Splinters of memories [Complete]

[lingeringscent]

Characters: Mio Amakura, Zetsu
Setting: Fairy Bedroom
Time: Day 003, post-Exploration
Summary: Mio explains her ghost hunting tools to Zetsu and prods him about his past.
Warnings: Possible cuteness and fluff.

Comments

[weeatbodies]

".....It figures. Being able to hear it would just be too easy." Zetsu sighed, shaking his head. He accepted Mio's hand gently, the other one moving to cover it; he knew it must be absurdly frustrating, probably even moreso for Mio than it was for him. "Not being heard as a punishment? That's possible.... Whatever it's punishing must be pretty severe though, to warrant that."

He blinked at that, but simply nodded; it shouldn't have surprised him, ghosts being able to pass through solid objects like that. The camera being able to keep track of them, though, was indeed impressive. I've been able to sense something like that, too--from the dogs, especially. They're merciless, and they just won't stop until you kill them." He tilted his head thoughtfully, considering the question. "Well.... it's possible that there are passive forms for some monsters as well, like that one? Or maybe some aren't hostile at all. It might not even have been a monster--it looked like it would have been human, if it were..... whole." He grimaced a little. "For all we know, that might have actually been an occupant like us--from this group, or maybe even from one that came before, that produced ghosts as well." That was a disturbing thought, residents turning into monsters..... "It would certainly explain those notes in the bathroom."

Zetsu's leaves shivered at the memory, as he debated just whether or not his experiences counted; finally, he nodded. "In extraordinary cases, I think they are.... I've seen one that burned with anger and hate strong enough to taste. Senseless murder and destruction were the only meaning and definition his life had." He shook his head, mildly disgusted. "To feel him look at you, you could think that he would crush the world if he could, and feel nothing at all at its loss. Of course, there were special circumstances for it, but.... in the end, it was him. The malice was his own, I think." Not the Shukaku's, though he no doubt exacerbated it badly, and certainly had been the initial cause of it. Even if Gaara was better, he still wondered how on earth Sunagakure had thought making him their leader was a good idea.

[lingeringscent]

Mio looked a little guilty for not having had been able to hear it. Maybe if she had listened a little longer, she'd had to listen carefully for some of the ghosts in All God's Village, but this seemee different...she tried not to well on it too much, "Do you think so...? The Repentance occurred all because Yae wouldn't preform the ritual with Sae."

Mio nodded as he mentioned the dogs again...she didn't think she wanted to encounter them, judging by what he'd said, but she did wonder why she hadn't. Had Zetsu done something different? She decided not to pry for the moment, thinking it'd probably be better to try and see if anyone else had problems with dogs later...She nodded again as he went on. The burned man was like the skinless as well, sans the passive nature. They could infer that he died by burning... "That...they could have been..." She was silent for several moments, seeming to debate whether or not to ask the question before doing so, "...Do you think the skin in the gold bathroom might have belonged to them?"

Mio noticed the leaves shivering, resting her head on his arm and nuzzling against it a little as he spoke. Although she didn't voice her concerns, she thought it sounded a little scary. She wondered if that was really an appropriate thing to say, though, as she looked up at him, "...That sounds awful, still..." Was that any better? Perhaps now, but...it did. She'd never been around people enough to experience something like that, although she didn't doubt that such people might exist. Zetsu...had experienced a lot, though, hadn't he? Aside from what she'd seen, what she'd felt...she wondered...would he let her ask about those things? She wanted to know... "Um, Zetsu...?

[weeatbodies]

"....I think it probably did." Zetsu agreed, recalling the skin suit and the faucet that ran with blood. It hadn't been the most pleasant sight, but certainly far from the worst he'd ever seen. He'd even taken a taste of some of the blood; it wasn't especially flavorful, but it was blood nonetheless, and he'd had some just to have some. He definitely hadn't gotten the amount of meat he usually did in his diet, lately, and it had been satisfying. No need to mention any of that, though....

Zetsu smiled at the gesture; it had been far too long since he'd gotten to spend much time with someone so affectionate since he'd met Mio. Even Tobi wasn't readily available anymore, in the Akatsuki and with his duties (and leadership responsibilities) as they were. "It was.... A lot of people died back then, just because they were in his way or they irritated him, or he was just in a bad mood.... I hear he's better now, though. He's supposedly the leader of his village now." Which again, struck him as a ridiculous idea. What kind of people would volunteer to be led by a former maniac? It was a nice gesture of faith, to be sure, and he was undoubtedly the strongest one there, but.... still, really. He didn't have the life experiences necessary, much less the traits, to make a great leader. "Yes?" He shifted a little to give her his full attention.

[lingeringscent]

Mio shivered as she thought on it more, for the moment not wanting to even think on how that happened or why the facet had blood come out of it and especially not what the notes with implied. If Zetsu were willing to accommodate, which he had been up until this point, she would save that nasty piece of conversation for later. For now...they would talk about him. She nuzzled against him a little more as he continued, having a hard time comprehending such a person. "How terrible...but that's good that he's better."

She frowned a little at the idea of making someone who was so malicious a leader, doing better or otherwise, but she knew little of the circumstances or social graces. It wasn't her place to judge. Getting back to Zetsu, she looked up to him with a curious, shy expression. She wasn't entirely sure how to go about asking...it was an awkward question, one she'd never had to ask or been asked. At a loss for how to make it sound proper, she simply went for a somewhat direct approach, sounding more than a little nervous about how he'd respond, "What was your life like before...this...?" What had caused what she'd seen before...? It had to be terrible...her heart hurt a little the more she thought on it, but she didn't let that show. Zetsu was the one who had to live with it, who'd had to experience it, not her. She couldn't let herself crumble thinking about it.

[weeatbodies]

Zetsu settled comfortably into the bed, cuddling against Mio; it was hard not to feel at ease right now, safe (for the moment) and unharmed, allowed relative privacy, and some free time with someone he actually cared about. Thoughts of Gaara aside, it was nice, and something he didn't think he'd really felt for a long time. Maybe that was why her question seemed more confusing than surprising; he blinked at her, as though unsure why anyone would even bother to ask. "What was....?" He shook his head a little, trying to puzzle out what a simple answer might be. "That's pretty broad. What do you want to know?"

Come to think of it, that might have been why he wasn't too reluctant to consider answering, either.... Koizumi had been at that level of acquaintance where he hadn't felt too threatened to talk about himself, simply because, while he liked the boy, they weren't close enough for his opinion to have too heavy of an impact on him. Mio, though.... Mio teetered on the edge of being just close enough that he was afraid of how much it might hurt if she hated him once she knew, and being just close enough that he wanted to dare trust that she would accept him, whatever he told her.

[lingeringscent]

Mio was enjoying the cuddling, in spite of the serious nature of the subjects and feeling shy about prying into her life, she felt more contended sitting here with him than she had in some time, herself. Even with Mayu...she rarely felt like this. Maybe that was because Zetsu offered something different than Mayu, he...she felt safe around him, as though she didn't have to worry. She gave a bit of a timid smile as he seemed unsure as to how to respond to her question. Truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure how to make it more specific...

A part of her wanted to say everything, but that still seemed rather broad, as well as rude. She shifted positions, trying to think of the best way to word it. Eventually she settled, "What made Zetsu...Zetsu?" Maybe that was a little better...? It was still a little vague, but it wasn't at the point of asking what'd caused those memories she'd seen (and what'd followed), that would be too awkward, and it wasn't outright demanding an explanation of his past, either, which seemed as though it would be too rude...

[weeatbodies]

"Uh...." Zetsu still seemed at a loss, honestly enough. Who was he? What was Zetsu? What had made him up? It was rather confusing, really... He wasn't sure just what had gone into him. And what exactly did she mean, anyway? But.... well, he might as well try? A bit of thinking later, he decided it would probably just make the most sense to offer her a fairly simple, straightforward answer, as he wasn't sure what exactly she'd wanted to know in the first place. Biographical, factual information, since he was uncertain of what emotional or philosophical or whatever other kinds of things would have gone into him. "About thirty-seven years ago, I was born in Kusagakure of Kusa no Kuni, to the Kamibana tribe. I started Academy when I was six, and graduated when I was eight."

"I decided that I would go into the ANBU as a career path, and chose to become a hunter-nin within the organization; that was when I got my medical training. I worked with them for a while, and ended up leaving Kusagakure when I was nineteen." For reasons that he wasn't getting into, oblivious to the fact that Mio knew that part already. "I wandered for a while as a missing-nin, until I met Pein. I liked his ideas, and he liked what I could do for him. So I entered the Akatsuki under his employment, and I've remained in that position ever since, for a long time now." Let it never be said that he wasn't faithful, when given a chance. And while he knew Mio probably wouldn't have understood much of that, almost every component would have been pretty meaningful to someone from his own world.

[lingeringscent]

Mio felt a little guilty, she still looked rather confused. She wasn't being very clear at all, but she really was at a loss as to how a person was supposed to go about these things. The only people she'd ever interacted with outside her family were ghosts and there was never any need to question them. They wanted to tell their story, wanted someone to help them...so they told anyone who would listen. But people were different, more reserved and, she supposed, with far more to lose than their ethereal counterparts. She hoped she wasn't making him too uncomfortable.

She listened carefully as he spoke, eyes moving down for a few seconds as he mentioned his taking leave. Most of it was lost on her in part because it was curt, but also because several of the terms were lost on her. Pleased that he'd told her anything, but not quite sated, she did the only thing she could think to do. She started asking questions, "What's a hunter-nin?...And a missing...nin?" The nin was tacked on carelessly after several seconds of silence, seeming to forget that it were part of the term. There were other things she was more interested in, but she thought it might be better if she tried to understand the terms he'd given her first...