So, I am sorry it took so long before I uploaded the next chapter, I'm getting ready to go to Stephenville, Tx for my college orientation. Which reminds me I made this chapter slightly longer than normal to say sorry; I wont be able to write anything until sunday night due to the fact that I'll be in Stephenville and I cant bring my laptop.
So anyways... Disclaimer: I do not own anything that was made by Masashi Kishimoto; the ony thing I own is/are my own OC(s).
Previously:
"Ojīchan," She starts, causing them to quiet down. "Your place, it may be small but I like it, please accept it." They sigh, knowing that they had lost the battle of her pay and gladly accepts.
"Young lady, what is your name?" O bāchan asks, both of her hands resting on top of her cane.
"Hmm," Looking up she slips her hand inside her sleeve before setting it against her chin in thought. "My full name is Rurousha, Kyoui-kumo…" She smiles and crosses her arms over her stomach again, "But everyone who knows me calls me Kumo."
Nodding with understanding the old couple sits down at the table and smiles up at her. "The outhouse and washroom are in the backyard." O bāchan starts before setting her cane down on top of the table. She looks Kumo up and down before frowning. "Do you have any cloths besides the one you are wearing, dearie?"
Kumo laughs nervously, her hand slipping into her sleeve before rubbing the back of her neck. "No, O bāchan, I do not. Being a nomad, such as myself, it's easier to carry only what's on your back." Shrugging absently she sits down across from the old lady, "It's honestly no skin off of my back; I don't care for caring a bag of clothing as I walk."
The older couple seemed to not like this idea, their eyebrows furrowing and their mouths frowning. She supposed they weren't use to having nomadic people coming to their inn. Kumo yawns, reaching up with her right hand to pat her mouth before asking the inn keeper if she could sleep.
"But dearie," O bāchan started, her frown still present. "Shouldn't you buy some cloths? So you do not wear the same thing all the time?" Smiling, Kumo reaches out and pat's O bāchan's hand before standing up and stretching her sleeved hands above her head.
"I will do that when I wake up from my nap… but I am very tired and I did not get a good night's rest the previous night. I hope you don't mind." She didn't wait for their answer though, instead she slipped pass the paper door and closed it behind her. Slipping her swords out of her obi she sits down on the old futon and yawns again. Lying down on her side she wraps her arms around her swords and falls into a light sleep.
Muted voices woke her; although she kept her eyes closed her ears followed the sounds of their voices and the quiet nock that echoed on her paper door. Her eyes open, she absently notes that the sky had darkened and she had missed lunch; looking up from her spot on the futon she sees Ojīchan smiling apologetically down at her.
"You … you have a guest." He looks over his shoulder before whispering, "It's a young man who says knows you, Kumo-chan."
Frowning she sits up on as Ojīchan walks away from the door, leaving it open so the guest could come in. Her frown disappears to be replaced by a sly smile as she leans back on her hands and looks up at him.
"Well, well, well." She couldn't contain her amusement as he sits down in front of her and slides the door shut, as if that would give them more privacy. "What is the lazy Kangaroo doing all the way over here? You came just to see me? Oh, I feel so honored."
He grimaces, placing one hand in front his face while rubbing his temples. "Please," He starts. "Shut up, you troublesome woman, and listen to me." Her eyebrows rose and she leans back a little bit more.
"You're never going to get a girl with that attitude, but okay, I'll stay quiet while you talk." Her smile never quite left her face as she watches him squirm because of her comment.
"Choji told me to… fetch you." He frowns, staring at her sternly. "For that dinner thing; he said he had to round up everyone else and told me to get you."
"Oh." She looks up; honestly she wasn't planning on going to that thing, that's when a thought hit her. "How'd the lazy Kangaroo find me?"
Frowning, his eyes narrow at the nickname before answering, "It was easy to track you if you ask the right questions… You're not very good at hiding your presence."
She shrugs, "Just wonder, there was no reason TO hide my presence." Standing up she slides her swords into her obi before holding out her hand to him. "So, we going or not?"
He grunts before taking her hand and gets pulled up. He looks her up and down before frowning deeper and motioning towards her outfit. "Don't you have anything else to wear?"
Laughing she walks by him and opens the paper door, "Nah." Stopping in front of the older couple she bows and says lightly, "Ojīchan, O bāchan, Kangaroo and I are going to meet some of his friends for dinner. Please, you do not need to wait up for me." She offers them a smile before motioning Shikamaru to follow her and walks out.
Grumbling under his breath about how troublesome woman could be he offers the inn keepers a bow before walking after her, not going any faster because she was ahead of him. When he exits the inn he noticed that she was standing in the middle of the road, her head tilted up towards the sky and her eyes closed. A light breeze was passing through and it rustled her hair and clothing, as if it was tugging on her; begging her to go in that direction. With the sound of him closing the door her eyes open and slide over in his direction, her head slightly moving so she could see him; a light smile touches her lips.
"You ready?" She was acting as if she was the one that picked him up instead of the other way around. He frowns again before walking up to her, how can one girl be so damn troublesome? As she walks away he follows her, his hands firmly stuffed into his pockets while her arms were inside her kimono, crossed and resting over her stomach. Both of them were quiet, she didn't attempt to start any conversation and he didn't offer to answer any questions she may have about the village. It wasn't as much as an awkward silence, nor was it a tense one; the silence around him was calm, almost relaxed as a random breeze blew past them.
She ends up stopping when a particularly strong breeze rushed by them, her head turned up slightly to get the full blast as her eyes closed halfway. Her whole faced relaxed and she was unable to resist the smile that pulled at her lips. Shikamaru, unaware that she had stopped, suddenly looks back at her with a frown. In the back of his head he thought she was looking at a shop's window, like any other girl would, but was mildly shocked when all she was doing was feeling the breeze. Huffing he walks back over to her before grabbing her kimono sleeve and tugging on her.
"Come on, we're going to be late." He didn't release her sleeve, just in case she happened to stop again, and couldn't help but groan when her question pierced the quiet.
"We're? So… You're going to the dinner?" He could practically hear the grin in her voice before yanking on her sleeve to make her walk faster.
"Yeah, I'm being forced. Don't look to into it."
When they reach the restaurant she noticed a group of teens standing out front that was no older than she was. At the sight of Shikamaru one of them calls out for him to hurry his ass up; apparently that young male was quite hungry. He sighs and releases her sleeve before stopping at the edge of the crowd.
"So, this is the girl?" A female voice asked; her hair was short and pink, her eyes green, and she was around the same height as Kumo, herself. Wearing a pink shirt and black skirt Kumo couldn't help but notice her boobs weren't all that big but her forehead was larger than normal. When Shikamaru nods she grins and holds out her hand, "Hi, I'm Haruno, Sakura. What's your name?"
"Kumo." She takes the girl's hand and gives it a firm handshake before releasing and sliding her hand back into her kimono.
"Nice to meet you Kumo," Sakura starts before motioning towards people and naming them off. "This is Inuzuka, Kiba" A brunet with red upside down triangles on his cheeks waves, a quite large white dog barking, "Oh and his dog Akumaru. This is Hyuuga, Neji," Another brunet, although his hair was quite long, nods in her direction; she notes with amusement that he, too, was wearing a kimono of sorts. "And his younger cousin, Hyuuga, Hinata." A shy looking girl squeaks before waving at her; her long dark indigo hair reaching her waist. "Uhm… You already know Choji… and that stupid boar-"
"Who are you calling a stupid boar, billboard brow!" Yamanaka yells in Haruno's face.
"OBVIOUSLY YOU, you stupid boar!" Haruno snaps before going back to interdictions. "Um, you already know Naruto," He grins and waves at her frantically, but before he could say anything Sakura covers his mouth and pushes him to the ground. "That's Aburame, Shino." Another brunet, but she could hardly tell with his hood up. He seemed like the quiet type, he probably got dragged here against his will as well. "That's Rock Lee," She barely had time to say his full name before a black haired boy clad in a green one-suite jumps out in front of her and yells about how joyful it is to meet her and her divine youthfulness. Looking up at him she seemed unfazed by his thick eyebrows and outrageous outfit; she offers him a smile before Sakura pushes him away from her and sighs. "Anyways," She clears her throat and glares at Lee, "That's all of our friends we could get on such a short notice. Everyone, meet Kumo; Kumo, meet everyone!"
They all said hi before Sakura herds everyone inside the place and they were seated. The waitress sat them at a large round table that was able to sit eleven people and Sakura decided to take it upon herself to pick where everyone sat. So from clock wise it would be Kumo, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Neji, Hinata, Naruto, Ino, and then herself, Sakura. Neji started grumbling though and switched seats with Hinata who was blushing over the fact that she was next to Naruto; but when Shikamaru tried changing seats everyone said no. It wasn't that they didn't want to sit next to Kumo; they were just told about this morning from Choji and were overly curious as to what would happen if they sat next to each other.
When the waitress came back and asked what they wanted to drink everyone fired off their preference until the only ones that were left where Shikamaru and Kumo, herself. For a moment the whole table was quiet until, at the exact same time, they both said "Water"; although Kumo added a "please" at the end. The majority of the table ended up in a fit of giggles while Shikamaru glared at Kumo and she busied herself looking down at the menu.
After a moment or two everyone was in their own conversation, weather it was with the person right next to them or the person across the table, they didn't seem to care as long as they could talk. Sakura turns to Kumo and, in a slightly louder voice so everyone could hear, asks "So, Kumo, where are you from?" Everyone went hushed as the look at her, their questioning eyes all wanting to know the answer.
"Well," She starts, never taking her eyes off the menu although she could feel their gazes. "I'm from all over. Since I'm a nomad I tend to travel where the wind takes me."
"Yeah," Ino chimes in, "It's so obvious, billboard brow, you're so stupid for asking."
Sakura glares at Ino before clarifying, "No I mean, where is your hometown?"
The air around Kumo seemed to get colder before a soft smile touches her lips. "You wouldn't know the place, don't worry about it."
Everyone seemed to understand that she didn't want to answer that question and if they kept pushing it she would probably do something bad so they dropped it. Instead Lee chimes in as he leans over the table with his excitement.
"Kumo-san, what kind of fighting do you do? I see that you use swords, are you well off in tai-jutsu?" Her whole body seems to relax and the smile on her lips grew.
"Yes, I suppose I'm decent in tai-jutsu… although I mostly work with gen-jutsu and nin-jutsu."
"You work with gen?" Neji asks, he seemed very interested and her smile drops with his next question. "Would you mind showing me some of your gen later after dinner?"
"Ah… Well," She smiles sheepishly, her eyes closing so she wouldn't have to see his disappointed face "My gen isn't something you would want to see. It's strictly for my enemies."
"Awww!" Naruto comes in, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. "I was hoping to fight you!"
She laughs; setting down the menu she leans forward and leans her head against her hand, which was propped up on the table. "Uzumaki-kun, there was only one companion I was comfortable fighting with and it was only because he said if I didn't fight him he would kill me the next time we crossed paths." The smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes, telling only the most observant that she didn't really like that one bit.
"Really?" Kiba asks, leaning forward to see her better, "Who was he?"
"Hmm?" She turns her head to look at him before her smile changes, a softness seemingly touching her eyes. "Uchiha-kun."
So like I said, I wont be able to write until Sunday, sorry so so sorry, I'll try to write a lot for the next chapter (I already have what's going to happen jotted down on my sticky notes so I wont have any writers-block 3)