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Relieving the pressure around her eyes, Naomi deactivated her Byakugan. The veins that had swelled up subsided as she turned around to maintain her constant visual of Bit. For a second, he'd catch a glimpse of the strained veins, however they would too fade from view, leaving her eyes white with an ever so slight amount of lavender in her pupils. From the run, her hair was in quite the disarray; locks of it tossed off to the side, and at the tips of its long strands, long curls had formed; her bangs which normally covered the cursed seal were parted off to the side leaving the breadth of her forehead and the mark in plain view. Behind her, the entrance to the compound was naught but thirty or so meters off, and its gates could be easily seen between parting trees green and the foliage that coated the ground. As he spoke, she listened.

In all honesty, she hadn't thought of his admittance into the compound as a problem. After all, he was an allied shinobi and a friend. As long as she agreed to remain in his company during the visit, she didn't think the guards would mind a stranger in the midst of kinsmen. That's not to say there would not be those whom would easily pick him out of a crowd; his appearance would quickly give him away. In fact she was sure before her report was finished, they would both have their handful of stare-downs. He for being simply an outsider and she for bearing the cursed seal so flippantly. Some thought it was her way of rebellion and suggested that she could be a danger to herself and others. Most that knew her though, understood her heart was in the right place. She wanted change and most of all an end to hatred.

“Not long, I only need to speak with Hiroshi Hyuuga, a member of the Main family,” she explained. “You might have seen me with a group of students earlier; his daughter was among them. He needs to know that she made it to the academy safely. After that, as long as no more pressing matters come up, we can leave.” After replying, she turned from him and began a slow walk in the direction of the compound. Now that they were so close, she did not feel the need to rush. Above, she noticed, the sun had shifted ever so slightly passed high noon; it could not be any later than one or two o'clock.

“Oh, as long as you are with a member of the Hyuuga family, or on official business, I don't see why the guards would bar you from the compound,” she continued, assuming that he was following in step. “Although, you might want to keep your birthright hidden. In the past, the rivalry between your family and mine, has created a fair amount controversy.”

[OOC: Exit, moved to Hyuuga Compound thread.]

Eating had been a good idea, where Naomi had lacked energy before, it seemed to be flowing off of her now in joyous triumphant. Many times, she looked back and happily picked up her speed, glad to see that he could still keep up just fine. However, the bursts of speed drew them ever closer to the academy and before long, she could hear his voice from beside her. He hadn't asked her to slow down, but he did tell her to expect for him to fall behind at this point. After all, now it would be harder to predict where they were going. As far as he knew, the academy was directly west of the compound and through a separate forest. Yet, from their vantage point, higher up, such a wood could not be seen. Although the distance was not far, it was hidden by the eclipsing shadow of a mountain and several much taller and larger buildings ahead. Now, travel became more complicated.

As she slowed her pace, she replied to him, in a surprising out of character playfulness. In mid-jump now she grinned. “Why not just use those eyes of yours huh? They can predict my movements, right?” She had seen it too, back then when they raced for food; not the extent of his power no doubt, but she had seen the effects easily enough to take a guess at the Sharingan's layered ability of movement reading. Previously, right before she had made the jump to another skylight, he had flickered in front of her and landed on it before she had completed her own jumping arc. It was in that moment, she detected the excess of chakra flowing into his eyes and had seen his gaze of red with black tomoes. Assuming that he was not worn out he would be able to do the same now.

From her substantially slowed pace, she suddenly increased her movement rate, straining the power of her legs to another extent. Sweat now was clearly dripping from her face, which suggested as much fun as she was having racing across rooftops, she was training at the same time. Prancing along, she now avoided obstacles with greater ease, and the path before her had all at once became clear. In the moments prior, she had muttered only a single word and had held a standard seal in front of her. “Byakugan,” she had said. She no longer looked back, as if she expected him to keep up, just the same as before, regardless of his lack of proper direction. Despite this, she would be the first to see the forest entrance shape and leap closer and closer to it, from one crevasse to another eave and across another one.

To think, they had been heading away from the Compound this entire time. It was back towards the east, and then north of the academy and through a treeline path. In the canopy of trees, there were several deviations, and splits along the trail. These were to ensure that those whom were not welcome with the Hyuuga would never find the home, unless guided by someone whom already knew the way. In this case, Naomi would lead him. First however, they needed to go back the way they came, head along the same side-streets and back alleys, and continue on past the academy. From there, the journey would be about half done. All this, she pondered while looking up at the shifting sun. Their pace couldn't be slow this time, or she surely would be late with her report.

We could take a path along rooftops... It would be quicker that way anyways. With that in mind, she turned towards him and then stepped away from the street and back up onto the side pathway. From her position, she could see the way they had cut through the crowd earlier. Above the stand, which was in plain view, a curved wall led back up to the flat tops of buildings they had crossed previously. Although there was no fire escape, there was just enough room to run up one wall and use the other as a springboard to reach the adjacent rooftop. Since the space was limited, only one of them could go up at at time, while the other would watch on. Now, Naomi had no problems leading the way. After all, if she did not, it would take much longer to get back to the Compound.

“Well, come on then. We won't be taking the scenic route this time,” she said grinning. A second or so later, she stepped past, and brushed alongside a person and then curved around another group heading towards the ramen stand. After she was past them, she took to a sprint, all the while focusing spiraling chakra around the soles of her feet. Near the wall, she pushed hard off the ground and jumped into a clean arc. In mid-air she spun out and kicked off of it. This, sent her towards the opposing wall of the stand, which she in turn spun out towards and kicked off again. The process repeated several times, with her leaping across and between walls, until she reached the crux and pushed off hard of the opposing wall and rolled out and onto the rooftop. When she stood there, she watched just to make sure Bit was following her.

If it was any other time, Naomi might have been startled by the sudden touch upon her shoulder. However, she almost knew for certain that he would follow her. Although she supposed he could have just left off down the street and left her, he just didn't seem the type to leave something unfinished. He spoke soon after and she listened, still watching people move about the streets. There was an urge to run, but instead she resisted and listened to what he had to say. What she had expected, was anger, or perhaps even frustration, but he laughed, and told a joke, lightening the mood better than she could have with an apology. This, she smiled at, containing her own laughter by a thread.

He's right... she thought. At least, given what he knows... She could not blame him for ignorance; not when it came to her kin, after all how was he supposed to know what the seal upon her forehead was? How was he supposed to know the true meaning behind it; how was he supposed to react to something he hadn't experienced himself. To get him involved was foolish, and it was almost as if she wanted to push him way. Now though, she was glad he stuck true to himself. He offered once more, suggesting that they should pair up and better the village by doing a couple of missions; and she supposed that wasn't grounds for what she had said, but in her own way she only wanted someone, other than her family to understand.

Turning towards him, she relieved his hand from her shoulder and looked up and into his eyes. “I'm sorry,” she said. “It's not your place to understand and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I would be glad to help you with your assignments.” Shortly after she said this, she realized how close they were to each other, and out of embarrassment, she took a step away, nearly backing off the edge of the curb and into the street. This time, there was no resisting, a full blush swept her face, and her eyes promptly shot to the ground. Embarrassment was better than anger, she guessed, but she had not intended to make a fool out of herself quite so much. Blushing like a little girl; she had only just met him...

As he spoke, Naomi listened and was glad when a bowl (with chopsticks) was placed in front of her. She went at it in a graceful manner, first breaking the sticks in half and then scooting the bowl towards her. Lastly, she blew on the ramen, combating the heat from a good-smelling steam that rose out of the bowl and into her nostrils. As the steam dispersed, she took her first bite and the warmth and taste of it swept aware any fatigue she had gained from the brief, yet strenuous run here. Perhaps she had been a little too determined to beat him here; however she could tell just by looking at him that he had a lot more experience as a shinobi. He had come all the way here from Iwagakure after all and had probably seen real combat; not training as she so often had to supervise now. Most of the bruises that were not in plain sight, but instead hidden by her attire had been from that

I haven't even been assigned a single one... She wanted to tell him, but she was almost ashamed of the fact. Instead, for several moments after the question was asked, she played with her food, swirling the ramen around with a chopstick and then taking a bite shortly after. The truth was she had been so busy dealing with family duties she hadn't the time to go to the assignment office to request a mission. He's looking at me so intently, not breaking eye-contact... Meeting his gaze, she just stared at moment, allowing the hazy white to be swept away by a more pigmented pinked blended with white. Her cheeks felt hot again, and a red streak crossed underneath her eyes.

“I've never left the village,” she answered, purposely avoiding the true question behind his. He wanted to know what her mission were like; but when she did not have any to tell, or could only tell about accompanying brats to the academy and training with children half her age, (allowing them to win against her to gain approval) it was easier just to dance right around the question itself and eat some more ramen. She did that quietly, and the chef and his assistant seemed to watch in a stupor, while overlooking another pot of fresh-smelling, fried goodness. “I'm usually at the compound training, or attending to my duties.” Her last word bore a bit of resentment that she really hoped he did not pick up on, despite the fact she had noticed it right when she spoke. Glossing over the fact, she tried to smile instead.

A dull hum came from the two identical machines atop the roof. A vibration. If she concentrated she could feel it at the soles of her feet, the energy that supplied a village block. For a moment she reflected, letting chakra focus around her feet and maintain a steady fluctuation between different points. With one step, and then another, she turned towards Bit and offered a playful smirk. “Think you can keep up?” She asked. Although her voice was playful, there was something serious to say about the weight she placed upon each step as she crept closer and closer to the edge. When she was only a few meters away from it, she took one, two, three steps back and then pushed hard off of her back leg. In that next instant, she flickered out of a visible existence. A pure demonstration of speed.

She appeared on the opposite side of the next rooftop, landing gracefully out of a solid jumping arc. Rolling out of it, she was already upon the crux of her next sprint when she looked back to gauge Bit's progress. He, like she, was a shinobi, so she expected he would not have much of a problem keeping up. However, he did not know the village as well, and also lacked the luxury of knowing where their final destination resided. As soon as she was sure he had made some progress on her trail, she took off into a sprint again. This time, lowering herself at the next crevasse, and hopping from a fire escape, to the cross-sectioned wall and then up it and onto the following roof.

Before she continued on, she raised a hand and formed it into a fist upon the opposite. There was a soft muttering of, “Byakugan,” as the veins on the sides of her eyes surged and the area around her suddenly became clear to the nearest fifty meters, in all directions, except one small degree above her left shoulder. The pupils in her eyes became defined and in back, though gaining she spied Bit. He'd have no problems keeping up, as she had guessed. However, that was not what she sought with her nearly all-seeing eyes. Further down the block, across roughly, two more rooftops and down the side of a wall, was a ramen stand, currently void of all except the chef and its stools. That's where they were headed; and with another step, she dashed off again.

The further along they walked, the wider the pathways became. The branches and forks in the route, soon conjoined and formed into a central road; and at its end, a towering gate, posted with guards at the top and walking across a pillared station. From the alleyways and backstreets, they had crossed from one side of the village to the opposite in not much time at all. This was one of the many benefits of growing up within Konohagakure, after all, slinking along alleyways, and leaping across rooftops to get to a certain destination almost became second nature. Here, the mass crowds had returned and much like the market street that had walked through, just around the bend from the academy, stands too and various vendors dotted the rapidly expanding landscape. As they came around the last bend, Naomi tugged upwards at Bit's sleeve, indicating that he should head right in a few seconds.

“Well, I was going to take you to the shrine I mentioned,” she began. “But I have not eaten today; so I thought we could grab a bite to eat here first?” She indicated the many choices that lay before them. Each step further brought them closer to an aroma of smells that seemed to be hovering about everyone along the road. As much as the other pathway had been void of people and pleasant smells for that matter, this one now smelled like an array of sweets and meats, all mixing together to provide an assortment of nose pleasure. She wrinkled her nose, taking in a deep breath of air as she further guided him along the street. This time around, it was harder to simply move and avoid people, with the street jammed pack, she tugged at his sleeve again and pointed out a path that led up to the rooftops of many buildings; a lone ladder that in turn caved in and spiraled into a staircase.

I wonder if he can keep up... However, that was perhaps a question for another time, there was not really a need to rush things, although he would have to go first. Being the larger of the two, it would be easier for him to clear a path. “See that stairwell? From its top we can cut through this crowd across the rooftops above.” Taking another step, she suddenly halted, nearly walking into a person whom had stopped dead in the road. Instead of getting angry, she looked up at her companion. It seemed that they had a moment before they would be able to move freely again and push through the remnants of an ever shifting crowd. The sun high above indicated that it was becoming ever closer to noon now. Its rays reflected off of the whites of her eyes and shone brightly in a lone sheen of a gleam. “You're really nineteen?” She asked, although he was tall, massively tall, he still had a face of youth that was unmistakable.