[Sunagakure] Village Center

[Apollymi]

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s474/benihime469/RPU/Naruto/Sunagakure_2_zpsd0jqzwfw.png

The Sunagakure Village is a large one built into the cover of some more mountains parts of the desert. The clearing itself is divided into eight equal parts with the Kazekage's Mansion built into the center giving a clear line of sight to the entire village. Each section of the village houses different areas of village live, including a shopping district, one for local businesses, one for the hospital and green house as well as some other more specialized locations. The entirety of the village is build upon an oasis which sustains itself, but it cannot properly expand without more fertile ground. Attempts are constantly being made to expand the fertile grounds the village can cover and expansion is one of the man plans for urban development.

[Bloodedge]

After a long journey, a lonely male figure finally set foot in Sunagakure. He was of semi-tall stature, great physique, and a seemingly gentle demeanor. This man wore no shirt. Instead, he wore an open cloak with multiple gold bars at its tail, completing an ensemble that contained gold armor on his arms, waist, neck, ears, and sides. Whoever this man was, he appeared to be obviously wealthy. However, he also had the visage of a simple wanderer, evident by his carrying of a herder's staff into a place he looked as if he welcomed as his own home.

[Apollymi]

A teenage white haired young woman sat atop the Kazekage's Mansion, looking out over the whole of the village. Though she peered visibly only towards the entrance, her eyes allowed her a great deal of vision, all she needed to do was flick them in various directions. She looked back towards the forge which could likely be considered a second home. And she saw there, two chakra's she was very familiar with. One of them, belonged to the current Kazekage, a tiny red haired young woman by the name of Benihime. The other, belonged to her adoptive brother, the blacksmith a man called Katsuhara Youko. The married couple had been in the same place for quite a while together. Their chakra seemed steady, then gave off the tell-tell sign of being under a genjutsu, but since there was no one else nearby she assumed it to be a bit of much needed training for the red head.

'Hm, about time.' she thought... only to see the genjutsu end and the start of the make up session which caused the two of them to have their chakra mix together. "Aww, finally." she said. Then she thought about what she was actually witnessing. "Eww. I'm going to have to start walking around with my eyes closed. Again." she mentioned aloud and seemingly to no one. But as her gaze averted to the front of the village, she caught sight of a chakra that she'd never seen before. "Nani?" she concentrated further and determined that this individual was strong, on par with the leaders of the village, even. 'He's too strong and they just made up... I can't allow this.' she thought, feeling the need to go and find out the intentions of the strange man before he made it too far into the village. Her plan to sneak up on him, which she did, ending with her behind him as he approached the interior of the village. She found this man to look like a strangely dressed wanderer, and she wearing a white short kimono, a skirt and obi complete with a chrysanthemum design also seemed to look as if she didn't belong. Beyond this what appeared to be an old sword at her side.

[Bloodedge]

As he wandered through the village, this man seemed to find that the sights he witnessed were strange. This was very much the same village he knew, but it seemed a bit too much the same. On the other hand, being a sensor type to some extent, he could tell there were powerful and unfamiliar chakras in the vicinity... and one was suddenly very close to him. Perhaps he had come to the village just in time to witness an ambush on it? Only time would tell. After a few moments of being trailed, he stopped in an empty area of the village. "What is it you want with me?"

[Apollymi]

Aiko trailed this man to an empty area of the village. And once they arrived there, he called out to her. It was rather strange to be outed in some way, it was a rather rare occurance outside of other users of doujutsu. She stepped out from a narrow alley and leaned against an alley. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her eyes active in their full moon state within her eyes. "I don't necessarily want anything with you. You're just way too strong to be wandering about here, without me knowing who you are." The girl of 19 said flickering her gaze over this man. "Too much has happened, and the safety of the village and its leaders is my primary concern." The white haired young woman brushed her hair back away from her face.

[Bloodedge]

According to this young woman, her intentions were to ensure the well-being of the village and its inhabitants. This was strange to the man, as he happened to be an inhabitant of the village himself. Had his legacy vanished in his time away? One could only wonder. "This village is safe while I'm here, young Kunoichi," he said, in spite of not looking much older than the lass himself. "I am the Kazekage. You're strange to me, though. I've seen someone like you, but never in this village. Who might you be?"

[Apollymi]

Aiko found herself staring at this man, and while it didn't appear that he was lying about being a threat, she couldn't well just let him waltz around without being sure. She was almost willing to simply take him at his word about the threat he didn't pose, until he gave himself a title which caused confusion to sprout over her face. "No, you aren't. I know the Kazekage. Present and former, and you are neither of them. You're too young to have come before, in a time I wouldn't have known." She said, though she wasn't all together rude, so she'd introduce herself as well. "Katsuhara Aiko, Sunagakure Jounin." she gave a bow as per normal when interacting with other people. "I've lived in this village my entire life, and I've been a kunoichi most of that... I don't know you." Aiko eyed this man suspiciously.

[Bloodedge]

"Eh!?" the man replied. The girl's disbelief at his being the Kazekage was astounding, as for one who was a Kunoichi for most of her life thus far, he did not know her either. Moving on though, Aiko's introduction of herself came with a bow. He reciprocated this bow, responding with an introduction of his own. "Hiyama Machi, Nidaime Kazekage. Trust me, I'm a bit older than I may appear. I was Kazekage about... what, eight or nine years ago? I'm surprised the village has had more than one Kage since then. Who is it now?"

[Apollymi]

This man's disbelief was surprising. It seemed at the very least he was respectable enough to bow and introduce himself. Even so, his name and his title didn't make any sense to the girl. "Older than you appear, but Nidaime is Ookami-jii. So, I don't believe you." she said. As for the matter of who was presently Kazekage, she had no reason to withhold the information. She was a bit surprised, most who came to the village already knew who they were looking for. "Katsuhara Benihime is the Sandaime Kazekage." she said with a curt nod. "Additionally, 8 years ago I became a Chuunin, and you weren't in this village." her body shifted, and when it did her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword. This entire interaction was beyond sketchy, and if any other reaction came off as odd, she'd be fighting this man.

[Bloodedge]

"Ookami?" he asked immediately. "But... Ookami was the founding Kazekage. He chose me as his successor." The man apparently known as Machi stood with a hand against his chin, as if curious to how things unfolded during his absence. He knew Ookami had no desire to return to the position of Kage, and if Benihime were the current Kazekage, there would have been no reason for the elderly man to act as the middle man. Moreover, the amount of time this man thought he'd been gone seemed to line up with the time in which Aiko became a Chuunin. This only created more confusion. "Really? That's strange. I could have sworn that was about eight years. Let me think..." At that moment, the man paused instantly. Something about what this girl said threw him for a loop. "Wait... Katsuhara Benihime? You mean Suzukou?"

[Apollymi]

This man seemed a bit off now to Aiko, mostly because he couldn't seem to keep timelines straight in his head. If he couldn't even figure out, how long he'd been out of the village, how was she supposed to take his word that Ookami-jii had chosen him as his successor. "Hiyama-san. I really can't allow you to wander around the village when you don't even know how long you've been away, if you were even here in the first place. As I said, the safety of the village is my primary concern. I can't just go check this story either, and I'd be irresponsible to take you in the village center." she said staring at the man passively her hand still hovering over the hilt of her sword. "I said what I meant, Onee-sama's surname is Katsuhara, though I suppose it was Suzukou before she got married." the young girl said. But knowing Benihime wasn't really enough proof that he'd been here before. The woman had gone on many a mission as a Jounin and made a name for herself in many lands, it gained him no points to know her. "Hiyama-san, do me a favor? Turn around, and go back the way you came. I can't confirm who you are, and I can't have you walking around. Arigatou Gozaimasu." She said rather politely.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, that's smart. Can't trust someone, can't check their story, can't bring them closer to what you need to protect. I get it," he said. If nothing else, Machi had always been an understanding man. More than this matter, though, he seemed fixated on the apparent marriage of the current Kazekage. "Married, huh? And the same surname as you. You're a bit young, though. Older sister? Even though I always figured she'd be the dominant type."

In spite of his brief tirade about the woman's martial status, Machi was being driven toward leaving the village. Of course, he would not be letting this happen. He had been away for a long time; even longer than he'd accounted for, apparently. He couldn't simply turn tail and leave his home after all he'd done to get back after so long. "I get it... I really do. But, I can't just leave. I apologize in advance."

[Apollymi]

This man seemed very understanding of the predicament of the white haired jounin. Of course, his understanding didn't stop him from making some very confusing assumptions about the married life of the present Kazekage. This let Aiko know all she needed to, as Youko had been in the Village for the duration of Aiko's tenure. He'd been the person she'd faced in the Chuunin Exam, and had been around a bit before then too. "Sou ka, you've been away, if you were here before..." she prefaced. "Probably 10 years, perhaps longer. Also I am an only child." She said, not bothering to clarify the relationship between herself, and the Kazekage, and whoever the woman was married to.

Moving right along, it seemed that this man wouldn't choose to simply walk away. And he took it upon himself to apologize in advance for whatever he thought he was going to do. She sighed and her hand met the hilt of her sword. "Even the nice ones, always choose this option." Unlike most instances, Aiko had already seen this man's chakra, and it was quite massive compared to the normal riff-raff that came though. That combined with the idea that he thought he could pass as a former Kazekage meant that less aggressive tactics weren't really an option. As she drew her weapon it turned into it's giant fang form and was swung directly at the man's center vertically as she rushed forward, as if she intended to cut him in half that way, with the power of her wind based chakra to back her up.

[Bloodedge]

"Then who the hell..." Machi seemed to be trying to place the name Katsuhara to a face, but before he could properly do so, the girl in front of him chose to go on the offensive. The man's reaction speed seemed to be top-notch, as he quickly formed the Snake hand seal around his staff. "Doton: Gantetsuheki no Jutsu!" By his will, a multi-layered wall of solid rock rose between himself and Aiko. He was certain Aiko's slash would easily mow this down, but this was all part of his plan. When she cleaved through the rock wall, he had already chained his Snake seal into the Tiger hand seal, then pointed the fore and middle fingers of his right hand where Aiko was destined to be after breaking the wall. "Doton: Iwanedare no Jutsu!" The wall would seem to crumble in the wake of Aiko's sword, but this was in fact the effect of Machi's follow-up technique. The stone chunks of various sizes would immediately jettison themselves toward the girl's body from their various positions around her, as if aiming to crush her before she could even recover from her first attack.

[Apollymi]

Aiko found this man's reaction time to be superior to most. But in the girl's mind this would only further work against his favor. Anyone capable of reacting to the things she did while she was trying, was far more dangerous than the run of the mill shinobi who could have stumbled in here to plot something against the present Kazekage. With this in mind her eyes shifted to the jutsu she wasn't worried about her sword being able to cut through, but the follow up to that was quite surprising, more so than that, very effective. As bits of rock surrounded her, she realized she was about to be crushed between them, she switched the grip on her sword spinning her body in a circle as she hopped off a single rock. "Kaze no Kizu!" she'd already been watching this attack as it came forward, and in the seconds before it would have crushed her, a powerful burst of wind exploded from the sword shattering all of the rocks as she landed sword still in hand. The effect of the jutsu she'd used to counter his, would be an explosion of rock debris and cutting wind in Hiyama's direction which would pummel him unmercifully if he didn't do anything about it. "That... is very impressive. Though... it doesn't give me much faith that letting you walk around is a good idea." The teen mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

Much to his surprise, the white-haired lass countered his offense with astonishing timing. There was no keeping a smile off Machi's face when he watched her spin around and plow through his jutsu. She may have thought to praise his ability in this moment, but he felt both joy and vicarious pride for the state of the village, knowing a single Jounin was now capable of this level of combat. Before he could address this, though, there was the debris and wind coming his way. Returning his hands to the Snake seal, creating three walls the likes of the previous, each dissipating the blast until there was nothing left of it. "It should be me who is impressed by you. That sword of yours reminds me of the Seven, and your skill is just as incredible to pull off a move like that. You know, you could always just arrest me. I'd be fine with that," he said, even though his hands were prepared to form seals for another jutsu.

[Apollymi]

This man's compliment, and the smile on his face as his attack didn't go through was rather confusing to Aiko. Given the state of his abilities, she should have been trying harder to kill her. After all she was barely holding any punches as it was, this was about what she used to dispatch average other jounin level combatants in other situations. Given this the girl let her sword return to normal and sheathed it. Not because she wasn't intending to attack but because a change in strategy would be necessary. "Arigatou Gozaimasu." She said to the compliment ever respectful. "But... no one wants to be arrested. I could arrest you, and you could use Doton techniques to escape. That's too risky." she concluded. "Besides that, doing so would require me taking you further into the village which is still something I don't want to do." the young woman's eyes flickered around the village, she took note of the position of the two stronger chakras at the forge and knew they were still occupied. "So, I'll compromise. If I knock you out, I'll lock you up and wait for Onee-sama to clear it up. But I'll only take you in unconscious." This seemed like a perfectly amiable compromise to the young woman, and one which wouldn't involve this man's death, which had to be a plus to him.

[Bloodedge]

It seemed this lass was keen to offer him a compromise, which involved her agreeing only to take him under arrest if he were unconscious. Sadly, in the same way she could not trust him, he could not trust her. "I understand that you don't know me for some reason, but I don't know you, either. I honestly don't know what to expect from this village right now. For all I know, you could be walking me right into a death sentence, and that would nullify my reason for leaving in the first place." With that said, Machi turned away from the lass, opening his senses to seek a chakra he could perhaps recognize as Benihime's.

"Here's my counter-offer. I'm going to find Benihime. If you try to stop me, I have to incapacitate you, whether I want to or not. If you wish to follow me just to make sure I don't pull anything when I reach your Kazekage, you're welcome to do so." Without so much as awaiting the girl's response, Machi was content to begin walking. He had located the closest chakra to what he could remember Benihime's being, and it seemed to be taking him toward the Kazekage's mansion.

[Apollymi]

"Well as long as we understand each other." Aiko said of this man's understanding of the situation they were presently in. True enough, she couldn't trust him, and by virtue of him not knowing her, he couldn't trust her either. Regardless his counter offer to wander the village with her as an escort wasn't really allowable either. It still violated her main thought pattern, which was allowing someone this strong to wander the village without having any idea who they were, was completely irresponsible. And given, what had happened the last time such a thing had taken place it really wasn't something she'd do.

"I get what you mean. Onee-sama is busy though, and I'm going to need you not to interrupt. Beyond that... you're still not leaving right here, right now, Hiyama-san." These words from Aiko were definite, but not for the same reason most people said them. "If you feel the need to incapacitate me, you're more than welcome to try. But I doubt that very seriously. Besides if I am forcibly made unconscious you will get attention you don't want." She raised both her arms following this, releasing surprisingly enough a wave a sand from them which turned to engulf the man in waves but was truly only as narrow as the street. It was controlled completely by Aiko and released directly from the sleeves of her garment. Her aim was simply to drown this man in waves of sand to restrict his movements and stop him from going any further.

[Bloodedge]

In spite of the girl's claim that he would not be going anywhere, Machi continued walking in his chosen direction. Whatever she had planned to stop him with, she apparently thought him incapable of incapacitating her. What's more, was the fact that she mentioned unwanted attention in his direction if he were to accomplish that, further confirming a theory he'd been harboring since first sensing this girl. When he looked over his shoulder to view the lass, he saw the approaching sands emerge from her sleeves. He'd seen use of the Magnet Release before, but this one was specific even for the advanced Nature Transformation most individuals were familiar with. Ohayou gozaimasu, Shukaku-kun," he stated in a calmer, lower tone of voice than he'd exemplified prior to this moment.

"Doton," he said as his hands came together in a simple clap. "Ganzan Saishin!" With use of this technique, Machi summoned from beneath him enough rock to form a small mountain-like structure around him. Its design was that of a great warrior with spiked armor, holding its hands in the same fashion Machi himself did at the jutsu's inception. This construct's power was apparently great enough that its clap alone blew away a great deal of the sand that threatened Machi's well-being. "It's surprising that they found someone to carry Shukaku. Sorry you had to go through that."

[Apollymi]

When Hiyama chose to speak directly to Shukaku, the One-tailed Tanuki opened his eye within the mind of the young woman he inhabited. As this happened her attention was draw to the fact that he seemed to recognize him. "Oh, a face I haven't seen in a while. Hello." Aiko's eyes widened momentarily. "Oi, you know who he is?" She asked which was returned with a yawn and the beast closing his eye again. "Ask me later, I'm tired." and just like that the raccoon dog went right back to sleep and Aiko was left palming her own face. "Yare yare. Shukaku-kun, recognized you. But... he went back to sleep... he wouldn't tell me who you are, but he said hello." she mentioned as the man clapped away most of the sand which encrouched upon him a feat which was well beyond the normal capabilities for most.

His reaction to figuring out the girl's nature as a Jinchuriki surprised her a bit and made her shake her head back from left to right. "Iie, nothing to be sorry about. I volunteered. Besides, I know the problems that his other Jinchuriki had, and Onee-sama went out of her way to make sure it wouldn't be a problem for me." she mentioned, figuring if the man felt sorry about her holding it, he probably figured she had taken on the level of insomnia of the previous holders of this particular beast. As the girl began to manipulate the sand more, it began to shift, appearing to look like the fingers that the tanuki Shukaku possessed, the aimed to entrap the man in a every rapid manner, converging around them to create an airtight space. "Sabaku Ro." She didn't intend to hurt this man at this point, this jutsu was meant to capture him, and the air tight space would cause him to lose consciousness, permitting the white haired girl to transport the man without fear of what he would do.

[Bloodedge]

"Still a lazy ass, huh? Well... not everything changes," he said about the One-Tailed Beast. From his memory, the creature had always been this way. After all, it tended to be in the care of the Sand Village, coincidentally. Moving on, Aiko had apparently been given a method of skipping her predecessor One-Tailed Jinchurikis' problems, thanks to Benihime's interference. "Then I was right to leave. Having a Jinchuriki of Shukaku who isn't miserable is a commendable feat of its own."

Still, Aiko sought to assault and detain him. He couldn't very well allow this. In the face of the tanuki's hand, a single half-Tiger hand seal created a jutsu of Machi's own, which - like the rock warrior surrounding him - he had originally made to combat the beast when one of its former Jinchuriki ran amok. A hand of equal size to Shukaku's emerged from the ground, made of rock. When Aiko's technique reached out to grab the man, the hand of his own creation met it in a clasped grip. "Unless you've got something the other Jinchuriki didn't have, these abilities won't work on me. I used to tussle with Shukaku and his hosts every time one of them fell asleep."

[Apollymi]

Aiko could only shrug. She supposed Shukaku was quite lazy, but it was probably for the best considering the kinds of damage his Jinchuriki could cause if they happened to run amuck. In fact the girl had only done so once during her time as his keeper, and she was subdued by Youko when it happened. "Onee-sama is quite good, I'll agree." The white haired young woman mentioned. As the man went on to counter her hand attack in a way she'd never seen before. His statement about her needing to use something new because he was the handler of previous incarnations of Shukaku's Jinchuriki.

"Yare yare, you're making it a bit difficult for me. I am trying not to go for death blows all over the place. Onee-sama wouldn't like it if my life isn't in danger. And its obviously not." The girl mentioned. She had a reasonable feel for the man in front of her, and knew that if he wished to try, he probably could have been a bit more proactive in subduing her. Even so, she still couldn't trust the 'arrest me' logic given the amount of trouble their last visitor to the village had gone through to get to the Kazekage. "Fine, I'll do this instead." She held out her hand and a swirling ball began forming in her hand, it was made of sand and chakra and surprisingly enough as it gained form, if the man was really familiar with the techniques of Benihime he would likely recognize this one, a Rasengan. Only it was very different than the standard ones used by the redhead, apparently covered in the cursed markings born by Shukaku himself. "Senpō: Jiton Rasengan." she then launched herself forward, letting the previous arm creating fall apart, and aiming to ram the orb into the man, if she succeeded it would cover the man in the cursed markings of Shukaku, completely immobilizing him without causing him great injury.

[Bloodedge]

"So you know I'm not trying to harm you, but you still think I'm plotting against the village and Kage?" he questioned. At this point, Machi wasn't quite following the girl's train of thought. If he truly meant harm to the village's Kage, and had the ability, then dealing with a single Jounin would be a trivial matter. Whatever the case, Aiko allegedly did have a skill unknown to former One-Tails Jinchuriki. It was, more importantly, an evolution of a technique he had seen numerous times. 'Rasengan?'

"Sou desu ka. Rasengan evolved after all," he observed. Frankly, he thought progressing the Rasengan to a point of use with Nature Transformation was all but a lost cause, but he was now seeing it right before his eyes in a very dangerous combination. Still, he seemed entirely unfazed during its approach. As a matter of fact, he allowed the rock fist and mountain warrior to crumble as Aiko proceeded with her attack, only to then meet the Rasengan with his own right hand. "Kurasshu," he stated calmly. When the Rasengan made contact with his hand, it briefly glowed with a bright light, before being utterly decimated as if it were a naturally breakaway substance. All the while, Machi was unmoved both physically and mentally. "That's impressive, I admit, but all Ninjutsu are powerless before me. Just let me speak with Benihime. If my intentions are malevolent, you obviously can't stop me."

[Apollymi]

"I don't really know what you want. But I know I don't want you interrupting them, you don't have to live with them, so you don't understand. Besides, my partner pool for these things is surprisingly small." Aiko's logic was rather sound, she wouldn't have the pair at the forge interrupted if she could avoid it, if only because they were finally about to be normal again. Having to be one of two people who dealt with them intimately made them annoying while they weren't talking to each other.

As she aimed to seal the man up for later waking it seemed that he was simply capable of crushing her entire jutsu. Such a thing was completely unheard of, and besides that Aiko hadn't been stopped in such an obvious and nonchalant way by someone who wasn't Youko or Benihime in such a long time that it affected her rather deeply. She was stunned and silent for some reason. The light which caused her jutsu to disappear made the girl enraged for some reason. 'Drip.' it was a sound in the girl's head as the moons in her eyes had a single drop of blood fall into the pools. Then another and another. When Aiko was younger, she'd been a bit of a cry baby, but at the time she stopped crying and where ego shattering things happened to her, instead of becoming sad, she became murderous. And such intentions brought about the Blood Moon in her eyes. "Or, I could just cut your hands off." In the mind of the white haired young woman, she'd all but decided to take his weapon as a trophy and cut off his hands for the offense he'd caused her in this moment. As irrational as this thought might have been.

[Bloodedge]

"Interrupting who from what? You're not making any sense!" he said. Whatever he would allegedly be interrupting, he had no measure for the impact, as he simply had no idea what this girl was talking about. One thing he did understand, was that the white-haired lass' demeanor was quickly becoming even less hospitable; malicious, even. This came with the threat of removing his hands, which made him wonder why he was the one viewed as a threat here. "So you... just have some freaky red-eye alter-ego thing going? Is that safe? 'Cause I'm starting to wonder if I should be considering you the threat here."

In that very moment, a small boy's body peeked out from behind Aiko's legs. It was none other than Hakudoshi, the child of the woman this individual sought upon entry to the village. "Sugoi! I wanna fight it next!"

[Apollymi]

Aiko had a reply planned for this man's commentary as well as several swift strikes planned out in her head as her eyes continued to fill with the blood of her dead relatives and thus all of their malicious intentions as well. Of course, this line of thought was completely halted by a small voice her at her side, one which caused her to look down, because the amount of childlike excitement could only come from one person. "Haku-chan, you would be excited about fighting this guy. I expected you would have shown up earlier, and saved me a bit of trouble. Is this man really the Second Kazekage?" She asked with her eyes closed forcing back the transformation of her moon while relaxing the unnecessary tension from her person. Though she knew most would find it shocking for a teen like her to be differing to a small child about things like this. Her problem could be rather easily solved if she just relaxed and the murderous moment, was literally a snap reaction to being outclassed. Her speech to the young boy by the time it finished fell completely inline with how she acted before, and while she waited for the child's response she spoke to the man before her.

"Sumimasen, I don't respond very well to things that hurt my feelings. There was a time where being beaten like that would have just made me burst into tears, now the reaction is a bit different. But you didn't deserve it." She explained of her Blood Moon related personality shift. Moving right along there was the man's original question which made the girl shrug. "They are making up, where they are. Onee-sama had a bit of a rough year so far, and she's finally being happy again. I'd prefer you didn't interrupt them until they are done." she said of the situation which involved the Kazekage and her husband. Speaking of she finally opened her eyes again and when she did her moons were clear. "Speaking of, I feel like you had something to do with that Haku-chan, remind me to take you out for ice cream." she said offering the small boy a high five.

[Bloodedge]

"I didn't care earlier. I started looking for something else, but then he started looking for me, so I thought he wanted to fight. But he was still fighting you," the boy said in a huff. When asked if the man before them was indeed the second Kazekage of the village, all Hakudoshi had to do was look for confirmation. He had already seen images of the alleged person in his mother's mind. "Hai! Machimachi!" he said, seeming to have a pet name for the former Kage. The boy would then be seen hopping into his sibling figure's high-five, seeming elated simply by mention of ice-cream.

With the appearance of a small child, the murderous aura surrounding Aiko had suddenly vanished. She went on to explain why it had appeared in the first place, but more importantly gave just a bit more detail as to what she meant to keep him from interrupting. "... Sou ka. Say no more. I know exactly what you're talking about now. Any clue when this might be over?"

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka, you can tell people are sensing for you." she said to the little boy, who jumped to reach her high five. "I'm sure if you asked him, he'd fight you. You have the same problem I do, limited practice partners." she said to the small boy who also confirmed this man's identity without further prompting. "Hai, if Haku-chan says, you are who you say you are, I won't bother you moving around the village." the girl said.

Though it seemed the man at least understood the delicate nature of this situation, so when asked how long it would be before the Kazekage was finished making up with her spouse the young girl shrugged a little and then did the thing she'd been avoiding doing the entire time. She looked in the direction of the forge to see what the pair were up to. Much to her surprise and for the benefit of her psyche, they were separate once more. "Oh, they've finished now. Better hurry up though, I don't trust them not to start up again just because they can." she said looking to Hakudoshi she decided to ask for his help. "Haku-chan, can you give us a lift?"

[Bloodedge]

"Hai~" the boy replied, seeming to extend the word for no reason whatsoever. As for the idea that this man would likely fight him, the boy shook his head. "Iie. He doesn't fight young people. He didn't want to use the jutsu he did use against you," the child asserted, taking thoughts directly from the former Kage's mind.

"... Sou ka," said Machi, seemingly for no particular reason, until he next spoke. "I thought I should wonder why you suddenly believed me because a kid said to. Gomen nasai. I thought I was dealing with a normal child," he said further. When the apology was given, Hakudoshi nodded to the man. "Mm!" Following this exchange, he turned his gaze toward Aiko, who requested his transport. "Mm!"

Without further ado, Hakudoshi used his teleportation ability to transport himself, Aiko, and the second Kazekage, toward his father's forge deeper in the village.

[Apollymi]

Early in the morning of April 7th, after the birthday celebration of the village leaders only child, Aiko the young woman Jounin sat atop her favorite breakfast restaurant having a meal of breakfast ramen she was eating out of a large bowl. Chopsticks in hand she enjoyed the meal as she looked out over the village with her active Kekkei Genkai, keeping an eye on the goings on, as she always did. A few moments in to her meal though she noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye. A number of village members chakra signatures moving at a much faster pace than normal. But she couldn't figure out why from where she was sitting.

Out in the middle of the village a giant glass demon had risen from unknown origins. It's being towering over the buildings and it's movements causing the villagers below to panic as they tried to flee. If one took notice of the giant apparition, it looked like a tribal warrior complete with a circle behind it which looked like a framed mirror. This demon seemed not have eyes, and simply possessed empty darkness at their centers. But that wasn't all that was strange about this, if one looked, they would notice a small girl walking alongside this thing. Her eyes were also pupil-less and completely black. She had white hair, which was shoulder length and had straight cut bangs. He hair as decorated by two eeirely white flowers and her face didn't seem to contain any semblence of emotion. The strangest thing about this little girl, aside from the fact that she wasn't running away from the strange beast, would be the look of her chakra which didn't seem to give off anything at all. In her hands a mirror which she held with both hands and was as large as her upper torso. "They... should die..."

[Bloodedge]

Some time after the appearance of this glass colossus, a single, three-pronged kunai flew from the direction of the Kazekage's mansion. It landed several meters away from the creature, producing a flash of white light when it touched ground. This light gave way to Youko, Jounin Hanchou and resident blacksmith of the village, who immediately picked up the tool and held it in reverse grip. His arrival was to the side of this giant opposite to the little girl, and thus, he never saw her there and assumed the beast to be what he sought. "So, you're the mirror friend? I at least expected something humanoid. Whatever. Do you speak?"

[Apollymi]

This giant mirror demon didn't speak, but of course, it also wasn't Hakudoshi's friend from the mirror. Youko wouldn't know this because he couldn't see the girl. Her small voice would come from behind it though, eerily empty. "You're... going to die." were the small girl's words as she stepped forward she pointed with one hand to the large shadow being cast by the Mirror Demon's mirror copy, she commanded it to attack without speaking and doing so, made a large blast of light like energy appear from behind it as it aimed to consume Youko where he stood, blasting him from existence. "You have to die." the small girl repeated. Strange as it was.

Aiko finished helping villagers clear the area, taking note of the large mirror based construct and Youko's presence she sighed. "Well, I guess I don't get to have any fun today." she murmured to herself.

[Bloodedge]

Though he expected word or recognition of his statement, Youko did not anticipate it coming from anyone or anything other than what he initially saw. What he heard in response was a death threat from a tiny girl. He could only assume that this lass was in charge of the thing that currently threatened the village, and that she was the previously mentioned "mirror friend" of Hakudoshi. When he shifted around to look at this girl directly, his eyes widened. Her empty eyes, the garbs she wore, and more importantly, the pair of flowers worn on either side of her head... he remembered them. In fact, he was the one to carry them exactly seven years ago. "... No," he muttered.

The man was hardly afforded any time to mull over his first thought, as a sudden blast of light struck his backside. As this occurred, the quickest reaction he came up with was to throw his Hiraishin kunai toward his right, summoning himself to it once the blast was cleared. He moved roughly six meters with this advancement, but his armor immediately fell from his body, the back half of it having been destroyed by the blast. "You. It can't be you."

[Apollymi]

Benihime showed up to Aiko's side and took over her activities. "Aww, don't be like that Aiko-chan. Go help Youko, I'll do this faster than you anyways~" chimed the redhead as she took over the evacuation effort of the area. A smirk would come from the white haired teen as she nodded headed in the direction where she'd seen Youko's chakra last.

Meanwhile, Youko managed to dodge most of the intentions of the Mirror Demon. And moved on to speaking to the little girl, and having his armor blasted away as a result of his movement. He seemed to be in awe of the child, remembering her, though she'd never been seen before this time. The girl to her credit, looked at the man before her, her expression unchanging. "Why can't I be me?" the girl seemed confused, but her voice was empty and innocent. "You're open." she mentioned pointing as the memory demon shifted intending to throw a spiky glass hand directly through the exposed back of the Jounin Hancho. But, before glass could meet flesh, a white haired young woman appeared between Youko and the glass giant her sword used to stop the weapon. "Hmm, Onii-sama you should pay more attention." Stated Aiko as she swung outward with her blade. Her eyes shifting behind her as the Mirror Demon was pushed backwards by the blade she held and she saw the small girl herself. "Haku-chan's friend from the mirror is..." she didn't get to complete the thought. She also recognized this child, though she was a great deal bigger than she remembered. Before she had time to think about it the Mirror Demon was on the move again and she had to turn to face it, but doing so, made her completely lose the ability to see the small girl's chakra.

It would be then that Benihime appeared at Youko's side, summoning herself to the Hiraishin seal he was using yawning and running a hand through her hair. "Alright, evacuated the people, took the injured to hosptial, cleared out a pretty massive area... what's the deal?" she said her eyes having been closed while she yawned she opened them to look at what Youko was facing. Her eyes widened and confusion became immediate.

[Bloodedge]

"Why..." was all Youko managed to say before being told he was "open" as it were. He became alert then, checking his flank only to see Aiko facing his assailant, the glass construct. All things considered, the attack likely would have been the end of him otherwise, but he couldn't bring himself to feel or express gratitude at this particular moment. It seemed Aiko had come to the same realization as him, and the same would be the case for Benihime after her arrival. Without a word shared with either of these two, Youko took three steps forward to address the child. "Why were you in the mirror?"

[Apollymi]

The small girl, seemed to be satisfied that she'd almost killed the man, but the young white haired woman behind him seemed to fend off the attack of her Mirror Demon. This would have caused a great deal of distaste in the small child. But her face didn't change at all. Youko took steps forward to ask the girl a question, one which would cause her head to tilt sightly as Aiko continued to fend off attacks of the Mirror Demon. Actually, this time it wasn't going for Youko, but instead the redhead who'd appeared in a crimson flash seemingly just as stunned at the child's presence as the other people in this area. The Mirror Demon had attempted to slam a fist into the redhead only for it to be fended off by Aiko. "Onee-sama? You too... really?" the white haired girl asked as she met the mirrored fist once more. Obviously there was a need to do something about this Mirror Demon before the shock of this moment, got both Youko and Benihime killed.

"I... was in the mirror because you didn't want me. That is where everyone goes that you don't want." Commented the small girl who seemed to be as calm about this, as she could be about everything. As Benihime stood there shocked she looked back to Aiko and shook her head from left to right. She'd heard what the small girl had to say, "Ara ara, that's a little much. Of course we wanted you." Benihime said, seeming to find the child's chakra very odd for someone who apparently was having so much issue.

[Bloodedge]

Whatever connection this small lass had to the group of Sunagakure's higher-ups, she apparently thought herself unwanted, hence her presence in the mirror before Hakudoshi. This was incredibly confusing, both due to the claims of her being unwanted, and due to the mention of all things they didn't want being in this alleged mirror. As a follow-up to Benihime's retort, Youko spoke with an added clause. "She's right, Kanna. You were stillborn. But... what do you mean that's where everything we don't want goes?"

[Apollymi]

"Stillborn?" this phrase was unfamiliar to the small mirror wielding child, who was apparently named Kanna. As such, she took a second to probe Youko's mind for its meaning. Upon finding it, she said aloud. "I died." there as no confusion in her understanding now. The words of he two adults implied that she was wanted and simply died. But that place was full of other people too. "The place in the mirror is where all the other people are, who you didn't want here. Like the other white haired people with the red moons. They like me, they gave me this mirror. They said I was special." She said referencing the slaughtered Blood Moon Cult and the object she was holding that she was holding even before. But she'd seen even more people than that there... but unlike those people, she changed. It seemed as the girl calmed down a bit, the Mirror Demon stopped attacking. This was good... considering Aiko was now a bit tired from fending it off so much.

"Kanna, you're bigger now... why?" she asked the girl which made her gaze shift from her father to her mother. The answer to this was simple. "Haku made me bigger. So... I made him stronger." Benihime was kind of astounded by the simplicity of that answer, then she thought about how small her son was relative to his age, and started processing reasons this could be. Twins in her family were quite strange, two of her siblings occasionally claimed they could feel each other's pain. Was it really that far-fetched that their supposedly dead daughter was gaining physical strength from her twin, while her twin gained spiritual strength from her. "Oh, that's why he's a midget?"

[Bloodedge]

"Yes... you died. It's the only way Hakudoshi could have affected you with that sword," Youko clarified, knowing the abilities and limitations of his newest creation. "The other..." His next statement came with a pause. Other people with red moons, sharing a space with an apparently dead child, could have only meant one thing. "Sou ka. They made it to the afterlife. So'unga became closer to my Tenseiga than I thought it would... it brought you back from the Pure Land. But... how do you have this form? Your body was sealed seven years ago."

In the meantime, the final query of Benihime resulted in the sudden appearance of the boy in question, Hakudoshi. He spawned to the woman's left side, looking up in her direction with an expression of wonder upon his face regarding her words. "What?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh." the girl seemed to be sad. She seemed content to talk to her father about the nature of her appearance here. And he seemed to understand the other people she meant, and relayed information about the way Hakudoshi's sword worked and thus why she was able to cross out of her mirror. "Oh, that makes sense... when I came out I couldn't find it. I felt like I should have been able to go back to it." she mentioned. As for her current form she held out her hand and the mirror, and showed it showed simply a collection of glass. "I made it. When I came out of the mirror I couldn't find the real me, and I didn't want to take Haku." she explained. She'd fully intended just to exist here with her twin after killing their parents who abandoned her. "Are you sure I died? I don't know where I am, but I can feel me somewhere."

Benihime had spoken a thought aloud she hadn't meant to, and it seemed to have summoned her young son to her side. Looking down to her left, she saw the wonder on his face, and still couldn't bring herself to say anything else about it. She simply patted his head and shook her head from left to right. "Nothing, Little One. Seems like you are better at sharing than I initially thought."

[Bloodedge]

It seemed that Kanna, after having her soul pulled from the Pure Land by Hakudoshi's sword, had created her own body from the mirror she emerged from. This functioned as a substitute, due to her inability to reach her true physical form, but the girl seemed to have enough sense of self that she didn't decide instead to claim her twin's body as her own. "The day you two were born, Kanna... you had no vitals. Your body was still, and there was no chakra flow. Obviously, you can read minds too. Take a look," he said, prompting the lass to view his memories of her birth.

Very near to this exchange, Hakudoshi continued staring blankly at his mother. He knew better than to believe her when she said "nothing," but still made a conscious effort not to prod her brain for information. "... Hmph," he muttered, having received no information whatsoever.

[Apollymi]

Kanna had indeed created a body for herself, following her emergence from the Pure Land. To her question about the nature of her birth, her father responded that she should have a look at it herself. So she did. She probed his mind for the moments leading up to her entering this her birth, and from his perspective she had opened her dark eyes and when this had happened, there was nothing else after a few seconds. She thought about it more, and for the first time a smile came to the emotionless girl's face. "So, you did want me. Gomen, I was upset because I thought you abandoned me, and I didn't know why Haku got to stay, and I didn't." she mentioned thinking about it. In those few seconds the girl seemed to shake off completely the influence which had come from So'unga.

Find the young boy's discomfort at her side, she smiled at him again, thinking it best to explain since he wasn't probing her mind for information. "I don't know for certain, but it seems you might be carrying the weight for both you and Kanna physically. And inversely she's probably been carrying both your chakra, since she doesn't exist here physically. If it is the case, it explains why you are a bit smaller than you should be for your age." she said feeling the need to give him an explanation since he didn't have one already. "But there is no explanation for why that would be the case..."

[Bloodedge]

"Nonsense," Youko said as he stepped toward the girl, taking a knee to place his right hand atop her head. "We expected both of you long before you were born. There's no way we'd just decide we didn't want one of you two." With that said, he removed his hand and enclosed his arms around the child. "But... sumimasen. I don't know how to get you back into your real body."

[Apollymi]

Kanna watched her father take a knee in front of her. A warm hand on top of her head, seemed to mark the coming words from the man, which stated that they had wanted both of their children. She felt rather content in this moment, and when he went so far as to hug her and apologize the small girl's eyes widened just a bit. She'd never had a hug before, this display of affection was rather nice for her. He seemed to be deeply apologetic. "It's okay. The other guy with the flame hair and eye patch said, I was probably still tied to my other half that he could open the door for me... if I knew where my body was. But I couldn't read minds in there, so I don't know what that means." she said.

But something about the small girl's words triggered something in Benihime's mind. It was particularly the reference to the 'other half' which wasn't something she'd heard properly in about a decade. And beyond that, there was no real reason for the girl in front of her to know that. The fact that it was mentioned in such a way, made the redhead a bit wary, but rather easily cemented what would need to be looked into. "Hakudoshi is your other half. It's how pairs of twins are referenced in the clan I am from. As halves of a whole being. So that one person doesn't have to walk the world alone. Everyone in my family has one." the redhead asserted. She had to admit the sentiment sounded good on paper, until human error got involved.

[Bloodedge]

"Flame hair and an eye patch?" was Youko's first reaction to Kanna's explanation. The physical description given for this likely dead individual fit one he knew, but there were more important things to acknowledge than this. Kanna had been given a path to the mirror, and had been revived in a way, despite being without true organic form. If he did nothing else, Youko would work to find a way to bring the girl back properly. "Sou ka. Looks like I have more reason to go home than I thought," he said while standing upright. "I need answers. It'll take a while, but we'll do what we can to get you back into your body."

[Apollymi]

"Mm!" the small girl affirmed to the idea of her parents working to make her a person again, in the same way that Hakudoshi would have done. She seemed to be just as content. This was fine except that a few seconds thereafter, the Mirror Demon cracked, rather suddenly, and when it did, Kanna did as well. "Sou ka, I did too much. I think... I have to go back for now." After saying this the small girl would teleport appearing directly in front of Hakudoshi at Benihime's left.

"Sorry, I got mad. Thanks for letting me out." she said to her twin. Looking at them from this angle they were truly the exact same size. Strangely enough though, Benihime got nothing from the small girl as far as her chakra was concerned. And while she wasn't complaining about not feeling whatever the small girl felt, she couldn't say it made any sense to her. Thinking on it though, there was a reason at least, for the redhead to go looking for her parents on the matter of her mother and now it was quite obvious.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmm..." Youko took immediate notice of the crack appearing on Kanna's fabricated body. When this happened, she spoke of her return, which told Youko everything he needed to know about her situation at present. "This body won't last, then. Sou ka." This was all Youko had to say, and with it, he was all but ready to go where he needed to be for the necessary information.

Hakudoshi was approached by the girl next, with her gratitude toward him for freeing her. He thought nothing of it, but knowing their parents would be working to fully revive the lass, he raised his right fist. "Mm!" he uttered. Following this, he extended his right hand, as if he intended to shake hands with his twin. If they made contact, though, Hakudoshi would harbor the soul and chakra of the girl without his knowing.

[Apollymi]

As Kanna went and talked with Hakudoshi, Benihime watched the young boy do his single arm raising thing. But oddly enough, the girl seemed to return the gesture in a mirrored image. It was very odd to behold, but it made her smile. As a person who had a twin, she understood the importance of things such as this. The extension of Hakudoshi's had seemed to cause a bit of confusion as the girl tried to switch to meet his hand shake. "Ja ne, Haku... Happy Birthday." A smile crossed her face for the second time this day, but as their hands touched her soul and chakra seemed to find themselves within the other boy's person. As this happened both her glass body and that of the Mirror Demon she'd created disappeared, along with the mirror she'd previously been carrying.

Benihime watched this take place seemingly confused but knew what she had to do. She looked to her husband knowing he likely felt similarly and figuring that they were going to be off doing different things. "Onee-sama, that look says I should do your paperwork." Aiko mentioned as she sheathed her sword. She'd purposefully stayed out of this aside from making sure the village leaders didn't get themselves killed by their tantrum throwing seven year old.

[Bloodedge]

Watching the disappearance of Kanna, Youko was only left with more questions about the nature of it, but he would soon be going to find the answers regardless. With this in mind, he brought no attention to the matter. "Mendokusai. I never thought I'd have to go back there, but I'm being given even less of a choice," he said aloud. Moving right along though, he supposed it was best that he make the journey sooner, rather than later. "I'm going to be gone for quite some time, I think."

[Apollymi]

"Ara ara, you gotta go back home. I have to find my mother, which I feel is worse." the redhead complained as she approached the man who would likely be leaving soon as well. Still, if he was going to be leaving and she was going to be leaving, it was a bit distressing as an idea given they'd just made up within the last twenty-four hours. So, if he was going to be leaving, she'd at least get a kiss in before he left. Once within range for this thing, the woman would motion down to herself, and if she was acquesed to, kiss the man's lips. "Eh, just don't be gone too long, okay?~"

On to the matter of what Aiko had to say, the Kazekage shook her head from left to right only, while the girl averted her gaze from the obvious display of affection. "Why not?" Aiko wondered about the paperwork. To which the Kazekage gave a most wicked grin to the young woman which made her wonder what the woman had in mind. "Make Machi do it!~ And have some fun." she said to Aiko who smirked and rolled her eyes, knowing full well she had no desire to do anything like that. "Hai, Onee-sama~" After she was done with that the woman went into a deep moment of concentration, trying to figure out, where her mother would have gone, after abandoning them to a life in the desert over 2 decades ago.

[Bloodedge]

"You've never had to deal with politicians in the Land of the Moon," was Youko's reply as he stepped toward Benihime, delivering unto the woman a parting kiss prior to a step away. "No promises. I don't even know what sort of state they're in now. Anyway... Ja," he said, waving to the group at large before vanishing in a flash of white light.

While Benihime considered possible locations for her mother's whereabouts, Hakudoshi stepped out in front of the redhead, looking directly into her face with widened eyes devoid of emotion. After a moment of staring in such a way, he drew his sword, and carved a symbol into the ground. Said symbol was a circle with a swirl going inward from its outer ring. Once this was drawn in the ground, Hakudoshi sheathed his sword and spoke. "She's in the place with this thing."

[Apollymi]

"Ugh~ Clan politics is always dumb. Ja ne~" the red headed young woman spoke these words, but it had everything to do with her own clan and nothing to do with Youko's. "Ja ne, Onii-sama." the white haired girl mentioned. She also didn't know what she was going to do without everyone else around. Benihime had delivered to her lips the kiss she'd wanted and then with a few more partings words, disappeared in a flash of white light. 'That's annoying. What am I supposed to do with my downtime now?' the woman thought, before dismissing it completely.

Moving right along, Hakudoshi was soon looking in the face of his mother, and then soon after drew a symbol on the ground which she recognized but she didn't know how he found this information he gave. "My mother, is in the Land of Whirlpools?" the redhead questioned. Of course, the over all clan they were part of was originally from there, but it was a place Benihime hadn't seen in at least a decade. "Oh hell, why? There isn't anything there. I last went there on a mission, ages ago, like before I made the Hiraishin. Though even if I had it, I wouldn't have put one there. Place is desolate, nice weather though." she commented as she began pacing along the drawn whirlpool symbol. None of these were actual questions, it was just the reaction the redhead had to the information. She trusted her son to tell her whatever but after her rant she seemed to realize that she should stop and look at her son. "Um, wait a second, how do you know where my mother is?"

[Bloodedge]

"Mm!" Hakudoshi said regarding the location of his apparent grandmother. As Benihime went on her little rant, the boy stepped up to the drawing, using his telekinesis to make it a bit less shoddy than the original art. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with it in its first form. Soon enough, he was being addressed by the red-haired woman again, as she questioned his ability to know her mother's whereabouts. "I found her chakra. It's kinda small, but it feels a little like yours used to be. Hers is kinda clogged like yours, too."

[Apollymi]

With her pause, Benihime watched her son clean up his artwork by way of telekinesis. After this was done, he explained that he could feel her chakra and that it was little but it felt like Benihime's. But that it was also clogged, which was a weird word to use. So the redhead moved along to questioning that. "The Land of Whirlpools is off the coast of the Land of Fire. The distance is massive, and you can feel her 'kinda small' chakra from here?" she questioned a wide grin coming over her face. "Atta boy~" she said congratulating her son. There was a rather sudden pang associated with the simulatenous pride and jealousy she tended to feel around her son's accomplishments. "Clogged? What do you mean clogged?" the red head asked, mostly so she could push aside any of her unwanted feelings at present. Though she was quite a bit jealous of the range on her son's abilities, she also couldn't say she wanted to feel everyone within that kind of radius.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. It didn't take much; that place has a lot of chakras that look and feel like each other," the boy surmised. When his mother went on to ask what he meant when he said she had clogged chakra, he stepped within reaching distance, and stared at the woman again. "It doesn't move the same in all the places it goes. It comes from here," he said, pointing at the redhead's stomach. "But... the lines are really thin right around that spot. It spreads out as it goes out to more of the dots, but if these were bigger..." Without further explanation, Hakudoshi reached out to place a palm on Benihime's abdomen, interfacing with the core of her chakra pathway system. What he did then was something akin to plunging, as he forced a bulk amount of Benihime's chakra outward from its source, effectively forcing her pathways to widen enough that an unhindered flow could occur thereafter. In this moment, the woman would likely feel a surge of energy likened to the release of two or three gates within herself.

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka." Mentioned the redhead as the child explained how easy it was to find the woman's mother. She had to say, this was a surprisingly useful skill to have. It was very odd, the amount of things she'd been learning about her young son's skills over the last couple of days, but it only gave her faith he would make an extremely good ninja one day. Way better than she was at least. But as he went on to explain what he meant about the clogging of her chakra she seemed a bit confused.

"Eh, you see that much detail?" she mentioned. But the boy didn't finish his statement. She small boy reached out for her, placing a hand against her exposed belly while giving it a few pushes. And when he did, something shifted in the way the woman was able to access her chakra, and she felt the surge immediately, causing a widening of her eyes. A bounce in her step would take her backwards, and she'd rather quickly string together some six hand seals, then rather quickly expelled a fireball in the air which was many times greater than the ones she normally made. "Sugei!~ So much bigger than before, and so much easier..." the woman seemed to need a much greater bit of focus due to the handicap she'd been working with her entire life. A giggle which was slightly maniacal escaped her. "That feels awesome!~" she mentioned soon going back to the ground. Aiko who was now leaning against a nearby building chuckled. "Onee-sama, this probably counts as terrorizing villagers." It was quite astonishing the things Hakudoshi could do.

Soon, she'd realize she'd gone a slight bit pyromaniac, and she'd calm down giving a small look of bashfulness. "It's fine, it was a little fireball, and they aren't even back yet." she mentioned only to turn her attention to Hakudoshi. "Okay, first off, really cool! I wouldn't just do that all the time~ But thanks, Little One." she said. Wondering if this contributed to why she had such a hard time learning jutsu in the first place. "Hmm, now then there is travel... I got a seal in the Konohagakure, we could go there, I gotta friend there who is pretty cool, and who could probably help me find a...boat. Ugh I hate boats." she said of the potential travel to the Land of Whirlpools.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. If I look hard enough, I can see the little chakra lines, dots, and containers all over," said the boy with much pride in his own capabilities. With this out of the way, he went on to watch the fireball his mother created, finding it to be still a bit smaller than he expected from her. Perhaps he was mistaken, but that was a matter for another time. The boy seemed to be in a bit of a huff when Benihime spoke of the travel to the Land of Whirlpools, but as he sat there with puffy cheeks, he made the decision to take matters into his own hands without so much as a question. Since it was apparent that Aiko would be remaining in the village, Hakudoshi extended the range of his abilities to the redhead, teleporting Benihime, as well as himself, directly to the place in his mind.

[Apollymi]

Sometime days after leaving the Land of Whirlpools, a pair of twins would approach the Sunagakure. This was a place relatively new to them, though they'd spent some time in their childhood in the surrounding desert. This expansive village was something they'd never seen before. The female of this twin pairing seemed to be a bit stunned by the sight. "Sugoi!~ There is so much stuff here!" she said, seemingly happy. It was a large spot and they would likely get to explore a bit before anything bad happened. The sun was high in the air as she took her first steps into this hidden village, and gawked like the tourist she was, as she wondered how long they'd have to search to find their sister.

[Bloodedge]

Alongside this foreign lass was her brother, who shared the same face, bar a newly acquired cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. He also looked around the village in awe, taking the new surroundings in stride. "Hai. It's no Konoha, but after that long walk through the desert, it's a sight for sore, dry, sandy eyes. I wonder where aneki is, though. I hope she wasn't sent out on a mission by now. Maybe we should look for Hakudoshi-kun," he said as they traversed the village center. Mere moments later, the very boy who'd been mentioned by Akira seemed to materialize before the pair, looking toward them with a blank stare. "Hai?"

[Apollymi]

"You got sand in your eyes Aki?" the girl joked. Of course, she had too, but this was a very impressive sight. Soon enough though there was mention of trying to find their elder sister, which was also something that Teruko had thought of herself. She sighed. "I hope she hasn't, it'd be a drag to have come all the way here, and she's not even here." she said of their sister. Before she could even add to the thought of looking for their nephew the young boy appeared directly in front of them, much to the female twin's surprise. "Holy shit, he just appeared!" the woman chimed before clapping a hand over her mouth in surprise. Soon after she was staring at the small child blankly. "What kind of crazy... Did we just summon...?" she stopped talking again, there were infinite swears being produced in the mind of the young woman about how crazy it was for a small child to just appear by someone else saying his name.

[Bloodedge]

When the boy appeared, Akira had nothing to say aloud, though a sudden chill ran along his spine to freeze him in place. He knew this boy had powers of teleportation from their initial meeting, but he could never fathom someone being called forth simply by mentioning their name. To the questions from Teruko's mouth, as well as the questions in both parties' minds, Hakudoshi spoke. "I heard both of you thinking about me," he said. With an additional look into the twins' minds, he found additional information pertaining to Benihime. Since they sought the woman, he searched for her chakra. Deeming her current activity of choice to be one which was easily discarded, he would move on to teleport the woman to this location. "She's here."

[Apollymi]

The young boy's words seemed to stun Teruko even more. "I... give up," she said solemnly. She surrendered completely, whatever was going on with this child was way more than she'd ever expect of herself. It also seemed this young man would waste no time in bringing his mother to them in a very specific manner. Benihime would appear, reaching out for something which was no longer in front of her. Where had she been prior to this moment, sitting in her office with her feet up on the desk her head tilted back napping. This was a bit of a ritual for the young woman who seemed to nap often between other activities. Her morning nap, usually only ended when she was ready for lunch and Youko, which usually happened a tad later than right just now. Apparently Hakudoshi was having none of this, and his mother appeared falling from the seated position towards the ground when she'd previously been relaxed. "What the hell?!" she seemed to be coming out of her sleep state a bit on edge, but as she twisted her body and landed on her feet she saw everyone present and put together why she was here. "Oh? You two made it here huh? Couldn't have just sent them to my office then? I don't mean the teleport-y way either they could have walked, and I could have finished my nap..." she said rubbing her eyes to get over her sleepiness and letting out a final yawn. The woman was quite relaxed, but this had been the case since she'd made up with her husband, and she had no reason to be alarmed.

[Bloodedge]

"I never even," Akira said in response to Teruko's forfeit. From their first meeting, he knew he'd never be able to fathom this child, so there was likely nothing that could surprise him aside from the sudden appearances. Of course, this included the appearance of Benihime, who also seemed relatively shocked to have been teleported out of her nap. "Ohayou gozaimasu, aneki. Slept well?" Akira asked. Hakudoshi, on the other hand, seemed totally apathetic about this apparent interruption. "Normal people move too slow. This was a better way of getting everybody in one spot."

[Apollymi]

Benihime yawned once more tossing her hair around with her left hand before turning her eyes away from her son and towards her younger brother. His greeting made her smile before she became ever so curious. "Yeah, I slept fine. Though I could have used a couple more minutes, I would have been getting up soon anyways," she said about her sleep as she took two quick steps forward and reached for the left side of the young man's face. "You two had a rough time out there? That feels... strangely familiar," she said as she aimed to lay a single finger against the center of the mark.

While she studied her younger brother's face, she spoke to her son about his impatience. "Yes, normal people are kind of slow. But... maybe they wanted it that way. I mean, tourists like seeing new stuff. You don't go new places just to have a surface look and walk away, little one. You gotta immerse. Talk to people, walk places, see new things, and see what the air is like in the new place." she mentioned of traveling and the fun that lay in taking the long way around. Upon hearing this her little sister looked at her as if shocked. "Aneki?! Are you alright? That seems really patient coming from you~" the girl joked at her sister's expense.

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, yeah. It always sucks when those last couple of minutes don't come through somehow," Akira said. He, too, knew the horror of being woken from one's sleep mere minutes before a natural awakening. This topic didn't last long, as Benihime stepped toward the lad with a hand reaching for the scar on his face. "Oh. Yeah. We were attacked on our way out of Konoha. The guy was really strong, and he did this with his nails. We're fine, though; no worries."

When Benihime spoke of tourists and their common desire to sight-see, Hakudoshi huffed. "They can do that later. They wanna take us to the Sanjikai."

[Apollymi]

"Right? Someone finally understands~" she said, happy with her younger brother in this particular moment. As her finger traced across this wound on his face she was quite sure she knew this feeling, or something very much like it. "Sou ka, I'm glad you're both alright then. I should have been a bit more proactive I suppose, gomen," Benihime apologized to both of the twins for letting them walk into such abject danger. Though she did figure, any real threat would have disappeared from the forest long before the pair were ready to cross through it. "Iie, aneki. It was fine, one of the Konoha's Jounin saved us," the female twin mentioned. This would only be slightly overshadowed by the fact that the pair before them apparently wished for her to speak to the Sanjikai. And this was something the redhead was surprisingly familiar with, at least in name.

"For fucking what? I don't even live there what the hell would the Sanjikai want with me?" The reaction slipped out of the Elder redhead's face as a direct response to the idea of having to answer to yet another council when she hadn't even done anything wrong. The idea of appearing before a group like that wasn't at all what she wanted to do with her spare time.

[Bloodedge]

Akira had come to this place with the thought in mind that they would convince Benihime to come with them. He figured this would happen without them having to mention the Sanjikai at all, but he never expected to have Hakudoshi present and reading their minds. "Eheh... Yeah, well..." he spoke while rubbing the back of his head. "Kouha and Kougyoku called us in when we got back. They found out you had come back, so they demanded that we bring you to them. They want to meet your family, but the festival is also coming up, so I'm sure everyone would also love to see the Fire Cat present."

[Apollymi]

Benihime stared at her brother while he explained the circumstances which would require her to return home. Apparently a set of twins she was quite familiar with had demanded her presence after finding out she'd been home a short while before this point. Beyond that, it seemed that there was some sort of festival taking place which would likely require her to appear. Such a thing made her frown deeply. "I didn't volunteer for weird cat worship. I wouldn't mind seeing Kouha and Kougyoku though, they were always alright. Why do they want to meet my family though?" she said of the pair of twins. "I don't like being demanded do to things either." she began pacing and thinking about the pros and cons to this particular situation.

While she thought this over and moved about, her youngest sister also spoke. "Aneki, please... it's just for a little while, don't be contrary," she said seemingly pleading with her older sister to just go along with it. "Yeah, yea, it's always, it's just for a little while. Next thing you know, you're locked inside a village with people giving you shit about what you do, and making you do things. Then trying to kill you when it doesn't go the way they plan." the redhead ranted, but after she finished she turned to her young son, as his opinion on these things always seemed be the deciding factor on what the redhead did with their time together."You want to go, don't you, little one?" she figured that he might, considering his other playmate of choice would be gone for quite a while doing things to help them retrieve this young man's twin. She'd never actually been to one of these festivals before, she was exiled long before it was a thing the group was doing again.

[Bloodedge]

"It's not like anybody demanded that you show up," Akira interjected. "They just demanded that we bring you to them. You could always just not come, but then we'd have to deal with it. Just saying~" he chimed, as if aiming for some sort of guilt trip. As it had been in a few previous encounters of late, Hakudoshi's opinion was asked. In this case, he had looked into the minds of these twins to find information he'd yet to share, but thinking of the prospect he had in mind made his eyes sparkle. "Hai," the boy replied to his mother, nodding as he spoke.

[Apollymi]

Her brother's words brought her face back to his and she scoffed. But as if to add on to his guilt trip her younger sister was giving her the biggest possible eyes with the start of tears in them. "Oh really? You two just bring this shit back, you're not six anymore." she said to both of them rolling her eyes. Her son's final words and the sparkle in his eye let her know that this was definitely something she'd be doing. "Oh fine, I'll go. But I won't like it, damnit." she said to the group of three, this was completely unnecessary as a thing for her. She looked to her brother after pushing her hair out of her face. "When is the festival? I need to let Machi and the new Council know if I am leaving for more than a couple of minutes again, lest he worry~" she said of the Second Kazekage and the newly revamped council. "Aneki~ You're the best~" the female twin said hugging her big sister. It was actually quite relieving that she'd agreed to this in the first place, she'd expected it to take much longer than a single conversation to make this happen.

[Bloodedge]

"We don't have to be six for it to work," Akira said with his tongue protruding from his mouth. As for the time frame of the alleged festival, Akira first thought of how many days they had taken to get to Sunagakure, using it to find an approximation for the festival. "Uhh... it took us almost a week to get here, so about a week from now. Right?" he asked, looking toward Teruko. "Oh, and we also wanted to see your husband. He's invited too, but we were on our way here regardless for what we talked about earlier."

[Apollymi]

"Oh fucking great. This is exactly what I need in my life," she said, because she knew deep down her siblings were quite right. Such a thing would likely always work on her, because she was quite fond of all of her siblings. Akira's question to his sister, made her nod her head in agreement. "Yep, about a week, but we didn't know if we'd have to convince you to come or not. Now we get to hang out for like a week~" she chimed to her elder sister. "If that's okay with you, aneki," she said to the woman who shrugged. "Yeah, that's fine. A week is a good amount of time. I can mentally prepare for this kind of thing then," Benihime mentioned of their apparent trip to the festival.

As the conversation progressed, it seemed that they were both content to meet her husband which was fine with her, she'd take them to the forge where the man was at this point in his day. "Oh, yeah, I told him about that when I got back. He said he'd be fine helping you guys out. Knowing him he's already started on some general stuff. Come on~" she extended a hand to each of her siblings. "Hakudoshi, do you wanna come or are you going to have lunch? If you have lunch don't forget to have some milk~" she said to her son. She was unsure of his interest in accompanying them to the forge, he didn't seem to enjoy being there as much as some of the other children who'd lived in the village from time to time.

[Bloodedge]

"Iie. I'm gonna go play until it's time to go." This was all Hakudoshi had to say about going with this group to the forge. Without further ado, the boy vanished via his teleportation ability. When this happened, Akira reached out to take his elder sister's left hand. He was content to go to the location her husband could be found at.

[Apollymi]

"Alright then, don't terrorize any villagers, and remember to eat," she said in passing to her son. She seemed to be just fine with the idea that he was going off to do whatever until it was time for them to leave. And Teruko found this method of parenting to be kind of strange. "You just let him go where he wants? Like no questions?" she asked of her sister, wondering what kind of logic the elder redhead had about this situation. "Well, I am more concerned about what he will do to everyone else, than I am about anyone doing anything to him. He's always been really independent and chooses whom he deals with carefully, probably because he's always been able to read minds. I am not worried about his safety within the village." she said as both her younger siblings took her hands and she grinned. "Come on then~" she said and then the trio would disappear in Benihime's signature crimson flash, headed for the forge where her husband was most likely to be found.

[Bloodedge]

Many times, the child of this village's Kage had appeared within the village center via teleportation. Today was no exception as he materialized in front of a small, yet wholesome shop with a sign reading "Enjoy Ice" at its front. The only strange thing about this event was the fact that the boy came with more than a single teenage girl in his company; he'd brought the entire family along for the trip this time. The father, Youko, emerged from teleportation to properly look upon this shop for the first time. "So, this is the place. It looks pretty small to be this big a deal," he said while watching various children from around the village happily exiting the shop, carrying with them ice-creams of different flavors.

Hakudoshi's expression was as bright as it had been moments prior to the group's departure from the Kage's office. If this could be any more true, it would be, as he looked up to see exactly what he'd hoped for. The person running the shop today was Chojiro, the owner himself. This was the man the children of Sunagakure sought when coming to this shop. He was a retired Shinobi, now an elderly man with a long face, and very short purple hair atop his head. He wore an olive threadbare robe, as if he were an old samurai. A kind smile was upon his face, inviting any and all patrons to his humble shop. Of course, he took note of the Kazekage and family in front of him, and opened his arms wide. "Ohayou gozaimasu Haku-chan, Aiko-chan! Finally brought the rest of the family along for a treat? Who won this time?"

[Apollymi]

Arriving via the form of teleportation used by Hakudoshi, Kanna took a couple of steps forward but stayed near the side of her father with wide eyes. In her time in this village she hadn't come here before. "Haku likes this place best..." the small girl mentioned, having knowledge of this without much else. The happy mood her son was in caused Benihime to chuckle as she found herself rather easily landing on her feet from her previously seated position. This red haired Kazekage was barefoot and dressed in her shorts and top with the small laces in front but this would be no real surprise to any of the villagers who'd likely expected less at any given time. 'Never quite seen him this happy before. I suppose it isn't really surprising he really likes ice cream,' the Kazekage thought as they all made their way inside among the other members of the village including a large number of children.

Soon enough the family was greeted by the propriator of the shop, the old man who used to be a shinobi when Benihime was a great deal younger, a man by the name of Tokumatsu Chojiro. A smile came to Benihime's face as she took a seat by twisting a chair into the backward position with a good angle to watch the show. But she wouldn't be the first to speak, no, it would be Aiko who seemed to be a face known by this man by her frequent visits. "Ohayou, Tokumatsu-ojii, we didn't have a session today. This is apparently a family outing before we take some trips I guess... I don't really know, but breakfast ice cream~" Aiko mentioned seeming to find the whole thing amusing. "Ohayou, Cho-jii, long time no see~" mentioned the Kazekage, who'd gotten used to this man's presence before he retired, her face soon rested on the edge of the chair back with a raised brow. She was more than willing to let the others have their fill first, knowing both her daughter and son would be having what was likely a very exciting show for the pair of them.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. This place is the best," Hakudoshi spoke, chiming in after the assertion of Kanna. There were multiple reasons he favored this location; it was where he discovered the magnificence of ice-cream, and the showmanship of Chojiro was positively captivating. The latter reason was one the shop owner intended to showcase very soon, but first, there was something of great importance for him to do. Chojiro leaned over the counter, setting his gaze on Kanna. The smile he wore now was a curious one, but he took a brief pause to look toward the Kazekage. "Haihai! Always a pleasure to see you, Kazekage-sama! It's good to see you taking time with the family. Now!" he interjected, looking toward Kanna once more. "Who's this little cutie? I haven't seen you before."

Since Kanna happened to be nearest to him, Youko placed a hand upon her head once more. "This is our daughter, Kanna. She and Haku are twins, but she... escaped us for a few years," he said, managing a joking tone. "Hoh, is that so!? Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, kawaii kawaii Kanna-chan! Have you ever been to Enjoy Ice before?" This query was one Chojiro always had for children he'd not seen before. There was always a chance they had come when he wasn't present, and if that were ever the case, Chojiro wanted to make sure they always received his personal greeting. As he awaited this answer from Kanna, he continued looking her way with a warm smile upon his visage.

[Apollymi]

Benihime settled in rather easily and chose to watch the interaction between her children and this man. A gentle raise of her hand would let him know she'd heard him, though she wouldn't say anything else for a while. He'd always been one for showmanship and even she found him entertaining when she was younger. Given this fact, she was content, seeing her young daughter addressed by someone outside of the family for the first time was also very interesting. Youko had taken it upon himself to explain Kanna's presence, and Kanna to her credit gave the man an empty eyed stare. She found warmth in his visage and with her father's hand placed atop her head she felt a great deal of confidence in this moment. Besides that, Hakudoshi enjoyed this place so she felt it was likely something she'd enjoy as well. "Nice to meet you," she said looking at this man. "I've never been here before," she stated. The small girl's voice brought a smile to her mother's face. She figured it'd be a while before she began speaking normally, but her kids always exceeded her expectations. Kanna had no idea what to expect from this experience but she knew nothing bad could happen so she'd see how this played out.

[Bloodedge]

Upon hearing that this girl had never been to the shop, Chojiro's smile grew wider and toothier. Hakudoshi's grin also spread; he knew what was to come. "Well then, allow me to welcome you. Here at Enjoy Ice, we only want one thing from you. Haku-chan knows what that is..." Leaving his statement hanging in the air, Chojiro jumped into the air, gliding back toward the covered cabinets behind him. A swipe of his hand allowed him to pull a string which uncovered said cabinets, revealing several large bowls of ice, milk, and various items used for flavoring. The opening of the cabinet caused the ice to flood the area behind the counter with a cold mist. "ENJOY~!" he exclaimed while shrouded in the sparkling, icy mist. He suddenly produced a wooden spoon in his left hand, and a bowl and whisk in his right hand. "We have lots of flavors, Kanna-chan! You're up first; what would you like today?"

[Apollymi]

Kanna had a wide eyed look the entire time this man was speaking. Beyond that there was quite the bit of showmanship to come as a flip was performed and the man glided backwards to reveal an entire set of cabinets. There was mist and bowls of ice and milk and ingredients. A small smile came to this girl's face, as apparently the only rule of the place was that everyone had to enjoy. This seemed simple enough but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit excited and happy in this moment. The man was so enthusiastic it was hard not to feel the same way. "Sugei!" she said in that tiny voice of hers. Still it seemed that it was her turn. With her little fist balled up she was on tip toes looking around. There were so many options. And she'd never had this before. What did she choose? Which was best? How could she know? There was a minor bit of excited panic spreading as she looked away from Chojiro for the first time and looked towards her twin instead. Her wide eyes imploring a single plea. 'Haku, help!'

[Bloodedge]

Chojiro patiently awaited the answer of this child, but she instead looked toward her brother. While Chojiro was far from a mind-reader like these two children, he knew much about those of a youthful persuasion in their first visits to such a place. Knowing how Chojiro operated, Hakudoshi gave no response to Kanna, bar a cheeky grin. The shop owner had this covered. "Tough choice, eh? Well, I've got something anyone can... EN-JOY!" With that said, Chojiro took his wooden spoon to the ice, taking it upon himself to provide the flavors for most of this group. He scooped once for Kanna, once for Hakudoshi, and once each for the other three members of the family. With the spoon sitting inside the ice, Chojiro did as he'd always done, and free-handed the pouring of milk and cream into the mixing bowl. Once his left hand was free again, he removed the spoon from the bowl, and took up the whisk. "Here, Kanna-chan! Witness the left hand which served Nidaime Kazekage as a Shinobi! It now exists only to make sure you EN-JOY!"

Chojiro held the bowl close to his chest, and drove the whisk into it. His entire left arm worked toward whisking he ice-cream mixture with such an intensity that it rose from the bowl and fell back in, over and over for the duration. "KOI KOI KOI KOI KOI KOI KOI KOI!" he chanted. Over time, the mixture became ice-cream, but Chojiro continued to whisk at an incredibly rapid pace faster than an untrained eye could see. The confection in the works developed a much creamier texture over time, and Chojiro prepared to serve. "Cones and bowls to your left! Now, what flavor is dad having today?" he asked, knowing Youko was the only one who didn't have a preferred flavor in his memory. In fact, he could only recall speaking with the Jounin once before. "Umm... Some sort of berry, I suppose?"

[Apollymi]

Hakudoshi didn't answer the silent plea of Kanna. But it seemed that this didn't really matter. Chojiro had more to say and even Benihime was smiling as the man spoke. "Eto..." she said but her eyes sparkled with light in the void of all that darkness. She didn't know what was going on here, but she couldn't help but be enthused. She watched as this man combined ingredients into a mixing bowl and as she was told to behold she watched with wide eyes as the man went to work. He stated that he'd previously been a Shinobi under the previous Kazekage, but now he existed only to help them enjoy. Then the girl got to witness this man stir up the confection with the widest eyes she'd ever managed to have. "Sugoi!" chants of koi had the little girl clapping her hands together in time. This seemed to be an overall enjoyable experience for her and there was a large smile seen on her normally impassive face. Benihime watched this and couldn't help but chuckle. 'Ara ara, I guess it will be both of them,' she mused. Even so, she was happy her daughter had found something she could enjoy. As they moved along it seemed Youko was the first up for a flavor choice as he didn't have one in memory of the old man. Benihime knew she could look forward to something she'd enjoy and as such she waited. This happy family moment one she wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Aiko who'd been long since quiet in this endeavor settled upon a bowl, while Benihime finally stood procuring one for herself as well.

[Bloodedge]

"Berry delight coming up!" was Chojiro's response to Youko. His whisking continued as the group fetched bowls for their servings, bar Youko and the pair of twins, who each retrieved a cone - Kanna by the choice of Hakudoshi when he grabbed his own. Part of Chojiro's performance involved a very strange method of distributing ice-cream. He had nothing conventional on-hand to scoop it with; he instead relied on the whisk while continuing the motions of his arm. "KOI KOI KOI KOI!" he continued to chant. His whisk first whirled over Kanna's cone, forming a spiral of vanilla ice-cream atop it. The same motion was repeated for Hakudoshi's cone after the boy offered Kanna's to her. When the time came to serve Aiko, Chojiro changed his methods ever so slightly. The ice-cream held between his whisk was moved in the same way, but not directly into her bowl. Chojiro first dipped it into a vat of blue liquid and whipped it about within. The result of this was an addition of flavor and visual appeal by the time he transferred it to her bowl. Youko, upon seeing this, changed his mind about his flavor of preference. "Never mind what I said. I'll have that," he mentioned, prompting Chojiro to repeat this process to fill the white-haired man's cone.

Even though all but the Kazekage had now received their ice-cream, Hakudoshi remained standing before Chojiro. There was one thing in particular he awaited, and he knew it wouldn't come until the order was filled. The shop owner now had an alteration to make in his movements, which involved whipping his whisk around in a container of boiling water to clean it off before whisking up the last fifth of the ice-cream. This serving, for the Kazekage herself, was dipped into a vat containing a mango flavoring before it was bowled. As he brought it to the bowl though, he discarded the mixing bowl and dipped his hand into a jar of chili powder. The removal of his whisk from the serving was superseded by the sprinkling of chili powder onto the swirl. He discarded the whisk as well then, scooping up four wafers with his left hand; two of each were tossed into the bowls of Aiko and Benihime, respectively. Now was the time. All of Chojiro's servings were dished out, and he was free to throw his hands into the air for the climax children in this shop awaited when he was present.

"EN... JOOOY~!"

This very action was why Hakudoshi had not yet moved after receiving his treat. He'd been holding his cone in his left hand, leaving his right fist free to rise over his head to herald an excited utterance. "Mm! Enjoy!" he responded, revealing to any who weren't already in the know where this strange habit had originally come from.

[Apollymi]

Aiko had always liked the flavor of ice cream she'd been watching be made. When she'd been very small, this was an activity of choice she partook in with her father, not that she'd ever bothered mentioning this to anyone. Instead she happily soon had a bowl and was more than a bit surprised when Youko changed his mind about the sort of ice cream he wanted upon seeing hers created. A bit of a chuckle came from her, after this but she waited still because she knew Hakudoshi was in this for the show. Benihime also knew what was to come as a visitor of this place on more than one occasion, with that she waited, watching happily as the pair of twins gathered their cones and Kanna decided to hold hers in the same way that Hakudoshi held his. She wondered briefly why a cone but she figured it would make sense eventually. She stared with wide eyes at the ice cream and watched as the rest of the portions were doled out, including those of Aiko, Youko and then finally Benihime. That last portion looked the strangest to her, but before she had time to question this, the finale of this presentation happened before her. The shout of enjoy with hands raised in the air, caused Hakudoshi to lift one of his as well, Kanna because of the ice cream in her hand lifted the same one this time and now had an understanding of where this had come from as well. "Mm! Enjoy!" she also said with the same amount of excitability as Hakudoshi. "Sugei! They're so cute together!" Aiko said, wondering how she'd managed not to take Kanna along on one of these trips in the prior three weeks but deciding it was for the best that she hadn't. Benihime with her own bowl of ice cream got to watch her kids enjoy this show put on by Chojiro and chuckled at it as well. 'Ah, that is where he got that from,' she thought finding it to be one of the more endearingly child-like traits her son possessed. "Take your ice cream pretty seriously huh, little one?" she asked him mostly rhetorically. She also knew that Hakudoshi had his own way of doing this so she'd wait to see where he sat before she went about enjoying her own ice cream, grabbing an edible spoon for herself and Aiko which the other girl gladly accepted while the other three enjoyed their cones. "Arigatou Cho-jii," she said to the man dropping a hefty bit of coin in his hands for the purchase. "Oh, and Machi's back, in case you haven't seen him yet~" she mentioned in passing before going to rejoin her family.

[Bloodedge]

With his ice-cream in hand, Hakudoshi did as normal, and relocated himself to a chair at the closest table. Only after sitting did he speak again. "Arigatou, Enjoy-sama," he said in the usual fashion. With the gratitude out of the way, he began to eat while his legs swung to and fro between his chair and the floor. Youko nodded to the elder named Chojiro, and went about claiming his place at the table as well. In the meantime, Chojiro was left to speak with the Kazekage while sliding her money across the table, back toward her. Even being the owner of this business, he wouldn't have dared to charge any sort of fee on such an obviously precious family moment. "Hai! He came by to check on us a couple of weeks ago. Mostly, he wanted to see what kind of man Kazuhiko grew to be over the years. Strange, though. He doesn't look a day older than I remember, and... well, look at me! I wouldn't mind picking up his secrets."

[Apollymi]

"Arigatou," this was the only word to leave Kanna's small face. She too would teleport to find herself in the seat beside her brother. Both of them swinging their legs back and forth as Kanna tried her ice cream for the first time. Her eyes widened as the first taste of vanilla ice cream made its way to her person. A large grin spread across the small girl's face as she tasted it, and her eyes sparkled as she tasted this flavor. "Sugei!" this utterance would be all from the small girl for quite some time. A bit of a chuckle came from Benihime because in this moment she felt something from her daughter akin to joy and it made her happy as well. Aiko also took her bowl and went to join the children. "Arigatou, Tokumatsu-ojii~" said the girl as she attacked her own bowl from her place beside Hakudoshi.

Meanwhile Benihime found herself staring at the money she'd tried to use to pay for this little ice cream exersion. She frowned deeply but knew better than to argue. "Ugh, you're going to be this person aren't you? Geez, fine," she said with a smirk as the money disappeared from where it was, and back to where she'd taken it from. Beyond this point it seemed that Chojiro had at least seen Machi since his return which brought a smile to the young woman's face. "Good, it's good he's gone around to see everyone. I haven't seen Kazuhiko myself in quite a while. I hope he's well," she said offering a chuckle. "And you aren't the only one, he has me messed up, looking exactly like he did when he up and disappeared~" she said before she went to join her family as they enjoyed their ice cream.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course! I'll never take money from a happy family walking into my shop!" Chojiro said to the redhead. Wherever Benihime's money had gone, it didn't end up in Chojiro's hand, and that was what mattered in this moment. Another matter of reasonable importance was Chojiro's son: the male mentioned by the name Kazuhiko. "Ah, yes. He did mention seeing Aiko-chan in the office more than you recently. I wondered if something happened to you, but since you weren't the only one missing... well..." The shop owner had nothing else to say. It was obvious to him that the Kazekage would get his point, and he dared not be blunt about this matter in front of the children. Chojiro was content to leave the chat between himself and Benihime there, letting this family carry on with their day out together.

[Apollymi]

"I'm no business genius or anything, but that doesn't seem like a reasonable business model. Though, if it makes you happy I won't argue," the Kazekage mentioned. Though she did appreciate the sentiment of the man who'd provided her family ice cream. Benihime had begun to eat her ice cream apparently amused by this man's statements. He went on to say that his son, mentioned seeing Aiko in the office more than the Kazekage or her second in command, this made sense considering what the last year of their lives had been like. A sigh came from the young woman in this moment, because she realized that most people likely just thought the pair of them were out being sexually devious when in truth she'd been kidnapped, then fixing the aftermath of said kidnapping. 'Ugh, people must think we are the most irresponsible people on the planet,' she thought absently. The truth was way more complicated and likely way more than any one individual needed to know, so, the redhead didn't bother explaining anything in any great detail. "Hai, it's been a complicated year. I am making more of an effort to do my job, though to be honest, I feel like Aiko-chan is better at it than I am~" the redhead chimed which only made Aiko shake her head no. While the young woman was more than willing to admit being better at paperwork than either of the adults in her life, she thought Benihime a good Kazekage, regardless of her slightly irresponsible nature. "Not today though, we're going to do family activity stuff~" she chimed, their ice cream breakfast obviously part of their intended activities for today. Even so she seemed to enjoy the sweet and spicy ice cream she had at her disposal.

[Bloodedge]

"I agree. As a business model, it's always been a horrible idea. Still... if I can see one smiling child every day I work here, it'll all be worth it when it's time to go," the shop owner commented. Hakudoshi, who had a spoonful of ice-cream in his mouth at the time, cut his eyes toward the elderly man. His expression was momentarily a curious one, but shortly afterwards, it returned to its former jovial state. In the meantime, Chojiro continued addressing the Kazekage and family. "Family time is precious, and yours looks like one to cherish. We live in a great time for a Kage to still be capable of spending some quality time with family and friends. It's young'uns like you that make such a fine era."

Youko took no place in the ongoing conversation. Instead, he sat with his own serving of ice-cream, taking in stride the sight of the children eating. He knew already that Hakudoshi was fond of ice-cream, but for Kanna, he was quite sure this was a brand new experience. As such, he looked primarily toward the recently reborn girl. "What do you think? Pretty good, right?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime heard the words of Chojiro and gave a small smirk. She looked that this older man and wondered what it was he was getting at... perhaps it was time for her to talk to her old teammate about the very solemn outlook his old-man had. The Kazekage herself was from a family where people lived too long under most circumstances so she didn't really understand this man's words, but he wasn't so old that he should be talking as if he was sickly. "Oh? Well, if they are smiling, then I'm happy, so good on you, Cho-jii. Though you could stand to lighten up a bit, it's not like you're ancient," she said as her eyes moved around the table a quick corner glance was aimed at the old man before she took a solid spoonful of ice cream and it was exactly as she remembered. The sweetness of mangoes followed up by the underlying spice of chili with the tangible cold of ice cream. A perfect trio of feelings for the redhead to enjoy, for reasons she didn't rightly realize. All the while, Chojiro seemed to brag on her family, embarrassing the Kazekage just a tad. "Ano, you and Machi keep saying stuff like that, but I've literally done nothing I wasn't already doing," she said, thinking about it she'd really just been slacking most of the time, and doing what she wanted. Though admittedly she did enjoy her family a great deal, even more so now that her young daughter was back in their lives, she couldn't say she would have been doing much different regardless, definitely not enough to simply garner the kind of praise she seemed to be getting lately.

Speaking of said young daughter, Kanna was watching the goings on, and having tasted her ice cream seemed to be enjoying it rather thoroughly. Her father spoke to her and she looked at him as she enjoyed her cone, those dark moons of hers sparking with emotion normally unseen in her apathetic face. "It's the best thing I've ever eaten..." she said this with seriousness so much so that, Aiko had to stifle a chuckle because she'd heard this statement before in a different voice.

[Bloodedge]

As Benihime disputed the effects of his aging, Chojiro laughed. "I may not be that old, but my years haven't been kind. Don't you worry, though; I'll be her for a very long time to make sure kids like yours can enjoy!" With that said, the former Chuunin pounded his fist against his chest one solid time. As for the matter of Benihime's work as Kazekage, there was hardly a thing he could do besides laugh more. "What you were already doing is more than enough. Nidaime knows, and so do I. I'm sure your family understands what good you are." This was all the ice-cream maker had to say. The children had been served, and their families with them, so it was high time for Chojiro's rest. "Ja ne, Sandaime and family. I hope to see all of you again soon," he said with a bow, just prior to taking his leave toward the back.

When Kanna commented about the ice-cream, Youko's visage showed a quantity of teeth normally seen only when he showed his animal-like tendencies using Sage techniques. He even let a small chortle escape him before managing a retort. "Oi, save some bold claims like that for later. You haven't had the time to try many different foods yet. I get the feeling you're really going to like the foods from our homeland."

[Apollymi]

Benihime found herself grinning at Chojiro. He was a fun man, and though she'd given him more than a bit of hardship when she'd been younger, she found it amusing that he still managed to think so highly of her. Beyond this, his abilities with children were not to be understated, especially in how he managed to gain the respect of someone like Hakudoshi. "Hai hai. Just remember, someone like Hakudoshi will hold you to that~" she said to the old man before her, still she was comforted by him, and many of the other familiar faces that helped her through her more traumatic life experiences. Irrespective of this, it seemed the friendly chat with one of the Sungakure's former Chunin was coming to an end. He soon excused himself and Benihime waved him off between bites of ice cream. "Arigatou na, Cho-jii. Though you could just call me by name. See you later..." she managed before averting her attention to scene before her and gaining a smile of pure happiness.

Kanna looked at her father from her ice cream and took note of his visage. This slightly wilder grin was similar to one she saw plenty in the minds of her parents but that she'd never seen before she found herself studying it curiously before squinting her face up. "Hm, so I get to try other stuff too?" she seemed to be processing potential given her currently limited palette. She had no idea what these other foods could be, but if her father thought they might win her favor she had to at least give them a try. Though she was skeptical she figured it could be worthwhile. "Fine. This is winning though," she said this statement no less bold than her previous one, and just a tiny bit challenging. Such made the redhead remember what she'd been like in previous decades and it made her chuckle. Her daughter's developments in personality were intriguing and Youko as an engrossed father of a little girl was about what she expected but that made it no less joyous to watch. Even so, there was a slight pang in her chest and she couldn't really explain it, beyond that Benihime herself seemed to gain a great deal of tension in her forehead, right between her eyes. "Yare yare, this is a cuteness overload. I'm not sure my heart can take it~" she mused, to give herself something else to think about as she finished her ice cream. This sort of pain seemed strangely to not be very unfamiliar to this woman and like most things it seemed to pass with her moods.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course! You're going to live a long life, so you'll get to try lots of things!" Youko said in response to the small girl. He was quite confident that she would enjoy the foods of his homeland, though possibly less than ice-cream of this quality. She was, after all, still a child. Soon enough, Youko was finishing his ice-cream and rising from the table. As what he intended to be his final movement before vacating the premises, he stepped toward Benihime with a quizzical expression. "Well, I'm basically good to go, but... are you alright? You look a little off," he stated. In the following moment, Youko's Doujutsu triggered in its New Moon state, and he scanned the redhead's body with the heightened perception this form allowed him.

[Apollymi]

"Mm!" the small girl nodded her head, and gave an affirmative. She didn't know if she would like certain things more than others, but she was obviously more than willing to give anything a try. Benihime was amused by the entire situation more so than most, even with the headache she had building between her eyes. She finished her ice cream though without much of a problem and left the empty bowl in the middle of the table within the one Aiko had so recently finished as well. Youko's next words were ones which she hadn't expected and she found herself pouting under the attention apparently afforded to her because she seemed 'off' to him in someway. "I have a tension headache right between my eyes, but it isn't as if that has never happened before... I'm fine. You worry too much," the redhead said. Her face reddened with embarrassment as she leaned over to kiss the man on mark on his forehead, she appreciated his caring mannerisms, but at her core didn't like being the center of any kind of attention. That being said, she didn't try and lie about how she felt because such things would be exceedingly pointless with two mind reading children and four bearers of doujutsu all sitting around her. Aiko noted the woman's posture and chuckled, but didn't have anything to say about it. She would have easily attributed a tension headache to the idea of returning to her homeland as she found interactions with her cousin/siblings to be a bit stressful, but such things seemed to be at least a little necessary.

[Bloodedge]

Benihime claimed to be suffering a simple headache when confronted about the strange state she seemed to be in. By the time she spoke, though, Youko had already begun inspecting her. The longer he looked, the more strange he found her appearance to be. This had nothing to do with her expression, and everything to do with how her Chakra was behaving. Even so, as the woman kissed his forehead and claimed he worried too much, he sighed and dropped the topic. "If you say so." In spite of his own words, Youko saw something amiss. He would not speak on this matter at the time, as it didn't seem to be an immediate danger, but... he had concerns regarding it either way. "Say... Why don't we just make this into a little vacation for all of us? It would be nice not to split up, even though it would take a little longer. Besides, you and Hakudoshi have never been to where we're from, and Kanna has never been to your homeland. It could be fun for everyone," he claimed. He did certainly believe in this, but of course, he was also now keen on keeping his wife nearby in case the strange occurrence surrounding Benihime became a proper issue.

[Apollymi]

Whatever her husband saw about her, that caused him to worry, didn't seem to change at all over the course of their conversation. Even so, he'd chosen to let the subject drop which made the redhead of this group happy. Of course, within a few seconds of this, Youko made a suggestion which she found both strange and appealing for very different reasons. She figured he was likely just worrying about her when making this suggestion, but it would be fairer to the kids overall if they completed both sets of activities as a unit. She looked at this man briefly before deciding it wasn't necessary to argue these points. "That's fine with me, and to be fair I didn't really care how long it takes. Can we do your thing first? I am not mentally prepared to deal with my siblings yet..." she said, knowing that among other things it would likely set Youko at ease and if that was something she could do for him, she would. Besides that, she was still enjoying the novelty of both of her children being together, and didn't wish to see them separated unnecessarily. Aiko on the other hand looked amused, as it would lead to another meeting between herself and Akira whom she wished to use her sword against. "Hakudoshi, bring Machi here for a second," she said to her son, having no desire to travel back to the Village Center to speak with the Second Kazekage. She was also about to give him information which would likely make him have a fit, and something about that amused her to no end.

[Bloodedge]

"Eh? Well..." Youko hesitated for a moment. Benihime may have suggested that they all visit his homeland first, but he had it in his mind to do the exact opposite, for similar reasons even. "Mendokuse. I'd have rather done your thing first just to avoid finding Kichi in another of his attempts to be more like me. I guess I lose, though," he said as his hands flew over his head in surrender.

Hakudoshi had been casually enjoying his treat all along, and had not yet finished by the current point in the adults' conversation. As such, a huff escaped him when his own name was mentioned in a way meant to grab his attention. Even worse yet, his mother was making a request of him. "... Hai," he said between bites. Suddenly thereafter, the tanned second Kazekage appeared atop the table to Hakudoshi's left, rather than the one Hakudoshi himself still ate at. The former Kage actually fell onto the table and flipped it over on his way toward the floor. He was quite obviously in shock, as he well should have been, given he appeared upside-down and first struck the table with his head. A quick roll into an upright position preceded the vocalization of his surprise. "OK, whoa, what the hell just happened to me!?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime found herself chuckling at her husband's assertion that he had wanted to avoid his own homeland for reasons similar to her own. "Yare yare, we can't both be running away from home to such extremes..." Benihime said, having accepted the surrender that they'd apparently take care of whatever things they need to do within the Land of the Moon. Thinking about it honestly, she couldn't remember the last time, she and Youko had done something together properly, kids or not. It was quite the refreshing thought. Soon enough though, her thoughts on this would be interrupted by the sudden appearance of Machi by her own request of Hakudoshi. The man properly fell into the scene with a surprise which made her chuckle as he comically fell about. Kanna looked wide eyed at the sight, having never witnessed such a thing before. "Sugoi." she managed finding some kind of amusement out of the situation. Aiko shook her head from left to right, "Onee-sama, you're mean," she mentioned of the Kazekage.

In this moment, Benihime couldn't help but have a good-natured laugh at the tanned former Kazekage's expense. "Oi, I'm not mean, and I'd call it a reflex test and say you failed. But I'd be lying, so..." Benihime took a deep breath. "I made Hakudoshi teleport you here, because I was too lazy to teleport to you... we are planning a family vacation. Taking the kids to visit relatives in the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of the Moon. Me, Youko, Aiko-chan, Kanna, and Hakudoshi~" she said offering a wide smile, mentioning the leave of all three Jinchuriki and two small children birthed between two of them. "You can do the paperwork and look after the Village for a while without us..." she mentioned without any other motives. She did speak though without knowing that Machi didn't know about the two children who belonged to her in this equation, but that couldn't possibly make much of a difference.

[Bloodedge]

Among the chaos in Machi's head regarding the sudden move from his exercises, there was an explanation of what actually happened. Benihime offered this explanation, much to Machi's added confusion. Many things she said were bothersome, yet even more disturbing tidbits of information. "Wait... hang on." Several moments of pause were necessary a this time. First, Machi looked to Hakudoshi, then to Youko. Between the two, he could see similarities which marked them as relatives, and it was easy to link this up to the child's ridiculous abilities and connection to Benihime. On the other hand, there was another child of a female persuasion who looked virtually identical to the boy. "Right. Kid's yours. You have two. OK. Shit, wait... no!" Machi darted upwards to stand properly, forcing his attentions on Benihime. "TWO kids! YOUR KIDS! And you expect me to take a break from my busy schedule reorganizing the council to run the whole village while you take a vacation with the village's standing Kage, Jounin Hancho, other strongest Jounin, with two Jinchuriki among them!? This is LITERALLY the most RIDICULOUS thing I've ever heard out of your mouth!"

[Apollymi]

"Arigatou, Hakudoshi~" she thanked her young male child with a gentle pat to his head for having produced the Kazekage of the previous generation. Of course, this would soon be followed by the man taking in all the information of Benihime's previous sentences. There were several seconds of silence before this man started to audibly go through all of this information, which made the redhead chuckle because his confusion and his surprise were basically tangible extensions of himself in this moment. "Of all the things I've said to you in the last few minutes, the two kids thing is really messing with you. I literally told you thousands of times that single births weren't a thing in my family. Did you really not know Hakudoshi was my kid in the first place?" Benihime said before a second of thought made her realize something important. Her young son, in all of his infinite cleverness likely didn't see a need to mention this information at all, he rarely explained such things, like how he'd not given any information about Benihime being married to her siblings. Whether he did this on purpose because he thought it entertaining, or he simply didn't understand why it would be important were both up for debate. Of course, this really didn't matter because the other issues were ones which he seemed to have a problem with as well, "Three Jinchuuriki and two kids going out to see the world. Doesn't really sound that bad, and you obviously aren't that busy, and life is a lot less stressful without the rest of us here. You're just being fussy because you didn't realize I had kids," Benihime mentioned still managing to be amused by the entire situation. "And this is definitely not the most ridiculous thing I've ever said to you..." she said, remembering once when she mentioned right after a battle that she had a date with the general of the opposing army. She thought that was by far more ridiculous, at this point she was only telling him this information so he wouldn't worry when they all left. "Besides what happened to, take some time off. Relax, I'm not going to lock you up in here... you can do what you want..." Benihime said with a casual wave of her hand to quell any future arguments about her leaving this day.

[Bloodedge]

"Huh!?" Machi replied. Even as Benihime pointed out facts, his shock remained intact. "That was years ago, and I've been gone for a number of years I can't even remember! And, as far as I remember, none of you bothered mentioning you having kids when I was busy being surprised about this HUSBAND of yours. You're still a man, right?" he asked of Youko, taking a moment to look at the man whose voice was - interestingly, given the current topic - several octaves deeper than Machi's own. "Hai. I'll let you know if that ever changes, but I doubt it will," was Youko's retort. At that moment, Machi set his gaze on Benihime again, with a finger pointed at her to boot. "Husband, yes!"

If he wasn't surprised enough already, Machi certainly would be the next time Benihime spoke. Her opening corrected his previous thoughts of there being two Jinchuriki in Sunagakure, stating that there were in fact three in this age. "THREE!? Then..." His eyes traveled to Aiko from Benihime, then onward to the pair of twins. Finally, his gaze landed on a bashful-looking Youko. "I... may or may not be the Hachibi Jinchuriki," he said with a chuckle. At this point, Machi's bottom jaw was nearly on the floor. "When the hell did we get the Hachibi!? Wait... YOU WANT TO TAKE ELEVEN TAILS ON A FAMILY VACATION!?" How Benihime wasn't following along with his issues here, he didn't know. Her final clause brought back Machi's own words about her freedoms as Kazekage, but he felt this was going well beyond extreme. "Saying 'take some time off and relax' doesn't mean take all of the village's power with you! And it especially doesn't mean stick ME with the office full of paperwork you probably have waiting!"

[Apollymi]

Machi's continued disbelief was a point which Benihime found strange. Rather suddenly, he was back on the topic of her husband, which brought a flush to the Kazekage's face, as she found few things more embarrassing than Machi pointing out her choice in spouse and how contrary it was to her general disposition. "Still with this... I will give not mentioning it. But everyone else knows, not my fault I thought the former leader of the entire Village would be able to identify people living in a house together as family," Benihime mentioned with a roll of her eyes. The Second Kazekage's finger was still pointed accusingly at her, but there was hardly anything she cared to do about this. Beyond this, it seemed he'd misunderstood her previous mention of the number of Jinchuuriki in this Village. His gaze moved around the table and Aiko managed to stifle a chuckle as a bashful Youko admitted to possessing the Eight Tails. His surprise at the realization was one which caused the widened eyes of Benihime before her face broke into laughter. "Kufukukukuku~" it would take a minute for her to recover enough to properly speak to him, and it would only be after he made the point that his ideal of her relaxing had nothing to do with her leaving him a bunch of work while taking most of the power of the Village with her on whatever adventure she planned.

"Machi, you are going to need to relax. That was funny though, I'll give you that~" she said as she calmly looked at the man with her chin resting in the palms of her hands. "If I am being honest here, it's a little mean of you to claim I am taking all of the Village's Power with me. I'm sure Kazzun, Shinji and the rest of the Jounin would be pretty upset about it," she said calmly. "Besides that, the Eight Tails has technically been part of the Village for the last nine years. I sealed it in him myself," she explained without giving the entire story because it would take way longer. "Also, I am not leaving you a bunch of work, and if you think it's a lot of paperwork you could streamline it," she commented absently. "It isn't like you didn't stick me your shitty angry old council and your entire fucking job as a teenager or anything," she nipped at a point she'd found annoying for a while. But soon enough she had a happy smile on her face. "Besides, I am telling you because we're going regardless, and it isn't like we all can't return in less than a second for a show of force. Though I doubt it would be at all necessary," she said pointing out the major calling of the use of teleportation by literally everyone up for vacation.

[Bloodedge]

"Are you really gonna count that as living together?" he asked in response. As far as Machi was concerned, anyone without prior knowledge would have no real reason to believe this group of individuals was a family, at least one connected to Benihime. "You live in the Kage's manor. You're Kage. Makes sense. They," he continued, pointing toward Youko and Aiko. "Also live in the Kage's manor. Top Jounin, both Jinchuriki. Makes sense. They..." This time, Machi pointed toward the pair of twins at the table. "... have stuff going on that I can't even fathom! I'd have all of them living right outside my office door too!"

Over the course of this interaction, Machi's breathing became too labored. He eventually had no choice but to go limp and catch his breath. "They can be upset if they want, but they also can't say I'm lying. Besides that, I didn't leave you with that council. All that junk happened some time while Ookami-ojii was in charge, so don't go throwing that my way." With that said, he sighed. Machi knew there was little he was going to be capable of doing to stop this event from the start, but he felt his words needed to be voiced either way. "Kuso... If you're going anyway, there was no point to bringing me here in the first place. Go, go! But I'm still not okay with this!"

[Apollymi]

"Yes, it is the definition of living together," Benihime said. It was obvious that she was rather suddenly enjoying herself, and it wouldn't be totally obvious why, but there was some deep seated bit of pleasure to be found in tormenting her predecessor just a bit, because of the situation he'd left her to sort through. In addition to his ability to manage to embarrass her upon his initial return. Of course, it went without saying that the Kazekage didn't generally seem like the revenge seeking type, but exceptions had to be made once in a while. Machi went on to break down what he thought of as the reasoning behind Benihime having all of these people living with her within the Kazekage's Mansion and nodded. "I'm pretty sad about that, Machi. Knowing you just kept me around because you thought I was strong and all..." she said managing to look as if she was just having this realization. She didn't go on and point out the other reason most wouldn't have questioned her children, being their general shared surname. Moving right along, it was mentioned that the rest of the Village couldn't say he was lying about the major strength of the Village all going missing at once, even so he seemed to acquiesce to the idea given it would be happening with or without his blessing.

"I can and will blame everything that happened on you... and there isn't much you could say to change my mind. Ookami-jii already took his fair share of blame and dealt with his own string of issues. I can't even be mad at him anymore, you on the other hand..." Benihime rolled her eyes, and there was something playful there full of mischief and not even remotely hidden. They were pretty much given a begrudging go ahead. "Of course there was a reason to bring you here, I'm not rude enough just to leave without telling you and have you freak out about it. Which is way nicer than you've been to me in previous situations. And you know, to leave the open offer to summon if you need me and remind you that you have that ability since you are way too forgetful for someone who was in charge of such things before," she said with a knowing smirk. "Also because it's really fun to watch you freak out~" she said feeling the happy nostalgia associated with Machi freaking out about her doing one thing or another was at least in part a reason to tell him what she was going to do, before she did it. "Welcome back properly, Ni-dai-me~" Benihime finished her sentence before having a look at her kids. Noticing that Kanna finally managed to finish her ice cream, she assumed Hakudoshi had done the same and that when he was ready they'd clear out.