Recovery

When I woke up next, Hiroshi had been carrying me, and he looked even more beat up than when he had forced me to pass out. So that meant I had been out of it for a while. Unfortunately I passed out again before I could say anything.

The next time I had awoken, a woman had undressed me from the waist up and was bandaging up my cuts and stab wounds. There hadn't been many, so she finished quickly, and the drugs she had given me made me fall asleep.

Now, I would like to say that the next time I woke up; it had been because my body had told me to. But no. I was shaken awake, and someone was practically yelling in my ear. I opened my eyes and flinched at the sudden brightness. I looked over at my assailant, and yawned.

"What do you want?" I groaned, and flopped back into my bed. Wait, my bed? When had I been brought home? Oh well, as long as I was here I was happy.

"You've been asleep for two whole days!" A voice whined in my ear. I looked over and glared at my sensei.

"Why're you here anyways? You looked even more beat up than I was last time I saw you." I asked as I sat up and scowled at him in annoyance. He grinned his usual hyperactive grin, but I gasped when I saw all the bandages.

"You should be home resting!" I scolded, and tossed my feet over the edge of the bed. He shrugged and smirked.

"They're not as bad as they seem. I've only got a few deep cuts and burns. The rest are for scratches." I gave him a doubtful look, but stood up and stretched anyways. I cursed and clutched my stomach as pain stabbed me.

"You should probably not do that for a bit." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

"So what happened anyways? We won right?" I asked as I finally remembered what had happened. So he sighed and got comfortable in my desk chair, while I sat on the edge of my bed again.

He explained everything, and that the Hokage's funeral would be tomorrow. I bowed my head in silence for a moment, out of respect for the third.

"What about Roka and Kai?" I asked, lifting my head to stare at him. He smiled at me, so I breathed a sigh of relief. They must be fine or else he wouldn't be here.

"Oh they're fine. Kai was asleep for the whole thing, and Roka had rushed off to help at the gates. Almost got crushed by a wall, but other than that he's fine." I pouted as my stomach growled.

"What does a girl have to do to get some food around here?" I whined, patting my stomach, carefully mind you. Hiroshi laughed and got out of the chair, and I followed him downstairs. I looked around, and sighed when I saw my dad's shoes were gone.

"Don't look so glum. We all have to put the village back together and carry missions out as usual. We don't want other countries to think that we're weak, right?" I nodded, and slipped on my shoes and followed him out the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Ichiraku's." He answered simply. I smiled; of course Hiroshi would never be bothered to actually cook.

"When can I start helping out?" I asked. He shrugged and ruffled my hair.

"The doctor said as soon as your stomach scabs over and doesn't break." He told me. I nodded, and we were silent until we reached the ramen shop. I saw all the damage that had been done, and I was awestruck. How long would it take to fix all of this? It felt kind of hopeless.

But I forgot about my thoughts when a giant bowl of ramen was placed in front of me, and devoured it. Hiroshi laughed and slurped up his own.

Two bowls of ramen later, I was quite content, and pulled out my wallet to pay, but Hiroshi pulled his out.

"Oh not this again." He groaned. I glared, and pulled my money out as he did the same.

"I'm paying!" I told him, and he shook his head.

"No, you're injured. I'll pay." He argued, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're injured too, dummy. C'mon, let me pay." I told him.

"She does this to you too? How bothersome." A voice said behind us, and I swiveled around to see Shikamaru standing behind us with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Shika!" I exclaimed, and hugged him. He patted my back, and I pulled away with a smile. I was surprised to see he had a small smile too, but it disappeared quickly.

"Haha!" Hiroshi yelled, and I turned and glared when I saw he had used my distraction to pay. He grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes. "You two have fun, I'm goin' home." He told us, and walked off.

"He's so weird." I told Shikamaru as I watched Hiroshi's back get smaller and smaller.

"He seems very energetic." Shikamaru told me, and I nodded.

"You don't know the half of it. So what're you doing here?" I asked and turned to face him. He shrugged and looked up at a fluffy cloud.

"I was actually going to see how you were." He told me, and I smiled.

"I just woke up actually. I can't help out until one of my wounds gets better though." I admitted and he nodded. We started walking, when I suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! Was Jun helpful? He didn't get in the way, right?" I asked, wondering what had happened.

"Hm? He was helpful. He took out half of the enemies that were following us. Kept track of Sasuke too." He informed me, and I grinned.

"That's good." I said, and we kept walking.

"Kiko?" He asked in his bored voice. I looked over at him.

"Yes?" He sighed and muttered about something being so bothersome. I laughed at him.

"Before Naruto, Sakura, and I went off, you… well, you kissed me. Why?" He asked, and he had a small blush on his cheeks. I laughed.

"It was for good luck, and it was just your cheek. I don't like you or anything. Don't worry." I assured him with a smile. He nodded and cleared his throat.

"Asuma-sensei wants us to help with the front gate, so I should go." He told me, and I nodded.

"See you later." I waved as he walked off, then I headed towards home.

The next day, I headed to the Hokage's funeral with my dad. It felt like everyone was upset, and in turn it made me rather upset. When it started raining, I couldn't help but feel it was perfect funeral weather.

My dad and I barely said anything to each other; we were both wrapped up in our own thoughts. And as I stared at the fluffy white flower n my hands, I remembered the first time I had talked to the Hokage. It had been back when I was training Jun.

"Flap your wings! No! Not that hard!" I yelled up to the tiny brown owl who was trying to fly from branch to branch. He squawked at me and tumbled through the air to the next branch.

"You're doing better, but try and get your wing tips to meet when you flap!" I told him, and he tried it, and his flight was slightly better. He was doing good until he lost control and few into the ground. I gasped and ran over.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I picked up the little bird. He gave a soft cry and snuggled into the crook of my arm.

"You did very good. We'll stop for the day." I told him as I stroked his feathers. I stood up and turned to go home, but stopped when I saw someone had been watching me.

"Hokage-sama!" I gasped, and bowed. He chuckled and walked over.

"You were doing very well, why stop?" He asked me as he patted Jun. I blushed.

"He's been working hard. I thought I shouldn't push him anymore." I admitted, and glanced up at the Hokage's face. He was smiling, so I smiled back.

"Try it a few more times. You'll be surprised at how far he can really go." He told me, and I nodded and climbed the tree and placed Jun on the top one. He hooted as I climbed down, and the Hokage and I both watched as he flew.

On the fifth branch, he took off and I gasped. "Perfect! You're doing great!" I called out to him, and he circled the clearing and finally landed wobbly on the ground in front of me. I picked him up and praised him, then turned to the Hokage.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." I thanked him and he nodded and smiled.

"You will go far too, Tsukiko." He told me and patted my head. I scowled.

"No I won't. All those other kids just tease me and I can't fight back. I'm weak." I pouted, and he chuckled.

"Sometimes all you need to become strong is a good friend. That is why you're bird here was able to fly. He has you." He told me, smiling warmly. I gave him a doubtful look.

"So all I need to be able to be strong, is a friend?" He nodded and I smiled. "That's good advice. I'll go make a friend then! Ja ne Hokage-sama!" I waved and ran off towards home, wondering who my new friend would be.

I had taken the Hokage's advice to heart and made better friends with Chouji, and later Hinata. With their help, the other kid's words didn't hurt me anymore, and I was even able to throw words back at them. That was when I had started calling Kiba a mutt.

I gave a soft smile at the memory, and sniffled as the tears started to leak from my eyes. Jun gave a soft hoot. I suspect he was remembering the same thing. When I stepped up to place my flower on the tomb, my smile disappeared when I saw how many other shinobi had perished in the fight. I shuddered to think that my friends and my own father could've died. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I lost my dad.(1)

So I hurried back to dad, and held his hand. He smiled at me, and I saw he had been crying too. Was he thinking about mom? He only ever looked like that when he thought about mom. So I patted his hand, and we stood through the rest of the service in silence, and when it was done, we walked home through the rain.

"Get back here! You are filthy Jun! I am going to give you a bath whether you like it or not!" I yelled after the little brown bird as I chased him across the rooftops of Konoha. See, unfortunately, all the repair work and cleanup was getting Jun covered with dust and dirt. Mainly I just got to do cleanup, considering I can't do heavy lifting or my injury would rip open.

He disappeared from sight, and I sighed as I followed him behind a wall.

"Oi! What's all this ruckus?" I heard someone ask, and I turned to apologize, until I saw it was Kiba. I sighed, he had caught Jun.

"Thanks for catching him. Its bath time and he doesn't like it until he's actually in the water." It told him as I took Jun from him. He looked confused.

"Can you even give birds baths?" He asked, staring at me. I nodded.

"Yes. He likes to shower with me best though. We even have a little perch in the shower for him." I told him. He blushed red and looked away.

"You take a shower, t-together?" He stuttered. I nodded, giving him an are-you-okay look.

"It's not that unusual. Birds are very attached to their companions. The other owl I'm training only takes baths in the sink. She loves to bring toys in too." I told him, and he nodded.

Jun glared up at me from my arms. Kiba smirked. "Akamaru hates baths too. Ignores me for the rest of the day after one." He laughed. I giggled and nodded.

"Well I should be going." I told him, and he nodded.

"I'll see you later." He said, and I walked off.

"See? You love baths! I don't know why you fight so much." I told Jun as I put shampoo in my hair. He gave an excited hoot as he flitted through the stream of water and landed on his perch. I giggled and washed the shampoo out.

The rest of the shower was spent playing around and getting clean. I got out and wrapped a towel around me, and scooped Jun up in a smaller towel then I patted him dry. He flew out and I dried myself off.

A week later, the wound scabbed up, and I was allowed to do hard work with my team again. I tried my hardest, and we were worked to the bone by Hiroshi. But I didn't mind. I liked helping my village get back up on its feet. The only thing that bothered me was who the next Hokage would be.

I had heard a rumor that Naruto's trainer, Jiraiya, was the one the elders wanted. I hadn't met him or seen him, but if he was a Sannin, then I wouldn't mind too much. I wondered what kind of person he was. He must be very powerful to be one of the legendary Sannin.

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the task at hand right now; I didn't need to worry about something silly like that. The elders wouldn't pick a bad Hokage. I don't need to worry about that.

I struggled as I pushed my side of the wall. Roka was on the opposite end, while Kaito was standing on one of the beams of the house, pulling a rope we had attached to the top of the wall.

We were currently rebuilding one of the homes that had been destroyed, and we were putting the last wall into place. Hiroshi quickly put the bolts in to fasten the wall to the others.

"Are we done for the day?" Kaito whined. We had started at noon, and the sun was setting already. Hiroshi sighed and nodded.

"Yes, we can stop. Even I'm tired. Miracle right?" He chuckled, and we all laughed. So we trudged back to our homes, which were in separate directions. I didn't have Jun with me, so the walk home was quiet. When I did arrive at my house, it was still quiet. My dad had been working so hard lately; it wasn't surprising he had gone to bed early.

As tired and sore as I was, I didn't want to go to bed after my shower. I stared at the twin sized bed in distaste, and put regular clothes back on to go for a small walk. I closed the door gently behind me, and began a nice quiet walk all to myself. Before long, I accidentally found myself at the place where Shikamaru loved to watch clouds.

I smiled as I stared up at the sky. The sun was still setting, and the sky was a beautiful peachy color. The clouds looked beautiful too, they looked almost golden. There was no one there, so I decided to sit down on the bench and stare at the sky for a while. It was nice. It cleared my head and made me feel relaxed. How just staring at the sky could do that, I'll never know.

When the stars came out though, is when I really perked up. Being a trainer of Owls, I naturally love the night a bit more than daytime. I had watched the stars as often as possible when I was younger, but everything had been so hectic for a while, I hadn't found a free moment to do so.

I laid back on the bench, and rose my and up to trace constellations with my fingers. I gigged as I started to make up my own constellations, a thing I had done in my childhood too. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, so when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I yelped and leapt up from my spot.

I whirled around to see who the person was, and let out a relieved sigh when I saw it was just Shikamaru. I smiled at him.

"You scared me Shika-kun! What are you doing up here?" I asked, and sat back down. He shrugged and sat next to me.

"Figured I'd take a walk, and I saw you up here. I was going to ask you the same question. How bothersome." He sighed. I smiled.

"Didn't want to go to sleep. I thought if I took a walk, I might want to go to bed." I told him. He nodded, and looked up at the sky and sighed.

"How troublesome. There's nothing interesting to do here." He commented, his eyes gazing up at the twinkling lights. I sighed with a smile, and shook my head.

"The stars are so beautiful. It's fun to watch them." I corrected him, and turned my head up towards the stars as well.

"They don't move though." He told me blandly, and I smiled.

"That's what makes them so fun. You can make shapes out of them, or find real constellations." I said, and pointed up at a cluster of stars.

"That's Perseus, and to the left of him is Cassiopeia(2)." I continued to rattle off the different constellations until he yawned. I blushed and stopped rambling.

"Sorry." I whispered, and fiddled with the hem of my shirt. I looked up at him, and saw he was staring at me with furrowed brows.

"How bothersome. Why are you sorry?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I talk too much." I'm not sure what I expected, but happened next was certainly not it. He laughed. He was laughing at me! I frowned, and when he looked at me again, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Now that is an understatement." He told me, chuckling, and I was surprised that he hadn't used his catchphrase. But in the end, I just laughed along with him, and we spent an hour or so just talking.

All in all, it was a good night.

(1)-Foreshadowing, perhaps? :D

(2)- Just random constellations

KikoxKiba-1

KikoxShika-0

Let's rack in those votes people! I can't do anything with the story until I get them! Why do you think it took so long to get this one out? :D