"Ugh please get me out of this house..." Katsuye complained to Hazuki and I as we sat around her room, making a list of decorations for the party.

"Why?" Hazuki asked as she continued writing.

"Miro and Reina have been out every night... and every night she brings him home..." Kat responded and made a sour face.

"Okay okay! I don't really want to hear about my brother's sex life." I replied with a pretend gag. Hazuki giggled.

"I think Miro's cute. I don't know why you complain about him being here all the time Kat..." She replied as I glared at her. "What? It's true."

"Very true, your family is actually one of the most attractive families in Konoha, Taryn." Kat said with a laugh. "I wonder why."

"Fantastic... anyway, we should probably get all this stuff and go talk to Tye about his music." I responded as I stood up. The girls stood up with me as we headed out. On our way down, we saw Reina putting on her Anbu mask.

"Reina, where are you going?" Kat asked as she turned around swiftly.

"Oh, I'm going to the Forest of Death to make sure everything is alright." She said in her sweet voice, "What about you girls?"

"Shopping for my party!" Hazuki exclaimed joyfully.

"Oh right! Miro told me about that," Reina replied with a smile as she covered her face with her mask. "Alright well I'm out, don't be home too late Kat." And with that we followed her out the door, but Kat stopped once outside her house.

"Who wants to bet she's not going to the Forest of Death?" She replied with a sly smile.

"I'm in," I said. Hazuki shrugged her shoulders as we followed Reina along the rooftops of houses. Kat was right, her older sister wasn't going in the direction of the Forest, she was heading to the Hokage mountains. When she almost reached it, we jumped onto the street and hid behind a building. There was someone else there to greet her with a hug. The male lifted his mask and kissed her gently. All of us must have had a heart attack, until we realized it was Miro in his training uniform. They took hands and went inside a small tunnel.

"Where do you think they're going?" Kat asked quietly as Hazuki began to run ahead, "Guys I have a bad feeling about this."

"Chill Kat." Hazuki mumbled as we entered the cave. It was dimly lit with small lanterns on the sides of the rock wall. My brother and Reina were no longer in sight, but we could heard talking. Katsuye stopped us just before we reached the opening.

"Everyone should know what this meeting is about... Orochimaru has come out of hiding but is on the run. Many of our Anbu are trying to track him down, but he's slipping away." Lady Tsunade's voice echoed.

"Do we know what he's after, Lady Tsunade?" Reina's recognizable voice spoke. Someone sighed before our Hokage began to speak once more.

"Yes... he's after one Sasuke Uchiha." She replied, "He marked Sasuke two years ago during the Chunin exams, then caused the second biggest destruction of Konoha next to the Nine-Tails scandal."

"Do you think he will... you know, go to him?" One of the males asked in the room.

"No one's sure, it's up to him. Meanwhile we're trying to take precautions to prevent him from leaving these grounds if Orochimaru gets to him." We missed the rest of the conversation for Hazuki started sobbing, and we ran out as fast as we could. Once far enough away, she started to cry hysterically.

"Hazuki, calm down, please. You heard the Fifth he'll be alright." Katsuye replied soothingly.

"Yeah they're protecting him, and it's been two years since so I don't think he'll go now." I responded. Hazuki began to calm down, but she wouldn't talk or say anything. She would occasionally whisper his name then go into hysterics for the next few minutes. We had to wait about an hour until we finally brought her home then set out for the store without her.


"Should we talk to him?" I asked as we rummaged through the party store.

"No, I don't even think he knows." Kat responded as she threw another bag of lights into her basket. "We still need a red carpet, and some masks to stick around..." I sighed and asked the front desk if they carried those. She said they should, but they might be sold out. We finally found them after ten minutes of running around the store. We payed for our supplies, and made our way to Tye's house.

"Kat?" I asked as she looked up at me from the ground, "Do you think he'll go to him?" Kat turned away and lifted her head towards the sky.

"I hope not."


Tye was being stubborn, and made us pay to borrow his professional stereo system. He helped us lug it over to my house, which was the location of the party.

"What's wrong with you two?" He asked as we approached my street, "You haven't said a word. Did Kiba break up with you, Taryn?" I laughed to lighten the mood.

"No, no. Uhm... my brother and her sister got into a fight and they've been taking their anger out on us." I replied as Katsuye shot me a half smile.

"Oh well I'm sorry." He replied as I opened the gate to my backyard. My lie had been shattered when we saw Miro and Reina sitting at one of our back tables. Reina was laughing at something Miro had said. Tye looked at me confused.

"I guess they made up..." I said as Katsuye mumbled, "Thank god..." When they noticed us, they immediately fell silent but kept their eyes on us as we moved through the backyard to set up the music system. Once Tye left, Miro and Reina began talking again. Without a word Kat and I began to head inside when someone restricted my arm. By instinct I reached back to punch but my fist was caught by my big brother.

"We need to talk." He said and threw me onto one of our porch chairs. Kat followed silently and I scooted over to make room for her.

"What were you three thinking? Eavesdropping on an ANBU meeting?" Reina exclaimed.

"You... you saw us?" Kat mumbled quietly.

"Yes! We saw you even before we went inside, but we didn't think three jonin would be stupid enough to follow." She explained, "And where's Hazuki?" Kat and I looked at each other, and I could tell she wasn't going to explain.

"Well you see there's a complication..." I began.

"Hazuki can't keep secrets?" Miro replied, "Because that's what you-"

"No..." I interrupted, "You see her and Sasuke are... together. And we didn't stay more than a few minutes, because she started to cry. So we took her home." Reina put a hand to her forehead and turned around. She paced around the yard as Miro sat their silently.

"Well... this was not expected..." He answered, "This just makes things more complicated."

"Do you think he'll leave, brother?" I asked. Miro's eyes met mine, and he shook his head.

"I'm not sure... they've taken many precautions to keep him here but he's one of the top Jonin... even Anbu level. Who knows what-"

"What could happen if he turns to the dark side." Reina finished. "It could be another Chunin exams two years ago... He doesn't know these measures have been taken. Lady Tsunade doesn't even think he knows that Orochimaru is looking for him."

"We promise we won't say a word." Kat promised and I nodded my head quickly next to her. "Never. We don't want him to know either." Miro looked at his girlfriend who sighed and sat down on his lap.

"We believe you, just don't ever go again." She answered. She paused when a sly smile came across her beautiful face, "Or follow us... you never know what we could've been doing..." She kissed Miro passionately on the lips as Kat gagged. I stood up immediately.

"Ugh! Stop! Get a room!" I exclaimed and ran into the house with Kat clinging to my hand, and Reina and Miro laughing from outside.


Kiba came over that night to help "babysit" Deena with me. He even brought Akamaru to play with Ari to keep them occupied. Katsuye was out secretly with Gaara tonight, only I was aware since Hazuki wasn't answering her front door. I'll get to her tomorrow, I thought. Deena was upstairs in her room being very quiet for someone who's constantly bugging me to take her out with her. It was a little weird... And here I was with Kiba sitting on the couch watching a dumb movie neither of us were paying attention to... alone...

"What are you thinking about?" Kiba asked as he fixed his arm around my shoulder. I had my head on his muscular chest. I looked up at him.

"Nothing."

"Really? 'Cuz you've been staring into space for a good minute now...something's up."

"Nothing's up... I'm bored." Kiba grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. He looked behind him, and I followed his glance. I saw Ari and Akamaru sleeping peacefully on her bed together, cuddled up in a bundle of yellow and white. Kiba then took his glance up the stairs, then back at me. I raised an eyebrow before I was pushed onto my back, lied down on the couch with Kiba hovering over me. "Kiba..."

"Oh come on Taryn, Deena's not watching..." He said as he leaned forward and kissed my lips gently. I pulled him down on top of me not caring how heavy he was, pressing our lips tighter together. His lips left mine and he began kissing my neck. He kissed down my throat and back up to my lips. My hands left his neck and reached under his shirt. He winced under my touch but it just made him kiss me more passionately. One of his free hands then began to slide under my shirt. I got nervous and stopped kissing as much. He noticed and stopped his hands from going anywhere past my rib area. I got my hands around his shirt and pulled it above his head and off his body.

"Wow you're good at this..." He whispered as he went back to kissing my neck. I pulled his head back up to my mouth and kissed him gently one more time.

"Remember the other day when you said you thought this was love?" I asked.

"Yes, why?" He said as he looked with his brown eyes into my hazel ones. He moved a piece of my hair away from my face, and tucked it behind my ear. I leaned closer to him, and bit his ear gently. He moaned slightly, and quickly flipped me on top of him now.

"I actually might think it's love, too." I replied with a smile.

"You're the most beautiful girl in the world." He responded in awe. He wouldn't look away from me, and it made me a little self conscious. I looked towards the dogs, and saw Akamaru open one eye. He suddenly sprung up, and whined which woke up Ari. I got off of Kiba and tossed him his shirt.

"I think Miro's coming home..." I replied worriedly, "Shit, he's early." Kiba quickly threw on his shirt and turned the TV back on. We watched as Ari perk up her ears and bark. "What girl?" I asked. The two puppies then sprinted up stairs.

"Either, someone's coming home, or someone left." Kiba responded as he grabbed my hand and ran upstairs.


"SHE'S GONE?" I shouted as I stared at the open window in Deena's bedroom. Kiba sniffed the air then made a weird face.

"She have gone somewhere important 'cuz all I smell is perfume... and lots of it." He said as he looked out the window. "I see some footprints where she stepped in the mud."

"We've got to follow her," I said and began to climb out the window. I turned back to the dogs who were ready to pounce out the window. "No you stay here."

"Me?" Kiba exclaimed.

"Not you! The dogs!" I shouted and hopped out of the window. Kiba followed me, and we ran to the street.

"Can you smell her?" I asked him.

"Yes, all I can smell is her cotton candy perfume right now..." He said as he wrinkled his nose. "C'mon." He took my hand and began running with me.

"Kiba. KIBA! I can't run this fast in these shoes!" I exclaimed as I felt my feet slipping out of my loose flats. My arm felt like it was going to detach from my body as he pulled me farther and farther. Suddenly, he stopped, swung me onto his back and carried me piggy-back style all the way to the east forest.

"She's here?" I asked as he placed me down. My legs felt weak from my running before. He noticed me shaking and chuckled.

"Sorry, I forgot you don't have as long legs as me." He said as I shot him a glare. "Anyway she shouldn't be far from here... problem is someone else's scent is here, too, covering her's up."

"You don't think she's-" I began but he stopped me.

"No, whoever it is isn't an enemy." He said as he began walking without me. I jogged to catch up with him and clung to his arm. Even if I was a jonin, the forest at night still scared me immensely. We walked for a few minutes before a clearing opened up.

"Its... our place." I said as I noticed the lighted gazibo and flowers lining the floor of the meadow.

"She's gotta be here somewhere." He mumbled as we looked around, "Wait... there she is. With the red hair right?"

"Brown-red yes... is that...?" I asked but I stopped because I already knew who it was. My sister was laying in the flowers along with Shikamaru. She snuggled close to him as they watched the night clouds drift by. "Aw..."

"I think we should scare them..." Kiba replied. I smacked him playfully, and he chuckled.

"Someone's here..." Shikamaru's lazy voice replied as he sat up. Deena sat up slowly and the two of them looked around.

"Get down." Kiba whispered and shoved me to the ground with him. We watched as they went back to laying on the grass. I smirked.

"Maybe a little joke won't hurt. It'll teach her not to mess with dogs senses when trying to sneak out." I replied and placed my hands to the ground. Suddenly there was a small scream as Shikamaru was lifted by the ground underneath him and flung into the air. He thankfully landed on his feet but Deena was pissed.

"I didn't know you could do that..." Kiba whispered.

"It's a secret, got it?" I answered. He nodded as Deena screamed,

"TARYN!" She made the wind pick up around us so we had to come out in the open. Shikamaru walked closer to her as she glared at me. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. I glanced at Kiba who gave Shikamaru an apologetic shrug, and Shika gave one back. This was between me and her, not them so they stood well behind the two of us. "I'm supposed to be babysitting you!"

"And a good job you were doing! I didn't know watching your little sister was hooking up with your boyfriend on the living room couch!" She yelled back. My cheeks turned bright red from embarrassment and anger.

"You could at least ask me!" I shouted back stepping closer and closer to her. The wind was picking up around me and I knew it was her doing. I made the ground start shaking around her, and the boys noticed what was about to occur. Shikamaru grabbed her by the arm, and she tried shrugging out of his grip but he was too strong.

"Deena, calm down, Taryn's right. I didn't know you didn't ask her." He said and she calmed down. Kiba did the same to me but he let my arm free the minute I tried pulling away.

"Whatever, I hope you get in trouble." I responded and turned around. Kiba said sorry to my sister and her boyfriend before following me out of the forest.