Juggling (Fenn)

"It's medical ninjutsu darling," Akihana murmured softly so as not to disturb the animal happily lapping away at the milk. When Fenn gave Arata his own drink, the dark haired boy grinned and thanked his big brother before chugging it. It was clear the boy was growing fast and healthy, and most importantly happy.

When the redhead crouched down beside her and instructed her to visualize a mark on the mammal she was treating, the kunoichi closed her golden eyes briefly, visualizing a tiny star on the cat's ample hindquarters. It may not have looked like any conventional seal but the point of the exercise she knew was not fancy seals, just something Akihana could use to later track the feline. She felt the chakra flow and mix as the little drop of golden light landed on the cat's matted fur, forming a tiny sun kissed star before disappearing. A superficial disappearance, she noted as the fur was still warm to the touch.

The cat simply kept on drinking, quite uninterested in what she was doing to it. Once the mark was in place the Kunoichi opened her eyes once more, directing her golden gaze to the teen beside her. "Was that okay?"

Fen watched her closely, as as he watched her mark form, it quickly faded away, he would then smile softly at her, and as she asked her question he would nod softly, and he would begin to head outside, he would wait for the Kunochi to pay for the cat if she had to, and he found a nice spot that not many people seemed to travel, and he would sit and wait, the door of the shop in view, he waited for Akihana and Arata, next he was going to show her, how to summon the very critter she just marked, and then later he had a plan to ask of her, to see if she will agree

Once they had marked the cat, the trio headed towards the main area where a harassed looking attendant was trying to usher a group of children through the doors. Apparently a school regulated puppy adoption had been taking place which explained the pile of paperwork on her small desk. Nonetheless, the woman with the flyaway grey hair smiled when she saw them approaching with the cat now nestled in the blonde's arms.

"Akihana-chan, Arata-kun," she greeted. "Adopting a cat?"

"Yes," the medic answered as she passed the cat to Arata before reaching for the paperwork. The kunoichi filled out the necessary forms while they chatted about the attendant's younger sister whom Akihana had healed after a particularly rough mission and in return had earned the friendship of both women. Once the formalities were dealt with, Akihana exited the building behind Arata who was already running to keep up with Fenn.

"Okay, now I just let him go?" she asked uncertainly as Arata placed the cat carefully on the ground. The tabby looked balefully up at the boy as though betrayed before turning and stalking away, its stub of a tail high up in the air.

Fen watched the two follow shortly after him, and as she asked the question he would nod as well as respond "Yes just let him go, and wait till he is about five meters away, then you make yourself bleed a little, slam your hands on the ground, and summon it back to you, as it is marked it will make it easier then most other things that you would have to focus on to summon" Fen would pull out a kunai and began to spin it around on his finger as he waited for her to do her thing, if she needed it, he would offer her the kunai as he never left home without at least one of these on him

Heeding his instructions, the blonde surveyed her palms, looking for a good place to puncture for blood. Akihana had studied the technique before hand and watched multiple people use so she understood why the contract had to be signed in blood. She also knew, technically, that being a medic meant she could heal her skin ten times over without leaving a scar. And yet as her thumb neared her lips, the blonde couldn't help the feeling of weirdness creeping through her body.

Come on, Akihana, you're a medic, she chided herself sternly, biting the bullet so to speak. The blood tasted faintly of iron as was expected but not giving herself time to think about it, the blonde slammed her palm down on the ground, focusing on the cat that was slowly but surely walking away.

The blood connection worked, she could feel the chakra mark on the old tabby activate and, with a most grouchy meow she had ever heard, the tabby appeared where her hand had been a moment ago. The cat looked up at ehr disapprovingly, as if it was asking Akihana to be ashamed of ehrself for making it waste all its previous walking away.

"Mommy it worked!" Arata pointed out, cheering happily. "I knew you could do it. Fenn nii-san is a great sensei."

"It did indeed," the Light user replied, reaching with her free hand to heal the thumb that had provided the blood. As always, the skin healed over, no mark of the small injury, making her wonder how many of those she could hide just beneath the surface.

Fen smiled softly at Akihana, and Arata, seeing as Akihana pulled it off, he nodded, never had doubt he did, he alwas knew she could pull it off, Fen would attempt to quietly sneak away from them both, as they marveled over what Akihana just pulled off, He was starting to get so atached he needed to get stronger so that nothing will ever hurt either of them, fen would never be able to live with himself now that he had something and someone, two someones to live for, let alone protect, it was time for a journy into the wild, to become what he needed to become to protect them both

(Exit)

Akihana and her son practiced with the cat a few more times, each time the tabby returning with a more grudging air than before. Its lone yellow eye seemed to be more disappointed in her than any of the village elders had ever been back in Konoha but for some reason, the cat only made Arata happy and that was enough reason to keep summoning it back.

The Kunoichi noticed Fenn leave without a word, more than chakra sensory and any other tracking jutsu she knew, she recognized Fenn on a level only teammates could recognize each other. Not just by their chakra or physical presence but their moods and emotional needs. She let him slink away without a goodbye, knowing that he would need to sort things out in his head. The blonde never pretended to know what was it that Fenn always thought about and she would never intrude on his privacy. She would give him the space he needed and be there for him when the loneliness grew too much. That's what teammates did, quietly and without judgement.

"Alright sweetie, lets get going. We have to be home and get started on your homework."

"But mommy, how about Happy-chan here," a less befitting name for the grumpy old tabby cat could not exist, which was why Arata had decided to call it just that.

"I can summon Happy-chan now whenever I want. So he doesn't have to follow us."

'Okay," the boy acquiesced before taking her hand and together, the duo headed home, navigating through the streets at a comfortable pace.

[Exit]

TWC - 3024

Claiming 15 stat points
Claiming 1k for Summoning Jutsu
Claiming 2k + 2k for Mythical Palm
Saving 24 wc for something else

approved