Steam rose from hot springs, the pools themselves clustered with females of all ages. Giggles of laughter and idle chatter rang out through the area, and as I stared at everyone I suddenly began to feel extremely self-conscious. 

Although I really shouldn't feel self-conscious about the scars that littered my body...look at all these girls who have perfect delicate skin...it kinda makes me feel envious of them. I clutched the towel around me protectively as I move to a more isolated area of the pool, not wanted everyone to see both the scars and the nasty Kanji inscribed in my back. 

My mask was also off at this point, while my hair was thrown up in a messy bun so the water didn't get to it. As I slowly begin to sneak off towards an empty corner of the pool, Sakura calls out my name. 

"Lorelei! Don't be shy! Come and enjoy the pool over here!" Although her voice was kind, I was grumbling under my breath and cursing the pinkette with every foul word that I knew. Unfortunately, her call got the attention of the rest of the ladies in the pool, as they all started to call me over with smiles. 

"Don't be shy! we're all woman." I try my hardest not to glare at the woman how said that as I made my way over to the edge of the pool. Sighing, I silently just said "fuck it." before letting the towel drop and walking into the hot spring as fast as I could. 

However, as everyone was looking anyways, they gall caught the scars. Gasps were heard, along with whispers right after. 

"That poor girl!" 

"My god, what happened to her?" 

"She must be a shinobi.." 

As I waddled through the water, no longer scared of the fact my naked body was showing(as everyone was gossiping about it anyway), I made my way to Sakura, a small glare in my eyes. 

When I made it to her side, I sunk in the water and blew a couple bubbles in the water due to my frustration. "Tell me again why we're friends?" I say when I stopped blowing bubbles. Sakura's face brightened into a full-blown smile, probably not expecting for me to admit that we were friends. She gave me a closed-eyed smile. 

"Because I'm a pain in the ass and you love me for it?" Says Sakura sweetly. I was so surprised by what she said that a chocked laugh escaped me, causing Sakura's smile to brighten even more. 

"Sure, that must the reason," I say sarcastically, my own smile appearing as the awkwardness slowly melted away. However, the awkward feeling soon came back as I felt someone brush the area when the 'worthless' Kanji were. 

Nearly jumping out of my skin, I turn around with a glare, only to notice that the girls were slowly converging on me. Many of them looked at me in curiosity while some looked at me in pity. 

"How is it that someone so young has so many scars." Say's an older lady, I'm guessing who was in her thirties. 

Trying my best to be nice, and not allowing the irritation to flare, I stutter out a reply. "I'm not all that comfortable with talking about it," I say while backing up slowly. Another hand comes to touch my back, however, I refrain from jumping and instead turn to see Sakura tracing the Kanji with a frown on her face. 

"Okay first of all! I am not okay with this setting AT ALL!" Yells Naruto from the other side of the divider that separated the men's hot springs from the woman's hot springs. I don't know what's going on at his end, but I sure as hell agree. 

"I AGREE WITH YOU NARUTO!" I say, yelling back. Giggles erupted from the rest of the girls as they slowly backed off, Sakura, however, sunk into the water in embarrassment. As the hot springs come to a peaceful silence, I allow my body to relax in the water, finally feeling comfortable. 

However, as I sat in silence, my ear picked up a conversation, one in which was fairly interesting. 

"A very long time ago when he was a boy, your mentor Jiraiya came this close to death...having fractured six ribs, both arms and suffered ruptured internal organs. The reason? Supposedly...Lady Tsunade found out what he did...precisely what you are contemplating on doing...So before you hop out of that spring, stop and think...How would Sakura and Lorelei react in that very same situation?" 

Small squeaks of anguish came from What I could assume was Naruto. However, There was another nervous cough from the other side of the divider that I recognized. Looking down at the water, I smirk at it slowly. 

"Choose your next move wisely...Hikaru." I whispered grimly, a small chuckle escaping me. 

Hikaru most definitely heard me, because the next thing I knew, He was replying with a small nervous chuckle. "I-I would never do such a thing!" 

I merely scoffed before sinking further into the hot water. "Sure." 

*                    *                    *

My nights' sleep was a rather rough one. Sakura has insisted on braiding my hair into rather intricate designs, and well...since I hardly get much sleep, her beautiful work was still intact. Throughout the night, I had contented myself with simply sitting outside and admiring the stars. This time, I was not accompanied by Hikaru like i normally was, so I enjoyed the solitude for the entire night. 

When the sun rose, I took the opportunity to grab the rest of my supplies, put on my mask, and sit on the rooftop of the inn while I waited for everyone else to gather outside. As I waited, I pull my bamboo flute out of it's resting place. Turning it over, I look towards the name that was inscribed in it. 

Mohana Sairen

Regardless of that fact that the instrument may belong to her, the fond memories were of my father, and that is all that matters to me. "What are you thinking about?" 

Turning and looking upwards, I catch Hikaru's eye as he stands over me. His eyes move from mine and linger on the flute for mere moments before returning his attention back to me. 

"I was merely thinking that maybe I should play a song..after all, it is a rather peaceful morning." 

I could almost FEEL Hikaru smirking from under his mask. Reaching down, he takes my flute and places it into my pack. "How about we follow tradition and do a small little dance? Along with an upbeat song. After all, we will be going into battle soon, will we not?" 

I smile at him from behind my mask. "Let's do it." 

Standing up, we run and jump off the roof, landing on the ground with a type of feline grace. I turn to Hikaru and put a hand on my hip. "Still, let's keep it down, it's still only first thing in the morning." Hikaru merely waves at me dismissively before doing his weird instrument summoning thing. 

I'm pretty sure he has all of them sealed in a scroll somewhere, or it's a jutsu...I just don't care enough to ask. 

"Teir abhaile 'riu is the song we will be singing okay?" Hikaru says. a drum appears, as well as a violin. He takes the drum while I take the violin. "Seriously? I hope you know that I'm not chasing after any sailors? nor is my father getting mad at me for it?"  I say with a small grin. 

Hikaru barks out a laugh and shakes his head at me. "Like anyone will be able to understand the song, just sing little Siren." 

Rolling my eyes, I bring up the violin and wait for Hikaru to begin, as soon as his drums sounded, I began playing the violin

https://youtu.be/5K4TIQXCmPQ

The music almost instantly caused me to do a slight dance, the rhythm of it all pulling at me and making me long for home. Music like this seemed to stir something inside me, and depending on the music, it either made me ready for battle or ready to simply dance with loved ones. 

I live for this music. 

 The moment I began to sing, joy lifted through my heart, and it was clearly shown within the music. The music slowly seemed to gather a crowd, as people emerged from their homes. 

Spinning in circles, I danced around Hikaru as his eyes followed me, his crimson orbs shining with happiness. People walked closer as we continued to play the instruments and sing. Even from the corner of my eye, I watched as Sai and Sakura approached the two of us. Infusing Chakra into my throat, I forced the song to be echoed out even more than normal, making sure to gather the attention of everyone around. And although no one could see it, I was most definitely smiling from underneath my mask, the song bringing back memories of my time in the mist. 

My fingers moved along the strings of the violin effortlessly, the feeling of the instrument in my grasp only continuing to lift my spirits. Having had enough of the mask that adorned my face, I turned and looked at Hikaru with a sharp nod. He momentarily paused in his playing so that he could throw down a rather small smoke bomb. 

When the smoke cleared,  a genjutsu cloaked us, so we appeared to be completely different people. Still, it allowed us to smile and enjoy the music far better. With a smile, my now blonde hair moved around me wildly as I weaved in and out of the crowd, some of the children from the town joining in on the dance. 

With invisible nudges from the music, the children move with me in sync, a small jig appearing in our dance. It's been so long since I've smiled like this, and I wished for this moment to never end. Together, the children and I spin in a large circle as we dance, Hikaru watching me with happy eyes the colour of coal.  

The town folk stared in awe as I played the violin with ease, the sound emanating from it being clear and void of any musical faults. My smile became contagious at smiles broke out even more throughout the crowd. Laughing out loud, I fully get into the music, my body moving perfectly in time with the song. Eyes shining with happiness, I catch the eyes of Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato. 

With a cheeky grin, I beacon them with a nod to come and enjoy the fun. Naruto rushed in without a second thought, joining a group of dancing children. Sakura and Sai, however, were far more hesitant to join, as was Yamato. However, Yamato was quickly snatched up by a pretty young lady who had been eyeing him the moment he neared us. 

Shaking my head, I look towards Hikaru and nod in the direction of Sai and Sakura with a rather cheeky smile. He gave me a nod, his body angling towards a boy and girl that were standing near him. He talked to them with a smile before motioning towards my two teammates. 

I watch the two laugh before they decided to head over to Sakura and Sai. The two unknown villagers left little room for protest as they swooped them into the middle of the frenzy with a smile.

 I momentarily stopped in my playing, the lyrics escaping my lips effortlessly.

 Skipping over to Hikaru with a smile, I set down the instrument by his feet before casting a quick wordless jutsu over it. 

The violin rose into the air, the instrument now being fully capable of playing by itself. Turning to my partner, I snatch the drum away from the now raven-haired and onyx eyed Hikaru. I cast the same wordless jutsu on it before Looping arms with Hikaru and dragging him into the crowd. 

"Just couldn't wait to have me all to yourself," Hikaru says with a grin. Laughing, I ignore his comment and simply just dance. Holding both of his hands in my own, I spin around in a circle with him, my hair flying as we moved.

 Taking one of my hands, Hikaru twirled me before putting one of his hands on my waist while still grasping the other. With a grin, I flare out my chakra for a mere second, the water from the gourd on my side reacting to it. Keeping in time with the song, we moved effortlessly around everyone, almost as if they didn't exist.  

Water moved out of the gourd without the need of any real effort on my part. Swirling around in the air, people backed up in awe as Hikaru and I danced in the middle of it all. From the corner of my eye, I watch Naruto stare at the tendrils of water with a cheeky smile before grabbing a small little girl and jumping onto one of the streams of water. 

My smile momentarily drops in alarm as I raise one of my hands from Hikaru's shoulders and command the water to carry Naruto's weight. Naruto simply smiled at me as he dances hand in hand with the small child. 

While my head was still looking towards Naruto, i felt a warm breath by my ear, causing shivers to run down my spine. 

"If he feels like showing off, then why don't we give a little show of our own." 

Still singing, I give him a small nod, and almost instantly, I feet his Chakra flare violently. Lighting crackled in the air, and I immediately knew what he was planning. I flare my own chakra once more, red lightening covering my body entirely. We kept the fluctuations to a minimum since we were still on a mission, but it was enough to create a rather neat show for those around us. 

Pulling away from Hikaru, I wink at him teasingly before moving my hands and feet in a dance that only the Sairen would know. A michivous grin comes across Hikaru's face as he moves along with me, mirroring my movements exactly. Even through the music, I could hear the questioning sounds from the strangers gathered around us. 

Running towards me, Hikaru kicks for my head while I simply duck down and move around him without a single pause. I do a quick back handspring before running at Hikaru.  I drop to the ground last minute as if going to slide under his legs, however, he grabs my hands and swings me with little effort. 

Soon I was soaring in the air. Time seemed to slow as I reached the highest I could go within the sky. As I fell back down from the sky, laughter bubbled within me as I passed the astonished face of Naruto on my way down. Before long, I was back in the arms of Hikaru, both of our chests rising and falling as we let out breaths of laughter. I was so caught up in it all, that I hadn't noticed the music had stopped. 

"Well, it would almost seem as if you returned back to your sailor." 

Laughing, I hit Hikaru across the chest lightly. 

"It would appear so."

-----------------------------

I'm so sorry for this chapter! I wanted a rather carefree and light-hearted one before the chapters coming up ahead, and weirdly enough I actually found it really hard to write this chapter. What should have been an easy chapter ended up being a rather hard one to write. So sorry if it isn't the same as the others. 

-Mizuko.