The Night Life Ain't Just For Bats

Starring:

Rise, Naruko, Sachiko

Date: September 11, 2014

Summary:

Chance brings together a mother and son, a student, and a lost soul together in wee hours of the day.


"The Night Life Ain't Just For Bats"

Kuraido Street [Kumogakure]

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This section of paved road is named the Kuraido street. Its buildings are made out of what seems to be wood, colored and dyed into pleasing earth tones. Gentle reds, calm yellows, smooth browns and other calming tones. It is not a very populated section of street, but there are two particularily popular locations amongst the others. One is a rather plain looking building, except that it has open bay windows that reveal a bunch of knee high tables set up, and people drinking at them. The other is the hot springs, most of which is hidden by a high bamboo wall.
To the southwest lays a intersection of two streets, with a similar view to the northeast. The paved road and intersections look similar in both directions, except that there is a very large building to the northwest, behind a low stone wall.

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The wailing of a child is easily heard on Kuraido Street. Sachiko had decided that, after the first hour of him refusing to go back to sleep, she should leave the house and let Hiei have some rest. So here she was with the little baby Shun, who still had no intention of calming down. The red-head yawns before emitting a sigh, murmuring to her son, "I get it, I get it. I just don't know what you want, little one… I tried feeding you. I changed you… even though it wasn't that bad. You don't have a temperature… What do you want, Shun?" Lightly kissing the boy on the forehead, she continues walking around, gently rocking the child.

Despite the late night Naruko herself wasn't at all tired. Or at least not tired enough to plop down at a moment notice. She had just left from a nearby residents home, baby sitting a pair of academy students at that. It was about time for her to go ahead and head back home until the loud sound of wailing captured her attention, only to realize a familar red head woman was watching over an even more familiar baby. Casually, Naruko began her approach, tugging back a few loose locks of golden hair from her face until and waving in Sachiko's direction politely. "Yotsuki-san, having a tireless night?" Naruko asks jubiliantly, motioning closer so she could see Shun. "Aww Shun-chan, aren't you sleepy?"

The sound of a wailing child is just what the doctor order. Any longer and Rise might've made that final step and assured herself a lengthy stay at the hospital. That is presuming she survive the fall in the first place. "Where…" She murmurs hoarsely before abandoning the attempt at speaking altogether. Moments later, the disorientation finally runs its course, freeing Rise to take stock in her situation. Her concern over the how and why is quickly shoved towards the back of her mind as a passing breeze quickly reminds her that pajamas make poor outdoor clothing. A single bound puts her in an alleyway. But in her rush to find some place warm to get her thoughts to getter, the bare-footed girl nearly runs headlong into Naruko.

Sachiko, for once, is not wearing her blindfold… revealing the green of her eyes to the night air. She only expected people to pass, if anyone was out at all, so the crosshairs surrounding her iris are visible to Naruko — presuming there is enough light or the teen looks close enough — as the redhead looks toward him. "Indeed," she murmurs in answer. The child stops crying for a moment at the sound of Naruko's voice, but squirms in his mother's arms instead before resuming his wailing. It is a bit quieter, at least. When Rise makes her appearance, the Iga gasps, shifting slightly to avoid being part of the crash if Naruko isn't quick enough to avoid it altogether.

Naruko wasn't paying any particular mind, she lightly brushes up against Rise, slightly tripping up and clumsily maintaining her balance. "Ooof…. Are you okay? Sorry about that! You are up late also hmm?" Naruko exclaims to Rise, pretty much taking the blame while nervously rubbing at her temples. Something about Rise creeped her out, perhaps it was that razor sharp teeth…. Either way she bowed her head respectfully before Sachiko. " You decided to leave the blind fold at home? You have really pretty eyes.. Why do you wear a blindfold anyways?" Naruko compliments and asks. Out of curiosity of course.

Between her scattered thoughts and Naruko's "surprise" appearance, Rise is luck enough to get off with only stubbed toes upon recovering from her stumbling. "Ya think?" She asks bitingly as she nursed her toes. "And would you do some-…" She starts to say before whiping her head up to glare at Sachiko, only for her voice to catch in her throat. "Sachiko-san…. *double blinks*… Naruko-chan? What are you two doing up? And… is that what I think it is?"

Between her scattered thoughts and Naruko's "surprise" appearance, Rise is luck enough to get off with only stubbed toes upon recovering from her stumbling. "Ya think?" She asks bitingly as she nursed her toes. "And would you do some-…" She starts to say before whiping her head up to glare at Sachiko, only for her voice to catch in her throat. "Sachiko-san…. *double blinks*… Naruko-chan? What are you two doing up? And… is that what I think it is?" She asks and warily points to the bundle in Sachiko's arms.

"Oh… Rise," Sachiko murmurs when she realizes who it was that almost bowled the other girl over. Then her brows furrow. "Are you alright?" Shun quiets down, still blubbering slightly, but no longer screaming. The woman's eyes turn to the boy and she gently runs her fingers over his hair. Then she blinks at Naruko and smiles softly. "Thank you… but I wear the blindfold for political reasons. These aren't the eyes I was born with. I worry that they could cause discord if the… right person saw them…" The initial glare from the snappy girl is returned by the redhead before she calms down. "If you think it's a baby, you're right. It's my son. He doesn't want to sleep… apparently, and having both my stubbornness /and/ Hiei's…" She shakes her head and gives an exasperated sigh.

"Oh poltiical reasons…? I didn't know… I wouldn't even bring it up if I knew that," Naruko responds back, a friendly smile loomed about her lips. arms crossing long one another her attention switching to Rise. " You haven't seen little Shun yet? He is soo cute…" Naruko murmurs quietly, perhaps still a little confused about what was going on through Rise's mind. " Just heading home and I ran into Yotsuki-san and yourself. You do kind of remind of a night owl though,"

Rise's responses are only half-hearted "Mmhmm" or "Yeah" at best, and non-existent at worse throughout the conversation. Ever since her gaze first locked onto Shun her eyes have not wavered from the child. She wondered absently closer to the child for a better look. Assuming she is allowed a better peek, the girl allows herself to return to the present after a good minute or so of silence on her part. "He is cute." She murmurs. A shiver passes through her at the admission, and abruptly looks away to regard Naruko and Sachiko each in turn before stepping away and holding her arms close to her body.

"Don't worry about it, Naruko-chan," Sachiko responds, smiling at her. To her, it had started to seem like a stupid paranoia. No one recognized the eyes for what they were… The few people that would were not in Kumo, anyway. Seeing Rise's attention so fixated on the child, the redhead shifted her arms so that she was holding the baby out a little, rather than forcing the girl to kind of stare at her chest as well. When Rise admits to him being cute, the mother just smiles warmly at her. "He is, isn't he? Would you be interested in holding him?" The child's blubbering has calmed down, even, now with just little snot-ridden hiccups accenting the air between the females.

"It actually looks like you could use a little one in your arms… Are you cold tonight Rise-san?" Naruko asks, the glint of her eyes observing just how much Rise had wrapped herself up in her arms. A soft coo escapes her lips, as the baby was offered up, if Rise wasn't going to take the offer Naruko certainly was. " I want to say that thigns have been rather peaceful despite everything as of late. I hope this calm continues for awhile. I certainly could use it,"

Rise's eyes become as wide as saucer at the offer. Then, they narrow into a glare at Naruko for egging Sachiko on. She could think of a hundred different things that could go wrong with having a child in her arms. Chief among those very reasons was the whole mysterious reason behind her ending up on the roof edge in the first place! The sound of the blubbering Shun draws her gaze back. She fights tooth and nail to resist — to keep herself from turning fully. But once her eyes fell upon the child, she could no more keep herself from stepping up to Sachiko and hold out her hands to take the baby than she could move a mountain.

Sachiko grinned at the blond's comment and just watched as the other girl took her time to make the decision. She does comment to Naruko, "Me too. Calm… is something I'm grateful for right now." Emitting a slight sigh at that, she smiles as Rise decides to take a chance and hold the child. "Just make sure to support his head. It'll be fine," she tries to reassure as she adjusts to settle the boy into Rise's arms. Of course, she probably knew how to hold a child, given that she is a medic, but some direction never hurt when someone was hesitant. The child shifts slightly into this new set of arms, blind eyes now more dry as he looks more past Rise than at her.

Naruko couldn't help but to watch Rise with a hint of caution. Her silence read off as Rise being somewhat out of it, though honestly Naruko didn't know her enough to have that sort of assumption.Instead she jeered up at Sachiko, her expression remaining present, arms crossed behind her head in a relaxed fashion. "Well if trouble does show up I will do my best to save everyone. A little bit of diligence and focus can go a long way," Naruko boasts, only to pause and storm up more conversation. "Speak of which, have you gotten into any missions or the sort yet? Yotsuki-san? I think you were looking to get back into the flow of things right? Perhaps even smaller missions?" She posed the question, turning back to Rise to see how she was doing with Shun. "Mmm, warming up yet?"

"I know.." Rise murmurs. She is perhaps over-cautious about holding the child. All it would take is one wrong move for things to go wrong. For perhaps second time in years Rise hated having pushed her body to the point crushing boulders were as easy as clenching as breathing. Just thinking of it made her hold the baby a little closer to her chest before releasing her anxiety out as a drawn out sigh. "I can still kick ya, you know." She threatens and even glares at Naruko. Neither actions however have any real bite to them. Even if she was mad enough to actual try something of the sort, Rise wouldn't dare to with a child in her hands if it can be help. "He's blind?" She looks up to ask.

Listening to Naruko, the redhead just observes her child in the arms of the other female. "I think you misunderstood, Naruko-chan. I'm not a kunoichi. I do have the capabilities of one, but I do not hold rank. It's not that I wanted to get back in any sort of flow. I offered a spar to you because it can be a fun experience. Besides that, I figured that another spar would help you feel better… since it wouldn't be as serious with me as it may have been before." Sachiko shrugs carelessly. "To answer your question: no, I haven't. I… can't right now. With everything going on, I can't leave the village. It's too dangerous." To Rise, she gives a weak smile and a nod. "Yes… he is. He took after me… unfortunately." Reaching out, she gently slides her fingers over his hair, causing him to move his head a little bit in Rise's arm. "I actually have to wonder if that's why he cries."

"You don't actually /want/ to do that do you?" Naruko teased back at Rise though kept her distance as precaution. She padded a few steps closer to Sachiko, observing her eyes. "Blind? Is he? I wouldn't call that unfortunate though. Honestly it seems like you can do more without being able to see. And all of that makes sense. Something a little less serious would be pleasant, perhaps in the earlier hours of the day though…oh late…as technically it is pretty early," Naruko muses. "Babies just cry in general…I'd hope that'd not be the reason,"

Rise gives Naruko a sidelong look that practically asked a "Wanna bet?" The fact that she didn't, and even essentially placed Sachiko between by moving closer to the Iga was answer enough. A smirk plays at the edge of her lips until Sachiko reached out for the child. Without even thinking, Rise slides a little ways back. Although both her and the child are far from being out of reach, the defensive movement and lingering possessive look in Rise eyes remains clear enough. She had to protect her — and then it sinks in.
"Here.." She murmurs, offering he child back with her eyes averted.

The woman just raises her brows at Naruko and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know about that. Like I said… These aren't the eyes I grew up with. I know what it's like to be blind and… I wouldn't say you can do any more than a person with sight." Sachiko shrugs, then, and looks at the protective Rise. Smiling lightly at her, she shakes her head. Clearly, she isn't too offended, at least. She takes the boy back in her arms and hums thoughtfully. "Rise… You can always visit, you know? Visit Shun sometime, okay?" She looks between the two girls. "I should be getting home and resting, now that he's quieter… I hope you both have a good day."

"I should be heading home too really… I don't want to be worn out as normally I would…" Naruko then hmms softly bowing to them both. "I twas nice seeing you and Shun-chan again, Yotsuki-san. If you ever need some extra hands to help out just let me know? It definitely is an honor to help out in your household," Naruko matches with a salute. Rise on the other hand she simply offers a light smile. "And I hope you feel better Rise-san. Maybe try and get some more sleep?"

Her mind had drifted elsewhere after handing over Shun. But as soon as her name is spoken, the girl snaps back to attention. Even once her mind fully catches back up all she has to offer is a belated and hesitant nod in answer to both before departing herself.

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