Completing the family [Invite only please idk idc]

The adventure through Asgard was very quick and easy, landing somewhere in the middle of Konohagakure no Sato, which probably looked rather aggressive considering he was no longer wearing his Raikage hat though his Raikage robes were still with him and on. So much had happened, Konohagakure no Sato had almost certainly pushed him to his limits by killing his son, but then there was the fact most of the rest of his family had passed while he was away.
 
There a great sense of peace in the village, much more than Kumogakure no Sato ever had, but that happens when a village is stable and not under attack or threats. ‘Now, I need to find Kasuga’s mom, time to actually stop being terrible’ he thought to himself, still not feeling any sign of Nike’s influence nor the other voices that plagued him.
 
He wasn’t the best with social interactions, considering the last few years had involved multiple murders of random people that he wasn’t used to not having that urge anymore. Looking around at the villagers in the area, “Hey I’m Kurisu Ametsuchi, looking for my son’s mother Ari, anyone know or seen her?” Barely able to remember the name from his constant drinking, a habit he’d since quit.
 

[Been up for 26 hours, hopefully this post isn’t all messed up xD]

A year or so had seemed to pass, Ari still hadn't forgotten about the man she fell for, or the son they had. Wandering around the village without a purpose had never interested her, she sat at the window peering down on Konoha's streets when there wasn't something more productive to do. Ari remained in her normal appearance since she was indoors, she had already been for a bath and was cooling down in a towel as she sensed a familiar presence.

In the back of her mind, she recognized it, a feeling of joy and excitement that was tied directly to Kurisu. Before a thought entered Ari's head, she rushed downstairs and into the streets, merely clothed in a large white towel. Her eyes scoured the nearby residents' faces as she attempted to figure out what was happening. Ari had to know why he returned and the purpose in why he'd been gone for so long, assuming her feelings were to ring true.

A villager pointed in her direction, although the figure he was speaking to remained out of sight, forcing her to run towards them. As Ari circled the corner, she'd come face to face with Kurisu, a mixture of emotions running through her before finally speaking. "It's nice to see you again.." She placed her right hand to her chest and sighed, relief that her instincts weren't wrong and the fact he actually showed up began to sink in.

Although Ari wanted to look directly at his face, she couldn't bring herself to do so as she stared at his feet.

The past carried with it much regret and sorrow, insanity and murder, and of course the drinking. Even if he had tried to forget things, erase it all, there were things that stuck in his head. Most of the memories that would come up brought pain and regret along with it, knowing all the pain he’d cause and lives he’d changed for the worse. There were moments of calm in the storm involving most his family, though one moment stood out more than the others. With most of his kids he couldn’t remember who their mother was, the mother of his only living son was different. Ari wasn’t like the others he’d come across during his trouble times, even with a blurred memory he could still remember that actual feeling of happiness during that time although it was short lived it stayed with him.
 
Anything he was thinking about shut down the moment Ari arrived from around the corner, it had been so long the rush of emotions felt foreign. Relief in the fact Ari wasn’t dead and therefore Kasuga would at least still have a mom, even rarer than that was the sensation of elation hitting him like a brick wall. The last thing that hit him was intense regret from having ditched her while he was an insane Raikage, he felt like a dick for how’d been for so long.
 

“Hey…” his words trailed off, noticing that she was just staring down at his feet and also the fact that she was only wearing a towel. “Is everything okay?” he had no choice but to ask, seemed like Ari had been in hurry and with everything that had happened recently he wasn’t going to let any more bad things take place.

Although a number of thoughts discouraged Ari from looking directly at Kurisu's face, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the happiness of this event. As he asked "Is everything okay?" Ari stepped forward and placed her left hand on his chest, looking up at his face from what felt like a mile below. "I want to be happy about this, so tell me.. Why are you here?" Although he'd obviously changed since they last met, Ari felt safer. There were many questions that he held the answers to, including the location of their son. She hadn't built the resolve to ask more of him yet, although she could feel the desire to do so overtaking her.

The last time they were together she was a civilian, and now she'd become a Genin, but what changes had he gone through since they last met? Ari couldn't help but feel like Kurisu had grown exponentially, while she had barely changed. Was meeting in public like this really safe for either of them? Ari's common sense snapped back into action as she realized her apparel. Even though the thought of being in a towel in front of a lot of people she knew was embarrassing, she didn't want to suggest moving elsewhere, for the fear of Kurisu leaving. Ari continued looking directly at his face, as the emotions she'd contained finally consumed her.

Tears began welling up in her eyes, clearly not from sadness, but a deep and overwhelming admiration.

Hearing Ari made a smile cross Kurisu’s face, just by her talking about wanting to be happy for this chance encounter relieved him beyond words and her hand on his chest made him feel a connection to her like he’d never felt before. “I’m not going anywhere, ever again. I actually came here to find you, a lot has happened…” he couldn’t talk about any of it yet, the wounds were far too fresh and this really wasn’t the place to be at, especially seeing her eyes water up, he had to be stronger than this.
 

The villagers didn’t care to scatter; they probably didn’t know the horror stories of what he was. “We should talk somewhere else, and let you toss on some clothes.” He didn’t mind Ari’s outfit choice, but it wasn’t good for going out into the village. He removed his Raikage robe which left him with just his shirt and pants. “You should use this for now.” He didn’t exactly want any random villagers in the area to see anything or try anything, especially the latter as he’d end up relapsing and murdering most of the village. “So where should we talk at?” If the robe is accepted, he’d put it on her put his right arm around her and letting her lead the way to a different spot to talk at.

Ari felt that no words could be more comforting than what Kurisu offered, "I'm not going anywhere, ever again. I actually came here to find you, a lot has happened..." She felt doubtful of the statement considering who he was, but chose to believe him anyway. The environment was certainly not one for talking about personal affairs, when Kurisu stated as much Ari nodded. Before someone called the guards about indecent exposure she'd have to get inside. She watched him remove the robe that associated him with being, or having been the Raikage.

Ari accepted Kurisu's gesture and hastily wrapped herself in the robe; the heat from his body surrounding hers felt reassuring. The question of where to talk was a good one, she didn't want to return home for the moment due to the cats which weren't friendly to strangers. "There's a cafe a block south from here, a clothing shop is next to it and they're both fairly underpopulated around this time of day.." Ari allowed his arm to surround her and returned the favor with her left moving around his waist. She would begin moving South if he didn't have any objections.

A café, Kurisu was hoping Ari was correct about there not being many people there as he was still unsure of how well he’d be able to handle himself around people. “Alright, that works.” With that they went to the café and luckily enough it was empty aside from the owner who wasn’t exactly welcoming to the situation considering Kurisu was a stranger in Konohagakure no Sato. “You don’t look like you’re from around here, and that looks like a Kage robe, the Raikage’s?”
 
He could feel the shift in tension, the urge to kill trying to bubble to the surface. ‘I don’t like this.’ Is all he thought, his eyes blinking from normal to their eternal mangekyou hue. Locking eyes with the owner he’d catch the man in genjutsu. ‘Easiest way to not kill, just make him forget and leave.’ He had to remind himself that he was committed to a new life. “Just forget seeing us and go home for the rest of the day.” He said, the genjutsu effects making the owner lose memory of seeing Kurisu and Ari while also leaving the café to go home. Once done his eyes reverted back to normal.
 

“Okay, well there we go. Such a good person for just forgetting and leaving.” He said to Ari, trying to act like he didn’t just make that happen. “So, I guess I should mention this first, our son Kasuga is alive and well. I uh” he wasn’t sure how to explain things, “With everything that’s happened I lost track of him for a long time, but I ran into him recently. He’d be here with me, but I think he found himself a girlfriend.” He laughed a little at that part, “Saw him drinking and talking with a girl, so we might be grandparents before we know it.” He had to end with a little joke to try and help smooth things over in case he just got himself in trouble for losing track of their son.

Along the way to the cafe Ari stopped at the aforementioned clothing store, picking out a simple pair of orange shorts and a blue short sleeved shirt. During their entry to the cafe Ari hoped today wasn't going to break tradition, luckily in this case it didn't. The cafe's seats were bare and only the owner remained; a man known for being tough on his clientele, leading to the cafe's unpopular nature. Ari had forgotten the man's habit of speaking when he shouldn't and prayed there wouldn't be conflict already. While the owner questioned Kurisu's robe she felt an unnerving coldness, followed by a sudden sense of normality.

Ari was left completely unaware to what happened, even though it occurred right beside her. The owner immediately left, seemingly of his own accord. Kurisu's reassurance that it was the owner's decision to forget and leave caused further suspicion, but no harm was done. There was no time to think about it either way; at the first mention of Kasuga's name, Ari remembered why they came here. To hear he was alive let alone healthy was more than she'd hoped for. The fact he lost track of their son didn't surprise Ari, considering who he had been and the work his position involved. She felt a lot more comfortable indoors and clothed, almost like Kurisu had never left.

Absorbing the information as it came, she nodded confidently, abruptly halting at the mention of a girlfriend. "A girlfriend already?" Ari leaned forward, "Grandparents? Ha-ha, what is he, 1 year old?" She questioned, pausing for a moment. "Wait you're serious..." Leaning back again, Ari tried to piece everything together that it would make sense in her head, but couldn't. "As his mother I feel it's appropriate I meet this girl..." Ari claimed, folding her arms with her eyes shut, before cheekily opening her left eye to observe his reaction.

He had almost forgotten about making Kasuga age faster within the realm of Asgard, “That’s close, really close, but he’s actually 17 I think.” That fact made him think about using Asgard to reverse the aging and make Kasuga younger. If he truly wanted to be a good father then he’d need time to teach Kasuga the right things, and of course if Kasuga was going to grow up and not be evil like Kurisu was for a time then he’d need both Kurisu and Ari.
 
As far as meeting the ‘girlfriend’ was concerned he wasn’t sure what happened after he left the kids in the Sunagakure bar, considering he had stumbled upon the kids by accident and used it as a chance to embarrass Kasuga which was successful. “Well, if it worked out for him, then you’ll definitely get to meet her she’ll probably be pregnant.” The thought of being a grandparent was crazy and it gave him a real good laugh. “At least we’re not old people?” he joked one more time.
 

“I’m really thankful that you and Kasuga are still alive, unlike just about everyone else in the family.” He had a second lease on life so to speak, a chance for redemption for all the atrocities he’s committed. “Also, you can keep that robe if you want, I don’t need it anymore. I can’t do it anymore, or else I’m just going to have to see more people die. We’ll just settle down here, the three of us.” Towards the end of it he was not making sense anymore, to think that he could just avoid everything and just be a normal family. “So what have you been up to since I left?” he was trying to avoid having to deal with discussing all the death for now.

Ari thought on Kurisu's words, 'He's all grown up, 17, almost as old as I am..' She still didn't know the method, but comfort was still to be had in his well-being. As Kasuga's mother, even though she'd spent the shortest amount of time with him as a child, Ari felt this wasn't the worst thing that could happen. "So I'll get to meet him, he'll get to know me and remember me... That's not so bad, is it?" Her emotions expressed themselves visually as she offered a genuine smile.

A new keyword triggered Ari's sensors as it attempted to fly under her radar, 'Pregnant?' She couldn't question it, considering her own age when she had Kasuga was the same. Ari giggled even before the joke from Kurisu, escalating to a laugh afterwards. His next sentence struck a cord on a personal level, forcing her to consider the childhood she had, but also the family they still had. "I'm sorry Kurisu, I don't know a lot about your family, but I'll work hard to be here whenever you or Kasuga need me." 

Ari heard his request about keeping the robe and decided on a response immediately. "I will keep this robe, but if you ever need to leave for a long time, take it with you and I'll know. If something like that happens, you don't need to say anything, doing that will be enough. Until that time might come, nothing would make me happier than settling down with the two of you here." She continued smiling, a new sense of confidence assured her that even if Kurisu did leave, she'd be able to manage from here on. The question about her circumstances would take a long time to answer if she didn't hold back on the details.

"Since you left I decided to enroll in the Academy, just like everyone kept telling me to; I did it for my own reasons though... I thought if I became strong enough I'd be able to leave the village and find out where you, and Kasuga were. Since that's taken care of I guess I'll need a new reason to keep working at it." Ari thought momentarily, although, truthfully she'd already come to a decision on it. "I guess, if I become strong enough you and Kasuga will be able to rely on me in future." Nodding with her statement's conclusion, she decided to place both hands on Kurisu's cheeks and look him in the eye.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, then?"