A/N: Finally found the other chapters on a disc, so I can post the others now. I wrote this a long time ago (Around the time when we first get introduced to Kimimaro in the manga).
Kumori awoke late, the sun filtering through a window to her left. She sat up sleepily, looking around the small room. She was in a comfortable bed with a number of fluffy pillows behind her. Although she was still in her dirty clothes, she felt dry and warm for the first time in years.
She slowly pushed herself from the warmth of the covers, her bare feet touching the wooden floor lightly before she completely slid down. Her muscles ached and her hand hurt from when she had used it the other day. Or week, or… She paused, rubbing her eyes. How long had it really been?
There was a knock on her door, and she moved across the room, opening it. The Anbu who had picked her up looked in, a toothpick bobbing up and down in his mouth.
"You're up," he said simply. He shoved a pile of clothing into her arms before pulling back out of the room.
"Get dressed, the Hokage-sama and some of the Jounin want to see you."
She had no time to question as he trotted back down the hall. She lifted the outfit she had been given, and noticed it was almost exactly the same as her current one. A black tank top and black pants. There were also a pair of dark blue sandals.
She dressed quickly, finding that everything fit perfectly, and moved into the bathroom attached to the room. She pulled her hair out of its usual messy bun and picked up a hairbrush from the counter, brushing it out. When she got all of the knots out, it came down to just past her shoulders, which surprised her.
Kumori pulled it back into another bun, this time neatly with no strands hanging off of it. There were still a few annoying strands that hung in her face though, they weren't long enough to reach the bun. She stepped out of the bathroom and slipped on the sandals, moving back to the door and opening it, stepping into the hallway and looking around.
She turned left and found a staircase leading downstairs, taking it quickly and looking around when she reached the bottom. The house she was in was quite large and roomy, with only a few hallways and many separate rooms. She found her way into what she guessed to be the dining room and found the Anbu sitting on the couch with his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.
He heard her enter and sat up, his toothpick bobbing in the corner of his mouth.
"You hungry?" he asked. He looked as if he hadn't gotten much sleep.
She nodded, fiddling with her hands. He pointed at the table where a large sandwich sat waiting for her. She sat down, eyeing it for a moment before devouring it in a matter of minutes.
"Are you ready to go?" asked the Anbu.
"Yeah. Thanks," she muttered, standing. He moved over to the door and opened it, stepping out into the sunlight. She followed him out, looking around at the Hidden Leaf curiously.
"What's your name?" asked the Anbu, turning and walking away. She followed, falling into pace beside him.
"…It's Kumori."
"Hn. I'm Shiranui Genma."
She looked around longer, looking up at the sun and blinking. She had rarely seen the sun in the Hidden Cloud, and even then it was usually accompanied by some storm clouds.
"Is it always this sunny here?"
Genma looked up, his toothpick bobbing lazily. "Never thought about it. I guess where you come from you don't get much sun. It hardly ever rains here."
They walked slowly towards the other end of the village, weaving between throngs of people in the busy streets. They stopped in front of a large building, Genma looking around for a moment before they entered.
The inside of the building contained many pictures on the walls along with some old looking swords on display. He led her past the displays and into another room full of Leaf-nin. Her stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the sight of this many people. She hoped she wouldn't have to say anything in front of them.
At the front of the room sat the Hokage, or so she guessed, a blonde woman who appeared to be quite young.
"Go stand over there and answer their questions truthfully," ordered Genma, pushing her lightly towards the center of the room. She swallowed hard, fiddling with her hands and stepping forwards.
"Thank you Genma," said the Hokage, smiling faintly. She turned towards Kumori, folding her hands lightly on the desk in front of her.
"You are from Kumogakure, right?"
"Yes," she answered simply, shifting nervously.
"What's your full name?"
"Kaguya Kumori."
"How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"How do you know about the Hidden Leaf and the other Shinobi Countries?"
"I was trained as an elite gennin in the Cloud's academy to become one of the shinobi guards that protected the Raikage-sama."
It became easier to talk as the Jounin around her seemed to disappear, making it seem as if it were only her and the Hokage. She relaxed slightly.
"So you are at gennin level?"
She nodded. The Hokage shifted slightly.
"Why were you alone on the streets?"
"When the war over bloodlines hit our country, the Raikage-sama was killed. I had lived with her as she trained me, but the next Raikage didn't want me and kicked me out."
"Kicked you out? ...That's not the whole story, is it? Tell us the rest. The Kaguya clan was the one to start the Bloodline war, so there must be more behind your story."
Kumori shifted slightly, glancing at Genma. She had to tell the Hokage.
"The whole story… I grew up as one of the highest ranking members of my clan, destined to success it as leader along with another called Kaguya Kimimaro. I didn't want to marry him, so I ran into the streets, leaving behind my clan. The Raikage-sama picked me off the streets and began training me as one of her bodyguards.
"When Kimimaro vanished one day, the Kaguya clan blamed his loss on another clan, starting the Bloodline war. I was not even half finished my training when the Lady Raikage was killed and I was sent back into the streets. The remainder of the Kaguya clan was slaughtered as well, leaving me as the last member unless Kimimaro is still alive somewhere."
"So you have the Kaguya bloodline?"
"Yes," she said, shifting slightly.
"Alright," said the Hokage, whispering something to a man taking notes beside her. He nodded and she turned back to her.
"Show us what you know in the art of Ninpou so far."
"What do you mean?"
"Show us the techniques needed to pass through the Ninja Academy. Henge, Bunshin no Jutsu, Kawarimi, the basics."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
She shifted slightly, bringing her hands into a seal. "Henge!'
There was a puff of smoke and the Raikage stood in the place. The Hokage nodded and the disguise disappeared.
"Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Two clones appeared beside her, exact and perfect replicas of herself. She finished up by showing her the rest of the techniques needed to pass through the Academy before getting onto the more complicated things.
"Umm… Most of my other Jutsu are forbidden by the Raikage, but being one of her bodyguards, they were taught to me."
Some of the Jounin in the room leaned forwards in interest as she made a few seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Two shadow clones appeared beside her, before she released the Jutsu, making new seals.
"Tsuyoi Keibi no Jutsu!" A transparent wall rose up around her, forming an impenetrable dome. It required a lot of chakra to hold up this Jutsu, so she quickly released it. There were some impressed mutterings scattered throughout the room, and Kumori went on to show a few of her other Jutsu. She finished with a complicated form of Genjutsu and let it fade away, her head throbbing. She hadn't used so much chakra for years.
"Very talented. Most of those Jutsu are Chuunin or Jounin level. One more thing, can you show us a part of your bloodline?"
Kumori paused, thinking of the pain that came with using her blood limit, but nodded, shifting again. She didn't mind showing off. A bone pushed out from under the skin on her left shoulder and she reached up, pulling out a short sword and wincing.
"This sword is stronger than steel and is made of condensed bone tissue. I can control the density of my bones at will, strengthening them when needed. I also know three of the seven dances from my clan."
She replaced the bone sword, rubbing her shoulder as the wound healed up, leaving a small scar. It would disappear in a few hours. She wiped a small amount of blood from her skin and faced the Hokage.
"You're very talented, probably at chuunin level on your Jutsu, but we should start you off at the gennin level."
"No, I'm only gennin level. Not chuunin, far from it."
"Why do you say that? Your Jutsu are on a very high level."
"I'm not sure what the shinobi levels are like in this village, but in Kumogakure, I am just barely passing gennin level. Our chuunin level is probably your Jounin level. I'm not sure though, because I haven't trained with other ninja for years."
"Well," said the Hokage after muttering something to the Jounin beside her. "Here you are at chuunin level. We will assign you to a gennin team until the next chuunin exam."
She said nothing, listening intently to the Hokage's words. "Genma, will you take her in your team? You are one person short."
Genma's toothpick flicked up in irritation. "My team?"
"Your team also has talented gennin. And since she will be staying with you for awhile anyways, it should be fine."
Genma's eyes flicked aside, his toothpick bobbing up and down in thought. He flicked it to the other corner of his mouth. "Fine."
"You are dismissed. I have a lot of paperwork to do now. Kumori, come here tomorrow at the same time, I need you to fill out some of your own paperwork."
Great, she thought, turning to Genma. He flicked his toothpick again and led her from the room.
"I have to meet my team now, you can come today or rest more if you want."
Kumori's muscled ached and her head was spinning, but she didn't want to show any weakness. "No, I'll meet them today."
She followed him onto a field that was hidden a few yards into a small grove of trees. There were two boys there, one lying in the grass beside a medium-sized dog and the other leaning against a tree with his arms folded.
She followed Genma up to them, and the boy leaning on the tree pushed himself up. The boy in the grass sat up, rubbing his eyes. The dog beside him growled softly as she stopped before them.
"You're late, sensei," complained the boy on the ground, not bothering to stand.
"Had a meeting," mumbled Genma casually, his toothpick bobbing as he spoke.
"Who's that?" asked the other boy. Kumori met his eyes and was stunned at their colour. He had no pupils, his entire eye was white. The other boy on the ground had a red tattoo on each of his cheeks. They both had black hair, the white-eyed boy's reaching down past his chin and curling under neatly and the other boy's short and neatly spiked, held up with a considerable amount of gel.
"This is your new team mate, Kaguya Kumori. I expect you to make her welcome here, she has just arrived from the Hidden Cloud."
"Oh? Kumogakure? Why did she come here?"
"That's for her to say if she wants to. I'll give you a few minutes to introduce yourselves, I'll be right back."
Genma turned back the way they had come from, vanishing in a puff of smoke and leaving her alone with the other two. The boy with white eyes leaned back up against his tree, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I'm Inuzuka Tsunomaru. Just call me Tsuno. And this is Shouri, my Nin-dog."
The dog beside him gave a short bark, and she nodded, turning to the other boy.
"I'm Hyuga Hikari, the team leader," he said simply.
"I'm Kaguya Kumori from Kumogakure."
"Should we start training? Genma usually takes a long time doing whatever it is he does," said Tsuno, pulling a blade of grass out of his hair and flicking it aside.
"Wait," said Hikari, pushing off the trunk again. "This team is supposed to be made of the best gennin, the elite. So you are probably fairly talented, right?"
Kumori shifted uncomfortably under his pupiless glare. "I guess I'm stronger than most other gennin."
"Then let me test you," he said, a grin forming on his lips. Tsuno looked between the two and held up his hands, laughing nervously.
"Hehe… Maybe you should wait until you know each other better?"
Hikari brought his hands up into a seal, and Kumori reacted quickly, setting her fighting stance with her legs slightly apart, one hand in front of her and the other out the side.
"Byakugan!"
Veins crackled along the edges of Hikari's eyes and he dashed forwards, directly at her. She suddenly dropped away, falling into a low crouch and activating her bloodline.
Bones broke through her palms, elbows, shoulders and knees, her arms crossed over each other in the Kaguya stance. There was a pause, a moment of silence, as Hikari froze his hand inches from her face and her shoulder bone inches from his neck.
"Hey, easy you two," came Genma's voice. Kumori pulled her bones painfully back into her body as Hikari backed away, the veins around his eyes fading slowly. A bloodline, she thought, he has one too.
"You have a bloodline?" he asked, moving back to his tree. She said nothing.
Genma dropped into the grass beside Tsuno, his toothpick bobbing. He pulled two bells from his Jounin vest and dangling them in front of the gennin.
"We are going to do another activity today. It's almost lunch, so we'll have to go until around one thirty. Your goal is to get these bells away from me before I give you your lunches."
Kumori's eyes fell on three containers of food. Her eyes darted back up to the two bells. One of us isn't going to get a lunch, she thought, shifting slightly.
"But sensei, there's only two bells. There are three of us," said Tsuno, looking around.
"I'm not done explaining yet. You will have until one thirty to take these bells from me, but there are only two bells. The one who fails to steal one from me gets tied to a tree with no lunch, and will therefore be worn out during the training after lunch."
Kumori went perfectly still, thinking hard. She had used up a lot of her chakra while showing the Hokage her Jutsu, and was only at about twenty percent right now. If she wanted lunch, she would have to steal a bell quickly.
"Go!"
Genma disappeared, leaving the three gennin in the middle of the clearing. Kumori paused, thinking for a moment before vanishing as well, taking to the trees and searching.
She found him in another clearing, leaning against a tree casually with his eyes closed. She was immediately on alert, in case it was a trap. She caught a glimpse of Tsuno to her left, preparing to jump into the clearing. Idiot, she thought, watching as he burst from the trees along with his dog.
A moment later, he and his dog were both hanging upside down from a branch, Genma jingling the bells in front of his face. She used this chance to make a few seals, switching her body and replacing it with a rock near the tree where Genma stood. He leaned back up against the tree and Kumori waited patiently for him to relax his guard.
The bells were only a few feet above her, so easy to reach. She slowly released the jutsu, before jumping up from under him, her hand closing around one of the bells and pulling it out of his hand. She made a few quick seals as she ran.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Three clones covered her escape as she vanished into the trees. One of them cut Tsuno and Shouri from the branch, letting them fall to the ground. She darted back towards the clearing, but something suddenly snatched the bell away from her, right from her hand. She tripped and fell suddenly, scraping her elbows.
"Thanks," came Hikari's voice. She pushed herself up as he vanished into the forest. But she wouldn't stand for that. She was up and after him in a matter of seconds, catching up to him as he paused back in the main clearing.
"What do you want?" he asked, tossing the bell up and down tauntingly.
"It's a bit obvious, isn't it?" she replied sarcastically. He said nothing.
He suddenly fell into his fighting stance, grinning. "We never finished our fight."
She grinned as well, welcoming the challenge and falling into her own stance.