"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP YOU STUPID MUTT!"

"WOULD YOU STOP CALLING ME MUTT YOU. YOU. YOU..FELINE!"

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY DAMN SENSE! HOW WOULD I BE A FUCKING FELINE?"

"THERE'S NO WAY YOU WOULDN'T BE A PUSSY CAT IF YOU COULD JUMP DOWN FROM THAT HEIGHT AND LAND ON YOUR FUCKING FEET!"

"IT WASN'T THAT HIGH YOU FUCKING WUSS! IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, YOU WERE SCARED TO JUMP DOWN! WE HAD TO HELP YOU, FUCKING DOG!"

"OH NO YOU-"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS! What a drag, you both are troublesome." Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose as Shino nodded in agreement. I looked over at Kiba and snarled, Piirui joined in as well. He growled back, hoping his own pet Akamaru would join in, but he came up to me and licked my face over and over until I couldn't help but smile and scratch behind his ears.

"Traitor.." Kiba muttered as he walked past Akamaru, who just yipped at him as he went over to a random tree and sat down.

"Now that your bickering is over, how long will it take to get to the top of the mountain?" We had stopped at Piirui and I's cave to put the sac and spear we had brought with us and had forgotten when we met these freaks. Well, Shikamaru was pretty cool. If everyone was as chill as him, I would totally be okay with leading up to the mountain. But the mutt Kiba and the quiet creepy Shino make me regret agreeing to bring them up there.

"Well I'm not quite sure. To be honest it's going to get dark soon so I think we should set up camp here and continue tomorrow. You don't want to wander in these mountains at night. I promise you." I stated as I picked Piirui up and held him in front of Akamaru. They just looked at each other till Akamaru licked Piirui, who made a squeaking sound. Kiba whistled for Akamaru and he scampered off to him. My eyes whipped to him with a small glare, which he returned. I pulled Piirui to me and he rested his head on my shoulder. I walked over to a different tree. We were in a clearing, something that I wasn't used to being in this close to night time. I looked up the tree while scratching behind my pet's ear. He wasn't really a pet, he was more of my little brother, but he treated me like a mother. It's weird really.

I continued to look up to find me a good thick branch up nice and high and that would have good cover from the ground and sky. I smiled when I find the perfect spot. I turned to the rest of the group, it looked like Shikamaru was giving orders.

"Guys, and mutt, I have a suggestion." I practically yelled. Shikamaru looked back at me and motioned me over to them. Shikamaru kinda liked me too. We both thought the two others with us were annoying, with Kiba the mutt being, well a mutt, and Shino complaining that he didn't even want to be on this mission in the first place. I came up to them and put Piirui down, who walked up to Akamaru and poked his leg with his nose.

"What's the suggestion, I was just going to send those two out to get fire wood and some water." I smiled at Shikamaru a little before going into a straight face again.

"You don't want to do that around here. It's not safe, especially if you don't know what's out there. Piirui and I will go out and get some wood and water. You guys would either want to stay at the edges of the clearing, or up in a tree that's got enough cover. You'll want to be quiet also; you might attract things you don't want to." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at me.

"That wasn't much of a suggestion that was more of an order. But I'll go with it since we don't know where we are and what kind of, creatures are out there. There's one thing I want to change with this plan though." I tilted my head to the side a little and narrowed my eyes.

"Don't tell me-" Shikamaru cut me off.

"I want Kiba to go with you." Both Kiba and I started to argue, we both hated each other, we didn't want to be stuck in the woods with no one else around.

"Sorry, but that's how it's going to be. Kiba will be able to carry the water while you carry wood, or vice versa. And if you get attacked while you're out there, Kiba is the best person I know to protect anyone." I snorted and narrowed my eyes at Shikamaru, who I was starting to hate.

"I can handle myself you know! I've done it practically my whole life!" I heard a chuckle behind me and saw that it was Kiba.

"Oh I'm sorry, I took you for a rich snobby girl whose daddy always gives her what she wants." I flinched at the word 'daddy'. Kiba saw this and raised an eyebrow. I turned and whistled, signaling Piirui to come to me, and I started walking off into the forest. Kiba ran after me with Akamaru at his side. When they caught up to us, I didn't say a word to him. I didn't want to. Of course he doesn't know that my dad was ashamed of me up until a few hours before his death. I hadn't told him, or anyone for that matter. The only one that knew was Piirui, but I don't think he can understand a word I'm saying so that didn't count. Wait a minute. I stopped walking and Kiba bumped into me.

"Hey, why'd you stop!" I spun quickly around and faced Kiba. I put my figure in his face which made him flinch; I think he thought I was going to hit him or something. I narrowed my eyes at him and he raised an eyebrow.

"W-what?" I narrowed my eyes even more before speaking.

"You said that you're an Inuzuka, didn't you?" Kiba looked confused.

"Yeah. I did. Why?" 'Stay with me.' She shook her head. 'I can't. I have a. A lover back in my own village. I couldn't leave him.'

I put my hand down and turned to walk on. Tsume. You had a child, knew where I lived, and never came to tell me? Have you forgotten about me?

I started to pick up some good fire wood that wouldn't make much visible smoke, but would most surely burn. Kiba just followed behind me. I knew he was confused. I wasn't about to go tell him that I met his mother way before he was even thought of and that her and I made a deal that the child she has will be my best friend of sort. That would be creepy beyond all reason.

"Hey uh, Akemi?" I picked up the last piece of wood that I needed and turned to Kiba.

"What do you want mutt." I wasn't really in the mood to talk. I kind of just wanted to get all this stuff so I could get back to camp to sleep. Kiba sighed.

"You know, my mother spoke of these mountains. She said she met a girl here. The girl took care of her when she was very ill when she was traveling. She turned down the offer of staying with her because she didn't want to leave dad. She wanted me to meet this girl. Said she was the most beautiful person she has ever seen. Also said she was the nicest. But that was years ago. She told me that if she had had me sooner, she would have taken me up into these mountains to meet her. She says that she's dead now, that she has to be. There's no way that she would have survived very long out here." My heart skipped out of fear once we got close to water. I coughed.

"Nice story, but go get the water mutt so we can get back to camp." I saw a vein pop on Kiba's forehead.

"Would you stop calling me mutt?" My eye twitched.

"Uh, no why would I?" He growled and walked towards me, making me back up closer to the water. I looked back and gulped. It looked deep. I turned back to Kiba; all the while my heart was pounding hard in my chest.

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's because it's insulting to me and my clan!" Akamaru barked, sounding worried, and Piirui was growling. He knew I was afraid of the water, and couldn't swim. He's seen me almost drown in the small lake down past the village. I was just about at the edge of the water when I tripped and fell in. My heart was beating faster than ever, it felt as if it was going to explode. I wasn't even trying to surface or fight my way up. I knew that I wouldn't have been able to get up there.

'Don't lie to yourself child, you can use your powers to get up there. Back to the surface where you can breathe freely.' I couldn't hold my breath much longer by the time I got to the bottom of the lake. I accidently breathed in water.

'No! I will never use those powers. They're the reason my mother, father, and brother are all dead.' I looked up towards the surface to see a figure coming down, I couldn't see who it was, my vision was going black.

'Use them child.'

'No..' I closed my eyes when the figure got to me and I complete blacked out.

"So you think she's okay?"

"Well I think she is since she's still breathing."

"Was she really at the bottom of the lake when you got to her?"

"Yeah, one minute she was calling me a mutt, the next, she was at the bottom of the lake with me going after her."

"Did she try to swim to the surface?"

"No, it was strange.."

"You sure you didn't push her?"

"She may be a bitch, but I wouldn't purposely push her into a lake then go after her! Damn guys, you really think I hate her that much."

"Yes." "Yeah."

"Ugh you guys are the worst." I groaned and opened my eyes slowly to see Kiba walking away from me, and Shikamaru and Shino leaning over me.

"My head hurts. What happened?" I groaned. But then I remembered. I had just about drowned in a lake. I saw that it was day time so I must have been unconscious for a while.

"Kiba pushed you into a lake and you almost drowned." Shino said. I narrowed my eyes at him and sat up slowly, knowing I should take it easy.

"He didn't push me dumbass bug freak, I tripped and fell in!" I felt immediate eyes on me. I looked to see that it was Kiba, looking at me with surprise.

"We swear he pushed you. He said he was mad and backed you close to the lake." I rolled my eyes at Shino and Shikamaru.

"You really think that low of Kiba? I would have never, ever taken him to try and purposely drown some girl, let alone someone who is helping him, just to save her and make him look like a hero. He may be a stupid mutt, but he's not that stupid." Kiba smiled a little bit at the fact I defended him, but wasn't all that happy with me since I still called him a mutt.

Shikamaru just shrugged and got up to get me some water while Shino just walked away to go play with his bugs or something. Kiba came over to me and sat down. We sat in silence while Shikamaru came back over to me with the water. I was sipping on it slowly while we sat. I took a small glance over at him. He was just lying against the tree, that they had put me near, with his arms behind his head and eyes closed. I turned fully to him and just looked at him. I noticed that he had his mother's eyes when I realized he was her son. He also has her nose and lips. It's weird to think that this person, who I just about despise, was supposed to be someone I could be with and not be alone in the damn cave.

I sighed and turned away, sipping on the water again. I heard some movement from beside me but continued to watch Shikamaru put the fire out, or try to. Shino had to come help him. I could see him mumble 'what a drag' under his breath while walking over to his tent.

"So uh, Akemi?" I turned to Kiba with a raised eyebrow. He was looked right at me with the same look I had.

"Why'd you asking me if I was an Inuzuka last night?" I looked down at the water, which was almost gone.

"I was just curious." He obviously didn't believe me.

"Did you know the girl? Is she your mother or sister or something? I mean, she lived in these mountains.." I dumped the rest of the water out and turned to Kiba.

"I was just curious okay?" I slowly got up and walked over to where Akamaru and Piirui were lying. I could tell he was still watching me, but I didn't really care. He could look at me all he wanted. I wasn't going to tell him the truth. There's no way I could, I really couldn't do it. When I got over to our fury little friends, Piirui came over to me and jumped, taking me by surprise. I fell backwards and got attacked with licks. Akamaru joined in and I laughed. I pushed them away so I could stand up. I pet both their heads and gave them kisses with a smile.

"Thanks guys, I really needed that." Akamaru barked and Piirui yipped as a response.

"Akamaru, Akemi, Piirui, let's go! We need to leave so we can make it there already!" Shikamaru yelled. I turned to see they had packed up camp and made it look like we weren't even there. Even though I don't know how they got rid of that fire. It makes no god damn sense. Piirui jumped on my shoulder and Akamaru ran to Kiba. I walked over to them and smiled at Shikamaru. I pulled my hood over my head and fixed my headband on my forehead. I'm so happy that it hadn't fallen off or they took it off. I didn't want to have to explain my marks. That would have been really awkward.

"Akemi!" I shook my head and looked over at Shikamaru, apparently they have been trying to get my attention for a few minutes. I know that I was spacing out, but I had no idea they actually wanted to talk to me.

"Sorry, yes?" Kiba smacked his forehead and Shikamaru sighed.

"We were asking you how long it would take to get to where ever we're going." Put my hands on my hips and shifted from one foot to the other while I was thinking.

"I don't know really. If we move fast, we may be able to get there by nightfall, but we would need animals to ride to go as fast as I'm talking about. And Akamaru is the only animal that I believe would be able to run that fast. I can't, I know I can't, and neither can Piirui. If he was bigger this wouldn't be a problem because then one person could ride of Piirui with me and the other could ride with Kiba on Akamaru." Shikamaru looked as though he was thinking. It was either that, or he was looking off into space, which seems like a good option to me.

"Kiba, take Piirui and Akemi on Akamaru, Shino and I will run. I know that we would be able to be as fast as him, wear these-" Shikamaru handed us all some sort of communication device. It went in your ear and had this little, thing that apparently was a mic attached to it. Kiba put it on for me then took my hand and showed me the button to push to talk.

"You push this button then speak. When you're done, let go of the button so you can hear the others reply okay?" I nodded and turned to Shikamaru.

"You sure you can run this?" He nodded and so did Shino.

"If we get lost we'll tell you, although I doubt we will lose you since I know how to track people well." I nodded again and Kiba picked me up and put me on Akamaru, then got on behind me, dangerously close too. I could feel my heart beat harder and I gulped.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Y-yeah I guess so, wait, Piirui!" He jumped up in front of me and curled close to my body. I held onto him so that he wouldn't fall off.

"Lean forward, please." I leaned forward and Kiba leaned over me and put his hands on either side of me, holding onto Akamaru's fur. I felt something hit my back and when I looked behind me I saw that his face was really close to mine, and I saw that necklace. I continued to stare at it. 'Here, take this, I made it for you.' I handed Tsume a necklace that I made out of woven wool and wood. The pendant was one of a dog howling. Tsume smiled and hugged me, which in turn I hugged her back. 'Thank you Akemi, I will cherish it forever.'

I looked at Kiba, who had seem to get closer to my face and blushed. I quickly turned to face front and noticed we were moving.

"Which way do we go Akemi." He asked. I looked to see where we were and licked my dry lips.

"Go left, if you go right you'll run us right off the mountain." Kiba grunted and told Akamaru where to go. Kiba leaned forward so that his chest was on my back, which made me gulp. I've never had anyone, let alone a guy be this close to me, other than Tsume. It's been years since I've had any type of human contact and it feels really weird.

I directed Kiba all the way up the mountain. We didn't speak to each other unless it was to give directions, or even ask for some if I was spacing out. We finally made it to the top of the mountain where an abandoned temple, which was mostly in ruins, lied. Akamaru came to a slow and Kiba sat up and stretched. I sat up, somewhat missing the warmth of his body on mine since when he moved, I got instantly cold. I wrapped my arms around me and looked around. Shikamaru and Shino came up beside us.

"Kiba, do you smell them?" I looked behind me to see him tuck his necklace back in his shirt and sniff the air.

"I don't smell them here, but we should search the place, my nose is freezing, it's not working properly." I smiled and he looked at me with a small smile. He got down and helped me off, but once I got on the ground, I went to walk but tripped. Kiba caught me and my face was against his chest. I blushed and peaked up at him. He had a grin on his face and was looking down at me.

"So I see you want to be closer to my body then princess?" I blushed more and pushed him away while he laughed. I ran after Shikamaru with Piirui on my heels.

"So Shikamaru, what does your guy friend look like? I know what the girl looks like, but I don't want to attack the guy if I see him." Shikamaru pulled out a picture from his pocket and handed it to me.

"His name is Uzamaki, Naruto." I looked at the picture and giggled a little before giving it back.

"He looks like an idiot." Shikamaru smiled.

"He kind of is, in some ways. But he has his smart moments. If someone is in serious danger, he won't play around. He will try his best to help the person, even if it costs him his life." I looked around for a door or hole we could go through.

"He seems like a good guy." Shikamaru grunted in agreement.

"But He's mostly an obnoxious idiot." I giggled again and walked off in a random direction.

"Page us if you find anything!" Shikamaru yelled back at me and I just put my hand up waving. Piirui and I climbed through a hole in a wall and looked down the hallway. It was a little dark, but I could still see nicely. I saw there was a door at one end of the hall, and a stairway leading down on the other. I chose to look in the door first. I opened it a crack and saw the sunlight shine through. There was nothing but an old dusty desk in there, I didn't sense anyone around and Piirui didn't growl so we walked in and searched the desk. There was nothing in there, so I left the room and went down the stairs. I find myself in a larger hallway with more rooms. I search everywhere and walked back to the same floor I came in here on and went back through the hole I saw Kiba and Akamaru laying down on a patch of grass that was in the middle of the courtyard. Kiba had a frown on his face as he looked at the necklace around his neck. I walked over and lay beside him. I looked over and he continued to stare.

"That's a nicely done necklace, where'd you get it?" Kiba put it back in his shirt and looked over at me with the same look he had when he was looking at it.

"My mother. She told me that I should take it with me. She said an old friend made it for her a long time ago and that, if by chance she was still alive, she would notice the necklace and say something. But the only person we've found on this mountain, or any traces of life, is you." I looked at his eyes, which told me that he was desperate to find his mother's friend. I bit my lip. I wanted to tell him, just so Tsume would know I'm still alive, but then Kiba would question me and I didn't want to explain. I looked back up at the sky and shivered. Piirui came up to me and laid on my stomach. I smiled down at him.

"Thanks Piirui, but I'm going to need more than a small furry cub to keep me warm." Piirui yipped and moved so that he was curled up by my head. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the cold. I sat there shivering till I felt something lay across me and I suddenly feel warm. I opened my eyes and they got wide at what they saw.

*~Kiba's POV~*

I watched as Akemi's brows went up like she was worried and her shiver. Her lips were starting to turn a blue color. You'd think that someone who was in the cold all the time would be used to this. It does seem a lot colder than it did near the base of the mountain. It must just be because we're higher in the sky than before. I sighed and sat up. I unzipped my coat and took it off. I was wearing a long sleeved V neck shirt this time so it's not so bad and threw it on Akemi. I lay back down as she opened her eyes to find my jacket on her. She sat up with wide eyes and looked at me.

"Kiba you-" I cut her off with a wave of my hand.

"I won't get cold. I'm a mutt remember? Plus, I've got Akamaru here, he'll keep me warm. Put it on. You need it more than I do." She just looked at me like she wanted to argue more. I just gave her a look like I wasn't going to take it back and she sighed. She pulled it around her and zipped it up with a sigh. She then smiled and laid back with her eyes closed. I smiled and closed my eyes as well. I ended up falling asleep before I really had time to think of anything.

*~Akemi's POV~*

I breathed in the jacket and it smelled like dog and a somewhat musky smell. It was weird, I liked it. I smiled and snuggled myself into it. I closed my eyes, hoping that I would fall asleep, which I did.

'Tsume! Time to eat!" Tsume came running into the cave with a smile on her face. She sat down next to me and took the wooden spoon and bowl, which I made, and started eating the rabbit soup I had made.

'You know that I am eternally grateful that you took me in and helped me while I was ill. I don't think I would have made it through to the village if you had.' I smiled at her.

'Yeah, well I felt bad about leaving you in the cold like that. I know how it feels to be like that.' Tsume smiled and finished off her soup before we laid down to sleep.

"Aw, would you look at that. The bear owner and the dog lover are cuddling." My eyes snapped open to find my head laying on Kiba's shoulder and his arm around my waist. I shrieked and moved quickly away from him with a blush on my face. He was still asleep and had a smile on his face. I growled and stood up. I walked over and kicked dirt in his face, which woke him instantly.

"HEY, WHAT FUCK WAS THAT FOR!" I just looked at him before walking away to the other side of the courtyard.

*~Kiba's POV~*

I watched her while she walked away to sit on the other side of the courtyard with her bear Piirui. I wasn't even that mad. Yeah, she threw, or kicked dirt in my face, but I wasn't really that mad about it. I sat up and looked at Shikamaru who was watching her with a raised eyebrow.

"What's up with her?" I asked. Shikamaru looked back at me.

"Shino and I came back to find you to cuddling. So when we announced it, she woke up suddenly and freaked out. She didn't look too happy when she saw you have a smile on your face in your sleep, which you've had since we got here." I blushed and looked down at the ground. I know that I woke up, half dazed and shivering. I then felt something snuggle up to me and my scrambled brain had thought it was Akamaru since I felt fur. I went back to sleep after that.

"How long were we asleep for?" Shikamaru thought for a moment.

"Well, we all went searching about two hours ago, so I would have to say you were asleep for an hour." I nodded. That wasn't so bad, we weren't in that situation for long. I looked over in the direction of Akemi. She still had my jacket on and was holding it close to her. I got up and walked over and sat next to her.

"You know, I wasn't really mad at you right?" I looked over at her and she was looking at me.

"Yeah I knew." She looked down and started to pick the grass.

"That look you gave me. What was it for?" She glanced at me before looking down again.

"It's nothing, really." I looked away and down as well. I don't' know why she won't tell me, it's not like we're not friends. Wait. Are you friends? I looked back at Akemi and she was weaving blades of grass together.

"I have a question Akemi. It might seem a little odd so bare with me." She doesn't stop but just grunts.

"A-are we friends? I know that we fight a lot, and frankly, you've been getting on my nerves a lot with being a little bitch and calling me a mutt but. Don't friends get on other friends nerves?" She looked over at me and just looked at me.

"The only friend I've got is Piirui." I looked away while popping my jaw. That was pretty surprising. Well, not really.

"Well, I mean. I guess we could try. But you wont be around forever and, neither, uh n-neither will I so don't think this will last forever. You need to go back to your village and leave me here, in my cave, alone. Got it, mutt?" I looked over at her and she was looking at me. I smiled and looked ahead of me.

"Yeah, I got it. So there's no chance of you going to stop calling me mutt is there?" She giggled.

"No way in hell." I clicked my tongue and laid back on the grass.

"Thought so."