[Right][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190626/a6b639a1b24c3486127005dba85463b7.png[/img] [I]Evening | Land of Fire - Mumi village [/i][/right] [hr] Their little game earlier had been entertaining, even if he'd ultimately been bested by one of his genin. His back was a little sore but he knew that it'd be gone by the morning. When they were invited for dinner he was quite happy. His own upbringing had been similar. His home village was far to the east of here, on the coast. It was, for lack of a better word, a Kawaguchi village. It was heavily populated by his small clan, with only a few of them actually settling elsewhere. Because it was predominantly one clan that lived there, communal dinners were not uncommon. He'd observed his genin, taking in their reactions. Koharu didn't seem to show much reaction to the communal meal and it made him curious. She came from a small clan as well so he assumed that communal meals weren't uncommon either. When they'd sat down to eat, he'd voiced his question. She gave a faint smile, pushing away her plate briefly so she could talk to him without being rude. Koharu explained that because they'd been without a home for a while, her clan had communal dinners. It was easier to feed everyone at once rather than allow for individual families within the clan to cook their respective meals. They didn't have a lot of supplies either, so sharing helped a great deal. She'd also told him that because she was so young, only four, when it happened, she couldn't remember the fine details. He asked about the types of foods they ate in their homeland and she seemed to fall quiet and it took him a while to notice that she was indeed drooling slightly. [Color=8882be]"Roasted seals were common. It was a land of snow and ice so we didn't get fresh vegetables often."[/color] Indeed a glance at her plate had shown that most of what was there were vegetables. They talked quietly, with her asking him about his home. It made pride well that the genin seemed to be genuinely interested in asking. As dinner wound down and people began to get desserts, Minoru laughed as Koharu marvelled at the apple pies as they were being scooped out of the pie pans. If the thought of roasted seals had her drooling, the freshly baked apple pies did as well. It was a little unusual to see the girl being so animated but he came to understand that she'd had a much more worldly experience than her teammates. This sort of thing, learning about new places and people, was a genuine interest for her. [Color=darkgray]"Alright kids, after this we need to come up with a plan and get Nusu out of the village. But first I would like to talk to Koharu and Natsuko."[/color] Minoru had gestured for the girls to follow him a short distance away. He wanted to make sure they wouldn't do anything stupid like they had on their last. There was no easy way to say this so he decided to rip of the metaphorical bandaid. [Color=darkgray]"Don't throw your teammates at the bear."[/color] He warned Koharu, giving her a pointed look. [Color=8882be]"I'm not that irresponsible, sensei."[/color] Koharu said, usually impassive face breaking into a pout. The air around them cooled rapidly to temperatures unusual for this time of year. [Color=8882be]"I only tossed her because there was no other option."[/color] Minoru was suddenly reminded of the girl's uncle in that moment. [Color=darkgray]"I know, but this is-"[/color] Minoru shrunk under the glare the small girl was giving him. And with that the topic was dropped. It was more unnerving like anything else but he couldn't help but assume that in time she'd be able to out glare men much bigger than her and win. [hr] [Right][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190626/3a44fcafbe95c57b862c7fa23bc93761.png[/img] [I]Night | Land of Fire - Mumi village [/i][/right] [hr] Why had Natsuko insisted that the real Koharu go with the real Kazuhiko? Koharu didn't mind the teasing, it made things a little lively but at times it was a little awkward. Of course she'd done the opposite and gone with the clone. Or at least the one that she assumed was a clone. There'd been too many poofs and clouds of smoke for her to see and they hadn't exactly stopped to ask who was what. Her own clone had gone with Natsuko to ensure that the girl was going to behave and because her clones couldn't perform the same jutsu that she could. Minoru telling her that throwing Natsuko at the bear had stung a little. She wouldn't risk her teammates like that, not with a bear that they couldn't stop like they could a human. The thing about clones that the Wakahisa used were ice based and a little more tangible than most other clones. As a drawback, they used a larger amount of chakra but to compensate for the chakra use, younger Wakahisa who didn't have the same chakra levels as adults relied on making their clones a little more incorporeal. They'd still explode into little showers of ice shards, capable of inflicting damage just as the ones the adults used. It wasn't uncommon for adults to use their clones as suicide bombers on the battlefield. It was a trick taught to her by her uncle and she was still learning to get the hang of it. [Color=8882be]"Natsuko you need to wake up or I'll put ice in your shirt."[/color] The clone warned. It was a little bit harder to tell Koharu apart from a clone because both ran a little cold. This knowledge was something that she used well when she did manage to use clones. No one liked ice down their shirts, period. Back with the real Koharu, the girl was watching her clone briefly before scanning the rest of the orchard for Nusu. Minoru-sensei was off doing his own recon with a clone of one of them. He reminded them that this was their mission so they'd do a bulk of the work. He was just there to make sure they didn't get killed. A breeze picked up, causing the tree they were in to shake. Despite being a shinobi who frequently needed to climb or jump to get to destinations, she was still afraid of heights. Out of instinct when the tree branche swayed beneath them she reached out for Kazuhiko, which was a slightly stupid thing to do considering that his clone couldn't do anything to save her. But she'd been scared and misjudged the length of her reach...and had basically fallen against the boy. Instead of Kazuhiko vanishing into a puff of sparks, her hands gripped onto a warm shirt. [Color=8882be]"K-Kazu-kun?"[/color] Koharu looked up at him, cheeks warm and red at how close together they were. The branches stopped swaying when the wind died down and she was able to stand on her own two feet again. Still, standing to her full height didn't lessen the rapid pace of her heart nor did it take the color from her cheeks. [hr] [Right][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190626/a6b639a1b24c3486127005dba85463b7.png[/img] [I]Night | Land of Fire - Mumi village[/i][/right] [hr] He was with a clone of Natsuko or had been at least until it vanished. He didn't think that anything had happened to her because his own clone, which oddly enough was with Kazuhiko's clone, had been stationed close enough to keep an eye on the kids. Minoru had smiled at the knowledge that Kazuhiko and Koharu had gone scouting together. From where his clone was he could see the two genin and he'd definitely seen the way the branches had swayed and the two found out they were with the real deal. A rustling from below caught his attention and he looked down to see a large shiny black object lumbering towards the orchard. Nusu was massive, as were other boars, and such a shiny black that Minoru thought for a moment he had frost clinging to the very tips of his fur. [@Typical]