"Just how many people am I going to run into tonight?" Shikaku sighed with irritation. He had been stopped by multiple people for idle conversation and just wanted to walk with no disruptions, was that so much to ask? Yes, apparently, because he had even caught sight of a shinobi who he was tracking. Genma Shiranui. He needed a report done, and the lazy man was off fooling around with women. The irresponsible shinobi had gotten an earful and was sent to do the report that was due a week prior. Genma must have been hanging around Kakashi too much at the bars, the masked man must have been influencing him. Shikaku scratched his chin in annoyance.

I could go for a bottle of saké right now. The man sighed again for the umpteenth time that evening when something caught his eye.

He paused in his stride and blinked in confusion.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar boy run passed him through the crowd. His brow furrowed. That was odd—he had just walked him home no more than twenty minutes ago. The child turned into a deserted side street that he was passing by. Shikaku took note that no one else noticed and followed.

Kuroko leaned against the backstreet's wall to rest for a moment. He was panting, breath visible from the cold night air and was shaking. He went to move his mask, and that's when Shikaku saw it, the wrappings on his arm were all bloody.

He cautiously approached the child. He looked like he was getting up from the wall, his back was turned, and he was adjusting his mask. Kuroko didn't even hear Shikaku approach behind him.

"Kuroko."

At the sudden stern voice, Kuroko flinched and whirled around in surprise. His mask fell with a clatter and hands hurried to cover his head. Kuroko paled, his shocking cyan eyes widening in fright, and his mouth moved to form words, but nothing came out.

Shikaku couldn't really comprehend it—that what he felt earlier were cat ears. He tried to stay calm as Kuroko would most likely pick up on his confusion and misunderstand.

"You need medical attention."

At those words, Kuroko flinched, and his eyes shot up to Shikaku's as if he was begging him not to. Shikaku saw him bite his lip in unease, a pointed canine almost drawing blood. It made sense now, that was why his teeth were pointed. His eyes were also just like a cat's, he noticed that when he shifted and the street light cast over Kuroko. His pupils were wide and dilated before constricting into slits with the change in lighting.

Kuroko shifted, finally lowering his hands down from his head. His ears rose up from being pressed down by his hands, and his tail unwrapped from his torso. Kuroko turned to him with cold, empty eyes, the bright cyan turning to ice with the expression he wore.

A dry laugh came out, completely void of any humour. Taking a breath in, he sighed, "I'm a freak, aren't I?"

The man in front of him could barely conceal a shudder. Kuroko's voice sounded so cold, so… empty. No child should experience what he thought what Kuroko was feeling, what he could only imagine what he had gone through. Shikaku reached into his ninja pouch for some bandages. Kuroko flinched and tensed at the action.

"Will you turn on me too?"

"No." Some light returned to Kuroko's eyes at the words, and before Shikaku knew it, they hardened again.

He didn't believe him.

"Lies!" Kuroko shouted, hissing aggressively in defence. His volume lowered, and Shikaku could feel his heart tearing at the broken sound of his voice, "You all…" he was shaking, "tell lies!" and tears burned his eyes.

"I will not hurt you," Shikaku spoke as if he was trying to calm a feral animal… after all, in a way he was. He put out his open hand to him, offering him to take it.

Kuroko frowned, unsure, he couldn't tell if he was truthful or not. Do I trust him? His mind flashed back to the last friend he came out to, someone who he had thought he could rely on. No. I can't… Don't trust him... After a moment of hesitance, he spoke. "That's what they all say," Kuroko said harshly and pivoted into a sprint, running into another connecting alleyway.

Shikaku took chase after him, hot on his tail. Kuroko could only make it so far without the man catching him, so he hid by a dumpster and changed into his feline form. He saw Shikaku stop by him and look around.

"Fuck." Shikaku couldn't believe that he lost him while he was in that kind of condition. He backtracked and left some gauze and wrappings on the ground where he dropped his mask. He would surely try to pick it up after, so he pocketed the mask and brought it back with him to his clan compound.

• • • • • •

"Hey, Tou-san... did you do something to Kuroko? He wasn't at school for a couple days' a while ago," Shikamaru studied his father's reactions, trying to ascertain some information from the man. "He's been avoiding the invites to come here for dinner like the plague." He also noticed a change in his black-haired friend, he had become distant like when they first started talking, and Shikamaru didn't like it.

"I didn't, but drag him here anyway. Say I have overtime or something—the boy needs to eat."

So Kuro is avoiding Tou-san for some reason. "Troublesome." Despite his lacklustre tone, Shikamaru was worried and he ended up dragging Kuroko over. His father's words implied that Kuroko didn't eat enough. He wasn't the type of person to wear his heart on his sleeve, but Shikamaru couldn't let his friend stay like this.

They were relaxing and cloud watching when Shikaku walked up to them. Kuroko shot Shikamaru a frown and bolted to behind the tree in hopes that Shikaku hadn't seen him.

"Shikamaru."

From his father's tone, Shikamaru understood that he had to leave. He sighed and glanced back to where Kuroko was hiding. I guess I'll go help Kaa-san with dinner for once.

"Kuroko-kun." He flinched but still didn't move from his balled-up position against the tree. "I will not hurt you, nor will I ridicule you. I am here to help you."

Kuroko could hear the honesty, but he still couldn't believe it—he wanted to, so badly. But he learned not to after experiencing it time, and time again. He looked up from his knees and saw his face. The man was completely serious. He brought out Kuroko's mask from behind his back, and Kuroko fiddled with his spare that was off to the side of his head.

"I believe this is yours?"

Kuroko debated on whether he should trust Shikaku or not. His mouth formed a thin line in thought, "Y-you're not scared of me?" Or disturbed? Disgusted of what I am?

"You're only a kid," Shikaku comforted with a smile.

Kuroko hesitated for a moment, mulling his words over, and ended up reaching out to his mask. He grasped it to his chest and flashed a nervous smile up to the man who was kneeling in front of him. Shikaku's face softened, he took that as acceptance.

"Will you trust me Kuroko-kun?" He saw the reluctant boy nod stiffly. "Then we need to see the Hokage." Before anything could be said, Shikaku continued, "Hokage-sama is a kind man. He will be able to help you."

Kuroko clenched onto his mask before nodding once more.

Maybe it was time to try again.

He followed Shikaku back into the house, and when he made eye contact with Shikamaru, he fidgeted and looked away.

"Yoshino, I have some business to attend to with Kuroko-kun." He pecked her on the cheek, "We'll be back soon."

Despite being anxiety-ridden, Kuroko couldn't help but laugh a little when Shikamaru gagged comedically and Shikaku flicked his son's nose.

• • • • • •

"Hokage-sama."

Kuroko entered an office room with Shikaku. He could see towering stacks of paper on the desk, but no person in sight. The only way he knew that someone was there was from the shuffling of papers and the sound of thumping from the seal of approval. The man behind the papers shifted some things around and got up from his chair.

"Oh, Shikaku. What brings you here this afternoon?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the man's name, alternatively the God of Shinobi from his vast knowledge and skill. The man was elderly, four clear lines angling from each eye, smile lines around his lips and liver spots on the left side of his face. No hair was visible from under his hat other than his white goatee and eyebrows.

Kuroko bowed lowly like Shikaku. When he straightened, he fidgeted under the Hokage's gaze. Hiruzen smiled at the child, who in turn shuffled behind Shikaku shyly. Shikaku chuckled at the action and put a hand on his head in a reassuring manner. He could feel Kuroko's ears flicking around anxiously, tickling his hand.

"This one has a predicament that needs to be kept a secret."

Sarutobi smiled down to Kuroko, "What is your name child?" he asked kindly.

He looked up to Shikaku and back to the Hokage, "N-Nekoma... Kuroko…" he said weakly.

"And what is your problem?"

"Um..." he glanced over to the door and windows nervously as if he knew that there were Anbu stationed around the room. He knew there were Anbu, just not where they were in the room—turns out that they were covered in a genjutsu that he couldn't detect.

"Anbu!" The military personnel appeared in front of their leader kneeling. They stood and straightened when addressed by their leader. "Wait outside."

The mask-clad group of shinobi left the room reluctantly. They were curious about Kuroko. Masks were strictly meant for Anbu members and some of them could sense the chakra of a strong genjutsu over the mask. After they left and the doors closed, Hiruzen put up the privacy seals.

"Kuroko-kun, no one will be able to hear us now. It is alright child."

There was a pause before he spoke, "I... Do I really have to show him?" He looked up to Shikaku anxiously.

"Do you trust me?" Kuroko nodded slowly. "He will be able to help you."

Hiruzen issued Shikaku a confused look which was returned with a few hand signs. Now understanding the reasoning, Hiruzen waited patiently for Kuroko to come to his decision.

"H-Hokage-sama... I… I would like this to be a secret... P-please?"

Kuroko reached up to his mask, he gulped and nervously he took it off. He felt the restraint lifting and knew that his appendages were visible. Glancing up to the Hokage, who looked to be in a mild state of shock, Kuroko's eyes iced over. He knew it was too good to be true. He was lucky to come across Shikaku. His body loosened and his back slouched, it was things like these that truly hurt him. His mother's grief and abuse didn't compare to it. He looked back up to the elder Hokage, expression solemn.

Hiruzen had never witnessed anything like this. Never had he met a person with animal appendages—natural animal appendages—Orochimaru didn't count as natural... Now he somewhat understood why Shikaku brought the boy to him. He composed himself and saw how Kuroko was most likely berating himself. He smiled, he was like Naruto in a way.

Kuroko was surprised when he saw the kind expression on the Hokage's face and some light returned to his eyes, "Y-you won't kick me out of the village?"

"Now why would I do that? You're nothing but a child in my eyes."

Shikaku took a step forward, "This isn't the only reason why we're here. Kuroko here has some injuries and refuses to go to the hospital. I had caught him a few days ago with wounds sustained by an unknown source. He had run off without me being able to catch him."

Sarutobi chuckled in dry humour, "I can certainly understand why." Then their eyes moved to the feline in the room.

Kuroko frowned. Shikaku didn't need to report everything, did he? He said to trust him, and by the looks he was getting he could guess what they were implying, but he really didn't want to.

"I… have to t-take my clothes off?" He got nods from both parties and gnawed on his lip. Though If he had to, he would strongly refuse to take his underpants off. That would be going too far.

"If it's not too serious I could treat it myself." Hiruzen offered to try and convince the boy. He had some medical knowledge—it was essential to know for a shinobi Jounin and above—but wasn't an expert on the subject.

"Hmm... fine..." Kuroko begrudgingly took his scarf off, then his poncho. He felt vulnerable without the layers, but he continued and fabric fell to the ground. Then he took his tank top off leaving his dark pants on, all that was left was his bandages. He never looked at himself in a mirror much, and now he was regretting that he didn't. He just realized that his bandages were soaked through with dried blood, the wounds had reopened and he hadn't even noticed it.

The two adults in front of him reeled back. It wasn't just the blood—yes, they were shocked by that too—but Kuroko was mostly just skin and bones. There was some muscle and very little fat, but they could see his ribs, spine, hips and an unnatural dip where his stomach was.

"Yoshino was right... He needs to visit the Akimichi," Shikaku muttered under his breath. Hiruzen overheard and had to agree to the idea. The Akimichi had a great meal plan to get shinobi back into shape after long periods of starvation, usually due to torture and interrogation.

Kuroko moved to un-wrap his torso and arms. While doing so he unsealed a cloth and a bottle of water from his satchel on the ground. His body was covered in splotches of his own dried blood. He took the wet cloth and started wiping the dried blood away. He zoned into the task, forgetting that he was in the Hokage's office. It was a task that he usually did and the familiarity soothed him.

"Kuroko-kun."

He looked up from his spot on the floor and stared the Hokage for a moment, feeling a weird vibe from the man. His ears perked up and he cocked his head, eyes narrowing slightly, "Hmm?"

"Doesn't that hurt?" He had to ask, the boy had lots of cuts and bruises littering his body, the upper body having the majority of the injuries. It was bound to hurt, but the boy had been acting like he didn't have a collection of injuries that even an experienced shinobi would wince at.

His voice wasn't as… hesitant as it normally was. "Of course. I've just gotten used to it," he grimaced and looked down, away from the adult's prying eyes. Continuing his task.

The key words rang in the adult's minds. Used to it.

"Who had been doing this to you?" Lips formed a thin line as they were bit shut. He didn't want his mother to go to jail—Kuroko didn't, but he did. The Hokage noticed that Kuroko was going to be stubborn and not tell them. He sighed. "Kuroko-kun if you wish, you won't have to tell us who did it, but I'll get a medical shinobi to look you over if it happens again."

"If they can't tell anyone about me. Please..."

"I understand."

After the meeting, Kuroko wrote down the information he was told in a notebook.

• • • • • •

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka's shout got the classes attention as he tossed the blond boy into the classroom by the collar. By the looks of it Naruto was dragged in and tied up with a length of rope, which was really quite unnecessary. Kuroko had to wonder what he did this time—though, from the specs of colour all over him, it seemed to have something to do with paint. He looked out of the window and at an angle in between buildings he could see Hiruzen's carving on the face of the monument.

"Oh." So, that's why he's in trouble... Though it might not be related... Better ask just in case.

"Because of your choice of action, we will have a quiz!" The class collectively groaned.

"Line up single file, we will do the transformation technique."

Kuroko ended up right behind Naruto in the line. "N-ne, Naruto?" He poked the boy's shoulder, "W-why do you have paint all over you?"

"I graffitied over the Hokage Monument! They didn't even notice it until it was finished!" He grinned, "They couldn't even catch me until Iruka-sensei snuck up on me and caught me by surprise!"

"T-that's i-impressive, but that's disrespecting your heroes, isn't it?"

"It's not di-disrespect if I'll be more awesome than them!" He fumbled over the word, but he was wrong with the meaning of the word if the use of it was any clue.

"Uzumaki Naruto! You're up."

The boy's smile grew into a mischievous grin as he went through the hand signs, and after the almost excessively large poof of smoke dissipated, a voluptuous blonde woman took Naruto's place. Iruka flew back in shock with a stream of blood coming out from the nose.

"N-N-Naruto!" Kuroko's voice cracked in embarrassment, he blushed and covered his face with his arms, closing his eyes as to not see the woman he transformed into.

"Don't make up stupid jutsu!" Iruka shouted, bouncing back from his embarrassment and scolded Naruto harshly. Naruto rolled on the floor, laughing loudly at his sensei's reaction. Kuroko had to cover his ears at how loud the teacher and Naruto were being.

After Kuroko knew he could speak without a crack in his voice, he spoke up. "N-Naruto, a-as much as that's great for a distraction… I wouldn't use it a lot. I-It's demeaning to women."

"De-demeaning?"

"Disrespectful."

"Oh! I get it! I won't use it unless I absolutely need to."

Iruka cleared his throat, "N-Next!" Internally he was grateful to Kuroko for talking to him about it. Now hopefully it wouldn't be used on him again.

When it was his turn Kuroko transformed into Shikamaru. Taking on his signature lazy slouch, he shoved his hands in his pockets, "Why did we have to do this Sensei, it's too troublesome for any effort." He sighed. "I was already transformed in the line too... I couldn't hold it any longer. So tiring..." he sighed once more and looked back to the real Shikamaru. "Oh... Looks like Kuro had the same idea. Troublesome."

Iruka looked to the real Shikamaru in disbelief, believing that it was actually Kuroko. He double checked just to see if he hadn't substituted with the actual Shikamaru, Kuroko had portrayed him perfectly. Shikamaru was one of the few people that Kuroko could imitate perfectly along with Shino, Shikaku and Naruto. He could only imitate Naruto's appearance though, acting like him was a little too difficult for Kuroko.

"This is such a drag. Can I go back to my seat now?" Without getting a response, he walked back to his desk. Passing by the real Shikamaru, he punched his shoulder lightly and whispered to him, "How'd I do Shika?"

Shikamaru didn't need to see his face to know he had a teasing grin on, "Hmph, just sit down."

"Transform into me and he'll think you were transformed this whole time."

Shikamaru smiled, "I'll play along."

"I said next!" Iruka shouted. The class hadn't been paying attention to him. They were more inclined to watch Kuroko's exchange with Shikamaru—or rather Shikamaru's exchange with Shikamaru. It was quite odd to witness in person.

Iruka was beyond confused to who was who throughout the rest of the class.

Even though they had to go through the little test, it would prove for extra practice. After all, the Genin exams were the next day.

"Are you okay Kuroko?"

"Hmm?" He was rubbing his temples from the sides of his mask, he had a headache and felt really tired. Holding the henge up for the rest of the class turned out to be harder than he thought. Shikamaru looked tired too, but then again, he always looked tired. "Y-yeah, I just have a bit of a headache." He wasn't surprised at his friend's perception. Ever since his father helped him out it seemed that he observed Kuroko more than usual. Though he didn't like it that he still lied to them, his best friend and his family.

"See you tomorrow."

Kuroko avoided his house like the plague, his mother going to the extreme since the last time he was walked home from the Nara's. That meant that he would have to sleep outside permanently now. It didn't help that the weather was colder than usual. He sneezed. He needed to find a warmer spot to sleep, there was a really strong wind.

• • • • • •

"Today is your examination day, this is the schedule. First the written exam, then genjutsu, followed by taijutsu and ninjutsu. I hope you're ready."

The test itself was somewhat hard, but Kuroko was more of a kinesthetic and visual learner and didn't pay much attention to the written part, so he didn't do as well as he thought—and it didn't really help that his thought process was clouded from a cold he got. The genjutsu examination was to create and dispel one, which was rather straightforward. With taijutsu, they had to spar against Iruka for ten minutes and be graded on defence and offence—both given five minutes to judge. Then came ninjutsu, and they each had to wait for their turn to go. If they did the basic three jutsu they could pass and get a headband. Even if they passed everything else with flying colours, if they couldn't do the basic three, then they would be failed on the spot.

"Nekoma Kuroko, you're up."

"Y-yes..." He slowly got up from his hunched position over his desk after being nudged a few times by Chouji and Shikamaru. He had been resting and was strangely unresponsive. He turned his head to his friends, "G-good luck Shika, Shino, Chouji," he walked passed a nervous Naruto, "Y-you too Naruto, good luck."

Naruto blinked and looked at Kuroko's retreating figure, he grinned. They had this silent sort of friendship, they didn't talk much, but they helped each other out.

"Ah!" After the sound of freight, there was a thump and a clatter. The rest of the kids in the room looked down to Kuroko who stumbled and fell, taking a chair down with him.

"Are you good Kuroko?" Naruto shouted in concern.

"Y-yeah… Thanks, Naruto…" Kuroko got up slowly. He had a dizzy spell and his vision went black. He leaned on the desk beside him for a moment to recover and wait for the tingly feeling to go away. "I'm just not feeling too well," then he walked away from the desk before anyone asked him questions.

Naruto started humming and swinging his legs from the desk he was sitting on.

"What are you so happy about?" Kiba asked, annoyed by Naruto's incessant humming, Akamaru barked from the top of his head.

Naruto just grinned.

• • • • • •

Kuroko was about to knock on the door when a voice called on him before he could. "You may enter." Kuroko slid open the door and found his two teachers sitting at a desk. "Please perform the clone, substitution and transformation jutsu."

"A-alright."

Kuroko did the clone with a moderately fast set of hand signs, a bit sloppily since he wasn't feeling well, but it got the jutsu done properly. He made four clones, one looking slightly out of proportion, but otherwise passable. Next came the substitution, a smile played on to his lips.

"W-warning Iruka-sensei," Iruka's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, and they switched places. Iruka was sitting on a chair so after the switch, he almost fell over. Without the warning he would have fallen. Kuroko got off the chair and walked back to the spot he was in previously, Iruka did the same.

Iruka sighed, haha very funny...

"Um... What would you like me to transform into?"

"How about the Hokage?"

Kuroko blinked, "I've never seen him before, o-only in pictures. I-I would need to observe someone to make it believable." That was a lie, he had spoken to him once or twice after what happened, but he didn't have enough info on the man to make it believable.

"Then anything you can think of."

Kuroko nodded and transformed into his cat form. They wouldn't notice the difference since he didn't use hand signs. He meowed and rubbed against a desk to give it authenticity. With a small poof of smoke that a regular transformation would usually have, he released the transformation. His cat transformation didn't have any smoke, but a normal one would so he tried to make some by using more chakra than he usually did.

The teachers started discussing. Students had to make three successful clones to pass the test, he did so, but that last clone worried them.

"Do you have any other jutsu you would like to show us?"

"Hmm... I-It is a jutsu technically..." He lifted his hand and a blue string of chakra extended from his finger and attached to a pen on the desk his Sensei were sitting at and it started floating.

"Chakra strings."

"Do you want to be a puppet master?" Mizuki asked.

Kuroko shook his head, "T-there are other uses for chakra strings other t-than that." He made a kunai from his holster float, poised it toward the wall and threw it, though it didn't quite reach the wall. "I'm still practising it though."

"Alright. Good job. Just wait a moment please."

The two teachers tallied his marks together. Taijutsu was great along with genjutsu, but there were flaws in his ninjutsu. He passed the written exam, but with a low mark, sixty-five percent. He just couldn't focus properly with his head feeling cloudy.

Iruka looked up to him with a smile, "Congratulations, you pass." He handed him a navy-blue headband.

Kuroko stared at it in his hands... Where am I supposed to put this on? Yes, it was a forehead protector, but he already had his mask and he couldn't take it off in exchange for the headband.

Iruka somehow read his thoughts from his body language. "Why not put it on your scarf, or on your bag?"

Kuroko brightened at the ideas, "Thank you Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," he bowed, "I… I'm glad I was t-taught by you two." When he raised from his bow, he stumbled and suddenly Iruka was beside him.

"Are you alright Kuroko-kun?"

"Ah, y-yes," Kuroko stammered. "I-I'm just not feeling too well. T-thank you, Iruka-sensei," he bowed and hastily exited into the hallway.

"He felt quite hot…" Iruka could feel the heat radiating off him through his poncho. "I think he may have a temperature." He looked to the door with concern, "I hope his family has medicine at home."

Wait, wouldn't that mean he had a fever through the exam?

"Iruka the next student is waiting." Mizuki brought Iruka out of his stupor.

• • • • • •

Kuroko left the school feeling like he accomplished something, though he had to go to work. He couldn't call in sick either. "I'll feel better soon," he huffed, his breathing slightly laboured. Kuroko would also have to tell them that he would have to quit since he was a ninja now.

After his deliveries, he approached his boss. Touji noticed Kuroko before he could start talking. "Ah, Kuroko-kun, good job today, though I noticed that you were slower today, are you alright?"

"I-I'm just feeling a bit under the weather, t-thank you." Kuroko fidgeted uncomfortably, "Uh, Touji-san I have something important to tell you."

"What's that?"

"I would like to, um, put in a notice for me to quit working here."

"Why's that Kuroko?"

He took out his headband, "B-because I'm a shinobi now."

"Isn't that great dear, he's a ninja now!"

Touji knelt down and pat his head, "Come by anytime you need some extra cash, you can work for us whenever you can." He smiled and handed him his last paycheck.

"T-thank you, Touji-san," he waved goodbye as he left. He looked up at the darkening sky and moved his mask up a bit. He breathed out, the puff of air becoming visible, the cool air felt nice against his face once in a while. There was suddenly a cool dampness on his face, a flake of snow land on his nose, he smiled. He liked the winter even though it was cold, but it wasn't even winter yet and it was snowing—fall just started a week ago. He wiped the inside of his mask with his sleeve, condensation usually built up on the inside.

"Kuroko-kun!" He heard a familiar voice shout. He turned around and saw that it was Touji. He seemed to pause a moment, but smiled and continued. "I'm glad I caught up to you. Here." He handed Kuroko a small baggie with a pill in it. "It's medicine. I felt it earlier but your temperature is high and your cheeks look quite flushed."

Kuroko hastily straightened his mask.

Touji chuckled, Kuroko's fluster was cute. It was actually the second time he's seen part of his face. "Just a warning, they're quite strong and will make you drowsy. It's the last one we have, but it should hold you until you can get checked out tomorrow."

"Thank you, I a-appreciate your concern. Have a nice night."

He went home for a shower, after all those tests he was both mentally and physically exhausted. Turning the water on, he made sure it wasn't too cold. He squirted shampoo in his hands and lathered, making sure he didn't get water in his ears by laying them flat. Then he lathered his tail, it was an important part, he was always sure to clean it well since it got dirty easily.

Rinsing the suds out of his hair, he conditioned and turned the water off after getting a luffa full of bubbles with shower gel. After scrubbing off all the dirt and grime, he rinsed his hair and tail of conditioner and his body too. As he was drying off he heard a door slam.

Oh no, his mother was home. Kuroko panicked and quickly got changed into his clean clothes and exited

through the bathroom window. He heard her voice after he left.

"He's here his shoes are at the door…. Kuroko! Your mommy's not going to hurt you!"

Kuroko ran around to the front of the house and grabbed his ninja shoes and ran off. The last time he heard those words he was almost killed. He still had the bruises from his most recent beating.

He ran to the top of the Hokage Monument. It was a calm place with no noise, and now it was even quieter with the snow, it had covered a good few centimetres so far and the amount was still growing. It's was a serene sight, the snow falling from the dark grey sky down onto the bustling village below. It was beautiful. He felt a strong gust of wind and shivered.

"Atchoo!"

Kuroko forgot that he hadn't dried his hair properly and it was giving him the chills, though oddly enough he felt really warm.

"Eww..." He took off his mask after glancing around him. His sneeze caused the debris from his runny nose to get stuck on the inside of his mask. He grabbed a handkerchief and wiped it clean. He was going to put his mask back on, but no one was around and it was refreshing.

He was starting to feel chilly, so he unsealed a blanket from a scroll in his bag. He always carried two around, a thick bed cover and a thinner blanket to use as a pillow. He climbed into a tree and got wrapped up, he put his mask back on, and it served to keep his face warm.

He took the medicine Touji game him before he went to sleep and nuzzled into the blankets.