We arrive back and Lady Tsunade had sent other medical ninja to bring back the others.
"I need to check up on everyone!" I think to myself as I run towards the hospital. I heard some bad news and I need to see them all. The mission was a failure and they weren't able to bring Sasuke back. Though I figured as much.
The nurse told me Neji is in room 7 and Choji is in room 6. Shikamaru I can't seem to find, but he most likely is waiting for Choji. The nurse won't let me see Neji yet so I run to room six as fast as I can and see Shikamaru standing in the middle of the hallway looking at the ground and his dad stands near by. I see that sand ninja girl that I lost to in the Chuunin exams sitting on the bench behind them.
"Shikamaru… How's Choji?" I ask out of breathe and gasping. I ditched Lee and Gaara and sped here. He just looks at me and he looks sad. His dad stares at me too then looks at the ground. No one answers my question.
"He isn't dead is he…?" I think to myself and bit my lip and look at the ground. "Choji…"
Suddenly the door light turns off and Lady Tsunade comes out. I take a few steps forward.
"Lady Tsunade!" I say and she takes a big sigh and then smiles.
"He is going to be just fine! The antidote worked. The extermination of cells caused by the pills affects have been rested," She sighs and takes a seat across Temari. "I couldn't have done it without your help Shikaku. The Nara clan's sacred medicine guide was invaluable. It's quite impressive!" She says with a big smile and Shikamaru's dad says thanks and suddenly everyone turns to Shizune running down the hall towards us calling the hokage's name.
She gasps for breathe then smiles big.
"Neji Hyuuga is safe! His condition has stabilized. And there is more I just heard that Kakashi and Naruto have returned safely. Naruto has serious injuries, but they are not life threatening he is going to be ok!" She says. My stomach drops and a smile comes across my face, but I look over at Shikamaru who doesn't look so good.
"Shikamaru!"Your mission was a failure. However everyone is alive…That's the most important thing," Lady Tsunade says. I stare at Shikamaru's back and see he is shaking and he starts to cry.
"Next time….The mission will go perfectly…" He stutters and begins to sob. I've never ever seen him cry before. The hall has an awkward mood. He's never ever been like this before. He must feel awful.
"Oh Shika…" I mumble and look at the ground. I start to walk to Shizune.
"I'd like to see Neji please," I tell her she nods and I look back at Shikamaru who is wiping his face.
"I'll see you later Shikamaru…I don't think you did that bad" I say with a half smile while placing my hand on his shoulder. He looks shocked and then nods and his dad puts his hand on his shoulder and I begin to walk to where Neji is.
"He's right in here, but he's still in recovery," Shizune says and opens the door. I walk in and see him sitting up and looking out the window.
"Neji!" I shout and run to him and give him a hug. I bite my lip.
"Uh…Yamouri?" He says and looks shocked. I'm shocked myself at this too. I don't like to hug people; I've never been much of an affectionate person. Only when I was younger. I slightly blush and then smile at him.
"I'm glad you're ok," I say. He smirks.
"How's Lee?" He asks.
"Oh that's right!" I think to myself.
"Oh he's ok…" I add and look out at the village threw the window.
"That's good…" He adds. "I heard that fool went after us."
"He did… I went after him and….Gaara saved him," I say confidently remembering the whole thing.
"Gaara?" He asks shocked.
"I know… I thought the same thing…" I add. He looks at his hands sitting on his lap.
"Yamouri…About before…You were right…It's not my business…" He starts to say and I interrupt him.
"Don't worry about it," I tell him and open the curtains and look out the window.
"Let's put it behind us shall we?" I say and he looks shocked at my answer. About a week ago I was ready to rip his head off.
"Let's just say I wouldn't be able to handle losing a teammate after everything that has happened," I think to myself and see a little kid run by.
~::.::.::.::.:: ~ A few minutes later~.::.::.::.::.::~
After my visit with Neji I checked up on Kiba and Naruto. Choji can't have visitors yet so we have to wait. Shikamaru still seems depressed, but he's hard to find right now. He must have gone somewhere to clear his thoughts. I head to the hospital's roof top and sit on the edge.
"With Neji and Lee recovering I probably won't be going on any missions anytime soon," I think to myself and take a big sigh and hunch over.
"Oh I didn't know you were already here," I hear Shikamaru's voice behind me. I turn around and see him standing there with his hands in his pockets.
"Oh you can keep me company if you want," I say sarcastically and he gives me a funny look.
"Have I ever told you your head remind me of a pineapple," I say with a grin he rubs his head and sighs. He takes a seat by me on the edge and looks down at the ground.
"Don't mope about it forever Shika," I tell him. He looks at me seriously. I see Gaara walking down below.
"I don't plan too…" he says.
"Have you seen Choji yet?" I ask him. He gets even sadder and mumbles "No not yet…"
"Aww Poor Shika!" I think to myself and notice Gaara is already gone somewhere else.
"He's going to be on his feet soon stuffing his face again," I say with a little laugh. He tries to smile and then scratches his head.
"There he is again!" I say out loud.
"Huh?" Shikamaru asks confused.
"Oh nothing, I'll see you later, let me know if you want to talk more," I tell him and jump off the roof.
"Eh?" I hear Shikamaru gasp.
I do some flips in the air and land on a rope used for hanging laundry and then jump down onto the ground and begin running off.
"Ugh…" I moan while looking around and begin running again and turn into an alley and smack into something. I fall back rather hard.
"Stupid Hikaru!" I shout automatically assuming it's him and look up and see its Gaara. I gasp and feel embarrassed.
"Oh sorry Gaara," I tell him he doesn't change his expression.
"Um I was wondering if we could talk for a second…" I tell him and all of a sudden I see Hikaru walking towards us.
"I thought I heard your voice call me Yami," he says. I hunch forward and smack my forehead. Gaara stands there looking annoyed as Hikaru starts to talk about his day.
"Hikaru I don't want to hear about your day…" I mumble and he stops talking.
"But but…Yami!" He shouts.
"Stop calling me that!" I yell back at him and see Gaara walking away. I push Hikaru and he falls on his butt and I walk after Gaara.
"What is it that you want?" He asks.
"I just have two questions," I say serious now.
"I was wondering if you could help me train," I tell him. His eyes widen and then he looks to the side. After seeing him fight several times I know he is amazingly strong. Maybe stronger than Neji and Lee.
"I'm sorry, but I have to head back to my village soon," he says. I tighten my fist and sigh at the disappointment.
"Those scars…" he says noticing my hands. I hide them behind my back.
"What about them?" I snap at him.
"There so many," he adds.
"Yeah well what do you expect from a ninja?" I tell him now feeling nervous. These scars take a lot longer than regular scars to heal and disappear and I get really bad ones when ever I use my sword.
He eyes me like he knows something I don't.
"What?" I ask anxious by his answer. "What is it with this guy and his creepy looks?" I think to myself.
"So your answer is no, what about my other question," I pause and he looks interested.
I get a weird feeling and look down realizing it is a silly thing to ask.
"Never mind," I mumble. He looks taken back and I walk away slowly. I look back and see he is starring and run off.
"Damn," I mumble. I just wasted his time and mine. Well if he won't help me train then I guess I'll have to go back to training by myself. Guy-sensei can't really help since he doesn't really know any lightning jutsus because he's sort of like Lee.
"Everyone has been so preoccupied with Sasuke leaving and the last time I saw Guy-sensei was awhile ago," I think to myself while looking around for someone to talk to.
"Ok seriously I need to focus," I get an image of Kento and bite my lip hard and walk to the training grounds.
"Alright, no more slacking!" I shout and begin.
~::.::.::.::.:: ~ A few hours later~.::.::.::.::.::~
"One more time!" I gasp and fall on the ground.
"All I've got… is this," I whisper while looking at the sword. I slowly walk to a tree and decide to take a five minute break. I climb up and lie down on a wide branch and look at the sky. I feel my eyes start to close and I take some deep breathes and allow myself to relax.
As I drift to sleep…
I walk into my house just like a normal day. I leave my shoes by the door and look around for my brother to tell him how today went. He likes hearing when I beat Kento at a game. I look around and can't find them. I see a bunch of photographs of them and I smile.
"Mom! Dad! Kyho?" I shout and run all around my house, but no sign of them.
I see our family picture cracked big and blood smeared on the front.
"What who did this?" I gasp and I bump into someone standing behind me. I drop the picture and glass spreads all over the floor.
"Oh you scared me," I mumble and see Kyho standing there with his big purple eyes and a wide grin on his face.
"Brother I was looking for you," I say with a big smile, but he doesn't say anything.
"Kento always wants to race, but I beat him today! I beat him big bro!" I say with a giggle.
"That's great sis, I'm proud of you," He says. And I turn around to pick up the glass, but see it's already gone.
"What the heck…?" I say and see Kyho is standing by the window looking out.
"Where's mom? She never leaves the house…" I tell him. He doesn't answer me and puts his hand on the window glass.
"Brother…?" He looks at the ground.
"I'm very disappointed in you Yamouri…" he says quietly.
"About what?" I ask confused and give him a curious look. All the pictures crack at once and fall down onto the ground. I shriek and put my hands on my head.
"Kyho what's going on?" I shout and see him kneel down now while still looking at the ground.
"Kyho!" I shout in anger.
"If you didn't waste your time with those pathetic people you call friends, and spent your time training then we could rest in peace finally," He says and tears start to stream down my face.
"What are you talking about!" I gasp and wipe my face.
"Why haven't you killed him yet? Are you hesitating because you still care for him?" He shouts. "I knew you wouldn't be able to do it, you've always admired him more than me."
"No brother your wrong!" I shout. He tightens his fist and breaks the window and he disappears as the breeze enters the house.
"Don't leave me! Don't leave me all alone," I sob and I let my face lay on the ground.
"I don't have anything…" I continue sobbing. "I don't even know how to find him."
I see a bird chirping on the window seal. I sit up and stumble towards it.
"All I've got is myself," I tell myself and the bird starts to fly into the woods and when I reach towards where the window was it becomes part of the wall. I look around and see the doors are gone too.
"What is this? My chest hurts…" I stutter as I feel it tighten and it becomes unbelievably hard to breathe.
"There's only one way to fix a broken heart," I remember my mom said. She said the only way was for a new love to be ministered by another person.
"Only love can fix a broken heart," I think to myself.
"I have nothing without you…" I yell as I think of their faces. The room's walls start to close in and I start yelling for help, but can't even move as the walls continue to close in more and more.
"Help!" I shout and feel myself wake up from my dream and I fall off the branch and fall down and feel myself being caught by someone. I don't even open my eyes as I think I'm still in my dream and I've just fallen.
"Yamouri?" I hear Gaara's voice. I open them and realize he's holding me bridal style. I let my legs come on the ground and feel my face turn red.
"Oh…Thanks Gaara," I tell him. He gives me a weird look. He must think I'm really odd since I just fell from the sky.
"Why do I keep seeing you everywhere," he says in a monotone.
"I was training and fell asleep," I tell him while shaking off some leaves stuck in my hair.
"So what was the other question you were going to ask?" He says.
"Why do you look at me like that? Like if you're seeing right through me," I tell him. "I know it might sound weird, but it's just a thought."
He doesn't change his expression and thinks for a second.
"Because from your eyes I can see the same pain and anger as myself, and as Sasuke's," he finally adds and I gasp and stare at him with my mouth slightly open.
"You can tell that by just looking at them?" I think to myself and a breeze goes by and a few leaves hit me in the face.