Naruto 1. Unexpected

**Hey there^^ I am just starting a story which haunted my head for a long time now. I can`t tell how long it will take me to update it, but i try my hardest. Promise.**

**Suggestions, critique or any other comment? Give it to me^^**

**But now, have fun.**

**(I do not own Naruto...)**

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Tsume was _not_ a happy camper. It wasn`t her fist time, but for Kamis sake, it hurt her so much!

Her belly looked like she swallowed a whole watermelon and she never – _never_\- felt so uncomfortable like now.

(Maybe the first time in front of the Hokage after the incident at the hot springs, involving 3 men, 2 women, a sponge, a ninken and a banana... But THATS a story for another time..)

When she was first pregnant with Hana, it felt so good, she had been full of excitement, but now, it was simple annoying. She scowled and patted her belly.

Her canine companion nudged her hip with his shoulder and grinned at her.

"Don`t look like that. Your face could freeze in that position and, believe me in this, nobody would want to see that." Kuromaru chuckled and shook his head a little, eyeing Tsume with an amused look in his eye. Tsume snorted, but patted her beloved canines head.

The two were walking through the streets of Konoha towards the daily market to meet with a few friends and to go shopping for a late lunch. She left young Hana at home with her husband, to look over the ill or pregnant dogs.

The summer sun radiated in the sky, allowing no cloud to touch the clear blue sky.

No soothing wind and no shadow to hide in left the people in town craving for anything which would provide protection against the sun.

Konohas streets were fillded with heat, and even in the mornings and evenings, it was like living in an oven!

Tsume and Kuromaru entered the market place and got a welcoming blast of noises. Many shinobis and civilians used the early hours of the day to go shopping, fleeing from the sun and the hottest time of the days. It was so very loud, so many colours distracted the eyes at once, so many smells of food and flowers and fruits invaded the nose.

The merchants screamed, people laughed and children cried, speeding through the crowd. It was like entering a war zone, just with more positive things to enjoy and images to remember than an actual battlefield.

The duo went further on their way, passing many different stands and shops and with every passing food stall, Tsumes stomach growled louder and louder.

She stroked her grumbling belly and scowled again, she had eaten a healthy breakfast not two hours ago. Grumbling and still stroking her belly she looked at the different food sellers near her and wanted to take a step forward, when a voice stopped her and the smirking Kuromaru.

"Hello Tsume-san! Was that your tummy or was it Kuromaru which growled like a feral beast? I have to admit, it was quite frightening, let me tell you!" Soft giggling accompanied the statement.

Tsume turned and looked at the two newcomers. Her lips parted into a smile as she gazed over the two teenagers in front of her. One was a dark-haired male, with a small cigarette dangling out of his mouth. The other one, the one who had giggled, was a black-haired, red-eyed female with her hair down to her belt.

"Asuma, Kurenai it is good to see you both healthy. And I feel offended by your comment. It was Tsumes always hungry, black hole of a stomach which emitted that frightening noise. Although she ate a whole table full of rice, meat and vegetables for breakfast, she seems to be hungry again!" Kuromaru laughed and shot his companion a look. The two teens joined him as Tsumes face became red like a whole bunch of tomatoes.

"What should I do? I can`t let the poor pup in me starve, could I? It wouldn`t be very nice of me." Tsume snapped at Kuromaru, but her voice had no malice in it and she stroked her watermelon belly again.

Kurenai looked impressed at the full body part, opened her mouth but shut it again. A curious glint danced in her eyes, she gathered her voice, wanted to ask the pregnant woman a question, when she was beat to it by a second.

"Do you want to touch it? Maybe the pup will kick." Tsume grinned brighter as Kurenai nodded happily and stepped closer to her, softly placing her hand on Tsumes belly. Kurenai waited for a few seconds, the her breath hitched as something inside kicked hard against her hand. Tsume whimpered softly, but continued grinning like a mad woman.

"It kicked me!" Kurenai whispered in awe and smiled at the pregnant woman beside her, but left her hand in it`s place.

Tsume started laughing, her shoulders heaving .

"Be lucky the pup kicked you just once. At some time I was thinking it already started training for taijutsu in there! Sometimes the pup was kicking non-stop, it nearly drove me insane!"

"And me too! Her whining hurt my poor ears." Kuromaru chuckled, but suddenly tensed and sniffed the air. His snout nuzzled his companion dangling hand.

Tsume, unaware of her ninkens behaviour, straightened her aching back and sighed.

"How long do you have to endure it? I mean, it can`t be that long to the date?" asked Asuma, with his nearly to-deep-fo-a-teenager voice, but his voice cracked into a single high pitch tune at the end of his question. He cleared his throat in a masking attempt, failing and blushed slightly.

"A month to two weeks more to go and then everything should be fine. And I swear to you, I will be fuckin` happy when this, my personal hell, will be over!" she straightened her back again, a dull ache growing in her belly. She scowled again at her offending body part.

"You can`t be serious?! I am already on my way to grab something to eat, but you want to rush me? I think I have got the wrong pup in me, we are Inuzukas and not Akimichi!" she growled and glanced down.

For a second, she stopped breathing. Looked at the ground. Her brain had difficulty to comprehend what seemed to have happened. She drew a much needed breath. And snarled.

Kurenai stared, Asuma gulped and Kuromaru whined softly, all three shocked at the sight.

A clear fluid dropped down Tsumes legs, darkening the ground beneath her and wetting the hem of her dress.

Her belly ached again, harder this time and her knees began shaking.

"...Tsume-san?" Kurenai whispered, not really sure how to behave in this situation. Academy doesn`t teach you nursing a pregnant woman who is about to give birth.

Asuma had lost the colour in his face, tried desperately to still his fidging hands.

Kuromaru nudged Tsume again, smelling a mixery of anger and excitement from her.

**_"You can`t be fucking serious!"_**

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The ninken paced in front of the door, which divided him from his female companion. His ears picked up the tiniest sounds from within. Groaning and wheezing sounds and the smell of blood, disinfectants and other fluids invaded his senses. It made him uneasy and anxious.

He turned again, his eye landing on Hana-pup, who was sitting with her back against the wall, looking pale and a few tears were flowing down her face, falling on her propped up knees. Tsumes husband had deposited her there and had entered the room full of nurses, a doctor and an very sweaty and angry Tsume, who was wearing a thin simple hospital gown. It was a quick glance, and then the door had been shut again.

That was half an hour ago.

A yell full of pain shattered the semi-silence. It was a yell without words, but it sent Hana flying into him, desperately clutching his dark fur for any sort of comfort he could give her.

"Mama will be ok... She will be ok, Kuromaru?" she asked in a quiet voice, shaking with more tears, tugging his fur, but he couldn`t answer her as another scream sounded through the late afternoon.

It was high pitched and followed by applause.

Kuromaru listened to the shallow breathing and the whispered encouragements behind the offending door.

"Congratulations Tsume-san! It is a small little boy!"

The door opened just a few minutes later and Hanas father, white like chalk and shaking like old leaves in the storm, staggered out, a small delicate bundle in his arms.

Hana let go of his fur and got closer to her father, looking fascinated down on the bundle, grinning widely.

"I am a big sister now!" she squealed and did a little happy dance. Kuromaru sniffed at the new pup, catching his scent. The boy-pup started wiggling and screaming at the tops of his lungs.

Hana and her father instantly started fussing over the small one as a nurse took the pup in her arms again.

The ninken trotted inside the room, nibbling at Tsumes tense hand.

"Tsume-san, you can stop pushing now. Stop it already!" another nurse stated, looking nervously at the doctor, who alighted his hands with chakra and touched the womans belly. His brown furrowed. He stood again, opening Tsumes legs again and stared under her gown.

"PUSH! You have to start pushing again! Harder!"

Tsume was breathing hard, her muscles spasming and her hands nearly breaking the metal pole she hold on to.

"What are you thinking I am doing here?** COOKING?**!" she snapped and let out a deep groan.

Several nurses rushed in again, pushing the frightened Hana, a sweating husband and a nervous dog to the far side of the room, all staring at the angered woman, who fought another battle on her own.

The sweating, cursing and screaming lasted for more minutes.

It all ended in one last push and another screaming voice, joining the rucus.

High pitched screams, little wiggling feet and a tuft of dark hair. A spitting image of the first new pup, but smaller, tiny, delicate small.

And a girl.

Hanas father swayed, tried to grab something, failed and fainted, hitting the ground with a hard `_thud_`. Hana was laughing loud and stared at the two babies, which were now laying in Tsumes arms.

Kuromaru let out a loud howl of pride and grinned wide, baring his teeth in the progress.

Tsume gazed at her babies, chuckled softly.

"Well... That was unexpected..."


	2. first years

Year 1

The second child was unexpected. All preparations were done for an only child, so Hana, her father, numerous clan-members and ninken were rushing around for spare items. A second crib, more blankets, clothes (not pink! Tsume would throw a fit!) and a huge amount of diapers were purchased before noon. This evening Tsume and the twins should come home, just a week after their birth.

Tsume wanted to leave sooner, but the children were to small, being born to early and as twins, so it was necessary to stay a while longer in hospital so the doctors could watch over the two little ones.

Hana, her father Kenshi and Kuromaru, who had to help carry a few heavier items, sat in the kitchen and stared through the open door into the living room, where Tsume placed her two babies on a thick blanket.

The boy, wrapped in a blue and red blanket, started wiggling as soon as Tsume tried to stand up, his little face red and with an angered expression.

His sister, in a green and blue blanket, picked up her brothers discomfort and let out a small whimper, wiggling with her tiny feet.

Tsume huffed, lifted the girl up again and placed her neatly beside her brother. Instantly the whimpers stopped and the boys face lost his red colour, both babies satisfied with each others presence.

"They are very protective about each other and at such a young age." Kuromaru wondered and then showed his pointed canines in a feral grin before he continued. "They are Inuzukas through and through, just from the very start of their lives."

Kenshi sat down on the couch, his eyes fixed on his wife, a knowing smile dancing on his lips. For a few seconds, Tsume was confused, but after a few seconds she scowled and crossed her arms as she let herself falling on the couch, taking a seat to her husbands right.

"No!" she spat out, avoiding Kenshi`s gaze.

Hana, on her kneed cooing at her siblings, lifted her head, staring at her parents. They didn`t talk, not even looking at each other.

"Mommy? Why did you say `no`? Did I do something wrong?" Hana asked, tears forming in her eyes.

Tsume`s eyes widened and she grasped her daughters little hands.

"No, you didn`t, little one! Don`t worry. Your father just reminded me to the fact that I lost a stupid bet." the last part was pressed through clenched teeth.

Before someone could speak another word, Kuromaru outright started laughing, his deep voice startling not only the babies.

"Oh Lady Tsume, woman of honor, I really forgot that you had a bet with Yoshino" he barked. Tsumes scwol deepened and in a small voice she mumbled, that nobody could have guessed that she would give birth to twins.

"What did Yoshino win, Mommy?" Hana asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"She... She has the right to name the younger one. She gained the right to name my small girl." she growled.

Tsume sighed. "Better get it over with." she stated, cradled her baby-girl in her arms and, ignoring the tiny snores from the boy, left the house again, soon followed by her canine companion. Kenshi chuckled.

-crawling-

Hana and Kinu, a pure white ninken, were both babysitting the twins. Tsume and Kenshi were away on missions for a few days, but that wasn`t a problem.

After six months Hana knew how to handle the cute little babies and the old, battle experienced ninken was a great help.

At the moment they were on a small, grassy field with flowers and trees. An old and nearly forgotten training ground, not to far away from the clan compound.

The babies were staring with wide eyes, bubbling an gurgling with glee at the new sights. It was their first time out of the clan compound and they hadn`t cried the whole way, just staring and spitting bubbles. Just now, Kiba blew a spit bubble as his eyes followed the light grey clouds in the sky, his little feet stamping on the ground and one of his hands grasping the green grass. His other hand was holding his sisters hand. Makani was still, her dark orbs tracking the whispering leaves above her. From time to time one of them would squeal and tugged at the joined hands.

Hana had brought a small, red ball with her to entertain herself and was playing with it a few feet away from the twins and the old female dog.

Kinu observed the twin-pups and Hana-pup while she listened to the soft wind and smelled the different flowers.

She was startled by a tiny hand, which grasped one of her long, floppy ears. Kinu shifted her gaze to the hand on her ear, followed the small arm to an chubby face with sparkling eyes. Makani, the small girl, stared in awe tugging Kinus long, fluffy appendage. Kiba had turned his head, so he could watch his sister and the large white dog.

Kinu was still wondering how the small girl had reached her, she had been over a metre away, on her back, but now was on her belly and touching her fur. The old dog grinned, nuzzling her muzzle to the girls hand. She slowly got up, the girls grip loosened, and stepped to the small boy, nudging him softly. The boy squealed and tried to grasp her nose but when Kinu took a step away from him, out of his vision, he started thrashing around. After a few moments he rolled on his stomach and laughed loudly, alarming Hana to his progress.

Kinu waited at her spot, staring intently at the babies. Makani was the first to move, slowly crawling through the grass, her brother followed with a few difficulties. Both kids started laughing as they reached Kinu, holding tightly to the fur near her paw, with their little, pudgy hands.

Hana, shocked and rooted to the ground, creid out and ran towards her younger siblings, throwing her arms around the dog and smiled proudly, her eyes shining.

They left soon after, two sleeping and exhausted forms in their carriers, forgetting a small red ball, nearly hidden in the grass.

"Wait till I tell Momma!"

"NO! Don`t!"

Tsume fell to her knees and desperately tried to lay her hands on the small baby-boy, who just crawled into a pile of toilet-paper, broken eggs, smashed vegetables and a huge lake of milk. Both babies had been waiting for their mother, who instantly had fallen over the twins because the shopping bags filled her entire vision on entering her home.

Hana stood in the kitchen, watching the chaos occur, her hand pressed on her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.

Tsume lifted the stinking and smirking boy up, but let her arms outstretched so she wouldn`t become even more dirty.

"Kiba: Check. But where is Makani?" she growled out and turned around.

"Oh fuck.. KUROMARU!" she yelled as she saw the still open door. Thick rain drops were falling heavy on the ground and she could seethe traces of a crawling baby in the mud.

Kuromaru hurried to the entrance, analysing the situation in a few seconds: Tsume in a huge pile of garbage, milk and eggs dripping from her and the baby she hold onto, the front door open and the lingering scent of the missing baby-girl which led outside the door into the rain.

Without a word he jumped outside, turning his head to his left, following the scent and spotting the escaping child, who was sitting in a puddle of mud.

He walked over to her, hesitated for a few moments, but then closed his jaw around her clothes on her back, lifting her up. The girl dangling in his mouth, wiggled violently in his grip, making it hard for him not to drop her.

Kuromaru carefully walked back to the main house and was soon met with an unamused Tsume who was waiting for him in the doorway.

"We should rename them in `Havoc` and `Mayhem`" she spat out, glaring at the two laughing and dripping babies.

Year 2

-food fight-

Normally the kitchen was a peaceful place.

A table with enough place for six chairs, a fridge, an oven and a huge part of the kitchen just to cook and prepare the food.

Fruits on the kitchen table and dishes, which waited to get cleaned in the sink were a everyday occurrence.

Another perfect everyday image were the two twins in their baby chairs on both ends of the table, one green for Makani and the blue one for Kiba.

"Do you really want to feed them... that?" Kenshi asked, eyeing the orange mush with suspicion. It looked like coloured mud to him and it didn`t smell any better. Tsume lifted a spoon filled with the orange mush and let it drip back into the small bowl.

"The baby book says, that we should try and introduce them to other food than milk. And the receipts were to difficult for me to cook, so I bought some in the shop." she explained while shrugging her shoulders.

Her husband sighed, took one of the bowls and went straight to the green chair and his little baby-girl.

Kenshi prepared himself with an apron, which covered his front, sat next to his girl and showed her the spoon full of carrot-and-potato-mash. Makani instantly stopped giggling and laughing about her brothers antics.

She tilted her head in confusion, suspicion (or something akin to that) clouding her dark eyes. Kenshi held the spoon in front of his daughters mouth, but she sniffed and her face took on a red colour.

"Be a good little darling and open your mouth. Come on chibi-chan. Say `Ahhh`... Look here, the rabbit runs from the hunter, if you don`t open your mouth it will be killed, because it can`t hide!" he made hopping motions with the spoon and finally his daughter opened her mouth, entranced by the dancing spoon.

Makani swallowed and started to wiggle violently in her chair, tears forming in her eyes.

"Come on, it can`t be that bad.." he murmured and took another spoon full of food, but instead giving it to her, he stuck it into his own mouth. And instantly wished he hadn`t done that.

It tasted like old socks, worn on extreme training lessons and never washed after that. He forced the food down his throat, faking a smile for his daughter and placed the bowl on the table.

"Makani. You are right. I don`t want to eat that either.." he mumbled as he caressed the girls puffy hair as he tried to calm her down.

A tingling sensation on his neck warned him, but it was to late, a huge splash of carrot-mud landed on his apron. Kenshi looked straight at the laughing boy and his smirking wife, both looking smug. Next to him sounded a shocked gasp, followed by the sight of flying orange. Tsume had the time to close her eyes as the mud hit her on her chin, the awful smell invading her sensible nose. She glowered at her youngest daughter.

"You want to play it like that? Really? You are on!" she screeched the last part, flinging a spoon full of food in her daughters direction and hit her, soft, on her hair.

Kenshi flung a hand full at his son, laughing at the expression change on his face. He didn`t expect his daughter to stuff her hands with the offending food and shoving it onto his face and in his hair.

He faked a shocked gasp and cried out "TRAITER!" before all hell went loose.

Soon everybody in the kitchen was covered in orange and green mud. (Tsume had opened another glass of food, something with apples and oats.)

Panting and dirty, Tsume lifted her head from the kitchen table, scanning her surroundings and grimaced. Everywhere were orange and green, even on the roof..

"You can`t be serious!? Kuromaru and I go for just a few minutes and you start to repaint the kitchen with baby-food!" Hana howled as she stepped into the newly claimed warzone, former kitchen, with small shopping bags in her arms.

"You see.. THEY STARTED IT!" Both Kenshi and Tsume dead-panned at the same time, pointing to the dirty twins.

Year 3

-lost-

It was a beautiful day in spring, the flowers blooming and the trees growing. Konoha had started to prepare itself for the annual "Flower-festival", the market was overflowing with different flowers and plants from everywhere in Fire Country. The smell was overwhelming and the people were standing nearly on each others toes.

Everyone was talking about the fireworks that would start at sunset.

Everyone but...

"Mommy?" a small voice whispered, dark eyes skimming over the people on her sides.

Makani was lost. Alone between all those people.

She and her mommy had walked to the market together with the intent to buy medicine for her brother, who was at home with a high fever.

Her mother had warned her not to let go of her hand and Makani had really tried her hardest to do just that.

She failed.

Tsume had dragged her along all those people and Kuromaru had sniffed the air, locating the hidden medicine shop.

Together they pushed through the crowd. Makani had stared at the different shops and was stunned. She had never seen so many humans in one single place!

She had loosened her death grip on her mothers hand, just for a single second, but that was enough to trip over thin air and to loose her mothers hand. Makani got a last look on her mothers blue skirt before she vanished in the crowd. The little girl rushed in the direction, but the people around her just pushed her around, not noticing her.

Makani landed on her rear end, tears springing to her eyes.

"Mommy?" she called out again, whirling around. A few women stopped their shopping and turned upon hearing the small voice, so full of fear. They saw a small girl, sitting on the ground and desperately looking around.

Makani was getting terrified with all the looks she was receiving , so she got to her feet and started running, wanted to just get away. The tears were now cascading down her cheeks, but she kept running around and calling for her mother.

"Mommy will find me. Kuromaru will smell me. Stay calm. THINK!" she talked to herself and closed her eyes, tried to concentrate on her nose. Her mothers and Kuromarus smell were familiar to her, so she would be able to find them.

Flowers, food, dust and earth filled her nose, but there was something else, a smell of dogs and wind, not her mothers but the smell of dogs was calming.

Makani slowly started to follow the scent, stumbling. After a few steps she opened her eyes again and caught sight of a blue skirt, forgetting about the dog-scent.

"MOMMY!" she called and collided with the blue-clothed woman, but instantly the smell of fresh berries and grass hit her.

Anko looked down as something hit her in the back of her legs. She came face to face with a small girl with dark hair and eyes, a familiar tattoo on her cheeks and tears in her eyes. The girl hesitated before she took one step back, bowed and mumbled an apology. But before she could turn away, Anko snatched her at her collar and picked her up.

"Hey there small wolf. What`cha crying over?" Anko asked, still holding the, now struggling, girl up.

"I…I lost my momma.." were the answer.

"Huh. So, little wolf, we just have to find her then. Don`t worry about it. I am the very best at looking for someone, just trust Anko."

She grinned down on the girl making her smile.

"What is your name?"

"I am Makani. And my mother is Tsume."

"Ankos eyebrows shot up into her hairline and her grin widened.

"Ah! An Inuzuka. Brat, hold on tight!" she pressed Makani against her breast and jumped, chakra enhancing her muscles and landing on a lantern.

Makani gasped and her grip tightened around Anko`s neck.

"So, little one, I just call your Mother and you.. you just look adorable and helpless, everything will turn out fine, you will see."

Anko didn`t wait for an answer, she pried off the girls hands. Her arms stretched, so the girl was over her head and slightly in front of her and then she roared with all the air, her lungs were holding.

"TSUME! YOUR CHILD IS MINE NOW!"

The whole market place went quiet, everyone looked up at the young woman, who was holding a small, blushing girl in her grasp. The silence lasted about a few seconds but was soon shattered as a woman and a huge dog jumped upon a near roof, both looking dead serious.

"Anko! If you value your pity life, don`t let go of my daughter!" Tsume yelled, her fists shaking.

Anko just grinned to her and placed the girl on her shoulders.

"You owe me a dango."

Year 5 –Makani POV-

"You are both now old enough to meet your partner. This will be a bond for a lifetime, so try to be yourself, the ninken will smell if you lie to them. Our oldest and wisest companions will ask you questions, they know the pups and will decide which one, or maybe more, will fit to you. I is okay to be nervous, hell, even I was shaking when my father send me into that room." My mothers eyes dimmed as she sunk into her memories.

I exchanged a nervous look with my brother. His hands were tugging at his clothes, the only sign to others that he was afraid, but I could feel more than that. Yes, he was nervous and afraid, but also longing to meet his partner.

Ever since Hana met the three grey husky-siblings, the Haimaru brothers, Kiba and I were anxious. The bond they shared was still developing but it was already deep. My gaze shifted back to Mother as she cleared her throat.

"Kuromaru and I decided to send you separated into the room. The older sibling first and after that, of course, the younger one. It can take a while for Kiba to be finished, so in the meantime, Makani and I will select her new room and try to look through the furniture catalogue." She looked at us and Kiba and I nodded, we had known that we would get separated now. We lived in the same room since our birth and we loved it, though, sometimes his snoring nearly drove me crazy..

Kiba grinned as he got to his feet and followed Mother to the opposite door, which lead to the room were all the pregnant dogs gave birth to their babies and where a group of old dogs would be judging us.

My brother gave me a last, encouraging, smirk, masking his other emotions with amusement, and left my line of sight.

A nearly inaudible sigh left my lips and I waited for my Mother to return, playing with my hair.

5 minutes later, the door opened again and she same back to me, smiling proudly, and offered me her hand. It was warm and a little sweaty.

She dragged me to my feet, her warm hand never leaving mine.

"So, small one, did you think about a room? Kiba said that he wanted to stay at your shared old one, so we just have to look for yours." She smiled down on me, her teeth showing, and we went to the first available table to sit down and talk.

We had looked over the rooms I could choose a few days ago. There were regulations for my new room, though.

It has to be in the main house.

Not a big problem, we are just 4 people, after father left us and the main house was huge, many rooms were empty.

I am not allowed to live in the storage and work wing of the main house.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed about that fact, it was very funny and exciting there!

It was not allowed to get a room near the female and pregnant dogs.

I could do that. I have never smelled so much blood and emotions in my life. Not funny..

So there were 3 rooms left to think about.

it was big, but with small windows and just at the edge of the training ground. That would be great, if it wasn`t for all the shuriken and kunai training. The outer walls were coated in weapons. I dismissed the thought immediately.

Was on the second floor, a bit smaller than the room Kiba and I had shared. It had two huge windows, one facing the compound and the other one facing the city. There was a joined bathroom, too!

Was L-shaped, on the second floor and bigger than my previous room. But it was a long way to my brother or my mother and the kitchen. But there I would get my silence at night. The windows were huge and there were two on each outer wall, facing the forest and the city.

"I think I will take the last one. It is a little out of the daily ruckus. Although it is a long way to you and Kiba, it is a better choice than the other available rooms." My Mothers eyes dimmed for a second, but soon lit up again as she nodded.

"So, what about the furniture?" she asked and I tilted my head. I had a few images of fitting furniture, but what if my new partner would not like them?

"Mum, I want to wait, till I met my partner. I want to go shopping with him or her, if that is ok?"

My Mother was stunned for a few seconds, then she nodded again, opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a opening door and a voice talking to somebody else.

"It seems that it`s your turn now. Good luck, my small one" Mother trotted alongside me to the thin wooden door, opened it for me. My breathing quickened and my hands were shaking. I was nervous, hell, I was afraid! What if, the elders would not choose a partner for me? What if, my designed partner would not want to meet me? What if,….

With a last deep breath, I entered the room.

The room was huge. Small and cosy looking boxes were scattered all along the walls. Windows were installed in the roof to allow sunlight to light up the room. It smelled of dogs and blood, but in a comforting way. I was standing on a wooden floor, facing three old dogs, which were sitting on the comfiest looking pillows I had ever seen!

Two females, one grey, one red, were flanking a brown and golden male, all of them looking like wolves, like Kuromaru.

Right in front of them, not a metre away, was another pillow, the form of my brothers legs still imprinted into it.

"Sit down, small one. We are old, our noses aren`t so sharp as in earlier days."

I hesitantly took the few steps and let myself down on the soft pillow. (SO COMFY! I added it to my mental furniture list.)

"Small one, you are the younger twin, but not less significant as your brother, so don`t you worry. We will find your perfect bond-mate. Your brother bonded with a young male, just for you to know." The male ninken stated, his stern eyes staring right into my soul. I shivered slightly but couldn`t look away. He had instantly known everything I worried about!

Everything would be fine, if Kiba was born a girl, but as the only male child he was the clan heir. It was just normal for everyone else to worry and fuss over him. Normally it was okay for me, to be the younger twin. To be ignored. Not acknowledged.

But sometimes…

Sometimes I just want somebody that would worry or fuss over me, so I wouldn`t stand in the shadows any longer.

One of the females cleared her throat, ripping me out of my deepest thoughts.

"Girl, we will ask you a few questions, when we got all your answers we will decide about your partner. Just remember to be honest."

I swallowed hard, tried to dry my sweating hands on my trousers and nodded, my face hot and most likely flushed red. An air of authority surrounded the three dog-elders as their gaze scrutinized me, judging me. I felt my muscles tense slightly. Suddenly the pillow was no longer comfy.

"Makani, second daughter and youngest child of Tsume, partner to Kuromaru. What do you love?"

To say I was stunned was an understatement! I had waited for a questioning about fate and my attitude, but it started like one of the tests in my mother's hidden magazines! It took me a few seconds to react.

"I… I love my brother and my mother and my sister. I love running, the forest and the silence. I love to observe, to read and look at the stars. I love animals, especially dogs." My voice cracked and my face flushed a deeper red about my answers. They sounded so insignificant.

"What would you like to be? Do you want to become strong?"

"I want to become strong enough to be a help, but I know that Kiba and others will be stronger than me. So I would like to become the fastest! I want to care about someone, to protect. And I don`t want to be a burden!" The last part was whispered, but I was sure that the elders picked up easily on what I just said.

The female on the right growled while nodding to herself.

"What are your bad sides?"

I had to gulp and my thoughts were whirling in my head, images of scenes where I showed my dark sides floated up. I tried two times before my throat finally gave way to the words, I wanted to speak.

"It is easy to distract me, if I am not interested in my task. I don`t like loud places or places full of people. Sometimes I wished that my senses weren`t so sharp, so that I could enjoy the presence of more than 4 people at one time. I really dislike my mother`s cooking. I hate to be alone. I am jealous about all the affection my brother is receiving. I stay up late and sleep in if I can. I try to hide if I am uncomfortable."

I was embarrassed about my little speech. There were so many bad habits, it easily outnumbered my good ones.

The male chuckled, his tong lolling out of his mouth, his eyes were closed. The tense air floated away, leaving me sitting there, my thoughts tumbling and tripping through my head. I was such a bad human.

"That wasn`t so bad, heh? You are very honest. I like that! Akira, would you please end this procedure?" he addressed the female on his left, which stoop up slowly, trotting to me and she pressed her muzzle to my chest. Her warm breath streamed through my clothes. Her pointed ears started to twitch in time with my heart beat, her tail straight up in the air. She took a few deep breaths and I was really more than lucky that I had bathed his morning.

Akira was warm and soft, her presence lulling me, o couldn`t concentrate anymore. It was like something prodded at my inner core, my soul, but it wasn`t uncomfortable. Just… strange, somehow.

This lasted a while (I seriously can`t tell you how long, you see I was very distracted, a dog was scanning my whole being, my emotions and stuff I didn`t even knew I was thinking and feeling!) before Akira turned away again, her eyes twinkling like the stars in a cloudless night sky.

I felt cold again.

As she went back to the other two, I was fighting the loss of her warmth, fighting to not run after her. A few minutes passed before I could manage to calm down, slowing my erratic heartbeat.

"We have come to a decision. Stay here, we will be back in a few moments." The three dogs left me on my pillow, waiting, nearly choking on thin air.

The elders went to one of the boxes at the wall, the still unknown female barked and a red snout showed itself for a second before a howl answered and a little ball of fur tumbled out of the box. It`s fur was a dark red and fluffy, front legs and paws black like the right hind leg. The left one was grey. The ears were pointed, the muzzle was a darker red, nearly black and a black stripe ran from head to bushy tail over the spine. Golden eyes zeroed on me and the pup, just old enough to leave it`s mother, raced towards me, stumbling on his too long legs.

I catched the pup before it could trip again and plant it`s face in my lap. The pup`s tong licked all over my face, tickling me. The red female came over to us, smiling all the way.

"This is one of my descendants. His name is Shinra."

Shinra yipped happily between his licks, pressing himself against my body. His fur was soft and warm.

"Shinra."

His gold eyes were staring into mine and, somehow, I felt whole, like a puzzle piece just fell into it`s place.

"Do you have any questions left, young one?"

"Yes, there is one." I pressed a soft kiss on my partners head, his tail whipped around furiously.

"Where can I get two of this pillows?"


	3. First day of school

**Hey there again^^ it`s me^^ **

**Thanks for the nice follows, favorites and reviews^^ **

**At the end of the chapter is a question, so please answer me, anyone ^^**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Just Makani and Shinra. (Poor me..)**

* * *

It was a peaceful day at the beginning of summer. The birds were singing, the market was buzzing with people, shinobi jumping over the rooftops rather lazy due to the rising heat of the day. But most parents and their children, who were old enough to join the academy, were walking towards a building under the stone faces. It was a rather nice looking, more story building, with a big playground and different training grounds. Big windows covered it`s sides, from bottom to top and the roof was just another small training or chilling area. (Or smoking area, for some people.)

Normally at this time in the morning, the students would be streaming into the entrance to go to their classes, but not today.

Today would be the first day of a new academy year, so the playground in front of the building was filled with anxious children, worried looking parents and stressed teachers.

The fist, were running all over the place, pushing and raging around, trying to find their old or new friends while exploring the area around their new school, or they stood near their parents, with scared faces and were worrying about their decision to join the shinobi academy.

The parents were just standing at the side-lines, talking to each other or to their children about daily things or preparations for lunch.

The teachers were rushing around, trying to control the children and to count them, identify them if possible to send them back to their parents. Also they were busy preparing the lists for the different classes, looking for a place to hang the papers onto, so that the children would be able to read them properly but to not turn the papers into shreds.

Between all this rushing people and chattering parents, stood another party, huddled together in a circle around a rather small looking figure with a large hat.

The Hokage and his bodyguards were standing in the crowd, relaxed stances, and talking to different persons. A smile adorned the Hokage`s face as his eyes wandered over the crowd of people, standing around him and waiting for the head teacher to show up, so the opening ceremony could take place and the children could meet their new teachers.

His eyes landed on several clan-children, standing near their parents or running around, playing. He could see the Akimichi boy talking to the Nara heir. The small blonde Yamanaka girl tried to talk to the young heiress of the Hyuga-clan, who fidgeted with her fingers, unsure what to do. He could also see the Uchiha boy, anxiously running around his older brother, who smiled fondly at his sibling.

His eyes travelled further around, landing on two nearly identical looking children, with dark brown hair. The boy was wearing a grey parka with fur, which covered the rim oh his hood and arms, the red fang tattoos dominating his small face, as he patted his sisters shoulder. On his head was a tiny white and red dog, barking happily and wagging his tail. The girl looked a little scared and pressed her reddish-brown furred and black necked canine companion to her chest, his large pointed ears twitching around.

The Inuzuka twins, little trouble makers and the horror for every teacher to face. One was hard to handle, but twins would drive nearly every teacher into insanity, so the head teacher had decided to separate them. The Hokage wasn`t sure that this was a good idea, as he took in the twins, the boy more social acting and his sister seemed to despise the whole ruckus around her.

The old man wanted to say something to one of his bodyguards but was beaten to it by the opening of the academy's main entrance.

The loud, screeching sound waved around the entire playground, effective silencing the crowd and the playing children.

"Everyone! Please gather around the main entrance, as our main hall is not available due to well-known prank-accidents." Quiet whispers and wide-eyed stares were given, as the majority of the teacher staff tried to kill a blonde, small child with whisker-marks on his cheeks, with looks only.

It only took the whole crowd about 2 minutes to gather around, finding the different members of family and clans and to be quiet.

"My name is Tetsu Akiba, the headteacher of this shinobi academy and I would like to welcome you here. This year has the most students since 5 years, so we had a little problem to get enough teachers for each class, but due to the Hokage, we managed without much struggle. We got 3 Shinobis assigned for different subjects, so none of you will learn less. We got 4 different classes for the firsts this time, so we could fit you all in here. I am very sorry, that we had to separate family-members or clan-children, but we tried to even out the capacities. We don`t want bad blood, that's why we can`t allow to swap classes with another person. I just say this once. The lists for each class will be presented at the end of the first hallway, near the stairs. The papers will be on both sides, so that everyone can read them, without a need to push, is that clear? And now, I would say, let the day begin! Children, please look in which class you are. Parents, there is a meeting with the teacher in the conference room, if you want to ask any questions."

I stared at the offending piece of paper, couldn`t believe my eyes.

In an instant my whole mood changed, from slightly uneasy to angered and frightened.

Beside me, Kiba`s grin faded away and his eyes, formerly warm, narrowed and grew cold.

I scanned the paper again, even tracing my fingers under the words I was reading, but there was no mistaking.

Inuzuka, Kiba – 1.2

Inuzuka, Makani – 1.3

They had separated us. Into two different classes. Why? Normally twins would go the same class, so why had they separated us? This just had to be a fucking joke! This –

Kiba squeezed my hand, ripping me out of my thoughts.

At the same time Shinra`s warm tongue licked the side of my face to comfort me.

For a few seconds I had to close my eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaled slowly to bury my anger deep inside of me.

My hands stopped shaking, not that I knew that they were till this very moment.

"Calm down, sis. We.. we will manage, so don`t you worry about it. You will be fine, even when I am not with you, Shinra will stand by your side." He tried to soothe me, sending me a reassuring grin.

But I could smell that his hopes had been crashed, too. He didn`t want to be on his own. He had hoped that we would be together. Our plans were futile now.

"I practiced. I hope I can manage so many new people in one place. And Shinra knows what to do, if I am overwhelmed. Let`s meet after classes at the main entrance, ok?" My brother scanned my face, my little smile and my reddened cheeks, looking for something, but what I did not know. After a few seconds of thought a bright grin lit his face and he gave me thumbs up, rushing to his classroom.

Shinra, who was sitting in my arms, barked after my twin and wagged his tail, his pointed ears twitching.

Akamaru, on my brother's shoulder, turned his fluffy head to us and tilted it with a worried expression on his face, his tail still and his ears flat.

Sighing I turned around. My classroom was at the end of the hallway just a few meters from me.

"Well, here goes nothing."

The classroom was filled with children, loud and the once fresh air was slowly filled with the different scents from each person. It was a horrid smelling mixture at the entrance to the classroom. I pinched my nose, tried to breath flat to not inhale the toxic miasma.

The others were screaming and pushing around, trying to find seats to their likings. And I was in the middle of it all, trying to minimize the physical contact to others. My eyes were twitching, I could tell that already, and all I wanted at the moment was to get out of the crowd! To my astonishment, the most of them rushed to the first row of seats or the second to secure a place to sit on. I had to get a window seat before they would all be taken!

Shinra jumped from my arms and rushed through the legs of my new classmates, evading struggling limbs and kicks. His long legs, after years of training, carried him away in an instant, without falling. My canine friend jumped on the last table in the 4th and last row and barked to signal me that he had found a place to his liking. Grinning I stepped cautiously through the crowd, following my friends scent with ease. I could pick his scent out of a miasma, even if I would be asleep!

"Told you, that I would get a seat for us at the window!" he yipped proudly, his fluffy tail furiously wagging. I patted his soft, furry head as I sank into my newly claimed seat; my eyes were instantly drawn to the windows on my left side.

In front of the window was the playground between the gates and the main entrance, I could see the lone, big tree from here. 4 swings and a small climbing area were situated near stone-desks and benches for lunch break.

This whole, peaceful picture was calming for me. All this new smells and images, the new children around me, were getting the better of me.

I was never good to cope with changes or too much attention to my person.

My mother told me once, a few years ago, that I had inherited the feral sides of the Inuzuka-clan and my brother got the more social sides. It was just a joke at that time, but unfortunately, it was also becoming the truth as the years went by.

I couldn`t handle new people who would want to get close to me.

I couldn`t handle social interactions with unknown people.

The only friends I had were Shinra, Kiba and Akamaru. And now, Shinra and I were alone in a class of unknown people…

My heartbeat quickened again at that thought and I stared at the tree, watching the swinging leaves.

Don`t get me wrong, I knew I had to form new bonds. And I really wanted to, but the problem was, that I didn`t know how.

Shinra nudged my hand, the contact necessary to break me out of my thoughts. I blinked as I realized that the whole classroom was silent, every place was taken and a tall woman had entered the room. She had short brown hair and very thin lips. Her blue eyes were narrowed with a look of frustration. A few scars could be seen on her arms. Her smell was stronger than all the others, she smelled like old meat and salt. Like the butcher shop, mother would by our meat for dinner at.

Oh joy…

"Good day small children! Welcome to your first year of school. My name is Kokono, Akichii and I will be your teacher for the first year. Fair warning at the very beginning: I have next to no patience and I can`t stand dumb answers or slacking behavior." Her voice was like sand between your toes, rasping, quiet and it could easily hurt you if you tried hard enough.

I sighed again and started to listen carefully.

I had left the classroom as soon as our teacher called it a day, ignoring the chattering around me. The fresh air outside was all I needed for the first moment, because the room had been filled with the odor of 20 other people, which all had been in there for more than 3 hours and we were never allowed to open the windows. (Try to ignore that miasma if you have a sensitive nose like mine..)

The whole time Shinra sat upon my right shoulder, blocking my sight to the people beside me and whispering commentaries into my ear.

I stepped away from the entrance and let my eyes wander around, looking for my brother and Akamaru. My nose itched as I caught his scent and I turned around, closing my eyes to concentrate. He had left the building before me, but his smell was still fresh, so it could only be a few minutes.

"Sister! Over here!" Kiba`s loud voice boomed from the other side of the playground, near the front gates.

My short legs carried me to him, my shoulder brushed his as he looked at me with a worried expression on his face. Akamaru licked my hand, once I touched his head. We walked the first few minutes in silence.

My chest was tight and my head swam in thoughts. Kiba smelled relieved, happy, but not about meeting me. Had he already formed new bonds? Did he forget about me? And if he got new friends, did he even want to play with me anymore?

My breath caught in my lungs, my head shot up as this train of thoughts ran through my head. My eyes focused on him, saw his withdrawn eyes and his happy smile.

"How was your day?" the question left my lips before I could think about it, my voice sounded small and timid.

My brothers eyes found mine and his lips formed a warm small, just for me as he heard my voice.

"Let`s wait till we are home. I think Mum would want to know all about our first day. And I really don`t want to explain everything twice."

My cheeks flushed as I let my vision drop to the ground, staring intently at the little stones, which lay everywhere.

I had felt so alone in class, without my brother.

"I see…"

He gripped my hand tightly, squeezing it.

He tilted my head to meet his gaze and grinned.

"I missed you too, little sister. So don`t feel down."

* * *

**and here is my question: **

**Should Makani get into a team, and when, what for characteristics should there be?**

**Or should there be a Mentor for Makani? **


	4. Friends

Kiba and Akamaru were running around, smiling and yipping happily. Their forms were racing around the streets, avoiding hands that were trying to touch him, but he escaped again and again. His laugh sounded through the air and his eyes were alight with mirth. Chasing him were two boys, one with dark hair and his hair nearly looking like a pineapple, the other had brown- orange hair and was wearing a green jacket. Akamaru on his head had his tongue out and the happiness was radiating from him. A black haired boy was waiting behind a corner for him, waiting for his target to get caught. The game lasted already for more than half an hour and the children were playing all around the market place. The Rules were simple: Avoid the adults, don`t get touched by anyone but your own teammates and even numbers were required for playing. Boys nearly never allowed girls to play with them, even if they wanted to.

I sat in a nearby tree, watching the boys closely, but my eyes seemed to be glued to my brother's form. My chest hurt and my heart ached. A growl escaped my lips, startling the dog in my lap. Shinra raised his head, his thoughtful eyes scanning my face before he got up on his paws and licked my cheek.

"Don`t be so angry. It is just natural for him to form new bonds. And it should be just as natural for us to do so. You can`t hog your brother for yourself his and your entire life. You knew that." He nudged me with his fluffy paw and tilted his head. Absently I patted him between his ears.

I knew he was right but it was hard to find friends, especially for me, the more feral half of the Inuzuka twins. Social interactions were not my forte. But… I had to try to form bonds of my own, it seems to be worth all the trouble.

"I know that, Shinra. And I know that I have to let go of my brother someday, I just hoped that it wouldn`t happen so soon. But, he looks so happy and free. And he behaves as if I just ceased to exist, like he has just forgotten me." I hated as my voice broke at the last part. My chest hurt again, like there was a little goblin inside my ribcage with an axe and a shovel, partying with himself to an unknown beat of music.

The sound of my brothers laugh sounded again through the air and I had to close my eyes as Kiba dodged another attempt of the little Uchiha to catch him.

"Shinra, let us try to form new bonds."

Don`t sue me. I was really bent on finding friends, but how do you want to do that? I wasn`t emotional open or just plain annoying like my big brother, or charming like my older sister. It was the third week of academy and I still had to talk to another soul than sensei or Shinra. Kiba had yet to introduce me to his friends, but he would always mention them at home during training or at lunch. I will never forget the look my mother gave me as I stood up from the table without a word and went of to my room, not making a single noise. It was a look filled with pity and a little bit of anger.

At the moment Shinra and I were sitting in a tree, again, and were watching the other children play during our lunch break. The break lessons were different for each class, so that just 2 classes of each age-group at the same time had to share the playgrounds. And I have to admit, I was happy that my class was not on the same timetable as Kibas class. My eyes roamed over screaming children, which were all running or eating, or chatting in groups about something uninteresting.

I had spent the whole break in that tree, feeding myself and Shinra with the food, Hana had prepared for us. (Seriously, I would never ever eat anything my mother had attempted to cook again. One case of food poisoning was enough to scare me for my entire life. Hana even forbid mother to enter the kitchen if it wasn`t an emergency.) Hana had made my favorite food, sushi with tuna, and it just happened that Shinra didn`t mind that choice either.

The bell interrupted my thoughts and musing. Groaning I put my bento box away and jumped out of the tree, landing on the soft grass below it. The other children were slowly heading towards the building, all but one.

I stopped short in my place, tilting my head in confusion, as I stared at the rather tall girl, who was crawling through the grass, her blond hair had an orange tint to it. She was more on the heavy side, her body not slim and lean like myself. Her hair went down to her shoulders in two big pigtails. Her wide blue eyes were full of moisture, as she searched for something in the grass. I could see swirls in red on her cheek. She smelled of fear and tears.

"Can… Can I help you?" I could slap myself as I stuttered in front of her, my breath hitched and I looked away from her, scanning the windows of the academy. Her head had snapped up as she heard my question in a slight wavering voice. I tried my best not to fidget to much as she let her eyes wander over me, taking in my pink dusted cheeks, my slightly hunched stance and the panting dog at my side. I can`t even imagine what a picture Shinra and I would give to her. She sat back on her rear and opened her mouth to speak, but no words left her lips. My nose twitched as her scent reached me. She smelled like cinnamon and mint, an odd combination but it soothed my fidgeting fingers. I could smell that she was nervous, just like me, and it seemed that she had no friends either, because no one had stayed behind to help her.

"I… I lost my grandmas wedding ring. It is the last thing I have from her. I can`t really believe that I lost it! It has to be here, I just sat here, the entire break!" Tears left her eyes, streaming down her cheeks as she stared at me. I stared right back at her, my thoughts jumping around what to do now, but without a solution for my situation. Shinra nudged the back of my knees with his head, tilting it in the way to the hopefully looking girl in front of me.

"I will help you. We will find that ring of yours, so please don`t cry! I don`t know what to do with crying people! I will cry too, everyone cries and we all end as a mess of tears, salt and puffy red eyes!" my voice sounded desperate and was cracking, high pitched at the end.

My hands went to my head as I spoke to her, tangling in my dark-brown, shoulder length hair, gripping and tugging at it with little force. I was nervous, I didn`t know what to do! What could I do? Should I try to sniff the ring out? Should I just help her with looking in the grass for the ring? Should I try to calm her down first? Should I introduce myself before-

Shinra huffed loudly, wagged his tail and stared at me. I could feel his amusement radiating of him. His ears were standing and twitching as his gaze shifted from me to the still unknown girl, who was sitting at my feet, staring at me with her blue eyes. Her gaze was curious, focusing on my eyes and I felt myself flush.

Instantly I got to my knees in front of her, my gaze dropping on the ground. I tried to ignore the smug looking dog beside me or the slightly shocked looking girl in front of me. My inside felt like it was burning with embarrassment about my own behavior. I didn`t knew I would be so shy around other children. The grass tickled my fingers and I tried not to giggle, as I looked for the missing ring. Shinra had his nose at the ground, sniffing loudly.

We were silent while we searched for the missing item, but it was not an awkward silence, it seemed oddly calm and friendly to me. Nearly reassuring.

"This is taking forever!" I whined loudly. I let myself fall onto my back, staring angrily at the clouds in the sky.

"I am sorry.. I don`t want you to miss classes, so you can go if you want. But thank you for your help anyway." The girl smiled at me, her teeth showing and I had to suppress a growl. She didn`t knew how to act around an Inuzuka, so I had to stay calm, it wasn`t meant as a thread towards me.

"It`s alright with me.. You are sure, you lost it around here?" She nodded at me while a red hue tinted her cheeks. Shinra huffed in annoyance and barked loudly.

"I have to agree with my furry friend here. Would you let me take your scent? It would make the whole thing easier, you would just stand back and we track your ring down. By the way, my name is Inuzuka, Makani. And this is my friend and companion Shinra. It is nice to meet you."

"Akimichi, Emiko. The pleasure is mine. And you really think you can track it with my scent?"

"Trust me, we are Inuzuka. We can track it and you will get it back in no time!" I beamed at her, as her smile widened. But before I could say another word her look changed from happy to curious and she tilted her head to one side.

"Then I have a question. Why didn`t we do this at the very beginning?"

Emiko was really happy to get her ring back, a slim gold ring with a small red stone in it. She threw her arms around me, nearly squishing me in the process as my face lit up like a torch. It was awkward at first, but I couldn`t fail to notice that I felt satisfied about her actions. Shinra sat on my shoulders again, his ears twitching as he listened to Emikos endless rambles.

We discovered that we were in the same class, only 4 seats separating us. That changed after the first few seconds as we entered the class again, my neighbor to this point grinned and did as asked as he traded places with Emiko, who had refused to let go of me till this moment. It seemed that she was a very physical girl, always trying to touch me or Shinra, ignoring our flinches or growls like a pro! She even tried to make the different classes and subjects interesting to me and I tried the same for her at the P.E lessons.

Emiko talked – a lot! But, it never really ticked me off; it was nice in a morbid way. The tension I had felt this entire time around others, without my brother as a shield for social interactions, slowly vanished when she got near me. Emiko seemed to enjoy the friendship between Shinra, me and herself, even sharing her, overloaded, bentos with us. And she never really tried to befriend others. She was content with just the 3 of us.

I learned the hard way that being friends with someone was harder as it looked like, as some mean children came up to us at one lunch break. 2 boys and 2 girls, older and heavier built than me, approached us as we had just started to eat. We sat at one of the tables on the playground, Shinra under the table and out of sight. Their gazes were locked on Emiko, their eyes shining with malice and I could already smell that they wouldn`t leave without some problems. Instantly I dropped the Onigiri I was holding, back in the box and placed both of my hands onto the table. I felt Shinra tense beneath my seat and I heard the rumbling coming from his small chest and I had to fight the urge to growl loudly at the children. Emiko, who had her back to the other children and had been talking to me, looked confused at my face. Something must have shown on my face because she whirled around and I could smell that she was afraid. I would have lost the short wave of Goosebumps as it went up her bare arms, had I not fixed my eyes on my new friend. The other kids stopped 5 feet away from us, their eyes focused on Emiko, not even glancing in my direction. Emiko swallowed hard and her hand started shaking.

"Oh please, not now." Her voice was cracking and sounded flat to my ears, causing the tensing of the muscles in my legs. The children sneered at Emiko, who tried to vanish at this instant. Her eyes darted around, looking for a way to escape this situation. Her smell got the burning sensation of a need to get away. Fight or flight instincts were kicking in in her mind, I could smell it. Her hand clenched and unclenched as Emiko took a deep breath. I let my eyes wander to the 4 childdren in front of us.

"Hey Fatty! Got yourself a friend? Or did you bribe her with food to just sit at your side? Who in their right mind would sit near you? You stink of fat and rotten flesh! You can`t run and play with the others, what good are you? Did you blackmail this girl to become your friend? Come here, girly, we will save you from this horrendous monster!" the bulkiest boy with mud colored hair looked at me, his eyes hard. I could hear Emikos breathe hitch and could smell the salty odor of tears. My eyes locked on the guy, his rotten smelling smell invaded my poor nose. It took me all of me to just not jump at him, bare my teeth and to beat him to a pulp before he could touch my new friend. But this was not my battle, not yet. He tried to dominate Emiko, to bully her as Kiba would say. But this was her fight as long as she wasn`t asking for help. I could feel Shinra chew on my shoe to regain his senses and so that I wouldn`t go against the `no-fights-till-necessary` rule my mother gave my brother and me.

It seems that one of the girls had her patience run thin, her eyes narrowed as she stomped to Emiko and pushed her, hard. Emiko whimpered and pressed her back to the table. A growl escaped my lips, I could hear Shinra bark in frustration under the table. The sound of me and my dog seemed to shock the other children for a second before they dismissed it, I don`t know why, and turned again to Emiko. My new friend whimpered again as the bullies got nearer to us and her frightened gaze met my eyes. My vision dimmed as a pain in my chest started and then everything went blank around me but the bullies. I could hear myself snarl before I lunged myself at the nearest one, feeling Shinra follow behind me.

**Kiba PoV**

It was the time around the class change for lunchbreak and Kiba happily raced to his favorite spot under the tree. Akamaru sat firmly on his head and yipped happily. Once he reached the tree he let himself fall into the grass. Not long after, his friends sat beside him, unpacking their bentos. His nose twitched as the delicious scents filled his nose and he gave a happy sigh. His life was more than ok in this moment. Shikamaru, Choji and Sasuke sat around him, he could smell them. He could also smell Sasuke`s fan girls as they were trying to hide behind the corner of the building. He chuckled lightly to himself and took a deeper breath. Flowers and fresh grass entered his nose and the smell of his sisters companion, Shinra. He furrowed his brows and sniffed again. He could smell Shinra and his sister, the scent was fresh, and he the faint scent of blood and fear accompanied it. On his shoulder, Akamaru started growling, his hackles raised and his teeth were bared. Kiba`s eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, startling his friends.

"Kiba? What is wrong?" Shikamaru asked in his lazy tone, tilting his head to one side to send him a questioning look.

"I can smell my sister, but she should have left the playground already! And I can smell blood." Kiba growled as he grabbed Akamaru and strolled after the scent, his nose in the air. A few seconds later he could hear the shuffling of feet in the grass as his friends followed after him.

He had just rounded the corner as loud screams filled his ears and Akamaru jumped from his shoulder, racing towards the scene at the tables. He growled again as he tried to digest the scene.

His sister had placed herself on the back of a bulky boy, her left hand tugged at his hair. Her eyes were wide with fury and her teeth were bared, a furious expression on her face. The boy was frightened and stared shocked at the slim figure on top of him, he couldn`t even raise a hand anymore. A second boy tried to rid himself from Shinra, who had his teeth around his ankle, tugging hard at it to get the boy of balance, with success. The boy started struggling and soon lost his footing. At this instance, Akamaru jumped and knocked the boy over, growling to stun the bully.

A blonde girl, with Akimichi swirls on her cheeks kicked at another girl with purple hair as she tried to lunge herself at Makani. The kick sent the girl flying, but left the Akimichi without any defenses against the last, female bully, who raised her hands in preparation for a hit.

"EMIKO!" Choji roared and sprinted to the brawl, his eyes fixated on the blonde and rather fat looking Akimichi girl. Kiba could smell the anger radiating off him, smelling like the air before a thunderstorm, thick and dark.

"I think that the female with the brown hair is your sister, right? She looks a lot like you, but man is that troublesome, now we have to save her opponents from her sharp teeth and nails…" drawled Shikamaru as he put his arms behind his head and stared at the fighting children. His posture was hunched over and showed laziness, but his eyes were alight with something akin to worry.

KIba`s eyes snapped back to his sister. She snarled again, but as the boy under her was frozen in shock and not reacting, she lost his interest and refocused on her female fighting companion.

"Yes, that is my sister. And it seems that she has made a friend of her own." Kiba was proud as he watched his sister fight for someone else. This day was getting better and better. He cracked his knuckles, felt a big smile on his face as he howled loudly and raced to his sister, ignoring the following footsteps.

**Makani PoV**

We got detention, all of us, except the dogs. Emiko and I joined the boys after we were at the infirmary. Kiba grinned from one ear to the other as he jumped to me, wrapping his arms around me. His smell calmed me down and I nuzzled his neck. Emiko stood beside me, one of her hands intertwined with mine, comforting and warm.

I was proud of myself. I had made a friend, defended this friend and tracked a missing item. It was a rather good day for me. Shinra was unharmed, Emiko had just a few scratches and one of my eyes would turn black, but other than that, everyone was unharmed. Ok, the bullies were in the hospital for broken noses and cracked bones, but that doesn`t count.

And to spice my day more than that, I got to know some more friends. Choji hugged me and thanked me for defending his cousin, Shikamaru gave me lazy smile and murmured something about troublesome woman and damsels in distress, and Sasuke smirked, giving me an approving look. Akamaru and Shinra were sent home, to tell mother that we would come later.

All in all, it was one of my best days in my young life.


	5. Academy drabbles

**Hello^^ I am very sorry for this late chapter and I don`t want to apologize, because the reason is just trivial. Christmas and University doesn`t mix to well.. **

**Present at the end of chapter^^**

**Naruto is not mine. *cry***

The few years of school flew by in Emiko`s mind. It was a precious time to her and she never would forget the events that occurred. She was now sitting in her little, old classroom and her eyes just couldn`t stop wandering around. A few empty seats were the only indication that children had dropped out of academy or changed classes.

Over the years the children in class had barely changed, they were loud as ever and sometimes her neighbor and best friend would growl and/or cringe.

Her sensei was stern as ever, but the hard lines in her face had softened a little.

Emiko couldn`t really believe that today would be her last day, her graduating day, in this classroom. She made friends and lost some, had witnessed countless pranks and fights and shed some tears in this years. She had also got herself a best friend, and her canine, and it felt like family now, to be around her and the small dog.

A nudge destroyed her train of thoughts and Emiko`s eyes flickered to her best friend beside her. Makani looked at her, her eyes wide but focused, like the eyes of an animal, but it was reassuring for Emiko. Her friends dark, spiky and wild hair was longer now, reaching below her shoulder blades, her fingernails resembled little claws, like Shinras and Makani was tiny, not only compared to Emiko but to everyone else.

"Don`t be sad. Our time here was great and you will never forget the memories. The future will gift you with new ones and I swear to you, that, even if we are not on the same team, I will find you in my free time and we will never be anything but best friends!" Makani`s voice was a bit deeper than average and with a growling undertone which had established itself over the years. Emiko stared wide eyed at her friend, her eyes never blinking or wavering. She didn`t notice that Makani`s muscles tensed or that Shinra, at her feet and chewing on a stick, started growling. But before either of them could pounce the Akimichi girl started to blink again and spoke up.

"I think that were more words than in the last weeks. I am proud of you! I can still remember the beginning of our friendship, when you hardly spoke to me at all!"

_Flashback_

_It was a week from their first encounter and the two small girls and one dog were sitting under a tree at lunch break, eating out of a huge bentobox with the Akimichi clan symbols on it. _

"_You know, I think your mother should learn how to cook, so you won`t starve at home! The last meal you brought with you, caused a food poisoning!" The young Akimichi shouted out loud and the female Inuzuka and her canine friend cringe._

"_Ähm… Sorry… Too loud? Or the cooking? My mother told me that Inuzuka clan-members would develop better senses than other people. But I thought that you would get these a short time before puberty. Your brother is loud all the time and he doesn`t seem to mind the other loud children around him." Emiko tilted her head, her eyes alight with curiosity as she stared at her first real friend outside her clan. _

_Makani averted her eyes for a few moments, her hands messing with Shinras red fluffy fur. _

"_My mother told me that twins are very rare in our clan ant that there would occur problems with their Chakra or their behavior, My brother and I seem to be two sides of one coin. Kiba got lucky, he is more social and outgoing, his senses will get better with time and he doesn`t think the same way I do. I… I am far more feral. My senses are sharp and my mother thinks that they will increase in sensibility. I really can`t stand to be among huge masses of people, the scents and the noises would drive me insane."_

_Emiko paled and instantly lowered her voice as she spoke again, barely above a hushed whisper._

"_I am sorry! I didn`t knew that!" Her friend just grinned again at her, her sharper canines showing off. Emiko wanted to hug her, to show Makani her compassion, but her friend hold her off with one of her hands. _

"_There is more. Because of my feral sides, I act different in certain situations. Kiba once told me that I was more like a dog or a wild animal. Please, don`t be afraid now. You are my friend, first member of my new pack, I will try to explain everything to you!"_

_Makani`s face got a serious expression as she promised that and Emiko couldn`t do anything else than smile. In her mind she was already planning for those situations. And she promised herself that she would learn to handle dogs and wild animals, maybe purchase a `dog-handling`-book to help her._

"You told me about your mindset, the pack thinking and that you don`t like to talk to others. About your hobbies and your dreams. You translated for Shinra. That day, you talked more than ever, just for me. I am really grateful that your mother taught me how to handle you, if you keep sinking into the pack-mind and feral-mode."

Makani huffed and looked away, a slight red hue on her cheeks. Emiko grinned and her eyes started to travel again, now landing on one of the places outside for physical education.

_Emiko tried to breath, but her lungs felt like there wouldn`t be enough air to keep her alive. It was difficult to stand upright, her chest hurt and her eyes were filled with moisture. She hated running!_

_Her body wasn`t made for it and she knew that. Her best friend stood beside her, grinning and not even out of breath. Makani had enjoyed the lesson, had run more laps than the other females in class. Her short legs had worked fast and had carried her round for round. She even accompanied Emiko after her own sets of laps, to encourage her._

_Emiko was grateful for that, really, but a tiny space in her mind was filled with jealousy, that the other girl could run without much care, that she could even now breath like she had done nothing but picking flowers. But she instantly squished this tiny space, locked it away before it could get settled._

"_Ough…. I hate running!" Emiko was still huffing. _

"_I love it! I want to be the fastest Tracker or Hunter-nin when I am older!" Emiko scanned the face of her friend. Then scanned her figure. Makani wasn`t strong or tall and she never would be, but she was fast, wicked fast. That was a good and a bad point in one. She would need someone with strength and reach for her speed and flexibility._

_Emiko steeled herself as she nodded._

"_I am your best friend and Tracker or Hunter always hunt with more people. I will be your back-up-woman! Someone with muscles wouldn`t hurt!" Makani started laughing; Shinras tail wagged furiously and Emiko could only grin._

"_Now we have muscles, fangs and speed. But where do we get the brain?"_

"_OI!"_

A soft giggle escaped her lips as the memory faded away before her eyes. She tried to cover her giggles with one of her hands, but she knew that Makani had heard her, she could see the Inuzuka`s ear twitch slightly. Shinra hopes on her table, his head tilted to the side and his tongue lolling out. He was curious and his big eyes were fixated on Emiko`s face.

"Ah, sorry Shinra. Just one of the many memories from school. Everything I look at triggers another one. For example the flowers on the teacher's desk…"

_Makani`s face was a mask of disgust as she eyes the various items on the table. A small pen-shaped thing with a red tip, a fan in colors that hurt the eyes, flowers of all kinds, needles and silk, a piece of clothing which would resemble a very tight and short Yukata, brushes and colors for her face (but no warpaint…). Emiko couldn`t help but chuckle as her friend covered her sensitive nose and rolled her eyes. Shinra had long left the offending smelling room, hiding near the tree to wait for his bond-mate. _

"_What are all those things? And the smell… I think my nose is burning from the inside! Why do we have to learn about this things?" even her voice was filled with anger and hatred._

"_We will become Kunoichi, so we will have to take Kuniochi-lessons, as long as your mother didn`t teach you the whole set up, we will have to live through it. And this is color for your lips and your face, a fan for traditional dancing; a Yukata, various flowers and we will have to sew. I think we also have to learn to play an instrument and learn to play several roles. My mother tried to give me a head-start, but I don`t think that we even covered a bit of the whole ordeal."_

_Makani looked shocked, her face pale and her eyes were wide, not like the eyes of her brother anymore but a deer in bright light. She had pulled her shirt over her nose to protect herself. _

"_You have to be kidding me! This can`t be the whole thing to learn here! This is torture for me! I can`t barely stand the smell now and you tell me that we will work with this disgusting piece of flora? Oh please, holy ethereal being in charge of my fortune, please, forgive me whatever I have ever done and put an end to my misery!" Makani wailed, her eyes wet and big, her hands clasped together. _

"_Your acting skills are quite good for a new student of the feminine arts, but we can work on that. And now, please sit down, my little flowers. I am your teacher, my name is Miss Mikazu. I will show you what a real lady have to know and you will learn proper manners." An older woman, clad in a purple Yukata, with silver flowers on it, strolled right past a pale and gagging Makani and a laughing Emiko. The scent which followed her, was so strong that even Emiko`s nose twitched. _

_The former playful gagging noises of her best friend turned into real tries of not to throw up._

"_This will just be great. Lesson one: don`t barf!"_

"Emiko! Emiko, can you hear me? It looked like you just passed out there. We will have a break now, to eat and relax a little. Let us please go outside, the smell in here gets heavier and its nearly choking me." Makani whined, her head nudged Emiko`s shoulder. The other girl groaned in faked annoyance as she grabbed her bag and trudged after a little fur ball and the tiny Inuzuka.

The air outside was hot. There were more children running around than ever, this break was for every one of the four graduating classes. It was no miracle that their usual place under the huge cherry-tree was already taken by a few other children. Emiko could only see vague shadows as she and her best friend came around the corner. Makani stopped short for a second, her nose twitching again before she trudged on, a small smile on her lips. She shot Emiko a look, which she could understand after all those years.

`Come on, this are friends. We will eat with them and share our concerns over this last test.`

"Hey there! I hope you are al well. May we have the pleasure of your company for a short while?"

"Troublesome, but we can`t deny small girls a place in safety to eat their precious lunch."

Shikamaru opened one of his eyes as he observed the girls, taking in their expressions and their posture, but soon closed it again. His back was against the tree, his arms behind his head and his feet were beside Choji, who had greeted Emiko with a large smile. Akamaru and Shinra had pounced at each other and were now rolling around in the grass, playing and growling. Emiko placed herself beside Kiba, who had a large grin on his face as he observed the playing dogs. Makani looked around for a second, before she let herself fall in the grass, her head near Shino`s legs.

Shino adjusted his glasses as he scanned the female beside him, the tiny but slender form, the dark brown wild hair. He had missed her and Emiko, since he had to change classes again. Had missed the females and their voices, the fluffy dog, the little adventures. They had been his first real friends. The girls didn`t shy away just because of his Kikaichu, they had accepted him the way he was, with no long questions…

_Shino stared down the tree to see a small girl with short brown hair and a red furred dog beside her, looking something on the tree bark. Their curious faces were merely inches away from the small, moving insect. He had been surprised that the female didn`t run away, screaming, like all the other females would do. And he had never seen a quiet Inuzuka before, the Inuzuka in his class was loud and was acting like a brat. _

_His father had told him that there would be twins from a main clan. And he thought that he found the twin, Inuzuka Kibas female twin, a quiet girl with a curious look in her eyes. Her dog was just as curious as her, but as Shino moved a little bit, the dog's head shot up and the animals eyes locked onto him, judging him. _

_Just a few breaths later, the female tore her eyes away from the brown, stick like insect that she had inspected and stared at him, backing a few steps away, but not in fright. It was an analyzing look he received. _

"_Do you want to sit there all the time? Or do you want to come down and look at this insect here, Aburame-san?" her voice was deeper than usual but not unpleasant. Shino nodded once and let himself fall down, landing in a crouching position. His eyes instantly went to the walking-stick and he expected the girl to leave, but she just sat there, waiting and observing. The dog sniffed at Shinos clothes, but soon turned to his companion and barked a few times. Shino felt his Kikaichu as a few of them left his skin and flew around; one of them even flew to the Inuzuka-girl. He tensed as he tried to calculate her reaction, but her reaction was unexpected._

_The girl lifted her hand slowly and waited till the little Kikaichu had landed on her skin, crawling over the back of her hand. Shino was shocked to see her expression._

_She smiled._

They sat in a circle, their lunch boxes in the middle and opened so that everyone could eat what they wanted. Emiko had her eyes not solely on her food as she tried to defend her Onigiri against Choji but also on her best friend, who was resting between Shino and Shikamaru, her eyes closed and her form relaxed. One of her hands was clasped around the handle of her bento box.

Shikamaru had his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his bare forearms. He was quite content with his position beside the silent Inuzuka girl. At first he assumed that she would be as troublesome and loud as her brother, who was in the same class as himself, but he was surprised that she was silent and observing. Her presence wasn`t as troublesome as expected, it was reassuring to him. The female Inuzuka would react as soon as people would get near, therefore warning him to prepare himself for deeper sleep or to wake up to handle some bothersome adults. She didn`t talk much, but the silence was always a comforting one, one that wouldn`t need to be filled with words or actions.

But the tiny girl had other sides to her as well. He would never believe it if he hadn`t already witnessed the mischievous side of her as she pulled a few pranks or got her brother into trouble with their mother. Or the caring side, he witnessed that at their first meeting as she had protected Chojis cousin or whenever someone would talk bad about Emiko or Shinra, the red fluff ball that was currently playing some sort of dog-tag wit Akamaru.

And she cared about her brother. Not in a manner for others to see, but none the less. Like this one time…

_Shikamaru stared at the person in front of him. _

_He blinked. Checked the person over again._

_The jacket was right. The hair color was right. The trousers were right. The tattoos and the eyes were also right. The dog on the persons head was mostly right and the tail was wagging. This was Akamaru, no mistaken there. _

_So how come, that this person in front of him gave him a feeling that `he` wasn`t Kiba?_

_He found the clue almost instantly. The hair was longer and the look on `his` face was slightly more wild, but calm. Biggest point though, `he` was silent and observing. Definitely not Kiba. _

"_Makani, what are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here." The female in front of him just shrugged with her petite shoulders and averted her eyes._

"_Please, Shikamaru, be silent. You will blow my cover. Kiba asked me to write the test you are going to write today. And he couldn`t learn. So I will write this test for him. I learned how to imitate his writing to pass as Kiba. My brother is with Emiko and Shinra at this moment, so do not worry. We even switched dogs for this day. I have to say, Akamaru`s attitude is different from Shinra, but we will cope. So could you please show me where my brother`s place is?"_

"_Troublesome woman. Follow me." He turned around, his hands behind his head and yawned. He could feel the girl following him, but he couldn`t hear her. That would be a problem._

"_You know, you have to be loud and you have to brag about different things. You are to quiet to be Kiba." He could see her narrowed eyes out of the corner from his own eyes and a small smirk crossed his lips._

"_Dammit…" _

Shikamaru opened his eyes as the bells rang, alerting them to go inside again. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he nudged the sleeping girl beside him, although he could see her eyes open as his fingers brushed through the grass centimeters from her thigh.

"Let`s get going. We have the graduating exam now. How troublesome, but we will manage. Let`s get it over with." He yawned and stretched before standing up. The others followed suit. He ruffled Makani`s head and tapped Shinra on his nose, giving both of them a little smirk. He sent Emiko a smile and trudged to the entrance.

Emiko sighed and grabbed her best friend's hand, tugging her along behind her. This was just another obstacle to get over. They would definitely pass and make their parents proud. Makani just grabbed her hand tighter. They would be fine.

**Hey there^^ Merry Cristmas^^**

**I hope you liked this chapter? It was hard to write, but the academy years are over now and the real fun can begin^^ **

**And now to my announcement:**

**The first 3 people to write to me, will get a Present from me. Little Omakes. Time and Situation is upon you guys, just wish for something^^ **

**I wish you a couple good days^^**

**Chocolate **


	6. New friends

**Naruto is not mine... Makani, Hideaki, Shinra and Misuteri are mine^^ Hope you like them.**

* * *

I stared at my new collar, a dark green piece of fabric with a metal plate on it. A metal plate which showed the insignia of Konoha. It smelled new and was unlike that collar my brother was given yesterday. His had a blue fabric with the same metal plate.

Yesterday was exam day at the academy and there were just a short number of pupils which passed the test. Most of my old school comrades reeked of tears and fear and disgust as they left the examination room. I got called in somewhere in between. Shinra had jumped on my shoulder and together we entered the small room next to my old classroom. Our teachers were waiting there, scanning us with sharp eyes and the whole room smelled like frustration and angst. This was not really helping me, so I pulled my scarf over my nose, to block the unpleasant odor.

Shino had gifted the scarf to me, about a year ago, the time as he and Emiko tried to boost my social skills – and failed. I got better with handling new people, but sometimes the smells are just overwhelming. And in one of this situations Shino had initiated contact with me, he had pulled my head to his chest, effectively blocking my sight and my nose from gaining new pictures or smells, my ears picked up his strong heart beat and I tried to focus on that and his clear voice. He told me to calm down, that he and Emiko would get me out of there (Market place) and that I had to be still.

After a few deep breaths and inhaling his scent in the process I calmed down. He and Emiko had shielded me from touching other people there. Emiko had been standing right behind me, rubbing my back and Shinra was at my feet, pressing his warm body against my slightly shaking legs.

After that incident Shino got me the scarf as a present for my birthday, he had worn it about a week without pause, imprinting his scent in it. And now the smell of rain in a forest was the best thing to calm me down or to just give me peace.

But back to the exam. It was really easy, just create a perfect looking clone and show off a jutsu that you liked. Not a problem for my furry partner and me. The clone was a little bit tricky due to my more feral sides, it`s eyes were more slitted and the hair was more spiky than mine, but I passed the exam, after showing Shinra`s and mine `shared claws`-jutsu. My fingernails formed like claws and Shinra got a more beast like appearance.

I got a collar and left the room, a proud Shinra in my arms. It didn`t took us long to find Emiko and together we walked to the tree.

"I am really happy that we both passed the exam! And tomorrow we will be given more information about being a genin! And we will get sorted into a team! I really hope that we can stand together, but my mom told me that the standard formation of a team would be two boys and one girl. But I am optimistic about that! Never change a winning team! Shinra, you and I, we are such a team, we will not be separated, I promise!" Emiko exhaled all this words in a matter of a few seconds, confusing Shinra and me at the speed she was talking in.

"I believe you, Emiko. Don`t worry." I grinned at her and felt Shinra, who was sitting on my head, nodding happily.

"If the teachers know what is good, they would put us on the same team. It would take too long to get comfortable with new people. That would be really counterproductive."

* * *

In the end, it all played out very well, for Emiko, Shinra and me, that is. It was a very strange sensation to see only 12 children sit in the chairs in our old class room. 12 out of 30 had passed the last exam. Just a tiny number, a drop on a hot stone. But it would still be us. The 4 teams of our class and one of them consisted of Emiko, Shinra and me and a guy with the name of Kazuhiru, Hideaki. I couldn`t really think of a face for the name as I loathed socializing without good reason.

Our teacher had announced that our senseis would come along to get their teams right out of the class room. Short after that she had left us alone to sort ourselves. I glanced to Emiko, my head tilted sideways and she nodded to me, looking around till her posture tensed. A look over her shoulder told me what I wanted to know. A tall boy made his way towards us. His chestnut colored hair reached his mid back and was very straight and shiny. His gray eyes resembled clouds on a normal day, very light and airy. His grin was wide and I could see his teeth. I could feel my muscles tense at this side. Shinra started growling slightly. Emiko, thank Kami, acted very fast as she leaned to the side, blocking my view on the approaching male. Her hands lifted abruptly and she signed something to the male, which caused his steps to slow down at first.

"Hello there! My name is Emiko Akimichi and it is really nice to get to know you!" Emiko chirped and inclined her head to the male, who was now standing in front of her. Shinra got to his feet, trudged forward to stand beside Emikos legs, his head was tilted and his eyes were focused on the boy. After a few seconds he looked back to me and grinned.

_He smells funny, bondmate, but it is not unpleasant. He smiles now, without teeth showing. We have to educate the pup how to behave._

I nodded to that, believing my bondmate in this matter. I closed my eyes and sniffed the air around us. Emikos smell lingered near me but was soon mixed with a new odor. Lavender and thyme, coated with a slight musky side. The smell was reassuring and soft, compared to other human odors.

Emiko laughed about something and my eyes opened again to fall upon the male, who was now looking over Emiko`s shoulder and into my eyes. He smiled again, closed lipped, and stepped around my best friend.

"Hello there sweetheart! My, you look really cute and you are so small, your hair is spiky and wild and I really love how your eyes seem to paralyze me! And this soft growling sound you can do, it is just so cute! I am blessed with two outstanding beauties! My life can`t get any better!" he swooned around, twirling his hands in the air and I hid myself behind Emiko, my hands clinging to her jacket. Shinra jumped in front of us and started growling to, his teeth bared and his eyes wild. His osture was tense and his fur was standing and bristling.

Hideaki paused for a second, his eyes trained on the small, fluffy creature in front of his two teammates. Then there was a flash of emotion in his eyes and he lunged forward and –

"HOW CUTE! You are so fluffy! And you have red fur and you have so pearly white teeth! This is really the best day of my life!" Emiko looked back at me, her eyes wide and filled with shock.

"Did…. Did he just… cuddle Shinra? Without permission?" As if on cue Shinras eyes closed and his growling grew louder. His teeth flashed and the next thing I knew was that Hideaki started wailing and storming all around the classroom, a dog hanging on his hands, the teeth holding on his glove.

"This is just great… We still lack the brain…"

"I am sorry to interrupt you three, but you are team D, right?" I stared at the slim woman in front of me, as she stood just there, observing us with deep purple eyes.

Hideaki jumped up, his eyes sparkling and he bowed deep.

"Ah, Lady luck must be on my side! Now I get a beautiful teacher as well! My life can`t get any better!"

"Äh… Sorry to disappoint you, but I am NOT your Sensei… But I have something from him to give to you. So… Here, take it and I take my leave now, before anything happens that I don`t have any control over…" she pressed a note into Emiko`s waiting hand, her eyes hazy and filled with dread. Shinra and I had opted to grab Hideaki and to hold him down before he could do actually something really really dumb.

As we sat on his back, he cried loudly, and Emiko read the note to us. It was silent, all the other teams had left with their respective Senseis.

"Team, I have to inform you that you have to look for me. I will not make it to the meeting. Treat this like a test, if you find me I will teach you. You have time till noon. Good luck." She stared at us, her mouth agape.

"It can`t be… Another test? This Is so unfair!" she wailed and with a little jump I got my hands on the little note. It reeked of booze and smoke and something I didn`t knew, but it was a little bit painful to have my nose near it. I sneezed and handed the paper to Hideaki.

"Guess we will have to look for our Sensei. So, how do we do that? Can your dog track him down?" Hideaki stared at Shinra, his eyes trained on my companions twitching nose.

Shinra turned his head to me and sighed. I snatched the note back, brought it close to my nose again and grimaced. The painful smell had me nearly gagging but I could handle it. Shinra climbed on my knees, sniffing at the paper with a disgusted expression. We both shuddered after a few deep breaths.

"Makani? Please tell me, that you can track the smell." Emikos hushed voice entered my ears.

"Just hold onto the note and Shinra and I will give our best, but I can`t promise anything, you know that. We have to be swift, so I hope you can keep up with Shinra and me." Emiko smiled after my words, her smell got a proud nuance to it and she grasped my shoulders.

"I believe in you two. But we have no time to sit around here and start whining or something like that! Let`s go out and look for our Sensei! Hideaki and I will clear the areas around you two, so just concentrate on sniffing our teacher out!"

"Yeah, don`t worry about others, we will keep them away from you, so just start your thing and we will follow you." Hideaki gave me bright grin, without teeth, and Shinra pressed his head against mine for a second.

With no much more to do, I closed my eyes and allowed my nose to be my primary sense for this.

_I got it! Here, it is nearly drowned out by the other smells, but it lingers around the window and not the door!_ Shinra nudged me again and both of us started the hunt. Emiko was quick to open the window, Shinra jumped onto my shoulder and we got to work. The smell was easy to follow at first, not intercepted with much other smells. But it soon got much trickier…

* * *

3\. Person POV

Emiko and Hideaki followed the tracker duo out of the window and onto a nearby street. Makanis nose was near the ground, twitching wildly and she moved on all fours. Shinra stayed upon her back, sniffing the air. Both their eyes were narrowed in concentration. Emiko stood near the two of them, her body tense and her eyes alight with worry and pride. Hideaki just leaned against a fence, his eyes never leaving the Inuzuka and her canine mate as they moved along the street just to jump over the fence with not much more than a small growl.

Emiko reacted first, jumping past her and landing slightly ahead and to the side, securing the parameter (a small cabbage garden). Hideaki stayed on the fence and looked to Emiko.

"So, why should we prevent other people to intercept her course? I mean, it can`t be too bad or not?" He asked in a low tune, so that the smaller girl`s and the dogs concentration wouldn`t be interrupted.

"Makani is one half of the Inuzuka twins and her senses are better than her brother`s, but that isn`t just something good. Too much noise, too intense smell or something loud can nearly overload her senses. Inuzuka`s are more feral and wild than any other clan or normal people. So we have to make sure that nobody get`s on her nerve." Emiko murmured to her new teammate and turned her head to him. A slight grin played around her lips.

"I had to do this alone for a long time, but now you are here to help. I believe that I can give you a few books, that will help you to handle her and to treat her the right way. Have to say, I don`t want you to be torn into smithereens just because you stared at her to long or smiled with too much teeth showing. I witnessed it ones, wasn`t funny… But it is not just work, if you can gain her trust than she will protect you by all means."

The boy`s eyes followed the small girl, scanning her delicate features and her stature. The girl looked as strong a shaky leaf, but the way she moved spoke of strength and flexibility. The dog on her back was lean and skinny, his fur was red, white and black, his ears were perked for noises and his nose was twitching the entire time. Emiko went ahead, standing beside the now rumbling Inuzuka and she seemed to understand the guttural noises. Her body build was strong and tall, her arms bigger than the other girls legs.

With a grunt, Makani started again, faster this time and she sprinted down an imaginary route, Emiko and Hideaki hot on her tail. Makani`s nose never left the ground, not even as the 4 teammates entered the more lively areas of town. Many peoples eyed the crouching teen with a confused expression and some other people even sneered at her. A few shopkeepers tried to approach the teen because she was distracting the customers, but Emiko intercepted them with a small smile and polite words. Hideaki stayed near Makani and Shinra, clearing a way through laughing children and chatting women.

Two pairs of eyes travelled again and again to the sky, following the path of the sun as she wandered over the sky. The time was slowly slipping away and Makani and Shinra had managed to hunt down the smell over half of Konoha and were now struggling to find the source. They had ended in a in a slightly darker part of Konoha, full of bars and inns and some shops Emiko and Hideaki never heard about. The heavy smell of booze and fat food covered up the light smell the Inuzka-duo was following.

After a few more minutes and more growling and rumbling the Inuzuka-duo lifted their heads and sighed.

"Sorry, we got as far as we could, but the smell just ends here, we can`t find the source…" Makani lowered her head and Shinra yelped unhappy, his ears down and his eyes sad.

But before Emiko could comfort her best friend, Hideaki started laughing. Both females turned their heads to their male human teammate and stared with wide eyes at him.

"Is he nuts? Do you think we can swap teammates with another team? Or just send him back?" Emiko whispered behind her hand, sure that Makani would hear her, but her friend just crouched lower, her teeth nearly bared and her eyes fixed on the male who seemed to lost his minds a mile ago.

"We don`t need to look any further! I solved the riddle! And thanks to your sharp noses we are standing near the end of our hunt! We were so stupid! We just had to turn the paper around and look what stands there!" he showed the mute girls the paper. Emiko snatched it out of his hands and slowly turned it around. `Tu-Pi` was printed on the other side, so small that it was almost not to see. Then Emiko let her eyes wander around. At the same time Makani and Emiko face palmed. Loud.

Just a few meters ahead was the bar with a matching name. Hideaki nearly danced ahead, still laughing like a maniac. The girls and the dog followed at a slower pace.

"We are so dumb…" Emiko murmured and felt her face flush. Makani just nodded silently.

"Looks like you made it. And you have a few more minutes to spare. I have to say, didn`t think you three would make it here in time. But I wanted to test if you could work along each other without problems." The newly formed team stopped short as a deep, male voice behind them started to talk.

Makani drew a deep breath and nodded for herself. The man behind her smelled of deer ,grass, musk and mint. He was tall and his body showed well formed muscles. His posture was relaxed and his eyes were dark. 3 scars run over both his eyes, but the marks wasn`t deep enough to have hurt the eyes itself. The man wore mesh as a shirt, a vest and dark colored pants. His black hair was spiky and short, standing in every direction. His skin was tanned. His black eyes scanned the expressions of his new students and it took about a few moments for a small smile to part his lips.

"Nice to get to know you. My name is Misuteri Nara and it seems that we will work together from now on."

Emiko squealed.

"FINALLY! A BRAIN!"

* * *

**Hey there^^ Sorry it took me so long to write the chapter, but there were some things to do first.**

**I am really sorry. **

**I have the plot planned but sometimes i just don`t know how to write it..**

**And then there is this other storie in my head but i don`t think that i will publish it anytime soon. Just for you to know^^**

**Hope you like the new OC`s. **

**And there should be a picture of Makani, as soon as my friend finished coloring her^^**

**Have good days**


	7. D-Ranks

Shinra and i were fast to go home, our day was long and we were both tired and worn out. We had met our last teammate, had a wild goose hunt all over Konoha and, lucky for us, found our Sensei at the last possible minute. In a small pub, in one district near the red-light district.

My nose nearly killed me, it would take me weeks to get the disgusting smells out of my sensible nose. The way my faithful fury friend sneezed over time, told me that I was not the only one with that problem.

The sun was almost set as I dragged my tired feet into the compound. Several dogs, young and old ran around, barking, sniffing and yipping. Shinra, who would join the merry band at any other time, yawned and his eyes were dim. His ears twitched as he dismissed the dog pile, that had formed at my feet. The pups and the youngling dogs stared at him, their eyes wide with disbelief and shock. I had to stop, as more and more dogs sat in front of me, unblinking and staring at me and Shinra. My red furred friend yawned again and closed his eyes, nuzzling in my arms. He seemed to be tired beyond reason and I couldn't really say something against it, because even my eyes were slowly fluttering shut.

The pups were still siting in front of me, blocking my path to home. I could feel Shinra tense and my body reacted of his own. My lips drew back, my teeth showing and a deep growl left my throat. As if that was a cue the small dogs sped away, yipping and barking.

Shinra chuckled in my arms and one of his eyes opened slightly to look at me.

_::You are a little angry, huh? Never saw you act like this. But, mate, I am grateful. The day was long and all I want is to sleep in our den.::_

"Our den? I remember that this was my room, till you showed up, you small furry fluffball!"

Shinra dismissed my ranting and sighed in content, his eye closing again.

"Home again!" I yelled as I opened the front door with one hand, wincing as the small cuts in my skin burned on contact with the old wood. Shuffling of feet and a loud bark answered me and not a second later Akamaru rounded the corner, followed closely by my dear brother. His hair was sticking wildly in all directions and he looked as he had slept the last few years without waking. And he smelled...like he hadn`t showered in that time, either. I could feel the scowl on my face and quickly hid my nose in my scarf, inhaling Shino`s scent to calm me down again.

"Brother dearest... I am really happy to see you too, but..." he wrapped his arms around me and Shinra, his nose buried in my hair. His arms tightened as he drew me against his chest. To say that I was stunned, was an understanding! His warm breath tickled my ear.

He smelled happy and proud but there was an undercurrent of angst and fear to him. Loss maybe? He reeked of it and it made the hairs in my neck rise. And he stank of mud, sweat and rotten meals.

"...Please let go off me. You stink. I hope you have a good reason for that." I growled lowly, meaning both his smell and his unusual behavior towards me. His grip tightened again.

"I need a dose of sanity right now. I passed my test with my team, but it was hell. At least I have Shino and Hinata in my team. My Sensei is a crazy female! A total horror, I can tell you that! She threw Genjutsu after Genjutsu at us and told us to break through them. She... She showed us this horrible, horrible scenes. And you..." his grip on me tightened just another bit, his chest pressing firmly against mine as Shinra had shuffled himself out of the danger zone that was my brothers hug.

Kiba growled deep inside his throat, a warning and a demand for something. I felt a small smile tug on my lips as I wrapped my own arms around my brother and nuzzled his neck with my head. I could feel the small shivers running down my brothers body, but I didn`t comment on it, something must have happened in this training of his. At least he passed the test from his Sensei, but I had to admit, I was just a little bit jealous. He had Shino, one of my own pack, now as his own pack. That thought alone let my hackles rise again.

Akamaru and Shinra pressed against our legs, whining and yipping, sending comfort over the bonds we had with them.

But nonetheless, my brother continued to hold me for five more minutes, his smell getting better and better with each passing moment.

This had to be a fucking misunderstanding!

A friggin` joke!

Surely I was just dreaming or something hard had hit my head in a bad angle so that I was in a sort of delirium. My breath hitched slightly as I tried to think about all the possible explanations for this situation my pa- team found itself in. A quick glance to both sides and a silent sniff with my sensible nose told me that both of my teammates were in a similar state as I, Shinra was snoozing in my arms and Sensei stood behind me, causing me to tense up because of his still unknown presence.

After a few intakes of fresh air, Emiko cleared her throat, her smell getting an edge of desperation to it, before she spoke up in a small but high pitched voice.

"Could… Could you repeat that again, please? I think I misheard something." The man behind the desk shuffled the papers in his hands again as he fixed Emiko with a stern gaze.

"You can choose between baby-sitting, house chores, Tora hunting and garbage disposal. Could you please hurry up a bit? There are other teams that would like to receive a mission."

Emiko glanced to our male mate and me, before speaking up again, her voice still pitched but slightly wavering, if unsure what to do.

I turned around to look at my Sensei`s face, who just stared ahead of us, a really bored expression decorating his facial structures. With one of his hands he rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze travelled over all of us before settling on the papers on the table.

"Every Shinobi has to go through a decent amount of D-Ranks before getting higher ranked missions. And like all the other teams, we have to go through that as well, as boring and troublesome as it is. Just choose something and we hope we can get something better next time."

His free hand came up and he dropped it on my head, as I was closest to him. Instantly I tensed and backed away, or tried to, as his hand stayed firm on my wild and frizzled hair, tugging me back to him. He ignored the slight growl that escaped my clenched lips.

Emiko and our resident young male had conversed about our fate and turned to Sensei and I.

"Fate chosen, get ready."

Baby sitting 1

It could have been better than this, it could have been a really wonderful day. The sun was shining, a gentle breeze got caught on his face, the smells were mostly delicious and exciting for the pup. His bond-mate was with him, their pack with the new Alpha was just around a corner, getting to know each other. He could feel the excitement and angst his bond-mate possessed, dreading and at the same time happy to get to know their new Alpha, who reeked of deer and musk and herbs.

But his day was far from good or wonderful. The household had three little children, with varying ages between two and six. The children were all female and with a good eye for fluffiness and cuteness. And as soon as he and his bond-mates team entered the house he had all the attention centered on himself. The three little tykes had zeroed in on him like a pack of wolves would prowl to a singled out deer, separating it further from his herd. The male Alpha had given out commands, the blond female, Emiko, had to operate the food area, the young male was given the order to clean the clean area, that area where the two legged humans would let themselves sink down into water. His bond-mate was ordered to help the female Alpha of the household to hunt the meals and gather other foods like fruits.

He was on his own as his bond-mate left him with the others.

As soon as the wooden door closed behind the leaving females, the three children came to their hind pows and started grinning, showing their small teeth at him. He could feel his fur stand on his back, his tail tensed and his ears were twitching wildly. All of his instincts started screaming at him to run and hide because a catastrophe was bound to happen.

It was the calm before a storm.

It was a stare-off, three little children with lollipops in their mouths or hands against him, all his muscles tense and all his being trying to flee or attack in an instant.

The seconds dragged out like minutes but all the calm went to hell as the snapping off an opened door got their attention. With something akin to a battle cry the children lunged forward, their hands outstretched and their eyes only focused on him. He waited till the last moment before jumping straight over the children and running for the opened backdoor. He just had to follow the smell of fresh air. He could feel one of the children`s hand at the end of his bushy tail. With a struggled yelp he lunged out of the door and started an advanced game of hide and seek with a good amount of tag, but he couldn`t dodge every attempt, he still had to make sure none of the tykes would hurt themselves.

But after a good hour he really hoped to get a break, these children were masked demon-spawns!

"DOGGIE!"

Shinra sprinted ahead, his tongue lolling out of his muzzle as he desperately tried to force oxygen down his pumping throat while running from an energized child with sticky hands. With agile movements he pressed himself under a small tree with slightly outgrown roots which he could perfectly fit under. His tail was firmly pressed under his belly, his ears flat onto his head.

His head swiveled around, looking for any oncoming demon in a children`s body as he desperately took in breath after breath, his small sides pumping and shaking. His legs were struggling to keep his body uplifted, his muscles all but screamed at him to just lay down and give up, but his pride was against that.

Maybe he was too deep in thought or maybe it was the loud stream of his blood in his ears, or the old and earthy smell of the tree, he wouldn`t know who or what to blame but he missed a shadow that came from behind, slowly inching towards him, eyes glinting and hands grabbing the air ready to hold and feel the pure fluffiness that was the small pup.

"GOTCHA!"

He screamed like a frightened newborn! Not that he would ever admit it to anyone else.

Groceries shopping

Emiko stared in awe at the seemingly not ending walls with food and herbs, meat and fruits. Bottles filled with liquids in different colors stood in a pyramid form in front of the big entrance door. Huge signs with advertisements were hanging all around the place. The lights were bright and artificial; the existing windows were small and placed near under the roof of the two story building.

She could hear a soft exhale beside her and with a long known and hard earned experience she took a step to the side, coming to stand in front of her Inuzuka friend and shielding her from the other customers in the local supermarket. She could only imagine what her sensible nosed friend would have to endure today. The small dog puppy was securely hidden in her shirt, just his head poking over the rim of her T-shirt, his small nose twitching. She couldn`t really be mad at the dog as he was hiding, the events from yesterday were still fresh on her mind.

(She and her Sensei had a hard time to rescue the poor puppy from the near death-grip of a little girl, who was screaming her head off, claiming the Inuzuka-dog was now hers and she wouldn`t let go. Her newly made male teammate had struggled to hold Makani back before she could maul the small child for treating her dog like a puppet.)

It was their second mission in their still fresh carrier as Shinobi and they were tasked with shopping for an elderly lady, who couldn`t carry all of the food and other items herself.

Maybe "Lady" stretched the term a little bit.

The "Lady" was a crossdresser with very feminine facial structures and made a very believable female, with help of a relatively small amount of make-up. And the poor man…- "Lady" had injured her leg at her job as an entertainer in a bar.

And now her team had a list of several pages of items to buy for the poor ma- woman.

"Team, we should split up to speed this whole ordeal up. Makani and Shinra, with me. We will cover the non-edible items." He tugged on Makanis hair to get her to move to his side, which she did after a few seconds of internal struggle.

"Hideaki, Emiko, you will gather all food related things on the list, thank Kami this papers are good organized. Would be just too troublesome to sort them now. We have a time limit, so we should get moving now. We will meet up again here in an hour. Scatter!"

Emiko and Hideaki stared as their Sensei placed a hand on Makani`s shoulder and then vanished into nonexistence, just a little bit lingering smoke to indicate a performed jutsu.

"Showoff." Emiko could only nod to that statement.

"He could just have used the stairs. We got ourselves a very lazy teacher. Hope Makani is doing fine."

"I can`t really argue with you there, beautiful. Let`s just get going, sweety." Hideaki`s grin got even bigger, no teeth showing, and he grabbed her hand to tug her along the way. Emiko stumbled behind him, her eyes scanning over the two pages of items they would have to purchase.

It was far more than both of them would be able to carry and bright as the two of them were, they hadn`t thought to bring a shopping cart with them.

Hideaki just grinned at her, his arms wide.

"Don`t worry, sweetheart, I would carry the weight of the world, just to make you happy. Just give me the things, load me up and then just give me a smile and I will be your humble servant."

Emiko was at a loss of words, just staring at him, she could feel her left eye twitch and she was unable to close her mouth.

"Sweetheart? Did I broke you? Ah, I know, you are speechless. Don`t worry honey, you are not the first." He _winked_ at her!

Her brain rattled and she could almost feel the thing fall apart as she tried to understand what was happening to her. KAMI, that damned boy in front of her was only a teenager! And where did he learn this mushy stuff anyway?

In all her thoughts she didn`t notice that Hideaki lost his smile and was now directly beside her, his eyes alight with mirth.

"Still speechless honey? I know a way to get you back to normal and maybe to have a better day, now that we are alone. Just you, me… and the few people around us." He leaned nearer to her, his hands softly touching her arms, gliding higher to –

"PERVERT!"

Emiko had her eyes closed, her breathing hitched and on instinct she lashed out, her hands meeting a wall of flesh.

Several unexpecting customers stood by, watching as a small speck with fleshy colors flew by making a sound of physical agony. The flying object could resemble a human if you would look from the right position. Some of the customers winced as the speck landed right on top of a pyramid of canned beef, letting it explode in all ways. The tower collapsed on top of the young man, burying almost all of him. Just a foot was left outside, slightly twitching.

Emiko gasped.

"SORRY!"

Baby sitting 2

Misuteri was a nice man. He was lazy but intelligent, wasn`t overly strong but protective. His sense of humor was weird but it existed, unlike some other members of the Nara-clan. He liked to sleep in, loved to read and to just enjoy his free time.

There were few things that Misuteri didn`t like, D-Missions were just one of them.

All he could do was sit there and stare at the scene, which was developing in front of him.

It was the same family that requested his team as a few days ago, the mother was away to work in an apothecary, the father worked as a smith the whole day. And now his team, definitely not himself, had to take care of the three little children again.

Three children who loved animals, sparkly colors and anything fluffy in general.

Three little children with wide and sparkling eyes, focused on the four little pup`s on front of them.

One had the color of wheat, was a little fluffed out and definitely on the better side of weight, the legs were long and slightly unproportional to the rest of it`s body.

Another looked like a cow just in dogform, the tongue lolling out between grinning lips. The eyes were slightly closed and the ears were perked, the tail wagging furiously.

The last two pups were leaning against each other, growling and yipping silently to each other. One was Shinra, his frame tense and his muscles twitching under his fur. His ears were laid back, pressed against his head and his tail was straight.

The last pup stood in a protective manner in front of him. The spiky fur was a brown color with red streaks in it, the ears were red tipped and one of her frontlegs was black. It looked a lot like Shinra.

His three students had decided to help the poor Inuzuka-ninken and had transformed into dogs. Now the children didn`t knew which dog to hunt down to cuddle to death. And Misuteri had to admit, they all looked adorable in this forms.

After the disaster from the last time, they had agreed to play with the children in this forms, or better, Makani had forced the other two to do that after Shinra had protested to even set a paw in this house.

A loud battle cry drew him out of his musings and his eyes snapped back to the children, which were now running after his team, scattering around, screeching and yelling like gargoyels in pursuit of unsuspecting victims.

Shinra and Makani jumped on the near fence, sprinting ahead to the backyard; Emiko summersaulted and squished herself through a gap in a nearby wall, whining as she stuck there for a few seconds before she could press through.

He couldn`t help it though, he laughed as Hideaki barreled against him, his little paws scratching his arms as he tried to hide behind him, the youngest tyke had a hard grip on his sensitive tail and dragging him back into her tiny chest.

"1 down, 3 to go. And we still have 6 hours. Hideaki, remember me to work on your evasive skills."

A lowly, gurgled whine answered him as the tyke smothered the `pups` head in kisses and slobber.

Hunting

The trail was faint, the smell shallow and the weather wasn`t really helpful either. It was raining like someone in heaven just emptied a whole sea over our heads. Nobody else was out of their doors or shops, hiding in the warmth and light. Us, Emiko, Hideaki, Sensei and I, were outside, getting pelted with thick rain drops, hunting down prey.

Or we would be, if Hideaki didn`t twist his ankle as he tried to jump the cursed prey.

Now Emiko, Shinra and I were cowering on a fence under a tree as our dear Sensei carried Hideaki to the hospital.

Shinra and I had lost the smell here under the tree and now all of us were looking around, searching for any kind of trail or a sign that our prey would be near.

Just as I was bending down to look under some uprooted parts of the tree, Emiko screamed and her hands flew in front of her face as a dark scheme jumped on her, claws out, drawing blood.

The new smell entered Shinra`s and i`s noses, letting our vision get tinted by a red hue.

The prey had hurt our pack-mate!

It had to pay for that! Pack-law dictated that!

With a loud howl Shinra and I pounced on the blasted feline, trying to wrestle it down into submission. Mud splattered everywhere around us, dripping from the tree bark and Emiko`s clothing as she tried to come near to us, I could see it out of the corner of my eyes. Her claws and teeth draw blood from both Shinra and me in an instant, trying to divert our attention elsewhere. I could feel my hands grip on fur that didn`t belong to my bond-mate and pushed down hard, at the same time Shinra signaled with a loud groan that he had bit down in the scruff of the cat.

The whole ordeal just took the time of a few breaths and then the mud, in which we had landed, settled down again. My back was in the mud, on my stomach lay a _huge_ cat, her claws deep in my clothes and my skin. Shinra hovered over it, his teeth holding onto it`s scruff, his eyes nearly closed to show his annoyance.

The cat whined but didn`t dare to move, in case that Shinra would bite down for real and not just holding onto it. Our breaths were ragged and the whole place smelled like anger and defeat, it was a sharp smell, disgusting.

"FINALLY! This blasted feline! I am just happy that it`s raining today! Just think about it: The sun and wind would divert your smell everywhere! And we never would get to this cat, just because she would smell you and Shinra three miles against the wind! We would sit here forever! Thank Kami, it is finally over… Maybe… Maybe we should go to the hospital. Treat our scratches before we catch the rabies, right Makani? Makani?" Emiko turned to me, her eyes nearly falling out of her head.

"MAKANI! NOT BITING THE CAT! It`s not that EVIL!"

Resume

It was not a whole week of D-Rank Missions but I could really tell something from it.

My team and I were really beginning to _hate_ D-Ranks!

And from what my brother was trying to mumble through clenched teeth as Emiko and I entered the hospital, his new pack was hating it, too. As soon as Emiko and I came through the doors, Kiba, Hinata and Shino, stood and looked over at us. I could smell something like comfort drifting our way, but I was not sure from whom it came.

Emiko embraced a surprised Hinata as Shinra and I gravitated towards the two males. I brushed Shino`s arm with my hand and nuzzled my head to Kiba.

"You look like shit, sister." Shino nodded and I could feel his hand touch my bare arm in comfort.

All I could was growl an affirmative.

Emiko lifted her head again and all but whined.

"TORA!"

The three others winced in sympathy.

**Sorry that this chapter took so long, but I had a hard time with university, but now I have more time to write. And have to say, this isn`t my favorit chapter, but we are slowly getting to the better part, just bear with me a little longer^^**


	8. Dog Days

**Sorry that it took me so long, and that this chapter is rather short, but University is keeping me on my toes, so i have nearly none time to write and i really hate it. Please forgive me about that. And sorry that this is just the chapter before the canon will start. I try to write soon again, i really try.**

**Hope you enjoy it^^**

**Naruto is not mine...**

* * *

"No, No, No! You are doing it all wrong here, Makani! You must try to level out your chakra with that from Shinra, you can feel him and his presence through your bond, so you should also feel the flow of his chakra. It can`t be this hard, even Kiba had this technique down after a week, he is already working on the next stage." Tsume stared at her daughter, who in return stared at her with a scowl on her face. Sweat was dripping down her neck and her breathing was labored. Beside her was her mate, Shinra, long legs stretched out in the air, also panting hard.

Over a week they tried to achieve the simplest technique of the Inuzuka Clan, which would transform the animal of the duo, into a doppelganger of the human. This works through a mixture of both individuals chakra. So the human would channel his/her chakra into his animal mate, and the mate would send parts of his own chakra to the other end of the connection. Once the chakra of both individuals was leveled it caused the successful jutsu. Leaving behind a transformed animal in a human's body.

In the first stages of training, the animal mate would jump onto the humans back, so the chakra could instantly connect. Later in training, the physical contact wouldn`t be needed anymore, the chakra sources would connect with each other over several meters away. In all her time, Tsume never really had to deal with problems in training at this stage already. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Her eyes wandered over to Kuromaru, who was overseeing Kibas training in an advanced form, which would allow Akamaru to fight in a human body. She could smell that Kiba was proud of himself, that he could be better than his sister, but he was at the same time worried about her lack of training success.

The bitter smell in her nose was coming from Makani herself, indicating that she was angry and near tears, which she would never show anyone else than Shinra, who was now rubbing his head against his mates cheek.

"Ok, Makani. We try it one last time for today, but that is enough, you and Shinra are both exhausted and I have better things to do than to oversee your training!" Tsume couldn`t hold the worry out of her voice, even if she tried to make it as hard as possibly. Inuzuka whelp`s don`t get cuddled in training, but she couldn`t help herself, something was wrong with her own flesh and blood.

She focused her gaze again on her daughter, who tilted her head to show her throat to her mother, a show of submission and trust, not uncommon between pack members. Makani got on all fours again, her mouth slightly agape with concentration. Without any needed command, Shinra jumped onto her back, his ears and tail raised and his eyes closed.

After a few seconds of nothing, Tsume could feel the air around her, which started to hum or vibrate. Little wisps of chakra started to coil around the two bodies, one a deep blue and the other –

Tsume gasped. Without much thought her body started to move as her eyes landed on the wisps of blue chakra, interlaced with red tendrils. But even before she could reach her offspring, something slammed on her back, sending her to the ground face first.

A second later a huge wave of mixed chakra exploded and send shocks through Tsume, Kiba, Akamaru und Kuromaru. A huge cloud of dust and grass obscured the view of the last two individuals on the training ground.

Kuromaru stepped from his mates back, his mouth opened and his tongue lolling out as he slowly walked over to the cloud, which was slowly dispersing now. Behind him he could hear his mate move and he could smell the angst and worry of the other whelp, but overwhelming was the smell of shock and joy that originated from the cloud and it`s two occupants. He breathed in deep again and entered the dust.

Tsume was standing again, looking in the direction her mate had taken. Her breath hitched as she could see him again, in his mouth dangled a small pup with red fur and longer than normal legs, Shinra. Her eyes roamed around, desperately looking for her daughter, but she froze as her keen eyes landed on something on Kuromarus head. A mass of dark brown fur, spiky and all over the place, long ears that were twitching in every direction and the eyes –

Her daughter's eyes were zooming in on her and the pup opened its mouth to yelp. The small pup tried to work her limbs, but failed and started sliding off to one side, nearly tipping over, but Tsume was faster and had the pup in her arms, staring down at her, the wiggling tail and the whipping ears.

"Well… This doesn`t really uncomplicated things…" (Note the sarcasm..)

* * *

The medic nin sighed as he sat down the brown furred pup, which he knew was the daughter of one of the great clans in Konoha. The pup yawned loudly and started to inspect her paws with massive interest till her mother sat the other animal near her, both instantly bumped together, ignoring the adults.

"So, what is wrong with her?" The clan heads stressed voice drew the medic nins gaze. Tsume looked annoyed to no end, her feet tapping the ground relentlessly, and her gaze upon him was cold.

"There are several points which I wish to discuss with you. The most present would be the imbalance in your daughter's chakra network. The invading chakra and the trying to balance it out for the necessary jutsu, overwhelmed her own network and left a `print` on it. This `print` or `stamp` in her blockades her coils and puts pressure on them. So she can`t change back for the time being. The pressure can`t be alleviated from the outside, but with time and enough workouts it should work out of her system soon." This got an audible sigh from the worried mother.

"The other point I wish to talk about is a problem with her network itself. The coils and lines in the center of her body are wealthy and more trained than other kids her age. But her outer lines and coils are nearly shut off from her system altogether. That means, that she can`t project chakra out of her body. Everything she wants to channel to leave her body, will just dissipate and fade away, but it will cost her energy. I don`t have to tell you, that this is a huge drawback for a shinobi."

Tsume paled and her look shot to her changed daughter, who was currently sitting next to her mate and they were both pawing at each other. Her thoughts were like a hurricane, whirling around her head. A low cough brought her attention back to the elderly medic nin.

"That is not only a bad sign. Only because she can`t project it outside, this will not be the end of her path as a shinobi. In fact, the chakra that resides in her body, is strong and wild. With enough training and focus she will learn to use it much more efficient. But you have to alter her training. I am amazed that she could even access her partner's chakra. You will only have to understand, that she will be always different, and that the way of the original Inuzuka jutsus is nothing she can use. Be prepared that she will maim every way of your own creations."

Tsume felt lightheaded, relieved and shocked at the same time.

Her daughter would be ok, in time. She would never be able to use the jutsus Tsume was capable of, but she would fall dead in an instant if her stoneheaded daughter wouldn`t find a way to perform even better.

She chuckled darkly to herself.

"Anything else I need to know?" The medic shook his head.

"No, as far as I could see, there should be nothing more wrong with her. But we will have to wait and see how this will develop over time. As far as I am concerned, you can take your daughter back with you. Let her run with her team on simple missions and her furry problem should solve itself. Give it a few weeks, there is a lot of her mate's chakra in her network."

Tsume nodded, more to herself than to the elderly man and strode to the near table, where the two pups were now pushing each other harshly, yelping and something akin to giggling.

"Hush it, you two. We are going now. And I will drop you off with your team, Makani. I need to talk with your sensei about your… problem." Her daughter clawed at her and bit down on her pinky finger to show her frustration about the situation.

"Yeah, yeah… I love you too…"

* * *

Emiko and Hideaki were sitting at the roots of a big cherry tree, leaning against the split bark, both pair of eyes dead set on the small animals in front of them. Shinra stared back as he positioned himself in front of the brown pup with the spiky fur and the standing, twitching ears. The small male dog was growling slightly, his fur on his back standing on edge.

The female dog was just sitting there in the shade, her head hung low and the teens could hear small whimpers coming from her. Her tail was curled around herself as she tried to hide behind her mate.

At the other end of the woodland training ground were two adults conversing with each other. Tsume had grabbed Misuteri as soon as she could, leading him to the side, after he had gaped at her daughter for a few seconds. The Nara had only stared at her for a few seconds before he sat down and waited calmly for an explanation. His gaze shifted between his students and the clan head in front of him.

Meanwhile Emiko had reached forward, grabbing her other female teammate by her now furry neck and lifting her up until she could change her grip to grasp her around her belly, lifting Makani up until they were both at eyes height.

Hideaki leaned back, his one hand shot up to ruffle the fur of his changed mate as he send her a dazzling smile. The fur under his fingers was soft but spiky and he couldn`t help as he ripped Makani out of Emikos hands to rub his cheeks against her head and cooed lowly.

"Ohhh, you sure are a cutie! What a sweet little girl you are! And your hair is even softer than your hair and I want to pet it till my fingers cramp but you will never let me, I don`t care though at the moment, because your sweet little ears are captivating and just look at your paws! I could rub them all day long!" the male cheered as he rubbed Makanis front paw against his nose. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the feeling, ignoring the low growl coming from his own captive and the snarling from her male mate. Until it was too late…

Emiko sighed as she let herself fall into the grass beneath her, just listening to the rumble beside her. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the changing pictures of the three fighting shapes. Her thoughts were tumbling through her head, all about her best friend's trainings accident. But she wasn`t worried about her, not much at least. Her mother had explained about her accident and that Makani would be ok in a few days of hard training.

(Hideaki was shaking his limbs violently as he tried to get rid of Shinra, who was biting down on his arm, trying to get the human male to release his mate. Makani was struggling around, her teeth showing and her small claws were scratching his clothes.)

It seemed that Emiko would now be the one to defend her best friend against other peoples or mean bullies, like she had some time ago. And she would look out for her, so that she wouldn`t do this mistake again too soon.

(Shinra was standing on his hind legs, his teeth clamped around Hideakis left foot. Makani was now hanging at his neck, tangled up in his hair, making a mess out of it. Hideaki was screeching loudly, flailing around even more.)

And it wasn`t like Emiko would be alone to help her friend. She could clearly picture her senseis face as he first laid eyes on his last student, his eyes wide and shocked, for barely a second before he could catch himself. But his gaze had been warm and relaxed and Emiko had felt safe.

(Hideaki was screeching now and begging for mercy. Makani was striking him with her fluffy tail again and again as Shinra was blowing his hot breath against the human males left ear, torturing him slightly, so Hideaki could only gasp between his begging and his giggles.)

"Stand up there! Just because one of you got a bit smaller, doesn't mean that we will skip training today! Makani, Shinra, let go off your teammate this instant! It is very unsanitary what you are doing there! Shinra, I am very serious now! Keep your tongue out of your teammates ears!"

Misuteri grabbed the pups in his calloused hands, keeping them away from the wheezing youth on the ground, who was still panting like he just had run around Konoha with Maito Gai and his students.

"We also have a mission today, so get yourselves together and up! We are already running late!"

* * *

Makani was placed upon Emikos head, liker her brothers mate was every day. It was quite nice on top of there, the hair made it all the plushier. And her best friends sweet, meaty scent entered her nose, which was now so much more sensible. She could smell nearly everything in this room. Hideaki and his smell of faint berries, her sensei and new, unproven Alpha, smelling like deer and fresh grass. Even the Hokage, pipe smoke and fresh wind, and to his side one of the academy teachers, who smelled like ink and mint.

Ever since her training accident she had been feeling rather down. Her mate had tried to get her spirits up again and he succeeded after a few days. She could now walk like him, play like him and experience things like him.

The last week had been, in retrospect, one of the best in her entire life. She had learned so much more, some things like the problem with her chakra just made her angry and upset and she had holed up in her room for hours after receiving the news.

But now, as her team was once again in the mission assignment room keeping her in the back to just observe, she was rather happy. Her gut told her that something big would happen today, maybe they would get a more demanding mission than weeding or catching this stuck up, cursed carcass of a feline _again._ Or their pay would increase. Or they could get the day off or –

"I am rather proud to say that your team, Misuteri, was the first one I thought of as I got this assignment through a contractor. It is a long term D-Rank mission." The Hokages voice was filled with happiness and pride, causing two haired and two furred heads to shoot up and focus on him. He chuckled lowly.

"We would be honored. What are the terms?" Her Alpha asked, shifting slightly in front of his new pack. Makani noted that he was an unexperienced pack leader, maybe this was his first pack away from his birth-pack. He had yet to prove his worth as an Alpha and Makani would wait for it to happen before she would trust him with hers and her teammate's lives. Till that time, she would keep a close focus on him.

"You and your team will travel to the land of Waves. You will deliver several contracts and assignments to our smaller outposts at the border and then make a quick reconnaissance trip to the capital. Do you know anything about Gatous shipping?"

"Just that he is a Mogul for shipping rights out there, hindering the smaller fishers and merchants to get their own slice of cake of the big business. He slowly drives the smaller cities into poverty. He is paranoid and has at least 30 mercs on his hands, including several shinobis of lower power level."

"Yes, this is quite right. But there are rumors that he plans something big, something that could influence the trade relations between Konoha and Wave. Remember this will only be an intelligence run. But maybe you will meet Team 7 on the way to Wave. They will leave tomorrow morning with a client. You have a timeframe from about 3 weeks. I would suggest you make your preparations. Maybe including some more things for your… more challenged student…" he chuckled again as Makani dropped her head in the soft mass of Emikos head, causing every other occupant in the room to at least smile.

_`So glad to be of service… In some sort of sense… I want back my two legs!` _Makani cried in her head, her ears flattening against her head.

* * *

**Hope this will clear a few things up^^ Makani is no `Sue and has her own batch of Problems. But it all makes sense later ^^**


End file.
