Ebisu groaned, how much more would this crazy girl make him carry? Two
lamps, bolts of fabric, paint, pictures, drapery, aggh! His patience was
quickly coming to an end.
"I am finished, finally. Let's take this home and get some lunch." Anito gestured for him to follow, not looking at him. She had a small smirk on her face.
"You made me carry all this junk around for hours on purpose! It could have all been delivered, but no you just had to insist on using me as a beast of burden." Ebisu could no longer restrain his comments. "And I don't know what you are thinking, your room is going to look like a high price bordello." He said scathingly.
She turned to face him then with an angry glare. "Ya know, I was going to let you go for the day after I made lunch, but now I think I have something else that you need to do instead, you holier-than-thou prig." The blond turned around and stomped off towards her home.
'Crap! I just had to open my mouth again, I don't know why, but something about this girl brings out the absolute worst in me. She's nothing like my Becky.' Ebisu followed the storming girl to her house and carefully navigated the steps to the second floor apartment.
"Just leave this stuff in the hall." Anito told him. "I'm going to make some lunch and show you how to complete your next task." She led the way through the shop and into the kitchen, pulling food out of the fridge and started to make meat buns.
Anito fried a large plate of the bbq meat buns and set them on the table. She then yelled for a couple of people to come in and eat and shut the shop for a few minutes.
A slightly older man came in followed by two young boys. "This is my brother Hito and his apprentices, Sai and Yuni." She introduced them to Ebisu. "This is Ebisu and he is a Leaf Jounin who will be helping me around the house this week, courtesy of the Hokage."
Hito shook Ebisu's hand and the two young apprentices bowed. "OK, boys eat up and then go back to sharpening those shuriken." Hito grabbed a plate and sat at the table with his sister and Ebisu. "What happened to your hand? That's going to make it hard for you to hammer out the blades I need today." He remarked with some concern to Anito.
"It will be ok, I just have to brace it, its only surface bruising. The matter has already been taken care of." Anito neatly avoided answering the rest of his question, knowing that the circumstances would make her brother outraged at the jounin sitting with them.
"As you say then. But I am not happy with it." Hito got back to his food.
Ebisu controlled his expression, remaining poker faced and not making any comments that would undoubtfully land him further into trouble. Anito went to a desk in the corner and pulled a file out, putting it in front of Ebisu. "This is what you will be working on this afternoon." She informed him, opening it to a page that showed a multi-layer color wash done in pencil. "You will be making my walls look like this."
"Wow, that doesn't look easy." The young man mumbled.
"That's my Sis for you, she is considered the artistic one in this family, which is saying a lot considering we all have to draw and design to create templates for our blades. She could probably be a painter or fine artist if she wanted to." Hito smiled fondly at his sister.
"It's just a hobby, although I have sold a few paintings and other pieces. Our family heritage means a lot to me." She glanced down at her food, slightly embarrassed by her brother's praise. "I have some designs I want to go over with you for my masters piece later, if you have a chance Hito." She smiled at him.
"Sure, I will look them over and send them off to the family for approval so that you can begin on it in a couple of months."
"Masters piece? What's that? I always thought of a masterpiece as a work of art or something? " Ebisu asked curiously.
"Well a masters piece is a work of art, but it is something that is carefully designed and created with absolutely perfect craftsmanship and then submitted to a guild or in our case family for judging in order to be considered a master of the craft. Currently, I am a journeyman, but it will take over a year to complete the sword I have to make to be elevated to a master."
"The katana is considered the pinnacle of craftsmanship among sword makers. And while my sister could have easily passed a masters level test from another family or a guild, our family has incredibly high standards nothing less than perfection or extraordinary will suffice." Hito stated proudly. "Our entire family is very dedicated to the craft and we start training in it at a very young age. This will be Anito's second attempt to gain the masters level."
"I see. So how long have you been practicing your craft?" The ninja asked.
"Let me think... I started as an apprentice when I was four, so 19 years." Anito answered tapping a finger lightly on her chin.
Ebisu followed Anito back to her room where she laid out the paints and instructed him on how to get the color effect that she wanted. She then went back to the shop and started working on a small anvil to forge some kunai blades.
She was wrapped up in her work and did not even notice when Ebisu came down the stairs. "It's almost time to go to the ramen stand." He told her, wiping some paint off his hands.
The blond looked up from the blade that was almost finished. "Just a second, I have to finish this before the metal cools." After a few minutes of hammering, she gave a sigh and stretched, her shoulders and arms were starting to ache from the work of making the knives.
The jounin watched her as she concentrated on her project, leaning casually against the wall. His chore was not quite finished, so he knew that he would be back the next day to complete it. As she stretched to release the kinks in her back and shoulders, Ebisu's mind created pictures of her stretching under his hands, and rubbing against him like a sleepy cat. 'Damn, I have got to quit thinking like this.' He mentally slapped himself.
Anito ran up the stair and came back with a sports bag that had fresh clothes and bathing supplies inside it. "I'm ready, if you will just show me where the place is then you can go, but be back here at 9 a.m. tomorrow." She motioned for him to precede her out the door.
"Yeah, I will be." They walked along in silence. "There it is." He pointed to a small restaurant about a block down the street and before Anito could even turn to say goodbye, he disappeared.
"That guy needs to learn some manners." She murmured to herself.
"I am finished, finally. Let's take this home and get some lunch." Anito gestured for him to follow, not looking at him. She had a small smirk on her face.
"You made me carry all this junk around for hours on purpose! It could have all been delivered, but no you just had to insist on using me as a beast of burden." Ebisu could no longer restrain his comments. "And I don't know what you are thinking, your room is going to look like a high price bordello." He said scathingly.
She turned to face him then with an angry glare. "Ya know, I was going to let you go for the day after I made lunch, but now I think I have something else that you need to do instead, you holier-than-thou prig." The blond turned around and stomped off towards her home.
'Crap! I just had to open my mouth again, I don't know why, but something about this girl brings out the absolute worst in me. She's nothing like my Becky.' Ebisu followed the storming girl to her house and carefully navigated the steps to the second floor apartment.
"Just leave this stuff in the hall." Anito told him. "I'm going to make some lunch and show you how to complete your next task." She led the way through the shop and into the kitchen, pulling food out of the fridge and started to make meat buns.
Anito fried a large plate of the bbq meat buns and set them on the table. She then yelled for a couple of people to come in and eat and shut the shop for a few minutes.
A slightly older man came in followed by two young boys. "This is my brother Hito and his apprentices, Sai and Yuni." She introduced them to Ebisu. "This is Ebisu and he is a Leaf Jounin who will be helping me around the house this week, courtesy of the Hokage."
Hito shook Ebisu's hand and the two young apprentices bowed. "OK, boys eat up and then go back to sharpening those shuriken." Hito grabbed a plate and sat at the table with his sister and Ebisu. "What happened to your hand? That's going to make it hard for you to hammer out the blades I need today." He remarked with some concern to Anito.
"It will be ok, I just have to brace it, its only surface bruising. The matter has already been taken care of." Anito neatly avoided answering the rest of his question, knowing that the circumstances would make her brother outraged at the jounin sitting with them.
"As you say then. But I am not happy with it." Hito got back to his food.
Ebisu controlled his expression, remaining poker faced and not making any comments that would undoubtfully land him further into trouble. Anito went to a desk in the corner and pulled a file out, putting it in front of Ebisu. "This is what you will be working on this afternoon." She informed him, opening it to a page that showed a multi-layer color wash done in pencil. "You will be making my walls look like this."
"Wow, that doesn't look easy." The young man mumbled.
"That's my Sis for you, she is considered the artistic one in this family, which is saying a lot considering we all have to draw and design to create templates for our blades. She could probably be a painter or fine artist if she wanted to." Hito smiled fondly at his sister.
"It's just a hobby, although I have sold a few paintings and other pieces. Our family heritage means a lot to me." She glanced down at her food, slightly embarrassed by her brother's praise. "I have some designs I want to go over with you for my masters piece later, if you have a chance Hito." She smiled at him.
"Sure, I will look them over and send them off to the family for approval so that you can begin on it in a couple of months."
"Masters piece? What's that? I always thought of a masterpiece as a work of art or something? " Ebisu asked curiously.
"Well a masters piece is a work of art, but it is something that is carefully designed and created with absolutely perfect craftsmanship and then submitted to a guild or in our case family for judging in order to be considered a master of the craft. Currently, I am a journeyman, but it will take over a year to complete the sword I have to make to be elevated to a master."
"The katana is considered the pinnacle of craftsmanship among sword makers. And while my sister could have easily passed a masters level test from another family or a guild, our family has incredibly high standards nothing less than perfection or extraordinary will suffice." Hito stated proudly. "Our entire family is very dedicated to the craft and we start training in it at a very young age. This will be Anito's second attempt to gain the masters level."
"I see. So how long have you been practicing your craft?" The ninja asked.
"Let me think... I started as an apprentice when I was four, so 19 years." Anito answered tapping a finger lightly on her chin.
Ebisu followed Anito back to her room where she laid out the paints and instructed him on how to get the color effect that she wanted. She then went back to the shop and started working on a small anvil to forge some kunai blades.
She was wrapped up in her work and did not even notice when Ebisu came down the stairs. "It's almost time to go to the ramen stand." He told her, wiping some paint off his hands.
The blond looked up from the blade that was almost finished. "Just a second, I have to finish this before the metal cools." After a few minutes of hammering, she gave a sigh and stretched, her shoulders and arms were starting to ache from the work of making the knives.
The jounin watched her as she concentrated on her project, leaning casually against the wall. His chore was not quite finished, so he knew that he would be back the next day to complete it. As she stretched to release the kinks in her back and shoulders, Ebisu's mind created pictures of her stretching under his hands, and rubbing against him like a sleepy cat. 'Damn, I have got to quit thinking like this.' He mentally slapped himself.
Anito ran up the stair and came back with a sports bag that had fresh clothes and bathing supplies inside it. "I'm ready, if you will just show me where the place is then you can go, but be back here at 9 a.m. tomorrow." She motioned for him to precede her out the door.
"Yeah, I will be." They walked along in silence. "There it is." He pointed to a small restaurant about a block down the street and before Anito could even turn to say goodbye, he disappeared.
"That guy needs to learn some manners." She murmured to herself.
