Change in the wind
Chapter 2 – Friend or foe?
Tsuki stretched out her arms as she awoke from her sleep, she was always up earlier then everyone else, she didn't mind though, gave her a chance to have some piece and quite.
She crawled out of her futon and walked slowly to the kitchen, only to find someone had beaten her to it. So she wasn't the first up today.
"Haruto, what are you doing up so early?" Tsuki asked, her face was kind as always and he smiled warmly at her before his expression changed.
"Couldn't sleep very well, I've just been thinking about something" he replied taking a sip of tea he had prepared.
Tsuki helped herself and stood next to him, he was taller than her, but only just, this boy is going to be huge, Tsuki thought to herself as she blew on the tea so not to burn her mouth.
"What's on your mind" she asked taking a sip.
"It's just something that Gai said to me yesterday"
"Gai? So that's his name?" Tsuki questioned.
"Yeah, he's a nice fellow, a bit weird at that but he knows how to cheer you up when you need it" Haruto smiled at the memory of their chat the night before.
"I see, so what were you talking about?" Tsuki asked, she was glad to hear about this Gai person, something she could use to tease Ka with later.
"Well…" he couldn't say it, what are you supposed to do when your sensei is the mother of your crush is asking you what is wrong, how would she react if she knew?
"Is it something to do with Misaki?" he spat his tea out choking on it, she however had made no move to look at him, like she knew about his feelings already, she did.
"I'll take that as a yes, Shouta makes it regular to point out how much you like her" she said with a sly grin, only people very close to her knew how cheeky and sarcastic she could be sometimes.
Haruto flushed violently, Shouta was such a jack-ass.
"You do know how much she cares about you right?" Haruto looked up in surprise.
"I don't think she realises it herself but I think she's falling for you, little by little" Tsuki said smiling at him.
"It's not funny to give me false hope Tsuki" Haruto said sadly.
"Who said I was lying, she does care, you should have seen her last night, pacing back and forth like the world was going to end. Like I said I think she's still trying to realise that Shouta has been pulling her a long for a very long time, she's also worried that you might think that just because she can't have Shouta you the next best thing, I think that's the only reason she kept her crush on Shouta all this time" Tsuki explain, Haruto nearly dropped his cup.
"She-She said this to you?" he asked hopefully.
"No, but I often hear her in Kato's room going on about she doesn't know how she feels any more, for a long time she thought Shouta was the right guy for her, now she doesn't know what to think" Tsuki giggled at the memory of Misaki talking to Kato late into the night about how she didn't know what to do.
Haruto thought for a moment before setting his cup down, maybe he should just ask her about it, maybe he should just ask her out, but if she wasn't sure of her feelings it could mean she does still like Shouta, he just didn't know, he was pulled from his thoughts when Ka walked into the room rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Morning" Ka yawned as she pushed past Tsuki for some tea.
"Good morning sleepy head, how is miss loved up today?" Tsuki teased, Ka physically shivered by her teasing, Tsuki hadn't let it go all night.
"Fine thank you Tsuki" she tried to ignore her but was doing a bad job of it with a blush plain as day across her nose.
Haruto laughed slightly which only added to Ka's embarrassment, suddenly to take the attention off her there was a knock at the door, both Tsuki and Ka went to answer it. With both women still in their dressing gowns Haruto walked after them to make sure everything was alright, who would be knocking at this time of morning.
"KA SENSEI! REPORTING FOR DUTE!" screamed the girl at the door, almost knocking the two women back out of shear fright, the two boys behind her had their hands on their ears trying to block out her noise, it looked as though she had just dragged them straight out of bed.
"Momoko, keep it down I have visitors still asleep" Ka motioned with her finger to her lips.
"Oh sorry sensei" Momoko answered in a hushed whisper.
The two boys behind her sighed as they came into the house; they went to the couches in the middle of the living area just as Misaki and Kato came down stairs.
"What's all the ruckus…" Misaki asked rubbing her eyes, her hair was all over the place and she had her classic wrinkles under her eyes first thing in the morning, no one could figure out why she only got them first thing on a morning before they seemed to go magically.
"Sorry I woke you, I just wanted to see you again Misaki!" Momoko said standing up.
When Misaki finally realised who had answered her she squealed in delight and ran to hug the girl, they were the same age and had been writing to each other since their first encounter 2 years ago. They had become Chunin at the same time and the two became close, being the students of the Doubatsu ninja gave them a reason to come see each other, although it had been a while to wait this time around.
Momoko was well known for her D cup size throughout the hidden leaf village, a girl her age would normally had around 34 C like Misaki did. Momoko had brown hair that shined when it was in the sun, while her eyes were also a hazel nut brown to match. Her cloths were similar to the normal Chunin uniforms with a few of her own touches added in.
"It's been so long since I've seen you Momo!" Misaki squealed squeezing the girl tightly.
"I know right!" both girls start dancing around while everyone looked as though they could drop dead with embarrassment.
"What the hell is going on, I'm trying to sleep" Shouta leaned against the door frame to see the two Looney's dancing around the living room.
"Sorry Shouta, we got dragged into it" one of Momo's male companions said to him, who Shouta recognized as Jun Inuzuka.
He was a well-built boy with the typical clan tattoos on his cheeks, his dog Kiiro was outside, too big to fit into the house anymore, or that's the excuse Ka gives him. His hair was the typical brown and his eyes resembled that of a canine, his cloths were also the usual Chunin uniform. He wasn't fussed about appearances, he was laid back but was quite active to keep himself fit and healthy.
"Yeah sorry about that Shouta" the other replied, it was Daiki Hyuuga, Daiki smiled warmly at Shouta with his strangely coloured eyes, or at least Shouta thought they were strange.
Daiki was a kinder member of the Hyuuga clan, he had been banished to the branch family of the clan after the Hyuuga's found out about his sexuality, although his appearance was that of any ordinary clan member, white robes, long brown hair, head band covering the curse seal, over all he was pretty average looking among the Hyuuga's, but it always fascinated Shouta whenever he saw Daiki. Despite being a member of the branch family Daiki didn't mind one bit, it meant he was allowed to get away with his sexuality a little more than a full member of the clan, plus he preferred to protect his clan rather than it being the other way around. All around he was a pretty nice guy.
"Neh don't worry about it, just means I get a shot of Momoko's tits first thing in the morning, this must be my lucky day!" Shouta laughed, he we serious but it made it out to be a joke.
Both girls stopped their enthusiastic waltzing, looking pretty pissed off by Shouta's comment. Momoko covered her breasts away from site while Misaki looked as though she was about ready to strangle Shouta, Kato looked nervously between her older sister and Shouta but decided not to get involved with a sigh of defeat, and she'd only end up with a black eye if she tried.
Before any killing happened in her home Ka stepped in with a cough to clear her throat and everyone's attention was on her.
"I think we best get ready or we are all going to be late getting to where we need to be" Ka motioned that half the people in the room were still in their night wear.
Everyone ran upstairs to get themselves into their proper cloths while Ka's 3 students sat down stairs to wait for their return. Once everyone was falling over themselves and each other trying to get out of the house, where they were greeted by a big yellow dog, set off into the centre of the village to grab some breakfast before their days officially started.
Xxxxxx
However things were not so cheery in the hotel containing the 3 sand siblings.
"Kankuro stop goofing off and try and do something, you look like a lazy slob" Temari scolded Kankuro, he was lying on the floor motionless, he was so bored he didn't know what else to do.
"Temari don't give me that, what else am I SUPPOSE to do, the exams don't start for a week and there isn't anything to do here" Kankuro complained.
Before Temari could reply they heard a familiar voice shouting them from the window, they went to the ledge when they saw Misaki calling them.
"Hey guys were going for breakfast! Grab Gaara and come join us, we just gonna be at the little restaurant at the end of the street" she waved before going to grab her food.
They got Gaara from his room, and we wasn't happy from being disturbed, even though he hadn't been doing anything anyway, and went down to the place where Misaki had told them, to their surprise Baki was already with them, Kato had found him and asked him to come with them.
"Oh good morning guys, hope you all slept well" Tsuki asked, mentally slapping herself remembering that Gaara didn't sleep, he gave her such a death glare it made almost everyone shiver.
"Come on Temari you got to try this! It's awesome" Misaki squealed as she tucked in.
As usual the conversation was mainly on Tsuki and Ka's part, they both hated silences but with Gaara there everyone was a little nervous about uttering a word, except Misaki who chatted on like a humming bird on sugar. Momoko wasn't much better but the boys just kept silent the majority of the time because of Gaara's icy glare, if looks could kill, they all bet Gaara wished they could.
"So what are everyone's plans for today" Tsuki enquired wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"I've got to carry on with some research I've been doing about how chakra effects the body, it's taken me months to get to the stage I'm at right now" Ka said patting her belly after a good morning feast.
"Really, what have you found out?" Kato asked, she was always interested in the field of chakra, Misaki and Tsuki both giggle in response.
"Well some of the things I discovered were quite interesting, a lot of the chakra we use isn't even a fraction of what we can really do with it, its power is so great that if a single shinobi were to tap into the full extent they would have enough power to crush an entire mountain, although finding a shinobi that is able to do such a feet is about 1 in 10 million" Ka explained, Kato listened in awe as the dragon ninja went on.
Gaara, becoming annoyed by this boring talk stood to leave, before Tsuki called him.
"Gaara where are you going?" she asked politely.
"I'm sick of you people" he answered blankly.
"Come come, that's not very nice, come back and sit with us" Tsuki said as she motioned to where he had been sitting.
He glared hard at her, suddenly his death glare turned to one of fear, Tsuki's eyes stared at him with a wild look, it sent shivers through his own body, luckily for him no one had noticed. She smirked wickedly at him; it wasn't just anyone who brought out this side of Tsuki. Those eyes, they made him sick, they were always so kind and caring, but whenever she wanted her way with him they became wild and beast like she no longer looked human.
Memories of her looking down at him, with a look of hatred and power flooded his mind as he fought to keep his composer. She was the only thing that made him scared, just because she did not fear him.
"Fine" he gave up and sat back down, no one was surprised, Tsuki couldn't get Gaara to do anything she wanted but she had a pretty good go when she needed to.
"That's more like it" her gaze was gone, no one had even noticed it, it was a special gaze that she gave Gaara to remind him of her threat years ago.
After more light hearted chatter they paid the bill and each party went their separate ways, Momoko and her team went with Misaki and her boys down the training fields to test each other's skills, while Kato went with Kankuro and Temari to explore around the village a bit more. Ka went off to her lab while Baki said he had some paper work to attend, that left Tsuki and Gaara. Gaara rose to leave before Tsuki tapped him on the shoulder.
"Why don't you keep me company abit" she smiled down at him.
God how he hated that smile, that fake little smile she always put on just to piss him off.
"No, I'm going back to the hotel" he shoved her hand away before walking a few steps.
"Aw but Gaara, I'm going to be awfully lonely without someone around" she taunted slightly.
It wasn't a habit she did often, she mainly did it just to remind him who was boss and what she could do to him if he didn't comply, but this time she wanted to make sure no one in the village would be hurt with Gaara staying there for the next few weeks so she had to keep an eye out on him. In all fairness she didn't want to act the way she did to Gaara, she remembered such a sweet young boy before his ass of an uncle ruined everything, but Tsuki couldn't blame Yashamaru entirely, it was her fault too. Now she wasn't going to let anyone get hurt because of her stupid mistake.
Gaara turned to her and stared hard at her, she approached him which made his gaze even more intense.
"Tell you what; I'll come with you, that way you can go back and I can still have some company" she said cheerfully patting him on the shoulder as she walked ahead of him to his hotel.
At this point Gaara growled in frustration but followed anyway, what else was he supposed to do when the most hated woman in his life was taking charge, god he wished he could kill her, he had come close many times as a child but after one incident involving Tsuki stupid daughter that's when he began fearing Tsuki.
Tsuki knew she had to be careful not to push her luck, she was powerful yes, but stupid she wasn't. She knew Gaara had more power than she did, she just found ways of by passing his methods and keeping him under her thumb was a sure method for keeping him in line. By doing this she could make him believe she was stronger and this would work to her advantage, but she couldn't let it get to far otherwise it may have the opposite effect on the red head.
When they got to the room Gaara went to sit at the table while Tsuki sat at the opposite side. She smiled warmly at him and tried to bring up a conversation which wouldn't end up being just an awkward talk of bloodshed.
Boy she really hated babysitting…
Xxxxx
Misaki swung her leg around the top of Daiki's head; he managed to dodge her attack and tried to apply chakra to the back of her leg when she moved it out of the way in the nick of time. She managed to get just close enough to scratch him at the side of his shoulder with her huge out strung claws, he hissed in pain then looked at her strangely.
"Where the hell did those come from?" Daiki asked rubbing his arm, referring to her new found claws.
"Oh these, well I am the daughter of a wolf hybrid aren't I" she joked as her claws seem to disappear.
"Wolf hybrid?" Jun asked, him and the others were sitting by a tree watching the sparring match when Daiki had stopped.
"Well I say hybrid, you do know that the Doubatsu ninja are really animals put into human form right" Misaki enquired, if they didn't know that there was something seriously wrong considering they were Ka's students.
"We know that, we just didn't think the genetics' could be passed on like that" Momoko counteracted.
"Of course they can, the body used to belong to a woman mom used to know called Mina, when my mom's soul was put into her body mom's soul changed the outer appearance of the body, which also included her inner body as well. There by changing the DNA to match her own, so she may be human but her wolf genetics can still be passed on, so I guess you could say I'm part wolf" Misaki grinned.
"Wow that's amazing, is it the same concept with the other animal ninja?" Daiki asked with great interest.
"Sure can, although no one will ever be able to make people like our Doubatsu ninja any more, the knowledge has long since been lost, and even if we could it isn't easy at all. That's what my mother tells me anyway" Misaki explained as Haruto threw her a bottle of water.
"Well let's see the rest of these genetics of yours" Jun said, he stood up along with Kiiro standing beside him; he cracked his knuckles and grinned widely.
Misaki looked at him for a moment before she too grinned, but her teeth were not the same as before. Her canines had grown tremendously and the look in her eyes was much wilder than her normal appearance. She shrank to the ground on all fours, still staying on her feet while bending down with her knee's till her hands touched the earth, her claws came out and her ears suddenly had a slight point to them.
"Wow…" Haruto breathed, even he and Shouta rarely got to see Misaki's beast form, or so she liked to call it.
Jun stepped back but he didn't look as though he was afraid, he grinned just as wildly, he had been itching for a good fight and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Although normally very laid back, once Jun found an opponent he deemed worthy he would fight until he was almost about ready to drop dead himself. Something in which his sensei was desperately trying to stop him doing, but he was an Inuzuka but he wasn't as good at controlling his animalistic eagers as some other clan members were.
Shouta sighed in annoyance.
"This looks like it's going to be painful…"
Xxxxxxxxx
"Come on Gaara it's your move" Tsuki pushed him.
Gaara almost growled at her in frustration, she wasn't letting up at all, not only had she followed him to his hotel room but now she was forcing him to play shogi which she had found in the cupboard of the hotel room.
Without a word he placed a piece down and crossed his arms and stared at Tsuki menacingly.
"Oh nice one, now let's see" Tsuki thought for a moment before she moved one of her own pieces taking the one he had just placed, she smiled triumphantly at him.
"Looks like I win" she chipped happily.
"Are you finished making me play stupid games" Gaara growled at her, she looked at him with mock hurt.
"Aw what's the matter Gaara, don't you like playing with me" she mocked.
"No" he answered venomously, she gasped childishly.
"That's not very nice Gaara" she smiled suddenly.
"You are nothing but a nuisance to me" he told her straight, she looked at him for a moment before her eyes became dark, with a malicious smiled forming on her lips.
"Am I really Gaara, well if I'm that much of a bother why don't you kick me out then" she said darkly, knowing he couldn't.
He may have had the strength to kill her there and then, but years of twisting his mind just the right way ensured her protection from him, he still thought he was too weak to kill her for all he knew, and that's the way she intended it to stay. It made sure that her two daughters were safe as well as herself. He didn't have the confidence to lash out on Tsuki, not after what happened last time, she always hated that memory but if it meant her daughters were safe, she would do it.
However she really did hate the way she had to treat him, she felt no better than the other villagers who kept away from him and said very hurtful things, so her own way for making up for it was spending time with him whenever she got the chance, he didn't like it but she felt it would do him some good at least, even if she had to keep up her tough guy appearance.
She looked at him in the eyes and put her hands together while her elbows leant against the table, she rested her head on top of her hands and leaned forward, almost seductively.
"Gaara, tell me something, what makes you think you can speak to me the way you just did" she inquired.
"I can do whatever I like" he answered plainly.
"I see, well answer me this. Who do you think would win in a fight? You, who are no more than a boy with limited abilities, yes you may have the demon but that power is out of your control. Or me, a fully grown woman with decades of experience and knowledge far beyond the most intelligent of people with power that is completely my own and I can control at will. So Gaara, who do you think has the better chance?" she mocked him, he growled in frustration, his anger was rising even though, he wouldn't admit it, he was terrified of this woman.
She smirked widely before continuing.
"I've seen things you can never imagine, I've had to do things so degrading you would think I was scum. And there is one thing you must always remember Gaara, you can't win against me, I am immortal, no matter how many times you try to kill me I will always return, you on the other hand, if you were to disappear you would stay dead, now which would you prefer? A long life of taking the lives of others, or a short lived life with a very painful death" she thought she may have gone a bit far that time.
While it was true she was immortal, it didn't mean she couldn't be killed, her body had been made so it would not decay as she grew older, and therefore her youthful appearance would always remain. But dying through a disease or being killed in battle were things she was not safe from, but to keep Gaara in his place what else was she supposed to say?
He glared at her with rage, how dare she threaten him, if he got half the chance he would kill her here and be done with her right here right now. God how he hated her.
She leaned back and smiled warmly at him.
"But we don't have to worry about that do we? You know your place and that's all that matters" Tsuki turned to the door when Gaara's siblings entered the room along with Kato.
"Lady Ookami, has everything been alright?" Temari asked seeing the absolute rage built up on Gaara's face.
"Oh Temari how many times my dear, call me Tsuki, and everything is just fine, I was just about to leave anyway, Kato do you want to come with me?" she asked her youngest child as she stood to leave.
Gaara's shoulders relaxed a bit, despite him being angry, having her out of the picture made him feel loads better, but he still wished he could kill her.
Tsuki went to the door with a very nervous Kato following behind her, she said her good byes to the three before she left. Half way down the hall Kato asked her a question.
"What did you actually say to him, he seemed pretty mad" she asked as politely as she could.
"I was just ensuring yours and Misaki's protection my dear" she answered putting her arm around Kato's shoulders, leading her out of the building.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Jun and Misaki were sprawled out on a completely destroyed training field, both were completely exhausted as their team mates looked at the destruction around them with sweat dripping form their heads.
"Well, at least I know what that form of yours does now Misaki" Jun breathed out.
"Same to you" Misaki mumbled.
"Come on guys let's get you back to Ka's house" Haruto suggested as he went to pick Misaki up, he held her bridle style in his arms while Daiki and Shouta both lifted Jun up while Momoko was left to lead Kiiro to the house.
Misaki didn't like being picked up the way Haruto had her so she began to shuffle and squirm in his grasp telling him to put her down.
"You over did it, now you can't walk, there is no way I'm putting you down Misaki, what would Tsuki think if I let you walk back like this? She'd have my head" he told her firmly.
She looked at him blushing; he had never spoken to her like that before and she wasn't sure how to take it.
"Plus what else are friends for" he mumbled under his breath, just enough for Misaki to hear, she blushed even more.
She looked up to his face and could see underneath his dark shades to see his beautiful eyes, he always felt embarrassed by his eyes because they looked like a girls eyes, but in Misaki's opinion they were his best feature, besides him being hugely tall, she always found that attractive in a guy.
"I hear wedding bell's" Momoko teased as she walked a head to see Misaki's blushing face.
Both flushed fiercely at her comment, which encourage sniggers from the 3 men behind them, Haruto put on a straight face and steadied his breathing.
"Just because I'm trying to help out my friend automatically means I'm hitting on her, very mature Momoko" he said in his defence, it hadn't worked though.
"Course it does man" he heard Shouta shout behind them.
Haruto walked faster ahead of everyone else, his blush made his face burn. Misaki dug her head into his chest which made him shiver slightly, he could feel her warm breath through his clothing and it was driving him crazy.
"Thanks Haruto" she whispered, he looked down at her in surprise.
"No problem" he answered plainly, what else could he have said.
Well Tsuki let's see if what you said is true.