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Her smile was impossible to suppress. Every tooth could be seen and the kunoichi was afraid that her lips might split in half if her lips spread anymore. Nobody had ever made her smile in such a way, or as much as Esei was. "Guess I better thank my parents for being able to give me a face like this then. Without it I might not have hooked you," she said jokingly. The line of humor continued as words left her mouth before she could even think about them in response to his question. "If you think you can handle seeing me with barely any clothes on."

Though it sounded incredibly vain, it wasn't intended to be so, but she knew that it had come out wrong. "Then again, who knows if I'll be able to contain myself seeing you that way," she added, her subtle attempt at seeming less than shallow. She knew that she wasn't bad looking, her self esteem in that regard had always been rather stable, and sometimes she even flaunted her appearance when her flirtatious side came out. With Esei though, she didn't want to come off as a sleaze looking to get naked. Sh wanted to be as much of herself as she could muster. Though it was a part of her personality, the bedroom eyed woman wasn't all she had to offer.

"Picky, huh? Well consider me flattered to be someone that you can take an interest in." His mention of her not having anybody in her life didn't come as a surprise. In fact, she'd been expecting it in a way. She had brought it up, after all. She wasn't sure how exactly to respond, and it took her a moment to form the words in her mind and transfer them to her tongue. "I guess I've just never been able to get close to anybody before... For whatever reason." As their skin made contact, she detected his blush only momentarily before it was gone. She had almost failed to notice it -- it had blended in almost perfectly with the hair that framed her facade.

Before she had a chance to mention it, he had tugged her into what she assumed was the arcade and, in a way, challenged her indirectly. "We'll see who the loser is, tough guy," she said, moving herself closer to him and directing her mouth to his ear. "I'm not above playing dirty if I have to," she whispered in an alluring tone before setting her feet flat on the ground and separating herself from him, reluctantly releasing his hand to crack her knuckles. "So, how does this work anyway?" she questioned.

"If you truly believe that a child is responsible for the actions of its father, then I don't know if I can be on your team any longer," Kasumi said, turning to face the man whose voice she recognized so clearly, whose words began to reflect his icy abilities so closely. "I think it would be detrimental to learn from someone as misguided as you clearly are," she added angrily, her voice almost like a whisper. Though she was not stupid or innocent enough to believe that people wouldn't hold Kouketsu's actions against his and Blanche's child, she knew that it was wrong in every possible way, and she knew that she would do anything to convince others of that truth. Though she had been directly addressing Ujiyasu, her voice was loud for most everybody that stood in that place to hear, and her volume was intentional. She was going to have another moment.

"Not everybody is blessed enough to be born to parents who have no trace of scandal, no past to plague their existence each and every day. People's hands get dirty, whether it is done maliciously or defensively. As shinobi, we should all be well aware of that fact," Kasumi began. "The fact that some of you seem to think that a child that has yet to be born will be just like its father is horrible, and to add insult to injury, you hate it for what you think it will bring into the world, when it hasn't even had a chance to prove you wrong. You imply that our Kusakage is the one that is short-sighted for bringing such a man to live within our borders, but truly, it is all of you that are short-sighted for condemning a child that hasn't even taken its first breath!" she exclaimed, her voice having grown louder and more intense with each word she spoke.

"I was unfortunate enough to grow up beneath the shadows cast by my parents actions, and I wouldn't wish that hell upon anybody. To live in fear and misery each and every day is a truly horrible thing, and to force that on a child is unforgivable in my eyes," Kasumi explained, her eyes growing watery but staying at bay. "Yes, Kouketsu has done horrible things in the past," she said, looking up at him momentarily. "But I'm sure that everyone that stands in this crowd isn't completely innocent either. Everyone has done their share of things that they regret, that they wish they could take back. Whether or not Kouketsu feels such remorse or not, I don't know. What I do know is that he did those things before this child was ever a thought, and long before it ever began to grow. This child is more innocent than any of us, so who are we to judge it?" A deep breath was her only pause before continuing.

"I'm not thrilled about Kouketsu living here either, but the thing that separates me from so many of you is that my faith in Blanche isn't as conditional as yours. She is a person that is vulnerable to the same feelings as we are. Just because she is our leader does not mean that she should cut her heart out and forsake love, and it does not make her any less of a human being than the rest of us. If you think that she should conform to your ideals of what a leader should be and sacrifice more than she already has for us, then you should take a step back and truly think about the kind of person that you are before going around and judging her."

[Sorry, not that great of a post lol]

Words whizzed past Kasumi's head at different speeds and intensities. Those spoken against Blanche and Kouketsu's apparent union moved almost too fast for Kasumi to notice, and those spoken in support seemed to fly with such ease and calmness that Kasumi was able to grasp them for the length of time needed to understand them before letting them float away once more, to whom they were directed. Kasumi herself had yet to speak for she knew not if it was her place, but a tenseness built up in her muscles, in her heart specifically, and she hurt for the one person that not one of the villagers seemed to be mentioning or concerning themselves with -- the baby. She waited as the other villagers spoke their minds, some of their words being perceived as another language by her young ears, some fitting in snugly with her own thoughts. She listened as Blanche spoke and was about ready to step up until he appeared. Though she had never met him, the energy he gave off was unmistakable -- the man was none other than Kouketsu Uchiha.

Her legs locked in place and she nearly fell over from surprise and anxiety, but a nearby wall was the refuge that she needed from looking like a fool. Her hand nestled against it, and soon her arm bent and her entire body rested against its stability. She was almost afraid that if she let go, his thunderous voice might blow her away. His words were adamant, and reminded her of the way Blanche had spoken during their personal encounter. His care rested solely on Blanche, and through that, he cared for what she cared about, namely the village and its inhabitants. Naturally he cared for their child, as it was as much his as it was her's, but no matter what she had seen before in her life, no matter what stories she had been told about the horrors of the Uchiha that left nothing but destruction and malice in his wake, the man that stood before them and addressed them seemed... Different.

Though she wouldn't call someone an idiot if they told her he was a monster who had done terrible things, he also seemed to hold everything he said with the utmost seriousness and, in a way, he seemed to want to prove himself a changed man to the entirety of Kusagakure. Or at least, that was how the kunoichi perceived the speech he gave while dropping each bit of armor he wore to the ground. Though the things he said about what he would do should they be attacked frightened her, and what he said about defending his family against violence frightened her even more, deep down at her core she knew that he wouldn't throw his power around carelessly. Or perhaps, she only hoped that that would be the case. After all, she didn't know anything but the stories told and pictures painted about him.

As his words ceased, she took a moment to breath in the oxygen that surrounded her. The world suddenly seemed much smaller, and the people around her much bigger. Her paranoid mind told her to run and get as far away as she possibly could. To get her parents and bring them away from Kusagakure. Her heart, which was the stronger and the louder of the two, spoke against the notion. What Blanche had said in the garden and had said once again at the current gathering was firmly rooted in her body and mind. Through this, what Kouketsu said also rooted itself within her, and as the roots spread and grew inside her, a sense of serenity overcame her, and her body seemed to respond immediately to the cues given by her brain. She moved away from the wall with ease and her legs carried her forward with grace, eager to find a place where she could address all who had congregated there. Her tongue moistened her lips and her lungs provided the fuel for her speech, and for the first time she spoke.

"It makes me sick that so many of you would turn your backs on her because of something that she has no control over," she said, briefly pausing to find her next words. Though she had never spoken in such a way, let alone publicly, she seemed to know just what she wanted to say when she wanted to say it, and it felt... Right. "Nobody chooses who they fall in love with, and even though we are ninja, I find it hard to believe that any one of us could have forgotten that. Have you all truly become so cold-hearted from the way of the ninja that you could forget what it is to simply be human and to feel?" she yelled out, her voice echoing ever so slightly against the objects that surrounded them. She quieted as she waited for her voice to fade before speaking again, a knot slowly forming in her throat. "This child has nothing to do with the things that either of them have done in the past, it hasn't even been born or had a chance to live yet... And despite that, it sounds as if you have all decided to hate it and them because of one man's past, one man's actions.

"Yes, Kouketsu has done horrible things in the past. We all should know that, most of us have witnessed or experienced grief at his hands, but Blanche has been there for this village through everything and she has restored it from that very destruction. As is the very spirit of Kusa, she persevered and built something from nothing like the plants that grow through the cracks in the pavement, and even though she has done all of that for me and for all of you, you're going to let a matter of the heart that cannot be controlled throw all of that away? You're going to put such pressure on a child that is, by definition, the epitome of innocence, because you're frightened or angry?" Another pause followed, and in that pause she searched for the proper word to describe how it made her feel. There were so many possible words, but only one truly fit.

"That is truly shameful and disgusting. It makes me sick to call myself one of you." Her attention turned away from all of them and onto Blanche, and to an extent, Kouketsu. She walked forward several steps to get a better look at Blanche before speaking to her, a small, gentle smile on her lips. "I will stand by you and your child no matter what happens. Though I wish things could be different and I wish that it could be somebody else, I have faith in you, and through that, in Kouketsu Uchiha. You are my Kusakage, and because of all that you have done for us, for all you have been through with us, I believe in you," she said proudly, turning her head slightly to address the crowd. "That is all that should matter."

The other girl -- the one that had instantly fallen asleep and seemed to be at least half asleep at all times -- struck Kasumi as strange and lazy. She enjoyed relaxing as much as the next person, but she thought that something lost its value if you did it or had it at all times. The further thought of what might happen when it came down to a battle struck her as well. Would she be just as unreliable she appeared to be? Or would a serious situation set fire underneath her? It appeared that only time would tell, so for the time, she remained quiet where it concerned Taidana.

The younger boy, however, was a different thing entirely. She couldn't help but get the feeling that he wasn't a normal kid. His eyes had made it clear to her, and when he answered the question posed by Ujiyasu, her feeling only grew stronger. Not only his first name was unusual to her, so was his last name, perhaps even more so than the first. In one word, he appeared to be a megalomaniac. Power, fame, sex. Surely it was hormonal and his response was a result of his young age, and where it might have been better to let it slide, Kasumi could help but squeeze a thought in. "You're like, twelve," she said, her tone somewhere between incredulous and endearing. She wasn't exactly sure how she was supposed to sound, but in the end it seemed that he had only been joking, serving to further confuse her attempt at understanding him.

At Ujiyasu's mention of them failing a test, her lips screwed into a smile behind which she was trying to subdue laughter. After she managed to control herself, she asked, "That was a test?" If a single question such as that constituted a test, then Kasumi figured that the instructors at the Academy had tried too hard. But only moments later, they were sinking into the floor, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end so straight that they could have left scratch marks in the tunnel. "What the hell is going on!?" she demanded to know, her paranoia rising to the surface, tensing each part of her body to be ready to react to anything.

As they settled on the ground and Ujiyasu began to explain what the place was, her body seemed to relax ever so slightly, and her hair settled slowly. It seemed that he too shared some hint of paranoia. He was prepared for the worst to happen and had constructed a place that could act not only as his work place, but as a hideout, all seemingly underground beneath the village. "Huh," she remarked more to herself than to the others. Being honest with herself, she was surprised. He'd seemed more... Clean before. Knowing he had a secret hideaway made her second guess her first assumption.

And then his second mention of a test drained all sense of appreciation for his forge from her body. Though she was good at finding things, it didn't mean she enjoyed searching for them. Generally, she just sensed them out, but for finding kunai that simply wouldn't be an option. After he finished explaining, she stood in her spot for a moment and sighed, not looking forward to searching through what now appeared to her to be a dank, decrepit hell hole rather than a gloriously crafted secret location. "I'll go down this way, I guess," she said, walking down one of the tunnels that was closest to where she stood.

ENTER~

Kasumi Sansei, fresh from a good night's sleep and a night of peaceful dreams, approached the area in which the crowd had begun to form. Though she wasn't entirely sure what was going on, or what the context for such an announcement might be, she knew that if Blanche had chosen to address the village in such an official manner, it had to be important. She recognized few people, spotting only her new teammate, Aramilyis, and a man she had met once before named Esei. The rest of the faces that made up the group were foreign and unfamiliar to the Chuunin-hopeful, and put her a bit on edge despite the comforting words that Blanche had offered her during their first meeting. She imagined that things could only get more tense in a situation that had such an air of seriousness.

[Sorry this isn't so great, dead tired.]