Change In the Wind
Chapter 1 – The Leaf village
Misaki skipped through the Hidden Leaf village as bouncy as a rabbit, passers-by looked awkwardly at the strangers in their village as Misaki and her two friends wandered aimlessly around.
Misaki's extremely long red hair caught everyone's attention; you could see her mile away in the middle of a battle and still know it was her. She was fairly tall for a girl her age with a medium sized robe with no sleeves while the rest of her flesh was covered by full on black body suit from her neck to her ankles. She wore thick high heeled ninja shoes that stopped just before her knee but the one thing she treasured on her person more than anything was the crystal necklaces that hung from her neck.
"I'm so bored, there is nothing to do in this village" one of her companions complained.
He was only slightly taller than Misaki with medium length mousy-brown hair, his face inhabited a thick but well-kept moustache and beard, over grown for a 15 year old boy. His clothes were dark with almost all of his body covered up with thick cloth, yet he didn't sweat a drop in the warm afternoon sun. His shoes were standard footwear in the land of wind but he had strapped to his back a large pole with blade like crescent moons on either side. He had 3 rings on each hand but the purpose of these rings few actually knew.
"Oh would you stop complaining Shouta! Haruto isn't bored are you" Misaki turned to other member of their team, he was day dreaming not even bothering to listen to them bicker before he was brought back to reality by Misaki talking to him, he blushed before turning his head away shacking it side to side to show he had agreed with her.
Haruto was the tallest out of the 3 chunin, he had shoulder length carrot top hair with a bandana that covered the top leaving tuffs of hair sticking out of it. He wore the least out of the 3 because of his size, he became warm very easily. He had a shirt with ripped sleeves that travelled down to the top of his leg with a sash to tighten him in around the waist, with a fish net shirt underneath to tuck his muscles in when he moved around. He was actually left handed so his Kunei holder was on the left while the rest of his look was fairly average to the shinobi in the sand village, except for the large shield that he strapped to his back. His most unusual feature was his eyes, people rarely saw them because he always wore sun glasses no matter where he was.
The 3 were team mates but they were also best friends, their purpose in the village however was different from normal Chunin. They served directly under the Great wolf mage Tsuki Ookami, one of the five legendary Doubatsu Ninja that has been a live for decades. It was their job to learn the secrets of their village and hold their tongues to them at all times, they were used in special festivals that the sand village held as well as sacred rituals that were kept away from even the civilians of the village.
But they were here in the Land of fire, in its ninja village. It was the Chunin exams and it was tradition that the 5 Doubatsu ninja come to support their village, although if no ninja from their village became Chunin it was just another holiday for them to see the other mages. However their students must also attend the events with them as well, both for protection and it was another way of learning their trade as being the peace keepers of the village.
Their mistress Tsuki had allowed them to wander the village themselves for a while she caught up with Ka, the Dragon mage from the Leaf village. So far nothing was going on and even though she didn't want to admit it, Shouta was right, this place was pretty boring.
As they turned the corner behind a wooden fence, Misaki shoved her team makes backwards in haste, almost knocking them both down.
"Hey! What's the-"Misaki shushed them both, she peeked around the corner, It was Kankuro and Temari, but there was other with them, along with a familiar face to the 3 shinobi.
"I think Kankuro has gotten into a fight again" Misaki told them with a sigh, they both looked around to see a short blond haired kid yelling at Kankuro who had a child by the scrap of the neck.
All three sighed in annoyance; he was always getting into trouble.
"Put him down Kankuro, or you know you'll pay for it later" a girl with four pigtails said to Kankuro.
"Come on Temari we have plenty of time till he shows up, lets mess with these punks huh" he counteracted his sibling with a sly grin.
"K-Kankuro, Maybe you better put him down" a girl said who stood next to him.
She was short, around the same age as Kankuro with light clothes that covered all of her body, a long sleeved shirt that stopped just below her breast but bandage and tape covering her stomach until it met her trousers. She had some fabric which covered her shoulders with an odd looking symbol on it, this made it obvious that she wasn't used to the sun and preferred to cover up so she wouldn't be burned. Her hair was as long as Misaki's but unlike Misaki she wore her hair down in a loose pony tail while the older girl had hers in a high one. But her eyes are what draw you in the most, they were crimson red, they felt so deep that if you stared for too long you would lose your very soul in them.
"You too Kato, seriously you need to get a back bone" Kankuro scoffed at her, Kato looked away in embarrassment.
"Oh let me kill him!" Misaki tried to say but it came out as a muffled whisper being held back by her two friends.
The Blonde kid charged at Kankuro with full furry, before being knocked onto his ass by an unseen force with just the flicker of Kankuro's fingers. The Look in Kankuro's eyes said if he got half the chance he would be rid of these pests right there and then.
Misaki almost laughed at his arrogance, she'd known him since he was born, and she always knew he'd grow up to be a troublemaker. But why her younger sister liked that douche bag she would never know.
Kankuro brought his fist back as if to punch the child in his hand, Kato made a move to try and stop him while the blonde haired loud mouth ran towards him yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs. Suddenly the kid was dropped to the floor, Kato ducked down to help him up before he ran towards the blonde brat. Kankuro stood their holding his now aching hand, a pebble rolling away from the scene, Kankuro, now very pissed off, turned toward the direction the tiny stone had been thrown from. Up in the tree a dark haired boy sat holding another pebble in his hand.
"You're a long way from home and your way out of your league, get lost" he warned while crushing the stone into dust, a girl screamed his name annoyingly which really ticked Misaki off.
"So what do you think Misaki? Should we interfere and stop this before it gets ugly?" Haruto said to her.
He had a point, didn't want their plan coming out this soon, not that she liked it that much anyway, one of her close friends lived in the leaf village and their plan meant they couldn't be friends anymore, not that she was going to let that out before the sand village was in action, Haruto was right, they better step in. Before Misaki made a move she sensed an unearthly chakra that made her spine shudder, she smirked widely.
"What are you grinning about?" Shouta asked, becoming bored of the whole scenario.
"Looks like we don't have to do anything" Misaki answered him.
"Why is that?" Shouta said before he heard an all too familiar voice.
"Kankuro, back off"
All the people involved turned their heads and gasped as the new stranger appeared in their mist, his eyes looked right through you, they were full of blood lust and hate and his aura was none to pleasant either.
Kankuro stiffened and held a fake smile.
"H-Hey Gaara"
"You are an embarrassment to our village, have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here" Gaara said to him, looking at him so hard you could almost feel the touch of his gaze.
Kato shuffled from one foot to the other, even though she knew she wasn't in any real danger that didn't mean Gaara wasn't as scary.
"I-I know, they challenged us really, see here's what happened-"
"Shut up, or I'll kill you" Gaara interjected, staring at him with such a death glare Kankuro thought that might be enough to kill him alone.
"Y-your right, I was totally out of line, I'm sorry Gaara I was totally out of line" both siblings put their hands in front of their bodies as if to create a barrier between them and this fearsome beast.
"Misaki, if Gaara's here maybe you should really do something!" Haruto told her, pushing her slightly as if to emphasize his point.
Out of everyone in the sand village only two people did not fear Gaara, Misaki was not afraid of the tiny red haired boy because of her mother, she was protected from the demon because of her mother's power, so she felt no need to be threatened.
"I guess your right" she sighed, making a move to turn the corner.
"I'm curious about you too, who are you?"
"I am Sasuke Uchiha"
There was a long silence as Gaara of the desert and Sasuke Uchiha faced off in a silent battle of wills.
"Hi there, I bet your dying to know my name right!" the blonde kid broke the stiffening silence with his overly noisy mouth.
"I couldn't care less" Gaara shot the kid down.
"Now Gaara wasn't that a bit harsh?"
The group of young ninja's turned to see, what seemed to be, an older looking girl, with a swagger in her walk approaching them, her presence made Kato jump before the youngster relaxed again and smiled broadly. She ran to the older girl allowing Misaki to swing her around in her arms before settling her back down again, Kato, who wasn't as tall as Misaki, rested her head on the older girls neck.
"What are you doing here Misaki" Kankuro asked crudely.
"Making sure you stay out of trouble of course, and to make sure my sister is alright" Misaki smirked at Kankuro.
"Huh, your sisters! You don't look anything like each other!" The blond kid yelled in astonishment.
"We don't have to look the same to be related do we?" Misaki laughed, Kato dug herself into Misaki's hold even more, wishing she could disappear into her older, and more confident sister, Gaara stared at Misaki but she appeared to be unfazed by his gaze, more like she ignored it.
"Come on Kato better get you back to mom" Misaki told her younger sibling, patting her on the head Kato took hold of Misaki's arm as they began to walk off, before being stopped by the Sasuke kid.
"Hey, who are you" Sasuke yelled after her.
"Me? I'm no body, just here to keep my sibling out of harm, nothing wrong with that is there?" Misaki answered him with a cocky grin, causing him to stare at him angrily for not answering his question.
"Oh fine, if you must know I'm Misaki Ookami, daughter to the great Wolf mage Tsuki Ookami, one of the 5 great Doubatsu ninja" Misaki turned her whole body towards him, giving him an evil looking grin.
"You are such a show off" Kankuro directed at her, Temari just smiled with humour.
"Takes one to know one Kankuro" she smirked at him, taking Kato by the waist she lead her away while the three and sand siblings turned to one another before being led away by Gaara, leaving the leaf Genin to take in what just happened.
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Shouta was in bits laughing, he crippled over and held his sides as if in fear that his hysterics of laughter his organs would somehow fall out. Kato blushed fiercely at his laughter towards her, she hung her head low while Misaki's temper was rising.
"Shouta, what the hell is so funny!" Misaki screamed at him.
The group of ninja had left the centre of the village and made their way to one of the training fields, they sat themselves down by the stream that ran along through it and that's when Shouta started laughing about something, Misaki knew it was about Kato and that's what irritated her the most, no one laughed at Kato like that while she was around.
"I'm sorry but Kato, you looked like a lost little girl clinging to Misaki the way you did, that's not going to give you a very good impression if you're always acting like a scare little child" Shouta began to laugh again.
Haruto, who hadn't been paying much attention, was lying on his back with a piece of dry grass hanging from his mouth, turned his head to Shouta and propped himself up onto his elbows.
"Shouta, give her a break, she's nervous about the exams, we were when we took them 2 years ago, but the pressure on Kato is immense, much more than we had to deal with, so lay off" Kato looked to Haruto and silently thanked him, while Misaki was impressed, Haruto always hated concentrations and the fact he had said something before she herself had chance to was unusual, but not unwelcomed.
Shouta's face dropped at the reminder of their mission, he sat up and crossed his legs, crossing his arms he went into deep thought. Haruto was right, it wasn't just the exams that Kato had to deal with, she had a huge mission on her hands, even though Shouta knew the powers Kato really possessed, when it came to Misaki, Kato always acted like the younger sister that needed protection, whether she meant to or not. Kato's confidence in her own abilities were severely lacking, something that held her back from her true potential, she was shy and timid, but it was also another quality that caught her enemy's off guard.
Kato shuffled in her spot at the fuss she had caused, even though she wasn't as timid as people made out to be she could never help herself around Kankuro, for some reason the thought of that boy alone made her knee's weak. She was a decent fighter and wouldn't back down if she was faced with an opponent who had intent on doing her harm; even if she was a little shy she never let it stop her, unless of course it was Kankuro. But it wasn't really because she was timid that made her soft; she just had a kind heart and sometimes let it get the best of her.
"Well we finally found you"
The group turned to look back as they saw their sensei with another woman who looked just as unique as her white haired friend.
"Lady Ookami! Lady Ryuu!" Haruto said scrambling to his knees.
"Haruto, how many times must I tell you to call me Tsuki" the white haired woman smiled at her young disciple.
Tsuki was a fairly tall woman, her hair was white as snow, complemented by her violet eyes, her smile held teeth much fiercer to the ones in an ordinary human mouth. The length of her hair was astounding enough never mind the colour, it reached down to her ankles with her front bangs held in place with ribbon and bells attached to them. Her cloths were very formal; a long white Kimono with a slit in the left side that went all the way up to the top of her thigh, the kimono highlighted her large breasts while a sash with the sand village symbol on it tide her in at the waist. Dispite how old Tsuki really was she looked no older than a 20 year old woman, very beautiful especially in the eyes of her people and with her kind nature most would think she was an absolute angel.
"Yes Haruto, no need to be so formal, its Ka, keep all of that "Lady" stuff for a formal festival, it makes me feel old" Ka laughed at the side of Tsuki who turned her head and smiled at her laughing friend.
Ka looked around the same age as Tsuki, but appearances can be deceiving. She had short blonde hair that stopped just below her chin, with a messy sort of style added to it. Her eyes were sky blue with what looked like eye shadow the same colour as her eyes resting on her eye lids and followed down the shape of her eyes, even though they were really scales no one really noticed the difference. She wore a lab coat with a Chinese body suit underneath with the leggings stopping at her knees. She too wore a sash, a little different from the one Tsuki used with the leaf village symbol embroidered onto it. Ka was a strong and intelligent woman, you could tell simply by looking at her that she was wise, full of wisdom beyond the years she looked.
Shouta and Misaki giggled at Haruto as he lowered his head with a flush across the bridge of his noise, even Kato chuckled slightly.
Tsuki and Ka settled down with the small group chatted with them till the sun shone high up in the sky, it wasn't often that the two grown women were able to see each other, so whenever the Chunin exams came it was always a real treat, but something was digging at Ka that she wanted to ask Tsuki about.
"Tsuki, you've been married before right?" Ka asked slowly.
Tsuki looked to her friend, it was true she had once been married to a formal disciple of hers but it ended badly for him on a mission to the land of rivers, she missed him dearly and grieved for years, but she felt content with herself, because if it wasn't for him she would have never had Misaki, her pride and joy.
"Yes that is true, why do you ask?" she smiled at Ka.
"Well…there is someone I've been…taking a shine to recently, and I'm not sure what to make of it" Ka replied, the youngsters leaned in for a better listen, they always enjoyed the gossip of their elders.
"Oh? What is "Taking a shine to" to you?" Tsuki asked giggling; Ka blushed nearly as deep as Misaki's hair.
"Well he…seems like a nice guy, but I haven't really spoken to him that much, I've only bumped into him a few times, I bet he doesn't even notice me" Ka said a little down.
"How could anyone not notice you? You're a Doubatsu ninja for pete sake, the Dragon mage who's wisdom defeats all, if he doesn't notice you then he isn't worth your time" Tsuki stated blankly with a cheeky grin.
"I don't know if it's normal but I kind of like him because he doesn't pay as much attention to me as some other people might do, he's respectful and really nice but at the same time he treats me the same way he would any other ninja" Ka smiled with a small blush on her face.
Tsuki was surprised, she had never seen Ka with such a look on her face, this guy must really be something. Ka is one of the most headstrong women she knows and she's blushing like a love struck child, never in all her years had she expected it, but it must mean Ka's feelings were true to her words, if it wasn't for the fact that it was her and not someone from Ka's own village she wouldn't have been so open about her feelings, but she knows she can trust Tsuki with anything.
Misaki understood what Ka was going through, she had a crush on Shouta for years now and he always ignored her feelings even though he knew they were there, Ka was going through something similar but by the sounds of it the guy didn't know about Ka's feelings, Misaki turned to Shouta who didn't even acknowledge her glance, even though Haruto noticed.
"Well on a different note Ka, how are preparations for the Chunin exams" Tsuki asked a little more seriously.
"They are going well, by the looks of it the candidates this year are going to be really tough" Ka answered, regaining her composure.
"Just what we like to see" Tsuki smiled brightly, Kato yawned which caught Tsuki attention.
"I think we better get some rest, these guys must be tired from traveling" Tsuki motioned as the rest began yawning.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up a bit later" Haruto said, Misaki gave him a questioning look.
As the group went to Ka's home to get some rest Haruto stayed behind, he wanted some time to be alone and it seemed like the perfect place.
He removed his shirt, along with his body armour and fish netting, he took off his bandana and kicked off his shoes, then without even thinking about it jumped into the stream. Emerging from the water her swam to the side and whipped his sunglasses of the water, he pulled himself out of the water and sat on the bank, letting his body be cooled by the evening breeze, even though the sun was still up, it wouldn't take long to sink into the horizon.
Haruto was depressed, and this was his way of dealing with it. Being alone and being in the cool evening air made him feel a little better, but all his mind could think about was Misaki, the girl he loved since they had first met as children. Oh how he loved everything about her, the way her hair floats in the breeze, the way she smiles when she looks at someone in the eye, everything about her was perfect in his eyes. She was beautiful, kind, loyal, confident and good at her job, if only he had the courage himself to tell Misaki how he felt, but when she still liked Shouta he knew his feelings would never be returned.
He didn't just like Misaki, he did truly love her, and he had known that for a very long time. He couldn't even see another girl in the same light as Misaki.
While he was deep in his thoughts someone had entered the training field, a tall, muscular man with black hair and the bushes eye brows you would ever see. He noticed Haruto and felt like the boy needed some help.
"Hey there what's shaking?" the man asked enthusiastically.
Haruto jumped at the sound of the man's voice, he came to sit down next to Haruto and grinned warmly at him.
"Hey I'm Might Gai, you're not from around here are you?" Gai questioned while Haruto shook his head.
"I'm from the sand village, I'm escorting my mistress Lady Ookami for the Chunin exams" he answered, he was always quite good at talking to people he didn't know.
"Lady Ookami? The Wolf mage! My dear boy you must be privileged to have her as a sensei!" Everyone knew about the 5 great Animal ninja, just being associated with one gave you great social ranking.
"Yeah I am" he tried to answer cheerfully.
"But you don't seem happy about it" Gai enquired a little more quietly.
"Oh no I'm thrilled to have the Wolf mage as my Sensei but…it's someone else she trains that's on my mind" he wasn't sure if he could hide anything to this man, Gai reminded him of his dad, and he couldn't keep secrets from him.
"Ah, spot of rivalry, perfectly normal in a ninja squad" Gai told him with a pat on the back.
"Well it's not really that…it's about a…girl" his sentence became quieter as he spoke.
"Oh…"Gai thought for a moment.
"Well if it's a girl you like why not just ask her how she feels?" Gai asked.
"There is someone else she likes, even if she didn't like him what kind of chance do I have? I don't even have the courage to ask her out let alone tell her how I feel" Haruto sighed.
Gai thought for a moment, he thought he might try and help the young Chunin, he knew he was Chunin from his discarded jacket on the ground.
"You said you were here escorting Lady Ookami for the Chunin exams?" Gai asked suddenly.
"Yeah, what about it?" Haruto replied a little confused and a little irritated by the sudden change in subject.
"Well I have a Genin team going into the exams this year, they are a great bunch, and I've had such a pleasure teaching them. But one of them has had a really difficult time trying to convince people that his abilities as a ninja won't leave him at a disadvantage. No matter what people have said, or how many times they put him down, no matter what has been thrown at him and been told its all pointless he has always given his all, he kept on training and he is more than a worthy adversary for any ninja" Gai looked deeply into Haruto's covered eyes.
"I think that's what you should do, don't give up because it looks hopeless, haven't you ever heard the saying you never know unless you try. Even if it looks like you don't have a chance, keep going until the words leave her lips themselves, your only thinking she's going to say no, so I say go for it" he gave Haruto a thumbs up with a twinkle in his smile.
Haruto looked at him as if he was mad, but something about what he said made sense. Misaki's affections were not as noticeable for Shouta as they had been when they were kids, does that means she's starting to get over him? Did it mean he really did have a chance?
He looked at Gai in a new light and smiled at him, he reached for his glasses and slid them off as opened his eyes to the setting sun of the day, Gai was in awe, Haruto's eyes were the kindest and gentlest eyes he had ever seen. It wasn't natural for a ninja to have such a look of innocence in their eyes, especially a teenage boy. His eye lashes gave him a feminine look while his eyes were a deep blue, he had never seen blue eyes like his before.
Haruto stood up and faced Gai.
"Thank you Gai, you've made me feel a lot better" Haruto grinned down at the older man.
Gai stood up as well, to his surprise Haruto was about the same height as him.
"Well my boy that's what I'm here for" Gai grinned widely.
Haruto smiled brightly before it vanished, Gai looked at him questionably.
"I'm meant to be staying at the Dragon mages house…I've kinda forgotten where it is…"Haruto sweat dropped at his stupidity for letting them go when he couldn't remember the way to Ka's house.
"I know where it is, I can take you if you like" Gai gave him a thumbs up again.
"If you don't mind that would be great"
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"I'm getting worried" Misaki paced in the living room of Ka's privet house.
"He'll be fine, it's the leaf village, and no harm is going to come to him here" Ka told her, taking a sip of tea.
"That's not what I'm worried about, its late, do you think he got lost?" Misaki said pacing even quicker.
Shouta was shocked, he'd never seen her so nervous. She was always the big sister figure among the 3 of them and she cared about the two of them as if they were her little brothers, but even then she would normally be much calmer than this, must be because she's in a different village that has her on edge Shouta thought.
Suddenly they all heard knocks at the door, Ka sat up and went to answer.
"Haruto there you are, Misaki has been worried sick" Ka announced, Misaki ran to the door and hit Haruto in the stomach.
"You Idiot!, do you have any idea how much you scared me!" Misaki shouted, in some way Haruto was relieved, it was Misaki's way of showing she cared.
"S-sorry…" his only answer was before she dragged him into the house.
"I hope everything alright" Gai asked, Ka hadn't even noticed him while Misaki was shouting at Haruto.
"It will be, you must have brought him here, thank you Gai" Ka gave a small bow to emphasize her gratitude, a habit that she had for years.
"It's not a problem Lady Ryuu, oh before I forget, the Hokage mentioned he has some documents for you on the upcoming exams, he has still to sort out some of the less experienced candidates once they have been tested, he hopes you don't mind the documents being put separately" Gai said seriously but still with a smile on his face.
"Tell him it's fine, I won't be able to see him tomorrow because of some research I'm tied up with at the moment, would you mind letting him know?" Ka asked.
"Not a problem my Lady, good night" Gai turned to leave as Ka closed the door.
Ka leaned against the closed door trying to breathe again, she hadn't realised that she had been holding her breath; Tsuki smirked at her, Ka simply flushed and turned away.
"So is this Mr right Ka?" Tsuki giggled.
Ka didn't reply and went into the kitchen to make more tea, Tsuki laughed. Of all the people she never expected Ka, the great Dragon mage to fall for the spandex wearing green beast of the leaf village.