Chapter 4:

A few months passed that winter arrived. Inari and Kana traveled in a bad blizzard. She was disguised as a twenty-eight year old Hidden Grass Kunochi. She kept her light green eyes but changed her pupils. She changed her hair into a dark green. Her ribbon into a headband that had a Hidden Grass Village symbol on it. Her clothes were changed into the clothing that people in the Grass Village would wear; she even wore an Asian grass hat on her head.

Inari thought that they can get to another village to rest for the night but wished that she stayed in a previous village they went into to find her father. Cold and exhausted she collapsed on the snow covered ground with her knees. Kana told her that she mustn't sleep in a blizzard or she'll find herself dead.

Just when Inari begins to get back on her feet, an unknown object came from behind Kana and clasped itself around the tiger's neck. The collar let red volts of chakra, causing Kana to be in great pain. When Inari noticed that the collar was making him suffer, a noticed a dark figure sprint in front of them. Despite the snow flurry winds almost blinding her eyesight, she noticed that the figure appeared to be a man. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. He had orange-red, spiky hair and fair skin. His ears, nose, and lower lip multiple times. His eyes had a dark red ring on the outer edge of the iris, orange ring inside the dark red ring and a light orange ring that was around his small round pupils. Outside the dark red ring of his irises, thin black rings surrounded it making more intimidating to people who looked at his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Inari exclaimed to the frightening ninja.

"I'm here to relieve the infinite chakra from legendary protector of the travelers named Kana." The cloaked ninja answered coldly. "So unless you want to live for another day, I suggest you stay out of this."

"No! I'm not going to let you kill him for getting his chakra for sick pleasure." Inari told him defiantly as she tried to get the collar off of Kana but would cause her to waste her energy.

"Don't waste your effort getting that collar by hand, the only to get it off is by unlocking it with a special key like this." The cloaked ninja told her as he show the key in front of her.

"Then I'll just take it from your cold hands then." Inari said as she was determined to get the key to free Kana from the torture device around his neck.

"Then I'll be the last person you will ever lay your eyes on." The cloaked ninja replied as he prepared himself.

Without any hesitation, Inari lunged at him as she tried to attack him but he jumped up to the sky in his attempt to dodge her direct attack. They kept fighting for hours. Inari got injured on her left thigh by his kunai but she was too determined to give up. Inari performed her shadow clone jutsu, made four copies of herself in her disguised form. They surrounded the cloaked ninja and lunged at them but he throw four kunai knives at the first four in front of them and each disappeared in a puff of smoke. Inari pounced behind him but he vanished only to kick her on the stomach causing her to tumble on her side. The cloaked ninja then throw two kunai on her back causing her back to bleed. A puff of smoke appeared only to find Inari in her true form after it cleared. Her blood stained the pure white snow.

"Humph, how pathetic." The cloak ninja scoffed at the young injured girl. "You're just a little girl who used a disguise jutsu to disguise herself as a Grass Kunochi."

Inari struggled to sit up as her wounded back caused her pain. As she looked up at the cloaked ninja, she noticed that his Hidden Rain symbol on his headband had a horizontal scratch on it.

"You're from the Hidden Rain Village." Inari told him. "Even though it has a scratch on it, I can tell by the symbol that's on your forehead."

"You're smarter than you look kid." The cloaked ninja praised her recognition. "But case you didn't know that I'm a missing-nin."

"What's that?" Inari asked, as she was shuddering nervously and cold from the cold wind from the blizzard.

"It's a type who ninja who betrayed his or her village." The cloaked ninja plainly answered "And case you didn't know who I am, my name is Pein. I'm the leader of the Akatsuki Organization. I sense potential in you, if you join the Akatsuki Organization you'll be more powerful than before."

"Not in your life." Inari bitterly answered as her eyes narrowed bitterly at the Akatsuki leader. "I rather die at the cold grasp of this blizzard than join by likes of you."

"Then I'll end your misery here and now!" Pein growled as he throws his last kunai at her. It hit her but she used a pile of snow for her substitution jutsu. Pein turned around to see Inari alive.

What do I do? I'm in no condition to outmaneuver him any longer. Inari thought desperately. No matter how many shadow clones I'll make he'll knock them down without breaking a sweat and it will only deplete me more of my chakra. Plus, he might dodge my close range attacks from my tiger claw jutsu. I'm running out of options.

But wait there might be a way out of this mess. Inari thought before she realized that Kana told her that she was not mentally use the tiger form jutsu yet. But in a life or death struggle, she had no option. She quickly looked at Kana before turning her attention to Pein. Forgive Kana.

"Now die, brat!" Pein yelled as he prepared himself to finish her off. Without any moment to spare Inari quickly and accurately done a hand sign sequence for the tiger form jutsu.

"Tiger form jutsu!" Inari cried out in the howling wind. The nanosecond later chakra swirled around her as she got onto her knees causing Pein to stop and stepped back.

"What the devil is going on?" Pein asked to himself as he saw Inari surrounded by chakra until she was concealed by a puff of smoke.

As the smoke died out, Pein can see Inari but her appearance was different. She had a tiger tail attached to her lower part of her body. She has tiger ears and whiskers on each cheek. The two kunai that was on her back was removed from the jutsu.

As Inari looked at Pein, she smirked deviously at him as she licked her left side of her upper lip. She charged at him on all fours. Pein throws shuriken at her but dodged every one of them as the tiger form jutsu not only doubled her speed and strength but also doubled her agility. The jutsu also made her hearing and eyesight keen as a tiger. Inari got close to him she formed a sequence of hand signs to do her tiger claw jutsu. Her fingernails turned into long, sharp daggers and without any warning, she strikes Pein on the front with her nails on her right hand and sidestepped to her left and strikes him on his right arm with her left hand. Pein yelled in pain from her vicious onslaught. She jumped kicked on the face causing him to spiral to the cold ground. After Pein lay on his back Inari lunged at him and used her both hands to drive her long dagger like nails into Pein's abdomen causing immense pain.

"Come to your senses Inari, wake up!" Kana called out to her after he saw her plunged her nails into the fallen Akatsuki leader. After hearing his plea, Inari gasped as she found herself seeing Pein lost consciousness. She quickly released the two jutsus and grabbed the key to unlock Kana's tormenting collar.

"Kana, I'm sorry I didn't mean to use the tiger form jutsu but" Inari said to pleaded him for his forgiveness.

"It's all right Inari, he is too strong for you to defeat him on your own and the predatory effects of the tiger form jutsu almost took over you." Kana forgave her. "You'll one day master this jutsu when you're mentally ready."

"Thanks Kana." Inari said as she got the key ready to unlock the collar. Just when she was placing it in the keyhole she lost consciousness. Just when Kana feared for her life, a boy who was three years older than her got the key into his hand and unlocked the collar. He wrapped her in his cloak to try to keep her warm. He had round eyeglasses in front of his black eyes. He had gray hair. They took them to the Sound Village.

When they were in Inari was shaking from the cold. He told Kana that he had found her in a nick of time.

"Kabuto, what took you so long?" A man asked.

"I was trying to get back before a blizzard hits and well let's just say that Mother Nature isn't on my side." Kabuto answered and gave a weak chuckle. "At least I brought the medicine with me."

"I witnessed a fight between a girl and a guy from the Akatsuki Organization named Pein." Kabuto added. "I brought here to the village so she can recover from the injuries that he inflicted on her."

"And what about the white tiger?" The man asked.

"I'm her protector, I was unable to protect her from Pein because of the collar he snared me causing huge pain." Kana answered. After that he changed into a white cat so he won't scare the people in the village.

"Very well then, Kabuto I want you to fix her wounds and get her clean clothing. After that make sure you keep her warm." The man instructed him. "And Kabuto, when there was blizzard starting, go to shelter and return to the village in the morning. I can't afford to get another medical-nin understand?"

"Yes my Lord." Kabuto responded before he leaved to treat Inari of her wounds with Kana following behind him.