Lycan gazed out her window of her small cabin, looking at the sky. Quit frequently did she think of the place she grew up in, her friends, family, her lover, and her rivals. But suddenly the tranquility of her thought was interrupted and within moments there was a knock at her door. She was cautious answering it; hardly anyone knew of her location, she was rouge after all.

She gasped. "Neji?"

Neji stood in Lycan's doorway, carrying an unconscious Raidon. "Lycan."

She then observed him wearing a Akatsuki cloak and she suddenly starting spitting questions. "Why are you here? How did you find me? What happen to her? Why are you wearing that?"

He held up his hand, silencing her. He swiftly moved past her and lied Raidon down on the bed located inside the house.

"Lycan, I need you to take care of her."

"Of course I will." Lycan folded her arms. "But first, you need to tell me what the hell is going on."

Neji took a deep breath, and kept the explanation short. "Axel returned to the village about a month ago. A few days ago, they were on a mission. Cathrina appeared, and Axel lost her temper, the two ended up fighting."

Lycan's eyes widened and she took another look at Raidon. "That kid did this?" Lycan started to laugh, what kind of shape is she in?

Neji looked down, "Shes dead." He stood up and started to walk towards the door.

Lycan's gaze grew hard. "Why are you wearing that?"

No answer.

"How is Kiba?"

"Fine."

"Neji"

He didn't pause for her next question; instead he exited the home and disappeared into the woods.


Tonight would be the last night that Vladdy layed on Axel's bed. She sat on her knees, holding a picture of what their team used to be. "Axel and Raidon-sensei shouldn't have fought….We could all be alive and happy right now…" Her mind flashed to a talk she had with Iruka, and how he mentioned the changes the world was going through. She let one single tear run down her cheek as memories of when they were genin filled her mind. She fell back on a pillow, closing her eyes. And then, Axel's last words played through her head.

"And the scrolls…"

Vladdy instantly sat up, looking around the room. She quickly got up and started to open Axel's dresser drawers. Finally, a bundle of scrolls fell upon her gaze. Her eyes grew attached to one in particular. The one that had the forbidden seal.


Gaara and Shikamaru made their way to the west training field, hoping to find Vladdy. They found her sitting by a tree, surrounded by scrolls.

"May we join whatever it is you are doing?" Gaara asked, still cautious of her cousin's feelings towards her.

Vladdy did not look at them, but continued to read. "How long are you staying?"

Gaara wasn't sure if that was an insult or not. "The sand village knows that I will be here for quit some time."

"Good, now, you are welcomed to join me if you take that off and put this on." Vladdy held up a Kohana headband, which Gaara slowly took in her hands. The cloth was a fainted pink. Axel's. Gaara sighed, and slowly unwrapped her Sand village headband, replacing it with the Kohana one.

"Alright." Gaara stuck her Sand headband into her shuriken pouch.

"Good, you may sit."

Shikamaru and Gaara sat on Vladdy's left and right. Shikamaru gasped as he read the material on the scrolls. "Where did you get those?" he demanded.

"Axel's room." Vladdy continued to read, "There's one for basically every jutsu, except that shield one, where is that?" She looked up curiously at Shikamaru.

He was overwhelmed; he hadn't seen these things in a while. "T-he justu wasn't finished, s-so she didn't write one." He stammered and reached for the one labeled with a forbidden seal.

"That requires more chakra than I thought, but there aren't a lot of details on how the seal is set." Vladdy said.

Shikamaru's gaze hardened, "If you're going to drown yourself in these scrolls, trying to learn her jutsu's; don't learn this one."

Vladdy glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "And why not?"