Chapter 7: Hurtful Words

Akemi wandered the streets of Konoha. She didn't know where she was going but she would stay close so she wouldn't get too lost from Naruto's apartment. She passed a few shops on the street.

"Hey you!" a girl's voice called after her.

Akemi turned around to see a girl a bit taller than her come out of the flower shop. She had light eyes and long blond hair that was put up in a high ponytail.

The new girl looked right at Akemi's waist, where her Hidden Hot Spring Village Headband was. "You're not from around here."

"Well no, I'm from the Hidden Hot Springs Village…" Akemi wasn't even able to finish her sentence.

"Get out."

"What?"

"You aren't welcome here; you're an outsider. Plus your getting your nose in other people's business!" the blond girl said angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Akemi was confused, "The Hokage said it was ok that I'm here…"

"That doesn't matter?" the blond was getting angrier now. "You're getting into things that are Konoha affairs!"

Akemi couldn't understand why the blond was so mad at her. She had never seen her before so why did she have so much hostility?

"Ino!" the blond was called back into the shop. She ran in, ignoring the girl on the street.

Akemi stood there in shock for a few moments before wandering randomly down the streets. She didn't think her village had previously been in any conflict with the Leaf, so why was that teen so upset with her?

After walking around a bit longer Akemi came upon a sweet shop that was a bit away from the rest of the buildings in the area. Before she could get any farther away she was approached by two teenage boys. One was dressed in a large green jacket and had sunglasses on. The other had a grey jacket with black fluff at the ends and had a dog following him.

"An outsider." The one with sunglasses said.

The dog started barking at Akemi as she back up a few steps.

"Umm…"

"Akamaru doesn't like you either," the grey one commented. He took a sniff at the air, "and you don't smell right anyways."

Akemi didn't know what to say. More people were confronting her.

"You should go." The one with sunglasses said matter-of-fact.

"Yea, before Akamaru attacks you!" the grey one said, the dog barked more and chased Akemi a bit as she ran down the street.

She stopped after she was running out of breath. Her ankle burned from running, it was acting up a bit. Akemi knew that the dog had stopped chasing her awhile ago but she wanted to put as much distance from them as possible.

She heard people talking, and the sound of someone defecting metal. Akemi looked around to see that she was near a part of the forest that flowed into the village. There was a boy in the middle of a circle of dead grass. A girl with brown hair had a scroll open and looked ready to attack.

"Go." The boy said.

The girl started spinning as all different weapons came from the scroll and attacked the boy. He spun around fast as a blue dome surrounded him. The weapons seemed to fall around him. After a few minutes the weapons stopped flying.

"You didn't miss a single one Neji!" the girl commented.

"I still need to practice," he added.

"Oh come on, you need a break at least."

Akemi shifted her weight and stepped on a stick. It cracked loudly – so much for being a good ninja…

"Someone's here." Neji said tonelessly.

Akemi felt cold steel against her neck. The girl had appeared quickly behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just…" Akemi started.

"It's her…" Neji commented.

"You hurt my friend," the girl commented, pushing the blade closer to Akemi's neck.

"Who?" Akemi questioned, now more people were against her.

"As if you can't remember," Neji said with distaste. "I may not like my cousin overly much but she is my blood. If you do anything more to hurt her," he had started walking over.

Akemi bit her lip; she couldn't show any emotions no matter how strong they may be. She did a few hand signs quickly as a log replaced her. Once she was away, she started running back into the heart of the village. At least those inside didn't try to attack her…

Akemi collapsed in some small alleyway deep within the village. She was completely lost now, but hopefully here she wouldn't get approached by anyone else. She grabbed her throbbing ankle as she attempted to catch her breath.

She curled up into a makeshift ball, still holding her ankle. The pain was a burning ache, but it was nothing to how she was feeling. She was alone in a new village, and the few people she had come across had told her to leave.

Maybe she didn't belong here. Maybe she should go. But where else could she go?

Her village was gone, no one else but Hidan and herself were left. There was no way she'd go to him for help; if anything she'd kill him for murdering everyone else she knew. The pain that was in her heart was slowly transforming itself into darkness.