Author's Note: Finally, the eighth chapter is ready. As promised, this chapter will contain Loki's full moon incident-thingy. n.n For all of you that enjoy my story! xD Thanks so much, please keep reading!

I had a lot to say, but got hit in the head by a random flying-by cucumber (don't ask) and forgot everything. Next time, I'll just write everything down on a piece of paper…

Gaara: You're pathetic! And here I was, thinking you were such a great poet.

Me: Shut up. … And I'm a novelist, dammit, NOVELIST! --jumps up and down indignantly--

Gaara: Pffft. You're still pathetic. Stealing Shigure's quotes... -spits and walks away-

Aaaaanyway.

8. Secret

The next couple of days were bustling with activity for Zabuza. In the end, he had changed his mind about leaving the broken-down shack, deciding to stay there a while longer. It was a nice, isolated place; moreover, his and Haku's wounds from their first encounters with Loki's metal claws would have made it more difficult for them to travel at a reasonable pace anyway. Besides, the man realized that his new recruit required much training before she was ready for any real missions. Overall, Loki was a good fighter: skilled, strong and talented; but as it turned out, she had a lot to learn about the ways of the ninja.

It was very difficult, explaining seemingly basic notions to somebody completely new to the subject. Zabuza had to think hard not to leave anything out: it was difficult to keep track of everything he still had to teach to the girl. He also tried testing her for element control: it would have been much easier to teach Loki the right battle techniques if the man knew what element she could manipulate best. Sadly enough, Loki didn't seem to be able to control any elements that Zabuza or Haku could think of.

There was also the matter of chakra. Loki had large, untapped amounts of this energy stored inside her body, but she appeared not to know how to use it, and didn't quite grasp the concept itself. Though there was also something else, as Zabuza had noted during one of those exasperating training sessions. Loki's chakra was somehow different from his, Haku's or any other ninja's that he had ever encountered. Zabuza couldn't tell how exactly different Loki's chakra was from theirs. It just seemed more intense, and in a sense, more… savage, as well. Perhaps this distinction was the reason as to why Loki had such difficulty accessing it… But then, how was she able to use her Bloodline Limit Abilities? Could they be powered by… something else? But by what? It was all very strange. Everything was strange about this child. As far, Zabuza could only figure.

Because of this limited access to her chakra reserves (that was the conclusion that Zabuza drew, in any case), Loki had quite a bit of trouble mastering any Jutsu that involved summoning energy and using it to create special attacks; whether it was water-needles, lightning bolts, blades of wind or giant flying cucumbers. The only special skill that Loki had managed to grasp, more or less, was the Body Flicker Technique, which allowed its user to move at extreme speeds; it wasn't an unusual skill among ninja, though it could come in quite handy against the less trained warriors. And although Loki still had a lot of catching up to do on that one, Zabuza had to admit that she wasn't too bad for a first timer.

There still were more problems that Zabuza had to resolve. As if he didn't have enough on his plate already, the extra-helping came in the shape of Loki's refusal to use kunai, shuriken or any other sort of ninja weapon. The only weapons she did use were the metal blades embedded in her body; which, on the other hand, as Zabuza had found, she was relying way too much on. He had quite a time explaining to the girl that too many of her techniques were revolving around her claws; and that if they got chopped off by some especially skilled opponent, she'd be almost helpless, which equalled almost dead and, therefore, completely useless to Zabuza and his enterprise. After a whole entertaining match of threats, curses, endless shouting and chasing around the glade with the Cleaver (which Haku found quite amusing to watch from a safe distance with a bowl of porridge), Loki grudgingly accepted the fact that she had no choice but to follow her new master's orders. She decided not to give up quite yet, however, by sticking out her tongue at Zabuza and swearing to use kunai and shuriken only as a last resort (and got thrown at with a bowl of porridge grabbed away from Haku as a result).

(The reason for Loki's utter dislike of weapons was one that she couldn't directly explain to her mentor, because it lay in her being a werewolf. This sort of thing tended to run in families. Werewolves, who, whether enslaved or not, have always thought themselves greater-class warriors than humans, regarded weapons as a sort of a bonus the weaker species had to use to make up for its weakness. It was, therefore, beneath a werewolf to use a weapon; in the exception, of course, of the most extreme situations. Loki's claws, however, were a different matter. They were fused with her body, a part of her; and, therefore, didn't count.)

Nevertheless, there were some things that Loki tackled with remarkable ease. Zabuza was amazed at how quickly she grasped all those intricate Taijutsu techniques that had taken even someone as brilliant as Haku at least two months of non-stop practice to get good at. It was as if the man was simply reminding the girl of a previously-learned concept that had accidentally slipped her mind. Of course, he had run into some quite talented ninja throughout his lifetime; he was keeping a record of them, in fact, in a small, black leather-bound notebook; but… to be good at hand-to-hand to that extent…? If Zabuza were to look inside himself, he would be rather mildly surprised to find that somewhere in the deepest corners of his dark, unbroken ego he felt slightly… envious of this aspect in the girl.

All in all, that week had been crammed with information for Loki. However, new fighting methods weren't the only useful things she'd picked up during those days. Aside from learning the Intricate Art of Being A Ninja, Loki had also discovered the Quite Enjoyable Art of Expressing One's Strong Feelings in a Very Compact and Satisfying Way – swearing. Most of such powerful words had come, obviously, from Zabuza; and Loki turned out to be a keen listener. Of course, the manner itself in which those words were said suggested that they weren't really polite; but Loki didn't know their exact meaning and, therefore, wasn't very self-conscious about using them herself. They came in especially handy if she stumbled over a fallen branch, or got accidentally hit by one of Haku's flying ice needles: saying those words didn't make the pain go away, but somehow made the girl feel much better. Though this fun wasn't meant to last – after a particularly detailed explanation of one of the stronger words by a blushing Haku, Loki finally realized why they weren't nice things to say and decided that swear words, like weapons, should be used only as a last resort.

Though while Loki's fighting (and swearing) abilities were developing each day, her social skills didn't much improve. She remained as quiet and aloof as she was on the first day she had officially joined the Mist-nins' group. The girl preferred to keep to herself and spent her training-free time prowling the forests around the shack, searching for any traces of other werewolves. She did talk to Haku from time to time, at first mostly because he stalked her during her strolls and persistently tried to make conversation; but later because Loki found that Haku did, in fact, make an interesting companion. During their walks, he told her everything about his own dreadful past and about how Zabuza had rescued him from the streets and had taken him in. Loki listened carefully and with much interest, but with a twinge of guilt remembered the truth about herself that she'd been keeping hidden. There were moments during which Loki felt that her secret was just about to slip off the tip of her tongue, but always caught herself just in time. How would this nice human boy react to it, if he were suddenly to discover what she was? Loki didn't know, and didn't really want to find out.

Zabuza, of course, was now filled in on the details of Loki's past (Haku was keeping him informed on anything new he found out about the girl, as instructed); but the Jounin himself wasn't making any attempts to break the ice between himself and his new recruit. It wasn't Zabuza's style to get cuddly with his apprentices. Haku, obviously, got small treats on rare occasions; but it was Haku. Zabuza had never had such a hard time with Haku, even if it did last longer. And this girl so far had been nothing but headaches, wounded legs and loads of cursing and chasing after. Next time he picked up an orphan, he'd have to remember to look for a male. Females were much too troublesome, Zabuza found.

Nevertheless, as much as he criticized the girl, Zabuza was quite pleased with Loki's progress. Gradually, his suspicions of her belonging to the Hunter-nin squad began to wear away; and he was too preoccupied with other matters to give that idea too much thought in any case.

There were other things that Zabuza didn't think important at the time. He didn't notice, for example, the worried glances that Loki would occasionally throw at the starlit sky during supper; or that the moon had been growing steadily over the past few nights.

The transformation would happen tonight. Loki knew it. She could already feel the usual symptoms of the oncoming condition. The usual weakness was binding her limbs, paralyzing her entire body. It was showing considerably during her training as well. At the Centre, Loki would be regenerating energy during the three days prior to the metamorphosis; but it would be rather silly to expect the same kind of treatment from the people who didn't know anything about her… situation.

…The girl stumbled and went sprawling onto the ground as Zabuza caught her in the stomach. Sweat was pouring down her pale face, and Loki herself was breathing heavily. She coughed, struggled to get up to her feet, but fell back to the ground feebly.

"What's wrong with you today?" Zabuza bellowed. "You're pathetic!" He tried to drag the girl up into a standing position by the shoulder, but Loki's legs just wouldn't hold her. "Stand up, damn it!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Loki snarled back, unable to hold it in any longer. "I'm just warming up, 'kay?" The stress was getting to her as it was; she didn't need Zabuza to make it even worse with his never-ending brutality. Loki knew she wouldn't be able to do much anyway, even if she tried. The humans at the laboratory would have known that, too. But this wasn't the laboratory, however; and Loki had no choice but to try and struggle through.

Haku leaped down from the heights of a nearby tree and came over to see what was going on. This hadn't been much of a practice so far, what with Loki putting more effort into standing up straight than into the actual battle. He had to give her credit, though. She was trying really hard to pretend that nothing was wrong.

"You look sick, Loki-san. Are you sure you don't want to lie down for a bit?" asked the boy, his voice full of concern.

Loki shook her head. "I'm all right," she mumbled shakily. "I just need… to warm up some more… That's it…"

Haku surveyed the girl's pallid, almost translucent skin, her sweating face and sunken eyes.

"Loki-san? Your skin's of a funny colour. Are you absolutely certain you're--"

"What? No, no! I said I'm fine," the girl argued, wobbling slightly.

Haku outstretched his hand, poked Loki lightly with a finger and watched her overbalance and tumble back onto the grass, yet again. Zabuza, who had been watching this entire scene with his usual frown, made a disgruntled harrumphing noise and turned away. He did realize that the girl was probably just coming down with a cold. But he also knew that there was no better way to beat a cold than by remaining active and drinking loads of hot stew; while lying down would only stretch the whole ordeal over a longer period of time. Momochi preferred hard old exercise rather than rest in a comfy bed as a cure. This method was indeed harsh, especially for beginners, but it worked all right. You just made sure that you didn't get sick a second time.

This wasn't the case with Loki, though. Her strength was draining away like water out of a tissue-paper kettle. In the end, Zabuza had no choice but to dismiss the girl with a glare and a curse aimed mostly at the world at large.

Haku went after the girl as she hobbled away towards the shack, to prepare a remedial stew and press wet towels to her forehead. Zabuza rounded at him.

"And I don't remember giving you a break, boy!" he growled, pulling a kunai out of a tree-trunk. "First you finish up the mess of a practice we've started here, and then you can go and be a housewife all you want."

"Hur-hur-hur," mumbled Haku under his breath as he drew a senbon out of his sleeve and made a U-turn towards the assassin.

Loki lay on her pile of willow twigs, pondering. She wasn't in pain, she just felt… weakened. She felt very heavy as well. It was as if leaden weights had been tied to her chest and every thinkable limb of her body. Loki was exhausted; but as tired as she felt she knew she couldn't go to sleep. She pinched herself to chase away the drowsiness.

There was only one possible way to solve this without the humans finding out the truth. Loki would stay awake until they fell asleep, and then sneak out into the woods. It had been her initial plan, and the wolf-girl decided to stick with it in the end. Yes, the woods. There Loki would complete her transformation and go on her usual savage rampage somewhere far away from the shack. That way, her secret would probably remain safe, but… Loki shuddered all over at the thought of running through the dark, unfamiliar grounds, unable to control herself and not knowing where she would end up. This was not a night to look forward to.

Outside, Haku and Zabuza were still training. By the sounds of it, Zabuza had just been struck with a senbon. Judging by the degree of swearing, it must've been pretty bad. Loki wondered where Zabuza was getting all his curses from, and whether he was inventing some new ones along the way. Surely there couldn't be that many swear words to go around. And… whoopsie, there he went again… Haku should really be more careful with those ice needles.

…In the end, it would be for everybody's good, Loki mused. These humans would be safe, at least. Safe from the attack of a crazed, bloodthirsty monster the full moon forced her to become… The humans' safety… That was all that mattered. Or almost all. Protecting her secret and searching for her pack… it all mattered too. And Zabuza could swear all he liked, she didn't much care… and… and…

Loki's thoughts mixed up in her mind, tripping over each other and tumbling down, until they were lost in the foggy, grey haze of tiredness. Her head dropped onto the blanket as her consciousness gave way to the dark void of oblivion. The girl made one last feeble attempt to stay awake, but the weakness was taking its toll.

In a few moments' time, Loki was sound asleep.

Chilly mists were seeping through the shack's broken-down walls, creeping through the silent rooms and over sleeping bodies like ancient, eerie spectres. Loki awoke with a start as she felt their moist, icy touch on her skin. Recollection hit her all at once, like a heavy leaden mallet; and the girl sprang up from her beddings, terrified. How much time had passed since the moment she blacked out?

Darkness was yawning at the girl through the large gap in the wall. There was no sign of the moon yet, but Loki was already feeling the wolf-blood inside her beginning to boil. She didn't have much time…

She cast a glance at the empty doorway, beyond which Zabuza and Haku lay fast asleep. Loki sniffed the air, just to make sure. Her senses were already beginning to sharpen, and the web of scents was now half-visible even despite the nose-filters. Yes, the humans were definitely asleep. It was now or never.

Loki snuck out from under her blanket as quietly as a shadow, and stepped across the room to face the broken-down wall. Her earlier tiredness was gone now as her wolfish self was beginning to take over. Loki paused as she felt a slight tingling run up her spine and through her head. She stood there, swaying, for a moment or two. Then, when the dizziness had passed, she crouched and with an uncanny agility and precision leaped through the gap. Once outside, the girl cast one last worried glance at the shack before merging soundlessly with the shadows of the night and disappearing into the mists.

Back on his own uncomfortable pile of branches, Haku stirred lightly. He glanced around sleepily, disturbed momentarily by something; then pulled Zabuza's warm overcoat higher over his chin and fell asleep again.

Loki sped through the woods, racing desperately against time. She was changing as she ran; ears lengthening, pupils narrowing and nails becoming claws. Finally, deciding she had put enough distance between herself and the shack, Loki stopped, panting. She grabbed a gnarled tree-trunk for support and closed her eyes. The wolf inside her was surfacing slowly. There was no time to waste.

Having caught her breath, Loki straightened up and began undressing. Taking off the last of her bandages, she bundled up her clothes and tossed them into a pile of leaves. The girl wanted to make sure that nothing happened to her outfit while she was on the rampage; it would be really awkward to return to the shack stark naked the following morning, having destroyed her kimono during the transformation.

Mists slithered through the undergrowth, concealing the crouching wolf-girl as she waited in silence. Minutes trickled by, but nothing happened. Loki waited tensely, head turned upwards, her whole body trembling with anxious anticipation. And then, a patch of inky-black sky cleared suddenly, grey ragged clouds revealing a pallid, silvery circle of light…

…The full moon.

…And Loki's world exploded in a sudden burst of pain, fur and evil red-and-purple lights flashing wildly before her eyes. She howled savagely as her whole body convulsed and transmogrified. Her arms and legs lengthened to become powerful paws; her back arched and erupted in coarse, dirty-white fur. The werewolf struggled on the ground, a shapeless, hairy lump sprouting fangs, whiskers and a thick, tufty tail. It bit and clawed at itself and its surroundings, as though trying to tear its way out of its skin, leaving the excruciating agony behind. Jumping to its feet, the wolf thrashed itself more, driven crazy by the moon gleaming indifferently from above.

When it was through with itself, the creature rushed deeper into the forest, leaking blood from its self-inflicted wounds. Rage spread throughout its body like venom. The beast shrieked and roared, crashing wildly through the undergrowth and destroying everything living in its path. Faster and faster it ran, oblivious to reality; and the moon shed its shameless light onto the crimson track that the werewolf was leaving behind.

Back in the broken-down hut, Haku sat bolt upright, listening hard.

"What was that?"

Zabuza twitched and opened one eye grumpily.

"Dunno… A wild animal, maybe. Who cares? Go back to sleep!" the man muttered irritably.

Haku lay back down on his underlay, closing his eyes obediently; but he couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Something about that howl just didn't feel right. It didn't sound like a cry any normal wild animal could make...

Sun rose the following morning to find Zabuza already kneeling beside a small stream, splattering chilly, crystalline water onto his naked torso. Scooping up some more of the refreshing liquid into his palms, he splashed it onto his face and shook his head.

Having finished the washing procedure, the Jounin got up and went back to his campout, to wake up his students and begin yet another day full of training and exercise. There wasn't a lot left to teach to Loki, and Zabuza felt that it was safe enough to leave the broken-down shack in a couple of days in search of a new hideout. He wasn't planning to spend his entire life in that old hut, after all.

Haku was already up and about, doing jumping jacks in front of the crumbled porch.

"Good morning, Zabuza-san!" he panted.

"Mornin'." Zabuza watched him for a moment with a scrutinizing eye. "Whatcha moppin' about for?" he barked briskly after a while. "Give me one hundred push-ups, and I want real push-ups, not the weak-handed sack-of-lard ones you gave me last time! Jump to it, now!"

"Yessir!" Haku saluted and fell right away onto his hands and into the push-up position.

Momochi nodded approvingly and stepped into the shack. He didn't mean to be that tough on the boy, but that was training, after all. You just couldn't go soft on 'em, not during training.

And that meant the sleeping beauty in the other room as well. No, Zabuza was not going to go easy on Loki just because she was a girl. If she wanted to stay on his team, she would have to live up to his expectations; and Momochi was fanatical about rising with the sun.

She should feel better by now anyway, Zabuza figured as he entered the girl's quarters. One whole day off, in his opinion, provided just about enough to time to cure pretty much any thinkable disease; like, say, malaria, or maybe influenza. Such silly things as common colds didn't even stand close.

Stepping over the threshold, Zabuza cleared his throat.

"ALL RIGHT, UP WE GO!" he bellowed to the place where Loki should have been sleeping. An empty pile of willow branches returned his incredulous gape without a reply.

And a moment later, the whole glade seemed to shake as the ninja yelled out the girl's name. A flock of frightened birds shot up into the sky and out of sight, and Haku froze in a mid-push-up.

…"Oh, I'm sure she's all right, master," said the boy fifteen minutes later, pouring hot stew out into the bowls. "She probably just went out for a stroll."

"Went out for a stroll? Went out for a stroll? Without a single word to me?" Zabuza was outraged.

"You never said she couldn't," Haku pointed out carefully.

"Yes, but that was because you were always around her anyway! Didn't matter with you on her tail, did it?"

Haku sighed. He knew what was coming up next. Any moment now Zabuza was going to start pushing his 'that-brat-was-with-the-Hunter-nin-all-along' theory all over again. Haku, on the other hand, thought the man should've just learned to trust people more. Some of them, in any case.

"Perhaps she just didn't want to disturb us," said the boy.

"'Didn't want to disturb us' my ass," said Zabuza unpleasantly, sipping his stew. "…Of course she didn't want to disturb us! How else would she be able to sneak out on her—secret meetings, or whatever it is! Now, just you wait until she gets back. Just you wait. I'll make it clear to her once and for all--"

But what exactly Zabuza wanted to make clear when Loki came back Haku was never to find out, because a large, blood-soaked heap of a dead boar chose that precise moment to crash onto the clearing through the trees from above. As Zabuza stared at it, dumbstruck, and Haku picked a couple of leaves and twigs out of his long hair, a pale and dishevelled-looking Loki straightened up to put a foot triumphantly onto the boar's large, defeated head. There were scratch-marks and signs of freshly-healing wounds all over her body, though overall she looked quite pleased with herself.

"Loki? Explain yourself," Zabuza growled darkly, flashing a glare at the boar.

"I've been out hunting," Loki panted.

"'Hunting'," Zabuza repeated.

"Yup. I just figured, all we ever eat is stew, right? Well, fine, sometimes it's porridge or baked potatoes. Not that I don't like them or anything!" Loki waved her hands in front of her face protectively. "But it does get a bit… repetitive after a while. If you know what I mean. So I thought I'd make a few changes to our everyday diet, and went hunting!" The girl finished her explanation and beamed around this way and that for approval, though getting little from Zabuza. Meanwhile, Haku came over to take a closer look at her prey and was now examining the boar with the eye of an expert cook.

"You can hunt?" Zabuza asked her after a while. "But I thought you have never been to a forest in your life!"

"Ah, well. It's an instinct," answered Loki with an enigmatic smile. She had heard that word a lot in the Centre. She wasn't sure about its exact meaning, but had figured that it accounted for all the skills that she was never taught but could do anyway. Something having to do with her lupine heritage, no doubt.

Zabuza was not satisfied, however.

"Why the hell didn't you warn us before you went off?" he continued the interrogation.

"Ah. Because it was a surprise," said Loki with another mysterious smile. Arguments with Momochi tended not to last very long if you radiated mysterious smiles – Loki had learned that trick from Haku. She was right: Zabuza just scowled, and then scowled even more when he saw Haku giggling in amusement in the background. The assassin knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere farther than this, and thus gave up on his inquiry.

"Right. But no more detours without a warning! Got that?" he barked with the most Zabuza-ish death glare he could manage.

"Right," Loki saluted smartly and sprinted up the lane towards the shack before she was asked any more awkward questions.

Once inside her room, Loki breathed out heavily and collapsed onto the branch heap. She had gotten away with it, this time; but it sure was difficult to keep up the cheerful performance in front of the humans, being tired as she was. It had been one exhausting night, and there were two more nights like that ahead of her. Loki remembered with a sudden shudder everything that had happened in the forest: how, when the moon had set, she came back to her senses in the middle of nowhere; how she had to track down her clothes and cover up the worst of her wounds; and how she had stumbled across that same wild boar that Haku was now skinning outside the shack. That hunting bit sure was a lucky stroke of inspiration… Loki was quite proud of herself for that.

Overall, Loki considered her mission accomplished – the ninja remained as clueless about her true nature as a couple of concussed ducklings. But would the wolf-girl be able to keep it up, or would she break down eventually and be slaughtered like some dangerous, rabid mongrel? Loki didn't know the answer to that one. The only thing she did know right now, however, was that she was in a serious need of some sleep – and that was one calling impossible to ignore. So she made herself comfortable on the blanket, and let the oblivion take her once more.

End Chapter! Ha-ha! They didn't discover Loki's secret THIS TIME! xD And here you were, thinking that she was busted for sure, weren't you.-.-' Well, you were wrong! --laughs like the coffee-high nuttercase that she is, while Gaara shakes his head sadly--