"So what do you think she'll be like?"
Huddle under a shady tree while Lee finished up one of his neurotic punishments for not being able to do a hundred laps around Konaha on his hands blindfolded or something to that effect Tenten gently cleaned and sharpened her kunai to a razors edge. In the final minutes of his meditation the soon to be Hyuga heir ignored the weapons mistress. She should know better than to expect an answer by now, though often chose to disregard that fact. Even Tenten would agree to that but trying to rile king of ice was just too tempting to resist.
'I'll break that shell if it kills me!'
True Neji was light years away from who he was during the first chunin exams but he was still harder to crack than the inch thick sheen of hair gel on their sensei's head. Opening his eyes slowly to allow their sensitive depths to adjust back to bright light, the disgruntled genius took a second to watch his partner and friend lovingly slip steel back into their specially made cases. Pondering how he was ever going to tell her the news that had been eating away at him for weeks now the Hyuga prodigy swallowed thickly. He was highly uncomfortable with the level of nerves that swam around with those thoughts and decided to rebury it for now.
'One crisis at a time.'
"There is no way to make an astute assessment with only Haruno's description to draw from."
Everyone with ears knew that girl was up there with her floral friend for village's biggest gossip; which had infuriated the Hokage's assistant as a constant stream of people flooded into the hospital all looking for the latest word on the new dignitary staying in Konaha. Finally locking down the hospital to emergency patients only, Shizune threatened anyone who attempted to bypass her with some menial self inflicted injury a long and painful recovery. Gai-sensei had been unusually quiet during morning practice and well, only giving the normal critiques and asking them to meet him for lunch at half past noon. Shifting focus from her glittering artillery Tenten collected the needed supplies buried at the bottom of her bag as the pounding grunts had stopped. Stumbling up to the waiting set of clean bandages Lee smiled a silent thank you to the quirky little brunette, pretending not to see the horrified look that had graced his bruised bleeding hands.
"Oh Lee you shouldn't push yourself so hard all the time. Your body can only take so much and you may end up doing more harm than good."
Barely flinching as he peeled the soaked sticky cloth away the lean green nin just continued to smile.
"No worried Tenten, I have learned my limits."
His near brush with death and the extended excruciating recovery had seen to that. Though he still pushed the limit, the memory of that fateful battle with Gaara had changed his perception permanently. Gently wrapping the snowy bandages around the cracked knuckles he mentally shook his head at the girl's impatience. She had been hyped all morning about seeing what the mysterious Lady Silver was all about.
"Gai- sensei will be waiting; most likely with his new assignment so we shouldn't dawdle."
Practically knocking lee over in the process the soon to be weapons mistress flew across the field, completely unconcerned if her teammates were following or not. They would catch up eventually.
Butterflies couldn't eve begin to describe the terror that was currently eating away at Kurine as she dutifully followed the giant green man to lunch. Whispers, stares, and the occasional rock weren't helping matters much ether but thankfully it hadn't escalated beyond that. She had no doubt that was due entirely to her escort.
'Maybe I should really insist that we skip lunch this time.'
Not that it would matter because the first three suggestions had been politely but firmly shot down. So here they were Gai bragging about the multitude of accomplishments his team had accumulated individually and collectively, while the fox-eared lady attempted to listen and tune out the vocal bile the small minded were spewing around them. What should have been the tantalizing smell of roasting meat repulsed her, especially considering the fact that the place was full to the brim and they were angled toward it. A nagging vision of her flesh grilling over those smoldering coals cropped up, panic trailing close behind.
'Noooo lets not go to some out of the way place. That would be far too convenient and I don't know less life threatening.'
Hearing the rapid breathing, not to mention releasing that her nails were now embedded about an inch into his arm Gai smiled, "You should relax your ears, that looks incredible uncomfortable."
Was he crazy? That was not about to happen. How could he even consider that even plausible? Gnawing off her arm to escape, possibly; Perking up the neon sign proclaiming her a half bred freak.....ummmm no. One after another people continually filed in all flashing the same bit of silver that signified their profession.
"Hurry up or we'll never get a table!"
An angry looking blond practically kicked a slumped lazy looking counterpart into the smoky burnt orange building. She knew that the place was always packed at lunch time. Plus it was a good bet that forehead and Tenten's teams would be in there if their sensei hadn't thought of some mid evil torture to serve as training. Ever observant the recent Jounin swirled around sensing the older man almost instantly.
"Hey who's that with Gai?"
As four sets of curious eyes swiveled around, Kurine gasped, air rushing from the rapidly closing lungs. A vision of being flayed and roasted on those hissing smoke grates kept running through her frantic mind. Trying to gently slip away she jerked only to find her arm trapped between Gai's own and his thick muscular side.
"Calm down. It will be fine."
He watched her freeze the dear in headlight look molding over her face as her vision was shifting between him and Asuma's team. His red headed charge was wheezing now, her pupils dilating as her oxygen deprived body started to compensate. Yanking harder out of his grip now Kurine slumped over gasping for breath, beads of sweat trickling down her trembling brow.
"Oh my god Choji go see if Sakura inside!"
Rushing over Ino moved to assess the girl her minute amount of medic training overriding the initial shock at her appearance.
"What happened, Gai sensei?"
Feeling her chakra spike threateningly Gai yanked the blond away just as the hanyou whirled around eyes flickering between two colors, and a growl smeared across her lips. Around her villagers were fleeing, their screams of terror and hatred egging on the girls natural reaction.
"Gai what are you..."
Ino's heart leaped at the fear there in those deep bottomless eyes. Turning to follow his gaze the yamanka heiress clutched her churning stomach as rivets of blood streamed out from under hands buried deep within the coppery mass. What was going on here?
"Ino what's wrong?"
Coming up short the pink haired medic took in the scene playing out in front of her. Chakra was swirling around the prone girl, so thick it was nearly visible, the sense of déjà vu causing fear to rush up the back of her throat leaving a bitter taste on the back of her tongue. This was far beyond her ability.
"I need you to come with me Sakura."
Feeling her nod dumbly under his touch Kakashi stepped forward scooping the girl into his arms, ignoring the knee jerk response she had to growl at him. Uncovered eye meeting nearly identical ones in his self proclaimed rival he shifted everyone's focus.
"We'll be at the training field."
Vision clearing as the hazy red swirl died down to a muddled fog of trees and the welcome familiar presence currently flying ten feet off the ground with her in his arms.
"Kakashi?"
Memories were fleeting and there was that loss of time and recollection that haunted her after an episode. It wasn't a wonder that people feared her. She feared her self, knowing that one day things would escalate and leave a trail of death and destruction of which Kurine would have no control. Maybe it would be better if she were dead.
"Would a fall from this height be lethal?"
"With your healing abilities not likely."
There it was permeating the air around them, the despair and hopelessness he had seen too many times flashing across the faces both blond and onyx, and the knowledge that yet again her was unable to do more than watch the tragedy play out till it's bitter end.
"Just keep still a while longer we are nearly there."
Too weak to actually break his grip and hopefully land on her neck, the hanyou lay still lulled into a restless unconsciousness. Eyes sliding shut her head went slack as the drained chakra network fought to repair its self. He had overloaded her system the instant he touched her. It worked to calm the raging blood but was only a stop gap measure, one which was becoming increasingly dangerous.
'If I keep shocking her system like this it could collapse completely.'
The frantic pulse of Naruto's chakra only seconds behind them was a far bigger issue at the moment. His own kyubi could push hers back to the surface, and in this the power would consume the red head. Close behind him was approximately a half a dozen more all curious and looking for some sort of answer. A million and a half theories had already surfaced about little lady silver, each more outrageous than the next but all equally as lethal to her chances to ever being accepted. Hopefully this group could be more open- minded and forgiving, if not, well he didn't really want to have to think about that. Kakashi's feet had barely touched solid ground when orange, green and a flock of chunin rained down from the sky all brought up short by his silent warning.
Flinching instinctively at the bombardment to her senses Kurine's eyes flew open as she tried to scurry away from the encroaching slew of weapon wielding observers. Fear, mortification and the need to protect herself warred deep inside as her hands inched back on the cool still slightly dewy ground. Praying to disappear beneath the stinging tears rolling down off her jaw, magnifying the tiny veins of the grass below in their tiny orbs she continued to crawl away hoping to escape to lick her wounds in peace.
"How is she?"
The deep rumbling tenor vibrated through her, and instantly melding itself into her psyche along side smoky tobacco that hung obscuring his face in it's fragrant cloud. Lacking hints of revulsion present in so many others the powerful mans concern had a nearly instantaneous calming effect at least enough to stop her from slinking back any further. As they inched closer all crowding around as if watching a side show at the circus Kurine felt her chest tighten once again. It was too much. Didn't they understand that? Scrambling to her feet the red head locked gazes with Kakashi, eyes pleading for understanding as she turned fleeing into the damp woodsy comfort only a hairsbreadth away.
"Kurine!" Kurine! Come back!"
Leaping after her Naruto was brought up short by a solid wall of black cotton.
"Leave her for now. She will be back."
The rest of the shinobi mosaic had lapsed into silence as they attempted to wrap some kind of explanatory though around the whirlwind of red hair and fox ears that had blown through in the last few minutes.
Sobbing brokenly Kurine whittled away at a stray branch as the frustration and hurt that had been building for years on end poured out spiraling onto the multicolored leaves causing them to glimmer in the fluctuating light. Twenty minutes out of the safety of the sea foam walls and painted cranes and she had melted down causing a spectacle of herself not once but twice and managed to not only completely embarrass but also ostracize the poor soul that had been unfortunately assigned to watch over her.
'What did he possible do to be the one to draw the short straw today?'
Unfortunately the smug snarls of her Uncle Ezra and horrid Jordan flashed up laughing at her and pointing just like they did whenever something happened accidental or not to her.
"Look at the sad little freak. This is what happens when you're blight on normality."
She would even put money on the fact that they were both hoping to hear about her demise within the next few weeks. It would mean that all assets and estate control would shift onto them and her cousin Carpathia. Catching snippets of conversation still floating in the breeze Kurine huddled further into her little nest. Was it too much for her to have hoped that the assorted collection of trained killers would have somewhere else to be? Chip boy had been mentioning lunch pretty regularly; maybe they would give into the desperate pleading and disappear back the way they came. Then it wouldn't be quite as cowardly and humiliating to slink with her tail between through the shadows back into her silk embossed haven.
"And here I thought ladies were supposed to be above such cowardly childish behavior."
Double taking she had to dig her claws into the bark to keep her self from tumbling the twenty or so feet between the thin branch and the hard moss covered floor below.
'How did I not notice him?'
Hands soft, feet dangling, the lazy brunette was the epitome of whimsical relaxation as his head lay back against the rough prop cocked slightly so that his vision strayed between an azure sky and the jewel like eyes blinking out from behind their camouflage. Kurine mentally shuddered at the restrained vigilance hidden beneath the dreamy surface of those russet eyes. They were far too observant for her taste, and spoke volumes at the ruse of his lethargy. This seemingly unobtrusive soul could prove to be problematic for her.
"You should come back now Lady Tsunade does need those invitations to be handed out a soon as possible."
Her irritation level was rising the longer she sat listening to the dismissive tone and obvious annoyance emanating from her unwelcome tree top companion. Who was he to be so suddenly exasperated with a situation he had been involved in for all of two or three minutes? Fighting the urge to knock the sucker off his lofty perch the riled red head leapt back relishing in the moment of abandon as the sky seemed to swirl around her in shades of emerald and indigo, before landing in the mossy bed beneath. Facing what lay ahead was far healthier for all involved. Particularly due to the fact that she had only been here less than a week and strangling someone would not be the most prudent way to prove she wasn't a threat.
Smirking Shikamaru scaled close behind amazed that his tactic actually worked. Feeling sorry for herself wasn't doing the girl any favors, so why no redirect that wasted energy.
'That one is going to be troublesome.'
Chuckling inwardly, the newly appointed jounin tried to wipe away the image of brazen blond that currently overlapped the vivacious vixen fleeing away from him. Oh they were in for quite a ride that was for sure.