A/N: Sorry for a late update! I had some heavy writer's block and it was hard to map out what I really wanted for this chapter and the several that I am planning to write. As always thanks for the many favourites, follows and reviews! I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, I own my O/C and plot.
Arielle sat in a glade not too far away from the village. It was her glade, she was the only one who knew about the place. The wolf never came there, it was truly a sanctuary. She didn't have to train, to fight for her mind or walk around to hear whispers about her. She was the daughter of Kakashi Hatake and everyone seemed to make a big deal out of it. Arielle was braiding her hair like her mother used to have it, feeling quite happy to get more information about her. She tried to picture the unknown woman in her head, but failed over and over again. She just thought of herself but older, which didn't feel right at all.
It was a sunny summer day, making it a perfect day to lay in the calming grass to sunbathe.
Suddenly she heard giggles and a twig being broken behind her, turning her head, she spotted two of her best friends. Naruto and Hinata. They were holding hands, kissing and giggling before entering Arielle's sacred ground.
"Look at you two.. So in love" Arielle teased and turned fully around to face them. Their faces turned redder than a tomato, not many knew about their relationship yet. They just stared at the ninja for a couple of seconds before trying to stammer an explanation.
"Arielle! W-we didn't know y-you would be here" Naruto said, cheeks tinged pink.
"Well move along lovebirds, this is my spot" Arielle said and laid down in the grass, closing her eyes. This was the one day she could rest before going on a mission across the country. That mission would take at least a week, so taking a nap in her favourite glade was appropriate.
"Who are you to decide such things?" Naruto chuckled and kept his hand intertwined with Hinata. Naruto had always been Arielle's little brother, she had taken care of him when other villagers wanted to hurt him.
"Finders keepers, losers weepers" She said and smiled. Naruto burst out laughing and Hinata soon cracked up as well. The couple sat down next to her, taking in the beautiful day.
"Heard you are heading out on a mission soon with Kiba and Shikamaru" Hinata said after a few minutes of peaceful nothingness.
"Yeah, it will be the first mission as a chunin. I can't fail you know" Arielle said and smiled faintly. She had that growing feeling inside of her gut. People were expecting things from her, things she might not really understand yet. She had a growing feeling that more and more Shinobi was doubting her and her abilities.
"You are Kakashi sensei's daughter.. I don't think fail is in your vocabulary" Naruto said and looked at Arielle. First the first time in years, he saw real and pure nervousness in her eyes.
"Everything will be fine" Naruto reassured her, grinning his boyish smile. That made Arielle feel a lot better. The girl sighed and stood up.
"I will leave you alone, I need to get stuff done before the mission anyways" She said and stood up. Naruto puts his arm around Hinata, clearly happy for some privacy.
"See you later love birds" Arielle said and waved goodbye. She walked back to the village, during her not so long walk she took time to nice the small things she loved about her home. The calm yet hot summer air, the peaceful pace people went up and down the clean streets with their families and friends. The trees and flowers was in full bloom, filling the air with a truly marvelous scent. She walked the streets with her mask on, only because it was a sort of habit to her. Her father had it everywhere except in the house with her, but as soon as they got guests the mask was back on. She never really knew why and in her small family they didn't talk much about feelings and such things.
Arielle bought some cooling water and went into the woods once again to find a place where she could be alone. The wolf, Ira, had become super active recently. Fiddling with the young girl's emotions and thoughts. Making her have outbursts of anger in the middle of nowhere. It was all too tiring for her.
"I just want to be alone from everyone for a single minute.. Is that too much to ask?" She muttered to herself as she entered another glade. This one was not as breathtaking and closed off to the rest of the world as her sanctuary, but it was quiet. She took a deep breath, relieved that the universe listened to her for a change. Most commonly things didn't turn out the way she liked it to.
A minute passed and Arielle was just about to fall into a light sleep.
"Oi, there you are!" Shikamaru grunted as he walked up to her. The universe listened, one minute had passed.
"Can't a woman take a nap in peace?!" She said bitterly but didn't move a muscle. She didn't even open her eyes to look at him.
"Sorry princess, didn't mean to disturb your beauty sleep. Although it seems like you need one," He snickered and sat down next to her. She chuckled.
"Do you have a death wish or something?" She said and smiled. That tone was like the calm before the storm, any normal human being would get out of her sight at that point.
"What?" He grunted back, he was tired too. You could tell by the bags under his eyes and the several yawns he let out without covering his mouth.
"You called me a princess, you moron" She said and giggled. It was meant to be a laughter but it sort of morphed into a girly giggle instead.
"Sorry" He said and laid down on her stomach, it was common for them to take naps together. They had grown up together after all, but him sleeping ON her was totally new. But she didn't say anything, it felt normal, like this was what they always did in this situation. Arielle started to run her finger through his hair, massaging his scalp.
"This is nice" He then said, she just hummed in agreement. And after a few minutes, they fell asleep.
~X~
The day after Kiba, Shikamaru and Arielle met up at the town gates. For being the smartest, Shikamaru was not the fastest and arrived last of them all.
"Good morning sleeping beauty, thought you would arrive before us" Kiba joked as he petted Akamaru.
"Yeah, he lost a bet because of that" Arielle said and looked at Shikamaru, who was a bit baffled that his friends had bet on him. And he was even more surprised that his crush had betted against him.
"You owe me 5 bucks" Kiba said and hit Shikamaru's arm playfully before handing the money to Arielle. Shikamaru grunted at the blow and muttered things about how the world was a pain and that early mornings was not his best time of day.
"You boys will never change" She said and rolled her eyes.
"Let's get going, we have a long way to go" Shikamaru muttered and started to walk away from them. He had mapped out the entire plan in his head, they were all set for this mission. It was a rather easy one, just protect this rich lady when she is in labor. The thing that made the ninjas dread the mission was its location, on the other side of the freaking land of fire. It would take several days just to get there.
"So here is the deal, Arielle you help the wife with the whole birthing process, Kiba and I are on watch around the house. The note said that the manor isn't that big, so we can easily cover the ground around it" Shikamaru said, it took a while before the plans and backup plans and the extra backup plans was hammered into Kiba and Arielle's skulls.
"Tell me again why I am on midwife duty?" Arielle asked, she didn't really cared. But she was more of a fighter than a healer/midwife.
"Because you know, you are a girl. Guys don't want to do that kind of stuff" Kiba snickered, Akamaru barked in agreement.
Unbelievable, even the puppy?!
Ira was getting irritated and Arielle was easily affected by it.
"And what will you do when your future wife is having your baby? Just leave her in a room to figure stuff out on her own?" Arielle snapped, which made Kiba pull back a bit.
"W-well.. Y-you know.." He began, but Arielle shot evil glares that stated that he should be very, very quiet. They travelled the entire day, the group didn't even have time for lunch break. As they jumped from tree to tree the sun started to set. Shikamaru stopped on the edge of a field of flowers.
"We set up camp here" He stated and pulled out his sleeping bag. Arielle and Kiba did the same and they formed a circle and planned to have the camp fire in the middle.
"I will start gathering wood, Shikamaru are you coming?" Kiba said and stretched as he turned to the woods once again. Akamaru barked and wagged his tail.
"Sure" Shikamaru said and stood up. Arielle was worn out too, and in great need of a neck massage. She was sure that she would fall asleep any time now, if it weren't for the wolf inside of her.
"We will be back shortly.. Don't go anywhere" He said as he went away with Kiba and Akamaru.
They are so annoying! You could have gone all this way by yourself if the job was to be a midwife!
Arielle didn't want to close her eyes, Ira was roaring harassments. But nonetheless she fell asleep.
I am getting tired of being nice to everyone, I am not in shackles yet I am treated like a prisoner.
"Why would you be in chains? You would only break them" Arielle sighed as if she was stating a fact. Ira grinned wide of the admiration.
You are right~
"Why can't I have a normal dream? You know, like the other girls have" Arielle asked and sat down, it felt weird. But she had a gut feeling that Ira wouldn't hurt her.
Because you are not like the other girls.. You are my little cub~
Arielle was about to ask more when she woke up from her sleep. Something moved close to the camp. It was almost pitch black and the stars started to light up the night sky.
"Guys?" She said out into the forest, it was weird that they hadn't come back yet. The air grew weirdly cold as she stood alone by the field of flowers.
"Hello! Kiba! Shikamaru.. It isn't funny" She said very loudly, but nothing happened. A twig broke behind her and she snapped her head around to face it. But it was only darkness. The forest started to look like something from a horror book and the wind blew straight through her clothes.
"I am starting to become paranoid" She muttered to herself, but felt a chill go down her spine. Something wasn't right about the situation. As she turned around once again to look at the field, a blow came right to the back of her head and she tumbled to the ground. Darkness was about to consume her.
"What the.." She said as she passed out and this time, she wasn't greeted with Ira.