Konaga Sai - A Life of Pain

[Cobra_X]

An Infant's Pain

trag-e-dy
[traj-i-dee]

-noun
1. An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress.

This one word would seem to be a very accurate representation of Sai's life and what has caused him to become the person he is. Born into a world which would never accept him and one which he would never feel connected to, few could truly understand the pain he feels, not even those of his own bloodline. To be born a Konaga is to be born into a life of pain, but to be born a Konaga and not know why you feel the pain that you do is the definition of true suffering. On the day of his birth, both of his parents were expecting nothing more then another funeral. Few Konaga children survive their first week of life and it was no different for Sai's mother. Four of her children had already been claimed by the unrelenting pain caused by the immense amounts of chakra flowing through their bodies and this was to be the last attempt. What happened that day however was not what either of them had expected.

Sai's mother had felt the pain associated with birth before, but this time it was different. Pain was surging through her constantly, but it was more then just the normal pains of either the Konaga bloodline, or childbirth... a third source was responsible. That source was Sai himself, his own chakra lashing out against his mother's body, seeing it as a foreign object endangering Sai's life. After several excruciating hours, Sai was born into the world, but no more then a few minutes later did he claim his first life. His mother however cried tears of joy after seeing him, somehow knowing that this son would survive. With her dying breath, she named him 'Aisoku', which means 'Beloved Son' in the hopes that he could grow up with his mother's love his entire life... but it was a name he would never know.

His father was crushed. He had worshiped his wife and had been with her since they were both small children, but now he was left alone with a son which served to be nothing more then a constant reminder of what he had lost. Seeing the infant as nothing more then his wife's murderer, he waited cruelly for the child to die within the first week as all the others had so he could bury the child and forget. After 2 weeks however, the boy had survived and the father could stand the pain no longer. Not being of the Konaga bloodline himself, he did not feel the connection with the child that any Konaga would, nor did he have any idea the hell he was condemning his son to. In his state, neither of those would have even mattered however, so he abandoned the child on the steps of an orphanage in the Land of Waves on a cold, rainy day and disappeared.

When those at the orphanage heard the infant's cries they opened the door to see the child, the heat of his body causing steam to rise up around him on the cold, wet doorstep. Taking him in, they found only a small piece of paper wrapped up with the child which had only a single word on it, 'Sai'... a bastardization of the loving name the child was given, which meant nothing. Knowing that they could not turn a child away, they took the boy in and cared for him the best they could, but he was an odd child. Always screaming, never being satiated by food, always hot to the touch, only silent when sleeping, which was an event in itself considering his body was wrapped in a dark blue aura which harmed anyone that touched it.
 

[Cobra_X]

A Child's Suffering

Sai grew up alone despite the fact that he was constantly surrounded by other children and adults. As a young child he spent hours by himself, crying in corners or cowering in the wake of the pain that wracked his body on a daily basis. Having nobody to explain to him what it was to be a Konaga, or where all this pain came from, Sai had no frame of reference to understand his suffering and had no outlet for it at all. Due to the 'Numbing' of his bloodline, Sai could barely even associate with those around him, constantly feeling disjointed from them as they seemed almost hazy, out of focus or alignment from his own senses. All of this just served to isolate and anger him and many times he turned violent, his chakra seeping out in some of his attacks to do a lot of structural damage to the areas around him before he would pass out from pain.

For a time, Sai tried to reach out to others, attempting to feel or experience something other then his pain, but his isolation had already served to segregate him from the other children and his outbursts left most of them afraid of him. Left alone, feared, mocked, and scorned by those around him Sai was only isolated further and his isolation began to breed violence and hatred within him. By the time he was five, Sai had begun to simply disregard the others around him and did as he pleased, and he used the fear the other children had of him to get his way. He never really aimed to be violent towards anyone in reality, it was simply an empty threat, one which he had learned and which he saw worked.

One day however in the field outside the orphanage, Sai began to walk outside the boundaries where the children were allowed to go towards the streets where the travelers walked by. Chased by a few of the older kids, they got in his way and attempted to push him back towards the orphanage. Sai initially refused to do as they said, but when the older boys attempted to take him back by force, Sai suddenly released a wave of energy and decimated the children, knocking them all out with such violent force that visible burn scars along with heavy bruising could be seen over their entire bodies. Some passing travelers saw a young child laying waste to several older boys and attempted to stop Sai, but his adrenaline was already pounding and his body had reached his limit. He had been using his bloodline augmentations the entire time and was about to move into the Raging Spirit, though he never knew it.

When one of the older men picked him up, Sai suddenly exploded with his pure, raw bloodline chakra in the man's arms, instantly killing him as the man was sent flying 15 feet away. The other man, fearing for his life attempted to draw his sword and kill Sai, but the metal of the blade simply melted away at the mercy of the chakra and he was repelled with another burst of energy, sending him flying back only to land on his head, snapping his spine instantly. Energy consumed Sai, leaving him lost in pain once again as violent screams of enraged pain and anguish filled the air, ending only when the Raging Spirit subsided at which point he collapsed on the road, unconscious, surrounded by 2 dead men and several heavily wounded and scarred young boys.
 

[Cobra_X]

A Broken World: Painful Discoveries

His eyes slowly opening from the darkness and nightmares he had been consumed by for what seemed like an eternity, Sai began to see light hazily filter in as the gleaming sun came into his vision. His body was still ravaged by pain, his head pounding like a stake was being driven through his skull, his arms and legs burning as if laid to rest on hot coals. Only able to see about two feet in front of his hazy vision, his breath kick up a small cloud of dust from the dirt road his head rested on. The pain was beginning to subside, but he still felt weak. Slowly his vision began to return to him and he realized he was on the same road as he was when those two men attacked him, but after that moment everything was a blank. Still only having the power to sit up, Sai realized that everyone on the road was avoiding him, moving as far away from him as they could, looking at him with fear and contempt.

The truth of the situation was that word had traveled fast, that a young boy had killed two men with a strange ability which no one dared get near. Some had tried to lend him aid, taking pity on the boy, but the dark blue glow surrounding him during his unconscious state attacked anyone who got close. Thus, he was left alone. However, from Sai's point of view, the looks of fear and contempt were the same as always, and had been every day since he was born. Hunger finally brought him to his feet and after some struggle, Sai was able to stand up, halting the traffic in the road as the travelers waited to see which way he would move so that they might avoid him. Tired and Hungry, Sai limped to the door of the orphanage, but after pounding at the door for several minutes and receiving no answer, Sai gave up and walked away, taking the dirt path away from the place of his childhood to hopefully find a place where he could get some food.

Living the loneliest life one could imagine, Sai lived as a vagrant, moving from village to village, scrounging, stealing and fighting for what he needed to survive. Sai never even bothered to ask for help, believing deep down that it would simply be a waste of time as people had never looked at him with compassion before. Sai didn't even care anymore... he simply did what he needed to in order to survive, living a life of bitter loneliness filled with nothing but pain. On rainy days, Sai often sat in a dark place, allowing his body to be pummeled by the drops of rain, hoping that it might cool him down, but his body burned with heat continually and it often times simply led to a dark wish for the cold to overtake and consume him. Every day however he woke again, unwilling to allow the world to win and be rid of him.

The things he saw during these years however would stay with him the rest of his life. People dying from starvation and cold in the alleyways between homes filled with food and warmth. Desperate men resorting to desperate means of violence or murder for as little as a coin which in itself would not buy a loaf of bread. Cold, uncaring faces passing by those in trouble, even when the victims were innocent young children, or women crying fro aid. Had Sai any knowledge of his powers, he might have tried to help, but in most cases his rage towards those situations would immediately arrest his body in waves of agonizing pain, halting any aid he would give to others. Eventually, Sai simply stopped caring... learning to kill his own emotions simply to avoid the pain his rage towards injustice would bring him.

By the age of ten Sai had already emotionally detached himself from the world, his mind and body utterly numbed to the world he saw around him. He found himself wandering aimlessly from village to village, regarding each one just as corrupt as the one before it, as had been proven to him throughout his entire life. One would think that such awareness might bring Sai to work for justice, but to Sai all people had proven themselves to be equally corrupt in one way or another, never aware of the pain they were inflicting on others. To him, the most ironic part of it all was that none of them even understood pain in the agonizing way he did.

As fate would have it though, Sai would have a greater affect on the world then he would ever had imagined. One day, as he had come to a new village just as hungry as ever, and finding an easy target, he stole a leg of lamb from a stand outside as the owner was occupied covering his prepared food from the rain. Walking down the street, Sai suddenly saw someone rushing towards him at incredible speed. His street survival instinct kicking in, Sai gripped his stolen meal tight just as the man attempted to grab the food himself. Feeling a tug at his arms as the criminal attempted to take the food from him, Sai suddenly felt his muscles surge with power. As he pulled back, his accidental augmentation increased his strength and overtook the man as his assailant was pulled backwards and slammed to the ground in front of Sai. Instantly, the man pulled out a short sword and swung at Sai, but with his speed and agility, Sai was able to move out of the way enough to take only a deep wound to his arm. His instincts kicking in, the man re-positioned his blade in a stabbing motion and pushed forward, his blade ripping through Sai's shoulder as blood and tissue exploded out the back where the blade exited his body.

His arms falling limp, dropping the food to the wet ground, the attacker thought he had won when suddenly Sai's hand shot up and gripped the assailant's wrist tight, with force far beyond a young child's. His instincts awakening, Sai's arm was suddenly ignited in chakra as he instinctively punched forward, his arm striking the man in his gut, the force exploding off of his arm as it rammed into the man, causing him to fly back about 10 feet, sailing throught he air before striking the muddy ground. Picking up his meal, Sai removed the man's sword from his shoulder with another spray of blood, slowly walking over to the man in swaying steps as the assailant writhed in pain on the ground. Without a second of remorse, once Sai reached the man, he plunged the sword into his heart, a spray of blood covering his clothes as he watched the man die in front of him. Shortly afterward, two men in cloaks wearing porcelain masks arrived on the scene, their emotionless faces staring at Sai as he stood over the body of a dead runaway ninja assassin, wondering just how it was that a small child could achieve this.

After hearing the account of the story told by eye witnesses to the ANBU, the Mizukage sent orders to retrieve Sai and bring him to the Kirigakure Ninja Academy where he was to be trained as a weapon for the village.
 

[Cobra_X]

The Pain of Deceit

Sai excelled in the academy, surpassing every single one of his classmates with ease. In every test which tested their chakra and stamina potential, Sai seemed to double or triple what the other students were capable of, and his total chakra potential seemed to be limitless in all forms of the testing. More then that however, the young child barely spoke, yet excelled in everything. He never questioned an order, never disobeyed a command, he appeared to be the perfect soldier. Above all else however, his eyes created the most concern among the instructors. The boy seemed to have no fear, his piercing gaze against an emotionless face betraying a passive contempt for everything around him, coupled with his immense reserves of energy made him a loose cannon, not fully able to be controlled. One of the instructors begged that he not be graduated for fear of what could occur if such a boy was allowed to gain power if left unchecked, but the Mizukage was pleased to have such a trump card within his village.

When the finals of the exams came, the students were gathered and in the tradition of the Bloody Mist, the children were pitted against one another in one versus one combat, to the death. When the time came for Sai to battle, he walked fearlessly into the arena and awaited his opponent, who had to be thrown into the circle agaisnt his will to fight. Sai simply stared at the boy with emotionless eyes as the child's fear welled up inside him. Eventually, fear became desperation, and desperation erupted into rage as the child rushed at Sai, flashing hand seals as he ran. Then, in an instant, Sai was gone, his image blurring out of vision before suddenly reappearing again, his body just to the side of his opponent, his arm stretched out towards his opponent's neck as a blade of pure chakra grew from his hand, slicing through his opponent's neck and decapitating him instantly. In all of Kirigakure history, no one has won their battle in those exams faster then Sai, who was after that day aptly nicknamed the 'Flash Blade'.

At the age of 13, Sai was immediately conscripted into the legendary Hunter-nin society after his graduation. He was trained further in the arts of the body, trained to hunt and to kill with efficiency and speed. He was even trained in the arts of healing solely for the purpose of understanding the quickest routes for causing harm. He excelled in everything he was exposed to, but his area of expertise was definitely seen in the chase. No one dispatched a foe or hunted down an opponent faster or with as much intensity as Sai did and few could ever have done it with the cold and ruthless efficiency he displayed. Sai was a born talent, a singularly unique force, broken at a young age, then carefully forged into a weapon of deadly efficiency who was quick to surpass the abilities of his superiors.

Eventually, by the age of 17 he had learned all that the Hunter-nin had to offer and he applied for the Jounin exams, but he was denied the right by the Mizukage himself. Protesting the result of his application immediately, Sai questioned the Mizukage as to why he was holding him back, but the only response he received was that he was too inexperienced. The answer was a lie. Sai had served with the Hunter-nin for 4 years and had been all throughout the shinobi nations, his team having the highest kill ratio of any other squad by over 75% percent. Now, after all these years, even in a realm of power like the mighty Kirigakure, the Mizukage was displaying fear. Sai was an eventual threat to his power and control, and so he would hold him back and cast him off, just as everyone else had throughout the young man's entire life. As per usual, he was only willing to allow Sai to serve him as far as his own wishes were being met and his own seat of power was not threatened.

The Mizukage himself, whom Sai had thought was someone who understood his potential and would enable his growth to obtain his goals of justice was now showing that he was as afraid and as corrupt as all those he had met in his life before. His trust in the Mizukage and in the Kirigakure was crushed and it finally showed him that even the Ninja villages, the police force of the Shinobi Nations were corrupt at the very head of their organization.