Bitten Chapter 2

"Bulls Eye," Kyoko murmured releasing an arrow from her drawn back bow. It swiftly went through the air passing several trees before making its mark in the breasts of a bird. "Go get it," Kyoko ordered to a white and tan wolf. It huffed in agreement before running off to receive the bird.

"Why did you do that?" the blonde snapped. Kyoko had learned that his name was Naruto. He was the loudest out of the three Genin, except for the girl, Sakura, when provoked by Naruto. She didn't like how he was constantly following her. He would always ask her questions, and she really didn't have time for him.

"You want to eat, don't you?" Kyoko growled coldly. Everything they ate was picked or hunted. Kyoko did all of the hunting while the other four girls would find vegetables or fruit. Then their cook would create some type of meal from the food that was brought to him. Kyoko despised that there would be four more mouths to feed. Hunting is always a chore. Most of the time her wolves would get their own food but when they hunted together it is only fair to award them with part of the killing. Her pack had more than 20 constant members, all ranging from different shapes, sizes and sub-species. During certain seasons she could have up to FORTY wolves.

"You kidding?" Naruto gasped. She let a slight huff before taking out her mask and whistle. It was really an Ocarina, yet the wolves always had trouble with its pronunciation so Kyoko called it a whistle. She didn't have time for this child when so much hunting needed to be done. She strung her mask across her arm as she blew a few notes on her Ocarina. Hearing the notes all wolves in the surrounding area lifted their heads into a howl sending an echoed symphony of wolf vocals.

"Hello Bitsy," Kyoko cooed hearing the pattering of foot steps behind her and Naruto. Bitsy was as white as Kyoko's hair and not exactly the "smallest" of wolves. Bitsy was large and muscular. She was one of the few wolves that you could ride on. She was Kyoko's personal guard while on hunts. The white haired woman quickly mounted the wolf as one of the smaller wolves brought her a spear.

"Kyoko," Kakashi, the Jonin called out to her. He was followed by Sasuke, the Uchiha child and prodigy. Kyoko scowled knowing exactly what the Jonin was going to tell her. She hated how one person could come in and begin to boss her and her crew around.

"Yes sir?" Kyoko asked as kindly as she possible could slipping her mask on to the back of her head. Bitsy growled at the black haired boy behind him. Kyoko quickly corrected this behavior before staring at the Jonin. Bitsy impatiently moved from paw to paw wanting to rush off to the hunt instead of waiting around.

"I cannot permit you to leave without protection. Sasuke will go with you," Kakashi ordered before looking at the angered Naruto. "Naruto, you and Sakura are too loud to go on such a task."

"He will only get in the way. With so many mouths to feed I cannot have failure," Kyoko replied. She could feel that she was testing Kakashi's patience.

"Sasuke's going with you. I cannot afford for you to be injured," Kakashi replied sternly. Kyoko only pulled her mask down over her face offering her hand to the quiet boy. Rolling his eyes Sasuke took the young woman's hand. Quickly she hoisted the child on to the wolf before clicking her tongue.

"Hold on tight," Kyoko ordered as Bitsy leaped on to a nearby branch into the abyss of the forest. These wolves seem as if they were trained in ninjutsu…Who the hell is she? Sasuke thought wrapping his arms around Kyoko's stomach. He wasn't too comfortable with this but he felt somewhat relieved to be with this woman instead of with the other girls.

"Kyoko," Sasuke mustered as the smaller wolves slowly began to join them hopping from branch to branch, tree to tree. A golden wolf with a white bandana quickly appeared at the front of the pack letting out a bark and howl before banking to the left. The others let out a howl as they followed after the golden wolf.

"Sasuke, I need you to hide your scent," Kyoko ordered clicking her tongue once more. Bitsy huffed jumping to the ground. She didn't like to get away from the hunt. Kyoko growled causing Bitsy to shrink in size, shift her ears backwards and place her tail between her legs. She knew that it may take a while so she sent Bitsy away. "Put this on," Kyoko said taking off one of her multiple furs.

"Who taught you how to fight?" Sasuke demanded. It was more of a curious demand, and Kyoko was shocked that the quiet child was talking to her.

"I've picked it up here and there. I learn mostly from my wolves," Kyoko replied taking out a small vile. She saw Sasuke's suspicious look but she only chuckled softly.

"Do you expect anyone to believe that?" Sasuke asked.

"What keen insight you have. Do I have large eyes and teeth?" Kyoko asked sarcastically uncapping the vile. She poured some of its contents into her hands before reaching up to touch the boy's face. He immediately bulked blocking her hand with his own.

"Don't touch me," Sasuke growled.

"Whatever," Kyoko muttered before making two horizontal lines under each of his eyes. She then drew a line down his forehead to the tip of his nose. "Even if you've been assigned to guard me…you must do exactly as I say. If I say run, you run, if I say halt you halt, you got me?" Before the boy was about to give her a flippant answer Kyoko quickly shushed him. She listened to their surroundings moving her ears in several different directions. There's several of them…they couldn't be, Kyoko thought. Her wolves were distracted with the hunt to notice the incoming enemy. They're using the same scent hiding techniques…no…it's different, Kyoko thought bringing her spear into an attack position.

"What is it?" Sasuke grumbled also taking an attack stance. This wasn't something that he was expecting. Yet he couldn't hear anything.

"I'm not exactly sure," Kyoko muttered. Listening carefully Kyoko tossed her spear towards a near-by tree. He appeared suddenly as his cloak of invisibility was interrupted by Kyoko's spear.

"Well look at you. Eighteen years old and beautiful," a male voice chuckled catching her spear.

"Damn poacher," Kyoko hissed. He was always after her and her wolves. Their fur was valuable and many believed that wolves were a hassle. No wonder why I didn't noticed him…of course a poacher would try to blend in, Kyoko thought.

"You know this is a very special year for you…my beautiful wolf," the male smiled.

"Yeah…Have you chosen a mate yet?" a woman chuckled jumping down from a near-by branch. A mate…that's a strange way to refer to a lover, Sasuke thought suspiciously.

"Sasuke…get going!" Kyoko snapped. She hated these poachers. They always brought up her past, and she could not allow it to be exposed to the child, especially a Shinobi, oh how cunning and deceitful they were.

"A Shinobi huh? Isn't this interesting," the female poacher purred. She knew that Kyoko would do ANYTHING to keep her ears a secret…of course she'd tell him to run.

Sasuke didn't budge creating a plan in the back of his head.

"What are you STILL doing here?" Kyoko demanded looking over at him. She saw him toss a couple of shuriken. Kyoko sighed in a frustrated manner; she didn't have any of her weapons. How could this happen? She had always relied on herself and she hated being without weapons. As if to protect her, Sasuke stood in front of the disarmed woman.

"I'm supposed to protect you aren't I?" Sasuke hissed.

"We're not looking to fight a small Genin. All we want is the girl," the woman snorted. Me? Why are they going aft-, Kyoko began before her thoughts interrupted by the clash of metal. She felt so useless as she numbly watched the boy fight off their attackers.

"You're pretty good, for a Genin," the male poacher began with a snicker, "but you won't be able to handle this." He muttered a few incoherent words summing a ball of energy between his hands. Sasuke only smirked thinking of a quick counterattack. With all of his strength he hurled the ball at the boy.

"No!" Kyoko cried out throwing herself over the boy transporting them to a different area. She didn't want to use her powers, but she had to. The two poachers were pleased at the girl's power. Even without a teacher the girl had made progress.

"Everything is going according to plan. She's using her powers again. It won't be long until she'll be forced into her mutated form," the male poacher said into a transmitter.

"Wonderful Jolon, you and Razi continue to watch the girl. We can't let her change completely," their boss said on the other side of the line. She was to remain unbitten for him. He wanted to become immortal and with her power he could rule the world.

"Roger," Jolon and Razi responded before disappearing from the area. Besides the wonderful pelts they collected, she was their biggest prize. For years they searched for the girl with little success. They had followed several girls that matched Kyoko's description but none of them exhibited the power that Kyoko held within her.

It had been a while since Kyoko had used her teleportation technique. She was relieved that they were at least over ground as she released Sasuke before skidding across the ground. She let out a groan feeling her scrapped up body. Her ribbons came off her ears from the skid but Kyoko barely noticed that. Fur grew quickly over her body and her hair grew longer. She felt pain radiate up and down her arms and legs. It felt like she was on fire. Sasuke had caught himself before he could skid across the ground like Kyoko. He could only see the silhouette of the girl sitting up in pain. He hurried over to the injured Kyoko but even the cool and calm Sasuke wasn't even prepared for what he saw.

Hearing his quick footsteps Kyoko began to panic. "Stay back," she said. Her voice was unrecognizable becoming hoarse and guttural. Placing a hand on her shoulder Sasuke turned her around. He quickly removed his hand seeing the once icy blue eyes a golden yellow. He was horrified at Kyoko condition. Her nose and mouth were quickly forming into the muzzle of a wolf. Strange symbols began to glow a dull light blue all over her body. He was even more appalled to see a tail snake out from her robes. She grabbed his arm trying to return him to his natural state of mind. She couldn't let him go in fear that he would run and tell the other three Shinobi. Hearing his heart in his head he looked down at her furry arm. Her nails had doubled their length. They had turned black and sharp. If she wasn't holding onto his so gently she could have probably pierced through his skin like a knife through warm butter. Kyoko wasn't human, she was far from it and she had to be annihilated. He quickly took out a kunai stabbing the monster's arm holding on to him.