"Actually I haven't ever though of doing that before. I'm not much or an artist" Sanosuke explained himself to his female friend. Lately every time he tried to create something with his two hands like sculpting or drawing, it wouldn't turn out well. He decided to explain this to Ai while laughing and began to scratch his head embarrassed "Whatever I draw or make, it kind of sort of looks like as though it was made by toddler." This talk made Sanosuke remember the last time he fooled himself into believing that he could draw a stick figure correctly, and it suddenly turned into a scribble with legs. A sweat drop formed from the back of his head at his failure in drawing. Damn I really suck.

He looked at Ai and smiled at her. Hell it wasn't too bad, he may suck but he at least he was with a pretty girl on a walk. And from how he noticed, she was getting pretty comfortable with having Sanosuke this close to her. To be honest he really liked having her so close to him, now their shoulders were touching. Sanosuke knew he should probably move away but was too comfortable where he was walking. Right at her side. "But it's really cool how you can make your own swords whenever you feel like it, I wish I can do something like that."

She tilted her head again as they continued walking, listening to his words. She bit her bottom lip as she thought about what to say, but the words came easy enough, "Well, everyone is good or bad at different things." She shrugged. "And some things just take a lot of practice. I tend to slack off from time to time with my training, and spend my free time drawing... I believe that's the only reason why I can draw people like I can." She smiled gently.

She noticed when their shoulders touched and remained so, and hoped like hell that the passive shock didn't react; not that it would kill him or even seriously harm him, it'd be like a static. That was quickly wiped from her mind though as she thought over him wishing he could make his own swords. "I could teach you... if you'd want." She smiled more. "I was taught how when I was younger, and I'd be willing to teach you if you wanted me to. It's not hard once you get the hang of it."

She bit her bottom lip again, this time because of a different thought that had popped into her head while they continued to walk. She was playing with the idea of reaching out and just grabbing his hand to hold it again; but even the idea of such an action caused her to blush, which she attempted to look away to hide. She was never a very forward person, so for now she kept her hands to herself and tired to push the thought far from her mind.

His conscious was gnawing at his brain to make him move, but he was trying to resist its urges. His heart wanted him take advantage of this opprotunity and get even closer to her. The only thing he needed right now was to take her hand, but Sanosuke couldn't do it. Her hand was close to chest so that Ai can be able to clasp onto the notebook she usually drew on. If he made one wrong grab, he would be holding something that Sanosuke didn't plan on grabbing. He would be lying if he didn't want to grab that area, but as for now he just wanted to hold Ai's hand.

Just do it, Sanosuke chanted in his head as he resolved himself he would act now before he lost his nerve. He reached out and held Ai's hand in his as they walked. Sanosuke stopped walking so he can hold Ai's hand in his. "Question: If we're going to the temple shouldn't we go back to where we came from which is the temple, and not in the opposite direction?" Sanosuke asked with a smile.

Ai happily shifted the notebook back to one hand as he reached out to hold hers. There was an inner happy squeal going on, that she tried her hardest not to show on the outside; though she did grin and blush again. She stopped walking when he did due to him holding her hand and she gave a soft giggle. "I guess you're right... I was just enjoying the walk too much to pay much attention."

She turned back in the direction they came from, beginning to walk once more. She thought about where she had hidden her swords; well not hidden exactly, but left. They were inside the temple, and she could hardly bring herself to care if anyone would say anything about her bringing him in there if he chose to follow her. They would just have to deal. 'Listen to yourself, Ai.. you've grown a pair of proverbial brass balls as big as church bells...', she thought to herself, suppressing a giggle at her own mental musings.

Then she thought back to her previous question she had never got an answer to given that he had taken her hand again and it made her just far too distracted to care right away. "So, would you like me to teach you how to make your own swords like I did?", she glanced to him as she asked before turning her gaze once more back to the ground to keep an eye out on where she was walking.

He smiled back at Ai as they held hands, Sanosuke was too busy admiring Ai's beauty. She was extraordinarily beautiful, the way her hair was a combination of pale white hair and black hair really did mystifie Sanosuke. Her eyes were so blue that it made Sansouke really want to stare into her eyes all day. The second that Ai allowed him to be able to hold her hand, it made Sanosuke want to jump off the mountain trail they were on in joy. He focused his attention back on Ai's question she asked him.

"Yeah that would be great Ai" Sanosuke thanked her. When they got to the narrow mountain ledge that they had to hold hands to get accross. Looking at the mountain trail, there would be no way that they can climb up the narrow mountain ledge the same way they got down the mountain ledge. He got an idea how they can get up the mountain trail, Sanosuke stooped low on the ground into a very low squat. "Here Ai, get on my back so we can get up the mountain ledge again." Sanosuke knew that he had to focus chakra on his feet so that he wouldn't slip off the mountain with Ai on his back.

She smiled at the idea of being able to teach him something new; she loved learning new things, and loved to be able to teach them and help others learn even more. She thought about it for a moment; how she now had a reason to spend hours, upon hours, with him. All without having to think up some random lame excuse to do it. 'Sweeeeet.', came her mental musings. "Good, I'll enjoy being able to teach someone for once, instead of the other way around."

She then noticed he stopped and squatted down. She tilted her head in curiosity before giving herself a light shrug. "Alright,", she said softly. She climbed carefully onto his back, wrapping her arms lightly around his neck, being careful not to chock him, and sending up another little prayer that she didn't shock him.

As Sanosuke stood up holding Ai, he felt as though he was on cloud 9. He had a beautiful girl leaning on his back. Sanosuke was carrying her on his back with ease. She was extremely light too, it was as though she wasn't even on her back. The only thing that reminded Sanosuke that Ai was on his back was the pleasingly scent she was giving off and the way her body rose and fell with each breath she took. Sanosuke smiled, he really loved this. It meant that Sanosuke would have to be extra careful with holding Ai. He wanted Ai to be as close to him as possible and if anything happened, Sanosuke would make sure that Ai would be safe from all harm.

He noticed how she close holding her arms around Sanosuke's neck. It wasn't as though she was choking him or causing him any harm. He had just noticed that she was holding onto Sanossuke pretty close to her. He wondered if it was because she liked him or that she just didn't want to fall. No matter he had a job to do which is to get them both across that mountain ledge they had originally came from. "Okay here we go" Sanosuke said before walking over to the mountain ledge. Before he got there Sanosuke focused a chakra coat around each of his feet so he can stick to the mountain's floor more easily. Sanosuke was already adept in chakra control so this was cake walk. He could easily walk both him and Ai across no problem. But he decided to be careful anyway, he liked Ai and didn't want anything bad to happen.

So Sanosuke took his time while holding onto Ai's legs so she would stay close onto his back. One step at a time, he got closer and closer to the end of the mountain ledge until they finally crossed the mountain ledge. The mountain trail widened where Sanosuke can easily let Ai walk by herself. But Sanosuke was perfectly content with her staying on his back. "I gotta say Ai I really like your perfume you're wearing. It smells nice" Sanosuke complimented the beautiful girl he was carrying on his back. Sanosuke smiled at her, it was true. Throughout their time together, Sanosuke really liked the fragrance that seemed to be wrapped around Ai. It soothed him

Ai just couldn't believe her luck. This was far closer to Sanosuke than she had expected to get well... ever. If she was being honest with herself. So to be able to get this close so easily? She was currently in heaven. She could put up with being carried around all day long like this if he wanted. She couldn't even bring herself to worry about him dropping her, or either of them falling. For some reason she trusted him, a lot, more than she could say she trusted anyone else.

She kept her arms wrapped loosely around his neck while playing with the idea of resting her head against his back as they went. Her shyness, however, kept herself from doing such; at least for now. She noticed that he continued to carry her, even though he technically didn't have to, and she didn't mind at all; in fact she began to grin from ear to ear, to far gone past the point of blushing for her face to redden.

At his compliment she giggled softly. "Thank you, but that's mostly the smell of lightning.. I'm around it so much I tend to smell like it... lightning and flowers; roses actually." She stopped there, doing what she had previously been holding herself back from; she lightly placed her cheek against his back, resting her head lightly on him; and she couldn't be happier, and she couldn't bring herself to care much about the rest of the world right now...

Sanosuek began to feel a slight feeling of weight on his back, for someone so smart Sanosuke actually had to think about what could possibly be on his back to cause the shift of weight on his back. Was it a bird? No he didn't feel any of its legs on him. Was it Ai's sketchbook? No it was on the middle of his back. It was then that Sanosuke finally put 2+2 together. Ai was leaning her cheek on his back. Sanosuke would've face palmed himself for being so slow if it didn't disturb Ai's resting. He smiled gently at that, she was so cute. He tried his best to imagine Ai resting on his back as he carried her on his back. If someone saw them like this, they would think Sanosuke and Ai were an item.

A blush grew on Sanosuke's face as he tried his best to let it die down. He was getting a head of himself, he had to slow things down or else he would ruin things. "So if I want to keep you smelling as beautiful as you look, I should bring you roses?" Sanosuke said softly in case that Ai might be sleeping after recapturing his composure. He added in a soft chuckle as well, he wouldn't care. He would bring a rose to Ai anytime. That's when they reached the temple where he met Ai.

When Sanosuke didn't complain over her resting her head on him she stopped holding back, and got rather comfortable. She could seriously go like this all day if he'd let her, but it wouldn't be productive, and she knew it. She was supposed to be getting what? Oh, right, her swords. So was so easily distracted it could've been dangerous.

She had closed her eyes as she walked, not honestly bothering to care anymore where they were headed, but as his question her eyelids fluttered open and she lifted her head again, blushing. "I would suppose so, yes.", she said softly, but loud enough so that he could hear her.

She noticed that they had reached the temple by that point, and the smallest of frowns appeared on her face. "I guess I should go get my swords then..." Not that she actually wanted to get down from his back, she was comfortable after all.

He laughed at the disappointment that Sanosuke could hear from Ai's sentence as they reached the temple. Sanosuke held her slightly tighter to make her feel more assured that he would be there for her. He didn't stop at the temple and kept walking in towards the temple. He wanted to have some fun with Ai as they walked into the temple, he closed his eyes and stopped moving. He was just past the entrance of the temple when he stopped. "Okay Ai I'm closing my eyes, and your job is to guide me to your room. You ready?" Sanosuke playfully said as he tickled one of her sides quickly before holding her properly on her back. After he was done, he kept walking in a straight line going deeper into the temple.

It was the first time he was in this temple and should be more afraid. This was a clan's temple and home that Sanosuke knew absolutely nothing aboout. So why wasn't he afraid? Sanosuke tried to figure this out but then he remembered the beautiful and shy girl that was resting on his back. Oh yeah that's why. She was here, Sanosuke knew that as long as she was by his side there was nothing to worry about.

She blinked for a moment when he stopped, her head lifting up from his back as she tilted it in curiosity. Upon hearing his words and seeing him begin to move again she bit her bottom lip. The temple was dangerous further in, at least to outsiders... Then she remembered that Himi was staying here, perfectly safe, too, and she relaxed. "Alright... just don't touch the walls, they're surging with electricity.", she watched as he walked forward, hallways that branched off soon coming up. "Turn right in about ten feet, my room is at the very end of the hall, on the left."

Her bedroom door would unlock upon Ai getting close to it, the seals that kept it locked opening to do so with a small series of clicks. The door itself required nothing more than a push to open it. "Just push the door open when we get there.. it's unlocked."

Her room was nothing too special; a wooden framed bed (with white sheets and blankets), a wooden desk that attached to the wall which had several books stacked on it along with two sheathed swords, and a small antique chest of drawers complete with a closet. It had another door way that led to a bathroom. Simple, and plan... except for the large, almost life-like dragon that Ai had painted long ago on the walls when she had first been given the room. It showed the dragon with its mouth open, but instead of the dragon spewing fire on the town pictured below, it was lightning.

He followed Ai's instructions as he walked. He took one step and then another step until he was about 10 feet away from his starting position. He loved how Ai curled up against his back like a cat. The way her heart beat against his back seemed to be filling Sanosuke with life into his body. If he didn't pay attention, he might run into one of those electrical walls that Ai warned Sanosuke about. He made a turn left turn and went down a hallway while his eyes were closed. He trusted Ai, and knew for a fact that she would never trick him on purpose.

He kept walking until he ran into a wall that was at the end of the hallway. Electricity raced through Sanosuke's body, he clenched his teeth to stop himself from screaming. But every bone in his body was hurting him. The electricity was really strong. He knew of a way to stop the lightning, all he had to do was use the seal release of the demon to shroud himself in a shield of lightning around his body to lessen the static discharge. Sanosuke was worried that if he did that, Ai herself would have been shocked. He coudn't bring himself to do it.

Wobbling a couple of steps away from the wall, Sanosuke was heaving. Static danced off his body. Every part of his body screamed in pain. But he wouldn't let go of Ai. "That wasn't that bad" Sanosuke said with a smirk as he trudged his way through the open door of Ai's room and flopped them both on her bed. He just noticed that this was the first time Sanosuke had ever been in a girl's room. It looked really tidy, Sanosuke observed Ai's room from laying on the bed.

Ooookay... so; that was Ai. On the back of some kid he'd never seen. Walking through the halls of the clan's main living quarters. Towards her room. Right. So. What just happened here? Granted; he wasn't one to talk; given he'd basically smuggled Himitsu into his room... but he was being a protector; and there was nothing to worry about with that situation. She was waaaaaaay to young; and he was waaaaaay to old for that. Not a pedophile. At all. Period. End of that story.

This kid... Ai was smart; and talented... but she very much a young sage; new to the outside world. The Tsukino cloistered their children away; made sure they knew everything they needed; but that didn't mean much when it came to the less... how to put this... clean? aspects of life. Or maybe he should say the more carnal aspects? Something like that. Yeah. That shit.

Oh, there was her door. Huh; he hadn't actually planned on coming anywhere near i-... who was he kidding. TIME TO BE A GOOD COUSIN!~

Simple enough trick really. Something the elders would do with the children's quarters; to make sure the slightly older kids where actually adhering to Lights Out rules. Twist a seal here; tap another right above it; foot on the right trigger; move arms out to shoulder width, aaaaaand...

Time to shove his head through the wall.

No, seriously. He basically just melted the rock into nothing, and shoved his head through it.

"HEY KIDS! WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY!?!"

Aaaaand pause for effect.

Moving along...

"Ai. Remember your vows; and remember our rules. Be careful who you bring home... because your elders will tear you a new one if you fuck around.~~~"

Aaaand remove the head whilst cackling; reset the seals; and walk off to bring dinner for Himitsu. Yeah; that was why he was out. Dinner. Now he remembered. Hunger. Awesome.

-Exit-

She had gasped when he ran into the wall, especially because she could tell he had gotten shocked. That... that had to be horrible. Some of the worst things in the world flashed through her mind; everything from it burning him to giving him an outright heart attack. Seeing that those particular things didn't happen; and he seemed otherwise okay she relaxed again.

Upon being deposited on the bed she let go of her hold around his neck and sat herself Indian style. She glanced at the dragon that ran along the room before she was distracted by Raijin's... HEAD?! Holy shit. That.. that wasn't cool. In fact, she jumped, startled. At first, especially with the whole "Wanna see a dead body?" thing she thought he was merely screwing around. Then she listened to what else he had to say and bit her bottom lip, giving a nod before his head disappeared; mostly holding her breath the entire time.

"Oh dear...", she muttered softly.

Getting shocked through many volts of electricity nearly killed him, getting beaten close to death by autonomic training dummies nearly killed him, hell some of his family nearly killed him. But he almost died of fright upon seeing the man stick his head through the wall. Sanosuke's hands turned into fists as he gripped onto the bed with all of his might. He was terrified as he stood there. But then he noticed that he wasn't a ghost and calmed himself down. Listening to the way the man talked to Ai it's obvious that he was probably some kind of overseer. And the fact that he thought that Sanosuke was about to make a move on Ai was obsurd! Though he did have thoughts but they were repressed deeply. Sanosuke was sure of it.

Finally the man disappeared and that allowed Sanosuke to unwind. He saw that Ai was scared herself. It was good that Sanosuke wasn't the only one disturbed by the overseer. For a couple of minutes there was awkward silence until Sanosuke decided he needed to get some life back into this room. "Well Ai you have some pretty weird people in this temple of yours. But I gotta say this room is pretty cool" Sanosuke commented on Ai's room. He tried getting up but he was still facing the after effects of the static charges that went up his body. It drained the energy he had to sit up and made him flop back down on his bed.

"Damn that electric shock took more out of me than I thought" Sanosuke said laughing a bit.

Ai heard Sanosuke's words, but didn't respond. She was too far gone in her own mind; trapped as it were in all of the many thoughts that were racing across her mind. She had seen Raijin bring Himi in; had been there the very night that he had brought her in. So, it couldn't be quite the fact that she had someone in her room that was the problem... perhaps it was something more. This was what her mind was plagued with. Why would Raijin bother wasting his time to pop his head in like that and say something like that to her... Why, indeed. Could there be some underlying meaning to his words? Something that didn't stick out right away. Ah yes, indeed... Ai might be innocent and sometimes naive, but after she began to think about it she understood; she had a male in her room, and she was female. That was very much a not-okay type of thing. And let the mind-fuck begin!~

'I should have left him outside instead of letting him bring me in like that...', came the first thought. 'I shouldn't even have him in my room...' More and more thoughts began to race through her mind and as if she were a zombie she climbed out of the bed where she had previously been sitting and moved over to the desk that still held her sheathed swords. She needed a bit of space, at least enough to clear her thoughts, and let her start thinking more clearly. That little walk to the desk helped, somewhat.

"It tends to do that... actual lightning after all.", she said softly, as she continued to stare at the weapons lying on her desk. She couldn't even remember why they had came back to get them honestly. She just kept mentally scolding herself for being so silly that she allowed a male outsider into this part of the temple; into her room! She was bound to get into trouble for it if he stayed much longer; while she didn't think Raijin would rat her out she didn't know who else might've seen the pair enter the way they had. "I just broke a bunch of rules...", she muttered, loud enough to be heard, but it was more her talking to herself than to him.

Sanosuke watched Ai move across the room to get to her desk and get her swords. Oh yeah that's right, he had originally came here with Ai so she can teach him how to make his own decoravtive swords. At the time he hadn't even thought about the reason why they were going to her room, he was just happy to be with her. Every time he was near her, Sanosuke felt as though his stomach was trying to take flight and escape his body, and his heart would beat so hard that it felt like it was hammering itself out of his chest to escape. At times it was hard for Sanosuke to calm his urges down, but he would somehow do it. Just thinking about how beautiful and graceful Ai looked as she took strides to her desk to get her swords was enough to give Sanosuke's face a small blush on his cheeks. He swatted his blush away mentally so it would slowly die down.

Then he heard Ai's words: "I just broke a bunch of rules...". This made Sanosuke concerned. Was him coming into Ai's home that much of a big deal? Looking at the place that Ai was staying at it was huge and looked so articulate. It definitely beat the refined and always tidy dwelling of Sanosuke's cave that he used to sleep in a competition of most sophisticated. The last thing Sanosuke wanted to do was get Ai in trouble and something about what that guy who popped kept clawing on Sanosuke's brain. If he saw them walk in, many others could have. And that might really land Ai in a heap of trouble. Sanosuke sighed and forced his aching body up from the bed even though every inch of his body screamed at him to sit down. He ignored his body's pleads, he wouldn't stay where he wasn't welcomed after all he can't risk getting Ai in trouble.

Taking one step at a time, Sanosuke fished in his pockets of his overcoat and took out a small doll. Sanosuke placed the doll in Ai's hands. The doll was a bit raggy and had a couple of loose stitches. "That doll was given to me by a little girl from a Kumo village as a thank you gift from getting her doll back. She wanted me to keep it and promised me to come back with it so I can play with her. I want you to have it and give it back to me" Sanosuke explained the reason why he was giving her the doll. Sanosuke cupped his hands gently around Ai's hands that held the doll and looked at her, his blue eyes meeting her own brighter blue eyes. "We can meet at the Durian Tree tomorrow and walk down to the village and give her the doll together. I know it sounds like a crummy first date but it's the only excuse I have to see you again Ai. So how about it?"

Ai turned, facing Sanosuke as he handed her the doll. She stared down at it for a moment, head tilting a bit to the side in curiosity. She listened closely to the little story he told that went along with it and then smiled gently. She looked up from the doll to Sanosuke and nodded. "Okay, we can do that tomorrow... and it doesn't sound crummy at all." She was slightly curious as to why he felt he needed an excuse to see her; she didn't find herself as very interesting; given how 'sheltered' of a life she had; but she wasn't going to question it.

She like Sanosuke, and would take all the friends she could get of course. So the idea of actually having something to look forward to doing tomorrow? Was an excellent one. "I can't wait!", she added softly, but excitedly.

Joy overwhelmed Sanosuke as heard Ai's answer. He really liked Ai and really wanted to see her as many times as possible. Personally Sanosuke wouldn't mind if he stayed with her all night but Ai would probably get in even more trouble with her overseer. It was perfectly clear that if he stayed here much longer, trouble would fine both of them. Reluctantly, Sanosuke resolved himself that he would have to leave now. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then" Sanosuke smiled before he began to walk out of the room being weary not to touch any of the walls. It wasn't too long before Sanosuke found the exit since he was reciting Ai's instructions to her room in reverse in order to get out of the temple and back home.
-Exit Thread-

Ai smiled gently as she watched him walk out of her room. Her lightning blue gaze went to the dragon she had painted long ago on her walls. She stared at it for several minutes, counting the scales as if she were counting the seconds that kept passing. When she finished counting them all - a perfect one-hundred of them - she turned back around to face her desk. She grabbed her swords, strapped them to her back, and walked out of her room, closing the door shut behind her and listening for a moment as all of the seals that locked it clicked back in place. She had caused enough mischief for the day... it was time to get some training done.

-Exit Thread.-