Ninja Like Us

Natomi lead, her movements were smooth and precise. She was starting off slow to let Kusa to follow. Normally, they wouldn't always follow the others lead but when they were doing things at the same time, it just made things easier. She closed her eyes as she continued, not once tripping or losing balance. Once you were skilled enough and had enough practice with that is.

* *

Amara smiled faintly. "I don't think so. But Fiona has me beat still." Her gaze went to the two practicing females. A slight pause. "..The one with auburn hair, Natomi. I know her. We've met before briefly when I was on a assignment about two weeks ago. I don't know who her friend is though."

Maybe she'd go over after, but for now she'd wait. It seemed they were doing a kata of sorts.

Kusa followed Natomi's lead, but they were soon in sync; they were quite good at that, with how long they'd known each other and practiced like this.

Ezra spotted the two women in question in his peripheral. "Hm. What a small set of worlds we live in." He mused. It was far better to be surrounded by acquaintances and allies rather than strangers and foes. Well, whilst he was with family, anyway. Fiona completed her gathering and trotted back to Amara, standing on the tip of her toes and hopping occasionally.

"Cwown!" She exclaimed, unable to possibly reach Amara's head with her height.

Natomi continued to lead, keeping a eye on Kusa from time to time as both of them continued the kata that looked more akin to a dance. It did once again attract some attention but Natomi wasn't paying too much attention to it for the most part again.

She finished with a slight bow, sweeping her feet as she turned to Kusa. Natomi slid her feet shoulder width apart, hands slightly curled but didn't make a fist as she took a relaxed stance, her body language calm. "I was thinking just point sparring. Are you ready?"

* *
The half vampire nodded. "I take those moments when I can. I'll go talk to her once they're done. Has there been anything else new on your end?

Amara grinned to her little sister when she came over, bowing down. "You've been working really hard today haven't you?"

Kusa grinned, nodding. "Yep!" She slipped into her usual stance; feet a bit more than shoulder width apart, knees bent, and bent forward at the waist and shifting her weight steadily from one foot to the other, bouncing slightly. It was a strange stance, but it was hers, and she never changed it no matter what; much to the frustration of sensei back in the clan.

Ezra reclined on the bench again, resting his elbows on the table behind him. "Not a thing!" He exclaimed happily. "Just the way I like it, these days. Old men need their rest!"

Fiona laced her elder sister's hair with flowers rather well; she'd been practicing. "Dooone!"

Natomi and Kusa's spar was something like a beautiful dance, except it involved to some degree roughing the partner up. They kept the sparring relatively light so it didn't look like they were going to kill each other or anything and have a concerned person call Nobus or something. When they finished, Natomi was tired but happy. Part of her enjoyed the fighting and the rush that came with it even if she enjoyed the peace so much. It was roughly about twenty to thirty minutes when they were finally done.

"That was pretty impressive Natomi."

The shinobi blinked, looking to see Amara. "..Amara? What are you doing here?"

In response, the woman smiled faintly. "Spending time with family, I wanted to introduce you to them if you're all right with it." She looked to Kusa and extended a hand. "You most be Kusa, she talked about you. A lot." She sounded amused.

"Hm..we'll, I don't mind." Natomi answered honestly. Besides, Amara's little sister seemed adorable. "That okay with you Kusa?"

Kusa managed to prevent a blush, with difficulty. "She has? Well, that's nice to know she was thinking about me." She was much more excited about that than she seemed. She took the offered hand, shaking it firmly. "It's nice to meet you. Amara, was it?"

"Fifi!" Ezra called out to his granddaughter, whom had almost run off to the playground. The little girl trotted back to his bench and stood in front of him.

"Yes, Gwampop?"

"Before you run off, let's go meet some of your sister's friends. Okay?"

Fiona looked in Amara's direction, then returned her attention to her grandfather with outstretched arms. "'Kay! Up!" Ezra chuckled before reaching down for her and carefully lifting her up to his shoulders. "Aaaaaaaaaaa~hahaha!" Fiona squealed in glee, and a little bit of fear, as Ezra stood up. She hugged his head to maintain balance even though he kept a firm hold on her. Ezra began to walk toward the three conversing girls.

Amara nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you, Kusa." She was about to say more when her grandfather and little sister came. "Ah. This is my grandfather Erza and my little sister Fiona."

She's so cute.. Natomi thought to herself, a warm smile forming. "Hi there, Fiona. My name is Natom Mugen. I hope we can be friends." She always did love children and wanted some of her own one day. Then she noticed Erza more and something clicked. Erza Yormu. He was a rather famous hunter but he had retired years ago and had been off the scene.

"You're..Erza Yormu? The hunter Erza Yormu?" Natomi asked slowly. "It's a honor to meet you in person."

Kusa blinked, looking Ezra over, before her eyes widened. "Oh wow, it IS him... that's pretty cool!" She held out her hand, grinning, while looking over to Fiona. "Hey there Fiona, I'm Kusano Mugen, but please, call me Kusa, m'kay?"

"Hi." Fiona kicked her feet lightly from atop her grandfather's shoulders. Ezra greeted the two women affably, shaking Kusa's hand.

"Mugen clan, huh? It's a pleasure to meet you both!" Their last names and attire fit the bill. "And that's ex-hunter now. These days I'm just a full-time old man." Fiona made a small noise behind his head. Ezra quickly understood and chuckled before kneeling down to let Fiona shake Kusa's hand next. She did so with both of her own.

Natomi smiled warmly at Fiona again, turning back to Erza and Amara. "I see. You've certainly earned your retirement and you seem happy."

"Oh, he is." Amara sounded amused. "Sometimes I think he gets a kick out of seeing my squirm back when I was training. Speaking of training, how long have you been at it? And who taught you? Just curious."

Kusa giggled, shaking Fiona's hands. "Um, we've been at it for a little bit, but not too long. Unless you mean in general and not just today. If that, then our whole lives, practically. We had several teachers, really, but it was mostly our adoptive parents that gave the most instruction." She playfully shoved Natomi, grinning. "Of course Natomi here was adopted by the village chief, so of course she had an advantage. Not that it means anything. I still kick her butt half the time...." The other half, of course, Natomi won. They didn't count the numerous draws.

"That's a great deal of practice, there. And some healthy competition to boot!" Ezra lightly tapped on Amara's head from above. "You should work on getting yourself a rival. It pushes you to grow faster. And what's this 'was' business? You'll always be training until you're out of the trade!" He said with a laugh before returning his attention to the ninja before them. Fiona sat idly on her grandfather's shoulders and listened. "Now then, what brings you two all the way out here? If it's for vacation, you chose a pretty nice city for it."

Amara chuckled to this. "Hm..true enough. Who knows, maybe you or Kusa will have to take up the rival role for me hm?"

The Farian just chuckled. "Maybe so." She turned to Erza. "Um..we'll, actually I guess you could say its a vacation for the both of us. A extended one." The whole talk about being a wanted fudgitive wasn't something she wanted to talk about, especially not in front of Fiona.

Amara seemed to leave that alone, turning to Kusa. "You..look like I've seen you before but I can't place it. Do you two travel a lot?"

Kusa smiled. "Um, yes and no. We tended to stay in the village when not on missions. This is the first time we've really done any actual travel..."

"Hmmm...? Then this must be quite the culture shock. Life in the city is a lot more hectic than... well, anywhere." Another noise from his youngest granddaughter signaled him to put her down. Fiona took off as soon as her feet hit the ground, chasing after a dragonfly. "Don't run too far, now!" Ezra called after her. He, of course, wasn't going to take his attention off the girl.

Natomi giggled slightly at the display. "She's full of energy, isn't she?" She said to Erza. "And it is more hectic, but I'm really enjoying it and Kusa seems to as well."

"I fucking told you! Can't you do anything right?!"

It might have been as audible to normal people, but Natomi and the rest would of had enhanced senses.

Off to the side a bit was a somewhat muscular man, a woman that was cowering and a girl, probably around five keeping behind the woman. Whatever it was about, the man was very upset but the other two seemed more scared of him.

"It was a damned deal, and you backed out. We're going to have a problem here. Not unless, of course, you tell me where they are."

Kusa was generally a very laid back person. However, she had her buttons, that should not be pushed. She absolutely adored children, and seeing a little girl cowering from a rather angry man, hit those buttons. She was suddenly beside the man, a hand on his shoulder, gripping tightly, as she smiled. "Hi! So, what's the problem here, Mr. Grump? Something I can help with, instead of you making a scene while yelling at a woman and little girl, and making me hurt you?" Her grip tightened, and it would feel like his shoulder was about to be crushed, but she held back.

Ezra kept little Fiona in his peripheral as he approached the couple with an 'amused' expression on his face. His smile was purposefully intimidating. "Please, do tell!" He chimed in after Kusa. "Since you've decided to scream obscenities loud enough for my granddaughter to hear, you wont mind us mediating!" The last thing he needed was Fiona learning to speak like a damned sailor at her age. His tone darkened.


"Let's try to be civil."

The child stayed where they were at, merely glancing at the upcoming newcomers. Amara took the silent cue and went to look after Fiona fully so Erza wasn't the least bit distracted and could focus on the 'problem' taking place.

In the mean time the man winced and tried to keep the pain from visibly showing, he was only a normal human so he couldn't really do much, going by scent and the fact of how frail he was. The woman and child though were..odd. Their scent was a bit harder then average to place. "You don't understand, its not what it seems like."

Natomi was merely watching, Kusa seemed to have it handled. That and..something felt off about the whole thing but she couldn't place her finger on it. It might be her Ninja training of 'look underneath, the underneath' or she could be over thinking it. "Do you know him Ma'am?"

The woman shook her head. "No..I haven't seen him in my entire life, I don't think he's well. Me and my daughter were just minding our own business when he came." The man in question got more frustrated, but couldn't really do much..and not with Kusa having a vice grip on him. They got a bit more angry as well.

"Like I said, its not what its looks like and they aren't what what their posing as, either."

Kusa was not an idiot. Far from it. You didn't live long in the life she and Natomi led without being very intelligent, at least in some aspect. Book smarts weren't everything, after all. Either way, the instant the woman had started to speak, Kusa's grip on the man loosened, but remained firm enough to keep him still. "Oh? Not what it looks like? Well, from a glance, it looks like you are harrassing this woman and child." She smiled at the woman. "And upon second glance, that goes out the window, doesn't it? You two, neither of you, are human. Can smell it. Most of the time, a non-human wouldn't be so scared of a human who isn't at least holding a weapon, particularly not when their child is seemingly threatened. Be more likely to lash out to protect the child. On top of that... well, I can spot a lie when I hear one. Never seen him before? We heard what he was screaming at you about backing out of a deal, and that was oddly specific for the supposed ravings of a madman. Besides, trained to notice deception. So, care to explain?"

When the woman spoke, Ezra's attention didn't visibly shift to her, nor did his expression change. Her words didn't match the man's reason for the altercation and the situation suddenly seemed suspicious. Kusa evaluated the event rather well, so he simply crossed his arms and broke into a hearty laugh. "Hahahahaa!! The company my little Mara-doll brings... I like this one!" He bellowed, gesturing toward Kusa before returning his attention to the 'woman and child'. "I did say to keep civil; I hope lies will be excluded from the rest of this conversation. What say we have the truth, Miss?" He glanced down at the child. "...Or should I be asking you?"

At first the woman paused, then a chuckle came from her, but it was different then before like another person entirely. "I have to admit, I shouldn't be surprised a bunch of ninja and the 'great' Erza figured something was off. Most see a child and woman cowering and rush without thinking like a bunch of sheep to the slaughter. We'll 'done' The tone seemed sarcastic however, the 'child' seemed to vanish into harmless clay.

"Wait you promised!" The man didn't care he was being stopped, but he couldn't do anything. Natomi didn't pause after the moment rushed forward being close to the woman but she was gone in a flash of purple light just as she reached her.