I don't own naruto. Kina is my own character and Muné belongs to a friend of mine. comments and feedback are appreciated. I hope you enjoy.
The sun had just begun to shine as morning had officially begun. Faint light streamed through a dense canopy as an ice sickle sailed through the air planting itself firmly into its target. An ancient tree recoiled from the attack causing several of its berries to be shaken loose showering the ground. Most of the falling fruit were sliced in mid-air by a formation of ten blades each weapon transparent in color. The blades either came to rest in the nearby trees, the ground, or collide with large rocks shattering the unlucky blades like glass. Kina stayed crouched in her fighting stance. A layer of sweat made her alabaster skin glow in the morning sun. Her pants were the only noise in the clearing she chose for training that morning. With each exhalation, a fine plume of steam escaped her parted lips.
Once her breathing was steady, the blonde kunoichi stood up straight opening and closing her fists multiple times. The cold from manipulating her ice weapons had worked it's way into her fingers making her digits next to useless which brought an end to her early morning training session. Despite the stifling heat of July, Kina was shivering as if January and July had switched places. Using her element did that to her. The more she called upon it, the more the cold would creep into her body. This side effect ranged from mild annoyance to life threatening condition. It all depended on how long she used her ice and how fast she could get somewhere warm.
Her ice style nin-jutsu was a fusion of two chakra natures: water and wind. The former being her primary chakra nature. She never had any negative side effects from using using water style jutsu or wielding the minor wind style jutsu she had learned over time. Relying on water and wind styles would be the wisest choice, but the blonde was inexplicably gifted with ice style. That and the akatsuki already had a water style style user. She had been brought on mostly as a contractual condition. The akatsuki had approached Muné about being their full-time medic, but the brunette drove a hard bargain.
"No senpai, no medic," A subconcious smile curled her lips as the spunky brunette's words echoed in her head. Since a compromise was struck, Kina was given an ever shifting spot among the s-rank criminal organization. Ranked just below 'official members', the blonde ice style user was enlisted for extra support and would switch teams on a constant basis.
With each two man team, Kina had learned to conduct herself with each situation. With Deidara and Tobi: she played the part of a maternal figure keeping two squabbling appeased. When her and the bomb artist are paired with Sasori, Kina was the tiebreaker vote on which art form was better. She would always remain neutral on that topic and quickly change the subject. On missions with Hidan and Kakuzu: the blonde was either debating/arguing with the jashinist over religion and why the ice user should convert, or tag team with the bounty hunter on whose turn it was to tell Hidan to shut up.
Then there was the team of Itachi and Kisame. Those two always got along, so Kina never had to play peacemaker with them though she always felt awkward on missions with them. Was it because they worked flawlessly together? Was it because they held a mutual respect for each other both personally and professionally? Or maybe because Kina had been nursing a crush since she had first met him. The blonde kunoichi had no idea how she fell for him, but she did. And hard. At first, it was the usual 'talk to him and hangout' approach, which was fine until the man started appearing in her fantasies. Now just being near him brought extra color to her cheeks and sometimes a slight stutter that she would pray he did not notice. He would be perfect for her; even though he was a bit odd.
He was powerful; gifted in both strength and skill. His physique when exposed drove her practically up a wall with the need to admire and caress it. The former only possible for her; though his best quality, in her opinion, was his sense of humor. Something just clicked in her brain when someone could make her laugh. He almost knew what to say comically to get a reaction out of her, from a tiny smirk to a doubled over laughing fit on the floor of the base.
The ice kunoichi huffed dismissing her daydreams of him. She could explain away her blush easily thanks to her training session. If only she could make herself to believe that.
'Damn it Kina,' she mentally scolded herself, 'you know damn well that Kisame doesn't see you like that,'
A rustling in the nearby bushes snapped the blonde into attack mode abruptly sending a lance of ice hurtling towards the origin of the disturbance. She quirked a brow upon hearing a squeal, which seemed to be that of a young man. Kina sighed recognizing who the squeal belonged to.
'how many times do I have to tell him not to sneak up on me while training?' She pondered as she walked to the origin of the disturbance. The blonde found her captive pinned to a tree. The splinter of ice pierced the loose fabric of his shirt, thankfully only succeeding in scaring him. Kina crossed her arms upon her discovery of the orange masked shinobi.
"Tobi, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me when I'm training?
The shinobi in question rubbed the back of his head.
"Sorry Kina-san. Tobi forgot."
The blonde rolled her eyes but released him from the ice. It was difficult to stay angry at the little goofball.
"What brings you here, Tobi? Don't tell me Muné sent you out here to check on me."
Muné would often send someone to make sure Kina did not over do it during her training, especially during the winter months and on rainy days where she would be more vulnerable to the cold. However, since it was obvious to everyone in the base that Tobi would jump if Muné told him to, he would often keep the ice user company on those days.
"No Kina-san, Tobi came to ask Kina-san something."
The blonde quirked a brow. Nornmally if the child-like shinobi had any questions, he would go bug Deidara until an answer is given.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Well, Tobi was wondering if he could..."
He trailed off into a whisper that Kina could not hear.
"Tobi, you need to speak up."
The blonde replied in a gentle manner even though mumbling irritated her to no end. Tobi gulped softy. Kina was one of the more patient members, but she held no tolerance for sloppiness, disrespect, and especially mumbling.
"Tobi was wondering if Kina-san could do a favor for Tobi,"
"what kind of favor?"
"Tobi needs a body guard,"
The kunoichi sighed with annoyance.
"Did you take Deidara's clay again?"
The shinobi in question shook his head.
"No, Kina-san. Tobi learned his lesson. Tobi meant body guards for Muné-chan.
Kina smirked crossing her arms. She had a pretty good idea what was going on.
"and why does Muné need body guards?"
The raven haired shinobi refused to make eye contact with the kunoichi.
"Well, Muné-chan's birthday is tomorrow..."
"Yes Tobi, I'm aware of it,"
"and Tobi wanted to do something nice for Muné-chan."
The blonde kunoichi shot him a look that said 'go on'. The child like man took a few moments to twiddle his thumbs.
"Tobi wants to take Muné-chan on a romantic date like in those movies Konan-san watches."
"and what exactly would that entail?"
"Dinner, a movie, and maybe a moonlit stroll."
Kina's smile fell. She was not overly protective of Muné, but the ice user often caught herself shielding the young medic from situations that would land the brunette in hot water. Whether it would be sending warning glares to any man who had perverted thoughts on his agenda or beating the absolute hell out of anyone that made Muné cry. Kina just could not help herself. She cared for the medic like a little sister, but Muné was an adult who could hold her own. Kina made sure of that.
"Well, I'll help you Tobi, as long as you be good on your date with Muné."
The blonde kunoichi was instantly pulled against the child like man's chest in a hug.
"Thank you, Kina-san!"
He squealed joyfully, lifting the blonde off the ground. Kina's eye twitched in irritation. She despised being reminded of her short stature.
"You're welcome Tobi, just...put me down."
Sensing the tension in her voice, the masked shinobi gently set her back on her feet.
"Um, sorry, Kina-san."
He laughed nervously. Everyone, including Tobi, knew the ice user's height was a touchy subject. The blonde was only an inch over five foot which made her an easy target for jokes. However, just because the target was easy to hit, did not mean that said target would just lay there and take it. There was an old saying: 'it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. That saying seemed to ring true since there had been many times where the blonde had taken down ninjas that seemed to eat a dozen raw eggs for breakfast with a heaping side of nails.
With another plume of steam escaping her lip, Kina crossed her arms trying to suppress a shiver. Unfortunately, for her, Tobi had seen it, and he sprung into action.
"Tobi will save you, Kina-san,"
The masked shinobi quickly scooped up the ice user tossing her over his shoulder and took off for the base. The blonde kunoichi huffed perching her elbow on the young man's shoulder propping her head up on his shoulder.
"Tobi, I can walk on my own."