Snow, Fever And Sunburst

An OC Only Fanfiction

Hey All! Tankou001 here with an all new fanfiction. With Quintessence on a roll and myself starting to create more side stories to the trilogy I have thought on the already developing Love Triangle in Quintessence between Nagamori Kyogi, Hazumi Ty Dao and Hyuuga Hizano! This fic I plan to be their story of love, loss and all that good romantic stuff. This story will follow the same time line as the Pulchritudinous Trilogy but there will be something different about it. Unlike most other alternate pairings for the Pulchritudinous time line this one starts after the main story. All of the rookies in this story will be 32 years old. Hinata and Chouji are as such. Still this would make Kyogi and Hizano 18 and Ty Dao 17 years old. All three in this story are Jounin. Hizano got jounin at 14, Kyogi got jounin at 15 and Ty Dao at 14 as well, meaning she became a Jounin at the same time as Kyogi.

Yes, Kyogi and Ty Dao are still rivals of a sort, and yes Hizano is still a genjutsu specialist with strong roots into taijutsu because of Chouji teaching him the Polar Katas. They all still are on their original teams though Team 4 is now Team Doujutsu and Team 13 is now Team Ascension. I will explain the names later.

So without any further ado and with Wild Abandon I give you Snow, Fever and Sunburst!

Enjoy!

{HR}

Chapter One: Ascension and Doujutsu, The Teams

A young woman walked through her apartment. She placed her silk linen wraps along her body, braiding her hair and placing her mask on slowly. Hazumi Ty Dao was always quick to rise but today she felt a heavy lethargy overcome her. These days seldom happened but there were some days that Ty Dao's fire burned a little less hot than usual. Many years ago the Kagerougakure No Sato native was sent to Konohagakure No Sato, her own home village sending out children to learn in other countries to become ninja. Ty Dao had long before that lost her parents so the shock of the transfer had been minimal to her. Now she was a part of Team Ascension, a Jounin of Konoha with outstanding abilities in the field of taijutsu. Ty Dao even boasted on occasion that she could best Rock Lee in hand to hand fighting.

Stepping to her mirror as she secured the remainder of her outfit Ty Dao cringed at her large breasts. They had been too large when she was a genin and the years that went by steadily made all of the difference in the transformation from annoying to agonizing. Ty Dao had tied her breasts, wrapped them down and, as much as she could, attempted to stop their gradual growth. Till now Ty Dao, even wrapping her chest as tight as she could, sported maybe a D cup if not larger. Ty Dao wore no bras, however, so she just assumed it all. The silken wrappings that covered Ty Dao's figure acted fine as both clothing and undergarment.

Even after the silken body wraps and other various clothing pieces had been placed on Ty Dao's body her skin that showed around the wrappings was a strange sight. Ty Dao wasn't only tanned, but seemingly tattooed. In truth these were no tattoos but markings where her chakra had placed itself six years earlier. Hyuuga Hinata had, at one point, told Ty Dao to boil a lake with her fever jutsu alone. Ty Dao, in her eagerness, had instead evaporated the whole thing in an instant. The resulting burst of energy, which Hinata had titled Ty Dao's "Ascension" had made permanent marks of the now seventeen years old ninja's skin. Now wherever Ty Dao had flesh she had a black steam trail of a marking, rolling upward on her skin. These marks were even present on Ty Dao's face but the markings, in such an area, were less apparent than on the rest of her body. Ty Dao always wore a face mask, similar to Hatake Kakashi. Many people assumed that she had taken sch a design from the Copy Ninja though Ty Dao had always worn a mask even before coming to Konoha so this was all falsehood. The Hazumi had simply instilled the value of masks in the young woman from an early age. Ty Dao's father and mother both had masks when they lived. Slowly Ty Dao stepped from her home, greeting the chill autumn air as she stretched out in the morning sun, overcast slightly but present nonetheless. Even if Ty Dao was lethargic, however, she would have to get to practice fast. Hinata was expecting Ty Dao to show up with the rest of the team soon enough. A flash of speed and Ty Dao was off.

Over at the Hyuuga Compound Hyuuga Hizano did his practice kata. Long ago had Hizano stopped performing juuken and defaulted to the Polar Katas that he had learned in Hyōga Sanmyaku, the polar mountains where Hizano's polar bear summons hailed from. He practiced daily and was always alert and read fr a fight now that he was a jounin. At that very thought another Hyuuga flew into Hizano's practice area, attacking him fiercely with juuken attacks. Hizano saw these all too well, dancing around the attacks, lifting hands where he wanted them to be. A final attack was all Hizano needed to show that he had won, a chill air forming icicles on Hyuuga Neji's arms. The younger Hyuuga smiled. "Good Morning, Neji-nii."

Neji smiled and stood up straight, shaking the icicles from his arms. "Good morning, Hizano-kun. I see you are diligent as ever. You know I am proud of you." Hizano looked at Neji in confusion as he stepped to the edge of the training ground, pulling off his shoes. "You have truly thrown off your Hyuuga self and gone to a different place in training. I conformed to juuken long ago to better perfect myself towards the very family that I detested. You, however, only used juuken as a begrudging reminder of how bonded you were to your hatred. You have since moved on to another discipline that fits you better."

Hizano smiled. It was true that Hizano knew juuken but his form had long ago become unable to truly use such a style to his advantage. Unlike most Hyuuga Hizano was no longer a flexible, lithe individual as he should have been as a juuken user. Instead Hizano had developed into a being of muscular bulk. He wasn't as built up as some people but he was clearly not as flexible as his family line should have dictated. He was a machine of muscle and brute force now rather than a flexible rubber band of precision strikes. Slowly he got ready, now a jounin of Team Doujutsu instead of a student in Team 4. He stepped out of the doors and looked at the sky, smiling at the overcast day. It was a perfect day to be cool and Hizano liked nothing more than to bask in the cold. Today Hizano was energized.

Meanwhile Nagamori Kyogi was sleeping in his bed, sheets half thrown off and the young man dreaming a sweet memory. A sudden bash against his head not only roused the young jounin from his slumber but caused him to cry out in pain and irritation. Kyogi woke up angrily and looked at his little sister. The Nagamori clan was a steadily growing one in Konoha, long having been hidden even from the general public until Tsunade had made Kyogi the first "civilian ninja" of the clan. Now a compound had been made for the Nagamori. The clan's steady growth Kyogi often jokingly insisted was the work of his parents directly. Kyogi had twenty-seven brothers and sisters, his mother once again pregnant with yet another child that would raise the Nagamori clan another member. The resemblance to the head region of the Akimichi was similar, Akimichi Chouji having seven younger sisters, but Kyogi had Chouji beat in siblings. Kyogi only stared angrily at his little sister, the three years old member of a direct family of many more smiling mischievously at her older brother. "Nii-chan Play!"

Kyogi only groaned. The days now, entertaining his little siblings, had grown longer and longer through Kyogi's vacation. Thankfully Kyogi's last vacation day had been yesterday. It was now back to ninja work in Team Ascension. It was now a special day to Kyogi. It was the day where once again Kyogi got to see his rival and the apple of his eye, Hazumi Ty Dao. Ever since his genin days Kyogi had shared a blazing rivalry with Ty Dao and the largest crush of his life with Ty Dao had always plagued the young man. "Sorry Biama, Nii-chan has work today."

Biama frowned at this but Kyogi just mussed up her hair and got out of bed, walking to the showers. There five of his brothers already were meeting up, all Nagamori brothers somewhat awake but still just as groggy as Kyogi. The Nagamori clan men seldom were morning people while all of the Nagamori women, no matter what age or personality, were always up at five in the morning, bright as the summer sky. "Morning guys." Kyogi spoke up as he joined the group of brothers. He went to open the door to the baths but found out that it was locked. "Why isn't the door opening?"

Touya, the youngest of Kyogi's older brothers, was the first to speak up. "Emi and Yumi are hiding up in there... again."

Kyogi sighed at this. Emi and Yumi, the youngest of Kyogi's older sisters were, for good reason, named "The Ditz Twins" throughout the family. They were well known for absentmindedly getting into the men's bathhouse, finding a brother or cousin inside and then kicking them out, locking up the bath for the remainder of their bathing time, often hours. "Let me take care of this..." Kyogi muttered, looking at the door. "Emi, Yumi... You have the wrong bath again... If you aren't out by the count of "now" I am coming in there and dragging you out."

"I don't care how much you guys want to stare at us, you have no right stare at us." Yumi called from within.

"That's incest you know! You perverts!" Emi finished.

A group groan was heard around Kyogi and the Nagamori teen grimaced. "One, two, NOW!" Kyogi called, blasting the door down with a ray of heat from his eyes before barging into the men's bath compound and stepping into the onsen area. Of course his sister's screamed, but Kyogi simply rushed into the bath house, grabbed his sisters by the hair and dragged them out, grabbing their bath robes on the way out. He dragged them half way across the compound nude as the days of their birth before getting to the women's bath, opening the door and dragging them into the changing area carelessly, throwing their robes on the ground and starting to walk out. "Your bathhouse is HERE! Don't take the guy's bath!"

Normally most men wouldn't be able to do such things, even with their sister's. They would be prone to do something embarrassing or find themselves in a position that would be looked down upon. Still the clan all knew Emi and Yumi's antics and Kyogi simply didn't care about being "romantic" with his sisters. He had far too long been raised with more sisters than he could count on two hands. The only female body that he coveted was the one that he couldn't touch, it seemed. Soon enough he was bathing in the comfort of the Men's bathhouse along with his many other brothers. From one to twenty-four, Kyogi had brothers of many ages. Touya was only 19 but Gaku was 23. Kyogi's youngest brother was two and still everyone in the men's bath was present in the mornings. Only Kyōdai, Kyogi's eldest brother at 24, was not present. The strangest thing was that Kyogi knew that the abundance of siblings was a planned thing, rather than an "accident" as his mother always insisted. Kyōdai's very name meant brother, meaning that Kyogi's mother planned for him to be one. At that moment, however, Kyōdai and Kyogi's father, Taiyō entered the baths. Taiyō and Kyōdai always waited for Kyogi to get into the bath to get in themselves. Everyone knew why, including Kyogi himself. Taiyō and Kyōdai knew better than to wait for Kyogi to arrive. Emi and Yumi's bath takeovers always ended when Kyogi arrived, they knew to wait for Kyogi before taking a bath.

"Morning Otōsan, morning Nii-chan." Kyōdai and Taiyō nodded at Kyogi. Alone in the family Kyōdai was the only other member of the Nagamori clan that possessed markings around his eyes as Kyogi did. Ten years before Hyuuga Hinata had ordered Kyogi build a cave system behind Konoha with his eyes, the young genin doing so and reaching what Hinata called his "Ascension." Now Kyogi sported crimson sunbursts around his eyes as Kyōdai had as well. The burst of power had marked Kyogi's eyes permanently and Kyogi showed them off with great pride. The Goukagan was a truly wonderful thing and Kyogi knew that he had but one more endeavor in his family to attain. Still that was for a later time. Kyogi wasn't yet ready for the final goal of his Doujutsu.

After about a hour of talking and bathing Kyogi finally got out of the bath. Nagamori baths were long because the Nagamori clan men were only ever all present at once in the bathhouse. Even if they weren't bathing the whole time the baths were the time where all men in Nagamori talked together, a daily reunion where all brothers, cousins, fathers and sons talked about their previous days and endeavors. Kyogi guessed the women of Nagamori had the same kind of reunion daily but he wouldn't dwell on it. Steadily, now awake, the jounin stepped through the halls, getting dressed in his room before heading out. On his way Kyogi found Ty Dao. He purposefully took the route he did to meet up with Hinata every day because even if he and Ty Dao spent their days training together it was just never enough. "Morning Danna-kun." Ty Dao spoke out as Kyogi rounded the corner. Kyogi never got the first word on Ty Dao. The young woman always insisting that she could feel Kyogi approaching through the heat in the air.

Kyogi smiled and nodded. "Morning Ty Dao." At one point Kyogi had asked Ty Dao if he could just call her Dao-tan, which Hizano from Chouji's team did. She quickly answered with a most resounding "no."

At that moment Hizano's own voice echoed into Kyogi's ears. "Dao-tan, Kyogi! Good morning." Kyogi looked over to Hizano as he stepped to the pair. Hizano didn't meet up with the two for long every day but his route passed along Kyogi and Ty Dao's own route for about a mile until he split off for his group's meeting place. Team Ascension and Team Doujutsu often met up because Chouji and Hinata were married, thus the two captains of the teams led their teams, through pure selfishness, together often. Still even if Kyogi hated this Hizano and Ty Dao appreciated it. Hizano had a crush on Ty Dao and Ty Dao liked the squabbling of the two over her. It amused the young woman greatly. "How are you two doing today?"

Kyogi smiled slyly. "Pretty good, Hyuuga. I think after recounting today I found that my clan is nearly as big as yours." Ty Dao smiled at this. Hizano and Kyogi always started the morning with a fight.

"Really now?" Hizano asked, grinning. "I don't think it counts if your mom is providing all of the members. You have to remember also that the Hyuuga clan doesn't count non ninja as members and you just count all of the people from squalling infants to old women."

Kyogi grimaced at this. "You wanna die, Hyuuga?"

"Only if you like being frozen, Nagamori." Hizano spoke out with impossible calm in his voice.

Ty Dao finally spoke up, well aware that such threats and arguments were to impress her. "You know Hinata-sensei is taking us on a big mission soon. She says that it is a two team mission. I wonder what is happening to require eight Jounin."

Hizano nodded. "Chouji sensei says we have a mission soon as well but won't tell for what or when just yet. We are meeting up within the week to see the Hokage." Hizano looked at the coming block and smiled. I gotta split off here. I was thinking of stopping at a store first to get something. See you two later."

Kyogi and Ty Dao smiled slightly and kept walking. Immediately a branch came down, Temano hanging from it upside down. "Greetings Kyogi and Ty Dao." Kyogi jumped at this and Ty Dao smiled through her mask. "Hinata-sensei sent me a message to give you so you didn't waste your time. We need to go to the Hokage Tower instead of the normal place. Let's go." The three did, of course.

Meanwhile Hizano wandered through the shopping district of Konoha. He was looking for flowers, or a gift. What did Ty Dao like? After six years of knowing Ty Dao as more than just a passing acquaintance Hizano still could never tie down something that Ty Dao liked that didn't involve hot springs. Ty Dao loved, more than anything else, hot springs, heated mud baths and other unmoving places that revolved around heat. Of course it wasn't as if Hizano had the funds to buy Ty Dao her own onsen. Instead he struggled to find Ty Dao something movable and not consumable that she would like. This game, in the past six years, had been something that Ty Dao had seemed to take great pleasure in confusing Hizano with. As he looked at something closely, a piece of small jewelry, Hizano felt a set of feminine hands snake around his figure. "Looking Dao-chan present, Hizano?"

Hizano sighed and turned about, pushing Ibana Maya from his body. Ibana Maya was a young woman fifteen years old on Hizano's team. She was a prodigy as far as Ninja skill went. From a continent to the far south the young woman had a doujutsu called the Yuwakugan: The Eyes of Seduction. All in all she had the ability, if she wanted to use it, to control males of both human and animal original entirely to her will, able to command them to do anything, even end their own life and get exactly from them what she wanted provided it was in their power to do so. The Ibana clan, however, suffered minor aphasia as a whole. Maya only ever spoke in incomplete sentences and though she could write she occasionally forgot words and how to write them. Maya only spoke truly in her own language, able to talk circles around even the people who knew her language as well as a native. Nobody, however, understood such a language save for Tsunade so this was all moot. "Hello, Maya... I am if you must know."

Maya giggled and came closer to Hizano, rubbing her body against him a bit. Maya, like Ty Dao, was far more mature than her age should have dictated. Maya had looked fifteen at the age of nine and now that she was fifteen she looked twenty-one years old, taller than all of the rest of the team members including Hinata herself. "Why you like Dao-tan so? Maya more... convenient." Maya struggled with her last word as she spoke. "Zano-kun need make do with Maya. She make sure Zano-kun very pleased."

Of course with eyes like her own Maya's whole personality followed suit. Maya was known, even at her age, as The Succubus Queen of Konoha. She found guys and seduced them into buying her things, spending nights at her house and running off in the middle of a mission at some small town to spend time with a man who met her fancy. Of course the Yuwakugan was never used in such endeavors. Maya could wrap a man around her pinky finger the very first second he laid eyes on her. Hizano, however, always was sure to refuse these attempts. Still, Maya's "ministrations" got more and more difficult to resist every day. "Don't try to pull Hizano away from Ty Dao, Maya... You have plenty of other guys who are more willing and more easily coaxed into your bed." Spoke Hatake Anka from behind Maya. This woman alone was Hizano's savior when Maya got more "persuasive" than usual. Anka, sixteen years old now, had grown a strong friend in her teammates. She saved Hizano from Maya all the time and rumor had it that Anka and Maya often spent nights together at each other's houses. At one point Maya had even let it slip that Anka liked women about as much as men before the sharingan user silenced her through a slap over the head.

Maya frowned at these words as she turned to Anka. "You jealous, Anka. You want Maya all yourself, yes?"

"I never said that, Maya..." Anka sighed and looked to Hizano. "We need to go to Hokage tower instead of the normal place."

Hizano smiled and nodded. Getting a present for Ty Dao would have to wait for now. Soon enough they arrived near Hokage tower. Akimichi Chouji now waited at the door and waved. The former teacher of the group was now a teammate alone, no longer the teacher that he had once been. He stepped up to Hizano and smiled. "How goes it you guys."

"Good!" called the collective. Hizano spoke up first. "So what's the occasion, Chouji-nii? Are we going on that mission you were talking about?"

Chouji smiled and nodded. "Team Ascension is joining us on it as well. The Hokage believes this mission an exceedingly dangerous one so two teams are needed. She'll explain once we get inside."

Soon enough the group made their way into the Hokage Tower. In the hokage's office Tsunade sat. At her side was a young boy, maybe eight years old a most. Still he wore a Hitai Ite with a heart on it. Team Ascension already stood in the room as well, Akimichi Hinata behind the rest of her team. Six years ago Hinata had married Chouji and had become a Akimichi. They now had a five years old daughter who Chouji was known to dote after incredibly. Hizano knew personally that Chouji, on the lower ranked missions near the village, stayed home, sending an earth clone on the mission instead so that he could stay with his daughter. Tsunade spoke out, a look of seriousness on her face. Tsunade, although much older than she looked, still appeared maybe in her mid twenties at the latest. "Now that all of you are here I would like to address your mission. Team Ascension and Team Doujutsu will be banding together to escort Hani Tazuno to the village of Himitsugakure No Sato. This is an S Class Mission. All eight of you should expect serious attacks from Kagegakure ninja on the way to your destination. When you all arrive at Himitsugakure you will be told to stay for a week before coming back. At Himitsugakure Hani Tazuno will be picked up by two other ninja teams who will escort him to his home village of Jōnetsugakure No Sato. You will be told what you may do when arriving at Himitsugakure. Please be careful on this mission. Hani Tazuno was nearly captured on the way here from Kirigakure. You eight need to put your lives on the line to protect him."

A resounding "yes sir!" came out from the eight ninja and soon enough all of them were dismissed, told to gather their things and get to the gate within three hours. Ty Dao got her normal gear. Everything in Ty Dao's outfit could be used as a weapon, Ty Dao had long made sure of such things. Kyogi and Hizano similarly only got their normal ninja gear. Soon enough both teams as well as Tsunade and Tazuno stood at the gate. Tsunade herself was checking over the gear of every ninja insisting that the information Tazuno possessed was important enough even for the Hokage herself to be bothered to double check everything personally. Finally after everything was checked over Tsunade addressed the team. "Alright all of you. I have checked your equipment and I have deemed it all suitable. Remember you are all escorting a very valuable person along so be sure to keep both eyes open for trouble as often as you can spare them."

Soon enough the group was off, nine people altogether in the forests of Konoha. According to the maps Himitsugakure was southward, a tiny village on a similarly tiny island off the coast of the Wind Country. The rest of the team knew nothing of where Jōnetsugakure was but they heard from Tazuno that it was even farther south than that. Instead of traveling by land most of the way, however, the group would travel by boat from the southern point of the Fire Country to get to Himitsugakure. The port was perhaps two days away from Konoha and Chouji explained that Himitsugakure was on a tropical area. He had been there once in the last six years for a liaison mission so he knew what Himitsugakure looked like. After about eight hours of walking the group stopped to set up camp. Hinata had stated that it would be best to keep a normal schedule if the team could. Chouji and Hizano summoned lookouts for the night as it would be easier to get everyone rested while an auto-guard was set out instead. Now Chouji had out Banma, a Polar Elder though he was of normal size, maybe only a bit larger than the average polar bear. Hizano had summoned Yuji-Yuki. The little cub had, in the past six years, grown large. He was about half the size of a fully grown bear. Now he was unable to sit atop even Chouji's head.

Slowly the sun set and soon enough Chouji sat with Hizano at the fire. The two talked but they were soon interrupted by Hinata walking by and whispering something in Chouji's ear. Chouji gave a look of surprise and smiled a bit to Hizano before excusing himself. Hizano had long known that Hinata was insatiable, at least in the words of Chouji. Even if outwardly Hinata seemed shy Chouji had, at one point, assured him that Hinata was much less shy when only he was around. Sighing Hizano stood up to scout he area. He told Yuji-Yuki and Banma of his brief trip and they told him to look out for Anka and Maya, who had previously ventured off. Hizano walked about in the forest, finding a small pond to relax near. He went about doing his practice kata as he often did when the chance arose to do so. It wasn't that Hizano hadn't already mastered it, however. Hizano simply liked to stay in practice. It would have been a shame if the Hyuuga fell out of familiarity with the style that he had changed his life to master.

As the young Hyuuga man moved about in his kata a noise stopped him. Hizano looked over toward the sound and peered trough the bushes that hid the sound's origin. Maya and Anka lay in the privacy of the bushes, Maya atop Anka's spread form. "M-Maya... Not right now. We are on a mission."

The chocolate skinned konoichi atop Anka didn't seem to pay heed to her words, however. She leaned down and took Anka's lips with hers, ravishing Anka as Hizano watched. Immediately the Hyuuga thought it best to depart. He soon was back at camp, understanding completely now how Anka and Maya got along so well. Maya had once explained to Hizano that she liked women as well as men. She stayed with Anka so much because while she knew that she could control any man the ability to control women was largely beyond her. A woman that Maya could control like Anka was a rare find and thus Maya kept such partners close at all times. Of course Maya didn't say it like that but Hizano knew that it was what she meant. Yuji-Yuki padded up beside Hizano as he entered the camp again. "Nii-chan? You see Anka-nee and Maya-nee?"

Hizano nodded a bit. "You could say that... I guess...." Yuji-Yuki looked a bit confused. "I don't want to talk about it. I am going to bed."

Ty Dao spotted Hizano walking to his tent and called out. "Hizano, you busy?" Hizano jumped and walked over to Ty Dao. "Sorry for calling you so suddenly." Ty Dao said, smiling through her mask.

"It's nothing, Dao-tan. Whatya need?" Hizano asked, smiling. He had always liked Ty Dao.

"Well..." Ty Dao started. "It's a bit strange to ask.... Do you think sometime after this mission is done we could go out to a festival in Konoha? There is one coming up so I wanted to spend time with you."

Hizano's eyes went wide. "Of course! I mean I wouldn't say no. I would like being at a festival with you, Dao-tan."

Ty Dao smiled. All was going according to plan. Of course Hizano wasn't the only one she had asked. Kyogi already had agreed to go with. To Ty Dao this was a fun little game that she had pulled two others into. Ty Dao really did like both of them, but to choose between her handsome rival Kyogi and her training friend Hizano was simply too difficult. Couldn't the fever jutsu user just pick them both? Long had Ty Dao found love in Hizano and Kyogi, having always masked both sets of feelings toward the two through subtle subterfuge and a heavy sheet of rivalry with both parties. With Kyogi this rivalry was quite apparent. The two slung insults at each other constantly, vowing to best the other in the next fight or contest. To Ty Dao her original rivalry with the silver tongued Nagamori was obvious and seemingly innocent though Ty Dao knew otherwise that what she laid out in view was coated with a subtle layer of infatuation that even Kyogi couldn't pick out.

The love for Hyuuga Hizano was far more apparent in some cases. The three constantly walked and trained together when not doing official training. Since Hizano had never been on a full, long term team with y Dao the fever artist believed her infatuation something far less dangerous when directed toward Hizano. Regardless Ty Dao laid out subtle plans and traps that would give her the reason to fake anger at he young Hyuuga. She would train with him often but she would set up traps to make Hizano, in the eyes of some, nothing more than a lecherous pervert out to steal her panties. She delighted in seeing the more contemplative Hyuuga sweat while watching the rival Nagamori struggle also helped Ty Dao's sense of pride when thinking about the weakness of love that steadily infected her like the fevers she used to make herself all the more deadly. In a way, however, Ty Dao only loved the two for one solid reason, the one reason her infatuation had so long been bound to both instead of just one. Ty Dao had only met defeat twice. Kyogi had defeated Ty Dao once in a small practice fight that had, of course, become far too large to handle. At fourteen Ty Dao and Kyogi had fought, Ty Dao hadn't known of the trick Kyogi was hiding just for her up his sleeves and when Ty Dao had made one false move Kyogi took her out with his fierce strike. The second defeat had been laid out by Hyuuga Hizano. The perfect opponent for Ty Dao's furnace of a body were Hizano's Polar Katas, the style that pulled all of the heat from the area and from Hizano's body. Hizano had fought Ty Dao with his deadly Polar Katas and Ty Dao had gone head to head with him but after nearly an hour the frozen ninja got the advantage with a new attack in the form of a horrendous breath that froze even Ty Dao's heated feet in place on the ground. The attack was so devastating that the area had been frozen solid, the trees shattering at the slightest touch. Hizano had been on Ty Dao faster than she could blink, and thus she had lost the battle.

After that Ty Dao had never lost a battle to either one but the defeats from both of them had cemented her heart to their's. Ty Dao had been beaten, and thus her heart had been captured, torn between the two men that had forced her to meet surrender head on. The fact that they could draw Ty Dao to submit, to be on their control, it disgusted and attracted her at the same time. Ty Dao had once vowed that the man to defeat her would become her husband some day. When she had met defeat by two men instead of one she forgot what to do. Now she played these subtle little games between the two parties that she lusted over secretly. She had somehow accepted Dao-tan as a nickname from Hizano. Somewhere in their she jokingly named Kyogi Danna-kun. She held firm to the philosophy that this love was making her weak though the fever mistress couldn't help but find power in the fact that she pinned down the two men and confused them.

Ty Dao jumped back into the real world as Hizano spoke up. "What's that?" He asked about a noise just east of the camp. That was where Hizano had come from. Had someone followed him? Slowly Ty Dao stepped to the bushed and looked forth at Maya and Anka running toward the camp. Still Ty Dao could feel something else. Maya and Anka would not normally be running without the need to get to help. Such need hadn't hardly ever presented itself; Maya and Anka were quite able ninja, normally not needing assistance in anything when paired together. Maya waved her hands screaming something that Ty Dao didn't understand. Aka cried out similarly but her words were all to clear. "Attack!"

Ty Dao turned about and at the far end of the camp jumped roughly seven ninja, all wearing Kagegakure Hitai Ite. All were enemies and all would need to be defeated. Still something itched at Ty Dao. That was the far end of the camp. Maya and Anka were running from the opposite direction. There were more, perhaps many more.

Kyogi had heard the cry. He jumped from his tent and looked about just in time to spot seven Kage nin jumping from the bushes at one end of the camp. Hinata came from her own tent and looked at Kyogi. "Protect Tazuno-san!" Kyogi leaped into action after a brief nod, blasting down a few kage nin with his eyes before advancing to Tazuno's tent. Hinata wasn't trying to pull Kyogi out of the fight, of course. Kyogi was normally most valuable in directly protecting people. When alone he could blast away nearly any advancing enemy. It only made sense to plant him near the person he was escorting.

He ducked into Tazuno's tent and saw Tazuno quickly suiting up, tying on his gloves. Quickly the Nagamori stepped to his charge and spoke up. "Tazuno-san, we need to reach a secret spot where you cannot be harmed. I'll bring you there, follow me."

Tazuno nodded as he tied up his last glove. "Thank you, Kyogi-san. Please lead the way."

Tazuno was far too calm, it seemed. Still he had known of his attacks. He was prepared for such things. He was, over all other things, a ninja, thus he knew how to stay cool under fire. Ducking out into the fray once again Kyogi noticed that many, many more kage nin had appeared. It never failed to amaze Kyogi how many ninja Kagegakure No Sato had to send on needless suicide mission despite the fact that they were so unknown to the rest of the world. Kagegakure had sprouted into open existence just six years before. They were known in name only. Nobody in the world ever seemed to have figured out where the village itself was located. Based on their seemingly endless population of ninja, however, they must have been large. Still Kyogi wondered how such a large village could remain so very unseen. Ducking under shuriken and senbon Kyogi led Tazuno at a reasonable pace through the camp ground. In truth Kyogi had been assisted by Hinata in where the best hiding place would be at this location. Hinata's eyes saw all things and Kyogi knew that without a Hyuuga set of eyes in the party things could have been much worse as far as location went.

Maya was quick to zip into view. The young woman made herself known well in taking out enemy women first. Maya could control any man, animal or otherwise. Women couldn't be affected by Maya's eyes so they would always be her first targets. Sure enough a very feminine figure jumped at Tazuno and Maya ended her life quickly with a single stab to the chest by the spear she held. Kyogi led Tazuno through the camp under fireballs and jets of water, around polar bears summoned by Chouji and Hizano. He led Tazuno around gigantic ninja hounds and snakes summoned by Anka. Soon enough the two had successfully used the chaos of the fight to their advantage, getting free of the fray and into the wilderness to find a hiding spot previously selected by Hinata. The hiding spot was a small recess in the ground that Chouji had hidden a compartment in when camp was set. Kyogi tugged a a stone and the whole ground came out in a shelf. "Get in." In an instant the two had hidden in the little area. It was small; maybe ten feet across with a ceiling perhaps five feet tall. It was circular in shape and guaranteed safety as any underground structure made by Chouji did. Kyogi looked at Tazuno and the young ninja looked back with slight indifference. "So..." Kyogi started, hesitating momentarily. In the single day that Tazuno had been with them the Jōnetsugakure ninja hadn't said much aside from that his village was a tropical one. Aside from that yeses, nos and maybes filled out his daily speech quota with no extra words unless he had to use them. "Are you a genin?" Tazuno nodded. "I remember when I was a genin. I stayed genin for about three months before I graduated the Chuunin exam. I bet you'll do about the same. The fact that your village is trusting you with such big info makes that apparent, huh?" Tazuno only nodded again. His face was cold, uncaring, too distant for the comfort of the wild Kyogi. "You don't.... Talk much do you?" Tazuno shook his head at this. "Care to give me a reason?"

Tazuno simply sighed. "I don't feel like talking.... I was chosen for information keeping for that very reason... My mother tells me that I should let out my voice more but I tend to disbelieve sch would be a good thing. My silence is the only reason that I have been given such high information."

Kyogi sighed. He was like Kyogi's older sister, Kanna. She had always been quiet. She vowed that her words in a day never numbered in the double digits and even writing them down was taboo. Such a message would have taken a few days to write for her. Fortunately she had warned the family at two years of age that she didn't like talking. Since the age of three she hadn't talked at all if she had the choice. All of her own jutsu were silent. Kanna didn't speak her jutsu like most ninja, but instead used more seals to finish them for lack of words. Every jutsu, even the simplest, would take perhaps twenty seals before they activated. As a result Kanna had long ago mastered speed sign forming. She could throw out the highest of jutsu with over a hundred hand seals in a fraction of a second and thus send a devastating display of horrific jutsu at her opponents. That all included her doujutsu, which involved neither hand seals or a voice. "Well I apologize... Living in silence must be a horrible life."

Tazuno shook his head. "On the contrary... I find silence a better lifestyle. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Kyogi was slightly taken aback. Still he didn't have time to think about a sly retort. Pounding above the cave was heard and Kyogi breathe in, staying silent himself. He held up his hands together in a hand sea, ready to blast the first enemy who entered. There was pounding for a while, then complete silence. Finally the trap door opened and Kyogi launched his jutsu. "Endan!" A blast of fire enveloped the target from Kyogi's mouth, covering the enemy ninja in flames. The blast cleared and Kyogi heard coughing. Snow was falling and Kyogi realized he had just blasted either Hizano or Chouji in his haste. When the smoke cleared entirely Chouji stood at the opening, coughing slightly. "Guess I should have given the knock first... My bad. The coast is clear, come on out."

Kyogi nodded, embarrassed at his attack on Chouji. If it had been Hizano Kyogi may have laughed, but Chouji had done nothing to deserve such an attack. "What happened?"

Chouji shook his head as they entered the camp. Dead bodies littered the area. There was so much carnage that even Kyogi couldn't help but to wince in disgust. He tents had been burned down or ripped to shreds. The fire pit seemed to have exploded, a black spot around it. Hinata lay against a tree at the far end of camp, holding a wound on her arm. Blood was everywhere that Kyogi looked, maybe a hundred Kagegakure bodies dead on the ground of the camp. How had the assault been so large? Surely none of these were clones. "We pulled through. These men were fodder; They weren't sent to kill us, they were sent to be killed, to cause as much chaos as they possibly could before we got to the main force. It's clear that we are dealing with numbers here as opposed to skill. That said, we can't afford to waste time. We have to get to Himitsugakure No Sato right now... I have a bad feeling about all of this. Hizano, help me out here." Hizano stepped up. He was covered in frozen blood, the crimson on his skin and clothing frosty against him. The two formed hand seals and called out, pressing their hands against the ground. "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

In a blast of smoke eleven polar bears appeared. All were regal in appearance, some even wearing midnight black armor that covered their bodies. Chouji spoke out to them. "Brothers, we need to clear land fast. Can you all assist in this. We need rides and guards. Banma and Yuji-Yuki are also here as you see. We need to clear a day's human walk in mere hours."

The largest, and most regal looking bear considered. "I think we can assist you, Chouji-nii. I'll get the front guard. Yuji-Yuki, you take the left flank. Banma-sama, please take the rear. Finally Kousou will take the right flank. The rest will serve as mounts for all of you. I suggest all of you quickly mount and ready yourselves. Grab what equipment you have as soon as possible."

Everyone was quick to ready themselves. The camp had been reduced to ruin so the cleanup was not too great. Soon enough the party of nine was riding atop massive polar bears. The four guards were running at their prime positions, making sure all sides were well guarded from any Kage nin that attacked. And Kage nin had attacked, many times in fact. Several times one of the guard had to break off to take care of a group of ambushing Kage nin. At one point a massive group of Kage nin was found running head on. The battle, as at the camp, was too intense to be retold, only this time most of the fighting was done by the bears themselves, the mounted ninja only acting as short range ballistics from bear back. Two hours went by and the group found themselves approaching a gigantic smoke plume. Chouji cried out. "No... No, No, NO!" As the group reached the top of the hill they could clearly see the port city. It was in ruin. Kagegakure No Sato had destroyed the town so that the team couldn't get to their location. No wonder the Kage nin were so numerous. They had come en mass to destroy the little port town.

{HR}

First Chapter Cliffhanger XP Anyway I hope it was suitable. I tried to include little things about all people but I found myself unable to explain Temano at all ^_^;; Remember, however, that this story has to do specifically with Hizano, Kyogi and Ty Dao as a love triangle. Even Chouji and Hinata in this are not truly main characters. You will find out more next chapter, which I will try to get out soon. ^_^

Yours,

Tankou001