a/n - I realized the way the title and summary was originally written, it looked like smut and lemons in disguise. This is not a lemony smutty story, but there will be romantic scenes later on. It's more about my OC, who is young and slowly falling into a boring and repetitive life and how she stops that and regains friendships. I also I realized I uploaded the original two chapters very quickly and unfortunately, I didn't proofread any of it. I have hopefully made it better! Please review and fav! I do not claim any ownership on the Naruto franchise.

The coffee cup hit the counter a little harder than Tsukidori had meant for it to. She was just lost in thought and forgot how heavy the cup was. The loud clank broke her out of the trance she had been in. Her thoughts on the mission she was assigned to. She'd been assigned to a four-man squad for a B-Rank mission. It wasn't her first B-Rank mission, per se, but it was the first that held some sort of importance that she wasn't simply back-up on. She had been training exceptionally hard lately, and it felt like Lady Fifth was noticing. She hadn't been given the mission details, yet. Her instructions were report to the Hokage tomorrow afternoon to receive the details.

"Tsukidori?" a voice pulled her away from the coffee cup and the thoughts of missions. It was her mother, Aimi. Her mother was a small creature with a demanding presence. It'd always been just her mother and Tsukidori, for as long as Tsukidori could remember. Her father had been killed-in-action long before Tsukidori's mind had developed enough to form concrete memories. "Are you ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine! Just thinking about my mission." Tsukidori waved her mother's concern off.

"Another mission? You should be thinking about finding a nice boy and settling down. I want to meet my grandchildren before I die." Her mother groaned as she appeared around the corner. She'd come from the hallway and she was dressed in nothing but a towel on her body, and a towel on her head. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence with her mother. She often spent a lot of her time in the bathroom, fussing over her beauty. Hours were spent on her hair, makeup, and nails. She was painstakingly meticulous with the details. Along with that, Aimi was exceptionally proud of her body. She held no shame over her body and didn't have a single problem exposing herself in her hour, even when guest were over. It was because of this, Tsukidori had stopped inviting friends over as a child. Not that her friends' parents would have let them over after learning about Tsukidori's mother's habits.

Aimi was curvy and busty, but her nose was slightly crooked and her blue eyes were too close together. Tsukidori looked a lot like her mother, but she didn't inherit her large chest and extreme curves. In one way, Tsukidori was a toned down version of her mother. Her hair was light honey brown, just like Aimi's but her eyes weren't brown like her mother's. Tsukidori supposed she acquired her father's brown eyes. Additionally, her nose was not crooked and her eyes were perfectly placed. Her face was proportionate and easy on the eyes.

She blushed from her perch on a stool at the counter, "W-what?!" She was taken aback by her mother's suggestion. It wasn't anything, new how her mother behaved, but it never failed to leave Tsukidori feeling mortified. "Mom, you barely look a day over twenty! I don't think we are short on time here." Though Tsukidori didn't know the precise age of her mom, it was likely she was between thirty and forty. Aimi just looked exceptionally young because of her many hours of beauty care. She crossed her arms over her chest heatedly, "Besides, who's to say I want kids?"

Her mother feigned a stunned gasp, then her face became serious, "Honey, the right man will come along and change your mind. Trust me." Aimi looked at her knowingly, like she understood more of that phrase that she cared to let on. Tsukidori had always suspected that Aimi hadn't ever wanted kids, but Aimi never really talked about. In fact, aside from primping and encouraging her to find love early, she wasn't ever really there as a mother. It was because of this, she found it hard to believe Aimi wanted grandchildren. She was probably waiting for Tsukidori to leave home so Aimi could have the apartment to herself.

Tsukidori wanted to change the subject, quickly. This subject had already been exhausted on all ends. It was better to avoid it in any case. Children were out of the question.

"Couldn't you maybe put some clothes on? Please?" Tsukidori groaned, leaning down to rest her face on the counter. She was exasperated by her mother's antics. It was beyond embarrassing how open her mother was. She was often showing up with boys Tsukidori's age, trying to convince her to bare their children. It left Tsukidori dizzy with humiliation.

"Why? No one is here! This is my home. I'll walk naked if I want to." And with that her mother dropped the towel.

"Mom!" Tsukidori cried through gritted teeth. She groaned inwardly and left the counter. She roamed to the living room and laid on the couch. She listened to her mother making clunking noises around the kitchen. Probably preparing breakfast or coffee. Just then there was a knock at the door. Tsukidori opened her eyes, surprised. Wasn't it early for a house call? She sat up and looked over at her mother, still naked. "Mom, you're going to put some clothes on, right?" Tsukidori said slowly as though her mother didn't understand normal person words.

"Yeah, sure, uh-huh." Her mother mumbled.

Tsukidori hesitated. She would get dressed… right? She pursed her lips and held faith in her mother, hoping she'd have some decency today.

She reached the front door and opened it to reveal Shikamaru Nara.

"O-oh. Hello. Shikamaru." She greeted him, surprised by his appearance. It'd been quite some time since she thought about Shikamaru or even saw him. She was a year younger than him. He had become a Chunnin during his class's first exam, and he'd been the only one to pass, too. Tsukidori had become a Chunnin only last year along with Sakura, Ino, Choji, Hinata, and her two teammates. It was her first try at the exam and even though it didn't end as planned, she was still promoted. It was one of the best days of her life. She was so proud, she ran home to celebrate with her mother, but she wasn't there. She was out again. That night she celebrated alone in the kitchen with dango. It was both the best and worst day of her life.

"Yo." He looked down at her with a bored look in his eyes. His hands were in his pockets and he slouched. He looked like he would rather be somewhere than running errands for the Hokage.

"C-can I help you?" She asked. What was he doing here?

"It's a drag, but the Hokage would like us to leave today. There's been a development." Shikamaru drew in a lazy tone of voice, his gaze drifted upwards to the sky.

"Us?"

Just then Tsukidori's mother appeared in the towel. "Oh, is this a gentleman caller?!" She gushed. Tsukidori pushed against her mother, trying to keep her from the doorway.

Shikamaru's gazed snapped back to Tsukidori. Other than looking bored, his face didn't betray much of anything else.

"Mother!" Tsukidori's face paled and she shoved her mother away.

"But he's cute and he looks strong!" Her mother cooed from within the house.

Strong? The corner of Shikamaru's mouth curled up slightly.

"M-mom!" Tsukidori shouted. She felt her cheeks become hot. She stepped out of the house and closed the door. "Sorry about that."

"Tch." He blew it off. "It's a drag, but the mission you were assigned to is being moved up to today. I'm assigned to the mission as well."

"A drag?" Tsukidori asked quietly. Oh, that's right. Shikamaru was lazy.

"Y'know, a bother." He explained. "Hnng, this is getting tiresome."

Tsukidori furrowed her brows at Shikamaru, "Excuse you?"

"Women are so troublesome."

"I suppose you'd still be saying that after being reminded, if it weren't for women, you wouldn't exist?" She said, becoming infuriated.

"Eh, can't be helped. Listen, are you ready to go or not? This is taking too long."

"Well, I'm not ready yet. You can wait here while I gather my things." Her voice was flat and serious. If he wasn't going to be friendly, then neither was she. Tsukidori went to open the door but the door wouldn't budge. She turned to Shikamaru, her cheeks red, "Heh heh, must be stuck." Her voice strained on the last word as she gave the door a good push. There was a thud noises followed by a soft cry. She heard shuffling sounds from behind the door. Tsukidori tried again and the door opened with ease. She pressed herself against the door and opened it just enough to peek inside. "

Tsukidori's small house was in a small U shape. To reach her room, you had to go around through the kitchen and down a short hallway. Her mother's room was the opposite way, passed the front door. In the middle was the bathroom they shared. Tsukidori packed her sealed weapons, camping gear, and ration bars. Just as she was exiting, she stopped. Her eyes wavered on a silver necklace on her dresser. The chain was a thin and delicate shiny silver. The charm was an orb about 2 mm in diameter and it was an ugly brown. Four small pieces of silver held it in place like claws and silver was woven intricately behind it. The silver was pretty enough, but the gem was ugly and dull. Tsukidori grabbed it and squeezed. She sighed and closed her eyes. It was something her father bought for her before he died. It was the only thing she had that proved she once had more than what she had now. She decided to wear on the mission for good luck and left.

…

Tsukidori paced at the gate for the remainder of their mission teammates to arrive. Shikamaru, her, Choji, and Ino had been assigned to escort two important individuals through The Land of Tea. Tsukidori had been told the reason the mission was ranked so high was because the individuals carried a lot of weight within the presiding families of The Land of Tea. It was imperative they delivered the two safely through The Land of Fire and The Land of Tea. Tsunade always had a way of overreacting when it came to politics, where Tsukidori didn't see a reason to treat this mission so highly. Their stop was at the very end of the peninsula. The mission had been moved up due to this year's Chunnin exams approaching fast. Tsunade wanted Shikamaru back in time. In any case, Tsukidori was ready to leave. Her nerves were on fire with anticipation.

However, not only were Choji and Ino late but so were their charges.

"Ugh!" Tsukidori threw her hands up in the air.

Shikamaru was leaning against the open gate, his eyes closed. At Tsukidori's outburst, he opened them.

"It's not like them to be late, but I'm sure they're on their way." He said, joining Tsukidori in the middle of the gate. He was slouching in a way that made it seem like there was constantly a wall for him to lean on. It was baffling how he made lazy and bad posture look purposeful and cool. Tsukidori crossed her arms and tapped her foot, eyeing Shikamaru expectantly.

"Can you sit still for a second? Getting all anxious isn't going to make them get here any sooner." He looked down his nose at her, then looked at the clouds. The young kunoichi was constantly in motion and her anxiety was coming off in thick waves. It was enough to make Shikamaru even feel anxious. Tsukidori had elected not to respond to Shikamaru. Constantly moving, but quiet.

The sky was bright blue and the sun was warm. It was a perfect day to cloud watch.. And nap.

Tsukidori followed his gaze to the clouds. Her hand went to the necklace around her neck and her fingers fiddled with it. A noise some ways away distracted her. She looked over to see kids playing.

They were all girls, and two of them were gently teasing a third singing the letters to 'kissing'.

The game triggered a memory of Tsukidori that was long forgotten.

k-i-s-s-i-n-g!

Tsuki's friend's sang, forming a circle around her. Moments ago, she tripped over her own feet. One of the boys that she hung out with caught by her hand. Tsuki looked at their joined hands and blushed bright red. It became apparent to her other peers that she was holding hands with a boy! The other girls had begun to snicker, 'ooh'-ing at the two. The young boys smirked and Choji said jokingly "Shikamaru has a girlfriend!" He laughed, clutching his stomach.

The boy released her hands, "Tch. I was just helping her. She's not my girlfriend." He drew, a hint of indignation in his tone. He placed his hands behind his head and turning from her.

She blushed even harder and quickly said a thank you before dashing to rejoin the other girls.

They were so young back then.

Her eyes went to Shikamaru next her. Suddenly, his presence seemed overwhelmingly close and she took a few steps away. Her cheeks took on a rosey hue and she looked away.

Shikamaru looked at her out of the corner of his eye. What she was moving away and blushing for? Did he smell?

She recalled wistfully how close her and the other shinobi had been when they were just children playing ninja in the fields. Once her friends were old enough for the academy, things began to change. She didn't attend the academy until a year later. She knew that bonds she formed as a child wouldn't mean anything now, but she couldn't help but feel loss a little. She hadn't realized how lonely she'd been. Even though she had been going on missions with her former teammates, they were never really that close. Her training had really sucked up a lot of her time. She missed the friendship she'd had with Sakura, Ino, and Hinata. She missed how simple things had been.

A loud boisterous noise had taken Tsukidori from her thoughts. Choji and Ino had arrived with their charges. The noise must have been the shorter one, because he was still being loud and defiant.

"I don't need escorts!" He shouted in Shikamaru's face. The taller one looked vexed, his face hidden in his palm. Tsukidori stepped closer. She looked down at the young man.

"Listen, it doesn't matter if you think you don't need us. We were ordered to escort you by our Hokage. You can quiet down and do this the easy way or you can make this hard." Shikamaru's voice was hard and angry.

Choji noticed Tsukidori and looked at her with narrowed eyes. He didn't immediately recognize the brown haired kunoichi. Tsukidori smiled weakly. In the back of her mind, she was a little upset he didn't recognize her. Ino tapped her chin, "I remember you, Tsuki!" Ino hadn't called Tsukidori by her childhood nickname in a long time. "Actually, it's Tsukidori now." She corrected warmly, glad Ino remembered their friendship.

Choji's eye lit up, "Oh right! You're Shikamaru's girlfriend!"

"What?!" Shikamaru's eyes widened and his turned face red.

Tsukidori froze in embarrassment. So, she wasn't the only one who remembered that tease.

"C'mon now, Shikamaru, don't tell me you don't remember."

Shikamaru calmed down and tapped his chin, "Now that you mention it, I do recall that. You wouldn't stop teasing me for weeks." He finished by scowling at Choji.

Tsukidori laughed uneasily. The shorter charge, a young boy with long brown hair and brown eyes, was still fuming and being defiant.

She turned to him, "Hey, kid, why not think of us as friends who just want to keep you company?" she said, looking down at him. His older companion looked at her a little shocked. "What's your name, by the way?"

The shorter one stopped complaining and looked at Tsukidori with curiosity. "My name is Norinj."

"What a cool name, Norinj. Why don't you tell me more about yourself while we start going?" Tsukidori smiled at the young boy. The boy looked at her with marvel and then unloaded about how cool he was and how strong he was going to be. They walked ahead of the group, leaving them looking bewildered.

"I've never met anyone good with him like that." The taller one, an older gentleman with weathered eyes and dull brown hair pulled into a bun, said to the three ninja escorting him. "By the way, I'm Yun."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. He felt maybe he underestimated Tsukidori's presence.