Change in the wind

Chapter 5 – The forest of death

Gaara glared at the proctor for the exam, there was nothing more boring than having to listen to an older woman, he got that way too often from that idiot of a wolf. People thought he was a freak; in her prime instincts she's no better than him.

Gaara could remember the day they had fought, the first and only time they ever went hand to hand in combat. It was a distant memory but it was one of the clearest he had.

Misaki and Kato were playing together in the training field along with those stupid friends of theirs, Gaara had entered the training field with one thought at mind, he was going to kill them all. Misaki felt someone and turned to face him, she actually smiled at him and tried to run over, just feet away she was sent flying backwards by an onslaught of sand. She coward away trying to crawl out of range, but it was no use; the sand flew over her, grabbing any limb possible. The two boys frightened, but they rushed to help their friend, before they would even get close they too were caught in the sand. An unfamiliar look spread it's self all over Kato's face as she unleashed powerful bursts of Chakra and ran straight at Gaara, Misaki screaming for her to get back but Kato kept charging, using her abilities to keep the sand at bay, but as she got closer Misaki screamed in pain which broke Kato's concentration, Gaara quickly grabbed her by the neck with his sand and it looked like the children were doomed.

Before he got chance to crush them he suddenly felt a powerful force rushing to their location, from over his head he saw a giant wolf leap over him, knocking him down losing his control of his sand. The wolf spun and faced him, turns out it was only the illusion of a wolf, Tsuki's presence often had that effect. She growled viciously at him as the children ran behind her in safety.

Gaara scowled at her, his sand rushed towards her but it didn't even come close, wind covered her body making it impossible for his sand to have any effect, she deflected the sand without lifting a finger, and disappeared in a tornado of wind. Before he had time to blink he was sent flying, his sand broke his fall but he was stuck, he couldn't get up, little did the young boy realise it was because he was paralysed with fear. Tsuki strolled up to him, she stood over the youngster and glared evilly down at him, the sun was behind Tsuki, casting a deadly shadow over Gaara, he looked at her with eyes wide with terror.

"If you dare touch my children, Gaara, I will not hesitate to KILL YOU" Tsuki's face was fierce, her eyes were open wide while her pupils looked like a cats when it was angry, her teeth bared and her face wrinkled with anger.

Gaara could do nothing, he didn't know how to control his powers well enough to have a chance at taking her on, he shivered slightly at the look on the woman's face, she turned her back towards him and walked away.

Gaara was angry, that memory made him sick to the core, that woman was the reason he couldn't kill that annoying brat of hers, Misaki. Misaki taunted him all the time because he couldn't touch her, it was all because of Tsuki, and if it wasn't for her he would fear no one. But as they say, everyone is afraid of something, Gaara's Achilles heel was Tsuki.

Anko finally stopped talking and handed out the papers everyone needed to sign, Gaara took one and passed the others to Kankuro.

Kankuro sighed; he didn't want to be stuck in the forest with Gaara that was just like suicide, Gaara would kill him in a heartbeat if he got chance. To say he was meant to be Gaara's older brother didn't really mean much to the red head. But something else was troubling him, Kato had been acting really strangely the whole journey to the second exam area, he would talk to her about it later, come on, he was her boyfriend after all she should tell him if something was wrong.

Kankuro and Kato had been in an extremely privet relationship for the past year, they were both complete opposites, he was over confident and loud while she was quiet and withdrawn but both very privet people, so they acted like they normally would, but even when they were alone they very rarely acted like a couple, no one knew of their relationship, not even Tsuki. Kankuro sometimes felt really bad about the way he treats her, but she always tells him she doesn't mind, recently since they got to the hidden leaf village they were seeing less and less of each other, which did make Kankuro sad just a little bit.

But he didn't have the time to be thinking about her, he needed to concentrate on not getting killed by his younger brother.

Temari was no better than Kankuro where Gaara was concerned, she was just as afraid of him if not more so. Misaki always made her feel safe, the two had grown up together and were the best of friends but Misaki was older, and already a Chunin, so she had no reason to be there. Temari sighed and waited for their gate to open.

This was going to be a long wait…

Xxxxxxxxxx

Tsuki was sitting in the living room with her friends, she was borrowing one of the books that Ka had that held legends about all sorts of different Shinobi families, it had families all over the world, right from the Hyuuga clan in the leaf village to clans in the far mountains in the earth country. But the one that caught her eye was the legend of Chikara Osamu, Mother to the Osamu clan.

She was a peasant girl by the name of Chikara abandoned by her parents when she was abandoned in a field near the temple of earth at the age of 5. A boy by the name of Kenji, who was his families' soul heir, found her and brought her home, they were a wealthy and friendly family; they welcomed her and treated her as one of their own. They gave her a job as Kenji's personal maid, despite their age difference of 4 years the two quickly became friends.

As they grew older their friendship turned into love. When Kenji was 16 it was time for him to become a man by marrying a woman and producing children of his own. But he didn't want a noble woman, he wanted Chikara, when he tried to convince his parents to marry her they refused, saying she was not of noble blood, therefore he could not marry her. After much arguing Kenji finally decided to run away from his family, and take Chikara with him. One night they got on horseback with some money and supplies and rode away never to return, they were riding for days when they came across a small village on the other side of their counties boarder.

They were happy together and started up much new business which made the village grow drastically. The two quickly married and became the nobles of their village, Chikara was known as the most beautiful woman in the entire land, her heart stopping looks with a strong sense of leadership made her the envy of many men. Kenji noticed that their land was covered with criminals and also many men who wanted his wife, so he taught her how to defend herself in battle. But he quickly discovered that she picked it up with such ease that she eventually surpassed him, he was pleased with her progress.

Over the years they had 7 children together, 5 boys and 3 girls, among all her children, Utsukushii her eldest daughter was by fair her favourite, she valued her children equally but there was something about Utsukushii that Chikara was especially proud of.

As her children grew up and married different people that's when many people recognised a similar fighting ability of all her children, therefore the Osamu clan was born, coming from Kenji's last name. Chikara's eldest son, Taiyou, took charge as leader of the clan after his father passed away due to an illness; he then took this opportunity to get back at his older sister for upstaging for so many years in all aspects of life, especially in fighting when women shouldn't fight.

He made Utsukushii head of the newly formed Shinobi force that grew over the years, their family was asked to assist the land of earth in war fair. Unfortunately for Taiyou, Utsukushii was brilliant at her job; she survived every encounter and still came back in one piece to see her kids and husband, Taiyou hated that everything was just handed to her. She had the richest husband in the land, gifted children and was a brilliant fighter herself, not to mention intelligent and beautiful. But one day everyone awoke to find Utsukushii dead in her own bed, no one knew the cause of her death, however when Chikara started to accuse Taiyou of killing his own sister he had her banished from their land, but she refused to go. Taiyou, angered by his mother's outburst of lies, called her traitor of the clan and had her sentence to death.

As she lay dying from being stabbed muttiple times she cursed her clan, calling them traitors for killing their own and doing nothing about it, she swore she would avenge Utsukushii and take back the clan that was rightfully hers. With her last amount of strength she sent an explosion of chakra across the land, destroying the Osamu mansion and sinking her Chakra into all the members of the Osamu clan far and near. Her body was never found.

Tsuki was astonished; she'd never heard all this about the legend before, it was strange to hear that that is what really happened with Kato's family past, she stared at the illustration of Kenji and Chikara, she could see how they were the ones to start the clan off and for their very specific characteristics.

Kenji had golden blond hair, he was tall, handsome with grey-blue eyes, and he looked as every noble man should at his time.

Chikara was tall for a woman of that time; she had dazzling black hair that only highlighted her crimson red eyes, she was beautiful, no other word could describe it.

To think, Kato was related to such a powerful and beautiful woman. She could defiantly see where the blond hair red eyes came from now, the name was Kenji's and the ability was Chikara's.

Tsuki smiled, she knew that there was something specially about Kato, but to think that her ancestors chakra would be dormant within her body was astonishing, Tsuki didn't know that chakra could be passed down like that, the sudden burst of powerful chakra emitting from Chikara's body must be why the clan has such powerful chakra control and probably the reason why their chakra was a different colour than most too.

Tsuki suddenly gasped what if it wasn't just Chikara's chakra that she had unleashed as she died what if her soul had also been stored within that chakra. If that was the case, did that mean that Chikara was living inside the members of the clan? Of course, that was why their Kekkei Genkei was growing weaker, Chikara wanted revenge so she cursed the clan and using her own soul is making the clan weaker as the generations pass. Tsuki suddenly frowned, then why did Kato have such a powerful Kekkei Genkei? From what the Osamu clan said about her she has the strongest Kekkei Genkei since Utsukushii, maybe even Chikara herself.

"Tsuki is something wrong?" Hon asked.

"Oh er…Hon how much do you know about the Osamu clan?" Tsuki asked, drawing everyone's attention.

"Well I would say a good deal, that family has worked closely with the Land of Earth as far back as I can remember and even longer than that" Hon answered.

"Chikara, you know it was said that a large burst of chakra came from her, could her could her soul be a part of that chakra?" Tsuki stared intently at Hon.

"Well many people think so; considering her body never survived the blast it took. Chikara was said to have been a remarkable woman for her time, she wouldn't have gone down without a fight" Hon explained.

"Hon, do you think the clan keeps getting weaker because Chikara is preventing their Kekkei Genkei's from reaching their potential?" Tsuki asked worriedly.

"I guess that could happen, Chikara had cursed the clan and swore to return one day, how she was going to do that no one quite figured out. But now…if she is laying with her entire clans bodies…" Hon trailed off just as worriedly.

"If that was true then why is Kato so powerful, do you think Chikara is letting her get stronger and plans to use her to take revenge in the clan? She's been acting strangely all morning, do you think something triggered Chikara's realise?" Tsuki jumped up.

Hon's face went pale, if that was true then they were all in trouble if Chikara was unleashed, the other animal ninja looked nervously at one another. Tsuki tensed in fright.

Kato, please be alright.

Xxxxxxxxx

Gaara, Kankuro and Temari had reached the tower in only a few hours. They were bored, they had been there for hours and there was nothing to do. Kankuro secretly wished that Kato was here so he at least had her to torment a little bit.

As the 3 ninja sat on the cold concrete floor Kankuro's thoughts drifted to Kato. He remembered the time when he had walked in on her changing, she had gotten so embarrassed but she hadn't yelled at him to get out or anything, she'd done the opposite. She was in nothing but her underwear and she had walked over to Kankuro and kissed him. Kankuro was defiantly taken by surprise, he remembered touching her silky soft skin, how much he wanted her right then and there. But before anything happened Misaki came home and Kato quickly pulled away and threw on whatever she could find before greeting her older sister, it did leave Kankuro a little disappointed but Misaki would have probably killed him if she found out. Afterwards that event never came up in conversation again; it was like it never happened.

Kankuro sighed, Kato was way too shy and sensitive to think about doing things like that, he was 14 and he already wanted to sleep with her even if he was a bit young for it, maybe that's why she didn't want to, because of their age. Kankuro leaned back against the wall and felt like hitting it, his sexual frustration was getting the better of him, what else did he have to think about in the long wait in the tower.

2 days after they had reached the tower themselves the door opened to reveal Kato and her two team mates, one was carrying the other boy on his back, looks like they had encountered a bit of trouble along the way.

"Your late" Temari teased Kato, however Kato didn't blush or shy away from her comment.

"We ran into some trouble" Kato answered.

"Some trouble? We nearly died out there, if it hadn't of been for Kato I would have been killed" the boy riding on the other back told them.

Kankuro was impressed, she had managed to save her team mates as well as fight off the other ninja, Kato was talented but she normally failed where it came to actually fighting. Kato hated confrontations but this time it hadn't stopped her.

Kato's team walked over, there seemed to be a slight swagger in the way Kato approached them, a more confident stance. Kato heard the voice speak in her head again, over the past few days she had learned from what the voice told her, she was still scared slightly and still quite unsure of herself, but she was making progress. In the short time they had been out in the forest she had learned more from Chikara then she had in her entire life time.

"So this is the boy you told me about" Chikara said inside her head.

"Yeah, his name is Kankuro, he's nice once you get to know him" Kato answered her mistress; Kato had starting referring to Chikara as mistress because of the lack of anything better to call her.

"I see, well he certainly looks like a strong ninja" Chikara giggled slightly.

Kankuro felt more attracted too her that moment than he had done through their entire relationship so far, seeing that confidence in her made a world of difference. That swagger in her step, she wasn't stuttering or fidgeting, she had an aura of power around her, if he wasn't so privet about his relationship with Kato he would have dragged her to the nearest empty room and had his way with her.

Chikara recognized the look the boy was giving her and smiled knowingly.

"Kato" Chikara called

"Yeah what is it?" Kato answered in her head as she sat down next to Kankuro.

"Have you slept with this Kankuro boy yet?" Kato physically blushed, Kankuro looked at her questionably.

"Well…I thought we were at one point…but it didn't end up happening, he never even talks about it, so I assumed he didn't want to" Kato answered nervously.

"My dear child, does that look in his eyes really suggest he isn't thinking about it right now? Trust me my husband Kenji used to give me that same look whenever he wanted me, I can teach you how to seduce him, if you like, every Kunochi needs to learn how to seduce males" Chikara chuckled.

Kato hesitated, she wasn't sure, sure she knew that Kankuro was a teenage boy with needs just like any other male, but was she ready for it? She felt ready when he had walked in on her changing, but afterwards she was afraid of what could have happened. She was a ninja, but she was also a normal woman with needs of her own, she needed to keep her mind focused on the task at hand.

"No, I am a ninja, I need to focus on my mission not my own feelings" Kato said strongly, Chikara was surprise but she was impressed none the less, taking up her duties the way she should, she reminded Chikara of Utsukushii way to much.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ka could tell that Tsuki was worried, they had informed the Hokage as soon as they had realised what was happening to Kato, but he assured them not to worry for now, they were given information just recently that Kato had reached the tower. Tsuki had calmed down but it didn't make her feel any better.

Ka couldn't stay with Tsuki today; she had important work to do in her lab. Ka had spent all day in there when she finally decided to give it a rest for a while, she wandered the streets looking for a tea shop, she wanted to rest after her research, it was giving her a pain in the neck. As she found a nice spot to sit down she ordered her food and sat down to eat, she chuckled slightly to herself, it was such a nice day, but she didn't think the ninja's taking the exam would be thinking the same thing right now. She sat back and enjoyed her tea, passers-by greeted her cheerfully and she returned their greetings.

"Yo Lady Ryuu what's shaking?" she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

She froze at the site before trying to regain her composure; Gai was standing right there, he grinned before taking a seat next to her. Her blush became uncontrollable, but she breathed deeply and tried not to act like she was shy.

"I'm fine Gai, how are you?" she asked taking a sip of her tea, trying to look at him.

But how could she not, he was well built and muscular, he actually had quite a handsome face and sure his eye brows were a bit bushy and his hair was an odd style but Ka thought it rather suited him, she blushed again but this time he noticed.

"Are you sure you're alright? Your face is a bit red" Gai commented as Ka nearly choked on her tea.

"Yes yes perfectly fine, the sun is just making me a little hot that's all" Ka didn't do very well in keeping her composure this time.

She didn't know why but she couldn't control herself today, after all of the other teasing her about it her own feelings were getting the best of her, and she didn't like it. She was an ace ninja, she had battled so many times that death no longer fazed her, but to a man that her heart would not stop pounding she was powerless to do anything.

She shivered when he reached up to feel her forehead, she was burning up, did she have a fever?

"You're really warm my lady, come on I'll take you to the hospital to get checked out" Gai said.

"No no no there isn't a need for that" Ka was done trying to hide it anymore; he could know all he wanted for all she cared, but maybe she could use this opportunity to get to know him better.

"But you know, I would enjoy your company, the others are a little side tracked right now and I can finish my work for today, what do you say? Keep me company for a bit" she had never taken advantage of her position before, but this time she was willing to try anything.

"Well I suppose if you're ok" Gai answered slowly before grinning widely.

"Of course I'll keep you company my lady"

"Please call me Ka"