-: Urtica Dioica :-
Summary: She was like a stinging nettle: fragile when you looked at her from a distance, when you tried to reach for her though, she would sting you. Protect herself instinctively. But if you treated her the right way, with utmost care, she could grant you her healing flowers, white as snow.
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A/N: Woohoo! Another one-shot. n.n I was having Biology (Oh, the coincidence! -coughs-) when I came up with this. Somehow, I just thought it fitted Hinata. Not that I think she's always PMSing or anything, but… ah well, just read the story! Or the summary. XD
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Beams of sunlight trickled through the thick foliage of bright coloured leafs, dancing on the ground like elves and leaving shining spectacles on the earth. Peaceful warmth, the feeling of soothing arms of the early morning sun would make one feel at peace in the silent forest, every now and then the chirping from small birds ringing throughout the appeasing place.
Suddenly the voices of forest creatures dimmed abruptly; fluttering of wings was heard as a small group of blackbirds rose from the trees and fled away, shrieking loudly to alarm others for an unknown danger.
The sound of footsteps arose slightly; feet were just barely touching tree branches while jumping from one to another, causing the leaves to rustle softly as if a cool spring breeze was moving through them.
The tapping sound of feet landing on branches stopped just as suddenly as lightning would strike; soon slightly overpowered by carefully produced noise from the forest dwellers that had dared to stick their heads out of their hiding places when the strange sounds had died down.
Raspy breaths were heard from out of the hidden shadows, one sigh following the other quickly as if someone was out of breath. A sudden rustle, and a faint flash of metal traveling silently through the trees, seconds later followed by a horrendous scream and a sickening thud as a body fell out of the trees and landed on the ground, laying there motionless as red liquid began to leak through closed lips and colouring the world around them.
Pale eyes stared through the holes of a mask painted with an animalistic face at the dead body with a hint of emotion.
"Do not let it get to you. You are a fighter, not a weakling." A seemingly angry voice of an older man rang through childhood memories.
The flicker of sadness was gone as soon as it had come; eyelids closed before opening again, hardness shining clearly before they disappeared in the shadows.
Another man suddenly appeared next to the body of his dead comrade; crouching down to check if he was still alive, the stranger looked around with narrowed eyes before his form disappeared in thin air once again.
There was another flash of metal as something sharp shot through the air, piercing white skin this time.
Eyelids snapped open at the sudden pain and white orbs looked at the scowling man in front of them. "You'll pay for the death of my friend, you bitch." A balled fist flung through the air, but this time she was ready: it was caught with ease by an open palm. The man cringed as something electric-like shot through his limbs, followed by a strange numbness. Before he had even registered that his arm was paralyzed entirely, another hand poisoned with deathly palsy was directed at him; it hit target as the man flung backwards and crashed into a tree with a loud crash, eyes flying wide open as the sickening crack of bones snapping echoed in his ears. When he faintly realized it was his own back, the world became slowly darker. A flash of something running past him swiftly moved through his eyesight before shadows consumed him completely.
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Pupil less eyes looked behind them once before turning back again, directing their gaze on the sight before them as a bloodstained kunai was left behind. The strange girl whose face was covered by the painted mask darted further and further into the forest, limping a bit from the fresh wound she had gained minutes earlier. She kept on leaping from branch to branch, no longer looking around and ignoring the painful wound.
Finally, a slight huff escaped pale lips before the girl stopped and looked around.
A hand slowly reached up, forming a sign.
One single whispered word, and strange veins appeared in and around her orbs: it was as if she was staring right through anyone and everything, reading your soul within a blink of an eye. Seeing all your mistakes from the past and presence as if you were an open book.
As soon as they had come, the veins faded again and left only pale lavender staring through the cracks.
The young woman sat down, apparently deciding there were no more enemies near by (well, no living ones); she would catch up with her teammates later on.
The mask was lifted; a small face looked up to the sky that was noticeable through the leaves. Moonstone eyes blinked twice when sunlight blinded them for a second. The warmth of the beams gave her limbs more strength as they assuaged her, leaving a divine mitigating where the rays had danced on her skin. But they couldn't palliate the pricking pain that came from her injured leg. Looking down the girl saw red blood trickling down, droplets falling on the ground and some painting the green leaves beneath her as if they were blood-red dew.
She cringed mentally as she moved for something that was safely put away in her backpack. Opening it, she reached one hand in and ruffled through the things that were in the rucksack before she pulled her hand out of it, holding a small jar in pale fingers.
The faint smell of herbs lingered through the forest soon after she had opened the pot and had smeared some white cream on her wound. Winching from the aching that it brought with it, she spread the ointment over the entire wound, the white mixing with vermillion until it became a pale pink.
The stinging faded slowly, and when it had subdued completely, the only marks that indicated there had been a wound was the faint color of blood.
With the mask still in her hand the girl stood up again, a bit wobbly, looking around for the last time before wanting to take off. But something stopped her from doing so.
Dark brown eyes were looking at her in agony, silently begging the girl to release them from the tormenting pain they had to endure.
A pang of sadness shot through the young woman.
She had always loved animals… And this particular rabbit was looking so fearfully at her that she almost wanted to console it tenderly. But old memories from a long time ago held her back. Her father shouting at her that she was a pathetic waste of space was not something she wanted to go through again. The wounds that scarred her soul had not healed yet. She turned around, face away from the hurt animal.
Bending through her knees to take a run, the girl stopped dead in her tracks; The heart had won from it her mind. She turned around and with a swift movement she landed gracefully on the ground, a few feet away from the forest creature that flinched due to the strange being that was suddenly so close by.
Taking careful steps, she neared the animal with precaution, a small smile on her pale lips as if to soothe the frightened rabbit. Soon standing next to the creature, the girl already saw that the wound was too large to try to heal with ointments. She crouched down, placing the mask beside her and reached a hand out, pale fingers hovering above the bloodied fur.
She was still a novice in the medical domain. However, she wanted to try; this animal was in such a bad shape that it wouldn't last for long if she did nothing.
A faint green light began to glow, luminescent as it reached the pained body of the small animal. Closing eyes in concentration, the girl just sat there; ears perked in case an enemy would near.
As the light began to fade her eyes opened again and looked down, to see if it had worked. Dark eyes stared at her and blinked once, before a nose twitched in the air, as if to sniff if the strange creature in front of him had malevolent meanings.
No such thing, though.
The careful smile widened when she saw that she had succeeded in healing the rabbit. Twitching a leg and peaking one ear up, the furry animal clumsily got on his legs again. It slipped a few times before it fully succeeded in standing on four paws, and when the creature finally did it immediately hopped away, hastily scurrying off. A few plucks of bloodied fur lay deserted on the muddy ground, reminding of what had occurred earlier.
The girl stared after the retreating rabbit, inwardly a bit disappointed the rabbit hadn't stayed for a few seconds longer. It was then that she realized she was actually on a mission.
She stood up swiftly, stretching her legs before jumping in one of the many trees that surrounded her; she too, disappeared.
A colorful but dangerous looking mask lay forgotten in the grass; the painted eyes directed at the sky.
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Inuzuka Kiba sighed loudly before letting out a wolfish groan behind his mask. His companion, a rather large dog, joined him by yawning, white sharp teeth shining in the sun that was standing high at the clear sky now.
Their teammate pushed his sunglasses back to the bridge of his nose; a slight frown was noticeable behind the dark glass. He was the only one, besides the dog, who didn't wear a mask. But it was not really needed; the hood of his jacket was pulled over his head, and his mouth was covered, too. He seemed in deep thought; one could only guess what he was thinking about, for he himself seemed a complete enigma.
"Oi, Shino. Don't you think we should go look for Hinata by now?" Kiba interrupted his thoughts. "I mean… she's really late this time."
Shino shook his head. "No need."
"Wha?" A confused look was evident on his teammate's face now. But his question was soon answered as the faint rustling of leaves was heard. Kiba abruptly turned around and came eye to eye with the subject of his worries.
Lavender eyes looked slightly embarrassed at him before directing to the ground.
Kiba grinned slightly before smacking his lost-and-found friend on the shoulders, causing a slight yelp from her. "Hina! I was already getting worried. And Shino, too. Ain't that right, bug-boy?" The only answer he got was a slightly annoyed glance from behind a pair of sunglasses. Shrugging he turned back to the pale-eyed girl.
"Where were you, anyway?"
She smiled slightly. "Sorry I made y-you worried… I was helping… s-someone..."
The other sighed. "Geez, you're too good for this world… And where's your mask?"
She looked up at him, shocked. A hand reached up and touched her face, feeling if her mask really wasn't there.
Slightly panicked she gave Kiba a pleading look. "I… I f-forgot…!"
"And what is this then..?"
Both Hinata and Kiba turned around when their teammate spoke. Shino was holding a mask in his left hand, vividly painted like all the other ANBU-masks.
Hinata gasped. "How… B-But I…" Kiba just laughed at her for being so clumsy while she, completely confused, took the mask from Shino's outstretched hand and stared at it for a while.
"C'mon Hinata, we're leaving here."
She turned around, putting the mask back. "C-Coming!" Following her friends, she disappeared in the arms of the trees again.
Dark brown eyes stared at her, before blinking once and turning away.
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A/N: And guess who brought back the mask? n.n I know, I know, cooooorrrrnny…. But I was just in the mood to write this… Forgive me!!! holds rabbit in front of her And, uhm, if you haven't already run away, would you please be so kind to press that blue button on the left? Please?