Author's Note: I own nothing except Reyna; even Kayha and Katara are creations of a friend. Everything you recognize is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Characters are slightly OOC but now we start to get serious for a while again, though we still tried to make it fun! Soon Gaara's birthday will appear…stay tuned for that!
I also have to give credit to my friend, her alter ego is Kayha just like mine is Reyna, for the great ideas and the fun caffeine driven writing!
Character Notes: Reyna has the ability to shift to a wolf as well as all the perks of being one (heightened senses); Kayha and Katara were two of Orochimaru's experiments. If there is interest I will post Reyna's story eventually as well. That's all I have to tell you now...ENJOY!
REYNA CAN COOK?
Reyna settled into her bed and gradually drifted off to sleep. She didn't know how long she'd actually been asleep before the nightmares started again. It had been a long time since they had plagued her sleep, but for the past few nights they had returned and she once again found herself collared, caged and unable to protect her pack. Unknown to her, her body started to shift into her wolf form and she lashed out in her sleep. Her howling and the crashing from her room drew Gaara and Kayha and Kayha entered Reyna's room alone.
What she saw made Kayha pause once she was inside; Reyna's room was almost completely destroyed. The mattress was shredded along with the blankets, a few holes where a fist had gone through them were in the walls and the doors hung off the closet and the dresser had been torn apart. Slowly, Kayha approached the half-shifted Reyna who was crouched in a corner. When she got close enough, Reyna growled at her, baring her teeth.
"Reyna, it's me…Kayha," Kayha kept her voice low and calm as she approached never expecting that Reyna would lash out at her.
Reyna tensed, the strangeness of Kayha's scent bothering the wolf that was now at the surface. Trapped in the corner, the wolf saw no other choice but to lash out and she struck out with claws, catching Kayha in the side just as Kayha realized that Reyna's eyes were a deep burnished amber color, she had fangs in her mouth and her fingers were tipped in sharp claws which drew blood on her side.
The scent of blood seemed to pull Reyna back to the surface of her consciousness and she shook her head, "Kayha?"
"Yeah, that's me. You alright?" she asked, noting the few cuts and scrapes the wolf had incurred while attacking inanimate objects in her room.
Reyna nodded, even as she noticed the blood on Kayha's side and flinched, "Did I do that to you?"
Kayha shook her head, "No, just on old wound that I managed to reopen. Don't worry about it, but I would like to heal some of those deeper cuts for you."
Reyna nodded and as Kayha finished healing the deepest of her cuts Reyna met her eyes, "Did Kakashi see me like this?" she asked quietly.
Kayha shook her head, "No, I haven't seen him since he headed for his own bed earlier tonight. Relax, Reyna. I think you should probably find another bed though."
Reyna looked at the destruction around her and grimaced, "Shit. Yeah, guess I owe the Kazekage an apology."
"He's in the hall. I don't think he's really going to say much about it though."
Reyna nodded and pulled herself to her feet, heading for the door. She stepped into the hall, Kayha a few paces behind her, holding her side. Reyna met Gaara's gaze and sighed.
"Lord Kazekage, I apologize for the damage to the room. I will happily pay for the repairs and replace everything that I managed to destroy."
Gaara nodded, "That is not necessary, Reyna. It is not the first time that a room has been destroyed in this house and I doubt it will be the last."
Reyna smiled slightly, her eyes returning to their normal color, "If you wouldn't mind, could you not mention this to Kakashi?"
Gaara nodded and she slipped down the hall, not waiting for Gaara to give her another room or tell her where to stay. He sighed and turned his attention back to Kayha. Reyna spent that night sleeping on the couch in the living room, ensuring that she was the first one up the following morning; not that it was difficult since she hardly slept the rest of the night anyway. Just as the sun was starting to rise, she pulled herself up and headed into the kitchen. There were a few talents that even Kakashi and Naruto didn't realize she had.
By the time the rest of the household was up, Reyna had breakfast cooked and set out for everyone to grab their own plate. Temari was the first one up and headed downstairs. It took her a minute to realize why she suddenly felt so hungry. The smell of breakfast was wafting up the stairs towards her. She narrowed her eyes wondering who in the world had cooked breakfast and sincerely hoped they had made enough for her as well. She entered the kitchen and stopped dead at the sight of Reyna, of all people, setting out platters of eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit and muffins wearing a black apron and singing under her breath as she worked.
Reyna stopped singing the second she caught Temari's scent and turned towards her with a slightly embarrassed smile, "Morning, Temari. Are you hungry? I got a little carried away this morning."
Temari just stared at her for a second, "You can cook?"
Reyna levelled a bit of a glare at her, "No need to sound so shocked."
"Sorry, it's just that I can't seem to boil water without having the house filled with smoke."
Reyna shrugged, "My family made sure I could look out for myself from a young age, and that included cooking lessons."
"Maybe you should teach me then?"
Reyna shrugged, "If we have time before we have to leave, sure."
"Awesome, now let me in there. I'm freaking hungry!"
Temari was just filling her plate when Gaara and Kayha appeared in the kitchen with the same shocked looks that Temari had had as well. They didn't say anything though as they each grabbed a plate and started piling food on them. Kankuro, Katara, Naruto and Sakura were the next ones to appear and attack the food on the counter. Reyna waited another twenty minutes until Kakashi finally appeared book in hand. She considered yelling at him for it, but decided that a cold breakfast would make the statement for her as she pulled her own plate out of the oven where she had been keeping it warm.
"This is really good, Reyna-Sensei!" Sakura complimented as she grabbed another muffin from the basket in the center of the table.
"Yeah, this is great! You should cook for us more often!" Naruto added around a mouthful of egg.
Reyna shook her head with a slightly embarrassed smile again, "Maybe, but it's not very often I have the time I need to actually cook anything. This morning was an exception."
"Well, we're thankful for it. It's not very often we ever get a real breakfast," Kankuro piped in before turning his attention back to his plate.
Kankuro volunteered to clean up the kitchen once everyone was done eating and the rest headed into the main house once again. Kakashi disappeared back upstairs while Reyna headed off for a quick morning shower. By the time she returned, everyone was gone except for Kakashi and Kankuro who were sitting in the living room watching television. Reyna dropped down onto the couch beside Kakashi, leaning back and only half watching the show. She kept sneaking glances at Kakashi beside her.
Eventually Kankuro grew bored and disappeared from the room, leaving Reyna and Kakashi alone; not that Kakashi even noticed that fact. Reyna slid a little closer to him and still he didn't look up. Reyna sighed, trying to pay attention to the show again but found herself restless.
"Kakashi?" she asked quietly, but he didn't seem to hear her so she said his name again, a little louder this time.
"Yes, Reyna?" he finally asked, still not looking over at her.
"Do you know where everyone went today?"
"It had something to do with Kayha's mother. That's about all I know, I didn't relish the thought of heading across the desert today so I opted to stay here."
"Have you even realized that Kankuro left about ten minutes ago? It's just the two of us here right now."
"Huh? Oh really? No, I hadn't noticed him leaving," Kakashi remained intent on the TV.
Without thinking, Reyna found herself leaning towards Kakashi. The thought of kissing him, mask or no, flickered through her head and she stopped herself, wondering what the hell she had been thinking. Before she could pull herself back up into a normal position, Kakashi glanced over at her.
"Reyna, what are you doing?" he asked, wondering why she was leaning almost completely against him.
Quickly she sat back, trying to ignore the heat that was rising in her cheeks and the amused glint in Kakashi's eye when he realized she was actually blushing, "What? Oh, nothing…just working on…core strength and balance, you know at that angle it can become difficult to hold yourself up."
Kakashi laughed to himself at her excuse, pretty sure he knew what she had been thinking of doing, "Sure, Reyna, whatever you say."
In a couple of minutes, Reyna spoke again, "I'm bored."
"And sounding more and more like Naruto every minute," Kakashi muttered without thinking first.
"What? I do not sound like Naruto!"
"That's not what I meant," Kakashi quickly tried to backtrack when she turned a glare on him, "I only meant that he gets bored easily too."
Reyna growled, though she was trying not to laugh at him at the same time as he scratched the back of his neck trying to find a way out of the situation, "I need to go run or something."
Kakashi couldn't believe his luck when she let it pass, "So go."
"Alright, we should go train then, Kakashi."
"What? Why do I have to go when you're the one who wants to train? I want to enjoy the quiet without Naruto around and relax. Read a book maybe."
Reyna was just about to reply to that when they both looked toward the window. The sound of shouting and weapons clanging reached them and they were both instantly on their feet. Without a word they headed to the window and watched as Sand Ninja ran past the house. They shared a look and headed for the door, they were not about to let the Sand fight alone, not while they were there.
"Looks like I don't need to train after all, anyway," Reyna muttered as she stepped out of the house behind Kakashi.
"No, and I think we may have a reason to skip training tomorrow too," he replied gravelly as they joined the Sand Ninja running past them.
A/N: So what do y'all think? Want more? Keep the muse happy and fed and we'll keep it coming!