Returning to the Village, Unnatural Protocol

It was late evening high in the skies of the Land of the Dragon, the air thin amnd giving off its eerie vibe from earlier in the day. I would look down upon the earth below and take a deep breath from the edge of the Dragon's Kingdom. It was not soon after, Sapphire would slowly creep to my side as I turned to her with the slightest of a grin. With a pat on her snout, I spoke soft, barely loud enough to disturb a fly.

"Im ready when you are.."

Sapphire would nod and I would hop onto her back. She would ascend with a jump and spread her wings, my feet channeling chakra to hold station on her back. Immediately Sapphire would free fall and bring her wings back in. There were many things to be done back in the village, including getting a message to Haji. Downward we raced, the violent winds tearing through my hair on the way down, my cloak rustling restlessly. My eyes would narrow as I held my forearm out in front of my face to block the winds. The world was zooming back in on me, Harikengakure the destination.

Etai would be sitting on the roof of a ramen shop, who's location was in the midst of Ao Phalanx Harbour, patting his stomach quite happily with the results of his latest food tasting. This place would get an A- in his book. It was good, but the service was pretty lousey to him. The waiter seemed pretty pissed off at him for some reason, too. Why, he didn't know. Maybe it was the fact that he kept shooting spitballs at the other customers heads. Well, if they didn't want to get hit, they shouldn't make their heads so target-like.

He had been laying there for a good few hours, when he saw a distant figure flying in the night sky. What was that? Etai sat up, before collapsing back down. He moved to fast, and his vision was deemed blurry. He groaned, before sitting up again, a bit more slowly this time. He was glad to say that it was his idol, the one he basically worshipped each and every day; Dominic Edrick.

He watched in awe as the magnificent dragon raced towards them, unfaltering in the slightest. His mouth twitched into a grin before he began waving to the Shiokage. Was he sure that he would see? No. Would he try anyways? Yes. He began to jump now, too, The bundle of energy would not stop moving, as of now. He was an unstoppable force when he wanted. He just had to want it, first.

As the decent from the heavens continued, through the clouds we fell, the illumination of the Harbor glistening. I kept my focused view on the spectacle, admiring the scenery while it was enjoyable. Many things I loved about my home, and times like this were merely few and far inbetween. Sapphire was blazing fast in her free fall, her form magnificant, allowing pure aerodynamics to work their magic. It wasnt often she was able to go this fast, but in doing so, the thrill for her was never old.

She would attempt to level out at Ao Phalanx, and as she did so, there was the spotting of a kid, throwing himself to the world as if not to have a care in the world. As she saw this, she knew it to be an Edrick member. I too caught the glimpse of the boy, and sighed, Etai....

Sapphire, like a missile homing in, aimed straight for the boy, her arch as precise an a master archer searching for the center of a bull's eye. We were closing in fast, what would Etai do? Stand there and take the punishment, or react? Was there even time to? Sapphire usually wasnt a prankster, but she must be feeling frisky.

Etais face twitched as the dragon raced towards him. He stopped jumped, staring at the dragon. H would concentrate chakra flow to his legs, but it would easily look as if he was just standing there, in a ready pose like he was giong to take the blow. His green hair was shaking in the wind slightly. Then, he grinned. His grin was wild and mischievous to say the least, like he just threw a years supply of eggs into the ocean again. He remembered that time fondly.

At the last second, as the dragon would race towards him, he would release the chakra, jumping into the air and sending him flying above the two living beings. Than, he would fall back down on the building next to the shop, his grin still evident, and would resume waving, as if nothing had happened.

The contact seemed evident, but as soon as the fate of a collision seemed to come, Etai found a way to leap out of harms way. Sapphire ripped by and as she did, I gave her a pat on the back. It was my telling her good bye.. I jumped from her back, and as I peaked she continued to ascend, flying off into the night. I would watch this until I began to descend, my cloak clothing and hair swaying. My head would adjust, looking down towards the roof top in which I intended to land.

On a lower rooftop from Etai's position, I landed, my back turned away from the ever waving fellow Edrick. I would land on one hand and one knee, in a lung position, my free arm resting on my unplanted knee. My Shiokage cloak would be the last thing to fall as I slowly raised myself. As I did this, I turned only my head towards kin, my arms down by my side. With a determined expression I looked him with a smirk, giving a single nod, followed by a reply.

"Evening Etai."

"Evening Shiokage, SIR!"

Etai saluted stiffly, his legs perfectly straight and stiff as he stood facing Dominic. His face was serious, straight, and unflinching. His soft blue eyes were staring straight ahead, without blinking a single bit, and his face was a perfect line which usually wouldn't stop moving. And finally, his nose was strangely lifted upwards, so you could see his nostrils. Of course he was doing that on purpose.

Etais salute was firm as he greeted his idol. "And how are you this fine Day- I MEAN EVENING!"

Etai caught himself mid sentence, falling from formation onto the ground, in a star shape. He groaned annoyingly, as he began pushing himself with his feet, his shirt picking off bits of the dirt from the roof of the building as he continued pushing himself, waving his arms around.

Ever a flare for the dramatic, Etai gave a military salute, then fell over. It seemed the kid was never going to change or at least not anytime soon. I gave a sigh, and looked to the Village, the many towers hiding themselves under the earth, safe from danger. I turned back to Etai and spoke.

"So, why are you out this late? I don't remember giving you a mission having you on late night patrol."

The streets were dead quiet, and the Harbor seemed to be settling down for the night. A few lights were on, including the shop in which Etai had eaten at. There was business to be done and Etai may be the perfect person to help....or not.

"NO missions, my good man! Just late night snack was needed!"

Etai chirped to Dominic. He grinned foolishly at his nighttime surroundings, not one to usually stay up late. He enjoyed times of day like this. Maybe he would make a habit out of staying up at night. He then sat upright, his finger scratching his pointed chin thoughtfully. He looked at Dominic with narrowed eyes as he said,

"You still never answered my question, Shiokage-sama."

He stretched lazily, his eyes surveying the streets down below him as he relaxed in the night sky.

"OH, ..eh forgive me there kid. I just got back from a mission, but nothing too important. However, since you are here, you can make it your duty to be my guard watch back to the village."

I would rub the back of my head and grin as I spoke about the mission that I wasnt really on. However, cunning as I was, I played it off beautifully. It was enought to convince a jury of my peers, so Im sure it was more than enough to convince the never fully functional brain of Etai. I looked to the kid and awaited his response to the mini task dealt before him. Although Etai was young and a bit off, he was still well trained. In fact, he was a jonin of this land, so the job shouldnt be too hard. Shouldnt.....

"You got it Boss!"

Etai practically wet himself at the thought. Wow! A mission with the Shiokage! He grinned foolishly, his sky blue eyes sparkling at the thought. Etai kicked his legs up, sending him into the air, where he caught himself on his feet, suddenly ready for anything. He began to bounce towards Dominic, ready for anything, and jumped one final time, landing in front of Dominic, facing forward. He lost his balance a bit, but otherwise, the presentation was perfect. He cracked yet another grin at this.

By the time the young lad had demonstrated his full demonstration, there was not a man there, but thin air alone. I had already jumped off the roof top and landed in the streets below and began walking. The kid was a bit too eager for a mission that wasn't too difficult. Nonetheless, I walked the night streets of Ao Phalanx, towards Harikengakure. The towers loomed in the night, a few lights on but not many. The structures were standing the test of time, and it caused me to reflect on my reign over the place. Lost in thought, I walked slowly, the night air heavy. The situation with Koga was the reason for this reflection as it was still weighing me down. Etai, whom I had given the mission to, was but a short after thought. That could be a bad thing...

The village settled in the distance was quiet, the late night air cooled by the wind blowing from the Sound of Pisces. At the Shirokage's tower, Yuki slowly walked out onto the balcony. She was awake due to Hitomaru, and the fact she felt a bit sick. Yuki hoped that the cool night air would help, this pregnancy thing would be harder then she ever imagined.
Inhaling deeply to calm her upset stomach, Yuki's eyes wandered over to her side, just in time to catch a dark shadow falling through the air before taking a sharp vertical turn toward the heavens. Was that a...dragon...? A dragon?! A smile spread across Yuki's face, that must have meant Dom was home!
Yuki rushed back inside, the air was getting even colder and she did not need to be getting sick. Now she waited for Dom, even if it was just a week she never liked to watch him leave.

Realizing that Dominic was already taking his path down memory lane, Etai hurried to catch up to him. Etai sprinted awkwardly to catch up to the Shiokage, before stopping on his right side, pulling out one of his chakra sabres. He held it in front of his face, glaring around, his back facing Dominic. He would slowly walk around Dom in a circle, keeping up to pace with his walking, with his eyes darting around the area, making sure that no one tried to pull any moves, because the streets were so crowded with people at this time of the night.

As Etai protected me, his efforts were by far over the top. One would think we were in the middle of a great war, which definitely wasn't the case. His protocol was unnatural, but he got an A for effort. I continued a steady pace, pretending that he wasn't bothering me. It was actually hilarious but as Kage, I had to show resolve.

"Kid, I got to say, you are an odd ball, you do realize that there isn't anyone within 35 yards of us right..?"

I said with a stern face, suddenly a slight smirk and single chuckle escaping. My footsteps kept a rhythmic pace, as I watched the kid continue. I then looked to the towers again, thinking of Yuki. She had been alone for a week, and I wondered if she was turning angry. Knowing her, that wasn't the case.

Yuki sat at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers impatiently. Only a wekk but she hated being without Dom is the biggest building in the village. In fact the tower seemed almost eeire without his presence. Hito was sound asleep, and Yuki still felt a bit sick, having Dom home would make things a lot better.
With a sigh she rested her chin on the table top along with her arms, waiting to hear the front door open so she could rush upstairs and welcome Dom home in only the way she knew how to. Yuki hoped Dom would be home for a while, she could feel herself getting moodier by the day and she needed him.

Etai stopped short, the realization dawning over him that he could've just sensed it all on his own making him feel like an idiot. His expression dropped, and he just stared blankly into the night, Dominics pace making him continue on ahead of Etai, before running back up to the Kage, and keeping pace with him now.

"Right, hehe, my bad."

He said, rubbing the back of his head nervously while chuckling a bit to himself. His shining green hair ruffling a bit, it perking up at attention to his unclean habits and chores. He rarely took baths, yet smelled natural, and not anything bad. He was just dirty, and it could be seen quite easily.

"So, how have they been?"

I would ask as the young Etai walked by my side. I kept a look ahead for a moment, then turned to him. Even though he was dirty, it was a reminder that he was able to stay youthful even with the pressures that being a jonin brought. I gave a slight smile to him as I asked, for I knew he had probably been watching over them, even though he was most likely not assigned the task. As we closed in towards the gates of Ao Phalanx, there would be a long dirt path to take before getting into the cliff entrance. The beauty of the village, was that a majority of the actual village was within cliff side. It was as if we were entering a hidden paradise. I would turn towards this path, waiting now for Etai's answer.

Yuki sighed to herself, Dom was taking a while to get home, but she gathered all the strength she could muster, and was patient. She'd quickly gone to their room and gotten the book she'd been reading. Now situated comfortably on the couch in the living room, she kept reading and waited for Dom to walk through the door.
The reading helped her take her mind off the wait, before she knew it Dom would be back and everything would go back to normal. Or, atleast as normal as their little family could get.

"I've been like I've usually been. Busy with Fido, my pet Dust Bunny, and Jimmy, my Pet Moldy Pizza. They hate each other for some reason."

Etai began talking about his boring days of picking his toenails and going on extreme missions that he was assigned. He then began talking about his fungal problems on the inside crook of his knee, and that was why he stopped wearing shorts. He began going into detail about his problem, and didn't realize that this subject was basically taboo in modern society and conversation. He just trekked on, talking really fast and barely taking any breaths in between.

I would grow wide eyed in expression as Etai spoke on about a molded pizza's undeniable rivalry vs. a pet dust bunny. It was at this moment, I realized he had no idea what or who I was even talking about. My self diagnosis...he was a few handseals short of a ninjutsu. My left eye began to twitch as my face was just went blank, a large sweat gland, crossed over my temple, signalling total loss of the situation as I stopped walking.

"I meant Yuki and Hitomaru??"

I had to speak in question form, for I seriously doubted that I was in the real world. Was this a dream? Dust bunny against weeks old pizza? There was little time to process the insanity. I could only hope Etai would give me the answer I was actually looking for.....one could only hope....

Yuki sneezed softly, she wasn't cold, in fact the tower was quiet warm and comfortable. Someone must have been talking about her then. She had a pretty good idea who it was, and a smile spread on her face as she kept reading. How she couldn't wait to have Dom home again, Hito would have to say hello in the morning.
It was past midnight, sort of late even for Yuki but she wanted to great Dom when he came back. Her stomach was also churning a little still, but she kept herself calm. It was nothing she couldn't easily deal with, she had been through much worse then the low key stomach-ache. But as she thought that, she knew it would only get worse sooner then she expected, so for the moment she sort of enjoyed the preverbial calm before the raging storm.

"What? Oh yeah, they're fine. Yukis been a bit pissed at me, though cause I tried feeding Hitomaru some of my sugar pills. Not my fault he was playing with the case."

Etai intwined his fingers before sticking them outwards, cracking them all loudly. His small, underdeveloped mind barely registered Dominics sudden change of sanity, The Young Jounin wasn't one to really take notice of major details in anything. Once he mistook a burglary happening in front of him and thought that it was part of a 3-D movie. It took until the guy pushed him to realize that it was the real deal, and quickly took care of the problem.

Etai would look around boredly, before pulling out his chakra sabre and playing with the blade and handle for a little bit.

I could not believe what I was hearing. Etai giving a child pills? My child?! Unforgivable. As he began to play with his blade, a vein erupted in my head figuratively, and for the sake of Hitomaru, in a flash of light, I was behind Etai, delivering a mighty boot to his backside, attempting to kick the living hell out of the jonin. It would send him like a football being punted in the air, to be nothing more than a pebble in the sky. He deserved this, and if Yuki didn't give him this punt, this was his punishment.

Yuki flipped another page, nearing the next chapter quiet quickly. As she read, she remembered the time that Etai was over watching Hitomaru for just a second while she was gone getting some things. And what happened when she came back? Etai had tried to give Hitomaru one of those damn pills of his!
If Yuki was any madder at the insane little Jounin he might have been dead, instead of skidding on his face on the cement when Yuki literally threw him out of her house. Hito was fine, he hadn't gotten any of them in his system but oh was she still mad. If she saw Etai again soon would he get an earful!

"AUUGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Etai flew in the air, his butt probably scarred permanently from that insane kick that Dominic gave. He flew forward, his face red, his butt bruised. He probably couldn't get any more in pain. But he was resistant. He was used to registering Pain daily, so he wasn't as pain affected as much as a regular person was. He flew high in the sky, before crashing down back on the ground, his face buried in his arm as he was curled up in the fetal position, unmoving. His cloak was sprawled next to him, still tied loosely around his neck.