[center][color=#F2F2F2][h3][u][b]Tsuki-sha, Kyūsai[/b] - [i]The Ashen Harlequin[/i][/u][/h3][/color][/center]
Having separated from his little...group, Kyūsai relaxed and let out a breath before drawing another in. His smile evaporated and his eyes went cold. As passersby glanced at him, some recoiled in shock despite his body being perfectly normal. It was the expression. Paying no mind to the significant gawkers, Kyūsai turned down a side street so as to avoid their gaze. He could have kept up the facade, but it was energy consuming, so he'd rather not for the moment. Granted, it wasn't so much a facade as it was...[i]the thing.[/i]

It was difficult to explain to others, and it was a well kept secret of the genetic progenitors of Tsuki-sha clan. As while many merely thought that every few generations individuals were born who could control their accursed Kekkei genkai, they were not quite correct. In actuality what happened was that the more...[i]human[/i] side of the inheritor was split, giving the cancerous parasite within a form of sentience. As a result, the parasite became more symbiotic than was normal. This allowed the two to coexist via the human intentionally feeding the parasite, and the parasite [i]fasting[/i] as much as possible. The problem was that the control wasn't ever permanent, eventually the parasite's instincts would win over its intelligence and the delicate equilibrium would collapse.

So far, Kyūsai's parasite had lasted the longest without mental decay, but this only meant that it was a ticking time bomb. It meant that the parasite would likely retain its sanity longer...for a price. Whenever its sentience failed, it would likely become something far more terrifying than any of its predecessors.

It was a dark secret that Kyūsai, and his clan, did not want the world to know. It was a burden he carried, and one he carried well. It drove him to work swiftly, for his own sake...and that of others.

Reaching the informant's office building, Kyūsai took a deep breath, let his smile gently form on his face, before he entered.

Hopefully she had good news.
[hr][center][color=#000000][h3][U][B]Zume Tatasuko[/B] – [I]Suiteiru Meian[/I][/U][/h3][/color][/center]
Zume smiled as he laid eyes on his wife, for even though he saw her daily she was a sight for sore eyes. Then again, perhaps it was that his eyes saw too much, which made him predisposed to finding the sight of something that brought him enjoyment on a more base level a quite pleasant experience. Chuckling internally he closed the rest of the distance between himself and Kurohana, taking her into his arms and breathing in her scent. Had he been normal he'd not have detected it, but he wasn't normal. [color=#000000][b]"It is hard to tell with these things,"[/b][/color] he began as he held her, smiling down at her with a certain serenity about him. She really did bring him a unique sort of peace of mind.

[color=#000000][b]"However, with a war on the horizon behind us it is not so strange that the cycles would shift this soon,"[/b][/color] he mused aloud. Gently letting his arms fall away from her form, he looked to the bath and smiled, [color=#000000][b]"It's too bad I can't join you love."[/b][/color] His eyes didn't look to her barely towel covered body, but she'd feel his gaze nonetheless.

Taking a step away from her and glancing downstairs, as it was visible through the holes in the balcony, Zume spoke once more. [color=#000000][b]"So the children will be back in a few days,"[/b][/color] the comment was an open one, inviting further discussion.

He glanced back her way, eyes gleaming slightly, the slightest of smiles still on his lips.

[i]Who knows[/i] what he was thinking.[hr][center][h3][color=#626262][U][B]Genmyou[/B] – [I]The Shade of Clarity[/I][/U][/color][/h3][img]http://safebooru.org//images/1430/36008e8f245ac1ca1634bdb28cf9726ce4c700cd.jpg?1498028[/img][/center][hr]
Atop his hidden observatory that rested in a small cave system above his office, stood the Raikage. Looking down at the village which sprawled down the mountain, hidden in the clouds. He had come to love this place, it seemed. It had grown on him.

Exhaling through his mask and past his hood, the kage turned is gaze away from the village and to the horizon. At this height one could see quite far, but for him it was not far enough. Even with the lay of the land apparent to him he could not see the intricacies that lay upon that land. The people, the exact composition of the earth, the potential enemies that might lurk behind any stone...within any forest. It was simply not enough.

Turning his mind to another matter as they settled down below, on his office, Genmyou decided what he ought to do this day, then turned and walked beneath the overhang of the small cave that was his observatory. His chakra snaked out from his form and touched a small seal on the ceiling and as it did, he vanished, reappearing on the porch of his office before entering the building again. His robes kept him warm, but it was indeed cold in the mountains...though not always.

The weather was sporadic really, he had come to find. It could be raining one moment, and scalding the next.

Sitting at his desk, Genmyou let his hand slide over its surface till it touched another seal. He kept it there and after a moment he spoke into the air, calling for two of his advisers and two other individuals. He knew the other was not in the building at the moment, but she'd get there promptly. When that was done he looked to the surface of his mahogany desk and began sorting through various papers, muttering to himself quietly as he did so.

Eventually he had finished sorting them into piles by type and relevance, with the most important ones on the top, and the least on the bottom. Once that was done he arranged them at the four corners of the desk so as to move them out of his way. Then he reached into his robes, extracted a rather unique looking [url=http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/jp/SterlingVermeil-02.jpg]pen[/url]. Immediately he felt his chakra enter its reservoir, and he took it to a piece of chakra receptive paper he'd extracted in the same motion, but with his other hand.

He began inscribing a seal into the paper. It would take him some time, but it would almost surely be done by the time his adviser arrived.

For him, that was a long time.

It was one of the perks of being a master at the art.

Good thing he'd learned from the Antare.