AN: HI EVERYONE! Sorry I was so late in getting this out, I got my own place about two weeks ago and I've been adulting so hard that I barely had any time to sit on the computer to update, my bad. Thank you to each and everyone of you who review and to those who read! You guys are amazing! The next couple of chapters were pretty much inspired by zerom1v so all of you, please thank her/him for existing! Without futher ado, let's get to some fanfictioning!


Snakes.

It was a week after the Ramen Fiasco and I found myself staying at Kako's place. I still wasn't feeling all too great but by now it was mostly me feeling tired and some random bouts of nausea. So really, I was a bit better. Although for whatever reason, ramen still didn't agree with me; which sucked because ramen was delicious.

I hadn't really been planning on staying at Kako's but at this point, I was half way convinced that my house was being taken over by reptiles.

That's right.

Snakes.

Slithery, slippery, long, nasty snakes.

I lived close to the outskirts of town so really, snakes were not that uncommon to have somewhere in my backyard or even in my front yard. They were pretty much everywhere, but up until a couple of weeks ago, I had been under the impression that we had a mutual understanding. They do not come anywhere near my home, and I don't go anywhere near them. I'm a big believer in live and let live.

So really, we had been ok.

Until about three weeks ago when they decided to break our agreement.

I had been cleaning up the backyard a bit, closer to the woods, when I had noticed one of the snakes slithering around about twenty feet away from me. Naturally, my first reaction was to freak out and high tail it out of there. The creature hadn't even been looking at me, but I wasn't about to take my chances. I waited about an hour before I gathered enough courage to go get my gardening stuff from the backyard, which had been completely forgotten about while I ran for my life.

The second time, was about a week later. I was opening the gate to my house after a long day at work, when I swear I felt someone looking at me. I had turned around, only to come almost face to face with a huge blue snake with green eyes that was hiding in the rose bushes. I swear I died a little from that scare and to this day, I have no idea how I just didn't plow through that gate and my front door. The way that snake was looking at me was freaky as anything I've ever experienced. Needless to say, I had towels fit snugly between the bottom of the doors to my home and the floor. No windows were being opened either, I wasn't taking any chances. My house was a freaking furnace.

For several days after that incident, I kept seeing snakes here and there, all around my property. Slithering away when I went outside or got home from work. Now, like I said, snakes weren't that uncommon where I lived however, I had never seen so many of them around my house. I would see at least two snakes take off in different directions every time I stepped foot outside.

The last straw had been this morning when as I was getting ready to leave to go to work. I was walking down the stairs when I looked up towards my living room window and sitting there, outside looking in, staring at me, was the same blue snake that I had seen a couple of weeks ago. The thing was huge, probably as thick as both of my forearms put together and it was just staring. I had felt myself freeze up with fear. Now, normally I wouldn't really be able to tell one snake from the next, but I was pretty sure that snakes that size and coloring were pretty uncommon. I had stood there for about five seconds, my brain trying to register what was going on, when I felt fear take over and I flew up the stairs, screaming the entire way.

I had decided then and there that our mutual agreement had been breached and therefore, precautions needed to be taken. I had called the local pest control and requested the removal of the snakes, along with fumigating the house, just in case any of them had managed to get in there or were under it.

I wasn't taking any chances.

So here I was, crashing at Kako's place while the exterminators did their thing. Her parents were out of town on another vacation so it was just the two of us. Kako's parents were always out in some place or another so it was almost as if she lived by herself. I would be staying for about three days and then going back home to scrub it down and wash everything I owned to get rid of the leftover fumes.

Kako had been bugging me for a couple of days now about wanting to go to the bar and given the fact that she was giving me a place to sleep, coupled with the fact that I was feeling fine that night, I really had no reason to say no. Other than the fact that I was feeling lazy.

"I can't believe you're actually coming with me this time! It's going to be so much fun!" Squealed Kako as she finished up doing her hair. As always, she looked impeccable. She had on a brown and green plaid shirt, coupled with a pair of dark brown shorts and brown boots. She had decided to go for a casual look by mussing up her hair and having it somehow look freaking stylish. I hated the bitch sometimes.

In contrast, my casual wasn't nearly as stylish or cute. I had decided decided to wear black capri pants, a white top and an oversized dark red cardigan for when it got cold at night. I had thrown my hair up in a messy bun and called it a day. I might not have been as cute as Kako, but I was comfortable and still looked good.

Mhmm.

"Meh, not like I have anything else to do. I owe you a drink anyways for letting me stay here." I told her shrugging my shoulders.

"Yay! Free drinks!" She cheered as she locked the door behind her.

"Free drink. A drink. If I buy you more than that I won't be able to pay off the exterminators." I told her making sure she understood this little outing was not on me.

"Pshhht, not like I can't find someone to pay for them anyways," she said blowing a raspberry and giving me a mischievous wink.

"True. Slut."

"The body wants what the body wants my love. And right now, it wants to party!" she said as she threw her hands in the air with a small woot. I could only laugh and play along with her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a swash of dark blue moving along the building next to me. By the time I turned to look though, nothing was there. Blinking once, I decided it wasn't a big deal and shrugged it off. My eyes were probably playing tricks on me.

Not ten minutes later, we were turning the corner, almost at our destination. I hadn't been there since the whole Hiroshi thing and I was really hoping I wouldn't run into anybody who had seen how drunk I had gotten. Fat chance of that, considering how small this town was, but one could still hope.

"… and then maybe we can pick up a guy for you so you can have a little fun. It'll only be a one night stand though so you can't get attached. You're mine so you're not allowed to have a boyfriend." Kako said as we neared the bar.

"Is that so?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"That is so!" she answered as she went to grab my right arm with both of hers, a big smile on her face. "You should know that by now!"

"Right, forgot about that whole 'I'm going to figure out a way to put my baby in you' thing," I told her, laughing slightly.

"The Sound dude should know how. Orochimaru? Word on the street is, he's found a way to make himself immortal, I'm sure he'll know how I can impregnate you." She stated very matter of factly while still holding on to my arm.

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"No. It's destiny." She said as she let go of my arm while we walked up to the entrance.

Kako was pushing the door open when I felt my heart skip a beat and then drop down all the way to my feet.

On the floor, right next to Kako's foot, was a very familiar blue snake opening its mouth, and getting ready to strike.

Seconds felt like an eternity as I watched the reptile open its jaws and extend its fangs. Kako was looking at me confused, not having noticed the snake but seeing my panicked face.

Never in my entire life had I ever moved that fast (except for maybe that one time that I almost got kidnapped). I snatched Kako's shirt by the elbow and pulled her as hard as I could towards me and away from the snake. I didn't even give Kako a chance to react as she crashed into me, I hoped I also hadn't given the snake time to react either.

Trying to catch both of our balance, I held on to Kako's arm now and pulled her away from the door with as much force as I could muster. With her petite figure, she pretty much flew as I dragged her. We were across the street in the blink of an eye and I decided we had put enough distance for me to be able to turn around and make sure it hadn't followed us.

"What the hell Nana?!" Kako all but yelled in my face. I was too frantic to care. I saw the snake was still by the entrance of the bar, across the street from us. Mouth now closed and staring at us, his tongue darting in and out of his mouth. I threw myself down to my knees and proceeded to almost rip Kako's boots off. "Nana, what the fuck?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Did it bite you?" I asked her as I lifted her left foot with desperate hands almost making her fall on her butt before she put her hands on my shoulders to steady herself.

"Did what bite me?! What are you doing?! Stop trying to take my shoes off!" Kako was yelling at me looking at me like I was crazy.

"The snake. Does anything hurt? Do you feel anything? How many fingers am I holding up?!" I asked her as I shoved one of my hands on her face (I was holding three fingers up by the way).

"What snake? What are you talking about?" She replied as she pushed my hand off her face.

"The one by the bar's entrance," I replied, looking behind her to make sure it hadn't moved or at least gotten closer to us.

"What sna… Holy shit!" She said as she lost all color on her face. The snake was scurrying away behind the bar when she turned around but apparently she had seen it. She practically threw herself on her butt and proceeded to fling her boots off to make sure she hadn't gotten bit. We were both examining her feet and legs, neither one of us noticing anything amiss.

"Does anything hurt? Did you feel anything?" I asked her worriedly. We weren't able to find anything and I was pretty sure the snake hadn't had a chance to bite her, but I didn't want to take any chances. Kako looked at me with scared blue eyes.

"No, I don't think it bit me. Nothing hurts apart from the mini heart attack I just had. And the mini stroke." We were both breathing hard, still scared. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush.

"Can we just go home?" I asked as I tried to take deep breaths. "I don't think I feel like drinking anymore."

Kako nodded her head rapidly and replied, "yeah, let's just go home. I think I've had enough excitement to last me a couple of days. Or months." She said as we both got up and made to pick up her boots.

She was putting on her boots, hunched over, when she froze. I was standing, looking around making sure no more snakes were around, when I saw her reaction. I was about to ask what was wrong when she looked up at me and with an almost breathless voice she said "you saved me." I could only stare at her after that, my thoughts had automatically flown to the snake when I saw her freeze up so I wasn't expecting that at all.

"Huh?" Was the most intelligent answer I could muster. She had by this point straightened up and had finished putting on her boots.

"My savior!" She exclaimed before she threw her arms around me. It took quite a bit of strength for me to remain standing after the unexpected glomping. "You saved me! My Knight in Shining Armor! No, my Sexy Shinobi!" She was practically cutting off circulation and oxygen to the top portion of my body so by the time she let go, I was feeling a bit lightheaded. I felt a bit of my energy return along with relief, if she was acting this ridiculous then she was perfectly fine.

"Now you have to buy me drinks." I told her feeling drained all of a sudden.

"Whatever you want! I owe you my life! I'm yours!" Was her response as she did an overdramatic bow.

"Let's just go back to your place. I feel like I'm about to faint." I told her as I felt my world sway a little.

"Hey, are you ok? You look very pale. Did it bite you?" Kako said looking me up and down.

"No, it didn't bite me. I think I just need to go lay down. Too much excitement for one night." I responded laughing slightly and scratching the back of my head.

"Alright, let's go. I'll make you some miso when we get home!" She said as she grabbed a hold of my arm once more and we made our way back to her place. I didn't even feel like drinking anyways.

-0-0-0-

Intelligent, aquamarine eyes watched as the two girls walked away hanging on to each other. He had been watching the long, raven-haired girl for almost two weeks now. At first, he had dismissed the reports thinking them to be a mistake or misinformation. After all, some of his companions were hatchlings and still had a lot to learn. A mistake, while unacceptable, would not have been completely unexpected. After continuous reports though, from even his most experienced companions, he decided he should check things out himself.

After all, there really was no reason why there would be a spark of his master's chakra walking around the small town of Kimura. And yet, as he pondered about the current situation, he could feel the undeniable little spark of life deep within the body of the slender one. A life that felt oh so similar to one he was very familiar with.

He did not understand what was going on and he would not question it, it was not his place.

He had not meant to scare the woman, but it seemed to be the only way to deter her from entering the establishment. The short one seemed to be very determined to "have fun" and even seemed to consider including the raven-haired one in it.

Not in her condition she wouldn't. He was sure his master would not have approved. He had taken it upon himself to make sure she was back in safe quarters, a place such as the one she meant to visit was not a place for a woman in her condition.

Looking at the women walking away for a while longer, he sent two of his companions to accompany them to make sure they made it home safely.

He poof-ed out of existence from this realm to enter Ryūchi Cave. He had to talk to his subordinates about being a little more discrete with their presence, not many humans were partial to snakes after all and they couldn't afford to keep scaring the black-haired woman. Even if the hatchlings thought it was amusing.


AN: Thanks again to everyone who's taken the time to review and to read this story! Thanks to all of my lurkers as well, you are all amazing! A special shout out to toxic click who actually went back and reviewed all of the chapters in the story, you're the best! :D and I totally have to agree with you on the NaruHina, I mean, he never really even looked her way and then suddenly because of a scarf he loves her? Psshhhhttt, get real! *hidesahalffinishedscarfbehindherback* Thank you all for sticking around and taking the time to read my story. Please don't forget to point out any grammar errors, plot inconsistencies and just anything that doesn't make sense or things I need to improve on. Any criticism is appreciated! See you next time~!