DM

Between the fighting going down and the heated words being exchanged Jun is left to play with the cat. She's successfully shut out the arguing in favor of the tiny world she's constructed between herself, the cat, and her dog. She's somehow taught the cat how to balance on top of Houki's head, and is in the process of teaching it how to stand up on its back paws. Houki looks rather irritated about the whole mess, but doesn't complain too much since Jun had asked it of him.

---

Yousuke finds Mako and Koji arguing in the forest. The Hyuuga girl is physically blocking Koji's forward advance, and the Uchiha leaf-nin is on the verge of physically shoving her out of the way. "Move out of my way", Koji shouts, "or I'll move you."

Mako holds her arms out in front of the boy, and prevents him from just running past. She seems to glare at the Uchiha, but his actions back at the makeshift camp wouldn't be reason enough for her to be angry. "Koji. Koji! Think about this. If you run off then I'll have to stay with you, and Jun will be all by herself. Do you want that?"

Koji growls. "That's low. But Jun's got Houki to take care of her. Now move!" Koji tries to shove Mako, but she's physically stronger and agile enough to retain her footing. Koji only succeeds in wasting energy, but he does gain a bit of ground against the Hyuuga wall.

"Even Houki can't do anything if he's surrounded by enemies." Mako retorts immediately, but Koji won't have any of it. He tries to shove Mako again, but she doesn't budge at all this time.

"You..." Koji clicks his tongue, then turns around. He seems to have given up getting past her, but doesn't make any move to return to the group. "I don't need this, and I don't need you." Mako looks a bit hurt at that, but steels her resolve before Koji sees the effect his words have. The Uchiha carries on. "Go back and watch her. I'll be fine on my own."

"No." "Yes!" "No!"

Koji summons all his anger and strength to shove Mako one final time, and the Hyuuga girl loses her balance. She lands hard on her rear, and yelps at the sudden fall. Koji just glares down at her, but slowly comes to the realization that he's pushing around his teammate. He lets out a disgusted grunt at his own actions, then just starts walking past Mako. "Go back. Let me go." Mako just sits there and doesn't try to stop him anymore.