The Third Hokage looked up from his work as the door opened and in entered Hisayo and her group. He gave a small smirk before he cleared his throat to speak.
“Hisayo, I believe a have a separate assignment for you to do with Takeshi and Kouzetsu. You three,” Sarutobi glanced to Akira, Suzume, and Ken, “will be on your own today with your own assignment. I’ll have your captain assigned to you shortly. So, if you wouldn’t mind waiting outside for the time-being—I would like to speak with Hisayo alone.”
The three Chunin gave questioning and curious glances to the Hokage, but quietly followed the order, much to Hisayo’s slight surprise. Usually, Ken or Akira would put in some kind of comment in which the other would quickly step in and add on to it, while Suzume would give a sigh and shake of her head before taking hold of both boys and dragging them away. She figured that they could sense how serious the Third was at this moment and wisely chose to leave in the fashion they just did.
Hisayo’s eyes went from glancing over her shoulder at the retreating Chunin, back over to Sarutobi who was calmly exhaling with a small cloud of smoke rising from his mouth. She had to say, she was just as curious as her chunin had been. Rarely did the Third ask to speak with her alone. Usually Akio as around for such things, and during those times, the topic was usually over a certain clan and their movements—or lack of as it had been for almost two years now.
“I received a report this morning of a pack of wolves causing trouble along the coastline of our country. A grey wolf looks to be the one leading this pack…”
Hisayo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You think Ichiro and the others are the ones? If so, then I can summon them back and-”
“I want to catch them red-handed. I’m afraid that I cannot rely on one’s word when citizens of our country are being threatened. I also don’t want to wrongly accuse a party that has no connection to this.”
Hisayo nodded. “I see. Takeshi and Kouzetsu, have they been informed yet?”
“Yes, and they are waiting at the gate, so I’d like you to leave right away.”
…
“Hisayo, been awhile hasn’t it?” Takeshi happy hollered while Kouzetsu barked a few times as Hisayo came into view.
“I saw you just last week.” Hisayo gave an amused shake of her head.
“No, no,” Takeshi laughed “I mean since we’ve had a mission together.”
“I suppose you’re right. Well then,” Hisayo gave Kouzetsu a small pat on the head and looked up with a small smile, “shall we?”
“Yeah, so the Third thinks your pack’s been causing trouble huh?” Takeshi asked as she took her seat on Kouzetsu and began at a moderate pace.
“Yes, though I really don’t think it’s them. It isn’t uncommon for normal wolf packs to be living in the Land of Fire, in fact, Ichiro and the others have run across a few.”
“Must just be a pack of wolves having fun. No one has been hurt by this rogue pack.”
“Not yet, at least. So let’s hurry to the coast to settle this before someone gets hurt.” Hisayo jumped from another branch, picking up the speed.
“W-woah, don’t leave us behind.” Takeshi quickly looked down to Kouzetsu. “Pick up the pace Kouzetsu.”
And off the trio went, to the coast.
******
As she had thought, it hadn’t been Ichiro and the pack. Takeshi was right when she had said that it was just a pack having fun, but the pack of wolves, was actually a pack of wild dogs. As for the one that was thought to be Ichiro, he had been a husky cross with an uncanny resemblance to the wolf. It took nearly four days to trap all of them as most were smart and could take the bait without setting the traps. Either that or they would avoid the traps completely. It had been a pain to say the least.
“Ah.” Takeshi stretched her arms over her head. “That was an annoying few days, but yay, we’re almost back!”
“Agreed. But, that’s one less problem for the coastal villages now. And I’m just thankful that it wasn’t Ichiro and the others.” Hisayo continued their casual pace, with Kouzetsu walking between her and Takeshi.
“Well, I gotta split form here.” Takeshi gave a small wave as she quickened her pace after crossing through the large gates of the village. “My little cousin wanted me to help him get ready to graduate from the academy and I’m getting together with Hana later too. So, see ya around!”
“Bye.” Hisayo could only give that short goodbye as Takeshi and Kouzetsu left in a flash, leaving her to give the report of how the mission went.
Deciding to take her time as it was only just before lunch and the Hokage was probably eating, she slowing walked down the lively streets of Konoha. After several minutes, she stopped, catching a sight on the second floor near the railing of a building. It was Yugao and Hayate. Both were dressed in their shinobi attire and from the looks of it, both were just leaving out of the apartment. Hisayo stood and watched for a moment, seeing the two have an exchange of affection…deep affection. Hisayo lightly frowned in thought as she witnessed the display, wondering what exactly it was like to have that kind of relationship. There were those kinds of relationships between friends and family, but as always, she was unfamiliar with the one she was seeing. At one point, Myukyu tried to help her understand, much like Kurenai, and the woman she was currently watching at the moment, had tried to, but again it ended in the same manner- Hisayo becoming frustrated and ultimately calling it quits on the conversation. She had to admit though, that she was always thinking back on those conversations and trying to find some way to understand.
“Hey, something wrong?”
Hisayo turned her attention to just over her shoulder at the silver-haired man that had gained it, before looking back over to where her friends were, but they had gone, off to their duties.
“Nothing really.” She turned around with a small tug at her lips. “I was just thinking.”
Kakashi’s mask crinkled a bit, returning the tiny smile Hisayo had given. “Are you going to the Hokage’s?”
“Yes. Takeshi and I had been sent to the coast to deal with a small problem and we just got back.”
“Any plans after?”
Hisayo shook her head as she began to walk again. “Not really. I’m just going home.”
“Maybe you’d like to get out for some drinks tonight. Asuma just got back today too, and everyone’s around, so you want to go?”
“It’s been awhile, so why not?”
“Great.” Kakashi held up his hands in a sign to flicker away, “Oh, and tell Akio he’s more than welcome to show up too.” He added before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Hisayo gave a small smirk. Yeah, it was about time she see everyone. She wondered though if ‘everyone’ would be there tonight. If so, then it would get pretty loud and slightly out of control, especially if Guy showed up and challenged everyone, namely Kakashi, to a drinking game. It was probably going to be a long night.
******
“You’re going out?” Akio blinked a bit.
With how busy she had been lately, he didn’t think she would want to go out at this time. It was good though that she was going to go hang out with friends.
“Yes, and Kakashi said you can come too if you want.”
Akio couldn’t help but grin, “Nah, I think I’m going to stay home for this one.” He then gave a fake yawn. “Yup, too tired to go anywhere and I have to wake up early anyway. You go on and have fun.”
Hisayo raised a brow, obviously seeing though Akio’s excuse. “Riiight, sure.”
“Really.” Akio defended himself before slowly turning around as though any sudden move would set Hisayo off. “Sooo good night.” He sang as he entered his room and closed the door.
Hisayo gave a heavy sigh. It was just like Akio to make excuses when it came to this kind of thing. Why was that she wondered…? She then turned and looked out the window to see that it was getting dark. Well, better start heading off to meet everyone then.
She hadn’t taken but two steps through the door of the bar when she was called to from across the building.
“Hisayo! You came!” Kotetsu and Izumo both chimed in sing-song voices as they both held up their bottles as they crossed their free arms over each other’s shoulders and swayed from side to side in excitement.
Hisayo shook her head with a light smile as she made her way to the crowded table. It seemed that Izumo and Kotetsu were started off at a faster pace than everyone else. Kurenai gave a smile as the white-haired woman took a seat next to her and Asuma. Across from the table Hayate sat, with an empty seat next to him, obviously meant for Yugao. Speaking of which, there she was, walking from the bar with several drinks in hand to pass out around the table. On the far end of course sat the two who were still swaying with drinks in their hands and grinning. Iruka, who was sat next to the two, leaned to the side away from them and nervously glanced over, afraid to be accidentally hit by their hyper display. Sitting down from Iruka, was Genma. Hisayo didn’t know him as well as she knew the others, but she was otherwise getting use to his rare presence among the group. The last one over…was Guy.
Funny story of how her first meeting with the eccentric man had gone. It had happened completely out of the blue and when Kakashi, Guy’s “Eternal Rival”, had been present too. Kakashi actually had to stop her from hurting the over-bearing green beast after he had announced that she would be the ultimate prize to be won between his and Kakashi’s competition. Despite the scary exchange that Hisayo had with Guy, the man still kept his ‘cool’ around her. Truth was though, that he had been scared shit-less over the encounter.
Imagine that, Might Guy, afraid of a woman. Since then, he was wise about the ‘rewards’ for the winner of his competitions with Kakashi, especially if Hisayo was around.
“Kakashi!” Guy stood from his seat and planted one foot on the table, causing everyone’s drinks to rattle, almost toppling over. “My eternal rival! Finally decide to show up so that I can beat you this round?! I promise you that I will be the victorious one this time!”
Kakashi, who had stopped just in front of the large group, looked down to Hisayo, ignoring Guy for the moment. “Looks like I’m the last to arrive. Hello.” He greeted with a closed-eye smile as he sat down next to her, gaining smirks from both Yugao and Kurenai. If only Hisayo wasn’t so…uneducated in such areas they both thought with shakes of their heads.
Guy was frozen in his bold stance with a gapping mouth, completely shattered that his rival had ignored him. He then quickly shook it off and took a seat with closed eyes and a devilish smirk as he rubbed his chin in a ‘cool’ manner. “Ah, Kakashi, it seems as though our lovely Hisayo has once again captured your attention.” He opened his eyes to see flames radiating off of Hisayo as she sent a glare over in his direction, daring him to say anything else. “I suppose we can test our skills some other time though.” He was quick to say, before quickly downing a drink to keep himself from saying any more.
“Calm down there Hisayo-san, Guy-san’s not hurting anyone. Here, have a drink.” Iruka tried to get Hisayo’s mind off of the green offender as he passed her a drink.
Hisayo caught the sliding drink and brought it to her lips, taking a few sips before setting it down and giving a small content sigh.
“So, everyone’s week go by alright?” Asuma asked as he began lighting a new smoke.
“The usual for us.” Kotetsu rolled his eyes as he began playing with his near empty bottle, for the moment ending his and Izumo’s happy dance.
“Why the face Kotetsu?” Asuma chuckled.
Hayate coughed a bit, but still managed to hold his smirk. “He just doesn’t like that Izumo makes him work.”
“Yeah, you’re all work and no play man.” Kotetsu playfully elbowed his friend.
Izumo, at that moment, happened to be in the middle of a drink and had nearly spit it out. “Hey, watch it!” he lightly scolded with a frown, upset that he had nearly wasted some good beer.
“Ah, lighten up Izumo. Now’s the time to have some fun, so relax.” Asuma again chuckled.
Kurenai, turned her head, ignoring the boys for a bit, and seeing Hisayo staring intently at Yugao and Hayate. “Staring is rude you know.” Kurenai whispered playfully.
Hisayo looked over to Kurenai with an unreadable look, hiding her curiosity from the raven-haired woman. “Right, I was just zoned out I guess.”
“No, you weren’t. Something on your mind?”
Hisayo was quiet for a moment, before she nodded her head. “Can we talk later though?”
Kurenai looked over, seeing Kakashi tilt his head a bit, obviously listening even though his attention looked to be set ahead at the others. Whatever it was, Hisayo seemed uncomfortable talking about it around others, even if they were all friends. “Alright, after everyone leaves then?”
Hisayo nodded her head ‘yes’ in reply before she took another drink. The night, for the most part went by without any incident, although Kotetsu, Izumo, and Guy had at one point began dancing on top of the table, nearly getting everyone thrown out of the bar. Genma had left a few hours back, after having wooed one of the bar-maids. Yugao and Hayate had left shorty after as well, followed by Iruka who claimed that he had to get up early for the academy students. The group shrank down to half its original size, but that hadn’t made things less enjoyable for anyone. Everyone had to start leaving though once the bar began to slowly shut down at three that morning.
“Mind if I walk with you for a bit?” Kakashi asked as he and Hisayo drew closer to the door leading out of the bar.
“Sorry Kakashi,” Kurenai smoothly cut in, politely coming to stand between him and Hisayo, “but I needed to talk to Hisayo about something. She can even crash at my place if she isn’t feeling up to going home after, right?” Kurenai’s red eyes glanced over to Hisayo, who nodded in confirmation.
“That’s right. Another time maybe. Alright, Kakashi?”
“Sure, no problem. Goodnight then.” Kakashi lightly smiled before turning to go down the road to his place.
Asuma too, took his own leave after Kurenai had shot him a look, telling him that she and Hisayo wanted to be alone. After that, and after they walked down the empty street for a bit, Hisayo stopped. Kurenai glanced over and sighed. “I think I can already guess what this is all about…Haven’t Yugao and I already been through this with you?”
“That’s just it though…am I ever going to understand?”
Kurenai flinched back a bit in surprise. She rarely ever heard the tone of voice Hisayo was using now. It was very thoughtful and she sounded as though she was actually frustrated, which she rarely let on to others.
“I feel…something missing—No, I know something is missing. It has to do with what you and Yugao are always trying to get me to understand. Hayate and Yugao…I see something there, but I just don’t know what.”
Kurenai smiled, putting a hand on Hisayo’s shoulder, causing her to look up. “I’ve told you once, and I’ll say it again, it’s called love. You’ll go through many ups and downs with this emotion, but at the end of it all, you find…that love is the most powerful emotion there is. I wish there was a simpler way for me to explain and for you to understand, but that’s all there is.”
“So Yugao and Hayate…”
Kurenai nodded. “They love each other. Hisayo, the feelings you have for your friends, and Akio, your only family basically…that…is love. I don’t know if any of this really helps, but…you’ll come to fully understand it one day. Whether it’s sooner or later, well, I guess that’s really up to you in the end.” Kurenai turned around to start walking again, but looked over her shoulder with a small smile. “Do you want to stay over? I’m just around this corner.”
Hisayo shook her head. “No thanks…Kurenai…” Kurenai turned back around to face Hisayo, seeing a soft expression from her. “Thanks.”
Kurenai blinked, surprised by how different Hisayo was being this evening. Hisayo had vanished by the time her eyes had reopened, and she smiled to herself. Hopefully the woman learned something from their chat, but then again, if Hisayo was under a heavy influence of alcohol, then maybe she wouldn’t recall most of what was discussed. However, Kurenai knew that Hisayo would never drink more than she could handle- a little trait that both kunoichi shared. As the genjutsu specialist finished her walk home, she began to wonder if maybe Hisayo would understand if Kakashi would just make a move already, but she and everyone else knew that he wouldn’t. She poked Asuma several time before to pick at the topic with the masked man, but results had always ended the same, with Kakashi turning the subject around on Asuma.
Kurenai’s checks flushed at the thought as she walked up her stairs. She had always liked the guy, but there was no way that he would go past just being an acquaintance—one that would happen to sit by her when there was a get together…every single time.
Wait…does that mean then that Asuma…?
Gyah! Okay, wait a minute, how did she even get started with thinking about Asuma? Her thoughts were supposed to be concentrated on Hisayo and her love life problems that the poor woman was, in fact, oblivious to.
Kurenai closed her door with a sigh. Sleep…that’s all she really needed at this point. Her mind would stop jumping around to random subjects that had no connection to her thoughts of helping her demon friend. Wow, how casual was that for her think of? She still remembered her near death experience and somehow managed to form a friendship with the person who nearly killed her. It hadn’t been until after the rescue mission almost two years back that they had become official friends, but still, she would never regret forming that friendship, or ever think of holding a grudge against Hisayo for almost ending her life.
Besides, it was because of her that Kurenai got teamed up for the first time with Asuma to finish that mission with Hisayo’s, now, chunin. Kurenai frowned. And all she could do during that mission was nag. How unattractive that must have made her seem. But she was nervous, what else was she supposed to do to keep the guy’s attention? But the next time, she wouldn’t do anything impulsive that might turn him off from her.
Ahh! What the heck was she thinking!? There she was going off again about Asuma. Jeez, she could really use another drink.
******
She had decided to sleep in that next morning, knowing that the Hokage didn’t need her immediately for anything that day, he had even told her so yesterday when she reported in. Her peaceful sleep however, came to an end when tapping on her window was heard. She tried ignoring it, but the tapping grew louder and it was followed by an annoyed cooing sound.
She gave a small groan and got out of bed, walked over to her window, and pulled open the curtain to see a rather pudgy looking pigeon pacing on the window ceil. It flapped its wings in slight surprise when she opened the window. Hisayo gently took the bird in her hands and turned it over to retrieve the message attached. The small piece of paper simply said ‘Hokage’.
Hisayo gave a sigh. So she really was needed for the day after all. So much for her day to sleep in. She had even had plans to go help Naruto train more, later in the day.
After letting the bird fly back to its roost, she shut her window and quickly got dressed and ready, checking her weapon packs on her two belts to make sure they were fully prepped and ready as well. She grabbed her short swords on her way out of her room and made her way to the door.
“I thought you said you weren’t doing anything today.” Came Akio’s voice from the kitchen, where he was preparing some warm tea and getting ready to sit and enjoy it for a bit before he had to leave for the academy.
“A just received a messenger bird. It appears that I’m needed after all today. I don’t know what for, but if I don’t come home later today, then I’ve gone on a mission.” Hisayo gave a small heads-up as she slipped her sandals on and opened the door.
Akio waved a hand with a smile, “Be safe.”
“Always. Bye!” Hisayo called as she closed the door behind her.
She took to the roof tops and quickly made her way to the mansion, reluctantly ignoring the smells of food along the way. She’d have to get something to eat later—that is if she had the time after her mandatory visit. She opened the door and entered the office, seeing three others already there, two of which she knew. With an impassive face, she stepped forward and stopped, level with the others, waiting to be addressed.
“I apologize for interfering with any plans you had for the day Hisayo, but you’re the only one available at this time to complete this cell.” Sarutobi apologized, keeping a formal tone.
“No apology needed, Hokage-sama. You are not interrupting any plans of mine at all. Please, begin your briefing.” Hisayo too kept a formal tone.
She shot a quick glance to the two familiar shinobi standing on either of her sides; one being Genma, who was as usual with a senbon hanging out of his mouth, and the other being Kakashi, who had both hands in his pockets.
Both glanced down at her, giving silent greetings with their eyes. Genma’s greeting was a bit more readable as he was grinning with the senbon sticking straight up in the air. The other person in the group was someone that she had only ever passed by on the street.
He was one that she could easily pick out from the crowd what with the scar that was spread out from his left cheek over to the bridge of his nose. She had never once been assigned on a mission with him, nor had they ever been introduced, but today looked to be the day they would be.
Her attention was quickly redirected to the Hokage when he began to speak, after nodding to Hisayo’s earlier reply. “Kusagakure from the Northeast has requested our aid in a small matter.”
Eyebrows rose in curiosity of what the allied village was having problems with that they couldn’t handle on their own. Somehow though, they had a feeling that the ‘small matter’ would not be as such, especially when their neighbor, one that had its own shinobi, was calling for their assistance. Though the two countries were allies, they rarely called upon the other for any kind of help or support.
“You four are to go and help protect a travelling envoy that is leaving back to his home from their village. The rendezvous point is marked here on this map.” Sarutobi held up a scroll and set it down in front of him.
“Forgive me if this is too forward, but…shouldn’t they have enough shinobi for a simple guarding assignment as this one? This request for aid makes them sound weak.”
Genma nearly stuck his tongue with his senbon in surprise at what Hisayo had just said, while Kakashi stood unaffected, used to the woman’s sometimes blunt statements, but Hisayo did have a point.
The unnamed member of the cell also flinched in surprise at such a comment. “You—you can’t go making those kinds of rude comments!” He scolded, before looking to the Hokage for his reaction.
“Hisayo,” the Third began, understanding Hisayo’s view, “the ties we have with Kusagakure may be new ones, but in order to keep those ties and strengthen them, we must aid them when they are in need, and they in turn do the same for us. There is a reason for why they need outside help. During this envoys visit, strange freak accidents have been happening, and all of them have happened with the envoy on the scene. Council members of their village believe that someone has been trying to kill the envoy in an attempt to sabotage negotiations between their village and another’s. Due to the uncertainty of the situation, they ask that a third party be brought in to investigate, that being us. They hope that the one responsible will be quickly captured, and they believe that he or she will make one final attempt on the envoy’s life as he travels out of their country and back to his home.”
“So, we’ll be tailing from the shadows then, I assume?” Kakashi inquired.
“Yes. You will first be meeting with the envoy and get to know him by appearance. Keep a sharp tab on the Grass shinobi with him, along with any attendants that he may have. No one is free from speculation.”
All four nodded in understanding before being given the scroll with the map, showing the place they would meet with the envoy, before taking their leave.
“What you said back there was rude you know. I hope that isn’t a habit of yours.” The scarred man scolded yet again as they made their way to the gate. His impression of the white-haired kunoichi wasn’t a good one at the moment.
Hisayo glanced over to him with a small ‘hn’. “And you are…who now?”
“Hey, Hisayo, no need to sound upset. This is Raido and he’s just concerned is all.” Genma introduced with a laid back grin, before he turned to Raido, “And you, don’t be so critical, man. Lighten up—I mean yeah, what she said was a bit forward, but it’s not like she was purposely trying to insult anyone.”
Raido scoffed a bit, but stood down. “Pleasure to meet you.” He tried, as reluctantly as it was though, to be civil with the woman and greet her properly.
What he received however, was a simple nod before Hisayo picked up the pace to the gate, with her eyes slightly narrowed in annoyance. Kakashi turned his head to face Raido, who looked as if he wanted to beat some respect and discipline into Hisayo for coming off so rude. “Sorry Raido, you’ll have to forgive her. She’s not usually friendly towards people she’s never met before.”
“Yeah, even she’s still a bit unfriendly around me, but once she gets use to you, she’ll stop acting so…anti-social around you.” Genma assured as they finally made it to the gate.
Kakashi had by this time caught up to Hisayo and glanced down to see her stern face. “Be nice now, Hisayo.” He gave a small chuckle after seeing her glance up to him before her face relaxed and she nodded with a small sigh.
“So,” She decided to take her mind off of the person, who she thought was rude, “I thought you were supposed to be on light duty so you can be ready to take on genin. Graduation is just next week now.”
“Yes, well, this is the last mission like this for now. But you and I both know that me passing those brats isn’t going to happen, so I might as well keep up with missions regardless.”
“You never know though, this time around, you may actually find this year’s graduates to be worthy. What do you base your tests on anyways?” Hisayo actually did wonder what it was that made Kakashi’s test so difficult. He had gone through over a dozen sets of genin and not once had he passed any.
Kakashi gave a smile, “Oh, it’s just over one simple idea—one which, by the way, you’ll have to exercise during this mission. Don’t be so stand-offish with Raido, okay? This mission might get a bit tough and depending on how you two work together will be a major factor in determining if this mission will be a success or failure.”
“I’m not making any promises, but I’ll try.” Hisayo replied, before setting the pace for everyone to follow.
Genma and Raido caught up and hung back a bit with Kakashi.
“Did you get her to lighten up a bit?”
Kakashi looked over to Genma with a slightly nervous closed-eye smile. “I hope so.”
Kakashi’s laidback tone did nothing to set Raido at ease. “You ‘hope’? Well I ‘hope’ that she doesn’t mess up this mission with her attitude. A man’s life is at stake and if we fail, then Kusagakure might not be too happy with us. This mission assignment affects us all.”
A serious look replaced Kakashi’s face. “Hisayo takes missions very seriously, Raido. She senses your unease around her and that in turn causes her to feel the same. Neither of you can or should blame the other for this. You both just have to come to some sort of understanding. For now, she will try to be nice, if only for the sake of the mission. I’d also advise you to do the same. Whether or not you two decide to be friends later, is up to you two—though I would like it if you both were. It may make things less tense in the future, don’t you think?” Kakashi smiled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Raido sighed and nodded, taking in what Kakashi had said. He’d try to be less “critical” as Genma had put it.
…
They made it to the meeting point early that evening and were greeted with a large carrier that was being held by eight strong. It was a very elaborate carrier that looked to be expensive…almost daimyo expensive. So judging by the looks of the carrier alone, they could tell, that where ever this envoy was from, that the country in which he resided in was wealthy.
Two carriers that looked nearly as large and grand, were stationed behind the first—carriers with his many belongings most likely. Three four-man cells of Grass ninja stood around the envoy in formation; one to the rear, and one on each side.
“Thank you for coming in a timely fashion.” The captain of the entire group stepped forward.
He wore a mustard yellow flak jacket over a dark purple sleeved shirt. The pockets on the jacket were around the waist on both sides and went around to his back. A chain wrapped around just below his waist, with two weights on both of his sides—a double headed meteor hammer by the looks of it. His pants were of an equal dark purple and were wrapped by bandages around his lower calf and down to his ankles. The rest of the Grass were dressed in near similar attire, a few with slight variations and each having their own weapons of choice, and of course, all wearing their Kusagakure forehead protectors.
“It would be impolite if we were to be late, now wouldn’t it.” Kakashi greeted, gaining a couple of looks from his teammates who saw the irony in his statement.
“Oh, they’re here?!” a muffled voice sounded from the first carrier as shuffling was heard from inside. “Set me down, I want to see!” the person inside ordered in an excited tone.
The eight men holding up the carrier quickly complied and set the carrier down without hesitation. The gold door slide open and a young man, with a painted face and wearing robes, showing his rank and status as an envoy to his land’s daimyo, crawled out of his fancy box and stood to face his large escort with a fan in front of his face, allowing only his eyes and bridge of his nose to show for the time-being.
“Sir, you shouldn’t be out in the open like that!” The Grass captain nervously spoke as he made his way toward the envoy to guard him.
“Oh nonsense,” The fancy envoy waved his free hand, dismissing the shinobi, “with so many of you around, I’ll be alright, assuming you continue to keep vigilant.” The tone of his voice suggested that the man before them was a selfish snob. “So, we have ourselves some shinobi from the Leaf, huh?” He eyed the four from the Leaf, stopping last on Hisayo.
Hearts practically leaped from his eyes. The exotic colored hair and her equally breathtaking style of dress. He quickly frolicked to be by the kunoichi’s side, with his long dark hair following behind.
“My dear,” He spoke in a voice that seemed very different now, as if he was trying to make a good first impression. “I’ve set my eyes on many lovely flowers before, but I must say, you make all the others seem like ugly weeds. What’s your name? I’m Yukio!” He introduced as he grabbed one of Hisayo’s hands and massaging it, much to Hisayo’s deep irritation.
The three males of the Leaf squad each held different looks.
Genma nervously moved his senbon to the other side of his mouth as he gave a nervous toothy frown, sensing a negative reaction from the woman, who was very particular about her space. And the envoy, Yukio, was definitely encroaching in on that space. Raido was inwardly cursing, thinking of and predicting what actions the ‘rude’ woman might take. Kakashi was the only one of the three that wasn’t nervous at all, in fact, he was not too happy with how invasive the man was being towards Hisayo. He had to keep himself in check though. They were all dealing with a royal envoy here, but still, he felt the urge to intervene and put the offender in his place, and claim Hisayo to be off limits.
Hisayo meanwhile, was glaring down at the man with steel cold eyes. “Let. Go.” She demanded in an eerily calm voice.
“Aw, not before I have your name. I won’t be content with anything less.” Yukio pouted, keeping Hisayo from removing her hand herself.
Hisayo’s eyes narrowed and small sparks of electricity circled around her held hand, causing Yukio to flinch back with a squeal of shocking surprise (no pun intended). He quickly released Hisayo’s hand and back away with a frown.
“Hmph.” Hisayo turned on her heels and made her way to the back of the escort, happy to leave the little leech.
“Ooo feisty!” Yukio smirked, bringing his fan further up his face, only exposing his eyes now as he quickly regained his composure. “I like wildflowers like you! I will get your name eventually I assure you!” He called before turning to go back to his personal carrier.
“We’d appreciate it, if you wouldn’t make such advances towards our teammate.” Kakashi advised with a cold voice.
Yukio stopped, facing the three Leaf shinobi, noting the upset looks on their faces, before he gave a ‘hn’ as he shrugged them off, unhappy with their presence. Oh if only the lovely kunoichi had been sent on her own. He’d have a far better chance at wooing her if so many other males weren’t around. He could see the protectiveness that two of them had, but could see that it was even stronger in the silver-haired ninja’s eye. The other, the one with a needle sticking out of his mouth, he didn’t see it as strongly in that one, but it was still there.
Such difficult and annoying obstacles he would have to get through to have his wildflower. He always, always, got what he wanted, and no one would keep him from getting that exotic rarity he had just laid his selfish and greedy eyes on.