An Unlikely Family[P]

The young Chuunin/Vongola guardian stared at wall that was in front of her. Her eyes seemed as if they were about to close anytime soon. What she heard from the Raikage made her somewhat shocked. What had made the young Storm guardian stay away from the Raikage's room and sit on the couch and stare at the wall for god knows how many hours? Easy. The bodyguard job told that she had to stay with the Raikage 24/7, always by his side.. But she didn't know that Kiyoshi had one-bedroom house! A frown was upon her almost flawless face as she stared at the wall, her legs hugging her chest. She was currently wearing a creamy tank top with her matching creamy pajamas.

Her hair was let down and it was slightly messed up, meaning she could've just woken up, another way of telling that Natsumi may have woken up was because of her eyes. She seemed either annoyed, or just tired. Hmm, probably both, seeing as she decided to sleep on the couch, even though Kiyoshi told her not to and yet she ignored him and slept just fine.

Now, how to go about the day? The sun was already up, while Natsumi got up before the sun had risen up. She groaned as she streched her legs and her arms, smacking her lips as her half lidded eyes stared around the room. She needed to get dressed, but maybe that could wait, seeing as she was just stretching from staring at a damn wall for god knows ho many hours! Natsumi breathed in and out. "Ok.... I seriously need to calm down...", she shrugged her shoulders. "It's... not that bad, actually..."

Getting up from the couch, the young Chuunin decided to stretch her arms, her legs and then crack her neck. After all that was done, she wondered where would Saib be. After they have arrived she must've thought Saib was also thinking the sme thing as her. 'How could we live in a house that has one bedroom?'. For Natsumi, she slept on the couch, no matter how many times the Raikage would say anything. She was his bodyguard, and for his sake she would do what she needed to do.

"I wonder where she is..", Natsumi mumbled to herself as she scratched her head and started walking towards the kitchen. Maybe someone was in there?

Groaning, Saib slowly woke up, at first wondering where the hell she was, but her memories soon returned... of having to live with Raikage and his new bodyguard as well as her own. Speaking of bodyguards, where was Aoitori???

Opening her eyes, Saib found herself sitting on a chair in the kitchen. She had almost thought to just share the bed with the Raikage or join Natsumi on the couch, but it seemed like everyone was still getting used to the idea of living together so she figured she might as well just chose a part of the house for herself for now. Problem is, when the bedroom and couch has been taken... you don't have much of a choice. But at least the kitchen was warm... and had a door, sort of.

Briefly she wondered where Aoitori was, the roof most likely. He always did seem to like sleeping outside or something. He never told her why either. Would he even try to be a little more respectful and acknowledging of Raikage and Natsumi? In a way that wouldn't make him seem like an arrogant-perverted-know-it-all? No. That much she could easily guess at.

She was just beginning to get the aches out of her body when she spied Natsumi coming in. 'And so it begins... Ahhh why does she have to show up now? And I even have a damn crush on her too! Am I really bi or do I just like certain girls?' wondered Saib, trying not to stare... again.

Rolling her shoulders back and popping her back slightly she addressed Natsumi. "Hey," she said softly. 'What kind of an opening is that?!' Sitting back down in her seat, Saib looked over Natsumi once before settling her gaze on Natsumi's captivating eyes. "Would your... boyfriend care all that much about you being a with a guy all the time?" asked Saib after a few seconds. "Sorry if that's a bit too private. Its just that... you seem like the kind of person who'd have a boyfriend or someone. In a good way. That and I've heard a few things in the village," mended Saib quickly.

She was mentally sighing now. Why was it that when she ended up with a crush on a girl she wound up not being able to say sensible things and instead said a lot of insensible things and completely stupid comments? But if its a guy she can still hide her feelings and everything! Why? Was it just because she only ever really had to lie to guys and not girls? 'Maybe I can actually gain something from all of this after all.'

Aoitori let out a long yawn as he finally woke up, or rather woke up from a nap. 'Ahh damn, I feel back asleep? Guess I shouldn't have stayed out here all night after all.' He had a bad case of pillow-head hair, but it looked almost natural on him and he never really bothered to fix it. Few in his clan had to bother about looks. Rolling his neck, Aoitori yawned and jumped down to the ground, working up his legs lightly before going inside.

"Ello," was all he said before sitting down at an empty seat next to Saib. He let out a small yawn and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He probably should have gone to the bathroom instead and wiped of the small amount of water that had formed on the surface of his skin, but back when he was living with Saib he had never bothered to and she had never said anything about it.

Out of the corners of his eyes the stole a glance at Saib and Natusmi. Saib was, as usual, in her tank top and shorts. In short: a lot of skin and a lot of suggestive images. But he was used to it and it wasn't much of a deal to him, but Natsumi.... Mmm she was different. Sure her clothes weren't as revealing as Saib's but still, it did show off what her physical features offered, and that was quite a bit. Ahh the Raikage was a lucky man indeed. He himself had no shirt on, another habit he had formed while living with Saib as she tended to spill things on him or get him wet one way or another. He had simply made do without a shirt for most of his time at home. 'Sai-chan's got a bit of a crush on her already. Maybe I should mess around with her a bit. Its always a bit fun to play with Saib.'

Kiyoshi was currently sitting on a comfortable chair inside of his room, reading a novel that he came across in recent days called “Make Out Paradise: The Clean Version” The book actually seemed fairly interesting even though Kiyoshi was never really into a good majority of books involving romance or something of that category. But for some reason, this book seemed like it just drew him in, in some sort of way that was very hard to explain to even himself much less to anyone else. The book was actually something he came across from a local street bookseller that had a habit of selling books that came from different countries that he got on his traveling of the world tour.

Kiyoshi had actually never slept a wink the entire night because quite frankly, he had a bit too much on his mind order to sleep at all so he needed to clear his mind with something that had absolutely nothing to do with his complications at the moment. Kiyoshi let out a yawn as he continued reading through the last page of the book and the ending of the epilogue of the story, which was actually reiterating the contents of the story in a basic summery.

Once Kiyoshi had finished the last words on the bottom of the page, he simply closed the book and stretched out his arms and legs. Kiyoshi was wearing the same clothes that he usually wears save for the jacket and the baggy pants that were folded on top of the bed, but still had his white T-shirt that he were underneath his jacket all the time and had a pair of black with silver stripes sports shorts that went all the way down to about a couple of inches, around 2-3, past his knees.

Kiyoshi had gotten up from his spot right in his comfortable chair that was right across from his window and went over to his private bookshelf, looking for exactly where to put the book in the alphabetically ordered share of books and slowly placed it within the bookshelf. Kiyoshi then let out yet another yawn as he stretched once more, rubbing on his left shoulder with his automail arm and circulated it before cracking his neck. ‘Great… now I started to get tired…’ Kiyoshi simply ignored the urge to just drop right on his bed and just fall right asleep on the comfortable mattress.

Kiyoshi went over to his bed in order to claim his brown jacket and throw it over his shoulder, poking his arms through the sleeves as he placed his hands in his pockets in a nonchalant manner, letting out his third yawn of the day as he walked towards his bedroom door, opening it with his left hand before going through it. In all honesty, Kiyoshi didn’t exactly know where he was going at first due to this just being a natural routine that he didn’t need to even couscous for, instead he just went over to the kitchen, basically with his eyes closed got his usual breakfast and go out over to his cell, I mean office to get his job done.

But for some reason, something didn’t feel right as he started walking over to his kitchen that seemed… different from what he usually went through every single day of his life, or at least every single day ever since he got his own house. Kiyoshi opened his eyes in order to see what this disturbance in his force was to see the form of three figures, two semi-invited, one not so invited but there anyways. “You know, I thought I’d be a lot more angry, you know what with you somehow appearing in my house suddenly. Maybe it’s because I’m tired and want to get my day over or maybe I’m just so unbelievably enraged that I’ve come full circle.”

Kiyoshi simply shrugged. “Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to kill you later.” With that, he went over to the refrigerator in order to grab some milk and got a box of cereal, grabbing a bowl in the midst of this and placing it on the dining table on the other side of the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl before he started digging into it.

As Natsumi entered the kitchen, she was greeted by none other than the woman she wa slooking for; Saib. Natsumi quickly bowed, and felt somewhat embarrasment of being in front of the Daimyo's daughter since she had a slight bed head that can be taken care of easily. "Good morning, Saib-sama", her tone was her usual normal one, even though she was tired inside but she didn't want to show it. She sat down the chair that was beside Saib, since Aotori already got to the other side. "Hello to you too, Aotori". Natsumi rolled her eyes at Saib's bodyguard, even when half asleep, Natsumi wanted to almost kill him slowly... or fast.. Eh.

She turned to look at Saib when she said something about.. Natsumi having a boyfriend?!"Um....", she was speecheless for a minute. 'Never thought it was gonna get awkward so quickly...' Natsumi cracked her neck once again. She was about to tell her when Kiyoshi came in... and not in one of the goodest of moods, nonetheless, Natsumi got up and bowed at Kiyoshi. "Good morning, Raikage-sama", with that she sat down again and looked at Saib.

"Well... Number one, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm not interested in having a relationship at the moment... Number two, I don't mind you asking me questions like that. I really never thought of having a relatiosnhip, I like being single, but I don't go around, trying to meet new guys. I find half of the men in Kumogakure or more than the hallf quite stupid if you ask me", she let out a yawn. Her eyes went towards Kiyoshi. "Raikage-sama, if you want, I can get Aotori out of here..?... and maybe make sure he gets sued...", quickly she covered that up and smiled at the Raikage and Saib, and Aotori as well. "Well, what's on the agenda, Raikage-sama?"

“Agenda?” Kiyoshi scratched his head a bit as he heard a question that seemed to be directed towards him, his mouth chewing at the sugary brand of cereal that had taken him quite some time to find in the past. Kiyoshi chewed slowly as he tried to collect his thoughts, unaware of whatever other actions he was actually performing, including eating the cereal in his mouth. He tired thinking of what he usually did just about every day, which included paperwork, paperwork, more paperwork, some random villager who had some sort of complaint or another, paperwork, sleep on desk, try to sneak out of the office, get caught, more paperwork and then go home.

Once his short attention span got the better of him, Kiyoshi simply shrugged. “Same ol’ boring stuff, paperwork and all of that. Why, got any suggestions?” It was then that it donned on him that there was an outside conversation going on in the world that didn’t exist in his own private bubble. Kiyoshi allowed it to pop as he heard something about Natsumi having a boyfriend and something else about her finding half the guys in the village quite stupid, which was starting to make Kiyoshi’s curious mind wonder if he was one of those stupid guys, wouldn’t be the first time he was called stupid though.

Kiyoshi’s eyes traced Aoitori’s path as he headed out of the house. 'Note to self: Find brother’s big and mean dog so I can bring him over here in order to... welcome my guest. Hmm… maybe Tomoe could do some damage though. I’ll have to see what I could bribe him though…’ Kiyoshi’s thoughts were interrupted when Saib started speak and ask about the housing situation, something Kiyoshi had in the back of his mind for a little while but didn’t think too much about since he was basically forced to keep his room.

He got into a more comfortable position as he went in for another big bite, chewing a bit first before speaking. “Ok, I first bought this house under the assumption that I would live in peace and solitude and then there’s a scene a few years ago which is causing me to never sleep in the Kage mansion again…” Kiyoshi then took a moment to himself before continuing. “… But I was thinking that since we’re basically stuck here, that I could take the couch and we could by another bed so that you girls could share the bedroom, how’s that sound?”

Natsumi quickly glared at Aoitori's back as he left the room, he was definetely on her 'hate' list at the moment. She sighed 'I find males annoying... Tch', " Yeah, yeah.. I'll take care of Saib... and.. A-Allright, Saib...."It wasn't her fault that she treated anyone that was a higher rank that her they way they needed to be treated. That's just how she was! She sighed mentally.

"Agenda?", the way the Raikage said that made Natsumi think that he may not know what she had meant.“Same ol’ boring stuff, paperwork and all of that. Why, got any suggestions?” ... And she was right. 'Eh... I don't blame him.. He may not know what I'm talking about, I think'. The young guardian blinked in confusion as she tilted her head to the side. "Lord Raikage...", her eyes narrowed at him. She wanted to say something but she quickly shook her head. "Never mind, Kiyoshi-san"

Her eyes travelled over to Saib, and then her eye twitched. "Grr... Why does he have to come, unnanounced nonetheless?!" Her eyes flared, then closed them, trying to calm down. "Well.. I could say we 'can' allow him in when the weather's bad... or if he wants a meal, etc... But" she glared at nothing in particular. "He should really stop coming through the window, and use the door.. geesh"

Anyone could say that she didn't mind Aoitori much? Ahh, but that wasn't the case, she was just sometimes too nice for her own good. But she would never let Kiyoshi nor Saib know that, she was sometimes too rpoud for her good. "Are you gonna bother with that topic until we agree that we 'will' sleep together in your bedroom and you take the couch?" She shouldn't be arguing with him, but Natsumi's known to be stubborn when she needs to, and she didn't want the Raikge nor Saib sleeping somewhere uncomfortable. "Um.. well.. sure? I mean I don't mind but what about...", she trailed off as she looked at Saib.

For a moment Saib just looked at the Raikage. '... Is he zoning out or something?' It sure looked like it. But she had to admit he did look appealing right now, mildly appealing that is. She was beginning to understand why a lot of the girls liked him so much, but she herself wasn't liking him that much yet.

And despite what had happened, she had the uncanny feeling that it would take a long time for the other two to get used to having Aoitori there... Maybe never at all. Oh well, Aoitori's fault then, right?

Watching him eat actually made her feel hungry, but she fought off the feeling of hunger and decided she'd eat later. She was used to starving herself every now and then. Missing breakfast wasn't much of a problem today.

'His plan sounds reasonable enough except for one small factor: sleeping in the same room as Natsumi...' She mentally groaned at this. It wasn't that she didn't want to share, it was just that... well she did like Natsumi of a sorts so to share a room with her... That and Natsumi seemed to have something else in mind. She was a little annoyed with this, why couldn't the dang woman just say what was on her mind? There are times when you should speak your opinion, even if you're talking to your elders or those in power.

Mentally shaking her head Saib slowly agreed to it, shrugging off Natsumi's hesitation."... Of course. Its reasonable enough. But for Aoitori's sake, where shall he be accommodated when he needs to sleep inside?" she asked, knowing that neither of them really wanted to address the topic when it came to Aoitori. It was as clear as the sky that they detested him. Maybe she'd talk to Aoitori after this... if she ever found him that is.

Once Saib had asked her question on where her bodyguard would sleep should they have to let him in. Kiyoshi simply looked at her with an extremely confused expression on his face as he raised his right eyebrow. “He needs to sleep inside?” Kiyoshi laughed a little, knowing that he was probably going to get some sort of look from Saib for that, whether angry or embarrassed, Kiyoshi had absolutely no idea but he continued on before she would give him said look nonetheless. “Well, IF, and that’s a big if, the weather is so bad, that no possible human could ever hope to stay outside for more than 4 seconds. IF it’s really THAT bad, then we just MAY let him sleep inside somewhere on the floor. He sleeps on the roof anyways so that might be an upgrade.”

The conversation went back on the sleeping arrangements of the three of them. Even though Kiyoshi wasn’t the smartest when it came to the opposite sex, he still noticed that there was a ray of uncomfortability trailing off in the room that anyone could cut through with a butter knife. He noticed Saib shaking her head and Natsumi trailing off as she looked in the direction of Saib. It was at this point in time that he started to wonder about the relationship of Saib and Natsumi. He started to wonder if they had some sort of distaste for each other or something like that. Or maybe it was quite the opposite, who knew?

Kiyoshi took yet another bite of his cereal as his curious eyes went from one of them to the other and vice versa a few times. “Is there a problem?” Kiyoshi leaned back in his chair as he waited for a sort of explanation for the tension. “Well, it’s either this or we go to my mother’s but… well, she’s been sort of emotionally unstable for a few days now ever since she heard my father died on a trip so we pretty much gave her a... what do you call it, a paid vacation? Least till she feels read to work again. Speaking of which, if you guys want some real food, we could head over there and she what she has on the stove . Being a mother as well as the top medical ninja in the world has its perks you know.”

In all honesty, Kiyoshi couldn’t wait to go over to his mother’s despite the crying she was doing the last time he saw her about three days ago, but she had to have gotten over it a bit, right? That actually reminded Kiyoshi that he should start planning his funeral. You know, for a boy who had just learned a few days ago that his father had died, Kiyoshi seem rather accepting of it pretty quick. This was certainly showing the strained relationship he had with his father, though he was completely upset the day he found out and was rather lazy the following day but he bounced back pretty fast and was hoping his mother did the same by the time he went over there.

As Natsumi heard Saib talking about Aoitori needing sleeping accomodations when the 'weather is bad', or something along those lines. Natsumi is a bit annoyed at Aoitori, but she couldn't be such a heartless woman and let him out in the streets to suffer. That's not how she would do that.

Then, Natsumi heard Kiyoshi's words, and looked at him with a look that could tell immediately Natsumi wasn't fond of the Raikage at the moment. '... He's being kinda harsh... And to think I actually found something appealing about him..', "If you could excuse me, Lord Raikage...", Natsumi took a deep breath in and stared at the Raikage with a serious face when saying the next words. "I think you shouldn't be such... A jerk? Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for. Aoitori-san IS Saib's bodyguard and he DOES have to stay NEAR Saib, don't you think? I don't think you should be so harsh to the man"

"Sure, I mean, he did get on my bad side, made me want to sue him, but he's still.. Human, in a way. And you should be somewhat ashamed, Raikage-sama. Treating a bodyguard of the Daimyo's daughter AND an ally of the Vongolas like shit, is THIS really the Raikage, Hikaru Kiyoshi that I wanted to desperately to protect? Hn, you seem very diffrent now that you've shown me this side". After saying everything that she needed to say, she mentally sighed in relief, glad she got that out of her system, though it was shocking that she protected Aoitori. She crossed her legs and arms and looked at the Raikage when he spoked about his mother.

"We wouldn't want to intrude on your mother's "paid vacation". But, it's your deicion", she looked at Saib, still having her arms and legs crossed while having the same serious expression, seeing as she didn't like the Raikage at the moment. "What do you think Saib? Whatever your desicion is, you can tell us", after that she quietly cursed herself. "DAMN IT! Why did I talked to the Raikage like he was one of those damn Mist guardians?! Ahh... I could be in hot water.... DAMN IT!" She really didn't want to know what he had in stored for her, but she would have to face it nonetheless. She wasn't afraid, at least she had some kindness inside of her to actually protect Aoitori. Speaking of which... 'If anyone says that I protected him.. I'll kill them... I swear'

Saib was about to say something in reply to the Raikage's comment, but Hanashi beat her to it. She sat back, appearing calm and watched. 'You've got a point... but you could have worded it a bit differently.' As she finished up Saib calmly began to speak. "It would do you both to learn how to use the language of words better," began Saib, not intending to insult them in any way.

"Aoitori isn't just my bodyguard, he's also one of my closest friends. Therefore, when you insult him and speak ilk of him, you also insult me and speak ilk of me. And by doing so, you in turn also insult my father. Were I to be like the vast majority of those in power, the two of you would more than likely be in danger even if you were the Raikage or the Raikage's bodyguard or a member of this famed Vongola Family I hear of. Additionally, since I am here that also means that Aoitori is in turn protecting you as well Raikage. In order to maintain my own safety he must also maintain your safety. And he's been involved with guarding others for his whole life, or so I've been told, which means he can teach you a lot Natsumi," she finished softly.

Her vague feelings for Kiyoshi hadn't wavered too much, just her opinions of him. It seemed that he had just portrayed how young and new he truly was to the job of being Raikage, but if he had stayed Raikage for so long then he must have some ways with words... or his intelligence and strength made up for that. Either way, he needed to learn badly how to use words that wouldn't immediately be offensive to others of important positions. And Natsumi? Well she had a good enough of a control of herself but she could use some improvements as well. As much as Saib could tell anyway. But usually she was right about these things, maybe it was because of her old time job of being a courier and seeing how people enacted with one another?

"As for your mother... there's no need to disturb her. Death is something few can understand, and even if we all experience it, we all feel differently about it. But seeing as your mother is still grieving, I doubt it'd be wise for the two of us to intrude upon her. You instead should be there with her if your work permits it. You are her son aren't you? I wouldn't mind visiting for awhile... after that I think I shall go find Aoitori if the two of you don't mind," replied Saib faintly, glancing out the window.

The world was slowly being washed yellow with the sun rising and breaking through the clouds. Her thoughts wavered to Aoitori and she was sure he was around somewhere... she just couldn't sense him. That probably meant he was well aware of the conversation that had just passed them, he always did seem to know everything before she even told him anything. This was often why she wondered if the man was a ninja after all in some way, but she'd never seen Aoitori use chakra or anything ninja related unless you wanted to count the weapons... Come to think of it, how had he dodged the Raikage's first attack at him? Was he really just that good in physical fights? She'd have to ask him about it one day, but not today, not when she had so much on her mind already.

'Looks like living with Raikage's gonna be even more of a pain than I thought it would...' sighed Saib within her mind amongst her inner thoughts.

Kiyoshi took yet another bite out of his cereal before placing the spoon in his bowl and putting a finger on his chin, giving himself a thoughtful expression. You would think that someone would take the words that he just heard rather offensively and would either feel sad, guilty or even angry, but at the moment, he didn’t seem offensive at all, just… it actually was rather hard to express his expression via words, which is kind of weird. He just sat there, a thoughtful expression on his as if he was just spacing out and diving into his own world.

Was he ignoring the comment? No, he still had it in his mind, but just seemed like the type of person to take it rather calmly than most people you would figure. “Hmm...” Kiyoshi placed his right arm on the table and placed his chin on top of his hand for a few second before finally responding. “Now… you see the funny thing about that is if YOU think that little verbal irony talk was, how to you say, “jerkish” then I’m just going to be honest with you, that's not really the half of it. Ok, get this, when I was seven, I was told that my brother would be put on death row. When I was eight, I was told that I would be brutally killed, and this is by my own uncle too, if I tried to be a ninja. And he was pretty specific too.”

Kiyoshi thought for as he dug into a few suppressed Academy days. “When I was 10, I was told I wasn’t going to amount to anything just because I had no ninja heritage. When I was 11, I was attacked because some guy who was of some prestigious clan, to a near death state, because I had better grades than him. When I was 12, I had a body part sliced off of me by the village leader because he thought he could. When I was 14, I was put on death row because I followed a man outside the village back when I was 12 and actually spent nights standing in my sleep. Same age, a guy put my life on a gambling bet because he was arrogant and believed that I wasn’t good enough to walk on this land as an honorable shinobi because I was Gennin at the time so I am so sorry if I make slightly cruel jokes if someone reminds me of the people that tried to kill me so many times in my life, but really…”

At this point in time, Kiyoshi had a dead serious look in his face that he has only should to one person in his life, or rather summoning, the only thing that could be classified as a living being that he killed back when he was training with a Hyuuga. A look that didn’t necessarily mean that he was mad, but that he was tired of not being taken serious and was dead serious, his voice deeper than ever to show that he was serious. He wasn’t really looking at anyone in particular, more rather into space but his words were meant for anyone that was listening, everyone. “Do not… judge me.”

Kiyoshi got up from his position and picked up his bowl, going over to the sink in the kitchen and getting the soap and sponge in order wash up on the dish he had just used. “Btw, I’ll be honest in saying I’m an honest person. If I have a problem with someone, I’m not going to sit there and pretend you’re my best friend. It doesn’t matter if I’m Raikage or if you are Raikage, I’m gonna tell you how I feel. The whole "I'll just keep my voice down when I feel offended in some way" left me when I was 15, long story involving a very awkward speech. The words I use are just dependent on my situation at the time. Obviously, yesterday was continuous paperwork and unhappy visitors, today it’s no sleep, but like I said, I’m going to be true to you as well as myself.”

Once Kiyoshi was finished with the dish, he packed it up and wiped his hands with a cloth, putting it back and then going back to the girls. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to see how she’s doing for some time, but Raikage duties…” Kiyoshi sighed before continuing. “But if you don’t wish to go because of the awkwardness if she’s still upset, that’s fine too.” Kiyoshi put on a little smile after that to reassure them.

Natsumi stood there, looking at the Raikage with a serious expression as he took another bite of his cereal before placing the spoon in the bowl, putting a finger on his chin, giving a thoughtful expression that made Natsumi raise an eyebrow. What the hell was he thinking? Was he thinking ways of punishing her? She did, after all somewhat insulted a higher rank? But, it wasn't an insult, she was trying to make him feel guilty, I mean he shouldn't be treating Aoitori like that.

“Hmm...”, that made Natsumi's eyes blink as she say Kiyoshi lay his right hand on the table and placed his chin on top of his hand for a few seconds. The words that were coming out from the Raikage's mouth touched Natsumi, but not in the goodest of ways. His own brother be put on death row when he was just seven? At the age of eight be brutally killed, by your uncle for trying to be a ninja no less?'.... What? He went through all of THESE things as a child? I mean, I would never expected that from the Raikage... Guess I am a bit judging the "cover" he has.... Great..' She sighed, her eyes softening as she looked at the table, it was a simple wood table, the dark brown color really made Natsumi want to zone out completely, to ignore his words, to forget. But, at the same time she didn't want to forget, maybe it could be taught as a lessong for her; to not judge a book by its cover.

'Ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, IGNORE!'. Natsumi wasn't strong when it came to things like this, she in fact hated fighting, but she found peace when protecting her firneds, family or even higher ranks she respects(although she does curse at them or makes them feel guilty like she tried on Kiyoshi, though with him failed). A sigh left her lips when he then said:“Do not… judge me.” Another sigh left her lips, she had really messed up big time. She didn't look at him when he got up and went to wash his bowl. Her hands gripped tightly her hands, hugging herself slightly but still looking like she wasn't fazed by his little "guilt" trip, which has obviously worked on Natsumi quite well.

Quickly, Natsumi's eyes turned to Saib, then to the Raikage when he turned to look at them, she quickly got up, making the chair slide slightly. Her eyes were looking at the floor, while her bangs covered her eyes. "... A-Ah..", she shook her head and quickly exited the room, her steps were quick, she was now in the living room, her eyes fell onto the window that was near the couch and she exited through there, then quickly going up towards the roof. Her hair blew in the wind, she closed her eyes as she looked at the sun that was lighting the village. Was she really cut out to be the raikage's bodyguard? She didn't know anymore, and she wanted answers.

She sat on the edge of the roof, on leg dangling while the other close to her chest as she looked down on the village. "... Am I.. really cut out for this..?", she asked herself as she closed her eyes. "Am I really just being too... dramatic on my part? .... Am I just hiding the fact I-", she shook that thought out of her head before she could finish the sentence. "No", Natsumi opened her eyes as she looked at the village. "Maybe it's best... If I cool down.. yeah, that's it.. Cool down..."

Saib half sighed. Why was it that he had to reply the way he had? His whole guilt-tripping story wasn't much of an affect on her. She had known a few ninja back in Kiri with worse tales... she just never got around to being closer with them because quite frankly, most of them looked down at her and didn't exactly want to be 'friends' with her. They just wanted to share a bit of her wealth, although share isn't the exact word for it...

"Fine by me, I don't really care, just a bit of advice is all. That and I do have to send in reports to my father every now and then." 'Or else he'll be a complete ass and send in a bunch of his damn guards or consultants!'

Washing his own utensils did surprise Saib a little. Most guys she knew tended to leave it in the sink for a couple of days or let other people in their family (or people working for them) do it. Even Aoitori was like that half the time.

She watched silently as Natsumi left in a hurry. At another time and place Saib might have gotten up to go talk to her, but she didn't quite want to right now. Wasn't like it was her problem anyway. And if Natsumi was going to be affected by that then she sure as hell had a lot to learn. But for some reason Saib had the uncanny feeling that there was more to it than the 'guilt tripping' the Raikage had done.

Number one, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm not interested in having a relationship at the moment...

I really never thought of having a relationship, I like being single...

...is THIS really the Raikage, Hikaru Kiyoshi that I wanted to desperately to protect? Hn, you seem very different now that you've shown me this side... ... ...

I'm not interested in having a relationship at the moment... I really never thought of having a relationship... wanted to desperately to protect...

wanted to desperately to protect...

... Does she like him? When he told her his story she seemed to care a lot. I know he's the Raikage and all and that she's his bodyguard but still... Why would she want to protect him THAT much and care SO much? She seems really sad too, almost... heartbroken... wanted to desperately to protect .... Maybe she does like him. And she was holding her hands pretty tightly too... And her eyes... They were so... emotional.

Maybe she was just reading into the situation too much, who knows? But she was 70% sure she was right in some fashion, therefore half convinced that Natsumi had a thing for the young Raikage, was in love with him, admired him, or idolized him. "You say something?" mumbled Saib, snapping out of her deep trance-like state of having assessed Natsumi. In the back of her mind she was still thinking about it and even disappointed that what little chances she had with Natsumi were already gone.

'Sky's always a pretty sight to see, never full of worries or anything really. Lets your mind roam and wander. Free to think, free to see, free to do whatever.' Aoitori had never really left the place, he'd just been up on the roof tops around the Raikage's place mostly.

But as the door to the Raikage's house opened he glanced over one of the walls and spied Natsumi. Truth be told, he didn't really have a thing for Natsumi at all. It was just an act. Still, she looked upset and he didn't think she'd be leaving the Raikage... or Saib all alone if it weren't for something serious. That or she wasn't much of a guard at all.

Yawning, Aoitori silently fell from the building's roof onto the next one below him and so forth until he couldn't go any lower before striding across from roof top to roof top to get to where Natsumi was. She was on the roof and it really did look like she was upset. 'Ahhh crap I'm not one to cheer people up much, but looks like the kid needs it,' thought Aoitori as he heard her speaking. He hadn't made much of a sound coming her and due to his clan ninja (or anyone really) being able to sense them was incredibly rare unless they had high tracking and sensing skills, which he doubted Natsumi had much of.

Laying a hand on her shoulder he sat down, his strange armour creaking slightly with his movements. 'Ahhh thought I already oiled and cleaned this damn thing,' thought Aoitori in annoyance. Nevertheless, he shrugged it off. "I know I'm probably the last person in the world you want to see right now, but have faith in yourself, alright? You can't be a good bodyguard if you don't even have faith in your own abilities," he half chided. He might have sounded a tad bit cold or as usual, looked cold, but he did care and his voice was holding bit of warmth to it and wasn't as 'deep and mysterious' as it usually was.

"Sure you're a newbie to this right now and you outright suck at it, but you weren't raised to be a bodyguard and haven't lived your whole life as one. I know you're gonna argue that you're born as the Vongola's Storm Guardian, therefore you were sort of raised to be a bodyguard in a roud-a-bout way, but that doesn't count and you know it.

"I can tell from the way you move and hold onto your weapons that you are skilled in fighting, maybe not an expert, but you're good enough. But skills isn't all that matters. You need faith too. Faith in yourself. If you can't believe that you're a good bodyguard, or even a decent one, then why the hell did you apply for it in the first place?

"Right now, this is nothing compared to what you'll have to face. You should've started out small first, not big on someone like this. That kid you protect is the Raikage, that means you'll face a lot of people in this world, people you won't always like. Sometimes those people can be completely evil and you may hate them with all your heart, but you can't do anything about it because they'll be your allies. Other times you might even be forced to fight the people you love most. Why?

"'Cause, you're a guard. Guards have a pretty hard time of it. You can't get attached to a lot of people, or any people at that, without risking yourself to a weakness, and therefore a weakness to protecting your client. Why else do you think there are so few guards that work full time for one person? Most people just work as a guard in general for different groups or different people, they have it easy. But we, the ones who practically devote our lives to one person don't have it easy.

"In short, if you're going to be a damn bodyguard, then don't stop and ask yourself if you're a bad bodyguard. Don't wonder if you should've done something else. Don't act like one mistake is going to end it all. And most of all, don't lose faith in yourself. The most powerful warrior can be the weakest one if he doesn't have faith in himself.

"If you're going to think you're a bad guard, or you should've done something else, or you made a mistake, then get to work on training. And I don't mean physical training either. Violence isn't always the answer to everything. Words can do a lot to stop war or cause it. One of the most important things about being a guard, or what I believe from experience is that you need to learn how to talk, how to control your emotions, and... to not get attached. Anybody can talk and hide their emotions, but not everyone can talk well or control themselves. As for that last one... getting attached to your client or someone else is more painful than you'll ever know, and I can only hope that that never happens to you. Am I saying you should never fall in love? Not necessarily... but it'd be rare for you to fall in love and still be a good guard. Usually falling in love for guards means its the end of their career.

"Anyway, think hard about what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you can't so much as protect the Raikage, then how do you expect yourself to protect the 11th? Easy, you can't and you won't. You might as well just ask me to kill your right here, right now, if you can't protect this one guy," he finally finished, leaning back on his hands.

For a few minutes he let her think about it and then turned to face her. She truly was beautiful, but he had no true feelings for her. Maybe in another world, another setting he might have tried to court her, but not in this world. In this world he was a bodyguard, and always had been ever since childhood. His clan was generally one that protected others. He had relatives all over the world assigned or hired to protect someone. He himself had had to cross blades with some of them... kill them even. He had killed his own brother too. It might be seen as barbaric and cruel even, but it was the way of clansmen and they all knew that. Once they turned thirteen they were given the choice to continue their training as a guard or to pursue some other career... Most chose to be a guard. Why? It was in their blood, their hearts, their souls. And they all had this strange magnet like thing inside of them drawing them to a certain land or group of people, the person they were born to protect. Or so they were told anyway, but he believed it was true... just like all his other kinsmen who had found the one. He only wished he had been able to protect his other half, for the person he used to guard was like the missing piece of the puzzle of his inner core, of that piece of him that drawn him more and more into Takigakure...

But enough of that. That was a long time ago. He didn't need dwell on the past. He'd long since forgiven himself in a way and dedicated his life to protecting the Daimyo's daughter. To protecting Saib and only Saib. Sure his clan was allied with the Vongolas simply because the Vongola often hired out members of his clan to protect their guardians and boss because of their uncanny skills as guardians, but it would always be Saib before anyone or anything else. And he didn't care what people would say about it. He was her guard and always would be until the day she died or he died.

"So what's your answer, kid?" he asked at long last. He called her 'kid' not because he was looking down upon her, but because she was a kid, even if he was only a few years older than her. Regarding her age as a guard, she was still a kid and at this rate she'd always be a kid. He looked forward to the day he would be able to call her an adult, a woman. His eyes slowly focused on her as she answered him, intrigued by her answer.

Her eyes kept being fixated on the sun, seemingly being much calmer now than she was before, but still she was a bit on edge.A sigh left her lips, then a yawn. 'I'll have to go back into the house sooner or later... I wonder if later can be a good idea-', she shook her head roughly. 'No!I should be choosing sooner, what kind of a bodyguard am I, afraid of the guy i'm supposed to protect..?' She jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder, then a creak of some kind of equipment or armor, her head moved quickly to the right side and met face-to-face with Aoitori, then she turned her head away. "... What do you want?"

"I know I'm probably the last person in the world you want to see right now, her eyes rolled at this, of course Natsumi thought he was the last person, but he was half-right. She thought he was the LAST person to come and talk to her." But have faith in yourself, alright? ", that made her look at him again. Her expression looked like it didn't hurt her one bit, but her body movements said otherwise. Was he actually giving Natsumi advice, or was she just dreaming?

And now, she might have been receiving the "god knows how many minutes has passed" adivice/scolding. But, he was right, no matter how much Natsumi didn't want to admit it. First thing that suprised her that he thinks that she's good, no, that Aoitori knows that Natsumi is skilled with her weapons, of course not an expert but at least she knows something, right? Her eyes were covered by her bangs as she looked down on towards the streets. It was quiet for awhile after Aoitori finished talking, then a chuckle; a low one, then gradually started getting louder. "Ahh, Aoitori.. I could have had so many chances of starting out easy, and yet why did I pick this one?", she simply shrugged her shoulders."Cause I wanted this perticular job, nothing more, nothing less. I want to protet our Raikage just as much as I want to protect the 11th, it's simple, really"

"For the last time, I am not interested in anyone, got it? Anyone!" By now she had turned to face him and glare at him, then she turned her head back at the view. "I find half of the men in Kumogakure, if not more, stupid. I don't like them, most are pigs, some treat women badly and it just makes me..", she held out her hands in front of her, as if trying to strangle someone in mind, then stopped the movement and sighed, she shook her head. "Well, that's a bad way to take out your anger, heh". Natsumi looked at him from the corner of her left eye and said "That's myanswer, Aoi-san", she didn't mind the little "kid" nickname he gave her, it didn't annoy her, not one bit since she is used to having that nickname when she was a child.

"Still..", she turned her full attention towards the village, she had a soft smile on her face and her eyes showed she was calm as well. "I still wanna stay up here and think, the morning air does wonders for you, right?If you do go down, tell them I'm fine and i'll come down soon, ok?". Truth to be told, she just didn't want to face Kiyoshi at the moment. First, she needed to clear her head, then maybe she'll go down and talk to him, say sorry, blah, blah, the whole thing.

"For the last time, I am not interested in anyone, got it? Anyone!" Aoitori's eyes gleamed a little at this, but asides from that he didn't openly show how amused he was. "I find half of the men in Kumogakure, if not more, stupid. I don't like them, most are pigs, some treat women badly and it just makes me.." Again there was that gleam in his eyes. The girl was interesting to say the least.

"True true, but your bound to like someone. I'm not saying as a lover, but as a friend or family. When I say attached I mean attached to anyone whether its because you're friends, lovers, or family."

Aoitori mentally sighed. She really was beautiful. He was almost, almost tempted to ask her out or get closer, but what had happened to his previous client still remained fresh in his mind of a sorts. It was the main reason why any girl could strip down in front of him and he wouldn't react. The main reason why he never seriously pursue anyone. Sure it might have seemed like he liked some of the girls that hit on him, but he could never bring himself to give them his full attention or feelings.

"I still wanna stay up here and think, the morning air does wonders for you, right?If you do go down, tell them I'm fine and i'll come down soon, ok?" He openly laughed at this now.

"Natsumi, if you're going to have me play messenger I should just kill you right now. If you're serious about being his guard, then get down there and tell him yourself. But if you really need to see for yourself if you're any good... how about we have a little spar before getting back to Raikage and Saib? We won't go far."

[e.e Sorry its short.]

Natsumi grumbled, looking the other way and not daring to look at Aoitori, she crossed her arms and had a pout on her face. It looks like Aoitori was out of her 'hate' list, and to think she would actually think of hating him for god knows how long. For some reason, Aoitori seemed very interested in helping her, in any chance she would thank him.. Some day, just not know.

"Oh shush, Aoi. I wanna see myself falling for someone. I want to see myself always thinking about said person, tch. But, you're right.. maybe this little 'family' i'll like..", her eyes were set on the hard roof, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world right now. Damn Aoitori! She felt very awkward now, maybe the fact she's never talked to someone like this before, or maybe because he took the time to see what was wrong?'As if, he just saw me on the roof... No need to get excited, Natsu..'

"Natsumi, if you're going to have me play messenger I should just kill you right now. If you're serious about being his guard, then get down there and tell him yourself. But if you really need to see for yourself if you're any good... how about we have a little spar before getting back to Raikage and Saib? We won't go far." She raised en eyebrow at this and looked back at Aoitori. A smirk formed on her face, that snapped her out of it and came back as the Storm guardian. "Kill me? As much as I would love to see that, let's go easy and use our hands, knees legs? Seeing as I left my weapon inside the house.." She smiled at him and got up, dusting herself off. "So, tell when ready?"

"Oh shush, Aoi. I wanna see myself falling for someone. I want to see myself always thinking about said person, tch. But, you're right.. maybe this little 'family' i'll like.." He raised an eye at this slightly. Aoitori to Aoi-san to Aoi... and now she was saying something about liking the 'family' sort of. "Huh... sure hope you don't mean you're liking me now, are you?" he mumbled quietly.

"Kill me? As much as I would love to see that, let's go easy and use our hands, knees legs? Seeing as I left my weapon inside the house.." Aoitori chuckled a little at this. He was already amused with her previous comment, but now this too? "Really now?" asked Aoitori, still laughing a little. "You honestly think I'll fight fairly? Guards never know who or what they'll be up against. No girl... you'll have to do with what you've got."

Yawning slightly, Aoitori himself got up and stretched a little. "This'll be fun..." he murmured quietly, adopting a more serious attitude towards Natsumi. She was still young, yes, but she was skilled and had all the confidence of a cocky kid thinking they could beat everyone they didn't like that much. At least that was the vibe he was getting off of her.

"But tell me, what's worrying you so much? You only fail if you think you failed. What happened back there?" he asked, nodding down towards the house with a hand on Aokakesu, ready to deflect a blow or land one when Natsumi moved.

Sure it wasn't fair... but really, did the girl expect to be 'fair' to her? She was a damn guard! No guard enters a fight and goes "Hey, I don't have any weapons on me, so let's not use weapons okay?". He almost shook his head at this. What was she thinking? Did she think they were friends or that he'd be fair since he had tried to help her or that she was girl and he was a guy so he'd fight fair? Ahh well, either way she was gonna learn.

Very briefly he wondered about Reborn and what he would have made out of all of this were he here right now. Shocked? Amused? Annoyed? Angry? Who knew. It wasn't like he'd be able to tell even if Reborn was here. But it did make him think a little about the new generation's guardians. Were they all going to be like this... He hoped not.

[x.x I almost called you Hanashi again. x.x]

(Deal with posting order later cause I gtg to school, but for now, anyone who wants to just post)

Kiyoshi let out a deep sigh as Natsumi quickly walked out of the door once he turned around. It may seem that Kiyoshi had been a bit too… real for Natsumi to handle, or perhaps Kiyoshi may have worded it wrong or maybe it was a bit of both. Either way, Natsumi seemed pretty upset once she walked out of the door without giving him so much as a glance. Kiyoshi wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to something like that, maybe it was just another one of those feminine things that he never understood or might never understand for the rest of his life.

Kiyoshi placed both his gloved hands on the back of the chair Natsumi was recently sitting on and leaned into it a bit while he looked into the direction of the door. For a few moments, Kiyoshi forgot about everything he just said as he tried to collect on his thoughts. It was honestly a true thing in this world that Kiyoshi had absolutely no clue on how the female mental as well as the emotional mindset worked in anyway so he didn’t exactly know how to register this into his mind as of yet in all honesty.

Kiyoshi placed his hands upon his lap as he leaned back a little on his chair, slightly tilting it backward as he looked upward towards the ceiling for no apparent reason but still had a weird vibe around him that marked extreme discomfort despite the mild expression that he currently held on his face. Kiyoshi wasn’t usually the one to question those around his environment but something just didn’t feel right at the moment. He had a bad feeling at the pit of his stomach and somewhere in his chest, something common when he felt that something bad was going to happen soon and he started to breath slightly harder.

Kiyoshi looked over at the direction of Saib, seeing the thoughtful expression on her face and wondering if, being a female herself, she knew what was going on with Natsumi lately. She just seemed to act, rather strange suddenly. First she was tired, then confused, then angry, and now she was… in all honesty, Kiyoshi had absolutely no idea what emotion she was feeling at the moment anymore, they all seemed to go by so quick as if she was experiencing mood swings. At first, Kiyoshi thought it might have been a medical issue, but the closest thing he could think of was if it was that time of the month but she didn’t display any other signs of it.

He took quick notice of Saib once again as she responded as if she was spaced out or something. “Do you have any idea what’s up with Natsumi?”

Natsumi smirked. Oh well, at least she TRIED to convince him with no weapons, she shrugged her shoulders and laughed slightly. "At least i tried, right?" Her eyes had a playful glint in them, like she was having fun. But at the moment, it won't be that much 'fun'. Aoitori was a serious bodyguard, and Natsumi was too, but she wasn't as 'experienced' as him. Still, she wanted a spar with him, and now instead of hating him, you could makr Aoitori into her 'respected' list; few have only appeared there. So it was a suprise.

She got up, then backed a few ways from Aoitori. Her cream tank top moving with her and her creamy colored pajama pants, her eyes were looking at Aoitori's. They weren't showing a playful glint, it was a serious look she was giving him. Her expression changed as well, she seemed to be frowning, but it wasn't like that. Her skine tone was really showing since the sun was hitting towards where they were, and beyond. Her skin tone, if no one ever noticed was a pale-ish, but not ALL pale, just a bit that it was noticeable. And her eyes reflected even more, making them almost hypnotizing.

"The reason why I was worrying so much..?", she got in a offensive stance, her hands clenched very hard while her eyes glared at Aoitori, almost as if changing her personality altogether. "Listen. I know we new 'guardians' of this generation may not seem like much...", her eyes turned to the ground as she kept talking. "But, don't think of us so lowly. Aoi, if we have to, the whole generation will prove themselves to everyone who has doubts about us. And I kmow you may have doubts about me as a 'guardian' and the bodyguard of Kiyoshi-san. But I will prove myself to you, even if I can't defeat you here". She then took a deep breathe when he asked "what happened back there?". ".. It's none of your business... Forgive me"

Her eyes drifted towards his sword. She didn't know the name but it seemed very interesting, almost made her want to take it away and analyze it by herself, but she won't do that. Natsumi moved quickly, running towards Aoi, then in mid run she jumped and as she was in mid air, she tried kicking Aoitori quickly with a few kicks, then her right foot connected with his sword and she jumped back, smirking at him and she ran towards him again, this time with her hand clenched tightly, ready to punch and if that didn't work, she would quickly dodge any moves he would try next on her, or jump into the air once more.

He had had nodded briefly as she answered him and quickly felt the force of her attack. Not extremely powerful, nothing he couldn't have handled on his own, but... still quite strong for a kid and a Chuunin. Then again, was it really that much of a surprise considering she was a damn Guardian for the 11th Generation and the Raikage's bodyguard? He supposed not.

He couldn't help but smile a little at the smirk she gave him. Was she truly that confident of her skills... or did she have an idea in mind to defeat him? Last he checked there shouldn't be that much information about him out and about in the world. His clan usually made sure of that... Never-mind that. Focus on the battle. New she might be, but still an opponent and maybe one day an enemy.

It seemed as if Natsumi was truly planning on physical attacks only. It was probably for the best. Even if she used jutsus on her, his armor usually absorbed C Rank techniques so he remained safe from most attacks unless it directly touched areas of his body that wasn't covered in the armor he wore. For a few brief seconds he contemplated on what to do. Despite what he had said, he really didn't want to use any jutsus on her what-so-ever. That and he didn't want her knowing he had skills as a ninja. That was almost always one of his trump cards. Sure, some people knew he had medical ninjutsu, but very, very, very few people knew he could actually use Ninjutsu itself. He could've charged Aokaketsu with lightning chakra as well, but he didn't quite want to give his slight edge in the battle, if you didn't consider a sword versus an unarmed female already an edge.

His grip tightened slighly on Aokaketsu and pulled it out from its sheath, momentarily blinding Natsumi if she was still looking at him. He wondered if she remembered Aokaketsu did that from their previous encounter in the Raikage's Office some time ago. Didn't matter though. With her momentarily blinded, Aoitori used that slight time-frame to move closer to Natsumi as silently as he could and deal a few blows on her.

He was aiming for her arms and legs mostly, attacking with the flat of the blade so that he wouldn't actually cut her unless she moved so that she would. He was aiming to immobilize her and thus force her to forfeit or injure her enough so that she couldn't fight him back for the duration of the fight. Nothing more than bruises, sores, and maybe a broken bone or two at this point.

At the last second he readjusted Aokaketsu so that he was going to cut her. If she hadn't managed to dodge him already, she'd find that her skin would still remain intact and unharmed, but as for her clothing... well suffice to say Aoitori had changed his mind about what he was going to do. He was going to slowly, or quickly (depending on how the battle pace went), force various different parts of her clothes to either get damaged or fall off. For her sake, he hoped she forfeited before it got anywhere.... dramatic.

Was he a pervert? No, not really. It was just that he had a feeling this would annoy Natsumi most and usually when you annoyed people they weren't as sharp as they usually were or did some stupid things. Either way, whether his attack landed or not he'd move back a little, following up with similar attacks had his first been successful. If not he'd wait a little. He wasn't in any hurry to finish this at all.
____________________________________________________________________
When the Raikage had asked her if she knew what was wrong with Natsumi she blinked slightly in surprise. What had happened when she had zoned out? Saib mentally chided herself about this. She should have known better than to zone out at a time like this, even if she was worried about Natsumi in a way. Ah well, least she had not zoned out while they were in an important meeting or something right?

In the back her mind she shuddered at this. Her father had done this on purpose for more than one reason. The main ones were to get her to like the Raikage and vice versa, but other reasons were eve more underhanded: for her to be a 'spy' for her father, relaying to him information about what the Raikage’s plans were, as well as to delve into Kumogakure’s Secret Files or Restricted ones and provide her father with more information. But did he honestly think she was going to??? He knew she didn’t like him or wanted to do anything for him! So why?

”I don’t know to be honest. I mean, I can guess at what’s wrong with her… but to give you an exact reason why…” she let her voice trail off from there. ”The most obvious reason would be that she likely feels guilty after hearing what you said. She did call you a jerk after all, so what you said to her more than likely made it so that she feels like she’s a worthless bodyguard or something. Aoitori’s told me of how some guards… can get attached to their client as well so when their client views them in a negative light or tells them something that makes what they said or thought seem wrong or unjustified they can get emotional.”

She paused for a moment wondering if she should mention her theory, but then again she wasn’t quite sure of it herself so… No need to get the Raikage involved when she wasn’t yet sure herself. ”Anyway, I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I can only guess like you can. Yeah I know, not helpful but does it really matter? She’s just your guard isn’t she?” asked Saib, steadily becoming less and less formal with him since she was seeing him more and more as a regular teenager who just happened to hold a position of power rather than the Raikage only. ”Why would you care so much about her anyway?” She had decided that while she had the chance she might as well ask him what his thoughts were of Natsumi in a roundabout way.

Kiyoshi nodded his head while he listened to the words of Saib’s explaination go on within earshot. Once she continued on with her theories, Kiyoshi couldn’t help but be slightly sadden by what he may have caused. It was true that he was becoming slightly annoyed the past morning but it was only morning talk, right? He didn’t actually intend to send anyone on a guilt trip and make them feel bad or to cause any reall bad blood between them. It’s just that for the past couple of days, he’s just had these fits of anger surpressing inside of him that would just randomly burst out on random occasions.

Kiyoshi took the thought out of his head. He didn’t really think he had a problem though, years upon years of taking others crap had to of caught up with him sometime after all. Plus, didn’t Kumogakure need a strong leader? Someone who wouldn’y back down from anything? Because if he couldn’t stand up for himself, how could he ever hope to stand hope for Kumo? Kiyoshi just didn’t know what anyone wanted anymore to be frankly honest. Some want him toi be tough in order to protect yet apparentlyu, there are others that seem to object to his “tough” attitude, even go so far as to call him a “jerk”.

That word that Kiyoshi has never been called sort of hurted a bit on the inside, the main reason that caused his adrenaline rushg and immediately cuased his “fight or flight” mode to unlock and in this case, he couldn’t control what he was saying anymore, the memories of all those things, those unfortunate sitation that just wouldn’t stop happening to him just boiled him over. Kiyoshi had never been one to requestion sympothy from anyone so he doesn’t tell many people too much about him, but…

Kiyoshi pressed a couple of his fingers to his forehead as his thoughts were being ransacked over trying to figure these things out. He let out a sigh as he did this, which actually sounded more like a deep breath rather, and then laid his head on the table in front of his after turning around so that the table was actually facing him. Females are just plain and simply way too hard to understand so it was probably just better off not trying to. Just keep to that 4 year old jump rope theory that they came from Venus and life would just go on as it was.

Just as he was giving up on his impossible gooal to understand the emotional barrier between male and female, Saib asked him a personal question that he has actually never thought about, causing him to be completely caught off-guard. Lession of the day: Kiyoshi does not react very well to being caught off guard so this was a rather embarrassing question, considering the fact that he didn’t know himself. Lesson #2 of the day: Kiyoshi doesn’tm react well to embarrassment, evident from the feeling of his blood rushing over to his face.

Keeping his head down to hide the possibly visible blood rush, Kiyoshi answered, if you want to call it that. “Uuuuhhh….. uuuhhhh…. B-because…” Kiyoshi then snapped his fingers as he thought of a reasonable excuse, though speaking in an unusually fast pace. “Because she’s my body-guard and as my body-guard, I need to know of her well being at all time. Yeah, that’s right… body-guard….”

Natsumi kept her guard up, glaring at Aoitori when he unsheathed his sword, her eyes widened; knowing what it would mean but it was too late. Natsumi was blinded, damn him and his god damn sword !!Natsumi had her eyes shut, cursing in another language; probably the one most people in the Vongola speak of, and only people in the Vongola knew about. Sure, others may have heard them talk but they don't know what they're talking about, which would always get people. The first blows that Natsumi felt made her act quick and try dodging them, even if she was still momentarily blinded. 'Arm and legs, eh?'. She moved, bad move. She felt a slight pain in her right lower arm that made her growl and opened her eyes, though they haven't gotten used to the lighting she didn't care, she was going to counter. Whenever the light of an opportunity showed, her eyes quickly widened then glared at Aoitori when she readied her fist and punched his face and she made sure to send chakra to her hand for this attack, and then she backed up.

She was about to have a smirk on her face when she thought she felt a breeze on her right shoulder, her green eyes looked and widened. 'Oh... He is NOT going there...' The young guardian said to herself as she thought of ways to get back at him. Her cream tank top was damaged.. Slightly. Her arms and legs had bruises, but she wasn't too concerned about them, but really? He was going to go THAT far, in a measly spar? 'Who the hell does he think he is? Ugh... Wish I had my Vongola box here... I could've summoned Rubicante... Rubicante, answer me!!'

Of course, she didn't want to rely on her animal for this spar.... But it would have given her an advantage over Aoitori. Oh why didn't dressed up FIRST?! It annoyed her, yes it did but she didn't try to show it. Natsumi held her ground agaisnt him, and she wasn't gonna back down THAT easily just because he was threatening to damage and/or destroy her clothes... But she WILL kill him, it's just she's not showing her anger; unlike her sensei, Gokudera who can't seem to hold his temper sometimes. Natsumi closed her eyes, and for a moment she had a peaceful look on her face, before getting the look like she was going to kill him. She had things that could work in her favor, like her Storm ring which she never takes off, but she needed something like a weapon to use the Storm's flames, otherwise it won't work.

She ran towards Aoitori once again, she stop at mid run and jumped, passing him and landing behind him, then quickly as she land she tried kicking him in the face, if he managed to dodge that she would then throw quick punches on his face, and even on his armor-clad chest and stomach. It annoyed her when she tried hitting the amor, but this also helped to build strenght in her hands; to get used to the pain so she didn't mind.

It didn't take a genius to figure out the Raikage was getting nervous or uneasy. Saib could tell right away without even having to look at him that he wasn't sure how to answer and that he might even be embarrassed. She raised a slight eye at this and if you knew her well enough, you'd know that any kind of obvious facial reaction like this meant she was going to have a little fun or was planning something the other person likely wouldn't like.

"Your body-guard," she repeated slowly, quietly in a soft voice. For a split second she debated on getting up or not. She decided she would. The chair softly slid back on the floor and Saib easily got up with ease and grace, making her way to stand behind the Raikage. Slowly, she laid her hands on his shoulders, half massaging them.

"Soo... as your bodyguard does that mean she'd have to protect you right now if I were to, I don't know, give you a massage?" she asked lightly, an obvious undertone to her voice that hinted at something else she was sure the young Raikage would get soon enough.

So she didn't want to get intimate with him and didn't want to marry him because her father told her to... but that didn't mean she could play with him right? And besides, her father would be wanting her to do something like this with him anyway. 'Mmmm and to think we could almost be sharing the same room together... Thank the god or gods that that Natsumi girl is staying with us. Only... Now I have to deal with my crush on her.'

Still, she didn't let her internal thoughts flow out of her as she continued massaging his shoulders, her hands slowly inching their way under his clothes to touch his skin. She had felt the auto-mail at one point, but it really didn't feel that odd to her. Maybe it was because she was used to the touch and feeling of metal. After all she had slept up against Aoitori when he was fully equipped with his armor before... God she'd never forget that night. They hadn't done anything but still, it had felt nice to have him wrap his arms around her and make it feel like he cared about her as more than friends. "Well?" she whispered quietly, her breath lightly making contact with the back of his neck.
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'Argh! What the hell is up with her and injuring my face?!' thought Aoitori after being attacked in the face. While Natsumi had closed her eyes he briefly touched his face. Chakra. Damn the girl. She had used chakra in her punch! No wonder it hurt like hell. He could still see her from his left eye though. Why in hell she was closing her eyes he didn't know. She looked almost peaceful then and he thought that she might be calling it quits already.

But no. Her eyes opened and it was clear as day that she was gonna do the best she could to kill him... or get as close to it as possible. 'What's she planning... Can't believe she got this mad just cause I cut her clothes a bit. I'll buy her a new set and all but really-- Wha... What the hell is Saib doing down there?!' thought Aoitori, his thoughts briefly broken as he sensed Saib's chakra signature moving a little... a little towards the Raikage. No... behind him, and awfully close at that. Wait, was she behind him? Or was she in front of him? What the hell had happened back there while he was gone from hearing distance?!

His attention focused elsewhere and his concern for his client rising a little, he had forgotten about Natsumi about to attack him and barely caught her foot in time from colliding with his face again. "Damn it girl, why the hell you goin' for my face so much? You want me to go cuttin' up your face too?" he grunted out, shoving her away a little only to get rebuked with punches (in the face again!) and on his armor. He thought he saw pain in her eyes, but it looked more like annoyance.

'Ade, ade, I can't attack her very well at this close of a range. I'll kill her if I do,' he mentally sighed in annoyance. Nevertheless, he used the flat of the blade to move her back into a more comfortable distance away from him and once gain used the same techniques to cut away at her bod-- clothes.

He briefly wondered how much he'd be able to get off before she lost it or called it quits... Sure he didn't get attached easily but hey, he was still a guy. So seeing a bit of skin here and there from decent girls was nice once in awhile and she seemed and acted like a nice girl. 'Course, not as nice as Saib and all, but still he got good vibes off of her. "Nice figure for a kunoichi," he murmured softly to her as he got a little closer to him and dodged or blocked a few of her attacks to try to land the flat of his blade against her lower right arm.

He didn't make it clear whether he meant it was because he wanted to sleep with her, that she just had a good body, or anything. But he supposed that with his face or eyes reflecting a bit of joy and happiness (that and he kept running his eyes over her entire length every so often) and he was attacking her in a way that suggested he was interested in her some fashion. But he could justify all of that. He was aiming to annoy her, confuse her, and he was having fun fighting with her. Saib hadn't really gotten into any dangerous situations for awhile so he'd had an easy life for awhile now.

Once he felt the warms hands of Saib touch his shoulders, Kiyoshi couldn’t help but jot up from his head laying position. This was certainly not expected on his part from her and the question on why she was doing this was the first thing that came to Kiyoshi’s mind and basically, what was she going to do in this peculiar position. This was yet just another thing about females that Kiyoshi just couldn’t understand for the life of him because of how complicated they were. It seemed that they were so complicated that no man could probably ever know what’s going through their minds at any poist.

The second thing started making its way over to his mind around the time when she started moving her hands to message his shoulders, the thought of how pleasurable it was. Being the Raikage of Kumogakure, some would have to think that Kiyoshi would be very busy throughout most, if not all, of his day. Something like that would certainly bring on stress and discomfort that not even a ninja on an S Rank mission could compare to. The stress of signing papers all day long that never seemed to ever come to an end at all along with holding mandatory meetings, agriculture, rules, and all of that was a catch to being recognized as the strongest in the village.

But right now, Saib seemed to be washing away those inevitable stress marks and knots beyond knots within his body with a simple rub to the shoulders. Kiyoshi couldn’t help but moan just a little at the immense pleasure with each rub. Just as what was said before, this was definitely not what Kiyoshi had expected from Saib, but to be really honest, he just wasn’t able to think about that at the moment. As a matter of fact, he just wasn’t able to think about pretty much anything at the moment except for all the troubles that have been riding him for the past 3 years disappearing just like that while he kept his eyes closed.

Kiyoshi was then brought back into reality by Saib’s words, or rather word, that she asked, the feel of her breath mixing in with Kiyoshi’s pleasure really wasn’t a traditional combination. “W-Wha?” At first, Kiyoshi couldn’t quite grasp what she was getting at due to her wonderful massage causing him to lose his grip on the outside world and keep to more the world of pleasure due to his extreme nerve sensitivity that he tries to keep from as many people as possible.

Soon enough however the question somehow made itself from his ear over to his brain and Kiyoshi was now given the challenge of thinking about just what that question meant. “I… I don’t…” And then there was the challenge of actually being able to speak while all this was happening. “I…. don’t… know exactly.” He wasn’t really sure what to think at this moment, but he did know that he really didn’t want this to end soon.