Welcome to Gaia! ::

The grip in her neck tightend."Don't push it..."

"Ah! You're very welcome Yinko-chan. Come on let's get going." Musashi said with a big smile as he messed up her hair with his hand, he turned his direction to the two boys," We all Traveling by tree still?"

Ganeni gritted his teeth but let go off her. They were in the middle of Konoha....killing her wouldn't be the best option right now.

"It's hard. I know," Chou said to Ganeni. "You can at least pay your respects. Shinji's funeral will be held in a couple of hours. I will be there. If you need anything, just ask me," She turned away, revealing her coat had the Council of Fire's emblem emblazoned on the back.

"I will be a few hours, the planning and timing for my business require are delicate. Are you sure you do not want to leave for now. I will met you later...with Kasariyuu."

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Issui woke in a hospital bed. "Huh,...wha..?" He stammered slowly, groggy from his unconscious sleep. he looked around the room, saw Rio to his right and a well lit room. He lifted his hand and saw an IV attached, and a clip on his finger to read his pulse.

A second later he seemed to snap out of his waking sleep. "NO!" He scream as he through the clock on the stand next to him, causing Rio to look alarmed. "The kusanagi...A fake! My ancestors work, hidden from us! The ones who gave our greatest innovator, our grandest warrior, whom sealed her fate and future away and doomed her to mediocrity for a life time and led to the decline of our clan which has only barely begun to crawl back. And know the forger of the blade hid it from us all along?! A slap in the face of Shuuki-sama and all of our line! How can he say that we are not fit to guard the soul of the demon! It must never fall into the hands of evil and now its place is lost to us!"

"I...I've never seen you this upset before Issui-kun....ever. This must be more important to you than anything."

Issui turned to Rio and said, "Anything...this is the legacy of my family line more than any Ookawa's, it is our duty and now we have lost the ability to carry it out!"

"What do you intend to do?" Asked Rio, though he seemed to know the answer.

"I will find the sword, no matter the time or cost. And then I will either destroy the blade with the Tenken, or if i cannot obtain the holy blade, return to my clan and tell them of it so we can restart our vigil."

"I will come with you, so will Akira-kun," sad Rio without a seconds hesitation.

Issui looked at him with surprise. "But the exams, they are not that far off. I cannot ask you two to defer that for me. I have never cared to much for having to prove myself to others. I only came to your father because he interested me and i stayed with you and Akira-kun because you are like brothers who push me to be better, not who expect too much from me. I know that you most of all are under the pressure to become great at a young age."

"And yet, those who let those expectations weigh them down are never the ones who rise above them are they?" Rio said with a soft smirk. "That is why I've always admired you Issui," Rio continued, leaving off the suffix as a point of how much like brothers they were. "You have always been the best leader, and have always grown the fastest. I think that is because you have never let the idea of the pressure put on you get to your head. You grew strong for yourself and for those close to you, not because others told you you must. I always pushed myself to be like my father and mother, Akira did it to prove that he was worth something more than a low breed mediocre ninja to his clan. We always did it for the wrong reasons and you finally showed us the right way. We need you Issui, we have grown more from being with you than any other. We are going with you and damn the exams, there will be more and I will not get another friend like you."

Issui fell silent for a moment, seeming to be holding back some emotions as he said. "And yet, you prove yet again that you are the wisest of any of us when you talk like you should be 20 years older. The road will be tough, but I will have you two by my side...i cannot fail."

Issui and Rio clasped each others forearms and gave each other a short hug as Issui said, "Thank you Rio."

Rio gave a wide grin as he said, "Hey, what are friends for?"

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Taki and Akira sat on the roof of the hospital, watching the streets below.

"What is this you call it again?" Akira said with a raised eyebrow.

"People watching," Taki said as her legs swung back and forth in a gentle, slow ark. She hummed as she followed the movement below.

"Interesting," Akira said. Much seemed to go on between Taki and Akira without their saying it. The fact they both seemed to pick up on about one hundred times more from body language, tone and words than others seemed to be the reason. A single word exchanged between the two was almost like an entire conversation.

"So, your friend is up," Taki said as she looked down as a sudden outburst of noise. "Seems like a rather long conversation."

"You can make out the words?" Akira asked.

"Well, when your main duties require you to sneak around in almost no light all the time, your hearing and smell tend to get a bit better than others. Still, I can't make out everything. I assumed you know what I'm talking about?" Taki said.

"Yes, in fact, I'm having to tune them down a little at the moment. Most normal conversations happening in front of me are like screaming matches if I don't filter it down."

"Amazing, what I would give for that." Taki replied.

"Would you give your sight?" Akira with a short laugh under his breath

Taki actually burst out laughing at that point, having to wipe a tear from her eye at the end. "Just the way I like my humor, a little dark. Still though, shouldn't you go have a talk with your friend? he seems quite upset."

"No, I'm good. Rio's got this," Akira said as he tilted his head toward the street. "You're right, this is kind of relaxing." Akira smiled as he and Taki continued to watch as people went about their daily lives.

"You think

Sakurai glanced at Ion's back before telling him it looked like spiral that broke of at the top with it's tail flicking out. He also told him it was very nice and asked him when and where he had it done before excusing himself to find a toilet. "I need to go before we leave," He mumbled.

Tondaime Kisei stood next to her old friend Superior. She was wearing a fabulously detailed black kimono that made her look like a weathly aristrocrat. Superior had informed her that her daughter was safe for now, and she took that at face value, at least for now. Shinji's funeral took presidence. He clasped Superior's clammy hand and flashed him a reassuring smile. This was infinitly harder for him.

---

The woman with the spiral glasses walked into the funeral in the back holding her list. She was pestering the guards with questions about it until they told her she needed to be quiet in respect for the dead. Once they said that she was as silent as a ghost. Still, even then she wandered around the area.