A much needed escape

Kasumi had been away from home for quite a while now. Normally she would make sure to return at least once a month in order to keep herself firmly pinned to the real world, but this time it had been over three months before she returned. She had been doing some recon work in the far end of the Land of Lightning and it was taking a while to finally get home.

After months of pretending to be other people, disguising herself, making up lies about herself and even pretending to be herself whilst disguised as someone else, she had finally gone a little mad and was slowly losing grip of reality. In order to combat this, she was travelling home, officially classifying herself as off duty and had taken a quick stop in Konoha to relax a little.

Currently Kasumi was lowering herself into the hot spring, letting out a quiet sigh as she did so. There was only a few old ladies chattering away at the opposite side of the pool, seemingly paying no mind to her. This was probably best, as there had been some fairly angry voices in her head of late and they didn't like it when people talked about her.

Smiling contently, Kasumi lowered her body further into the pool, resting her head on the rocks behind her.

After a long week of grading papers and training students, Megumi was starting to feel a tad stressed. A few of her students had decided that they knew better than here and started disobeying orders, getting into fights and refusing to complete assignments. For all she loved these kids, it's was weeks like this that she really felt she needed a break. But, luckily for her, it was the weekend! Which meant a calming trip to the hot springs, some much needed peace and quiet.

After treating herself to a more indulgent breakfast than usual, Megumi felt her happy-go-lucky attitude returning and was now skipping into the changing room of the hot springs, removing her clothes and replacing them with a towel loosely wrapped around herself.

Humming to herself she approached the spring, taking note of those in it with her. A few old women that she knew from around the village, and one young girl she had never seen before. Smiling, she gave a little wave to the old women and hopped into the spring, throwing her towel to the side as she did. After a subtle glance over to the younger lady sitting not too far across from her, she smiled to herself closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth now spreading through her body.

Barely five minutes had passed before a rather chirpy young lady joined the pool. Kasumi grumbled to herself quietly, annoyed that said young lady had not just gotten in silently so as not to interrupt her peace. As she climbed in, Kasumi took a quick look over to the young woman and noted that she was obviously a shinobi as she was. Although currently, it was not obvious by her clothing, Kasumi could sense the woman's chakra and felt a certain aura coming from her. She seemed friendly enough, but there was power below that.

'What if she's come here for me?' Kasumi though to herself, taking a longer look at the young woman, who was now waving at the little old ladies, 'clearly just a happy rouse to fool me into thinking she's friendly..'

Shaking her head, Kasumi closed her eyes and rested her head back on the rocks, forcing herself to shut her thoughts up. If she wanted a nice quiet day, she could let those thoughts creep into her mind. This woman was obviously from the village and knew these old ladies. She had also not paid any attention to Kasumi herself, so why on Earth was there any reason to panic?

But then, Kasumi felt a gaze settle on here. Only for a moment, but she could tell. Like a flash, her eyes shot open and a steely gaze appeared on her face, now directed straight towards the green haired lady. "What do you want!?"

In her mind, Megumi had done nothing to provoke this young woman, yet she was currently receiving a rather peeved glare and being shouted at in an angry tone. Keeping her eyes closed for a moment in order to remain composed, Megumi turned her head and opened them, giving the girl a warm smile.

"Well...I wouldn't mind a cup of tea..but that's not what you're asking, is it?" She spoke in a soft tone, trying not to agrivate the situation further. Without giving it away, she began assessing the young girl, wondering what exactly was wrong with her to make her think Megumi was after her in some way.
The girl was obviously not of the hidden Leaf and seemed a little on edge. She had noticed the girls eyes darting around the spring as she had entered and was now curious as to whether this girl was maybe on the run.

The whole thing seemed like a lot of bother to be dealing with on her day off, but if this girl was a missing nin, Megumi would have to capture her. Alternatively, if she were in trouble, as always, Megumi would take it upon herself to help.

"Are you okay, sweetie? You seem a little stressed. I really don't mean you any harm."

Kasumi remained guarded, but failed to hide her shocked expression at the woman's reaction. The girl was not much older than herself, but was so calm in the face of threat. This was new to her. She tried to calm herself slightly after the girls second question and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"S-sorry.." She uttered, "I just..I've been away from home for a long time on missions and I haven't really interacted with people in a normal situation in a long time. I'm used to people just trying to attack me." Kasumi chuckled a little after finishing her sentence and sunk back into the water.
"Sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm Kasumi, by the way. I'll leave you in peace now and try to relax.."

Content with her reply, Megumi smiled and leaned back into the water, submerging herself up to her neck. "It's quite alright, sweetie. The hot springs should help you relax plenty. I always find they help relieve all of my stress after a hard week." She spoke quietly, not wanting to bother the old ladies anymore than they already had been.

Looking over to them, she noticed that they had stopped talking to each other and seemed a little worried about the stranger now. Unfamiliar people were often a huge threat around here, and this girl shouting at Megumi, the friendly academy teacher, sure made her seem like one.

Megumi was a little worried that this was going to cause more problems, but pushed the worries down, hoping that everyone would settle now that the girl had gone back to relaxing.

Kasumi let out a small sigh and closed her eyes, blocking out the voices in her head that were telling her those little old ladies were plotting something. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the birds were singing. How could she let that be ruined by some crazy made up thoughts?

About an hour or so passed, when Kasumi felt herself getting a little over-hot. The old ladies had left long ago, and a few new people had joined herself and the other young lady, but she felt it was definitely time to get out. Grabbing her towel from the side of the pool, Kasumi climbed out, wrapping it around herself and headed inside, feeling a lot happier than she had when she arrived.

after a loud grumble of her stomach and Kasumi scurrying out of the changing room in embarassment, she stood outside of the hot springs, looking around as if searching for a nearby restaurant.