Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait between updates; I've been pretty busy lately, but I hope you all enjoy this new part. :) Oh, and since it's been a while between updates, I'm going to try to update again sometime this week. :) As always, thank you to all my readers for continuing to read this story and to those who take the time to leave reviews and comments, thanks everyone. :)

Aya unconsciously ran her fingers through the ends of her wig as she attempted to take in the scene before her or rather the individual before her. The boy who sat before her had neatly styled short cut hair that matched the color of Aya's wig and eyes that were a warm brown.

Maybe it's not him…maybe it's just someone who looks a lot like him…After all I haven't seen him in about four years…

While Aya tried to convince herself that the boy wasn't who she thought he was, her gaze landed on his right eyebrow. Her eyes widened and she held in a gasp as she picked up the faint scar at the corner of his eyebrow where no hair grew. With that discovery, Aya struggled to keep her breathing even and tried her hardest to ignore the sick feeling that was building in her stomach. She couldn't deny it anymore; she was almost certain that the boy was indeed who she thought he was-that he was indeed Shoutaro.

Shoutaro…

His name caused fragments of memories to flash across across Aya's mind: A young boy with deep red hair giving her a friendly smile in an otherwise unwelcoming room….That same young boy lying down on a futon his face so very pale, his breathing ragged...Aya's hand clutching his own- frantically rubbing it between her own two hands to warm it…She didn't like how cold it felt, how it reminded her of what had happened with her own mother…

No, no, no. I don't want to think about this right now. Aya tried to push away the memory, but she could feel it hovering right on the edge of her mind, threatening to spill out again.

"Erza are you okay?"

Akane's voice caused Aya to look up, her gaze meeting the other girl's gold specked dark brown eyes. Upon meeting Akane's eyes, Aya remembered with a jolt that the girl could read her mind and as such, she knew better than anyone else that Aya was definitely not okay. Despite this, Aya forced herself to breath in and out in an effort to calm herself down. Feeling a bit more together, though still on edge, Aya managed to reply, "Yes, sorry about that. Could I start you all off with something to drink?"

Aya was afraid that Akane was going to call her bluff, but instead the girl remained silent, fixing Aya with a knowing look, but otherwise saying nothing. Instead, it was Shoutaro who spoke up.

"Could I have some water please?" Aya felt the urge to flinch at his voice, but she repressed it. While his voice had deepened over the years, it still had a tone of familiarity to it.

"O-of Course," Aya managed to choke out. As she turned her attention to Hiro and Akane, Aya prayed that her costume and wig and the passing of four years would be enough to camouflage her identity. Her gaze briefly flitted to her left arm; she was doubly grateful that the costume pretty much hid her bandaged up arm and she hoped that the little bit that peeked through wouldn't arouse his suspicions.

Moments later, Aya let out a breath of relief as she left their table in order to get their drinks.

So far. So good.

Aya let out another sigh of relief as she managed to once again successfully continue her mission by taking Hiro, Akane, and Shoutaro's order without Shoutaro asking her any questions about her identity.

As she walked to the kitchen, Aya fought the urge to clutch her left arm to her chest. She really couldn't wait under this mission was over.

"Oh, Aya do you think you could get me a bag of sugar from the cellar?" Akemi's words caused Aya's attention to shift to the restaurant owner.

"Sure," Aya responded with a nod.

Akemi smiled. "Thanks."

Battling off thoughts off Shoutaro, Aya opened up the door of the cellar, flicked on the light, closed the door behind her and began her descent down the rather steep stairs. As Aya walked down the stairs, a question that she had been trying to ignore pushed its way to the front of her mind.

Why? Why is Shoutaro here? Why is he here in Konoha?

Aya couldn't help but think that he was there in some way because of her.

But why now after all these years?

Aya shook her head. No, there has to be some other reason. Why would he even want to talk to me after that?

Aya dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands as she tried to resist the memories of that.

I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about it. She chanted the words over and over again like a charm to ward off disaster.

I don't wa-

Aya's chant was interrupted as her left foot met thin air instead of the next stair. She let out a gasp and quickly managed to stop herself from falling by grabbing onto the railing and then used her momentum to twist her body so that her foot made contact with the next step.

However, while she managed to land on the next step, it wasn't without consequences. A small pain in her left foot caused Aya to grimace. She must have landed on it the wrong way. Aya stared at her foot; she hoped she hadn't hurt it too bad.

Her stomach clenched at the thought of not being able to finish their mission because of her hurting her foot. She didn't want to let down her team.

No. Not again. Aya couldn't help recalling the other day's practice exercise and how she had allowed Hoshi to get the bracelet that she was supposed to protect. While the others had assured her that it wasn't her fault, she still felt bad about it.

I refuse to let them down again.

Clutching onto the railing, Aya experimentally took a small step forward and then paused. While it hurt a little, it wasn't too bad. Hopefully she would be able to hold out until the mission was over, after all there wasn't that much time left.

It's going to be fine. I'll be fine. Aya's old chant was replaced by this new one as she continued her task of retrieving the bag of sugar.

Aya, now back in her own clothes and no longer wearing the long scarlet wig, bid goodbye to Ino and Choji as they took a different route home than Shikamaru and her. Once again it was just Aya and Shikamaru, but unlike in the morning, Aya was not hurrying ahead of Shikamaru, instead, it took all of her willpower to keep walking. While Aya had managed to successfully complete the mission with her team and had managed to hide her identity from Shoutaro who had thankfully left the cafe before she took off the costume, her ankle was now throbbing.

Just focus putting one foot in front of the other. One front in front of the other. Aya focused intently on walking normally and keeping the pain from her face as she did not want to burden Shikamaru with her current state. He already had to pay for my crepe this morning…I don't want to cause him any more trouble today.

While her ankle throbbed, Aya could also feel the vines on her left arm shifting restlessly as though in sync with her pain. At the thought of them-the image of the vines covering Shikamaru's body from the other day's genjutsu popped into her mind. She recalled that most of the time the vines caused him pain.

Except…

The image of the roses blooming and a peaceful expression falling over Shikamaru's face filled Aya's mind.

At this thought, the shifting of the vines in her left arm suddenly stopped and instead they began to hum in expectation. With their humming, the image of red blooming roses suddenly engulfed Aya's mind.

Aya froze in her tracks, her eyes widening and panic rising throughout her being. No. No. No. You can't. You can't bloom. No. No. No.

She clenched her left arm to her body, staring intently at it.

"Aya? What's wrong?"

At Shikamaru's voice, her attention snapped towards him. She stared at him with wide eyes, momentarily dazed.

His gaze landed on her arm that she was clutching. "Is your arm okay?"

Finally finding her voice, Aya stammered, "Y-yeah, it's fine."

He nodded, Aya could tell that he wasn't quite convinced though he didn't say anything, instead, he shifted his gaze down to her foot. Her left foot to be precise. It was then that Aya noticed that she had been unconsciously placing more weight onto her right foot; she quickly corrected that and did her best to suppress a grimace from contorting her features.

However, she was certain that she failed as she saw Shikamaru's eyes narrow knowingly. He let out a sigh, "It looks like your foot has finally reached its limit."

Aya found herself at lost for words once again as his words sunk in. He knew, he already knew.

Shikamaru sighed and turned around and knelt down in front of Aya.

Aya just continued to stare at Shikamaru.

He looked backwards, towards her. "Come on you troublesome girl. Get on."

A piggyback ride. Shikamaru's offering to give me a piggyback ride.

At the thought Aya felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She opened her mouth to protest, "It's okay. You don't have to."

Shikamaru fixed Aya with a hard stare. "Walking on it is just going to make it worse and I doubt you would be able to make it home."

Aya stared back at Shikamaru. He did have a point; she might be able to make it back home, might, but at what cost?

However, she still felt bad about making him go through all this trouble.

"We're teammates, remember?" Shikamaru's words prodded Aya's memory. He was right. They were teammates and teammates helped each other, relied on each other, so while she felt bad about it, she finally gave in to the piggy back ride.

With Aya secured to his back, Shikamaru stood back up. All was quiet for a little while as Shikamaru and Aya resumed their journey. Aya found herself preoccupied with the fact that she was actually riding on Shikamaru's back.

I'm riding on Shikamaru's back…This fact dazed Aya and she found her stomach once again filling with butterflies.

However, as the minutes passed, Aya found her tension starting to drain away as she settled into the rhythm of Shikamaru's steps.

This isn't bad…not really…It's actually kind of nice…A small smile settled across Aya's lips as her head rested on Shikamaru's shoulder. Something smells nice too. I wonder if it's his shampoo?

Wait…shampoo? Pink painted Aya's cheeks as she realized that it was indeed Shikamaru who smelled nice.

I should thank him. Yeah, I should do that I haven't yet. Aya quickly focused her attention elsewhere.

"Um, Shikamaru thank you." Her words were rushed and soft.

"Hmm?" The pony tailed brunette hummed.

"Thank you for this and for breakfast earlier…thank you for today," Aya clarified, making sure to speak slower and louder this time.

Shikamaru bobbed his head. "Just make sure you have your sister take a look at your foot."

"I will," Aya promised.

"Good," Shikamaru returned.

Silence once again settled between them. However, neither Aya nor Shikamaru were bothered by the silence; it was a comfortable, peaceful silence. It was a silence that Aya appreciated as she really could use a little bit of rest.

Once more, Aya's eyes flitted over to her left arm. She checked her arm over carefully, pleased to find that there were no blossoming red roses as it should be. They hadn't bloomed in four years, since that day and she intended to keep it that way. With that final thought Aya closed her eyes, intending to rest them for just a little while.