Holy. Crap. This has gone in such a different direction than the original Flying Kunai, it's crazy! But this chapter wasn't co-written with Kiri-kohai, btw. Ttyl luv ya!

Oh, and check out my deviantart. My username on it is OneThousandMoons.

Kiba, he just looked plain mad. Slightly red-faced, snarling a little at Shika-kun, the works. But Kakashi… I can't even describe what he was like. It was like a mix of Tsunade and Sakura's anger. And that's BAD.

I flinched as Kakashi's eye narrowed, and I hid behind Shika, who was standing there awkwardly. I peeked over his shoulder, standing on the balls of my feet. This somehow was able to make them even madder.

"Come. Here. Now." Kakashi said in a deadly voice. I ducked behind Shika, and slowly moved to stand by Kakashi, who was practically fuming.

"umm… h-hi Kakashi…" I stammered awkwardly. My life is gonna be hell after this.

At that moment, Kiba was obviously doing his best not to maul Shika for kissing me. He actually almost lunged for Shika, but I kicked him in the shin, and he instead had to focus on not falling to the floor screaming in pain like a little girl.

"It's time to go." Kakashi said curtly, and dragged me out by my collar, leaving the boys alone together.

"But, Kakashi, my stuff's in there-"

"Sakura will get it."

"And Kiba and Shika-kun will kill each other if we leave them alone together! You saw how pissed Kiba was!"

"Well Nara shouldn't have been touching you then."

"Kakashi!"

"Look! You're too young to be doing shit like that! And you need to focus on training and missions if you're going to become a great kuniochi or pass the Jonin exam."

"Kakashi, I'm seventeen. It's not like I'm fourteen! And I have been training hard. If you haven't noticed, I can kick Sasuke's ass!"

"Sasuke's not a jonin!"

"That is just about the weakest argument I've ever heard. He killed Itachi Uchiha." I stressed.

"That's beside the point."

"THAT'S TOTALLY THE POINT!" I yelled, flailing in exasperation. 'YOU'RE A JONIN AND HE'S KICKED YOUR ASS!" I whined, glaring at him.

"He has not!"

'Whatever! Ugh! Why can't I kiss a guy! I happen to really like Shika!"

"You can't because I said so!"

"That's the lamest excuse ever invented!"

"Doesn't mean I can't use it. Now move." He said, pushing me into the main room again.

"Kakashi! It's rude! You're treated me like a child!"

"You are a child!"

"No I'm not!"

"Then why are you whining?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE BEING MEAN!"

I stomped my foot, and crossed my arms over my chest, and Kakashi and I glared at each other, a strained and heated silence surrounding us.

Which was quickly ruined by Natsūme's howling laughter from where she sat between Sakura and Sasuke, both of whom were shooting furtive glares at her and each other.

"That…HAHAHAHAHA….SO…HAHAHAHA…HILARIOUS! You're fighting like twelve-year olds!" she cried, laughing herself silly. We all stared at her, my eyes shooting daggers.

I stormed over to her, and bitch-slapped her across the face. She slapped me back, and we were quickly rolling around on the floor like a couple of Academy students trying to pass taijutsu training.

We were laughing maniacally, and eventually broke apart, breathless. I gasped for air, and I felt like my heart was going to thunder out of my chest. I choked, and started to crack up again, and sat up. I was gasping for air, when Kiba and Shika walked in. Shikamaru's lip was busted, and Kiba had a few bruises on his arms and legs. I groaned inwardly, and face palmed myself. I knew we shouldn't have left them alone.

Kakashi just glared at Shikamaru, and gruffly yanked me up by my collar, yanking me into a chair, where he explicitly stood guard over me, daring anyone to come near me.

"You could have just asked me to get up!"

"Humph."

An hour and a half later, we were all getting ready to make the trek back across the sandy desert. Kōhī would be running part of the time, the rest being carried on either Sakura's or Kankuro's back. Natsūme would be riding on Akaishi with me. The rest were running like normal people. Kankuro was "escorting" us back across the desert, for god knows what reason.

Akaishi was being particularly antsy around Natsūme, who was complaining about a chronic headache. I chalked it up to Natsūme's never having been very loving towards Akaishi, and the desert heat. I helped her up, and jumped on in front of her. Suddenly, a sharp pain went through my head, and I heard Natsūme's voice go cold, and oddly feral.

"Get me the fuck off this dog!" she hissed, and I recognized it as Akuma's voice. I toppled off, and as soon as I wasn't touching Natsūme anymore, the pain disappeared. And then Natsūme fell on top of me, but it didn't hurt.

"Thank Kami. That dog smells horrible." She said, and I saw her eyes were golden, which clashed awkwardly with her skin.

"HEY! You two! You okay?" Sakura called from where she was trying to get all the sand out of her sandals.

"We're fine!" I yelled back. I glared at Akuma-Natsūme, and whisper hissed, "Fine. I'll get a feline demon to ride. And you better not complain. Got it?"

"Shut up or I'll give you another pretty scar like that one right there." She pointed towards my chest, and my eyes widened.

"You…did…this?" I said incredulously, pointing towards my chest.

"OI! WHATCHA GIRLS TALKIN ABOUT?" Naruto yelled mischievously from where he was. I glared, not liking what he was insinuating about the chest-pointing-thing. I was about to go over there and beat his ass, but Kiba kicked him in the head instead.

There's something to be said about the convenience of having guys who like you.

I turned back towards Natsūme-Akuma, who was wincing.

"What's wrong?"

"She fights to have consciousness. It's annoying. And it makes her head hurt, which doesn't help with how much I can stand her. That, and her body is constricting. She's so…short-OW!" She yelped, clutching the side of her head.

"Uhh…"

"She heard me call her short."

"Makes sense."

I dismissed Akaishi, and she faded away. I drew a seal in the sand, quickly performing the Summons before the sand shifted to blur my seal.

"Summoning of the Feline Beast!"

A giant explosion of smoke and sand erupted about 10 feet from me, and everybody ducked. I could hear Sakura scream from behind all the noise. Kankuro yelled something about an ambush, and a stream of Sand Nin exploded out of the entrance to Suna, to the surrounding desert where we were preparing to leave. I tried not to laugh.

The sand and smoke eventually cleared and settled, and I heard Natsūme-Akuma squeal with joy.

"RENSA-TORA!" She shrieked, and pounced onto the massive white tiger's muzzle.

I laughed, and turned to face everybody. "Go back! It's fine! He's mine!" I yelled, and the Sand Nin reluctantly returned through the village gates. Natsūme-Akuma was playfully swatting at Rensa-Tora's muzzle, when she began to growl incessantly.

"What now, Neko?" I said exasperatedly.

"Stupid bitch! You imprisoned Rensa-Tora!" she hissed, gesturing to the tiger's chain collar, which had links that were bigger than my head, each link wider than my body.

"No. She's free, that just how I summon her." I tapped on one of the grey metal bands, and it rung out sullenly across the desert plain. "So calm down and get on."

"…I can't."

"AAAUUUUUGGH! WHY NOT?" I yelled exasperatedly.

"Because her body is really short compared to my real one-owwwww…."

I took advantage of her momentary incapacitation to throw her onto Rensa-Tora. I clambered up after her, and took hold of one of the chain links. Natsūme-Akuma clenched Rensa-Tora's glossy white and black fur, trying to not fall off.

"HEY! Everybody ready?" I yelled to all the people gathering beside us. There was a collective "Yes!" from the crowd, but my eyes caught on Kōhī and Kankuro. He had his arm around her shoulder, and was standing too close to her for my liking. She looked slightly uncomfortable, trying to shy away from his touch. In my opinion, he was moving too fast, no matter how long she had been pining after him.

I glared at him, and he dropped his arm quickly. I gestured for him to come closer, ignoring Natsūme-Akuma's weird growls from behind me.

"Hey, puppet boy. Keep your hands to yourself. Or at least keep them from going anywhere inappropriate. Got it? She's my best friend. You do anything to make her feel weird, I will kill you and shove your head so far down in the sand that not even Gaara will be able to unbury you."

He opened his eyes wide, and backed up a little. Suddenly, Natsūme yelled, and then I noticed that she was passed out on Rensa-Tora's back, and Akuma was standing up beside her. She jumped off the tiger, landing beside Kankuro.

He stared at her, tongue hanging out slightly.

Since when did Kankuro turn into Kiba?

She looked him over, and smiled flirtatiously- and then executed the perfect flirtatious hair flip. "Hey," she said in a giggly cheerleader voice that didn't go with her leather clothes and whip at all.

"H-Hey…." He looked like he was drooling.

I don't want to go into details, because they're sickeningly sweet and feminine, and….flirty.
But after a few minutes, Kankuro was pretty much in the palm of Akuma's hand.

Kōhī, however, was glaring at the viciously. I decided to take action. I punched Natsume, which caused her to jerk awake. Akuma disappeared into her little gold cloud as I slid off of Rensa-Tora's back to stand menacingly beside Kankuro.

"YOU'VE PISSED KŌHĪ OFF!" I yelled in his ear, and he jerked his head away from me. I slapped him across the face.
He fell to the ground, and I calmly shoved his face a foot below the sand, then took his scrolls and nonchalantly tossed them in three different directions before climbing back on Rensa-Tora, where Natsūme was boredly braiding the tiger's fur.

…

Every time we stopped to rest, Kakashi refused to let anyone of the male variety anywhere near me.

Seriously.

Naruto had tried to give me a high-five, and Kakashi dropped him off a cliff. Literally.

Having a super-protective jonin dad is just awesome!

…

Sarcasm, obviously.

Shikamaru had stayed a safe distance away, smiling at me whenever he had the fleeting opportunity.

But Kiba kept trying to get close, sending Akamaru to sit by me anytime it was cold in a cave. It was cute, but also sad, because he had no chance.
The whole trip back was sullen and slow-going.

…

We got separated by a sandstorm about a day and half through. We had planned for this, but the groups weren't right.
At all.

I was with Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kiba.

…

Worst.
Combination.
Ever.

…

Sakura and Shikamaru had gone scouting, which was a stupid thing to do in a desert. Kiba and Akamaru were off doing Kami knows what.

I was back in the cliffs, trying to break open some sort of cave for shelter. This was the rendezvous place, after all.

I cracked open a small fissure, and smelled a damp, cool, watery scent.
Smiling to myself, I centered chakra in my foot, and kicked the fissure as hard as I could.

The fissure spread like a spider web, little cracks spinning down the glassy black wall. I kicked again, and the brittle stone wall shattered.

"Obsidian is so delicate. Didn't even have to work that hard." I said to myself, smiling.

I walked into he cave, and smelled the water. I gleefully squealed at the sight of the pool.

"WATER! YES!"

I drank the last of the hot water in my bottle, then refilled it and dumped the icy liquid on my head. The icy water felt good, and tasted sweet.

I poured it over myself until my hair was dripping and my shoulders were wet.

"Good job, Ijōna."

I shrieked in surprise, and toppled over into the water.

Huh. It's deeper than I thought.

I surfaced, and swam to the edge. I looked to see Kiba holding out a hand to help me.

"Thanks." I gripped his hand, and clambered over the edge of the pool. I was even wetter now. The dress was dripping over my legs, and was almost as heavy as I was. My shorts had already been dragged off by the weight of water in the pool. The dress clung to my skin, and goose bumps fan up and down my bare legs and hips.

Kiba's eyes were bugging out of his head.

I blushed, and awkwardly crossed my arms over my chest. "Sooooo….." I said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Where's Akamaru?"

"Standing guard." He replied.

"….Guard? Why?"

"'Cause I need to talk to you without getting' interrupted."

"What?"

"Ijōna, I've wanted you since ya first came to the academy. Back then, I wanted you 'cause you were pretty and you smelled good. Now, I want you 'cause you're smart, you're funny, and you smell so good I can't stand it. It drives me crazy. And your body…." Instead of a word, he opted to let out a low growl. I shivered from the chill, and Kiba took that as an invitation to pull me in his arms. He was warm, and comforting. But it didn't feel like Shika. This was more…raw.

And not exactly in a good way.

I stood there, and out of nowhere Kiba pressed me against the wall, growling low in my ear. It sent shivers up my spine.

"I can't stand it. I want you to kiss me. Tell me it's better than Shikamaru. That I'm better than 'im. I need to know if I have any chance of having you!" he murmured huskily in my ear.

I shivered again, and gasped, realized I'd been holding my breath. I guess he took this as an invitation, because before I could stop him, he was kissing me.

Hard.