"You… what are you?" Nikolai smiled before answering.

"The reason that you're here."

I backed away, "How do you know babulya Anastasia?" I asked, fear evident in my eyes. Nikolai pulled me close to him by the waist. "Come on now… Surely you remember. Dig deep into your memory." he said with a smirk. "N-no! Get away from me!" I regained my senses and turned around to see what Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were doing. They were all frozen in place, all black and white, just staring into nowhere, stuck in those poses. "You… what have you done?!" I exclaimed, looking around. Everything was either black, grey or white.

"What does it look like, Lia? I've stopped time." smiled Nikolai childishly. "You should try it sometime. It's fun." said Nikolai in the same tone he used before. I took a step away from him. "I-I don't have the power t-to do t-that." I mumbled, looking away from him. Nikolai jumped off the table he was previously sitting on and grabbed my chin. "You really don't remember me, huh?" he asked, gazing deeply into my eyes, "We used to be so close, Aeli…" something sparked in my memory. I somehow knew Nikolai from my other life that had already made itself apparent but him calling me "Aeli"? He's giving me clues to find out who he is.

The blonde sighed as he brought my face closer to his. "You really don't remember anything do you? Aelia… you never watched Naruto. You didn't even know what anime was." he said, looking into my eyes. I tried to get away from him but failed. "Aelia. All this knowledge, all these things that you know… where do you think they came from?" my face paled, "Y-you're lying. I know these things because I watched the anime, read the manga. I was a fan." How else would I have gotten all of this information to the tiniest detail? Though he was right. I have no memory of ever reading or watching Naruto.

"Aeli. I was the one who brought you here. All of this," he said, extending his arms and spinning, "It's because of me." he ended with a smile. "I'm God and you are my humble follower." I shook my head no. "I have no memory of you." I breathed out, "Really? Yet you instantly knew that you didn't stand a chance against me. Even on that ship." I gulped. "Nikolai… How did I get here?" I asked in the end, wanting answers. "Well you died so horribly I decided to be merciful and grant you another chance, with a slight advantage." he winked at me.

"Why?" I asked, curious to know the answer, "Well… as God, I love all humans. I just happened to love you a little more." I paled as I tried to take a step back once again. "P-please get away…" I whispered out, trying to pull away from him. "Ah, dear Aeli…" his voice turned from childish to the one that he uses all the time, "You should know by now… begging doesn't really work when it comes to me." I froze in place. Nikolai finally let go of my face. "We aren't leaving this place until you unfreeze the time. So go ahead. Try." I cocked a brow at him, "I-I told y-you. I don't have the p-power for that!" Nikolai shrugged, "Then I guess you're stuck here with me. Forever." I paled at that, summoning some energy and trying to release all of it at once.

"Nope. Not going to do it." said Nikolai, a smirk on his face. "How about this? For every hour that you don't get us out of here, one person in this world will die." I shrugged. People die every second. Nikolai can't really scare me into doing his bidding with just that. "Aeli… I'll be the one to decide who dies." he said in a childish voice. "Now then… who shall be my first victim?" I froze. Shaking my head and trying to deny the fact that he had the power to do whatever he wanted. "You can't do that. You're just some kid with a God Complex." I mumbled, trying to reassure myself that everything would be fine.

"Don't get too comfortable too quickly, Aeli." said Nikolai, suddenly behind me, "Remember who really is in control." my body went rigid as I tried to unfreeze time once again when something in my mind clicked. "You said you'd kill someone every hour, correct?" the blonde nodded, "Time is frozen in here. You can't kill anyone," Nikolai shrugged, "Time isn't frozen for us, my dear. The first victim will die in twenty minutes. I suggest you try to unfreeze time for your friends instead of talking to me." I didn't want to know how he did it… or more like I didn't have time to ask. I focused my chakra to my feet and stomped, not really knowing what I was expecting other than a crater on the living room floor. "Tell me how you froze time." I turned to him and ordered. "Eh~ Getting all bossy I see? Well I'm having fun so I might as well tell you." I waited for an answer, only to get one a few seconds later.

"Remember that jutsu Orochimaru taught you to turn back time?" I nodded, "Well you only need to do the first half of that to freeze it." he said with a smirk. I nodded, focusing my chakra everywhere on my body and doing the other half of the jutsu. A few minutes passed and nothing happened. I let out a sigh and checked the time. Thirty seconds before someone of his choice dies…

"Just wait. It'll work eventually." I ignored him and tried to do the second half of the jutsu again. Some colour came back to the world. I noticed a black and white flower in a vase turn purple. That gave me hope as I tried the jutsu again and again, feeling my chakra deplete as I exchanged seconds of my life to unfreeze the time. "H-hey, stop it now, it's working." said Nikolai, trying to stop me from using any more chakra. "You'll die if you go on. That's no fun!" I ignored him and watched as the black and white world around me soon regained its colours. A wave of relief crashed into me as I fell on the floor, panting.

"Come on now. You just lost a minute of your life force Aelia…" said Nikolai, annoyed. "I may be God but I can't give you back time you know…" he mumbled, his irritation evident in his voice. As soon as they got over their shock, Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura positioned themselves in front of me again. "Let it be. It's no use." I breathed out, panting from the amount of life force I'd lost. "What happened to you? You were behind us the entire time." said Kakashi, helping me up. "No she wasn't. Aeli and I played a very fun game." said Nikolai with a childish smile that made my stomach lurch. "Since you entertained me this much, I might as well tell you where the Uchiha boy is." declared Nikolai, suddenly next to me, "Check your closet." I fell to my knees. "You're sick."

"Is that such a way to address your God?" asked Nikolai with a smirk, "You're no God of mine." I bellowed, getting up and pointing at the door. "Get out." I ordered, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes, "Playing with you was fun, Aeli. I'll see you soon." he said with a smirk, disappearing into a puff of black ash. I started shaking as I ran up the stairs and into my room, breaking down the door as I opened the doors of the closet, only to find Sasuke's nearly lifeless body shoved inside. "SASUKE!" I screamed, pulling him out of the closet, my hand glowing a minty green as I tried to heal him to the best of my ability.

I noticed that he had been electrocuted. "So this guy used Sasuke's chidori against him." I mumbled, ripping Sasuke's shirt and throwing it to the side, only to see the gaping hole that was in his chest. "SAKURA COME OVER HERE, QUICK!" I screamed, distressed. The pinkette ran up to my room, gasping in horror at the scene in front of her. She examined the Uchiha's body, only to shake her head with tears in her eyes. "W-what? C-come on now… he can't be dead." I said, trying my best to heal him as well.

"Aelia… it's over okay? He's dead." said Sakura, tears streaming down her face, "There's nothing we can do…" she cried, resting her head on my shoulder as I shook in anger. "T-there's still something I can do." I said, hopeful. "But it would mean that this is goodbye." I gave her a hug, "Tell everyone I love them okay?" Sakura's eyes widened as I performed the time reversal jutsu, "Aelia, no! You can't do that! Please!" she begged.

I shook my head, "I have to. I don't belong here anyways." I performed the jutsu to completion, watching as my body denigrated and turned to dust. A few seconds later, I was plunged in darkness, an orb of light standing in front of me, in the shape of a person. I touched it, memories of my time back in my world coming back to me. Nikolai was right. We used to know each other, we used to be so close. People would consider us best friends apparently. But he was also right about being the reason for me being here.

"Aeli?" Nikolai shook my corps as tears filled his eyes. "Come on now. Wake up." he begged, his tears falling onto my face as he tried to wake me up. "You can't be dead. You can't. You promised we'd be together forever! Come on, Aelia! Hang in there!" his hand glowed a slight blue, "I never told you who I really was, did I?" he asked, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand.

"I'm God. I created this place, you know, with everyone in it. But then, I started getting bored of always watching, never doing anything. So one day, I decided to come down to earth." he cradled my body as he spoke, "Remember that time we first met? You were the first human I saw up close. Ah, how beautiful you were, with those blue eyes and brown hair. I remember you asked me who I was." he hugged my dead body, wetting it with his tears, "When I said that I was God, you laughed at my face and asked for my real name." I did remember that, it was one of my earliest memories, I was probably about ten or maybe eleven when it happened.

"I told you my name was Nikolai remember? Then you helped me up and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told you I could just snap my fingers and make something appear, remember? You laughed at my face that day and asked me to do it right there and then. I remember thinking about how disrespectful you were, talking to a god as though he were your friend." he moved the hair away from my face.

"But then we did become friends, and we grew up together, though I just changed my appearance to look like I was growing." I nodded, it made sense after all. "One day you came home with tears in your eyes. When I asked you what was wrong, you said you were getting bullied because of your accent remember?" I took a step back, I did remember getting bullied as a child. People said I talked funny because I had a russian accent.

"Then, I got mad, remember? Said you shouldn't cry because a few people were mean. That you weren't a baby anymore." I did have a few memories of crying because of bullies, but why don't I remember ever spending time with him? "A few years passed and then you turned sixteen." he said with a small smile on his face, "Remember that? You were so happy but I could tell something was bothering you." a few tears ran down his face once again, his long platinum blonde hair spilled all over the floor, getting tainted in my blood.

"You had this secret you hadn't told anyone, and I could tell it tore you apart. When I asked you about it you got really defensive, I think it was the first time you got mad at me." he said with a small smile, "How brave it was of you, telling off a god." he cupped my cheek. "Then one day, you told me. I was shocked. Was that really what you were scared of? That I wouldn't accept you if I knew? Aelia, you can be so stupid at times." He was the first person I told? No, there has to be a mistake. I would've remembered him! I mean according to this, we lived together when we were kids! I should remember him so why don't I?!

"Say, what about this? I'll give you a second chance at life. In a place where you won't have to fear rejection. You won't remember anything about this life though… You'll have to forget me, okay? It'll be dangerous if you even remember my name. So first, I'll need to take away your memories. Don't be mad okay?" his glowing hand finally landed on my forehead.

He kept his hand where it was for a few minutes until he finally pulled out many long strings, each of different colours, some of them were colours I didn't even know of! "There. I've pulled out all of the strings… even the one that binds you to me… Aelia, I'll become a very bad man from now on. I'll probably do some horrible things to you if I ever see you again." he turned his head as though to look directly at me, "I'm so sorry." he said before his hand glowed a light shade of purple and my body disappeared.

I fell to my knees as I retracted my hand from the glowing light. "He knew… He knew this would happen!" I hugged myself, trying to generate warmth as I waited for something to happen. Perhaps Nikolai would appear before me? Tell me he hadn't changed, that it was all some sick, twisted joke. But nothing happened, Nikolai didn't appear before me. I looked in front and noticed a path of light. "Looks like all those books mother made me read were right about one thing." I mumbled, following the path to a door. "What?" the door didn't have a knob. I knocked on it three times, causing it to open, only to have a huge room full of light.

I shielded my eyes with my arms and entered the room. Inside sat a man with long platinum blonde hair, tainted red at the tips, sitting and hugging his knees. Was this the real Nikolai? "Aelia?" the blonde stood up only to sit back down because of the shackles at his feet. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked, motioning at me to come closer. When he noticed I didn't move, he turned to look me in the eye, "Do I scare you?" he asked, looking at me through his nearly blocked eyes. I nodded, unable to face him directly. "The me in that place really has done a number on you I see." He tried to stand once again.

"Would you please come closer? I haven't seen you in so long." I hesitated before sitting in front of him, far enough so that he wouldn't be able to reach me. "Why are you here?" he asked after a while, a smile on his face to show that he'd missed me. "I died… probably… I don't really know." I shrugged, looking into his eyes, noticing that they seemed to be a calmer tone of red. "Why did you go insane in the other world?" I asked, dying to know.

"When a string is severed, although it happens in extreme cases such as yours. The person who severs the string between them and the person in question will go insane," I cocked my head to the side, "Why?" Nikolai looked me dead in the eye with a smile on his face, "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, "It's because of the dread and regret that they feel. The string that you and I shared for example, it was a string of love, just like the one I share with every single human in the world, whether that love is reciprocated is up to the person on the other end of the string though." I nodded, it made sense so far.

"I hated you." I said, causing the blonde to flinch in surprise. "Before meeting you, I hated you for not doing anything about the situation that I was in. I always wondered, 'what have I done to God for him to put me in this family?' when my parents would beat me, I prayed to you, prayed for an opportunity to get away. Tell me Nikolai, why did you give up on me? You claim to love all humans yet if that were the case why is there poverty, sickness, death? Nikolai you are no god."

The blonde chuckled, "Believe it or not, you aren't the first person to resent me, though I didn't really care what others thought." I glared at him, "Aelia, do you still hate me? And I'm not talking to you about the Nikolai you met in that other world. I'm talking about the Nikolai you met just before walking through that door. Do you hate him?" I shook my head. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't, I wouldn't hate him. "That Nikolai was my first friend. The first person to love me for who I am. But I'm not special to you, Nikolai. You love everyone, or so you say."

Nikolai hummed, "Come closer Aelia." he ordered, making a chair appear in front of him, "Have a seat." I cocked a brow at him but still did as I was told. "You were the first human that I met up close." he said with a smile on his face, "You were the first human to get mad at me when I did something wrong." I shook my head at that, "Many people resent you." I said. The blonde shook his head, "Yes, they do, but all of them show that resentment after they die. You were the first one who looked me in the eye and told me to go fuck myself."

He chuckled while I maintained a blank face, "What I'm trying to say is, you became a very dear human to me the moment that I met you. I loved everyone, yes, but I loved you just a little more. I still do." he said with a smile, "But you're scared of me. Even though you know I wasn't the one who hurt you, you're scared of me." I nodded. "You can't blame me though, can you? After all, you look exactly like him." Nikolai nodded as he stood up and ripped the shackles off his ankle. "I mean why shackle yourself at all if you're going to rip them off." I mumbled. "You've always been such a show off." I said in the end.

"Is Sasuke back to life now?" I asked, "I exchanged my life for his after all." the man nodded, "Sasuke's alive and well." I let out a small sigh of relief. "How much time has passed since I died?" Nikolai cocked a brow, "What, I'm not stupid, I know that time flows differently in different dimensions. How much time has passed?" I asked once more. Nikolai let out a small sigh, "It's about a month before the war starts so I'd say maybe a year." I nodded, letting out a small sigh. "I'm going to assume that there's no way for me to go back." I mumbled, a little saddened.

"Would you like to?" I nodded, I'd do anything to go back, "Even though the other Nikolai is waiting for a chance to do horrible things to you again, you'd like to go back?" I nodded, watching as the blonde chuckled in front of me. "You really have changed so much. For the better though." he said with a smile. He came so close that our noses were almost touching. "You know there might just be a way for you to go back. But I don't think you'll like it." he said with a slight smirk.

"Is it going to be one of your games again? The type that babulya used to make us play?" I asked, dreading the answer, "You know it." I let out a groan. "Fine. What are your terms?" I asked, waiting for an answer. "You let me use you as a vessel." I choked on my spit. "Excuse me?" Nikolai met my eyes, "What? You won't disappear or anything? I'll become a sub conscience if that makes sense. A voice in your head. And I'll be able to take over you sometimes."

I nodded, "So you're making me into a jinchuuriki of some sort." Nikolai shrugged, "If that's going to make it easier for you to understand then sure." I rubbed my chin, considering it. "I don't really like the idea of having a man inside of my head." I mumbled, "Technically I have no gender." replied Nikolai, "I know but you've protrayed yourself as a man to me my entire life so it's pretty hard." I shrugged before letting out a sigh. "Fine. I'll be your vessel." Nikolai shot me a smile as he grabbed my hand.

"You won't regret this!" he said with a smile on his face. "Geez. For a being that's as old as time you sure are goofy." I mumbled, waiting for something to happen. "Um… what do we do now? You know… for you to go inside my brain?" Nikolai chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, I've never really gotten this far with anyone?" I facepalmed.

"There are millions of people who'd give their body to you without question. What do you mean you've 'never gotten this far' Nikolai?!" I exclaimed, annoyance clear in my voice. "There never was a worthy host!" exclaimed the blonde crossing his arms over his chest with a pout. "What happens when you get inside of me anyways- DO NOT twist my words." I ordered, knowing Nikolai loved dirty jokes.

"You still don't like my humor, huh? Anyways, you'll probably inherit some of my powers since we're going to become one." I cringed, "Ugh, gross! It sounds like when babulya explained what sex was." Nikolai snorted before nodding. "Agreed. But that's basically it." I cringed once more. "So you'll be… fucking my mind of some sorts?" Nikolai made a blank face before nodding slowly. "Sure. That's one way of putting it." I let out a sigh. Every minute I passed here was a day in the mortal realm so I needed to go back quickly.

"Okay. Let's 'become one' then." I mumbled, "From all the movies that I've watched, I'm going to assume that we need to synchronize our energy flow so… sync with me." I Mumbled, holding his hand. A few seconds passed and I realised that I was now alone in the room. "Guess that worked, huh?" I chuckled to myself before the room started shrinking. I started to panic. "U-uh… Nikolai? Is this normal? H-hello?" I knocked on my head, "G-get me out of here! I'm super claustrophobic!" I can't really do much to help you there, Aeli. You'll need to endure it. You're going to the mortal realm after all. Was that Nikolai? Sure sounded like him… or… well… them…

The room became smaller and smaller until it became a book almost a little bit bigger than me. The light vanished and I was now left in darkness. "I'm in a coffin." I assumed. "Great." knowing that I was probably six feet underground, I decided not to scream. I tried to lift the coffin but the lid was too heavy. There's tons of soil covering it. Duh. "Alright. Let's just smash this thing and hope not to drown in soil… thank god I wasn't cremated." I muttered, summoning up all of my strength as I punched the lid and got buried in soil.

"Of course. I forgot that gravity is a thing." I mumbled as soil filled my mouth. I heard Nikolai chuckle in the back of my head but I ignored him, too busy trying not to suffocate. "Instead of laughing, you could at least TRY to help me!" I groaned, Nikolai chuckled once more. Nah, I'd rather watch… your family might not recognize you by the way. He said with a slight chuckle.

"Um… why?" I asked, curious. I may or may not have changed you to fit my image more? I groaned. "How unrecognizable am I?" I asked, dreading to hear the answer. I could almost see Nikolai shrug, I just made your hair white to look more similar to mine. And one of your eyes may or may not be red? I let out a sigh. "Guess I'll have to prove that I am indeed Aelia."

The blonde apologized and watched me as I headed towards the gates of the village. "Man, I forgot how long it took to go from the cemetery to the village." I yawned as I cracked my back, stretching. "Who are you?" asked one of the guards. "Tenzo! How long has it been? A year?" I said with a smile. He shot me a menacing look from behind the mask but I could see the recognition in his eyes.

"Who are you?" asked one of the guards. I didn't know him. "Uzumaki Aelia. Ninja registration number is 213718." the guy looked me up in the system before chuckling. "Says here you're dead." I shrugged. "Tell Tsunade-sama I'm back. Too tired to deal with this shit." I mumbled, looking at my nail beds. "Well go on, I don't have all day." The man glared at me but still did as he was told. "You haven't changed." said Tenzo sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah, rub it in some more why don't you?" I mumbled, waltzing into the village with Tenzo walking beside me. "Why are you here suddenly?"

I shrugged, "Would you like to hear the truth as it is or a sweet, sweet lie?" Tenzo chuckled before giving me a few coupons for Ichiraku, "The truth, please." I took a deep breath in and told him everything. He knew the truth about my origins so it was alright for him to know the truth as well. "So you have a god inside of you now?" I nodded, still just as shocked as he was. "If I didn't know you I'd say it's bullshit." sighed the man as we arrived at the Hokage Tower. "You're going to do your usual entrance?" asked Tenzo as he watched me approach the door.

"Fuck no." I kicked the door open, "I'M BACK, BITCHES!" I looked into Tsunade's shocked eyes. "Um… who are you?" asked the woman, an annoyed look on her face. "What, I disappear for a year and you forget who I am?! You're so cold, Tsunade," I mumbled, a pout on my face. "Who are you?" she asked once more. I let out a sigh, "Your favorite informant. Uzumaki Aelia." I mumbled, annoyed that she wasn't out of her chair and hugging me.

"This isn't funny, Uzumaki Aelia died a year ago. Please tell me who you are." I glared at her, "Check your damn alert man. Didn't that other guard say I was coming?" I pouted, crossing my arms. "Then tell me one thing Aelia always says." said the woman with a smirk. "If you want my respect then earn it, bitch." I said in a childish tone. "There. Did I prove myself yet?!" the woman chuckled before slapping me across the face.

Yeah should've expected that reaction, snickered Nikolai, "WE BURIED YOUR FUCKING BODY, AELIA! SO UNLESS YOU HAVE AN ACCEPTABLE REASON, I'LL HAVE YOU KILLED ON THE SPOT!" I winced, "No not again!" I whined, "I died twice already! Two is enough. Trust me." I mumbled, glaring at nobody in particular. "WHAT. HAPPENED." I gulped and took a step back. This is how Jiraiya must've felt each time he was caught snooping around in the girl's hot spring area. R.I.P.

"So basically. This crazy God dude named Nikolai raped me again on my birthday. When I came home and went up to my room, there was blood everywhere and we didn't know whose blood it was until Nikolai appeared disguised as Sasuke and froze time. During that, he said that if I didn't unfreeze time within a set amount of time, he'd kill someone dear to me at the end of it. I managed to get out but I was a few seconds late. We realised the blood was Sasuke's after Nikolai told me to check the closet for his body."

I took a brief pause to breathe. "I used a jutsu Orochimaru created for me which consists of exchanging your life for that person through using time and shit. Really weird. Anyways I died after that and went to the after life I guess? I still don't really know where I was. I met with Nikolai again and went through some of my memories which told me that Nikolai and I used to be very close friends but he used some sort of weird godly power to bring me back to life here and apparently I never even read the book of this universe and that's why nobody knows how I got my information. Anyways after that I got trapped in a room with the sane Nikolai, not the one in this world, and became his jinchuuriki."

I took a deep breath just as I finished speaking. Tsunade stared at me, stunned. "Okay… so there's a god inside of you." I nodded, "Yeah. Big time." the woman rested her head against her palm as she let out the loudest "What the fuck?!" I've ever heard. "Oh and there's a war in a month so… get ready for that." the woman let out a small sigh, "Alright. You should go see your team. It's the same address." I nodded and left the Tower, meeting Anko on the way to my house. "Oh. Hey." I said with a smirk. The woman's eyes widened as she rubbed her eyes. "Why am I seeing Aelia's ghost?" she asked herself, concerned. "Not a ghost." I mumbled, "I'll see you at Ichiraku tonight." I said with a smile, leaving Anko dumbstruck in the middle of the road. A few minutes passed and I was finally home.

I reached for the wooden door, hesitating a little. Go on. Knock. It's not like they'll bite or anything. "Still. It's unnerving." I said with a chuckle. I finally gathered up the courage to knock on the door. "U-um… anyone home?" I asked quietly. A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Kakashi. "You look like shit." I pointed out, entering the house without even being invited in. "Is Naruto home?" The silver haired jonin, finally realising that there was a "strange" in his house, decided to ask me who I was.

"Long story short: I died and came back. Again. So what's up my dude?" I nearly got the same reaction as Tsunade from Kakashi but it seems he stopped himself just in time. "It's good that you're back." he gave me a small hug before whispering, "If you disappear again, don't count on me to stop myself because you'll be deserving of it," I froze. "Y-yeah… message received." I gulped as he pulled away from me.

"Is Naruto home?" I asked once again, nervous to see my brother after such a long time… Even though it was a matter of minutes to me. "Yeah, he's… in your room." I nodded, hoping that the blood wouldn't be there when I opened the door. "Hey…" I said with a smile on my face. The blonde's eyes widened as he saw me, "Aelia? Is that you?" I chuckled before nodding, "Who else is it going to be, dimwit." the blonde threw himself on me, teary eyed as he hugged the life out of me.

"I thought you were dead." he whispered, "I thought you were gone…" I nodded and hugged him close. It must've been painful for him. "I'm back now." I said with a grin. "We buried you… well… what was left of you…" I nodded, "Yeah, I woke up in a coffin. My claustrophobia is now worse than ever." I said after a small snicker. "How…" I put a hand on his shoulder, "No need to worry about that." I said with a smile. "Let's go to the others. I'm sure they'll be surprised… or beat my ass… or both… You know what, maybe we shouldn't go." but it was too late. As soon as I turned around, the wide eyes of Sakura and Sasuke met my terrified ones.

Neither of us said anything for a while, we just stared at each other until I broke the silence. "I got a haircut… do you like it?" the two of them ran towards me and gave me a hug. "We thought you were dead." said Sakura, hugging me a little tighter. "Yeah. A lot of people have apparently." I said with a small chuckle, "How have you guys been in the last year?" I asked, waiting for an answer. "Well… we caught Nikolai. But he escaped. And then we caught him again…" I chuckled.

"But he escaped? I wouldn't worry much about him now. Um… how did Deidara take it?" I asked, curious to know how my boyfriend was… or if he even was my boyfriend still. "Horrible. He stayed in front of your grave for days. He'd rarely eat too. I think he's somewhere in a bar now. He never really left Konoha." I nodded and ran out of the house. You really love him eh? "Of course."

I ran into the only bar in Konoha and sat down next to the blonde, wondering if he'd recognize me. Mind games? Man I've forgotten how much you love those. I ignored Nikolai's voice and ordered myself a whiskey. "Nice eye you've got there. Red eye with a spade pupil." I chuckled, "Thanks." I said with a smile. Nikolai, what the fuck. W-what?! I was making you look badass!

"How much would you charge for it?" asked the bartender as he handed me my drink, "How much would you pay is the real question here." the man chuckled as I took a sip from my drink. "Funny woman you are. Know business too." I stretched, "Comes with the job." I said with a smirk. "Little lady speaks as though she does some dangerous work. Are you a shinobi?"

I put my glass down, asking for a refill, "Yeah, I do that on the side." I said with a shrug. "Then what's Little Lady's main job?" asked the bartender, spitting out the toothpick he had in his mouth, "Little Lady works as an informant." I said as I downed my drink in one gulp. "Little Lady must have quite a bounty on her head then." said the man with a smirk. "You would be correct. Last time I checked, I was tempted to get caught on purpose and steal the money for myself." the man and I chuckled, I felt Deidara shift next to me. "And what's Little Lady's name?" I chuckled before opening my mouth to answer but someone else beat me to it. "Aelia."

I looked over next to me to see Deidara. He dragged me out of the bar, an unreadable expression on his face. "Um… hello, hello." I said awkwardly. "Do you like my hair-" I couldn't finish my sentence as Deidara's lips crashed onto mine. We pulled away for air a few minutes later, a blush on my face and an angry look on his. "Now that I've kissed you… What the hell?! You disappear for a year, I go to your funeral, and you come back looking like a circus clown?!"

I winced, "Eh~ come on! I liked my hair too! I mean sure it's too long and- okay fine I fucked up." I looked into his eyes only to see resentment. "You have every right to hate me. But… I had to disappear for a while. I know that this is no excuse for leaving you like that and making you think I'm dead." The blonde tapped his foot to the ground, waiting. "So… remember Nikolai?" he nodded, "W-well I sort of made a deal with him." Deidara's eyes widened in anger but he let me continue. "If I left everything and went with him for a year… he said he'd leave you guys alone." I said with a sad smile. "But apparently he lied so…" Deidara held me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

"I was so scared, Aelia. Really. I thought you were gone, that I'd never see you again." That's when the sheer horror of what I'd done hit me. I'd made everyone I love think I was dead for a year. I'll never forgive myself for that, I can already tell. "I'm so sorry. I messed up. I'm sorry." I tightened my hold on him and buried my face in his shirt. Deidara stroked my hair with his fingers, "It's not okay." he mumbled.

I nodded, "I know…" I answered, hugging him tighter as I waited for him to tell me to let go, that he was done with me, "But I understand why you did it, Lia." Tears filled my eyes. "You should hate me for what I did." I said, staining his shirt, "If you did what you did, you must've had a good reason." he sighed, giving the top of my head a small kiss. "Let's go to Ichiraku, un." he said in the end, dragging me to the ramen stand by the arm. "Come on, Lia! Ramen, my treat!" said Deidara, overly enthusiastic. "Buuut! I'm going to have to explain the same thing over and over again!" I whined as I was thrown onto a chair in the stand.

"Hey! What's up?" I shot him a grin only for him to drop the bowl he was holding. "Um… You need help with that?" The man shook his head and picked up the bowl, "Sorry there, miss. I think I may have mistaken you for someone I know." he said with a chuckle, "Which is quite peculiar since you don't look like her." he shrugged before turning his back to me, "Well I guess the two of you just radiate the same energy." he handed me a bowl of miso ramen.

"Um… Teuchi… It's been a while hasn't it?" I said with a smile. The man turned to me and grabbed me by the cheeks. "Where have you been?!" he exclaimed. "Seems like that's the only thing people say to me when they see me again," I joked slurping on some noodles. "I had to travel for a while. Didn't know people would assume I was dead." I said with a smile. "Well when you suddenly stop coming here I always assume you died. This time I was surprised there was a funeral." joked the man as he told a dumbstruck Ayame to come have a seat.

"Ah, it's Aelia's ghost!" exclaimed Anko as she sat down next to me, "You guys see her too, right?" the people around me chuckled before nodding. Anko let out a sigh, "I thought I was hallucinating!" she exclaimed, handing Teuchi some money, "Ya got some booze?" the man grumbled about losing his precious alcohol but handed us each a bottle of Sake nonetheless.

You're going to drink an entire bottle?! I pity our liver. Groaned Nikolai as I popped the lid off the bottle and took a giant gulp. "Oh no… I'm starting to get a strange sense of deja vu." said Deidara as he took a swing from his bottle, "Hehe, Pain was so mad!" the blonde and I clinked out bottles and finished them. "Oh… wait I gotta tell Konan-san I'm back." I mumbled as I groggily walked towards the Hokage Tower, Deidara and Anko at my heels.

In my drunken state, I kicked the door to her office open. "Konan-san! Guess who's back!" I exclaimed, suddenly behind her. "Aelia?! Where have you been?! You know what, answer me when you're sober." she facepalmed as she sprayed us with a fire extinguisher, sobering everyone up.

"Now then. Why did you fake your death?" I told her the entire cover story only for her to facepalm in the end. "Oh wow… that's fucked up." she muttered as she handed me some coffee. "Drink. It'll sober you up." I nodded and downed the cup in one gulp. "Ugh it's bitter!" I groaned, drinking some water to wash away the horrible taste. "It's getting late. You should go home." said Konan with a kind look on her face.

You're getting kicked out. I chuckled and gave her a hug, "It was nice seeing you again, Konan-san." I said with a grin before walking out of the door, Deidara following me. "You don't have a place to stay do you?" I asked after a while. The blonde shook his head, "I was staying in one of the guestrooms at your house actually." I nodded at that, slipping my hand into his as we walked through the streets of Konoha.

"I'm home." I called, making Kakashi and everyone else at the dinner table to turn around. "Welcome home." said Naruto with a smile on his face, "Sit down. Dinner's still hot." said Sasuke with a blank look on his face. "Um… you good?" I asked. Sakura chuckled, "He's not used to seeing Deidara around the house." The blonde let out a huff, "It's been a year man, grow up." the Uchiha growled at him and continued to eat.

"Come on Aelia. Food's getting cold." said Kakashi as he pointed towards my usual seat. I nodded and sat down, chomping down on the food Kakashi cooked. "So Deidara… when do you plan on leaving?" asked Sasuke while I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Here we go…" I mumbled, watching as the two glared at each other. "I'll leave when Aelia asks me to." said Deidara, putting an arm around my shoulders which seemed to… ruffle the Uchiha's feathers. "Get your hands off of her!" exclaimed Naruto. I let out a sigh, "Great. Now my brother has joined in." I mumbled, resting my head in my palm.

"You missed this didn't you?" asked Kakashi as he wiggled his eyebrows. I chuckled and stared at the three boys. "I would've liked to be there for when Naruto and Deidara first met…" I pouted, annoyed. "Eh~ It was nothing to worry about, Lia. We got along just fine." said Deidara as he gave my temple a kiss. "Y-yeah! We had tons of fun together." I turned to Sakura for the truth.

"They had a fight over which one of them you liked better." I let out a sigh, "Yeah that sounds about right." Deidara turned to me, "So? What's the answer?" he asked, a determined smirk on his face. "Um…" I had to think of this, "I love you both." I said with a smile, "But which one of us do you love more?" pressed Naruto. "Um… The love I feel for either of you is different from one another? Naruto is my brother whom I love and Deidara is my boyfriend whom I love as well. But I don't love Naruto the way I love Deidara. Does that make sense?" Sakura chuckled as I continued spiralling. "Doesn't answer the question." said Sasuke with a smirk, adding more fuel to the fire.

"Um…. I love our lord and savior Ichiraku Teuchi more than any of y'all. I'd kill everyone in this room for a free meal. And I ain't lying." knowing that they wouldn't get an answer out of me, the two men ate their dinner in silence. "So did you really mean it?" asked Sasuke with a grin, "Oh yes. I'd kill everyone in this room for his miso ramen." Sasuke snorted while Naruto shot me an understanding look. "Honestly I can relate." said Sakura as she and I shared a look, "Oh the memories." she said a smirk on her face. "Shut up I lost so much that day." I said with a sad look in my eyes.

"Oh come on. I got you some stuff too." I glared at her, "A hundred thousand ryo. Just gone. It was so painful." the girl chuckled. "Yet it didn't even make a dent in your bank account." she said with a wink. The two of us snickered while the men in the room shared curious looks. "I feel like a lot of stuff went in between you two that we don't know happened." said Kakashi as he extended his hand for some salt. Sakura and I nodded, "Oh yeah," said Sakura, "So much shit went down and you weren't even aware." I continued.

"Like The Incident." said Sakura with terror in her eyes, "We don't talk about The Incident." I replied with a shudder. "That is a memory to be forever locked away. Throw away the key." Sakura and I shared a look, "How much therapy did you need after that?" she asked, "I had to go to Inoichi's office three times a week instead of once. You?" the girl paled, "Three. Plus weekends." Deidara and the rest of the men raised their brow and shared a look of curiosity before turning to us. "Come on! Tell us!" exclaimed Naruto with a pout. "No secrets, remember?" teased Kakashi.

Yeah Aelia. Tell us. Snickered Nikolai in my head. For the sake of not looking insane, I told him to shut up mentally. Sakura and I shared a look before coming to a silent agreement. "Sorry everyone but some things are better left unknown." I said. Sakura continued after me, "Trust us when it comes to that. We're doing you a favor." I nodded at Sakura's words and got up, only to be pulled onto Deidara's lap. "E-eh?" I exclaimed, blushing as Deidara rested his chin on my shoulder.

"What? You're my girlfriend. I missed you." he let out a sigh and hugged me a little tighter while my blush became darker the longer I sat on the blonde's lap. "O-oi let her go." said Naruto, his anger evident on his face. Kakashi just stabbed the table with his fork while Sasuke glared at Deidara. Sakura fangirled over the two of us. "So cute~" she said, a slight blush on her face as she let out a sigh. I met Sasuke's eye.

Come on man. Can't you see she wants you to do this? Told my eyes. Oh please, Sakura isn't cheesy like that! Replied the Uchiha's. I shot the Uchiha a look that said "You sure about that?" and smirked as he pulled the pinkette onto his lap and gave her cheek a kiss. The pinkette blushed, "W-what is it a-all of a sudden." The boy and I shared a look, "Don't worry about it." he mumbled. Naruto and Kakashi planted their knives on the table. "Naruto you have Hinata. The only one allowed to be mad here is Kakashi!" I said with a snicker.

"I wish this…" he said, pointing at Deidara and I, "Never happened." Everyone in the room snickered and shared looks while Deidara looked around, confused. "I don't get it. Is there a joke that I missed?" the room quickly quietened down, "Don't worry yourself over that." I said as I awkwardly laughed. "Where am I going to sleep?" I asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as I could. "You can stay with me." suggested Deidara, only to have a fork thrown at him by Naruto.

"Absolutely not. She can stay with anyone in Team Seven but you are off the table." Deidara raised an eyebrow, "You'd let your sister sleep in the same bed as a man that's many years older than her?" I gulped, covering my face with my hands. "It has happened before." muttered Sakura as she tried to hold in her laughter. "THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED AND NO COUCH, WE ALL SLEPT IN THE SAME BED!" I exclaimed, starting to sweat out of nervousness.

"Oh come on, what about all the times we had sleepovers!" said the jonin. "Are you trying to make a misunderstanding happen?" I asked, annoyed while Deidara just stared at the scene, face blank. "I'm just saying." said the sensei. Oh gods I can just see him smirking. "Besides we didn't even sleep in the same bed during our sleepovers." I mumbled, "Yeah we all slept on futons." said Naruto, taking his chopsticks out of his bowl.

"U-um… yes. Of course. The team sleepovers. That's what this is about." I chuckled awkwardly, remembering all the nights I stayed over at Kakashi's because both Naruto and Sasuke happened to have date nights almost all the time. Naruto's face became red with anger. "YOU STAYED OVER AT SENSEI'S HOUSE ON A REGULAR BASIS?!" he exclaimed, glaring at the teacher, "WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO?! IS THERE MAYBE A CHILD THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT?!"

Kakashi snorted, "Naruto, please." he said, "We'd use protection." I choked on my water while the silver haired jonin snickered at my reaction. "You can't be okay with this." said Naruto, turning to Deidara. "Nah my brain stopped working the moment I heard y'all were having sleepovers." said Deidara as he scratched his head.

"But seriously, why did you stay over at sensei's house?" asked Sasuke, "And how long has it been going on?" Naruto asked. I shrugged, "Really began when you kicked me out." I mumbled, glaring at the blonde slightly while he paled. "I didn't have anywhere to stay and neither of us were on good terms at that time. Sensei let me stay over for a few nights. Then you got a girlfriend." I said, pointing at Sasuke, "And then you got a girlfriend." I mumbled, pointing at Naruto.

"And you guys had date nights like… all the time so my single ass went to Kakashi's house not to hear all of the… you know." Sakura snorted, "Oh god… you went to sensei's house because you craved attention and couldn't get it from either your brother, me or Sasuke!" she exclaimed, laughing as she slapped her knee. "HOW DID YOU GET THAT FROM ME NOT WANTING TO HEAR YOU GUYS FUCK?!" I exclaimed, starting to laugh as well. "It's all in the looks. All in the looks."

Kakashi chuckled, "If attention is what she wanted, she got it alright." I cringed, "That sounds weirdly sexual." I said with a gag. "I'm curious as to what kind of attention you got." said Deidara, suddenly back in the conversation. "Kakashi just became a drinking buddy, really." I said with a shrug. "Some weird things we've done while under the influence of alcohol." said the silver haired jonin.

I smirked remembering that time he and I drew on the third Hokage's statue's face. "Are you thinking of…" Kakashi trailed off, an embarrassed look on his face, "Kinda sad that Naruto was the one blamed for it though." I said with a snort. Kakashi shook his head, "Nope. No time to feel bad for what we did. We needed a victim and we got one." Naruto glared at us, "I HAD TO CLEAN THAT STATUE FOR THREE DAYS!"