Natsumi tossed her hair over her shoulder, slipped the comb into her sleeve, and refused to dignify that comment with a response. She took the tabi, though, pulling the socks on carefully over her abused feet. The blue-painted bird mask clipped onto the side of her belt; she buckled the belt itself and slung it over her arm. When she stood up again, she barely wavered at all.

Her chakra was still a low flicker, only partially restored by rest. Food would help. Her stomach growled; she flattened a hand over her belly in a vain attempt to quiet it. Food would really help.

Asuma, grinning again, bowed her out of their little tatami room and into the corridor. The floor here was ancient wood, polished to a high sheen by years of socks and scrubbing; the inner walls were wood and paper, filtering sunlight through to warm the corridor with a dull glow. Asuma led the way down two cramped flights of stairs and through another corridor, hesitated at a junction, backtracked, and found their way again. A young saffron-robed acolyte paused in his floor-scrubbing to stare after them. Probably it was the first time in years he'd seen a woman invading the monastery's sacred confines. Natsumi yielded to impulse, just a little, and smiled at him.

The boy blushed furiously and bent to his scrubbing again. Natsumi grinned and limped after Asuma. At least she wasn't the only one embarrassed this afternoon.

She was limping a little more heavily, and wondering if the monks got all their exercise simply from pacing solemnly through their monastery's halls and up and down its staircases, when the floors turned to stone and the walls to solid wood paneling. Gorgeous carvings of the Lord Buddha decorated most of the panels; flower arrangements and gold or bronze statues filled scattered niches. Asuma's stride lengthened with confidence. Natsumi resisted, just barely, the urge to kick him in the back of the knee.

A monk darted out of a side passage, narrowly missed colliding with Asuma, and bent himself into a bow. "Shinobi-san! Please, not that way. The Lord Abbot is conducting the afternoon service in the main hall. If you are looking for the dining hall, I can lead you there."

"Still pretty sure you remember how to find it?" Natsumi murmured in Asuma's ear.