Moonlttiger – haha fine, point given XP I think I'm subconsciously leaving chapters at cliffhangers -_- I don't think it's healthy…this chapter will most certainly be longer! :D no worries about that :3

**Chapter 21**

When Shannon next opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Sakura and Shikamaru bending over her, both of them with worried expressions on their faces. When they saw she was conscious, both of them looked a little more relieved.

"You lost a lot of blood, try not to move around too much," Sakura told her, helping her sit up.

Shannon groaned, pressing her fingertips to her pounding temples. It felt as though her head would explode. Her entire body was stinging from the healing ointments Sakura had applied to her numerous injuries. She cracked an eye open and looked down at her battered body – she was literally covered in bandages from head to toe. They were wound around her midriff, along both her arms and her left thigh. Shannon, reddening, also noticed that her clothes had been changed.

There was a sight pressure on her back as Shikamaru supported her. "You had us worried for a moment there," he muttered, averting his eyes.

Shannon took a deep breath, leaning against him. She ignored the throbbing wounds. "How long was I out for?"

When Shikamaru didn't answer, Shannon turned to Sakura, an eyebrow raised questioningly.

Sakura sighed. "A day and a half."

Shannon let out a sigh of her own and shook her head. "That's a long time…"

"You're injuries were quite severe, so that's actually quite a remarkable recovery time, given the circumstances," the pink-haired medic nin gave her a gentle smile.

Shannon just nodded her head some more, eyes closed. She was silent for a few moments.

"Where's my mother?" she suddenly asked, eyes opening.

Sakura nodded her head in the direction of a hastily-constructed tent a few yards from where she had been lying. "Over there. She's been resting."

"Shika, a little help?" Shannon tried to push herself to her feet, but the screaming pain in her arms limited her movement.

With a silent nod, Shikamaru wound an arm around her waist and helped her to her feet. Shannon looped an arm over his shoulders for support as he helped her hobble towards her mother's tent. Shannon paused, looking down at the ground.

"And the others?" she directed the question at Sakura.

The pink-haired kunoichi smiled slightly, letting out a short laugh. "They're fine, Shannon. There's no need to worry about them."

Shannon nodded, feeling slightly relieved. She couldn't live with herself if any of her comrades had been injured terribly by the Akatsuki. She shivered. Injured or worse.

"What happened to the rest of the Akatsuki?" Shannon asked her companion as they walked.

"After they saw you defeat Pein and Kisame, they sort of just lost the will to fight," he explained. "Hinata had already finished off Deidara and they knew they were outnumbered because Tobi ran off too."

Shannon sighed in relief. That meant that the Akatsuki wouldn't be bothering them anymore. Their leader was dead and their forces scattered. The next thought that managed to worm its way into her groggy mind was the fact that she was still meant to be accompanying the Konoha squad back to their world. But before she could think too much about it, she and Shikamaru reached the tent.

Shikamaru held the tent flap open so Shannon could limp inside. Once her eyes adjusted to the gloom inside, she saw her mother sitting propped up against one of the poles supporting the ratty old tarp.

"Mom?" she said softly, not quite believing her eyes. After all this time searching, and she was finally here, in arms' reach…

The older woman turned around. Shannon saw tears in her eyes. "S-shannon? You're finally up!"

Suddenly, Shannon was crying. She flung herself at her mother, wrapping her arms tightly around Josephine's shoulders. "I was so worried Mom!"

Josephine hugged her daughter back with equal force. "I was too, sweety," she whispered as she buried her face in Shannon's hair. "I was too."

…

It was the third day after their fight with the Akatsuki, and the Konoha squad was still trying to recover. Shannon sat on a large fallen pillar just outside of where they had made camp, contemplating the group's current state.

Sai, Hinata and Naruto weren't too badly injured, seeing as all three of their fights had been interrupted and their opponents morally weakened. Sasuke was healing from a broken arm and shoulder, and he had temporarily lost his vision after using his Sharingan for an extended amount of time. Sakura had said that he would recover from it quite quickly, though.

Sakura herself wasn't on top of the world, either. She had several large gashes across her back from Konan's paper weapons, and the amount of bandages and gauze she had been forced to wear severely restricted her movement, making her irritable and snappy.

Lee was still recovering from opening two of his five Celestial Gates to defeat Sasori and his puppet army, his energy severely depleted. Sakura had him on a staple diet of her soldier pills, of which he was none too pleased about.

Shikamaru wasn't in too bad of a state, Shannon was relieved to note. He'd dislocated his shoulder while fighting Hidan, but Sakura had fixed it up in a second. She was making him walk around with his arm in a sling purely for precautionary measures. Shannon chuckled at the memory. He hadn't stopped complaining since.

Ashley and Josephine weren't injured at all, much to her relief. Lee had left both of them at a location as far away from the fighting as possible so nothing would happen to them. Shannon's mouth curved into a slight smile. She would have to thank him for that when she had the opportunity to talk to him. Sakura had literally had him in isolation so he could regain some of his lost strength.

Shannon's thoughts strayed to what would become of her and the others now. Since the Akatsuki had been defeated, there was really no reason for her to go to Konoha, was there…? She remembered that other ninja on the 'other side' would still be working to open the portal to get the entire team back home. But Shannon wasn't so sure she wanted to leave this world. After all, she had been raised here, and felt it sort of her duty to try and help rebuild it again after its destruction. This was her home.

A vision of Shikamaru suddenly appeared in her mind's eye and Shannon's resolve wavered. She couldn't possibly leave him…

She cursed under her breath. If the goddamned Akatsuki hadn't stuck their nose in this, maybe things would have been different…

The Akatsuki…Shannon's stomach turned when she remembered the whole lecture Pein had given her. She still didn't believe him. Her estranged father…someone she had always resented and tried her hardest to forget about because of his abandonment…a demon?

She frowned. She had never wanted to know anything about her father before…but now, with these abilities of hers…she had to know. She had to understand what was happening to her.

Josephine sat next to Shannon on the pillar. Since she had regained consciousness, Shannon's mother had scarcely left her side, much to Shikamaru's irritation. Shannon thought his annoyance was cute.

Taking a deep breath, Shannon looked at her mother out of the corner of her eye. Josephine sat back to back with her daughter, comforted just by the fact that she was with her again. Shannon compressed a shudder at the thought of what Josephine had suffered while in the company of those vile monsters called the Akatsuki…but she pushed that thought aside. She had to know what her mother knew of her father. It couldn't wait.

"Mom…" she began hesitantly, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Yes?" Josephine answered, tilting her head in her daughter's direction.

Shannon hesitated for a moment longer before plucking up the courage and blurting out her question.

"Who was my dad?"

There was a tense silence behind her, and Shannon turned her head more to see her mother's expression. She gulped when she saw the conflicting emotions on Josephine's dirt-streaked face.

Shock, surprise, maybe even a little bit of anger…but the overriding emotion in her eyes was…guilt. The look in Josephine's pastel green eyes was absolutely wracked with guilt.

When her mother maintained her silence, Shannon pressed on, not one to be easily deterred. "Pein said he was…a demon…" she breathed the last word as though if she said it any louder, it would choke the life from her.

Shannon felt her mother begin to tremble. "Mom…"

"I'm sorry, Shannon…" Josephine muttered, her voice shaky. She refused to meet her daughter's eyes. "I-I should have told you…but I was afraid…"

"Afraid of what?" Shannon's heart was beating harshly in her chest, a cold feeling of dread rising up from the pit of her stomach.

Tears started trailing down Josephine's cheeks as she hid her face behind a curtain of matted hair. She paused for a moment, taking a calming breath, before looking at her only daughter with watery eyes. "I was afraid you would hate me for being so…weak."

"Weak?" Shannon's confusion mounted. "Mom, what do you mean? I could never hate you!"

"You say that now…" Josephine shook her head sadly, shoulders trembling.

"Mom…" Shannon gentle took her mother's shoulders. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Josephine looked at Shannon, saw the comforting smile on her face, the understanding look in her eyes. She stopped trembling. How her daughter had ever turned out to be such a compassionate being, even after everything that had happened to her, was a complete mystery to the older woman.

But one that she was ever so grateful for.

She took another deep breath and averted her eyes, staring at a fixed point on the group a few feet below. "You're…father…I didn't really know him." Josephine paused again, biting her lip. It was obvious to Shannon that the story her mother was trying to tell brought back extremely painful memories. She just laid a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"When I was a freshman in college, I lived a few miles off campus," Josephine went on shakily, still staring at the ground. "I didn't have enough money for a car, so I walked to and from my classes. One night, I was…attacked by something…and…it was horrible…"

Shannon's grip tightened on her mother's shoulder, almost painfully. Josephine's gaze snapped up to her daughter. Her head was bowed, her face hidden by her hair. Now it was her shoulders that were trembling.

"Shannon…" Josephine felt wretched inside. She had kept this secret from her daughter for so long out of the fear that she would be rejected by her own flesh and blood, oblivious to the pain that was engulfing her child. Every child should have the right to know who their father is…even if it be someone who should never have existed in the first place.

"Don't worry, Mom…" Shannon's voice sounded strained, but Josephine could detect no anger in it. Her eyes widened fractionally for a second when Shannon threw her arms around the older woman, burying her head against her shoulder. "I understand now…you don't have to worry about me rejecting you or any bullshit like that…"

Josephine wrapped her arms around her daughter, resting her chin atop the adolescent girl's head. "I could never resent anything you did…even after all you went through, you still kept me…you've been the only family I've ever needed…ever wanted…I could never bring myself to hate you."

Tears were streaming down both Josephine and Shannon's faces, but this time, they were tears of relief…and maybe even happiness.

"Thank you…Mom."

Nya X3

I think we all know what Josephine was talking about when she said 'attacked'… :/ bad demons! Hate them!

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