Thankfully the two girls use the time wisely and start asking me for advice. I have them strap on ankle weights, and wrist weights. Though they don't know that they are enchanted to gradually increase as they get stronger. I still wear weights, but mine are invisible. I have them loaded with spells and protective charms too. If I didn't they would have broken a number of times already. Once they have them securely fastened, we go as fast as we can with the old man in our party.
"Now, I want you to wear these every where. The only time I want you to take them off is in the shower. That way they do not get water damage. It shouldn't be too bad doing dishes, but the shower would add at least twenty pounds to each weight. Yes Ino even whilst asleep I would like for you to wear them. I will consider changing this order in about two years. If I am sufficiently pleased with your development by that point," I tell them. They give me serious looks and identical affirmitive nods.
Once we finally make it to the bridge builders house, I waste no time with formalities. I set the kids to perimeter search, and get directions to the room for the two boys. I get Kakashi all set up and situated. I spell a couple of energy replenishers directly into his stomach. After just a few seconds he groans, and reachs to grab his head.
I lean over him, and study as much of his face as I can as he wakes up. At first his eye is a little unfocused but it soon changes. "How are you feeling?" I ask gently. I place a gentle hand on the side of his face.
"Like a herd of horses trampled over my head," he says softly. I sigh, before moving back. But he stops me, and pulls me into a hug. "I was so worried that something was going to happen to you, or the kids," he whispers.
"I know you would never be able to forgive yourself if that happened, so I made sure that we all stayed safe while you recovered," I tell him with a silly smile he can thankfully not see. man am I a sap! getting all mushy over a hug. But even Selena is squealing in my mind.
"How long have I been out for?" he asks, letting go of me. I compose myself before he can see the effect his touch has on me.
"You have been out for two months Kakashi. We are already back in Konoha," I tell him. He sits up too fast and ends up grabbing his head as the blood rushes. I can't keep the laughs from falling from my lips, and I slump over on the floor next to him. After letting that out I sit back up wiping my eyes, and grinning wolfishly at him. "No its only been about a day since you passed out from chakra exhaustion," I tell him easily.
"JUst one?" he sounds really surprised.
"Yup, though if you want to stay passed out for a few more days, I would be more than happy to put you back to sleep," I tell him while I crack my knuckles.
"No thank you, I feel like getting up would be very good for my health," he stands up quickly. "Where are the kids right now?" he asks. He holds his hand out for me to take so he can help me to my feet. I decide to let go of the past, and accept his offer. He puts a little too much effort in lifting and ends up pulling me flush against him. Neither of us dare to move while we stare wide eyed at each other. A banging door from downstairs breaks the spell and we take a step away from each other. I feel the loss of his touch deeply, but do my best to ignore it.
'You will not be able to ignore it for much longer. You better hope we can get home in a few weeks or you may jump the nearest male,' Selena decides to remind me. I know the Hokage would be over joyed to learn of me being pregnant but I am not ready yet. That fool Danzo tried only once to force a marriage onto me, and they still have not found the legs I removed from him. Though now that he is dead it is not a pressing issue. No one even noticed the disappearance of the ninja that ried to have his way with me on Danzos orders either.
"That would be Naruto there. The girls are still outside though. Sounds like excercise of some kind," I tell him easily. He does not need to know any of what goes through my mind. Especially the different positions that Selena wants to try out.
"We should probably head down and see what is going on," he says softly.
"I agree, there is no telling what kind of trouble Naruto will attempt to get into," I follow him out of the room, and do not admire how much nicer his butt had gotten. I do notice however that his weapons pouch has gotten a little nicer from the one he used to have. Most likely he had to replace it. We find Naruto in the kitchen standing next to the bridge builders daughter, while she stirs a pot of food.
"Good to see you back up on your feet sensei. The girls are doing laps around the house as fast as they can with the weights that Onee-chan gave them. After that they were going to spar with each other.
"Oh, no. That will not do at all!" I say before walking out of the house. I fall into step with the two girls easily. "Girls as much as I admire you ethic, this is not nearly fast enough," I tell them with a sweet smile.
"But this is as fast as we can go without too much strain," Ino huffs in explanation.
"And do you think that an enemy cares how fast or slow you are?" I ask.
"Yes, the slower we are the more likely it is that we will be killed," Hinata says. Her breaths are erratic and uneven.
"Follow me," I pull ahead of them and take them a little ways into the forest. I find the perfect clearing for what I have in mind. "Take a seat ladies. We need to work on your breathing first. You need to be in complete control of every breath in your body. If you are huffing, you are not getting enough oxygen to supply to your muscles. This will lead to slowness and cramping. You also need to make sure that your breaths are always even and deep. This will ensure that your body gets as much oxygen as it needs to function properly. For a few minutes you will sit perfectly still and just focus all of your attention on your breathing. NO matter what else you may hear you will say nothing and sit still with your eyes closed," I tell them firmly. They sit where they are standing and get comfortable before closing their eyes. I tap into my animagus form's ability to control weather, and have a peal of thunder explode above us. Hinata screams at the top of her lungs and gets as close to the ground as possible, while Ino jumps up screaming and ready to defend herself.
"First, I said no reaction is what I want out of both of you. Second very good responce Ino. Just try not to scream. Hinata look at how Ino reacted. She jumped up ready for a fight. Who in your life has been putting you down so much?" I ask kneeling near where she is crying on the ground.
"Her family is harsher on her than they should be. She is supposed to be the heiress, but thay have replaced her for her sister," Ino says in explanation.
"Is it because the other Hyuga in your clan have an earth affinity and you have a water one?" I ask. She looks up at me with wide eyes.
"You can tell what my elemental affinity is?" she asks softly.
"Of course I can. Me and Naruto are a little different, but it is really easy for me. When I first met Naruto it was wind, but now it is a little different. Ino here happens to have a small affinity in all the elements. Instead of being pulled strongly by just one element she is pulled an equal amount by all of them," I explain.
"Why are you and Naruto the same?" INo asks.
"Because like you ae have a calling for all of the elements. Just at a much stronger level," I explain.
"Now I take it that Earth style is the main part of your family's jutsu?" I ask HInata.
"Yes, it provides the strong base needed to perform the jutsu," she says a little shakily.
"Well that is not going to work for you. You are very strongly pulled towards water, not earth. You should see if there is a way for you to modify the jutsu to beter fit with your affinity. It might seem scary but you should speak to your father about it. He knows way more about the jutsu than I do, and will have a better chance of helping you to modify it to your benefit," I tell her.
"He won't listen to me," she whispers back looking down at her hands.
"Do you want me to go with you? I can make sure he gives you the chance to speak," I offer her. She looks up at me with wide eyes, and her hands grip her pants very hard.
"You would be willing to do that for me?" she asks softly.
"Heck yeah I would. Now the main issue that I have noticed is that neither of you seem to be too keen on team work. So for the duration of this mission, unless we are in mortal danger, you two shall be handcuffed together," I tell them sweetly. The handcuffs materialize on their wrists, and they stare at me like I am insane. Now we shall try doing laps once more, and this time you will have something to chase you and inspire you to go as fast as you can," I tell them. I summon my two German Shepards which have become a most excellent pair of ninken. "This is Shouta, and Balto. Now boys, I was hoping you could help these two girls go as fast as they possibly can for some endurance training. Just a small nip to help with motivation should suffice. There is ABSOLUTELY NO need to draw blood at all. Now off with the lot of you," I race ahead of them and set the pace for what I want of them. With behind the girls my two partners nip at their heels and hips to keep them going at the speed they are supposed to be at.
I only let them stop when Naruto calls out that dinner is ready. I reward my partners, and send them back to their little pocket dimension. I had Dippy help me make one, for them where they can sleep and hunt in a forest similar to my mind scape. I lead the tired girls inside, and get them sat down at the table where food has already been provided for them.
"Why are those two girls handcuffed!?"
"What did you do to them!?"
"Why are they so muddy!?"
Three different voices all ask at the same time and I just rub my ear in annoyance. "Yes they are handcuffs, we ran laps, and they fell a couple of times so yes that is mud," I answer in order of the questions asked.
"How can that be ok?" the woman asks. I give her a blank look.
"I admit it is unorthodox, but it is to help them work as a better team. Right now the only person that has any right to complain is Kakashi. He is their jounin instructor and if he disagrees with these methods he will say something," I snap at the three people.
"I agree, though I think it will work better if Naruto was handcuffed to them as well," Kakashi says in between taking bites of rice.
"At least I was going to let them keep a little bit of privacy. It is a lot less embarrassing for two girls to go to the bathroom and bathe then if a boy is also thrown into the mix," I say with a mean chuckle.
"Very well. Girls take bathes tonight before bed, and in the morning we shall attach Naruto to Hinata," Kakashi says easily.
"Why me?" Hinata asks, standing up with a bright red blush.
"Because you need the most amount of improvement. With Naruto right next to you he can give you tips and pointers while you guys work on tree climbing tomorrow. And I expect both of you girls to have it figured out by the end of the day. Though for that excercise should we uncuff them?" I ask Kakashi.
"It would make it easier, I suppose it could work," he shrugs.
"While you guys are doing that I will keep an eye on the bridge builder," I tell the room. The bridge builder smartly keeps his mouth shut.
"I thought you were going to teach us," Ino asks a little sadly.
"It is really easy. You are only allowed to use your chakra and your feet to climb the tree," I tell them with a sweet smile. They shiver, and I turn back to my food and finish eating it . Once I am all done, I stand up. "I am going to take the first watch," I tell the room, before heading outside to sit on the roof and keep and eye and an ear on the surroundings. I listen while the entire house gets ready for bed and goes to sleep. Well everyone except Kakashi. I hear him tossing and turning. After a couple of hours he joins me on the roof.
"Is this how you keep watch?" he asks softly.
"Well yeah Kashi. I can hear a fish floundering over at the end of the dock, I can smell a deer sleeping ten yards into the forest to the south. There are no enemies within a fifty mile radius in any direction. I have a trap line set up at that distance that is impossible to detect. You can sleep easily," I assure him.
"But what about you?" he asks.
"I'll be just fine Kashi. I'm the night scout on all of the missions assigned to me," I assure him again. He stays silent for a little too long. "What's on your mind Kashi?" I ask softly.
"Is your boyfriend nice to you?" he asks. I sit up and look down at him in confusion.
"What boyfriend?" I ask him.
"The man that was at your house a few months ago," he explains.
"He is my brother, not my boyfriend. I haven't been with a man since I got here," I tell him before laying back down.
"Then why were you so bruised up a few weeks ago?" he asks.
I smirk over at him. " Anko," is all I say, and he grimaces.
"That does explain a lot actually," he shudders a little.
"You've only been with her once huh?" I ask.
"Yes once was more than enough," he shudders again.
"She was my go to lover," I tell him. He turns to face me fully and his eye is huge in disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me!" he asks a little loudly and I hear Naruto shift a little in his sleep.
"SHHH do you want to wake up the kids?" I scold him a little.
"They can not hear us," he shrugs it away.
"Naruto can hear things just as good as I can, and you almost woke him up," I tell him.
"How did that happen though? He didn't use to be this far ahead," he asks.
"You remember seeing my memories right?" I ask him. He nods his head in the affirmitive. "Well one of the things that I did from my home world, was a Blood Adoption. It made a few changes to make him my relative by blood. You could test it at the hospital," I tell him.
"What did it change?" he asks.
"Well for starters it sharpened his mind. I dare say he can out think a Nara. It gave him magic like what I have. And yes he can perform spells. All of his senses are enhanced due to having a dorment werewolf gene. Because of his furry passenger though his senses are as good as mine are. I don't know what changes happened to his passenger, but he seems to talk to it a lot. He will be very useful on spy missions. He can physically change his appearance at will," I tell him.
"How can he do that?" he sounds really curious.
"It is an ability that I got from my mom. When I blood adopted him it was passed to him as well. I thought maybe it would be a small scale, but he can change his entire body," I tell him.
"You can do that too?" he asks. As an answer I pull my fathers ring off my finger, and change into Kakashi. I even pull out a certain orange book and give him one of his famous eye smiles, before going back to normal.
"The better I know someone the more believable the change is," I tell him as I slip the ring back on.
"Why wear the ring?" he asks.
"Because I do not have a good handle on my emotion most of the time. Naruto has the same charms placed on his black hoop earring. It is a very special skill that should be kept a secret. If the wrong people find out about it, it would not be as effective," I tell him.
"I can see why. I could have believed I was looking in a mirror if I didn't see you change with my own eyes," he says. I can hear the awe in his voice.
"So Kashi, have you settled down in the last nine years?" I ask him.
"No," he whispers.
"What's been holding you back?" I ask. "I know it can't be your kissing skills," I tease lightly.
"I just haven't been able to find anyone that can hold my interest," he says with a nonchalant shrug.
"Oh is that all?" I chuckle a little.
"Well, why haven't you settled down with anyone?" he asks defensively.
"Because I am still a little hung up on you. I really thought we could be something a little more than friends and you shut me out with no explanation. It really hurt ya know?" I tell him. I keep my gaze fixed firmly on the night sky, while I feel his gaze bore a hole in the side of my head.
"Really?" his voice seems so much smaller than it should have been.
"Yeah you baka. You were my first friend here, and you abandoned me," I tell him, sitting up and hugging my knees to my chest.
"I didn't know. I honestly thought that you would be better off not knowing me. I figured since you had met the sage of six paths I would be inferior in your eyes," he says softly.
"You do realize that at the time I had blocked the memories, and what would that have to do with having a relationship with someone?" I ask him. He just shrugs, so I lay back against the roof again so I can star gaze.
"Would you be interested in persueing a relationship with me?" he asks softly.
"Perhaps if we all survive this mission, and you get a bit better," I tease a little.
"Get better?" he sounds offended.
"Well yeah, against such a weak opponent you should have been able to win," I shrug. The next thing I know he is straddling my hips, with his hands on either side of my face and looking down at me.
"If I recall correctly, you didn't finish him off right away either," he says with a growl to his tone.
"Yeah, because I wanted to capture him silly. Then he went and threatened the kids and I moved in for the killing blow. That fake hunter nin took him away before I could ensure his death, but chances are he will die anyways. My kunai are all poisoned with a very rare and potent snake venom. Death with out the antidote is assured within about ten minutes," I tell him. He doesn't seem interested in moving, so I sit up enough to kiss him through his mask. He jerks back with a blush on his cheeks.
"I'm gonna get some sleep since you seem to be wide awake," I wave at him, before heading into the girl's room. I curl up on my sleeping bag and fall asleep quickly. It only seems like a few seconds before the girls wake up and start whispering.
"She looks so much nicer when she is asleep," Ino whispers.
"I think she always looks nice," Hinata says.
"And I think there are a couple of girls that want to gor for another run before breakfast," I say softly, and both girls jump. I sit up stretching and yawning. "How did you two sleep?" I ask.
"Not very well, it was hard to get comfortable with the handcuffs on," Ino says.
"Well then why did you teo not figure out the best way to lay down that would be comfortable for the both of you?" I ask them easily.
"To do that we would have had to hold each other like lovers," HInata says with a bright red face.
"So? There is absolutely nothing wrong with being comfortable. Does it really matter how one sleeps so long as you wake with no kinks?" I ask.
"I guess not," Ino says with a shy look towards Hinata.
"So you will have the handcuffs removed after breakfast so you can train better on your own, but you will be wearing them again for dinner and sleeping. You both need to learn that when you are on a mission you need to be at the top of your game, because we could be attacked at any point. I will discuss with Kakashi about setting up ambushes on the way home when we are done with this mission," I tell them before heading downstairs. No one else seems to have woken up yet, so I get started on making breakfast. By the time it is finished everyone is sitting at the table behind me and just watching me. "Is there something wrong?" I ask.
"Not at all, you are just a very graceful mover. It is like watching a dance," Tsunami says. Yeah I finally learned the name of the bridge builders daughter. Perhaps I shall bother learning his name today.
"Well you can stop because it is a little creepy," I chastise them.
'You know that I want more food than that right?' Selena asks. Staring at the portions on all of the plates.
'Have you not realized that this country is not doing very good economically?' I ask her back.
'What does that have to do with food?' she asks.
'It means that everything should be rationed to stretch resources, now hush up,' I snark back at her. We eat in silence and I head out with the bridge builder to keep an eye on him. Kakashi stays back to teach Ino and Hinata how to tree climb with Naruto throwing in some pointers as well. By the end of the day they should be able to tree climb easily with no issues at all. I have high hopes for those munchkins. I situate myself up on the top of a crane to watch the work. I notice a few people leave, but the others continue to work.
At the end of the day, I head back with him while he stops to pick up something for dinner. I decide to be nice, and to a small child and share with her some of the food I always carry with me. I make sure I give her enough to share if she so chooses or enough to stash away and last her for a few days.
'So you are ok with sharing our food, but won't eat enough to fill me up in the morning?' Selena asks.
'We must be getting really close to our heat if you are being this bitchy with me,' I groan at her.
'We have a few days still. I am not sure what you want to do though,' she says softly.
Well for starters do not hide that from me. Remember the last time you didn't give me a heads up? I nearly destroyed the entire ravenclaw tower trying to relieve the feeling,' I remind her.
'I call that a lot of fun,' she gives me a mental smirk. I roll my eyes at her, but don't say anything else. I can feel the precense of someone nearby that should not be this close to Tazuna's house. I send him inside and follow the feeling to a clearing where a supposed young girl is gathering herbs. I recognize the smell though, so I head over to see what he is picking.
"Managed to slow it down huh? What did you use?" I ask. He jumps up and has a senbon in his hand already. "Easy there tiger," I tell him. I pull out a herb from his basket and sniff it. "You are using this to treat him?" I ask in confusion.
"Of course," he says firmly. I study him closely.
"You don't really like being with him do you?" I ask.
"What makes you say that?" his voice shakes a little.
"Maybe because this is a poisonous plant," I tell him. He gets a panicked look in his eye. I throw up a barrier that will keep him here. "If you are being abused you need to tell me. No matter what you came from you do not deserve bad treatment," I tell him firmly.
"You do not understand!" he tries saying and I cut him off.
"What is your name?" he seems to debate about telling me.
"Haku," he finally answers.
"Ok, Haku, what is the first thought you have when I tell you I will kill Zabuza?" I ask him.
He thinks about it, before his face falls a little. "Relief," his voice is small and it hurts my heart a little.
"And if I offer to bring you back with us? to become a proper shinobi with a village to call your own?" his face gets brighter the more he thinks about it, before it falls again.
"Your village would never accept me," he says.
"Hey, I will vouch for you. The only thing I have to ask of you is that you not go back to Zabuza," I tell him.
"But he will die, I managed only to slow the poison on your blade, not stop or neutralize it," he says.
"Is that really a bad thing?" I ask in return. He thinks it over, and shakes his head no.
"Are you certain I will be accepted by your village leader?" he sounds so unsure of himself.
"Yes, me and the Hokage are very close. Do you have any formal training? Or did Zabuza just teach you himself?" I ask him.
"Zabuza did all of the teaching. Is that a bad thing?" he asks.
"Not at all. It means you have no conflicting affiliations. Do you have a Kekkei Genkai?" I ask, at this question he looks a little panicky again. "My Hokage is not like the MIzukage. He will not kill you for possessing a Blood line limit. If you have one it will only help you to ensure you are accepted," I tell him.
He seems to be thinking everything over in his mind. "Very well, I will not go back to him, and if you are willing to accept my help in proteceting the bridge builder I am more than willing to help," he says with a small smile. I get a very strange Idea.
"You are really good at masking your prescense are you not?" I ask him, as I bring the barrier down and we walk back to Tazuna's house.
"Yes, I am also a sensor," he tells me.
"Would you object to me being your jounin sensei?" I offer.
"You would be willing to do that?" he asks a little louder than is comfortable.
"Well, yeah. I like teaching, though most people are too afraid to accept my offers. They I am Sadistic in my methods whatever that means. Plus you have the skills that would go really well with the missions I get sent on a lot. The Hokage loves sending me on infiltration and information gathering missions. Usually alone, but I have a feeling with a few weeks time I can have you at a decent enough ability level that you could come with me," I explain. When we come out of the treeline, Naruto is already waiting for us, and while to most he looks relaxed, I can tell he is ready for a fight should he need to.
"Everything alright Onee-chan?" he asks eyeing Haku up and down. I swing my arm around the boys shoulder and give Naruto a goofy grin.
"I found a stray puppy! Can we keep him?" I ask Naruto giving him my big blue puppy dog eyes. I see his left eyes twitch slightly, and know I win.
"Yeah whatever, but he is your responsibility. Do not ask me to teach him anything. Unlike you, I hate teaching. The girls seem to be really thick headed. I can not wait to be around the Uchiha's again. At least they do not bore me with their slowness," he says irritably.
"AWW, are you saying you find me boring?" I ask in fake offence.
"Not you, or even Kakashi though I wish he would push us more. I am not sure why he wants to go easy on us when on missions things are rarely ever easy," he huffs. I smirk as Kakashi drops from the roof.
"You only think I am going easy on you because your sister has already run you into the ground, Now back inside," he shoos Naruto into the house.
"Go ahead Haku. Get something to eat," I send the other boy inside as well.
"So a stray huh?" he asks with an arched brow.
"Yeah, he is the missing nin that took Zabuza the other day. He is being abused by that jerkthough, so I talked him into coming back with us," I tell him.
"Are you certain that the Hokage will approve of this idea?" he asks.
"Of course. I have already offered to be his jounin instructor. He is too old to go through the academy, but he has the skills. He will be great in either the hospital or on stealth missions like what I get sent on the most," I tell Kakashi.
"So long as you are sure," he shrugs and turns to leave.
"You know Naruto has a point right?" he stops and turns back around to face me.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"You haven't even taught them tree climbing and water walking. You are being to easy on those girls and it will only hurt them in the future. Ino needs to be pushed, while Hinata needs to be encouraged like a flame on a windy day. Just keep in mind that HInata has water affiliation, and Ino earth," I tell him. He seems to be thinking things through, before nodding his head.
"Anything else you want to say?" he asks.
I walk passed him to the door, but pause just before heading inside. "I really missed you," by the time he turns around I am already inside getting something to eat. I notice that despite the first bout of hostility Naruto has really warmed up to Haku. Just like I knew he would. I notice that Ino is staring almost jealously at Haku's long luxurious hair. I walk over to her and lean in so I can whisper to her. "Haku is a boy. If you keep staring at him like that he may suspect you like him," I warn her. Her face becomes beet red, and me and Naruto laugh.
"Am I missing something?" Haku asks looking between the three of us.
"Onee-chan was just telling Ino there that you are a boy, not a girl," Naruto explains.
"Oh, my apologies," he rubs the back of his head and gives Ino a shy smile. Her face turns red again, but I let her be so I can feed my angry bitchy wolf.
"Naruto I am gonna need to talk to you and Kakashi after dinner," I tell him. He looks up sharply at those words, but nods his head. After the other kids go to bed, me and Naruto head outside where Kakashi is standing gaurd on the roof.
"So what seems to be the issue?" he asks.
"In a couple of days, I will need to be restrained," I say.
"So soon? I thought you had a few more days?" Naruto asks in concern.
"Yeah, well Selena just told me this afternoon that I only have a couple," I tell Naruto.
"What exactly is going to be happening in a couple of days?" Kakashi asks.
"You have dogs right?" he nods his head still looking confused. "Well, you know how often a female dog goes into heat?" I ask and he gets an understanding look on his face. "The problem is that because I am a werewolf it is five times stronger and more dangerous. I need to be restrained and locked away so thats others are safe from me. If I had someone I would be fine, but I do not," I tell him.
"Have someone?" he asks.
"You know a lover, or someone I am actually comfortable enough around to be vulnerable. They also have to be really good in bed, and have enough stamina. It lasts for about three days and there is litterally only one thing I want to do for those three days," I tell him. I watch his reaction closely, to see if he gets put off at all. Thankfully though he seems to be ok with it so far.
"Normally she is ok at home with her summons, but out on missions it can be really dangerous," Naruto pipes up. "Thankfully she trained me on what to do, and don't worry Onee-chan, I already have a space set up in my trunk for you. But you know the drill. When the time comes no weapons at all and no wands," he reminds me.
"Yeah, yeah I know," I ruffle his hair fondly, and he grumbles.
"So why are you telling me this?" he asks sounding really confused.
"Because you are still this missions leader, and you need to know that I will be out of comission for three days. Plus you have already seen my memories, and know what to expect at least a little," I tell him.
"Alright, thank you for letting me know," he says, before returning his gaze to the trees around us. I head back downstairs to sleep. I curl up next to Hinata, and fall asleep quickly. By the time the sun is up, poor Hinata has become my own personal pillow. I know she is awake, but too afraid to say anything. Which is not good at all.
"You know, that you can tell me anything right? Even telling me to get off of you and such," I tell her, sitting up to stretch and rub my eyes.
"But you were sleeping so peacefully," she says in her soft tone of voice.
"Yeah, but that is no excuse. It must have been uncomfortable for you, and if something makes you uncomfortable than you need to speak up and say something. If you stay silent people will think they can do whatever they want with you and to you," I tell her.
"I will try to remember that," she says. I see that Ino also has an arm thrown over Hinata.
"Does that make you uncomfortable?" I ask her. She blushes, and touches the tips of her pointer fingers together, but nods her head yes.
"Than sit up really fast and tell her to get off," I tell her. She gulps, and after a few seconds of getting up her courage, she does as I told her. Ino startles awake, and actually looks upset at being woken up so rudely. "Now tell her how you feel," I encourage.
"Ino, it make me very uncomfortable when you have your arms and legs draped over me like that," Hinata says slowly. Ino studies her face, carefully before nodding her head.
"Alright, I am sorry to make you uncomfortable. I was asleep and did not realize what I was doing. I will try to sleep further from you so it does not happen again," Ino assures Hinata with a fond smile. So they are starting to talk more, that can only be good for them. Ino can no doubt bring Hinata out of her shell, and Hinata can teach Ino some humitlity.
"Now who is ready for a morning run?" I ask them happily. They groan, but follow me outside without complaint. I smile when I see Naruto there as well Haku. "Will you two be joining us?" I ask happily.
"Of course!" Naruto says bouncing on the balls of his feet. He is always so full of energy! I summon out my two hounds, and tell them their task. Haku looks at them with a question in his eyes.
"Ok I am thinking ten laps before the others wake up," I tell them. Ino looks scared, but Hinata nods her head with a look of determination. "Haku, these are my nin-ken, and they are going to make sure no one falls too far behind. Now, ready set go!" me and Naruto take off like a pair of bullets, Haku is not that far behind us, and INo and Hinata are already struggling to keep up with our pace. I slow down just enough so that I am right in front of them. Each time one of them starts to slow from the steady pace Naruto has decided to set, I give them encouragement, so they can keep going. We step inside just as Tsunami is coming downstairs and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Oh good morning!" she says happily.
"Yes it is, we just finished an amazing morning run!" I tell her happily. Judging by the grumbles come from behind me, at least one of the kids disagrees with my assessment. "Anyways we should all get cleaned up, so we can eat whatever delicous meal Tsunami is going to make us. I will take you two boys with me to the bridge today," I tell them over my shoulders as I head upstairs.
After my quick shower, I head to the room to get dressed while the others take turns getting cleaned up. Once we are all clean and with food in our bellies, Kakashi took the girls to the woods to get more training in, and me and the boys go to the bridge with Tazuna. The next couple of days go by like this, and there is no sign of any a disturbance. The second night is when I can feel my heat starting. I stand up from the dinner table quickly and grab Naruto's hand to pull him upstairs. He snags a bun off the table as we pass it, and takes a bite as we hurry up the stairs.
"That was really rude Onee-chan," he says as I toss him into the bedroom, and close the door. He gets a look of understanding on his face when I look at him. "Ah, right, remove all weapons and wands," he says as he removes one of his earrings, and turns it back into a trunk. I do not even try to hide anything. He holds out his hand for my earrings as well, which is a really smart idea. I hand them over and accept the one he gives me. It will keep me from using any magic, or chakra. I get into the special compartment that we made for this exact reason. He closes the door, and locks it.
Naruto takes his time carefully placing each weapon in a safe place i a different compartment in the trunk. He knows that his Onee-chan has Basilisk Venom on all of these weapons. There is no way in hell she would go on a mission and not bring her poisoned weapons. After all it is the best and most effient method. Just the tiniest of scratches and your opponent is down for good with no chance of getting back up. That is unless there is a puppeteer in the area, than all bets are off. He uses his own wand to place her wand in the compartment. He only made the mistake once before. Her wand does not like anyone other than her touching it at all. He was blasted across the room, and needed to spend a week in the hospital. It was not fun at all. Once he gets everything cleaned up, he closes the lid on the trunk, and changes it back into an earring. As he is putting it in his ear, the door opens and Haku peeks his head in.
"Is she ok?" he asks, looking around the room in concern.
"Yeah, she is just gonna be gone for a few days is all. An important missive came and she has to check into the information in it. Come on, I am still hungry as a horse," he tries to head back downstairs, but Haku stops him and is staring intetly at Naruto's ear.
"She had to leave huh?" he asks.
"Yes, unless she tells you something different, that is all you will ever hear. Now can we please go back downstairs?" Naruto whines a little.
"There is no more food," Haku says.
"WHAT!" Naruto hurries downstairs to that the table is already cleaned off and Tsunami is washing the dishes. "Is there really nothing left?" he asks in a sad voice.
Tsunami turns around and smile at him. "I put your plate in the fridge," she assures him. He gets it and finishes his food happily, before helping Tsunami with the cleanup process. The next three days thankfully go by with no issues, despite the numerous questions being thrown at Naruto. He sneaks away from the others the third night and opens his earring into a trunk. He does the password knock to see if she is done. There is a long pause, and just when Naruto is about to close the trunk, the response can be heard from the other side of the compartment door.
He carefully cracks the door open to see if she is really ok. When she looks ok he opens the door fully, only for her to rush past him and into the house. He curses, and races after her. Selena sure is getting sneakier. He searches high and low, but can not find her anywhere.
"Hey there Kashi," Selena whispers seductively from beside the fellow jounin resting on the roof. He sits up quickly, and quickly realizes that Naruto let her out too early. "You sure do smell amazing," she whispers, as she nuzzles his neck.
"Are you sure you feel ok?" he asks nervously. She grabs his hand and moves it to her breasts.
"I feel amazing," she whispers into his ear, before lightly nibbling on his earlobe. He groans, and she covers his mouth. "Shh, Naruto is looking for me, and I don't want to be found right now," she says in a husky tone of voice.
He nods his head, and she slides her hand down his chest, and he bites his lip to stifle the noise. If he knew she felt this amazing he never would have stayed away for so long. She touches his growing member through his pants and he can't hold in his moan. She yanks his mask down and kisses him. She nips his lip hard enough to draw blood, before licking it and making a tsking noise. "Ii told you to be quiet," she whisper before kissing him again. This time when she runs her hand down his chest there is a sharp sting that lets him know there will be scratches.
"Pertificus totalis," Naruto yells, and Wren goes still. Naruto shoves her back into his trunk, and slams the lid. Once he has it back in his ear, he hurries over, to his sensei who is now sitting up and holding a hand to his lightly bleeding chest "This is very much not good, sensei. I know she did not take her potion, take your shirt off," Naruto says slightly panicky. Kakashi just pulls it up high enough to reveal four thin scratches that are only just deep enough to bleed. Naruto pulls out a healing potion that Wren insists he carry at all times. He puts one drop on each scratch and puts two drops on his senseis tongue.
"What are you talking about Naruto? these will heal by tomorrow," he tries to calm down his student, but Naruto just shakes his head.
"No, sensei, Onee-chan has just given you Lycanthropy. You are going to go through a series of changes, and on full moon nights you will turn into a werewolf. At least that is the way it works back in Onee-chans original home. I have no clue what will happen here, or how it will be changed due to chakra. Onee-chan is going to be so angry at me," he starts to sniffle a little, and Kakashi flounders a little on what to do. "Dippy!" Naruto says firmly through his watery eyes.
"Yes, young master?" she asks as soon as she appears.
"I need you to tell the Hokage that there was anaccident, and Wren scratched Kakashi, she did not take her potion," he says. Dippy's impossibly large eyes manage to get even bigger, before she vanishes with a soft pop.
"Naruto it will all be ok," Kakashi tries to soothe him, but he just shrugs it off.
"The worst she will have me do is train with Kurama for a month or two," he shrugs, and huffs in irritation.
Kakashi goes on high alert while he pulls his shirt back down. "Who is Kurama?" he asks.
Naruto just touches his stomach and gives his sensei a duh look. "Who told you about that?" he asks.
"Nobody. I found him on my own. Onee-chan and the Hokage know about it. They also know I have been getting lessons from my parents for several years now. I am no where near as useless as I pretend to be. I like to study the Nara for the proper way to look like a slacker," he says with a careless shrug of his shoulders. He flops back next to his sensei, taking deep breathes to calm down and catergarize how his sensei's scent is gradually already changing. "You should summon your nin-ken when we get home and explain everything to them. Your scent is already changing and they may give you a hard time about it," Naruto advises.
"You like to study the Nara huh?" Kakashi asks.
"Yeah, I like the Nara's. Them and the Uchiha tend to not judge right off the bat. I have even played shogi with Shikaku. Though Itachi and Sasuke are my best friends, and Shisui is more like a fun loving uncle," Naruto says. Kakashi looks at his student like he has three heads.
"How long have you been spending time with the Uchiha?" he asks.
"Since I was a little kid. Shortly after Onee-chan adopted me. She started teaching me, and Itachi say her one day, and the next time they got together me and Sasuke played together. Once he got old enough for a few lessons he joined in on the lessons. I like to think of him as my brother, but I am not sure he feels the same," Naruto explains.
"I had no idea that you were so close to that family,"Kakashi admits.
"Of course not. You did your best to avoid being in the same room as my Onee-chan until now. I don't mind though I would have liked to spend more time with you. After all my dad speaks highly of you," Naruto says.
"So you really have recieved training from MInato?" Kakashi sounds a little hopeful.
"Yeah, I can ask Onee-chan if you can talk to him or not," he says easily.
"Why would she be able to determine that?"
"Because she has the stone hidden to avoid abusing it. It is a dangerous thing to play with, and the more it is used the more it hurts the spirits. My lessons with my parents have been stretched out to avoid as much harm as possible. I am still learning from them. The lessons are only allowed to last a half hour at a time," he explains to his Sensei.
"But,"
"No Sensei, you can talk to Onee-chan about all of it when we get back home. I imagine there will be a great many questions," he says. A small pop signals the arrival of Dippy on the roof next to them.
"Young Master, the Hokage has requested that you report to him as soon as you get back. You, Misstress, and Dog," Dippy says, before dipping her head in a small bow and vanishing again.
"What did she call me?" Kakashi asks.
"She called you a dog, because you really hurt Onee-chan all those years ago. I hated you too for a while," he says before disappearing off the roof.
Naruto keeps his Onee-chan locked up for an extra three days, before letting her out.
"Damn it Naruto let me out!" I scream banging on the door. I pace back and forth. Selena has been silent for the last three days. She refuses to say anything to me, let alone look at me when I visited her in my mind scape. What the hell happened? The door opens, and I immediately grab Naruto and look him over for any injuries. "Why did you leave me in here for so long!?" I ask him once I am sure that he has not been injured.
"Onee-chan Selena tricked me, and got out for a few minutes on the third night," he says shamefully. I still and pay very close attention to him.
"And what happened?" I ask.
"You scratched Kakashi sensei," he says softly. I close my eyes, as horror washed through me, and take deep breathes. I kneel in front of Naruto, and pull him into a hug. "I already told the Hokgae, and explained everything to Kakashi," he says.
"I am so sorry that I made you feel like this is all your responsibility. I should have just called for dippy," I tell him.
"I thought I did everything correct," he says.
"I know, and I am not mad at you. I will always love you no matter what," I tell him. He finally hugs me back, and lets the tears he had been holding in slip out silently. We stay like that for a few minutes, until he feels better, then I collect my weapons and earrings, while replacing the magic and chakra suppressing earring. I feel better once my magic and chakra surround me once more.
"Now I have to go talk to a certain silver haired Jounin," I excuse myself from Naruto. He packs up his trunk and places it back in his ear. I find Kakashi sitting on the roof, just kind of staring at his hands while he flexes his fingers. I get a shiver up my spine, and slow down my approach. He is definitely a werewolf now, I can feel his wolf growing stronger in his mind. Will he be more like me when it comes to lycanthropy because of the chakra?
"Hey Kakashi," I say softly. He is up so fast I almost lose sight of him. "I see you are already feeling the changes happening," I chuckle slightly.
"I understand now why you are always going on and on about smell," he says. His voice is pitched low, and his mouth is right next to my ear. I can tell that SElena is getting very excited, and the shiver going up and down my spine is thrilling in a new way to me.
"How are you feeling?" I ask him. He takes a deep breath, and rests his forehead on my shoulder.
"I feel better than I have in many years. I checked my coils this morning, and saw that they have tripled in size. Is that normal?" he asks softly. I want to touch him, but I am unsure of whether or not he is safe to touch right this second.
"Yes, though I thought it was due to my adoption ritual, but Naruto experienced an increase in chakra as well," I tell him. I feel his hands rest on my hips.
"Everything feels more intense," he whispers.
"Kashi," I breathe as he moves his thumbs on the sides of my stomach.
"If you two are going to fuck go further into the woods so I can't hear it," Naruto whispers from his room, but we both hear him loud and clear. I cover up a laugh, while Kakashi seems to be pouting.
"It will get easier after your first change. Until then, things will still be chaotic," I explain to him. I place a gentle hand on his arm, and he moves in. His kiss feels even better than I remember. I feel like I can just melt into him.
"Seriously!" Naruto scolds. I sigh, and get out from between his arms.
"Come on, go to bed, I will take over," I shoo him, but he doesn't listen, so I push him off the roof. I peek over to see him just sitting there. "Dippy?" I ask softly. She pops up right next to me, and I pull her into a tight hug.
"It will be ok Misstress. Is there anything I can get you?" she asks.
"Is it too much to ask for an iced frappe, and a couple of books about werewolf transformation written by actual werewolves. And also for this hug to last a little longer," she just hums and squeezes me tighter. After a little bit she lets me go, and I release her as well.
"I will be back as soon as I can Misstress," she pops away, and I turn my senses to the surrounding area. Everything seems to be still. That is until I smell decay. I follow my nose to the source and am truly surprised to see Zabuza shambling through the trees. I feel him doing something with his chakra, and stare at him stunned. He is using his chakra to burn the venom out of his system before it can kill him. I pull out a kunai, and waste no time at all killing him this time. I remove his head from his body in one clean move as I drop from above, and watch as his head rolls a little ways away. I burn his remains, and tuck away his head in a storage scroll that is designed for this purpose.
I check the area, and see that he was brought here by someone. I summon shouta, and send him with a message to Kakashi. Haku lands next to me, and watches the fire burn. "You really did kill him," he says softly.
"I will never let anyone harm you," I assure him. Shouta comes back with a response and I look it over quickly. "Want to come with me? I need to check the area more thouroughly, and find out who brought him here," I ask Haku.
"Sure," I hand Shouta one more message before me and Haku start scouting the area to look for any tracks or traces.
"What is this?" Haku asks. I move over to stand next to him and see what appears to be a scuff mark on a tree. I look up and scan the trees above us.
"They brought him here by tree, At least two people carried him considering his size and his weapon," I jump up and check for more clues. I find more clues up here. "Come on Haku, the trail we need to follow is up here," I call down to him. It only takes him a second to join me in the trees. I teach him how to scan the area with his eyes, to find even the smallest of traces of someone's passage. I can track them by scent alone, but Haku cannot, so it is best if I teach him using other methods.
"How do you know there were at least two people?" he asks.
"If you focus chakra into your nose you should be able to pick up three different scents. The one that smells rotten and decaying, is from Zabuza," I explain. He immediately starts coughing, and I nod my head at him. "Yeah he stinks really bad," I give him an understanding look. We follow the tracks back to a compound, that is surrounded by hired thugs.
'Selena, can you follow the scent trail into the building?' I ask her.
'You are not disappointed with me?' she asks softly.
'My darling, I could never be disappointed in you. It is in our instincts to seek out an adequate mate during our heat. It was an accident as far as I am concerned. Now please can you help us? I need to know what part of this building has the strongest scent of decay,' I tell her.
"So now what?" Haku asks.
"Stay here for a second," I tell him. I drop silently to the ground next to Shouta who has been following us this entire time. I write out a breif missive to Kakashi asking what he wants us to do. Shouta creeps slowly back the way we came for a few yards before getting up and carefully picking his way through the underbrush. I wait for him to return with Kakashi's response, and smile when he slinks up to me on his belly without a sound. I ruffle his ears to let him know I am proud of him. I take the note back up to Haku.
"It says here, to just head back," I tell Haku.
"Right," he moves silently through the trees. I drop down and stay with Shouta as we trek through the woods.
"Most likely we will see more men in the next few days. I believe that they brought Zabuza this close so that he can try to finish whatever job he had," I tell Kakashi.
"Our job was to kill the bridge builder. Gato was going to pay us a handsome fee, so that we can fund a revelution to unseat the current Mizukage. However, Zabuza was never going to succeed after Wren stabbed him. Whether he knew it at that moment or not, his life ended,"Haku says.
"So the man pulling the strings around here is Gato?" Kakashi asks.
"Yes, he does not want the bridge to be built because if it is finished then traders would not have to go through him to get supplies here," Tazuna explains.
"And this is why you want to build the bridge?" Naruto asks.
"Yes, that way the little tyrant can no longer hold my country in a death grip," He says with a weary sigh.
"Very well Tazuna, But you need to understand what I saw. I believe that he has been sending out requests for thugs, and rogue shinobi. There were at least fifty men on the outside of that building," I tell them. The girls and the small brat are already asleep, so it is just me and the menfolk.
"And what are you ninja planing on doing about it?" he asks in a gruff voice.
"Well, I believe that the only thing we can do, is keep you safe. What do you think Wren? should we be able to bring the girls to the bridge yet?" Kakashi asks.
"Yes, I think that if Haku and Naruto stay here to keep the house safe, me you and the girls should be able to handle the bridge. And while we are there we can iron out any problems they may be having with water walking," I suggest.
"Sounds very good. Remember boys. Be prepared for an ambush at all times. We are now on high alert," Kakashi says before heading to bed. I look after him with longing, but instead head outside to add an extra layer of protection to the booby trap line. Once I am certain that anyone that tries to approach the house without permission will make a ton of noise. And then, when you get to the final line of defence before exiting the woods, there will be screams and blood for hours. After all there is a reason T&I wants to have me transferred there. I know how to hurt people and make them scream in agony.
Satisfied with my work, I move to my favorite spot on the roof, and get comfortable. I decide to do some landscaping in my mindscape. Me and Selena work together, laughing and talking through out the night. I open my eyes, with the first rays of sun, and hear that everyone is still sleeping peacefully. Though the odd warmth next to me is different than what I was expecting. I look down, and see that Haku is curled up next to me. I gently touch his cheek, and he opens his eyes.
"Did you have a bad dream?"I ask him softly. He just nods his head, and I wrap an arm around his shoulders. "You know you could have gotten my attention. I was just cleaning up my minscape a little," I tell him.
"Could you teach me?" he asks.
"I can certainly try," I tell him. He snuggles a little closer, and I rest my head ontop of his.
"I am worried that something may happen to you while I am not there to protect you," he says in a soft voice.
"Haku, I do not need protection. It is my job as a jounin to do the protecting of my precious people. This is the job. Sometimes it is necessary to split up to finish the job," I explain to him.
"Is it ok that I want to stay close to you?" he asks.
"Of course it is. Naruto has a few relapses as well. It is completely normal to crave closelness to a motherfigure," I assure him.
"I killed my mom," he whispers.
"Did she hurt you?" I ask.
"No, she was keeping my dad from killing me," he explains further.
"That does not mean you killed her. That is simply what mothers do. We protect our off spring as fiercely as bears and wolves," I tell him.
"But if I was never born she would still be alive," he says with a sniffle.
"And I wager she loved every second she did have with you," I tell him.
"Perhaps. She did always appear happy when I was nearby," he says.
"Do you want help with your hair?" I offer him.
"No thank you. Ino has claimed that right, and I am afraid of her ire," he says with a shiver.
"You continue to have that attitude and you will go far in your love life," I wink at him.
"What on earth are you talking about?" he asks with a bright red face.
"You and Ino. By the time I am done with her, she will be a force to be reconned with," I tell him.
"You really think she can advance that much?" he asks.
"Of course. The only thing holding anyone back is their mind," I tell him.
"I suppose you are correct, but what if you have a lifetime of one type of mindset? Is it possible to unlearn bad thinking?" he asks.
"of course. You know when I first started learning, I refused to take a life. But then I was forced into a situation, and as I was literally dying, I made my first kill. After that I slowly got used to killing when I have to on missions," I tell him.
"I puked the first time Zabuza made me take a life. I wear that hunter nin mask, because I still cry when I have to kill someone," he explains.
"Then perhaps you should join the hospital staff. That way you are never forced to take a life," I suggest.
"But who will go on missions with you?" he asks softly.
"Whoever the Hokage assigns. He never lets me do a mission alone," I tell him.
"If I join the hospital will you still be my jounin sensei?" he asks.
"No, but if you want you may come and live with me and Naruto. I may even adopt you if you wanted," I suggest, holding him close.
"What if Naruto doesn't want a brother though?" he sounds so much smaller than he is.
"I have always wanted a brother," Naruto says from my other side.
"How long have you been there?" Haku asks.
"I came up to check on you shortly after you fell asleep," he says. He then pokes me in my side teasingly. "When I saw that Onee-chan here was lost in her mind, I decided to stay and keep an eye on you two. Haku, I would love to have you as a brother, but first we actually have to make it back home, and second we have to run it by the Hokage," he says.
"What if he says no?" Haku asks. Naruto bops him over the head, and Haku looks at him like a kicked puppy.
"Then we will change his mind. You need to worry less about the Hokage and more about your family. Yeah we may be new and not blood related yet, but we will be your family if you want us," Naruto assures him. Haku just gives us a really big teary smile. I lift my face to the rising sun and take a deep breathe.
"Today is when they are going to attack. Be on guard, and alert. Naruto I added an extra two layers to the trap line. If anyone makes it through, have no mercy," I tell him.
"Did you have to take the fun out of it?" Naruto pouts a little.
"Well then you can take a layer off if you really want. You can use this oppurtunity to show Haku what my brand of traps look like," I nudge his side, and he groans at me.
"Why do you always want me to teach people things?" he asks.
"Because I believe there is nothing better than being able to teach others," I tell him.
"The others are waking up. Better get something to eat before the work begins," he just rubs his head, and jumps from the roof.
"Come on, chin up and lets go beat people up," I tell Haku. He looks away from me and rubs his arm. "If you want to redirect everyone towards Naruto you can. I promise he can take it," I assure him. He thinks it over before nodding his head, and following me off the roof. We get something quick to eat, and Kakashi, me, and the girls escort Tazuna to his bridge. I already gave Kakashi the heads up on the attack that is set to accure at some point today, and he feels a lot edgier than normal. Is it because of now being a werewolf?
'He is like us,' Selena whispers.
'What do you mean?' I study him closely, and notice that his movements are more fluid now as well.
'I can feel that his wolf has a mind, and can communicate. But right now it feels unsure, and scared. It is mentally still a pup, but physically as grown as Kakashi is. Perhaps we may set up a learning session. We may enter his mind, and I can teach his wolf while you teach him?' she suggests.
'It will have to wait until we get back, but that would be fine,' I tell her.
"What are you saying?" Kakashi asks, leaning closer so that none other may hear him.
"I was speaking with my inner wolf," I tell him.
"You can do that?" he sounds really surrprised.
"When we get back, if you would like, I can show you a few things," I offer.
"I would really like that," he whisper in my ear, and I can feel his lips through the cloth of his face mask. "Just you and me alone," he says, and I get shivers racing up and down my spine.
"This has definitely given you a boost in confidence," I tell him with a shy chuckle.
"I can smell what I do to you," he says and some how his voice is even deeper.
"Pay attention to the mission at hand, or I shall be forced to remove your man hood right here and now," I warn him with a deep growl of my own. He chuckles, but moves away from me anyways. Towards the end of the day, there is a very large explosion from the direction of Tazuna's house. I start to stretch, and make sure my weapons are ready, which they always are when on missions.
"Ino, Hinata, I want you both to get to the other end of the bridge, and stay as far back as you can. There is about to be a lot of people, and I do not want to accidentally hurt either of you," I tell the two girls.
"But we want to help," Ino says proudly, and Hinata shakes her head in agreement.
"I will let a few slip by then," I give Kakashi a look, and we nod at each other.
"Just one at a time, " he tells them. They nod their heads, and get ready. When a very short man steps out onto the bridge in front of a whole swarm of hired thugs and rent-a-shinobi I start laughing my butt off.
"You have got to be kidding me!" I shriek in between laughs. "This is the person everyone has been afraid of!" I hold my stomach as the laughter continues, and tears gather in my eyes. "I could blow him away with just a fart!" I wipe my eyes.
I watch as the Goblin wanna be starts to get very red in the face, and raises a crossbow to shoot me. Mid laugh I catch the arrow and snap it in half. "How dare you laugh at me!" he yells angrily.
"Please! like you can do anything to me! You look like a grumpy elf!" I laugh at him. I straighten up and wipe the rest of the tears from my eyes. Before anyone can blink, there is a shuriken buried deep in his his throat, and he falls to the ground in a growing puddle of his own blood. The men that were standing around him just stare in confused horror. "Now who else wants to see how fast my throwing arm is?" I ask them with a sweet smile while twirling two shurikens around my finger. I watch as they connect the dots, and flee from the bridge as fast as they can. A few even jump over the sides, so they can swim away.
"Sorry guys, but it looks like there won't be any fun after all," I apologize to the girls and Kakashi.
"I don't mind," HInata says just loud enough for me to hear. I can tell that she was not actually ready to do any fighting.
"No worries kiddos we will have lots of fun on the way home. Now Tazuna, why are you just standing there? Get back to work," I urge him. Kakashi seals away Gatos body after very carefully handing me back my poisoned shuriken.
"Can you and Haku go clean out his base?" he asks.
"Why, I thought you would never ask," I tell him sweetly. I call upon my Patronus, which is a six foot tall KItsune with nine tails each with a small flame at the tip. "Haku, please meet me at Gato's base. We are to completely empty it out into storage scrolls to go through and catalogue later," I tell it. It nods it's head before taking off in the direction of Haku.
"What was that?" Kakashi askes.
"That is called a patronus charm. It takes on a different shape depending on the person that casts it. It is particularly effective against a nasty creature from my home land, but also at relaying messages. They are impossible to fake, so if you know someone's Patronus you know the message can be trusted," I explain to him.
"Very useful to know. How long will it take to get to him?" Kakashi asks.
"It is already there. I will see you three when me and Haku finish cleaning house," I tell the small group before taking off so fast one would think I shunshinned. I am not one of Shisui's favorite pupils for no reason after all. I can easily beat him now, but I refuse to hurt his feelings like that. I must really thank Guy for the idea with the weights. They have increased my progress by leaps and bounds. I am hoping that they will help Ino and Hinata increase their potential as well.
I land on a branch next to Haku without him even noticing. I shake my head at his igorance. "You know Haku I could have killed you already," I tell him. I laugh as he shrieks and falls to the ground on his butt. I follow him down in a more graceful manner. "How did things go at the house?" I ask him.
"Naruto almost burned half the woods around the house, and was really scaring me with the way he kept laughing. To be honest no one even made it out of the woods," he says.
"Sounds like Naruto decided to leave my traps in place then. Though why he always wants to add fire is beyond me," I tell him with a shrug. I stand up and wave for him to follow me inside. I do not bother with stealth at this point. Any one that is here was surely to be at the bridge as well, and will no doubt remember my face. We walk up to the tall imposing building like we own the place, and essentially we will. At least everything on the inside. "Now, with this task we are to gather literally everything inside this building. People included, even dead bodies. When we leave this will be a completely unfurnished house," I tell Haku. I pull out a large storage scroll, and open it. At the first seal I undo it so that the fifty scrolls stored within pop up in a puff of smoke. I hand them all to Haku, and undo the next seal on the scroll. Another fifty smaller scrolls puff into existence, and I gather these oes into my arms. "We will be able to move faster if we do one room at a time. Hopefully each scroll will be able to hold one room each, but that may not be the case. Just be sure mark each scroll appropiately. Thankfully we won't have to search through everything with a fine toothed comb for any useful information," I tell him. We enter in through the front door and branch off our seperate ways. It takes us the rest of the day, and all night to completely empty out the building. We evn managed to find a hidden dungeon full of prisoners that we took with us. Once we are all done I seal the scrolls back away into the larger scroll.
"Are we all done finally?" Haku asks with a very tired yawn.
"Thankfully yes, Now come here. I will carry you back to Tazuna's house," I bend so he can climb onto my back. He only briefly hesitates, but falls asleep quickly as I walk calmly back. Even if I do get attacked I feel confident in my ability to keep both me and Haku safe. He doesn't stir when Naruto takes him from me to lay him down in his sleep roll. He sure did help me speed things up though. I hand over the large scroll which is now full of the entire household of Gato the gnome. "Here you are, there is absolutley nothing but the building left. I need some sleep though, so I will see you tomorrow morning," I pat his shoulder and head up so I can sleep as well.
Since the whole issue with Gato and the thugs has been taken care of there is very little defending recquired now. The bridge gets finished within two weeks, and I stand waiting on the bridge so we can leave. Haku is standing next to me looking out over the water with a vacant expression. I almost feel sorry for him. It will be a while before he returns here, and we did not make a grave for his old master Zabuza. NOt that he felt overly attached to the horrid man, but he was raised by him and that tends to leave lasting attachment. It doesn't take too long for everyone to gather to say goodbye, and once that is done we finally head home.
As soon as we can see the wall that surrounds Konoha, an anbu guard drops around us. "Naruto, Kakashi, and Wren. We were sent to escort you immediately to the Hokage's office. The stranger must come as well," they say. Leaving no room for argument. We do as instructed, though I pick up Ino, and Naruto picks up Hinata. After all they are all a team and as such Kakashi's new status needs to be understood by all that may work with him in the furture. We make it there in record time, and I study my nails as the Hokage glares sternly at us all.
"What exactly happened out there on the mission? I was assured that you would not be a danger to your allies, and yet Kakashi is now infected as well," Sarutobi asks angrily.
"Well, twice a year I experience a heat, just like a female dog. My urges tend to be uncontrollable, and demanding. Normally I am here when this occures, but this time I was out on the mission. Naruto thought it was safe for me to be released because it lasts for a set amount of time, but he was off by a few hours. Already being attracted to Kakashi I sought him out when Selena tricked Naruto. From what I understand she had told him to be silent, and he made a noise so to punish him she scratched him," I explain. "During these episodes, neither I nor my wolf Selena have rational thoughts. It is only about sex and mating that we think about," I tell him.
"Naruto had tried to tell me, that in case she did get out and attack me to do whatever she said and she would be less likely to hurt me. However, Hokage, she had her hand down my pants, and I could not fight the moan," Kakashi explains further with a red face. I watch as Sarutobi's face gets very red as well.
"Right, well, I see. Now what precautions must be taken now that this has happened?" he asks.
"When we are finished here, I am going to be giving him a very harsh crash course in all things werewolf. I can enter his mind like a Yamanaka, and bring him with me. While there, I will teach him and my inner wolf will teach his. I believe with time and many lessons he will be more like me than the werewolves back home. Able to control themselves, and not lose their minds during full moons," I explain.
"Very well, see that you do. Neither of you are allowed out of the village until you are sure that Kakashi will not be a threat to anyone," he says with a stern tone of voice. Me and Kakashi give him twins bows and 'yes sir' answers. "Now that that is taken care of, who might this young man be?" he asks.
"This is Haku, he was raised by Zabuza of the mist. He was being abused, so I offered for him to come back with us. He has a kekkei genkei and will be perfect as a healer," I tell him. He motions for Haku to step forward.
"Have you received any formal ninja training at all?" he asks Haku.
"No sir," Haku answers quickly.
"And you have no allegience to anyone else?" he asks again.
"None at all sir," Haku says.
"Why does Wren think you will be better off as a healer than a fighter?" he asks.
"Because when I take a life I feel very ill, and my stomach turns. I much prefer to save lives than take them," Haku explains.
"And what if the village is under attack and therre are enemies in the hospital?" the hokage suggests.
"Than I will kill them where they stand to keep my patients safe," Haku answers honestly.
"So then you have killed before, and have the training needed to do so, just do not want to," the hokage surmises.
"Yes, Hokage, Sir," Haku says.
"Very well. I ask that you take an assessment, so we know what your ninja rank is, as well as how knowledgeable you are with medicine, and healing jutsu. After that we will need to determine where you will be living," the hokage says, and here I step forward.
"I was wondering if I might adopt him like I did with Naruto?" I ask him.
He takes a long time to think it over, before slowly nodding his head. "Yes that will be fine. Will you be wanting to move to a bigger place?" he asks.
"No need, me and him can share a room," Naruto steps forwards and slings an arm around Haku's shoulders.
"very well then. Now Kakashi mission report, the rest of you are dismissed. Wren I will send a message to you when we are ready to give Haku his assessments," Sarutobi says with a wave of his hand. As the door closes behind us, I turn to the kids, and give them a big smile.
"Who wants some Ramen?" I ask happily, and Naruto explodes off the ground happily before diappearing to his favorite place. The rest of us follow at a much more sedate pace.