(Just a heads up another couple of characters will show up here and will be explained later) ~Kiba-chan
The next morning we were sitting in the room that we had placed Kakashi in the night before. Naruto was trying to sneak a peek under Kakashi's mask, Sakura was telling Naruto to be careful to not wake him up, Sasuke was sitting on the floor nearby, I was sitting on the window sill, and Nachuraru was sitting on my lap with my head on his shoulder. I was relaxing and not really paying attention to the others. I glanced over at the others and thought 'I wish that it could always be like this at least then I wouldn't have to always be looking over my shoulder to see if anyone is following me or worrying about someone finding out who I really am.'
"EHHHH," Naruto yelled as Kakashi opened his eyes. Naruto fell back on his butt and I saw my cousin hide a smile with one of his signature smirks. I smile at the sight and gave Nachuraru a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to face the others. Tazuna's daughter walked in just as I turned around.
"Good to see you're awake, but you shouldn't try moving yet," she said directing her words at Kakashi.
"Oh. I meant to tell you that I gave him some of my chakra yesterday as I carried him here, so he should be fine by tomorrow or the next day," I said rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. I gave a small laugh with a sweat drop behind my head when the others looked at me like I was crazy.
"Kiba. You should know better than to give someone else chakra when you don't know what will happen," Kakashi said giving me a small glare.
"Except I gave you chakra that matched yours perfectly, Kakashi," I stated forgetting to be embarrassed.
"That's not the point, Kiba, and you know that. You never know when you're going to need an extra boost to win a fight," He said.
"Wrong again. I didn't give you any of my reserve chakra, I gave you some of my current chakra, and I made sure that I would have more than enough in case someone is stupid enough to attack. Besides I'm pretty sure that after yesterdays performance if Zabuza is still alive he won't be attacking us anytime soon, after all I checked his chakra levels before that boy took off with him," I said being completely serious. Everyone, but Kakashi and Nachuraru, looked at me like I was insane for thinking that Zabuza was still alive.
"Kiba, how could he still be alive if that other ninja took his body away and destroyed it?" Sakura asked.
"Because there is a good chance that he didn't kill Zabuza. After al he used Senbon to deliver the final blow and we should all know what these little guys are used for," I said holding up one of my senbon. I saw Sasuke's eyes widen with realization, Kakashi and Nachuraru looked like they were beating themselves up for not realizing it sooner, after a few moments Naruto nodded in understanding, and the others just looked completely lost.
"So, you're saying that he just put Zabuza in a type of paralysis and too his body away so it could be healed?" Naruto said. Sasuke nodded his head in agreement with what Naruto had said and everyone other than those who had trained with me looked surprised that he knew that.
"Exactly Naruto. However you forgot to mention one thing..," I said stopping mid sentence.
"..And that's the amount of time it takes for a body to recover from being put in a near death state..," Nachuraru continued and then stopped.
"..Meaning we only have a few weeks at most and a week at least to get ready for our next meeting with them," Sasuke finished. I nodded my head in agreement.
"Okay now that that's cleared up, could you guys please never do that again," Kakashi asked.
"NEVER!" Sasuke, Naruto, Nachuraru, and I yelled in unison. I saw Kakashi sweat drop at our ability to know exactly what the others were thinking at the same time.
"Anyway I'll have to increase your training schedule so that you guys can be ready in case we meet those two again anytime soon," Kakashi said.
"All right this could actually be really fun," Naruto said looking as excited as Sasuke and I felt. I let a little of that excitement spill over long enough to give Naruto a high five and a genuine smile.
"But how will a little more training get us prepared to fight people like them?," Sakura asked not looking very convinced about this course of action.
"Because if my guess is right this training will teach those who don't already know how to use their chakra in the correct way without using too much or too little. Besides it will only be until Kakashi-sensei is back to full strength," I said. Sakura nodded her head in understanding and I gave her a small smile of encouragement.
"You're right Naruto this is going to be awesome," I continued feeling really energetic for the first time in a long time.
"It won't be for you," a little boy said as he walked in. I turned and faced him still feeling happy about not having any dreams the night before.
"Inari! Come and give your grandfather a hug!" Tazuna said.
"Inari be nice. These are the guests that I told you about this morning," Tsunami said.
"But mama, they're going to die just like everyone else," Inari said giving us less than a second of his time. I looked at the kid and started laughing at his stupidity. I felt the eyes of everyone in the room turn to look at me.
"Here's some friendly advice kid. You shouldn't count us out just because you think we are week. And if we do end up dying here at least we know what and who we died for. At the least a fight means that when I destroy a house or accidentally set something on fire I cannot be blamed for it. After all I would have done it in order o protect your village. If I really wanted to I could leave this place right now and not regret anything," I said with a sneer at the boy. Everyone continued to look at me with surprise on their face.
"But you would die so it wouldn't matter anyway. Aren't you afraid to die," Inari asked. My mood was dampened by that one little remark.
"No. I'm not afraid to die. If anything I'm the exact opposite at times, because I know that when I die everyone I've ever cared for is waiting for me on the other side. But at the same time this gives me a reason to continue living because I now that they would rather I live my life to its fullest than just let it end before I had kept my promise to them on their death beds," I said with a sad smile. I looked out the window and saw a black butterfly go by. I headed over to the window and steppe up onto the sill. "I'll see you guys at the training spot later," I said. Before anyone could respond I had pushed off of the window sill and landed on the ground from the second story window. I took off at a sprint towards the forest eventually running on all fours like an animal while still in human form.
{Sasuke's POV}
I watched as my cousin's mood darkened with just that one sentence from the brat. It got darker and sadder as she talked about wanting it to end. When she finished she jumped out of the second story window with a promise to see us at the training spot later.
"Don't go after her. She wants to be alone right now," I said as Nachuraru made as if to go after her. I looked at his face and saw that he was conflicted between obeying an order and comforting his mate. Yeah, I knew that they were mates and not just boyfriend and girlfriend like everybody else thought. Nachuraru looked indecisive for another second before deciding to do as he was told and leaving my cousin alone.
I nodded my head satisfied with his reaction and before anyone could blink I had the Inari kid by the collar of his shirt. I looked him in the eyes to see what was going on in his head. After a second or two I set him back down and put my hands in my pockets.
"A word of advice brat, If you value your life and well being you shouldn't egg my cousin on like that. She can be very dangerous when she is in a mood and I don't want to see her the way she was five years ago," I said with a slight shiver at the memory of what the district and forest looked like after she lost control that night.
"What are you talking about that girl couldn't hurt me," Inari said.
"Baka, she could kill you without even using a fraction of her power. A young person who has no backbone or training would end up like the deer she is currently filling with needles and other weapons," Naruto said.
"Come on we need to get moving before a human comes across her path and gets used for target practice," I said. Nachuraru and Naruto stood up and started to get some crutches so that Kakashi could come with us.
"Boy I want you to tell me something. Would that girl really hurt Inari," Tazuna asked after Inari left.
"Yes, but only if he pushes her like he did right now, Normally she is calm and collected, but if she loses control we could all die and she wouldn't care until after she had settled down. Everything Naruto said is true, even the thing about the deer. She usually goes out and trains to burn off extra chakra so that she doesn't have the energy to hurt people, but if people like your grandson push her far or hard enough she will find the strength to kill that person without even trying. Although between you and me I seriously doubt that she will harm him," I told him.
"Sasuke we need to get going," Nachuraru said. I nodded my head and headed out the door with the others right behind me.
"Okay. You guys go on ahead I'm going to get Kiba and we'll meet you there," I said taking off in the direction of the forest.
'You don't need to come and get me. I'm already at the training area, so just stay with the others'Kiba said through the mind link.
'Are you sure?' I asked.
'Yeah, besides Wolfspirit and Tigerspirit are here with me.'
'Okay then I guess I'll see you when we get there' I said waiting for the others to catch up. I waited and just thought about what my cousin had said today and what she had told me when I asked about her past all those years ago. 'Why does it seem that even though she has family right beside her she still wants to end the pain that is her existence? Is this why she doesn't want me to be consumed by my hatred and want for revenge?' I thought a little disturbed by that. I gave a soft sigh as I pushed the thoughts out of my head.
"Hey teme, what are you sighing about," Naruto asked, walking up with Kakashi and the others.
"None of your business," I retorted, still a little angry over what had happened.
'Sasuke, don't take your anger out on him.'
I must have looked a little startled by the voice because Sakura asked me if I was all right. "I'm fine," I said moving to walk a little closer to Nachuraru and Naruto. I really couldn't stand that girl. She only ever thought about herself and never tried to do anything to help the team. She was too focused on the fact that I was on her team and not the fact that she was the weakest member of our team. I still didn't understand how she ended up on a team with my cousin. We walked in silence after that and eventually arrived in a clearing pretty deep within the forest.
"Hey guys," Kiba said, jumping out of one of the nearby trees. She was followed by Wolfspirit and Tigerspirit. I was glad to see that she was still herself, even if she was a little too sad for my taste
{Kiba's POV}
"Good now that we're all here we can begin," Kakashi said looking around at us. I felt Sasuke, Nachuraru, and Naruto edge a little bit closer to me. I was happy that they cared enough to worry about my well being.
"What kind of training will we be doing," I asked.
"We'll be working on chakra control."
"And how will we accomplish this?"
"By climbing trees," Kakashi said. I groaned at this. 'Great I get to ail this dumb training again' I thought to myself.
"Kakashi-sensei, how will climbing trees help us learn to control our chakra?" Sakura asked.
"Because we'll be forced to climb the trees without our hands," I said looking irritated. Everyone else looked surprised by my answer and looked at Kakashi to see if this was right.
"Correct. Now because this isn't something that something that you are familiar with I'm going to demonstrate how to do this," Kakashi said. As he finished speaking he started to focus his chakra into the soles of his feet. Then he walked right up the side of a tree and ended up hanging upside down from one of it's' branches. "All right now that you've seen how to do it I want you all to try," at this point he threw five kunai at our feet," use the kunai to mark how far you get on each try. Try to go farther the next time, until you make it to the top of the tree."
We all nodded our heads in understanding and each of us picked up a kunai and started to concentrate our chakra. As I started to form the correct amount of chakra required something started to inject other chakra into it. Before it could get out of hand I released my hold on the chakra dispelling it back into the reserves. I started again this time with little less chakra and nothing went wrong. I selected a tree that was a little away from the others and couldn't be seen very well by the others and took off with a sudden burst of speed. I put one foot on the trunk and nothing happened, but when I made it to the second branch a small explosion happened. 'Kuso' I thought and marked the tree before I fell back to the ground. I twisted mid air and landed on all fours and looked back at the tree. I realized I had marked the tree for nothing since it now had a hole through the center of it.
I spun around angry that I still couldn't control it after all these years. In my anger I threw the kunai in the direction I had come from without aiming for anything. I growled in my throat when I heard a squeak of surprise following the sound of the kunai embedding itself in a tree. I walked back to the others still pissed off that I had ended up blowing a hole in my selected tree.
"Thank Kami that kunai missed my head," Sakura said. I looked up when I heard her voice. She was all ready half way up the tree.
"Hey do me a favor and throw that kunai back down here," I said even more pissed that she was able to accomplish something I hadn't been able to do without causing something to blow up, fall over, or get wounded,
"This is your kunai?," she asked me a little surprised.
"No it's some enemy's kunai and I just thought that it would make a nice addition to my collection. Yes it's my kunai now can I please have it back," I said rolling my eyes.
"Kiba why did you throw your kunai at Sakura?" Kakashi asked walking over to me.
"I didn't mean for it to even come back over here. I sensed an unknown chakra behind me and threw the weapon without thinking about it," I lied.
"And you didn't think to check the direction before you threw it?"
"After what happened earlier on this mission would you have checked before throwing the weapon?" I retorted. Kakashi looked a little surprised that I had indirectly mentioned the two mist ninja from the tart of our journey.
"Just forget it. I'll just use one of my own kunai," I said stalking off in a random direction. I knew that everyone was looking at me with concern. I ignored it and continued deeper into the forest. After I was far enough away from the others I jumped into a tree and returned to watch the others practice. I stopped before I entered the clearing, looked down, and saw Inari watching the others train. I growled softly and watched the others train for a little while before returning to the secluded area that was already damaged. 'I wonder how this is going to end' I thought to myself.
A few hours later and I had only succeeded in blowing smaller holes in the tree and setting sections of it on fire that I had put out with a small water style technique. I decided to stop for a little since even the beasts were a little tired from all the chakra I had drained from them.
'The both of you deserve that for blowing up the tree and setting it on fire a couple times'I told them making sure that I kept the other links closed.
'As long as you don't misuse us we don't mind working alongside you' a soft, but strong feminine voice said.
'I agree. And I'm sorry if we I upset you by making your life a little more interesting'a rough feminine voice agreed with the first.
'Don't worry about it. I think I'm just a little mad that the kid could get under my skin so easily'I answered. I started to slowly make my way back to the others. When I got there I saw Naruto and Sasuke asking Nachuraru for some tips on how to climb the trees. I saw Sakura glowering in their direction and decided to ask her for some help, if only to keep her from feeling useless. I walked over and whispered my question in her ear and listened to the tips she gave me. After a few more hours we returned to the house for the night. I was actually a little tired from using all that chakra and just threw myself onto my bed.
The next day Sakura and Nachuraru were told to accompany Tazuna to guard him while the rest of us returned to the clearing to continue our training. Before Nachuraru and I parted I gave him a quick good luck kiss and ran to catch up with the others. This time instead of leaving the others and training somewhere more private, I picked a tree that was in the clearing and started yesterdays training over from scratch. It wasn't long before the tree was covered in small holes, burn marks, and kunai slashes. By the end of the day I had made a little more progress along with Naruto and Sasuke. We returned to the house and ate dinner without any incidents and retired to our rooms. I lied down and was out in a few moments.
[Dream]
I was surrounded by darkness and every now and then a scream would pierce through the silence. I started running hoping against hope that if I ran I could get away from the screams and darkness. The farther I ran the faster the screams came. I ran fast letting the fear and adrenaline fuel my legs and body. I was forced to stop when I came to the edge of a cliff. I spun around getting ready to run back the way I had come only to see that it blocked by the bodies of people long dead.
 "Kibaaaa! Why didn't you protect us like you promised?" the bodies cried. I stood there frozen to the spot by fear. I spun around when I couldn't bear to look at the bodies of the dead Uchiha's and other villagers whose deaths I blamed myself for. I regretted that movement as soon as I saw the three people standing behind me.
 "Daughter, why did you leave us behind? Why didn't you pull us out of the fire? WHY DID YOU ABANDON US?!" the bodies of my parents yelled at me. I stood there shaking and I felt my heart beat accelerate as the third body turned and revealed my dead mate's face.
 "My love, why did you leave me to fight alone? Didn't you love me? Didn't you care? Why? Why did you leave me there? You left me to fight your enemy...all alone...why did you do it? Tell me," he moaned in the voice of a dead man. I took a step back as they reached out their hands to grab me. I was truly horrified at this point and was shaking all over. I felt something grab me left arm and glanced over my shoulder to see a dead Uchiha drag me into the embrace of the other dead people. I started to struggle against their cold, clammy hands. They started to drag me further into their midst and started to climb over each other to get to me.
 "I never wanted to leave you. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't do anything to protect you guys that day. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" I sobbed as my parents and mate turned their back on me. "please don't leave me," I whimpered as a dead body blocked my view of their retreating figures.
[Reality]
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH," I screamed as I bolted out of my bed. I jumped out and ran to the door.
"Kiba?" Sakura called. I ignored her and felt panic settling into my system. I glanced around and took off running in a random direction as I heard more doors opening and people calling out to see if I was all right. I saw the door across from mine open and saw my dead mate standing there instead of my cousin. I took a step back shaking uncontrollably. I spun around as someone came out of the room that I was just in, and saw my mother. Before anyone could move I took off running towards the other end of the house away from the others.
"KIBA!" two voices called out. I ignored them and kept running as more doors opened I saw the faces of my dead loved ones and relatives. Eventually I came to a door and opened it to reveal a cupboard of some kind. I ducked inside and curled myself into a tight ball and prayed that no one would find me. I flinched as the door opened and revealed my dead mate's face.
"No y-you shouldn't be here y-your d-dead I s-saw you d-die. YOU'RE DEAD SCOURGE!" I yelled as I scooted farther back into a corner. I was visibly shaking and I could feel tears gathering in my eyes.
"Kiba?" he asked concern evident in his voice. I flinched like I had been struck just by hearing his voice.
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled. The person ignored my comment and started to come closer to me. I closed my eyes as he reached a hand out to touch my face. I flinched away from the touch as the hand came into contact with my face.
"Shhhh, It's okay. You don't have to talk about it. Just let it all out. I'll always be here along with the rest of our team. So don't be afraid to tell us anything," the voice whispered in my ear. I opened my eyes and I saw that it was Nachuraru who was there. I sat there stunned that he was really there and after a few moments I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried. After a few minutes I felt him gently lift me into his arms and carry me out of the cupboard. I had closed my eyes again and couldn't see anything, but I could sense the others standing around and watching me.
"W-what happened? What could've put here in such a state?" Sakura asked.
"Only one thing could do this to someone as strong as her and that's guilt. The guilt she feels must be extremely great if it was able to penetrate the waking world and make her break like this," Kakashi said. I felt Nachuraru's hands tighten around my body as he walked by the others. Eventually he set me down on a bed and lied down next to me. I stayed there and cried about everything that had happened. After a few moments I heard someone run into the house and rush up to the second floor. The person rushed into the room that Nachuraru and I were in and came to a stop.
"Thank you, Kami," Sasuke whispered as he came into the room. I felt him slip in on the other side of me. "Please never do that again," he whispered in my ear. I felt him slip his arms around my waist slightly below Nachuraru's. I felt some more tears slip down my face as I realized that I had scared my cousin in a way that could've destroyed him. Both of them tightened their arms around my body and started to whisper that it wasn't my fault. After a few more minutes I felt both of their breathing even out into the rhythm that meant they were asleep. I drifted off to sleep again after a few more minutes and didn't have any more dreams that night.
I opened my eyes and tried to sit up only to find two sets of strong arms keeping me in place. I looked to my right and saw my cousin lying there on his side with his head on my shoulder and his arms wrapped around my midsection. When I looked to my left I saw Nachuraru there with his head turned towards me and with his arms around my waist. I smiled and gave a content sigh, happy to just lay there. I stayed like this for a few more minutes before I heard someone starting to come to the room.
"Hey Sasuke," I whispered lightly shaking him. He opened his eyes after a few more moments.
"Morning cousin," he whispered back giving a small smile. I honestly couldn't remember the last time he had really smiled like that.
"Unless you want to be caught here with us, I would get up and get ready for the day," I whispered back ignoring my thought about his smile.
"But I like it here," He whispered back lying his head back down.
"Alright then stay right there," I whispered giving him a quick kiss on the forehead. He returned my kiss with one of his own on my cheek before feigning sleep. I lied there and smiled happy with the situation.
"Well you guys look comfy," Kakashi said opening the door. I just hummed happy to be between my cousin and second mate. Kakashi smiled at me and I could tell he was happy to see me better after the night before. "However unless you want Sakura to see you like this I suggest getting up."
"OKAY I'M UP JUST DON'T SEND SAKURA IN HERE!" Sasuke said jumping out of bed. He pulled off his dirty cloths and pulled on his clean spare. I didn't really care if Sakura caught me with Nachuraru or not so I didn't move from my spot in his arms. However, Sasuke's scream had woke him up and he started to get ready as well.
"Come on love. We don't want Sakura to see that you are still in bed," he said trying to pull me out of the bed.
"But it's comfy here and I really don't feel like leaving today," I complained.
"Fine then I'll carry you down there," Nachuraru said pulling his shirt over his head. He walked back to the bed and threw me over his shoulder before continuing out the door with Sasuke right behind us. I smiled and put a hand under my head so that I was a little more comfortable.
"Oh please you both know that if I really wanted to I could get out of here right now."
"Yeah, we know. But like you said you like being with us, so we're not really worried about it," Sasuke replied. I smiled and gave a little laugh when Nachuraru decided to set me down. Nothing happened after that during the day, but that night Sakura started talking about a picture that she and I had noticed Inari looking at during the meal.
"That...that was a picture of Inari's father. I guess you could call him a local hero," Tazuna said. After that Inari got up and left the room looking a little angry. After that Tsunami yelled at the old man and told him he couldn't talk about that man like that in front of Inari.
"Please Tazuna continue, but only if you think it is something that you should share with us," I said breaking the tension in the room. The old man gave me a grateful look before continuing his story.
"The man in that picture wasn't really Inari's father, but he was the closest thing that boy ever had to a father. He was a man who believed that if you cared for something you should protect it with your life. He lived and died by those words. Once when the seasonal rains were very heavy the flood gates were left open and if we didn't get them closed half the village would be destroyed, that man jumped into the raging waters and risked his life to save a village that he wasn't from and was able to get a rope over to the gates so we could close them. Then when Gato came he tried to fight against him and that is what cost him his life. He confronted Gato and that man had him executed in front of the whole village as an example to the villagers of what happened when you went against him. Little Inari was there and watched the man who had promised to protect him broke that promise, even if it wasn't his intention. Little Inari hasn't been the same since," Tazuna said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Kiba, Naruto. What do you two think you're doing?" Kakashi asked as Naruto and I stood up only to fall to our knees.
"We're going to prove...to that little...idiot that he's...wrong about the world," I panted struggling to stand up. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, but shrugged it off. "This is something we have to do."
"You've got that right...my friend," Naruto panted having just as much trouble standing as I was. We stumbled to the door and helped each other get to the training grounds and we started to climb the trees again. He ended up collapsing from exhaustion a few hours before the moon set. After another hour of training alone I climbed up to a low hanging branch and joined him in slumber.
I was awoken by the sound of something rustling in the tree. I glanced over and gripped a kunai ready to attack it if it was dangerous. I relaxed when I realized it was just a squirrel. I looked down and saw that there was a boy kneeling next to Naruto with his hand stretched out. 'If he goes for his throat I'll throw the kunai and grab Naruto before making a run for it' I thought watching as the boy's hand got closer to Naruto's neck. I relaxed when the boy just shook him awake and told him he would catch a cold if he stayed there.
"Hello there," I said jumping down from the tree. The boy looked up startled that I had appeared so suddenly.
"Hello," he said giving us a small smile.
"Are you looking for healing herbs?" I asked noticing that the basket he had with him was full of herbs used to cure paralysis.
"Yes. A good friend of mine got hurt a while ago and I'm gathering herbs to make a salve to put on the wounds," he replied. I walked over the herbs and studied them looking for any imperfections that would make the herbs useless to the injured person.
"Let us help you. That way you can get out of here quicker," I offered watching Naruto nod his head in agreement. We set about colleting herbs and at the end he had more than enough to make his "salve". When we finished he stood up to leave and I offered to escort him out and he accepted.
"All right you can stop the act now he can't hear us," I whispered. The boy looked startled that I had known it was an act.
"How did you know?" he asked narrowing his eyes at me.
"Not important, Haku. What is important is that I have a message for your friend from my master," I said giving him a letter that had my old name. It was tied to a jar of my healing salve for serious poisons. He took it and quickly his it in his basket among the herbs he had gathered.
"Thank you. I'll make sure he gets it immediately," Haku said giving me a slight bow. I nodded my head and we parted ways when I noticed my cousin coming down the path looking a little worried. I frowned when I saw his mood and decided to find out what had happened.
'Oh he's just worried about Naruto. I kind of told him that he had fallen asleep out here. And then thatgirlcame into his room and I pinned her to the ground until he had left so he wasn't too happy to see her so early in the morning'Bloodwings said to me. 'Great she almost walked in on him half naked. That obsessed idiot," I thought to myself. I growled softly and teleported back to the training clearing before Sasuke got there.
"Hey Sasuke," I called as he ran into the clearing. He just grunted and got to work followed by me and Naruto. A few hours later Kakashi and the others came to check up on how we were getting along. Naruto happened to be taking a rest in one of the tree limbs about three-fourths of the way up the tree. However, he decided to show off and pretended to fall off the branch only to end upside down. A few seconds afterwards he lost his concentration and ended up falling for real only to be saved by Sasuke.
"Idiot. You know that you have to keep your concentration if you don't want to fall," he said grabbing Naruto's leg before he could fall too far. Shorty after that Sasuke started to lose his footing because he was low on chakra. "Naruto I want you to focus you chakra into your feet right now. Got it?" he whispered. Naruto nodded surprised that Sasuke had talked to him so tenderly. 'That idiot cousin of mine forgot that he doesn't have any chakra' I thought to myself, dropping into a crouch. A second after that Sasuke started to fall and he threw Naruto back towards the tree limb where he was able to stick and stay safe. In the next second I launched myself out of my hiding spot and grabbed my cousin halfway between the ground and Naruto.
"Hold on tight idiot," I said. As soon as I felt his arms latch onto my torso I changed my vocal cords and let out a mighty roar before something grabbed us out of the air, successfully stopping our fall. I looked up and saw Bloodwings looking back at us with a toothy grin on his face.
"Nice catch, buddy," Sasuke called to his dragon.
'Always happy to help the mighty leader and her deputy'Bloodwings said projecting his thoughts to everyone. I saw Kakashi look a little surprised to hear the dragon and Sakura flinched just a little. Nachuraru smiled happy to see the dragon after such a long time away from them. I gave a light laugh as Bloodwings lowered his tail to gently set us down on the ground and made as if to land.
"Hey Bloodwings can you reach up here and give me a hand getting down?" Naruto called down. I saw Sasuke's head whip around in surprise at the fact that Naruto knew Bloodwings. Bloodwings gave a small roar in answer, stretched his neck out to its fullest length, grabbing Naruto gently by the collar of his jacket, and set down with the boy in his jaws. He gently set the boy down next to my cousin who was still stunned that Naruto knew his dragon so well.
"How do you two know each other," he asked after he recovered from the surprise.
"I introduced them before we graduated from the academy," I said.
"When was this?" he asked narrowing his eyes in anger.
"Before it happened," I replied my voice shaking a little as I remembered that day. I saw my cousin flinch ever so slightly at the mention of the day his brother betrayed him. "Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but ,well, it wasn't really my place to tell you after all my son is old enough to decide who he tells what and I don't have any say in what he does. And I didn't want to tell you after what had happened. I really am sorry for not telling you."
"Just forget I asked. It wasn't worth it and we need to get back to training," he said turning his back on me. I flinched ever so slightly, but didn't argue with him since I was just as happy to push the unhappy thoughts out of my head.
'It seems you were right mom. I should have told him sooner' Bloodwings said looking at me with guilt in his eyes. I shrugged and returned to the training. After a while Kakashi and my other teammates left, but Bloodwings stayed and watched us train occasionally having to catch one of us as we fell from the tree. When the moon finally made it to half way up we had all made it to the top of our respective trees.
"Hey you guys ready to head back?" Sasuke asked after catching his breath.
"Sure," Naruto and I said together with large grins on our faces.
"All right then. Hey Bloodwings can you give us a lift down to the forest floor?" Sasuke called out. Bloodwings agreed to help us down and a few minutes later we were stumbling through the door of Tsunami's house.
"So you three are finally back looking like something the cat dragged in," Tazuna stated.
"Yeah, well climbing to the top of a tree without your hands will do that to a person," I panted.
"So you guys made it?" Kakashi asked.
"We sure did and it was worth the effort just to get a glimpse of the sky," Naruto said.
"Good then tomorrow you guys can join us at the bridge to help protect Tazuna," Kakashi said. I felt my face break out into one of my true smiles and I gave a sigh of relief as I was told we didn't have to go and climb trees again the next day. The three of us took a seat and we sat there catching our breath and letting our sore muscles relax for a few hours. I saw Naruto lay his head down on his arms and noticed Inari watching him with an intense stare.
"WHY DO THREE PUSH YOURSELVES SO HARD?! Why? I don't understand. All three of you are out there pushing yourselves until you're too tired or sore to move without pain racing through your body. You all go out there and train for hours on end and you still come back here with a smile on your face or in your eyes. I don't get why you would put so much effort into protecting a village that you don't belong to. Especially, the two with the weird clothes, you two go out there and come back covered in scratches and you still have the energy to go clown around and have fun. People like you who act all tough and strong always end up dead! You both come and shoot off your mouth and you don't know anything about us! You don't know what it's like to suffer and be alone or be treated like dirt," Inari yelled at us. I saw my cousin stiffen and Naruto didn't even flinch at the words that I knew were cutting deep into his very soul. Before he had even finished speaking I felt a low growl start in my throat and when he finished it had turned into a snarl of fury and rage. A second after he had finished speaking I was standing over the boy.
"Tell me something, brat. Did you watch your mother and father murdered before your very eyes?" I growled. Inari shook his head no and my left hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. I lifted him up off the floor and held him above my head, ignoring the gasps of horror. "I did. I watched as the person I had called friend murdered my parents right in front of me. Before that my whole village treated me like I was a monster because of something that I had no control over. They beat me, picked on me, mocked me, and even attacked me with weapons. You want to know why I wear long sleeved shirts and pants all the time? It's to hide the scars those people gave me. This collar I wear was a present from one of my very few friends, who gave his life so that I could live mine. You think Naruto doesn't know pain and suffering? Let me tell you something he has had as hard a life as I have, hell his might have been worse than mine because unlike me he didn't have anyone who cared for him until I moved to his village. I was one of his first friends; I was there for him when the villagers would try to do to him what people had done to me. I stopped the beatings, teasing, taunting, and attacks because I wouldn't let what happened to me happen to someone else. And unlike you, who decided to mope about and cry all the time, I swore that I would protect the people who had ridiculed me as a child and even now I want to protect the very people who tried to kill me on more than one occasion and would have if they hadn't feared me as much as they did," I snarled tears blurring my vision. "You are very lucky because you still have people who care about you. PEOPLE WHO WOULD DIE FOR YOU! I would never let anyone die to protect me not after losing everything twice," I whispered finally letting the tears flow openly down my face.
I dropped the brat and fell to my knees overwhelmed by emotions. I heard the doo swing open and felt myself being lifted by two strong arms before I was outside in the forest. I felt another pair of slender arms slip around my torso and the warmth of a body pressed against my back. I could see black robes and weird swords on the people and felt them both hugging me tightly.
"It's all right to cry, Kiba-chan. We don't mind if you let your emotions out," a female voice whispered in my ear. I took her advice and buried my head in the chest of the person in front of me and cried. I don't know how long I stayed like that, but when my sobs finally subsided the moon was beginning its' decent. "Better?"
"Yes thank you. Both of you," I replied and whipped my eyes removing the last of my tears.
"You shouldn't keep your emotions locked up like that. It could get you into trouble someday," a male voice whispered softly.
"I know, but sometimes it's easier for me to lock them up then let them out," I whispered.
"Ignore him. Sometimes he can be to hard headed for his own good," the female whispered back. I nodded my head and pushed myself away from the man in front of me and was able to get a good look at their faces for the first time, or should I say their masks. The man in front of me had on a mask that resembled a human face, but you could see its teeth and it was bone white and had red streaks on the left side of it and could see orange hair. The other looked similar to the first, but had a pair of wolf ears and blue markings on it and I was able to see she had black hair. I wasn't really all that surprised to see the masks and thanked the two again before making to return to the house.
"Kiba-chan, are you sure you want to return to that house after what happened," the man asked.
"I may not want to, but I need to be with my team and if that means being around that little brat then so be it," I said glancing back at them. I could tell that they approved of my answer by the way they nodded their heads at my answer.
"Alright, but before you go why did you trust us so easily, Kiba-chan?" the girl asked.
"I trusted you because you didn't mean me or my friends any harm. And I know that because if you had meant any of us harm the pack wouldn't have let you get to the house without a fight and I would've known about your presence if you had meant us harm." The girl appeared to accept my answer and they didn't ask any more questions as I continued on my way out of the forest. I turned around one more time meaning to get their names and all I saw were two of those black butterflies from earlier. I sighed and teleported to the house. When I got there I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. A few minutes later I felt something move my body and I felt the warmth of two bodies when I was set back down. Without thinking I nestled closer to the one on my left and fell into a deeper sleep, untroubled by dreams.
{Kakashi's POV}
'Kiba wasn't really herself last night, but I guess that it's understandable after what she said' I thought as I ate breakfast before the others got up. A few minutes later Sakura came down and started to make her breakfast as well. We ate in silence and a few minutes later I went to go get up the other two who would be going with us to the bridge today. I opened the door to the guy's room and found a very familiar scene before me. In-between Sasuke and Nachuraru was Kiba sleeping as soundly as a log. I was about to leave when I noticed that the two boys were awake and were silently slipping away from the girl. I nodded my head silently and left before they caught me there.
"Alright we're going to head out. Don't worry about Kiba and Naruto I doubt they'll be able to move today especially with the amount of chakra they used in training," I told Tsunami an hour later with the three genin and bridge builder waiting for me.
"Alright don't worry they'll be well taken care of," she said with a smile. After that we left for the bridge and arrived there in just a few minutes. When we got there we found the builders who had arrived earlier unconscious and surrounded in a mist. The mist cleared for a few minutes and revealed Zabuza and the boy from before, but something was wrong they looked like they were trying to fight something that wasn't there.
"Haku we must keep fighting him. If only for her sake, we can't let him use us to destroy the things she holds dear," Zabuza yelled when it looked like the boy next to him was going to attack us.
"I know, Zabuza, but I can barely keep myself from attacking as it is. I still don't get how he knew we would be here to meet her today. Do you think we were betrayed by someone in her group?" Haku asked Zabuza.
"It doesn't matter how or why, but we can't let that man use us like this. She doesn't deserve what happened to her. What I want to know is how the hell he was able to surprise us like that. He is a weakling, but he was able to jump us so easily that it makes me sick. Of all the times for an enemy of hers to show up it had to be today, and what's worse is that it's one of the one's on her list," Zabuza growled. I saw him take a step forward and the boy rushed forward only to stop suddenly as if he was undecided about what to do. Zabuza growled in his throat and I decided that it was time we got down to business since it was obvious to me that he had beaten the people who were littered about the bridge.
"Sasuke, Nachuraru I want you two to take on the boy in the mask. Sakura you guard Tazuna. I'll take on Zabuza," I said and they all nodded in agreement. A few seconds later the fighting started, but it still seemed as if our opponents were holding back. Eventually Sasuke and Nachuraru were able to get a tag team attack on Haku and the boy activated a Kekkei Genkai and trapped the two in a dome of ice mirrors where they were bombarded with needles. Afterwards I had to focus on my opponent who was still trying to fight the imaginary person who was controlling him and Haku. He even tried to convince me that there was somebody hiding in his mist that was controlling him. I ignored him and continued to evade his attacks while not giving any in return.
{Kiba's POV}
I woke up and found that the others had already left and started to freak out. This in turn woke up Naruto who was just as mad as I was about being left behind. We rushed around and got ready as fast as we could and took off towards the bridge. 'Kuso, kuso, kuso' I thought as we raced through the woods. I stopped when I smelt blood in the air.
"Naruto we have to go back now!" I yelled spinning on my heel and racing back the way we had come.
"You've got that right. No matter how big of a brat that kid is we can't let him get hurt," Naruto agreed as we ran. When we got there we saw Inari yelling at two samurai who had knocked out his mother. We had come up with a plan on the way there and we waited for the right moment to put it into action. Inari yelled at the two a little more and then charged at the two who drew their swords and proceeded to try and kill the boy. The swords connected with the boy's body and a puff of smoke exploded from where he was a second ago.
"Where the hell did the kid go?" one of the swords man asked.
"Do you guys really have time to worry about a kid when your opponent is standing in front of you with a sword at your throat," I asked appearing in a puff of smoke and grabbing their weapons from their hands and to their throats in the span of five seconds. The two samurai raised their hands like they were saying we are unarmed don't kill us.
"Good thinking, Kiba. You were even right about those two guys knocking out Tsunami and what the brat would do. You really are smart when it comes to fighting and strategy," Naruto called from behind me.
"Heh thanks Naruto. Now do me a favor and make sure that Inari and the others can't see what I'm about to do," I said over my shoulder. He nodded at me, created clone, and covered the eyes of Tsunami and Inari before giving me the all clear. I nodded and returned my attention to the samurai. "Well I guess getting left here wasn't a total waste of time after all. Now let's get down to business," I hissed as my pupils narrowing to slits. The two shivered in fear and before they could move I had plunged the swords into their throats killing them before they had a chance to react.
I dropped the swords and watched the bodies fall to the dock. I growled angry that I had wasted precious time on those two idiots. I signaled to Naruto to give the boy to the lone and let out a long, piecing whistle. It was answered a second later by two roars.
"All right Naruto let's go. As soon as they get here we're going to leave and the disposal squad will remove the bodies and then they'll head over to the bridge to help us out. After we leave I'll have our shadow clones take Inari and tell him to gather as many villagers as they can," I told him. He agreed as two dragons flew down and hovered above us and four of my clan mates jumped off the back of the larger, black female dragon.
"Okay so I'll take Bloodwings and you'll take Nightpitch. Great I'll be right behind you Kiba. Let's go save our friends and teammates," Naruto said as Bloodwings grabbed him like before. I nodded and told the four who were staying behind to send the medical team to the bridge as soon as they were done with the bodies. I jumped onto Nightpitch's back and we took off into the air heading for the bridge. As we gained altitude I moved to my usual spot between her neck and body. After a few seconds we evened out our flight path and started to pick up speed going as fast as we could without losing her apprentice.
'Listen, Kiba, I think that our friends were betrayed by their employer because shortly after they arrived they were attacked by one of those guys. I don't know what happened because at about the same time you took off towards the bridge and I had to focus on keeping you in sight, but I fear that something has happened'Nightpitch told me. I nodded my head and she picked up the pace as the bridge started to come into view.
'Naruto do still remember that training I did with you on how to ride on a dragon's tail?'I asked when I spotted Haku's Kekkei Genkai from a few miles away. I could see it because I had opened the link between myself and Nightpitch as soon as she had started to rise into the sky.
'Yeah. I still remember and if you're asking I'm ready to try whatever you're planning as long as Bloodwings is willing to try'he replied.
'Good because we're going to have to use that speed boost to get in there and protect Sasuke and Nachuraru from that masked boy. Okay so move down to the tail now and I'll have the dragons launch us when we get a little closer to our target. And remember you have to teleport out of the decent a few feet above your target, but at least this way we'll still have the dragons as a surprise for our enemy' I said and made my way to Nightpitch's tail and clung to one of her tail spikes to keep my balance. As we got closer I felt the two dragons start to channel their chakra into their tails so that we could get an even bigger boost to our speed.
'All right. LAUNCH!'I mentally yelled and we were sent flying away from our dragons and towards the bridge at a speed that would have killed a normal person. 'NOW'I yelled to Naruto and we both flared our chakra at the same time and teleported onto the bridge. As we flew through the air I saw senbon flying towards Nachuraru and Sasuke and pulled out a kunai throwing it at the senbon before finishing the hand signals. I heard the senbon and kunai crash into each other before the senbon could get to close to my family. The others seemed a little surprised to see the kunai that came out of nowhere and took out all the senbon.
"Well it seems that you two forgot about our other teammates. And judging by the angle of that kunai one of them is very pissed," Kakashi told Zabuza. I saw Zabuza look my direction as I appeared in a puff of smoke. I snarled and moved before he could get a good look at me. I dashed into the ice mirrors just as Haku jumped out of them and threw more senbon at the two who were already trapped inside. Just as a couple senbon were about to pierce Nachuraru I jumped in front of him and felt the needles puncture my arms and midsection. I glanced to my right when I heard a soft gasp and saw that Naruto had done the same thing for Sasuke.
"Thanks," I whispered to Naruto. He just gave me a nod and returned his attention to our opponent. 'Something's not right about this. They shouldn't be attacking us, since they came here looking for me' I thought as I dropped my pierced arms. I ripped out the needles and dropped them into my bag for later. I glanced at Naruto as a few drops of blood dripped down my arms and gave him a nod that said I was ready to put the rest of our plan into action.
"All right then let's do it," Naruto said making a few quick hand signs that were very familiar by then," SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" After we yelled that we were surrounded by a puff of smoke and multiple of clones jumped out and attempted to destroy the ice mirrors. As we neared the mirrors Haku jumped out and destroyed the clones by piercing them with his senbon.
"Sorry about that, but you wouldn't have been able to destroy the mirrors, even if you had made it to the mirrors," he said returning to one of his mirrors. I growled as the smoke cleared and I had more needles in my arms and legs. I heard Nachuraru and Sasuke draw in sharp breathes as they saw the numerous needles in Naruto and I. We took a shaky breath and started to remove the needles again.
"HEY YOU GUYS DON'T YOU DARE LOSE TO A GUY LIKE THAT!" Sakura screamed at us.
"Sakura don't encourage them. The only way to end this fight is to take down Zabuza before the boy can take down our friends," Kakashi said raising a hand to remove his head band from his eye.
"Kakashi," I yelled making him freeze. "That isn't going to work this time. Our opponents aren't these two, if you were even half the ninja you claim to be you would have checked them before engaging them in battle and you might have noticed the chakra strings," I gasped between the pain. "Naruto do you have enough chakra left for one more try?" I asked him. He nodded and started to form the hand signs alongside me and we tried to get through the mirrors again. We were repelled before we were even close to the mirrors. We fell back and we had a ton of needles in us again. This time we didn't even try to remove the needles and we stood back up and tried again and again with the other two eventually joining in by using their fire-ball jutsu, trying to melt the mirrors and/or hitting Haku. After a few more attempts Naruto and I had both drained our chakra down to almost nothing.
"Hey do you two think you can still fight?" Nachuraru asked.
"Of course we can," Naruto said pushing himself up to his feet. I nodded my head and struggled to stand because of the needles that were in my legs. A few seconds after we stood we both passed out before we could attack the ice mirrors again. 'Please don't let this battle end here, not yet' I thought as my world faded to black.
{Nachuraru's POV}
I watched as Naruto and Kiba-chan collapsed from exhaustion and lack of chakra. I gave them both a quick glance and returned my attention to our opponent. I saw Sasuke give the two a glance as well before he masked his emotions again and got ready for opponent's next move. I watched as the boy looked down at the two in what appeared to be concern before his head was snapped back up.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally I can kill the monster and collect the reward on her head, but first I think I'll play with you two a little longer before I kill them both," a voice coldly cackled. I glanced around trying to find out where the voice had originated from. I saw Sasuke doing the same thing looking as worried as I felt. I returned my attention to the boy when we shot out of the mirrors and started to attack us. I saw that Sasuke had been able to activate his Sharingan during the fight and moved at the same time he did.
"I'm sorry, old friend," the boy yelled as he threw senbon at Naruto and Kiba. I darted forward and was able to intercept the senbon heading for Kiba as Sasuke grabbed the boy and threw him away from Naruto before he was hit by the needles meant for Naruto. I gasped as a needle pierced my heart. I coughed up blood as I felt the needle go through my heart and out my back. I heard Kiba groan as she regained consciousness and I collapsed backwards only to be caught by Kiba. She gasped as she saw the blood running down my chest and out my mouth.
"No please Nachuraru, please, I-I c-can't lose you not now. Please you have to be okay, think of our pack, think of your kids, think of me. Please don't leave me," she cried cradling my body. I lifted a hand and, cupping her face, I wiped away her tears.
"Please don't cry for me. You have...to live for our pack...and for our pups. Please don't let my death destroy you. I love you too much to let you die," I whispered as I struggled to breath. She stared at me for a second before she leaned down and gave me one last kiss. I smiled into the kiss as my world started to fade to nothingness.
'I will always love you, Kiba'I thought as my world turned to nothingness.
{My POV}
I watched as my second mate died in my arms. He gave one last smile and told me he loved me before he stopped breathing. I hugged him to my chest and felt the pain in my heart change. I sensed a large amount of chakra being released and glanced up and saw that Naruto was holding my cousin in much the same way that I had just held Nachuraru. I did sense that he was still alive and that he had told Naruto who he wanted to kill. I watched as a red chakra started to appear around Naruto and surrounded him.
'MASTER! Release us! Let us help you, let us kill the one controlling your friends'two voices called to me in unison. I growled deep in my throat.
'NO! YOU WILL NOT TAKE OVER, BUT YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME AND CHANEL YOUR POWER INTO ME!'I yelled at the two voices. I felt a change in their attitude and it felt like they realized what it meant for me to watch another person die for me. It felt like they feared and respected me at the same time.
'As you wish master'the voices said.
"Please forgive me," Haku said. I glanced up and saw Naruto about to kill Haku. I felt my fangs grow and fur begin to grow out. I snarled and teleported over to stand in front of Haku. I stopped Naruto's punch and noticed that it wasn't Naruto I had stopped, but an enraged Kyuubi driven Naruto.
"Don't worry about it, Haku. I won't let you die here because you're not the one who killed Nachuraru. Naruto leave him alone it's not Haku's fault this happened. Take this power and use it for something good," I said. I saw him calm down enough to pay attention and understand what I had said.
"Why don't you blame him? He killed your mate and cousin," Naruto whispered with confusion on his face.
"Because he didn't kill my mate, and I know that because I can see the chakra strings that are controlling him and he is my friend," I said. "And now it's time for me to kill the man who killed my mate and took my light. HIDDEN ART OF THE ALPHA: ALPHA'S CALL!" I shouted. A second later howls and screams were heard from in the mist. I snarled and jumped over Haku and blocked a needle that was aimed for his heart. "Like I said I won't let him hurt you, my friend. I care too much about my friends and I don't want to lose anyone else today," I said giving him a smile.
I stiffened as I heard something that sounded like a thousand birds chirping. I teleported myself over to stand in front of Zabuza right as Kakashi struck with his Chidori. I moved to the left ever so slightly and felt the attack go through my left shoulder. I stared at Kakashi who stared at me in horror.
"You all right Zabuza?" I asked over my good shoulder.
"I'm fine. What about you and Haku?" he asked.
"He's going to be fine my healer is already with him and this wound will close as soon as my sensei removes his hand from the wound," I said with a smile. I grasped Kakashi's arm and drew it out of the hole he had created in my torso. As soon as it was out a black chakra surrounded the wound and started to close it. At the same time the mist lifted as Zabuza released the technique he had been forced to use against us.
"Good to see you're all right old friend," he said smiling the same way that Kakashi would smile with his eye. I nodded and turned so that I was facing back the way I had come. I snarled at the man who had thrown the senbon that had pierced Nachuraru's heart. "He's the one that attacked us when we got here. I don't know how, but he knew that you would be here and that Haku and I were going to meet you here," Zabuza continued when he noticed who I was snarling at. I growled louder and in the next instant I was behind the man and had gripped him by the neck. I slowly crushed his windpipe while the wolves started to rip pieces of his flesh off. A few seconds later and I had ripped out his throat killing him in a very unpleasant way.
"HEY NARUTO! You did it you defeated the enemy. Oh... Hey where is Sasuke?" Sakura yelled over to Naruto. I saw him hang his head and avoided meeting her eyes. I didn't need to watch to know what happened next. I heard her choke and then Tazuna and her were running over to where my cousin and mate had fallen in combat. I felt tears slide down my cheeks as I realized how much Naruto cared for my cousin.
"Well, well what do we have here? It seems that the great demon from the mist has failed to take out his target and to think he was stopped by a bunch of kids. Oh, well at least I had the forethought to hire a backup so that I could kill you anyway," a man said as he walked forward from within a crowd of bandits and thieves. I growled softly and saw Haku appear in front of the man who kicked the boy in the stomach before he could attack. The man raised his leg to strike Haku again and I gave a loud snarl which changed into a roar before it passed my lips.
"Zabuza, do remember what I told you about keeping your demon locked up until you needed it?" I asked once I had the old man's attention on me and away from Haku. I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. "Good because now is the time to release the demon inside and take our revenge on that idiot," I snarled performing some quick hand signs and ending on the dragon.
"ULTIMATE SEAL RELEASE: DEMON SEAL RELEASE!" I shouted as I finished the hand signs. I was enveloped in a black chakra and when it disappeared I stood there in a form that would cause anyone to cower in fear. I was covered in black scales with red stripes from head to toe and had two large dragon wings sprouting from my back. My fingernails had turned into claws and my muscles had grown in size and now I had pointed razor sharp teeth that were ready to rip the flesh off my enemy. I opened my eyes and they were completely blood red except for the slit of a pupil I had. I whipped my muscular tail back and forth impatiently and felt the poison seep out of my scales.
"What's the matter, Gato? Scared to face two demons or are you just afraid of my true form?" I snarled at the man who backed away. When he turned tail and fled back towards his group Zabuza and I took off after him. We ran right into the midst of his group and I killed everyone who tried to touch Zabuza and myself. When we burst out from the crowd I lifted into the air and shot straight for the man who had hired the person who had killed my mate and injured my friends and family. Zabuza got to him first and stabbed him in the heart with a kunai before taunting him about going to hell. I swooped down at that moment and lifted Gato into the air.
"When you see Scourge in hell tell him I said hi and to give you the special treatment," I said before punching him through the chest and letting him fall into the water. I turned my attention back to the gang of cowards who were about to gang up on Zabuza, but I swooped in again and removed Zabuza before the gang could attack. I set down between my group of friends and the group of thugs. The thugs charged at us, but stopped when a bolt fell from the sky and landed at their feet.
"If you want to raid our village you're going to have to get past us first," Inari yelled and the villagers backed him up. They looked a little started when howls and roars of varying pitches joined their shout of defiance. I joined the sound of the pack by giving voice to my rage and drowning out most of the people and packmates. The enemy shook in fear as my roar was answered by three more roars of pain and fury.
"Your boss made a huge mistake by targeting the people I care for ad you guys are going to pay for his mistake the same way he did. With your lives," I hissed at the bandits. They stood there shaking like cornered mice before turning tail and fleeing to their boat. A few of them were able to make it onto the boat before Nightpitch dove from the sky and capsized it. The other bandits started to run towards the side that she wasn't on, but stopped when Bloodwings landed on that side of the bridge.
"Well, boys it looks like we don't have a choice. We have to push our way through the enemy and those villagers if we want to escape with our lives," one of them called out. I laughed at his stupidity and started to change half of my scales to a crystal white color that reflected the sunlight. Then I released my hold on the dragon demon's chakra and let my birth marks take effect. This time instead of red stripes I had black stripes on the white half of my body and white stripes on the black half of my body.
Before any of them could move I had drawn my white sword and stabbed the man who spoke through the heart. I pulled the blade out and the others cowered before me. Many of them turn and ran to the gap in the bridge thinking they could escape that way. As the first man jumped off he was thrown back onto the bridge where he became nothing but a blood stain on the bridge. A white as snow dragon with a black flame on his left front leg crouched in front of the group. He snarled and his color hanged from pure white to a crimson red in the span of a second. I turned my back on the scene and the other two leaped forward to finish off the group in a bath of fire. I walked away, not even bothered by the heat that was released by the attack, and didn't stop until I stood in front of my mate's body. I sheathed my weapon and dropped to my knees and just stared at his motionless body.
I saw Tigerspirit making her way over to me and snarled at her in a way that said take care of the seriously injured first. I didn't move from the spot next to my mate even when the sun set. I just sat there and stared at him until I couldn't take it anymore and let out a painfully sad howl. I saw my friends and family flinch before those who could express their sorrow and pain joined my howling with their own grief filled sounds.
"Tazuna it would be best if you go home for now. You won't get any more work done today I'm afraid," my second deputy said.
"All right. I'll head back and leave the rest of the building for tomorrow. Come on guys," Tazuna answered him. After he left I stood up and turned to face my pack.
"My friends and family, today we lost a great warrior and even better step-father. Nachuraru was a good person and he didn't deserve to be dragged into this fight when he had nothing to do with it to begin with. He was a great Alpha male and even better mate. The pack and clan have lost a very faithful, loyal, and understanding leader today. Now we will hold the vigil that we give to all warriors at their passing. Let us remember the good times we had with him and not the sad ones. Let's never forget what this person has done for us and let's never forget him. Tonight we lost one great warrior, but we were able to save two of my old friends and both of them were able to survive the wounds inflicted on them during the fight and will be allowed to join us if they wish. They don't have to accept, but if they do we will welcome them with open arms to our family. Now let those who were closest to the deceased please come and join me around his body so we can say our finally goodbyes and watch over him as he joins our ancestors on the other side," I finished taking a seat right above his head.
"Wh-," Sakura started before Sasuke slapped his hand over her mouth.
"Do not speak to her right now because if you break this ritual there is a good chance that she will kill you before you can move from that spot," he whispered in her ear. He let go of her mouth and started to make his way over to me. I was about to stand and help him, but stopped when Naruto wordlessly helped him over to sit beside me. Naruto gently put my cousin down and turned to go, but stopped and took a seat close by. I looked at my cousin ad saw that he was still covered in needles and gently pulled him towards me. I gently pulled out the needles and when he grimaced in pain Naruto gave him his jacket so that he could bite that without making a sound. After I pulled out the needles I pulled out a jar of salve and smeared it over the wounds before making sure that he didn't have any internal injuries. When I was satisfied with his condition I let him return to his seat on my right side. He sat down and I smiled ever so slightly when Naruto moved a little closer to my cousin. 'At least something good happened from all of this' I thought bitterly.
{Kakashi's POV}
I watched as the dragons and many of the wolves and tigers crowded around Kiba. I felt bad for her as she had been telling the truth about the puppet master and because I hadn't trusted her she had lost someone important to her, again. I winced as I remembered the pain I felt everyday for the same reason. I pulled down my headband and covered my Sharingan eye as a boy walked over to us.
"Are you Kakashi and Sakura?" the boy from before asked. I looked up at him and noticed that he had black cat ears on his head and a black tail, as well. "Please ignore my tail and ears I'm meant to be beside my leader and her first deputy. My name is Blackpanther and as I'm sure you can guess I'm her second deputy when they aren't in the village," he continued.
"Okay well how do you know Kiba?" I asked.
"She saved me and my mother from my bastard of a father," Blackpanther said.
"And who was your father?" I pressed trying to learn more about my fourth student. The boy stiffened at my question and curled his lip in disgust as he thought about something.
"My father is someone that I won't tell you about because he is more connected to my mother and leader than he ever was to me. For Kami's sake the jerk killed my brothers and sisters and then he sent me after my leader and told me not to come back if I didn't kill her. He even abandoned my mother and I when Kiba showed up to try and finish what he started," he growled at me.
"Okay. Now what does Kiba want?" I asked.
"My leader has decided that the two of you may sit vigil with us if you wish, but you should know if you try and talk during this sacred practice many of those near you will not hesitate to attack you. This is a ritual that allows the people closest to the deceased a period of time where they can think back on the times they shared with the person and gives them a chance to accept the death of the person. It only works for some people and for those few who are lucky, or unlucky, enough to be visited by spirits this is a chance for them to talk to that person before the next half moon meeting," he explained why they did this. I nodded my head and we were lead to a spot where we were close to Kiba and the others.
I watched Kiba as Blackpanther changed into his animal form, which ironically was a black panther. I sat there and quietly thought about everything that I knew about Kiba and her family. We stayed like this for hours and it seemed like the weather was grieving alongside Kiba because it started to rain and those who weren't grieving took shelter from the rain and the three dragons extended their wings and kept the rain off everyone, but Kiba and Nachuraru. I saw Kiba lift her head towards the sky and it seemed like she was asking Kami why this was happening. As the sun rose the rain tempered off and Kiba rose a few minutes after the sun had and picked up Nachuraru's body. She and the dragons moved a few feet away from the others before she set the body down and backed a few feet away.
"All right guys lets finish this," she choked out. The three dragons nodded their heads slowly and sucked in a large breath each before bathing the body in flames. Kiba didn't move away from the heat and even took a step closer to the fire. I saw her bow her head as tears flowed freely down her face. She stayed like that until she dropped to her knees and put a hand to her face covering her mouth in what appeared to be shame.
"Are you all right, my friend?" Zabuza asked as he teleported to her side. The boy she was fighting earlier appeared beside her as well and tried to comfort her as best he could, but Kiba brushed him off and turned away as the flames died down and left nothing, but ash behind. She walked forward and picked up a handful of ash before standing and releasing it into the air.
"My loves I have once again failed to protect you and once again it is because you sacrificed yourself for my sake. I will never forget the sacrificed you both made for me. I just hope that you will forgive me for what I plan on doing next," she whispered as the ash blew away on the wind. She spun on her heel and limped back over to her cousin who was looking much better considering the number of needles he had taken during the fight. It was at this point that I noticed she still had a few needles in her leg, which was why she was limping.
"Sasuke, it's time I told them the truth about my past and who I really am," Kiba said to Sasuke who wrapped an arm around her midsection as she started to fall forward.
"Kiba are you sure you want them to know your past?" Zabuza asked approached the two.
"You know very well that no matter what either of us say she is going to tell them, so we may as well support her and help her tell them who she really is in case she needs someone to keep the other's from attacking her in case they decide to turn against her," Naruto said helping Sasuke hold Kiba up.
"What are you talking about turning on Kiba? Why would we do that?" I asked walking closer to them. They didn't answer, but motioned for me and Sakura to follow them as they led us into the woods. We walked until we came to a clearing that had a spot for us to rest without hurting ourselves too much. We sat down and Kiba waited until she had calmed down enough to speak without chocking on her words. We sat in silence as we waited for her to start her story.
(What her life story and how will the other two react to her story. Will they accept her? Or will they turn on her? Who will help her now and what will happen to Zabuza and Haku? Will she ever find peace and what did Nachuraru's last words really mean? Also I want to know if anyone can guess who those characters are. If you know who they are comment on my profile.)~Kiba-chan