Renewal

~17~

I was woken up by a quite shrill scream, making me jump up and adjust my glasses so I could see.

"What the fu- oh, hey Sakura." I said, noticing it was only Sakura. "Who screamed?"

"Why are you in my room?!" She asked.

"Your room? Tsunami said this was where I would be staying." I replied. "Oh I get it now."

"Get what?" Sakura asked.

"Tsunami must think I'm a girl, so she put us in the same room. Smart to gender separate." I concluded.

"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"We can still share the room," I decided. "One of us can change in the bathroom and the other can change in here. Just make sure to knock before entering."

"Alright, but if you try anything I won't hesitate to punch you into next week!" She threatened.

"Glad we've figured that out, but why'd you scream." I asked.

"It was so dark in here last night and you were so quiet, that I got ready for bed in here and then fell asleep. So when I noticed you were sleeping in here, I screamed at the thought you saw me." Sakura explained, blushing in embarrassment.

"Well lucky you, I was fast asleep yesterday." I said. "Now let's head downstairs for some breakfast."

Sakura nodded and opened the door. I reached for my crutch, which was slightly out of reach and to my surprise, Sakura grabbed it and handed it to me.

"Thanks Sakura." I said, taking the crutch.

Sakura gave me a small smile and we both headed downstairs for breakfast. Once we got to the bottom of the stairs we saw that everyone was awake and already there, including Kakashi-sensei and a little boy.

"When did you wake up?" I asked pointing at my sensei.

"A few hours ago, Tsunami is making me use a crutch even though I'm fine." Kakashi pouted.

"We can be cripple buddies!" I exclaimed, waving my crutch in the air.

"Yay." He cheered sarcastically.

I hobbled over to Naruto and took a seat next to him, giving him a small smile.

"How's your ankle?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, it actually doesn't hurt, but I won't try walking on it for another day or so." I replied, glaring at my ankle for a moment.

We all chatted idly, and surprisingly we were getting along pretty well as a team. Naruto would say something stupid, Sasuke would tell him he's stupid, Sakura would agree with Sasuke, and I would side with Naruto just to piss Sasuke off.

"Breakfast!" Tsunami announced, walking into the room with a plate of pancakes and a pitcher of orange juice.

Tsunami gave us each a plate of pancakes and a glass of juice, we thanked her for the meal before digging in. Quite greedily I may add. I stuffed my face without a care in the world, until I could feel someone staring at me. I looked up from my plate and saw that it was the little boy staring at me.

"If you got something to say to me, say it." I said, annoyed with the kid's silence.

"Crossdresser." He said.

I spit out the orange juice I had just drank and turned to the kid.

"WHY DOES EVERYONE CALL ME THAT?! IS IT THAT HARD TO SEE THAT I'M A GUY?!" I screamed, pulling my hair in frustration.

"You're a boy?" Tsunami asked, seeming quite embarassed.

I slammed my head on the table in defeat. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were all laughing, Sasuke just smirked at me.

"Who is this kid anyway?!" I asked, glaring at the little brat.

"This is my grandson Inari." Tazuna explained.

Now it makes sense, he's Inari, the bratty kid that later become's a hero or something. The anime is becoming fuzzy, I can't remeber all that much.

Inari ignored his grandfather and went back to eating his breakfast, once he finished he left the house without saying another word.

"Once you're all finished, meet me upstairs, I have something important to tell you." Kakashi said, finishing his plate of pancakes.

The rest of us finished eating quickly and we all headed upstairs, following Kakashi, who had something important to say. We all gathered in Kakashi's room and sat down in front of him, waiting for him to begin.

"Zabuza is alive." Kakashi started.

"But how?" Sakura asked. "You checked his pulse and everything!"

"What weapon did the tracker nin use to kill him?" Kakashi asked.

"He used two senbon." Naruto answered.

"Exactly." Kakashi agreed. "But what's fishy about that."

"Senbon are rarely fatal." I said.

"They can also be used to put someone in a temporary state of death." Kakashi added.

"So when do you think Zabuza will attack again?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably in a week or so, his body will need time to recover." He replied. "In the meantime, we will use this week to train."

Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other, clearly thinking this was the perfect time to make it a contest. Sakura seemed happy, and I just wanted my stupid ankle to heal already.

"Today you all can relax, Tazuna told me he won't continue construction of the bridge until tomorrow, so just get your strength back up and be ready for tomorrow." Kakashi said

We all left Kakashi's room, off to do our own things. Knowing Sasuke, he's probably going to do his own training anyway, Naruto might go out and explore and Sakura may help out around the house with Tsunami. I know exactly what I'm going to do.

I slowly made my way back down stairs and left through the front door. I walked around the back of the house until I had finally made it to the forest on the edge of town. I leaned my crutch against the tree and channeled chakra into my palms and my right foot, the one that isn't injured. I climbed up the tree like a three legged squirrel, and sat down once I reached the top. Once I calmed my breathing, I took off my vest and wrapped it around a branch so it looked like a flag. I unfurled my wings and stretched them, letting my tail snake out from under my shirt. I put my glasses in the breast pocket of my vest before jumping off of the tree and beating my wings.

The air caught my wings easily and I glided over the forest, practicing my barrel rolls. I flew for what I think is hours, just enjoying the feeling of being free.

~??? P.O.V~

I was out in the forest, collecting things that I needed, staying out of sight, but the sounds of cheering caught my attention.

I looked up and saw the silhouette of a winged creature, flying above me, doing stunts in the air. The sun made it difficult for me to see the figure clearly so I squinted to look at it. It eventually flew out of my sight, leaving me curious and confused.