El's eyes saw nothing but a waterfall. Though the area was lovely he wondered why Hinji thought it was so special.

Hinji stood at the water's edge looking back and waiting for his teammates to come over to him. A black shadowy, covered boat set in the water in front of him.

Kano as well saw that the waterfall was certainly lovely. Though it was hard pressed to find one that was not. Like his teammate, he was unsure as to what made this area so special to Hinji.

Hinji had grown impatient. "Will you two get into the boat now?" he asked as he stepped in and under the boat's cover.

Kano had to stifle a laugh and Hinji's impatient outburst. He climbed in slowly, "Is this another of your summonings, Hinji?"

Hinji had to bite back one of his normal sarcastic remarks before he responded. "Yes, Kano, it is. It is only one of two static summons I have learned."

El silently stepped into the boat and took a seat.

Once El was on the boat, Hinji grabbed a set of oars that were nearly hidden by the color. He started rowing towards the waterfall on the other end of the pond.

"Static summons?" Kano asked him curiously as he ran his hand along the black boat's edge. It was a most intriguing vessel

As Kano ran his hand along the boat's edge, it kicked up shadowy wisps like a wind kicking up dust. "Yes, it is a summon that you can place on an object other then a summoning card like I wear around my hat. That way I don't have to have one prepared every time I want to come out here."

"So what was it placed on if not one of your cards?" Kano asked curiously. "If I'm asking too many questions, just tell me to shut up." He told him with a smile. He was curious, but he was aware that he had a tendency to talk more than his friend was comfortable with

"On the rock near where we left off." Hinji said as he made a few adjustments in his direction. "So far this boat is the only one I have used."

"Cool. So where are we goin?" Kano asked him quickly, despite his previous statement, he was still full of questions

"You'll see." He said as the waterfall now dominated the view in front of them.

As they went through the water fall El whistled a mild little tune to part the water so they didn't get wet. Later, he would learn certain things to do to his guitar to protect it, for now, he had to do with whistling.

Kano watched with eyes full of awe as the water parted before them, clearly it was because of El's whistle and he was astounded by it. "Incredible..."

On the other side of the waterfall was a dark cavern with only faint bio-luminescence for lighting. The sound of water lapping gently against the rock "shore" as they passed through was the only sound that could be heard. Hinji stopped rowing long enough to remove the black cloth from over his eyes.

El's whistle echoed back on him from inside the cave and he smiled, realizing that this place had the best acoustics of anywhere in or near the village.

"So this is where you run off to?" Kano asked as he looked around. The bio-luminescence was really catching his eye. "It's incredible..."

"Yes. This is my sanctuary, so to speak." Hinji said as he searched for his improvised dock. Thankfully he spotted it quickly and paddled over to it. "This is where we get out. Be careful not to fall in between the boat and the water."

Kano climbed out of the boat and stepped easily up onto the dock. "What happens if we fall in between?" He asked curiously, it was just a little water, wasn't it?

El being so short in the leg was forced to jump the small distance rather than step over it. He nearly lost his balance but was close enough to Kano to grab his vestket before falling in. "Sorry." He told Kano. "If this is your sanctuary, why have you brought us?" He asked Hinji.

"You would get wet and the boat would keep you from being able to easily get out of the water." Hinji answered Kano before answering El's question. "Because when I am troubled or upset, I come here. You were troubled and upset so I figured I would share with you since you are my team mate. Kano is just a third wheel right now."

Kano pouted a little at being called a third wheel. "He's my friend too. I wanted to make sure he was alright." He explained to Hinji.

"Thank you but I do not wish for special treatment." El told them. "I appreciate it, but when I'm upset I write and I write best alone."

"This cavern has more then one chamber to it, I have only made use of two or three." Hinji said as he started off down the faintly lit walkway. "If you do not wish for our presence then you may take your equipment to another chamber and indulge in your angst."


"So why are you upset?" Kano asked him curiously, having missed what occurred in the sauna

"I don;t wanna talk about it." El told Kano as they followed Hinji. No doubt Hinji would explain it to him.

And El was correct, Hinji would tell Kano exactly what had happened, but he was respectful enough to at least wait till El was not in the vicinity.

Kano shrugged, "Alright dude. So um...I guess I owe you guys an explanation for earlier. Right?" He asked in regards to the way he had ditched them before.

"I think we both know why you abandoned us." Hinji said. "The lure of feminine wiles."

"Well yes...and no." Kano attempted to justify himself. "I had to talk to Kami..."

Hinji looked back at Kano and gave Kano a look, "Feminine wiles."

"Kami is a fine and innocent creature." El said absently. "She's no idea about wiles feminine or any otherwise."

Hinji just waved his hand as if that didn't matter. "Either way, this whole day has just proved what I have been saying all day. Females are too much of a distraction."

"But they can be so incredible..." Kano said with a sigh. He couldn't help himself. He ran his fingers through his hair and grinned, "So me and Kami are kinda dating now."

Hinji just sighed and kept walking, figuring everything he said would be ignored anyways.

"Congratulations." El told him. "I doubt Akane would bother to strike me with a ten foot pole..."

"I don't think Akane would have a problem striking anyone with a pole of any length." Hinji said, voicing his opinion of Akane.

Kano looked at El curiously. "Why would she want to strike you with a pole?"

"She wouldn't." El said. "That's the point..."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Kano told him, scratching his head curiously.

El just sighed and smacked his hand over his eyes. "Hinji... could you?"

Hinji shook his head, "El is saying that Akane dislikes him so much that she wouldn't even bother to hit him with a ten foot pole or probably anything for that matter." As he finished explaining it to Kano, they came upon a curtain draped across the walkway since the water had stopped several feet back. Hinji pushed the curtain aside and revealed a very large cavern with a few torches along the walls, along with a desk, chair, paper, and caligraphy brushes and ink. Leaning against the table was El's guitar and a little sack. "You are not to mention this area to anyone else, not even Tsu sensei...especially Tsu sensei."

Kano understood now, apparently something had happened between the two of them? Or was Akane really that blind? When Hinji said not to tell anyone about this place, he looked around curiously and then back to his friend. "Why would we?"

Hinji shrugged, "I don't know. Secret make out spot maybe? Whatever your reason would have been, I wanted to shoot that reason down." he walked further into the dimly lit main cavern. "I would offer you a seat but I only have one at the moment."

El moved toward the table and picked up his guitar. He check ed the strings to make sure none of Hinji's summonings messed with the tuning.

"If you want a private spot to write, El, I can have my summon escort you to one." Hinji said as El checked his strings. "As I said there are many caverns similar to this one that you could use."

"I'll find one on my own." El said and slid off the rock where he had chosen to tune his guitar. He wandered off, choosing a cavern at random.

"Don't worry dude. This is your secret haven, and I thank you for showing it to me." Kano told him, placing his fist upon his heart. "I give you my solemn promise that I will not divulge it's location to anyone."

"Good." Hinji said to Kano. He was truly worried that one of them may reveal this spot to someone.

"So you come here whenever you want to train, Hinji?" Kano asked him, choosing to allow El the aloneness he had requested, as much as he could at least.

"That is correct Kano." Hinji said. "Most of my time is spent here."

"I can see why. And you just found this place?" Kano asked as he looked around

"Technically my raven found it, but yes." Hinji explained, "My need for a silent workplace became a priority."

Kano whistled lowly, "It's quite impressive."

"Thank you." Hinji said. He turned his head and spoke to his raven, "Keep an eye on El. Make sure he doesnt get hurt or lost."

"This is...nice." Kano told him, gesturing between the three of them. "The other team seems to have a lot of trouble getting along, but not us. It's nice."

"Well, I would imagine anyone forced to work with that Akane would have a hard time getting along with each other." Hinji said as he sat down in his chair near his calligraphy tools.

"She can't really be as bad as she seems, can she?" Kano asked curiously as he sat himself down on the ground of the cavern.

"She told me and El that we weren't good ninjas do to our fears." Hinji explained, "Pretty much devastated El and forced me to let her know how I felt about her in pretty blunt detail."

"Well that wasn't very nice. I bet there's something she fears and like everyone else, wouldn't want anyone to know it. Right?" Kano suggested, thinking of a way to get back at her for saying such rotten things about his friends

"That is what I believe as well." Hinji said, "But finding out that fear is not going to be easy."

"I'd say ask one of her squad members, but they don't exactly look like they've bonded all that much." Kano said with a shrug.

"I don't know about that. Kami was here with her today, so there must be some sort of friendship between the two of them." Hinji pointed.

"At the very least a fledgling one." Kano told him with a shrug. "But I don't think they know much about each other on a personal level, and for that matter, neither do we. I am grateful you've taken this opportunity to show us something about yourself, Hinji." He smiled at that last part.

"Hm, I knew El wanted to be by himself, but would be better off if we could keep an eye on him while, at the same time, giving him his alone time." Hinji explained. "I just hope this moment of weakness does not come back to haunt me."

"Why would it?" Kano asked him curiously. He didn't understand how it would have

Hinji didn't want to say that he still didn't trust Kano or El to keep this place a secret for very long, "I have a feeling that eventually Tsu sensei will find this place and I will have to destroy it."

Kano couldn't help but laugh at that. It was a hilarious notion, but dreadful as well. "I completely understand...it would never be the same if she did."

It was obvious to Hinji that Kano didn't think he was being serious about destroying the place should Tsu find it. He simply let the issue drop though. "So, how did your mating attempt with Kami go?"

Kano had to cough and he looked at Hinji. "Mating attempt? I'd hardly say it was a mating attempt..."

"Just answer the question, Kano." Hinji said with a sigh.

"It went rather well, I guess. Like I said before, we're dating now. So I guess you could say it was a success." Kano offered, hoping it was a good enough answer

"One success and one major set back." Hinji summed up. "Sounds like all we have to do is find El a better choice of a partner."

"That girl at the Ramen shop is a pretty one." Kano suggested with a grin.

"I believe that this task may rest entirely on you." Hinji said since he has repeatedly mentioned how he doesn't pay much attention to girls. "As long as all this doesn't affect us as a team."

"I don't see how it would. Unless he got so depressed he became suicidal..." Kano said with a shrug.

"Or you two will spend less time training and more time wooing and thus hurt the situational effectiveness of our team." Hinji said.

"I don't think we have to worry about that when it comes to me and Kami. She barely has any freetime as it is." Kano explained with a shrug and a smile.

"Where there is a will, there is a way." Hinji said, "I will not look bad so you and El can entertain your baser desires."

"I have no intention of misrepresenting my people. I was sent here to represent the people of my village. To fail in any way would be to misrepresent them, that I cannot do." Kano told him sternly

"Good." Hinji said, "So, how does your training go?"

"Well enough I suppose. I don't see any physical results yet o my training regiment, but I suppose I won't or a while yet anyway." Kano explained with a shrug. "How's your's?"

"Quite well. I have added several new summons to my repertoire, not including the static ones like the boat." Hinji said. "I am also trying to learn a larger summon, one that I will be forced to put onto a scroll."

"So you'll have to start lugging scrolls around? Bummer dude." Kano told him nonchalantly

The sound of tumbling rocks could be heard in the distance, magnified only by the system's natural acoustics. Hinji's raven came out first followed momentarily by El. "Don't worry!" He said batting rock dust away from him. "It's ok... I hit an E sharp when I shouldn't have. Destroyed some stalactites but there was no cave in or anything."

Hinji was about to comment on the benefits of scrolls when El came bursting out. He frowned sharply, "Maybe you should practice less destructive jutsus while inside a cave."

"It wasn't a jutsu." El said brushing dust from his poncho. "It was an E sharp. I thought I made that clear."

"So you nearly brought down that cavern by simply strumming a note?" Hinji challenged.

"No." El said defensively. "Some stalactites were knocked loose. That's all. When I decide to destroy a cavern, you'll know it."

Hinji just shook his head, this is why he didn't want anyone else knowing about this place. He wondered even more if this was a huge mistake.

"So what happens when you hit the right notes?" Kano asked him, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"It depends on the amount of chakra placed behind it." El said. "This was just a case of vibration. I was not attempting to use any chakra." It was a lot like an avalanche, but El had never encountered an avalanche or even snow so he couldn't use that as an example.

"Make sure that you hit the right notes from now on." Hinji said.

"It was the correct note." El told him. "It was your cave that reacted poorly." El was obviously not in the mood for Hinji's usual dry "superiority" complex. He headed for the exit, knowing full well that he was going to get wet leaving.

"You just said that you shouldn't have hit that note." Hinji pointed out, "Therefore it could not have been the right note." he made no attempt to stop El.

"Hinji..." El stopped short of the entrance. "I know nothing of shadows and you know even less about music. Drop it lest I drop you." El just was not in the mood after what had happened at the onsen.

Hinji slowly rose from his chair. "If you think you can." he said. He wasn't the kind of person to take threats like that lightly, even if they came from someone on his team.

"I think I can knock a stuffy know-it-all on his rump." El growled back. He didn't like Hinji claiming he'd done something wrong when he hadn't. Just because the stone crumbled after reacting to his music didn't mean he'd done anything wrong.

"And I think it is beyond the abilities of a crybaby to do more then moisten the floor with their tears." Hinji also wasn't the kind of person to take insults lightly either.

El's neck and ears flushed red with rage and he flipped his guitar around from behind him and gripped the neck. If Kano didn't do something soon this cave would come crashing down all around their ears. Hinji might be a fine summoner, but in a place with such perfect acoustics El's music would be a match even for their sensei.

Kano's hands lit ablaze and he stepped between the two of them, raising a flaming fist at each one. "Tell you what, if you two want to duke it out so bad, all you have to do is get through me." He looked at El especially, "You did say you hit the wrong note, have you already forgotten that admittance?" He then turned to look at Hinji, "You don't want Tsu Sensei to find this place, or you'll have to destroy it and find a new one for yourself and yet you're ready to fight in a way that is bound to destroy it? Seriously dude."

"I never said it was wrong." El said correcting Kano. "I said I shouldn't have played an e sharp in that cavern. How was I to know the stone would fall from the vibration. Just because it happened doesn't make it the wrong note!" As a matter of fact the note he had chosen was rather perfect fr the music he had been writing.

"I will not stand idly by as someone calls me out." Hinji explained, "I would gladly do what it takes to show the individual the error of their decision."

"Then like I said, how about taking it outside, where it wouldn't damage this cave?" Kano offered, finding it hard to believe he was the one with the level head for a change.

"Works for me." Hinji said.

"I would gladly forget the whole thing if Hinji were to apologize." El said angrily.

Hinji snorted sarcastically and rudely, "That's not likely." he said.

"So be it." El said darkly and stalked for the exit of the cave.

"Come Kano. El will need your help off the field of battle once we are done." Hinji said to Kano as he started off.

Kano sighed and shook his head, can't believing that they were acting like the other squad now. Maybe they had jinxed it by pointing out how well they worked together...He turned and followed them out regardless

Hinji approached the summons spot for his boat and honestly hoped that El had went ahead and swam out, but doubted it. He didn't want to spend so much time with El on that little boat

"You've got a backup boat in case he took it, right?" Kano hoped as they walked. He didn't like the idea of getting wet. He was an islander, so water wasn't really a problem for him, but as a fire user, it made things difficult

"There is no boat unless I summon it." Hinji explained, "Unless he swam out, he will be waiting."

"Good. That means there'll be time for you guys to try and talk it out." Kano suggested, hoping his friends would

"If by talking it out you mean El admitting fault, then I hope for the same thing." Hinji said.

There was no boat but there was also no El in sight.

"Well, that is a relief." Hinji said upon realizing El was not there.

"That just means he'll be more pissed because he'll be all wet from getting out of here." Kano pointed out, shaking his head a little

"I guess that will be my fault as well." Hinji said, "As well as any cold he gets for staying wet for so long."

"If he gets a cold, I bet his mother would show up." Kano said with a grin, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit. "I'd love to meet her really. Such a wonderful cook has to be beautiful."

Hinji just shook his head with a sigh. He tapped a drop of blood onto the static summons and the boat materialized on the river. "After you."

Kano swallowed and climbed into the boat. It made him nervous honestly that it wasn't there a second ago...

Hinji joined Kano on the boat and gave it a push to get it going in the right direction. He kept an eye out for El in the water ahead of them just to make sure they didn't run him over.

Hinji's vigilance didn't matter El was well outside, having sought out a particularly good place for their fight. He had broken a few branches and bent some water reeds to signal the direction he had gone. The area he had chosen was just off the water way. Close enough he could use the water and nearby rock walls to his advantage and shady enough that Hinji needn't worry about seeking out shadows if he needed them. He didn't want to appear to have chosen the upper hand, so he had picked an area that seemed equal to both their strengths. While he waited for them El tuned his guitar.

The boat finally left the cave and Hinji made sure his attire was fully on. He didn't see El anywhere, but did see the "trail" he left. "Seems he is very eager."

"Word of advice Hinji. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Kano told him, sounding very sage like while he did.

Hinji looked at Kano, "Where did that come from?"

"I read it in a book once." Kano replied with a shrug. "It seemed like a valuable piece of advice." He pointed to the path that el had clearly left for them to follow. "Use caution when the enemy clearly leaves their path evident, it usually means a trap on the other side."

Their was no trap. El wouldn't do that to his friends. This was an argument to be settled by combat, not a life or death situation. However, during this time spent waiting for Hinji and Kano to arrive, he began to reconsider whether this was worth it. It might cause their team to fracture as Akane's team had. He did not want that. Was his pride over a simple misunderstanding worth that? Perhaps he should swallow his pride and apologize even though he thought he was right.

Hinji considered this for a moment. "I don't think he has any traps in his jutsu repertoire." He started down the path El had left for them to follow and went through a mental list of the summon cards he currently had equipped to come up with strategies.

"I think he has more surprises than you might think." Kano warned his comrade. He did not think El would go down without a fight and if it did come to that, it was sure to bring some surprises.

"Oh, I am not expecting an easy or simple fight from El." Hinji explained.

"Good, because I do not think you're going to get one. Are you sure about this, Hinji?" Kano asked him again.

"I was called out, if I refused then my honor would be damaged." Hinji explained.

"At least give him a chance to apologize." Kano suggested, "If he does, then your honor wouldn't be damaged, correct?"

"It's certainly what I was considering." El said far ahead of them, sitting on a rock as he waited for them to arrive. He was still quite a way away, but he was a sound ninja after all.

Hinji frowned, making a mental note about El's eavesdroppimg abilities. He kept quiet as the finished their walk to him.

El waited for Hinji and Kano to reach him before he continued to speak. "I have decided to apologize Hinji." He told him. "I would not want a simple misunderstand to cause our team to fracture. The matter is not at all that important."


"Apology accepted." Hinji said after a few seconds of thought. "I apologize for being so ready to fight. I felt my honor was at stake and I was forced to defend it."

"As was I." El told him, standing from the rock he was sitting on. "Let us put this behind us before it becomes something we both regret?" He offered his arm to Hinji, hoping he would shake.

Kano was glad that apparently they were not going to be coming to blows. A part of him was sort of wishing that they would, just so he could step in...

Hinji accepted El's hand and shook it once before letting go. "Now, we should head back to the apartment before Tsu Sensei begins looking for us."

"Agreed." El said smiling. He clapped a hand on both Hinji and Kano's backs. "I believe their is a flan in the ice box. It will be the perfect thing to settle all this tension."

"Flan." Kano said simply, looking over at his friend curiously. "What in the world is flan?"

El smiled as if the argument between Hinji and El had never happened. He grasped Kano's shoulder fondly. "Food of the gods my friend. Come."

"Lead the way." Kano replied with a grin. he was eager to discover this food of the gods.