She wandered into the cemetery, tired and longing for some inner peace for herself. Having had to hold back her tears for an hour thirty, she filled in some nice little paperwork and got a nice little Hinowagakure headband and became a nice, little, normal person. Oh, she reunited with her family; briefly. None of them really cared that much about her, they were oh so SURE she was pretty safe with that many kages. Only a bit of trouble, without kages. We DO need leaders after all, so the conference should fix our problems right up!

Ahahaha. AHAHAHA! Funny, because apparently, Korigakure was PERFECTLY FINE without a goddamn leader. It was razed to the ground, sure. But it didn't exactly have the damn decency to stay down, now did it? No, it turns out that three wonderful people with amazing contributions to society just so happened to be there, and fix the village right up like it was nothing but a little scratch on the kneecaps. Nah, wasn't the crazy lunatic who's so damn selfish that he just HAD to indulge himself in burning a village down to make a damn point that was too much. Nothing's EVER too much for the great motherland, apparently! Just fix it all up, no damn problem!

None of that was really the problem. The PROBLEM, was that this wasn't home. She wasn't the kage's aide anymore, grumbling about her lazy-ass, idiot boss who got zero amounts of shits done. She wasn't as carefree as she was either. Hell, she didn't even know the damn street names around her fucking house anymore! Everything's fucking changed too much, not because the village was burnt down, because the village was rebuilt.

Nobody gets it, now do they? You should TOTALLY be okay with Hinowagakure, because it shows the endurance and power of our people! Bitch, she's alienated because there are people who she doesn't even know the damn FACE of running her village, and that the entire climate changed! That she came back, ready to bawl and cry and retreat to another village, just to find out, 'oh, okay, we're fine because they're awesome!' God damn it, this wasn't the same, she wasn't used to this, she just wanted to go home and fix it all. But she couldn't because home is in the past.

To top it all off, friends, classmates, hell, the people she goddamn despised are all dead. There's that too. Nobody seems to care, either, there's just a stupid funeral of whatever ashes they found around their last known spot buried in dirt! All her friends were dead to her, be them cremated or just plain apathetic. None of this makes sense, she was so confused, what did she sign up for.

She's not her, anymore. This isn't her home, anymore. Nobody cares anymore. She's no kage's aide, she doesn't know where she even lives, she's no experienced genin, hell, her damn files probably got wiped as MIA or something. For all intents and purposes, she might just be a greenhorn cadet once again. She didn't have a past anymore, as there was no Korigakure anymore. Nothing is the same, and it's all just a series of senseless confusion in which change came too fast and too strong for her.

Juno wobbled forward sat down on a wooden bench, eyes cloudy at this confusing train of thoughts, mouth twisted into a sorrowful frown, face looking like she just committed her first murder, and it was messy. God, she didn't know what to think now, what to believe in. Her whole life of bloody-yet-casual winters and the comfort of snow on bruises just fell apart around her, recreated in some sick and twisted fantasy of hot springs, rainbows and happiness. Gripping her used Kori headband and putting the mint-new Hinowa headband on the seat, she just squeezed the headgear in her fist, tucked her head into her arms and legs, and cried deeply, ever so unknowing, ever so scared, of what the hell happened next. Normally, she was ready for any situation, but there comes a limit for an exceptional genin to break into pieces.

Kurai had been through a lot since settling here in the newborn village of Hinowa. His family had wandered around from here to there, from rat hole inn to trashy hotel for years. Upon finding a new home here, where there was previously another village altogether before being destroyed by criminals from The land of Shadows, Kurai had easily proven that he would let no harm come to this place. Alongside training and mastering a number of very powerful techniques and becoming Hinowa's first Jinnchuuriki, he'd almost single handedly driven off an entire criminal organization.

Kurai had encountered many in his brief time here in the Land of Volcanoes, including old and wise merchants, become acquaintances with one of those who ran this new village, and also bullies who were survivors of Korigakure. He and his twin sister had taught these bullies a hard lesson they'd never soon forget. Kurai had never come across one such as this girl here, sitting in the cemetery, crying her eyes out. Perhaps she was one of the residents of the former village and lost family when the white haired kid with the Phoenix sealed within him nuked Kori? Perhaps some of the bullies had picked on her? Kurai didn't know and wasn't one to prod.

Sensitive ears made so by Enhanced Hearing did happen to pick up on her muffled sounds of crying though, and he couldn't help but to wonder what was wrong as he sat crouched nearby the wooden bench that Juno sat upon. Kurai, if she took notice, was a skinny kid of 15, bare foot, wearing a black body suit with straps that hung loose at certain points. He had pale skin, red eyes and wild, uncombed black hair that stuck out all over the place. Kurai had a blank expression on his face, yet those red eyes of his were glancing over toward her direction.

Nearby Kurai was a brown monkey that stood about 3 feet high. Crouched somewhat like Kurai was, even it seemed concerned about the weeping girl sitting on the bench. Had she been bullied? There were no signs of any others in the vicinity. Kurai didn't want to come off as creepy or nosy, although he'd probably already failed at that. It was just that he saw himself as this village's protector, and had someone done bad by the girl, he was prepared to beat this person or persons into submission.

”...”

Oh, god, now there was somebody staring. She could sense the man with her abilities, it was no doubt that he was fixated on the crying little girl on a damn bench. He had a giant amount of chakra, making him something like a jinchuuriki or a kage, so she couldn't just spit acid at him. So, instead, she just looked up at him, glaring daggers with bloodshot eyes and tears still trickling down her face. Her face was calm and diplomatic enough, it's just that there was a certain feeling in her eyes. Unknowlingly, the Kori symbol on her headband was tilted enough to be noticeable.

"The fuck do you want, mate? I've been having a horrid day already, so don't bloody try me." She questioned him between her teeth with her normal British accent. One of her legs had unconsciously been let out of it's fetal position, her foot planted firmly to the ground. The hand in which she held her Kori headband in had it's arm rested upon the still tucked-in leg, and the other hand was near her bow Faust, which was placed upon her back.

The day had already been bad enough already for Juno. If this fool tried to attack her or ridicule her for 'not being there in Kori's time of need', she was going to rip him a new one, be him kage or jinchuuriki or the most powerful shinobi in the world. Putting the scared little girl away for now, she tried to keep face around another soldier; a face that was wobbly and fragile at the moment, but a strong face nonetheless. Ninja shouldn't show weakness, especially at their weakest point.

Subconsciously Kua make a snort noise. ”Well now. The manners on this one...”
He'd mentally say to Kurai.

And mentally Kurai would answer: ”Who can blame her. Those villains in Makkura, this is their fault...”

She was from Kori. Maybe she'd lost family in that blast; thus the reason she was in this cemetery. Obviously no bullies, thugs or gangsters had picked on her. At what she said, and her hand near the weapon on her back, Kurai's expression didn't change, nor did he even bat an eye. The monkey, seeming to understand totally what she said, gave a disgusted huffing sound, frowning. Kurai looked away from Juno to the monkey and shook his head.

This girl was having a bad time, and Kurai wasn't going to add to them. The good neighbor thing wasn't going to work. He stood up to his full height; his bones giving off several pops from the strain of extreme training. With a head motion Kurai signaled for the monkey to follow him while turning and heading for the exit. He was all too familiar with wanting to be left alone. After another strange sound, the monkey turned and scrambled off after it's owner.

\Exit unless prevented\

Wait... bloody hell, was that a monkey? What the hell would a monkey be doing with a guy like that anyways? And the bones popping on him... she'd heard that from anyone who'd trained too hard, back in her time in Kori. That shit was real. Maybe... maybe, he'd know a bit about the place. He'd earned her attention, and her inner instincts rose from the dark pool of vexation and loathing, pounding her in the head to ask him about her surroundings and threats. Maybe he'd know something about this new world she's been so confused in.

"H-Hey..." She got off of the bench. Weakly, she took a step towards him, her eyes still bloodshot, but not quite clouded as much as they were. "...I just got back to Hinowa. I was at the conference, see. C-Could..." The genin hesitated, her voice shaky. 'Man up, bitch! You gotta make the move, play with what cards that asshole called fate gave you! Bloody move!' She steeled herself, putting away the drama for a moment. "Could you tell me what's changed here? I can bloody see the volcanoes and grass that I had no idea existed, but... you know, anything too important?"

Her previous anxiety and current warming of the body also seemed to wake Panzer up, her stalwart snake. The gold-and-black reptile slithered down her back and popped out the back of her shirt, making himself look like her serpentine tail. It looked straight at the monkey, eyes blank and mouth closed, the taciturn being having just got up.

As Kurai neared the exit to the cemetery, he could hear the girl behind him speak up again. He stopped walking and turned to look at her while standing sideways. She wanted to know what happened here, and said she was at the summit that took place in Niwa. Kurai himself knew of this summit, but this was before he had a village of his own to call home; when he and his family were constantly on the move.

He thought about what to say to her. A snake came out of her shirt and looked at Little Kong, making him instantly take a Kung-Fu stance. Kurai looked down at him, then back to Juno. ”...It's to my understanding that villains came here from a village called Makkuragakure, located in The Land of Shadows,” Kurai said to her. ”I don't know the whole story... Something happened at that summit that caused the leader of their criminal organization, a blind man that has white hair, living clothes and strange powers in his eyes, and his son, who has an ancient phoenix sealed inside of him, to travel here... I'm told someone else was here too, killing people and performing acts of cannibalism. I don't know if they all fought, or if they were allies, but in the end it was the phoenix child that created an attack so powerful and super heated that it destroyed the village, created this lake, and re-activated the volcanoes that surround the lake... The 3 heads of the village, Kouki, Mizuko and Isao... They... did something to create this island we're standing on. What exactly? I have no idea.”

Kurai looked off into the distance. He made tight fists with both hands; several knuckles popping in unison.”...Were those villain people from Makkura ever to return here... They won't get the chance to ruin this place again...” That much he was sure of. He'd trained too hard to let someone come wipe out this place again for the fun of it, and he still had much to learn yet. Ordinarily, Kurai never talked so much, especially to someone he didn't know, but the girl was in a bad mood, probably having lost loved ones in that attack, and she deserved an explanation...

Nodding, she took in the exact situation. So, it was a few bastards with a power complex and most likely daddy issues, huh? As Juno closed her eyes to think of what to do, the Russian Ratsnake wormed around in her shirt, trying to get a bit cozy from waking up. It hissed as it wrapped around her arm like a spring, it's head coming from the lower part of her sleeve.

"M-Makkuragakure, huh?" She asked rhetorically, opening her eyes to look at the man tiredly, still trying to snap out of her crisis. Inside, she was churning with feelings. She knew the culprit, that much was good. And she'd met this Mizuko lady before, in fact, straight before the conference. However, that feeling of 'this is not where she is safe' still dwelled, and she was still confused. "Let's hope you keep that promise, because god only knows I didn't." Not self-pity, it's the truth. Hopefully, this person was more capable than her current state.

She begun to try and piece herself together inside, staying silent for an important few moments. It wasn't home at all, yeah, but you've gotta find a new one. The most probable one would be here. Just adapt and survive, Juno, it's what you've been taught to do, it's what you should do. "W-Well..." She blinked and started walking forward, past the man. She needed to be alone for a bit. "I... I've gotta go somewhere, I think. Get a new house," Because she wants alone time. "Do some missions," Because she needed a bit of money to get her necessities. "..." She paused in her step, thinking about her priority to top it all off, and, in the process, also fixing herself up quite well.

What's the most important thing she had to do now that she was in Hinowagakure? Probably not mope about how this isn't her home, she can save that for later. She probably had to dry her tears and move on, like all the elderly shinobi and people do. She had to do her job, she had to enjoy life, and hell, why not do both at the same time? Manning up and steeling her resolve, allowing it to take over, she tossed her alienation and confusion to the curb and started being a ninja. "...Kick some ass."

And with that, she [exit]ed the cemetery.