A/N: ya'll know the drill, new chappy, ready, thingy... :P

thankies for the beautiful obiturary for my late zombie-laptop, -sniffs- it is sorely missed... i seriously got a kick out of that XD as well as all my other lovely review, you guys are awesome :3

now, onward, people to see, places to be, things to read~

ENJOY!


The first time she had ever seen the main gate to the Village Hidden in the Clouds was the day she returned from her training of four years in complete darkness. The sky was grey like her Teacher's eyes, the wind was blowing enough to rattle the large bridge, and it was raining. This was the first time in four years she had seen rain. The first time in four years she had heard thunder, seen people, forests, mountains, animals, insects… what little few scraps of life tried futilely to exist in this harsh place.

It was the first time she remembered looking up and just seeing rain.

She remembered when she was younger, how frightened the storms made her, how she'd huddle under the covers in darkness, or by anyone within reach, typically her Father during the day and her Teacher at night. She often wondered if neither of them liked the rain… they were usually quiet aside from comforting her…

When her focus shifted back to level with the bridge she took in the form of the great main gate, the giant thundering Oni riding down to cause mayhem looking distinctly like her Father…

Part of her was saddened by the fact she couldn't tell anyone how she felt about these 'new' sights, let alone that she could even 'see' them at all… and while some part of her thought that would be 'difficult' it really wasn't. People didn't ask questions that were obviously answered for them, a girl with a bandana around her eyes was blind, no reason to ask her about the sights of new things. She could still 'feel' things out with the rest of her senses; it honestly surprised her how much the caves dampened her senses now that she was out in the wide open world. It was somewhat overwhelming at first, but spending a week on the road had helped clear that up… somewhat. Some things were still a bit hazy and required quite a bit of adjusting… like toning down her hearing and sense of smell, it was strange the number of scents and small sounds she was picking up she was convinced most people didn't, she certainly didn't remember it when she was younger.

Right now was getting used to sight, especially her spherical 360 degree sight all around her… it was strange, knowing everything going on and seeing without it being in a chakra haze or even really trying. She'd yet to turn her eyes 'off' and honestly forgot they were on half the time, so unused to 'seeing' and actually using it.

It did have its uses though, even if she couldn't tell anyone… like seeing her Kouhai continuously give her quick glances, perplexed, as they walked, her Teacher traversing the path on instinct, mind seemingly elsewhere, the strange looks she got from the glasses-wearing chuunin at the gate while the larger one smiled, ignoring the shorter's logic that she couldn't 'see' it… watching the gate rise in front of her and fall with a loud crash behind her and never once moving her head.

Then there was the actual City of Kumo, large suspension bridges and platforms, spiraling towers built out of rock, hanging terraces and wide open balconies with breezy arid walks… THIS was her home; wire and wood and rock, miles above the cloud-line where the barest wind could spell death and the slippery rain-soaked boards groaned under the added weight, shaking with each drop that hit…

-Home…-

Yorihi felt herself blink behind the bandana, but nothing obscured her vision and she wasn't entirely sure she kept her eyes open. This was the first time, the real first time she had actually looked at her city. When she was smaller she'd look out her window at the sprawling spires and bridges but never outside certain occasions had she actually been out in the bare streets and just looked at the place that was her home, and when she was 'out' most of the time her eyes were 'off' and when they weren't she was too focused on something else more important. So she spent this moment to absently run her eyes over the impressive architecture and beautiful array of ordered-chaos that was the wires, bridges, multilayered platforms and so on that devised the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

Vaguely her other senses kicked into her curious haze, reminding her that a blind girl doesn't gawk wondering why and how the village was made the way it was… she had to physically close her mouth, acting like she was yawning, incidentally popping her ears and making the sounds of the place less muffled. At least she hadn't turned her head.

Leaving her free hand in front of her mouth, the popping of her ears caused her to hiccup; she leveled her gaze and focused on the new slew of sounds. Mostly, it was people; lots of murmuring, and when she focused her sight on those closest many were passing their gaze on her… well not just her, but her Teacher as well and probably her fidgeting Kouhai by proxy. She had to give Mabui credit, for as embarrassed as her Kouhai had acted to her, though she didn't understand why and Bachi-chan had just kind of snickered at the teen, the girl stood rather tall and passive walking next to the white woman between them. If she didn't know any better the dark skinned girl was strutting, like her Uncle did, obviously proud of herself and where she was… Yorihi wondered what would cause this… then hiccupped.

She held her breathe for several seconds, remembering this trick from her early days in the caves, as she listened to some of the murmuring. There wasn't much the small girl could make out that made any sense to her, but she got the general gist of it all; pride, fear, and respect all directed at her Teacher and Kouhai, she apparently ignored. Part of her found this annoying, Bachiko while in his invisible state she could feel his agitated presence around her, not sure if he was guarding her or annoyed they were being nearly ignored by the people of the village… Yorihi wanted to stand tall and show them she was worthy of their attention too!

… unfortunately the small girl, having spent the last four years in relative solitude aside from an old blind man and her cat, shrunk under the scrutiny. It wasn't particularly obvious, at least she thought it wasn't, as she inched closer to her Teacher clutching the woman's long kimono sleeve tighter, almost wanting to hide under it. Hiding was good; the darkness taught her that, if they can't sense you they can't get to you.

If either her Teacher or Kouhai noticed the unconscious action they made no mention of it, primarily continuing their walk in silence.

That is until they reached the edge of one platform…

"Mabui," her Teacher's voice was soft, as far as she could tell, yet oddly loud compared to the silence that filled the air previously. The junior teen paused several steps ahead, already moving automatically to cross the bridge ahead of them, stopping as the older woman's voice range out. Those grey eyes were open on the tan girl, meeting her blue-green ones, "continue onward and escort Yoihi-hime to the Raikage," a glint entered the white woman's eyes that Yorihi didn't understand but apparently the assistant-in-training did.

The grey haired girl gave a polite nod, a slight bow to her sensei before meeting the woman's eyes again, "Of course sensei," her blue-green eyes turned to the little girl at her sensei's side, noticing she seemed to be facing the ground, but it didn't make much difference to someone blind, "Come along Yorihi-hime," unconsciously her hand twitched, normally when faced with such a young child she would have reached out to take her hand and guide her, but her 'Senpai' as the girl liked to call herself had shown to be quite capable of navigating on her own, blind or no, and seemed rather sensitive about physical contact or just naturally shied away from it… the fact she was always either holding her sensei's hand or sleeve just showed how comfortable she was with the deadly assassin.

So it really wasn't a surprise when Mabui watched her sensei, usually so clipped and dismissive in everything she did, especially with her, had turned to leave towards another bridge, only to halt as there was a tug on her sleeve. The little girl hadn't moved from her position, just facing the ground with one hand fisted around one of the white woman's long sleeves as a pout seemed to spread along the visible portion of her face.

Mabui watched, as her clipped sensei stopped at the first tug, turned the slightest and gazed down at the small girl facing away but adamantly holding on to her.

The action between the two of them was so awkward the teen couldn't help the cute smile that tugged at the edge of her lips as she faced her sensei, purposely looking away from her 'senpai', "Sensei," the woman's grey eyes turned towards her at the sound of her voice, "The Raikage is most likely in a meeting, so…" blue-green eyes quickly glanced at the little girl, still pouting, before facing her sensei's hard grey eyes, "perhaps she'd like to… um…" absentmindedly she scratched the side of her face as she realized saying 'take a tour of the village' wouldn't be very effective, the child was blind so it wasn't like she could 'see' anything, and getting 'fresh air' seemed just as ineffective as they'd been outside at least a week now… the grey haired teen couldn't help but tap her lip cutely, trying to come up with a good 'excuse' for her sensei to just take the girl with her, since she was obviously more comfortable with the white assassin then herself.

It seemed the Assassin had some sense of sympathy, as she halted her student's floundering with the barest of sighs, turning back the way she intended and perhaps absently tugging her sleeve closer to her, "If Lord Raikage is no longer indisposed by the time we return, send a message," and with that the teen was dismissed.

Mabui still bowed, both as a courtesy and to hide the smirk that was threatening to rise on her lips, "Of course, Sensei." With one last glance at the two as they walked the other way, Mabui turned around, bent on taking as long as possible to finally inform the Raikage of his 'special guest'. It may have been her imagination, but for a second while she looked at them, Mabui could have sworn the little girl glanced back at her, brows brought up in the center apologetically over her bandana with a small smile on her face, obviously grateful and not meaning anything personal by her actions.

The chuunin assistant-in-training could only grin to herself, knowing exactly how the girl must have felt. –Who wouldn't want some alone time with their mom after being gone so long?- the teen was assuming, of course, but she'd watched how the two acted on the road back to the village and the only other time she'd seen her dismissive sensei so 'attentive' was around her son… and Mabui was convinced there was A LOT her sensei wasn't telling her about her 'totally platonic' relationship with the Raikage.

So she wouldn't be surprised if her mental jape was one hundred percent true. She tried to not cackle evilly to herself as she passed the glass doors into the Raikage's tower.

Her 'Senpai' owed her, that was for sure…

Whatever her Kouhai thought, Yorihi could still see the younger woman as she'd turned down the bridge towards her Father's tower. Unconsciously the little girl bit her lip, her focus leaving her oddly giddy junior, as she held onto her Teacher's sleeve. Truthfully, it wasn't that she didn't want to see her Father, she did, she missed him and her Uncle and Sister as much as she did her Teacher, but… her small pale hands tightened on the rough fabric of the white woman's travel kimono, still biting her lip. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her Father… she just didn't want to leave her Teacher.

The young girl knew her emotions were going haywire, she'd been keeping them in the whole time they had traveled. The young girl held nothing against her new Kouhai, she just hadn't expected a 'stranger' when her Teacher retrieved her… hadn't expected to walk in through the front gate of the village at mid-morning, those two chuunin eyeing her curiously… hadn't expected to walk through the whole village, civilians and shinobi alike watching them, paying their respects to her Teacher and Kouhai… just barely ignoring her presence…

She'd been pushing back the painful wave of emotion suddenly being near someone she cared so much for to keep whatever stares or notice away… wanting only to see them… that now, now that it was just her and Kemui-sama she almost had no idea what to do. Her hand gripped tight on the sleeve as she bit hard enough on her lip she was honestly surprised there wasn't blood-

There was a slight tug on the sleeve as the white woman untangled her hands from them, moving without looking as she adjusted her arm to place her hand on the small girl's ink-blue hair. Yorihi seemed to jolt at the contact, almost resetting as everything cleared from her mind as the woman's pale hand traveled down her rough hair to grab on her outer shoulder, fingers barely glancing the top stone-band as with an iron grip the wolf woman softly tugged the girl closer to her, draping her under the long sleeve she'd been holding, covering and shielding her from everything else.

Yorihi did not cry, she refused to acknowledge the unfamiliar sting at the edge of her covered eyes nor the unconscious sniffle as both her small hands fiddled with the hem of the woman's long sleeve.

Kemui didn't have to look at the girl to know exactly how she felt; she remembered a pitiful look on a certain blonde boy's face after an overdue absence, the bawling and tear-filled black eyes her son showed every time she was late… even that ridiculous pout on a certain large blonde Oni's face when she'd come back long ago… and she remembered how she'd felt, so choked up with words. –Too many to say, not one making it out…- there was a soft barely-there grin picking at the edge of her lips and she knew if her Lord's daughter focused at all would probably be able to see it.

"How about we find you something more appropriate to wear?" the older woman's voice was soft, oddly so to Yorihi's ears.

To the young girl her Teacher had always had this softer tone, something hidden under the biting steel she showed to others, that was only present in reference to her, so to hear that tone so open and broad was a bit of a shocker to the young girl. She blinked, her eye brows moving above her bandana as she was tempted to turn towards the woman and just stare, not that she couldn't anyway but still…

Despite the obvious, the look on the girl's face must have been obvious, or the Assassin just knew what she was thinking as a light, barely-there smile crept at the edge of the woman's lips and her hand on the small girl's shoulder tugged, "Come, let's get you something more appropriate to present to your father."

"Mm," Without a thought the young girl in the bandana gave the white woman an affirmative nod, her free hand clutching the woman's robe and neither caring in the least.


When her Teacher had presented the option to get more 'appropriate' clothes, she had honestly no idea where they would go. At first she thought perhaps her Teacher's room at the Tower but that would require going 'back'… then the oddly sinking thought passed through Yorihi's mind that maybe in the past four years her Teacher had moved out, or maybe she'd never really lived there to begin with, she'd never been to her Teacher's dwelling, never even thought about it really, she just assumed as all children do.

Then she'd remembered there were stores, so perhaps one of them was their destination…

That thought too had been shattered quickly enough as the white woman had led them into what appeared to be a residential structure; a large spiraling tower that reminded her of a bee hive, one of many she'd seen at the edges of the village as they entered. The girl could tell nothing about these buildings was commercial, there weren't any stalls or crowds like the few she'd seen on the large hanging terraces, instead they just seemed like lots and lots of rooms with numbers on the doors facing out to the spiraling hallway on the outside of the structure with the only thing between the doors and the elements being wall high glass. In the Raikage's Tower the windows were on the outside of private rooms, with few halls appearing like this and she wondered for the difference in structure, maybe it was 'safer' this way?

They had traveled the outside hall for awhile, Yorihi keeping her sight to herself not wanting to spy on anyone as they passed many closed doors, it actually took more effort than she realized since she was already using her eyes ability to see through things just to 'see' at all, but it was an interesting test of her abilities. Already she had figured out some rooms had special seals that made it difficult to see through, others not at all, in fact the door her white haired Teacher stopped in front of was one of those 'rare' doors she couldn't see through. The girl tilted her head in thought at the oddity.

Kemui had removed one hand from her tucked sleeves and lightly rapped on the door with the back of her knuckles. As they waited Yorihi looked around; listening, sensing, smelling everything within the direct vicinity. This door was up at least two-thirds of the building and it was strangely quite compared to the lower floors, perhaps they everyone was out? She could almost feel Bachiko growling low and raising his fur, apparently finding the place dangerous, even if no one could see him.

Whatever further thoughts and observations the 'blind' girl had was lost as the door in front of her Teacher was thrown open. Kemui didn't move an inch, seemingly bored, but Yorihi couldn't help the slight jump at the sudden sound and rustling of someone else…

"Oba-chan!" came a rather brash voice, the smaller girl wouldn't exactly call it 'loud' but Bachiko had lowered his ears and hers felt like ringing.

Immediately the small girl's focus went to the newcomer, remembering to not move her head so much as follow her ears. It was another girl, a few years older than her but obviously younger than her Kouhai wearing rather dark clothes, a skirt with tight shorts underneath in dark-dark-almost-black red and a faded black collared shirt. Her skin was darker then her Teacher's, but again less then Mabui's, but as her hidden eyes came to the older girl's face something sparked recognition. That wide cocky grin and black eyes were unmistakably the same as the woman who was brash enough to call herself Yorihi's grandmother, but the girl's hair was the wrong color, a dark reddish brown instead of Gakari-san's pure black, and held up in two high pigtails.

The girl's hidden white eyes blinked… then she finally registered what the girl had said.

Reddish brown brows lowered as the girl's black eyes took in the taller white woman, "Wait… Kaa-chan's not with you?"

Against her will an edge picked up on Kemui's face as she gave a bare sigh, "No, you're mother should still be working," the flat look on the girl's face told the white woman just how much she believed that, which again Kemui had to repress the smirk rising on her face, "I've just come to borrow some clothing," the white haired woman turned enough to reveal Yorihi to the stranger.

Again the younger girl tensed, feeling awkward under that black eyed stare. Absently she raised her hand and waved, "H-hi?"

Black eyes blinked, face falling flat before glancing back to her 'aunt', "You really have a thing about kidnapping children don't you?"

Grey eyes stared flatly at the girl while Yorihi's jaw just dropped. Who was this girl who thought she could talk to her Teacher like that!

Neither got a chance to reply as the reddish-brunette stepped out, grabbed Yorihi's held up hand and shook it firmly, that oddly familiar cocky grin in place on her lightly tanned features, "Good to meet you, welcome to the family!" then, again, before either could say anything the older girl dragged Yorihi in the door, "Come on! Let's get you out of those rags!" the young preteen was giving a face splitting grin and Yorihi, having very little experience with anyone close to her age, had no idea what to do besides follow the girl. As the two started ascending the stairs in the large apartment the reddish-brunette threw over her shoulder with a wave as the two heard the door close, presumably Kemui having entered shutting it, "Oh yea!" the preteen paused to lean over the railing as the Assassin calmly walked below, still holding Yorihi's hand with the other, "He's in the den, should be taking a nap…"

The white haired woman just gave a curt nod without stopping, assumedly going towards this 'den'.

Yorihi could only blink as ink-blue brows rose over her bandana, curious what her Teacher was doing… but a quick jerk on her hand told her she'd have to wait for that answer.

"Come on, newbie!" the older girl continued to drag the smaller girl up to their destination.

Yorihi found she had little choice in the matter, sure she could easily break out of the girl's grasp, and Bachiko was suggesting more than one not-so-nice thing feeling the girl was too friendly in this situation, but felt it would be the wrong move. The girl wasn't threatening her, sure dragging her around, but not in a cruel way, with a purpose sure, but not like she wanted to hurt her… and Kemui-sama obviously didn't have a problem with her. –And she looks like Baba-Gakari…- that was probably the main reason she hadn't acted, despite all the invisible Bakeneko wanted, but she remembered the black hair and eyed desk clerk as someone apparently trustworthy, at least to her white haired Teacher. So this girl must have been similar right?

"Here we are!" the older girl was grinning as she opened the door and hauled Yorihi in behind her. It was another room, smaller then her own back at the Tower if she remembered correctly, but it had a bed, closet that was open with all manner of clothing and 'stuff' falling out of it and a dresser. The reddish-brunette finally released Yorihi as she wandered to the overstuffed closet, throwing random bits of clothing behind her without care, apparently deciding they weren't what she was looking for…

The supposedly 'blind' girl took the chance to look around, Bachiko slipping onto her shoulders in his corporeal form sniffing about with his ears back, apparently not liking the place. Ink-blue brows lowered as she glared at him for the random comments she could feel him making through their bond. With a final snort the ghost cat hopped off her shoulder onto the dresser, fiddling with things and swishing his long forked tails. Yorihi kept glaring at him, even if no one could see it aside from her lowered brows, she knew he could feel it and they were the guests here, they shouldn't be rude.

Not that that stopped her from looking at everything. Their 'host' was apparently a very messy person, scrolls, ninja equipment, clothes, belts and various other things strewn about the room and a menagerie of chaos the little girl was honestly surprised the older one could find anything in this place. Part of her obviously found it hilarious as a corner picked up at the edge of her lips smiling. She'd never been in someone else's room, so while she kept hers mostly clean out of habit it was hilarious to her to see something so… so… messy.

The older girl had apparently found a way further into her closet, as Yorihi could only hear her further disapprovals of 'nope', 'too big', 'oooh I forgot I had this!' and other such things while still tossing things out carelessly. The grin didn't leave the pale girl's lips.

A scrapping sound caught in her ears and her sight focused on it, apparently Bachiko was pawing at something on the dresser. The ghost cat had sat back, waving his tails about as he lazily pawed a hanging garment off one of the sides of the dresser mirror. Curious, Yorihi stepped forward and grabbed the thing.

It was a headband.

Dark brows rose as the younger girl ran her hands over the fabric and metal, her fingers trailing the design etched into the metal, the insignia of Kumo. She could recognize this girl was older then her, but did this mean she was…

"Oh hey, I see you found that!" Yorihi's ears twitched as she turned towards the girl's cheery voice, a handful of odd clothes in her arms, apparently having found what she'd been looking for. She was giving a somewhat more earnest cocky grin as her black eyes laid on the younger girl, "oh right," a small embarrassed chuckle, "Forgot, blind," she gave a light shrug, "You know what that is?"

-Of course I know what it is…- was what Yorihi wanted to say, instead she ran her hands over the insignia again, feeling the metal and fabric, "It's a hitae-ate, right?" again that more earnest grin was her response, as the girl moved to set the pile of clothes on the bed. Yorihi tapped her fingers on the headband again, biting the inside of her lip before finally asking, "Is it yours?"

Again, the older girl was smiling as she walked back over to Yorihi, took the headband from her gently before placing it on her forehead and tying it under her pigtails, "You bet!" the cocky grin was back for a second before the girl looked at herself in the mirror, readjusting the thing so her bangs weren't trapped under it, "Man this thing looks weird, I've got to see if they have a different color…" black eyes turned back to the younger girl, obviously about to ask her opinion, but Yorihi could tell the moment those black eyes laid on the blue bandana around her eyes she wouldn't bother. An embarrassed look and apologetic chuckle left her throat, "Not that you could help me…"

The 'blind' girl tried really hard not to pout, though she would agree, the normal cream color of the Kumo Hitae-ate did look kind of silly on the lightly tanned girl's forehead between reddish brown bangs and black eyes. She shrugged, not sure what else to do in this situation, "Are you a shinobi?"

The older girl scratched the side of her face giving a nervous chuckle, "Well… only a genin."

A dark blue brow rose at that. –what's so wrong with that?- she mused but didn't quite say much else.

The older girl chuckled at the look on the younger girl's partially covered face, "c'mon," she spun the blind girl around, directing her towards the bed and pile of 'decent' clothes from the abyss that was her closet, "supposed to be getting you outta these rags," a tan hand flicked at one of the rough dark blue shoulders, "seriously, did you fight a bear in this things?"

Another dark blue brow quirked, the girl's head tilting slightly not getting it was a joke, "no, just a lot of bats," there was an involuntary shutter Yorihi was positive the older girl noticed, "lots and lots of bats…"

A snort was her response as again the older girl gave her a pat on the back, directing her towards the clothes, "sure, why not?" a dramatic wave of the hand only the reddish brunette thought she could see, "Blind girl meet bats, have at it!" she laughed.

Yorihi was beginning to question her Teacher's taste in 'people' seeing as she was almost positive this genin was a bit off

The only 'response' Yorihi gave was keeping her brow raised above her bandana, the older girl obviously noticed as her coal black eyes just stuck on her flatly before stating equally flat, "Oh just put the clothes on…" the older girl flitted the other side of the bed, waving her hand, again the weird gesture Yorihi wondered if the older girl realized she could actually see it, "I swear, none of you have an ounce of humor…"

Yorihi kept her brow raised, face neutral at about head level with the seated girl, even if she wasn't looking directly at her as her sight focused on the pile of clothes on the bed; a few shirts, some shorts, one or two skirts like the girl wore, and undergarments she wasn't really familiar with… absently the 'blind' girl reached out towards the clothing, making a show of feeling out the fabrics and sorting out a pair of tight shorts and undershirt made of the same dark material, if nothing else they'd make her feel more comfortable getting in a fight. Her old kimono wasn't as big as she remembered, and the sleeves had been ripped off due to her training along with other holes and scraps in the rough material but she'd still rather wear it then anything else the girl had… it was the right color after all. Then she came upon the odd undergarments, picked one up that was oddly 'poofy', squeezing the cups between her fingers and raising her brow rather obviously while scrunching up her face, having no idea what it was…

Apparently the look on her face was funny as the reddish-brunette started laughing, Yorihi's following pout didn't help one bit. With a lingering snort the older girl just smirked cockily and pointed at her, failing to realize the gesture was useless on the 'blind' girl, "I had to throw at least one of those in there," another snicker poorly hidden, "seriously, how old are you?" if Yorihi paid attention to her finger she noticed it was pointing at her chest, "You're already developing, I'm jealous…"

Dark blue brow rose higher, what part of the girl's face that wasn't hidden was scrunched up more and underneath the bandana her white eyes were blinking, "Developed?" involuntarily she squeezed the garment again, "I'm ten… or so I've been told…"

Another snicker, "So you've been told?" that cocky smirk was really starting to get annoying, then there was a rather dramatic sigh from the older genin, "But damn… only ten?" absently her hands were making some gesture in front of her chest that Yorihi did not get, it looked like she was cupping it or something, Bachiko was snickering at for some reason, "And already that developed?" another deep sigh and more snickering in the blind girl's ear from a certain invisible cat, "they're gonna be huge…" was she crying?

Another unseen blink as Yorihi felt she was seriously missing something, "They?"

Suddenly the older girl stood up, fist raised and a fire appeared in her eyes, "I will not be disheartened!" was she growling? "I swear, I will have a chest bigger then Kaa-chan's when I'm fully matured!"

Yorihi and Bachiko stared, this sudden urge for sweat to drop down their necks nervously…

There was suddenly a hand pointing in the blind girl's face, she didn't flinch, "I just realized I don't know your name," a red-brownish brow quirked, "Just that you're another kid Oba-chan probably kidnapped…"

Yorihi glared flatly at the finger pointing in her face but only the curt frown was obvious, "She didn't kidnap me," something was itching in the back of her mind but she purposely ignored it, turning back to her chosen garments, forgoing that whatever-it-was that caused the older girl to get all weird, "but my name is Tenkyuu Yorihi…" which to put on first?

In the peripheries of the smaller girl's spherical vision she watched a puzzled look come over the girl, her black eyes blinked as if registering that information, "Yorihi… Yorihi…" she mumbled, shifting into a musing pose as she ignored the smaller girl who swiftly slipped on the new underclothes, "Why do I know that name?"she caught the junior girl shrug as she pulled the black formfitting shirt and slid the top of her ratty kimono over it. Coal black eyes watched as she unclipped the belt holding the large swords and set it on the bed for the second it took her to slip the tight shorts on underneath before grabbing it again and refastening her kimono closed with it, something about those large amounts of swords registering to the genin, "Hmm…"

"You didn't tell me your name," Yorihi cocked her head towards the genin, finishing tying her belt and moving around, seeing how much the new tight underclothes inhibited her movements; it wasn't much and would be easy to compensate for. She jumped twice to test the weight, not enough to bother her, then moved to adjust the sleeves under her armbands, they looked silly bulging out over them.

Black eyes blinked, "I didn't?" a curt nod was her only response, causing the older girl to chuckle nervously, scratching the side of her face with that cocky grin back, "Sorry about that, I forget sometimes," the only response she got was the blind girl turning back to her, more her ear listening for her response, but her black eyes could see her brows quirking as a kind of response, "Gakushin Mei," she held her hand out, the blind girl, Yorihi, noticing the movement but not seeming to get the gesture so Mei reached out and grabbed her other hand before embracing it with her first in a firm shake, "Pleasure to meet you, Yorihi-chan!"

Yorihi blushed at the friendly and unabashed contact, "Y-you too," she shook the older girl's hand again, who was still smiling. It felt embarrassing introducing herself to people, "Thank you, Mei-chan?" the blind girl didn't know if that was the 'right' honorific to address her, but the older genin seemed to only grin, apparently pleased, "f-for the clothes I mean…"

Mei finally let her hand go, waving off her thanks, "No problem," she shrugged a shoulder towards the closet, "Kaa-chan keeps telling me I need to clean out my closet anyway," that oddly earnest cocky grin was back, she may have been embarrassed, "I've got stuff in there from what I was five, probably younger, I need to get rid of some of it," she scratched her cheek again, glancing at the ceiling, "Probably why Oba-chan brought you here," black eyes landed on the younger girl again, "knew I'd have something that'd fit you, hehe!" she wondered over to the closet again, throwing some things aside before grabbing a pair of ninja-sandals, "These'll probably fit you."

"I-I don't-" Yorihi started before the black sandals were thrown her way and she instinctively caught them, then a hand was on her shoulder and she was forced to not look at the girl's face directly.

"Don't worry about it," she was waving her other hand dismissively, "like I said, need to clean stuff out." With a light push they were headed back out the door, "C'mon, I'm sure Oba-chan's waiting and I bet Shiro-chan would love to meet you!"

As they headed towards the stairs all Yorihi could do was cock her brows confused, "Shiro-chan?"

As they made it to the landing the two girls picked up other voices, one Yorihi immediately recognized:

"Reki-san, this is beyond inappropriate! I had my orders from Sensei-!" that was her Kouhai. –what's she doing here?-

"Come on Mabui, you know Kaa-san won't listen," that was a deeper male voice she didn't know.

"Yea kid, you worry too much you'll get a wrinkle on that cute face of yours," that was a voice she definitely recognized, paired with she was sure that familiar cocky grin Mei had. –Baba-Gakari?- unknowingly a smile picked at the little girl's mouth.

"I have ORDERS!" it was at this point both Mabui and the owner of the male voice had made it to the bottom of the stairs and well within Yorihi and Mei's line of sight. Mabui looked furious, while the young man next to her, looking close to her age with brown hair, the same skin tone as Mei and probably the same black eyes, was busy putting his sandals on before handing the assistant-in-training her boots. The grey haired teen had a scowl on her face for all of a second before grabbing the things and tugging them on quickly, then went right back to pointing and yelling at someone down the hall, "This is YOUR responsibility! Not MINE!" she growled again before the brown haired ninja quickly tugged her by the elbow and pulled her out the front door.

It wasn't a moment later, and about two steps down, that a tan woman with a tattoo on one shoulder, black hair, glasses and a devilish grin all but skipped to the landing, sticking her head out the door and yelling out, "I EXPECT GRANDKIDS WHEN YOU GET BACK!"

Oddly enough Mei sighed next to Yorihi, tugging her further down the stairs while the younger girl just blushed, "Kaa-chan, you know it doesn't work like that…" there was an obvious groan to her voice.

Reki was still leaning out the door, but the tone in her voice pretty much told how much she was grinning, "HEY! ITS OKAY TO FLIP YOUR MOM OFF!" there was a pause and a deep sigh next to the blind girl before Reki seemed to take a step back, the grin was way too obvious on her face as she waved, still shouting, "SHE'S A KEEPER!"

There was another groan from the younger Gakushin as she rolled her black eyes, "She flipped you off didn't she Kaa-san?"

Reki turned around with that wide grin, absently flicking the door closed while she was at it, "Of course, your brother needs a woman like that…"

Mei scoffed, "They're only friends, Kaa-san, I don't think you're meddling is helping…"

"We'll see about that," it was somewhat funny watching as the black haired and eyed woman raised her hand in a familiar gesture as if to grab a cigarette from her mouth, only to scowl when she realized there wasn't one before her equally black eyes laid on her daughter, "Don't you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Translation," Mei easily quipped as her and Yorihi reached the bottom, her mom's eyes following behind her glasses, "You just want to smoke…"

"Leave me to my vices brat," the older woman smirked a half-cocked grin before laying a hand on her daughter's head and rubbing viciously earning a yelp from the girl. It was after a minor glare between two pairs of narrow black eyes that she finally glanced up enough to see the girl her daughter had been escorting down, looking extremely bewildered with the way her blue-black brows rose over that familiar bandana, "Well I'll be," she took a step closer, looking straight at Yorihi, "Guess that uppity girl was telling the truth," the older woman placed both hands on her bare hips, an oddly sincere smirk forming on her lips if still cocky, "Good to see you back, Yorihi-chan…" and she too mussed up the girl's ink-blue hair just like she'd done with her daughter.

Yorihi stiffened, scrunching up her shoulders to her ears, she didn't need her special sight to see the grin on the older woman's face it was plain as day in her voice. Underneath the teasing tone was something earnest and honest, she was truly glad to see her, it caused the younger girl to blush, "I-it's good to see you too… Baba," like when first addressing Mei, she didn't know if the older woman would be fine with her address, she scrunched up, feeling the burning on her ears as she waited for the black haired woman's response.

There was that obvious smirk on Reki's face, like she picked up something that was 'off', "Good to see me huh?" absently the woman's hand reached up and rubbed her nose in a pitiful attempted to hide the obvious joking grin.

The embarrassment immediately left Yorihi's face, her lips forming a pouting frown, "It's a figure of speech Baba," she tried not to snort her nose like Bachiko did when something was obviously wrong, but it had become a habit thanks to four years in darkness with the damn cat.

The older woman had something of an approving grin, before she let out an obvious laugh and walked down the hall. The younger girls had two different reactions, Mei just sighed deeply, far too used to dealing with her mother, and Yorihi was still bristling like her cat. Both ended up following the cackling desk clerk anyway.

"You shouldn't tease them so much," was the first thing they heard walking into the den. Yorihi froze hearing the soft tone in her Teacher's voice, a glance at the other two showed no sign of reaction, like it was normal to them.

"Tch," the black haired woman walked out from in front of the two girls, one hand on her tattooed hip the other fiddling with her vest, "You question my parenting and you're letting him play with that?" it seemed Reki finally managed to snag at least one cigarette out of the carton in her top pocket, putting it to her lips but doing nothing else, even if it was pretty obvious her hand was itching to grab the lighter in the adjacent pocket, as she lazily flopped down on the comfy couch in the back.

Yorihi's sensitive ears easily caught the barely-there sigh from her Teacher, a brow quirking. Then she bothered to actually look at what the older women were talking about. Her Teacher was seated on the sofa opposite Reki, leaning over with an almost amused look on her face as she watched a young boy, no more than three, with white hair tossing a knife, grinning wide as he kept intent black eyes on the blade. He was tossing and catching the knife in a series of flicks meant to familiarize the eye-hand coordination to catching and using the knife as a weapon, it was a simple exercise Yorihi recognized because Tougemichi had her do it during her training.

Yorihi couldn't help but stare, caught by instinct to pay attention to the blade.

"Its blunted," was the soft quip from the white haired woman.

Yorihi stepped around the sofa quietly to gain a line of sight for her teacher's face, looking 'through' and trying to interpret it from behind would have been somewhat stomach turning and she doubted she could work her eyes that finely without anyone else noticing the quirk of her chakra… yet. She noticed that while the quip was directed at Reki, her Teacher's grey eyes never left the boy. Inadvertently a dark brow quirked over her bandana, even when dismissive, Kemui-sama always at least glanced at those she spoke to, usually very quickly or subtly, gauging possible threats, Yorihi always noticed. But this time…

White eyes blinked behind the blue bandana as her Teacher seemed to pause momentarily, as if finally noticing something. The woman's pale face turned just the barest but Yorihi noticed, those grey eyes looked at her, directly in her covered eyes, and there was something there the young girl didn't know how to interpret. Her mouth opened slightly, either in surprise or to say something she didn't know, but the moment her Teacher noticed the woman's grey eyes were back on the boy. Like it never happened…

"Honestly, Oba-chan," Mei growled as she leaned over the sofa near Kemui, narrow black eyes on the white haired boy who'd finally stopped flipping the knife, "Its bad enough I worry about him juggling things he could potentially swallow," a deep groan as she ran one hand through her bangs, "the second you're back you give him a knife!"

"Its blunted," there was not a smirk wanting to pick at the pale woman's lips, Yorihi had to bite her inner-lip to not laugh.

Reki was openly scowling across from them, though her bored black eyes weren't on the not snickering woman in front of her keeping her eyes on the young boy, who was looking around the room blinking confused, and right looking right at her own daughter, " 'Honestly'?," the older woman snort, waving around her not-lit cigarette, "Who taught you to sound like that?" it was finally then that she bothered to look down at the little boy, who happened to be staring at her with his equally black eyes. Reki just frowned, "And really, you're worried about this brat?" the boy smiled at her and Yorihi could tell the older woman was forcing the frown to stay in place.

Kemui didn't say anything about the way Reki was looking at her son, but Yorihi could tell it was harder than the previous glance, on edge and protective. The supposedly 'blind' girl was probably the only one that noticed it.

Mei gave a familiar scowl at her lounging mother, "Someone should be!"

That flat look crossed Reki's face again, her daughter drawing all her attention at that moment as she just flatly, boredly, and methodically just stared at her daughter. At first Yorihi didn't get what was going on… then a small motion caught her attention, when the blind girl focused her attention, she realized it was Mei. The younger Gakushin was trying adamantly to keep the look with her mother, it wasn't working. Where Reki was perfectly still, seemingly conjuring an aura of boredom and nonchalance that was oddly disturbing if Yorihi let her mind consider it too long, the junior one was fidgeting uneasily. She was trying… just failing miserably.

After a good solid minute of the stare down the reddish-brunette just snapped, growling as she turned heel, threw her hands up and stomped down the hall, "I'm gonna go clean my room!" it wasn't long before they hear angry stomping up the stairs and finally and angry slam.

Yorihi's eyebrows were raised while Kemui didn't seemed to notice at all, the boy was just puzzled looking around. A small pout formed on his pale face as his small white brows lowered before turning his black eyes the Assassin, "Kaa-san?"

It was like someone dropped an entire roll of explosive tags, Yorihi could almost laugh. The two older women weren't very expressive, and Yorihi was positive that if she hadn't spent the last four years in darkness with an old blind man more guarded then them, she probably wouldn't have noticed their reactions. Reki's black eyes narrowed even more, the edges of her mouth pulling down but not fully into a frown. Kemui was even less expressive, perhaps the lack of anything was a sign, Tougemichi did that a lot, though she did glance again, longer this time. Her grey eyes had that same look she didn't understand… but there was a softness, something she was so used to it was only now she realized such a look didn't deserve to be on the face of an Assassin. –'We are different'… right Tougemichi?-

A smile formed on the younger girl's lips as she stepped forward, the only sign of apprehension on the girl was the unconscious grip she held on her top left sword, "Kemui-sama," her voice was low, but enough for the other three to pick it up, both Reki's and the boy's black eyes joined her Teacher's grey ones on her, "You haven't introduced me to…" her voice broke, not sure what to say.

It didn't matter, as a small pleasant smile touched her Teacher's lips, "My son," her grey eyes turned back to the boy, meeting his black ones, it was obvious he was confused but he was smart enough to understand the cues from his mother. Kemui closed her eyes momentarily, pleasant smile still on her features as she nodded towards the 'older' girl.

Yorihi thought it was funny, how the little boy seemed to freeze up slightly, visibly swallow then turn towards her, looking 'up' at her as he tightened his lips trying to stand straight, if not obviously spooked. She noticed his small hands fist, one around the blunted knife he'd been practicing with, "Y-Yokan S-S-Su-"

"Louder," she didn't know where it came from honestly, she felt a sudden sense of déjà vu watching this boy, this little boy far younger than her try and introduce himself at the prompting of his mother. Her voice wasn't even that loud, just loud compared to the silence apart from his stuttering, and something about the calm sternness reminded her of her Father. Yorihi stepped forward, one hand resting on her sword, as the boy seemed to shutter under her hidden gaze, he couldn't see her eyes, but he knew she was facing him, focused on him, and despite himself he was staring right at her standing up straight. –Better than me…- it took more effort than she realized to keep the smirk from her face but she managed, "Keep your head up," he kept his gaze despite a small tremble, his lips pressed tightly, "Keep your shoulders back," it was funny to watch him visibly pull his shoulders back, eyes still on her, "And stand up straight!" this time she did yell, and he did jump, but he stood straighter then he had previously.

Yorihi couldn't help the grin that spread on her face, it must have looked frightening as the boy shivered again but kept his eyes on her, "Always present yourself at your best! Never back down from someone, even if they are your Kage," she could see his eyes widen, probably jumping to conclusions she didn't bother to dissuade him from, "don't show your fear, stand proud, and speak loud!" at this point she summoned the image of her Father in her mind, tall, proud, powerful and confident, a giant that smiled and laughed like roaring thunder… and she looked every bit his daughter, "I am Tenkyuu Yorihi, Daughter of the Raikage!"

Vaguely she noticed Reki was blinking, too stunned to do anything else, while her Teacher too was staring, but not so much in shock… there was something else, but for a moment she thought it was pride.

The boy was staring, utterly mystified and spellbound, for a moment she wondered if she looked like that after her Father made his big introduction, "Now," her voice held that confident edge as she stood in front of the boy, barely a foot apart and just her head facing down at him, he may not know it, but her eyes were solely on him, "Tell me who you are…"

Those tiny white brows furrowed, his lips pressed tight in a determination as he gripped his hands tightly at his sides, black eyes wide and sparkling and solely on her. He took a deep breath, flaring his nose, "I'm Yoken Sutego, and my mother is the best Assassin there is!" his lips ended in an obvious challenging pout.

Reki was the first to break, laughing wholeheartedly at how serious two children could be.

Kemui gave that familiar barely-there sigh, sounding like this was all silly, but Yorihi could see all the tension leave her in an instant. Her son was accepted by her Student, all was right with the world.

And Yorihi? She gave a grin that would make her Father proud, before laying a hand on the boy's head, ruffling up his white hair and saying lightly, "Of course she is…" she could feel more then she could see the boy flush, he was so young, and cute, and it took her a while to remember she was the same age, looking up to a big Oni and declaring who she was… perhaps it wasn't as hard for him as it was her, but it was a start.

"WHAT THE HECK IS ALL THAT YELLING?!" they all heard from the stairs, Mei, obviously, but the younger Gakushin didn't bother to come down any further.

Yorhi laughed, so did Sutego, as Reki went to deal with her daughter, and Kemui just sat by, watching with a passive smile. After things quieted upstairs and the two children calmed down the Assassin chose to get up, standing next to her son and gazing at him passively, "Its time for us to go…"

Yorihi watched as the boy pressed his lips together, trying not to pout, she knew exactly how he felt, "When will you be back?" he tried not to let it show, but she could hear the hurt in his voice. –But he will be strong…- something picked at the edge of her lips. –Like his mom-

"Not long," surprisingly the woman reached out and touched the side of the boy's head, drawing him close for a moment. He just nodded into her kimono, the pout finally starting to win.

Yorihi's brows scrunched up in the middle, she didn't like anyone looking sad… or alone, it was a terrible thing not having someone next to you that you cared about, she was grateful she always had Bachi-

"Oh!" both white haired people glanced at her explimation, then raised a brow at her sudden grin, well her Teacher did, Sutego just tilted his head confused. Yorihi looked in his direction, and he looked right back into her bandana, "I have a friend, would you mind watching him for a little while?" the white haired boy's head tilted more, but she only grinned more, she could already hear the cat complaining, "He's really nice but kind of shy," oh yea, she could feel him glaring in the back of her mind.

The boy looked interested, tapping his lip not sure what to do, for a moment his black eyes glanced to his mother and she gave the smallest of shrugs, eyeing her Student curiously. When Sutego glanced back Yorihi was still smiling at him, it made him feel a bit more confident, "O-okay?" a small bit.

The ink-blue haired girl didn't see to do anything besides grin, then all of a sudden she leaned her head towards her shoulder. Sutego's black eyes followed the movement, and suddenly he saw something like black fire walking along her shoulders, going from the indicated side to the other, then down her arm as she held it out before finally hopping to the ground and taking a seat. It looked like a cat, but the boy had never seen one outside of a book, and it was weird with flaming fur and long ears, but most of all was its strange 'tails', well almost 'tails' they were still joined at the base as one and it was a pretty big cat…

"His name is Bachiko," the girl said, still grinning at the boy, bringing his attention back to her, "I call him Bachi-chan though," for some reason that made him smile, and it made Yorihi feel better and completely ignoring the cat's grumbling, "So take care of him Sutego-kun?"

The boy blanched for a moment, looking from the older girl to the cat, not sure which was safer, before finally sticking with the narrowly glaring cat and nodding his head, "O-okay…" awkwardly he reached out to pet the odd blue-black cat, its fur looking like wispy fire. He had no idea the glaring contest going on between his mother and the beast, her grey eyes sharp and warning while the cat's vibrant blue's were glaring for an entirely different reason. Not that it mattered; he was soon crouched down petting the cat with an amused fascinated smile of a three year old.

Yorihi left the two on the ground, deftly moving out of the den and towards the hall leading towards the door. It wasn't until she'd actually left, remembering to put on the sandals Mei gave her and closing the door, that she realized her Teacher had followed her out, quietly and without a word following one pace behind. A fierce blush ran across the girl's face as she finally stopped, hiked her shoulders up to ears not sure what to expaect from her weird little introduction, she doubted her Teacher had any idea why she said all that, "Kemui-sama, I-"

"For a moment," the woman said quietly as she passed with her even calm pace, "I thought I was hearing your Father again," as she passed Yorihi couldn't help but noticed the blatant smile on the older woman's face, "Back when he was a kid…"

Yorihi just blushed, and decided that was all she needed to do. The Assassin seemed to agree, accepting her quickly following as they made their way back to the Raikage's Tower in silence. One too amused, the other too embarrassed to say anything…

… even if she was proud of herself.


Okaerinasai – Welcome Home


A/N: i'm truly getting distracted, this homecoming thing is taking longer then i 'want'... but i can't say 'no' to interesting human drama! woe is me :P i hope you all at least like it as much as i do, i know quite a few were asking about this meeting... actually kinda surprised me how much it was being considered ._.

to be honest, like all things previous, this originally went WAAAAAAY differently in my head... lots more angst and drama, yet for some reason the call back got stuck in my head and seemed to be required... and the only reason i didn't press on is because it would seem very awkward to just jump right into the next bit -shakes hands- least this is outta the way, woo~

just your average day at the crazy that is the Gakushin house-apartment-thing... yay world building! :D

again, love me reviews, keep 'em coming :3

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury