Akanishi-san: Hehe, Im glad most of you like this story. I just hope this story keeps it up, since school is getting in my way also. ARg...HW is out to get us all I tell you! RUUNNNNN!
Ch8
Revealing…Shikmaru and Chouji, running for their lives from wolves.
"Shikamaru? Chouji?" Neji called out, and to his voice, they stopped, and quickly jumped out of harms way, from the wolves, which looked like they were blood thirsty. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Shikamaru and Chouji panted, as they stood in front of them. "The emergency mission was to lock these wolves up we got, but none of us can do it." Shikamaru panted as he said. "They just got here, and soon as we let them go in the pen area for wolves, they started to go wild."
Chouji, also soaked in sweat, was panting heavily. "Well, we thought we can pen them up easily, but that wolf, the one over there, seems like the boss, but we can't get to it. We can't take one step closer unless we want part of us inside the wolf's stomach."
"Wait, we?" Neji asked. "For you two?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "No…us and 5 other Jounins." He sighed.
Izaki, interested, looked over a fence, and saw the wolves, circling, eyes towards them, or to the other 5 Jounins. "The boss is…that beautiful reddish one, no?" She asked, looking intently at it.
"Beautiful?" Shikamaru asked. "What ever, yeah, it's the red one."
Izaki turned to them. "Can I try to pen it?" She asked.
To that question, the three of them looked at her funnily. Neji talked first. "I don't think Uchiha will feel good about this. If they are having trouble, then we should call in ANBU." He said to Shikamaru.
"Oh please? And Sauske-Oniichan doesn't have to know, does he?" She pleaded.
Shikamaru sighed. "Look, Izaki, look at them! Especially the red one. They are dangerous. Besides, I like my head where it is."
Izaki nodded. "But…they don't seem to be bad at all…I think they are just confused." She looked at the wolves. "Confused on why there are there."
Chouji grunted. "Confused?" He asked. "Look at me!" He said, pointing to his shoulder. His shoulder had a gigantic slash mark. "That red wolf did this!"
Izaki looked over to the red wolf. Its eyes were on hers. Suddenly, a voice was called from the pen area. "SHIKAMARU! CHOUJI!"
"What?" Shikamaru called back, looking down, to be amazed. All of the wolves had stopped circling, and was all looking up, right where Izaki was. "Whoa…" Shikamaru said, looking at them.
Izaki grinned. "I don't know…I can feel their thoughts. They are confused, I can tell. May I go down there? Please?" She asked. She glanced back to the wolves, to see them all looking into her eyes, never glancing away.
Shikamaru scratched his head. "Well…Neji and Chouji, come down with me. We can stay on guard. You guys!" He looked over to the other Jounin. "Izaki here is going to try. Don't let her get hurt unless you want your head in Sasuke's collection!"
"Yes sir!" Was the reply from all of them. ((Shika is the leader of this mission of penning))
Izaki laughed. "But Sasuke-Oniichan doesn't have a collection of heads." She said, but hopped down to the pen area. The wolves only watched the girl jump into the area, only staring at her, not making nay movement but their eyes.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yet." He said as he hopped down after her.
With that, Neji and Chouji both jumped down. The two went to open places made for them, looking alert. Neji stared at Izaki, hoping she won't get hurt.
'I just don't want her to get hurt because Sasuke might kill me if she does. Yeah, that's it.'He thought as he watched Izaki stare at the wolves. 'I'm not worried about her safety, I'm worried about mine.' Satisfied, he left his thoughts, watching carefully.
"Hello." Izaki said to them, soothingly. One of the wolves stepped foreword, sniffing the air. They were about 20 feet apart, but the wolf knew her smell now. "How are you?" She asked gently, taking a step towards them. She felt the Jounins all twitch from her step. They were alert, very alert.
It was the red one that made the next move. It took few steps towards Izaki, and sniffed the air as well. It then, whined. Whined. Then, it wagged its tail. The Jounins all goggled at the wolf, and stared at the girl, who was grinning. The other wolves, the grey ones, followed suite. They all started to wag their tails at her. One of the younger wolves started foreword, but the red one came up to her first.
The Jounins tensed, but did nothing. The wolves didn't look like they were going to attack, at all. "What's going on?" One of the whispered, the others all shrugged in reply, clueless as well.
Izaki smiled as the red wolf approached her. "Hello." She said again, as she moved her hand towards him. The wolf sniffed the hand, and satisfied with the scent, he licked her hand. As if it was a signal, the other wolves ran over to her, barking, playfully. They all rounded on her, sniffing her, licking her. They were all wagging their tails, looking quite happy. Soon, Izaki was trampled over by grey fur-balls, all tried to sniff her.
"Hey! Stop it! That tickles!" Izaki said, laughing. "Hey!" She said, as one tugged onto her sleeves. "Now," She said, as she crouched down. "I need you guys to go into those pens please." She said, pointing to the pens.
The red wolf seemed to understand, and started to walk towards it. Turning around, it barked, and the other grey ones followed him to the pens with another couple playful bites and licks.
"All secured!" One of the Jounin said, as he locked the wolves in.
Shikamaru nodded, as he sat down. "Thanks a lot, Izaki." He said, as he cracked his shoulder and neck. "That was troublesome."
The other Jounins followed suit, sitting down, as if all their energy was taken away. "Urg…" Most of them said, as they sat or collapsed onto the floor.
"I need rest…" One of them said, as he looked at himself for wounds.
One of the Jounin looked at her. "Thanks, Izaki-san." He said to her as he grinned. "These wolves seemed to like you. Any idea why?" He asked.
Izaki shook her head. "No." She said, sadly. "But…I don't know…I felt like we could understand each other." She shrugged. "I think I always did have a soft spot with wolves."
Accepting her answer, the man nodded, and stood up. "Shikamaru, I think I'll go and report this mission. You and Chouji need to see a doctor. Also, I heard that you were going to give our hero here a tour." He said, looking at Izaki with a smile.
Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah…thanks." He said as he too, got up, stretching.
Chouji punched the air with his unwounded arm. "I need Yakiniku!" He yelled. "Let's go eat!"
Izaki sweat dropped. "Erm…I thought you might want to see the doctor first?" She asked. "Chouji-san and Shikamaru-san, I think you should take today off." She told them. "With those wounds, I'm thinking you need rest."
Shikamaru glanced at Chouji and sighed. "Yeah…How about this? I'll make this up to you with lunch? I'll meet you at the Yakiniki place at 12. Since you probably won't know the place, Neji?" He asked, turning to his fellow ninja.
Neji groaned inwardly, but said nothing and showed nothing, but to nod. "Fine." He said simply. "Izaki, do you still want to see the other wolves?" He asked to which Izaki nodded vigorously. With her nod, he started to walk away from the group.
Izaki started to follow, and turned around, and faced the others. With a bow, she left with Neji.
The man from the Jounin squad whistled. "To tell you the truth, I always thought that she could be a spy, from you know…But…after this…I'm not so sure anymore. If she is a spy, she's really good at acting." He grinned. "Anyway, I think I'll go and rest as well. C'ya." And with a puff of smoke, he was gone. The rest also had a short conversation, and all disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"It's almost 12." Neji said to her, as Izaki played with couple of the well trained wolves. "We better get going." He jerked a thumb to the door.
Izaki nodded. "But…do you think I can go and see that beautiful red wolf once more?" She asked. "Just to say 'good-bye' that's all." Neji nodded. "YES! Thank you!" She said, and trotted over to where they were earlier.
"Hello?" She asked, as she came to a halt in front of the pen. The pen was not wide, but it went in far, so the ends were dark, and she could not see all of the wolves. "Are you in here?" She asked, looking for the red one.
The red wolf slowly emerged from the end of the pen, looking at the girl, with a wolfish smile. Izaki also smiled back, putting her hand through the gate, meaning for it to sniff again. The red wolf sniffed, and again, licked her hand.
Izaki, taking this as a good gesture, she petted the wolf's head, and then started to rub its ears. "Well, I'll try to come here often, you pretty boy." She said to the wolf, which had closed its eyes, content at her touch.
A man walked over to her, who seemed to be one of the caretakers. "He doesn't have a name yet. Do you want to name him?" He asked her kindly.
Izaki turned over to him. "Really?" She asked, stars in her eyes. She then whipped back when the man nodded. "What name would you like?" She asked the red wolf in front of her. She petted its head as it opened one eye and looked directly into hers. The red wolf closed his eyes from comfort from her touch once more, and let out air from it's nose as if sighing. Izaki smiled. "How about…" She then stopped, and frowned.
Neji watched her, and saw her frown. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Izaki turned to Neji, and back to the wolf. "I…Don't know…" She said, with a confused tone. "I felt like the wolf just talked to me." She turned back to Neji. "He just said…or well I heard from him…" She hesitated. "When he whined, I heard a name…or what sounded like a name. He said Mangetsu."
Neji looked at her oddly, but shrugged and looked away. The caretaker seemed to be interested however. "Full moon? That sounds good. Then we shall call him Mangetsu." He said, looking at the red wolf.
Mangetsu whined, and nudged his head closer to her hand, and licked it once more. At that, Izaki abruptly stood up. "Oh yes!" She said, turning to Neji. "I forgot! Let's go, Neji-san!" She then turned back to Mangetsu. "Thanks for reminding me, Mangetsu!" With that, she grabbed Neji and half dragged him away to the exit.
The caretaker looked at the wolf in charge. "Well…she seems like she can understand the wolf…I must report this to Tsunade-sama." He made a mental note.
"Neji! Izaki!" Chouji called over. "Over here! Hurry up! I'm getting hungry!" He complained as he waved at them.
"Sorry!" Izaki said, as she ran over.
As they got there, Neji didn't enter after them. "I'm going to go talk to Tsunade-sama. I'll be back, though." He told them, and left.
"What was all that about?" Chouji asked Izaki, but she didn't know, so shrugged. "What ever…let's eat!" He said, as he sat down.
Hokage's Office
"Tsunade-sama." Neji said, as he knocked onto the Hokage's door.
"Enter." Was the reply, and he did so, and entered. When he entered, he saw that she had another company, the caretaker from the animal-nin training grounds. "What's the problem?" She asked Neji, shuffling through papers.
Neji nodded to the man, and turned back to the Hokage. "When Uchiha and I went into the training grounds, we met 2 men, who are a probably a Jounin. The two men said the word 'Akatsuki' and she responded to that word."
Tsunade became alert. "What happened? Tell me in detail, and description of those two men." She said.
Neji nodded and told her what happened to Izaki when she heard the particular word. "And…my conclusion is that the Akatsuki is waiting for her to respond somewhat, so they can release your jutsu."
Tsunade sighed. "All right. You," She turned to the caretaker. "You heard his descriptions, any idea who they are?" She asked him.
The man nodded. "Yes, actually. They are 2 of the teachers in there, one of the newest members. I think they just turned Jounin last month or so." He said. "Would you like for me to get them?" He offered.
Tsunade nodded. "Please." She said, and with that, he bowed and left.
Neji watched him leave, and turned back to Tsunade. "Why was he here?" He asked her. "Reports of the other thing she did?" He asked, knowing the answer he was going to get.
Tsunade shuffled papers. "Yeah." She said. "He told me that it was her and only her who got the wolves under control." She trailed off as she shuffled more papers on her desk. "And the fact that she said she understands wolves." She frowned and stopped shuffling. "I will have to look deeper into that fact, but...I have an idea or two of why she has that ability."
Neji knew her suspicions. "Either Akatsuki trained her or…she has a special thing in her. Ability…or something."
Tsunade nodded. "Yes…" She sighed. "Even the caretaker guessed. He told me that she might have some kind of training, or she would not be able to do that. But training can not get people to understand wolves that much." She sighed once more. "I don't know…"
Neji responded with a sigh as well. "Well, I'm going to head back." He informed her.
Tsunade stopped him. "Wait." She said. "Keep an eye on her for me." She told him. "Any idea or hint on why she has this ability, you inform me. Tell this to Sasuke as well." She told him. Neji nodded, and left without another word.
When Neji got to where the gang was having lunch, he saw a group of women in front of the place, whispering. Neji raised an eye brow. 'What a weird place to gossip.' He thought, but walked by them, and heard couple of words he disliked.
"I heard that she's in here." One of them said.
The other women made a face. "She has to be a spy, I mean, all Uchiha was killed off, and she just popped out like that!"
"I know!" The other one responded. "I bet she is a spy!"
Neji frowned deeper. Before, he had said those words, but now…hearing it from another one's mouth made him feel sick. He hated them. He chose to ignore them, but in his mind, he wanted them to take their words back. He coolly walked by them, not glancing at them once, but to keep walking.
As he entered, he heard a voice calling him. "Huuga-san! Over here!" Izaki called over to him, waving. "Hurry up! We were waiting for you!" She grinned.
"I'm starving! Hurry up!" Chouji complained. "Could we order now? Since he's here?" He pleaded.
Izaki placed her hands onto her hip. "Not until he sits you won't." She told him.
Chouji turned to Neji, and with his pleading eyes, he told him to hurry up. Neji chuckled as he walked over to them, and sat down.
Earlier, he would have…well he said that she had to be a spy, but his thoughts had changed now. She can't be a spy. At least, that's what he wanted to believe.
Akanishi-san: Aww, protective Neji! lol. Im so hyper. Anyway, plz review
BTW READERS
Keiya Mizuki: Im glad you are enjoying this fic. More cute Neji coming right up!
Mimi: Hehe, thanks for your support! XD Im glad you guys like this!
JapanAnimeGirl: I never saw that kind of smilie. All i usually see is x) but that works too.
Chocolate Panda: Yes, confusion! lol. Neji will get super confused on the nexy chappie. I tell you, he will.