I stare at the bird outside the window, free, with no worries. I felt my own wings twitch inside my shirt. I hated them, but in a way, I loved them. I got to be free too, I was like a bird. But I was also like a wolf, a lone wolf.

Koari.

Bad timing, Wolfie.

I know you hate your wings.

I don't exactly hate them-

I can make you a deal, Koari.

A deal? With a demon? It sounds pretty fishy, but it wouldn't hurt to know what it was.

...Ok what is it?

I will let you decide, when you want your wings or not. I can take them away for you, and I can make them reappear whenever you wish.

Yes. It was perfect. I get to choose.

Ok, what's your price?

My price is that you I also get to decide for when I am able to come out.

Why? Are you planning to cause chaos or something?

You're not the only one who feels trapped and alone. But do not worry, I shall return for I have grown rather fond of you.

I smile.

Alright Wolfie. I'm pretty fond of you too,

You may call me Kayuga. Do we have a deal?

Yeah, we have a deal.

A small smile appeared on my face as I felt my wings fade away.

Whenever you wish to have your wings back, I will know.

I hear the door creak open behind me, but I don't need to look. I know who it is.

"Hey Koari."

I smile at the window. "Hey Kiba."

He walks over to me and sits on my hospital bed.

"How are you?"

I look at him.

"You're concerned?" I ask, surprised.

He blushes a bit and looks away.

"Well, yeah. I was just walking and I saw you. You looked pretty bad and you were bandaged up, so I followed you."

I raised my eyebrows. "You followed me?"

"You looked like you were gonna kill someone." Kiba continued, ignoring me, "Then that man appeared behind you from thin air and stabbed you. I think it's ok for me to be concerned." He smiles.

I stare at him. I observe every detail on his face. His dark eyes, his shaggy hair, his wolfish grin, and his red marks on both sides of his face.

I touch the red marks on his cheeks, to see if it was just makeup. Kiba's face turned almost as red as the marks.

"It's uh… It's from my clan." He mumbles.

"Clan?" I ask.

"The Inuzuka clan."

"Oh."

"Which clan are you from?" He asks me.

I hesitate. Since when did I let someone get so close to me? I was meant to be alone I was… closed in.

"Listen," He stammers, "If you don't want to tell me that's ok-"

"The Yumi clan." I say.

"What?"

"The Yumi clan, we can control light. We can turn our chakra into light, we can use light in almost any way."

Kiba's eyes filled with wonder, "Wow. Can you show me?"

I smirked and gave Kiba a sideways glance. "I'm glad you asked."

I open my hand, and several tiny balls pile up on my palm.

"What is that?" He asks.

"Watch." I laugh.

I throw the balls up, they hover in the air for a moment, sparkling, and lighting up the whole room.

I watch Kiba as he observes them in awe. I spread my hands out, and the balls explode, like fireworks.

As Kiba watches with amazement, I watch with a sad smile.

I remember. I remember exactly. For it was the day before she was taken away.

Flashback:

"No! Stop father!" I screamed. Haruka was lying on the floor, helpless. My father was standing over her.

"Shut the hell up Koari! She disobeyed, she must get her punishment." He growled.

"Father. You are wrong, It was me. I stole your beer, and I blamed on Haruka because I was scared." I lied.

He narrowed his eyes at me, and then pushed Haruka out of the way, hard.

"Get over here you little bitch. You'll pay you wretched little demon." He hissed.

Haruka was watching us, crying and trembling.

"K-Koari?" She whimpered.

"Haruka." I said carefully, "Go up to your room. Don't come out, ok?"

She hesitated, but then nodded before bolting to her room.

As soon as I heard the door shut, I closed my eyes as I felt my father's grip on my hair slam me against the wall, again and again.

Once he let me drop, he undid his belt. No, not this again.

"Father, please." I begged.

He chuckled then kicked me hard in the stomach.

"Shut up, you dirty little rat. I already had a great time with another woman, you think you're so special don't you?"

He raised his belt, and brought it down on me, hard. At first, I didn't make a noise. Only when he continued I started to scream. Not because it hurt, but if this sick man wants a reaction, he will find a way.

"Little whore." He growls.

I limped up the stairs, I feel swollen and bruised. When I opened the door, Haruka's face was buried in my pillow, muffleled sobs escapeed her throat.

"Hey, Hey." I said as I ran over to her, "Haruka, Haruka don't cry."

I was trying so hard not to cry myself. I missed my mother so, so much.

An excellent idea pops into my head. "Wanna see something amazing?" I asked with a fake smile on my face.

She gives me a small nod, that's all I needed.

I open my hand, in it tiny balls pile up. I throw them up in the air, and make them explode. Haruka watched with a smile, with all this trauma she saw, tiny little lights shouldn't wash away all her fear, but staring at the lights are meant to give off bliss.

After a long time, Haruka looks at me with sadness.

"Koari, something bad is going to happen tomorrow. I feel it, I'm scared."

End of Flashback:

I clear my throat and look down at my hands. Kiba tears his eyes away from the light and watches me with concern, which is surprising. My tiny bliss balls are meant to be too tempting to resist.

I didn't want to be here anymore, but as if he read my mind, Kiba says,

"Let's get out of here."

I smile.

I guess the fun didn't last, because as soon as we got out of the hospital Sakura jumped down right in front of us.

"Not so fast Koari, you can't leave the hospital. You're still healing, you could open your wound!" Says Sakura.

Damn, this girl was everywhere. "Sakura I know-"

"And Kiba!"

Kiba widens his eyes, and points to himself.

"Me?"

"Yes, Kiba." Says Sakura, "Lady Tsunade needs you… Sasuke-"

Sakura sighs, her eyes fill with sadness.

"Sasuke left the village last night, he went to Orochimaru to seek power."

"What?!" Kiba exclaims, while I just stare at her with shock.

"Lady Tsunade told me to look for Shinobi to go on this mission. Naruto, Chouji, Neji, and Shikamaru are already going, are you willing to go on this mission to find Sasuke?" Sakura asks.

"Yes." Kiba replies.

Great, I get left out, not the first time.

"Koari, I know you want to go. But you can't." Sakura says.

I exhale, "I know, it's ok I guess."

"But the good news is you get to train with Jiriya," she says, "but don't get too comfortable. He's just filling in until your new sensei comes to the Hidden Leaf. "

"Who?" I ask.

"Kiba, you should go meet your team at the gate. This mission is too important for you to miss."

Kiba nodded then looked at me, "See you later, Koari."

"See you." I wanted to say so much more, to be careful, to be strong, and to make sure he would make it back in one piece. But those words were never said once he left my sight.

"Ok, so who is my sensei?" I ask Sakura.

"He's a very strong and talented man. Lady Tsunade says he is from the Hidden Sand, he can help you with your demon." She answers.

"What's his name?"

"Ren Yura. He has a son, a bit older than you, Aiko."

I stagger backwards.

Aiko… Ren was my mother's boyfriend for a while, Aiko is my half-brother. They both decided that if Ren left with Aiko, they'll be safer. Aiko and I used to play together, Kai didn't know about My mother and Kai's relationship. Until the day before they left, when he found out he threatened to kill Ren and Aiko. My mother and Ren both decided that it would be safer if Ren ran away with Aiko. They promised each other

that one day he'll come back and take me and mother away from that dump.

"I figured you'd have this reaction." Sakura said, approching me slowly, "Ren and Aiko are coming tomorrow."

I step back from Sakura hastily. "Whoa, hey. Calm down." Sakura says., hands raised.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "You're right, I'm just over reacting." I say, "I'm going to go say goodbye to Kiba and them, I'll be right back ok?"

"Ok…" says Sakura, hesitant, "Be quick."

As I ran to Kiba and the others, I changed into a wolf. It's much easier, to be a wolf, no words, and no emotions. I ran across the dirt road until Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, Couji, and Kiba were all by the gate. I slowed down my pace and sat down in front of them.

"What's a wolf doing here?" Says Shikamaru.

"That's not a wolf, that's Koari." Naruto laughed.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, "Oh yeah. Ino told me she can turn into a wolf."

"Anyway," Naruto says, "Why are you here Koari?"

"Naruto you idiot," Kiba says, "Wolves can't talk. She's probably just wishing us good luck." he yells. Are they always fighting?

"Oh yeah who's the idiot-"

I give them a small, quiet howl as a goodbye., but before I can leave Kiba kneels in front of me, and scratches me below the ear. My heart hammers in my chest, this was… odd. But it felt kind of good. Kiba grinned. "See you later, Koari."


Ok I know these few chapters aren't as good but I'm getting there!

~Poppy