Jin glared down at her' shorter teammate.

Akiko's deep, maroon colored eyes returned the glare defiantly.

Akira backed up out of range. He had witnessed the catfight the to girls had had last week and he never wanted to see anything like it again!

"Akiko you jerk!" Jin screeched.

Akiko smirked cockily at the way her' teammate was reacting.

Master Kenji, the trio's sensei, shook his' head. "You really did that?" He asked the shorter of the two kunoichi.

Akiko affected an indignant pose. "I refuse to be accused!" She exclaimed. Then, with a sly smirk, she added, "But that doesn't mean I'm not guilty."

Akira burst out laughing; quite differently from the way Jin reacted. "You see? She's always doing things like this!" she crumpled into a heap on the ground. "My' reputation has been ruined.

Kenji sighed. His' two female pupils never could seem to get along, and it was both of their' faults. Jin was fourteen had a hard time getting along with anyone; she was extremely bossy and uncannily irritable.

Fifteen-year-old Akiko on the other hand, was very different. She was very intelligent (Jin tended to be more of an airhead) and with that came the ability to come up with lots of intelligent answers. She was also very tough, and a strong fighter. She tended to be the clam, self-assured person in the team, though, she could be somewhat outspoken if you got her' mad. Another thing she enjoyed was playing practical jokes on people, which was, in fact, the reason that Jin was so angry with her' right now.

"Akiko, I know you are just teasing, but not everyone finds your' pranks very amusing." Kenji told his' pupil.

Akiko rolled her' eyes. "Well some people just need to get a sense of humor!" she retorted.

"Well how would you like it if I …say… put blue dye in your' shampoo?" Jin asked.

"One, that would be a really lame prank, and two, have you forgotten that my' hair is naturally blue?" Akiko reminded her.

"Okay purple." Jin snapped.

Akiko sighed. "I dyed my' hair purple last month, and it looked great."

Jin rolled her' eyes. "You're impossible!"

"Thank you." Akiko said with a smile. "You're not the easiest person in the world to get along with either you know." She remarked.

"At least I don't intrude on other's privacy, and I don't lie!" Jin snapped.

Akiko put on an offended look and air. "Why Jin, I don't lie."

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call it when you go around leaving twelve different girls (my self included) notes from the same guy asking us out to the same restaurant on the same night, when he is already going out with another girl to the exact same place?!"

Akiko chuckled. "You've got to admit, it was hilarious. But that wasn't really lying. That was just…" She paused, searching for the right words. "…Being creative and twisting reality a little bit. I mean come on! The restaurant was real, there were reservations for all of you, and the guy was really going on a date there that night. The only difference was that he was going with someone else. It's just a tiny, insignificant detail."

"TINY?! INSIGNIFICANT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Jin shrieked.

Akiko rolled her' eyes. "Says the girl who stays up till midnight chooding what she'll ware the next day, and wakes up at three every morning to do her' make up." She smirked side stepped as Jin lunged for her.

"Oh Akiko," Jin exclaimed breathlessly. "One of these days, you are going to meet somebody who can dish it out just as well as you can. I just pray that I'm there to see it when it happens!"

"Well you had better live pretty long then. Cause no one is going to out-do me! Not in this century anyway!"

Kenji cleared his' throat. "If the two of you are through trying to murder one another, then I'd like to explain the reason I called this meeting.

Akira, always the studious one, immediately focused all attention on his sensei. Jin was staring in a mirror, fixing her' long hair hair. Last but not least Akiko sat down at the base of a tree and shut her' eyes. She remained in this position not moving and seemingly asleep during the twenty-minute speech that followed.

"…So basically, due to the overpopulation of our' village. The village hidden in flames has no choice except to transfer a number of our' teams to other villages to complete their' training. The leaders are going to test out this plan, by sending five teams to separated villages ahead of the others." Kenji cleared his' throat. "It has been decided that cell 14 will be one of the five initial teams."

Three heads snapped towards him. "WHAT??"

"It's an honor." Kenji told them. "They only chose Flame's top five teams for this test. Our' team will be journeying to Konoha. Think of it as a mission. I'll be with you at least for a while to help you get settled in and then I may end up staying with you or I may be called back to flame…we'll see."

Akira and Jin exchanged shocked glances. Akiko simply leaned back against the base of the tree and shut her' eyes again. As a prankster everyone was always trying to get back her in some way or another, consequently she was rarely fazed.

After the initial moment of shock passed Kenji found him' self being bombarded with questions from Jin and Akira.

"Guys calm down." Akiko intervened.

Her' teammates turned to give her astonished looks. "You're actually okay with being sent away from your' village?" Jin asked. Akira just gaped at her.

Akiko shrugged indifferently. "We're gonna be like exchange students. What's the big deal?"

"B-But…" Akira stuttered. "Aren't you even slightly nervous? I mean…what if the Konoha ninja are really powerful, and we're not up to standard. Konoha is a long way away from here, and we don't know anything about it."

"So it will be an adventure." Akiko replied, her' eyes still closed. "Why get so worked up about it?"

Jin spoke without thinking. "But it's soooo far; what about your' family." She covered her' mouth with her' hand when she realized what she had just said.

Akiko opened her' eyes and turned to Jin. Her' maroon orbs were depressed and there was a haunted look in them as she gazed at Jin "What family?" She said in a low voice.

"Gomen Akiko I wasn't thinking." Jin whispered.

Akiko gazed at her' a moment longer before closing her' eyes and leaning back against the base of the tree once more. "Think before you speak next time Jin." She said.

Jin nodded mutely.

Akira tried to break the tension. "When will we be leaving?" He asked Kenji.

"In five days." Was the reply.


Akiko sank gratefully into the sofa. She had spent the last three hours packing up her' apartment and then she had even managed to fit everything she would need to take with her' in one bag. That's a pretty big accomplishment when you're a girl. (No offense meant to any of the girls on this site; I'm a girl too.)

Akiko sighed. The team was leaving in the morning and she was strangely glad. She had lived by her' self for many years and every day had been the same old routine. She had dedicated nearly all of every day to training. Akiko had a competitive streak in her and she hated to be out done. As a result she was now a Jounin level shinobi and the best teenage ninja in her' village. Actually she was better than most of the older ninja too.

A ghost of a smile formed on Akiko's lips. The others were not aware of it, but Konoha was known producing some of the best Ninja in the world. The opportunity to train there would be an invaluable asset to their' team's training experience. Besides… Akiko thought to her' self. Maybe I will find someone who can pose a challenge to me when we spar. That would be good… Akiko's abilities far surpassed those of her' teammates (Jin was a genin, and Akira a chunin so she usually sparred two against one but it was so easy to beat them, Jin in particular.

Akiko stared at her reflection in the mirror. She knew that she was pretty. She wasn't vein or anything; it was just the truth. All the young men in the village had their' eyes on her.

She picked up the mirror and held it closer to her' face. The girl who stared back at her had deep, maroon eyes framed by long black lashes and perfectly arching eyebrows. Her' complexion, though fair, was creamy and flawless. Her' sapphire blue hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. Akiko reached back and undid it. Her hair fell in glossy waves to her' lower back framing her' face.

Akiko's figure was just as pleasing, if not more than her' face. A thin waist and graceful, feminine curves gave her' a womanly appearance.

Akiko allowed a small smile to grace her' lips. She liked the way she looked, and why shouldn't she?

Akiko lifted the hem of her' blouse to reveal her' abdomen. On it was an intricate marking; A seal.

Akiko knew that it had been put there when the spirit had been sealed inside of her. That was not so strange. Demons and spirits were often imprisoned inside humans. What was strange was the fact that the spirit within Akiko was half human.

The legend has it that, long ago, there lived a beautiful young woman by the name of Yurimi. She was the most beautiful woman in the village, and all the young men were desperately in love with her. According to the legend, she often received over ten marriage proposals a day. But, for some reason, Yurimi turned down all of them. Then one day she was walking in the forest and ran into Takeshi, the wolf spirit. It is said that the moment he saw her he fell in love with her. Yurimi too fell in love with Takeshi instantly. They were married less than a week later. When word got out that Yurimi had married a wolf spirit, the young men of the village became furious. They began to plot to kill Takeshi. During this time Yurimi gave birth to a little boy whom they named Ookamiko meaning wolf child. Ten days after Ookamiko was born the men of the village attacked killing both Takeshi and Yurimi, the woman that they had once loved.

Ookamiko grew into a strong and very powerful young man. Half human, half spirit, he was able to outfight everyone he met. The village people feared him for what he was. When Ookamiko was twenty years old he set out and destroyed all the men who had murdered his parents. This was all the excuse the village needed they called a powerful ninja for help. The ninja took Ookami's spirit from his' body and sealed it within a vile made of pure gold. It would keep Ookami's spirit sealed within it for one hundred years. After that, they would have to reseal the spirit inside a living person, and when that person died they would have to reseal it inside another and so on.

The one hundred years had expired the day Akiko was borne. Consequently the spirit of Ookami had been sealed within her. Because of this one fact, most of the village had shunned Akiko her' entire life. They hated and feared her, just as they had hated and feared Ookami.

Akiko smiled slightly. She was glad they were going to Konoha. Maybe there people would not be nice to her just because they were afraid of what she would do to them if they weren't. Maybe there she could live and be treated like a normal person, rather than a freak. Maybe in Konoha things would be different…


Hey everybody!

The idea for this story just came to me today and

I couldn't do anything till I sat down and wrote it out.

Review and tell me what you think. (No Flames Please.)

I give the credit for the saying: "I refuse to be accused...But that doesn't mean I'm not guilty." To Brainiac5.

I hope you don't mind that I used it in this story.

Untill the next Chapter,

This is Yaruhi, over and out!