Open The Winds of Change: Soul Resonance [Open]

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Shusuke was walking down White Oak Street in The Oak District. He was wearing something casual today soft whites and yellow. It wasn't very often he found himself with some time spent outside of training, but with everything that was going along lately he needed a moment to breathe. "So are we going to talk about what happened?" The voice in his head began to speak to the Yamanaka again. "Shut up will you? Can you get out of my head already?" Shusuke knocked on the side of his head in an attempt to silence Tamashi, but he was having very little success. Letting out a sigh of discontent he would continue. "I am out here to relax, how am I supposed to do that with you nagging in my head?"

He continued down the street moving away from his family's flower shop with a handful of yen that he was counting. Since joining the ANBU Black Ops branch his mission rewards were slightly increased, which he really liked. "Maybe I should go grab myself something to eat..." Shusuke's mind began to wander some. "Are you looking for your student friends? From what I have found in your memories you're kind of a dick to them aren't you... Man, that's so lame. Maybe you should treat them to a nice dinner sometime. Maybe try and convince them to be your actual friends rather than whatever y'all have now as a relationship."

Shusuke's brow twitched some. "Okay, you seriously need to shut the fuck up okay? You have no idea what you're talking about. They're pupils, I don't need any friends..." He ended that statement with a voice that started to sound unsure of the words he was saying.

 

[Uzu]

Her whole body was just, one big sore muscle. Training was going well, so to speak, and she had already quickly caught up on the basics. That said her teacher was an ass when it came to perfectionism, his strikes outright drilled into her body that was repeated back into living people now. Otami was a child of the wild, someone who knew full well about Jungle Law, but she couldn’t help but cringe every time her hardened knuckles struck the people she was training against. She hated it. The sounds they would make when she’d dislocate something or cause them to black out into a state of twitching questionable animation.

That said, Isshin was very impressed. What he had thought would be another lack-luster student turned to be a diamond in the rough. The lanky blond had a knack for understanding. Upon one viewing of a technique, Otami could copy the motions and strength verbatim; which perplexed her sensei. She didn’t have nearly any muscle mass, and certainly not the kind that would produce strike hard enough to send one of his other students flying as demonstrated to her. It was as if the earth itself was pushing though her in those attacks, and now he wondered if her naturally tuned chakra coil was a cause to that.

Training went longer than normal in the attempt to study her form further, but in the end all Isshin accomplished was frustrating both of them. Now Otami was walking down through the Oak District as a way to unwind. Red was closer to home but Oak wasn’t exactly out of the way either, and the smell of flowers always put her in a better mood. She was almost skipping, dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple shirt with a local rock band’s logo plastered across the center. It looked like a screaming cat’s face surrounded by tomoe, carrying the words ‘Neko-no-Jutsu Supreme’ in a simple font under the picture. Her bare feet scuffed around the hot pavement without reaction when her ears picked up someone complaining about trying to relax.
“Otami feels that,” she mumbled to herself before trying to get a better look at who was talking to who; for curiosity’s sake. Her confusion was doubled by finding only one person standing there instead. The Wildling’s eyes darted around for a sign of anyone close by that could be communicating via headset, (it was on the test!), but found no one. So now, her curiosity was peaked to levels of ‘must find out.’

She trotted up to the person talking to themselves and without even a hint of self-awareness asked,
“You talk to self? Pop says that bad. Make brain rot,” Otami stated as matter of fact before knocking on her own skull a few times, “Need get head checked?” she said with a straight face and a slight head tilt.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

Take attempted any means to forget about the events back at the bathhouse. So much shit happened back there… and it all started with his damn Cursed Seal. Who knew that it could take control over someone like that?

Actually, on further thought, that was probably why it was classified as a Forbidden Jutsu… but Take thought that he was going to die that evening. Instead, accordingly, he’d been trapped inside a fleshy glob that moved around town, only to be saved by Keniwa and Aria – without showcasing any visible injuries on his own person, mind you. Like, he wasn’t… dead. His brain, however, was foggy from that point on – what on earth went through his mind back then?

At first, he saw it as a sign to cut down on the usage of his Cursed Seal – a sort of warning, a reminder of how lethal that Jutsu was. However, upon using it one more time in his last mission, he realized that… it had little to no strain on his body now. Before all of that, he too noticed the change in musculature – his body appeared much more honed and tempered compared to earlier, despite his height staying roughly the same. For the first time in years, without a Cursed Seal covering his skin, he felt…

A lot stronger than before.

And a lot more independent than before, too. Look at him at the nearest ramen counter, slurping away as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks! Even the chef was unsure as to whether or not Take could afford this much, but the lad rarely hung out with anyone – thus, he rarely had the opportunities to actually spend his yen, which meant he was more stacked than the average. For most of his life, he’d just been home brooding or training at the reluctant behest of his mother… speaking of, she sure started acting different once he kicked up a notch. That felt good, too.

So overall, his life was starting to look bri- was that Shusuke? Skirt, again? Okay, wait- Take could excuse the previous one, the one Shusuke wore during their spar – it made the lad shiver, being reminded of that quick battle – but this time, the skirt was inexcusably short for a dude. Then again, he himself was wearing a new outfit for the occasion of chilling too – a purple shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, accompanied by black jeans and dark sneakers…

The fact that he wasn’t wearing traditional clothes from the Nanjirou sort of annoyed his parents all the way off, but they were beyond shocked to see his resistance. Either way-

His widened eyes started glaring burn marks on Shusuke from the stand, where he sat on a bench and glared towards the jack-of-all-arms. He barely paid attention to the other, blondier lass with the strange articulation poking fun at Shusuke… Take just felt like he’d missed some intel concerning his, uh, Cursed Seal Contractor? Right? His ramen was also just hanging from his tightened lips at the scenery, as if he was choking on his own disbelief – someone had to update him. Hakamas were one thing – that short-as-hell excuse for a hakama looked like it belonged to an Academy girl.

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

As the Yamanaka watched this girl approach he would raise an eyebrow as she began speaking to him. She was about a foot taller than the ten year old boy, and from the looks of it she was a handful of years older than him too. Shusuke would lean in and keep his eyebrow cocked. "First off, I am not talking to myself. I have an asshole named Tamashii trying to tell me what to do. Secondly..." He raised his right hand to point at the pupilless blue eye that still resided in his right eye socket. "...I am probably the best person in this damn village to know whether someone's mind is fine or not. I am, after all, probably the most potent genjutsu user in the village, second to the Hokages." His eyes narrowed as he looked this girl up and down, crossing his arms before looking away abruptly. "And why does some bare foot redneck think she can tell me I need my head checked out when she barely speaks the language." He would raise a hand to his mouth and chuckle slightly before taking a couple of steps away.

Whipping around he would extend a finger at the older girl, or erhm... young lady strike that girl was correct. She did not look like a lady to Shusuke. "Because of your insult, I a Chuunin of Konohagakure, a going to order you to buy me something sweet to eat." Shusuke had no identification on him nor even his headband. Today was to be a time to relax so he didn't really bring anything. `Man, so not cool. If you're so proud of being a Chuunin maybe you should treat her to a snack. If she is a shinobi she is probably a lower ranking one right? Aren't most Genin from the ages of like 12 to 18 any more? I don't know, if feels wrong to be mean to her. She was just concered about you, I think it's sweat...` Tamashii kept speaking in Shusuke's mind before Shusuke cracked for a moment, punching the side of his own head. "If you don't shut the fuck up, I swear to what ever cruel power put you in there, that I will conjure your ass out here just so I can' beat you to a bloody pulp do yo-!"

Shit.

Shusuke looked back at the girl slightly embarrassed. "I swear, I am not talking to myself."

 

[Hiromu Oiwa]

Walking down White Oak Street. Oiwa was reciting things over and over again in his head. It was a shopping list for his mother who had gotten stuck at the salon all afternoon. As a result, the Shinobi-to-be had been given a “mission” to go shopping for the essentials in the early afternoon for tonight’s dinner ingredients.

Breezing through the streets, the walking AC Unit would stop at each shop to give a look in. Dressed in what looked to be a modern style cotton kimono designed by his dad, the boy would take a step into a ramen shop. The White Kimono that transitioned from a light sky blue to a deep ocean blue at the bottom hem of the outershirt, had the Kanji of his father’s design label on the chest over the heart. The open kimono revealed a pure white t-shirt that was equally fashioned to his slender developing chest, and an oversized necklace made of a brass art piece of a wave, and a tropical bird's feather. His Bronze hair was not spiked today, but instead held back in a small bun with a blue leather strip holding his hair back.

Standing in the smallish queue that was forming in the ramen shop, the boy would dig his hands into baggy black sweatpants style cuffed at the bottom of his pants. Fishing around for his pocket for his wallet, the boy would shift back in the line. He had joined the line right as Shusuke had turned around and pointed at the girl that was also in front of him.

He seemed mad at something that had been said before Oiwa had entered the shop. Shusuke was apparently a Chuunin of the village, and was potentially picking on the girl in front of it. The truth was that it wasn’t really Oiwa's job to step in for a real shinobi disciplining another shinobi, so the boy just bit his thin lip.

“Um, if you two are still deciding, do you think I could skip ahead of you?” The walking AC Unit asked with the faintest hint of his families kirigakure accent. He hoped not to draw too much ire from the group that were trying to decide on what to order.

Spoiler: MFT

Topic Entered
MFT 375
Hello Everyone!

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[Uzu]

“Red…neck?” the blond questioned. Genjutsu was also something she only had a basic grasp of, the idea of desert mirages being used on command came to mind, but the insult flew right over her head. The jab on her diction though, that one she got.
"Otami raised by wolf pack! You try learning Man Tongue after learning to speak Bark! It hard! Many words mean many things! Hate it.” The blond crossed her arms over her stomach, holding them by each elbow as she glared down at the ten-year old completely unaware of the power gap between the two. The girl was already in a foul mood from punching things until her hands were sore and bloody, rather she wanted to or not, and now some kid was making fun of the way she talked.

But then they mentioned sweets.

Otami’s attitude changed instantly. Like someone shining a light in the darkness, the girl’s face lit up and any misgiving she had about the Chuunin went right out the window on the demand for sweets. The blond gasped happily at the thought of sugar, her hands coming up together to clap happily despite the injuries her knuckles tried to remind the goof that she still had them; to no effect. Shu didn’t even have to convince the Wildling. She was more than happy to go spend whatever money on sugar.
“Okay!” Otami chirped before skipping past the youngin’ and bar to a vending machine nearby selling random cheap things to satisfy the sudden sweet-tooth. She pulled out a few coins from the tight jeans around her waist, oddly without even remotely struggling, and the coins quickly clinked against the mechanism as they were slotted into the machine. Staring at all the candy for a moment with the looks of a elder mountain sage trying to decide on their tea for the day, Otami finally beamed when her eyes landed on a bag of assorted hard candies. With deft key punches that revealed more of her actual shinobi talent, the Wildling quickly pushed in numbers so that the small bag of hard candies dropped down into the relieving bin. Her hand darted out to grab them, doing a little happy dance as she did.

With nearly a single hop back, the Wildling returned to Shu and opened the bag to share, jumping a little when the someone else came up to ask if their were in line. Otami shuffled her feet to move out of the way of Oiwa, continuing to hold the bag of candy out until the Chuunin demanding candy grabbed their share; her eyes watching the male warily.

“Not in way, go find food,” Otami offered the boy looking for ramen.

 

[Ōtakemaru]

… Who on earth was Tamashii?

Whoever Tamashii was, they must’ve been a very annoying person to cause Shusuke to punch himself on the side. You didn’t see something like that happen often, especially not out in the streets, so Take’s attention was nailed towards the strange duo of blondes. Also… uh, a redneck? Her? Wait, wasn’t that racist?! How bold to proclaim her as such right here, where many people could hear you…

Well… not like it was any of his business, in the end. He shouldn’t butt in when it was none of his concern, although a third person apparently did so – a very stylish-clad, almost bombastic lad had asked for passage, upon which Take managed to notice that the blonde redneck had bought candy…

…

Well, he did just finish eating his ramen. Candy sounded really, really great right now – those hard candies that the wolf-raised girl had bought looked extra yummy even from afar, so why not buy some himself? If he remembered correctly, she bought them from that vending machine over there, upon which Take rose and walked towards his dessert dispenser.

… After a few seconds of searching, he came to the realization that this wolf redneck girl had obtained the last bag of hard candies – all that was left were coffee jelly, peanuts, vanilla nougat (with so much vanilla and so little nougat, it was an affront to all candy), dark chocolate orange, and ame ringo… oh, the latter looked… aww, he got excited for a moment, but the caramel glaze looked so dry.

Did she really take the last actually good candy left?!

This, somehow, gave Take the courage to sloooooooooooooooowly approach the Wildling… one step at a time, as if he was a haunting ghost from a kabuki theater skit. His face darkened like a demon’s, he managed to move closer and closer until he was within arms’ reach, from which he spoke in a soft, sad tone: “… S-So… those hard candies… are… a-… are they good?”

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

`Hey, I want something sweet. Let me out so I can try it, come on it won't be for long, why don't you let me try these things, after all all I want is...` The voice of Tamashii would continue to ring in Shusuke's head. A visible vein twitched as Otami walked away to grab something sweet. "Fine, but behave." Shusuke would extend his hand and summoned forth his Scythe, one that Take would be familiar with, made a series of handseals to perform his Soul of the Sword Jutsu which would cause a glowing orb to begin to appear in his free off hand. Placing the two hands together the Chimeiarashi would force the Tamashii's soul into the blade causing it to animate and shift to appear like the boy. A young boy, maybe a little older than Shusuke, would be summoned forth with white hair, red eyes, and jagged shark like teeth. He wore common street clothes, today consisting of a blue tank top and a pair of khaki shorts. He stretched his arms out and let out a yawn just as Otami was returning.

"Man is it nice to be out here, Hiya there wolf-girl! The name's Tamashii, not that Shu over here would introduce us! I am... uughhh." He paused before looking over his shoulder to look at Shusuke. "What am I again?" He asked curiously. "Besides an annoying pain in my ass? I don't know." Tamashii laughed and scratched the back of his head before looking back at Otami. "Yea, what he said, but like... I am curious, could I have his portion of the sweets instead? He was rude afterall and doesn't need them!" Shusuke's vein still obviously pulsing with anger.

Shusuke looked over to the boy that arrived. "Yea just like, go around us kid." He eyed him up and down. Another stranger. It was at this moment Shusuke heard a familiar voice. Take-kun had snuck up on them. The Yamanaka let out a sigh as Tamashii would leap forward at Ōtakemaru. "Take-kun! I am so happy to finally meet you! I am so sorry that Shu-kun has been such a bully to you!" Shusuke quickly extended an arm to chop Tamashii directly on the head as he saw the Living Weapon dart towards his teammate with arms wide open expecting a hug. "Tamashii, calm down. He doesn't even know you. Those are my memories of Take-san, not yours."

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

[topic left due to inactivity and because I am OCRing]

 

[Uzu]

[Topic Left]

 

[Ōtakemaru]

[Topic Left]