Raphael woke to the blinding light of the sun shining through his bedroom window, groaning as he rolled out of bed the boy headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for his journey. It had been a few days since his spar with Ryo and even though the medics at the arena healed his wounds his muscles were still aching from the strain of the match, but he heard a rumor of a very relaxing hot springs at a resort on mount Ikkyu that was suppose to help revitalize the body and shinobi of the hidden cloud got to use it for free. If the rumor was true then maybe it could help the boy recover so that he could get back to his training, after his shower he got dressed in an all black t-shirt and shorts that he had bought from a local shop. He took one of his Kaminari Steel Kunai from his pouch and placed it in his pocket before slipping on some sandles and heading out. He doubted he would need the Kunai considering today was to be about rest and relaxation, but it was better to be safe than sorry he always thought. Normally the boy would not dare to venture out of his home in such informal wear, however giving the fact of where he was headed as well as the fact that he was trying to relax he dismissed his more formal manner. Raphael headed first to the mail station and hired a messenger to deliver a message to Ryo, inviting him to join him and instructing him that he would be waiting at the gates of the village for him until noon for him before heading on by himself. With that done Raphael started towards the village gates where hopefully Ryo would join him soon and they can start the long trip to Mount Ikkyu.

As the boy walked his mind trailed back to the spar they had with half the world watching, and what a great performance he believed the two of them put on. Though he was still disappointed in the fact that he surrendered giving the match to the boy, he was happier with that result than he would of been with winning by destroying his friends puppet which Raphael knew the boy viewed as though was his child. He just could not bring himself to do that to a friend, Raphael rubbed his shoulder as the soreness flared once again. Upon reaching the village gates the boy would stand in the shade of the great wall that surrounded the village hidden in the clouds to wait for Ryo to arrive.

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Ryo smiled widely as he sat in the workshop working on the next of his children. He was bringing Midori his first daughter to life and he was delighted. He had spent most of the early, early morning in the workshop. He was sculpting her legs, her tail, working on the various parts of her armor, and body. He loved all of it, and this was his idea of heaven. He was just finishing up the metal teeth that would go into Midori’s mouth one of her few offensive weapons when his older sister opened the door to the workshop. Ryo surged to his feet in a mad fury as this was something that was nearly forbidden to do in his clan “You are interrupting the birth of my daughter! You know better! What is it?!” She rolled her eyes slowly and tossed him the note that was now folded into a paper shuriken before closing the door and leaving. He caught it and opened it his fury still raised reading the contents. The invitation that he was sent was astounding to him, and he simply couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that Raphael would invite him to do something like this. It just wasn’t something he was used to. He quickly sealed away Midori and all of her pieces inside of her scroll and rushed to his room putting it away quickly. Once in his room, he changed his clothes into a pair of grey shorts, and a black long-sleeved shirt. Over this, he wore the Knetegawa Lab Coat and then attached his weapon’s sheath putting Kuro’s scroll inside of it as well before heading out in his sandals.

Ryo quickly rushed up towards the village gates as fast as he was able to. This was by far the most casual dress that Raphael would’ve ever seen the young puppet master in. He smiled as he looked over Raphael’s clothes nodding his head in approval “Well, I must say you look like you are ready for a vacation.” He flushed slightly scratching the back of his head “Thank you for inviting me. I am sorry it took me so long to get here. My older sister was the one who delivered the message.” A sudden flash of anger crossed his face before he shook his head again “Well, let’s get going.” He said gesturing for Raphael to lead the way.

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Today was another one of those rare one's where the sun's light flooded the village, living in the hidden cloud these past several weeks Raphael had grown accustomed to the cloud coverage. Yet the sun did not bother the young shinobi as he was raised within the desert of Kaze no Kuni, he loved this type of weather because of the fact that it reminded him of his true home though it was still hard for the boy when he thought of Sunagakure but he has done his best to remind himself of the good memories and not just the bad in the past few days. Days like this reminded him of his training back in both Sunagakure and at the Kozai Estate, it was a good day for him to relax and if the pain in his shoulder would go away well that was just a bonus. It also did not hurt that he was going to get too see how Ryo was doing after the fight, a single cloud drifted out in front of the sun casting a shadow across the village causing him to have to rub his eyes due to the difference in light. Once his eyes had adjusted the boy looked back out into the crowd looking for the one he was waiting on, his friend would be easy enough to spot among the normal crowd with his white hair and typical attire

A smile came to the boy's face when he caught sight of his friend approaching, despite the shorts and sandals it was the typical Ryo that Raphael had came to know. Raphael would chuckle slight at the boy's words, "I hope you don't mind the informal attire I normally do not go out it's just I needed a day to relax and I figured that we could both use some relaxation after that exhibition match we had." A large grin still on his face as he tossed his arms behind his head as he began to walk, "don't worry about it my friend, honestly I was not waiting that long." He added the stupid grin still upon the boy's face. The journey to Mount Ikkyu from the village hidden in the clouds would not be dangerous as it was highly travelled by both tourist and shinobi, however it would take the boys a couple of hours to get there unless they moved in a hurry which Raphael was really not in the mood for today consider it was suppose to be a day to relax and enjoy himself.

"Well as long as your ok with it I figured we could take our time getting to Mount Ikkyu, after all it is such a nice day it would be a shame not to enjoy it right?" The boy asked as they began their journey, and after waiting for a reply from Ryo he would begin his second question. "So have you been to Mount Ikkyu before? I haven't but I heard about from some of the villagers, said the hot springs there were magical or whatever I not really sure but I know that I am still sore from our match and if the it can help then I am all for it. And as long as I am being honest I would rather go with a friend than by myself and I could think of nobody better than yourself, besides it's free how could I pass on something like that." The boy would pause briefly as he knew he was talking the boy's ear off he decided to shift the conversation so that Ryo would have a chance to talk. "So tell me what have you been up to since our spar?"

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The sun was shining, and this made Ryo even more grateful for his choice of attire. Normally, he would wear the Knetegawa coat that was sandy brown in color and often was just what he needed to hide in the desert. However, since coming to the village hidden among the clouds he never really bothered with the coat because the colors clashed rather violently. So instead, he was wearing the white Knetegawa Lab Coat which reflected a lot of the sunlight and made him much cooler as a whole while still offering a fair bit of camouflage for himself. He didn’t mind the heat either as much like Raphael he was trained to deal with the extreme heat. Of course, he was also trained to deal with the harsh climates in not only the land of wind, but the land of water and lightning as well. The heat was nothing and he enjoyed the company of his friend and comrade. He also had to admit if only to himself that Raphael looked kind of cute in everyday clothes.

Ryo shook his head slowly as he opened his cloak a bit revealing that he had no scroll harness and that he was mostly without his children today “Informal is just fine with me. I don’t mind in the least. After all, I don’t have any missions today and it seems like this will just be a nice relaxing day. We could both use it after all we’ve done and gone through.” He hadn’t wanted to say anything, but he could feel the wounds that he had received during the sparring match. His shoulders and back ached from where he was struck by tile shuriken. His muscles ached from the violence he had used to wield his puppets and pull them into various places and positions. Still, he didn’t want to seem a complainer, so he kept his mouth shut. Hearing that he hadn’t kept Raphael waiting long was good news to him and he enjoyed hearing it. Keeping up with the leisurely pace was simple enough and he enjoyed walking alongside Raphael with the ease of moving around so freely without stress or any need to rush.

He nodded his head smiling and looking to Raphael his hands in his outside hip pockets of his lab coat “Yes, it is a nice day, and I would be happy to walk along with you and enjoy the niceness of the day.” He said cheerfully enough moving and walking along as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Glancing over at his friend he nodded his head “Yes I have been before. The hot springs are rather famous around here, as for me myself I’ve only been once before today, but from what I recall it is quite nice.” Hearing that Raphael would like to go with a friend and that he could think of nobody better than him Ryo flushed ever so slightly scratching his right eye drop tattoo because he was slightly embarrassed by the high praise. When he asked his question, Ryo smiled widely “Well, I have met a few other people who were here.” His face then soured instantly almost with a deep wrath “One was from the village hidden in the stones, and he was a right foul piece of work. Rude as all hell to say the least. I was going to smash his face in if not for the fact that it would’ve been a bad move.”

His face suddenly lit with a joy that was nearly unholy “Oh! The birth of my first daughter is close at hand!” he smiled and began to laugh softly clapping his hands rapidly together “Oh my Midori love! She will walk this world soon enough! I can’t wait! I have nearly finished her.” He glanced at her “Actually, I have nearly finished building her body, and was in the process of finishing the prep work before putting her together. That was when my sister gave me your note. She actually broke the clan rule about entering the workshop while it was in use. Well…it isn’t so much a rule as it is a very powerful suggestion. One just simply does not walk into the workshop while a child is being born. It is the height of rudeness and in my clan, one can actually lose the right to use the Workshop if they are not respectful of what the workshop represents.” He said before he looked ahead again smiling.

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The slight blush of his friends face did not go unnoticed nor did the boy's fidgeting with his eye drop tattoo, though the boy did not want to say anything as he did not know the cause of it. Though it could of just been a heat flush or it could be that Raphael had said something that caused it, either way Raphael felt it best not to draw attention to it as if it was something he had said he did not want to cause further embarrassment. When Ryo mentioned meeting someone from the village hidden in stone Raphael's mind instantly flashed to Tenjin, though he could not possible be the same person his friend now spoke of it simply was impossible. The Tenjin Raphael knew was not rude, at least from the experience that he had with the boy he was not rude. The two of them had become close friends and Raphael learned a lot about the boy and his goals before the boy had left to return to Iwagakure, they had been good friends and Raphael just could not envision that the rude boy that Ryo spoke of was the same boy he had met and became friends with.

Raphael would turn from his thoughts and back to the moment he was in here with Ryo, he spoke of the birth of his daughtee being close at hand. This of course would be strange however Raphael knew from the books on the Knetegawa that the Kozai held as well as his own personal experience with his friend that the Knetegawa viewed their puppet creations as their children. It really spoke to Raphael the dedication and heart the clan put into their work, not to mention when someone views something as a child it makes it that much harder for them to see that child get hurt. Raphael had a brief flash of the memory of Ryo running to his downed puppet after their spar together it must of been hard on him, it also explained the rage and fury of attacks that his friens had unleashed after Raphael had severed the chakra strings connecting his friend to his child. When Ryo mentioned being interrupted by his sister to deliver his message Raphael felt his heart drop into his stomach, "I deeply apologize for the interruption my friend, this was nothing that could not waited. Had I known what you were in the progress of I would not of wasted your time with the letter and let you work on your Midori. It was just I had not seen you since our spar and well to be honest with you, you are one of the few people within the village that I feel comfortable with talking about stuff." Raphael would pause briefly looking up into the beautiful sunny sky, "maybe it is because we have been though the same thing what with the destruction of our home and what not, or maybe there is a different kind of connection between us that I have get to realize. All that matters is that you know that no matter what happens I will always be here for you." Raphael finished with a very large very ridiculous grin on his face, looking to Ryo as if he was going to say something else but instead simply smiled dumbly at the boy.

The birds chirping in the trees brought Raphael back to reality, causing the boy to look out ahead of him to see the mountain out in front of them. They were still a ways away from Mount Ikkyu, but when your a mountain its hard to hide even when your this far away. It was just an ordinary mountain like the one that Kumogakure sat on, the only difference was that about half way up the mountain Raphael could see a large building built into the side of the mountain right next to what Raphael could only assume was the giant waterfall that the resort was famous for. "Well there it is Mount Ikkyu, I hope their hot springs are as nice as everyone says they are because I could really use it. That match with you pushed me to my limits" he said with a chuckle, "so tell me what are your plans once you have completed your daughter? Which you would probably have finished already had it not been for my interruption, again I am sorry for that I had no idea that you were busy I guess the thought did not cross my mind." Raphael added with sincerity in his voice as he understood what the puppet making meant to his friend.

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When Raphael was apologizing for interrupting the birth of his daughter he smiled waving his hand gently “Midori isn’t going to go anywhere, and even if I died she would be finished. In the Knetegawa clan, every puppet is recorded in its entirety. This means that the plans are hidden in the Knetegawa Archives. We finish the puppets of those of us who have died. If there is a body, we destroy the body along with their puppets all at once including the ones we must finish for them because they are obviously dead. If there is no body, we finish the puppets and destroy them so that they are gone along with their father or mother. Then, of course, we keep the plans for the dead’s puppets marking which we finished and destroyed, which we recovered with our clansman’s body and destroyed, and which are still missing.” A sudden flash of agony passed over his face as he looked down at his feet “I only found this out because my Father’s puppets are gone…there was no body to recover from the mission on which he died…we couldn’t find it, nor could any tracker…All of his children were taken along with his body…I have to find them…I have to find them so I can send my father his second set of children in the afterlife.” He said clenching his fists his right hand going down to hold onto Kuro’s scroll possessively. Shaking his head, he smiled at his friend “No need to be worried about interrupting Midori’s birth. She will be born, and you had no way of knowing that I was engaged in any kind of activities.” He said reassuringly patting his friend on the back gently.

Ryo looked up into the sky with Raphael and nodded his head in agreement “You know, I could say the same. You are the only one I can relax around. My siblings and I must all compete now more than ever for the head of the Sunagakure branch of the clan…” with a sigh he shook his head “Sorry, the main branch. No more Sunagakure…Still, the next head of the main branch has an even more important job than they ever had before. They have to see about restoring Sunagakure, rebuilding the main Branch’s home, and getting vengeance on those who destroyed our home. Really, it is frantic. Still, with you I don’t have to be on guard, and I don’t have to worry about anything I say or do getting back to the clan and disqualifying me from the head of the Family race. Spending time with you is the greatest break I have, even when we are sparring together.” He said with an equally dumb smile on his face as he looked to Raphael “I will be by your side just as my children are by my side. You won’t ever stand alone.” He said seriously.

Looking up at Mount Ikkyu he smiled nodding his head in agreement “Yes there it is, and yes I am very happy to see it. I hope the hot springs put the aching in my shoulders away because really it is far too much. I must say your skilled tile shuriken was a surprise that I didn’t expect, and they did a number on me.” He said as if it was no big deal. The question about his daughter made his eyes gleam with pride and he reached for his scroll harness, but it was clearly not there. He looked embarrassed and cleared his throat loudly “Ah…uh…well I certainly feel naked. I didn’t bring my scroll harness because we are supposed to be relaxing. Still, I plan to bring forth her little brother once she is born. Ki’iro will be his name, and while Midori is my shield, Ki’iro will be my spear. Midori is the first defensive puppet I have ever made, but I can’t win a fight with defense alone, so I am giving her a brother to help end a fight with decisive ends.” He said his eyes twinkling with the thoughts of what he was going to do to bring his newest children to life. Again, he waved off Raphael’s apology shaking his head “You need not apologize to me. Your message is worthy of interruption, and I understand why my sister did so. Please think of it no more. There is no reason for you to be so worried about it.” He thought about it and then smiled “So, what about you? I have told you many of my plans, but what about yours? You must have some very interesting plans.” He said clearly interested in what his friend and comrade was doing.

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Raphael was glad that his friend was not worried about the interruption but he could not help but chuckle at his friends words, he wasn't really the one for the plan making being more of a 'go where the wind took him' kind of person. "Well Ryo, I really am not a plan maker with the exception of the revenge for the destruction of Sunagakure. Ever since coming here I have devoted myself to making myself stronger, growing both body and mind. I know I am no where near the leave of those that destroyed Sunagakure yet, but each day I feel myself getting stronger. Right now that is my only motivation.." Raphael's words would break off as if something had just popped into his head that caused him to lose his train of thought and his words followed. "Well I take that back it is my main motivation," the boy's words seemed to have changed in tone as more emotion began flooding in. "To be honest with you my other motivation is my family, my sister, mother, and grandfather. I miss them all so much, I was so ashamed of not being able to stop the destruction of Suna that I could not bring myself to face them before I left Kaze no Kuni and traveled here. But you see I felt as if something was drawing me to Kumogakure, a force that I do not know nor understand. Whether it is divine providence or just the wind calling my name, or maybe fate brought me here to reunite me with you, I can not be certain. Not a day goes by that I do not miss them and each day the pain of missing them gets worse, it is quiet possible I will stop putting off returning to them and return home in the near future. In truth I feel as if my time here has served me well as I have grown much stronger than I was when I first came here, but I also feel that familiar tug that first drew me here drawing me back to my family." The boy would stop walking bending down to a nearby beautiful blue flower that was growing close to the path the boys had been walking and picking the flower. "I guess you could say I am like this flower, as I let go of the flower the wind will carry it and it must go where the wind carries it. Of course for the flower that is not very far, but for myself I see only a long road ahead of me." The boy would let go of the flower watching as it fell slowly to the earth the wind carrying it a few feet from where he stood as if to show his meaning, before continuing along the path with Ryo. "I am not sure how long it will take me to get permission from the Raikage to return to Kaze no Kuni to reunite with my family, especially with that monster that destroyed Sunagakure still being on the loose. After the woman that controlled the beast had revealed herself in that match the other day, before fleeing most likely back to Kaze no Kuni as every other country would now be trying to track her down." The boy shook his head, what he was saying was lost in the yammering on about the beast. "What I mean to say is when I return to Kaze no Kuni, I would love it if you could travel with me so that I may show you the Kozai Estate. The estate is like a small village in itself, very large and beautiful. Of course I completely understand if you need to remain here for your clan, I will only be gone a few weeks, so I am sure by the time I return you will have proven to your family you are the leader I know you are." the boy added with a wink.

The boys finally made it to the resort, time and travel simply flying by during their conversation. "Well what do you say we find out just how good these hot springs really are," the boy said in a cheerful tone as he put his arm around Ryo's shoulders, "I am glad you came with me Ryo, this is going to be fun."

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The bit about Raphael not being one who makes plans didn’t surprise Ryo in the slightest. Instead, he was sure that it was the perfect definition and it seemed to fit this man. In his modest opinion such a description could be applied to anyone who didn’t have the time or patience for the artwork of Puppetry, or even the unique if barbaric art of Bukijutsu. The motivation that was driving Raphael was something that Ryo could understand, and he smiled nodding his head in approval “Family is a powerful motivation. I want revenge for what happened to our village just like you, but in so doing it will protect our new home from ever suffering the same terrible fate as Suna.” He looked up at the sky listening to how something drew Raphael here and he again could understand very easily how that would happen. The part about fate drawing him towards Ryo made him blush. He again nervously scratched at his blood drop tattoo this time the one closer to Raphael showing just how embarrassed he was. Still, he kept his mouth shut and just listened to what Raphael was saying and he absorbed it. Stopping to look at the flower and what it did when it was picked and then let go. Presently he said “Going with the wind is all well and good, but one must be careful that the wind does know blow one in the direction of a wicked path, or down a road where one meets their own self destruction. Do not let the wind take you there.” He said with great concern for his friend. He wouldn’t want the other to come to any harm. He stopped dead again when Raphael offered to take him along to visit his clan home. He smiled widely and nodded his head a few times “Yes, I would be honored if you would take me with you, I would be honored to see your family home in our land of wind. Besides I couldn’t let my comrade face the journey alone without any backup.” He said smiling as they continued to walk “Besides, my clan has never been dependent on the head of the house. Even if I were the leader of my clan, if I died then another would simply take my place and the family would live on. We honor our family heads, but we are not dependent upon them. We are puppet masters, we allow no one to control us as if we were puppets on a string. I shall be happy to come with you.” He said giving a thumb up to Raphael “Just let me know where and when.”

As they made it to the resort he smiled wider and nodded his head “Yeah finally here.” He blushed hotter as he felt the arm around his shoulders and he made his way into the building with Raphael smiling “I am sure that this hot spring will be quite enjoyable. Let’s get going.” He said as they walked inside of the building.

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"Welcome to the Mount Ikkyu Resort," came a loud woman's voice from the front desk as the boy's entered the front doors of the resort. Once they actually made it to the desk in a thankfully softer tone the woman asked, "my name is Jessica, how may I help you two?" "Well Jessica, we are here for your healing hot spring, and I only hope that it is as good as the rumors say." Raphael stated taking his arm from Ryo and placing both arms on the counter in front of him before adding, "I am really tense and need to relax for a while."

"Of course, our doors are always open to those in the service of the village. Please follow me." The woman said as she stepped out from behind the desk to lead the boy's down the hallway. Raphael looked back to Ryo and waved for him to follow before following the woman himself, as the woman would lead the pair down a very long hallway she began talking about the history of the springs and some other things that Raphael did not really listen to as he was more concerned with getting himself in the springs. When they finally reached the end of the hallway they came to two doors, "alright guys the male section is here on the left, there are separate changing room through here but they all exit out to the three male hot springs so once you guys are changed you can meet back up. The is a change of clothes in the rooms for you if you did not bring something, and if you need anything at all there is an intercom in each of the changing rooms as well as one in the spring area that you can use to call me." The woman stated with a smile before a quick bow before she headed back down the hallway towards the main desk. Raphael would walk through the first down and then down to the second door in the hallway behind the first door before looking back to Ryo. "Guess I will see you on the other side my friend," Raphael stated with a smile before heading through the door and into his changing room. Once inside the changing room the boy would waste little time getting out to the spring, tossing his shirt onto the bench and grabbing the robe the resort provided that hung by the door on his way out to the springs. Once outside he noticed that Ryo had not come out yet and so he looked over the springs, they all appeared the same so the boy would shrug and slide into the middle one. The boy closed his eyes in peaceful bliss as the hot water washed over his body, already he could feel the tension leaving his body. Raphael would keep his eyes closed until he heard the approach of his companion, at which point he would open his eyes and say, "come on in the water is perfect" with a grin on his face.

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Ryo walked into the resort’s front desk area and he kept just behind Raphael. He was a bit sad when his partner removed their arms from each other. With a violent shake of his head, he dismissed the thoughts he was about to have to focus instead on the various bits and bobs around the entrance. Finally, he decided to walk up slightly closer to Raphael and look up at the woman behind the counter with his pale blue eyes that didn’t seem to be focused on much of anything. All in all, he knew he was a bit off-putting in appearance, but it wasn’t like he could really help that. His clan was mostly darker haired with darker eyes, but every now and again there popped up those with the white hair and blue eyes it was almost like a claim to the ancient bloodline or so his mother had told him.

When the woman told them to follow her Ryo seemed to snap out of it and come back to life. He followed after Raphael with a smile and looked around making sure that he memorized as much of the walk as possible. He wanted to be sure that if he had to make a quick escape then he could do just that. When the woman left, and Raphael was moving to the first door Ryo decided to move to another door “Yep, see you on the other side, my friend.” He said simply. Walking into the changing room Ryo carefully, but quickly disrobed and made sure to hide all of his ninja tools and weapons under his clothes with his white lab coat over the whole thing to keep it from being obvious. Then he slipped on the robe and walked out into the hot spring where Raphael was. As he walked in he waved to the other youth smiling as he climbed into the water sighing instantly. With a deep breath, he sank his head under the water and then came back up a moment later pink in the face, his white hair finally lying flat, and the purple tattoos standing out even more on the pink tint to his face. “mmm, this is just what I needed. This feels so good. I always get so tense when I am bringing my children to life. I guess it is nerves and the stress of trying to create a child that is worthy of the Knetegawa clan.” He yawned loudly leaning his head back against the side closing his eyes letting a slow and toothy grin spread across his face “Also, that scuffle we had sure did a number on me. I hope that I didn’t hurt you too much.” He said opening his right eye to a slit, so he could look at his partner.

Ryo really did love the water, and yet he couldn’t relax completely. He felt naked without his children with him, and he didn’t like it. True he didn’t always use his puppets for fights, but that didn’t mean he let them far from his grasp, nor did it mean he was helpless. As he thought about this he supposed that he could afford to relax a bit more considering he was in water, and most of his jutsu were water based. Lifting his arms into the air to stretch Raphael could see the various cuts, and scars that covered Ryo’s arms all of which were fading slightly seeing as they were likely old injuries.

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Raphael could not help but chuckle slightly at Ryo's comment of hurting him during their spar, "Nah, most of that was minor and was healed by the field medics. Most of my problem now is the fact that you caused me to push myself further and harder than I have ever had too in the past, and because of that my muscles were sore and tense. But now after sitting here I can feel all the stress and tension just washing away."

Raphael laid his head back against the rock that was on the side of the hot spring, letting all the stress and tension continue to just wash away. He watched his friend stretch noting the boys various scars across his body, despite the fact that they were fading Raphael could not help but wonder if they still hurt him or if they might of come from the destruction of Sunagakure, however he was not about to ask his friend and cause any lingering pain to come to the surface. After all they were there to relax, not talk about the past battle scars, instead the young shinobi would close his eyes and just let his thoughts wash away with all the stress and tension. "It is so nice to be able to just lay here and relax, especially after everything we have been through." Raphael said in a soft tone of voice as he sunk a little lower into the spring. The heat of the spring was truly a miracle, Raphael could not believe how much it was already helping with his sore muscles.

Raphael stretched as he stood up from the hot spring, after having soaked in it for the past few hours his body felt better than it had in a very long time, the boy felt as though he could run a marathon or work out for hours in truth he felt better than he did before his spar with Ryo. As he climbed out of the spring and wrapped his robe around him, Raphael looked back over to his friend. "I am going to go dry off, I will wait for you so that we can walk back together." And with that said Raphael headed back to the changing room to dry off and get his shirt. Raphael was extremely happy that he was able to share this experience with Ryo, and he only hoped that it helped his friend as much as it help him.

{Exit Thread}

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B-Rank Jutsu (Zanzō Bunshin) -1500 words Cost: 200
A-Rank Jutsu (Kaze Ryūjin) -2000 words Cost: 250

It relieved Ryo to hear that he hadn’t inflicted any serious wounds. He did recall that he had lost his cool at the end of their fight. Of course, he felt that he was perfectly justifiable in losing his cool as Raphael had hurt his children. Even so, he shouldn’t have lost control like that. He had always been worried about that kind of thing when it came to his children like this. The assurances by Raphael was a great relief for him.

Ryo rested his head down on the side carefully closing his eyes more completely as he rested. He relaxed finally and completely. He recalled the damage that he had taken in the contest he had against Raphael as well as the various sore spots that had been on his body before he fell into the warm water. Sighing he rested just to let himself wander off through his own mind “Yeah, I agree with you. This is great.” He said before enjoying his soak in the hot spring.

~A few Hours Later~
Ryo smiled as he climbed out of the spring after Raphael had gotten out. When he slipped his robe on he glanced over to see that Raphael was already getting ready to leave. With a nod, Ryo said “Alright. No worries.” With that, he walked into his changing room and dried off before changing back into his clothes. When he slipped the lab coat onto his frame again he heaved a soft sigh of contentment as he held it tightly to snuggle it. He walked out into the main lobby where Raphael waited for him and the two of them walked back home together. Ryo was happy that it was such a nice day out, and that he was here with Raphael. Now that his body had been treated he could go home and bring his children to life with ease.

[Exit Thread]

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