After Kiara left with the team she had been assigned, with the teens clearly dreading every moment, Kori turned to face her team and gave them a once over. Before she could speak, she heard soft voice from beside her.
"Well, I'll leave them in your hands then," the pregnant woman said to Kori before she left. "You guys have better behave yourselves!" she called out as she walked away.
"We will Kureni-sensei!" the three yelled back. Kori continued to examine her newly assigned team for a good five more minutes before the feral-looking brunette boy snorted and glared at his new 'sensei.'
"Are we going to just sit here for the rest of the day while you stare at us or are you actually going to test our skills?" The boy smirked at the prospect of his new 'sensei' being weaker than him. Her slim build and kind demeanor made her seem weak, so he was sure that this was going to be an easy win for team eight. Kori let out a bell-like laugh at his comment and did a series of hand signs, a sea foam green crystal beginning to take form next to her. It slowly changed shape and color until it became an exact copy of the brunette girl.
"I highly doubt you or your friends will be able to take on me and Kiara, so you three are going to fight this clone instead. I don't want you three to be hurt too much. After all, how are we supposed to go on missions if that happens?"
Kiba growled at her overconfident demeanor, his lips forming a snarl on his tanned face. "You may be new to this village, so I think I'll let this one go. After this, you should know that Akamaru and I are a force to be reckoned with." The taller brown-haired boy with tinted glasses spoke up after his teammate, his annoyance barely showing in his monotone voice. "I must agree with Kiba. It would probably be in your best interest not to underestimate our team."
"Oh," Kori said with a slight smile on her face. "That must mean you are Kiba Inuzuka and this is your dog Akamaru." She said, indicating the tanned boy and his monstrous white dog. "You're the one that has the Beast Mimicry jutsu." The random mood shift in Kori confused her new team. "And you two must be Shino Aburame, the bug user, and Hinata Hyuuga of the gentle fist." She said, looking over to the other two teens. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Kori Chikyu and I am a master of crystals." She said with a small bow, her chestnut hair falling over her shoulders.
"Well that was…interesting," Kiba muttered under his breath, Akamaru barking softly in agreement. Smiling devilishly, Kori threw a kunai knife at him that just barely missed his head. "Now, let's see what you twerps are made of." with that, the team leaped into the forest behind them. Kori took a moment before following, trying to sense where her team was hiding. "After them," she told her clone, pointing in the direction she could sense a bit of chakra from. Kori walked to the clearing, sitting down in a meditative pose, waiting to hear the clash of metal and cries of battle that were sure to come.
As the clone searched for its targets, the squad of three was hiding up in the trees, planning their next move. "We should send one person to distract the clone while the other two attack Kori-sensei." Kiba suggested. Shino's calm voice spoke up, adding to his point. "Agreed. Hinata, distract the clone. It should disappear in a few moments," Shino began his descent from the tree they were hiding in, looking around for his new sensei. Hinata leapt down and attracted the clone's attention with her gentle fist style, her fingers only hitting hard crystal. She bit her lip and started a taiijutsu battle with the clone, eventually getting knocked onto her butt with a kunai to her neck.
A gruff shout of "Fang over fang!" alerted Kori of Kiba's presence, giving her just enough time to jump out of the way. Kiba growled and charged at the older woman, claws out and fangs bared. The two ninja and ninken exchanged blows until Kori's hand found its way to Kiba's neck.
Her eyes closed halfway as the color slowly left them, strange pattern spreading across her abdomen. She began to squeeze, making Kiba's eyes widen in fear. Akamaru found himself in a similar position, his neck being squeezed as well. Shino sent a wave of his bugs to distract Kori. Her grip slackened and her eyes closed as she collapsed onto the ground, the strange black markings receding back into the mark on her neck.
Kori's eyes shot open and took in her surroundings immediately. She could tell that she was in Konoha's hospital, surrounded by her new team, her partner, and her partner's team. Kiara looked half worried and half ticked off. 'I'm in trouble' Kori thought as she winced, remembering how volatile Kiara's temper could be. Everyone in the room let out a collective breath when they saw Kori awaken.
Kiba's voice was the first to be heard, and a trace of fear could be heard in his gruff tone. "What happened out there, sensei? One second you were afraid of my attack, and the next you're choking me." the Inuzuka raised his eyebrow, trying to mask his evident suspicion of the tall woman.
Kiara glared at the chestnut-haired woman and Kori swallowed nervously. "Oh... I must have used up too much chakra on our journey here. The fight just took more out of me than I thought it would." Kori laughed nervously, trying to hide her reluctance of facing her partner alone.
'She seemed perfectly fine until Kiba attacked her.' Shino thought. 'Something isn't right about these two.' He pushed up his glasses, crossing his arms over his chest as his mind raced, trying to figure out just who these two women were.
Kori smiled at her team. "Well, I'm fine now. We should get back to your training," Kori said. "Why don't you guys train for a bit on your own and I'll join you-"
Her sweet voice was cut off as a hard knock was heard on the door. A busty blonde woman walked in, and all seven of the ninja not in a bed bowed and mumbled a greeting to the Hokage. Her harsh voice made the shinobi stand up straight as she leveled Kori with a soft glare. "You will be doing no such thing until we figure out what happened. All of you, get out." She said, motioning to the door.
The six teens left, but Kiara only took her sword off her back and leaned against the wall.
"I'm not leaving her. It's not that I don't trust you... Actually, it is." Her rough yet feminine voice dripped with sarcasm as the shorter woman crossed her arms over her chest. "Kori has been hurt in the past. Where she goes, I go." Sure, it wasn't exactly the truth, but Kiara really was protective of her naive partner.
Tsunade raised a honey-colored eyebrow as she looked Kiara over. "You are lucky I'm in a good mood, or else you would be flying through that wall right now." She practically growled out, her hazel eyes turning cold.
The three kunoichi discussed Kori's fainting, and came to the conclusion that she was anemic. She was given blood pills and was told to take it easy for a bit. Kiara helped her partner out of bed, and as soon as the Hokage was out of the room, Kori was pinned to the wall, Kiara's sword at her throat.
"What the HELL were you thinking, allowing yourself to lose control like that?! We could have been found out!" Kiara growled out, her magenta eyes practically glowing with the fire that was evident in her voice.
"I am sorry, Kiara-chan. I don't know what happened." Kori said as she pushed her partner's sword away from her neck. "The Inuzuka surprised me, that's all. As for the fainting... We both know I'm not anemic."
Kiara lowered her sword and set it against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest again, which seemed to be her natural stance. "You normally don't faint after using it unless you've been using it for hours at a time. From that bug boy said, you used it for less than a minute. What gives?" Her harsh tone gave way to a softer way of speaking. Kiara really was worried about her partner.
"Perhaps it is because Hokage-sama sent ANBU to watch us. They must have sensed what I was going to do to Kiba and they knocked me out." She said, biting her lip in concentration. Sure, that could have worked as an explanation, but Kori had no marks on her and surely the Hokage would have known about any ANBU activity.
Kiara voiced those thoughts and the two women shook their heads, deciding to figure it out later. For now, they were going to meet with their teams and get to know them better.