Ink's Notes:

Sorry for the major delay! I had the flu. But I'm basically over it now, so here's an update!

Chapter Eighteen

Tsunade had not been amused when Marco and Sakura had informed her that Marco was not the only one who had been hit by that strange jutsu. They told her that they suspected the one who had hit him with that jutsu had multiple victims, and Sakura thought Tsunade might have broken something if it hadn't been for the fact that they had Vivi and Carue, two of the aforementioned victims, with them in the office at that moment in time. Tsunade had taken a deep breath, counted backwards from ten, and promptly told them to leave and go get some rest, and that she wanted to speak with all four of them first thing tomorrow morning. The group had agreed – mostly to avoid getting something thrown at them – and Marco had quickly ushered the two girls out of the office, followed by a terrified, quacking Carue.

The group spoke to one another, mostly about their suspicions about why Tsunade wanted to speak with them tomorrow morning, on the way out of the building. They were about to part ways so Marco could go find a place change into his phoenix form in peace when they ran into Shikamaru just outside of the building. He seemed to have been waiting for them for some reason, though he seemed mildly surprised by Vivi and Carue's presence.

"Hey, Sakura," he nodded to her, and she smiled in response. "Who're these three?"

"Oh-" Sakura blinked, looking between her companions and Shikamaru, motioning to each of them as she said their names. "This is Vivi, her pet duck Carue, and Edward. Vivi, Edward, Carue, this is Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's eyes passed over Vivi and Carue, before landing on Marco. The two held each other's gaze for a moment, and Shikamaru frowned as he noted the look that Marco was giving him – like they had some sort of spiritual connection, and that the man pitied him – and he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen that exact same expression not that long ago…

Shikamaru brought a hand to his head, lowering it in annoyance. "How troublesome," he muttered, before looking back at Sakura, Vivi, Marco and Carue. "Sakura, may I have a word with Edward in private?" He didn't wait for her response, taking Marco's hand and leading him into an alleyway a few streets away. Sakura and Vivi watched them go, before exchanging glances and figuring he'd catch up to them later. Carue quacked and brought them back to attention, and the three began making their way to Sakura's apartment.

Shikamaru sat Marco down on a nearby crate, then sighed and sat down across from him. They were both silent for a few minutes, prompting Marco to blink a few times. "Is this about the hair?" he asked, running a hand through it. "I didn't know that other people had pineapple hair. Everyone calls me pineapple, it's a pain in the-"

"Marco," Shikamaru interrupted him. "How come you're a human and not a phoenix?" Marco found himself unable to form a coherent response, so Shikamaru kept talking. "When we first met, you gave me the exact same look that you just did. The voice is the same, and the hair is the explanation as to why you gave me that look. Plus, the fact that Sakura didn't take you with her on her mission to Suna, and yet no one saw any indication that you were anywhere near Konoha the entire week that they were gone."

Marco sighed. "Look, it's a long story, and I'm sorry for keeping it a secret, but would you have believed me if you hadn't seen evidence of it firsthand?" Shikamaru conceded that point. "I'm just a sailor with a bit of combat experience. I'm not a ninja like you. I don't know how many of you people I can trust with my secrets. I don't want people to try experiment on me or anything like that."

"Understandable," he nodded, and then thought for a moment. "How many other people know?"

"Sakura, of course," Marco crossed his arms to think about it. "Tsunade and Shizune. Tama. Vivi and Carue," he listed.

"And now me," Shikamaru finished the list for him, and Marco nodded. "How'd they all find out?"

"Sakura figured out I was human before I even changed back in Konoha," Marco sighed, scratching behind his head. "I had to fully explain my circumstances, though, when Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata caught me in the library…" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, and he elaborated. "I'm not from this part of the world. I got hit by a jutsu that sent me here, and I was trying to figure out how to get home." Shikamaru nodded, and he continued where he left off. "Tsunade and Shizune found out when Sakura figured it out, since they were in the room when she put two and two together. Tama was sent to get Sakura for when she found out and noticed that I wasn't around her apartment, and I also used my human form to beat him up before, so he put it together… as far as Vivi and Carue, they were clients of mine, so they already knew about it," he finished, crossing his arms. "They got hit by the same jutsu I was hit by, and Vivi wound up in Suna with amnesia. We brought them here in hopes that she would remember things, and some of the people we've run into seem to be reminding her of people she was close to, so that's good."

Shikamaru nodded, satisfied by this explanation. "All right. I'll keep watch."

"Keep watch?" Marco asked.

"I assume you'll want to change back to your phoenix form. People will get suspicious if the pet Sakura's grown so attached to is missing, but they won't notice if a random sailor happens to be missing," he pointed out, getting up off of his seat and going to the exit of the alleyway, looking around. "No one out there…" He leapt onto the rooftops overhead. "No one up here, either…" Shikamaru hopped back down into the alley. "Coast's clear, but make it-"

He didn't get a chance to finish as blue flames wrapped around Marco, and in an instant the bird had replaced the man. Marco smiled smugly at him, lifting off of his perch and landing on Shikamaru's shoulder. "…Now I see why Sakura likes this so much," Shikamaru joked, putting his hands in his pockets and making his way towards Sakura's apartment.

That brings this chapter to a close. We now have another person on the list of 'people that we're aware know about Marco'! I say it like that because, for all we know, other people could have figured it out and just not said anything yet. Anyway, see you guys next chapter~!

-Ink