A long coming change [Kinjutsu app pt. 1]

[Maikeru]

It was early in the morning as Maikeru stood in the bathroom of the apartment they had been given by the Cloud village. Despite being accepted on a provisionary basis, he still felt out of place. He ran a hand slowly over his face, over his jaw, tracing the strong sharp line of it. As he looked at all of his features, the face he had seen in the mirror since birth, he felt sick to his stomach. He had always been so proud of his Uchiha heritage, of the fact that he resembled the clan so much, but now? Now every time he looked in the mirror all he saw was Takeshi and his cavalcade of fuck-ups that was the leaf Uchiha clan.

A grimace crossed his face as his hand fell down to grab the hard surface of the sink’s edge. He let out a long sigh, tilting his head back to roll his neck. It really was way too early for this shit. He looked around the bathroom, at the clothes he had laid out for the day. Grabbing the fabric in his hands, he rubbed his thumbs along the soft textiles, eyeing the Uchiha clan symbol on the back of his shirt.

He was long past being disgusted by his heritage, by the Uchiha that came before him. No, he was proud of his bloodline. He had met good Uchihas, and as Maru and Asuka had proven, you didn’t have to have the Uchiha blood line in your veins to possess the Sharingan. Why then should he feel dishonored by having a mastery of his families Kekkei Genkei? No, what he had trouble with now was the name. He had long since shed the ties to his clan when he joined Kenshin’s clan, leaving behind Takeshi and the Uchiha.

Now, all that remained was one simple thing. He was born an Uchiha, and he looked so much like them that it was beginning to haunt him. Setting down the shirt, he went back to checking out his strong Uchiha features. Something had to change, and since it didn’t seem it was going to be the clan, that led to him.

Medical Ninjutsu was funny. Not only could it be used to heal and mend bones and bodies, but, it could also be used to alter them. Change them to fit whatever the user needed to fit. There was a reason medical shinobi were so coveted by ANBU after all, and it wasn’t just for their ability as field medics. With a little medical ninjutsu you could be a whole new person.

That was precisely Maikeru’s thoughts as he placed his glowing green hand against his cheek.

[450 words]

 

[Maikeru]

The wave of chakra that overcame his body was calming, almost soothing, at first. The wave of cooling energy quickly turned to agonizing pain as he felt the bones in his face being elongated, bent, and changed to fit his new image. His teeth grit against each other as he stifled the cries of agony that racked his chest, trying not to wake his housemates.

He fell to his knees as the chakra flowed further down his body. He felt the pigment in his eyes burning as the color in it was being lightened to a stark, deep, cerulean. His shoulders elongated to fit his muscular form, and he felt every single tearing and ripping of his muscles as they expanded to allow room for his bones to grow. As each tear and break in his body formed, it was instantly healed, causing the pain to grow father and farther.
Sweat collected on his brow as the final changes took place, the chakra finally moving to the folacles of his hair. The color in them was bleached, and drained, leaving his usual raven locks as white as the driven snow. He was left panting, sweating, and grasping for the sweet release of death on the floor of his bathroom when it was all finished. But, he was different. He had changed.

“Well, that was a bit drastic..” the spirit of Kusanagi called out to him, giving his form manifest in front of Maikeru. “Changing your looks just to appease yourself. Vanity is a luxury the warrior is not warranted young Uchiha.”

Maikeru looked up at the ponytailed, unshaven man above him. His eyes drew into a tight scowl as he crawled himself to a sitting position, his legs crossing into a lotus style as heavy breaths still ravaged his chest.

“Yea.. well..” Maikeru responded, running his hand along his newly formed jaw. “I couldn’t bare to look myself in the mirror anymore. If I couldn’t even stand it.. What did Danni or Reicheru think when they looked at me? Especially Reicheru. I can’t have the woman I love having a flashback from looking at me, can I?”

The warrior sat in silence as he observed the young man who sat before him. He was always a mystery to Maikeru, he seemed caring yet stern at the same time. Like the type of mentor Maru would have been if he wasn’t, well, Maru.

“Very well.” The samurai responded, leaning against the wall behind Maikeru. “But, what will you do about me? You were a member of the swordsmen of the leaf, Kusanagi is a blade they will instantly recognize. Especially after what we did to that missing-nin.”

There was the missing link in Maikeru’s plan, the thing he hadn’t thought of. He looked down at the floor as he thought. He couldn’t get rid of Kusanagi. The blade and the spirit inside were far too strong. But, perhaps, there was another way.

“You were made from my chakra, right?” Maikeru asked, turning his head back to look at the spirit of his sword. “So, in theory, I can absorb you back into me.”

Susano’s eyes narrowed as he looked to the ambitious young shinobi in front of him. But, instead of responding, he simple sighed, nodding his head.

“I suppose, in theory.” Simple. To the point. Very much like him.

“Well then..” Maikeru said, slowly standing to his feet, his legs shaking beneath him. “Let’s begin. No time like the present.”


As he placed his hand upon the man’s chest, he instantly felt the power surge within him. There was a rush, like when he activated the Sharingan but more intense. It felt like every cell in his body had electricity flowing through it, like every synapse could fire off at once with ease. It seemed like it was going to work perfect, at first at least.

There is a moment in every plan when you realize how stupid it was. Where every flaw and problem crops up, most of the time all at once. That was exactly what was happening to Maikeru at this moment in time.

The hand that had touched the man begin to not only burn but the sound of searing flesh could be heard ringing throughout the bathroom. Cracks begin to appear along his once pale skin, causing lines of blue energy to pulse through it. The skin itself started to become a deep crimson, reminiscent of the color of his clans kekkei genkei.

Even as he pulled away, the pain was intense, searing. His arm seemed to be on fire, with no chance of recovery. Even as he poured medical ninjutsu into himself, the wounds would not close, the pain would not stop. He had made a mistake.

*****

Hours later, he stood outside the house of cousin and only friend in cloud, Ryuichi. With a sigh, he knocked on the door, closing his eyes in shame. Even with his seared arm in a cast, the pain was immense. He would wait for Ryu to answer the door, before exclaiming without waiting.

“I fucked up.”

[850 words]

Spoiler: Maikeru's new look

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi had been taking care of the teahouse that doubled as his apartment taking care of the early-morning preparations before the morning tea rush swooped by like it did every morning. He had dusted the decorations, swept and mopped the floor, wiped the tables, get water on the fire, did the morning dishes, and filled the register with small yen notes for change. After all of this, all he could do was take one of the day-old matcha cakes from the kitchen and snack on it while reading the news. The first round of black tea quickly gave the entire house it's usual smell in potent form, as if awaiting the owner to arrive and be ready to open.

However, Ryu didn't exactly have the time to enjoy his early morning routine as he heard a knocking at the door. He looked at the clock to see it was still a few minutes before opening hour, but decided to just let them into the warm building.

Putting down his newspaper he arrived at the door and opened it. The first words out of his mouth were in sync with Maikeru's once he saw the massive mess of conflicting yet similar chakras all coming from his arm. "You fucked up." He said plainly, before casually putting up a sign on the door reading 'unexpected events have lead to a closing today. Come back tomorrow for a free cup of tea as an apology!' in cartoony balloon letters.

With a single gesture, and an unflinching expression he opened the door wide for Maikeru. "I'm guessing you need my chakra-suppressing abilities?" he guessed as he studied the arm. "Make this quick. I need an explanation, a source, how it feels, and how long it's been like this." He said, gesturing to an open table to which he sat on one end. "And lay your arm in front of me from the other chair."

[topic entered as chakra attuned path Ryu-ichi]

 

[Maikeru]

Well, at least his cousin was like Maikeru in one regard. They both liked to get to the point of the issue and deal with. As Maikeru entered the door of the tea house he was still heavily panting from the pain that radiated through his body, sending shivers throughout him, causing the hairs on his body to stand on end. He took his seat opposite Ryu, groaning loudly as he removed the arm from it's sling and revealing it's mutated nature.

The most obvious of the transformations was the way his fingers, and the vein-like substances on his arm glowed and radiated with a light blue hue. The skin that had burned and dyed crimson seemed to be made of a harder material than his skin, having an almost smooth stone like feel to it. He set the arm on the table with great effort, his eyes narrowing as he looked to his cousin. Maybe losing the Sharingan had taken more of the boys observational skills than Maikeru had first guessed from their bout.

"What? I get a new haircut and you don't comment on it? That is just so typical of men." He teased, even at this moment not being able to hold back his sarcastic streak. He was cut short by the pain that once again radiated throughout him. "Right, right, get to the point of it."

He took a short break, panting lightly as he did his best to suppress the pain. He leaned his head back, inhaling deeply, before exhaling slowly. With proper breathing control, he could keep the pain to only blinding agony. An improvement at least.

"I was trying to change my identity." He explained simply, before continuing. "I wanted to leave my identity as a leaf shinobi completely behind, ergo why I look like.. this. Well, minus the messed up arm."

He took a deep, shameful breath before continuing.

"Well, I changed my facial structure, eye color, hair color. You know, the easy stuff. But then I thought "Hey, my blade is kinda well known in leaf, how do I deal with that?"". He let out a small, nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head with his hand that didn't feel like it was dipped it molten carbonite. "Well, I started to absorb the spirit inside of Kusanagi. You can see how that worked out. The chakra was too much for my system to handle I think, because these are the worst chakra burns I have ever seen. I had to abandon draining the spirit from it half way through, so, now I have half a sword and a fucked up arm. I figured with your Rinnegan you could help with this weird chakra shit, maybe give me a way to control it?"

[468 words]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

When Maikeru went as far as to comment on him not noticing any changes he simply squint one eye, and said. "Oh right. Plus you lost that stupid looking oversized pore on the tip of your nose....wait, no. Nevermind."He said before shifting to a more serious tone. "Jokes aside, I rarely recognize people by physical appearance anymore. Imagine the chakra sight of the sharingan, but chakra looks more....physical. Not impossible to see through, but more of a challenge. It's much easier to recognize chakra patterns in someone." He said, as his second path came in from the supply closet with a bucket on her head, and some paper towel stuck to her foot. With some cleaning up, the path went into the kitchen and poured some hot water into a pair of cups filled with the house's signature brew.

"While that gets ready, I have one more question for yo-" Ryu said, before cutting himself off and rapidly raising a hand. A pitch-black rod grew from his skin, vibrating with raw chakra before he tried to plunge it straight into the blue glowing hole in the hand of the Uchiha. Should it pierce the unstable hand, it would act as both a pin to the table, and a temporary conduit that would convert the raw chakra into much less harmful energy to be sent into the air from the other side.

"That should deal with it. Sorry for the surprise. Think of it as ripping off a bandage." He said as his other path brought in the two cups of tea.

"Take a drink. It'll calm your nerves. In time the only pain you'll feel is the rod in your hand. After that, we can try for a more permanent solution." He said, taking one and sitting it in front of him while it brewed for a while longer.

"Let's start with some stuff that may help. Yoya told be about that thing in the sword in more detail...is he still with you? His spirit, I mean. His personality. him." He asked.

As if on queue, Yoya the spirit let herself become seen by both Ryu, and Maikeru with a small wave while she casually floated overhead. "I saw everything from when you walked up to the door. I can try to help." She said plainly with a smile.

 

[Maikeru]

Maikeru had been stabbed before, plenty of times actually. With the frost war he had seen a fair share of combat, not to mention overenthusiastic spars with shinobi who had something to prove when fighting a member of the Uchiha clan. But those were expected, at least to a point. Add onto it the pain killing rush of adrenaline and a stab quickly became nothing more than a dull pulse where the object pierced your skin. However, when your cousin randomly shoved a large black rod into your palm? Well..

"Ohyousonofabitch!" Maikeru muttered through gritted teeth, his Sharingan activating out of pure instinct. "You fucking stabbed me!"

He pulled his hand, trying to wrench it free of the chakra binding rod, but to little avail. Despite the very nature of the rod being great at binding objects made of chakra, he was too physically weak from the mind-breaking pain to do much of anything. When the rush of it passed, and Ryu explained his actions, Maikeru calmed at least enough to deactivate his Sharingan.

Ryu seemed knowledgeable in things like this, containing chakra. Though as someone with the eyes of the sage that much wasn't unexpected. What was unexpected was the spirit who seemed to float from Ryu's body and began conversing with Maikeru as if it was completely natural. The young Uchiha let out a tired, pain-racked sigh, before continuing to speak.

"You have one too. Does this run in the family or something?" He questioned, raising a crooked eyebrow towards Ryuichi. "As for Susano, yea, I can still hear him in the back of my mind. But it's more like fog than an actual presence. He hasn't appeared in a physical form since I absorbed a large portion of his chakra. Also, I can't find Kusanagi, my sword. The blade itself was crafted out of chakra rich metals that I had soaked in my own chakra, so, I think it's like.. his link to this world or something. Honestly, I'm not too sure on the specifics. I sort of made him by accident."

He let out another tired sigh, leaning back in his chair. Ryu was right about the pain subsiding. Though his wound from the rod still pulsed with raw agony, the burning sensation had stopped. His chakra flow felt somewhat normal again, at least what could be considered normal in this situation.

"What can you do to help though?" He asked, looking to Ryu's spirit. "Susano can't actually interact with anyone but me, but, I suppose you're not the same type of spirit as him. I swear, I should have just taken a pair of Sharingan, unlocked the Eternal been done with this. This ghost and spirit stuff is way out of my depth."

[458 words]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

"With my experience, it's best just to leave it be and let it happen. Though, with this...." Ryu said with a sigh as he scooped out the tea leaves from his cup with a spoon covered in thin holes, and simply flicked it behind him. His gravity-chakra not letting a single drop touch the floor before the leaves got above the trash can in the kitchen, which then dropped it in.

Yoya gave it a minute to think, before raising a single pale finger, being completely unphased by maikeru's comment. "I was able to get his attention when he was just a sword, right? Why not try it now that he's....in your head." She suggested. Ryu, giving it a moment to think eventually spoke up. "That's a possibility, but I just realized a big issue. One you should have thought about carefully, Maikeru." He said, placing his cup on the table with a slightly stern expression on his face. "If he is really made of your chakra, and wasn't a spirit to begin with, he could be gone forever. Becoming one with your chakra again, and having no reason or way to exist."

Yoya nodded, noting the very real possibility. "That doesn't hurt to try it, though...." She said, floating in front of Maikeru before placing a ghostly hand over his forehead, not being able to actually touch him. "Hey...Big gentleman. Remember me?" She whispered, trying to feel the remnants of Susano within Maikeru all while Ryu watched his chakra, with another chakra rod prepared underneath the table if things went south.

"Hello....Answer me..." Yoya said again, awaiting either an answer or silence.

 

[Maikeru]

Maikeru listened to Ryuichi and his spirit speak with enthusiasm hidden behind the mask of dull pain. He was learning a lot, both about spirits and his own family member with each word that they spoke. What they said made sense, or at least Maikeru didn't know enough about stars spirits to dispute their claims. Nodding along as they requested he summoned his spirit, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He looked inside of himself, in a metaphorical sense, speeding through the deepest caverns of his mind as he looked for the spark of life of Susano. His face grimaced with concentration as he continued to try and call forth the spirit of his blade. Finally, he found it. In his mind's eye, he visualized a golden spark of chakra, glowing and pulsing with radiant power. As he reached out for it, his corrupted arm began to glow and pulse in response to the energy from the spark.

From behind Maikeru a large, armored spirit began to coalesce. Unlike Susano before, which appeared as a lightly dressed ronnin with long hair, this form more resembled the fabled jutsu of the Uchiha clan of which he shared a name. In it's right hand it held a chakra version of Kusanagi, and appeared to have a menacing smile etched onto his face. It appeared for only a moment, before it flickered and vanished in a shower of chakra sparkles.

However, in that briefest of moments a deep, booming voice echoed through the tea shop.

"Yo-...b-....no-.....don't fail..."

Maikeru opened his eyes as the spirit vanished, looking between the two companions in front of him. He had a confused, almost amused look on his face as he spoke.

"So.. you both heard that, right?"

[293 words]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi had experienced a multitude of strange things, from soul-sucking demon statues to talking animals to crime rings run by a failure of a genin in his thirties, so a booming voice from what seemed like nothing wasn't t much besides a minor surprise. Regardless, it was still an event that made Ryu stand up from his seat, as the voice was not familiar to him.

"Yeah I heard it. And saw it. That's not normal." He said, twirling his fingers as another rod formed while spinning through the air. With a single flick of it, the other one in Maikeru's hand snapped in half and began to leak visible chakras that acted like a mist, and crawled along the floor of the tea shop, and giving the chakra-filled arm a chance to grow in power again. "I'll be able to help you. However, it's going to hurt like hell, and your spirit is going to need to focus itself onto one part of your body." He explained. Yoya all the while floating back away from Maikeru, and trying to think of a way to get that spark of Susano to arise once more.

"After all that focusing we only got a spark of him..." She muttered.

Ryu simply answered her with a glare, and a quick sentence of "Because he isn't a soul, like you are. He's living chakra."

With that, Ryu walked back in front of Maikeru, and glared down at him in the seat with his rinnegan eyes. His next words dead serious, and cold to the point of being near emotionless.

"Do you trust me?" He said, holding out one of his chakra-rods to Maikeru.

"If you do, stab yourself with this. Try to have your ghost friend with the show-offy powers use it as a conduit to focus onto that point. Then, we can concentrate and seal him into that point...essentially using that seal in place of your sword as his 'link'." With that he gave Maikeru the choice. Stab himself with the skin, and chakra destroying rod...or die from chakra poisoning.

 

[Maikeru]

So, this was what it came down to in the end. Either he trusted Ryuichi, and stabbed himself with some weird, chakra absorbing rod, or he died from the chakra that was currently burning its way through his system. Leaning back in his chair, he took the rod from his cousin, flipping the small cylinder between his fingers. No matter how he swung it, what happened next would be incredibly, ridiculously painful. He chewed on his lower lip as he ran the options through his head, giving them all equal time, before letting out a tired sigh.

"You know, there are way easier ways to try and kill me." He said, twisting the rod in a reverse grip before placing it against his abdomen. "Be honest, this isn't about losing that spar, is it?"

One final joke, before his face got a serious expression drawn onto it. One long, calming breath was all it took to center himself. To steady his will so that he could bring the rod up, letting it hover for just a moment, before stabbing himself in the stomach with the artifact of the sage of the six paths.

There were moments in one's life, no matter how prideful, or arrogant you were, that you just hated being right. For Maikeru, this was one of those moments. The pain of having the rod jammed into him alone was indescribable. It didn't help that the rod was now acting as a focal point for a chakra that was trying to forcibly rip itself from the young Uchiha's body. His head was the first thing to hit the table, his teeth stuck in an eternal state of gritting themselves, trying to hold back every scream.

His hand came up next, the edges of his fingers clutching to the table as he tried to claw himself free from the pain, doing anything to distract himself ripping the source of all of this pain out of him. There was a weird optical effect happening, however. Each moment of his seemed to be almost 'echoed', a strange, deep blue shape acting almost like an after-image of the boy's movements.

"Good... Goood.." Susano's voice rang out from seemingly thin air. "Yes, I can focus my form once again. Now, Otani, seal me and seperate our chakras. I cannot contain the damage to young Maikeru's body much longer."

From behind Maikeru the phantom form appeared once again, looming largely behind the young Uchiha.

[410 words]

Spoiler: Image of Maikeru and the spirit

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Seeing Maikeru stab himself with a rod of chakra made the usually stone-cold Ryuichi flinch and wince at the sight, knowing how much it must suck. However, he couldn't keep himself in a state of cringe and pity, as it was his job to grab onto the rod and make sure the clashing chakras didn't cause too many problems. In time, Susano had manifested in the state of a Susano'o of sorts....imagine. Not having the time to answer any quips or jokes, Ryuichi kept himself calm and held onto the chakra rod that was piercing Maikeru's flesh, and held his free hand into one hand seal as a small Otter appeared near them.

The small blue creature was quick to point at the scenario, and say "Whoa! I'm not down to fight, you know this!" before Ryu held out his free hand. "This isn't a fight. I'm saving this guy's life. I need you to get the scroll under my bunk with the kanji for 'curse' (祟). Fast." he said to it.

It simply nodded, and went on all fours to scurry to the staircase. With the small amount of free time, Ryuichi looked at Maikeru and his spirit and tilted his head to the side. "Why go this far? A simple transfer into a pendant or something would have done the trick...maybe." He said in passing. However, there may not have been enough time to answer as the small Otter returned with a small green scroll. "Got it boss!" It said, opening it and letting all of it's contents stretch across the floor. Knowing his job was done, the Otter poofed away with a solute and a grin.

"No more chatting. Good job Mizuko!" Ryuichi said as he let go of the chakra rod. The scroll was filled to the brim with intricate ink writing, and sealing patterns that all seemed to spiral, and point towards the center where a single symbol appeared. "I planned on putting this on myself to better regulate my Rikudo chakra. Seems like you need it a bit more, though." He said, placing both hands on top of it along the floor.

Before the sealing began, Ryu ooked back and forth between the two figures one more time. "You guys are paying for the tea by the way." He said dryly before it began...

"RELEASE!" He said with intensity as all the loose tables, and chairs in the room went flying towards the walls from the sheer release of chakra. In time, the ink on the paper slid around before slithering off of the paper and across the floor like a series of snakes, all going towards Maikeru. If they weren't stopped they would climb up his legs, and feel like a tingling heat before crawling into the wound caused by the chakra rod that was still lodged into him.

The tingling heat soon became a searing burn as the last of the ink lines sank into Maikeru's wound, and in time only one thing was left. The final seal. Ryuichi slapped his hand onto the last mark on the scroll and let it cling onto his skin before raising a palm. "OFUDA!" He said, slamming his hand into the chakra rod, sending it straight through the Uchiha, before it ripped out of the other side and vanished. However, there was no remaining would...just immense pain, and the mark were left when Ryu pulled his hand back and fell to the floor with sweat on his forehead, and shaking breath. The pain would quickly subside, and Ryu's chakra began to slowly dissolve into Maikeru's.

"Fingers crossed..." He gasped, before standing back up and trying to see how Susano reacted to the situation.

[Giving Maikeru a cursed seal as agreed on OOCly]

 

[Maikeru]

When Ryuichi said this would be painful, Maikeru did little more than internally chuckle. He had been feeling intense, agonizing pain since he made this mistake hours ago. It wasn't as if the pain could get much worse than that, at least, that was what Maikeru thought. It was almost funny how many times a single man could be wrong in a single morning. He wasn't sure if there was a record for it, but if there was Maikeru was certainly sprinting towards it.

If he hadn't been sitting, his knees would have buckled under him, his legs would have turned to jelly, and he would be writhing in pain on the floor. The start of it wasn't so bad, the initial seals felt like little more than pins being dragged under his skin. Not pleasant, but, comparatively not too bad to what he had been dealing with. It was when the seals set that the real pain began for the young Uchiha.

The ink began to rapidly dry and set into his skin, causing the matrix to begin to work it's 'magic' on the young boy's chakra system. It felt like his very spirit was being seared in two, like a blade of pure flames was being dragged across his entire body. His head wretched back as he cried out, the blue on his right arm violently glowing. Sweat was forming from every pore in his body as a futile attempt was made to try and cool down the burning sensation that racked and stabbed at him.

"Gahhhhhhh!" He screamed out, clenching his hands at the edge of the chair, his mutated hand digging in and carving away at the wooden seat. "No... N-n-no.. more.."

But, it was too late to stop what was happening. From behind Maikeru the spirit that had formed and was watching over the sealing began to slowly fade, it's body becoming more and more translucent as the seal began to form itself around Maikeru's abdomen. His teeth grit against each other, the pain reaching it's apex as he felt himself slip in and out of consciousness. That was when he felt Ryuichi's palm slam into his abdomen.

His eyes went wide, the wind knocked out of his chest as his mouth hung agape. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It fired against every pain receptor in his body in ways that he couldn't even describe if he tried. As Ryuichi's palm made contact, and the spirit behind Maikeru disappeared, so did any sense of consciousness. Maikeru's head simply went limp, his muscles relaxing, as the pain took its final toll.

[439 words]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryu was too exhausted of energy to catch Maikeru's limp, falling body. SO exhausted, in fact, that even his second body that was in the other room had collapsed and was having difficulty breathing. Sweat dripped from Ryu's King-path (his original body that everyone knew him by), and he slowly stood back up and looked down at the Uchiha to get a grasp on his chakra.

"It looks....stable. Not normal, but stable." He said, using his coat sleeve to wipe away his sweat. Then, with a passing mental question on why he was wearing a coat indoors, he stood up and looked to Yoya, who had seen the whole thing. "Don't go getting any ideas with that chakra-spirit. He could be dangerous." He said to her.

"What? No, gross...It's just nice to talk to someone who doesn't look like an anemic with eyes that remind me of target practice." She said, before sighing, and drifting upstairs, where the small box satellite TV was always on to entertain her.

One more glance at Maikeru was all Ryuichi took before leaning down to pick him up bridal-style. A small flick of the wrist, and some kinetic-release chakra was used to push aside any chairs in the way as he carried Maikeru up the stairs, eventually placing him on Ryu's own bunk while his second path had recovered, and started to set up shop once more.

He would then leave Maikeru to rest for now, send his summon Mizuko to try and find his lover to give details, and reopen as if nothing had happened.

[topic left. Throwing Maikeru into bed, and sending summon to try and inform Reicheru.]

Spoiler: Message for Reicheru.

If the otter found the girl, and got her attention in whatever way possible, the otter would say "Yo! Your friend Make-Roo came to the teahouse not far from the colloseum and caused some ruckus. He's changed a lot, but because of some weird chakra stuff he's out cold. If you don't come to check on him, don't expect him around tonight. MIZUKO OUT!" He would yell before throwing down a stink bomb, and returning to his summon realm.

 

[Saitou Rei]

Sleep had not come easily these past few weeks. Though they were safer than they had been in years, the three Konoha immigrants struggled to settle into their new environment in their own ways. For Reicheru, that consisted of spending large portions of her time in the library studying vulgar Kumogakurian or among the gardens of the Nimbus Delectatio meditating and training her body to acclimate to the weather. Yet in spite of this full-throttle immersion into the culture and knowledge of her new home, Rei had never felt more directionless. Her dreams still turned to nightmares, a reminder that a new start would not erase what had come before. So though Maikeru's groans of agony this particular morning might have awoken anyone else, today they simple added to the chorus that played in the kunoichi's deceitful slumber.

When she finally rose, Rei found herself alone in the sun-lit apartment. Typically the night-owl, this wasn't exactly uncommon. Groggily dragging herself to the bathroom, she turned the sink faucet to warm the water before washing her face. Her slate-grey eyes focused in and out on the stream, her thoughts quieting as she listened to it run. Before long, steam had filled the room and Rei was brought back to her senses. Taking a deep breath, she quickly washed up and focused on getting out the door. Even if it wasn't accomplishing what she hoped, even if it was pretense, she would do something today. Reaching for a towel to dry off, she noticed all of them had been pulled from the rack and lay in a rumpled heap on the floor. Narrowing her eyes, she made a mental note to talk to her roommates about keeping their borrowed lodging in a respected condition.

Finally she made her way out the door, layered up in a heavy fur-lined jacket and laced up in heavy duty winter boots. The dreariness of the cold here certainly did not help. It was as she fumbled with the key in her gloved hands that an unfamiliar sound from behind caught her attention. "Yo!" A small voice called out. Slowly turning around, the sight of the little blue otter she was met with was enough to peak Rei's curiosity, but not to startle her as it might have been at one time. What a wild world beyond the Pheonix Gate this was. "Um, yes hello, can I help y--" "Your friend Make-Roo came to the teahouse not far from the colosseum and caused some ruckus. He's changed a lot, but because of some weird chakra stuff he's out cold. If you don't come to check on him, don't expect him around tonight." … 'Make-Roo? Does he mean Maikeru? Not too many people here would know him by that name…' The thought faded as the weight of the rest of the message settled on her. "Weird chakra stuff? Out cold? But is he okay? Which teaho--" "MIZUKO OUT!"

"…" Reicheru's concern momentarily twisted into annoyance, but nevertheless she was thankful to have received a message at all. As quickly as her already cold legs would take her, the kunoichi dashed through yesterday's snow toward the colosseum.

The last question left unanswered proved to be an important one, as though Lightning certainly didn't rival Tea country in the number of tearooms, there were plenty of savvy businessmen who saw a profit to be made in serving hot beverages in a cold climate. Before desperation overwhelmed her, Rei stood still in the bustling street and closed her eyes, reaching out for Maikeru's familiar chakra signature. Though she was fairly unpracticed in this discipline, the familiarity of the person she was looking for aided her enough to lead her to at least investigate one of the nearest tea shops. Opening the door, steam filled the cold air and a medley of wonderful scents rushed over her.

The tranquility of the moment was lost as the constant chatter of a higher than usual number of patrons reached her ears. Seemed like those who'd come for their morning tea had been forced to wait, and where all gossiping their way to some half-truth on what had happened. Pushing through the crowd, Reicheru caught sight of Ryuichi. 'This has to be it,' she thought with some sense of relief. Nodding with a small wave to the Uchiha's cousin who seemed entirely unbothered, she looked around the floor of the 'restaurant' hoping to find a conscious Maikeru. With no such luck, and spotting the stairs that led to the apartment overhead, Reicheru made her way up and prepared herself for anything she might find.

Well, almost anything. Having concerned herself so much with whether or not her significant other was alright, she'd neglected to consider what the tidbit "He's changed a lot" might have meant. Staring at the blonde stranger passed out on the bed, Reicheru shook her head even as the boy's chakra signature matched the one she was looking for perfectly. 'You're not an ANBU, you're a terrible tracker,' she reasoned with herself. Yet with every step she drew closer, she began to become convinced that this might actually be Maikeru. Taking in the sight of his right arm, she reached out to touch it before thinking better of it and moving to run her fingers through his hair, finding it matted with dried sweat. "Oh, babe… what did you do?" the whispered words carried weight, but not in an accusatory way. Regret and frustration filled the kunoichi, but she pushed it aside for now; she ought to get him somewhere. He hadn't gone to a hospital even though he of all people would know the value of it, and his cousin seemed to think he was in good enough condition to be brewing tea downstairs. Chewing on her top lip for a moment, she finally decided the apartment would suffice unless his condition changed in even the slightest.

Moving to pick him up, a small smile reached her lips. 'He would die if he could see this,' she thought as she carefully lifted him, his frame larger than it had been before. With light steps, she would quickly but gently make her way down the stairs and make an immediate turn at the bottom to go out the back door she'd spotted earlier. Though she was careful not to jostle her partner, questions already began filling the back of her mind that she expected to have answered when he awoke.

[Topic Entered / Topic Left with Maikeru]