The feeling of being totally scrutinized invades Akai´s senses as the silence between her and the Konoha shinobi gets too long for her liking. Things like this does always happen when she meets new people; they stop and stare like she's some kind of attraktion. Akai, who's used to this reaction, puts up her cold and sarcastic shield as a defence but the pink haired girl's quick words makes Akai keep her insults for herself a little longer.
"…Nice… to meet you! I´m Haruno Sakura."
You could have been fooled by that sweet and soft voice of hers, but the hesitations and wavering are two signs which shows that the girl who spoke them doesn't like the situation. Like she's thinking of how she would treat Akai so she won't get insulted or get the wrong idea. Akai is quick to understand this Sakura; she's a nice person within but also a bit superficial. Akai can´t blame her. It´s a normal reaction to act this way when something looks off.
"I'm Yamato, these kids´ current Sensei."
His voice tells her that the man behind the words is about twenty-five to thirty years old and is one of those characters that speak proper Japanese. He's polite, and no signs of judgement in his voice. Akai believes that Yamato must have seen people looking much odder than herself during his years as a shinobi.
"I'm Sai. It's nice to meet you…."
Akai turns her gaze to the young man called Sai when his tone tells her that he's not finished with his presentation. Like as if he's searching for the right word but before he's able to speak does Naruto and the girl called Sakura interrupt as if they all are in a rush. Sai´s muffled voice tells Akai that someone has put their hand to keep his mouth shut. The Grass ninja shrugs her shoulders at the situation, but her thoughts linger a little at Sai´s emotionless choice of voice. His words felt so empty.
"Anyway…" Akai speaks rather indifferently turning to look at Naruto. " Naruto you're hurt and needs to go to the hospital, and I need to see the Hokage. "
"You're also hurt, Akai-chan." Naruto complains pointing at her slightly swollen cheek.
"It's not a big deal." Akai smirks, npw feeling comfortable with Naruto among strangers. "My condition makes any injury look more serious than it is, so don't worry. I bruise easily."
What Akai means it that her albinism, her lack of pigment in her skin, doesn't cover bruises, as normal skin would do. Her bleedings beneath her skin are much more visible and therefore looks more severe than they really are.
"I'm a medic so I can take care of Naruto. Yamoto-sensei, why don't you guide her to the Hokage tower since you also needed to see Tsunade-sama?" Sakura interrupts.
Akai tenses. Sakura´s whole voice and body language tells her that she want to get away from here as fast as possible. Get away from this tense situation; get away from Akai. Sakura is just putting her own trouble at her sensei´s shoulders. Akai´s chest tighten and this time does nothing stop her from acting coldly.
"I didn't say that I needed a guide; I can find the way there by my own…Thanks."
Sakura notices the rudeness in Akai´s tone and her green eyes narrow a fraction.
"I'm sorry to say this, but we don't allow foreign shinobi to walk down the streets of Konoha by themselves. " Yamato interrupts wisely, before the argument could grow troublesome. "I'll take you there Isozaki-san."
Akai tenses once more. Naruto´s blue eyes turn to her. This time she detects coldness from the older man. He's telling her that he doesn't trust her yet; that she's not one of them and can't walk by her own because she might be a threat to the village. She understands his motives and nods as a sign that she agrees. Naruto sighs loudly. Now that he has come to understand Akai a little, he understood that she was just about insulting them for their way of treating her. But Yamato, who treated her as he would treat any shinobi, calmed her down. He gives her the respect she wants.
"Well then, let's head toward the hospital Naruto!" Sakura cheers while pulling his sleeve.
Naruto looks at Sakura for a moment before giving Akai a big smile and thumps up. Akai who for once saw that small detail gets surprised, but answers slowly with a hesitant smile. The blonde follows his female team mate and Sai isn't far behind.
"See you later, Akai-chan!"
Akai can't help but smile as she and Yamato walks in the opposite direction. She gets the feeling of that Naruto will be her source of light here, source of calmness and happiness in a place where she doesn't really belong. It isn't often Akai gets new friends but when she do; she knows that their bond will last for a long time.
Isozaki Akai has learned that showing nervousness is a sign of weakness so the teen does her best in hiding her raging uneasiness in the waiting room outside the Hokage´s office. Rumours about the first female Hokage has always been going around in the village hidden in the Grass and some of them make Akai worried. She's well aware of the rumours can vary between true, false and even more false. Akai decides that thinking about it too much will do her no good so she turns her gaze toward two men who also are waiting for the Hokage. The girl who's suffering from Albinism is glad that her hood covers a large part of her face as she notices that both of them are glancing her way. She's not ashamed over the fact that she's an albino but the stares can sometimes get too much for her.
The door suddenly opens and a woman dressed in a neat black dress stands in the door way with something looking just like a pig in her arms. Akai frowns as she concentrates to see clearly; is it really a pig? But Yamato pats her on the arm as a sign that it's her turn to meet the leader of Konoha. Akai nods in silence and takes of her hood; exposing her pale face, before walking over to the shady figure of the woman.
"You must be Isozaki Akai, I presume?"
"Yes."
The woman leads Akai further into the room and judging by the small echo that's created by their steps tells her that it's either a pretty large room or a small room with no furniture. The tickling scent of sake, Japanese rice wine, lingers in the air and the sound of a ticking clock makes Akai feel a little stressed. Her pair of misty blue eyes turns to look at the outlines of the woman sitting in front of her. Akai bows respectfully.
"I'm Isozaki Akai and I'm here to report about the incident that occurred in Grass."
"You came here alone?" A sweet yet very powerful voice speaks.
"Yes." Akai answers stiffly as she struggles with her polite language.
"I know that you have at least one more reason for coming this far. Let's speak about that since I have already gotten the report from your county's Leader. So…speak."
Akai notices how the woman doesn't want to speak about what happened, but she's in no position to ask why. So she looks up once again fixing her gaze at what she believes is the Hokage´s eyes and start explaining the greater problem she came here to solve.
"During many years, Grass and its villages have been used as battlefields for foreign troops. Our bamboo forest has been destroyed over and over again by fights that often don't concern the Grass at all! Konoha is one of these troops…"
Akai takes a break to really look at the Hokage. The woman doesn't seem to laugh at her or her village so she continues in a steady voice.
"We know that Konoha came to our aid when Earth invaded our borders but the situation hasn't improved since then. And now, you fought inside of Grass without permission creating danger for our village as well as yours. Leader-sama wants to bring an end to these battles but…"
"But what?"
"The fact that Uchiha Sasuke and Orochimaru were seen close to our village's border creates uneasiness far greater than back then. Leader-sama wants to create an alliance with Konoha, since we share the same enemy, so Grass will be more secure if he returns. Our village is tired of be used and wants to join forces once again with Konoha to bring down Sound."
"You're asking for back up from Konoha? But what do we gain out of this new alliance? Grass is not one of the skilled shinobi countries and how would you be able to help?"
Akai stands there in silence for some seconds. The Hogake did just, kind of, insult Grass. The snapping sound of the Hokage pulling her fingers out of their sockets echo between the walls and Akai frowns deeply fighting with herself. But she decides to voice her thoughts at last.
"Don't underestimate my homeland. We might not be as skilled as Konoha shinobi but we're growing steadily. Our forest can be used to build weapons, our vary landscape and the mountains are great for ambush…there are loads of things that can be used to your advantage. You'll get some faithful warriors under your service if we get the protection we need."
"Akai-san, you don't like to be underestimated."
Akai´s eyes narrow at the true statement. Something in that voice of hers tells Akai that the Hogake tested her. Tsunade chuckles.
"Konoha has been allied with Grass before so the idea isn't bad…Shall I gather the advisors to a meeting about the subject, Tsunade-sama?" The girl who greeted Akai in the doorway suggests.
"Do so Shizune. Akai-san, things like this will take a while so, you'll be stuck here. Get used to our village and our ways to live, there will be eyes watching you. I'll inform your leader about this."
Akai bows once again respectfully.
"Hai, understood."
So she ends up staying at a cheap hotel in the not so nice parts of Konoha. Akai doesn't complaining since she can't see the details that most people would regard as disgusting. Like the small cracks in the roof, the small leak in the kitchen and some unwanted insects near the window. She isn't able to see them and therefore she won't complain. Even though the rhythmic sound of water hitting the floor in the kitchen tell her that this room surely is low-priced.
"If you need anything just call for my dad. And by the way, you've to pay to get warm water when using the shower… "
A young woman, about the same age as Akai, stands in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest, her oval glasses balancing on the edge of her nose. Her long, straight dark hair frames her face even thou it's pulled up into a high ponytail. She's dressed in a too big t-shirt for her frail body and a pair of worn-out shorts that reach her knees, a pair of flip-flop shoes keeps her feet clean from the dirt and dust on the ground.
Akai gets the feeling that this girl wants to be anywhere but here and it's not because of her and her albinism. Her low and bored tone makes Akai believe that this job is something that her dad, the housekeeper, forced her to do.
"And avoid flushing the toilet more then once per hour. The neighbours might complain otherwise; these walls are not soundproof. Well I'll get back to my studying, see you around then."
"Bye."
Akai hears how some cracks in the roof falls down to the floor when the girl closes the door. The blonde sigh and heads over to the worn-out bed in the west corner of the room. She takes of her backpack and starts to unpack it sitting on those old sheets.
The sun is slowly raising at the horizon and the weak beams reaches Akai´s face through the window. The low sound of the birds early chanting can be heard through the non soundproof walls and the noise forces Akai to get up. A deep groan leaves her lips as she forces her tired limbs to move. She curses mentally at the insects that don't stop bothering her by landing on her face. Damn creatures…Watch it or I'll crush you! Grr…. But all she does is waving her hand at it, not close to the finishing blow that she is imagining in her head at the moment.
When Akai is up and dressed she decides to explore Konoha to get an overall picture of the village in her head. It's still very early so Akai doubts that she'll meet troublesome people during her walk. Leaving her room behind her she walks down the stairs carefully with her hand on the wall as support in case she would miss one step and fall. She's greeted by the smell of coffee when she at last reaches to bottom floor. The girl who helped her to her room yesterday sits behind a cupboard reading a journal while sipping at the caffeine drink. It's like this girl runs this place instead of her father…
"Good morning." Akai greets politely.
"Mornin´ " Is the lazy answer.
Akai hands her the key and she puts it away in one of the small boxes behind her with the correct number on it. No more words are spoken between the two teens and Akai turns to leave in silence. The bell that's hanging close to the door rings as she steps out of the hotel building and cold, but fresh air hits her in the face. Enjoying the feeling, she starts to walk down the street toward what she knows must be the centre of Konoha. Akai´s lone steps gives away sounds as the small stones gives in under her feet, and she now knows that she's alone. Opening her eyes slightly she regards the misty pink/orange sky in the distance and how dark shady walls towers up on both of her sides. She squints to see better and believes that there are some small stores all around her. Like a flower shop, a small restaurant, an animal shop and much more. The sweet smell of sugar in the air tells her that someone is up early to bake bread and all kinds of bonbon. A loud grumbling sound breaks the silence and a small blush grows on her cheeks.
And luckily, she finds a nice place that has just opened for the day and orders a large plate of rice and fried chicken, together with a hot curry sauce. She pulls apart her chopsticks and chants Itadakimasu before enjoying the meal. It doesn't take long before a couple of customers enter and shares the warmth with Akai. She doesn't care at first but the calmness gets disturbed by their loud discussion that she is able to hear clearly since they choose the table behind her. Something about the sudden silence makes Akai believe that they've seen her, she tenses but nothing gets said and the moments passes. But she feels how their eyes are fixed on her back is if they're inspecting her.
What Akai doesn't see is that the group of four ninja is looking at her discreetly with different expressions on their faces. A blonde, blue eyed girl seems to be checking her out in a non romantic way and she pouts with one of her brows in the air with a quizzically look. Like she doesn't know if to like or hate Akai´s way to look and dress. A young man with his black hair pulled up into a high, short ponytail regards Akai in silence thinking deeply, he turns to his sensei but the older man nods as if he's saying that the girl isn't a threat. They nod toward each other and return their focus on the menu. The last member isn't paying any attention to Akai at all as he's drooling over the menu. Akai, who has finished her meal, pays the bill and walks toward the exit when a female voice interrupts her thoughts.
"Hey. I've not seen you around before..."
Akai glances over her shoulder at the direction of the voice and she notices the way the girl stops talking when their eyes meet. But she continues when the chock fades slowly.
"So, who are you and where you from?"
Akai isn't late to notice the tone this girl is using. A voice that tells much more than ordinary people would notice. She's inspecting Akai believing that she's someone who shouldn't be here. One of the young men tries to stop the girl from saying anything more but she ignores his advice as if it doesn't matter at all. The boy with the ponytail sighs loudly and the older shakes his head and is about to say something but the girl interrupts him.
"You're not from this village; state your business in Konoha." She adds.
"Who I am and where I came from it's none you business. When asking for someone's name it's more polite to tell your own first. All you have to know about me is that I'm here on a mission. Now, I'm out of here…" Akai starts but she adds. "And one more thing, I don't like they way you're looking at me."
"Isozaki-san."
Akai stops in the doorway as the man called out her name. Her blue eyes narrowed.
"Asuma-sensei, you know of this girl?" The blonde asks in a loud tone.
The man nods toward the girl he turns his eyes to Akai who has turned around and is looking at him with those blue misty eyes.
"We were told to keep an eye on you during your first days in Konoha. So why don't you join us? That would make our mission much easier."
"So this is the person Hokage-sama mentioned." The guy with the ponytail states. "The one from Grass."
"My name is Isozaki Akai. And yes I'll join you if that's your Hokage´s orders."
Akai forces herself to smile. She knows that disobeying the orders of a ninja of the village you're staying at can lead to much trouble so it's best to follow the flow. The whole satiation makes her tense and irritated, but she sits down next to the girl who she doesn't like at all at the moment.
"I'm Asuma, and my pupils are called Yamanaka Ino, Akamichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru. Together we're team 10."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Why didn't anyone tell me about the mission?" Ino complains. "I didn't know about it at all!"
"Well, when we were about to, you said that it wasn't necessary." Her sensei answers.
"Troublesome…" Shikamaru grins at Ino a little teasingly and she frowns.
"Let's order more BBQ!" Chouji suggests. "Friendship begins with a nice meal!"
Akai can't help but feel weird in the presence of the Konoha shinobi. She keeps quiet and listens to their conversation and answers the questions they ask her. Something about being forces to hang out with them might be a good thing but on the other side; it's not fun to be with people who probably judges her by her appearance. For the first time Akai confesses that she miss her home, miss her old team and family. She didn't know that leaving the protection of the village would be like this. She wanted to be free but is this really freedom? But Akai was the one who choose to leave so she'll have to face the consequences.
She quick to understand that hanging out with team 10 means that they'll spend at least two hours at the restaurant before deciding what to do next. Today, training is on the schedule and Akai is invited, and agrees hesitantly. It's a great opportunity to see what the Konoha ninja are capable of and at the same time training her body and soul. For the first time that day someone suggested something she might enjoy. They walk slowly through the village toward a small park in the middle of the town that Akai believes is team 10´s own training area.
"Isozaki-san, I know about your handicap so it's up to you to decide if you want to train with us or just watch."
Asuma-sensei´s voice is clear and polite and Akai understands that he doesn't mean to insult her by underestimating her in anyway. He's just saying that she herself can judge what she can do and can't do. Perhaps because he knows too little about albinism to tell where her limits are. "Watch" is something she can't really do, since she doesn't want to get in Asuma´s bad books.
"I'll fight."
"What about a spar match..."
"Against me." Ino interrupts.
"That sounds great." Akai answers with a grin on her face.
Shikamaru who notices the both girl's expressions sighs but grins after a while. He sits down beside Chouji in the grass and keeps his eyes on the two kunoichi in front of him. Asuma does the same and tells them that they have fifteen minuets to warm up before the spar will begin. Asuma looks down at Shikamaru and Chouji, shaking his head.
"Guys…"
"What a drag…" Murmurs Shikamaru.
They're of to do their own training. Akai starts her warm up by jogging around the park to get a better view on the landscape before the battle. It wouldn't be nice if she accidentally tripped on some roots, right? When the albino girl is content she starts practicing some falls from low and high places so she won't get hurt if she needs to throw herself out of Ino´s reach later. When Akai feels that sweat is starting to emerge from her skin she starts calming down once again to not over do it; she doesn't want to be tired when it's time to fight.
"Girls get ready…You fight till one of you surrenders or until I end the battle. You'll only use punches, kicks and weapons so no ninja techniques."
"Why?" Asks Ino.
"See this as training for the body; your physical strength. When you're not relying on your bloodline or family techniques you'll bring out a deeper strength; work on your condition. You need to train both to become a great shinobi but let's take them one to begin with."
"Hai, understood."
"So let the battle begin!"
Ino is the first to react after Asuma´s declaration. She hurries to take forth a couple of shuriken and throws them at Akai while she dashes of toward her. Akai, who notices the attack by the swishing sounds, evades them just in time. The quick and light footsteps that approaches Akai tells her Ino´s accurate position but also that Ino doesn't weight much and because of that, she's fast in her movements instead of possessing a greater physical ability.
Akai prepares herself by taking forth her loyal Bo-staff and awaits Ino´s attack. The albino closes her eyes and focuses on those steps that she can clearly hear and is "seeing" her opponent using her other senses. The blonde Konoha shinobi aims a punch to Akai´s stomach and the sound that leaves her lips as she does so tells her precise location. The grass Shinobi, who's not as quick as Ino, manages to step aside but fail to grab her wrist and counter. Ino´s punch misses its target and she continues running for some mere seconds before she's able to bring her body into a halt.
Clear blue eyes meets a pair of misty ones in a heated glare before Ino charges once again; screaming with her fist in the air. Akai decides to meet the attack this time and hurries to run toward the sound of Ino with her staff ready. The punch hits her chin slightly but Akai, who possibly is the stronger of them, lowers herself and hits Ino´s knees from behind so she loses her balance for a second. But she somehow manages to stay on her feet.
"Isozaki is aiming for Ino´s weak spots…" Shikamaru Murmur. "But Ino´s speed gives her an advantage…"
"That's not right. Both are close to equal but they're both good at different things. The outcome of this spar is still not clear for me." Asuma answers while pondering. "I had no idea that Isozaki-san could fight like this."
"Go Ino! You can take that girl down!" Chants Chouji while chewing on his last potato chips.
Akai decides that it's her time to attack creates a distance between her and Ino before she starts using her staff as a shield as she once again approaches Ino. The wooden weapon spins quickly in the palm of her hands and she charges aiming at Ino´s stomach, legs and shoulders. The Konoha ninja who is standing in a defence position receives the punches but make them hit different areas with more protection than the one Akai aimed for. She frowns deeply when the situation gets too hard for her to handle; she needs to get away from the staff! Akai senses her discomfort and uses it wisely. She stops hitting Ino for a moment only to lower herself and hitting her feet so she falls to the ground with a loud bump. Akai is quick to point her staff, as a sword, at Ino´s neck as an ending of their spar. If this was a real battle Ino would be lifeless.
"End of battle! Nice done girls." Asuma interrupts the battle.
Ino gets up from the ground with a pissed expression on her face.
"You didn't need to play with me like that!"
"What?"
"You fought with closed eyes! I may not be as good as you but you didn't have to make me look that bad."
Akai opens her eyes as if she wasn't aware of that she had closed them in the first place. Her vision becomes blurry as she starts seeing with her eyes instead of her hearing. Asuma interrupts once again and explains to Ino that Akai´s eyes are not as good as they should be. That her albinism has affected her sight and that she's almost completely blind.
"I thought you knew about my handicap." Akai says, since her teacher had spoken about it.
"Well it's easy to see what's wrong with you judging by your looks but I had no idea that you're blind!"
"What's wrong with me, you said?" Akai snaps angrily.
"I don't mean it like that!" Ino is quick to defend herself.
"Hey girls calm down! This was supposed to be a friendly match."
"Yeah let's go and eat, forget about this, ok?" Chouji states.
"Do you think food can solve this, heh?" Akai snaps. "Ok, Ino. Let's put this behind us and start over. And this time; don't judge me on forehand."
Akai offers the blonde Konoha kunoichi her hand and Ino takes it. But no feeling is in that promise; more that they will avoid hanging out any further. Take it easy and see what it takes them. Akai is well aware of that Ino sends her strange glances and that something like a closer friendship will not be formed. But knowing that getting enemies is not a good thing Akai forces herself to act composed. Sometimes doing what's best for you can be a pain in the ass.
"Anyway, I need to head back to my hotel. I'll see you later."
"Bye." Shikamaru answers with a nod.
Nara Shikamaru, a guy who seems to be lazy as hell, is the one in team 10 Akai feels that she could enjoy hanging out with. He doesn't seem to care about her appearance, or actually, he doesn't seem to care about much. Akai smiles.
"See you around." Asuma says with a small smile.
Ino and Chouji says good bye, one ignorantly and the other is too busy with eating to really say it properly. Akai´s smile fades a little but she just turns around and heads in the opposite direction who she remembers as the right way toward the centre of Konoha. She doesn't need to head back, it was just a small white lie, Akai just doesn't want to stay in that tense situation anymore. There is about two hours left till the hotel´s front door closes for the night to be honest and Akai has no clue what to do until then.
She ends up walking once again like she did before her exploring was interrupted by hunger and then Asuma and Co. Her limbs takes her further away from the streets she has gotten used to during the day and into a more open landscape with mansions instead of small apartments. The atmosphere around here is much nicer and calmer than where she's living. The sound of a river catches her interest and Akai follows the sound slowly with her mind open. She arrives and finds herself surrounded by large trees, probably sakura trees, on a bridge over the wild river. Akai leans over the fence as she focuses on her hearing to get an inner view of the place, so she will remember it and be able to return whenever she would like. Places like these don't exist in Grass. There are nearly no rivers, only lakes, and the climate and soil are too cold for sakura seeds to grow in. Konoha is very exotic in her opinion, a very warm and beautiful village. She's lucky that her albinism allows her to be here, some more degrees or a brighter sun and she would suffer instead.
Akai decides to continue walking, crossing the bridge, and the much softer grass under her feet tells her that the road has turned into a field. The long grass strands tickle her skin through her fishnet tights and she makes sure she takes big steps in case some snakes would hide in the bushes close to her.
Akai shivers suddenly out of nowhere and the eerie but also familiar feeling strikes her hard. Turning around quickly she is greeted by the eyes of a couple of shinobi that crosses the bridge, and one of those pairs catches her interest. Their eyes meet for a second but it feels like an eternity. Looking at the outlines of somebody that she believes can see even more than the average, with a pair of eyes that can barely see the ground below their wielder makes her feel naked, like he's looking into her soul without her permission. The man who doesn't seem to notice the way his gaze affects Akai turns away as another beside him starts talking. The group of men walks away from Akai but she can feel their gazes on her, all their gazes except the pair of eyes she looked into some seconds ago. Akai squints to get a better view of them but all she can see is white and beige clothing and long dark hair.
…Who was that?
