[Sunagakure] Amakajiba

"Oh, well... good," was all he had to say in response to Teruko. All the while, he was simply joking around, but he thought it worthwhile to have a bit of fun as well. As for this festival, he supposed if both Benihime and Hakudoshi were going, he could spare the time to do so as well.

Akira's eyes widened when Benihime questioned the members of the Sanjikai. Apparently, her son's interest in going could not be connected to Kougyoku and Kouha, nor to the festival itself. When Akira thought about this, and remembered his first interaction with the boy Hakudoshi, he figured out exactly where the lad's excitement could have come from. "Err... well... it was Koukai until about a week ago. But... it seems like Kouen came back, killed him somehow, and took over."

A gruff nod came from the younger red haired lass. Soon though the seriousness of Benihime's question reached her ears. She knew her twin would provide the answer to she didn't say anything immediately she just watched for her elder sister's reaction to the information. "Uh-huh, En-nii huh?" she said of that. It seemed that she'd been processing the information and determined that it was likely Kouen that Hakudoshi wished to meet, which wasn't very surprising. From what the redhead remembered of Koukai, he likely would have also caused the young boy a bit of excitement, but it would have been much less amusing overall for Benihime. "Well, that explains bunches, might be a bit of fun after all. Though I am still annoyed by the idea of people summoning me for no fucking reason." she chimed, seemingly still not all together sold on the idea that she had to appear before the Sanjikai. "Aneki isn't nearly as surprised as I thought she'd be by that news," she muttered to her twin. She still couldn't really imagine the circumstances which would led someone to killing their twin, it seemed unfathomable. Nor did she have any idea why anyone was just alright with Kouen taking over after he did it. "Besides, that, it's really weird yeah? En-nii killed his twin, and no one is even upset about it..." she said looking between her brother and elder sister.

Surprisingly enough, because Benihime had read through all the scrolls looking for answers about her daughter, she had an answer about that which was rather interesting. "The Clan exiles people for killing other people's twins because the act is thought of as being exceedingly selfish regardless of the reason. To deprive someone of their other half, even accidentally or in defense of yourself is thought of as an ultimate crime," she said, this likely stemmed from the idea of thinking that two people were essentially halves of one being. With that in mind, it's basically like maiming two people. "But, to kill your own twin, is the ultimate act of altruism. To willingly part with your other half, when everyone else has one, is thought to be a type of martyring. Which is probably why no one had a problem with Kouen taking over afterwards. After all, it is highly unlikely that any would willing choose to end their other half, especially given what such a thing would mean for most positions within the clan. Which require you to have another half to participate. Basically to kill your other half you make yourself a hermit, unless you marry or find another half-less individual to pair up with." she said. "Besides that, the Sanjikai has to exist as a council of three or the balance is disrupted. Generally speaking it's a set of twins and one twin-less elder, the fact that Koukai ran as part of it while his twin was still alive was likely a bit strange." Benihime finished which made her little sister looked at her shocked by the knowledge. "What, it was in those scrolls I went looking for last time."

As the conversation progressed, Akira found himself sitting with his cheek pressed against the palm of his right hand. The topic became not Kouen's standing in the Sanjikai, but the fact that he'd killed his twin. "I'm more surprised he was able to. Koukai was way stronger than anyone. En has to be some sort of monster now," he added. He had personally seen Koukai's fighting style on a few occasions, and knew for a fact that none within the Uzushiogakure could have ever compared to him, but the man's twin had somehow accomplished the impossible after returning from a sudden disappearance. When given the knowledge of the clan's functions involving twins and the deaths of one over the other, Akira raised his left brow. "So... if I kill Teru, that's cool. If somebody else does it, though, it's not cool? That's kinda weird, but I see what they mean."

It seemed that Koukai was apparently the stronger of the pair of twins, and he'd somehow been defeated by Kouen. It'd been about two decades since Benihime had seen either of them, so she didn't have enough information about either to be immediately surprised in either direction. "Well, to be fair, I haven't seen either of them since we were small children. A lot can change over that amount of time, the fact that you two are surprised, means they were both strong. Curious thing that is, but it isn't worth getting worked up over," she said to her sister, who seemed to look at the other woman with much shock in her face. "Yep, don't even know what to say to that," Teruko said.

It seemed her brother found it strange that it was apparently acceptable if he killed her, but not acceptable if she died by the hand of someone else in the clan. Frown came to the girl's face. "Oi, you could have used that example in the other direction, why do I have to be the one to hypothetically die here?" Teruko seemed cross, which made Benihime laugh a bit. "Teri-chan, are you hungry? You seem a bit cranky..." she said to the girl, which made her look at her sister, though she couldn't really argue with being hungry she wondered what would make the other woman ask such a question. "I'm just kidding, though, I mean I could have sent you to get some lunch, just sayin'." mentioned the elder sister of the younger redhead who flailed her arms in the air and turned her back once more. "So a week, anything in particular you guys wanna do while you're here? I mean besides getting your tools and whatnot?" she asked of the pair, not knowing what they intended but knowing they would likely find reasonable entertainment within the village.

"Yeah, but that's a lot changing between the time Kouen left the village and came back," Akira replied. With that said, his eyes shifted toward Teruko, who seemed to take issue with his hypothetical scenario simply because she was the dying one in it. "What was I supposed to do? I'm not gonna be the one dying in my own scene!" he said, crossing his arms and turning away as he spoke. He had to admit, now that Benihime had mentioned lunch, he was quite hungry as well. As such, mention of plans resulted in an immediate answer from the young male. "I'll take that lunch!"

The conversation went on and it seemed that her youngest brother seemed to want lunch. This was fine with Benihime and as such she'd treat the playfully arguing twins to some lunch while husband finished up his work. "Hai hai, lunch it is. I'll bring ya' something back~" she said to her husband and such would start the twins adventures within the Sunagakure.

Eventually about a day before they'd depart back to the Land of Whirlpools, another young woman would be making her way back to the Sunagakure. She had white hair and wore a white kimono with an obi decorated in various chrystanthemums. As she headed in, she'd immediately go, to the forge where she expected to find the man who'd sent her on the journey in the first place. "Onii-sama, tadaima~" she said. Tucked into her obi, there was a scroll and a single bladed weapon a short sword with a no guard.

Almost a week later, Youko had returned to his forge to complete the final works for Uzushiogakure. Actually, these final pieces were not necessarily for Uzushiogakure, but for the twins he'd met earlier in the week. As he tempered a katana, Youko heard the familiar voice of Aiko. Her trial had been about as quick as he expected, if not quicker. "Okaerinasai," he said while holding the blade over the forge. "Did you have fun?"

Aiko was greeted with the sight of her adopted brother, at his forge as he normally was. He greeted her and she in turn relaxed in the forge seeming to see it as her second home anyways. As she watched him work on a katana she thought over whether she'd had fun or not. "Well, it was interesting at least. Though, you probably should have warned me. 'They turn into beasts', is a lot different from 'they turn into bijuu sized super wolves'." she said, though overall, she didn't find her experience to be bad. "It was pretty fun though, I don't usually have to work so much to kill things~" she said as she pushed a stray lock out of her face. In the time she'd been gone her hair had grown down to about shoulder length or more. "Anything new? How are Haku-chan and Onee-sama?" she said, generally surprised that at this hour the Kazekage wasn't present in this place specifically.

As Aiko had her little rant, short though it may have been, Youko cooled his blade and moved toward the grindstone to sharpen its edge. Once cooled, the metal this sword was made from seemed to show signs of something other than typical iron or steel. "You're already well-established in your Kekkei Genkai; I figured there was no point warning you about something you could easily deal with," he replied. "I'm glad you enjoyed the hunt, though. My trial was horrific. Everyone else is fine; Haku even seems to have started playing with Kanna. They have some sort of... telepathic head space. We were recently invited to Beni's homeland of Uzushio for some festival. I'm sure you'd be welcome to come, too, if you'd like to rest before your next trial."

As Aiko watched the man work on the sword, it appeared to be something entirely different from what she was used to seeing. It made her a bit curious as to what this sword was going to be used for. "Um-hm, well that is fine and all, I just had that thought in the middle of it, so I thought I'd share that information with you. You said you were really young when you did it, I can only imagine it being way worse for you." she said about her hunt in particular. The news that Hakudoshi was alright and that he was playing with Kanna wasn't nearly as surprising to the girl as it could have been. "Yeah, I knew about that, he mentioned it before I left, still a bit strange though, I can't imagine what that's like but as long as they're happy," she said of the pair of twins. The news that the family had been invited to some sort of festival in the Uzushiogakure was something entirely different. She shrugged at the thought. "I guess I could take a day or two, sounds like fun and you are always saying I don't get out enough." she said of her lack of general travel. "That blade is weird... why are you making it?" she asked curiously. It was obviously something special and it made the young woman curious about who'd asked for it in the first place.

"It didn't have much to do with my age. I just didn't have much of a Kekkei Genkai to work with, so it was more difficult to produce a way of fighting against my target. Either way, you've earned your marks. Give me just a moment," he said. He was nearly done with the sword he worked on, and once he was finished, he would rise. This was accompanied by the man answering Aiko's query about the very tool he worked on. "This is for Akira, one of Beni's younger siblings. He's a swordsman, and his sister Teruko seems to be a Taijutsu specialist. I have something for each of them. The reason it's weird is the type of material used; it's a chakra demodulator. These two were recently attacked by someone from our clan, and they deserve something for making it out alive. I'm sure you've heard of the Yokujin of our clan."

"I could have used my Kekkei Genkai?!" Aiko was stunned, that would have made the entire ordeal much easier than it had been, but she hadn't been able to figure out if it was cheap so she'd foregone it altogether. Choosing to hunt with only the skills she had a weapon which was all but useless and her use of Yin Chakra. Still there was no real pouting from the young woman, instead she simply crossed her arms over her chest. "Take your time. Not like I am in a rush or anything," the young girl mentioned before changing her focus.

It seemed the Sunagakure was currently hosting a couple of the Kazekage's siblings. A twin pairing who bore the names Akira and Teruko. The former of which was a swordsman which seemed to cause something of a happy gleam in the eyes of the white haired young woman. Before she could properly say anything though, it was mentioned that the pair had apparently come in contact with Yokujin and this of course, made the young woman's eyes widen. "WHAT?! That guy is real?! My dad used to tell me he'd come and gobble me up if I ran off or was unwary. I was scared as hell of that guy, gave me nightmares." she stated, obviously it was a story from her childhood and it was obviously something other clan children were told, even her, though she'd never been part of the island which this clan called home. "The hell I got older and I didn't think he was actually real. Good on them... surviving something like that." she said with a curt nod. Then her eyes got narrow, "So, this Akira person is he good with a sword?" she asked, seemingly innocently.

"You could have tried. It would have only made things ten times harder for you, but that's exactly what I meant. By being fully developed with something, you rely on it less, right? By then, you know your limits, and you know how much effort it will take to do what you need." As he spoke, Youko moved to a workbench where he had the other pieces needed to complete this sword. Beside these items, one would see a pair of gloves with half-length fingers edged in the same material used for the sword. With that out of the way, he approached Aiko once more. "Alright. Give me your hands," he said en route to the lass. "The Yokujin is every bit as real as the Kinshuzen, and seemingly much more frightening than the stories we knew as children." Assuming Aiko adhered to his request, Youko would immediately hold out his own arms, claws growing from his nails as a series of one-handed hand seals were formed on the outer sides of Aiko's wrists. This would cause the marks on his own wrists to glow as he continued speaking, now about the lad named Akira. "He looks a bit... unrefined, but he seems to have the same natural edge I saw in you years ago."

"Hm, I suppose that is pretty true," the young girl said as she found herself agreeing that already knowing the limits of her abilities made it much easier not to rely on any one skill too much. Soon enough he was moving the new blade towards the place which held a pair of gloves he'd also been working on and asking for the girl's hands, which she supplied without question only to have the man begin forming hand seals around her wrists and having the markings on his arms begin to glow. As this happened they discussed this apparent sibling of the Kazekage's and an ability he seemed to have in common with the white haired lass. "Oh, you mean the reflexes thing? Really? Might have to chat with him then. I mean... I was going to anyways, but now it seems like it might be fun~" she said as she watched what the man was doing and wondered what was going on, still she was content just to wait and see, as she'd already kind of put together what this would end up doing for her.

"I figured you would. I considered doing the same, but those two had me confused with the Yokujin at first, so I thought it best not to go that route," Youko said as molded chakra encased his claws. Once preparations were complete, the claws on his forefingers were swept horizontally along Aiko's wrists, as if meant to nearly remove her hands. One would find in this moment that the scroll given to the girl earlier this week had been unsealed during the formation of Youko's hand seals. As for his cutting motions, they would indeed pierce the girl's skin, but instead of proper lacerations, glowing markings such as the ones on his own wrists would form. "It's about time you got a haircut," he said nonchalantly, just before using his claws to slice off a large amount of her hair, though not quite enough to leave it as short as it previously was.

Aiko's severed hair would not fall to the ground. Instead, it would be absorbed into the scroll which contained the Kouga clansman's pelt. "Now, let's see. You're not one for the showy ones, huh..." Youko seemed to be doing nothing more than thinking aloud with these words. Moments later, though, he called forth a massive white fur from the scroll, having it all collect into a single palm-sized ball over Aiko's outstretched hands. "That should do. You can change it, if you like."

"Onii-sama, being confused for a raging murderer~ Yep, totally a normal thing~" she said jokingly. She'd herself made a similar assumption about the man when she'd been much younger. She felt like it was some sort of joke the universe decided to play on the kindhearted man, to constantly be mistaken for someone evil. "It's okay, I'll have a peek in a bit and tell ya' all about it," the young girl mentioned, knowing that if she was curious about the new swordsman her elder brother figure would be as well. Soon enough he would seem to be about to cut the young girl's hands off, but she had no fear of this and the man's motions towards her didn't end with the amputation of any limbs and instead left her with a set of glowing slash looking markings on her wrists similar to his own.

"Sou ka, these are kinda weird." she said about the markings but with the fur collected around her, she had an idea about how they worked so she wasn't really concerned. On the commentary about needing a haircut the girl could only smile. "Yeah, yeah... " and though she didn't have to handle it herself, she was quite confused for the reasoning behind this, until of course her own hair was absorbed into the previous seal to create the tuft of white fur which was similar to the one the man could normally be seen carrying. She looked at the small hairball and chuckled. "Sugoi!~ I get one of my own." she seemed abnormally pleased by this, for whatever reason, though she noted she didn't seem to like her own as much as she liked Youko's both as a child and right now. At the idea that she wouldn't wear it as large as he wore his, he was quite correct, though she did immediately try and make it a bit bigger, succeeding in growing it about as large as his was only it seemed to be double tailed this way. "Hehe," a single devious giggle escaped the girl before she returned it to a small little fluff ball, which she attached to the front of her kimono to look a bit like a fastener for the collar at the neck. Apparently happy with this the girl shrugged, "Arigatou gozaimasu, though you could have gone a bit shorter on the hair~" she mentioned as she tossed it around a bit, leaving it quite messy but framing her face in its usual manner.

With this ritual out of the way, Youko returned his nails to their normal state. As he figured, Aiko seemed to prefer her fur in its smaller form. She also seemed to prefer the idea of him cutting her hair shorter than he did, which was a notion that caused the man to laugh. "Well, I figured if you were coming with us to the festival, you might want to do something special with it. I left a bit extra, just in case," he said. With that, he returned to his workbench to apply the guard and hilt to the sword he'd been working on, knowing the next day would be the day they left. Now that he thought about it, he'd yet to mention this to Aiko. "Oh... I don't think I said, but we're going to that festival tomorrow."

"That is awfully considerate of you, Onii-sama~" she said, whether the girl would actually put that sort of effort into her own appearance would be left for the day of the festival. As she prepared to leave she went over to one of prepared katana which seemed to find itself laying around the area, and took it, opting not to go for her own sword just yet, she'd tuck this one into her obi along with the short shirasaya she'd been carrying for the duration of her trip. As she did this, she'd respond to the news that this supposed festival would be taking place the next day, "Tomorrow, huh? I got back just in time then... hai hai, I'll be ready, now I'm going to go say hello, taking this. Ja, Onii-sama," the girl said as she turned to exit.

Not long after a visit to Uzushiogakure's Fire Lily Festival, as well as a stop by Kirigakure, Youko returned to his forge via the Hiraishin technique. He rather quickly went about fueling the flames to begin yet another new project. Whatever this new item was to be, it seemed Youko was reaching for numerous different materials for its creation. "And a bit of this, a bit of that, and... oh yes! Definitely that!"

Shortly after his departure from his wife's presence a crimson flash of light would make the woman appear atop her favored workbench in his forge. Why she was here, would be a bit of a mystery, considering that she'd so recently said she was going back to the Uzushiogakure to sit for the rest of the festival and visit with her family. At the same time she seemed very interested in whatever Youko planned to do, and thus she settled into position and sat rather quietly enjoying watching the man work the way she always did. Her legs were soon drawn up and she sat with them crossed at the ankles in front of her, her right arm resting on her right knee and her face resting in her upturned palm. There was a smile on this little redhead's face as she watched this man work, as he spoke to himself she giggled just a tad and moved her hand to stifle it.

Youko hadn't been around for very long before a chakra more familiar than any other he knew appeared. When this occurred, Youko had already begun the process of heating metals over the open flame. "That was quick. If you were just going to drop Tori off, I figured you'd stop by and pick up..." Before his sentence reached its end, Youko turned to face the redhead. His Doujutsu had been active since the exchange in Kirigakure, and now, he could see the chakra within this body directly. "... Kochou. Why a clone, and why are you laughing?"

It seemed that Benihime was noticed, likely because of her stifled giggle, and because he seemed to simply be aware of her presence. His line of questioning was along what she expected, but she waited a bit to answer him because he was obviously putting things together himself. As he heated metals she watched him work, and took a breath before answering his questions. "Well, I do plan to pick up Kochou but when I drop off Tori, didn't want to leave her stranded," she said of their shared girlfriend and her younger sister. "Clone because I realized on my way back to the Uzushiogakure that I kinda wanted to see what you were working on, but... I also wanted to see the seals and stuff. So... easy solution to both problems," the woman said seeming to have thought about it. In general it was really normal for her to use the combined experiences of clones to do multiple things at once and not miss out on any one aspect of her life. She was quiet for a few seconds before she realized she didn't answer his last question. A devious smile came to the Kazekage's face in this moment as she continued. "I was laughing because you were talking to yourself so happily and it was adorable~"

"Oh? Well, that should be fun. Frankly, though, I was hoping you were real enough to have done that before I got too into my work. Sadly... I can't slack on this one. I had a look at Haku during that festival. I think Kanna is going to have to be taken out of him manually, but I've got an idea." As he spoke, Youko shuffled about to retrieve a mirror likely to be familiar to the red-haired woman. This was the very same mirror wielded by their daughter, Kanna, during her brief resurrection. The object was broken, but enough for what Youko had planned. "This mirror is tainted with Kanna's chakra. I'm going to use it to make the tool for her true return. Now that is adorable."

Youko was soon explaining while their 'fun' was a good idea to him, he couldn't presently be brought away from his work. Of course, the woman realized he was probably onto something important which was exactly why she didn't go out and act in her usual manner. She also had her own quick fixes to make and to do them, she needed a bit more time with her elder brother figure. He went on to say that the object he had was tainted with their daughter's chakra and though the woman obviously recognized the object she still had a problem with it and it was the same problem she had with the girl herself. She didn't feel anything from this object. Unlike most other things she came in contact with this, didn't feel like anything. But before a frown could come to her face there was mention of the small girl being brought back and that... was worth a bit of good will from the Kazekage. "Hai hai, that will be adorable~" she said swooning over the idea of her perfect pair. Despite her general thoughts about her own ability to parent, Benihime was always thoroughly disappointed that her son didn't have his other half. The completion of their pairing was something she longed for deeply and was almost rooted in her DNA. The thought of it happening soon was likely one of the most happy feelings she could have. "And don't worry, I came to watch~" she said, this was an activity she participated in a lot, sitting atop this table watching the man's methods as intensely as anyone watched anything. "I don't feel anything from that mirror, I didn't feel anything from Kanna either..." she said but there was nothing but happiness in this woman's smile then it became confusion immediately. "Wait a second... how do you know there is chakra in that mirror?"

"Hai. Honestly, I haven't been able to think about much else recently, even with all these other distractions. It's weird. I never really saw myself being the happy parent type, but I find myself doubting my ability to keep a straight face once our little girl is back," he said while looking into the broken mirror. While on the topic of said mirror, Benihime mentioned being incapable of sensing chakra in the mirror, or Kanna herself for that matter. The woman went on to question how he knew the chakra was present in the object. "After realizing Kanna's chakra wasn't visible and comparing it to the way Hakudoshi's sort of blends into his surroundings, I figured there had to be some way to notice hers as well. I ran a few tests, and this one worked. Here. These eyes can see things your skin can't feel." While this was being said, Youko held out the mirror. He figured Benihime would go along with his suggestion and activate her Doujutsu. If she were to do such a thing, he would focus his own chakra to have it surround the mirror. One would note that there would be a strange area surrounding the mirror he held, almost like a vacuum, where his own chakra would not go. "I'm sure you realize I'm not doing this on purpose. I still have no solid proof, but... I think that's Kanna's chakra, not just empty space."

Hearing the words Youko spoke about his thoughts about parenting and the return of their young daughter gave Benihime a bit of lightness in her heart she hadn't known it was possible to feel. "I understand. I could totally see it, you as a happy parent~" she chimed, she knew this to be true because felt the same way herself. In spite of not really setting out to have children and thinking herself a bad example for most, she truly loved her son and had a great time with him. She knew deep down Youko would likely be quite the happy father of a female child, bonding with her in the same way she did with Hakudoshi. And she was enthused by the idea that the twin pairing of her children would be restored and all would be right with the world once more. Moving right along, they were soon on the topic of the mirror and Kanna's chakra which the woman had clearly stated she was incapable of feeling. It seemed that Youko had been testing this theory a bit and decided a method of sensing it which involved the Doujutsu he'd given her.

A moment after the suggestion was made, the woman was activating the special version of her Oborozuki, leaving her with large autumn orange pupil-less moons in her eyes. And with this adjustment made she shifted her gaze to the mirror. And around it as the man released his chakra she saw the color that was attributed it him and then it sort of disperse around the mirror into what would appear to be empty space. "Really? That's so strange..." she said, realizing he couldn't have been doing it on purpose she approached the mirror in the way a curious being would, and much like all other things she did, she reached out with a finger into the space between where Youko's chakra stopped and the empty space around the mirror begin. "Hmm... there is something there, it doesn't feel like anything though. It's really..." she curled a single finger away from it taking with her a ball of this empty space which seemed to have a bit of mass but didn't feel like it should be there. She rolled it around between her forefinger and thumb in doing so her own red chakra would be flaring around it, but mostly so she could keep an eye on it and not lose it while she played with it. "I'd probably lose it if I wasn't looking at it, but... it has mass, it's there."

"Could you? Well, that's refreshing. There was a time when I figured we had just screwed up and you wanted to keep it." Since Benihime had claimed a chunk of the mirror's chakra, Youko brought it back to the forge. "The interesting thing is, I don't think it would be any different with her being back in her body. Fun first round of training that'll be when I already know how to get around the first trick she's likely to use," he said while bringing metals back to the flames. "And do believe, if she shows as much interest in fighting as Haku, I'm definitely taking this one over."

"Yes, I could. Only you though, I have no idea how people parent... really," she said, pausing briefly. "Or how I manage it. To be honest, we did just kinda mess up, but... I never disliked kids... and I figured you'd be a good parent. Though for a while, I felt like I might have trapped you..." she said. The situation which made them parents was a bit problematic, but to be honest, the woman wouldn't have wanted to make children with anyone else. She'd wanted the children because she thought it felt right. As the conversation progressed the man seemed to think that the girl's chakra wasn't going to be any different inside her body, and while Benihime played with it in her fingers she could surely say the same. When he went on to say that he'd be taking the girl's training, if she showed any interest in fighting a small chuckle came from the woman. "Don't worry Youko. That is the fun of having twins. One for each parent~" she chimed. It'd been interesting since Hakudoshi had been the one to ask her about fighting. "And if she's been talking to Hakudoshi as much as I assume, she'll probably think it's some kind of fun and want to try it out for herself..." she said thinking about the monotonousness of Hakudoshi's abilities multiplied by two she sighed then. "They are gonna be such a handful..." she said but the thought wasn't at all unpleasant. No, it was a little excited, and such an excitement would remain as time passed and the woman watched her husband work on his newest project.

"I don't have a clue either, but as far as I'm concerned, you've been doing more than alright. And no; I'm quite sure I was pulled into some trap long before that happened," the man replied while continuing his work. His excitement was apparent, and now, he could only await the return of Aiko to send her off on her final necessary trial. Once that was out of the way, they would be able to properly do something about unsealing the young girl Kanna's body. Of course, there were two additional factors required, but they were easily obtained. "They'll be a couple of handfuls indeed, but isn't that the part that excites the hell out of you?" he went on to ask.

A bit of a smirk came the the redhead woman's face and she was instantly relieved. Mostly because she'd always been a bit worried about how Youko would feel about being a parent, and married in such an accidental way. When he went on to agree that their children would indeed be a handful and that it was part of what would be fun about them, she couldn't help but echo her agreement. "Yep... it is the most exciting part, I am always waiting to see what Hakudoshi will do next, and I can't wait to see what Kanna does too!~" she mentioned as she waited for the man to keep working on his project. Days would pass, and their ward would be sent off on another adventure after her return from the Fire Lily Festival.

A week after her return from the Fire Lily Festival, Aiko would return to the forge seeking her elder brother type figure. As she walked in, she seemed to be a bit disheveled given her usual appearance. Instead of her usual well-kept attire, she was walking about the collar cut cleanly from around her kimono and instead layered over her eyes. It was accompanied by her obi which was also wrapped around her eyes, leaving her kimono open and exposing the bandages she wore underneath her clothing. It was quite intense but finally enough to make her feel better about the ridiculous light and chakra visible to her now. "Onii-sama, Onee-sama, Tadaima."

When Aiko at last returned from her final trial, Youko was still working on the very same tool he'd started just over a week prior. Sweat cascaded over his brow as he hammered and hammered away, but his gaze was able to divert thanks to the arrival of the teen he'd sent off for her own development and their family's betterment. "Okaerinasai," he said when she announced her return. For some reason or another, there was a large grin on his face. "Bothersome as hell, isn't it? All that coverage, and everything's still too bright."

"Okaeri!~" This came from Benihime who was in the area, picnic basket at hand waiting for the lunch break which was bound to be coming. Surprisingly enough she'd taken in Aiko's changed appearance and chuckled just a bit, finding her current getup to be just a bit strange. When Youko spoke though it made a bit more sense and Aiko seemed content to answer them both. "Hai hai," to the bit about coverage and things being too bright. "Don't smile at me like that Onii-sama, you knew this would happen. It's horrible. I thought my eyes were on fire, and they still hurt now," she said of her experience. If wandering around in the darkness wasn't bad enough, she'd then had to come out into the light, which was hundreds of times worse than one might think.

Benihime found this a bit funny. "Oh, your eyes hurt, so you tore up your clothes to dim stuff. A bit extreme, but it's a cool new look." the woman joked which caused Aiko to turn in her direction with a hand on her hip. "Very funny Onee-sama, tell me what else one should do to fix it, too bright. I wouldn't have made it back. I wish I had traveled at night, that would have made it a bit better." she said to the woman before turning back to the man. "I seem to always come back when you are in the middle of something. What are you so furiously working on, Onii-sama?"

"Of course I did. This is the fun part, and until now, I've never had a chance to be the outside perspective," Youko said regarding the state Aiko was presently in. He had personally gone with a slightly different, and likely more efficient solution, but to each their own. "I won't let you suffer for long. The key is to stop trying to see. Your eyes have gotten used to seeing without trying, but the rest of you is still remembering what it's like to force the sight from the Doujutsu. At this point, you can think about it as if Oborozuki is the normal state of your eyes. Actually... it basically is by now." With that said, Youko stepped away from the forge. At no point did he decide to cool the strange-looking, short and dull sword of sorts. However, the item seemed to sort itself out over time, in a very unnatural way. "What I'm working on is... something for you. I'll tell you more once we have the seal in place."

"Oh, so you're enjoying my suffering," the white haired lass said, though this was mostly a joke. She knew that Youko would likely tell her some important information rather soon concerning the state of her eyes. And that likely all that was done, would increase her abilities a great deal when she finally figured them out fully. To feed into this idea, Youko soon explained that the young girl simply needed to stop trying to see, and accept that the newest form of her vision was like the basic form of it. When she thought about it this way it seemed to make sense. "Sou ka... I suppose... I could try that," and soon enough she'd begun blinking a bit behind the coverage of her eyes. Seeming to eventually make it more dim until it felt more like the state she'd been used to before. The brightness of these people wasn't quite so intense and soon enough she removed her blindfolds pulling them down to her neck. "Ah, that's much better. Onii-sama, arigatou gozaimasu," she said.

But she noted the weapon fully and seemed to find it odd that he wasn't cooling it at all, but that it was instead simply left to its own devices. Beyond all this, it seemed that this particular weapon was for her for some reason which made her brows draw up just a bit. "For me?" she seemed confused by the idea, but since it wasn't presently the thing up for discussion she let it go. "Hai hai," she said accepting that she'd find out more later.

"Oh, please. Your 'suffering' is a far cry from anything significant," was his retort. Aiko went on to take his advice and restore her ability to see without the added strain of an empowered Doujutsu. With her able to see properly once more, Youko continued his approach while forming his claws, just as he had after her previous trial. This time, however, he used one of his claws to cut himself by way of a crescent opposing the one already existing upon his forehead, completing the circle. "Yes, for you. More importantly, though..." Once again, Youko formed a series of clan-specific hand seals. The blood in the cut he'd given himself became very heavily laced with chakra as he stood before Aiko, leaning forward until his forehead would make contact with hers. In this moment, the Mouhibi he wore increased its size many times over, as if to engulf the pair. The new crescent upon his head would be transferred into Aiko, forcing her Mouhibi to do the same as the seal harmonized with it.

Apparently, Youko didn't think much of Aiko's suffering, which was fine since it was rather short lived anyways. Soon enough the white haired man came closer while doing some very strange things. Of course, Aiko had no fear about anything so she didn't try and move out of the way, she only looked on curiously until Youko's forehead was pressed into her own and the seal he held was passed along to her. Such a thing would cause his Mouhibi and hers to grow to massive proportions in a ball around the pair until such a time as this process was finished.

The Kazekage watched this whole thing in amazement and soon enough she'd be found very near to the fur ball reaching out to paw at it with her right hand in a surprisingly cat like manner. This was a rather funny moment for the woman as she really wanted to roll around with this giant fur ball right just now. 'Sugei!~ It feels so nice~' her one handed pawing was soon enough shifted into a two handed rub as she thought about climbing to the top of the whole thing and rolling around on it as it was fluffy and irresistible.

As time passed, a light blue glow would emerge from Youko's own Mouhibi, occurring as the seal formed upon Aiko's forehead. Hers would appear as a blank slate initially, and fill with color as Aiko's chakra became one with it. In the meantime, the solitude of this ritual would come to an end, as it no longer required a blending of separate chakras. Youko's Mouhibi began to recede rapidly, and when it did, he sighed. "Yare yare," he said while taking a step away from Aiko and holding out his arms, as if to carry something within them.

The blue light of Youko's Mouhibi was way too much for the Kazekage to deny herself. As such she eventually found herself atop the ball of fur rolling around and enjoying the feeling of it. Of course, this was a rather distracting bit of divergence for the woman, but it wouldn't stop until the ritual came to an end. Meanwhile, within this solitary fur, Aiko had a blank crescent moon on her forehead which seemed to solidify itself over time, becoming red in color. Once this had settled in properly Youko stepped away from her, and held out his arms, as the Mouhibi returned to their original owners, the Kazekage came falling from above landing in the man's outstretched arms. At the moment in which her body made contact with the man's arms Benihime had the nerve to look astounded. "I didn't do it," was the woman's immediate response as she seemed like a small child caught in a naughty act. Such a thing made Aiko chuckle just a bit. "Sou ka, you couldn't resist... I totally should have bet on that," the young woman said seemingly amused by the entire situation.

Only a moment later, the thing Youko knew would happen all along, happened. The red-haired Kazekage fell into his open arms, claiming she hadn't done something. "Of course you didn't," he said while gently placing the woman on the ground. Then, he stepped aside to retrieve the wrapped weapon he'd recently crafted. "Gomen, Aiko. I don't mean to rush as soon as you get back, but... I've come to realize something. The quicker we start this, the easier it will be. Otherwise, I have a theory that Haku and Kanna might become a single entity."

Soon enough the red haired woman was back on the ground where she belonged, with her husband affirming that she hadn't done, whatever it was she was claiming she didn't do. "Well, as long as you know," Benihime said. Moving right along, Aiko seemed to find it amusing that the woman couldn't resist rolling around on the giant fur ball and knowing this feeling Benihime stuck her tongue out at the other young woman. Aiko to the Kazekage's chagrin returned the gesture only to hear Youko's words and shift a bit. "Eh? Well, I mean, I don't feel rushed or anything. Don't apologize. I notice that Haku-chan's been a bit stranger to look at lately. If ya' think it will be best to separate them now, I'll help," Aiko said, without offering any resistance. This girl was always like this, but the agreeableness of her attitude was always something Benihime appreciated about her. "What do you need me to do?"