I reposted everything,since it was starting to get messy on my computer. Sorry it took so long...

Chapter 1

The wind was so bitter, it easily went through Kana's long sleeved thick woven shirt as though it was a thin silk tank top. The wind blew the bottoms oh her baggy jeans around her thin ankles, as she pulled her sleeves over her hand so that only four long fingers stuck out. She wrapped her arms around herself so that she could stick those fingers under her arms to keep them warm. Her teeth rattled and her breath puffed out as a visible vapor. The sky graciously withheld the snow that could easily be falling.

"How long are we gonna be here? It's really freezing!" Kana said.

"Here, now quit whining, we might be here for a couple of days until the return gets here." Ari said, tossing a red hoodie to her. Kana pulled it on and stuck her hand into the pockets, enjoying it's immediate warmth.

Ari could be weird sometimes, but then again so could Kana. Ari was a nice kid though and a good friend. she had the same sharp look to herself as Kana, as though she never missed anything. Then again they where both ninjas after all. Kana was about half a head shorter than Ari with shoulder length blond hair. Ari had long black hair that was braided and could be wrapped into a bun if need be. Senbon (or throwing needles) were used to hold up the bun and the senbon doubled as a weapon. Kana cocked her head as she looked at Ari.

"What? Something wrong?" Ari asked when she noticed.

"No. Just thinking." Kana responded.

"'Bout what?" Ari asked apprehensively.

"Why this is a mission. I mean, it's a stinking resupplying mission! We don't even get to do anything, never mind doing any thing interesting." Kana complained.

"Maybe it was ordering that take out food from that ramen stand. Orochi Academy is a secret ninja school. My question is why you dragged me into it? What did I do?"

"If I get into trouble, I take everyone I can with me." Kana replied bluntly.

"What did I ever do to you to deserve this?" Ari groaned.

"I've never gotten into trouble by myself. I just wanted the company, that's all. Besides, I've never seen you get in trouble so I figured that you were due for some."

"Oh, great. Lucky me." Ari grumbled, snuggling even further down into her warm cocoon of blankets. Kana stood for a while longer and then suddenly sat down, flopping herself onto the ground as was her way. Ari glanced in her direction, but otherwise ignored her.

Ari had always found Kana a little strange. Kana's parents had died when Kana was still young and her sister disappeared soon after that , so every one just presumed that she was dead. Nobody had known about Kana, so she ended up being raised by Shadow, a black panther that had lived with Kana's family prior to Kana's parent's deaths, along with Shadow's two cubs, Mute and Nuke. Kana had a special bond with those two and was almost always with them, even after the village "discovered" her almost three years ago. She had adapted quit rapidly, learning to speak properly, instead of the mixed growling and words she used, and she soon became the village star troublemaker. She was easygoing and didn't seem to get upset over very many thing. The whole of the village loved her and couldn't imagine life without her around, even though she drove them nuts.

She was very noticeable and stood out in a crowd. Being short had taught her that while blending in while in nature is a good thing, when you are already overlooked because of your height, you need to stand out a little or you might end up "hall-kill." Her style was very bright as was her hair. She wore a striped green shirt with her baggy jeans and the bright red hoodie Ari had just thrown over. Her hair was cut in a unique fashion, so that she could braid the two long strands that hung in front of her ears, which were dyed purple. Her bangs were bright green and numerous clips adorned her hair. Her long finger nails had been coated with a royal blue nail polish. She wore a light coating of makeup, in fact she hardly wore any at all. She had on mascara and eye shadow with a slight eye liner. Her lips had on a neutral shade of lip gloss and her cheeks looked as though they had blush on, but that also could have been from the cold. She was a nice girl even if she did look like she lived on the wild side of life.

But that wasn't all there was to her. She was strong, very strong. She had an outstanding aura, and a decent amount of control over it. She knew little genjutsu, or ninja illusions, but what she did know, she was good at. She possessed excellent ninjutsu, or ninja arts, and had an average ability on taijutsu, or physical arts. On her last stealth test alone she had scored a 90/100, a outrageously good score for some one who was still in the academy, especially since most people didn't get that high on stealth until they became jonin, or expert ninjas. She was far ahead of most people in the school, which the School Hidden in the Flames was considered the third top ninja school in the land, and it was little wonder why. For the first ten years of her life she was challenged and pushed to excel by the panthers she lived with. She was drilled in everything from providing her own food, to wrestling with Mute and Nuke almost everyday. Survival had been harsh, so she learned how to learn quick. But the sad thing was, most of this knowledge was based on her impressive mischief record.

Kana suddenly looked up, her body tensing up her body. Ari saw her slowly shake her head side to side as though trying to get a lock on a distant noise. Kana noticed that Ari was watching, but she didn't care. She was slowly trying to determine the distance and direction of the noise she had just heard.

Shift, shift. There it was again. Kana snapped her head in that direction. 15 to 20 meters and closing fast, north by north west. Approximately four people, possibly more, moving as fast and quietly as possible. Kana adjusted herself so that she would be ready to move or attack, depending on the situation. Ari followed suit.

The first person was a Flame ninja, Karuna-sama, a respected ninja in the village and the missions leader. Right behind her was Nara, a search and recovery specialist, and Ryu, who specialized in terrane surveillance and tactics. Ari and Kana fell into ranks behind them, immediately understanding the situation: rival ninjas had discovered them in their attempted mission. Kana and Ari would have to help complete the mission if they caught up.

So much for my idea of this going to be a boring mission, Kana thought bitterly. She could hear three others behind her keeping pace and steadily catching up. Kana relayed this information and Karuna-sama frowned. It was likely that they would be caught and killed for attempting to enter the rival village to retrieved a scroll, uninvited. After a few minutes the other ninjas finally caught up.

It was three genin from the Village Hidden in the Water. The School Hidden in the Water was considered the fourth best ninja school. Kana looked at Karuna. Karuna immediately understood. For Kana, this would be a welcome challenge then the kids at the school. These ninjas had already graduated from the village's school, and were probably at the same level of ability as Kana. Kana wanted to break ranks, in order to fight them.

"Just make sure you win, runt, and catch up safely. Don't let yourself get followed." Karuna barked, motioning for the others to follow her. One of the ninjas moved to follow them but Kana stopped him by throwing a kunai knife across his path.

"I'm your opponent now. You'll have enough of problem getting past me." Kana said.

"I don't think so runt. Your only a student. You don't have a chance of beating us, even in your wildest dreams." the one taunted.

"We see whose beating whom soon enough, loser." Kana barked back. "Don't think that you've got this won simply because your older. Over confidence is way over rated." She continued, dropping into her stance. The three started circling her. Kana watched as they circled her, thinking that they had the upper hand.

"If you guys are so sure of yourselves, then why are all three of you circling me. Three guys against one girl, really, after all your boasting you should really be taking me on one at a time, not that it will make much difference." she taunted again. She saw the face of the one in front of her go red. They stopped circling and each dropped into his own stance.

"You need to be knocked down a peg, runt, and I'm gonna be the one to do it." the one who had gone red said.

"Bring it on, if you think you can take a girl." Kana retorted back. The guy turned a deeper red before he started to charge her. "Gonna have to do better than that." she chimed, easily avoiding his strike by circling around him. She hit a pressure point on his shoulder, causing it to be hit out of joint. He screamed from the pain, as his arm hung uselessly from his body.

"Your collar bone was also broken. I didn't hit that at half strength and I also pulled that. If that's all it's going to take to put you out of action, then you better leave before you get seriously hurt." Kana growled. "'cus I'm gonna get real serious here soon if you don't leave." The other two guys glared at her as their partner tried to pull himself off the ground with only one good arm. Kana dropped back into her stance and glared as he succeeded in dragging himself up.

"Leave her! She's mine." He shouted at them, glaring as well from both embarrassment and rage.

"You don't learn very quick do you?" Kana asked. "Fine then; School's in session!" The guy attacked again, drawing a kunai knife from his pouch. Kana avoided the blade and grabbed his attacking hand. She smirked as she took his momentum and used it to throw him into a nearby tree. The breath left his body with a sharp gasp and he fell to the ground again, still gasping for air. His two friends were emanating a deathly hot aura, which she could feel on her back as she looked down at her attacker. She easily matched it with the coolness of her own aura. Then suddenly they attacked her as well at the same time, kunai in hand. Just as the reached the point where she was standing though, she disappeared. They looked down to she her crouched there. Then she suddenly kicked up, landing a kick underneath each chin. The guys both fell back, one of them spitting out blood from the small nick he had bitten into his tongue.

"SHE'S MINE! SHE'S MINE!" The guy who she had winded screamed, having finally stood up after so long on the ground. "I TOLD YOU GUYS TO STAY OUT OF IT!"

"Bring it." She responded. " In case you haven't noticed, you guys are getting your butts handed to you. Your best chance would be to have all three of you attack at once." All three of them turned red this time.

"Your going to regret that one." The guy who had bit his tongue said. "Fine," the first guy said. "But remember. I'm going to be the one to finish her. Don't get in my way." "Your welcome to try, but I would have thought that you didn't want your other arm to get injured." Kana replied.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" He snapped back. The three of them circled her again. She dropped into her stance for a third time. They've got no chance of ever defeating me, She thought. They're not learning from their mistakes, they're only getting worse. They continued to circle her. Then suddenly all three attacked her at once. She easily avoided them, knocking each one out as she passed them.

Kana left, having no fear of being followed, seeing as she had just defeated the three boys who were intent on beating her. She did not hear the soft rustling of wings or see the dark shadow pass threw the trees. She was blind to her surrounding and her ears were ringing with happiness in the light of her recent victory.