Disclaimer: we all know i dont own naruto but i'm speculateing that itachi might...o.O but Ardent and her people are all mine!!!! oh the glories of power!

ANN:muwhahahaaha...yes well im sooooooooo very sorry it took for ever to get this up but my 'H' keys not working on the laptop and the other computer doesnt have this version of word so...yeah plese report any and all errors to me...Kiba, Ardent? any words for our peeps? - hehe i just said peeps my moms doing it all the time so i wanted to try it...-

Kiba: uh...yea. well. hey?

Ardent:Oh yes your terribly articulate are'nt you? don't mind the loser.

Kiba: HEY!

Ardent: woops did i say that out loud?! -insert evil laughter-

Kiba: - sticks tounge out and pouts -

ANN: And thats what i have to work with...along with that damn 'H' key!

ANN: well enjoy...i guess

"Ardent?" I herd mother call anxiously as I gently closed the small back door to our little cottage.

It grated on me how she was constantly worrying about me. I mean come on I was a fourteen year old academy student with my ninja graduation exam tomorrow. I would soon be a full fledged ninja, there fore considered an adult in the eyes of the villagers and able to move out on my own, tough I could not even consider moving because of the delicate situation with hidden in the valley's finances mother and I barely paid the bills

. Another reason that a job as a ninja was good for me and mine was because of our blood line trait, as Inuzuka's we were able to commune with dogs, and they with us, forming an effective bond that was exceedingly useful to ninja.

"Arf!" I looked down at my black and gray dappled puppy angrily.

"I know she means well! It's just some times she's just a bit..." I said trailing off, lamely, at a loss for words.

My young ninja dog in training looked up at me with sad eyes.

"Ardent? Is that you?" the slightly frantic voice of my mother called from somewhere to the front of our humble cottage.

Sighing in defeat I answered imprudently "Yes mother you know it is. I always arrive home from academy at this time every day."

I made my way to my small bed room and grabbed a scroll on dog style tai jutsus, my specialty, from one of my many cramped shelves lining the walls of my room before flopping down on my sleeping place.

"Snappish today are we?" my mother asked entering my room and leaning lazily against my door frame. I looked up from the reading of my scroll.

"Dear don't think about the test tomorrow. You will pass. I remember my first exam I was so nervous, and now look at me, I'm a chunin!" she said encouragingly, as she absent mindedly flicked a shaggy piece of shining brown hair away from her face.

Sometimes I found myself wondering just how a mother and daughter could look so different and still be related so closely. The resemblances stopped at the fang shaped red tattoos on our cheeks, marking us as Inuzuka. Her brown gold hair fell in a shaggy mass to her shoulders and her eyes were the color of freshly turned earth, she had tanned skin stretched over a tall lithe frame, how I envied her, my own reddish hair and dirt colored eyes rimed in a milky green, pale skin, and my anything but slight build were no match for her.

"Mother I don't think that's going to be enough. The village's financial situation is getting worse each week and they have only been promoting children from academy to genine from influential families in hopes of help in the money department. And lets face it almost every clan in the valley have more pull in the village than we do, were the only inuzuka for hundreds of miles!" I said voicing the worry that had been festering in me for quite some time now.

Mothers face fell. "Oh. Well. Good night." She said weakly before turning to leave.

Mother's large black dog, Malaku, turned to me and Growled 'good luck' before turning to fallow his master.

"Wow mal never said anything that kind before to me I feel special." I grumbled getting out of my bed and waking to the shelves looking for some basic ninjutsu and genjutsu scrolls to study.

Flopping down on the giant pile of furs that served as Kire, my dog, and mines sleeping pallet, I broke the seals that I had placed on he scrolls when I studied them previously, and I began reviewing the basics, though I had long since progressed onto much harder material. I went over and over them in my head Until Finally I collapsed on top of the scrolls and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Morning

I awoke blinking as bright golden yellow sunlight streamed in a solitary window above my bed and fell across me. I pushed my self up on my elbows to discover some one had replaced the scrolls to their shelves and flipped me onto my side in a comfortable position then covered me with a fur from the pile.

i was quietly admireing the view out my high window of gorgeous azure sky then I remembered. Today is the exam to see if I could pass as a genine.

I was contemplating barrowing my self further into my furs and sleeping the day away when i herd Kire bark, "Arf" telling me to get out of bed and get ready. I futilely tried to ignore her by snuggling deep down into my bed. She rolled on top of me and dug her sharp canines into my right arm. She pulled at me, lengthening and deepening the cuts.

Finally, when I could stand it o longer, I jumped out of bed, shaking kire off, and glanced at the clock stuffed haphazardly onto a self. Six o'clock it flashed tauntingly at me in neon green numerals. Great three flipping hours till the academy opened. This is what you get when your internal clock is set to annoy.

I glanced around the room looking for suitable clothing for the day. I spotted and ordinary shirt in a corner folded atop a set of anatomy scrolls and a pair of relatively clean looking Capri's hanging from a misplaced nail on the top row of shelves, luckily I found no hole visible in them.

I ran to the small bathroom mother and I shared and threw my clean cloths into a pile and began striping o my dirty ones. I jumped into the glass shower and turned the water on the hottest highest setting possible. I scrubbed vigorously at my skin, Inuzuka's share the sense of smell of their canine counterparts there fore we cannot stand powerful smells (i.e. body odor).

I washed and rinsed my hair thoroughly; if I wasn't careful soap would stay in my tick hair and make it all itchy.

I leapt out of the shower and grabbed a large fluffy white towel from the cabinet under the sink and secured it carefully around myself. I brushed my teeth and combed al the tangles out of my hair before braiding it.

Done with that I dropped the towel and began dressing. I had a plain black sports bra and matching boy shorts, a plain grey tee-shirt and some black Capri's made of a soft light weight material.

I was not a hundred percent sure every thing was clean but it didn't smell horrible meaning it must be clean, the inuzuka motto.

Adding some tight bandages around my wrists and left thigh, to store a kunai, I was completely ready for the day.

I raced back to my room and grabbed my short black fighting sandals and ran to the back door whistling for kire. I sat down on the yellowing kitchen tiles by the back door and pulled the cloth up on my shoes.

As kire came into the kitchen I got up and opened the door and held it open allowing kire to leap past me into the yard. Once she was out I shut the door careful to lock it behind us.

We arrived at the academy entrance with a half an hour to spare. I took my seat in the back left corner, kire fell to the floor close by to catch up on her sleep probably, and I began to nervously go over every technique I had ever known in my head, wondering what the test would be on.

About twenty minutes after we had arrived I was startled out of my revvie by kire warning growl. I saw her looking towards the door and swung my head in the same direction and saw why she had risen in hostility.

Yamasaki Kevil, the guy every girl in our year swooned over, the guy every one looked up to because he was from the richest clan in valley, the guy that had been my lead tormentor since before academy years.

His beautiful grey green eyes swept the room before he entered and upon seeing me they lit with excitement.

He waltzed into the room and as close to me as he dared get with kire in the room, he had learned to fear my little pup from past experiences.

"Why bother showing up at all, Inuzuka. We all know your going to fail this exam your hardly cut out to be a ninja." He said with a sneer.

My temper flared.

"Say that again Gaki and ill kick your ass so hard your mothers going to feel it!" I growled in outrage jumping to my feet and gripping the desk, so hard my knuckles molted white, to keep me from launching my self at him and pummeling him to pieces.

He just laughed at me. "Yeah right! If you could do that you would have along time ago!" he jeered.

I herd a loud crack and looked down at the desk to see a large crack traveling between my hands.

I had never fought him before even when he deserved it for fear his family would have us thrown out of hidden in the valley for good but in that instant I forgot all that, I forgot our family's I forgot every thing but his face and my fist.

I threw my self over the desk and planted my fist in his face sending im flying into the wall, arms flailing and legs kicking and thrashing about, at the front of the room.

I looked down at my fist in shock; there were traces of blood from where my fist had connected with his nose.

Only now did I realize what I had just done, by my actions alone my mother and I, in the best of circumstances, would be chased from the village. I had just ruined my mother's life and mine.

I turned towards the door again as I herd a gasp of shock. In the door way stood our sensei, Hanilzumo Varimuro, her mouth agape.

"In-Inuzuka! Out out out! Get out of my class room and do not return. I do not tolerate fighting." She shrilled advancing further in the room and walking over to Kevil's limp form.

"But today's the final exam! I've worked as hard as anyone else!" I said quietly trying to push tears back.

"Go to your home! You are never going to be a ninja! You'll be lucky if no one presses charges." She screamed looking up at me from over his limp body, spittle flecking her mouth and cheeks.

The tears spilled over and ran down my face as I ran out the door pushing chakra into my legs so I could get home as fast as possible.

I could barely see tears so blurred my vision, and I nearly smashed into dozens of trees on the way but I some how shortened the two hour walk from town to my house down to a thirty minute dash, kire racing beside me the whole way excited by this unexpected, but welcome, chance to run.

Faintly I could hear muffled cries in the clearing ahead of us, where our house was located, and I signaled to kire to slow down. We came to a stop just behind a large tree out side the clearing to our house.

I peered around the edge of the tree and saw mother, she lay face down in the middle of our yard huddled in a ball sobbing, Malaku hovered anxiously around her, whining and attempting to find what had done this to her.

Kire and I rushed over and I knelt down.

"Mother?" I asked quietly shaking her shoulders a bit, trying to get her to look up.

"Ardent?" she replied slumping her shoulders foreword on to me, still staring at the ground.

"Yes mother I am here. Are you hurt? What's wrong?" I asked still a bit frantic, mother had never cried before what would cause my rock solid mother to brake down?

"we-well I lost the house." She whispered leaning over on me as a tear dripped off the tip of her nose.

"What are you talking about its right here!" I said confused and now worried about mothers mental state.

"No not exactly like that. I haven't got the last two months rent paid and well that's not all." She chocked a bit, sobs wracking her body as more tears cascaded down her face.

"The mizokage wants us to leave the village hidden in the valley. By tomorrow." She finished before braking in to uncontrollable sobs again.

I stared at the ground in shock.

"Wh-why are you home so early? Did you pass? If you did I swear to find a way to stay here in valley. It's not like we have anywhere to go any way." Mother said collecting her self after a minute or so.

I sat back on my heels hard. All that had happened today was finally sinking in, I was not a ninja, I had no home, and my village had requested that we leave, immediately.

"Honey?" mother asked worry seeping in her voice.

"It's going to be fine. Were going to be all right." She said as she reached over to hug me, stroking my hair.

I allowed the ministrations for only a moment before backing out of her arms and growling "No! It won't!" then I explained to her what had happened this morning and how it was my fault we had to leave.

"So you see it's all my fault!" I cried turning to where kire had lain down and pressed my face into her fur, tears soaking her through.

"There's no way news could travel that fast honey so it can't be your fault! We just can't afford living here anymore." Mother admitted softly.

"Grarf" Malaku coming from mothers side to mine.

"Mal's right mother we've got to go pack our things so we can be gone by tomorrow night." I said standing slowly.

"Were will we go?" mother asked also getting to her feet.

I only thought a moment before deciding "Kohona" I said confidently. It was, after all, the village native to our clan, and from what I herd a very rich nation indeed.

Two weeks and four thousand miles later

"Mother? My map scroll indicates that kohona should be just ahead, in the next clearing possibly." I called a head to mother, after carefully examining the map and conferring with kire.

The trip had been long and difficult we were low on money and food but e just might make it.

"Yes dear I know I am originally from kohona." Mother said tiredly with out looking back.

"Well lets race!" I yelled a head stuffing the scroll in my pack and pausing chakra into my feet in preparation.

"Wait kire! Ardent! Don't ru-" was all we could hear as we raced ahead toward kohona, our new home.

I herd a dull thunk but did not turn to find what had made the noise for just then giant gates towered into view. When we reached the gates I stopped and stared moment before raising my hand to knock the code mother had taught me. Once hard once soft twice hard twice soft again. The code was supposed to mean 'no harm, friend' or something of the sort.

The gates didn't crack an inch but suddenly a change in air pressure behind me alerted me to a foreign presence. I spun around a kunai in my hand held out in a protective stance.

Two men with kohona hai-ate on their foreheads stood behind me, also in fighting stances. "Who is there?" they asked in unison.

Mother chose that moment to come into the clearing.

"The ninjas Inuzuka Unari and daughter Inuzuka Ardent, and ninja dogs formerly of the village hidden in the valley beg for entrance and acceptance into the village hidden in the leaves." Mother said quite formally, in a rehearsed way, as if she had practiced it all the way here so her voice would not shake with nerves.

"Inuzuka's eh? Well isn't that convenient. The inuzuka clan leader is away on a mission currently there fore unable to test you for clan hood." The first man said with suspicion pouring from his voice as he glared at us.

" You'll just have to wait here till she comes back, in a day or so." Man number two said gently.

"That's fine!" mother said, lying through her teeth. I knew for a fact we didn't have enough food for us let alone our dogs.

Mother bowed and turned, walking away.

I stayed, waiting till she was out of ear shot to ask "may I have permission to hunt kohona woods for food purposes?"

they glanced at one another, man one shrugged and the other man said "of course, just be careful little missy" apathetically before they both jumped away.

I turned my head toward kire and we both grinned wide predatory grins, fresh kill, was the only thing going through our minds.

Kire and I raced off fallowing mother's chakra trail into a small willow grove. Mother already had her tent set up and she was lying in the grass, belly down arms crossed under her chin eyes closed, on the springy forest floor.

"Mother?" I asked quietly so as not to disturb her if she was truly asleep.

"Ardent?" was her reply, she had not even opened her eyes she must truly be weary.

"We have permission to for food here in hidden leaf grounds." I said slowly. At this she cracked an eye open to look me over.

"Wonderful. You and kire go ahead Malaku and I will be along later." She intoned with a weary sigh.

"That's alright mother. Kire and I will get some for you and Malaku can find his own." I said trying to be helpful, the journey really had been a long one for mother and it was starting to wear on her.

"Are you sure?" she asked propping her self up on her elbows and looking at me with question.

"I mean you don't even have your tent up yet, ardent." She added concern clouding her voice.

"Its fine mother. I had planned on sleeping under the stars anyway." I said leaving off the part about it being in a tent. With that kire and I turned and walked off into the woods.

Kire took in a deep whiff of air once we were safely away from camp and almost immediately scented out to hearts in very opposite directions. "Arf" she commented, telling me tat the one to the right was older than the one to the left.

"Well then let's go right, it might be a smaller beast but it will be quiet a bit more tender."

With that said we both bound off into the trees, eagerly anticipating the fresh meats that await us ahead. I crouched low to the ground than leapt up pushing chakara into my hands and feet to cling to the underside of a branch, kire fallowed my example.

I saw a faint flicker of movement in a bush on our far left. I signaled to kire and we pounced at it at the same time. We hit the young buck at the same time, our force sent I keeling over onto the damp forest floor. As it hit the ground kire and I both moved to clamp our jaws on his throat at the same time. Before it could even squeal a death cry we applied enough pressure to kill it.

I stood up and wiped a trickle of blood from my lips. I surveyed our kill, kire stood by patiently awaiting my signal. The buck was any thing but the small young animal I had assumed we would find, its huge torso was two times the size of my own body and its large antlers were at least seven strong on each side.

"Guess we made a good choice, only now we have to get it back to mother at our camp." I said rubbing the bridge of my nose; deep in thought as to how we would move such a large beast all the way back to camp.

"Arf?" kire asked.

"Well" I said considering it "I guess it's worth a try." Due to the fact that I could think of no alternative way to transport our huge prey.

I set about up rooting saplings, only using a minimal amount of chakara, and stripping them of there bark. When I believed I had enough for our purposes I began to tie the trunks together using the bark I had striped them of in a mildly sled like fashion. I left two poles sticking out, one for kire and one for myself to pull with. We both pushed what was left of our chakara into our legs, so or walk back to camp, now burdened with our food, would go more quickly.

We arrived, after many difficulties and slip ups, at camp about an hour later. Mother now lay curled on her side, now, snoring slightly, only a slight in take of breath, by Malaku, whom had a small bundle of feathers, clamped tightly in his paws that he was gnawing on.

I dropped my pole and began shuffling about starting a fire, to heat up the portion of food for the humans. Kire began stripping the fur off our prize. Mother stirred, only slightly, by the time I had thrown our portion of steaming venison into two stone wear bowls. I growled low and menacingly toward her. Her eyes snapped open and she sat straight up with a start, blinking about, seeing me standing before her, steaming bowl with food in it in all, calmed her considerably.

I handed her, her bowl, which she accepted, asking only "where did you ever find such a delicious meal in these woods?" before she devoured her portion.

"It was quite easy. Kire and I killed it quickly to. There was enough left over to smoke so we have some for tomorrow to." I said before falling on my food with equal ferocity.

Once I had rinsed our dishes I decided to go ahead and sleep, no point in staying up tonight. I unfastened my sleeping roll from my pack and took it over to a small opening in the forest canopy. I unrolled it and stretched out on top of it, watching the rapidly darkening sky I stifled a yawn with the back of my hand.

"Night, Ardent, Malaku, Kire." Mother's voice said in a soft dreamy, sleepy voice. I smiled to myself and began counting the stars as I drifted off.

Moring After

"Who are you to ask my name? I have spoken truly in telling you I am inuzuka." I awoke to mothers angry shouts. I keep my eyes closed tightly and searched for the opposing chakara.

"Mom! I felt a chakara flare over in that direction." I herd a voice call from the same direction as my mothers had come from. Foot steps moved in my direction, I herd kire's growl rumble to my left. It was an inuzuka coming; I could tell that warm earthy brown chakara signature anywhere.

"Well then take care of it you miserable mutt!" a second, gruffer, voice snapped at the other.

I forced my eyes open and saw a boy around my own age with inuzuka clan tattoos on his cheeks and a brown hai-ate with the kohona leaf symbol around his forehead.

I felt an odd sensation in the pit of my stomach and lower, as he approached, and I could not tell what I was, it was a confusing mix of warmth and happiness so I, of course, jumped to my feet and called out "Mother are you hurt or in danger?" as I searched with my eyes for her.

"Ardent!" mother's voice called painfully "is just dome clan members. Be calm and don't answer his questions." At this I turned around and snarled at the boy raising my lips to expose my extra pointy canines. He merely laughed at me.

"What's so funny Teme?" I snapped glaring at im through narrowed eyes.

" oh nothing much, just that fact that I find it quite hilarious that a civilian, granted an inuzuka civilian, would think they could take on me, a full fledged kohona ninja." He said airily, a smirk gracing is lips.

My temper, once again, got the best of me and I flew at the boy completing a stream of hand signs and whistling for kire. He was unprepared and in a matter of minutes I was sitting atop his back pinning his arms down with my own.

"Get off of me you sneaky little slut, and lets have a real fight!" he growled wiggling is body, trying to get away only succeeding in making me grip his wrists tighter.

"Why would I do that when I already have you penned?" I asked from my position on his back. I heard a sharp bark and turned to see kire pinning a small white dog down to the ground.

"Oh who's this cousin dear? Trying to get the drop on me while my backs turned? Shame, shame." I said in a mock hurt tone, reinforcing my point with a kunai.

"You better not hurt my akamaru!" the boy yelled at me with an edge of panic creeping in his voice as he squirmed all the harder. I was shocked.

"How could I ever hurt a dog?" I asked angrily tightening my grip to the point of cutting off his circulation.

"But you could! Those inuzuka raised away from the clan are savage and…" he trailed off. We sat in a strained silence for a moment.

As Mothers anguished exclamation of "What!" reached my ears, I jumped to my feet and began dashing towards the direction in which her tent was located, whistling to kire to fallow me.

I arrived in mere seconds to find mother in a heap in front of her tent with a tall inuzuka woman towering over her, cackling. "We must hurt this one who hurt our mother!" kire barked at me, and I agreed one hundred and fifty five point nine percent.

I crouched low and sprung up, launching my self at said strange woman with full force, kire fallowed my example. Some ting large and brown came out of no where and crashed into my chest, sending kire and I harmlessly off to the side.

Recovering quickly I looked up and saw the inuzuka boy hovering protectively over both kire and I, facing the woman who had advanced on us.

"Move boy now!" the woman growled raising a hand in emphasis.

"No mother" the boy said stoically as possible, but I could here a waver in his voice as if he went quite sure he should be doing this "she doesn't know you're our clan head and can there fore not be held accountable for her misguided actions!" he finished and I could see a slight trembling in his legs, very long muscular tanned legs they were. What the-? Where did that come from? The woman slapped him, hard across the face.

A sniffle from my mother's direction diverted our attention. I shook my head, clearing it, I was mad. Mother was in some sort of pain and I wasn't helping her. I struggled to my feet, the boy sure packed a hell of a smash, and I pushed the boy aside, with difficulty. I glared at the woman.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Mother." I snarled at her through clenched teeth.

"Well your whelp's more of an inuzuka then you'll ever be little Unari!" the woman barked to mother, ignoring me completely.

"To bad she's the daughter of the inuzuka whore and a bastered you slept with from another clan." She continued move ever closer to mother.

"Think of what she would be as a purebred inuzuka! Or better yet her children." She went on now standing directly in front of mother.

"SHUT UP! Shut up! That's a lie! You know that I would never so disgrace my clan by sleeping out of wedlock. I was raped and you know it!" my mother shouted jumping to her feet in outrage, her eyes flashed dangerously with a manic glint.

"That bitch is the result of my virginal deflowering. I have struggled since that day to make my life better, to cope, to survive damn it! And that little piece of filth has been there to remind me of that day, that man, and this place. This hell hole I grew up in, all that fucking pack hierarchy and 'better than you ness' of my younger days. I only agreed to come back to this awful place to leave the brat with my parents. But now I can't even do that! You told me my parents have died now where will I leave her, because I will leave her here." She stopped taking a deep breath and looking at the woman with an odd glint in her eye,

"Tsume we were always close as children then teens even though our kinship was quite thin. We swore godmother ship of our children to each other. I know invoke that bond and promise. You must take my daughter away and raise her to the best of your abilities as though she were your own daughter." Mother finished. My heart was cracking, mother didn't want me, never had never would, and now she was giving me to a complete stranger. Some thing warm and wet began collecting at the corners of my eyes.

Mother turned away, gathering her things up, she began moving around packing her things and taking down her tent.

"Unari. How could you? I knew you were much too weak to be considered an inuzuka but I could never have assumed in my wildest nightmares that you would do something like this to your child. Your child, a defenseless being that you brought into this world, weather by bad choice or no choice at all, should be your responsibility." Tsume glanced over her shoulder at me with compassion filled eyes, something I did not ever wish to see, before she went on.

"But the girl child is an inuzuka and therefore deserves better than you could give her so I will take her and raise her as my own." She turned away sadly and began moving toward the far edge of the clearing, but before she got far mother spoke again, her head held low in a position of despair over her belongings as she continued stuffing them into her packs.

"Ardent of the inuzuka I Abhor you. You are no longer seen to my eyes. Your smell is that of a stranger, and no longer welcomed at my hearth. Your past is to me but a colorful picture of no consequence in my own life. All bonds and ties of alleged kinship are severed and void between us." She finished with out even turning to look at me for the last time. Time froze for a moment before the woman, Tsume I suppose, burst into action, in seconds she was over mother and mother was pushed back onto the forest floor, sprawled out grimacing in pain. But I felt nothing for her or her words; I was numb to all feelings.

"I accept and return your abhorrence with loathing and distaste. A weakling that would disown ones own daughter such as your self does not deserve notice of one such as I so I accept and return your abhorrence. May Kami see you destroyed." I said, with much feeling, as I turned away with the burning rawness of my eyes intensifying.

but I would not cry so I pulled in a deep steadying breath and asked "Tsume, clan leader can I stay with you?"

ANN: well now if you want more you better push the damn review button. that is if you like it...or read it...i went back and edited it again for you guys but its three in the morning so it might not be to good...i hope you like how i spaced it...i noticed most people do it like that so i gussed i should to its esayer to read i guess...words from kiba...

Kiba: dont listen to her dont do! if she starts talking about those tapes...i i didnt do it! lies i say!

ANN: um kiba...i wasnt going to mintion those but if you inseist...

Kiba: you wernt? um well then...fuck...

ANN: and on that happy note i bid you ado to go see my newest best freind...sleep after 48 strait hours on a damn computer...i need a life

© ANNANIME