Reunion

Kurai Niwa, the resident Yukikage, wandered through the outskirts of her village with her faithful companion Shia at her side. The two conversed normally, carefully picking their way through the several inches of fresh snow. Kurai was wearing a form-fitting white kimono with a sort of half skirt which covered the back of her legs, also pure white. Silver detailing was etched into the sleeves in the form of silver Sakura petals, which complemented her ivory skin. She did contrast violently with the pure black of Shia's pelt though. She wanted something to happen, to make life a bit more exciting. She just didn't know what.

There was a patient knock on the door before a voice was heard. "Why do you always knock cub? Just open the freaking door. I doubt Miss Snowflake is going to rip you a new one for it" said a familiar raspy voice. "Shut up fleabag" snapped another familiar voice as the door opened and Kurai's close friend Minoru Kurohyou walked through the door wearing his snow white cloak with the hood down, showing off his pitch-black hair, sapphire blue eyes and pale skin. He was followed closely by a snow-white furred panther that had a Snow Village Headband slanted over it's left eye, which was a blind and had a scar going through it.

"Sorry for interrupting you Kurai but I just wanted to see how you were fairing with your paperwork" Minoru said with a smirk on his face, knowing full well how much she hated paperwork. The panther Hoshoku, which means Predator, snorted and rolled it's one eye skywards. "Yeah right, you just wanted to see your mate that you keep denying is yours" laughed the panther in it's low, raspy voice.

Kurai looked up from the papers, her emerald green eyes sparking with irritation behind her thin-rimmed glasses. She took them off and placed them at the side of her desk, clearing her throat and promptly throwing a stack of papers at his face. "It's just LOVELY to see you, Minoru," Kurai retorted with a grin. She glanced at the panther and shook her head. Trust him to be thinking about mates. Minoru probably didn't even think of her in that way.

Shia snickered, padding over to them both and stretching lazily. "Ya got here at a good time. If you'd come a few hours earlier, she would've bound you to the chair using her spirit ropes and made you do the paperwork for her," She joked as she barked out a laugh, nodding at Hoshoku with a wolfish smirk.

Minoru politely told his trusty companion in a not-so-nice way to shut up as he ducked underneath the stack of papers. "Funny, having papers thrown at my face says otherwise" he said with a small frown on his face as he shook his head. He would offer to help Kurai out but the last time he did that, it didn't end well, what with him burning the last stack of papers because they never stopped coming so Kurai pretty much banned him from ever doing paperwork.

Hoshoku grinned in what would be a panther equivalent version of a lecherous grin and wiggled imaginary eyebrows as he stared at the pitch-black wolf that happened to be smaller then him. "Well helloooo Shia, you fine, furry goddess. I bet you missed me and yeah, there would be bonding but I doubt it would be paperwork she would have him doing" he snickered at his joke as he flirted with Shia, forgetting about the fact that she was a wolf and he was a panther.

"Aw, c'mon now," Kurai chuckled, getting up out of her seat. "Don't gimme that look. You know I'm a sucker for puppy dog eyes," She brushed down the creases in her kimono-type attire, letting her hair out of the messy ponytail it had been in before and tied the ribbon she had been using around her wrist. She approached Minoru and, ignoring Kiku's joking, hugged her friend rather than abuse him any further. "It really is good to see you. There, is that sincere enough?"

Shia laughed, lifting a paw and tapping Hoshoku on the snout playfully. "Damn right, I missed you! Jeez, life is so dull around here." She snorted and laughed again at his joke. "Shush, it's best we leave them to find that out for themselves. Humans don't have instincts like ours," She purred, batting her eyes at him.

"I don't know. It didn't sound sincere enough to me" Minoru said with a frown on his face but he hugged her back anyway to show he was only kidding, which was a rarity, since he only did it when they were by themselves or with Shia and Kuki, though he was still pretty serious most of the time.

Hoshoku grinned a predatory grin and nuzzled Shia's neck playfully. "Well what do you expect? I AM awesome, after all. Then again, how can you expect the Wild One to NOT be awesome?" he asked her, referring to himself as the Wild One, which was a rather fitting title since he loved to get into fights and such and often attacked in a crazy, wild and unpredictable manner, as Shia and Kurai found out when they were out on a joint mission once, though his teamwork with Minoru was also incredible, since they worked together in battle like an Inuzuka and their canine companions. "Yeah but their so stubborn you basically have to hit them in the head with a brick to get that fact driven home though Shia" he said with a snicker as he made some not-so-subtle nudges with his head in the direction of Kurai and Minoru.

Kurai rolled her eyes, moving her head back a bit. "Oh alright then, stubborn boy. What would convince you? Name it!" She grinned as she stuck out her tongue. Like Minoru, it was rare that she'd let this side of her show. But Minoru, Kiku and Shia were the 3 people in the world she trusted, if you could could count the final 2 as people. Despite ignoring Kiku's jibes, it was true that she had developed considerable feelings for Minoru over the length of time that she had known him.

"I love how modest you are Hoshoku," Shia chuckled, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she gave him a gentle lick on the nose. "I know they're stubborn, and totally dense, but it'll be that much more rewarding when they DO come to realise it and we get to say 'I hate to say I told you so'," She shrugged, picking up another log in her jaws and chucking it into the fire to keep it roaring.

"Hm, I don't know. How about you acknowledge me as one of the greatest ninjas you have ever seen?" he asked her as he thought over what he wanted for a few minutes before asking about the suggestion. Kurai knows he's not really that arrogant but he still loves to hear it. He might not be arrogant but Kurai knows he's very prideful and takes his accomplishments seriously.

"Better I be arrogant and be proud of myself then modest and demean my abilities. After all, the Wild One is like a storm, it arrives, it raises a lot of hell and then it leaves with a bang" he said with an animal version of a smirk. Hoshoku could be considered arrogant but he was definitely fun to be around as because he never made things dull or boring, he always kept things interesting and fun.

She tilted her head, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. "Hmmm...Welllll~" She paused as she nodded. "Minoru, you truly are one of the finest shinobi I have had the pleasure of coming across," She told him, complete sincerity and respect in her voice as she pecked him on the cheek. "That good enough for you?" She raised an eyebrow and turned around as she went back to her desk, making everything a bit less cluttered.

"Of course. I've yet to see this 'bang' of yours though," The shewolf replied flirtatiously, flicking her tail. She was basically just doing to him what he did to her. Shia and Hoshoku were quite similar in personality, so it wasn't a shocking thing to see them acting in a similar fashion.

"Well thank you Kurai. I feel much better now" he said with a small grin on his face as his cold blue eyes gained a little more warmth in them. Although to most people, there was no change in his usual icy demeanor, Kurai has known Minoru for quite a while so it comes as no surprise she is able to tell the difference in his almost unnoticeable changes in his demeanor or facial expressions.

"Really? Well" here the 'Wild One' licked his left front paw and made a motion with it as if he was combing back his hair in an attempt to be suave "give me a chance and you'll experience firsthand why I'm known as the Wild One and just how 'devastating' my bang is" Hoshoku said as he gave her what would be an animal's version of a seductive grin. It would be a strange site to those who aren't used to the antics of Shia and Hoshoku as because the thought of a panther and a wolf...doing things was strange as because that would be like pairing up a cat and dog for most people.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Kurai replied as she smiled gently at Minoru over her shoulder. That was
what made them such an odd pair. Minoru was cold, serious, he didn't let people in. Kurai, on the other hand, barely had a bad bone in her body. She was always very gentle and kind, despite her past, and her behaviour towards Minoru showed this clearly. "Come sit with me, Minoru. If you wouldnt mind," She told him as she took a seat on a small sofa by the window.

Shia laughed, pacing around him and rubbing her head against the side of his neck. "Hmm, you're doing a good job of convincing me, Hoshoku. Trust me, that's not an easy thing to do," She growled quietly as her golden eyes looked up at him as she flashed another wolfish grin.

"Certainly" Minoru said with a nod of his head as he walked over to her, his white cloak billowing dramatically in an imaginary wind that made him look a little more....badass, was the only word that came to mind, and sat down next to her, moving his cloak around so that he wasn't sitting on it. One thing that Kurai could never figure out was how Minoru did that with his cloak. Even when there wasn't even any wind, that cloak of his still billowed around like it was in a wind storm. (I'm sorry, I just had to put that in XDD)

Hoshoku grinned at her in a predatory way as his one golden eye started to twinkle in what would be described as success."Sweet. You should say yes because let me tell you, if you need someone to put you to bed, I'm your feline. I doubt you will find any wolf that can do things to you like I can" he said as he licked her nose affectionately, smirking in what was obviously arrogant pride, though with Hoshoku, there was a large chance that he could back up what he says.

Kurai chuckled, rolling her eyes. "You and that damned cape of yours," She grinned, glancing out the window at the snow that was beginning to fall. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, turning a little to face Minoru. "So, whats been going on with you, Minoru-Kun? It's been a good few weeks," She tried to avert her gaze, mentally cursing herself for the 'Kun'. She'd NEVER used that before.Ever.

"Ohhh really now?" Shia let out a throaty chuckle, not wanting to back down now. "Well then, I've got no choice except to say 'yes'," The shewolfs tail grazed one of Hoshoku's legs, her ear twitching in curiousity.

Minoru's right eyebrow twitched upwards slightly at the 'Kun' honorific she attached to his name but didn't comment on it, though he felt his stomach tighten up a bit. "Nothing really, just been doing missions with Hoshoku, clearing out Bandit Camps, tracking and eliminating rogue ninja, things like that" he said as he waved his hand dismissively. It was no secret to Kurai that Minoru was an excellent tracker-nin due to his improved senses and the ability to sense chakra, making him just as good, maybe even more good, then an Inuzuka. He's helped track down and eliminate bandit camps and rogue ninjas that came too close to Snow so he was also more well-rounded and able to go into combat efficiently rather then just track.

"Yes, really. I highly doubt any wolves you have met are as interesting as me or have more in common with you then I do" the Wild One said with a smirk on his face and he's most likely right. After all, he does have more in common with Shia then any wolf, the main point being able to speak and communicate with humans and their personalities being practically a perfect match.

She nodded, her mind vaguely drifting back to the various missions she'd assigned him. "Yes, yes of course," She rubbed the back of her neck. "Shia and I have been trying to go on as many missions as possible, but the elders have been requesting my assistance off late," It was no secret that Kurai was a renowned medical nin, as well as a strong kunoichi. The elders had passed on their teachings to her. She shifted up the sleeve of her kimono, showing a light scar on her left arm. "The last thing they taught me was a technique to heal others while using your own blood. I dunno if you noticed, but on your mission I was healing you whenever you sustained injury. Look," Sure enough, the light carvings on her arm did indeed read 'Minoru'.

"I can't argue there. I'd be lying if I said the thought had never crossed my mind before. I suppose you could say we were a perfect match, hm?" She grinned, padding towards the door and nudging it open with her nose. "Coming? I have a feeling these 2 are going to need the privacy," She laughed, grinning at Kurai.

Minoru looked at the carving on her arm with narrowed eyes and frowned at her. "No need to heal me Kurai and give yourself some unnecessary scars. I'm a tough guy, I'll just bounce back from whatever is thrown at me" he said as his cold, icy blue eyes started to fill up a bit with concern. It was not often he showed any emotions, usually it was just cold indifference but when he did show emotion, Kurai could easily see it.

"Yeah, that's obvious, though if we come back here and they haven't done it at least once, I'm gonna start thinking it's all hopeless for them" Hoshoku said with a snort as he opened the door with his tail and led Shia out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Kurai rolled her eyes, passing a hand over the scars. "Please, they're only temporary. It's not as if I've never been subjected to pain worse than this. I know you're tough, but that won't stop me from helping you and you need to realise that," She looked him in the eye, radiating her usual stubborn aura that surfaced whenever she wasn't prepared to back down. "I care about you just as much as you care about me, I don't think you remember that,"

Shia rolled her eyes and nodded, padding onto the snow that had just fallen. "Kami, I know. I mean, if animals such as ourselves can see it, it's a miracle that they can't. I just wish they'd realise it. I mean, we managed to agree in the space of, what, 5 minutes? They've been at it since...Well, I can't even remember!"

"Of course I remember that, it's just that you shouldn't have to focus your time on healing me when I can brush off most injuries. Besides, anyone that even attempts to hurt me or you" here he stopped to point his right fist in front of his face, fingers facing him and his knuckles facings Kurai, and extended three metallic claws from his index, middle and ring finger knuckles that were each 12 inches, a full foot, long "will just be gutted like a fish" he said with a dark glint in his eye as a sadistic grin appeared on his face, finishing off the sentence he started. Minoru told Kurai that his Clan, the Kurohyou Clan, always used a combination of a very strong, sharp and durable metal and medical techniques to artificially infuse metallic claws into the clan member's skin as because they didn't have natural claws like the Inuzuka and usually get them done when they are old enough to enter the Academy. Minoru told her that the bonding process is incredibly painful and that it actually hurts when the claws slide and break through the skin, though he says the longer you use them and the longer you have them, the pain can lessen and it can sometimes disappear altogether.

(Think Wolverine's claws from X-Men if you need to think of what the claws look like)

"What do you expect? Their both as hard-headed as they come so I'm not really surprised they still haven't figured it out yet. What we need to do is spell it out for them in a way that would make it incredibly obvious how they feel about each other. We need to make sure they understand completely that their feelings for each other are returned. It would lessen the amount of headaches we get" Hoshoku said to her as he nodded his head in agreement with his own statement. He was absolutely right. They were so stubborn it would take them far too long to admit their feelings for each other on there own so it would be much more productive if he and Shia pushed things along.

Kurai closed her eyes and nodded, dipping her head in respect to him and his clan. "I understand that, Minoru...But I'm sick of standing by without ever fighting. Nobody is immortal. I worry about you, damnit! I want to be there fighting with you, so I can defend my home," She placed a hand on his wrist, pushing it down gently as a familiar fire sparked in her eyes. "If I can do anything to protect anybody, you can be damned sure I'm going to do it. Out of everybody, you are the one person that I utterly refuse to lose. No way, no how,"

"I like where you're going with this, but how do you think we should go about it?" She frowned as she tilted her head to the side. She wanted those 2 to realise their feelings as much as Hoshoku did but the question was how were they going to go about it? It wasn't going to be an easy task for 2 people as stubborn as them.

"Your the Yukikage Kurai. The only time you should be fighting is when your training or defending the village. Rogue ninjas and such could take advantage of you not being in the village and use it as an opportunity to do something like infiltrate the village and steal our secrets" he said calmly, raising an eyebrow as he pointed out that fact. Minoru knew full well Kurai was perfectly capable of handling herself on a mission and in fights but since she was the Yukikage, she had to be in the village to defend it at anytime.

"We need to nudge them in the right direction, spell it out for them in neon bright, glowing, capital letters about their feelings for each other, put them in all kinds of situations to get them to admit it or we do what we do best and pester them constantly until they admit it, not just to us, but to each other" he told her and he was right. Either one of those ideas were most likely the best for their situation though the second one would probably work better.

"It is the SNOW, Minoru. This place hasn't been attacked in years, there's nothing to gain FROM attacking it," She was getting irritable now. One thing that she never had was patience. She turned so she was sitting normally, leaning forward to prop her elbows on her knees and resting her face in her hands. She took a deep breath, slow. "You really just don't understand what I mean," She murmured dismissively. It wasn't going to be easy. Hell, she didn't even have the guts to do it. She needed Shia and Hoshoku's help more than she thought.

"Well, what a better time to do it than now? C'mon, they'll still be in the same position as they were before we left. If we just get in there and broadcast it now, it'll hopefully give them the kick up the rear that they need," She turned, nodding towards the building they had just left.

"Kurai, remember what we're taught in the Academy. Never let your guard down. Just because Snow hasn't been attacked in years doesn't mean we should ever let our guards down. After all, in the world of a shinobi, enemies could be everywhere and they could be waiting for the moment we drop our guard" he said to her with a 'you should know better' look on his face. He was absolutely right about letting your guard down. Enemy ninja could be right in your midst, in your village, pretending to be a civilian or an active ninja in your own ranks, waiting for you to get lax so they could strike.

"You got it. Let's do this thing so the stubborn snowflake girl and the stubborn, serious-stick-up-you-know-where icy glacier can finally get together and release all that damn sexual tension between the two" Hoshoku said with a smirk on his face as he snickered slightly at the names he gave Kurai and Minoru. Hoshoku was always doing that, giving people names like that in a way where he seemed to be disrespecting and mocking you but he was really just playing around.

"Oh, FINE, Minoru!" She snapped, squeezing her eyes shut. "I get it, I was wrong. I'm a horrible Kage. I'm sorry that I'm not like the other Kage's and I let my personal attachments dictate my decisions sometimes. I'm sorry that I don't even WANT this damn position because it keeps me away from the people I love the most!" She couldn't look at him, her face never left the palms of her hands as she tried to steady her breathing, trying her best just to zone him out so she didn't feel so humiliated.

Shia chuckled, nodding as they made their way up to Kurai's quarters again, looking forward to finally getting Kurai off her back about this. "Hey...Hold on. Did you hear that?" Pressing her ear to the door, even though she could already hear it perfectly well, Shia rolled her eyes. They'd left those 2 alone for a couple of minutes and already something had gone wrong.

Minoru's face was perfectly impassive but by the way his shoulders sagged and his head dipped down just enough so that Kurai couldn't see his eyes was an obvious indication he felt bad about upsetting her. Kurai knows plenty well Minoru cherishes the ones he cares for highly and will feel almost depressive about upsetting someone he cares for.

"Typical, though I am unsure if it's because of what Minoru said or if Kurai is just overreacting" Hoshoku said with a roll of his eye as he made clicking sounds of disappointment with his tongue. How those two could be so caring and soft to each other, or as soft as Minoru can be anyway, for one minute and then another get into a fight was beyond. As far as he was concerned, they fought more times then when a pervert gets beaten up for peeping at a hotsprings, which was a lot.

She just shook her head and took her head out of her hands, sighing heavily as she opened her eyes. "It...Isn't your fault," She murmured quietly, one of her hands gently brushing over his. "You know how hard it is for me to let the people I care about out of my sight...I always think that..." She faltered, before clearing her throat and collecting herself. "I always think that they won't come back..." It was remarkable how quickly her moods shifted, but it was all just stress and worry. She didn't want to sit on the sidelines and watch.

"It's more likely that Kurai's overreacting. It's become something of a habit of hers, perhaps its the stress...See? Now she's all soft again. She's impossible to fathom," Shia snorted, shaking her head. "If I don't hear progress in the next few minutes, I'm going in there,"