Hikari listened without a word, without so much as a single emotion crossing her face as he spoke. Once he'd finish she remained silent for a few moments before sighing and finally responding, realizing that he had misunderstood much of what she had said. "I never said that I trust my allies, Kuro. I don't trust anyone. Not really. I don't refuse to use my abilities on my allies because I trust them, I refuse to use them because it's the right thing to do, and because I want to trust them, at least until they give me a reason not to." she explained. "But you misunderstand my meaning. When I said that I suspect you have a lot to hide, I didn't mean that in a negative way. We all have our own darkness to battle, our own burdens to bear and scars to carry, and yes, that most certainly does include me. Your personal secrets, however, are none of my concern, nor is it what I referring to. What you hide becomes my concern when it relates to a mission that I'm a part of. Now, you don't have to tell me what it is that you neglected to tell me before, but don't insult me by pretending you don't know what I'm talking about." she glanced at him momentarily, sighing before looking straight ahead once more. "I wasn't lying when I said I don't use my abilities on my allies. But I'll rephrase my statement to be more precise. I do not<span style="font-style: italic">intentionally</span>use my abilities on my allies. If I look at you when my eyes are active, even if I just briefly catch you in my line of sight as I look around, sometimes I see things. I can't always control that. I didn't intentionally use my abilities to see anything in you, and I stopped myself before I actually saw anything really worth while, because, as I said, I don't dig into the minds of my allies." her voice was level, her words matter of fact, trying to explain her meaning rather than argue a point.<br/><br/>She shook her head a little when he commented that he wasn't worried, and that she wasn't the only one with a strong mind. "Perhaps wondering would have been a better word choice." she shrugged. "I'm under no illusion that I am the only one with a strong mind. There are quite a few in Konoha alone, yourself included. Don't mistake my words for me underestimating you. I know more about your strength than you think I do." she didn't bother elaborating on this. "Underestimating someone and believing yourself to be stronger, in mind or otherwise, is never a wise move. Even the strongest minds have weaknesses." This was not necessarily aimed at him, it was simply a fact. She generally avoided making assumptions that she was stronger, in mind or otherwise, despite the fact that there weren't many who rivaled in strength, and even fewer who rivaled her intellect and mental strength. It was always better to assume your enemy was stronger. This way if you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised, and if you're right, you're prepared.<br/><br/>She knew he was technically stronger than her, he was physically stronger, and he had more power and more chakra than anyone she'd ever seen. She'd seen enough in the brief second she'd looked at him with her Issekigan to know this. She herself had more chakra than anyone without a tailed beast, and his chakra was even greater than hers, which was another clue for her. There was no denying that he was stronger than she was, despite how strong she was. She gathered that he didn't know that she knew this, but she didn't particularly care. He may be physically stronger than she was, and his mind might be strong, but strong though it may be, her mind was stronger, of that she was certain. She wouldn't underestimate him or the strength of his mind, as she never underestimated anyone, but this was one front on which she could beat just about anyone, and that included him.<br/><br/>"At any rate, I don't care to speculate who has the stronger mind, as it hardly matters. As I said, I have no intention of trying to get into your mind. I will not. You have my word on that, and I always keep my word. Whether or not you choose to believe me is your prerogative." she shrugged as she dropped her bag at the base of a nearby tree. She truly hasn't meant anything by her words before, other than to let him know that she had seen something but hadn't meant to and didn't plan to look into his mind again, and that she didn't appreciate being lied to. But of course, she wasn't necessarily always the best at talking with people. It didn't help that she hid her emotions, either, as there were no nonverbal cues or changes in her tone of voice to assist in communicating her meaning. She supposed she might have to try to do a little better, since he didn't know her well enough to understand that she was clearly nothing like he thought she was. But he had only just met her, and she wasn't exactly an open book, so she supposed that was understandable.<br/><br/>To his latter comment she looked at him and smiled, the first real smile she'd given him. "I don't have friends. It's easier that way." she spoke with a soft voice, this time she allowed him to see the honesty of her words, and somewhere inside her blue eyes there was a hint of sadness for a moment before she looked away from him. She took off her cloak and dropped it on top of her bag, no longer desiring to wear it, and not particularly caring, at this point, whether or not he saw the tattoo on her back. He would see the lower half of it below her shirt, which only came midway down her back, the blue wings of the tattoo covering most of her back and wrapping part of the way around her shoulders and sides. She glanced his way once more, her blue eyes searching his for a brief moment before turning away from him. "One more thing and I'm done. And I know I'm the last person who has any right to actually give this advice, so you can take it with a grain of salt." she paused for a brief moment, glancing back over her shoulder at him, her eyes meeting his once more. "Sometimes two minds are better than one, and sometimes answers are a lot easier to find with a little help." she gave him a knowing look before smiling a little, again, a genuine smile. "But I understand, probably better than anyone, how hard it is to trust. If you don't trust, then no one can let you down. After all, the only one you can truly count on is yourself." With those words she was gone.<br/><br/>She leapt through the trees, her mind wandering before she brushed the thoughts from her mind, reminding herself that she needed to clear her mind rather than trying to figure out what he was hiding or why. Or rather than trying to figure out the puzzle of who he was in general. If she wanted to solve a puzzle, she should focus on the mission. But she'd already put together all of the pieces she had. Until she had more information, there was nothing else to think about. At any rate, that wasn't the puzzle that interested her right now. This fact irked her. He did in general, really. His acerbic, blunt, cold attitude, the way he evidently misjudged her, everything, it all irked her. She hadn't really realized it before their most recent conversation. Then again, they'd hardly had anything resembling a conversation up until now. But why did any of it bother her? It shouldn't. She didn't care. And if she didn't care, it shouldn't bother her. It was terribly frustrating.<br/><br/>She huffed to herself and decided to do something that she didn't usually do when she was on a mission with someone else. But they were far enough away that the enemy couldn't see them. She doubted Arashi's byakugan was strong enough to see her all the way out here, even if he were looking, and she had put enough distance between herself and Kuro that he probably wouldn't see her, either. Not that it would matter much if he did. She called on the beast inside and released a pair of wings from her back. They were large, appeared to be made of chakra, and very much resembled ice. She spread the wings and flew up into the sky, high enough that she  was above the trees but low enough that no one would spot the large blue wings from a distance. Once she was above the trees she flew off in no particular direction, enjoying the feeling of freedom that flight brought, the wind in her hair, the sound of the wind rushing by her, the way all of her thoughts, her worries, and her cares melted away. For at least a moment she was happy, and a bright smile spread across her face and she flew over the trees without a care in the world.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Arashi noticed the color of the girl's cheeks, and how they almost matched the color of her hair, but he didn't pay much attention to it beyond the recognition of it. Instead listened as she explained what he happened, how she had gotten frightened and run, eventually causing her to trip and hit her head, knocking her out. She healed quickly, so it wasn't too surprising that she didn't have any kind of mark or scar to prove it. Still, something didn't sit right with him. The way she was positioned was strange for someone who had fallen, and he still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something outside of his range of vision when he'd found her. He had no proof, though, and he knew she wasn't lying. He decided to leave it be for now, given that she had no answers for him, and all he had was his own suspicion. "It's fine." he replied, dismissing her apology. "Let's just hope there won't be another situation where someone decides to leave you alone in the dark at night. Who knows what might happen next time." he joked, smiling lightly. "Are you hungry? We should get you something to eat. We have work to do and you need your strength." he offered.