I do not own Naruto I own Kanoshi Nara.

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"Kanoshi..." she heard a voice say to her. t was so close...so reassuring and she was so sure that they were still there...waiting for her. Her mothers voice was so sweet her fathers was so reassuring. Slowly her house appeared before and she was back at home and her parents were standing in front of the house waving at her as she walked through the gate. A smile was on her face as she walked up the straight the path...but as she walked it seemed as if she would never reach them. She began to sprint towards them...but they began to disappear and grow farther and farther away.

"Wait come back!" she screamed as she fell to her knees and then was engulfed in darkness. She buried her face in her hands an then felt flames burning her. She let out an ear shattering scream as she laid there. she was in so much pain physically and emotionally and then finally she just snapped.

"MOTHER! FATHER! COME BACK!" the flames were setting her on fire but she never moved she just laid there. As if someone was coming to save her. Then a hand stretched through the flames and she her mothers face appear.

"We're here Kanoshi...just take my hand!"

"Mom...oh mom..." she said as she laid her hand in her mothers and then she was pulled from the flames..but then her mother let her go and she feel into the black aybss before her screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Kanoshi! Kanoshi! Wake up!" she heard someone scream at her. She fought back and then landed a hit on the person. She heard them crash against the wall and then sat up sweat pouring down her face. She looked around and then saw Shikamaru sprawled on the floor. She quickly rose to her feet and raced over to him and then helped him to his feet and saw that she had made contact with his face and his cheek was bruised. She lowered her head as she saw what she had done. she wiped sweat from her brow as she walked over to her drawer and then grabbed her school uniform. Shikamaru looked at her and then lowered his head again. Kanoshi was in a tank top and red shorts as she finally realized that today was a school day and she had to be on time today.

"I am realy sorry Shikamaru. I didn't mean to do that you..."

"I know..but was it the nightmare again?"

"Yeah...but this time she dropped me..."
"Ouch..." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah you got that right..." she said. She told Shikamaru about her dreamas every morning. He was her support. She looked at her right arm that had a horrible burn on it. Maybe that was why she all ways had dreams like that. She sighed and then walked over to her cousin and then gently pushed him out of her room and closed the door as she changed. She then sprinted towards the bathroom and quickly washed up before she slipped into her gym shoes and then threw her back over her shoulder. She raced down the steps, grabbed her lunch and then ran after Shikamaru who was all ready down the street and turning the corner. She finally caught up to him and saw that a group of syidents from their school was waving at them from down the street. Kanoshi could just make out Hinata standing next to a boy with spiky blonde hair. What his name...Naruto? That sounded right. Beside him was Kiba and then Sasuke.

Beside Sasuke was Sakura and Ino and then Neji. She swallowed...for some reason she didn't want to keep going this way. Shikamaru must have seen her flinch, cause he stopped and then looked at her raising an eyebrow. She smiled at him and then began to run towards the large group that was waiting on them. She heard Shikamaru bounding after her complaining on having to run. Kanoshi slid to a stop and then was pulled into a hug by Sakura. She smiled and then waved at Hinata. For a moment no one paid much attention to her until her eyes locked with Neji's. She looked away before she suddenly saw Sakura stretching.

"Why are you doing that?" She asked.

"I thought that we could have a race? I mean the school is just a straight sprint from here...are you in Hinata?"

"No..but I'll try to keep up woth you guys..."

"I definatly wanna see this!" Kiba piped up from somewhere. Kanoshi let out a chuckle and then grinned at Shikamaru who knew that she was a good runner. After a few minutes of stretching her and Sakura took off down the street at break neck speeds. Before Sakura registered what had happened...Kanoshi had sped ahead wa snearing the gates of the school. She slid to a stop and then turned around and saw the others were running after them and by the way they ran...when one stopped the rest would fall. Kanoshi grabbed Sakura's hand and then Sakura grabbed Hinata and then pulled her into the gate as they watched all the guys fall face forward. Kanoshi bursted into a fit of laughter which earned her a glare from Shikamaru to was pinned under Kiba.

"Well I guess that we know never to do that again right?" Kanoshi said looking from Sakura to Hinata who both chuckled and began to walk towards the building. Sasuke was the first one on his feet and he was racing off to Sakura when he wrapped his arms around her. Naruto joined Hinata and then put his hands behind his head. Kiba raced off to go talk to some boys on the Soccer Team and Shikimaru was being called to by a girl with spiky blonde hair in four ponytails. Kanoshi suddenly felt all alone...that was until Neji grabbed her elbow and turned her around. She frowned at him before she spoke.

"Umm is something wrong?" she asked quickly.

"You left your book here yesterday.." he said as he handed it to her, "I wanted to give it to you,"

"Thanks," She said as she held it close to her chest.

"Is it a good book?" he asked. She guessed he was just trying to make conversation.

"Well yeah if you like the really girly books...but I guess girls love you..." I said as I snatched by elbow away and then walked towards the front doors. I still felt his eyes staring at me as I walked way. I lowered my head. i felt so uncomfortable talking to him for some reason. As if I was insignificant to him. All of a sudden I felt myself get really tired. I placed my stuff in my locker before I started to make my way towards the classroom when I suddenly got the urge to check out the garden. I walked through a door and then out into a room covered in green plants and flowers. in the middle surround by a number of benches was a large cherry blossom tree. She walked towards it and then a smile came to her face as a wind blew against her. She closed her eyes and let the wind calm her down.

For some reason whenever she entered a garden this happened to her. she would lose herself to it. If she had a choice she would probably live in one...so she can all ways smell the fresh air and remember the guardian back at home in Nagoya. It seemed so far away now that she thought about it. She lowered her head and then heard the door open from behind her. She turned around quickly and then saw that Neji was standing there. She turned away from him but still felt his eyes on her. She shivered and then turned around all the way to face him and then sighed.

"Is their something wrong?" she asked quickly.

"No...I was just escaping from the girls..."

"I thought you liked all the attanetion?"

"Not really. All those girls are sluts..."

"Wow," Kanoshi said.

"So what are you doing here?" Kanoshi heard him ask.

"I came here because it reminded me of Nagoya..."

"You grew up there...right Kanoshi?"

"Yeah I did,"

Just then Kanoshi heard girls screaming Neji's name from in the hall.S he grabbed his arm and then pulled him away from the door and then threw him into a bush. She laided there for a moment before he realized that girls had all ready entered trhe garden. Kanoshi watched as he held his breathe. The girls stared at Kanoshi up and down before the circled around her. kansohi balled her fist and then lowered her head. "Is there something you all need?"

"Well your the new girl here...you need to be initiaed..."

"Yeah...don't worry we won't pound on you to hard,"

"What?" Kanoshi hollered as a girl grabbed her and wrapped her arm around her neck. She scratched at the girl, but was still unable to escape the girls grasp. She eyed Neji who was staring...his face was so stern as their eyes met. Kanoshi returned her eyes to the girl and then managed to kick one down before she landed a punch on her. Another girl dived fpr her legs sending her tumbling to the ground. She let out a scream as she collided with the cement. Just then she heard Neji step out of the bushes.

"Stop!" he said sternly.

"Neji!" All the girls screamed, but they didn't move.

"Get your hands off her,"

"Oh your going to mess her up aren't you?" the girl that held Kanoshi in a chokehold said.

"Get. Your. Hands.Off.Her!" Neji said raising his voice. The girls did just that before they backed up and were close to the door, but at the same time blocking an exit. Kanoshi was gasping for air as she laid on the ground. Neji walked over to her and then whispered so she could here. "I'll get you out of here...all right?"

She nodded slowly and then watched Neji closely. he bent down and then scooped her into his arms. Kanoshi all most pushed him away, but his muscular arms were around her tightly and she slowly found she liked the way he was holding her. He was strong and she could tell that he was concentrating on getting er out of here safely. She found herself laying her head against his chest and then all most gasped again. He had perfect hard as rock abs beneath his shirt. No wonder girls fell for this guy. He was well built...but maybe that was all they were after...

"Now move. I'll take care of her. Go to class,"

"But we wanna see..." all the girls moaned.

"Leave!" Neji said sternly raising his voice.

"No we wanna see you mess her up!"

Kanoshi watched as Neji bit his lip and then stared at the girls. He let out a sigh and then began to walk towards the girls who stopped him. They all had frowns on there faces. "Your not going to hurt her...fine. Give her back to us!" the leader of the group said grabbing Kanoshi's arm and then trying to wrench her from Neji. Kanoshi let out a scream as the touch sent arm into searing pain. The girl pulled again and the pain became red hot. Finally the girl have one more pull and then Kanoshi fell from Neji's hand, sending him to the ground as well. The girl who held her arm looked at the bandage and then chuckled. Why was this happening to her. The girl pulled on her arm and then another girl kicked her before she felt Neji's hand grab her and then swing her back into his arms. craddling her he stared down the girls and then turned and ran. Kanoshi was in shock and she was fighting back the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. But Neji never stopped running. He made a sharp turn and then leaped over a low gate and then sprinted towards a small building that was no longer being used by the school. He opened the door and then walked inside closing and locking it behind him quickly.

Kanoshi looked around the large space threw blurry eyes. There cabneits of stuff and blue mat lay on the floor. Neji laid her down gently before he sat down himself and then caught his breath. Kanoshi finally just turned away from him...the pain her arm was to much to deal with. "Did they hurt you Kanoshi?"

She didn't answer him. He walked around and sat down before her, before sitting her up and looking at her arm which she held tightly. She watched as he bit his lip and then went towards a cabinet directly behind him and pulled out a white tupe of medicine. He carefully set off to remove the bandage when Kanoshi tore her arm away.

"Hey stop it all ready. I have something that will help all right,"

"Its nothing..."

"No it's not its a burn. I have something to ease the pain. Now hold still so i can put it on ok..."

"Fine," she said all though tears were still rolling down her face. He unwrapped the bandage and then applied the medicine. He rubbed it in gently and for a short moment it burned but then cooled. He grabbed new bandages from another cupboard and then tied it back up. Kanoshi felt his soft and gentle hands as they did their work on her before he pulled her close for a moment to look at her face.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah...but why did they want to hurt me?"

"Everyone knows that your a pretty smart girl, I mean you passed the entery exam flawlessly and then now all the boys can't stop looking at you and they feel that they should make you feel down. I won't let them hurt you though,"

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you seem like a nice girl. And you would never do anything like that to anyone else," Neji said.

Kanoshi stared at him and then lowered her head. This was odd. For some reason Neji had become the nicest person that she could of ever met. He cared about her and wouldn't let anyone hurt her. she looked at the clock on the wall and saw that they had missed the whole first and secodn period. She hadn't noticed that the garden was that large and how long she had been there. She slowly rose to her feet before Neji stopped her and pulled her down and then scooted into a corner and threw a blanket over them. Kanoshi looked at him wondering what he was doing. "They now that this building is no longer used...so they'll come here first and look through the windows. Just stay still and the shouldn't find us all right?"

"Ok," Kanoshi said as she heard the girls crashing into the windows. she was sure that all of them had mental issues of some sort. They all seemed a bit crazy at the moment. But soon there voices drifted off and Neji removed the blanket and helped Kanoshi to her feet. He then walked over to were he laid there book bags and she hadn't even noticed that he had grabbed those. He smiled and then slung hers on his shoulder while he carried his own in his hand. "I guess we should be getting to class?"

"I guess," Kanoshi said as she looked away and walked towards the door. she unlocked it opened it and stepped out timidly before she and Neji sprinted out and back into the school.

Neji walked in as the teacher was giving a lecture and the teacher stared at him in shock. he had never been late for class before. Neji lowered his head before he walked to the back of the class room were he took a seat beside Lee. His eyes drifted towards Kanoshi, who had arrived on time since he told her to go on ahead. He didn't want anyone thinking that something had happened between the two. He opened his journal and then began to copy stuff from the bored. They were going to have there very first test of the year in a couple of weeks and Neji was sure that he was read. Neji sawa paper land on his journal and he was sure that it was from Lee. He opened it and then let out a sigh before he began to respond.

Dude what happened?

Nothing don't worry about it. Anyway was everyone surprised when I was absent?

Yeah no one could believe and people started to think that you and Kanoshi had sometrhing going on but Kanoshi quickly replied that she had forgotten a few important things and ran home...

Wow are these people idiots? Neji thought as he folded up the paper and then continued to listen. The rest of the day he kept his eyes on Kanoshi, not wanting the other girls to get to her. As the lunch bell rung he walked over to her desk and smiled at her. He was shocked when she smiled back and rose to her feet. "Thanks for helping me,"

"Your welcome," he said replying quickly, "are you eating in the caeteria today?"

"Probably not. I think I am going to try the roof..."

"May I join you?" he asked.

"What?"

"I said can I come up and eat lunch on the roof with you?" he said to her. A smile crossed his face at the fact that he had to repeat. She probably thought that he was asking her out but he wasn't...he didn't want to see those girls faces again. They were liars and tried to hurt her. Maybe he was just to helpful for his own damn good. But then again who would want to watch such a pretty and innocent girl get beat up by a whole bunch of sluts. Neji bit his lip and then he leaned against the wall for a moment, waiting on her to answer.

"All right, you can eat lunch with me..."

"All right," Neji said as he swung his bookbag on his back and then exited the classroom with Kanoshi. they walked to tghere lockers which were in the same hall way before they began to make there way towards the roof. Neji was happy that she was so close and that she wasn't it any pain. as they began up the flights of stairs Kanoshi avoided his stairs by looking out the windows and then looking at the floor. He was sure that she was kinda of uncomfortable...which made him a bit sad as they walked together. He rushed ahead and then opened the door for them. She smiled at him before she walked through. He closed the door quietly and then walked over to the bench where she sat and opened his bento box. she also had one and by the looks of it he could tell that she was a lover of spicy food. He quickly began to eat his rice...but then he stopped when he saw that she wasn't eating.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh nothing is wrong. Nope nothing at all," she said as she took a bite of her sushi and then smiled at him. Neji couldn't help but notice how cute she looked as she ate like a young child... as if she were nervous. She continued to eat as well and before he noticed what was happening they were speaking with each other. They were on the subject of Shakespeare and then that some how got them talking about their favorite foods. Neji couldn't help but smile at the girl. She was nicer than he thought she would be.

"Hey did you think I was a ladies man or something?"

"Yeah I did and you kept looking at me and well I didn't want to be bothered with you,"

"Oh that just hurst Kanoshi..."

"I'm sorry. Well at least I don' t think that now. So what about those girls?" she asked.

"well they can rot for all I care. There nothing to me. I never liked them...they are just kind of annoying you know..."

"Oh I'm sorry. But I know how you feel. A lot of guys like me because of my bueaty,"

"Who wouldn't I mean you are a pretty girl Kanoshi,"
"Thanks. Ya know...how about me and you hang out more often. Shikamaru and Temari are going to the movies this sunday...why don't you come with us...that way I don't have to sit with them and see there gooey romance ya know?"

"Sure...so what are we going to go see?"

"I don't know we are still trying to figure that out,"

"All right well tell me when you figured it out all right,"

"I will," Kanoshi said with a smile on her face and Neji was sure that they were friends now. He stared at her as she rose to her feet and closed her eyes, letting the wind blow through her hair. Neji never realized how pretty she was...espically when the light shined down on her. He looked away and then sighed. What was he doing...