“Midori.. you should go outside to play. Don’t you want to make new friends?” Slowly, the small girl tilted her head to look up at the woman speaking, her fingers stilling from the distraction she’d been making for Sunako while practicing her calligraphy. The small ball of fur that would one day, theoretically, become a cat needed to be distracted or she’d start playing with the brush again. Already there were a few partial kitten-prints on her practice sheet.<br/><br/>The woman, Uncle Kanetaro’s wife Jinmi, waited a beat, the moment was growing more and more awkward but Midori couldn’t quite decide how she was supposed to respond, before she continued, “I know you miss your Father, but you do need friends your own age.”<br/><br/>Father used to say that, too, every time he would leave her at a playground while he went to go work. But approaching the other kids when they were rowdy and loud and did not want to welcome someone new was difficult, so mostly she had just waited for Father to return. If she was good and patient, maybe Father would decide that she was not such a bother and when he came back, she could go with him again. Like before. Like how it was supposed to be.<br/><br/>“…yes, Miss Jinmi.” she finally spoke, her voice soft as she scooped up Sunako before she managed to stick her paw in the ink again, though she’d managed to bat the brush so that it spun around, dribbling an odd spiraling circle all over her practice sheet. Kitten in one hand and brush in the other, Midori took them both to the sink. The brush was washed, the kitten was contained, and soon her mess was sorted out and put away.<br/><br/>And maybe she’d taken a bit longer than necessary to do it. Maybe she hoped that Miss Jinmi would forget, though that was unlikely. Either way, though, Midori emerged from the washroom to find Miss Jinmi waiting for her, a small sack in her possession that was quickly handed over, “I made you a snack; just make sure you get back when it starts getting dark. If you get lost, ask one of the shinobi to bring you either here to Civilian District B, or to the East Market District, which is where Kanetaro’s shop is. Can you find your way back if they bring you here?”<br/><br/>Hesitantly, a small hand reached out to take the bag from Miss Jinmi as Midori found herself nodding. Soon Uncle Kanetaro’s wife had lead her outside, “Now, that way” she pointed, “Is a playground, which is a good place to start, right? You should leave Sunako with me, though, she’s very small and—“<br/><br/>Instantly, as the woman reached for the kitten, Midori stepped back out of her reach, holding the little purring furball closer to her chest, “Sunako can come with me. I don’t want her to feel unwanted because she is left behind.”<br/><br/>That brought Miss Jinmi to a stop, and she nodded, suddenly looking sort of sad, for all the woman was very forcefully friendly since Father had left.<br/><br/>“Okay Midori. You don’t have to stay out until dusk, but please try to make a friend. You can stay home all day tomorrow”<br/><br/>Nodding again, Midori took her snack and kitten and set off down the street, hoping the playground would be empty.<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>The playground was full of people,<em>lots</em>of kids were running around and shrieking and throwing things and yelling and laughing and…<br/><br/>Well, it was just far too much.<br/><br/>After about ten minutes of trying to figure out how she could meet someone, or even where she could just sit alone by herself, Midori decided this was not a good place. Not for her, anyway, so, after much debate about doing what  Miss Jinmi said and going over her words, Midori moved on down the street. After all, the woman hadn’t said she<em>had</em>to stay at the park, just that it was a good place to start. And it took a lot of walking until there were much fewer people around, and no playground either, but that was okay. There really were too many kids around places like those. It was too loud. Too unpredictable.<br/><br/>So, she moved away from the civilian districts, and away from most busy streets, more where there were trees and less and less people. By this point, Sunako was awake and trying to crawl up to her shoulder, but every time the kitten got up there and Midori let go, the little thing would have the worst time holding on, even with her tiny needle-like claws.<br/><br/>“Sunako, I don’t think you’re very good at hanging on yet. But we can practice, you’ll get good at it soon.”<br/><br/>Talking to the kitten was easy, and true to her word, Midori let the little thing keep trying to hang on, even if she kept her hand ready to catch her every time she wobbled on her perch.<br/><br/>Finally, she found a good, quiet place to be alone. There was a tree, and behind it she could see some benches and a path. Maybe she could sit there and just wait for it to get late enough to walk back? And play with Sunako, of course. The kitten needed lots of attention, after all.<br/><br/>As she approached the tree, though, Sunako became rather agitated, tilting her head back with a soft “Maaah? Mruu!” and wiggling around as she got nearer to the tree.<br/><br/>“Sunako, I don’t think you’re big enough to climb that. You can’t even climb me yet, and I’m holding you.”<br/><br/>“Mu?”<br/><br/>It was then that she heard an answering mewl, louder than Sunako had ever made before, but still rather soft. Tilting her own head back, Midori searched the branches, moving around the tree and not really paying any attention except upward. For all she wasn’t paying attention, it still surprised her when she ran into something, or someone, with a soft yelp and a thump as her rear impacted with the ground once she lost her balance and toppled over.<br/><br/>“Oh! I’m sorry!”<br/><br/>“Meuuuh!” Midori held out the sand-colored kitten to inspect to see if she’d come to harm from the fall, even though she’d been holding her securely, but mostly Sunako was just trying to climb up her arm again.<br/><br/>There was a boy under the tree with her, though, and Midori wasn’t sure what to do now that there was someone else here. “Umm… is that your kitten?” she looked up again while remaining sitting where she’d fallen, “I… think they look stuck? Do you think maybe we should get them down? Do you want help?” If Sunako were stuck in that tree, Midori knew, for sure, that she would want help from anyone willing to give it…