Private Family reunion

[Sazuki Nao]

Still waiting... The small girl was still waiting for her sister to return. A long drawn-out sigh was given.. She remembered how she had written everyone she wanted time to think about things, to be a child. But as she had grown a bit older she knew only now what it had meant. It all became clear also when she had a talk with her sister Asuka regards of it. Running away from a village, meant you abandoned everything even your loyalty to Leaf. Which was something she never meant to do. In her heart, she still was an ANBU still was doing everything for Leaf.

Sitting under the giant tree where she would crawl between the roots to her little hiding spot, as the tree was dead but still looking alive from the outside. One more glance was given at the Bingo Book, Asuka had explained she was fully removed from it, and she was welcome home. But she remembered when she returned home... She was greeted by the same sister, but now twisted and wicket. 'I could get you killed for this.' Those words were roaming once more in her head and Kotori bit her lower lip while pulling her legs up till she could rest her cheek on her knee. "How could she say that... so nonchalant... so calm.. I even wrote her times... I gifted her things from when I wasn't home... How... could she have done it. Did she really turn against our family? Against me?" Another sigh was given.

A soft drizzle started to come from the clouds and soon was soaking the place. Kotori started to go to her few traps around the area to see if she had caught anything. Having it rain slightly, would mean all her walking noise would be muffled and silenced. She still knew how to survive very well.

[Topic Entreed with NPC Uchiha Kotori]
[Pvt. Maki]

 

[Kairyuu]

The more he learned about Leaf under Asuka, the more Maki regretted his retirement. It was obvious that the village had been mismanaged on near every level. Stagnant, it sat without life and drained into a swamp. But thankfully, swamps were fecund and could be revitalized if handled properly. Maki knew the current leadership could do that, but only with hearts in the right places. To that end…he needed to get someone’s heart aligned. As his money went out, old contacts would awaken and new ones would rear their heads wondering who this near benefactor was that was willing to pay so well for information.

Information about a girl.

She wasn’t easy to find, by any means. In the end all he’d gotten were hints, not sightings. Some rumors here, a few witnesses claiming they found dwellings there. But things were adding up to what he did know. So he told Happi to watch the manor one day and departed, wearing his old mix of samurai armor and casual wear as he went on a trek. It was more than day’s trek, but he had time.

---

The forest was quiet, the rain pattering drowning out any sound of animals that could have been heard. It also meant she would be harder to hear. Maki relished the challenge, for he knew his skills had waned over the last years of disuse and he needed to test them better. A quick henge technique would cover his appearance well, making him look like any peasant girl from one of the nearest villages. He had little doubt Kotori would think he was such, but also knew she’d never guess who he truly was and so wouldn’t come running arms wide open upon so doing.

It didn’t take long to find a trap, and so he would vault into the trees above, merging with the leaves and upper branches as he sits, silent and motionless, waiting. Soon enough she would come sneaking up, checking on the trap. With luck, the first sign of his presence would be the umbrella, as it snaps open above her and floats down gently, blocking the rain but giving an audible click as it moves. Bells would then go off behind her, and if she turns to that she’d find them attached to senbon which were embedded in a tree behind, misdirection to Maki himself dropping down on the other side of the tree he’d been in and stepping around it to face her.

“Uchiha Kotori, daughter of Uchiha Takeshi.”

He looks her up and down before giving a grin and dropping the transformation. “And niece of Tonkon Maki! Gimme a hug!”

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Trap one, at least a small rabbit a baby one would easily say. It wasn't big enough to eat, but it could be used to lure in something bigger. It was already dead when she collected it, and it seemed no blood so nothing else could be lured at her right the moment.
Second trap. Sadly didn't hold anything but did went off. It seemed through the tracks it also had been an animal too big for the trap. "Mpf.."
At the third trap she would be wary. Something felt off and she had learned through out the years to trust her gut feeling. Slowly she would creep in, seeing if the trap was sprung.. it seemed to as if nothing had happened to it. But she got closer and double check it just in case. The wire wasn't sharp enough placed, seeming she lost her touch a little.

The click she heard from above, made her trigger in a fight or flight. Her reaction was fight and with that, she had subconsciously activated her sharingan in case of an actual attack. Almost direct a moment after, she heard bells from behind her and she made herself small towards the ground, the umbrella getting closer until it fully leaned on top of her. Having it blocked her view she had to rely on her hearing. "...?" She would slowly hold the umbrella up until she saw her uncle. “Uchiha Kotori, daughter of Uchiha Takeshi And niece of Tonkon Maki! Gimme a hug!””

"Maki!!" She called out and would drop the umbrella and her sharingan all together. She didn't think for a moment as to what Maki could do to her. "Uncle uncle! It has been such a long time! please tell me you don't hate my like Asuka."

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei was curious what exactly her husband was up to. She knew their information network was working overtime, but he hadn't shared the reason behind it. When she saw him heading out the door one day with his old armor on, she couldn't help but do a double take. She tried to let it go, but before Maki was even fully out of the clan compound, Hoshirei's curiosity got the best of her. She trailed behind her husband just far enough to not arouse too much suspicion, but she wouldn't have been surprised if Maki spotted her a couple times. When Maki came to rest in a tree, Hoshirei did too, waiting to see what was happening. It didn't take long for what she assumed was Maki's quarry to show up on the forest floor. She stayed put through Maki's umbrella drop and silently chuckled through his antics. He always did like a touch of drama at times.

When she heard Kotori's words, Hoshirei's heart broke a little. She had been so focused on running the clan that she wasn't sure what exactly was going on between the sisters, but Hoshirei could only guess how hurtful hearing your sibling say they hate you would be. Hoshirei slowly climbed down her tree and made sure to make some noise so Maki and Kotori would know she was coming. She approached from a wide angle, easily viewed by both of them.

"So this is what you were up to, Maki," she stated with a smile. "It's good to see you, Kotori."

WC: 257

 

[Sazuki Nao]

Hearing the sounds of bark break, twigs snapping underweight, made her jump up a little. She then saw that she made no harm. The angle that she came from was wide and it didn't seem she was carrying weapons. Slowly she would give a smile to her aunt also, she was glad that she was around also. That they both at least remained safe. "So glad to see you both are alright," she said and started to break down a little. The first sniffle started and she would try to keep her big act big. "So glad... To see you all here." She spoke and would start to explain and ramble at the same moment.

"I later learned... that running away from home, from leaf, meant something different than just running away from home. I first stayed in the outer places high in the mountains, then a family found me... I never learned how to camp in high cold places." Her voice cracked a little as she would smile. "They took me in and.. I made friends, I made friends from around my age. We had so much fun! We went tree climbing, ice skating, how to make snow angels. BUt after a long while, I missed home. It was amazing to be myself, to be a child... But I missed my family, my home..." Her smile never left her face as she said, but she did make an attempt to get close to them to give them a hug. But a part of her stayed weary, what if they did... not accept her either?"

 

[Kairyuu]

The look on her face made all of the trouble getting out here worth it. Maki rushes forward as Kotori begins sniffling, wrapping her in a hug. ”Hey, how could I ever hate my favorite niece? I’m not Asuka, you should know that little one. In fact, I think I hate that brat more than ever right now.” He slowly guides her to Hoshirei so his wife can also get in on the hugging action. Indeed, his feelings on Asuka had gone from mere annoyance to probably wanting to remove them from existence upon next spotting them, and in no small part to that was now how they treated Kotori.

”I’m just happy you’re alright. And that I could find you. It wasn’t easy, you know, and when I headed this way it was more a hunch on this lead than anything concrete. You’ve become a fine survivalist. And yes, running away from Leaf does indeed have a lot of problems…but if you want to come back let me know. I can talk to the people in charge…and we can make that happen for you. I can’t promise things will go back to normal…in fact I can promise they never will. What I can promise is you’ll always have a home with Hoshirei and I.” He gives a grin and another hug.

”So where is this family who helped care for you? I need to thank them personally.”

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei's heart broke a bit when Kotori started sniffling. Her eyes were likely shining with the beginning of tears herself, especially when Maki moved forward to embrace their niece. She met them halfway and gently hugged Kotori as well. She remained silent for some time, just letting Kotori sit between them. When Maki mentioned the fact that Kotori would always have a home with them, Hoshirei nodded and said, "You absolutely have a home with us, Kotori. I would never bar your presence from our home, our clan." She would then tighten her arms around Kotori's shoulders for a moment before her hand would come up to brush a thumb across Kotori's cheek. She would then gently smile and bop Kotori's nose with a finger to try to make her laugh.

Maki mentioned the possibility of meeting the family who had taken Kotori in and Hoshirei nodded in agreement. She would also like to meet the people who cared for Kotori when they couldn't. The Isaki co-clan head stood up straight and stretched while looking around the area for signs of life. She frowned for a second as she saw a flash of bluish silver low to the ground. Hoshirei sighed and took a couple of steps toward the hiding being. It took her a moment, but she was able to pick out a little snout sticking out of the underbrush. Maki and Kotori would hear Hoshirei snort before continuing a few more steps away. She would then bend down and snag up Kayo from the underbrush.

The fox-like being would yelp as she was raised up into the air before making happy little fox noises and wiggling around to be able to be held like a human baby. Hoshirei just shook her head and turned back toward her little meeting. "Looks like someone else would like to say 'Hi' to you, Kotori." Kayo raised a silvery paw and waived at Kotori, her pink tongue lolling out of her smiling mouth.

____________________________________________________
WC: 329

 

[Sazuki Nao]

”Hey, how could I ever hate my favorite niece? I’m not Asuka, you should know that little one. In fact, I think I hate that brat more than ever right now.” He would bury her face into Maki as she then would stumble over her words. "At first, she found me. Handed me the bingo book. I was crossed out. That was when I learned, what it meant. Then she said I was free to return.." Small steps were taken and the felt the female's arms around her too. "Then when i got to the gates to get home... She said I should be killed on the spot." A hiccup left her and the sobs got worse before she would calm down in their arms again. After all these years, she still tried to be bigger than she needed to be. A habit she couldn't beat.

She then heard Maki and those words were a part she nodded at. She was afraid it wouldn't be the same anymore, she honestly was afraid of that. But hearing them both, that she had at least a place to call home if she never was welcomed. Was amazing to hear. She had a home somewhere in this world. A place where she could always belong. The small bop on her nose did make her chuckle and the tears did stop.

”So where is this family who helped care for you? I need to thank them personally.” Seeing Horishei also nod at it, she would look toward the direction she had come from. "Since we are able to run 'ninja' speed unlike them... we can catch up to them rather quickly. They slowly started to make camps back to the Lightning country." She said softly and would look at her aunt slowly walking to a bush. Kotori tilted her head which made some of her hair fall over her shoulder reaching almost her hip. The yelp certainly caught Kotori off guard and she instinctively took a step more towards Maki. It was then that she saw the small fox laying in Hoshirei's arms. A small and soft chuckle left her and she would take a step forward in an attempt to pet the small fox. "It's adorable." She commented before looking to both of them.

"If you want, I can lead the way. I... kind of left a tracker on them." She ashamed said before looking to them both. If they agreed, she would move towards the forest edge where a small camp had been set up. A boy and a girl were running around, stickfighting with two twigs thatt hey had found. An older lady was cooking and a man was repairing a basket. "Hii" Kotori said of a distance on which the children came running recognizing the voice. The man and the lady looked a bit troubled fearing she couldn't get back home. It was then that they would notice more people and make a polite bow. It was clear they didn't speak the same language, they were obviosly from cloud. But they did try to make a gesture if they wanted to drink something.

Kotori? Was a bit lost on trying to communicate with the children already and trying to point out this was her family.

 

[Hoshirei]

Hoshirei smiled as Kayo let Kotori pet her head. She then offered to lead the way to the family who had been taking care of her. Hoshirei smiled and said, "Lead the way, Kotori. We will follow you." With that said, Kayo jumped down from Hoshirei's arms and said, "Will follow!" They followed Kotori until they met up with a small camp. She felt herself smile softly at the sight of the boy and girl running around the camp with two sticks. She could see Kotori has had a good influence on this little family just as they had on her.

As Kotori stumbled over how to introduce them to the camp, Hoshirei placed a hand on Kotori's shoulder and smiled. She also bowed back to the group who bowed to them. To make herself less threatening, she decided to sit on the ground next to Kotori's feet. She wanted to do something for this family but wasn't sure what she could do. After a few moments, Kayo would join them and sit down next to Hoshirei. Hoshirei would then pet Kayo. If either of the kids looked curious about the silver fox with horns, she would wave them over and gesture to Kayo's head as if to say that they could pet her too.

 

[Kairyuu]

Maki frowns as the words spill out. Asuka has apparently done a few things that had him thinking he would need to find them to explain why these actions were not acceptable. With a very pointed implement. And a meteor. And he knew she would be upset at the idea of her parents not welcoming her back, but knowing Takeshi he could about promise they hadn’t forgiven or forgotten….still, Maki was fairly certain they would have a “look the other way” attitude if he pushed hard enough on this.

”Lead the way, favorite niece of mine!” With that said they would be off. Maki’s mind wandering a bit as they do. Kotori had obviously been through a lot of trauma, and he knew well how the brain could react unpredictably to such things. He kept an eye on her as they moved, tracking not only her movements but her actions, things she might not even be conscious of such as responses to various stimuli.

As they finally hit the family, Maki watches her go play with the child and turns to the parents, smiling warmly and beginning to speak before realizing they didn’t know what he was saying. He thinks for a moment before pointing to his niece, then making a motion as if rocking a child in his arms, and then pantomiming a hug, trying to express that he was family to the young woman, and thankful for their actions.

 

[Sazuki Nao]

As they went towards the family, Kotori always moved as if she was able to dodge an attack at any single moment. The small pouch on her hip was filled with little gadgets to use. But also a kamiwari trap in case she needed to body switch. She kept her hands free from objects no matter how she navigated through the forest. So that she could at any given time create handseals or react to what was happening. a subconscious thing she had created. For herself, she kept looking ahead, and around and just made sure that they were safe. For some reason, she started to guard even Hoshirei and Maki.

The bow that Hoshirei gave them, did help them calm down a lot too. It seemed that the people Kotori brought didn't hold any hostility to them. You could see their body language ease up and they would try to move them to get closer. As Maki started to sign things, a rocking movement, and to the small redhead, they started to get an idea. They would nod and the man would attempt to speak their language. "Child, family, you, family." It was very rustic and heavily accented. But the attempt was made. The children were running around at this point till the smaller girl noticed the little creature. "A-!" She squealed happily and would get to Kotori to point to the creature. It was then that she looked in Hoshirei's direction and would grin. "Woman, Hoshirei." She would point to Hoshirei before the small girl tried to mimic.

The cloud family had just made something to drink, a simple broth soup and they offered them a bowl too. They would just fill in more bowls the female would give both Hoshirei and Maki a bowl if they wished.
She then pointed to herself. "Me is Yukina." She tried before pointing to her husband, you could see her trying to find words before just simply winging it. "Love Malik." She would then smile a bit sheepish before Malik started to call the kids in, including Kotori to come to have a bowl. The children would sit down near the fire and quietly nip at the soup. Malik then spoke further. "Miko, Aries." He pointed first to the boy and then to the girl.

As the soup was half drank or eaten, Yukina would attempt to talk. It was for certain she spend more time with Kotori as she knew a few basic words. "Kotori's family, good?" She asked in case it wasn't. But she even knew that it was up to Kotori as to what she would want herlse.f. "Kotori, home?" She asked after their answer and would point to both Maki and Hosirei.

The young girl was more interested in the little for and would start to get closer to Hoshirei and point to the creature. "Pet pet" She said in Cloud's language as she didn't know how else to ask for petting the creature. She did at least ask even if their language didn't match. Kotori already started to look around to keep them safe. Malik noticed this and kept looking from Maki in conversation over to Kotori.