Niece to Meet You [Graded]

[Niro]

The weather had decided to cooperate within Iwagakure no Sato for once. Albeit still chilly, the clouds had cleared the mountain range the village was hidden within and the sun poured in from above with brilliant rays. Combined with the apparent miracle of Tatsuo finishing his paperwork for the day, it was shaping up to be something special. The maroon-haired man had left his office through the window after telling his secretary of the intercom he was done for the day. A couple of indignant cries had been his response but they fell on deaf ears, Tatsuo already gone and the window being softly shut behind him.

It didn't take him long to Sky Walk his way through the village air space and onto the landing of his home's front yard, his signature maroon duster flapping in the wind as he did so. Carved into the mountain range opposite the Jousai headquarters, just in case he was needed there or at the Kage Building, a well kept, for the climate, lawn decorated the front yard with a portion off to the right for training and sparring. Dummies of different materials and sizes lined the one section, obvious victims of Tatsuo's at home training.

The Tsuchikage made a B-line for the front door and threw it open, a wide grin on his face.

"HIKARIII!" He yelled into the house, knowing he probably pissed off the head butler with his antics. Who knew what the girl was up to at the moment; Natsumi had insisted she be given a proper education and had tutors brought to the house daily to make sure she was being taught about this, new to her, world. Eventually the girl would come bounding from wherever she was being holed up and he'd take her up in his arms, spinning around after doing so before putting her back on the ground.

"We're gonna go somewhere...fun today. Make sure you got something warm on, it's gonna be a bit chilly on the way there."

[Willoria]

Hikari was bored, which was an understatement. She sat at the table she was supposed to be doing her work at, several scrolls spread around her and papers in front of her for note taking. Her tutor for the day was droning on, something about customs and manners. Hikari was frowning, and then she heard the voice of her father echo through the house. With a squeal of delight the girl practically threw herself out of her chair and raced out of the room, her tutor hollering after her. She ran full speed through the house, or at least what counted as full speed for her. The moment she saw Tatsuo she leaped at him as expected, giggling as he spun her around.

She was practically bouncing on her feet as he told her they were going somewhere. "Oooooh. Where are we going?" she asked excitedly, though the mention of wearing something warm made her frown. Multiple layers were uncomfortable for the girl, she felt like she could barely move when forced to wear a coat but she could see the inevitable coming. She'd go and get one eventually of course, once she heard more about where they were going hopefully.

Of course it didn't matter where they were going, she was practically attached at Tatsuo's hip when allowed to be. The moment he had said they were going somewhere, she was following.

[Niro]

"Sorry, hun. Surprise." The grin on Tatsuo's face promised somewhere exciting at the very least. He waited until she got back with some sort of coat on before offering her his hand to hold and exiting the house once she did. The man was slightly wary of what his wife would say when he got back with her. Tatsuo was expecting it to be an earful as he was quite sure she was in the middle of lessons. The duo walked to the edge of the ledge and looked down to her.

"On my shoulders, okay?" Tats offered her an arm to cling onto and then lifted her onto his shoulders where her legs secured her in place. "Hold on."

Tatsuo crouched a little bit, summoning his strength before leaping forward and into the open air over the village. The wind tore at them, their hair and her tail whipping around wildly due to the sheer speed he had launched them forwards. As they began to fall, Tatsuo took a step and launched them forward once more, this time off of the very air itself. The form of pseudo-flight was one of Tatsuo's greatest ways to relax and being able to bring Hikari along with him on such an action only made it that much more special a moment to him.

Soon enough, the location in question came in sight and Tatsuo slowly descended from the heavens with the girl in front of a mansion. "Remember how I mentioned I had a brother?"

Tatsuo knocked on the door, the hybrid half dragon girl on his shoulders as he waited for his grumpy, shorter brother to open the door.

[Willoria]

Of course as her father promised a surprise, the young girl squealed in delight before racing off to find a coat. She came back in one that was fluffy enough to make her look almost like she was wrapped up in bubble wrap or something. It was quite difficult for the girl to move in and resulted in several frowns by time she made it back to where Tatsuo was waiting. But she managed. As Tatsuo offered her an arm to cling onto, she immediately grabbed hold. When she nearly slipped her tail came in handy to help balance her out. Once she was on his shoulders, she squealed happily and hung on.

As Tatsuo took off into the sky, Hikari naturally was squealing happily and giggling right along. She enjoyed the entire time, suddenly wishing she had wings to go with her tail and her horns. When they finally landed, there was a smile plastered on the child's face. She clung to Tatsuo's hair, resting her chin on his head as her tail wagged back and forth happily behind them. She heard her father mention his brother and her grin only grew. "You mean, I get to meet my uncle?" she asked happily before frowning slightly and looking down at Tatsuo. "....was that the right word, Daddy?"

[Kao]

It was late in the afternoon when Kotaru emerged from his room after a midday nap. He sat in a stupor for a while, unsure what time of day it was or how long he'd been asleep. By the sounds of things - or lack thereof - Ume was either also asleep or she was outside in the courtyard, her favorite spot in his mansion nestled in the northern plains of Iwagakure. She'd been staying with him for two days now and so far things had gone smoothly. Kotaru kept his mind focused on making sure she was safe and taken care of, but at times it wandered and he would have to distract himself lest he end up letting his carefully constructed walls come down.

He wasn't ready for that. There was a chance he never would be. But for now he allowed himself to coast and take things day by day. After he got his bearings he slid out of bed, and with an enormous yawn he headed downstairs to rummage through the pantry. The man wasn't exactly a gifted cook, but he could piece together meals when he had no other options. The kitchen was stocked enough to feed several squads, the pantry practically bursting with food and snacks and jars - most of which he normally didn't buy. Maybe he went a little overboard in preparing for Ume's stay. The bannin eventually settled on chips, not quite hungry enough to prepare an actual meal. Maybe by the time Ume woke up he would have a meal planned out, but for now Kotaru enjoyed the snack and the quiet.

Knock knock knock.

Kotaru looked up and toward the general direction of the front door as the artificially amplified sound resounded through the house. He then turned his head to his left, toward Ume's room, silently fuming. "Who the fuck...that better not have woken her up," the bannin muttered darkly. He wasn't expecting guests, so he figured if he ignored whoever it was, they'd eventually go away.

[Niro]

"Yes, uncle. Good job, I guess you HAVE been paying attention to your lessons, huh?" Tatsuo teased as he waited for the shorter Akari to open the front door. He waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally a frown spread across his face and his hand came up to his chin in thought. Was Kotaru out? No, he'd check the reports. The Bannin was back in the village and hadn't left again just yet. Tossing caution to the air with a shrug of his shoulders, Tatsuo allowed his Sensory to reach out for whatever chakra signature was in the house and where. To his surprise, however, he found two.

Kotaru. Ume.

A devilish grin spread across the man's face as he dug around in his back pouch and he looked upwards in his best attempt at giving Hikari a look.

"Don't tell mom I broke into your uncle's house."

It took him a moment but Tatsuo retrieved a bobby pin. Crouching down to the lock, Hikari still perched on his shoulders, he carefully dug the small tool into it and fished around until the pin disengaged. The resounding click was reward enough for Tatsuo as he stood up and threw the front door open.

"Kotaru!~" Tatsuo called in a sing song voice as he strut through the mansion's first floor making a bee line towards the chakra signature in the kitchen.

[Willoria]

Hikari grinned as Tatsuo mentioned her listening to her tutors. "When they don't put me to sleep." she admitted, resting her chin on top of his head as they waited for her Uncle to open the door. After a few moments though, Hikari was frowning in impatience, her tail twitching a bit more in a show of the same. But soon her father looked up and seemed to give her a look before taking something out to fiddle with the lock. It took Hikari a moment to figure out what he was doing but when she realized, she couldn't help a giggle at his words. She made a motion across her lips like sealing something and tossing a key, before giggling incessantly again.

She hung on well as he stepped through the door and called for his brother, setting off more giggles from the little girl who sat on his shoulders and clung to his hair. She couldn't help joining in. "Uncle Kotaru!"

[Kao]

'Ah, fuck.'

Of course it would be Tatsuo. Kotaru guzzled the rest of the chips as his brother's voice rang out through the house. Brows furrowing as he rolled his eyes, he realized that Tsuchikage had somehow gotten inside. The nerve of him, breaking in and interrupting his brooding as Ume slept.

'FUCK.'

He had not told Tatsuo that Ume was staying with him. Hell, he hadn't told anybody besides the charge nurse. Could that arrogant busybody really have ratted him out to his own brother to make sure Ume was actually well-taken care of? It was unlikely but not impossible, especially considering she thought herself way more important than she actually was. He'd kill her.

"...Wait."

He stopped mid-chew as another voice rang out. Tiny. Childlike. Female. He didn't recognize it. He certainly didn't recognize the words she used. They sunk in, and he nearly choked on teriyaki flavored deliciousness.

"UNCLE WHO?!"

[Niro]

"Mom pays good money for those, don't let her know you're falling asleep or else...well, good luck. Not even I can save you from that." Tatsuo playfully warned her as they made their way through the house, the click-clack of his shoes echoing off of the walls. The place was definitely more furnished since the last time he had stopped by; Kotaru must've really wanted to impress his guest.

As they turned the corner and Hikari called out to the man, Tatsuo stood there smiling as Kotaru did his best impression of a fish out of water, although he was unsure of it being from the surprise or the chips. Waiting for Kotaru to finish, Tatsuo folded his arms across his chest and started to tap his foot, a playfully upset look on his face.

"Couldn't even open the door for us? How rude! And here I am, trying to introduce you to your niece. Doting on your guest too much?" Tatsuo continued to tease as he strode through the kitchen and towards the pantry in his own attempt at finding some food. Maybe Hikari could find something hidden stashed away up high in the pantry that had been put away for later.

"Do you have anything healthy in this place or is it all...junk? When's the last time you went shopping?"

[Willoria]

Everything was giggles coming from Hikari. Even as she heard the man yell and though he sounded angry, she simply burst into another fit of giggles. She didn't really understand anger yet, or that most people would be upset by it, in this case perhaps a blessing. As her father teased Kotaru about not answering the door, Hikari treated him like a tree or a ladder and immediately climbed down him, her tail twitching happily as always. Though she did wrap her arms around Tatsuo's leg before he started walking again, probably making it difficult so he had to try and walk with the small dragon girl attached to him. And of course, as he went into the pantry, so did she. But as he simply looked at shelves, she quickly scaled them to the top and found something in a bag that looked sweet, squealing happily before climbing back down. In another show that her classes seemed to be taking, she actually rushed over to Kotaru and looked up at him with her big bright eyes and held up the bag so he could see it. "Can I have this, Uncle?" she asked sweetly.

Meanwhile, Ume had actually managed to sleep much of the ruckus until Kotaru yelled something about 'uncle', though in her groggy state she really couldn't understand the words. The woman got up and washed her face carefully, pulling on a pair of loose fitting pants and the robe Kota had given her. She pulled it on and wrapped it around herself, tying it off before brushing her hair and heading out to see what was going on. She had no make up on, looking weary as she hadn't had her pain meds for the morning yet. When she entered the kitchen she was surprised at everything she saw, though the biggest surprise wasn't Tatsuo, it was the child that was talking to Kotaru that made her raise her eyebrow. For the moment she simply leaned carefully against a counter, cautious of her stitches still, and watched what was transpiring before her.

[Kao]

Blood rushed up Kotaru’s neck and the flushed his face a deep red. Of course. Of course Tatsuo knew Ume was right upstairs. His first thought was that it was the nurse that told him. The poor woman was innocent but still wound up on his list. But he had bigger concerns. His eyes darted to the small child that hung on his brother like a scaly monkey he stared at a Tatsuo, dumbfounded. “My WHAT? You can’t be- HEY!” The unwanted guests ransacked his pantry, and Kotaru was too stunned to immediately stop them. “It’s not all junk! I’m allowed to have snacks in my own goddamn house!”

Kotaru bristled, hairs standing on end like a cat, when the kid bounded up to him and held up a bag of chocolate-covered biscuit sticks. ”No! Give me that!” He snatched the bag with one hand and then picked her up with the other. He held her by the back of her shirt, and he lifted her off the ground and practically waved her in front of Tatsuo. “What is this and why is she calling me uncle?!”

[Niro]

Tatsuo tapped his foot on the ground to draw attention to it and then a tapped a finger to his temple.

"I can see every little step around me. We'll be seeing her soon." Tatsuo explained as he looked through the contents of the pantry and made a disappointed face. "Seriously, all of this and nothing good. I don't even want to know what you're eating out in the field."

The commotion of Kota turning into a picturesque, grumpy tom at the interaction with the girl was enough to draw a loud chuckle from Tatsuo. He closed the pantry and turned around, a very large grin spread across his face.

"Your. Niece. My. Daughter." Tatsuo enunciated each word for Kota, just to make sure he understood. "Found an egg a little bit ago up in the mountains while training. I punch one mountain a bit too hard and next thing you know I find an egg that could feed a small village for a week! I thought it was gonna be some cool animal but uh, surprise. Isn't she a cutie?"

The vibrations of the other house guest coming to join them was enough for Tatsuo's eyes to meet hers as Ume revealed herself. "Wow, finally? Good for you two."

SpoilerShow

[Tremorsense]
A-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Tatsuo is sensitive to vibrations in the ground and can automatically pinpoint the location of anything that is in contact with the ground within a 60-meter radius. While underwater, Tatsuo can still use his tremorsense by backtracking the vibrations that carry in water.

[Willoria]

Hikari frowned as Kotaru snatched the small bag from her little hands, but she didn't cry. She simply pouted with those big old eyes of hers, but she didn't get a chance to pout for long before she was snatched up with an audible squeak from the little dragon girl. By time Kota was waving her in Tatsuo's face, she had her arms crossed and a grumpy expression on her own face. Though as Tatsuo went on to explain things to Kota, the girl took advantage of the moment. Her little tail reached out as she suddenly flailed about and tried to wrap around Kotaru's forearm to pull her up as she tried desperately to turn and bite him on the wrist to try and get him to drop her. She very much hated being held like this.

Meanwhile Ume was looking on, shaking her head slightly as the entire display went on. "Kota... are you really holding a child aloft by the scruff?" she asked, her voice slightly hoarse. Of course, as Tatsuo turned his attention to her and made his comments the woman leveled a small, sarcastic glare at him. "It's not like that, Tats. I'm just here so Kotaru can help keep me safe while I heal." she explained, shaking her head at him before moving over to the kitchen island to find an empty chair and carefully sit in it. "I've been attacked a couple times at the compound and he doesn't trust my new Akari assigned bodyguard." she added, unable to hide a slight smirk as she glanced at Kota before looking back to Tats.

"...figures you would think 'strange creature sounds fun' and wind up with an infant." She couldn't help a chuckle at the idea. Tatsuo had brought home something that could have been very dangerous and instead it turned out to be a child, that he seemed to have quickly grown attached to and taken in as his own. "Seems like it turned out well though." she added with a slight smile. "Fatherhood oddly works for you." she added, watching as the girl tried to bite Kota. "Oh look at that, she thinks she's an Akari." she added, snorting a laugh before muttering a brief "Ow." as her hand rested on her abdomen.

[Kao]

“Hatching a lizard doesn’t make you a father!” The bannin nearly shrieked, a vein in his temple throbbing rhythmically as he bared down on Tatsuo. “In that case Soryuu is my - OW?” The girl’s teeth chomped down on his hand as she futilely tried to make him release her. His grip didn’t loosen in the slightest. Instead, he shook his arm, perhaps a bit too roughly, to force the child to let go. As he did so he walked to the sink and, with his free hand, grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. “Don’t you have important kage shit to do?” Kotaru spat as he set the water in front of Ume. “YOU KNOW, stuff that doesn’t have to do with breaking into my house?”

The bannin crossed his arms and looked at Ume. The way she tenderly touched her abdomen made his frown grow even deeper. “Is showing me your pet dragon all you wanted? Or do you have an actual reason to be here?” His voice was nearly a growl, but of course Tastuo knew his younger brother well enough to know that Kotaru was only mildly annoyed. The man eyed Hikari, his raised brow and near-snarl betraying how unsure he was about her.

[Willoria]

Hearing her father be called not a father for hatching her certainly made the girl try to bite harder. Though as Kotaru shook her roughly Hikari was forced to release him with a whimper. She frowned up at him, crossing her arms over her chest as she just hung there with him still holding her and pouting as she clearly couldn't make him drop her. But as he referred to her as a pet, her eyes grew wide and she began to sniffle. There were a lot of things the young girl didn't understand, considering she hadn't been hatched all that long compared to the fact that she looked more like eight years old. But she knew what pets were. It was explained to her that pets were unintelligent creatures kept around for companionship. To be compared to that was enough to start the tears trailing down her face, though she quickly tried to cover her eyes with her hands and wipe them away, looking down at the ground as she sniffled quietly.

Ume herself took the water Kotaru gave her, finding the whole situation mildly amusing, at least until she heard that first sniffle. She frowned a bit, looking at Kotaru and shaking her head slightly. "Kota, set the poor kid down." she said quietly. She knew better than to get between the brothers for the most part but seeing the girl cry ate at her a bit.

[Niro]

Tatsuo had an idea where it was going before it happened. Kota was never a happy person in the first place and with so many additional factors, of course he was going to build to a tantrum. Tats knew how callous the bannin could be and wasn't surprised by the small tears and sniffles he caused. He turned to face the young adult, his face set hard and mouth drawn tight. His eyes narrowed, ever so slightly, as he stared Kotaru down and motioned for him to put her down.

"Tsk tsk, someone is grumpy today. C'mere, Hikari, he doesn't mean it. He's just upset you stole his cookies." He kneeled down next to the girl and smiled at her. "And don't worry, we'll tell on him to Grandma." A devious glint overtook his eyes as he looked once more at Kotaru, a wide grin on his face. "She's been visiting since she hatched. Mom's gonna be mad you made her cry~" He teased before shifting his gaze to Ume.

"So how'd you get cut up this time? Couldn't have been the worried housewife over here?"

[Kao]

Kotaru was wholly unmoved by the girl's sniffling. He was never one to have much sympathy for others, and children were no exception. Gaze stony, the man looked down at the girl as tears rolled down her cheeks. When Ume gently scolded him, Kotaru scoffed. How unsurprising that the kid tugged on her heartstrings. He had a snide remark prepared, but then his brother stepped forward and and the two locked eyes. Stiff shoulders. Narrowed eyes. Everything about the kage radiated fatherly energy and it made Kotaru scowl. He had never gotten along with fathers.

When Tatsuo glared, Kotaru glared back. They stood like that for a moment, neither of them budging or backing down. Eventually and predictably, Kotaru was the first to break. The bannin opened his hand and let the girl drop to the floor. It didn't matter to him if she landed on her feet or not. "I'm shaking," he deadpanned when their mother was mentioned. The only thing the comment achieved was reminding him that he was overdue in paying the woman a visit.

Kotaru had no problem in letting Ume explain her injuries, but before she could do so Kotaru had launched the bag of sweets at Tatsuo's head. "Housewife?!" He sounded genuinely insulted. "So you're just here to annoy me then." After glancing at Ume he added, "Tats couldn't manage to make a baby the normal way so he had to hatch one. Did you sit on your egg at all or did you leave that to Natsumi?"

[Willoria]

Hikari sniffled still as Tatsuo knelt next to her, though it didn't necessarily improve at his words. Her sniffling calmed some but her eyes went wide. "Stole?" she whispered incredulously, looking between Tatsuo and Kotaru quickly in shock. "I'm sorry! I was- I was trying to- trying to ask!" She found herself hiccuping in the middle of her sentences as she spoke, due to her own nerves as she glanced between them, eventually fixing her eyes on Kotaru. "I'm sorry, Uncle Kotaru! I-I didn't mean- I didn't mean to!" More hiccups between her words as she tried to get them out.

Ume was smirking as she watched the entire exchange, shaking her head. If she were anyone else Kotaru's reactions to the kid might've worried her a bit more but Ume herself wasn't someone who was looking to have kids. And so her feelings for Kota didn't exactly make her worry about the way he was acting towards the child. After all, another time when she had almost died had been due to a virus that had killed or almost killed both of her parents. She might have been cured but still had no guarantees it wasn't lurking in her DNA somewhere just waiting to be passed on to a potential child.

Though as Tatsuo called Kotaru a housewife and Kota reacted to it, the woman almost doubled over laughing, and immediately wrapped her arms around her torso in pain. "Oh don't you two dare make me laugh like that." she whimpered with a groan, resting her forehead on the island in front of her. She shook her head and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before lifting her head again. "No it wasn't Kota." she said, rolling her eyes before looking at Tatsuo again. "It was just a mission gone wrong. If it weren't for my mission partners I'd be..." she trailed off and glanced at the dragon-like child and realized this was a bad time for words like 'disemboweled'. "Well. I wouldn't be here." she said instead. "So I'm healing here." She looked at Kota with a slight smirk as she knew Tatsuo was only going to use this somehow to make fun of him too.

[Niro]

"No no, I'm just teasin' you. He's always grumpy, don't worry too much about him. A half lifetime of being the perfect arm rest will do it to anyone." Tatsuo reassured Hikari as his gaze came back to her, realizing that his light teasing hadn't been picked up on with the tense exchange between the two. For Tatsuo, Kota being a grumpy near violent jerk was the default but for her it was scary. The bag of cookies thunked off his head and popped down into his hands. "Mission accomplished." He reached into the bag and offered the girl one of the sweets before taking one for himself and popping it in his mouth.

"At least SOMEONE likes my jokes. Well even if you do split, one of us learned some actual healing jutsu." Tatsuo told her with a grin, holding up a hand as green medical chakra enveloped it for a moment in a display similar but not as intense as the usual Mystical Palm. His view shifted back to Kota with a stupid smile on his face. "I'm your brother. Of course I'm going to annoy you. I have a lifetime of annoyance to cash in and unfortunately for you, I enjoy redeeming it. I got all my Kage shit done early today juuust so we could come see you and for the record, Nats made me do most of the egg sitting. I had a lot of time to do so in that damn Kage chair."

Tatsuo snorted at the mention of healing. "Yeah, I know who wears the pants here. Housewife fits."

[Kao]

Kotaru eyed the little dragon girl, pausing at the way she fearfully apologized to him. In a very, very conscious effort he softened his expression, though there was still a small amount of displeasure in his gaze. "Fine kid, whatever. But next time I bite back, got it?" He opened his mouth, using his abnormally black tongue to lick his long, pointed canines.

"Piss off, Tats." He hated how Tatsuo could rub his knowledge of Mystical Palm in his face, even if his didn't quite look right. "I can learn it whenever I want, I've just never needed it. I can heal myself just fine." The technique would have certainly made Ume's recovery go faster, but he hadn't considered that much since he wasn't very adept at iijutsu that targeted others. Besides, the charge nurse seemed to prefer he use the old-fashioned, non-chakra way. But when he thought about it, she probably told him to use traditional healing because Kotaru didn't know much iijutsu and she knew that. It seemed she wanted him to feel useful and had coddled him a bit. Bitch.

"There are no pants!" he protested, groaning somewhat. "I'm not a housewife you dick, I'm just making sure she doesn't tear open her stitches and you. Are. Not. Helping. Stop making her laugh." His voice dropped as he crossed his arms and glared at them both. The gesture made it clear that despite the comedic atmosphere he was serious about Ume's health. Her visit was supposed to be quiet. Tranquil. A haven for healing. Instead, Tatsuo and his weird hatchling added a level of chaos that was wholly unwelcome in his home. "Fine. You've shown me the kid, irritated me. The whole nine. What else, Lord Tsuchikage?"

[Willoria]

Hikari's sniffling finally came to a full stop as Tatsuo calmed the girl. It was even replaced by a giggle as he was thunked in the head by the back of snacks. She accepted the one he handed her but for a moment she simply held it as she looked over at Kotaru and he commented about biting her back next time. Oddly enough the girl grinned back at him, her tail flitting back and forth cheerfully in response as she nodded before munching away on her treat. Something seemed to suddenly occur to her however. "Oh! Daddy got me something for training!" she suddenly exclaimed, clearly having something she wanted to show Kotaru. She reached for her hip and undid the straps that held her sword in place, carefully holding it up for Kotaru to see rather than foolishly unsheathing it and brandishing it. Clearly she'd at least learned already how to show it off safely, among some of the few other lessons that she'd actually paid attention to.

Ume of course chuckled as Tatsuo showed off his use of Iijutsu and the woman shrugged lightly. "I know that one too, courtesy of your wife." she admitted. "That Fukusha you assigned to me a few years ago? That's actually how he saved my life. I tried to use it on myself and failed, something about his doujutsu or something allowed him to copy it so he could heal me up enough to survive." Of course she was inwardly cringing, she knew Kota wouldn't be happy about her mentioning Jinsai, she just hoped that since she didn't use his name directly that maybe it wouldn't be as bad.

But as Kota protested even Ume couldn't help a wicked grin. "There's no pants?" she asked quizzically, smirking as she tried to cover what she wanted to say next by taking a sip of her water though her eyes sparkled over the glass as she looked over at Kotaru.

[Niro]

"I'll think about it." Tatsuo blinked as nay but a moment passed them by.

"No." The usual shit eating grin spread across his face once more before a snort and laugh escaped him. "You can heal your shiin just fine. I put a hole through you, you're gonna be wondering why you didn't learn it." His gaze shifted to Ume for a moment. "Probably wondering why now, so I guess that's fair.

And where is your training anyway? Better not be slackin', Ume don't let him slack please." Once more his attention changed to her, an exaggerated look of please on his face, before shifting back to Kota. "Bull, laughter is the best medicine, the only thing not helping is you being a sour puss." Tatsuo shot Hikari a weary glance as she showed off the weapon, glad she had taken at least one of the lessons to heart about not brandishing something so sharp in doors.

"Well, she does like to take interest in kunoichi who show promise...why is it not surprising you'd be one of her students?" Between his usual workload as Kage, the war over the last five years, and his own family issues Tatsuo was keen to forget information. It wouldn't surprise him if Natsumi had mentioned it at some point to him but the pair tried their best to keep their work and home life separate. He didn't bore her with all of the paperwork and meetings he had to suffer through and she didn't have to try to explain to him the complex differences in cell types used during iijutsu or how different fuuinjutsu matrices were used to form different effects. His grin turned into a genuine smile at the mention of the Fukusha being useful. "Good! I'm glad his abilities were able to save you, I'm always trying to pull for the clan more when they come up. I think they've been fantastic as the most recent clan to join the village unlike our own." He finished with a slight scoff and roll of his eyes, his mind drifting to the problematic elders.

"No pants, huh? Glad you at least aired out the house." Tatsuo's face was innocent although a small spark of mischievousness flickered in his eyes at the statement.

[Kao]

Unsurprisingly Kotaru had no idea how to react to Hikari's sword. It wasn't unusual for a child to have weapons, and as long as she didn't unsheathe it and swing it around like a flailing animal, he didn't care. Besides, he was more concerned about the conversation surrounding Ume and her injuries. Groaning and irritated, Kotaru pulled up a seat next to Ume and his head sank onto the countertop. He hated - loathed - when Tatsuo was right. It meant he could no immediate rebuttal and instead had to marinate in his words. Ume's recovery would be much quicker if he knew Mystical Palm. Hell, if he hadn't insisted that Ume go home with him she might have been in better shape. "The best medicine is medicine, smartass." For a moment, his words lost their bite. Kotaru went quiet, and when Ume mentioned him it made disgust and fury radiate from his body like steam from a forge.

"Wh...what?" Tatsuo mentioned pants and "airing out," and for a long moment Kotaru couldn't grasp the meaning. Then it clicked. His face turned blood red, the color running all the way down to his chest. He probably should have let it go. That way Tatsuo wouldn't have been encouraged to keep insinuating that Ume was there for any other reason besides her recovery. But of course, the words just came spilling out in a shriek. "You- grow up! It's not like that - she is here TO REST! In her own bed, alright - and with pants, we wear pants!" All he could do was pray that Tatsuo didn't notice that Ume was clad in his robe and wore no shirt underneath.

[Willoria]

Hikari was saddened slightly, both by the weary glance from her own father as she tried to show off the weapon she was so proud of, and the lack of response from Kotaru. She looked between the three adults for a moment and sighed before retying the weapon's sheath to her hip and frowning a bit. She was pretty sure whatever was happening had something to do with the time she had asked a tutor a question and he had called it 'be quiet the adults are talking'. She didn't frown for long, turning around back to Tatsuo and quickly scaling the man once more to sit on his shoulders and rest her arms on top of his head. She just rest her chin on her arms and let out an exhalation of breath that ruffled his hair into a bit of a mess. Boredom was setting in, but so far a non-destructive kind.

Ume couldn't help a snort of a laugh as Tatsuo continued giving Kotaru a hard time, but especially as he mentioned his wife training promising kunoichi as if he had no idea she had trained Ume. 'So he has no idea I assisted on his surgery on his shiin?' she almost asked, but as she glanced at Kotaru she noticed something shift in his face as he sat next to her. As his head sank, she reached up a hand to touch the back of his head and play with his hair, not particularly caring that Tatsuo would probably tease her or him, or maybe both of them, for it later. He made his comment and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah and the pain meds make me say stupid silly shit." she added with a chuckle. 'Maybe I'll tell Kota later about the surgery, he can have something to tease Tats about for a change.' she thought to herself.

Of course moments later Kota was back to himself, getting upset about the pants comments and setting Ume to little giggles again. She cleared her throat and pulled the robe around herself a little more securely as if she were nervous about it somehow before taking a drink of water again. She looked up and saw Hikari practically perched on Tatsuo's head and shook her head. "I think your little one is getting worn out... or bored... or both. Is that bad?"

[Niro]

Tatsuo grunted here and there as Hikari climbed him like he was a tree rather than a person and her knees and feet dug into his ribs like they were branches. Bony little things. She finally settled himself on top of his shoulders and head and he brought a hand up to rub her on the back in a show 'I know, it's not that exciting right now' as he continued to talk with the two other Akari.

"Yeah. Pants. Pretty sure that's your robe though, so I'm calling bull on resting. She's probably more comfortable in your bed anyway with how protective you are when it comes to her. Just try not to tear your stitches is all, Ume." Tatsuo replied after letting loose a laugh at the shade of red Kota turned at the realization of his words. "Yeah, all this grown up talk is probably pretty boring. I'll guess we'll head out then, try to keep your lips and hands off of each other, kids."

[Kao]

Kotaru unconsciously tensed when the kunoichi's hand began to massage the back of his head. It wasn't that he disliked her touch. In fact his eyes fluttered shut for a moment as her fingertips pressed onto his scalp and the strands of his teal hair settled between her fingers. But all at once he remembered she wasn't his only guest and he sat up.

The man turned to Ume, locking eyes with her for a moment before he turned back to his brother. He was sure the man noticed, but he wouldn't give Tatsuo neither the satisfaction of pointing it out nor the time to do so. "She's just - that's - we're not fucking so could you please. Please, shut up." It was serious when the bannin said 'please.' "There's nothing going on, all right?" In case Tatsuo suddenly changed his mind, Kotaru hopped up and went to the pantry to grab an assortment of random snacks. He shoved them into Tatsuo's arms and then did his best to push the man out of the kitchen. He even handed Hikari a bag of the same snacks she had grabbed earlier, just to placate them both enough that they would want to leave without too much fuss. "Out."

[Willoria]

Ume sighed as Kotaru suddenly sat up and gave her a look. Her hands were quickly folded on front of her on the island and she simply stared into the water glass and silently chewed on the inside of her lip. "Sorry." she muttered under her breath, intended only for Kota's ears before she painfully pushed herself to her feet. Kota insisted there was nothing going on and Ume simply nodded to Tatsuo, an odd flicker of sadness in her eyes, albeit briefly. "He's right. The robe is just because my own shirt almost caught my stitches the first day here... a disaster in the making." she said quietly, shrugging. "There's nothing going on here." she added, giving a small smile in lieu of a goodbye before she turned and headed back towards the room she'd been staying in. The woman suddenly felt incredibly tired and just wanted to lay back down again.

Hikari tilted her head and watched her uncle with interest, her brow furrowing a moment as he spoke and she looked confused. But as he handed her a bag of the same snacks she had grabbed early she grinned down at him. "Thank you, Uncle Kota." she said sweetly. Though she had been taught manners, she only knew it was necessary she say them. What some would see as Kota's rudeness hardly bothered her, if anything it made her laugh.

As she rode on Tatsuo's shoulders towards the door though one last innocent question echoed down the halls in that little voice. "Daddy? What does fucking mean?"

[Niro]

Tatsuo waited for Ume to leave before actually leaving the kitchen as Kotaru stuffed both of their arms full of snacks in some sort of attempt at placating them. "Wooow, did your balls fall off? You might wanna get on that before you actually lose her this time, you idiot. Quit dickin' 'round, it's not good for either of you." He scolded his younger brother, Ume's behavior obvious to anyone with a set of working eyes before throwing his arms up in exasperation at Hikari's question. Great, now he had to deal with her learning foul language. He should've known better with Kotaru, at least. Finally making their way to leave, Tatsuo shook his head as he exited.

"You can ask mom and tell her Uncle Kota taught you."