Kagome lunged and threw open the large glass doors to the deck behind the house, shifted into her beast in mid-air, and streaked off through the fields to meet the oncoming spec. Akamaru, though shocked started to run off after her as Kiba watched utterly stunned.
"What in the hell? AKAMARU! WAIT UP!" he yelled as he exploded into his wolf form and tore off after the pair.
Kiba was able to quickly catch up to the white dog with his size being almost 4 times that of his companions. With only a few short huffs and grunts he learned of the approaching spec and that Akamaru had sensed a great deal of power in it. Kiba lengthened his stride to catch up to Kagome. He looked up to see the spec no longer a spec, but a clearly defined picture. He saw some type of saber toothed animal with two tails and fire with red eyes. It looked much like a saber toothed lion he learned about in school, but it had a woman riding on its back.
"is that a giant boomerang on her back?" he questioned.
The saber toothed cat came to a halt on the ground in front of Kagome, who had shifted back to be human again.
"Kagome!" the woman yelled and ran up to hug the demoness closely. The cat yowled as well and nuzzled Kagome's cheek.
"Sango-chan! What are you doing here? Why aren't you back with Miroku and InuYasha?" Kagome asked.
"Miroku was terrified of this world, and InuYasha should be here soon, I hadn't realized Kirara had passed him." The woman known as Sango stated. "hey kagome….when did you get a dog? And why is he so huge?" Sango asked warily looking up at Kiba who hadn't shifted back yet.
"Oh! Sango, this is Kiba. He's a wolf demon like me, but also a ninja. He saved me from Sesshoumaru's attack. By the way, Sesshoumaru's dead." She informed the woman.
Kiba bowed his head politely as the woman looked him over. He noticed she had chocolate brown eyes and two locks of hair that framed her face well. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she was dressed in a skin-tight black suit with pink guards on her shoulders, elbows, lower-midsection, and down her shins from her knees. He noted the red sash around her waist and how it showed off her curves perfectly, though her curves were nothing compared to Kagome's. Kiba shifted to his human self as Akamaru came bounding up and snarling menacingly at the saber toothed cat.
"Akamaru!" Kiba said sharply. Akamaru instantly stopped snarling but moved to an easier place to protect his companions.
"Sango, this is Kiba. He is a ninja from the village hidden in the leaves. He is a wolf yokai, just like me. He's even offered to help me train to be a ninja." She explained brightly.
"It's nice to meet you, Kiba." Sango said warmly.
"Kiba, that is Kirara. She is a Neko-yokai. A fire-cat if you will. She can shift like us, but she's not human. She has a fight-and-flight form, which is what you see, and a small cat form without the flames and saber-teeth." Kagome explained. "she's been with Sango since Kirara's been alive. She always fought by her side, Sango is a demon slayer by profession. Don't worry though, she wont slay anyone but bad demons."
Kiba suddenly felt much better now that he knew who and what the two strangers were. He smiled at Kagome as if to convey his calmness. "Why don't we bring your companions back to eat and stay with us,, Kagome? I'm sure they must be tired after the long trip." He offered.
Kagome nodded her head and flashed him a huge fanged grin before shifting into her wolf form. Kirara suddenly changed into a small cat and hopped on Kagome's back with her master, Sango. Kiba did the same and led the way home with Akamaru by his side protectively.
When they arrived back on Kiba's deck, Kiba and Kagome became human again and Kiba went to work flipping the steaks over and putting two more on for the fire-cat and the slayer. When all the steaks were finished he placed each one on a plate, and one in each bowl for Kirara and Akamaru. The group ate in a comfortable silence and Kagome cleaned up when they had all finished.
"They sure seem to be having fun together." Sango noted aloud as she watched her Neko roughhouse with the ninja hound.
Kiba chuckled, "sure do. Haven't seen Akamaru play like this since he was a pup playing with the other dogs in the village."
Sango nodded, "Kirara has only had Shippo to play with aside from me. Shippo's so young, though, so she can't play with him like she could with other Nekos."
Kagome came out of the house and watched the two play, smiling.
"It seems like Kirara's having fun with her new friend" she commented.
"Yeah," sango answered, "I was just telling Kiba about how she hasn't had anyone but Shippo to play with since my village was slaughtered."
Kiba whistled and Akamaru came bounding up to him with a huge grin on his face. He petted Akamaru behind his jaw hinges, just where he adored being scratched. Kagome sat down and watched the exchange with Sango.
"So, Kiba, you're going to train Kagome to be a ninja?" Sango asked.
"Yes, she and Shippo will train here in the village. Since she is older, and has some fighting experience, however, she may end up going out on missions with other platoons. Though the platoons will most likely always consist of Naruto and I, mainly because we are both yokai too. Shippo isn't quite old enough or experience enough to go on missions. But with a little training, he can be a top ninja just like us chuunin. " he explained. "You'll have to go through the Chuunin exams though." He added as an afterthought.
"Chuunin exams?" both girls questioned simultaneously.
"The chuunin exams consist of 3 tests. The first is to see how well you can cheat without getting caught. If you get caught, you fail the entire exam. You can choose to know all of the answers or cheat, personally I'd say to cheat because they ask some very hard questions." He explained.
"and the other two?" Kagome questioned.
"The second exam is survival in the forest of death. You must obtain a heaven and an earth scroll and bring it back to the tower where you will wait for the last team to arrive. The third and final test is a fight. A screen randomly chooses opponents to fight each other until it is either deemed a draw, or one participant cannot continue." He answered.
"So how did you pass the first exam, Kiba?" Sango asked curiously.
"I had Akamaru. We understood each other well enough that he could read other answers and openly convey them to me. Since we're a package deal, they won't separate us for the test." He answered, smiling devilishly.
"What about the other two?" Kagome asked.
"well in the forest you travel with the team you have trained with. I believe they would put you in a platoon consisting of you and two others who didn't pass the exams when we went through. Shino, Neji, Hinata, Sakura, Naruto, Choji, Ino, Kankuro, Tenten, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, and I have all yet to pass the exams. Gaara, the youngest sand sibling with the Shukaku yokai inside of him, is Kazekage. He somehow managed to completely surpass all of the requirements to be a Kage, without ever actually doing them; which isn't terrible, because he is definitely a good Kage. Temari went back through the following year and passed the exams. Shikamaru was awarded the title of chuunin by the 3rd Hokage the first time around. I passed that part of the exam, though." He said.
"and the third test?" Kagome asked cautiously.
"Well….The randomizer pitted me against Naruto. Akamaru and I were doing great and almost won, until Naruto concentrated so hard that he farted in my face as I was going to hit him what a chakra-filled punch. My highly sensitive nose suddenly became a weakness and I blacked out because of it." Kiba admitted sadly.
"so…if you don't know all of the answers to the first exam, how am I supposed to pass without joining the Academy?" Kagome asked worriedly.
"Don't worry. We'll do the same thing with you, that my family did with me." He said simply.
"And what might that be?" Sango asked, confused.
"We'll get you a ninja hound to train with." Kiba said with a smile.
"Where in the world do you just 'get a ninja hound'?" Kagome almost yelled.
"My sister is a Veterinarian for the village. She'll know tons of people with ninja hounds of all ages for you to pick out." He said.
"Can we go now?" Kagome squealed over excitedly.
"Sure. Just let me go call her and tell her we're coming." He smiled.
Kiba walked inside briskly and phoned his older sister, and just as quickly walked back out with his trademark jacket on.
"I think I'll stay here, Kagome. If Shippo wakes up, at least someone will be here for him." Sango stated.
Kagome nodded with a grin and turned to follow Kiba to the clinic where his sister would point them in the right direction.
When they arrived at the clinic, Kagome's nose was soon met with the smell of all different types of animals in all different states of health. She instantly recognized the woman at the end of a hall to her left as Kiba's sister by the familiar upside-down red triangles on her cheeks.
"Tattoos?" Kagome questioned silently.
"no. youkai marks." Her beast answered.
Kagome didn't care though, she only followed Kiba to the woman and stood politely by his side until she was introduced.
"This is Kagome, the demoness I told you about on the phone." Kiba explained. "She's staying with me to be trained in the way of the ninja."
"Hm. That sounds pretty interesting. What kind of demoness are you Kagome?" Kiba's sister, Hana, asked.
"Ookami." She answered politely.
"what are your markings?" she inquired further.
Kagome knew where she was going and decided to make it easier on Hana, so she transformed.
"ahhh. . Very wolfish, since you ARE a wolf. Pointy ears…Blue eyes. Hm. Aha! I know just where to send you." Hana said as she turned to grab a slip of paper.
Hana scribbled down a note and an address and handed it to Kiba. "Here. This is the address to Akai. His ninja "hound" just had a litter about a month ago and they're healthy as can be and ready to be taken in by someone. Tell him I sent you." She smiled.
Kiba nodded with his familiar fanged grin and headed out of the clinic. "See ya round Hana!" he called.
"Nice meeting you!" kagome added as well. Akamaru barked along with them.
The trio headed towards a secluded house on the far side of the village. It was partially within a forest and had a lot of space to run around and train in. Kiba knocked on the door and a red-haired man immediately answered the door.
"Hello there, Kiba!" Akai practically shouted. "Hey there, Akamaru! My, haven't you grown up to be a big boy! And who might this young lady be?"
"Akai, this is Kagome. She is a wolf demoness from the far western feudal lands. She will be studying to be a ninja, and what better way than to study Inuzuka-style?" Kiba laughed.
"Well! Come in, come in! I have a whole litter of wolf and dog ninja companions just waiting to be adopted, why don't we just see who we can pair you with?" Akai said as he led the trio behind the dwelling.
"now let's see here." He thought aloud. "You seem kind, but very skeptical. Always very alert, hmm. May I see your wolf form?"
Kagome shifted willingly for the man before her and sat on her haunches.
"Hm. Snow white glossy fur, very soft. Lean muscled body. I have just the breed for you." Akai smiled and led them to a group of pups.
Kagome shifted into a human once again and looked at the pups before her.
"These should be well matched to you. They are sired and birthed by my two best ninja companions, Akemi and Kenta. Akemi was as white as fur can get with stunning blue eyes. She was very even tempered, but slightly protective and very, very, intelligent. Kenta was huge as far as any dog ive every seen, including Akamaru here. He was the healthiest wolf ive ever owned, and he was also very courageous. His intelligence wasn't quite as high as Akemi's, but he wasn't dull by any means. Kenta was completely black with only a white star on his chest. His eyes were a deep ocean blue that stood out against his pitch black fur." Akai explained.
Kagome picked up one of the wolf pups and held him close, examining him.
"ahhh, that one is Kiyoshi. His fur is as white as his mothers. He is the most loving of his siblings. His intelligence is average, and much better suited to a civilian family rather than a ninja." Akai conveyed.
She let the pup scurry off to go play some more and watched as one pup paced back and forth close to the pack of siblings. He was pouncing on everything that tried to jump near the female pup scratching her ear next to him. The little boy was pitch black with a white tipped tail, from what Kagome could see. The female he was protecting was completely white. She had deep blue eyes that screamed with intelligence and love. She walked over to the pups, immediately met with a growling black cub protecting his female.
"Hm? That one snarling at you is Mamoru. He's a very protective one, like his mother. Quite intelligent for his age, very alert and he has the most keen senses out of his siblings." Akai stated nonchalantly.
Kagome picked up the young pup and examined him. He had a lot of muscle and would grow up to surpass Akamaru in size. His fangs were sharp and pearly white, perfect for fighting. She noticed the white star on his chest, matching that of his sire's. His eyes were as Akai described the pups mother's. Stunning blue, almost Cyan in color. The young female Mamoru was protecting was now looking up at Kagome with curious eyes. Kagome sat cross-legged on the ground and began to examine the young female.
"The little girl is Yuki. Spitting image of her mother except her eyes. Her eyes are her father's color. Everything about her is just like her mother, except for the over-protective trait. She is calm, intelligent, and very keen on what's going on around her. Unfortunately Yuki and Mamoru are a package deal. They never go anywhere alone, not that Mamoru would let her leave his side to begin with." The older man laughed.
"I'll take them both." Kagome said. Her tone left no room for Kiba to argue, not that he would. Kiba was glad she'd agreed to a ninja hound, it would be good for Akamaru, and it would help her train too.
"Great! No payment is necessary, I've been trying to find people willing to take in ninja wolves for quite some time. People think they're just too wild, though. They always want the dogs. To be honest, the wolves are better companions to have on a mission than the dogs. Theyre sharper, and most times they're better fighters too. But Akamaru here is an exception I guess. Hes half wolf, but looks all dog. One of the more calm pups ive reared though. But don't let me keep you here all day. You take your pups, now. I'm sure you're all eager to get back home." Akai said.
Kagome smiled and spoke many thanks to Akai for the pups. She picked up the two pups and followed Kiba around the house to begin walking home. Immediately Mamoru squirmed his way out of her arms and began to walk between Kagome and Kiba. He was constantly looking around, scanning the area for danger since he'd never been out of the yard. Kagome giggled at his antics and petted the even-keeled Yuki in her arms. Yuki was very alert, like her comrade, but not quite as possessive. She contentedly snuggled close in Kagome's chest and fell asleep as the group made its way back to Kiba's home.
Okay! so What'd you think? It took me a while to settle on names and descriptions, but i think they'd look pretty cool if they were all real!
Yuki- Snow
Mamoru- Protector
Akemi- Bright beauty
Kenta- healthy/strong and big
Akai- Red