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Three Little Kittens part 1

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    Three Little Kittens:

    The members of the clan came into the clearing little by little, in small family sized groups. A handful of parents were herding their cubs before them, nudging them forward with lowered heads, tails swishing in the cooling evening air. Some tugged on reluctant hands, making promises over complaining voices that the gathering really would be interesting this time. As was tradition, everyone who took a seat around the fire pit made sure they were in their two footed shape. The storyteller, anxiously waiting in the shadow of a nearby tree, never could get a straight answer from any of the elders why this was a tradition among her people. The best she could figure out was that one needed hands and fingers to build a proper fire… paws just wouldn’t cut it.

    The noise dropped somewhat as the matriarch was led into the clearing. The Crone made her rounds, sharing a quiet word with an adult here, greeting a child there, making the appropriate cooing noises over the newborns held up for her blessing. She arthritically dropped to her knees and signaled for the fire to be lit. The wood was dry and the bonfire quickly grew.

    Three enormous logs were tossed into the blaze in a great shower of sparks, and then the crone turned. Her bright eyes bored into the flickering shadows and with a curl of her hand, summoned the storyteller forth.

    The girl exhaled a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and nervously stepped to the edge of the firelight. She paused as the cubs squished over to make room for her. She adjusted her flowing skirt and sank down into a cross legged position. She was young, barely into her teens. While all the children had seen her before, lurking around the edges, making sure no bored cubs wandered off, this would be her first time addressing the group. There was more than the usual whispers and nudging from the gathered group of young ones. A few of the wilder boys openly made mocking jokes, while the girls ignored her arrival in favor of carrying on, prattering about their own preteen issues.

    From the other side of the firepit the Crone caught her eye and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. This gathering had been the Matriarch’s idea. “The youngsters of the clan are growing complacent,” the wizened woman had said to the storyteller that morning. “I think it is an opportune time that they heard a new story… something to shock them back to realities of what our life once was.” The storyteller was staring nervously at the ground, but she still felt the Matriarch’s eyes burning through her. “Your story to be precise.”

    The young teenage girl, soon to be a storyteller for the first time, swallowed. “But Honored one.. I don’t think…”

    The Crone pretended she did not hear. “They need to be reminded that while we have been safe in our valley for as long as their short memories can recall… that this was not always the case… they need to be reminded that those dark days and ones darker still can come again with no warning.”

    The girl looked down at her feet, shaking slightly. “I can’t Honored one… It’s… it’s too soon.”

    The crone reached out and touched the soon to be storyteller on the shoulder. The girl’s tremors stopped. “I know it is hard child, but time passes whether you are ready for it to... or not,” the matriarch said kindly, “some things should be shared. Children need to learn, adults need to remember… and sometimes… sometimes we only begin to heal when we share our pain with others.”

    The storyteller stared at each child in turn, willing them one by one gently into silence. Eventually there was just one chatterbox remaining, a burly young male with bright red hair. He resisted all her attempts to get his attention. Finally, the crone herself leaned over and flicked him one on the ear. He yelped and spun to curse out his assailant, only to find himself staring into her beady black gaze.

    The boy got the message, albeit reluctantly. He folded his arms and turned all of his scowling attention to the storyteller.

    She took one deep breath to settle herself, and then took another to begin.

    “Most of you have gathered around the fire for stories before,” she said in a clear contralto that carried beyond the light of the flames, out of the clearing and into the very forest itself. “Most of you know by now that the tales we tell here are supposed to teach you lessons. How to hunt, how to be clever,” she turned and smiled at a very young girl cub, whose green eyes were jealously eyeing her mother’s lap, a spot occupied by her twin sister, “how to be generous and fair to our siblings... How to respect our elders,” She said with a polite nod to the crone before turning back to her audience. “Most of you are probably also asking, ‘What is there to learn from a girl who is barely older than the rest of us? She is practically a cub herself!’”

    The storyteller hunched her shoulders and bowed her head. The licking flames cast dark, dancing shadow across her face, twisting her features. “I was asked to speak, because tonight’s tale doesn’t have a hidden lesson… tonight’s tale is about blood and death and war. Tonight’s tale is about how cruel life outside the boundaries of our clan lands can be. Tonight’s tale is about three sibling cubs, a lot like yourselves, who were sucked into the cruelty of the world with nothing to depend on but each other.  Tonight's tale is about how hard things can be when you find yourself lost in darkness.”

    All the children were now staring at her… silent… wide eyed. This was clearly going to be unlike any of the usual stories they had heard so many times before. This sounded like one of the whispered conversations the adults would have and immediately stop if they noticed any cubs within earshot. The only noise that broke the silence was the crackle of flames as the logs burned higher.

    The storyteller had their rapt attention now. She dropped the force in her voice, making it sound warmer, adding hope. “This is also a tale about how sometimes… when everything around you has turned to ashes and dust… when everything feels hopeless and you are trapped by despair… when you are surrounded by strangers and monsters… you should remember that there are still good people in the world.”

    *******

    Yet another violent shiver wracked Mizako Namikaze’s small frame. Every cell in her body was screaming that she was going to die.  She tried to ignore it, and the double handful of snowflakes the howling gale viciously hurled into her eyes, and forced herself through the next snowdrift, using her body to carve a path for the others. “Keep moving.” That was what Kira Inuzuka had said to her before they parted ways, “You’ll have to keep moving if the storm gets much worse.  If you stop to rest for even a second, you just might not find it within yourself to start walking again.”

    As often happened, when she found herself exhausted but trying to convince herself to keep on going, she found herself marching on to the beat of that old Uzushiogakure song that Kushina always sang to herself. “...The tide comes in, the river flows to the sea and is gone, the rain is scattered by the wind… But the Whirlpool spirals on!” Mizako hacked at the notes with less than pitch perfect precision, but it kept her feet moving through the growing drifts.

    The path she made was barely enough for Yuki, the taller of the two boys. He was being so brave, trying so hard not to let the terrors of the previous hours show. There was nothing he could do about the cold however, his tears of pain froze into glistening beads on his cheeks.

    The snow was far too deep for the girl, Tohru. Mizako had to reach out with both hands in order for her to to be able to half climb - half swim through the icy mounds.

    The last child, Kyo, had no problems crossing. That was because he was clutched tight in Ay’s huge arms, having been unable to continue. He was wrapped up in the tattered remains of Ay’s traveling cloak. Mizako hoped it would keep him warm… warm enough until they reached shelter… wherever that was.

    “How is he doing Ay?” she called over her shoulder. The Raikage’s son didn’t answer, he just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

    Ay’s face was a mask of stubborn determination, but Mizako knew him well enough by now that that was a sign he was in trouble. His eyebrows and goatee were frosted over, and his eyes themselves were unfocused. His gait was slow and plodding, which seemed so unnatural for a man known for his speed. Whether Ay’s sluggish walk was due to the cold, the wound he had taken to his back, or the strange seal one of their masked assailants had placed on him, she couldn’t tell.

    That was why they were traveling through the blizzard in the first place, they needed to lose their pursuers. These masked attackers were hard enough to fight off at full strength, let alone wounded and trying to protect three children. The snow would cover their tracks, cover the blood trail Ay was leaving behind. With almost no visibility in the storm, they would be able to vanish into the swirling snowflakes and make their way to the haven that was waiting for them back at Konoha… either that or find one of the roaming packs of Inuzuka hounds that at were hopefully out searching for them.

    The problem was, the same attributes of the storm that were doing such a fine job of hiding them, were doing an exceptional job of hiding roads, landmarks, or anything else that might show the right way back to Konoha.

    She couldn’t feel her toes or fingers anymore. The tip of her nose felt like it was burning. “Yuki!” Mizako yelled loudly, to be heard above the gale. “Can you smell anything? We’re looking a city… or for dogs!” The boy stared at her, dazed, half frozen from their trek. “Dogs! Can you smell them?”

    Yuki stuck his nose in the air for a moment and then shook his head. She had been so sure they were going in the right direction.“Ducking bell!” swore Mizako in her special way. As always, it felt like her sister-in-law was hanging right over her shoulder scowling disapprovingly at even that heavily modified curse. Of course, if real swearing could have actually summoned Kushina... or her brother, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

    She shook her head to try to clear it. Mizako hated the cold. She hated it in the way someone would hate venomous snakes, or bats… or poisonous spiders. Right now, she could feel the cold seeping into her bones, freezing her blood, crippling her. She could feel it stealing her life, bit by bit. Right now, going out in this storm seemed like the worst idea ever. “We need to find shelter… and we need to find it quick!” she yelled to the boy. “Is there anything you can see or smell? Anything?”

    Yuki hesitated, and then pointed off to their left. “Water,” he said, his voice barely carrying above the storm. Hoping that this would somehow work out better than any of the other previous plans this day, Mizako grabbed Yuki in one hand, Tohru in the other, waved to get Ay’s attention, and then trudged off into the storm.

    After a few dozen meters, Mizako could hear the waterfall herself. It coursed over the side of a gorge leaving long streamers of ice feathering over the rocks before collecting in a turbulent pool. With any luck, this was one of the feeder streams for the main river that flowed through the heart of Konoha. For the first time since they started this mad rush away from the attackers, Mizako actually felt a small glimmer of hope that fortune might not have completely abandoned them... Through the white sheets of snow, she could barely make out a small building of some sort nestled near the wall of the gorge.

    Mizako smiled, despite her fears that her face might fall off if she did so. The two children she was holding onto stumbled forward eagerly. She had to pull to hold them back. “Wait here!” she yelled to Yuki and Tohru. “We need to see if it’s safe!”

    It was a small shed. The roof hung lopsidedly over the front end, making a small porch that was crowded with a pile of firewood. The door squealed on rusty hinges when she propped it open to take a look inside. It probably belonged to a local fisherman or trapper, or possibly even a charcoal maker. It was dirty, thick with cobwebs and smelled strongly of must. Leaning up in one corner was a disintegrating net and a long bamboo pole with a three pronged spearhead held on by loose wire and a prayer. The floor of the hut was completely bare except for a small pile of charred wood, a small stool, a small blackened pot and a pile of old bones, scraps of fur, and ratty feathers.  Mizako didn’t care, after walking in the icy storm for the better part of a day it felt like a palace.

    “Yuki! Tohru!” she called waving them inside. The two youngsters practically fell into the hut, they collapsed into a pile on the dirt floor, shoving their fingers into their armpits, teeth chattering loudly. Mizako felt a brief wash of relief at that; she remembered hearing from Kira Inuzuka that when you stopped shivering, that was when you were in trouble.

    She went back outside to find what was keeping Ay. He was about fifteen meters off to the left. She saw his bulky silhouette, heading in a direction that would miss the hut entirely.

    She had a moment of panic as a severe gust blew and erased the entire world from view in a swirling white cloud. Mizako screamed out his name, but the only response was the roar of the blizzard. Her first instinct was to rush out of the hut’s doorway and haul him back here… The problem was if she left the safety of the hut, she might not be able to find it again. In desperation, she made a series of four hand signs and then held up one hand. Chakra began to condense in her palm, beading up into a small ball. The sphere went from swirling red and orange, to glowing bright blue, to a painfully glaring white. She contained the searing ball of energy for three heartbeats before letting it detonate with an ear splitting crack. The expanding shock wave of heat and light lit up the surrounding forest like a flare, flashing the falling snow flakes into wisps of steam

    Ay stopped and turned his head, staring about in a dazed way. Mizako created another ball of chakra, and seeing the light from that, he started moving towards her.

    Once out of the storm, he sat down heavily, Kyo still cradled in his arms. He looked so pale that Mizako couldn’t help but go to him. He waved her off. “I’ll be fine squirt,” he grunted. “See to the children.”

    First she had to see to herself. With relief from the storm at hand, all the desperation drained away, letting her body remind her just how hard she had been pressing it, and how horrible it felt. A slight drop in temperature could make her fingers turn white. She always got sick at the changing of the seasons. What she had just gone through was her own personal version of hell… if it hadn’t been for the fact that the three little ones needed her, and that despite his repeated assurances, Ay needed her, she might have given up and dropped, unmoving into a snowdrift hours ago.

    She piled all the scraps of wood into a rough pile in the center of the room and made one more energy ball, as small as she could this time. The orb was about the size of her fingernail when she flicked it into the pile.

    There was a loud pop and they now had a cheery little fire. Without a single word, everyone huddled around it trying to absorb every last nanojoule of heat.

    She had no idea how much time passed, but she eventually noticed that Yuki and Tohru were fast asleep in the fire’s warmth. That was one good thing about the hut being so small, it didn’t take much to heat it. She had neglected to brush off her outer cloak and now it was soaked by melting ice and snow. She took it off and draped it over the rickety stool. Her inner cloak was still relatively dry, so she used that as a blanket for Yuki and Tohru.

    Ay was dozing off. Mizako nudged him into something this side of alertness and then motioned that he should deposit Kyo in the makeshift bed roll with his brother and sister. Soon all three siblings were huddled together, snoring.

    She cozied up to Ay. He smiled weakly and lifted one arm to embrace her. She noticed a rivulet of frozen blood just beginning to thaw and soak into the back of his torn vest. “Let me see your back,” Mizako said quietly.

    “It’s fine Kitten,” he rumbled in what he probably thought was a whisper. “Nothing but a little scratch.”

    She pulled at his arm and his face suddenly showed that carefully blank look that he made whenever he was concealing something painful. “Right,” Mizako said with a frown, “just a scratch… Off with the vest and the shirt.”

    The monster’s fang had sliced cleanly through the flak vest, and the shirt underneath was sporting a slowly growing red stain. When she finally managed to get the shirt off, Mizako sucked in a breath between her teeth.

    The puncture was clean and deep, but the flesh around it was a massive red wheal. The skin around the edges of the hole was hard and hot to the touch. A wave of nausea ran through her and she quickly looked away… But staring at the huge spider web-like seal that covered his whole back was no better. Mizako swore she could see it slowly creeping a fraction of a millimeter at a time, across his skin.

    She turned back to the puncture; at least she could do something about that… maybe. Deep inside the wound she could see the slow pooling and spilling of blood. “I… um…” she swallowed and tried to sound like she remembered more from her basic first aid training than she actually did. “I think you might have cut a vein here… I... need to put pressure on this… or something.”

    Ay shook his head. “We don’t have time… One of us should rest, while the other will need to set up a watch.”

    Mizako ignored him, positioning her hands and leaning forward, pushing her weight into him. “You do realize that even if the bleeding does stop, this stab wound is pretty deep, we’re going to need some way to close it up.”

    He gave a pained cough that bounced around the walls of the hut. “It’s adorable, short stuff, how you are so concerned about my appearance, but no one will notice a few extra scars. Leave it. We must guard our position.”

    Mizako shook her head. “No! We have to worry about infection.”

    She felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten as she pressed the cut closed. “Prioritize Mizako, first we have to see if we will survive the night… speaking of which,” he turned his head and glared at her out of the corner of his eye. “That little sunburst jutsu was unbelievably foolhardy… even for you. You have no doubt alerted everyone in a kilometer radius to our position.”

    If Mizako herself had been feeling better, she no doubt would have realized that he must be feeling horrible right now... wounded, beaten, having to rely on her for protection... Ay’s pride was hurt and that meant he would be angrier and surlier than usual.

    However, the cold, the stress, the fact that once again Ay was admonishing her for doing something she felt was morally right… That whispering nagging feeling that maybe their relationship might not be as wonderful as she thought when it had that new shine on it… “Oh and I suppose then that I should have just let you wander off in the blizzard? Maybe waited till you fell in the stream? If you want to be a suicidal idiot and go out there and freeze to death be my guest, but right then you were carrying Kyo and I’m not going to let him turn into an ice cube with you!” She glared at him angrily as he turned away with a shake of his head. “No one in Konoha would desert a comrade in his hour of need!” she said acidly.

    A scowl twitched at Ay’s lip. “How very touching… open your eyes pip squeak. If everyone in your village is so high minded and honorable, then perhaps you can explain to me why they are trying to hunt us down and kill us!”

    He flinched as Mizako pressed down harder. “They’re lying… those masked shinobi are lying about everything… They have to be… You saw how they tried to trap me! They were trying to kill all of us! There is no way my brother would have ordered anything like this.”

    “Sometimes it amazes me how you could have survived this long with such a huge streak of sentimentality running through you,” grumbled Ay.  “He’s the Hokage. Those in charge must give orders for all sorts of unsavory things on a daily basis.”

    “Not like this!” insisted Mizako.

    Ay’s chuckle turned into a cough. “Then what are you insinuating? That your brother does not have full control of Konoha? I saw the justu of the Nara, Akimichi, Hyuga and Gekko clans!” He turned his head to look down at the youngsters huddling under her cloak. “Anyway, you can call these three comrades if you want… But raggedy strays fits them better.”

    “Stop it Ay!” Mizako hissed.  “We should treat them like our comrades! You know I’m right! You can pretend to be heartless all you want, but they need our help… and I know you agree. I’ve seen what you’ve done for them!”

    “Call those whelps whatever you want, but all our troubles started the moment your foolish ‘comrades’ set their eyes on them,” he grumbled back. “Just like a stupid Leaf shinobi… Jumping in before thinking with their heads… Ow!” he muttered as Mizako jabbed him with a finger.

    “That ‘just like a stupid Leaf Shinobi’ comment sounded exactly like something your pig headed father would say when he’s desperately trying to convince himself that Kumogakure is far superior to Konoha,” Mizako spat angrily. ”And whatever Minato-onisan may or may not know about this… this is nothing compared to some of the dirty underhanded stuff the Raikage has pulled over the…”

    Ay spun under her ministrations and reached out, grabbing her shoulder with his good hand. “I’ve told you before…. stop disrespecting both the Raikage and my village!” he growled.

    There was a frightened yelp from the floor of the hut. Both Mizako and Ay turned to find three pairs of golden eyes staring in horror at Ay from underneath the folds of Mizako’s cloak.  Yuki, Tohru and Kyo looked ready to either cry or bolt or possibly both.

    Mizako brushed Ay’s arm away and knelt in front of the huddling children. “It’s okay everyone… everything is okay,” she said soothingly. “We were just… arguing.”

    Tohru couldn’t take her wide-eyed gaze off of Ay. “That wasn’t arguing, you were both really mad… You were fighting! You said you weren’t going to start fighting again!” she whispered accusingly.

    Mizako shook her head and tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Oh no, we weren’t angry… not really… Ay isn’t… We … we’ve had a hard day and... I said some mean things, and Ay said some mean things… We might have been a tiny bit mad and we might have shouted for a little bit, but we would never hurt each other… see?” She crawled over to Ay and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “There… I’m sorry Ay. I shouldn’t have hurt your feelings like that.”

    Three pairs of young eyes turned expectantly to look at the Raikage’s son.

    It took all of Mizako’s self control not to burst into a fit of the giggles at the internal struggle being displayed on Ay’s face. His first instinct was, as always, not to show a single sign of weakness… but it was crumbling under the wary eyes of the triplets. “I’m… I’m… sorry too Mizako… I… shouldn’t have shouted.”

    “Now kiss her,” said Yuki with all the finality of a judge passing sentence on a crime.

    Ay’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

    “Kiss her. You have to kiss her too. It’s only fair,” insisted Yuki. “She kissed you right then.”

    Ay sighed, gently pulled Mizako to him, and planted one full on her lips. They stayed that way long enough for a hot flush to start creep over Mizako’s body. Long enough to remind her how their... ‘date’ was so rudely interrupted by the previous days’ events.

    “Eww, gross,” commented Kyo, his voice still weak from his injuries.

    Ay broke the kiss off, noticed Mizako blushing and smiled at her smugly. “Alright… how was that for an apology?” he asked the three children under the cloak. There were three returned nods. “Good,” he said in his bass rumble. “Now... go to bed!”

    Yuki, Tohru and Kyo, immediately shut their eyes and lay down. Mizako crawled behind Ay and went back to putting pressure on his slow bleed. While her palms pressed downward, she used her nails to trace little delicate circles on his back. He leaned back under her touch. “We still should be setting up a watch schedule,” he said in a worried voice.

    Mizako grunted agreement. “We should… But you’re hurt, I’m freezing to death, and there is still a raging blizzard outside… If there was ever a night to throw protocol out the window… It’s tonight. Both of us… all of us need the rest.”

    Her touch was wonderful and the warmth of the cabin was making him drowsy. Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded his agreement. “I am sorry,” he said sincerely, adding to his previous apology.

    She nodded. “I know… I am too… it’s been…” her voice trailed off and she sighed. “Oh muffins!” she swore. “All I wanted was to spend some time with you.”

    Ay grunted, an amused sound. “You are spending time with me.”

    MIzako removed one hand from the wound and poked him hard in the side. “You know what I mean,” she said resting her head on his shoulder.

    “That I do Kitten, that I do,” he paused for a moment considering something. “Have I stopped bleeding yet?” he asked slyly.

    Mizako checked under her hands. “Could be. It’s certainly slowed.”

    “Good... then I’m healthy enough for this,” said Ay. With his good arm he swept her around into his lap and began kissing her again. He started with her lips, slid along the line of her jaw to her ear and heard Mizako gasp with pleasure. His tongue flicked out and he kissed and licked his way down her collarbone. His hand worked its way under her heavy shirt and slowly crawled its way up her ribcage.

    Mizako was torn between giving in to the flush of warmth that coursed through her, and smacking him for doing this right now. He sometimes picked the most inopportune times... She folded her palms around his head, while her fingers entwined themselves in his hair. “Ay!” she whispered sharply. “You have to stop!”

    “Why?” he asked grinning. “Are you ticklish today?”

    “No,” Mizako hissed, turning his head slightly to the left.

    It was quick but Ay just caught the faintest glimmer of gold as the triplets, who had  surreptitiously opened their eyes just a crack to spy on the goings on, frantically shut them again and pretended to be in a deep slumber. “Hrn,” he grunted in disappointment.

    “It’s alright,” said Mizako, snuggling into his arms to stay warm. “We need the sleep more anyway.” She tilted her head back and kissed him one last time. “Sorry this has been such a lousy date.”

    ******

Mizako Namikaze and the Tsukuineko clan belong to :iconspadiekitchenqueen:

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

 

WARNING: This story contains violence, sexual situations, and the occasional swear word (Just like real life!) Younger readers and those of a prudish disposition, you have been forewarned! I’ve put the warnings on the violence and the sex, but the occasional naughty word may slip though.

 

Next 

Three little kittens part 2    ******
    It hadn’t seemed like it would start out as a lousy date. It had in fact started out as a wonderful, almost miraculous opportunity for the pair of them to meet. The Daimyo of the Land of Rain had requested yet again that the five Daimyos of the five great nations meet with him to discuss ‘the current situation’... namely that the five great nations continuously used the land of his much smaller country as a proxy battleground for the greater conflicts raging in the shinobi world.
    Surprisingly, the other Daimyo had listened to his pleas, for once, and had packed up for their summit, dragging the five Kage from their respective shinobi villages with them.
    It was a completely unexpected boon for Mizako Namikaze, younger sister to the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Ay, oldest son and heir to the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, for they now had the chance for

Author’s Note: So… This story all started because I happened to ask :iconspadiekitchenqueen: what she wanted for a Christmas present… Her reply was simple “Oh just write me a little something with a few of my OC’s… Mizako and Ay for example.”

If you haven’t had the pleasure yet to read anything by :iconspadiekitchenqueen: you should go check her stuff out now… Go ahead, I’ll wait…

Anyway, in a sudden attack of creative insanity, I wondered what would happen if I tried to make a mash up of her two big Naruto universe OC stories. The adventures of Mizako Namikaze, the fourth Hokage’s little sister, and the adventures of Katy Inzuka, a Were- Snow Leopard adopted by the Dog clan of the Hidden Leaf village. :happytype:

Seven months and almost two hundred pages later, I finally finished.

I hope you enjoy.

© 2014 - 2024 cas42
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spadiekitchenqueen's avatar
“This is also a tale about how sometimes… when everything around you has turned to ashes and dust… when everything feels hopeless and you are trapped by despair… when you are surrounded by strangers and monsters… you should remember that there are still good people in the world.”  ==> I love how ominous yet hopeful and good this sounds, a perfect prelude!


  The problem was, the same attributes of the storm that were doing such a fine job of hiding them, were doing an exceptional job of hiding roads, landmarks, or anything else that might show the right way back to Konoha. ==> So well depicted I could hear the gale howling in my ears.. :love:


She hated it in the way someone would hate venomous snakes, or bats… or poisonous spiders ==> snakes and bats are fine, even cute, spiders, nooo! :p


She cozied up to Ay. He smiled weakly and lifted one arm to embrace her.  ==> Awww.. i always picture them lie this, her snuggling against his arm :love:


 The puncture was clean and deep, but the flesh around it was a massive red wheal. ==> Isn't it weal, without h?

I love their litle spat too.. It sounds, well, true and fair, if a spat can be :XD:


 Three pairs of young eyes turned expectantly to look at the Raikage’s son.   It took all of Mizako’s self control not to burst into a fit of the giggles at the internal struggle being displayed on Ay’s face.
  ==> :rofl: