Alright, so if I had had the time, I would've edited this chapter with E-Guitar in mind. However, I could not find the time to do so. And even with that, I hope you guys like the chapter! By the way, check my profile for updates. There are some very important things I've got to tell you guys and I don't want to clutter up the chapter with all of it, so please check it out.

"Daisuke!" a girl shouted from below. Said boy smirked and put his piece of straw back in his mouth. So she'd discovered his little prank? Taking a hair tie, the girl standing below Daisuke put her long dark red hair up into a ponytail and grinned. Bracing herself, the girl jumped up and, focusing her chakra in her foot and leg, kicked the branch that the boy was resting on. He yelped and flew down from the branch, landing smack dab on his face. A groan came from Daisuke and he looked up at the woman before him. She'd landed gracefully on the ground in front of him, a smirk plastered across her face.

"Come on Katsumi," he groaned out. Struggling to sit up, the boy rubbed the back of his head. "You have to admit my prank was funny," Daisuke chuckled nervously at this comment, hoping the older woman would agree with him.

"Oh yea, so that's why I kicked you from your hiding place," she mumbled angrily. Katsumi rolled her eyes and then let her hair down to frame her face again. "I swear, I told him taking on an apprentice was a stupid idea." Daisuke sighed as he watched his teacher stalk away from him. She was angry, that was for sure.

"It will be okay my Lady," Tomomi reassured. He, along with the other guardians, just wanted her to be happy. Maia looked at Tomomi, he was staring blankly like he usually did, but she pretended he had a look of sorrow on his face. She needed to feel like he honestly cared. Next, she looked to Masami. He looked like he was going to cry, but couldn't for the sake of his pride. Smiling sadly, Maia turned away from him, looking again to Katsumi. She truly was crying. Throwing herself into Maia's arms, Katsumi cried into her shoulder, holding her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you so Lady Yomanai!" she exclaimed, still sobbing. Maia smiled again, through the few tears she was allowing to fall. Tomomi's voice broke the cry fest long enough to get out one message.

Katsumi sighed as she remembered that day. It had been so long ago, the day they'd left Maia with that woman. Once a year they'd get progress reports on how she was doing, how much she'd learned, but after a while they'd stopped getting letters. Masami had been horrified to know that they would no longer hear about how she was doing. But Katsumi never gave up the hope that one day, they'd see their Lady Yomanai again.

"Katsumi-sensei," damn that Daisuke. Turning to face her student, Katsumi looked less than pleased. "I'm sorry, about the prank; I didn't mean to upset you." Katsumi sighed and walked up to her student, he wasn't that old, at the prime age of sixteen. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she looked up at him. Yes, even at that young age he was still taller than overly short for her age twenty-six year old woman.

"Do not," she began. "Let me catch you doing it again," Katsumi finished smiling. Daisuke grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Now go train, you'll need it for what we have planned next." The boy sighed at this news and then left to begin his training for the day. Katsumi watched him walk away and couldn't help but think of Maia.

"Katsumi, Tomomi has a file for us to look over," Masami said coming up behind his partner. Katsumi nodded and turned toward that one person that probably loved Maia more than she herself did.

Confusion spread throughout the room. The three Guardians of the Yomanai Clan were given a new mission. A new job, one that could or could not pertain to their Protected.

"What is the whole idea of this mission exactly?" Katsumi asked. Tomomi and Masami shrugged and waited for their boss to get it all together and let them in on the plan.

"There's an island far off the coast of the Water Country. It's said to be part of an ancient land called the Ruined Country. It is very cold on this island, allowing only winter creatures to survive there. And on this island," the boss began. He took a deep breath, preparing them for what he was about to say. "Is an ancient creature called the White Furry. It has the ability to live forever, it has eternal youth and is almost indestructible. The creature was last seen many years ago, but recent activity on the island tells us that it may have resurfaced." The Guardians shared a look and nodded. They knew what they needed to do.

"So you want us to kill it?" Tomomi asked. Their boss shook his head. Three confused looks met his serious one.

"I want you to scout the island and see what kind of life forms exist there. I also want you three to check it this White Furry even exists," Masami nodded and began leaving the room. He didn't need or want to hear anything more. Katsumi watched him as he left the room, she sighed and ran after him.

"I'll take the file to them," Tomomi said, his face lacking emotion as usual. Their boss nodded and handed Tomomi the folder containing all the information they needed. Said shinobi left the chambers to catch up with his team mates.

"Maia you've got to stop this." Sakura said, normally she would've been more than supportive of her friend. But this was getting to be a bit much. Sure, her father had died, and sure he was practically her only family. But taking this long to get over it was too much. She barely knew the man after all.

"How can you say that Sakura?" she asked, her voice low. Maia was still quite upset about the whole thing. "You do not know how this could even begin to feel! He was my only family," Maia trailed off. Kiba had gone out on a mission a day or so ago, leaving her alone to mourn by herself, with not comforting words or strong arms to hold her when she cried in her sleep. Tsunade had even purposely kept all missions away from Maia so that she could have her time to grieve. Sakura sighed hearing this from Maia and walked up to the dark haired girl. Putting her arms around her, Sakura gave Maia a well needed and deserved hug.

"I'm sorry, but I hate seeing you like this," she said quietly. It was true; Sakura did hate to see her friend like this. She hated knowing there was nothing she could do. Just about as much as Yuuki hated it. Which was a bit ridiculous to think about. Yuuki loved Maia like no other, possibly more than Kiba loved her. Which was probably even more ridiculous to think about. Yuuki's love for Maia bordered on romantic even.

"And I'm sorry for that, but I miss him. I never had a father and when I finally got one, he died in battle," Maia sobbed. It was a valiant death. One Maia would always be proud of, but all the same, he should've known better. He had a family waiting for him back home. Truth be told Maia's father had been reckless in an attempt to save his team. Sakura nodded against Maia's back as they sat in front of his grave; that had been where Sakura had found her after all.

"We need to get you out of this village," Sakura stated. Maia chuckled then, at the idea of leaving. How could she? When people needed her here? "What do you say? We'll go to a nearby village for the upcoming festival. All our friends can come with." The dark haired kunoichi did love the notion of leaving and having some fun. She had to admit. But what if a mission surfaced and they needed her?

"Okay, sure," she said, turning to Sakura and giving her a smile. "Let's do it." The chances that someone needed her for a mission were slim to none at this point. Most of everything had been calm lately, aside from the petty mission Kiba had been sent on.

Yuuki smiled up at Neji as they sat together in the garden of the Hyuuga compound. It had only been a day since she'd told him she loved him and she was happy as could be. Despite everything in her past, she now knew what true happiness was. Of course, she never knew if she would truly be able to trust anyone the way she trusted Maia. Her past stopped her from letting anyone in completely. After all, she had yet to even begin to tell Neji of her life before Konoha, before Maia and before him even. She had been one sick individual, void of all feelings. And then she got wind of Maia and Rubi and her life held a meaning she'd never known prior to that day. It was true, absence made the heart grow fonder and Yuuki loved Maia, more than anything. Even more than she loved Neji.

"It's so nice sitting here with you like this," Yuuki murmured. For once she wasn't fretting over Maia. And the blonde had to admit. It was nice to have some Yuuki time. She had never really ever had that before considering how her life was before this. Neji nodded in agreement to Yuuki's statement. He was always so quiet, about everything, but that only made Yuuki love him more. Neji was who he was; she accepted that and came to love that over the past two years.

"You know Yuuki; we can't sit here all day. People are going to need our help at some point," there he went, as usual, ruining the mood. Neji Hyuuga had a way of doing that and though she loved him, that small fact annoyed her. Yuuki had never been with a man in any respect of the phrase, and now that she was, he was a mood ruiner. What luck she had. Sighing, Yuuki pulled away from Neji and stood up. He was right, people would need her help and obviously he didn't need her help to relax. So, she walked away. If he didn't want to sit with her like that, then she would go off and train. She had recently discovered a new ability after all. Neji watched her walk away silently and felt a pang of regret in his stomach. Well, he thought it was regret anyway. The Hyuuga Prodigy wasn't one to normally be able to tell the difference between his emotions.

"You know, I think you really hurt her feelings just now," a quiet said from behind him. Neji stood up slowly and turned toward the source of the voice.

"I don't think that's any of your business Hinata," he warned her. His voice held nothing but discontent in that moment and gave his cousin fair warning to stay out of it. He did not need her telling him he messed up.

"All I'm saying is that you might want to find her and apologize. I know you love her Neji, even if you don't," she told him before flashing out. Neji was left to stand on his own, contemplating what his cousin had just told him. He was standing alone now, with no knowledge of how to fix what he just broke. He knew it wasn't over with Yuuki, something that small could not have meant something so huge. But he had upset her, and Neji hated himself for that. As he'd told her before, he might not know if he loved her, but he did think she was precious. He wanted to be a part of her life, in a very important way. And if that was to happen, he would need to fix this little mistake he'd made.

Snow flew up from the ground as hooves pounded the cold, frozen earth. Katsumi barely escaped the stampede as she jumped into a tree, her heart pounding.

"Katsumi, are you alright?" Masami sounded in her ear piece. Katsumi nodded and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Damn him, sending us out here on a wild goose chase! I could've been killed!" Katsumi shouted, anger resounding through her voice. A chuckled was her only response as she jumped down from the tree. Stupid moose. Katsumi glanced around, looking for nothing in particular. "So why is it that I've been the one sent on recon in this frigid place?" Katsumi grumbled. Masami just laughed again. Him and that asshole Tomomi were safe in the bunker, all warm and what not. Hell, even Daisuke was with them. Damn it all to hell.

"Simple, you are the best at recon we have," was Tomomi's indifferent reply. Katsumi sighed and continued on her search for something that probably didn't even exist. The only thing that kept her moving was the idea of Maia. She missed her terribly and wanted to see her again. She'd been the girl's protector more than half her life and it had been heart breaking to know that Maia hardly remembered her when they last saw her. A snapping twig broke Katsumi out of her stupor.

"Katsumi, what was that?" Masami asked her. Katsumi shut him up quickly and darted behind a tree, to keep out of the forest path. What she saw next was horrifying. The whitest, purest being Katsumi had ever seen floated about a foot above the ground, as if a phantom. Its fingernails, more like talons, were black, the blackest of blacks. The rest wasn't even something she wanted to pay attention for too long.

"Masami, Tomomi, leave Daisuke at the bunker, I need back up. Now!" she hissed into her ear piece. The last word got the creature's attention. As it turned to her, Katsumi beheld a horrid face, one of pain and hatred. She screamed and began running. This was not something she wanted to fight on her own. So she ran. Ran like her legs had never run before. That was when the creature began chasing her. Shooting ice shards at her all the while. Katsumi managed to dodge most of them, but some caught her legs, leaving lacerations and bruises.

"Katsumi!" that was Masami's voice; she was almost within reach of her friends. And that was when the creature grabbed her ankle. The woman screamed again and kicked as hard as she could to get away from the being she assumed to be the White Furry. She gathered all the chakra she could muster into her free leg and then kicked at the creature's gruesome hand. It wailed in pain and dropped Katsumi's leg. The stupor from the pain left enough time for Katsumi to be up and running. She ran toward the voice of her friend and screamed once she felt a body ram into her.

"Katsumi! It's just us! What's going on?" Katsumi, shaken to no end, looked around nervously. The creature was gone, with practically no trace. Her breathing was hard and uneven as she stood up and was held by Masami.

"The White Furry," she mumbled her breath still shaky. "Is most definitely real."

Alright! That was chapter four! I hope you guys liked it! Stay tuned for more!

XOXO, Alaska