Retsugou.

[Yoshi]

" Don't blame me for this, " the sound of a single blade slash, had pierced through the veil, of the once still mist. A fresh spray of blood now adorned Yoshi's wonderful new white and pink kimono. He felt no pleasure in his actions. His old personality had dramatically been erased thanks to shock. His memories were erased partially. He did not know of his name, nor did he remember the tragic events which unfolded.

Bits and pieces of his personality remained, but in small quantities. His fun loving and relative nature was blotted out with a much more calm, and decisive one. Once the doctors realized that he may never remember his older memories; Yoshi decided to create himself a new world. He was given simple instructions while retraining himself to be a shinobi. That he was a warrior for Kirigakure no Sato, and to protect it at all costs.

And that is what he intended to do. He would swipe his chokuto into the air, a simple fanning of the blade; a fruitless exercise in trying to clean the entirety of the now dirtied blade. Whatever blood had decided to cling to the blade; he thought best to let congeal inside of his holder. As the fanning had started to become more an exercise in futility. As the blade was sheathed in his holster, a wandering eye was left on the survivor of his shuffle.

" Now; will you answer about the others? " Yoshi would unstrap his belt, and pull along his scythe. He didn't do this for intimidation purposes as he had already killed the former man. This was a reflex for him at this point. He was told that the scythe belonged to someone in his past who cared deeply for him, but died in the process of getting the weapon to him. The haziness of the memories had caused him to only reach for it by instinct alone.

The real trouble with this situation was that many more people had to die for it to end. Three hours ago the clock ticked down on the lives of many.

[Yoshi]

( THREE HOURS AGO TIME )

Yoshi was sitting at a table, and his food was starting to appear. He had ordered from the menu and gained their famous teishoku which included forms of tempura, sashimi, sushi and miso ramen soups. The establishment he was frequenting as of late was named Issen Gao for what also made this establishment famous. A dish named the 1,000 beast soup, which in of its name has over a thousand different ingredients at one time, but perfectly harmonized to taste as one. The shop owner Kandou Geki no Akai had created an amazing cooking-based jutsu just to allow it to be possible, the jutsu itself is a guarded treasure enough to warrant a watch by shinobi.

His first mission once waking back up and issued clearance from doctors was to guard this place. Kandou-san was a kind-hearted albeit straight forward kind of man. He pulled absolutely no punches, even to the recovering Yoshi, and a begrudging relationship of friendship and respect grew from it. " Your order is up. " Kandou-san would say while placing down the tray of assorted foods. " I added some new spices to try it out for me, ne. " The fish had been turned completely blue like a pack of ink had been burst on top of it.

The miso ramen noodles were colored black as well, and sat in a white sort of soup. The noodles did not bleed into the soup, nor the inverse could be said. The meal in of itself was a contradiction of what the mind and body would find appealing. Trusting in Kandou-san's abilities as a cook. Yoshi tried to dig in. A smack came to the back of his head, that vibrated his entire body. " What the-- " Kandou-san was right behind him. " I know you went and lost your brain, and you might be all pekopeko (stomach growling), but don't just go and be all pakupaku (chewing sound) and bless your food correctly. "

Yoshi, bowed before clasping his hands together with his hashi. " Itadakimasu " It took him awhile to re-learn how to properly use hashi. The etiquette with chopsticks still eludes his senses from time to time, but even so when hunger strikes he can get hold them enough to properly place food into his mouth. The greenish-red tempura was first. The expectations of a hot and salty taste were met with a sweet almost candy-like taste along with a small accent from the fish itself. The strange combination seemed to have a perfect balance.

It was not too sweet, but also not too fish-y to the point it made the tastes clash. A perfect state of food being, and it definitely brought Yoshi to heaven with each bite. He reached over with his hashi for the ramen noodles. A fierce flame was met when the noodles were brought to his mouth. The fiery white broth mixed with the cool, but sweet slurping goodness of the sour black noodles. They combined to create an untamed inferno of flavors. Yoshi almost fell out of his chair with the amount of sweat he was now exuding.

[Yoshi]

Kandou-san returned from the kitchen, with his waitress Momoko. She was a rotund woman, with plush cheeks, green hair, and wore nice spectacles which enhanced her lovely green eyes. She was quick on her feet, easily seating and arranging for multiple places to be placed, and orders to be taken. She was definitely the back-bone of the establishment, but if anyone had ever told Kandou he would deny it completely. Momoko had made her rounds before coming to Yoshi's table with Kandou's 'creative cooking'; as he would sometimes call it, still being eaten.

Her gag reflex made a sound that Yoshi didn't remember a person being able to make. " Dear Kishi, he makes you eat this stuff!? And around the customers... " She would say the last part a bit quieter. She didn't want to cause a stir anymore than she had. " What is he thinking? " Yoshi would let out a small chuckle, as her funny reaction had caught him off guard as he finished his ramen. " It's actually quite good. It just seems to go with the ' dangerous and indigestible ' look . "

Momoko let out a giggle from his reply. " You sure seem like you've gotten your sense of humor back, anything else come back, hun? " Yoshi would sadly shake his head. No more memories, had seemed to flare up, since the date of his reawakening. " I'm sorry to hear that, Yoshi. Even if you don't remember it all. Me and Kandou are here for you, even if he won't tell you that even if his life depended on it. " He could always make a genuine smile around her.

Momoko and Kandou were like his parents, as his old ones had disowned him. His failure to handle the mental overload of his prior life, was far too much of a disgrace. Yoshi now lived inside of an apartment paid for by Kirigakure. As a Genin, housing is readily available free of charge, but merely housing isn't enough; as food had skyrocketed recently. Thanks to the war, most of the trade routes would go towards Konohagakure now. Now that the village was under siege; inflation had hit in a big way.

Now all Yoshi had was his friends, his missions, and the fractured memories he would dream about. Before he could reminisce in silence after his food was finished. He was approached by Guri; an instructor and mission procurer extraordinaire, or at least he seemed to believe vehemently so. " What's up, Maggot. "

[Yoshi]

Guri, a nickname used by Guren, is a man of a nice lean body type, standing at six inches tall, with lovely dark green hair and piercing emerald eyes, and was only two years older than Yoshi. He was a former chuunin turned instructor after being gravely injured while protecting an ally on a mission. He never lived down his failure to his comrades, and usually puts on a playful facade around Yoshi. He would snap his fingers in front of Yoshi's face; snapping Yoshi out of his haze. " Hmm, you sure you didn't just have an aneurysm or something? Quick, how many fingers am I holding up!? " He would hold up both of his middle fingers to Yoshi's face.

Momoko would pull on Guri's ear. " When you come in here you behave, boy. " Guri would back down like an animal that just met an alpha predator. " Yes, yes, Okaasan. " As she let go he would cradle his ear in his hand like a wounded puppy dog. Being that Guri was Momoko-san's son, she immediately introduced Yoshi to him, a short time after she and Yoshi met. She believed the boys, both being fractured in some way, would benefit from having a brotherly relationship. It annoyed Guri to suddenly have a little brother, and it mystified Yoshi as to how Momoko could put up with her son as he was.

But there relationship had evolved quite considerably. Guri loved Yoshi, and Yoshi did not understand it at all. As a peace offering and bribe, Guri would procure missions from not only the newly establish rule, but others within the village without much trouble. " Lets talk outside. " Yoshi knew what that meant. They were about to talk about a mission, and it needed the utmost privacy when in discussion. So with that; he rose from his table, placed a couple bits of ryo on the table, and both himself and Guri exited the Issen Gao.

----------

It took a moment to get inside of Yoshi's home. " Okay; you need to listen closely. I may have found some hiding traitors from that church. How do you feel about that? " Yoshi's heart-beat began to pick up sharply. " I feel all dokidoki (excited), but I also feel a deep and intense hatred for those who took away my life. " Guri looked at the ground, and made a strained look for a moment, before continuing. " Yeah, look it's a mission to kill them all. Are you sure you can do that in your state? Humph, why do I even bother asking when I know the answer... Here. "

Guri would place over a small map. " The spots marked, here and here, will get you to where you need to go. " His finger would roll upon two marks upon a highly articulate map of the area. " I almost don't want your dumb-ass to go without me -- because you might fail. " Guri said it in jest, but Yoshi knew his tone. It was one of strained indifference. A warm smile overtook his mouth. He couldn't understand why he felt so happy when Guri worried about him, but he damn sure didn't want it to stop. " I'll be fine... I can do this. " Yoshi would say before opening his front door to start his adventure.