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Post by Luke on Oct 24, 2010 2:27:36 GMT -6
Sitting back down and remaining quiet for several moments, he mumbled an apology yet again before looking back to him. He remained silent for another moment or two, gathering the words in his head so he didn't say something stupid. "So....Toshiro just said that you got back from training?" he asked as he fidgeted with his glasses.
"So how did that go?"
Toshiro nodded, "Yeah! You never told us about that! How did your training go...and what did you learn!?" asked Toshiron "And don't think you can hold out on me, cause I'll figure out eventually!" he added.
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Post by foxx on Oct 24, 2010 17:20:18 GMT -6
Hiromi grimaced slightly as he leaned back, seeming to venture back into his mind at the question. "Those wind sages are tough, like really," he said finally, running a hand through his russetbrown hair; "But it paid off, so the hard work wasn't that big of a deal in the end..." He paused, smiling and sitting up again. "I learned so much stuff. You wouldn't believe half the things those guys had to pass on to me. Loads of stuff I've never even considered."
Hiromi continued on, telling of the strict training he endured over the course of the past few years. He spoke with vigor and enlightenment, as if the teachings were fresh and invigorating as the day he obtained them. It was clear that he'd undergone a great change. He almost looked wiser, Sakura mused to herself as she listened, though she wondered if that was the case. Hiromi, wise... It was a far-fetched thought at times; anyone that knew the man understood this. Nevertheless, she found herself smiling as he spoke, certain she wouldn't be the only one.
"I enjoyed every second of my stay there," Hiromi concluded, seeming satisfied with his brief tale; "I almost wish I could have stayed longer, but... I missed this place and everyone way too much. Couldn't go another year without harassing my brother-in-law." He laughed cheerfully at his own joke.
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Post by Luke on Oct 24, 2010 23:02:30 GMT -6
"Yeah, I figured." Toshiro made an attempt at a laugh, but it wasn't much of one. He clearly got a kick out of Hiromi's humor; though, there was clearly something wrong. The usual twinkle in his eyes were gone--replaced with hints of sadness. He definitely had something that he needed to tell the man. "I'm really glad that you're training went well, Hiromi..." he said with a smile.
He thought of their sensei, Raidon, who would have loved nothing more than to see the fruits of Hiromi's training. Toshiro was sure that Hiromi had grown much stronger since the last time he had seen him. Raidon had told Toshiro the day Hiromi left that he expected great things from the man. "Raidon-sensei would be proud..." He said that louder than he meant to, because he quickly moved on. "Anyway...we'll have to see just how good you've gotten some time..." he added with another attempt at a smile.
Looking at his father for a moment or two, he couldn't help but sigh. What was going on with him? "Dad...what's wrong? ....did something happen that you're not telling us?" With another large sigh sat down and looked up at the ceiling, intent on getting answers later.
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Post by foxx on Oct 24, 2010 23:26:16 GMT -6
Hiromi seemed to light up a bit more at the mention of Raidon, his smile growing a bit brighter; the lightened mood caused him to disregard Toshiro's tone, and he went on obliviously. Ignorant to the situation, he sat forward again excitedly. "Man, Raidon-sensei..." he said, shaking his head and smiling; "Can't wait to see him again, show him all the stuff I learned... Heh, he'd probably still beat me down even now, though; I don't think anyone's quite a match for the old guy."
Sakura fell silent, holding back a sigh. She'd nearly forgotten about the worse situation at hand; with all the happy reuniting going on, the sadness had slipped her mind. Her face fell a bit, and she averted her gaze, looking at Toshiro only briefly. Sayuri eyed her parents warily, an eyebrow lifted. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused as her brother let out a sigh and settled into a seat. Her mouth closed silently, and she settled down as well; they both seemed to have the same question in mind.
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Post by Luke on Oct 24, 2010 23:47:37 GMT -6
"Hiromi..." Toshiro lowered his gaze to the floor as he attempted to find the words. He sat there for several moments in silence, unable to come up with a single word. "R-r-raidon sensei-" Getting only the name out before choking up and balling his hands up into fists, he went back to silence.
Takashi watched as tears fell to the floor--was his father crying? His eyebrows raised in surprise, he was even more confused by this whole situation. What was going on that was bad enough to cause such a reaction in the man? "...dad? What's going on?" he asked. Waiting several moments with no reply, he spoke up. "Dad! What's happened? What aren't you telling us!?"
It seemed like ages before Toshiro managed to look up--his eyes red from crying. "...Raidon-sensei is....gone." he replied...clearly unable to say the word dead.
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Post by foxx on Oct 25, 2010 14:17:32 GMT -6
In an instant, Hiromi's face fell. He seemed to struggle to hold his expression, his mouth wavering between a faltered smile and a blank look. He felt a nervous laugh work its way out, and he sat up a bit stiffly. "I... Gone, y-yeah..." he began, pausing. For a few long moments he sat in consideration of something, then sat up again as an idea struck him. "...To Kumo, right? I alr--" "--Hiromi," Sakura suddenly said, cutting the man off. He fell silent, and so did she for a few long minutes. "He's not... Rai...Raidon-sensei is--" "Don't say it." Sakura looked up at Hiromi, who in that short time had doubled over in his seat, shaking his head with his hands buried in his rusty hair. "Just...don't say something like that. It's not... It's not funny." "We aren't... Hiromi, we're not trying to--" "--Please. That's not the truth." Sakura fell silent again and sat back, a sorrowful and defeated look on her face. Sayuri was sitting wordlessly beside her brother, her face blank save her furrowed eyebrows, her green eyes darting between the adults in the room.
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Post by Luke on Oct 27, 2010 1:06:39 GMT -6
"He died protecting me."
Two sets of eyes darted toward Sojiro, who was now sitting down in a chair of his own. Staring at the ground with his head resting in his hands, he heaved a very uneven sigh. And so he delved into the story once again. "Our uncle had been gathering the Akisaka forces for years...training them to be cold blooded killers--in an attempt to overthrow the current Raikage...one Shirohoshi Raidon." Pausing for a moment, he glanced around the room taking notice of Takashi's stunned look.
"I understand your confusion. But you need to understand that your family is very different than...well...your OTHER family. They were fighters for hire for two hundred years before settling into Kumo--fighting is all they know. Most of them can't grasp the concept of anything else--which is why your father was exiled from the clan." he stated, looking worn down from even thinking about this.
"The fact that Raidon spoke of love and peace simply disgusted them...and they killed him for it. Our family...destroyed Kumo." The words that came from his mouth disgusted him--he was ashamed of his own family...
"No. They aren't our family." he corrected himself.
Toshiro had remained quiet all throughout the story, having already heard the whole thing. Sitting there for several moments in quiet contemplation, he finally looked back over at his brother. "...that so called family killed the only real father I ever had." he said.
"We're going to kill every last one of them." he said with finality.
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Post by foxx on Oct 31, 2010 20:18:46 GMT -6
Sayuri felt her eyes water, and her gaze fell. Seeming a bit listless, she leaned over, burying her face in her brother's side. She remained there quietly, her eyes clamping shut. How is he gone...? she began to wonder, feeling the tears squeeze between her eyelids. Before she could dwell longer, however, a voice shook her back to attention, and she turned her head, peering across the room.
"...I don't even know you," Hiromi was saying quietly, his grey eyes peering blankly between locks of redbrown hair; though it was apparent that he was "looking" toward Sojiro. "I don't even know you," he repeated, his eyebrows slowly furrowing over his eyes; "And...you come here...bringing these...terrible lies, as soon as I return home." There was a struggle in the man's voice; it bordered on trembling, but he fought it best he could. It seemed he still hadn't come to terms with the news of Raidon's death, too pained to accept it.
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Post by Luke on Nov 8, 2010 17:10:04 GMT -6
Takashi stared at the ground for quite some time, unable to make a sound or voice his opinion on the matter. His bottom lip started to quiver as realization started to hit him--a man he considered his grandfather was dead. He placed his arm around his sister as she buried her face in his side and patted her gently.
He said nothing.
"...to accuse me of lying about the death of a man such as Raidon...is a terrible insult--and a mistake." Sojiro watched Hiromi for a moment or two, letting those words sink in. Sitting quietly in his seat for a bit longer, he glanced around the room, not surprised by the reaction. "If you want to sit and deny it all until Kumo comes crashing through the gates...then I can't stop you--but what I'm saying IS
[/b] the truth." The light glared off his glasses, making it impossible to see the eyes which were filled with guilt and sorrow. "Akisaka Kenta lead the rebel group of Akisaka's in an assassination attempt--the sheer number of plasma wielder's...boggled my mind." Heaving a large sigh and adjusting his glasses, he turned his gaze to the ceiling. "So in the end, Hiromi, I don't suppose it matters if you believe me now or not--the truth will be apparent when before long anyway..." he shrugged.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]
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Post by foxx on Dec 22, 2010 3:20:13 GMT -6
Hiromi seemed to fume in his seat, his right hand gripping the armrest of the chair so tightly that his knuckles began to whiten. "Fine, I--..." he began, but cut himself short. He ripped himself from his seat, working his way toward and out the door without another word.
Sayuri remained quiet and to herself, her face still buried. Sakura watched Hiromi storm out, her brow creased with a strange worry; it was almost as though she'd expected such out of the man. She sighed lightly, running a hand through her hair. "...He..." she paused, her gaze flitting from Toshiro to Sojiro; she seemed to be at a loss for words; "Hiromi is... You have to understand; he cared for Raidon just as you two did, like...like a father. It...it might just take him some time to accept it, but... Don't think badly of him."
Hiromi's frustrated pace slowed the farther he walked from the house, and eventually he stopped, suddenly feeling a tree against one of his arms; he'd walked far enough to reach the line of trees near the Akisaka home, though it didn't seem nearly far enough.
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Post by Luke on Dec 22, 2010 5:54:25 GMT -6
Watching the man leave, Sojiro sighed as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He chanced a glance over at Toshiro, who was now staring at the door that Hiromi had just exited through. His gaze lingered on him for a moment or two before it finally rested on the on the ceiling.
"That could have went better."
Turning his head to look over at Sakura before waving it off, seeming to understand. "It's fine--I know how he feels all too well." he replied, shrugging. "...we all have different ways to cope." he added. A split second later, he turned back to Toshiro. "You should go and talk to him, Toshiro....he needs someone." he said with a small frown. He sighed yet again and shook his head. "And no one wants ME to go."
"Yeah, you're right..." Toshiro replied before standing up and making his way toward the door. He stopped for a second or two at the door before exhaling and making his way outside to go console his friend. Taking a moment to look around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the man, he managed to make out his figure against the treeline. A second later, he was making his way over.
Stopping a few feet away from the man, he stared at him for a moment or two before speaking. "....hey."
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Post by foxx on Dec 22, 2010 17:43:33 GMT -6
Hiromi remained silent as Toshiro approached, though he knew full well the man was there; the footsteps along the grass were loud enough. The man didn't move, save a small shift as he ran a hand through his russet-brown hair.
"...Hey"
"...I can't deal with that," was all Hiromi found to say. There was no apology, no contact; it was almost as though the man had been speaking to the air rather than Toshiro. "I just don't... I can't believe that. It has nothing to do with your brother being a liar, or me insulting him. I just can't accept that."
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Post by Luke on Dec 22, 2010 21:19:08 GMT -6
Standing there for quite sometime, Toshiro listened to his friend speak. He sighed inaudibly as he stated that he couldn't believe what had been said. Scratching the back of his head, he glanced up at the sky for a moment before as if he was looking for an answer--something to say that would help the situation. "...yeah, I figured." he thought...as nothing came to mind.
"Listen..."
Toshiro took a few steps closer before leaning against a tree, staring off into the opposite direction. "I know this is hard to accept--I didn't want to believe it either...and I even tried to pretend like it didn't bother me." he stated, gazing at the sky. He remained silent for a quite some time, before he the words finally came to him. "But...it's something you're going to have to come to terms with. Raidon-sensei is gone, Hiromi."
"He's...."
Toshiro struggled with himself to actually say the word. It went on for several moments before he finally forced it out.
".......dead."
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Post by foxx on Dec 27, 2010 20:53:59 GMT -6
Hiromi remained silent, leaning back against the tree. His legs gave way, and he slid to his rear in the grass, his back sliding down the trunk. Rather than bury his face, it remained level, and he wrapped his arms loosely around his legs. For a while he sat there, saying nothing.
"...You know, when I got home," Hiromi said slowly, finally speaking, "back to the village, I had this ruddy feeling in my gut. I didn't question it for long; I didn't want to think of anything bad, not on such a good day..." He fell silent again, and though his face was placid, a single tear fell from one of his grey eyes and rolled down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away. "I know I acted like a child back there, maybe hurt your brother's feelings, but...it just...makes me sick to think about something like that."
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Post by Luke on Feb 4, 2011 1:26:21 GMT -6
Glancing sideways at the man, Toshiro sighed inaudibly--understanding how he felt exactly. He stood there for a solid minute without moving before he decided to speak again...having been unsure of how to go about continuing. "...I know how you feel, Hiromi. I didn't want to think about it either."
He looked up at the sky, as if he was looking at Raidon himself.
"...Raidon wouldn't want us to sit and cry--not when there's such a terrible danger coming our way. This is something that...we're going to have to get through." he stated with a small frown. Reaching up toward his face, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed out loud this time. "...whether we want to or not, we've got to go on for Konoha--as well as Raidon-sensei."
He gave Hiromi a pat on the back took a step back, "...let's go back inside, okay? We've got a lot of planning to do...."
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