Passing of Time [SOLO]

[CorenKeitaro]

Coren sighed, staring at the ceiling. As always, it was a a dull white, staring into him with just as much force as he it. The same pale, bland, annoying, no, infuriating color of white, always there to greet him after a long sleep, the view he sees every other week.
Deep in its depths, his insanity sees itself.
He sees a false wall, meant to reassure those around it that there is no danger, that everything will be okay, that nothing could possibly go wrong. But behind that false wall lies the eternal abyss, the pit of black that stares, never blinking, deep within the confines of your soul, never to look away.
It simply stares for eternity.
The sound of knocking tore Coren's gaze from the white ceiling to a pair of women standing in the door.
"...Morning, Lilly, Anko." Coren's voice surprised even himself with how ragged it sounded.
"Good morning, Coren," Lilligant said, her fsmile both reassuring and quite obviously fake to the boy.
"..." Anko simply stared on at him, pitifully. The question is, though, is her look of pity for him, or herself?
"You really had us worried, y'know," Lilligant said softly, as if she were worried she was too loud.
"Sorry," he responded quietly. "It's just... I couldn't let him get away with everything, y'know?"
He sighed, leaning back.
"...I wanted to protect the people who are close to me."
Lilligant and Anko shared a look; one of uncertainty.
"I know you did...," Lilly said lamely, not having anything to follow it up with.
After a minute or two of an awkward silence, he said "So... How're my injuries?"
"You're... Fine." Coren's eyebrow rose slightly.
"I was missing a chunk of my abdomen."
"I know," she responded. "It... Healed. It was like something super-charged your healing factor."
At that, Anko flinched and looked away.
"...I see," he muttered. "...Is it there?" he asked Lilligant.
"Is what-"
Coren silenced her with a glare.
"You know exactly what."
She closed her eyes and exhaled.
"...Yes. It's on the back of your left shoulder, close to the neck."
Coren nodded, his entire body going limp.
He had it.
The Cursed Seal.
"How long until it starts to activate?"
"If your anything like me?" Anko said, finally speaking. "The first time you get angry, it'll go crazy."
He nodded. The silence returned for several minutes.
"...Is there anything I can get you?"
Coren smiled at the nurse.
"No, thank you. I think... I think I'd like some time to think."
Lilligant nodded, leaving.
Anko followed her, but paused near the door.
"...I'm sorry."
"Don't be."
And then she was gone.

---

Coren laid there as he had for the last three days; uncomfortably. Staring at the white ceiling, he found himself thinking certain thoughts more and more often, thoughts that he didn't like.
"Wouldn't this place just look infinitely better in red?"
He shuddered. The Curse Mark's effects were growing stronger, and they fed on his darkest desires. The seal spoke to him, telling him of the things that he could do, things that he wanted to do.
And as always, he pushed it aside, staring deep into the white abyss that others called the ceiling.
Every few hours, Anko would come and visit, as would Lilligant. They distracted him quite well from the hissing words of the seal, at least for a time. But then, he would ask for some alone time, and they would leave him.
This cycle repeated endlessly for three days, and at this point, he was quite sure that neither of them had gotten a wink in for over 72 hours.
He wanted to tell them to get some sleep, but then he would have nothing to distract him from the voice.
He didn't want to be alone, but he didn't want them to lose sleep over him either.
"Quite the dilemma," he said to himself. As always, he laid there quietly.
He ignored the voices for another hour or so before Anko walked in.
"So... How's it hangin', kid?"
He smiled at her with that kind smile he'd practiced in the mirror for so long.
"I'm fine, thanks... I wish I could say the same for you," he said, gesturing to her face.
"Heh... I'm fine, I just haven't been getting as much sleep lately."
He nodded.
They filled the time between then and her departure with idle chatter, like how he'd need a new sword, and how she knew just the woman to help with that.
And so the cycle continued for another two days, before finally, he was to be discharged.
That day, Anko took Coren to Lilligant's house, where pizza and dango was had. More idle chatter filled the area, numbing Coren's mind and silencing the voices.
But then, that night, when he laid down into bed, they returned with full force. It was four hours before he finally slept, and every moment of his sleep was spent tossing and turning, running from his nightmares and greatest fears that his Curse Mark drudged up.
Finally, when the next day came, Coren had had two hours' sleep, yet still found the will to don his usual persona, the mask behind which he hides himself, and went outside.
Anko came with him, walking alongside the boy as he strolled through the area. They actually managed to find a group of street performers doing various physical feats. While it was pretty ordinary to be able to run across walls and do back-flips over other people, the fact that these performers did it without using any chakra was what set them apart.
Coren and Anko had clapped loudly for the group, even giving them some money for the pleasant show, before leaving for food.
They ended up getting dango, which the duo enjoyed quite a bit.
After their sixths, they finally left for their home, as dusk approached with much haste, and so too did the clouds of rain.

---

Another day passed, and then another. Time seemed to fly by quickly to him at times, but at others, it went painfully slow. Anko had managed to get the Hokage to place a seal on his neck to control it, but it still remained, an itch that you wanted to scratch more than anything else in the world.
But he didn't.
Instead, he went about his usual day, his 9th since his discharging from the hospital.
Since then, he'd managed to get Anko to start teaching him to control it, to keep control. Mind you, it was always in a very stable environment with the Hokage in stand-by, but it was necessary. There were times that he lost most of his control, but he always managed to take it back.
After bringing back groceries from the store and placing them on the counter, a thought occurred to him.
"I can't hear it," he said quietly.
Was it... Gone?
Could he control it?
He rapped his knuckles lightly on Lilligant's door, but quickly remembered that she was at the hospital.
"Tch..."
Anko ended up passing out on the couch an hour ago due to a lack of sleep. Apparently, every night for the last week, she spent her nights watching over the boy, making sure that Orochimaru's snakes didn't come within a mile of him.
He sighed.
He needed to know if he could control it, but he couldn't bother Anko, nor Lilligant. He knew that he could only do the control training with both Anko and the Hokage present, but maybe...
His mind addled and absent, he found himself walking to the Forest of Death.
Why?
...To prove that he had control, that's why.
And if I don't?
Then you will.

---

Coren sat there, quietly meditating deep within the forest. He'd managed to leave a note for Anko with his exact location, and he hoped she wouldn't be overly angry. He just needed to clear his head.
He had control over his own mind, but could he control something like the Cursed Seal?
...No, not now.
Pushing away those thoughts, he formed a hand-seal, descending as deeply as he could within himself to find the calm that he clung to.
And everything went quiet within himself.
No more thoughts of red, of the dead, of those rent asunder.
Only the sounds of the tree's leaves being tossed about by the air and the sounds of animals in all directions.
Quietly, he meditated for a length of time he was unsure of, until Anko arrived.
"So...," she said quietly, "This's what you're doing, huh?"
And then he smiled kindly, and nodded.
"...Y'know, I've known you for years, kid. I know your fake smile."
"Maybe you do," he said. "...I really wish I could get the voices out of my head, y'know?"
"Oh yeah, I definitely do."
Coren chuckled. He'd almost forgotten that she'd gone through the same thing.
"...Hey, Anko?" She just smiled.
"I know," she said, responding to his unsaid comment.
She stood up, offering the boy her hand.
"Come on; Lilly'll throw a fit if we're missing."
Coren nodded, letting her help him up.
"...Thanks," he said anyway.
"I know," she repeated. "Now let's go home."

---

A week passed, and he was ready for active duty.
In two weeks, he'd gained control over his Curse Mark; thanks to the Evil Sealing Technique, as long as he didn't want to listen, he wouldn't hear it. To a certain extent, at least.
And so, here he was, standing before his team, wearing a different attire from before.
Whereas he used to wear a mesh shirt, now he wore a skin-tight, long-sleeve one. Over that, he had changed from his leather jacket to a leather trench-coat, which held all of his equipment in sealing scrolls. He'd also layered several seals into the coat, to serve as emergency seals for various weapons.
He changed from his earlier black jeans with a white dragon to a standard-issue ANBU pants.
All across his clothing were the aforementioned storage seals, but there were also several weight seals that made it taxing to move, but would pay off later.
He also wore a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to the first knuckle before cutting off, which he'd applied seals to. The left glove had a seal full of large quantities of water, as Lilligant taught him a water technique during his down time, and the other was a communications seal that he'd come up with. Just pulse your chakra into it, and it sent out a signal; it only worked for Morse code, though.
Finally, he'd kept his combat boots, which also had weight seals on it, and held an absurd quantity of blades hidden within seals or the sole of the shoe. He even had a small kunai hidden inside of the shoe, just behind his foot.
He'd also changed his hair a bit; instead of having a ponytail and cutting it off at the start of it, he'd chosen to grow it out. Apparently, the regeneration process from the time in the hospital caused his hair to grow, and added an additional 2 inches to his already rather high height.
And so, donning his hunter-nin mask, he'd arrived in front of his team, though Jacob was, as always, not early.
Kuroi recognized him on the spot, but Hanako had a bit of trouble with it. It was probably the mask.
Jacob arrived later, and he had even more trouble guessing then Hanako.
After all of that, though, they managed to get started on D-Rank missions, and while they did make everyone else groan, they made Coren smile. The tedium was something he enjoyed.
Well, that and the fact that his mask was immune to Tora's claws.
That was good too.

[CorenKeitaro]

This thread has now been concluded.
Another journey has finished, but this one of the mind, with Coren victorious.

He had learned to deal with the pain of the Cursed Seal, which weighed so heavily on his mind, and while his nights be long and torturous, his days are filled with peace once more. Anko Mitarashi, former student of Orochimaru, has made her appearance. How will she help Coren control his seal further? Will he return the favor by assisting her with her Curse Mark?
Tune in next time to know, here on TNTNaruUzu.forumotion.com.

Bonuses:
Completed a Solo Thread: +5 EXP
Learned to Control the Curse Mark: Gained Curse Mark perk.
Spent a week in the hospital: +5 Medical Jutsu