Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... do I make myself clear?

- Ellnidra

MyGoddessofthemoonandsun: Currently I don't have a pairing so I'm open to suggestions, the massacre has happened and the rest of the questions will be answered in time. :P I'm so evil. Te-hehe. I like the nickname Oreo, catchy... :D

Half-Breeds

Chapter 3

Tsunade came back into the room with three traveling cloaks that would fit the three half-breeds. Said three were currently packing their belongings in their bags. They were going on a day-and-a-half trip so they remembered to bring some food aswell. When they were done, they went into the living room where Tsunade currently awaited them.

"Tomorrow you three will leave at dawn, so you should get a good nights' sleep tonight," she said warmly. Over the past several years, Tsunade had grown close to the trio, almost as if they were her family. Leiko nodded energetically before running up the stairs to go to bed. The less two energetic half-breeds nodded their heads in understanding before heading to their room too.

Tsunade sighed, she knew the day would come when they would leave, but she didn't think it would feel like she was losing a part of herself. At least she could threaten them to write her. She nodded her head, yes, that's what she would do. She then proceeded to her own room for the night, cloaks laying forgotten on one of the chairs in the living room.

The next morning Tsunade didn't even have to try and attack them to wake up, but threw some shuriken at Leiko anyways. After they were all up and dressed, they left their rooms with their packs and headed downstairs to their sensei. Tsunade was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for the three of them, the cloaks were left on one of their chairs.

"Ohaiyo!" chirped Leiko cheerfully. Keiko and Sakura said one of their own greetings aswell, but slightly less energetic. Tsunade smiled at them before setting their breakfast on the table. Once they were finished eating, Tsunade handed the cloaks to them before giving her final commands.

"Remember, once you enter your living quarters, then you change into your cat forms for the rest of your time in Konoha except for training. Sakura, you must wear your cloak at all times to hide your wings. Understand?" she asked, eyeing each and every one of them. They all nodded before she continued. "I have already entered you in the academy, Sakura, so that shouldn't be a problem." Tsunade sighed. She really was getting too old for this.

"We should start heading out," stated Keiko, looking out the window, and watching the sun peek through the trees. Sakura and Leiko nodded before looking at Tsunade. Tsunade smiled and hugged each one of them before handing each of them a cloak. She watched as they put one their pack and headed out the door. With a small wave they were gone. Tsunade sighed before remembering, 'Shit!' she thought, 'I forgot to threaten them to write!'

Meanwhile in the forest, three figures were racing through the trees. Leiko, being the most energetic, was practically skipping through the trees. Keiko just shook her head, this was going to be a long trip. Sakura was at the front, leading them towards their destination. They couldn't wait. What would Konoha look like? They had only been in a town when Shizune had to buy groceries for the house, but even so, she said it was a small one.

By nightfall, they were in a small clearing setting up their tents. Leiko was setting up a fire with her powers, while Keiko and Sakura went to fetch some food in the nearest stream. They had other food, but didn't want to use it yet, just incase. This time, though, when they came back to the camp, Keiko was the one dripping wet and mumbling profanities to herself while Sakura was laughing hysterically.

Leiko just looked at them like they'd grown another head. "What so funny?" asked a very curious Leiko. Sakura just waved her comment off before placing three fish on some clean sticks, and putting them in the fire. Keiko sat down by the fire, placing her hands close to try to warm and dry them faster.

"Someone," said Keiko venemously, Sakura giggled. "decided that they should scare the fish," Keiko finished, sending a death glare towards Sakura. Leiko giggled along with Sakura, which made Keiko send one to her too. In the end, they were all laughing by the campfire while eating their supper and telling stories of the past.

"Remember the time when we were training, and Leiko said she made a new technique with her fire powers?" asked Sakura towards Keiko. She nodded before Sakura continued. "You had your hair singed and curly for weeks!" Sakura said laughing at the picture of Keiko chasing Leiko with a kunai and throwing shuriken at her. The others joined in too, and once they were done their supper, they headed off to their tents to sleep.

The next day, they were able to see Konoha's front gates. They jumped off their branches before walking towards it. They also hid some of their chakra. When they arrived at the front gate, two guards jump down from the top of it. They were going to wait until the guards spoke, but Leiko decided to do otherwise.

"Ohaiyo!" she exclaimed while waving her hand up and down. The guards gave her a quizical look while Keiko and Sakura just slapped their foreheads in frustration. Leiko, settleling down, decided to starts a conversation with the guards... sort of.

"Hey! Nice weather huh? Wow, you look strong! Is this Konoha? Is it pretty? You look old. How old are you? Well, I'm eleven! What's your name? Mine's Leiko! How ar-" she cut off with a hit to the back of her head."Owie! Why'd you do that Keiko-teme?" she whined while Keiko just shook her head. The guards looked between the two before turning their attention to the last member of the trio. Sakura had her hood up so they couldn't see what hair color she had, but they could easily see her bright emerald eyes.

"May we please enter?" she asked kindly. The guards stood straighter.

"What are your intentions in our village?" they asked. The trio knew they didn't do anything wrong and don't intend to, so they just played it casual.

"We," Sakura pointed at Keiko, Leiko and herself,"are to be attending the ninja academy," she then took out a peice of paper Tsunade gave her if they were having trouble getting in. The guards took the paper from her and read it over. Once they were done, they jumped out of sight. A moment later the large gates opened up and the half-breed trio walked inside.

They were amazed at the size of the village. People were crouded in the streets doing their chores for the day. As the little trio walked by, looking for a place to stay, some women pointed at them and whispered. They acted as if they didn't notice, used to being talked to behind their backs, but it just didn't seem like Leiko was having a good day with the quards ignoring her.

"Hey! What the hell are you looking at? And if you have something to say, then say it to my face, you bit-" she was stopped by Keiko slapping a hand over her mouth while nodding appolegetically to the women. The women, however, just turned away and whispering furiously to each other, no doubt about them and Leiko behavior.

"Leiko please try to control yourself. We've only been in this village for five minutes and your already cursing at some women on the street," Sakura said before sighing. They continued down the street until they heard a growling sound. Keiko and Sakura turned aroung to see a reddening Leiko glaring at her stomach, which just have another growl in return. Sakura sighed once more. "Alright we'll find a place to eat lunch before finding somewhere to sleep," she said.

Five minutes into their walk, they found a small ramen shop called Ichiraku. As soon as they entered, they were bombarded by a delicious smell. Leiko hurried her way to one of the stools before placing her pack beside her. Keiko and Sakura sighed before joining her.

"What can I get for you three?" a kind man asked from behind the counter. Sakura looked up at the menu above them before replying.

"We'll have three miso please." The man nodded before heading back into the kitchen to get their orders. Sakura looked at her companions beside her. Keiko was waiting patiently while reading a small book Tsunade gave them about the village. Leiko was watching as the man made their food, in a trance like state with drool dripping out of her mouth. Sakura just shook her head at her, but Keiko saw the movement and looked her way. Sakura just pointed at Leiko, and Keiko decided to take it upon herself to slap the back of her head for them.

"Owie!" exclaimed Leiko while pouting before going back to watching the food in a more dignified manner. Two minutes later, the man came back with their orders and they started eating. In the middle of their meal, a short blond kid about their age with three whisker marks on each of his cheeks came in with a man who had dark brown hair and a scar across his face and nose. The trio hardly gave them a glance when they entered.

Naruto, seeing other customers, was very cautious, and was about to sit a couple stools away from them, but found that they were taking all but two stools on either side of the group. He was about to turn back and exit the stall when Iruka, the older ninja, pushed him into one of the seats and took the other stool at the other end. Naruto glanced warily at the girl beside him. She had her cloak over her head, just as the other two did. She didn't make any indication that she noticed he was there so he went and ordered his food.

Keiko jabbed Sakura lightly in the ribs, silently telling her to make friends in this new village. Sakura sighed before turning her attention to the cerulean-eyed blondie. Naruto flinched, knowing that the girl beside him was looking at him. He prepared himself for her to say something obnoxious to him, or leave the resturant, but she did exactly what he least expected her to.

"Konichiwa," she paused, not knowing what to say, "my name's Sakura, and you are?" she asked politely. She waited for an answer, but only received silence. Naruto froze, he wasn't used to being treated nicely by anyone except for Iruka. Iruka on the other side, beside Leiko, smiled at Naruto. Someone was finally being nice to him.

Leiko decided to ruin the silence after she slurped the rest of her ramen. "Yo!" she shouted. Everyones attention went to her. "What's this stuff called? It's really, really, really, really good! Can I have some more?" she asked looking at Sakura you grunted a reply. Keiko, on the other hand, hit Leiko behind the head again. "Owie! That's three times today! Why do you keep having to hit me?" she whined while rubbing the back of her head. Sakura let out a sigh while the old man behind the counter delivered Naruto, Iruka and Leiko some ramen, while laughing at their little display. Leiko brightened up at the sight of more food, and started inhaling it. The old man laughed and decided to answer.

"This food's called ramen," he said. She nodded with noodles hanging out of her mouth before continuing. The man shook his head before turning Iruka. "Another Naruto huh?" he asked, refering to her eating preference. Leiko looked up and asked a question.

"Woos Wawuto?" Sakura sighed, seeing that Leiko wasn't going to stop eating anytime soon.

"She meant, 'Who's Naruto?'" Sakura said. The old man laughed once more. Keiko decided to ignore him and continue reading her book while Leiko was eating. Sakura, on the other hand was waited for the old man to answer.

"Why, he's right beside you little missy," he said before turning back and heading into the kitchen. Sakura turned her attention back to Naruto, who flinched once more. Sakura raised an eyebrow at his actions, but didn't say anything about it.

"So, your name's Naruto? Nice to meet you," she said while extending her hand. The trio learned manners from Shizune and Tsunade long before. Naruto, wearily took the hand in his, waiting to see if her kindness was just a trick.

"Nice to meet you too," he said, but when he saw the genuine smile on her face, he knew that she was really trying to be nice to him. He placed his best foxy-grin on his face before asking her a couple of questions. "So, do you live around here? I haven't seen you around," he asked her. Iruka was listening on their conversation, trying to find out more about the girl that was being nice to Naruto.

"No, I just moved here. I'm going to attend the academy. Do you, by any chance, know where it would be?" Sakura asked politely. Naruto's face brightened up tremendously.

"Your going their too? Ya, I know where it is, it's down this road, then you just have to turn left and keep going. You can't miss it!" he exclaimed. Sakura smiled at him, he reminded her of Leiko, 'Great' she thought, 'another loud-mouth to deal with, but at least he's nice'. Naruto continued to ramble on. "Iruka is actually my sensei!" he told her pointing at the man he came in with. This brought the attention of all three of the trio, as they stopped their actions and look towards said man.

Iruka stopped eating aswell to get a good look at them. All three of them had their hoods up, so he couldn't see their hair, only their eyes. The one next to him had dark onyx eyes. Darker than the Uchiha's had, he remarked. Next to her was the quiet one, she had pearly white eyes. "Are you a Hyuuga?" he asked her. He had never seen her around. She just shook her head before returning to her reading. The last girl, next to Naruto, had bright and intelligent elmerald eyes. He could see they were filled with knowledge and were very calculative.

These must have been the strangest girls he had ever seen. He then asked his next question, "So, all three of you are entering the academy?" The two girls closest to him shook their heads, in a sign that they weren't entering, but the last one, Sakura, nodded.

"I just came for the food," remarked Leiko, which earned her another slap on the back of her head. Keiko looked at the clock on the side of the stall. Sakura saw her action and looked aswell.

"Well," she said, "we should be heading out for now." She then proceeded to place the correct amount of money on the counter. She received a quite large sum of money from Tsunade before they left, but gave it to Sakura, knowing that the other two would do nothing good with it. Both Keiko and Leiko got up along with Sakura before heading out of the stall. "I'll see you at the academy Naruto, Iruka," she bowed her head slightly before leaving with the other two trailing closely behind her.

Naruto turned back to Iruka once they were out of sight. Iruka smiled at him before returning to his ramen. 'Sakura' Iruka thought, I'll keep an eye on her, she doesn't seem... normal, and who comes into the academyin the middle of the year?' Naruto continued eating. He just couldn't wait for class to start so that he could meet her again.

The half-breed trio made it to an Inn and rented a room to fit them all. Once they were inside they started unpacking their things. Keiko and Leiko didn't pack as much, knowing that they were going to be in their cat froms for the majority of their time in the village. Once they were done they each claimed a bed before falling asleep.

The next day was Sunday. Class would start the next day, so they decided to look around the village for the day. Sakura turned to her two mischeivous friends. "You have to turn into your cat forms for the rest of out time here except when we are training together and when we're in our room." She spread her arms out for emphasis. Keiko and Leiko did as they were told. White and black mist surrounded them before fully covering them. When the mist was gone, two small abnormal looking cats were looking at Sakura intently.

Sakura patted her shoulders and waited. Keiko, understanding her gestures, leaped up to her right shoulder and sat upon it. Leiko, getting the idea, leaped up aswell onto Sakura's other shoulder. Sakura smiled at them before heading out into the busy streets of Konoha.

Sakura wandered around the streets aimlessly. Keiko sniffed the air before nibbling on Sakura's right ear and pointing with her tail at a boy their age. He had his back turned to them so they couldn't see what he looked like, but he did have a large jacket on with the hood over his head. Sakura turned to face Keiko with a questionable look.

"He smells like a dog," she cooed. Yes, she was speaking as an animal, but Sakura had the ability to change into one too, so she supposedly was given the power to understand both Keiko and Leiko too. Sakura nodded. Keiko wanted to go and investigate why, or, she was just being bored and wanted something to do. Leiko sniffed the air and nodded in agreement.

Sakura sighed before making her way over to him. When she got closer, she noticed that the top of his hood was moving. When she was right behind him, the top of his hood stopped moving before yipping. The boy turned aroung to see a girl with a cloak on over her head and emerald eyes. He stared at her for awhile and Sakura took the initiative to talk first. "Do you, by any chance, have a dog with you?"

The boy had dark brown bushy hair, upside down red triangles on his cheeks and small fangs. "Is he a demon?" asked Leiko with a meow. "No," Keiko replied, "but he does smell different," she said. Kiba broke out of his trance like state and answered her.

"Oh! Ya, his name's Akamaru. Come out boy," he said. As soon as he finished the sentence, a white dog appeared from under his hood. He barked a reply before growling at Keiko and Leiko. Kiba told him to quiet down, which he did hesitantly, but barked something at his master. "Watch out for them," Akamaru yipped, "There's something different about them," he finished before hiding back under the hood. Sakura however was looking at Keiko.

"Happy? He had a dog with him," she said pointing at Kiba. Keiko sighed in frustration, "Yes, he did, but ask him about his features. Maybe he is a demon!" she said. "Or," Sakura said, still looking at Keiko while Kiba watched their little interaction with amusment, "your just getting really bored and nossy," Sakura stated before turning her attention back to Kiba. "Are you, by any chance, a demon?" she asked. Kiba looked at her confused before realizing that she probably wasn't from around here so she didn't know the Inuzuka bloodline.

"Ah, no I'm from the Inuzuka clan. Name's Kiba, nice to meet you," he said while holding out his hand. She shook his hand while replying.

"My name is Sakura," she said, "It's nice to meet you too, Inuzuka-san." Kiba just waved his hands in front of him.

"Just Kiba's fine," he replied with a grin. "So," he said, "you can speak with them?" he asked wile pointing at Keiko and Leiko. Sakura nodded with a smile.

"Unfortunetly, I can hear every single word that comes out of their large mouths," she said before sighing dramatically. Kiba laughed at her display, white the two cats started bickering at her. "Didn't mean it! Sorry," she said while waving her hands in front of her submissively, which just ended up making Kiba laugh harder. "Well I'm sorry to have bothered you Kiba," Sakura said with a small bow of her head.

"No, no, no! It was my pleasure to have met you! Hey, are you by any chance going to the academy?" he asked hopefully. Sakura nodded and he cheered to himself on the inside. "Well I'll see you tomorrow then! I have to go get some supplies for my mother so, ja ne Sakura-chan!" he said before jogging down the street.

Sakura watched his retreating back before continuing on her walk around the village. It wasn't even noon yet, Sakura noticed, and then thought back to Kiba. He hid his pet in his large hood so why not try it too? Sakura stopped walking and looked around. She had somehow found her way into one of the many forests in Konoha. Keiko and Leiko had fallen asleep in Sakura's arms a little while ago. Sakura turned on her heal, about to head back into the market, when she heard a soft noise. She couldn't decipher the noise, and curiosity got the better of her.

The closer she got, the more defined the noise got. Someone was crying, but for what reason she couldn't tell. Sakura quickly made her way through the forest, not making a sound. She needed to make sure that no one was hurt, and if she just left then it would be on her concience all day and she didn't need her concience and two noisy cats to give her a headache.

She stopped when she knew that she was close, and krept closer to see who it was. It turned out to be a girl her age aswell, with short dark violet hair. Her head was in her hands and she was sobbing quietly into them. Sakura, purposely, stepped on a twig. The girl stopped crying to look up. It turned out that she had pure white orbs without pupils.

The girl stared transfixed upon Sakura's from, not knowing what to do. She didn't think anybody would find her out in the middle of the forest. Sakura slowly walked closer to the girl before crouching down before her. "Why are you crying?" asked Sakura, worry evident in her voice and eyes. The girl just shook her head before furiously wipping her eyes, trying to hide it from the kind stranger.

Sakura searched her pocket before pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to the girl. She looked up and accepted the gift with a smile before wiping her tears away. Sakura tried starting again. "My name's Sakura," she said, "now," she said a little more firmly, "why were you crying?" she asked once again.

The girl spoke up shyly, "M-my name's H-hinata, H-hyuuga H-hinata," Hinata replied. "I-i w-was just c-crying because o-of w-what my f-father said t-to me..." she said trailing off before starting to cry silently again. Sakura took the handkercheif out of her hands and wiped her tears away for her.

"Shh," she soothed, "it's alright, you don't have to tell me, but you should stop this crying and not let others' hateful words control your life," Sakura said quietly. Hinata looked up at her, proccessing her words carefully. She then smiled shyly at her and began to poke her forefingers together in a shy manner.

"Thank y-you," she said, " I m-must g-go back n-now before t-they think s-something has h-happened to m-me," she said getting up.

"Hinata-sama!" They heard someone call from in the forest. Hinata smiled at Sakura before heading in the direction of the call.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" she called back over her shoulder. Sakura watched as her retreating form dissapeared into the forest. 'Now, what was I doing before?' she thought to herself, 'Oh yeah! I was going to go look for a larger cloak so I could hide the two trouble makers in it' she then remembered Keiko and Leiko, and looked around. She found them curled up underneath the tree Hinata was sitting at. Sakura carefully picked up both cats and placed them comfortably in her arms before heading back to the market place.

When she arrived, she saw a cloak store a little ways ahead of her, so she made her way in its' direction. When she arrived, she opened the door only to hear a soft jingling sound. She then proceeded to look around for one that she could wear comfortably and still hide Keiko and Leiko in. Said cats were now concious and looking around the store, wondering quietly what they were doing in there. Leiko voiced her thoughts.

"Cherry-chan," she said, "what are we doing in here?" she asked curiously looking around. Keiko just waited for her reply.

"Well after seeing Kiba," Sakura said, catching the attention of one of the costomers in the corner, also looking for a new cloak, "I decided that I could hide you pests in my hood if I had a bigger cloak, but I can't really tell what I'm looking for," she confessed to the cats. Sakura then saw another person looking through the racks. He had a cloak with a high collar covering his mouth and dark sunglasses covering his eyes.

'Sunglasses inside? This village is full of strange people, but then again I guess I really shouldn't talk' thought Sakura, heading over to said boy. He, like the others, looked about her age. When she was right beside him, he stopped looking through the racks and turned his attention to her, or at least she thought he did. It was hard to tell with the sunglasses.

"Hello," Sakura greeted, "I was wondering if you knew of any large cloaks or jackets around here," she said, He just looked impassively at her, not replying. Leiko didn't appreciate how he was practically ignoring them, and decided to make herself known.

"Hey you, up there! Answer the easy question, bastard! It's not like it will take you a lot of time thinking about it. You either know or you don't!" Unfortunetly for Leiko, Keiko decided to hit her on the back of her head... again. Sakura glared down at the little pest in her arms. The boy was also watching them.

"Sorry about her," she said, "she's just a little cranky," she finished. Leiko, hearing her comment, started bickering back at her. "Well you shouldn't say that to someone you don't even know," Sakura said quietly back at Leiko. The boy raised an eyebrow. So they knew how to talk to each other. Sakura then turned back to him, ignoring Leiko, "Sorry, if you don't know then I'll just ask someone else," she said politely. Suddenly, the boy raised his hand and pointed to a rack in the far corner. Sakura understood and bowed her head lightly in thanks. Before she left she said, "By the way, my name's Sakura," she said.

"Shino," the boy replied softly before continuing his journey through the racks. Sakura nodded before heading to the rack he pointed to. When she arrived at the rack, she saw many large cloaks that could easily hide her wings and Keiko and Leiko within it. She found one that was both comfortable and convenient when fighting. It moved around with the wearer and was probably designed for battle purposes. Sakura smiled at it before buying it and heading home. All the while, not aware of the beady little insect eyes watching her.

When she got into her room, Keiko and Leiko transformed back, stretched, and flopped onto their beds before sleeping the night away. Sakura giggled at them before putting her new and old cloak away and heading to bed too. Tomorrow was their first day in class and she couldn't wait, but she did however have a feeling that Leiko and Keiko were going to make it a little more... interesting of a day.

'Konoha academy, here we come!' she thought before falling into a dreamless sleep.