As Kumo walked with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji around the village, Kumo sensed something wrong. The further they walked, the more she sensed some strange power. Then she saw it: Soshou being confronted by Neji.

"Soshou!" Kumo called. Soshou and Neji looked to her.

"This doesn't look good, Kumo…" Shikamaru stated. "I hear Neji is pretty strong."

"But… That's my teammate! I have to help her… She could get hurt badly." Kumo rushed to the area.

"So… The traitor has returned." Neji said in his all-knowing tone. "You Cloud ninja shouldn't have come here. Your kind is not welcome in this village!"

"Hey…! I ain't no traitor and you know it!" Kumo said in outrage. "I had to leave. There was no other option."

"Will you defend your comrade, Kumo? I will show you no mercy, even if you are a girl."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kumo smirked. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji watched this reunion with anticipation and a reluctant obligation to step in if she needed help. Neji changed his eyes to his Byakugan, his family trait, and readied his attack. Kumo did the same, accidentally letting out a few sparks of electricity. Neji was a little taken by what he saw; Kumos chakra was nothing but pure electricity, a ball of lightning streaming throughout her chakra network. Neji was on his guard. "Well…? Are we going to do this?" Kumo challenged.

"I see you've changed these, past years Kumo." He stated. Kumo struck first, but Neji dodged it Kumo struck fast, but Neji was a little faster. Neji struck her with his family fighting style, 'Gentle Fist' that closes up chakra points to stop the flow of chakra, basically attacking the insides. She did not dodge. Neji hit her again and again until he felt safe from her strange elemental chakra. Something was happening. Neji saw Kumo's electric chakra surge throughout her network, forcing her chakra points open. No matter how many times he hit her with his Gentle Fist style, the points keep opening up! "What was that…? I thought you could hit harder than that!" She punched at him and he dodged again, but this time it was different. His body tingled, almost feeling numb. Kumo's electricity weakly shocked throughout his body. Neji took a step back, rubbing his arms to ease this feeling.

'What just happened…?' He thought. 'She barely touched me! And no jutsu was used. Is this the work of her chakra?' Neji decided to end this battle. He saw what he wanted to see. Plus, he felt the presence of his sensei and team nearing. "We'll pick up where we left off… My time is up." Kumo looked inquisitively at him. It was unlike Neji to just suddenly end a battle right in the middle.

"Come on! We just barely got started!" Kumo complained.

"There you are, Neji!" A voice called. It was Gai Sensei with Tenten and Rock Lee, Neji's team. "I thought I could trust you to not bother the Cloud ninja while they stay! I expected more out of you."

"It won't happen again, Gai sensei…" Neji said.

"I'm sorry, ladies… Neji is a little high-strung. He won't bother you girls anymore."

"Thank you, sir." Kumo said, bowing. "It was no problem, really!" Gai sensei gave Kumo and Soshou a sparkly smile and thumbs up before he left with his students. Kumo and Soshou each released a sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that all about…?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, fighting Neji like that…" Ino said.

"It was almost like you two were evenly matched!" Chouji stated.

"I guess I caught him on one of his bad days…!" Kumo said, modestly rubbing the back of her head.

"Whatever…" Shikamaru said. "As long as you weren't hurt, everything's fine, I guess…" Ino smirked at Shikamaru's comment which said to her that he likes Kumo. All of the sudden, the air around them seemed dense, like an ominous storm was approaching.

'Oh, no…' Kumo thought. 'He knows.' She looked to Soshou who was panicking because she sensed him, too. 'Why didn't Nasha warn me…? I should warn her if she didn't see him…' Kuja appeared behind Soshou with Nasha carried by her waist in one arm of his, dangling helplessly in defeat. Kuja didn't look too happy with his team. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji stared in awe at the man who looked like a woman.

"Ummm… Who's the angry stripper lady holding the gothic girl…?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm a man…!" Kuja's voice seemed like ice and cut through the soul deeply. He sounded manlier when he was angry. Kuja dropped Nasha on her belly and stared menacingly at Kumo. "You… And Nasha will be punished—"

"What about Soshou?!" Kumo exclaimed in fear and in outrage.

"Both of you left her alone! You neglected your teammate, fought irresponsibly with a Hyuuga member, and now you're questioning me and my judgment?!" Nasha looked at Kumo with the glint in her eyes that told Kumo she had had enough. Kuja stridden towards Kumo, grabs onto her hair to drag her with him and picked Nasha back up and teleported away with Soshou.

Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji stared at the spot where the girls disappeared, in shock.

"Where the… Hell did they go…?" Shikamaru wondered.

"T-that man… Did you see how scared Kumo was?" Ino stated. Chouji looked like he was having a stomachache.

'I hope she'll be ok…' Shikamaru thought.

That night…

Kumo and Nasha were recovering from their punishment. Their backs felt the horrible wrath of Kuja with his bamboo rod cracking against it. When Kuja was gone with his business, Nasha and Kumo planned another escape this night, a night to explore and do their own thing…

Shikamaru couldn't sleep. It was ten o' clock at night and surprisingly he's not asleep. There he lay, staring at the ceiling, thinking about her… He looked out the window at the full moon that was out tonight.

'I hope Kumo's ok…' He thought, sighing. Shikamaru closed his eyes to get to sleep. He was getting annoyed at Asuma-sensei's complaining. Just as his mind was starting to relax, there was a knock on his window. "What a drag…" He muttered, peaking out his window once more. It was Kumo peaking into his room. "Kumo…?" Shikamaru opened his window. "Are you crazy? What are you doing here…?" His voice was in a harsh whisper.

"Sorry I didn't come for dinner…"

"Dinner? Why would you worry about a thing like that…?" Shikamaru's voice was in his normal tone. "I thought your crazy sensei killed you!" Kumo climbed through the window onto his bed, sitting on her knees.

"It wasn't that bad… It happens all the time! Or when we do something bad…"

"You had us worry, girl…" Shikamaru embraced her, touching her sore, stinging back. Kumo held back her pained whimpers and tears.

"Sorry…" She breathed out. "I guess I'll have to visit Ino and Chouji so they know I'm all right…" As she was ready to spring out the window, Shikamaru grabbed her wrist, stopping her escape.

"They'll be fine…" He said, smirking. "You still owe me A few years worth of Shogi and Go." He wasn't tired now that she was here.

"You wanna play Shogi in the middle of the night?!" Kumo smiled. "You're not living up to your reputation as the 'worlds most laziest ninja'!"

"Like I care… You wanna play or not?" His voice had his usual annoyed tone.

"Fine… But I move first."

Nasha roamed the village, drawn by the silvery glow of the moon. She wanted to find the most perfect spot to view this mysterious, guiding source of light. Nasha could recall the many times she viewed the moon with her grandmother…

Her search led her to a house, a house with a strange pull on her soul. Her semi-superior sense of smell picked up a familiar scent. She sensed no threat, concluding that the place was asleep. She jumped up on the roof, being careful not to make a sound, and sat there staring up at the sky.

Inside the house; Shino woke up. He realized that the crickets weren't chirping. Something disturbed their nightly melody. He put on his sunglasses [for some odd Aburame reason…, and climbed out his open window, so he wouldn't disturb his father. Outside, he scanned the area for anything strange. He looked to the ground then up to the roof, seeing a silhouette of a figure sitting, intruding on his clan's property. Shino used his advanced ninja skills to appear on the rooftop to confront this intruder. To his surprise, it was the Mitsubachi girl he had just met this afternoon. She seemed mesmerized by the sky for some reason.

Nasha sensed she was not alone. She turned her head to see Shino investigating why she was here, in his blue dragonfly print pajamas. It looked like he would release his parasitic chakra-eating insects on her, so she stood up to defend herself. "I'm sorry… I didn't know this was your place…!"

"What are you doing here?" He asked, ready to defend his home.

"Well… I wanted to see the moon. This place has the best view in the village." Nasha pointed to the moon. "I wanted to be here until the sun rises, but I will leave if you want me to."
"You lie…" He accused.

"No, really! I… Ummm. Whatever…" It was none of his business. The truth of the matter is that she used to gaze at the moon with her Grandmother, Kakajou, back when she was still alive. They had the same great view that this place had. "I'm not lying… I swear on my respective insect, if that means anything." Her tribe reveres the honeybee as their soul purpose of life. I if they swear on this, their word is always true.

"How is it that I trust you? You're part of a clan of demons, yet show little hostility."

"I was raised better… You can stand there all night, I won't sleep. I'm an insomniac."

"Just my night…"

Nasha sensed his calmness, so she sat back down. After a while, Shino joined her. He sat next to her and tried to see what she saw. Nasha's sense of smell was almost equivalent to that of Kiba's. Shino's scent and his stoic, introverted nature calmed her. Not emotionally, though. Her eyes drooped and her body was growing numb with tire. She hadn't slept in weeks; she had met plenty of mysteriously unemotional shinobi in her time and yet why is this moment different? Her clan was afraid of the Aburame clans potential to wipe the Mitsubachi clan out of this life, but Nasha harbored no fear of Shino. Nasha's eyes drooped and she was nodding off.

"'Insomniac', huh…?" Shino mocked. Nasha was starting to lean on him. Shino gently pushed her upright, but in vain. Once Nasha fully succumbed to slumber, Shino sort of held on to her when her body threatened to fall to the other side. She clutched on the chest of his pajama shirt with one hand and the other was wrapped around his arm. Shino was in an awkward position. Here he had his clan's enemy on his arm, sleeping soundly as if she hadn't had a year of sleep, and with nowhere to put her. He didn't know her, nor trusted her to bring her inside. He carried her off the roof and laid her at the base of a tree. Shino rushed off and came back with a pillow and blanket for her to use for the night…

In the morning, before his father woke up, Shino went out to wake his unwanted guest, but found only a folded up blanket and the pillow on top. Nasha was gone. As for the same with Shikamaru, Kumo was gone by sun-up, to his dismay.