A Dash of Chili Powder

57

Yuki's head snapped up towards the door was pounde on by many little hands. She sniffed the air, the familiar scents of Kugomi-chan and Naruto-baka. A frown. Great. More bratty teens. Hmph. If Vell had to deal with this all the time, no wonder why he's so grouchy.

"Kakashi-tousan, I'm not here," she quipped, leaping over the back of the couch and bolting past Vell on the stairs and tumbling into her room. No Naruto! It was the weekend. Screw short blond kids!

The jounin chuckled and whisked over to the door to open it, the two twins bursting into his house.

Amaya closed her eyes and laid there, mind swirling with thoughts of Rage and cookies and sleep. Sooner or later, she'd fall asleep rigt along with the tall boy. She coughed a bit and nestled herself into his leg and giving a yawn.

So tired...

A door slammed shut softly and she reopened her eyes to see who had left. Awaji was asleep in front of the tv and Scythe was nowhere to be found. Huh. Odd. Wonder where he went. Not that it was really all that important but she did live with him. When living with people, one tends to wonder where they're at, how they feel, and why.

She closed her eyes once more and shifted her position to get more comfortable, coughing during the process. Her throught burned... Great. More pain. She sighed and curled up, her tiny hand still latched to her pillow's pants, and she fell asleep without warning.

Kazuki was out today only because he had nothin else to do, what with being free for the day. He had his weekends and holidays off. It was particularly windy, gusts of air blowing in this way and in that way, ruffling the brown-haired boy's hair. He didn't mind it. The wind, while something that had scarred it, was a form of comfort for him. His last reminder of home.

Sure, Wind Element was a constant reminder of how much his father seemed to dislike him. However, it didn't matter. He forgive his old man long ago. He was still his dad. Not only that, but Kazuki was a naturally kind and forgiving person. There was no need to hold any grudges.

He walked along, occasionally stumbling and catching himself and walking normally again. See, he couldn't see very well. Having both eyes become ineffective. He frowned just slightly. 

He had no greater wish than to see.

Someone bumped into him, sending him tripping over his feet into a wall or fence or something. It didn't hurt. It was simply a matter of clumsiness, perhaps. Whatever the case, he regained composure and stood up straight, brushing himself off.

"Ah, sorry, kid," an unknown voice apologized warmly.

"No, no. It's alright." Kazuki looked in the direction of the voice and smiled. "I'm Kazuki."

An introduction was polite. No introduction was impolite,

[><]

Gracie

The twins threw themselves inside and into the living room as soon as the door was opened to them. "Yuki-chan?" Naruto called.

"Yun-chan!" Kugomi said at the same time her brother yelled.

Vell shrank back, mentally cursing. But before he could slink up the stairs, it was too late. They'd spotted him. "Oi, baka neko! Come with us," Kugomi demanded.

"Hell no," Vell snapped.

"C'mon, what could you possibly be doing? It won't kill you if ya just come along."

"It just might."

Naruto squinted and grabbed Vell's arm. "Since Yuki-chan's not here then we need somebody else to eat with us!" he insisted.

"Hell. No," Vell snarled.

Kugomi grabbed his other arm. "Let's go already, baka neko!"

Vell glared down at them both as they pulled dutifully on his arms. "You two are obviously terribly stupid so I will go into an explanation of the phrase 'hell no': HELL NO; exclamation; English; meaning: even if we were in hell, there would still be no circumstances that I would EVER go eat ramen with you!"

"Quit talking and come on, ya big idiot!" Naruto said, and he and his sister proceeded to dragging Vell out the door, which Kakashi still held open with an incredulous expression.

"No, dammit! Yuki's upstairs! Right up the stairs! Go get her! Son of a-- Onii, seriously, I'm getting kidnapped by midgets here!"

"Take your coat and don't talk to strangers," Kakashi said, throwing a thick tan jacket over Vell's shoulders.

"YOU MOTHER FU--" His roar was punctuated early with the slam of the door.

Kakashi sighed as if he'd just taken care of a big job. "Yu-Yu, the coast is clear. They took your uncle instead."

Scythe blinked at him in surprise. He hadn't expected a name. He grinned back. "Scythe. Nice to meet you."

Now he hesitated. I wonder.... "Er...don't think me weird, but, I have some spare time on my hands. My friends are all conked out in the apartment. Are you free? We could hang out..." Scythe rubbed the back of his head. "Wow, that did sound weird. Ignore that," he laughed, finding his odd offer a little funny.

[Scythe as NO idea that Kazuki's blind. Just sayin'. XD]