Here Saisei was, looking around the Hot Springs of Konoha, a rather famed location for both foreigners and villagers alike due to its unique ability to allow one to just let all their emotions fade away, and flow out of them as the water encapsulated their person and allowed their minds to wander, which is something the young deaf man was currently doing. Saisei had managed to escape the cluthces of his mother for the day and had found that he had more time now than he usually did. Under normal circumstances, he would have simply left and headed towards the woods outside Konoha to train, but that was only because there was little time for anything else. Today was different, he had the time, and more importantly he had the money for once too, to go and do something he had yet to experience, but had heard, or rather uncovered, various things about. It had been a very long time since Saisei had last had the chance to relax and bathe in warm waters, and boy was he enjoying it.

He had entered the Hot Springs a very ignorant and naive boy. After all, this was his first visit, so he didn't know what to do when the patrons treaterd him like someone who should know what to do, resulting in a very awkward exchange between himself and two naked women, as he had not known at the time where to change or which door was his, something which many a male would have faked to get a glimpse of the two beauties Saisei had had the pleasure of meeting before they both lashed out at him, resulting in two large bruises on his cheeks. It was hard to explain to two frenzied and fuming women that you were deaf, when all they cared about was the fact you were being a massive pervert, even though he wasn't intending on it. But after that he had discovered the right door, undressed and had enter his own bath, happy that currently there was no one else there that he could see, allowing him to simply float around in the water and forget all his troubles, not that he really had much to complain about, but it was always nice to let the water in and around to soothe his aching muscles. As much as he loves training to get stronger, he admitted that he certainly did need this relaxing break, he was just hoping it would stay as relaxing as it currently was.

The hot springs were a new experience for Saisei. He had never been given the chance to soak in a bath bigger than the one in his house, which was a rather small bath that barely fit the large form that was the young Hyuga. He had been used to small baths, almost being trapped and struggling for each ounce of warmth that he was gifted with. His mother was a saver of money, and so she never allowed him the time to truly feel relaxed in the bath, turning the warm water off so as to give Saisei enough time to wash himself, but nowhere near enough time to truly feel free and relaxed, something that he was very much enjoying at this stage in his soak. He had had a shower earlier in the morning, resulting in his being clean as he had entered, allowing him to skip the actual washing of the body before the soak. He hadn't cared much about cleaning himself, that was not his reason for being in the hot springs this afternoon. No, he was here to soak in the springs themselves, and to relax, something he very rarely got the chance to do, and he was enjoying it. But there was one thing that had made him feel both very strange and completely exhilarated, a feeling which he had never experienced by doing something he had never had the chance, or the courage to even attempt, out of fear more than anything else. He dipped his head back into the water, completely submerging himself and allowing the water to flow through every pore in his body, into his open eyes, despite the pain it brought, up his nose and, most importantly of all, into his ears. A deaf man such as Saisei had never experienced much when it came to his ears, yes he knew they were there, even if they didn't work and he couldn't understand a single thing anyone said, but he could still feel them, and the feeling he was given when the water flowed into his ears was something else. It had always scared him, he had never really understood why, but he had always been scared of anything entering his ears. In hindsight, whatever happened was hardly going to make things any worse for him, but that wasn't the reason why. He was scared because of a theory he had come up with as a child.

Saisei had always wondered why he had been cursed with deafness, even from a young age, and he had tried to come up with potential reasons why, the most prevailing theory being that something had been stuck in his ears, blocking any sound to travel through them. As a child, that had made the most sense to him, and even as an adult, when he had researched and understood why his ears were the way they were, that childhood fear still stayed with him. Having water flow through his ears hadn't scared him because they would his his hearing worse, but he was worried they would make it better. It terrified him to think that the water could dislodge whatever was blocking his ears, and restore his hearing, making him just an ordinary man. Tears flooded his eyes as he fell into the water, his hair being guided by the currents over his face, as the water flowed into his ears. He was so happy to experience this, but have it not change him. He was starting to realise, at this very moment, that he truly loved who he was, and never wanted anything to change.

At that moment he resurfaced, not for lack of oxygen in his lungs but rather because he wished to feel the fresh air on his face again. Although it had literally only been a few seconds, he rose from the water a different man that the one who had fallen in. He felt more powerful, but not physically, but emotionally and mentally, and it was in that moment that he noticed another man had entered the hot springs, a man with as close to the same colour of hair to Saisei as the young Hyuga had ever seen. His was a light orange, but everyone else Saisei had met thus far had had either hair as black as night, or as white as fresh snow, no one had yet to have even a dash of colour in their hair until now, as the strawberry blond haired man approached, obviously hoping to start some kind of interaction, at this point clearly unaware that he was trying to get a deaf man to initiate conversation, so he was greeted with a friendly smile and a wave. Behind that smile, however, the young Hyuga was frantically trying to work out how he was going to make this work. He was completely naked surrounded by water, and so had no means whatsoever of writing out any responses. All he could do now was hope that the man across from him didn't ask anything too complicated.

"How are you feeling?"

Shit. That was the first thought that entered the young Hyuga's mind as he was asked the question. It was a relatively easy question to answer without words or speaking in any way, he could do it with actions if need be, but he had always felt that questions such as those required more in depth answers than what Saisei was capable of. His shoulders sagged for a moment, as he cursed under his breath at this man who had appeared and ruined Saisei's otherwise great mood. He had just come to the realisation that he was happy in his skin, and happy with who he was, despite his inability to hear or speak the common tongue of mankind, and then here came a man who, even though he didn't realise he was doing it, was completely ruining that revelation by oh so kindly reminding Saisei of who he was, and of what he couldn't do, what he would never be able to do. His entire day had now been ruined, and he was no longer feeling as relaxed as he was just two minutes before. He studied the man before him, even though to call him a man was a stretch, the male standing in the water was barely old enough to be a man, having to still be in his teenage years, and clearly not as physically defined as Saisei himself was. Although, that was to be expected. There were few men, ninja or civilian, who could rival Saisei when it came to the strength and muscle which knotted his entire body, but that was of course with reasons. Saisei had been bullied from a young age, both because of his heritage -his father attempting assassination of the clan head before disappearing, assumedly now dead- and also because of his disability: his deafness. The adults treated him poorly for the former, his peers for the latter at the Academy. He had been weaker in the eyes of everyone he had known, and so he had needed to prove them wrong from a very early age. If he hadn't proved them wrong, if Saisei had bought into their rage and bullshit, he would've turned into a very different man from who he was, if he had even let himself live to the age he was now. Here he now was, 23 years of age, with a body to rival champions of stories and gods of war, much more powerful than many his age, and certainly stronger than all of his peers and clan members if purely in terms of physical strength.

Saisei blinked for a moment, completely forgetting where he was, with a malicious grin on his face as he thought about having proved so many wrong and from withstanding and overcoming all the obstacles his childhood had presented him with, reminding himself of how strong he was as person, but not realising that the orange haired man was still standing directly in front of him, still awaiting an answer to his previous question of how Saisei was. Well, that was now an amusing question since, within the past few seconds since having been asked that question, Saisei had gone through a phase of happiness, then anger and resentment, now resting at amusement and a sense of power. Even if the young Hyuga was capable of speech, he had no idea how'd he'd have been able to convey all of that, so he opted for a smile and raised his thumbs, trying to convey that he was good, without much else needed. After all, it's not like he could do anything else. Sure, the boy wasn't that strong, and Saisei could probably overpower him if they ended up fighting in the hot springs but, considering the location and openness of the entire area, not to mention the purpose of the place and the fact that the two men were utterly nude, Saisei didn't really expect a fight to begin between the two. Although, Saisei didn't really know what was going to happen, he had never been to a Hot Springs, and didn't know what groups of people did in them, since he had planned to be alone when first entering. Regardless, he decided he might as well try and keep the conversation going as much as he could, so he raised an eyebrow and pointed directly at the boy in front of him, trying to convey to him the same question that he had just asked. It certainly was tiring trying to be conversational when all you wanted to do was relax in the hot waters that Konoha had to offer. The lack of hearing and of the ability to speak were also minor inconviniences in this situation too, especially since there were no ways for Saisei to write should his gestures prove too little to talk with. Oh well, he was content to 'cross that bridge when he came to it' as the phrase went. Saisei wasn't a huge planner in these kinds of situations, he was content just to go with the flow, pun intended.