---

Kyousuu had asked around several times before he was able to figure out where to find the inn. Tea Country wasn't incredibly confusing, but he'd only been there once, and not to sight-see. As a matter of fact, the last time he was here, he had spoken to the daimyo, and his job was to convince him to do business with Konoha rather than Kumo. Consequently, he'd spent very little time getting to know the area. Even if he had, it had been several years since then, and though it didn't seem as though things changed a lot, he was certain there were some differences.

As he approached the building, he spotted Ichirou and Airi walking away. The distance between him and the rogue ninja was too great for him to bother getting their attention, so he watched them for a moment before heading to the door. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the inn, adjusting the bag that hung across his shoulders. Now that he had finally stopped rowing, his arms and shoulders were incredibly sore. In addition, he'd gotten so used to being on the boat that it still felt as though he were swaying atop the waves.

Glancing around the room, the brunet spotted a familiar face.

"Yuuto," he muttered under his breath as he walked over to the white-haired man. Yuuto had been watching him from the moment he walked through the doorway, waiting for him to approach. He seemed calm, as usual.

"Kyousuu," the man began, nodding to greet the brunet, "You made it here earlier than expected. At least I know you made it out okay. Daitarou's been getting pretty anxious since we left pretty early on."

"Yeah... The only reason I got out when I did was because Son Goku felt something big was coming, ki. I could tell something was off too, but that motivated me to get moving. So I left the village. When I saw what was happening, I managed to find a guy with a little boat to take us here... To be honest, I'm really sore, ki, I had to do a lot of rowing."

"You came in a ROW BOAT? I'm surprised you still HAVE your arms."

Kyousuu nodded with a pained smile, and Yuuto cringed.

He seemed a bit more personable than the last time they had met, though they had initially met while he was trying to capture two of his comrades. That was promising.

"Well, this isn't really the best place to talk. I'll show you to the rooms."

"Ah, wait, wait. I have a bad feeling that I need to get in contact with Konoha, so let me send a shadow clone before we do anything else, ki."

Yuuto gestured as if to say 'go ahead', and Kyousuu formed the proper hand seals before spawning an exact replica. The clone broke off from the group and headed toward the exit before Yuuto continued on his path up the stairs and to one of the rooms near the back of the inn.

---

The shadow clone headed out towards a carriage that appeared to be getting prepped for a trip.

"Hey, I'm a ninja from Konoha. I just got back from a mission and could use a ride, ki. Since the only way to go from here is north, I figure I could ride with you at least part of the way there."

The carriage owner agreed to let Kyousuu ride along as long as he helped him load and unload the goods he was transporting. It seemed like a small price to pay to avoid running all the way back to Konoha, especially after having to row across the ocean, so he took the offer. The sacks and crates were loaded onto the carriage, and the brunet hopped into the back, finding a spot to make himself comfortable. The ride wouldn't be nearly as long as the boat ride had been, but it would be the perfect time to take a nap. They would only need to follow the main road leading from Tea to Fire for the first stretch, and those roads were usually rather smooth.

"Thanks for lettin' me ride with ya, I'm pretty tuckered out from the boat ride I just had to endure, ki."

"No worries, man, I'm always happy to help out a hard-working ninja. Actually, I planned on moving to Fire Country for a while. I've got family there, and I'm really just transporting some of their belongings right now. There are some things for sale, too, of course."

"Well, being close to family's definitely nice. I'm finally going to be able to reconnect with my older brother after not hearing from him for years, ki."

"That so, huh? Sounds good to me."

The small talk gradually died down as they went along the road, sometimes waving at other travellers that went by. It gave them a distraction as the ride was otherwise rather quiet and, by Kyou's standards, really boring. Less boring than the boat ride and definitely easier to deal with, but he would rather be back in Tea Country at the inn, listening to the conversation between the original and Yuuto. Rolling onto his side, he poked at a sack of clothing.

When he finally got to the village, the first thing he would do, aside from checking in with the guards, would be to pay a visit to his parents' house. He'd just leave a letter with the Hokage, or something. He didn't really want to have to explain, face to face, why he was gone for so long. He'd also have to be careful about what he said and how, as getting into any sticky situations as a shadow clone would make things complicated. By all rights, he should have went back to the village a long time ago, or at least sent a letter explaining that he was going to return and not abandoning them. Although, that would mostly be to make them happy, wouldn't it? He had other things to worry about.

At first, the roads were straight, with bends here and there. Once they reached Fire Country, however, the path curved, and the forests were interesting enough at first, but the trees all looked the same for the most part, and aside from the birds flying around and the occasional deer, there wasn't much else to look at. At least while he was in Tea and Water Country, the environment was new to him. Out here, it was everything he'd gotten used to. He didn't leave the country until he was in his late teens, which was rather sad considering how long he'd been a shinobi thus far.

Perhaps he'd manage to reach jounin before he was 30. That would be nice.

---

Yuuto opened the door, but stepped to the side to let Kyou enter first. The brunet peeked into the room, but he didn't see his brother. Instead, there was a smaller person with ... abnormally large, metal glove-like contraptions resting against the wall at the far end of the room, and a man with wild eyes at the opposite side. He seemed twitchy, and couldn't stop fidgeting. It made Kyou rather uncomfortable, so when he stepped into the room, he moved to the left side of the room, away from the two nin he was unfamiliar with.

Yuuto chuckled a bit as he entered the room and closed the door. Moving over to the bed next to the smaller shinobi, he plopped down onto the mattress and brought a knee up to his chest.

"Don't mind these two, they won't bite. Well, Kohaku won't, I can't vouch for Takeshi," he joked, tilting his head toward the respective nin. Kyousuu nervously gripped his upper arm and moved closer toward Yuuto while Takeshi and Kohaku watched him. At least Kohaku seemed calm.

"Uhh..."

Kyousuu wasn't really sure what to say. He had been invited here, but wasn't sure how to star the conversation.

"Daitarou will be coming a bit later, but I figure I can take the time to get to know you a bit better. Well, I already told the rest of the group that you'd be here, so they know who you are, but you don't really know who they are." Yuuto paused for a moment to think."Takeshi can introduce himself, but Kohaku isn't much of a talker."

"Uh, sorry if this is a weird thing to say, but... I'm honestly a bit surprised at how you're treating me right now, ki. I mean, especially after what I was doing the first time you met me."

Yuuto's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, that? Well... I'll admit I wasn't sure if I could trust you at first, but then I realized you didn't even know who we were. If you'd known we were friends of your brother's, you probably wouldn't have acted that way."

As much as Kyou hated to admit it, Yuuto was right. If he'd known from the very beginning that meeting those two ninja would help lead him to his brother, he wouldn't have attacked them like that. But it would ahve made his mission even more complicated than it was, so he was somewhat grateful for his initial ignorance. He simply nodded with an expression that indicated understanding.

"Well, I guess I'm glad you're giving me a second chance, ki. If I hadn't stopped when you got there, I probably wouldn't be in such good shape, huh,?" Kyousuu looked to his left and spotted a desk. Pulling the chair from under it, he turned it to face Yuuto and the others and sat down. "I know it's not that late but I'm pretty tired from the trip here. How long until Taro gets here?"

"It'll be at least a couple of hours. He's out with the others getting some supplies so we're ready if we need to head out." Kyousuu's gaze dropped and his expression softened. He was so close, yet so far, and he wasn't sure how to behave around these people. Takeshi just kept fidgeting in the corner, and every time the jinchuuriki looked up and caught him staring, he seemed to fidget faster. Kohaku was quiet and simply cast curious gazes every now and then during the conversation. Yuuto seemed friendly, but Kyou wasn't really the type to get attached to strangers that quickly. The man's good looks helped a bit, though. He also had a rather warm, smooth voice that almost seemed inviting.

"Well, there's plenty of space in the room, but I don't think there's an extra bed for you. If you want, you can nap in Daitarou's bed until he gets here? It's the one over there with the green journal next to the pillow."

"Mmm, that's probably a good idea. When Taro gets here, I don't think I'll be able to get much sleep. Not at first, at least, ki. Sorry we didn't really get to talk like you wanted to, but I'm exhausted." Yuuto nodded, and Kyou put the chair back in its original place before flinging himself onto the bed. He imagined his brother sitting at the foot of it, telling him stories with unbelievable outcomes, just like he used to when they were younger. Of course, back then, Kyou wasn't tall enough to take up most of the bed, but perhaps he'd be able to experience that feeling again soon.

---

Kyousuu awoke to the feeling of something heavy on his chest. Blinking slowly as his eyes readjusted to the lighting, he saw an unfamiliar face. It wasn't until he began to look around the room that he grasped the reality of the situation: there was a girl sitting on him, staring him down as though she was plotting to kill him in his sleep. He'd almost forgotten where he was at first due to the intense feeling of dread.

"I appreciate the view, but I'm not into little girls, ki," he muttered sleepily. The girl's cheeks reddened as she quickly slid off of the bed altogether, fixing her skirt. She had shorts on underneath, but was still rather embarrassed about the position she'd put herself in. At least he knew she wasn't an immediate threat - not with a reaction like that.

"WELL! I knew that somebody like you who just wants to get close to Daitarou-nii would be trouble from the start," she barked, purple locks swaying in front of a decorated eyepatch.

There was laughter around the room, and after registering the newly arrived chakra signatures, three of which he recognized, Kyousuu sat up to rub his eyes. He felt as though he'd only slept for a few minutes, as he still felt rather groggy, but after all of the physical labor he got through, he wasn't all that surprised. Aside from the rather rambunctious girl, there was a blond with two dogs at his side that stood towards the back, and a brunet with a rather irritated look on his face crouched in a chair that faced Kyou at an angle. They were all looking in his direction, and the jinchuuriki realized just how quickly this room had seemed to fill up. It was getting crowded, but it seemed more likely that it only felt that way because the spotlight was on him. With three - well, five unfamiliar faces (if you counted the dogs) staring at him, it was almost like his first day at the Academy all over again. All of the students stared at him as their parents whispered nasty comments and told them to avoid "that monster".

"Sorry about the rude awakening, Kyousuu-kun. Izumi's... outgoing. And curious."

"That's putting it politely, yeah..."

The girl crossed her arms and thrust her nose upward with a huff. Kyousuu laughed nervously at what seemed to be their definition of playful banter, ignoring Izumi's cold stare.

"Don't mind them, they just don't take very quickly to strangers. Especially not ones they know might be staying for a little while."

"I suppose that makes sense. At least you've got a number advantage on me, not that you really need it, ki. If I tried anything, you could cut me down where I stand - er, sit. But, um, Taro's not here yet?"

"He should be getting back in the next few minutes. He just had to double check the inventory. I might as well introduce you to the others in the meantime."

Yuuto gestured to Izumi first, but he'd already learned her name earlier in the conversation. Next was the one that made the comment regarding Yuuto's description of the girl, Kenji. He had brown hair that seemed to have a mind of its own, fluffing upwards rather than falling to his shoulders, as the length would otherwise dictate. Last was Naoki, the one with the dogs, one of which had made its way over to the bed. Kyousuu held out a hand and to allow the animal to get his scent and decide whether he was a threat or not. It was the darker of the two dogs, and also the more curious one.

"Akira," Naoki mumbled, and the dog quickly walked away from Kyousuu, who was a bit disappointed. He'd always been a fan of dogs, and animals in general. "I guess I can trust you if these two like you."

Kyou smiled at the dogs, who had taken to relaxing on a pile of pillows. That was... somewhat relieving, he supposed.

---

As the room grew loud with chatter between the Hanketsu members, a chakra signature was approaching the room, and the footsteps that could be heard from the hallway seemed confident, but careful. With every step, sound got closer and closer to the door, and Kyousuu could feel his senses focus on the doorway. His whole body tensed up, and his gaze sharpened.

The knob turned, and the door opened with a creak. In stepped somebody that Kyousuu was intimately familiar with.

Tall.

Dark brown, almost black hair.

Eyes that were a delicate mix of green and blue and seemed to glow.

Kyousuu almost couldn't believe his eyes.

The new arrival looked up from his clipboard and turned to face Kyou before being assaulted by Izumi. As she clung to his arm, Kyousuu mentally withdrew. This kind of thing was to be expected, wasn't it? They hadn't seen each other for years, and Daitarou had been around these people. Of course they'd grow attached.

But it was still painful to watch, no matter how much he tried to justify it. It was his brother, the man that he had grown up with for some time. The one person in the world that he lived for. Yet now that he was here, all Kyousuu could do was sit and stare. He could only watch as what was likely a normal occurrence played out in front of him, as though he hadn't traveled across the sea twice just for this day to finally come.

"Alright, Izumi, that's enough."

Daitarou's voice almost put the jinchuuriki into shock, and his eyes began to water. This was actually happening.

Daitarou was there.

He was alive.

Izumi pouted, but moved to the side to allow the older male to walk by her. Kyou's blurry gaze followed his older brother's movements. Despite his initial excitement, all power was drained from him as he came to the realization that he'd finally been able to see his brother's face again.

"No matter how old you get, you'll still be a crybaby, won't you?"

Daitarou placed a hand on Kyou's head.

"Taro..." the brunet blubbered, taking a moment to absorb everything.

"Cry all you want, I still think I at least earned a hug, right?"

Kyousuu nodded rapidly before leaping from his seat to wrap his arms around his older brother. The latter placed his hands on Kyou's back, and smiled at him gently. The chatter had died down, and though there was some minor hostility radiating from Izumi, the rest of them seemed to be able to appreciate the moment and turned to speak to one another out of respect. This was a moment that deserved privacy, but they couldn't give the brothers that. Instead, they could simply act as though they weren't there. That would have to be enough.

"I was so worried, Taro... I thought you might be dead... but I didn't want to believe that, ki," Kyou muttered, his voice still muffled as he stuck his face in Daitarou's chest.

"Bah, you know me! I don't go down so easy."

Kyousuu could feel Son Goku's annoyance grow, but he didn't care. This wasn't for the bijuu, it wasn't for the village, it wasn't for anybody but himself. He'd gone for so long without the affection of another, especially on such a level, that it was almost too much. He had Kanako, but even a best friend couldn't compare to how close the brothers had been before the elder's disappearance. The jinchuuriki's grip tightened for a moment before they both let go, and Daitarou sat on the mattress.

"I'd imagine that there's a lot you want to say and a lot you want to ask me, Kyou-chan."

"Yeah... there's a lot I want to know, ki... but I don't know where to start..."

---

Yuuto ushered everybody out of the room to get something to eat, leaving the Tanaka brothers behind.

"Ne, Taro... I'd really like to know what's been happening with you for all these years, but... what's been bothering me the most is... well... why did you leave like that? Why did you just disappear without even telling me goodbye, ki?"

"Ahh, that's kind of a tough question to answer. I mean, I know the answer, but I'm not sure if you really want to hear it..."

"If I didn't want to know, then why would I ask?" Kyou let out an exasperated sigh. "Taro, I'm your little brother, you've always been the person that means the most to me, ki. Why can't you at least trust me with something like that? I won't tell anybody at home... they don't like me anyway, I don't really care about any of them."

"Well, if you put it like that..." Daitarou breathed heavily and rubbed his chin.

"...Please? ...Taro?"

"Okay, but get comfortable. You might not like what I have to say."

"Hai, hai," Kyou replied rather sarcastically, sliding further onto the mattress. What could he possible have to say that would be upsetting?

"I guess I'll start back when mom and dad first decided that they had to find some way to make you 'worthwhile', as they put it. You already know that they felt you were going to be a disappointment, for several reasons. You didn't fit their ideals for the perfect son, so they always tried to force you to be more like me - they wanted you to idolize me and thus make you strive to be exactly like your older brother. Well, that's where the problems started. Eri and I, being your older siblings, didn't quite feel the same way as our parents. We knew that they just wanted you to grow up in a way that would be respectable, but they had the wrong idea. That's why, whenever they'd leave you with me when I was training, I let you slip away with Eri. You seemed to have more common interests with her than with me, and that was fine.

"Of course, our parents found out about it after a while, and knowing that they'd be upset, Eri and I tried to talk some sense into them. We told them that trying to control everything about you wouldn't work, and that it would just create a broken child. They were angry with us, and didn't want to believe what we were telling them, but they knew that we would just keep up with what we'd been doing before. Even though they tried to chalk it up to us simply being rebellious because 'you were our little brother and didn't think it was fair' because we didn't have to go through the same treatment, we didn't care. We just didn't want you to end up unhappy or feeling like there was something wrong with you. Eri and I always liked you just the way you are, and I'm sure she'd agree with me if she were still with us - may she rest in peace - and would probably be glad that you and I were able to reconnect. She'd probably scold me for leaving in the first place, but there's nothing we can do about that now..."

Daitarou sighed, remembering his sister. Kyou was a lot like her, and though she was gone, it still felt like she was with them.

"Anyway, since they couldn't get the two of us to cooperate, they decided to take matters into their own hands and find a different way to prevent you from being 'useless'. They approached the village council, and as they'd been respectable shinobi before retiring, their input was at least of some value.

"It was known for some time that one of the tailed beasts was roaming around and causing problems, but knowing the risks involved in trying to capture one, let alone seal one into a host, the village didn't want to do anything. Regardless, our parents decided that if they were worried about finding a host, that you would be more than suitable for the job. You were still young and would likely be able to learn at a better rate than an older shinobi - that, and you would be learning from scratch rather than re-learning things or learning new things to replace the old. I'm not really sure how they did it, because I wasn't able to get any more information out of them, but they convinced the council that you would make a good host.

"Eri and I were against it, but no matter what we tried, we couldn't get them to change the decision. And our parents knew how badly we wanted everybody to reconsider, so they more or less forced us to participate in subduing and sealing the beast. Neither of us was good enough with fuuinjutsu at the time to really help with that part, but since the knowledge of the four-tailed beast roaming around had spread, there was a chance that we'd be intercepted as others might attempt to get their hands on that level of power. They wanted to make sure that we knew our place, which was serving the interests of the village not ourselves, even if it meant sacrificing our family.

"Eri and I hated being part of the preparations for everything. There were so many other shinobi there, and most of them talked about how it would be great for the village to have such a weapon in order to defend itself. Others seemed bitter, saying that bringing such unreliable and unstable power into the village would be nothing but trouble.

"The two of us were determined to put a stop to the sealing somehow, but no matter what we thought of, nothing seemed effective. So when the time came around for us to finally make our move on the bijuu, Eri and I decided that the least we could do was make sure you stayed alive at all costs. We had made an oath to each other not to let you die on that day, and even though Eri gave her own life to make sure she kept her promise, after everything was said and done, I just didn't think I'd be able to handle it. You were my brother before everything else, but our parents and this beast were tearing out family apart. So, once I knew that you'd made it through the sealing, I left. I snuck away while the last of the ambush was being handled, without so much as a goodbye letter. I wanted it to seem like I just disappeared, so they wouldn't even know where to look. Chances are they assumed that I died in one of the rock slides, but just because they haven't sent anybody to look for me doesn't mean they won't, even after such a long time. Then again, not everybody has the resolve that you do, Kyou-chan.

"The main reason why I left was, as I said, because I couldn't bear to see our family torn apart like that. But the thing that made me realize that I had to leave was the fact that, no matter how hard I tried, once that beast was sealed inside of you, it's all I could think about. I looked at your face, and you were unconscious at the time, but the image of the four-tailed beast just kept surfacing, no matter how much I tried to convince myself that you were still just my brother, and nothing more than that. I knew that if I stayed, I would just end up making things even worse. I would have given our parents hell, and I probably would have done my best to avoid spending time with you, just so I wouldn't have to think about what happened anymore.

"I know it probably hurts to hear that your own brother couldn't separate you from the beast inside of you, but I didn't want you to know about it... so I thought my only option was to leave. And... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was too weak to stay and support you, and I'm sorry that I didn't even bother to day goodbye... I know that you might be upset with me... but you're still my little brother, no matter how old you get, and that means you're incredibly important to me. I look at you now, and... even though that was how I felt back then, all I see now is my brother, all grown up, and I wasn't even there to watch it happen."

Daitarou sighed before standing up and walking toward the door.

"I really hope that you can forgive me for all of that, but... I want to give you some time to think about it. I'm... just going to join the others, and you can just... do whatever you like. We won't be leaving for a few days, so you know where to find us."

He turned the knob, but left the door closed for one final remark.

"Whatever you decide, I'm just glad I was able to see you alive and well."

Dairarou left the room, closing the door behind him gently.

"Taro..."

Kyousuu had listened to his brother's story intently, doing his best not to interrupt. It was a lot of information to digest all at once, so he was glad that it stopped at Daitarou's reasons for leaving, but he felt as though something was missing. There was more to the story than that, he could tell. Daitarou had been eager to skip past the details of his parents early on. Even though the focus was the man's reasons for disappearing, Kyousuu couldn't help but think that getting the rest out of him would, in some fashion, help him understand just how his parents and siblings interacted when he wasn't there to witness everything. But there was still the matter of Daitarou's reasons for leaving.

His brother left because he couldn't see beyond the bijuu.

That was much too heavy for him after just seeing the man again for the first time in years. If he was to face Taro again, he'd need to think about everything and make a decision from there. He said that he no longer felt that way, but knowing him, it could have been a lie just to make Kyou feel better. If that was the case... then he didn't want to stick around, even if his goal was to be closer to his brother.

Standing abruptly, Kyousuu marched over to the door, determined to have an answer for his brother within the next few days at most. Perhaps a walk would do him good, as he'd have plenty of space to think without the Hanketsu members distracting him. He left the room, and ignored the group as he walked past them in the lobby.

"Daitarou, your brother's walking out the front door."

"I know... but I need to give him some space to think after everything I told him."

"Well, if he comes back and decides to stay, we'll have to make a few things clear. I only have a few conditions."

"Yeah, yeah, I know..."