Looking for Her Way Back

Stepping down on a rather large rock, Aoi scanned her surroundings. Flinching she sat down roughly. Scowling to herself, she glared up at the treetops. The tall trees loomed over her, mocking Aoi as she sat there.

'I'm someone who would get lost...' She thought bitterly as she lay back flatly on the boulder. Closing her eyes, she replayed everything that had gone on that day.

It wasn't much, simply her stupidity that got her into this situation. Her mother, as always had dragged Aoi out of bed, chastising her for waking up late. Again. Aoi had gotten up, pulled on her usual outfit of her short top, fur-lined jacket, skirt, and her boots. Jumping from the kitchen window in her family's apartment (a piece of toast in her mouth) she jumped down to the next level's apartment's awning. Jumping to the street from there, she casually started her way to her training area.

Aoi had a special place where she trained everyday. It was a small clearing, big enough for her and maybe one other person to train in. The clearing, about a mile into the mountains was very secluded. Aoi liked it, because she was often nervous to work out with other people. It was strange for her, being the loud and hyper-friendly person she was. Aoi didn't really know why. The fact that she was moving around in such fast pasted ways shouldn't of bother a ninja. That was supposed to be a normal thing. But then again, Aoi wasn't exactly normal.

Her training day wasn't too bad. Doing her usual routine of warm-ups and mild body workouts, she eventually stopped for lunch. Of course, being the ditz that she is, Aoi had no lunch. She forgot it. Again.

Cursing under her breath, she pondered on what to do. She was too far into the woods to go back to town for lunch, but there wasn't exactly a tea shop or food stand anywhere close.

Glancing over into the thicker part of the woods, she spotted a small rabbit.

' Oh no. I'm not chasin-OH! There it goes! ' Aoi thought to herself, as she sprinted off to catch the rabbit.

Once again, being the natural blonde and ditz she is, Aoi had not only lost the rabbit, but had gotten completely lost in the process.

Blinking Aoi sat up from her spot on the boulder. She needed to find a way out of here. But, honestly, Aoi wasn't in much of a rush. The mountains were pretty. They could hardly be seen from the tall buildings in Kumogakure, and Aoi remembered the joy she had when she learned of their beauty.

Flowers littered the ground around her, along with grass, leaves and other random forest-like objects. The boulder she sat on was encased in the roots of the large trees around it. Above her birds softly sang in the background.

Other than that, it was silent.

A yawn escaped the Shikyo as she stared forward, her emerald eyes staring at her surroundings. Today, she decided to go scout a bit more outside of Kumo(she was just saying that so she could get out of the village)she had to keep an eye on the guards as well. Seriously, sometimes they were as lazy as... well, her? Sure, she understands how it can get boring every now and then (if not, every day) but they had to do they're jobs, even if it seems very boring to the point of death! ... Just joking.

After the little ordeal with her brother, and her "student"(who she roughly believes is the 11th Vongola Sky Boss)everything was a bit shaky, the district where she was was being rebuild as we speak(though.. she wondered if building the stripper place back again was a good idea, then again, the males nonchalantly wanted them back. Morons.)but nonetheless she talked it up with Kiyoshi, and Natsumi talked it up with Reborn, who talked it up with the 9th, since they were now in debt with Kumogakure, which didn't sit fine with no one in the famiglia. Hanashi remembered what happened quite well.

Natsumi told Reborn, Reborn said some comment at Natsumi, which made her annoyed but her annoyance quickly left when facing against Reborn's gun and he was threatening her that he will shoot her a Dying will bullet, which meat ultimate embarrassment, seeing as when someone is shit with a Dying Will bullet, their clothes get destroyed and they are left with their undergarments.. Whiiiich Natsumi didn't want. After that, Hanashi left the office to go look at the destruction that Riku Riku's student did, which was quite a lot. Then, after checking with her son, who was with Kiyoshi in the office, she told him that she was going to scout around the mountains. It wasn't all that hard to see Cieli behaving like a good little 5-6 year old, he frowned when his mother left but he knew more than half of the young boys did know his age.

And now, here she was in the mountain range, scouting plus looking interesting to do. Her black coat moved as she walked a slow pace, eying the area that she was now in, her black hair tied in a loose ponytail, letting her bangs frame her face a little. Another yawn escaped her lips as she placed a hand behind her head, scratching it. She mumbled to herself as she crossed her arms under her chest and had a pensive look on her features, there was nothing going on in the mountain range, should she go back or keep wandering around?

Her eyes narrowed as she went deeper into the training areas that were sometimes used by the Gennin, Chuunin and/or Jounin of Kumogakure since some of the excersises that they planned for the younger ones in rank needed to be in an environment that would be best suited for said test, thus leading to the mountain range of Kumo. As she came towards a clearing of sorts, she sensed chakra level, it appeared to be only one... and it appeared to belong to a Gennin? This was rather interesting as she went deeper into the mountains, letting her feet take her where she sensed the chakra. A boulder came to view, and there was something on the boulder. Her emerald eyes blinked as she got closer...

Ah, so she was right sort of? The figure was a female, and she appeared young, making Hanashi wonder what she was doing here, alone with no sensei? Probably training on her own? Could be. "So, a young Gennin is out around the mountains all by herself? Or.." she placed both of her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side. "You're lost?" it could be either of the two, or maybe there's another reason but Hanashi's too lazy to figure it out at the moment.

Aoi, hearing the voice, jumped up and almost immediately fell off the boulder. Grunting she landed on her back, head facing up, looking up at the older ninja. Aoi seemed to vaguely recognize the ninja. During Aoi's Academy days she had sometimes caught glances at a tall women with long black hair, but never seemed to give her a second glance.

Blinking, Aoi realized how stupid she must of looked to the older ninja. Her face flushed as she scrambled up. Mouth forming a pitiful pout, Aoi shoved her gloves into her jacket's pockets and looked to the side, not caring her hair was in a mess and that leaves and twigs were surely entangled in her long blonde locks.

" Ahh.." Aoi said, dumbly. She didn't want to admit she was lost to the women, but she also needed to help find her way out.

Was the loss of her pride worth the loss of her self in the woods?

Apparently so.

Scowling in an unladylike-like manner and whipping her head to the side, Aoi came up with a quick defense.

" O-of course I'm not lost! How could a Kumogakure Ninja get lost in her own village's outskirts? I'm just taking a break from training! "

Such a false lie. The ninja would surly look through it. But, if you were going to embarrass yourself, might as well go all out with it.

Peeking a look at the older women, Aoi silently hoped the ninja would by her story. But that was a small chance. This women looked to be much smarter and stronger then Aoi. Then again, a lot of people were stronger than Aoi. But she couldn't let that get to her.

She was going to become a great medical ninja one day and become a head medic. It was all she had in life, and dammit- Aoi was going to claim it as hers!

A soft breeze flew between them. Aoi looked at the older women once more and took a step toward her.

" But... What are YOU doing here? This is like..." Aoi paused. " " ...really deep in the woods. "

Man, Aoi sounded really slow just then. Maybe she was. Who knew?

Hanashi had to resist chuckling as the young Gennin fell of the boulder, she seemed somewhat familiar. Maybe because she's always going back and forth in the Academy, doing stuff for the Raikage or maybe she's seen her in the village? She's been so busy those days she doesn't remember all that well. Oh well. She raised an eye brow at the young female who seemed to be embarrased being caught the way she is, how adorable.

She couldn't stop the slight chuckle that escaped her lips as she looked at the young woman, a put on her face while Hanashi had an amused look on her face. 'So.. was I right, after all?' she thought to herself as she wondered what else the young woman would say to her. A suprised look came unto Hanashi's face and then she closed her eyes and a few sounds of laughter left her mouth, obviously amused by this young girl.

"Allrighty, girl. I believe you, no need to get so worked up", of course that was lie but she wasn't gonna let the girl know that. It's best to let her keep some dignity, right? And not embarrass her. Besides, what's the fun of embarrasing a Gennin so quickly? She had to act as the Advisor that she is... ..... ..... Maybe later.

" But... What are YOU doing here? This is like..." Aoi paused. " ...really deep in the woods. " Hanashi's eye brow raised again, wondering if this girl knew who she was, but she shrugged it off. "... I'm scouting?" She told the girl like it was the most obvious thing, but then again she may not know who Hanashi is. "Checking if any ninja who aren't from our village or suspicious people were around, since the Raikage isn't able to do this, I'm doing this for him"

Hanashi tilted her head to the side, trying to know/remember who this Gennin is. "By the way, what is your name? Name's Hanashi Shikyo", she said calmly as she stared at the surroundings around them, her headband around her thigh wasn't noticeable because of the cloak that was covering her body.

Aoi wanted to smack herself. Of course. What else would a Kumogakure Ninja be doing out here? Unless they were lost, but hey, Aoi couldn't say anything to that.

As Hanashi Shikyo introduced herself, Aoi blinked. Figuring she needed to introduce herself also, she grined widely. Holding up her hand in a wave, Aoi told Hanashi-san her name.

" Aah. Nice to meet you, Hanashi-san. I'm Semi-ku Aoi. Call me Aoi. " Aoi said brightly.

Her sky-blue eyes were wide as she smiled. Letting her hand fall, she looked up to the older ninja.

" My father works at the hospital. He's a medic-nin in the surgical ward. My mom's a civilian. So, I might not have the background of a ninja, but i'm trying my best. " Aoi paused and blinked, keeping her grin.

She didn't know why she was explaining her background to the older ninja. Aoi just seemed to have the feel to explain herself. Or maybe she just wanted someone to talk to. Who knew? Laughing at herself in her head, she tilted her head to Hanashi-san.

" Sorry. I get carreid away. I'm quite talkitive. Forgive me. " Aoi said forgivingly. Obviously Hanashi-san didn't want to listen to a 14-year-old's tivial ramblings.

Laughing alittle she smiled again. Then she remembered that she needed to find a way to get Hanashi to guide her back to the village without her knowing that Aoi was lost.

....But how? 'Aoi, your such an idiot!'

"I think I've heard your name somewhere..", Hanashi quietly mumbled to herself, making sure the young Gennin didn't hear her. Where did she exactly heard her name before? Was it when she was going around messing checking the files on the Gennin? Probably. She nodded once Aoi started speaking again, while she tried to wonder where did she hear her name... 'Oh well, I'll search later.' She told herself and turned her attention back at Aoi.

"Ahh, so your father's a medic-nin, while your mom's a civilian. And it's no problem, I kinda get like this too so I know what your talking about", she placed her hand behind her head, letting out a laugh. It wasn't a nervous laugh, it was just a simple laugh, one people have when they feel good about something or it comes out randomly?

The young girl made her grin, made her feel like she was seeing her younger self... except the part of her being immortal, etc, etc.. She waved her hand, almost telling her it's nothing and then she spoke. "We all get carried away once in awhile, don't worry about it. I sometimes do that", she was already used to the old people's ramblings. Hell, she should be considered like one of the old people in Kumo since she sometimes does ramble on... But never mind that.

"So, Aoi", she started, placing both of her gloved hands on her hips and staring at her. "How long you gonna be out here 'training'? Hmm?" She just was curious as hhow long she was gonna stay here, that and she added: "It's because I was thinking of heading back towards the village, since there's no one around here besides us an all..?"

' Yes! A ticket out of here!' Aoi excitedly thought, trying her best to keep her happiness in. Holding a cool face, and tilting her head to the side, Aoi looked in the direction that seemed to be the way back home.

" Aah. I was actually about to leave. I was just taking a breather from training when you showed up. " Looking back at Hanashi, she continued. " Want to head back together? "

A total cover up. But wasn't the whole point of being a ninja to lie and manipulate your way to survival? Hiding her smirk, she brightly smiled at Hanashi.

Then, Aoi realized something. Hanashi. Hanashi Shikyo. It was starting to sound really, really familiar. But where had she heard it? Aoi glanced at Hanashi. She DID seem familiar. More familiar than just seeing her around in the village.

But who knew? While having a medic-nin who was a head administrator at the hospital, she had been introduced to countless men and women with who her father was associated with. Mentally shrugging it off, Aoi looked at the sky. It's usual blue skies where turning into a golden yellow. Sunset. Her parent's where definately going to start to worry about Aoi.

Aoi was usually home by now, probably helping her mother cook dinner or something. Biting her lip, she kept a nervous eye on the sky. Glancing back to Hanashi, she quickly plastered a smile on.

'Just keep up a smile and an air of I know what i'm doing! and keep going with whatever. Just get home! This is a mission, Aoi! '

Aoi paused in her thoughts momentarly. She should really stop talking to herself in her head.