-14th chapter, finally. Not much to say about it, other than that my friend I'll Be Your Lie helped me write the dialogue between Midori and Amaya.

I sat there, slumped up against the tree's trunk, trying in vain to sink into the bark and disappear. I watched all of the other children around me playing, having fun. They belonged here, in this strange, alien place. I didn't. As much as I wished I did, I just felt like an outcast, a freak. I couldn't just go up and talk to them, but I didn't want to go home either.

Besides, I thought, this isn't home anyway. Sure, they could tell me it was, but no matter how much they tried to convince me, it wouldn't work. This place-Konoha, or whatever it was called-just wasn't-

"Whatsa matter?"

I looked up and shrank back, frightened. The speaker was a boy who looked about a year older than me. That would mean he was seven or eight. He was stocky and serious-looking. He was squinting down at me, staring, and I squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. His short, black hair was messy, and his clothes looked well-worn. The most intriguing thing about this child, however, were his clear, soft blue eyes, as blue as the sky above.

"I said, 'Whatsa matter.'" he asked me again.

"Nothing." I squeaked.

"Nun-huh. There's gotta be suttin' wrong with ya."

I looked up at him sharply. "The correct way to say that would be, 'No. There must be something wrong with you.'" I corrected him, stressing where he'd messed up.

The second it had left my mouth I regretted it. Oh no, I bet I offended him! I thought miserably. Now he's going to hurt me! I shrank back even more, bracing myself.

But instead I heard laughter. I opened my eyes. He was laughing a high, somewhat hysterical laugh that made me snicker too. He finished laughing and plopped down on his rear. His face had become soft and relaxed now. I realized that he wasn't that much taller than me after all; maybe only a couple of inches or so.

"You're funny!" he said.

"How so?" I asked him.

"'Cause you're all proper and stuff." he replied. "Kids ain't supposed to be like that."

"Hmm. Well, I am." I said.

"Will you answer me now?"

I thought a moment, pondering whether or not to tell him who I was and where I was from. He was a stranger, after all. But he seemed nice enough. "I was sitting alone because I just moved here. I don't have any friends. My daddy sent me to the park, but I didn't want to go talk to anyone."

The boy looked at me for a while longer. I shifted uncomfortably. "Well," he said, "I'll be your friend."

I blinked. Back in Kirigakure none of the other kids had ever even talked to me. They thought I was too smart and mature for them; they'd called me boring. Now this boy was offering to be my first friend ever, even though he'd never spoken to me before.

"Um, okay." I replied, unsure of what to do.

"Good!" the boy smiled, grinning from ear to ear. "What's your name?"

"Midori Koshima." I replied.

"You have a real pretty name." he said. "Green is a nice color."

"Why, thank you." I thanked him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kenshin!" he exclaimed loudly as if he wanted the whole world to hear him.

I awoke, utterly confused by the dream I'd just had. Why was I dreaming about my childhood friend? My father had just been killed. Shouldn't I have had a nightmare about the killer, or the blazing infernos of hell, or something like that? Of course I should have. But instead I'd dreamed about when I was six years old.

I was so consumed by thought that I hadn't realized someone was sitting beside me. I only realized it when he called my name.

"Midori?" I didn't even have to look to know it was Shikamaru.

I was a bit startled to see him in such a position. He was sitting there lazily, his arms crossed and resting on my bed. His head was resting there too. He was gazing at me intently. His butt was on the chair, which was about a foot away from the bed.

I blushed and cursed myself. Why did I have to notice where his butt was?

He tilted his head to the side in a cute, confused way. "Why are you blushing?" he smirked, extending a hand to touch my overheated cheek.

"I…I…I…well…" I stammered, his fingers a millimeter away from my face. Just then the door swung open. Shikamaru jerked his arm back and sat up.

"Midori!" exclaimed a rambunctious Amaya. "Are you okay? How's your head? IwassoworriedaboutyouwhydidyoudothatandI'mgonnakickyourasswhenyou'reallbetter!"

I blinked. "Uh…what?" I said, befuddled by her fast speech. She always did that when she was energetic, and I was never able to understand what she was trying to say.

"Humph. And I thought you were the smart one." she simpered. "You can't even understand me!"

I rolled my eyes. Amaya was making no sense, as usual. I saw anger flash in Shikamaru's eyes and he attempted to smack Amaya in the head.

Amaya ducked just as Shikamaru was about to make contact. "You missed me, deer boy!" she sneered.

They were both silent for a second, just glaring at each other like immature children. I sighed. Amaya's gaze flickered to me for a moment, and then went back to Shikamaru.

"Shika, go away!" she snapped.

"Why?" he sounded very irritated. "And please don't call me that!"

"Because I have to have a private conversation with Midori." she replied. "And I'll call you anything you want, pineapple-head."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest, but closed it. He heaved himself up out of the chair. "See you tomorrow, Midori." he breathed as he passed me. He walked away and closed the door behind him, leaving Amaya and I alone.

"Why'd you make him go?" I snapped, not meaning to sound angry but doing so anyway.

Amaya smiled coyly at me. "Oooooh, Midori misses her boyfriend." she cooed mockingly. I hit her with my pillow, attempting to hide my embarrassment. "He's been here all day, by the way." she said as the pillow made hit her face with a small thump. "It's about time he left."

Amaya suddenly turned serious. "What happened?" she asked. "And who did this to you?"

"I don't know." I replied.

"Well…what did he look like?"

I gave Amaya a brief physical description of the killer. Again as I talked about him I felt the nagging feeling that I'd met him somewhere before or at least seen him.

"Hmmm." Amaya nodded slowly. "Well, are you aware of where your father is?"

"Yes." I replied quietly, biting my lip as I felt sadness calling tears to my eyes. "He's dead."

"Oh, so you know." Amaya said.

"Yes. I…saw him. His body." I mumbled, trying my hardest not to cry even though the memory made me want to.

Amaya sucked in air sharply. "Ouch. I didn't think that you'd seen."

"Well, I did. Traumatizing experience." I paused, and then decided to change the subject. "Where's Daichi?"

"He's okay. He's been hospitalized. He wasn't injured, but…I think there's something wrong with his head."

"Huh? Do you mean trauma?'

"Yeah, there you go. He's been a little weird-not his normal self."

I thought about that. Daichi had probably suffered trauma from the event. I decided to brood upon that later, though. First I had to address something.

"Hey, Amaya?" I started, unsure of how to word it. "Uh…well, it's weird, but…well, when I saw the murderer, I got a weird feeling. It was some feeling of recognition; I felt like I knew him from somewhere. It's a little disturbing."

"That's weird." she agreed, raising an eyebrow. "I'll ask around."

I nodded, knowing what she meant. Amaya had many connections-most of which were with very questionable or dangerous people. Out of all the people in the village, she was probably the best person to ask for help with this issue.

"Well, I'm going to have to be on my way soon." Amaya said, gazing at the clock for a second. "Places to go, people to see. Good bye!"

Amaya left. I wished that she hadn't made Shikamaru leave; I wanted to talk to him some more. I felt myself growing tired again, and I drifted off to sleep.