Chapter 2
Chikyo's POV
After a few minutes of running through the trees, we stop to catch our breath. I look back unsure if anyone noticed we were gone, and decided to follow us. Once I determined the coast was clear, I turn to Naruto who's looking at me like he's waiting for me to say something.
"So, you're the famous Naruto Uzumaki huh?" I say the first thing that comes to mind. Real smooth Chikyo…
"I wouldn't say famous, but I'll take the compliment." he says nodding in response. I can see he's trying to not let that comment go to his ego but failing miserably with the smile on his face.
"You seem to be a lot more…energetic than your older brother Shikamaru." He says stating in opinion.
"Only when I want to be." I laugh and tease back. I find a low branch on the tree near me and grab onto it. "Besides, I'm not a ninja like the rest of you" I continue, swinging myself up onto the low hanging branch and then pulling myself up to a sturdy, thick branch a little higher up.
"Explains why I've never seen you around before" he states as he jumps to the branch I'm on with one swift push. Show off…
"My brother always told me he would introduce me to everyone at the academy but he gave me silly excuses half the time" I explain to him. Honestly, I just think he was being lazy is all. "I decided for myself that I would meet everyone on my own if he wasn't going to help me do it." I finish swinging my feet lazily below me. Naruto then pushes off the branch and onto the one across they way connected to the other tree, and faces me. Naruto seems like the easiest person to talk to and I find myself asking why I've never met him sooner.
"So, what's it like being a ninja?" I ask him bluntly. I slightly cover my face in embarrassment from being so forward. Its not like it was a terrible question to ask, I just never had the mind to ask someone that question before. Not even my family who is all ninja with the exception of me. I felt like everyone would have felt bad for me not being like the rest, but it just kinda slips out while talking to Naruto. He takes a minute to contemplate what to say next with his head cocked to the side, then taking a breath he asks,
"What's it like not being a ninja?"
Touché….but like I have the slightest idea what the difference was.
Shikamaru's POV
I gave into the temptation of being treated to Yakiniku Q by Choji and Ino in hopes of taking my mind of Chikyo being out and away from her supervision. I just have this terrible feeling about how this is going to turn out.
"Shika, I never asked, but why are you always watching Chikyo like a hawk?" Ino asks, trying not to offend or annoy me, but so much for taking my mind off the subject. Choji is choosing to just stuff his mouth, paying no mind to the conversation.
"Because she can't defend herself, like I said. She's no ninja, and also my mother insists, you know that." I say taking a slightly aggressive bite of meat from the grill.
"She's not helpless Shikamaru. In fact, I think she's stronger than most people I know. I don't understand why she doesn't get the freedom she deserves." Ino is clearly reiterating something Chikyo has discussed with her in private, but Ino has no boundaries for keeping such things hidden, especially in Chikyo's absence.
"Truth of the matter is Ino, I agree." I say continuing to eat. Ino just stares back at me, while a moment of silence passes between us all.
"Well obviously your mother has a good reason on why she's so persistent whith having a good watch on your sister, no matter how bizarre your mothers reasonings, right?" Choji says while taking a very rare pause from eating his food, giving us a curious look.
"Must be." Ino says. I can see her trying to put the dots together in her head, but nothing adding up. I just shrug my shoulders and stare at the burning coals between us all, hoping that wherever Chikyo is, everything is going okay.
Chikyo's POV
The sun is now casting an orange-red color on everything that isn't consumed by the shadows of the trees we are sitting in. Naruto and I have been chatting back and forth about ourselves and our experiences we have had. Really, it's him doing most of the talking and I'm intently listening. Half the time I find myself leaning so far forward on the edge of the branch from being intruegued that I nearly fall off the damn thing, while the other half of the conversation has me hunched in half with a cramp in my side from laughing so hard. He just finished showing off his "sexy jutsu" and I'm clapping and laughing all at once.
"That's so awesome Naruto! I wish I could do things like that." I say sitting against the trunk of the tree trying to contain my laughter.
"Thanks Chikyo. Most girls smack me if I even attempt that one." Naruto says while transforming to his original state.
"Oh gosh, I would never do that." I say looking around and my stomach beginning to grumble in hunger. "We should probably head back. I'm starting to get hungry and I'm surprised Shikamaru hasn't sent out a search and rescue party yet. I'm sure he's worried sick." I slowly lower myself down from one branch to the next.
As I go to lower myself down from the last branch to the ground, I feel a pair of rough, warm hands braced gently around my sides, guiding me safely to the ground. I can feel my cheeks instantly heat up at the touch.
"Thanks…" I say softly looking at the ground, hoping to mask the redness burning into my cheeks. No one has ever gotten this close to me like that before, certainly not a boy in the very least. I've been on a basically 24/7 surveillance my entire life, so this closeness is quite new for me.
"Anytime. Why don't we stop at Ichiraku Ramen Shop on the way home? It will be my treat." Naruto asks smiling down at me. He's a good six inches taller than I am, why didn't I notice that before? He's also either being nice and not pointing out my red cheeks, or he's super oblivious to the butterflies he let loose in my stomach.
"Sure, I love ramen!" I say shaking off the feeling as best I could. He must have just been being nice I'm sure. Naruto then has plastered the biggest smile on his face. "What's with the big smile?" I ask and a rosey color raises up in his cheeks touching his nose, yet his smile doesn't fade in the slightest.
"Oh, no reason really!" He says as we make our way back to the village.
Within a few minutes we make our way into Ichiraku's Ramen shop and plop down on two seats next to each other. The sun is just below the horizon and I'm now more hungry smelling the food around me. A man within seconds spots us and hurries his way to us.
"Ill take my usual today please!" Naruto says to the man on the other side of the counter. The man nods and looks at me for my order.
"Better make it two!" I say in response which warrented a chuckle and two thumbs up from the man before he turns around to start our dishes. I looked over to Naruto who is still smiling like a fool.
"You know Naruto," he turns and faces me. "I wish I would have met you sooner." I say smiling back.
"Yeah, I don't know how we have never met before now. It's like Shikamaru had you hidden away from the world" Naurto comments.
"It's not like he was choosing to hide me or anything like that." I say while traveling into my own thoughts of conversations I've overheard.
Flashbacks
I was around six or seven years old, trailing back from the bathroom in the middle of the night, when I over hear voices coming form the other room. I step inside my doorway of my room, and listen as best as I could.
"She cant be alone Shikamaru, and I need you to be a good big brother and watch over her." My mother's voice sweet yet demanding.
"Why do I have to do it? This is such a drag" My brother obviously not enjoying the idea.
"Don't you start to raise your voice at me young man." My mother's voice lost her sweetness tone and bitterness shows through.
"Do what your mother asks of you Shikamaru." My fathers voice of reason lingering in the air for just a moment, as it settles the hostility tone.
"She can't protect herself like you can, and I just want both of you safe." My other's tone of sweet and demanding had returned. After a moment Shikamaru replies.
"Fine."
I close my door sliding back into my bed feeling so upset and confused. I must be so troublesome for them to watch over me all the time. I'm such a burden of a child. Tears start to fall silently down my cheeks as they saturate my pillow.
End of Flashback
"Chikyo? Are you okay Chikyo? Did I say something?" Naruto's voice snaps me back into the present day, and I see his smile is gone, and a look of worry has taken place. I shake my head smiling back at him
"Yeah, I'm okay, just lost in thought again is all." I say as convincing as I can, and tossing that silly old memory to the back of my head where it belongs. I gaze at the bowl of ramen set in front of me, and the hunger hits me like a ton of bricks, and I swear I begin to drool. I can see Naruto in my peripheral view looking me over to see if I actually am okay, or if its just some mask, but once he sees the raw hunger take over my thoughts and senses, he decides he can do the same.
"Let's eat. To new friendships!" he says smiling warmly as he picks up his set of chopsticks. I follow ready to down the entire meal in one go.
"To new friendships."
Shikamaru's POV
I look to the sky as I see stars beginning to shine through and the moon raising high. I sigh again.
"Where the hell could she be?" I mutter under my breath, annoyed that there has been no sign of Chikyo all day.
"If she's not home by the time your mother gets here, there's going to be a lot of explanations going on, and I'm taking no part in this one." My father says looking up from his cup of tea to the sky then back to me. He's absolutely right.
"What a drag. I'm going to go out and find her." I say pushing myself from the wall of the house. "If mom asks, I wasn't here." I tell him, which he only seems to sigh in response before sipping his tea.
As I wander around the village, I act as if there's not a care in the world incase my mother happens to cross my path on my search, but honestly, I'm just starting to freak out again. Thinking of places Chikyo and Naruto would have in common…oh. I make my way towards Ichiraku Ramen shop.
I come up to Ichiraku's and I see inside Chikyo and Naruto. She's safe to say the least. I see them chatting and laughing away, enjoying themselves in a carefree sort of way, which tends to rub the the wrong way, just like kiba looking her over. I take a minute to even my breathing and to keep my cool before approaching them.
"Hey Shikamaru." Chikyo says plainly without even turning around or glancing in my direction, which makes me hesitate for only a second. I know for a fact I was out of her line of sight.
"How did you know I was here?" I ask as I step to her vacant side.
"Hey Shikamaru, I didn't hear you at all!" Naruto says finishing his last bite of ramen in front of him. I roll my eyes and look directly at Chikyo with all the seriousness I can muster.
"After how many years you've been following me around non-stop, you're really going to ask that question?" she says smiling like a smart-ass. All I can do is roll my eyes once again.
"You know mom will be home any minute, and if you are not home before then, she is going to freak out, and that's something I would like to avoid if at all possible." I say poking her arm repeatedly.
"Oh…." She says quietly, then turning to Naruto. "Sorry I can't stay longer and chat some more. It was really nice of you to take me out for some ramn and for getting to know you more." She says sweetly while twirling a lock of hair around her finger. I try to hide my twitch of protective anger from them as they go to say their goodbyes. I half expect her to try something drastic and kiss him on the cheek after her actions of today. I'd lose my shit.
"It's alright, I understand. I'll see you around then, yeah?" Naruto says smiling. Oh this is great, I'm getting really weird vibes just standing here like I'm some third wheel or something.
"Of course!" She says with a full smile showing every single tooth in her mouth, while hopping off the seat. "See you later Naruto!" she says waving as she follows me back home.
Chikyo's POV
If I didn't know any better, on our walk back home, Shikamaru was feeling a bit off. He wasn't talking or walking with his usual carefree attitude.
"What's up?" I say nudging his arm with mine.
"What do you mean" he replies blantanly. I sigh.
"You seem…off." I press him to explain.
"Well…besides the fact that mother is going to be livid when we return," he says looking at me like its my fault…which it totally is, but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction knowing he's right. "It seems as if you have made yourself friendly with a certain boy." He says eyeing me down. Oh dear. He's eyeing me over and I feel like he can see right through me. My cheeks begin to heat up as I remember Naruto's hands around my sides helping me out of the tree earlier. He totally knows. My brother knows.
"It's TOTALLY not like that Shika! I just met him and we are friends is all!" I say that in the best way I can, and I can still feel the blush overcoming my face tenfold.
"Hmm…" is all he has to say. In my defense, even if it was more than that, its not like my brother would want to hear about it, or that I would want to tell him about it. He's too protective over me. We continue to walk in silence until we finally make it home.
As we walk into the kitchen, we are greeted by a wearily looking father and behind him stands an angrily looking mother.
"Shit" I mutter under my breath as Shikamaru gulps his worry away. My mother can be ruthless, and so it begins.
"Chikyo," She starts off with a deep voice, then like a flip of a switch she's this worrisome mother, "I'm so glad you are okay and safe! You're not hurt, are you?!" She says examining me over, searching for any sign of a scrape or bruises and whatnot. After a satisfying look over, she pulls me into a deep hug that is literally breath taking and impossible to weasel my way out of.
"Mom…MOTHER…I-I'm fine…get off…let go of me." I say squirming in her chokehold of a hug. Once she lets go and regains composure, her mood switches a flip back to deep anger and snaps her head to Shikamaru. I'm almost scared for him, but he keeps his composure better than anyone I know.
"Shikamaru, I am very upset with you" our mother starts out in a low growl and with every word grows louder than the last. "you LOST Chikyo and when you finally notice, you decide not to go after her? What kind of brother does that. This is very irresponsible of you and-"
"Mother, this isn't Shika's fault, I ran away from him!" I say cutting her rant off. I look at Shikamaru locking our eyes for only a second before I turn back to our mother who just is baffled by my retaliation.
"Chikyo, you do not need to cover for-"
"I'm not covering for anyone. It was my choice to run away from him. I just wanted to be on my own for once." I say cutting her off once again. Her anger has now transferred away from Shikamaru and onto me. I gulp down my fear. My mother and I have always butt heads, but I always just walk away, but not this time, I'm sick of being babied because it's not fair to me or anyone else around me either. Here goes nothing.
"You're not old enough to be out on your own Chikyo, you're still a child." She explains.
"I'm 17 years old, and most of the kids in this village are on their own by at least the age of nine. Do I look nine to you? I don't need a baby sitter!" I say challenging her head on. My father just takes a few steps back not wanting to get involved. This rage in my body is all consuming and I can feel my hands shaking.
"You aren't safe Chikyo. I can't let you roam the village alone." She says in attempt to get me to calm down and reason with her.
I'm just not having it any more. My breathing becomes deep and heavy, and my vision begins to blur in my peripherals with hints of purple weaving through the blur. I see Shikamaru standing mouth ajar, father back up to his feet and in a defensive stance, and my mothers anger turns to horror. I'm so mad that I don't even care if they are afraid of me, I'm sick and tired for being treated as if I'm helpless, and some baby who needs to hold onto everyone's hand. I just want to scream and run away for good. As I open my mouth to say how I feel, my vision fades into black.
The next thing I know is that I'm in this field of tall grass and there are enormously tall Sycamore trees surrounding the field. In the middle there's this small caged sell, I find myself walking towards it carefully…not knowing or even understanding where I am. When I make my way to the cell, I can't see into it, but there is a lock attached to the door that seems to be opened only by a key. When I'm within an arm reach of said cell, it suddenly expands to 100 times its original size. The grass turns to dust and dirt beneath my feet, the tall sycamores light up in flames, and the sky changes from blue to deep red.
I fall backwards and stare up at the towering cell before me. Two bright purple eyes and a razor-sharp smile staring down at me from within accompanied by a deep evil chuckle that rattles me to the bone. It causes me to scoot back in terror, but no matter how hard I dig my heels into the dirt and however much force and energy I use to propel myself back and away from the cell, I don't seem to be moving an inch.
"About time we finally meet."