Naruto 1. The First Day

**Chapter 1**

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**Frenzy- HEY EVERYONE! This is my newest story. For those of you that now want to kill me for not updating Another Chance. I am still working on it I just hit a block and this monstrosity got stuck in my head. Other than that. Welcome.**

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'_School's just begun and the problems have already started.'_ Kayla thought as she ducked a punch from her assailant and returned with an uppercut that sent the guy reeling backwards. She grinned demonically thinking of what bones to break but he regained his balance quicker than she expected and retaliated with a kick to the stomach that slammed her into the row of lockers behind her, knocking the wind out of her and sending her head spinning._ 'How am I going to get through the year like this'_ She gasped for breath as the guy began shooting off his mouth. This was the second week at her new school and already fights were becoming more and more common. It had started out fine enough.

* * *

The morning of the first day of school was always difficult. It was ground into the Lore childrens' skulls that first impressions were always important.

That's why Liliko Lore spent her first two hours of the morning getting ready, picking out clothes, doing her make-up and the like. She stood in front of a full-length mirror to examine herself. Black high heel boots that almost made it to her knees, skinny jeans and a tight black tank top that showed off her pale cleavage. A light application of makeup accenting her alluring black eyes and glossy black hair that reached in waves to her mid back. She patted a hint rosemary oil onto her cleavage and wrists and nodded approvingly. As she left her room and headed down the stairs she banged on a door saying loudly, "Kayla-nee if you don't get up your going to make us late."

Michaela Lore rolled out from her mountain of blankets to yell at her twin sister, only to find the bed no longer under her, and fell to the floor. "Oh joy," she grumbled. Groaning she got up and started getting ready. Thoroughly brushing out her ass length black hair she made sure there were no tangles in it, she would never admit it but her hair was very important to her. After finishing her other morning rituals she dressed in baggy cargos, steel-toed work boots, a red long sleeve shirt and a loose black sweater. She applied some kohl eyeliner around her dull blue eyes and walked downstairs, grumbling.

Breakfast was already on the table and Ko was feeding scraps to her black cocker spaniel, Hunter, cooing and baby talking to him.

Kayla shook her head, "he's going to get fat if you keep that up. He's already a wimp cause of all your coddling"

Ko sneered at her sister, "not every pet can be an attack dog like your menace"

Kayla only shrugged and ate her bacon as another girl walked into the kitchen. Munasshi Lore had shoulder length pin straight silver-blue hair and bright blue eyes that were examining a book; she wore formal black dress pants and a grey dress shirt. She sat down and absently nibbled some toast, still enthralled by the book she was reading.

Kayla couldn't help but smirk looking at her two sisters. She could barely see the resemblance between them. Of course her and her twin looked alike except for their eyes and choice of clothing but all three of their attitudes were far from each other. The common thing they shared was their failure to please their father. Their father was the head of their clan and corporate owner of the Lore bodyguard company.

Ko and Kayla resented their father and went out of their way to cause him grief but the eldest Munasshi just didn't have the cutthroat attitude their father wanted her to have, she preferred her books and knowledge. "Ko go change before father sees you" Munasshi said finally placing down her book.

"He's already in the office isn't he? Besides we have to head out to school soon anyways we won't see him till tonight" she retorted eating bits of her breakfast and throwing most of it to her spaniel.

"I'll drive you in" Munasshi said looking between he sisters

Kayla nodded standing and grabbing a bowl of dog food that was sitting by the back door, "Just have to feed Eri and we can go", she left into the backyard and walked to a separately fenced area. As soon as she entered a large dog trotted over and looked up expectantly. Kayla put down the bowl of food and rubbed down the half-wolf earning a wagging tail as he ate. Kayla left happily. She loved her dog. Some people couldn't understand the bond between them. She had saved him off the streets and ever since he only liked her being near and could get very nasty with intruders.

Her sisters were already in the black mustang convertible so she grabbed her school bag and jumped in the back.

When they got to school they parked out front and Munasshi stopped them before they left. "I know you two don't really care about the business, but dad's trying to close a deal with one of the big companies in Konoha, and I know for a fact that the heirs of most of the companies go to this school. So please try not to cause too much havoc before he seals a deal. Just in case."

Ko smiled, "I don't cause trouble Nee-chan do you?" she said faking innocence.

Kayla opened the car door not really paying attention, "Damn right I do"

Ko face palmed and got out of the car.

Munasshi looked stern, "Kayla I'm serious"

Kayla stopped watching the different people walk by and looked at her sister, "So am I", but before she could walk away she was tackled in a hug by a multi-coloured blur.

"HI! I can't believe you guys are back!" said the ecstatic girl.

Munasshi smiled, "Hello Kina-chan, keep them out of trouble for me, will you?"

"Aye aye Mon Capitan~" Kina cheered still holding onto a very annoyed Kayla.

Tsukina Daisu had short spiky brown hair; a wide Cheshire cat grin and no sense of what colours did or didn't go together. She wore steam punk goggles with orange lenses, bright knee high green socks, jean shorts, an orange fitted t-shirt and convers that had been attacked by every colour of sharpie known to man. Not only were their dads' close colleagues but also they used to go to the same school before Kayla and Ko's dad had decided to open a branch company in Kiri and move there for 5 years. Kina's family made all the newest technology in the Land of Fire and Kina always got to test the prototypes.

Munasshi drove off leaving the three there and Kina bounced off of Kayla, "you guys HAVE to meet my friends!" she giggled and skipped down the lawn backwards motions for the twins to follow. Ko and Kayla followed much less enthusiastically.

They made it to an area with a tree and a picnic bench and Kina went pinballing into the group of people there. Kina bounced back out and pointed to each person in turn, "Kayla, Ko. This is Naruto," someone with similar colour problems as Kina that looked like he had whisker marks on his cheeks, "Sakura, Ino," Two arguing girls, "Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru" a shy cobalt haired girl and a wild looking boy beside her holding a white puppy, "Shino, Rock Lee," a boy in thick hooded jackets and glasses, and a guy in green spandex, orange leg warmers, a bowl cut and large caterpillar eyebrows. Kayla actually stared at this one trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or if he really looked like that. "Shikamaru, Choji," a sleeping guy sitting under the tree and a chubby boy sitting beside him eating chips, "TenTen and Temari" she finished pointing out a girl with her brown hair in two buns sharpening a kunai and a girl with her dirty blonde hair in four pigtails who nodded in response. "Guys" Kina finished, "this is Ko and Kayla Lore"

Ko walked forward and began her social butterfly-ness. Kayla stood back and tried to pick out the different clan names. _'Hinata is the Hyuuga heiress I'm sure. That Shikamaru is probably a Nara. Kiba looks like an Inuzuka-'_

Her thoughts were cut short when Temari walked over to her. "Not into crowds?" she guessed

Kayla shook her head guessing the rest of everyone's names before looking at Temari, "That's more Ko's thing. She got the social skills..."

Tem raised an eyebrow, "and you got?"

"Fighting prowess" Kayla grinned

Temari laughed, "We'll have to spar some time"

Kayla nodded attempting to smile, "What's your last name?" she asked bluntly

Temari looked at her in confusion.

Kayla looked back at the group of people, "I know all the Konoha clans, I used to live here but you don't seem familiar at all"

Temari nodded, "Subaku. Me and my brothers moved here a couple years ago."

"From Suna?" Kayla asked in surprise

Temari nodded. "How'd you guess?" she hoped she hadn't heard about her brothers and her before.

"5 years ago when my father was deciding where to move part of the company, he mentioned not going to Suna because Subakus were there" she said recalling the memory

Temari looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. "Your sister's very popular already" she smirked.

Kayla looked and sure enough they were all crowded around Ko, the guys showing off and talking loudly, even Shikamaru had his eyes open. Kayla glared and walked into the crowd grabbing her sister, "alright that's enough we have to get our timetables before you get eaten alive by hormonal boys" she muttered pulling her sister away and scaring off all the guys with death glares.

Naruto stepped forward, unaffected, "I'll show you where the office is!"

Kayla nearly gaped; her glares could scare off wild pigs at the worst of times. Ko smiled, "Alright, lead the way"

Ko laughed as he led the way talking about anything and everything. It took Kayla a few seconds to recover from her shock, but she caught up easily enough. When they got to the office Ko stepped forward to the woman sitting at the desk writing, "Excuse me. We need our timetables"

The overworked woman looked up, she had shoulder length black hair and the same coloured eyes, "What's your last name?"

"Lore" Kayla replied

"Michaela and Liliko" Ko said as she started sifting through papers.

"Ah here they are" she handed them to Ko, "have a good day, hurry the bell is about to go" the warning bell rang and she chuckled a little at the timing.

Ko handed Kayla hers as they left the office, they only had one class together. First period English with Jiraiya-sensei.

Naruto glanced at Ko's. "Cool" he said excitedly, "we have the same first period!"

"Awesome" Kayla said sarcastically under her breath

"Let's go then" Ko smiled.

The bell rang as they were walking down the hallways, they were only a couple minutes late but the teacher seemed to be in full swing of a speech when Naruto burst through the door. "Hey Pervy Sage" Naruto said walking into the classroom.

Jiraiya looked over in annoyance. "Naruto sit down. Why on earth are you late I saw you earlier"

"Relax sensei I was helping these girls find the office," he said motioning to the two behind him.

"More lovely girls are always welcome to – Master Jiraiya's classroom," he said dramatically. Naruto fake vomited and ran to the back of the class where most of the group from the morning was sitting.

"So what are your names?" Jiraiya asked looking at the two.

"I'm Ko Lore and that's my sister Kayla" Ko said.

A few people started muttering to their neighbors. Kayla stopped them with a glare, she had expected that, they had been home schooled most of their life because their family was very picky with schools but Ko had demanded to go to high school even if they hopped in at grade 10.

"Would you like to tell the class something about yourself?" Jiraiya continued unfazed.

Ko smiled looking over the class, "I _love_ making new friends" she winked at Naruto.

Kayla glared at her sister, "I don't"

Ko rolled her eyes and they traveled to the back of the class. Naruto saved Ko a seat beside him in the second last row and Kayla stole the seat behind Ko. She was sitting beside a guy with red hair, insomnia marks around his eyes and a kanji on his forehead.

"Now as I was saying…" Jiraiya continued on in his speech about writing and inspiration.

Kayla kept her head down and doodled in her notebook. She plugged in her music and zoned out. She felt a tap on her shoulder a while later and looked up angrily. It was Kina.

"HI! Bell rang!" she chirped.

"Meeting at lunch?" she asked, standing and seeing her sister still talking with Naruto.

Kina nodded excitedly. "We all have different classes but we should meet at the picnic table." Kayla nodded. "Good I'll tell Ko" Kina said, already bouncing over.

Ko smiled in agreement and walked off with Naruto who wanted to show her to her classes. Kayla grimaced and exchanged 'good luck' with Kina before they headed in opposite directions.

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Ko was being pulled along by Naruto and still managed to look graceful. She could sense eyes on her and liked it that way. Naruto turned to her and grinned goofily, "So what class do you have?"

"Science" she replied smiling at his smile.

"Great we're going the right way. I meant to do that" he scratched the back of his head.

Ko laughed.

"Hey dobe, what are you doing here?" someone demanded from the room they were approaching.

"I'm helping Ko-chan, teme. She's new to the school," Naruto said

Ko looked between the two. They were complete opposites. The other guy was now checking her out. He had black-blue hair with bangs and spiked to deny gravity in the back. He was dressed in a navy shirt and white jeans. His black eyes met hers as he spoke, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha"

Ko couldn't help but blush a little, he was cute. "Liliko Lore but I go by Ko," she said softly. _'An Uchiha hmm?'_

Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Sasuke.

Ko turned to him and touched his shoulder, "thank you for your help Naruto-kun, I'll see you at lunch" then she walked into the Science room with Sasuke.

* * *

Kina made it to math class and sat at the first open table between a sleeping Shikamaru and Sakura who was furiously copying the note Asuma sensei was writing on the board. Kina started to fidget.

Kina pulled out her Zippo lighter and turned it over in her hands. It had a flame design that turned into a panther.

She looked around the class. People were taking notes or quietly talking in the back. She watched Asuma sensei. He gave off a no nonsense aura but still she could stop fidgeting.

Looking to the sleeping boy beside her then down to her Zippo she grinned and lit it while the teacher wasn't looking.

She leaned over and just as she was going to singe the tips of his hair Sakura raised her hand and called out to the teacher, "Asuma sensei! She's going to light Shikamaru on fire!" she pointed at Kina.

Kina put away her lighter quickly as the teacher looked back disapprovingly and Shikamaru woke up. Running a hand through her spiky hair she couldn't help but think _'This is going to be a long year'_

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Kayla had her eyes on the clock. She enjoyed her class but the teacher, Kurenai sensei, had given the class the last 5 minutes to be free and it was getting loud. Not only that but the guy that was sitting beside her was starting to annoy her. He was wearing purple face paint and kept looking at her like she was a puzzle.

Two boys that were sitting at the table behind her arguing about the meaning of art and they seemed to have hit an impasse. Not that they didn't stop trying. They just kept getting louder.

Kayla didn't think she could take another minute of this when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She flinched at being touched and turned around to glare at the two. "What?"

"Hey un. Which is better art? One that exsists briefly in a moment of power or something that stays the same forever, yeah?" the blonde said.

Kayla shrugged. "Both are interesting. Depends on the effect your going for whether you want it to be invigorating or calming."

The redhead didn't seem impressed and 'hmph'ed going back to the design he was working on.

But the blonde nodded and grinned, "I'm Deidara and this is Sasori, yeah"

"Kayla" she said turning to her sketchbook.

"So what do you do, un?" Deidara asked leaning to look over her shoulder at her book.

"Just sketchwork" she said flipping to a finished page. A picture of her sister spinning happily in a flowing dress. It looked realistic for a pencil sketch. The bell rang and Kayla gratefully gathered her stuff and started walking.

Deidara caught up to her in the hallways, "your new to Konoha, yeah?"

"I used to live here, but its changed" she said stopping at her locker and dropping off her books and getting her lunch.

"So what do you think, un" Deidara said following her down the hall

"What the hell is my sister doing with that Uchiha bastard!" she said taking off down the hallway.

Deidara followed close behind her

Ko was walking side by side with Sasuke Uchiha and seemed to be enjoying it. Kayla ran to her side and stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her away from Sasuke. "Liliko stop!"

Surprised by the full name Ko looked at her sister, "What are you doing Michaela."

Kayla froze as Sasuke looked their way and recognision passed his face. It was Deidara who came to the rescue, "Hey Uchiha, fuck off, yeah"

"Hn why should I crossdresser?" Sasuke said cooly.

"I'll get Itachi-san to kick your ass again, yeah" Deidara said threateningly.

Sasuke glared for a minute then looked back at Ko, "Later" he said before walking off and into a group of preps.

Kayla let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Thanks Deidara-san"

"What was that about nee-san" Ko said angrily

"What were you doing with him!" Kayla snapped just as angrily

"He's in my Science class we got to talking" Ko said in a dignified tone

"Stay away from him Ko" Kayla said warningly

"Aww does my little sister have a crush" Ko cooed

"NO! I hate Uchihas" Kayla noticed Deidara grinned when she said this, "I'll explain later. This is Deidara he's in my Art class"

Ko smiled at Deidara, "ohh artsy guy. Cute"

Deidara looked at Kayla as if to say _'is she serious?'_

Kayla rolled her eyes, "shes always like that. Lets go find the others." They walked to the picnic table where the group was already congrigating.

Deidara stopped short and said, "I'll see you later, yeah"

Kayla looked a little confused but nodded and waved.

They walked to the picnic table and Ko sat beside Naruto while Kayla leaned against the tree. She was looking over her afternoon classes when she heard two shrieks of "SASUKE-KUN!" come from the table and she looked up. True enough Sasuke was making his way over and he sat on Ko's other side.

Everyone began talking again but Kayla kept a close eye on her sister. One thought going through her head the whole time. _'who do I kill. Sasuke or Naruto. Naruto or Sasuke. Who does she like, who should I kill'_

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Frenzy- I'd really appreciate feedback. I am aware that High school theme is over done but I couldn't help it. There will be quite a few OCs in this story but don't let that scare you. Till next Week. R&R


	2. The First Day part 2

**Chapter 2**

**Frenzy- here's this week's chapter. I wanna thank my unofficial beta Kaowaul. And the two reviewers: heartlessRayne and forever-sweet. You guys made me so excited to put the next chapter up. Enjoy.**

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Lunch ended with both Naruto and Sasuke telling Ko they'd walk her to her next class.

Kayla was starting to get extremely annoyed but Kina popped in front of her and grabbed her timetable. "Awesome we have the whole afternoon together!"

Kayla couldn't decide whether this was a good thing or not. Kina was a great friend but she was annoyingly loud.

"Let's go. If we're late Anko-sensei will be mad. Come on TenTen-chan!" Kina said pulling Kayla away. Kayla watched her sister for as long as she could and she saw Sasuke send her a smirk before she was pulled into the school and down the hall. TenTen was nice and Kayla immidiately got into a debate over sharp weapons vs. blunt weapons on the way to class.

When they did get into the class Kina pointed out the teacher and Kayla's jaw dropped. Anko was in the middle of arranging a large display of weapons but it was what she was wearing that had Kayla near blushing, "Is she not- What's that- Is that only fishnet?" she whispered reffering to the shirt under the techers open trench coat.

Kina looked at the teacher again, "I never noticed"

Kayla mentally facepalmed and sat down at one of the work tables.

The door opened and Kina bounced excitedly to the guy that just entered. "Kanky-kun" she chirped.

Kayla looked over, it was the guy with purple face paint from her art class. She didn't feel like being stared at again so she turned back to the front only to find another familiar face.

"Hey, un" Deidara said

"Oh. Hey Deidara-san, Sasori-san" she said seeing Sasori beside him as well.

Before either could say anything else the bell rang signalling classes to start. Kina sat down at the worktable beside Kayla's as the teacher looked at each student. "Alright Maggots! I'm Anko and this is weapons class so I don't want any idiots goofing off and messing around. These weapons are dangerous and anyone stupid enough to forget will be kicked out. Everyone get a sharpening kit and a dull kunai off the desk and practice while I do the attendance." She nearly yelled. Kayla liked her style.

By the end of class a few people had been kicked out, true to Anko's words, and Kina had introduced Kayla to Kankuro, who she found out wasn't trying to be creepy by staring, only curious.

At the end of class Deidara caught her again and told her to meet up with him after school so she could meet his friends which she agreed to ignoring to mutterings of her other friends. Kankuro, TenTen, Kina and Kayla walked to their next class together, which the three also shared, it was a popular course apparently.

They had to split up to the change rooms. Kayla changed to gym clothes where no one could see her and started braiding her hair. She saw Sakura and Temari changing as well. Most of the girls were changing to shorts and t-shirts. Kayla had long sleeves and pants that were made of light cotton so she wouldn't overheat.

She walked into the gym with Temari and Kina. There was a good amount of people warming up and a larger version of Lee shouting instructions at people. Kayla was surprised out of all reason.

"You get used to Guy-sensei don't worry." Temari said seeing the look on her face. "Gaara, Kankuro!" she called to two guys. They made their way over. Temari introduced them to Kayla as her brothers and they all started warming up. Kayla realized that they were both in morning classes with her.

They paused in their warm up at the sound of two voices.

"Lee-kun!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee-kun!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee-kun!"

"Guy-sensei!"

"Lee-kun!"

"Guy-sensei!"

It continued and Kayla looked at Temari. "What's with the sunset?"

"I don't really know" Temari replied

"Alright my youthful students!" Guy said zealously "Let the flames of youth exhilarate you and run 10 laps! Then break into youthful partners and spar using only hand-to-hand combat!"

This was met with "Yes Guy-sensei!" from Lee and groans from everyone else.

During the 10 laps Kayla decided two things. She hated running and she was going to give Kina an attitude adjustment as soon as they could spar.

Kina had decided to use the 10 laps to easily run backwards facing Kayla just out of reach talking and giving Kayla a headache.

After everyone was done running, the pairs of sparring partners were put into lines facing each other with plenty of space between each so the fights wouldn't interfere with neighboring battles. Kayla and Kina had paired up on Kayla's request, to Kayla's right Shikamaru and Choji were paired and to the left was Temari and TenTen.

"Start!" Guy yelled.

Kayla rushed at Kina blocking out any distraction of the fights around her. Kina barely dodged and the game began. Kayla on the attack trying to find an opening and Kina dodging and twisting every which way trying to tire her out and making it look like a dance.

Finding her opening she faked a punch to deke then dropped to the floor kicking out her legs and tripping Kina. When Kina fell forwards Kayla grabbed her wrists and locked them behind her back.

"OK I give!" Kina said feeling Kayla start to raise her wrists to between her shoulderblades.

They stood up and looked around, most people were finishing their sparring.

Guy looked around the room and yelled out, "Alright my youthful students, everyone who started with their back to the wall, move to the right to your next partner." He said.

Kina's line moved and now Temari was standing infront of Kayla. "We did say we needed to spar" Kayla grinned

Guy sensei looked to make sure everyone had their partners then yelled, "Start!"

Kayla sprung forward trying to not give Temari any time to think. Temari stayed right in the way of the charge grabbing the tops of Kayla's sleeves and rolling back with the momentum. Temari kicked her foot to meet Kayla's hip and threw her over with a perfect tomoe nage.

Kayla landed flat on her back with the wind knocked out of her. She groaned rolling on the floor trying to breathe.

Temari got up and stuck her hand out to help Kayla up. Kayla took in grudgingly as soon as she could breathe again, "That was a short match"

"You shouldn't be so predictable" Temari said.

"I'll remember that" Kayla coughed. They sat and waited for everyone else to finish, talking quietly and catching their breaths.

"Last Switch!" Guy sensei yelled.

Kayla and Temari shook hands and Temari moved to fight Shikamaru. Kina was standing with Kankuro on the other side of Temari waiting to start. Looking to her other side she saw TenTen and Neji preparing to battle and further on Naruto and Sasuke. _'oh the irony'_ she thought cynically. Streching and readying herself once more she noticed that her opponent was now Temari's little brother, Gaara. She grinned as Guy sensei yelled "Start" and she jumped into battle, not full force like she had with Temari but enough to threaten. The battle was an even one, they both attacked only to be blocked by the other at every point. Neither making any progress. They jumped back from each other catching their breaths. Guy looked at the clock, noticing it was almost time to end class and yelled out, "finishing up your battles, you may use any jutsus or specialties in youthful sportsmanship. No going for the kill in class"

To Kayla's left chakra strings flew everywhere from both Kankuro and Kina. Some a firey red, some glowing blue.

Kayla grinned and tried to summon her clan's extra strength. Her irises turned black before she had all she could grasp. She burst forward with extra speed and savagery ready to win and a burst of sand sent her flying back into the wall. Gaara was smirking. She growled bounding forward to attack again and the sand stopped her from getting too near. Tentrils of sand attacked and she weeved between them trying to get close enough to hit the red-head. One of the tendrils shot from the floor straight up and Kayla barely blocked it with her forearms ripping her shirt sleeves and causing a bleeding wound. She saw Gaara's smirk grow as she felt anger course through her making her vision more red. Their attacks became more vicious and it was clear if either got through the others defence there was going to be more blood spilled. Vaugely she thought she heard a bell ring but both kept fighting.

That is until the loud commanding voice of Guy sensei paired with a well placed leaf-whirlwind sent them both away from each other. Kayla shook her head changing her eye colour back to the dull blue and clearing the angry haze and Gaara slowly dropped his sand.

"I called matte. You two go to the principle and fix that unyouthful attitude now."

Kayla sighed trying to tie her sleeves back together over the wounds, "Like hell I am. It's the end of the day I'm going home" she murmured to herself. She hoped that no one noticed her flushed face because she was accutely aware of the way her skin was tingling. She hadn't fought with that much passonate emotion in a long time.

"Lee-kun, you will escort both of them to the office" Gai sensei said catching her comment

Lee jumped forward at the order, "I will not fail you Gai-sensei!"

Gaara shot her a glare and she felt her skin crawl even more. The walk to the office would have been silent if it weren't for Lee listing off youthful reasons to listen to Guy sensei.

They got to the office and Shizune pointed the to a door that had a plaque that said –Vice Principle Ibiki-. Gaara walked in and Kayla had a sneeking suspicion he'd done this before. Kayla followed after him an the VP watched them as they sat at the chairs across him desk. Kayla couldn't help but stare. He was bald but that was probably due to the scars and burn marks adorning his scalp. Gaara zoned out waiting for it to end.

"I was told you disobeyed Guy in class" Ibiki said in an authoritative voice. There was silence as neither student answered. "We all want to go home. Either you tell me what happened or we can stay here till its dealt with." He said more threateningly.

Kayla looked at the clock on the office wall. Munasshi would be waiting to pick her and Ko up and she still needed to meet up with Deidara. She kept quiet thinking over the actions that got her into this mess. _'Getting lost in a fight! What an ameteur mistake'_ she thought harshly.

A knock at the door broke her thought and Munasshi and Temari poked their heads in. "I'm here to pick up my sister" Munasshi stated

Kayla could've danced. _'Praise the all knowing sister'_

Ibiki looked like he had a problem with that arangment but Munasshi continued, "be assured sir that she won't be getting off easy because of this. I will personally make sure of that"

Kayla stopped her mental rejoice.

"Gaara too" Temari said adding in her two cents and looking crossly at her brother.

Ibiki nodded and they all left. Kayla shot a glare at Gaara. _'It was his fault for drawing me into the fight' _she thought angrily. Gaara and Temari left for the student parking and Kayla and Munasshi continued to the front of the school where Ko was alreay waiting in the Mustang.

Kayla looked around and saw Deidara and Sasori with a group of people. "I'll be right back O-nee. I need to talk to someone" Kayla said walking towards Deidara.

Munasshi nodded and continued to the car.

Kayla approched the group cautiously, "Deidara-san? Sasori-san?"

She inwardly cringed when 10 pairs of eyes looked over at her.

She heard a silver haired guy say "who the fuck is this?" before Deidara came to her aid.

He stood beside her and faced the group, "This is Kayla. Kayla-chan this is Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame, Itachi, Tobi, Zetsu, Konan and Pain, yeah" he said pointing to person in turn. They greeted her and Deidara slung an arm around her shoulders, "So how about you hang out with us, un?"

Kayla removed his arm and looked back at her waiting sisters. She saw some other students eyeing the group nervously and grinned. She nodded and waved at her sisters to tell them to leave without her. Kayla and the rest walked to a black van she breifly noticed the red cloud bumpersticker

"Why the fuck is another slut coming with us" Hidan grunted getting into the back of the van.

"Whats a matter old man? Afraid a girl is gonna kick your ass" Kayla said following into the van. Kakuzu laughed. Pain chuckled as he started driving with Konan in shotgun.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN OLD MAN YOU FUCKING HEATHEN!" Hidan shouted. Everyone laughed.

Tobi pointed at Hidan's hair and giggled, "Tobi thinks she means your gray hair Hidan-san!"

"Its silver you assholes! Its always been that colour!" they drove to the mall and all of them agreed to go to the arcade. Then to the art store and then they just walked around getting to know each other. Kayla was surprised when she noticed that almost everywhere they went cleared out soon after they got there but the others didn't seem to be bothered by it.

* * *

Later that night the van stopped infront of Kayla's house and she got out of the packed van. "Damn that was fun! See you later" she waved walking up the path to her house. Apparently half of them had already graduated and only stopped by the school to pick up Deidara, Sasori, Tobi, Hidan and Kakuzu. Kayla couldn't stop grinning. She finally had some friends that didn't fawn over her sister. She walked in the door and snuck up to her room hoping not to gain any attention of her family. As she opened her bedroom door the hall light turned on and both her sisters looked at her with their arms crossed. Kayla sighed in defeat and all three walked into her room. Kayla and sat on her bed and Ko hopped beside her while Munasshi sat at Kayla's computer desk.

Munasshi crossed her legs and watched Kayla stare around the room.

"I do need to talk to you about your fight today." She said keepng her voice even. "I don't know what or if you were thinking at the time but if you lose your head in a fight again I'll have to tell dad to put you through more training."

Kayla's head snapped forward and she stared wide eyed at her sister.

"But," she continued, "since this is the first time it's happened we'll keep it between us three."

Kayla relaxed again and ran a hand through her hair looking down into her lap.

"Imouto" Munasshi spoke softly. Kayla looked at her. "Those people you were with are not people that can be trusted"

Kayla glared, "Just cause they're older than me doesn't mean they can't be trusted"

"No Kayla really" Ko said trying to explain, "they really aren't good people. They're part of a-" Kayla cut her off

"No Ko. Who really isn't a good person is Sasuke. I need to tell you about him before he gets you"

"Before he gets me?" Ko laughed

"Do you remember when I came up here 3 years ago to visit Kina for a few weeks?" Kayla asked. Both her sisters nodded. "I met Sasuke back then. He had me wrapped around his every whim within a week. If it suits him he'll throw you under a bus. He'll do anything, no matter who it hurts, to gain power. Ko you need to stay away from him. He has more issues than the X-men comics."

There was silence in the room for what seemed like hours. Ko grabbed Kayla's shoulders and hugged her. Kayla sat stifly in the hug. "Kayla, thank you for caring, but I can handle boys. Don't worry"

Kayla rolled her eyes. _'great' _

"so if you don't bother me about my guy friends, I won't bother you about your gang friends, ok?" Ko said sweetly hopping off the bed and pulling Munasshi to the door.

Kayla blinked a few times trying to process Ko's quick change from calming to bubbly. "ok?"

"good" Ko said skipping out.

'_I guess I'll have to watch both of them now'_ Munasshi thought calmly shutting the door and walking back to her room.

Kayla sat in her bed silently for a few minutes before it hit her, "Gang?"

* * *

**Frenzy- I have so much fun writing the different akatsuki members especially Hidan! reveiws are very loved. I hope it didn't suck... If characters or something gets confusing tell me and I'll explain as best I can. Till next week! R&R**


	3. Stress and Parties

**Chapter 3**

**Frenzy- Hey peoples. Sorry for the lateness. But in return a nice long chapter! I hope its good. I'm not very happy with the ending but I couldn't stand not updateing. Thanks to Kaowaul for looking through this and helping me out and thanks to ****heartlessRayne and forever-sweet for reviewing again. And one more thanks for adding this to story alert. You know who you are. Enough of my boring A.N.**

* * *

Over the next weeks Kayla had a constant vigil of keeping scum away from her sister unless told otherwise like she had been with Sasuke and Naruto.

Classes were easy enough but Kayla learned to dread her first and last classes where she would always end up in a rivalry with Gaara and there was no doubt they would get in trouble for it. They had kept out of the office since the first day and both Jiraiya sensei and Guy sensei had different opinions on the matter.

Whenever they started to face off in English class Jiraiya sensei would start speaking in innuendos and call it lovers spats which threw the class into giggles and shut both Gaara and Kayla up for the rest of the period.

In last period they learned quickly to keep their differences non-lethal and Guy sensei began speaking of them as youthful rivals like himself and another teacher.

If she wasn't watching Ko, doing homework or drawing, Deidara would drag her along to hang out with his friends and shes spend the rest of the night goofing off with them. That was the times she could always calm down.

* * *

At lunch on Friday Kayla had been walking with Ko when a guy started following them through the halls. Ko hadn't noticed or minded and when Kayla mentioned it Ko had only called her paranoid.

"Just cause I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't watching" Kayla smirked back. When they reached Ko's locker the guy had stopped and leaned on the lockers beside her, "Hey babe how about you and me skip some classes together"

Ko smiled at the attention but continued to get her lunch from her locker. _'Here we go again'_

Kayla shoved the guy away, "Back off jackass"

The guy stood back in a fighting stance, "I've seen your ploy. I just gotta get through the bitch bodyguard before I can have the babe"

Kayla inwardly groaned. Useless fights could get her in trouble._ 'If Ko didn't enjoy catching all this attention I wouldn't get into these messes.' _The guy charged and she dodged elbowing him in the stomach.

'_School's just begun and the problems have already started.'_ Kayla thought as she ducked a punch from her assailant and returned with an uppercut that sent the guy reeling backwards. She grinned demonically thinking of what bones to break but he regained his balance quicker than she expected and retaliated with a kick to the stomach that slammed her into the row of lockers behind her knocking the wind out of her and sending her head spinning. _'How am I going to get through the year like this'_ She gasped for breath as the guy began shooting off his mouth. His last comment made her fists tighten so much her nails cut into her palms and her irises flash solid black.

"Bedding you sister will be even sweeter after beating you to a pulp" He grinned looking confident.

She lunged at him feeling a semi-familiar pain pierce the right-top side of her head as a twisted horn grew, the colour of dried blood. Shock grew on his face as he was lifted by his shirtfront off the ground. Punching him across the face she felt a satisfying crunch of cartilage and bone.

But it wasn't enough.

She wanted him to remember this pain when he so much as thought of her sister.

The black seeped into the whites of her eyes covering the whole surface and a grin grew on her face.

Suddenly it wasn't the same want that drove her. No. She just wanted to inflict pain on the one that challenged her. She wanted him to bleed. Wanted to crush cartilage and snap bones. Tear flesh and explode veins.

She pulled her fist back to strike across his bleeding jaw once more but found it immobile. She looked over her shoulder to see what dared stopped her and saw what looked like a gigantic black butterfly with leathery wings.

Kayla dropped the guy trying to pull her arm away from the creature but its wings surrounded her, wrapping her tightly. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, couldn't see. Her consciousness slipped into he dark.

* * *

Kayla opened her eyes in panic, Ko held her shoulder soothingly. "Like my genjutsu?" she asked quietly. She was back against the lockers away from the crowd.

Kina, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankuro, Naruto and Kiba were clearing away the crowd before it attracted more attention. The guy she had been fighting was on the ground with Deidara and Hidan standing on either side. The guy looked ready to piss himself with Hidan swearing at him.

Kayla shook herself to get rid of the rest of the haze and felt the adrenaline slowly leach away leaving her shaking slightly. She stood with Ko's help and looked at the guy's bloody face. What she had wanted to do to him washed over her in waves. And the horn had grown. She ran a hand through her hair to make sure it was gone. It scared her sick having that as a part of her. She looked around at the people helping her. No. _'Helping my sister.'_ She mentally corrected. She looked at her twin with desperation.

"They didn't see you like that don't worry. I stopped you when I heard them coming." Ko said to put her sister at ease.

The crowd was cleared and the guy scrambled away. _'Won't be seeing him again.'_

She jumped when she felt a friendly slap on her back. "Wow Kayla-chan you got him really good. You okay?" It was Naruto. Everyone else made similar sentiments. Deidara and Hidan were still standing back, seperated from the other group. Kayla waved them closer and no one protested outloud. "Fuck man, you had that asshole scared shitless" Hidan grinned.

Shikamaru scowled at him but everyone else laughed seemingly at ease. Kayla looked around the group and realized with slight shock that all these people were her friends and did actually care.

At this point Naruto's stomach interuped everyone to remind them they were missing lunch. Everyone started towards their usual eating spot and Deidara and Hidan waved at Kayla and left in a different direction.

Kayla lagged behind the group trying to wave off the shakes and paranoia she felt after using her dark power. She couldn't help but think someone, anyone, would sneak up on her to punish her for it. That's why she jumped and got ready to run when she felt something grainy grip her wrist. Looking down she recognised Gaara's sand holding her back from catching up to the group.

Before she could open her mouth he started to talk. "I saw your fight"

She hadn't seen him helping or anywhere nearby. This definitely wasn't helping her paranoia. "S-so" she stuttered cursing herself for not being able to keep her cool.

"What was that change" he demanded. What happened confused him. Not that he would admit it. He knew all the demon holders thanks to Naruto's magnetic personality. she wasn't one but she had a physical change and seemed to lose control like one. He wanted to know why and instead of answering him she was quaking in his sand's grip.

"I don't know what you're talking about" she choked out trying to pull away.

Gaara darkened feeling the fear and desperation radiating off of her. What happened to the dominating, aggressive girl that challenged his every move and made Shukaku growl behind his cage. This wasn't the same person. "Pathetic" He growled out barely more than a whisper.

The sand fell away and he walked past her not caring where his feet carried him. Unfortunately that was where Naruto and his siblings were eating with their circle of friends.

Naruto was talking animatedly with his mouth full to Ko who either wasn't disgusted by the threat of flying food or hid it extremely well. She stared out past everyone to the road for a second after Gaara approched before paying attention to the conversation again.

"Where'd Kayla go? I was thinking of going down to weapons class early for some extra credit. I thought she'd be up for it too" TenTen asked

"She probably headed home early. She's had an overly exciting day" Ko replied knowingly.

Gaara glanced descreetly in the direction Ko had looked but saw nothing of interest.

"How do you know if she left?" Naruto asked still managing to stuff his face.

"Twin's intuiton" Ko smiled.

"I wish I had that!" Naruto grinned

"Wouldn't you need a twin?" Kina chirped. A collective groan sounded as everyone imagined another Naruto.

"I've found the twins I know have opposing personalities. So you'd probably have a twin that was like... Sasuke or Gaara" Ko said after a moment of thought.

"That would be so cool eh Gaara? Believe It!" Naruto yelled

Gaara decided it was safer mentally, not to follow that train of thought.

"Speaking of you" Ko grinned at Gaara, like a predator toying with it's prey, "What were you and Kayla talking about back there, Red?" she chuckled at the little nickname.

"Don't call me that. We were talking about her fight" he replied

Ko pouted disappointedly.

* * *

Kayla ran as soon as he was out of sight. Her skin was crawling and her mind reeling. In any other situation she would have fought back for her pride but the tranformation made her afraid. It had been the bane of her exsistance for 6 years. A family trait. She just hoped he could keep his mouth shut about it.

She ran off school property, pulling up her hoodie hoping her sister wouldn't see her and making a beeline for the road. Anger started to over power fear as she got farther away from the school. She dragged her knuckles over the brick building she passed. 'I'm not that pathetic am I? It's not like he's the first to say it...' She kicked the bumper of an expensive looking red car to vent her frustrasions.

"HEY, UN! Who the hell do you think you are kicking my car, yeah." A familiar voice rang at her.

Kayla looked up in surprise. "Deidara-san?" she said pulling back her hoodie.

"Oh Kayla-chan, I didn't recognise you, yeah! But really, why go around kicking people's cars, un?" he said scratching the back of his head, "Unless your looking for trouble, yeah" he stepped infront of her trying to read the look on her face.

"No I'm sorry, I'm just stressed. I wasn't thinking" She explained vaugely.

"Does it have to do with the fight, un? You know if your skipping anyway why don't you come with me, yeah? It's Pain's birthday soon but we're having the party early yeah." He grinned.

"Nah, I don't crash parties, besides I don't have a present for him or anything."

"Don't be stupid Kay-chan. Get in, I promise you'll forget all about the fight by the end of the night, yeah." Deidara said opening the passengers door of his car.

Kayla thought it over for a few moments then got in. Deidara grinned again getting in and speeding off to the party.

He pulled the car over at a plain looking building and got out, opened the car door for Kayla, and led her to the door of the building. He knocked in a pattern and the door opened reveiling a beefy bouncer.

"She's with me, yeah" Deidara said.

The bodyguard shrunk back into the shadows and the two walked in. The room was dark other than spinning strobe lights. More lights began to flash and music started. Kayla squinted trying to take in the dark room and realized the center of the room was a lowered dance floor filled with a writhing, pulsing crowd.

Deidara grabbed her arm and pulled her along the edge of the room to a circle of black lounge chairs. The rest of the group was already seated.

Deidara pulled her to sit next to him and started talking with Sasori. Itachi and Kisame were in the midst of a drinking contest that Hidan and Kakzu were betting on. She shifted nervously and spoke. "Happy birthday Pain-san. I hope I'm not intruding or anything."

"No not at all" the orange-haired man said lifting a drink that was most obviosly alcoholic, "please enjoy yourself" Konan was closely pressed to his side and Kayla felt even more out of place. _'Social settings and alcohol. Great.' _She thought bitterly. "Hey Hidan." She called over the music.

"What the fuck do you want" Hidan said looking away from the drinking match.

"I never got to thank you for helping me out back at school. So thanks" she finished lamely.

"Hey even for a fucking heathen like you. If you need any help we're here for ya" Kisame fell backwards in his chair and Hidan let out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in the comfy chair trying to let the pulse of the music calm her. The bass was especially loud and she could feel the floor shake to the beat.

Tobi jumped up as the song changed, "Tobi wants to dance!" Everyone ignored him. Tobi bounced over to Itachi only to be shooed away, so he grabbed Kayla's hand. "Dance!" he yelled. Kayla pulled her hand out of his grasp as if burned.

"Hey, un leave her alone" Deidara glared at Tobi.

"But Deidara-sempai!" Tobi whined. She breathed a sigh of relief as Tobi sulked away.

"If anyones gonna dance with her its me, un" Deidara grinned and pulled her out of her chair.

Her eyes widened and she tried to talk him out of pulling her into the pulsing crowd. "Deidara-san I don't dance, really, your just going to embarrass us, I-"

"Deidara-kun" he said as they entered he crowd. "Call me Deidara-kun, yeah"

She blushed heavily as she half-heartedly glared at him, "Fine Deidara-_kun _I don't want to dance"

"It'll be fun Kayla-chan, yeah" he smirked. He gripped her hips moving her to the beat of the music. She could feel the odd deformities in his hands and pulled away quickley.

She could feel the body heat and presence of every person around and her breath sped up. The walls were closing in. She closed her eyes to fight off the dizzyness. "Sorry Deidara-kun I have to go." She ran out of the crowd and out of the building passing the doorman without a glance and into the fresh air. Leaning on Deidara's car she took deep calming breaths keeping her eyes on her feet. Even after the short time in that situation a layer of sweat had settled on her skin.

Deidara followed her out a few minutes later and stood watching, waiting for an explanation. Kayla kept her eyes on the pavement as the awkward silence overtook her.

"Those kinds of situations make me claustrophobic" she finally murmured. _'Not to mention you being so forward'_ she mentally growled.

"That's okay. Life's a bang. Unexpected things happen, un" he grinned hitting the button that unlocked his car.

"I thought art was a bang." She deadpanned.

"My art is my life, yeah!" he said passonately. She couldn't help but smile. "I'll take you home. Asumming you don't want to go back to school, yeah"

"Damn right. Tell the others I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer" she said getting into the red sports car.

As they drove up to her house Deidara pulled over the car just short of the driveway which was filled with expensive black cars. "Shit" she murmured running a hand through her hair in thought.

"I could take you somewhere else..." Deidara suggested.

"No I can just sneak in my window. I think I'll walk around a bit first" she said getting out of the car. "Thanks for everything Deidara-s... kun." Kayla shut the door and walked down the street looking at interesting houses and street names. Now all she had to do was wait out the meeting her dad was holding with his buisness partners.

* * *

It took a few hours of walking in circles but her feet led her to a deserted park. Taking a few quick steps she jumped on the edge of the roundabout so it groan to life and spin while she sat on the edge of it kicking the ground to keep herself going at a slow pace. Her eyes drifted shut to the slow rythmic creaks. She was relaxed till she heard a group of footsteps approching. She tried not to move thinking they would pass by soon enough. She couldn't pick out voices but she could tell they were female.

"K-kayla-chan?" a nervous voice said.

Kayla's eyes flew open. There walking through the park was Hinata, Temari, Ino, Sakura, TenTen and Kina.

"What's going on?" Kayla asked getting off the carousel.

"We were heading to Temari's for a girls night. Your sister went to get you but I guess she'll show up soon." TenTen grinned.

"So you wanna come hang?" Temari asked placing her hands on her hips.

Kayla thought for a minute. Home wasn't exactly a good option and she could only sit still for so long. "Fine. Sounds good."

Kina laughed and hung off Kayla's shoulders. "So whatcha do after you left school early?"

"Birthday party" she shrugged and they began walking again. Temari's house was surprisingly close.

"Anyone we know?" Sakura asked

"Pain's" Kayla said without really thinking. Sakura, Ino and Hinata gasped. The other three girls looked uncomfortable. "What did I say" Kayla grunted looking around the 6 of them.

"H-He's the L-l-leader of-" Hinata attemped to stutter out but Temari lost her patience and interupted.

"There are thing you gotta know about the way the school works." She said while walking, "the biggest group in the school all congregate around Sasuke." This time Ino but into the conversation.

"Sasuke used to hang out with us all the time. There were 9 of us that stuck together through middle school."

"He was best friends with me and Naruto" Sakura smiled.

"Your not selling this well" Kayla growled.

"He walked out on them all after they hit high school. Joined Orochimaru-sensei's favourite student group and his fan club just kept growing. Now he controls more than half the school." Kina filled in, her naturally cheerful voice making the situation sound funny.

Temari looked close to laughing but she composed herself, "Then of coarse theres our group. Really I guess we all got together because of Naruto."

They all nodded in agreement.

"N-naruto-kun has a m-magnetic personalty" Hinata blushed.

"Magnetic to fights" TenTen laughed.

"What does this have to do with me going to Pain's birthday party" Kayla growled.

"I was getting to that" Temari sighed, "The last real group at the school is the Akatsuki, and its not just a school group. They're the resident gang in Konoha. They are dangerous and Pain is the leader. You have to have noticed everyones terrified of them."

Kayla thought of all of the bustling places that deserted when they walked in and it seemed to make sense, but she had her doubts. "Thanks for the warning but I think I'm okay" they gave her exasperated looks, "I'll be careful but I'm not dropping friends just cause of this" _'especially since they don't moon over my sister' _she added silently to herself.

"Fine" Temari said turning up to a nice looking modest house, "we're here!" They all walked in and Temari led them to the livingroom.

Kankuro was playing on a PS3 and Gaara was reading a book beside him on the couch. "Hi Kitten" Kina chirped. Neither looked up.

"You two out! We're having a girls night" Temari yelled. Gaara glared up from his book and Kankuro paused his game. Kayla kept her eyes on the floor.

"Come on Tem I don't mind being around a room full of girls" Kankuro grinned suggestively.

Tem scowled. "Hence why you have to leave. Now out!"

"Fine, fine" Kankuro said grumbling about hormones and crazy sisters. Gaara sat for a moment longer watching everyone before putting the book down and walking to the door. Kankuro was getting his shoes on talking on his phone, no doubt making plans with friends. When Gaara opened the door to leave he stepped back in surprise.

Ko stood at the door, hand raised to knock, "Ohh getting precognitive Red?" She purred eyeing him like a snack. He walked past her without a word so she turned her attention to Konkuro but Kina go to her first. She was pounced by the hyper girl and dragged into the living room as Kankuro left, still on the phone.

They all talked and planned Ino's upcoming birthday party. Temari and Ino came up with an idea to turn it into a double birthday and surprise their favorite lazyass, Shikamaru, who's birthday was also approching. "Just wait. We'll show you a real birthday party" Temari promised. Kayla couldn't help feel frightened at the thought.

* * *

**Frenzy- was it okay? I meant to have more but it'll have to wait till next week. R&R**


	4. Scars

****

**Chapter 4**

**Frenzy- hey guys I know this is wayyyyy late. I'll got the next ones up soon. Thanks to my beta Kaowaul for getting this back to me quick and the 3 reviewers: heartlessRayne, forever-sweet and Storm The Albatross.**

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* * *

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Sunday. The day of the party. Kayla wished she was doing anything but helping set up. Maybe not entertaining guest's at home with Ko, but nearly anything else. Keeping her grumbling to herself she was directed around Ino's house by Temari: putting up decorations, putting out snacks, bringing out a stack of board games, helping with menial tasks. All because she said she was bored. Never doing that again.

Ino walked into the living room with Sakura, both in flirty party clothes, purple and pink respectively. "You guys are gonna change right?" Ino asked.

Temari nodded but Kayla ignored her trying to plug in the right wires to some large speakers. Temari grabbed Kayla's sleeve and Kayla flinched, pulling away. "You brought a change of clothes for the party right?"

Kayla shook her head looking down at her hoodie and jeans, not seeing the problem.

"Well I'm sure we can find you something that fits" Ino grinned at the chance of a make-over.

Kayla felt hoodie being tugged and she pulled out of their grasps "NO. No I'm not... I'm not changing out of this. Don't... Don't make me."

They all backed off slightly confused but Kayla just turned back to setting up the music.

It wasn't long before more people started showing up. They stacked presents on one of the back tables and laughed about how surprised Shikamaru would be that they were celebrating his birthday as well.

When the loud giggling form of Kina walked through the door with Kankuro and Gaara in tow she yelled out to Kayla who looked up just in time to catch a new MP3. "Put on some music Kay!" Kina chirped.

Once the music had saturated the whole room everything seemed to fly by. Ko showed up soon after Kina and the rest of the group they had met a month ago. Choji walked in dragging Shikamaru who yawned and didn't seem surprised at all at seeing two cakes on the table. Even Sasuke showed up wishing Ino a quick happy birthday then striking up a conversation with Ko much to Sakura's, Ino's and Kayla's aggravation, for different reasons obviously.

"What's he doing here?" Kayla whispered to Ino.

"We always invite him to our birthdays but he hasn't showed up in years." Ino replied a little sour faced. She then spoke to the entire room. "Lets start up the games!"

They cut up the cake and most Agreed on a twister tournament. 4 people of the 16 would play twister on the greased mat (to make it more difficult for the ninja's in training) while the others would eat cake, play videogames or stand around the mat trying to distract the people playing. Then the winners of each group of 4 would have a final match for the champion. Kayla, Shino, Gaara and Shikamaru opted to be judges and work the spinner.

The first round was Ko, Sasuke, Naruto and Ino. Ko and Ino both managed to distract the boys into messing up while people laughed and wooped. Finally Ko ended up being more flexible than Ino and won the first round.

Second round was Choji, Kina, Kiba and Hinata. Hinata dropped out first when a move would require her to be pressed closely to Kiba. Choji was next when Shikamaru walked past with a plate of cake. Kina and Kiba looked like an even match except Akamaru sabotaged Kiba by running under his foot as he tried to move in a difficult position. After the game Kina discretely fed Akamaru snacks while no one was looking.

Third round was Kankuro, Temari, Rock Lee and Sakura. Kankuro got bashed over the head by Temari when she caught his trying to 'accidently' fall on Sakura. Shino, Shikamaru and Kayla all decided to disqualify her for physically making an opponent fall. All Sakura had to do was wink at Rock Lee and he fell all over himself leaving the bubblegum-haired girl the third winner.

In the final match everyone couldn't believe their eyes as the three girls took spots that would get in each others way and climbed over each other. Ino who was watching as Sasuke watched the match with almost visible interest started yelling insults to distract them. Sakura couldn't help but take the bait causing her to loose focus and slip. Ko won soon after as she leaned over Kina and whispered something in her ear causing the cheerful girl to jump and turn bright red effectively losing.

They finished eating cake and opening presents and when it got darker outside Ino and Sakura instructed them all to sit in a circle. It was time for truth or dare.

"No" Kayla said shaking her head and refusing to sit.

Ko dragged her to a sitting position, "aww come on Oni-chan" (1)

Kayla rolled her eyes but agreed anyways.

Ino, being the birthday-girl, started. "Hey forehead. Truth or dare!"

"Dare Ino-Pig!" Sakura retorted.

"Okay I dare you to prank call Tsunade-shishou" Ino grinned

Sakura paled but pulled out her phone as everyone tried to stiffle there giggles.

"On speaker phone~!" Ino added

They heard the phone ring twice then Tsunade picked up.

"_Hello__"_

"Hello, how may I help you?" Sakura replied trying to make her voice deeper to disguise it.

"_You just called me. What do you want?__"_ Tsunade said sounding exasperated.

"No you just called me" Kiba had to clap a hand over Naruto's mouth to keep him from ruining it.

"_What do you want?__"_She sounded angry now.

"Now Ma'am, your just wasting my time." Sakura said. This time Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud and Sakura hung up quickly.

Sakura put her phone away and glared around the circle. "Ok hmm, Shino-san. Truth or Dare"

"Hmm Dare" Shino said impassively.

"I dare you to take off your jacket and glasses for a round"

Shino sighed and removed the offending articles. A few bugs flew out. "Kiba-san. T or D"

"Dare man! I ain't no wuss"

"Fine I dare you to run down the street in your boxers yelling, 'their after me'"

Kiba glared but began stripping. Almost everyone ran to the window to watch the performance and were still laughing when he got back in and put all his clothes back on. "Kankuro-san. Truth or Dare"

"Dare of course" Kankuro replied

Kiba grinned and ran into the kitchen. They heard some clattering then the blender and Kiba re-entered with a glass of grey mush. "I dare you to drink this"

"All of it?" Kankuro said looking at the slop in disgust.

Kiba nodded.

Kankuro plugged his nose and downed it in one gulp. The following colour change of Kankuro's face under the purple paint, from pale to grey to green had everyone in tears laughing. "Ugh that was disgusting man". After he had turned back the right colour and Ino had made Kiba clean up the mess he made in the Kitchen they continued. "Naruto-san, truth or dare"

"Dare, Believe it!" he said punch at the air.

Kina leaned over to Kankuro and whispered something to which Kankuro grinned evilly. "I dare you to mime everything you want to say for the next 3 rounds"

Naruto's jaw dropped and he was about to complain when Kina waved her finger at him, "ah, ah, ah. No talking." she giggled.

He glared and pointed at her, then made the letters T and D with his fingers.

"Dare Naruto-kun" Kina giggled again.

He mimed sitting then patted his lap and pointed at Kankuro. He paused after trying to think of how to finish it then grabbed paper and wrote out 'for the rest of the party'.

Kina blushed and nervously sat on the edge Kankuro's lap. Kankuro just grinned and pulled her to a more comfortable spot leaning against his chest.

After a few more rounds Ino's parents came home and broke up the party. When everyone started saying there goodbyes Kayla offered to clean up, knowing her dad's business partners would be at her home till late.

After everything was done, night had fallen and Kayla started the trek home. It was dark but she was perfectly calm. Being outside at night comforted her from her usual depression. As she walked up the path to her front door she noticed with grim satisfaction all the cars were gone including her dad's. She silently slunk into the house and up the stairs. Ko and Munasshi were probably already asleep.

Grabbing a set of light pajamas she snuck to the bathroom for a hot shower before bed. The steam helped ease her stresses away. When she dressed in the light t-shirt and sweat pants she kept her eyes away from the mirror, afraid of seeing her reflection. Afraid of seeing pale scars glaring back at her.

By no means was she inflicting these wounds on herself as most people would think but she was ashamed of them. They were the proof of her weakness. No matter how she trained she couldn't reach the full power of her clan.

She stepped out of the bathroom and began walking towards her room when she heard a shuffling. She froze as her father came into view in the hallway. "You... y-yer late. Don't you knowets past curfew?" he slurred drunkenly swinging a bottle in one hand and leaning on the wall for support.

Kayla didn't have the guts to tell him she didn't have a curfew or that he got home later than her so he couldn't know. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again" she tried placating her drunken father.

"No, no yer not" he growled, "you an yer attitude" he mumbled something else inarticulately then lunged and caught her off guard. Her pulled her forward by her neck and bared his teeth, black seeping into his eyes like ink. "You don't deserve this power" his nails elongated onto claws breaking the sensitive skin at drawing small droplet of blood.

She struggled, grasping at his arm trying to pull herself away but he only laughed dropping his liquor bottle on the carpeted floor. "S-stop" she choked out still feebly clawing at his grip.

He threw her to the ground and growled again. "Fight me damnit!"

She stood and the blackness overtook her eyes but flickered out again as he punched her across the jaw. She barely blocked the second attack and his claws ripped through the flesh on her arms. She almost fell back holding herself up with the wall and scrambling towards her room.

He tried to follow but luckily his drunkenness caught up with him and he stumbled on the carpet, just managing to claw shallow lines across her left ankle. She had enough time to run into her room and lock the door. She knew he would keep coming. She ran to her window and opened it wide climbing onto the sill. She spotted a large branch off of the oak tree that was pointing towards her window and jumped just as she heard a bang from her door. She caught the branch and swung, using the momentum to hit the ground running. She ran trying to ignore the pain in her bar feet until she was sure she was safe.

When Kayla looked around she saw she had ended up at the same abandoned park she found on Friday. She hopped onto the merry-go-round and finally let herself breathe. Her lip felt split and she knew she was losing blood. The moon was just past full and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She stared at the stars as the carousel spun slowly. _'__I could handle sleeping outside tonight.__'_ She was just checking out the damage to her arms when she heard a gravely whisper from somewhere behind her.

"What are you doing here?"

The roundabout stopped abruptly and she sat up and stammering trying to think of an excuse. She was pretty sure he couldn't really see her scars or fresh wounds and wanted to keep it that way. But of course it began to slowly spin and stopped with her facing the swing-set where Gaara stood using his sand to move the merry-go-round. Kayla suddenly felt very vulnerable under his gaze.

Gaara walked to his usual night-spot when he saw the roundabout moving and someone lying on it. He notice a mass of unmistakable glossy black hair _'__One of those annoying Lore sisters.__'_He stood for a few seconds and before he could stop himself spoke in a whisper, "What are you doing here?" He hoped she didn't hear.

She froze and sat up stopping the merry-go-round so it was facing away from him. _'__Do I smell blood?__'_ he thought, commanding his sand to turn the carousel around so she was facing him. It was an understatement to say he wasn't quite prepared at what he saw. Her arms were torn and dripping crimson blood on the piece of playground equipment, she had a split lip and her neck looked bruised and bloody as well. Not only that but in the light of the near full moon he saw pale scars littering her arms and legs.

"I- um- well you see" she stammered

"What happened?" he asked with a little more force.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone," she growled back.

"Do I look like someone that would gossip?" he asked with a strait face.

She looked to be silently arguing with herself for a moment before looking back at him. "I suggest a trade. I'm not going to say something for nothing"

This time it was Gaara's turn to think it over. He didn't need to say anything. He could always kill her to get it over with. Or he could just walk away; he didn't need to know. But his interest was caught. He nodded.

"Why did you and your siblings leave Suna?" she asked watching for a reaction.

Of course he didn't show a reaction, "disagreement with our... dad"

At first she just nodded but her serious façade broke as she started laughing, trying to stop it. "I'm sorry. I just- that's what I was going to call these," she held up her arms so the wounds were facing him. "Anytime he's finishing business negotiations. Whether he succeeds or not, he goes out drinking. And when he comes home, he's drunk and... violent. I get to be the punching bag."

"Do your sisters know?" Shit, he didn't just ask that did he? It's not like he cared. Why was he still talking with her then? That smell of blood was getting really strong.

"No they're usually asleep or away. I don't want them to have to deal him that way," She said watching the ground. She was swaying slightly. "He usually stops after I'm bleeding but I don't want to go home. It seemed serious this time"

"Why..." he didn't know how to phrase the question. Did there really need to be a reason? Did he really want to know?

"In the Lore family, strength is everything. That horn you saw when I was fighting was the proof of my 'enlightenment'. Everyone has a different one and it usually shows up around puberty. Mine showed up early and I haven't been able to control it since. He's angry at my weakness. He thinks I should be the best because I was so young when it started but I can't do it!" Kayla ran a hand through her hair. She couldn't believe she just poured out her heart for him to pick apart. Darkness crept up on her and she fell forward off of the roundabout.

Sand caught just before she hit the ground. _'__Must have been blood loss. Why did it catch her! Just put her down now. Leave her in the park? What if she bleeds out? Why would I care?__'_ the argument with himself lasted a few minutes till finally he made a decision.

* * *

Waking up the next morning wasn't unusual for Kayla, but opening her eyes and seeing a dark, sparsely decorated room that definitely wasn't her own freaked her out. She checked herself quickly. Her usual nightclothes weren't messed with. The injuries she had obtained the previous night were bandaged and her face still hurt like hell.

She got out of the comfy red comforter and looked around the room. A few potted cactuses sat on a desk with many books and a clock that told her it was 2 hours before school started. Everything looked clean and organized, even a black hoodie folded at the end of the bed with a note on it looked carefully placed. 'You can borrow this' was all that the note had on it. She flipped it over to check the back but nothing. The hoodie was plain black with a soft red material on the inside. She slipped it on to cover her bandages and was overwhelmed by a masculine scent of patchouli, earth and iron.

She snuck out the window and ran home without looking back. Today was Monday and Munasshi was going to kill her for being out all night.

She crept in her bedroom window using the same oak tree and changed into her normal hoodie and regular clothes, stuffing the borrowed one in her backpack then slipped off to the bathroom to look over the damage. There was no hiding the spilt lip or the purple bruise stretching across her chin but if she wore a black turtleneck under her sweater no one would notice the other injuries. She quickly finished her morning rituals and ran downstairs. No one was there. She grabbed her breakfast and some food for her dog and headed outside to eat with company that wouldn't judge or ask questions.

The ride to school was silent as she let the wind blow her hair around. After she got there it was her personal goal not to give anyone the chance to ask her about it. Class made it difficult but pushed off the questions by saying it wasn't as bad as it looked. Which was partially true. Lunch on the other hand was hell. Her friends cornered her and even when she refused to answer they guessed it had something to do with the Akatsuki.

"I told you to be careful around them," Temari said sounding like she knew everything in the world.

"It doesn't have anything to do with them!" Kayla growled back

"You don't need to protect them, we all know what kind of people they are." Sakura said

At this point Kayla lost all patience with them and stormed off. She was hiding out at the back of the school when she heard approaching footsteps. "I already said I don't want to talk about it so you can just fuck off and leave me alone" she growled not looking up.

"That's not a nice way to great someone trying to help you" a gravely voice said.

Kayla jumped realizing it was Gaara. "Sorry I'm just... ugh people think I got in trouble with the Akatsuki and no ones listening. You probably don't need to hear me pour my heart out... again..." she ran a hand through her hair trying to stop herself from banging her head against the wall in frustration.

"Blame Me," He said out of nowhere

"What?" she said, staring at him and not believing her ears.

"Blame Me. At least if you give them an answer they'll get over it and everyone else thinks I'm a monster so it's believable. We fight already, it's not a far stretch," He explained.

She had to think over his offer for a few minutes before closing her eyes and making the difficult decision. "Fine. Umm. Thanks, for this and this morning. If you ever need anything just ask."

He nodded and walked away leaving her to build her story. She went back to her group they waited expectantly. "You really wanna know what happened?"

They nodded.

"Fine. After the party when I was walking home I ran into Gaara. I was still a little pissed off for that cheap shot last week in gym and we fought." She motioned to her face, "I didn't want to tell you guys I had lost against him"

By the looks on their faces they were completely convinced. Temari and Kankuro even offered to give him hell but she managed to talk them down.

Her mistake happened in weapons class when she repeated the story to Deidara and Sasori after they asked.

After school she was walking to Munasshi's car she saw a group in the student parking lot. The thing that drew her attention was the cloaks the group was wearing. Black with red clouds. She jogged over and heard Kisame talking.

"You think you can mess with her sand boy?"

She panicked pushing through them, "Wait!" she yelled placing herself between them and Gaara. All of them were in fighting stances and she put out her hands as if to hold them apart.

"Get out of the way Kayla-chan, we're gonna teach him a lesson, yeah" Deidara said holding ones of his clay bombs.

"No you're not. He didn't do this. We just made up that story so people would stop asking!" she explained quickly

"So who the fuck did it?" Hidan asked.

"I can't tell you." She said pleadingly.

"Does he know?" Sasori asked pointing at Gaara.

Kayla looked at the pavement not answering. The awkward silence that followed was deafening.

"I see, un. That's how it is." Deidara shaking his head and leaving to get into their van. The rest of the Akatsuki followed after him.

Kayla kicked the gravel grinding her teeth, "fuck!" she yelled. Looking back she saw Gaara had already left. She walked home trying to relieve some of her anger at the situation. At the moment she really wished she was still home-schooled.

* * *

**(1) – Onii/Onee mean older brother/sister. Oni means demon. So demon-chan is Ko's nickname for Kayla when no one will notice.**

**Frenzy- Hey so that's it. I think its longer than usual. I'll get the next up soon! R&R**


	5. Ever the OverProtective Sister

**Frenzy- ya I meant to update earlier. Hopefully I'll have three more chapters up by Halloween. Thanks to the Beta Kaowaul and to my awesome reviewers: Storm the Albatross, heartlessRayne, and forever-sweet. **

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Already one month into school. How time flew and old injuries healed. It seemed everyone had forgotten the fiasco that followed Ino's and Shikamaru's birthday and they were now onto the next big gossip topic. Someone, the stories differed so much there was no way to tell who, had caught Ko and Sasuke kissing between classes. Now Ko had the entire Sasuke fan club after her.

A good portion of the guys at the school were not impressed with this match up, including Naruto who seemed to be sulking ever since the rumour started. Even though Ko still showed her interest in him.

Kayla was absolutely furious at her sister and had been trying to keep an even closer eye on her since the only problem being the painful distance between Kayla's classes and Ko's. She couldn't do it herself.

This was her new mission. After a few bribes and threats she managed to find some people in each of Ko's classes that could help her. First on her list was Ko's science class. So, one lunch, she approached Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu. According to her group they were with Sasuke's group but not too loyal that they couldn't be reasoned with to see her way.

"Hey Karin. I need to talk with you" Kayla said as pleasantly as she could muster.

Karin looked up indignantly and looked her up and down obviously making sure it wasn't Ko, "So"

"Without the guys would be better, sorry boys but you don't want to hear about Sasuke"

Karin immediately perked up at the name of her love and the boys went back to what they were doing before. Karin walked over to her cautiously. "So what about Sasuke? Isn't he with your sister" she sneered.

Kayla kept herself from grinding her teeth, "That's what I'm trying to fix. I figure if someone interrupts them when they try to be alone they'll find it doesn't work. I can't do that since I'm not in all her classes and it's too far for the in-between minutes."

"What's this got to do with me?" Karin scoffed

"I thought that was obvious. You and your pets are in their science class. Besides without my sister to distract him he'd be all over you." She lied easily.

Karin thought this over before turning back to the two boys, without so much as a goodbye, and began giving them orders to carry out the plan. Kayla grinned to herself and left. The next class was much easier.

She walked back to her group and grabbed Naruto pulling him away and out of earshot. When she let him go he flinched for a second like he expected her to hit him. She waited till he looked at her. "You don't like that Sasuke is trying to get with my sister right?"

His shoulders sagged slightly, "I like Ko. Of course I don't want her and that teme together."

Kayla held herself back when Naruto said he liked Ko. She already knew everyone liked Ko and she wasn't supposed to interfere. "Good. I know your busy training during your Ninjutsu class but if you ever see Ko and Sasuke trying to have a private conversation or be alone I want you to jump in and stop it okay?" at first his dumbfound expression made her think she'd need to explain it slower but he nodded.

"Good plan. Thanks!" he rubbed the back of his head. They parted ways and Kayla was finally mostly at ease. She only hadn't contacted someone in Ko's Genjutsu class and that was because at the end of the day she could do it herself.

Now she had time for her own problems. None of the Akatsuki had talked to her since the incident in the parking lot even when she had tried to apologize in art class. Although the Subaku's had been hanging out with her more. _'There's nothing wrong with that.'_ She told herself.

As school ended and she stepped into Munasshi's car her older sister looked at her through the mirror. "Ever the over protective sister?" Munasshi asked.

"How'd you know?" Kayla gawked seeing Ko walking towards the car talking with Kina.

"I know everything"

* * *

**Frenzy- sorry it's so short. I'll get the next chapter up soon. Does anyone think I should draw these characters? If you've seen the DA link on my profile, their appearances kinda change from their normal looks in this story. At least Kayla's does... I'm rambling. If think I should draw them just mention it in a review or a PM or something. R&R please**


	6. Thanksgivings are Always Awkward

**Frenzy – hey guys, it's longer this time! Theres a little tidbit involving Thanksgiving at the end of the chapter and I just have to point out it's Canadian thanksgiving in October not American thanksgiving that's whenever. Thanks to my awesome beta Kaowaul and the ever glorious reviewers: heartlessRayne, Storm the Albatross and forever-sweet.**

**Chapter 6**

'_One of the things to be loved and hated when having so many friends is the frequency of birthdays and parties.' _Kayla thought watching Ko dance with Naruto in a crowd. Naruto's godfather had spent a little extra for his 16th birthday and rented the whole on Naruto's favorite ramen restaurant. They had music blasting from more of Kina's tech and fresh food, mostly ramen, ready to eat. Kayla, Gaara and a few others who didn't like dancing were sitting at a table to the side playing cards. As the song changed there was a disturbance starting in the middle of the floor. Sasuke tried to butt in on Naruto and Ko's dance and Naruto and Sasuke were arguing much to Ko's apparent distress. Kayla knew somewhere inside she was enjoying the attention. "Is Sasuke crashing or did someone invite him," Kayla asked wishing for a reason to kick his ass out.

"Naruto invited him." Shino said

This took Kayla a minute to process. "Why would he do that? Aren't they... rivals for my sister?"

"Naruto still considers Sasuke a friend and 'precious person'," Gaara said.

"But-"

"Don't ponder the way Naruto thinks too long. Once you've made it into his social circle its difficult to get out. It's not very hard to get his forgiveness" someone else playing cards explained.

Kayla looked back over to the dance floor. Ko had decided to dance with Naruto fortunately for the birthday boy.

Forgiveness. Kayla had never been good with this but she found herself wishing for a way to gain back the Akatsuki's trust. She looked up and noticed Gaara looking at her, "what?" she asked self-consciously.

"Its your turn" he said motioning to the cards.

"Oh right" she ducked her head trying to hide her blush and play her turn quickly. _'Fuck what's wrong with me. I shouldn't be affected by this stuff. What happened to not caring?' _no one seemed to notice her inner argument as the game continued. "I think we made a mistake, coming to regular high school." She murmured not realizing she finished her thoughts out loud.

"Why do you say that?" Shino asked.

"Look at the mess Ko is making." She said not wanting to make a point of her own awkwardness. "She's just pulling them both along till she gets bored with one"

"There's nothing you can do about it" Gaara muttered

"Hm? I can't just let her fumble around."

"She has to make her own mistakes or she won't know anything" he continued.

There was silence for a moment then Kayla threw a fake punch that was easily blocked by Gaara's sand defense. "When did you get so smart?"

* * *

The party was almost over when Kina approached Kayla who was sitting alone now. "We have to do something" she whined pointing into the crowd where Ko was flirting with Kankuro and Kiba. "If she keeps bouncing between guys she's going to ruin any group dynamic there is~!"

Kayla blinked a few times trying to process the words and make sense of them.

"She's going to pit everyone against each other and then there won't be any group!" Kina explained. "And I don't want that to happen."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Make her choose one boyfriend"

"I refuse to help" Kayla growled

"Just hear me out Kay. If she gets a boyfriend you won't need to protect her from everyone and you can focus on the one if he tries anything. It'll be way less work load for you. Right now she's just trying to get attention from Naruto and Sasuke she won't need to do that anymore if she has one of them." Kina informed her.

"I don't like the options"

"Would you rather she like Sasuke or Naruto"

"I'd rather she like no one!" Kayla did her best not to shout.

"You should know that's not going to happen"

"Fine. Naruto seems better than Sasuke but how do we get her to even consider this"

"I got a plan Cap'n. Come with me" Kina chirped pulling her over to Ko and pulling Ko away from the boys.

"Is there a reason for this interruption?" Ko asked keeping her voice pleasant.

"We have a proposition for you" Kina said releasing her grip on the two girls.

"You're not just trying to keep me away from your boy-toy?" Ko teased her looking back at Kiba and Kankuro.

Kina blushed and giggled, "you got me all wrong Ko-chan. I like girls" The conversation halted as the sisters looked at Kina in surprise, "Since when?" Kayla asked

"I dunno a while. Don't worry your not my type. Anyway this isn't about me. It's about Ko. We've decided that you should try going out with someone exclusively" Kina said in he normal hyper voice.

"Oh really?" Ko smiled close to laughing. "You think this too Oni-chan?"

Kayla shrugged her shoulders and avoided eye contact, "I'd accept it"

Kina waved her arms to gain Ko's attention again, "Naruto really likes you and all these guys aren't going to wait forever for you."

Ko chewed her bottom lip thinking this over.

"Empty Words" Kayla mumbled under her breath. Kina and Ko looked at her in confusion.

_Flashback_

_The three sisters stood dressed in black greeting people in front of the funeral home. Their father stood a little ways further in. "You have such beautiful daughters." A man in a sleek looking business suit walked past them ruffling Kayla's hair as he past. The three of them listened intently to the conversation that passed. "I'm so sorry for the loss of your wife, it must be hard. The twins look so much like her. I heard you were finally expecting a son too. Such a pity you won't get a male heir. " he paused to shake their father's hand "You know I'm running for council? I'm sure after this fiasco you'll need a few friends on the inside eh Saburo?"_

_The two men walked into the building and continued talking. "Empty words" Munasshi mused. "Nothing he said had any meaning."_

"_Just trying to get something. Use words and compliments to his benefit." Kayla growled glaring at the ground._

"_It works" Ko said sadly._

_End Flashback_

"Empty Words" Her head was hurting now.

Both Ko and Kina were looking at Kayla. "What?" Kina said confused.

"Ko I know I'm supposed to leave you love life alone but I have one request. You need to make a choice between them before someone gets hurt. Think about it long and hard and make your choice. I'll accept whoever it is as long as you do this." Kayla said shutting out Kina's plan and leaving them both awe struck.

"I'll see what I can do, for you guys, I wouldn't mind bringing one of them home to give dad an aneurysm. See you later" She said as she turned to go back to the party.

"What was that!" Kina squeaked scratching the back of her head in confusion.

"She needs to learn for herself. Now if you'll excuse me I have my own mistakes to fix," Kayla grumbled leaving the party.

She walked down the street silently pondering the information she had received at Naruto's party. "I'm sure if I explain myself they'll forgive me," she whispered to herself holding her coat together against the cold autumn air. _'I'll have to wait till school. I don't know how to get in contact with them... I'll talk to Deidara and Sasori after Thanksgiving to get them on my side.'_ She thought making her plan and trying to think of what to say.

That was when she heard voices and stopped. There were voices coming from the next alley over. Kayla crept closer trying to catch any of the conversation. Someone was begging. She inched closer to the alley, curiosity overcoming common sense.

"Please I swear I can get it for him" said the begging voice.

Kayla crept a little closer as she heard another voice chuckling.

"Leader-sama already gave you a warning, un. You think you can get out of this now? Too late, yeah"

Kayla froze at the familiar voice, she couldn't stand it. She peeked around the corner of the alley. Deidara was standing over a man pointing a gun down at him. He had his black cloak with red clouds on. She looked away from Deidara deeper into to the alley and ducked back as she saw a pair of golden-brown eyes flash in her direction from the darkness.

"I have a kid at home-"

"Shut up, yeah" Deidara snarled and there was a loud bang of a gunshot.

She scrambled backwards away from the mouth of the alley eyes wide from shock.

"Did you hear something Danna?" Deidara asked.

Kayla stopped breathing.

"Let's just get this cleaned up. You took too long with that one as it is." Sasori replied curtly.

Kayla slowly pulled herself away trying to get enough feeling in her legs to stand. When she got far enough to avoid being heard she sprang to her feet and ran as fast as she could as far as she could, getting home in record time.

* * *

For days Kayla holed herself up in her room, afraid that they would come after her because of what she saw. On the fourth day her door was opened. She ducked behind her bed and peeked over to see who it was. Munasshi stood in the doorway looking worried and amused at the same time. "Kayla this isn't healthy. I know that you have a good reason; you don't need to tell me what. But try and be alive for tonight. It's thanksgiving dinner and we plan to have it as a family this year."

Kayla nodded quickly, "I'll be down in a minute."

Munasshi smiled and left. As soon as the door was shut Kayla hopped over to her desk and pulled out a picture frame. It had a much younger her and Kina and two other older girls in it. This was her real family. They even got along with Ko and Munasshi when necessary. She hid the photo in her desk and brushed out her hair getting ready for one of the most uncomfortable events of the year. Family Dinner. _'It's not my fault these get-togethers are so painful.'_

She got dressed in formal clothes and tied her hair back, better safe than sorry. When she got down to the dining room she was glad she had done it. At the head of the table her dad sat deep in conversation with her grandfather about the business, while her grandmother and her sisters spoke. Kayla sat beside Ko hoping not to be noticed; too bad things rarely went the way she hoped.

"Well Kayla-chan nice of you to join us" her grandmother croaked.

"Hello Obaa-san, Ojii-san. Happy Thanksgiving" she replied automatically. It's not that she didn't like her grandparents she just didn't _like_ her grandparents.

"I was just talking to your sister's about their studies. What do you have in school?" Her grandmother asked.

"English, Taijutsu, Weapons Class and Art" She said, pulling some turkey and stuffing onto her plate.

"Nice strong classes for a Lore hmm? Except for Art... Seems a little wimpy. Isn't there something more useful that you could take?"

"Hm" she continued to pile food on her plate.

"Your sister's taking Science. Isn't that such a smart class?"

Ko soaked in the compliment. Munasshi rolled her eyes.

"Enough of academics. You girls must have lots of friends, tell me about them"

Ko began recounting all the new people they had met along with a few funny stories.

"What about you Kayla-chan? You haven't said anything," Her grandmother chided.

"I hang out with the same people as Ko. Although she didn't mention a few." Kayla said wishing she could finish and leave.

"Oh yes? Anyone I'd know?"

"Kina Daisu." She said knowing she only knew kids connected through companies.

"The heir to the Daisu Technical Corp." Their father filled in.

"Oh her. Well if there isn't any other heir I suppose they will have to turn to the gypsy's daughter." Their grandmother said snidely.

"I'd run away too if I had to be married into one of these families" Kayla muttered under her breath.

"What was that dear?" their grandfather asked.

Kayla kept her eyes on her plate trying to keep her lips from pulling back in a snarl. "Kina is a genius with that Tech and they'd be lucky to have her running the company... If you'll excuse me" she stood and left the dining room. So maybe it was her fault for the awkwardness.

* * *

**Frenzy – Chapter 7 will be out really soon! I got most of it written, R&R please!**


	7. Family Traits

**Frenzy- Hey I meant to have this up on Halloween but the combat in this chapter was giving me a hard time. I'll have the next one ready soon. Thanks to Kaowaul as always to helping me out with this and my awesome reviewers: Storm the Albatross, heartlessRayne and forever-sweet. BTW happy late Halloween I hope everyone had an awesome time! I dressed up as Joker!(crossed between the Heath Ledger version and the cartoon from The Batman with dreads and a straitjacket). Have fun!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Ko walked through the packed school, for once without anyone hanging off her. She had important things to think about. Even though she didn't agree with her sister on everything Ko had been going over the idea of getting a boyfriend since they had moved back. She had tried in Kiri but all the guys she met there were either slobs with no manners or after her Kekkei Genkai. It reminded her of when she first moved.

* * *

_Flashback_

_11-year-old Ko sat in the park with a group of kids, all laughing and goofing off. She did a quick side-glance as her sister entered the park hoping that the freak didn't see her. Kayla just walked over to a tree and sat with a sketchpad. Ko sighed with relief and kept talking with her friends. _

_Her best friend Darry leaned over to her, "what's your sister doing here?"_

"_I don't know and I don't care. She usually stays home," Ko said dismissively._

"_I wanna go see" Darry said jumping up and walking over._

_Ko ignored it; he'd come back soon. She jumped up when she heard Darry yell in pain and fear and looked up to see her sister holding him in a chokehold. Ko ran over and detached her younger sister from her friend. "What the hell is your problem freak!" she yelled at her sister_

_Kayla looks from Darry to Ko then the ground. "He looked at my drawings," she muttered._

_Ko helped Darry walk back to his house, "how can I be related to that freak!" she complained. Darry was walking being half supported by Ko, holding her waist._

_Once they got to Darry's house he pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek before going inside. That was when Ko got her first crush._

_End Flashback_

* * *

Her family was even more divided back then. It seemed the only one trying was her mother. Her and her sisters hadn't really gotten along until the twins were 13. That's when they all found what they had in common; an extreme dislike for their father. She was tossed aside at 13 because she lacked the enlightened form of the Kekkei Genkai.

* * *

Kayla stretched out like a cat in the sunlight stretching over her bed. She was taking the day off from school. Some days she just needed a break. She opened up a large sketchbook to the first page and her eyes narrowed. It was a very old sketch. She had drawn it the day of her enlightenment.

_

* * *

_

Flashback

_11-year-old Kayla walked into the park ignoring her sister and gaggle of friends until Ko started ignoring her. She flipped open her sketch book and started drawing all the kids having fun. She looked up after she heard someone's footsteps. It was one of Ko's friends and he was looking at her drawing. "Your pretty good" he said. _

_Kayla just shrugged __**'why does Nee-chan hang out with this guy. He's older than her…'**_

"_Do you draw your sister often?" he asked casually_

_She hugged he sketchpad to her chest, "sometimes" she murmured. __**'What does he want?'**_

_Darry smirked, "so here's how it is. I won't tell her if you help me hook up with her and sneak me into her room"_

_It took a few seconds for what he said to sink in. Kayla felt rage boil to the surface and she lunged at him, kicking him in the shin so he cried out in pain then trapping him in a chokehold. _

_She barely noticed when Ko ran over and pulled her off him. "What the hell is your problem freak!" Ko yelled._

_Kayla looked from the angry Ko to the smirking Darry then to the ground. __**'He'll tell her about my drawings. Plus she wouldn't believe me if I told her what he wants, besides'**__ she thought, __**'she hates me anyways. And she would probably like what he wants' **__"He looked at my drawings." She lied._

_Ko helped Darry stand and walked him home. Kayla couldn't help but tilt her head curiously as Darry put his arm around Ko's waist. She felt anger again and then pain split the top of her head on both sides. _

_She yelped and grabbed the offending areas only to find two little hard things sticking out of her head. More than slightly freaked out she grabbed her book and ran home up to the bathroom, covering the things on her head with her arm the whole way._

_She gingerly took her arm off of the thing on her head and her eyes widened __**'That looks like horns'**__. They were about two inches long, dark red and slightly curved with a wickedly pointed tip. She grabbed one and pulled but her head followed. It was attached. She started hyperventilating. __**'What is this? Why are they on me? How do I get them off!'**__ she pulled at it again but her hand slipped and the tip sliced her finger. She looked down at it starting to bubble blood. She stuck her finger in her mouth taking away the blood so she didn't get any on the pristine white bathroom. When she looked back into the mirror, the horn was gone. No trace of it in her long black hair. She sighed and went to get a Band-Aid for her finger. __**'I know the were real, or else how did I cut my finger'**__ then she heard her mom call up the stairs, "Girls, Dinner." She sighed and walked down the stairs keeping her eyes on her finger. _

_End Flashback_

* * *

She grimaced at he memory. None of her family had told her about their Kekkei Genkai because it was supposed to show up when she hit puberty. Which hadn't happened till two years after that. After her dad found out she enlightened early he trained her hard and without compassion. Unfortunately in her young age she couldn't handle the training and developed a mental block that stopped her from controlling it. She glanced at the clock on her bedside, it was already afternoon. _'I really must've needed the sleep.'_

* * *

Ko slipped into Ninjutsu class relatively unnoticed. She waved at Kakashi-sensei who was directing Naruto on chakra control. Poor baby didn't understand a word of it, yet he had an enormous amount of chakra to make up for it. It was one of the things she found interesting about him. His chakra was almost palpable.

"Hey babe" a voice whispered in her ear as arms wrapped around her waist.

"Sasuke-kun not right now" She whined pulling out of his grasp.

"Why not, Kakashi's busy, don't say you're embarrassed." Sasuke said pulling her back.

"No I've just decided that if I'm going to be with someone I'm going to have a relationship with them" Ko said matter-of-factly.

"We'll if that's all babe you just needed to say so." He said trying to pull her back again.

"You don't get it. I need to choose between you and Naruto," She said managing to keep her voice down so people couldn't eaves drop.

"It can't be that hard a decision," He said starting to sound angry. "Either me or the dobe? Why hesitate?" he was close to yelling. Ko held her ground.

"Sasuke, Ko get to work. Sasuke your chidori. Ko start your internal poison." Kakashi yelled from across the room. They started practicing but Ko knew from the look on Sasuke's face it wasn't over.

* * *

There was a knock at Kayla's door, she rolled onto her back and looked at the door, "Come in"

Munasshi stepped in, "Hey Imouto, have a nice rest?"

Kayla smiled and nodded, "mhmm"

"I'm going to go pick up Ko and thought we'd go get something to eat. Wanna come?" Munasshi asked.

Kayla thought for a few seconds then rolled off her bed landing on all fours and slowly stretching upwards, "gimme two minutes." Munasshi nodded and left. Kayla grabbed a leather coat out of her closet and grabbed the picture out of her sketchbook then ran down to hop in the passengers seat. They drove off towards Konoha High. They parked out front and waited as the bell rang and students ran past. Kayla put her feet up on the dash watching the clouds pass by. "What's taking her so long?"

She was glancing around the crowd when she felt an acute pain where her horn normally grew from. She doubled over and looked at Munasshi who was holding her hands over her eyes in pain.

"It's Ko" Munasshi groaned unable to move. "I'll explain later I think she's behind the school. Go!"

Kayla jumped at the order and ran as fast as she could, even with the pain coursing through her she managed to get there pretty fast. As she ran she felt herself being pulled forward by the pain. Ko was sitting, leaned against a wall holding her neck with black line work stretched over her whole body. Sasuke stood in front of her, fists clenched and looking pissed.

* * *

Ko's classes ended and she gathered up all her books into her bag, luckily for her Munasshi always came to pick her up. As strange as it was, she didn't feel like hanging out with people today. She had way too much on her mind. _'Does Sasuke really think it's that easy a choice? Naruto is so sweet, he never rushes me.'_ She made it to the school doors but was pulled aside.

"Come here I want to talk with you" Sasuke whispered into her ear, guiding her by the shoulders away from the crowds of students. They slowed to a stop behind the school and Sasuke released her. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at you in class, forgive me?" he said staring deep into her eyes.

Ko sighed, "Of course I forgive you but its still not an easy choice"

"What does he have that I don't? I can offer you everything you need and want."

"That not it. I already have everything."

"So you need proof or something Ko-chan" he said backing her up to the wall, "you know I like you right?" He kissed her forcefully; she kept her lips shut waiting for him to pull away.

"I know you like me but how do I know you care" she said when he pulled back in frustration.

"That's the same thing"

"No its not. Now let me go"

"Is this about something your sister said about me? Is that why you're running? She obviously doesn't like me and would lie to keep me away from you." He sounded defensive now. Most people wouldn't notice but as her father loved to start training at a young age she had been forced into lessons on reading people.

"My sister wouldn't lie to me." She said forcefully, then she grinned seeing a crack in his cool persona, "but she never did go into detail about why she disliked you. What do you have to hide?" she felt a sadistic shiver crawl up her spine as she wondered what he really was when he wasn't suave and composed. She pushed away from the wall and stalked in a circle around him suddenly on the offensive. "The great Uchiha heir has a secret?" she could see him getting angrier. "Maybe I should know what Kayla has to say about you. I can trust my sister with that," she taunted. Everyone knew the elder heir had walked out on the Uchihas.

After the last jab he snapped, slamming her back into the wall of the school more forcefully than before. "You think you know what you're talking about? I've got news for you; you're weak without all your people assembled around you. Now maybe you want to rethink your plans for digging into my head."

Ko pressed herself to the wall, trying to think of an escape plan, he was right. She felt stupid, taunting him without thinking of the repercussions. It was strange being alone, she had never felt like this before, she even missed her sister. As she came to that realization her eyes began to sting. Sasuke's eyes widened and he grabbed her by the throat roughly, "What are you doing, I thought you didn't have the Lore ability"

She pushed him away sinking to the ground and holding her throat, looking down she saw dark lines curving and spiraling along her body and arms and if she could see her eyes she'd see they had turned completely black. They heard rushed footsteps and Kayla darted around the corner looking extremely angry.

Kayla stepped between Ko and Sasuke, glancing down at her sister she saw the blackness that had enveloped her eyes and the pain in the top of her head dulled, "what did you do to her"

"Back off, this is between me and her"

"I'll give you 3 seconds to run"

"You think your going to fight me?"

"3" she cracked her knuckles and her neck.

"She doesn't want you to fight me. She knows I didn't mean anything"

"2" she found the power easily, it seemed obvious as her eyes turned black and the horn grew. Ko gasped behind her but it only served to egg her on.

Sasuke knew she was serious now. He shook his head backing up a little, "Stupid."

"1" Kayla's feral grin grew as she felt the power coursing through her. She was in control for once; there was no uncontainable bloodlust, just her, her sister and her opponent. She lunged.

He waited till the last second to dodge, grabbing her and throwing her head first towards a tree. The impact didn't hurt. Kayla tried to push herself up and realized her head was stuck. The twisted end of her horn had stuck into the wood of the tree.

Sasuke laughed.

She growled trying to free herself, "I'm going to kill you... I'm going to kill you!"

"No I don't think you are," he said coolly walking away, "See you later Ko-chan"

As Kayla clawed at the tree she felt her control slipping inch by inch. She twisted her head and the bark released her. Standing up she looked at Ko, the lines were retreating, fading to Ko's natural pale skin tone and her eyes returning to normal. When the change completed Kayla felt the last grasp on control slip. A second horn grew symmetrical to the first and dripping with blood as it revealed almost two inches from the tip was broken off making a jagged end.

'_kill, kill, Kill, Kill, KILL,'_ her mind screamed. She muttered the word over and over under her breath as she stalked towards the front of the school towards her target.

When Kayla was out of sight Ko flipped open her cell phone and speed dialed Kina. It rang once and Ko stood following her sister quickly.

"Moshi Moshi!" Kina chirped.

"Get to the front of the school quick"

"I'm just about to leave" she whined

"Kayla lost it I need help"

"On my way, Cap'n" the phone clicked off. Ko hoped this wouldn't cause too much destruction.

Kayla spotted her target talking with his group of preps, as if nothing had happened, they worshiped him. His existence flared her anger. She charged, his only warning was his companions' eyes widening and her fist cut through where his head was. He had barely dodged to the side and down but he couldn't dodge the next as her knee cracked his ribs.

He flew at least four feet away and to the ground. She walked towards him pressing his forearm with her heal until she heard a satisfying crack and yell of pain. Kayla tilted her head wondering what to do next. When she finally decided with a grin she brutally kicked the same spot she had kneed, this time feeling the bones crushing together.

She moved to kick again when her feet stopped of their own accord. When she tried to look down she found her neck too was frozen still. Her eyes darted frantically to find the source of this and located her stretched shadow connected with Shikamaru's. She growled menacingly, "You think you can stop me?" she started forcing her chakra at his shadow and saw his control shake.

Her malicious grin faltered as she felt burning ropes wrap around her and Kina approached her other side with the ends of the chakra strings connected to her fingers. "Calm down Cap'n I don't wanna have to turn up the heat."

Kayla growled and continued forcing her movements trying to finish off her target. Both Kina and Shikamaru were pulled by the struggle before she was stopped by a more physical restraint. Sand held her wrists and ankles together. She struggled futilely as both her sisters approached. "Help us bring her home" Munasshi said motioning towards the car ignoring the wheezing Uchiha. Shikamaru released Kayla from his Shadow possession and with Gaara and Kina's help they moved her over to the Mustang and held her in the back seat. The five of the drove fast back to the Lore residence. Kayla tried to escape the entire trip.

**

* * *

**

Frenzy – So tell me what you think. I keep thinking Kayla is getting angry too easily. There's gonna be some Halloweeny ness next chapter cause I'm late with my updates but you'll just have to deal with it, don't worry it'll be fun. R&R please


	8. Digging up the Past

**Frenzy - two fucking years. I don't think I can say sorry enough for two fucking years! ya.. so since I was doing thing in order of the year this one was meant to be published on Halloween... go figure. my unofficial beta Kaowaul... well got arrested. that Kinda halted my progress seeing as one of my best friends turned out to be a lying piece of crap. heartlessRayne, forever-sweet, Storm the Albatross, and Lexiful Sunshine thanks you so much for reviewing the last chapter, if you still turn out to be reading this I hope you enjoy it. I'd also like to give a giant thank you to gaarablack for messaging me and reminding me people are waiting. so without further ado the 8th chapter of Boss's Kids**

* * *

She attempted to escape the whole ride home.

When they reached the Lore residence Munasshi pulled the car to a screeching halt and ushered them into the house. Gaara had Kayla bound and kept her hands surrounded so they wouldn't run into any unexpected surprises.

Munasshi lead them down a hallway to a room covered in floor to ceiling shelves with books on every surface.

"I didn't know you had a library" Kina said wandering in after Munasshi.

"We don't. This is my room." She moved some things around, revealing a bed "set her here."

Gaara set her down but kept her hands and feet bound. She snarled, looking around with solid black eyes. It didn't look like she saw anyone in the room but kept struggling at her bonds.

_Flashback_

_Dinner was tense. Ko was glaring across the table at Kayla and Kayla was glaring at her plate, pushing the potatoes around with her fork. Their severely pregnant mother looked between them, then at her husband, who was eating disinterestedly._

"_Did you two have fun at the park?" She asked trying to start up a conversation._

"_Mom please tell me Kayla is adopted" Ko whined_

"_Ko's going to get pregnant by the time she's 16" Kayla retorted calmly_

_Their mother's jaw dropped as she looked at the two, "how did... why would you say that!"_

_Ko kept glaring at Kayla, "she's such a freak. She has no social skills and she hates my friends!"_

_Kayla frowned. __**'I had friends before we moved.' **__"I bet her virginity won't even make it to high school. Maybe start doing some other shit to stay with her 'cool group'" she muttered the last part angrily._

"_Kayla!" Their mother gasped, "Where did you learn all that! I didn't get a note about those kinds of topics being taught at school"_

"_They're not" Kayla said eating a fork full of potatoes like nothing was happening. _

_Ko stood up glaring at Kayla, "what the hell is your problem! What gives you the right to torment my friends and me!" she yelled._

_Kayla's felt her mood darken as she glared at the table, "Your friends and you…" she muttered lowly._

_Ko grinned when there wasn't a comeback and continued putting her hands on her hips, "you don't need to be jealous just because you don't have any"_

_Kayla's eyes went wide and she stood up slamming her hands on the table angrily. The pain where the horns grew was back so she covered them with her arm quickly. "I did have friends before we moved and every one of them was a better kind of person than the people you hang out with." She left the table without another word and hurried back to her room, tears forming, hidden from her family._

"_Why can't you two get along" their mother sighed rubbing her protruding belly._

_End Flashback_

Ko watched her twin struggle as her older sister knelt in front of her placing her hands on Kayla's temples. Gaara stood behind her watching, "The same as last month but this time it's different."

"So you did see her..." Ko said tearing her eyes away from her sisters. "In both instances she was protecting me."

Gaara looked down at the thrashing twin and remembered what she said when he asked if her sister's knew about her predicament. "She hurts herself for the sake of others..."

Ko nodded. "She's been like this since we were little. She won't explain or let you help at all she has to take the entire burden herself. It's infuriating!"

_Flashback_

_Ko could remember her sister's friends. All of them had met in elementary school back home. Ko had only really talked to a few of them, but she remembered all of them really tried to help Kayla when she needed it and that's why her sister stuck so close to them. She didn't understand how her sister had taken it so well when they moved 500 miles away. There was a crash from upstairs and Ko barely hid a wince. Her taunt was a low blow and she knew it. _

"_Liliko please go check on you sister. I hate it when you two fight. You used to get along fine when you were younger" Their mother pleaded while getting another beer for their father._

_Ko sighed and walked up to Kayla's room. Once she was up the stairs she heard another crash and peeked in the door. When she saw her sister on the floor holding her head she rushed in. "Kay are you-"_

_At the noise Kayla nearly jumped out of her skin and turned to face her Ko in surprise. _

_Ko stopped when she saw Kayla's face. Her little freak sister, that never seemed to show any weakness and didn't even shed a tear when their dad forced them to move away from everyone she knew, was crying. Ko knelt down beside her sister and spoke soothingly, "Kay"_

"_Go away" Kayla growled back covering the top of her head and cowering._

_Ko inched closer, "are you okay?"_

_Kayla inched away and muttered "No" _

_Ko placed a hand on Kayla's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "Let me help"_

_End Flashback_

Munasshi's soothing chakra soaked into Kayla's temples calming her and slowly shifting the horns away. The black receded from Kayla's eyes leaving her shaking from the adrenaline working its way out of her system. She looked up, still quivering, to see her sisters, Kina and Gaara standing around her. Her head dropped to stare at the floor but Ko quickly caught her holding her in an embrace and whispering soothing words. Kayla's hair had come untied and hid her face as she pressed it into her sister's shoulder.

Kina sighed relaxing and scratching the back of her head, "I've never seen two horns before."

Gaara spoke up then, "Even when she fought at the school last month it was only one..."

Munasshi was shifting around her books to give people places to sit. "I've only seen the left one once. When she was 11."

"Scariest day of my life" Kayla said pulling the sketch she had found earlier that day from her pocket.

"You're telling me" Ko said setting herself beside Kayla. "You grew horns! I thought you were a demon!"

"You've always thought I was a demon" Kayla monotoned. "But you promised to help me anyways." She said softly.

_Flashback_

_Kayla stumbled up the stairs and slammed her door on the way into her room. A picture frame fell down but she ignored it. It was a lie. A picture of her, both her sisters and her parents, all smiling and together. That wasn't the way it was. Her mother was the only thing trying to keep the family together. Her family was what she had to leave behind. Three girls that kept her safe and accepted her. Kayla opened up a drawer to look for the picture of them all together. It wasn't there. Already feeling strung out she slammed the drawer shut and fell to her knees holding the painful horn. Tears were stinging her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She was so upset she didn't notice her sister come in till she spoke and it surprised her enough to jump and spin around trying to glare. It didn't work. Her sister looked so worried.  
"Kay?" her sister said soothingly_

'_**Mom probably put her up to this'**__"Go away" Kayla growled making sure the horns were covered._

_She saw Ko inching forward, "are you okay?"_

_She matched the distance inching away and didn't think about her answer, "No"_

_Ko reached over and squeezed Kayla's shoulder reassuringly. "Let me help"_

_Kayla froze. __'__**She sounds like she means it. Maybe she could help. She already thinks I'm a freak. I guess it can't get any worse than this.'**__ "I don't know what to do" she let her arm drop from her head letting the little red horns show through her black hair._

_Ko jumped back in shock before reaching her hand towards one cautiously. When Ko touched it she was more surprised. It felt like an animal's horn. She gripped it and tugged. _

_Kayla's head moved with it and she glared through the previous tears. _

"_Sorry", Ko said quietly. _

_End Flashback_

Kina spoke up, just as loud as ever. "Wait, wait, wait! I don't understand. If you had that second horn when you were a kid why doesn't it show up other times and why'd it show up now?"

"I have the answer to those." Munasshi said cutting Kina off. "When this first happened to Kayla they came to me in hopes that I could help. I could have but our father found us before I could do anything. He felt Kayla's early awakening was a threat to his leadership and he attacked her, breaking the left horn. It's never appeared since."

"Awakening?" Gaara asked.

"Our clan has a pact with a clan of demons. Nothing as strong as a bijuu, Subaku no Gaara" Munasshi said thoughtfully, "but none the less the members of our clan are blessed and cursed with the aspects of a demon that chooses us at birth. Normally it awakens at puberty and the members of our clan go through rigorous training to learn to control it. We are granted strength as well as a physical aspect: horns, claws and the like."

"Well, most of us get that." Ko said flicking her black hair over her shoulder.

"Don't be so naïve Liliko" Munasshi snapped, "You know now what you have been given. You are the reason for Kayla's reawakening."

Kayla looked up at that, "What?"

"I had suspected for a while but today's events confirmed my theory. Ko has a secondary type of manifestation. It's more of an aura than a physical manifestation. She attracts people to her and if used like what happened today, empowers them. That's how Kayla was able to break her mental barrier today and use her power." Munasshi explained. "That is until Ko lost the grasp on her power"

They sat absorbing the information they were just given until Kina broke the silence again. "What about you Munasshi-chan?"

She only grinned for a second, "That's a secret." Then she frowned looking to her door. "You have to get out now."

They looked at her in shock. "I know this is your room but-" Ko started but Munasshi cut her off.

"No I mean you have to get out of the house. Father's almost home." She explained.

Kayla looked at the clock. 3:50. "It's too early for him to be home."

Munasshi looked at the door again. "His meeting must've been cut short." she paused in thought then gasped, "His meeting with the Uchihas. They must've gotten a call from the school about Sasuke."

Kayla paled and stood. "Where can I go? He'd find me at Kina's and he'll need weeks to cool off!" she tried to keep the hysteria out of her voice but squeaked out the last word.

Kina and Ko both stood around her trying to comfort her and keep her calm.

Gaara stood at the window moving between watching the road for their father's car and watching Kayla. He didn't know why the eldest sister thought he would be home. Gaara couldn't see any cars up or down the street. But he supposed the threat was real all the same. If he was to believe her father was to blame for all those scars and he was coming from a meeting with the Uchihas she did need to go somewhere he couldn't find her. That might even include missing school. He looked back to the girls. They were tossing ideas for hiding spots back and forth but all of them were too obvious a place to be found.

Then he heard it, the shriek of tires skidding on pavement as a black car turned a corner too fast coming down there street. He stepped away from the window. _'I can't believe I'm doing this.' _"He's here. You can come with me."

Kayla, Ko and Kina looked at him shocked. Munasshi smirked as if she knew the answer the whole time. _'These girls are going to be the death of me'_

"You three head out the window when he gets in. Ko and I will hold him off and keep him calm." Munasshi said as the car screeched into the driveway and their father stepped out cursing all the way to the door. Ko's black cocker spaniel, Hunter, barked at the door but scurried back at the menacing aura that surrounded the girls' father.

"Girls!" he yelled stomping up the stairs. Kayla, Kina and Gaara headed for the window, slipping out as Ko and Munasshi answered him.

The three ran until they were out of sight of the house and Kayla was gasping for breath. "Oh no Eri. No one else can feed him and who knows what father will do to him."

Kina was at her side in an instant. "You can't go back right now. Munasshi and Ko won't let anything happen to him and I can feed him don't worry." Kayla didn't look convinced but Kina left no room for argument. "I should get home so my dad doesn't join the search for you when your dad calls." She looked at Gaara "You've got this covered?"

He only nodded so she ran off before Kayla could argue at all.

They were left to walk in silence through the abandoned park towards Gaara's house.

"You don't need to do this you know." She said as they walked.

Gaara didn't even look as he responded evenly, "Temari is always complaining that there aren't enough girls in the house."

Kayla almost smiled, "I don't know how much help I'll be in that case." _'It's strange'_ she thought, _'how quickly we have changed from fighting to him helping me'_

The paranoid part of her wanted to be suspicious but as she followed him to the house and he explained to his siblings that she needed to stay for a while she couldn't think of any ulterior motive. Temari welcomed her and showed her to a guest room without the boys. Once they were inside Kayla sat on the bed running her fingers though her hair.

Temari stood in the doorway watching. "So I guess it wasn't my brother that hurt you before."

"It was his idea" Kayla explained, not wanting to look directly at her. "To lie to stop the questions"

Tem laughed causing Kayla to look at her. "My baby brother is protecting you? That's so cute!" Kayla turned bright red ducking her head so her hair fell in front of it. Temari chuckled at the embarrassed girl, "don't worry I'll keep it to myself"

Kayla coughed trying to hide the uncomfortable feeling in her gut when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She picked it up seeing Munasshi's caller ID. "Hello?"

"Kayla, the principal just called. You've been suspended for the week" Munasshi said not waiting for pleasantries.

Kayla's stomach dropped, at least she wasn't expelled. "That's fine. He could find me easier if I had to go to school."

"Exactly my thoughts. He is furious too. Parading around the house shouting about unthankful daughters." Munasshi continued.

Kayla sighed, "I'm sorry you have to go through that... he hasn't hurt either of you has he?"

"No he's much too focused on you. Ko is trying to calm him down, I'll keep you posted" Munasshi said in a professional tone.

Kayla barely had a second to thank her before Munasshi hung up. Temari waited for Kayla to put away her phone for the explanation. "I was suspended but if I'm hiding out I wouldn't want to be where he would expect to find me anyways."

Temari nodded. "I can lend you some clothes for the week but if you want anything personal you'll need to have one of your sisters drop it off." Kayla nodded in understanding. Temari continued, "you can use any of our game systems while you stay but if you save over any of Kankuro's save files you get to deal with him." She smiled. "We take turns making meals and as you clean up what you used I don't think we'll have a problem."

Kayla nodded again. "Thanks Temari-san"

Temari shrugged, don't worry about it. She proceeded to show her around the house. When they were done they sat on the couch watching Kankuro and Gaara play Halo.

The week went smoothly; while they went to school she trained to keep in shape and played video games, which she was horrible at. Ko dropped off and pack of clothes after school one day and updated Kayla on the rumors circling around. Sasuke hadn't approached her yet. Kina had come by one morning walking Eri to Kayla's great surprise. Her normally aggressive half-wolf pet tackled her to the ground as soon as he saw her wagging his tail at incredible speed. Kayla pet him in shock while Kina pulled on his leash comically unable to move the beast.

When Kayla was finally able to remove Eri from on top of her Kina invited her to her Halloween Birthday bash. Kina was always one from theatrics so it was no surprise that her birthday fell on the day of trickery and costumes.

With Kina taking such good care of Kayla's pet Kayla felt it was the least she could do to play along for her birthday.

It was the day before the party before she realized she was doomed. In the years she lived in Kiri she hadn't passed a thought about Halloween more than keeping an eye on Ko and scaring kids away from her house. To come up with a costume for Kina's party that she wouldn't be entirely humiliated in was more difficult than she thought.

She was wallowing in the guest bed of the Subaku's house in a tank top and sweat pants an hour before the party when Ko came to her rescue. She burst into the room carrying a shopping bag with Temari close behind. Ko was already dressed for the party but Kayla couldn't tell what she was, she was wearing a skin tight black body suit that covered her all the way to her neck and a domino mask. Temari was in costume as well but Kayla could easily tell she was a witch.

Kayla didn't move as much as she wanted to hide her scarred arms from Temari's curious eyes.

"Come on Oni I brought you a costume." Ko said throwing the shopping bag next to her on the bed.

Kayla glanced sideways at the bag looking at the mass of black in it, "What are you supposed to be?"

"Well my costume doesn't make any sense without yours." Ko said in a clipped tone.

Kayla grabbed a piece of the fabric from the bag and lifted it but dropped it again as she realized it was identical to Ko's. "I could always go like this." She said sarcastically motioning to her arms.

"Well whatever you're going to go as decide quickly I think the boys are home." Temari snapped looking out the bedroom door.

Kayla sighed looking at the costume in the shopping bag again. "Look" Ko started, "we dress up the same, cause some confusion and act the same, it'll be fun!" she explained.

Kayla sighed but not seeing many options she nodded. "Whoever gets named correctly first loses."

Ko smiled, "exactly."

What seemed like a good idea at the time seemed like a horrible idea standing in front of the house Kina had directed them to. It wasn't the main Daisu building which sent a sliver of suspicion through Kayla but it was soon drowned out by the overwhelming feeling of dread as she stood in the skin tight costume. It was incredible to see that Kayla and Ko were identical in every physical sense but through the way they dressed and acted they altered the way people saw them.

All three sisters stood in front of the house, they knocked and waited, Kayla and Ko in their matching outfits, while Munasshi dressed in a version of a Greek goddess dress. The sound of a motorcycle barreling by made Ko and Munasshi from but Kayla's eyes lit up.

"How dangerous." Munasshi said in passing.

Kayla shook her head watching it all the way down the street, "no it's like sex on two wheels" she murmured without thought.

Munasshi's jaw dropped and Ko laughed causing Kayla to recant. "I mean you know, exciting."

Ko padded her on the back, "keep that thought in mind and no one will guess who you are." She laughed as the door opened.

Kina invited them in, swirling in her gypsy skirt, and they saw most people had arrived already, as they wished her a happy birthday. Naruto was telling stories and laughing rambunctiously dressed as a giant bowl of ramen. Ino and Sakuro were arguing dressed as matching geisha, in pink and purple, whether on purpose or by accident they weren't sure. TenTen was showing of a replica pirate blade with an eye patch and hat. Kankuro was making a fool of himself dressed as Batman and there were many others even people Ko didn't recognise.

They waded into the crowed surprised it was so loud in there and quiet outside. Kayla saw Temari talking with Shikamaru in the corner and crossed over to her. Remembering her bet with Ko she took a from her book, "Where's Red?" she asked trying to look as casual as Ko normally did talking to people.

"Not here yet, he said something about needing to pick something up." Temari answered not noticing how tense Kayla was.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the Lore twin. He was dressed in a black turtleneck dn black pants which immediately pissed Kayla off. "What are you supposed to be?"

"My Shadow" Shikamaru said smartly. Of course leave it to him to find the lazy way out.

Kayla shook her head and headed to a table by the front window to get something to drink. It was by sheer chance she heard the roar of the motorcycle in front of the house over the noise of the party. It parked near the house and the rider set his helmet on the handle. It was too dark to see anything defining through the window but he walked to the door and Kina let him in.

His red hair was slicked back and his face looked paler than usual but it was quite obviously Gaara. He gave a half smile to Kina wishing her a happy birthday and flashing his fake Vampire teeth. Kina laughed and went back to the party. Gaara stood at the edge of the crowd looking unamused.

Kayla took her chance slipping behind him and doing her best impression of her sister. "Hey Red I didn't know you had a Motorcycle."

Gaara looked at her for a moment, unimpressed "It's bad enough your sister uses that nickname for me. If you start using it we'll have to go back to fighting."

Kayla's jaw dropped. "How did you know it was me?"

Gaara looked away and shrugged cryptically.

Kayla took a moment to regain her composure and crossed her arms suddenly feeling really stupid in this costume. "So you have your motorcycles license." She said lamely.

Gaara nodded, "I got it as soon as I could. I don't like having to rely on people to get me places."

That made Kayla shrink into herself more. She was relying on him, his siblings, and her sisters for her protection. "After tonight, I'm going to face my dad, I'll have to go to school now that my suspension is over, there's no point in hiding anymore."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. As confident as her words sounded her posture stated something else entirely. "Are you sure?" he asked, hiding any hint of actual concern, instead sounding bored, if anything a little curious.

"Ya," she tried to sound strong, as she wished to be seen, "I should probably leave the party early to pack up my things."

Gaara frowned, he would never admit to enjoying her company the last week but she wasn't as annoying as he thought she would be. "I see."

They stayed standing like that in silence, teetering at the edge of the crowd, neither wanting to get into the thick of it. Eventually Kina turned down the music to bring out the cake and open her presents. Everyone sang and cheered and Kina somehow managed to look happier than she usually did.

Kayla chuckled sadly watching her friend twirl around in the flowing patchwork skirt.

Gaara raised his eyebrow asking silently what she was on about.

"Did you know Kina wears that same costume every year? I remember even when we were young before I moved." Kayla said her voice filling with nostalgia, "they're actually the only clothes she has from her mom."

Gaara looked again and realized that they weren't cheap Halloween fabrics but real, worn clothes.

"Her mom traveled a route but a group of Tinkers between here and Suna, the moment her Dad saw her mom they fell in love, but some people have that urge for freedom and she didn't stay. When her dad found out his love had had a child the board of Daisu industries made him get a handle on the situation. So he took Kina away from her mom and raised her here." Kayla finished chuckling again, "and yet I've never seen her get angry once, it's all 'aye aye Capitan!' and bright colours and laughs."

Gaara shrugged, "Naurto lost both his parents the night he was born. Yet he pulled me out of my own anger. He insists on shouldering other people's burdens."

"Don't ever tell them I said this but... they impress the hell out of me." Kayla admitted.

Gaara only nodded smiling internally at how weird it was to be sharing their closest friends' stories.

After Kina had turned the music back up, louder than it had been before Gaara spoke again. "They're just going to keep getting louder as the night wears on. I can give you a ride back home."

Kayla's eyes flashed. "On the bike?"

Gaara nodded to this redundant question causing Kayla to smile widely, "sounds like fun."

* * *

**Frenzy - well that's about it. I know a lot of this chapter was flash backs but I'll be getting back to school and the aklatsuki and everything soon. I hope the ending isn't too too weird I've been fishing for the ending for this chapter for a while. I know I don't deserve it but I would love to hear some feedback. I promise I wont take so long for the next chapter. Till next time.**


	9. Coming Home

**Frenzy - I love you guys. I know i said soon months ago but here it is now. at least it wasn't a year... again. Thank you so much Lexiful Sunshine, Felinerx, Jxmorphine and Kiteria for reviewing and All of you who have PMed me to keep me motivated. I've had this chapter up on my computer for weeks guilt tripping over not updating and just not liking the ending. but i hope its okay now. Enjoy**

**Chapter 9**

Getting onto that bike seemed like the most reckless thing she could think of, other than breaking Sasuke's arm of course. Gaara handed her his leather jacket and an extra helmet from under the seat silently and put on his deep red helmet. She was thankful for the jacket, in the skin tight suit she was wearing the night seemed colder than usual. He sat on the bike waiting. She swung her leg over the seat awkwardly, blushing underneath that helmet. Nervous and unsure what to do she sat back in the seat avoiding contact.

Gaara sighed, "Hold on tight." He revved forward a little so she got the message.

Kayla felt a shriek rise inside of her but pushed it back down placing her arms around him.

Her grip was still loose but it was better than nothing. He started down the street speeding up as he went. This time she did squeak and grip tightly as he sped down the street winding around corners and other vehicles. Seeing the road pass underneath her so close and dangerous made adrenaline pump in her veins but instead of fear she felt an amazing sense of freedom as the wind whipped past her.

Gaara could have laughed when he felt her grip tighten, when he took a rather sharp turn it was almost painful but he was only amused by the 'tough' girl's stifled shrieks and gasps. They arrived back at the Subaku's house just as the first snowflake hit the screen of Gaara's helmet. He moved the bike into the small garage and they watched the snow cover the bright leaves and Halloween decorations.

Kayla shivered, "Happy Halloween." She said in an amused tone.

Gaara raised an eyebrow at this but merely unlocked the door and the two stepped into the warmth of the house.

Kayla went straight to her room, changing back into her tank top and sweat pants. She was beginning to feel more comfortable with her scars but not by much. She didn't have much to pack either. Even after a week many of her possessions had remained in the bag Ko had delivered to her. She sat on the bed focusing on her breathing and trying not to think of what she would have to go through, facing her father. She didn't notice Gaara leaning in the doorway. He didn't speak. Not wanting to interrupt the calm that had come over her.

A few minutes later when she finally noticed his presence she had to stop herself from covering her arms. "Thank you for all your help."

He nodded, shifting uncomfortably, he couldn't possibly tell her he knew what she was going through, that was too condescending and she'd take it as an insult no matter what his father had put him and his siblings through. "Any time." He said quietly.

The corners of her lips lifted into what could only be a small smile. She would miss being here; it was so nice not needing to worry all the time. Although she was worried about leaving her sister's there alone, there was no avoiding going back. She wouldn't hide from him forever. There was a long moment of silence between them before Gaara disappeared and came back with a pack of cards. They sat on Kayla's borrowed bed playing Go Fish and Crazy 8's until they heard Temari and Kankuro arrive arguing loudly. Kayla was silently happy she hadn't gone to sleep when she got back because that surely would have woken her, and waking so suddenly usually left her feeling grumpy and more often than not, violent.

They were just finishing up a game and Gaara let out a chuckle as his siblings slammed their respective doors. Kayla looked at him, surprised to hear the light, warmhearted noise uttered from him. He packed up the cards and bid her goodnight leaving her with her thoughts. Tomorrow was sure to be a stressful day.

Sleep was restless and sporadic but when morning finally came she packed all her things into a backpack and readied herself for school. Gaara was nowhere to be found so she walked with Temari and Kankuro. The snow that had fallen the night before stuck to the leftover Halloween decorations but the sun was quickly sending it away It looked at though all the snow would be gone before lunch.

Her teachers greeted her as almost as warmly as before her suspension getting her caught up quickly enough. They were reading Taming of the Shrew in English and she had to catch up, in art they had already finished a project that Kurenai wanted her to finish as soon as possible, in weapons craft people were half way through the plans for their projects, but luckily in taijutsu there was nothing to catch up on.

What was worse was the time in between classes, passing through hallways she was followed but whispers and stares. The word demon drifted into her ears more than once but when she looked for who said it everyone scurried away. It was almost nice being this intimidating. If she walked with Ko she didn't have to worry about fighting off boys. Sasuke still hadn't approached her, so he didn't seem to want a rematch either.

At least her friends treated her the same way, perhaps without disagreeing with Gaara at every turn. The only other thing that stressed her out was avoiding the Akatsuki, it wasn't too hard since they still seemed to half hold a grudge for her lying to them but Deidara was curious and impressed with her breaking Sasuke's arm. Sasori seemed to sense her discomfort and kept Deidara back. She still wasn't sure if he had seen her that night at the alley but she was grateful none the less. It was almost pleasant finding her regular routine. When the bell rang at the end of the day it had all seemed to go by too quickly.

Munasshi came in her mustang to pick Kayla and Ko up but as Kayla climbed in Gaara stopped beside the car on his black motorcycle. "Let me give you a ride home." It wasn't really a question, nor a demand, but more of a suggestion. He didn't look all too comfortable but held his ground.

Kayla looked to her sisters for the OK. While they both disliked motorcycles, Ko grinned like the cat that ate the canary and Munasshi nodded. Kayla hopped on the back of the bike, grabbing the spare helmet and actually holding on this time as the bike took off.

When they arrived, she dismounted, slightly shaky from the adrenaline coursing through her and gave him the spare helmet back. Gaara took off his own helmet and waited. When it was clear he wasn't leaving Kayla almost smiled. Her sisters arrived and parked and Kayla walked forward with them. They had only just made it to the door when it opened and their father stood in the entrance way watching them. Kayla resisted the urge to take a step back. For the moment Saburo Lore looked calm and collect as he stepped aside to let his daughters pass into the house, it was only after they were inside his and Gaara's eyes met, recognition turned to anger as they glared at one another, then Gaara started his bike and revved it, speeding down the street as the girls' father shut the door.

"So you were staying with a Subaku. I didn't know they were here." He said calmly looking to Kayla.

She couldn't be sure but she thought he almost looked... disappointed? Why on earth did that hurt? She supposed on some level of her subconscious she still cared what her father thought. She fought to put up a cold front; he was the reason for her pain. "Ya. Gaara and his siblings are great."

Ko and Munasshi stood on either side of Kayla, ready to react should a violent situation arise.

"I should have known the Kazekage would send his own children to scout out Konoha for him" Saburo laughed bitterly.

Kayla knew he was baiting her. She knew she shouldn't bite but his tone sounded as though he believed what he said. "What are you talking about?"

"Munasshi should have told you, she's gone through all the reports. The Subaku's run the leading Assassin's organization of the world. They're our main threat when protecting someone. Your _friend's _father is the head honcho. The Wind's Shadow. And he's obviously trusted his children to scout out another base of operation." He looked like the mention of his competitor left a bad taste in his mouth.

Kayla looked to Munasshi for conformation. Munasshi looked distraught at the twisting of information, "There father is who he says but it proves nothing of their purpose in Konoha."

"Oh please!" he spat, "You naive girl. Why else would they be here! The irony that you would go to someone, whose family caters death to the world, for comfort, is amazing!"

Kayla didn't know what to say. The information she just received was swimming around her brain. She wouldn't, she couldn't believe what he was saying was true. After all she already knew they came to Konoha because of a 'disagreement' with their father. But the way he had said it seemed so vague now. She shook her head and started up the stairs again.

Her father moved to the bottom of the stairs, "I don't want you around them anymore, do you hear me? I will not lose any more family to these people."

This made her pause. "What on earth are you talking about old man?"

"Your mother..." he began.

"Died due to complications during childbirth, at least try a little harder if you're going to lie to me father." She growled down the stairs at him.

"That's what we told you but we were in the middle of negotiations with The Subaku's second in command when it all happened. I should never have let her in the same room as those monsters!" his voice cracked talking about his wife.

Kayla frowned, Munasshi and Ko were still at the bottom of the stairs looking shocked and confused.

"You actually believe that don't you?" Kayla said watching the depression consume her father, "You really think it's their fault. Drunken idiot." She shook her head, storming up the stairs.

Their father didn't even seem fazed by the insult, he only laughed bitterly sauntering back to the den, "You'll see, and you'll all wished you had listened"

To this she slammed her door shut. There was nothing more to say and nothing more she wanted to hear. As it was his accusations swam around her head. She tried to banish them by drawing, working on Kurenia's project. Sketching randomly and working through pages crumpling one after the other as they all came out as death. Abandoning that she slipped out of her room, everyone had gone back to normal. Creeping downstairs to Munasshi's room she knocked quietly. The door opened almost before her hand lifted away from the door.

Munasshi stood in the doorway looking almost disappointed. "I was expecting you."

"We'll praise the all knowing sister" Kayla snapped sarcastically. "You have books on everything right?"

Munasshi sighed letting Kayla in and shutting the door. "Yes, including what your looking for."

"Then whats the problem?" Kayla asked impatiently.

"All of my book have been written by members of our clan from the past and while some one them have my knack for unbiased knowledge most do not." The older sister warned.

"Just give it here" she needed some answers, any answers or else the questions would rattle around in her head until she assumed something that would be undoubtedly worse.

Munasshi picked up a thick leather bound journal and put it in Kayla's hands but held on. "Kayla, please accept a little wisdom from me. Your own experience is more important than anything you'll find in one of my books." When Kayla still held on Munasshi let it go. "And if you damage that I will come after you and skin you alive Nee-san."

Kayla felt a chill go up her spine at the pure seriousness of that threat. "You got it." she said slipping out of the room and back up the stairs to her room.

It was hand written, like Munasshi had said, by many different people and mostly contained mission reports, both successful and failures. All relating to the same clan of assassins. A few background notes said that their cover was a range of businesses branching out of Suna. The Head himself was the political leader of the desert country Suna. It seemed ridiculous that someone under so much scrutiny like a political leader could run anything of the sort.

She kept flipping through until she found a different section. Someone had done Surveillance on the Subaku's Home in Suna. They called him "The Wind's Shadow" The Kazekage. It certainly sounded like the leader of a league of assassins. Most of the surveillance photo's were of the Kazekage himself but one in the back showed the whole family.

It showed the Kazekage and two other men each training a kid. A stern looking man with a red tattoo on his face and a cloth wrapped around his head and covering the other half of his face was training a young blonde girl with a war fan. Her hair was practically identical to Temari's. The Kazekage was working with a boy that looked almost identical to him in miniature. The boy was trying to move a wooden puppet but It didn't look like he was having much success judging by the disappointed look on the older man's face. It surprised her to think that that must be Kankuro because with his face paint he looked nothing like that man. Further away from the other 4 was Gaara's unmistakable red hair. Beside him was a blonde man. Something about his features made him look softer, sadder than the other two men. Gaara was swirling his sand around making little sculptures. _'They must have been really young.'_ She thought bitterly reading the caption underneath. The man training Temari was the Second in Command, Baki and the one training Gaara was their Uncle Yashamaru.

She stared for a long time at the picture of the second in command. _'He was here when Mom died...'_ she thought staring at the strict look on his face. She flipped the page, not wanting to take anything her father said as fact. The last page was a half finished mission report. A small team had gone to Suna to search for the Kazekage's secret weapon. Not much information was given except that it would give him the power to overthrow an entire regime. They had a man on the inside and were planning to destroy the weapon but none of the team ever returned. It was assumed they were all Killed in Action.

Kayla flipped back to the picture of the Siblings training. Pulling out her phone she snapped a picture of it before closing the book and heading back down the stairs. Munasshi was waiting with her door open as Kayla gave her the book back and headed outside to where her dog lay in the sun, ignoring the slight chill in the air.

She stepped into his fenced off area and flopped down in the grass beside Eri. "What am I going to do now, kid" she said laying back and resting her head on him.

Eri only wagged his tail through the grass too content to even open his eyes. She let out a long breath, trying to feel as carefree as him.

**Frenzy - Kinda focuses really heavily on the sisters this chapter but brings in some background on the sand siblings. Good news for those of you who have been asking about when the akatsuki are coming back! look forward to the next chapter! reviews motivate me but i understand if i don't deserve them, i hope to be back soon with the next chapter but I've had a problem as of late with my focus being split on too many stories I want to write. I won't post any more till this is done but They are taking up room in my head.**


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Naruto, Hurt-Comfort, Romance