Part I | Chapter 6

The sun was just rising above the canopy of trees. The Village was still asleep when Gohama took off for the training grounds. Her path across the rooftops allowed her to watch the sunrise slipping through a veil of soft dawn mist. It was a calming sight, but Gohama's was anxious, which translated on a restless stomach. Only yesterday, an ANBU had found her on her way to lunch. The sole information he communicated was to be at the training ground 9 by 6:30. It was obvious she was going to meet her team.

For the past week, Gohama had spent her days completing D-rank missions, simple tasks inside Konoha. One or two missions a day had given her enough time to arrange her new apartment. The price had already been fully paid which left the previous owner extremely pleased. She had even offered to pay for moving, however Gohama had nothing but a backpack. The son of the old lady that used to live there was the one to arrange the business. Gohama never did meet the woman. They were civilian and the building was mostly civilian. She had picked it because of that and the view. She didn't feel like enduring the prying and gossipy looks of ninja. Some civilians knew who she was by now, but no one really cared.

Except for the kitchen, it was unfurnished. Gohama bought a long sectional sofa, a coffee and dining room table, a nightstand and a bed. She didn't need anything more and, if she did, she would buy it later. Then she filled her closet with new ninja clothes and some civilian ones, formal and informal. In the monastery, there had been little need for a replenished closet, so she had brought little with her. When a child, with all the diplomatic formalities, it was important to have a quality piece for every occasion. In fact, one of her lessons with Keiko-san, her governess, was too learn about different types of fabrics and toilettes reserved for each event. Besides, her clan valued and followed several rituals and ceremonies exclusive of the Kyura. The Kyura were a clan of tradition and symbolism. Her favourite task had been to buy a kimono. Gohama loved the beauty of the traditional costume. As a child, it meant boring ceremonies. Now, the sole act of dressing up was exciting. She ended buying a deep blue kimono with small white flowers and twigs that reminded her of Mother.

By the end of the week, with everything settled in, missions and training were all that was left to entertain her. Even if the last were boring, it meant having something to do, instead of wandering around in a foreign Village in idleness. Most times, Iruka was the one to receive her reports. The general hostility hadn't stopped him from being nice to Gohama. He had congratulated her on becoming a chunin and expressed his confidence in her skill. To which she couldn't help but blush awkwardly. She never did learn how to accept compliments. When Gohama flirted slightly just to tease him, it was his time to blush and stuttered endearingly. He asked her about trivial things and recommended the best places to eat in Konoha. They small-talked every time and it was nice. It was nice that Iruka made an effort in welcoming her to the Village. Gohama wasn't looking for anything more than their simple exchanges and neither was him. The next time she would see him, Gohama would tell him about her new team.

Her reverie halted when she arrived to the training ground 9, a wide meadow surrounded by trees, like most fields there. Under one of the trees, at the periphery, was a shinobi. Gohama approached him with her chakra flaring, not wanting to startle him. He was the only one on time. Her heart started beating faster as she neared him.

As her main objective was to gain experience and become a better kunoichi, first she needed her team to be strong and challenging. However, she still wanted to get along with them. The next years, may they be few or many, where going to be spent with those other three ninja, they had to be at least tolerable. The shinobi, probably her age, was propped against the tree, eyes closed and face turned towards the shy warmth of the sun. His skin was pale, features gentle and harmonious, almost feminine. He had long black hair tied in a braid that fell to the side of his shoulder onto his chest. When Gohama stood before him, he straightened his position and opened his eyes. No pupil. The purest of lavenders.

Gohama chuckled bitterly. "Hyuga." she acknowledged.

"Kyura." he responded with a nod.

The anxiety in her stomach gave place to a tense irritation. They had decided it was, somehow, a great idea to put a Hyuga and Kyura together. Gohama had never met one of them. Her personal hostility wasn't actually justified. She could see in the way he tensed when he saw her, that he felt the same. The two clans had always hated each other. While, with the Uzumaki, it was simply a rivalry for skill, meshed with respect and antagonising, with the Hyuga it was a rooted animosity stirring since the beginning of their clans.

The legend said one of the ancestors of ninja possessed the purest of chakra, enabling him to control it out of pathways and see the pathways themselves. He had two children, a boy and a girl, both with their father's powers. They had always competed for their father's love and power, jealousy and enmity brewing in them over the years. One day a trivial argument grew into an almost fatal battle. As a lesson, the father used a forbidden jutsu, taking away the boy's ability to manipulate chakra outside pathways and the girl's ability to see the pathways. He hoped his children would learn to cooperate and complete each other in battle and life. This only created more hate and division. Children turned against the father and finally collaborated into killing him. After such hideous action, war surged between two factions, one led by the boy, the other the girl. They fought for the kingdom that had belonged to their father. The war continued onto their grandchildren. A treaty was signed: the two factions were to leave the kingdom into a new land. The boy's faction settled in the Land of Fire, the girl's faction in the Land of Snow.

The enmity of siblings always scorched redder, entrenched deeper. It had flowed from ancestors to descendants. The same resentment and hate of war, of a peace-less armistice, of a forced exile from centuries before flowed now through the veins of the two shinobi, standing face-to-face, clan to clan.

In all the minutes they waited together, they never shared a word. Gohama sensed a chakra shadow coming towards them. A powerful one, she had sensed it before, but couldn't put a face to the feel. He landed behind her. His strong and steady chakra involving her. Earth and water.

"Good thing I got here before you killed each other." the deep, smoky voice joked, as he walked to stand beside them.

She had seen him before, been introduced even. Definitely the same brown-haired, hazel-eyed jonin. What was the name Kakashi had said…?

"Sorry I'm late." he said to her "It's nice to see you again, Gohama. I'm the team's sensei, Giranai Hansuke." That was it, Hansuke. "Have you two introduced yourselves?"

Both Kyura and Hyuga just stared at each other. Hansuke sighed.

"Well, Gohama, this is Kisamaru; Kisamaru, this is Gohama." they nodded "Before we go any further, I have to start by asking you to please keep stupid clan riva—"

"Stupid?" she scowled, her arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Yes, stupid." he insisted "do you actually know each other? The only reason you act like this is because you were raised to hate—"

"This isn't just about clan rivalry, sensei." Kisamaru said defiantly.

Hansuke gave him a meaningful look, that Gohama couldn't see, and the Hyuga stood back. So, they didn't want her in their team. Nothing she didn't expect. Hansuke then turned towards her again, changing the subject, but never making eye contact. She supposed he was shy. He didn't seem entirely comfortable, his right hand shoved onto his pocket, the left one playing with his leg pouch.

"Hayashi Nikato should still take a while. He's always late. Congratulations for making into chunin, by the way. Well, I can start telling you about the team. We've been Team 9 since Kisamaru and Nikato were about twelve, so four years. The both of them are chunin, maybe for three, two years now. Kisamaru is our medic-nin. We usually take B-rank missions, some C-rank if we're needed, sporadically an A-rank. Any questions so far?"

Yes, why couldn't he look her in the damn eyes? All the fidgeting between the crown of her head, her mouth and the background was making her uncomfortable too. Gohama shook her head. As he kept talking, she studied them better. He was tall, strong, with broad shoulders, but still lean. Kisamaru was slimmer, with less muscle mass. It made sense considering the taijutsu style of the Hyuga. While Kisamaru was neat, with carefully arranged clothes and hair, Hansuke had his green flak jacket open and a somewhat careless feel. Maybe his tousled hair contributed to that look. They were both right-handed. Kisamaru had lightning nature, but Hyuga almost never used nature-based jutsu. Hansuke had earth and water, and underdeveloped fire.

"Gohama?" Hansuke called.

She snapped her eyes to his, finally getting a glimpse of its hazel. "I'm sorry?"

"I was asking how you've been liking Konoha so far?"

"It's nice, lively. The food and the weather aren't too bad."

Honestly Gohama didn't know what else to answer. She had experienced little of the Village, besides taking missions, training and getting take-out.

"Coming from Snow, I can see how summers here must be a little tough. Good thing it's almost Autumn." he commented with a kind smile. "Nothing more to add?"

The people are awful to her and she's just here to become a better ninja and then leave.

"Interesting rooftops…"

"Rooftops…?" he asked amused.

"The colours."

"Ah. I guess I never really thought about that. I can see why it's weird."

With that comment, the conversational topic ended. The three stayed in an awkward silence because no one really had much more creativity for small talk. Kisamaru turned back to his previous position. Hansuke supported his weight on his left leg and balanced from side to side while taking a particular interest on the grass at his feet. Gohama could see his frown. He was probably realising how terribly this whole invasion to his team was going to be. She was ready to jump onto a tree branch when he broke the quiet:

"How was your training? So I can get an idea of what I'm dealing with."

"I don't need a sensei."

"I'll be the one leading the team and filling your ninja stats profile, previous training info is important." he explained matter-of-factly "Even if I'm not teaching you anything."

Gohama relented against her pride. He did make a valid point. "During my time at the monastery or before? "

It was still difficult for her to say the name of her Village aloud.

"Both."

Gods, that was a lot of remembering, a lot of sharing for her. "The typical."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked amused. He knew she was avoiding answering, but kept pushing. Gohama could understand it was important for him to know, but it was too difficult for her to share her past in the Arms.

"And what was the Arms and monastery typical?"

She clutched her eyes close, tilted her head up, pondering about what she should and should not say. A chakra signature appeared in her field. She opened her eyelids.

"The other one is here."

"What?" Hansuke asked.

"Nikato, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but I—" he finally sensed him and turned his head towards his course. The distance was rather impressive for a regular nin, Gohama conceded to him internally. He turned back to her and gave her a soft smile "The Kyura's sixth sense. That's one thing to add to your profile. Distance?"

"Doesn't it defeat the surprise factor to have all my abilities laid out?"

"It does. But the file is confidential and I don't see why there's any reason to hide your abilities from your team leader and Hokage. At least I hope there isn't." he playfully added with a smirk.

Gohama let an imperceptible defeated smile take over her lips. She quickly corrected it, not bothering to answer Hansuke and his annoying and reasonable counterarguments. Nikato would arrive at any second.

The first thing Gohama noticed about the approaching shinobi was his lurid, almost a pure orange, ginger mane. How he managed to be stealthy, even at night, was a mystery to her. When he settled beside them, she focused on his wide black eyes that studied her back with bitterness. He was shorter than the other men were, but slightly taller than she was. His pose was chaotic, from his muddled wavy hair, to his untucked, un-ironed shirt and his mismatched socks, peeking from pants too short. He looked as if he had just rolled out of bed, which was probably the case.

"Not as late as I thought you would be, Nikato." Hansuke commented. "I introduce you our new teammate, Kyura Gohama" he then gestured his opened palm towards him and added "Hayashi Nikato."

She nodded, but he didn't acknowledge her, apart from the hostile glare.

"I see you're still grumpy from an early morning." Hansuke tried to ease the obvious unwanted feel falling onto Gohama from the other two, maybe even himself. "This isn't so bad." the three scoffed and he couldn't help but chuckle "In terms of training structure." he clarified "We've been training the development of another chakra nature. As Gohama has affinity to every nature" Nikato let his expression slip for a second, when his eyebrows shot up in surprise "she won't need this training. So the two of us are going to spar, while the two of you continue where we left off yesterday. Spread out." he ordered them.

Gohama watched as her new teammates slowly walked to the other side of the field. The redhead one was even blunter in his dislike for her. Who would have thought?

"Will you tell me the distance now?" he asked, his arms crossed.

She turned to unsuccessfully meet his gaze, still pinned to the background beside her face. "200 meters if I'm not focused. 300 meters focused. It lowers between walls depending on the material. Only chakra absorbent ones can completely cut my perception."

"Thank you, Gohama." he said with an understanding smile. He did seem to smile a lot.

The gratitude had been unexpected. She pondered a bit as they walked away from the periphery. "If I put my chakra into it, I can sense into a few kilometres. I have to block my other senses, though."

"I imagine that has some side effects."

"A massive head rush during and after from the overload of sensations, which leaves me vulnerable. Almost fell off the Kazekage tower from fainting and vertigo. It also costs me a third of my chakra, which is a lot in terms of average shinobi."

Hansuke stopped and she copied him. "You're very certain of your position above the average." he teased.

"Aren't you?" she asked cockily.

"I haven't seen you fight. A bloodline limit means nothing if you can't use it."

He really was annoying. Gohama was about to retort when her clan's name popped out from the other conversation and she automatically turned her focus towards them. From the redhead's frustrated and agitated gestures and the Hyuga's silent approvals, it was obvious they were ranting about her.

"Get to work, you two!" Hansuke yelled, they obeyed with reluctance.

Hansuke's eyes lingered on them to make sure his command had been followed. He glanced to the floor and sighed. Then, for the first time since she had met him, his gaze held her own. They stayed like this for a moment, Hansuke accessing the right words, Gohama waiting for them to finally come out.

"They'll come around. It's been a couple of years just the three of us. It's good that you're part of the team now. They just can't see it yet…"

His look wavered to the side, again, wistful. Gohama understood now. She shifted on her legs, the moment was making her uncomfortable.

"You don't have to worry about my feelings, sensei." she added a mocking tone to his honorific.

"Good. Less work then." he playfully replied with a lopsided smile, as he settled on a fighting stance, meeting her eyes again.

Gohama's expression showed her amusement at his comeback, but it wasn't enough for her to smile.

"Oh, don't you think I'll go easy on you, just because it's my first day." she followed his lead and readied for the spar.

"I hope not. I have a profile to compose. Let's start with taijutsu." he lunged towards her.

Gohama easily avoided his first attack and the next that followed. He was still testing her out, seeing what her capacities were and adjusting his level to that.

"I hope you're not going easy on me, sensei."

"You offend me with your sarcasm." he complained with a wounded tone.

Now, it was time for Gohama to attack. She sprinted towards him, aiming a kick to his head. He blocked it with his forearm and grasped her leg, trying to take her down. Predicting this, Gohama pulled that leg forcedly, while her hands supported her on the ground, using the impulse to kick him with the back of her other foot on his ribs. Her hit landed. She twisted her hands in the soil, spinning, so she could free herself from his hold and stand up with ease. Gohama never waited for him to recover, which he did quickly enough to block and evade her blows.

Hansuke indulged longer in the already fast rhythm of their fierce dance. She could see by the easiness of his movements that he could bring the fight higher. It both frustrated and excited her. Gohama hadn't had a good taijutsu confront since leaving the Snow. During the chunin Exam, it had been mostly ninjutsu-based battles. Hansuke, as most shinobi, was all firmness and muscles, nevertheless, his movements were graceful and agile, mesmerising almost. His strength completed the perfected technic. There were no sloppy, unthoughtful moves, so there were no openings in his defence for Gohama to exploit. She tried hitting harder, faster, smarter. Each time she pushed on and raised the level, he followed suit. She had been too entrenched in the fight, and hadn't even noticed when her other two teammates stopped to watch them. All the anxiety and hurt from the first impression of her new team had vanished. It didn't matter the weather, the people, the village. This was why Gohama had come to the Leaf. She could truly move forward here.

"You lead now." she panted.

He conceded. The pace became too swift for Gohama's skill, still she held her position and fought back. Taking an unforgiving hit to her side, she almost lost her footing in a fatal way. Hansuke gave her time to compose herself. Through training ground 9, ragged grunts and groans, mostly feminine ones, spread. The sound of quick and heavy steps breaking through the shallowing grass, accompanied the hisses of whipping kicks and punches. Gohama had managed to hit back a few times, letting a victorious smirk settle on her lips each time. It was not enough, though. Her limbs were drained and, although the frustration strengthen her persistence, she couldn't prevent herself from making mistakes, or slowing her dodges, and weakening her blocks. Soon, Hansuke, satisfied with the length of the fight, managed to grip her wrist, Gohama too slow to escape. He twisted her arm onto her back and kicking the back of her knees. Her chest fell onto the hard ground, Hansuke pinning her legs by sitting on them.

"Guess, the sensei" he copied her tone "wins."

Gohama, uselessly, tried wriggling out of his grasp. "Okay, you can let go now."

He didn't concede. "Are you hurt?" he asked seriously.

"With you crushing me, probably."

He eased his weight on her, rising to his knees beside her thighs, his shins pressing against the back of her knees. Her hand still glued to her back.

"It's petty of a jonin to humiliate a fresh chunin after a win."

"Kisamaru!" he called "I'm not trying to humiliate you, I want to make sure you're not injured." The Hyuga approached them, followed by Nikato. "Check her for injuries."

"What? No!" Gohama shrieked and wiggled with more resolve "I'm not hurt, I don't need to be probed."

Hansuke ignored her and motioned with his head for Kisamaru to start. "Her ribs first." he ordered. The Hyuga refused to obey. "Clan rivalries are so petty…" he commented to himself "I gave you an order, Hyuga. Check her ribs."

Because Gohama kept squirming, he sat back on top of her and pressed his hand to her back, stilling her as best as he could. The Hyuga pressed his own glowing hands to both sides of her ribs.

"Do you have any idea of what this looks like?" she growled.

A minty coolness spread through her ribcage, halting the insistent ache. It then slid all across her body. Gohama had forgotten how both invasive and soothing medical chakra was. And the Hyuga seemed to have a gentle and skilled chakra control. Hansuke directed his head towards the medic.

"Just a small fracture on a rib." the Hyuga explained.

The jonin rose from her. She carefully straightened her arm and winced at the soreness. She turned around and lay on her back, twisting her wrist and her shoulder. He extended a hand to her and smiled apologetically "I had to make sure you got healed, sorry."

When Gohama didn't take his helping hand, forcedly he held hers and pulled her into a standing position.

"Let's go get a drink." Hansuke proposed.

"It's 9 in the morning." Kisamaru said with a hint of outrage.

Hansuke gave him a heavy pat on the back. "It's never too early for a drink with your friends."

"But for mere acquaintances it is."

Hansuke ignored Gohama's comment. "Come on, you boring people, let's go."

"I don't feel like getting a drink." Nikato grumpily protested.

"Since when don't you feel like getting a drink?"

"Since today."

Gohama understood the reason for the two boys' reluctance. She really wasn't looking forward to forced socialization today. The first meeting had been more than enough, for an entire year perhaps.

"You three can go. I have things to take care of." Gohama lied, as she walked away.

A hand clasped onto her forearm. She turned with an arched indignant eyebrow, changing her gaze from the grip onto Hansuke. He didn't relent to her defiant glance. Probably because he had gone back to avoiding eye contact. Only when fighting had he the guts for that.

"It's an order. As the team leader, everyone is hereby ordered to have a drink."

They all mumbled in defeat and started running towards the bar area behind Hansuke.

It was the first bar Gohama had entered in Konoha. She preferred to enjoy her alcohol alone, much like everything else. In the monastery, she relished herself in the hidden stash of the monks. Only five of them knew where it was hidden. They thought they could hide it from a ninja, it was sweet somehow. Maybe they didn't care as long as she kept her drinking to herself. The first time she had entered the musty cellar, surprise and amusement made her actually laugh aloud. In the sheer quantity, it was certain the monks enjoyed their liquor, a lot, a little too much for spiritual men. Her journey through beverage tasting started that day. She had been thirteen. At first, she had preferred red wine, but as she began accustoming herself to alcohol, scotch had become her ultimate favourite.

In the first year, she had been extremely rigid and meticulous about governing her drinking. The first night she had gotten drunk, she had gotten truly smashed. It was the first anniversary of the Massacre after she discovered the simple pleasure of alcohol. Stealing a bottle of scotch, she went to the gardens to soak on her grief and drink. Being drunk did sooth. At a point, she could almost pretend the ones she lost where in her, beside her, present again. The terrible retching that followed helped her forget the interior nausea of pain. The next day was worst. Uncle had brought her to her room when he found her sprayed by the petunias, puke dirtying the soil. He had reassured her no other monk knew about it. It hadn't eased the shame. Gohama felt so ashamed of her weakness, of her decadence. She had felt worthless. The absence of loss drawing more deeply. Her Village, her Clan, her Family weren't worthy of such pitiful heiress. Since that night, she had never let herself fall into that bottom again. A drunken, conscious stupor was her limit and she followed her boundaries dutifully.

"Yes?" Gohama asked, aware she was being spoken to.

"Your drink?" Hansuke repeated with a kind smile.

She turned towards the waiter. "Scotch."

"You start strong." he commented.

"It's what I like to drink." she justified as if it was obvious.

"I'm not judging, it's just an observation. It doesn't surprise me, though. You're definitely a scotch person."

"You've known me for two hours…"

"Well, yes, but I fought you. Your taijutsu is like a nice scotch, Gohama."

Gohama raised her eyebrows in confusion and couldn't help but smile. The gaze settled on her chin raised to her eyes and he also smiled. Was she that weird she thought that was a flattering compliment? Even if she didn't understand what the comparison meant.

"Is that what you'll write on my profile?"

"Followed by better served on the rocks." Cheesy quip.

"You're speaking a whole other language." Nikato breathed a bothered mutter. His sprawl left him with his bottom at the edge of the seat and his legs stretched out. Chin glued to his chest.

"Gohama's from the Land of Snow." Hansuke explained with a teacher tone. The redhead looked as clueless as before "Rocks means ice." he added.

He nodded in understanding, not actually caring.

"I was thinking we could do a little drinking game. Break the ice, get to know each other. Truth or drink, okay?"

"How old are you exactly, sensei?" Gohama mocked.

"Twenty-two and two weeks, exactly, Go-chan."

Nikato seemed to find diminutive amusing.

"Call me that again and you'll regret it." she threatened with a sweet smile.

"Threatening your superior is considered insubordination."

"Very worrisome." she deadpanned.

While Kisamaru continued just as passive aggressive as during the training, Nikato stood straighter from his near laying slouch and said with a mischievous glint, "We'll play." he nudged his teammate and shared a look Gohama wasn't privy to the meaning of.

The drinks arrived. They had to wait for another beer for her, she refused to waste whiskey on a game. It took too long to arrive. Hansuke had well naturedly offered to share his. That felt weirdly intimate so she declined. They kept themselves in an awkward silence waiting for the drink.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet, Nikato." Hansuke said bouncily with a hint honesty.

When they were finally ready to play, the two boys glanced at her, mischief lighting their features. How they underestimated her tolerance for alcohol.

"I'll start." Nikato said cheerfully "Kyura. Were you there on the day of the massacre?"

Gohama took a sip. She controlled her impulse to knock his head on the table. Hansuke, thankfully, did that for her. He howled and mumbled something between the lines of abuse and taking advantage of the teaching position.

"Gohama" Hansuke started "Go-to weapon."

"Tanto."

"How arrogant were the Kyura? – Kisamaru blurted out, right after she had finished speaking, careful to press on the past tense.

"Much less than the Hyuga. Hyuga, how's the branch family?"

He sipped sheepishly.

"Okay. Enough." the sensei intervened "Only inoffensive questions. Who doesn't respect that, bottoms up."

"Men or women?" Nikato asked her, innuendo more than stressed.

"Wouldn't you like to know that?" she smirked provocatively and sipped.

"Favourite drink?" Hansuke to Gohama. She raised her glass of scotch.

"Favourite chakra nature." Kisamaru was following sensei's orders.

"Lightning. How's your boyfriend, Nikato?"

The ginger was ready to lash out – of course he would get childishly riled up with that question – when a strong hand pushed his shoulder down and him back onto his seat.

"How did you survive?" He retaliated.

"Bottom's up." Hansuke ordered and he obliged. Gohama sipped.

"Why Konoha?" Hansuke was also getting bold with his questions. Gohama sipped.

"Did you fuck Inuzuka?" Nikato pushed, disregarding the order. Kisamaru turned red and avoided looking at her. So, the gossips had turned that way.

"Fucked him up." she corrected.

"Did you abandon your Village?" the redhead asked with no mercy.

Sip.

"How was your great clan slaugh—"

"What was her name?" Gohama cut his cruel question.

"What?"

"Of your dead teammate."

He stood up and grabbed her by her collar. "How do you dare talk about her!? You're not welcome in this team. Hansuke-sensei is only doing this shit because of orders. Fuck you Kyura and your dead Village!"

Goaham finally snapped. She shoved his nose onto the table, cracking it. Blood started tainting the wood. "Talk about my Village again and I'll rip your tongue out." she whispered sinisterly onto his ear. Raising herself, she looked at Hansuke "This was a nice try, sensei."

She left in a swirl of snowflakes.