Sasuke: You're a wolf now?

Sonic: (head in hands) I don't want to talk about it.

Sasuke: Why? I'm curious.

Sonic: (glares) I said drop it!

Sasuke: (rolls eyes) Fine.

Sonic: …

Sasuke: …

Sonic: (throws hands in the air) Gah! I'm not a wolf! Just a werehog! I turned like that in the past because this enemy called Dark Gaia had some of his darkness crap inside me.

Sasuke: Thought you said you didn't want to talk about it.

Sonic: (glares harder) I didn't! But I could see the curiosity written all over your face! I could tell you would not leave me alone if I didn't tell you.

Sasuke: (smirks) Uchihas always get what they want.

Sonic: (sighs) I hate you so much sometimes.

Night

My eyes widen as she steps even closer. Has she meet with the egg shaped doctor before? I'm pretty sure he said similar words when he did this to me back then. Tenten is about a yard away from me when Neji calls out to her.

"Wait Tenten! Don't get any closer!" I glare at him with such ferocity that Neji takes a quick step back. It's not like I'm gonna bite her head off or something!

Tenten stops in front of me and raises her hand to her forehead. Then she moves it up to mine, then back down again to hers. Taking her hand down, she starts to laugh and I look at her like she's crazy. "It just feels weird to not to look down at you." She explains. I just roll my eyes, ha ha.

The tense atmosphere dissipates some with Tenten breaking the stand-off. That is until Kiba opens his big mouth.

"It doesn't matter how tallhe is now. He now looks like a small, helpless, young puppy!" He laughs at his own joke.

Hold up. Back the damn truck up! Did this little mutt just call me helpless!?

I start to growl deeply and Tenten takes a couple steps back and the others tense right back up. Kiba, who just wiped a tear from his eye, looks at me innocently. "What? It's true!" I'm tired of this guy's mouth!

Stretching my furry arm across the room, I grab Kiba's neck and pull him towards me. Everyone stares wide eyed, to surprised to move, but I care about them right now. My arm drags Kiba right in front of me; he stares at me with fear in his eyes and his hands try to pry my clawed hand from around his throat.

Holding him about an inch from the ground, Kiba starts to struggle for air. My growling stops only to be replaced with a cruel grin. Ha! Who's the helpless one now?

It seems that everyone has returned to their senses because they are now shouting my name and telling me to let go. Fat chance, that isn't going to happen until dog boy here gives me an apology.

Someone finally gets the memo when Naruto shouts out, "Kiba! I think he wants you to say sorry!"

Kiba coughs and glances at Naruto. "For…what?" Is this guy serious?

My grin fades into a scowl and start to growl again. Tightening my hold, he begins to struggle more. Kiba sputters and coughs harshly, but can't get any words out. I ignore the people trying to stop me from a distance until a see a movement to my left. Glancing over, I see it's Kakashi with that stupid eye smile of his.

"Uh, Sonic?" My ears perk up, signaling him to continue. "He can't breathe." Way to state the obvious, but what's his point? "That means he can't talk." My eyes widen as those words sink in. It would help if I give him some way to apologize, huh?

Glaring at Kakashi, I grudgingly let Kiba go. He drops to the floor on his hands and knees, coughing. I cross my arms and wait for dog boy to stop coughing up his lungs. He looks up at me, "Sorry, Sonic." My glare decreases in intensity and I nod. Took him long enough.

Moving my eyes from Kiba, I see scared and nervous faces and realize that my anger had gotten a little out of control. I take a deep breath and let it out, then give the others my signature grin. They relax some, seeing that I'm not a threat anymore.

Tsunade steps forward, eyes narrowed. Is she still worried? I'm not gonna attack anyone…without cause. "Sonic." She says hesitantly. Here it comes, the whole 'don't attack your friends' speech. "Are you ok? You kinda worried us when you collapsed like that."

Shocked, I just nod. Is she going to dismiss what just happened not five minutes ago? She stops in front of me and looks over my shoulder, I glace back to see Kakashi helping Kiba up.

My eyes focus back on her and almost step back in fear at her intense glare. "Good. Now that you're better…" Then she lunges at me and I have no time to dodge or attack.

"Tsunade, no!" Lee and Ino reach for her, since they are the closest, but they are too slow. Before I know it, I'm thrown against the wall because of a strong, very strong right hook. Slumping down to the ground, I rub my face, already feeling the bruise form there. That bitch!

Growling, I stand back up and lunge towards here with surprising speed. Before I could to her and punch her lights out, there is a sharp pain in my side. In midair, I veer of my course and fall hard on the floor, hitting my head on the hardwood. Groaning, I lift myself up and wait for the stars to disappear. Man, I gotta stop being kicked around like this; they hit hard!

When the white spots leave, I see Sasuke and Sakura guarding Tsunade and Naruto standing in between me and them; all with angry looks on their faces. Bet you five dollars Naruto's the one who kicked me.

After a palpable silence, Choji speaks up, looking from me to Tsunade. "Man, what just happened?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Sonic tried to get to Tsunade after she punched him, but Sonic deserved it." He says watching Kiba rubbing his still sore neck. He turns to Naruto. "Good aim with that kick, Naruto."

"Thanks." Naruto says, not taking his eyes of me. "What in the heck is wrong with you? You attacked our hokage!"

"That's unforgivable." Sasuke glares at me and Sakura nods in agreement. This is what I get for letting my anger control me, and this is no way to make friends. Dragging my hand through my quills, I turn to Tsunade, hoping to patch things up. I have to keep my anger in check from now on.

"Alright, alright." Most look surprised at my gruff voice. "I guess I deserved both hits. Sorry Kiba and Tsunade." When I finish, I touch my face and wince. "Damn woman! You can punch hard!"

Everyone relaxes, slower than before, and Tsunade's wary look turns into a smug grin. Gotta fix that. I give her my wolf grin. "Not as strong as I am now."

She scowls. "It doesn't mean you get to use us as targets!"

I hold my hands up. "Ok look, I apologized." Growling again, I glare. "What else do you want?"

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Ino yells. I turn my attention to her and stop growling, but the scowl is still on my face. "Can y'all not fight for two minutes?"

"Fine." I say crossing my arms.

"Now that we are all calm, at the moment, I would like to know about this new form of yours." Neji pipes up and I walk back to my seat. The others follow and sit down, all except Lee. Turning towards him, I give him a smirk.

"Come on, I won't bite." He hesitates for a moment, then sits down beside me. I turn back to Neji to answer his question.

"Well in this form, as you can tell, I have more strength." Kiba cringes in the corner of my eye. "And, as you also have seen, my arms stretch. I am also a little more violent."

"Oh really?" Tsunade mutters under her breath. "I haven't noticed." Calm Sonic. Breathe in and out. No need to jump across the table.

"So…" Kakashi drawls out. "Is that it?"

I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "For the strength and flexibility, I guess my speed is taken away. I can still run fast, but not near as fast as before. That's why I hate being like this so much."

"Really?" Sasuke questions. "I would love that kind of power."

"Of course you would Sasuke."

"What do you mean by that, Dobe?" A tick mark forms on Sasuke's forehead.

"Oh nothing…"

I listen at those two go at it until sighing; I need to go for a run. The movement always helps when I'm stressed, no matter what form I'm in.

After I stand up, Hinata softly asks, "W-Where are y-you g-going, Sonic?"

Stretching some, I answer. "I'm going for a run."

"Oh no you don't" Tsunade interrupts. "You're not going alone." She looks around. "Sasuke, you go because it is your property. Naruto, you go because you have your clones if something…unexpected, happens." I can tell that is aimed at me particularly. "And lastly, Kiba you go so you and Sonic can bond a little better."

Sasuke nods and Naruto yawns. "Whatever, I need some fresh air anyway."

Kiba looks nervous, but stands up anyway. Huh, I thought he was going to chicken out of this.

"If that's all." I look askance at Tsunade, then step away from the table. Giving the people accompanying me a wolfish smile. "Let's go!"

When we walk out the house, Sasuke points to my left. "There is an abandoned trail close to here that loops around to end back at the house. It's over that way."

I smirk and gesture. "Lead the way." He huffs and walks in front. I hear the footsteps of Kiba and Naruto behind me.

"You're not going to attack me while my back's turned, are you?" He asks and I can tell he isn't serious about it.

"Nah, you're not worth the energy."

"Like you could touch me anyway."

"Just shut it Uchiha." I playfully growl and see Sasuke's shoulders shake in silent mirth. Now it's silent besides our soft muffled footsteps hitting the ground. Putting my arms behind my head, I look to the navy sky, seeing stars shine across the dark blanket.

We get to the tree line and walk through the impeding bushes. On the other side, there is a dirt path that looks a bit overgrown, but still path nonetheless. My eyes follow to where it leads until the pathway takes a soft left and goes out of sight. A grin slowly grows on my face. This is a perfect track!

Naruto's voice cuts through the looming silence. "Hey guys, do y'all want to race?" He turns to Kiba. "Kiba, you game?"

Kiba pumps his fist while Akamaru, on top of his head, barks with excitement. "Heck yeah! I was beginning to think this would be boring!"

After giving Kiba a smile, Naruto glances at me. "How about you? It's the main reason we're out here, right?"

With the grin still on my face, I give him a thumbs up. "I'm always down for a race!"

"Sasuke?" Naruto questions with a raised blonde brow.

"No. I don't have time for these games."

"Please teme!"

"I said no dobe!" Oh no, little duckbutt is gonna race if he likes it or not. I face him and let loose the best puppy eyes I got in my system. Sasuke's eyes widen a fraction, then he scoffs.

"That doesn't really work when you have those teeth." He finishes, pointing at my mouth. But I don't give up, and eventually Naruto and Kiba come over too. The raven looks between the three of us and sighs.

"I'll do it to only stop you three from making a fool of yourselves."

Naruto jumps up and looks around. "Alright! Right here is a good place as any for a starting line. First one back to Sasuke's wins!"

"Right! Let's line up!" Kiba shouts and he, Naruto, and I take position. We all see Sasuke still standing where he was, having not moved an inch.

I look at Sasuke in annoyance. "Well?" He shakes his head and lines up also, muttering under his breath. "Who wants to count down?"

"I'll do it!" Naruto volunteers. "Ok, on three! 1, 2,…3!" Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba take off in the trees beside the trail. I stand there stunned for a moment, is that even fair? I worry about that little fact later…I gotta catch up!

Starting to run, Naruto's voice from ahead reaches my ears. "You're too slow!"

I growl to myself. That's my line! I try to run faster, but my unwieldy arms throw off my balance more than a little bit. Damn, guess I'm gonna have to go full out for this one.

Falling down on all fours, my speed automatically triples from what it was before. The wind whips past my face and I laugh when the trees fly by, blurry. My muscles propel me faster and I start to feel the adrenaline rush, woohoo!

Eventually, I catch up to the three ninja. Looking up, shock filled faces are staring right back down. "Who's too slow now?" I smirk and race ahead, leaving them to eat my dust.

Two annoyed groans and an equally, if not more annoyed, grunt sound. Smiling, I keep running. They are up against the fastest thing alive! (well maybe not at this second) There is no way I'll let them win, gotta keep up my reputation!

I stay in the lead for a couple minutes, then hear the others catching up. They are hopping from tree to tree, but don't go much farther ahead, guess they are at their limit. That would be great only if I haven't reached mine too.

We are all neck and neck, Naruto and Kiba on my left, while Sasuke's in the trees to my right. We are at this stalemate for at least three minutes until my eyes narrow at an obstacle ahead of me. The trail ends here. How in the hell am I going to know where to go?

I turn my head to look up at Sasuke. He notices my gaze and nods, then answers my silent question. "The house is about a mile ahead, so just keep straight into the trees." A ghost of a smirk appears on his face. "Unless it's too much for you." Huffing, I speed up towards the trees even when my muscles scream not to, to prove my point. Ant to my annoyance, they speed up too.

Seconds later, we dive into the trees. Weaving around the foliage, I quick step around, over and under opposing branches and logs. I hear harsh breathing and realize that my tongue is hanging out of my mouth. It is pulled back into my mouth quickly. Hopefully no one saw that.

Finally, I see the house through the thick forest and speed up once again, pushing my muscles past their limits. Ignoring the strain, I break through into the open and glance back to see Sasuke, Kiba, and Naruto emerge at the same time. It doesn't matter now, because they are behind me! Haha! Told you nobody could beat the-

I'm then interrupted in my boasting when a very rude uprooted root trips me up and I go tumbling, losing no momentum. Crashing-

Through the front door.

Into the living room.

And finally into a wall.

Upside down.

So, when I open my eyes, I see everyone either staring at me or at the door where my three racing opponents are. Groaning, I peel myself from the wall to stand up slowly, (the adrenaline is starting to wear off, so my muscle are feeling sore right now), and dust myself off. Glancing at the three boys panting with their hands on their knees, I grin. "I win."

Then Sakura jumps up. "What were you four doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She shouts, placing her hands over her heart.

"We…were…racing." Naruto struggles to get out.

"If you four were only racing," Neji speaks up. "why did he," He points to me. "crash through the door?"

With a nervous chuckle, I scratch the back of my head. "Well, you see, there was a root a I didn't see and yeah…"

Sasuke looks back at his door, sighs, and turns to Kakashi. "Looks like you're going to have to fix the door again, Kakashi." The sensei in question just waves him off, not even paying attention to us.

Kiba straightens up and stretches his back. "That was a great race though! We thought you were no match for us!"

"Yeah, until you started running on all fours!" Naruto agrees.

"I think I know the answer, but why do you do that?" Sasuke asks.

"Because my bigger arms are too bulky to run upright. They screw up my balance."

"Wait, like a dog?"

"Wow…" Naruto mumbles. "Shikamaru showing curiosity? Never thought I'd see the day."

Ignoring Naruto, I huff. "If you put it that way, then yeah, like a dog." I make my way towards my spot on the little couch and plop down, sighing when my muscles relax. Sasuke sits beside me and Naruto beside him. Kiba finds a seat on the sectional.

Shikamaru shrugs. "Guess it's convenient."

"Let's back to what we were saying before we got interrupted." I tune Tenten out because my brain decides to focus on the stiffness in my joints. Hell, maybe I shouldn't have pushed so hard. Bending my elbow, I see Sasuke eyeing me as the others continue talking. 'What?' I mouth to him and he just turns away, seeming to find interest in the convo.

Well that was weird….what's up with him? I am about to actually pay attention to what the others are talking about, but I feel a hand scratch behind my ear. Surprised, I look over to Sasuke only to see him still staring forward. It's so weird to see him, of all people, do this.

Unconsciously, I lean into the hand and see Sasuke glance at me. He's eyes leave me, but he continues to scratch. Leaning more into the touch, my brain finally catches up to what I'm doing. Scoot over! Stand up! Say stop! SOMETHING!

But, my body doesn't respond to my brain, it does the complete opposite. For some reason, my leg starts shaking like, you guessed it, a dog. Yet the strange thing is, I can't get myself to move away.

Am I going crazy? I think so.

As a final hit to my pride, the intensity of the race decides now is the best time to take all my energy and make me lean fully on Sasuke and lay my head on his shoulder. Dammit! Now, I can't move even if I wanted too!

He pauses, scoffs, and keeps scratching. I growl lowly so he can only here, but it's lackluster. He quietly chuckles and shifts so he can bare my weight a little better. This goes on for another minute or so before all talking stops and someone coughs.

Opening my eyes, (when did I close them?) I see Neji staring at us strangely. Sasuke's hand tenses and stops moving. I almost let out a whine, but gotta keep whatever pride left intact.

"So, I guess you two are enjoying each other's company, huh?" Kakashi asks with his infamous eye smile. Of course now he pays attention to his surroundings. Everyone else is either surprised or very amused. (the girls fit in this category, and surprisingly Lee)

Sasuke and I both slowly turn our faces toward each other. We stare until we simultaneously move away. I scoot as far away as possible and he does the same without touching Naruto. Sharing another glance, we look to the others.

I chuckle nervously and Sasuke clears his throat. "So, what was the conversation about?"

Kakashi answers, eye smile still in place. "Oh no…we didn't mean to interru-"

"Just…drop it, alright?" I growl. I just want to erase what happened from my memory. Scratching my nose, I ask, "What's going on anyway?"

Shikamaru speaks up. "We were trying to solve the mystery of that gem." He gestures towards said emerald.

"Hinata was about to activate her Byakugan to see if it is really as dead as we think." Shino explain further as he pushes up his glasses.

"Well, that was until," Naruto has his hand over his mouth, badly hiding his mirth. "you two started cuddling!" The dam broke and he burst out laughing.

Sasuke crosses his arms and glares death at Naruto. "Tch, Dobe." That makes Naruto laugh even harder. Ok, I've had enough of this. Leaning forward, I make a fist and stretch it right in front of the blonde's face. I grin as he gulps.

"Right, I forgot you could do that."

"That is a fatal flaw, my friend. Now, will you shut up?"

"Yep."

"Good."

Retracting my fist, I turn to the crowd who are watching the interaction in amusement.

"Hinata." Ino says, getting back to business. "Activate your eyes so we know if it has some energy left over!"

"R-Right! Byakugan!" Hinata focuses on the emerald. She twists it around in her hands. Sighing, she quits moving it. "Nothing. N-Nothing at all."

Sakura shakes her head. "Tsunade isn't gonna like that…"

"Speaking of her, where did she go?" Kiba asks.

She glances at Kiba. "She went back to the tower." He nods in confirmation while my curiosity rises.

Sasuke, seeing my curiosity, enlightens me. "It's the Hokage tower. It's in Konoha and her office for paperwork and other things."

I hum in response. I'm gonna have to see this village for myself soon. Wonder if it's anything like Station Square?

Looking at Hinata examining the gem again, I face palm. Why didn't I think of it sooner?

"Hey Hinata." I call out. "Can I see that for a sec?"

She glances up. "S-Sure." I catch it and close my eyes.

"What are you doin with that, Sonic?" Choji questions after chewing a piece of a chocolate bar.

Opening an eye, I answer. "I'm gonna see if I can draw on some of its energy."

"Good idea Sonic!" Lee gives me a thumbs up and I roll my eyes. Man, this guy…

I close my eye again and focus on the former light blue chaos emerald in my hand. I relax and search for something, anything, but nothing comes up, to my disappointment.

My eyes open to see everyone staring at me with curiosity and hope. I shake my head and they slump in their seats.

"There goes that idea…" Naruto mutters. Kakashi looks at the clock and stands up. He cracks his back, then claps his hands together.

"Alright kids." Sasuke and I huff at the same time. "It's almost midnight and we want to get up bright and early! All of us are going to team train tomorrow with Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai."

"Finally." Neji mumbles. "I'm getting tired of just staying here and babysitting." I glare at him and he holds his hands up. "No offense." Oh! Because that makes everything better!

Standing up, they head for the stairs as I go to my room past the kitchen.

"Goodnight y'all." I yawn and receive various responses. When I get there, I throw off my shoes and stare at my clawed hands, poor gloves. Jumping into my bed, I curl up and fall asleep immediately.