If there was one thing you needed to know about Kin Tsuchi, it was that she was as normal as you could get: pretty, but jaw-dropping gorgeous; a bit on the short admittedly; average grades (and obsessively working to improve); had a small, well-paying job after school and on the weekends; not particularly popular (matter of fact, you could go as far as to say she was utterly invisible).

Much like Kin, every day was more or less normal. She'd go to school, study during lunch, work after school, study some more at home, and that was it. It was boring, and she ached for something different to come along and stir things up just once.

It was on one such boring day that Kin got her wish, though she wouldn't realize for quite some time later. It started one day after school, when she just getting out of class. It had been an especially boring school day, despite their sensei Kakashi allowing the class to leave early so he could catch the newest 'Icha Icha' movie premiering that evening.

'What to do with the extra time?' Kin pondered. Her boss at work wouldn't likely let her start early; as the owner of the neighboring store – 'Bees Knees Music' – knew she was underage to be working, causing her boss to be extremely wary of her working hours there. But what could she do? She did not want to hang around school for a half an hour, yet by the time she would get home to study, it'd be time to leave for work.

Kin was so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't noticed the running figure heading straight towards her until she was knocked back onto the floor.

"Ow! Hey watch where you're going!" she snapped. When her eyes fell on who she had snapped at though, she instantly stiffened and jumped to help them up and gather the books they had dropped.

"S-sensei Kurenai! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!"

Kurenai sighed as she brushed herself off.

"That's fine, I shouldn't have been running. Have you seen Rock Lee by any chance? I think he's in your class."

Kin shook her head. Sadly for Kurenai, Lee had advanced into a higher class just last week, and Kin hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of the boy since then. Kurenai looked a little disappointed.

"Oh, well, what about Tenten? I know for sure she's in your class."

Again, Kin shook her head. True, they were in the same class, but as far as Kin knew, Tenten had gone off with one of the clubs she was in (archery, was it? she couldn't quite remember) for a tournament, so wasn't in class that day.

Kurenai sighed dejectedly.

"And I can't find Aburame-san or Inuzuka-san," she muttered under her breath. Her eyes became focused ground as Kurenai looked to be thinking to herself.

Kin shifted uncomfortably, looking up and down the school halls for an excuse to end this awkward exchange with her sensei. Deciding it was best to say a polite 'goodbye' and just walk away, she turned to leave.

"Um...well… bye sen-"

"Wait!"

Kin froze mid-step. What could the older woman possibly want from her now?

Turning back towards her sensei, Kin couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She was far too used to being the ignored girl sitting in the corner, so the fact that a teacher of people was calling out to her…. well it couldn't mean something good now could it?

Gulping silently, Kin forced herself to look directly at Kurenai.

"I need someone to drop off some books at the Hyūga household for two of my students. Do you know where that is?"

Kin wanted to sigh in relief, but didn't dare to.

'I'm not in trouble! What a relief!' she thought to herself. 'But why is she asking me this? Of course I don't know where the Hyūga household is!'

Shaking her head slightly, Kin gave her teacher an apologetic look.

Kurenai sighed again for the umpteenth time. Wordlessly, she shoved the books in her hands into Kin's arms, making the poor girl instinctively grab the heavy pile. She was about to remind her sensei that she just said she didn't know where to go, when she noticed the woman frantically searching through her bag. Curious, Kin kept quiet. Finally, Kurenai's hand emerged from the massive hand bag clutching a small piece of wrinkled paper. Pressing it into Kin's already occupied fingers, she explained what it was.

"The Hyūga household is at 54 River Creek, a few streets down from a small shopping district. This is the address in case you forget. I'm sorry to do this, but I have somewhere I need to be, and it appears everyone who already knows where the Hyūgas live have disappeared off somewhere. I'll be sure to make this up to you."

"B-but –"

"Thank you Kin-chan! I knew you were a good girl!"

With that, Kurenai dashed off to wherever it was she apparently needed to be, leaving a confused and slightly annoyed Kin Tsuchi in her wake.

Shifting the pile of books in arms, she silently cursed whatever Godly force was out there mocking her.

"Life just keeps getting better and better!" she groaned.

()

Kin had arrived at the Hyūga residence in record time. Luckily for her, the address Kurenai sensei had given her was actually nearby where she worked (as the store she worked in was a part of the 'small shopping district' she had mentioned), so she was able to find it easily enough.

Ringing the doorbell, she let her eyes take in the scenery. The Hyūga house was quite pretty, and very big, despite being situated in a growing city. The front garden alone was massive with various trees planted randomly around it, and flowers of every color lined the path leading directly to the front door. It was kind of….cute. Kin was surprised she hadn't come across this part of town house before, considering how close it was to her work.

After what felt like ages (but couldn't have been more than a few minutes), the front door finally creaked opened, revealing a cute, long-haired girl in a nightgown with the strangest, prettiest eyes Kin had ever seen. The girl couldn't have been older than eight.

"Yes?" the pupil-less girl asked. Kin couldn't help but stare.

"I'm to drop off these books," Kin explained, shuffling the books in question as she spoke.

The girl nodded, opened the door for kin to step in. Placing the heavy pile on a small side table by the doorway, she stretched out her sore arms. The books Kurenai had given (aka, shoved at) Kin were heavy, and carrying them for so long had made her arms and hands sore.

"I think these are for Kurenai's students. Tell them their stuff for school is here and to get back to class please. I don't want to have to do this every day," she told the small girl. She nodded.

"Alright. Can you please stay here for a minute?"

Kin shrugged and nodded. She had plenty of time to get to work, and already was pretty close by, so there was no need to go rushing off. Plus, she was curious to see what the cute little kid wanted to show her. She would rather die than admit it, but she had a soft spot for children.

Almost as quickly as the little girl had rushed off, she was back again. Only this time, she wasn't alone. A tall, seemingly middle-aged man was following the child. He was clearly her father, as he shared many similar characteristics with his daughter, namely the pale pupil-less eyes that Kin found so fascinating. He had quite an intimidating air about him that Kin did not want to get close to.

"My youngest daughter tells me you're here for my eldest daughter and nephew?" His tone and speech were both steady and clam, yet even a blind man could feel the homicidal waves of anger rolling off of him.

Kin quickly shook her head. She didn't know who this guy was, but he didn't look happy, and Kin most certainly did not want to be on the receiving end of his temper.

"Ah… no. I-I'm just dropping some books off for them. K-Kurenai sensei asked me to."

The man sucked in a small breath before continuing the conversation (if you could call it that. It felt more like a confrontation in Kin's opinion.)

"I wasn't aware they hadn't been attending school, -"

Opps. She hadn't known that.

"- are you in their class?"

"N-no sir, just d-dropping off books, like I said."

The man in front of her nodded his understanding.

"May I have your name?"

"Uh, Tsuchi Kin."

"Hyūga Haishi. Thank you Tsuchi-san, and my apologies for the trouble. I will see to it that this incident is not repeated. Take this as compensation for having to go out of your way." Haishi pulled what must have been at least eight hundred yen* from his pockets, making Kin's eyes go wide.

"Ah, n-no! That's okay! I have a job so I'm fine!"

Haishi paused and eyed her warily.

"I wasn't aware my nephew's school permitted students to work," he said slowly, almost cautiously. If it hadn't been for the look in his eye no-one would have guessed that he was grilling her.

"Ah… yeah, it does. I work at the art supplies store in the shopping district near here. It's really nice and pays well. My only friend is their best customer and I'm one of only two employees, not including my boss." She was rambling. Why was she rambling? Was she seriously that intimidated by this guy? She needed to leave, now, before she made a bigger fool of herself than she had already.

"We-ell I need to go! Nice meeting you two and have a nice day!"

With that, Kin was out the door, down the garden path, through the garden gates and off in the direction she had come from.

Haishi and his daughter – Hyūga Hanabi – simply stood there and stared at the spot the odd girl had occupying mere moments ago.

Hanabi was the first to break the silence.

"She forgot her money," she pointed out. Haishi looked down at the money still in his hand, before stuffing it back into his pocket.

"I'll have Neji give it to her when he gets home."

Hanabi cocked her head to side as she looked at her father.

"You look kinda scary when you're mad."

"Good, I should do. Now go take your medicine and tell me when they get home." Haishi stomped out the room and made his way to his home office, angrily slamming the door close as he did so. Hanabi winced at the sheer volume of the noise.

'Poor, poor ane and itoko**,' she thought to herself. 'You two are going to get it when you get home.'

- eight hundred yen should roughly equal to ten dollars, last time I checked at least.

- 'ane' Is apparently the proper honorific for referring to one's own older sister, likewise 'itoko' is for older male cousins. I wanted to keep to the proper use of honorifics as this story had a modern-day setting. I would expect the Hyūgas to be a rather traditional clan, I thought they would refer to each other with the proper honorifics, even when not in each other's presence.