I have come to sleep with your queen [NK probably]

His hand stopped running through his hair when he heard the voice of the chef commenting on it. "I didn't ask for your opinion." Takeo mumbled under his breath, deciding to just shake his head and let his hair drop naturally. This woman was odd, or maybe Takeo just wasn't used to interacting with other people? That seemed more likely now that he thought about it. The only actual person he talked to on a regular basis was Xyxer, and the interaction between the two was filled with passive aggressive insults thrown back and forth.

Once more the subject turned to Aki's former village. Starting with the comment on how she couldn't have destroyed her own village. Takeo scoffed, of course she couldn't. Takeo assumed that the number of people willing to actually destroy their home could be counted with his fingers. His mind began to tick, Takeo had grown curious of to where this oddity of a person in the shinobi world originated from. Though he didn't have to ponder over it for much longer, the woman answered it herself a few moments later. "Kumogakure." Takeo had to refrain from laughing, a smile crept on to his face regardless. "Yes I had heard about the destruction, terrible shame that. I'd have liked to visited it sometime." He tried to sound as sincere as possible, though Takeo was never one for amateur dramatics he thought it seemed convincing enough. While it would be quite entertaining to divulge all the juicy gossip of all the positively genius things that Youka had done to the village, it would take far too much effort to explain everything.

After the food was done with Takeo sat on the edge of the table. His arms folded across his chest as the young man silently listened to the explanation of a joust. Immediately Takeo grew curious at the mention of horses. Such a lesser way of transportation these days, at least to a shinobi anyway. When you could cross multiple countries in less than a day horses seemed obsolete. As he listened to the explanation he couldn't help but frown. "Isn't using jutsu dangerous for the horses?" He questioned once she had finished. Takeo didn't care much about the harming of any person involved, he did however like animals. At least more than he did other people anyway.

Takeo blinked when he asked if he'd like to watch a joust. Having listened to the description it didn't seem all that entertaining. Though perhaps there was a chance that one of the riders would be killed during the event. Now that would be entertainment at it's peak. She offered to go with him, something that made Takeo smirk slightly. While Akihana possessed bronnau fel bryniau eryri, she wasn't exactly his type. Something that he was about to point out with a witty retort before he heard the last word of that sentence. Banal? Confusion etched itself onto his face, he had not heard this word before. Looking off to the side he mumbled it over to himself to try and get the feeling for saying it. He wasn't quite sure what it meant, but it was probably a bad thing. "If you don't want to go then don't. And I don't need an escort, I'm not a child." He decided to reply with after a moment. "Just give me a map of the place and I'll be fine."

At his wish to have visited the Cloud village, a small smile graced Akihana's face. "You would have loved it how it was back then. We made it beautiful. Every week or so the Raikage at the time would head up into the mountains to practice his blue flame jutsu and create millions of stars and fireworks for the villagers to enjoy. People used to bring along picnic baskets and children..." A wistful note entered her voice as she remembered Kumogakure the way it had been. She had never been an active ninja during war times but in peace, the blonde had gotten to know her village more. A small part of her was still unable to forgive her for not being able to defend her home.

"The horses are adequately armored," she explained fondly, glad to see that not only was this man making himself at home but expressing concern. She could only hope his interest in Hoshigakure would remain piqued. After all, another shinobi with such distinct chakra and powers could only benefit the village, if he would choose to stay for a while. "Speed isn't always a requirement to win these things so riders can afford to outfit their horses, though the game really doesn't involve horse combat. The lances are long and usually interact with each other way before the horses can encroach each other's personal space." If rumors were true, the games got slightly more exciting in the ninja version of events with shinobi riding their summons instead of horses into jousts but she doubted Takeo would want to know that so she did not speak of them.

The young woman wasn't surprised when he declined her offer to take him to the joust. It had been her duty as a host to offer an his right as their guest to decline. But since he was still interested in witnessing the event itself, she nodded. "Alright, let me summon you up one of our tourist maps. Even before we became a shinobi village, we were known for our sights and flavors so we have plenty of maps and even merchandise should you like to indulge," she explained, reaching out a hand slowly to call forth her tiny slug summon. The little creature appeared in a tiny, nondescript poof, landing on her shoulder.

"'Hi sweetie," she greeted the slug. "This is our new guest, Lord Takeo. Could you get him a map." The slug didn't reply, in addition to not having the ability to communicate with those who were not Akihana, the little creature was usually shy around new people anyway. Nonetheless he was back within a few seconds, a roll of parchment by his side.

"There we go, a full map of Hoshigakure with all the tourist spots marked clearly. I'm told there are footnotes and recommendations on what eateries to try and what temples to visit too. For example the Sun Sect is more warm and welcoming to strangers than the House of Black and White."

With the explanation that the horses wore armour, Takeo felt somewhat satisfied. Though the sport seemed boring to watch. Perhaps it was less boring to take part in? Still, Takeo would have preferred if their was just a free for all battle instead. Like the Chuunin Exam he had hosted, but without the novice fighters taking part. "Sounds like a game of luck more than anything." He commented, idly picking at his finger nails as he mulled over what it would look like in practice. Having no interest in going to watch the event any more, he had resorted to just imaging how it would have ended. The one on the left had won in his mind in dominant fashion. And then he had beheaded the loser, but Takeo didn't think that was a realistic enough scenario to warrant going.

Learning that this village was considered by Akihana to be a 'shinobi village' piqued his interest. Takeo had sensed a distinct lack of strong people within the village until he had encountered the older woman. Though that wasn't surprising to him, considering that it seemed only recently this city had become one. At the mention of merchandise he frowned, shaking his head in disgust at the thought. "Merchandise, seriously? What kind of idiot would spend ryo on some crappy souven-" His eyes snapped to the creature that appeared on Akihana's shoulder. Natural instinct took over Takeo for a brief second, and his body began to move to retaliate in order to defend himself from the inevitable attack that was obviously about to happen. Then he saw the full appearance of the creature. His head tilted to the side as he peered at it. "...What the fuck is that?" Aki addressed it as Sweetie, an odd name for such an ugly looking thing.

Sweetie proved useful though. And within a few moments a map had been found. "I have no use for temples, unless one of the religions happens to have a god that forgives shinobi for their sins without much effort or encourages it. Now that would be a god I could get behind." It was evident that halfway through that sentence Takeo had started to talk to himself, looking off into the distance as he began to ramble on. "Still, maybe I could borrow some of their funds. It could prove useful in the long run.." His voice was slightly muffled as currently he found himself chewing on the skin at the tips of his fingers. It was a rather bad habit that he had found himself doing lately, mostly because his nails had been bitten down too far.

His eyes widened suddenly when a thought came to him, and he spun around to face Akihana again. "Oh yeah! Who's the strongest person in this place?"

"Luck can certainly have a lot to do with it, or Gods if you're spiritually inclined," the blonde agreed. perhaps their guest would find his way to a joust and perhaps he would not. She only hoped whichever path he took led him to safety and happiness. Despite his abrupt attitude, he didn't seem the type to have witnessed happiness much and that, more than anything else, drew Akihana to this strange young man. Briefly, she found herself wondering if he had any family, and if so why they hadn't protected him from becoming the kind of person who claimed to have destroyed his own village. But she knew the question was too personal to ask.

His tirade on merchandise stopped with a swear word that made Akihana flinch physically. She waited until the slug dissipated to give Takeo a disappointed look. "That's a no no word," she spoke gently but firmly. "We don't use that here," she added, her voice the same disappointed calm it was for Arata when he said something he shouldn't. "That was a snail, one of my summons. I'm sure you're aware of shinobi who use summons. As it is, this one wanted to help you," she explained, her face softening with a smile once more. She could never stay disapproving for long. It worried her how quickly Arata had found that out and used it against her periodically.

At his question who the strongest in Hoshigakure was, the young woman paused, her forehead creased in thought. "Strength is subjective, from what I know," she began carefully, trying to arrange people and concepts in her mind before she spoke them out loud. "Just as no one can determine who the smartest is, or even what it means to be smart, I believe strength falls under the same category." Waling toward the wall where where utensils hung, she continued. "Which tool would be the strongest for cooking? The sharp knife that slices vegetables? The hammer that pounds spices into powder...The flames that soften them to food like quality. I find people are similar. Some are good at combat, others at avoiding it. Both win but by very different methods." Perhaps her view was too tainted by all she knew but Akihana had genuinely never believed in the smartest, strongest or fastest. She had simply believed in people, and most people were kind enough to believe back.

"Though I suppose if I had to put out a name," she said with a grin, gesturing Takeo to follow her out into the courtyard once he was done eating. "Then it would have to be our palace terror. He's spared absolutely no one in the last year he's been here and grown to thrice his size with all the things he's managed to get other people to feed him." Her grin stayed in place as they entered the sun dappled courtyard at the back where the livestock was kept, their conversation taking place as one only among many moo-ings, braying and squealing in the background. A group of hen stopped their clucking momentarily to gaze at the strangers before resuming their conversation while the pen of freshly bought in pigs simply paid the visitors no mind.

"Cupcake!" the Kunoichi called out. There was no response, causing her to blush for a minute. "Cupcake, sweetie, someone wants to meet you."

a soft bark permeated the sounds of the courtyard, punctuated by the soft pitter patter of running feet before the small puppy was upon her. Bending down, the blonde took the puppy in ehr arms, tunbing him towards Takeo. "Lord Takeo, it is my pleasure to introduce Cupcake, the strongest little critter in Hoshigakure.. Cupcake, say hello to our guest."

The puppy held out a paw quizzically, unsure of what to make of the man but willing to go along if a treat was involved.

Finding himself under assault by an odd gaze after his outburst about Sweetie Takeo blinked. "A no no word? What's wrong with fuck?" Confusion was evident by the tone of his voice and his facial expression as he replied. Though he just shrugged and waved it off after a moment, not wanting to get scolded more by the older woman. So it was a snail summon, Takeo hadn't actually encountered anyone who summoned creatures before. Though he had heard about shinobi who did so. Takeo had never bothered himself, preferring to fight solo.

Leaning against the table with folded arms he listened as Aki began to reply to his question of who was the strongest. While some would have probably listened in awe at the wise words, Takeo did not. To him it was nothing but an attempt to get out of answering the question itself. Still, Takeo didn't bother to press her about it. Most likely because he understood that the conversation would end up going nowhere. Or maybe it was because he didn't actually care all that much in the first place. Still, one point did make him want to retort. People who are good at avoiding conflict were in Takeo's opinion not strong at all. If a pacifist and a bandit confronted each other, it would be the bandit who would leave satisfied at the outcome the most regardless. That was his way of thinking, and it was unlikely to change. Debating on if he wished to argue or not, he almost didn't hear what Akihana said afterwards.

Moving from the table he'd follow after the woman at her behest. Listening to the description of the terror Takeo frowned. Awful odd way to describe someone strong. Most likely a summon then, that was the logical conclusion to Takeo. Walking out into the open Takeo took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the sunlight. His eyes wandered, glancing across the courtyard at all the animals. "What is this?" He questioned. It was quite noisy, but that's probably the result of having an assortment of animals located in the same place. Curious, Takeo walked about the place for a moment or so. Though before he could actually get anywhere in that task he was distracted by Aki calling something. Confused, he waited for a moment before looking over towards Akihana. She seemed slightly embarrassed, though Takeo would be too if he were in her shoes. Still, she called out again. Honestly if nothing happened that time Takeo would have assumed she'd had a mental breakdown. Luckily for her something responded.

Hearing a bark his attention turned to the source of the noise. A puppy. Called Cupcake. Takeo gave a look to Aki, the type of look that said 'What the hell is wrong with you?'. Though, as he looked at the puppy he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Takeo looked at it perplexed, not sure what to do. With some hesitation he'd reach out to grab the puppies paw, and shook it briefly. "..Nice to meet you dog." He said blandly. Then a thought came to his head, didn't Xyxer like dogs? Maybe he could take it back to Kirigakure with him.

"I want the dog, give it to me." Blunt and straight to the point, Takeo stared blankly towards Akihana when he made the demand.

Watching Takeo's awkward exchange with Cupcake, the kunoichi had to work hard to suppress the laughter bubbling inside her. Either this white haired young shinobi had never seen a dog (which was highly unlikely) or simply not used to proper introductions (probably the case). The blonde found herself wondering how he normally greeted people if not with a handshake and a "how do you do". Then she remembered the frightened knight who had come to fetch her, thinking that Takeo was an enemy tot he crown when all the visitor had done was inquire about their culture, eaten a home cooked meal and used a no no word - twice.

Still, she doubted he was as much dangerous as perhaps lacking the finer details of social decorum. Akihana had never been to Kiri so she wasn't entirely sure what was considered acceptable custom there but meeting him made her more and more curious. Perhaps she could visit some day.

"His name is Cupcake," she reminded him in a friendly manner when he addressed the poor animal as "dog". In respond to the sound of his name, the puppy barked happily once, as if emphasizing her point. "And I can't decide where he goes, he has to have the final say. So what do you think Cupcake, would you like to go with Lord Takeo? He seems to have taken a liking to you."

The puppy seemed to consider, evaluating the stranger carefully, its paws still in the air as it laboured between the decision Akihana had given it. In the end, his loyalty tot eh scraps of food the palace servants fed him won out. With a soft whine, the fat little puppy curled in on Akihana, making the indication clear.

"I apologize, it seems Cupcake likes his home. I'm sure he means no offense. I'm afraid we've rather spoiled him over the years, he even sleeps in my room sometimes and crawls into my son's bed." She explained by way of excusing the dog's decision and behavior. "Though if you're looking for a pet, please feel free to pick one out from our cattle here," she encouraged, the smile back on her face as she set Cupcake down gently. In less than a minute, the puppy had disappeared, probably off to the royal sculleries to beg for more food.

"All of the animals here are... well, you know how it is. I would be more than happy if you picked out a creature meant for the slaughter. We have some newborn calves," she showed, walking towards the pen where they kept the calves away from the other animals. "We have lambs and sheep, and of course the pigsty over there. The sow is going to deliver a whole swell of little piglets any day now so if you'd prefer a tiny piglet, you'll have to wait for a few days. If you would prefer some grown up ones, then here they are."

With that, she'd step aside, letting Takeo have his pick of the animals that were rightly meant for Queen Shiera's feast table.

Hearing Akihana remind him of the puppy's name he frowned. "I know what the dog's name is." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the animal in her arms. It wasn't a name Takeo was fond of. He found the name itself to be degrading, even for a pet. He concluded that Aki was probably the one to give it that name. Even though he hadn't known the woman for all that long, she seemed like the type to give animals dumb names. She'd probably try to give pigs names like Snouty McPigpig or Chuckles. The thought of it made him shudder internally, he'd hate to think what names the other poor animals around here had been given.

Takeo shrugged when the woman who gave things odd names informed him that the dog had to decide where it wanted to go itself. "How amusing, considering I doubt the other animal here have had a say in where they want to be." He replied blandly, however he would wait for the animal to choose. If only because he didn't feel like having to deal with a puppy throwing a tantrum when he forcibly took it with him. It didn't seem to take long though, the soft whine accompanied by the puppy turning away giving Takeo his answer. Takeo's eyes narrowed in on the dog. If looks could kill, the puppy would have likely exploded right there. "Fuck you as well mutt." He snapped at the dog, folding his arms and turning away with a huff.

Though when Aki mentioned that he could pick out something from the other animals he brightened up. "Tch, fine." He mumbled, keeping up the look that he was in a bad mood with the tone of his voice. Stepping through the courtyard, his eyes began to scan across the animals carefully. "No, no, no, no." He said aloud as he passed by each of them with his gaze. Arriving at the pen that housed the pigs he stopped. Hopping over the fence and into the pen he set his eyes on one particular pig that interested him. It was fully grown, and didn't seem to be paying attention to any of the goings on, instead being focused on it's food. Takeo strolled on over towards it, using the basic academy surface walking technique so that his shoes weren't dirtied much. "Yo." He greeted the pig, leaning over and waving his hand in front of the pig. "What's up?"

Now, Takeo wasn't usually one to converse with animals. But when the pig snorted back in reply to him he nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, that sucks." Did he understand the pig? Who knows, but the scene itself was quite an odd one. Takeo and the pig exchanged words, as in he said some random shit and the pig oinked, snorted and grunted in reply each time. "Cool, you're mine now." He said matter of factly, grabbing onto the pig and picking it up. Walking back over towards Aki, he placed the pig down next to him and presented it with a wave of his hand and a grin. "Ha, Pig is like ten times cooler than that stupid dog." Pig was of course it's name, hit had told Takeo this during their brief conversation with eachother. Or so Takeo thought, he didn't actually speak pig. Yet.

His insistence that he understood Cupcake's name confused the blonde, especially since he followed it up wth another no no word. She could feel the slight headache beginning somewhere in the back of her mind. Not sure why people simply didn't respect the wishes of those they kept the company of, the kunoichi ignored it for a moment. If being around Takeo was going to be akin to being around her seven year old, well, she supposed she'd had a lot of practice there. At least she knew she could live through it.

The thought sent a slight jab of guilt inside her. Her son wasn't so hard to look after, and neither was this young man. She was sure they would act differently if they knew they were being inappropriate, but right now was not the place to teach either of them, especially since Takeo went over to inspect the other animals happily. Akihana hoped the acquisition of a new friend would cheer him up.

When he returned with the pig in his arms, the young woman let out a radiant smile. "He is cool indeed," she agreed without acknowledging the insult to Cupcake. Cupcake didn't mind so neither should she. He was a kindhearted puppy, one of the reasons she had rescued him from that abandoned house she was sure was a safe haven for sick children or a refuge for the homeless now. "What do you plan on naming him? How does Pastry sound?" she asked, kneeling down in front of the pig to pet it's head. 'Pastry the pig, or Snuggles. i bet he's really snugly," she added, looking up at Takeo.

"Just be sure not to let him anywhere near the farmer's market please. He might get lost amidst all the other pigs that are for sale there."

Hearing Akihana agree about how cool Pig was, Takeo grinned in reply. "Yeah, much better than that shitty dog." He said, obviously still annoyed by the puppy denying him previously. Takeo glanced down to the large pig that now stood slightly in front of him. He wondered briefly if Pig was capable of speaking the same language as him. That sounded far fetched of course, but Takeo had encountered a talking frog during his stay in Kumogakure, so it was entirely possible. Takeo had just decided that he would give the pig some lessons later on when Aki began to talk again.

Naming him? Takeo blinked, folding his arms as listened to her suggestions. "Offence intended, those names suck." He replied. "His name is Pig. He told me." If someone had told Takeo that at some point during his life he would have had a conversation with a pig that was called Pig, he'd have laughed. Maybe this entire thing was a dream sequence. It seemed plausible. Plausible enough that Takeo pinched his own arm for a moment. Feeling the pain from the pinch he winced slightly. It seemed that this was actually happening then, odd. "I don't want to give him a degrading name like Snuggles. The other pigs would laugh at him." Takeo explained to Akihana slowly. Obviously she didn't seem to care about how the other animals would think about the names. Given that she named a male dog Cupcake, it was lucky that it didn't seem to hang out with other dogs its age. "It'd be like calling your child Cuddles. It just wouldn't work out ya know?"

Assuming that even someone like Aki would agree with his flawless logic he ended the topic there. Crouching down next to Pig he wrapped his arm around it's neck. "Oh yeah, do you know a place where I can stay for cheap?" He questioned, whether to Pig or Aki wasn't clear, as his free hand rummaged through his travel bag for a moment. Pulling out a few left over scraps of food, he held it out for Pig to test if he would eat it or not. Pig didn't seem to be a picky eater, as he began to munch on the scraps in his hand. Lucky then, because Takeo wasn't willing to go out of his way to get it good food. "Doesn't matter about size or quality, just the lowest price possible." He decided to add on, scratching the top of Pig's head.

Her concern over Takeo not naming the pig was quickly erased when his next sentences proved how much he already cared about the animal he'd befriended. In the short time he had selected "Pig" and conversed with it, he had already thought to give it a name other pigs wouldn't laugh at. The notion made Akihana smile brilliantly as he went on to compare the pig to having a child. This was one ninja who would love his familiar and look after it.

"Actually, I named my child Arata," she would let slip casually as he bonded with the plump, jolly animal, giving it food from his bag pack. "But you're right of course. Any name you give an animal with love is always the best name for him or her, right Pig?" she addressed the creature who seem to simply snort in reply, whether at her comment or the food. The blonde had a feeling he and Takeo would get along just fine.

"You could stay for free at one of our many religious buildings, but they'd require you to join in prayers and mass," she explained when asked for somewhere to stay. "But if you'd like a bit more freedom, there's a guesthouse in the main Square. The Turning Point I believe it's called. They usually don't ask many questions but sometimes rooms aren't available so you end up sleeping in the stables. The bales of straw are quite comfortable I'm told. And they take both Ryo and service as payment." Apple season was around the corner and she was sure if the young man helped them move the apples up to the stable attics, they'd let him spend a few nights in for free.

"Best of luck," she finished, extending a hand to mirror the verbal sentiment. If he would shake it, she would smile. If not, she would smile regardless. "I hope to see you again, it was a pleasure meeting you." And then to the new pet. "Take care of him for me, Pig. Keep him out of trouble yeah?"

Once again, Pig only snorted.

(Exit)