[Open] It's getting hot in here

[showsnopiety]

Who: Caren and anyone visiting the hot springs!
When: Post dungeon, could be right after fail/success, could be days after
Where: Hot Springs of course
What: There's a hot springs, so now there's a hot springs episode.
Rating: Could be a p-13 and beyond because some people are only wearing towels in this place.





[Win or fail, everyone needed a reason and a way to relax. With the fall of the towers, there was all sorts of good things to come from it. Some would say it was the birds; and others would say it was the hot springs.

The large, large pools of heated water. Sure, they could be used as a way to get all steamed up (or even steam punk) but after all that hard work, everyone deserves a break!

Bring your swimsuits, your towels, your drinks and snacks-who knows, you should be able to find them in the bazaars, or even on Airy. It's time to soak in the heat!]

Comments

Naruto Uzumaki | ota ٩(◦`꒳´◦)۶

[acknowledges]

[Of all the hot springs experiences to have, Naruto is sad to say that most of them have been with a perverted old man with peeking practices that always threatened to get them thrown out. It seems like that might not be as much of an issue now though, since there are... there are girls and guys all in the. Same. Place.

Sweating intensifies.

While he's always been told that he doesn't spend enough time in the baths to really get a good soak in, Naruto has been in them with enough frequency that he isn't phased by the prospect of hanging out naked with a bunch of dudes. It's-

It's seeing all the cute girls here too that's the problem.
Don'tstaredon'tstaredon'tstaredon'tsta SOMETHING JUST TOUCHED HIS LEG UNDER THE WATER WHAT WAS THAT]

[drawmecute]

*Some girls don't like to be ogled. They find it creepy, or objectifying, or insulting of their value. Lola never got that, it meant you are hot and guys wanted you. And sure, sometimes guys are creepy, but that was on the guy.*

*So Lola was more than happy to stand and move in ways to draw the male gaze to her, and her cute swimsuit. She only really stopped her games when something seemed to bother the blonde who made terrible choices in face tattoos.*

Are you okay?

[acknowledges]

[The thing is, as strange as mixed baths are for him, it's equally strange to see people doing all of these other things. People wearing clothes into the hot spring, or bringing food and drinks in, and swimming- okay maybe not the swimming, he'd done that once when he'd been a kid too.

Naruto isn't actively trying to stare at girls so much as he's trying really hard not to. He jolts when he's addressed, head jerking up and with it, the towel perched in his hair wobbles, threatening to fall.]

Ahhh yeah yeah, I think there's just fish in here or something'ttebayo.

[drawmecute]

I wonder if the fish here are as dangerous as everything else in this world...

*Lola says that then she slips into the water next to Naruto. Even if the fish are dangerous the water is really nice. And she can totally handle whatever while she's completely unarmed and unprepared, right?*

Hey, why are half the people here naked?

[acknowledges]

[Because that's the thought he wants stuck in his head while they hang out in unknown water. Angry fish. Fire-breathing fish. Killer fish.

He stiffens the moment she settles in beside him, but it's hard to know off the bat if that's because of the potentially deadly fish or if it's because he's naked and there's some young girl right next to him. Naruto inches away slowly.]

'Cause- 'cause that's what you're supposed to do at a hot spring. It's so you don't make the water dirty.

[sky_sharkling]

[Something touched your leg under the water? It's probably whatever that very shark-like fin circling right next to you belongs to.

...it might bite depending on what happens next.

Meanwhile its owner is swimming nearby looking for his missing carrier] Kiba, where'd you go...

[acknowledges]

[His experience with sharks is- well. It's maybe a little strange to say he has some experience at all but there it is. Granted they're mostly shark-dudes, with the blue and the saw teeth and the feeling that a bite of him could go missing at any time.

-But that's totally different from sitting in a makeshift hot spring and feeling something touch him while a... a fin... goes by...

Naruto freezes in place, heart beating out of his chest.
All that work and this is how he's gonna die. He's going to be eaten in an onsen.]

[sky_sharkling]

[The fin inches closer...closer...it's probably too small a shark to really eat him but that's definitely a shark fin. Closer...]

Kiba! Stop that! [Akito to the rescue! He is all the flailing as he swims over, the fin stopping its tormenting of Naruto to go and circle around Akito instead] You can't just go be mean to people...I'm so sorry for him, mister. [So much apologetic and embarrassed. So much]

[acknowledges]

It's okay it's okay- [It's a double-edged sword because Naruto has certainly seen small harmless things that only look scary- and then he's seen scary small things that have Wrecked him.

For as traditional as his bathing habits appear to be, he doesn't look in any way bothered by the flailing and splashing that follows- though Naruto is trying to ease away from the- whatever it is as slowly as possible.]

What is that thing anyway?

i'm sorry...............

[passtave]

[ Sakura doesn't know why she did such... a stupid thing... it's just that, the moment she saw the boy emerge nearby and walk towards the hot spring she was relaxing in (alone! Where no one would look at her!), she suddenly panicked and ducked under the water to hide.

It's just... look, she just wasn't expecting anyone to interrupt her! She wasn't prepared! And she probably looks bad in her bathing suit... but she couldn't find one that covered more of her up! And... and...

And that's how she finds herself curled up underwater, her lungs straining for breath—how long has she been down here? Did... did he walk past? Is it safe to come up? Did...

Did she just brush up against someone's leg? ]

A-Ahhh—! [ She surges up from under the water, Ariel-esque but much less graceful—there's hair in her face, which, by the way, are both the same shade of violent pink, and if she wasn't gasping and wheezing for breath she'd probably be screaming in terror some more. She definitely touched something! She—

Oh. She touched this boy right in front of her, didn't she? ]

pray for me

[acknowledges]

WH-WH-WHA- [The sound that tears out of Naruto's mouth is so high pitched that only dogs can hear him. Somewhere, in another world, Kiba is looking around in confusion and rubbing at his ears. Akamaru is whining. A host of ninja dogs howl in unison. All is confusion.

Naruto's certainly confused- but the confusion comes after the shock which comes after abject terror because something touched him and now there's a creature emerging from the deep and it probably saw his junk- and if it didn't then he's certainly offering up an eyeful now because Naruto manages to become entirely airborne in his attempt to scramble away. His towel has been lost to the springs. Terrycloth, we barely knew ye.]

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!

this is a disaster'ttebayo

[passtave]

[ In her alarm, it takes her a moment to register that she actually surfaced very, very close to him... and he's screeching... and frantically scrambling away from her and holy dragon ancestors, that's a penis. ]

W-WAHHH!

[ Honestly, she's mostly yelling because he's yelling, creating a vicious panic feedback loop. She's pretty sure she's having an aneurysm of distress right now, which isn't helped at all by the knowledge that he's stark naked and what if she'd touched that instead of his leg. She immediately claps her hands over her eyes, and backs away from him so fast that she smacks into the rocks at the edge of the hot spring. ]

I... I-I'm sorry! I-I d-didn't mean to—! [ Well, you know. ]

i have regrets

[acknowledges]

[This part isn't unusual. Naruto's shouting almost always either a) comes on the heels of someone else's shouting or b) is followed up by equally loud, incoherent yells. What is unusual is flashing a princess with full-frontal before introductions have even been considered. She goes bolting backwards so fast that she leaves a wake behind her and Naruto clues into what's happening a beat too late for it to matter. He may not be in mortal danger, but his dignity has just been dealt a fatal blow.

Naruto's hands come down infront of his junk in a belated attempt at damage control and the enormous splash that follows is the whole of his weight diving back under the surface of the water. Submerged up to his chin Naruto's arms wave helplessly, his own apologies chasing after hers.]

I didn't know you were-! I'm sorry! I was- And you- Scary fish-!

[penitents]

Would you relax?

[ He doesn't bother keeping the naked exasperation out of his voice when Naruto's literal jumping around sloshes the hot water around them. Sasuke lifts his good arm to catch Naruto around his wrist before he has any real momentum to get away and pulls him back down into the water. Probably Naruto will lose his balance and make more of a fool of himself, but there's only so far he can go with Sasuke on one side and slippery rocks on the other. ]

You look like an idiot.

[acknowledges]

[Naruto does not lose his balance suck it, Sasuke but his resettling only results in further splashing. At the very least it doesn't look like these hot springs are as formal as the ones he knows back home. He's seen people swimming and wearing all kinds of outfits in- people eating and drinking in the water and people playing or fighting.

Sasuke's "good" arm (read: his only arm) reaches out for him and it's a gesture Naruto returns without thought- connecting and leaning and steadying himself until he's safely nestled below the surface once more. Relaxing as a whole isn't something that comes easily to him, but somehow it's more pronounced when he's in a place meant specifically for that purpose. He's unlikely to stay long.]

You always think I look like an idiot.

[penitents]

[ Sasuke doesn't expect him to keep still very long. Naruto has always been a hurricane barely contained, wrapped up in vibrant orange and loud words and blue eyes. Trying to hold him still is akin to trying to keep water cupped between two hands and expecting nothing will slip loose. Sasuke keeps his grip firmly in Naruto's, holding him steady until he's slipped under the spring again, and only then does he let go.

He pointedly doesn't let himself watch his young friend too long. Even now, it's strange, seeing him like this, bursting with life and ready to run to the next thing. That he has both flesh and blood arms is distracting in a way Sasuke can't quite figure out. Sasuke closes his eyes and leans his head back against the edge of the pool, looking utterly unbothered by the people splashing rudely around in the pool and shouting and eating around them. ]

Some things don't change.

[ The tease is light, easily lobbed back out of habit. ]

[acknowledges]

Oi oi.

[When they were children this was just another way to rile one another up. They had only truly understood each other in an exchange of fists, something that probably still holds true, despite differing timelines and alternate worlds. But maybe for all of these reasons, Naruto isn't truly irritated by what's become a long running theme in their conversations. Sasuke's right, some things don't change.

His own head tilts back, towel sliding in his hair, and instead of closing his eyes Naruto looks up at the impossibly blue sky.]

Is that any way to talk to your future Hokage? Imma remember that when I get old and then you'll get a week of D rank missions.

wildcard

[sediments]

Oh. [ Someone bumps right into Naruto's shoulder, the collision fairly gentle, before a bloody hand comes down on the shoulder as an apology. ] Sorry, I didn't see you there.

[ Why is Bolin's hand bloody? Well, for the same reason that he hadn't seen Naruto as he was walking: he has a nosebleed, and his head is tilted back in an attempt to stem the bleeding. He'd been trying to make his way to the changing area so that he could grab his towel and clean himself up. ]

Hey, you mind turning me in the direction of the exit?

[ Bolin is very serious about proper treatment of nosebleeds and apparently lowering his head to see just isn't an option. ]

i should have known

[acknowledges]

[Oh, he knows that touch.] Bolin?

[And then the smell of copper hits his nose. Naruto startles momentarily, taking in the blood now on his shoulder, the blood on the hand, the blood pouring out of the nose-] What happened to you'attebayo?

And you're not supposed to tilt your head back, 'cause it makes you swallow all the blood and then you'll get sick. [Maybe someone punched him? This is actually a reasonable leap of logic for Naruto- who has been punched in and around hot springs more times than he cares to count. His head turns, exit exit- maybe this way. He takes the man by the elbow, abruptly abandoning the bath in favor of towing Bolin away from the water and back to his own set of belongings. It's easier just to offer up his own towel.]

[sediments]

What? [ He sounds surprised, tilting his head forward again, grimacing at the gross feeling of the blood trickling forward and onto the fingers covering his nose. It kind of tickles, and he resists the urge to sneeze.

He kind of feels like a little kid; following after Naruto, dismayed by the state of his face. ]

Naruto? Where are we going?

[ He doesn't think this is the way to the entrance, and Bolin isn't really interested in relaxing in the springs again until he can clean himself up. ]

[acknowledges]

Here. [They're close enough to his stuff that it doesn't really matter. Naruto sticks the towel he's been wrapped up in into Bolin's hand, guiding it back to the guy's face just long enough to encourage a you take it from here reaction.

Because, perhaps contrary to this little display, Naruto is a little shy- he's chosen to stash his clothes and a properly sized towel in a fairly unpopular spot. At the very least he won't be flashing any more poor unsuspecting girls over here. If it's just another guy then it's no big deal. He bends down, snatching up the other piece of cloth and wrapping it steadily around his hips.]

You still didn't tell me what happened.

[mitotic]

[ Yeah, really, don't stare, Naruto, she just might murder you.

Okay, she probably wouldn't, but there are no circumstances under which you're going to like Sakura's reaction. She's nice and relaxed and everything and it would be a shame to have to interrupt this good mood she's in. And maybe it was a bad idea to be in a shared bath with him in the first place, but she's all but forgotten his childhood crush on her, and she's so comfortable around him now that they're older — she forgets.

Naruto doesn't seem so relaxed, though, and she notices when he starts. ]

What?

[acknowledges]

[There are several reasons why Naruto's head abruptly whips around in the opposite direction with enough force to break the sound barrier. She's married. She's his best friend. She's much older than him and probably knows all kinds of techniques to hurt him. He has first hand experience with what happens when he pisses her off.]

You're- [He starts. But then the question remains: how to finish that sentence? What's the least wrong answer? What's the safest thing he could possibly say? Don't look back at her don't look back at her] You're naked.

[mitotic]

[ omg... Naruto....... she isn't even, there's a towel?? She huffs in exasperation at his dramatics, then points out the obvious: ]

So are you, but you don't see me freaking out about it.

[ Never mind that she's older, although it might be hard not to, because it shows in the far more measured response she has to all this than she would have when she was his age. Her temper is still a trip wire, going from zero to towering rage in the span of a second, but what triggers it is different now. Trying to discuss the state of her marriage, for example. Any threat to her family.

Frankly, it's unlikely she would have even gotten in the pool with him at seventeen, because it's quite possible he would have wound up drowned. ]

[acknowledges]

It's just weird'attebayo. [He's trying to make this normal, but the reality is that it just isn't. These are his friends and in a way, he's able to have a part of a future he hasn't earned yet- but he doesn't have the everything else that puts them on even footing. The Sakura he remembers had just restarted his heart. Had looked stricken by Sasuke's arrival and dismissal. They'd had everything to lose and only each other to hold onto. In many ways she's the woman he's always known, but the unknown remains. He hasn't been there for the things that carried her from that battlefield into the person that sits beside him now.

Naruto's gaze moves to the water around him- the ripples he causes when he breathes.]

You and me have never done something like this before. I know you probably know a different me, and maybe we've gotten even closer, but I guess I don't know how to act.

It's not really the same, is it?