Wrinkle In Space: Book 4 in the Shifting Series

Vengeance Is Mine

Melissa watched her friend from the corner of her eye as they sat in the Ramen place. It was the first time since she was married that they had spent any real time together. It was plain for anyone to see that she was a very happy woman. Her eyes were almost shiny, her complexion glowed, and she couldn't stop smiling. Melissa remembered how exciting the early days had been, learning about each other for the first time. She smiled inwardly.

Not that the fire had ever left between her and Iruka. The emotions were just different, deeper and more steady. There is uncertainty in the beginning as you learn your partner and all the idiosyncrasies of one another. She doubted her and Iruka would ever lose the passion between each other. They literally still could not keep their hands off each other and location did not matter.

Her cheeks flushed just a little as she thought about how Ti had caught them in Iruka's office. His office was only one of a dozen high risk locations they had banged one another at since they had been together. The riskiest had been at the theatre of all places when Sarah had dragged them and Kakashi out to a play she had wanted to see. Iruka had pulled her off to the side during intermission and with people literally just on the other side of the curtain separating the booth they were in and pinned her to the wall and banged the hell out of her. He had sealed her mouth shut with his own, the only way they could have kept quiet enough to not be caught.

"So... how do you like married life?"

Klaudia's cheeks flushed a little and her eyes sparkled, "Tenzo is an amazing man. He's so sweet and gentle."

Melissa's brows shot up, "Tenzo? I thought he hated that name."

Klaudia laughed softly, "No, he just doesn't like when Kakashi uses it." A smiled played on her lips as she raised the cup of tea in her hands to her lips, "He's... oh Melissa, the man does things that I didn't think was possible!"

Melissa laughed hard at the words and clapped her on the shoulder. "I TOLD YOU!" She gave a little shiver, "I've never had a lover like Iruka, that's for damn sure. I'm pretty sure Misti and Sarah would also say the same about their men." She spaced out for a moment as she thought then turned towards her, "It never ceases to amaze me how different these men are to the ones where we are from. Even the good men... which I didn't get to know any but Sarah was married to one."

Klaudia raised her brows at her, "Did you know her then?"

"No, Ben and Anaise died before I met Sarah. I just know he was a good man because of the way she would talk about him.... but she did admit to me one night since being here... albeit we were pretty far in our drinks... that while she loved Ben the love and passion she has for Kakashi far surpasses the love she had for him."

"Something I don't understand, Melissa," Klaudia said after a long moment of silence. "How could Tenzo be single for so long? I mean... he's so sweet, intelligent... sexy of course.. I just don't understand it."

Anna broke in as she came up to the counter. "That's easy, honey. Now don't take this the wrong way, I love the villagers and everyone here. They're good people for the most part but... They do have some deep running prejudices. When they look at Yamato, they see Orochimaru's test subject. An abnormality per say. They don't take the time to get to know him and to be honest, the man is not in the village very much. This is the longest I've ever known him to be in the village."

Anna straightened as she saw a couple of ladies approaching the restaurant. An almost pained expression crossed her features before she quickly schooled them into a fake smile. "Speaking of prejudice people..." she whispered. "Well hello, Ima, ladies... how can I help you?"

Ima Fuku, wife of a rich businessman and the business association president, looked down her narrow nose at Anna. It was quite evident that she did not feel like Anna was worth talking to but was in a position that she had no choice. Anna usually turned over any discussions with Teuchi; however, he had left to pick up their produce for the week and would not be back for a few hours.

Melissa narrowed her eyes on the lady. She continued to eat but she remembered her well. They had crossed paths at the Academy when her son had washed out of the program. She had been in an outrage and had tried to bribe Iruka to allow him to remain. In her estimation, the kid was a lazy and spoiled brat that did not have an ounce of niceness in him and had been more of a bully until his expulsion.

Klaudia watched with fascination, eating her vegan ramen as she watched the conversation that unfolded in front of her. She could tell that the woman had an inflated ego just by the way she held herself and the disdainful looks she was giving Anna. She was not an old woman, either. She guessed she was somewhere between hers and Melissa's age. How disgraceful behaving that way, especially with an elder!

"I was just stopping in to see if Teuchi had decided how he will vote in this upcoming meeting? I just want to ensure that everyone is onboard with the new initiative that has been proposed."

Anna clicked her tongue, put her hand on the counter then leaned forward. "No, not everyone is on board with the initiative Ima."

Ima looked ready to sputter but managed to say in a tight voice, "And why is that, Anna?"

Anna's hazel eyes narrowed and Melissa almost felt sorry for the other woman. She had seen that look on Sarah's face a dozen or so times and she knew exactly what Anna was about to do to her.

"For starters, it makes it almost impossible for new businesses to be established. When you hinder growth you can cause irrevocable stagnation to a community. Second, the fees that are being proposed are ridiculous. Only the larger businesses would be able to make that kind of fee. Third, it is one of the most elitist pieces of crap I've ever seen in my life. You can bet now that all of us that are in the middle to lower bracket will be voting against this initiative."

Klaudia felt like clapping. She did not know what this "initiative" was about but it sounded like it was geared towards the wealthy upper class. She then almost laughed as the other woman did start sputtering at that point and her face became red as a tomato. Melissa was smirking next to her.

"I should have known considering what kind of..." she flashed a glance at Klaudia, "trash your restaurant serves. Imagine shacking up with that experiment."

"No one asked you to come by here," Anna stated coldly. "And don't you ever speak of Klaudia in that manner again or I'll show you how we settle things in my world."

"You wouldn't dare!" she huffed.

"I would," Melissa said before rearing her hand back and smacking her hard in the nose. Ima stumbled back and fell into the dirt. The other two women that had been with her gave shocked gasps and backed away unless they received the next blow.

"I'll have you arrested, I'll-"

Klaudia was furious as she looked at the woman. How dare she call her husband an experiment?! It had been satisfying to see Melissa punch her in the face but she wanted more, so great was her anger in that moment. She was clinching her hands tightly together and she did not realize it but her Dojutsu flared to life as she was sitting there. Not that anyone would notice because time slowed to almost a stop as she met the other woman's eyes and slowly came to her feet.

The environment around changed into one of Orochimaru's labs. Ima screamed as she was suddenly inside a tube filled with liquid, naked, and hooked up to tubes. Klaudia stepped towards her with her fury.

"I believe you need a lesson in what my husband has endured. You will experience all of his early years before I release you," Klaudia told her as Ima suddenly became a very small child.

The years flashed past as if in real time and she forced Ima to endure all the horror. She was a quivering mess at her feet by the time it was done. Klaudia stepped back from her and released the Ginjutsu. Only a few seconds had passed in real time and the other two women were making their agreement that Melissa should be arrested.

Ima looked at Klaudia, paled considerably, then looked to them. "No, no. We are done here. I deserved that." She quickly got to her feet. "Let's go."

Melissa and Anna's mouth's dropped open. They looked at each other then at Klaudia. Anna recovered the fastest.

"What the hell was that?"

Klaudia gave an innocent shrug. "Maybe that pop in the nose knocked some sense into her. Good job, Melissa."