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Chapter 12

NOTE:

EDITED: 2/16/17- For my old readers, you may want to re-read this chapter because I changed some aspects of the Kageboshi and Inoue's involvement. Also, the 'marital spat' between Akira and Neji was also revised.

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12

"Took you long enough."

Akira shrugged. "Sorry, Yuudai. It's risky summoning you guys. I only managed to do so yesterday because I was able to sneak away from that Riku person."

The grey wolf growled threateningly. "Did he give you a hard time?"

"No, he didn't," Akira replied with a light chuckle.

"And the Hyuuga, Hime-chan?" a beautiful white wolf beside Akira asked.

She looked at Sachiko, surprise in her eyes. "Umm... no, he wasn't. But how did you know about him?"

Sachiko giggled. "Yuudai-san told me. Sorry Hime, but he kept on venting about the Hyuuga."

Akira then turned to the grey wolf, amusement in her bright green eyes. Yuudai growled, avoiding her stare.

"I don't trust him, is all," he grumbled, threat lacing his deep growl. Sachiko sighed.

"Oh c'mon, Nii-san! He doesn't seem bad," the younger wolf said. She sat beside Akira. "And he definitely doesn't look bad too, eh Hime?"

Yuudai let out an indignant bark, glaring at his adoptive sister and taking a protective stance. "You haven't met him yet, Sachiko. How could you tell he could be trusted with Hime-chan's safety?"

The snow-white wolf was about to retort but Akira silenced them with a raise of her hand. "Hey, can it." She looked at Yuudai and gave a patient smile. "I appreciate your concern Yuudai, and I agree that we've only known Hyuuga for a short time. And yes, I don't trust him that much either." She gave the huge wolf a pat on the head. "But take it easy, alright? I haven't seen my entire life flash in front of me yet, so I guess I'm not dying any time soon."

Then turning to the snow-white wolf beside her, she grinned and scuffed the back of her ears. "And as for you, snowball, don't go off teasing your Onii-san too much, okay? Like I said, we can't trust the Hyuuga yet. He might seem 'not so bad' right now, but he's a very skilled jounin and we can't underestimate him, alright?"

Sachiko, the ever-cheerful wolf among Akira's pack, barked gleefully. "Hai, hai, Hime-chan! But you should hear Onii-san rant about the 'Hyuuga kid'. It's funny. Oh, and can I meet him? I saw him yesterday while we were scouting the docks and he's quite fast, Hime. Can I race him, huh? Please?"

Akira rolled her eyes. Despite their huge stature and fearsome abilities, her wolves could sometimes act like children. She sighed exasperatedly. She summoned them in the island's forest, near the southwest dock where she and Neji had previously entered the village, in order to aid her in gathering more information. Luckily, the village is busy preparing for the coming festival, so no stray guards and scouts littered the area, unlike yesterday when Akira had previously sent them out. The island's forest has thick foliage, to which Akira was grateful for, because the large canopy of trees obstructed them from view and offered natural sound-proofing to her wolves' barks and growls.

It was 3 in the morning--even the early riser Hyuuga wasn't up yet. Akira knew he would be looking for her when he wakes up, so she left a hurriedly written note saying she'll meet up with Yuudai and come back promptly. Which is what she's doing right now.

''Fine, fine, Sachiko," said Akira to the white wolf. "But he's not a social being, so don't get your hopes up." Akira knew Neji would have reservations meeting the energetic white wolf, but just to shut Sachiko up, 'yeah, alright, whatever.'