A young woman, no older than twenty, stepped through the gates of Konoha and handed travel documents to the two shinobi on duty there. They read carefully, eyes widening when the words written there sunk in. One looked up at the woman and offered her a smile. "Welcome to Konoha, Miss Hanajima. Will you be heading straight to the compound?"
The woman in question reached up and pushed her hood off her head. This revealed short brown hair with a fringe almost covering her right eye. It was her eyes that were remarkable: one was blue and the other was green. She smiled in return to the shinobi and nodded. This action shifted her hair a little, revealing a forehead protector engraved with the symbol of Sand. This marked her as one of their kunoichi. She was dressed as was expected of her family: a pair of loose black trousers that were only close to her body at her waist and ankles. Along with this she wore a dark green wrap-around hooded tunic and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Her complection was tanned, in keeping with her place of birth.
Once she was led to the compound she found herself alone outside the gate. She ran her fingers through her hair, concerned about what was about to take place. With a deep calming breath she put one hand on the gate to push it open. She stopped, however ,when she heard a voice speaking to her.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
The woman turned and her mismatched gaze settled on a man around her own age. He wore dark glasses and had a hood up as she too usually did. She shrugged, "Perhaps. I'm here to see Shibi Aburame."
The young man showed no reaction to this but he was surprised. "Why?"
She laughed at his simple question. "Because I'm supposed to marry his son. My name's Cora Hanajima."
In a rare moment the man infront of her lost his composure. He frowned and stared at her from behind his glasses. "You're... going to marry Shibi Aburame's son? Why?"
Cora shrugged, "A marriage contract signed years ago that came to light recently. I'm from Sand.. it was meant to join our two nations together but I was only young when it was decided. As the head of the clan, Shibi wrote to my father to see if this would go ahead. My father so no reason not to... so here I am." Cora could be assume this person was also part of the Aburame clan based on how he was dressed. "I'm sorry, I never asked your name."
The man pushed his glasses higher on his nose and replied, "Shino Aburame."
Cora's eyes widened in recognition of that name. "You're Shino? I... take it you didn't know, then?"
"I had no idea."
The brunette girl bit her bottom lip in worry. "I'm sorry."
"You should not be. Why? Because it is my father who should have told me." With that Shino pushed open the gate and stepped into the compound. Cora sighed and followed him inside. This was not how she had hoped things would go.