When she saw what she had been doing, she took her hands off him in an instant, recalling that she was dealing with a being that could kill her easily. "I'm sorry. I must have been unreasonable lately." The fox stared at her boredly, yawning before thinking of an answer. He began wondering what made him treat her this way, different from other humans. He simply felt the need to stay close to her. He had to admit, it felt god to have company after many decades sighed and looked at the woman. "You know... if you want to do it, I won't stop you." She smiled at him, approaching him again. She began with his neck, scratching lightly like she did with dogs. "Is this good?" The fox just hmmed. She went lower, passing her hands over his shoulders down to the ribs, feeling the taut muscles underneath. "Can I keep going?" This time her reply was a twich of ears and she felt movement close to her, from his leg. 'It's like a real dog!' She stifled a giggle, making the male wonder why she stopped.

The scars were discovered during the skinning, turning into the talk of the village. The news reached the ears of a pair of drunkards, they were Jiraya and Tsunade. One was the follower of the fox cult while the other was the descendant of the hunter spared by the demon. "Aren't they talking about the bear that almost killed you?" The man thought over it. "It might be." He had the scar of a nasty bear bite on his torso. "He he, I was saved by that fox. It grabbed the bear that was chewing me as if it was a skin stuffed with straw." He drank heartily at the memory. "It dragged that animal away, then you found me and patched me up." The woman punched him lightly. "And you tried to grope me as soon as you woke up." The little exchange was heard by a certain man. 'If its still alive...'

Kurama nudged Hinata on her side, snapping her out from her fit. She saw the question in hes eyes. "Sorry, you were so cute like that." Like what? He didn't understand, so he went to pick a book. "By the way..." He hear her clearly. "Thanks for the gift, I'm really grateful." He turned his head to face her and saw her holding the whistle. He had no idea of why she was making it sound like a big deal, he gave it to her and just that. "It was a good change to meet you, my life was so boring until now." Hmm? She rarely spoke of her life to him, so what changed? "How so?" He was focused on her, the book forgotten by now. "Every day was the same for me, refusing suitors and helping with my family. The only thing I looked for was the time to go to the clearing." He was sitting on his haunches, interested on what she told him. "And my father..." Her lips began quivering. "He's a broken man after the death of my mother..." He saw her tears and decided to pull her for a hug as she let out the pain she had bottled inside her.

Neji took his skinning gear to the blacksmith once again, like he did every day. "Oh, you came a bit later this time." White eyes met brown ones. "I was busy with the talk about the bear." The woman stilled her hammer, putting it down and wiping the sweat. "Yeah, it's the rage now, just because it got scars." He put his dagger in front of her. "This again? What the hell you do that it needs to be fixed evey damn day?!" The blade was severely chipped and dull, as if it was used to cut stone. "I don't know, maybe someone has a grudge towards me." He would never admit it, but he struck it against the stone steps of his house after a hunt to have an excuse to meet the woman. "At this rate you'll need a new one before the end of the month..." Her eyes focused on the man. "And your cousin? Lately she seemed to be happier, did she get a lover?" Neji was stunned at this piece of information. "No, if she did, she would tell me... right?" And what about that damn whistle? She refused to tell him the details with a unmovable will. Tenten shrugged at his confusion. "Well, tell her that if she needs me, I'll crush the nuts of whoever tries to harass her." As she said this, she raised a pair of pliers.

The fox felt weird cradling a girl as she cried, but held Hinata until she calmed down. "Sorry for using you like this..." He merely patted her head. Days went by as the woman and the beast met in secret in the forest, with him eventually showing other powers to her, like when she fell in a river and he had to dry her clothes with his control over fire. It had been a very embarrasing event for her due to the need to undress, luckily he caught on quickly and covered his eyes at the sight of her blush then, borrowing a tail to stay in the safe side. When she stopped taking books from the library, the few people who knew her routine felt that there was something amiss, but left it alone after a while, seeing as she was completely fine.

The men of the village had seen the glow surrounding the Hyuuga, the kind that was usually born after getting a lover, so they began glaring at each other, cursing the one who was able to break past the defenses of the woman. "Brr...!" The cursed man looked around, wondering why he felt such a strong chill during summer. His fur had even bristled up. "Weird..."

Hya dudes, I came up with a new chapter~ I hope that this story get at least close to the level of 'I'll show them all'. Read and review, please!