A few days ago was the last time that he had actually had interactions with the rest of his team. The only people from the Leaf Village that he had actually interacted with her, Nara Shinako, Uzumaki Manami, and he had encountered another genin that was participating from their Village, Asura Senju, a fairly tall man, one that was even bigger than Joruri when it came to height anyway. The man had gave off the aura of someone who wanted to be his rival, to battle him until the end, and the competitive nature that Joruri had long ago laid to rest within him had stirred. It had wanted a challenge, to battle him then and there after being told that he hoped they'd fight, to sate his want and desire for combat. But none of that had happened in that instant, and for a moment after he had left, Joruri wished he could crush him then and there. But no, he was nowhere near as strong as he was within his own dark dreams. The young shinobi had yet to even participate in his first test in the Chunin Exams. He didn't even know if they were right after each other, or if they were done day by day, allowing the participants to recuperate in that time...

Whether they did or didn't, Joruri wasn't going to miss out on a chance to head to the newly built resort, here, in Kumogakure no Sato! The Land of Lightning had recently finished construction of a resort, and had made the hotsprings at the base a part of it's attraction. They were fabled to even renew the youth to a person's body, and although he was young enough as is, he was kind of hoping to see an elderly fellow enter the water and after being submerged for a few moments resurface as a younger, more rejuvenated being. But that wasn't why he was going to the resort now. Now, he had scheduled a 'relaxing' session with Shinako since the last time they had 'officially' been together at the Durian Tree of Knowledge. He remembered how he had felt lighter on his feet after the visit, but he didn't make a mention of it to Shinako, he was reserved when it came to truly personal things like that, although the information Shinako had given him about the tree's absorption of evil had remained within his mind for the last few days.

Maybe it really does. He thought to himself as he brushed a hand through his lengthening white hair and stopped as he came to the relatively short line to the resort. He had told Shinako to meet him there some time around the middle of the day so that they could journey down to the waters together. In the Leaf Village, naturally there were separate places for men and women, sectioned off for their own nude soaking. So he assumed the same was for the Village in the Clouds, and the Land of Lightning as a whole, but he couldn't be completely certain. Either way, he was definitely certain that if they were to encounter each other before hand, or after a soaking period, they'd be able to both go down to the beach for further relaxation.

Soon enough he ahd gained entrance and he was on his way to the main building , mainly to explore however. He had a bit of free time if he had estimated right, and he was most definitely curious as to know all of the activities that one could participate in at the resort. Not just for him and Shinako, but simply for in general. He was most certainly curious if this place was worthy of being a tourist location, and soon enough, after those previous thoughts he had found his way at an information stand. He paused as he looked it up and down in search for something pertaining to the hotsprings and the beach.

Within a handful of minutes he had scanned the entire booklet, and had replaced it on the shelf. He had turned on his heel and was heading back the way he had come. He didn't know how to get to the hotsprings and or the beach from his current location anyway. As he walked, he pushed his hand into his pocket, and he felt something there, an unknown object. He raised an eyebrow as his fingers began to touch more of it, and it began to feel familiar in his grasp before it had been safely pulled into his palm and then he slowly began to pull that hand out of the depths of his pants. Slowly, his hand opened up against the fairly warm and yet cool object within his palm. Fingers slowly unwrapping around it, it revealed the charm in his hand and he paused in surprise. Where have I seen this before? He scratched the back of his head in thought, was it stolen? It couldn't have been, he never stole unless it was for shinobi training or a mission. Throughout his entire life he had maintained a 'good boy' streak...

He closed his eyes for a moment in the relatively empty hallway, all the people that he had seen on his way to the information stand had already gone off into the side corridors and rooms to prepare themselves for their day at the beach and the hotsprings, the things that Joruri should've been doing, but he had been struck by a nostalgic feeling, it rarely happened, more times than not he remembered things!

And then he did.

Within his closed mind, he pictured a woman's hands placing the charm in his right palm, and closing both of their fingers around it, simultaneously sealing it into the palm of his hand. It took him a moment of remembrance, and he realized they were Shinako's hands. He started to walk again and was scratching his head all the while as he opened his eyes the moment he began moving again.

To remember this adventure, right? In his mind he questioned whether she was talking about the entire journey to Kumogakure, or simply that day, rather, morning to the Tree of Durian? He couldn't say, so he chalked it up as another question to ask Shinako.

Within the hour, he was at the front of the building, waiting for his lady friend, Shinako to arrive. He took note of how there were so many shinobi taking time out of their day to come to the resort and he couldn't help but myself at the ones that he had encountered within his own Inn. He didn't know their names, but they recognized each other, and an exchange of nods and shared greetings were commonplace among the more... Lighthearted shinobi.

Any minute, she should be arriving.

I've got to show her around first, I think.

WC: 1174

Shinako had never been to the hotsprings in Konohagakure. It was not something that ladies did. Only the old spinsters and floozies frequented that sort of area. In fact, before that day, Shinako had not owned a swimsuit. She was meeting Joruri around noon, so when she awakened that morning she completed her physical exercises as quickly as she could, even skipping her morning run. She showered and dressed hastily, knowing that she might be in the water later on anyway. It was a new and exciting thing to do, so she wanted to be as prepared as possible.

Leaving her room, Shinako made sure to leave her weapons behind, taking nothing with her except her forehead protector, which she had taken to wearing proudly around the village for the past few days. All over Kumogakure there were pop-up stores selling various wares, so she found one which was selling clothing. After a short discussion with the woman, about her age, who was operating the stand, Shinako settled on not one, but two swim-suits. One was a solid blue one-piece that she was asured was a modest choice, though she took that purely on faith, being no expert in the subject. The other was a yellow two-piece, or 'bikini', which the other young woman had assured her was all the rage. Shinako was very glad that she had taken the time to shave her legs the day before. She packed the suits into her satchel and thanked the shop-keeper.

It was not particularly close to the designated meeting time, so Shinako remained in her plain white kimono and black pants, dressed rather conservatively, as she was still mortified at the prospect of stripping down later. She saw quite a few people headed off in the direction of the beach and the hot springs. The weather was incredibly nice here, and the sun shone brightly that day, making it perfect for a day of fun. As she walked, Shinako practiced determining the motions and locations of passers-by using only the movements of their shadows, meeting with varying degrees of success.

After a few minutes of moving along in this way she stopped and purchased a book of local Kumogakure poetry. If there was to be a great meeting of nations, Shinako saw no reason that it could not serve them all as a cultural exchange. She found that she was spending a lot of money during this trip, but she didn't mind. The distraction was well worth it, taking her mind off of the qucikly approaching violence and her family troubles back at home. She walked and read at the same time, taking a leisurely pace. She killed about an hour this way before judging from the shortening shadows that it was very close to noon.

Following the crowd, Shinako divined the shortest way to the bath-houses. She listened to a few of their conversations, getting a taste of the flavor of local Kumogakure. As she listened she was able to glean that quite a large portion of the crowd was not actually from Kumogakure, and most likely not even from the land of lightning. The conversations ranged from everyday chatter to discussions of shinobi techniques and the excitement of seeing prospects compete for their own glory and the glory of their nations. She recognized some of those gathered as guests at the same inn that she and her teammates were staying in.

As she approached the bath-houses, Shinako was immediately able to pick Joruri and his considerable height out of the crowd. His blond hair almost shimmered in the sun, taking her back to the way the sunlight through the Durian Tree had played on his features. There had been plenty of other shinobi there, many of them training. Simply being in proximity to the tree had left Shinako in high spirits, and she was relatively sure that it was not simply her imagination. She had even had a difficult time moving her own shadow under the tree, signaling a disruption in her Inton techniques. Shinako attempted to move her shadow around the tip of her toe briefly, and found that it was still a little bit sluggish. She hoped desperately that it would be back to normal before the exams, though she could not bring herself to actually worry about it. She hadn't worried very much at all since sitting under the branches of the Durian Tree and running her fingers along its bark.

The young woman pushed those thoughts from her mind as she drew closer to Joruri, smiling broadly and waving as she closed the distance between them, picking through the crowd that was moving past her tall teammate. She bowed as she came to stand next to him.

"Joruri-san, it is good to see you again. I hope you're as ready for a day of rest and relaxation as I am."

She tilted her head and squinted her eyes in an inquisitive gesture, as though taking the measure of Joruri, though the edges of her mouth were still touched by her comfortable smile. Joruri looked somehow different than he normally did, as though some great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Perhaps their visit to the tree had done him just as much good as it had done her, and the two of them would be able to continue the positive streak with their day at the springs. She dropped her detective impression and stood side-by-side with Joruri, watching the young men and women pass by.

"You look as though you're doing quite well. Kumogakure might just be the place for you."

She punched his arm lightly in a jocular fashion. Shinako thought briefly about how she might, in some vague and strenuous event, have to actually punch him. She hoped, for the sake of everything good in the world, that she would not have to. She looked briefly to see if Joruri had also left his ninja kit back at the inn. They had spoken very little about the coming exams, and she was sure that he was as anxious to talk about it as she had been.


1043/1043

In those few minutes that he had to wait for Shinako, his mind wandered aimlessly. His steely gaze tracked and registered every single face in the crowd that passed within a few meters of him in the hopes of finding Shinako, and all the while mentally, he wandered. His eyes glazed over thoughtlessly, and he was already daydreaming, spending little to no actually paying attention. Subconsciously he knew how someone would react when you were meeting someone, you called out there name to get their attention, he had no doubt that his soon to be companion would do the same and shock him out of his reverie as soon as he had registered his name being said.

Within his grasp, he still held on to the charm, his right hand held in the way that it had been when Shinako had placed the charm within his grasp. The only thing different about it was that his hand was open palmed, as if he were waiting for some unseen vision to take it from him instead of placing it into his pocket. It left the shinobi with an odd feeling inside, but he didn't register it right away. Similar to before, he continued to wonder as to why Shinako had purchased the charm for him in the first place, was it truly meant to be used as a tool to remember their adventure in Kumogakure no Sato? Why would I have to remember that if we're all on the same Squad? The hand which held the charm clenched and tightened around the charm momentarily before he slowly slipped his hand back into his pocket. Once doing so, he released it with the same thoughtless look on his face, and then released the charm in the pocket and folded his arms in front of him. He came to a conclusion that once he met up with his squad mate that he'd just what her thoughts had been at the time and why give it to him. He hadn't even remembered it had been in his pocket! Any other idea as to why was pushed out of his mind.

Soon enough he had been brought out of his reverie, but not in the way that he had previously thought. Instead of his mind being tugged back to reality after acknowledging his name had been called, he had been pulled back to reality through seeing Shinako and realizing that it was actually her. For a moment, it hadn't occurred to him and he simply saw a woman smiling at him that was heading straight for him, and for the briefest of moments his gaze had simply looked over her, but then after a full sweep had come back completely around and had settled upon the woman. Even then he hadn't realized who it was until he actually remembered the charm, and then came to an understand.

"Shinako...Chan." The words were meant to have been said mentally, but it took him only a moment to finally be shocked out of his day dream just as Shinako was mere meters away and then he smiled awkwardly. He knew she wouldn't understand why, but to him it was quite embarrassing to have realized that he didn't even recognize his friend because he had been asleep on his feet... Not to mention with his eyes open. Damn. He rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully as she finally closed the distance. Once she had gotten to him, she had performed her customary bow, and he did so as well, already knowing that inclination's of one's head was reserved for elders to their subordinates, when it came down to the age of the ones taking part in the conversation.

"Indeed. It's been quite a time since we've actually been in each other's company." If there was one thing that he got from spending time with Shinako was how to speak on a more formal basis like she did, and although it wasn't characteristic of him, he had learned to appreciate it. No doubt it'd be useful on some mission in the future. "Have you been training a lot recently, because I certainly did these last few days." He hadn't really, but it felt better to actually give a justification as to why he had invited her to relax with him at the resort.

After asking Shinako on the first day they had been in the Hidden Cloud Village to explore the Village with him and eventually deciding to investigate the mysteries of the Durian Tree of Knowledge, Joruri had certainly felt lighter. Not to mention, after all those days of being out in the sun on all of the mountains that were situated around the Hidden Cloud, he had become a few shades darker, but not enough that it looked uncharacteristic of him, in fact it most likely enhanced his lighter features.

"You look good, Shinako-chan." Normally, he'd pause and correct himself, but this was a day of laziness, and he was planning on performing the tasks of one who was lazy. Verbally and physically.

In turn, she had complimented his well being as well, and he chuckled at her expense for saying that it may just be the place for him.

Since she said that, it made him wonder as to how he hadn't met anyone from the Hidden Cloud yet, and he smiled at the thought.

When she had made her check of his appearance to see if he brought his ninja equipment, she'd find there was nothing that was brought in excess, other than his singular ninja pouch which held his kunai and shuriken, relatively small amounts when it came down to it, but with his kekkei genkai he shouldn't need to worry. In the last few days when he had been within Kumogakure no Sato, he had been accustomed to carrying his bag of sand around, a gift from his father to unlock more secrets of his heritage. Without it, he felt lighter and filled with more energy. It's actual quantity was in fact quite a large sum, and how he carried it around was by expending minimal amounts of chakra throughout the entire day to maintain it's impossible weight.

"What have you been up to these last few days?" He inquired as they began to make their way inside of the establishment. It was where they were eventually going to separate and then change into their bathing wear before coming back together and enjoying the rest of their day. Once she had answered, he had asked another question.

"Say, have you encountered any Cloud Ninja since we've been here? Like, actually spoke with them?"

It had been bothering him since he had realized it minutes before, and he knew for himself that he had yet to encounter a member of the Cloud shinobi ranks.

Weird.

WC: 1172

"Mostly I've been exploring the village, meeting a few new people. I can't say that anything terribly eventful has happened. Honestly, I've been laying low and trying to keep my activity level down to rest for the exams. That's why this spa day is so appealing."

Joruri's next question was more challenging to answer. Of course she had met Kumo nin. They were all around, weren't they? Perhaps she couldn't remember a name or a face, but she must have met quite a few of them. However, the more Shinako thought about it the less sure she was. She furrowed her brow in a pensive gesture as they began to walk towards the bath house.

She had become comfortable in her silences with Joruri. He wasn't pushy, or impatient, and allowed her space to think and analyze. Their conversations were minimalistic and very rarely too deep. There were no chess moves or pitfalls; everything was so easy. In truth, the conversations that she had with him were very similar to the ones that she so often engaged in with her brothers. Joruri felt like a snug glove, or a warm comforter.

However, for all of her searching deeper, she could not recall a single conversation with a Hidden Cloud shinobi.

"You know...now that I think of it, I haven't spoken with a single shinobi from Kumogakure. I see them every now and again, but I've never approached one."

She thought that there may have been some village-wide mandate designed to keep the secrets of Kumogakure under wraps. She thought that such a thing might not be terribly unusual, and could certainly see it as a possibility. Mostly Shinako was impressed that her teammate had noticed such a thing. She wondered how Joruri's mind had sifted through and latched on to that particular piece of information.

The world of intrigue and espionage was not one that appealed to her. In very a very literal sense, her interest in the shinobi world were about as subtle as a bloody wound. She decided that the topic was strange, but that her interest in it was not approaching Joruri's. Besides, they were approaching the divided dressing rooms.

Shinako moved off to the left, leaving her train of thought to die in the open mountain air. Entering the dressing room, Shinako quickly undressed and donned the blue one-piece. Once her clothing was folded she tucked it into her satchel and headed for the other side and the mixed bathing area.

430/1,473

Joruri had spent minimal time of his own roaming the village, and meeting new people. The people he had met had usually just been those that were from the Hidden Leaf Village, maybe even some from the Sand Village since they were after all where his ancestors had been speculated to originate from, but he hadn't actually encountered anyone that was going to be taking part within the Exam themselves. Other than Asura Senju, but he hadn't seen him ever since that day that Joruri had been wandering the outskirts of the Hidden Cloud.

"I suppose it makes sense." He said as a passing comment to her own words. He hadn't gone to anywhere particularly new on his journeys however. He figured just before the Exams started he'd head over to the Durian Tree of Knowledge once more, if only to raise his spirits and to expel the darkness within him and he'd hope that it'd last for the rest of the exam. Other than that, he had yet to visit the various amounts of training grounds that called Kumogakure no Sato home, or their cemetery. There were quite a few sites that he meant to see before he left, but that didn't matter at that exact point in time.

For a few moments she hadn't answered. Was his second question one that had triggered something mentally, or had she simply deigned to ignore that question and was waiting for him to steer her towards where she had to go?

Soon enough he had been proven wrong when she had finally given a response to his second question. "I guess it's safe to say that they're keeping to themselves." It's not like he hadn't seen any, he had seen plenty in the streets, but none that had looked like they were taking the Chunin Exams, none who looked old enough anyway. He had seen plenty that had looked too old however.

By the time he had finished saying that, they had reached their respective changing rooms, and after brief words of parting, Joruri had begun his changing and had put on his black bathing suit in the form of shorts. Reaching out, he grabbed one of the complementary towels and then headed towards the mixed bathing area.

He hoped that there wouldn't be too many people there, else it wouldn't be so easy to talk about the Selection Exams without people blatantly eavesdropping on them.

WC: 421

By the time Shinako had entered the bathing area Joruri was already there. It had taken her quite a bit longer to get into her swimsuit than it had taken the young man. She had forgotten a towel, but figured that she would get one later on. She could smell the hot springs before she saw them, and couldn't say that she found the sulfurous tinge in the air to be pleasant. Upon sighting Joruri, she waved and approached, indicating that they should move to a portion of the pool where they could easily enter. This portion of the springs was not particularly popular, as most people prefered to bathe in the nude.

Moving to the edge of the pool, Shinako dipped her toe in, feeling that it was in fact very hot. Instead of sliding directly in, the young woman sat at the edge of the pool and eased her bare legs in up to the knee, letting out a relaxed sigh. She looked up at Joruri in the fine white haze that rose upward into the enclosure, create a humid atmosphere almost like a sauna. His pale features made him appear almost as a ghost as he followed behind her.

"It's nice and warm, Joruri-san."

Looking down into the water, Shinako thought that she would like to sit just like this and allow the steam to soak into her pores. She detested swimming, and was unsure whether she would enjoy submerging herself fully in the water. Reaching up, she readjusted her ponytail into a high bun so that her hair would not stick to her cheeks and neck.

"Do you go bathing often?"

She was interested in learning more about Joruri in ways other than those directly relevant to life as a shinobi. Underneath his calm demeanor she was sure that there was at least some hobby that she could identify with. They had lived in the same village their entire lives. Perhaps they had eaten at the same places, or enjoyed the same books or stories. Her question was light and airy, as though she used the dulcet tones of her voice to casually toss the opening of an entirely new conversation his way.

She watched Joruri as he moved, taking note of the fact that he was much more physically fit than she was. He had said on the way to Kumogakure that his shinobi skills were very similar to her own, in that he used primarily ninjutsu and genjutsu, but looking at the size difference between the two of them so stripped down, she wondered if his body wouldn't be ideally suited for taijutsu. She herself did not have the stamina for such a thing, but she remembered the sharpness of his movements when the two of them had sparred.

As these thoughts crept into her mind, Shinako tried her best to banish them. She was determined to keep this visit social, and didn't want to think about the things that she and Joruri might be asked to do together in the future. She scooped her hand down into the water, using it as a cup to splash a few handfuls of water over her chest and shoulders.

538/2,011

After grabbing the customary white towel from the table, he walked towards the designated hot springs, and there were two doorways before him. One said it was specifically for males, that was on the left, and then there was the other one, which was for mixed genders and ages. In Joruri's mind it translated to be a 'family' pool, but he didn't mind it, there were rarely children got within the hot springs, those were what the pools were for, and so he pushed open the door already scanning the people that he got sight of in the hopes of finding Shinako there already. When he left the door swinging behind him, he caught no sign of his team mate, so he turned his back to the water and it's occupants and deposited his towel in one of the cubby holes, folded to perfection, the same way that he had gotten it off of the table. When he turned around, he continued his scan of the room, searching for Shinako once more, and when his search started to near a minute, she had exited the female changing room.

Once his steel coloured gaze found her familiar face, she had also noticed him and waved in response to the met eye contact and started to approach him before veering off to the side and indicating that they should move to an emptier portion of the pool that would be simpler to enter. Following behind her, he admired her figure as she walked towards the water, making sure that he himself was careful enough to not slip and fall on the border of the water and inevitably slip in, in embarrassment. When they arrived at the water, he looked over Shinako's shoulder as she extended a single toe in, and soon after sat down at the water's edge and slowly allowed her legs into the water.

Joruri's eyes watched her every movement, every one of them cautious, careful, always ready to ease herself into a situation instead of throwing herself directly into one. He was similar in some ways, but he only applied that attention to combat situations, rather than every day life. What possible danger could be presented within a bath house?

After she seemed to be finished testing the waters, she had turned her head to look up at him just as he had begun to wave away a bunch of the steam from his face.

The words she spoke reached his ears and his gaze was torn away from her own and was set upon the water that had swallowed her body up to knee height. It certainly didn't look warm, but he only grunted in response as he moved towards the water's edge. While he watched her, he thought back to times when he had been a genin and had gone to swim in the water. What Shinako reminded him of was a child that was too afraid to go into the water, why, there wasn't really an explanation, usually it was due to the temperature and once they had been forced in they were over it, but he couldn't determine what it was that bothered her about going in completely.

"It's my first time actually." He replied in answer. The closest similarity he had to going to a bath house was going swimming at a nearby lake, and he couldn't really make much more than water being something they had in common. After a few moments, he said, "although it looks as if you're unused to it as well." A pause. "I thought it'd be interesting to talk in a new setting," he shrugged. There wasn't much of a reason, sometimes the simple things in life fascinated you, and his offer of going there was little more than a spur of the moment.

After she had responded if she had decided to, he finally sat down beside her, and allowed his hand to extend behind them as he allowed his own two bare legs to move into the heated water. The heat had been unexpected, but he suffered through the next few moments with a tense smile as he twisted slightly to face her.

"What did you use to do when you were younger as a hobby, or now for that matter?" Another pause. "What have you generally done in life for entertainment?" The faintest hints of a grin touched his lips, he watched her lips intently for when they'd open up. In that instant, his gaze flickered up to hers again, the hand that had been extended behind him lunging forwards as it pushed into the centre of her back, applying enough force to the push to get her into the water, wholly. The entire time, a grin remained upon his face.

WC: 812

Joruri, it seemed, was genuinely interested in learning about Shinako. The beginning of the conversation took her back to restaurants and attractions at the Konohagakure Fair. She could almost smell the deep-fried delicacies, hear the crowds; feel the cool brick wall in the darkness of the alleyway that held her first real kiss. Just as easily, and far more fondly, she remembered the dim basements and damp places where she had gone to be alone just a few weeks afterward. Inhaling deeply, Shinako let out a nostalgic sigh.

Just then, catching her completely off of her guard in her reverie, Joruri reached behind her and shoved her into the hot spring. For a moment she felt the way that one does when their chair is pulled out from under them, free falling in an immeasurably short moment of panic. Then she experienced something entirely different, and by several degrees more unpleasant.

The water was not particularly deep, but in her unprepared state she was unable to arrest her descent into it. Her natural instinct was to reach her arms out as though bracing herself against the ground, but her hands simply slid through the steamy surface of the water, as though pulling her down and down further. Before she knew it, her chest and face were hitting the water. She was submerged to her upper lip before her feet finally found the bottom of the pool and she stood straight up like an arrow, sputtering against the shooting pain of the hot water in her nose.

Shinako turned away from Joruri, standing waist-deep in the water and raising her hands to wipe it away from her face as she coughed and moved to the opposite side of the pool from her teammate. Her hair was soaked, and she was glad that she had tied it up higher. She hated water, and was immediately reminded of her brothers dunking her in the lake of their family compound.

Once she reached the other side of the bathing pool, she took a few moments to climb out of it completely, though the ledge here was slightly more difficult to navigate than the one on the other side, causing her to scrape her knee. Once she found her footing on the slick wooden boards, Shinako reached down and adjusted her swimsuit in the places where it was riding up. She coughed a few more times, diliberately, ridding her nose and lungs of the smelly water before she gave her face one more good wipe and turned to offer Joruri an icy stare.

430/2,441

In the back of his mind it had occurred to him that it could no doubt be dangerous to repeat the actions that he had done. The instant rise in temperature and the sudden sensations were certainly things that caused a negative effect upon someone, but Joruri didn't heed those inner warnings. That, would be boring. It wouldn't be exciting if you always followed the rules. So when she feel into the water it sort of reminded Joruri of the times he had pushed his own friends into the water at the pool and when they entered it, they floundered around for a few moments before they realized how deep the water actually was and straightened up.

The scenario no doubt looked comical, because as an adult, Shinako was sputtering and spewing water from her nose and mouth in surprise as if she didn't expect it. Some part of him felt bad, he hadn't realized the extent to which his team mate disliked water, but he found it odd as to how one wouldn't take a liking to it when they were young. He hoped that she at least knew how to swim... Right?

She maneuvered her way through the hot springs, soon enough merging herself into the slightly more busy area of the springs (with only a handful of people). Soon enough she had pulled herself from the water and with one more final wipe, the daggers flew straight across the water and gouged out his soul.

She looked at him as if he were evil itself, and after allowing her to stare at him for a few moments, he rose upwards, allowing his own form to glisten in the steam, the moisture accumulating upon his chest as he moved across the room, slowly making his way over to Shinako. Feet padding lightly beside the water, it splashed around a little when he got closer to her, and every now and then he would spare a warm, apologetic smile in her direction before he finally did arrive at his destination and sat down beside his team mate, again.

"I apologize for the unpleasant action." He turned his head from the water and let his steel gaze meet her own, almost as if there was sadness in them. And then he offered another charming smile and allowed his hand to lean backwards again, the previous joke already slipped from his mind as he awaited an answer from his previous question.

"So?"

WC: 418

"Not swimming, if that's what you were asking..."

Shinako sighed heavily in frustration. She hated being wet, and always had. Now Joruri was smiling like a loon at her humiliation. She watched as he approached feeling more and more annoyed as he continued to smile at the prank. As he approached Shinako moved further away from the edge of the water, knowing that if he desired to he could use his size to send her down into the soupy liquid once again. The prospect, to her, seemed a lot like hell.

As Joruri made his way casually around the pool Shinako located her shadow in all of the haze, finding it almost instinctively moving toward the wet patter of his footsteps to defend her. She couldn't say if she had willed it or not, but it jutted from the tip of her toe almost like guard-dog, straining at its leash. Then, as Joruri casually continued the prior conversation, it was all Shinako could do to hold her penumbral companion in place. Her eyes narrowed an her nostrils flared as she crossed her arms and paced a few steps to try to clear her head.

She broke eye contact with Joruri as she forced her mind to race to the most important thing she had to say to him, ignoring the plethora of reprimands that attempted to rise to the forefront of her thoughts. She sighed for the second time.

"That's it?"

She let the question hang in the air for just a few moments before proceeding angrily. She wiped the droplets from her chest and arms almost as a demonstration.

"Look at me closely, Joruri."

There was a steel to the kunoichi's voice. She hoped that in the mist of the springs, and wet as she was, her teammate could not see her eyes tearing. In truth, as she had struggled to escape the water, Shinako had remembered how her father, at the pond behind the house, had always reached down to save her; he had always been there to fish her out before, but not today. Today she had risen, dripping and angry, all on her own, and wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that.

"It's dangerous, you know...to try to forget something."

Shinako began to walk away, back toward the towel racks. She talked over her shoulder.

"You can walk away, but never forget the past, or what it has done to you; what it's still doing to you."

The young woman unabashedly took Joruri's towel, dabbing the water from her body as she reentered the women's dressing room.

443/2,884

There certainly hadn't been any consideration into how she felt when Joruri had gone through with his actions, but what his first words were going to hold were the same ones he was going to stand by before Nara Shinako immediately alienated him simply for the case of playing a joke. When the words that indicated a rhetorical question had fallen from her lips he didn't give an answer, he would remain compliant for her next words. That was, until she made the point of telling him to look closely at her. For that, he immediately got disinterested, already assuming a more straight backed posture and turning his gaze away from her.

The tears that were in her eyes had gone unseen by the white haired male, and he didn't bother searching for any, she had been in the water and it wouldn't be so far fetched to assume that the water he had pushed her into found it's way to the top of her head and was dripping along her face and into those eyes. Of course, due to it being misty he simply wouldn't have seen her, and nor did he care to at that moment. He already expected her to berate him, and for that he wasn't going to pay her any mind. Simply because it was a joke didn't make him a child that needed to be disciplined, especially in a public place as this.

There were certain phrases, words, and tones that he had heard in his life, and all of those select tones, phrases, and words, were ones that he had learned to ignore and to tune out as he looked in another direction. They were usually communicated through a negative means, and for those that knew the pale haired Kansen-Suru, most of the time he did his best to avoid such a thing as negativity. Still though, he heard her words through the mist and it gave him even less of a reason for being there.

Some time within the next hour Joruri had found himself soaking in the water, arms located behind his head and out of the water as he lounged contentedly. He felt no shame as to his actions, and in that hour he had put out his previous thoughts as to why Shinako was no longer there, and as he left he didn't bother to reach for that towel of his, already forgetting that he had brought one along and had re-entered the men's changing room, easily retrieving a new towel in the process.

WC: 439
TWC: 4436

-EXIT THREAD-

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