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(...uh, where does it go from here?)

LT followed with his clan

Exit

Fordon and the girl walked back slowly up the hill toward the compound in the pouring rain with the umbrella Fordon was holding as their only defense. the water flowed down the hill part of the dirt became mud. then as more water flowed down this muddy part of the hill the young girl lost her balance and slipped. even as Fordon reached for her hand she started to slide down the hill till she hit some rocks. the rocks stopped her slide but at the price hurting leg. the instant after she hit her leg Fordon was by her side. her cursed himself for not being fast enough to catch her. without a word Fordon used his handkerchief to stop the trickle of blood from her injured leg and scooped her up into his arms. she did not protest as he easily lifted her into his arms. He darted up the hill no longer caring how wet he got. a moment later he came to the door of the house and with a little effort he was able to open it. with water dripping from him he took a few quick strides over to a nearby chair. as he set her down he noticed not only had he been holding her but she had been holding on to him. after she let go he went and found some bandages and alcohol and quickly returned. "here let me have a look." he said getting down on one knee and put his had around the back of her calf. gently he untied his now bloodied handkerchief. the wound only appeared to be a slight gash on the shin which was good by comparison with what he though it could be. pulling out eh alcohol he looked up at her which showed signs of beauty and grace though slightly mixed with pain. "this will hurt a little." he said and she nodded. using a clean cloth and the alcohol he cleaned the wound then bandaged it. thank you she said and shivered a little. Fordon realized she was still in her wet clothes. here he said picking her up and helping her to her room. once she was there he set her down again and left to give her privacy and change his own clothes. He slowly walked down the hall not giving much mind to anything. once inside his room he slide the door shut. slowly he striped of all of his wet clothes. the girl was on his mind and he could not figure out why his thoughts kept drifting back towards her. feeling how wet his mask was he took it off too. as he turned for his dresser he though he heard a noise and instinctually tightened all the muscles in his body. he was ready to move in any direction. it was then he thought he heard another noise like someone gasping. he waited for another moment and heard nothing till a creaking noise came from a nearby shutter. hearing only that Fordon sighed and relaxed.in a flash he toweled himself off. he tried to stretch a little and found he was till getting wet from the collar around his neck. He removed it and once more he thought he heard a noise. this time he disregarded it as nothing and rubbed his neck. he did not take the collar off very often and it felt good not to have it on for a bit. going over to his dresser he took out some fresh clothes and dawned then quickly then he grabbed a fresh mask and collar. he decided to leave his cloak hanging up and see if the girl was up and about. in a dash of speed he appeared at his door and opened it. then he realized he was right in front of the girl. her eye level was in line with his lips. however she was gazing right into his eyes. slowly she grew reder and reder as each silent second seemed to take an eternity to pass. " um hello again" Fordon said kinda aqwardly as he was still scrambling in his brain trying to figure out why this beautiful girl was right outside his door. " i- i- i wanted to um thank you for helping me." she said slowly Fordon created a little space between them and said "oh well its no problem really. im sorry i let you fall in the first place." he said taking in some details now that his brain had begun to function. she had changed her clothes but do to how she was still dripping water from her hair it looked like she had not dried off. that was odd. "um do you need a towel?" he asked trying to break the silence "oh um yes please." she said taking into account now that she was still wet. taking a clean dry towel he gave it to her and then helped her back down the hall to her room. at her door he looked at her and asked "i forgot to ask earlier but what is your name?" "Mai." she said quickly and looked really relieved and happy he had asked. Though confused Fordon didnt show it and instead said "ill go make us some tea in the kitchen and when your done you can drink it with me." "ok" she said then he left for the kitchen and he could hear her enter her room. in the kitchen Fordon began to brew a light white tea and added some dried fruit for more flavor. Lord Luo's mother was also in the kitchen and she sat smiling at his as she drank her coffee. "um what is it ma'am" Fordon finally asked "oh nothing just thinking." but her eyes and posture said more. it was almost like she was laughing at Fordon but for what he had no idea. soon his thoughts left the topic and went back to Mai. a moment later when the good lady had finish her coffee she left and he could her her mutter something about "being blind." he had no chance to act on this however because Mai was there smiling at him. she had changed her clothes again and was now fully dry. "here you go" Fordon said pouring her a cup of the freshly brewed tea then he set out honey and sugar in front of her. once she was finished with it he sweetened his tea to his liking and put the things away. together they sipped at the warm tea and chatted about little things going on in the house then about the day. when they got to the point about the grave they had been standing in front of she looked down into her tea and her expression was ne in pain and about to cry. "im sorry" Fordon said "who was it" "a friend of mine." she sniffed "she had just made chuunin too." once again Mai sniffed "she was the one who first pointed you out. before you even came and lived here""um" Fordon said unsure how to reply to that "oh my" she gasped smacking her hand to her mouth and beginning to glow red. "dont worry about it." Fordon said still unsure how to take this whole matter. 'what is up with this girl? something is deffinatly odd here.' He thought 'i almost got perfect scores on every test i have ever taken yet when it comes to women i have no idea what is what.' For a moment they sipped tea in silence. then Fordon spoke "um hey how bout tomorrow we go for a walk to help clear your mind? we can go all the way out to the Demascus lodge and we can eat at Nikko's. how bout it? ill pay." Fordon said and the girl said "ok sure." without a moments hesitation. 'maybe after LT-smepai sees her he can tell me whats going on.' he was surprise d she had taken him up on his offer for such a long walk yet somewhere inside of him he was relieved. they continued to talk about nothing in particular and tell stories and jokes.

Walking back to the compound, Luo sighed as he placed is umbrella on the front porch along with the others. Taking his shoes off, he walked into the house as his mother crossed the foyer in front of the clan's tapestry. Looking at him, she smiled coming close to him and staring at him in the eyes before finally just hugging him. For a moment, Luo's hands lay limp by his sides until he returned the hug with the utmost of affection. She was the only person Luo never hesitated to touch.

"I'm glad to see you are doing better Luo. You were too hard on yourself this morning you know. The villagers would never hate you, they gave you the title pride of the mist for a reason. You've done more for them than anyone has, and they know that. So smile for your mother 'kay? Give me that same smile you gave me before you left for missions." As Luo nodded and finally smiled for her, Kosame stepped back as she smiled as well. They stood for a moment and stared at each other before her eyes lit up and she grinned as she whispered in Luo's ear. Turning, she walked towards the kitchen. "I'm going to go....start on dinner."

As his mother walked down the hall into the kitchen, Luo sighed as he muttered, "I see." He then shook his head at his mother's nosiness. Changing his clothes to something more comfortable, Luo walked into the kitchen. It was at that moment Mai rushed up to him, hugging him fiercely. "Ooof," Luo managed to get out as he almost fell over. Putting his right hand on her back, he hugged her back as he muttered, "I'm sorry about Karin Mai. She'll always watch over you."

Mai smiled softly as she looked at her older cousin until she nodded. "Thanks Luo, I appreciate it." Her tone then picked up a bit as she pointed at her leg then back at Fordon. "I slipped in the mud and twisted it. Luckily Fordon was there to help me back up the hill."

Looking towards Fordon and back at Mai, Luo sighed as he muttered, "I see. I'm surprised you two haven't bumped into each other yet. He has been here for almost a year now."

Mai then shrugged. "Well you forgot I've only been back for four months. I went to study the properties of the 'Hero Water' in the village hidden in the waterfall. It was because of you I even got the chance to observe is since you saved it from being stolen a few years back. I guess I've just been limiting myself to the study and my room lately. Classes haven't really given me a chance to have time to myself. By the way cousin, I'm going to need your old anatomy notes if you still have those. Sit and have tea with us."

Nodding, Luo sat at the head of the table with Fordon to his right, and his cousin to his left. Pouring a cup of tea for himself and taking a sip, he spoke once more. "I think I kept those in the study with all my old study files. The ink is pretty thick so I'm sure you'll be able to read it easily." He then looked at Fordon. "Did you make this tea Fordon? It's pretty good."

Nodding, Luo sighed a bit as he stared at the fruits swirling in his tea after he added a bit of sugar. "He's doing alright, better now I think. He'll be back to his old self soon enough."

Looking towards Luo and back at Fordon, Mai raised an eyebrow as she giggled a bit, taking a sip of tea. "Why do you call him 'lord' Fordon? Even Mizukage would suffice for Lulu."

Placing his cup on the table, Luo sighed as he looked down. "Mai. It's rude to pose such questions to people you do not know well enough." All though it irked him sometimes, Luo allowed her the one pleasure of giving him the highly child-like nickname. He then let out a small "hmph," as he sipped his tea before muttering, "You never did let that nickname slip. You've been saying it since you could talk and I thought you would just grow out of it. You never did though."

Mai then laughed once more. "Well of course not Lulu. Someone has to remind you of a time before you became so busy. When was the last time we just laid in the garden and looked at the clouds?"

Luo smiled a bit as he took another sip of tea. It was his favorite past-time in between missions. He had grown too busy in the following years though, his missions taking up much of his time. "It has been a while. Nine months, two days, and...." Luo stared at the clock and muttered, "Two hours give or take a few minutes."

Mai then sighed, a habit which seemed to run rampant through the Ushio clan. "Always so precise. Well tell me this then, tell me the last time you had lunch with a girl apart from that one time you came home with....what was her name, Namika Asaka?"

"Heh," Luo muttered as he took a sip of his tea. The girl had a point. Looking up as if to reminisce Luo muttered, "The day I passed my chuunin exams. She yelled at me for showing up with blood stains and a torn shirt. She's now the chief of staff at Kiri Hospital. A pretty big title for someone as old as I am. She probably oversaw my treatment last week." Looking back down at Mai, Luo could see the look on her face. He then shook his head. "I think she's still mad about me leaving for so long the following weeks without telling her. She's probably the best med-nin I've ever seen in combat." Pouring himself more tea, Luo wondered how she was. He never could quite put a finger on what their relationship was. It was probably what angered her the most when he was younger.

EDIT

As Luo's mother laid food in front of the three and the rest of the family began to filter in for dinner, Luo sighed a bit. He seemed to pick at his food, eating bits and pieces here and there before finally just getting up. He still looked a bit pensive, and he was never one to be able to concentrate on anything when his mind was racing. Placing his hands on the table, Luo stood as he spoke in a fair tone so everyone in conversation could here as he said, "You will have to excuse me from the table. Dinner was lovely as always. It is good to see my family in high spirits." Grabbing a small bottle of sake and a sake cup, Luo left the dining room and headed for the study. As he sat down in the candle-lit room and poured sake, he pondered his life up till now. He wondered whether he was truly too busy, or if he simply didn't make time for other things. Luo was never one for drinking, often anyway. He disliked anything that impaired his judgment, or ability to act quickly in a moment of unforeseen danger. When he did drink, it was to ease his mind's constant racing. Sometimes his thought process was so vast, it would give him a headache. Sighing as he finished the sake, he read a book on the history of Kirigakure, his favorite as a child. Things were certainly simpler back then, or at least that's what ran through his head. Blowing out the candles, Luo took a short shower before going to bed early. He felt the next day he would finally be back up to speed.

Waking up before the sun reared it's head, Luo took a shower and meditated with his grandfather before eating a small breakfast and training until the sun was fully out. For some reason, Luo awoke in a rather foul mood. He felt ill-tempered, and could only guess this was due to the stack of work on his desk along with the genin exams. Grabbing earplugs out of the box Fordon gave him, Luo walked in the light of the sun through the mist to his office, ready to begin the day.

EXIT.

When Fordon returned to the house he came in through thefront door which was odd but he kept it silent so that no one would know he had returned. then when he got to the kitchen he found Luo's mother and two of her sister inlaws reading the note he had left for Mai "um excuse me but what are you doing?" he ask startling them. "oh um nothing" one of the sister in laws said and they put the note back. "so i take it that she has not woken up yet." and the other sister in law smiled broadly and said "not yet." not understanding what could be goig through the woman's head he asked "could you wake her then?" "i think you could do it yourself." with that reply he walked down the hall to her room and knocked. a instant later Mai opened her door. she was dressed and looked ready but Fordon still pleasantly asked "are you ready to go?" "yes im ready to go on our walk" Fordon did not get why she was putting an emphasis on our but no matter she said she was ready to go. "ok then" he replied and walked with her to and out the door. Fordon ignored the looks and whispers of the ladies as on the way. After leaving the house together they made their way toward the village gate
EXIT