In Need...

[Servant]

Hebe had been doing some chores at his home when a messenger came to his door. Hebe answered it and was surprised to see a note being shoved into his face. He took it, not terribly pleased with the attitude being shown to him. The messenger seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke indicating to Hebe that it had just been a shadow clone. Hebe opened the note and read it. A little smirk crossed his lips. "A little team building exercise huh? Fair enough I guess..."

He finished up the chores as best he could as quickly as he could and then headed out. The note from Sei had said to meet Sin in the market, so that was where he was headed. He didn't know if there was going to be more instruction later or if Sei just wanted the two new teammates to spend time together. Hebe was fine with either really. Sin seemed like a decent person from Hebe could tell.

[Cheese]

Sin had been in the market even before the messenger found her, having been hanging in her favorite tree and watching people. Occasionally she would send a single water balloon across the path from her tree, hitting some random person and causing the air to become colorful with language. She hadn't known that cuss words could be put together in quite that way... Chibi was copying her, throwing an acorn and hitting others that were closer to their hiding place. The two had become fast friends after the initial meeting, and were rarely seen without one another since then.

"Look, Chibi. It's Hebe," came a thoughtful remark as the male genin appeared in Sin's line of sight. She glanced at the note she still held in one hand and raised a brow, before crumpling the paper in a fist and throwing it, hitting a vendor in the face. More curses followed the collision. "Think we should show ourselves?" There was a brief moment of silence, during which an acorn found its wings and hit the same vendor in the same place. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

[Servant]

Hebe wondered where Sin was, maybe she hadn't gotten the note or something. Ambro was flying overhead, keeping watch of the genin. He'd gotten used to his new summon following him around. Sometimes he stayed close, sitting on his shoulder, and sometimes he did this, where he just watched and didn't really interact. Either way, Hebe didn't really mind.

Hebe wandered through the market, unaware that his genin teammate was in fact already there and watching him. Ambro, flying overhead, kept a keen eye on Hebe, but could not see Sin or Chibi through the tree's foliage.

[Cheese]

"I hope he doesn't take forever to find us," Sin sighed, changing position in her tree and actually hanging from the branch she had previously been sitting on. She waited until he had passed under the tree before she dropped to the ground, followed closely by Chibi. The genin had half a mind to follow Hebe through the market, but then again, she was pretty hungry. This was supposed to be a team building exercise, though, so it wouldn't really be very nice of her to ditch her teammate.

That left her only one option. She glanced down at the squirrel beside her to make sure he was paying attention before she set off after her teammate, not even noticing the bird over Hebe. Well, she had one more water balloon, might as well not waste it. She tossed it behind her, not even bothering to turn and look when curses filled the air again. "Oi, Hebe!"

[Servant]

Hebe turned around as his name was called. "Hey Sin. You made it!" Hebe matched Sin's exclamation. He noticed that she had a rodent of some sort following her, though it was a big one. It was red and golden, quite pretty, for a rodent actually. "And who's the new follower you have there?" Hebe asked, sounding interested in what she would say.

"I have someone for you to meet as well," Hebe said, motioning up to Ambro. The bird, though a little hesitant, slowly circled down from the height it had been at. It made a slow approach and landed on Hebe's shoulder, before introducing himself. "Hello, 'tis a pleasure to meet you miss."

[Cheese]

Sin grinned. Birds and squirrels? The team just got a whole lot more interesting. She was about to reply to the talking bird when Chibi suddenly latched onto the leg of her long shorts and scrambled up to her shoulder, balancing carefully so he wouldn't fall and winding his tail around the back of her neck. Oh yeah, she'd forgotten the squirrel was weirdly protective of her. "This is Chibi," she told the bird and her teammate. "The old man found him, and I had to beg to keep him. Isn't he adorable?" The squirrel, who had been about to throw an acorn at the two, dropped the nut and pulled an innocent expression.

"So, uh... what's the plan for today, anyway? Any idea?" the genin went on, as though nothing had happened.

[Servant]

Hebe watched as the squirrel climbed up Sin's body to sit upon her shoulder. It was mildly cute, but the squirrel seemed to have a troublesome side to it, seeing as it was about to attack Hebe and Ambro. Luckily, the rodent had decided not to throw that nut. Hebe smiled and nodded when Sin asked if the creature was cute. Ambro didn't respond, not particularly fond of the little troublemaker. Ambro was a bit of a stick in the mud, so someone as playful as Chibi was not likely to be on his best list.

"Nope, no idea at all. Had a little problem with team members the other day, maybe he just wants to get together to make sure we're ok with everything. I dunno. Note said we should just hang around here though. Why, do you have something in mind?" Ambro took that as a clue and jumped from Hebe's shoulder. The bird flew away from the two, but he could clearly be seen circling above them.

[Cheese]

"Well, the old man's supposed to be in town today... I'm pretty sure he left a shadow clone in the office. If nothing else, we can check out the shadow clone theory, and if I'm right, we get to do what I do best!" She grinned. Yeah, they'd have a blast. If the shadow clone dispersed when she smacked it in the head, that mean Tousha was roaming around the village. Which meant she got to look for him. And, when she found him, she'd make him pay for lunch. After all, what kind of Hokage let his only child starve? It was an easy way to bum money off of him.

"You up for a Hokage Hunt?"

[Servant]

Hebe smiled a little as Sin mentioned hunting down the head of the Hidden Village. "Uh, sure! If you don't think he'll mind a couple genin bothering him..." he said with a questioning tone. He didn't really mind playing around and doing fun stuff, but this was the Kage... if he chose, Hebe could be sent on an S ranked mission, alone, tomorrow. And even if he weren't that mean spirited, Tousha could make it so that Hebe never passed the chuunin exam...

Hebe smiled to Sin, ready to hunt the Hokage. "Let's catch us a Kage."

[Cheese]

Sin laughed, seeing her teammate's worried expression. "Relax, it would probably amuse the old man. He's not as serious and intimidating as people seem to think. He's just the Hokage," she said offhandedly. It still amused her to see how much Tousha intimidated some of her fellow genin when they were perfectly fine around her. Hokage or not, the guy was just another prankster. He sure didn't think about his title unless he had to, and she often forgot it until she either saw him in his robes or when she had to drop by the Hokage Tower to either give him something or tell him something or just generally annoy him. Or when she wanted to stalk him around the village and tried to rope someone into joining her.

"All he is, is a bigger, older, slightly uglier, male version of me." She shrugged. "Anyway! Off to the Tower! I wanna hit a shadow clone of the kage."

[Servant]

Hebe laughed at Sin's description of her father and the strongest ninja in the village. "Alright, if you say so," he commented, still with a hint of laughter in his voice. He was up for a little entertainment, he'd been training and lounging around the last few days, so something a little more exciting would be nice.

"Fine by me!" Hebe said as they started towards the tower. "I don't wanna do it just in case you're wrong!"

After a little distance, Hebe asked "So, being the Kage's daughter prolly means you've been taught some pretty badass jutsu, right?"

[Cheese]

Sin sighed, shaking her head at his question. "Nope, not really. His kanji jutsu is kinda his thing, nothing I'm interested in, and we're talking about him teaching me some of the Katon jutsu he knows, once he has time." She grinned at him, shrugging. It didn't bother her, really. She was just glad someone cared about her well-being, someone she could count on. Who cared about awesome jutsu when she had a dad?

By then, they had reached the Hokage Tower. Sin pushed open the door and waved at the secretary, who didn't even say anything, much less stop the troublesome genin from going on up to the Hokage's office.

[Servant]

"That's cool. My dad taught me some of my jutsu." Hebe added as they continued to the tower of Tousha. As they entered the tower and passed the secretary, Hebe realized something. He'd been so focused on how Tousha could screw up his life that he hadn't realized how his life could benefit from this encounter. What if Tousha was really impressed with Hebe? That could open up a lot of doors and experiences to Hebe that otherwise he wouldn't have an opportunity to partake in. He suddenly got very excited, this could lead to him being fast tracked to jounin.

"They just let you come and go as you please huh, even with guests? I didn't think security would be so 'laxed... But I guess he is the hokage, so he can probably take care of himself," Hebe whispered as they made their way past the secretary.

[Cheese]

"If I show up to visit the old man, they can't really stop me unless he's in a meeting. Besides, why would they go crazy over security measures when it's two genin? One of which being the boss's kid, I might add. They have security... you just can't see it."

Satisfied with her explanation, she nodded once and pushed open the door to his office without asking. She didn't tell Hebe that she was more interested in talking to her father's ANBU acquaintances than learning some badass jutsu from the old man. She wanted to be ANBU, not... not her dad. He was him, she was her. That's how it was supposed to be.

"Hey, Pops. Busy today?"

[Toshi]

Tousha didn't even turn around as the two genin walked into his office. The Kage himself was leaning back in the most comfortable armchair ever conceived as he carefully folded a piece of paper in his scarred hands. He lifted the paper airplane so he could inspect it before tossing it out the window and following its lazy, looping arcs through bright green eyes.

He was wearing his usual Kage gear: An olive green flack jacket covering a black undershirt, standard grade ninja slacks that matched the color of his shirt, dark grey ninja sandals, a red and white sash that hung from his waist, and of course the bitchin' hat he was given upon becoming the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Incredibly," he answered his daughter with a completely serious tone. "Why don't you and your boyfriend run off and leave me to my uh... work." As he said this, Tousha quickly began preparing another paper airplane.

[Servant]

Hebe was a bit surprised by the Kage's remark about Sin and Hebe being romantically linked. They'd never been that way, as far as Hebe knew anyways. Nevertheless, he went with it. "I'm glad you approve of me dating your daughter sir. As a member of her team, I'll be sure to protect her with my life and don't worry, we'll wait until marriage to have sex, I promise!"

Hebe was kidding with the Hokage; something he didn't think he'd be capable of in the current company.

[Cheese]

Sin gaped first at her father, then at her teammate, and then back at the Hokage. Dating? When had that happened?! When, exactly, had she ever expressed such an interest in boys? She was about to say so, and very loudly, when she suddenly got the idea that Hebe was joking. At first, she wanted to dismiss the idea as pure nonsense... but then again, why else would he suddenly start talking about the two genin dating?

"Like I need your protection," she scowled, deciding to play along. "What do you think I am, some weak girl that needs a boy to fight her battles? Don't even think about it, Hebereke."

During the exchange, Chibi climbed onto the Hokage's desk and sat there, watching the kage fold and toss the airplanes from the window. Big brown eyes followed the paper. Dirty paw-prints now decorated the papers strewn across the desk, and a few acorns suddenly appeared at odd places among the mess of papers and scrolls. Chibi did indeed like leaving a large amount of acorns and paw-prints where Tousha didn't want them. Like his desk. Or in his books. Or on his sheets. Just anywhere, really.

[Toshi]

Tousha ignored the two genins' back and forth as he continued to toss paper airplanes out the window, aiming for various people and landmarks. So far he'd manage to get one of his airborne distractions lodged into a woman's ridiculous hairdo without her even noticing and through the window of an office designed for the specific purpose of allowing those who fear paper cuts to gather and deal with their strange phobia as a group.

As the distressed screams of a random act of terror wafted faintly through the Hokage's open window, Tousha's bright green eyes tilted towards his desk and narrowed once he spotted the bane of his existence scampering here and there without a care in the world. This wouldn't have been a problem if the squirrel had chosen a less official place to frolic and discard acorns at will, but this wasn't the case.

The little bastard chose his desk.

His desk.

Nobody touched his desk. Except maybe a carpenter. But obviously that squirrel was in no way qualified to fix much of anything, let alone such an importantly epic desk of this caliber.

"I'll end you, Tickhead," Tousha said, glaring down at the squirrel through eyes that would make paint peel and pointing the business end of his jitte at the woodland creature's face.

[Servant]

Hebe scrunched his face at Sin before responding "Who said anything about fighting your battles? I'm just going to protect you when you get into battles. It's totally different. Besides, I'd protect anyone on my team regardless of whether their plumbing is on the inside or not."

It was then that the Hokage yelled at Sin's squirrel going so far as to point a weapon at it. Even from here, an upset Hokage made Hebe's knees shake a little. He was sincerely glad to not be the one that was being pointed at by the Hokage's jitte. He wondered if he'd get a chance to watch the Hokage in action...

[Cheese]

Sin sighed heavily, walking forward and scooping the willing creature into her arms. 'Tickhead' had to be the most recent of hundreds of little insulting nicknames the Hokage chose to call her pet, and though she admired Tousha's creativity in the matter, the squirrel had a proper name. She glared at her father down the blade of his jitte, as though daring him to point that thing at her partner in crime.

"This is why he doesn't like you," she said at last. "His name is Chibi, not Tickhead, Fluffball, Useless Lump, or anything else you can come up with."

Then, her glare vanished and she grinned. "So come on! You're taking us to lunch as an apology!"

[Toshi]

Tousha grumbled as he spun the jitte on his finger before slipping it back into place on his belt, still glaring at the spawn of squirrel Satan through narrowed eyes. The little monster had brainwashed his daughter into thinking that he was adorable and fluffy, but Tousha knew the truth. He wouldn't be fooled by something so low on the food chain that possessed considerably less intelligence-ness than he did.

It was evil incarnate and that was the end of it.

"Fine, where do you guys want to go?" the Hokage asked, his expression becoming a little less homicidal.

[Servant]

Hebe was impressed at Sin's ability to control the Hokage. It wasn't terribly subtle, as that wasn't Sin's style, but nonetheless effective. Hebe thought for a moment on the Kage's question and then responded "I don't care as long as I can get some tasty treats."

He wondered what others would think when they saw him out eating with the Hokage... It would definitely make him cool among the other genin, but of course, Sin was his daughter. In a way, that meant Hebe wasn't that cool cause he was just going to lunch with a teammate and her father. It just so happened that her father was the Hokage. Either way, Hebe knew he should try to learn as much as he can from Tousha.

[Cheese]

Sin, unlike Hebe, knew exactly what she wanted, and grinned widely. "Ramen! Pleeeease, Pops, we haven't had ramen in forever!" She released Chibi, who landed back on the desk, and within seconds, the genin was directing what she called the 'Adorable Look of Doom' toward her father. She had never encountered anyone who could resist the pure cuteness of that expression... well, except for Ita-ojisan and a certain academy teacher.

Chibi, on the other hand, ignored the goings-on and nommed on an acorn he'd left on a stack of papers that looked important.

[Toshi]

"We had ramen two nights ago, brainchild," Tousha said with an arched brow as his daughter gave him "the adorable look of doom." Few could resist the sheer adorablenessticity of such a look, but luckily his hatred for the satanic squirrel gnawing on its little treat was more than enough to ignore the genin's big, blue eyes.

The Hokage turned to grab his over sized hat from a wrack behind him before saying, "Your powers are useless on me, woman. As long as that little monster's around I can't feel anything except my urge to kill rising." Then the shinobi glared at the seemingly harmless woodland animal and muttered, "I'm on to you, fur-for-brains."

After saying this, Tousha pressed a small button on his desk and a simple intercom system kicked to life. "I'm going out for lunch today, Mrs. Stephenson," he said in a friendly tone. "Would you be a dear and make sure no one touches my stuff? I've got a model drying in the corner and I'd have to disembowel anyone who even thinks about messing with it."

"Of course, sir. Enjoy your meal," came his assistant's voice before he released the button and the machine cut off.

"Shall we?" he said with a smile before opening the door and motioning out towards the hallway.

[Servant]

Hebe stepped through the door and moved towards the building's exit or stairs, whichever he may need to use before exiting the building. He felt a little weird knowing that he would soon be walking around the village with the Hokage, arguably one of Konoha's most powerful ninja. He let the thought leave his mind though as they moved.

"So for aspiring ninja, like Sin and myself, what's the best advice you can give us? Train a lot? Work hard? Do your best? Stuff like that, right?"

[Cheese]

Sin laughed, following her teammate outside with Chibi balanced on her shoulder, still gnawing on his acorn. Of course Hebe would try and learn something from Tousha while they were out for lunch, seeing as the old man was Hokage and all. But she wasn't doing this to have lunch with Umezawa Tousha, the Hokage. No, no, no, she was doing this to have lunch with her teammate/friend and her old man.

"The best advice he ever gave me was 'Don't get caught'," she said offhandedly, flashing a grin at the other genin. "It can refer to so many things! Missions, pranks, skipping out on work..." Here, she glared purposefully at Tousha.

[Toshi]

Tousha could only smile at the two genin as they walked down the hallway towards the spiraling staircase that led down to the Hokage Tower's lobby area, amused by their back and forth. He was glad to see that such a young shinobi like Hebe, whom he had never spoken with before, could approach him without any hint of fear or worry in his eyes and ask him for advice.

That's how it always should be. People should be able to talk to their leaders, to think of them as a fellow human being. As long as he wore the humorously large hat, that's the way he planned to keep it around here.

Hito and the rest of Suna's minions could go jump off a cliff. A really tall one. With those pointy rocks at the bottom. Really pointy ones.

"My nindo has been, and always will be, distraction is a ninja's most lethal weapon," Tousha explained in a wise and thoughtful tone, quite the rarity for him indeed. "Granted..." he added with an undeniably mischievous smile, "Not getting caught is always nice."