(no subject)

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

When; May 7th, Evening
Rating; PG-13, maybe R.
Characters; Greed so_very_greedy and Kimimaro nofunnybone
Summary; Kimimaro has had enough of Greed's bullshit. People tend to reach that point.
Log;

The feisty homunculus bounced in place from foot to foot, practicing his strikes. He knew ninjas were fast. Time to see if his training had actually paid off for him. He chose a spot that was downwind of the city, the better to smell his opponent coming. His nostril flared as he detected the scent. The same as the previous Kimimaro, unless he was the same guy. Never could tell, really.

"Come on out, kid!" he yelled, "I know you're out there!"

Comments

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro sped lightly through the city, east, as he had been directed. It seemed strange to one moment be dead, and then next rushing across grass and pavement towards another fight. Still, it could not be helped.

Orochimaru-sama would not be insulted in his hearing.

He heard the man before he saw him, decided to make his entrance silently. The sound of his flesh parting so he could pull the bone from his shoulder was the only threat he needed to make.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

Greed turned to faced the man, ears twitching at the sound of scraping bone.

"Geez, why does your power have to be so fuckin' disgusting?" Greed winced, sticking his tongue out, "You should trade up."

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro shrugged, the motion making his skin gape for a second before it knit closed again, a bit more sluggishly than usual.

He had been curious as to whether his body would react the same when he pulled bones from them as when he was alive. For the moment, it didn't seem like using the shikotsumyaku would be a problem here.

"I am satisfied with my ability. The aesthetics do not matter as much as the results," he said, and then sent the bone-sword whistling through the air towards the man with no more preamble.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

Greed was too busy droning on about how disgusting his power was to notice the blade heading for him. It caught him dead on, sliding through his throat and pinning him to a tree.

"Ah!" he gurgled through blood, "You...asshole!"

He quickly worked out the blade and crushed it in his hands, then dusted his hand on his pants and stomped toward the pale man. The bloody wound in his thick neck had already knit shut in a crackle of alchemical energy.

"Kid, you shouldn't interrupt a man when he's expounding."

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Well that was...interesting. Most of Kimimaro's opponents didn't keep yelling at him when he speared them through the throat. The also usually weren't able to break any bones that separated from his body.

He would have to make the next one stronger.

"I had assumed you wanted to fight, not talk," he replied, unconcerned. "And I am not a child."

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"You're youthful, then," he said, charging and throwing a series of roundhouse kicks at the male's legs and head, "I'll try not to hurt you TOO badly, amigo!"

He finished his combo by throwing an uppercut for Kimi's chin.

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro dodged the kicks, not parrying yet, waiting to see the range of this--what did he call himself? A Homunculus?--this Homunculus' speed. He wasn't the fastest Kimimaro had ever fought...probably not even half as fast as that Leaf child he had fought before he died, but he was suitably adept at taijutsu.

Maybe even good enough for Kimimaro to have to pay attention. What on earth was an amigo?

"Do not bother. I will not be affording you the same courtesy."

He leaned out of the path of Greed's knuckles, letting the bones of his ribs erupt out of his chest and take most of the force of the blow.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"Aw!" Greed blanched, recoiling, "Fuckin' sick, man!"

He jumped back through the air a short distance from Kimimaro. He cracked his neck and stomped the ground a few times.

"Guess I'd better reveal one of my tricks," he said, extending his arms, "Let's do this."

His hands and forearms slowly changed to a shiny, black color. Unnaturally shiny, like marble. He stretched once more and bashed his knuckles together, making a loud 'clank'.

"Bring it, ninja."

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro watched curiously as the surface of Greed's skin changed to a glossy black, the bones of his ribs sucking back into his chest with a long slow squelch.

He formed another sword from his shoulder blade, being careful to reinforce the bone before pulling it out. Hopefully, it would be strong enough.

"Hn." Kimimaro rose up on his toes and stepped to the left in the beginnings of the Dance of the Camellia.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"Hey, come back here!" Greed yelled, chasing him down. He took a swipe at his head, followed by a low sweep and a striking out with a side-kick as he rose.

"Cut it out and stand still!" he snarled, rapidly striking at the man as fast as he could.

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro managed to avoid most of the strikes, although the rare ones that connected did so hard enough to make him wince.

"You are too slow," he said as he bent and dipped repeatedly under a leg or an arm in graceful contortion.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"SHUT UP!" he steamed, trying again and again to hit the graceful ninja. He finally stopped and stomped the earth hard enough to make a small crater.

"DO you ever fucking stop moving?! Fight like a man!" he yelled, running over to the underbrush. He punched his hands into an oak and began to pull. With a mild groan, he pulled the tree free of the earth.

"Eat this!" he screamed, hurling the tree at him.

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro was able to leap over the crater, but he couldn't quite avoid an entire tree heading his way. Eyes narrowing, he shielded himself with his forearms, not minding the shredded cloth and skin as the tree splintered and broke around him.

Was the man insane? Who fought by throwing foliage around?

"You are overly emotional," Kimimaro noted as he flicked pieces of bark from his shoulder. He flipped the sword in his hands and darted it forward towards the man's chest. It was time to go on the offensive.

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro frowned and took a step back, hand going to his chest where the Earth seal marked his body. While he was alive it had given him nearly immeasurable strength and resilience. It also marked him as Orochimaru-sama's, bonding them together.

He was unsure of whether the seal would continue to work the same way, now that he was dead. If he asserted control over that power, would it fail him? And a small part of him was hesitant to try. The seal was all he had the signified Orochimaru's trust in him. If he were to lose that...

"I cannot fight you with the seal's power. Not until I find Orochimaru-sama, or talk to Kabuto," Kimimaro conceded, hating the idea of leaving a fight unfinished. But it was a risk he could not yet take.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

Greed growled for a moment as if he would attack, but thought better of it and allowed his skin to recede. He shoved his hands into his pockets and casually strolled forware to Kimimaro.

"Fine," he said, putting an open hand out, "I can understand that. Put 'er there."

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro looked at Greed's outstretched hand, utterly confused. The only thing he held was...

He scowled.

"I am not giving you my sword," he warned, absorbing the bone back into his body like a sulky child hording his toys from the others on the playground. But the other man's hand was still out, palm up, expectant.

What did he want?

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"...You're supposed to shake hands with. It's a what strong men do when parting ways honorably. The standard is clasping palms, my right to your right, and giving three quick arm pumps. Then we agree to meet up again when you're ready to fight."

Greed looks flat at the younger male as he said this.

Was he raised in a cave, or what?

"You honestly never heard of this?"

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

He gave the other man a skeptical look, head tilting to the side as if to look for the hidden trick or body movement which might betray Greed's true intentions. When he couldn't see anything, he returned the flat stare.

"You wish us to...touch palms," Kimimaro repeated, slowly. "It is a ritual?"

No one except Orochimaru had ever touched him casually, or with any intent other than to harm. Even Kabuto had never laid a hand on Kimimaro without following it with an injection, a scalpel's stinging blade, or some other painful instrument.

And Kimimaro, himself, had never touched anyone without harmful intent except...well there was Juugo. But that was only to restrain, or calm, and they had never clasped hands in any way.

Warily, Kimimaro held out his hand, watching Greed's fingers as one might watch a scorpion scuttling beneath one's feet. If the homunculus planned to try and crush his hand, he would end up with a surprise. Kimimaro's bone shield would not allow him to penetrate past the skin.

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

Greed gave a firm, but not overpowering grip, shaking his hand several times. He then clapped a hand on Kimimaro's shoulder a few times and started to laugh.

"Ha ha! That's the spirit! I'm gonna' get you socially acclimated yet, Kimimaro! Just remember, anytime you're ready, so am I. Got it?"

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro suffered the handshake and the shoulder clasping with all the stiffness and confusion one might expect. He extracted himself from Greed's hold as quickly as possible, putting a few feet of empty space between them.

He glared accusingly at the other man, feeling a little like he had been tricked after all, even if Greed had made no attempt to attack him at close range, or injure his hand. There had been no mention of impromptu shoulder thumping in his previous description of the ritual.

"I do not need to be social, only useful to Orochimaru-sama," he replied, shortly. "We will fight again when I know I can safely use the seal."

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"But why we somebody's tool?"

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

Kimimaro frowned. Greed said it as if it were something horrible or degrading to be Orochimaru-sama's tool.

"I am his weapon. Orochimaru-sama chose me, wanted me and all the things everyone else feared in me. He saved me and so...my life belongs to him. As long as he permits me to, I will stay by his side."

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"You don't have any dreams of your own, but serving someone else? That's kinda' pathetic."

Greed, having served someone for more than a century with no breaks, couldn't understand that type of thinking. Why give up seperate pursuits to help someone who couldn't care less about you?

[nofunnybone.livejournal.com]

"There's nothing pathetic about serving a great man," Kimimaro retorted, struggling to keep his composure.

Greed didn't know anything, about him or Orochimaru-sama, or he could not have dared to speak of him in such dismissive tones. Dreams of his own? Kimimaro was a monster, the only surviving offspring of a bloodthirsty tribe that had wiped themselves out fulfilling their worthless dreams of slaughter. He was ready to die when Orochimaru-sama found him. Now...

"My dream is that Orochimaru-sama accomplishes his dreams. Someone like you could never understand."

[so-very-greedy.livejournal.com]

"How is he so great? What's he done of note? Tell me one useful thing the guy does besides scheme and steal from people. He steals techniques, he steals lives, he steals bodies. He's just a fuckin' thief!"