Fingernails scratching. A short yelp, and a figure curled into a ball. A short cracking sound, and another yelp. The person going to look up...

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Tayuya woke up, not to her alarm, but to sunlight streaming in through the window. Groaning, she stretched, then got dressed and went down for breakfast. She appeared to be the first one up. Great, time to put her abysmal cooking skills to use. Eggs and Noodles for Ukon, Fruit Loops and Orange Juice for her herself, and for Kimimaro... Wait, he wasn't here. Tayuya frowned. "Fucktard," she murmured to herself as she cooked.

Once Tayuya was done cooking, she admired her work. Not too bad, this time. She placed Ukon's serving in its orange bowl onto the table, then ate her own voraciously. As she put her bowl in the dishwasher, she decided to ask Kabuto if Kimimaro had been sent on a mission. He would know, after all.

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Tayuya walked into Orochimaru's home and admired it as she went. Mostly stone. Once you got far enough in, there were some wall hangings too. She passed by various rooms where you could hear the occupants within; sometimes they were screaming in pain, other times, sobbing with relief. Sometimes she wondered who the people within were, but other times she knew that it didn't pay to go in and look. Once she had recognized the yells. She had seen Kabuto leave these rooms before, too, wiping blood off of his hands.

As if on cue, Kabuto walked out of a sobber's room, wiping blood off of his hands and whistling. "Hello, Tayuya," he said casually. "'Sup, shithead," she greeted, "What the fuck were you doing in there?" "Oh, this and that. What brings you here? You have no missions today," he responded, then inquired. "I was wondering if Kimimaro was on a mission or something," Tayuya questioned, trying to sound casual. "Kimimaro? No. Why do you ask? Making plans?" Kabuto asked with a twinkle in his eye. "Oh, shut the hell up," Tayuya growled. Kabuto laughed.

'Where could he be?' Tayuya wondered as she trained. She knew that she shouldn't be worrying about him so much, and that he was a ninja and that he would probably be fine, but she also knew that he always told them when he was going away for a long time. Why would this time be any different?

'Better question: Why are you worrying about him so much?' Tayuya nearly fell off of the tree at that thought. 'Is it because you... Like him?' 'NO! It's because he's my teammate and I have a right to be worried about him.' 'Yeah, right.'

Tayuya entered the house that night completely exhausted. She took some bread and jam from the fridge, which she made toast with, then walked up to bed. After shifting into her nightwear and brushing her teeth, she was about to go to bed when a thought occurred to her: What if Kimimaro had never left his room? Sighing, she left her room, walked down the hall to his and knocked on the door. "Kimimaro, ya in there?" she inquired. No response. "Kimimaro?" she asked again. Nothing. She opened the door and entered his room...

The room was practically spotless. The floor was spotless. The walls were spotless, The dresser was spotless. Even the bed wasn't made. Wait... That wasn't like Kimimaro.

Tayuya walked over to the messy sleeping spot and sat on it to think. Why wouldn't Kimimaro make his bed when he left, and without telling them he was going? It didn't make sense that the very person that would shake her awake after tidying his sleeping bag to tell her that he was going into the woods to relieve himself in the middle of the night on missions would just disappear like that. She knew full well, that it was probably an overreaction, but still. Tayuya put her head on his pillow as she pondered this.

Her head didn't even touch the pillow before she realized what she was doing and shot up again. As Tayuya shifted the bed, she heard a tinkle from beneath the pillow. Hoping that she hadn't cracked a picture again, she lifted up his pillow. The picture of him as a young child was completely shattered. She hadn't done that, had she? No, she hoped not. And he wouldn't have done it, he could usually control his temper.

'I am definitely asking Orochimaru tomorrow if he knows where Kimimaro is,' she thought as she went back to her room to her own bed.

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Things will hopefully start to speed up now. Yes, I know no one reads this story.