/AN\

Hey!

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The Flashback chapter will be for Chapter 49 but I still don't have a set deadline for the votes.

On a more serious note, hope everyone is healthy and safe at home. Despite my classes being cancelled, I do have coursework and exams coming up, so forgive me if I take longer than a month to update.

Thanks! And I hope you enjoy!

SC


"Speaking."

'Thinking'

Jutsus


Chapter 45 - Normal

The week she had on leave went by quickly as she buried herself in work. From sorting through all the information she had to catch up on to training with team four and ANBU her time was almost completely filled. And the times she managed to escape work she tried to catch up with her friends.

About half-way through her week off Genma left for a patrol and so the day before he left they spent most of the day together.

That day, Shizuka went to work in the morning to sort some more paperwork and to have a meeting with Ibiki and Inoichi. Once that was over she went shopping with Genma for an engagement gift for her sensei and then they met with Genma's mother for lunch. The rest of the day was spent in Genma's apartment as neither of them had any specific plans, although they did take some time in the late evening to settle on the roof of his building to look at the stars.

Once her week of leave had ended Shizuka was added back into the regular rotations around the village and back onto the list of shinobi available for missions. But luckily for her, she hadn't received any mission requests and was able to stay in the village for a while.

One late afternoon two weeks after Genma left, Shizuka was in her ANBU team's bunk room playing cards with Bear and Stag when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in, Gen!" Shizuka grinned at the door as her boyfriend stepped in wearing his casual off duty clothes and his hair still wet from a shower. "Welcome back."

"Hey, doe. Raidō, Hakui, good to see you too." Stepping further into the room he sat by Shizuka giving her a short kiss before looking down at the cards on the floor. "Why are you guys playing on the floor in sweaty clothes?"

"We got back from a training session and Mantis took the first shower, so we started playing." Hakui explained, her brown hair falling on her face as she placed a set of cards down, waving at Shizuka to make her move. "We got too invested so haven't stopped although he left already."

Genma snorted as he watched Shizuka's move, which earned a groan from Raidō.

"Damn you, Tiny. I pass."

"Pass." Hakui echoed, her hands automatically clearing the pile in the middle as Shizuka won the round. "And now she'll win."

"Aw, you know me so well!" Shizuka cheered as she placed the last two cards from her hand in the centre. "You guys suck."

Raidō and Hakui started protesting but Shizuka simply stood from the bed and pulled out a pile of clothes for her to change into.

"Now that I've defended my title of champion, I'll take a quick shower and then we'll head over to yours?" She questioned Genma as she started unlatching the ANBU vest and arm guards.

"Woah, there. Don't forget the crew is meeting up at the bar later." Raidō pointed an accusing finger at the two. "No one is out on a mission so everyone should show up."

"But Gen just got back I'm sure he wants to rest." Shizuka sent a pleading gaze to Genma who opened his mouth to agree when Raidō put his hand up.

"No excuses, call it an early night if you have to, but you have to be there for at least a drink. We haven't had everyone together in a while, we even got the upstairs lounge at the bar reserved."

Shizuka shared a look with Genma who shrugged and nodded briefly at her silent question. With a sigh, she turned back to Raidō to agree before heading into the small attached bathroom to get ready.

Speeding through the motions of washing off the grime Shizuka quickly cleaned up and dressed into her usual clothes, shrugging on her vest as she left the bathroom.

"Ready? I was thinking of getting some food to go and lazing around until we have to meet everyone." Genma explained as he stood up and slung his bag back onto his shoulder.

"Sounds like a plan. See you guys later." Shizuka waved at her two teammates before taking Genma's hand and walking out.

On their way to Genma's place they stopped by a small curry place and ordered some food to eat at home.

Less than an hour after leaving ANBU headquarters the couple found themselves unpacking the food onto Genma's kitchen table.

"Are you meeting your mother tomorrow?" Shizuka asked as she passed chopsticks to Genma before settling down across the table from him.

"Hai. Do you want to join?"

"Itadakimasu." The Nara smiled as her boyfriend echoed before she answered his question. "I'll be stuck at Intel for most of the morning, but thank you. I was wondering if you'd both like to have dinner with my family tomorrow."

"I'm sure she'll enjoy the idea." Genma grinned before reaching for the box of edamame they had ordered on the side and putting it in the middle of the table so that both could reach. "The light festival is coming up."

Shizuka tilted her head and raised her eyebrows waiting for him to continue his train of thought. Biting her lip as Genma chewed on a bite of food thoughtfully while avoiding eye contact.

"Do you have any shifts that night?"

"No." Shizuka drawled with a smirk and Genma huffed when he realised she was teasing him as she found his hesitation adorable.

"We've never been to a festival together and I was wondering if you'd like to light a lantern this year."

"Dork." Shizuka laughed and Genma rolled his eyes which only made her laugh more. As her laughing faded she leaned forward on the table and gestured for him to do the same before pecking him softly on the lips. "I would love to."

Leaning back to sit normally the couple continued eating with some light conversation about what had happened in the last two weeks they were apart. Once they finished eating they cleared the table and moved to the couch where Shizuka sat down with Genma's head in her lap while they each read a book.

Genma didn't last long into his book as the peaceful atmosphere led him to fall asleep with the open book across his chest while Shizuka kept one hand in his hair softly caressing his scalp.

An hour later, she closed her book and marked the page Genma had stopped on before moving the books to the side table. Then she moved Genma's head from her lap so that she could lay down beside him. The movement brought Genma out of his nap and he grumbled as he raised his arm to let her settle under it.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Shizuka murmured as their eyes met, her eyes slowly drooping as she too surrendered to the idea of a nap.

Genma hummed as he planted a kiss on her forehead before he shuffled so that they were pressed more tightly together with his arms around her so that she wouldn't roll off the couch.

They probably slept for just over an hour when their peaceful sleep was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Genma grumbled, without so much as opening his eyes, although he loosened his hold on Shizuka as she moved to lay beside him instead of draped over him as she was.

"Gai."

Genma groaned before he called for his former teammate to just use his spare key. Within seconds the green-clad Jōnin entered the living room as he pocketed the key Genma had given him in case of emergencies.

"My youthful friends it is time to socialise with the rest of us!" Gai grinned at them while they sat up slowly, Shizuka stretching her arms over her head making her shoulders pop.

"Raidō sent you, didn't he?" Shizuka asks while standing from the couch before moving towards Genma's room.

"Indeed he did. Everyone has arrived already, only you two are missing." Gai paused and tilted his head. "Actually, my eternal rival was running late as well."

"What a surprise." Genma drawled, his eyes flickering towards his room where he could hear the shower turn on. "You can go ahead, Gai. We'll catch up."

"I'm under strict orders to walk with you."

Genma groaned and flopped back onto the couch while Gai made himself comfortable on a chair. They made small talk while they waited for Shizuka to get ready.

Luckily for them, the Nara was quick to change clothes, knowing Raidō the longer they took the more teasing they'd get. As she searched her corner of Genma's drawer she found a nice forest green long sleeve shirt and dressy black pants which she had left specifically for occasions such as this one.

As soon as she was ready she joined the men in the living room and within minutes they were making their way towards their favourite bar.

Once they got there, the main floor of the bar was loud as groups of friends chatted and played cards or pool in a little corner behind the stairs where the music wouldn't be as loud. Said stairs led up to a small lounge that had an open view of the bar below.

The bar was rather popular with shinobi and Shizuka caught glimpses of people she has worked with as they climbed the stairs into the reserved space.

"Ah, look who has finally shown up!" Raidō teases as he approaches them, sending Gai a smirk in thanks. "So, Gai, what were the two lovebirds up to?"

"They were asleep." Gai laughed at Raidō's unimpressed expression. "Both passed out on the couch."

"Seriously? Lame." Raidō pouted while dodging Genma's punch aimed at his arm but falling straight into the path of Shizuka's lightning charged pinch to the soft point just below his ribs.

Raidō yelped and glared at Shizuka who kept an innocent look on her face as she continued walking to where their friends were watching the interaction with confused expressions.

"Welcome back, Genma." Kaito waved from his corner of the booth. "Zuka, the ladies are playing pool, they asked us to send you over when you arrived."

Shizuka glanced to the back wall of the lounge where sure enough her female friends were all giggling at what appeared to be Kurenai's blushing face. With a shake of her head, she planted a kiss on Genma's lips before joining the fun.

"So what's this about Asuma, now?" Shizuka called out with a grin as she approached sending a teasing wink at Kurenai who mockingly glared at her.

"Enjoy having Genma back? I heard you spent all afternoon at his place." The red-eyed Genjutsu mistress bit back, her lips curling into a smirk.

"If you ask Gai, he will tell you he found us passed out on the couch reading." Shizuka shrugged, winking at Yūgao's raised eyebrows. "Though I can't say the same about the rest of the night."

The girls whooped and Anko passed the cue stick to the young Nara.

"You're on a team with Yūgao against me and Kurenai. Fulls are yours, you have some catching up to do." Anko gestured to the pool table where there were only three striped balls in comparison to the six solid ones. "Yūgao sucks."

Shizuka gave her teammate a sympathetic pat on the back before moving around the table to get a look at different angles.

"She's going to pull a bullshit shot isn't she?" Kurenai groans as Shizuka finally decides on her move, lining up the cue stick with the white ball and glancing towards her target before adjusting her angle.

"No way, she'd have to bounce at least one to not hit ours first and twice to get the ball to go at a proper angle into a hole." Anko shakes her head, her eyes not drifting from the youngest member of their group.

With a last check on her target, Shizuka hit the white ball and straightened up, watching as it bounced against a wall once and then again before softly tapping the red solid sending it rolling slowly into the middle pocket.

She sent a wink towards Anko before cheering and high fiving Yūgao while Kurenai just shook her head and pulled a chair to watch the game unfold.

"Fuck you, Tiny." Anko pouts as she leans on the table where their drinks are, her hand reaching back for her glass before she downs it in one gulp. "You're not drinking anything?"

"Genma will get me something." Shizuka shrugged, her eyes darting to where the guys were talking, noting the absence of her boyfriend. "We probably won't stay long, Gen is tired and I have an early shift tomorrow."

"How have you two been? You have barely had any time together recently." Kurenai asked curiously just as Shizuka took another shot, not scoring but pushing one of their balls away from a hole.

Shizuka stood from her shot and passed the cue stick to Kurenai before moving to sit beside Yūgao.

"We had some time together when I got back, and this afternoon was quite relaxed as well." She shrugged as she observed Kurenai line up the shot. "While we would like more time together we just make the most with what we have."

"That makes sense. But I didn't realise how much I wanted to spend more time with Asuma until we both got our Genin teams." Kurenai explained after missing her shot. "Even now that we both back on the regular roster we are more aware of it."

Yūgao stood from her seat and moved around the table, her gaze meeting Shizuka's for suggestions.

"Left corner, bounce it off the wall." Shizuka stood and moved so that she could point her finger. "Aim here, not too strong, but with enough strength to push ours in and theirs away."

Yūgao took the shot and missed, but did manage to tap their ball closer to a hole for Shizuka to finish on her turn. As Anko moved to the table Shizuka returned to where she had been sitting.

"We've never really talked about it," Shizuka told them, all three girls looking at her briefly before they returned to the pool table. "But at the same time, both of us have steady offers in the village, him as a bodyguard and me at Intel. So we can opt for those when we want or need more time."

"Still worth a chat. Hayate and I were both mainly village-based but now Hayate doesn't have an in village position anymore." Yūgao commented, drawing surprised glances from his companions. "He's still available as a kenjutsu trainer for those interested in joining ANBU but fewer people are asking."

"There have been fewer recruits but the watch list is always full." Shizuka hummed in acknowledgement, standing back up as Anko's turn finished.

The younger kunoichi lined up her shot and cheered as it went in, standing up and moving around the table to think of her next move. She was vaguely aware of the girls talking about a potential girls' night and possible shopping trip, but pushed that to the back of her mind as she considered the table.

"Doe, here's your drink." Genma's voice broke her out of the zone and she turned to hold the glass he was offering. "Think you can win with Yūgao on your team?"

"Oi! Idiot." Yūgao threw some nuts at his head laughing as one fell into his drink, a scowl growing on his face as he looked into his glass.

"We have a good chance. We're only one behind now." She grinned and took a sip of her drink humming appreciatively as she found it was her favourite before planting a kiss on Genma's cheek. "Thank you for this."

Genma was about to go back to the table with the guys when Anko called for his attention.

"Out of curiosity, lace or plain?" Genma tilted his head in confusion but his eyes widened as he took in the mischievous glint in the snake summoner's eyes. "I can never figure her out."

Shizuka groaned, a faint blush taking over her cheeks before she started pushing Genma back towards the guys.

"Please ignore her." She mumbled as she continued to lead Genma away. Just as Shizuka gave a last shove towards the table of guys, he looked back at the table with a wink.

"Always lace."

He dodged Shizuka's hit at his head with a laugh and she mentally cursed him as the girls laughed behind her.

"Always lace, huh, tiny?" Anko cooed, reaching to pinch the younger girl's red cheeks. "Has dear Genma corrupted you already?"

"You guys suck." Shizuka deadpanned as she returned to take her shot, rolling her eyes as her friends continued laughing and firmly ignoring as her ears burned.


Later that night, Shizuka had changed into one of Genma's shirts and was sitting on his bed with a tray of tea and a book while she waited for him to get out of the bathroom.

She was absently sipping her tea with the open book in her lap when she was startled out of her thoughts by Genma tickling her foot.

"Something on your mind? You haven't flipped a page in a few minutes." He let go of her foot and moved to sit by her side against the headboard, his hand reaching for his own cup of tea.

"The girls brought up something. About how because of both our positions we are often out of the village and how we often go many months without more than a single date." Shizuka explained, setting her cup on the tray and moving it to the bedside table. "I know it doesn't bother me because I understand your position and you haven't indicated that it bothers you either. We've just been rolling with it."

Genma hummed in agreement and waited for her to continue with her train of thought, his gaze drifting to her hands that were fiddling with the bracelet she had gotten on her eighteenth birthday from her parents. When she didn't speak up after a few moments he gently nudged her shoulder with his.

"As you said it's not something either of us has an issue with. Sure, more time together would be nice, but it's also unrealistic considering our jobs." Genma agreed, sending her a small smile as she moved to tuck herself against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. "I have a feeling that this isn't what was really distracting you."

The Tokujō waited for her to figure out what she wanted to say and simply enjoyed feeling her breaths against his neck as she relaxed in his arms.

"It got me thinking about the future." He heard her sigh before she pulled away so that she could sit facing him. "The Nara clan may allow a female clan head, but the expectation is for me to retire when I decide to settle."

"Even if you have a permanent position in the village?" Genma questioned, leaning his head back against the headboard as he watched her fiddle with her fingers.

"They'll pressure me to retire, but with enough support from the council the elders would back off."

Shizuka had already explained how the Nara clan had two councils, one for the elders and one with other members. This was done to ensure the elders wouldn't just try to keep the clan stuck in the old ways, not that the Nara clan had many issues with that, but there was always one traditionalist that didn't agree to changes in the system.

"But even then, for now, I can't see myself stuck inside the village. Especially not with the Spectrum occasionally requesting my help." Shizuka sighed, leaning back against her arms so that she would stop fiddling. "I could always just pass on the duty of clan head to Shikamaru."

"But you don't think he'd agree." Genma hummed as Shizuka nodded in response to his statement. Leaning forward he tugged one of her arms towards him so that he could gently massage her hands, easily finding the pressure points. "And this has you thinking about our future."

"The Nara don't care about arranged marriages, but when dealing with the heir their approval is important. The council approves of you, Ensui-Oji always says how professional you are and you've met most of the elders at the Ino-Shika-Chō barbeque." Shizuka allowed a smile to slip through as she remembered how he had dealt with the questioning from the elders. "But it doesn't change the fact that this future would mean becoming part of the clan and dealing with those extra responsibilities."

Shizuka closed her hand that was being massaged and intertwined her finger's with his before meeting his gaze.

"I know this is my only relationship ever, but I also know we work. I don't want to continue with this if the whole possibly becoming a clan head part isn't something you want." Shizuka sighed and squeezed his hand softly. "I love you but I also love my family and I don't want to be in a position to pick. In the end, Shika might accept the position, but looking at where he is now I don't see it happening."

"It's a fair concern. I'm not part of a clan, so I don't know all the intricacies involved but I can learn." Genma's lips twitched into a smile as her eyes widened. "You said it yourself we just roll with the situation, but this isn't something that would make me break what we have."

Shizuka stared at him in wonder for a few moments letting his words settle in. Perhaps with someone else, she might have wondered if they truly understood what it would mean to become the head of the clan by her side, but with Genma, she had the feeling he understood and at that moment she couldn't have asked for a better partner.

"I love you." Shizuka grinned, her eyes shining in happiness. "I'm glad I found you."

"I'm glad I figured out the antidote to that flower incident." Genma teased, laughing as she pinched his arm with her free hand. He tugged at the hand he was still holding so that she was straddling him, and leaning forward he planted a kiss on her lips. "I love you too."

She melted into the tender kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers carding through his hair. One of his hands traced a featherlike path up and down her spine while the other rested on her hip.

As she pulled away to take a breath, Genma started kissing down her neck as both his hands found the hem of the shirt she wore to bed. Shizuka let out a sigh and rose to her knees allowing him to remove the shirt and gasped as he flipped them over, his lips immediately returning to her body once.

Time blurred, and a while later, as they moved under the covers with their skin pressed together, Shizuka planted a kiss on his chest where her head rested just before she started drifting off.

"I love you." She mumbled tiredly, her words slurring together to almost an incomprehensible degree.

"Love you too. Goodnight, Doe." He kissed her forehead and reached to the bedside table to turn off the lamp, drowning the room in darkness before he too fell asleep.


Shizuka walked into the Mind Map room bright and early the next morning with a bounce in her step only to come across Ibiki waiting outside her door.

"Ibiki-San, good morning! Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Good morning." Ibiki replied, following her inside the room as she held the door open for him. "I finished interrogating a prisoner that brought forward some interesting information."

"Ah, alright, I'll have a look. Which task force? And when do you need this for?"

"Smuggling group at our border with sound. I'll be out of the village for the next two days, so I'll find you when I get back." Ibiki waits for her to murmur her agreement as her eyes scanned over the contents of the file. "If that's all, I'll be heading out now. Good luck."

"You too." Shizuka glances up to see him leave the office before she moves to her desk, throwing her legs on the desk, crossing them at the ankles as she reads through the document.

The report started with some basic information on the prisoner and some basic notes on their stay in a cell deep below the Intel building. Those notes were mainly kept as a way to check progress on the mental state of the prisoner to figure out the optimum times they should be questioned. And since that sort of information wasn't too important for her job she mainly just checked the dates the questioning took place before going straight into the compiled information.

At first glance it seemed that all the prisoner did was confirm several points that they already had, such as confirming base locations, numbers and even listing a few names that were involved.

This particular group of smugglers had been a pain in the ass for a couple of years. They managed to avoid detection and they never had evidence or any real leads to get the case going. All the ones they thought they had led to dead ends and the team had grown frustrated as it slipped through their fingers.

The case was put on the backburner but a few weeks before she left on her undercover mission they had a breakthrough. And ever since they returned they seemed to gain a lot of information on the whole ordeal.

'It's almost suspicious how easily this has come together now.' Shizuka snickered as she detached a page from Ibiki's notes and moved to attach it to the corresponding place on the wall. 'But I can't complain. After getting the information confirmed by the Spectrum we can finally move into the takedown phase.'

She continued to run through the motions of adding sheets of paper with her own notes scribbled on the margins and using the colourful strings to weave a net around the case.

She eventually had to take a step back from her wall for a meeting with Inoichi and Tsunade for an update on the Orochimaru and the Akatsuki task forces. And once she returned she settled at her desk to continue with her paperwork and report so that she could pass it on to her father.

After a light lunch in her office, she met up with Team Four at their old training ground for some two on two sparring. They would take turns being on the same team so that they had the chance to work alongside everyone and fight every combination too.

The training session lasted just over two hours as they took breaks between the fights to rest and discuss strategies and points they needed to work on.

Kouta had the most well-rounded abilities, it usually took careful planning to get the better of him, and although his students knew him well he still managed to pull new tricks out of nowhere.

Masaru tended to be the first out of the spars as he wasn't as fast as the others, although he was physically stronger than Shizuka and Kaito as he continued refining his taijutsu.

Meanwhile, Kaito and Shizuka were constantly even with each other. Both had a few tricks that fell neatly into each other's weaknesses and both fell even in several areas of their training. Whenever they went against each other the deciding factor was either external interference or who would last longer.

As the last session ended, Shizuka mused out loud just how much the training reminded her of the old days when they were still Genin and Chūnin training for the next promotion.

"Only difference now is that we have a nice nurse to take care of our bruises." Masaru teased as he let Asami fuss over a cut he got from not dodging Shizuka's blade fast enough.

"Oi!" Asami huffed, her eyes scanning over the three others she had already healed to make sure everything was in order. "Can I trust you to get home without any incidents?"

"Hai, hai. No nausea or lightheadedness." Shizuka waved her off as she tried to itch under the bandages around her forearm only to have her hand slapped away by Kaito.

"Alright, team dismissed. Until next week." Kouta snorted as his two ANBU students glared mockingly at each other before they each broke apart to walk home.

Although she wasn't particularly in a rush, Shizuka took the route through the roofs to get home faster, which was something she rarely did as she rather enjoyed the peacefulness of the late afternoon in the village.

Her mother was just starting on dinner, humming softly as she chopped the ingredients she would be using.

"Tadaima, Ka-San." Shizuka called as she slipped off her shoes, turning her head slightly as her mother poked her head out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Okaeri, darling. How was training?"

"It was good. I'm going to shower and then I'll help you, alright?"

"Wonderful, thank you." Yoshino smiled as her daughter stood, hands already pulling off her pouches and the sheats for her tantōs. "I can help you with your hair if you'd like?"

"I wasn't planning on doing anything, but that would be nice, thank you." Shizuka grinned as her mother's smile widened to match hers. It had been a while since her mother last did her hair.

After a relaxing shower, Shizuka slipped into a pair of dark green pants and a white sweater, her wet hair wrapped tightly in a towel. Leaving the bathroom she bumped into her brother as he made his way to his room to get ready himself.

"You're on table duty." Shizuka grinned as she moved to her room to start brushing her hair, hearing his grumbling fade as he closed the door behind him.

As Shizuka dried her hair gently with a towel her mother appeared just outside her open door with a hairdryer in hand.

"Here, let me help." Yoshino gestured for Shizuka to sit at her desk before standing behind her and starting to card through the wet strands with her hair.

It didn't take long for Shizuka's hair to be dry, and soon enough Yoshino set the device off to the side before she reached for the hairbrush.

"How has Genma been? He hasn't been around much."

"He was on a mission, but he's good." Shizuka looked at her mother through the mirror in front of the desk, but her mother was focused on brushing out her hair that was almost down to the middle of her back. "He asked me to go with him to the light festival."

"AH, your first festival together. Are you going to light a lantern together?"

"That's the plan." Shizuka smiled softly, her eyes catching on the picture frame of her and Genma at a night out with their friends before her long term mission.

"I must confess I once wondered if your relationship would last." Yoshino mused tugging pointedly on a strand of hair as Shizuka tried to turn to face her. "Though by now, I'm surprised you still come home?"

"Ka-San…" Shizuka's eyes widened and her mother chuckled as she met her eyes through the mirror.

"What, did you think I didn't notice several pairs of clothes missing from your closet?" Yoshino teased, reaching for the brush again as she reached a knot. "And you staying at his has not gone unnoticed by others in the clan."

"Have they said anything?"

"Nothing bad, I assure you. He is well-liked in the compound but I wonder if either of you understands the full implications of that."

Shizuka stayed silent, her hand reaching towards the picture frame, tracing her fingers tracing the wooden frame carved with beautiful branches, vines and flowers.

"We talked about it." Glancing up from the frame she noticed her mother had finished braiding her hair and so she turned in her chair. "He understands my position and we agreed that for now, whatever happens, we'll stick together."

"Good." Yoshino smiled, her hands cupping her daughter's cheeks as she planted a kiss on her forehead. "I rather like him."

Shizuka blushed and rolled up the sleeves of her sweater before she followed her mother down to the kitchen to continue dinner.

They made light-hearted conversation about their days and what was happening in the clan and eventually, Shikamaru joined them after he cleaned up and set the table.

An hour later, Shikaku arrived with their two guests in tow.

"Good evening, Yoshino-San. Ka-San and I brought some sake and mochi." Genma greeted the Nara matriarch as he entered the kitchen with a bouquet in hand. "And these are for you, doe."

"Dahlias, my favourite. Thank you, love." Shizuka grinned and pecked his lips, before pointing to a tall cabinet in the corner. "Could you get a vase for me, please? I can't reach them."

Genma chuckled and proceeded to do as she requested. While he tended to the flowers, Shizuka moved towards Hikari who was cheerfully talking with Yoshino about some new recipes she had tried.

"Hikari-San, welcome." Shizuka grinned, hugging the older woman as good friends. "Did you enjoy the book I sent through Genma? It completely slipped my mind to ask you when we last ran into each other."

"Oh, yes it was a wonderful read. Did you hear there is a sequel coming out soon?"

"Oh! That will be great! I've only had time to read reports lately."


Three days after her dinner with Genma's mother and her family Shizuka got called on a last-minute patrol of an area close to the border with Grass where there were reports of 'suspicious activity'.

Her team consisted of Cat-Taichō, Bear and Ape, with the other two having to remain in the village for other duties.

It was originally a mission to investigate what was happening near the Grass border. The reports were coming from all sorts of people, patrols, tourists and merchants all said that there was something in that area that was odd.

Even with several reports, nothing was indicating a mercenary group hiding in the area but that was exactly what they stumbled upon.

Cat-Taichō decided to eliminate the group, however, as soon as they made it to the base the group was using they found evidence of several rogue shinobi ranging from Chūnin to Jōnin also being a part of said group.

And so they planned an ambush, picked off the shinobi during the night and cleared the compound within the next two days.

"For an impromptu takedown, this went smoothly." Bear groaned as he stood from sealing up the last of the stolen money they had found. "Seriously, how has this place gone unnoticed for so long?"

"Grass isn't in a great position right now, there is a clear gap in information from them. I have more contacts in Kumo and Kiri each than in Kusa." Shizuka shrugged, reaching under her Chipmunk mask to rub her eyes. "We'll need to fill in sheets for the bounties. Some of these shinobi have decent numbers on them."

"I can't believe you got your hands on the newest editions of the bingo book from five different nations." Ape snorted as he reached for the copy from Iwa bingo book that had been given to all active ANBU. "This is the first time you have your own page right?"

"Hai. Though I'm not surprised my first entry is in the Iwa book. They truly hate my clan."

The quartet left the base and filled it with exploding tags, retreating to a safe distance to detonate and return to the village now that their mission was complete.

The structure was still burning when four high-level signatures entered Shizuka's range, heading in their direction at a fast speed.

"Taichō! Four high-level enemies are incoming. They are coming in from Northeast and at a fast pace."

"Alright, we will engage as we've had two days to rest. We will move East for more tree coverage." Cat signed for them to enter formation and as a unit they moved East, their pursuers adjusting their own course to intercept them.

When they clashed, the fight was brutal. The four shinobi were rogues, three from Kiri and one from Kumo, all proficient in kenjutsu and taijutsu with one particularly good at ninjutsu with three elements.

The four ANBU would have been worse off had they not been working together for so long. Ape and Shizuka, the two smallest in the fight would weave under blows and snuck past defences with Cat and Bear covering their gaps whenever they took a hit and were forced to back off.

Ape and Cat took one down with a few combination blows and then Shizuka and Bear took out another. Ape got slammed into a tree and was forced to stay back and play support as he couldn't draw full breaths into his lungs, probably due to some broken ribs.

The third one to fall was with a combination jutsu of Cat and Shizuka's wood and lightning release, one that had been casually suggested to her by Kakashi at some random time they bumped into each other.

The fight took longer than what Shizuka expected and even though none of them had used a large number of jutsu the ones they had used were powerful and thus took a fair amount of chakra to perform.

The last guy was a man from Kumo, who despite his large stature was fast and good at dodging and blocking almost any form of attack sent his way.

Despite their advantages in numbers the ANBU team wasn't faring too well. Ape had retreated and been quiet somewhere up in the trees due to his ribs. Raidō had a slash across his chest and probably a dislocated knee after he tried engaging in kenjutsu with the man from Kumo. Cat and Shizuka had the fewest injuries, but neither were unscathed and their bodies were littered with cuts and bruises and their chakra starting to dip below what was comfortable considering they had two injured teammates they would likely have to carry back.

In a silent agreement, they shifted their stance to restart the fight. Shizuka ducked under a blow and jabbed at the man's under ribs as she spun around him, hearing his katana strike against a pillar of wood that surged from the ground to protect her back.

Cat and Chipmunk continuously danced around their opponent, trying to find a gap in his defence, but the man was good and had mainly stayed back while the other three took care of the ANBU. This meant that while he wasn't fully intact he was still less worn out than the ANBU.

Shizuka was vaguely aware of Bear retreating to Ape, as both their signatures flickered to levels close to exhaustion. Something off in the distance caught her attention, two large signatures coming from the West at the end of her range, which was closer than comfort considering it wasn't stretching it out much.

Making a split-second decision, she rolled under a kick meant for her ribs and sliced her tantō through the man's calves, ensuring her would be able to stand properly, but she ended up taking a kick to the back of her head that sent her rolling on the grass.

She heard the sound of Cat's wood release sprouting from the ground again and could faintly identify the sound of a blade piercing a body followed by a few wet coughs before a body hit the floor.

Within moments Cat was kneeling at her side, his hand flying to her head to put some pressure on the heavily bleeding cut. He deftly reached into his pouch and unsealed some bandages, unlatching her mask and wrapping her head in the gauze before attaching the mask back on. Although it was a tight fit over the layers, she didn't have the energy to complain about such a thing.

"Let's meet up with the others and find some cover. There-" Cat murmured as he helped steady her on her feet as she swayed lightly.

"No, we need to move. Two more shinobi in the area. They aren't heading towards us, more like passing by us but it's too close. They'll find us." Cat shook her head and immediately regretted the movement. "I can summon a racoon to carry Ape and Raidō, but we'll have to run."

Cat sighed but agreed, waiting as she summoned Seto, a human-sized, white racoon to carry their teammates. The team regrouped and set off, setting a hard pace despite their injuries to put some distance between the mystery duo.

'I don't like the feeling of their chakra…' Shizuka grit her teeth as they ran towards Konoha, Ape and Grizzly on Seto's back while Cat ran just by her side, probably concerned about her concussion. 'What happened for one of them to have such a fractured signature?"'

Theories ran wild in her head but she could only hope to remember them as her headache grew continuously worse. They took small breaks on their way back, Ape eventually was well enough to run on his own so that Shizuka could be carried by her summon.

For once luck was on their side as on the last section of their journey, three hours away from the village they came across an ANBU patrol on their way home. Their team was more than happy to help bring them back to relieve Ape and Cat from running and dismiss Seto.

The last thing Shizuka remembers is collapsing onto Hyena's back, his annoyed curses as she fell unconscious and someone placing a hand on the back of her head.


/AN\

Replying to comments:

neatfreak16

Hello! Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story :D

Sadie

Hello! In that case welcome :D I'm glad you like the pairing! It's been fun to write about their dynamics. Ah yes, the Itachi question XD I can't wait for everyone to see what I have planned. Thank you for the comment!

Toreh

Awww! Thank you so much! Comments like this make my day! Tes! They are fun to write and their scenes are usually the fastest parts to write. I hope you enjoy the next few chapters!