Note: This story is an edit and replacement for "Worthless Destiny". Refer to Chapter 1 for details.

Chapter 5: Kirae's Secret Revealed and Rescued

Kiba didn't so much as flinch as the wolf before him changed into a woman with long brown hair. She had the same eyes as him but hers were more dangerous and wild. She calmly approached him, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I see my cousins are serving your family well," she continued. "But I must admit that I didn't expect to come across you today."

"Cut the crap. I could smell you before you even got in Konoha. What are you doing here?" he snapped. Akamaru continued to growl.

Kirae's face was a cold mask that revealed nothing of what she was thinking. "I'm with Sabakuno Gaara." There was a noticeable flinch when she said that name. "I'm his companion," she added coolly.

Kiba grabbed her arm firmly. "Don't you dare fall in love with him, oni. You and I both know that nothing good could possibly come from that kind of love."

"Who said I was falling in love. I just wanted a toy to play with," she hissed back, trying to snatch her arm away from him. He continued to hold her firmly.

"Look, I can't stop you from following him around. But so help me…" He squeezed her tighter. "Gaara's not stupid, he'll see you for what you really are one of these days."

"He already knows. He's seen me transform. And wouldn't you know," her expression changed to a dangerous one. Something wicked was on her mind. "He's already met my father. I guess that makes us a couple now."

Kiba's other hand balled into a fist. "Get out of Konoha. Now! I don't ever want to see your face here again, you got that?"

"Kiba?" Shikamaru was standing on the porch, hands in his pockets. Kiba continued to glare at the wolf oni.

He leaned into the girl and let her arm go as he whispered, "This had better be the end, rou-yasha." He turned and walked away without greeting Shikamaru.

The confused Nara looked at the woman who continued to stare at her retreating assailant. She grabbed the rail of the fence and jumped over it. And so the two were gone, leaving Shikamaru to puzzle over what the hell just happened in his backyard. Temari asked him about the yelling from the kitchen. "I dunno. Kiba looked pissed though. He was telling the lady that was in our yard something. I mean, I don't care about trespassers as long as they don't do anything but Kiba getting bothered about it? Not likely."

Gaara opened his eyes a little. "What did the woman look like?"

Temari poked her head in from the kitchen. If her little brother was interested in a girl then so was she. "Well," Shikamaru began, " She long brown hair, um…" He paused and shrugged. "All I noticed." His wife gave him the most disgusted look she could muster. They all turned when the heard Gaara's chair scrape against the ground as he stood up.

"Gaara…?" Temari spoke softly. He knelt down beside Fumi and gave her a kiss on the head.

"Bye-bye, Uncle Gaara." He waved and continued to play with the new shuriken and kunai that he gave her. Shikamaru frowned down at Fumi. He wished Gaara wouldn't give her weapons every time he came home. Her room was beginning to look like an arsenal.

"Do you know the woman," Shikamaru finally asked. Gaara nodded. "Well, come back and visit us then."

Gaara looked around outside to see which way Kirae had went. It wasn't that he cared about her. It was more that having her running around pissed off was a bad idea. Kiba most likely knew what she was, he determined. His superior nose and association with dogs would have seen right through her disguise. Still, he wondered what was said between them.

"Kirae?" he called half-heartedly. He began to walk down the street. When he came to Konoha he never visited anyone other than the Nara's. Occasionally, when on a mission he would need to see Naruto. Just like he had dreamed, the blonde haired loud-mouth had become Hokage a year or so before Kankurou. He probably had a hand in his brother's nomination to be Kazekage.

The wolf was waiting for him at the end of the street. Gaara walked up to her and put his hand on here soft, warm head. "What did Kiba say?" She sniffed and walked away, pausing only to make sure that he followed her. He groaned and followed.

"INARIIIIIII!" screamed a soaking Uzumaki Hinata. She held in her hands the bucket that had fallen on her in the process of dumping ice water on her head. She new it had to be the middle child of hers.

Inari, the oldest child and son, was sarcastic and easy-going but still he was every bit the prankster as… "NARUTOOOOOO!" She put the bucket down and squished down the hallway.

The Rokudaime Hokage was resting his chin on his palm as he doodled on a scroll, trying to look busy. "Huh? What is it, Hina-" He took one look at his dripping wife and began to laugh.

"Naruto! It's not funny. If you laugh, it will only encourage him," she stressed, removing her jacket which absorbed most of the water.

The older and slightly more mature Naruto wiped his eyes dry from the laughter tears and grinned. "You fell for the oldest one in the book, Hinata-chan." The former Hyuuga rolled her pale violet eyes.

"Where is your son, Naruto?" She shook her hair, spraying a little water around. "He should be with Ebisu-san training, not pulling pranks."

"Why is he my son when he's pulling pranks but your son when he's being good,' Naruto asked with a pout. The response was a raised eyebrow and a dubious expression.

"Because," she began standing before his desk. "Pranks are so very Uzumaki and being well-behaved is so very Hyuuga."

Naruto gave this some thought. "Oh." He shrugged and stood up. "I'll go find him!" He literally hopped over his desk. The Hokage was dying to get out of his office and do something. Unfortunately, Hinata caught him by the collar.

She pointed to a stack of unread missions. "Narutooooo…" she sang. "You have a pile of missions to review and a meeting in an hour." Naruto wanted to cry. He sulked back over to his desk and flopped down.

"You're tough, Hinata." She tilted her head and smiled sweetly.

She turned to walk away but stopped short of the door. "Oh, and don't think you're off the hook for using Inari to get you out of work." Naruto's eyes widened. "Inari, get out from beneath your father's desk and come clean up this mess."

A tiny boy with long blond hair tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck and wild bangs poked his head out from beneath the desk. His jaw almost touched the floor. "How did? But…but…." He took a closer look at his mother and noticed the veins around her eyes. "ACK! CHEATING! The Byakugan is definitely cheating!"

She giggled and held her hand out to him. "Come on, I'll help you clean up." He pouted and jogged up to her, taking her soft and gentle hand. Naruto rested his chin on his palm again and smiled serenely.

Kiba had watched Gaara chase after the demon woman. He was still not certain of what the relationship between them was but the sand ninja did not look concerned. Still, Kiba couldn't dispel his concern. Currently, he was waiting for his friend to show up and was sitting on a park bench. His large hand scratched behind his dog and friend, Akamaru's ears. The now huge canine's tongue lolled out of his mouth.

He bore as many scars on his body as his master. Kiba's strong muscular arms were laced with cuts and scars. They had seen many battles together and close calls together. They were like brothers.

A crow passed over head, cawing loudly. "Say, Akamaru, do you want to hear a story?" The was a small airy 'woof' from Akamaru. "Once upon a time, there was a forest of wolves. Some of the wolves had one tail, they were the Chirou clan. But there were some wolves with two tails and they were the Dairou clan. The Dairou clan ruled the forest and protected it from outsiders. They weren't good or evil but they were powerful. It's said that among the Dairou, there was always a leader and that leader was the size of a mountain."

Akamaru scratched his shoulder but Kiba continued. "One day, humans seeking a place to live happened upon the Forest of the Wolves. They begged the Dairou to allow them to come in but they attacked the humans instead. The Chirou clan taking pity on human told the strongest human that they would become his servants and helped them defeat the Dairou. That man was Kentaro Inuzuka." He looked down at Akamaru.

" I bet you know where I'm going with this, huh?" The white dog gave him a canine smile and nodded. "Well, anyway, the Chirou and Kentaro were able to drive the Dairou back into the heart of the forest. He told the Dairou that he would let them live if they never interfered with the affairs of man again. So the pact was made and the two-tailed wolves disappeared into the darkness." Kiba closed his eyes and stood up. She was late.

Hinata appeared from the down the path, jogging lightly. "Wait, Kiba!"

"What took so long, Hinata? It's not like you to be late," he said with a frown. "Is that dork Naruto rubbing off on you?" Even though she was married to Naruto, he still had a soft spot in his heart for her.

"Actually, my son dumped cold water on me so I had to change," she explained calmly. Hinata knelt down and gave Akamaru a big kiss on his nose. The dog barked happily. She pulled a jar of medicine from her pocket. "Sorry, it takes so long to make this. Some of the scars are fresh aren't they?" She reached out and tried to touch one but Kiba gently swatted away her hand.

"They aren't too bad. And I don't mind waiting." He tossed the jar idly in one hand. "Your medicine is the best. I guess that's the price to pay for it since you won't let me buy it from you."

Hinata sighed. "We've gone over this Kiba. You're my friend and I can't take money from you." She smiled. "Besides, with all the missions we've been in? I owe you my life, a little medicine is nothing."

He chuckled and put the jar in his pouch. "Don't let those Uzumakis drive you crazy, Hinata." She shook her head. "I'll see you."

"Ah, Kiba?" He paused and looked back. "What's wrong?"

The wild man looked bewildered. "I didn't say anything was wrong."

Her expression changed to a more solemn one. "I don't need the Byakugan to see that you're bothered by something." Kiba looked down at the ground.

"For right now, it's nothing but if it becomes something…" He narrowed his eyes. "You and Naruto will be the firsts to know." He turned on his heel and walked way, leaving Hinata confused.

The stars above Gaara twinkled lazily. He hadn't seen his brother or sister in almost month. He assumed it would be a good time to visit one of the two. He heard Kirae shift in her sleep. The full moon watched over them that night. The Anbu was growing more and more restless as the weeks passed. Ever since the argument with Kiba she became more and more irritable and found excuses to snap at him. Whatever the Inuzuka said it bothered her to her very core but Gaara was content to not be involved.

He closed his eyes. He sometimes like to pretend that he was sleeping. As a child, he'd watch Kankurou or Temari sleep and when he was alone mimic their movements. It kept him entertained when there was nothing to do at night. When he turned over he felt something breathing on him. Gaara snapped his eyes open, ready to kill whoever was there.

It was Kirae, strands of hair falling in front of her brown eyes. Her expression was troubled, something between confusion and pain. He sat up and looked around. "What's wrong?" he asked flatly. She just continued to stare at him. "I don't see anything. Did you hear something?"

She crawled on all fours and sat in his lap, scaring him. His heart skipped a beat or two when she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Gaara?" she mumbled with a thick voice. She sounded like she was dreaming. He tried to push her off gently but she put her knees on either side of his waist and hugged him tightly. "Do you think I'm desirable?"

"What?" he responded bewildered. Her wild brown eyes were half closed and her breathing was slow. "Kirae, what's wrong with you? Are you hurt or-" Suddenly, she kissed him forcefully on the lips. He wanted to push her away but something kept him from moving. He wasn't a person of romance or any kind of close physical contact but her hands kept exploring him curiously. What should he do?

Kirae began to kiss his neck. He opened his mouth to speak but he didn't know what to say. What would Kankurou do he wondered, his closest thing to a role-model? He thought about Mokumaru and the answer was obvious; we would hesitate to jump right in. What was the worst that could happen, he thought to himself. He might enjoy it? He might be bad at it? He laid back, the stars were still twinkling down at him.

5 years later…

Shikamaru fell to his knees from an attack. This mission proved to be more troublesome than he had recently anticipated. He turned his eyes over to Hide who lie impaled on a large kunai. The older chuunin had been assigned to the mission with Temari and himself. It saddened him to no end that under his command they had been overwhelmed by an ambush from a completely unrelated mission. They were simply assigned to eliminate a group of loan shark thugs but when they arrived the thugs were already eliminated. Thus they failed the mission they were on, a B rank, and being thrust into a fierce battle for their lives.

Temari was doing her best to hold the assailant- a single missing-nin - at bay. The man called himself Toraki, the Blade of the Wind. At first the Konoha ninja scoffed at him but it soon became apparent why he was so confident in his name. Unusually tall and thin, he didn't look strong but he was surprisingly powerful and fast. Toraki favored barraging his enemies with a rain of projectiles then escaping. He was too fast for Shikamaru's Shadow Binding technique and only barely was capable of escaping Temari's wind attacks.

The pony-tailed ninja's vision blurred as he swayed on his knees. He bent his head up to look at the clouds but was unexpectedly kicked in the side of the head, sending him flying across the opening. Temari's scream reached his ears but he was unable to open his eyes to look at her.

"So this is Konoha's strength?" Toraki turned from Shikamaru and turned to Temari. She was leaning on her open fan desperately trying to slow her breathing. Her heart was pounding like a train in her chest, so much so she could hear it in her ears. Her husband lied in a heap a few yards away but she couldn't tell whether or not he was still alive. It was up to her to defeat their opponent and save him. She smirked confidently, though inside she despaired.

"Actually, Konoha is much stronger than this. However, by they way you're having such trouble with us, I think anyone better would be a bit too overwhelming for you," she mocked as she straightened up.

Toraki tossed his head back and laughed. "This isn't even half of my strength!" Temari winced. "Half the fun is to toy with my prey before I end its life. In other words…" he hissed. He pulled the giant shuriken he had previously used out of the ground. "I'm going to enjoy killing you in front of your husband."

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open. "TEMARI! RUN!" The will to run to her was there but his body was too badly wounded for him to do much more than attempt a slow crawl in her direction.

Temari readied herself for the attack but Toraki disappeared before her eyes. She felt his presence be above him so she looked up but there was nothing. Too late she realized the distraction and was elbowed in the gut. She coughed up blood and doubled over in pain. There was no time to recover from this hit as the missing-nin punched her in the face sending her scraping the ground.

"Say 'Good Bye'!" Toraki took to the air again visibly. "Shinigami Namida no Jutsu (Tears of a Death God Technique)!" Temari could see the glistening blades of the needles racing down and tossed her arms up in defense. She felt warm blood on her face and arms. The pain wasn't there however. Shikamaru, she wondered. He heart sank as she opened her eyes.

Two soft green eyes stared sorrowfully at her. "A…are you okay, Miss?" squeaked the little boy's voice. He had brown wild hair and his green eyes were rimmed in black but he had a strange gentleness to him. His clothes were rags but he had gold, silver, and copper bracelets on his wrists and ankles. She wanted to scream as she noticed the barrage of needles coming out of his back. He had taken the hit for her. Some of the needles even went through.

"What the hell…" Toraki landed . "I hate children. They always get in the way!" Punctuating his sentence he threw the giant shuriken. It cut into the earth as its blades whistled. The little boy, still looking sad and regretful turned to stop the blade. Temari pushed him down.

Blood showered the ground as she stopped the blade with her hands and shoulder. She looked down at the little boy. "Go home, honey. I'll protect you." She gave him the best smile she could muster.

But, the little boy stared at her dripped blood morbidly. He touched his cheek, smearing a little that had been sprayed across his pale skin. The smell assailed his nose and went right to his brain. The warmth… The young child began shaking and the world around him began to quiver as well. His once green eyes widened and turned yellow. Temari's stomach flipped. It was the same as the Shukaku's eye! "No…"she muttered in awe.

He grabbed his head and doubled over. Yellow chakara swirled around him as dark brown and black fur began to grow from his skin and clothes. Everyone stopped to watch in fear. Shikamaru was the first to awaken from his stupor and began to inch his way over to his wife. The boy however continued to change. His teeth grew into sharp fangs and his face elongated. The needles sticking into his body were being forced out and falling to the ground with a loud clatter. He was becoming some kind of demon, Temari realized.

Two large tails swished as the little boy finally became an 12-foot were-wolf like creature. Toraki caught his breath when six burning eyes focus on him. For the first time in a long time he felt himself shaking with fear. The demon howled an eerie noise that sounded as though it came from three voices all at once.

Toraki braced himself and decided that it would likely be slow. A quick attack would finish it. He disappeared. Shuriken rained down on the demon but with one swing of its tails they all were deflected by a powerful gust of wind. The wolf crouched down and rushed forward with surprising speed. He shot his arm forward. Blood spattered the ground. At the end of his outstretched paw was Toraki's skull. He whimpered as the wolf picked him off the ground.

"Don't! Don't kill-", he whimpered around the paw pressed against his face but he didn't have time to finish. The demon shoved his head into the earth with a bloody crunch. Still, he wasn't finished. He picked the body up and slammed it down repeatedly, mercilessly.

Shikamaru reached Temari by this time and tugged on her shirt. "We have to go." But his wife remained fixed. "Temari!" he hissed under his breath trying to get her attention.

"No…" She ran forward, scaring the wits out of Shikamaru. Something compelled her forward. The kind eyes of the boy and then the way he transformed. Something warned her that she had to react. She hugged wolf demon from behind. Her arms didn't reach the entire way around but she squeezed tightly regardless. "NO, Stop! Please stop!"

The demon paused and looked back at her, drool dripping from its lips. He growling faded into sad whimpering. Temari stared up at the three eyes with tears in hers. "That's a good boy… He's dead so you don't have to do this anymore. Please? For Me?" She held out her hands. "Come on…" she cooed. "That's a good boy…" The wolf slowly turned and put his large muzzle in her bleeding hands. He looked miserable. Those were the sad eyes of a kind heart, she thought to herself. He licked her fingers, trying to clean the blood, whining and whimpering pitifully. "It's a good boy…That's it. I'm okay." She leaned in and hugged him around the neck.

Shikamaru watched in awe as the fearsome demon shrank in his wife's arms and turned into a little boy again. The child sobbed and squeezed Temari tightly. The woman cuddled him she held him at arms length. He rubbed his eyes with his arms, sniffling. "Wow…you look like…Gaara," she breathed. "No way… You couldn't be-"

She was cut off by an Anbu kunoichi dropping behind the boy. Temari opened her mouth to speak to the masked woman but the ninja grabbed the little boy by the back of the shirt and picked him up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari screamed, rising to her feet. She reached for her fan but she had dropped it after Toraki attacked her.

The Anbu stared at her for a moment before jumping into a tree. "I'm just taking out some trash," she answered nonchalantly and disappeared with the boy in her arms.

Shikamaru stumbled over to his wife. He had a nagging feeling about that Anbu but he couldn't place it. He was in too much pain and his wife was bleeding badly. "Temari…"

"That little kid…He looked like Gaara."

1 month later…

Fumi was shoveling food in her mouth, reading a paper from school in-between mouthfuls. "And the First created this tree to mark the end of a long drought period and it is said to have healing powers. Then-" she took another bite of toast.

Shikamaru took the paper out of her hand. "I know. I know. You had better hurry up or you'll be late." Fumi nodded and grabbed her backpack which made a lot of metallic noises. "Don't move…"

His daughter tried to give him a sweet grin but she was clearly busted. "Are you going to fight a war?"

"No."

"Then why-" There was the sound of honking outside their home.

"Fumi, the bus is here!" called Temari from the kitchen.

"Sorry, dad! Gotta go!" She proceeded to escape the situation as fast as possible.

Shikamaru sat down on the couch. The pain in his chest, a wound from his last mission, reminded him about the little boy and the woman. "Troublesome. I hope no more missions go that way or I might have to retire earlier than I thought."

The field trip was supposed to be for educational purposes but the children used it as an excuse to goof off and run around. It turned out that there were Sand village children there as well. Fumi immediately sought out her cousin. He was standing with a few friends stuffing his face full of pocky.

"Hey! Mokun," she called out to him. He looked up and apologized to his friends before running up to her. "Let's go train."

Mokumaru rubbed his chin and considered her invitation. "Well… We're really aren't supposed to wander to far."

Fumi leaned into her cousin, her expression suspicious and playful. "But as the son of the Kazekage, what's a better place to become a good ninja than at a historical place like this?" The younger boy's expression brightened.

"Well said, Fumi! You're absolutely right!" He started marching off towards the forest. Fumi chuckled to her safe and gave an inward 'v' sign.

"Yeah, my mom's going to have a little brother for me," Fumi noted flipping her fan open and closed. They found an open area surrounded by large ancient trees. "Old Lady Tsunade said so. Dad looked like he was going to pass out, so I kicked him in the shin." She sighed . "He yelled at me."

Mokumaru was sitting on a low hanging branch yo-yoing. "When you kick people, that tends to happen. I want a little brother but Dad says he's too busy to do much more than breath these days."

"I'll give you my little brother for a yo-yo," Fumi haggled. Mokumaru gave her a look. She smiled. "What?"

"Do you hear something?" They both paused and looked around. It was a soft whimpering sound.

"Sounds like…crying." Fumi walked towards the noise. "Come on, let's go find out what it is."

Mokumaru nodded and jumped off the branch to follow. They didn't walk far until they found a small cave under a large tree. Mokumaru peered inside curiously. Fumi looked in another direction, though she pushed his backside with her foot, causing him to tumble inside. Mokumaru landed next to a boy about the age of five curled up into a ball, whimpering in his sleep. His had a few cuts and many bruises.

He shook the kid awake. "Hey, kid, you're just dreaming okay…" The boy opened his eyes and yelped, scuttling back. His black rimmed eyes were full of fear. "It's okay, I'm the son of the Kazekage, so I won't hurt you."

"Stop bragging," Fumi scolded, finally coming down. She sat down cross legged. "My name is Nara, Fumi Nara. I come from Konoha. What's your name?"

The boy looked down at the ground and nervously, played with the metal bracelets. "I… My mom… calls me…worthless, or trash, or waste of life…" he said pathetically. The two children's eyes went wide.

Fumi looked at Mokumaru and he looked back. "We should get him out of here," she said with a nod. She grabbed his hand and tried to walk out with him but a chain around his leg attached to the wall of the cave kept him bound to the spot.

"Mommy says I'm not allowed to leave," he said, regarding the chain. He sighed. "You guys should go though. If my mommy comes back, she'll-"

Mokumaru stood up and pulled out a metal yo-yo. "I've been waiting to use this." Fumi looked concerned. "Don't worry, I've been practicing with dad. Okay, don't move the chain and don't anyone get in my way."

Fumi nodded, hold the little boys hands so that he didn't accidentally get hurt by her oafish cousin. "Listen to him. He's likely to take off your hand if you aren't paying attention," she warned with a whisper.

Mokumaru tossed the yo-yo a few times experimentally to make sure the connection to his chakra strings was tight. Each time the toy bounce down metal blade came out and spun in time.

"'Kay. Here I go!" He flung the yo-yo out and Fumi yipped, holding onto the little boy who watched with fascination as the blades of the yo-yo dug unto the chain.

"Don't move. Don't breathe," Fumi warned again.

The young shinobi strained to keep the yo-yo out but eventually had to bring it back. "Whew…Well, that didn't work."

"Obviously, moron. This is going to be troublesome…" The girl sighed and stared at the ground in thought.

The small boy crawled over to where Mokumaru's weapon had made a nick in the chain and sighed. "It's all right. I guess I belong here."

Mokumaru clenched his fists. "Maybe, I can try again… but I dunno if I have enough chakra."

"You guys are terrible. Move it, short stuff," Fumi ordered. She nudged him over and looked at the lock around his ankle. Mokumaru and the other boy just watched obediently. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small needle. She poked and prodded the lock until there was a joyous 'click' and the shackle opened. "Never underestimate the power of a woman's mind!"

"Stop bragging. Come on, lets go!" he shouted, grabbing the captive child. The three of them clamored out of the cave. Mokumaru looked left and right. "Anyone remember which way we came from?"

"This way!" Fumi charged ahead and the others followed her. They had tried to get as far away from the main temple area as possible so that their teachers wouldn't interrupt them during their training. Now they were coming to regret it.

The boy was silent until they heard a howl behind them. "That's my mother," he sighed. "Please, just leave me. She wants me and you'll never get away because-"

"Shut up!" Mokumaru snapped. "Shut up, watch and learn!" Mokumaru pulled out several tags from his vest jacket and tossed them out. They landed on the trunks of the trees awaiting activation. "This'll keep her busy. You, on my back." The boy climbed up reluctantly. "Fumi you're fastest scout ahead."

"Right- Hey, I'm the oldest here! I should be leader-" There was another howl. She glared at Mokumaru. "Later, mophead, later." Fumi dashed ahead.

Mokumaru felt like he was on a mission. A rescue mission. And he wasn't even genin, yet! He tried to quell his excitement and think seriously. "We can't let his mom take him back. But if we take him to our teachers they might think that we're playing around and give him back."

Fumi narrowed her eyes. "Good point. I have an idea but you'll have to trust me completely." She looked at him and he nodded. They stopped as they heard an explosion behind them. "CRAP! How many explosive tags did you use?" They paused for just a moment until they hard snarling and barking.

"Not enough apparently! Crap! Um…" He pulled out more tags and began attaching them to the trees. "Fumi, you gotta carry him. This is my last ditch technique."

Fumi picked up the boy. "'Last Ditch'?'" She looked at the tags he was pulling out and placing on the trees. She didn't recognize them. "Explosives?"

"Nope. My own special technique that created from what my dad showed me," he responded cryptically.

"So it's your dad's jutsu."

"Shut up. There." He hopped back over to her. "I'm definitely going to be out of chakra now. Let's go." Fumi was still curious but realized that they were running out of time. They took off one more time.

Kirae quickly brushed off the explosive attacks. They were the kind that children used and only surprised her a little. She didn't know who had helped him escape but she was going to kill them. How did she let the brat get away again! She jumped tree to tree in her wolf form pursuing the scent of her son. She saw the tags on the trees and deemed to ignore them; more useless explosives. But when she went through them they did not explode instead they formed blue strings of chakra the stuck to her like webbing. Kirae struggled but found herself trapped like a fly in a spider's nest.

Mokumaru stumbled as he landed. They heard another howl. "Yes, it worked but we won't have much time at all."

Fumi grinned as she put down the small boy. "Leave it to me. Okay, little guy. I need you to do bunshin no jutsu."

He stared at her dumbly. "What's that?" The two ninja-in-training looked aghast.

"What were you? Raised in a ca-," Fumi cut herself short. "Nevermind that. Even if you can't make a perfect clone any kind of clone with your scent and chakra will do. Okay. So do you hands like this," she formed the hand seal and try to split yourself in two like this. "Bunshin no jutsu!" Fumi made a perfect clone of herself. Mokumaru scoffed. He could do it too, even though his clones tended to be a little lopsided.

The boy did as he was told but couldn't do it, he looked down at the ground ashamed. Fumi shook her head. "It'll never work if you don't want it to! You have to have complete and total faith in your ability. Try with all of your might! If you don't your mom, will get you for sure."

Mokumaru sat down. "Hurry up. I think I'm losing it…" The String tags took chakra directly from him. If he father knew what he was doing he'd be in for a big lecture but it was for a good cause, he reasoned.

Again the shaggy haired boy began to concentrate. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and thought about what awaited him if he was caught. With this idea in mind, he forced the 'blue' energy called 'chakra' to divide into two and make a clone of himself. When he looked beside him, he found a pale lump that only vaguely looked like him.

"That's it. I've lost the connection. She's free," Mokumaru exclaimed, falling over, panting. Fumi shoved the useless clone at Mokumaru. "Hey!"

"Take the clone, I'm taking the kid."

"But my dad is Kazeka-"

"Exactly, moron! She'll be expecting you to take the little kid and not me. Hide the clone as well as you can." They heard the whistle which meant that they were returning home. "This is our chance. I'll see you around, mophead!" She ran off dragging the boy. Mokumaru growled but ran off as well for his school group.

Fumi beelined for the souvenir shop where she found the largest stuffed toy she could, it was a gigantic bear. The boy was only able to marvel at it for only a second after she bought it before she ripped the back of it open and began tearing out the stuffing. "Climb in. Don't move or make a noise until I say it's okay."

Obediently he climbed into the back. She threw the stuffing away in the trash, picked up the child in plushie skin over to her group, careful to hide the back with her body. When no one was looking she performed the bunshin no justu and then a henge. Now she had a perfect clone of the kid.

Iruka watched to make sure the kids boarded the bus in an orderly fashion. He was shocked to see a large wolf bounding towards the kids. At first he wondered if it wasn't one of the Inuzuka dogs but when it attacked a small child at the end of the lined, he knew it was a wild one. With lightening quickness, he through a kunai at it but it jumped back. The child was a clone. The wolf gave him a baleful look and ran off.

The wolf-demon saw her son in the distance and headed straight for him. She would have to be quick so that they ninja instructors didn't catch her. But when she bit down on the boys shoulder she knew instantly that she had been tricked. Her nose had told her that this was him but the child disappeared in a puff of smoke. A clone. Unfortunately, one of the teacher's caught her and barely missed her with a kunai. She glanced at Fumi who looked genuinely shocked. So that was one of the second scents. That meant that the third was… Of course, she thought. They would take the boy to Kazekuni and to Kankurou. She ran off quickly in pursuit. Iruka signaled for the bus driver to go on.

Fumi climbed out of the bus and waddled over to her father, holding the tremendous bear. She grinned broadly. Shikamaru couldn't help but to smile back. For all the trouble she caused, he'd be bored without her around. "So what's with the giant bear?"

"I needed something for target practice," she replied matter-of-factly. He shook his head.

"So how was the field trip? Fun?"

"Troublesome," his daughter moaned.

"Hm?"

"I'll explain when we get home."