Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Princess Tracy]

Heels? She's running in heels? In that case, with that discomfort, it's clearly a choice, likely out of desperation, to run. If she has something to fear of me, then.... then I should give chase, manners be damned. Hoping she wasn't taking teh bait into a trap, Amon swings her cane underarm as she gives chase down the stairs, relying on her lower frame and sturdy worker boots to serve her better than any old heels.

Spoiler

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Amon's not making much effort to hide, so I won't even roll for that

I guess if she somehow tries to hide (which will at least be impossible while running) here's my perception skills.
Listen (1d20-1)[4]
Spot (1d20)[5]

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Amon hurtles down the stairs as the sound of whoever is climbing up gets louder. She wheels around the corner in the stairs and suddenly...!

WHAM!

She runs face-first into a soft warmth. For the moment the only thing Amon can see is plain white linen contoured around a familiar bust. As she steps back, she starts to take in the sight in front of her. An adult woman with an ample bosom standes on the steps in jet black heels, a wearing black uniform with a matching black frilly skirt. Her pristine apron, as white as snow, has a small wet stain from Amon's sweat. Luckily the woman has a bright red-white ribbon tied around her neck, and it would easily obscure any stain by just being readjusted. She looks down on at the young genin with crystalline purple eyes obscured by slightly askew thin-rimmed glasses. A frilly maid's hat rests atop her head utterly undisturbed by Amon's sudden and violent appearance.

Spoiler

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Cybele adjusts her glasses. "You shouldn't run down the stairs you know. It's dangerous. For others, and yourself." The older-looking woman puts a powerful emphasis on that last word. She gives the young genin a surprised look. The realization that Amon had been running inside finally dawns on her. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's headfirst running lands her smack dab in Cybele's mounds. Freezing in shock for a second, she takes a moment in her teacher's presence to realise her condition. By the time she backs off, even she's glowing bright red - for all Amon's talk, for all her knowledge, even she can't help get a bit flustered being so close to Cybele's intimate parts like this. Were this any other time, I would press teh advantage instead of being so hopelessly stricken, she thinks, remorsefully, as she wipes some drool form her lips and forces herself tomeet Cybele's gaze.

"Uh, yeah, th-there was this lady and I think I said too much to her and I'm not sure if she's one of our ninjas, and when i approached her again she ran, and I think she may have been the one that used some weird genjutsu on me, so I chased her." After bouncing back from the purple haired beauty, she tries to get her bearings again. "Ah where did she go... Help me out here, would you? She looked kind of middle aged and wore a jumpsuit of some sort and I think she had heels," she requests, ready to dash off at the first sign of the woman.

Spoiler

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Concentrate to sense chakra in the immediate area.
Spot (1d20)[16]
Listen (1d20-1)[5]

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Cybele raises an eyebrow at that. "I didn't see anyone when I was coming upstairs, nor did I see anyone in the hall. If you're chasing someone, then she didn't come this way."

The older-looking woman puts her hand on her chin and thinks for a moment. "And frankly... Middle-aged woman in a jumpsuit and heels? That sounds like something out of a bad detective movie. It'd be really hard to blend in wearing that."

Amon's senses--for chakra and other mundane material--find nothing. Even Cybele's chakra is muted and suppressed.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon checks Cybele's shoes on a hunch. "Maybe... my senses aren't very sharp - maybe I got confused? But there was running in heels, I know it. If this is a genjutsu, it's screwing with me in the weirest ways - if a jounin is the one who's screwing with me, who knows where the technique ends. No, that's ridiculous, I can trust my senses at least a little." Amon is clearly breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating until she takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I know you like your privacy, Cybele-chan, but can you uncover your chakra please, if only for a second? There's too many unaccounted factors - I can't concentrate like this." She did say to be suspicious of everyone, including her; even if I have no intention of living by that, I'm sure that means she at least won't be offended if I have to confirm i can trust her this once, right? Ugh, this is why i don't want to live by that advice though - i hate being suspicious of everyone and having to question the authenticity of everything, it just takes up too much space in my brain - I don't know how Cybele does it and maintains enough of her brain to remember to breathe!

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Cybele just looks toward the stairwell banister, raises her glasses, and really looks at it. A gray spot spreads out from the wood where her eyes are focused. It consumes and destroys the precious wood as her chakra violently converts it from organic material to stone. She then replaces her glasses, looks back toward Amon, and speaks in a low and quiet tone.

"I am who I am, because there's no way that test could be replicated by anyone outside my immediate family. Now, do you mind telling me what's going on?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon takes a mental note taht one apparently doesn't have to meet Cybele's gaze for her technique to affect them. Perhaps the wood having no eyes slowed the process down some, at least. Turning back to Cybele, Amon starts trying to explain, but doesn't get more than a few syllables of mumbling in before stopping as she realises she has only hearsay and speculation over a minor point to suggest anything is amiss. Would Cybele think she was going crazy? She stumbles back, collapsing against the wall to suppot herself as she cups her eyes in her palm. "I... I don't know," she says weakly, the three words, she always feels her most pathetic at saying. Merely uttering them makes her feel so childish and lonely, so trapped, that her unseen eyes start welling up and her voice quivers. "C-cybele, it feels like I'm going crazy... My memory seems off, like really off. No one has ever even heard of my teacher at the Academy when I went there and, I...." After stating her most concrete concern, she descends into incomprehensible muttering; from her many moaning utterances it is clear other factors are on her mind, many dark suspicions that she can't voice. Forcing herself to concentrate for a second, she produces the card, dropping it to the ground between her and Cybele. "Th-the only person I've met who might know genjutsu is Kaede, but why would he want to make me falsely remember Yasunari...? Having forced herself to give one last assessment, she breaks down, feeling too confused to think her words are worth hearing as she finaly slouches, sitting on teh ground with her back to the wall as she buries her head in her knees and quietly weeps.

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Cybele softens substantially as Amon starts crying. A soft hand settles on Amon's shoudler as Cybele tries to reassure the girl. She kneels down to pick up the card, since she didn't wanna flash anyone behind her by bending over. She bristles when Kaede is mentioned, but soothes herself mentally. Cybele busies herself by looking over the card rather than run the risk of saying something upsetting. She finally speaks once she's calmed down. "This is a Wild Card. Haven't seen one of those in awhile." Cybele explains what Amon already knew about the card.

If Amon's unable to respond, then Cybele just quietly pets the girl's head and waits. Once Amon's finished she explains things from her perspective. "It seems like you're having a problem with stress, or an adverse reaction to being on soldier pills. Maybe you should just go rest for the rest of today. But if you want to ask Kaede-sama if he's doing it, then you can come with me. I'm here to bail him out after all." It seems that rumor Amon heard while wandering around the city was true. Kaede had been arrested for something, but if asked Cybele doesn't reveal why. Instead, the jounin simply glares over her shoulder and mutters angrily at no one in particular.

The older-looking woman offers a hand to help Amon up regardless of whether Amon goes home or follows Cybele. She provides the young girl with a small piece of hard candy, then starts heading upstairs.

[Princess Tracy]

As Cybele pats Amon's head, she completely forgets Cybele is her own age as she accepts the small kindness, slowly calming down. "I... I wanted to train for today so I would be more useful," she says weakly when resting for the remainder of the day is suggested, though she lacks her usual conviction. After a while, she stops crying, the touch of Cybele enough of a base for her to ground herself. She was probably right, just bad pills, right...? But why would soldier ill abuse give her a memory that isn't her own?

"Kaede was arrested? I just saw him a few hours ago..." Amon evaluates as she's offered Cybele's hand to help her up. She can't help herself as she falls weak at the knees - as Cybele helps her up, she falls a little forward, hugging Cybele tightly, ruffling up her costume a bit but not caring or getting the least bit embarrassed as she hums in recovery. "I... I don't want to be alone right now. I think that would only make me worse, and my family has gone on holiday without me as punishment for becoming a ninja again, so there's no one at home. I'll come with you. I'm sorry to make my problems your's, sensei... You're so soft like this.."

When she's offered the candy, she obligingly takes it, sucking on the thing and appreciating the sugar to raise her spirits a little. With CYbele at her side, she nearly forgets to pocket the wild tag. She goes with Cybele to bail Kaede, holding her hand all the way - through gloves if need be, but refusing to feel isolated at that point. As she sucks on the candy, a thought occurs once she's calmed down - she remembers she'd grabbed a present for Cybele back in her room, as per Kaede's advice about cute things. She reaches inside her backpack, pulling out something grey-pink and fuzzy. Two ears droop down form is head, a scrunched up nose, and button eyes - one of which dangles, hanging by a threadfrom its face. Amon looks annoyed at the slight imperfection, feeling around at her toolbelt and failing to find the appropriate tools to fix it. It's an old bunny plushie, a little worn form many years of use; it's stitched up rather masterfully in several places, mostly under its surprisingly thick fur. It smells quiet strongly of Amon. Despite it's flaws and artificial recoveries, it hangs in well, and is quite adorable with a constant little smile on its face. It may remind one of Amon in a way. She hands it to Cybele. "You gave me something, so here. Sorry it's not new... I've fixed this so many times, I wasn't always as good with my hands as I am now, you know? Her name is Usagi the Brave. My little sister and I would take her to hug tightly whenever one of us was too afraid to sleep. Aiko said she didn't need Usagi any more, because now she has me to look after her, so Usagi hasn't been on teh front lines recently."

Amon holds up the rabbit to her face, using it like a puppet (quite masterfully too, with only one hand yet complete limb control) and says in a silly, high pitched voice "Usagi the Brave, reporting for duty, Cybele-chan! We'll be best friends and look out for each other, won't we?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

As the genin gets closer she discovers several things about the older-looking woman. Cybele's hair smells of strawberries, her uniform's rather starchy, and smells lightly of brown sugar and baking. Cybele's hands are gloved in stiff leather gloves that feel rough in Amon's hands, but her warm and soft grip keeps Amon firmly in tow. The jounin makes no effort to withdraw her hand, nor does she break distance with Amon. She allows Amon to complain to her, and voices no complaint or comment. It seems that Cybele is finally starting to relax as the woman leads both of them upstairs. The duo pass around the corner, past a familiar bench, and toward a big wooden door with a large glass window in it. The word "CHIEF" is scrawled across the glass.

When Amon offers the rabbit she gets no response from Cybele's back. Even as the genin goes on about her family, the rabbit, and it's place in her history Cybele only responds with the cold crushing indifference of a woman on a mission. The woman's purple eyes remain fixated on the door ahead, and a darkness seeps from within her. The warm smell of strawberries fades away to the smell of blood, her grip becomes harsh, and the jounin's aura exudes violence. Her anger seems almost tangible as its strength pushes away any attempt at getting closer. She stops just in front of the door, reaches for the handle, and pulls it open.

In an instant Cybele changes again. From unrestrained bloodlust and violence to... nothing. Everything is instantly suppressed, and a thin smile spreads across her lips.

A massive brown desk dominates the center of the room. Two chairs--one occupied by a familiar older man whose hands are tied behind his back--sit on one side of aged wood. On the other rests a tall broad-shouldered man who could be Houshi's father if not for the man's graying beard and stark white hair. He glares at Cybele, but his eyes noticeably soften when his gaze shifts to Amon. He gets even softer when the old man spots Cybele and Amon holding hands. He frowns deeply, then looks to some paperwork on his desk. The man seems to be wearing the traditional Soragakure ninja outfit--including the battle vest. His aura and chakra are both one of solid and unshakable stone.

Kaede looks toward Cybele, then down to Amon, before finally cracking a smile. Amon can see that he's been in a fistfight recently, and the swelling bruise on his face will turn into a nice shiner soon. "It looks like my maid's here, and she brought my daughter. If you don't mind, I'd like to get things moving along."

The older man grunts, and obviously wants to say more. However, he bites back his words, gets up, pulls out a knife, and cuts Kaede's restraints off. Cybele's smile never moves, but her death-grip on Amon's hand tightens when the man produces his knife. The sheer effort necessary to not make a move keeps Cybele rooted in place, but her face doesn't move. The older ninja just waves Kaede off with a curt warning to not do anything like this again.

---

As they get into the hallway Cybele finally releases Amon's hand, and immediately she starts fussing over Kaede. She checks his clothing, face, arms, legs, and constantly maintains physical contact with him. Naturally she has to keep her gloves on, but she fusses over Kaede as if she were a mother fussing over her child. She takes a scolding tone of voice, and wiggles a finger at Kaede.

"Kaede-sama! You know better than that. We don't belong here, so you shouldn't get involved in politics like this! Especially if you're going to be picking a fight!"

Kaede just takes the scolding with a smile on his face. Halfway through he rests a hand on Amon's head, then asks the young genin a question. "So how did you get here? I knew the Mother Hen would run along the moment I was in trouble, but you too?" He makes light of the situation in hopes of getting a laugh from Amon, but that just makes Cybele angrier.

"Kaede-sama! Don't think you can just ignore me!"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon is a bit annoyed when Cybele ignores her for the sake of her objective, but at least understands her attitude well enough - it is Kaede after all and he's in trouble. That was part of teh very reason she thought to lift her spirits with Usagi actually, but she decides to leave it for another time as she packs the rabbit away, wondering if Cybele even heard her. She wonders why she smells teh way she does, but definitely decides against asking that. Maybe she was baking. Maybe she actually is Kaede's maid.

In the office, Amon catches on pretty quick as to what is going on, acting a little more demure and silent. As Kaede calls her his daughter, she remarks "What happened to you, daddy?" but otherwise tries to appear silent and a little shorter than she actually is to better draw less attention to herself.

In the hallway, Amon just stands, looking quite pleased as Cybele fusses. It was nice to see her get so impassioned over something, letting her do her thing. As Kaede asks her his question, she goes to answer before Cybele's demand that he pay attention to her cuts her off. She flashes a smirk at Cybele. "Cybele-chan, Uchiha-san is a grown man. He's wise enough to know all that you might tell him." She turns to Kaede, waving her finger at him "Although, Uchiha-san, what a terrible man you are," she says jokingly. "I told you Cybele needed her bedrest, and you go and get her this overexcited by making her worry about you by getting yourself in such a stupid situation. For shame - you brought her attentions on yourself, really."

Amon's smile fades a little as she answers his question. "I was chasing someone because they ran and I ran into Cybele, to put it simply. Hey, how much do you know about genjutsu? I'm either under the influence of something or I've incurred some sort of brain damage." She brightens up a bit as she nudges her head towards Cybele. "I got pretty lost and sad feeling because I didn't think i had anyone to turn to, so Cybele comforted me. Don't take this girl for granted, Uchiha-san. It was certainly nice to feel some of the maternal attention she might otherwise reserve for those closer to her, such as yourself. But my, she was so worried about you she didn't seem to even notice Usagi the Brave!"

She hesitates to darken the conversation, to put her burdens on others when they OBVIOUSLY have enough on their hands, but realising she has no other avenue to explore, she does so anyway as she mutters to the floor. "I seem to remember someone that no one else does and of whom there is no record as of today. Someone I remember by the name of Yasunari. Cybele said it may have been some sort of soldier pill sickness, but if it was a genjutsu or something I wanted to see if there was just something wrong with me. I've been so paranodi all day because of that that it took me a second to even let myself believe I was talking to Cybele earlier. I feel better being around other people now though. There's no one at home right now, so...."

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Cybele looks at Amon with a mix of surprise and curiosity on her face. She's ready to ask how Amon had gotten there, but her memory of the past few minutes returns just in time. "Kaede-sama may be a grown man, but he rarely acts like it." Kaede grins at that, and Cybele hammers the point home. "If anything, you would think he was just a child whose only way of amusing himself is causing me no end of trouble!" With that she jabs a gloved finger into Kaede's forehead, but the Uchiha's grin only widens. He's clearly enjoying himself far too much, and that only incites Cybele further. Both her hands shoot out as she grabs the older man's cheeks. Kaede's face deforms slightly as she pulls firmly on his cheeks, and it doesn't stop until the older man cries uncle.

"Haha.. Okay, okay.. I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Ow. That part's still tender you know?" Kaede rubs his cheek as he speaks. He turns his attention to Amon, and leaves Cybele to stew in her anger. "Well, as soon as she got home this young lady decided it would be prudent to start cleaning up. Then that led to her cooking, which led to her cleaning more, and she'd went full maid mode before I could get a word in edge-wise." Cybele finally looks down at herself, realizes she's dressed in her uniform, and blushes intensely. Kaede just laughs it off an continues on. "And please, call me Kaede. I'm... not exactly a fan of my last name."

Kaede listens intently as Amon tells her story, and when asked about genjutsu he becomes much more stoic. Unlike Cybele, his emotions are hidden quite firmly beneath a bland mask of stoicism. He carefully, almost clinically, examines Amon for any sign of chakra disturbance. He places one hand under her chin, raises her head to look him in the eye, then starts the examination. One blink is all it takes for his eyes to go from green to blood red. Three tomoe spiral out from the center of his pupil. For a scant few seconds Amon drifts on the sea of blood that flows forth from his eyes. His chakra feels as if Amon had been standing in the noon day sun. Warmth and a soft wind envelops the young girl. The warmth of his chakra almost send the young genin off to sleep.

But then it's gone. Kaede breaks contact, and his eyes are back to green.

"There's no genjutsu there, as far as I can tell." Kaede says while pulling on a set of gloves for himself. They're a tight black number, and both are soon hugging his hands closely.

"Kaede-sama! You know not to show your~" Cybele's voice drifts off into the ether as Kaede's gloved hand finds the top of her head. He pats Cybele on the head, and the purple-haired jounin begins to blush. Soon he's stroking her hair like he was petting a dog, and her blush has come to dominate her entire face. A deep and unrestrained smile spreads across Cybele's face. The jounin's knees weaken, but Kaede continues his careful touch.

"Yasunari", Kaede says to himself while stroking Cybele's hair, "Yasunari... No, sorry, but I don't recognize the name."

"K-kaede-shama..." Cybele's starting to slur her words, and Kaede finally stops. She droops to the floor, knees too wobbly to remain standing, and looks like a wind up doll that lost all its power. Kaede gives her a concerned look, but shakes his head and continues on from before.

"L-like I was saying... I don't know any Yasunari, but we've only been here for two years. If you want to stay with Cybele and I, then I have no objections. In fact, we could gather your whole team and make a day of it."

Unless Amon has any objections Kaede waits for Cybele to fully wake up, then sends her out to find Yousuke while he and Amon go off to find Houshi.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon is fascinated with the display of his dojutsu - she wasn't sure that she'd seen anything quite like it before. It was very different from Cybele's. Soothing really, his chakra was. She's at once disappointed and yet relieved at his evaluation. "That's the Sh-... uh, that's your bloodline, huh? DOn't worry, I won't tell if you don't. Well, Cybele-chan, looks liek you were right. It probably was soldier pill sickness. Although i wonder where I lifted the name from - complex things such as names are not in the habit of popping into the brain with such conviction." She realises once she finishes talking that Cebele is much too distracted to be listening to her. She giggles menacingly as her jounin falls to the floor. She was starting to get it - Cybele didn't just feel affection for Kaede. No, no, that look was lust, right there. Cataloguing that thiought for later and thoroughly cheered up by the display, she smiles. "Thank you, Kaede. I was hoping my distress was one dispelling of a technique away from being banished, but narrowing down the possibilities and your..." she can't help steal a distracted glance at the flustered Cybele "...attention have lifted my spirit a bit. I shall look into the name at the library ."

At the idea of staying with them, she wonders if they mean spending the day with them or staying over with them until her parents are back. Both sound appealing, but before she can answer 'yes' he mentions bringing along the rest of the group. That means Yousuke will be there. Remembering a promise from earlier that day, she readies herself to try and make amends with Yousuke. It's teh right thing to do, after all. She nods. "Cool. But didn't you reject my offer of spending time this mroning on account of having too tend to your own team? What on earth mischief did you get yourself into in these few short hours that got your maid and my patient to have to worry about you so much?"

Hmm... perhaps if I exert cuteness on Cybele's brain, she'll recover from overload of... whatever one would describe that as. Amon decides to try and coax Cybele back to the land of the attentive as she bends down, crouching to her head height as she produduces the same 1 and a half-eyed rabbit from before. She makes a symbol of 'okay' towards Kaede behind her back as she brings Usagi to her face, controlling it masterfully as ever. "Does Cybele-chan need help getting up? I, Usagi the Brave, will fix you up! Rejuvenating Glomp no Jutsu!" With that, she pushes the rabbit doll towards Cybele, having it rest atop atop her chest, it's blunt little paws hanging lazily onto her as it's inanimate face beams up to her adorably, bringing with it the faint yet distinct smell of Amon through the years as its various cuts and tears, patched up to varying degrees of quality, and its dangling eye do nothing to deter its joy at its new owner. "Kaede said it would be good if we were friends."

Amon agrees to Kaede's conditions, curious as to how Houshi is doing. "I don't know where to find him though - I didn't think to ask his address."

[Bad Situation]

Finished with their training, Yousuke bows low and leaves to wash himself without another word. Training always left him in a pleasant mood and his earlier defeatism was likely a result of his body going into withdrawl. He had never gone more than a day without training, and the exhaustion from his meeting combined with their pell mell mission had only delayed his training an additional day or so. Another day of training was another day closer to the Roukanken, each step bringing him closer to the imagined backside of his mother. Would she be proud of him? Would she even care?

Dispelling the worrisome thoughts from his head, Yousuke heads into the washroom and exits looking a great deal cleaner. He wrestles on a clean pair of clothing, willing the soreness in his body away, and prepares to depart into town. Not in the mood for sweets, Yousuke decides to pay the shopping district a visit.

But before he can leave, he first finds his grandfather. With a respectful bow he asks, "I will soon be leaving for town grandfather, but before I leave is there anything I might assist you with?"

[zeone3000]

Houshi's lit up with suprise, "So wait, you're like me then maybe? Or were you shorter when you were younger?"

He shoots a glare down at the furball, "You're not even participating. Why do you care? Jealous?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Houshi

An eyebrow raises on the big jounin as he stops once more to talk to Houshi. "What do you mean "like you"? And yes, I grew up like everybody else. I didn't spring fully formed from the earth or anything."

The little girl just smiles at Houshi's glare. "Ryu-sensei, your girlfriend wants to beat me up. She's so scary!"

The teacher looks at both genin in turn. "Stop it. Both of you. Antagonizing your allies is pointless."

Yousuke

Youki's still swinging his sword in the back. He stops once Yousuke returns, and bows back. Not as a subordinate, but as one swordsman to another one. "Yes, grandson, there is something you can help me with." A bright smile spreads across the older man smiles. "Find me a nice looking girl, please."

[Princess Tracy]

En route to finding Houshi, Amon tells Kaede of her odd encounter with the woman near Central. If he doesn't inquire particularly much, she asks him, if he didn't already answer, "So what were you in for? Cybele mentioned something about politics. You didn't, like, punch Sonia the Deathless in the head while arguing over, oh, let's say - Cybele's eligibility as my teacher, her general disliking of you, etc. - did you?"

[zeone3000]

Houshi sighs, "Tell that to Amon and Yousuke... Anyway, fine but that doesn't change the fact that she really wasn't doing anything but standing there."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke rolled his eyes yet again at his grandfather's antics, it was a wonder his eyes had not fallen out yet, having lived with the man for so long. Youki certainly was lecherous for a man who all but revered his deceased wife's memory. Taking the jokingly made request in stride, Yousuke replies in his typical clipped manner, "Hm? I believe you expressed a desire for great-grandchildren, not in fact, another son or daughter. What would grandmother think if she saw you like this?"

Despite his practice with stoicism, a miniscule smirk peeks through his features.

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Kaede listens to the odd encounter, then nods. "I can see why you thought it was a genjutsu." He otherwise makes no comment nor poses any questions about the encounter. When Amon asks her own question he responds plainly.

"I want to leave Soragakure, but that punk Taro is demanding I abandon Momo here if I do. He tried to buy her. So we got in a fistfight, and the two of us were arrested." Kaede's curt tone throughout the story says just how willing he is to speak of it.

Houshi

The jounin looks a bit incredulous at Houshi's statement. "Really? You're gonna argue with a little girl over something so trivial? That's something I expect from children."

The little girl in question is quiet, as per her jounin's request.

Yousuke

Youki raises his hands in prayer. He waits a few seconds, then nods his head sagely. "Your honorable grandmother still thinks her boo-bear is quite handsome indeed. She even thinks watching me work would teach you a thing or two."

In a flash Youki crosses the distance between them. His hand shoots down as he knife-hands Yousuke across the head. "Now don't invoke your grandmother's name in vain young man."

A bright chipper bell rings throughout the building as if to save Yousuke from dealing with his grandfather anymore. Someone's at the front door, and Youki looks toward Yousuke. "Well, I'm far too old to get it. So go on. Make yourself useful."

[Princess Tracy]

"Leave Soragakure?" Amon repeats. "To go where?" The where isn't important really, only that if he left, Cybele would go with him. If he's making arrangements to leave now, how much longer does she have with her teacher? "What's wrong with here? It can't be any worse than any of the other ninja villages, right?" She thinks for a moment. "They wanted to keep Momo for that bloodline, right? The Sharingan? I don't get it, what's so important about that bloodline? It's just some cool looking dojutsu right?" You can tell Amon is out of her comfort zone when her entire end of a conversation is a barrage of questions and is just a little bit offensive in her simplified evaluations, and the idea of Kaede and Cybele running off was distressing enough to qualify.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke scowls and skulks off, afraid to point out that he had not actually used his grandmother's name. He stalks through the house grumbling all the way, "Not too old to hit your grandson though..." Nearing the door, Yousuke reassumes his stoic demeanor and opens it to see to their guest.

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Kaede shrugs. "Somewhere that isn't here. And Soragakure likely isn't any worse than any other ninja village, but it's a troublesome place with troublesome restrictions. Regardless of my desires Taro made things quite clear: If I leave, they will try to take Momo. And I won't let that happen." When Amon talks about his doujutsu, Kaede just shrugs. "Basically, ya. I dunno why everyone wants it."

Yousuke

Youki follows his grandson so he can see whomever is at the door. Yousuke pulls open the heavy metal door to reveal a beautiful purple-haired woman standing across the threshold. Her body is covered up from neck to toe in black--gloves, sleeves, a frilly skirt, solid black leggings, and matching shiny black heels. Her white apron, frilly white maid's hat, and the bright red-white ribbon tied around her neck are the only things that aren't black. The woman courtesies rather than bows, and stands up straight quickly. Her black-rimmed glasses protect Yousuke from the deep purple eyes hiding behind them.

"Good afternoon, Yousuke." The maid says while readjusting her long skirt. "Are you home alone?"

Youki whistles loudly and starts walking toward the door. He's clearly spotted the maid at the door, and likely intends to either tease Yousuke about it or hit on her. The whistle instantly brings a thin blush to Cybele's face, but she continues on in a professional manner. "I suppose not. Kaede-sama has requested that I bring you to him." Youki finally arrives at the door, claps Yousuke on the back, and smiles.

"If I knew wishing on you worked, I wouldn't have bothered with training you."

[Princess Tracy]

Restrictions? "Well, you'd be in the best position to compare ninja villages I guess, you've lived in three of them. I'll leave you to your own judgement. Still though, if you run off, Cybele will follow..."

Amon decides to change the subject. "I hope Houshi's at the address Cybele gave us. I don't know him well enough to know where he might be otherwise. Last time I had to gather the whole group together, I signalled them by way of burning an inn to the ground." A lot of intermediate parts got left out of that story. As she things, she realises it isn't even close to 48 hours that all this craziness can be contained in. She managed to at least steal a glance at her parents the night before last and say her usual 'I love you' even then, which her mother couldn't resist at least acknowledging even in the midst of all her punishment. It's been an odd couple of days.

[Bad Situation]

Sighing at Youki's leering Yousuke quips, "Only you would squander a wish on something quite so foolish, grandfather." Not knowing what to say about the maid outfit, Yousuke deliberately bites back his first question and instead asks the other question on his mind, "Who is this Kaede and why might I care to meet him?"

Turning to his grandfather, Yousuke does what he had initially promised not to do, introduce Youki to a girl. "This is my jounin sensei, grandfather. She is actually 14 years old beneath her ninjutsu so I must insist that you refrain from any of your lecherous tendencies while she is around. If word got out that the Konpaku Youki was a lolicon, our clan's reputation would never recover."

[zeone3000]

Houshi's eye widen in surprised but at this point e really shouldn't be. Though, what he was really surprised at that jounin couldn't tell, "I am a kid. I'm only twelve. That's what I meant if you were like me, I'm not done growing yet. At least, that's what my dad says."

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon

Kaede and Amon walk in silence unless Amon speaks. The older man seems lost in thought while they walk. He doesn't answer questions unless pressed for one, and even then gives non-committal half-answers. Kaede keeps walking past the residential sector where Houshi lived, boards a seemingly random train, and ultimately only stops when he arrives in the training grounds. He stops, looks around, then points off toward a group of ninja gathered together. Specifically Kaede's singled out the tallest ninja in the group, and Amon recognizes him as Houshi. "Is that him?"

Houshi

The jounin just shrugs. Kids bigger than himself? Pretty standard fare in this ninja world. "In that case, now's your chance to act like an adult. Ninja are treated like them by Soragakure, but without acting like one you'll never be more than a genin."

Amon and Kaede arrive behind the giant genin, but Houshi doesn't notice them.

Yousuke

Youki extends his hand, and Cybele shakes it. Her gloves still provide a distance amount of distance between herself as the swordsman. The lecherous older man looks down at Yousuke, and frowns deeply at his grandson. "I thought I raised you better than that, Yousuke. Never talk about a beautiful young lady's age. It's simply rude." Even if the old man could hardly be trusted he does refrain from making any overtures. Not that he wouldn't normally. It seems Yousuke's revelation of her age suppressed his urges.

Cybele waits for Youki to finish before answering Yousuke's question. Her blush doesn't subside as Youki talks about her as if she wasn't present. If Cybele was upset by that, she doesn't show it. "Kaede-sama is my master, and I don't know why you would want to meet him. However, he wants to meet you, and he gave me that task in faith that I would complete it." Cybele looks down at the young boy with a powerful determination in her eyes. She makes an unspoken promise with those eyes: She would never betray that faith, even if it meant dragging Yousuke away.

[zeone3000]

"Yeah, for better or worse," there was definitely some disdain in his voice. Specifically over their tongue lashing by Sonia. "Still, if you'll allow me one more before I try it your way. She started it."

[Princess Tracy]

"Um, Kaede? I think his house is back there... Kaede?" Amon looks at him as if examining a specimen. Had he resolved they wouldn't find him at his home? Even still, in that case, his home is a good place to start. Using what we know of him and his tracks, if possible, we would be able to follow him quite easily. Throughout the journey, she has a hunch he's using some kind of technique, apparently confirmed when they approach Houshi. She pouts. "Well, I feel robbed of a good hunt."

Amon considers playing a prank on her taller friend, but thinks better of it. Shrugging, she approaches him and resolves to screw with his technique-less brain later. With a quick hop, she jumps on the unaware Houshi's back, as if riding a horse. "Hi-ho, Houshi. What are you doing, getting into fights with innocent bystanders? Tut-tut. Come on, let's go somewhere to keep you out of trouble. Giddy-up, you made us look for you so I'm tired of walking! Consider carrying me strength training, if you really think you need it." From Houshi's back she gives his lower side a quick slap as if encouraging him to ride on. "This is Kaede, by the way," she remarks, before leaning into whisper "Cybele totally wants to jump his bones."

Amon has ditched the poncho and instead wears her dungarees over a shirt, unbuttoned a little too much for a girl her age, though one can see her armoured vest before one sees her no doubt frilly underwear. She now wears the insignia of her headband on her signature bandanna.

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon & Houshi

The older man cracks a smile at Amon's disappointment. "Don't feel that way. It was obvious where he'd go. Trivial really." Kaede follows Amon over, and when the young kunoichi introduces him he just waves. "Hey."

The gathered team look a bit confused, and the two jounin seem to converse with their body language. After several seconds, the muscular jounin just throws up his hands and says. "Whatever! Just get rid of the kid. He's bugging mine."

Kaede smiles and points Houshi toward the exit. "Come on. We got something important to do, and I think you're involved."