Hello you lovely people! Here I am again with another chapter the next day! I am really starting to wonder how long I can keep this up :D So thank you to Dekuton for your review! I appreciate them as always~ Also a big thank you to everyone who has favorited, and followed my story 3 You are all awesome!

With the first part of this chapter, I am not completely happy with it, but wasn't sure how else to start it, so I hope you guys find it to be alright! I would also like to know what element you guys think Hotaru should excel in? I have thought about it, but can't decide, so I would love to hear what one you think she should have. And before I forget (Again) My best friend SharkyTetra has a Naruto oc story as well, so ya'll should definitely check it out! It is called Changing Fate (: Please R&R. I hope you enjoy this chapter! (:

For the past few days we took on random village missions. And Naruto complained about every single one of them.

Today Lee was supposed to come home. I couldn't wait to see him. Unfortunately I keep having the same nightmare of Gaara, killing Lee. Naruto had been staying, so one night when he heard me screaming when I woke up, he barged into my room to see me hugging my knees and crying. He had asked me what was wrong, but I wasn't able to stop crying. So he ended up sitting next to me, and put his arm around me. I leaned my head on his shoulder, but I kept crying. It had all seemed so real, and this time there was blood everywhere.

I knew the chunin exams were getting closer. I was really dreading it. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do.

Right now, Naruto and Sasuke were sitting at the gates with me, while I waited for Lee, and the others. The night I woke up screaming, I became a mess afterwards. I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to keep seeing Lee be killed, so for the past two days I have stayed awake. I wasn't even grouchy this time. I just felt anxious, and empty. And I think that worried everyone. Kakashi sensei even stopped being late, and started going to our missions with us. But at that point I just didn't care. Naruto and Sasuke were even getting along. Probably too scared to upset me anymore than I already was.

Earlier today before Sasuke, Naruto, and I left Kakashi sensei took me off to the side.

"So, I hear your brother is supposed to come back today." It had just seemed like he was just trying to start a casual conversation, but I knew better. He was trying to get me to tell him what was wrong, without actually asking.

"Yeah." Was my only reply.

"I bet you're excited."

"I am."

He started to shuffle awkwardly. I sighed.

"I've missed him. I am just a little worried is all. I'm alright."

Kakashi sensei just stared at me for a moment, before he smiled, and laid his hand on my head.

"Well that's good that you're alright."

I knew he didn't believe me, but I was glad he wasn't going to push the subject anymore.

I started to get really anxious again, while we waited for them. I knew it was probably bothering Sasuke, but he said nothing, and I don't think Naruto cared too much.

Where were they? They were talking forever! It seemed like we were there for hours, before I saw the green, and orange from Lee and Gai's jumpsuit. They were finally here!

I stopped walking around, and waited until they signed themselves back into the village.

The moment Lee was inside the village again, I ran at him, and hugged him. I had to force myself not to cry. He was safe. Lee hugged me back.

"I've missed you, so much." I said quietly.

"I've missed you too my little firefly."

I finally let Lee go, and greeted Gai, Neji, and TenTen.

"So Hotaru, is this your team?" Gai asked, looking over at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Oh, yes. This is Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Lee repeated. I stared at him. I knew there was something I wasn't remembering. Did Lee not like Sasuke? I couldn't remember, which frustrated me.

"Hey Lee, can I talk to you for a minute?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Uh." Lee looked over at Gai sensei.

"Just meet us at the tower." Gai sensei said, signaling Neji and TenTen to follow him.

Lee and Naruto walked away from Sasuke and I. I sighed.

"You've had us all worried." Sasuke said suddenly. I looked over at him.

"It was because of your brother, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked, but I was sure he already knew the answer.

I was quiet for a moment.

"I kept dreaming that he died." I finally admitted. I didn't say how, or during what event. But I didn't need to.

"You know, we're here for you. Naruto, Kakashi sensei, and I. We are teammates, and friends after all." He said, giving me a side glance.

My heart twisted painfully, and tears started to prick my eyes. I gave him a small smile.

"I know. Thank you Sasuke."

Lee and Naruto finished their conversation and walked back over to us.

"I need to get to the Hokage's tower now. I will meet you at home, okay Hotaru."

I nodded my head, and he left.

"Want me to walk you home Hotaru?" Naruto asked. I nodded my head.

"I'll come to, if you'd like." Sasuke said softly.

"I'd like that, yeah."

It was a quiet walk to my house. But I didn't mind. I was so glad I had Naruto, Sasuke, and even Kakashi sensei. Even though Kakashi sensei was always late, and getting under my skin, I was glad he was my sensei.

Once I was home, and Naruto and Sasuke were gone, I decided to go outback and work on my chakra thread.

I was able to use it yes, but it still took a lot of my chakra, and pretty fast. I had to learn how to not use as much chakra while using it. I also wanted to be able to use it on other people, but I knew that was going to be awhile before I could even attempt it. So for now the only thing I could do was prolong my use with it.

I was never aware, when Lee came home, and went outside to watch me.

"You're getting better with it." He finally said.

I stopped what I was doing, and looked at him. "Thanks."

"Naruto told me that you were having nightmares, and woke up screaming, the other night. And that you have become quiet, and reserved." He said, getting straight to it.

I looked down.

"I was having nightmares, yes."

"Of what?" He asked quietly.

"I don't really want to talk about it." I said, going back to working with my chakra thread.

"I'm here if you need to talk. You know that, right?"

"I know, Lee."

"I am going to go start dinner."

"I'll be in, in a minute."

Lee nodded his head, and went back inside.

I sighed, and sat down, and fell back into the grass. I couldn't tell Lee that my nightmares were of him dying.

Once I was down I really didn't want to get back up. I was so tired now. I must have accidentally fallen asleep, cause I was woken up when Lee started calling my name. I slowly sat up and went inside.

Once inside Lee already had dinner made, and the table set. I sighed.

"Sorry Lee."

"It's alright. You need to get some sleep anyways."

"Let me guess, Naruto told you that I wasn't sleeping either."

"Yes, he did. Do not be mad at him though. He cares about you, and I am really glad that he was here with you while I was away. I am glad you have a friend like him."

"Yeah, him and Sasuke both are very good friends."

"I see."

We sat down and started to eat.

"How was your mission?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It was well. It was a pretty easy escort mission. How is your training going with your new team?"

"Pretty good. We've had quite a few boring missions. Our first mission we had to catch Tora."

Lee smiled. "And how did that go?"

"Naruto became a human scratching post. The cat absolutely hated him. It was honestly pretty funny."

Lee laughed. "That cat has some serious anger issues."

I laughed, and nodded my head in agreement.

We finished eating, and Lee offered to clean up so I could get a shower, and go to bed. Once I was done, I fell into my bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning I reluctantly got out of bed. I slowly got dressed, and dragged myself into the kitchen, where Lee was making breakfast.

"Good morning sunshine." He said, with his happy go lucky self.

"Morning." I mumbled.

"Naruto came over earlier. He said your sensei said training was cancelled for today, and you didn't have any missions."

"Did Naruto say why?"

"He said he wasn't sure, that your sensei just came by to let him know, and that he already let Sasuke know, to just let you know."

"I see."

I guess I could go see if Sakura, and Ino wanted to hang out today if they weren't busy. It's been a few days since I've seen either of them. I wonder if Sakura decided what she wanted to do now. And then later Ii could ask TenTen about scrolls if she wasn't busy.

I quickly ate some breakfast, and said goodbye to Lee as I left.

As I was walking through the village I was startled by a yell to stop. I did as told, with my foot in mid step. Shino walked towards me, and bent down, to pick up an interesting looking beetle? I was pretty sure it was a beetle. It had been right where my foot was going to land.

Shino put the bug into a glass jar.

"Thank you for stopping."

"Uh, no problem. Is that one of your bugs?"

"It is not. It is a bug that I have been looking for, for quite awhile."

I took a closer look at it in the jar. It was orange and black and had very long intennas.

"It looks pretty cool. What is it called?" I asked, not looking away from it.

It took a moment for Shino to answer, so I looked away from the jar and at him. He was just staring at me.

"It is called a Longhorn Beetle. Or a Cerambycidae." He finally explained.

"Hm."

"You are not afraid of bugs?" He asked.

"Not really, no. I didn't know you collected bugs though."

"I like to, during my free time. I like to study them."

"Sounds cool. Have you found many yet?" I asked, turning my attention to him and not the beetle.

"I have. You are different from other girls."

"Um, I guess so. I am sure there are other girls who aren't scared or disgusted by bugs.

"None that I have met, besides the ones in my family. And now you."

"I see. Well maybe next time you're looking for new bugs, I can help you." I offered.

"I would like that, yes."

"Awesome! Well I hate to leave, but I have to see Ino and Sakura. I'll see you later Shino, just let me know when you go looking for more bugs again."

"I will. Goodbye Hotaru."

I made my way to the Yamanaka flower shop rather quickly, and walked inside. Ino was behind the counter, talking to a customer, and ringing up her purchase. I waited off to the side, until the woman left.

"Hey, Hotaru, what's up?"

"Hey. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out. I have today off, and was gonna try to hang with you and Sakura, if you weren't busy."

"Well it's not too busy here. Let me go ask my mom if she'll take over for me. Be right back."

Ino left the counter, and made her way to the back of the store, where I guessed her mom was. She came back out with her mom a moment later, and took her apron off.

"I'll be back later mom. Come on Hotaru."

Ino and I left the shop, and made our way to Sakura's house.

"So did your brother ever come back from his mission?"

"Yeah, yesterday evening."

"How is your training and stuff going?"

"Pretty good, how about yours?"

"Pfft, would be good if I didn't have the laziest teammates in the world! Shikamaru is always laying around, and never really trys, and Choji is always eating. And don't even get me started on Asuma sensei! He smokes, and he's just as bad the two other idiots! It's like I am the only one even trying!" Ino complained.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hotaru! It's not funny!" She whined.

I continued laughing. "Sorry."

Ino huffed but smiled.

"My sensei is pretty bad too. He's always late, and is always making up excuses for it. And he's always reading this book called Icha Icha Paradise. I'm not sure what so great about it though, to have him literally always reading it.

Ino laughed. "That does sound pretty bad. And maybe I could ask my dad if he knows what it's about, and I'll let you know."

"Okay, cool."

I knew exactly what the book was. I wonder if Ino's dad would actually tell her. Probably not.

Ino and I soon made it to Sakura's house, and I knocked on the door. Sakura answered it.

"Oh, Ino, Hotaru hey."

"Hey Sakura, are you busy?" Ino asked.

"Not really, no. Just going over some papers, to my medical training."

I grinned. "You got in?" I asked, getting excited.

"Yeah, it took a lot of persuading. But seeing how I was so persistent, they finally accepted me, and gave me some papers to fill out."

"That's really awesome. We're very happy for you."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Thanks you guys. I honestly wouldn't have been able to do it, without you two."

"It's what friends are for." I said.

"So what did you guys want to do? I have the rest of the weekend to fill everything out, so I can hang out for a little while."

"Well now I think we should celebrate. We should go out to eat. I'm buying!"

Ino and Sakura laughed.

"Sounds like fun." Sakura said, and Ino agreed.

"Well then, let's go!"

"Let me go tell my mom." Sakura said, quickly going back inside, then coming back out a moment later.

We made our way to the Akimichi BBQ restaraunt, where we spotted Ino's team, minus Asuma. Ino lead us over to them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ino asked, as she sat down. I slid in next to Choji, and Sakura slid in next to me.

"Choji was hungry and wanted barbeque." Shikamaru said lazily.

"Why does that not surprise me." Ino deadpanned. "Well we'll be joining you."

Shikamaru goraned, while Sakura and I snickered.

I ordered more meat for Ino, Sakura, choji, and I, after Shikamaru declined, saying he wasn't hungry. Soon we were all eating and laughing. Well Shikamaru wasn't laughing, he just made grunting noises, when someone talked to him. I rolled my eyes at that. Ino ended up spotting her, Choji, and Shikamaru's dad. She called out to him.

"Hey dad!"

He looked over at us before he got up, and made his way to us.

"I have a question. Hotaru was telling me about how her sensei Kakashi always has his face in a book called Icha Icha Paradise. Do you know what it's about?" Ino asked.

I could see Inoichi's lip start to twitch, like he really wanted to laugh. Shikamaru, and Choji's dads must have heard Ino though, cause when I looked over they were laughing.

Inoichi had to clear his throat. "It's a book for adults. It's better if you kids didn't know." He said finally. Ino pouted.

"But." He turned to me. "If you are really curious, ask him. He might tell you." I just nodded my head. You could start to hear Choza and Shikaku start to laugh louder.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

Inoichi's shoulders started to shake with laughter, and he left and went back to Choza, and Shikaku.

"Well that was weird." Shikamaru noted.

We all nodded our heads in agreeent.

"So are you going to ask him, Hotaru?" Choji asked, munching on his food.

"I might. I am really interested to know what it is now."

We finished eating, awhile back, but just continued to sit and talk. By the time we all decided to go home, it was late, and too late for me to go see TenTen. I'd have to do it tomorrow.

Once I was home, I noticed Lee wasn't inside, so I checked the back yard to see him training.

"Hey." I greeted him. He stopped.

"Hey."

"Mind if I train with you? I need to burn off all of the barbeque ribs I just ate."

Lee laughed. "Of course not."

I immediately got into a fighting stance.

By the time the fight was finished, I was laying on the ground after I had my ass handed to me.

"You've gotten so much better." Lee praised.

I smiled. "Thanks."

He helped me up and we went back inside.

I went straight to my room though. I wanted to practice with my chakra thread again. I looked around my room, trying to find something I could work with. I spotted my old teddy, that my parents had gotten me, when I was born. It was kinda close to a human. I could practice using the chakra thread on it. I wanted to be able to use it on people during the chunin exams. So I would have to work really hard with it.

I worked on it for a few hours. I was able to attach it, but it was really hard to make it move how I wanted it. I finally gave up for the night, and decided to go to bed. I could probably work on it tomorrow.