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"I just don't get it."

Kyousuu sat on the roof of his apartment building, turning the parchment over repeatedly between his dainty fingers. It was a letter that had been sent to him much like any regular piece of mail, but this one held far more importance. Not only did the words send up red flags, the lack of a proper sender made him even more uneasy about the circumstances surrounding this - as he would come to call it - summons. Aside from the bit of money that was sent along with it in the form of bills, it was clear that whoever sent this had some ulterior motive. They weren't just out to make Kyou's life easier.

There was a very high chance that it was all a trap, that it was somebody that either had a reason to hold a grudge against him, or somebody that wanted to use him as leverage against Konohagakure. Either way, he was sure that going along with what was asked of him in the letter would be a horrible, horrible idea. He knew it was a bad idea down to his very core, but at the same time... he was curious. Nobody had ever paid much attention to him, and any attention that he got after becoming a jinchuuriki was just enough to emphasize that he was being ignored, shunned, discriminated against for no reason other than he was a bijuu host, and to a beast whose lava could destroy an entire village with little trouble, no less. There were other reasons why most people in the village opted to keep their distance, but there were very few people that would happily announce they were friends with him in a public place.

Though he'd read the letter several times since it arrived, he unfolded it once again and looked over the contents. They seemed innocent on the outside, and the wording was... interesting, but there was no denying that it was probably a trap. It didn't help that he was due to leave for Tea Country soon anyway.

"Hey, Monkey-face.

Bet you five bucks you won't be able to get through a 1 hour game of follow the leader without messing it up. Find me behind the fruit-seller's stall, you know, the one you always buy your bananas from. I can't wait to see your face when you get beat by a little girl."

To most, this would seem like a prank letter, or the words of somebody attempting to act like a bully toward a peer, but this was the first time Kyousuu ever received mail that wasn't something official or something from his parents (who were banned from visiting his apartment - not that they'd ever really want to). He had every reason to believe that this would be something dangerous, possibly even life-threatening, once he actually met up with whoever this was.

Standing up, the chuunin stretched before leaping from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the market. It was a short trip given his speed and how close he lived to the shopping district, so it didn't take long for him to find the building he was looking for. Dropping down, he gave the shopkeeper a wave and purchased a bunch of perfectly ripe bananas, partially to lessen the chance of anybody growing suspicious and partially because he couldn't resist those curved, yellow, exotic fruits. Pulling one off of the bunch, he skillfully peeled it and took a bite before putting the rest in a bag strapped across his shoulders.

After bidding the woman farewell, he walked around to the rear of the building. There was a dumpster there, which was usually where he stopped after buying some bananas since he couldn't fight the craving and always ate at least one before going to whatever his next destination for the day was. Behind the dumpster was a dark, albeit small, silhouette, and the brunet guessed that this was who he had to meet. As he approached, a young girl stepped out with her hands crossed over her chest and her chin pushed out. After spouting out a string of rules for this "game" she broke into a sprint, prompting for Kyousuu to follow.

The most he gathered was that this game involved sticking behind the person in front of you and mimicking their every move, and words if necessary, and whoever messed up was considered to have lost the game. Or... something like that, at least.

Though he was skeptical, the jinchuuriki complied and followed the girl to the best of his ability. They made their way through quite a bit of the village before they reached the gate. Though he was nervous, the guards seemed to have acknowledged their presence, once of them saying something along the lines of "looks like she found another victim". That was a bit of a relief, and to that end, Kyousuu had no reason to break the rules of the game and force himself to lose, so he followed her through the gates.

It felt like they had traveled quite far from the village before the girl finally stopped and turned around.

---

---

Almost immediately after dropping Kyousuu off in the middle of nowhere, the girl took off running in some odd direction. Although he considered chasing after her, the chuunin figured there was a reason that she announced this as being "here" - whatever that meant - so he opted to stay rather than take off running after her. Luckily, it didn't take long for somebody to appear in front of him. Although... perhaps "luckily" wasn't the right word for it, because now he was even more convinced that he was walking into a trap.

Why did I even bother going along with this? he asked himself mentally as the new arrival approached him.

"Look. Kyu's stupid. Before you say anything just know he's dumb. Like, retarded. How he got to Jounin is beyond me, but I can't believe you fell for this."

...What?

After the realization that "I can't believe you fell for this" might imply it was really a trap and he'd gotten himself into something ridiculous, Kyousuu tensed up and clenched his fists at his sides, ready to move at a moment's notice. Laugh or no, if there was going to be a fight, he wanted to be ready for it. His green eyes narrowed as he focused on the figure in front of him.

But then came the apology. For what? Why was this guy apologizing?

Somebody wanted to meet him? Who would possibly want to meet him? Was this Yuuto's doing, perhaps? No. They were scheduled to meet in Tea Country after Kyousuu completed the mission he had to take care of while there. He didn't get that kind of feeling from this guy.

"You're in for some stupid fun, so be on your toes."

There were some more words that made the brunet worry for his safety. If something happened to him out here, who would notice? Would they have enough time to intervene before he was killed or his unconscious body dragged away? Or worse, his conscious body dragged away?



Attempting to quell the multitude of thoughts circling in his mind, Kyousuu examined the guy that he'd been talking to - well, listening to - and found that this was a guy with an interesting complexion. He hadn't really seen anybody with skin like that, but he didn't consider it a bad thing. He was actually quite curious now, especially since, though he'd seen people with tanned skin that made them appear more brown-ish in tone, this was something far different. But... it wouldn't appropriate to comment on the matter, so instead he nodded, remaining rather silent and appearing calm, hiding the storm of emotions that hid under that cool exterior.

It was then that another, larger man approached them. In all his concern for what might be going on, Kyousuu hadn't bothered attempting to sense the presence of others. He felt rather silly for not bothering, really, but now wasn't the time to be overly concerned with that. It was too late now, two of them had already shown themselves... but perhaps he'd be able to pick up on other chakra signatures close enough to be considered a threat. Consequently, Kyousuu focused on trying to pick up on others, but there were none. They were just out of reach of the village gates, as far as his ability to sense went, so those weren't clouding his senses.

Ignoring most of the exchange between the two other men, Kyousuu's attention was mostly drawn to when the conversation was directed back at him.

"Wow...you really do look like a chick..."

Kyousuu's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Though he'd heard that he looked rather feminine from some of the creeps that wanted nothing other than to get in his pants, he didn't really expect that to be the first thing said to him in a conversation with a guy he didn't even know.

"I... what? Excuse me?"

All of this was awfully confusing and he was getting mixed signals. Was this a trap? Would he be killed? Kidnapped? Tortured? What? Kyousuu rubbed his temples, mentally exhausted and frustrated by the whole situation. This guy was definitely either trying to get on Kyou's nerves, or he was trying to make the jinchuuriki drop his guard. Or... something.

Just like Shinjin, he was of a darker complexion, but... his beard...

"...Beard," the chuunin whispered as he found his eyes drawn to that particular part of the man's face. He'd rarely seen beards anyway, but that was a beard that trumped all other beards. A magnificent beard. A fantastic beard.

"A glorious beard..."

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Realizing only too late that he'd made those comments out loud... well, the ones about the beard, at least, Kyousuu felt the temperature of his cheeks rise ever so slightly. Though the color in his face wouldn't change much, to the trained eye it would be noticeable enough for them to recognize that the jinchuuriki was rather embarrassed about the display. After all, while any man would likely be able to appreciate a beard of that caliber, Kyou took a liking to it for different reasons. This was a man on a whole different level from the ones that he'd met - particularly the ones that bothered to talk to him.

Luckily the man introduced himself, but even with a name to put to that face of his, the chuunin couldn't really be sure what motives that Kyu might have for approaching him. The short autobiography would have been sufficient had this been a meeting that they both agreed upon prior, or if this was some gathering of sorts between equal parties. But this wasn't such a meeting, and the brunet was sure that whatever motives the man had for meeting him here, they were far from innocent. Businessman or no, he doubted that money was this guy's only motivator, especially since he probably didn't need more of it. There was some other power at work here. Probably.

Shinjin remained silent, and it was a bit off-putting. Perhaps he was the hired muscle?

Just then, it hit him. The reason he hadn't noticed any others around was purely because Shinjin's chakra signature was already being processed, and as such he didn't put too much importance on the location. But... either this or the location of his chakra further away was a clone, and he couldn't be sure which was the real Shinjin. Perhaps the clone was here so he would have an escape, or the clone was positioned further away to act as a lookout. Either way, it was fairly shady and made Kyousuu reconsider sticking around. Although, there was a very high chance that attempting to run off would result in a fight breaking out, and he didn't feel safe enough around the two of them to attempt something so reckless.

The appearance of Kyu's acquaintance gave him a bit more time to analyze the situation and think. Maybe Son Goku would have something valuable to say? After all, even though they weren't really friends, he knew that the bijuu would much prefer to have control over the situation than be dragged along. But... he couldn't rely on the beast to make decisions for him, either. Holding in a sigh, he decided to wait it out just a little bit longer to see what would happen. He was ready to start running if anything happened, but there was a chance they'd be able to catch him as they likely expected some sort of reluctance.

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the bananas he had purchased earlier and pulled one off before putting the rest back. Peeling it ever so skillfully, from the tip rather than the stem, he slowly began to bite off and chew chunks of the fruit. The pace was intentional, and almost made it seem as though the event was meant to be more sensual than the simple consumption of food.

The moment the conversation turned back to him, the chuunin's green eyes flickered with a hint of defiance. He had to get some sort of information out of this guy if he was going to consider taking him up on his offer for dinner. After all, it was clear that Kyuseishu knew who Kyousuu was, but the reverse was far from true.

Shinjin's presence vanished as the dark-skinned male left - the reasons for which were unknown to Kyousuu, but he was more focused on the knowledge that Kyu possessed.

"Kuro-san," he stated rather bluntly, his voice heavy with demand, "I hope you don't expect me to just accept a dinner invitation like that without even taking the time to try and understand the situation, ki. It's clear from your language and the way you're behaving that you already know a lot about me, probably more than I could imagine, but until a few moments ago I didn't so much as know your name."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Kyousuu tilted his chin up and shifted his weight to his right hip. The two of them were rather close in height, but the older male was still slightly taller. Of the three, Shinjin was the shortest - not that it really mattered. After a brief pause, the jinchuuriki's eyes narrowed and his mouth curled up into a smirk.

"You want something from me, don't you? And you want to butter me up first to increase your chances of getting what you want without having to cause a scene, am I right? I may not have been out of the village very much, but I'm plenty self-aware, ki. I know what I could be worth to people, and what could happen if I were to fall into the wrong hands."

This was his chance to find out if Kyu knew something about his status as a jinchuuriki, and if he was right about him having an ulterior motive. Kyousuu was no expert at lie detecting, but Kyu's response would determining whether the brunet accepted or refused his dinner invitation.

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Though Kyu's expression shifted, indicating that Kyousuu's response held something that made him think, it was clear he was still confident he could get what he wanted. What that was, the brunet couldn't be sure of, but there was still some satisfaction to be gained simply from making a man like that look even the slightest bit quizzical. That sense of triumph didn't last long, however - the moment Kyu began to speak, he felt a mix of emotions that almost made him want to go on the defensive.

The words "you could be used as a weapon" left him with a bitter taste in his mouth, as they usually did, but he did his best to mask his distaste for the idea by biting off another piece of the banana. Kyousuu recalled the last time he'd spoken to somebody on the matter of his "place", and it left him with a lot of questions and much less trust in the ninjas of the Leaf. Robin was the man's name - Uzumaki, Robin - and at one point he'd been the Hokage. It was during that period that the chuunin learned first hand that the bijuu housed inside of him was what people wanted the most, not the boy on the outside. While there were those that viewed him as a normal human being when they didn't know, such as some of his peers, he felt that most who knew the truth either hated him or simply viewed him as a shell for Son Goku, just like Robin. Simply thinking about that encounter brought back emotions he'd rather forget, so after taking the last bite of the banana and tossing the peel aside, he focused on Kyu once more.

This man... he knew so much about Kyou's life that it was frightening. How could he possibly know the internal struggles that he faced, being stuck between so many different attitudes and positions regarding the tailed beasts and what it meant to have one of them within the village walls? The most terrifying part of it was that everything the man said was true. Everything from how he felt about it to the way people looked at him. Nobody was truly around to teach him what he wanted and needed to know. While Only those in the village could give him some of the answers he wanted, there was a chance he'd be able to find what he wanted and needed elsewhere. But... was Kyu really the person to lead him to those answers?

He didn't really want to believe that. After all, he'd just met this man - and Kyu knew so much about Kyousuu that it was clear he'd have some ulterior motives. Chances were he wanted to, at the very least, secure some type of alliance so that there would be less chance of danger once Kyousuu began to try and control some of the beast's powers. At most, he figured that he would try to secure the jinchuuriki's powers for whatever team he played for, and that was the most likely explanation. Then again, even if he didn't want to believe that Kyu might be able to help him, something inside of him pointed towards it being true, that this stranger could help. It was the first time he'd ever run into somebody with a motive like that, but that wasn't too surprising given that he'd rarely met anybody from outside Fire Country. The most pressing matter then would be what he would do about it. Would he play into the man's hands and go along with him, or would he put up a fight? Would he opt to stay holed up in Konoha for the rest of life?

He knew the answer, but he wanted to pretend that he didn't. His heart knew what it wanted, and it was only a matter of time until his mind followed suit. But... there was still some hesitation left in him, something was keeping him from leaping at this opportunity he'd been presented. It wasn't a sense of patriotism, nor did he really care about his parents, and he didn't feel like he had enough friends to warrant staying. His best friend would understand - she knew as much about him as he was willing to tell, and he trusted her enough to open up about even the most sensitive subjects. Consequently, she would likely encourage him to leave and find the answers that he was looking for. So what exactly kept him from leaving? Was it fear?

During most of Kyu's speech, Kyousuu looked as though he wanted to turn and walk away. It was his way of communicating that reluctance without making it seem as though he was only attached to the village by a thin thread. After all, it would be dangerous to show his true feelings at this point. Kyu was still not somebody to be trusted, not for a second, but Kyousuu really wanted to be able to trust him. It was the first time anybody had come to him like that. Perhaps it was all a result of the man's silver tongue, but that didn't really matter anymore. Even if he had been a lot more crude with the way he spoke, the message was still the same: "I know what you want, and what you need, and I can give it to you. Just come with me." Even after admitting that he was a man that took great pleasure in exploiting others for his own benefit, it was the principle of the matter that drew the jinchuuriki in. Kyousuu could feel his urge to rebel rising, like boiling water in a kettle. It would continue to build up until the water evaporated or the kettle blew open, the pressure causing it to explode.

"Guide him. That was what your brother said when he told me about you."

His brother.

The rest of Kyu's words were drowned out by the realization that there was yet another man who had spoken with his brother. Perhaps there was some truth to Yuuto's claims after all. For a split second, Kyousuu's eyes widened and a pained look crossed his face. If it was true and Daitarou cared enough to ask for outside help, why didn't he try to come see for himself? Was it because he would be considered a rogue and would have to sneak in to avoid being captured or killed? Was that it? There was really only one way to find out - he was going to talk to him, one way or another. He knew Yuuto wanted to lead him there, but perhaps Kyu could get him where he needed to go as well.

"So you've met my brother then," Kyousuu responded, his voice wavering as he became overwhelmed with longing. "You've met him. You've met him and talked to him, ki, and if you're telling me the truth, he wants you to guide me? To help me?" Taking a small step backwards to avoid losing his balance, he let out a shaky sigh. With only a few words, Kyu managed to get to him. He knew he would be able to, and waited until the very end to pull out his trump card.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this right now, but... if I go with you, to dinner, could we talk about Daitarou? Maybe? And it'll give me some time to think about things, ki."

It wasn't quite a solid acceptance of Kyu's dinner invitation, but there was a very slim chance he'd actually say no in the end. If they talked within the village walls, he didn't feel as though he really had to worry about being attacked. But he didn't know what this man was capable of, so he wouldn't really be able to let his guard down, even over a meal. Nervous, the brunet ran his fingers through his hair, shaking the strands loose when he reached the back of his head.

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"I imagine I can dust up the stories I had with the ole' Hanketsu gang. In honesty, I haven't really told anyone of my adventures with the group anyway, so you'll be the first. And I love telling stories."

He was starting to connect the dots.

If Kyu knew Hanketsu as a group rather than just Daitarou, perhaps he knew Yuuto as well, and the two younger shinobi that Kyou initially attempted to capture. That changed things - a lot, in fact. Being connected with Hanketsu meant that Kyu likely had access to quite the information network, both within the villages and outside of them. That was likely how he was able to get so much information about Kyousuu, because while his brother could have mentioned things like his being a jinchuuriki and his family structure, the man had left so soon that he wouldn't have known that the boy's life was like as he grew up. It made things more interesting, but also more complicated, and the brunet realized he was likely getting involved with some dangerous people. Even so, he felt that he would rather risk it now than wait until those that might want to get their hands on him had a chance to prepare. Besides, he was simply invited to dinner, nothing more. Afterwards, he'd be able to to head to Tea Country and take care of his mission there, meet up with Yuuto, and figure out where to go from there.

Assuming he accepted the dinner invitation, that is.

He had some time to think about it as the day was still young, and dinner wouldn't be until around seven. That gave him a few hours to really think about whether or not he'd show up, and what he'd say or ask. There was a lot to think about and a lot to cover if he opted to accept, and he wanted to be sure he didn't leave anything out. Anything important, at least, as some things could likely wait. One thing was certain, though - he'd have to have a nice chat with Son Goku and be sure that his next steps were the right ones. They weren't friends, but they'd been together for 7 years, and that had a way of dispelling tension. Especially since they'd had plenty of time to just... talk, about even the smallest of things, and even if the tailed beast didn't trust or like Kyou, the chuunin had come to appreciate the company. At the very least, they didn't argue much anymore or yell at each other like they did at the beginning of the relationship.

It took all of the jinchuuriki's willpower to avoid flinching when Kyu placed a hand on his shoulder. He was rather finicky about physical contact in any circumstance, but this was an encounter that presented a heightened possibility of danger. Despite how well it went up to that point, there was always a chance that the second after Kyu removed his hand, he'd throw a punch or otherwise begin his assault. Even if it didn't seem like that was likely, he had to be open to the possibility to avoid being caught off guard. The other male was fairly bulky, and if that wasn't an indication of taijutsu prowess, then he didn't know what was. Simply standing this close to the man put him on edge. Luckily, Kyu left the scene shortly after those last words had been uttered, leaving the brunet to make a final decision.

As he headed back to his apartment, he could feel his thoughts fighting for dominance, the options equally appealing. He could just forget all of that ever happened and stick with his previous plan, or he could go to dinner and perhaps find a better way to go about things. Yuuto or Kyu - whoever he chose to follow, he would be putting himself at risk. With Yuuto, he'd be outnumbered for sure and there was no telling how many others he might drag along with him. If he wanted to kill Kyou, he had all the resources and skill needed to get the job done. As for Kyu, though it was clear he had manpower, the chuunin didn't even know where the man came from. He guessed that he was dealing with a ninja, but even that was mostly speculation based on the guy's chakra signature and the company he kept. Of the two, Kyu was shrouded in the most mystery, but somehow he was the one that Kyousuu was leaning toward. Yuuto would still be there, right?

Maybe he needed to consult with the ape after all.

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