Chapter 14 – Team 13: A Day of Training – Race You to the Top!

Date: March 20th, 13 years following the Kyuubi's attack

Time: 7:15 AM

A thin haze of fog covered the park as the first rays of dawn began to leak over the wall that surrounds the Hidden Village of Konoha. Nakahito Haruno took a deep breath, relishing the cool morning air. The young man was nearly three hours early for the scheduled combined training for Team 13. Kimiko Itou was not with him for a change… He'd suggested getting an early start to the training, but she decided to not join him.

'Well, she did say more than no...' Nakahito grimaced. 'Something about my ego being bruised and that she was willing to wait for the others to do it right.'

As the Cenotaph they'd met THE Kakashi at came into view, Haruno slapped both his cheeks. "All right! We're going to practice until we drop! I'm going to beat Oni in training just like I did in winning the tips competition! I'm as good as he is and I'm going to cram that down his arrogant throat."

He contemplated one of the thickest trees in the park. "Now, Miho-sensei said she was going to show us the right way to walk up trees and that it should help Inugami smooth out his Body Flicker." He tilted his head to one side. "And Oni said the tree walking exercise is a prerequisite to the Body Flicker, which involves focusing your chakra your legs."

Nakahito closed his eyes in thought. Thinking wasn't really his favorite activity, but he wasn't an idiot either; despite Inugami's constant statements to the contrary. "And he did the tree walking technique while we were undergoing Miho-sensei's Yondaime Gambit. He simply walked right up the tree..." He put one foot on the tree trunk, but it simply slid down to the ground when he tried to put weight on it. "Which means that he must have done something that I didn't see...?"

A light suddenly went off in his head as a spark of intuition appeared. "Like running chakra down through his feet!" Nakahito concentrated on this new inspiration, focusing his chakra into the soles of his feet. He looked at the tree. "Uh... Right. Get a running start." Haruno backed up half a pace and ran towards the tree. He raised his leg to plant his right foot, which obligingly clung to the tree.

A smile crossed his lips; he'd gotten it on the first try! "Suck on that, Oni!"

The left one, however, didn't, causing the red-clad young man to crash onto the ground, killing his good humor. A sharp shock of agony lanced through his tailbone as he landed on a small stone hidden amongst the grass. Haruno rolled onto his side swearing vilely as he grabbed at his back.

"Damn... That didn't quite work as well as I was hoping for..." He groaned to himself. He sat up stiffly, feeling around for the hidden stone and throwing it aside. He glanced at the tree, noticing how the bark was scarred from where his right foot was. "And that's not the way it should have worked either; Sho's movement didn't leave any signs on the bark, so I must be doing it wrong…"

Nakahito began to ponder; he was capable of analyzing a situation, but it was a serious pain in the ass to do so. He snorted, rubbing his backside again, "Then again, sometimes it's a pain in the ass when I don't."

Haruno tried again, but this time his feet didn't grab any traction and he fell to the ground, landing hard on his back again. He sighed. "Okay, so I was thinking that the chakra would work like a pair of climbing claws, but it doesn't. And I apparently need to keep focused or I just fall off."

"You're right... You DO need to keep focused." A voice said from behind him. An annoyingly familiar voice.

'No. That can't...' Nakahito twisted to look over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of white clothes with powder blue accents. Sure enough, it was Inugami. He made a groan of frustration. "Are you stalking me now?"

"What's stalking mean, Aniki?" The voice of a young girl spoke up.

Blinking in surprise, Nakahito craned his neck and saw that Inugami wasn't alone for a change; there were two girls flanking him, one around 9 and the other about 12.

Sho turned to the younger of the two, kneeling down to her level. She wore a peach-pink dress and had straight shoulder-length hair the same shade as Kimiko. "It's when you follow someone who doesn't want you to follow them, Lucia-chan." He said with a sincere smile on his face and in his voice as he mussed her hair playfully.

Nakahito, who'd sat up in the meantime, felt his jaw drop open; he was pretty sure he hadn't hit his head, but maybe...

"No, you aren't imagining things." The 12-year-old, who had coppery-red hair and was dressed in a lavender top that had a V-shaped black and gold belt and a black detailed brownish-orange miniskirt with brown leather boots that came up to just one or two inches below the skirt. "He is actually being civil."

Sho glanced up and over at the other girl. "That's quite enough, Karin-chan. You're under no obligation to prevent Haruno from thinking he's losing his mind." Inugami adjusted his glasses with a single finger of his right hand. "Haruno, meet my younger sisters, Karin and Lucia." He gestured at each as he said their names. "Girls, Nakahito here is a member of my squad."

"Ohayo Gozaimas, Haruno-san." The Inugami sisters said, bowing slightly to Nakahito.

Nakahito Haruno rose to his feet and returned the slight bow. "Good Morning." He looked at the white-garbed ninja medic. "So if you aren't stalking me, why are you here?"

"Same as you." Sho replied. "Training."

A slightly sour look crossed Nakahito's face. 'Man... Here I thought I was going to be able to get ahead...' He thought.

Sho shook his head. "There you go, jumping to conclusions again." He set a hand on each of his sisters' heads. "I'm helping THEM train this morning. In case you didn't notice, this is the closest park to the Hospital and our home. Since the Academy is closed today, I have the big brother duty to watch my sisters, so I asked Miho-sensei if we could do our training at this park and she agreed."

Karin looked at Nakahito. "What are you practicing, Haruno-san?"

"The Wall Walk technique." He answered. "How about you?"

Karin Inugami gave him a winning smile. "The same. Nii-san promised to teach me any technique he knew if I covered his chores around the house for a week. I really want to learn Body Flicker, but he said I need to learn Wall Walk first."

"And Nii-san promised to help me improve my Mystical Palm skill!" Lucia chimed in.

Sho nodded. "That's right, Lu-chan. And why is that important?"

"To fix up Ka-chan when she falls out of the tree!" Lucia Inugami responded with a child's amused laugh.

Karin, in response, rolled her eyes with a sigh. She shot Nakahito a glance that said. 'You see what I have to deal with every day?'

Nakahito snorted softly and shot back. 'Join the club.'

Sho frowned slightly, glancing between his sister and his teammate. "Anyways, let's get started. I know you have the day off from class at the Academy, but I'm only going to be able to give you my full attention for the next two hours or so, then I have to break off for my own training with my team."

"Yes, Nii-san..." Karin and Lucia responded agreeably.

Sho glanced at Nakahito. "Do you want in? The park's pretty big, so we can go somewhere else if you want some privacy."

'Oni being courteous? I'd be impressed if I weren't absolutely stunned.' Haruno thought to himself. Nakahito shrugged nonchalantly - if Sho could leave his normal attitude behind, so could he and accept this freely offered help. "Well your sisters are kinda cute..." He said, covering himself.

"You do realize that I'm going to tell Kimiko if you hit on my sister, right?" The medic dead-panned. "You've barely survived this long; she might finish you this time." Sho pointed out, acting more like his usual self. Nakahito grimaced at the thought as Sho glanced at Karin. "And you know what Dad said."

"No boys until I'm a Chuunin…" She said rolling her eyes; suggesting HE was jumping to conclusions. Clearly, some traits ran in the family…

Sho sighed out of him in mock defeat which earned him a confused look from Lucia. "Okay, okay… I get the hint." Sho walked over to the tree and began walking up at a right angle. When he was at the branch line, he snapped off a trio of branches before jumping back down.

"Now, that's how it's supposed to look when you do it right." He said, handing a branch to both Karin and Nakahito. "You have to focus your chakra so that you form a vacuum-like seal against the surface of the object. If you lose focus the seal breaks, you fall to the ground and mocking ensues."

He points at his foot. "Obviously, the hard part is keeping your focus on something that you can't see. That's what these branches are for." His hand holding the last branch glowed slightly. Sho then opened his fingers and the branch remained stuck to his hand as if glued in place. "Focus on keeping the branch in your open hand to get the feel for how you'll cling to the tree itself. Once you can do that, then you can try the tree exercise, Karin."

Karin Inugami pouted in a too-cute fashion. "Party pooper." Her words aside, she began to work on the branch exercise as Sho took Lucia to one side to help her practice. Inugami looked over at Nakahito. "Is Nii-san always like that whenever he's with you?"

Haruno frowned as he began to concentrate on the task Sho had recommended to the two of them. "No... He's usually worse. I couldn't believe that O..." He stopped. "Sho was being so polite when you showed up."

"Haruno-san, I'm only a year behind you in the Academy. Unlike Lucia, I am fully aware of my brother's nickname and reputation." Karin replied. "You needn't censor yourself on my behalf."

"Okay, Oni's typically an insufferable pain in the ass, then."

Karin nodded with a surprising amount of acceptance. "I figured as much." She sighed, shaking her head. "Aniki really needs to work on his people skills."

A genuine smile appeared on Nakahito's face, feeling like he had a new ally in the 'enemy' camp. "You know, Inugami-chan, I think this might be the start of a very interesting friendship..."

* * *

"Hey... I think I'm starting to get the hang of this!" Nakahito said to Karin about an hour and a half later. His stick had been locked against his left hand for the past minute without slipping.

Karin nodded as her own twig slid a little bit. "That's great, Haruno-san. Are you going to try for the tree now?"

Nakahito glanced around. Sho was sitting with his back turned, helping Lucia learn to use her medical skills to reassemble a piece of raw steak. Haruno had thought Inugami had been playing a joke on his younger sister, but Karin pointed out to him that steak was merely cow muscle and so, while simplistic, was a better test than cutting a live person and letting an unskilled apprentice try and fix it.

He then nodded. "Yeah; he's not watching at the moment, so I'll give it a shot."

"Use a kunai to mark how high you get before you lose your grip." Karin suggested. "It'll give you a goal to beat the next time."

Nakahito thought for a moment. "You know, that's a pretty cool idea. Where'd you get it from?"

"From watching Nii-san practice." Karin explained. "He said he got the idea from Aniki."

"Your brother got an idea from another brother?" Haruno asked, confused. He was certain that Sho had said that he was the eldest of his siblings.

Karin giggled. "No... There's a guy that works at the Hospital - Kabuto Yakushi. Kabuto-san is Nii-san's best friend, but he calls him 'Aniki' because he's been like an older brother to Sho. They also look alike; I mean it's easy to tell the difference between them since Kabuto-san is at least four years older, but there's enough similarity that you might assume they're brothers. It's a bit freaky..."

"Ah..." Haruno said, reaching into his belt pouch to draw a kunai. "Well, wish me luck."

Karin pantomimed blowing him a kiss. "Good luck, Haruno-san."

Nakahito paused for a moment, trying to determine whether Inugami was genuinely hitting on him or just playing a womanly game. "Dear God, don't EVER let your brother see you do that..."

She gave him a too-sweet smile. It was like the female version of Sho's vicious grin. "Would I do that to you?"

This elicited a slight shudder that Nakahito tried to hide, but failed. "Karin-chan, you're going to be dangerous when you grow up... And I'm not talking about combat skills."

The compliment caused a bashful look to override her playful mood, causing the stick in her hand to completely fall off. Haruno turned his back, focusing his chakra through his legs in an attempt to apply the fruits of the practice. When the sensations he felt were about what he expected, he made a dash for the tree, making one... two... three... four steps. He felt his grip slipping and began concentrating harder.

His fifth step caused the trunk to splinter as his foot sank a half centimeter into the tree. The crack of wood reverberated through his leg and broke his concentration altogether. Haruno lashed out at the tree, leaving a score mark just above his footprint before making a decent recovery landing.

"Woo-hoo! Ganbatte, Haruno-san!" Karin Inugami cheered from the sidelines.

A slow clap began to echo around the park. To Nakahito's utter surprise, it was Sho and there was absolutely no sigh of mockery in his body language. "A good start, Haruno. Now, can you guess what went wrong?"

"Concentrated too hard, right?"

"Right in one. By focusing as hard as you did you basically forced chakra into a material state - similar to the Hyuuga Jyuuken fighting style, but not as precise. The added force of your foot coming down simply was more than the tree could handle ending in the result you experienced." A wan smile appeared on his face. "I made the same mistake several times myself - the tree in our front yard will bear my footprint in five places for the next few decades..."

"I see." Haruno said. A grin appeared on his face. "So as long as I leave no more than 4, I beat you, right?"

Sho snorted, shaking his head. "I get the whole ego thing, but you need to realize that I honestly couldn't care less whether you beat me or not." Nakahito arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "Your objectives differ from mine, remember? I'm seeking to become one of the best medical ninjas; you're trying to become a symbol. I'm not afraid of death. I'm in no rush to get there; mind you, but your biggest fear is that you'll die a meaningless death - you want to be a hero because of how you die."

"If you don't care whether I beat you or not, why do act like you do at times?" Nakahito objected.

Sho's face broke into a wicked, self-amused grin that Nakahito was used to seeing. "Because you THOUGHT I cared."

The confused look on Haruno's face caused the younger Inugami sister to giggle. "Que..?"

Sho rolled his eyes. "In other words, because YOU decided we were competing with each other, you took any improvement on my part as my response to you as a challenger. You may have been competing with me, but I haven't been competing with you. Your opponent has been your perception of me, not the real me."

Confusion appeared on Haruno's face. "But when we were assigned..."

Inugami took on a merry attitude. "I revealed my skill at Body Flicker because you and Kimiko were seeing Oni - a ninja who brutally slaughtered a boar, is generally disinterested in, but delights in the misery of others - rather than me - a top-rate medical ninja who is amused by the foolish acts of supposedly intelligent people. I needed to drive home the point that I am more than my reputation suggested. The other skills that I've shown are simply because I've been using these simplistic D-Rank missions the way we're supposed to."

"What are you talking about? Our missions are to bring in money for the village."

Sho shook his head. "I told Itou you wouldn't get it… You've been so focused on your image rather that you've missed reality." Sho straightened up, acting like a caricature of Haruno. "'I'm a ninja. Picking mushrooms, cleaning hot springs, painting fences, pulling weeds and delivering ramen is beneath me.'"

Inugami relaxed. "Being a ninja isn't merely a profession, it's a lifestyle. The reason that I seem so far ahead of you is simply because I've been taking the time to incorporate training in nearly everything I do. Finding ways to use every day activities to improve our ninja skills is the whole POINT of these easy missions. That's an extra four or five hours of training each day if you do it right; it's another reason I seem so far ahead to you."

Nakahito pondered Sho's words for a few seconds before the obvious question came to mind. "So why are you telling me this? You normally would have made me suffer more before saying anything."

Sho shrugged. "Two reasons. One, my sisters tend to bring out my better traits when they're around… Even if they one is a too-cute munchkin and the other is a bit of a flirt that is going to be a serious headache in a few years."

"I heard that…" Lucia said over her shoulder, not taking her focus off the cut up steak.

"Aniki..." Karin Inugami turned bright red. "Really..?!"

Haruno, undeterred by Karin's embarrassment, raised an eyebrow. "And the other reason?"

"Even the best jokes get stale after a while." Sho answered soberly. "When that happens, you have to make changes to it in order to evoke additional humor. By giving you the opportunity to change, if you do so, it will change the parameters of the joke. It may not be as funny as it originally was or it may become more so, but the possibility is better than getting no amusement whatsoever…"

Haruno stared at the medic as he translated that. His eyes bugged as his brain finally got it. "You're telling me because I'm boring you?!" Nakahito cried in disbelief.

Sho looked at him placidly, but couldn't hold it long before breaking down into a fit of gut-busting laughter.

* * *

Inugami was still laughing - albeit a bit more controlled than before - when Kimiko and Miho-sensei arrived about 30 minutes later. Nakahito had since returned to trying to climb the tree and was now able to get seven steps up the tree without leaving footprints before losing his grip. Sho's sisters had resumed their own practice exercises under their brother's watchful gaze.

Kimiko Itou instantly focused on Haruno. "Hey, 'Hito, sugoi!" Her call of encouragement caused him to lose his focus and fall to the ground, landing with a dull thud and a groan. "Oops... Sorry!" She said, clearly embarrassed that she'd caused him to hurt himself and trying to avoid running to check on him which would trample his pride even more than she'd already done.

Miho Hyuuga, however, was observing the Inugami trio. "Sho-san, what's are you doing?"

"Miho-sensei, Kimiko-san, I'd like the two of you to meet my sisters Karin and Lucia. As I told you, they have the day off at the Academy and I needed to watch them." The Jonin nodded. "I've been giving them a bit of help practicing their skills before our session today." He gestured over his shoulder with a thumb. "Haruno was already here before we were and had fallen off the tree at least once by the time we arrived... As you can see, he's showing a bit of improvement."

Karin and Lucia Inugami rose and bowed to the other two kunoichi. "Hajimemashite!"

"Karin and Lucia..." Miho said with a smile. "Those are pretty names… I can't say I've ever heard them before."

"We're named after two of our parents' traveling companions from when they were younger." Karin explained. "They don't really talk about those times too much and we've never met the people that we were named for..."

"Our dad was a yojimbo when he was 17 and met mom, who was 14, on his last trip before he became a dedicated combat medic, but that's all I've been able to wheedle out of him." Sho answered. "But I get the feeling that my parents miss them terribly, but don't know whether they're still alive or not. My sisters' names are a keepsake to remember them."

"So, were you named after anyone, Sho?" Kimiko asked; her curiosity piqued.

He shook his head. "Not as far as I know. I get the impression that my father just liked the name."

Nakahito finally arrived after recovering from his fall. "Kimi-chan, Miho-sensei." He winced slightly. "So are we ready to start?"

Hyuuga smiled at Haruno. "You already seem to be on the right track and Sho already has it mostly down, so I'll work primarily one-on-one with Kimiko to get her on par with you." She looked at Inugami. "Are there any problem areas you have?"

Sho nodded as he walked over to the tree. "Could you keep an eye on my chakra flow with your Byakugan, please?" He began to climb and got up to a thick branch. "For some reason, I can't get the hang of the inversion grip." He called over to her. He took a few steps around the radius of the tree to hang from the underside of the branch by the grip of his chakra alone.

"Nii-san! That's awesome!" Lucia Inugami called up to her brother in awe.

Miho Hyuuga did a lightning fast set of hand signs. "Byakugan!" The veins around her eyes became more distinctly visible and hints of the typical human eye appeared. She focused on Inugami's legs for a few seconds.

"The chakra flow is just a bit weaker than it should be." She called back. There was a momentary pause as she looked him up and down. "Oh, there's your problem... I'm seeing what looks like minute scarring on your tenketsu lines by your right inner ear; looks like you're getting a slight case of vertigo, probably so minor you're not even aware of it, which is disrupting your chakra flow when you're upside down."

"Must be from that ear infection, Aniki." Karin said. "The one you got when you were 10."

Sho nodded as he dropped to the ground, flipping 180 degrees to land on his feet. "I should have realized it before..." His right hand began to glow green as he raised it to his ear.

"You're not going to try and repair your injury yourself, are you?" Kimiko Itou asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"It is said that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client." Sho answered with a wry smile. "The same is true of a doctor when trying to repair a delicate organ. I'm just trying to evaluate the extent of the damage - that'll tell me who I need to see. If it's minor, Karin is skilled enough that she could fix it." The older of Sho's two sisters flushed at his confidence in her. "If not I'll have to go to the hospital..."

He paused momentarily, frowning in annoyance. "Which is the case in this matter; it's extensive enough that even were I dumb enough to try and fix it myself, I couldn't with my current level of skill." Inugami looked at Miho-sensei. "Permission to be excused to get this fixed? I'm just going to be in the way otherwise."

Miho Hyuuga nodded. "Granted and agreed. You do seem to have this down pretty well already and while your Body Flicker could use some work, the roughness is probably also due to the scarring."

Sho looked over at his sisters. "It'll take me about an hour or two, depending on what's in line ahead of me... Do you want to stay here and keep practicing on your own or come with me?"

"I'll stay here." Karin said, holding her hand up to show that her stick wasn't sliding any more. "Maybe I'll pick up some pointers from Hyuuga-sensei while she's teaching Itou-san. You're an okay teacher, Sho, but I know you keep accidentally glossing over things that seem obvious to you when trying to explain…"

Sho looked to Miho-sensei. The Jonin nodded approval, indicating that she didn't mind Karin staying.

Lucia simply picked up the cloth the meat chunks lay on and grabbed Sho's hand with her free one.

The eldest Inugami nodded down to her. "Okay, munchkin, you're with me." He looked at Karin. "Just promise me you won't try going up the tree before I get back, huh? I don't want to have to explain it to Mom & Pop if you break a bone."

A high-pitched bark of excitement cut through the clearing as some of the upper branches in a tree rustled. Suddenly, a figure in a gray hood lined with black fur with red fang-like decorations on his cheeks and a white puppy sitting on his head. "You see, Akamaru? I told you they just said the word bone, not that they had any." The pup whimpered in disappointment.

"Hey, Kiba!" Nakahito called up to the young man; one of his best friends after Kimiko. "Taking Akamaru on a walk again?"

"You know it, 'Hito!" Kiba Inuzaka agreed. "What else would I be doing on a great day like this? Studying?" A snort of amusement escaped the ninja that resembled a bit of a wild animal. "What are you up to?"

"Joint Training session for our team. Showing us how to climb trees without hands."

"Kurenai-sensei showed us how to do that two days ago... It's making these walks a lot more fun than they used to be; Right, Akamaru?" The puppy barked in agreement. "Well, we've got to run - it's really fun to explore the village from up here! Later!" The two heads disappeared into the foliage and there was the sound of shaking branches as they ran off.

Sho shook his head. "The mutt is now a monkey..." He snorted, his usual mood surfacing despite his younger siblings being around. "Well, it makes things interesting, so it can't be too bad. Let's go, Lucia-chan." The two headed off in the direction of the hospital.

Haruno shook his head at Sho's back. "I'm just he didn't say that while Kiba was in earshot; he hates being called 'mutt.'"

"I'm pretty sure Nii-san would have enjoyed Inuzaka-kun trying to attack him. Their last name means "house of dogs" and ours means "dog spirits" - spirits that can be both angry and wrathful or helpful and friendly based on the actions of others." Karin Inugami chuckled slightly. "Sho & Kiba are also complete opposites; they don't get along to begin with. If you put them together in the same room it's like mixing Sulfuric Acid & Hydrogen Peroxide together." She paused, realizing the others probably didn't know much in the way of chemistry. "Simply put, the ending result is something lethal to anyone that gets too close and is prone to detonate..."

The two Genin members of Team 13 paused, visualizing the thought of Sho vs. Kiba in a locked room. The tears welled up in their eyes as they began laughing uncontrollably. "You know..." Kimiko gasped between peals of laughter, "I'd pay money to see that fight."

Nakahito shook his head. "It would be a disaster on an epic scale; two, maybe three, rungs below the Kyuubi's attack on the village in terms of disaster. And as much as I like him; Kiba would lose in the end - he and I can fight each other to a draw and Sho can beat me up before I blink when he feels like it."

Karin shook her head. "Did you call him Oni to his face? That's like his only point of weakness - the more you call Aniki that, he gets more prone to violence, but he'll typically goad someone into throwing the first punch rather than ambush you; at least when he's not using his combat mind."

Haruno looked down. "I might have called him Oni two or three times. Then he insulted Kimiko and I attacked him... He really suckered me in and showed me what he was capable of."

"You called him Oni three times?" Karin Inugami looked impressed. "And you're still walking? He must like you; an older ninja - he was 17 or so - did that when Nii-san was my age... Sho put him in the hospital for the better part of a month and he still has a slight limp; Nii-san broke his leg beyond the point of full recovery."

"Looks like it was a good thing Iruka-sensei was there, 'Hito." Kimiko said; looking slightly mortified.

Nakahito shook his head. "I don't think so... When Sho and his sisters showed up this morning, we had a real conversation; I mean one like you and I would have, Kimiko." Itou looked at him skeptically. "Yeah, I thought I was going crazy, too. Anyways, I'm pretty sure that he was more than satisfied beating my pride to a pulp rather than my body."

He sighed. "And, while it galls me to admit it, I probably needed it... I keep finding myself reevaluating all the opinions that I held through graduation - I mean, Inugami caught me - and Iruka-sensei, too, for that matter - flat-footed in every meaning of the word. I'd like to think I've become a better ninja because of it." He looked at Karin. "Not a word to your brother, though - last thing I need to do is stroke his ego."

"My lips are sealed, 'Hito-kun." Karin Inugami said, giving him a warm smile and a slight wink.

'She IS flirting with me!' Nakahito realized suddenly. 'Does she likes me or is it just to annoy her brother..?' He paused abruptly as he sensed something else. 'A murderous intent? Behind me?' Almost mechanically he turned his head to see Kimiko staring at him, her eyes narrowed into slits and shooting him a frosty gaze that chilled him to the bone.

Miho Hyuuga looked at Karin Inugami with curiosity. "You mentioned a 'combat mind' that your brother has; what do you mean?"

The girl froze for an instant, becoming extremely pensive. "I... Oh, no. I shouldn't have said that... He gets so MAD when…" Karin stutters before she straightened up; coming to an abrupt decision. "No. Need-to-know definitely applies here."

Karin Inugami shuddered slightly, looking at her brother's team. "Okay, this is kind of a secret and Sho HATES when people share his secrets behind his back, okay? Like imagine the worse temper he's ever shown you and double it."

Both Kimiko and Nakahito – who'd seen some pretty scary stuff from Sho over the years – suddenly gripped their own shoulders from fright at the thought.

The medic's sister nodded. "Then you get it. You guys might have noticed how Nii-san shows drastically different personality traits from time to time, right?" The members of Team 13 nodded. "Apparently it's actually a hereditary trait of the Inugami bloodline on the men's side - they all suffer a slight case of dissociative identity disorder. It's not enough to actually create independent personalities, but it does create multiple mindsets to allow them to use their brains in ways different from normal people."

"You mean your Dad has it, too?" Kimiko asked, feeling a swell of pity.

Karin shook her head. "If he does, it's not as severe as Aniki's case; I've never really seen him show any symptoms the way Sho does. Because Nii-san is extremely gifted mentally – sharp mind, quick wits, and unforgettable memory – he's found ways to use his condition to an unprecedented extent. One of the mindsets he's developed is one where he strips away almost all of his personality and becomes the personification of a true ninja - coldly logical, but backed up by animalistic instinct, combat efficient, and lethal six ways to Sunday."

The shuddering grew stronger. "I've only seen Nii-san shift into that mind once while he was practicing... He'd surrounded himself with about 50 straw practice dummies. Each wore a ninja village headband to designate friend or foe that he had me put on each dummy at random so he couldn't know which was which. He then stood at one end and... Switched."

"And?" Miho asked gently.

Karin looked up at the Jonin, fear in her features. "Total slaughter of everything not wearing a 'friendly' headband… I mean there was straw EVERYWHERE and the enemy dummies were irreparable. If he shifts and views you as a threat, he will do whatever it takes to eliminate you... He literally becomes his nickname - a humorless ogre hell-bent on destruction of anything not on his side; and Kami only knows what defines you as being on his side."

"That sounds similar to what Takahashi does when he pops his top." Kimiko spoke up.

"Who?" Miho-sensei asked.

"A member of our graduating class." Nakahito clarified. "He's on Team 11 with Motoko and Raiden Hata. He's a cool guy, but he's kinda messed up in the head. When he gets too angry he goes into this berserk fighting frenzy and starts tearing shit up. Reminded me of stories about when you corner a wounded wild animal. Last time it happened, he flattened half of the Taijutsu class before Ino Yamanaka managed to calm him down."

"I see." Miho Hyuuga replied. She looked back to Karin Inugami. "So what happened afterwards?"

"He shifted back to normal and I begged him to never do that again. He promised that he wouldn't do so unless absolutely forced to do so, but the fact that he has that kind of darkness in him still scares me when I think about it…" She looked at Miho Hyuuga, a hint of tears in her eyes. "I love my brother. I KNOW in my bones he'd never hurt anyone in our family and I trust him absolutely, but at the same time I feel I should let you know about this... Sho hasn't told my parents about it as far as I know. He loves them like he does us, but he was closer to Saki-obaasan than anyone else."

Miho put a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Thank you for telling me. I know how tough it can be; having to tell a secret about someone you care about - even when you do so with the best of intentions." She looked in Karin's eyes. "Now is there any way to tell when he shifts?"

Karin Inugami nodded. "There are only two outward clues. First, he stops his usual joking around and if he does talk, it's in a very flat monotone. Second, the whites of his eyes turn red with blood. Unfortunately, it's tough to see the latter because of those tinted lenses of his."

"Why does he wear those, anyways?" Miho asked. "His physical says he has perfect eyesight."

The girl shrugged. "Two reasons: one the guy Sho looks up to the most – after Lady Tsunade's lessons and before our own parents – Kabuto Yakushi has to wear glasses; Sho got himself a similar pair and put those cosmetic lenses in. Second, Sho used to be kind of sensitive about the fact that he's got two drastically different colored eyes; the shade of the lenses make both his eyes look like a dark color to anyone who looks through them. It's one of the few forms of personal vanity he permits himself."

Karin brightened a little bit as talking reminded her of something important about her brother; at least to her. "On the plus side, Nii-san never WILLINGLY breaks a promise that he makes, so something horrendous will have to be happening for him to call on that darkness." She smiled. "And this is Konoha; horrendous things don't happen here."

'Oh you sweet summer child…' Hyuuga-sensei smiled sadly; if only the young woman knew how little that used to be true. "That's enough. Now we know what to look for if necessary... Right?" Kimiko and Nakahito both nodded. "So no speaking of this when Sho's within hearing range. Now, let's get to what we came here for."

"Hai, Miho-sensei" Haruno & Itou agreed.

* * *

An hour and a half passed with no sign of Sho and Lucia returning. Kimiko proved herself to be a bit of a prodigy at chakra control, swiftly catching up with Nakahito's own level of success - twelve steps up the trunk. The two of them were clearly in a race with each other to see who could reach the lowest branch of their trees, which were at about the same height, first.

Karin Inugami had started practicing on the tree, but in such a way that she was keeping her own word to her brother. Instead of running up the tree like the Genin of Team 13, she lay on the ground, her feet on the tree and tried "standing" up - lifting herself a mere two inches from the ground - and seeing how long she could hold herself in place. So far, she was able to keep her grip steady for about a minute before sliding back to the ground.

Miho Hyuuga sat on the grass, keeping an eye on all three, calling suggestions to each as she saw fit. She looked up from Karin as a crow of triumph split the air as Kimiko and Nakahito reached their respective branches at the same time. Hyuuga-sensei clapped. "Looks like we've got a tie! Well done you two." She stood up and walked over as Kimiko and Nakahito dropped to the ground and gave each other a high five hand clap.

"Now comes the harder part." She continued, weakening their high spirits slightly. "You've managed to make it up after running at the tree, which gives you extra momentum when climbing. Now you've got to learn to do it from a stationary starting point - just you against gravity." She looked up in the air. "Looks like it's about noon now, take an hour break and then we'll start the next phase."

Karin sat up. "I notice none of you brought bento lunches, so if anyone's hungry, you can come over to our house. Mom's never quite gotten the knack of making food in small quantities - mainly because Sho and Father have bottomless pits where their stomachs should be - so we've got a small banquet available." She gave Nakahito a hopeful look.

Haruno, feeling Kimiko's gaze of death boring a hole in his belly, quickly shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, Karin-chan, but I think I'll pass. I find that while training it's better to not eat lunch; I feel sluggish afterwards & this is pretty difficult without that problem." He fibbed in an effort to appease Kimiko's ire.

"I'd be glad to accept your offer, Inugami-chan." Miho Hyuuga answered. She looked at Itou. "How about you, Kimiko?"

Kimiko nodded, finally breaking off her indignation towards Nakahito. "Looks like we'll have threesome for lunch." And with that, Kimiko, Miho and Karin wandered off.

After they were out of sight, Nakahito sighed. "Man... How did that happen? Sho's sister flirts with me and I'm the villain?" He looked around and wandered off. "Wonder if the First Hokage planted any apple trees around here? I'm really hungry..."

* * *

Nakahito ran through the forest, his efforts to find food in the park being less than successful, but understandably so given that the small forest was completely surrounded by residential areas. As he approached the clearing where the park-like area resumed, he noticed a blur of pink and sea green darting between the trees. The odd part is the repetitive thud sounds of an object striking wood came with each step the blur took.

He got to the edge of the forest and saw a kunoichi about a year older than him. Her midnight black hair was tightly braided into two small buns on the top of her head. She wore a sleeveless blouse like Kimiko, but hers was a shade of pink a little darker than Sakura's hair.

'Sakura... I wonder how she's doing on her mission.' Nakahito pondered. 'She's probably having the time of her life. Four weeks with Sasuke to herself; it's a dream come true for her.'

"Neji? Lee? Is that you?" The kunoichi called into the forest, interrupting Haruno's introspection.

'Lee?' He thought to himself. 'Is she one of Rock Lee's teammates?' He stepped out into the park proper. "Afraid not, miss."

As he stepped into the open park, he noticed that she had a half dozen straw dummies with wooden bull's-eye targets of varying sizes on them covering vital areas. Each of the targets was heavily coated with a dazzling array of throwing - or just throwable - weapons: kunai, shurikens, tanto knives, senbon needles, double-bladed throwing knives, sickles, and other bladed weapons not so readily identified.

Nakahito frowned in confusion as he looked the kunoichi up and down, then to the targets, and finally back at her. She only had the standard carry-all pouch at her waist; how on earth had she carried all of those weapons so she could throw them?

"Summoning technique." She said to him, answering his unasked question. "I use ninjutsu to store the weapons in a scroll so I can carry them without a burden and draw them in an instant."

"Wow... I didn't even know that was possible." Nakahito said, amazed. "I'm sorry; I didn't introduce myself. I'm Nakahito Haruno, Team 13."

"Oh, so you just graduated. Congratulations." The kunoichi answered, giving him a smile. Confusion must have become apparent on his face as she answered his next unasked question. "Teams generally only have numbers only for the first year or so that they're around. If the team proves itself, then it's renamed for the Jonin instructor. I'm Tenten, I graduated last year and was assigned to Team Gai."

"Nice to..." His voice trailed off. "Wait a minute - Tenten? As in last year's #1 Kunoichi rookie and Weaponry Expert?"

She nodded, holding out her hand. "The same. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." He said, shaking her hand. 'Her hands are surprisingly soft for a weapon specialist.' He thought to himself. 'And she's cute, too!' "So, any particular reason you're out here practicing on your own?"

She shrugged. "I'm the only member of my team that really uses weapons... Neji specializes in Jyuuken - the Hyuuga clan Taijutsu style - and Rock Lee, well..."

"So you are on that freak's team." Nakahito interrupted, recognizing the name from Ichiraku's.

Tenten simply gave a long-suffering sighed in response. "Yes, he's on my team. And I fully agree; Lee isn't quite wired right. Gai-sensei isn't much better for that matter. They're always doing something that defies common sense, but despite that, they manage to do it. Them and their 'My Rules' philosophy."

"'My rules?'"

"Something Master Gai came up with years ago... He comes up with something ridiculous as a penalty that he has to do if he fails at something to encourage him to be victorious. For example, shortly after he became our instructor, he played a game of Janken with Kakashi-sensei. He declared his penalty to be that if he lost, he would have to make 500 laps around the village while walking on his hands."

A light blinked on. "Oh, hey, I remember seeing a guy doing that a year ago... Man, Tenten-san, I really have sympathy for you and Ne..." He broke off again.

She nodded. "Same one. Last year's #1 rookie. Overall best in the class."

"Man, you guys must rock in combat missions... I ran into Rock Lee the other night at Ichiraku's."

"Doesn't sound like he made a good impression on you." Tenten said with a clear note of understatement in her voice.

He shrugged a bit before settling down on the ground - all the tree-climbing training had left his legs painfully sore. "He flirted with my friend, Kimiko." He looked up at her. "Hey, Tenten-san, you're a woman..." He paused, trying to think of how to phrase his question.

"Thanks for noticing." She said, joining him on the grass.

A wry smile creased his face. "Very funny... Seriously, though, she and I have been friends for years, but ever since we graduated things have gotten a bit... strained and I can't figure out why. If it won't break any 'female rules,' would you be willing to give me a woman's viewpoint?"

"'Female rules?'" Tenten asked, clearly confused.

"Sorry; It's an inside joke between me and Kimiko. Men and women have a secret set of unwritten rules that we all follow without realizing it or being aware of the fact they ignore logic or common sense. Like for guys, 'Anything goes when trying to impress someone - bonus points if you're still walking afterwards.' Or for women, 'We can say whatever we like to each other, in as expressive language as we know, and it's okay, but don't tolerate it from a guy.'"

"The whole concept that men and women act so different they might as well come from other worlds?" She said to clarify and getting a nod from Nakahito. Tenten began to laugh. "Lee and Gai sensei are probably the embodiment of all the 'male rules,' the good and the bad ones." She sighed, getting serious. "Why don't you tell me about what's been happening and I'll see if there's anything I can tell you."

Nakahito nodded and began talking. "Kimiko and I have been friends since we were about five..."

* * *

The compound of the Inugami family was one of the older homesteads in Konoha. While not as large as the Hyuuga, Itou, Sarutobi, or Uchiha clan compounds, the Inugamis had enough space for up to three large traditional-style houses - although at the moment, there was only one such house and a smaller utilitarian building of more recent manufacture.

Miho Hyuuga, Kimiko Itou, and Karin Inugami sat at the collapsible kotatsu table, its heating coil turned off to allow the three to enjoy a meal offering a wide array of the usual lunch items. The three had spent the last forty minutes discussing assorted topics of interest to each of them, enjoying the food and companionship.

"You weren't kidding when you said your mom doesn't know how to cook in small amounts." Kimiko said as she surveyed how much was still on the table. "There's enough to feed half of our graduating class here."

Karin nodded. "Grandmother taught Mom everything she knows about cooking… My understanding, from bits and pieces I've gotten from her and Dad over the years, is that Mom grew up in a place where all her needs were catered for, so she lacked those basic life skills when she met Dad. She rarely talks about her life before she met dad and they're both very sketchy on any details of what happened when they met..."

"So your parents are as much a mystery in some ways to you as Sho is to us." Miho Hyuuga said. 'This is a family with a lot of secrets; it's no wonder that he's a bit of an enigma.'

Karin nodded. "But it really doesn't matter when it comes to Mom and Dad... They love all of us, so who they used to be can't be more important than that."

Miho nodded, glancing around the common room. "There are a lot of photographs here."

"Kaasan's hobby. She'll easily go through a dozen rolls of film when we're on the rare vacation. Usually camping trips to different areas of the Village; Mom and Dad's jobs are too sensitive to get permission to go outside the Walls." Karin replied. She gestured over to the mantle of the fireplace. "Her favorite ones are over there. She has pictures of the Sannin, a group shot of the Third Hokage and the Advisors, a picture of the Fourth and Father, a picture of the family, and a picture of Dad with his cousin, Yuri Hyuga - and while the pronunciation is similar, there's no relation to the Konoha Hyuugas that we're aware of."

Miho Hyuuga got out from under to the kotatsu to take a look at the pictures up close. She easily spotted the picture of the Yondaime with Kurando Inugami - Sho's father was wearing the same outfit that Teuchi Ichiraku had described to her a few days earlier.

She looked at the other picture featuring Kurando, looking about four years older than the Genin of Team 13. He stood beside a young man around Miho's age in a black suit with an unusual gemstone pendant that looked like it glowed with a red light that matched the wearer's reddish tinted eyes. "He's pretty good looking... Looks like a fighter."

Karin shrugged. "He disappeared around the time Mom came to live in the village. They don't talk about him much, but they keep that photo around anyways; apparently he did something to help Mom and introduced her to Dad. Mom says that she had a crush on Dad from the instant they met. Of course, it took Dad a while before he finally got the hint; Mom attributes her cooking to him finally coming around."

A pensive look crossed Kimiko's face as she looked at the table. "Yeah... Men do like food." She stared at her cup of tea, her mind not really on the thoughts of food or the conversation any more. Instead she was thinking about how poorly she'd treated 'Hito today.

The Inugami girl sighed, shaking her head. "Man, Kimiko, you sure know how to ruin a good mood."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Itou asked, confused.

"I'm talking about the fact that you drove Nakahito away and now you're missing him because he's not here having fun with us." Karin looked Kimiko in the eye. "I may be a year younger than you, but I'm not blind to the fact that my flirting with Haruno-san was making you jealous. Let me put your mind at ease…" She made a negligent waving gesture. "I have absolutely no interest in him."

Kimiko stared at Karin. "But you... He..." Suddenly something clicked. "You were playing one of Sho's games!" She cried with chagrin.

"Untrue." Inugami said, shaking her head. "See, Nii-san's games are designed to deliberately provoke people for his own amusement. I was merely practicing at acting like a woman like they teach us in kunoichi classes. It's not every day that I get an opportunity to practice those skills when I have someone, like Sho, around to help me if I lose the upper hand.

She arched her eyebrow, much like her brother would. "Don't you remember Kunoichi Basics 103? 'Kunoichi need to be able to pass themselves off as regular women when performing recon in urban settings. That includes being able to flirt with men in power - it can get you into secured areas with less hassle than infiltration.'"

As Karin recited the words of Suzume-sensei, Kimiko flushed as she realized it was true. She looked Miho-sensei, who nodded. "I personally never needed to rely on such measures, thanks to the Byakugan. That and the fact that my eyes are a bit of a giveaway that I'm not a common woman - the stories of the 'White-Eyed Warriors of Konoha' have rather wide distribution."

"Maybe I've been focusing a bit too much on the ninja aspect of being a kunoichi and not enough on being a woman..." Kimiko admitted. "I always hated those classes - the only good parts were that I got to spend a lot of time with Hinata or Motoko-chan." She looked at the other two. "'Hito really didn't do anything wrong did he?"

"Today? No." Miho shrugged. "He was enjoying the attention, but he never acted on it. In fact I doubt that he was even taking her efforts seriously. She is Sho's sister, after all."

Kimiko nodded and began packing up some of the leftovers. "I need to apologize to 'Hito; maybe take him a peace offering."

"Take as much as you want." Karin said, warmly. "I'm sorry my practice irritated you so much, Kimiko-san."

"Thanks, but I should have realized it sooner, like you said..." As she finished, she stood up. "I'm going to head back early and give this to 'Hito." Then she dashed off.

Karin looked at Miho after they heard the front door slide open and closed. "Nii-san was right. They are clueless aren't they?"

A wry smile crossed Miho's lips as she gave a brief nod of agreement. Then a sly look crossed her features, sensing a potential ally in her efforts to help her Genin grow. "And speaking of clueless, tell me about Motoko Hata and your brother…"

Inugami laughed. "Oh, yeah… For such an observant guy, Aniki can be downright blind sometimes…"

* * *

"...and that's when I ran into you, Tenten-san." Nakahito Haruno finished.

Tenten gave him an odd look. 'He honestly doesn't see what was going on?' She asked herself in disbelief before sighing aloud. 'Of course not; he's a guy…'

"Ah, Haruno-san, I think what's happening here is the simple fact that Kimiko likes you."

"Of course she does; we've been friends for the past seven years." He answered, not really seeing where she was going with this.

'He's not ready for it yet, I guess...' She thought to herself. 'She cares for him like I do Neji and he for her, but they still see the other as their long-time friend rather than in that way. They both run into that perceived wall without realizing that the person on the other side wants to get through too. It would be cute and romantic if it weren't so depressing, but at the same time, just giving them the answer would be so much of a shock that they might not overcome it.'

"Let me ask you this, Haruno-san. Why did you get so annoyed at Lee at the ramen shop?"

Nakahito frowned; puzzled at her question. "I… I honestly don't know... At first I thought it was the thought that he was able to offer something that I couldn't – in this case information about her family's combat style that she's worked so hard to find anything she could about - but that really doesn't ring true when I think about it."

'Well, he's on the right track, at least.' The kunoichi thought. "I'm afraid I have no magic answer for you, Nakahito-san... But let me make a suggestion to you: if you can figure out why you were annoyed at Rock Lee and Kimiko, you'll understand why she was frustrated at you and Karin Inugami."

Nakahito frowned to himself, looking down at the ground as he began to think about it. He was so focused on solving the question that he didn't even notice when Tenten stood up and walked off.

Ten minutes later, a shadow appeared on the ground. "Hey..."

Nakahito, no closer to solving the puzzle now than he had been when he started, looked up. "Kimiko?"

She handed him a wrapped box. "Here. Food."

He took the box. "Thanks... Uh..."

"It wasn't right of me to drive you off like that... I should have had a bit more faith in you." She said simply. "I'm sorry, 'Hito-kun."

Suddenly some of the pieces fell into place for Nakahito Haruno. It was just a shame that he still couldn't see the whole puzzle. He looked at Kimiko Itou. "I'm sorry, too, Kimi-chan. The same is true of me; I should have had more faith in you at the ramen shop. Here was this odd guy who appeared out of nowhere, giving you flowers and offering a glimpse of the past and you were so happy... I was just so frustrated; he was able to make you happier than I'd ever seen you before and it made me realize just how powerless I was. I overreacted and that was my error."

Kimiko remained silent as she thought about what he said. After a few minutes she spoke up. "All right. New rule: We can only get upset with each other when we actually do something; not because of someone else's actions. Deal?"

A smile appeared on his face. "Deal." He unwrapped the bento lunch box. "Join me?" He offered.

She smiled, sitting down to join him on the grass. "Gladly."