Disclaimer- I do not and will never own Naruto. Only the characters created within my story.

Thinking

"Talking"

"Monster/animal talking"

"Telepathic talking"

Chapter 7- Survival: Predators

Shinaka found Sasuke walking by himself carrying armfuls of wood that she was sure was too heavy for him. She had seen him paired with a mousy-brown haired girl with circular glasses called Kia, but she was nowhere near him. Shinaka mentally kept track of his direction as she searched for the missing girl. It was starting to get late, and while the forest may be safe there were still hidden dangers in the dark.

She considered bringing Sasuke back first as she knew where he already was, but he was already travelling back to camp, so she decided she would look for his partner first. Shinaka followed one of the scents lingering on Sasuke to a pile of twisted roots deeper towards the denser parts of the forest. Shinaka started to worry, if the girl had wondered too far into the forest she was more likely to be in danger by the predators within the trees.

Shinaka travelled on the interconnecting branches of the trees until she found the girl about half a mile from the border of thorn bushes that marked the edge of the safer part of this forest. They had been planted years ago to deter many of the large predators from getting too close to where humans would most likely to be, long before Shinaka was born.

Sasuke's partner sat on the ground clutching her left ankle, Shinaka couldn't tell if it was sprained or possibly broken but her painful sobs where attracting dangerous attention. From her vantage point on a low branch she could see a tiger slowly moving its way towards the girl. It was small, possibly a juvenile, explaining why it was out this far. The older ones tempted to stay deeper in the forest away from human attention.

Before the tiger could leap at the girl something hit his side causing both of them to roll towards the girl. When they split apart the tiger saw another, larger, tiger standing in front of him. It was a large white and black female growling at him. The female moved until it stood in front of the girl, blocking his access to the human cub.

He growled at the interference with his hunt and swiped at the female's maw with retracted claws; a warning to back away. The female growled deeper and leaned downwards as her fur stood up creating the illusion that she was bigger than she first appeared. This scared the male slightly as the female looked ready to pounce and could do considerable damage to him, but he got cocky from getting the first hit in and got into a defensive display. "I am not backing down." He told her with his ears flat against his skull, teeth bared, eyes narrowing into thin black slits and lowering his tail. "You interrupted my hunt, and I will make you understand not to interfere with my hunt." The male further growled out. The male scented the air further and crouched down further in anger. "And why do you have a human scent mingling with yours. Are you a pet to these humans." He said mockingly.

It was weird understanding animal language, knowing they tended to use their body more often and in different ways to humans to communicate, not just sound.

Shinaka ignored the tigers insult, it meant nothing to her. The tiger sprang forward knocking Shinaka backwards. He pushed down on her chest, the weight making it harder to breath. As black spots started appearing in her vision she brought her back paws beneath her and kicked him back. She twisted onto her front and spun around, leaping forward she knocked the male to the right with a shoulder thrust.

The male twisted as she landed on him and tried to rake across her side, but she jumped backwards. As the male leaped at her she rolled out of the way, closer to the human girl. Realising they were too close Shinaka moved away, growling to keep the tiger's attention on her. The tiger turned to face her as she circled to his left. When Shinaka came behind him, the tiger whirled and striked out at the girl leaving three long red stripes along her arm. It would have been worse if Shinaka had not have pulled the tiger back with her claws on his hips.

Shinaka rammed her head into the male's shoulder before he could attack again. He was knocked onto his side and she landed on his back leg, breaking it. She placed her right paw on his neck and dug her claws in as he mewled with pain. "How does it feel to be defeated by a pet. If you think I am weak then how does it feel to be defeated by me." her claws dug deeper into his neck until Shinaka could smell blood. "Now return to the safety of the forest. If I see you here again I will kill you."

The male growled and shifted onto his back, exposing his softer belly. Shinaka recognized this as a posture of submission and eased her claw from his neck. She backed away until she was in front of the girl, acting as a barrier between her and the male. The male took one last look at her and the child before retreating deeper into the forest.

Shinaka stayed crouched until she could neither smell or hear him anymore. She turned around to the girl who stared at her in fear. Shinaka debated shifting to help the girl back to the campsite, but she was worried that would scare the kid more. The children in the village had picked up on their parent's hatred of her, but they did not know what her ability was. She knew the girl in front of her was sure she was just an ordinary tiger. She decided she would try and convince the girl she was a summoned animal.

Shinaka lay on her belly and slowly crept forward, stopping when the girl flinched, moving when the girl relaxed again. Soon she was close enough to nudge the kid's arm over her head, encouraging the girl to pat her head. As the girl slowly ran her fingers through the fur between her ears, Shinaka inspected the gash on the girl's arm. The wound was bleeding, it didn't look like any major arteries had been cut but the wound still needed to be cleaned and bandaged.

Slowly Shinaka nudged the girl and gestured with her head for the girl to climb on her back. The girl first shook her head taking a step back, but the pressure she put on her injured ankle caused her to whimper slightly. Shinaka approached the girl and crouched down beside her, nudging the child until the girl clambered on her back. She held tightly on the scruff around Shinaka's neck as the tiger moved slowly through the forest, back towards camp.

Before she reached the clearing she stopped and called out towards Iruka. "Iruka, I've got an injured student on my back with gashes on her arm and a sprained, possibly broken, ankle. Im north-east of you. The scratches aren't too bad, I just want her wound to be bandaged so it doesn't get infected." The words wouldn't have been as loud as she wanted due to her distance from him, but she didn't want any of the other kids to freak out when they saw the tiger.

Soon Iruka arrived and picked up the girl bridal style. "Thank you Shinaka. Go get changed and I'll meet you back at camp."

Shinaka nodded and moved to the right of the clearing to collect her clothes. The sudden shift into the tiger and the fight leaving her with the desire to take a short rest.