Izuka felt bad leaving them to fight Sasori and Deidara but she knew that everything would work out in the end. She had no place in mind to go to but followed her legs to wherever they wanted to go. She started heading towards the direction of the Rain village. As she passed through the forest she heard someone cry for help. Curious she went towards the cries to so what had happened.
When she reached the cries she saw a young man being surrounded by rouge ninjas wielding weapons. Izuka sprang into action kicking the rouges away from the man.
"Stay out of this!" One of the rouges shouted.
"Yeah, a pretty lady such as yourself should mind your own business."
"I'm making it my business. Now why are you attacking this man?"
"Why are you worried about him when you could be worrying about us? We can show you a nice time sweetie."
"Ew," Izuka shuddered.
The men came towards them.
"Stay behind me," Izuka ordered.
She took out her sword as the men took out kunai.
"Wait!" The leader called out stopping his men.
"What is it sir?"
"Look at what she's wearing. She's an Akatsuki member."
"She doesn't look so tough."
"Let's kill her and take the bounty."
"Sounds like a good idea."
They advanced forward then lunged at Izuka. She got in position and blocked their weak attacks. She kicked them all away then made hand signs.
"Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" She shouted holding her fingers near her mouth.
A huge fire ball headed towards the men as they were getting up from the ground. They could feel the heat radiating from the ball as they evaded it. They also made hand signs.
"Water style: Water dragon jutsu!" They all shouted.
Huge water dragons sprouted from the ground staring down at Izuka who kept an apathetic expression on her face. They dragons came down on her but she swiftly grabbed the man and dodged the dragons. The enemy stood in the water of the dragons as Izuka was on the tree.
"Lightning style: Lightning spark!"
Izuka held out her hands as lightning shot out which was aimed for the water. Before the rouges could react they were dead. She grabbed the man behind her bringing him to the ground.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Yes, thank you for saving my life." He said.
Now that the chaos was over, Izuka got a good look at the man. She looked into his chestnut eyes which showed fear and admiration. His auburn hair hung in his face as he started to pick up his things. When he stood he was taller than Izuka about the same height as Kisame. He looked over at her sending her a warm inviting smile. All in all, he was very handsome. She couldn't help but stare examining him seeing the muscles that shown through his clothing.
"Why were they attacking you?" Izuka questioned.
"They were after my village's prized jewel. Those men were from an enemy village wanting to steal it and sell it. They've been after it for years." He said with his deep voice.
"Why were you carrying it around then if it's so valuable?"
"I'm the proctor of the jewel it's literally attached to me so they kidnapped me but I managed to escape."
"I see,"
"Will you escort me to my village please?" He asked with pleading eyes.
"Can't you take care of yourself?"
"Actually no; despite my muscles....I'm not a ninja." He said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Then why do you have muscles?"
"To impress girls,"
"Typical," Izuka sighed rolling her eyes.
"So will you escort me?"
"Which way?"
"West, in the bird country."
"You're pretty far from home. That's about a two days walk. How did they take you all this way without killing you?"
"I don't know,"
"Strange; maybe they wanted more out of you?"
"I don't see what they could possibly want though."
"You could have an ability that they know of but you don't." Izuka said as she started to head West with the man following her.
"I'm sorry but...what's your name?" He asked.
"Izuka, and yours?"
"Yoichi," He answered.
They began to walk in silence as the wind blew the leaves in the trees making everything peaceful. Yoichi occasionally glanced at his savior wondering who she was and why she saved him. He took in her appearance noticing the necklaces that she wore around her neck and the cloak that she wore. He noticed that the cloak that she wore didn't cover much. Her legs were exposed revealing the pants she wore underneath. The sleeves of the cloak were cut up to her forearm. The cloak was also unbuttoned so he saw no reason for her to be wearing the cloak in the first place if it isn't covering anything.
He recalled the comment that the rouges made. They said that Izuka was part of the Akatsuki and had a bounty on her head. If she were truly an Akatsuki member then she would've left him to die or taken the jewel for herself. He didn't believe that someone like her could be an Akatsuki member for she seemed caring and trustworthy. He actually got a good vibe from her which surprised him.
Izuka felt his gaze on her so she looked over at him looking into his eyes. Surprisingly he never looked away from her. Usually people look away embarrassed for getting caught staring but he didn't.
"Can I help you with something?" Izuka questioned.
"I was just wondering how you're an Akatsuki member....you don't seem blood thirsty." He admitted. "Also, why you're wearing the cloak when it shows no purpose."
"Most are forced into the Akatsuki...some willingly join. I was forced to join." Izuka told him.
She surprised herself by telling him that. She had just met him but there was something about him making her feel comfortable and free for once in her life.
"What about the cloak?"
"It gets in the way when fighting so I cut it...we're forced to wear them."
"Why did you save me?"
"I couldn't stand by and let an innocent man get killed."
"What if I wasn't innocent?"
"Trust me, you were innocent. Five high leveled rouges against a man with lower chakra than a genin...yeah you sure are a threat."
Izuka's remark made Yoichi laugh.
"I guess you're right. Where were you headed to?"
"I actually had no idea. I just went where my legs took me."
Izuka fell silent which Yoichi noticed. He looked at her once again seeing a distant look in her eyes as if she was remembering something. He was curious about what she was thinking about and also why she was running in the woods looking as if in pain. He could see the pained look in her eyes along with sadness. She kept it hidden well but he could read people easily unlocking their deepest darkness secrets.
"Why are you in pain?" He questioned.
His question caught Izuka off guard.
"W-what?"
"You show no emotion even in your eyes but I can see pain and sadness deep in them. I'm sorry; I have this...gift that allows me to read people easily. It's my clan's abilities; kinda stupid if you ask me."
"You ask too many questions," Izuka replied coldly.
"Sorry for intruding in your personal life."
"You should be sorry,"
Once again silence befell them as the sun began to set. Izuka decided to pick up the pace which Yoichi tried to catch up but his legs were aching. He wasn't use to this much walking in just a day. His legs ached throbbing in pain beckoning for a break but ignored it for now as he fell into step with Izuka. He tried to resist breathing out of his mouth not wanting to show Izuka that he was exhausted and was running out of breath.
Izuka looked up at the sky seeing that it was already nightfall. She glanced over at Yoichi taking note of his poor posture and heavy breathing. She examined him then noticed something behind his arm. She smelt the air and caught a whiff of the sweet metallic sent of blood which she knew all too well. She fell back a few steps to get a better look at his arm and saw that it was indeed bleeding.
"Stop," She called out to him.
Yoichi stopped in his tracks then turned to face Izuka.
"You're exhausted and you're injured."
"How did you know?"
"I use to be an interrogator. I was trained to pick up the slightest detail of unusual behavior." She said approaching Yoichi.
"Take off your shirt," She commanded.
"Wha-what?" He stuttered blushing.
"I can't get inspect your wound if the shirt is in the way," She sighed.
"Oh,"
He proceeded to take off his shirt as Izuka instructed. He set his shirt on the ground as Izuka grabbed his arm and inspected his wound. He winced at her touch but didn't make a noise.
"How did you get this?" She questioned.
"When they took me they stabbed me. I guess the wound opened."
Izuka examined the wound even further.
"It seems to be infected. Does it hurt?"
"Only a little," He lied.
Izuka poked it causing Yoichi to scream out in pain.
"A little, huh?" She smirked.
"Okay a lot, it hurts a lot."
"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked as she put her hand over the wound.
"I didn't think that I'd be a big deal,"
"Every wound is a big deal. The smallest cut could kill you if not taken care of properly."
"I didn't know..What are you doing?"
"Healing your wound," Izuka answered as her hand began to glow green.
"You're a medic?"
"Yes,"
"Must come in handy," He chuckled.
"Yes, it does."
Once Izuka was done healing him she removed her hand from his arm.
"It should be fine now; it'll leave a scar though. I guess it's something you can show off now to make yourself more......manlier...."
"Ha, I guess. Scars are cool aren't they? They represent your past and who you are today." Yoichi laughed.
"Depends on how you look at them."
"What do you mean?"
"Scars are memories of the past..." Izuka said refusing to make eye contact.
"If you look at it that way,"
"Come on, we're collecting wood."
Yoichi put back on his shirt and followed Izuka deeper into the woods. As they passed the trees Yoichi gathered the wood that he saw on the ground.
"Stop," Izuka whispered.
She listened to her surroundings. From the right there was a rustle in the bushes catching Izuka's attention. In a switch motion Izuka threw a kunai in the direction then heard a thud soon after. The both of them went to check it out then saw behind the bush an owl.
"Dinner," Izuka said picking up the dead owl.