Kurai and Shia Encounter Akago and Shira

A Snow Village ANBU knocked on the door to the Yukikage's Office in a nervous manner.

Meanwhile...

Out in the snow plains of Snow Country, a band of merchants were being stalked and killed one by one by a mysterious, female tiger. There was a sack wrapped around the tiger that held none other then the min controlling infant Akago, who was obviously asleep so that means Akago wasn't controlling the tiger. Apparently, this tiger, named Shira, was angry at the merchants because they tried to take Akago away from her while she was sleeping.

Kurai ran a hand through her hair and nearly growled in agitation. Nobody ever disturbed her at this time of day unless it was absolutely nessecary. "Come in," She murmured half-heartedly, looking at the door as if she didn't want to see anyone come through it. If it was one of her ninja, she was gonna scream. She had no time for useless 'emergency' calls today. She put down her pen and sat up in her chair with her hands clasped, trying to at least look patient so they wouldnt be worried about coming to see her.

Outside the Village:

Shia yawned and stretched her paws, padding softly through the snow until she smelt something strange. The smell of blood. She hadnt smelt that near the snow in a long, long time. Well not human blood at least. Curious and slightly worried, she picked up speed, aiming for the heart of the scent at a healthy trot, her midnight black fur making her painfully obvious to see among the endless white of the snow. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a tiger. What was a TIGER, of all things, doing here in the snow? That was unheard of as far as she was concerned. It must've belonged to someone, this place had hardly any wildlife, so a tiger population wouldnt just pop up out of nowhere.

The ANBU walked in and bow to Kurai. "Um, excuse me Lady Yukikage but there seems to be a problem outside the village. A group of merchants are calling for help because a tiger of some sort is killing them. We sent out some ANBU but we couldn't find the tiger ma'am, just the mangled bodies of the dead merchants" he explained to her in a nervous tone. It was obvious he knew that during this time of day, disturbing Kurai was a big no-no.

Shira the tiger pounced on one of the last remaining merchants and roared at him. To Shia, when the tiger roared, she heard words. The words were 'Stupid humans try to take my cub. I will kill you stupid humans for trying to take my precious cub from me' as the tiger slashed at the merchant, clawing him to vicious, bloody pieces.

Kurai sighed heavily and stood, looking more level-headed that she normally was when she was disturbed. At least this time the cause was something decent. "A...Tiger, you say?" She said wearily, stepping around the desk. "Well, Shia is already on patrol, she'll probably be able to settle things down," She shrugged. "I'll take a look anyway, i'll make sure to patch up anybody thats still got a pulse," She said as she walked past the ANBU, waving her hand to dismiss them as she picked up Kizuna from her basket, cradling the pup carefully as she took off.

Shia curled her lip up and snarled horribly, noticing that the only merchants left were a young girl and her parents. She leaped out from the small bit of cover she had, effectively barring the tiger from touching the quivering family. She barked and snarled, but Shira should've been able to understand the human speech that came soon after. "You have your 'cub', he's safe. You don't need to tear a family apart because of someone elses mistake," She muttered with her hackles raised. For once, Shia looked like quite an intimidating beast.

"One more thing Lady Yukikage. Apparently, reports from the merchants say that a young, sleeping infant is placed in a sack that is tied to the tiger so this tiger is obviously domesticated" he explained to her as he stood up and bowed to her then proceeded to leave the office, practically tripping over his own feet in his nervousness.

Shira the tiger roared at her in anger as her tail curled up, indicating it was aggravated. The roar was translated to Shia as 'Out of my way foolish wolf. Those humans must die for trying to take my cub' as her claws curled up in anger, the tiger's eyes eyelid narrowed into what appeared to be a glare as she stared down the wolf.

"Hmm...Alright, then that makes things a little easier," She said to herself as she ran through the village. Kizuna's small head popped up from the small mass of black downy fur and looked around at her surroundings as they flew by. She hadn't been outside before, and the snow made her sneeze when it landed on her nose. Kurai kept a firm hold of the young cub, seeing specks of blood on the trail she was following. "We're getting close..." She said, to no-one in particular. She didn't seem to be tiring but her mind was on other things so she didn't seem to think about running out of breath.

Shia shook her head, her hackles rising up even more. "I won't let you tear a family apart merely because some idiot tried to take that boy from you. They have done NOTHING to you. They're just trying to make a living. These aren't the people who tried to take your son. You killed the people who did, why cant you just leave it at that?" Shia asked as the little girl behind her clung to her, burying her face which was wet with tears in Shia's soft fur.

'Surely there is a boy in your life that cares about you so. I'm sure a human such as yourself would have someone that cares about you like that' Shira growled at her with an interested look on her face, not knowing she was speaking about Minoru, who cared for Kurai more then he cared about anyone before.

(I'm sorry but I just had to say that since Minoru admitted that he loved Kurai)

"Yeah, i figured that much," She said to Akago. "But still, he could've told me earlier, and it didnt stop him from coming to visit me when i got back," She let out a slight sigh, shrugging her shoulders. "Forgive me if i'm missing something here but it doesnt add up. Surely if he didnt like Manzo and i being close then he could've had a quiet word with Manzo to mind his distance, or talk with me to tell me that it was bothering him," Now that the topic was out in the open, she found it a lot easier to talk about it. Maybe she could even get some help or shed some light on the situation. She didn't want to keep thinking that Minoru wanted nothing to do with her after that because, truth be told, she still felt guilty for everything that had happened over that small period of time.

"He isn't much of a talker, no," She agreed with a nod. "But i would've thought that if something was really bothering him, he would tell me. Before things progressed, we were best friends as well so i really thought he would be able to trust me if something like this were ever to come up," She shut her eyes for a moment to try and calm down. "I just...Didnt think that it would effect him this badly, is all. We both seem to understand each other so why didn't i see it before it got out of control?" She felt like smacking her head off of one of the nearby trees in an attempt to sort out the headache that was beginning to form due to all of this. Wasn't sharing supposed to help solve your problems? Not confuse you and possibly make them harder to figure out.

"Uhm...Well i don't know an awful lot but i guess i could tell you what i know," She said as she put a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner. "His mother is Kushina Uzumaki, who as you probably know, has passed away. He treasured his mother over nothing else and to lose her was a huge blow for him. Ever since, i suppose he's been closed off. He certainly was when i met him, but i gradually got him to open up little by little around me. I tried my best to help but i don't think this is a matter that i can really help in," She said as she looked at the infant. "So...Perhaps that helps you find the answer? Thats the only thing that i can think of at the moment. Well, the only thing that might contribute to the problem that i've got right now," She shrugged slightly, totally stumped for once.

She nodded along with what he was saying and by the time he was finished, it was all so painfully obvious to her. He'd dropped hints all the time about it, and even said some of the things that Akago had just said now. She was just too stubborn and narrow-minded to realise it. "I should've seen it sooner..." She said as she shook her head and looked back towards her village. "I suppose nothing in life is going to be simple...I need to patch things up at some point, because knowing him he won't want to see me for a little while until he's sure he can talk to me without getting angry about Manzo," She figured as she looked at Akago. "I'm not sure if i'm right about that but its the only explanation i can think of to fathom out why he's been avoiding me since we got back to the Snow," Things were pretty complicated now, but at least they were making progress.

"I think you should confront him about his past so that way, you might finally realize why Minoru is the way he is" he commented as he looked at her in an expected manner. Shira purred and nodded her head in agreement to her 'cub's' comment.

Meanwhile...

Minoru was currently traveling in Kurai's direction, though he didn't know it. He was trying to find her so that he could apologize to her for the way he acted. "I just hope she'll forgive me. I can't stand to see her mad at me" he mumbled to himself with a frown on his face.

"Confront him? You think so? I mean, the last thing i want is to bring up any painful memories for him. That could make things worse," She said but then she thought about it for a moment. Then again, if she asked, then he might give her a real answer for once and then she could see exactly where she went wrong and avoid making that mistake in the future. "Alright...Alright, i'll do it. Next time i see him, i'll do my best to sort everything out. Its weird when someone you've known for so long won't come anywhere near you. I dont like it," She said with a slight frown. She just hoped that she could find him. Minoru was always particularly hard to track down unless he ran into her first. Well, there was only one way to find out, wasn't there? "Thank you, Akago and you too, Shira," She said as she smiled gratefully at the two of them. "I owe the two of you, i really do,"

"Your welcome Kurai. Now, we have to leave" said Akago as he told Shira to go back to Rain Country. The tigress purred affectionately and ran off at high speeds towards Rain.

Minoru saw a tigress with a human child run off in the direction of Rain Country and blinked in confusion. He considered that a very strange site. He saw two wolves, one of them very familiar, and a woman in the distance. He squinted his eyes and noticed that the woman and the familiar wolf was Shia and Kurai. He put on a nervous expression and ran over to them.

Kurai leaned her head against the bark again, looking up at the leafless branches. Where to begin? Things always had to be so complicated. Then again, nothing worth having comes easy, as the saying goes. She groaned slightly and stood up straight, brushing her hair out of her eyes and looking at Shia who was half-asleep since there wasnt much going on. She smiled slightly. Shia had been by her side for so long and had no idea how grateful Kurai really was. She would tell her later when this whole situation was resolved. She saw a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye and glanced at where it had come from. Her breath caught in her chest. It was Minoru. She had no idea what to do or how to see if he was alright. She bit her lip and pretended like she hadnt noticed him quite yet. If he was here to see her, he'd come right over. Then she could worry about talking to him.

Minoru ran over to her and looked at her nervously. "Kurai, I-I'm sorry for what happened at that inn" he stuttered out, which made it obvious that he was nervous. What he was nervous about was unknown though one would guess that he was nervous because he was afraid of what she would say to him.

"S-Sorry?" She said, stuttering also but cursing herself mentally for doing so. "Sorry for what exactly? Sorry for me not picking up on the signs that you were unhappy or sorry for me not noticing that you didnt like me getting close to Manzo?" She joked dryly. She decided the best way to solve this problem was to tackle it head on. Shia took the hint and picked up Kizuna in her jaws, walking past Minoru silently before bounding off towards the village. Kurai wasn't expecting her to just run off like that but in a way she supposed it made it easier. It meant that she didnt have an audience. She wasn't great at getting through awkward situations when there were a lot of people around. She looked at Minoru and waited for an answer, looking a lot calmer than she felt.

"It's not that I liked you getting close to Manzo Kurai. It's just....I don't trust him and while you might have known him for a long time, I don't and you know that I don't trust anybody I just met. I'm just.....just scared that I will lose you, the second person in my life that I have ever cared for. After how my mother was killed, I vowed that if I should ever care for another person, I would do everything I could to prevent them from joining my mother" he said honestly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

She shook her head slightly, and that familiar comforting smile made its way back onto her face. "Minoru, how many times have i said this before because i think i've lost count. You are NOT going to lose me, alright? If i have to say that one more time i'll stamp it to your forehead," She tried to joke to make things a little easier for the two of them. Although she seemed pretty light-hearted, inside she was panicking. What if she said something wrong? What if she made him mad? Maybe he was still mad but he wasnt showing it? If he could read her mind he would definitely agree with Shia when she said Kurai's biggest flaw was thinking too much instead of just going with the flow. However, that could wait. Right now she just wanted to straighten things out with Minoru so things could go back to the way they were before all of this happened.

"Kurai, after what I have experienced, it's hard for me to believe that. After what I've been through, it's hard to believe you won't leave me" he said as he clenched his fists tightly as he bit his lower lip. Pain was shining in his eyes but not the physical kind of pain but the emotional kind of pain.

She sighed, she figured that the light approach wouldnt work. She couldnt really think of any other way to deal with this. She didnt know what to say, if she did say something it might hurt him even more and thats one thing she couldnt stand doing. So she thought of something slightly different. She cleared her throat. "No, Minoru, i cant blame you...But you need to realise that the past is in the past...And you have to realise that you can trust me," She said softly as she stepped forward, hesitantly hugging him despite his clenched fists and biting his lip. Whether he liked it or not, she was here for him and she was going to be. There was nothing he could say or do that would change her mind at this stage. If there was one thing Kurai had never done, it was back down.

"I do trust you Kurai, I trust you so much, I just don't trust anyone else near you, not even myself. I fear losing you Kurai. If I lost you, I feel that I would finally snap from all that has happened in my life" he said sadly with a gloomy expression on his face as he hugged her back tightly, as if he was afraid she would vanish right before his eyes and never come back.

She listened to everything he said patiently, only being able to console him by hugging him as tightly as he was hugging her. "You need to stop worrying...How long have you known me? A long time, right? I've never disappeared on you, i've never left at all. You never worried this much when we were friends, so why has this worry developed to something so severe over such a short period of time. I'm still not going to disappear. I'm still going to be in that office whenever you need to talk to me." She reminded him as she loosened her grip a little so she could look at him properly. "Minoru, getting right to the point, i'm not going anywhere and you know it," She smiled again, in a slight attempt to try and at least sooth his troubles a tiny bit.

Minoru just stared at her, unblinking. If Kurai used her Kekkei Genkai, she would see that he was having a flashback.

FLASHBACK:

"Minoru-Chan, did you clean up like I asked you to?" questioned one Kushina Uzumaki as a bright, bubbly, smiling 4 year old Minoru came running into the kitchen. "Yes mommy" he said with a bright smile on his face before he frowned. "Mommy?" he questioned her. "Yes Minoru-Chan?" Kushina asked her son with a smile. "You won't leave me will you?" he asked her with wide, innocent eyes. She smiled at him and hugged him. "Of course not my son. I will always be with you. I will not let anyone separate us" she said with a smile as she patted his head. Minoru smiled brightly at her and hugged her back.

She didnt need her kekkei genkai to see something was going on. Whenever he spaced out like this, she knew what he was thinking of. She sighed slightly and felt so guilty that she had to break the eye contact she had with him. Great, this was going well. So far, she'd made him said, she'd hurt him and now she was making him have flashbacks of his mom. Could this 'apology' get any worse? She hoped it couldnt, she already felt bad enough as it was and she was sure that he probably felt 100 times worse. She was just waiting for him to let her go and turn around and walk away. She couldnt blame him. If she'd been more serious right off the bat then maybe things wouldnt have progressed into this sort of situation. So now she needed to apologise for this too? Wow, Kurai, great job.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at her. "I'm sorry Kurai. Those words are just hard for me to believe since my mother said the same thing to me and yet she left me" he said with a frown on his face as he felt his eyes water up, as if was going to cry, something he hasn't done since his mother's death.

She looked up at him again and had to wipe her eyes clean of all negative emotion so he wouldn't feel any worse. "Minoru...We've both lost a lot, too much. Life's been cruel to us. I know what its like for you to have everything you love snatched away from you. Thats another reason why i wouldnt disappear. I've felt that pain and i'd never, EVER inflict that sort of pain on anyone else. Its worse than death...It really is," She said, shocked that she was capable to say as much as she did without the tears starting to well up and a lump rising in her throat. She knew that moment would come, no doubt about it, but right now she was steady. She needed him to know that she was serious about what she said, and he didnt need to worry about it in the way that he was.

"I understand Kurai but maybe if you learned of my past, you will understand why I am the way I am. I am going to tell you about my life" he said as he ran a hand through her hair.

She nodded slightly. Thats what she had been waiting for. He knew all about her life, apart from a few details of course, so she was curious to know about his. Maybe when she found out more about his past, she could help him. "Alright, Minoru but don't push yourself. If there are some details that you dont want to talk about, dont. I wouldn't like you pushing on any parts of your past that you don't like talking about," She said as she looked at him with a determined yet attentive look on her face. As if to show him just how much she would listen, she pushed her bangs away from her eyes so both eyes, regular and inflicted, could easily be seen. She wasn't going to use her kekkei genkai, it was just sort of her way of saying that every single part of her was going to be listening to him now.

"Alright then. My mother hated Minato Namikaze and absolutely refused to get married to him but she was forced to. However, she continued to see my father despite being in an arranged marriage. Minato found out and wanted to find a way to get back at Kushina for cheating so when the Kyuubi attacked, he sealed the Kyuubi in me and had everyone know about the Kyuubi, every man, woman and child and also made a law that forbade people from befriending because if they did, they were to be put to the death. The villagers and even the children feared me, scorned me and hated me, treating me like trash and beating me. So basically, my life was a living hell. My mother was the only good thing in my life since my father Nagato left when he found out I was the Kyuubi container. She was my greatest treasure of all time, one that I cherished and thanked the Shinigami everyday that I still had her. Then, one day, Minato tied me up and forced me to watch as he executed my mother when I was only 6. I cried so hard that night and it was also the last day I cried. I ran from the village and learned everything I could so that I could one day kill my father and Minato for that they did. One day, I modified the Shiki Fuujin on me so that I got all of the Kyuubi's chakra and then released it. I then fought the Kyuubi and killed it and the backlash of it sent me into this dimension, where I met you" he explained to her.

She was silent for a moment or two, still processing everything he had told her. Alright, she knew about his massive chakra stores, and his resentment for Minato, but she had no idea that things ran quite that deep beneath the surface. She suddenly felt guilty. She'd been comparing her own past to his even though hers was nothing but a bad memory compared to what he had to endure. "Minoru...I'm sorry, really. If i'd know how bad it really was, i would've never compared my life to yours," She said with an apologetic look on her face. She placed a comforting hand on his arm and tried to smile. "But...You're in this dimension now. You can start a new life, people don't hate you here. You can really have a chance to shine and show your mother that you've grown," She said to him as she gave his arm a gentle squeeze.