Striking Twice! [OPEN to ALL]

[Chae]

After having spent seven long years aiding the growth Nihil's outstandingly discreet organization and living within Konohagakure with the woman he loved so dearly and contentedly, it'd been time for him to return home, to visit and reassure his family, friends, and military comrades that his life hadn't been lost during the Yonbi's second coming, but spared by the leader of Sunagakure.

Truth be told, had Chae not dedicated himself to the teachings of Raiton Ninjutsu, he was sure that Nihil would've fancied him useless and left him for dead as a result. Even so, Chae always remained grateful for breathing another day as a shinobi of Kirigakure, a village incessantly envied by many and hated by the masses.

Sitting beside the bank of a raging river, Chae sat with both legs crossed inwardly while whipping his only arm forward with several rocks that were gathered within his hand. He skipped them over to the other side, one after another, resting so that he could continue further out towards the country's border and soon its docking bay where the boat to Kirigakure awaited.

At that point, he merely relaxed himself and enjoyed the soothing sounds of water seamlessly moving from one end of the country to another. Dressed in light clothing to keep down the heat, a simple red robe and his dark blue shinobi pants seemed to had done the trick, especially with the forests' canopy acting as a formidable source of shade.

"Not to long now, I'm actually anxious to get back. Makes me wonder even more how much the place has changed over the course of seven years, myself included."

With his only hand free from every rock & pebble, his fingers ran across his right eye, satisfied with having that reduced vision alleviated with an added bonus - the Byakugan. Although he familiarized himself with it over seven years of living with Konoha -that housed a great many hyuuga instructors- he never tested it for battle. Mind racing endlessly, the thoughts of battle warranted a quick glance at his missing arm which in turn reminded him of his precious and admirable cousin - Akira.

"Heh, it's been seven years since i've had one arm Akira. Kinda funny how I said no ninja could make it with one arm yet here I am."

Smiling at his own words, he looked back up towards the river, hoping that -for once- only beautiful things would've entailed with the coming of a new generation.

[Pwn]

Since birth, this is the only place I've been able to call home, which for me is a mental notion of my belonging, and whom I should protect should the chance ever present itself. Still, a longing to remove myself away from this location has been guiding my heart down the path of despair. With my leader and comrades becoming complacent, wanting to be apart of the bigger picture has aided me to a disclosed area. It seemed fairly discreet, and unoccupied at first glance, but upon observing the location with more detail, I realized that I wasn't alone. Shrugging it off, I appeared careless and advanced with caution. A man who could carry a conversation would garner my respect before one who ignorantly armed. Playing into the hands of destiny, by the time my distance marked five between me and the other, I would make my presence known, snapping the fingers and thumbs of both hands to notify the person of my arrival.

"That's pretty decent for one arm."

[Chae]

The sound of a snapping finger followed by an unfamiliar voice cemented the arrival of another person. Calmly, he looked straight towards his leftward flank where the man had approached, eyeing him up in down in a quick-second attempt to evaluate him mentally and physically as best as possible. Reflexively, not even a moment after the man inquired about his arm had Chae glanced at it once more before realigning his focus back on this unnamed man. He smiled prior to chuckling softly, thinking of how he would've reacted to an unknown man, alone, who just waltzed right up to him without know who Chae had been and what he was capable of. Sighing, he spoke.

Heh, I guess it is when I think about it. When you've only got one arm, that one are gets pretty strong over the years y'know. oh, I didn't catch your name, I'm Chae.

Once spoken, he peered back into the river while his hand reached for another pile of pebbles and grabbed them by the handful. Like before, he skipped them over the river one by one, hitting his mark each and every single time with pinpoint precision.

[Pwn]

"Reisuke."

My retort my birth name given to me when I was born. The Aburame clan were one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, and the best if you ask me. Unlike the rest of our peers, we don't underestimate our foe, no matter how big or small they are. I may not have children, but the ones living within me are all I need when it comes to family. Stepping to the riverbed, I allowed my hand to dip under the rocks, my insects hosted under them as I did what the man did. Without his eye prowess, I was able to accomplish the same thing. I wonder if he would notice. Either way, it was a game, and winning is exactly what it is. It doesn't matter how you get to that point. "I guess you're not the only one," a blatant reference to my rocks crossing the horizon. I took a seat next to the man, staring into the distance while shifting thoughts through my head. "You from around here?"

[Chae]

"Reisuke, huh? Haven't heard that one before."

Without end, a new pebble skipped across the river, piling up on the opposite side. For a moment, he looked over to 'Reisuke', noticing he began to -for the most part- mirror Chae's relaxing gesture, a gesture that he never considered to be a competition. He chuckled at his statements after having picked his competitive words apart letter by letter, syllable by syllable.

Briefly, he sighed upon being asked if he'd been from Konoha or even Hi no kuni, finding himself growing lightly annoyed at the mans seemingly persistent curiosity. Though, as he'd been now, he had nothing to hide, well, at least not to a person that he never crossed paths with during his time as a ruthlessly loyal Kirigakure shinobi.

"No, I'm not from around here, but I've lived in Konoha for the past 7 years with my wife. What about you? You look like a native but honestly you can't be too certain these days. Everyone is blending in so well."

Thinking of himself and how he mentally transitioned from a ruthless killing machine whose source of motivation had been nothing more than a bottle of alcohol & overly large sums of money, he noticed just how much he'd changed after having met Anko and coming to the conclusion that he no longer held the desire to drink. At one point he hadn't believed that a man could make such a drastic change, but his very existence up to that point proved himself wrong.

[Pwn]

"That's interesting..."

A mental cue taking note of the man not being native. Many would find it strange that any tourist would remain here for seven years after the recent inactivity of the Yondaime Hokage. If he didn't fall within this category, he must be something else. His throwing capabilities are superb, and something I'll pay close attention to. Checking my area as to make sure no ANBU were on patrol, I shifted my attention toward the man. Hopefully, he didn't find my dialect taunting. He seemed like a charming individual, yet they were the kind that knew everything. "Yeah. I'm from here. But it's not much of the place you'd call home," my feelings toward living in Konohagakure were bitter. "I'd rather be somewhere else, you know?"

[Chae]

After having lived within Konohagakure for seven years with his wife Anko, Chae's mind had changed from being heavily similar to the man he'd spoken to during his rest stop at the riverside. While carrying out his days as a wandering killer for the sake of 'krigakure's benefit', Chae wouldn't have even considered living within Konoha as long as it remained on the face of the earth, however, after having meet Anko the village and its people slowly grew on him. The only true reason he considered leaving had been his swelling desire to reconnect with his Kirigakure brethren and most of all, Akira Kushinada. With his last rock thrown, Chae stood up and spoke once more.

"If you wanted to leave so bad, surely you had some other place in mind didn't you? My advice to you is to go there, find happiness if you can."

For a moment, Chae laughed, almost unable to believe the words that fluttered from his parted lips as he recalled his old & careless behavior. Humoring his own thoughts, he wondered how the conversation had gone if it'd occurred seven years ago and without a second thought, he knew that a conversation would never have started but an all out brawl. Shaking his head, he continued to impress himself with his gradual change of heart.