[Itagaki Mitsumi]

It was good to see people in the town again. Truly. She vaguely remembered the time before the plague, before- Mitsumi halted that thought. The point was, they remembered back when there were more people. She had missed those dire few years after the quarantine had been lifted, but she could still tell. The streets were a little emptier than they should be. Places a bit too sparsely packed. Lines too short.

But now things were lively. Travelers from all sorts of nations, places she had only heard or read about. Breathing life into these once pestilence-choked streets. It was good, truly. A chance to see people further along than she was in action, and learn from them. A chance to disappear, to be another face on the crowd.

It was good. Really.

But it had become too much.

The press of the crowd, the din of unfamiliar voices, the feeling of eyes on her. Even if imagined.

It had become too much. An itch spread across her body, and her breaths were become short and shallow. The edges of her vision dimmed. She staggered, shoulder hitting a wall as vertigo and nausea began to take hold. Mitsumi opened her mouth to curse, but found herself unable to form the words. Damn it. Damn it. Her mind had only skimmed the memory, and yet...

Someone asked her something. A concerned but strange voice. She shook her head, waving him off as she managed to walk away. Taking herself off the main street, trying to deepen her breathing as she fought off the sudden anxiety attack. She pulled down on the cap, trying to give her hands something to do. Something to ground herself with. She counted cobblestones, focused on the texture of the fabric of the hat. Anything to occupy her mind. Anything to distract herself from the itch.

She retreated from the sounds of the crowd, eventually winding her way to a quiet, poorly maintained corner of town. All too common, now that there were not enough people for the homes. But... it was kind of pleasant. The garden of the now-abandoned residence was overgrown, the gate left open, but it had clearly been cultivated by someone with no small amount of passion, skill and time.

The darkness has fled from the edges of her eyes. Deep breaths, as she closed her eyes, smoothed out her long skirt. Calm began to return. Mitsumi breathed out a sigh of relief. Then... her cheek was wet.

She was crying? Really?
"Why...? Get it together, Mitsumi! You're okay, you're okay..." She spoke aloud, and shook her head. An action that revealed something that she had missed with her prior tunnel vision.

She wasn't alone here.

Mitsumi froze, then color entered her face, her hair doing a poor job of hiding her scars, and absolutely nothing to hide her clear mortification. Mitsumi blinked several times, then scrubbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse. Her eyes were still wet, but weren't overflowing, at least. "S-sorry, I... sorry." Mitsumi cringed. This was going well. But talking did help - it was relatively quiet here, at least. "It's... uh, crowded, huh?"

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

Yamatsu sat on the porch of his old house, Kizumi had offered to have it renovated but he had denied it. To Yamatsu the plan when he was not away training or on missions could be spent fixing up the place. It had since helped keep him busy not dwelling on the days before the plague. The young man had been taking a break from tending the garden sitting on the steps a cool glass of water in hand. To his right lay his "brother" Oki and to his left his "sister" Ino. The two twin wolves enjoyed the time they got to sped with Yamatsu having grown with him in the mountains these past three years. The three of them had hunted, spilled and shed blood together. They were family in every sense of the word but genetically. He smiled to himself as he started to feel at home again. The only wayward thought was the fact he wished Risi was here as well. It had been a few days since he had last seen his boyfriend and he missed the way Risi held him. His momentary imagination distracted him as a young girl stumbled her way into the garden. He tilted his head hearing her speak realizing it was not to him as he stood up. "Hello are you lost?" He must have scared her for she froze realizing he was there. She apologized before asking if it was crowded throwing him off guard. He looked over to the sleeping Oki then over to Ino who had perked her head up surveying the little girl. "Uh no not really, this garden has not hosted a guest if some time." He stepped towards her slowly raising his hand in a greeting. "My name is Yamatsu this is my home, do you need to sit down?" He could tell she was having some sort of anxiety. It had gripped him as well when he was first brought back to Kumo by Kaede.

Itagaki Mitsumi --

LAIKA OF THQ

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Mitsumi blinked several times, barely listening to what the young man was saying. She had somehow failed to notice the wolves. The wolves.

No, not dogs. Those were wolves. Tame wolves? Could wolves be tamed?

They seemed pretty comfortable, and not hostile, so it was probably fine. Right?

She realized she had frozen, and tried to piece together what had been said to her.
"N-not lost, exactly, just..." Just having a panic attack for no damn reason. She finished the thought internally, and sighed at herself. She was making progress, but did it have to be so slow? Her words and lame attempt at breaking the nervous air had failed. It seemed that he wasn't here, evading the crowds, like she was. This was... his home? That struck her as odd. Was he referring to the abandoned house, or the garden? It wasn't like anyone was using either, but it still struck her as a little odd.

Mitsumi's eyes flicked between the young man - Yamatsu - and the wolf. "I'm Itagaki. Itagaki Mitsumi. I'm, uh... a student at the academy." She floated the simple introduction, hoping to have something to talk about other than her clear anxiety. She did want to sit, now that it was offered, but... "They... they don't bite, right?" Mitsumi had extremely little experience with animals, let alone ones as large and typically wild as wolves. She was clearly nervous about them, but the stare also had a bit of curiosity to it.

[Yamatsu]

The Young Pup

Yamatsu chuckled to himself watching the young girl. He knelt down holding out his hand for Ino as the she wolf stood stretching before making her way to him. "It is nice to meet you Itagaki Mitsumi and no they do not bite... Unless I command." His tone was playful, he remembered his first time meeting the pack in the mountains. The fear he had thinking he would be their next meal as he lay on his death bed. His hand disappeared into the thick fur as he stroked her back looking over to the young kunoichi. "This is Ino and that is Oki." He pointed to the slightly larger wolf still sleeping in the garden. "They are my siblings, Ino is the younger twin and Oki the older." Ino nuzzled her face against his before looking over to Mitsumi. Slowly she walked over to the girl her tail wagging in delight. She looked back to Yamatsu before opening her maw. "New friend brother Yamatsu?" His smile was wide as he stood to clear off a bench making it suitable for her to sit. "Do you think I'd still be back here if she posed a threat sister?" Oki had responded in Yamatsu's stead revealing his ruse of sleep. He looked around at the run down house and garden. One of these days he would tidy up and make his parents house presentable. Grabbing the pitcher of water set on the side table he poured the young girl a drink before offering it to her as he sat down on the bench Ino laying at his feet.

--

LAIKA OF THQ

[Itagaki Mitsumi]

Mitsumi wasn't sure if the joke should put her at ease, or further on edge, but seeing how the wolves clearly expressed affection to Yamatsu put her at ease. The mention of them being his siblings did cause Mitsumi to blink and cock her head, but her confusion was swiftly forgotten.

"They... They talk?!" Mitsumi was flabbergasted, her sole visible eye wide. Not just in surprise, but certainly no longer in fear. She had heard of such things, sure. Ninjutsu and the world had all sorts of strange mysteries, and intelligent and speaking animals were hardly the strangest things out there. But hearing about such things and actually experiencing them were entirely different things. Mitsumi realized her mouth was open, and closed it, a blush dusting her cheeks.

"U-um, sorry, Yamatsu-san. And, uh... Ino-san, Oki-san." Mitsumi dipped her head in apology to each of them. That was probably very rude, wasn't it? She swallowed her fear, and eventually took the offered seat. Her shoulders and legs were drawn together, making her small frame appear even smaller. At the same time, there was something... calming about the wolves. Between Ino wagging her tail, and the fact that they weren't human it was unlikely that they would judge her for her appearance.

She took the offered drink with a grateful nod, her scarred fingers careful to avoid touching Yamatu's. Remembering what little she had been taught about dogs, she leaned forward, offering her left and unmarred hand to Ino, for her to acquire Mitsumi's scent. "I've never even seen a wolf before today..." She peered at Yamatsu through her hair. Now that they were closer, her skin began to itch. What could he see? What was he thinking?

She pushed darker thoughts back and down. The panic hadn't yet been fully defeated. "How long have you been with your, um... siblings?" She hoped it wasn't an insensitive question.