Yes... I'm writing fic again. I know it's been a long time... hopefully people will still enjoy it.

Title: Kage
Author: Snow Tigra
Pairings: Shikamaru & Chouji, Shikamaru & Ino
Warnings: Leaning toward horror, but not so much. Inspired by the movie "Unleashed" but bearing almost no similarity to it whatsoever. Alternate Universe.

Chapter 6

The knocking had to be the most annoying sound in the world, and certainly not a sound that Ino was willing to listen to for more then a minute. She had more important things to do then give into her brother's nagging and pestering remarks. Besides, he had nothing to complain about. She wasn't on the phone, she hadn't stolen his remote, hell she hadn't even hidden any of his oh-so-precious Sasuke cds for the last month. Couldn't the little twerp cut her some slack and…

"Shut up! Stop knocking!!" Ino kicked her own door, making sure it was locked and walked over to her own window, looking outside. She could see the house from her window well enough. There weren't boxes piled anymore, but instead they'd been replaced with tastefully domestic curtains and birdhouses hanging out front. Nothing was moving now in or around the house and for a moment she allowed herself to entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, they'd packed up and ran off.

After all, who were they to just move into the place she'd called her own private home for the last couple of years now. Who were they to take everything that she'd gained away from her.

"Ino's in trouble!!" Naruto's incessantly annoying voice drifted through the door, followed by his equally annoying laughter.

Ino turned and growled. "That's it!" She grabbed the nearest object to the window, which happened to be a hair brush, and threw it at the door, watching the plastic pieces break apart with a loud impact attempting to sound like a gun shot and mostly failing. "Go away Naruto!!"

The knocking and giggling stopped, for a heaven sent moment, then Ino's world just seemed to drop even more down into hell. There was another knock on the door, but this one was slow and tired.

"Ino, I need you to come downstairs. Now." Her father's bored and tired voice really didn't sound too great. Wonderful, this was all she needed. Ino glared at her faded reflection in the window and also at the house in front of her. This was all their fault. How dare they.

"Coming father." She listened to his foot steps down the stairs, his walk as tired sounding as his voice. The neighbors she could deal with, Naruto she could tolerate, but now her father was involved?

How dare they even consider such a thing.

Ino opened her door with force and walked down the stairs, doing her best to wipe all looks of annoyance off her face. She was, after all, over reacting. Even if they knew what happened there was no way they could peg it on her. She'd been sleeping at the time as far as anyone else knew. That stupid chubby kid had probably just shown up at the door crying like a baby and they'd blown it all out of proportion. She has nothing to worry about for any of this.

Well, least she was sure of that until she stepped into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen door way she found herself confronted by a table with not just three people sitting there, but four. The forth being Chouji's large father, whose face was set with a grim but otherwise unreadable look. Ino resisted the urge to frown as she felt all hopes of getting out of this one slip out the door.

"Ino, sit down. There is something we need to discuss." Inoichi spoke slowly and carefully, sounding every bit as parental as he could, given the fact that his job and children had completely worn him out years ago. Ino didn't argue and took a seat, looking bored and uninterested. She still refused to think she'd done anything wrong.

"Busted!" The word flew from Naruto's mouth in a second as he rocked back and forth in his chair. Ino didn't resist the urge to glare dangerously at him, her glare also catching Chouji for good measure. The chubby boy frowned back, but cringed a little in his chair.

"Ino. Naruto. Enough."

Single syllables wasn't good. Ino dropped her glare but kept her frown. To hell with looking innocent.

"Chouza has brought it to my attention that last night three rocks were thrown at his son's window, creating quite the dangerous accident. Normally I wouldn't even think to peg this on one of my own children, but Naruto also let me know that he saw you sneaking out last night in all black, far past curfew."

"Oh dad you can't be serious! Why would I even do that? I'm a teenage girl, I was sneaking out for a date."

"Liar! You don't have a real boyfriend." Did Naruto honestly feel the need to rub that in every single time it came up? Right now, Ino had no patience for it and she nearly jumped out of her chair to hurt him. Her father's hand stopped her so she was only able to watch her younger brother laugh as he scampered out of the room.

"Ino, this is serious. Now I will be expecting you to pay for that window. Further more, you will be grounded for the next two weeks. That means no phone privileges or television-"

"But dad!" Ino was standing now, a testament to how unfair the whole situation was.

"I mean it Ino. This is not negotiable." The older man's voice sounded tired, but still held the authority required to raise children as a single parent. Ino knew better then to complain now. At this point it would only make things worse and two weeks was bad enough. Still, she wasn't willing to take this punishment sitting down.

"I hate you." Ino turned and focused her eyes right on Chouji, watching him shrink a bit in his seat. "I hate you and I wish you'd never moved in next door!"

"Ino!" Ino's father was standing now and he wasted no time in shooing her to her room and unhooking her phone. The sentence was dealt.

Well… at least all this time in her room, would give Ino plenty of time to figure out how she was going to make sure that chubby kid and his fat father left for good.

Chouji cringed in the chair until Ino left, his fingers digging into the edge of the seat on either side. He didn't look up and didn't say anything as the room grew silent around him and his father. It wasn't that he was particularly sensitive or even upset, he'd just never had that happen before. The hatred in her eyes, the way she glared at them… Chouji felt he'd just lost a friend in the new neighborhood and it wasn't a feeling he liked. He hated it. He hated feeling like the bad guy… after all it was just a window, right? It hardly seemed worth all of this.

A glass of milk appeared on the table in front of him and Chouji blinked, looking up to find his father standing there beside him. He'd been so distracted by his own guilty thoughts he hadn't even noticed him stand up and move. His father was good at that, and Chouji couldn't help but smile now.

"Thanks."

Chouza smiled back at his son and sat back down. "It's not your fault, so don't you dare feel guilty about it."

"I still feel like I lost a friend," Chouji drank the milk slowly, letting the cool taste help him relax.

"Ah. Of course. However, someone who reacts like that, is usually not the best choice for a friend."

Chouji glanced over at his father and slowly nodded. Of course his father was right. As usual. "Umm… dad… about last night."

Chouza nodded to his son, waiting for him to continue.

"We got mail yesterday, I didn't tell you because… well… I wanted to look at it first. So I took it up to my room. But I didn't open it." Chouji frowned and shifted a bit in his seat. "It had mom's name on it."

"… I see." Chouza took a noticeable breath and slowly exhaled, still managing somehow to keep a straight face. "Do you still have it?"

"Up in my room."

"Well then, lets head home and look at that letter and make sure it's not something important."

"Ok."

Chouji walked out of the kitchen and the house, saying good bye to Inoichi, feeling much better about himself. As they walked home he couldn't help but glance at Ino's window, and wasn't surprised to find her glaring at them both angrily. Still, thanks to what his father said, he didn't feel bad about it anymore. Instead, he actually felt sorry for her and for whatever caused her to hate someone that much.

As they walked home, Chouji noticed his father glancing at him once or twice, almost as if he were trying to say something, but no words ever came out. Chouji considered asking, but then decided not to. His father would ask on his own time, as always. Whatever it was, he'd let his father choose when to ask.

Chouza was a strong man, that Chouji knew, but he couldn't help but hang on to the fragile belief that his father never cried or got upset about anything. His father was his strength, so the moments when he was unsure he just let them go. They both seemed to be happier that way.

The light faded and the boy stepped out into the room again. He found Chouji's room darker then normal, the broken window now boarded up with a thick blanket covering whatever light could have snuck through. No more glass lay on the floor and the room was completely silent, save for the soft humming sound of the lamp by his bed, slowly rotating and filling the room with it's many colors.

Kage walked over to Chouji's bed, finding the boy sleeping soundly. He touched his cheek lightly, but found no wetness there, which caused the boy to smile. He didn't like it when Chouji was crying, it wasn't right. He liked it better when the boy smiled.

The boy watched him for a long moment, not doing anything. For a while he thought if he just stood there long enough, Chouji would open his eyes and talk to him, smile at him and just spend time with him. But the minutes went on, and Chouji was still sleeping soundly, not moving and not disturbed from his slumber.

Kage frowned and touched Chouji's cheek again. He wanted him to wake up. He wanted him to talk, to hear his voice, listen to him laugh and watch him smile. He wanted to see the glint in Chouji's eyes when he explained things that just confused the boy. He wanted to… just… do something.

Kage was lonely.

But Chouji wasn't waking up.

The boy watched him for a bit longer, before leaving the room. He stepped into the hallway, his silent feet bringing him through the dark house. He looked into each room, trying to find something, anything of interest, but there was nothing. Rooms, doors, windows, everything was dark and nothing came out into view for him.

Finally he reached Chouza's room, stopping by the door. There was a small desk lamp on, light crossing over only a corner of the room. The boy stood at the door, surveying the room and finally gathered up his courage to step inside. Staying against the wall, away from the lamp, he crossed the room to stop by Chouza's bed.

Chouji's father wasn't lying in the bed, but instead had fallen asleep in the large plush chair he had right next to it. Like Chouji the night before, the boy could see the letter sitting out on the desk and Chouza was curled up, sleeping fitfully while his expression gave a hint to his dreams.

Kage frowned. He didn't like how sad this family actually was. Over the years in watching the humans in this house, he'd seen a lot of different emotions. From happiness to tears, to screaming, to yelling, to laughing… just everything. But he'd never really seen emotions like this since he'd been burned. Maybe it was a side effect of no longer being a complete shadow… maybe being exposed to the light made him more sensitive to other things.

The boy contemplated this, just watching Chouji's father sleep as his own thoughts flowed through his head. He didn't even notice that Chouza's eyes opened somewhere along the line and that the man now sat there, just silently watching him. Kage just didn't notice and didn't care. He just watched the man quietly until the morning started to come in.

Eventually he faded, the sadness in the house infecting him as well. He didn't like being an outsider and hated it even more now.

If he was human he could at least try and make then feel better.

If he was human.