"We're searching for a reason of existence. With our own strength, because maybe the truth is that there's no reason for life from the very beginning. Everyone hopes and tries so hard to find a reason of existence. The reason of birth, of staying with someone, of existence, believing we have to find them all with our own hands. Like finding a place for ourselves in dreams, in jobs, in people. The reasons we conclude may be indefinite and fragile. We may lose it too, but even so, we want a reason." ~Fruits Basket

…

.29

"You are going to have to try a lot harder if you were actually planning on hitting me!"

Shikamaru contained his snort at the scene before him. Mitomi was hard to catch, even more so hard to hit. She danced around the training ground with a smirk plastered across her face the whole while as she taunted the current Kazakage. The Nara wasn't sure as to what those two were doing behind closed doors, he tried not to ask when it came to the fuinjutsu work she did, but out here in the open when she forced the red headed teen to train with her he could see the results.

The Kazakage seemed to have a greater control over himself and over the Ichibi. Shikamaru remembered how it was during the Chunin exams. He shuddered at the thought before pushing away that particular memory set. Instead he turned his attention back to the ongoing match.

He hadn't figured out how exactly she kept dodging the sand attacks. She hadn't drawn any weapons, the foxes all three of them were curled around him, and he'd seen her use maybe one hand sign the entire fifteen minutes this had been going on. In all his time knowing her he'd never seen her fight like that. Mitomi was messing with him, antagonizing the other jinchuriki, and Shikamaru couldn't figure out why.

Until he did.

Malicious tailed beast chakra fills the clearing. It has him jumping up into a defensive stance, the three foxes following in suit. Kei hackles rise as she gets in a stance to attack. Shikamaru isn't the only one, Temari who had been observing the whole thing a few paces behind him becomes very tense. But it isn't the only emotion he can feel off the blonde, there is a sense of fear in the mix.

They watch in a semi-paralyzed state as a half controlled Gaara rushes towards Mitomi. The smirk on her lips has grown, reaching her eyes. Shikamaru doesn't know what to do. Mitomi is a jonin, and one of their villages own jinchuriki she should realistically be able to handle herself. But as a leaf ninja and her comrade he doesn't want to let her. Just as he is about to make a move in her direction a barrier comes rushing out of the sand encasing the two jinchurki and effective blocking anybody from entering.

Shikamaru cursed. What was she doing?

Kei growls at the barrier before settling at his feet. She looks up at him expectantly and then opens her mouth to speak. "Mitomi-sama has been playing poke a bear all morning, trying to see how long before he would try to bite her." The fox explains, Shikamaru could hear the annoyance in her tone, and the admittance takes away from the surprise of hearing the fox speak. Mitomi's summons had never spoken around anyone other than herself.

Temari looks appalled. "What!" She demands, the fox takes one look at the blonde Suna konouchi before in a manner similar to her summoner turns her head and looks the other way. Shikamaru groans then. This was such a drag.

"Mitomi's been testing the limits of the seal apparently and it seems likes she's just found a breaking point." He does explain to the blonde, crossing his arms over his chest. Keeping his eyes on the two blurry figures behind the glowing red barrier.

Shikamaru really hoped she knew exactly what she was doing.

..

"You're weak!" I growled out at him, holding my hand against the bleeding wound. He'd finally managed to hit me. The blood pooled around my fingers, I hadn't expected it to be so deep.

Half of his face was obscured by the sand, one eye mirrored the Ichibi's raccoon eyes, and the other still look horrified. As he should be. Because if only a few minor injuries and jabs caused by me could evoke the wrath of the ichibi then he didn't stand a chance in a real battle. Well I wanted to see how far I could push him before he broke, I guess I got what I wanted.

Yin Karuma's chakra slides over my skin, it doesn't burn on boil. The chakra is working with me, for me. We'd finally made our peace. "You are pathetic little brother." He goes so far as to taunt in the joint mindscape.

"No!" Gaara's cries catch me off guard, but I am not unhappy to hear them. He struggles to regain control for several long moments. I watch in fascination.

To think he was doing this all on his own. Slowly the Ichibi loses his control over his host. It seems perhaps I won't have to resolve to force then. Yin Karuma redacts his chakra completely. Leaving me vulnerable to any attacks Gaara or the ichibi might throw at me during the course of their debate.

His eyes widen as he notices the sudden lack of kyuubi chakra around him, and then he looks at me with a resolve I hadn't seen the entire time we'd been here. He wasn't going to let the ichibi control him any longer. "I don't need you right now." Gaara tells his demon, and to my surprise Shukaku completely withdraws himself.

Then without warning he falls face forward, hitting the ground with a soft thud. A sigh escapes my lips as I carefully walk over to him. "Idiot." He must have over exhorted himself trying to push back Shukaku.

While he's unconscious and with my barrier still standing I examine the new seal. The only change I'd been able to make to the existing seal was adding in a barrier between the Ichibi's mind and Gaara's conscious and subconscious mind. Damn Suna and their limited knowledge over an Uzumaki derived art botching something like a jinchuriki seal, rendering it almost completely unfixable unless I wanted to attempt completely resealing the Ichibi and that wasn't on my to-do list not now or ever.

So I made do with what was there, the only downside to what I'd done that it was only as strong as Gaara's will. Which he just proved to have a pretty could control over. A small sigh of relief falls from my lips, the changes I'd made were holding up rather well. He'd one day be able to work with Shukaku if he kept it up.

He comes too just as I have finished the examination of the seal. Gaara sits up slowly with a slight groan before looking at my already healing wound. "Are you alright?" I nod, I'd be fine by tomorrow so there was no need for him to worry.

I let the barrier fall, standing from his side and taking a step back. Temari rushed over to him, I bit back a scoff. My gaze turned to my mission partner then, he was walking over to join us casually with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Kei and La were at his heels as he walked, and Ra was sitting on his shoulder like the small parrot fox she was. Before I could open my mouth to speak, Kei nips at my calf.

"Not cool Kei." She stares up at me as if I am her child and she is largely disappointed by my actions. "That was dangerous and stupid." I raise my brow at the large fox then, did she just? Around other people. My eyes narrow at her, usually she only spoke to me and when we were around other people she spoke telepathically. A skill she'd learned so she never had to talk aloud when others could hear, something about how most people found talking animals alarming. Or whatever.

La the traitor mew'd in agreement with her sister's assessment. Neither she nor Ra could speak the human tongue, but I always understood them. It was a perk of being their summoner. Ra just blinked at him from her spot on Shikamaru's shoulder, before adjusting her position so she was wrapped around his neck laying down, her head rested on her front paws slowly she closed her eyes. Obviously bored. At least Shikamaru seemed like her presence on his person didn't bother him that was interesting.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru finally questioned, his eyes locked on my bleeding shoulder, for some odd reason he seemed worried. Numbly I nod in return.

"I'm good. You?" He sighs at me as if I have exasperated him somehow and shakes his head. Muttering to himself quietly. I catch troublesome and woman, and not in that order. Before he can actually answer my question, he's interrupted by the approaching footsteps of one extremely irate blonde.

"How dare you!" I felt the sting against my cheek before I realized what exactly was about to happen. Her eyes are filled by rage, one she'd been quietly cultivating the entire time we'd been here. "You are supposed to be helping him control that demon, instead of forcing it out of him!" It's clear in her voice, the anger caused by fear. A tone I'd heard far too many times before.

Everyone reacted the same way when it came to tailed beast and their containers. Anger, hate and fear. It was a tedious and endless cycle. One I longed to be through with.

I let her seethe. Let her huff and hurl her anger at me this entire time, I had taken her mistrust and disapproval in strides. For the last month I'd just dealt with it, like I always did. But I wasn't going to let it continue any longer. Not when her words, and actions towards me could undo everything Gaara has worked for.

A hand lands on my shoulder, and I know it belongs to Shikamaru. I don't push it off. But I don't really heed the warning it give either. My hand touches the stinging flesh for a moment before I narrow cold eyes at her.

"I am helping him, for what we are learning to work with the beast. It is the only way for us to survive. If he doesn't learn how, if they can't work together then he'll die. Because eventually you lose the will to live and the beast takes over and when it has no consideration for your life it rampages until it is freed." I shake Shikamaru's hand off of my shoulder then and brush past her. Gaara is standing a few steps behind her, I pat his arm before walking away.

"You did well today."

Shikamaru and I leave first thing the next morning. There was no more I could help Gaara out with. The rest was up to him. But also I knew that after what had happened between me and Temari I would not be able to stay. I couldn't work with people who still didn't trust me, even if it wasn't them I was directly working with. Before we go I pin one of my hiraishin senbon to the front of his shirt, secretly of course, and if he noticed me doing so he didn't say anything about it.

"Thank you." He gives me and small bow. I shake my head in response, I am just glad it's over and that I will finally be able to return home.

Shikamaru sighs to my left, he gives our goodbyes and then we finally set off. We don't talk about the mission. Or the things that had transpired in the last few days, or even the fact that for some strange reason my summons have taken a liking to him. The first part of our journey back is made in complete and utter silence.

..

He takes first watch when they've made camp for the night. Still trying to process everything that had happened in the days before. Her words to Temari still echoing in his brain. You lose the will to live and the beast takes over. The way she had said it, with so much hurt and affliction in her voice as she spoke he wondered had she'd reached that point. Shikamaru still remembers how she acted when they'd first set out for Suna a month ago.

Mitomi had been withdrawn and hallow. She been so consumed by her thoughts that she almost seriously hurt herself whilst tree hoping. He'd seen the fearful expression on her face when her foot missed the branch. It would be a long while before he forgot it too. There was so much more to her than he'd ever realized.

She wasn't the heartless monster she tried to make herself. Behind a well-constructed mask was a human being who could feel and be hurt. He'd seen a glimpse of it then, and another glimpse just the day before. Mitomi was just like Naruto, the idiots kept hiding behind mask hoping no one would look to close and see how they really felt. Shikamaru groaned. How troublesome.

Kei joins him, the fox lays her head against his knee looking at him with a curious expression. "You are worried about my master?" She sounds unsure, Shikamaru snorts. So it seemed he was. He places a hand on her head cautiously. Genius he may be he didn't actually know how the summon would react to it.

Kei wasn't anywhere near as cuddly as her sisters were. She was more likely to bite him. The fox closed her eyes allowing him to pet the top of her head. Shikamaru gave a small sigh in relief, looking up at the stars, they shined bright against the night sky.

"She's sort of an idiot." Kei chortled at the response from the male human. He wasn't wrong.

"But she's not as bad as Naruto so there's something. Guess it just means I have to look out for her, what a drag." He muses to himself, Kei's eyes open to stare at him for a moment before quickly closing. She gives him a secretive but knowing smile. Humans were rather interesting.

The fox made an uncommitted nip at his hand, he stopped petting her head letting his hand fall in his lap. Shikamaru rose his brow at the summon. She had already changed her position so she was facing away from him. He rolled his eyes at her, Kei had briefly reminded him of her master. "I am glad to know that she has a friend like you." Kei speaks looking at him over the blade of her shoulder before standing slowly and heading back in the direction of the camp, leaving him speechless.

He hadn't realized that Mitomi considered him a friend. By the look in the Kei's eyes she knew that when she spoke, she sure was sly. His eyes drift back up to the night sky for another look at the bright stars. Unsuspecting of the changing path before them.

XOXOX

So I had this plan that I was going to write out everything that happened to Mitomi and Shikamaru while they were in Suna. But then I didn't, because I really didn't like how I kept writing it so yeah. They'll make references to it in chapters to come, because of mission reports and the student teacher intervention that's just around the corner. Until then what do you guys think of me posting a side story full of oneshots and omakes that either don't fit into the story itself or are completely AU from what's happening within the story itself? Because I had this little short about a protective older brother AU involving a not 'Tobi' Obito and Mitomi that has been plaguing my brain for weeks. So if you'd be interested to read that sort of thing let me know and I might post some of it.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thing!

You guys are the best!

Sincerely, La'Rae