What the New Year Brings

It's truly amazing how strongly people can affect our lives without our even knowing it, whether it be through their friendship, their kindness, or simply enjoying their imagination and creativity that they're kind enough to share with us.

I felt my heart grow heavy the minute I heard about Serenanna's passing. I followed her story Dirty Deeds closely and looked forward to each of her updates. And when I turned to her for assistance with a bit of personal frustration I was having not so long ago, she responded with so much kindness, understanding, and maturity that it made me stand back and respect her more than I already did.

Sarah, whether you knew it or not, you enriched our lives with your talent and your grace and you will truly be missed.

Never take people for granted, nor all that they have to offer because then you risk not knowing what you have until it's gone.

~*~*~*~

Thanks as always to all my readers and a special thanks to those of you who took the time to review.

WARNING: This chapter contains explicit sexual content.

Chapter 50-Kakashi and Sakura's First White Day

If Valentine's Day is mocked and speculated as a holiday created solely for the purpose of making businesses more money, then White Day most definitely is one.

Started by the National Confectionery Industry Association (presumably other than to make money) White Day was first celebrated in Japan in 1978 to give men the chance to pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine's Day. On March 14, 1977, a confectionery company marketed marshmallows to men calling it Marshmallow Day. Then soon after that, companies began marketing white chocolate. Now men give both white and dark chocolate as well as other gifts to the women they received chocolate from on Valentine's Day one month earlier. (1)

Whatever its origins, it doesn't stop us women from reaping the benefits of White Day and enjoying them. Shoot, we had spent our hard earned money on our guys on Valentine's Day, so they had better do the same for us on White Day!

~*~*~*~

The literal translation of "Konoha" from Japanese to English is "leaves of trees" or "foliage." In this way, our village is aptly named. However, even with the windows closed shut, I'm still woken up by the sound of many (too many) birds chirping. The sound is akin to Kakashi's Raikiri and is one of the pitfalls (or benefits, depending on your perspective) of living someplace surrounded by trees.

Personally, I lay contentedly in bed soaking it all in because there's nothing nicer than laying warm and comfortable in your bed when there's nowhere you have to be and nothing that you have to do for the rest of the day. It's Saturday, a free day, and I have no clue how Kakashi wants to spend it.

Speaking of which...Where is he? I wonder, turning my head to look at his empty side of the bed. Unless there's an early morning briefing or mission that he has to run off to, I usually wake up with him laying by my side.

I'm just about to pull the blankets off of me and search the small apartment for him when the bedroom door cracks open and Kakashi's bare face peeks through it.

"I thought I heard you stirring. Glad you're finally awake," he says with a smile. "Wait right there," he tells me and disappears again before I have the chance to open my mouth to ask why.

About a minute later, the door slowly swings open again, but this time Kakashi walks through it, carrying in his hands a wooden tray with a plate full of food and a small white vase holding a single red rosebud which he carefully walks over to me on the bed.

"Happy White Day!" he says cheerfully as he places the tray on my blanket covered lap.

"Oh, wow...Thank you!" I say, moved. "I've never had breakfast in bed before. Well, I have, but I don't think hospital food brought to you by your nurse counts!"

"No, it doesn't." Kakashi agrees and without my having to ask, he bends down so that I can lightly peck him on the lips.

"I can't believe you made all this!" I say in disbelief when I see everything that he had cooked up: 2 fluffy pancakes topped with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries, all drizzled with just a little bit of chocolate syrup and a whole lot of maple syrup, 2 eggs, sunny-side up, hash browns, 2 slices of crispy bacon, and a large glass of cool milk. It's an American style breakfast that I just happen to love.

"This is way too much food, Kakashi! You're going to have to share this with me!" I say, overwhelmed.

"Alright," he laughs and takes his place next to me on the bed.

We eat together in comfortable silence, taking turns eating and sometimes even feeding each other...If you consider purposely missing each other's mouths and getting food all over each other's face "feeding each other." It probably would have been easier to simply get another plate and pair of eating utensils, but where's the fun in that?

"This was a great surprise, Kakashi. Thank you!" I say a few minutes later, rubbing my full stomach.

"Don't thank me yet. There's more," he says and digs deep into one of his jounin pants' pockets.

I expect him to pull out a piece of white chocolate to fulfill his White Day obligation. I imagine that it'd have melted warm in his pocket by now, but even if it is a little disfigured, I still don't think I'd mind it. After all, he's put more thought and effort into fulfilling sanbai gaeshi, or "thrice the return," than Sasuke ever had. So I'm completely thrown when it's not a piece of white chocolate that he pulls out. In fact, it's the polar opposite of anything white in color. It's a small, black velvet box.

I feel my heart start to race and it feels a little bit harder to breathe.

"I think it's about time you got a proper engagement ring, don't you?" he asks with a wry smile, holding the box out to me and flipping the lid open.

Set into the crease of black velvet is one of the sweetest looking rings I've ever seen. It's simple in design, but that seems to be what contributes to its sweetness. Like most traditional engagement rings, it's a ring with a diamond setting on top, but that's where its plainness ends. Instead of a regular round, square, or emerald-cut white diamond in the middle, there's an oval-cut pink diamond. The band is slim, delicate, and made of silver, and inset into the silver are ten tiny white diamonds, five on either side of the pink diamond, just enough to add a bit of sparkle without being too flashy. (2)

"I don't really know very much about engagement rings." Kakashi admits as he pulls the ring out of the box, takes my hand into his, and slides the ring onto my finger...A perfect fit. "The only thing I knew when I went out searching for yours was that I wanted one that would suit you best, and this ring just called out to me. See, the pink automatically reminds me of you for obvious reasons," he smiles, glancing at my still unbrushed morning hair which I quickly try to tame by running my hand down the back of my head. "Not to mention that even I know that pink diamonds are rare and valuable. And I know that you're not very big on jewelry, but this I can see you wearing because it's simple and doesn't draw too much attention even if you're jumping from tree branch to tree branch during the middle of a mission, which is one of the main reasons why I fell for you in the first place: Because you're practical and not showy like some other women I know. As for the ten diamonds on the sides, they represent the ten years we've already known each other and spent together as friends. And lastly, I like to think that the silver represents me." Kakashi says with two happy eye creases as he points up to his hair.

"Wow, Kakashi. It sounds like you put a lot of thought into this!"

"I did. I didn't want to give you a ring that was just a ring. I wanted to give you something special, something with meaning behind it."

"Well, I think you did a wonderful job. I don't think I could've designed a better ring myself. It's like this ring was meant to represent you and me, so thank you. It's perfect." I say, cupping his cheek with my now ringed hand and giving him a soft, lingering kiss on the lips.

When we part, we smile at each other with half-hooded eyes.

"And just how did you figure out my ring size anyway? Even I don't know what my ring size is!"

"Dental floss." Kakashi says with a sly grin. "I wrapped a piece of it around your finger while you were sleeping and cut it so that it'd be the right size."

"That's really clever!" I smile in amusement.

"That's what the jeweler said. I'm not called a genius for nothing." Kakashi says proudly.

"Thank you! This is definitely a White Day that I'll never forget!"

"But you haven't even received all your gifts yet!"

"There's more?!" I ask, my eyes going wide.

"Of course there's more! It's not even noon yet! Pack your bags. We're going away for the weekend."

"We are? Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Kakashi says with a big smile.

"But how will I know what to pack?"

"Well, we're not going very far, so there won't be that big of a temperature difference. Just pack two days worth of clothes the same as you would wear here."

"Okay..." I say uncertainly.

"Trust me," he says, quickly kissing me on the lips. Then, he picks up the breakfast tray and leaves the room to clean up.

I had expected him to pay me back for Valentine's Day. After all, it had been one heck of a Valentine's Day weekend! I just hadn't expected him to pay me back with surprises at every turn!

~*~*~*~

Kakashi wasn't kidding. We probably only walked 5 miles at most outside of Konoha before he said that we were close to our destination and to bring my hitai-ate down over my eyes like a blindfold so that he could lead me the rest of the way. I trustingly did as he asked. After all, he'd been batting a thousand with his White Day surprises so far, so I figured that I might as well just go with it.

As he carefully led me down the dirt path we were on and instructed me every now and then to turn this way or that way or step over this, I racked my brain, trying hard to remember what lay just outside of Konoha's great walls. All I could think of were trees, more trees, and maybe the occasional stream or parcel of farmland, but what else?

I'm still trying to figure it out when Kakashi squeezes my hand in his and says, "We're here."

I stop to a halt next to him and let him be the one to lift my hitai-ate back on top of my head like a headband. When I slowly open up my eyes I see straight ahead of me, nestled into a pocket of overgrown Konoha forest trees, a quaint little pagoda-roofed bungalow. (3)

"What's this?" I ask, a grin already spreading across my face.

"This is our own private little cabin that I rented out for the weekend." Kakashi says with a happy eye crease. "There are ten of them in total, but they're spread out so that it feels like we're all alone in the forest."

"Kakashi, this is wonderful!" I say, giving him a big hug.

"Ah...but there's more," he says mischievously.

"At this point, why am I not surprised?" I shake my head, smiling back at him.

"Ready to take a look inside?" he asks, offering me the crook of his arm to hold onto.

"Absolutely!" I say, and we walk arm in arm together into what will be our very own home away from home for the next couple of days.

~*~*~*~

Upon walking in, the first thing I do is take a deep breath in awe, then let it out slow and easy in relief. With shoji screen doors, tatami mat covered hardwood floors, and simple, paper lantern lamps that give off a soft, warm glow, the Zen-inspired room immediately tells you to just relax.

As traditional Japanese decor goes, the room is quite minimal. Against one wall is a low, platform bed, but other than that the only other decor are vases filled with white orchids and lit pillar candles on top of the few tables scattered here and there.

"Wow, Kakashi, it's beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it, but there's still more," he says, taking my hand and leading me towards the back of the room. He slides one of the shoji doors open and I follow him outside to the cabin's backyard curious as to what else there could possibly be.

Beneath a clear and sunny March sky, I'm shocked to see a beautiful Japanese garden in place of what should have been a dark, overgrown forest. Whoever owns the cabin cleared away a large portion of land behind it, fenced it in with tall bamboo poles, and created the tranquil Japanese garden that I'm looking at now. It contains the 5 main elements of a Japanese garden: water, an island, a bridge, a stone lantern, and a teahouse pavilion. (4) However, since the backyard isn't very big, the owner had to get creative with how s/he incorporated all those elements.

The water is held in a small manmade pool that has smooth riverstones embedded to its walls and bottom, making it blend in better with the natural setting around it and continuing the Zen theme of the cabin.

The island is just a small stone table protruding up from the bottom of the pool and rising up above the water a few inches. Underneath the water and near the table are matching stone stools.

The arched, wooden red bridge only runs the short width of the pool, and bookending the bridge are a pair of stone lanterns.

Lastly, the teahouse pavilion is actually a small, pagoda-roofed gazebo on one corner of the garden with a bistro table and 2 matching chairs to sit and drink tea at. (5)

As condensed as everything is, it's still very beautiful and the fact that everything is done on a small scale makes the garden look quaint and inviting rather than grandiose and intimidating.

The only thing that throws me off, however, is the steam I see rising up from the surface of the pool until I realize what I'm actually looking at. The pool is a pool alright, but the water isn't regular chlorinated water, it's mineral water pumped in from the local hot spring, so that our cabin isn't just a cabin, it's a cabin with its very own private hot spring!

"I see you figured it out." Kakashi says after seeing realization dawn on my face. "I've heard that hot springs are supposed to have healing powers on the body, and considering everything that you've been through, I thought that this would be perfect. And when I looked more into it, I found out that you can even rent out a cabin with its own private hot spring, so...Happy White Day!" Kakashi says with a happy eye crease.

"You are SO sweet and SO thoughtful! Thank you!" I tell him, wrapping my arms around his waist and giving him another big hug.

"Anything for you," he says, kissing me gently on the crown of the head.

We probably could've stayed like that for who knows how long if it wasn't for the knock, knock, knocking and shouts of "Hello? Anyone home?" that we hear at the front door.

"Who's that?" I ask confused. "I thought that this was a private cabin."

"It is, but we still get all the amenities of a full spa." Kakashi explains. "So that's probably our masseuse."

"We get a masseuse?"

"Two actually. One for each of us."

"Are you serious?"

"And we also get room service and a maid to clean up the room."

"How much did you spend on this place?" I ask bewildered.

"Don't worry about that. I can afford it. Like you said: Just. Be. Happy." Kakashi says, using my own words against me.

"I am, but you do know that you don't have to buy my love since you already have it."

"I know, but I want a massage, too!" Kakashi says sincerely.

"And here I thought it was all for me!" I laugh. "Alright, let's go get your massage." I say in mock defeat, and Kakashi and I make our way back to the cabin with our arms around each other's waist, ready to get our butts pampered off.

~*~*~*~

"Oh my God, that feels sooo good!" Kakashi groans into the doughnut hole of his face pillow as his masseuse starts to elbow one of the knotted muscles on his back.

I feel my face heat up. The only other times I've ever heard him say those words and in that same fashion was when he and I were making-

"Oh, yes! Right there! Just a little bit harder!" I can't help but groan as my own masseuse starts to squeeze my neck and shoulders which have always been the tensest parts of my body.

I hear Kakashi suddenly grow silent.

I think we both just realized that maybe it would've been better if we gave each other a massage than have complete strangers do it for us. Otherwise, it's just...indecent.

"You need to try to relax," my masseuse berates me, trying to loosen up again the muscles that she had just worked on.

"Please don't forget to breathe." Kakashi's own masseuse scolds him.

"Sorry." Kakashi and I say in unison, trying to get our heads out of the gutter.

After awhile we both start to relax once more, letting our masseuses gently massage and rub away all of our aches and pains. Combined with the soft music they have playing through the ceiling speakers and the flickering light of the many candles spread throughout the room, I feel myself inevitably starting to fall asleep. Apparently, Kakashi has already beaten me to it, made evident by his soft snores.

The swish of a closing sliding door wakes me up after an unknown period of time and when I look around, I see that our masseuses have left. Ninja skills still intact, the subtle sound wakes Kakashi up as well.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asks groggily, turning over on his side to face me.

"Just a little bit longer than me, which apparently has been awhile." I say, noticing how daylight no longer backlights the paper of our shoji doors.

I get up from my massage table, wrap my thick, white cotton towel tight around me, and pad across the tatami mat covered floor. When I slide the door to the backyard open, I see that the sky has turned black with night and it's scattered with millions of stars, a sight reserved only for those out in the middle of nowhere. The full moon, however, is almost as bright as day, making it easy to see everything like the sinuous mist rising up from the heated pool's surface, which adds to the surrealism of the night shrouded Japanese garden.

I feel rather than see Kakashi quietly take his place by my side and I automatically mold against him as he pulls me against his side in a one-armed embrace.

With only the sounds of crickets rubbing their legs together and an owl hooting nearby, it feels like it's only him and me and no one else for miles around. It's a feeling that can be potentially dangerous, especially when in the company of a lover.

Stepping away from Kakashi, I turn my back to him, loosen the towel wrapped around me, and let it fall from my body to pool around my ankles instead. Stepping over the pile of terry cloth, I slowly make my way nude into the pool. At first the water feels way too hot, but once I'm in the water up to my shoulders, my body adjusts to the temperature and it feels good in contrast to the chill of the cool night air.

I frog stroke leisurely and noiselessly to the "island" in the middle of the pool, sit down on one of the underwater stools, then turn around to signal to Kakashi to come join me. His eye widens at my invitation, then he lets the towel around his own waist fall to the ground, swims as fast as only he can towards me, and comes to a stop inches in front of me in less than a blink of an eye, standing on the pool's bottom. I laugh and greet him with a hug and a kiss as any good "islander" does when welcoming a new guest.

I'm still smiling and laughing as I kiss him, but it doesn't take long for our kisses to become more serious. After all, it's difficult to keep a hug and a kiss innocent when you're both naked just below the water's surface.

Cupping my face in his hands, he tilts his head from left to right and back again, kissing me with angled kisses. Then, his hands dip below the water's surface to cup and squeeze my breasts before gently pinching and rolling my hardened nipples between his thumb and pointer finger. His kisses become deeper and more desperate, his tongue entering my mouth to stroke against my own. When we finally part from our kiss, lungs burning and starved for oxygen, we rest our heads together forehead to forehead, panting.

His hands graze down my sides to rest on my hips, then in one swift movement he switches places with me so that he's the one sitting on the underwater stool and I find myself sitting on top, straddling him. Our position is such that I can feel his erection pressing against my stomach. I bring my hand down between us, gently wrap my fingers around his cock, and slowly start to stroke it up and down from base to tip. From the low groan Kakashi emits deep in his throat, I know that I'm making him feel good, so I repeat the motion several times, pleasuring him for as long as I can before giving him one last satisfying pull and raising myself up to guide him to my entrance.

At that moment, I'm thankful that I'd started using birth control pills rather than just relying on condoms. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do this now without undoubtedly getting me pregnant. I do want to have children with him someday, but preferably after we're married and had time to enjoy each others company first. After all, it's taken us forever to finally get together. We deserve as much "alone time" as we can get.

His hands still on my hips, Kakashi lifts me slightly off of him only to push me back down again, pulling himself in and out of the tight heat of my body in long, slow, leisurely strokes. In an effort to both help him and to keep my balance, I grip tightly onto the stone table's edge behind him, meeting him thrust for thrust. When he raises his hips up off the stool, I bring mine crashing down, and when he pulls back, I pull up. Our bodies move in sync, the act of lovemaking innate in us.

Aiming for a better angle, Kakashi sits at the stool's edge almost like he's about to fall off, which gives me the chance to plant the soles of my feet on the back of the stool and hover over him in a squatted position. It's a favorable position, giving us equal control and at this angle, he's consistently hitting me at just the right spot. The speed, the friction...All of it is just right and I can feel my body immediately respond to it. A pleasurable heat flares up deep inside of me, then explodes throughout my body as my inner muscles clamp hard all around him at the same time he grips my hips tightly and pushes me down on him as hard as he can, groaning his release at the same time I'm moaning mine. Our bodies tremble and shake a last few times, aftershocks of our climax. I collapse on top of him at the same time he sits limp on his stool, both of us exhausted by our extracurricular activity.

"Kakashi, I've been meaning to tell you something." I say, panting. "And now's probably the best time to tell you while you still have endorphins coursing through your body."

"What is it?" he asks, worry and concern plain on his face.
"Well, as thoughtful and considerate as your hot springs idea was, the truth is, hot springs don't actually help people like me with liver and kidney problems. It's mostly for people who want to detoxify their bodies." I say, scrunching my face up at having to tell him the bad news. (6)

"So my bringing you here isn't going to help you in any way whatsoever?" he asks.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. I definitely needed the massage and weekend getaway just to relax and feel like myself again, and this," I say, purposely squeezing my inner muscles tight around him. "Will make anyone feel better." I say with a smirk.

"Can't argue with that!" Kakashi says, smirking back, then wraps his hand around the nape of my neck to give me a long, passionate kiss on the lips.

I feel something twitch deep inside of me, and when we part from our kiss, I look back at him with wide eyes.

"Are you getting...Again?!" I ask in disbelief.

"Well you started it by doing that." Kakashi says, waving his finger vaguely down to where our bodies are joined.

"What? You mean this?" I ask, again squeezing my inner muscles around his undeniably re-hardening member.

"Yup. That'd be it." Kakashi says, tilting his head back both in defeat and pleasure.

"Well, I'm up for a second round if you are." I say mischievously. "But we should probably get out of here before we both give ourselves a fever."

Lovemaking usually leaves us sweaty, but now, submerged in a heated pool, we're sweating even more.

"Shower?" Kakashi suggests.

"You read my mind. Race you?" I ask.

"Shoot, I'll carry you there!" Kakashi says, and true to his word, I squeal as he quickly lifts me off of him, carries me in his arms bridal style, and is out of the pool and back inside the cabin in record time.

~*~*~*~

It's a wonder Kakashi didn't slip on the pool water he trailed onto the bathroom's tile floor and kill us both, he was running so fast! The most I could do was wrap my arms tight around his neck and laugh through the whole ordeal.

Now safe and sound in our bathroom, he carefully puts me down on my feet on the bathroom towel that doubles as a bathmat, turns on the shower, and waits for it to heat up because as much as we had wanted to get out of the heat of the hot spring, we don't want to take a cold shower either. After all, we want to stay horny. So instead, we wait for the water to become comfortably warm before stepping under it.

The shower is made up of three glass walls braced against a fourth wall made up of small blue-green glass mosaic tiles. The space is small and I try to figure out the best way for us to do this. In movies and romance novels, the girl is almost always pushed up against the shower wall, legs wrapped around her lover's waist while he does all the work. And while this may seem extremely hot on-screen or on the page, it doesn't really work out quite as well in real life. Kakashi and I had tried having sex standing up once and it isn't as easy as it looks. It's difficult for him because not only does he have to carry all my weight, but he has to do all the work, too. And it's difficult for me because not only do I have to struggle not to fall off, but I have little to no control over my own movements (and therefore my own pleasure) either. And this is with us trying it outside of a slippery shower! So instead I opt for the more practical choice: I turn around so that I'm facing the mosaic tile wall, brace my hands against it, and wait for Kakashi to enter me from behind. With both our feet planted firmly on the floor and both of us in complete control of our movements, slippery shower or not, this position is a done deal.

Looking over my shoulder, I watch as Kakashi holds himself in his hand, gives himself a couple of good strokes, then guides himself to my entrance. I feel the hardness and pressure of his tip the instant it touches the folds of my sex, pushes them open, and continues to slowly push the rest of its way deep into my body. Kakashi only stops when he's in all the way up to the hilt and can go no further.

Facing forward again and bowing my head down between my outstretched arms, I support myself against the wall in front of me as Kakashi grabs my hips in his hands and starts to slowly pump himself in and out. With me bent over like this, I can feel his tip as it constantly bumps against the front wall of my vagina, the most sensitive and most pleasurable spot inside of me. I hear my deep moans echo and resonate in the confines of the shower, while warm water continues to rain down on us, making each quickening slap of our hips turn into squilching wet noises. That's another reason why I love this position: Not only is it a stable one in an unstable setting, but it also gives the guy the chance to go crazy. With the clear view he gets not only of a female's most private of parts, but of his cock sliding in and out of it, he can't help but go crazy.

I feel myself getting close, the heat and tension deep inside of me growing hotter and tighter. And from the sound of Kakashi's shortening breaths and equally shortening thrusts, I can tell that he's getting close, too. Wanting to give me the chance to climax before he does (Otherwise, I forfeit my chance) Kakashi wraps his arm around my waist, reaches for my clit, and rubs against it as quickly as he can with the pads of his fingertips, his hand a blur as he brings me over the edge. I scream as I experience yet another hard orgasm, but the sound seems to egg Kakashi on and he pounds into me harder and faster than ever before. It isn't long before his thrusts start to slow and he starts to push into me in longer, deeper thrusts. Then, he tugs my hips as hard as he can against his one last time and groans his release. Once he stops pushing me up against the shower wall and his body relaxes, I'm able to relax my body as well and simply enjoy the kisses he starts sprinkling on the back of my neck.

A minute later, we step out of the shower, dry ourselves off, and make our way exhaustedly back into bed, both of us falling almost immediately asleep in each others arms. It's been a long, tiring day, but fortunately, it's a good kind of tired. When every part of your body, heart, and soul is exhausted from too much fun and too much lovin'...Yeah, it's the good kind of tired.

~*~*~*~

I wake up in the middle of the night with a start, a thought occurring to me: For everything that Kakashi did to make my White Day special - cook for me, bring me breakfast in bed, give me my beautiful engagement ring, take me away for the weekend with the intention to help me get better - I never got my white chocolate. I know it's a small thing in comparison to everything else, but getting my white chocolate is what officially makes White Day, White Day. It's like having a big, huge birthday celebration, but not getting to blow out the candles on your cake because nobody thought to bring the candles.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asks, looking at me worriedly.

"Well, it's just that-" but before I can finish, Kakashi reaches carefully places something on my pillow.

Reaching for it and holding it up to the bright moonlight pouring in through the bedroom window, I see a small, pure white chocolate heart, and just beyond it, a smiling Kakashi.

I smile back at him. He hadn't forgotten, after all. He was just saving the best for last.

To be continued...

~*~*~*~

Happy White Day, everyone!

Links:

(1) White Day:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_day

(2) Image of Sakura's ring:

jonsjewels.co.uk/userimages/Picture%20067(2).jpg

(3) Image of bungalow:

k53.pbase.com/g4/81/662581/2/61317844.TypicalJapanesehouse.jpg

(4) Japanese garden elements:

japaneselifestyle.com.au/garden/japanese_garden_elements.html

(5) Image of pagoda-roofed gazebo:

gcs-online.co.uk/Assets/Images/gazebo_arbour/rowlinson/pagoda_lg.jpg

(6) Hot springs' limits (near bottom of page):

eytonsearth.org/balneology-balneotherapy.php#balneology