Yo! Long time no update huh? Unfortunately, College has been draining my life energy, and I had to sell my soul to the devil to keep up with the workload—the devil being copious amounts of caffeine and an empty wallet. So there hasn't been much time for my hobby.

ANYWAYS!

How do you guys like the new story cover? I did it myself a while ago, but didn't want to upload it until I posted another chapter for an extra POW—ya know?

There's some advancement of the plot in this chappy. I hope you guys like it! I'm posting this basically right after I finished it, so I only did a skim through for wording and grammar/ typos, but I just COULD NOT keep you guys waiting any longer! xD

Feedback is appreciated! Very much so!

Now, now, enough with the rambling, enjoy the show! (Not really a show but... you know.)

• • • • • •

Kuroko sat at the top of the Hokage monument and watched as the sun rose up from the horizon. It was a warm morning, warm compared to the chilling cold that they've had for the last week, and snow was falling off roofs onto unfortunate pedestrians. He'd gotten up quite early, involuntarily, but early nonetheless—snow had also dropped on top of him and he felt sympathy for the people who were being buried. It was funny though, he had to admit. Except when he almost suffocated from falling asleep outside.

"I wonder if Touji needs an extra pair of hands..." He didn't really have anything better to do. His arm was still injured, and he had another three days until he could start training regularly, so all he could do was practice his chakra strings and run to help with his stamina. He could also go over the three jutsu he knew from the academy. He passed, but he wasn't the fastest with those techniques and felt that he could do better than that. The henge was his best out of the three, then was the bunshin, and further behind was the kawamiri. I'm better with Genjutsu then maybe?

Getting up once he was finished stretching off his stiff body, he transformed into his cat-self and made his way down the monuments long staircase. He wouldn't have to talk to anyone on his way as a cat.

He heard the people before he could see them, and as the group got closer, he was able to get what the yelling was about. Two of the people shouted out "Youth!" like it was some kind of religion. A Genin team he realised. There were three kids around his age and a Jounin. Blinking, he looked again at the two of the group that caught the majority of his attention. They looked like cucumbers, or a cucumber and a pickle with bad haircuts. Kuroko wondered why he was describing them as vegetables but was told why from his growling stomach. He would go to an Akimichi restaurant for breakfast. His attention was brought back to the group running up the stairs as they were getting much closer.

He sat down to watch and in a matter of seconds, the green duo created a wake of wind as they ran passed, effectively blowing his fur in every which direction.

"Sorry, little kitty!" The shout was already further off and losing volume as they ran.

The other two Genin came in a few seconds after—a traditional looking boy with long brown hair and another traditional looking girl with her brown hair in two buns—the boy was the faster of the two of them in the race to the top.

Kuroko's tail wafted, and he waited a moment before following them back up. His curiosity was stronger than his previous idea of seeing if he could help out Touji.

"Why are we up here again Gai-sensei?" The girl huffed and took a deep breath, stretching her back.

"A change of scenery is good for the mind young Tenten! This beautiful sunrise will raise our youthfulness as we see the village awaken this fine morning!" The girl blanched at her Sensei's seemingly bottomless supply of energy, even at that time in the morning. "Now! Stretch and do your kata's. Afterwards we shall spar!"

These people are good, Kuroko thought as he watched the Genin do their warm ups. He could tell just from the kata's they were doing.

After they finished warming up, the two boys sparred while the girl did target practice. His eyes transfixed on the boys, the traditional kid, Neiji he remembered, was more defensive and counter oriented in his taijutsu while Lee was solid on offence. Kuroko saw some moves from Lee that he would try to integrate into his own taijutsu.

His attention drifted as his mind took a break and drowned out the sound around him—despite the various battle cries and shouts from the Lee kid. He was startled when he heard a series of thunking noises behind him and whipped around to see the girl summoning various weapons from scrolls, and hitting the targets right on the bullseye.

Wow. He was amazed by her accuracy. Kuroko could also do that, but only with the help of chakra strings. To do that all by skill was impressive and almost the level of a Kirigakure hunter-nin—deadly accuracy. Even if she couldn't hit the target, there were enough weapons on those scrolls of hers to overwhelm an opponent. There was a tactical advantage in numbers for a reason.

"Gai-sensei, there's this cat watching us," Neiji said without even glancing away from where he was looking, "It has an odd chakra signature." He noticed during the spar when he activated his byakugan.

Seeing that they were all looking at him, Kuroko meowed and stretched with a big yawn.

"What if it's a summon?"

"Good observation Tenten! But there aren't any cat summons in Konoha, it seems to be just a stray."

"Well... If you say so Gai-sensei." She knelt down and put a hand out to see if the black cat would go towards her. She wanted to pet it.

Kuroko tilted his head, not sure whether he should do it or not. He didn't feel any ill intention from her, so why the heck not. He butted and rubbed against her hand.

"Awe, the kitty's so fluffy—and much skinnier than it looks."

"I wonder how it got that scar on its chin," Lee rubbed under his chin, "there's one on its neck too."

"It's a stray. Most likely got into some fights," Neiji said logically.

"His name should be Makuro," Lee thought aloud, "he's solid black."

"Why not just Kuro? You don't have to add the Ma to make it mean Pure Black." Tenten saw Lee frown and open his mouth, but spoke before he could start shouting things about youth, "Besides, Kuro sounds cuter."

"But Makuro is manlier! He's a male cat full of youth!" Tenten's eye twitched—Lee should learn to not shout in other people's ears at point plank. She hit him upside the head and heard Kuro mew. He wafted his tail in amusement, but his ears were back from the loud volume. It was an odd thought, but she was sure that he was laughing at them. Kuro moved to leave down the stairs before they could get loud again.

He was getting a headache.

"Bye Kuro!" Lee shouted.

"Tenten, Lee, you two will spar." Gai glanced at the cat with a sharp eye. He'd keep an eye on that one.

"Yosh!"

Tenten groaned, she would be sore in the afternoon for missions.

• • • • • •

"How could one kid be so hard to find?" He used to be in Anbu for Kami's sake, and he couldn't find Kuroko anywhere. Kuronuma had been looking for roughly two hours with no luck and had nothing to go by either. Hell, he was no tracker nin. Arata grumbled in irritation. He was more irritable than he usually was, though that was probably because there was no breakfast in his stomach. He had planned on taking the kid to a place he had in mind, but that backfired since the brat couldn't be found anywhere and now he didn't have the energy to look around anymore. "Fuck, I think my stomach's digesting itself." Thankfully there weren't any small children around to hear the string of foul language he used.

"Looking for your singular student?" A voice approached from above, and the person jumped off a roof to his side with a smirk hidden from view.

"Yes," Arata looked blandly over his shoulder to see his old Anbu comrade, "and shouldn't you be with yours?"

"Touché." Kakashi felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth, "Eh, they need some team bonding time."

"So, they're waiting for you in the field or something." Kuronuma's stomach growled, and he almost growled in irritation, "Come with me, I'm hungry."

Kakashi didn't have anything better to do—well... he did actually—so he followed Arata, content on reading his book as they walked through the village. "Ah, I'm jealous. One must be much easier to handle."

"I fear that the Uchiha and Uzumaki may maim each other."

"That fear isn't unwarranted," Kakashi sighed and tucked his book away, "They may as well be mortal enemies with how they're always at each other's throats."

Arata snorted in laughter as lifted the cloth over his head and he entered the restaurant he had in mind. He's been in the place a couple times, and while it was civilian owned, they were friendly and could serve shinobi patrons accordingly.

"Ah, Arata-san, are you here for an early lunch?" Touji greeted, "You haven't been here as often as you used to."

"I'm laying off the alcohol, doctors' orders."

"Now, what would you two like this fine morning?"

• • • • • •

Kuroko entered the establishment through the back entrance. The staff in the back prepping the food for the lunch rush paid him no mind as he was an employee, past tense. He bent under the curtain hanging from the door into the main part of the diner. "Touji-san, I've finished t-the deliveries..."

"As fast as always Kuroko-kun!" Touji praised with a smile, and Kuroko nodded in return.

Kuroko looked at the two people at the counter and stood there for a few seconds, "Ah, Hatake-san and... uh," he trailed off, forgetting that he never got his sensei's name.

"No wonder you couldn't find him," Kakashi commented offhandedly, "the kid's been running around the village."

"Kuroko-kun here does deliveries for me," Touji chuckled uncomfortably at Arata's dark expression, "Well, I suppose not anymore. He's a Genin now."

"I-I could still help out when I'm free!"

"That's if you're not sore enough to." Kuroko tilted his head in question. "I'm going to be your sensei."

"Really?"

Kuronuma nodded and took a gulp of his drink, "Now sit down, we'll have a chat." He glanced to the side to see Kakashi whip out his pornography. Kuroko looked over at Kakashi, initially curious about the book, but then he recalled something that he felt Kakashi should be informed about, "Oh, uh, Hatake-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Your team... they're going to be mad at you."

"Oh?" He looked over at him over his book, "What makes you say that?"

"I passed by t-them on the job... They were waiting f-for you on the bridge." Kuroko could tell that Kakashi didn't really care from his bored expression. "They're plotting to dump you into the river."

At that, Arata choked on his saliva, the sudden laughter catching him off guard.

Kakashi's visible widened and chuckled, "Whose idea was it?" he asked, amused.

"That blond kid I bet," Arata threw in his own two Ryo, "He's a trickster."

Kuroko smiled at that, "A-actually, Haruno-san thought of it." Now that was unexpected. "Naruto wanted to put itching powder in your book so you'd stop burying your nose in it." It wasn't worded like that exactly, but Kuroko thought that it was funnier that way. "Uchiha-san... he wasn't against it."

"Someone's gotta teach him." A voice came in through the door that was opening, revealing a kunoichi with a mask on. Anbu. "Hatake, the Hokage summons you."

"Alright." After the reply, the lady disappeared in a shunshin, and Kakashi being Kakashi, he decided to procrastinate to observe the conversation between the teacher-student duo.

"Now," Kuronuma got his students attention back to the topic at hand, "there are a few catches since I'm only teaching one student. I'll still be on the mission's roster since the Hokage can't keep a Jounin like me off duty only for one student."

"So you'll teach me when you're not on missions?"

"Exactly, you're basically my apprentice. But for some missions, you'll be joining other teams. You may also train with other teams if I get an extensive mission. Now grab something to eat, we'll be training after this."

"What would you like Kuroko-kun?" Touji asked with a smile, "I got a new shipment of fish in." He could see Kuroko fidget, thinking over the offer.

"I, uh, actually have to eat at an Akimichi restaurant for a while."

Kakashi didn't miss the narrowing of Arata's eyes. He nudged him and signed that he would be informed later in the Anbu code. They both knew what having a meal plan with the Akimichi was for. It was sad that a kid was having that kind of problem.

Kakashi pointedly ignored what Arata signed back, shouldn't you be going to the Hokage?

"Well," Arata leaned back and took down the rest of his drink in one large gulp, "I'll accompany you."

"You afraid you'll lose him again?" Kakashi teased, his single eye smile pissed Kuronuma off beyond belief.

"Tch, shut the fuck up Hatake." Despite the harsh words and tone, it was in a friendly manner.

Kuroko's stomach growled, and if they didn't know any better, the kid's quietness meant that he was embarrassed.

Kuronuma chuckled, "Food, right." He went to pat his student's head and to his surprise, he flinched and ducked his head away from his hand. Arata smiled at him like it never happened.

The kid has more issues than I originally thought...

• • • • • •

"E-excuse me!" Kuroko spoke up to the Akimichi at the counter. "I-I have a plan under Nekoma Kuroko."

"Ah yes, they told me about you. Sit anywhere you'd like and your food will be with you soon."

"What do you want to specialize in?" Kuronuma was back into teacher mode, serious and calculating. Kuroko shivered, it was like the test all over again.

The question caught Kuroko off guard, "Uh... I'm not entirely sure. I w-would like to work on my speed... focus on my legs. I... I'm n-not very strong... so cutting weapons would be better..."

Then he'd have to be alright with making others bleed... "Ninjutsu?"

"Um, I'm not sure... something like the head-hunter jutsu, traversing underground. I prefer not using hand-signs... so I would like to master a few select jutsu..."

"What jutsu could you do seal-less?"

"Transformation without an issue... illusionary clones are a work in progress. I-I could make them, but not perfectly yet."

"Genjutsu?"

By this time their conversation stopped and Kuroko's food was delivered to him by the waiter. The man put the food on the table and set down a small cup of orange liquid. "Drink this before eating, it's a supplement medication." The waiter also put a plastic jar on the table with a white lid. "I recommend drinking it in one shot and washing it down with water, and this is for you to take before you go to sleep. The medication helps your muscles regain their mass throughout the night. You may feel stiff when you wake up."

"O-okay... t-thank you." Kuroko said with discomfort, he didn't notice just how many people were in the restaurant until then. It felt like he was being watched. He felt his breathing stagger and he bit his lip in habit. The waiter smiled and left—was that a pity smile?

"Kuroko-kun?" Arata questioned after noticing that Kuroko was silently staring off into space. He heard his breathing pick up when the waiter came over, his stutters were also more frequent during the exchange. "Kuroko?" He pressed, more worried this time.

He flinched minutely and his head jerked up. His eyes landed on the person across the table. Oh, it's Sensei. "A-ah? Y-yes Sensei?"

"Are you alright?"

He nodded, "I-I'm just hungry." Arata didn't believe that excuse one bit. Kuroko picked up his chopsticks and cut into his breakfast, and to his delight, it was fish. He would lift his mask up each time he took a bite. "Ah—!" He just remembered that he had to drink the orange stuff, he almost forgot. He looked around to make sure no one could see and moved his mask to the side slightly, exposing his mouth. He wasn't worried about his sensei seeing, he wasn't a very judgemental person, he could tell.

Arata raised an eyebrow and a small smile crept up on him, Kuroko's an odd child. He was holding the small cup of medicine, and he obviously disliked medicine from the frown he wore. Gulping in unease, he took it down in one swig—though Arata had to wonder how he got those scars.

Kuroko started coughing and grabbed his water, hoping to wash the taste down, "Bleh." When the water didn't help, he rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth to try and get the taste off.

"Now, Genjutsu?"

Kuroko almost forgot what they were talking about previously, "I-I'm proficient. I can cast some simple ones without hand signs... L-like putting shadows on illusionary clones to make them look solid... or adding sounds."

"You're a manipulator then," Kuroko seemed confused, so Arata elaborated, "what I mean by that is you prefer deceiving and confusing your opponent and taking advantage of it." Absently he thought of the bastard Orochimaru, like a predator toying with its prey—but Kuroko was nothing close to that man.

"Now hurry and finish, we don't have all day."

"Ah, y-yes Sensei."

"Oh, speaking of which, I haven't given you my name. Kuronuma Arata's the name."

"K-kuro-sensei then," Kuroko said shyly.

Arata snorted in amusement, that name would stick for sure. They'd be the darkest teacher-student duo on Konoha, only by name. He started laughing at his own joke.

Kuroko had to wonder if his sensei was mentally stable with how he was laughing so hard. Most ninja were to an extent a little off the rails, meeting a normal ninja was rare, but a completely derailed one was more common than one might think. He was forgetting about another teacher-student duo that took the piece of cake—or rather the whole cake.

A faint shout of, "Youth!" was heard as a team of ninja raced across the roofs above them.

• • • • • •

Since Kuroko was still injured, Arata had him start on the basics of chakra control that every Genin would need to learn right away. Tree climbing. He trusted that Kuroko had enough skill to maneuver mid-air to not land on his bad arm.

Kuroko was taking a breather. He'd been running up at a tree for twenty minutes and he couldn't go any higher. He had hit a wall. Suddenly he thought of an idea brought on from his position laying on the ground. He scooted over to the closest tree's base and placed his feel on the bark, focusing a thin layer of chakra like Arata had instructed to the bottom of his feet. When his feet were stuck in place, he lifted himself off the ground and moved up one step.

"Ah."

Arata didn't stop in his own training and looked to see what Kuroko was doing, "You figure it out?"

"I-I was covering my feet, but I didn't think of the surface I was a-adhering to..." For the tree, he needed to form his chakra to fill between the crevasses in the bark.

"Didn't take you too long." Arata thought for a moment, wondering what to do next. "Hold on to my arm. We're going to shunshin."

"A-alright..." Kuroko was wary, the last time he was on a guided shunshin it was with Kakashi and it made him feel sick. Next thing he knew he was looking up at the Hokage Tower, not feeling as sick as he thought he would be. Kuroko followed his sensei into a room with Chunin at desks and the Hokage sitting at one in the center of the room. The mission receptions room. It was the first-time Kuroko had been in that part of the tower.

"Ah, Kuronuma-san. What brings you here today?" A Chunin asked, seemingly knowing Arata.

"Looking for a mission one Genin could do."

"One?" The Chunin said incredulously and looked to the smaller person beside the Jounin.

"A-ah, h-hello..." Kuroko stepped slightly behind his sensei.

"Yes, one. Like babysitting or delivering parcels."

"Well, we have courier missions in spades. Most teams don't take them because fresh Genin need to have missions that encourage teamwork."

"I don't think that would be a problem," Hiruzen chuckled, just dismissing a Jounin getting missions for his team. Azuma looked curious about the situation but left to meet up with his students. "Kuroko-kun is Arata's sole student."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, I'll remember that."

"I'll take two for my student." He looked over his shoulder down at Kuroko, "Is that good enough for you?"

"A-actually... would these packages be large or small?"

"It varies in size depending on the parcels."

"Are they only a-around the village?"

"Courier missions outside the village are for Chunin or Genin teams with approval from their Sensei."

Kuroko thought for a moment, "How many do you have currently?"

The Chunin looked through his files, counting them quickly and efficiently, "Just one shy of fifty."

Kuroko adopted a thinking pose and crossing his arms, "Kuro-sensei... how much t-time are you giving me for this?"

"I'd say two hours, then we'd get back to your training. You should be recovered enough by then." Arata had to wonder why he was asking this, it felt like he was plotting something.

"I... could do them all in that time span," Kuroko said, and the Chunin at the desk blinked owlishly. The man was in a bit of a stupor when he realized that the kid wasn't kidding.

"Really?"

Kuroko looked up to his sensei, who both looked, and sounded unimpressed. His single eyebrow was raised so high it disappeared into his bangs. Did he sound like he was joking?

"Uh, y-yes? I-I would just need to write down where the destinations are in order from one point on the map for the most efficient route."

"And how would you carry it?" Arata questioned.

"Seals," Kuroko reached into his pouch and took out a larger storage scroll than his normal ones. "I could also put them in order, and if they can't be placed into a seal—like other sealed scrolls with sensitive information—I would carry it in my bag and come back and retrieve them."

"That's the longest I've heard you talk without a stutter, good job." Arata went to ruffle his hair, but remembered his thing with contact, and moved to poke his mask where his nose would be.

"A-ah? T-thanks?" Kuroko blinked in confusion, face flushing in embarrassment—not that it could be seen—and couldn't help the stutters that came back.

"Hm, well... I don't have that much confidence that you could do this honestly—but," he continued before Kuroko had enough time to feel disappointed, "If you do, do this within two hours as you said you could... I'll let you pick out three jutsu to learn from the Chunin level of the library. With my approval of the of course."

Oh, how he could see Kuroko brighten, if he brightened anymore he would be blind. It was sweet, not sweet enough that he would stop tormenting the kid, but sweet enough to warrant him a smile.

Behind his folded hands on his desk, the Hokage smiled. He made the right choice in allowing Kuronuma to have a student. It was opening him up more, both of them. He chuckled when he saw Kuroko's cloak move back and forth behind him a little.

"Now, hurry up. We don't have all day."

"Y-yes, Kuro-sensei!"

Hiruzen's smile turned into a smirk, he would be using the name Kuro-sensei as an incentive until Arata's comrades caught wind of it.

• • • • • •

Kuroko followed the route he had made in his mind. It was the shortest route he thought of and it would make use of the tree climbing exercise he just learned. Or an aspect of it. For normal letters or scrolls, he used his chakra strings to put them in people's mailboxes. But for scrolls with sensitive information, he delivered them by hand to make sure it was received. He actually ended up delivering a scroll to Shikamaru's father again, he felt bad, but he had to excuse himself rather abruptly since he was short on time. He wanted to make a good impression on Kuro-sensei and wanted to finish before the hour and a half mark if at all possible. He ran across and jumped over fences and on rooves occasionally as shortcuts when his next location was near.

When he was finished—the last delivery was planned to be the closest to the tower—Kuroko ran up the staircase in the Hokage tower, and with a pant in his breath, he walked into the mission's reception room.

Arata looked up from his hand of cards—he was playing against the only Nara in the room and currently losing—and to the door where he could hear heavy breathing. "Ah."

"I..." Kuroko paused to swallow saliva down his dry throat, "I finished."

"What did you do? Shunshin all over Konoha?" he asked skeptically, raising a puzzled eyebrow.

Kuroko's shoulders slumped, "I should have t-thought of that..." He didn't think of it at the time, but with his sensei's words, he thought of an idea that would have worked, the kawamiri would have worked wonders. Nothing he could do about it after the fact, though.

"Did you dump them somewhere?"

Kuroko shook his head.

"Then how in the world did you do that in..." Arata looked up at the clock on the wall in disbelief, "in forty-five minutes?"

"Forty-five?" Kuroko blinked in astonishment.

"Yes forty-five."

Kuroko didn't know how he did it in that about of time himself. With how fast he was moving, and his thought-out route, he made a record-breaking time for the books.

Secretly during the conversation, an Anbu was having their own with the Hokage via sign language. The Anbu dispelled their genjutsu to reveal themselves, "Permission to speak Hokage-sama?"

"Granted."

The Anbu turned on their heel to face Kuroko and his teacher. "I was given orders to tail Nekoma-kun as an evaluation. Some of those documents had sensitive information and trusting a newly minted Genin without supervision was not ideal." Kuroko didn't notice anyone following him, he was too focused to even try to notice them. "Nekoma-kun only looked at the address of the delivery, no subterfuge detected."

"Since you were following him, I'd like to know his methods." Arata seemed to look straight through the mask and right into the Anbu's eyes, they were the eyes of a sensei that didn't know all that his student had to offer.

"Nekoma-san took the simplest routes, not mattering if buildings were in the way. For simple parcels, he used chakra strings to place them into mailboxes. Walked across fences as to not go into people's lawns, and avoided any mishaps."

"We might just have a new messenger for the intelligence division," the Hokage mused thoughtfully.

The Nara in the room chuckled, "Since the last one retired, we've been a bit short of staff."

"Don't steal my student from me on the first day we officially start. That would be quite rude. Now," he put his hands sternly on his hips and looked down to his tiny student, "we'll stop by the library before going back to the training fields."

"Kuroko-kun, aren't you forgetting something?" Hiruzen asked, and by the tilt of Kuroko's head he gathered that, no, Kuroko did not know. "Your pay."

"O-oh!" He didn't know how he could have forgotten something so important, "Thank you Hokage-sama," Kuroko bowed his head.

Hiruzen smiled as they left the room taking a drag of his pipe, he went to drink the tea he had almost forgotten about.

The Nara, who was behind his own desk, didn't hesitate in the slightest when he said, "They look like father and son," and the Hokage, in all his glory, started choking on his tea.

• • • • • •

When the two arrived at the library, Arata spoke to the librarian and got an access id card for Kuroko to hang around his neck that allowed him access to the Chunin level. "Alright, I'll look for some things to teach you, while you look for the three jutsu."

Arata went off to do his own thing and Kuroko was left looking at the shelves in the Chunin level of the library. Chunin guards stood watch around the premises and it made Kuroko feel uncomfortable, but he had the id card so he should be alright.

Kuroko found four jutsu in his time in the library, three of which his sensei could help teach him, and one that he'd been meaning to learn in his own time, he also found a helpful book.

"What jutsu did you choose?" Arata looked through the scrolls that Kuroko picked, "You prefer supplementary techniques with versatility, don't you?" He saw that Kuroko had two more scrolls with him.

"Ah, these are from the Genin section. I'd like to learn them in my own time."

"Ah, so you're wanting to learn the shunshin. Not many people see it's potential. Also, don't you already know chakra strings?"

Kuroko nodded, "Yes, but I would like to learn more about them so I could hide them from sight."

"Now that requires more chakra control." Arata ushered Kuroko to go to the front desk to take out the scrolls. "Back to training after this." A devilish smirk crawled up at the thought he had, "You might want to bring a spare change of clothes."

Kuroko did not have a good feeling.

• • • • • •

"Shikamaru."

The one in question looked from his spot on the porch to his father, "Yeah Tou-san?"

"Have you seen Kuroko lately?"

"I haven't since the delivery mission he was on."

Shikaku frowned. That was five days ago. "Yoshino wants to invite him over." He wrote down an address on a piece of paper and handed it to his son, "Go and fetch him, will you?"

Shikamaru sighed and grabbed the yellow note out from his father's hand. "If it'll keep Kaa-san off of my case."

Shimaru looked at the address on the paper, frowning thoughtfully. It was weird. In his time of knowing Kuroko, he never gave out any personal information about himself—like where he lived. Kuroko never talked about such things, just skirting around those sensitive topics by either telling white lies or just redirecting the attention away from himself.

He knocked on the door he was brought to, and a washed down looking woman answered.

"Yes?" A strained, coarse voice questioned, not rude, but not inviting either. He could smell the booze off of her—it was much worse than his father.

"...Hi," Shikamaru hesitated for a moment, "Is Kuroko in?"

"Ku—roko?" She fumbled over the name. Okay, now he was confused, wasn't this where Kuroko lived? He could see similarities between the woman and Kuroko, just the facial structure, but they were similarities nonetheless. The lady didn't even seem to recognise the name. Her face went from perplexed to blank as she remembered, "Oh. He's not here anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't his home anymore. I got rid of him years ago."

Shikamaru had to backtrack in his head, "Aren't you his mother?"

The woman grimaced, face crinkling up in disgust, "To that abomination? Not anymore. He was a mistake," she slammed the door shut in Shikamaru's face and locked it.

Shikamaru stood there for a moment, his mind running at a mile a minute, it was all coming together. He recalled that back in the academy Kuroko suddenly stopped having proper lunches. The most recent recollection was the most obvious. It was Kuroko's first time over for dinner, Shikamaru commented on his new cloths and he made a joke that he didn't want to show up looking like a homeless person... He wasn't joking! How could I have missed that?!

Shikamaru needed to tell his father. Kuroko couldn't live on the streets. He hurried across the village to his compound when his attention was drawn to a path of wet snow, his eyes followed the trail to see black.

Kuroko, feeling like someone was watching him, turned around, "Oh, S-shika-m-m-m-maru," he was shivering, and it affected his speech, teeth chattering, "H-h-how are y-you?"

"Kuro!" He was completely soaked through. "Why are you sopping wet? It's freaking winter, you idiot!" Well, it wasn't officially winter yet, but that was beside the point. It was cold enough for there to be snow. "Come on, follow me."

Kuroko didn't follow—he was dragged. Shikamaru refused to let go of his wrist until they arrived in the entrance of his home.

"Kaa-san, could you prepare a bath?" Shikamaru shouted as they both took off their shoes—Kuroko's sopping wet.

"Did you find Kuroko-kun?" They heard her muffled voice come from around kitchen area.

"Yeah, that's why I need the bath ready."

Yoshino came around to corner and gasped, "Oh, no wonder why you need a bath! Kuroko you're drenched! First of all, take off those clothes, and I'll get you dry ones."

"O-okay!" Kuroko knew how Yoshino was. If she wanted something done, it had to be done—as in right at that moment. He was dragged off by a Yoshino with her motherly instincts kicking off into overdrive.

"Why's he so waterlogged?" Shikaku questioned after everything calmed down, watching as his wife fuss over Kuroko in the hall with amusement.

"I have no idea." He didn't even think of what the reason might have been while pulling him along. "When I was walking back I just saw a trail of wet snow and it lead to him." Shikamaru frowned and scratched his head, wondering how he should bring it up, "Tou-san... About Kuroko..." he sighed and bit at the inside of his cheek, "I think he's been homeless for the past couple of years."

"Homeless?" Shikaku's eyebrows rose in question, "What makes you say that?"

"When I went to his house... I met his mother. She said that it wasn't his home, that he never belonged there," he grit his teeth in an effort to not explode, "She called him an abomination Tou-san. She called him a mistake!" He took a deep breath to calm down, it didn't help much, but he the urge strangle something lessened. "When he came over the first time I commented on his new clothes. He said he didn't want to come over looking like a homeless person. I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't!"

Shikaku put a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder, "I'll speak with Yoshino to see if he can stay here for a while."

"W-why's everyone looking so serious?" Kuroko asked with a quizzical tilt of his head. He was as dry as can be. His mask was off, and his hair was poofy. Yoshino opted to use a hairdryer and towel to conserve water, a bit redundant since it was using electricity instead, but it worked its own wonders even if it made his hair insanely frizzy. As for clothes, he was in a spare pair of Shikamaru's own pyjamas covered in his favourite blanket.

"Shogi strategies," Shikaku left it at that.

Shikamaru blinked but went along with his father's change of topic. "Yeah—and why were you soaking wet in this weather?"

"Uh... well. I-I was practising the shunshin jutsu. I sort of miscalculated the distance and l-landed in the Naka river..."

Shikaku couldn't help but chuckle, "Try practising that jutsu in an open place without water around next time."

"I-I think I've learned my—atchoo!—uh... lesson."

"Yeah. You better have," Shikamaru bopped him upside the head, ruffling his hilariously poofy hair. "Idiot."

Kuroko broke into a smile and laughed.