"Well I do hope this is worth my time" Kei drawled as she was hauled down a hallway. Every hall looked as similar as the last making the building seem like a maze. How many right turns had they taken again? Glancing at the perfectly spaced windows Kei looked out below to the quiet little leaf village. Jumping out the window is certainly one option she could take. She felt the already vice like grip on her arm tighten and turned to innocently look at the tall man guiding her path.
"Do not attempt it" he said his eyes not straying for the path in front of him. Kei stared at him a fraction longer before being rounded another corner to yet another white walled, hardwood floored hall. This time however a simple wooden door was at the end. This is where she would come face to face with Konoha's Hokage, the highest authority in her mind.
"Do I have to curtsy?" she could hear her voice drowning in sarcasm as Ibiki yanked the door open. She was pleasantly surprised when the hinges rattled. She was frazzling her present company. Pulling her inside he stopped quite a bit away from a large oak desk stacked high with papers. Kei watched as one stack on the edge looked as if it were swaying and could fall at any moment. Ibiki clearing his throat brought her attention back to the situation at hand, her.
"I've brought the girl" he said in a gruff voice. Kei smirked as one stack of papers seemed to slide to the right. Then another stack to the left. In front of her sat a well endowed blonde with a serious look on her face.
"Thank you Ibiki" she said and Kei felt her lips twitch with pleasure.
"Oh….you're the Hokage, I'm sorry I expected someone a little smarter perhaps?" she stated taking in the legendary sucker before her. Kei crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at Tsunade.
"Where's my money Tsunade-san?" she questioned. One look at her and Tsunade folded her hands in front of her, elbows on her desk and stared at Kei.
"You're a Kazeita" she announced. Kei's lips twitched in agitation, the woman glided over her question.
"I am, you owe me money" she said frowning at the woman.
"Tell me Kazeita, why are you here in my village?"
"Sightseeing" Kei watched Tsunade's lips twitch upwards in a smile. What's the worst they could do? Lock her in a room and keep an eye on her twenty-four seven?
Two hours later, Kei sat in a white room on the hardwood floor staring at the wall. They could have at least given her something to entertain herself with; hell she'd take someone who never shut up to the silence that ensued. Sighing she straightened up placing her back flat against the wall and rested her head as well. Closing her eyes she concentrated on her breathing. In and out, feeling the flow of her chakra as it coursed through her body. There was a single knock on her door, when she gave no answer it opened and she could hear two sets of footfalls; then the Hokage cleared her throat. Opening on eye she stared at the two adults in front of her.
"It's not nice to lock a kid up you know? At least give me some crayons next time" she drawled out with a bored tone laced in her voice.
"Well Kazeita, I realize it is not fair to lock you away in a room all by yourself but I was afraid you'd hurt the other prisoners" Tsunade snipped. Kei couldn't help the chortle that escaped her lips.
"Oh ho lady Hokage, you know not a thing about me"
"You are not going to be released until we are sure you will do the village no harm"
"If I haven't done anything yet, why would I?"
"You attacked two of our Chuunin" the man finally spoke up. Kei eyed him up and down. A middle aged man, broad shoulders, dark brown hair pulled away from his face and flowed down his back, walked with a cane a possible handicap, light lavender eyes with no pupil, age lines. Wait back up, she eyed his face again.
"A Hyuga" she said feeling a wave of annoyance. The man had no response or facial clarity. Tsunade however nodded.
"As for the Chuunin, as I stated before, it was they whom attacked me first"
"Why are you here?"
"I am weary from my travels and was hoping to rest in your fair village, however on my merry way here, strolling down a path of bread crumbs I was viciously attacked by the two men who brought me in here. It's kidnapping I do say" she said smiling sweetly at the two.
"You talk big for such a little thing" the Hyuga said staring pointedly at her.
"Look I could have attacked you both, I am not here to do harm. Let me rest and I'll try to be out of your hair soon"
"I'm surprised you made it this far, with everyone out to kill you because of your clan" the man spoke up again. Kei bit her tongue and gritted her teeth together; this man was grinding on her nerves.
"I may have been born with that name, but it is not who I am not a part of my upbringing or culture" she hissed out narrowing her eyes. The man turned to the Hokage and she could only hear snippets of a conversation.
"They said…..powerful…..useful"
"….about….prophecy….danger"
"Listen…..harness….different?"
"….one…..don't know…trust….."
"Just…..it"
"Fine" They turned back to her and Tsunade smiled wryly.
"What is your first name?"
"Kei"
"Well then Kei Kazeita, Konoha will welcome you into our village for now. Do not make us take swift action upon you if you disrupt the balance we have here" Tsunade said staring at her. The Hyuga man glared in her direction.
"Thank you now I shall go find a place to stay" Kei pushed herself into a standing position and took a step forward to leave. Two bodies blocked her path out the door.
"We have accommodations you can use, the Hyuga's will be more than happy to give you a spare room" Tsunade's sweet smile plastered itself on her face. They were going to watch her, they didn't trust her and why should they? A small huff parted her lips and she swept low into a mocking curtsey.
"Very well then Hokage….I do expect my money though" With that Kei followed the Hyuga man out the door and down the hall.
The Hyuga complex was fenced in like most in the village, which Kei thought rather odd. The Kazeita complex and those with is in the wind village where not set off secluded behind walls. Their houses open to each other, each clan got along respectively with the others. Anyone was welcome into their home. Although, she wasn't sure if it was still the same after she left. She'd been only five when her family fled the clan house to go into hiding, the prejudices against her family because of their name caught up with them. The older Hyuga brought her from her thoughts as he called over a young girl.
The girl scampered over, her hands laced in front of her in a nervous twitch. Kei eyed up her competition. The girl looked about her age, light Hyuga eyes, a smooth complexion, short bobbed purple hair. This girl screamed nervous wreck. She tentatively stepped up in front of the man who stared back at her disapprovingly and Kei could feel a twinge of recognition. She always knew what disappointment looked like in the eyes of others and this man was disappointed in this young female. Kei felt she could relate to the girl.
"Take Kei Kazeita to the spare room near your Hinata" he said before waving her away.
"Yes father" she said quietly, Kei almost didn't hear her. Hinata turned towards Kei and avoided her gaze.
"T-this way" she stuttered and turned walking into the complex. Kei was not delighted in the fact that these walls were also white like the Hokage's building.
"If he is your father, you are a main branch Hyuga. Yet you do not speak with the confidence as such" she said simply looking to the girl for an answer. She did not seem to want to give one and Kei sighed. Something in her wanted to show this girl kindness where as Kei was known to show indifference, why the sudden change. Hinata's father flashed into her mind and her eyes narrowed at the thought of his disapproving glance at his daughter. Of course, the disappointment in the eyes of one's father. She related to the poor girl in that. A mental image of her own flesh and blood pierced her mind and she stopped suddenly in shock that he has resurfaced. A scowl grew on her face as she shoved the image away mentally locking it back up in the back of her mind. Catching up to the girl she stared at her a fraction of a second before being pointed towards a room.
"You will b-be staying h-here" she said opening the door and letting Kei shuffle inside.
"Neji-san is r-right across the hall and I'm one d-door down" Kei turned and faced the purple haired child.
"Who is Neji?" she asked mildly curious. At that moment the door across from hers opened quickly and an older boy walked out. Kei gave him the once up and down look. He wasn't that much older than her maybe a year or two? He had long brown hair pushed back by a leaf headband that trailed down his back and was tied loosely at the end. When she reached his face, he was staring at her with a cold look. Fixing her own face she mirrored him, indifference. Don't get too close. He turned and without a word stalked off the way they had just came.
"That must be him, seems like a pleasant fellow" Kei mused looking at Hinata. For the first time she looked at the girls neck where an identical band was tied across it.
"You're a ninja" she stated to the girl. Hinata nodded in response.
"Then….you must know of something fun to do around here do you not?" Kei lifted an eyebrow at the girl.
Kei sighed as she sat on a bed of grass watching Hinata's team spar against each other. The wind was gusting past causing her hair to fly wildly about and the grass to dance around her. Turns out Hinata was a genin, Kei could see why too. Her team may have good teamwork but individually the skills lacked. Hinata was not confident in herself and that boy with the dog breath was too confident. Kei glanced up at the other boy accompanying the team, the one who hid his eyes behind a pair of darkened glass. He was too quiet she couldn't get a reading yet, and she had yet to see his fighting skills.
"This is what she calls fun?" Kei mused turning her attention back on the fight and Hinata blocked a blow from dog boy.
"This is fun for some ninja, they like what they do and become more powerful" the leader of the team, a woman with unusual red eyes answered her question. Kei's eye twitched, she did not want her question answered.
"Well then…" Kei stood up and dusted herself off. "This is all good and well for you all, but I require a more interesting party to have my fun" Turning a flash of green caught her eye. When she saw the color flash by again she jogged after it. Such a strange thing to see a color flashing about but not being able to see where it was coming from, going to, and why it was?
Increasing her speed she caught up with the color. It was a boy and she almost tripped on her face when she realized it. He had black hair in bowl cut on top of his head, thick heavy caterpillar eyebrows, eyes like two black saucers, a determined look on his face and. Her eye twitched in horror. What was this thing he was wearing? Glancing up towards his face again she realized her had taken a notice of her and increased his speed slightly. So to amuse herself and to take on this obvious challenged, Kei increased her speed as well. Twenty seconds later she was neck and neck with this green boy at top speed, racing to an unknown destination. She didn't know where she was going but she was dead set on beating this boy.
Coming into an open grassy area she saw a lone figure standing not too far off from where they were. He too was dressed in green; looking every bit as similar to the boy she was heading against. Kei caught on and strained her legs urging them to move faster. She could feel her leg muscles stretch and pull as she told them to push on the ground harder to sprint. She could taste the victory on her lips and she finished an inch in front of the boy. Doubling over she huffed as she lay her hand on her knees for supports. It had been a long time since she had to run like that and while it was a nice change of pace, it was tiring. The doppelganger of the boy or was the boy the doppelganger? The man stepped up to her and she felt his large, heavy hand slap down on her back as he spewed off congratulations and something about youth and power. Kei's ears rang with a noise of bells as she glanced from man to boy. The boy seemed downright distressed that he was beaten by her and apologized profusely to the man before proclaiming he would do five hundred pushups to make up for his failure. Then he proceeded to drop into the position and count out loud as he completed them.
"Are you two related?" Kei couldn't help her curiosity. These two males where dressed alike in green paired with orange, they had the same hair too. The eyes were the major difference. The man let out a loud bellow of a laugh causing Kei's eyes to widen. Never had anyone laughed like that in front of her, so full of joy.
"I am his sensei, you can call me Gai" he said smiling towards her and giving a thumbs up. Kei pointed to the boy.
Who is he?" she asked. The man's face faltered.
"This is Rock Lee my student. I thought you knew him?" he questioned looking back and forth between the two.
"No I'm new to the village" she said. "He caught my eye"
That statement made the man smile.
"Oh ho ho ho!" he laughed. Kei's face fell as she realized her mistake.
"Oh no not like that at all!" she said throwing her hands out in front of her. It was then that two other people joined into the conversation. A girl and oh joy, Neji Hyuga. Kei looked to them briefly before fixing her attention back to the sensei of the team.
"I just needed a good race is all" she said closing her eyes momentarily before opening them again.
"You beat Lee!" the girl off to the side proclaimed her eyes widened like a doe's would right before you killed it. Kei blinked rapidly several times clearing the thought.
"Would it be so bad if I did?" she questioned.
"Aren't you supposed to be with Hinata or at the complex?" Neji spoke for the first time within Kei's hearing. She turned towards the boy and blinking innocently.
"Why I'm with you isn't that good enough for your precious Hokage?" she asked feigning innocence. His voice was as cold as his stare fixed on her. Roughly he took her by the arm and escorted her back to Hinata's team.
"Keep her under your watch" he growled to the resting Genin before stalking back off towards his own team.
"Isn't he a Genin too?" Kei asked pointing a thumb back towards him. Hinata sighed and closed her eyes.
