You get to learn more about Kaze! Yay! Dun dun dun...

Disclaimer: Do not own, cept Kaze.


The next morning, Kiara walked into Kaze's room to see Shino hugging her tightly in his sleep. Kaze rolled her eyes to where Kiara was standing, laughing at her predicament, and growled, "Get him off of me!" Kiara started, confused, but helped Kaze pull the still unconscious Shino from Kaze's waist.

"What's wrong, Kaze-sama?" Kiara whispered, following Kaze out of her room as Kaze pulled on her jacket and other weights. Kaze growled in response, nearly running downstairs in her haste. "Did Shino do something?"

"He cut his arm on my side table," Kaze muttered, starting up some tea and tapping her fingernail impatiently on the countertop, successfully cracking it.

"Well, didn't you heal it?" Kiara asked, frowning and pulling Kaze's hand away from the counter.

"Can't focus my chakra," Kaze replied shortly. "You do it. Before he gets down here."

"But isn't this a good thing?" Kiara asked, refusing to walk back upstairs. "Now you don't have to bite him! Just do it while he's still asleep and already bleeding."

"NO!" Kaze shouted. Kiara flinched away and fell silent until they heard a foot on the stairs in the other room. "Heal him, now," Kaze ordered, holding her breath.

"Kaze-sama, you need-" Kiara started desperately.

"I don't need it and I won't do it! Not to Shino!" Kaze interrupted. "I won't be like my parents, I refuse."

"But you can't just-" Kiara started again.

"Go. Heal. Him," Kaze ordered slowly, turning black eyes on her friend.

Kiara huffed, but went into the other room, surprising Shino just behind the door. "Oh! Did you, um, hear that?" Kiara asked, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

"What's wrong with Kaze?" Shino asked, frowning at Kiara, his blue eyes showing his concern.

"She's just not feeling well is all," Kiara laughed, sitting Shino down on the couch. "Now, I heard you cut your arm? Let me see it."

"Kiara-chan, I've been wondering this for a while now," Shino began, hiding his still-bleeding arm from Kiara. Kiara cocked her head to the side, encouraging him to continue. "What is Kaze?"

Kiara hesitated before answering, "What do you mean 'what is she'?" She bit her lip, hoping Shino would ask the right question so she could give a small hint at the answer.

"She's not quite like myself or any other ninja," Shino began, watching Kiara carefully. "She's more like you, but I'll ask what you are later, I'm worried about Kaze right now."

"Go on," Kiara said, watching the door to the kitchen in case Kaze was listening and decided to burst through.

"She nearly ran away from me this morning," Shino said. "I was awake, yes. But I don't know why. When I came downstairs she said something like 'he cut his arm on my side table'? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I can't answer that question, Shino-san," Kiara stated, only slightly emphasizing the word "that." "Anything else?"

"Her eyes are black," Shino began. Kiara nodded, allowing him to keep talking. "Her teeth are… sharp?" He continued, watching Kiara nod slowly. "She doesn't like being around blood." Kiara suddenly stopped nodding, raising an eyebrow at Shino. "No, she… She craves…." Kiara started nodding again, her eyebrows raised in anticipation. "Don't tell me she's a vampire," Shino said seriously just as Kaze burst through the door.

"What are you talking about?" Kaze asked, trying to stay calm. "Vampires aren't real."

"Kaze!" Kiara shouted, causing Kaze to jump. "You need blood, just tell Shino and I bet he can help! Get over your pride, d- dang it!"

Kaze began snickering. "You almost cussed, Kia-chan," she laughed.

"You are making me mad!" Kiara snorted in reply, placing her hands on her hips. "And don't change the subject! You need blood to continue moving around, just tell him!"

"You really are a vampire?" Shino asked, his arm no longer bleeding.

"No, vampires aren't real," Kaze sighed. "My Kekkei Genkai… My family trait is being what people say are vampires. We're fast and strong normally, but we need blood almost every month. If not, our eyes get black and we feel sick."

"Not a very useful family trait," Kiara snorted.

"And yours is better?" Kaze asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ouch," Kiara replied, frowning. "Fine, I get it, you're already agitated and are just taking it out on me," Kiara amended when Kaze sent her a pleading look.

"If you need blood-" Shino started, standing up.

"No, I won't do it," Kaze interrupted, folding her arms across her chest. "I won't take blood, no matter what."

"But you need it," Shino argued, scratching his neck in irritation. "If you need it to survive, just take some of mine! Obviously you don't need all of it, otherwise Kiara-chan would be more worried about it."

"No, not all, just a little bit to satisfy until next month," Kiara said, sitting down. "Just take his offer, Kaze-sama." Kaze stubbornly shook her head, looking away. Kiara sighed, standing up again and pulling a knife from a drawer in the living room. "Sorry, Shino-san," she said, bowing in apology. Shino shrugged and folded his hands behind his back, holding his head up so his neck was exposed.

Kaze, still slowed down by her sickness, didn't have to speed to stop Kiara when she attacked Shino, slicing the side of his throat open. "Kaze, he's going to bleed to death," Kiara said calmly, putting the knife back and leaning against the couch. Shino was already turning pale as blood flowed from his neck. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily, before Kaze attached her mouth to his neck. She successfully closed the wound and cleaned his neck before turning angry green eyes on Kiara.

"DON'T YOU EVER ATTACK HIM AGAIN!" She shouted before stomping out of the room and back into the kitchen.

"How did she heal me?" Shino asked, thoroughly confused and weakened by the loss of blood.

"Here, sit down and I'll explain the rest of her family trait to you," Kiara suggested, leading Shino to the couch again. Shino gratefully sat down, watching Kiara as she gathered her thoughts. "Kaze's family has… different healing abilities than that of normal shinobi," Kiara began, sitting on the side of the loveseat. "Their saliva can close any wound and disinfect it, and they can successfully pull poison out of a person's body, even if it's circulated throughout, without pulling out a drop of blood. Their saliva, when ingested, yea it sounds disgusting, acts as an anti-poison. For any poison. Or anything that could possibly threaten the human body from within: poison, viruses, anything."

"That's much more useful than she let on," Shino said, laying down on the couch. "Why'd she make it seem so bad?"

Kaze walked into the room, carrying three cups of tea and managing to keep them all steady while muttering "Bawitdaba de bang de bang diggey diggey diggey said de boogey said up jump de boogie" repeatedly in a kind of chant, bouncing to the beat in her head. (A/N: Bawitdaba by Kid Rock, it's been stuck in my head for about a month and I had to add it somewhere!)

"Because she hates her ability," Kiara answered, accepting a cup of tea from Kaze. Kaze set another cup in front of Shino on the coffee table before sitting down sideways in an armchair. "It's useful, but comes with the downside of her craving blood, needing it on a regular basis, and therefore preying on other humans."

"Right, and you can't tell anyone about this, either," Kaze said unnecessarily, already knowing that Shino would never give away one of her secrets.

"Well, duh," Shino replied, rolling his eyes and picking the cup up with shaky hands.

"Also, you'll be slightly anemic for a while, but it shouldn't last more than a couple of days," Kaze explained. She paused for a moment, staring into her cup sadly. "Sorry, Shino, I didn't want you to have to be part of this," she muttered, resting her head on her cup.

Shino laughed, waving his hand as if to wave off her comment. "Let's go out to eat, it's already almost lunch time!" Shino said, running, slightly unsteadily, upstairs to get dressed in clothes he had left at the girls' house.

Kaze and Kiara watched him try to act as if he wasn't affected and shook their heads in amazement. "I can't believe he took all that like it was nothing," Kiara muttered, putting her cup away.

"Yea, he's always been pretty accepting like that," Kaze laughed.

The three of them walked out of the house and grabbed some lunches to go at one of the restaurants near them before joining Hinata and Kiba on a roof. "Hey, guys," Shino said, his voice calm.

"You okay, Shino?" Kiba asked, noticing Shino's shaky hands as he ate his lunch.

"I'm fine, just a little…. Anemic right now," Shino replied, waving off his teammate's concern. "I accidently cut myself at Kaze's house and lost a lot of blood last night." They kept talking as Kaze watched people go by on the street below.

"Ah, there's Gaara-kun!" Kaze said suddenly, pulling an extra lunch out from her bag and jumping down in front of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

"What is she doing?" Kiba asked incredulously, watching the obviously suicidal Kaze talk with a monster below them.

"I have no idea, I try not to keep track of her all the time," Kiara sighed, eating her lunch.

"Hey, Gaara-kun!" Kaze said, smiling at the surprised Gaara. "Would you like to join us for lunch? We have extra!"

"Where did you come from?" Gaara asked slowly, trying to decide if he should implode her with his sand now or wait to find out what she was first.

"Up there," Kaze replied, waving noncommittally above them. "Would you like to join us?"

"Why didn't I sense you?" Gaara asked, ignoring her request and surprising his teammates.

"Because I have a very bland chakra flavor!" Kaze snapped, losing her temper. "Do. You. Want. To. Join. Us?" Kaze asked again, holding the extra meals she had bought out to him. He eyed her warily as Kankuro eyed the food.

"No, he doesn't," Temari replied snottily. Kaze glared at her angrily.

"Gaara-kun?" Kaze asked, turning her gaze back to Gaara.

"I'd like to," Kankuro finally piped up, causing Kaze to smile and hand him one of the extra meals. Temari frowned at him, but he took one more meal from Kaze and forced Temari onto the roof. "If she has a death wish, let's at least get a free meal out of it," Kankuro suggested, forcing Temari to sit down with the group already on the roof.

Kaze watched Gaara for another moment before she became impatient and grabbed his hand, almost dragging him onto the roof and pushing him over to the group, completely unaware of his rising anger. "Sit," she ordered, already forcing him into a sitting position. "Here," she handed him the extra meal and returned to her place next to Hinata. "You like dumplings, right?"

Gaara stared at the boxed lunch, his anger disappearing. "How did you know?" He asked, slowly eating one of the dumplings.

"You said so when you visited the village years ago," Kaze replied, inhaling her food. "Your father didn't like you talking to us 'cause we were 'monsters' or something. Seriously, your entire clan gets wiped out and suddenly the only survivors are monsters, right Kia?" Kiara grinned in response, getting used to the bloodthirsty presence of Gaara.

Gaara stayed silent throughout the rest of lunch, watching the other shinobi interact and even force Temari and Kankuro into conversation. When everyone had finished eating, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino all left so Shino could train, and Kankuro followed secretly to watch, since he and Shino faced off with their partners during the last exam. Temari left, saying she didn't want her brain to become rotted by the two girls' remarks and pulled Gaara with her.

"Why did you force Gaara-san to join us?" Kiara asked as she and Kaze went to find Sasuke at the hospital.

"You two need to get to know each other so that you can work together during the last part of the exam," Kaze explained, shrugging.

The girls came upon the hospital to find it in a panic. "Excuse me," Kiara asked one of the passing nurses. "What happened?"

"Uchiha Sasuke has run away!" The nurse replied quickly before running off. Kiara looked warily over at Kaze, who closed her eyes in annoyance.

"Of course he did," Kaze sighed, stomping out of the hospital.

"I bet you could ask Hinata-chan to help you train," Kiara suggested, following Kaze.

"I'll have to," Kaze replied, still fuming

The next couple of weeks flew by in a frenzy of training. Between training, Kaze insisted Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro join she, Kiara, and whoever else they happened to be eating with. Naruto always refused, saying he had to go train with 'the pervy sage.' When the day of the tournament arrived, Kiara and Kaze trudged to the arena, Kaze fuming again.

"He's sure to show up," Kiara said.

"He hasn't yet," Kaze growled in reply.

"But he won't miss the fight," Kiara insisted.

"If he's late, we have to forfeit," Kaze said, trying not to rip a tree out of the ground.

"He won't be late," Kiara said.

"If Sasuke is even one minute late, I'll rip his head off, so you and Gaara-kun won't have to worry about beating him," Kaze promised, clenching her hands into fists.

The two girls made it to the arena, joining the other shinobi up in the waiting area. "I don't see him yet," Kaze said, looking around. Gaara was watching her, so she waved at him, causing him to start in surprise and look away.

"I think you're scaring him," Kiara whispered.

"I'm not that scary," Kaze insisted, still looking around for Sasuke. "Why did Kakashi have to take Sasuke away for some super-secret training anyway?" She fumed, just resisting stomping her foot in annoyance, which most likely would have caused the entire place to come crashing down.

"Because he has no faith in you?" Kiara suggested sarcastically, earning yet another glare from Kaze. "Sorry, I don't know! I just didn't like not having an answer every time you've asked me that."

"Sorry, I just don't want to forfeit!" Kaze said, looking around again. "Hey, that Sound ninja isn't here anymore," she said in confusion.

"I think he was found dead on a roof the day after that second exam," Kiara informed her.

"And Shino's partner, Kara or whatever?" Kaze asked, noticing that the girl was gone also.

"Forfeit, something about not caring enough this time around," Kiara replied, picking at one of her nails.

"So Shino and Kankuro-san are going to do… what?" Kaze asked, annoyed that Kiara wouldn't answer the question she'd known Kaze was going to ask to begin with.

"They'll be fighting solo," Kiara replied, yawning. "No partners, just themselves."

"Hmm… Sasuke still isn't here and our match starts in thirty seconds," Kaze reported, fuming once more.

"I'm pretty sure the only reason there are so many people here is because of the fight between Sasuke-kun and Gaara-san," Kiara stated. "So if nothing else, to appease these people the proctor will most likely postpone our fight."

"The proctor is different also," Kaze noted.

"Yep, that's Genma, the other one was found dead on a roof sometime during our two-week break," Kiara informed her.

"How, exactly, do you know all this?" Kaze finally asked, raising an eyebrow at Kiara.

"If you spent your bored moments testing your concealment abilities in the Hokage's office, you'd know this stuff too," Kiara replied, smiling sweetly.

"You really have spent too much time with me, haven't you?" Kaze asked in amazement. "I wouldn't have even tested the Hokage's office. I've been wasting my time at the Anbu captain's office! Sheesh." Kiara laughed watching Genma announce that their fight was postponed temporarily.

"Told you," Kiara said smugly, smoothly ducking under the punch Kaze aimed at her.

Genma called Shino and Kankuro down to the arena, but Kankuro looked wary for a moment before calling out that he forfeit. "That's unfair," Shino muttered, hiding once more behind his glasses and high collared jacket. "He's ruining not only his chances, but mine too. Now I only have one battle to prove I'm good enough to become Chuunin."

"Well, whoever you're against, I'm sure you'll beat them down," Kaze said, patting Shino's back gently.

"What if it's you?" Shino asked.

"Good luck," Kiara said seriously. "Kaze won't hold back unless you're about to die; believe it."

"Urk, you sound too much like Naruto," Kaze complained, grimacing. "Believe it! Believe it! Believe it!" Kaze said, mocking Naruto momentarily. "Please, don't ever say those two words side by side ever again in your life," Kaze begged.

Kiara laughed shaking her head in amazement as Naruto pushed Shikamaru down to the floor before jumping down himself. Temari and Neji both walked down the stairs sighing at Naruto's excitement.

Surprisingly, Neji and Shikamaru worked well together. "Who knew the two geniuses would be such a great team?" Kaze whispered, watching Neji and Shikamaru closely.

"They're both crazy smart, maybe they just bonded over that fact?" Kiara suggested, shrugging. Kaze nodded in agreement.

To Kaze's disappointment, Naruto managed to beat Neji, and Shikamaru gave up moments before his chakra dropped to none. "Wow, that was amazing though," Kaze whistled. "I wouldn't be surprised if they both pass, even if they lost."

"Yea, Shikamaru was so focused, and he used his surroundings to enhance his abilities," Kiara said. "And Neji is so much higher in skill than anyone thought he was. Even the head Hyuga looked impressed out in the audience."

"What are you, a narrator?" Kaze asked, laughing.

"No, I just felt like explaining it!" Kiara replied defensively.

"Yea, uh huh," Kaze replied, snickering. "But! Guess who still hasn't shown up!"

Kiara sighed as Kaze went back to being angry. "Maybe he really isn't showing up," Kiara said, looking around.

"For his sake, he'd better not," Kaze growled, nearly breaking the bar in front of her in her anger.

Kiara pulled Kaze's hands away from the bar in a preventative measure as a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the field. "Oh, look who's here!" Kiara said, pointing at Sasuke and Kakashi as they appeared out of the smoke. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head as he talked to Genma and Sasuke looked bored as he looked around.

Kaze jumped over the bar and landed lightly in the arena, using enough chakra to cushion her fall and hide the fact that she was wearing weights. "Well, well, look who finally decided to show up," Kaze said, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at Sasuke. "Took your sweet time, didn't you, princess?"

"What'd you call me?" Sasuke demanded, glaring back at Kaze.

"You heard me, princess," Kaze reiterated, smirking at her partner. Kiara and Gaara walked down to the arena, Gaara ignoring Kiara and Kaze and focusing solely on Sasuke.

"Gaara-san said that you were to be my opponent," Kiara whispered. "And if I tried to interfere with his fight with Gaara he would crush me with his sand to make sure you won."

"Oh, good," Kaze replied. "Make sure you don't interfere 'cause I'd rather not live in that huge house alone." Kiara nodded in agreement as Genma called the start of the fight.

"Keep out of my way, Kaze-chan," Sasuke said, frowning at Gaara. "Red haired freak is mine."

Kaze punched him in the stomach and he fell to the ground in pain. "He isn't a freak," Kaze said, facing Kiara. "And don't worry, I'll have my hands full with Kia over here." Sasuke gasped in pain before forcing himself into a standing position. "Sorry, partner," Kaze laughed.

"Will you four just start fighting?" Genma sighed, shaking his head. Sasuke launched himself at Gaara as Kiara and Kaze both froze, watching each other carefully.

Kaze took a few steps sideways and Kiara copied her warily. "What are they doing?" Naruto asked from the waiting section.

"If they move, this match will be over," Shino explained, watching the two girls carefully. Just then, Kiara channeled all her chakra to her feet and ran at Kaze.

Moments later, Kaze's jacket and other weights were hidden at one side of the arena and Kiara was trapped in a head lock. Kiara struggled, channeling chakra to her arms before breaking free and throwing Kaze over her head and into a wall. The wall crumbled around Kaze and she pulled herself back through the hole and into the arena.

"Sheesh, Kia, did you have to break the wall?" Kaze laughed, dusting her tank top and pants. She flipped her hair around to get the dust out of it.

"Sorry, Kaze-sama," Kiara laughed in response, helping Kaze dust off her clothes. A moment later they heard a chirping sound a looked up to see Sasuke running down the wall of the arena towards a huge ball of sand. "What is he doing?" Kiara asked, looking around. "And where's Gaara-san?"

"I think Gaara-kun is inside that ball of sand," Kaze whispered as she and Kiara sat inside the hole to watch Sasuke dig his glowing, chirping fist into the side of the ball of sand. "Ooh, I hope Gaara-kun could get out of that one okay."