Ivy sighed, as she followed the route to the apartment she had been given. Through all the chaos, with Granny Chiyo dieing, she had been forced to live in Konohagakure. She had just come from a hearing about her well being, and if the Hyuuga Clan wanted her.
She slightly scowled in disgust that the Hyuuga, and part of the Village Council, wanted her dead. If only cause she was an abomination to the Hyuuga Clan and the former Poisoner for the Akatsuki. She had also been assigned a guard, whom she hadn't met yet. The guard was to follow her, and protect her as the Hyuuga Clan, and Village Council would try anything to see her blood spilled.
She entered her apartment, with a small one bedroom, one bath, and a small kitchen that contained a small table, to the side. Which she headed to see if she had any food, or if she had to go out shopping. She was rather new to living on her own, and the only time she ever was out of the Akatsuki base, was her lessons with Zetsu or when Sasori took her to the near by village with him.
Seeing it practically empty, with not enough ingredients for making anything really, she headed back out. After counting her money that she had been given as a living allowance, she decided she had enough for B-B-Q pork. She headed into the nearest restaurant, and sat. A few tables over, she saw a few familiar faces from the trip. They were gathered with other friends, and she looked back down to the table.
When the waitress came by, she ordered her food and drink and sat waiting. All of a sudden a tall shadow appeared, causing her to look up. Her eyes slightly widen in frighten shock. There stood a tall boy, with a hoodie covering his head, and a dark jacket under it with an upturned collar. She could barely see his face from that, but from the sunglasses he wore as well. And for a moment she had a flash of a tall man all in shadows, striking down a woman in cold blood.
"Hello, I-" He hadn't even finished the sentence, before she shrieked, and ran out of the restaurant causing everyone to look over to him. He turned when a voice called out to him.
"Hey, Shino, what did you say to cause her to scream?" Kiba asked as he walked over to his partner.
"...Hello." He said, confusement heard in his voice.
"She's a strange one." They looked to see Ten-Ten walking over to them.
"What do you mean by that, Ten-Ten?" Kiba asked.
She shrugged. "On our way back here, whenever Gai-Sensei would do or say anything, she would flinch like he struck at her."
Shino looked in the direction she had ran. "Why did you try to talk to her anyway, Shino? You normally don't talk to anyone that is not in our circle of friends." Kiba asked his stoic partner.
Shino sighed softly. "I'm supposed to follow her. It's a mission given to me by Tsunade, cause I can track her with my bugs." He explained.
Ivy had ran all the way back to her apartment, and slammed the door shut with a loud 'BAM!'. She was gasping for air, as tears prickled at her eyes. 'What was that flash?' She thought, walking to her room.
It was a plain room, with a single futon, and her two dolls on her bed. She sat on it cross legged, and pulled the two dolls into her arms, hugging them close. 'I wish you were still here, Sasori-san.' She thought.
She looked up when she heard someone knocking at her door. She wiped the tears away, put the dolls down, and walked to her door. She peered through the peep-hole, and saw Tsunade, along with the tall boy from before, along with another guy with a large dog.
Taking a deep breath, she slightly opened her door. "Yes Hokage-sama?" She asked, her voice soft as usual. But one couldn't miss the slight tremble in her voice.
"Can we come in, Ivy-chan?" Tsunade asked.
She bit her lip, but nodded and opened the door wide enough to let them all in, including the large dog. When the tall boy walked past, she flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by either of the three. "Would you like some tea?" She asked softly.
"Sure, but I won't be staying long." As soon as Tsunade accepted, Ivy instantly went to the kitchen before she even finished her sentence.
Ivy took a deep breath, and brought her guest's tea. She pored them all a cup, first, then her's last.
"Ivy-chan, I believe you've already met Shino-san, here. And this is one of his teammate's here, Kiba-san, and his companion Akamaru." Tsunade said, gesturing to the tall boy, then to the next with the wild brown hair and eyes, and to the rather large dog.
Ivy nodded, sipping her tea as an excuse for not verbalizing her answer.
"Shino-san is also your Guard." She said pointedly.
Ivy stiffened, and nearly choked on her tea. "E..Excuse me?" She asked, her eyes wide.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "This won't be a problem, will it?" She asked.
Ivy shook her head negative, and put her tea cup down with a slight clatter. "Good. Now I'm going to leave, and let you three get to know each other. Their other teammate, Hinata couldn't make it. She had a meeting with her Father and Cousin." Tsunade got to her feet, which Ivy followed, and bowed at the waist as she left.
Once the door clicked shut, she straightened and looked to the two boys and dog. The place was awkwardly silent.
"So... Why did you scream at Shino earlier?" Kiba asked, using no tact to his question.
Her faced turned slightly red at the remembrance. "I'm sorry about that! I... I didn't mean to offend you if I did! It's just, you caught me by surprise and... " She trailed off, not wanting to tell them the true reason.
"It's alright. As long as you restrain from doing so in the near future." Shino said.
She nodded and sighed. "Oh! Would you guys like some snacks?" She asked.
"What do you have?" Kiba asked.
"I'll check." She started looking in the fridge, then the cupboards. She was beginning to slightly panic when she looked in the fridge for the second time that she came across her Winter Melon Soup and, oddly enough, a very large piece of Steak Jerky.
She brought the soup out to warm it. After that she brought two bowls of the soup, and the Jerky. "Sorry, this is all I have at the moment." She said, placing the items down.
"No problem." Kiba assured her, breaking the Jerky in half for him and Akamaru.
"What kind of soup is this?" Shino asked after taking a sip of it, but his eyebrows rose past his sunglasses as he realized the taste.
"Winter Melon Soup. I usually add a few more extra ingredients, but since being here I can't seem to find the certain ingredient." She explained, but she dared not relax.
"What ingredient do you usually use?" Kiba wanted to know.
"Poison Ivy. I'm immune to it, and find it to be a rather tasty treat." She said, causing Shino and Kiba to stop eating and stare at her.
She noticed their staring and got a little shyer.
"Interesting." Shino remarked.
Ivy sighed as she sat in another meeting, discussing if she should live or not, even though she could never get a word in. Shino, who she was getting a little used to, was standing behind her chair, who had been rather surprised that she had Hyuuga blood.
As did the head of the family, but Hiashi could point out a few things that reminded him of his late twin. Her wood brown hair was lighter than his brothers, but it was there. As she was the first Mazi to sport such a color, as the Mazi had white. He could also see the slight paleness in her eyes to suggest Hyuuga blood along with her bone structure that reminded him of his brother.
An elder stood, his face showing his anger. "Give us one good reason, for that thing to live!" He demanded to the Hokage, and the very few elders that were on her side.
Tsunade growled under her breath. "She is not a Hyuuga, though she may have the same blood as Neji. But! She was born in her mother's Clan, meaning you can not touch her as her father isn't alive to take her in."
"That may be so, but her Uncle, Hiashi can take her in! And then you wouldn't really be able to stop what the Clan does! So, with that in mind she should be either dead or branched!" He said, causing a few others to agree with him.
Ivy quickly got to her feet, her chair scratching the floor, causing everyone to quiet down. "Don't talk like I'm not here. My voice may be soft, and I may be timid. But I don't even remember who my mother was. Or my father for that matter. I'm neither an Hyuuga, or a Mazi. I am Me. A person that lives and breathes the same air as you all do, not some common animal that your discussing to be put down to the slaughter." She stared hard at those who were opposed to her greatly, her little tirade making it to the brains of the Elder's and Council.
Hiashi then stood, and addressed her as one of his level in status. "Your right Ivy. You are neither Clan, though you may share blood with both. You don't have the Byakugan, neither does it seem that you possess the Maki Kekkei Genkai. You are indeed, your own person. And as thus, should be left alone." With that said he bowed to her respectfully and left the room, with the Hyuuga elder's in hot pursuit, begging to change his mind.
"That went well than the first I'm assuming." Shino commented.
Ivy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but... That's the first time he's spoken. And to me." She said, causing Shino to look at his charge. He saw that she was a bit curious about her Uncle, but saw the resolve to not ask why he had spoken on her behalf.
"Shino-san, Ivy-chan." Tsunade called to them.
The two looked at their Hokage who was walking over to them, with Shizune following right behind her holding a pig.
"Keep a very close watch on her Shino. I wouldn't put it past those uptight Hyuuga Elders and the few Village Elders to conspire against today's verdict." She said, and Shino nodded.
Tsunade left after looking at them both, with Shizune close behind. Shino started forward, then stopped when he realized Ivy wasn't following. She had gone over to the seat where Hiashi had sat, an envelope concealed just under the tea cup he had been drinking from. She had noticed him put it there while he was talking. She slipped it out, and saw it had her name on it written on it. She looked back to Shino, and walked over to him, still wary of his height.
"Let's go, I think you said we were going to meet your teammates at Ichiraku Ramen along with another friend?" Shino nodded in answer and the two set off with both wondering what was written in the envelope.