Tone of Mind

[Axcel]

He had finally arrived home—or at least, what appeared to be home. A lot of things had changed in seven years and Akuseru didn’t need to activate his eyes to see that. Structures had been torn down in order to be replaced by more modern and practical designs; then there were the buildings that had been made in order to replace the ones caught in the collateral damage during the war which happened so long ago. Akuseru’s head had lowered the moment he began brooding over the past, but only for a moment—he had done enough thinking over the past seven years. He was back at Kumogakure now and ready to continue moving forward.

The village wasn’t all that changed—Akuseru had as well. He was much taller now with a filled frame. His white hair had grown extensively (likely out of laziness) and now reached just past his shoulders. Outside of just appearances, Akuseru liked to think that despite how he acted, he has matured a great deal over the past seven years.

Presumed to have been killed during the great war seven years ago, Akuseru was back and very much alive. He should have probably checked into the Raikage tower for the sake of formalities, considering they had an unaccounted for jounin in their village, but instead he was relaxing at one of the few areas that hadn’t changed. Peering over the bustling market as he sat on the ledge near a place his former squad once gathered and used as a meet up, Akuseru was just taking in everything that has changed, everything that had happened over the past, and everything that would happen in the future.

[xu]

The Hermit, hmm? And then... oh, of course. The Star. Upon turning over that card, Xu looked up from where she knelt, and stared intently at the man who had just sat down. He had his back to her, but the white hair seemed to tell her enough. Scrambling to her feet, she stuffed her cards, which had been spread out on the ground, back into her pouch, and made her way towards him with light steps.

"I've been waiting for you." The girl said quietly, standing on her tiptoes to lean over him, looking at him upside down. He looked different since she'd last seen him, but was that because he was older, or because he was upside down? It would be difficult to tell. She reached her arms over to dangle her stuffed cat in front of the boy's face.
"Mr Mew missed you, but i didn't." She said sweetly, her face breaking into a strange smile.

As she spoke, her puffy hat fell from her head, leaning over as she was, and landed in his lap, and her smile quickly turned into a frown.
"Please can i have that back?"

[Axcel]

A voice?

Akuseru’s ears perked up at the sound of a voice behind him. It wasn’t just any voice—it was one that was very familiar to him, it was Xu’s voice. He turned his head slightly so he could take a peek at who was behind him before facing the horizon once more. Had she gotten shorter? No, wasn't possible—but the height difference between the two had grown significantly in the past seven years. She was easily recognizable, though it wasn’t every day you saw kunoichi with her hair color.

“Xu! Where have you been?” His sarcastic remark was his way of greeting his former teammate. He almost wanted to ask why she was still carrying that stuffed animal around, but he would already know how she answered. Since the first day had joined the same team he had poked fun about Mr. Mew. Instead, he would humor her for once. “Next time I’ll take him with me then, okay? I’m sure he likes me more anyways.” Akuseru spoke while wearing a grin.

When the hat fell on his lap and Xu asked for it back, the white haired boy instead pushed himself onto his feet and put the hat on his head, wearing it. “Nope, it’s my hat now.” It wasn’t until then that he really realized the difference in height between Xu and himself.

“I’ll trade you though, what’ve you got?” His face curled into a form that could only described as mischievous.

[/justify]

[xu]

She giggled as he offered to take Mr Mew away with him. He'd probably like that. But then she frowned again as he stole her hat away. It looked strange, but it sort of suited him. Her face became thoughtful, as she considered what she could trade to obtain her precious headwear. Mr Mew? No, that would never do. Perhaps... Xu traipsed forwards and wrapped her arms around Akuseru's stomach, her head fitting snugly under the taller boy's chin.
"Trading~" She murmured, smiling a small, secret smile as she hugged him. It really had been a long time.

Stepping back, the sensor perched herself on the ledge that Akuseru had just vacated, producing a card from the pouch at her waist. Different from her beloved tarot cards, this was one of her blank information cards, and she was transferring memories to it as she looked at the boy's face.
"Hyuuga, Akuseru. 19 years old. Hyuuga bloodline, Raiton release. Squad members... Xu and Mr Mew." As she spoke of herself, she looked up at the boy and smiled, waving the card.
"You're stronger now, huh? Did you forget about me while you were away?"

For most of their childhood, the two had been together, along with the third member of their academy cell. She'd been with him during the last few perilous battles of the war, but on a mission, in foreign territory, he'd disappeared. Marked as MIA officially, and widely presumed dead, Xu had never worried about Akuseru. Not once had she drawn Death for him. Not that she could ever get a clear answer about him. The Tower, The Hermit, The Star. He really did walk a mysterious path.

[Axcel]

Akuseru was taken off guard when Xu suddenly moved in to hug him. He averted his gaze and peered down at the market again, as if he hoped for the moment to pass quickly while nobody was looking still. Whenever she stepped away to pull out some cards, Akuseru raised a brow. More tarot cards? No—what she showed were new, or at least, new in the sense that she hadn’t been using them seven years ago.

“Yep, that’s me.” Akuseru nodded as she listed off some defining characteristics regarding the jounin. Although he didn’t get a close look at it, when Xu waved the card at him it seemed to have had information on Akuseru listed on the card. It was interesting and very befitting of Xu. “Be sure to hold on to that, it’ll be worth a lot millions of ryo in the near future!” He joked, treating her ninja info cards as if it were a part of some sort of trading card game.

“Of course,” he replied as he raised his arms, placing his hands behind his head. “Much stronger,” he finished with a more confident ring to his voice. “Forget you? Not at all.” He turned towards the edge of the build he stood atop of and jumped onto the ledge. His pale, featureless eyes gazed at the distant mountain peaks and various locations within the village.

“I haven’t forgotten anyone.” He spoke softly, his voice barely being audible to Xu.

[xu]

Hmm. She hadn't grown stronger at all. Seeing him as he was, full of confidence and self belief though, she didn't feel inadequate. Rather, she felt proud. Happy that her childhood companion had grown so much. After all, her job wasn't to exceed him, nor excel in battle. It was to ensure that he followed his fate, and to watch over him until he achieved his goals. Whatever those may be. Xu frowned, looking at the card in her hand, which had now been emblazoned with Akuseru's face and his information. It would be worth that much money? But she couldn't sell it, of course. It was the beginning of her collection!

She looked down at her feet, swinging them back and forth, unable to touch the ground as she sat on the ledge. Akuseru had jumped up beside her, but he looked off into the distance. Maybe there was something only he could see, something far away that he hoped to one day reach? Mr Mew couldn't see anything interesting, but he was only little, after all. Xu couldn't see it either. But some things in this world were only visible to the beholder. She doubted Akuseru could see the twists of fate like she could, and as such, his ambition was invisible to her curious eyes.

"I'd still like my hat back please." She said, looking up at the boy. Xu was comfortable just being in his presence. She'd been waiting all this time for his return, to ensure that his fate was met. Now that he was back, she'd simply follow his lead, making sure the right cards were drawn.

[Axcel]

“Nope! I said it’s mine now, didn’t I?” Akuseru said with a cheeky grin. He stepped off the ledge while holding onto the cap so it wouldn’t fly off somewhere. For two people, former squadmates and close friends even, who haven’t seen each other in over seven years, this meeting was less theaterical than expected. Not that Akuseru thought it would be—he knew how things would play out. They would all meet up and still be able to talk to each other as if nothing happened. There was only thing out of place. . .

Akuseru turned around to face Xu before asking a question, “where’s Kade?” Hitogoroshi Kade, the third member of their squad who hailed from a family as noble as Akuseru’s own. Among Kumogakure, the Hitogoroshi were arguably more noble than the Hyuuga. The three of them had known each other since their academy days and had grown into a close knit squad before Akuseru’s departure seven years ago. He wondered how much had changed. Xu hadn’t changed in the slightest so it was possible Kade hadn’t changed in the slightest either.

“So what’s new?” His question was broad, but it was intended to be as such. He wanted to know what had changed in the last seven years regarding the village, it’s people, and Xu herself.

[xu]

"I've been looking for him." Xu said simply, tucking away the new information card on Akuseru, and producing her tarot cards. Slipping back from the ledge, she knelt down and tossed her cards on the stone, muddling them around, face down, with her slender hands. Tilting her head to the side, Xu selected a card at random and placed it in front of her knees, followed by two others. She turned the first over.

"See? The Moon." She sighed, continuing to turn over the second and third. Following The Moon were The High Priestess, and finally The Hanged Man.
"It's usually something like that. I haven't seen him in a long time. But he's fine, i think." The little fortune teller explained, shrugging slightly and tossing the three cards back into the pile. She dropped Mr Mew atop the cards, and sat back.
"It's been quiet. I haven't been able to see much. I think now you're back, i can start to find our path." Xu said vaguely, her eyes looking past the boy, out over the city.

She knew their fates were intertwined. She assumed the reason she couldn't see beyond the present any longer was due to the absence of the one who's fate she was destined to watch over. Maybe now it would become clearer. Maybe he would make it so.

[Axcel]

“Wait, what? Looking for him?” Akuseru didn’t expect her to respond like that. Although his thought process may have been a bit hypocritical considering he was the one who had disappeared, he hadn’t thought Kade would do the same. Maybe he was misunderstanding what Xu was saying. She always tended to come off a bit more. . cryptic than she intended. It probably had something to do with her tarot cards and fortune telling. Perhaps the Hitogoroshi had taken pulled him from the squad and put him through a training regiment that was intended for his clan. They were a strict family, after all.

“Hm.,” he muttered, acknowledging that he had heard her next statement as he turned and began walked back towards Xu. Despite what she told him, he was certain that the last seven years of her life hasn’t been so dull. Regardless, they were still a team and more importantly, they were still friends. She was just as ambiguous as ever though, and the white haired boy was starting to realize that he had gotten rusty at reading Xu.

Again he would sit on the ledge, his eyes looking onward; beyond the structures that were laid out before him. “I don’t know if you’ve left the country in the last seven years,” he started to speak while his legs began to bounce back and forth as they hung over the side of the building. It was worth noting that although many shinobi go out on reconnaissance missions, it’s not unrealistic to assume that there were those who operated domestically. This applies doubly so considering the amount of rebuilding that likely had to done since the war. “But that war left one hell of a mark on the world. Our war,” his voice muffled towards the end. Although it wasn’t technically their war, it was ultimately shinobi who were at fault and the people, the countrymen, were the ones who had to pay the price.

“I’ve been pretty much aimlessly wandering, helping out smaller villages here and there trying to rebuild their towns and homes.” He wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he owed Xu an explanation at the very least. He disappeared without a single word only to appear so suddenly. “The civilians, no matter what country I went to, all felt bitter towards shinobi. Even if shinobi were the ones trying to protect them, at the end of the day, they were still just collateral damage from a war between ninja.” His head turned towards wherever Xu had been, “and you know what I realized? They were right. At first I thought about staying away from it all, but I knew if I remained as I was, I wouldn’t be able to change anything. I’m back now, though.” Akuseru smiled softly before looking towards the mountains again.

“And this time I’ll fix everything.”

[.DEVIOUS]

Many things had changed since the last time that Kade, Axcel, and Xu had seen each other. One thing that had not was the fact that Kade was still a Genin. One thing that had was that, even though he was still a Genin, he was much more talented at the art of being stealthy than before. He had been watching Xu for quite a while, and he knew that she was up to something. Of course, it had completely slipped his mind that they were supposed to be meeting Akuseru again after so long.

After it had been determined what area she was moving towards, Kade took charge of the situation and slipped ahead of her, scaling to the top of the roof that they were meeting in and hiding inside of a barrel. When she finally got to the top, he was well hidden, but a hole in the side of the barrel gave him vision of her playing with her Tarot cards, and he smiled.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, Akuseru appeared in Kade's point of view and Kade felt like an idiot. Of course they were meeting! How retarded of him. Rather than acknowledge this fact publicly, though, Kade decided he would rather just sit and wait for the right moment to make an entrance. He bid his time, waiting and waiting, until he heard Akuseru's last words.

Leaping from the barrel, Kade flung his body towards Akuseru, his arms outstretching as he screamed, "Fix me, Akuseru-san!"

[/justify]

[xu]

He'd seen a lot. Broadened his horizons and experienced many things. Even if they seemed inconsequential to him now, the people he'd met and the things he'd done would help shape both him, and the path fate laid out for him.
"In the face of disaster lies opportunity for renewal." Xu said vaguely, picking up the stuffed cat and wrapping her arms around it as she looked past Akuseru. She didn't have time to respond to the rest of the Hyuuga's words, as at his final comment, a familiar face made his rather unorthodox entrance.

Xu giggled as the boy leaped out from his hiding place, throwing himself towards Akuseru. A barrel, hmm? She was being sloppy, not having searched for him with her sensory skills. What if he'd been an attacker?
"I found him." She said quietly, smiling up at Kade, his black hair a stark contrast to Akuseru's white. Although she'd been parted from Kade for roughly as long as Akuseru, it felt less like the important reunion it had earlier. He'd always been a rather strange one. Xu rummaged once more in her pouch, producing another blank information card. Holding her familiar handseal, she closed her eyes as she assessed Kade. Of course his clan and the basics hadn't changed since all those years ago, but his strength had.

"Hitogoroshi, Kade. 19 years old. Nara clan, Fuuton release. Squad members... us." She murmured, waving the card as she transferred information.
"It's nice to see you again."

[Axcel]

“In the face of disaster lies opportunity for renewal”

Yep, she still as vague as ever. Akuseru was beginning to find it difficult to tell whether Xu was giving cryptic fortune tellings or just citing ancient proverbs. It was still good to hear her say something optimistic. Akuseru took Xu’s cap off and planted the headwear onto his teammate’s head. He decided it was time to part ways for now as it was probably important that he checked into the Raikage tower now that he’s back. Those were his intentions anyways, at least until Kade showed up. . .

“Kade!” He wasn’t surprised at all to see Kade acting the way he did—it seemed he had changed about as much as Xu did. The Hitogoroshi would undoubtedly be met with Akuseru’s typical response to Kade’s usual shenanigans. Just as Kade neared the white haired boy, Akuseru would thrust out his arm. The open palm gushed with chakra just before conjuring a projectile.

Fully expecting his retaliation to meet it’s mark, Akuseru was already talking without waiting for Kade to recover. “What have you been up to?! Xu said she hadn’t seen you in awhile—has the squad broken up?”

SPOILER: Click to show

Hakke Kuushou (Eight Divination Signs Air Palm)
Rank: C.
Type: Offensive.
Range: 0 - 10 meters.
Chakra: x2 Mid.
Special: The column of chakra sent forward is roughly two meters tall and one meters wide, and has enough force to lift a grown man clean off his feet and throw them several (five) meters back. When used at close range, the force can easily knock the breath out of their victim and leave them dazed.
Description: Once the Hyuuga understands the art of summoning energy all at once into a single, fine strike, they are able to execute with the same precision, but from a distance. Extending chakra from their body, the Hyuuga will thrust their palm at the target, sending out an vicious wave of wind that can knock the opponent back greatly.
Domain: Hyuuga 'Branch' House. Byakugan.

[.DEVIOUS]

The reaction could have been expected, but it had been so long since Kade had seen Akuseru that it surprised him when he saw Akuseru's palm extend towards him and a blast of blue energy flew from it, directly into him. Since he was already in mid-air, the blast would throw him backwards and send him hurtling several meters back. Since he was in close range when it struck, Kade felt the wind get knocked out of him, and he doubled up in mid-air and landed with a thump on the ground before rolling back several times.

"Ah, not the nicest way to greet somebody, Akuseru-san..." He said, coughing as he spoke. Struggling to stand up, the boy shrugged off the white-haired man's question. "Well, it's not really broken up so much as... useless." Giving a silent huff, the black haired guy looked towards Xu and sighed.

"You're still doing those cards...?"

[/justify]

[xu]

She screeched with laughter as Kade was sent hurtling back by Akuseru's rude greeting. In all honesty, after she'd been permitted to hug him, she had assumed he'd given up that unfortunate habit of attacking his friends, yet she supposed she must've just caught him off guard earlier. Mr Mew couldn't stop laughing. Kade referred to their 'squad' as useless, and although it wasn't pleasant, it was true. It had been a very long time since they'd referred to themselves as a squad, after all. But the paths of fate had to branch off sometimes, so they could find their own ways to the end.

"These ones are new. Maybe i'll be able to keep track of you both now." She explained, putting away Kade's freshly recorded details. She continued to tidy up, placing her tarot cards away too, but not before plucking one face down from the pile, holding up The Hierophant for her companions to see.
"Oh, of course. We'd better go see the Raikage." It seemed to make perfect sense to the girl, as she nodded at Mr Mew, before putting away the rest of her cards and getting daintily to her feet.

She pointed off across the landscape, at another building. And then, without warning, the little fortune teller took a few hopping steps, and then threw herself off the building, Mr Mew clasped to her chest as she plummeted through the air. Far below, the paper of her form twirled and spiraled around her, before forming two large wings.
"Mr Mew says to hurry up!"

SPOILER: Click to show

Pepa Tenshin no Kami (Paper Angel Wings) [25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25]
Rank: D, D, D, D, D, D
Type: Supplementary / Secret Technique / Ninjutsu
Range: See special!
Handseals: Yes.
Chakra: Low
Special: Grants the clan member wings that allow them to take flight. Size, strength of paper wings, as well as distance the user can over above and away from the ground, depends on user's highest 'Hatoronshi no Kami' rank. Cannot perform any other chakra related jutsu outside of clan techniques while wings are active. Wings are meant initially for hovering and not sustained flight, so they may be held for up to only one turn; however, one more turn of flight is gained each time retrained.
Description: After a few simple seals, the clan member can utilize their paper in order to create a flurry of wings meant for stable flight. The wings created by the user can be be any color, size, and type they wish, and will carry them across even the greatest of distances and chasms - as long as the user has enough chakra to continuously power it.
Domain: Shikigami. Hatoronshi no Kami 'D'.

[Axcel]

“USELESS?” Akuseru was genuinely shocked even though it was pretty much entirely his fault that their team had deteriorated into it’s current state. At this point in their lives, one would think that they would be leading squads of their own, however it seemed that they were still genin. Akuseru smirked to himself, his ego inflating a bit at the thought that after seven years he still remained two ranks above his squadmates. Not that he doubted their—their missions usually resulted with Akuseru in the spotlight and thus rising up to Jounin the fastest. He knew he wouldn’t be where he was today without Xu or Kade.

Whenever Xu mentioned seeing the Raikage, the Hyuuga snapped his fingers as an idea popped into his head. “We’ll remake our team, except. . . we’ll be team Akuseru!” It was exactly as he implied. Their squad would be reformed with Akuseru leading it as their Jounin. It was the only viable option considering he would be unable to join a squad under a fellow Jounin. Their team would be reborn under Akuseru, but it wouldn’t be for long—Akuseru was certain that they would reach the status of Chuunin soon and their squad would be no more and instead operate as a cell.

After seeing the fortune teller jump off the building, Akuseru rushed towards the edge, only to see Xu soar straight into the air with wings made of paper branching out from each side of her. “So you’ve learned a few tricks after all!” He shouted in response to seeing her flying.

“Well, Kade? Let’s head out.”