I'm Here for Business, and some Pleasure~ [Temaki, Karukaya, or Invite]

Jayr Kyamalie began to slow as she neared the village of Hinowa: she didn't want to come off as a threat and it was already bad enough that she smelled like straight gunpowder. She shifted her single bag that was slung over her shoulder and glanced down to Cana. ”Try to be as non-threatening as possible, kay?”, she spoke softly to the wolf. Cana simply looked at her, stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth, and rolled her eyes. Right, she had non-threatening down to a science.

As Jayr reached the village gates she found herself stopped by the usual guard: this was something she had been expecting. She gave a respectful nod to them before introducing herself, “I am Lt. Colonel Jayr Kyamalie from Hanagakure. I'm here to see the Rakuenkage. This is Cana.” Simple: her rank, name, and purpose here, as well as the name of the wolf at her side. That was more then they'd likely get from anyone else, but Jayr had been reminded to be respectful so that's exactly what she was going to be: she needed to set a proper example for how someone from Hanagakure was supposed to behave and she would do exactly that.

One of the guards gave a nod and then left. Jayr assumed that he was likely going to see if she had permission to enter into the village, let alone see the kage herself. Jayr shifted her stance, keeping it relaxed and non-threatening, and simply turned her attention to Cana as she reached over and scratched at the top of the all white wolf's head. Cana's tail thumped hard against the ground. Jayr just hoped that this didn't take too long: while the trip hadn't taken a long time here it had been a long one as far as distance went, so Jayr was all for taking a break.

“Fucking paperwork...”, Temaki grumbled beneath her breath as she sat there at her desk. There were fresh 'claw' marks in the thing from her running her nails through it in her frustration. The latest almost-attack on the village had left her with a mountain of paperwork. People wanted answers, answers she didn't have. They wanted them now too, and didn't care to hear otherwise. All in all it was a cluster fuck of a headache, one that had her thinking to herself that if it wasn't for how much she cared for these people she would have left the job years ago.

As it was the Rakuenkage was willing to trudge through it still, and she was. A page flip later though and all of the words were still blurring together and making no sense. She had been at this for hours now, or was it days? Who the hell knew.

Just as the Rakuenkage was beginning to feel the need to light it all on fire, go get some sleep, and get to work on it again tomorrow she heard a tentative knock at the door. She glanced at Blast who was sprawled out on his overly large dog bed: he was down for the count to the point to where he didn't even twitch. Temaki sighed, put her paperwork back down, and looked to the door as she leaned back in her chair. ”Come in.”, she said as she repressed her sigh.

She glanced at the clock as the door was being opened: she had sent Karukaya an invitation to her office so they could talk, and so she was expecting him at any moment... but this didn't smell like him. As Temaki focused her attention back on the door she was right: it was one of her Jounin who entered in, and bowed to her, before speaking, ”Lady Rakuenkage; there is a visitor at our gates. She wishes to speak with you; she introduced herself as Lt. Colonel Jayr Kyamalie. Shall I show her in?”

Kyamalie... as in... the Commander General of Hanagakure's daughter? Well fuck. This was about to make her day either really good or really bad. ”Yes, bring her directly here. No one is to put their hands on her; she deserves our up most respect until proven otherwise.”, Temaki said before watching her Jounin leave to do just that. Temaki leaned back in her chair and sighed before glancing over to Blast. ”Wake up, Blast... we've got a visitor. The daughter of the leader of Hana is here.” Blast opened his eyes, looked at her, and then yawned.

As she waited for her Jounin to bring the female in she put her stack of papers back together, straightened them up and put them into one of her many desk drawers. This left her desk bare except for the essentials: blank paper and pens and the like.

This would be an interesting little visit. He'd been downstairs heading for the mission room when a very hassled looking Jounin stopped him and begged him to run some paperwork up to the Kage's office. He'd sputtered something about 'no time' and 'science' and possibly something about the body of the beast from the day before. Must have been a medic on the dissection team. Oh well, excuse to piss off a few minutes and g see his favorite human person outside of his buddies at the wildlife center.

Up the stairs with Coen awkwardly climbing behind him; stairs where still weird for him, and the only time he ever had to walk 'normally' for a kangaroo. He didn't mind, so long as it wasn't a long journey, or there was a good reason for it, and as he really liked Temaki and Blast, this would be a worthwhile trip.

The stairs where mostly empty outside of the occasional aide running paperwork for some important person or another, ninja had long ago learned to use the walls and windows outside of the building versus the labyrinth of stairs and hallways. Only reason he was inside was because the stairway to the Kage's office level was a 'direct' line, it had an entrance/exit on her floor and the ground floor. Direct access was win. Hence, the lack of people; the only offices on the Kage's Office level where Temaki's and a few of the highest ranking Jounin Commanders, along with an ANBU liaison office and an office for the civilian elders. Not a lot of reason to be up there often.

They exited the stairs and made their way down the hall, the one receptionist on the floor knew them both well by now, he was her only student after all, after a quick explanation of why he was there, she waved him back. To the door they walked, and a gentle knock. He could just walk in if he wanted to, but he refused to be that informal and disrespectful; he wasn't some important Jounin that could strut around. He was what he was, and he was happy with that.

WC: 372

Jayr dug the left toe of her boot into the ground as she waited, as patiently as possible, for the guard to return. Every so often she would reach over and poked Cana on the ear playfully, causing the wolf to twitch and headbutt her hand in return. Of course, it would seem that Jayr didn't have to wait long at all. She caught movement in the distance and looked up in time to see the Jounin returning. ”Please, come with me Miss Kyamalie.” Oh, oh she hated that! Miss-anything drove her insane.

But, she did her best to hide it and simply nodded for now. She shifted the strap of her bag further onto her shoulder and then followed quickly behind the Jounin as he led the way back to the Rakuenkage's administration building, and through it. Cana remained behind her, her tongue still hanging out the side of her mouth and causing her to look more like a playful puppy then the giant beast of a wolf she truly was. They headed up a set up steps and Jayr found herself curious as to why no one else was really around: though that curiosity faded as they reached the floor the Kage's office was on and she realized they had just taken what was likely a direct route up – her father had something like that too.

She saw a young man outside of the Kage's office as the Jounin paused and opened the door for both of them; though she didn't get a chance to get a good look at him as her attention turned to the office. She offered a smile and then walked inside. She made it about six feet before she stopped: her gaze having fallen on the kage herself. Of all of the things she had been expecting, of all of the ways she expected her to look... she hadn't been expecting this. Holy fuck, the Rakuenkage was HOT. And Jayr could tell right off why she was called the Unconventional Kage: she dressed nothing like what Jayr had expected a kage to dress like.

Remembering that she needed to breath, and perhaps speak, she moved forward and up to the Kage's desk. She gave a respectful nod to the other female. “I'm Lt. Colonel Jayr Kyamalie. You can call me Jayr though...” Cana whined and Jayr added, "And this giant ball of fluff is Cana."

Temaki looked up at the knock but before she could respond her Jounin had returned, with the escorted guest. Catching sight of Karukaya she grinned. ”Come on in, Karukaya. We've got a guest I'd like you to meet. Shut the door, please.” She would wait to see if Karukaya did just that before she would nod to the comfortable chairs in front of her desk. ”Please have a seat.” She took a moment to take in the female's appearance; her gaze momentarily glued onto that rainbow head of hair she had.

Had Karukaya decided to join them she would incline her head to him first, “This is my student, Karukaya and his companion Coen. Karukaya and Coen, this is Lt. Colonel Jayr; she's the daughter of the leader of Hanagakure and this is her companion Cana.” Temaki glanced to the orange and red ball of fur that was Blast: the large wolf was sniffing in the direction of Cana, though his body language was completely friendly. “This is Blast, and to keep things friendly you can call me Temaki. I believe in first named basis until given a reason otherwise.” Ah yes, blunt Temaki was.

Now that introductions were done Temaki shifted more comfortably in her seat and returned her attention fully to the female with the rainbow hair. “So, what can I do for you Jayr? I'm sure something brings you to our lovely village...” Yup, right to business. Business now.. maybe pleasure later; Temaki was in a rare mood, though she was hiding it well – at least at the moment.

He entered the office quietly when invited, allowing the escorted female to enter first and closing the door as instructed behind himself and Coen. Coen made a beeline for the relaxing Blast, sitting down beside him and pulling his newest little trinket out of a pouch; he'd taken up braiding ropes and such as a hobby, both to increase the dexterity in his hands and because it was a useful skill to have for a ninja; pet or otherwise.

When she began introducing them, Karu got quiet the shock over whom the guest was; he'd heard all about the Commander General and his daughter; all of it good so far. He took the time to bow politely, much as he had the first time he'd met Temaki; she was a highly important dignitary after all, and he was just a student running an errand. He might have a few bright spots in his history, but he wasn't sitting at the big boys table yet.

He held the packet of paper in his hand and waited for his turn to present them; he wasn't about to speak or act out of turn here. That was not conducive to his health, nor to his career; so he was going to focus on not being an idiot.

WC: 219

372 + 219 = 591

Jayr couldn't help but grin: this woman was exactly the type of female she wanted to be like – Temaki ran the show, and she let it be known, but she did so in a fashion that left the air comfortable. She took a seat in the chair offered. Cana laid down next to her, though her attention focused on Blast and Coen: she wanted to go play, but knew she too had to set an example while on this little 'vacation' of theirs. Jayr reached down and scratched at the top of Cana's head.

She then focused back on Temaki. “My father sent me here for two reasons: the first is the most important - to see if you've had any issues with any... “, she paused, thinking best how to explain, “... strange beasts around your village?” She knew the Rakuenkage would ask why, and it wasn't like it would stay a secret for long considering how many civilians had seen the latest beast when Hanagakure was attacked, so Jayr continued, “Our village has been attacked twice in less then a months time; the first by some fire demon, this last time I had to destroy a mud monster that attempted to apparently bring itself back to life before I put it down for good...”

Jayr interlocked her fingers together in front of herself comfortably while her elbows rested on the arms of the chair. She left the second reason she was here up in the air for the moment: that dealt souly with her vacation, and therefore wasn't as important as the primary purpose for her being here. She watched the Rakuenkage carefully, while also throwing glances at her student: Jayr could only imagine how it must feel to be the kage's own student...

Blast instantly plopped over and devoted all of his attention to Coen and what he had. Temaki glanced over at the pair of them and couldn't help but grin a bit: Blast apparently had a new best friend for life.

Temaki focused her attention back onto Jayr as the female asked a question that caused Temaki to blink: it had taken her by surprise. Strange beasts? Well, that was putting the damnable situation mildly in her opinion. Temaki didn't respond right away though, as she continued to listen to Jayr as she went on to explain exactly what Temaki had been about to ask: why in the world she wanted to know. Hearing that Hanagakure had recently suffered similar attacks Temaki let out a sigh and nodded her head yes.

”Yes, we've suffered attacks in the past month or so; two just like yourself. One wasn't a strange beast though; it was an elephant that became out of control. Karukaya, here, had worked with the creature, and knew that not to be her normal way of acting. He and I got that situation under control of course; and the animal recovered. The second attack we dealt with was less then a week ago; a giant beast that moved surprisingly fast. It was killed.” Temaki shifted slightly, becoming a bit more comfortable. ”What was your second reason for coming?”, Temaki asked curiously, having not missed the fact that the other female failed to mention it.

She glanced at Karukaya, motioning for him to sit: no point in him standing and being uncomfortable. Besides, she saw him more as a friend now then just a student, and so she had every intention of treating him like a friend.

So it wasn't just them, then? That was... slightly scary, actually. The strangeness with Gajasura was bad enough; even after Sato had finished checking her over there was no sign of what had started mutating her beyond a hint of chakra that didn't belong to her at all; it was something wrong and unnatural, but there hadn't been enough left by the time they'd gotten her to the center for it to be studied. He was likely holding an initial report for the second beast in his hand, and he really should probably hand that over. "Sensei, I didn't want to speak out of turn; but I think this was from one of the medics on the dissection team." He placed the sealed packet on the desk for her, then sat down as indicated. Even sitting down, he was on the edge of the seat in that 'I'm totally focused and ready to go' way; if it had just been himself and Temaki he'd be more relaxed, but with another high ranking officer in the room, one he didn't know, he was going to be a hair on edge. He had no reason not to trust the Hana solider, it was just how he was.

WC: 216


216 + 591 = 807

Jayr looked over to Karukaya as he spoke up, handing over what was likely some exceptionally important documents before sitting down. He seemed on edge, and Jayr found herself wondering if it was because of her, or if he was always like this when in front of the Rakuenkage: either way, she kept her wonderings to herself.

At Temaki's question to her about the second reason for her coming to the village she grinned from ear to ear as she focused her attention back onto the female. “Vacation. My dad gave me three weeks. I think he feels I need some rest.”, Jayr said with a shrug. In truth she knew she did: she had done an awful lot between her trainings and missions, but she wouldn't admit to it. She was too damned stubborn for that.

Temaki looked towards Karu as he spoke and she picked up the sealed packet and nodded to Karu. “Thank you.” She unsealed the packet and opened it, pulling the documents inside out as she glanced over them quickly.

She then focused her attention back onto Jayr and nodded, thoughtfully. She had no issue in the Commander General's daughter being in their village, if anything it might help to better establish relationships between the two villages. ”Well, you are more then welcome here. I'll have you set up in one of the apartments set aside for visitors such as yourself. If you need anything at all while you're here don't hesitate to ask.”

She closed the packet of papers back up, opened one of her drawers, and tossed it inside before closing it: the thing clicked as it shut. ”I think I'll deal with that later on...”

She leaned back in her chair and looked between Karu and Jayr: Karu seemed tense and on edge while Jayr seemed like this was just another walk in the park – not that she was being disrespectful at all or anything, she just seemed quite comfortable even in this situation. ”So, I don't know about you two but some rest sounds like a good idea... I was thinking of heading over to my favorite bar and grabbing a drink and a bite to eat, you two are more then welcome to join me.~”

Temaki glanced over to Blast who was still entirely focused on Coen, though he was glancing at Cana as if he wanted to go play with her too. Temaki just grinned and stood. Blast looked up at her and got to his feet too, while being careful not to step on Coen. ”If you want to join me it'll be my treat~”, she added on with a grin as she looked back towards the other two.

Well, he was looking for reasons to blow off being productive today, and he had rain checked the last offer... He could get in one this. Coen had been bugging him to go out, and this could be a good chance to get more comfortable around the visiting Hana soldier. He had a bit of a reputation for being everyone's favorite bar crawler cause his money flowed fast and easy; but he was also a happy drunk and fun to be around in social situations, so this could be a good time in the making. It was early enough in the day to where they could bring their partners along and not have to worry about idiot civilians and what not causing a stink over them.

"Sounds like a good time, Sensei. Thank you for the offer." He moved to his feet more on instinct that anything when she stood; his sense of duty and respect for his superior officers and the like was deeply ingrained and hard to shake off right away. He was calming down, slowly; his stance relaxing from the rigid, almost attention to his more relaxed normal self.

He waved Coen over, smirking as he leaped up and vaulted over Blast's back playfully; the joey was getting big and a bit too old for this behavior, but he was still a kid and liked to act like it when he could. The joey bounced over to Cana and all but exploded in glee over being able to make a new friend; now that Karu was relaxing a bit he was going to make his move without feeling like he was going to make Karu upset or something. Strange thought processed, that joey had sometimes.

"Hai! You big.~ You pretty.~"

The facepalm was loud. Karu's now red face ha that expression of 'goddamn it' all over it. "Coen... seriously?"

WC: 326

326 + 807 = 1133

So, she was apparently getting the 'royal' treatment: she wasn't going to complain nor bitch and moan. While she normally wouldn't have bothered it did end up saving her on hotel costs, let alone trying to find another place to stay.

Jayr couldn't help but grin: the idea of going to a bar during vacation was definitely a good one – thankfully she had eaten before coming here, and the journey hadn't taken all that long. The fact that she got to go with the Rakuenkage and her student and didn't have to pay for a dime of it? Priceless. ”You can definitely count me in. My dad did say to get some R and R after all.”

Jayr stood up and glanced down to Cana as Coen spoke to her. Cana looked up at Jayr for a moment and Jayr simply chuckled, catching the facepalm out of the corner of her eye. ”Well go on miss shy pants. I can't get you to stop talking at home and now you want to act like you can't.”, Jayr said teasingly Cana gave a dramatic roll of her eyes and then turned her attention to Coen. ”Hi, I'm Cana.”

Well, that was a start at least: Cana was always so shy, funny considering she was a huge pure bred wolf.

Temaki nodded, glad to hear that both were on board with the plan: she hated to drink alone, and who better to have a good time with then her favorite (and only) student and the Commander General's daughter. Of course, she knew she had to make sure nothing happened to the girl or else daddy was going to be all on her neck over it, but that wasn't a big deal – the apartment she planned on putting Jayr up in was rather close to Temaki's own residence. Easy, peasy!

Blast looked between Coen and Cana before he went over to Cana and offered an affectionate headbutt: his personal way of saying hello. Temaki moved out from behind her desk, across the room, and lead the way out with a wave of her hand for them to follow her. ”Come on, if we hurry we'll make it before they get insanely busy.”, she commented offhandedly. Normally Temaki would have bothered with just going out the window, but she didn't know quite how well Jayr would take that sort of exit strategy and so she took the personal staircase that went from the ground floor to the floor her office was on.

She figured they would follow her, she could already hear Blast's hurried padded steps: he never liked to be too far away from her.

Temaki, if they followed her, would lead the way out of the building, down the street, and then to a tiny little bar hidden away in an alleyway. It was quieter then the rest by far, and less busy even during mealtimes and evening hours: plus no one would give them any trouble over the various animals they had with them. The bartender looked up when Temaki arrived but before he could ask she spoke up above the usual soft talking of the bar, ”I've got company with me today, how about that lovely table in the corner, hm?” The bartender nodded to one of his girls who hurried over ahead of Temaki; standing off to the side to allow everyone to sit.

Temaki slid into a chair and Blast sprawled himself out nearby: thankfully, there weren't any people around the table, which would give them some space.

”What can I get for you to drink?” the waitress asked as she put menus down for them to look at in case they wanted to order food. She pulled out a tiny spiral note book and a pencil, ready to take notes.

Well, if no one was going to say anything, he'd leave it at that. He forced himself to take a few breaths, calming and good for getting the redness out of his face. At least they all seemed to like each other, which made things easier overall. Less of a chance of incidents if the partners got along, after all. He'd wait so that he was the last one out, that way he could close the door; it was only polite, rank or otherwise, for him to do so. He followed along; he figured he knew where this bar was by the route she was taking, and it was one he'd been to a few times himself.

Once inside he moved toward the table she was leading them too; Coen trotting along beside him and managing to do a damn fine job of not smacking into anything along the way, even with his long tail and feet, and awkward 'walk'. He refused to crawl around like a normal kangaroo would; he'd figured out how to 'walk' almost like a human would, and it was effective enough now to where he could maneuver pretty well. He took a seat that would allow Coen to stand next to him and not be in anyone's way; he was so tall now that him settled in a 'sit' had him looking like he was in a chair; and it was a comfortable position for him to be in anyway. No one would have to worry about his tail, either; since it was against the wall and out of the walkways.

He was no lightweight when it came to drinking, but he rarely started a night of drinking with something alcoholic, "Tea, for now. For Coen, too. He's become a bit of a tea lover lately."

WC: 310

310 + 1133 = 1443

Jayr followed Temaki back down the same steps she had been led up, out into the street, and to the bar. She didn't speak while they walked, instead she took her time to look around and a get a look about the place: if she was going to be staying here for three weeks then she sure wanted to make sure she knew her way around so she didn't end up lost.

Once they reached the bar she followed Temaki inside, as did Cana who walked beside her and who had otherwise been silent since her hello to Coen. After Jayr sat at the chosen table Cana laid down in a ball right next to her chair and yawned while looking around with her bright blue colored eyes. Jayr looked up to the waitress while picking up one of the menus on the table. ”I'll have a rum and coke, please.” Jayr didn't mind starting out her evening with alcohol: and at least she wasn't asking for a bottle. No, she'd start things off slowly and go from there.

Jayr settled back in her chair and reached down with her free hand while scanning the menu in her right hand: she scratched at the top of Cana's head idly as she so often did. ”So, Temaki... I have a question for you, something I've been curious about for the past twenty minutes or so. Your hair... is that your natural color?” Jayr knew she was making small talk, but it was better then talking about the weather, and honestly she really was curious: she saw no roots, and ALL of her long ass hair was one color. It wouldn't be entirely unheard of either.

She would wait for Temaki to answer, if she would, before looking towards Karukaya. "So how long have you and Coen been a team?" Cana looked up at this quesiton, obviously the wolf was curious too.

“I'll have the same, a rum and coke please.” The waitress would nod, having all three of their orders, and disappear to go get them. Temaki would watch her leave for a moment before focusing her attention onto those at the table.

She looked over to Jayr at her question and grinned. ”Nah. Naturally my hair was a brownish blond. But, the blue kind of grew on me. Eventually one of the villages medics did a little experiment and now it naturally grows out like that; that's why I don't have any roots. Suppose blue is my natural color now, even if it wasn't my first.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, crossing her legs at the ankles: comfortable Temaki was comfortable.

She would listen to Jayr then ask Karukaya a question about him and Coen, and listen curiously. She would wait for Karukaya to answer, if he did, before she would look at Jayr. “Now what about you... rainbow? I heard the military of Hanagakure was pretty strict – more so then most shinobi villages. How do you get away with that? And what made you go rainbow?”, she asked curiously.

Blast, already bored with the conversation got up, stretched, and moved over to Coen, sniffing at him curiously in his usual 'hey, how are you' sort of fashion without speaking.

He'd always sort of wondered about that himself; his own fiery red hair was odd, but it was natural. His darker roots proved that, they where still brilliant, but darker; and it was obvious the brighter red came from sun bleaching. Finding out that blue was sort of natural, but not at the same time, was a surprise, but not in a bad way. There where a few odd balls in the medic corps, he'd seen more than one Jounin sporting some odd physical feature that didn't make sense on anyone but a Senjutsu user, and there weren't that many of those around anymore.

He allowed the elder's to finish before answering the questions aimed his way, having to stop and do a slight check in his mind before being able to answer. "About... 6 months? Close to that, anyway. You'd think it was longer, with how far he's come in that time."

"Daddy strong. Daddy teach me!" Coen wasn't shy about talking, but he'd been taught manners, and new to wait his turn. "Daddy train's me everyday, and I watch when he trains by himself." He poked at Blast's nose when the big dog nudged him, "Blast fun. I like Blast."

Oh, that was a first, he was starting to use names a bit. Awesome.

"He gives me too much credit. He's still pretty young, and doesn't have a lot to compare to. But we work well together, and that's what matters to me. He's happy, I'm happy... it works."

WC: 282


282 + 1443= 1725

”.....” Wow, so a medical experiment had led to the Rakuenkage going from being a natural brownish-blond to a very vibrant blue. The idea had some merit to it, and it gave Jayr her own ideas to explore later on: though, she wasn't quite sure how her father would feel if she started to experiment on herself... That would be a bridge to cross later on, though.

Her reddish purple colored gaze moved back over to Karukaya as he spoke, explaining that him and Coen had been partners for about two months: when Coen chimed in it made her smile – Coen was about the most adorable thing she had ever seen. It caused her to think back to the time when she had found and saved Cana. ”The time seems to fly... I can still remember when I found Cana; she was so small I used to let her perch herself on my head all the time. Now she's so big I can ride around on her back if I want to.” Jayr poked Cana playfully and the wolf responded by putting her paws up on Jayr's lap and licking the side of her face before sitting back down; only this time she placed her head on Jayr's lap.

Jayr simply laughed: she was too far used to Cana's version of kisses to mind a bit of wolf slobber. She reached down and scratched at the top of Cana's head once more, right behind her ears just as she liked: which of course got her tail thumping against the floor a mile a minute.

She then focused her attention back onto Temaki as she thought about her answer: there was no point in beating around the bush or lying after all, besides it made for an interesting story. ”Well, originally my hair was blond; a golden blond to be precise and it was really long. I hated when people touched it; one day when I was in class one of my teachers thought I was being cheeky because I had already read the assignment we were supposed to be reading... he cut off all of my hair. I raged. My hair was always a weakness to me, the sure fired way to get underneath of my skin. Then, as I got older and started doing assignments for my father I realized that it was a serious weakness I needed to get over; plus I was feeling a bit... not rebellious per say but close enough. So, I cut it shoulder length and dyed it pink with purple tips; and shaved the sides of my head. Needless to say I don't believe in baby steps, I dove right in when it came to getting rid of my weakness. My father didn't seem to mind, and I didn't think he would – we have uniforms and such but I think my father cares more about us doing our work, staying safe, and protecting our village then what color hair we have. My hair started to grow out again, and right before I got ranked to Lt. Colonel I was feeling a bit colorful, so I decided to dye it like this. It's kind of grown on me now, to be honest: I'll likely just keep it like this.”

Jayr shifted in her chair, truly getting comfortable as she looked up to see the waitress bringing over their drinks: the tea for Coen and Karukaya, and her and Temaki's rum and coke. After the waitress passed out the drinks to their appropriate owners she pulled out her notepad and pencil again. ”Would y'all like anything to eat?”

”I'll take two steaks.”, Jayr said with a quick glance to the menu she hadn't bothered to really look at yet. Cana's ears perked up, she was on board with that plan. Jayr handed over her menu after the waitress wrote down her order.

As Blast was poked in the nose he made it a point to dramatically and slowly fall over, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth in a rather silly fashion. The large reddish orange wolf was definitely in a playful mood, as he often was when Coen was around and he didn't have to be serious because of work.

”Happiness is key. No two partners can work together if there isn't some base of happiness between them, no matter how much they train. The trust just won't be there fully.”

Temaki then turned her attention from Karukaya to Jayr as she explained exactly what was up with her hair. As she listened she tried to picture the girl with long blond hair and almost couldn't: the rainbow colors just seemed to fit her much easier then any plain old blond. She listened as Jayr explained that her hair used to be her weakness, and as a method to break herself free from this weakness she had dove in head first and gone straight to the extreme – which had apparently worked. She then listened as Jayr explained that her father didn't seem too bothered by her hair, if at all: all in all it gave the Commander General cool points in her eyes. ”Huh... well, it definitely suits you. I keep trying to imagine you as a blond and I can't: the rainbow definitely works with you.”

Temaki's gaze turned to the waitress as she returned with their drinks. She listened to Jayr place her order and glanced down to Blast who was staring suddenly straight at her. She laughed. ”I'll take two steaks too.” She picked up her rum and coke and took a sip from the straw as she and the waitress looked at Karukaya to see if he wanted to order any food.

"Nankotsu and zuri yakitori, and the Chūkadon please." He was peckish but not hungry enough for something heavy, but he knew Coen well enough to know he'd be hungry by now; and the joey wouldn't be able to eat a lot of normal pub fair. Thankfully, this place had enough of a menu for him to enjoy something. He liked Chūkadon too, it was simple and easy and tasty.

"So, Jayr, I don't really know that much about Hanagakure; I know your military structure is completely different from the rest of the major nations, and that's about it. What's the village like?"

WC: 133

133 + 1725 = 1858

The waitress wrote down their orders, nodded to them, and then left to return behind the bar so that she could turn the order in and offer some brief attention to the other customers. Jayr watched the female walk away for a moment before she focused her attention onto Karukaya at his question.

Jayr couldn't help but smile a bit as she thought about home: she loved her village very much after all, and was loyal to it to the core. “Hana is... “, she paused, laughing. ”I'm trying to think how to put it without sounding like a tourist brochure. But in truth my village is amazing.”

”If you like it raining pink petals all the time...”, Cana grumbled suddenly.

Jayr poked the wolf on the nose and laughed. ”You're only grumpy because they make you sneeze. But yes, there are cherry blossom trees everywhere, and it does seem to snow petals. All in all it's a peaceful place to live...”

”Unless Jayr's in a bad mood and blowing stuff up...”, Cana added, looking up at Jayr with innocent blue eyes as her head remained on Jayr's lap.

”Hush you...”, Jayr said as she lightly poked the wolf on the nose with another laugh.

Temaki listened to Karukaya's question to Jayr while she brought her drink to her mouth and sipped it: it was delicious, the perfect ratio of rum to coke. It had a bite to it but it wasn't completely overwhelming: just the way she liked it.

Temaki couldn't help but grin as she listened to Jayr try explaining about her village: it was clear that Jayr loved her village, and was loyal to it to the core, which was rather nice to see. It was also clear, from what Cana was saying, that Jayr was by no means calm and collected all of the time like she was showing now. It also told something else that Temaki's nose already was: this girl was explosive, literally.

”Blowing stuff up eh? That certainly explains a few things – like why my nose has been detecting a hint of gunpowder since you arrived. Similar to mine but it has a different 'bite' to it. How does your dad feel about you accidentally blowing stuff up?”, Temaki asked curiously with a grin. "I know the elders complain all the time when I do it...", Temaki added with a very wicked and playful grin: she liked keeping the elders on their toes after all and thought it was great fun to mess with the old bastards.

Picking and choosing moments to be brave (and suicidally stupid) was something of a specialty of his, he preferred to save possible stupid moments and use them sparingly, for the sake of his pride and life. But with Temaki, he was fairly comfortable now, after what they'd been through, even a student -teacher or solider-officer relationship was going to change, and they'd proven they could trust each other and work together well. He was comfortable being frank around her; mostly. Still, his thought was true, at least to him, so it wasn't like he was just talking to try and fit in or suck up. "They complain about everything. Even the things that benefit the village."

Which was true. He'd seen the stress on the people this effected; the administrators and such of the various wildlife centers across the village, the faces of the village elders out on the plains. The insanity of thing the elders wanted would ruin the lands and everything that made them, well, them, if allowed. Thank the gods for leaders like Temaki that had the clout to keep them muzzled, as it where.

"I've seen cheery blossoms... beautiful. A rain of blossom petals sounds amazing; beyond what I could imagine, really."

"Daddy? What are cherry blossoms? Are they like the fruit?"

"The fruit comes from the flower and the tree. So, sort of. It's like how the little white flowers on the orange tree in the yard have turned into little unripe oranges."

"Oooh. Can we go see?"

"Maybe, son. I make no promises."

Coen was okay with this answer, reaching for his tea with both paws and taking a sip; he'd likely never be able to hold a cup with one hand, but that didn't really bother him. He was to the point where he'd learned to differentiate between things that he could learn to do, and things that his anatomy didn't allow for at all.

WC: 351

351 +1858 = 2209

Jayr shrugged her shoulders at Temaki's question, taking a sip of her own rum and coke before she answered. She played with her straw a bit while speaking, “Eh, my dad's pretty used to it honestly: I've been doing it since I was about three years old or so. I mean, accidents happen and he knows that. So long as I don't do it on purpose he lets it go. I'm pretty sure he's got a village allowance stuffed away somewhere for the soul purpose of repairing anything I might break or otherwise destroy.”

She then listened to Karukaya's comment about the elders that Temaki had mentioned and she couldn't help but grin in a knowing fashion. ”I think grumpy old people come standard with every village, no matter how that village is run.”

She then listened to Coen as she reached down and scratched Cana's head once more. With her free hand she brought her drink once more up to her lips. ”You guys should come visit sometime. I can't be the only one in the world whose earned a vacation after all.” Jayr could feel her face heating up from the effects of the alcohol and took a moment to down the rest of the glass. The waitress, watching their table a bit more carefully then the rest, went to grab Jayr a fresh one.