Crimson Stained

Chapter 11

How He Gives Her Courage

When Nikushimi woke she was confused, as she wasn't in her house. She shot up, tense and ready to fight. However then she calmed, seeing that she was in Obito's room. Her sudden moving had also roused Obito, who sat up and looked around before he realized Nikushimi was up.

"You slept like a log." he informed her, "I carried you from the other side of Konoha, made a ton of noise in here, and you never woke up."

"Oh… guess I was tired." Nikushimi laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. She then pulled her ponytail out, seeing as how it was messy from her sleeping with it.

"Sorry for taking up your bed, you could have just woke me up you know." Nikushimi added.

"But that was my plan." Obito pointed out, "I made us run around until you fell asleep so you would get a ton of sleep and have no nightmares!" Nikushimi's response was a blink.

"You planned to have me fall asleep?" she questioned, then she laughed.

"Didn't expect it, eh?" Obito teased before he stood up and stretched. He quickly put his makeshift bed away as Nikushimi ran her fingers through her hair under it was pin straight again. Obito, curious about Nikushimi's hair, walked over and took a few strands in his hands.

"Your hair is soft." complimented Obito as he held some of her hair in his hands. Nikushimi shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh, thanks?" she tried, sounding unsure. Obito dropped her hair back in place and gave her an incredulous look.

"No one's ever complimented you on your hair before?" he questioned. Nikushimi slowly shook her head.

"No…" she trailed. Obito sighed.

"We can get back to this later; right now let's go get breakfast." Obito decided as both their stomachs grumbled. They trouped downstairs where they had a quick breakfast before leaving. The Uchiha district was more lively today, but not by much.

"It's much busier today." commented Nikushimi. Obito nodded.

"Yeah, almost everyone had missions yesterday, but some returned last night or today. My parents won't be back until tomorrow though," then Obito thought of something, "Say, what about your parents?" Nikushimi paused, thought for a moment, and then opened her mouth to answer.

"Ah Obito! I've been looking for you!" Nikushimi was saved from answering as she and Obito turned to watch Uchiha Mikoto rush over with a half asleep Itachi following her.

'She's pretty.' Nikushimi thought, admiring Mikoto's dark blue-black hair.

"What do you need, Aunt Mikoto?" questioned Obito. Mikoto was not actually his mother or fathers sister, nor was Mikoto's husband, Fugaku, however Mikoto was close to him so he called her his aunt. Thus making Itachi his cousin and Fugaku his uncle.

"I was just looking to see if you could watch Itachi for me next week, I have some things I need to do but I don't want to bore Itachi with them." she explained cheerfully.

"Of course I can watch him, he'll just have to watch me train with my team if that's alright, but the training won't be for that long." Obito replied.

"Ok, thank you Obito." she smiled and looked over at Nikushimi who was half hiding behind Obito, "Oh who's this?" Obito grinned and stepped to the side so Mikoto could see Nikushimi.

"This is Nikushimi." he introduced.

"Well Nikushimi, I'm Obito's aunt, Uchiha Mikoto, it's nice to meet you." Mikoto greeted.

"I'm Ketsueki Nikushimi, nice to meet you too." Nikushimi replied with a small smile. Mikoto suddenly got a devious twinkle in her eyes.

"Obito… is she your girlfriend?" she asked with a sly grin. Nikushimi almost fell over and Obito groaned before face palming.

"Why does everyone think that? No, she is not my girlfriend. She's my best friend, there is a difference!" Obito explained, exasperated.

'Everyone thinks that? Since when?' Nikushimi wondered as Mikoto laughed at Obito.

"Sure, sure, I'll believe you for now." she teased as she turned around to make sure her son hadn't fallen asleep on his feet.

"You sure tired him out yesterday, he's still tired." Mikoto commented as she shook her sons shoulder slightly to knock him from his daze.

"That means it worked, the point of the game was to tire Nikushimi out!" Obito announced, grinning at how well his plan worked.

"Why was that the goal?" inquired Mikoto, peering at Nikushimi curiously.

"I've been having nightmares that prevent me from sleeping well…" Nikushimi admitted.

"Ah, I see, drinking tea before bed helps with that. I better get going now; I need to get things for dinner. I'll see you later, Obito!" Mikoto called as she started to walk away, pulling Itachi behind her.

"Poor Itachi looks like something the cat would drag in." commented Nikushimi. Obito blinked.

"Well, we were chasing a cat." he pointed out. Nikushimi started laughing and Obito started to pull her through the streets by her hand since she couldn't quite get her giggles to go away enough to follow him.

"So what are we going to get for breakfast?" Nikushimi inquired through giggles as Obito continued to drag her down the street.

"I was thinking our usual place." he replied as he pulled her from the Uchiha district. She was pulled down a few more streets until they reached their usual café. Obito pulled her in and they took their usual booth where Akane waved at them.

"Our usual please!" he called to Akane, who nodded, the mass of orange curls atop her head bouncing as she did. She disappeared in the back room so Nikushimi and Obito turned to each other.

"So you slept good?" questioned Obito. Nikushimi nodded.

"Yeah, no nightmares. I guess I was really comfy, or maybe your bed is just really comfy…" Nikushimi trailed. Obito laughed.

"I think it was both, because my bed is really comfy and you just fell asleep on the ground." Obito decided. Nikushimi laughed. They sat in silence for a few moments before a few thoughts occurred to Obito.

"Oh yeah… I wanted to ask you, how come your parents seem to never be home?" questioned Obito.

"Because they're never home." Nikushimi replied as Akane placed their usual on their table. They thanked her and she walked away after smiling to them.

"Never?" Obito repeated as he took a bite of his food.

"Mm-hm." Nikushimi nodded as she too took a large bite of her food.

"My parents are out on mission a lot, but they're home a lot too. They usually take missions whenever I have missions so I'm not alone." Obito explained. Nikushimi nodded.

"Ah." she took another bite. They ate in silence after that, then they paid and left. They separated after that for the day, Nikushimi explaining she wanted to take a bath.

Arriving home Nikushimi had stripped down and filled her tub up. Then she sat in the warm water and hugged her knees to her chest.

"I'm afraid." she murmured to herself, leaning her forehead on her knees.

"I'm so afraid that they won't like me." she whispered.

'I shouldn't worry, I mean, Obito likes me, and Rin seems to like me…' Nikushimi sighed as she continued to think.

"I hate it." she muttered, "I hate that no one seems to like me."

'I can count on one hand, Obito, and maybe Rin. That's about it, I think Minato tolerates me but doesn't particularly like me. And I know Kakashi doesn't like me.' Another sigh left Nikushimi and she dipped her head under the water. She pulled her head back up and leaned her head back on her knees, trails of water falling from her soaked hair.

"I really don't know how I'm going to face my team…" Nikushimi trailed with a sigh.

^The Next Day^

Nikushimi sat on the 2nd Hokage's head on the Hokage monument. She had been sitting there for about an hour when Obito showed up and sat next to her silently.

"How'd you know I was here?" she inquired.

"I guessed that you'd be here, whenever you're in a serious mood you come here to think." Obito replied as they stared out over the village.

"I meet my team tomorrow." Nikushimi commented.

"Do you know who's on your team?" questioned Obito. Nikushimi shook her head.

"No, I was just told I'm on Squad 13." Nikushimi answered. Obito nodded.

"I think they're going to like you." Obito stated.

"I doubt it, no one in the academy liked me." Nikushimi replied.

"They're coming from the graduating class, which is a group of thirteen year olds, you're eleven, but you take the exam because you're allowed to try as long as you have high grades, which you obviously do... in academics anyway." Obito pointed out.

"So?" Nikushimi muttered.

"So they're not in your class, meaning they don't know you which means they will get their first impression of you at your meeting tomorrow." Obito explained. Nikushimi blinked, then sighed.

"Yeah, but what if they think I'm stupid? No one really likes how I look…" Nikushimi mumbled.

"Then once again, I'm a no one. Your hair is awesome, your eyes are startling at first but they're cool, and you're not short… you're fun sized." Obito explained. Nikushimi glowered at him.

"I'm not short! And I'm not fun-sized!" she huffed.

"But, I have to look down at you. I'm at least a head taller than you." deadpanned Obito. Nikushimi pouted at him.

"What about my scar? No one likes that!" Nikushimi protested.

"Well, you can't exactly get rid of a scar, besides, it doesn't matter. After time, all ninja get scars. You just have one earlier than them." Obito replied with a smirk. Nikushimi frowned.

"But-" Obito cut her off.

"They're going to like you. You're friendly, and once you start talking they'll start to like you. I say, that you go to your meeting tomorrow with your hair pulled back so your eyes are showing so that they know you're not ashamed! Show them who you really are, not a fake you, because they need to like you for you, and not who you pretend to be!" Obito announced with a grin. Nikushimi's eyes widened as Obito reached forward and pulled her bangs to the side so that they were tucked behind her ears. Her two long bangs still fell down and framed her face though.

"But Obito, what if they get scared of my eyes?" Nikushimi whined.

"They won't! They'll be a bit shocked at first, but you look fine! Don't make me beat more sense into you." Obito huffed.

"I don't need to go tomorrow being all beat up." protested Nikushimi. Obito grinned.

"Now that I think about it, we've been neglecting training, let's go spar, get some confidence in you." Before Nikushimi could move, Obito grabbed her hand and he pulled her to her feet before he started to drag her down the monument. She fell onto his back and he used his chakra to get down the fast way, as opposed to taking the stairs. All the while, Nikushimi was clutching Obito like he was her lifeline.

When they reached the training grounds, Obito stopped dragging Nikushimi and let go of her hand. He whirled around to face her.

"Alright!" he announced, "The rules are I'm not allowed to use Jutsu, since we don't need you to be barbequed, but I am allowed to use weapons and Taijutsu. You're allowed to use anything except for senbon since you're already strong in that area!" Nikushimi nodded and then spring back as they began.

They started by running at each other. Nikushimi was more flexible and agile than Obito without chakra, however with chakra Obito was faster and because of his chakra he was more balanced. However without chakra Nikushimi was faster and more balanced. Obito also held more power than Nikushimi with and without chakra. Nikushimi's weapon accuracy though was better, with and without Obito using chakra.

'Nikushimi's Taijutsu isn't as strong as I thought.' Obito noted as he and Nikushimi clashed, 'I should ask Gai to help…' Obito almost shuddered at the thought of the strange spandex clad boy who had defeated him in the Chunin exams. But Obito had to admit that Gai's Taijutsu was very impressive.

'No, I think he might scare Nikushimi… or scar her for life…' Obito decided as he dodged Nikushimi's fist and hooked her legs out from underneath her. She fell over and Obito then grinned mischievously. He put one foot on her stomach gently to keep her down and he kneeled down. he started tickling her sides, making her laugh and squirm.

"S-stoppp!" cried Nikushimi, laughing so hard that he could see her strange red tears falling down her cheeks.

"Nope." Obito replied cheerfully as he continued to tickle her. Then, Nikushimi rolled over and knocked Obito over. They just stayed there though, lying on the ground looking up at the clouds. Nikushimi as red in the face from laughing, and her hair was all over the place. They both rolled over onto their sides to look at each other, and Nikushimi started giggling.

"I can't believe how ticklish you are…" trailed Obito. Nikushimi let out a short laugh which she rolled onto her stomach and threw her face into the grass to muffle. Her body shook and Obito watched as his friend tried to stop herself from laughing.

"You're such a strange person Nikushimi, but in a good way." Obito commented. Nikushimi soon stopped laughing, and she rolled over again so that she and Obito were right next to each other.

"Is it possible to laugh to death?" questioned Nikushimi. Obito snorted.

"No, if it were you'd have died by now." Obito replied seriously. Nikushimi giggled, but managed to stop.

"Should I tickle you again? Because that was really funny, watching you laugh to death." wondered Obito.

"Ah, noooo!" Nikushimi rolled away and got up quickly and started to run away, Obito on her heels a moment later. Nikushimi darted into the forst and managed to pass through two training fields before Obito caught her and started to tickle her again.

"So did I cheer you up today?" questioned Obito as they once again chose to lie on the grass next to each other. They had spent the day running around the training fields for now the sky was turning orange and yellow from the sun going down.

"Yeah, I completely forgot actually…" Nikushimi realized.

"Aren't I the best?" Obito asked with a big grin.

"You're the best Obito." Nikushimi replied.

"And to make sure that you don't get any last minute thoughts, then I'll promise. I never break my promises, and I promise that you'll be fine. It will be fine, your team will like you and it will be fine. I promise." Obito promised.

"Thank you, Obito."

Nikushimi was ready to meet her team. And it was all because Obito had given her the courage to face them.

AN

So I've decided to do little fun facts for chapters.

Fun Fact- Nikushimi's Birthday is December 13th, Obito's is February 10th, which is very close to my birthday.

Anyway, I'm horrible at chapter names… seriously. I couldn't think of anything.

Also, i'm very excited for next chapter because she meets her team. I think her sensei is my next favorite OC other than Nikushimi in this story.

Bye.