Neji focused on every small detail that came into his sight, which was everything, his concentration unwavering as they passed through the mass of trees. He searched continuously for any sign evidence, any trace of the chakra that had caused such a disturbing pulse, that had disrupted all of his incredibly sharp senses, even for just a second. This was a worrying aspect and he did not like feeling cut off, not even for a second. The pulse had put him on alert, every hair on his body standing on end, as if an electric current had just passed through his body. Turning his head slightly to his left, his cousin, Hinata moved swiftly beside him, having experienced the same effect of the pulse, they had been ready for Kakashi's call. His long dark hair streamed behind him, as his long ope sleeves flapped in the wind created by the movement of his run, his handsome face set in the usual slightly arrogant expression, which was slightly marred by the fierce concentration in his eyes. Pale eyes peered intently at every slightest movement, seeing even the smallest ant on its way from collecting food for the nest. This continued for while until he encountered an almost blinding force of chakra, a small area of it, but its glare was an intense ball of blue, radiating out from a body lying half covered in foliage.
She felt her joints creak as she tentatively began moving her limbs, wondering how long she had been lying still for them to feel so stiff, she frowned and her curiousity increased as she watched leaves float down from her clothing, onto the forest floor, which was also covered with a thick layer of dead leaves. Looking down at herself, she realised she was wearing a pair of short blue pants, which when she shifted slightly, felt almost too short for her liking, but they were made from seemingly sturdy material, which was comforting to her. Her shirt was made of softer material, with long, flowing sleeves, a semi-low cut and ending just above her sky blue pants. Noticing the dirt and green stains on her clothing she thought to herself that she must have worn them for a while, but she could not recall ever owning such clothing, then again, she did not recall much as all, not even her own name came to her, which she realised must be strange, but it did not bother her much. It came to her attention that she was barefoot, another odd thing, why would she be out in the forest without any shoes? Slowly she looked up, her senses had just kicked in, and while there was still not much emotion to speak of, she felt some curiousity towards what she sensed to be a very large group of, she thought, humans. Moving forward, getting used to the feeling of her body, her joints slowly waking up again, she headed towards the multitude of auras that she could sense, many of which were strange to her. As she moved she realised that she must be strong, as she felt muscles ripple beneath her skin.
Neji and the others approached the now walking figure with caution. Who knew what it was capable of? None of them knew the true extent of its power. Moving into a defensive formation, he and Kakashi made their way to the centre of the group, being the two strongest members present. Even though the woman on his left shared some very visible family traits, he outmatched her by far. Something he had held over her head for many years, the hatred for her branch of the family burning within him, but which had recently been relieved due to an abrupt change in his circumstances. Slowing down the group spread out silently so that they could surround the object of their focus, making sure that she could not escape, trying their utmost to look non-threatening, though with Kiba and Akamaru present that illusion was slightly stunted.
After several moments of waiting for her to respond to their attempt at a non-threatening approach, Kakashi stepped forward, Neji stepping in behind him to cover him in the event of a sudden attack. It bothered Neji slightly that she seemed to be pointedly ignoring them, her eyes searching for something in the distance. Looking past Kakashi, he had time to size her up, and he noticed, with an uncomfortable feeling, that she looked capable of holding her own in a fight. Even with his eyes deactivated he could tell that she had strength in her arms and legs, and she held herself with the grace of a fighter. As his battle training took hold and he started to focus on the details of the person in front of him, she started turning, and Neji became uncomfortably aware that she was undoubtedly a very well developed woman, abruptly tearing his eyes away from his study. The dark haired woman turned slowly to face their group, carefully and coldly studying each of them, tense at first, but after a few moments of tense silence, she relaxed her shoulders, indicating to them that she was not about to do anything drastic, and while the atmosphere lifted slightly, it was still awkward. This did not change when Kakashi made his first attempt to engage her, she looked over to him in a confused manner and shook her head slowly, as if trying to rid herself of water in her ears. It occurred to him that she might not understand their dialect, and she seemed to be having difficulties comprehending what was being said, until all of a sudden her eyes lit up and she responded fluently but slowly, as if she was testing out her tongue for the first time. "I greet you Kakashi sensei" she replied to the slowly spoken introduction that had been repeated several times by Kakashi, "I wish to know where I am situated, it seems I have entered a territory that is unfamiliar to me, I believe this area is familiar to you and that I am in the proximity of your home."
The reaction in their group was instant, the tension became palpable, she not only knew that their beloved village was nearby, she also knew exactly where they had come from. Shifting positions slightly they moved into attack positions, quick looks were exchanged and he noticed that no one present was all too comfortable with this sudden revelation, their village was supposed to be warded against unknown intruders.
She wondered at her own sense of calm, especially considering the fact that she was now surrounded by the strangest looking group of people. Not at all surprised by their arrival, she had known they were on their way a few minutes before they landed behind her, she had to marvel at the stealth in their approach, but something within told her that, to her, they were no threat. A cocoon of calm surrounded her and her control over her emotions was iron, even though she felt the adrenalin run through her veins, ready to engage her fight response at any sense of danger.
Motioning to get her attention, the white haired, masked man was speaking directly at her, but what he was saying was a mystery to her, she could not understand the language her was speaking, it was a strange but interesting sounding language, so she focused her mind on the individual words being formed. Slowly she shook her head from side to side, and she realised that with each passing moment, the words became clearer and comprehension started forming, then, with a snap, she understood what was being said, and, surprising herself, she replied slowly but fluently in the exact same language. AS she spoke she took the moment to inspect the group surrounding her. There were three males, one female and two canines, or at least what seemed to be canines, they both seemed slightly strange. She noted the similarities between one of the males and the female, their eyes showing them to be related in some fashion, even their looks and bearing spoke volumes of their relationship, smirking, she knew all was not good between the two. Beside the female stood a male with an animal like face, who obviously had a close relationship with the first canine, an overly large white creature with hound like features, they moved in such a manner that told her they had been together for an extended period of time. Her eyes were drawn to the metal plates tied around the members of the group, on various areas of their bodies, but the majority of them residing on the foreheads of their respective owners, each one with the same recurring symbol. She could not help but wonder who these people were, each with their own interesting aura surrounding them, yet none posing a threat in any way. Their auras told her that they were not what you would all ordinary in any way, each one of them had their own unique well of power, it would be such a bother if she had to attack them, and since she was in a place she did not know, she did not see the harm of letting them escort her to their home.
Her stance change, her shoulders relaxed slightly and she seemed to slump slightly. She was no longer an immediate threat to them. Kakashi sensei attempted a tenuous smile, his single visible eye creasing in the telltale manner, he put his hand behind his crazy mop of white hair that stood up behind his forehead protector, an obvious sign of his relief. In a gently persuading voice he told her to follow them and, still in their formation, they headed, slowly at first towards their hidden village. It took longer than usual, since they would normally not do this at a walking pace, as such, however, they could keep an eye on her and block any attack that might come from her. Neji kept his eyes trained on her, not an unpleasant job, he found himself smirking on the inside, his byakugan activated and observing everything she did in the slightest detail. He could not help but notice that there was something different about this girl, she was, as noted before not a normal civilian, but even to the unusual standards that he and his fellow ninja held themselves there was something odd about her. Ahead of them Akamaru, the big white hound, had obviously lost patience with the slow pace that they were keeping and started bounding and leaping around them in a playful manner, all tension lost from him. This set Kiba to chuckling, as he watched his hound gambolling around, trying to engage him in their usual play while taking strolls through the forest.
Smiling she started picking up the pace, spurred on by the playful nature of the hound, she too just wanted to get going, an urgency boiling up from deep within, the more she moved, the more strength she felt emanating from her and she wanted to test out her limits. She was tempted to test out the speed of her escort as well but decided against it, as this might be seen as a flight attempt, and just lightly pushed them to greater speeds, without seeming to run. After a while she became lost in her thoughts, the motion of running sending her into a trance, she remembered a saying that said, knowing something like the back of your hand, this did not apply to her in this case, she hardly knew her own hands, she felt completely lost in her own body.
The four humans around her matched her pace and together they broke into a run. They kept their pace, running as the trees slipped past. A few minutes later, however, they came to a clearing and she just could not resist, she took off sprinting at top speed, longing for the sunlight she saw sparkling on the bright green of the foliage growing in the rather large clearing. Ignoring the yells behind her she nearly tumbled off the cliff that she had missed, and for the first time she laid eyes on Konoha.
Breathing deeply she finally looked over the place that had caught her curiosity a while ago, it was beautiful. Set in a depression within the earth, surrounded by a lusciously green forest was the home of the four humans and two canines behind her. It was a large spread of buildings, many houses of shapes and colours were visible below her, the streets teeming with life. There were many layers of motion, the streets full of pedestrians and even the rooftops showed the occasional flicker of motion as she realised there were people leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Slowly she focussed on the details, and it became clear exactly why the town seemed to be all bustle, there were many areas that showed a large amount of damage, the largest concentration of people surrounded such areas. What had done such a large amount of damage? These people were obviously in the midst of recovering after some sort of calamity and whatever it had been must have been something especially huge to have done such a large amount of damage. She vaguely recalled a flash of an image from a battle and the destruction such an event could cause, but pushed it aside as the young man with the dark hair stepped towards her.
"Konoha" he said and gestured towards the town, that was closer to a city. His pale eyes looking over it with a fond tilt to the corners. She joined his gaze and noticed the unique formation of the village, it spread out from the base of the cliff like a fan and looking down to the origin of the village, she noticed there were several carvings protruding from the cliff face, but what they were she could not quite make out yet. Stepping forward, as close to the edge as she could, she looked straight down and saw a building that seemed to anchor the entire village, if it had been the usual layout of a village, this surely would have been its centre.
Stepping forward, Kakashi interrupted this strange woman's scrutiny of his village. "Welcome to Konohagakure, the village of the hidden leaf, home to us and some of the most powerful ninjas in the country" he said this with as much authority as he could, making sure she knew she could not harm his village without encountering strong opposition, since she was still a threat in his mind. Thus letting her know that despite the dishevelled look, they were not quite vulnerable.