Aftereffects (Private)

Keisai sat on a rather large boulder, his legs crossed formally, and his eyes closed. He had completed a mission that had taken a long time to do, and a lot of effort as well. He had returned changed, but in a rather subtle way. Currently, he was about a mile away from the Konoha gates, taking a last breath of isolation. It wasnt that he preferred the isolation compared to his friends, he just enjoyed the peace. Before, he had pretty much been at Okashii's side all the time, and he enjoyed the fact that he was leading himself. Right now, he was communicating with the parasites around him. A new advancement he had gained was the ability to speak directly to any parasites around him, no matter where they were. He even had the ability to see through their eyes if he concentrated hard enough, but he could not control them as if the parasite suddenly became his own body. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, he had learned the information he needed to know, and it didnt please him very much. He was about to get up, when he heard footsteps, so he remained still. His Konoha headband was off, and his jounin jacket as well at the moment, so if it was some kind of missing nin, they wouldnt attack him instantly, or try to run. He waited patiently until he/she came into view.

An overly exaggerated yawn shot throughout the woods as Takeshi walked lazily along the winding dirt path. Kicking up a small amount of dust as he did so. His left arm hung limply to his side, swaying to and fro with each step he took while his right arm was slung over his shoulder. A large bag tied shut by a string in his hand. He had just made it to the festival in a nearby town where they sold his favorite kind of meats every year. He had managed to arrive on the last day and was able to stock up on at least three months worth of frozen meats. Normally he would have been able to aquire more but his schedule had been tight lately.

Unfortunately, for him to make it in time, he had ran non-stop the previous night and so far, had no sleep. He couldn't simply stop at an inn since the meats would thaw overnight, even in the specially insulated bag he carried them in. A grin came over his face simply thinking of the meals he would make. The family he bought the meats from were top notch butchers. The only kind you find in small villages and isolated shops. Merely thinking of how they can serve their community rather than serve their wallets.

As he approached a clearing, he saw someone perched atop a large bolder. Several meters to the right of the path he walked. He seemed to be in mid meditation and did not move a muscle as he approached, but Takeshi was able to determine that the man was aware of his presence. He simply continued walking by, not wanting his meats to spoil, it was best to get home quickly. However, it had been a while since something interesting had happened. His curiosity nagging him on the edge of his mind to call out. And while he managed to keep his mouth shut, his pace did slow itself.

Keisai saw the man walking by him, and how he didnt seem to want to be stopping. That was fine with him though, while he did want to talk with something besides parasites who kept babbling on about dream hosts and a matter of other things, he also needed to get back to Konoha quickly. well, he didnt NEED to, but he probably should be getting back as soon as he could. Just when the man was just about to completely pass him, his eyes shot wide open. 'Crap!' he thought to himself, and hopped off the boulder quickly. "Hey! Hold on a sec!" He called out to the guy. When he got over to him, he took about a split second to look him over. "Sorry to bother you, but I got some bad news about that meat you got in your bag there. I just wanted to warn you that there are a few parasites in it, quite deadly ones actually" He didnt mention that the fact that there were parasites in the bag was partially his fault. He paused for a second before going on. "If you want, I could get them out of there before they do too much damage to the meat"

"Excuse me??" Takeshi said with a mildly angry tone as he turned his head, the only part of his face that wasn't covered by his hood was twisted into some kind of insulted sneer. His left hand then snapped up as he directed his thumb to point at the bag. "I've been buying meat from that old lady's shop for years and never ONCE had a problem. They are high quality worthy of their own chain of meat stores. The only thing I ever get from these is absolute satisfaction". His anger almost seemed to radiate off him. There were few things Takeshi was this passionate about and when someone insulted these, he did not take it kindly laying down. Because of his sudden explosion of emotion however, it took him a moment to realize the real question at hand. Turning towards the mysterious man as he continued speaking.

"And how exactly did you know the contents of my bag? Much less..." He broke off his sentence briefly as he observed the man, he was well built, definately trained himself well. "..Know it was infected?". A loud crack could be heard from Takeshi's free hand.

Keisai didnt really react to the mans angry tone, although it was a little surprising how he got so worked up about it. He started nodding slowly in a gesture to show that he understood as he talked, acting like the angry tone wasnt there. He thought about what he said a little though, this person he was talking about sounded really good. According to him, the meat would perhaps be nothing short of perfection. It sounded like a good idea to him, and maybe he would ask this man where the store he bought the meat was at, if he was able to calm down any. When he finally asked his final question, he waved his hands in front of his face. "Hey hey, I'm sorry. I didnt mean to offend you. I just wanted to warn you about your meat there." His hands rested at his sides again, and he looked directly at the man. "And to answer your question" He said in a pleasant tone, "I'm an Abura. I communicate with Parasites directly, and interact with them the way a Aburame would. When you passed by, I suddenly felt a large number of parasites fly towards you bag, and slip through the fabric. By that time, I knew exactly what they were after." He paused for a moment again, before going on. "So, like I said, you want me to get them out before they spoil the meat?"

"Ugh, you're lucky I've heard of that clan. And that we are of the same village. Otherwise I'd break your neck the moment you tried to touch my bag". Takeshi says, his voice as well as his demenor was still quite annoyed. However, the Abura were noted to be a loyal clan to the Leaf village and there had been no record of any going rogue yet. Howver, just in case, he prepared himself. Setting down and opening the bag, he revealed near countless, prestine cuts of meat ranging from ribs to chops, steaks, cutlets and sausages. All individually wrapped and still frozen. Even if some paracite managed to get on the food, it would be difficult to get under the wrapping.

However, he did find it odd that paracites were able to fly towards a specific target. Not to mention enter his near air tight bag. Paracites relied on merely waiting for an opportunity to enter a host body. He had never heard of a kind that aggressively persued a target. And if it was able to go after his food, why not simly aim straight for his body. There was something not adding up. He crouched beside the open bag as he allowed the man to approach. Making sure he was within arms reach of the entire pile and activating his Seikuken. With it merely being the field, it would be impossible for the man to detect. However, it would allow him to react instantly if he noticed any suspicious movements and stop them in time. However, deep down, he prayed this man spoke only truth and was triely an ally. Least the meat completely spoil.

Keisai sighed sadly as the mans hostile demeanor continued. "Hey, I'm just trying to help here. Calm down a little, okay?" He asked. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands before he crouched in front of the bag. When he did so, he held both hands out in front of him. Within a few seconds, parasites started to come out of the meat in the bag, and under his sleeves. The only reason they were viewable was because they were so clustered together. He shook his head, still amazed at how fast these babies to multiply in such a short time. Even though this type of parasite was very well known to him, as it was only seen in his clan, he still didnt understand it, and was still able to be amazed by it. His face twisted up in effort as some of the parasites were not responding to his commands to come to him. He pushed harder, and they slowly started to seep out. Eventually, some of the parasites refused to go back into his body, and were gathering around his hands, trying to get back to the bag. With a face of annoyance, he quickly reached into a back pouch, and pulled out a small piece of meat, and tossed it to the side. Suddenly, all the stubborn parasites flew right to it.

When he was finally done, he sighed with a feeling of accomplishment. "Dont worry" He assured the man "Nothing has been tampered with in your meat, the extraction process did not effect anything. Your meat should be exactly the way they were when you bought them. He smiled, trying to make the man calm down, because he was slowly started to get agitated by his continuing angry mood.

Takeshi simply looked up at the man from under his hood. Which as usual, only revealed the lower half of his face, his eyes completely hidden. His expression was blank compared to its far more radical form just minutes before. "Well.." He begins as he places his hands on his knees, pushing himself upwards. "You still have your arms, so I believe you". He exhales slightly and instantly, his expression seems to gain more life. He quickly begins packing the meat back into the bag. Before it defrosted any further, or those single celled pests returned for round two. This time, he pulled the string as tight as it could possibly go. Practically sealing the opening. He then swung it back over his shoulder and looked towards the raw meat flung off in the grass. Swarms of moving white blotches covered it in a thick layer.

"You really think it wise to leave that simply lying around? If those things could sense frozen meat, where paracites cannot thrive, what would happen when that stuff runs dry on them and some unfortunate villager happens to pass by?".

Keisai smiled when the man dropped his hostile tone, and started speaking in a more normal one. He didnt have to think about his question for very long, because he was quite used to people asking him about the logic of his actions when he did stuff like this. He stood up completely and shook his head. "First of all, that is a rather small piece of meat. There are so many parasites on that single small piece of meat, that you can see them. I say it would take about 10 minutes before they have completely wasted that thing, and died out because they have no other host to jump to. So theres nothing to worry about." He looked over at the piece laying on the ground for a second, practically watching it slowly dissolve. "So" He said, turning back to look at the stranger. "We havnt introduced ourselves yet. I am Keisai Abura, pleased to meet you" He said, extending his arm.

Takeshi glares momentarily at the shrinking chunk of meat as Keisai outstretches his hand. Looking directly at him, he reaches out with his free hand and shakes. "Takeshi Asano". He says, instinctively measuring his opponent through the handshake. No matter how well one could hide their strength, to those who knew how, they could gain an estimate of their opponents strength through a mere handshake. Keisai's was quite firm, excellent grip while not overexerting. "He's somewhere close to me" Takeshi couldn't help but think as he releases his hand.

"Well, I should really take this stuff back before it goes bad, or before I'm attacked by a random aggressive parasite".

Keisai grinned as Takeshi talked about another parasite attack. "I dont think you'll need to worry about that." He said. "I'll make sure it doesnt happen again." He let his hand fall to the ground, and suddenly a bunch of information flashed through his mind. 'hmm' he hummed softly as he thought about something. "I dont think its going to go bad now. Believe it or not, the species of parasite that just attacked your meat actually gives off a kind of chemical that makes what its around stop from going bad completely. It does this so that it can take its time with the meat in question. Better still, it has no negative effect whatsoever on the meat, in fact, its actually been known to make the meat taste better. Before you ask, this parasite belongs to the Abura clan, so to speak. It can only live inside an Abura's body, unless commanded otherwise. Well, not for very long at least. Most people get really confused when they see these parasites, because they've never seen an Abura use on before." He grinned again. "Anyway, could you tell me where you got the meat from? You made it out to seem pretty tasty, and you've got me anxios to try it out"

"Its run by a little mom and pop shop in the town just south of here. I got the last of their stock so they are going to be out for the next two months while they raise a new batch of livestock. They rely heavily upon sales from the holiday to get themselves through the difficult growing season". Takeshi explains, turning his head away as he did. "But if you really are curious..." He begins, completely turning on the spot now. He was never good at these kind of things, he always felt shy and uneasy whenever he attempted to ask things of others. While he could hide it in his voice, he always found himself unable to look at others when he did so. "I could hold a cookout or something. I'm trying to attract people to my dojo for a while now. Hasn't worked yet though".

"Sounds interesting" Keisai said in response to the talk of the meat shop. "Seems to me like they're a good family trying to get by." He paused for a minute, and closed his eyes. When he spoke again, his eyes were still closed. "I respect people like that greatly. Even in the face of financial danger, they still pull through and come out as best they can." He opened his eyes, and yet another grin was on his face. "Even still, they are able to get the best meat around." He chuckled a little. "But anyway" He started again, moving on to the question at hand, "A cookout sounds good." He walked up besides Takeshi and looked sideways at him. "In all honesty, I havnt had any real good food in awhile now, and if your going to be using meat like that, it sounds like just the thing I need. Give me a date and a location, and I'll be there, for sure."

"Well, its scheduled a week from today". Takeshi replies as he turns and begins to walk off. "I still need to get everything preped and ready for a guided tour of the place, as well as pick up some other ingredients for the meal" With a quick shifting of his body, he pulls his bag into a more comfortable position over his shoulder. He does not speak again until he reaches the edge of the clearing. "My dojo is located in the southwestern section of the village. You'll be able to see it from somewhere high easiest. Trust me, the place looks old and old fashioned in its design". As he finished his sentence, he merely waits on the spot, seeing if Keisai had anything else he wanted to say.