[Open] It was a rare day off...

[hyuugachild]

...and Hanabi didn't see them often. She considered herself, at this point, little more than a drone of the Hyuuga estate, fated to take on the much respected, prestigious role of heiress, and subsequently fated to losing much of her childhood to training, studies, and other assorted etiquette lessons and fine arts like calligraphy, weaving, ikebana and tea ceremony. All to ensure she grew to be a splendid young lady.

She certainly didn't feel splendid. She felt exhausted.

But it was a lovely day in the midst of winter, and for once, Hanabi was in the midst of Konoha, breathing in cold hair and watching mist form in front of her mouth. Hoheto, her Branch companion of the day, stood some distance behind her and followed her slowly, as if to appear as though he weren't directly watching her.

She felt self-conscious, being fourteen and still needing a keeper to tag along everywhere, but Hanabi learned quickly that this was life, and a privilege to have so many people dedicated to keeping her in the best of physical health.

Still, thinking dark thoughts wasn't going to improve the day, so Hanabi wanted to make the best of it. She walked slowly up to a shop selling yams and bought one, savoring the taste (though it wasn't as good as the ones spiced by Hyuuga hands).

It was cold, but it was a beautiful day. A day of freedom.

If you ignored the bodyguard tailing you.

Hanabi had tried an inordinate amount of times to ditch them, and failed every time; they were jounin, and she was decidedly not. Still, with every new year of training, she dreamed of escape.

Escape, the thought spread a fuzz over her brain that felt like drinking warm hot chocolate.

With the sight of the Byakugan, she eyed Hoheto's location.

She could make it.
She could.
She would.

With a small signal, a bunshin and a kawarimi no jutsu later, she was running giddily toward the forest. At the longest limits of her vision, she could see Hoheto was not following, and shortly, he'd be out of range.

"Well, it seems like you're having fun," an eerily familiar voice said...just before something hit Hanabi couldn't see hit her squarely in the gut and made the world black.

* * * * * * *

The first thing she noticed was that she was cold. Then, slowly, as sensation returned to her body, she realized her mouth was dry, like she hadn't had a drink in days, and her head and stomach hurt terribly. Shifting alone gave her gut-wrenching cramps. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by white.

Snow.

Snow? In Konoha?

No. Not Konoha. Definitely not.

Instantly, Hanabi assumed the worst. She must've been abducted. Kidnapped to blackmail her father. The snow was probably genjutsu...it would be silly to leave precious cargo lying about to freeze to death.

She shakily lifted her hand to make the seal of the ram. "...kai..." Hanabi whispered, hoping the genjutsu could be released simply.

Too hopeful, she chided, staring up at the snow that didn't fade, and the chill that was starting to make her clothing wet.

Hanabi was sure that she was in over her head. For a day of freedom, this was the punishment.

No. Move. Get up. Find out what's going on.

Get up, Hanabi ordered her body. Get. Up.

Comments

[bunsofsteel]

"Maybe." She shook her head again, meeting the younger girl's eyes. Meeting a Hyuuga's eyes, that was something she'd always been proud of; Neji had been ample practice.

"The other thing that's weird is that there's been no hostilities here. Not even from people you'd expect it from; Akatsuki members and the like."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi wasn't particularly irked by having Tenten look into her eyes...she was perhaps nearly impressed. Most people were quickly unnerved and looked away while the Hyuuga stare lived on.

It was something she could appreciate.

"Mightn't it be just a temporary ceasefire? Until everyone knows what's going on, that is."

[bunsofsteel]

"Could be, but then, I've been here for two months, and you've been here... how long?" Tenten rests her chin on one hand, only looking away long enough to snatch up another dumpling with her chopsticks before returning her attention to the young Hyuuga.

"And people don't just seem to arrive one at a time, either."

[hyuugachild]

"A while," Hanabi lied easily. "Please don't think that I am making any sort of deeply researched claim...I'm only proposing ideas. I don't want to stay here forever. By together...do you mean they arrive from the same...universe, at the same time?"

[bunsofsteel]

"By yourself?" She frowned again and shrugged. "Well, I can help you find a place to stay, at least. I know Neji's going to want to hear about his cousin, anyway."

Tenten tapped the chopsticks against her lips. "No... there's no pattern that I've been able to see about people arriving. Sometimes two or three people end up here, sometimes just one."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi gave an unnaturally fake laugh which stopped abruptly once she realized how awful it sounded. "Ah...well. About my cousin, since we likely aren't from the same universe I hardly think that it would be...logical to interrupt his day with a frivolity such as this...as for a pattern," she quickly changed the subject to, "I think that we should certainly pay attention...one might not be immediately visible but it may exist."

[bunsofsteel]

"He's from mine," she answered, face scrunching up as she leaned back, away from that attempt at a laugh. Then and there, she decided that Hyuugas shouldn't try normal human emotions. "Trust me, if the way he's been acting is any indication, he'd be happy to have someone from the clan here."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi shook her head lightly. "I truly don't believe it would be a comfort to him at all. He enjoys his alone time, you know."

[bunsofsteel]

She sighed through her nose and met the girl's eyes again. "Of course he does, but he still watches out for everyone. You're his cousin, but I'm his teammate. If I didn't take you to him, he'd be pretty mad."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi was really, really trying to stay pleasant with the Tenten genjutsu. She had never fake apologized so many times in her life! Wiping the traces of faux emotions from her face, she took another sip of tea. "I'm unfortunately going to have to decline. I appreciate the intent." She didn't, at all.

[bunsofsteel]

She shook her head again. "Fine then. Where are you staying? I'll let him know, so when he has time, he can come see you, or at least take a look in that direction. Will you let me do that much?"

[hyuugachild]

Lies, lies and more lies. "I haven't set up a place for myself yet, not a steady one, at least, but I can let you know the moment I do, if that's okay?"

It was never going to happen.

[bunsofsteel]

She stared at her for a long moment and sighed. "Will you?" For some reason, she doubted it, but she could at least still tell Neji the girl was here. "That's fine then, I guess. What else do you want to know?"

[hyuugachild]

"Where were you located, exactly? In case anything happens, or I find any new information...?" Hanabi took the look in stride. Lying was something she did often, and if the person wasn't going to push the issue, neither would she.

[bunsofsteel]

"To the southeast. Here." Tenten leaned over and grabbed a napkin, then dug in her kunai pouch for a pencil to sketch a basic map. "This is the center of town, here. You can always tell because there's this big stone well. Mikoto-san and Neji are here, to the west, in this massive place. And then, Ino's shop, here to the east, she's got the best tea blends. This place where we are now, here?" She drew another small circle on the map. "Best dumplings.

"There's empty fields for training here, here, here, and all through here." She drew large splotches to indicate those, then pushed the napkin across once she made sure to accurately label it all. "How's that?"

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi stared at the map for several seconds, memorizing it and placing a new spot in her mind where the place she was staying was located.

She gave Tenten a genuine, if minute, smile. "It's perfect. Tenten-san, thank you so much for your assistance." She stood, pulling a fat purse stuffed to the brim with money. She always kept cash...Father insisted just in case something happened and she needed to buy her way out of a situation.

"Do they take...normal money here?" Even in a genjutsu, money was money, she imagined.

[bunsofsteel]

"You're welcome." She returned the smile, a little pleased to get such an emotion from a Hyuuga, and pushed the napkin over further. "Keep it. You never know when it might come in handy."

Raising an eyebrow at the bulging size of the younger girl's purse, it was all she could do to keep from shaking her head. "Ryo? Yeah. You know, I've never seen you go on missions, how do you...?"

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi gave a slight look of surprise, looking between Tenten and her pouch. This had been a point of embarrassment more than one time in her life; other kids her age wondering where she got the money from and making comments about her gold-gilded upbringing.

"...Father insists," she replies simply.

[bunsofsteel]

"...Oh." Tenten blinked, then shrugged, continuing as if it didn't matter. And really, it didn't: her daddy wasn't here to keep funding her. "Well, you'll have to find some way of getting money while you're here, once that runs out. When the snow finally clears up some, I'm going to be investigating the other towns. Even if I can't find a way out, I can see about setting up some kind of iron trade here. We'll need weapons, if this is really a hostile force controlling this."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi knew nothing about iron trade. She...knew diplomacy and how to properly cut a tree and do calligraphy and tend to a garden.

All useless.

Well. For the moment, anyway.

"Yes. That's a good idea. I will definitely look into finding a good form of work."

[bunsofsteel]

Honestly, Tenten didn't know anything about it, either, but she was going to learn. Sure, she could theoretically arm an entire army twice over by herself, but they were her weapons! So she'd figure it out, somehow.

"Good luck, Hyuuga-san." The older kunoichi finished off her last dumpling, then pushed herself to her feet to offer a quick incline of her head as respect. "I'll expect you to let me know where you end up. I'll help you out if I can, but don't expect me to do anything for you."

In other words, if the girl didn't report her whereabouts to Tenten personally, she'd be going straight to Neji to have him find her.

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi did not expect someone she scarcely knew to do anything for her, and she appreciated the honesty. Bowing politely, she paid for the tea and buns herself and left.

She had no intention of letting Tenten know where she was. A genjutsu Neji on her back...that was the last thing she needed.