Chapter 4
I heard a tentative, quite voice from behind. Turning, a girl just taller than me, with dark blue hair and light purple eyes, had her hands folded in front of her, like she was praying or preparing to plead for her life.
"Who's she?" I pointed to the girl, head tilted to Inuzuka.
"Oh, ohayo Hinata. Ume, this is Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata, this is Sasaki Umeko."
We both bowed to each other. I smiled at her, "Just call me Ume."
"He-hello Ume-chan. Ohayo." Her eyes went as she spotted the white bandages on Inuzuka's neck. "K- Kiba-kun! Wh-what happened to your neck!"
He looked the opposite direction of me as he touched the bandages. "Nothing, just a scratch. Ume fixed me up, no problem." He gave a reassuring smile to her, which she unsurely nodded to.
Inuzuka turned to the still depressed Bug Boy. "Hey, Shino, get over here, meet Ume." Bug Boy grumbled as he walked over, but bowed respectfully as he introduced himself.
I returned the gesture, then Inuzuka began to speak. "So…looks like the team is already together. Kinda weird since we weren't supposed to meet till this afternoon, but since were here how about we go to the woods and see what Ume can do?"
Hinata nodded eagerly. "Um…sure?" I had expected this. I would be working with these people, obviously they would ant to know what I could do. But the thought that I might have to fight Bug Boy terrified me.
"I agree. We need to assess her skills, understand how she fights. Why did you get moved onto our team anyways, Ume-chan?" Shino spoke gruffly.
I was surprised by the honorifics from both him and Hinata, since I normally don't care for them, but whatever.
"Tsunade-sama got tired of me going on missions by myself. Plus another member of your team is on…leave?"
Inuzuka nodded. "Kurenai-sensei. She's expecting, and…a good friend of hers had died recently. She's taking it a little hard and taking time off to think of future stuff."
"Oh…" I was a bit surprised how close they were to their sensei. It reminded me of how nii-san and I had been with Oji-sensei.
"W-we should go to the clearing before anyone else might get there." I wasn't positive, but maybe Hinata was more relaxed?
The other two nodded in agreement and began walking. They stopped maybe 2 miles out of the village, with a beaten up area showing patches of earth in places.
"This is where you train?" I asked, eyeing the ground and kicking up dust, my hands in my pockets.
"You got a problem with this?" Inuzuka asked rudely. I just shrugged my shoulders. They had formed a triangle, me at the center.
"So are you gunna attack me?" Inuzuka grinned and both he and Akamaru leaned into their fighting stance. Hinata looked nervously between us three.
"Ume-chan, are you sure you want to fight Kiba-kun? He-he's strong and I don't think you want to get hur-"
"I'll be fine. I've learned how to deal with my 'problem', Hinata. I'm not called the Solo Kunoichi for nothing."
That's when Inuzuka lunged over my head and tried to take a strike at my right side behind me with his extended claws. Akamaru lunged at my left leg.
By the time the dogs jaws closed, I had vanished and instead stood next to Hinata.
My pose was the same. Still relaxed, hands in my pockets. The only indicator that I had moved was that my braid swayed in the still air.
Inuzuka froze in his spot and looked at me in shock. I raised my eyebrows. "That all you got? Kinda seems like you might b more…bark than bite, eh, Inuzuka?" I smirked at his glare.
"Hinata, your turn to try her out," Dog Boy said, Bug Boy nodding once in agreement.
"H-Hai," she said bowing her head at them and turning to me. "G-Gomen assai, Ume-chan." I shrugged at her and took my hands out of my pocket as she raised her hands, palms flat.
Inuzuka had attacked me out of pride and anger from earlier. For him to volunteer this girl as next to fight me even though he knows I would most likely run from Bug Boy, he expects me to think of it as a show of what she can do or he hopes I'll be easy going with her attack and not anticipate it. I just hope I'm rig-
Hinata struck my left shoulder.