Ok guys anothr long chapter. Please don't hate me :P

CHAPTER 6:CONFESIONS AND A CORPSE

Katana was getting very tired of seeing trees every single day. They had been traveling in the same forest for days now. She could tell that Tsume was getting very annoyed with the whole thing. In truth, she was too. Kiba had already learned to deal with whatever came of their travels, so he didn't seem very troubled by any of it.

Kiba, in fact, was getting a little anxious. They had been traveling for days now, but it seemed like the southern sea just wasn't going to get any closer. He wondered if they were even still going south, but mentally smacked himself for it because he knew that Katana could not get lost or turned around as long as she was going toward Toboe's reborn soul. He and Tsume were now just hanging back a little as Katana went a little ahead. Either she didn't notice it or she just plain didn't care, Kiba really wasn't sure. He was getting tired as the sun began to set. He could tell that Tsume was also tiring, but was doing a decent job of not showing it. He looked up ahead to find that Katana had stopped and was looking over her shoulder at the two of them. He didn't see any kind of anger or annoyance in her eyes, so he figured that it was safe to continue walking toward her. When they reached her she said the first thing that entire day. "We'll stop here tonight and continue in the morning. There's a small cave off in the woods a little that way." She said tilting her head in the direction of the supposed cave. She got no complaints from either of them, and she apparently wasn't expecting a response in the first place, for she immediately started to head off in the direction of the cave. Kiba was about to follow her when Tsume stopped him.

"How does she know there really is a cave back there? And, how does she know it isn't already occupied?" he asked, apprehension of going into an unknown cave was plain on his face. Kiba just shrugged and continued walking. He had now completely lost sight of Katana, but he could easily follow her scent to where the cave was. He was soon followed by Tsume who still seemed to doubt the cave they had not yet seen themselves.

"She just knows these kinds of things, I guess. I don't really know what you'd want me to say considering I only understand about half of it myself." Kiba said over his shoulder at Tsume. The sand colored wolf gave him a look that simply said he had not really helped in calming his fears. In truth, Kiba really didn't care. As long as Katana allowed them a rest, he didn't care where it was. There had been quite a few days when she had pushed them on through the night and the next day before giving them a break. On those occasions, even she had been worn out after going for so long.

Finally, he and Tsume reached the cave that their companion had spoken of. When they got there, they found that Katana had already gone to sleep. Kiba and Tsume found their own comfortable spots and also drifted off to sleep.

At about 12:00 a.m. Kiba was awakened by something scratching on the rocky floor. He lifted his head to find the source of the disturbance and found it to be Katana. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked still drowsy from being awakened so quickly. She turned around abruptly from her spot at the edge of the cave where she was looking at the now full moon. She had apparently not expected anyone to wake up. But, once she saw it was Kiba who had spoken, and not Tsume, she relaxed just a little. As soon as Kiba got the hint that he was not going to get much of an answer, got up and walked silently up to her and sat gently beside her. He was only about a foot away from her and it made his hair stick up a little. He quickly laid it flat again before she could notice.

She had been watching him patiently since he had risen to come and join her at the mouth of the cave. She now looked deep into his yellow eyes with her own blue ones. As Kiba looked at those eyes he saw many different things. One of the most profound though, was loneliness. Almost as soon as he noticed it, she turned her head away, her ears, ever so slightly, bent a little toward her head. Kiba noticed it whether she meant for him to or not. He knew that the gesture could be one of submissiveness, or a classic wolf sign of embarrassment. Right now though, he wasn't able to determine which one was occurring in her mind. He couldn't think of a reason on the face of the earth why she would try to be submissive to him. They had always treated each other as equals before; why change that now? Was she embarrassed that she had locked eyes with him or something? He watched her ears out of the corner of his eye. He saw them go straight again, but he still saw that loneliness in her eyes. "Are you ok Katana? You really don't seem to be acting right." There, he had said it. He truly was wondering if she was ok. She really hadn't been acting right around him lately.

She gave him what seemed to be a nervous look, but turned her gaze away very quickly. Yes, something was indeed going on in that complex mind of hers. Finally he got a response out of her. "Nothings really bothering me, I was just thinking about some things." She spared a glance at him from the corner of her eye, and held her gaze on him. Kiba simply watched her as she sat there watching him. He didn't know the point of it, or why he did it, he just did. What on Earth could she be thinking about out here in the middle of the night? And, why would it occupy her mind at all hours of the day and night anyway? He thought to himself. He decided to try his luck in pushing the subject a little.

"What kind of things are there to think about that would make you act so weird at all hours of the day and night?" At this, she simply lowered her vision to the ground at her feet. She really was trying to avoid looking at him now. Kiba could tell that there was something she could say, but simply wouldn't. At least, she would not say it now. Instead of putting pressure on her to answer before she was ready, he turned his own gaze to the night sky above. What he was watching was the now full moon. It still reminds me of her face. He used all the self control he had to not try and turn to look at her face. He could tell that she had returned her own gaze back to normal level, instead of staring at the ground.

For the longest time they just sat there, not saying a word to each other. He had gotten so used to the quiet of the night, that Kiba nearly jumped when Katana finally spoke. "I really don't know how I should tell you about what has been on my mind. I'm just a little scared that it might come out wrong, and you'll get the wrong idea is all." Kiba turned to look at her, but her stare was still boring into the forest directly in front of her.

"What do you mean? What do you mean I'll get the wrong idea? The wrong idea about what?" All three questions were asked in such quick succession, that Katana had to think back a little to remember exactly what he had asked. Kiba waited patiently for her to formulate some kind of answer to his questions. Finally, after what seemed like ever to him, she spoke again.

"Well, like I said, I don't know exactly how to explain it." She seemed so shy and nervous right now. Kiba had always known her as a stubborn, tough, playful type. Now, she just seemed to be a whole different wolf. He also saw, that she was struggling with something inside her that she wasn't going to solve on her own. So, he decided to try and push the subject out of her.

"Are you scared of something?" All he got for his question was a simple shake of the head. So, he decided to try something else. "Is it something about Tsume?" Again, all he got was a shake. This one though seemed a little weaker than the first. Which means I'm probably getting closer to the problem. If she got a little shaken when I asked if it was about Tsume, then what if I see if she is thinking something about me. "Is it something about me?" This time, he got a very small nod. He had finally hit the main mark. Now all he had to do was work it down a little. "Are you nervous around me?" He got another nod. He had anticipated this nod, because she had indeed been acting nervous around him, especially right now. So, he decided to give her another chance to get the subject out on her own. "Why are you nervous around me?" This time, her ears went straight back. They didn't quite touch her head, but they came dangerously close. Kiba pricked his ears up at this display that Katana had clearly not meant to happen. What mattered now was that it had, indeed happened. "What, did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, it's nothing, really." Now Kiba knew that she was trying to avoid the subject of him, and apparently her. This realization brought him back to the uncomfortable distance that he was from her. It had been quite awhile since he had admitted to himself that he loved her. Now, his hair began to rise again, no matter how much he tried to flatten it again. Katana noticed it rising to his dismay, and gave him a quizzical look. "What's the matter Kiba?" Finally Kiba saw a way he could use her uncomfortable questions against her.

"I'll tell you what's wrong, but first you have to tell me what the matter with you is. Why do you keep trying to avoid the subject of you and me?" Katana looked absolutely furious that Kiba had tricked her into that situation. Now, if she wanted to know why he was acting strange, she would have to answer his question first. Kiba was relieved when she didn't get up and just walk away. He now knew two things. One was that she really did want to tell him what was bothering her. Two, was that she was concerned about him, and why he had been acting strange since he had sat down.

"Fine, if you tell me what the matter with you is first, I'll tell you why I've been acting so strange." She had said that with such determination in her eyes, that Kiba didn't dare argue about who was to go first. So, he simply heaved a huge sigh and prepared to let her hate him for the rest of the trip to Paradise.

"You want to know why I've been acting weird. Do you remember when we were in that small cave with Tsume that first night and you and I were up late talking to each other?" She nodded, her attention fully on Kiba now. "Well, it may sound like the stupidest thing in the world, but, I guess I just realized what you meant to me back there." He paused, letting what he had said melt in a little.

"What do you mean by that?" Katana questioned him. He could tell that she had gotten what he had been hinting at, but wanted to make sure she had not jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"What I mean, is that I love you. If you hate now I don't care. It's not going to change anything except for the way you act around me." He waited for awhile, not looking at her at all. He had half expected her to just get up and walk away. But no, she was still there. He could feel her fiery gaze boring into the side of his head, just begging him to turn. He kept his gaze straight in front of him. He really didn't want to look into those eyes that he knew would reflect hate for him by now.

Nothing came to him from his partner except for something he had not expected in his wildest dreams. It was not a smack or a nip that she had given him when they had played just a few times before. No, this was much softer and warmer. She licked him gently on the side of his jaw, which was the equivalent of a human giving someone a small peck on the cheek. When he turned to finally face her she had a warm glow in her eyes and a soft smile of her lips. He recognized that smile. It was the same one she had given him in the cave that one night. It was a tender smile that he knew was only meant for him and no one else.

Katana turned back to her spot on the cave floor and lay down facing Kiba. He gave her a smile of his own and went to lay a few feet in front of her. She apparently felt satisfied, because soon afterwards, Kiba could hear her steady breaths, which meant that she had fallen asleep. He smiled once more to himself before falling asleep as well.

The next morning, they, as usual, were up before Tsume. They didn't wake him right away though. First, they themselves had to get fully awake. Katana was the first to actually stand and stretch. Kiba followed soon after, and decided that now was probably a good time to wake up Tsume, who had still not gotten used to the waking hours of the two. Kiba nudged him just enough to wake him before he left to go out into the sun to try and wake up a little more. Tsume would be out soon enough. He too needed to wake up a little before he even tried to move. When Kiba left the cave, he followed his nose to a stream nearby where he found Katana drinking as much water as possible. They had not come across a stream in a while, and it would probably be a while before they came across another one as clear and safe as this one. So, Kiba followed Katana's example, and began to lap up as much water as he could bear. As he did so, he noticed, for the first time since meeting her, how oddly Katana drank. Instead of lapping up the water, she sucked it into her mouth like he had seen deer and horses do. He tried to imitate what she was doing, and found that he could get a lot more water at one time than when he had lapped it up. "How did you figure out how to drink like that?" She lifted her head at his question and smiled. Kiba couldn't help but smile back. She seemed to have some kind of power to make him smile.

"I learned it from watching the deer that live in Paradise. I saw how they drank, and that it was different from the way we drank. So, I asked them why they drank like that and they explained to me that if they sucked it up they got more water in one gulp than when they tried to lap it up. So, I just started copying them, and I did get more water at a time." It was the same thing Kiba had discovered when he had imitated her. He nodded to her to tell her that he understood, and dipped his head again to finish drinking. Tsume came through the bushes as he put his head down, and gave a small nod to Katana who watched him as he went to get his own drink. They still couldn't seem to stand each other. The most they ever did that seemed to pass for communication was the occasional nod to show acknowledgment. Kiba had already learned to ignore all of this and simply finished drinking. A few minutes after he finished, Tsume also finished and they moved out.

They had been on the trail all morning when Katana seemed to just stop dead in her tracks. In fact, she had stopped so abruptly that Kiba, who had been following close behind her, rammed into her, Tsume, in turn, rammed into Kiba. All of that pushing, moved Katana about a foot farther along the trail, but she still did not take her eyes off of the spot in the trail about two yards in front of her. When she didn't say why she had stopped, Kiba looked over her shoulder, and saw what she was staring at. Neither was sure what it was, so neither of them was willing to go any farther. When Tsume saw it, he pushed past the others and cautiously approached the lump in the road. When he got close to it, he realized that it was a wolf. The poor thing was long dead though. What troubled him though was that the wolf was not old. It was a fairly young one, probably only a yearling. He couldn't think why it would have died though; it had no marks on it at all. Not even scavengers had laid a claim on the carcass yet. Judging by the smell close up, Tsume could tell that the wolf had been dead for a few days now. Surely something would have found it by now. But no, not even the flies were around the carcass. In fact, there was nothing within twenty yards of the thing.

"Tsume, you need to stay away from that thing! It died from the disease that the humans call rabies! If you stand too close to that thing too long you'll end up with it too and die just like he did!" Tsume turned to see Katana calling back to him. She had already turned to go the other way and find a way around the contagious corpse. Tsume was back beside them within a few seconds, and they were all off and far away from the wretched thing within a few hours.

"If one animal in this forest has that stupid disease, then there are bound to be more." Katana said in a voice that shook Tsume to his bones. It was not just anger in her voice, but also fear. He didn't blame her one bit. He had heard of this disease. It made one go completely mad and foam at the mouth until they died a horrible death. Even death though, they could still spread the disease. For once, Tsume agreed with Katana. Where there was one of those foaming mouth corpses, there was no way that they were going to get out of this forest without running into one that was still alive.

Well, if you're reading this that must mean that you actually read the whole chapter, and you didn't die trying. YAY!! Anyway, it was kinda sappy, I know. Don't bite me please. I'll try to make the next one better. Anyway, REVIEW!!! PLEASE :(