Scroll 1: Trailing The Wolves (The White Wolf Trilogy)

Chapter 4

"You let them get away?!"

Kenta flinched. The Akiyama clan's leader was rarely mad, but when he was there were often disastrous results.

"I told you that it was imperative that Akihiro and Enju be brought to me." Kazuhiko just shook his head, clearly upset with the young hunter.

"Bring Asa in," Kazuhiko ordered, not even bothering to look at Kenta.

Kenta walked over to the door, opening it for the young redheaded woman, and then excused himself. 

'Baka,' he thought, mentally scolding himself for his fatal mistake.

****

"So this is the fabled Lupus Album? Doesn’t look like much to me."

This rather snide comment came from a plump, brunette fifty-something with dramatically arched eyebrows, the woman who they would have to call Oba-chan during their time at Konoha, however long that would be ("We don't know how long you'll need to stay there," Aetius had said).

Pyro muttered something incoherent, glowering at the pudgy woman, Akemi, a name not quite befitting of her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be...um... I don’t know, kind and loving? Isn’t that how the whole aunt thing works?” Statick asked, her mouth full of yakiniku.

Akemi wrinkled her nose at the girl. “Listen brat, I’m only protecting you because I got the instructions straight from Aetius to do so; I hate kids, and if you push my buttons I won’t hesitate to throw you straight out onto the streets.”

Aria, who had wanted to say something, busied herself with pushing the meat around on her plate. 

They were at a newly built barbeque place just across the street from their apartment, a bright yellow building with paint peeling off its orange shingles.

"Well, that's enough of that," Akemi abruptly said.

Aurora gave her a look as the woman shoved away her multiple plates (the meals were served buffet style), but she said nothing. 

"What? I'm watching my figure," Akemi placed her hands across her stomach. Tetra stifled a laugh; Akemi couldn't watch what she didn't have. 

"Besides, we have plenty of work to do, and sitting here is just burning daylight." 

'What work could we be doing?' thought Crystal. 

"School starts on Monday, and I'm tasked with the job of making you look like seasoned Academy students, when you softies probably haven't fought a day in your life."

'Softies? We've been in more fights than we'd have liked to,' Pyro thought grimly. Often the battles they fought weren't their decision; they fought out of necessity. 

Apparently, Akemi took their grim faces as confirmation of her comment, and took it upon herself to comfort them.

"Don't worry, I'll whip the lot of you into shape." She motioned for the children to follow her, and they did, feeling like ducklings following the mother duck. 

They walked across the street to their new apartment, taking a turn around the building and ending up in a wide lot behind it. Akemi paused, and then looked at the girls as if expecting something.

“Um, Akemi..there's nothing there," said Aria. 

“You’ve go to be kidding me,” Akemi mumbled under her breath.

She turned to the girls. “You mean you don’t see anything? Anything at all?”

The girls shook their heads.