"Well ain't that just the cutest shit?" Tsunade said sarcastically, bringing both the young folk's eyes open. There was nothing unusual about their cuddle position, the two of them spooned together, but that didn't stop Sasuki from flying out of bed. Naruto rolled over on his back first, sparing a glance at the elderly woman sitting upright in bed.

He didn't recognize her.

Tsunade seemed to notice about the same time as his, picking up the hint from his curious brow. Her form seemed to flicker as she snapped, and with that simple motion her salacious body and flawless face were back in all their glory. She apparently saw no need to comment on this as she slunk out of bed. Seeing that she looked particularly tired Naruto piped up.

"I'll make us breakfast if you don't mind me stealing your eggs," he offered.

"I'll have two," was all she said, looking back at the bed and thinking about getting back in. Autumn was starting to sink down into winter, even inside her insulated little cottage there was a notable chill. The stove heating up would fix that though, figuring waiting for that would save her some numbness on her digits, she crawled back under the covers.

Sasuki was already out of the room and Naruto didn't wait to get started. They were all cold. Throwing his cloak on helped enough, though leaving the house for wood more than counteracted that. It was just as well, he warmed up quick enough standing in front of the fire poking at the pan. His morning wood still throbbed lightly, remembering the feel of the wonderful bum it was so recently nestled against. Stealing glances every so often on Sasuki didn't help, she didn't look up at him, and bundled up herself it wasn't that much of a view.

Still that pensive, ever-graceful face made him throb if he focused on it.

"Thank you," she offered softly when he placed her breakfast in front of her.

He smiled.

With that one small action, it was as if a weight had lifted. He found himself enjoying his quiet, humble breakfast with the two women. There was even a brief conversation, toward the end.

"So, what's next on the docket for you two?" their host asked casually as she carried off her clean plate.

"The three of us are going northeast into the more hilly forest. There's a standing gold piece bounty for Fangfolk ears. It's our best-guaranteed payday," she said simply.

"Oh yeah! That's smart bringing the magic man out for that, those little fuckers'll hate him,"

"They will?" he dared interject.

"Yeah it's the whole way they fight, they'll slip in from a burrow or a branch or a bush or whatever, slice ya real good with one of their little jagged knives, then run right off. Wait for you to bleed out. Make sure you bring crossbows or something, they're fast,"

"Do you want to come out with us? You were a badass archer right?" Naruto piped up, hopeful.

"No, no, no I don't," she said simply, slowly, almost patronizingly with the way she shook her head. "I'm done with that part of my life child, no more hunting for this old sow,"

"That does bring to mind something I wanted to discuss," Sasuki interjected. "The town does have a bounty on you, sooner or later that will bite you on the ass, us too if we're staying here,"

"Eh, maybe," Tsunade waved off.

"Can we tell the folks in town that we killed you? All it would mean is that you can never wear your old face in town again, we can just claim your one of our friends if you're spotted like this. We would own the deed but that doesn't really mean anything as long as you can easily kill us,"

"Hmmmm, that does sound convenient…. I'll think more about it but yeah, probably yeah," she agreed with a nod.

Naruto just nodded absently as he picked at the last of his breakfast.

It was too bad the archer pro wouldn't join them, but it was a heavy favor to ask. Given the particularly painful style of combat, these little bastards seemed so eager for. At least Sasuki didn't look particularly worried.

That didn't stop Naruto from wearing his fears quite plainly on his own face, I should note.

He'd only heard of Fangfolk from caravan guards, some would spin you terrible tales of impish forest demons that lured away naughty children and took their time killing you real awful. Some spoke of them as though they were big, bipedal rats. Annoying, especially out on the road, but not particularly remarkable.

They were known quite well to hunt people though.

What would they look like? He'd only ever seen a skull, or at least what some caravanner claimed was a skull, just looked like a small human one to him. They were small sure but like… toddler small or child small? Would Sasuki know? Probably.

He breathed a sigh of relief at that thought.

So it was only moderately concerned when he spoke up the moment they stepped outside.

"You have a good plan to hunt these creatures?"

"I'm a master at throwing this dagger at a distance of up to 20 paces, between that and Sakura's javelins we'll be fine,"

"What if they gang up on us?"

"They won't, these things do their hunting solitarily. That's what we're doing, walking through their territory waiting for them to try to hunt us,"

"Alright, as long as you're willing to bet your life on that plan," he conceded.

"Why do you think I went out on that mission? It gave me plenty of chance to milk knowledge about the local area," she bit back. "Fangfolk ears are like, eighty percent of the claims office payout budget, believe me, the intelligence on them is accurate enough," she deadpanned before turning to shout at the giant hammering various wooden poles into the earth. "SAKURA! Come on, we're going to go hunt fangfolk,"

Sakura didn't waste time setting her tools aside and approaching, nor did she look particularly bothered by the news, so that bode well.

Maybe this would all work out!

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