Chapter 14: We're not doing the same Mission?! (Kaori's story part 1)


(Author's Note: Chapter based on the Katabami Gold mine arc)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did, the triplets would SO have a place in this!)


Training with Team Gai ended early in the evening that day as Neji, Lee and Tenten were called off on an delivery mission to a neighboring village.

"We haven't been on mission since we got here," complained Hikari as the four sisters flew home riding together on Tsuchi since the kittens were too wiped out to transform and slept soundly in their arms.

"Well, we have only been here for like what, 3 days? I'm not surprised," said Zakuro as she pushed a few hairs out of her eyes.

When the girls reached home, they immediately went to bed early since they were so tired. The sisters slept soundly for the night... except for Kaori. That night, while everyone else was sleeping peacefully, Kaori shifted uncomfortably in her futon, a pained expression appearing on her sleeping face. "R-raika-sensei...." she murmured.


Kaori's Dream

8 year old Kaori walked along a dark hallway, her foot steps echoing in the air. She was dressed in a small miko outfit, the pants and trimmings colored blue. Her hair was a lot shorter too. "Raika-sensei! Where are you? Anyone?!" she called out, fear rising in her voice.

Suddenly a ghastly shriek was heard. "Raika-sensei!" cried out young Kaori running into the darkness.

The scene changed to an open field. Kaori saw a man standing a distance away from her, his face in the shadows. Behind him were the dead bodies of two miko. Blood dripped from his spiked swords as he walked towards a young miko whose back was turned to Kaori. Her arms were spread out in an attempt to shield the girl. Like the man she also had long dark green hair. "Leave her alone, please Onii-sama!" she pleaded desperately as she stood her ground.

"Raika, step aside, why should you protect an impure being like her?!"

"Kaori is not impure! She's just different!"

"SHE'S HAS THOSE CURSED POWERS!!!!"

"They're abilities she was born with, Onii-sama! She was blessed by the Thunder Beast, not cursed! She just needs to learn how to control them!"

"THE GOD RAIJIN-SAMA WOULD NEVER LET HIS BEAST TOUCH THAT IMPURE DEMON BEHIND YOU!!!!!!" the man yelled, raising his sword to strike Kaori.

"KAORI-CHAN!" screamed the woman, turning around and shielding the little girl at the last moment. Blood flew and spattered Kaori's face as the young girl gasped in horror as the young miko fell to the ground dead with a bloody slash across the back of her body.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shrieked Kaori in despair, clutching her head as a burst of electricity was shot out of her small body and formed a giant beast in the air.


"SENSEEEEIII!!!!" screamed Kaori, waking up with a start. The girl panted hard as tears ran down her face. Her sisters and the kittens were miraculously sound asleep despite the scream. Kaori curled up into a ball and buried her face into her knees. She remained in that position for about 2 mins when she suddenly got up and grabbed her jacket which she hung on a coat hangar. She then walked up to the open bedroom window and climbed out, scaling the wall outside to the roof where she lay down and looked at the full moon in the sky. A memory of her childhood flooded back to her.

........

"Raika-sensei!" called a six year old Kaori dressed in her miko outfit. It was night time and the area was illuminated by the full moon and stars in the sky. A pretty dark green haired young woman dressed in miko garb turned around to look at the little girl running up to her."The other miko told me you wanted to see me?"

The woman smiled as she knelt down to Kaori's eye level. "Look here Kaori-chan, I have a present for you," she said as she lifted her sleeve to reveal a small silvery gray bundle of fur with still closed eyes.

Young Kaori's own eyes began to widen greatly as a smile appeared on her face. "A kitten!" she exclaimed.

"Nyu~!" mewed the kitten as Raika lifted the purring feline out of her sleeve and handed it Kaori, who held it close to her body gently. Kaori looked at her mentor.

"What's it's name?"

Raika smiled at the kid. "I don't know Kaori-chan, she's your kitten."

Kaori's smile grew even bigger as she lifted the kitten in air. The light from the moon reflected of the kitten's silvery fur beautifully. "Hmmm....you do look pretty in the moonlight....how about Tsuki?" asked Kaori. (Translate: Moon)

The kitten seem to frown a little and shook it's head.

"Mitsuki?"(Translate: Full Moon)

Again, the kitten shook it's head.

"Mikazuki?" (Translate: Crescent Moon)

The kitten frowned a little more and shook it's head in disapproval. Kaori also began to frown as she brought the kitten down. "Oh.. what should I name you?"

"How about Yue?" suggested Raika.

Kaori and the kitten looked at her teacher in confusion. "Yue?"

Raika nodded and smiled. "How about it? It means 'Moon' in Chinese."

Kaori closed her in thought. "Yue...I like the sound of it... what about you?" the girl asked the kitten bringing it to eye-level.

"NYA~!" the kitten meowed happily as it nodded her head in approval.

Kaori smiled happily as she cuddled Yue, making her purr. "Yue!"

"Nya~!"

...........

"Kaori-sama?" called a familiar voice, making the girl bolt upright to see Yue pulling herself up on the roof.

"Oh, Yue it's you..."

"You cried out her name in your sleep, did you had that nightmare again, about him?"

Kaori looked down and nodded slightly as Yue climbed into her mistress's lap and lay her head and paws against the girl's chest. "Daijoubu...." the kitten said.

Kaori wrapped her arms around the kitten and hugged her as tears began to fall from her face. As she cried, Kaori's lips parted as she took in a small breath.

"Kimi wo....suki ni natte, dorekurai tatsu no kana?..." she began to sing softly. "Kimochi....fukurande yuku bakari de....."

Kaori: Kimi wa.... Kono omoi kidzuiteiru no kana?
Ichido mo kotoba ni wa Shitenai kedo.....

Yuki no.... youni Tada shizukani
Furitsumori Tsudzukete yuku..

Kaori looked up towards the moon, her tears glistening in the moonlight as a night wind blew past her making her long, blue, untied hair float gracefully in the breeze. She closed her eyes and a flashback of her sensei singing the song while hugging a crying chibi Kaori flashed in her mind.


(Flashback)

Raika: Hold ......me tight, konna omoi nara
Dareka wo suki ni naru kimochi
Shiritaku Nakatta yo
I.... love you, Namida tomaranai...

(end flashback)


"Konnan ja kimi no koto, shirazuni ireba, yokatta yo....."sang Kaori as her melodious voice echoed and floated away on the night breeze.


The next morning, the triplets and Kiba found themselves getting summoned to the Hokage tower while Zakuro went off to explore Konoha since Team Gai had came back really early in the morning and wanted to catch up on some sleep.

"Why, Tsunade-sama?!" demanded Hikari angrily while her sisters, Kaori and Cori held her back by the arms. "Why do we have to be separated? We're triplets! I refuse to do a mission without my sisters!"

"Hikari-sama...."said Akane looking at the girl worriedly.

"Hikari-kun, calm down!" said Kiba, helped the sisters hold back the red head.

Tsunade frowned at the girl, evidently pissed. First Anko stole the last stick of dango on her plate, then Naruto suddenly brings in a new mission, now a some red head pre teen is trying to complain? The Lady Hokage won't stand for it!

"All right, listen up you little brat. Let me tell you how things work around here," she began to say in controlled voice. "Missions are done by ninjas who are suited for the job. I don't care if they're, brothers, sisters, cousins or even their Grandma. So when I say you three are going on separate missions, YOU ARE GOIN' ON SEPARATE MISSIONS MISSY!"she screamed loudly, causing the sisters to flinch.

"Yes Ma'am!" squeaked Hikari, calming down.

"Good, let's get down to business shall we?" said Tsunade, smiling as she opened a file. "Nekojiwa Hikari!"

"Hai!"

"I heard you have a way with animals so you might find this C-rank mission to your liking, you, Kiba and Aburame Shino are heading out to the Flower Village just west of the fire country. Apparently there's a bunch of wild bears terrorizing the village. Shino should be waiting for you at the gate."

"Yes Ma'am!" said Kiba and Hikari before running out the door followed by Akane and Akamaru.

"Nekojiwa Cori, you're mission is with Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. There have been reports of an underwear thief / Peeping Tom lurking around the public bath houses, find the pervert and beat him good."

A glint flashed on Cori's glasses as she smiled. "Roger that-desu wa!" she said, cheerfully saluting. "Jubei!" she called as Cori turned to leave.

"Hai!" answered the kitten jumping on to Cori's shoulder as the two left the room, leaving Kaori and Tsunade together. Suddenly, Kaori's hood wriggled and Yue's head popped out.

"So what's our mission Tsunade-sama?" the kitten asked.

"I'm getting to that, come in boys!" called Tsunade. Kaori turned around to Neji and Rock Lee followed by a blond whiskered face was then Kaori's pupils dilated into cat eyes. 'He has a unique energy within him...it almost feels like Gaara's.....'

"Neji-senpai, Lee-senpai and.....who are you?" asked Kaori with question marks coming out of her head. The boy grinned at her good naturedly.

"Heh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Yoroshiku!"

"I'm Nekojiwa Kaori and this is Kage no Yue.." said the girl pointing to herself and her kitten.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu..." said Yue, bowing her head.

Tsunade coughed loudly to gain their attention. "Now then, earlier Naruto brought in three men from the Katabami Gold Mine who requested a mission. The Katabami Gold Mines was a prominent mining village in the Land of Rivers. However, half a year ago a group of men calling themselves the Kurosuki Family arrived and claimed to protect the village and took control of it. It also seems that the residents are getting murdered with no reason."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Lee outraged.

Yue could feel her master going tense and the sound of the name 'Kurosuki'. She looked up to see Kaori narrowing her eyes.

"Your mission is to escort the three men once they have recovered back to the gold mines and take care of that Family!" ordered the Lady Hokage. "It should be simple enough, those guys are probably some hoodlums out for money."

A look of distaste appeared on Naruto's face. "Why would you call me out on such an easy mission?!"

Kaori could see the woman's eye twitch as a dark look appeared on her face. "Who do you think you are?!"

"I've got better things to do! Like train and search for Sasuke!"

Suddenly, Tsunade reached and grabbed the boy's shirt and pulled towards her desk angrily. "You force your way into missions when I don't call you. You're just a Gennin! I pick the missions, not you!"

Everyone else in the room looked stunned for a moment until Kaori decided to step forward. "If I may, Tsunade-sama, I'm sure Naruto-kun does not mean to be rude, so would you please let him go?" asked the girl as politely as she could.

"Hmph! Fine!" said Tsunade. "But you're in charge of this brat!" she said tossing Naruto to Kaori who caught him."Neji, you're in charge, now get going!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" replied Neji, quickly hightailing out of there after sensing a huge feeling of rage seeping out from the buxom woman. Lee, Naruto and Kaori quickly followed suit. It was definitely a smart move because the group was barely even a metre away from the door when they heard Tsunade scream in rage followed by the sound of glass breaking. Kaori let out a long whistle. "That was was a close, nya-nyu..." muttered Yue poking her head out of Kaori's hood. The girl began to hurry a bit down the hall until she suddenly collided with someone who happened to be standing at the exit. The both of them fell to the floor with the other person on top of the girl while Yue got flung out of Kaori's hood.

"Gomenasai..." Kaori muttered.

"N-no... it's my fault," answered a familiar voice as the person began to push himself of the ground. It was then Kaori found herself looking up at Rock Lee. She glanced over his shoulder to see Naruto and a pink-haired girl looking at them from the door frame. Suddenly, a devious thought came into her mind. Quickly, a seductive smile played on her lips as she forced a blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Ara...Lee-senpai...you're not planning on getting naughty with me right here, are you~nya?" she said in a mock seductive voice. A feeling of amusement welled up inside her when she saw an explosion of red appear on Lee's face. Just the reaction she was hoping for. She could see Naruto and his friend's face blushed red as well when she glanced over her senior's shoulder a second time.

"What do you think you're doin?!" asked Naruto and Sakura in shock.

"N-Naruto-kun! S-sakura-san!" exclaimed Lee in shock as he quickly jumped off Kaori. "I was just-...and then Kaori-san.....and then she-AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!!!" screamed Lee in frustration when he couldn't think of anything to say in his defense.'Now Sakura-san will never like me!!!!'


(R.F: *watches scene on a moniter in a secret room* TWO-TIMER!!!!!!!)


Kaori stood up and dusted her clothes before folding her hands before her like a proper lady and bowed politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nekojiwa Kaori . You're Haruno Sakura-san, yes?" said the girl politely while was Lee was still trying to think of a good defense in the back ground.

The pink haired girl sweat dropped at Kaori's sudden change in demeanor. "Y-yeah....we've met...."

Naruto looked at Kaori in surprise. "Hey! How come you remember her name and not mine?"

Kaori looked the boy for a moment before shrugging. "God knows...."

'What kind of an answer is that?!' Naruto and Sakura thought.

"SAKURA-SAN, I'M INNOCENT!!!!!" yelled Lee desperately when Kaori suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder just as Yue jumped back into her arms.

"Relax senpai, I was just messing with you......" she said as she began walking down the stairs while two ninja she recognized as the watchmen were walking up the stairs carrying a large green chair which she recognized to be Lady Tsunade's. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the large bloody bump on one of the men's forehead which match the the large bloody spot on the chair. "Ouch.." she and Yue said at the same time.

"Tell me about it!" replied the injured ninja as he began muttering a string of swear words about the Lady Hokage while he and his partner carried the chair back into the building.

Kaori shook her head and began walking back in the direction of the Inuzuka household to get her stuff. 'She said the Kurosuki family..Maybe...No! It can't be him...I could have sworn he died back then....' thought the girl. Suddenly, a gruesome image of her blood spattered younger self standing over the man's 'dead' body flashed in her mind, her expression remained stoic. Yue looked at her mistress's hardened face worriedly.

'Kaori-sama...' "My lady, if you don't mind, I would like to explore a bit, I shall return to inform you of the time," said Yue, bowing her head low in respect.

Kaori nodded, prompting Yue to hop off Kaori's shoulder and onto a nearby roof top until she was out of Kaori's sight. The girl shrugged and walked away casually. Meanwhile, just as Yue was about to move to another roof top, she noticed Lee and Naruto walking towards Ichiraku's Ramen. Her sharp ears managed to catch a few words about the Kurosuki Family. Thinking about Kaori, Yue made sure to stay out of sight as she followed the two boys by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.


"Ok, so I met two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, what of it?"asked Naruto while he chewed on his ramen , unbeknown to the boys, Yue had sat herself carefully on the edge of Ichiraku's rooftop and leaned over to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"If Raiga is indeed one of them, he might have some information on Uchiha Itachi, the guy who was with Hoshigaki Kisame," explained Lee as he took another slurp of his noodles.

Yue narrowed her eyes as she recognized one of the names mentioned by the boy.

"What's your point?" asked Naruto.

Rock Lee sighed exasperatedly. "WHO is looking for Itachi?"

A light bulb appeared abve Naruto's head. "Ah! Sasuke!"

"That's right! There's a chance we might get a clue about Sasuke's whereabouts!" said Lee confidently, giving Naruto a shiny smile. At that moment, Yue decided that she had heard enough and left quietly. While the kitten bounded over the rooftops, Yue could sense that her mistress is going to be facing a certain ghost of her past, and unfortunately, that ghost would be alive....


Kaori leaned against the tree trunk behind her and looked up at the foliage of leaves shielding her from the sunlight. Her backpack lay on her lap with her hands on it, her legs dangling from the branch she sat on. Kaori absentmindedly began to hum last night's song out loud. Suddenly, a gust of wind caused the tree to shake. It was then Kaori sensed another presence sitting on the branch with her. "Konnichiwa!" said a cheerful male voice.

Kaori bent her head down to see a medium size young man with long green hair and lightly tanned skin wearing a long dark brown robe who smiled at her. "Oh, Taiboku-san...konnichiwa.." (For those who don't remember, please refer to the previous chapter)

"Anything wrong? You seem down my friend," asked the man in concern.

Kaori smiled and shifted her gaze upwards again. "Do I?" she said, thinking for a while. "...Hey, Taiboku-san, have you ever feared that something from your past might return to haunt you?"

The strange man closed his eyes and thought for a while. "I think that's something we all have worried about before...but I've lived long enough to realize that dwelling on the past isn't going help, the only way to get past that fear is when you look towards the future..."

"Wow...that's deep....." commented Kaori bluntly.

Taiboku chuckled in amusement when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. "Kaori-san? What are you doing up there?" called a familiar voice.

Kaori and her friend looked down to see Neji Hyuuga looking up at them, or rather, at Kaori. "Senpai?...."

"That boy from yesterday, no? He seems to be desiring your presence."

Kaori cast a deadpanned expression at Taiboku. "Don't make him sound like he's some crazed lover...we have a mission later on that's all."

"Let's go! Shizune-san said that the clients were well enough to be discharged!" called Neji.

"Hai!" Kaori replied before turning to Taiboku. "I have to go now, till next time...." she said jumping down from the branch and landing on her feet.

"Sayonara, Kaori-san," said Taiboku, giving the girl a small wave.

Just then Kaori heard a rush of wind and turned around to see a swirl of leaves floating away. Neji followed the girl's gaze only to see nothing, confusing him greatly but he decided to shrug it off as he and Kaori made their way to the gate.


After taking a few shortcuts over buildings, it wasn't long until Neji and Kaori met up with the three clients as well as Naruto and Lee. Neji began to brief them on the overall objectives of the reason. "We're here to undertake the mission of escorting Rokusuke-san and gang, head to the Katabami Gold mines and eliminate the Kurosuki family."

"There's a restaurant near the gold mine that I know well, let's make that one of our bases," suggested Lee. Neji nodded in approval.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and turned to Kaori. "BY the way Kaori-chan, what happened to Yue?"

The girl just looked at Naruto with a blank expression before putting two fingers in her mouth and blowing gently. Naruto and the rest of the guys looked at Kaori in curiosity considering there was no sound produced. Suddenly, a gray blur shot down from the top of the gate and landed at Kaori's feet.

"You whistled, Kaori-sama?" asked Yue, bowing her head.

It was about then the clients decided it was time to freak out. " THE CAT'S TALKING????!!!........"

........

After few minutes of calming the men and explaining to them, the group finally made their move. The group walked the whole forest across the Fire Country with the Katabami men as their guide. Kaori walked at the back of the group in silence, her presence forgotten momentarily amidst the guys talking among themselves. Yue sat on her mistress's shoulder, looking at Kaori's face with concern. After finally crossing a large hill, the group stopped by at a river to break for lunch. Kaori distanced herself away from the group and sat herself on a large boulder, unpacking a bento box for herself and Yue, made by Cori earlier that morning. "Itadakimasu...." she and Yue said, putting their hands/paws together and bowing their heads slightly before eating.

One of the clients ate his rice ball as he glanced over at Kaori. "Your friend isn't very social is she?" he asked.

The three boys followed his gaze. "Oh, Kaori-san? Well, she only just recently moved to our village so we don't know much about her. She hardly talks much..." said Lee taking a sip from his water bottle. "It's probably because she's separated from her sisters."

The other client looked at Lee in surprise. "She has sisters?"

Neji nodded and folded his arms. "Ah, three sisters to be exact, Kaori is the second born of triplets and has an older sister who is a jonin. Apparently, I heard that this is her first mission ever without her sisters."

Two of the men nodded in understanding. "I see...must be hard for her..." the taller of the two said sympathetically.

Just then, Kaori turned her head and gave the group a sharp stare, giving them the willies. 'Crap! I think she heard us!' they all thought.

The one called Rokusuke, hurriedly ate his meal and stood up. "Calm down, Rokusuke, these people would liberate our village," said his friend turning his gaze to Naruto who was balancing on an unstable pile of rocks. Rock Lee gaped at Naruto , before declaring "I won't lose!", quickly finishing his rice ball and running up to join Naruto. Quickly, the boy took up a stance and began to shatter a boulder to pieces. Naruto grinned as he caught some of the flying debris coming his way and added it to his rock pile, making it taller. A few of them began flying in the direction towards Kaori who sat meditating. Her back was turned to the rocks coming at her.

"WATCH OUT!" cried out the men in fear.

Suddenly, Kaori stood up and whipped around to face the projectiles while swiftly drawing something out from her jacket. "Miko Arts: Lightining Barrier!" she exclaimed forming a one hand seal with her left hand while holding out a thin yellow piece of paper with characters written on it with her right palm. Blue colored lightning shot out from the paper and formed an arc-like shield in front of her just as the rocks made contact. The rocks instantly disintegrated, the moment they touched the barrier. Once they had disappeared, Kaori deactivated the technique and kept the seal in her jacket. She gave Naruto and Lee a demonic glare as she stepped towards them, her arms sparking with electricity. "Raiton: Lightining Dancer...." she said, shooting lightning bolts from her fingertips at the duo, who began panicking and jumping all over the place to avoid getting shocked.

While the other two men plus Neji gaped in astonishment, Rokusuke apparently didn't care as he clenched his fists angrily. "How long do you guys plan to fool around?!" he asked in annoyance and frustration. "If we hurry, we might be able to save Kanpachi from his grave!"

"Give it up!" said his friend before looking down. "How has it already been since then?....." he asked in remorse.

Neji saw Kaori turned her head to look at Rokusuke. He could have been wrong but he could have sworn he actually saw a sympathetic look flash across her face.

............

After eating, the group finally made a move on again. Rock Lee and Naruto walked a little stiffly while bits of static electricity sparked around them. Yue turned around to face them while riding on Kaori's shoulder again. "Daijobu desu nya?" the kitten asked.

"Never been better....." the two boys replied grinning and giving the kitten two thumbs , Lee began to feel sleepy as his eyes became half closed while his head began to nod. "It feels nostalgic, this sleepiness....." he muttered. " The restaurant is near...."

Kaori glanced back at Lee. "Sleepwalk much, senpai?..."

"I'm alright, I ran down this road sleeping three days straight...."

"Yeah right!" exclaimed Naruto in disbelief.

"It's true, it was a miracle of youth with Gai-sensei...."

Kaori raised her eyebrows. "How lovely...."

"His body must be recalling from then..." analyzed Yue. "Are you sure you'll be alright Lee-dono?"

Lee nodded sleepily. "There's a sweet smell of curry, around here...." he muttered, tilting his head back with his nostrils flaring.

"Curry?" echoed Naruto as his nostrils began to flare. "Now that you mention it..."

"IT'S RIGHT THERE!" exclaimed Lee coming to life once more, jabbing his finger straight ahead. The group followed his finger pointing at a small restaurant in the distance. "The restaurant, 'Curry of Life' is right there!" he exclaimed once more, suddenly dashing full speed ahead towards a small elderly woman splashing water outside the door.

"SANSHOU-BAASAAAAN!!!!" called Lee running.

The woman ears pricked up as she turned around her face showing recognition. "Young boy? Young boy!" she said in surprise and delight.

"LONG TIME NO SEE! I see you're doing well!" said Lee happily scooping up the old lady and twirling about with her as if she weighed nothing. The old woman herself laughed happily.

"Aww...how sweet...don't you just love reunions?" asked Yue playfully glancing up at Kaori.

"Yeah...it's cute..." came a half hearted answer.

Neji then noticed their clients facing a certain mountain. "That mountain is the Katabami gold mine," pointed out one of the men.

Neji, Naruto, Kaori and Yue shifted their gaze towards the said landmark and stared at it briefly before entering the restaurant after Lee and old lady Sanshou. The moment they were inside and made their introductions, the group sat down at a table while the woman began stirring a large pot of curry. While they waited, Lee helped passed by the time by telling everyone how he met old Lady Sanshou and her son once during a training session. In the midst of the story, Yue slinked away to explore the restaurant in secrecy. The kitten found herself going up a flight of stairs to where the old woman lived. Apart from the smell of curry lingering in the air, Yue caught the distinct scent of a young man. It wasn't fresh, it was more stale... which led Yue to realize that the man scent probably belonged to the old woman's son she heard about. "Smells like someone hasn't been hanging around the house much...."muttered Yue to herself. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill whistle that only her cat ears could pick up and bounded back downstairs again.

When she got down, Yue was suddenly hit with an overpowering spicy aroma wafting from the plates of curry rice placed on the table. Yue sneezed a little as she walked up to Kaori, who was eyeing her plate of black curry uneasily. Kaori and Yue weren't the only ones. The others also looked at their plates warily. Only Lee seemed to be enthusiastic about the meal. "Itadakimasu!" he said as he slowly placed a spoonful of the curry in his mouth.

Everybody watched tensely as Lee remained silent for a while. Suddenly, his face began to glow red as steam erupted from his head. "THIS TASTE GREAT!!!!!" he cried out, throwing his hands in the air before shoving more of the curry rice in his mouth. After seeing his reaction, everyone else decided to try it out as well. Kaori especially, hesitated before putting the dangerous looking meal in her barely even had time to breathe when the clients, Naruto and Neji's instant turned into a shade of florescent red with beads of sweat rolling down their faces.

"EEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAA........!!!!!!!..." were the screams resonating from their mouths as it rang throughout the air.

Yue quickly removed her paws from her ears and sweat dropped heavily as she saw everyone either passed out or half conscious. Well, with the exception of Lee who was still eating enthusiastically and Kaori, who miraculously remained awake as she continued eating while keeping her head bowed. The rest of the gang regained their senses as they stared at Kaori unbelievably.

"Thank you for the meal...."she said politely when she was done.

Lee looked at Kaori and grinned. "So how was it Kaori-san? It's taste great right?"

"Kaori-sama...." said Yue worriedly when Kaori didn't respond for a moment. The rest of the guys looked at her expectantly, tension hanging in the air.

Suddenly, Kaori lifted her head to look at Lee and opened her mouth. Everybody jumped back in shock as flames erupted from her mouth, burning a surprised Rock Lee. "Yes, it tastes absolutely divine....." she said with a Moe-style, teary eyed, flushed face expression and a sparkly background to boot. All the guys in the room widened their eyes and blushed involuntarily.

'Moe....' they all thought.

Yue gave a dead panned expression. "Moe, moe...kyuun...." she muttered bluntly, placing her face in her paws.

"BY the way, where is Karashi-kun?" asked Lee, looking at the old woman.

Sanshou gave Lee a sad smile. "Karashi was very inspired by your hard work and became a very bright and energetic boy, but he became to energetic and left for the city...."

'I knew it...'thought Yue.

"It's really my fault for pestering him so much about getting stronger. He said he was going to be a man and join the Kurosuki family..."

BAM! The table rattled as Lee slammed his hands on the table. " This is my fault.....Neji, please add the retrieval of Karashi-kun to the mission! We must turn him away from the path of evil!"

Meanwhile, Neji appeared dazed with his Byakugan activated while Kaori tried to pour water in his mouth. Suddenly he snatched the glass out of the girl's hand took large gulps before setting it down." Fine by me... this restaurant will be our base, first we'll go and investigate the village thoroughly, we will create a plan from there."

"HAI!" replied Lee.

"You three will stay here," instructed Neji to the clients. " It will be dangerous if you were spotted by the Kurosuki family."

Two of the clients nodded except for Rokusuke who kept his head low.


Later that night, while the four genin gathered to discuss their plans, they heard one of their clients yell and burst into their room with a worried look on his face. "Rokusuke..Rokusuke is gone!"

"He must have left for the city himself!" said the other client.

Kaori and Yue looked at each other and nodded. The girl quickly got up and opened the window. "Get on!" said Kaori sharply as Yue jumped out the window.

The boys looked at Kaori as if she were crazy. "Get on what?!" they asked incredulously.

Suddenly there was a loud pop and a small burst of smoke as a large dark shape appeared outside the window. "Me!" said a more womanly voice.

Lee's eyes widened as he ran up and stuck his head out the window to see a large, saber toothed, gray leopard with huge white wings. "I knew it! Yue can transform too, Cori-chan was right!" he exclaimed happily as he climbed onto Yue's back after Kaori.

"Aw! Cool!" exclaimed Naruto in amazement as he got on the leopard's back as well. Neji gaped in surprise but quickly jumped on as well.

"Let's hurry!" he said.

"Roger that!" said Yue as she flapped her wings and flew of into the night. The two clients stared out the window after them in plain shock.


Meanwhile at the Katabami Gold Mine.....

"Someone is coming....." spoke a young voice from a bundle underneath the cloak of a mysterious man.

"We're going to have to hold another funeral...." said the man in obvious glee as the sky grew darker as they clouds blocked the moon rays from shining through.


Elsewhere, Kaori placed a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. She could feel her heart hammering against her chest like crazy while fear began to well up inside her. 'Why am I feeling so afraid all of a sudden.....Raika-sensei...please...give me courage....'


To be continued....

R.F: So many unanswered questions in this chapter.... who is the mysterious friend Taiboku? How does the name Kurosuki strike Kaori? Just what is Kaori dreading? Stay tuned for the next chapter: Weeping Ghosts...(Kaori's Story part 2)