Chapter Nineteen: Over the Rainbow

Tightness. That's all she could comprehend as their feet pounded against the stone road to the training field. They were so late. All because the students started a food fight, starting with two pranksters who used spoons to catapult rice balls at each other. Rice balls.

Of course in standard film fashion, the cafeteria ignited into a frenzy of fruit, vegetables, sushi, rice, katsu, and shrimp sauce. Not to mention the thousand other unidentifiable foods that the girls, as per their punishment, were required to clean up, even though they had been eating outside, away from the younger students.

By the end of clean up, they were already fifteen minutes late. So the girls sprinted to get to training, and prayed Shikamaru would be merciful. But as Rox saw Shikamaru spot them, suck hard on his last drag of his cigarette before dropping it and stomping it out, she rather doubted he would be so kind.

The girls ran up to them, their last few steps making heavy thuds as they slowed. Rox put her hands on her knees, already feeling lightheaded from the tightness in her chest as she tried to calm her breathing the way her old Soccer Coach showed her during a game, while Cordi had fumbled through her bag to find her inhaler. She did her best to focus on her breathing. In – one two three four – out – one two three four five six. Except she could feel she could only breath in to two before the air caught in her throat. Her chest felt like it was bound by two corsets and a sports bra.

"You're thirty minutes late," he stated.

Lynne walked over, noticing Rox's struggle as she whispered, "Hey. Just breathe with me." Rox nodded, but it was the same exercises she was already doing. In – one two three four – out – one two three four five six.

"Dumbass – middle schoolers – had a food fight – during lunch – that we had to – clean up," Fred answered between gasps. "We ran here as fast as we could."

Shikamaru gave them a pursed frowned before he replied, "That sounds like it's not my problem."

Rox weakly scowled up at him, but he was clearly making an effort not to look at her. What an asshole.

Shikamaru ignored her friends expressions of surprise and disappointment, and ordered, "You remember what Lord Kakashi said. Double time. Run." Fred and Lynne glared at him on behalf of Rox. But Rox only looked sadly at the ground. She knew he wasn't going to be considerate. "Go!" he ordered.

Ronnie left first, starting to jog down the field as Fred and Lynne looked at Rox nervously. Rox did her best to pull in another breath. In – one two three four – out – one two three four five six. This time she breathed to three. She'd be alright. She nodded at her friends that she'd recover.

She saw Fred mouth something to Lynne, but Rox was still preoccupied with her breathing to really pay that much attention. Lynne ran ahead, closing half the distance between them and Ronnie. Rox straightened and began to jog lightly. There was no way she could sprint now. Fred came up behind her, keeping pace with Rox.

The tightness quickly returned, even going as slowly as Rox was. She grimaced, not understanding why her body couldn't just function.

As soon as they got to the first corned, Fred could hear Rox rasping. "Don't push yourself," Fred huffed. "Focus on your breathing."

Rox did her best, but both of them could hear her breathing struggling already.

"ROX! FRED! PICK UP THE PACE!" Shikamaru yelled across the field as the turned the second corner to the longest stretch of the field. Ronnie and Lynne were already past halfway down.

"Fuck off," Fred huffed, glaring at the pineapple head.

Sprint, Rox realized. He'd make them run more laps if she didn't sprint. Rox picked up her pace a little, and Fred gasped, "Don't!" But Rox maintained it, and Fred picked up her pace to keep up. Rox started off her sprint still gasping, but it was tiring her to keep that up. She wasn't getting any air anyway. She tried to push herself to the third corner and stop, so Shikamaru knew she was trying. She wanted to yell at him that she had asthma. That she couldn't keep this up.

Her vision started to tunnel, and she slowed to a stop. Panic started to settle in as she fought to stay awake. As she fought with her lungs, demanding, BREATHE DAMMIT BREATHE! She barely registered Fred's hands on her shoulders, and could only hear the blood rushing in her ears even though she could tell her friend was trying to talk to her. She grabbed at her diaphragm, trying to focus her breathing that way, like she learned in choir. To hold long notes, focus on the diaphragm. Maybe that would help her pull in breath.

But it did nothing.

Then horror over swept her as she realized she couldn't breathe. She could feel her body shutting down as her vision tunneled to pinpricks, barely feeling Fred's hands on her shoulders anymore. Rox vaguely understood Fred was yelling, but it sounded miles away. And then there was nothing.

White. That's all Rox could see or understand of the place she was suddenly aware of. She had color, she thought, but it was purer than it was in real life. She could feel this place was made of peace and comfort. It was the embodiment of the coziness of just waking up on a warm Saturday morning in your bed when you had nowhere to be and nothing to do. The perfect place where the soul meets the body between states of consciousness. That's where she was.

She was vaguely aware on the other side of this white room was a burst of color where her friends stood together with Shikamaru, over someone who'd fallen. Rox tried to see who, feeling even more vaguely that it just might be her.

"It's too early," a voice said. "Go back." She looked around, sad and confused.

"But it's nice here," she pouted. "I want to stay."

"They need you. Go back."

"But…"

She didn't get to finish her pleading as the world faded to black.

"Oh, you're feeling better," Rox heard a familiar voice say as she looked up. She was sitting in her favorite chair at home with a book and the family tabby cat, Parsifal. Her mother was smiling down at her, familiar brown eyes behind wire-framed glasses. Her hair was exactly like Cordelia's, except just starting to gray in places, and cut into a professional shoulder-length bob.

"Mom?" Rox choked, feeling the sob deep in her chest. "Oh my God!" she jumped up ecstatically, pulling her mom in a tight hug, taking Lori Turner by surprise she was sure. "I've missed you so much."

Lori let out an odd laugh, hugging her daughter back as she said, "Oh, honey, that nap must have done a number on you." Lori pulled away, pushing Rox's grown out fringe bangs to the side. "I've told you several times running around the forest like that during this heat wave, you're bound to have a heat stroke. I told your Dad today was a bad day for a hike, but does he listen?"

"M-Mom," Rox tried, looking around. "I-I've been gone for months."

Lori frowned, then laughed. "You mean that trip you went on with your friends to meet the ninjas. Ya'll came back a week ago, remember?"

"What?"

"And I'd hardly call it months. Ya'll were gone for two weeks as planned," Lori stated as she walked back into the kitchen, then pausing to ask, "You want a Gatorade? Water?"

"Water's fine," Rox answered a bit confused. She could have sworn it was longer. Two months at least. But the memories seemed to fall into place. They'd returned home a week ago, promising the ninjas they'd keep in touch. "Is Cordi home?"

"She's upstairs," Lori said. "Probably on that stupid computer."

Rox ran upstairs to Cordi's room, which sat just before hers in the hallway. Cordi sat on her bed, cross-legged in shorts. Her honey-highlighted hair tied back in a half pony-tail. Cordi saw Rox in her doorway, and snapped shut her computer guiltily. Rox scoffed, "You know, it's weird to read fanfiction now that we know them."

"I wasn't—" Cordi hissed. Then she rolled her eyes finishing, "I wasn't reading Naruto fanfiction. I was emailing Gaara for a reference."

Rox tilted her head curiously, raising an eyebrow at her younger sister's claim. "A reference," she repeated as if it were an innuendo.

Cordi rolled her eyes again. "It's not like that. He's got a girlfriend, remember?"

"Sure," Rox laughed. "Why do you need a reference again?"

"Well, he was my last boss, and I'm trying to get that job in the school writing center," she stated, chewing on her lower cheek, opening her laptop again. "They need two recommendations, and I got one from Mr. Smith, my English teacher. So, a glowing review from my previous boss who runs a country should be a shoe in, right?"

"Yeah," Rox chirped, her brow furrowed.

Cordi set her jaw as she huffed, "Well, you'd think it'd be easy, how often I was with him and his family. But this is the second email I'm sending this week, because the first one was responded with 'The Kazekage's office will respond to fanmail in 10 to 14 business days.' Which, hello! This isn't fanmail. I fucking worked for you for a month. So, if you could get off your high-horse and write me a fucking rec. I'll be out of your hair. Fucking asshole."

Rox leaned over to read the letter, just making out the start, and offered, "You probably shouldn't start the email with, 'Hey Lord Kookaburra.'"

"This is just the rough draft to get the rage out. I'll send a revised version later."

Rox chuckled. "Kookaburra?" Cordi hadn't changed at all.

"There aren't a lot of curses that start with K. At least those birds are super annoying," Cordi sighed. She pouted, then said, "You know, Kamasutra would have been better. He gets rattled and nervous when people bring up sex. Or no, KNICKERBOCKER!"

"He's not seeing the rough draft," Rox pointed out.

"I know. Pity," Cordi said with a pursed look. "It's truly a masterpiece of laying an asshole low."

Rox laughed and Cordi chuckled with her. Rox let out a sigh, then asked, "Why does it feel like it's been so long since we've talked face to face?"

Cordi frowned at her, then said, "I dunno'. Because you're a weirdo?" Rox frowned at her, not appreciated the glib remark. Cordi gave a shooing wave and said, "Now go. I have to finish this email."

Rox rolled her eyes, and walked over to her room where she saw the black tabby, Parsifal just hopped on her bed. "Hey, buddy," she cooed, scratching under his jaw, eliciting his purrs.

"Shit. SHIT! Oh no, I hit send!" Cordi cried from her room through her hands. "Oh no no no no no. Delete. DELETE! Oh no, it says he's reading now. Fuckfuckfuck fuckity-fuck!"

Rox chuckled at her sister's dilemma. "Sucks to be you."

"He shoots, he scores, GOOOOOAAL!" Travis roared starting to run a victory lap around the yard. Travis got home a few days ago from boot camp, and still had his military crew cut maintained in his dark hair. He'd gotten a surprising amount of sun back in Texas again, making him look more latino as he'd tried to grow out his facial hair again, as he usually did as soon as he was done with his military duty for the year.

That wasn't to say Travis wasn't their brother. He most certainly was. There was a picture of Cordi taken at such an angle that the resemblance between Cordi and Travis was unmistakable. The same jawline, cheekbone, eyebrows. And all three of the Turner children had the same nose they'd gotten from their father Ned. Travis looked eerily like their father, Ned, except he had amber eyes instead of their father's stormy blues. Rox was a dead ringer for their maternal grandmother, Mary Hart. And Cordi was a solid mix of both Turner and Hart, looking in some aspects eerily like their mother, and in other aspects eerily like Rox's and Cordi's namesakes on the Turner sides, both Grammy Cordelia Turner and Aunt Roxanne Favraue nee Turner.

But out of all of the Turner siblings, only Travis got the surprising ability to tan when exposed to the sun. Which of course Cordelia always envied most, because usually after ten minutes in the sun, she came out redder than a boiled lobster.

Roxanne jogged up to Cordi, huffing, "What the hell? I thought you had him."

"I thought I did too," Cordi grumbled. "I guess boot camp taught him fancy footwork."

"No. My ballroom dancing club at college taught me that," Travis corrected. He showed the foot maneuver he used to fake out Cordi, adding an extra hip swivel as he said, "That was the salsa, leaning a bit into the rumba."

Cordi looked at him deadpanned, having used a few samba moves against him in their game already. "You dare use my own spells against me?"

Travis smirked, then said, "Well, it's almost five, so we don't have time for your sulking. Remember it's Mom's birthday dinner, and we gotta' go to the restaurant." Cordi rolled her eyes sniping back at him, as they always did. That was the thing about Cordi and Travis that always bothered Rox. Both Travis and Cordi were so relentlessly similar in tenacity and personality that they frequently clashed and grated, while Rox tried to stay quiet and reserved, hiding quietly in the background while they had another clash of sibling rivalry. There were never any winners.

Rox went to go pick up the ball and something caught her eye at the end of the field. She squinted, since the tree-line where the figure stood was easily a hundred yards away minimum. But there was no mistake of the vest shape, hairstyle, or the puff of smoke looming over him. "Shikamaru!" she called, waving at him.

"Rox! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Travis called, pulling her attention away.

She waved at her older brother, who was already standing at his car with keys in hand, Cordelia also waiting surprisingly calmly. "I'll be right there!" she called back. Rox turned back to see Shikamaru was gone. She frowned, sure she had just seen him.

Travis honked his horn, and Rox decided to drop it, huffing, "I'm coming!"

Several days more passed, and everyone was invited out to a big party at the Buchanan's cattle farm, although Rox couldn't really remember what the party was for. She assumed it was a birthday party, because there was cake and a huge game of capture the flag being played. Guys against girls. The guys team consisted of the older Buchanan brothers, the older Belfoco brothers, and Travis. The girls agreed their best bet was to use their new powers to get the flag, except Cordi. No one wanted them burnt.

Flags were hid in not so obvious places in the field. Fred hid the girls' flag in King's doghouse. If someone was new to the farm, King looked like a vicious dog until you offered him a scratch or a rock. The dog was a sucker for rocks. The girls had made two presses into enemy territory. The first to look for the flag, which was handled by Cordi and Ronnie, who of the five girls were the craftiest at sneaking around without getting caught.

The group learned this when there was a project Fred and Rox had worked on in middle school where they had to film a Rube-Goldberg's machine for something innocuous. There machine did something silly, like smacking a sibling out of a room with a fish, and they were in a four-person group for the project. In classic ten-year-old little sibling fashion, Cordi and Ronnie kept crashing it. After the second-time, Fred and Rox had locked all the doors to the house and first floor windows. Not to be deterred, Cordi and Ronnie scaled the shed, which sat under their older brother's room window, and infiltrated that way.

Being the experts of the group, they devised the first tactic in to search for the flag while Fred distracted the boys with a ploy of her own. Fred had made it back across the line before Lynne's brothers saw Cordi and Ronnie snooping behind enemy lines. Cordi barely made it back across the line in the pursuit, sliding under the gate to the road at the edge of the dividing line on the opposite side of the barn that wasn't visible to the rest of the field. It wasn't out of bounds, as the barn and its driveway was part of their territory, but by the time he scaled the fence, she'd have gotten back into her territory.

Ronnie tried to use the pond water to defend herself from captors, but the older Buchanan brothers were hardly afraid of getting wet. So her marker was snatched, and she was put in jail.

The second assault had been after the boy's first assault, in which Lynne and Rox caught Travis and Garrett. Weaker two players, it was the perfect time to make their second attack and save Fred before their final assault. Using a similar tactic, but with Lynne sprinting in to save Ronnie, Cordi snuck back in, having the idea that the flag was in the orchard. The Barn was too risky, because of how easily accessible it was on the dividing line. Cordi used it to infiltrate under cover, since Lynne's brother, Matt, was watching that part of the field. Cordi waited for Lynne to make her sprint to the jail to save Ronnie. Rox moved away from guarding the jail, which was the cows' large hay feeder, to the fenced area where King's dog house sat. They'd have to get through her, then the gate, then King to get to the flag. Fred would hold the guard position of the jail while she took over the flag.

Lynne returned with Ronnie, just barely missing being caught by Lynne's other brother Luca, who stopped just short of the line. Lynne and Ronnie caught their breath quickly before making another diversion attempt, so they wouldn't notice Cordi sprinting to the orchard. They just needed Garrett to make his attempt at saving Landon, which happened a moment after they got back. Fred had her brother handled as Lynne and Ronnie forced Matt and Luca to chase them around their field as Cordi sprinted to the orchard.

But, Garrett banked left, away from the jail towards King's enclosure. Rox tried to race around to catch him before he hopped the fence in classic cop style. He smirked at Rox before diving into King's dog house. King was extra welcoming since Garrett was a Buchanan. Fred came up, guarding the gate. There were only two ways he could exit King's space, and Rox had one while Fred had the other. Garrett could get the flag, but he'd be caught before Cordi got back.

"You good?" Fred asked Rox.

Rox nodded, smiling at Fred. Something flickered in the behind Fred. Far away, near the house and definitely out of bounds, Rox could have sworn she saw Lynne staring at her sadly. She was wearing familiar workout gear, which wasn't what Lynne had worn to the party. Rox frowned looking back to the other side of the field to see Lynne in the normal jeans and blue top she wore to the party, running closer to Ronnie, then spinning around and throwing her hands up, freezing her brothers with her telekinesis. "Run, Ronnie. Help Cordi," she called as her brothers struggled against her mental hold.

"Rox! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!" Fred yelled. "HE'S GETTING AWAY!"

Rox was brought back into the game, seeing Garrett had noticed her distraction and was hopping the fence over the far corner. She summoned a strong wind, knocking him back into the fence, and she ran up, snagging his marker. She smiled, laughing, "Go to jail."

"Dammit," Garrett grumbled, passing the flag back to her.

Rox smiled broadly, walking over and handing the flag to Fred so she could put it back. "What's going on with you?" Fred asked worriedly.

Rox shook her head. "Just thought I saw something. It was nothing." Fred still looked worried, but let her go. Rox escorted Garrett to the jail, tying his marker around the top post with the others.

"Sorry. I almost had it guys," Garrett apologized to his captured teammates.

Travis waved him off. "Ever since they got these super powers, they're difficult to beat. We'll do it at some point. But, I think that's the game." They all looked up to see Ronnie and Cordi running back over the line with the boy's flag in hand. The girls were victorious.

Rox was back home, and her family was just finishing up dinner when they heard the door open. "Fred was right," a familiar voice said. "It's difficult to see you like this."

Rox looked up alarmed only to see Shikamaru standing there. He was wearing his usual shinobi gear as he walked through the foyer into the Turner family's dining room. "Shikamaru," Rox breathed. "What are you—"

"I invited him," Lori said, standing up, grabbing Ned's hand.

Rox frowned back at her parents confused.

Her father nodded, saying, "Ever since you got back, you've been sad. And Cordelia told us why."

"Cordelia!" Rox hissed, glaring at her sister, who refused to make eye contact. She and Shikamaru had broken up when they'd left Konoha. Cordi blabbing about it was a complete betrayal.

Lori walked around, and guided them to the living room, saying, "You two should sort things out privately." Rox frowned as her mom placed a hand on Rox's shoulder, saying, "He's a nice guy. Give him another chance."

Rox pressed her lips together, not liking her mother's meddling. Then she felt him grab her hand, and shock overtook her anger.

"I'm so sorry," he admitted through hitched breaths. Rox turned to see him trying unsuccessfully not to cry. Her heart ached seeing him like that. "Rox, I'm so sorry. I've been the most selfish and unmitigated ass to you. I've been jealous through no fault of your own, and I took my frustrations out on you and your friends. I've been a horrible leader, and even worse, I've hurt the woman I love."

"The woman you love?" Rox asked. Her heart skipped a beat at his confession. She vaguely remembered that he'd been refusing to admit it, which led to their break up.

He squeezed her hand as he pleaded, "Please forgive me."

"Go back to the love part," Rox said carefully.

He pulled her close, leaning down to plant a kiss on her forehead and whispered against her skin, "I love you, Roxanne Hart Turner. Please come back to me."

Rox looked up, circling her arms around his shoulder as she pulled herself up to him. "I love you, too, Shikamaru Nara," she whispered against his lips. He pulled her against him tightly, licking at her lips for an invitation, and she let him in. She felt his hands drift over her back and around her waist and shoulders, helping pull her up as she stood on tip-toe to kiss him as she'd desperately wanted to for weeks.

"Visitation is over."

He pulled away nodding. He leaned over Rox again, giving her another kiss on her forehead as he promised, "I'll be back tomorrow." Then turned and left.

Rox frowned, unsure how he was coming back. Konoha was so far away. It had to have taken him ages to run here. But he was gone before she could say anything about it.

It had been three months since Shikamaru surprised her at her home. He came by every day. Sometimes with snacks, still warm from Konoha. What was most surprising was Konoha wasn't that far away. It was nestled in the mountains north of their house, just east of Harpers Ferry along the Potomic River. Which was weird. She could have sworn the entire village of Konoha should have been visible to anyone driving through Northern Loudoun because it seemed so large walking around. But she'd walked it frequently during her time there, and had measured that it took her 30 minutes to walk directly straight from west gate to east gate. It was odd that it wasn't so big to be notices, and had remained secreted away within the Blue Ridge Mountains. It took Shikamaru only thirty-five minutes to shunshin from his home to hers. She'd flown with Shikamaru to Konoha a few times as he shunshined through the Northern Virginia mountains.

Once, they flew on Gryffin to see where they'd gotten so totally turned around on their road trip to end up practically back home but not realize it, and then flew the dragon all the way up to Maine to see the vacation house. Although, Gryffin the whole short flight wouldn't stop talking nonsense Rox couldn't understand. "You should wake up." "Your friends are missing you." "Aleera's back, and she's her usual nightmare." "Everyone's really worried."

Today, they were flying back, again on Gryffin. He was oddly silent today until she got a rude flash from Gryffin's perspective of him brutally chasing down, mauling then devouring a warthog. "Ew, Gryf! What was that!?" she cried, shaking her head back to the familiar countryside of home as they were almost arriving.

"That was breakfast," Gryffin growled. "Thought it might jar you out of this stupor."

"I fed you this morning," Rox huffed annoyed. "It wasn't a warthog."

"You are unconscious, and haven't fed me in over a week," Gryffin argued back.

Rox balked at the accusation. "Why are you talking such nonsense? Why are you lying?"

"Because we have a mind link, and you are not awake!" the dragon snapped. Something in his tone shook the world precariously around them.

"Not awake?" she laughed nervously. "Stop …"

"WAKE UP ROXANNE!" Gryffin roared, and the world crumbled to blackness around her.

She was terrified by the sudden darkness. It was like she was in a black pool up to her shoulders, floating effortlessly before sinking down. She struggled to move, to breath. There was nothing around her but pitch black. But she could hear.

"A whole new wooooorld! A new fantastic point of view!"

"Stop," Cordi said. "It's a fairytale movie from home."

"Magic carpet?" it sounded like Gaara. But why was she hearing him?

"Trust me, it applies."

Lynne cackled, "Really does."

She tried to ask what they were talking about. What was going on? What had happened? But she couldn't move her mouth to talk. She couldn't reach out to find her friends in the pitch dark. She sank further down, as the conversation whirled around her at an almost unfollowable fevered pace.

"How's Kankuro?"

"He's fine."

"That's good. H-has he talked about me?"

"He's got a lot on his plate right now."

Just a cacophony of noise surrounding her she couldn't track.

"There were a lot of dominos that were set that could have stopped it, some she put in place herself. You shouldn't be beating yourself up about it."

"Her oxygen levels are also back up. And the swelling in her lungs has gone down." At least she knew Shikamaru was there.

"Are you understanding what they're talking about?" Fred asked.

Rox wanted to scream out "NO!" because nothing was making sense.

"That's so unfair."

"She's got a hickey that wasn't there last night," Shikamaru said. "Good job."

"It just kind of happened," Gaara said. She was sure it was Gaara, now, but had no idea why he would be there or why he was excusing what clearly had to be his hickey, and with who!?

"Did you two have –"

"BAH! BAHBABABBAH!" Cordi yelled. "Trust square. This doesn't leave this room!"

"Well, there's six of us, so it's not a square," Lynne stated smartly. "Seven if you count Sleeping Beauty."

"Doesn't go past this room, and no one tells Rox."

"Nah, now they gotta' discuss the dirty details. We should step outside." Then a door shut.

"We were both just so into it," Cordi described, "He grabbed my boob, which was doubly surprising, because usually I'm super ticklish, but apparently not there."

"Fuck the Council," Lynne said.

"Right?"

"…You and Gaara experienced A Whole New World in more than one way yesterday."

"Come on," Ronnie whined. "I want you to get to the good stuff. Like what did he do to make you break that promise ring promise?"

"Why is the Italian telling you how an Irish ring is worn? Heart out means single. Heart in means dating."

"Well, look next time," Fred directed. "Looks like a bald man in a turtleneck."

"Next time," Cordi said. "Anyway, that was kind of it. I had a nightmare, he let me sleep in his bed. I had some difficulty sleeping, because he was there, and we ended up talking… He was very tender and considerate. I didn't even bleed. And passionate. Oh my God, was he passionate. And vigorous when he got into it. And then earnest towards the end."

"Better than my first time," Lynne commented.

"He fucking lied to you. Ghosted you the first week you dated to fuck his ex," Fred snapped.

"Technically, I was the other woman," Ronnie corrected.

"He didn't tell you that, though!"

"When did our lives get so complicated?" Lynne sighed. "Two months ago, we were going on vacation. Now Ronnie's in one of her most complicated relationships, which is saying something. Fred's bartending and setting up people she doesn't know on dates. Rox has two guys after her, and she's in coma."

"Coma?" Rox wanted to yell out. "I'm right here! I'm awake! Just show yourselves to me!" But her mouth wouldn't open. Her voice not working as she tried to yell out, but remained mute.

Lynne finished. "And Cordi is living a country away, and suddenly in relationship with her boss."

"Rox and I'd be in the middle of Georgia. She'd be moving into an apartment, and I'd be getting my dorm."

Rox wanted to rant and rave at them. Especially Cordelia. She wanted to scream, "We're home! Idiots! We've been home!" She curled in on herself as the voices faded and she cried, "I'm home! We're all home!"

"Rox?" Shikamaru asked, stirring her from her stupor. She took a deep breath through her nose, waking fully and looked into his eyes. "I think you were having a nightmare," he said.

She sat up, seeing they were sitting down at a perfect picnic. "I fell asleep watching the clouds again, didn't I?" she filled in.

"We both did," he stated. She took in his nice suit, and her in her 1950's style pink flower dress. This had been a date they'd planned out. He grimaced at the basket, saying, "And ants have made this inedible, which means this is going perfectly."

"We can pick something up on the way home," she offered.

"No, I—" he cut himself off as he looked up. "Well, the sun's about to set, and I'll lose my chance if I don't do it now." Before Rox could question anything, he was in front of her on one knee, pulling a velvet box out of his pocket as he said, "Roxanne Hart Turner. There's no other woman I can fall asleep with watching the clouds. Or will equally get the thousand deer puns my family tells. Will you marry me?"

First she squealed, "Yes!" before she tackled him with kisses, say, "Yes yes yes yes yes," between each peck on a different part of his face.

He grabbed her head, and laughed, "One was enough," before pulling her into a deep and passionate kiss. Their tongues massaged each other as her stomach stirred its pleasant feeling butterflies to life. Thousands of breezes suddenly rushing through the air and playing with their hair. She was straddling him, and she could feel the pull, the drive for more. She could feel him stiffened for it. But his hands grabbed her thighs as he pulled away and said, "I promised you I'd wait. I don't want to wait that much longer."

She sat up, still straddling him, but reached into the grass where the ring box had been knocked aside. She opened it and slid the ring on her left ring finger. It fit perfectly, and was the perfect cut and size diamond for her finger. "Then we should have a quick engagement," Rox chuckled.

Rox was tallying the guest list two weeks out from the wedding so she could make a decent seating chart when she came across Cordi's invite, which Cordi filled out with a plus one. Rox's heart sank. She didn't know Cordi had a boyfriend. She got up from the table and walked upstairs with the invite in hand, and found her sister in her room reading a book. "Uhm, Cordi, you have a plus one?" Rox asked.

"Mhm?" Cordi chirped, not looking up from her book.

Rox remembered the weird fever dream conversation from the nightmare Shikamaru woke her from when he proposed. Cordi had talked about having sex with Gaara. Rox fingered the invite in her hand, looking back at the odd little paper, figuring maybe her subconscious had picked up on something she hadn't. "Cordi, have you been sleeping with Gaara?"

Cordelia closed her book and sat up with a frown. "How did you know?"

"Why wouldn't you tell me!?" Rox asked instead. "We're practically twins. We tell each other everything."

Cordi licked her lips, then said, "I didn't want you to judge me."

"Jesus, Cordi. What were you thinking!?" Rox howled. "He's with another woman! Remember, his girlfriend, Matsuri?"

"He doesn't love her! He loves me," Cordi whined.

"How would you know!? Has he told you?"

"Well, he married me!" Cordi snapped, holding up her left hand which had a large engagement ring and wedding band.

Rox was so taken aback by the declaration she had to take a physical step back. "You're married? Since when?"

"Months ago," Cordi stated. "When I flew out to discuss the Kookaburra email. The Council wanted to set him up with a questionable wife, and he decided to pick one for himself. And he chose me."

Rox frowned, rather confused. But that did explain Gaara's recent numerous visits. "Do Mom and Dad know?"

"I was going to tell them at your wedding," Cordi offered, giving a slight grimacing smile, clearly knowing it wasn't an ideal situation.

Rox scowled, pointing an accusing finger as she said, "You will not ruin my wedding with your own shabby wedding news."

"But they'll be heartbroken thinking I didn't invite them, when really it was just a time thing," Cordi explained. "With your wedding, they'll be distracted with booze. And then we can tell them when they're half-drunk doing the Wobble."

"No," Rox said stiffly. "It's my day. Your day was apparently months ago, and apparently none of your family warranted an invitation."

Cordi pouted. "I knew you were going to be mad. It's not like I had the option."

Rox put her hands on her hips, shaking her head, then said, "We're so close to the wedding. You have to tell them tonight when he and Shikamaru come to dinner."

"But—"

"Or I will," Rox stated with finality.

Cordi sneeringly pursed her lips, then flopped back on the bed with a huff. "FINE!"

It was the day of the wedding. Everyone was at the family church waiting for the wedding to start. Rox was a mess of excitement and nerves, but not so bad she felt ill. Her arm was linked with her father who stood stiffly next to her in his black tux with a purple and silver bowtie, which not only highlighted his light gray hair but his stormy blue eyes. Cordi adjusted Rox's veil as Lynne walked down the aisle. The bridesmaids were all in plum strapless dresses and hair pulled back into curled half-updos. As soon as Cordi finished adjusting Rox's veil, she then adjusted her drooping dress, grumbling, "Should have picked the dress with the straps."

"Hush now," Mrs. Weiss from church said busily, handing Cordelia a small bridesmaid's bouquet of white lilies, baby's breath, and lambs ear. "It's your turn, Cordelia."

Cordi shot another challenging look at Rox and asked, "You ready?"

"She better be ready," their father grumbled. "He's a nice guy, and we've spent a lot of money."

Cordi frowned at their father, and said, "Don't bring up the money now. Especially since this is the only wedding you're paying for."

Ned Turner looked crossly at his youngest daughter, and said, "We're still upset about that."

"Cordelia!" Mrs. Weiss hissed again.

Cordi turned, plastering a smile on her face as she made her way down.

Their father sighed, watching Cordi walk down, his lips pursed as he grumbled, "I honestly feel a little robbed that I didn't get to walk her down the aisle."

Rox rubbed his forearm supportively, whispering, "I know." Cordi and their father always butted heads, but they still loved each other dearly. In all honesty, all of the Turners felt robbed they'd missed Cordi's wedding, but their dad was probably taking it a little extra personally. Which was partly why Rox felt it was extra necessary for everything to go right today. Ned and Lori had still welcomed Gaara into the family with open arms. While he wasn't in the wedding party like Travis and Cordi, he did sit away from his friends, and instead was in the family section next to their mom at the front. Rox saw the familiar pigtails of his sister and his brother sitting behind him, and Rox mused this must be really awkward for Temari, but she was happy for her support.

Her father turned to her, and asked, "But are you ready? If you're not, we can leave right now. I'll be a little mad about the money, but …"

"I'm ready," Rox said with a nod, gripping her own bouquet of lilies, irises, baby's breath, lambs ear, and lavender tightly. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Her father smiled widely, which always looked a bit like a crooked smirk. "Then it's showtime," he said.

As Cordi found her spot at the end of the aisle opposite the Choji and Shikamaru, the song faded out then switched to the strings of a soft version of Vivaldi's "Spring: First Movement" that the quartet of strings were playing lovely. Everyone stood, turning towards the back to watch her entrance, and while she saw everyone she'd met in Konoha so far mixed with her friends and family, her vision focused to a pinpoint: Shikamaru Nara, who stood by the altar with the priest. He wore a fine linen tux that was tailored to his form with a pale purple tie the same color as her father's. He smiled broadly, finally seeing her in her floor length organza wedding gown with silver leaves embroidered into the skirts, as if they'd been picked up by the wind itself to dance and shimmer along the skirt's folds and movement. "It's time," Mrs. Weiss said.

Ned and Rox took their first steps down the aisle. While she'd normally hate the idea of everyone staring at her like they were, she couldn't perceive, let alone care, about anything beyond Shikamaru Nara waiting for her with an outstretched hand to marry her.

As they came to a stop at the front, the priest asked, "Who gives this woman away?"

"Her mother and I do," her father answered evenly.

Rox then leaned over, and they each kissed one another on the cheek. "I love you, Dad."

"Good luck, Kiddo," he said, squeezing her hand, before handing it to Shikamaru, who guided her to the altar as her father sat back down.

"You look amazing," Shikamaru whispered.

"You too," she whispered back.

The priest cleared his throat, and they straightened, looking ahead seriously and happily. "Dearly Beloved," the priest intoned. "We are gathered her today to bear witness to the marriage of Shikamaru Nara and Roxanne Hart Turner."

The ceremony had been a beautiful blur. Rox could only truly remember the warm feeling as Shikamaru said, "I do," followed by the Priest's declaration, "Now by the power vested in me by God, I know pronounce you husband and wife. Shikamaru, you may kiss your bride." Their kiss had been passionate and tasteful, and as the recessional began to play, they practically ran out of the church.

Now they stood waiting to be announced into the reception. Cordi was too busy explaining Pride and Prejudice to Chouji that she almost missed her queue. "Cordi, they called you. Go!" Rox hissed.

Cordi made a nervous face, and she and Chouji ran into the hall, doing their own little dances to the entry music.

Shikamaru held Rox's hand next to her, rubbing his thumb along the bone leading to her index finger as he asked, "Are you excited?"

"For the start of our lives?" Rox asked, smirking. She knew he meant the other thing, and his gaze was clear that he wouldn't be deterred from an answer. She blushed, then admitted, "Very much so."

He lifted her hand, and kissed her knuckle. "Just a little longer," he murmured against her skin, and a part of her melted inside with need.

"AND NOW! FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! MR. AND MRS. SHIKAMARU NARA!" the DJ yelled.

Shikamaru pulled her inside to the room, which was decorated with up-lights, flowers, tapestries, and balloons. They ran to the middle of the dancefloor as the DJ announced their first dance, and they assumed their positions, with Rox's arms around Shikamaru's shoulders, and his hands around her waist, holding her so close to him.

"Somewhere over the rainbow~" the speakers sang.

Rox frowned as Shikamaru started to sway as if nothing was wrong. "Th-this isn't the song," Rox said looking around to the DJ who was suddenly gone.

Shikamaru made an odd face as he said, "Yes it is," before spinning her gently in time with the music.

"No. No it's not," she said more sternly. "This is what Mom sings when I'm sick. I'd never pick this song for my first dance."

Shikamaru slowed, looking at his new wife somberly. "Don't do this."

"And it's not even the usual recording. Its … Cordelia," she finally realized. Rox's head hurt as she started to try and think about how things had played out. "Konoha is in a different world," she reasoned. "Why am I thinking it's only a few miles away from my childhood home."

"Rox, we're married," Shikamaru tried to remind her.

"It's not real," she realized as her mind found more and more inconsistencies between this world her mind had devised. She turned back to the DJ stand, and everyone was gone, except her and Shikamaru.

"We're finally happy," he tried again. He reached for her hand and kissed her knuckle and cried, "I love you. Please."

"I love you, too," she admitted, and she knew deep down she meant it completely, conscious or not. She loved Shikamaru Nara. She always would. But she wanted this to be real, and it wasn't. She pulled her hand away as she finished, "But I need to wake up."

He let her go, and she walked to the speakers as her sister sang through them. "Somewhere over the rainbow/ Bluebirds fly." Rox lifted her hand to the speaker, feeling the vibrations of the song through it. That was reality. Her sister had come all the way from Suna and was singing to her the same song their mom sang when they were sick as kids. She closed her eyes, focusing on the tune. "And the dreams that you dream of/ Dreams really do come true-"

The world faded to blackness again, but the song remained. To help focus, she tried to sing along, the world slowly growing heavier and more tangeable. "Ooh/ Someday I'll wish upon a star/ Wake up where the clouds are far behind me/ Where trouble melts like lemon drops/ High above the chimney tops that's where/ You'll find me, oh –"

Everything felt substantial again, even though she also felt she couldn't move under the weight. Rox knew this was reality. That she was awake. She took a deep breath and tried to sing along, although her vocal cords felt raw from disuse and her lungs hurt like she'd been crushed by a boulder. But she sang anyway to hear herself respond, "Somewhere over the rainbow, Bluebirds fly."

Cordelia stopped singing immediately, and cried, "Rox?" before collapsing on her sobbing into her shoulder. Rox felt the wet tears through her hospital gown, and the very real pain in her ribs from the sudden weight of her sister hugging her tightly.

"Ah," Rox gasped weakly, her eyes fluttering open, although she had to squint, because the sun was too bright.

"Let me get the blinds," Shikamaru offered, and the room darkened rapidly as Cordelia pulled herself off Rox.

Rox let out a thankful grumble. Cordi fixed her hair as Rox looked around the room. She saw Gaara sitting on the bench next to where Shikamaru was. Rox frowned suspiciously. She could tell she was in a hospital, which pointed to her being in a coma. She wasn't sure how long she was out. The dreams felt real enough, and they lasted for months. Almost a year, surely. She also knew that coma patients sometimes heard real conversations that filtered into their dreams. Suddenly she blurted, "Did you two get married?"

Gaara's hairless brows shot up in clear surprise, while Cordelia blushed, looking a bit shocked. "No? Why would you—"

"Forget it," Rox grumbled embarrassedly, sitting up. She should have known better than to ask such a question. She shook her head at the ridiculousness of the thought. Cordi wouldn't run off and get married on a whim. Neither would Gaara. It didn't even make much sense in the dream world, but Rox just didn't think to question it. Or anything about the dream. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days," Shikamaru answered.

Rox's eyebrows shot up in her own surprise as she murmured, "Three days. That's it? Felt like longer." She sighed and tried to stretch, then grimaced, feeling the pain again in her ribs and sternum. "Why does it feel like I've been hit by a truck?"

"You should probably take it slow," Cordi offered. "Shikamaru had to perform CPR on you when you collapsed. So you might have a few broken ribs."

Rox's face softened to a slightly guilty expression as she breathed, "Oh." She looked over to Shikamaru, who looked back at her sheepishly, his lips pressed tightly together as if he was holding something back. "I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm sure that was difficult on you," she offered.

"I'm just glad you're awake," Shikamaru stated.

Cordi turned to Gaara, and said, "Hey, could you run out and get a doctor? I'm sure Sakura wanted to be notified when she woke up."

Gaara nodded as he got up, soundlessly leaving for the doctor's and nurse's station.

Cordi turned back to her sister, sniffling happily as she grabbed her hand and said, "Rox, I need you to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"You will never ever do something so reckless again," Cordi said through shuddering sobs she was trying her hardest to hold back. "You can't leave me here alone. Do you understand me? How will I explain it to Mom and Dad?"

Rox grabbed Cordi's hand back, tightening her fingers around her sister's. "I'm sorry. I won't do something reckless like that again."

"Promise."

"I promise."

Cordi hugged her again tightly around her shoulders. Her sister always had trademark bear hugs since she was little that liked to squeeze the life out of people. Rox could tell Cordi was withholding her urge to do that, feeling a stiff but careful squeeze around her shoulders as Cordi sobbed happily. Rox lifted a hand to Cordi's arm, her heart aching that she would worry her sister like that. Cordi never liked to cry publicly, or in front of anyone really, but here she was sobbing openly in a hospital.

Rox looked at Shikamaru, who had turned away from her. She saw the way his arm reached his face, he was crying too, but trying not to be obvious about it.

Gaara came back with Sakura shortly after, and the pink haired doctor quickly shooed everyone out so she could run her check-up and check Rox's vitals. She watched them leave for the waiting room, Shikamaru walking out last to have one last look at her, which she caught and smiled at him. It was weird to think she had such a vivid dream of getting married to him, yet here they were broken up. It didn't seem right.

Sakura made her final notes as she walked around the room. "Well, being awake means you're in much better shape than you were when we brought you in."

Rox chewed on her lips, still feeling a lot of pain as she just tried to breath. It felt a bit like a rhino was sitting on her chest. It wasn't exactly like having an asthma attack. Just pressurized dull pain that radiated through her chest. "So, what does that mean? Are you sending me home?"

"No," Sakura stated as she signed something, then dropped the clipboard. "We have to hold you one more night. You have five cracked ribs and a cracked sternum, which we can't heal via usual means, because you don't have chakra. We have to make sure the bones are properly stabilized so they don't puncture one of your lungs. And speaking of lungs, you still have some swelling, which is why I can hear a slight wheeze still there. It's important you don't trigger a coughing fit, as your sternum and ribs can't handle that as of yet. So, we'll keep you on the steroid IV and magnesium drip to reduce swelling. The IV also has a bone mending concoction we usually use for serious breaks, to assist with healing. Even though you don't have chakra, it looks as if it's assisting a little.

"But Oxygen levels are good. Heart rate's good. You're conscious. And it doesn't look as if you suffered any mental deterioration from the lack of oxygen." Sakura smiled as she finished her summation. "All good things, meaning if we hold you and continue to see improvements, we can get you checked out of the hospital in two to three days. Your ribs will take a couple weeks to heal, but you'll be back to your old routine by the end of the week with some minor stiffness."

Rox let out a sigh. In the hospital for another couple days. She must have really done a number on her body.

"So, do you think you can handle some food? We need to get you back on a solid diet if you can manage it," Sakura added.

"Yes, please," Rox said. "I'm starving."

Sakura nodded, and made her way out to order a nurse to bring in some food. As she exited the door, she stepped around a figure in the hallway who looked in. His silver hair and facial markings made Rox's eyes go wide. Akirama. He was holding a bouquet of irises which fell at his side as he looked at her, clearly shocked to see her awake.

He swept in, dropping the flowers unceremoniously on the table beside her bed as he grabbed her head and kissed her deeply. She kissed back momentarily out of instinct but pulled away confused. She'd forgotten briefly she had a boyfriend. Guilt seized her heart as she realized he didn't show up once in her dream. The dream had lasted months, and she'd started a life with Shikamaru Nara. Yet her boyfriend, Akirama Senju didn't show up once.

"Thank god, you're finally awake," he breathed, pulling away. "I couldn't believe when they told me you'd collapsed in training. I should have been there. What happened?"

"U-ehrm, I-I had an asthma attack," she said simply. She remembered most of it. Thinking she was going to die. Although, a part of her was fairly certain she might have for a moment. There was that odd moment when she was outside her body and everything was bright.

"Asthma?" he repeated. "Don't you have medicine for that?"

"I ran out," she said.

"Then you should have told somebody," he said, sounding a bit patronizing.

She frowned, knowing she should have done things different. He was the third person she was hearing this from. She didn't need everyone harping on it. She made a critical mistake that almost killed her. It wasn't like she was going to make the mistake again. She stayed silent, not wanting to raise her voice at him. He just cared for her, even though she was just realizing it was one-sided.

"We've all been worried," he continued, not cluing into her silence. "I've met your sister. I'm not sure she likes me, but I don't know why. And I've brought you flowers every day. Irises, your favorite."

She grimaced looking at the vases at the window. There was a full vase of irises. He got off the bed, grabbing the new bouquet, unwrapping them and placing them in the vase with the older ones, picking out a few that had started to wilt. "I wanted them to look perfect whenever you woke up."

"You didn't have to do that," she said, picking at her thumbnail awkwardly.

"You're my girlfriend. Of course I did," he said with a bright smile as he turned to her. His smile fell to a frown as he noticed her guilty expression, and he asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

She sighed, hating this part. There was no easy way to say these things. "Akirama, I think it's time I'm honest with you."

He set his jaw, looking away from her, then scoffed, "Wow."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"You're breaking up with me," he said, crossing his arms.

"Akirama," she tried, wanting to soften the blow.

"Is this because Shikamaru performed CPR on you?" he asked. She blinked, surprised he knew it had to do with Shikamaru, but it wasn't the CPR. He scoffed. "Rox, yes, he saved your life, but that doesn't mean his feelings have changed."

"It's not his feelings I'm thinking about," she said stiffly, her lips pursed. She shook her head, taking a deep breath, then stated, "I realized through this that I'm in love with Shikamaru, whether he wants to be with me or not. When I agreed to date you, it was because I thought I could push my feelings away and that I'd convinced myself they were stronger than they actually were. But that wasn't the case. I am in love with Shikamaru Nara. And it's not fair or right of me to hold onto you knowing I'm in love with another man."

He tongued his cheek, turning around to pace a little, then turning back to her and asking, "Even if he might not love you back?"

"I'll still be in love with him," she answered.

Akirama sighed, nodding a little defeatedly. "I hope he deserves you," he said before walking out.

Rox rubbed her eyebrows, taking a deep breath as she heard people talking and getting closer down the hall. Cordelia, Gaara, and Shikamaru appeared in the doorway, each looking a little perplexed. "Boyfriend couldn't stick around?" Cordi asked, jutting her thumb over her shoulder.

Rox closed her eyes, shaking her head. She licked her lips, looking at the group, then to her sister and asked, "Cordi, Gaara, can you give Shikamaru and I a moment?"

Cordi frowned, letting out a scoff at her sister's dismissal, until Gaara grabbed her shoulder, jutting his head gently back from where they came. Cordi shook her head, following Gaara back as she grumbled, "She wakes up, and is immediately keeping secrets."

Shikamaru stepped in, closing the door mostly behind him. He walked over, sitting in the chair next to her night stand. "What'd you need?" he asked.

She looked at him silently, noting he had been crying. His cheeks were lightly stained, and his eyes were red. "You've been crying," she noted.

He looked away, grumbling, "Tch. Troublesome woman."

She smiled, loving him for calling her that. She let out a small chuckle, biting her lower lip before letting out a small sigh. "Shikamaru, you know coma patients sometimes hear what's said around them, right?" she asked.

He looked at her apprehensively out of the side of his eye, but didn't say anything.

She sighed, and admitted, "I dreamed you said something, and I wanted to know if you actually said it."

He turned, tilting his head slightly, as if urging her to speak.

"You said you were sorry for being a selfish and jealous ass," she stated.

He looked down, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees, his hands in a form of thinking position. He took a few deep breaths, as if contemplating his answer. "I did," he said finally. She smiled a little, even though he didn't see. He didn't look up as he continued, "I'm incredibly sorry for my horrendous behavior. I ended our relationship, and then I retaliated when you tried to move on. It was selfish of me, and I deeply regret treating you as I did." He took a deep shuddering breath, and gulped something back before he added. "But I did that because I'm in love with you. Desperately so. And I'm done fighting these feelings.

"And I know you have a boyfriend, and I shouldn't be saying these things, but it's the truth. I love you. And it made me sick realizing I had a hand in almost killing you." He still wasn't looking at her, but she heard a sniffle and his voice break a little as he said it. "Especially because I should have told you before. I should have told you every day, because it was true," he finished with a shuddering breath.

She felt a tear drip down her cheek at his confession, then said. "I just broke up with Akirama."

His head snapped up at that, tears still flowing despite his surprise at her news.

She brushed a tear away as she blushed, "I realized I was in love with you even if you didn't want me. And it didn't sit right with me to –"

She was cut off as Shikamaru leapt from his chair to kiss her. She kissed him back eagerly, letting him lick at her as their happy tears mingled. He broke their kiss for only a moment. "I love you, Rox," he sobbed happily, kissing her again.

"I love you too, Shikamaru."

He wrapped his arms around her, dropping his head to her shoulder. "I'm never letting you go again," he promised tearfully.

She hugged him back, running her fingers over the back of his head as she said, "Like I'd let you try."

He laughed, and kissed her again. This was bliss. To be in love with nothing holding them back but their own hearts.

Gaara took Cordi back to the waiting room. She huffed annoyedly, saying, "She can't wait to have this conversation until after we go back to Suna? She spends every day with him, anyway. It's not like I've seen her the past two months."

"Conversation?" he asked.

Cordi rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "The way Akirama was walking, I think they broke up. And she's wasting no time to tell Shikamaru so."

"Good," Gaara sighed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Good?" she huffed. "Don't ya'll give relationships mourning periods?"

Gaara tilted his head in thought, then answered, "Life is short for a Shinobi. If you find happiness, you should seize it with both hands." He looked at Cordi knowingly as he added, "It's not like I waited all that long after I broke up with Matsuri to move on with you."

"Well, that just makes me feel a little cheap," Cordelia grumbled, leaning back. She pressed her thick lips together into a thin line, then said, "I'm guessing you want to go back immediately?"

"I've missed a day and a half of work," Gaara reasoned, looking at a speck on the wall behind her. "I can't imagine the paperwork pile-up."

Cordi grimaced, knowing it was going to be a lot, no matter how they sliced it. They had been on top of things, and now they were going to be behind a week. She moved her lips in thought from side to side, then said, "By that logic we should leave this afternoon."

Gaara looked at her carefully, clearly not wanting what they had to end, and she shared his gaze. Going back meant the physical part of what they'd enjoyed this weekend of each other was over. He took a deep, calming breath, then said, "We should."

She furrowed her brows, adding, "Although, check out was at ten, and it's …" she paused, craning her neck to look at the clock on the opposite end of the room, "eleven thirty now."

Gaara looked at her carefully, a small knowing smile dancing on his lips as he said, "Damn." His smile grew, clearly not upset about that fact as he said, "I guess that means we have to stay another evening."

She smiled, shaking her head and biting her lip seductively as she chuckled, "I'm sure we'll find some ways to fill our newfound time."

His breath was husky as he said, "I can think of a few." His gaze over her person set her body on fire. Cordi's heart beat a pace faster with trepidation. That was the gaze of a man who knew the world was going to end the next day, and he was going to make the best of his time. She squeezed her legs together nervously. She was going to be sore for the ride back to Suna. The thought excited her greatly.

AN: I hope ya'll appreciate the math I did in measuring out how long it took to walk across Konoha in diameter, even though it was in a freaking dream sequence that literally has no bearing on either reality in this story. I don't even know why I hyperfixated on it the way I did. But let me explain my madness.

Everything is so widely varied online, and you can't get an actual realistic read on the actual size or speed of people in the show. Some people were mathing Konoha to be the size of a moderately small country, like Kuwait, which for one city, no village, is massive. Most of those put the Forest of Death within Konoha, which, no wrong. It's a forest near Konoha, kinda like the Demon Desert is near Suna. And others saying it's diameter is under a kilometer. Both seem wrong, due to how much is in Konoha.

So, I took the picture of the whole village and decided to measure by the Kage heads. Now the Kage heads size varied as well. Some saying 6 meters. Others say 8 or 10 meters. So, since they are based on Mount Rushmore, I took Mount Rushmore's measurements, which is 60 ft a head. Very concrete measurements, no debate, which I like. In meters, that's 18.3 meters. In the picture I had, the heads measured to 1/16 inch on my ruler. And the diameter of Konoha was 7 11/16ths inches or 123/16 inches. Multiply that by 60, the diameter of Konoha was 7,380 ft, which is 1.39 miles or 2.24 km, which is the most believable I have read in any online argument, since everyone walks (not necessarily shunshins) everywhere. Plus, the Hokage faces are all visible from each of the gates, and the furthest anyone can see clearly to the horizon line at ground level if it's completely flat is 3.1 miles or 5 km. Sure, higher up you go, the more you can see, and mountains you can see further in the distance, like my old office building I was on 14th floor and could see the one mountain in the area 13 miles away, but it was a blip on the horizon. I could barely distinguish anything on it, much less the cliff-face I knew it had. And I highly doubt ninjas have elf vision. Thanks to Google, I was able to measure some of the ground level mountain horizons I grew up around, and most you couldn't see any details of the mountains until you were within 2 miles. Otherwise it just looked like a blue bump or ridge in the distance, and the furthest I was able to measure that was 5 miles, but again no details beyond hazy covered in trees. But the fact you can see the faces perfectly by each gate, means the gates can be no further than 2 miles from the heads. Especially in a wooded area, like Konoha.

In short, Konoha is the size of an average small town within the walls, which are filled rather concisely. Average small town by American standards, I mean, which even less populated towns are sprawling unless you go to New England, where towns that size holding a similar population size are regular. So, size wise it makes sense for an average small to median town in most other countries. If you want to compare it to a country, it's about twice the size of Monaco (population 39,000. Which also holds up since Konoha is guesstimated to hold 80,000 people by its stat books. Whether that's by Boruto or by series start, no clue. I'm leaning towards Boruto, because by then it's more like a city-scape. I'm guessing start of Naruto was more 50,000 to 60,000 or so).

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Also, I know this chapter is significantly shorter than the last 3, and it was all Rox. I felt that needed to happen that way. And the next couple chapters will be significantly longer. Please remember to favorite, follow, and review!