man above had already begun his descent before Izu had even reached the first branch. Izu assumed his guide would take the long way down. Finding a large rock he leapt up onto it before sitting on it as he took this moments reprieve to gather his thoughts. He needed a strategy. How does one go about 'taming' a Tailed Beast? I don't want to take it by force, he thought as he pondered on his best course of action. He was far too compassionate to even entertain the possibility of such an act. His thoughts remained on Matatabi and how to tame it while he sat quietly in the wilderness. It was quiet; calm all around him. The stillness made him think of the calm before the storm he was about to be a part of. He smirked to himelf, Good thing i know all about storms. His thoughts were interupted by his guide arriving.  Izu stood, stretching out his limbs before leaping gracefully off the rock he had made his resting spot. Without so much as a glance in his direction, his guide continued on without him. “This must be serious… But of course it is.. We are dealing with the two tails here..” Izu thought to himself as he followed the man. Soon the travelers went from a soft, slow walk, to frantic sprinting from branch to branch through the treetops. Izu followed without speech or questions. The duo soon arrived at a port, where they walked onto a large hill. A look of alarm crossed Izu's features briefly as the whole land mass began to move, quaking the earth below him. “What the?!” He exclaimed under his breath. The Guardian chuckled softly. “Be calm... Welcome to Turtle Island” the man said quietly. Izu looked at him sharply. “This is the island?” Izu wondered if this was what the man was hiding from him earlier. “Amazing… He breathed, truly taken aback by the information. We walk along this turtle’s back to reach Matatabi?” His guided nodded once. “That’s correct. However, this is as far as I will accompany you. The rest you must do alone... His voice trailed off as he appeared deep in thought. He turned to look at Izu, his tone full of warning. Remember, as an aggragate of power, the Two tails can sense your hate. She will never accept you as long as there is evil thoughts targeted towards her. You must toss aside any idea of taking her by force. He gave Izu pointed look before continuing on. If you really want to become friends with the beast and be able to unleash her full power… This is the task before you.” “I understand” Before Izu even finished speaking, he began walking towards the mountaintop, the man who guided him already forgotten. He looked almost as if he were in a trance. His objective was clear to him and his strategy still unknown. Lost in his thoughts as he travelled, it wasn’t long before he had arrived. The chamber entrance in front of his very eyes. The sound of gurgling water alerting him to a glistening waterfall cascading off the side. Taking a deep breath, Izu walked over slowly and dipped his mouth under the waterfall, drinking some of the water that fell, relieving himself of his thirst. “I suppose I should rest and think about what I’m gonna do here…” Izu thought to himself as he took a seat in front of the entrance, narrowing his eyes as he peaked into the doorway, seeing nothing but complete darkness ahead. “Find the hate within yourself….and destroy it.” Izu murmered to himself, focusing on that simple task. He sat down and began to meditate, listening to the sounds of the waterfall and clearing his mind of everything but the sound. He sat in this meditative like state for quite a few hours. After reopening his eyes, he realized it was dark out, an unusually cloudy sky covered above him, an almost solid gray. The area seemed to have changed. Izu could barely see around him through a thick, rolling fog. It seemed almost ominous to him. A sudden gurling noise caught his attention, immediately turning his head towards the waterfall to see something- no… someone walking out from the water. “Who are you?!” Izu demanded, as the form became darker, and finished emerging completely as water dripped from the form. Izu gasped quietly. “It’s me…” He said under his breath. He narrowed his eyes at what was essentially himself, wondering what was going to happen next. The form appeared to be a mirror image of him, though a darker version. The clothing, skin, and even hair were much darker than his own. The whites of the eyes were black, while the iris and pupil was a mirror image of Izu’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. “Surprised?” The form asked, an arrogant smirk on its face. Even though his smirk was arrogant, the form looked so small. He seemed fragile and weak. The smirk widened for a moment, then vanished completely as the form quietly whispered. “Why?” Closing it’s eyes, a single tear rolled down it’s right cheek. Izu stood, confounded, unsure what to do as he basically watched himself cry. “Why am I weak? Dark Izu snapped open his eyes, tears shining in them. Why are you weak?! Why do we even try?! Why do we try to be Shinobi?!  When we are weak and could just let go and die?!” The form yelled, turning away from Izu as it began to sob loudly. Izu stared at his darker half, its shoulders shaking with its sobs. His voice came in a low tone, “Because, Shinobi... A true Shinobi can become stronger.” Izu stepped backwards when his dark half turned on him, its voice roaring in his ears as it shouted at him.”LIES! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE SEEN AS RYU’S SECOND!!” Rage and self-loathing sparked in his eyes as he glared at Izu. “They all know it…” the form whispered, its voice thankfully back to a low, dull tone. With tears still rolling, the form lunged itself towards Izu, with a kunai knife in its hand. Izu, quickly removing his own kunai knife from his left ninja tool pouch, quickly parried the strike as he snapped. “Stop it, you're not helping. We can be strong… I CAN BE STRONG!” The form grew silent, and simply stood straight, replying in a quiet, almost inaudible tone. “How are you going to do that… You couldn’t even save Ryu from himself.. You’ve always let everyone down!!!” The form lunged itself once again and this time struck Izu’s cheek, drawing blood. Izu stumbled backward, falling onto his knees as he held his right hand firmly against his cheek wound. “Why do you try… Why?” the form quietly asked again, holding its hand to its heart. “When it hurts?... It hurts so much?..” The form began to sob, falling to its knees as well. “YOU BRING SO MUCH PAIN. JUST WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH?” the form yelled. “I don’t know” Izu murmured. He honestly didn’t know what to do. “It… or I has a point..” Izu thought, looking at his own two hands as he raised them in front of him. “There is no point in this miserable.. weak life. Its as pointless as that gray sky…Grayness all around.” Izu muttered. Then a thought occured to him. “No…” Izu spoke softly, remembering his comrades, his brother Ryu, Lady Hokage…and his wife. All of his fellow konoha shinobi entered his thoughts. All the times they had risked their lives for one another. “They saved me from death countless times… I was trained so I could be strong. My life.. is not pointless.” Izu muttered as he looked up, giving the form a cheerful, carefree grin. “What do you have to be so happy about, when we’re suffering?” the form asked. Izu, almost as soon as the last word escaped its lips, interrupted. “Because.. through the suffering.. even though you may think we are weak now, We can become stronger with the people we know and love.” The form’s eyes narrowed as it replied. “So what? They could never understand the pain and suffering, They’re strong and we are weak. You couldn't even trust them to begin with.” Izu smiled as the form stood and charged forward towards him. “Just end it, end the suffering!!” his darker half bellowed as it rushed blinding towards him, lunging the kunai knife towards his stomach. Izu took a breath and took the attack full on. The forms cold, dark eyes stretched wide in astonishment. “You didn’t run…” the form said lowly. Izu grunted, the small sound rumbling deep in his throat. “I don’t need to run away from fears. I can stand through a little suffering…a few tough times.. I can be strong” Izu replied. Despite the immense pain, and the blood gushing from his abdomen, Izu reached up and placed his hand on the forms forehead. “You are my weakness, but that’s okay, because you motivated me to become a true shinobi. One who trains to become stronger.” Izu said with a smile on his face. The forms eyes changed, into Izu’s eyes as its body turned to mush and receded back into the waterfall without a single splash or wave. The fog disappeared, As Izu found himself still sitting in front of the entrance unharmed. Izu smiled as he was startled by a voice.”I take it you seen within the waterfall?” Izu yelped and fell into the water beside him, shortly surfacing afterwards, coughing and spewing water. He pulled himself back up and looked up to see the man in the gray robes again. “How is this possible? Wasn’t that just some part of my mind?” Izu asked. “No, in fact it was here all along. You just couldn’t see it. No one may see its true beauty beneath what seems to be a dull waterfall, unless they can clear the darkness in their hearts… Well done.” The man replied. Izu stood to his feet and walked towards the cavern entrance with confidence, without speaking another word. He emerged into the cave, and soon found himself unable to see. “This is a nuisance” Izu said lowly, able to hear his own echo clearly within the cavern. He rose his hands and strung together a series of hand signs before whispering. “Fire Style: Butterly Ignition” As these words escaped his lips a spark emitted from his hands, that soon took on the shape of a small, flaming butterfly, that illuminated the cavern greatly. “Much better” Izu whispered as he continued into the cavern, the butterfly seeming to lead the way. Izu soon caught a glimpse of an entrance,  a stone likeness of the matatabi’s head, its gaping mouth was the door. “Right in  the mouth of Matatabi… how ironic.” Izu thought to himself as he entered cautiously. The butterfly diminished, though Izu didn’t need it. It would seem that the rest of the cavern was illuminated by a series of torches along the walls. There was a large steel gate in front of him. He could see the large cat sleeping in the back of the room. “Matatabi…” he whispered as he pushed open the gates. As soon as the gate was open, the cat’s eyes shot open. “So, is it that time already?” The Matatabi sneered in a low, woman-like voice. Izu nodded, rising his right hand up and pointing it towards the Two-Tailed beast. “I need your power Matatabi, I wish to become your new Jinchuuriki.” Izu muttered. “Just because I gave a human my trust once, does not mean I will go easy on you” the Matatabi hissed, its tails swaying back and forth. “I know..” Izu said softly. “I don’t expect you too. As my potential partner, I wouldn’t dare ask you to hold back anything.” Her eyes glowed in the darkness. She seemed almost amused. She stretched her front paws out in front of her lazily and yawned, showng brilliant, sharp fangs. Her tails twtiched briefly as she locked her gaze onto his. “Very well.. lets see what you’ve got.. Prove to me you are strong.. then we will talk.” As soon as she finished her sentence she lunged towards him. Despite its bulky size it had great speed as it dashed towards Izu. Izu carefully dodged claw swipe after claw swipe. “How am I going to even attack the thing when it’s this fast?” Izu wondered. He had to do this.. this was a situation where failure was not an option. He didn’t come here for nothing. Izu rolled to the side, out of Matatabi’s striking range as he adjusted his arms out of his top, letting it fall completely down past his waist, leaving his torso completely open, revealing the two wolf tattoos, one on each shoulder, and the nautical star tattoo on his chest, the coat he once wore, hanging now, almost looking like a sort of hakama. He placed his left hand over the nautical star tattoo on his chest as a large cloud of smoke suddenly appeared. Once cleared, Izu was holding his Gunbai in his left hand, holding it diagonal behind his back with his arms resting by his sides. Izu’s eyes narrowed as he rushed straight towards the Matatabi. “Your mistake” Matatabi snarled with an almost toothy grin as it whirled around, striking Izu with both of its tails, resulting in two blunt blows to Izu’s ribcage, knocking him back as his back slammed into the side wall. Izu mouth opened as he gasped for air, gagging as he suddenly ducked another strike attempted by Matatabi’s claws. Izu took off in a sprint, using his peripheral vision to watch the Matatabi chasing after him. The two tailed beast leapt into the air and opened its mouth, the Matatabi’s tails curling as a large ball of chakra began to form in its mouth. “Dammit…” Izu muttered as he watched Matatabi swallow and then instantly shoot an enormous blast of raw chakra towards him. Izu just barely escaped the blast, though its intense power and heat badly burned his left arm. Izu winced in pain as he immediately had to leap to the side to dodge a blue fireball. Another was launched by Matatabi as Izu jumped in the air. Before he could land again, a third blue colored fireball was coming towards him. Izu clenched his eyes shut then opened again as he revealed his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, and brought up his maroon colored susano’o ribs as quickly as he could. He couldn’t waste too much chakra on the full form, he felt the ribs would be sufficient enough. Izu eye’s widened as the Matatabi was below him and grabbed him with one of it’s tails, yanking him right out of the susano’o’s ribs at incredible speed, forcefully flinging Izu right into the blue fireball , basically at point blank range. “Did you really think you could defeat me?..” The Matatabi snarled as Izu lay on the cold, stone ground of the cavern, mildly burned by the Matatabi’s attack connecting. Izu began to stand as the Matatabi look on in amazement. “You just don’t quit do you?” Matatabi asked. “No.. I won’t.. I have to.. protect my village..I know I necessarily don’t need the extra power.. But I also want to make up for my predecessor. He tried to control you.. I want to be your host because I want you to know.. we’re not all bad.” Izu muttered. The Matatabi grinned as its claws came down to finish Izu off. Izu formed a one handed hand sign and almost instantly guarded himself with a wall of wurtzite above him. Matatabi looked on astonished once again. “You're full of suprises aren’t you? You're still too weak..” “No I am not.. I have friends.. family.. That is what makes me strong.” Izu had rose again, and was standing tall underneath the wurtzite wall. Matatabi raised it claws surprised. The Wurtzite faded into its liquified version before sitting in a puddle on the ground. “You understand true power kid… I like that.” The Matatabi quietly said, with a small smile on its face. “Heh.. It might have taken me awhile to realize it.. But yes.. And I will not allow anyone to call me weak as long as I have those who are important to me to help me grow. Not even you Matatabi.” Izu blurted out. “Heh. Cheeky aren’t you?” Matatabi chuckled. Izu went on, unfazed. ”I want you to be my partner… Not my surge of power.. I want us to be friends.. and bring about piece together.” Matatabi’s eyes widened, not used to this level of compassion from humans. Her ears twitched as she sat in thought for a moment, her mismatched eyes seemed to look inside him to his very soul. She swayed her tails back and forth softly until finally she answered. “Very well.. I suppose I will give you a chance little one.” Matatabi replied. Izu smiled with excitement. “I promise I’ll let you out if you change your mind. I would never do anything against your wishes partner. “ Both Matatabi and Izu grinned as Izu began forming a series of hand sign, as he created two shadow clones, giving them both most of his chakra evenly. The two clones both began to form hand signs before both muttering in sync “Four Symbol Sealing Jutsu” This is a sealing technique used by the Uzumaki clan and is used to seal any target into a human body or an object, and is mainly used when a giant enemy or evil spirit needs to be sealed away. When two Four Symbols Seals are used together, like in this situation, both clones are using the seal on Izu, they form the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which will allow the Matatabi’s chakra to mix with Izu’s own. In conjuction, a key formula is also made, that can freely manipulate the seal, If Izu were to ever wish to completely master the Two-tails power. As the clones would both diminish, the seal would visibly appear on around Izu’s belly button. He fell to his knees, exhausted. “I did it… I won’t let you down… partner.”