Welcome to Gaia! ::

::Shiko still felt guilty for leaving Motoko like that, but she was still curious about her other talents. Shiko noticed a woman cooking and stared for a while.::

::Women noticed and smiled at Shiko.::

"Would you like to try to make yakisoba?"

::Shiko nodded and started to make the yakisoba, while following the womans instructions. When Shiko finished, she poured the yakisoba into a bowl and handed it to the woman.::

::The woman ate some and smiled happily.::

"You can sure cook! Even better than me and it took me a couple of months to get it down!"

::Shiko smiled and bowed then left, she kept trying different things, but none interest her as much as fighting. Shiko was about to decide to look for the others, when she saw a man striking at wood. Shiko walked through the crowd.::

::The host smiled happily at all of the people in the crowd.::

"Who is willing to try to defeat this guy? No one?"

::A young lady raised her hand in the air.She then walked in front of the crowd and grabbed the axe.::

::Host smiled, he knew she was going to lose.He raised his hand in the air and dropped a coin.::

::The woman and her opponent started to strike at the wood as quickly as possible, but before the woman could get through 5 logs, the man was already done. She walked away sulking.::

"How can I pay my bills now?!"

::Shiko watched the woman go sadly, Shiko then raised her hand and stood beside the host.::

"I'll tell you what, if I can chop all the wood in half within 10 seconds or less...You must give me triple the amount of money than ordinary."

::The host decided this was a really good chance to make money faster. He nodded.::

::Shiko walked over and instead of grabbing an axe she stand there perfectly still..::

::The host looked at Shiko, but did not ask what she was planning on doing. He dropped the coin.::

::Shiko watched the man chop away, and sighed. She then closed her eyes and did a few hand seals. Shiko touch the ground and sand started to form into a chain. Shiko grabbed the chain quickly and striked all the wood. When she opened her eyes, there was a pile of wood double the size of before. Shiko walked over to the host and held out her hand.::

::Host glared at Shiko.::

"Here is your money, I should have known you are a shinobi..You finished with 7 seconds to spare."

::Shiko took the money and walked away..She found the lady who was sulking earlier and handed her most of the money.::

"People like that man, do not deserve to be host."

::The woman looked at Shiko and smiled happily.::

"I thank you! But..Why did you do this?"

::Shiko shrugged.::

"I knew I was going to win and well..You needed the money right? So there is no point in crying now since you got more winnings than if you beat him in the first place."

::The woman nodded and took the money.::

"What is your name?"

::Shiko was slightly afraid, but she nodded.::

"My name is Shinuki Shiko."

::The woman eyes widen.::

"Shiko! Wow! I'm glad to meet you! Everyone tells me how terrible and evil you are..But I know differently now! Are you really half dragon?"

::Shiko could hear a soft growl..*thinks* Chiiro..Keep your mouth shut..* Shiko smiled slightly.::

"I can also speak to dragons.."

::The woman smiled.::

"Well you have talent right there! Your fighting skills and the ability to speak to dragons..I heard it takes thousands of years just to learn a few words..So you have such wonderful talent."

::The woman bowed and walked away quickly.::

::Shiko stared at the woman, *thinks* That lady really thinks speaking to dragons is a wonderful talent? Does she really think so? Perhaps I was going through this the wrong way.*. Shiko smiled and decided to search for her friends.::

::Shiko was about to give up, she could not find any of her friends. Shiko fell to her knees and sighed. Shiko was about to stand back up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Shiko turned around to see Rioku smiling.::

"Rioku! Is there something I can do for you?"

::Rioku sat down beside Shiko.::

"Hey, I thought that since this is a festival and I heard you were here..Perhaps we can go on a real date this time..What do you say?"

::Shiko stared at him for a moment.::

"I'm sorry..Rioku, I want to be with my friends right now..We are friends right?"

::Rioku frowned but nod.::

"Shiko, I feel like I know you..I can tell when you are sad, happy or angry! I'm surprise to know so much about you, without asking much about you..I want to make you happy Shiko! I have seen how people treat you, and I feel like I can be there to console you."

::Shiko stand up and sighed.::

"Rioku I appreciate the offer, but... I'm only truly happy when I'm with my friends..We are also from different villages, there is not point in even thinking about it."

::Shiko walked away leaving Rioku::

::Motoko accepted his hand and stood up smiling. Then she accepted his gift as well and put it around her neck. She looked at him and gave him one of those random "I'm happy for no reason" looks. Then she grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the festival.::

"Come on! Let's go find everyone!"

::Motoko almost started running and then she suddenly stopped almost falling on her face, but quickly regaining composure.::

"I almost forgot. Shiko had something that she was supposed to do so she will meet up with us later. Don't worry so much you look fine Tomasu and you shouldn't worry so much about Mizukage either. Just do what you have to do when you get to that point in time. Until then, relax and have fun."

*out of nowhere, a rare gigantic sakura blossom floated down from the sky and landed on Motoko's head*

*Shunketsu was up high on the building rooftops*

neh...up here...

*Shunketsu jumped down from the roof and landed a few feet away from them...he noticed that Motoko looked really nice...but he wasn't going to let her know he thinks that...not yet anyway...*

::Motoko felt something fall on her head and tried to look at it, but it didn't work so she just picked it up for a second. She noticed that it was a sakura blossom and smiled.::

"Thanks Shunketsu-kun. Are you going to head to the festival with us? Shiko should meet up with us later. She said that she had something to do. Thanks again."

"well that was a bargain and a half then eh Shunketsu-kun", said Tomasu smiling, "was that your 'important' thing you had to ditch us for?"

"Yeah, the Mizukage sent me gifts to give to the girls. I dont know how he found me or how he found out about the festival etc, but he gave me those necklaces to give to Shiko and Motoko" he said indicating the necklace on Motoko.