beforethedarkness | 10th Tomoe || Video, Action at Route 47, 4th Wall Event

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10th Tomoe || Video, Action at Route 47, 4th Wall Event

[There was a Crobat flying around a boy frantically and a Luxio nuzzling at him to try and wake him when the pokégear broadcasts to the network. Once it's on, a Blaziken appears on screen and points him out, clearly distressed at the state of his trainer. It's not hard to see why, as Sasuke starts getting up and spares the gear a look. He's covered in burns and his clothes are slightly tattered, but that likely isn't the most jarring thing about him.]

[It doesn't take long for Sasuke to wobble over, his hand gripping tightly at his left shoulder the whole time while he does. He cuts the feed once he makes it to the camera.]

[ACTION!]

[He's breathing hard as he's just trying to keep going, stubbornly pushing his pokémon away from him at every turn. Those pokémon just continued to try and help him, or at least carry him, back to a town. Any town. They didn't know what to do when their trainer was like this, clearly in a lot of pain and weak. Why did he keep pushing them away?

He stops, nearly falling when someone appears in his path. Who, though?]

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"Stop following me!"

To say Neji was unamused was putting it lightly. Not only was he far from the Land of Fire already, Lee and Gai-sensei had charged ahead in one of their foolish contests of 'youthful sprinting.' And, well... he had lost them. The boy with the Byakugan wasn't used to loosing anything, but here he was, without a familiar landmark or person in sight.

Save for this thing that kept following him around, some kind of bipedal creature that had taken an interest in him. Anyone but Neji would know it as a Meinfoo -- Neji saw it as an irritant. His attention more focused on ignoring the weird little thing than on anything before him, it's almost a surprise when he finds a road, and in the middle of it, someone emitting a vile purple-hued Chakra.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

What? He stopped at hearing that voice, blinking a few times as he let it sink in. That voice was... Vaguely familiar. He turned to face him, again trying to shove his Luxio off of him as he met Byakugan with Sharingan.

"Neji."

So he was here... When had he gotten there? He didn't care, he just needed a way to force the mark back. But how.

His own eyes weren't activated just then, though as soon as he catches sight of Sharingan, his own intensifying in response. In spite of that Chakra, he didn't... seem overtly hostile, at least, not yet. Neji's eyes flick over his entire body, reading past the strange marks and the evil Chakra, filing away every small twitch and involuntary movement.

Then that thing nudged his arm, disrupting his focus as he tilted to the side, then snapped a glare to it. "Stop that!" he snarls, returning his attention to the Uchiha boy, brow furrowed as he gives the marks on the other's skin a pointed look.

"What is that?"

Edited 2012-11-24 23:45 (UTC)

"... Pokémon. They're like ninja animals," He murmured, eventually losing his footing entirely. The tall bird-like creature behind him caught Sasuke, crooning softly and looking up to Neji with his own plead. It looked like this person knew what was going on. He had to help his trainer, somehow!

The Luxio at Sasuke's feet ran over to Neji and pawed at him, mewing and distressed with the same sort of request. Her trainer was weak, and he looked sick. And it looked like this guy knew him! Maybe he could help?

"Pokémon?" They didn't look like any animals Neji had ever seen, but fine, if that's what they were, then there was no helping it. He gave the one at his feet a glare and sidestepped to get out of its way.

"That's not important," he says finally, stepping around the cat-like thing and approaching, the Meinfoo following behind him. The last time he'd seen that kind of Chakra, the Uchiha had shattered the arms of a Sound ninja that had been able to take on Lee. He wasn't taking any chances, in case the other's seeming weakness was a ploy. "Those marks. What are those?"

Edited 2012-11-25 00:03 (UTC)

He shuddered, trying to not pass out in front of Neji, and took a few moments to gather himself before he answered, "Curse mark..."

Eventually he ended up falling against Hiruzen, who caught him and tried to help him stand. Sasuke squirmed in the grip, not really liking that he felt too weak to stand on his own or that his blood was on fire. That mark was really wreaking havoc on him, combined with the damage from that fight... A fight that he lost against a foe he couldn't touch. How had he done that...?

It wasn't a ploy. The other's Chakra system looked fairly ravaged from damage, and if his body language was anything to judge by (it always was, before Neji's eyes), he was about to collapse.

"Curse mark..."

That seal from that time. His eyes focus, veins widening from the added Chakra forced to them as he studies his shoulder, lips furrowing into a deep frown. Though he turns his eyes to the other's face, his focus is still on his shoulder. "I can try to shut it down."

"I don't need help," He stubbornly insisted, shaking his head and once more trying to push away from the pokémon. That effort proved useless and he was stuck, glaring at the ground for his own weakness. He couldn't just give up... He was supposed to be the strong one.

"Fair enough." Neji didn't stop walking forward, eyeing the bird-thing to see if it was going to attack. Whatever the mark was, it was damaging his body, and on top of that... if he remembered correctly, the other had been passed out before fully awakening that dark Chakra. At the time, he had assumed it to be due to wounds sustained in the Forest itself, but now?

A beat as he studies the other's tenketsu, finding the ones connecting directly to that mark. Chakra was pulsing from it rather than from the center as it should. If he shut that down... well, who could say whether it would make it worse or better?

His eyes flick to the bird-thing. "If you really are a ninja animal, hold him still," is all he says as warning, then his right hand snaps out, index and middle finger extended and braced by his thumb as he forces his own Chakra into one of the primary tenketsu affected by the mark, overloading the amount passing through it and forcing it to shut down to prevent further damage.

The bird seemed to understand and nodded, watching carefully and holding onto Sasuke tightly. Sasuke, blinking, had tried to get out before it happened, and he cried out in surprise and pain from the sudden assault. It seemed to work, however; the mark began to recede and crawl back to its source across his skin, leaving him shaking and feeling both cool and light-headed.

What had he...?

As he'd thought. Now that he was reasonably certain the bird wouldn't attack, he focused his attention entirely on the other's Chakra points. It had seemed to work, at least temporarily, as he pays less attention to the marks and more to the recession of that Chakra.

He just snorts through his nose and crosses his arms, only allowing the Byakugan to recede when it seems clear that Chakra isn't going to try to force its way through another path in his Chakra network. "I sealed one of your tenketsu before that mark could consume your own Chakra. You shou-- Get off!"

The potential threat averted, the Meinfoo had bumped up against his hip, looking up at him with almost soulful eyes.

Something about tenketsu? Sasuke was trying to listen, but he was just too worn out to really let it get through. When he saw what Neji was yelling about, he couldn't help but smirk just a little as he shook his head at the other.

"At least it can't sit on your head."

He just stares at Sasuke. Did he really think he would permit some animal to perch on his head?

Turning his gaze to the strange animal, he gives it a scowl and takes another sidestep, trying to gain some distance. Of course, it only follows and bumps against his hip again. "What is this, some kind of red panda?" he snarls, taking another step, again to no effect.

Instead, he just crosses his arms again and lets it be, fully intending to just outrun it later. "That Mark. Where did it come from?"

Rather than telling Neji what it was, Sasuke handed him the pokédex, "That will tell you. From the looks of it, it's your starter pokémon."

And then the mark... Sasuke has to take a breath, scowling at the memory as he's made to lean onto Hiruzen for more support. Normally he'd be more reserved with that information, but he didn't know when he'd run into someone from Konoha again. And Neji, whether he knew him well or not, was an ally, "Forest of Death... Orochimaru cursed me with his bite while I was fought him. From what Sakura's been telling me, it almost killed me."

Edited 2012-11-25 03:01 (UTC)

Though he took the device, he didn't have the faintest idea how to use it; by chance, it falls upon the strange creature, information almost immediately popping up on the screen. "Mein...foo..." he repeats quietly aloud, skimming the information and giving it a glance when it seems to almost nod, reaching up to pat his elbow. "That's what you are? Wonderful."

If he wasn't careful, he'd end up with a zoo like Sasuke apparently had.

"Orochimaru?" That's right, there'd be an alert released about that; he'd heard some of the Jounin talking about being forced to miss the main match due to guard duty. "So that's the source of that vile Chakra I could see."

Believe it or not having a 'zoo' like Sasuke had was a good thing.

He took the device back once Neji was done with it, putting it away and nodding, "Yeah. Kakashi already tried to seal it, but it broke while I was fighting Gaara of the Sand. Now it activates if I over-exert myself, as far as I can tell."

After a beat, he added, "Better than before. Before today, I couldn't access my chakra at all."

Hey, he wasn't done with that! He wanted to see what these other strange creatures were. It couldn't be helped, though, because he wasn't about to ask for it back. Instead, he ignores the Meinfoo as best he can and stares at the other.

"Interesting. What I have done is not a seal, and will only last for perhaps an hour." Neji frowns and gives him a sharper glance. "What do you mean, couldn't access Chakra?"

"Exactly what I said. Something about this place suppresses it normally," He sighed, shoulders slumped as he recalled the first time he woke up in that town... New Bark, was it? He didn't quite remember.

"It happens to everyone. Chakra and abilities are lost, weapons are illegal... Inhuman creatures become human."

The corners of his eyes narrow as he starts to feel the familiar pulse of Chakra behind them, but he doesn't need to activate his technique to know the other was telling the truth, as impossible as it seemed.

Suppressing Chakra? Being unable to access Byakugan or any of his other techniques? He felt himself go just the slightest bit pale at the concept, though he only crosses his arms over his chest and lets out another 'hmph'.

"In that case, I will move on to find the rest of my team." He gestures carelessly. "Do you want this... thing?"

The Mienfoo's head immediately picks up as if it understands completely and moves around to stand right in front of him, letting out a sound that was clearly displeasure mixed with betrayal.

Edited 2012-11-25 05:39 (UTC)

"No. It's yours, and you need it. The wild ones are violent, and normally using your own is the only way to fight them."

Something about that still left a bitter taste in his mouth. He really didn't like that he didn't fight his own battles here, but more than that...

Neji just stares down at it with a disgruntled sigh and crosses his arms. "So you say." He didn't like taking orders from the Uchiha brat of all people, but he wasn't above taking information when it was readily available. And the other's face spoke volumes more than his words.

"Are the animals the only hostile thing? These... pokémon?"

"... People with them can be hostile, too."

He sighed and finally tried to walk again, although the fact that Blaziken wasn't letting him slip away was more irritating than anything. He could walk, dammit!

"Of course." That only made sense, and he nods once. Could he fight without Chakra? He hadn't tried since that one day's worth of training that Gai-sensei had attempted to put them through. And while it was certainly possible, he'd hated every minute of it.

Still, he glances to the bird-thing with no small amount of amusement before crossing both arms over his chest again. "I believe your bird thinks you should rest. Where are you going?"

He paused at that, frowning at the ground before he answered, "East. It might take a while, but the closest town is in that direction. From there, we can catch a ferry back to the mainland."

Provided that this place doesn't decide to warp him again, of course. But it probably will, eventually.

"Mainland?" Neji's eyes narrow again as the arms over his chest tighten. "We are on the mainland. Gai-sensei and Lee and I on our way to the Land of Rice Paddies."

...As much as it irked him to admit that there was something he couldn't see, he had to ask. Eyes sliding shut in annoyance, he asks, "Have you seen either of them?"

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