Eishu no Raiden

[Luke]

Sasuke, who had been laughing too hard to realize what was going on behind him, got smacked in the back of the head with a rogue pillow. He paused for a moment and let Hiromi's words sink in. After a few moments, he started to snicker again. Finally it started to escalate into a full blown laugh fest. It continued for a good few seconds before it finally subsided and he sighed slightly--like that would ever happen. "...you're not even in my league, Hiromi. You never were...and you never will be. Trust me." he said. Without looking back, he continued his little moment.

He took a small pause to gather his thoughts.

"I'm sure you've gotten stronger--I could tell the moment you stepped through the door." he said before shrugging. "But it doesn't matter how many years you train perfecting your skills....I'm always going to be better." He smirked. "...but hey...maybe if you ask nicely enough, I'll show you a thing or two."

---

Takashi smirked as his attack had been avoided. "Seems like I'm gonna have to take it up a notch." he thought as he let go of Takeru and made few handsigns. Immediately, it would seem as though he had disappeared, and tiny bursts of electricity flew in every direction to hide his movement.

"Gah!"

Takeru had flown backward and landed on his back. He jumped right back up and looked around. "...where did he go!?" he asked. Right as Takeru had finished his question, Takashi seemed to appear a good fifteen meters in front of them. He stood there with a smile on his face. "Not bad at all." he said. "Now....I want you to attack me this time." he added, his smile growing a bit.

He paused for a moment or two before his smile turned into a smirk.

"I promise that if you don't...I won't be holding back this time."

---

Sojiro, who wanted to change the topic, looked around the room. He started to pace around a bit, glancing around at all the little decorations in the house. "I really don't want to talk about furniture or home decor today..." he thought before his face lit up as if he had just thought of something. He smiled brightly and opened his mouth to speak.

"So....do I have any nieces or nephews?" he asked after a moment.

Toshiro turned to look at him from the kitchen and nodded. "Both. Takashi and Sayuri." he said after a moment. Sojiro seemed quite happy about that. "That's wonderful! Mother would be so happy to hear that..." he said. Toshiro nodded. "...yeah. I guess she would." he said after a moment.

Sojiro could have smacked himself for bringing up their mother--that was a touchy subject as well after all. He looked toward Sakura and then back to Toshiro, his smile still showing. "So...tell me about my niece and nephew!" he said. "...and when can I meet them!?" he added as an afterthought.

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[foxx]

Hiromi's grey eyes narrowed a bit, feeling his hands grow anxious, fingers wanting to curl. "...No one asked for your two cents anyway, Sasuke," he said finally; "I could probably get you quicker than you think, and I could do it with my eyes closed." He let out a laugh.

The boys on the couch had stifled their laughs, which were slowly decreasing as the room grew a bit more annoyed and tense. Phase two had come into effect; first came the mocking, then came the challenging, and finally--well, if their mother had ever allowed it--a rivaling fight. It never had gotten to the third point, however; Keiji quieted even more at the thought of his mother angry.

_______________

[TIMESKIP CAUSE MY MIND IS WHOA.]
Shikakazu fell onto his rear, allowing the collapse and feeling relieved as the weight lifted off his tired legs and feet. Sayuri leaned against a nearby tree. Both genin were exhausted, their breathing labored and audible; the sweat gathered on their brows was also a sure sign.

"Funny how...you never figured your brother was this tough..." Shikakazu panted, glancing over at Sayuri. The girl laughed hollowly.
"Never figured I'd need to care how he...how he fought."
"You know what they say about assuming..."

_______________

Sakura smiled as the subject shifted; she could almost feel the tense air relax.

"Sayuri is...well, she's not really at school now," Sakura began to explain; "She graduated from the Academy here recently; so she should be out with her new team." The woman paused, choosing her words carefully to describe their daughter. "Sayuri... She's... You'll just have to meet her. Takashi's the older one; he's out, too, I think instructing now. He's a bit more...levelheaded, I guess, for lack of a better word."

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[Luke]

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Maybe someday we'll have to see if that's true, Hiromi." he said after a moment. "Though, I can honestly say that I doubt it very much. The Uchiha are the elite. There isn't a whole lot that these eyes can't see." he added with a small smirk. He didn't dare look back...in fear of what kind of look he was getting from his wife at that point in time--it was bound to be scary.

"...but for now...I say we drop this...."

He sighed slightly before he turned his gaze to a window and attempted to let something else drift into his mind. From that point on, he was going to try his best to not say anything else. For the sake of his back (which would probably be hurting tremendously because he would probably be sleeping on the couch tonight), he would attempt to be civil from that moment.

---

Takeru had managed to duck underneath one of Takashi's punches. He pushed off from the ground as hard as he could and threw his arm upwards with the intent on striking his sensei in the jaw. The jonin smiled broadly as he noticed the movements and knew that he had plenty of time to react.

"A bit too slow, Takeru."

Takashi quickly leaned backward away from the kick and went into an almost back-bend like maneuver. He lifted his legs up into the air right as the genin would reach his maximum height in the air and push off hard with his arms, springing forward and slamming both his feet into Takeru's stomach.

The genin flew backwards and landed with a loud thud on the ground next to his teammates. He laid there for a moment and groaned before he managed to sit up. "...I had no doubt that Takashi-sensei would be strong. To be honest...I expected this." he said with a small sigh. He got to his feet and held a hand to his stomach as beads of sweat rolled down his face.

Takashi smiled slightly as he looked at them. "...very good job. I am impressed! You all are fairly competent in hand to hand combat. I know where you are at as a team....so I'll be able to start your training accordingly! Great!" he said before turning his smile into a large grin.

---

Sojiro nodded slightly. "Sayuri and Takashi, huh? I can't wait to meet them!" he exclaimed looking rather happy. He paused for a moment as if he had just thought of something, "I'm sure they'll be a bit confused at my presence. I mean...after all, they don't know me." he added. Not letting that bit of information bother him, he let out a small sigh of relief and looked back over at Toshiro.

"...it's good to see you, Toshiro. It's good to know that you've made such a wonderful life here in Konoha...."

The man looked over at his brother and gave his best attempt at a smile. "...thanks, Sojiro. I'm glad that at least one of my family members still cares." he said.

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[foxx]

"Perhaps."

It was a simple answer, but Sasuke wasn't the only one fretting--Hiromi had decided to drop the subject as well. To the younger generation's relief, the air grew less tense; Akane had indeed been throwing her husband a few annoyed looks, but there had been no action taken, and that was a good sign. Seeming satisfied with the situation, the woman settled herself into a chair with a light sigh.

"...So," Hiromi said finally, a change of subject in mind as he sank into a different seat; "How have you two been?" He shifted his face toward the boys on the couch.

Ashitaka shrugged at the question, a natural reaction though his uncle wouldn't see it. "Pretty good..." he answered; "Missions out my ears, but I can handle it." He laughed a bit. Keiji's reply came after a noticeable pause, where he mulled over a question that could be simply answered. "...Pretty good," he replied finally, chancing a look up at his uncle. It was eerie to see that Hiromi was looking at him; briefly Keiji felt like the man could actually see him.
...Does he know?

________________________

Sayuri lifted an eyebrow at her brother. "We did good...?" she repeated the idea, pausing to register it; "But we're all battered, and you're...not."

Shikakazu couldn't help but smile at this, amused. "Compared to him, we aren't much right now," he pointed out; "There's no way we could have gotten a serious hit on him..."

________________________

Sakura laughed at Sojiro's statement, shaking her head reassuringly. "It won't be as awkward as you might think," she told him with a smile; "Takashi's pretty friendly. Sayuri's pretty likable, she just takes a bit of getting used to."

The woman fell silent as the two brothers began speaking again. It was only right to let them have moments when they came; as friendly as the atmosphere seemed, there was also pain there, and there was grief, yet at the same time, there was a small bond there for them. It may have not been much, but it was there.

[Luke]

Sasuke turned slightly to look at the group. He too wondered whether or not Hiromi had been told of the huge event that had taken place. He scratched the back of his head and sighed inaudibly--not wanting to bring up such a thing at the moment. He'd merely wait until it came up on it's own--no point in dragging up history.

Instead, he merely glanced up at the ceiling and let out another inaudible sigh.

"Gonna be a tiresome day...." he thought to himself.

---

Takashi shrugged slightly. "I'm a Jonin--and an Akisaka." he said before winking. "The fact that you're not unconscious right now says a lot." he added with a small nod. He motioned them to move closer and let out a small sigh of relief--the hard part was over. As he watched Takeru quickly make his way over, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "...I'm going to tell the three of you something important." he stated after a moment.

Takeru looked at him anxiously.

"What is it, Takashi-sensei?"

Takashi nodded after a moment before he lifted a hand to his chin as if pondering the best way to go about this. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up again. "I won't be teaching you any techniques. Instead, I will be helping you develop yourselves so that you can come up with your own."

He paused.

"I feel that it is important that you all understand why I am going to do this--can you tell me why?"

---

"...how is mom?"

Sojiro could have cursed loudly. "I shouldn't have brought it up to begin with..." he thought to himself. He scratched the back of his head and hesitated for a moment or two before looking back over at his brother. "She's okay." he replied simply. He looked away, unable to look at his brother after the lie had just told.

Toshiro shook his head.

"....the truth, Sojiro?"

"...I already said that she's fine, Toshiro." replied the Kumonin, still looking out the window--avoiding eye contact. After a moment or two, he risked a glance over at the man who was now staring at him with a strange expression. Sojiro had half expected his eyes to be burning with anger...but they weren't. Nothing was in those eyes but worry. The moment he looked into his eyes, he couldn't keep it up.

"...first of all, Toshiro, you have to understand..."

He paused.

"Mom hasn't seen you for the greater part of your life. Dad said she was never really the same after you were--well you know." He said after a moment. Without looking over at him, the younger Akisaka would continue. "That's not to say she's doing terrible. She just misses you..." he said.

Toshiro sighed. "She had a strange way of showing it. Neither mom or dad wrote a single letter or anything since I left..." he said.

Sojiro raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"Toshiro...they wrote just about every other day. You were the one who didn't write." he said. He watched Toshiro shake his head as he replied, "That's not possible. I never got a single letter." he said. Sojiro scratched the back of his head, completely dumbstruck by this. He had watched his mother sit down and write every other day for a year. How had he not gotten them!? ...and then it hit him.

"...that bastard."

Toshiro looked over at him. "What? Who's a bastard?" he asked, looking at him with a confused expression.

"...the man who killed Raidon and started the revolt. He must have taken the letters and then made sure they never reached their destination....." Sojiro replied, his hands clenched into fists. He looked over at Toshiro, who sat there looking puzzled. "...why would someone do that?" he asked. Sojiro thought for a moment. "He must have thought you were dangerous or something, Toshiro. He wanted you to sever all your ties with Kumo...." he said.

"Well...he almost did a good job of it." replied Toshiro with a sigh.

He looked over at Sakura.

"....well, if all goes well you might actually get to meet the rest of my family." he said. Sojiro took a step forward and gave a nervous laugh. "...the one's who aren't insane, anyway--the immediate family." he said.

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[foxx]

Hiromi's "gaze" lingered on Keiji for a few silent moments, though the man seemed to have no intention of saying anything negative; he was just passively watching the boy, as well as he could watch anything. Then finally,

"...You seem a lot different than before I left," he said, and Keiji stiffened a bit; "Both of you, but moreso you, Keiji." He paused, smiling gently. "But it's not a bad thing; you seem stronger."
Keiji was unsure of how to react, whether he could relax, or whether he should continue to fret. Hiromi had obviously dumbfounded him.

"Hiromi," Akane interrupted, hesitantly changing the subject, and the man turned his head toward his sister; "Have you been to see Naruto yet?"
"I have, actually," he answered, grinning; "He was glad to see me."

_______________________

Sayuri was silent for a good few moments, folding her arms and chewing her bottom lip as she mulled over their mentor's question. She glanced over at the brainy end of their team, and to her surprise, even Shikakazu seemed a bit stumped. She looked back to Takashi.

"...I suppose because we're not you?" she said finally, surprising even herself at her gradual epiphany; "Everyone's different, so we learn different." This got Shikakazu's mind reeling finally, and he nodded in agreement. "Being a shinobi is like being a fingerprint or a snowflake... One never turns out the same as another. That's true for people in general, not just ninja." The two fell silent, unsure of their answer as they watched Takashi for a response.

_______________________

Sakura released a hefty sigh, running a hand through her pink hair and folding her arms across her knees. Her gaze lingered on the floor for a good while, and she sat silently. Finally she looked up, her eyes meeting Toshiro's. "...I'm anxious to meet them, then," she said, glancing over at Sojiro; "Your brother seems nice; I'm guessing your parents are the same." She paused, smiling a big bigger. "Iie, They raised you both nicely, they have to be."

She, again, avoided speaking of their conversation. Again, she felt intrusive, and again she felt pained at the words the two brothers exchanged.

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[Luke]

After that was said, Sasuke knew that Hiromi must have been told. There was no way Naruto could have kept quiet about something like that--not that he really expected him to. He glanced over at the group of them once more, attempting to catch a glimpse of Keiji's face--wondering if he could tell that his uncle knew. After a moment, he moved his gaze back to the ceiling and listened intently.

"Hn."

---

"Exactly."

Takashi nodded with a large smile on his face. He paused for a moment, looking at the three of them. "...also...the three of you might have completely different chakra natures." he added. After saying that, something seemed to pop into his head. He made a strange noise as if he had just come to realize something. He rummaged around in his pockets for a moment or two before pulling out three pieces of paper.

"...paper, Takashi-sensei?"

He looked at Takeru with a grin.

"These slips of paper will react to your chakra. Depending on what they do...we will figure out the nature of it!" explained Takashi. He held one of the slips up and concentrated for a moment before the paper crumpled up. "...see? If that happens to any of yours...it means you have lightning natured chakra." he added.

He quickly glanced over at Shikakazu.

"Even though you're a Nara...it will still be nice to see what your chakra nature is, in case you might be wondering. I know your clan deals with shadows and the like...." he added. After that, he handed the slips of paper to the group of them. He looked over at Takeru, who's paper had just burst into flame and turned to ash. He looked slightly surprised at it before looking up at Takashi.

"...hm. Katon....I wouldn't have guessed." said the Jonin.

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[foxx]

Sayuri took her slip of paper, letting it rest in her palm. She hardly seemed surprised when the paper creased and wrinkled, furling itself into a crumpled ball in her hand. "Well, that figures," she said with a lifted eyebrow; "Did I even have a chance?"

Shikakazu was watching the other two with their slips, observing with a detached interest as Takeru's burst into flame, Sayuri's crumpling in her palm as her brother's had. He'd almost forgotten his own paper--until he felt something suddenly grow damp and soggy in his hand, water dripping from his fingers. Making a face, he looked to the paper in his hand, which had somehow grown soaking wet and was flopping limply over his fingers; he shook it off, and it fell, shredded and wet, to the grass by his feet.

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[Luke]

Takashi watched as the other two took the slips of paper and waited for them to react. He caught sight of Sayuri's as it crumpled up into a ball. He smiled slightly and shook his head as she asked if she even had a chance. He thought for a moment to gather the words to explain why she didn't really have much of a chance.

"Nope! And there's a good reason for it..."

He nodded.

"The Akisaka Clan have a Kekkei Genkai that allows us to use electricity to heat up the electrons in our chakra to cause them to break apart and create plasma." he finally explained. "So naturally, we all have raiton chakra natures!" he finished out with a large grin. After the explanation, he looked over at Shikakazu to see the soggy paper on the ground. "Hm! Suiton chakra, huh? Surprising!" he said.

"...anyway, I expect amazing things from the three of you!"

[foxx]

Sayuri rolled the crumpled paper around in her palm, watching it collapse even more as it tumbled over her skin. She glanced up at her brother as he spoke, nodding in casual understanding; she'd figured the paper would do the same as his--it honestly would have surprised her if it hadn't reacted to raiton chakra.

Shikakazu, however, seemed equally surprised at his chakra nature. He shook the rest of the soggy paper from his fingers, wiping the damp hand across his sleeve. "Suiton... Interesting," he mused. Sayuri looked away from her paper to her teammate, seeming amused. "It kinda fits you," she pointed out; "Water is so easygoing, and so are you."
"I guess that's one theory..."

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[Luke]

Takashi nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'd have to agree there." he said with a small laugh. He waited for a few moments before he dusted himself off and looked around. "Well, I'd say that about wraps it up for today. Not a whole lot we can do now..." he said.

He smiled.

"With that said...all I have left to say is....you are dismissed. We'll meet back here tomorrow at ten for our first bit of real training!" Takashi said with a nod. "You all did a great job today--I am proud and privileged to have such a promising group of genin. Now go get some rest!" he added with a grin.

With a single wave goodbye, he vanished in a plume of smoke.

Takeru watched as he disappeared and gave a sigh of relief. "...well, see you two tomorrow then!" he said before taking off into the distance--he had a lot to tell his father!

[/justify]

[foxx]

(( xDD Oops. I forgot about my own characters. Heh. Got too into the paper thing. You can reply to this if you want; I meant to have Hiromi do this.))

Akane sighed lightly, standing and turning to walk toward the kitchen. She gestured for her sons to follow, and they got up accordingly, Ashitaka briskly entering the kitchen with his mother. Keiji paused, watching his uncle for a few moments before disappearing through the door as well.
"You guys, too," Akane called, her voice floating from the other room; "If you're hungry, that is; I should've made you cook, Sasuke."

Hiromi sat quietly for a few seconds, then rose from the chair, his hands in his pockets as he turned toward the kitchen. He took a few steps, then paused, "glancing" over his shoulder at Sasuke. "...I could very well give you a hard time about that," he said, though his voice was far from its usual bothersome tone; he seemed quite serious; "...But you seem to have had a hard enough time of it as it is, according to Naruto. So I won't say anything, since he seems to support your struggles." He turned forward again, resuming his steps.

"At least he's home now. That's the important thing, ne?"

______________________

Sayuri sighed deeply, running a hand through her--now messy--pinkwhite hair. "I dunno where he's going off to," she said, folding her arms and tilting her head, her green eyes falling on the spot where her brother stood moments ago; "I think our parents wanted to hear about stuff today; now I guess I have to be the storyteller." Shrugging, she turned to Shikakazu with a light smile. "I actually did enjoy working with you," she said, pausing and biting her lip; "Ehhheh... Sorry I don't pay attention. I'll work on that. See you later!" With a wave, she turned on a heel and strode back toward the village.

Shikakazu shook his head, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Better get home before Mom gets in a mood..." he mumbled, turning toward the village; "It's almost dinnertime."

((Oh. Oh. He is SO Temari's kid.))

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[Luke]

Sasuke almost laughed. "You could have...but it probably wouldn't have been edible..." he replied before standing up himself and making for the other room. Though he stopped suddenly when Hiromi started speaking. He sighed inaudibly wondering what was going to be said.

He narrowed his eyes at the first statement--his previous question answered: Naruto had told of what had went on. He had already had a hard enough time? He had no idea of the hell that he had been through--none at all. He started to move forward again, tired of listening to him but stopped abruptly at his last statement.

"At least he's home now. That's the important thing, ne?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah. It is." He replied before walking past him and into the dining room.

----

Takashi would appear in a plume of smoke behind Sayuri as he neared the house. "Good job today." he said after a moment as he followed beside her with his hands held leisurely behind his head. He glanced up at the sky before turning his gaze over to his sister. "You'll all be great shinobi some day." he added with a nod. The man looked over and noticed his parent's place in the distance.

"...see you at home!"

With that said, he sped off.

Shortly afterward, Takashi stood outside their door, wondering how their day had went. "Hey! It's Takashi! I'm coming in!" he shouted before opening the door and walking in. He glanced around the room to see his father sitting across from another man who looked strangely similar to him.

"...uh, hey..." he said, looking puzzled.

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[foxx]

Hiromi scooted his seat back, standing from the table and turning toward where he knew the door to be. "Where are you going?" his sister asked, looking up from her partially finished plate. "Gonna go pay another friend a visit," he said, grinning; "I don't think Toshiro knows I'm even home. I'll see you guys later; Neechan, Ashitaka, Keiji... Sasuke." With that, he left, the front door opening and closing moments later.

________________

Frowning, though in a playful manner, Sayuri picked up her pace best she could in her exhausted state, attempting to catch up to her speeding brother. She was only able to just keep up with him, however, and was taken by surprise as he came to a sudden halt in the doorway. The girl crashed into Takashi from behind, stumbling backward and landing on her rear. "Oof... Dangit, Niichan--" she began, rubbing her back and glaring up at him. She blinked, following his gaze to the man sitting in the living room. She lifted an eyebrow, tilting her head a bit; she remained on the floor in a comical heap. "...Who're you?"

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[Luke]

Takashi fell forward after being crashed into, thanks to foolishly rocking back and forth on his feet seconds beforehand. He face planted onto the floor and laid there with his rear sticking into the air for a few moments as he was dazed. He eventually managed to look in the direction of the man and slump down into a not so vulnerable position.

He laughed nervously.

"....what she said..."

Sojiro burst into a large fit of laughter at the comedic display that was put before him. After a good minute of laughing, he cleared his throat and grinned. "You two must be Sayuri and Takashi. I've been wanting to meet the two of you all day." he said with his Cheshire grin. He paused for a moment, trying to pick his next words.

"...I am your uncle Sojiro!"

Takashi looked rather surprised at this statement. "...our uncle?" he asked, looking over at Toshiro who nodded. "...why haven't we heard about you until now?" he asked. Sojiro smiled again, "That is a question with a very simple answer. Our family hates Toshiro...so I've never been able to get in touch with him." he replied.

Takashi raised an eyebrow. "....makes sense."

"...but what's so different now?" he asked after a moment.

"Ah! Another good question! You see, the Akisaka Clan has basically started a revolt against...." he started, and remembered what had happened. He looked over at Toshiro, who looked away. "...against the current government. And I wanted no part of it." he finished. "So, I came here to warn Toshiro of what was going on." he added.

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