Turning point: Chapter 10

:Calm:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tayuya stepped slowly through the door to Tsunade's office. Since the incident that morning she had taken considerably longer than usual to get herself ready to go, though it had taken her even longer to get herself motivated to start. Upon entering the Hokage's room she was met with stares all around; some harsh, some confused. But the worst was the one person who avoided her gaze completely, Tayuya's chest felt tight as Temari merely glanced at her entering before she turned back to look out the window. There were three other people in the room besides the Hokage and her aide. The first was the same boy from before, his sleek, black hair tied into its usual topknot which spiked out in all directions. He was wearing the leaf's signature green flak vest with a grey t-shirt underneath, his dark brown pants only reached as far as his lower calves and his headband was pinned to his left sleeve in an awkward fashion. His was the harshest glare in the room, Tayuya could feel him judging her with his narrow eyes despite not looking at him properly.

The other two people appeared to be sand ninja like Temari, the tallest of the group looked to be wearing a full black bodysuit and matching hood which pointed up like cat ears on top and had the sand headband's metal plate sewn in at the front. It seemed to be an odd choice for one who lived in the desert but then again Tayuya had only really worn her sound outfit for the years she worked there, for all she knew it could be the most effective. The tall boy's face was odd, very pale and covered in purple face paint; a single thick line from his forehead to the tip of his nose, two lines forming rectangles around each eye and another line from his chin to his lips which were also painted purple. He seemed to be almost scowling at her as she stood there at the door, though he didn't say anything Tayuya knew he had something against her immediately.

For all the strange outfits and face paint, the third boy was by far the creepiest looking. He was shorter than even Temari with his short, red spiked hair and skin paler than the rest, did he ever go out in the sun? His eyes were cold, a pale blue-green with dark rings surrounding them as if he hadn't slept for years. The strangest feature though was his forehead, the kanji for "Love" tattooed on his skin above his left brow which almost took away from the fact that he had no eyebrows at all. His outfit looked a little more suited to the desert, it also seemed to be something of a bodysuit but was a dark brown and baggy at the sleeves. The bottom was tight around the ankles and the neck seemed to be tightly sealed off too, a white sash ran from his right shoulder to his left hip where it wrapped around his waist and hung at the front. From the left shouder to his right hip was a thick and very wide leather strap with his sand headband tied around the bottom quarter, attached to this strap was a large sandy colored gourd which was almost as big as the boy carrying it. His gaze was almost unreadable, he didn't seem to have anger in his eyes but nor were they content, he simply stared in silence at the redhead standing across the room.

It took Tsunade clearing her throat rather loudly to get everyone's attention to herself, clearly thrown off slightly by Tayuya's sudden appearance she decided to finish her meeting quickly to get to the issue she'd called the redhead in for that morning.

"Well then." She started. "I can't thank you enough for responding to our request for backup so promptly, I'm sure this is the first big step in rekindling the bonds between our nations."

The three sand ninja nodded in response and the short boy spoke up to answer.

"Thank you lady Hokage." His voice was deeper than one would expect from such a young looking boy, a mysterious tone that almost pulled his words into whispers. "Rest assured we are more than happy to ally ourselves to the leaf, we can only hope that our lands will once again trust in each other in the future."

He seemed wise beyond his years. Given some time, maybe a slight change to his dull tone, he could make a decent Kage Tayuya thought quietly to herself. Tsunade nodded back to the trio and gave them a smile.

"I won't keep you any longer, you're free to stay for a while but I wish you a safe journey home."

With that said the sand group bowed their heads respectfully and turned to the door, Tayuya stepped aside to let them pass but kept her head down as she felt the eyes watching her carefully. A quick, subtle glance saw Temari lightly touching her cheek where Tayuya had smacked her before, though she couldn't see it from this angle the redhead knew it was still visible and likely still stinging. The leaf boy looked like he was about ready to speak his mind when Tsunade spoke up again.

"Shikamaru, would you act as escort for our sand village visitors?"

The boy looked back at her quickly and bowed his head similarly to the three before.

"Of course lady Tsunade."

Without another word he simply left and closed the door behind him.

Tayuya stepped forward to stand before the Hokage's desk, taking the place of the group who had just been here. The last time she'd been here, though only a few days ago, had been a pleasant moment for her. This time the air was thick with awkward silence, she knew she was about to get chewed out. Taking a few moments to sort out and sign a few papers, Tsunade finally turned her powerful gaze upon the redhead stood before her.

"Do you know what you've done?"

The woman's tone was stern but quiet. Tayuya had never been told off like this before, but for some reason it only served to make her more nervous about what was to come.

"I..." She struggled to pinpoint what part of the fiasco would land her in the most trouble. "I... lost control..."

The buxom blonde's expression changed for a moment, she furrowed her brow and closed her eyes as she thought of how to talk about the event.

"Yes, you did." She said it bluntly, straight to the point with no real regards for tact. "Your outburst the other day not only cost you your mission but also endangered innocent lives."

Tayuya's stomach felt tight, she knew that losing her temper here would only make things worse but she couldn't take all the blame on herself.

"Look, I know I lost it. But if I hadn't done something I would've-"

"I know." Tsunade cut her off. The redhead blinked in surprise, unsure of what the woman meant by that.

"Did you forget I've had Anbu tracking you since you got here? They saw what happened and filed it in their report along with Kakashi's."

She seemed to be almost smiling as she continued.

"I have it from my most reliable sources that you attempted to resolve the matter with non-violent means and despite the fact that it failed, your actions still prevented a hostage situation before it took place."

Tayuya stared at the Hokage wordlessly, was this woman really praising her for nearly killing a man?

"However."

Damn...

"Due to your apparent lack of control over the curse mark Orochimaru has placed on you, I had no choice but to have it sealed and forbid you to use it while in leaf residency."

Glancing off to the side and touching that spot on the back of her neck, Tayuya simply nodded quietly.

It didn't take much longer for Tayuya to be allowed to leave the Hokage's mansion, she had been given a warning and the rest of the day off to finish recovering. She didn't feel like she needed it but was almost relieved to not be thrust right back into missions. Digging into her pocket she pulled out the purse of money and checked how much she was carrying, with only 500 ryo left she would have to start earning money for real soon. Looking up at the midday sun, Tayuya began her walk back towards her home.

The lone girl turned the last corner of her journey back, she wanted to get at least some food for meals before she got back so she decided to visit the small shop about a third of the way down the street that led to her house. Simply grabbing a few basic ingredients she knew she could work with, the redhead paid for her items and took a bag in each hand to continue her short walk back. What met her eyes as she drew near both confused her and made her extremely nervous as it clicked in her head, the front steps of her house were currently occupied by the trio of sand ninja from earlier. The boy in black sat impatiently on the steps themselves while the short boy stood with his arms folded against his chest and facing the street Tayuya was coming from, he had to have spotted her from this distance. Temari seemed to be talking with the boy in black until she too looked up with him to see the lone form of the girl they were obviously waiting for.

Standing up, the boy lifted a large object wrapped in bandages like a mummy and topped with what looked like scruffy, brown hair. Lifting it by one of the wraps onto his shoulder he stepped out into the street where he simply stood and faced his target, the red haired boy joined him slowly and stood to his side. Temari simply stayed where she was, she seemed to be still talking to the boys but got no reply from either of them. Tayuya knew this setup all too well, a standoff, this was going to either be a simple chat or a fight with no rules.