Yumi's Delivery Service [Sousuke]

[Kazumi]

The tapping sound of dress shoe's elevated heels echoed slightly through the streets of the Sietch as the young girl walked her way through the area at a hastened pace. She had walked these streets at night more than a dozen times, and even though the shadows seemed to move and shift about her, the girl did her best to press on and ignore them. She had strict instructions by her temporary guardian, Kurisu, to deliver the package as quickly as she was able. He had not seemed concerned or worried, though he never seemed to show much of any real emotiom, he had emphasized the need to deliver the box safely and with no delay.

Armed with a quickly, but surprisingly well drawn, map on a scrap of paper, Yumi continued her trek through the late night streets. The hastened pace got her to the area she believed contained the Steward's home, but looking around the area and its... meagerness. It was not too far unlike her current temporary home, but it still felt rundown and unseemly to the youth, who had up until a couple of months ago had lived in relative luxary in the Grand Palais.

She paused in front of one of the many houses' doors, examining the paper and whatever identifying markings that were used in this section of the city. Surely this could not have been the Steward of the village's home. Kurisu must have been mistaken, or she had somehow read the map incorrectly. Absently she shifted her shoulders around nervously, causing the black bag slung across her back with the package to move in turn.

It was past midnight when she left, and she couldn't just go around knocking on random doors looking for a man who likely lived in a completely different section of the village, one much nicer and less... mundane. Frozen in internal conflict she continued to stand there in front of the door for quite sometime in her formal school attire, nevously shifting back and forth on her feet as she tried to decide what to do...

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Yumi would hear many things. She would hear a ruff from a dog, a growl from a lion, and a squawk. The one armed wonder would then hear the shifting of a lock. The door would open and several heads would poke out. The first would be a husky who looked mightily happy and pleased to see Yumi. The second was a red metallic looking lioness named Variable, the third was a Sandstrider named Tobihi. The Sandstriker squwaked at Yumi again. Of the three females it was the bird who seemed most irritated. The lioness pawed the giant bird and shuffled her aside. Sousuke would poke his head out too, the tired looking Steward who was eating some takeout blinked with some confusion at Yumi. A noodle was hanging out of his lip which he sucked into his mouth as he continued eatting. Sousuke looked like a wreck of sorts. Clearly the man showed signs of lack of sleep. "Yumi. Uh. Good morning."<i></i> It was midnight. so it was the morning indeed. The female animals backed away and Sousuke continued to have a perplexed look on his face. "...Do come in. This is not a time for younglings to be on the street, even if they are well trained. They should be in bed."<i></i> Could Sousuke use his own advice? Absolutely. Here he was the elder of the two, and certainly one should listen to their elders. Sousuke was holding his cardboard noodles-to-go dish and motioned for her to follow him as he continued to eat his dinner with gusto, as if he had been denied food for some amount of time.

Sousuke's house wasn't a dive, but it was neat and tidy ... save for the dining room table which was littered with drawings and reports. "I just got home twelve minutes ago. I've been at Project Rebirth all day."<i></i> He explained. The Steward helped himself to more of his dinner. Amongst all the paperwork was the takeout. "Help yourself to a box."<i></i> He motioned as he turned to his telephone. He hit the message box. The box then told him he had thirty-six new messages. His brows furrowed at this. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow... but... no matter. Most of my house is asleep, except my ... animal companions. The Lyron is named Variable. The Husky is named Kitchy and the ..."<i></i> Before he could introduce the Sandstriker, the bird began squawking up a storm. Sousuke's eyes narrowed. He placed down his meal and wrote out the bird's infernal name out for Yumi to see.

 

[Kazumi]

This was far from what she had expected; it was strange enough to see the Steward of all people in this part of the village, but she never would have guessed that he lived in a menagerie. Before he invited her inside he would recieve a deep respectful bow from the doorway as the animals retreated inside. Aside from her hair which always looked to be in a tustle, Yumi looked quite the opposite from him in her neatly pressed outfit and a face that drew upon her youthful vigor to keep itself from appearing sleep deprived. After he invited her in he would receive another quick bow of gratitude, "thank you sir, my apologies for... um... disturbing you at this hour."

As she stepped inside she made sure to close and lock the door behind her before she turned to survey the home of the Steward himself. She didn't know much of the Takahashi family, much less than she should, but then again, matters of clans never interested her very much. Regardless, she was sure he should be living in a much nicer part of the village, if not in the tower itself; this man did practically govern the entire village as far as she understood it after all.

As he ventured slightly deeper into the house she tried to keep her respectful air, but with the strange animals and the mundane appearance of everything, it was becoming quite difficult. With her mind distracted she had almost not even heard the offer for her to take some of his food. "No no, I couldn't, but thank you very much for the offer Lord Steward." Her responses were still polite, but by now Kitchy had seemed to take an interest in the girl. As the introductions of the animals went around she tried to ward off the fuzzy one with awkward pets on his head, and although they were certainly not from an experienced pet lover Kitchy seemed to appreciate them all the same.

The sudden squawking caused Yumi to flinch as her ears attempted to fold in on themselves to try and shut out the annoying, almost painful, sounds. How could people be asleep with that thing here? How could people ever be asleep? As Sousuke wrote out the noise-box's name, Yumi would give him an appreciative nod; a confused and slightly pained expression on her young face as the bird continued.

It wasn't until now that she got a good look at the man in his ragged state. This, at least, did not surprise her to any significant degree. Leading a village must have been hard work, and the fact that she knew he also did other things for people around the village, such as excising phantasms or... whatever else it was that day, certainly couldn't have made him any less stressed.

As the squawking continued for a few moments more, Yumi stood there with obvious embarrassment, unsure as to what to do about the matter. Eventually when it stopped, either by Sousuke's intervention or by divine whim, she would give him yet another small bow before she would work to pull the bag off from her bag which contained the mystery box, holding it out for him to take. "Kurisu-sama wanted me to deliver this to you, sir. I'm sorry for like... disturbing you at this hour, but he said I should get it to you tonight." Although it was hidden at the moment, inside was a box that was no larger than her head; unwrapped and plain but held shut with some sort of seal. She had no clue to its contents, and her manners and respect prevented her from trying to sneak a peek, even though such efforts likely would prove fruitless.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke continued to eat his dinner as he listened to Yumi apologize to him not once, but twice. The squwaking had ceased as Variable simply batted the Sandstrider in the head, sending the bird packing. Kitchy let out a bark of contentedness as she was being patted by Yumi. The awkward pats were simply not awkward to the husky at all. The dog hopped up on her hind legs and licked Yumi. The dog let out an excited woof. "She likes you, but then again she likes most people. Kitchy used to be a mechanical entity until she had a little mishap being hit with vita rays which transformed her from a lizard like entity into a proper dog."<i></i> He explained to the child as he continued eatting. The Steward reached for the remote and turned the television on. He continued chewing as he was listening on both ends. Today's events but more importantly the delivery being made. "You don't need to apologize a third time."<i></i> He took the box from her and placed it on the table. He inspected it. "Must be that sword pommel he had been inquiring about. Lord Kurisu is a swordsmaster, and is very adept at testing some of my new blade designs where the blade is plasma generated."<i></i> He explained as the television trailed off...

...word today comes that the Steward Kazekage's ambitious Project Rebirth may have slowed down today due to a bandit raid. The attack was handled swiftly. Some think that the Cabal are behind this...<i></i>

Sousuke wore an annoyed look on his face. As the reporter continued on, the phone would ring. He placed down his meal and picked it up. "Yeah. I'm watching it now. No. No it's not. They're not well informed."<i></i> He turned his head looking back at Yumi as he listened to the other side. "No. It's fine. The media does this thing. The reporter isn't there because she's sle--"<i></i> Sousuke was going to divulge to the other party on the phone that the reporter was only on air replacing the smarter one because she was sleeping with head management. Sousuke couldn't because well ... there was a child in the room. "Another time. I have company."<i></i> He paused, "The man in the narrows? No he's a copycat. Take him out. It's not hard. No. He's not Sniperman. Sniperman is out of the picture. He was taken out during the Magnetica invasion."<i></i> He wrote out a message for Yumi to see 'Talking with an Anbu Captain. Well informed. Hates the media. Hates it when the media more specifically makes the Anbu look inept or myself for that matter'. "Yeah I trust you. That's fine. Report to me about the western boundary tomorrow. No. It's off. Get men out to the small villages there too. Something doesn't seem right when -- yeah. Sure. Bye."<i></i> Sousuke hung up the phone finally. He sank into the chair. "I guess you're wondering how does the Steward live in a house like this when his sennin lives in a small palace. You were wondering that when you walked in and looked about. Your manners and politeness are holding you back. The answer is twofold. First is by choice, secondly ... I don't really have a wage for being Steward."<i></i>

MFT 548

 

[Kazumi]

The awkward apprehension seemed to fall away as Kitchy hopped up, almost pushing Yumi off balance as she hopped up onto the girl. More amused petting would occur until surprise overtook amusement. Mechanical? Vita Rays? Lizard? She looked from Sousuke to the hound, neither of which seemed to share her confusion at what Sousuke was telling her. "She used to be a... toy lizard?"

As he chastised her for her excess of apologies Yumi nervously looked away from the man as she helped the canine down to the ground. "Plasma?" She suddenly chirped out before she could carch herself, though before he could comment the tv spot caught both of their attentions. Yumi looked and listened intently, and as she turned to inquire to him about it the phone suddenly went off. Foiled by timing once again, one of the curses that reality seemed to have placed on her by Mother Suna. As the long conversation ensued, Yumi did her best to pay attention to other things. This was all sensitive information, she was sure, but she couldn't bring herself to be respectful enough to leave completely or to plug her ears.

By the time that the conversation had finally concluded, she had wandered over to Sousuke's dinner and had absently began munching on it. Once he hung up she quickly tired to chew and swallow her last bit as Sousuke spoke to her back. With a forced gulp that almost got her to choke, Yumi spun around towards him and began to not in understanding as he spoke, at leats until she actually understood what he was talking about. "Oh... I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so forward about it." She averted her eyes from him as she sat, her left hand began nervously toying with the tied sleeve on her right side. "You don't.. get paid for that? I mean... there is no Kage, and since you are doing all of that work, shouldn't you get paid for the spot?" She knew he wasn't officially Kage, that he should have been serving a support role, but the details of village politics ended around there.

"Oh and... is everything alright with the project? I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear. Were there really bandit raids on the village stuff up there? That seemed... well.. stupid of them, doesn't it?" After speaking her piece, Yumi bit her tongue and quieted herself down, staring over towards the bird off in one corner rather than towards the Steward.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke seeing as how Yumi had indeed partook of some of his dinner shook his head. He got up from the table and got a glass of water for the child and one for himself as well. "Take your time. Don't eat so quickly and more importantly don't choke."<i></i> His tone was like that of a parent. He had patience with children. After all he raised two children. For a young man such as the Steward who was not in the later part of his twenties it was most astounding. He took his seat once more and prepared a plate now for Yumi. Sousuke continued to listen to the television screen as it went on and on, he also listened to Yumi's series of inquires. "You weren't being forward about it. I observed it. .. but one would think that. I receive a monthly family inheritance. It's enough to keep me going. I don't go without the things I need, but I make do without the things I want."<i></i> He explained. "The state's treasury isn't suffering, but it is something I am mindful of. To be honest though Project Rebirth's bill is increasing steadily. Most of the bill's I've paid from funding from some larger families of financial power. Others have agreed to fund me, but there are certain conditions I am not so ready to satisfy. It's a balancing act."<i></i> What Sousuke kept out was the fact that several noble families were ready to throw in a large fortune to finish up certain products on the condition that they publically see particular members of the Cabal hanged, executed, shot by firing squad (Sousuke himself was not proud of this new weaponry that was finding itself moving into Sungakure readily). It sickened the Steward. The court had its right to be vengeful, but this was something most... concerning on the nature of people. Either way it was something he would have to deal with later.

Then there was the topic of the bandits, Sousuke stared back at the television. "Yes there were bandits. Ever since the Cabal attack, and the surface being reclaimed, bandits have been growing more and more reckless. It isn't the first time, and it certainly won't be the last."<i></i> Sousuke dug into his meal once more. "I've dealt with pirates before. They underestimated me, and have paid the price for doing it. A lot of people do that."<i></i> Bandits seemed numerous. They had their reasons for resulting to crime, but some of them had to be stopped. Sousuke had no problem with a man attempting to feed himself, but this was not the case. "We've returned to the surface. Given the news we've been beat on some fronts, others have tried to get in and take what they can from us. This'll blow over into an armaments race of sorts, worst case senario. When you're a Takahashi of course, armaments is what you're used to building. If worse came to worse, give me wood and I'll construct a good solid puppet in contrast to a sloppy smith with the best steel. It boils down to knowing your resources and how to enhance them."<i></i>

Sousuke shook his head. "Have you ever thought about acquiring a prosthetic arm?"<i></i> He raised his. The skeletal like fingers came together to make a fist. "I made one for my ward. When she used to live with me. My grandmother she ... well ... she's stubborn and won't use the one I made for her. It's your choice of course."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

Despite her upbringing in a merchant family, the topic of money and finances was quite foreign to her. This was encouraged by her father and so over time she had learned to block anything she had overheard about the stuff from her mind. Thusly, the girl simply nodded along as Sousuke spoke, only half hearing and half understanding what he was talking about. Once the topic shifted back towards something interesting she seemed to snap out of her daze as her attention locked back onto Sousuke as he spoke of attacks and bandits.

Yumi was a little slow on the uptake as the conversation shifted from talk of Takahashi talents to prosthetic arms, and she continued to nod in understand until he pointed out that she had a choice to make on the matter. She froze for a moment as she belatedly realizied the shift in topic and her nervous mannerisms returned in full force. "U-... umm... I haven't really thought about it much." She admitted, although that was not entirely truthful. Kuro had brought this upto her once before, but she had other more pressing options presented to her at the time to give it much thought.

Her left hand's fingers slid the fabric of her right sleeve around as she glanced away from Sousuke and shifted about with noticeable discomfort. "I... I don't know, I guess. It just seems like if I did I would be dishonoring my mom and dad... What happened was my fault and so... why should I get off the hook while they... can't." Emotions from the indicent were buried deeply enough that she didn't shed tears or the like, but her tone was still heavily laced with latent guilt that was not so easily forgotten.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke looked up from his dinner and chewed silently as he listened to Yumi explain why she was hesitant to having a prosthetic arm. He listened intently. Guilt ridden she was. It was the sort of thing she would have to work past in time. "No parent would want to see their child suffer mentally, physically or have a disadvantage in life. When I was growing up I faced many difficulties in school as I had several learning disabilities. My parents would spend time with me and used various methods to help me get past them in what ways they could."<i></i> That was his parent's not Yumi's. He knew of some particulars of it, what had happened to her. It seemed strange though and Sousuke could not quite put his finger on it, yet. Alot of unsolved crimes were the sort of thing Sousuke looked into before the Cabal invasion. Putting an end to various things. "I respect your choice of course. I wouldn't think of it in the way you do though. We can't bring them back of course."<i></i> He spoke referring to her parents. Well. They could. There were those with particular skillsets to bring back the dead, but that was not a way to live. It was a technique, Sousuke had read about it, and met people with the skill set in times past, but even he had limits as to what he would and would not do. "I wouldn't look at it as if you're getting off the hook. You have to keep going on and living."<i></i> He hesitated, "A lot of people got hurt during the Cabal invasion. I was locked out of the village because the time of their attack was during a time I had to look after some extremely personal and family matters."<i></i> His eyes narrowed. Not at Yumi. This was a sore subject for him. "Dishonouring your parents would be if you left yourself waste away. The harder part is to keep on going, which is what I've had to do in my case. I've got the Cabal locked up in cells. Some of them have agreed to help us. Others are just ... waiting and wasting away because they cannot make up their minds."<i></i> His gaze would shift from that angry look he had when speaking about the Cabal to something more neutral as he would look at the ceiling of the room.

It was best if a change in topic was in order. "There are too few hours in the day Yumi. I literally need more time in the day to get things done. Unfortunately I don't have the power set to change that."<i></i> He shook his head, "It would be something, if I could do that eh?"<i></i> He sank back into his chair. As he did so Kitchy came to his side and he proceed to pet the husky on her head. The dog happily wagged her tail. "So."<i></i> He said reaching forward and taking the box she had given him earlier. "You get any practice in with the swords I made you? I guess not... but we can fix them into a sword-staff if you want. You could twirl the blade around and get stabby if you are so inclined. Has Mr. Bear given you plenty of hugs?"<i></i>

MFT

 

[Kazumi]

As he spoke a conglomeration of emotions struck her one after another, if her expressions were anything to judge by. She respectfully listened in silence as he did her best to talk sense into the girl. It was foolish, and she knew that, but there was a feeling of nobility in that senselessness that she hesitated to relinquish. If she could succeed as a shinobi, as she believed her parents wanted, would that help lift the weight off her shoulders? Her gaze drifted to his prosthetic as he continued to speak and curiosity joined in with the merry conglomerate that swirled around inside her head. Before he sat down and managed to change the topic she quietly interjected with a question, "what happened to your arm, sir?" She tried to remember back when she first met him to think if he had it then, but distinct memories of back then eluded her and she concluded that it must have been the case.

When the topic did change to his gifts to her she quickly looked away with a guilty expression. She couldn't simply tell him that they were still sitting at her old home, neglected but not forgotten. Kurisu had accompanied her to her home to fetch supplies for her new living conditions and she had been instructed to not return there without his accompaniment, and she didn't have the nerve to impose on him for a second trip. A few long seconds of silence hung in the room before she suddenly perked her head up and asked, "what do you think about cursed seals, Takahashi-sama?" He could tell this was a question she had been mulling over herself for quite sometime, with genuine curiosity resting on her face as she both hoped to change the topic once again and to gain his insightful wisdom on the topic.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"My arm?"<i></i> He paused for a moment. "When we went to reclaim the surface and entered the eye of the storm, we by chance entered a sandworm cave. We battled a sandworm... and well I have no skillset of water jutsu. This being the case I took to prying plates off, and I got too close and it ..."<i></i> The more he described it, the more absurd it sounded. "It devoured my arm. The bones were ... ... reduced to dust considering the force of the jaw and that it went down the gullet. Well maybe not dust altogether but it was destroyed. I would have liked to have salvaged the bones, but that was not an option."<i></i> He blinked as he was not looking at Yumi as he was telling her the story. He turned back to her and shook his head. Was this truly a believable narrative? Based on the life he lived it seemed really outlandish, even to him."Even I have a hard time believing it happened to me. When we retook the surface we entered a place where it ... rained and almost snowed."<i></i> Realistically, and logically that should not happen in the desert. Yet it did. Nothing that the Steward did would change it.

The next question that came was one that surprised the Steward. Children of this age grouping knew of such things? Yumi was resourceful. "Well. The word curse is one of interpretation. Depending on who you're speaking to, sometimes cursed and blessing are interchangeable."<i></i> He answered. "Blessings usually don't hurt one in the process. Again a matter of perspective, depending on the religion, especially considering Jahanist."<i></i> It wouldn't surprise Sousuke if the child knew about this repulsive religion. Sousuke's eyes narrowed as he spoke of it. Sousuke upon a time was devoid of emotion. Hate was something that came to mind quickly to him when speaking of that foul religion. "It'll kill you in time, like all things. They extract a toll. Usually it's life force, but some people have been able to live longer. The question is, did they live longer because of the seal let them win that battle? If they won the battle, could they have done so without the seal having to extract time from their life span?"<i></i> He looked at the child, "Tell me how did you come into knowing of these things? Merely curious. I was older than you when I knew of them, but when I was your age I was ... not at all socially apt and was plagued with learning diabilities."<i></i>

(MFT)

 

[Kazumi]

He had fought a sandworm!? Yumi had heard of these creatures before, though they were more akin to myths told as stories to scare children more than actual fears. Her look of wonder took on tinges of confusion as he spoke of water techniques and playes, but that was replaced with an expression of shock soon followed by regret as he continued. Her eyes averted from his for the next few seconds, but the mere mention of the word snow snapped her attention right back to its fullest. "Snow!? You saw snow around here?" The mere thought of it seemed to erase any concern she had for his lost arm or similar feelings of regret at bringing up the sore subhect.

As the topic shifted to her other question her levels of enthusiasm leveled off, but she still seemed keenly interested in what he had to say on the matter. That show of interest persisted until he turned the question back around upon her and her gaze shifted away once more. "Tora... erm..." Yumi hesitated a few seconds as she tried to recall the name. "Kuro is offering to give me one after I did some questions and obstacles. There was this other guy there who gave one to Riyota... Kazuki I think? I asked Naoki about it and she seemed really into it, I guess 'cause she already has one I didn't even know about." Yumi kept her stare on the ground to her side as she spoke, but after she stopped speaking the girl looked up to him once more with a meekly inquisitive expression. "What do you think about it? Do you have one?""

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke's expression soured at the mention of the herald of information being Kuro. "That's... concerning."<i></i> Kuro and Kazuki were handing out seals for seemingly... nothing? Was his trust misplaced in those two? Children at this age, unless truly matured, were not ready to deal with such powers. Sousuke tapped the table as he allowed this information to sink into his already troubled mind. A fit of silence over took the man, a long three minutes of said silence. He snapped out of it when Kitchy placed her paw on his knee, he snapped out of it and looked down to his pet. "Sorry. Sometimes I think really hard about certain matters."<i></i> He hesitated for a moment more. Naoki had a seal too? How? Why? Why would Kuro arm children with cursed seals? Did he not know that they were hamrful? Naoki at best was a smart child, but was she aware of the seal's toll? Sousuke would need to investigate the matter.

Sousuke answered her final question, if he had one and what he thought about it. "No. I've been plagued with health issues since I was a child... and more importantly I don't like tattoos, which is what a seal is in essence. Using the power of a seal ... usually allows once to twist and warp their form in later stages of it. Bear in mind that parts of my power set are the polar opposite to Lord Kurisu. He is a man of light, I'm a man of the shadow."<i></i> He could call the shadows to him. Ever since he was a child he found the shade and night most comforting, even before meeting Mikaboshi. Was his ultimate mastery of it due to Mikaboshi? In part yes. "Toss in of course if my girlfriend found out if I had some funky tattoo that drained my health... she'd be pretty upset."<i></i> Yume may have shown interest in the concept, but she would definitely not what his health to deteriorate. "To be honest, what would you do if the seal was botched and it spelt your name wrong, or ... the sealer involved didn't like you and placed some random insulting word on you?"<i></i> He quipped. A small grin formed on his face.

Time to move the topic to something more "So. Yes. I did see snow. Not for long, but it was truly strange."<i></i>

 

[Kazumi]

As the silence stretched out from seconds to a full minute Yumi remained perfectly silent, and as still as she could keep herself. Guilt began to creep over her as the minute expanded out to three full minutes, she was sure that she must have done something to upset the Steward but she didn't know what. She was on the brink of breaking down into a sincere apology when he spoke first. As he continued to speak her guilt slowly faded, receeding back into the paranoid depths of her mind. She even managed a small stifled giggle as he somehow turned the matter into a joke.

Her muted laughter paused as he posed the final question towards her, likely as a continuation as part of his earlier joke, but she seemed to take it as a serious question. "Do you think he would do that? He seemed nice... except when he had that scary demon king... uhm... with the really long name suddenly start yelling things about prophecy or... something." Her mind strained to remember what she had hear him say or at least what he had said happened, but unfortunately it was coming up blank. "So... umm..." she began to hesitantly ask, "do you think I should decline then? Naoki said I should and Riyota got a second one, and even Kurisu said... well he wouldn't give me a straight answer, but he kind of said I should if I do it for the right reason? Kuro even said it would regrow my arm or... something." His answer, if one could call it that, still confused her. Adults often had a way of evading questions or answering questions by asking you more questions and then expect that to help at all... Adults rarely made any sense.

A few belated moments later something that Sousuke had said finally struck her, "wait, you have a girlfriend?" She sounded more surprised and potentially indignant that she had intended as she looked over towards the Steward. She still couldn't wrap the concept of romantics around her young mind, at least not in any practical sense, and the possibility that Sousuke engauged in such a thing simply seemed... preposterous! He was the Steward of all people, did he really have time to be having a girlfriend, and if so why wasn't he just married?

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"The concept of prophecy is irritating. I pay no mind to it. I like surprises, like ... what I'm going to eat tomorrow or what awaits me under the tree when the Winter King comes. You can shout out a bunch of things, and some of them come true ... some of them don't."<i></i> Sousuke again quipped. There was something ... reassuring and comforting in this joking nature of sorts. It allowed the air to settle easier. This topic needed something to balance it. He listened carefully as she explained Lord Kurisu's position. Sousuke would next try to explain to Yumi what he meant, "Power is something that people want for the sake of having it. Greed ... really. His point is that if you get it, don't do it for the sake of greed. Use it to protect yourself when you truly most, or those around you who cannot protect themselves. Maybe not necessarily that, but in that vein of thought."<i></i> When it boiled down to the question of whether she should receive a seal or not he thought about it and the concept of her arm growing back. "You have to be aware of what powers you dabble in. It is certainly a possibility that your arm can regrow itself, but ... what makes me wonder is if you're truly in control of it? Or perhaps is it being controlled by the person who gave you the seal in the first place. Seals can also be a two way door, being that you've invited another to ... possibly even control you if they so willed it."<i></i> He paused for a moment, "I would advise you to decline receiving it... there are far too many variables in play. If you get one, you may become reliant on it, and there are those with a skillset to disable them entirely. What then do you do when your most powerful asset is made irrelevant? Trust in your own skillset."<i></i> Sousuke twirled around a chop stick as he helped himself to more noodles.

He was chewing along most contentedly when she asked him that he had a girlfriend. He chewed slowly and swallowed his food before speaking. The child did not need such a sight and it was rude to do so anyways. "Yes. I do. She is of the Inuzuka clan. She is a mednin. I've been dating her for a while now... maybe over a year or so now."<i></i> He explained cautiously. He didn't understand why the concept was so foreign to her. "...I'm not thirty yet... and I am expected to have a wife and children of my own bloodline in the future. I refused to be married through arrangements. I did actually meet with Yume, and ... well ... I enjoy her presence greatly. She is a very lovely person, that I think I would like to have as my spouse ... given that I am granted permission to marry her."

 

[Kazumi]

Perhaps the young girl had already spent to much time in the company of the holy warrior, but half way through Sousuke's she seemed to be phasing out of attention. Regardless, she seemed to have become quite accustomed to simply nodding at what appeared to be opportune moments and so the Steward might not have noticed her inattention. As the momentary silence resumed once he began to eat, her attention finally snapped back to reality as she gave one final nod. "Mhmm, I think I get it." She replied with apparent sincerity.

"Wife? You don't look old enough to be married and stuff... and are Stewards allowed to marry?" She was quite ignorant to many of the more obscure customs of the village, but that concept made some measure of sense to her. "Married to the job and stuff... but it is really sweet though! I'd love to meet her sometime..." Yumi paused for a few seconds as she realised how presumptious her request was. Though, it likely would be a village wide affair, even if he was not the Kazekage he was still the village's leader after all.

Yumi stood and watched Sousuke eat his late night meal for a short time before she asked, "I should probably leave you to eat and stuff... You gotta get up early to do Steward stuff, right?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"I have to ask for permission to marry. It is a very awkward and long process."<i></i> Seemingly Yumi only was getting part of what he said. There was a pattern to her nods and lack of commentary. "Family lines do need to go on. That is done through procreating and marriage."<i></i> Sousuke was not going to going to explain to the child where babies came from. That would be ... inappropriate. Granted that someone would have to do that, Sousuke would not be the party to it. He blinked as Yumi spoke of wanting to meet her. Truly? That was a first. "Really? That might be a bit difficult, she is a doctor ... but she does have some free time."<i></i> His brows were raised quizzically as he did not expect the child wanting to meet his girlfriend. Perhaps Sousuke was the lucky one. He was dating a doctor. A very intelligent and sweet Inuzuka.

Yumi then decided to bring their meeting to a close seemingly. Yes. It was exceptionally late. "I would be up early. If I ever slept that was."<i></i> He admitted. This was not a healthy life style he was living and he was paying the price for it. He shook his head, "Kitchy will escort you home. She has been trained, and while she is not an Inuzuka familiar she is a highly capable dog."<i></i> The Husky let out a few barks as if to say just how right Sousuke was in his assessment of her capableness. The canine seemed puffed herself up and stood straight and tall to further emphasize her stature as a top dog. It was Husky who helped him get into the house during that one time he was drunk. That was a story he was certainly not going to share either.

Sousuke would see Yumi out and would finish up his dinner and would ultimately return back to his work. Tomorrow was after all another day of twenty-hours which was too many hours short of a day.

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