[Bakuhatsuka Amaterasu]

❝ Date: December sixth XXXX From: The messy room in the small house in the back of the Yutakako District Bakuhatsuka Amaterasu Bodyguard of the Tsuchikage (HA! I bet you didn't think I'd ever become stronger, right, right?!) Dear Awesome Friend Epic Whitey-chan, yo! How have you been? It has been ages, hasn't it? Stuff happens when you're a kunoichi. Yes, ku-noi-chi! We are kunoichi, remember? Girls, not boys. I heard you became a Lady! Yes, yes, I know it has been far too long since that news went 'round, but hey! I was terribly busy! Clan affairs, getting a new rank, learning new jutsu, finding my best friend finally back... So I though, why not write you. I did promise after all when you left that I'd do so. Thing was, I forgot. Yes, I did. I got my spot in the Blasting Corps, as an officer and no longer as an apprentice (yep, you heard that right, an apprentice did knock your chin, even if I suffered of a bump and headache for days after that) and missions and...Well, lots of stuff. But I remembered! Which is good, because better late than never, right? So, Whitey-chan, how have you been? Are things okay over there? Do you need a hand? I mean, I could try and snatch a mission in the area and come visit you? Do you have family? A boyfriend? Are you married? Do you have kids? Do they look like you? And act like you? I hope not, because well...you know. You still got a stick in your butt.  Except if you changed. ... Which you probably didn't. Hence why I should visit. I will visit. Soon. Expect me, okay? Once I can convince my Old Man that I can do something diplomatic and have a good reason to barge in your village. Make sure to treat me for food okay? Bye! Ama

LAIKA OF GS!

[Saya Yoi]

Once again, the peace and quiet of Saya's private office had been disturbed by sounds of loud, running footsteps. 

And this early in the morning, too... However, the Lady of the state had gotten used to this already. Every day, when mail was delivered to her, there was something the silly ninjas from the postal tower deemed 'important'. And despite her telling them to not run like that, the incident just kept repeating itself. However, this time it was different. Instead of the average errand boy, in front of her stood her officer, the one in charge of the Yukigakure's postal service. A stalwart-looking man, but already past his prime. Still, Saya found his mustache quite charming. 

- Good morning Mamoru. Have all of your tenants suddenly call a sick day for you to deliver the mail to me personally? - she asked, with a light chuckle, and a small smile, which immediately made the man slightly more nervous. He worked with Saya long enough to know that she never smiled. Or... very rarely. And usually it didn't mean anything good.

- No, ma'am. We have received a letter, that is, apparently, meant for you. I decided to deliver it personally. - he said, and passed her the scroll. Saya had received it, with a nod. The first thing she noticed, was that the letter came from Iwagakure - the seal on the scroll belonged to that village. The second thing was that ... the seal was already broken. She looked up, staring at Mamoru with a stern, questioning glare. Expecting explanations as to why the privacy of her personal correspondence had been compromised. The chief swallowed, finding the stare unsettling, but never the less, followed with an explanation:

- The letter was not filled in appropriately - while it mentioned the person who sent it, it said nothing about who was supposed to receive it. I took the responsibility to open it, in order to determine who this letter was supposed to be for. It is why I chose to deliver the letter myself, so that none of my subordinates would face your ire, caused by my actions.

The irritated expression on Saya's face slowly subsided, as she left the man to just stand there, as she read the letter. She recalled the name in the corner of the scroll. Amaterasu... It's that girl ... that kept annoying me and following me everywhere, during the time I was hired by Iwagakure... Hmph...  - the lady snarled to herself, however, a smile had appeared, as she kept reading the letter.

She didn't change a bit...

Saya had an avid imagination. And as she read, she was able to imagine that brash yellow-head jump out of the letter, and yell all these words at her, brimming with excitement, just like the bright sun over the mountain ranges of Iwagakure. So... that knucklehead got promoted? Well... they say there's no enemy more dangerous than an idiotic ally... - she said to herself, sarcastically. It was hard to believe, really. For someone so ... un-shinobi-like, to become a member of a special division... an officer... And a kage's bodyguard as well! Finding the thought funny, Saya reached for a pen and a scroll. It didn't take much time for her to write up a reply:

"To Bakuhatsuka Amaterasu, the Bodyguard of Tsuchikage.

Hello Ama. I did not expect to receive a letter from you. It was most surprising.

The way you signed your letter had caused an incident. Now, the man in charge of my postal service stands in front of me, incredibly nervous and frightened. It is funny to see him in such a state. However, please mention who the letter is meant for, in the envelope. I cannot have one of my officers have a breakdown..." - she began to write, barely keeping herself from snorting, and covering her mouth with her hand. The man at her desk kept staring at her with a bewildered glare. He had never seen their stern Lady act in such a way. She almost seemed ... human.

"... I congratulate you on your achievements, and wish you more successes in the future. I hope things I taught you during my stay in Iwagakure were useful in your endeavors." - she then addressed the part mentioning the promotions, before coming to respond to the next part of the letter. When she read it, a pink blush momentarily appeared on Saya's face, but then the small smile she had was dropped, into something akin of a frown. She let out a silent sigh. Some questions, though innocent, have touched a nerve.

"As for my personal life, it is pretty much nonexistent. I spend all my time taking care of the village, and I sleep only 3-4 hours, before returning to duty. In retrospect, being the head of Yukigakure is a lot more difficult... and boring, than my former position. I miss my days as a mercenary for the village. It allowed me to travel, to see lands that have the Sun over their heads. Now I am chained to this place.

If you were to visit me, I would be ... happy. Bring warm clothes, if you choose to come here. This land is called the land of neverending winter for a reason.

Burn this letter after you finish reading it.

Signed: Saya Yoi, third Lady of Yukigakure."

After finishing writing the letter, Saya rolled the scroll into a tube, and sealed it with her personal, Yukigakure seal. She then handed it to the man, who kept standing in front of her, not daring to leave unless he was allowed to. The woman looked at him, and said:

- I will not punish you. You are a man of honor, and you were doing your duty. For that, I am going to reward you with a three day leave. You are tasked to drink yourself to unconsciousness during that time. - her words almost made Mamoru fall over, it was most unexpected. Blinking a few times, he cleared his throat, before daring to ask:

- Um... drink myself to unconsciousness? Milady, are you sure...

- Yes, I am certain. - Saya nodded affirmatively, before giving a look at the opened letter one more time. - You have read my letter. And I cannot have anyone knowing someone has been calling me 'Epic Whitey-chan'. Now, be off! Before I change my mind and decide to mindwipe you instead.

- Sir yes sir! I mean... ma'am.

With that, he left off, and Saya fell back on her chair and breathed out, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She just agreed to have that ... force of nature invade her distilled, orderly and cold kingdom.

I think I might regret that in the morning.

[Bakuhatsuka Amaterasu]

❝ She was excited. Very, very excited. Her letter had been sent, to the right address, to her friend from the snow lands. The young woman had to nag Ryu for an envelope for it, and then nag the postman to make sure it came to the right destination, even going so far as to give him a higher tip. It was worth it though, because she was sure that the white haired kunoichi's reaction would be priceless.  Once it had been sent, however, she became very, very nervous in her actions. Shifting on the spot, almost literally bouncing off the walls, she had been kicked out more than once out of the Corps' main building or meetings of the clan (despite her being the Heiress) because she simply made it impossible for others to concentrate on their jobs.  Which was fine with her, because she got more time to nag the Old Man (who also kicked her out of his office after two days of miraculous patience) and Ryu (who desperately tried to keep up with her ramblings and bouncing actions like that of a rabbit).  And then, finally, FINALLY, she got an answer. All neatly written on a nice piece of stationary, stamps and all on the envelope, her address written in some elegant handwriting.  And very, very formal looking. Just like Whitey-chan was.  However, the contents got her laughing like a lunatic on the roof of the building she had taken refuge. It wasn't far from the bank where Ryu lived, being one of the highest and calmest points in town.  She then grabbed some paper and pen she had been carrying around with her in her pouches and started replying. Her handwriting was bold, somewhat childish, but perfectly legible. It would've been probably taken more seriously if there weren't for the scrapped words and clear imprints of dirt on the back of the paper.  Whitey-chan, yo! You got my address, I got yours on the envelope, not gonna bother with formalities this time.  Poor guy. Tell him sorry for me, will you Whitey-chan? I really didn't mean to cause trouble, but as I thought I'd better keep it sorta secret, I didn't fill the thing properly in. Oh well. I'll spare the nerves of your poor people.  Until I'm coming to visit you! Then I'll make sure to shake all of you out of that frozen stupor you probably are because of the cold. And you can't stop me! And yes, mom, I will bring warm clothes. Yo, I'm maybe thick, but not that stupid either. I like being warm. As long I can move properly, because from what I remember of your clothes, it seemed very restrictive. I mean, your clothes are all tight and all. How is that comfortable? Doesn't matter. And yep, thank you, thank you. The Old Man doesn't really like me though, I think. He kicked me out of his office while I was waiting for your letter you know. Okay, okay, I probably talked too much. And might have broken a bee statue. But I swear, Whitey-chan, he has ten thousands of those! One broken shouldn't make a difference! ...You need a life, Whitey-chan. I'll help you with that! Maybe hook you up with someone. Do you like anyone? Did you ever have a crush? A friend? I got Ryu. My best friend. He's kinda stern, but not as stern as the Old Man. Who's a party pooper really.  Also, I made many friends all over the world already. From almost everywhere, I swear! I'll tell you more in the next letter. And, I have decided. I will make sure that you won't have a stick in your butt anymore unless you're at work, once I come visit. 'cause then you kind of need it, I realized.  ...Don't laugh at me. I can learn you know. Hmpf. And no way I'm burning this letter of yours. I got a correspondence box for this kinda things. I'm supposed to behave like a lady now, so I will. I'm trying to follow your example, sort of. Aside from Queen Yutatao, you're the best role model I got really. Excited greetings from your Number One Unpredictable Kunoichi of Iwagakure, Ama

LAIKA OF GS!

[Saya Yoi]

The answer came quicker than Saya had expected.

Less than a week had passed, and then, when she walked into her office early in the morning, a fresh letter was already on her table, with the signature Iwagakure seal. The woman had picked up the scroll and carefully examined it, before letting out a relieved sigh. It was untouched. Which was a good thing. Saya was a very private person, and tolerating someone reading letters meant for her more than once was not something she was gonna do. 

That, and I can't make my postal officer get drunk that often. It'd be bad for his health... and career.

It turned out that the man was unable to hold his liquor... at all. And during the last leave he got so drunk he made a bet with another villager, that he would shave his glorious mustache off. Which he did, by the way. And it was a tremendous loss for the village of Yukigakure. After Saya finished recalling that hillarious breach of peace, she undid the seal, and opened the scroll. Yeah... this kind of familiarity was not meant to be read by anyone else...

A small smile appeared on her face once more.

Although the flow of the text was rambuctuous and irregular, the spelling mistakes quite a few, and the handwriting was simply horrible (by her standards), the letter felt ... warm. Not in any literal sense, of course. But it was honest. Felt with joy and excitement. Unlike the diplomatic letters... Those only contain a few sentences of actual meaning spread thin across several sheets of paper, and a liter of water, useless formalism and fake proclamations of respect and benevolence thrown in the mix. - Saya thought, and shuddered lightly. She knew this better than anyone - she wrote a ton of such letters herself. 

But as she kept reading that letter, she bit her lip. Somehow, the prospect of the yellow-head coming over here and starting 'hooking her up' with people was alarming to Saya. It was at that moment that she regretted having mentioned her personal life in the previous letter. I knew I should've just ignored that part of the letter and not answer it. ... ... ... Crap.

With a sigh, the pale-haired woman pulled out another scroll, and her trusty pen. There wasn't a lot she could say in this reply. Describing things happening had no purpose since her guest would see everything for herself, once she'd get here. The answer Saya wrote was uncharacteristically short, this time:


 "To Bakuhatsuka Amaterasu, the Bodyguard of Tsuchikage.

Thank you for volunteering to fix my personal life, but I don't need any help there. With the current post I am holding, I am better off without one.

But ... I know you're going to do it your way anyway. I do not know what remains to be said, except that I will be waiting for your arrival, and will fortify the walls, build shelters and evacuate all women and children make all the necessary preparations. What ever other questions you might be having, I will answer them, when we see each other. So, until then.

Signed: Saya Yoi, third Lady of Yukigakure."