Chronicles of the Demon Children

Chapter 2: Tsubasa and Taka

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower?"
- Warren Hutcherson

The day that Taka the Hawk Demon of the Wind was sealed, the Tori family was actually ecstatic. The youngest son (who was also the only child…) of the Tori clan was now implanted with the essence of hawk demon lord. The legendary hawk demon itself. Sure, he may not have had anything special about him at all, but the whole village knew (or rather, 'thought') that having a demon in him made him somewhat special.

It was a sure fact that all children were completely different from one another, but the young master was amongst the most unusual. Sometimes, he was so normal, one couldn't help but feel disappointed of how normal he was by normal standards. Other times he would be acting so eccentric and odd that one would feel as if he were mentally below average.

And it was almost true. Tori Tsubasa was usually completely clueless to his surroundings. However, he was often struck with brief moments of complete brilliance. Including his uncanny ability to elude his elders when escaping from some sort of a 'crime' that he commited, such as fighting other four-year-olds or eating an unfortunate traders merchandise.

He was somewhat incredibly average, aside from his not-so-mild mannered alter ego. Tsubasa was even substandard many things, aside from mind boggling times of fortune and his giant head. Not literally.

Being the first son of the Tori family and supposedly imbued powers so great that he "hid them from his own clan", Tsubasa was, in short, easily considered an egotistical snot. Despite the self-centered attitude, his family loved him nevertheless.

When he turned five however, Tsubasa had overgone a complete personality implant, for that was when we was thrown from his throne. Not that he minded anyway. His mother Hakucho had given birth to a new pair of fledglings. The boy was named Tsuru and the girl Sagi. Their personal nicknames, given by their brother, were Tama-chan and Tomo (or sometimes even Tomomo), just as their pet name for them was Tsuba-san.

Tsubasa adored them. And his parents were glad of it: they barely had to do a thing. Tsubasa fed them, bathed them, played with them, and (once they were older) ran around everywhere with them, bringing them along on his small adventures in the village.

Tsubasa had never been scolded, hated, beaten, or abused in any way by the village, but he was rarely ever acknowledged. The people's fear of the demon always kept them at arm's length of him. Whether they meant to or not, they had isolated him from skin contact and care.

But with Tama and Tomo alongside him, however… He had his own sla—ahem, SIBLINGS!

Even the sour old village elders had to smile whenever they saw the motley three-man-crew, running away from authorities. The Tori-trio were constantly causing problems for the village people, but it was all in good fun. There was only one day that there was no mad chaos involving three children running amok with the local Cloud law enforcement chasing after them in vain.

Tomo had been sick, with her older brother staying by her side all day long. Tama had been told to take some medicine, but it was unnecessary. The elderly medicine man of the village gave it to them free of charge.

"Tsubasa," Hakucho said to him. "What on earth are you doing!"

"Tomomo's sick, Mother," he said worriedly.

"Baka…you don't give penicillin to fevered children. Medicine is not even required here. Get me cloth with cool water. Not icy, mind you, unless you want to kill her."

Tsubasa gasped.

"What? Oh, you're too gullible. Get the water, moron," his mother said. What a lady.

Tsubasa and Tama immediately followed all orders given to him. The two boys witnessed Mother's great 'miracle' as, after wiping Tomo completely with the cool clothes, Tomo's temperature went down.

'Wow,' Tsubasa thought in amazement. 'That is the Healing power, to bring those near death back to life.'

Fool, a voice said in his head. She wasn't even dying!

Eh? Tsubasa gasped. There's a voice in his head!

"What are you gasping at, boy?" Hakucho asked him.

"I heard someone speaking in my head!" Tsubasa exclaimed. His mother placed her hand on his forehead but felt no increasing warmth.

"Hm…it seems you have not caught any fever from your sister," she said sternly. "You must be crazy."

He grinned. Nothing was speaking in his head now. He was just hearing things, imagining a voice in his head.

Meanwhile, stuck in the mind of a mentally subnormally intelligent boy, Taka the Warhawk Demon Lord was screaming.

Dammit! Ten years of screaming and this stupid kid hears me only ONCE! Taka cried. T-T Poor Taka.

However, Taka was a relatively useless demon at the time, so his thoughts are currently unnecessary. Anyhow, Tsubasa realized how much the healing powers could benefit more than the usual fighting arts of the ninja.

At fifteen, Tsubasa had managed to finally exceed the training of his teammates. His teacher, Masa, had allowed him the day off.

"Oi, Tsubasa!" his teammate, Rafu called up to him. Rafu was the 'trapper' of the group. He usually had nets and traps out everywhere within the vicinity of his home. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said, watching the clouds. It was like they were gloating at his flightlessness.

"Tomo and Tama are looking for you!"

"What do they want?" he asked them.

"They said something about some initiation!"

Oh…shit. "Aaah!" He had forgotten! They were both ten and were going to graduate as a shinobi in three months. Today was the day that they were going to receive their Tori guardians. The Tori clan, similar to the Inuzuka clan and their dogs, were always given their bird familiars before completely becoming a shinobi. And he was going to miss it!

He dropped out of the trees, landing lightly on his feet twenty-five feet below without a sound and the slight raising of dust.

"I'm always amazed about how you do that," Rafu commented.

"I'm light like a feather," he muttered to his friend as he began to run.

"Meet us around nine, okay?" Rafu called to him.

"Alright, alright."

It was usually a ten minute jog to the Tori manor, but running at lightspeed, he cut it down to three.

He skidded into the back yard (which was more like a courtyard) and found his whole family staring at him. His three aunts, five uncles, four cousins, their grandmother, his mother, his father, Tama, and Tomo. He felt small compared to the mass of people that made up his family.

"You're late," his father Fukuro said.

"I'm not late," Tsubasa retorted. "You're all just way too early."

Tama snorted.

His father sighed. "Even so, this must be done."

"Tsuru," their father said. "You have grown up to be an amazing child with outstanding abilities, and I know you will grow up to be an excellent shinobi. Just as you, Sagi, will become the best and most well-known kunoichi. You grandmother, Hagetaka, will uphold our family tradition and will lead you both, one by one, into the Torikago, were you will receive your familiar."

Fukurou sat down as Grangmother Hagetaka stood up. "As you all know," she said, "Tsuru and Sagi. Our youngest children, are about to receive their familiars through the blood rites. Soon afterwards, we will present our offerings to their good fortune. Tsuru, follow me into the Torikago." Tama got up from his knees and went into the Torikago, filled with anxiety and excitement.

Tsubasa remembered his own initiation. Things had gone badly. The ritual mainly consister of forcing a complete transfer of blood and chakra from the bird to the master. Ordinarily, the foreign mixture of human and hawk would probably end up killing both of them, due to the fact that the familiar would be devoid of any blood and the human would have the incorrect type of blood—similar to the way blood transfers between two normal humans must have specific blood types.

However, thanks to the Tori clan's special family jutsus and connection to the birds, not only did the secret techniques keep the users alive, but it also opened a new door to the rest of the family jutsus.

Tsubasa's blood ritual nearly killed his familiar—the peregrine falcon, Kamushin—right in the start. The blood switch sent the bird's chakra to the boy, but the demon inside of him rejected it, neary costing all four of them (Taka, Tsubasa, Kamushin, and Hagetaka) their lives.

However, seeing the risks, Taka yielded to the jutsu and allowed the rest of the transaction to take place, humbly accepting Kamushin's intrusion. If Tsubasa had ever thought about it more clearly, he probably would have seen Taka's 'jealousy' and irritation with Kamushin. On the other hand, since Tsubsa rarely seemed to think about the fact that he wasn't alone in his head, there was rarely any moment worth this interest. Therefore, Taka took advantage to this newcomer and often spoke to Kamushin, even regardin ghim as almost an equal, unlike the humans he so contemptuously despised.

Tama emerged from the room, pale and shaky. Tomo got up and went into the Torikago after him the moment he collapsed onto a comfortable seat prepared for him. His new familiar, a woodpecker, perched tiredly on his choulders. It chirped and looked around as Fukuro began to explain the side effects of the family jutsu.

"Tsuru, now that you and your familiar are one, you risk double the injury. Should you feel pain, so would your familiar, and vice versa. It's life source is you. If you die, so would he. Because your bird is nor merged with you, it is more resilient to death and injury, but it is not, I repeat, NOT immortal. Don't do stupid things. If something happens to him, it will happen to you, so don't risk killing him. Your bird will not die of old age while you are alive, but it it dies suddenly, you may go into shock and never wake up. The advantages of this is your newest abilities. It will make you a bit lighter, more lithe, and increase your certain senses. You nose is almost useless anyway, but, by mastering certain techniques, you will be able to do different things, such as seeing through your familiar's eyes and hearing through its ears. The most basic types of our family jutsu is the enhancing of your own eyesight and sens of hearing. You may be able to completely switch bodies or merge with your familiar—two legendary technqiue in which only the first of the Tori clan may have possibly known. Some of the Inuzuka clan somewhere in the Hidden Village of the Leaf actually knows how to do that. Also, having certain birds mean certain other unique abilities of your own as well. Grow up and find it out youself. Your sister will be coming out soon, I suppose. Now, don't forget all of this I told you, alright, Tsuru?"

He might have nodded or he may have been sleeping with his eyes open. It was hard to tell.

Tama ran/stumbled from the room, looking sick and upset. Where was her familiar?

"Ts-s-Tsuba-saaaan!" she cried, hugging him.

Eh? Had her chakra and blood been unable to merge with a familiar of her own? This has never ever, in the history of the Tori clan, happened before.

"Tomomo?" he asked. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"M-my familiar…" Her eyes were all big, sparkly, and sad. A hummingbird flitted from the hood on her back. "IT'S TOO SMAAAALL!"

Everyone sighed in relief and irritation. Tsubasa frowned.

"I thought something bad happened," he said.

"This IS bad! It's HORRIBLE! The familiar's supposed to reflect our 'innerselves!' Mom said so! And this is really really small!"

"So? Mine is too big."

"Big is good! Big doesn't get squished or ran over by a freaking butterfly!"

"Big also can't get into small places and maneuver well," Tsubasa said. "Yours is a lot more accurate and maneuverable; being small means being difficult to find when spying. Mine is harder to miss."

"Oh…then why don't I see him now?"

"He's way up in the sky."

"Sagi, to your seat," Fukuro said.

"Um…I can't move."

"Baka. You shouldn't have wasted all you had running at me like a maniac," Tsubasa said. He picked his sister up and dropped her in the chair.

"Ow! Shouldn't you be more gentle to your little sister?" she demanded.

"For someone so weak she couldn't walk, you sure do talk a lot," Tsubasa retorted.

And then they presented their presents. They got perches, a lure, jesses, luresleather gauntlets and arm bands, and even a small birdbathes. Tsubasa ran from his room with a box.

"What is that?" Hakucho asked him warily, knowing how his surprises often ended in pandemonium.

"These are the most awesome training equipment a Tori clansman, or woman, can have. Look. First there's the normal lure. Throw this lightweight ball in the air for the birds to practice catching. Balloons would be the best if they didn't always blow up. It might kill Tomomo's hummingbird. Anyway, once they can catch the ball easily. the fishing pole is next. Stick a weight on the fishing pole, right here, and spin it in the air, let it loose, and let your bird try to catch it. After that, there's this: my ultimate invention. It's like a kite. A really small one with three strings. Once you manage to make it move wherever you need, have your bird chase after the tail. I'm a freaking genius."

Their father smiled. "I never thought you had enough brains to do this. You rarely ever show signs of intelligence and common sense. I am now proud to admit that you are also my child."

"Aw, shut up, old man," Tsubasa said jokingly.

"Hey, praise us, praise us!" Tama said.

"Yeah, we're the ones who had to bleed here!" Tomo added. They all laughed.

They played around and joked a while. They ate the food ("FINALLY" Tsubasa exclaimed). The adults drank sake. The kids stole sake. And the whole family had a big party. Neighbors not allowed.

It was in a bit late in the night when Tsubasa realized that he forgotten all about his team.

Where are they? he asked Kamushin.

Here. Kamushin flew a bit lower so Tsubasa could see him and follow as he led him to his teammates.

"Hey, Tsubasa," the teacher said.

"Hello, Masa-sensei," Tsubasa said with a playful salute.

"Alright," Ren said. She was the only girl on the team, but she acted even more boyishly than the rest. "Masa hooked us up on some mission that's not really a mission."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rafu asked.

"It's sort of a mix between a C and a B ranked mission," Masa said. "Two traitors from the Rain may be heading our way."

"Why?"

"Who knows? That's all the Rain's leader told us," Masa said. "One is a former ANBU. Her name is Kasumi Miu. She was new, but decided to go rebel. She's with a girl I think. That's all they said."

"Why are they headed here?" Tsubasa asked him.

"It seems they have been running all over the country. They might come our way. Those from the Rain say it's very dangerous. Since we're one of the best with ambushes, we're going to be scouts and keep a watch out for them."

"This late at night?"

"Yeah. Contacts in the Waterfall say they saw two girls heading in this direction a day or two ago and it might be them. They were traveling on foot, so by now, they would be near here if they really are ninja.

"Run fast," Miu had told Haruka. There were people in dark coats following them.

Three days after they had fled the mountain, the ANBU were already after them. Everyday, Miu briefly told Haruka the basics of fighting. There was rarely a moment where they could actually practice sparring as most ninjas did, but at least with all this running around, she was developing leg muscles. She was pretty accurate with the shuriken and kunai, practicing every night before she slept. Frankly, Miu felt that Haruka would have been a great shinobi had she never been forced to live her entire childhood in a cage.

It had almost been a week in all when they were suddenly pursued by a new group. Miu was sure that it was not the ANBU. It seemed these people had almost enough power to take on even a kage. They wore dark cloaks with red cloaks lined with white.

The blond had nearly killed Miu. It took everything she had just to run away. Miu and Haruka hadn't been talking much for a while. This wasn't fun anymore.

"Those aren't ANBU," Haruka whispered. "You said. So who are they?"

"I don't know. Maybe I pissed them off?" Miu wondered. They were hiding in a bush. There was no one in sight, but one couldn't ever be too careful. Well, they couldn't anyway. Not with what seemed like all the powerful people in the world after them.

They weren't moving very quickly from the injuries Miu sustained while fighting of a man (or woman) riding a giant, funny looking bird. She showed Haruka how to hide most of her chakra, so they were just laying low for a while.

"Then why on earth did you piss such strong people off?" Haruka asked.

"I'm an Anbu. I hunt missing-nins. I probably nabbed a favorite subordinate of theirs and now I'm on some hit list or whatever."

"Sucks for you."

"Sucks for both of us, actually."

"Yeah. Ah, Miu-chan?"

"Hn?"

"What's that sound?"

Miu sat up suddenly, listening for everything. There. She heard something in the air. A large winged animal. Was the cloaked man after them again?

"Haru-chan, grab our bags and leave. First move very slowly. When you hear a big boom, move. Run fast."

"Ah, then where will I meet you?"

"If… I get away then I'll find you myself. It's best for neither of us to know where the other is until it all blows over."

Smart human, Hyou said lazily. He rarely spoke, but when he did, it was short, snide comments.

Damate. Not that she really needed to tell him to shut up because he probably wasn't going to say anything else anyway. Haruka nervously looked up at Miu who smiled down at her.

"I don't need those. You do. And this guy has a weakness yeah? He blows things up so I just need to get up close and then he'll blow himself up if he tries to bomb me with clay. Now move your butt before you get blown up."

She grabbed their belongings. Miu's naginata and shinobigatana scrolls were still in there. The only thing that Miu had on her was her kunai, shuriken, and a large number of explosion tags. Frowning, Haruka began to slide away slowly. Looking up at the sky, she saw a giant bird. It was the bomber guy. Haruka moved a bit faster. Fear made her stiff and clumsy yet quicker.

Miu stood up and winced. The burns on her clothes and skin were not fully healed, but that wasn't going to kill her. It was probably the man with the bombs.

"Hey, you!" she shouted as Haruka fled. "Bastard! You totally scorched my outfit! This was a geniune ANBU uniform and you ruined it, you damn crossdressing bastard you!"

Stupid human.

Shut up!

Coward.

She told me to run!

Are you actually listening to her?

Go away.

Can't. I'm in your head. She sent him a brief thought of a shaved cat, a silent warning of all the things she could put him through in her imagination. But I get the point.

Something blew up. Haruka winced, hoping it was Miu's explosion tags. She began to run.

How far away was she from decent civilization? Or any people at all? Miu needed help! Miu had showed her how to navigate using the stars while she had been confined.

More explosions. Miu was still alive. Haruka kept running. As long as the explosions were making loud bangs, it meant that Miu was still alive. The chakra in her feet was irregular. At times, she would burst with speed and endurance, other times, it was as if there was not chakra at all.

'Oh my god, lights!' Haruka thought to herself. Miu had repeatedly told her to stay out of villages but this was a special situation.

Within approaching shouting distance of the village, she heard a faint whistling sound. This did not bode well. She ducked instinctively as kunais flew above her head. As she ducked low, she set off another trap. A blade swept up off the grass as she jumped up. Setting off another trap. And then another. And another."

"Hn, it seems our little leopard kitty is in a bit of a spot," a voice said.

Haruka looked everywhere panicked. Who was this? Miu? Please please please please please be Miu. With a deeper, slightly masculine voice. Yeah. Her voice could be sore from all that shouting she did at the clay dude.

Something blew up. Definitely not Miu.

"Ouch…" Haruka said to herself. Crap. Miu didn't lose. The clay guy probably just ditched Miu, just injured to the point of being immobile, to go after the demon. Please.

'I…need to run.'

As usual, Hyou said snidely. Naked snow leopard vision. Hyou shuts up.

Haruka ran through the traps. The voice still followed her, but it seemed to have trouble keeping an eye on her. Thank god for the cover of the trees. Unfortunately, it was all full of traps too.

She neared the end of the forest, bloody from thorns and weapons. The voice wasn't too close anymore. But a net entrapped her. She had been snared by the enemy. But something cut her down. A quick brown blur cut down the net and she landed in the arms of a dark-haired ninja.

This girl is crazy! Tsubasa thought to himself. She was running around like an idiot, setting off almost every single trap that he and Ren had set. And then there was Rafu's trap, which finally stopped her. He was the best when it came to planning.

This girl was either crazy, an idiot or… not a ninja. Oi. He was killing a civilian. The strange girl panicked, as if hearing voices in her head. Tsubasa whistled. Kamushin dove down, destroying the rope with his talons. Tsubasa moved and caught her before she fell. In his arms, she stared at him for a moment with tear-filled, frightened eyes of captured prey. She whimpered and struggled in his arms. He nearly dropped her.

"Quit it girl," he said.

"Another one… hn?" a voice said. Tsubasa looked around frantically for the source of the voice but couldn't find it. The girl, despite her absolute terror, curled up in his arms closer to him. At least she wasn't trying to get away. The sound of the voice seemed to shock her to the point of losing her mind. "I'll be back later…yeah."

The girl was breathing quickly.

"Relax," Tsubasa said, feeling guilty for having this girl cut up because of his own team. She wasn't even a ninja. She might have dressed like one, but there was a definite lack of ability. Or so it seemed. "I'll take you to my village."

She shook her head quickly and stopped when she tangled her hair in his fingers, rendering her head immoble. "M-my friend…" she said quietly.

"Did the Voice get him?"

"…her."

"We'll go and find her then," Tsubasa said. "Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine. We'll find her. I'm a shinobi, the most powerful one in this entire village!" He grinned. "Show me were you and your friend split up."

The girl looked around nervously. "Th-that way…I think."

"I don't like the way you added the 'I think' part but I'll take your word for granted. My name is Tori Tsubasa, by the way."

"I'm Haruka."

Pretty name, pretty girl. Wait…no last name? She probably wasn't thinking right anyway.

"Can you walk?"

"Um, yeah." He set her down on the ground. Her knees were a bit wobbly. They both took a step forward, but Haruka tripped and fell, grabbing the back of Tsubasa's headband.

"Aaah!" she yelped.

"Argh!" he cried, falling backwards.

"Go-gomen…" she said, looking rather shy.

"Ugh, I think it might be better for me to just carry you."

"A-are you sure? I mean, you'll get tired an all."

"No worries. I'm not weak, and you're really light. And thin." Waaay thin. How much did this girl weigh anyway? It didn't seem too healthy.

"I see footprints," Tsubasa said.

"I see nothing."

"It's dark for you."

"It's just dark. You can see in the dark?"

"My eyes are accurate. It's best in the day and pretty sucks at night, but I can see certain shades." He paused. "Kamushin sees something."

"Who?"

"My hawk. There's something westward." He pointed left. "That way."

Tsubasa, worried about the rest of the description that Kamushin had given him, rushed over to the sight that Kamushin directed him.

Forty-three feet to the west. There was a dark object on the ground, Kamushin had told him. Dark hair, mask, burn marks on the ground. No movement.

Probably dead, Taka added, not so helpfully.

No need to be so cruel.

No need to be so naïve.

Shut up you two, Tsubasa said. Taka sent angry waves and Kamushin seemed to scoff indignantly. The forest trees were thinning. All of a sudden, they ran to a clearing. The trees were gone. Blown away by what could have been an impossibly large series of explosion tags. He smelled smoke from the trees and…burnt flesh.

Shit.

A little bit of the scent came from Haruka, whose clothes and legs were slightly singed. But it mostly came from the figure near the center of one of the craters in the earth. Haruka let out a whimper. She thrashed out, causing Tsubasa to drop her.

She landed on her hands and knees and scrambled to the figure.

"Miu-chan!" she said.

"Hey, Haru-chan…" Miu said tiredly.

"Ah-I-are you okay…?"

"Do I…seriously look…okay?" Haruka shook her head.

"Eh…the clay guy…had some exploding…weapon for up close… Hit me and I… went boom. Hurts like hell."

"Ah…" She didn't know what to do.

"Yeah… Being cut and burned… I'm… not staying here for long. You should know… your parents…adopted me. We're sisters… You're…Hyou in you… Now go away."

"…?"

"Go… somewhere and hide. Clayman and friends… want Hyou… You should leave."

"No…"

"I'll kill you if you don't." Ordinarily, Haruka would have brushed it off as a bluff, but the glare in Miu's eyes cause her to flinch. Tsubasa approached the two girls.

"I don't want to…"

"I'll take your Haruka to my village of the cloud. She'll be safe there."

"Hell…she's better off…alone. But protect her still."

"I don't want to go…"

"Come on, Haruka," Tsubasa said.

"I don't want to leave her like this."

"Do… what he says." Miu's voice was quieter. Haruka almost didn't hear her. "I'm…gonna…"

"What?" Haruka bent close. She couldn't hear her sister.

"kick…your…ass…"

All of a sudden, Tsubasa grabbed Haruka by the shirt and started running. Haruka didn't do anything. She had seen enough. Tsubasa sighed. Too late. She saw Miu's eyes glaze over.

While running, he realized that the clothes the woman had been wearing where the tattered remains of an ANBU uniform. And Haruka had…called her Miu-chan? Miu? The missing-nin the villages were all hunting after.

"Haruka…" Tsubasa said. "When we get to the village, don't tell anyone about Miu. And you don't remember anything about yourself. You don't have a name, a friend, a memory, or anything."

"Why?"

"You and Miu are missing-nins to be hunted."

"…Oh. But…my clothes." Huh? Oh, he realized that, dressed in what must have been old Miu's shinobi clothes, it would seem that she was not just some normal city dweller.

"Yeah…we can't have you wearing shinobi clothes here or else they'll get suspicious. Give me your clothes. You'll wear my jacket."

Eh? "Why…?"

"Erm…I could say I found you wondering about and gave you my clothes. It's not very warm, you see?"

"You'll get cold."

"I live here. I have spares. I'm running around. I won't get cold so fast. And it won't kill me." They paused in their run. Tsubasa was amazed. This girl, wearing the shinobi gear, was completely naked under there. Miu hadn't even supplied her with underwear! He immediately looked away and handed her his long shirt, keeping his jacket-vest on.

His shirt was really loose on her. Which was a good thing. It covered her vital areas. Surprisingly, she didn't really care about her decency—covering her body. He asked her why.

"…I've been like that nearly my whole life," she shrugged. "I guess I didn't care when other people saw me anyway." Uh…he would have to ask more about that later.

"Ano…my bag is gone…"

"Your bag?"

"It had our things in it… I dropped it when the man with the bombs ambushed me."

"Oh… I don't think those traps were his."

"Why not…?"

"Because most of them were mine. And Ren's. And Rafu's. And my teachers."

"…Oh."

"We heard some powerful missing-nin was heading our way. So we took up some mission with protecting our village."

"From me and Miu?"

"From Miu mostly. Not much information on you. I'll get your bag later tonight, but remember: you don't remember a thing, alright?" Haruka nodded. "Alright, I'll be presenting you to our village leader, Shinichi. He's a relatively nice guy, as long as you're not my friend. I'm a problem child." He grinned mischievously.

"So anyway," he said, "just be good, I'll pull some strings, and I could probably get you into my family."

"Are you that important?"

"I can scare the hell out of some people, and really win over others."

"Tsu-tsubasa!" a voice said. Rafu was running at him waving his arms like an idiot.

"Hey, who's that!" he asked hi, panting from running. Rafu may have been an excellent trapper shinobi, but he was physically out of shape. Pretty weak and pathetic for a shinobi. But he wasn't all that bad.

"Ah, our traps worked way too well," Tsubasa said. "We nearly killed this girl."

"…Why is she naked? Did you—!"

"Shut up, fool," Tsubasa said, red in the face. "I found her like this and just gave her my shirt. It's cold outside, so I would really appreciate it if you let me inside."

"Oh, yeah," Rafu said, staring at them. "Sorry."

"I'll get rid of all of the traps around the village tonight. Go get Ren and Masa-sensei to stop setting up more."

"Okay." Rafu left.

"Can you walk now?"

"I…think so. Yes." Being carried so long made her feel a bit strange. Lightheaded. Or maybe she was just hungry. She hadn't had anything filling in a while. "You can put me down now."

"Move your foot a little."

"Okay…"

"It's not moving, you can't walk."

"I can so."

"You can't even move your toes."

"Yeah I can. You just can't see it move. It's moving right now you see?"

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Yes—"

"We're there!" Tsubasa said joyously.

'Is carrying me that bad?' Haruka wondered. --

"Tsubasa, what are you doing with that girl?" a voice said. Haruka looked up to see an older man looking down at them. He walked out of the buildin gin the center of the village. "What do you want? I swear, whenever you come within twenty feet of me, it's always because you have some problem. What on earth have you been doing?"

"Heh…hey Shinichi-sama," Tsubasa said. "Uh…remember that mission you assigned us with the missing-nin and her companion?"

"Yes. Is this the Anbu? I imagined her to be a bit older."

"No, she's a completely normal person. Rafu and Ren and I set traps all over the place outside the village and she practically set off every single one of them. She doesn't remember anything at all either."

"Hm, so what should I do about it?"

"Ah, I was thinking maybe she could stay with my family until she gets better and remembers everything."

"If she's not from around her, chances are that she won't."

"Won't what?"

"Won't remember anything. To overcome amnesia, you need either time or a trigger."

"Shoot her?"

Haruka frowned at Tsubasa. Are you stupid?

"No, you fool. Just…whatever. I'll make arrangements then. She'll be staying with your family. It's late and I'm tired. I'll do the paperwork tomorrow. " He went back inside the building, muttering something about lack of sleep.

"See?" Tsubasa said to her. "Shinichi-sama's a cool guy. Really lazy, but that makes him easier to work with."

"Tomorrow, the man who got Miu will probably come back for me," Haruka said.

"Yeah, and then we'll both gang up on him and beat the crap out of him," Tsubasa assured her. "Don't worry. Our village is no pushover. My place is near Shunichi's office. Lucky us, huh?"

"Tsuba-san!" someone cried.

"Hi Tomo!" Tsubasa said cheerfully. "Hi Tama!"

"What are you doing, pervert!" Tomo asked him.

"Hey, you have a girlfriend!" Tama said gleefully. "Hah! Took you long enough. Did you—?" He fell backwards as Tomo kicked his knee from behind.

"Move it, you two," Tsubasa said. "I need to talk to Mom and Dad."

Tomo and Tama didn't answer. They couldn't answer. Because Tomo was busy wrestling her older brother to the ground. Tsubasa left them fighting outside.

"Hey, Mooooom!" Tsubasa called. "Daaaaad!"

"I hear you miles away, brat!" a woman said, wincing.

"Everyone in the family has good hearing and my mother has really good ears," Tsubasa explained to Haruka. "Anyways, Mom, I found this girl outside the village and Shinichi-sama said she could stay with us for a while until she remembers who she is, can I keep her?"

The woman stared at him. "Oh sure go ahead. Don't forget to feed her and…clothe her. I'll get some of my old clothes." She left.

Is everyone in this village crazy! Haruka wondered. He makes me sound like a stray animal, and now his parents are letting him 'keep me' and feed me and clothe me!

Tsubasa grinned. "Yeah, lots of people in the village are cool like that. Except for my father."

"I heard that!" a voice said in another door. "I am so cool!"

"He's real tacky too."

"Am noooot!" he said. Tsubasa snorted. "Anyway, my room is the highest room here. It's cool." He carried her up. Haruka felt a little edgy. The stairway was a bit narrow, with the walls a little to close to her head. But Tsubasa's room was a lot better. It was the only room on the floor.

"We call the tower our 'Keep'," Tsubasa said. "Most of the family lives on one of the floors of the Keep. I've got the highest. Below me are Tomo and Tama. They're twins. Then is my mother and father's room. Beneath that are the guest rooms that are currently being occupied by three aunts, five uncles, four cousins, and our grandmother. You'll have to stay in my room until they leave back to their own place." Tsubasa dropped her off on his bed next to the window.

"Try not to lean out the window. If you fall, you're probably going to die."

"Oh." Haruka laid her head down on the pillow, only to realize that there wasn't much of a pillow. The blankets and sheets had been fixed into a large, comfortable circle. It reminded her of a birds nest.

"So uh…what with your arm?" he asked.

"What about it?" she replied.

"Your right arm has all these marks on it."

"Oh…that."

"Is it a seal?"

"I… yes." Haruka wasn't putting herself in much of an effort to keep a conversation.

"For what?"

Haruka didn't say anything for a little while. "… She said I shouldn't tell."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. I sent Kamushin to get your things already." Haruka looked around. "Don't worry. All rooms have been soundproofed. If they weren't, then the whole family would be staying up all night hearing someone on the next floor breath too loud."

"Oh."

"By the way, I can't help but feel like I'm kinda like you."

"…?" She looked at him with curious eyes.

"I have a seal too."

"Really?" His bare arms didn't have any sign like her. "I don't see it."

"I'll show you."

He took off his jacket and showed her his back. It was covered in black ink, like an intricate tattoo. Haruka stared. It looked just like her arm! Only, it was a bit different. It was much more detailed, and the marks, looking at it from a bit further away, resembled wings.

Tama walked in the room to see his older brother shirtless.

"Moooom! Tsuba-san's getting it on with the new giiiirl!" he called with amusement.

"Shut up, idiot!" Tsubasa growled. With a large box in hand, his mother stomped up the stairs and glared at him. Tsubasa seemed to shrink.

"Tsubaaaasa," she growled. "Haven't I spoken to you about this…? No taking advantage of girls with amnesia! And you don't even have con—!"

"Mother, I wasn't doing anything!" Tsubasa said before she could finish her sentence. Or words. Haruka blushed.

She shook her head. "Can't take a joke. Anyway, here are some of my old clothes. It looks your size. And here's an extra futon. You two are not sharing the same bed."

Kamushin flew up, but nearly tried to fly away when he saw Tsubasa's mother.

"Kamushin!" his mother said. "You make sure these kids don't do anything stupid, alright?"

Kamushin let out a cry.

"Good. It's three in the morning, I'm tired, I'm cranky, and I don't want to be bothered, so go to sleep." She left, closing the door. Kamushin sweatdropped.

"Hey, Kamushin," Tsubasa said. "You got her stuff?"

Kamushin hopped up from his perch outside the window with a bag in its talons. Haruka was surprised that it wasn't too heavy for the bird.

"Cool, thanks." He tossed something furry out the window. Kamushin easily caught it in his beaks.

"What was that?" she asked him as he set up his futon, rolling it out.

"…You don't want to know. Anyway, you should get changed. I like that shirt."

He looked away, barely in time to avoid staring at Haruka. Whoa. She took a shirt and shorts from the box and put it on.

"You know," Tsubasa said wryly, "you're supposed to wear underwear and probably a bra."

"Um…oh." Wait, was he watching? She didn't really care, but he was the one acting all 'good and proper' by looking away. Or saying he looked away.

She didn't know how to put on the bra…so she only wore the underwear.

"Okay…I'm done," she said. Tsubasa looked at her now. He put on the shirt that she had borrowed.

"So… I suppose you aren't goping to tell me about you seal?"

"Uh…you first?"

Tsubasa shrugged. He wasn't all that touchy when it came to the demon. "About fourteen years ago, a hawk demon lord named Taka attacked the Village of the Cloud. Everyone fought back, and sealed him in me."

That was brief. "Oh."

"Yeah. I was the youngest and my parents were really happy about it."

"Really? Why?"

"We're the Tori family. We pretty much worship all birds. Having a powerful bird entity—demon or no—in the body or their own child was practically a gift from the gods. So half the village loves me while the others are determined to ignore and hate me with all they got. Alright, so that's my story. What's yours?"

"I have the snow leopard in me… Hyou. Miu said that they sealed it in me… thirteen years ago when I was born. They couldn't kill me… Or they wouldn't. I'm not really sure. So…they stuck me in a cage in a mountain for almost my whole life… A few months ago, it was finally decided that they'd leave me there forever alone to starve to death so they would never have to worry about the demon in me killing them all. But Miu went against our leader's orders and fed me and gave me clothes and scrolls and a shuriken and kunai… Later, she broke me out and we were on the run. So the ANBU were after her—us. Later, the people in dark cloaks with red clouds outlined with silver started following us and attacking. Each time…Miu would have to run and carry me to escape. And then she told me to run and I did… And then…you saw what happened."

Haruka looked upset but didn't say anything. Tsubasa, being a guy, didn't know whether to hug her of just pat her on the back. So he held her hand instead, which might had been a bit more than the hug and the pat together.

"Don't worry. Nothing like that is going to happen here," he said. "We'll protect you. I'll protect you with my life. After all, we're almost family."

Family? Miu was family. Her mother and father were too, but none too kind.

"We both have demons in us. And you know what? This could almost be fate! I mean, what are the chances of us meeting when there are thousands of other people in this country who you could have met? Don't worry about anything at all. Just eat, gain weight, and be normal. Almost like me."

He grinned. "All you need is a new identity to have a new life. Shinichi is handling that. And I think that some of our ninjas can probably handle that one guy who Miu fought."

Haruka smiled in return. "Thank you."

"No problem. You know what? I'll help teach you to fight tomorrow. That way, if someone ever attacks you, you have enough power to beat him up and run away. So go to sleep. I'm tired, and I want to show you off to my friends as the pretty girl I saved."

"…from your own traps."

"Heh, yeah." He chuckled to himself. "Well, 'night."

"Good night."

The hummingbird hovering outside the window flew back to the floor below, reporting everything she heard to Tomo.

"Good, Hachidori," Tomo said. "Wow, we're got two demons in the house."

"How come he told her about the demon and not us?" Tama said.

"…I thought he told you."

"You knew too! Aw, no fair!"

"Oni-san is stupid, of course he probably forgot you. Poor girl though. Stuck in a cage in a mountain?"

"With a demon for company in her mind," Tama added.

"Don't tell anyone. Since they didn't tell Mom and Dad, it's got to be some big secret for both of them, yeah?"

"Yeah. Good night, Tomo, Kitsusuki, Hachidori."

"Good night, brother and birds."

Hachidori the hummingbird and Kitsusuki the woodpecker cawed and went to sleep.

Tsubasa was really warm. The sunlight in the window hit him. He loved sleeping on the floor. And there was something else that was really warm too.

"Tsuuuubaaaasa!" a glowering voice said. Oh shit.

Tsubasa jerked awake at the sound of the voice. "Hi, Ren," he said to his tomboy teammate.

"Explain."

"Explain what?"

"The girl."

"Huh?" He looked towards the bed and found it empty. Slowly shifting his eyes, he found the extra source of warmth in his futon.

"Gah!" Tsubasa jumped out, finding a sleeping Haruka in his blankets.

Ren hit him. Tsubasa flew. Kamushin opened his eyes tiredly. Seeing Ren, he went back to sleep.

"I can explain!"

"Hakuchou already did!" Ren cried, throwing his pillow at him.

"She always twists my words. Haruka's not my girlfriend!" he cried, dodging the soft, pillow projectile.

"I thought she didn't have a name!"

"Uh…we decided to call her that last night!"

"Oh."

"…?" Haruka woke up in the chaos. She looked around panickedly. "Why am I on the floor?"

"I think you rolled off the bed last night."

"Oh…Sorry."

"That's okay," Ren said kindly, all of a sudden changing personalities. "But this guy is a pervert, so be careful."

Haruka blushed. "You're a lot cuter!" she said. "So don't go out with a guy…like Tsubasa. I'm Ren!"

"How come you're only nice to girls?" Tsubasa asked Ren.

"That's not true," Ren said. "I'm only mean to you."

"Well we need to go to Shinichi-sama," Tsubasa said. "Are you going to come with us?"

"Nah, I'm gonna be training with Masa-sensei and Rafu," Ren said. "See ya later." She disappeared. Tsubasa frowned.

"How did she do that?" Haruka asked him.

"Of all of us, Ren is the best at things like that. She can teleport the best. I can't go the distance from here to the ground. My reach is shorter."

"Wow," Haruka said in awe. Miu could do it too, but she had told her it was a difficult technique to learn and use.

"Yeah, our team is one of the strongest ones around. We're chunins."

"Oh."

"Tsuba-san! And friend!" Tomo cried. "You guys sleep a lot!"

"Eat your breakfast and go," Hakucho said to her son. "Shinichi says he has some papers for you."

"Oh okay," Tsubasa said. "Cool. You hungry, Haruka?"

"Haruka?" Hakucho repeated.

"We decided that that could be her name."

"Okay."

"I'm not that hungry," Haruka said, shaking her head.

"Okay, then. Eat this," Tsubasa said, handing her a piece of toast. "Going without food is bad for your health. In fact, most Toris have to eat four to five meals a day."

"Really?" They left Tsubasa's house.

"Yup. As birds, most of us eat a lot. It's because we've merged with out birds. First, we have to eat enough to supply them with energy unless your birds find food for themselves. Second, it starts when we first get our familiars. Tomo's already eating a lot. Not a lot in all, but lots of small meals. Hummingbirds need lots of energy. It's not good to eat so much, so she's going to be carrying soldier's pills with her and stuff. Yeah."

"Tsubasa-san," a voice said.

"Shinichi-sama," Tsubasa said. "You have the papers?"

"Yes, all you need to do is fill in the blanks."

He handed Tsubasa the papers. "Your name?"

"Kasumi Haruka."

"Hm, that's a Rain name. You should go with something local," Tsubasa said. "How about a Tori?"

"Um…okay."

"Hair color. Hm…silver gray with a tint of black. Female. Eye color. Gray. Shinobi?"

"Will she train as one?" Shinichi said.

"I-if it's no trouble."

"I'll help her train," Tsubasa said. "So yes to ninja. Not sure if there's a bloodline limit, but I doubt it. Age? About…thirteen. Birthday. I'll just leave that blank. Brief description… 5"5. Narrow eyes. Tattoo on arm. Small canines. I think that's all."

"Picture." Haruka was flashed by a bright light. She winced. "Good. Candid shot."

"I'll develop the picture. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yeah. She'll have to learn the basics of ninjutsus, genjutsus, and taijutsus. If she learns fast enough, I'll stick her in your team. It would be unkind to put her in a team with kids younger than her."

"I'll work hard to catch up," Haruka said.

"Okay. There's no class for academy students today, but there will be tomorrow."

"Well I'll help her learn faster by teaching her a bit extra," Tsubasa said.

"Whatever. Don't kill her. It took me forever to get the other data on her. Go and do whatever you want." Shinichi left.

"You know what?" Haruka said.

"What?"

"I'm still wearing my sleeping clothes."

"Not really. We both fell asleep in normal, everyday clothes. Kinda funny. You know what? I'm surprised you don't stink."

"Huh?"

"You and your friend were on the run, so you probably didn't take a lot of bathes, did you?"

"She always teased me on how I groomed myself on a regular basis."

"Ah. Kind of like a cat, right?"

"Right."

"Tsuba-san!" Tomo and Tama said. "Hi, Haru-chan!"

"Just Haruka, please," she said with a smile.

"Hi! There's no academy school today! Let's do something fun!"

"Sure," Tsubasa said. "Let's get my team too."

"We already got them!" Tomo said proudly. Ren didn't look to happy following them around, and Rafu was tied, being dragged behing them.

"Nooo," Rafu cried. "I'm tired. I don't want to do anything…"

"Too bad!" Tama sneered. "Let's do something!"

"Like what?" Tomo asked.

"Training!" Ren said.

"Letting me go!" Rafu suggested.

"What do you want to do, Haruka?" Tsubasa asked her.

"Um, training might be fun, but if Rafu doesn't want to them—"

"Screw, Rafu!" Tama said. "If we let him go do whatever he wants, he'll sleep all day and do nothing and get fat! Let's play! I mean, train!"

"We'll teach you to walk on water!"

"That's too hard. Even you can't do it yet, Tama-chan!"

"Climbing trees?"

"I can do that," Haruka said.

"Without using your hands?"

"Probably not."

"Great! So Tama-chan and Tomomo can practice too!"

"This is boring," Ren said.

"Since this is Tsubasa's great idea," Rafu said, "You can fight him and I'll be the judge person."

"Lazy ass," Tsubasa said.

"I'm fine with that," Ren said with a shrug.

Tsubasa sighed. "Kamushin fights too."

"I'm fine with that. Animals can be ninja weapons too."

"Let's train somewhere outside the village," Tama said. "They'll get made if we destroy something again."

Tomo shrugged. "Old pricks. No one was in that building anyway. But yeah, let's go."

"Did you get rid of the traps?" Rafu asked Tsubasa.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Shoot."

"I'll get rid of them all," Rafu said. "I'd rather do that than be within twenty feet of you two fighting."

"Haruka-chan!" Tomo said. "When you climb trees, you build up your endurance and your stamina. Focus your chakra in your feet and try walking up. Use this kunai to mark how high you can go up. Running helps if you have enough control. It's also easier to start running down the tree instead of up."

Haruka looked up. All of a sudden, the trees looked really tall…

"Um…" she climbed the branches, landing on each one with amazing balance.

"She's like a cat," Rafu commented, taking out the traps.

"Great!" Tomo cried up to her. "Now start running down."

"Alright…but how do I stop myself from running into the dirt?"

"Uh…good question."

Seeing an excuse to prevent him from sparring with Ren, Tsubasa went over to the tree Haruka was on. "I'll catch you if you fall then!" he said.

"Then who will I fight?" Ren asked.

"Tomo and Tama at the same time," Tsubasa said. "They need the practice if they want to become good genins."

"Aw…" Tomo and Tama complained.

Ren grinned. "Four on one! A challenge!" Her eyes glinted. Rafu shook his head as he returned to disarming the traps around them.

"Whoops." A rain of kunai nearly fell on him. "That was close…"

Haruka was running down the tree.

"H-h-heeeelp! I can't stop!" Haruka cried, running down the tree, getting faster and faster.

'She's…really fast…' Tsubasa said. He jumped up, meeting her about three quarters down the tree.

"Ooph!" The air was knocked out of her lungs as he ran up the trees.

"Wow, you're fast going up."

"It helps that I'm really light."

"Are you calling me heavy?"

They reached the top in seconds.

"Are you kidding? You're as light as I am. And that's not healthy for non-Tori clansmen."

"Well I'm a Tori now."

"Not by blood. That'll come later."

"H-hey…what's that?" Haruka pointed at an object in the sky. It was just a small dot, but it seemed to be getting bigger.

"Kamushin!" Tsubasa called, suspcious of the flying object. He held out his arm for the peregrine falcon landed on. His eyes went gold as he glared at the object through Kamushin's eyes.

"It's a giant bird," he said. Too big to be real. "There's a guy riding on it. Or a girl… I can't tell."

"Ts-Tsubasa," Haruka said. "It's the clayman who attacked me and Miu."

(AN: WOW. Long chapter! Halfway through the chapter, I was thinking of making it TsubasaXHaruka. But then I remembered something in the manga and realized that it wouldn't be a real good idea yet. Anyway, I've never done a Romance fiction ever anyway. Heh. Ends as a cliffie. Damn you Deidara! Anyway, I'm going to go to Konohagakure and Sunagakure soon (maybe chapter three or four), so if there are any pairings you want in there, tell me! Except for Sasuke! He's gone AWOL… of course, he COULD come back and be in a pair…so whatever. But I'm thinking Neji X Tenten is a definite. By the way, if anyone knows the rest of the names of the Akatsuki, I don't suppose you could name them and their jutsus for me, could you? Here is the list of the Akatsuki I know about.

1) Deidara of the Stone: uses clay bombs; usually in the shapes of birds, but there are a few spiders

2) Sasori or the Sand: a guy inside a giant puppet; also has a puppet of one of the Kazekages

3) Itachi: Sharingan eyes

4) Kisame: a shark guy with sharp teeth and a shaving sword; lots of chakra

5) Zetsu: caught in a giant venus flytrap looking thing; half his face is black, the other is white; seems to eats things

Aren't there 9 or something?

Tsubasa's jacket-vest thing looks a bit like this, only different.

(Kinda like this, only different: h t t p / w w w . b a n d a i g a m e s . c h a n n e l . o r . j p / l i s t / s a i y u k i g u n l o c k / c h a r a / i m g / k o u g a i j i / i m g k o u g a i j i 0 1 . j p g

As sorry as I am to say goodbye to Miu, here is a picture of how she sorta looks like: h t t p / i 1 9 . p h o t o b u c k e t . c o m / a l b u m s / b 1 5 3 / O n i c h i s a i / b l e a c h y o r u i c h i 0 0 9 4 . j p g

Of course, this is my fic. Maybe she'll come back or something? I don't know...)