Leaf Dance

The snake was focused on Rin and the puppy that he was keeping a hold of. Forked tongue tasting the air as it almost seemed like it was about to go after Rin. Yet to its surprise Sera approached it and telling it to leave. Quick as the snake should be it turned its head with its mouth open and the fangs about as long as Sera’s fingernail. As if to silently give a threat of its own, and when Sera used her nodachi to sweep the reptile away the snake did lash out at Sera. However her nodachi caught the snake before it could reach her, but it was dangerously close to biting her arm for comfort. Sera succeeds on hurling the snake a good meter or two away before it lands on the soft grass. From there the snake can be seen slithering away from the scene.

Rin has somewhat successfully calmed the young creature as it no longer flailing in his arms. However the moment Rin loosens his grip the pup begins struggling again. “He’s alright from what i can see. He sure as hell possess the strength of a horse though.” Rin responded to Sera’s first question. Eventually Rin puts the puppy down to the ground as it immediately backs away from Rin. The boy just chuckle at the creature. “But you are so cute though.” Speaking to the puppy, Rin takes off his right armguard and sets it beside him before extending his right hand close to the puppy. Hesitant the furry one was, but eventually it crept closer to sniff his hand.

“Maybe. Hold on i’ll see if there’s anybody nearby…” Rin closed his eyes as pressed his left palm on the ground as fresh, cool water wraps itself around his hand. Rin expands his ‘vision’ as he sees most of the chakra presences that is in all life within 50 meters. However he detected none that resembled to be a human. Rin frowned at his results before concluding that no one is nearby. “There doesn’t appear to be anyone nearby from what i can sense. Normally i would happily search for the owner, but this place is awfully big too. The only source of civilization nearby is Konohagakure. So if i want to bet my 10 Ryo i’d say we start searching inside the village. If anything somebody might recognize this puppy and could point us to the owner.”

Rin was allowed to pet the small dog and his touch was soft and gentle. So it added more of a likeness from the puppy towards Rin. Granted his hands are still a bit hardened with calluses and such. Still Rin takes care to more or less express his one true nature. Perhaps it is weakness to many hardened fighters, but to Rin it was a necessity.

“No pets allowed huh… I think there might be ways of convincing the landowner about it considering the size of this puppy. However that conversation might end with a sour mood on both sides.” Rin spoke with Sera on her thoughts. The pup was beginning to lightly chew on Rin’s fingers and the boy chuckled as he waved his chewed hand slightly to the sides. Which seems to incite the dog as it began to paw at his hand and nibble on his fingers. Then it started to bark at him as its tail was wagging and tries to pin Rin’s hand down with its two little paws. It was so cute to Rin that he didn’t really mind.

The genin began to chew on his own bottom lip when Sera asked about his living conditions. Rin had to choose his words carefully because he was wanting to not go into detail about what has happened. In a sense his shoulders tensed at the thought of it. “I can see about it with my mother. I don’t think she’ll have a problem with it as long as i take care of it. Also this little one needs a bath before i can bring him to the estate. Or is it a her? Hard to tell with the dog being this young.” Then Rin brings his words to their previous run. “All things happen with a reason even if we cannot see it at the time. Lets just hope this reason is a good one. Still we can see about that tea later today if you want.”

“I mean, if you don’t mind muddy water in your tub sure. I’ll make sure to clean after the bath.” Rin stated as he wasn’t offering, but his tone was still the friendly melody as usual. Besides this just gives Rin as excuse to skip working at the smithy for the day. Mostly because Hitsuro has been encouraging Rin to get out more often and communicate with other people. Before Rin came up with any excuse as to why he wouldn’t just go out of his duty and try to make friends. The amount of friends Rin has accumulated in his lifetime Rin can count on his left hand alone.

Rin allowed himself to grin when Sera comically stated that they’re ninjas and should be able to sneak around an elder. “We should be able to. If not then that person is anything but ordinary.” Which is most likely true given the fact Rin and Sera were trained to hide and be quiet with their feet. So unless they want to be seen Rin feels confident that they will have no trouble.

Still, something about Rin’s tad bit of wisdom that he learned from his mom seemed to sadden young Sera. Normally he would apologize, but he feels like apologizing would make things worse. Sera turns her head over her shoulder and asks him to repeat the last bit. It seemed to Rin that both of them had their fair share of sadness. Still being the optimistic kid, Rin smiled warmly as his energetic and cheerful personality lightly kicks into motion. “I said maybe after we give the dog a bath we can go and get some of that tea you were talking about.”

Rin attempted to pick the pup, however it was certainly defiant as it wiggled itself out of his grasp. Yet it does not run away strangely enough. “It is either i carry you or you follow me. Which is it?” The boy asked the dog as it responded with bark and wags its fuzzy tail rapidly. To test it, Rin started to take a couple of steps back from the pup. The orange-white colored husky looked down at Rin’s feet and chased after him. It’ll try to raise both front paws and bring its small weight on Rin’s sandals.

The boy giggled from the cute display, and Rin took a couple of steps towards Sera. The puppy repeated the same thing. It was through a game of chase that Rin managed to coax the puppy to follow. Every now and then laughter would escape from Rin’s lips. Which yes in case anyone was wondering Rin has been following Sera while walking backwards. Well, walking and then hop as the pup tried to pounce on his feet. “She is so cute. Its hard to believe we found her almost struck by a snake.”

Eventually the once energetic puppy started to wind down as they neared the village. It lets out a yawn as she started to lay down on the grass bed. Trying it once more, Rin began to hum a rather soothing tone as he goes to pick the puppy up again. Rin’s humming wasn’t random either, it was like he was singing a lullaby without saying anything. This time the husky lets him pick her up and she nuzzles her face onto Rin’s neck. Cradling the puppy like a baby, almost like he’s held one before too if one was paying enough attention. Rin followed Sera through the secondary market street with the dog in his arms.

By the time they reached the apartment complex that Sera was living in. The puppy was completely asleep on Rin. Once Sera told Rin the plan, he was quick to act as he more leapt towards the alley’s entrance. Planting his foot on the wall and coating his with chakra to magnetize himself onto the stone wall. Rin quickly scales up the wall and heads deeper into the alleyway. All while hardly making a sound by the time Sera opened the door and headed up the stairs.

By the time the landlady came out and said she’d wish to speak with Sera. Rin was out of sight as he crouched on the opposite wall from the complex. His hazel blue-green eyes dancing from one window to the next. Most of the said windows were covered by blinds and/or curtains. Some were exposed, but it didn’t look like anybody lived in those apartments. Rin’s ears perked up upon hearing the click of a door closing.

A moment passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Just to stay safe, Rin sends a sensory pulse to ‘see’ inside of the building. Rin detected multiple life signatures inside of this apartment complex, but the one signature Rin was searching for is Sera’s which he did find along with one other presence. Hoping Sera had a backup plan, Rin made sure to check the puppy. She was mainly stirred from the sudden change of movement, but otherwise she went back to sleep.

Taking a deep breath, Rin would leap once again with an added flip and twist of his body. To where Rin is now on the complex’s wall and both hands are holding onto the pup making sure she doesn’t fall. At the same time hardly any noise came from his steps as he dropped into a crouching position again to minimize the noise. Moving as swift and graceful as the gentle breeze flowing through the streets. From there Rin made his over to the platform that was a story above the ground and looked around the corner first. Seeing no one and quite a few doors with another flight of stairs. Rin sees that in one of the door’s knob is a sole key. Assuming that key belonged to Sera, Rin takes care to quietly place his feet on the stone floor and cautiously walked over to the door. With a twist of the key a certain low click can be heard from the knob, and Rin opened the door just enough to slip through. Following up with the closing of the door with key still in the key hole. Rin made sure to lock it back so when Sera unlocks it the click would occur like it is supposed to.

Now for the fun part. Aside from the window mostly covered by a curtain, it is incredibly dark in this place. It appears to be quite small too, or at least Rin thought it was small. Rin took off his sandals and placed them with the other shoes. Or at least he thinks they’re shoes. To top it off this place is very quiet that Rin could hear his own ears starting to ring. The puppy started to yawn, and to top it off Rin could feel somebody approaching the apartment. Rin remained still, and thankfully whoever it was just kept walking past the apartment. Letting out a sigh of relief, Rin tries to make his way until he lightly bumps onto something hard. Reaching out a hand his sense of touch detects that it is soft and thick fabric. Probably a couch or something Rin concludes, and used that to guide him to a… table? Hard to tell, but his toe certainly touched it and the bump made Rin hiss and pursed his lips tightly. Silently saying some colorful words that probably should not be said from his young mouth. Eventually Rin finds himself in the bathroom or at least it appears to be a bathroom in this dark lighting. Closing the door behind him, Rin searched for something to produce light in this dark room. This was interrupted when the puppy started to whine and Rin tried to keep the dog quiet by petting her head and even scratching her ears. It worked for the most part.

Used Sensing Technique -.5 Stamina

Puppy | Andorra:

When Sera walked into the apartment Rin held his breath. He wasn’t exactly sure if this person was Sera, or if it was Sera than maybe she wasn’t alone? Rin strained his hearing, and from he can tell there is only one set of steps. Finally, Sera spoke about where the items he would need be located at. A sigh of relief escapes from his lips as Rin turned the knob to open the bathroom door. Light streamed inside of this room, and Rin can actually see the apartment.

It did look like it was worn and has seen better days. The walls were simple and the wooden floor did looked like it was free from dust and dirt. And perhaps it is because of Rin’s sight, but he can see the tracks he made. However it was very faint to see mainly because of Rin’s perspective and the lighting too. Overall it looked rather nice even though Sera appears to be cleaning up some stuff. “Nice place you have here. Sorry if i made a mess. Kind of hard to walk around in a place you don’t know nor see.”

By this time the puppy was awake, or rather half way since it seems to be playing yet makes a lazy effort. Rin grabs the cleaning supplies that involved soap, towel, and a cup as Sera spoke where things are located at. The fuzzy companion certainly didn’t like the sound of water pouring into the tub and tried to run from Rin. However his reflexes were on point as he caught the dog by his only free hand before it could run out of the bathroom. Luckily once Rin put the puppy onto the tub and realizes the room temperature water is basically something it can play in. The puppy was like a toddler splashing around and honestly making Rin’s job easier.

Applying soap was kind of a bit tricky since Rin was scrubbing with haste and the pup did not like the feel of it. Or rather it was confused with the bubbly substance on its fur. So Rin had to be quick on pouring water to rinse it off before the companion started to lick it. By the time Sera came over to the doorway and check up on them. Rin’s arms is freed from his arm guards as they laid beside him and the boy’s shirt is soaked. Still Rin was patient and didn’t seem to mind the water that much. “A name… hm…” Rin responded to Sera’s question after he confirmed that the newly acquired dog was okay. “Sunkiss maybe? Though that honestly sounds a bit too plain… How about Andorra?”

To be continued…

[Exit]

Sera would smile at rin as he complimented her mess of a home, he seemed one of the most Genuine and honest People she had ever known. Which was sort of not what she expected from a Shinobi. Cold calculating and a killer instinct was what she was told to have and yet neither of them seemed anything above calculating.

When the Kettle was done boiling Sera would make them tea and bring out a random bowl from her cupboard of cold water for the dog. And looked through her cupboards for something the dog could eat, though she didn’t really find anything she placed Rins cup on bathroom sink and then leaned against the door frame again watching him bath the dog.

When Rin mentioned the name Sera had nodded at both, its wasn’t so much that she liked both names or that she didn’t care what the name was, it was how happy Rin Seemed, and he in return made Sera feel content and satisfied with her life so far. “ Andorra sounds elegant and smart, I like it “

She would take a sip of her tea and smile before going to the dresser where she would place the Nodachi in its holder on top of her dresser and bow her head quickly closing her eyes and then smile widely as she heard the splash of the dog again sliding around in the tub. Today had been a good day indeed. . .

[EXIT]