Kings and Queens among the Springs

Jo:

All the while during his travels, there had been one thing that eluded him: A hot bath. Even on his arrival in Cloud, he had been denied the freedom of visiting the Hot Springs due to their distance and his even more sudden departure a day later. With Ming's bag securely fastened around his torso, he continued to navigate the foreign village with strange ease, striding down streets like he knew where they led, taking random shortcuts that he didn't know the end results to, but they felt right.

Buildings slowly began to shrink, the second stories vanishing after a certain point to single-story abodes, and it was in an instant where he paused. He had noticed something...

The air carried a certain quality to it, something his body knew all too well as a humidity change consistent with the thing he loved most: Hot Springs.

Understanding came with his spontaneous guidance of the village, but to be able to pick up on the changes in the air so far away from the springs themselves was still quite odd; shinobi or not. His pace slowed as he walked down the streets, watching people as they strolled by to another part of their village. Some opted to give Joji a smile or a kind greeting in passing by, but there were a handful that just looked at him oddly, like he was some sort of leper that didn't belong, and that feeling of homesickness crept up into his stomach again. What had his village council been thinking when they appointed him Kage? Shiryou had been picked first, but there was no way he had been second in line, ahead of the other Sennin that were far more experienced in the ways of politics and the world itself.

Not thinking about his own problems, he continued his path to the end of the street, and he could clearly see the bamboo fences he was sure were part of the hot springs. All his feelings of dread and not belonging melted away at the mere thought of soaking in an onsen. Rounding a corner, he spotted what he was confidently thought was the entrance, noticing the nice material of the structure itself. As he approached, there was a young woman with bright, red hair sweeping up, and, as if by his arriving, she tripped on a branch she backed into. Taking in a split second breath, he coursed chakra through his entire body, and was underneath the female, kneeling as he caught her in both arms.

Her startled scream was cut short as she realized she would hit the ground.

The bright purple orbs of the young woman looked up to see Joji smiling down upon her, and he slowly stood up, setting her back down on her feet. Immediately, her face flushed a deep shade of crimson, and she titled her head away in an attempt to hide it.

"Arigato..."

Rubbing the back of his head, he grinned sheepishly, "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Something else Joji soon noticed was the drop in the temperature, and from the entrance of the springs emerged three figures. One was another female, garbed in a white coat, blue jeans, and had flowing, raven-colored hair down to her waist. At either of her sides was a wolf, both of which remained rigid, waiting for the order to attack.

"Is everything alright here, Chiaki-chan?" The woman's gaze was so intense, Joji could actually feel it as she looked him over; it was intimidating and Joji was capable of sinking ships with his bare hands.

Chiaki nodded, "Everything is fine. This stranger here just caught me as I was tripping."

Joji had noticed the term he was referred by and felt silly for a moment before bowing to all of those present, "Gomen, gomen. My name is Isakura Joji, Onsenkage to Yugakure no Sato."

Both of them looked at him, almost astounded at the title, Rikka hid her amazement will, though.

"So, Jo-kun, would you be interested in a soak?"

Reaching into his pocket, he crinkled the remainder of his money, letting out a sigh, knowing full well it wouldn't be enough to afford a soak at such an establishment; again, his ignorance at knowing how useful his title could be soon proved him wrong. Rikka took notice of the reaction, smiling, an icy, knowing smile.

"Onsenkage-kun not have any money on him? I'm sure we could arrange something, and from the looks of it, you need a place to stay too." The traveling bags slung across his form was an obvious giveaway, ignoring the fact that one belonged to Ming.

Chiaki scrambled off, past the trio in the doorway, knowing that Rikka would handle the business at hand. Shrugging, there wasn't really anything he could say against her. She had nailed him.

"What's your offer?"

Both of the canines had left their master's side, circling Joji, sniffing him slowly, as if trying to make heads or tails of him. They whined quietly from time to time, as if something seemed off but neither could place it no matter how hard they tried. Eventually, they took to Rikka's side once more. With a single, slender had, the Haku pointed at the broom Chiaki had left near him, "Finish sweeping and come inside. We can talk." She blew him a kiss, and his cheeks went red. He quickly turned away, picking up the broom so she wouldn't notice; ignoring the fact it was impossible to miss.

Completely ignoring the fact that he could have surely negotiated his way into a free soak, Joji just didn't have the ability to smooth talk someone so well off in that area, and not so much minding doing some work for a favor in return, he started to sweep the entryway to the onsen, whistling a merry tune as the strokes of the broom moved him around the stone pathway.

A Kage doing chores. There wasn't something one saw everyday.


Yuii:

The swaying motion was making her tummy sick. The last orange had run out that morning and she was beginning to feel a little bit hungry and those hunger pains carried over. Shouldn't they be there already, she had heard something along those lines but more peaceful swaying had made her want to take a nap and so she had. There were lots of soft things to nap on and the sound of water had lulled her most of the trip. When the rooms on the ship had gone quiet she had creeped out and stolen a bit of food; it was her good luck the the rooms owner didn't stay in there for two nights. No the third there was a wonderful lullaby that lasted all night. She had stayed hidden under a pile of clothes, eaten her bag of cookies and dreamed nice dreams. She would marry a man with a voice like that, just you wait and see.

But now she wanted out, she wanted to stretch her legs and surprise everyone with how great of a ninja she was! Surely they would be surprised. The bag on Joji's shoulder twitched and wiggled.

Pon Pon

Suddenly the flap flew up and impossibly Yui's little head popped out and atop her sleep messed, unwashed hair a rascally looking stuffed wolf. The blue eyed, blue hair child blinked at and wiped away the gooey sleep caked on the corners of her eyes. She blinked again, trying to adjust to the light and stretched her arms over her head. She didn't seem to notice Joji yet.

"Uwwaahh bright... where are we Renren!?" There was much more of Yuii then thee was space to the bag and all of a sudden her full weight was on the strap. It hadn't been there before, surely not. The wolf slipped from her head and went on a flying crash course for the ground with one hundred percent collision possible. Yuii squeaked and dove after him, causing herself to tumble out of the bag. In her defense, she tumbled in a heap while avoiding hitting her head or scraping her knees but she did sit stunned for a moment. Then, she held 'Renren up to her grubby little nose and wrinkles her finger, "Oh, you stink!"

Then she noticed Joji and her face lit up like the sun. "Jo-nii! I hid!" Yuii declared proudly while standing. She brushed off the dust of the road, she had fallen into his dust pile, from her already grimy clothes then stood up. Her little face stretched into a great big grin, the entirety of her face caked in food that had not quite reached her mouth. Her hands were no better and her clothes had seen better days. The little star bag from before was still firmly in place around her neck and now that they had popped out one could see she had used Joji's coat made blanket as a sleeping bag for most of the trip. It wasn't nearly as dirty as she was though.

All in all there was Yuii, a stow away in need of an immediate bath. One had to admire the patience usually unheard of in a small child.

And then her eyes focused on the bag and she realized the Ming wasn't around. Her eyes went wide, almost brimming with tears and her lip stuck out, "U-uwah where is Nii!? Where is Oba? Uwaah Jo-niiiiiii!!"

Jo:

For some odd reason, Joji took a certain pleasure from sweeping the dirt, dust, and leaves off the path, making it look as pristine as the water in the pools it led people to. Back home, it wasn't odd to see Sennin, Council members, or even the Kage out in the farmer's fields helping till soil, plant seeds, or help harvest the crops. Life was easy when people didn't have hang ups like rank and stature weighing them down, people got along, people were happy. So far, everywhere he had seen, some people just thought themselves better, and it disgusted him on such a level that people wouldn't have the slightest bit of common courtesy to show to strangers; unless their title warranted it.

Seeing that he was nearly done, he started to gather everything into a pile to toss it away when her heard a tiny voice and the weight on his back seemed to increase. Suddenly, the burden on his back seemed to melt away, and he rotated himself on one foot, staring at the child observing her stuffed animal.

It was Yuii.

While he didn't let his face or body language betray him, he was in absolute shock on the inside. It only took a second for him to come to the realization she had been in the bag the entire time and that she had been in harm's way numerous times.

Wait....was that why Ming was so attached to it?

At first, judging by how well he knew the Kage's Assistant, he had assumed the weight to be all of her clothes, shoes, and other trinkets she insisted on having, but it having it be her little sister fit rather well. Again, he concealed his emotions, only this time it was anger towards Ming. If she knew about this, then it was so irresponsible that it infuriated Joji.

Then Yuii finally noticed the young Kage staring at her.

Now it was whether or not she hid in collaboration with her Sister's help or not that he wondered about.

Letting a soft smile grace his features, he just looked upon Yuii, shaking his head slowly, "Yuii-chan, you silly girl." And before he could ask any questions in an attempt to figure out exactly where she had come from, she became teary-eyed with desire for her Sister and Kiyo. Taking in a deep breath, he knelt down next to the young, whimpering child, and scooped her up in his arms, supporting her effortlessly.

With a beaming smile, knowing it would be a great way to disarm the little girl, he provided a partially true explanation for her, "They're getting ready for a big meeting with other people like your Oba, and besides!" He started, "Nii-chan and Oba will just fuss if they see you so dirty. How about we clean you and Renren up, get you a new dress, and I can take you to see your Nii and Oba, okay?"

Again, going off of nothing more than pure, gut instinct, he brought two fingers of his free hand to his mouth, and blew, a subdued whistle leaving that was more of a high hum. However, what it produced was the same pair of canines from earlier, trotting out of the springs, their tails wagging excitedly, but when upon their arrival, they seemed perplexed to just see the same person from before. Shira, being wiser than most adults in her age, was starting to gain an inclination, and she approached Joji and Yuii, Mako trailing just behind.

"And we have new friends to meet, Yuii-chan!"

Shira, being of a generous size for her breed, hopped up on her hind legs, using Joji as a brace and licked at Yuii's food caked face, being as nice or kind as any puppy. The white wolf, Mako remained indifferent, as per usual with strangers she didn't know, but remained sitting and watching. The gray wolf hopped down, and walked half way back to the Springs, barking before disappearing through the portal, Mako in tow. Joji followed, and as he passed through the threshold, he found himself in a nicely decorated lobby, polished bamboo made up most of the walls, all the furniture a wood probably native to the village, it was stained a warm brown.

The woman from earlier was behind the front desk, and she watched as Joji carried in a rather dirty little girl in his arms. Chiaki moved out from behind the desk, and leaned forward to look at Yuii, she too had a warm smile spread across her lips.

"And who might you be, cutey pie?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he grinned before replying, "This is my little nee, Yuii-chan. She seems to be in dire need of a bath and a new change of clothes."

Chiaki tittered at the comment, as it was quite obviously true gazing at the child the Onsenkage held, but she hesitated only because Joji hadn't been spoken with Rikka yet, who had disappeared somewhere farther into the establishment. That was when Shira moved up next to Chiaki, and with a few grunts and huffs, the young woman seemed to pause in thought, but eventually nodded, as if understanding the wolf's noises as speech. Still excited, Shira seemed to bounce around the duo, as if she wished to play if given the chance. With a pet of her head, Joji settled the wolf down as Chiaki motioned for them to follow.

"See, Yuii-chan? Everyone is so nice here~ We'll get you cleaned up and off to see Nii in no time~"

They stopped in front of a wooden sliding door, that which the hostess opened and waved them in. It was a single, walled off spring from the rest; a private onsen. Joji imagined he'd be paying for it later down the road when the owner discovered, but that wasn't his concern right now. Stepping in, he set Yuii down on the small wooden bench and turned to Chiaki, "I know I have no right to ask this of you, but if you could find a suitable change of clothes for Yuii and bring in something to eat, I would be most appreciative. I'll pay you back for everything, I promise."

"This time, I'll save you, Isakura-san." Again, she let out a soft titter, nodding to his request and walked off to do her errands.

Meanwhile, before he could close the door, the gray wolf from earlier slid into the onsen, a few towels draped across its back, and a bottle of bathing soap in its mouth. Joji took the towels, laying them on the bench next to Yuii and set the bottle near the spring's edge. Kneeling down once more, he pet the wolf and fumbled around its neck, trying to find its tag. He turned something up eventually, and was surprised to see what was, he imagined, a forehead protector at some point, bent and shaped into a small medallion, the name Shira etched under the leaf symbol.

"Arigato, Shira-chan. You have been most gracious of a hostess." The wolf sat down, giving a pleased bark.

Finally, Joji turned back to look at Yuii, still forcing the urge down to ask her what she had been thinking.

"So Yuii-chan, would you like me to give Renren a bath too? While I'm doing that, you can take a bath in here, and when Chiaki-chan returns with your new, I'm sure very pretty, dress, we can go see Nii-chan and Oba, okay? But not until you do." Of course, he had to assert himself somewhere. What a mess this was turning out to be, but perhaps it was better that Yuii hadn't spilled out with Kiyo nearby and in her stern mood, it might have been for the best Joji pulled his little stunt.

Yuii:

Twin streaks of tears trailed down Yuii's face before Joji could get his full explanation out. It didn't matter now anyways, she had wanted to surprise her Sister and Auntie with how clever she could be, how grown up. They would tell her she was a good little ninja, Kiyo would give her cookie and let her play with Maru and then they would say yes and let her go to school. There would be other kids there, bigger more impressive kids that would play with her and there would be a teacher to teach her new things. Yuii liked to learn, most of the time, and she loved to play.

"But, Yuii wa-" her words turned into babble then as she clutched Renren to her chest with one chubby arm while she scrubbed at her eyes with her free hand. She blubbered and whimpered as it slowly dawned on her what exactly it was he had said; they would go find her family but only after a bath for her and Renren. Nii had told her to take the very best care of Renren, she couldn't let her see him dirty! The sniffles all but stopped and slowly she nodded her head in agreement, "I like baths."

And then Joji called the big puppies that looked just like Renren but huge! So big in fact, that when Shira first approached she attempted to wiggle free of Joji to escape what could only be a snarly, snappy death. but Joji's calmness over allowing the wolf to approach and even hop up to give her a kiss made Yuii bolder and she even laughed over the feel of the wolf's tongue, "It tickles!"

Yuii stared behind herself at the wolves because she was still too young to appritiate the building they entered and too delighted that their new friends would follow so tamely. She held up Renren so that he could watch them too, and even made him bark in her high pitched little girl's voice at the wolves; the effort made her body jump.

Oh but there was a pretty lady here too now and she was nice. Yuii swung her head around and grinned at Chiaki. Her eyes were still red with her earlier bout of tears and her right pigtail had come loose with that final head twist but that didn't keep Yuii from being one of the cutest little girls around.

"Nuuu, Yuii will give Renren his bath! Nii said to take care of Renren, he's special, and he get's scared without me." Even the little girl knew they might get into a fight over this, so she opted to end the argument before it might begin. She slipped over the opposite side of the bench and ran over the slick floors like she meant to find a place to hide, that was until she got close to the water. "I love baths!" clutching Renren tight against her chest, Yuii made a dive for the hot springs pool with clothing on and all, since he had, after all, told her to go ahead. Despite her age, Yuii was a good little swimmer and once the immediate confusion from her jumping in like that passed she could be seen paddling in circles chasing Renren who was carried away by her own movements.

jo:

Fortunately, in the end, it seemed Yuii was happy enough to take her bath; even if it was fully clothed and with her stuffed animal. That just left the mystery of finding out how she got there and if anyone knew about it. Brushing a stray strand of hair behind one of his ears, he suddenly paused, watching the little girl play around in the water, that he had his ear piece radio with him still. It had never occurred to him to ask to see if either of his companions carried radios or had personal frequencies. Shaking his head, feeling foolish, he figured he might as well seek out the owner of the springs to see if he could cut a deal with her before she found him on her property without having paid.

"Yuii-chan, you wash properly, and I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." Feeling as if he knew he could do this, he looked to the large gray wolf in the room, "Shira-chan, please keep an eye on her while I seek out your owner." The wolf huffed an acknowledgment and wagged her tail to confirm the order. Joji still hadn't understood why the canines were so obedient with him, but he couldn't complain all that much.

Sliding the door open, he stepped out into the hallway and shut it behind him. Now being faced with three different halls, he didn't know which to go down, or even the proper one to take back to the front. Letting out a sigh, two duplicates appeared on either of his sides, and they all split off down different paths, all hoping to come across someone that could help them in their quest to discover the Manager.

The real Jo had passed a hall, and that was when the other wolf from the duo appeared, walking along his side, not quite giving him any sort of clue that it even knew he was there; this one seemed less receptive to Joji than the other, much older wolf. Stopping at one hall, he was able to gaze down either hall on his side and spot his clones. Sighing once more, both clones poofed. That was when something nudged his leg, and when he looked down, he saw it had been the other canine pushing him along, trying to guide him the right way.

Finally, the young Kage emerged at the end of a long corridor where it was blocked off by a paper door with a sign hanging from it that read "Under Construction". The wolf pushed the door open and went in. Not knowing any better, Joji followed behind the creature, closing the door behind him, but as he returned his gaze forward, he was met with the owner staring at him not more than six inches away from his own face. He fell backwards, threatening to crash through the door when he flicked his wrist and pushed himself back up to a standing position.

She smelt of wild flowers.

Rikka took note of the technique, interested in his abilities.

"You are quite the specimen, aren't you, Onsenkage-kun? Super fit, probably trained beyond most shinobi, and a tiger in the sheets, I'm sure."

Instantly, Joji's cheeks flared a deep beet red, but there was nothing he could do to hide it since she had him cornered. Her gaze was vicious, almost as if she would devour him with her eyes alone, and the feeling made his skin crawl; the thought of it in itself was laughable considering who Joji once had been.

Gulping hard, he maintained his lock with Rikka's eyes, at least keeping up his composure, "I've come to discuss terms with you. I need a place to stay, and I thought we could come to an agreement."

Stepping back, giving Joji some breathing room, she giggled at his current state, not knowing to find it cute of pitiful. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he managed to reduce his current shade from beet to cherry blossom, and with one more breath he spoke again, "Coming from a village that started as a traveler's resort, I know my way around hot springs, and, judging by your back area here," He looked past her to see that there were building supplies and raw materials lying around, "You are in the middle of building something. I am a son to a Masonry and a Blacksmith. There's not metal nor any stone I can't work with."

Rikka's arms had crossed under her bust, pushing her bosoms a bit higher, and while a common position for some females, she was doing it to see if she couldn't further fluster her visitor. However, despite her desire to continue make the Kage uncomfortable, she was interested in how he could help her; he seemed more than capable.

Joji continued speaking, "You get free labor and craftsman services and I get to stay on the premise for the duration of my stay. I say that's more than fair." By the time he had finished, his face had lost all its off coloring, and he was finally becoming of someone who bore the title Kage.

Thinking for a moment, not giving the Onsenkage any signs or tells for him to judge her thoughts, she finally gave a low laugh, almost menacing in its own right.

"You have a deal, Jo-kun. For the duration of your stay, you are to do as I tell you, when I tell you to, understood?"

The way she stated it, it made it seem like she was enjoying having the control over someone with a bit of stature. However, Joji, being the simple person that he is, had no issue with that, willing to work like any other commoner earning his pay.

"Understood, and may I have name?" He extended his hand for a shake, as a way to seal the deal. Rikka took it, but suddenly jerked him towards her and in a fleeting moment, they were pressed up against each other, Rikka's icy cold lips pressed up against his cheek for a quick moment and she uttered but one thing, "You may call me Rikka-san."

With her words said, she let the Kage go, smiling at him knowingly, and she exited the same way he had come in. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in, he looked down to the wolf who had remained with him, oddly enough. The creature rolled its eyes and left after its master, almost as if mocking him; these beasts were far more intelligent than an average wolf.

"Oi. Are people in every village crazy?"

And while Joji attempted to steady himself, Shira was still in the bath, watching as Yuii splashed around in a manner not often seen in a hot spring. The wolf crept up on her stomach, creeping across the slick stones quietly as any other ninja could, her head now hanging over the edge of the pool where she watched Yuii chase after her toy in the water.

Giving a soft bark, the wolf pushed the bottle she had brought in with her into the springs. An obvious enough sign that she was trying to get Yuii to use it so that she should properly clean herself. Even the pets here were as demanding as most parents!

Yuii:

Yuii hardly noticed at first that Joji was gone. Renren was doing a fine job of getting away from her and the little girl, despite her age, swam like a fish. Undoubtably that was Ming’s influence, not Haku could let a child they were raising go without being able to swim and she would have been embarrassed to be the first. At last Yuii finally figured out that Ren was using the water she was pushing to swim faster, clever wolfy, and she chased him to the side of the pollinated of in a circle and the deal was done. That took about ten minutes.

Then she noticed Joji was gone and she stared around herself, a little lost as to what to do, while clutching the edge of the pool.  The big puppy(no she was a big Renren!) was still there watching her but she wasn’t coming in to play at all so that was no fun. There were no toys in the huge bath to play with besides Renren but he wasn’t here just to play, he needed to be clean. She settled for holding the edge of the hot spring and kicking her legs as hard as she could, like Nii had taught her, and then marvelling over how much watch she could splash around that way. She must have legs as strong as Jo-Nii!

But that got old fast. Her dress was getting heavy from the water and she was starting to get tired. There was soap and stools and buckets over there, she could get clean while Joji wasn’t around to see all her womanly virtues…or that’s what Oba called them. The choice was fairly easy, she didn’t want to be in the hot water anymore. It strained her arms and her leg slipped once but Yuii was able to climb from the pool without injury. Briefly she entertained the idea of bothering the huge wolf, but she was a fair bit more terrifying without Jo-Nii there to hold her up high and protect her. Renren wasn’t forgotten either, she dragged him along by his back leg to the stools and flopped him down on the one beside her.

First she removed the sopping wet clothes, jo-nii said she would get a new pretty dress, and she left those in a pile beside her stool. Then she sat down on her stool and gingerly turned to Renren.

“Bath time Renren, don’t forget to wash between your toes and behind your ears!” one had to wonder over the practicality of leaving a young child to fend for herself by a large body of water but Yuii was fairly self sufficient at this point. She started with Renren, whom was just an awful mess, and started to soap him up from nose to tail.

“Yuii is such a good momma, isn’t she Renren?” she cooed gently in her high pitched child voice at her stuffed animal, and in her child’s eyes the glass marble eyes were warm and  happy with only her. He was looking much cleaner, the bits of food she had tried to feed him had come out very well, and eventually Yuii was able to spray him off with the shower and then wring him out. She knew better, Renren didn’t need another soak so she settled him on the bench to dry.

Again Yuii eyed the big wolf, but her nervously went back to her stool instead of bothering her. She started at the job of cleaning herself off, it wasn’t’ that hard ,but somewhere between scrubbing her toes and her face she realized that there wasn’t anyone there to wash her back or help her rinse her hair out like Nii always did. Oba wouldn’t be there to play with her awhile or tell her stories while they soaked. Like a wave, her earlier sadness over her big sister’s absence came crashing down and Yuii reacted typically for such crushing sadness.

It started with her eyes and nose which steadily got redder as she fought back the tears. Then her nose began to run, and she sniffled hard and scrubbed at it with the back of her hand. Eventually the tears escaped, she sobbed once and that was the signal to let loose.

“UWAAAAAAAH NIII-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Jo:

Having thoroughly rattled the Onsenkage, Rikka moved through the halls of the springs with the utmost confidence, nothing different from her usual swagger she displayed. Mako had found her way to Rikka's side, and they both traversed the halls with ease, it being their home after all. It was when Mako stiffened that the Haku paid her any direct attention. With quickened paces, Mako led her Master to the disturbance. Ordering Mako to remain outside the door, she slid it open and stepped inside to find Shira, keeping her distance, and a weeping child that she didn't recognize.

While dubbed an Ice Queen by most of the men in Konoha, Rikka did have a somewhat more soft side for kids that she didn't let get out; it would ruin her reputation otherwise.

Kneeling next to the near naked child, her dark-blue lips parted into a warm smile.

"No tears." With a slow wave of her hand, the droplets streaming down Yuii's cheek lifted from her skin and hovered in the air between the two; an ability that may seem familiar to the young child. Soon, they froze and began spinning around them, the air started to sparkle as it condensed slightly, the air in the room remaining pleasantly warm, "Are you okay, hun?"

A dainty finger brushed away a newly formed tear, and it was almost hard to believe that the woman before Yuii was even Rikka. The Haku's eyes looked to Shira, but the wolf gave a huff that seemed dismissive, a sign that nothing had happened, that it had been completely spontaneous and out of the wolf guardian's control.

As for Joji, he was still in the back, taking his sweet time looking over the remaining rooms to see what kind of work needed to be done, but he was quite surprised when he stumbled across a hall of rooms, all completely furnished and ready to house guests to stay for however long they needed. Something told him he would be staying in the back, being made to work and sleep in the same area. Ideal, ironic as it may be, for the young Kage as it would make sure he always knew where the work needed to be done.

Yuii:

Yuii had slipped from her stool and sat cross legged on the floor whileshe bawled her eyes out. Somehow sitting on the floor made crying all the more right, or perhaps it was the comforting fact the she was one curled spine and a lay down on the floor from the ever easing fetal position.

Her fine baby thin blue hair had curled as it dried in the moisture of the springs so that it stuck up in odd angles where it was not pasted to her sticky face. It didn’t take long for her pale complexion to turn her nose, cheeks, eyes and ears a bright pink that bordered on red.  Otherwise, she was naked as the day she had been bored, with only her freckles, (exactly one hundred and forty-four) marking her pale baby fat covered little body.

Shira didn’t come to comfort her, which was probably for the best considering her mixed feeling about the wolf. it hadn’t yet dawned on her that crying at all wasn’t going to fix her problem. It would happen eventually; Yuii was mature for her age, but for now she expected at any moment for her big sister to come through the door and rock her back to happiness or for her Auntie to come in and sing her something soothing. She would, of course, settle for Jo-nii but as much as she had grown to like him he wasn’t family yet.

Someone did come, well she was crying pretty loudly, but she wasn’t anyone at all familiar to Yuii. This lady reminded Yuii of a big, huge purple butterfly and she might have told her that if she didn’t have more pressing concerns at that exact moment.

"Nii washes my back-" she hiccuped loudly and rubbed at her eyes hard with the back of her hands then tried to take in a shaking breath but it ended up ending with a loud sob. Another breath, this time more successful and she tried to scrunch her face up to stop her tears. It only made her look like an angry Koi, but funny faces while upset were a fact of life. Like one of the gods decided to make sympathisers jobs as difficult as possible. Finally she ventured to speak again, her little voice low and filled with childlike sorrow.

“Yuii d-doesn’t want to be all alone,” she confessed with a sniffle, her eyes focusing on the familiar manipulation of water and ice. “Nii likes to play around with water too“, she said finally in a quite voice while making a swipe at the crystallized tears. They were pretty, one day she would learn to do that too. Nii would teach her, she had to teach her and that was that. When she was bigger of course,but Yuii was determined to be big very, very soon.

“Jo-nii will be mad, he said to be good and I cried. I didn’t want to cry, I really, really didn’t. Don’t tell Jo-nii! He’ll tell Nii and Oba and then… then bad!”

Jo:

It was after she had started grabbing for the tears, did any extras decided to escape her ducts, would they just float away into a sparkling crystal. Rikka figured if the little girl knew someone that had Haku blood, then constantly using her abilities may be of some comfort to her. Apparently, her guardian was the same Kage she had just scare witless in the back of her own establishment, and leaving her by herself was risky, even with Shira remaining in the room.

"Don't worry, Yuii-chan. You won't get in any trouble...Not that I can say the same for your Nii..." The last bit was under her breath, but her intent was clear. Despite everything, she knew that this little girl needed a female companion for a little bit; Joji may have been able to fill the void, but it wouldn't be the same as another woman figure doing it.

"Rikka-chan will wash your back, Yuii-chan." Carefully, she removed the white coat she had been wearing, the one so carefully marked with the Med-nin symbol from the Konohagakure Hospital, and picked up a wet wash cloth, "We ladies have to be clean and look beautiful. Hehe, come on." She gestured to the stool.

All the while, Joji had found his way back to the spring, but had spotted the white wolf resting outside the door, an obvious sign that Rikka was present inside. After the slight awkwardness with the wolf, Joji leaned up against the wall, listening intently as Rikka entertained Yuii. There wouldn't be any sense in interrupting them, especially if it kept Yuii calmed down.

What else was a guy to do?

Yuii:

Yuii stared down her little nose at the strange woman who had appeared so suddenly to comfort her. She was like a more attractive, older version of her big sister and while there was none of the family connect there to comfort her, the similarities were just enough to keep her calm and happy. Of course, Yuii was used to being handed off to baby sitters all the time, it was just that at this point she hadn’t gotten a huge from her Big sister in almost two weeks. Her young mind couldn’t have fathomed the idea of waiting over a month for Nii or Oba’s return. There were only so many play dates, so many sleep over and so many games a child could play before she began to miss their family. To Yuii, who assumable had no family, Ming and Kiyo were everything.

She breathed a great big sigh of relief when she was told she wouldn’t get in trouble, her voice filled with child like relief, “That’s good, I don’t like trouble. No fussing, no fussing but Yuii doesn’t like to be alone.” she finished her words with a swipe at the floating crystals. She couldn’t help it, they were shiny.

The idea of getting her back washed was pleasing thought ,and she complied by hopping back into her stool to let herself be washed. She even tried not to wiggle and laugh to much, since the cloth tickled, since she just wasn’t sure if Rikka would like her if she did. After that she insisted on rinsing herself off because she could do it herself, and did an alright job of it though if her big sister would have let her normally was up to questioning. All the while she babbled about Renren and how she was supposed to protect him, how she had been very, very sneaky and about how Jo-nii had promised her a nice dress. She continuously brought up her Nii and Oba, though sometimes Oba was plural while other times it was one distinct person. She talked about another woman’s son and how he always bullied her when she went to play with them and boldly she claimed she would marry Jo-nii, he was the only nice boy around.

And through it all she yawned constantly and rubbed at her eyes sleepily. At one point her stomach even growled loudly and eventually , when she fell into silence, it was with the grumpy ait of a child in need of a bit of food and a long sleep. “Rikka, where is Jo-nii?”

Jo:

At the very least, the little girl was spirited, that much Rikka could credit her for, and at the same time, she was just adorable enough to keep Rikka's icy heart thawed. She was a good girl when it came to cleaning her, and even more so when it came to rinsing off, which the Haku helped her with through some unseen water manipulation. The attachment she had to Joji was cute, and he wild claim was even better, and Rikka almost felt like challenging her, but realized how crazy she sounded to herself. The only reason being, she saw a lot of the young Jo-ku in Joji's innocence.

When Yuii asked her question, a bark from outside the door sounded, and Rikka grinned.

"It seems right outside."

Joji looked down at the white wolf that had given him away; it had learned his name already and knew exactly what its master wanted without having to be given a command. These beasts were beyond intelligent. Swiftly, Rikka wrapped Yuii in a towel, using her affinity over water to quick dry her and her stuffed animal as Joji poked his head in. No sooner did he, was he smacked in the face with a snowball that caused him to stumble backwards, and hit the wall opposite the door.

"Are you alright, Isakura-san?!"



Arakawa Chiaki


Chiaki arrived back, a small bag hanging from her arm as she knelt down next to the downed kage, wiping slush from his face.

"Knock next time! There are ladies bathing in here!"

The receptionist giggled a bit, knowing how her boss could be and watched as Joji climbed to his feet, sighing heavily at the constant resistance he was being faced with at every turn. Chiaki halted him with a hand as he reached for the door again, and she stepped in herself.

"Hai, Yuii-chan~" She warmly greeted the child, "I have a very pretty dress for you!"

As if on queue, Rikka forced all the water down into the drains, and everything was as dry as when the pair had first entered. Between the two, Yuii was soon dressed. Chiaki had picked a very pretty cream orange-colored sun dress, common in Leaf, and had a big yellow bow that tied around her waist, the knot in the back, and a pair of sturdy, but playfully designed sandals. In the last minutes of their ordeal, Chiaki had removed one of her own hair pins and set Yuii's dark blue locks into a loose bun in the back.

"Very pretty, Yuii-chan. I'm sure your Nii-chan and Oba would think so too."

The door finally slid open, Mako and Joji waiting on the other side, and he smiled to greet them all.

"There's my little nee, and she looks so good to!" He scooped her up, supporting her with one arm under her bottom as he looked to the other three exiting the springs; Shira being among them.

"I've made a small meal for you two that I've left in your room....which is the first guest room on your right." She added, forgetting that Joji hadn't been given a room yet. Knowing they were both weary from traveling, Chiaki gave her goodbyes, and Rikka did as well, making a joke about taking care of Joji since he seemed like such a big baby. Joji fathomed that the owner had let him go because of the child he was carrying at that moment; Yuii was a life saver in that moment.

Once they had worked their way back to the room, Shira in tow the entire time, they had a pleasant meal, Joji entertaining Yuii with magic tricks as she wolfed down her food, and he, of course, had to play the role of the adult and made sure she was crumb-free throughout the duration. However, once she got food into her empty stomach, she passed out almost without warning, and Joji tucked her into bed with her stuffed animal, removing her shoes, and the hair pin as to avoid any unpleasant stickings during her slumber. From there, Joji to crashed, Shira joining him before he finally knocked out.

[Topic End]