Isaribi was not happy. She had tried after Naruto had left, she really had. But the people were still the same, prejudiced idiots they had been before. She started stuffing various items into her waterproof bag. Today had been the last straw. She had willingly changed in front of a crowd to help some poor kid in the water, and what did she get? Nothing but scorn, fear, and hate. She paused as she picked up the hitai-ite that the Mist missing-nin had left her after giving her some training. After a moment of deliberation, she tied it around her currently scaled forehead. She threw the pack over one shoulder and ran out of her house to the beach. If no one could accept her here, perhaps she could find someplace in the ocean that would. She took a diving leap, and began swimming towards the east, her fins propelling her through the water.
After two weeks of swimming, only pausing to hunt down food, she was getting tired. She was drifting along lazily, no longer going as fast as when she started. She had yet to see any sign of land, and things weren't looking good. Isaribi decided she might as well try to get a look around. Using a bit of chakra, she pulled herself on top of the water, and gave the horizon a quick scan in all directions. There, to the south east was a boat. Perhaps she could sneak on board and stow away! She felt a glimmer of hope, and slipped back into the water, swimming with renewed vigor. Even if the boat was going away from her, if she kept a good clip up she should reach it within a reasonable amount of time, with a few tricks she learned from the missing-nin.
It had taken a while, but she'd finally made it. She swam along the edge of the boat cautiously, careful to stick to the shadows. It was the middle of the night, and she had to be careful. She finally found an emergency ladder up the side, and started slowly climbing up it. She paused partway to get rid of the water on her body so that she wouldn't leave tracks. Once on deck, she scrambled for a nearby door, hoping it lead down to the storage area. This was apparently some sort of cruise liner, since it had a pool on the main deck and many chairs. Isaribi ignored these, and slipped inside the door, and coming into a dark hallway. She cautiously made her way down the hallway, using her hand on one wall to guide her. As she walked, she thought she heard someone's footsteps. After a while, they were getting louder, and suddenly someone bumped into her. She let out an 'Eep' of surprise as a small ball of light appeared on the end of a stick the person was holding. They blinked once, twice, and then finally spoke in a language Isaribi didn't understand.
"This isn't good…" He muttered. He was a brown haired boy, slightly shorter than Iarabi, with a scrawny build to him, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He glanced around quickly before grabbing Isaribi by the front of her shirt and pulling her down the hall as her ran. Isaribi was stunned for a moment, before slipping a webbed hand into the tool pouch she now had, and slipped a kunai out, and held it to the throat of the boy. He froze immediately.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Isaribi hissed. The boy seemed stunned before speaking again in the language that Isaribi didn't understand.
"Well, this complicates things even more…Hold on a second while I cast a translation charm." The boy replied, waving the stick in his hand and muttering something under his breath.
"Answer me!" Isaribi threatened, getting impatient and worrying that someone else would find her.
"Sorry, but could you repeat the question? And remove the knife from neck?" The boy asked. Isaribi blinked in surprise. He was still speaking in that other language, but she could understand it now. She shook it off and decided to question it later.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" She asked, though with less anger this time.
"Eh, nobody important. I'm an apprentice to Hermione, learning magic. Now, would you please remove that knife from my neck, and come with me? We need to get over here before someone finds us." The boy replied. Isaribi hesitatingly drew the knife away from the boy's neck.
"Magic?" She muttered. Apparently, though, the boy didn't hear.
"C'mon, my room's right down here!" The boy replied, running down the hall. Isaribi shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then chased after the boy. She needed some place to hide, and he was offering one. He opened a door quickly, and ushered her in. Inside was a simple room with two beds and a small bathroom off to the side. The boy followed her in, closing the door and locking it behind him. "So…I assume you want some answers?" The boy asked.
"Yes. Answers would be nice." Isaribi replied curtly.
"Alright, but only if you answer my questions in return." The boy offered. Isaribi nodded.
"What's your name, and what is that stick?" Isaribi asked, gesturing at the short wooden stick the boy still held in his hand.
"My name's Mel. And this is a wand." He explained. "What's your name, and not to sound rude, but what are you?" He asked. Isaribi didn't feel like revealing herself just yet, and decide to only answer semi-truthfully.
"I am the Kaima, a water beast that terrorizes boats." Isaribi muttered.
"Hm, never heard of it. Well, so long as you don't try terrorizing this boat, I'd be happy to help you out in any way I can!" The boy replied, a grin on his face as he held out his hand for her to shake. Isaribi hesitatingly reached out and shook it.
"It's nice to meet you too…Um, what are you here for? And what's this magic you keep using?" Isaribi questioned.
"Huh, a magical beast that doesn't know about magic…This is new." The kid murmured, thinking to himself. Isaribi blinked in surprise. This boy thought she was a 'magical beast'? Oh, it was probably because she said she was a water beast. But at least he wasn't frightened. "Oh well, I'll mention it to Hermione later. Anyways, I'm here learning magic from Hermione, since Hogwarts has been closed, and helping her do some research on some of the magical beasts that You-Know-Who uses. He just started using this real nasty water serpent that has been impervious to all of our spells, and we need to find a way to kill it. Why are you here?" He answered, giving her a questioning look.
"Me? I'm here because I have nowhere else to go…" Isaribi told him. Mel was silent for a moment.
"Well, maybe Hermione wouldn't mind if you tagged along with us. You might have to help us do some work, but so long as you don't mind that I'm pretty sure you'll be welcomed here!" Mel replied, another grin on his face. He reminded Isaribi of Naruto, with his cheerfulness. Except he didn't have a demon sealed inside of him. He wasn't a monster.
"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to intrude." Isaribi replied. Mel waved it off.
"You're not intruding. Anyways, let's get some sleep for now. I can introduce you to Hermione in the morning." Mel suggested, yawning. Isaribi nodded. Although, she would be sleeping with a kunai under the pillow for safety's sake. He chucked his shirt over into a corner, and crawled into his bed, snoring before his head even hit the pillow. Isaribi waited a few moments to make sure he was really sleeping, and then transformed back to her semi-human form. She set her bag on the ground, and began to pull out a roll of bandages. After a few moments, everything was bandaged back up, and her forehead protector was tied loosely around her neck. She stuffed the last of her small amount of bandages back into her bag, and set her weapons pouch down next to it, slipping a kunai out. She glanced back Mel before she, too, climbed into her bed, clutching the kunai tightly in hand.
Mel woke up groggily, to the sound of running water and someone banging on the door. Mel groggily grabbed a shirt and threw it on as he trudged towards the door. He opened it up to see an irate Hermione on the other side. Hermione hadn't changed much with the years. She was now eighteen, and helping to fight Voldemort's rise to power with Harry. Something nagged at the back of his head, but he ignored it. It probably wasn't important. "What's going on in here?" Hermione asked, exasperated.
"Huh? Whadda you mean?" Mel asked sleepily.
"There's someone in your shower! You were supposed to be alone in this room!" Hermione grated out, gesturing to the bathroom door. Mel just blinked groggily as the water in the shower stopped. Slowly, he remembered the event of the previous night.
"Oh, that's the Kai-" He began, but the door opened up to show Isaribi in her semi-human form wrapped in a towel. She let out a shriek of surprise, and retreated back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Hermione was stunned speechless, and Mel was still groggy. "She didn't look like that last night…" He muttered, trying to puzzle things over.
"Wait, you mean she grew scales during the night?" Hermione asked.
"Huh? No, the opposite actually. She said she's a Kaima." Mel replied.
Isaribi's mind raced to try and figure out an answer as to what to do as she threw her clothes on hastily and transformed back into her amphibian form. She'd have to make a break for it, possible grab one of them to use as a hostage, and grab her bag and then leave. She clutched the kunai that she had, and prepared to open the door. She threw the door open, and launched herself at Mel, as both he and the woman were caught off guard. She held Mel in front of her like a shield with her kunai at his throat. "Don't move, or I'll kill him." Isaribi hissed at the woman. She glared, but didn't make any move. Isaribi slowly inched towards her bag, taking Mel with her. Grabbing the bag with one hand and slinging it over a shoulder, she started dragging Mel towards the door with her.
"Where are you going? You can't go out there, you'll get seen!" The woman hissed at Isaribi.
"Too bad." Isaribi replied coldly, continuing along. She violently kicked the door open, and then let Mel go before dashing down the hall. Mel rubbed his throat unconsciously before turning and chasing her down the hallway.
Isaribi dodged another person as she ran down the hall, ignoring shrieks of surprise. Soon, she was out on the deck, ready to jump off when a voice stopped her. "Hey!" Mel yelled, trying to catch her attention. She stopped and looked back at him sadly for a moment. Then she turned back to the railing, about to jump over when a shadow beneath the surface of the water. It was soon followed by a second shadow, and whatever it was suddenly burst out of the water. Isaribi almost trembled in fear at the huge serpent with muddy green scales and a jaw full of teeth that was in front of her, glaring down with yellow eyes. She heard people yell in surprise as the other popped up on the other side of the boat. Isaribi let out a small growl. She should just run away, and leave these people to their fate, but she remembered Naruto. These were innocent people. They didn't deserve this. So, since she was here she'd help them just this once. She glanced around the deck of the boat quickly before spotting the pool. There! That would be an easy place to get water from. The serpent suddenly lurched forward, aiming to attack Isaribi. She jumped out of the way, and started forming hand seals. Water rose from the pool to form into Mizu Bunshin. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the woman and Mel guiding people back into the ship where they would be protected. Isaribi turned back to her current problem. She slipped a hand inside of her tool pouch and pulled out a few kunai. Her clones did the same. The serpent hissed, and attacked her again. She threw her kunai at it, but they bounced off its scales. It rammed through the clones and into Isaribi, causing her to go flying into a wall next to Mel.
"Gack!" She sputtered, coughing up some blood. Mel glanced over at her worriedly.
"They're immune to spells, and they're scales are like armor." Mel told her. She wiped some of the blood off her chin, and made a few more hand seals. She breathed in deeply, and just as the serpent charged forward she let out a stream of acid, right into the serpent's face. It hissed in pain, and started thrashing. Isaribi reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a few exploding tags, and ran forward. The serpent spotted her, and tried to snap at her, but she jumped over its attack. She landed on the beast's head, and slapped the exploding tags to its face. She jumped off, repeating the hand seals she had made earlier and turning to face the other one that the woman was fighting, just as the first one had its head blown off. Isaribi let another stream of acid fly, and hit the other serpent. Isaribi leapt over the woman, forming more hand seals and landing on the beast's head and giving it a few palm strikes, spikes of water exiting her palm whenever it struck the serpent, piercing through the weakened skull and into the brain of the monster. Isaribi panted, tired from the fighting. "Wow, that was awesome!" Mel said, running up to her. Iasaribi glanced over at him, surprised that he still trusted her.
"They were only basic Ninjutsu. Nothing over Chuunin level." Isaribi replied offhandedly. Mel seemed confused, but Isaribi ignored it and stumbled towards the edge of the boat.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Mel asked.
"Leaving." Isaribi replied. Mel glanced back at Hermione for a moment before focusing back on Isaribi just as she was about to jump off the edge. "Why are you leaving?" Mel asked. Isaribi hesitated and glanced back at him for a moment.
"Because there is no place for me here…" Isaribi said mournfully.
"Well, we were thinking of possibly hiring a bodyguard since we do get into a lot of dangerous situations as you saw. And, well, you seem to be fairly proficient at fighting. So if you'd like to earn a little change we'd be plenty willing to hire." Hermione told her. Isaribi hovered on the railing of the ship.
"You…would trust me after what I did?" Isaribi asked.
"After seeing you stop to protect those people, I would say yes. But you would have to answer a few questions while using Veritaserum for safety's sake." Hermione replied offhandedly. Isaribi was unsure of what to do. She stepped off the railing and back onto the deck of the ship. She glanced at Mel before answering.
"I am willing to be your body guard." Isaribi stated simply.