Kinaga was lying back in the middle of the open looking up at the sky, which had barely any clouds today. Does that mean I can summon storms without jutsu...? It's worth a try, I guess.... Kinaga sat up and looked at the clouds above. How do I do this now? Kinaga looked down and took a breath and sighed. When he sighed his breath came out visible. Thunder crashed above and when Kinaga looked up, there were large storm clouds covering the entire sky. Lightning...? he thought, partially to test it out. Lightning flashed above him. Kinaga's eyes widened half in shock, half in amazement. I really am a Mizuraki.....

"Oh that's new, where'd you learn that from," he a voice asked sarcastially. Rumiko walked from behind a tree. "Impressive, you didn't even need to use jutsu. Kind of reminds me of the Mizuraki Clan," he said stopping about six feet away from Kinaga. "Tell me sensei, where did you learn that from. Are you trying to learn and manipulate theire jutsu like they tried to do your curse mark?" He asked in a voice that was hard to read. "Or are you one of them," he asked still using that unreasonable voice.

Kinaga looked at Rumiko, half in shock. He hadn't even realized he'd been there that whole time. Rain started dripping down softly from the sky. "R-Rumiko," he said, then laughed a little. "I didn't even notice you were there. You must be getting better at that, aren't you?" he said, purposefully changing the subject. After all, how could he tell him something that would bring to light that he'd wiped out his own clan? (omg, this poor guy, first he tries to wipe out a clan that was trying to wipe out his clan and the Stealth valley, then he finds out that the clan he wiped out was really his own! could anything else happen to this poor guy?!)

(lol, he's got it bad.)

Rumiko narrowed his eyes. "I'm older now, you pick those kinds of things up over the years," he said. "Now, please feel free to get back on subject anytime. That was ver impresive, where'd you learn it?" He asked.

(ya think? lol)

Kinaga frowned and looked down. What should I tell him....? I've already lost his trust once before by not telling him the truth....I won't let it happen again.... Kinaga looked at Rumiko and said casually and with little emotion "I didn't learn it. Apparently it comes naturally to me." Kinaga held back a sigh. Just thinking about the extinction of the Mizuraki clan depressed him now.

Rumiko just looked at Kinaga for sevearl long minutes. "No suprise that you were apart of the clan," he said. "At first I thought you were from the Storm Village," he said nonchalantly. "But then that they when you absorbed the lightning, it was just like the guy with the fire symbol." He said. "I'm very good at obsevring."

Kinaga looked down. "So you figured it out huh?" Kinaga looked away, his eyes slowly filled with tears. He gave a small laugh, still looking away from Rumiko. "I wiped out my own clan and I didn't even realize it....Now I'm beginning to remember why I didn't want to become a ninja in the first place...."

Rumiko grinned lightly. "Well maybe you should quit," he said slowly. "But just know it wouldn't change anything. What's done is done, let the past go Kinaga. Live. You're lucky to have gotten a secone chnace," he said with no hint of sympthay in his voice.

A tear rolled slowly down the side of his face. "It's...it's just not that easy for me Rumiko..." He closed his eyes, sighed and looked at Rumiko. "I'm responsible for the extinction of an entire clan. That's bad enough, but to top that....it was my mother's clan..."

"Yeah, and I was responsible for the death of my brother and my sisters sensei. Does it looked like I'm tearing up over it," he said. (He hadn't mentioned the death of JM's sensei earlier.) "Those were past events," he said. "Get over them."

Kinaga sighed. "You weren't responsible for...." How many times am I gonna have to tell him that before he actually listens to me....? "You're right Rumi, the past is the past. It's over now no matter what happens..." he looked at Rumiko and gave a light smile. "For the single purpose of changing the subject, even if I wanted to stop being a ninja, it would be impossible for me to do now anyways." Kinaga gave a small laugh and said. "You wouldn't believe what I wanted to be when I was younger. It'd be impossible for me to imagine it now though."

Rumiko looked uninterested. "That's nice to know," he said blankly. Not like I care though. He shrugged. "Glad to know you're staying a ninja."

Kinaga looked at Rumiko and tilted his head a little. "You sure about that?" He gave a light smile. He could tell that 20 years had done quite alot of damage between the two of them.

Rumiko looked at Kinaga. "Of course I am sensei," he said with a grin. "Why wouldn'd I be. The day of your return as so shocking I broke down into tears," he said with a smile. "I really thought you were dead. You were the best sensei I'd ever met, why would I not want you to stay a shinobi."

Kinaga looked at Rumiko, a slight bit of shock showing on his face. He grinned. "Thanks Rumi." I don't think I've ever had one of my students say anything like that before... Kinaga looked at Rumiko. "Rumiko, I don't think I had a chance to ask you, but, why did you become a ninja?"

Rumiko looked at Kinaga. "Because I wanted to prove that I was just as good as Okimur," he said. His voice was blank. No anger, no sadness, nothing, it was just empty. (I finally found a word for it!)

Kinaga looked at Rumiko and smiled. "Well you turned out to be a terrific ninja, Rumi." He looked up at the sky. "I'm a bit surprised though. You aren't angry that I didn't tell you I was a Mizuraki?"

"Well you said you didn't know," Rumiko said looking off to the side. "Why would I get mad over something we both didn't know. Besides, it was quite a shock the first time we found out," he said.

Kinaga continued looking up, with a light smile now. "Yeah, you have a point." He sighed. "I wonder...." he said quietly, looking at the clouds.

A grin spread across Rumiko's face. Too easy, he though. He looked to the sky. "What's so important up there," he asked.

Kinaga looked at Rumiko. "I was just thinking. None of the handsigns my mother taught me for storm jutsu were actually real jutsu, now that I think about it. The only real jutsu I know is probably Lightning Death. I don't get why I didn't notice it earlier. I've been controlling the weather since I was a little kid," he said with a laugh.

Rumiko looked down at Kinaga. "How interesting," he said. "Does anyone in your Clan know you're back besides your father," he asked.

Kinaga looked at Rumiko. I don't think that I mentioned anything about him... He shrugged. "Not that I know of. But if they did and if they knew that I knew I'm a Mizuraki, they'd be after me in a heartbeat, I'm pretty sure."

"What a shame that you're going through all this. Must be stressful," Rumiko said without any hint of sadness for his former sensei.

Kinaga shrugged. "I probably brought it upon myself for not realizing it in the first place, so even if it is stressful, it's my fault anyways." He sighed, stood up, and stretched. "Oh well, like you said, the past is the past, all I can do now is focus on what I can do for the Stealth now that I am back."