Lunches Are Hectic

[SORAbear]

It was noon. No one was really out today. Probably because of the blistering heat. And that didn't really make any sense. Since when is Konoha like Suna in terms of weather? It didn't really matter to Yuki.

Despite her horrible wounds and harsh reaction to hundred-degree weather, she was out and about, getting groceries. They had just ran out of milk and tea, as well as other things. She had to replace the bowl that Vell broke a few days prior to the shopping trip, frustrated by how little money she had.

"This is bullshit. I haven't been on a decent enough mission to go buy shit," she complained, glancing over the list she held in her hand.

"Does it really matter?" a younger, smoother voice replied, coming up on Yuki's left. It was the Queen of the Fucking Heat herself. Amaya. Her eyes were intense as ever and her hair was combed and thrown up into a messy bun. She wore a light grey tank and white shorts, a kunai case still strapped to her leg just in case. It was like the psycho chick was ready to fight through the heat.

Earlier in the week, Amaya had come to apologize for her abusive behavior. Though it was a very empty apology as far as Yuki could tell.

"Yes! I'm fucking broke and Kakashi didn't give me any money for this. And Vell won't even pitch in to replace the bowl that HE broke!" Yuki combed her hair with her fingers out of anger, remembering that she put it up into a high pony-tail like Ino usually does.

She narrowed her eyes at the younger-- and definitely stronger-- girl, wondering why she came along in the first place.

The air was painfully heavy and very dry feeling. It was like if they didn't get to any lotion or chapstick, their favorable appearances would be tarnished untill the end of fall. Which wasn't good at all. And what month was it? April. It should be raining. Not baking.

"Not my fault." And Yuki's shopping partner wasn't exactly the talkitive type. She was usually quiet and angry looking, never once trying to strike up a conversation. In all actuality, she was socially retarded. Everyone thought her to be a girl version of Sabaku no Gaara only with purple hair and a better fighting style. This girl excelled at ninjutsu and taijutsu, but her specialty, depending on the situation, was a mix of genjutsu and ninjutsu. That made her a formiddable opponent as well as a great ally to have.

Yuki sighed and stepped into Ichiraku Ramen, climbing up onto one of the seats. She felt dirty. It's been at least a week since that run-in with the Akatsuki and she was STILL wearing hospital clothes. Screw Kakashi for not doing the laundry... She mumbled an un-sincere curse under her breath, readying herself to order when the next employee came up.

The other girl had followed, leaping up next to Yuki.

[opasars]

"Jeez, it's too hot...!" Kugomi frowned up at the sky with a hand shielding her eyes. "Of all the days I sneak out of class it has to be on the hottest freaking day."

Iruka was definitely not her favorite teacher. He would lecture and lecture for hours and hours on end and through the whole day not so much as one person got to pick up a shuriken. She didn't understand half of what he was saying. If you were going to teach ninja techniques then actually show them, not explain them.

And she hadn't heard from Vell since she left with Naruto from Yuki's room. He'd looked pretty ticked off at her. Like, insulted. She felt bad for the anti-social teen. Years of learning to assassinate people instead of say hi to them had really damaged his social aspects.

'Then again he never really had them to begin with,' she thought with a laugh at his expense.

The blond girl stopped where she wandered in the middle of the street when a familiar smell came across her nose. Two. One she was overjoyed to find. The other...not so much.

"Yuki-chan! What's up?!" she yelped, hurrying over the Ichiraku ramen, a place her brother had introduced her to as the best eatery in the universe. Her smile was lost in a dirty look at Amaya, who didn't pay her any mind. "Uh...feeling better? You looked pretty bad last time...."

[SORAbear]

"Oh, hey, Kugomi-chan!" Yuki greeted, almost immediately detecting the blond's familiar scent. But that usually wolfy, meaty smell was accompanied by a hatred. She quirked her eyebrow. "Dont be so tense. She already apologized. Plus, she's helping out wih the grocery shopping AND paying for lunch." Always an oppurtunity taker.

"Hey! I never--"

"Wanna join us?" the taller purple haired girl continued, a seemingly pained smile edging across her face. And as hard as she could possibly manage, she tried to hide it.

Amaya sense that, even though she wasn't looking. For a moment, she thought Yuki was equivelent to herself. Because she, too, musters up all the strength in the world to hide her own pain. Being seperated from Gaara, having a sister that wants her murdered brutally, having her older brother abandon her, losing her entire clan to the likes of Uchiha Itachi... Her normally rock hard, blank features softened considerably. And before she could realize it, a pair of arms were thrust around her. Yuki's arms. Those pained, burning, defeated arms...

All she could do was regain her solid composure and push the pasty white, bandage laden limbs off and away. She knew that Yuki was in pain to the highest degree. 'And it's partially my fault...'

*Having regretful thoughts, eh, Amaya? I say just kill her. What use is she to you other than a liability, a distraction, a mange ridden, disgusting little--*

'She's a friend. And no. She is not the 'neko's whore.' Kami-sama. You really are stupid, Houkou.'

*Always so serious. You stupid brat! Kill her. All she's gonna do is get in your way.*

"Shes a friend, dammit! Get out of my fucking head, you worthless fuck!" She hadn't realized that she screeched the threat out loud. Not like she really cared. Yuki knew and supposedly understood what it felt like to have someone in her head. "Ill fucking kill you! Fuck! You're even worse THAN Yuki, Houkou!"

Yuki chuckled, moving her arm and gripping the other girl's with her claws dangerously. "Save it for later," she hissed darkly. "Kugomi-chan needn't know about your...demon." Nothing about her right now was calm or sarcastic. No. Just insanely pissed, but she did damn well good job of hiding her intense anger. She didn't like Houkou much either. He was slimey and irritating. Every time she had tried to speak to Amaya through a mind connection, the five-tailed wolf demon would come at her with a barrage of needlessly dramatic insults and threats and break the link.

"Yes, Yuki." In almost every sense of the word, Amaya was pretty much a born follower. She hated being without an order. Hated being free. And she didn't really know why. It was probably because of Houkou. His training her mind to pretty much be a servent. It wasn't fair. But she couldn't complain. Wasn't allowed.

*Oh! So it's MY fault you up and deci-*

'Just shut up, you worthless bitch...'

"So!" The older girl clapped her hands, wincing minutely from the pain, and smiled. "Lets talk about how were doing in life."

[opasars]

Kugomi blinked at Amaya's defeated posture that was somehow still angry. "Ah...uh...." 'There any reason why she had to start cursing really loud? And what's a Houkou?'

"Ah, there you are!"

The small blond girl looked over her shoulder to see Nyroc trotting towards them, his shoulder taller than the average person walking past him hurriedly so he wouldn't try to take a bite out of them. He stopped in front of his considerably smaller adopted sister.

"I went up to the school to see if you were still there. You really think Lord Hokage-sama will promote you to genin if all you do is skip classes?" the giant wolf asked sarcastically, smiling though with good humor unlike his twin would have.

"It was one of Iruka-sensei's lectures. Don't expect me to sit still for more than two minutes with that guy's monotone voice," Kugomi grumbled, instinctively folding her arms behind her head and looking away.

Nyroc laughed until he noticed the two girls looking at him. He shrank back barely an inch. But he still shrank back. "Was I interrupting?"

"Huh? No! This is Yuki-chan, my new friend. And...some...person," Kugomi stumbled. She never was good with names. Especially of those who she didn't care to know.

"Well nice to meet you both," he said, giving Kugomi a look that said 'don't be so rude and act like Nyra on me'. He dipped his large head. "My name is Nyroc. I'm...sort of her adopted brother," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yuki-chan and her were gonna have lunch...can I stay here to eat?" The blond girl looked into his deep green eyes with obvious and childish hope.

Nyroc glanced at Yuki and Amaya. "Only if they want you to stay. Don't be a burden when there's fresh kill already at the cave."

"Wild boar?" Hopeful.

"Venison." Blatant.

"...Can I eat with you?"

[SORAbear]

"Awww! No, don't leave!" Yuki pleaded, being a bit too clingy. She never was a clingy person. But sometimes, at really weird instances in time, she'd beg for someone not to leave. She sighed and gave Kugomi a you-can-go-if-you-want-to-but-itd-be-nice-if-you-staye look, hoping that she would stay but understanding if she didn't.

Amaya just spun on her seat and stared at the ginormous wolf before her. "Greetings," she replied stoicly, dipping her head in respect. Even though Houkou was freaking fag, she still acquired the respect for wolves. ALL wolves.

The heat seemed to wigh down on them like a ton of bricks. It was NOT a normal day. But Amaya could deal with it. In Sunagakure, all it was was hot and sandy. She was used to it.

"Hey, Yuki-chan, how are you and Mutt-face?" the shorter girl asked, quirking an eyebrow, ignoring everyone elses presence.

A few uncomfortable moments passed by. "Um..." Yuki started, somewhat nervous. "I haven't talked to him since I woke up a few days ago and--" Depressed.

"Frankenstein, it was like a week and a half ago. Not a few days."

The healing girl sighed, rubbing her sweaty neck with her uninjured hand, a sullen expression on her face. The gash running along the right side of her face was more pronounced when she was sad. "I know, I know. I'm horrible with time..." Even her voice seemed to break.

"You are. But it's just time. Which really isn't important." Amaya draped an arm around her friend's shoulder unsurely. She didn't really know what she was doing.

*Ew... Quit touching that stupid little sewn up ewwy-ness.* Asshole.

'Shut up, Houkou. You fucking idiot...'

Yuki blinked.

"So? Spill."

"Well... I think that he thinks that I don't care about him. And I totally understand. I mean, I'd feel that way too if I were in his place." Her face seemed to sag as she sniffed. Yuki was entering a really bad phase. Not good. Someone needs to stop it.

Little did they know, Kiba was kinda around the corner, listening. Every word was almost true about the way he felt. -awww...-

"But I do. I do care about him. More than anything. It's just... I don't know. My defensive walls are up. Ever since Vell got here... Ugh. Everything's just so muddled." And poor Yu-Yu is probably gonna get chewed out for talking about relationships.

[opasars]

Kugomi waved her hands nervously. "N-No, I'll stay! Believe me you're doing me a favor...but you and that dog, really? I thought you'd be able to get better than that," she mused. Just picturing that Inuzuka's face burned her up. Asshole.

"I'll be off, then," Nyroc said, unsure. He kept staring at Amaya like she had just said that the moon was made of cheese and the earth was just a big cracker to go with it. He trotted back down where he had come, glancing at something at the corner of the ramen shop with varied interest but decided to ignore it and disappeared down the street.

Kugomi hopped up onto the stool next to Yuki, sandwiching her with Amaya. "Is Vell-kun giving you problems? Don't worry - he's like that to everybody." She did her best to keep her smile from crumpling the slightest bit. 'Well...he's not like that to me when we're by ourselves.' She sighed. "Just don't take anything he says to heart. He just doesn't like people getting too close...'cept me and Kakashi-sensei, but that's only because...."

[SORAbear]

Interested. "Because what?" Anything to not talk about that idiot mutt...

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with you." Amaya whipped around in her stool, irritated by the change of subjects. Everything was just not adding up. It was hot.And there was this blond girl whom Yuki insists on being friends with. And Mutt-face was down the street, accompanied by Akamaru and a foreign dogscent. And Yuki appeared to want to cry. And the giant wolf stared at her like she was cheese and everything else was crackers. Her forehead creased as she thought.

"Nothing has anything to do with me. Everyone leaves me out of everything," came Yuki's semi-somber, semi-pissed comment. It was almost true. What with Vell's behavior (from what Amaya could notice) and Kiba's less than fierce comments that basically told her to go away. Plus the Chuunin Exams. Kakashi refused to let her go, causing her whole team to be unable to enter. She was also frequently kept off missions, hence the serious lack in experiance. Always left out to some degree.

But, what she didn't seem to be able to understand is what they're excluding her from. Kakashi keeps holding her back from the Exams and almost every mission because a) he doesn't want her to get hurt, b) he wants to spend time with her, and c) every time she goes out, she gets seriously injured. Kiba tells he to go away so that she's off somewhere she can't get hurt at. Vell just doesn't wanna die, Amaya concluded.

"For someone so observant, you really can't seem to pick up the reasons why everyone excludes you, Frankenstein," she relayed, tapping her nails on the counter. Returning to the adding-up of events.

Yuki blinked, a little bit caught off guard. "Wha...what?"

[opasars]

Kugomi started to sweat and grinned like a dog preparing for someone to hit it. "Ah, well...jeez I'm hungry! One bowl of miso please," she called out to the waitress Ayame behind the counter. She felt stupid. If Yuki didn't know about Vell's situation then who was she to tell her? "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Nothing has anything to do with me. Everyone leaves me out of everything," Yuki sighed miserably between the two shorter girls.

"Hunh? No, I'm not trying to leave you out of anything, it's just that Vell-kun--"

Amaya let out a breath of semi-impatient air. "For someone so observant, you really can't seem to pick up the reasons why everyone excludes you, Frankenstein."

Yuki blinked as the other purple haired girl clicked her nails on the counter like she hadn't said anything. "Wha...What?"

"Hey, quit being so freaking mean to her," Kugomi snapped. "Not everybody's excluding her! Look, Vell-kun doesn't want you to know that--" The blond girl found a hand clamped firmly over her mouth to muffle out anything she was about to say.

Vell stood behind her, the usual look of annoyance on his stony face. "--I don't want you in my fucking business. Next time you feel like telling someone about my personal life so freely, you little mite, and you're head's going to spin from a single punch."

Kugomi glared up at him defiantly but said nothing. She couldn't talk anyways. And besides, if she bit him to get free he'd probably start tossing her around like a rag doll.

Satisfied, the silver haired teen pocketed his hands and turned his stare on Yuki and Amaya. "Kakashi told me to tell you that dinner's at seven, like usual."

"I didn't know you ate at a table," Kugomi grumbled condescendingly.

"I don't." Vell took all of his meals elsewhere, or he ate out if he could help it. Sitting all happily at a dinner table with his family wasn't exactly his style. He looked across at Amaya and wrinkled his nose. "Not another one...."

[SORAbear]

But little Amaya didn'tseem to appreciate the look Vell was giving her. "The fuck is your royal asshole-ishness staring at?" she growled, glaring at the boy from the corner of her eye.

"Just stop, Amaya. Vell's frustrated enough." Hypocritical Yuki. She flinched at her own words, remembering she had treated Vell the day after she woke up. And almost instinctively, she worked her hand up to her still injured eye, wondering if the obvious wound was karma for her treatment.

She felt the stares of her friends and uncle burning her skin. Someone was obviously confused at at. Still holding onto her eye, Yuki forced a smile and turned to Kugomi. "Don't worry about Amaya. She's just...a little upset right now. I mean, I did kinda tear her brother's arm off," she defended, trying not to shudder from her forced kindness.

A sigh emitted from Amaya's lips as she slapped down the necessary payment for a three-man lunch. She thought about leaving the three, disinterested almost with everything that was going on and a little perturbed by Yuki's odd defensive meneuver. "That wasn't necessary," she said emotionlessly, deciding it best that she go home.

As she hopped off the stool, she gave Yuki a sympathetic glance and sauntered off.

"And there she goes..." the girl whom was holding her eye muttered. "One bowl of pork ramen, please."

[opasars]

"I'm just trying to figure out just how many of us are here. The elders would've pissed themselves a few years back," Vell chuckled quietly while running a hand through his hair. He was just wearing gloves today to hide his claws, not the usual metal ones he used for battle. And he was being friendlier.

'He didn't even GLARE at her when she called him an asshole,' Kugomi thought nervously. 'Man, what the hell's going on with him?!'

She just noticed that Amaya had left, and the only thing evident that she hadn't been just a genjutsu was a small accumulation of money where she had been sitting. Yuki stared after her with a sigh. "And there she goes...one bowl of pork ramen, please."

"Where'd she go?" the blond girl asked.

"Upset about something, I'd imagine." Vell glanced at the money left from the shorter purple haired girl and dug into his pocket. "You, kid, give her back the money you don't use," he muttered, letting a bill drift from his fingers. Kugomi caught it and her blue eyes became huge at the number written on it.

"Wha--HOW'D YOU GET THIS!?" she wanted to know.

He didn't answer and continued down the street, hands pocketed.

[SORAbear]

Yuki twitched. "Since when-- Oh, nevermind." She stared at her retreating uncle, wondering what his deal was.

"Oi! Dickhead!" she howled, almost fondly but still in her normal tone. She too wanted to know how he got it. Maybe he got into Kakashi's wallet... "Leaving so soon?"

Why was she asking THAT? Maybe she wanted to get to know her only uncle a little better. She didn't know. Almost diddn't WANT to know.

But with a sly grin, feeling her scar and still bandaged eye burn and stab, she pat the seat beside her.

'Why is she being so friendly? Maybe I should intervene...' Kiba thought, watching as Yuki welcomed her brotherly uncle. He didn't like it. Emitting a soft growl, he emerged from the shadows further down the street, signaling for his two canine companions to follow. Akamaru kept calmly but happily to Kiba's left, whilst the jet black female puppy hopped around in all directions, excited as could be.

He wondered how his dog partner got almost as happy as he did when he got to see Yu-Yu. Maybe about forty yards away from the trio at Ichiraku now.

Yuki blinked expectantly, removing her hand from her bandaged eye, quirking a brow at Vell. It stung. Her eye. Like someone was stabbing her there repeatedly. Over and Over. "Igh... My eye..." she muttered, quickly turning away from Kugomi and her uncle. Her hands shot up to cover her face again.

Fortunately, there was no wind. Yuki wouldn't be able to scent Kiba untill he got there. Good. But as he saw her hunch over with her hands over her face, he couldn't help himself. She might still be in pain--or crying. So he bolted, his dogs rushing beside him.

[opasars]

Vell stopped midstep - 'Why the fuck does she insist on calling me that...?!' - and turned to give her a piece of his mind when he sensed someone approaching fast as soon as he did so.

"Huh? Yuki-chan, what's wrong?" Kugomi asked when the purple haired girl suddenly cringed and held her eye.

Spinning around, strictly on instinctive palor, Vell grabbed the person's throat and slammed them into the ground, fist held up and ready to punch him. But before he could start a white blur clamped onto his advancing wrist and buried sharp teeth into his hand.

"Ow!" he snapped, glaring at the blur to see that it was Akamaru, snarling like an animal possessed. He looked down to see an angry Kiba under his hand.

"Vell-kun, what're you doing?!" Kugomi was out of her seat and staring at him like he had mange.

He straightened, flicking his wrist so a blade no one had seen retracted from the gauntlet on his arm. "He snuck up on me."

"He ran right in front of you!!"

"I didn't know if he was attacking me," he insisted.

"He wasn't going to attack you right out of nowhere, idiot!"

Vell ignored her, acting as if he hadn't just tried to stab Kiba in the face.

[SORAbear]

Lifting her head almost instantly, Yuki stared blankly at the two with wide eyes, wondering what the hell had just happened. She was confused by what she say. Her uncle had her Mutt-face by the throat and there were two pups growling and barking at their feet. "What the--" The pain in her eye pulsed again, harshly drawing her attention away.

Kiba snarled, glaring resentfully at Vell. He had intercepted him and basically almost strangled the poor Mutt-face. And that wasn't exactly a good thing. All Kiba wanted to do was bring one of Kuromaru's productions as a gift and see if his little Yu-Yu was okay. But the Kakaashi-sensei look-alike cut him off.

With her hand firmly placed over her eye, Yuki lifted her head again, this time with a cautious expression. "Man...These idiots...Fuck. My eye..." she muttered. Her eyes roamed the scene before her, searching for a reason to not kick either of their asses.

"Yu, you okay?" the Inuzuka boy asked worriedly as soon as Vell had let him go. He strode over to the injured purple-haired kunoichi and gently removed her hand, checking her bandaged eye. His expression wasn't what anyone would call happy. As soon as he saw the eye, he was instantly extremely angry and upset. "What happned?"

"The hell if I know, Mutt-face," she said softly, pushing his hands away so that she could cover her eye again. "What're you doing here?"

He blinked. "Just wanted to see you... It's been a little while." Kiba knew how much time had passed and thought it to be wrong. It was partially his fault. After all, he did pretty much run out on his precious Yu-Yu. Ran out on her when she may as well have been dying. And he was so mad that she hadn't been grateful for everyone saving her ass... He wouldn't let himself come anywhere near her in what seemed to be years even though it was really just a week and a half or so.

"No shit, Sherlocke," Yuki hissed, hearing the clink of bowls being set on the counter. Eagerly, she spun around and snatched up a pair chopsticks that had been firmly situated in one of those weird containers.

Kiba seemeed to forget eveerything around him, not really caring that Yuki's friend and uncle were there and probably watching or listening intently. "I'm sorry, Yu," he said sadly.

"Why? You don't need to be," she replied through a mouth full of noodles.

That was so like her, said Inuzuka boy thought amusedly. If someone was speaking to her if she was eating, she would shamelessly talk with her mouth full. That's one of the reasons why he likes her: no shame in he game. Sometimes anyway.

"Igh...I don't really wanna talk to you right now. It's hot and I don't need another hot thing to make my day even hotter." Yuki gently placed the chopsticks on the edge of the bowl, staring down at the not-even-close-to-being-finished ramen. 'Did I just....? Moron.'

Crestfallen, Kiba leaned against the wall of Ichiraku's, watching her intently. Akamaru barked and whined, as if he was also a little sad. And that black furball he had brought along was panting andchasing her tail happily, totally clueless.

"What's the other dog for, Mutt-face?" Contradicting what she said earlier. She didn't want to talk to him, at all really. But the black puppy was a bit of a distactiong now that she payed attention.


Amaya pricked her ears. Having never really left, she sat somewhere nearby under a tree, listening to the conversation between the couple. She chuckled quietly. Yuki didn't like it when Kiba was around her friends and family. To her it just made everything uncomfortable. And Kiba wanted more than anything to be able to hang out and be around her loved ones. Interesting situations always get miss Ami to laugh or think.

[opasars]

Kugomi disregarded Vell and hopped onto her stool as her ramen was presented. She snapped a pair of chopsticks in half, estatic. "Itadakimasu!" She commenced shovelling the noodles into her stomach, pausing only once to mutter about its high temprature. Naruto had introduced her to the wonderous meal only about a few months back and, like him, she was his twin sister was now hooked to the stuff. Together they would probably push Ichiraku to have a whole chain of restraunts all over the country if they kept eating there regularly like they did.

Vell scoffed, forgotten and finding now to be the perfect time to slink away, and started to leave when a set of sharp teeth clamped onto his pant leg. Blinking in surprise, he looked down to find the black puppy pulling at him, growling playfully.

"Oi. Dog. I am NOT a chew toy," he muttered. When the pup only wagged its tail playfully his ears flattened in annoyance. "There's a perfectly good mutt over there to play with," he said, reffering to Akamaru, who was bouncing around Yuki's stool. "Go mess with him, not me."

The puppy barked and continued to tear at his leg, intent on playing with him. "Hey! Let go of me you little--Gwah!" He'd been taken off guard and was promptly pulled onto his backside by the pup. Apparently it was stronger than it looked, but part of the cause was that he hadn't expected the tiny canine to try to take him down. "I said get off!" he snapped as the puppy let go of his leg and pounced onto his torso, licking for his face. "No! Heel. Sit. Play dead. Roll over--Kiba! Control your mutt!"

Kugomi set down her empty ramen bowl where she sat beside a rather gloomy bunch and looked over her shoulder. "Vell-kun, she just wants to play. Don't be such a stickler," she scolded. (Slightly jealous - she wanted to play too.)

"Does it LOOK like I'm playing?" he stressed, holding up his forearm to keep the black puppy at bay.

"Oh yes. Carefull, it might lick you to death," she said sarcastically, then smiled at the girl behind the counter. "One more, keep it coming!"

"Who's is this?!" Vell demanded, fed up with being embarrassed and holding the happy puppy by her scruff away from his face. She still tried to seemingly extend her tongue to get to his face as if he was her favorite treat.

[SORAbear]

"Yuki's," Kiba muttered, glaring at Vell with a fanged smile to go along.

She choked on the noodles currently slipping down her throat. Coughing violently untill she could speak, she turned her head sideways to look back at her favorite Inuzuka. "WHAT are YOU smoking?!" she demanded, a nearly horrified expression written on her face. "Are you CRAZY?!"

He shrugged, amused by Akahana's antics. Dropping down to a crouch, forearms crossed over his thighs, Kiba whistled. "Akahana! C'mere girl," he cooed.

And the adorable black fuzz-ball decided to nip at Vell's wrist, plopping dazedly to the dusty earth. In no time at all, she was bouncing up and down excitedly towards Kiba, blue-and-green eyes glinting in the sunlight like beautiful colored mirrors.

She barked, as if to say, 'I wanna play!'

But Kiba shook his head at her, angeling his head toward Yuki.

The puppy blinked her pretty eyes and shifted her gaze towards the injured girl upon the stool. The coppery scent of dried blood, sweat, tears, and some unrecognizable aroma filtered through her nose. And she whined.

"I know, I know, Akahana. I don't like it either." Kiba's frown caught Akahana's eye.

The smell became more like a heavy wave. This time, she stepped back, whimpering.

"What?" Yuki's attention was torn away from her little Mutt-face and was now centered on the black furball. She couldn't help but shift her weight a few times, uncomfortabe no matter what she did.

Another whine.

"Akahana, c'mere." Kiba completely ignored the girl, almost willing to tackle the puppy. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. >.< "I know, she smells a little off. But that's okay. Now, c'mere," he continued softly, swirling a finger in the dirt before him.

The puppy found herself rushing forward, tumbling into a furry mess as Yuki peeled herself off her seat. She padded towards Kiba, crouching down beside him to get a good look at Akahana. Akamaru sat a little ways off, comfortable under the stool his partner's girl had just recently got off of.

"So, she doesn't like me because I smell weird?" Yuki asked, almost blankly, staring straight ahead. Unfortunately, her uncle was in her direct line of sight.

"It's not that, Yu. She senses a strange smell emitting from your eye. It smells like a chlorinated sticker," Kiba answered quietly, scratching behind the puppy's ears.

"You mean a pool crossed with one of those sticky things Hinata always gives me?" Confused.

"Um...No? A pool and a self-adhesive piece of paper." He made a slightly disturbed face.

"Oh! Okay, I know what you're talking about," she replied, blinking at herself. "Hey, Vell-jiisan? Could you get some more gauz pads and bandages for me, please? I need to replace this one," Yuki asked, almost kindly, getting completely off topic.

Kiba smirked, amused.

[opasars]

"Oh, you're Yuki-chan's partner?" Kugomi asked the black ball of fur, mouth full of ramen. "Nice name, too. Is your nickname Rudolph? ('Cause her name can mean "Red Nose". Kugomi's stupid humor. >_<)"

Vell almost looked disgusted. "That dog...in Kakashi's house?" He shook his head. "Kakashi never even let me get a cat. You really expect him to--"

"Hey, Vell-jiisan?" The silver haired teen felt a stab of annoyance at Yuki's casual tone. "Could you get some more gauze pads and bandages for me, please? I need to replace this one."

"Why of course, your royal highness. But can't you get your mutt to fetch it for you?" Voice thick with sarcasm and laced with poison.

Kugomi finished her third bowl and turned to glare at Vell. "Hey! Don't call her a mutt," she said scoldingly, glancing down at Akahana.

"I meant her FIRST pet," Vell jeered, smirking back at Kiba but with dangerous eyes.

"Whoa, Vell-kun, that's low," the blond girl muttered. She didn't like that look. "Don't be a jerk, okay?"

"Mangy little....Fine." He got up and strode away, rubbing his wrist.

Kugomi slid off the stool and took a few vain steps after him, blue eyes the picture of worry. "You're coming back, right?" He turned and walked backwards, bowing respectfully.

"As soon as you put the dog out." A stabbing stare at Kiba before he turned and disappeared around the corner.

The blond girl turned back to the two feral shinobi, rubbing the back of her neck. "S-Sorry about that...sometimes he gets a little...hard to deal with," she amended. "Seriously, don't take anything he says seriously, Kiba. He's just picked you to vent on."

[SORAbear]

Yuki twitched, seemingly unaffected by her uncle's stupid comments. But deep inside she wondered if she did something wrong. Ever since the day after she woke up they both have been acting weird, and all she really wantedto do now was sort of be nice. Almost welcome him in. Which didn't make sense untill she thought about it.

"Did I--" she startd softly, cut off.

"Gee, don't I feel special. I can't believe Kakashi's related to that ass-" Kiba blinked, realizing what he was about to say. He threw a quick glance at his little Frankenstein, scratching in between Akahana's ears. "Sorry. What were you saying?" Yeah, nice back-track.

The purple-haired ninja shook her head, pushing herself up to her feet, more or less worried about Vell, regardless of how distant they were. She diddn't make sense. He didn't make sense. Maybe that one similarity is what's causing her to feel so...like this? With a muted sigh, she ran her fingers through her long hair, feeling responsible for the unhappiness surrounding her.

---
She's kinda one of those people that are so bitchy and sad and well weird. And she feels like everything's her fault. And sometimes she just wants to make it better, if she can find a way to. Just thought I'd clear it up. ^_^'
---

"Kugomi-chan, do you mind accompanying me to the market? I don't want to go alone," she mumbled to her blond friend, hoping to god Kiba wouldn't freak out.

Akahana squirmed under Kiba's soothing scratches, her nose twitching. A less coppery scent wafted through her nostrils. It wasn't blood or sweat or tears. More like a sticky-chlorine-ness. She nipped at her former owner's finger tips, leaping up to her paws and bolting up to Yuki's feet. She barked out of concern, clawing gently at tthe girl's legs.

'C'mon, lady! Something isn't right! We gotta get you to a docter or something. Or that weird smell will over flow and leak. C'mon! I know you can hear me!' the black fur-ball pleaded.

"Hm?" Yuki wrapped an arm around her own side, staring confusedly down into the puppy's bi-colored eyes. And thee battering mental screams beat through her already plenty-beaten brain. "Agh! What the--"

Too late. Akahana's warning came too late.

A fierce, disarming explosion of agony pulsed through Yuki's bandaged eye. She had to double over, to prevent them from seeing her face, to hide her newly forming tears. A thick, watery-gel-like liquid seeped through the bandages, slipping between her fingers. The pain only intensified. She wanted to scream, but she wouldn't let heerself. She was going to go get her bandages and go home. Pretend like nothing happened.

Kiba was at his feet as soon as Akahana bounded over to Yuki. He watched as she doubled over in pain, trying her haardest to seclude that sticky-chlorine scent ouring from her eye. It was a sort of stabbing feeling for him. "Yu, hey, what's wrong?" Rubbing her back in slow, smooth circles, he glared down at Akahana absently, of course.

'Hey, Mommy! Let's go!'

"Let me go!" she ground, pulling away from the Inuzuka. "Stop worrying about me! I'll be fine!" she howled, finally straightening, allowing everyone to see the river of blow leaking from her eye.

"Yuki...Your eye..."

"I know! Alright? Just quit fucking worrying about me!" Must have been the adrenaline from the throbbing pain, because nothing was coming out the right way.

'Why are you putting youurself through this?' Akahana asked desperately.

Ignore. Yuki stormed off, forgetting which direction the market was in. Fur brushed up against her side.

[opasars]

"Uh...sure," Kugomi nodded, concerned at Yuki's strange behavior. She'd tell Maro she was sorry later. It seemed like Yuki really didn't want to be by herself.

That's when the purple haired girl suddenly doubled over in immense pain. The scent of a chemical and pain crashed over Kugomi like a wave of sand bags. She put her forearm up to her nose, trying to block out the scent that brought stinging tears in her eyelids. 'Akahana smells it too,' she noted, able to translate the black puppy's barks.

"Yuki...your eye..." Kiba said slowly, confused and concerned. The blond girl looked up and gaped as the thick liquid poured from her friend's eye. It smelled even worse than before.

"I know, alright?! Just quit fucking worrying about me!" she snapped, suddenly turning in the direction of the market place. Akahana followed right beside her, demanding to know what this was all about.

Kugomi felt very uncomfortable. She didn't like the way Yuki was acting. Because it reminded her of Vell, so much so that she could almost see his face when the purple haired girl yelled. He was holding his bloody stomach, the red liquid pouring from his nose and mouth like a steady fountain. But he glared at her like she was bothering him.

'What the fuck are you crying for? I'M the one who's dying here. I should be crying. Knock it off and leave me alone!'

"Yuki-chan, wait!" Kugomi forgot about Kiba and hurried after the person she called to. "Please, stop acting like you don't need help! YOU don't have lives to spare. You've only got one so take care of it!" she demanded, remembering Vell using those very words. Albeit minus the 'please' part. She was now striding beside Yuki, who seemed to ignore her. "You know you're freaking everyone out by just refusing their help. That's not exactly putting everybody at ease. It's not like you can die and come back to life! Only Vell-kun can...." She stopped, realizing her own words. "C-Can ACT that way...." 'I am such a moron.'

[SORAbear]

Yuki just kept walking. She was going to ignorre everything; every dust cloud, every heat wave, every unbearable pulse of agony. At least, for a little while.

Fur tickled her leg, scratchy and itchy.

She had never told anyone that. She had never screamed in someone else's face that fiercly before.

~*~*~
"I know, alright?! Just quit fucking worrying about me!"
~*~*~

It just played over and over, like an annoying broken record, drowning everything out. The intensifying pain: unnoticable. The slick gel-like liquid spilling from her eye: unnoticable. What seemed like hours, was only five minutes.

"You know, believe it or not, I hate it whhen people worry about me," she mumbled, feeling her fully operational blue eye sting. "I mean, it just makes people even more stressed out and...and what's so special about me anyway? I lose it in a fight, I have asthma so technically I shouldn't even be a ninja and--" Hot, salty tears slid down her cheeks. It was a shock, keeping her from speaking. It just made her cry haarder.

"And now look at me," she whimpered. She hated crying. More than anything. To her, it made it clear that she was weak and selfish and unable to handlee high pressure situations. To her, it was like an inability to deal with her emotions, her frustrations, her anything. To her, it was a loosening grip on sanity. So she nearly never criees. Well, not usually. Not unless she's beyond hurt or angry. Mostly she's able to suppress it.

The tears and foul-smelling liquid continued to flow.

"You know why I love Kiba so much?" Yuki asked, quickly changing the subject. "Because he's always been there. Ever since thee incedent at tthee hospital...he's been there for me. To protect me, to be my shoulder to cry on, to be my partner." Tears streamed down. "And I know that he ravaged your home. I mean, not only did he tell me about it but I was the one who had to survey the damage while you guys were out."

A remorseful and thoughful grin had begun to shine through the tears. "Sure, Kiba's a fucking moron. But he's sweet and gentle under that moronic exterior. He can even be super intelligent." She fingered a loose chunk of hair, twirling it as she cried.

She was telling Kugomi a bit too much. She sobbed into her palms, hiding her face, looking up to see a pair of slitted eyes.

Her eyes continued to leak. "What's wrong with me?" It was the first time she'd wondered about the liquid pouring from her bandaged green eye. Not because shee cared. But because she knew that everyone else did. And maybe, if she could find out what it is, she could put tthem at ease.

Akahana barked anxciously. 'Mommy! We gotta get you to a doctor! How about Tsunade? Daddy told me about how much you hate hospitals.'

Yuki was, of course, shocked at the blue and green eyed black puppy's determination to help her. She stared down between her hands at Akahana.

[opasars]

Kugomi looked at the crying purple haired girl with heart-break. She was really suffering. It made her feel terrible that she had been so rude to Kiba all this time. He attacked her family and she felt like SHE was the one who should have said she was sorry. If Yuki ever tried to use her emotions to twist people's thinking she'd probably even be able to manipulate the stone-cold Vell.

Then the blond put a tentive hand on Yuki's shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with you, Yuki-chan." She thought about her statement and flushed. "Well, yeah, you've got gunk coming out of your eye and all but, as a person, there really is nothing wrong. You don't have to cry. People worry about you 'cause...they care about you. You're really lucky to have people like Kiba and Kakashi-sensei around."

'Mommy! We gotta get you to a doctor!' Akahana barked feverishly, making Kugomi look down at her. 'How about Tsunade? Daddy told me how much you hate hospitals.'

"I agree, let's get you to Grandma Tsunade. I haven't got a clue what that stuff coming out of your eye is," the blond urged.

-------------------

Vell looked around at the ramen shop for Yuki but she wasn't there. Neither was Kugomi. Only Kiba stood, looking after something down the road. Akamaru was at his feet, whining.

"Oi, where'd she go?" he asked, the gauze she had requested in his fist.