[ml1201]

"Jealous? Of her sisters? Her sisters are married and have children, which Yusa has tried to interact with but because she doesn't understand how vulnerable children are to getting hurt she ends up isolating herself from them usually. But if you think she was hiding those feelings than fine. Have her come back here and explain to the entire village why it was she wants to leave, this way it can be settled once and for all. If she does voice what she truly wants then I won't stop her." With that he stands and leaves the room, going into a side room. The two ninjas standing guard don't move however and keep an eye on Akira as they glare at him.

"That's the closest you'll probably get to yielding to you. Trying to get him to move is like trying to make a mountain bow to you." The elder stops her tapping, which was a sign of frustration towards the head's antics. "Come with me, its best you leave for now. Though if you don't make her come back in the morning somehow I'll find a way to do so..."

[CycloneKira]

Akira bows his head as Yusa's father leaves. Obeying the elder, he follows her out of the house, bows to her while thanking her and leaves the village. He looks at the sky; it is almost daybreak. He'll have to hurry, Yusa might worry if she doesn't see him in the morning.

He dashes through the trees, reaching the room and entering through the window. He is relieved to see that Yusa is still sleeping. He himself goes to sleep for two hours, so that he can get some rest before asking Yusa to go back in the morning.

[ml1201]

At some time in the morning Yusa finally awakens, looking around groggily. She's still depressed from the night before, so she just sits there while staring at the floor. She does notice that Akira is there, but doesn't say anything to him. After a time she finally gets up and starts straightening things up and getting one of her new pairs of clothing that Akira had gotten her to wear. It was a simple kimono that most people around here would wear, nice looking but made for work.

[CycloneKira]

Akira wakes up shortly after Yusa does. As he watches her pick out what to wear, he wonders how he should tell her what he did the night before. He gets up from the bed and smiles. "Good morning," he wishes her.

"Yusa, I need to tell you something," he says, his expression a little more serious. "I went to see your father last night." He waits for her reaction to this piece of news as he sits there.

[ml1201]

She mumbles a good morning to him, barely audible over the sounds of activity outside and downstairs. Upon hearing him say he went to see her father she freezes, slowly turning to look at him.

"Why would you have done something like that?! He's loyal to the extreme to these lands and will kill anyone he thinks will be a problem, which is why there was a mark placed on you with hardly any information! He could have had you killed!"

[CycloneKira]

Akira hears Yusa out and finally speaks. "I know, Yusa," he says in a pacifying tone. "But the way I see it, he was trying it anyway, sending all those ninjas after us. I wanted to ask him to stop, that's all." He shrugs.

"But that's not the important part," he says. "Your father wants you to come back to the village and tell him yourself about why you wanted to leave. He said that if I brought you back and you voiced what you truly want, he would let you do as you wish." He paused for a moment.

"Will you do that, Yusa?"

[ml1201]

She groans when she hears what her father wants, "I'm betting he's probably thinking you brain washed me or something into saying that. But knowing my father he will keep his word, he's not one to go back on it. Just like he hasn't gone back on the promise he made to my mother..." Silent for a moment she thinks to herself then shakes her head.

"Seems like my only opinion to at least get my clan off our backs is to do so. I never really talked much to anyone to be honest. I guess I only talked when it was necessary and not because I wanted to. Alright, I'll go back but I have one request of you. No matter what happens just stay by the gate. Alright?"

[CycloneKira]

Akira blinks for a minute as he hears Yusa mention something about a promise made to her mother. Not entirely sure if he should ask her about it, he just listens to her as she makes her decision. He blinks at her last request. Stay by the gate?

He nods, albeit reluctantly. "All right," he says. He's really not comfortable about letting her go alone in there but he has to now that she's asked him to.

[ml1201]

Nodding, she quickly get changed behind the screen, packing away her dirty clothes to be washed later on. Then she quickly gets freshened up, just before the merchant comes knocking on their door.

"I want an explanation from you two! What the hell was going on last night?!"

[CycloneKira]

Akira sighs a little and goes to open the door for the merchant. Feeling slightly miffed that the man is coming and asking them the same question over and over again, he decides to silence the man for good. He keeps his face neutral as he goes to open the door.

"I am really sorry about last night," he says. "We were honestly not trying to burn down your shop. It was a complete accident."

He goes on to tell the merchant about how some children in the last village they had been to had somehow gotten hold of their bags and slipped some smoke bombs into it, which fell out of the bags when they were opened.

"They were probably the children of ninjas," he says, a smile on his face, hoping the merchant will buy it.

[ml1201]

The merchant grumbles something about how the ninjas need to keep a better eye on their kids as he stomps away. Yusa nods in thanks to Akira since it was her fault all of this happened.

"Do you want to get something to eat first before we leave or just head back there right now? If we travel through the trees we should at least be able to make it before noon since it will be a more direct path." She slings her bag on her shoulder as she makes her way to the door.

[CycloneKira]

Akira smiles at her. "No point going to do something that important if you go there hungry," he says. "We'll eat first and then go. Especially for you, since you need to keep your strength up. You'll need a lot of confidence to speak to your father. Trust me, I've been there."

He remembers how nervous he had been when he had to go talk to his father about leaving, and wonders if he should tell her about it. Then he decides that she will ask if she wants to know.

[ml1201]

Nodding her head in agreement she heads downstairs with him, seeing the merchant glaring at them from behind his counter.

"Sorry for any inconvenience that we caused, have a good day." She bows her head slightly, then follow Akria out. "So where did you want to eat at?" She tries to ignore the looks they're both getting again, a bit unnerved how people are reacting to them.

[CycloneKira]

Akira follows after her, bowing and thanking the merchant for his hospitality. Slightly unnerved by the stares again, he tries to answer her. He keeps his face neutral despite his irritation at the people around them.

"We could go to get some ramen from the place we went to yesterday," he says. "Or we could go somewhere else, if you know a good place. I honestly haven't been to this town before, so I suppose you would know it better than I do." After all, she had mentioned that she'd been here on a mission before.

[ml1201]

"Well, I stopped through here before, though I didn't have a good chance to actually look around. I do know that just out of town further down the road there is another hut that serves ramen and a few other dishes. Though having ramen from the same place again doesn't sound bad either. Hm...the place from last night is closer so it's pretty better to just go there." She notices that the looks they keep getting is also unnerving to him as well. Being ninjas they weren't used to such attention, even more so for her because even back in her own village the guys didn't look at her like that.

[CycloneKira]

Noticing that the stares that they're getting are making her feel weird too, he leans closer to her. "I think we should quicken our pace a little bit," he says in a low voice in her ear. "What do you say?"

They walk a little faster and when they finally reach the ramen shop, Akira is so relieved that he lets out a huge sigh. He turns to Yusa, a huge smile on his face. "People should really learn to mind their own business," he says. "So, sit down, and we'll order."