[Warai Ameko]

The mission to clear the garrisons had been successful, probably not as successful as it could have been, their team had suffered more than a few injuries in pursuit of their goals, but they’d achieved those goals nonetheless. But even now, days later, Ameko could feel the aches and pains through her body. Wounds had started to scab, and more than a few slash marks had been stitched up, leaving Ameko feeling like something of a patchwork doll. Still, they’d succeeded, and that meant they’d been afforded a bit of time off. Time off that Ameko did not know what to do with. Ever since becoming a genin, she’d dedicated nearly every waking moment to becoming the greatest shinobi that she could be. Trainings, missions, whatever else she could attempt to do in pursuit of her goals, they’d taken up much of her waking moments. Taking a break from it all left her feeling somewhat empty and confused. Yet, it could be worse, she could have ended up like Senshi. The youngest of their team had been the most injured, and had to be evacuated from the battle. The two of them continued to share a room, part of the extended stay of Senshi at the Warai house. So it was that Ameko found herself walking in on a particularly curious scene when she blindly walked into their shared bedroom, her teammate, her roommate, her friend, engaging in the most peculiar of activities.

Kyokujitsu Senshi

[Kyokujitsu Senshi]

Senshi as some might put it was not in fact a normal child, when one looked upon her. As she had recovered gradually from the arrow tht was shot through her arm, healed by one of Suna's medical ninja, she was told to take it easy. That she had in fact been in a life threatening encounter. So, she did. Instead, she found herself slowly tending her egg, making sure it was fertilized in the first place, and had been painstakingly taking care of it. Keeping it near nutrients. Keeping it warm with her Shakuton orbs. Because who again, didn't want to ride a giant lizard into battle? So was Senshi's thought.

Ameko when she walked in would see a few floating orbs, resting nearby the egg, keeping it delicate floating overhead, the reddish orange balls as Senshi sat along the floor, slowly running her hands along its length. "Ohayo!~" She calls out to Ameko with a soft tone. She could feel the shell, and she was almost certain it was going to hatch one of these days. It wasn't rotten, she knew at least that much, considering it would have stunk up the room a week ago at least if that was the case. Besides, she was sure she could feel it pulsing. Giggling, she runs her cheek along it. "Soon!~ You'll be the best steed in all of Suna!"

[Warai Ameko]

She had known that Senshi had stolen an egg from their previous foray into lizard extermination. Logically, that meant that she had known the younger girl would be attempting to hatch the lizard for the foreseeable future. That, of course, didn’t take away from the spectacle of the thing. Seeing Senshi sitting with the egg, balls of shakuton warming it in the world’s strangest incubator, Ameko still couldn’t quite understand the details of what she was seeing. It was something that she’d never have predicted a few months before. Her room had been something of a sanctuary, somewhere to escape from the chaos that came with living with a cackle of hyenas. "Are you sure that will even hatch?” Ameko asked, approaching her own futon and falling down on the mattress with an undignified grunt, "Can’t say I know much of anything about hatching lizards but this feels different to how the professionals do it.” She didn’t mean anything particularly harsh with her criticism, sometimes, the genin simply could not figure out how to best temper her tongue. Ameko rolled over onto her stomach, watching the scene before her with cool blue eyes. Another grunt escaped from her lips, an ache in her ribs from where she’d broken them in their last mission, and then a sigh. "Have you thought on how you’re actually going to train this thing?”

Kyokujitsu Senshi

[Kyokujitsu Senshi]

"Of course it's gonna hatch! Don't even say that!" She says, rubbing her face up against the egg, as she applies her warming chakra to her hands and the shell. "Yeah~ My little baby egg is gonna hatch and grow so big!" She says, before slowly standing up and looking upon Ameko. Before promptly flopping and landing right on top of her back, to use her as a pillow. Ameko often used the hyenas as a pillow, and while they were comfortable, Ameko was a firm cushion herself.

"Mhrmh...I dunno how the professionals do it. But this is da Senshi way." She says, manipulating one of her scorch balls to fly a bit closer for light. Before slowly rolling over on the opposite edge of the mattress. Holding her left arm up, she thinks back to her arrow wound, before being asked. How was she going to train the thing. "Uhh. Well...I was hoping you'd know. You trained the hyenas so. I figured it can't be all that different." She says, looking at the strangely colored egg with freckles dotted along its edges.

"If you do, I promise you can ride it whenever I'm not using him." She says, giggling softly as she slowly hovers the orb above Ameko and herself, providing a nice and warm light for them, like a heating pad.

[Warai Ameko]

"I’m just trying to be realistic,” Ameko replied, rolling her neck with a lazed movement, taking full advantage of the warmth of the little balls of chakra, "I don’t think either of us know anything about hatching eggs or training reptiles, or even raising them. Do you know what they eat? Have you tried looking it up?” The older genin forced herself up and to a seated position, crossing her legs in front of her, leaning forward with hands on her knees like a particularly learned scholar. "Hyenas are smart and pack animals,” Ameko tapped her fingers against he knees, "We know they had a social structure but were they just together out of convenience or do they have a proper hierarchy? These are all pretty simple animal husbandry questions, and… there’s the matter of the blood chakra bond I have with the hyenas.” Ameko nodded sagely, "Not quite the same. You can’t just copy what I do with the boys and assume it will carry over to this little guy… Do you even know if you can ride them?” The Warai girl pursed her lips and fell back on to the bed, "Maybe go and find some books on the sand lizards, I’m sure some other idiot has tried raising one at some point, y’know?”

Kyokujitsu Senshi

[Kyokujitsu Senshi]

"Well...I asked about what it was the lizards ate from those villagers. They seemed to eat crops and meat. So. It's an omnisaur." She says, nodding her head seriously. "And I know when lizards hatch, they can eat their own egg shells. So. That's gonna be neat." She says, slowly petting the egg. It was here Ameko would give her a bit of a lecture. About how smart the Hyenas were, and with it, she found herself thinking about the words, but her brain began to kind of scatter a little bit as she absorbed the information. "I didn't know animals had husbands."

"Are your hyenas married?" She asked curiously. "Also. It'll be fine! We can figure it all out! Don't worry! We'll feed him, and take care of him, and when he gets as big as the normal lizards? We can put a saddle on him and everything!" Not really seeing Warai's concern, Senshi felt it shouldn't be too hard to figure things out as they go. "I've got some food here and there prepared, and we'll figure out what it likes to eat. And we can keep it in a little enclosure or something. Or a box until it grows bigger!" It seemed as if she was just happy to even have the chance or notion, thinking that love and nurture would win the day.

"I'm sure our dinosaur's gonna be smaaaart! We're gonna teach it all the best tricks, and when it comes down to it? We'll be the coolest kids in Suna! Come on! Imagine it!"

[Warai Ameko]

Ameko blinked. It seemed that Senshi had put the bare minimum of thought into raising the lizard after all. Well, she at least knew what they ate. That gave Ameko some small comfort. At least the animal would not starve to death on a diet of nothing but sour worms and whatever other candies her teammate could scrounge up. The rest of her plan, however, seemed to be about what Ameko expected from her younger teammate, half-brained and chaotic. No doubt Senshi had never raised an animal before, let alone one that was utterly wild by nature. The lizard would not be domesticated, she would need to break it to tame it. "A box?” but it was that simple statement that took her aback, "Where will you get a box big enough? Gods above….” Ameko forced herself to her feet, a groan escaping her lips as she did so, "I’m imaginin’ lots of stuff. Mostly you not housebreaking it, or not training it proper so it eats stray cats…” "And no, the hyenas ‘aint married, animal husbandry is- you know what, never mind, it doesn’t matter.” The older genin approached and crouched down by the egg, her eyes staring at the proverbial creature within, "Look. Just make sure you’re the first person it sees 0r whatever. Then spend every waking moment with it…” "You can do that, yeah?

Kyokujitsu Senshi

[Kyokujitsu Senshi]

"Is that what you did for your-" Crack. She slowly looks at the egg, and watches it begin to slightly shake. She gasped. Egad. What a twist of fate. Slowly, she looks at the egg, rocking in place, and with it, she immediately shoots up from bed. Slapping Ameko along her back and then butt in shock. "It's hatching! It's hatching!" She says, shaking the girl along the bed, as she crouches down and sees her orbs hovering about it. She thought back to the creatures she saw along their little monster hunting excursion, and with it, it seemed to be a painstakingly long process.

One moment after the other, before it gradually begins to shake, more cracks forming along. Before eventually, the shell is punctured. Her orbs gradually move away from the egg, and after what seemed like a small forever, a small and lumbering little creature comes forth. A greyish green, as a little creature comes forth on all fours, semi bipedal with claws, and a horned nose. The Komodo Rhino. Looking upon it, it cries out in a small braying sound, to which Senshi's eyes were lit up like stars, as she claps her hands excitedly. "Welcome into the world!~ My name is Senshi! Ohoho! I'm your mom! And this here is Ameko! Your other mom!" She says, reaching out immediately and grabbing the poor thing as it screams out, frightened, as she slowly rubs her hands along it.

"Your name is Kaiju!" She exclaims, and with it, upon its birthing, it was already the size of a small dog, a long and lengthy tail which slaps against the bedpost and thumps against Senshi's side as she leans forward and kisses it on the side of the body. This was possibly one of the most happiest Ameko had ever seen the small blonde. "Look Ameko!~ Isn't it amazing?!"

[Warai Ameko]

Before Ameko could enlighten Senshi to the fact that hyenas and probable death lizards had utterly different social structures and required different rearing, the egg cracked and split. Senshi gasped and stared before she practically assaulted her older friend with slaps and shakes. Ameko was caught off guard, her own eyes having turned toward the miracle of birth before her. So it was that she did not defend herself from the shakes, the slaps and the ball of energy that was Senshi. Instead, all she could offer was weak resistance, "Stop, stop!” Laughter interspersed between her protests. In due course, Senshi would stop, her eyes turning back to the egg and its movement. Ameko, too, found herself utterly entranced. Hyena birth was a bloody and brutal affair that she had little desire to witness. This was far more pleasant. A small creature slowly made its way from the egg, grey-green scales piercing the shell and taking tentative steps into the fresh air. "Wow…” Ameko muttered under her breath as she watched the newborn for a moment. Senshi was far less reserved with her approach, immediately grabbing the lizard and pulling the yelping creature into what seemed to be a hug. Ameko figured the reptile was terrified, but she didn’t know enough about newborn lizards to know if Senshi’s actions were harmful. All she could glean was the blonde was positively ecstatic. "Amazing,” Ameko agreed, her eyes transfixed on the thumping and squirming lizard. For a moment she was silent, "Is… are you supposed to be doing that? It’s kinda loud.”

Kyokujitsu Senshi