Beautiful beast Ugly heart (Shikamaru shippuden)

9: Ripples on calm seas

Yumemi walked with team Kurenai an hour after being assigned to assist them on a bandit extermination. Shikamaru tried to talk to her but she left before he could use his jutsu on her again. She was concerned about the strange feeling she had when they sparred and didn't want to have the same experience again before she could understand it. She ran along side Hinata and Kiba. They were heading to the coast where the former land of whirlpools was located. It would take about a four days journey to get there.

When the sky darkens, the team sets up camp in a clearing of trees. Yumemi stands from her sitting place when she hears Hinata and Kiba's stomach growl. "Where are you going Yumemi?" The red eyes jounin asks when seeing the bluenette get up. She struggles with her words for a few moments before forming the sounds for a single word. "Food." Yumemi turns and disappears into the trees. She wanders around looking for any signs of prey. Movement in the brush caught her attention immediately. She pounces on the animal that might have been there only to see a log in her hands.

Why was she holding a log? Logs don't move. "Well, did you think you would catch me by surprise?" A voice from behind her chuckles darkly. She turned her head and saw a very tall blue skinned man with features much like a shark. She blinked once, then twice before shaking her head to answer his question. "Oh? You're a strange looking one." The shark man grinned, displaying rows of pointed teeth. Another man stepped out of the brush. "Kisame. Don't start a unneeded fight." The new tall, but shorter then Kisame, man looked at the odd girl. His hair was tied in a low ponytail and his onyx eyes shifted into red.

"She has strange chakra and a large amount of it." He spoke calmly. "Whenever your around Itachi I never have fun, nobody would miss this kid anyway." Kisame complained in a casual manner to the man she now knew was Itachi. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. Kisame had a thick sword shaped weapon wrapped in cloth on his back and Itachi appeared to be unarmed. Her silence throughout the whole conversation peaked Itachi's curiosity. "You girl, where are you from?" He asked. In contrast to his frightening partner, this one was more docile. Yumemi stood up slowly and patted around her clothes until she found the leaf headband she had yet to put on.

She held out the band for him to see. "From Konoha hm? You look to be eighteen yet I have never seen a girl like you there before." He thought aloud in a hushed voice. Yumemi wasn't paying attention since she pounced on a rabbit that she saw through the bushes. At least this time it was an actual animal. She stood up with a delighted spark in her eye. Kisame seemed amused by the girls feral hunting skill. "We need to go, this girl is no threat to us nor was she intentionally trying to attack you." She looked at them as they were leaving. What a mysterious pare they were. She brushed off the encounter to focus on hunting food for her team.

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Itachi walked alongside his partner deep in thought. The girl had a abnormally large amount of chakra that had a strange signature. It was like a tailed beasts chakra but smaller and perfectly controlled. Eighteen, meaning she should have been six and at the academy with Sasuke but he didn't have any recollection of a child that strong or holding resemblance to her. The only other explanation was that she only recently been apart of the leaf village. She was not a chunin or jounin since she didn't where the standard uniform. The awareness of such a strong capable youth in the village made him somewhat relieved. He never hated the leaf, and with the knowledge of strong shinobi living within it gave him reassurance that it was safe.

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:Next day: Shikamaru crossed his arms while sitting in front of a shogi board, Asuma on the other end. "What's the matter Shikamaru? Your distracted." His former sensei and subordinate states after making a move, claiming a piece. He rubs his neck as he studies the board and positions of the pawns. "Women." He grumbled. Asuma threw his head back and laughed. "What did Ino want?" Shikamaru makes a calculated move to set a trap. "Its not Ino." He sighed. The Jounin furrowed his brow at his student. "Yumemi?" He guessed. Shikamaru leaned back, his arms propping him up. He felt the gentle weight of the hairpin in his pocket. He was trying to do a favor for the silent girl but she didn't give him a chance to.

"She has been avoiding me ever since I sparred with her. I managed to walk with her yesterday but right after she got a mission, she ran off. It's such a drag." The Nara boy sighed and countered Asuma's next move. He was beaten by Asuma which surprised the jounin since he 'never' won against Shikamaru. Whatever happened between him and Yumemi must be really eating at him if he is this unfocussed. "Take her personality into thought Shikamaru. She's cautious and not used to being near people. Think back to the sparring match and think of something you did to step over her boundaries." With those words Shikamaru left and started to walk. He was drawn to the pond where she always seemed to go to. He pictured that day. Was it because he accidently cut her?

He sat on the bank with his legs crossed, clasping his hand together. He remembers. He had got on top of her to restrain her movements. She must have been extremely uncomfortable, after all escaped quickly, which resulted in getting her neck cut. He smacks is palm to his forehead. How could he be so dense. The Nara scolded himself mentally. He usually picked up on things quickly but the girl kept her face stone solid all the time and never gave hints at what she feels except rare flickers of her eyes. Though she did have a blush then, but he assumed it was an automatic reaction to the situation they had found themselves in. He leaned back on his arms.

Shikamaru felt a deep indention on the dirt that had not been there before. Turning around to look, he saw a large animal print. It wasn't one of his clans deer that's for sure. It was three times the size of his hand but had the same shape. Three fingers and a thumb, all had long claws. whatever made this wasn't a giant but certainly larger than any normal animal. he should report this potential danger to lady Tsunade.

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Yumemi and team Kurenai reached their final destination in three day instead of four. She had gotten somewhat close to them, especially Hinata and Shino who were nearly as quiet as her. Though she never participated vocally in their conversations but always nodded or shook her head if they asked her something. She found Kibas personality a little overwhelming compared to the rest of his team and Kurenai was like a mom in a way. How mothers are supposed to be that is. Yumemi was tossed aside, hated, disgusted. The woman who brought her life was terrified of the thing she bore. A infant with oddities and no resemblance to either parent nor any other relative.

They had just taken a small break to give strength to the group before planning out an ambush that would scatter the bandits for each chunnin to take care of. Yumemi will stay with Kurenai since she was inexperienced. The bluenette took off to follow the red eyed jounin after the team dispersed to surround the bandit camp. "I'm interested to see how you do in a real fight Yumemi." She smiled at the girl who only nodded. The two get into position silently. I blinking light appeared in three different spots around the clearing. Explosive tags were detonated around the camp. This sent groups of bandits split off just as they wanted. Five were in the group that ran towards Kurenai and Yumemi.

Yumemi waits in a tree for the last of the group before jumping down, kunai stabbing into his shoulder. On impulse, the second he fell to the ground, she dug her teeth into his neck. They were suddenly morphed into shark-like teeth just like the Kisame guy had. "Bitch, You killed Kido!!" A taller man with a huge sword swung his weapon at her but she flattens herself against the ground to dodge the blade. She jumped up and swiped a kunai across his neck, spraying blood onto her shirts. Kurenai had to handle the other two on her own. The fifth man had disappeared.

Leaves rustle, bringing her attention to a figure sprinting into the deeper forest. Yumemi immediately gave chase. The bluenette had the man cornered at the beach on a high cliff. "Think you can kill me little girl?" The bandit scoffed with a smug grin plastered on his face. She calmly starts to walk towards him. Something about her frightened him al of a sudden. The intent of killing him was almost visible. Her eyes were closed but as she now stood before him, he was paralyzed into place. Her abnormal mixed orbs slowly open and look directly through him. "Sorry" She says softly before a sharpened clawed hand pierced his chest.

Yumemi turned and took a step to walk back to her team but the ground crumbled beneath her. She felt herself tilt backwards, her body become weightless, the wind hitting her hair and making the sky blue threads swirling around her face, making it impossible to see her descent. Her left sleeve was ripped of by a protruding root before being engulfed in the cold sea. A whirlpool swept her under, spinning her out of her control. The harsh movement and disorientation made her fall unconscious. Strong tides sweep her away to an unknown place.

The only evidence left of her on the cliff was the body, her sleeve, and a kunai.