Hello all :D I'm back with yet another chapter! This one I changed to Hana's point of view in the middle, but I'm switching back in the next chapter :3 The translation for the Japanese words are at the bottom, and enjoy! :D
"Sorry Emiko, but I have to go, my mission's in 10 minutes and I have to get to the main gates!"
"*Ja ne, Hana-chan," she smiled a beautiful smile," come back safely!..."
Hana ran out the kitchen door, and ran into Hiashi, not watching where she was going.
"What did I tell you this morning, Hana?"
"Uhmmm…. To train and get ready for my mission."
"And what else?"
"Uhhh… To go out into town to fetch a few things?"
"Yes, exactly. You, a fiancé, forgetting to do daily chores. This is not acceptable, Hana."
"Father, I'm only 17 and I'm in a rush to get to the main gates."
"No, Hana, this is more important, Konoha can wait. I'll let this slide for today, but from now on, you must remember to do your daily, and more ladylike, chores before you do your missions."
"… Hai…"
"Answer me formally."
"Hai, Hyuuga-sama."
"That's more like it, you are excused." She quickly walked away from her father, hastily walking towards the main door. Once she was out of sight of everyone, she reached in her bag and grabbed her mask on, swiftly positioning it on her head, making sure to pulse chakra into it to prevent any Hyuuga from seeing her identity.
/He makes me so mad sometimes. I just want to do what I want to do. /
As she reached the main gates of Konoha, she sees her ANBU team for this mission. Her 3 teammates being the Kaeru(Frog), Usagi(Rabbit), Taka(Hawk), and the oldest, the Kitsune(fox). Kaeru, Taka, and Kitsune being male, and Usagi being the other female. Kaeru waved to Hana as she came closer.
"Ookami reporting for duty, sorry if I'm a bit late."
"No, not at all," said Taka in a deep husky voice," Kistune is still waiting for a reply to a letter."
"A letter? About what?"
"Ookami," started Usagi," it's about your marriage papers, and how you're going to have to resign once you're married to Futoshi-sama." Usagi always hated Hana. How her long, lavender hair frames her mask like a portrait, how her armor clings onto her curves, showing her figure. Usagi was jealous, how her pink hair was placed on her mask like the top of a pineapple, how her less-curved figure would usher her to look more manly than feminine. Through her mask, Hana quietly scowled at her, plainly noticing her hatred for her living being. The rabbit walked back to Taka, linking arms, and frowning as he pulled it away, as if disgusted by her actions. Kaeru stayed uneasily quiet, throwing off the calm feeling everyone always had, no matter what everyone says. He's a chatter box, always talking in such a cheerful manner that the rest of the team can swear they can hear him smiling. As a messenger ninja appeared and dropped off a letter to Kitsune, he tucked it in his bag and motioned them to continue. Hana was already ticked that she had to be married, but she had to RESIGN as well?? She wasn't happy at that at all, she loved her squad and, although it has some kinks, it's still like a family to her. Although she really hated Usagi's guts, whoever she is (ANBU aren't supposed to share their identity), the bond they shared were like bickering sisters, Hana being the older.
"Kitsune," began Hana," please explain the situation once again." Her voice was suddenly serious.
"We are to infiltrate the village of the sound, in attempt to capture Orochimaru. That is the first objective, the second is to break into his data base and steal as much information as possible." The team nodded in agreement.
"Go!" They sped into action, sprinting at their highest speeds to get there faster.
"The trip is at least 2 days," said Kitsune through an ear microphone, "We will travel until night falls and set up a camp a little ways off from a river or lake." While they were sprinting towards their destination, Hana couldn't help but think.
/ I'm already outside Konoha and I have every essential thing I need. I can escape easily, but do I have enough energy to maintain my sprint? Should I just wait until after the mission, when everyone isn't so alert? Where would I go? /
Many questions haunted her, making her head spin so she decided to shut them out until camp.
"Alright," started Kitsune," We set up camp near the upcoming river, so start to slow down. The sun is about 20 minutes from setting and that should give us enough time to get everything set up." Everyone started to move towards the right, and Hana slowly followed.
"Hana!" shouted Taka," pick up your pace, we can't afford to lose you."
"Hai." She shouted with much less enthusiasm. She loved fighting, although it sounds so very gruesome, she liked the rush adrenalin that would flow through her body and shock her brain to life. She loved the feeling of being triumphant after a fight. Most of all, she loved being able to attack, and not be held back by being a woman, or just some girl, as some people would tell her. She wasn't about to give this freedom up, not yet.
When they finally got to the camping ground, Hana quickly began to make a fire at the middle of the small clearing.
"What's the matter, Hana?" Began Kaeru," Don't you want to set up you're sleeping bag first?" Nervous with guilt, she started pumping more and more chakra into her mask.
"N-no, I'm just really cold."
"Then how about you take a nap first?"
"No, Kaeru, I-I'll take the first look out shift like I always do. No use breaking good habits, right?" This was never a habit to her, it's just her duty. Like every little thing she does on a mission, from sleep to fighting, was a command by her own self consciousness.
"I'll go fetch some fish." Taka said as he disappeared in a gust of wind. Usagi was busy cleaning up the clearing. Hana couldn't help but think of her as a neat freak. She planned to escape today, alone during her shift, as everyone would be asleep. When Taka came back with the fish, Hana flinched with guilt. Taka, as cold as he may seem, really cared for his team, especially her. It's kind of awkward, for a younger teammate to worry about an older one, but that's how this is. Hana can take care of herself, and everyone knows that, but Taka can't help but panic when she's surrounded by 10 or so enemies, something that she can wipe out with her eyes closed. She would feel so bad when she left him, leaving him with his worries high.
"Okaeri nasai, Taka-san."
"Arigato gozaimasu, Ookami-senpai."
"Please, don't call me senpai," she wanted to let him enjoy the moment as much as he can," call me Ookami-chan." Although she couldn't see, she knew his face lit up, and she knew that Usagi's face grew of pain and jealousy.
"A-arigato," his voice cracked," Ookami-chan." A ruffling sound came from Usagi's spot, showing her uncomfort.
"That's much better, right?" She hated this, she had never, ever allowed anyone to call her by "chan" than Itachi, but she didn't want to leave this hawk hanging.
"Now hurry up and get the fish cooked so everyone can sleep, we have a long day ahead of us!"
"Yes!" He started to spear the fish onto some sticks and roasting them on the fire, each finished one, he handed it to Hana, Kaeru, Kitsune, and, lastly, Usagi. She cringed at getting her food last, although she sat closest to him.
"ALRIGHT!!! LET'S EAT!" The previously quiet, Kaeru, bursted out in a desperate attempt to break the uncomfortable silence, it didn't work. They ate in silence until the last person finished, and then everone went off to bed, except Hana, she went to her post to watch out until it was the next person's shift. As soon as she felt that everyone's breathing and heartbeat were slowed, she went and reached for her bag. Suddenly, a hand shot at hers, it was Taka.
"Taka," Hana hissed," What are you doing? Go to sleep!"
"No, I won't, I know what you're doing. Please, please don't."
"H-how in the world would you know?"
"I know you, you never allow anyone in our team to call you 'chan', not even Kitsune." She hissed out his name again, and he shivered with fear.
"How in the world does that have to do with our situation?" She was careful not to say what she was doing, just in case he wasn't thinking of her leaving, but of something else.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"No." She spat out the word.
"You're being married off to a jerk, and you have to quit this," he raised his arms," trapped in a stupid house all day. Why in the world wouldn't you want to escape?"
"I-i-i…" She was speechless.
/ Was his evaluation skills this good? To even get past my charade? /
"You won't survive, Ookami-chan," Taka was enjoying every moment of that name as he can," There's more enemies out there than you can face, no matter how good you are right now. You'll die before you know it."
"Shut up!" She hissed at him like he was going to kill her," and don't ever call me chan ever again."
"If that's what you want, Ookami-sama."
"Now your mocking me." She was furious, how can this… this little kid get on her nerves to easily?
"I'm sorry, Ookami-senpai, I got carried away."
"I'll forgive you if you let me leave without conflict."
"No, to let you get killed isn't worth it."
"Taka! Let me go now! Don't make me hurt you." She got into one of her stances, one much, much different from the Hyuuga stances, to protect her identity. He just stood there, not even fazed by Hana's obvious strength. Even with all the hate that she had for him at the moment, she still didn't have the heart to kill him, so she just pulsed a little of her chakra into his neck, sending him into a deep sleep.
"Good… bye, Hana." He managed to say those quick 3 words before he fell. She carried him to his sleeping bag, making it look as if nothing happened. She turned back to her grab her bag, and left without another sound…
xWhenTakaWokeUpx
"Taka, Taka! Wake up!" Kaeru's voice screamed at his ear, jolting him awake.
"W-what??!!"
"Where's Ookami?" Kitsune's voice cut in. Taka stayed silent for a moment as he ran over everything that happened to him last night.
"I-it depends what time it is…"
"It's about 4 in the afternoon; you were out cold for quite a while."
"Oh… OH! SHOOT!!"
"What?!"
"O-o-ookami… She… She's dead…"
"How?!" Chimed everyone at the same time.
"She," Taka thought for a moment, not wanting to tell what really happened,"… She went to look for more food. If she isn't back yet, she's probably already dead, an enemy probably got her." Kaeru's voice started to speak out.
"Why didn't anyone wake up to keep watch?"
"No one bothered to wake us up," Usagi said with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone," It was supposed to be Ookami's job to wake us up."
"Shit…" Taka's face went white under his mask, white with fear for their team's Wolf.
"But, we have no time to sulk, we have to keep moving, we still have a mission." Kitsune's seemingly crude command made both Taka and Kaeru flinch, while Usagi smirked to herself with victory.
xBackToHanax (Hana's point of view)
Where in the world am I going? I'm bound to get lost eventually, but thank god I stayed away from the team's route. When I finally got to what looked like a road, I slowed down to a complete stop. I activated my Byakugan and scanned the area for people. My hand moved towards my mask when I was sure that there was no one near. I placed it in its special spot and found a spot to change out of my ANBU gear and into my regular Konoha wear. My stomach growled and my hand moved towards it, glowing an eerie green as I placed it where my stomach would be, and it felt warm under my skin. I was feeding myself with my own chakra, and all the while making more from my feelings of frustration and pain from leaving. I grew calmer while I fed myself. I started walking again once I was "full".
xDaysLaterx
I've been walking for quite a while now, my hair is a little messed up, and I've grown tired from the many hours of sleepless walking. I've passed through a few towns, but didn't want to attract attention so I kept moving. I couldn't help myself now when I came close to a misty town. I went to search for a hotel as the cool fog calmed me. When I got there, I instinctively pulled my Konoha charm off of my choker and changed the color pigments in my eye to an icy blue, to prevent anyone from knowing who I was. I went up to the reception desk.
"Hello, I would like to rent out a room for one night, please."
"Sorry miss, we're full." But, just then, two men came down the stairs with their suitcases.
"Hello, may we check out?"
"Sure," said the man at the desk," May I see your room key?" They handed him the key as he looked in his book.
"Alright, that will be 250,000 yen please." They handed him the money and happily left.
"Sir," I went up to him right away," May I check in now?"
"I'm sorry but… uhmm… we still have to clean up the room." Just then the guy who checked out came back.
"Oh yea, thanks for sending up the maid to clean our room out, tell him I left a tip on my pillow!" He waved and left. I faced him again and scowled.
"The room is clean and I need one."
"Sorry, little girl, only ninjas are allowed to stay here."
"But I'm also a ninja."
"Ha! Like you, a ninja, would be here alone!"
"Sir, please, just let me stay, I'm as strong as 5 men."
"Oh yea," he smirked," prove it."
"Alright, get 5 of your strongest men, and if I win, I get a free night here."
"Sure thing, hime." I scowled at the delicate name and waited as he called up a few people. When he started walking towards the back, I followed. When we got to the back field of the hotel, I was shocked at how big it was.
"1,000 acres of training ground only accessed through two doors in the whole hotel, which are portals."
"Wow." That was the only word I could get out of my mouth.
"Please follow me, hime." I glared at the back of his head; he flinched as he felt my eyes burn a hole through him. I took a deep breath and started following his moving figure. The air felt nice here, it was refreshing. Soon, we came up to 5 burly men, I smirked, I've faced worse before.
"Hime, meet your 5 opponents, would you prefer to face them one by one or all at once?"
"If they faced me one by one, it won't be fair for them, send them at me!" My smirk grew wider as I tried to think of attacks I can do without killing them. The guy took a step back and raised his arms, I flared my chakra and he winced, and he quickly dropped them.
"START!" Without delay, I blurred towards them at top speed and pierced their chakra points one by one with chakra. My smirk grew to a smile as I went on; fighting really did make me happy. As I took down 2, each and every one of their chakra points closed, I went on to the last 3. They didn't even have the time to react as I attacked them with full force, getting a bit sucked into this fight than I should. When I finally finished, I turned towards the guy from the reception desk, his eyes wide with shock.
"W-well, princess, or should I say Queeny, I guess you've earned yourself a room for the night." I had a wide smirk on my face, it was quite a while since I fought, and this cheered me up, but it's also been a while since I've rested, so I rushed back towards the door and to the desk, the guy followed. He quickly checked me in and gave me the key.
"Have a nice stay, Queeny."
"Sure thing." I nodded at him and rushed towards my room, 214. It was spacious, made for at least 2 people, I was glad to get the privacy to myself. I dropped my stuff near the door and went to the mat closest to the door and laid down. I quickly drifted off to sleep.
xMorningx
Streams of sunlight drifted into my room through my window. I sat up and stretched, the sleep felt nice. I walked towards the small kitchen that they provided for me and started to prepare myself some breakfast. I looked into the fridge and looked at the price for the food, eggs were 1,000 yen per egg, and I took two and went to the stove. Two eggs and then I'm out of here. When I was done eating, I grabbed my bag and started for the bathhouse. When I got there, I dropped off my cloths to be washed and wrapped myself in a towel as I walked towards the bathhouse, I was provided a private bathroom because it was only guys here, and I started to bathe in peace. The scorching water calmed my muscles. When I was done, I dried myself and wrapped myself in a towel again, and set off towards the laundry room. On the way, two men confronted me.
"Hey pretty lady, do you need any help?" I watched them as they eyed my backpack, and then me.
"No thank you." I spat those three words out coldly, spending shivers up and down their spines.
"How about we just help you to where you need to go, so you don't get lost." He winked at me. I glared.
"No. Thank. You." Both men frowned and took a step towards me. I was pushed off my tolerance point and my eyes started to get cold and they felt like they were freezing. The eyes of the men widened and their hands reached towards their head, which they clutched in pain. They suddenly froze, like they were statues. I quickly passed and got to the laundry room and hastily dressed myself, fearing the two guys would come for me and I would get that weird feeling again. I quickly switched my eyes back to white when no one was looking to give them a break, maybe that's the problem, and then quickly switched them back. I went to the reception desk in the main lobby and saw the guy from yesterday again.
"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Mr……"
"Oh, just call me Taku," he winked at me, I knew he wanted me to call him that without a suffix," What's your name, Queeny?
"It's," I thought of a name for a moment," Hanabi, Taku-san." He frowned when I said his name with –san connected. I used Hanabi to keep my identity secret.
"Well, Hanabi," I winced when he didn't use a suffix, this is really bothering me," You're ready to check out?"
"Yea." I stepped closer to the desk and too the pen to sign out.
"How was your stay, any trouble with the guys?"
"No, none at all. Uhm, can I ask you a question?" I lifted my face up to look at his, his face lit up with hope.
"Sure!"
"Well, uhm…" His smile grew wider," what town am I in?" His expression was now crushed with disappointment.
"The land of the Mist." He said glumly.
"Thank you!" I turned and left, I wanted to get going as fast as possible. I took a sprint towards the country of the rain, the last place that I completed a mission with my ANBU team, I really did like the quiet and rainy country, I'll just stay there until I can get my head straight. When I got past the city and into the forests, I changed my eye pigments to red and re-clipped my Konoha charm to my choker. Soon, I got to a big lake, dull with the sky full of clouds. I sat by its side, and suddenly, I heard a rustling sound in the bushes. I tried to activate my Byakugan but, this time, my eyes burned and I gave up. I turned to face the bushes and two figures came out… in black cloaks.
Okaeri Nasai – Welcome Back
Hime – Princess
Ohayo-gozaimasu – Good Morning
Isn't it ironic how I used Hanabi as her "fake" name? How she is the heir and in the anime/manga, it is Hanabi who is the preferred heir? :D And I suppose this chapter left off in a cliffy, lol xD I kind of gave a hint, though. And sorry for the late update x.X And please review :3 those kind people who donate their words get cookies :D