The Legendaries (Revisited): A Naruto Isekai (PART I)

by Rose1991

"Fred? Fred!" someone hissed in Winnifred's ear, poking her harshly in the shoulder. "What?" she grumbled, trying to go back to sleep. "The sun's up. And I don't think we're in Pennsylvania." Five girls from our world arrive on Konoha's doorstep with no clue how to return home. And when five dragons choose them as their masters, they begin to realize something bigger is at play.

6. Chapter 5

*Warning: This is a very long chapter.

Chapter Five: The Side Hustle

"Damn, that was a workout," Fred huffed, rubbing sweat off her brow.

Rox slouched next to her, hands on her knees as she tried to steady herself. "I know, right?"

Lynne wasn't as worn as the previous two, and leaned over to Rox, asking, "You think she was taking something out on us?" Rox smiled at that with a small laugh.

"What was that?" Temari asked, standing behind Lynne with her hands on her hips.

Lynne looked back up sheepishly, waving a hand over her face as she replied quickly, "What? Oh, nothing. I said nothing."

Temari crossed her arms with a smirk. "That's what I thought."

Cordi made a face, looking at the resolute Sand Kunoichi. "You don't have to be so harsh," she tried, shooting a nervous glance at her sister, who was breathing rather heavily. Roxanne Turner had been diagnosed with sports induced asthma her freshman year of high school playing on their school's junior varsity soccer team. Cordi remembered going to the doctor's office with her and hearing the diagnosis, thinking it was strange since out of their whole group, Rox was always the most fit. She always had the fastest mile time in her class. She was asked to be on the varsity volleyball team since fall Freshman year, as well as cheerleading, and then soccer in the spring. Training like this could spell trouble for Roxanne if she wasn't careful.

Temari frowned, "They were late, so now they have to catch up to you."

"We were not late!" Ronnie huffed, wiping her sweat off her face with her hand.

"Yeah," Fred rebutted, "we were stuck in a goddamn classroom with a bunch of eleven-year-olds as part of our living arrangements." She straightened up, rubbing her back as she grumbled, "Would be so much less embarrassing if they had like a ninja night school for people older than thirteen."

Temari raised an eyebrow at the remark. She hadn't thought Kakashi had been serious when he said they would be training at the school to become ninjas. They were older than the average genin. By the time she was their age, she'd made Jonin and was the Suna ambassador in Konoha. What she gathered from what Cordi had told her of their home dimension, all five of them had graduated their basic courses, become legal adults (with the exception of Cordi, who would hit legal adult in a few months), and were well on their paths of final academics towards their careers.

Even so, in the current world of ninjas, there were varying ages of legal adulthood. Eleven or twelve was the average age one started their career, and was when one was allowed to be considered legally independent. Eighteen was when the laws around the three prohibitions opened up. Once a person hit eighteen, they were allowed to drink, gamble, and marry. Most people Temari's age were married and working on having children, and she was only twenty-three, almost twenty-four. Some were even on their second child.

She understood the frustration in Winnifred's tone. It was difficult to see yourself back at square one in life while everyone else your age is already moving on through adulthood. Temari licked her lips, realizing she probably should go a little easy on them. They were new to this world, and they weren't necessarily built to become ninja.

She placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative stance and declared, "Well, now that you've run your laps, we are going to figure out your powers' triggers. Cordi has already found hers." She gestured to Cordi who conjured a fireball in her hand with general ease. "So, she just needs to master it. Cordi, while they find their triggers, you should do some hand exercises. Summon a flame to each finger, then a fireball in your palm. Then extinguish and try the other hand. You should practice that until it feels completely natural."

Cordi nodded, and began doing her hand exercises while Temari turned to the other girls. "Now for you. We only have a couple hours to do this, and if you're going to be in school every day for the housing arrangements, you are going to be getting a lot less training than Cordi. So, I'll only be able to do minimal ninja training with you, and mostly work on you perfecting your elements. The first thing I want you to do is try to conjure your element into a ball."

Lynne crossed her arms with a weird expression. "And what about me?"

"Right," Temari breathed, looking at the spirit user. "You just read minds, right?"

Lynne shrugged. "I haven't tried anything else." She got a weird smile as she thought, "Although, most movies and such practiced psychic abilities by bending spoons."

Temari nodded, although found the idea strange. "Ok, today, why don't you focus on meditation. Tomorrow, I will bring some spoons for you to bend."

"Metal spoons," Lynne suggested.

Temari nodded, then turned to the other three girls as Lynne plopped herself on the ground, sitting with her legs crossed, and her hands rested on her knees. Lynne closed her eyes and began focusing on her breathing, while the other girls held out their hands and began to focus on their elements. It took a little while, but Ronnie was the first to produce water, but a large stream of water forming from the air and fell on her like a giant waterfall, drenching her completely as she let out a yelp.

Rox and Fred yelped and jumped away to prevent getting splashed. Temari threw up her hands, but was still splashed on her legs. "That was good," Temari complimented, drying herself off. "A bit much. But good! What were you doing to do that just now?"

Ronnie frowned, flicking her hands free of water and wringing her hair out. "Listening to the river and wishing I was swimming rather than sweating my ass off. I could practically feel the cool water on my skin."

Temari nodded, "You were subconsciously focusing on the flow of water, and willing it here." Ronnie shrugged, but Temari knew. "Try to focus on the flow of water and will it into forming a ball."

Ronnie nodded, holding her hand out again, and after a few minutes, streams of water flowed through the air and from the ground into a ball. She smiled as it coalesced, whirling together. "I … I did it!"

Temari smiled back. "Yes. Now try to separate it into small droplets, then release the water without getting yourself wet," she instructed. Ronnie nodded, putting her other hand over the ball, and splitting it, then closing her hands and the water further divided into ten large droplets. She smirked as she flicked her fingers, sending them flying at Cordi.

Cordi spluttered as she was pelted with water, and Ronnie shrieked with laughter. "RONNIE!" she howled, giving chase. Ronnie grinned, sprinting around the course as Cordi raced after her. The dragons lifted their heads, their gazes following the two youngest women's race lazily as Cordi screeched, "You'll pay for that!"

Temari pinched the bridge of her nose, huffing that she'd deal with that in a minute.

"I-I think I got it!" Rox cheered, her tone breathy as a small tornado formed in the palm of her hand, snagging a few petals from the flowers and Fred's feet, spinning them around in its current. "What you told Ronnie about the currents clicked."

Temari smirked at this. She could see from how quickly Rox picked it up, she'd be a formidable wind user after some training. She didn't even need a fan to summon wind like that. "Good," Temari praised. "Now, some wind users, if they're strong enough, can form wind into something like a ball, or bullets, or a blade. Try to give the wind form, and then calm it down. Then repeat that until you feel confident enough to do the same with stronger winds."

Rox nodded, putting her other hand over the tornado with a curious frown. "I have to ask, how do you know these exercises will help."

Temari pursed her lips. "Well," she sighed, "when I was seven, my Dad started teaching my younger brother, Gaara, how to control his sand to try and prevent serious issues when he'd have temper tantrums." Her eyes got a far-off glimmer as she remembered those days. "One day I got curious, since Uncle Yashamaru and Dad kept Gaara away from Kankuro and I for the most part. So, I snuck down to the Kazekage training hall and watched Dad teach him."

"Gaara is the redhead we ran into the first day, right?" Fred asked Rox quietly.

Rox nodded, muttering, "Y'know, you live here now. You should really learn their names."

Fred rolled her eyes. They weren't going to be there that long. She was sure of that.

"It's your turn, Fred," Temari stated, turning to the eldest girl of the group of friends.

Fred frowned. "Well, it's not like rocks and plants have currents."

"No," Temari sighed. "What my father told Gaara will probably work better for you. You need to feel rooted, and pull what you need up."

Fred frowned further, but decided she'd give the instructions a chance. She planted her feet and focused on the feeling of being rooted in place, but pulling something up. After a while, she began to strain, then there was a release as a rock from the ground floated in front of her.

Temari looked on a little surprised. She'd been expecting flowers or a plant of some kind, but apparently rock and the ground counted as part of her power. She licked her lips as she saw Fred grin. "Ok, for your practice, you should try to pull up more rocks, and see how many you can hold in an instance. The bigger the better."

Over the next hour and a half, the girls practiced, honing their skills. Fred found she could hold up to ten rocks, and finished her day by summoning a giant boulder. Cordi sustained a double flamethrower for over a minute. Ronnie made it literally rain over the training field for thirty seconds. And Rox summoned a small tornado. Lynne remained silent as she meditated on her stump, and they turned to see how she was doing with surprise.

"Lynne?" Cordi called.

The spirit user opened her eyes for the first time in the hour and a half with a curious expression, seeing her friends staring at her with wonder. Even Temari looked surprised. "What?" she asked.

"You're floating," Ronnie stated with a bewildered grin.

"What!?" Lynne gasped, but before she could look, she yelped as she fell painfully on her butt. She huffed, rubbing her sore tailbone.

"So, now you can fly?" Temari asked, somewhat flummoxed.

"More like levitate, I guess," Lynne grumbled as she pulled herself to stand.

Temari frowned. "What's the difference?"

Lynne shrugged. "No additional aerial movement," she replied, sticking her hands in her pockets. She looked at the other girls, stating, "I guess it's safe to assume you all learned to control your powers?"

The girls began to nod affirmatively. "You all still have a long way to go," Temari answered for them. She let out a sigh, asking, "This ninja academy thing, is it going to be every day?"

The girls staying in Konoha nodded and grumbled a small, "Yeah."

Temari huffed. "That's really going to cut into any training time I could give you."

The girls all frowned pensively, trying to think what they could do to change that. They needed to learn to control their powers, almost more so than they needed to learn the history of the Ninja world. "What do you suggest?" Rox asked first.

Temari frowned. "Well, keep doing those practices when you can. They'll help." She looked at the sun, seeing it falling low on the horizon. "It's getting late. Gaara and Kankuro will start wondering where we are," she breathed nervously.

"Especially after that moment with your son, Cordi" Aleera piped in from the dragons lounging in the back. The comment earned some confused looks from the other girls.

"Son!?" Rox gasped incredulously.

Cordi shot her dragon a frown as she huffed, "We've been over this. I don't have a son."

"But he said he was," Aleera shot back. "And he smelled like you."

Cordi was about to yell at her dragon to shut up when Temari cut in, "She's right. Gaara and Kankuro are probably on edge if they ran into him. We should go!" Temari began walking off, back into town. Cordi shot her friends a sorry look, then turned to follow the Sand kunoichi.

"Wait!" Ronnie called to them, getting them to stop in their tracks. "We needed to discuss where we're hiding the dragons." They frowned turning to the rest of the group as Ronnie explained, "At the academy today, we discussed that our dragons have already gotten too big for our dorms. I mean, look at them." She gestured to the rest of the dragons that were lounging around like large dogs. "And I doubt Aleera can stay in the hotel long"

Cordi looked at her dragon and frowned. Ronnie was right. Aleera had gotten too big already to stay housed in the hotel without issue. Not to mention the letter on her neck when Aleera flew into the training ground said Gaara almost found her. "What do you propose?" Cordi asked, chewing on her lip. It was a little nerve wracking, not knowing where her dragon was or what she was doing, precisely. But it was also scary knowing that at any moment, Gaara could stumble on this secret and react negatively.

Ronnie put her hands in her pockets, turning to the rest of the group. Fred shrugged, while Lynne stepped forward, stating, "We think they need to be somewhere heavily wooded to hide them, good size game, and low pedestrian traffic."

"And lots of water for Nessie," Ronnie added quickly, gesturing to her tired blue dragon. Even with the constant rain cloud Ronnie had conjured over her, Nessie looked close to wilting.

Suddenly, the post script on the letter clicked for Cordi. "The Forest of Death," she said quickly, earning strange looks from everyone. "It's dense, with lots of game for them to hunt. Almost no one goes in there ever, except for the second part of the Chunin exam, which is already done." She looked back to Temari for verification on the second part, which she nodded agreeably with. Cordi finished with, "And it's got a large river in the middle of it for Nessie."

"You're right!" Rox cheered, then frowned as she asked, "But where is it?"

"Temari knows!" Lynne reminded them, pointing to the blonde kunoichi who looked slightly taken aback.

Temari frowned as she replied, "Yes, but I don't have time to take you there."

"Doesn't matter," Lynne replied, rushing over to the side of the training field where they dumped their purses. She pulled out a map of Konoha and a pen, stating, "I had Shikamaru find me a map of the city the first day so we could find our way around. But the Forest of Death isn't really marked on here." She held it out to Temari, asking, "Would you mind marking it down for us. Then we'll go take the dragons right now, so you don't have to worry about sneaking Aleera back."

Cordi made a "That's plausible" expression, before shooting a strange look to Temari. Temari frowned, looking at all the girls staring up at her full of hope. She let out a sigh. It was a good idea. She grabbed the map and pen, opening the map until she found the small circle inside the city wall. "Here is the forest," she explained as she marked it. "It's the forty-fourth training ground. And we are here," she marked a second spot several blocks south east of the forest, "on the twenty-third training ground." She handed the map and pen back to Lynne, stating, "You can get to the entrances rather easily from here by going through the other training grounds, but just warning you, you might run into some ninja that way. But going that way will make it easier to hide the dragons."

Lynne nodded, looking carefully at the map, then slung her purse over her shoulder. "Come on! We gotta' move quickly." The other girls followed her lead, the dragons picking themselves up as the girls grabbed their bags.

Cordi turned to Aleera, scratching behind her horn as she said, "You be good, you hear? Stick with the other dragons, and you follow their every direction." She gestured to her friends. "Got it?" Aleera gave a resolute nod, then fluttered over to them. Cordi watched as her friends moved out in a different direction, worry filling her heart as she watched her dragon fly off with them.

"Cordi!" Temari hissed. "We have to go!"

"Coming!" Cordi called back. She followed behind Temari quickly, doing her best to keep up with the Sand kunoichi's brisk pace.

As soon as they walked through the door of their hotel suite, both of Temari's brothers were on them. Kankuro was the more aggressive one as Gaara just stood from his chair, looking at both women a little skeptically. "Where have you been!?" Kankuro barked.

"Out," Temari stated blandly.

Kankuro glared at his sister's flippant answer, then his dark gaze flicked to Cordi. "Out," she repeated, looking towards the kitchenette to avoid his glare. The puppeteer glowered at her, grumbling something incoherent.

"What?" Temari asked. "Speak up."

"You've both been gone all day," Gaara started instead, his expression calmer than Kankuro's but there was still a glimmer of worry in his eyes. "After the incident this afternoon, we were worried."

"What incident?" Temari asked. Cordi was shocked by how inconspicuous and sincere she sounded as she asked it, like Temari didn't have a hint of what they were talking about.

"We found a guy going through Cordi's things," Kankuro answered seriously. He turned to the dirty-blonde apologetically, stating, "We don't know if he got anything or…"

"I'll go take a look," Cordi said quickly, running back to hers and Temari's room to look through her things. Maybe there was a clue as to who this guy was who claimed to be her son. She dug through her items as Temari remained in the lounge area with the brothers, discussing the incident.

"So, did you get a good look at him?" Temari asked. "Was he a ninja?"

"That's the weird thing," Kankuro started, pacing around nervously as Gaara stood, watching Cordi run through hers and Temari's room. "He claimed he was a ninja from Suna. Gaara even confirmed the headband was standard Suna issue."

"Hmmm," Temari murmured, following her brother's description.

"He also seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on how," Kankuro added. "And he had sand powers!"

Temari shot a look at Gaara to gauge what he thought of it, only to be met with her youngest brother's own discerning glare. Gaara had always been really good at reading people, and she could see in his expression he was onto something weird with her. She looked away quickly, turning to Kankuro as she asked, "Sand powers? That's strange."

"There's a flash drive in my laptop," Cordi said, bringing one of her devices out. The Sand siblings turned to her. She pointed to a small attachment sticking off the side. "This isn't mine."

"What does that mean?" Gaara asked. "What's a flash drive?"

Cordi set the device on the table and sat down looking at it carefully as she opened it up. "A flash drive holds files, like documents, or pictures, videos or whatever. When it's plugged into a computer, you can access them."

The Sand siblings crowded behind her to see what was on her screen as she signed in, blushing as she typed in her password, praying Gaara didn't notice it was his name. The laptop was a graduation present, and she hadn't hunted down a good screensaver for it yet, thank God. She couldn't imagine the mortification if she'd found a Gaara screensaver, as she'd been planning, only to have the Kazekage see it.

As it came up, it showed a Word document open, and she began to read it.

"Dear Mom,

I know you've only been here a few days now, and I'm sorry to tell you, you're going to be here a long time. Long enough to have me, at least. Only recently have you found out how to cross back over. So, to ease your current transition, since you'll be here a while, Dad had me go compile some things from your home to keep your family close. You always said, "Blood is thicker than water," so we know how important it is to you.

On the flash, you'll find a video message from Grandma Lori and Grandpa Ned, and from Uncle Travis from my time. Some old photos to get framed. And Grandma Lori wanted me to pass on some digital copies of the old family videos. I also did the same for Aunt Fred, Aunt Ronnie, and Aunt Lynne. And just a little extra, I've added some music to your playlists that you told us "Speaks to your soul," but that you lost a long time ago, my time.

Love,

Your son (Sorry, but my name's a giveaway.)

PS: I know he's reading this over your shoulder now. So, Lord Kazekage, Time Travel is a bitch.
PPS: Tell Lord Kakashi to look up Mr. Youshida in Konoha's records."

"How did he know …" Kankuro started to ask, but Cordi quickly opened up her files, seeing folders labeled Turners, Buchanans, and Belfocos. Cordi clicked on Turners, and the folder opened with videos and pictures. She clicked on the first video.

"Is it working?" The voice was youthful, deep and a little raspy.

"Yeah, it looks like the red light is on."

Cordi gasped, lifting her hand to her mouth as she breathed, "Mom?"

"Ok. Cool." The camera panned up from the wooden floor and centered on Cordelia's mom in front of their bar full of wine and liquor with a cabinet full of different glass goblets hanging above it.

Lori Turner was always well dressed, and looked like an older version of Cordi, but her body type was more pear than hourglass. Cordi could tell she was much older in the video than she was when she left. Her mom's hair had started graying near the front, but surprisingly still held most of its color. It was longer than her usual length, but only just an inch or so, and it was curled. She still looked somewhat youthful except the wrinkles developing around her eyes. Her dark brown eyes were framed by cat-eye glasses. Her smile was pearly and straight, her lips painted with pale pink lipstick. "So, what is this for?" her mother asked.

"We thought Mom and Aunt Rox would appreciate seeing a video where they could see you and Gramps, and Uncle Travis."

"And your Aunt Tara?"

It was at this point Gaara looked at his siblings who were watching the video over Cordi's shoulder, trying to decipher it. Once he got their attention, he jerked his head back to the bedrooms, and they gave agreeing nods, moving back to the bedrooms. As soon as he closed his bedroom door with Kankuro inside with him, he created his sand eyeball, sending it out to the lounge area where Cordi was. "Third eye, opened."

"What are you doing?" Kankuro hissed.

"I don't want her to think we are spying on her, but at the same time, it's imperative we know who is essentially living with us in Suna the rest of her life," Gaara replied quietly, using his eye to watch as his ear was pressed to the door. Kankuro leaned in as well, and Gaara shot him an annoyed look, but didn't chide him for it.

The man laughed. "Well, yeah. I guess Aunt Tara, and their kids." He held up a hand, adding, "One rule. You can't use any of our names. Not mine, not Dad's, and not Unk's. None of our names."

Lori laughed. "That's a strange rule."

"Well, this is going back to when Mom and her friends just got there." Her mother nodded along as if she understood as he explained, "So any telling giveaways are problematic."

"Right. Cordelia did say something about your ability."

"Yeah," the man replied a little awkwardly. "So, it's when they went missing. Is there anything you want to say to Mom and Rox?"

Lori frowned. "Well, when it happened, I wanted them to come home. At least know they were safe. Nothing is more important to me than them. I don't know if Cordelia told you, but Ned and I had trouble for many years to have children. Miscarriages, even after we had Travis. I thought that was the most difficult time I'd have to endure, but then I lost my girls." She got choked up, then smiled. "Those first few years were really difficult, but we never gave up hope on them. And now they're here, and so happy. And I couldn't be prouder of them. They've grown into wonderful, strong women, good wives, and even better mothers. And their husbands, both very fine gentlemen. I just wish you all were here." She reached for the man's hand, and squeezed it.

"Sake?!"

Cordi's breath hitched as she asked, "Dad?"

"No, we don't have sake. But if you want a warm drink, maybe you can try the drink Cordi and I created before they went to your world. It's called Poison Apple." Just then, Cordelia's father stepped into the screen, his hair white and his eyes a piercing stormy-sea blue. He wore glasses now, which was new. For most of Cordi's life, he had perfect eyesight. That and the hair was the only way to tell a significant chunk of time had passed. "Lori, honey, did you get the apple cider?"

She nodded, pointing back over his shoulder. "It's in the fridge."

"Do you mind helping me heat it up?"

"Why don't you ask Cordi?" Lori offered. "I'm sure she'll want a mug."

Her father made a face and shrugged. He stepped back, calling up, "Cordi! D'ya want a poison apple?"

The response from above was quick. "HELL YEAH!"

"Then help me prep the mugs!" He turned back to Lori and the man, reaching past Lori to the bar as he said, "I need Hot Damn and spiced rum." He grabbed two bottles and took them to the kitchen. The man followed Ned into the kitchen, and the camera caught an older Cordelia skipping into the kitchen, her hair long and almost black, making her almost unrecognizable.

She looked healthy and lithe, her figure intact and shown off by a red turtleneck and dark blue skinny jeans tucked into black boots. Nothing like what Cordelia imagined herself to look like in the future. She'd always been dirty blonde. When did her hair turn black? Her dark brown eyes found the camera, and she gave it a weird face. "Why do you have a camera?"

"Thought you'd like our Christmas festivities recorded."

Cordelia scoffed. "Ok." She reached into a cupboard and pulled out several mugs while Ned got a jug of cider from the fridge, pouring it into a pot and setting it on the stove to heat.

Ned sighed. "I can't believe your sister brought home a ringer."

Cordi laughed. "Oh, did he beat you?"

"Beat me?" Ned scoffed self-deprecatingly. "He creamed me! I made one mistake, and he took my whole game apart."

Cordi shook her head as she poured the spiced rum into the mugs. "Rox told you. He's really good at games of strategy."

"Someone beat you at chess?" Lori asked, sounding shocked.

Cordelia frowned at her mother. "You say that like I haven't beaten Dad. I used to. A lot, remember?"

"Yes, but that's because you don't play normal. You've never played normal with any strategy game," Ned defended, stirring the cider. "He played smart. You play crazy."

"I play chaos," Cordelia corrected, mixing the last of the alcohol in.

"How do you play chaos?" the man asked.

Cordi smirked. "The philosophy behind chaos strategy is simple," she answered, leaning over the counter. "If I don't know what I'm doing or going to do, you sure as heck can't guess what I'm going to do."

Ned turned around, looking directly at the man holding the camera. "It sounds stupid. But Cordelia has on multiple occasions pulled a hairbrained move on me in chess that on one hand makes no sense, but on the other hand is completely genius –"

"It's funny how often those two coincide," Cordi joked, beaming proudly.

"—that will leave me stumped for hours," Ned finished, grabbing a ladle and adding, "The cider's done."

Cordi turned with several mugs ready for her father to ladle the cider in. "You know, if you wanted to play a strategy game with our husbands, and have a chance at winning, maybe you should try Risk."

Ned's eyes lit up as he looked at his daughter. "RISK!"

"RISK!" another man whooped from across the house, racing into the room. The man looked like an older version of the intruder from that afternoon. He had dark brown, almost black hair buzzed short, lightly tanned skin, and golden eyes that shone with excitement as he joined the conversation. "Yes, please! It's been ages!"

"Travis," Cordi sighed wistfully, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"NO!" Lori howled. "Cordelia Rose Turner! Or whatever your name is now! I cannot believe you suggested that game!"

"What's Risk?" the cameraman asked.

"Risk is an amazing game of world domination!" the man explained with a manic grin.

"It's also been known to never end until someone flips the board," Lori added, sounding very annoyed. "Not to mention cause serious fights." At that, Lori shot a dark look at her husband who only smiled sheepishly in response.

Travis waved her off, "Only you flip the board, Mom."

"Yeah," Cordi chimed in. "Usually when you're not even playing."

Lori glowered at her bookend children, replying, "Only if an argument over another broken treaty has reached the hour mark."

Travis ignored her, pointing at Ned and Cordi. "Who's playing?"

"I was suggesting Dad play with –"

The video cut off. Cordelia pursed her lips as she felt the aching in her chest and throat. She missed them, and now that she thought of it, she hadn't processed just how much she would. And the man, who after watching the video, she was convinced was her son from the future, even though she didn't see him, had said it would be a while before they would return. He said only recently, and in the video, the man was … well, a man. And judging by her age in the video, she was at least mid-thirties. Twenty years, if she had to guess. That was how long it would take to get home.

She wouldn't see or talk to her parents for twenty years. Her brother would marry and start a family without either her or Rox there. The thought hit her hard, and she began to sob uncontrollably, wishing she could have hugged her family one last time.

---

"Ma!" Kiba called out, digging through the front desk drawer of the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic and Kennel. "Where's the schedule!?" He looked up for a split second to shoot the waiting customer a friendly smile, only to see her glowering back at him. Mrs. Sekkachi was an older woman whose husband ran a rather successful textile business. Kiba had his suspicions that all was not well with that marriage, because it was well known that the only thing that mattered to her in the world was her Yorkie, Ningyo, whom she held in her arms, petting its neck to avoid messing up her red polka dot bow. "I'm sorry Mrs. Sekkachi. We'll get Ningyo squared away as soon as I find the schedule."

The old broad didn't even dignify him with a response, so he turned back to the desk, searching for it since his mother was clearly too busy to help him this Wednesday afternoon. Usually, his mother, sister and himself worked in tandem running the vet. Hana was both trained as a veterinarian and used to work the front desk regularly when Kiba was in school at the academy. None of them ever took a mission at the same time knowing two people must be running the vet at all times.

He heard the bell ring for the front door and he said, looking up, "I'll be with you in a …"

The vision he was met with standing on the doormat took his breath away. She was beautiful. She had toffee brown hair and caramel eyes that struck him, and made him wonder if it was as soft as it looked. She had a bright, full smile that captivated him. She wore a light blue and white lace top that hugged her curves and presented her breasts perfectly, and cut off just at her waist, exposing her belly button. Her jeans were tight, only coming up to her hips, showing the nice curve of her bottom.

She caught him staring at her, and she smiled brighter, chewing on her bottom lip innocently as she gave him a small wave. Kiba found himself lifting his hand and giving her a small wave back, still staring at her dumbly.

"Ahem," Mrs. Sekkachi huffed loudly, clearing her throat to draw his attention.

"Right," he breathed, dragging his eyes away from the angel who just walked in the door. He went back to searching the desk as Akamaru padded out to the lobby, clearly interested in the new smell that came through the door. Kiba had to admit, he was incredibly interested in it too, but likely for very different reasons. She smelled like coconut and vanilla shampoo.

As soon as Akamaru appeared in the lobby, the girl's face lit up further as she looked at the large dog. "You must be Akamaru!" She crouched down excitedly as she added in a steadily cutesier voice, "I had no idea you're a Great Pyrenees! You're so fluffy!" She twitched her fingers like she wanted to scratch him.

Akamaru grumbled, pulling away from her a little nervously. "Sorry. I'm being rude. You wanna' sniff?" she asked, holding out her hand to him as she knelt down to his level.

That was when Kiba found the schedule, and began to look through it. "Ok, I see we have Ningyo down for a four-night stay with a check-up and grooming. Is that right?" He asked, looking up at Mrs. Sekkachi who gave a resolute nod. He looked behind the older lady to see what his dog was doing.

Akamaru pushed his nose into the girl's hand, sniffing it deeply before giving it a lick, his tail beginning to wag. The girl smiled. "See? I'm not going to hurt you." Her hand moved to scratch his chin, and he gave a contented grumble, stepping closer to her. "You want some scratches?" Akamaru gave an affirmative grunt, shifting closer and knocking the girl on her butt, which made her laugh.

"Alright," he breathed, stepping out of the front desk area into the lobby, reaching for Ningyo. "I'll just take Ningyo back, and you can pay when you pick her up." He took the prissy dog back to her kennel, furnished with a plush dog bed, bowls and chew toy. He gave her a treat for being good, then closed the kennel, making his way back to the lobby.

The sight Kiba walked in on brought a strange smile to his face. The girl sat on the floor, grinning as Akamaru lounged in her lap, belly up as she scratched his chest. He shot Kiba a shit eating grin as his tail thumped against the floor. "You are just a big fluffy puppy! Aren't you!" Suddenly, she scratched a spot that made Akamaru freeze. "Oh?" She kept scratching there as his hind leg began to work, scratching at air. The girl grinned. "I got your git fiddle! I got your git fiddle!"

Kiba could see from Akamaru's expression, he was in heaven. Kiba chose that moment to interrupt. "I see you've made a friend, Akamaru."

She stopped scratching the dog, looking up at Kiba with excited eyes as she said brightly, "Oh, hi!"

Kiba smiled back, her expression completely disarming. "Hi," he breathed dreamily. He shook his head, realizing he was coming off completely unprofessional. "Uh, how can I help you."

"Oh, uhm." She smiled sheepishly at Akamaru. "Sorry, boy, but I need to stand up."

Akamaru immediately flipped, standing up and walking back to his bed behind the desk. The dog was nine, and he didn't move like he used to. Most days, he was lounging behind the vet's front desk on his tempurpedic pillow.

She began to pull herself up, and Kiba reached down. "Let me help you."

She took his hand with a smile. "Thanks," she replied, using his leverage to pull herself up with a bounce he very much appreciated. She caught his gaze as they realized they were still holding each other's hand. She grinned again with a small blush before chewing on her lower lip again.

It took him a minute to find his way out of her eyes, and he let go of her hand, scratching the back of his head. "So, what can I do for you?"

She gave him a determined smile as she said, "I was hoping to get a job."

His eyebrows shot up at that.

"Part time," she added quickly. "As per our living arrangements, we have to go to the academy every morning, but Iruka did convince Kakashi to only needing the half day, since we can't participate in the chakra control stuff."

Kiba's eyes went wide as he realized something. He pointed at her, uttering, "You're one of the girls Hinata was telling me about. The ones from the other world?"

The girl nodded. She stuck her hand out as she added, "My name's Ronnie. Ronnie Buchanan. It's short for Veronica, but everyone calls me Ronnie."

He grabbed her hand, giving it a solid shake. "Kiba."

"I know," she laughed. He gave her a weird look as she added. "You're Kiba Inuzuka. You were on team eight with Shino and Hinata under Kurenai. You have a superhuman sense of smell, and your partner is Akamaru, who I just learned is a Great Pyrenees, since he's not drawn like that in the show."

Kiba's expression shifted a little worriedly as he pulled back his hand.

Her caramel eyes went wide as she added quickly, "Oh, I didn't mean … Did Hinata not mention that where we're from, all of this is a tv show?"

He frowned. "She did not," he replied, because honestly, it sounded ludicrous. But to be perfectly fair, being some sort of comic book or novel seemed the least ludicrous thing about it. Hinata wouldn't lie about girls from an alternate dimension. So, if he could believe that, he could wrap his head around being a character in some show.

"Yeah. I don't want you to think I'm some sort of stalker," Ronnie said quickly, sounding a little nervous. "You were just on the show a lot."

"Oh," he breathed, wondering if he should ask how much he was featured.

"Anyway," Ronnie segued back quickly, "about the job. I was originally training to become a marine biologist, and this is the closest I'll get to that profession here."

Kiba nodded, trying to appear serious as he contemplated her explanation. He didn't know what a marine biologist was, but if he had to guess, she'd meant to become a whale vet, given her statement this was the closest job to that profession. He licked his lips, then asked, "Well, do you have any experience working with animals?"

She nodded quickly, lifting a hand to list off her experience. "I used to volunteer at the local animal shelter for the past four years, and summers I worked reception at the local vet." Kiba nodded, showing he was impressed. That was pretty good experience. "I also grew up on a cow farm with a menagerie of animals. I mean two dogs, three cats, several hamsters, and bunch of cows."

"Kiba! Make a note to order more syringes," his mother called out with a gruff, raspy voice. Tsume Inuzuka appeared in the doorway, her hair wild as always as she took off her blood-stained coat. "We're down to our last pack."

Kiba looked at his mother's coat, and asked, "How'd it go?"

His mother shot him a weird look. "The spay? Normal. Haru's stitches will heal in a week, so she's in a cone until then. I know that might not help her adoption chances yet, but …" she trailed off with a nonchalant shrug. "That Sekkachi lady drop off her little dog?"

"Yup," Kiba answered, a little annoyed. He knew his mother could hear him calling her, asking where the planner was.

His mother's eyes landed on Ronnie, and she got a dangerous glint in her eye as she asked curtly, "And who is this?"

"This is Ronnie Buchanan," Kiba answered. "She was asking for a job."

Tsume's dark eyes gained an appraising glimmer in them as she stepped closer to the girl. "She doesn't smell like she could handle any of the work as a vet."

"If you're talking about chakra, that's because I have none," Ronnie stated, standing up straight as she talked to Tsume now. Kiba's mother raised an eyebrow at this. It wasn't often a person had the balls to stand against her. "Vet work where I'm from is done differently. I'll give you that. But I have several years' experience manning the front desk at a vet, and running an animal shelter. Both of which should provide enough valuable experience to take on a position here."

Tsume frowned eyeing her carefully. "Hmmm," she grunted, clearly weighing the possibilities. The girl had gumption, and she liked that. And she claimed to have good experience. But only time would tell. "If you have the rest of the afternoon, we can do a trial run."

Ronnie beamed and nodded affirmatively.

"Why don't you straighten the front desk, so you can find everything, since Kiba can't organize for shit," Tsume offered.

"Ma!" Kiba yelped as Ronnie went to task.

"Come here, Kiba," Tsume growled, pulling her son aside to the hallway. Kiba did his best to suppress a fearing gulp. Nothing in the world terrified him more than his mother. He hated to say it, because he also loved her, but he understood how she scared his father away. She put her arm up, boxing her son in against the wall. "Kiba," she barked. "I know every man has two brains controlling his thoughts. The big brain," she pointed to his head. She pointed down as she added, "and the small brain."

Kiba blushed at his mother's insinuation. "It's not small," he defended.

His mother smirked as she replied coolly, "It's not smart either." She pulled away, crossing her arms as she glowered at her son. "Look, I could hear you fawning over her from the other room. Had it not been for the fact she claims exceptional experience and got Akamaru rolling over like a puppy, I would not have agreed to give her a chance. But because I did, that means you need to think with your big brain with her and keep your small brain in your pants. Are we understood?"

Kiba gave a small, nervous nod, and his mother smiled. "Good."

Tsume stepped away, adding another order, "Now go show her around the vet and kennel area. And don't take too long. Two o'clock, Mrs. Kedama is coming in with her cat. Apparently, he's having a hairball issue. So, have her back at the front desk by then." With that, his mother disappeared back in the vet lab.

Kiba let out a sigh, turning to head back to the front desk. His eyes fell on her as she emptied out a drawer, completely bent over and her fabulous ass prone. He pursed his lips, doing his best to contain his smile and ignore the call of his small brain, as his mother put it. "Are you looking for something?" he asked.

Ronnie jumped up with a yelp, then a laugh. He smirked back at her. "Come on," he offered, jutting his head towards the kennels. "Ma asked me to show you around real quick."

"Oh," she said breathily with a smile and a bounce. As he pulled his arm off the door jamb, she sashed around him and looped her arm around his, grabbing his bicep if he wasn't mistaken. He took a bracing breath with a smile, feeling her touch burn on his arm. "Lead the way."

---

Twenty years. That was Cordi's guess. Fifteen to twenty years. Tuesday, Cordi had shown everyone their videos from home that she said some guy installed on her computer that she believed was her son from the future. While that seemed farfetched, the videos were more than enough proof. Fred's heart sank at the thought of being stuck in this world for so long. Maybe her friends were right, trying to seduce their favorite ninjas on the show. Ronnie had told Fred, Rox, and Lynne to tell Temari she was feeling comfortable with her water powers, and would be skipping training in favor of getting a job. Although, Rox added that in all probability, Ronnie was most likely starting her pursuit of Kiba.

Hell, in the videos Cordi showed them, all of them were married. Maybe the videos had given Ronnie the confidence to go after him. Not that she needed any more confidence, but there were some things their mother and brothers said about Ronnie's husband that had the other girls nodding along, saying, "That sounds like it could be Kiba." Although, Cordi did note she had never seen him be super protective like her brothers joked about. Nor did he seem the type to be super strict dad. Or go out dancing with his brothers-in-law, including Fred's husband, whoever that was. But helping out around the farm? A bit of a braggart? Really good at hunting, their brothers' favorite past-time? Those all could be Kiba.

It also made Fred wonder who she ended up married to in these videos. All she knew was that he was laid back, had a child from a previous marriage, and had a strange bromance with Ronnie's husband. She also wondered why she would marry a man who was already a father. She wasn't ashamed to know she had a type, and that type was usually fuckboy, but with a heart of gold. Fathers didn't usually fall in that category either. Fathers in the fuckboy category tended not to be responsible enough to have the heart of gold.

Not to mention, did previous marriage mean divorce or widowed? She hated to think she settled for a somber, still in love with his first wife widower. But at the same time, she also didn't want the drama of raising a child with the first wife still in the picture, calling all the shots.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. Whatever the future entailed, she'd deal with it then. She trusted the head on her shoulders. So, if future her was happy in that situation, then she'd have faith in her decisions.

But she also wasn't going to sit idly by anymore and continue to wait for a portal to swallow them back up into the real world. That wasn't happening. They weren't going back for a long time. And that meant if she wanted to be treated like an adult, and get out of this middle school ninja hell she'd found herself in, she needed to find herself a job. A part of her wished she could just drop out of the Academy. She knew she'd never make it as a ninja. But because her living arrangements were directly tied to it, she'd stay for now. And on the side, save up some money so she could eventually get her own place. Ronnie had the right idea, getting a job while they were still at the Academy. It may have been all for the wrong reasons, but it was the right idea.

That was why she stood in the center of Konoha's new main square, under the lit up giant oak, staring across the way at a bar flooded with light. The Nomu Ki Bar. It was a Wednesday night, but there was still a decent crowd. She'd been a barista back home, and over the span of two years, made shift manager. The pay had been decent. But Konoha didn't have any coffee shops. There was no Starbucks on the corner. No Main Street Grind. No Central Perk.

They had tea shops, but she quickly realized that her experience as a latte artist extraordinaire would be wasted on a tea shop. There were no special ways to serve tea. Just hot water and leaves.

That left the other adult beverage option. Alcohol. She'd never worked in a bar, but she'd been to several with her fake ID back home, and she always enjoyed the atmosphere. She'd seen how bartenders mix drinks. There was art in it. Skill. And most importantly, no kids. It wasn't that she hated children. She didn't. She always one day wanted to be a mom. But preteens, like the ones she was stuck with in the Academy, she didn't want to deal with them.

She strolled into the bar, feeling right at home with the lumberjack feel of it. Everything was made from natural wood. The floors, the walls, the tables, the stools. Even the bar was made from a large polished log that had been sawed in half, and still had some of the bark on it. It was lit by strings of glass lightbulb flung back and forth across the ceiling. On the wall on the side of the bar was a chalkboard that listed the evening's drink and food specials.

"How can I help you?" a woman asked behind the bar. She had blond hair, brown eyes, and an expression that said she didn't like people who wasted time. She wore a cutoff tank top that showed off some cleavage, and a skirt with a slit up to her hip, exposing her boy short spandex.

Fred stepped forward earnestly. "I was hoping I could interview for a job." She pulled out a help wanted ad she ripped out of a newspaper after leaving her third tea shop that evening. "It says you're looking for a bartender."

The woman raised a slender eyebrow, looking Fred over carefully. "You ever work in a bar before?"

"I was a barista before this," Fred answered, hoping her background in coffee would translate. The lady just looked at her confused, and Fred remembered that no one here knew what that was. She hurriedly explained, "I worked more with coffee, but still mixing drinks and such. Just for morning people."

"Ah," the woman replied, going back to wiping up a spill on the bar.

"But I'm a quick study," Fred offered, jumping up to the bar. She needed a job. "And a hard worker. I made shift manager in my last place of work in under a year."

The blonde woman straightened up, throwing the cloth she'd been using over her shoulder. Her gaze leveled on Fred's verdant eyes. "Quick study, eh?" Fred nodded fervently. "Ok," the woman huffed, pulling out two glass cups with handles and a metal mixer. "I'm going to make our bar's most popular drink. Then I'm going to see you do it." She pulled some bottles of liquor up in a flashy manner. "I'm only going to explain this once, Shochu first," she held up the bottle, pouring it in the mixer. "Club soda," she held that up as well, then poured it in. "Then Lemon juice." She closed the mixer as she said, "They each need to be even." She then shook it hard for five seconds. She grabbed a scooper below, scooping up ice from a chest behind the bar and dumped it in the glass. Then she took the mixer and poured it in the glass, and dropped a pre-cut lemon into it. "Shouldn't take longer than two minutes, but if you're good it'll be ready in one."

The woman moved the empty glass over to Fred, as well as the mixer and liquor. "You're turn." Fred nodded, grabbing the mixer and the bottle labeled Shochu first, pouring it in carefully as the blonde woman passed the first drink to a man sitting at the bar who looked generally sullen until the new drink came into view. The blonde smiled at him, and said, "On the house." He smiled, and drank it happily as Fred moved onto the Club soda, just as carefully. Then the Lemon juice. She grabbed the mixer's top, closing it and shaking the drink as hard as she could, counting to five as she did. She held out the glass cup. "Ice?" The blonde scooped it in, and then Fred poured the mixer's contents into the glass. She held her hand out again, asking, "Lemon." The blonde passed her one, and Fred dropped it in the glass, then passed it back to the blonde.

The blonde made a face, looking at her watch. "A minute forty. Not bad. But how does it taste?" She grabbed the glass by its handle and took a sip, then pursed her lips, giving a pleasantly surprised expression. "Not bad. Not bad at all." She set the glass down as she smirked at Fred. "What's your name?"

"Fred. Winnifred Buchanan, but you can call me Fred," she answered quickly.

The blonde smirked. "Well, Fred, you've got yourself a position, starting tomorrow. It's Thursday, so it's going to be busy. I'll need you here by one to learn how to make the drinks." She pointed to herself as she finished, "My name is Yuri Katakake, and I own the Nomu Ki Bar, also known as The Drinking Tree. So, welcome on board."

Fred positively beamed at the petit blonde. "Thank you!" she cheered. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Yuri nodded, going back to work. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Fred turned to leave, waving another time. "Thank you!" she said again with a final wave.

"Oh, and Fred!" Yuri called out. Fred turned around quickly. Yuri was frowning at her outfit as she said, "Wear something black that shows off the ladies," she gestured to her chest as she said it. "You'll get more tips."

Fred blushed, but nodded as she left.

---

It was Thursday afternoon, and both Fred and Ronnie had skipped out of training with Temari, stating they both had gotten jobs. Fred at least promised to be back on Friday, while Ronnie made no such promise. But when the rest of the group saw her, Ronnie assured them she'd been keeping up with her hand practices, and felt she pretty much had her powers mastered.

Cordi had already left with Temari to meet back up with the other Sand Siblings for dinner, which left Lynne and Rox walking home, just them two. Lynne had been coming along practicing her bending spoons trick, now able to hold them up with only telekinesis. She was pretty excited about that. Rox's powers had also been coming along, and she was thankful Temari was such a skilled wind user to teach her some of her tricks. Now Rox could perform Temari's wind scythe jutsu without chakra or a giant fan, which she thought was pretty cool.

"I dunno'," Lynne sighed, holding her hands behind her head as they walked. "I'm still not certain those videos Cordi showed us are legit, y'know?"

Rox shrugged. "They seemed real. All of our houses were laid out correctly, and they looked exactly like our parents."

"Yeah, but time travel?" Lynne asked. "When in the history of Naruto has anyone time traveled?"

Rox frowned. "When in the history of Naruto has anyone jumped dimensions?" she countered. Lynne just scowled. Rox let out a sigh as she added, "I know. It's upsetting to think we won't see any of our family again for twenty years. But at least we know we will see them again."

Lynne shook her head, "No we don't. Any sci-fi reader knows time-travel is an incredibly complicated nuisance. Just seeing those videos might mean we never see them again. Or that we won't even get married. Or have children."

Rox shot the redhead a perturbed look as she replied, "Well, I doubt that. Otherwise, the guy claiming to be Cordi's son definitely wouldn't have left it."

Lynne was silent for a long moment, then asked, "Are you willing to test that theory?" Rox frowned, and Lynne just jutted her chin towards a street vendor at the end of the block. Rox's heart seized as she saw Shikamaru standing there, pensively looking at the vendor's wares. "If everything in the videos is going to happen, go pinch your husband's butt."

Rox blushed. "We don't know he's my husband."

"Your mother said he's laidback, and your dad said he was a ringer at chess," Lynne listed off, ticking the items with her fingers as she shot her friend a knowing look. "If that doesn't describe Shikamaru Nara, I don't know what does."

"Yeah, but—" Rox tried.

"No buts," Lynne laughed. "Remember Art History, senior year."

Rox frowned. "That's low."

Lynne shrugged. "You promised."

Rox chewed the inside of her cheek, shooting a look at the unsuspecting ninja. Lynne was right. She had promised. Back when they were in Art History class together in their senior year, Rox had completely forgotten about a major test, having spent most of the weekend working on a project for her French class. Rox begged her to use their free period in running through the study guide with her instead of doing what she had been planning on doing, working on her college admissions essays. Lynne agreed on the condition that Rox owed her five big favors or dares at any point she declared. Five because that was how many essays she needed to write. So far, Lynne had only used two. The first had been to pick her and Fred up at a party where they'd been drinking. The second had been to be her wingman when she was trying online dating for the first time. Essentially, sit several tables over, and call if things started to get weird, then drive her home. The man in question turned out to not look like his picture, and was a lot stranger than he let on originally. Lynne was usually pretty tolerant when it came to weird people, but once he started talking about his really attractive cousin, who she reminded him of, she decided it was time to get out of there.

"Is there an alternative?" Rox asked.

"No," Lynne smirked. Rox blushed, looking at the man in question. Lynne added in a laugh, "Well, yes. If you don't do it, I'm going to sneak over to his house tonight and carve 'Rox loves Shikamaru,' in his front door with my new telekinesis powers."

Rox shot her friend a rueful look as she breathed, "You are evil."

Lynne smiled wistfully as she looked at the sky. "I know." Lynne took the first steps toward the unsuspecting Nara, with Rox following closely behind. Lynne stopped once she'd gone a couple yards past him as Rox paused behind him. He bent over a little to get a better look at the vendor's wares, and Lynne smirked as Rox blushed. "Go on," she mouthed, gesturing to his ass.

Rox knew she was blushing furiously. She could practically feel the blood boiling in her face. She chanced a glance at his bottom and noted its pleasant curve. She closed her eyes, bracing herself as she chanted in her head, Pinch and run. Pinch and run.

She let out a small, quiet huff before reaching down and giving his butt a firm pinch that caused him to jump with a yelp, "WHAT THE-!?"

Now she was running, trying to catch up to Lynne who had already begun to hightail it out of there, cackling away. But just before she could catch up to her friend and tell her how much she sucked as a human being, Rox's body froze. Her heart pounded as she felt herself being forced to turn around, and realized she was stuck in Shikamaru's shadow possession. She chanced a look up at his expression, fear radiating through her. His expression was dumbfounded lividity, but his light brown eyes held a bewildered curiosity.

He walked up to her, forcing her to walk up to him as he still held her fast in his shadow possession. "Did you just pinch my butt in public?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Rox said quickly, cursing herself for feeling her eyes welling up. Of course he was angry. She would be too if some stranger did that to her on the street. And now she was blushing like mad, and crying. The excuse came tumbling out in a torrent. "It was a dare. My friend is a horrible person. It was that or something even more completely insane. I'm sorry."

He frowned, crossing his arms, so she too had to cross her arms as she cried. "Is this the friend that was inquisitioning me about Kiba?" he asked.

"No. That was Ronnie," Rox answered quickly. "This was Lynne."

He raised an eyebrow at that. He let out an annoyed sigh as he asked, "Are all your friends so meddlesome?"

"Not usually, no," Rox replied. "Lynne was just being particularly evil today."

"Uh-huh," Shikamaru grunted. He released the shadow possession as he looked Roxanne over. She looked positively mortified, so he knew it wasn't her idea. But it did beg the question, "Why did she dare you to pinch me?"

Rox pursed her lips as she looked away, her blush increasing to the point Shikamaru worried she might pop. He recalled her telling him the other day that he was her favorite character from those comics. Was it possible that she liked him? And that was the cause of her friends' meddling?

He'd never admit to being good at relationships. Most of the time, he felt the woman's mind was a place no man ever dare venture. Especially when it came to relationships. Women tended to twist things in their heads, even more so than he did, when it came to relationships. When he and Temari finally got together, she admitted that she'd been waiting on him for a while, stating that she could tell he had feelings for her, but was waiting until he manned up to ask her out properly. He didn't know why he hadn't. He, too, had liked her. She was smart and bossy, and he kind of liked that. Maybe it was that he was worried that getting into a relationship with her would expose the fact he wasn't good at relationships. In all truth, he'd only had the one girlfriend.

And his friends were no help in that area. He was the first one to start dating among his friends. Seriously, at least. Kiba had started banging anything that moved after the fourth ninja war. Something about needing to sow wild oats before he couldn't anymore. But none of those were serious relationships. The longest he'd date a girl was a week, then he'd move onto someone else. Kiba always told Shikamaru to have some fun before getting serious. Maybe Kiba was right. He should pursue a relationship for fun, without a goal in the end.

Roxanne wasn't like Temari. Temari, like his mother, had the personality of a bull in a china shop. The sand kunoichi was as subtle as a brick to the face.

Although, she was like her in one aspect. Roxanne was bold. He'd give her that. Even Temari wouldn't have pinched his butt in broad daylight, in the middle of town square.

He found himself smirking and saying, "You know, usually I have a girl buy me dinner first," before he even really thought about it.

"I can buy you dinner," she offered quickly.

His eyebrow shot up at that, seeing her blush even more furiously. Yes, she was definitely bold. Temari had waited five years for him to ask her on a date. Roxanne just asked him out after knowing him officially a week. She was making this easy for him. And after Temari, he needed something easy. Something that wouldn't be a constant fight. While he'd enjoyed the making up after, sometimes he wished he had a woman who didn't mind just cloud gazing with him. Someone who could be calm and easy.

He smiled as he asked, "Where are we eating?"

She blushed as she replied, "Well, I owe you the dinner. So, you should pick." He raised an eyebrow at that. She did have a point.

He pointed across the square, asking, "Are you up for barbeque?"

Rox's smile reached all the way to her eyes. "I'd love it."

So, they walked over to the barbeque restaurant, got a table, and Shikamaru got to know more about Rox. He learned she had an older brother, Travis, and that the girl staying with Temari and her brothers in Suna was Rox's little sister, Cordi. He learned she'd been an artist, getting a degree in her world in graphic design and fine art. She'd gotten a scholarship for school for excellent grades, as well as her portfolio of paintings and sketches focusing on clouds and weather patterns. She had a fascination with storms, which was what inspired the portfolio, and she promised to show him the pictures she had of her pieces stored on her laptop. She wasn't good at strategy games, but she was really good at puzzles. And the most memorable punishment her parents gave her was to write a book report after she chucked the book at her brother's head after one of his pranks.

It wasn't that she hated reading. She loved to read. But the book in question was her father's copy of Anna Karenina, which apparently was one of those nineteenth century Russian books, which she assured him were famous for being long and depressing, bemoaning the woes of Imperial Russian court. He didn't understand half of that description, but from what she told him, he agreed that it sounded dreadfully dull.

Afterwards, he walked her back to her apartment, since it was on the way to his house anyway. They joked and laughed the whole walk back, and he had to admit, it was the first time he'd felt so at ease in conversation since the break-up.

"Well," she murmured, pausing at the staircase of the ninja dorms. She and her friends were on the second floor. "This is my stop."

"Yeah," he breathed, looking at the building. He realized he'd been having so much fun just talking to her, he wished they could just keep the conversation going. But it was late. The sun had set a long time ago. They stayed an hour after paying at the restaurant, which he knew annoyed the wait staff. And the walk home took at least another forty-five minutes. "We should do this again," he said.

Roxanne looked up at him hopefully. "You mean, like a second date?"

A small, surprised smile came to his face as he found himself replying, "Yeah. A second date." He definitely liked her enough to warrant calling this a date. She was pretty in an innocent sort of way that he liked. She was reserved and kind. And when she mentioned her paintings, he caught a vision of them cloud gazing, her sketching them as they watched the clouds move across the sky. It was the first time he'd glimpsed a future he wanted, and Temari wasn't in it. He was surprised how much he wanted that moment now.

She positively beamed at him, her smile lighting up her whole face. "I'd like that."

He wasn't sure what made him do it, probably habit after a year of dating Temari, who expected a kiss on the cheek after every date. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, but she turned just as he did, and his lips met hers. It was only briefly, but her lips tasted sweet. His heart fluttered and his cheeks flushed as he realized his mistake. He straightened himself up, scratching the back of his head nervously as he cleared his throat.

Rox though, feeling confident now, stepped forward, using his shoulder to balance herself on her tippy toes so she could reach his lips for another kiss. His hand found its way to her neck, supporting her as she licked his lips for entrance, and he let her in. He felt a zing go straight to his navel as her tongue slid against his. The pressure she created when she pushed against him was exquisite, and he pulled her body close. It had been so long for him.

She smiled as she pulled away, her breath puffing against his lips as his eyes fluttered open to meet her reddish-brown eyes. "Goodnight, Shikamaru," she breathed, pulling herself away.

She'd started to make her way up the stairs when he finally called back, "Goodnight …" She was out of sight by the time he whispered, "Roxanne."

---

Gaara woke with a start, his breathing heavy as he tried to file away the dream in the deep recesses of his brain. He wasn't sure why, but he still had nightmares when he slept. It wasn't all the time. It wasn't even most of the time. But it was enough. He'd heard that most people grew out of nightmares. Not him, apparently.

He needed a glass of water to calm himself down, catch his breath. He walked out to the kitchenette, carefully opening one of the cabinets for a glass before running it under the faucet. As he looked up, taking a sip of the water, he saw a flame flickering above the couch, and he frowned.

"Is that Kankuro, or Gaara?" a voice asked in a whisper. It startled him a little, since the room was mostly dark, but the flickering flame. Gaara remained quiet as he swallowed the water, although he knew it was Cordi. He cursed himself, realizing he'd forgotten she was there. She'd been living with them for a little over a week now, but Gaara hadn't really done anything with her after the incident with the time traveling sand boy who claimed to be her son and her family videos. She'd cried so hard that night after watching the wholesome videos, he worried the littlest thing might cause her to burst into tears. And he wasn't good with crying women. So, he'd been avoiding her as best as he could.

The flame moved, then grew, lighting up the room, enough to see that she'd lit a candle, which sat on the coffee table. Next to the candlestick was a blue opened package. Now, he could see her straight, dirty-blonde hair hung down over her shoulders like a curtain, and the flame flicked in its reflection in her dark brown eyes. Its glow on her skin made Gaara realize that similar to how Hakuto, the woman the Suna council had attempted to arrange a marriage with him earlier this year, had seemingly embodied wind, Cordi embodied fire. Not a raging fire, that destroyed cities with its roar, but the comforting crackle of a hearth.

"It's Gaara," he answered, even though he knew she could see him. She gave him a look that said, "Yes, I can see that." He did his best to suppress the blush coming to his cheeks as he realized he wasn't properly dressed for a conversation. He wore a basic t-shirt and his underwear. Nothing else. It was a lot hotter in Konoha at night. And not the dry heat he was used to in the desert. It was a muggy, humid heat that clung to every pore, and dripped on the skin.

When neither of them said anything for a minute, she reached into the package then held up a dark black circular thing, asking, "Do you want an Oreo?" He frowned at the offer. What is an oreo? Almost as if she read his mind, she bit into the one she held up, stating, "It's a chocolate and cream cookie sandwich. My family would always get them when we'd go to Maine for vacation, which was where we were headed before we got lost, so I bought a couple packs before we left home." She pursed her lips before finishing the cookie. "Now they're just going to go to waste."

She was offering him a midnight snack? He stepped forward, looking at the package. He could see between the dark circles was a cream filled center. She smirked, and reached in again, then held one out to him. He blinked at how casual she was in the action, but he took the cookie anyway, taking a bite. The cookie was hard, but it was sweet. The chocolate hit his tongue, and it wasn't bitter like some of the chocolate Temari ate. It was … pleasant.

"Why are you awake?" he found himself asking. She did just give him a cookie. Better to be friendly. And it was rather early in the morning. Temari wasn't even close to waking, and she always woke up the earliest, except for himself.

She shrugged. "I had an anxiety dream," she answered, grabbing another cookie. "I was at my college dorm. It was the first day of classes, and I was just about to go to my first class, and I got stuck in the elevator when the chord snapped, and it plummeted five stories." He frowned. She smirked as she added, "I woke up from that, then tried to go back to sleep, and the dream continued with me knowing I was late to class. I looked and looked and looked for where my class was supposed to be, and when I finally found it, I'd missed the whole semester, and it was time for the final exam." She shrugged as she finished, "I woke up again, and figured my time would be better spent honing my … whatever it is."

He quirked his head at that. Whatever what is? She let out a sigh as she added, "Remember that night I set the kitchen on fire?"

He nodded. It was difficult to forget his sister blasting him with extinguishing foam.

She gave an odd smile, then held out her thumb. The tip of her thumb then lit up with a flickering flame, and she slowly flicked each of her fingers, each with their own flickering flame, until her five fingers were each lit. Then she closed her hand and opened it with a fireball appearing. She noted his awed expression, and smirked as she closed her hand and the fire disappeared. "We found out we had some powers."

He gave a vague nod. "I've never seen fire chakra work without hand signals," he stated with a frown.

"That's because it's not chakra," she replied. He gave her a weird look, and she added, "Temari's been helping me with it. Learning how to control it, as well as try and teach some jutsus. When we couldn't even manage some basic jutsus, like the shunshin thing, she had Hinata double check our lacking chakra networks."

That gave Gaara pause as he looked at her hand. He remembered Hinata stating they didn't have chakra networks, but now they had some power. So how did it work? "No chakra?"

Cordi shook her head. "None."

That is odd. "I wasn't aware that there was anybody who could do jutsus but not use chakra," he stated a little incredulously.

Cordi gave a shrug. "Maybe for people in this world. But we aren't from this world." She let out a sigh, grabbing another cookie. She snagged a second one and offered it to him, and he accepted it. "So," she drawled, flipping her cookie between her fingers, "I noticed your gourd has significantly changed sizes. What happened?" She eyed him carefully, then smirked, "Tweaked your back, didn't you?"

Gaara frowned at her worriedly. Not many people knew about him throwing his back out almost two years ago. Pretty much just his doctor, him, and his siblings who helped him recover, since he had a procedure and then was bedridden for two weeks. His doctor took an x-ray of his back when he noted Gaara was only eighteen at the time, then laughed when he looked at it and said, "Well, there's your problem right there. You're only eighteen, but you've put so much stress on your back, your spine looks like it's sixty." He then proscribed a procedure that would restore the discs and ligaments in his back that had worn down so seriously, but he had to stay in bed the whole time as the procedure did its work. The doctor also demanded he switch to a smaller gourd of sand, because if he didn't, he would end up paralyzed in a few years. The doctor also noted carrying around that much sand was completely unnecessary. Suna was in the desert, where sand was readily available.

When Gaara stayed awkwardly quiet, Cordi let out a loud laugh she immediately tried to stifle by covering her mouth, only to let out a chortle. "You threw out your back!"

"The strap kept breaking," Gaara tried to lie, although it wasn't really a lie. The strap on the old gourd broke so frequently, he'd easily spent a couple thousand on it for repairs over the years.

Cordi shook her head, still laughing. "No, you threw out your back. I could see it on your face as soon as I asked."

Gaara frowned. "No one was supposed to know," he muttered. He didn't need anyone looking for a weakness on him to know about his back. He looked at her carefully, and asked, "How did you guess?"

Cordi smirked. "I've been a size double D since I was twelve, while all of my friends are A's and B's." He shot her a weird look, not understanding what she was talking about. She rolled her eyes, pulling the strap of her tank top aside to expose her bra-strap, which she tugged on, jiggling her breasts. Gaara blushed as she continued nonchalantly, "Do you know how many times my friends, to feel better about themselves, have told me I'll need a breast reduction, because otherwise I'll throw my back out when I'm thirty?" She finally looked at him, seeing his face go crimson. "I'm sorry," she laughed. "That was really crass." She smirked as she jabbed at him, "Clearly, you have more delicate sensibilities."

He pouted at that. "I do not have delicate sensibilities," he defended. His expression made Cordi smile, which she tried to hide by steepling her hands in front of her lips. "What?"

"That was just the cutest pout I've ever seen," she gushed. Her voice got more baby-fied as she added, "Oh, it just makes me want to pinch those little cheeks." She reached out as if she actually would, but his sand caught her wrist as he leaned away. She rolled her eyes, dropping the cutesy voice as she laughed, "I'm just teasing. You can let go. I'm not going to pinch your cheeks." He looked unconvinced, and she frowned, "I promise."

Only then did he let her go, realizing how strange she was. Most people when caught by his sand would be terrified, not laughing. She let out another laugh as she resettled on the couch, and he became more fully aware of her. She was wearing short shorts that ended at the cusp of her ass, exposing her long, toned legs. She had an attractive figure. And she was just as exposed, if not more so than he was. He wondered if Matsuri knew about this, would she have a problem with it.

"But that pout," she laughed, "Whew." She got up, muttering, "I need some water," as she padded into the kitchenette, grabbing a glass and filling it. She took a sip, then added, "My sister would pout like that. She could get away with murder, I swear." She padded back to the couch, and he frowned as he watched her, listened to her closely. This was unsolicited information, but he was willing to learn everything he could about this strange girl who was now living with them. "When we were kids, she could do anything without getting in trouble. Just flew right under the radar. One time, she kicked me out of the bed we shared. I was five or six. Anyway, she kicked me off the bed and I landed on her solid wooden dollhouse, which hurt like hell. So I responded by throwing a Barbie at her. She dodged it by jumping in the closet, then POW! Nailed me in the forehead with a high heel shoe. Then, I got in trouble for: first, instigating the fight, which honestly who kicked who out of bed? And second, tattling on my sister." She let out a bitter laugh.

"You sound like you hold a grudge," Gaara commented blandly. But it was good insight into Cordelia Turner. Her sister, Roxanne, was the angel, while Cordelia was probably the black sheep. She also spun these tales so animatedly that it held his attention.

"Eh," Cordi shrugged. "Travis and I got her back." Gaara raised a hairless eyebrow at that, and Cordi smiled. "We played this prank on her. Travis had just turned eighteen, so I would have been fourteen, and Rox was fifteen. Anyway, so we played this prank that played kind of heavily on her biggest fear, which is vomit. And she reacted to it by grabbing the closest book she could find, and chucking it at Travis's head. The book in question was Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, which is widely known where I'm from as one of the longest, most boring and depressing books ever written. My mom, genius at punishment she is, made her read the whole book and write a five-page book report on it, which my Mom then graded and shredded." Cordi smirked. "A week of her summer vacation wasted."

"Are pranks commonly practiced in your home?" he asked, sipping his water.

"Yes, mostly just between Travis and I, but Rox would join in occasionally," she replied, although she began to frown at him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "I feel like you're pumping me for information."

He shrugged, replying, "The first night you came, you proved you knew essentially everything about my siblings and myself. I think it's only fair if I learn about you."

Cordi shrugged, "I wouldn't say everything." She chuckled as she held her fingers up close together. "Just like 80 to 90 percent. You know, the important stuff."

"Then I should know 80 to 90 percent about you," he replied as if the logic was simple.

She pursed her lips, then shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

He frowned nonchalantly waving his hand. "You tell me. What were your aspirations? What was your family like? What are your hobbies?"

She pursed her lips. "If I go into my whole life story, we'll be here forever."

He shrugged. "I have time."

"Fine," she sighed, "I'm the youngest of three children. Travis is the oldest, my brother. He's about Kankuro's age. Month older maybe. Then my sister Rox, who you've met. She was the navigator of our group." Gaara nodded, remembering meeting the rest of her friends when they arrived. The girl with the long black hair if he wasn't mistaken. "My Dad, Ned, and my mom, Lori, have been married for …" she counted out on her fingers, then said, "almost thirty years."

"Your parents must love each other," Gaara commented.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Too much." Gaara quirked his head, and she laughed. "One night a few years ago, Rox and I were doing our homework in the living room, and my parents started kissing with us in plain view. And I mean making out. Which, as you know, is horrifying," she laughed, gesturing to him. Gaara looked at her skeptically, unsure what the difference between kissing and making out was, as she continued, "So, we yell at them to get a room. And then, in what can only be described as psychological warfare or domination over my sister and I, my mom pulled away, then grabbed my dad and licked his face. Like whole side," she gestured from her jaw to her temple, so he got a visual. She started laughing a little hysterically as if she was reliving it a little, "And my dad was just deadpan. Like, 'This is normal Lori behavior.' Then Mom looked us dead in the eye and told us, 'I own this house, so I will kiss my husband where I like in it.'" Gaara stared at her wide eyed as she laughed. "You know how there are some horrifying images that can't be unseen? Yeah, seeing your parents like that is one of them."

Gaara pursed his lips at that, feeling a blush starting in his cheeks. He momentarily wondered if his parents were in love like that. It was difficult to imagine his mother randomly kissing his father in front of him and his siblings. His father was always rather prudish, so he couldn't imagine it at all.

Cordi chuckled seeing his uncomfortable expression. "Sorry. That story was probably TMI. You'll learn that I have no filter." She made a slightly ashamed face, but not really sorry about it. Then she smiled. "Kinda' like Naruto, you know? I think it, I say it. And to be honest, any type of humiliation I could have over that situation pales in comparison to the time my grandfather went in great detail about having sex with my grandmother to my church youth group with my sister, brother, and I present."

Gaara was staring at her wide-eyed at that, in wonder at her mental fortitude to laugh about something like that. "Why?" he found himself asking.

"Huh?" she asked, surprised by his question. "Oh, my grandpa used to be a sex ed teacher, and a couple weeks before, several of the teens in my youth group went on a church sponsored camping trip that got out of hand, and two girls came back pregnant." She explained it so nonchalantly. "Oh," she laughed, "you probably don't have churches here, so you probably don't get the irony of parents sending their kids off to a church event that somehow turned into an orgy."

He frowned. "Is there a connection?"

She laughed. "Yeah. It's a place of religion. So imagine some pious priests offer to take a group of fourteen and fifteen-year-olds on a spiritual journey, which the teenagers then turn into a sex-fest."

He paused to think about that, closing his eyes and letting out a steady sigh as the irony resonated.

She shrugged, "Anyway, after grandpa, it takes a lot for me to get embarrassed." He nodded, taking note of that. She sighed, running her hand through her hair as she said, "What else? Oh, I had platinum blonde hair as a kid. It's steadily been getting darker over the years, though."

"How blonde?" he asked, eying her hair curiously, thankful she wasn't talking about sex anymore.

She twisted her hair in her fingers as she answered, "Like white. Like Kakashi's hair wasn't as white as mine was. Although I'm not sure what color it would be at now, since I've been getting my hair highlighted since I was eleven. But if I had to guess, it might be a mousey brown." She took another deep breath before plunging back in. "OH! My mom also has a twin brother, but she is the youngest of eight siblings, so I'm from a HUGE family."

He raised his hairless eyebrows at that, his eyes going a little wide. Arranged marriages were still so commonplace in Suna, it was strange to hear about a family getting so large. "Your grandparents must really love each other," he said, clearing his throat.

She smiled forcefully. "Yes. We've established that."

He blushed, realizing she was referencing the grandfather from before.

"Hmm," she hummed, ignoring his reddening face as she tapped a finger to her lips. "My mom is super protective. We sometimes call her mama T-Rex, because if anyone messed with us, she would legitimately eat them alive." Gaara was now again wide-eyed, and Cordi waved off his worry as she added, "Metaphorically speaking, of course. It came in handy a couple times, like when my brother's math teacher fucked up his college recommendations. Or when my sister decked a guy for snapping her bra. And when I was being bullied at school."

She pursed her lips, looking off in the distance, and Gaara could see she was mentally picking at an old wound, wondering if she should open it up for him.

She pinched the tip of her nose, and he realized she was going to tell him as she started, "My first several years of school were really difficult. I was ostracized by everyone in my class. They believed I was a witch or some demon spawn, and wanted nothing to do with me. Didn't matter that none of it was true, and stupid to believe to begin with. It didn't matter that …" She stopped, blinking hard and shaking her head. "I had some teachers who promoted the ostracizing in class. So my mom constantly fought for me. Against my teachers, against the heads of school. Hell, against the freaking board of education."

She let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, shooting him a somber expression as she said, "That whole experience was why I identified with you as a character." Her dark eyes connected with his, and she could tell she had his full attention. "When you showed up on the show, I recognized the isolation, the rage in you. Even more than with Naruto, because he always had that goal and dream to keep him going. But I lost mine when I was six, because I realized there was a good possibility it would be unattainable for me."

He frowned. "Why?"

She gave a pained smirk, and said, "Because people needed to like me to achieve it. And that wasn't happening." She shook her head, and continued, "I met Ronnie when I was nine. She was the first friend I ever made, and the best friend I'll ever have." She smiled as she thought about it. "She was new to the school, and originally very stand-offish, but we became friends. And then our sisters became best friends, so we would always hang out the four of us when we could. Things were still really bad with my other classmates, but Ronnie always made things easier. But I don't think my schoolmates ever accepted me until Rox got me in a talent show to sing, and I got a standing ovation."

"You sing?" he asked.

She shot him a weird look. "After all that, that's what you got?" she scoffed. He only frowned in response, and she sighed. "Yes, I've been singing since I was four, and my sister and I were classically trained for years. My parents made sure we also knew how to ballroom dance, knew proper etiquette in case we ever met someone important, as well as be on as many extra-curricular sports teams as possible." She sighed as she said, "I was originally going to go into law, the same as my Mom, but now that's not going to happen."

"I'm sorry," Gaara replied, looking at the floor for a minute.

She scoffed. "I'm not." He frowned at that. She pursed her lips before adding. "I don't know. Law was what my career aptitude tests all told me to pursue, because again I'm really good at debate and finding loopholes. But I'm not sure I have the patience for the bureaucratic bullshit. Honestly I've never had my heart set on any particular career."

Gaara frowned. That statement seemed to beg a question. "What did you have your heart set on?"

She made a face, and he thought he saw a small blush come to her cheeks. "That unattainable dream I talked about? If I told you," she said, chewing on the inside of her cheek, "I think I'd have to kill you."

Gaara's expression remained absolutely stoic as he asked, "Is that a threat?"

"No," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's just a phrase. What I mean is that I've never told anybody the answer to that question. Not even my friends or family, because it's important to me and I don't want to be judged. So, if I told you, that means I would trust you with a secret more than anyone in the whole world. Trust you not to judge me. Trust you not to share it with anybody."

"You mean like I am trusting you not to share my magnetic release kekkei genkai, which could spell problems for any fight I'm in if it becomes public knowledge?" Gaara offered.

Cordi frowned. "That's a secret?"

Gaara nodded.

Cordi chewed on the inside of her cheek as he looked at her expectantly. It was clear she knew a lot of his vital secrets. His cyan gaze penetrated hers, and she sighed. "Fine, but this doesn't go past us," she gestured between him and her, and he nodded. "I'm serious. Even if my friends ask." Again, he nodded. She narrowed her gaze on him, and shoved out her hand with her pinky extended. "Pinky swear?"

He made a strange face, taken aback by the request. "What?"

"You've never made a pinky promise?" Cordi asked, her pinky still offered.

A small bewildered smile crept to his face as he said, "No one's ever asked me to pinky swear on anything."

"First time for everything," she said with a smirk. "It may be childish, but it's ironclad." He raised an eyebrow at that. It most definitely wasn't ironclad, but if it was what he needed to do to gain her trust … He held out his fist, his pinky extended, and she wrapped hers around his. It was warm, and their skin tingled where it met. She let out a small huff, her pink still wrapped around his as she closed her eyes, as if bracing herself. "Mother of four. I want to be a mom, more than anything."

She shot him a wincing look only to see he was looking at her with bizarre surprise and confusion. She dropped his pinky and pointed at him with a glare and said, "This is why I didn't want to say it. You're judging me." He shook his head, but she was already going off, "I know ever since women got more agency over their bodies and were able to join the workforce more, and take on more powerful positions in society, it's become a sin to admit that instead of wanting to live up to my mental potential and ruling a country, which according to my career aptitude tests is where my mind would be best applied, all I want to do is raise some kids to be productive members of society. But that is all I want." Gaara was doing his best to hold back a smile and she scowled. "Now, you probably think I'm some basic bitch without a brain who wants to become a 'breeder,' as the super feminists would call me, and was only going to college to get my MRS degree, which I wasn't. Truth be told, I could care less if I get married. I'm honestly assuming I won't be, because my dating track record is shit."

"That wasn't what I was thinking," he said. She shot him a disbelieving scowl. He smiled as he said, "Actually, I'm relieved it's something so normal. You led up to it as if it was something like joining the circus." She didn't dignify it with a response as he added, "And while the terms 'basic bitch' and 'MRS degree' elude me, I do not think of you as someone lacking a brain."

Cordi rolled her eyes. "A basic bitch is a woman who is shallow with no sense of originality and generally dimwitted. An MRS degree is when a woman goes to college to find a man to marry rather than getting an actual degree for her career."

Gaara nodded appreciatively. "Then you are definitely not that, from what I've seen." He shifted in his seat as he added, "And I have great respect for mothers. It's a difficult job." He looked her over and asked, "Why do you assume you wouldn't be married?"

"Hm?" she asked.

"You said you assume that you won't get married. Why?"

She rolled her eyes, then held up a hand to tick off reasons, "Bullied as a kid, so I'm socially awkward. I have a domineering and, sometimes, annoying personality, which isn't attractive, but I can't change it either. I'm smart, as previously stated, which guys also don't tend to like, especially if the woman in question is smarter than they are. I'm not nearly as hot as my friends, who again are all petit and skinny, whereas I'm tall for a woman and wear a size eight rather than a zero. And lastly, the only guy who's ever showed any remote interest in me dated me for a couple months, and then cheated on me." She looked at him with pursed lips, and noted the generally sympathetic expression. She scoffed as she finished, "So, yeah, not really inspiring much confidence in that area."

Gaara chewed on his cheek as he watched her. She reminded him of himself for a minute. After the Council announced his pending betrothal to Hakuto, he started looking at himself in such an appraising manner. Wondering if the woman he was set to marry would say "No" for the reasons he deemed lacking. His lack of dating experience was obvious. His social skills needed work. He was emotionally unavailable. Would his murderous past bite him in the ass in this regard, as it frequently did?

He licked his lips as he said, "Well, surely someone will see something in you." She gave him a curious frown as he said, "The video and letter your time traveling son left said you eventually married and had him."

She gave a small nod, realizing she forgot about that. "I guess you're right," she breathed. Her gaze caught his, and there was something in the moment that caught her breath. Some glimmer in his eyes that made her pause and think. Kankuro had said her son had sand powers, and was from Suna. That couldn't be that common of an ability. Was Gaara it? Was he her future husband? Her heart pounded at the thought. Surely something in him was sensing that too.

She opened her mouth to make a flirting joke about her son being Gaara's as well, just to relieve the tension she felt building, but stopped. Gaara was with Matsuri. Cordi's morals would not let her be the other woman. And even though she knew that relationship was headed south anyway, given what Lynne had told her, Gaara didn't. She couldn't be the one to tell him. Instead, she cleared her throat awkwardly, and said, "Maybe I should be headed back to bed."

"Yes," Gaara replied, and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw relief flash across his eyes. She grabbed the oreo pack, putting it away in one of the cupboards then walked back to hers and Temari's room. Gaara was standing now at his own door, looking at her awkwardly as if trying to puzzle something together before he said, "Thank you … for telling me about yourself."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, her hand on her doorknob as she said with a shrug, "You'd have found out most of that after a while, anyway."

"Still," Gaara chirped, then grumbled a small, "Sleep well," before diving back into his and Kankuro's room.

She couldn't help the smile that crept to her face as she opened her bedroom door. She was fast asleep as her head hit the pillow, dreaming of her and Gaara watching their son play in the park.

---

On Thursday, July 2nd, most of the town was shut down, preparing for the festival the next evening. This meant the school was closed as well, meaning Fred, Rox, Lynne, and Ronnie all got the morning off. Temari was tasked with Kankuro to oversee the Suna challenger's final preparations that day, no exceptions, while Gaara handled some correspondence with the Suna Council. Both Ronnie and Fred still had to go to their evening jobs, but given the sudden free time the girls decided to venture into the forest of death and see their dragons.

When they arrived, they were surprised to see that not even at two weeks old, they had grown to the size of horses. The girls tended to their dragons, and caught up with each other. They couldn't stay long, since they could only see the dragons at the edge of the forest grounds. Fred told them about her new job at the Nomu Ki Bar, stating she was making decent money in tips. Yuki, her boss, sounded like a bit of a hard ass, but also really caring and passionate about her bar and its patrons.

It was as they left the Forest of Death grounds Lynne asked with a wicked smirk, "So, Rox? I heard you coming back kind of late the other night. Care to explain?"

"What?" Cordi gasped, looking at her older sister with shock. Ronnie and Fred also looked on interestedly. Ronnie more confused than Fred.

Rox blushed under the sudden attention, smiling brightly as she stated, "I – uh, I went on a date with Shikamaru. Well, uhm, two dates."

Lynne grinned like a Cheshire cat as she laughed, "You're welcome."

Cordi shoved her sister and howled excitedly, "Get out! Why didn't you tell us!?"

"I second that question," Fred glowered at her closest friend.

Rox wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "Well, I didn't want to say anything in front of Temari, since she's his ex, and she's been so helpful," she explained. "This is the first time I can tell all of you together. And I didn't want to leave anybody out."

"This is so not fair," Ronnie groused. The other girls shot her confused looks and she added, "Not that. I'm happy for you, Rox. Really. But I get a job at the kennel to work with Kiba, and every time I make a move, he freezes up."

"Really?" Rox asked with a frown. "Shikamaru told me Kiba chases anything that walks in front of him."

Ronnie scowled off to the distance as she muttered, "Maybe he's never been pursued before. … Sexually, I mean."

Rox shrugged.

"Whatever," Cordi huffed, turning to her sister excitedly. Ronnie shot a hurt pout at her best friend, which Cordi waved off. "No news on the Kiba front. I'm curious how Rox's dates have gone with Shikamaru." She was practically on her sister's shoulder now, like a gargoyle on a cathedral. "Who asked who out? How did it happen? I need details."

"After the videos, Lynne dared me to pinch his butt in public, since she thinks he's my husband in the videos," Rox started.

Cordi, Ronnie and Fred gasped, "What?" and "You didn't," all together.

"I did," Rox muttered, a blush warming her cheeks from embarrassment. "Lynne threatened to do something much worse to his door," Rox added, pointing to the cheekily grinning ginger.

"Lynne!" Fred gasped.

"What?" Lynne responded guiltlessly.

"It's the twenty-first century. You can't just dare someone to pinch some rando's ass," Fred scolded, "IN PUBLIC! That's sexual assault."

"Oh, come on," Lynne huffed. "He wasn't just some rando. It was Shikamaru Nara." Fred shook her head in disbelief as Lynne continued. "Rox's favorite character, and the man I was eighty percent certain is going to marry her."

Rox looked affronted. "Only eighty?"

"I always hedge my bets," Lynne replied with a shrug. Rox gave a hurt pout. "Oh, come on. You've gone on two dates with the guy. Are you really mad at me?" Lynne looked at the middle friend, then rose an eyebrow in surprise as she said, "And got two kisses out of him."

Rox blushed furiously, and hissed, "What did we say about you reading our minds!?"

"Sorry," Lynne defended, holding her hands up. "I didn't mean to. Still …"

"Is he a good kisser?" Ronnie asked, squeezing in by Cordi.

Rox flushed crimson.

"Yes," Lynne said for her.

"Lynne!" Rox hissed.

"Alright, I'm not sorry about that one."

Fred sighed as Rox and Lynne began to bicker. She'd long learned it was better not to get in between them sometimes. Especially on the little things. Plus, Lynne already knew better. She just did it that time to goad Rox. She cleared her throat, and looked at Cordi, and asked, "Anyway, Cordi, have you figured out how you're going to sneak Aleera into the desert?"

Cordi paused, looking at the oldest of their group. "What?"

"You're leaving in three days," Fred reminded. The group frowned at her, and Fred looked back at them disappointed. "Come on. Tomorrow is the festival. Next day is that tournament exam thing."

"Chunin Exams," the other four filled in.

"Whatever," Fred huffed with an eyeroll. "Then you leave the next morning. That's not a lot of time to figure out what you're doing with Aleera."

"Yeah," Ronnie sighed, "remember Gaara can pretty much see anything in the desert."

"I know," Cordi sighed. Out of all of them, she knew the most about Gaara and his abilities. She knew very well as soon as they hit the desert, Aleera was going to stick out like a sore thumb. A large red, flying lizard was already pretty eye catching, and with no forest to hide her. She chewed her inner cheek, and asked, "So what do I do?"

"You haven't thought about this at all?" Rox asked worried.

Cordi groused, "Well, we've had a lot going on. We've been here two weeks, and everyday there's something going on that demands our attention." She knew they were just weak excuses, but that didn't make them untrue.

"Cordi," Rox chided.

"I know," Cordi huffed, scratching her forehead. "Surely one of you has an idea of what I should do, though."

No one gave her an answer as they came into town, where the group saw Shikamaru chatting with Chouji and Ino. Ino gestured over to their group, and Shikamaru turned with a blush, then waved. Rox quickly waved back, then turned to her friends and said, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Get'im girl!" Ronnie called out as Rox jogged away from the group to her new boyfriend.

Fred frowned, checking her watch, which she bought last week with her tip money, since her phone no longer worked, and she needed to know how to tell time. She sighed, jutting her thumb to their ninja dorms on the street corner to the right. "Well, it's one. I need to head back to the apartment to get ready for my shift tonight."

"One?" Ronnie gasped, grabbing her sister's wrist and looking at the time. "Shit. I'm late for my shift at the vet! I'll see ya'll later!" She waved back at them as she began to sprint past the Rox, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji towards the Inuzuka Complex towards the southeast border of the village.

They each watched Ronnie sprinting down the road frantically. "Welp," Fred chimed, "I'll see ya'll later, too." Fred gave the girls a salute, then turned, heading back to the dorms, leaving Lynne and Cordi standing in the square.

Cordi chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought about her conundrum. "What do you think I should do, Lynne?" she asked, turning to her redheaded best friend.

Lynne's icy blue eyes looked over her carefully. "I think what you're thinking is the only thing you can do," she answered solemnly.

Cordi frowned, looking back towards the village, watching the people passing by. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

---

AN: This is the longest chapter I've ever written for Legendaries. 18,250 words before adding notes and warnings. It's difficult to think I originally planned on having this chapter as part of the previous chapter. The story really gets going once Cordi heads to Suna (again, if you read the original, then you know how things start to get crazy), so I've been trying to get through all the first two weeks stuff quickly. There's only one chapter left of it, and it should be shorter. At least I'm hoping.