A/N: Here ya go, peoples! Yet another chapter for you all to read, enjoy and please, please, please review. Let me know if I'm managing to keep these character mostly as in character as possible!

JERRIE: Wait! You're forgetting you're supposed to have a special guest do the disclaimer!

REYNA: I do have one…you!

JERRIE: That is so awesome! So, Reyna only owns herself; everything recognizable is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Kayha and Katara are property of one of her friends who remains unknown! ENJOY!

REYNA: Thanks, Jerrie…hmmm, who do I kidnap for the next chapter? (disappears to plot that while everyone reads)

BREAKING POINT

Over the next several days, Reyna remained quiet and withdrawn from her team, causing concern in them all for her. Every day they met to train or head out on a mission Naruto and Sakura would ask Kakashi what was wrong with the Jounin and every time he would have to tell them he didn't know and that she wouldn't even talk to him. She maintained herself and her team during their missions, Tsunade had finally allowed them to once again take on B-ranked missions, and during training she was constantly helping her younger team mates.

Kakashi, however, noticed that she wasn't sleeping even when she was with him. He had finally realized why he had been having difficulties with that himself; he was too used to having someone beside him that he couldn't sleep without that other body. Reyna, however, didn't even seem to be responding to that anymore. Finally one night when she had insisted she was staying at her own apartment, he couldn't take it anymore. He had to talk to someone about what was going on. So despite the fact that it was nearly two in the morning, Kakashi headed out to the memorial stone to confide in the one person he had always been able to talk to…about anything.

He stood before the grey stone, staring at the names of so many that he had known and been unable to protect. Obito, without whom he never would have become what he had; Rin who had patched him up more times than he cared to remember and Minato, his teacher and friend who would have kicked his ass if he had known how Kakashi had treated his son during their early days of training.

Kakashi sighed, bowing his head and closing his eye, "Minato, I'm really at a loss for what to do. I know that something really horrible must have happened to Reyna but she's starting to pull away from all of us. It's not like she leaves us to hang during a mission, or that she doesn't help everyone out during our training, but she doesn't talk to us like she did. I don't know what to do to get her to talk to me and I'm afraid, Sensei. I'm terrified that she will withdraw from us all and never come back.

"There are times that I wish more than anything that I could be like you were. It never mattered how much I didn't want to talk to you, you always found a way to get me to. I never knew how I could start out arguing that I was never going to talk about something only to realize after I said it that I had revealed everything. Naruto has that ability too, but he respects Reyna too much to challenge her and try to get her to talk to him.

"Why couldn't I have wanted to be like you, Sensei? Why did I have to become so caught up in my own life and my own shortcomings to realize that someday I would find someone that I needed to comfort? Or that there would be someone that I wanted to be there for? I've always been so caught up in following the rules and regulations that I never stopped to think that there are times when you need to shed a tear for a friend. That's probably why I usually come here when it's raining. Why won't she talk to me? I thought she trusted me enough to tell me anything and everything that was happening in her life. After she saw Kayha change, she came to me for protection and safety. So why won't she do the same thing this time? Why is this so different? What happened that could make her want to hide from everyone that she knows cares for her?"

Unknown to Kakashi, Reyna was sitting not far away using the shadows to conceal herself. She had been about to leave when Kakashi had started speaking and the raw emotion in his voice had caused her to pause. The longer he spoke the more she found herself fighting back tears. The pain in his voice at his final unanswered question finally broke her and she dropped her concealment. He still hadn't noticed her and suddenly the only thing she wanted was to feel the security of his arms around her. Without a thought she bolted towards the unsuspecting ninja.

Kakashi became aware of movement to his right and tensed, thinking that there was an intruder in the village. He recognized Reyna the instant he turned and braced himself, thinking she was about to tackle him. He was shocked when she skidded into him with just enough force that, had he not been braced for it, would have made him stumble a step but nowhere near enough force to knock him off his feet. He was even more surprised when he realized that there were tears in her eyes just before she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head against his shoulder. Without a thought, he wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

"Reyna? What are you doing out here?" he asked softly but she only shook her head, not trusting her voice yet.

He fell silent, wondering just how much of his speech she had heard. Finally as the shock of her appearance and actions started to wear off, he came to the realization that she was shaking but not in the same way she had when she had returned to the Sand Village after her fight with Griffin and Kayha's transformation.

Finally, Reyna's voice reached his ears though it was strained, "We can't talk here."

Kakashi nodded and kept an arm around her waist as they headed away from the stone. He could feel her gripping the back of his shirt and she kept her head pressed against his shoulder as she walked, trusting him to get her back to his apartment. Once inside, he pulled her onto the couch beside him and she turned towards him, once again latching onto him.

"Reyna," again his voice was quiet and as he was about to say more, realized that the shoulder she had her head buried against was a little damp and he immediately fell silent again.

"I'm sorry," she finally muttered, her voice breaking.

"Hey, it's okay."

She shook her head, trying to keep herself under control enough to talk to him, "I never thought this would affect your life to this extent. That I would affect your life like this."

"You're my teammate and friend. I've gotten to enjoy your company and your trust so when you pulled away from me, it hurt."

He felt her shudder against him and she finally pulled her head back slightly, wiping her eyes on her own shoulder, but not before he realized she had been crying. Suddenly he realized what her trembling had meant, she had been trying to hide the fact from him.

"Guess I broke the rules," she muttered, once again moving to lay her head on his shoulder but he stopped her with a hand under her chin.

"Sometimes it's the only thing you can do; you have to adapt to the situation. I should have listened to that piece of advice a long time ago. Reyna, what happened?" he asked.

She cringed and lowered her gaze which he was starting to learn was a submissive gesture from her, before she started to talk to him, "There's a new Leaf Pack."

Kakashi was confused, his thoughts along the same lines of Tsunade's and that she should be happy about that, "Isn't that a good thing for you? Other wolves?"

She shook her head, "No. It's not easy to get into a new pack and there has to be an opening in said pack that they need filled. It's not a matter of walking up to them and telling them I am joining."

She stopped, keeping her gaze averted from his, "Reyna, you can tell me anything. Yell, scream, rant, rave, cry…do whatever you need to do. Look at me," he muttered and she slowly raised her gaze to his, no longer acting as the submissive, "Tonight there are no shinobi rules, no pack rules; there's just us."

Reyna closed her eyes and started to talk, "Tsunade allowed them to take over the old contract and they asked if there were any wolves in the ninja ranks. So of course she told them about me and they said they wanted meet with me…alone. Something about that just didn't seem right, but I didn't have much choice about it. I headed out that afternoon. I guess that was the same day that you tried to reseal Kayha's curse mark," she glanced up at him at that with a slight glare but it quickly vanished and she sighed, dropping her gaze again.

"Yeah, I figured that if I just got it over with sooner rather than later it would be a good thing," he answered with a shake of his head.

"Its fine," she muttered before taking a deep, shaky breath before she continued. "I headed out to the old den sight. I had assumed it would just be a meeting with the new alpha and maybe a beta. I was dead wrong. The first one that I dealt with was a beta," she shuddered but didn't pause worried she wouldn't get through the whole thing if she didn't keep going now. "I kept my response diplomatic and calm, refusing to be baited by him. The alpha appeared and asked if I had been mated to anyone when the last pack had been killed.

"I hadn't been and I answered, maintaining respect for an alpha the entire time. What was making me tense then was the fact that there was a circle of male wolves around us the whole time and the beta kept circling me. There was a scent of females in the area but they were nowhere near us. I just kept arguing with my instincts that it was a test to see if I should be a beta within the pack. I should never argue with my instincts."

Kakashi felt her starting to tremble again and tightened his hold around her waist with his one arm, "What were your instincts telling you?" He was trying to keep her talking before she lost control of her emotions and was unable to speak again.

"To run or fight or do something; anything. The alpha asked the group who claimed me," she growled the last two words and Kakashi found himself glad that she was still able to be mad about the question. "The circling beta said that he did and at that point I lost all respect for that alpha. My own father's pack never treated a female the way this pack treated me. He may have mated my mother against her will, but the entire pack wasn't there to witness it! By that point all I wanted to do was tear that pack apart, but then I would be a traitor to the village.

"I told them it wasn't going to happen and was informed that the only way I was ever going to be a part of that pack was to be mated to one of their males. I never thought he'd hit me, and I sure as hell didn't think he could hit that hard. The alpha knocked me off balance and the beta tackled me. If I wasn't a shinobi…" she trailed off, unable to continue as she fought back a wave of fear so strong she shook from it.

"I've got you and there is no way in hell they are going to get near you," Kakashi muttered fiercely, pulling her against his chest.

Reyna shuddered against him but forced herself to continue, "I managed to twist out of the way enough that his fangs just barely broke the skin. He didn't get enough flesh to mark me. Usually the marking bite is done during the physical consummation, but not always." Her voice was starting to break again and he tightened his hold around her. "The pack seemed to thrive on the scent of my fear and desperation to get away. I knocked him off me and managed to get to my feet before the rest of the pack was on me. I never fought back because I will not give up what I have with the village. I will not break the contract. As soon as I had an opportunity I was in the trees, wrapped in my shadows and running as hard as I could to the village. I patched myself up and…."

"And what?" he asked when she was silent for too long.

"I lied to Naruto and Sakura about where the injuries came from the next day. I attacked Kayha, taking out my anger and pain on her instead of just facing it. I pulled away from everyone that I care about when all they tried to do was find out what was wrong. I'm sorry," she muttered, clinging to him as tightly as she could, seeking comfort and safety from the one person she trusted indefinitely.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he muttered fiercely, laying his cheek against the side of her head. "Tsunade has to be told about what they did though."

"The village is stronger with the pack as an ally," Reyna muttered miserably.

"That does not mean that they can claim whoever the hell they want from the village, nor does it mean they can attack those people either. The contract runs both ways; we agree not to hunt or attack wolves and they agree not to attack anyone heading to or from the village, especially not the village ninja! If they expect us to honour that contract, then they damn well have to do the same thing."

"Thank you, Kashi," she muttered.

"For what?"

"Understanding and being you," she replied quietly. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Kakashi chuckled and nodded, "Any time you need to. And Reyna the village is your pack, you don't need them. You have us, your team mates and friends."

The next morning, Reyna woke up when Kakashi attempted to slip out of his bed unnoticed by her. She growled under her breath, managing to grab the back of his shirt before he got to his feet. He glanced back at her and smiled under his mask despite the fact that he had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep. He had remained awake long after Reyna had finally fallen asleep thinking about what she had told him.

"Reyna, I need to talk to Tsunade," he said quietly. "Get some more sleep; I should be back in a couple of hours."

"You look like you need to get some more sleep too," she muttered around a yawn but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine. I'm going to tell Naruto and Sakura to take the day off and do whatever they want. They've been working hard and could use a day to themselves. Stay put, I'll be back."

Reyna sighed, but released her hold on him and he quickly disappeared out the bedroom door. She heard him shuffling around the apartment for a few minutes getting dressed before the front door opened and closed and she was alone in his apartment. She shuddered finding that she really didn't want to be alone. After keeping everything that had happened in that meeting with the pack bottled up, and then finally confiding in someone, she felt vulnerable; not a feeling she was enjoying. Rather than going back to sleep as Kakashi had told her to, Reyna shoved herself out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make something to eat.

Kakashi meanwhile made his way quickly across the village and was waiting outside of Tsunade's office when she and Shizune finally showed up. One look at the serious set of his eye and the slight undertone of a glare and Tsunade ushered him into her office.

"Alright, Kakashi. I feel like hell and have a headache to match. What the hell's wrong?" Tsunade growled at him, dropping into her chair behind her desk.

"Drinking with Kayha again?" he asked, though the tone of his voice made her sit up and pay attention; he may have been teasing her, but it was out of habit more than anything else.

"Kakashi, what is wrong with you? Not only are you here first thing in the morning when you haven't been summoned but you actually have some emotion in your voice. What happened?" Tsunade sat forward, elbows braced on the edge of her desk.

"Do you have any idea what that new damn pack did to Reyna?" he snapped.

Tsunade shook her head and Kakashi told her exactly what he had been told the night before. Tsunade sat in shock at what he told her and what he eluded about what could have happened. She had never thought that they would set up a Leaf Shinobi in such a way.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I saw the damn bite mark, Lady Tsunade. Besides which, this is Reyna. She's usually more controlled than I am!"

Tsunade nodded, "Where is she now?"

"At my apartment which is where she will remain until this is dealt with!" he snapped, not caring what she or Shizune may think of the situation.

Tsunade nodded thoughtfully, "Not a bad idea, Kakashi. Until such a time as we can resolve this issue, Reyna is not to leave the village without someone of equal or higher rank than herself. I just don't know how we can resolve this. There's never been a situation like this before with the pack."

"That, my lady, was a different pack," Kakashi ground out.

"Indeed, but we need to consider our options carefully. Having a pack to aid in the defense of the village is a good thing for us, but we have to consider our ninja and citizens as well as that. Let Reyna know about my orders and as soon as I figure something out, I will let you both know. Now, does the rest of your team know any of this?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No."

"They should. If the pack is going to make an issue of this, they need to be prepared. I had been planning on keeping your team close to the village for a while, but now it may last a little longer than I had intended."

Kakashi nodded, "Understood. I'm giving Naruto and Sakura today off, but tomorrow I will talk to them."

Tsunade nodded and dismissed him, turning her attention back to her pounding head as Shizune started in on her about the amount of paperwork she had been leaving in order to go drink with Kayha. Kakashi stopped in at Naruto's apartment and informed him that he had the day off and if he could inform Sakura of the same, Kakashi would appreciate it.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked as Kakashi had been about to head away from the window.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"Is Reyna-Sensei alright? I know you said she wouldn't talk to you, but I'm getting really worried about her."

Kakashi sighed, "She'll be alright. She did talk to me last night and it's a bit complicated. There's a new pack around the village and decided that she had to mate one of their males in order to be a part of it. She refused and they attacked her. She was terrified that it would affect the relationship between them and the village and so she didn't say anything. I was going to tell you and Sakura tomorrow, but since you asked, you might as well know now."

"Oh…Kakashi-Sensei, we don't actually have to like the pack when we work with them, do we?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No, we don't. And after that, I'd just as soon not have to even work with them."

"Me too. Hey, you don't happen to know how to open one of these do you?" Naruto asked, holding up the wooden puzzle box that had appeared on his bed.

"Nope, sorry. Have you tried just breaking it?"

"Yeah. Nothing works. Even Rasengan won't break it," Naruto grumbled.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Hey, let Sakura know about the pack issue too, would you? I'd just as soon not make Reyna have to relive that again."

Naruto nodded and flopped back onto his bed as Kakashi disappeared in a puff of white smoke. A few minutes later he was heading back into his apartment. He sniffed the air and smiled under his mask. He hadn't really thought Reyna would go back to sleep but he had kind of hoped that she would. Still, he wasn't going to complain about having a hot breakfast waiting for him.

"Hey, Tsunade doesn't want you leaving the village unless you're with someone of equal or higher rank than you are until she figures out how to handle this," he said as he headed into the kitchen.

Reyna nodded, "Right, because that's going to be easy to manage."

"Well, I could start following you around again if you prefer," he smirked as he grabbed himself a plate.

"It did prove entertaining the last time you did that," she muttered.

A/N: So yet another chapter down…whew…next up? KAKASHI'S BIRTHDAY! It won't be quite as entertaining as the previous parties, but I need to mix it up and have some fun again. Shikamaru will make an appearance in the next chapter…hehehe, someone else to have some fun with… Anyways please review and keep my muse fed.