Misoka barely realized she had come to the honored shinobi monuments; the panic she felt made it hard to formulate a proper thought at all.
She stopped in her tracks, sliding behind one of the statues in the area before daring to throw a glance back. There was no-one following her. Thank God.
Her breathing was ragged, the adrenaline slowly faded.
Only after she had calmed down a bit, she allowed herself to feel relieved.
Back at the market district where she and her grand-mother had attended some kind of festival, she had spotted the suspicious figures in the crowd. Karisuma clansmen - without a doubt, there to catch her and drag her to the clan leader.
Misoka had only taken the time to explain her grand-mother the situation very briefly before she'd taken off - slowly at first as to not raise any attention and then breaking into a desperate run.
She was so glad that they had not seen her. Nonetheless, she would have to leave Konoha and travel to another country. Otherwise, they would definitely find her sooner or later.

In this very moment, however, she was safe. Her gaze went up to the sky as she couldn't help but let the pessimistic thoughts come to her mind. Would she be a fugitive forever? What if she never got the chance to see her father and friends again?
Misoka let out a sigh, shaking her head slightly. It was no use worrying about this now.

" Damn.. " Narku muttered to himself frustrated. He could only imagine how his mother would feel about him not attending the festival with her. The family had been split up by genes ever since he had awakened as a Uzumaki and his brother's had as a Senju. Unlike most families the bonds between his mother were much stronger than his father's. He enjoyed being with her even though she could be quite the fireball. His face crumpled up in despair as he thought on the beating he would get from her when he finally arrived there.

He was strolling down a path that led him directly through the Honored Shinobi Monument and to the festival when he noticed a beautiful girl looking up at the sky thoughtfully. Narku's hair fell slightly below his chin, and a few of them laid ontop of his leaf-headband and over his brows. The crimson of his eyes perked up as he stuck his hand in his pocket and left the other to fall to his side. " Heya, You lost ? " he asked aloud to her. He was wondering if she needed directions or something. Plus it wouldn't hurt to talk to her , she was quite the beauty.

„You lost?“
She jumped a bit at the sudden distraction of her thoughts, tearing her eyes away from the sky to look at the boy in front of her. For a moment there, she had believed that the clansmen had found her. Upon realizing that it was only some friendly stranger talking to her, she felt herself relax. She cracked a smile, shaking her head. “No… no, I’m all right. I was just taking a break, I guess.”
The boy was a bit taller than her, she noticed, and he had spiky black hair and red eyes. Red? This was unusual… but that was seriously the last thing she would do: judge “unusual eyes”.
Misoka tilted her head interrogatively. “You’re not going to the festival?” She asked, but quickly realized that she hadn’t even introduced herself yet. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Misoka by the way.”

Narku shrugged his shoulders slightly at her answer. Of course she wasn't lost. Most people had known Konoha well, considering that it was a very popular tourist attraction. He brought his hand out his pocket and looked her up and down slowly, it wasn't too obvious but neither was it sly either. " Yea, I'am actually," he answered with a broad smile. " I heard that its better then it was last year. " he told her.

He took a few steps towards her, his black sandals clacking against the ground as he walked. Upon reaching her he stuck his hand out to her for a handshake. The air around him was strong and passionate, and yet it was obvious with his side-ward grin that he was quite the cocky one. " Narku Uzumaki. " he greeted her with a friendly tone. " I was heading that way, but for a gal like you I'd gladly become a tour guide. " he continued, putting emphasis on was.

Misoka gladly accepted the handshake, smiling at him. It seemed the boy, Narku, was an easy person to get along with; the girl could feel how her previous anxiety faded. 'They didn't see me,' she encouraged herself silently. 'So they won't find me.'
She would just have to stay away from that festival as they surely expected her to show up sooner or later.
"Thank you for your offer," she said aloud, her smile not faltering, "I'm really a tourist. Well, you can probably see that by looking at my Suna headband." Her gaze went down to the headband around her neck as to point out the obvious.
For a short while, she shrugged, her thoughts drifting towards her grand-mother and the nagging question whether she would be alright. Then, however, the men had not seen her, let alone her grandma so it was impossible for her to get into trouble.
As Misoka's glance shifted back to Narku, another question popped up in her mind.
"Uzumaki..," she said, impressed. "So you've got one of the Hokages' blood in your veins, huh? That's awesome."
This may be her first time in Konoha, but of course she knew the famous former Hokage Naruto Uzumaki.
Shortly after, the girl nodded to the path leading through the statues of memorizable Konoha men and women.
"We could walk down here for a bit..?" It had initially not been meant as a question, more a suggestion, but Misoka felt it was politer to put it this way.
She risked one last glance at the road behind her as to convince herself that she was not being followed. Right. The road was empty. It seemed everyone must be enjoying themselves at the festival.

Narku rubbed the back of his head and a bit of pink flushed his cheeks as she spoke on his last name. " Well yea I suppose. " he said grinning widely. It was quite unusual for someone to actually bring up the origin of his surname. In fact, it was obvious that he had looked up to Naruto immensely from his reaction. He looked up to the guy so much that he was aiming toward becoming the Jinchuriki of Konoha.

Narku caught a glint of the sun off of Misoka's headband and noticed that she was from Suna. It was a desert filled village that had strong bonds with Konoha. " Oh so your from Suna huh ? " he asked while bring his right arm folded on his chest and left hand cuffing his chin in thought. There was something about the girl that was tugging at him for some reason. She seemed a bit panicky in her physical motions and almost looked to be asking for help. Maybe he was wrong though, maybe it was just some odd feeling he was getting. Either way he had decided on something from the moment he had met her and he'd tell her now." Y'know what, " he told her loudly and bluntly, letting his hands fall back to his sides half open " We're friends from now on ! " His tone was absolute and almost harsh in its tone as if he was telling her and not asking her. It was obvious that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

At her suggestion, Narku folded his arms behind his head and begun to stride down the home of the honored ninjas of Konoha. They were all great warriors and held even stronger ideals, it was there lack of selfishness and love of the leaf that earned them the right to be buried there. Narku's eyes lowered slightly in disinterest as he passed by an Uzumaki's statue. It wasn't Naruto's but a younger Uzumaki who had come after him. From what he could remember of the man, he was quite the strong one but lacked what it took be the Jinchuriki that most Uzumakis were aiming to be. He looked behind him to see if Misoka was following close by. " Any particular reason you choose a memorial site to explore ? " he asked her with a edge to his voice.

Misoka let out a giggle when Narku all of a sudden exclaimed that they would be friends from now. Shortly after, however, she felt a twinge of sadness, realizing that they would probably not see each other in a long time. With the clansmen in Konoha, she would be either stupid or bold to stay. Apart from that, she would put her grand-mother in danger as well.
Misoka's heart sank although she still tried to keep the faint smile on her lips.

"Thank you," she muttered sincerely. Narkus was really being nice... At least she had made one friend in Konoha before she would be leaving.

He then asked her why she chose the memorial site to explore. This caught her off guard a little bit.

"Uumm..," she started in order to stall time. Telling him about some bad guys looking for was obviously out of question. "Actually.. no. There's no particular reason, hehe." She faked a laugh, avoiding his eyes on purpose.

"So um... Narku, you're a shinobi, too, am I right? How old are you?"
Perfect way to change the subject.

Narku stopped walking and turned his body semi-towards her. The stale look in his eyes were indifferent and almost indescribable. Though his expression held a distant wonderment at her answer. It was so straight-forward that it couldn't of have possibly of been true. She just didn't give off that air of being blunt like he had.

He shook his head violently, trying to get the dark bangs of his hair from out his peripheral vision before responding. " Well, I guess that's okay. " he told her while tapping the toes of his left sandal on the softened dirt. She seemed a bit preoccupied with her thoughts but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what kind of worries such a beautiful girl would have.

He was going to ask her if something was bothering her when she voiced her own question. They came quick and Narku was almost a little embarrassed to answer them. The first one would be easy enough but the second one was a bit shameful considering his mother had graduated the academy at the young age of seven. A arrogant smile beamed onto his face as he pointed his thumb towards the steel headband on his forehead. " Well yea I'm a Shinobi ! " he told her proudly, almost boarding on bragging. " I'm a genin of Konoha, hopefully about to be Chuunin... " he trailed off as the next question came to mind. His smile faded and a nervous grin replaced it as he rubbed the back of his head slowly. " Well... I'm thirteen. " he told her while looking to the ground, a bit of pink flushing his face afterwards.

" But enough of all that, " he quickly said, changing the subject. " Why are you so gittery ? Are you always like this ? " he asked her incredibly harsh.

Misoka couldn't help but smile at the proudness audible in his voice. Well, being a shinobi sure was something to be proud about! As his excitement faded from one moment to the next, she raised an eyebrow questioningly, wondering what could make him pull such an embarrassed face.
"Well... I'm thirteen," he then answered in an almost quiet tone compared to his previous hyperness. Misoka blinked a little bit before repressing a giggle. 'Come on, your age is nothing to be ashamed of,' was what almost escaped her lips, but she decided to choose her words more carefully.
"Oh, you look older to me. I think few would guess you're actually thirteen." She gave him a warm smile which faded ever so slightly as it was Narku's turn to ask questions.

"Why are you so gittery? Are you always like this?" He bursted out in a complete straight-forward manner that made Misoka a bit nervous.
"Well... Look.." How was she going to explain her weird behaviour? What could she tell-

Misoka stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat before speeding up in an almost painful way. There were faint voices reaching her ears, coming from the entry of the memorial site.
"Look this way!" A man demanded, loud enough for her to hear. They couldn't be too far away.

In an instant, Misoka remembered how to use her legs again. Panic-fuelled, she grabbed Narku's hand and dragged him with her. "Run!" It was all she told him as there wasn't the time to explain things.
She ran as fast as she could, all the while holding onto Narku's hand and only hoping he wouldn't argue.
"Narku!" She sucked in the air to continue. "We need... to hide. Do you know another exit?"

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she wasn't sure whether the wind or her stirred up emotions had caused them. She shouldn't have talked to someone else; she shouldn't have dragged someone into her business - who knew what they would do to him, especially in case he tried to protect her, his new friend?
Misoka clenched her teeth in frustration. You weren't supposed to make friends as a fugitive... that's what Synn would probably say.

Narku awaited her answer but it had never came. She had trialed off in mid-sentence and he was already a little impatient. Though he couldn't help it, impatience had been a rather undesirable trait that he had inherited from his mother. He scrunched his face up as if he couldn't hear her before leaning closer towards her with his hand behind his left ear. " Huh !?! " he edged her on.

When he hadn't received an answer he sighed in resignation and rubbed the back of his head. He looked up off towards the clear sky of the village oblivious of the danger around him." Well I guess it doesn't really matter, " he continued, folding his arms over his chest. " I've already decided we're friends so what does it matter if your a worrywart right ? "

Then Narku was taken by surprise. The sudden warmth of her hand around his had caused him to look down at the connect with aggression. " What th- " he barked before being pulled in her direction. He had deciphered the word Run in between all of the unexpectant hand-touching and escaping but couldn't make sense of it all.

For a little while Narku had been stumbling behind her before turning himself forward and briskly scrambling behind her. His name was called and her words had cried out to him. He wasn't sure of the situation but he disliked seeing women cry that much he was always adamant on. They had gone a good distance before he had regained his mind and his head-first nature had taken over him. She had sounded like she was in distress.

He let his feet stumble into a slide before grounding them to the earth and pulling Misoka to face him. " Enough, Tell me just what the hell is going on here ? " he demanded. " You've been acting weird this whole time and I don't think you're okay with those tears in your eyes .. So spill it will ya ! " he told her with a steeled hushed tone.

Narku came to a halt fiercely, taking her by surprise. He wanted to know what was going on – completely understandable, of course - , and still: Now was definitely NOT the time to have a little chit-chat!
Misoka tossed her head impatiently. “This is not the best moment to argue! We have to keep running!” She didn’t miss the determined look on his face, though, and quickly added a half-explanation to make him satisfied. “There are shinobis following us and they certainly have no good intentions!”

Just then, as she was about to move on, she heard footsteps coming towards her. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. How come they were that fast?! Misoka swallowed, having a hard time not to panic.
“She must’ve gone this way!”
“Please, Narku, I know you’re confused and such, but please don’t argue now and hide!” The young girl whispered desperately and pointed to a spot behind one gravestone. Bracing herself for whatever would happen next, she took a deep breath and turned towards the men coming her way.

There were three of them in total, everyone unmistakably skilled in ninja arts. Misoka’s heart pounded in her chest, recognizing the leader of the group as one of her clan. He must be around the age of 30.
“Well, well, got you finally, huh?” Said person grinned. He told his comrades to stay behind him as he came a few steps closer like approaching a shy animal. Maybe she was just that. A rare hunting object. Misoka bit her lower lip, keeping a stern expression on her face.
Her mind raced, the thoughts whirling around aimlessly. Weren’t there any possible ways to escape? And besides, she hoped Narku would listen to her for once and stay hidden.
They stood no chance against all three of them – you could tell that they were all jou-nin level.
“What do you want from me?” It wasn’t like she didn’t know, but it sure was a perfect way to try and stall time.
Her relative let out a laugh, running a hand through his shiny blonde hair framing his handsome face.
The other two men joined his laughter, but there was something different about their expressions… They were watching her with eyes full of lust.

“Pretend you don’t know, my dear niece?” A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. “Our leader has commanded me to bring you back. It’s not nice running away from your fate. You won’t escape anyway.” His grin widened. “You’ll make a lovely wife.”
Anger rose inside Misoka and shoved the fear away. “I’ll choose my own fate!” She snapped back, once again disgusted by the idea of being married off to some rich old man. All because the clan was short of money. Who knew how many girls must have suffered for their financial problems already…
She would rather die than go with them. On second thought, it might be better to somehow get an idea of how to escape. Her eyes examined her surroundings more carefully. There must be hundreds of memorial statues and gravestones around them; how big was this place anyway?
Perhaps she could distract the men somehow and then run off after giving Narku a sign. Or maybe Narku could help her. What about a smoke bomb?

“Don’t touch me!” Misoka said aloud, shying away from the two men trying to grab her. Their leader, or in other words her uncle, narrowed his eyes. “You’re coming with us, girl. Stop fooling around.”
“Okay.” Her sudden resolve must have even surprised her enemies. And now on to her plan. Hopefully, they couldn’t hear her heartbeat; it would have surely given her away. Pound, pound, pound. Now.
She put her arms behind her back as if to admit defeat. Then she pretended to look at the ground when, in truth, she tried to lock eyes with Narku. ‘Can you distract them?’ She mouthed silently.

Was it too much to ask of him? They had just met and she had already put him in such a dangerous situation. He must probably curse his idea of starting a conversation with her in the first place.

Narku's grip had tighten around her hand from the explanation she had given him. " Wah - " was all that had slipped from his mouth. They're were ninjas after her ? No, not just her anymore, them. She had involved him in her mess ! Now he was just as in danger as she was. His hand trembled lightly in hers and it tightened a bit more from his anxiety. He had never actually been in a life or death situation before. The Academy was suppose to ready him for such a situation but they barely had. His eyes drifted down to the ground, he wanted to hide his fear but he knew that it was pointless; she could see it in his body.

Narku's gaze lifted up as he tried to steel himself, to gain back that resolve that had suddenly slipped from his heart. His teeth clenched against one another and his brows fell together in his struggle. " Come on, I'm stronger than this. My mom would kill me if she knew I was chickening out right now. " he reasoned with himself.

He looked towards the hushed voices coming from within the memorial site and Misoka seemed -again- in a panic. Were those the guys chasing her ? Were they going to kill him too ? He was a complete mess, his face was wide with fear and sweat had begun to fall from his face.

Then Misoka's words had finally reached him. Hide ? She wanted him to hide... The rapid sound of his heart beat became loud and clear all of sudden. Did he really seem to be that much of a coward. Normally this would be where he refused to hide but the look her eyes, the desperateness that were seeping out from them were too strong for him to deny. " F-Fine. " he responded with a stutter. He let go of her hand and dashed behind a rather large memorial stone for cover.

The conversation that went on had told the story. They were marrying her off to someone she didn't exactly want to be wedded too. He hid behind the stone but were stealing glances of her pursuers. They were all adults. " Hmp, seems just about right. " he thought to himself. By this time he was slowly gaining his composure back.

Narku jolted forwards, ready to intervene when Misoka screamed not to touch her. But he stopped himself when he heard her say Okay. Had she given in that quickly ? He looked down at the grass between his fingers. " No, Don't give up yet ? " he told himself quietly, but more so speaking to Misoka. He looked around the stone to see if they were dragging her away but they weren't.

Instead, he saw Misoka mouthing something. He didn't really understand what it was but it had to be something worth risking getting him caught. And if it was that important than it was ten times out of ten, her mouthing help. He nodded to her with a smile before disappearing behind the stone again.

Since hiding behind the stone, Narku had gained some new courage. Between beating himself up and hearing Misoka's reason for running away, he had resolved himself to stand tall and protect her. He was without his ninja tools, so he would have to rely on himself for that.

Narku leaped on-top of the memorial stone he was hiding behind and smiled widely while at the same stretching his arms out at his side. " Bastards and Gentle Women ! " he yelled almost too loud and gleefully. " WELCOME TO MY SHOW !!! " He grabbed the red muffler around his neck and pulled it down a bit from his mouth.

His words hung in the air a bit and he hoped that he had grabbed their attention. The feeling around him changed and his expression fell down to a serious glare. " I've alerted the Shinobis of my village. I hope all you have permits and passes to be here. " he threatened, with a wild and intimidating look in his eyes.

Misoka watched Narku getting on his feet and jumping on the memorial stone he had been hiding behind. So he'd understood her silent plea after all... although she had seen the fear ignited in his eyes. She felt a painful surge of empathy for Narku; well, who would not? It was her fault. The poor boy had probably just turned Genin and was already facing a life-threatening situation.
'No'. The little, yet so meaningful word raced through her mind, making her shake her head fiercely. No, she was not going to let him die. She would never be able to forgive herself for something like that. They would get out of this... wouldn't they? Better not to think about their enemies' enormous strength...

Narku's loud voice drove Misoka back to present time.
"WELCOME TO MY SHOW!"
The girl blinked rapidly. The heck..? She was totally dumbfounded. But hey, it worked - the men got distracted.

All three of them turned around, their eyes searching for the voice's owner.

"Where did that kid come from?" The leader muttered, more surprised than alarmed, though. His two comrades exchanged glances before bursting out into laughter. "Show, huh? This is no fucking playground haha!" - "Haha! I bet he thinks he's at that damn festival!"

While the men's attention was drawn to Narku, Misoka reached for the small bag tied to her leg. Her fingers embraced the smokebomb tightly. Of course she knew that the men were skilled enough not to be fooled by such a tiny item, but... She bit her lower lip. But she hoped that it would give her and Narku enough time to get as far away as possible.

Taking out the smokebomb, Misoka heard Narku say something about having alerted the Konoha shinobis. For an instant, she couldn't help but think about his question - Did they have permission to be here? Her heart sank. It wasn't illegal to retrieve a run-away clan member.

Her uncle bristled with anger. Oh no. "You have no idea what's going on, kid. I'll give you one piece of advice: Keep yourself out of someone else's business. Otherwise - "

At that moment, she threw the smokebomb and ran. Fast, faster, fastest. She didn't listen to the men's furious shouts, she just bolted straight to the memorial stone Narku was standing on and tapped him on the shoulder. She trusted him to keep silent and run off with her.

Soon enough, she found herself at the entry of the graveyard, panting heavily. She heard voices behind her and she knew they were coming closer and closer...
"Narku, I am so sorry about all of this... thank you for everything, I have to go now. I'm sure we'll see each other again.. someday," she told him quickly, breaking a weak, apologizing smile. "It's probably better if you go home.. I don't want to put you in any more danger."

Narku's wild grin had been displayed before a burst of dark smoke had veiled over the men and stilled his furious shouts. He sighed appreciatively from the smokescreen, in all truth he was having a hard time keeping his small facade up. He took a knee on the memorial stone and wiped a bit of the sweat off the side of his face. He could barely believe he had the courage to do that, not to say that he wasn't usually the courageous type but he had known when he was outmatched and in a life or death situation; And this was one of those situations.

He felt tapping on his shoulder and jolted from the contact, snapping his head towards the culprit to see. To his slight surprise it was Misoka. He had thought that she would take this chance to run away, to leave him there but apparently he was wrong. The girl had more courage than he thought. He smirked to himself. " So she's beautiful and brave huh ? Reminds me of my mom for some reason. " His face frowned up then.

He shook his head of those thoughts before returning to Misoka's stunning eyes. Without question he leaped down from the stone and started to dash off behind her. " Wait.. " he told himself before offering an apologetic bow to the stone's resting spirit. " My apologies beloved ninja. " He knew that escape was urgent but he couldn't help the manners that his mother had managed to beaten into him.

The two of them had made it to the entrance of the Memorial Monument, both of them running at top speed. He landed next to her and keeled over into a crouch, his hands holding onto his knees. " D-Did... We lose them ? " he asked, feeling a bit out of breathe and knowing the answer. They hadn't even left the area yet, so their was no way they had. The voices were coming closer towards them, calling out and shouting for Misoka. He looked towards Misoka in worry, her face gently forming into somber lines of guilt. The sight had hurt him in a way that he couldn't explain. " Hey, now. " he said softly. " What's with th- " he started but her voice had cut him off.

Her words were filled with remorse, as if it was all her fault. Of course it wasn't though. He had intentionally involved himself -albeit he regretted it a bit now- he had still done it. Not to mention out of all of it he had gained a friend, something he didn't really have to many of in the first place. He ruffled his hair carelessly, walking towards her. " None of that matters now. My Uzumaki blood wouldn't let me leave you like this anyway. " he told her, making light of the situation. " Plus, I don't think you have much to argue about ? These men are after you and they plan on getting you. " he raised his thumb up to his face. " What kind of ninja would I be if I allowed that. " Narku tried to sound as normal as possible or in other words to sound as rough around the edges as he could. " So don't think you can get rid of me that easily....Now, What's the plan ? "

"Are you sure?" Her eyes widened and perhaps she was asking herself the same question: 'Are you sure your hearing is still working?' So Narku would really accompany her, covering her back? What could she ever give him in return? She remembered his words, 'Thank you', a few minutes ago, but she didn't feel like a life saver after she had threatened his life in the first place.
"ARGH, don't drop that! Akihiko will kill us if you lose this!"
Her uncle's voice, far away, but perfectly audible, made Misoka flinch. There was no time to get super sentimental so she just nodded her head, hoping her smile would tell her gratefulness and then looked around in a hurry. "Okay... do you know a place... some secret place a non-Konoha ninja would not know about?"
They must hide somewhere until their chasers would lose them out of sight.
She licked her lips nervously, her heart still racing. Just some place to ... sit down ... rest. A place to feel safe.

OOC: The hokage mountain maybe? we could join Zodiak's thread there or open a new one. but it's just a suggestion ;)

OOC: Sorry, Narku, I decided to make my chara travel to Iwa now :)

Before Narku could say anything, another voice intervened, a voice Misoka knew all too well.
"Miso-chan!! What are you doing here? I've been looking for you-"
"Grandma!"
Why, why did this happen to her? This was the worst timing ever! In horror, Misoka stared at the old woman in front of her, who was trying to catch her breath again. Now she had no time to lose, that was for sure.
Quickly, Misoka turned to Narku, telling him that she had to take care of her grandmother and that he should run home as well.
"I'm sorry, it seems this is more urgent than expected!" She shook her head in desperation and then grabbed her grandmother's hand. The old woman had no idea what was going on; her confused facial expression told that much.
"I'll explain everything to you later, grandma; we have to REALLY hurry now!"
With that, the two of them dashed off. In her mind, Misoka already came to the conclusion that she would have to leave Konoha the moment she had taken Grandma to her house. The clansmen shouldn't know the old woman was related to her; otherwise they would surely not hesitate to hurt her.

[Exit Thread]