Stage 1 - Denial (Kasuga)

The chidori ability seemed to present some difficulty to young Kasuga, something not wholly unexpected as it was a rather concentrated form of lightning chakkra. She would have been amazed if he had gotten it right on even the fourth try. As it was, two tries were enough, making Akihana immensely proud of the boy. "Very well done, sweetie," she encouraged with a grin, letting Kasuga know he had not only met but exceeded expectations. "As I'm sure you noticed, even the tiniest forma spark when combined with water will travel faster and make a bigger impact. So drenching an area before launching an electrical attack allows you to cover more space. We've used this technique in conduction with some others to get dams and hydro power based machinery going in Hoshi. When we arrived here almost a year ago, the place had no electricity, fresh water, food or sound buildings. Almost every modern construct you will see in the city is good sensible use of elemental chakra and some intelligent reconstruction on the part of our Kage."

Akihana had been and still was rather proud of what they had managed to accomplish in Hoshi but the blonde was always more comfortable giving the credit to Den for all of it. Even Maku ahd helped in his own unique way, but she wasn't going to think about him now. Things were just fine. He was in the habit of leaving without notice. This was no difference.

It wasn't like a chunk of her was missing, something she'd previously thought she needed to breathe. She was wrong of course, she was here and alive, breathing fine, carrying one. People could live without limbs and organs but Akihana, amateur doctor that she was, didn't know which part of her being she had lost the night she had received that letter. the best way to deal with it was to pretend it wasn't happening.

"So now that we've learned how to give our lightning chakra physical form," she continued, glad that it was raining despite the gauntlet trying to keoep the majority of the water off her face. "Let's try and give it shape, more specifically, that of a spear." And with that, she began performing the seals for chidori sharp spear so Kasuga could imitate them too.

Slowly he had been piecing together the lessons as they had came about, his eyes widening even more as he felt the lingering traces of lightning chakra within his hands. It amazed him that he could pick up these jutsu as fast as he did, but when he had thought of who his father had been it made sense to him that lightning would at least become natural to him. In the same aspect his eyes and ears paid attention as his big sister gave him more information on Hoshi's past when they or her group of friends had shown up giving these people more than they had apparently.

The use of ninja arts to push a place into what could be considered a new haven was amazing, though he didn't think the elemental villages would do such a thing unless they had to. It was good to see how other villages would work though his mind was getting off track a bit here. Yellow eyes would return to the female as he began to explain that the chidori could also be manipulated into forms s, the first one she was going to teach him was a spear. Listening intently or rather watching he would follow her hands as she made the signs, his eyes watching her chakra as it built into a lightning form and once she had performed the technique he would take it in.

With this one it seems you were compressing the lightning into a flat elongated form much like that of a spear, though how he would do this was a little...off. So closing his eyes he made the hand seals for the technique and focused. "Push the chakra into my hand." That had been the first step. "Now I slowly form it into lightning by manipulating my chakra...Chakra forming" His second step had now been done as the lightning sparked sporadically and around his hand. He kept it contained until he had remembered what a spear had looked like, one of his own weapons being as such.

Smiling he would look towards a tree and point his hand towards it, compressing the chakra into that of a small spear so when he lunged his hand it would come out as such and yet when it did he made the form but the range for it dropped just short. Well as half an accomplishment he took it as it was knowing that he would need to work on it a bit more if he was going to perfect it. Slowly he would dissipate the chakra that had been coating his hand before turning to Akihana to hear what she had to say about his performance.

Even with Kasuga's impressive prowess in Lighting nijutsu, Akihana knew the child would get drained soon enough. Any regulr shinobi would should they continue performing high level jutsu in quick succession. But all their sparks and jolts had yet to do the thing that they had started out with in mind. Arata was still nowhere to be seen. The blonde glanced around worriedly, the rain not obscuring her view even the slightest due to her always active dojutsu. Perhaps she didn't know her son as well as she thought she did? Usually hints of training were enough to get him out but today he seems to be staying away from her and this stranger who was going to have to force Arata to accept reality. It had taken Akihana months to deal with the loss of her friends, her distraction being channeled into sage training, looking after Arata, pretending everything was fine. Her son was different, he had found out ater and then bene uprooted from his home to a brand new place, the culture of which he was still geting used to. Akihana could see how the adjustment was difficult though she wondered soemtimes if it was ehr own fault. Had she raised him to be tougher... to acept situations...

The kunoichi shook her head, refusing to think that her son suffered from inefficiency due to her own love and care. There were very few other kunoichi who had taken such an active part in their children's shinobi upbringing. Akihana had had a lot of friends who were parents and who were shinobi but almost none who were both. Sometimes she wondered if she truly was a ninja, or if it would have been better to dedicate her entire life to motherhood.

At times like these she wished her grandfather was still with her. Though she had no reason to think he would ever talk to her or wouldn't treat her with the same contempt she was subjected to by the rest of the Akari save ehr heart, which told her that he was always be the person who took her out for dango and ice cream after a dark funeral. Akashingo had never stuck around enough to run the family - his area of expertise far out and unspeakable. But if he would have told her she had done well, Akihana wood have accepted that.

"Good job, sweetie, now lets take five while I clear away this rain," Akihana encouraged, dispelling the Rain Tiger with her hands. The rain stopped but the dampness lingered on the grass, healing the damage done to the small blades by their combined practice with raiton. "Why don't you tell me about Konoha. What did you and Kurisu-sama do there? And have you by any chance heard of the Akari clan? I hail from there originally you know. I just... moved... to Kumo about eight years ago and it became my home. Your sister and her friends became my family. Arata is a naturalized Kumo boy, born and bred," she added with a soft laugh.

With a few pants he began to sit down slowly, his body had not had a workout like that in quite a while and with using so many elements in one go and in swift succession he was kind of tired. That and no matter if he had the chakra of a jounin, he was still in a body that had been adjusting to his older power. Sitting within his area he would cross his legs and nod towards Akihana as he mentioned dispelling the rain. Once she had done so his armor would evaporate from his body returning him to his normal clothing and eye color, which had made him a little relieved. His chakra would have began to slowly recover at that point although he knew it would be a moment until he was able to summon another armor. Knowing this he began to slowly pick up a blade of grass and twirl it between his fingers slowly until he had heard her ask about Konoha and what he did there with his dad.

The question brought up a lot of memories within the male, some good and bad but as he began to dwell on them he slowly smiled. Slowly he would look up to the sky as he began to speak thinking about his home for a moment," Konoha is nice. Though it has some weird people in it and its often just as busy as always, its peaceful and nice. As for what me and dad had been up to, shortly after meeting him for the first time he took me to Suna to meet my Uncle which was fun. After that I had went back to Konoha with him because he had found my mom...well my real mom. When i had been growing up I had someone who had taken the place of my mom, the memories of my real mother being fabricated and taken away though I kind of understand why. When I first met my actual mom...well I had just been through some pretty bad things, though I wasn't always seven that however is another story for another time. Nowadays I spend my time with dad and mom catching up and living in the village," as he closed his eyes he slowly pictured a home with both his brother and sister, all of the silly things they would have gotten into.

His mind however was taken aback when she had asked if he had known of the Akari clan which his head would slowly shake showing that he knew nothing about it. Hearing that she was originally from Konoha made him smile lightly, though he wondered how Arata had felt about losing his home. Even in the process he had lost his mentor and many of his friends that in which he had felt bad about, but he knew that eventually it would be a path he would have to move past it. With the sun shining down on him, he laid back into the grass and simply stared into it," One day Dad might try and take back Kumo to put it back to how it used to be. I'm hoping that he doesn't go at it alone...but a part of me also wants him to just...leave it be and focus on Konoha, though I do not know how this will go either way but-,' he paused as he sat up and stared at the hat," I have you and mom, dad, my friends in Konoha and even Arata now...So all is fine," as he closed his eyes again he had meant every word that he had uttered.


For a moment he focused on listening for a moment, his mind retreating into the depths as he floated near his elder partner and stared at him," Awfully quite in here Erebes, something on your mind," a thought he had often asked the male, but had gotten no answer. After a while it just became habit until the entity shrugged," Thinking. Its all I got to do at the moment, besides trying to figure out where...your sister exactly died. Small traces of Maya exist somewhere, where exactly do not know. Just perplexed on what to do is all, don't worry your little head pipsqueak. Go back out there and talk to that sister of yours," shooing away the young Ametsuchi, Kasuga simply huffed outwardly and crossed his arms in annoyance.

Akihana listens carefully as the child spoke of his adventures, taking a seat beside him and folding her feet neatly underneath where where she sat on the grass, locks of her golden locks drying in the absence of the rain. Haven climate was not unlike Suna but Denkiteki had likened it more to an oasis than a desert environment. Akihana had never been to Suna though she had heard tales. Sometimes the kunoichi felt all she had done her entire life was hear tales. other times she felt that at twenty three, she had lived far too long.

Almost twenty four now, Makona reminded her, the tone of unkindness barely present in the soft voice. Makona knew age and vanity didn't peeve Akihana. perhaps that was why the being imprisoned within her had been remarkably quite since... No one could hrut Akihana more than he had hurt her, then she had hurt herself. But she wasn't going to think about it. Now was not the time to think of herself. In Kasuga, she had found soemthing she never thought possible, a bit of Misaki still left in the world. The blonde closed her golden eyes briefly, an image of Misaki flashing across her mind. Misaki ready to lake on the corrupt dragons of the ravine on her own as she tried to protect her friends. The memory sparked a note of pride in the young woman. Misaki had always feared being alone and her friends had made sure she never was.

As the child spoke of Arata and the rest of them being his family, Akihana lifted her gaze to see her son's dark hair appear around the corner, as though Kasuga saying his name had somehow summoned the child to the spot. Giving her son a warm smile, Akihana patted the grass beside her, welcoming him to sit. Arata didn't return the smile but he did walk over to the two, choosing to sit down a bit away room Akihana.

"Well Arata, how do you feel about another big brother? Kasuga-kun is part of our family now so you're really going to have to show him the ropes around here," she managed with a slight chuckle. They both knew how capable the young ninja of the Leaf was but still, if it made Arata feel better than she would ask Kasuga to humor the boy. All of them had lost too much for one lifetime but if the result of the loss was new bonds forged in the memory of loved ones, perhaps that was why Akihana had never lost faith in humanity. For every Youka out there, there was a Misaki. For every villain, a Yaju, for every Lord Nedran, a child like Kasuga who just wanted a home and a family to belong to.

She wasn't surprised when Kasuga mention not knowing of the Akari. The clan had kept mostly to itself until eight years ago and there was no reason traditions would change in her absence. She had always been too cowardly to look for her grandfather in the lake in Sanctuary, afraid of what she'd find but for now, she could fool herself into thinking her family was intact. Mother, father, Senritsu nay-san, and her grandfather of course. Now older and grizzled than ever before but still sturdy as a rock against the tide of time.

"So guys, who wants to go down to the city square and check out the fair. I hear there's a fire show on tonight. Kasuga-kun, you might enjoy it, its when all of Hoshi comes out to celebrate the end of the day. We light various lamps, candles and incense to honor all the gods and there are lots of shops and games, its like a carnival."

As he sat there in the grass he saw the head of Arata pop up out of nowhere and he smiled for a moment. He thought that finally he could begin to rebuild his family one step at a time, with a new sister and a new brother. As the younger male sat down he wondered how long he had been there yet that had been something he didn't want to dwell on. It made him smile to see that Akihana wanted Arata to show him the ropes in which he nodded," I'd like that very much actually. If i'm going to be here i'd need to know how to act and dress so that I don't embarrass you all and do something bad," he didn't mind how that would happen, but as long as he could create new bonds with his new siblings then all would be well.

A festival? While he didn't exactly know what those were because he didn't actually go to any, but he was definitely wanting to go to one. Smiling he nodded and jumped up before looking around," Can we go please? I've never been to a festival before and this one sounds really fun," maybe this would be what it took for them go grow together. His eyes went to Arata as he waited for them to see what would happen.

[Sorry i've been super sick and feeling a bit better, but my next post will be better]

The kunoichi felt another small smile form on her lips as Kasuga accepted Arata's help. At least there was one more boy now her son's age who could relate to him. A long time ago she had thought she would be enough for her little boy but years and experience had taught her that sometimes a mother was not all a child needed. Akihana had always believed it took a village to raise a child and in Arata's case, that had proven true. So now her seven year old standing up and taking responsibility like he'd seen his teacher do, like he'd seen his older brother do, it made her proud.

And it made Kasuga happy too from the looks of it. The pepper haired little boy had lost his family members too but he was holding up very well. He had mentioned his mother, Misaki was no longer around and Akihana had med kurisu-sama even if it felt like a lifetime ago. Overall, she was acquainted with the Ametsuchi family, or most of it. She knew Misaki had a sister and she knew what had happened to that sister. Often the worse thing death did was not to the one it carried away but the ones it left behind. No one had spoken of Kuro's feelings upon the death of Misaki's sister, no one had ever needed to. Anyone who had ever loved someone always knew, and the past couldn't be changed by talking about it.

"Well, lets get going," the blonde encouraged, herding the two boys beside her and reminding herself not to hold out her hands for them. Arata often got irritated when she tried to hold his hands these days, often acting out to underline how much he didn't need the extra protection which simply led to Akihana keeping a closer eye on him. Today however he was with Kasuga and both boys could handle themselves for a bit, especially since they gravitated so close to her while they talked.

"The marketplace is super cool, it has a Ferris wheel that goes really high," Arata explained, bounding ahead, his troubles already forgotten. "And there's his man, he makes candy in any shape you want. He can make animal shapes, ninja weapon shapes and he once even made a candy in the shape of the queen but no one would eat her," the boy explained, turning up his nose. "Some people are lame, I wanted to eat her but mom wouldn't let me."

"That's because eating candy shaped like Her Grace would be disrespectful sweetie," Akihana reminded him though he pretended not to hear as he skipped ahead.

"Kasuga-kun, I know of your father and you sisters though you said you had a brother. Misaki never mentioned any brothers. Is he okay, does he need a place to stay as well? Why didn't you bring him along?"

(Get well soon, Jaye <33)

So it was decided that the trio would be attending the festival in which the young male could only smile in happiness, the bright yellow eyes closing and flickering open in excitement. Walking closer to Akihana he strapped the hat back onto his back making sure to cover the symbols up with the bandages and with his lance safely kept in the realm of the Re-quip plane he didn't have a need to carry it around or be worried. Sliding back into position he continued to walk with his new family, looking around as they walked.

It was amazing to see how this village celebrated even the ends of the day, which to him was a new concept. Maybe there had been some hidden meaning behind it," Hey Akihana...Why do they celebrate the end of the day?," he was often curious about such things though he was hoping to get some clarity out of the situation. The attractions of the festival from what he was hearing from his now younger brother made the male more interested in it. He had never actually been on a Ferris wheel and the thought of having candy made into whatever shape he wanted made the male smile more.

A queen...Was that like their head leader like the daimyo was to the shinobi nations? It made him curious to the point that he had wanted to meet this woman, but since he had just arrived to Hoshi he wouldn't actually attempt such a thing. Though the aspect of eating the queen made the young male chuckle quietly to himself. So many new things he was experiencing in such a short period of time that he couldn't process it as quickly. As time went on however, his eyes turned to Akihana who had mentioned his brother. For a moment the smile waned and turned into a frown before he shook his head and smiled," My brother is no longer with us. Like Misaki he is in a better place, I only met Adam briefly before he passed. I still have his possessions on me as if to simply keep them close to me," he pulled out a small knapsack that had the males things inside of it.

As they walked, Akihana watched the boy take in his surroundings with a smile on her face, glad that the new world was taking his mind off more serious things. Hoshi was a beautiful sight near sunset with the sun glowing brilliant shades of pink, gold and orange over the sky, lighting the buildings in multiple warm colors and turning the skies almost magical. It was the Hoshi sunsets that had first endeared Akihana to the country. The fact that something in nature could look this beautiful was proof that they didn't live in a redundant universe, that there was a power out there that watched over every single soul.

"Hoshigakure is steeped deep in religious belief, Kasuga-kun," she explained as they made their way through the crowded streets. As they walked, more and more people joined them, all heading to the market square. Soon Akihana was not the only mother, there were other women young and old, holding hands, pushing prams or trying to keep track of wayward children. "So staunch is our faith in the divine that it unites us before everything else. it doesn't matter which Gods one worships or what rules one follows. As long as you believe in something, you will always have a place at Hoshi. Each day is considered a gift to us from the Gods so the end of the day we celebrate, in hopes of getting another one just like it tomorrow." Just as she finished, the first bells of sunset went off, leading more bells and gongs into the evening choir. The music sounded crystal clear and mingled with the voices of the crowds dotting the streets. From a balcony above, a chorus of voices broke out in hymns and some of the people on the streets joined in, chanting along to the words in a tongue Akihana didn't know.

"For centuries, the City Blessed by the Stars was a religious center. Many people from around the world made pilgrimages to here in search of spirituality, peace, even absolution. But unfortunately a few years ago, Hoshigakure was targeted by a band of missing ninja. The bandits saw how peaceful Hoshigakure was, it was not a shinobi village, you see. It has always only had a Queen as a designated ruler and they took advantage of that. These ninja ripped the city of its resources, pride and honor, bit by bit but what was worse, it made the people here distrustful of shinobi because they didn't know what chakra or ninjutsu was. And though we've now cleaned up the city, the general abhorrence of the shinobi arts persists, which is why we try not to display ninjutsu out in the open here."

As Kasuga admitted that his brother was no more, the blonde once again lowered her gaze in sadness. She had never known him, and now she never would. "I'm sorry to hear that," she admitted as he held up a box with his brothers possession. "I wish i could have known him, and that he could have been part of our small family. But I hope he's looking down on us and he's happy to see us together." Closing her eyes briefly, the young woman said a prayer for the lost Ametsuchi. "It's good that you have your brothers things to remember him by. Someone once told me we don't need things to remember people... but then he left me something. i don't know if he was playing a cruel joke... She trailed off. "I wish you were here with us, little brother," she said, eyes toward the sky.
"But we'll try and make you proud."

Religious belief. There had been something Kasuga wasn't too familiar with and yet he knew of it. During his days in the library he read on different topics and subjects that revolved around deities that those of the past worshiped. So many of them had existed in the distant past and even more had popped up as time went on, some being something as simple as the God or Goddess of the sun to the God of Dreams. People had such a broad way of holding onto their faith so maybe through being in Hoshi he would find his own faith in his diminishing world. " A power that brings the people together huh." He muttered to himself as he moved closer to her and continued to move. Maybe he could become that for his family, a power that brought them together through the darkness...maybe he had been thinking like a child then.

Slowly his head and nodded as the teenage mind had grasped the concept that his new sister had been putting into his mind, he smiled softly knowing that eventually he would find his own answer to his life. As he was about to speak he heard the bells going off as the sun dipped behind the horizon his yellow hues looked to the balconies as he heard the singing and smiled for a moment," It sounds nice...The singing. So they do this everyday at the end of it?," though he couldn't understand what they had been singing it did indeed sound nice to him. Silently he stood there and listened to the chimes of the bells combined with the singing which caused him to slightly trance off into another space.

He felt bad for the people of Hoshi, having their way of life taken and abused by rouge shinobi who had nothing better to do than to take on a peaceful civilization. His eyes closed just for a moment as he thought of if they had been shown actual village ninja would they be in this situation. Knowing that he could not chance the past, he shook his head and continued to listen to her story. With them remodeling and helping shape the village to what it once was, he thought that they would have accepted ninjas a little better, but he could see that there was some visible line there. He knew the looks he had been receiving and yet he wouldn't say anything about it now because he knew why now. He stood there among the singing and the bells with a new understanding though he wondered how long this would persist...and if it did would it drag him into it.

Akihana had been so kind to him even though she had just met him and as he looked at the box of possessions he felt as he didn't need them anymore. Smiling he held the box to her and nodded," Here. I have the only thing I need to have to remember him...and I have so much to do now. Erebes...the Demon within me can find where my sister last fell so I can at least give her a last rite and tell her something...," his mind was clear and he was going to find out where she had been. Smiling he would look towards Akihana and hold his hand out," Would you come with me so we can say good-bye to her together?," his eyes stared at her and Arata for a moment before he looked down and then up to the sky.