Welcome to Gaia! ::

As he finished his doughnut, Cruxis took a second napkin and cleaned himself off; the doughnut had been delicious, and worth the small mess it had made while being enjoyed by the gennin. The sentiment Rissa noted was a good one, not wanting to participate in killing; though the thought made me more concerned for the task ahead... That nine day counter was looming over him, and sooner or later he was going to have to face it. "I just can't see how separating oneself from the choice will make the world better. I signed a petition for it once actually, the stopping of executioners that is. It was from a fellow bard from the old days, who thought the way of the first men was the path to truly ensuring justice. I've been hoping to go exploring some of their ruins one day, although generally speaking exploring old ruins is a bad idea unless you've researched them thoroughly... When I was five my poor dad explored an old tomb and tripped a poison needle trap once that ensured I would remain an only child.", the trap's poison thankfully been cured, his father had been more cautious around exploration since then; although the incident had left him as sterile as a mule; or so he had gone joking in a bar one day; whatever the phrase meant, it had gotten quite a few laughs.
There was a harsh aura for a moment before Cruxis peered behind him to see Notwen and Takeshi entering with a third person from whom the aura originated from. Had something he said cheesed him off? Cruxis thought a moment back to what he said, perhaps someone who wanted to be a headsman who didn't want his career lost from a bard's petition? Or perhaps someone who had read on the ways of the first men and disproved of their ways entirely? It only took an introduction from Rissa to figure out what had gone wrong; the third was Nagamich the Medic Swordsman; the two words had conjured an image of a panicking bleeding man chased down by a medic with a sword, who leaped forward to slash the injured man to heal him. It had more been the mental image of the panic that had given Cruxis the giggles; although the idea of healing via stabbing someone had its hilarity in its own sense. In all likely hood he was a medic and a swordsman, as opposed to his art of healing being through stabbing; though why a simple jest would offend someone enough to put out that aura, Cruxis really couldn't tell.
What worried him more though was Notwen's appearance; a majority of his body was covered in bandages, and Cruxis flashed back for a moment to his vision... It had been the near future, the bloody eye, the lingering words, and two faces he had never seen before. Some use the information was, but on the other end, it had been Notwen who had somehow caused a flood in Gryu'Jiong, at least if his Ryuugan's track record for accurate, if cryptic, visions remained true. It was not his place to question had had been necessary, but he felt slightly sick to his stomach at the idea of civilians caught in that flood, and hoped that he had been right in them escaping safely and his lack of finding bodies had not been from someone else cleaning up the dead. Beilborg probably wouldn't have told him, given the gennin's reaction to the Necromancer's corpse obtainment method. Shaking it aside, he replied to Notwen's question; "We're doing well enough, despite the rainy morning we're having. I invited Rissa for some breakfast, and given the hot beverage selections here, I'd say it's the perfect counter to the weather. Besides, I've always enjoyed rain, it helps me fall asleep, and I'll never complain about that blessing when I need it....... Are you alright?"
The question at the end came hesitantly; obviously the bandages were a sign that things were not okay. The fact that he was about at least meant he was recovering at a high pace, likely from high end medical techniques. The real question on Cruxis's mind was of Notwen's eyes... Had his vision meant the worst, had someone stolen a sharingan? Blatantly asking would be foolish, nor did he wish Notwen to know the extent of the Ryuugan's powers, some things were best kept to himself, particularly when he could not simply place a perception filter up to prevent unwanted eyes and ears from prying.
Rissa's introduction of Nagamichi was polite and cheerful at least, though his fellow gennin seemed to hold a bitter tone of voice towards him, Cruxis met the twitching of Nagamichi's eyes with his own warm blue ones, and a smile on his face as he extended a handshake; as he replied to the gennin; "This shop is getting quite abit of business from the rain, its wonderful to have company. On that note, its a pleasure to meet you Nagamichi, I'm Cruxis! Occasionally a bard, juggler, and musician; oh and I can tell stories, only in plainchant or Wakefield chant though! Limericks too, come to think of it, but as I was saying I never excelled in High Chant of Iambic Pentameter, but I make do!"
Cruxis probably had babbled on for a bit there, but then again he had always been particularly verbose in most things he did.

Rissa spotted the trio approaching the table she was sitting at with and hailed them when they had arrived to their own. The first thing the kunoichi did was ask Notwen if he was okay because he looked as if he had come out of the hospital.
"I'm fine Rissa." replied the now two-eyed Uchiha, "I did literally come out of the hospital. I've had a taste of hospital food before, and it wasn't all that great so i decided to go out on a stroll." Cruxis's response to Notwen's question was that their morning was good despite the rain, to which the Chuunin nodded agreeably. Apparently he had invited Rissa for a bite of breakfast and had come to the restaurant due to the effect the hot drinks had to counter the weather's effects. Then, shakily, the genin inquired about Notwen's health. The dark-skinned man thought about his words before replying. "Well, let's just say that i got into a scuffle with a tough opponent for now. The details are a bit explicit, and i don't want to spoil Rissa's appetite, so i will tell you after we're done eating."

After the medic kunoichi introduced Nagamichi to Cruxis, the latter behaved in a friendly manner and thrust out his arm for the sword-bearing medic to shake. There was no apparent malice in the bard's warm blue eyes, so Nagamichi ceased twitching his own white ones and shook Cruxis's hand with a firm grip.
"It is nice to meet you Cruxis. I agree, this place is almost packed. Though i have to admire your taste when it comes to restaurants. I come here about twice a week myself." At this point he released the other genin's hand. Nagamichi was now intrigued by this Cruxis character. It was not everyday one met a ninja that seemed to belong to a circus. "I guess a short story won't hurt. How about it Rissa?" he said after a while. Then the waitress came and promptly asked for his order before returning to the kitchens.

Back on Notwen's side, Takeshi inquired about the next move that was to be made and how it would come to pass owing to the Uchiha's present physical condition. He brought up training, which he advised not to do due to his wounds. Notwen chuckled at the irony. Only the day before had it been him who told Takeshi to avoid training due to the injury he'd sustained from the bear. After a few moments an idea came to the Chuunin's mind.
"What if we trained in a mental environment?" he asked. Before he had a chance to clarify his statement the waitress returned with their orders. She placed a black mug containing green tea in front of Takeshi, a mug of hot cider and a plate of warm muffins in front of Notwen, and a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of chocolate chip waffles topped with vanilla ice cream in front of Nagamichi. The dark-skinned man drooled a little upon eyeing his muffins. They were slightly bigger than baseballs and each had bits of dried fruit sticking out of the dough. The apple cider's aroma just magnified the treat's appeal. Notwen looked over to Takeshi with a questioning look. "You sure you don't want anything to eat?" he asked. After a few seconds he munched into one of the cupcakes and followed it quickly with a sip of the cider. Pure heaven. The cider's slight bitterness complemented the sweet chewiness of the fruit muffins. After swallowing, the dark-skinned man looked at the taijutsu user. "Takeshi, you have no idea what you're missing out on. This is delicious. But let's get back to what i was trying to say before. If you guys can project your consciousness into my head i can become the host to a mental training session. Whatever happens there will be recorded in our memories, so when we try applying it in the material world we'll be better at doing it, but there won't be any physical benefits outside of muscle memory." With that said he waited on Takeshi's thoughts.

Nagamichi dug into his waffles with gusto. Wielding his knife and fork with expert precision he cut away a piece of waffle, scooped up some ice cream with it and held it in his teeth so he could pull out the fork. The warm pastries went well with the cold cream. He repeated the process a few times before offering some to Rissa so she could try it.
"You can have a some as well Cruxis." he added.

In truth, Cruxis had hoped that Notwen and company would take the hint when he'd mentioned he'd asked Rissa to breakfast; and realize he'd intended to spend time alone with her and scout a possible romantic interest. Unfortunately, he had also been trying to be polite and not simply tell them to go away; and not only had they invited themselves, but Nagamichi seemed to be interested too. Had he already taken a 'claim' on her? Cruxis didn't know what to do, but politely declined the offer of waffles, and self consciously cleaned up the remainder of the doughnut that had had eaten. At the mention of training within Notwen's own mindscape, Cruxis immediately rejected the idea; but decided not to do so outrightly. Simply saying no would seem closed-minded of him; and while Cruxis was protective of what he kept his in own brain, that wasnt the entire reason.
"Notwen-sama, I don't mean to correct you; but that rule any applies if one chooses to apply themselves to real world physics on the mental plane... Quite honestly, enough study into it has proved that within the mental plane, the strength of ones actions is determined by the strength of one's own mental prowess... Not to call anyone less intelligent mind you; but given its my area of study I might be tempted to abuse what I do know of the place..." Cruxis honestly did not know how much control Notwen held over his mindscape, but two rules Cruxis did not mention was that in his own mind Notwen would have more control, and second was the rare chance that similar to a dreamscape, the owner could very well control everything that happened if they were trained in the art well enough; thus why Astral Projection was most dangerous when invading another's dreamscape; and thus Astral Projectors chose to meet at a familiar location out of each others' dreams... Privately, Cruxis also did not like people having open access near his mind with mental links; the last time he'd left his mind open near Notwen, his bird-man summon had nearly shattered Cruxis's own mindscape; and had it not been for his own precautions for such a situation, he doubted he would have managed to pull his mind back together without serious medical help. Not the mention the fact the he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them. "Also... I don't think that's how muscle memory works. Unless Takeshi would actually be swinging punches physically while he trained mentally. Both mind and body need to be used in order to train muscle memory; it can't be done simply within the mind itself. In fact those with memory deterioration and amnesia have proven to retain full muscle memory despite their cognitive memory being lost."
While amnesia and memory deterioration did fall under the category of medical jutsu, Cruxis knew at the very least what he had said was true to the best of his knowledge on the matter. There had been stories of men who woke with no memory, were attacked, in their muscles on instinct would react and draw their sword to defend themselves. The mind was not fully connected to muscle memory; the muscles reacted on their own, an advanced form of a reflex; whether or not the mind still knew anything.
Thankfully Rissa had given the suggestion for a story, and so Cruxis immediately put aside the thought of training and left his argument against Notwen's plan where it stood; maneuvering himself out of the area with a hint of flash powder; an old device that with application of the hand and the snap of the fingers would create a small burst of smoke that lit up briefly; normally he would spin his cloak in a flashy show appearing within the air, but unfortunately he had discarded the thing when it became trodden in mud and rain. Instead he snapped his fingers again for a second burst of flash powder upon his 'reappearance', which gave enough effect to capture attention; as if floating in the air via his bukujutsu wasn't enough to catch attention.
Cruxis held in his lap an oversized storybook, crafted with genjutsu; a simple modification of his magic map projection technique really; instead of a thin weightless map, it make a large weightless book. Cruxis decided to use another of the more obscure verse-styles, known as the Walken Verse, derived from an abstract expressionist bard; who many believed had been half insane at the time of its creation. The style involved odd, and often random, breaking of phrases; a thick accent that came from the town of Lynn's Brook, which many nobles considered to be crude, a bastardization of speech, and low class. However, Cruxis enjoyed playing with the accent, and did not plan to entertain nobles anyway; and so had learned the obscure style.

"The time was once upon, when dragons flew
and people had Kings and Queens,
and there was a Prince.
And this Prince
had a mean and scary Evil Stepfather.
The Prince did not know his real father,
and his poor mother the Queen
was dead. So The Prince was stuck with Evil Stepfather,
the New King.
Evil Stepfather
did not like, The Prince,
so he made, The Prince
do household chores for him
like cooking
and cleaning
and sewing."

Another part of the Walken-Style Chant was to make side-comments to the story being told; and so Cruxis did this, cupping the side of his mouth with one hand and looking to Notwen, " (Now, as I have the domestic skills of Annie Oakley,
I can understand just how horrible being in that particular situation is.) "

Returning to his story, Cruxis continued;
"Unfortunately, much like myself,
The Prince
was not very good at sewing,
and one day, he pricked his finger
on the sewing needle.
Blood gushed out, and
The Prince
fell into a deep sleep."


With a snicker, he spoke the aside to Takeshi;
"(You see.
He was abit squeamish
He fainted.)"

"So the events unfold as follows:
Evil Stepfather finds him laying
on the floor
in the sewing room.
Since Evil Stepfather does not particularly like
The Prince, he carrys him into
the tallest tower
and locks him in with a key.
The Prince, now in a deep sleep
is locked in a tall tower!"

Raising his hands in mock terror, the bard grinned as he used his most sarcastic tone of voice; " (Oh no! Whatever will our brave Prince Fainty do?) "

"Luckily, there was a Princess
in town that week.
She was to meet
The New King, a.k.a. Evil Stepfather,
and his son,The Prince.
But the Prince
was nowhere to be found!
The castle of The Prince
was not a large castle, and
The Princess had seen almost all of it already
on her tour. But –
that door –
that tower –
The New King had not let
The Princess see it!
The Princess
wondered why ever not?
And where is
The Prince?
The Princess, you see,
was quite smart,
unlike the rest of the townsfolk,
so she put two and two together.
The Princess
sneaked into the castle
and found the door
the one she was forbidden to open.
Luckily for The Prince,
The Princess wasn't much for rules,
and she marched straight
through that door
and up the steps.
And up the steps.
And up the steps."

" (You ever wonder why its up a tower?
I mean he could just put him in a dungeon
with guards
or stick his head in a sack and put him on the block
the chopping block
and they wouldn't even see his head.
Not a very smart evil stepfather.) "

"Finally she reached the top,
but she realized that she had
forgotten something…
Something important…
Aha! The door!
The door was locked!
With a key!
How would she get
The Prince
out of there?
Fortunately, The Princess
was not only a rule breaker,,
she was also resourceful; a fast thinker shall we say?
She took out a bobby pin from her hair
and picked the lock."

Cruxis liked this princess; she knew what she needed done and did it; and quite honestly he was never a fan of the princesses who hid in the corner waiting to be rescued. Perhaps he directed this as a hint to Rissa when he make his next comment to her;
" (I bet you didn’t think Princesses
could do that, did you?
Well, they can!) "

"The Princess picked the lock
and entered the room.
There, laying draped over
a chair in the corner,
was the sleeping Prince.
The Princess
rushed over and tried to
wake him, but he
wouldn’t arouse.

And of course, as was required of the style, a late-game dirty joke for the adults present could not be forgotten;
" (The fact that he's not arousing
should be a red light.
He ain't worth it! It's a sign of things to come.
Or things that won't come, as the case may be.) "

"So anyways, that’s when
The Princess saw his finger, bloodied
from the needle p***k.
She tore a small
piece of cloth from
The Prince’s clothing and-"

Cruxis decided that he'd not picked on Nagamichi yet, and so targeted him for this comment-to-the-audience " (What? You didn’t think she’d tear her clothes, did you?
Not happening!) "

"and she wrapped it around
his finger.
Normally she’d just
use a Band-Aid, but
there weren’t any
handy at the time.
Just then,
The Prince
Awoke!
“Who ARE you?” he cried.
“ME? I’m your rescuer!” The Princess
exclaimed.
“Oh. Thank you. What are you rescuing me from?” asked
The Prince.
“Your deep sleep! And your
Evil Stepfather,
who put you into that deep sleep!”
The Princess,
being the smart girl that she was,
had by now realized that
The New King
was really an
Evil Stepfather.
“Deep sleep? I wasn’t in a
deep sleep! Well, I was,
but not the kind that
needs rescuing! I just
hate the sight of blood
and when my finger started bleeding,
I fainted!” said The Prince.
“WHAT?!?!?” exclaimed
The Princess.
“Sure. But,
I do need rescuing
from my
Evil Stepfather,” said
The Prince.
“OK,” said
The Princess.
So she quickly took out her
Portable Hoverboard
and got on with
The Prince.
They flew out the window
and back to
The Princess’s
Castle, where they forever lived happily.
The End."

Takeshi's explained his reason for avoiding the sweets of the restaurant, which were pretty valid due to his upbringing. Notwen's own training when he was younger was more lax, allowing him to eat whatever he wished, because eventually he'd be able to work it off in time. Plus the Uchiha didn't make a habit of eating such heavy foods. This was more of a treat that he hadn't had in a long while. Rissa, Takeshi, and Nagamichi were all for the mental training Notwen had proposed. The only one who was blatantly against it was Cruxis. It then came to the Chuunin's memory how the bard had tried to use a genjutsu against Kaala the day before, only to have it reflected back at him with slightly amplified force.
He was foolish to try to attack a stranger with mental assaults without knowing their abilities... thought Notwen, sighing through his nostrils. He waited until Takeshi was done speaking before adding, "Besides, there's no reason for you to be so reluctant. My mind is pretty well-ordered, and the five of us would be sharing the same space. If at any point there was a chance of actual injury i would end the connection before that could happen. If you do change your mind, i do advice you don't attempt to do what you did against my 'feathered friend' a second time." With that said, the dark-skinned Uchiha returned to his conversation with Takeshi. Taking a bite out of the second fruit cupcake and a swig of the cider he chewed the pastry before swallowing happily. "Hopefully the rain lets up before we're done. If not, we'd have to find an indoor location to train."

It was at that moment that Cruxis floated out of his seat and shrouded himself in a cloud of smoke, which Nagamichi and Notwen had to fan away from their meals and drinks. Now that his antics coveted the attention of every individual in the eatery, the genin bard, now armed with a huge book, broke into an odd form of storytelling. After the first set of verses, which dealt with a prince who was forced to do chores for his evil stepfather(the new king), he floated over and made a side-comment to the Chuunin about Annie Oakley's domestic skills. Cruxis returned to his storytelling while Notwen mulled over the comment's possible meaning. He recalled hearing the name from the time he had spent with Rose in Fire Country. In the end he gave up and continued listening to the rest of the story.

Nagamichi actually thought the story was neat, at least until it started to reek of subliminal messages. The next comment was geared towards Takeshi, which seemed to take a shot at his apparent queasiness. The sword-bearing medic took a side glance at the combat specialist and noticed him tense up. The next big comment was a adult-rated pun that only the sharp of mind would understand. Being a medic himself, Nagamichi well understood what Cruxis was getting at. It was funny, yet inappropriate for the venue due to the noticeable presence of minors.
What was i thinking when i thought he might be the slightest bit decent?! he wondered. The last comment in the song the white-haired boy knew was a reference to his liking of Rissa. His eyes narrowed into a glare that wasn't at all menacing, but which simply meant 'You want war? Well you've got it!' Nagamichi finished his meal shortly after the song was over and Takeshi had had his share of words to say to the bard. The sword-bearing medic excused himself and got up. As he walked past Cruxis Nagamichi whispered, "If you think that is what i want from Rissa, you're shallower than i originally thought." He then proceeded to go to the men's restroom.

The amount of pure sugar in these foods was enough to turn any normal child into a ticking bomb of hyperness? Well, Cruxis had probably missed that mark by a longshot; judging by his jovial techniques, skill in pranks, and inability to sit still for five seconds. In all honesty he had not intended most of the remarks to mean anything; and upon Takeshi's note to him, he mentally kicked himself for having forgotten Takeshi's history. In all honesty, the squeamish comment had been his own weakness, as Cruxis disliked the idea of being stabbed, slashed, raked by bear claws, and mauled in general. Ironically Cruxises fear transferred perfectly in his genjutsu, using his own empathic imagination as a powerful weapon against his opponents via his genjutsu. Nightmares, horrors within his past, and even the targets own fears could be turned against them with the power of illusion. He decided he would apologize to Takeshi when he caught him later. He also noted to himself that the story of Annie Oakley might have been popular in the wild edge territories, but likely remained unheard of outside of them. She had been a famous sniper who competed against the male holder of greatest shot in the wild edge; and in turn the two had engaged in a vicious rivarly over traditional gender roles; one of the general gags of the story being the man's cooking skills and Annie's lack of ability to do anything domestic, such as cooking and sewing; in the end the two both would leave to hunt and attempt to outdo the other with larger and larger game until they aggravated a grizzly bear. In the end, their tale could turn sour with the two stubborn heads choosing to duel with one another as targets; or end romantically with a final shootout against flying targets, the man choosing to sabotage his own bow in order to allow her the win without him appearing to have thrown the competition.
Nagamichi however, seemed to have taken Cruxis's humor poorly. The comment had been obvious in a sense; it meant he saw him interested in Rissa as well, and he had given a warning his father would have given; albeit in a more subtle manner. His father had once been asked to marry a homeless girl to a boy who had found her in order to protect her from a law that treated orphaned girls as worthless in life, and worthy of execution. Cruxis had not understood at the time, but his father had explained that oftentimes this 'saving' was no better than death at times; and that a bardic curse was oftentimes more feared among the commonfolk than anything else. The curse had been noted 'if you abuse her; you are going to hell. If you sexually abuse her, you are going to a special level of hell reserved for rapists, and those who talk at the theatre." The end of the comment had been abit of bardic humor, but the meaning had been clear. All things considered, Cruxis had been rather tame by comparison.
Cruxis kept an eye on Nagamichi for a moment as he left, more to make sure the medic swordsman wasn't going to draw a sword on him; judging by the harsh tone of his whisper, Cruxis could still feel the shiver of imaginary steel creeping down his spine; for a moment debating returning a challenge but knowing very well he would not gain anything aside from starting a fight, losing out on pay, and likely being kicked from the shop; and he rather liked this shop; if not every one of its patrons.
To Notwen, Cruxis gave an uneasy glance, and whispered; "I'll try the mental training... but know this is taking a lot of trust on my part. Please do not betray that trust." He was very wary from his last encounter; and had no intention of leaving himself open to attack within someone else's mind, particularly one who had knew about his prior mindbreak. Nor did he want to have secrets torn away from his mind during training. Notwen might outwardly show good intentions, but Cruxis could not be certain if he had ulterior motives for the mental training,
With a small burst of flash power, he popped back up into the air, another slip of paper would find its way into Rissa's hand during the distraction.

Cerrviche, 9pm, would you like to go dancing?
~ Cruxis

Within the air, the lute was out, the bardic instrument strummed a chord as Cruxis called to the crowd. "I've time for one more tale! Have you any requests?!"
"Mad Tobi! Tell us the tale of Old Mad Tobi!" a call came from behind the checkout counter, and Cruxis noted the chef sticking his head out of the kitchen, having given the call. For a moment Cruxis thought it had been someone else; that feeling that someone was watching him still hadn't gone away. Was Nagamichi's aura really that angry towards him? He doubted it, though with his Ryuugan inactive at the moment, he could not attempt a reading, nor did he believe that Nagamichi would allow him to perform the reading anyway. Deciding to fulfill the request, Cruxis struck three series of chords before leading off into the song's intro as he sung.

"There once was a madman named Tobi
A fearsome and deadly shinobi
He reached for the skies
til his armies realized
that his mask was a great orange bogey

He brought back the souls of the dead
to fight Five Nations in his stead
But he fell from his pride
when four Kages allied.
And Hokage fin'ly got out of bed

Two demons Tobi tried to steal
But he had neither skill, strength, or zeal
For he found he was toyed
by a twelve-year-old boy
who spat him out like yesterday's meal

The alliance threw Tobi in jail
where he soon grew sunless and pale.
And he learned all too soon
not to show his full moon
to a group of old jailbirding males. "

After Cruxis finished his first rendition Notwen was sensing Nagamichi's previous feelings of apprehension rising up again. There were bits of the story the bard had told that seemed questionable, but judging by the reactions it garnered both from Takeshi and Nagamichi there was more going on past the crush that the white-haired boy had for the brunette kunoichi. Once Nagamichi had disappeared inside the men's room door, Notwen gave him forty-five seconds before contacting him mentally.
"Hey, what's going on between you and Cruxis?" he asked. Over in the restroom the sword-bearing medic had just stepped out of the stall and had begun washing his hands. Lathering his hands with the sweet-smelling soap soothed his mood slightly. Rinsing his hands in warm water and proceeding to wash his face, the genin blinked a few times before taking a paper towel from the roll in the wall and drying himself off.
"It seems that he has the hots for Rissa. He noticed i was showing interest so he assumed that i was trying to make a move on her. That side comment he tossed my way was a subliminal message telling me to back off. Not only that but Cruxis has been getting under my skin since i set foot in here." Notwen sighed while palming his face with a smile. He had heard of these situations happening several times during his time in Lightning Country, but never in his wildest imagination did he think a love triangle would form in his team. To be honest, the dark-skinned Uchiha had no idea how to help his pupil in the matter. Rissa's obliviousness was also complicating things between Cruxis and Nagamichi.
"Listen to me, Nag. When it comes to matters of the heart such as this, you're going to need to be more assertive. Cruxis has a head start on you from being around Rissa for a longer period of time than you, but don't let that get in the way of your feelings. If he pushes you away, hold your ground and push back. You're a smart kid with a heart of gold. I'm sure you'll be able to win her over." With that said, Notwen withdrew from the white-haired boy and left him to think things through. A few moments later the genin bard let loose another explosion of smoke and rose into it. The Chuunin's eyes studied the smoke cloud's movements and noticed a swirling pattern close to Rissa's side of the table. This guy sure is crafty... he thought. Notwen didn't see the note being handed to the brunette, but knew that Cruxis was making another move on Rissa. Even Takeshi seemed to be paying closer attention to the kunoichi. In time Cruxis began telling a parody of the man from Akatsuki named Tobi. This person, posing as Madara Uchiha, waged war against the allied shinobi forces. In the end his plan was foiled, but what happened to him afterwards has since been shrouded in skepticism. After he had finished his piece Cruxis was approached by Takeshi, who politely told him to cease using the smoke since they were all in fair proximity. "Also," added the dark-skinned Uchiha, "even though i am a fire user, i don't like inhaling smoke of any kind. What is this smoke made of anyway?" Now that his cider was significantly cooler, Notwen downed the remainder in one last swig. As he waited for an answer from the genin bard, Nagamichi reemerged from the facilities with an overall lighter demeanor. His ill mood from earlier had lifted and he was now in good cheer.
"What did i miss?" he asked in general as he sat back down in his seat. Notwen let someone else answer the question before clearing his throat to speak.
"Well, now that we're done eating, and in Cruxis's case storytelling, let's get down to business. The training will be held in my hospital room. I didn't exactly get cleared to leave so i have to go back. I'm pretty sure that Rissa and Nagamichi will be allowed to see me without needing visitor's passes, so that leaves Cruxis and Takeshi as the only technical visitors. Also, we'll be in perpetual peace and quiet with no one coming to bothers us." It had taken a considerable amount of time to decide on the hospital, but he could think of no better place. There he wouldn't have to worry about being marked M.I.A and being hunted down while he was just training with his students in a quiet corner. "Check please!" The waitress arrived again and took up all the plates on the Uchiha's table, at the same time depositing the receipt for their meals. As he was about to reach into his pocket to pay, Nagamichi stayed his hand.
"Don't worry sensei, you're my guest so i'll pay for your meal as well as Takeshi's." The total came out to be about 2350 ryo. The white-haired boy pulled out 2500, which he folded in the receipt and gave the waitress. "Keep the change ma'am." He got up and retrieved his sword from where it had been leaning the whole time on the table, strapping it across his back. He turned to Rissa and smiled. "See you soon, Rissa. Don't be late. The training will be starting as soon as Cruxis gets allowed into Sensei's room." With that said Cruxis led his party outside.

The rain had died down considerably, and was now just a flurry of water particles. Sunbeams were also beginning to break through the clouds in ever-growing patches.
"We should hurry." said Notwen, "I don't know if the medics are looking for me, but i don't want to stay out here too long and have them inject me with tranquilizing fluids." With that said, he leaped for the rooftops and headed for the hospital. When they had reached the place below the dark-skinned Uchiha's window he told them to go up via the main entrance and ask to see him. "If they say i'm not in my room, tell them that i was just with you guys and went back in."

Hospitals, why did it have to be in a hospital? Generally speaking Cruxis disliked hospital settings as a whole, mainly due to his disdain of being kept in one place. It seemed that Notwen shared this little sentiment, having left a hospital without permission to do so, and fearing them hunting him down with tranquilizers seemed to hint at it at least. Putting the thought aside, Cruxis couldn't just back out now, particularly after accepting the training method. For now, he would have to prepare himself mentally, even if in Notwen's mind and under his circumstantial rules, Cruxis could at least make preparations to ensure his mind would not be attacked this time around.
Answering Notwen's question, Cruxis held up a small pouch of glittering yellow dust, before taking a small pinch and snapping to produce a miniature version of his effect, "Flash powder!", he exclaimed with a grin, "It produces a smoke when a spark is applied, well most any friction come to think of it, it's not exactly very stable. The friction causes a flash which reflects off its produced smoke burst though. It's handy stuff when you want to make an entrance, or an exit I suppose."
What? No goodbye to him too? Cruxis debated it for a moment then decided that Nagamichi really truly did not like him. Cruxis didn't expect everyone he met to like him, but encountering someone who outright seemed to hate you really was unsettling, Making a note to double check some of his wards next time he had the chance, Cruxis responded; "We won't be late, don't you worry!", and tossing a coin into the air, he caught it and checked the reading; heads. Seemed they were not destined to go their separate ways after all, and likely would be butting heads in the future. An annoying reading to tell the truth, and Cruxis could not simply gauge the man's abilities without activating his Ryuugan. With another motion he made the coin dance on the table for Rissa as he finished his hot cider, before tapping his mug to the table and causing the coin to bounce off of the table into his open palm. It was a trick he'd not practiced in awhile, gold coins tended to have a chakra memory, as opposed to paper ryo which seemed only to memorize grime and bacteria that had been on countless hands. There was an old mystery to coin tricks, and chakra memories in gold coins helped Cruxis with the trick, as even though his hands were slightly delayed in the intricate movements to make it dance, it still knew the moves he had missed, and danced its dance without his full guidance.
"I am ready whenever you are! Before we stop at the hospital, I need to make a few preparations of my own, several of my older wards need reapplication, and I lost more than a few wards from yesterday's events. Otherwise I'm all set for training as well!", he debated speaking further, deciding it couldn't hurt to offer paying for her breakfast. It was the closest thing to a first day he'd managed to attempt, even if it was interrupted about ten minutes in by the incoming party. "Um..... would it be alright with you if I called this breakfast my treat?" he only then noticed her blushing, had it been to what he'd said? Had he been too forward asking to pay for her? Had he overstepped a boundary?

Takeshi was finishing his tea while he listened to every whom was ether commenting on his comment about the smoke, or about going to the hospital while Nagamichi was using the rest rooms. All in all, there wasn't more to talk about in Takeshi's point of view. Training was his biggest priority since he knew that if someone could do this much damage to his sensei so easily, then he needed to train so that it didn't happen to him, or so that he could help the chuunin next time. Since there was going to be some time before they left, Takeshi went over in his mind on what was happening right in front of him. He was really stumped on this situation. Why were the sword wielding medic and the very young bard giving so much attention positively to Rissa only and negatively towards eachother. He knew though that this type of mind-set would kill a team since they were so un-organized and distant in everything. He continued to ponder on it though even as the white haired medic returned from his bathroom break. He stood up when everyone decided that now would be the time to leave the shop they were at. Placing the cup onto the table, he looked over to the white haired medic as he stated that he'd pay for both Notwen and himself since they were his guests. Takeshi looked over to the medic and bowed his head slightly while saying his thanks as he waited on the next action. It turned out that Nagamichi was already on the way out with Notwen close by once he paid, so Takeshi quickly followed while waving to both Cruxis and Rissa as they left.

Once outside, Notwen stated that they should hurry since he wasn't supposed to actually be outside of the hospital. Takeshi just gave a slight smirk and shook his head. It seemed like nothing was going to hold the chuunin down, nothing less then what he was expecting from his new teacher. Notwen had jumped up onto the roofs of near by buildings, and Takeshi quickly did the same, rushing across the tops keeping up with his two companions. It didn't take long for the three of them to make it to the hospital, and once their Notwen gave his orders to the two. It wouldn't effect the medic though since hospitals would be his forte... it'd be Takeshi who'd have to go to the front desk and talk to the reseptionist. He let out a light sigh and nodded as he walked towards the front doors of the building. Once inside, the noise and visual busyness of the whole building was apparent. Takeshi wondered if it was always this busy. But then something happened, a doctor had noticed the claw marks in the back of Takeshi's shirt from his earlier mission and thought he was still injured. Quickly, he signaled for help and looked at Takeshi with a stone face.
"Young man, are you alright? How did you get those wounds?" Takeshi looked at the doctor with a puzzled face, and was about to ask what he was talking about when the doctor interupted him. "The wounds on your back.... can you feel them at all?" Takeshi continued to look at the doctor confused but this time was able to speak before being interupted again. "Listen, I got those yesterday during a mission that went a little wrong. Honestly though, I'm fine... I actually came here to Visit Notwen Uchiha..." The Doctor was slightly shocked at this statement but shook his head. "This is worse then I thought... no feeling in the back and delusions...." Takeshi was getting annoyed of this so quickly he held out his hand silencing the medical professional. He removed his shirt for a moment and then pointed to his back so that the doctor could see the wound properly. The wound was almost completely scared over, and what hadn't grown scaring tissue yet showed his bone underlaying skill at full effect. "I told you... now that you can clearly see that I'm fine, please direct me in the direction of the person I wish to see." Takeshi tone had annoyance in it, and he placed his shirt back on while the doctor spoke again. "How is that possible? you should be bleeding sevearly and hard to move with a spine injury or something... and what's that white stuff in your back?" Takeshi was actually supprised that this so called medical professional didn't know of the Kaguya clan. He sighed and shook his head. "My name is Takeshi Kaguya, apart of the Kaguya clan. We have a special ability to manipulate our skeletal structure how ever we please.... that saved me from the injury I should have gotten yesterday... Now.... where... is... Notwen.... Uchiha...." It took a moment for it to sink in but the doctor finally realized what he stated and then shook his head. "He's currently missing... We sent some shinobi looking for him a while ago...." Takeshi interupted him yet again, knowing exactly where he was. "He's back in his room, I saw him and I'm supposed to see him in his room, now please what room?"

Eventually Takeshi was able to get the room number out of the stubern medical professional. With room number in hand, the combat specialist quietly walked up several flights of stairs and down two halls until he reached Notwen's door. Room 412, fourth floor and the 6th door on the right from where the stairs and elevator were located. Knocking on the door while slowly opening it, Takeshi announced that it was him who was entering the room and waited for a response.