Home Away From Home (Invite Only)

A man walked alone on the narrow streets of Konoha's village draped in black. Behind him his shadow stretched far on the dirt road surface he walked. And his grey eyes would look upon the familiar crest of his clan. If he even had the right to call it that, that is. All his life the only Hyuuga he'd ever known older than himself had been his mother, a woman who had left her village under the permission of the clan to be with the one she'd loved.

She was murdered before he was even the age of 9.

So did he really have a right to call this clan his own? With his hands in his pockets he'd glance across the district, impressed by the concept of a clan having its own section of the village. Kumogakure had never adopted a principle like that, everyone was clumped into the same rotten mess as the rest.

He wasn't quite sure why he was here, in fact the only thing he was sure of was that he felt awkward even being here.

WC: 181

It was sunny out when a snowy kunoichi and her darkened wolven companion were walking out of the Hyuuga district, wanting to go out and meet more shinobi from the other villages that were currently residing in Konoha for the joint chuunin exams. Clad in her usual shinobi attire, a purple ombre dress and deep purple cardigan, with a light purple coat to keep her warm with the incoming chill of winter, and her Konoha headband keeping her hair out of her face, Hikari was ready to face as many people as she could. Perhaps she could learn about their cultures from them, and if she got lucky, maybe even a few jutsu. She was always looking for new techniques to learn, especially ones that would grant her the power she desired to kill Yensung with.

As she walked down the hallways, her silencing boots transformed into high heeled ninja boots that didn’t make so much as a slight creak, she noticed someone was near the entrance to the district, someone donned in all black whose chakra signature felt familiar. It was one of the Kumogakure bodyguards from the summit, one of their ANBU if she recalled his mask correctly. He must’ve been exploring the village and wandered upon her clan’s compound. It was no surprise he stopped to look, marveling at the elegance and beauty for the district was just that, holding the same traits many of the Hyuuga had in themselves.

“What do you think of this place?” Her voice was soft, yet loud enough for the other shinobi to hear, as she drew closer to him and the entrance, Kuro keeping pace beside her with his piercing crimson eyes watching every movement of the raven haired man. It wouldn’t take a genius to know she was from the Hyuuga clan; not only had she just emerged from one of the many rooms the compound had to offer, her eyes held the pupil-less trait, and she had the clan crest on both of the metal gauntlets around her wrists. Hikari tried her hardest to appear welcoming and friendly, despite the clear dullness in her eyes and neutral expression upon her visage.

(WC: 363)

To his surprise his eyes fell upon a familiar face, the white haired woman from the summit. He hadn't learned her name, but he hadn't exactly needed to in that situation. As she drew closer she'd no doubt see the grey in his eyes, marking him as a member of the clan. Not that his words would reflect the fact. "Duller than I pictured it. My mother made it sound larger than life" The words weren't meant to be hurtful, although they probably came across as such.

His words were filled with disinterest, he hadn't exactly come here to chat. The allure of his mothers stories had dragged him here, and he'd only wanted to look around. Not actually converse with the clan. Looking upon the woman he wondered if she recognized him, he'd concealed his identity at the summit, but he hadn't exactly bothered to mask his chakra signature in the slightest, looking back that had probably been a mistake if he'd wanted to conceal his identity in the future.

"Do you live here?" He'd ask, not alluding to the fact that he was an anbu operative.

The first words out of his mouth were no what the kunoichi had expected from another member of the clan, as she soon realized upon closer inspection of his own eyes, and she felt he was wrongly judging the place, but it wasn’t her place to say such things aloud. She had no idea what Kumo was like or the building architecture there, so perhaps he didn’t see it’s beauty because he’s seen finer places decked out in extravagant jewels. Being an ANBU meant he might be living quite the luxurious life after all.

“What had you pictured it would look like then?” Her curiosity got the better of her however, as she asked the man about his expectations. It might even give her an insight to what kind of life he was accustomed to back home: one of luxury or comfort. After a bit of time he asked her something as well, a rather simple question that she felt no need in hiding the answer to. “Yes, we do live here.” She nodded downwards towards her canine companion that reached about to her hips, which wasn’t the hard to do given that she was only four foot and and nine inches tall.

Before giving him enough time say anything else she wanted to greet him properly, so with a small smile and a bow she said, “By the way, we never formally got to introduce ourselves at the Kage Summit, but I do remember you there, or technically your chakra signature. I’m Hikari Hyuuga and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

(WC: 626)

Before the fellow Hyuuga could give a response to her, a carrier hawk swooped down and landed on her shoulder, a note tied to its talon. She looked between the taller shinobi and the brown bird before taking the piece of paper off its leg and unfolding it carefully. Her lilac eyes scanned the words written down quickly, it was the hospital asking for her assistance as a squad of wounded ninja just arrived and they are heavily understaffed due to the Chuunin Exams.

“My apologies, it seems I am needed at the hospital.“ Hikari began as the talons left her shoulder and took off, heading back to its perch to wait for another message to be delivered. “It was nice chatting with you, and hopefully we’ll get to do it again soon. Have a great day.” And with that she was off, dashing in the direction of the center part of the village, where the Konoha hospital was located. All she could think about was the duty at hand, hoping there weren’t too many fatal injuries among them, but knowing she could handle it if there were.

(Exit)
(TWC: 814)
(Claims: 739 words towards Great Fireball Shower, putting it at 3000/3000, previous wc from here, and the remaining 75 words towards Body Pathway Derangement, putting it at 75/3000)

Approved.