The Fox And The Hound 1

The Fox And The Hound

Ch 1: A Fox's Curiosity

It was obvious why every nurse and doctor kept turning their heads as she walked by and what they trying to glimpse at—she didn't exactly blend in with the inhabitants of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. There was also the slight aversion and mistrust in their eyes when she locked eyes with any of them. It probably had something to do with her dark skin, flaming red hair, and piercing golden eyes….and maybe the fact that she was wearing a Cloud Village headband.

Not that any of that truly bothered Karui as she strode down the hospital's halls. She gave a tired chuckle as she suddenly remembered why she was in the facility: on their way to the Leaf, her squad had stopped at near a stream for the night.

In the morning, she had personally refilled all the canteens for later. Omoi, discovering what she had done after drinking some, went into one of his overly exaggerated explanations for why it could be deadly to drink unfiltered water and had psychologically caused him self to become sick and unconscious.  So because of his stupid fear, Karui and the rest of Team Saumi were forced to rush to the village to find medical assistance. The instant they stepped into the village, they made their way to the hospital.

Though nothing had been wrong with the water, it turned out Omoi had several internal bruises on his body and various untreated cuts (hey it wasn't her fault the idiot wanted to spar and train as they travelled!). A pink haired kunoichi had told the red head that her friend was to stay admitted for the next week or so….and so here she was walking the aisles as she attempted to get away from her whining, injured teammate.  

Karui thoughts were suddenly broken, as a resounding bark echoed through hallway. Looking in the direction of the sound, her eyes drifted to an animal that was lying on the floor of the room, whose door had not been closed properly, on her right. A large white dog sat on the ground, tail wagging back and forth almost lazily.

Why was a dog in a hospital? Karui's stern face of boredom slowly slipped into a mild curiosity, her eyes suddenly going from dull to having a little shine. Placing her right hand on the archway, she leaned back to see if anyone was coming from other direction. Seeing that the coast was clear, Karui slowly entered the room, closing the door silently behind her. The only participant in the room was sound asleep behind a white curtain, so the Kumo nin carefully stepped towards the dog. She froze in place as the dog suddenly lifted its head to turn and look at her.

She had expected a sound from the canine to warn whoever else was in the room, but the beast did not bark nor growl at her presence. It simply stood up and strode over to her. As it walked around her legs, Karui noticed that the dog seemed to be catching her scent.

Once it was done, the dog sat on its bottom, looking up at her with a curious tilt of the head. Karui couldn't help herself, as she reached down and scratched behind its ears.  "You're good boy, aren't you?" She whispered, a small smile turning her lips upright as the animal's tongue lagged out of pleasure.

She'd never openly admit it but she had a bit of soft spot for animals. At her home, she kept a rustic-colored fox which she named Kaki. Karui had rescued the little vixen from near death, while taking a stroll through one of the more scenic mountain routes along her Village. Kaki had been her pet for the past three years now, Omoi always worrying that the fox might turn against her…

"Why are you here in a hospital?" She asked, not really expecting an answer but receiving one anyway. The dog trotted over to the nightstand, getting on its hind legs to grab something. When it came back to her, Karui gently took the object from the dog's mouth.

It was headband, similar to her own, except for the Leaf logo on it. "So does this mean you're a ninja hound?" The dog gave happy bark with a slight nod of the head causing her to smile—Karui had to admit, she had never met such a smart animal before.

A sudden grunt caused to her to look to the bed, as a gruff yet sleepy voice said, "Akamaru….shut it…" If a dog could glare, Akamaru did at good job doing so at the person in the bed. Karui giggled a little, a hand to her mouth, at the sight. 'Well if Akamaru was such a smart and beautiful looking dog, I wonder what his owner is like?'

With Akamaru's permission, Karui loosely wrapped the head band around his neck, the Leaf symbol facing towards the ground. With a final ruffle of his fur, Karui walked over to the bed that held what she presumed to be the dog's master, Akamaru by her side. Pushing the divider back, Karui found that the person's legs were sprawled randomly, but a hand lay over his heart while a content snoring escaped his mouth. Karui's eyes then went to the red fang marks on his right cheek, then to his actual fangs that were visible as he slept.

'What's with the animal symbolism in this village?' The dark toned woman thought, 'First Whiskers and now this guy. Now that I think about they do look a little alike- maybe their cousins?' As the image of the blond and blue eyed whiskered ninja formed in her mind, Karui couldn't help but think, 'What an idiot of a ninja that kid had been, though what an admirable person he must be, to take a beating for a no good traitor.'

Karui then suddenly realized that her right hand had been going through something soft, only to find that she was scratching behind an ear and it wasn't Akamaru's. She quickly pulled her hand away, taking two steps backwards. She had been so lost in her thoughts, Karui had absentmindly started to scratch behind the boy's visible ear. She brought her left hand to hold her shoulder.  

Why had she done that? She narrowed her golden eyes—apparently this fanged idiot really was an animal, having enjoyed the action due to the smile on his face that slipped back into a mute line of neutrality once she had stopped.

Akamaru rubbed against her leg, catching Karui's attention. Wait, did he just smirk at her? The hell was that? "What's so funny, pup?" She gave a little hiss, only little above a whisper, her cheeks turning a shade of pink from both irritation and embarrassment from being laughed at by dog.

Akamaru said nothing this time—Karui swore she saw him roll is eyes as if to say 'Stupid girl, what do you think I was smirking at? I saw what you just did!'—just went to lie down at the foot of the bed. She gave an annoyed growl at being caught doing something so intimate, but squatted down anyway since she had decided to say goodbye to the pet.  "See you later, Akamaru." She said sweetly, her anger fading fast as the dog panted to the pat down he was getting.  

As she stood up, she gave a shake of her head because she was still embarrassed for being caught doing something so intimate. 'Just as long as no one else-' Her thoughts were halted, as were her tracks, when she stood up and turned to head out of the room. Her eyes widened at the sight of a woman leaning against the doorway, arms crossed.