Is that a monkey? [Invite Only]

"I can help explain to them, if you want." If anything, having a ranked teacher and certified animal trainer 'helping' would make it easier on them; and he was already forming plans to get her into the classes and such she'd need to take to be able to keep her little buddy; primates in general needed highly specialized care, even ninja primates, so she'd need to get a lot of learned done very quickly.

Satisfied that they faceless ninja and police could handle the circus from there, "Come on, let's get moving. It's not far, and I'm pretty sure I can find you a change of clothes there. We've got spare uniforms all over the place; they're not much, but they're comfortable, and clean." They only had to g a few blocks, really; not even two miles, so a short walk. It wouldn't take that long to get there, and he was mostly silent for the walk. He was working over paperwork and such in his mind, and it would give Art and the little monkey time to talk and such if they wanted.

The doors where locked when they got there, but that was normal; this late at night the only unlocked doors where at the clinic entrance around the other side. Even that wasn't really true, cause it was a separate building entirely, and it was less of the main clinic and more of an emergency waiting room. He had keys to everything but the administrative records; and even that was just because he wasn't a supervisor or administrative; he was a field scout, vet tech, and team leader, so he needed to be able to get into places at all hours of the day any night. Inside was dimly lit for the night shift, but not entirely dead, a few people came and went, hung out at the water coolers and snack machines peppering the facility. Down the hall and through a set of double doors (with a flash of his ID, of course), and they where in the main indoor barn, where the animals that where too sick to leave outside, in quarantine for whatever reason, or couldn't handle the weather this time of year where kept.

Around the right side of the room, past the caged of herbivores with young babies and a few new residents fresh off the plains; a half blind water buffalo, a few injured emus, etc; and they where at another set of doors, this time held wide open and leading into what was obvious a vet exam room. Said room was mostly empty, just a small leopard cub that was sleeping off the anesthesia after getting it's teeth cleaned in a cage against the far wall. "Saaaaato. I have a patient for you."

"Oh Gods, what did you find now, Karukaya?"

"Saved a little albino monkey from a poacher in the market. Or rather, my student did, and I brought them in to get checked out."

"Delightful. Albino, you say? I'd been hearing rumors someone was trying to sell one of those." He finally appeared, he'd been almost buried beneath paperwork piled almost to the ceiling on his desk. With all the herb tracking and such, the entire vet staff was loosing their collective minds under the paperwork load. A slightly older man, Sato still looked good for his age, most of the time; no grey in his hair just yet (although rumor was he dyed his hair), straight spine, and a quiet, but firm, voice that carried across any space easily. He looked tired as hell, though, and that was understandable. "You... look like you've been through hell. Karukaya, did you let her get this hurt for a reason?"

"I saved her life the moment I showed up. Things happened before i got there, and it was random luck that I did."

"Of course it was. Well, anyway, let's see the monkey. I'll make sure he's alright, and start on vaccinations. You want to get her a change of clothes? She's about the same size Megumi was when she first started, so we should have something that'll fit."

"Yeah, I as thinking that too. Staff shower's open?"

"Mhmm. They finished cleaning them an hour ago."

"Awesome." He walked over to the wall and grabbed a set of keys that was supposed to always hang there during the night shift; the staff showers and such where normally closed at night since they didn't run night ops often, and the maintenance crew could be dickish about being interrupted mid-clean. "Go ahead and let him have your buddy. He'll have him checked by the time you've cleaned up and changed."

WC: 843

1769/3250 SPD B0-B3

The fact that he was willing to help her explain the situation to her parents eased some of her overall tension; though she wasn't quite sure that they were going to be okay with her bringing home a monkey either way. A small kitten? A puppy? Even a rat or other small creature? Sure. Those things were tiny, didn't take up much room, and usually weren't in the house for more then a week tops. Her father had only ever drawn the line at snakes: he hated them, and he refused to allow them in the house, period. But permanently bringing home a monkey that was at best the size of the average child? That was going to be a tough one....

Artemis followed Karukaya sensei quietly, her attention mostly on the monkey – though she paid enough to ensure she didn't trip over anything or run into anyone or anything thing. The monkey had stopped pointing at her injured leg and was instead examining her hair quite closely; going so far as to take some of it and put it on top of her own head. Artemis couldn't help but laugh, something the monkey instantly tried to mimic much like a child would.

Artemis fell quiet while allowing the monkey to continue to examine and familiarize herself with her, wondering and pondering about a name for her new friend: she wanted something meaningful, something that had history and character behind it. So far though she was coming up stumped.

When they reached the building she noticed, as they entered inside, that the monkey began to cling far more to her then she had been. Her hold had become tighter, and it was clear she was uncomfortable. Artemis shifted her slightly as they walked so that she could dedicate both arms to her. By the time they got to the room that Sato was in the monkey had hidden her face beneath Artemis hair. Artemis listened to the conversation between the two of them, grinning a bit. ”My injuries are kind of my own fault... I was a bit brash in how I refused to tell him where I hid her...”

The monkey was peaking out from her hair at this point, curiously. When she went to hand the monkey over however the monkey made it quite clear she wasn't so willing to go. ”My hooman! My hooman!” Okay, so that was a thing then. Right. She belonged to the monkey. She was the monkey's 'human'. She should have saw this coming, but either way she didn't mind in the slightest.

She turned her focus onto the monkey; she knew she was going to have to try and calm her down or else she was never willingly going to let go. ”I have to get my leg cleaned up while he makes sure you're okay.”

The monkey looked down at her leg, pointed at the blood, and said ”Hooman hurt. My hooman hurt.”

”That's right. So I need to go fix that while you go get checked over to make sure you're not hurt.”

Reluctantly the monkey loosened her grip and then reached over and went to Sato willingly enough, allowing Artemis to follow Karukaya so that she could get out of her blood covered clothes and cleaned up.

Word Count: 556 + 6,143 = 6,699

Karu was patient, and he knew enough about primates to know that a clingy one wasn't going to be happy to leave it's friend; but any primate was smart enough to sense a safe place, even if they didn't want to believe it could be safe because of treatment at the hands of people. Hopefully by the time Sato was done, the little primate would be calmer, and they could start the long process of getting it and Artemis settled down and ready. Karu lead her through a door on the far left side of the room; it lead to the staff break area, a large lounge with several small alcoves branching off. Some of the alcoves where smaller sitting areas, some led to doors into bunk rooms, some where locker and storage rooms, one was even a fully functional (and thankfully well stocked) kitchen.

It was to one of these alcoves he took her, it lead to the storage room full of the spare uniforms and such. He'd have to mix and match her something; or else find a set of vet scrubs that would fit.   The latter would likely be easier, but eh, whatever worked.

A door on the far end of the room would lead to the shower areas; not directly into the rooms, but into the secondary locker area where people using the showers could store their shower bags and belongings while they where cleaning up. He flipped through a few keys on the ring and opened up a cabinet; revealing neatly stacked uniform pieces. Shirts hung, pants where folded on a lower shelf. Classical set up, really. "You'll find something your size in here. Take anything you want, there's plenty. Once you've found a set, go through the door down there. There'll be towels in a basket on the counter, if not they're in the cabinet behind it. Again, take anything you want. Get cleaned up and change. When you're done, come back this way. We'll get'm checked out and cleaned up for you. So long as it's not carrying parasites, you'll be able to take 'm home tonight. So long as you have local fruits and such at home, you'll be able to feed 'm just fine; I got a look at those teeth, it's definitely old enough to be eating normal foods." He hung the keys on a hook near the original door, "Everything locks when you close it, so just be sure to take the keys with you. Bring them out with you, too. I'll be working with Sato, two hands will make this go faster."

If she had any questions, now was the time to ask; cause once he went back into the main room he wouldn't be able to hear anything; the theater was sound proofed due to the nature of many of the tools they used being extremely loud; when in use they'd highly disturb the animals in the main barn and they didn't want that. With all the doors closed and the sound proofing engaged, nothing got out of that room. Literally.

WC: 540

2336/3250 SPD B0-B3

Artemis followed Karukaya: she knew her sensei wouldn't have brought her and the monkey here had Sato not been more then capable. So, she wasn't worried, especially given how willingly the monkey had gone to him, at least not with her being safe. However, she was worried if the monkey was healthy or not – there was no telling what sort of trauma she had been put through at the hands of those poachers and she had a feeling they hadn't taken the best care of her.

As they walked she looked around, surprised to see that this place was so huge. Though, it made sense as to why: animals needed constant care, especially when ill or injured. When they came to a stop she listened to everything Karukaya sensei said and nodded in understanding. “Alright, sounds good: we always keep the house well stocked on all sorts of fruit so that's not an issue. I don't plan on taking too long.”, she said, making a mental note about the key.

She would wait for Karukaya to leave while gathering up a towel, and an outfit – deciding on a set of scrubs as that was the first thing she found that would fit properly – her short height tended to make it hard to find things that fit properly. She headed into the locker room area, her mind on Fa Mulan the whole entire time. She made quick work of stripping off her blood stained clothing; there was no point in even keeping them because of how ruined they were. Bandages and the like were removed from around her hands and arms.

While she was in the shower she made quick work in cleaning herself up; washing herself off and ridding herself of blood. By now the spot that had been cut was tender, and she slowed when cleaning it up to ensure she didn't agitate it further. She was no baby when it came to pain, but she knew what would happen if a wound got too badly irritated.

When she was done in the shower she got out, towel dried off, and made quick work in changing into the scrubs she had chosen. She sat long enough to fold the pant legs of the scrubs up to her knees; keeping her pant legs from rubbing on her cut. When she was situated she exited the locker room; making sure to grab the key as she made her way back: all the while still wondering if there was anything wrong with Fa Mulan, and hoping that there wasn't.

Word Count: 432 + 6,699 = 7,131

In the main room, things where going about a smoothly as possible, given they where working with what was essentially a wild money child with just enough extra intelligence to start to speak, but not quite enough to fully know what was going on. That made administrating the tests they needed difficult, because the baby was extremely afraid of anything sharp. Not surprising at all, really. Sato barely needed to speak, even though Karu wasn't on the main vet team, he had worked a few rotations with them, and he'd gotten the rhythm down well enough to work with him effectively, so long as there weren't too many people in the room.

The physical exam was simple enough; Karu held the baby while Sato checked the movements of fingers and toes and elbow and knees and such; he had her, that was established pretty quickly, walk around a bit to see that her balance was good, and her hips worked and all that. Eyes where checked with the annoying pen light; good reactions and clear lenses signalling her perfect sight. Ears where clear, and she could obviously hear just fine. No major wounds, no broken bones. Teeth in good shape, all things considered; they'd need to get cleaned eventually, and a regiment of regular cleaning would need to be followed, but they where solid, and not damaged like he often saw.

Drawing blood was... a pain; but it they didn't need much. A single vial was taken, and while Sato ran tests, Karu brushed out the baby's fur with a fine toothed comb, checking for parasites and the like. A few fleas, the occasional tick, but no lice. That was a good thing, too; they could wash out the fleas and ticks, but not lice. She didn't have to be shaved, and that would make this easier. The fleas and ticks that came off in the comb where collected for further testing, and a specially formulated dry powder was worked into her fur; it smelled like tropical flowers and would almost instantly kill the parasites in her fur without harming her in the least. It would wash out when she was given a bath later, and she'd be fine after that.

"Blood tests are clear. Start the vaccines."

"Right."

They'd tested for everything from heart worms to cancer, and she'd tested clean for all of it. There where more in depth tests that would check for thinks like hormone imbalances, kidney and liver problems, etc; but those would take more time. For now though, the test they did have results for told them she was clear to be given vaccinations for the common things; rabies, worms, leukemia, and the like. They had a special parasite repellent that was given via injection as well; it would buy her a solid year without having to worry about bugs and such again, and inoculate her against the more common diseases spread by them.

They where just about done when Art reappeared, Karu was brushing out the baby's fur, and Sato was stuffing the last of the pills and medicines that they would be giving her into some banana chunks for her. "Everything looks good so far. We'll know for sure in a few days when the rest of the tests come in, but from what we can see, she's completely healthy. You can take her home as soon as she's taken these last few medicines."

WC: 595

2931/3250 SPD B0-B3

As Artemis walked in the monkey instantly reached for her; her hands opening and closing in the classic 'pick me up' way that human toddlers often perfected. Artemis couldn't help but smile as she walked over to Fa Mulan. She looked to Karukaya sensei, listening to what he said, as Fa Mulan took her left hand. She seemed to realize that they weren't quite done here, so she remained where she was for the time being – however, she also felt that contact with Artemis needed to be maintained, thus the hand holding. Artemis didn't mind of course, and lightly brushed her thumb across the monkey's much smaller fingers.

”Good to hear. Hopefully the rest of the tests will come back good, too. Still dont' know how well my parents are going to handle this; but I'm prepared for it.” Translation: she fully expected them to say no to Fa Mulan, in which case she was prepared to pack her stuff and find another place to live. She might be only fifteen years old, but she was a certified Genin with a decent bit of ryo saved up: if anything she could at least afford one of the cheaper one bedroom apartments in the village of it came to that, or perhaps try and find someone to stay with. Either way, she was prepared to take care of Fa Mulan: it was a responsibility she was more then willing to shoulder.

”My hooman!”

Artemis turned her attention to Fa Mulan and smiled. ”I think I have a name for you: Fa Mulan. After the female warrior who was brave enough to take up her aged father's sword and fight in his place.”

Fa Mulan let out happy sounding screech. ”Fa Mulan! Fa mulan!” the monkey mimicked. Artemis grinned, glad that she seemed to like the name.

"I'll put that down on her records, then." Sato finished making a little fruit salad of hidden pills for the baby and brought it over just in time for Karu to finish his brushing; "She's clean, now. She might drop a few more dead fleas and the like over the next day or two, but right now she's not contagious. The powder will need to be washed out sometime tomorrow, preferably before she goes and gets crazy dirty."

Sato returned to his desk long enough to pick up what looked like a set of tags, and a folder full of paperwork. "Ninja pets aren't required to wear vaccination and registration tags like civilian pets are, but you need to have the records on hand when you take her to be registered. This has everything you'll need, including the forms you need to have ready beforehand. Karukaya can help you fill them out. Once that's all done, her headband will act as her 'tags'; so that you won't have trouble with the civilian police or the poacher patrols in the market."

"We've gotten everything, so we should be good to go."

"Indeed, I'll have results from the last few tests tomorrow, maybe the day after. I'll let you know, anyway."

"I'm got a shift tomorrow night anyway, so I'll see you then."

"Alright."

"Artemis, you ready to head home? We should get this done quick as we can. The faster she's able to settle in somewhere, the better for her. And you, really."

WC: 289

3220/3250 SPD B0-B3

Fa Mulan reached instantly for the fruit, eating it rather quickly: as Artemis watched it made her wonder how long it had been since the monkey had last eaten. Something told her that those poachers hadn't been too keen in keeping her healthy and fed. She then focused her attention on Sato as he explained about the fleas, and how she wasn't contagious. As well as how the powder would need to be washed out sometime tomorrow: that was going to be an interesting endeavor.

She listened closely as well as Sato explained about the paperwork, and the tags. She then nodded in understanding, keeping it all to memory. The sooner that Fa Mulan got a headband the better, but until then she'd make sure she kept the information on her as to avoid trouble.

Her attention shifted to Fa Mulan who had by now finished eating and she held her arms out to the monkey who instantly moved into hers. The trust the monkey had for her was still a bit overwhelming and baffling, but enjoyable none the less. Fa Mulan shifted herself onto Artemis' back, which seemed the best position for the both of them anyway, and wrapped her arms around Artemis' neck loosely. With the monkey on her back she looked to Karukaya sensei and nodded.

With everything they would need, she would exit the building, and lead the way back to her parents house. If they weren't stopped or bothered along the way it would take only about ten minutes on foot; and Artemis' anxiety sparked with every step. Artemis was just beginning to wonder if she should have Fa Mulan wait outside or not as she attempted to break the ice with her family when she noticed that her parents were both standing outside in front of the door.

Her mother caught sight of her first and her voice cracked like an angry whip, ”I send you to the market for food and you come back with a monkey! Do you have any idea how worried we've been? I sent your father out looking for you! When he starts asking around he gets told you got yourself into a fight and caused all sorts of havoc!”

Artemis opened her mouth, prepared to defend herself when her father spoke up next, cutting off anything she would have said, ”You've really disappointed us Artemis. And for the record that monkey is not coming into this house. Now, go take it back where you got it.”

Artemis was stunned as she looked back and forth between her parents. Yet, that was nothing to the anger that filled her heart and mind as she heard the monkey on her back make the saddest sound she had ever heard an animal make. Great, Fa Mulan had understood at least enough of that to know she wasn't wanted. Artemis, always quick to temper, closed her hands into fists. ”I didn't mean to worry you. I was in the market with the stuff for supper when I overheard some poachers. I tried to get Fa Mulan out of the market when their boss spotted me. He demanded to know where I put her and I refused to tell him.. he knocked me around a little bit before Karukaya sensei showed up. I can't take Fa Mulan back to where she came from: and even if I could I wouldn't.”

”You named her? You can't honestly think we're going to let you keep a pet in this house...”

God, Artemis wanted to bash her head own head off of the wall...[/color]

Uh-huh. Well, that made way too much sense. Like, entirely too much sense. He'd seen this before; parents that gave two flying fucks about the cares and interests of their kids because said interests cost money; and even when the kid was able to cover those costs, they still felt the need to crush their hopes and dreams because they weren't what the parent wanted.

Delightful.

"If I may interrupt. Your daughter showed some serious skill and ability there. Whether you approve of her love and care of animals is beyond the point. She was very nearly seriously injured doing what is her ninja duty, and all you care about is that she brought home a monkey? Did either of you actually notice that she is injured, or are you the types that only give her a place to sleep out of obligation, and put up the face of actually caring?"

He had zero tolerance for people like this; if you where so stuck up your own ass that you couldn't take the ten minutes to look up the volunteer programs and such to allow your kid a healthy outlet for their abilities and interests, then you're a shit parent and really don't deserve any sympathy or respect. He'd been lucky, his parents had been supportive, and they liked animals enough to let him have a series of small pets growing up. The only reason he hadn't had a pet before he found Coen was because 'his' dog had stayed with his parents, so that they wouldn't be alone in that big house when he was too busy to visit, or out of town.

"Beyond that point, there is 'no where to take her back' to. A poacher was trying to sell her off in the market, this extremely rare and extremely valuable monkey has no home to go back to, likely. Her species lives out on the border with Hanagakure; and their forests just got burned out by worse than average wildfires. Even if we took her 'back', she'd die within a week of starvation, exposure, and the starving predators roaming the lands. She's not even old enough to have left her parents, normally. So, you'd rather watch an innocent animal; that your daughter valiantly saved; die, than let her take care of it? It's not like she can't afford it, she's a ninja for fucks sake; she makes more than enough even as a Genin to do that. I was raising a kangaroo at her rank, and they're more difficult than any primate."

WC: 451

3671/3250 SPD B0-B3

421 remaining

There was a very long pause of silence after Karukaya sensei's words to her parents. Both of them seemed utterly and completely shocked into silence, but it wasn't to last as he and Artemis were about to find out. Her father often had a short temper, and it was going to show regardless of who he was speaking to – nor what rank that individual was. Heat rose to his face as his blood pressure began to boil, and soon enough his face was the color of an apple: ”How dare you! Of course we care about our daughter. We never said we didn't. When she chose her life as a shinobi she knew there would be dangers she had to face, and that's what she did today. She did her job. Nothing more, nothing less. But, that will not change the fact that that monkey is not coming into my house. Period.”

Her mother on the other hand didn't look angry, she instead looked between a mixture of scared and irritated. ”I agree with your father. There are too many things in our house that could be broken. I understand that the monkey cannot be taken back to where she came from, yet I'm sure there has to be somewhere she can go. She's not coming inside.”, her mother spoke with a firm tone of voice.

Artemis was stunned. ”....” She couldn't believe that they were being this hard headed about something as important as this. They weren't even going to give Fa Mulan a chance, and she knew it. She also knew that there was no point in attempting to argue further. She had already made her decision and it was simply time to act on it. Very slowly and gently she unhooked Fa Mulan's arms from around her neck and carefully set the monkey down near Karukaya. The monkey looked at her puzzled and slightly hurt but she offered a reassuring smile which seemed to please Fa Mulan. Artemis' gaze hardened as turned back to her parents. ”You've made your choice so I guess I'll have to make mine...”

”I'm glad you're seeing this our---”

”I'm moving out.”

”What?! Where will you go at this time of the day?”

”A hotel, a boarding house, somewhere. You no longer need to concern yourself about that. I'll go pack my things, and I'll leave. I'll take Fa Mulan with me and you won't have to worry about her being in the house.”

Her father's face went from red to purple. ”You can't just up and leave when ever you want!”

”Actually, considering my job, my age, and my ability to take care of myself, yes I can do just that.” She knew it too; there were plenty of genin even younger then herself living alone. She moved passed her shocked parents who staring at each other utterly stunned: they had no argument to make against this – there was none. Artemis didn't give her parents a chance to come up with one either as she went straight into her room, grabbed a dufflebag, and began to pack what she would absolutely need – everything else could be replaced later on if her parents wouldn't allow her to come back again...

"It's what you don't say, that is the most telling." He was entirely unfazed by their reactions; he'd pretty much expected as much over his words. Few would take them laying down, unless they where the type that only needed the slightest reality check to realize just shitty they where being. Meh, whatever.

So she was going to take it that far? Ballsy, and he liked that. She was brave enough to take the steps she needed to make sure her life was what she wanted it to be, and not be stalled by the people that should be supporting her, but refuse to for whatever reasons. He offered an arm to Fa Mulan, allowing her the chance to climb up on him if she wanted; she'd likely be more comfortable that way, until Artemis came back. When she did, he spoke again, "Come stay with me, for now. I've got a spare room, and Coen will enjoy the company. My place is set up for taking care of animals anyway, so you won't have to worry about having problems bringing her."

Whether she took the offer or not was up to her, and he'd support her decision either way. If she wanted to go to hotel or something, he'd point her in the right direction to make sure she wasn't stuck wondering around for hours trying to find one that allowed 'pets', since Fa Mulan wasn't fully registered yet, and wouldn't be protected by the laws that gave ninja pets and partners special protections.

WC: 272

272 + 421 = 693

Fa Mulan climbed up Karukaya and hung from him in much the same method that she had been doing from Artemis; her favorite way to perch on someone. The monkey watched over Karukaya's shoulder, but made little sound; her eyes were trained on the doorway that Artemis had disappeared into as she waited as patiently as possible for “her human” to return.

Artemis meanwhile made quick work in filling her duffle bag; clothing, a few books, toothbrush, comb, those sorts of things. Weapons and the like were gathered up too. She ensured that everything she absolutely had to have was in the bag: the rest could after all be replaced. And then she was back outside, pausing in the doorway to look at her parents.

She heard Karukaya sensei say that she could stay with him; he had a spare room and Coen would enjoy the company, plus his house was already set up to deal with animals so there'd be no issues with Fa Mulan. She nodded to him in agreement with the idea and went to step off the porch when her father reached out and grabbed her arm, tightly. She stopped, looked at his hand, and slowly her gaze traveled up his arm and to his face.

”You're not leaving this house, young lady!”

Before she could react, before she could tell him to release her before she forced him to, she heard an unhappy screech of a sound. Fa Mulan had released her hold on Karukaya and was 'running' over to them. The monkey launched herself at her father and bit him on the arm. He hollered, released her, and stumbled back. Before either her parents could get it in their heads to attempt to strike the monkey she scooped up Fa Mulan and jumped off the porch, crossing the distance between herself and Karukaya sensei quickly.

Word Count: 8,888

He didn't even make a move to restrain Fa Mulan, he knew exactly what she was about to do when she raced down his body. That was expected, really; primates where predictable, and acted similar to children of the same general age; at least if the children weren't socialized and reacted on instinct. She was going to get a treat later for that; and thank god they had all the paperwork to prove that she was vaccinated and clean; no problems from the authorities over this. Once they'd returned to him, he shifted so that his body was between both parties, allowing himself a bored yawn and a light stretch. "Well, I think that's your proof that she's dead set on this. Even if you wanted to stop her, you have no legal discourse in the matter; once a ninja graduates the academy and receives their official rank, they're legally adults, and therefore are no longer bound to their parents by the same laws and such as normal teenagers would be. For all intents and purposes, she's been legally an adult since the moment she finished school. So really, she has every right to make this decision, and you can't stop her."

This was information he had to have, since he'd moved out of his own parents home years before; and while he was very obviously a ninja, and well known now due to his recent explosion of work, being the only kangaroo trainer in the village, the Rakuenkage's student, and other less professional rumors and such, there had been a time when he was just another baby faced kid getting stopped at random by truancy cops and the like asking why he wasn't in school; because he looked too young to have graduated and didn't wear his ninja gear when off duty.

Given the way they'd been reacting, he decided to take a moment to make sure that they didn't end up being rushed by a ragetastical father that didn't like having his authority challenged; Karukaya was BARELY older than his daughter, so a fairly highly ranked, and somewhat important member of the military or not, he wasn't about to respect Karu's own authority here.

"Soooo... since it's late as hell, she needs to rest so that she can heal, and I'd love to get some sleep so that I can go to work tonight..." He had a whole gaggle of hidden tricks and jutsu up his sleeve, and he was about to cue Artemis up one. He charged his fire chakra to his hand and lifted it to his mouth, palm flat and facing up, base of his palm pressed lightly against the space under his bottom lip and between said lip and his chin. He inhaled deeply, releasing the air in a strong stream across his palm and causing what appeared to be innumerable fireflies to fly from his palm and spread into the air between himself and her parents. They hovered in the air, glittering beautifully with their own inner light, and releasing a gentle heat that raised the ambient temperature pleasantly; at least for Karukaya.

"So, we're gunna go ahead and take off now. Fair warning, don't touch the pretty little sparkle flies. They make a nice big boom when they touch things. They'll disappear in a few minutes, so just head inside and go to bed, or whatever. Artemis will be fine, she can take care of herself. She's proven that plenty of times over."

WC: 613

693 + 613 = 1306

1306/1500 Fire Release: Ten Thousand Fireflies

It was very hard for Artemis to hide how very proud she was of Fa Mulan at the moment: the fact that the monkey had acted like that was not only amusing, but it was also a huge leap forward. Fa Mulan was willing to protect Artemis the same as Artemis was willing to protect her – it was a lot farther then most people got when first getting a pet, ninja pet or otherwise. She was definitely going to have to find a way to show her how pleased she was by that reaction, but for now apparently it was time to watch a pretty show.~

Fa Mulan shifted more to the left side of Artemis' hip; she couldn't go on her back due to the duffle bag being there, but this was as close to her what was quickly being her usual perch as she could get so she was happy. Both of them watched and listened to Karukaya sensei as he moved himself between them and Artemis' parents. The jutsu caused the monkey to make rather excited noises and caused Artemis to grin.

Her parents wouldn't dare try and stop them now, and sure enough they headed inside; her father almost pushing her mother through the door way. The door was slammed shut behind them. Artemis attempted to suppress her grin but couldn't. “That was an awesome jutsu.” She then focused her attention onto Fa Mulan. ”You did an awesome job, Fa Mulan.”

The monkey simply let out a happy series of chirping type noises. ”My hooman!”

Word Count: 262 + 8,888 = 9,150
Taijutsu C – B: 9,150 – 3,000
Raiton C – B: 6,150 – 1,500
Remaining: 4,650

"It would have looked better if they'd tried to call a bluff and touched one. The medics would hate me; more than they do; but yeah. It's a good thing they didn't try to call a bluff. That would have been bad. I don't have many flashy jutsu that aren't... super powerful. Most of my 'easy' skills are Taijutsu, so the wrong kind of flashy for what I wanted. Anyway, now that the bull is over; let's head home. Coen's gunna be wondering where I am, and we all need some sleep." He waved his hand upward, causing the sparkling fireflies to fly upward into the open sky where they faded from existence as the chakra that made them burned out.

He shifted around, orienting himself using the taller buildings, and made a mental note of where this house was in relation to the rest of the places in the village he needed to know about. "Alright, this way.~" Down the road and toward home he lead them, comfortable silence on his end. If she wanted to talk, he'd be happy to converse, but otherwise he was silent.

WC: 202

202 + 1306 = 1506/1500 Fire Release: Ten Thousand Fireflies

”Honestly, I think my dad probably would have, but he's terrified of jutsu. He was on the bad end of one a few years ago when he pissed off the wrong person in a bar. He got hit with a nasty raiton attack that left him twitching for weeks afterward until his nerve system stopped acting haywire.” Artemis said, thoughtfully. While she was indeed glad that her parents hadn't attempted to call Karukaya's bluff the idea still amused her that they had tried to stop her from leaving in the first place. They knew the rules; it wasn't like they were uninformed. But, something had made them think that if they could bully Artemis enough she would stay.

It hadn't happened of course... Artemis was too strong willed of an individual. But, had she been anyone else it likely would have.

She pondered over these thoughts as she followed after Karukaya sensei. She had no idea where he lived exactly, or how long it would take to get there, but it was an enjoyable kind of quiet that allowed her to mentally come to terms with what she had just done. She no longer would have her parents to fall back onto when times got tough: she knew that after this 'bad break' there was no going back for her. She was on her own in a manner of speaking. She also knew she was going to have to prove herself from here on out: Karukaya sensei was sticking his neck out for her by providing her a place to stay – something that most sensei wouldn't have offered. She knew she wouldn't be able to slack off anymore, and that was fine: it was about time she kicked her own ass into gear anyway.

Word Count: 300 + 4,650 = 4,950

Ah, that was glorious. Things like that where why he was thinking about trying his hand at learning Raiton when he had some time; he knew he had some Raiton affinity, even if it was pretty weak. He'd  always been heavy on the fire, and lightning wasn't that different, in theory and practice. Ah well.

They reached his block and smirked a bit; he could see Coen through one of his kitchen windows, the 'roo was standing over the sink by the look of it; he'd likely treated himself to some of the fruit sherbet in the freezer and was trying to clean up the evidence. Or else he'd made a sandwich or something.

"We're here." he pointed out his apartment and dug into his pocket to fish his keys out, flipping a few of the keys away until he had the right one. Right up to the door, and the key was inserted; he knew the door would be locked, Coen was good about not leaving it unlocked when he was home alone, even more so at night. The door was opened and he stepped aside to let them in, "Come on in, make yourselves at home."

He waited for them to enter, then walked in and locked the door behind them; his front door opened into a little hallway with a coat closet on the right wall that lead right into the kitchen area. It was an open style apartment; the kitchen was only separate from the small dining area he had and the living room by the bar, and the living room had taken on a decidedly comfortable feel since he moved his training gear into the shed/training room on the far side of the back yard. A hallway branched off on the right wall, leading toward the bedrooms and bathroom. "You're welcome to anything floating around; I need to do a market run tomorrow, but there's plenty to eat anyway. Towels are in the bathroom, extra blankets and such are in the closet in the hallway. There's plenty in the guest bedroom, but if you like to make a mountain of them, have fun.~ Your room is on the left, the door on the right is the bathroom, and the far end is my room. The hammock up on the wall is Coen's, but I best he'd share if asked."

"Sleepover? I like sleepovers.~ Who's the little one?" It turned out he'd been making tea; he did that sometimes when he was having trouble sleeping, and they had all kinds of it. He hopped over with the kettle and a few cups on a tray, "I have tea, if anyone wants some.~"

Karukaya took a second to move toward the kitchen, and to the edge of the bar where a strange looking egg was sitting in a little nest and wrapped in a heating pad and blanket. He unwrapped the blankets and such from it, and checked over the shell, running his finger over the barely visible spiderweb of cracks that had started forming over it over the last few days. "I think he's going to hatch soon. I have no idea what he is, but... well, you know me. I take care of everything. Something about him though... call it instinct. Or whatever. I found him out on the plains; or Coen did, and brought me too him. I don't even know how I know it's a he, but I just do. With any luck, we'll wake up to him hatching fully, and I can finally see what he is..."