Welcome Home, Everyone! Let's Rock, Crimson Phase!

[Kiri]

"Oh, y'know," Hotaka replied casually, as if he was called a ballerina on a daily basis, "pretty good." Looking to his cousin, he added, "Have you met Shinako-chan? Shinako-chan, this is Hitsuatsu Ryuurei. Ryuu, this a cousin of mine, Shinako-chan."

Saying 'a cousin of mine' was a bit like saying 'a blade of grass in my yard' when it came to the Tensei clan, but Taka paid that little fact no mind.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Hajimeshimashite," Shinako said politely - as her upbringing would dictate - bowing gracefully. Then, as she straightened, she flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder and grinned. "I haven't seen you around the Kaomoji Cafe. This your first concert, or have you and I just missed each other?"

[strangevisitor]

"aah...No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure! Hajimeshimashite, Shinako-chan." Bowing just as gracefully, he offered her a charming smile that positively twinkled. " I must confess, this genre of music generally isn't to my liking, but I've always made an exception for Hideki-san. I certainly would not have missed a lovely bloom such as yourself."

[Tensei Kaori]

Shinako couldn't help but giggle at being treated in such a way. She had quite the weakness for Bishounen - something Izumi had always teased her to no end about since they met. "That's right," she continued, trying to wipe the foolish grin from her face and slip into a more dignified expression. "You were teammates with Taka-niisan and Hideki-niisan, weren't you?"

[strangevisitor]

"That is correct." The handsome man responded, nodding and sighing wistfully. "Ahh, those were the days, were they not, Taka-san?" He could not help but notice Shinako-chan's behavior, he had seen it enough times, after all. At least she seemed to have enough sense to her not to go all sparkly-eyed and melt like all the others.

[Tensei Kaori]

At long last, Izumi and Tatsuya arrived at the Tensei Clan grounds. There was quite a crowd gathered - all that advertising must have worked.

"Look, Tatsuya," Izumi told her teammate with a grin. "There's Shinako-chan."

"No way!" Tatsuya pouted, feigning insult at being told such a thing. "I'm not falling for that trick again!"

"No," Izumi insisted. "She's right there. Look."

"Izumi-chan is so cruel!" Tatsuya sighed overdramatically. "Using my dear Shinako-chan against me in such a manner!"

"Tatsuya!" Izumi snapped, finally taking the red-haired man's head in her hands and forcing him to look in the proper direction. "She's. Right. There!"

"Oh, you're right," was all the reply she got. An instant later, Tatsuya had taken off.

"Shinako-chaaaaan!" he exclaimed, almost singing the name, swooping in behind the red-clad kunoichi to steal a hug.

"Hello," Izumi said politely to the other two who were gathered there. "I apologize for the interruption."

[strangevisitor]

There was, quite suddenly, another person in the newly-gathered group, a young man who seemed...well...very ecstatic to see Shinako-chan. Shortly after his affectionate arrival, another, calmer individual came up and offered an appology for her presumed-comrades behavior.

"Quite all right, miss. No intrusion at all, I would think. It is a fine night for meeting acquaintances, after all. Old and new, as it were." Ryuurei stated smoothly, offering her an ice-melting smile.


((OoC: Zomg, a post! *dies of shock* Can't believe I missed this opportunity until now x.x Live, board, liiiiive!!!!))

[Tensei Kaori]

Izumi waited a moment to answer, Shinako's exclamation of surprise and Tatsuya's enthusiastic greetings creating a cacophonous background that stood in sharp contrast with Izumi's own unflappable reaction. Another one of -those- is it? she couldn't help thinking as she met the man's warm gaze with her own calm, level, shockingly pink stare. Unlike Shinako, Izumi had no particular weakness for typical "bishounen" type tactics, nor did she have any particular interest in giggling like a schoolgirl over men the way many kunoichi her age did.

"That it is," she said at last in a cool, even tone that matched her gaze perfectly. She reached up to brush an annoyingly persistent strand of icy blue hair out of her face as she continued. "I am Akihara Izumi, Shinako-chan's teammate. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[strangevisitor]

"A pleasure. Akihara-san." He said with a slight bow. It was obvious she was not the type to fawn, a fact Ryuurei found quite refreshing. Meeting her calm gaze with his own smooth-as-a-frozen-lake icy blues, he resumed speaking. "Hitsuatsu Ryuurei, former teammate of Tenseis Hotaka and Hideki."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the minutes passed, more and more people continued to flood the area. Whoever this 'Crimson Phase' was, they were ridiculously popular. Escape seemed an impossibility. There were just too many people.

He could feel the panic rising, forming a lump in his throat. Swallowing hard did nothing to alleviate it, and he was begining to feel warm.

Ohh...this is gonna be GREAT!!Please don't...Relax kid! I'm not gonna getcha in trouble! Take a break, you're too stressed out!..I..

Fire rushed through his veins and the world went black, replaced with the dismal scenery of ruinous Tengakure. Utsuro sighed and settled back against a stone to wait.

"Ore...sanjou!" Ichiyuumaihi grinned, speaking softly to himself. "First things first! Time to ditch the dweeb duds! Henshin!!*" A few handsigns, and the Henge no Jutsu went off without a hitch. The tattered and patched clothing, as well as the unruly hair of Utsuro vanished in a puff.

Wildly spiked hair with red and orange highlights throughout. A metal-studded leather jacket over a blazing-red shirt with the sleeves ripped off, and black jeans held up by a chain. Black steel toed boots perfected the ensemble in his mind. "Party Time."

((*- another quirk of an already quirky character. For whatever reason, calls the Henge No Jutsu 'Henshin'. They basically mean the same thing, though. Henshin-a-go-go baby!))

[Tensei Kaori]

Izumi nodded politely, calmy regarding her new acquaintance with that even stare. Was he trying to impress her by not playing up the Bishounen tactic? Or was she just being paranoid? She was spared, though, from having to think of something else to say when Tatsuya jumped in.

"And I'm Tokoharu Tatsuya!" the red-haired Chuunin said, speaking much more enthusiastically than Izumi-chan had. "I'm the teammate of these two beauties right here. You could say I turned out quite lucky, eh?" he asked with a wink.

It was with great interest that Zyu watched a rather distraught-looking young man suddenly take on a look of almost startling confidence and perform a Henge to change into more concert-like attire. Ignoring the strange looks her own blindingly orange and black outfit attracted, Zyu slipped over to him through the milling crowd.

"It's not often I see one getting ready for an event after arriving at the venue," she said nonchalantly.

[strangevisitor]

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tatsuya-kun. And yes, I would say you are quite fortunate, provided they enjoy your company as much as you enjoy theirs." It was his turn to wink. " Hm..Tokoharu, you say? Then you would be a relative of Akina-san, yes?" The crimson hair was enough of an indication to the affirmative, but it was far better to make a simple inquery than to appear foolish by assuming.

Turning to regard the..hellooo~..rather unorthodoxly dressed woman who was now addressing him, Ichi shrugged. "Kinda got here by accident, caught in the tide, if you will. Didn't exactly have time to get ready the normal way." Shifting a bit, he twisted at the waist and stretched out his arms, almost as if he were preparing for a fight. "These guys any good?"

[Tensei Kaori]

"The one and only!" Tatsuya confirmed, grinning proudly. "She's my Aunt - and my Sensei."

This kid's gestures made Zyu wonder whether he was asking if the band were good at music, or good at fighting. She couldn't help but wonder who this guy was - she'd never seen him before, nor did she know of any visitors in the village that matched his description. Maybe he'd come while they were away on the Mission.

"Would they have such a big crowd waiting outside if they weren't?" Zyu asked with a simple shrug and a pointed glance at the increasingly large mass of people. "People don't usually waste their time attending concerts put on by bands they don't like."

[strangevisitor]

"Aha..a blessing and a curse, I would think. Disappoint your sensei on a mission, and it would be tough to escape the scrutiny since she's so close....Although I am sure you do not have such problems, Tatsuya-kun." Dismissing the notion with a fluid wave, Ryuu shifted the subject. "How has Akina-san been?"

"Eh, I suppose that's true...unless they've got some kinda mass Genjutsu going..freakin' mind-tricks....." Eyeing around as if waiting for something to happen, he shifted from one foot to the other. "Bah. Guess I'll stick around, see what's up...maybe a fight will break out." The odd young man seemed genuinely enthusiastic about that concept. "Or better yet, one of those 'Mosh Pit' things I saw in the Sound!!" A broad grin seized his face, eyes twinkling with the prospect.

[Tensei Kaori]

Tatsuya couldn't help but laugh. "You've hit it on the head," he said with an exhausted kind of grin. "And she was a hard sensei, that's for sure. But it was all for the best in the end. She's been well enough," he continued in response to the second question, "real busy though. And things've been tough for her ever since, well..." he paused, not wanting to talk about such a sensitive subject as Uncle Seiichi's death, before glossing over the topic and moving on, "well, since the war. She's handling it really well, though - better than I could, that's for sure."

"Mosh pits, yes; fights, no," Zyu explained. "People in Konoha take that kinda stuff seriously, especially the Tensei. They won't put up with ruffians. Throw a punch and you'll be outta here before you can blink." Hoping to get a little more information out of this mystery kid, she decided to leave the warning at that and change the subject. "So, you've been to the Sound Village, eh?"

[strangevisitor]

"Indeed, she's a strong woman. All the better sensei because of it, I would surmise..." He knew well what the young man was glossing over. Many dear friends and loved ones had been lost in that miserable war. Now was not the time to dwell on such dreary thoughts, though.

"So!" Glancing around with a smile, the subject flowed to a more pertinant one. "It would seem the posters helped spread the word quite well. I'm glad they asked me to help. It's quite a turnout for such short notice."

"Sound, Sand, Waterfall..Snow...God I hated Hidden Snow.." Grimacing, Ichi shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I've traveled a bit." He wasn't exactly happy about this woman's revelation about these..Tensei's strict rules but...he'd never hear the end of whining from the brat if he got kicked out of THIS village.