"Naru!"

"It's damn good to see you, girl-"

"What's with the too shy act?"

"Aren't you going to say hello?"

"Hey why aren't you looking at us?"

"Everyone shut up and back up-" Shikamaru barked at the group of men and women pressing in on Naru who was looking more and more nervous by the second. Everyone looked over their shoulders at Shika, their eyes wide.

"Who died and put you in charge?" Ino growled at him in irritation. Shikamaru gave her an impatient look as Neji reached out and grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back away from Naru as Shika said.

"I know you guys are happy to see Naru, demon or no, but didn't any of you hear what Jiriaya said a second ago? Naru's memory isn't what it used to be. She may not even remember any of us. So crowding her is a bad idea. Got it?"

Everyone got quiet for a second and looked at Naru who was looking down at her feet, trying hard not to freak out on them as Shikamaru walked up, pushing his way through the others who had finally backed up. And stopped right in front of her and reached out with both hands and framed her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

He was a bit saddened to see a flicker of panic cross her face an instant before she shut her eyes. "Open your eyes Naru."

"D-Don't wanna." Naru said in a raspy tone. Shika ran his thumbs along her cheeks, noting the fact that she didn't have the whisker marks she used to have anymore. Her skin felt softer, was a touch lighter with a healthy peach color to it. Her hair was longer than he'd ever seen it before, the color no longer an ash blond with golden highlights.

Her features were more delicate. Exotic looking.

Her build, though she was still petite- Wasn't as petite as he had expected. Her breasts had finally grown, taking her from flat to a nice 36-40 B cup. She was big, but not as big as Hinata. Though she definately outranked Ino in the chest area. Her body was still as lean and tones as it used to be though her hips were a mite wider.

All in all she was a very beautiful young woman. And she was still refusing to look at him. How was he supposed to help her if he and the others didn't know just how much she had changed? "Open your eyes Naru. I need to see what I'm working with."

"Don't wanna." Naru said again.

"Then at least talk to me. Tell me that you remember me." Naru cracked her eyes open just a sliver, not enough for him to see them completely but enough for him to see that the color was different. Just like everything else about her.

"Shadow user, Nara clan, Shikamaru-" Shika's lips curved up a little bit. Yeah, she remembered him.

"Good, good. Now can you tell me who of the others behind me you remember?"

"Wolfy-" Naru said suddenly. Shika frowned a little bit wondering if she was asking for Kiba and was about to ask her when she said a little more clearly. "I want wolfy and pink."

"Wolfy and Pink? You mean Kakashi and Sakura don't you?" Naru didn't say anything more and Shika sighed. God this crap was giving him a headache. "Okay. I'll take you to wolfy and pink but before I do, I want you to know that if you need anything now that your back- If you get lost, scared, anything at all; you can come to me or one of the others here and we'll drop everything to help you. Okay."

Naru nodded her head, understanding that he felt he needed to remind her that she could ask them for help. He needn't have bothered. Her memory may be faulty now but she never needed to ask for help because along with it's chakra, Kyubbi had given her it's knowledge as well.

She could more than take care of herself whether she could funtion right or not.

Shika put his hand to his mouth and gave a loud, shrill and annoying whistle then hollered. "Oi, pink and wolfy! Your teammate wants to see you!" Naru cringed at the sounds Shadow made and clapped her hands over her ears in an effort to block them out. But it was no good.

Under the rush of blood in her veins, she could still hear him loud and clear. Annoying! Naru thought as she gritted her teeth and waited until some of the ringing in her ears lessened before dropping her hands back to her side and shooting Shadow a mean looking glare.

Across the room Kakashi and Sakura had been in the middle of a heated discussion about Naru and the things that everyone had been keeping secret from Sakura, when they heard Shika whistle and yell at them. Calling them Wolfy and Pink, annoying the two considerably since they didn't find the new names the least bit funny. Yet they made their way over to the kids and were nearly knocked to the ground when Naru launched herself at them and caught them both up in a clingy hug.

Ah, so this is what we were called for. Kakashi thought as he and Sakura wrapped their arms around the blond and hugged her back.