The Nine-Tailed Man

The Nine-Tailed Man: Chapter 2

“You can’t just ask someone why they have tails,” Jun sighed, shifting his foot to the side to turn at the drop of a pin if he deemed it necessary.

“Well, I can, and just did.” His aggressor snapped, clearly not backing down from his questioning. “Now answer the question.”

“I was born with tails,” He lied, turning his body slightly to the side and preparing to attack.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” The man asked, his anger blind to Juns’ subtle foot movements. “Well?” The metal object had returned to the nape of Juns’ neck, this time pressing in and drawing blood.

“Well…” Jun let out a forced laugh, hearing the man exhale angrily, taking the bait whole-heartedly. “Kind of,” He dropped to his knee; sweeping the foot he had placed to the side behind him and feeling the man’s legs give out from under him as Jun hit them.

“Damnit,” Jun turned to see what his aggressor looked like, knowing he would only get a brief second to examine him before the man either fought or ran. The man’s bulky build suggested that Jun be the one booking it, a green flak jacket overlapping a blue long sleeved shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a cigarette in his mouth.

After a quick observation Jun turned on his heel and ran, making sure to step through the river to wet his bloody feet, using the grass to wipe the blood off as he ran. He’s not chasing, Jun listened, hearing nothing out of the ordinary as he made his way through the tree line and into a dirt road.

His feet pushed into the dirt beneath him, dragging his now-muddied and bloodied feet to a dead stop to observe his surroundings. While the path behind him seemed to go on into the sunset, the path in front of him led to a gate five times the size of Orochimaru’s hideout.

It’s enormous, Jun couldn’t stop his mouth from gaping, and the scents of thousands of people inside the monstrous gate hitting his nose and making it twitch as much as a human’s nose could. It was wonderful, the smell of other human beings that weren’t dying or suffering.

“There you are!” Juns’ tails bristled at the sound of the bulky aggressor’s voice, now noting that it was laced with the hint of an upcoming cough. He prepared to run again, hoping the cough that was now leaving the man’s throat would force him to hesitate in his pursuit.

 His feet turned, the dirt beneath his feet making it easier to simply slide his feet against the ground and get a good grip all in the same motion, smelling another scent approaching fast. Regardless of the oncoming threat, his feet began to move on their own, the thought of being captured by these strangers almost as bad as returning to Orochimaru.

“Stop!” The second scent had appeared behind him, his voice morphed by an object in front of his mouth. “You’re hurt!” Jun ignored the man’s obvious statement, almost certain he was trying to use it to distract Jun.

Jun was going his fastest now, hearing the second aggressor keep on him the entire time, even leaping through the trees as he followed. The first aggressor kept pace as well, but lagged back behind, probably trying to figure out how to catch me, Jun sighed, digging his heels into the dirt and turning to face the men.

“Get back!” Jun spat, raising his hands in front of him and realizing he had no weapons.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” The second aggressor walked towards him with one hand outstretched, his hair as white as Juns’, the same apparel as the first man and a mask covering his mouth.

“Then why are you chasing me?” Jun challenge, shifting his eyes around to try to find anything he could use as a weapon.

“We just want to ask you a few questions,” He comforted, holding his empty hands up into the air to show he meant no harm.

“Then ask,” Jun hissed, keeping his distance from the white haired man but smelling the other man sneaking his way behind Jun. “If you pursued me just to ask some questions, why is your friend trying to make sure I can’t escape?”

“It’s a precaution we have to take with unknown guests,” The man kept his hands extended in the air, but shifted his eye over to where the other man was. “My name is Kakashi.”

“I assume you already know my name,” Jun gave a sour smile, “So what is it you really want from me?”

“Your chakra is similar to a man we’ve been hunting for some time now,” Kakashis’ hands returned to his sides, “We want to know why.”

“Orochimaru?” Jun asked, seeing Kakashi give a hesitant nod. Do I really want to tell these strangers that I just escaped from Orochimaru… that I’m one of his experiments?

“We won’t harm you, regardless of what you tell us.” Kakashi promised, seeing uncertainty flash across Juns’ face.

“I…” Jun began, his throat suddenly tightening, “I’m one of his experiments, and he’s bound to send someone out to get me soon.” He confided, looking up to Kakashi’s emotionless face.

“How convenient,” Kakashi exchanged a glance with the second man, who had stopped blocking Juns’ escape route. “Perhaps we can help eachother.”

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Writing has been slow, and I apologize to you, my dear readers! With the Holidays approaching fast there's a lot of cleaning to be done...

Bah, all is well! If you enjoyed, leave a comment or a vote and tell me what you think!~