Tempest let out a sigh as she put her hair up in a pony-tail. They had managed to pick up on Naomi and her kidnappers trail, but they were still quite a ways behind them. "So, since we have nothing better to do." Tempest said before smirking. "Are you wanting Emi to have another boy or a girl this time?"

Ryuu chuckled lightly. "Random." He laughed then shrugged. "I'd like another son so that Tonoko could have a brother, but at the same time, a daughter would be nice too. I guess it doesn't really matter to me. Which ever it is, I'll still love him or her." He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "Emi would like to have a daughter this time."

Tempest smiled. "Understandable. I know she's mentioned she's jealous that you're much closer with Tonoko than she is."

"Well, I mean, they're close as well, but I know what she means. Tonoko and I have a lot of man-to-man talks." He chuckled.

She nodded and laughed. "I think she just wants to be able to level with a girl in her own household." She smiled gently. "If you guys do have a daughter, I'm she she'd get along with my newborn."

Ryuu chuckled. "How is little Tama?" He asked.

Tempest blushed faintly and smiled. "She's just starting to walk. And she's figured out how to say Daddy."

Ryuu smiled. "I remember how that is." He thought back to Tonoko. He had just gotten home from a mission and walked in the door. Tonoko was excited to see his father back and walked for the first time towards him. He was a least grateful to be there when he first walked. Unfortunately, he was out when he spoke his first word.

Tempest smiled gently. "It will be nice to re-live those precious moments with your new child, won't it?"

Ryuu nodded. "May even a few more times after that." He chuckled.

Tempest gasped before laughing. "Does Emi realize this?"

Ryuu shrugged. "We've talked about it before, but I don't think we've come to a solid decision."

Tempest laughed again. "I think you two should. You have the money and space, and your son already proves to be an amazing shinobi. That and I'm sure it'd make your clans proud. Emi is still young and strong, her body could handle more children." She giggled.

Ryuu chuckled. "She wasn't too pleased with the after affects of having Tonoko; he was a big boy."

Tempest laughed again. "I'm sure Emi would be able to handle it though. Her body frame still makes me jealous. She dropped that weight in no time."

Ryuu laughed softly and lowered his head. He couldn't help but think about her still gorgeous young body. He lifted his eyes and laughed again. "With having to keep up with a bouncing young boy, she was exercising hours on end."

Tempest smiled. "You two have always been the perfect match." She glanced at the ground. "All the children at the academy agreed. We all knew that you two would become one of the most famous couples in the village."

Ryuu breathed in deeply and smiled. "There were a lot of rough times then, though. We did have many fights, and at one point was almost planning on asking our parents to end the betrothed deal. Didn't help with the whole..." He paused. "When I had to leave the village for a few years." He shrugged and sighed. "I guess that's why our relationship is so strong now; we're already past all the fighting there is."

Tempest smiled. "That's good. Many couples are jealous of your guys for it." She chuckled. "I still remember the first day I saw Emi wear your clan crest - I teased her so much for it." She laughed.

Ryuu glanced over at Tempest and kicked a rock under his shoe. "What did she do?" He asked.

Tempest shrugged. "She did what she always did. She blushed and turned away from me, trying to change the subject." She shrugged again and laughed. "One day she actually sparred with me over it - I lost."

Ryuu chuckled. "I'll always remember the night I gave her that crest." He sighed and closed his eyes gently, turning his face to the sky.

Tempest smirked. "Shall I leave you to your thoughts, Ryuu?"

Ryuu sighed. "Nah." He waved his hand. "I have plenty of time to think about it more." He smiled.

She laughed softly. "So, you and Emi ever going to renew your vows? I know lots of couples that do that every ten years or so." She laughed. "I think it'd be cute, but it doesn't matter. At least I was at the real wedding." She smirked.

Ryuu shrugged. "Haven't really though about it. I mean, I'm sure Emi would love to..."

Tempest smiled. "You seem so tough towards others, but with Emi you're like a completely different person." She laughed. "It's so cute!"

Ryuu turned his face away from Tempest. Ryuu wasn't one to blush - Emi was the only one that could make him blush even the slightest - but if he did blush caused by someone else, he would've. He shrugged. "I guess Emi has a certain effect on me." He chuckled lightly.

Tempest smiled. "I remember back at the acadamy, when you spoke to anyone, it being male or female, you always had this tough, cool-guy act. Yet as soon as it came to Emi, if you were talking to her, about her, or even hearing about her, you would become so much more loose and open - anyone could see your soft spot was for her." She smiled and laughed. "Emi and I always joked about that too - not that she's one to talk. She's the same way with you. Growing up she had quite the tough personality towards her friends, probably had to do with that damn intellegence of hers." Tempest laughed.

Ryuu laughed along with Tempest. "I guess I'm a sucker for the genius-gorgeous type." He said, trying to be funny as well.

She smiled gently. "I'm just glad everything turned out for you two." She whispered.

"Can we please take a rest?" Naomi murmured, her head still lowered as they two walked along the path.

"Are you seriously tired already? We've been walking for only two hours." Shito stated. He hadn't lost any energy yet.

Naomi nodded slowly. "You're not the one tied up..." She whispered. "Also I didn't sleep..."

Shito shrugged. "Sure you did. Remember? I took from the hospital while you were out? And there is nothing I can do about the chains; you'd run away."

Naomi shook her head. "I won't... I promise..." She whispered, lowering her head further.

"Sorry, I'm not an idiot." He murmured and stopped. "We'll take a quick rest - ten minutes, tops."

Naomi fell to her knees and bent so her head rested against the ground. "Thank you..." She whispered, biting her lip to push back her tears again.

Shito sighed and knelt down beside Naomi, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. He pulled her gently up and placed his cantine to her lips. "Drink. You're dehydrated."

Naomi slowly took the drink, letting the water slip down her throat. A few tears slipped down her face as she pulled back from the bottle and moved to rest her head to the ground again. "Th-Thanks..." She whispered again, this time a tremble in her voice.

Shito nodded and hooked the cantine back to his belt before sitting down beside Naomi, leaning back on his hands along the side of the pathway.

"You know, I don't do too well with crying - they didn't tell me you were a crier. How about you stop, huh?" Shito asked, trying to sound gentle.

Naomi shrugged as she kept her head to the ground. "I'm not sobbing outloud... so I can cry if I wish..." She murmured quietly.

Shito shook his head. "Hold it in and the demons will fester and resurface. Just let it out and they'll go away."

"You just told me to stop crying..." She muttered, slowly lifting her head to look at him. Her eyes were beat red and her hair stuck to her cheeks where her face was stained with new and old tears. Some dirt also stuck to her forehead and with her hands behind her back, she was unable to fix any of it.

"Yeah, I did." He said and turned his face to the sky. "But unless you get it off your chest, the tears will come back to haunt you, so technically your crying won't end even if the tears stopped flowing now. Come on, let it out. You know you need to." He said.

Naomi narrowed her eyes. "You're just creepy." She muttered, turning her face away and attempting to use her shoulder in replace of her hands to move her hair out of her hair - she was failing miserably.

Shito's eyes drifted to Noami. He hadn't bothered to turn his head, so he peered out the corner of his eyes. "Creepy? How so?" He asked.

"One minute you're being a jerk to me, the next you're being kind." She shook her head. "But who you are is already clear to me. Like most jounin of your status, all you care for is the payout in the end. You don't listen to the truth of the matter." She hissed, still attempting to fix her appearance.

Shito half shrugged and pursed his lips. "Yeah, okay. I guess if you say so. But..." He finally turned his head to look at her. "I still try to be humane."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Oh please." She hissed, finally giving up with her appearance as she lowered her head again.

"Don't bother on fixing it. You'll have time to wash up when we arrive at an Inn later tonight." He stated.

"The whole point is that I need my hands..." She muttered, a hint of anger in her voice.

"You don't think I know what you need in the shower?" He asked. "I'll give you your hands when you wash up."

"Jerk.." She muttered under her breath. "Then can we just get there now?"

Shito chuckled. "It's no where near sun down. When the sun is just about to go down over the horizon, that'll be when we arrive at the Inn." He chuckled. "Alright, let's go."