A Clearing at the Pond. Ft: Keiko & Yamamoto, + Ichiro

[Higa Yamamoto]

Sitting against the ledge of the stream with only the moonlight and the pale glow of her lantern to guide her actions, Keiko diligently scrubs at her armor and clothes, her naked body bruised and scraped.

Tired, somewhat lost, and immensely frustrated from not having finished his mission, wandering the darkness trying to get back to Kouin village, Yamamoto finds himself at a pond where he sees a practically-naked girl washing her armor. Blood rushes to his head.

Leaning back on her haunches, Keiko drags her armor out from the shallow water and lays it out to dry. Pushing herself up onto her feet, she pulls at the pins holding her hair up and allows it to go tumbling down her shoulders before stepping into the water once more.

Embarrassed to find himself in this position, embarrassed for young girl who's been sight while being so vulnerable, Yamamoto quickly hides himself behind the nearest tree. His heart begins to race, faster and faster. Completely at a lost, not knowing what he should do, he finds himself compelled to take a peak behind the tree.

Having been discovered, panic was stirring his blood. Every thought racing through Yamamoto's mind was "RUN!" So much adrenaline was coursing through his veins that to his surprise, each step he took was shockingly powerful, but so much so that it completely caught his whole body off-guard. Losing his balance, his blood pounding at his head, and racing into the pitch black of the forest, Yamamoto finds that the root of a nearby tree catches hold of his leg forcing him to ground.

Keiko grabs a hold of her fishnet dress and slings it over her body with practiced precision before skillfully jumping over the slippery ledge and running off into the direction of Yamamoto and her throw kunai, "Who's there?!"

"Neko? Inu?" were the only thoughts that Yamamoto's blood-rushed brain could think of. Cat? Dog? He had no time to decided... He tries his best to mimic a scared "Meow"

Meanwhile, Keiko rises up and puts on her black fishnet dress. With most of her pale skin remaining exposed to the eye because of the fishnet material of her dress, Keiko plants her naked foot into the back of the fallen boy, "Who are you? Why were you sneaking around?!"

The suddenness of being caught, the sheer terror of punishment, guilt and remorse, Yamamoto could only stutter out, "L-L-Lost!"

Lifting her foot of Yamamoto's back she says angrily, "What the hell are you doing peeping in the middle of the woods?"

"Keiko-nee-chan!" Yamamoto caught the surprise in Keiko's voice, but nobody was more surprised than he was. "I was trying to get back to Kouin. I was completely exhausted so I didn't even have any chakra left for Anki. With the broken bridge and the dead of night, I somehow wandered to this pond. I didn't even know there *was* such a pond here and then I saw... well I didn't even know it was you!", said Yamamoto in his own defense.

Attempting to wash off the taint on his name Yamamoto says as he climbs up off the ground, "But Keiko-nee-chan!..." Turning and getting up at the time, he sees Keiko walking towards the pond. Being in the clearing, the moonlight reflects each bead of water still attached to her now glistening skin accentuating each curve on her body. With blood once again rushing to his head, the only thing Yamamoto could do was gulp down his words, lest he betray his thoughts in the stammering of his words.

Keiko briefly steals a glance at Yamamoto after hearing her name, "Yama-kun, there's no 'buts' about it. You should recognize me from anywhere. But, you chose to hide like a peeping tom would." Scooping up her mostly dried armor from the embankment, she begins to dress herself.

Walking out into the clearing, he tries his best to make some sort of defense, "With the back of your head facing me and your hair down, I really had no idea it was you. And... and..." Suddenly feeling it was all for a lost cause, Yamamoto says angrily, "I turned away when I realized what I was seeing anyways!"

Her delicate eyebrows furrowing as she observes Yamamoto, Keiko merely gathers her hair up into it's previous bun, "You're forgiven. And if you had actually turned around before you had realised what you were seeing, your heart wouldn't be racing as fast as it was."

With a large splash Ichiro lands in the middle of the water, snagging a fish out of the air before the water has settled again.

Startled by the sudden disturbance of the water nearby, Keiko flicks her gaze towards the man just in time to see him snag the fish.

With the sudden entry of this man and the blood still rushing to his brain from what happened before, Yamamoto jumps beside Keiko wielding 2 kunais.

Tossing the fish into the air, Ichiro forms several handseals and spits a small ball of fire at the fish, cooking it to a nice, golden brown.

As Ichiro grabs the fish out of the air again, he notices the young woman and boy a short distance away.

"Another shinobi!" raced into Yamamoto's mind. Unsure of what to do, he looks up at Keiko.

With a polite nod towards the man, Keiko rests a gloved hand atop Yamamoto's head, "What brings you out this way at a time like this?"

Straining his eyes to see the two people, Ichiro suddenly recognizes the young woman and waves. "Greetings, Keiko-chan. I've been out looking for my teammates and I decided it was about time I had some dinner," Ichiro says.

Ichiro smiles and takes a bite of toasted fish.

Recognizing the man as well, Keiko emits a soft squeal and rushes towards Ichiro, "Ich-kun!" Leaping onto him, she throws her arms around his neck.

Returning Keiko's hug Ichiro asks, "And what might you two be doing out here at such a time?"

Unsure of the situation, but recognizing a sense of familiarity between the two, Yamamoto puts away his kunais, and stands quietly behind Keiko.

Keiko attempts to pluck the half-eaten fish from Ichiro's hands, "Cleaning my armor and catching peeping toms.." With that said, she steals a playful glance towards Yamamoto's direction.

Embarrassment fills Yamamoto's face. If it weren't for the darkness, his face would be beet red. He looks away from the two.

Letting his fish go, Ichiro draws his katana in a flash and stabs another fish, flipping it into the air and re-sheathing his katana all in one motion before toasting the second fish.

Keiko observes Ichiro's movements and takes a brief bite into her roasted fish, "Must you always be such a show off, Ichi-kun? It's been years and I don't think you've changed too much."

Taking a bite of his new fish, Ichiro says, "It's just more efficient...and you know, you could probably use the bath house in Kouin if you want to avoid peeping toms."

Extending a hand towards Yamamoto, Keiko ignores Ichiro's comment, "Yama-kun, come here!"

Biting his tongue, filled with embarrassment, Yamamoto complies and walks up to Keiko.

Keiko gestures to Yamamoto as he nears her, "Ichiro, this is Yamamoto. He just recently became a genin."

Yamamoto bows towards Ichiro. "It's nice to meet you Ichiro-san."

Ichiro smiles and bows, "Congratulations. Now you can start doing all sorts of interesting missions. Make sure that you remember to act your best at all times, you are the face of Time Village to others now."

Yamamoto replies with a strong "Hai."

With the night sky slowly developing into magenta, Keiko tilts her head back as she peers up at the horizon, "The sun'll be rising sooner or later."

Gazing up at the sky, Ichiro puts his hand behind his head and mutters, "I've really got to stop working so much...I didn't even realize it was almost dawn..."

With the rising sun, Yamamoto's eyelids suddenly become heavy. He gives a bow to the two of them and wanders back into the woods once again trying to make his way back to Kouin village. However, sleep covers a blanket around him and exhaustion nestles him down onto the soft forest floor.