HELLO MY DARLINGS! AUTHOR-SAMA IS BACK. And must I say how much I miss you guys! (sounds phony but yes, I do miss writing. And you guys. Cant forget my supporters, can I?) So I might wanna tell you guys what I did but that would just be boring. But I'll just say that I finally know how a deer feels like. THEIR FUR ARE LIKE A BUNNY'S. LEGIT GOAT BUNNIES. Okay they're prettier than goats but you get it, right? I always thought they had tough hide like a boar but I guess I never saw one before so yeah. YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY. REMEMBER THAT, KIDS.

So now I'm back and this fic is up and running. And again, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. *bows 90 degrees*

Chapter Nine: Nightmares

I laughed as I rushed through the forest, the leaves twirling and dancing after me. I slashed another tree bark with an ice kunai and loped off.

It was a game Kiba and I had made up. At first, it was just a normal game of tag. But as years passed, we got more competitive, bolder and wilder. Now it's just a game of 'Catch me if you can'. The runner gets a head start and will leave a mark on a tree while they ran, once after every fifteen trees they passed. The catcher, well, has to catch.

Find the runner and take them down.

Easy, right? Wrong.

There is a specific way to catch. You need to pin the runner down for fifteen seconds. And it's more than enough time for the runner to escape, letting the game go on.

I could hear the rustling of his footsteps close behind and I began to pick up pace. Soon, I reached a small familiar clearing. Grinning, I climbed up a tree as quick as a blink and crouched on one of its large barks, waiting for my prey to arrive.

Wasn't long until Kiba arrive, sniffing around. My mouth twitched into a grin as I readied myself to pounce. His head turned this way and that, confused that my scent led to nowhere.

My sudden launch stunned him as I nailed him to the ground, "Got you!"

But the boy that looked at me wasn't Kiba.

"What a drag." Shikamaru drawled as he looked up at me.

Now I was confused. But I swear that for a second ago...

Suddenly, Shikamaru's face contorted into a sly grin, his mouth pulling his face wide, green scales popping out of his flesh. His eyes blinked and suddenly they were gold, his black pupils turn into slits. A tongue flicked as a tight voice spoke, causing all the hairs on my body to stand on end, "There you arreee... My sssweet, ssssweet Mononoke..."

I tried to jump away but I was frozen, my body numb and hurting all over.

The Shikamaru-like creature raised a clawed hand to my cheek, "I finally found you. After all this time. I found you. I'm coming, my sssweet." It's tongue slithered to touch my chin, turning my insides freezing cold.

The creature was just a few inches away from my face when I finally recovered my voice and shrieked in fear.

I shot up from bed, my scream continuing on even after I wrenched myself from the nightmare.

I was staring at the bedroom's empty wall.

Moonlight had poured into the room like silk, touching a few of my books and scrolls lying around. I rubbed my arms, the cold feeling isn't wearing off in the slightest. Whimpering, I pulled my legs to my chest and rest my forehead on my knees, my body shaking like a leaf.

Footsteps creaked the wooden floorboards and I heard some hushed talking but most of my mind was trying to erase the image of the creature from my memories. A knock on my door made me shiver in surprise but I didn't move. The slightest sound of the door sliding was like a thunderstorm in the silence of the night.

"Hey." I heard Shikamaru said and froze.

The door slid shut.

More creaking of the floorboards. I felt my bed dent, making way, as the extra body weight pushed against it. The dent grew closer.

"Bad dream again?"

I nodded and curled inside myself tighter.

"Nightmares are a drag."

Nod again.

I heard him sighed, "You want to talk about it?" I gulped but didn't speak. But he waited. Shikamaru knew it takes me some time to recover from a nightmare but this is by far the worst. "You were screaming.", he tried again and I could only nod.

Silence again.

Finally I got the courage to speak, "Did I wake your parents again?"

Shikamaru sighed more wearily, "Yeah. Kind of. Both of them, this time."

I groaned and hugged my legs, "Sorry."

A heartbeat of a moment passed when he continued lazily, "It's fine." His voice changed a little this time, more concerned, "It's getting worse, isn't it?" I nodded and dared myself to peek at him.

His face was normal, thank goodness. I took a deep breath. This is the face I know. The Shikamaru I know. Not some insane reptilian pervert. He raised an eyebrow as he watched me carefully.

"You had a lizard face." I murmured and he snorted in disdain, "You're so troublesome."

I giggled and the tiniest of smiles ghosted his lips. Somehow the Nara knew I find his and his dad's catchphrase hilarious. Sometimes he used it to cheer me up, but most of the time he just uses it to complain.

"Well, I suppose that's flattering, your subconscious thinks I'm a lizard."

"A perverted lizard." I corrected, surprised to find myself laughing at the look on Shikamaru's face when I said it.

"What goes on in your head, you troublesome girl? Wait, never mind, don't tell me. I don't think I want to know."

By now, I was clutching my chest, trying to stop myself from laughing too loud. He sighed as he waited for me to calm down. When I finally do, he rolled his eyes at me, "I thought for a moment there you would actually stop breathing. Come on, time for bed. I'm tired."

"You're always tired." I countered and he glared at me for a split second, "Do you want me to sleep with you or not?"

"After that nightmare?" I teased and he groaned, "Fine, I'll go back."

But my hand shot out to grab his wrist before he moved, "I was just kidding." Looking from my hand to me, Shikamaru smirked, "You're such a baby." I stuck my tongue out at him and moved towards the wall, giving him space to lie down beside me.

It was almost normal for us to sleep on the same bed now.

After I had moved in to the Nara household few years ago, I slept in Shikamaru's room for almost six months because the room next door was a mess.

And every time I had a nightmare, he would wake up the same moment I free myself from the dream and I would crawled into the bed with him, like how I did with Kakashi. He minded a lot at first but slowly after the first few times I had gotten nightmares and looked like a zombie in the morning, the Nara boy finally let me share his bed.

After that, I rarely got nightmares, just maybe once or twice a month. For the following years, I had a good night's rest.

But strangely, now, for some twisted reason, the nightmares are coming back, fresh and disturbing as before. They came slowly, like all bad things, little by little. Waking up in cold sweat, shrieks and screams in my throat, the unsettling feeling of something looking for me.

And after tonight, it found me.

Shikamaru placed his hand above mine for maybe the thousandth time, and he closed his eyes. I watched him and when I thought he finally went to sleep, he peeked a little, "Aren't you going back to sleep?"

"Aren't YOU going back to sleep?" I asked back and he closed his eyes before groaning, "What is it?"

"You wouldn't go to your room even if I didn't stop you, right?" I asked quietly and he hummed a little, "No, not really. I'm too lazy to walk back so I might even consider sleeping on the floor."

One of his eyes opened a crack, "Satisfied?" I smiled a little, "Yeah." He nod once, his eye close, "Good. Now go to sleep."

Try as I might, I couldn't fall asleep. Not with Shikamaru with me. It wasn't because he snores sometimes or that he sleep talks, which is hilarious, but it's because of the nightmare. It was all I could do not to flinch when he touched me. Even looking at him now, his breath even and his eyelids fluttering, I can't shake off the image of the lizard version of him.

Slowly, I pulled my hand out and as carefully as I could, crept out of bed. I pulled the covers gently and lifted it to his shoulders before tip toeing my way out of the room.

The fresh air outside was all I need.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled. Inhale, exhale. Inhale...

Exhale.

At least I've stop shivering now. Sighing, I sat down and my legs hung over the wooden corridor. My legs were too short to touch the grass in the garden before me but that's okay because the smell of the herbs was soothing enough.

Slowly, very slowly and softly, I hummed a small tune, my legs swinging back and forth.

And with equal speed of my tune, blue lights began to flicker and glow around me. A small breeze picked up as frosty snowflakes began to form. They danced around me, throwing soft lights on some parts of my clothes, shadowing in other parts. They were like tiny fireflies that were like the fragments of sapphires instead of emerald light. As more of them came together, the frost began to solidify and writhe into shapes.

Humming along, I blew against the frost and it twirl into a fish. It glows diaphanously and like a ghost, floated around me. Soon, more of its brothers and sisters followed it as they swam around me, swimming into my hair, going under my sleeves and rubbing their soft, cool bodies against my bare skin.

I heard a small creak of the floorboards and turned to the source.

A fish swam past my eyes and Shikaku smiled at me kindly, "Rough night?" I returned his smile and looked away, "Pretty much." His footsteps were soft as he came to sit beside me, "Mind if I sit?"

Playing with one of the fishes that rolled over the back of my hand, I laughed softly, "You are supposed to ask first before you sit. Not the other way around." He chuckled as I nudged the fish to him, making it swim towards him and curled around his neck before swimming away. The others began to grow comfortable around the Nara leader and were soon swimming around and nudging him playfully.

"So, you can do this too, huh?"

I grinned at Shikaku-san's comment as one of the fishes spurted a small blast of ice cold water at his nose, making him wrinkle his nose and rubbing the water away.

"It's useful to keep my mind off the nightmares.", I replied as he turned his attention to me. He nodded in understanding, "Nightmares are a drag."

I giggled, "That's what he said." Shikaku-san raised an eyebrow and I burst into fits, "He did that too!"

The man was still confused and I used my head to beckon at my room, "Your son."

Shikaku's face burst into a grin and he laughed, scratching the back of his head, "A chip of the old block, I suppose." We share a laugh as the ice fishes drifted around us.

XXXXXXX

"You gonna skip class again today?" Shikamaru asked, his hand propping his head up as he looked at me.

I focused on balancing a pencil in between my lips and nose while I made a noise of agreement. I heard him sigh but my pencil was falling so I had to focus whilst I tilted my head, trying to save it from the table of imagination lava.

Out of nowhere, a finger flicked the pencil away and it bounced into the sea of lava. Dammit, there goes King Kong.

I glared at Shikamaru as he smirked at me, "I was asking you a question."

"And I answered." I snapped back and sat straighter, stretching my back and arms. "It's not like it's a big deal." I continued as I leaned back against the school chair, grinning at him.

I had began to skip classes after that first taste of freedom when I sneaked out of school the day of the bullying attack.

Slowly, I began to slack off until I almost got a warning letter. I didn't want to trouble Shikaku-san with my shitty attendance and perfect grades, an ironic combination, really, so I usually come to class until recess is over; or if I was tired, come to school after recess. So basically, I only attend half of the classes. It's an improvement but Iruka-sensei thinks otherwise. The other senseis' didn't mind much because I still have pretty good results but I suppose Iruka-sensei just like perfect attendance. 11 out of 10 kind of perfect.

But hey, thanks to Naruto, he's got his hands filled so I don't get much lecturing.

The other kids were playing around us and I ducked as a paper ball flew past me. It's recess and I plan on escaping before the bell rings. Shikamaru knows that. Obviously, many people know that.

"I've been doing it for so many years now, you'd think Iruka-sensei would've gotten used to it." I said as I watched the victim that got hit by the ball raised his fist wildly as he shouted at his attacker. "But he never does and you never learn, do you?", Shikamaru groaned and it was his turn to duck as the paper ball flew back at the attacker before.

"Aw, come on. At least I never got into big enough trouble to bother your dad." I grinned mischievously, "Shika."

His eyes snapped back at me, narrowing, "Don't call me that." I snickered at his reaction.

"Troublesome woman."

I mirrored his look, "I'm not a woman. I'm a girl. Get it right, baka." He smirked at me.

After staying with each other for so long, we've learn some of the buttons we can push to annoy the other. I do it so the lazy idiot could show some emotion, he does it for his amusement. So it's even.

But there are two reasons why he hates being called 'Shika'. One, it means he's a deer. Shikamaru=Shika, Shika=Deer.

Two, because of a girl. Not me, but a girl. A fangirl.

GASP.

I mean, laziest boy in the school, sleeps all the time, he's probably as boring as watching ice melt. But who knew, he had an admirer from the class beside ours.

And she was nuts.

Misaki was obsessed with Shikamaru.

Obsessed, I tell you.

Every time she saw him, she squeals like a suffocating mouse and will shriek, "Shika!" Then, she'll be all over him, holding his arm, blinking her eyelashes, all that weird girly things.

And after school, I would walk home with him and she'll tag along because of reasons. Obviously it's because she "looovvveess" him "sooo very MUCH".

Did I mention she despises me?

Oh yes, she did. She would do her worst to try squeeze in between me and Shikamaru whenever we were together or she would try to bump me away with her tiny rump.

And I think she has a thing for nicknames because she calls me a cinnamon roll on better days and rotten bread on others. I'm sorry I'm a little fluffy (sarcasm overload) but I mean, she is like a stick, I can break her spine just by sitting on her back so she should really watch what she was saying.

At first, Shikamaru tried his best to ignore her because he was too lazy to even bother so just hope that she goes away after a while but I guess she takes that he likes it and so it begins.

Soon enough, he was avoiding her, every time he sees her, he tears away like someone had set a rabid dog on him.

It was hilarious at first to see him shaking in fear and hiding in the bushes, hoping to escape from Her Majesty of Aggressive Fangirling.

But then it got less funny when I was thrown into the mix because apparently, she sees me as her rival in her quest for love. After she knew I lived with him, boy, was she delirious. (Let's just say not many people knew I was with the Nara clan until much later) She began saying I was stealing her boyfriend or what not. She even made rumours crazy enough that no one believed but spread anyway.

Those were crazy times.

But fortunately, it all ended when she drew the last straw.

X~Flashback~X

Cho-chan had sat between me and Shikamaru as he and I shared chips while the Nara was watching the clouds. It was a fairly normal day for us to hang out like that. Just some plain chilling out.

In a terrible turn of events, we didn't realize that Misaki and another two girls from her class came sauntering over until they were right in front of us, their stuck up noses in our faces.

"Hi, Shika~" Misaki drawled in what probably she had hoped was a sweet sound but frankly it just sounds like a dying rat. Shikamaru had his eyes closed at that moment but she blissfully went on, "Shika, I know you're awake. I was just wondering if you would come play with us?"

He continued his "Let's pretend I'm dead and go away!" show.

I sighed and decided to save his sorry ass so I faked a smile at her, as I learned from Kakashi, "He's asleep, Misaki-san. Maybe he can play with you some other time."

Wrong move.

Her brown eyes flared with hate when she glared at me, "Shut your trap, bread roll. I was talking to Shika, not you."

Cho-chan chuckled nervously, his hands raised in surrender as he tried to lighten the tension, "Momo was just trying to-" Misaki's death ray eyes silenced him, "And I wasn't talking to you, f-"

Okay that's it.

I stood up and planted myself in between Cho-chan and the witch before she could get any further.

Like hell is she going to call Chouji 'fatso'. Not on my watch.

"Listen here, prick." She blinked in surprise at the curse word I learned from Asuma-sensei (Surprise surprise, adult curses fly from their mouths like rainbows) , "You can insult me all you want, but if you dare say one nasty thing about my friends, you can bet on your dumb brain and tiny butt that I. Will. Kill. You." I spat venomously the last four words coming out with more harshness than the last.

I saw Shikamaru got up slightly from the corner of my eye as I glared at his darn delirious fangirl.

No one saw it coming. Not even me.

And that's saying something.

One random slap across the face was all it take to make me stumble and fall on my bottom. I held my sore cheek in pain and looked up at Misaki in disbelief. Cho-chan was beside me immediately, his hands on my shoulders as he asked his concern.

"You always ruin everything!" Misaki sneered at me, "You think that you're Little Miss Perfect. Everybody loves you. Perfect grades, pretty face and of all people, you want Shika! Why can't you leave us alone, you clanless freak!"

The insult was what caused me to freeze.

And Shikamaru to stand up.

"Leave." The other two girls saw his face first and they tensed.

Misaki, however, didn't heard him because she continued to spew nonsense at me, "That's right! You have no mommy or daddy! You don't even have a last name! What a loser! Your parents probably didn't even want you, that's why they call you a demon!"

"I said. Leave." His voice was cold enough for Misaki to turned and take a step back. I had never seen this side of Shikamaru before and I hope I never will.

His eyes were filled with so much scorn, they burned like black fire.

I didn't dare to speak, more less breathe. I felt Chouji's hand on my shoulders tightened a little. I'm pretty sure he was freaking out too. We didn't think that our laid back friend would be such a terror.

"B-but Shika-" Misaki said meekly, a total opposite of the girl before. She tried to make a small smile at him but his face was dark with anger, "How dare you say that to Mononoke. You aren't even supposed to look at her. She's much too good for you." Misaki took a step back as he snarled, "Stay away from them and get out of my sight." Her eyes were brimming with tears now as Shikamaru dropped the final bomb.

"You disgust me."

She ran away bawling, her friends long gone. Shikamaru's eyes were shooting poison arrows at her escaping figure.

"Shikamaru."

I called, trying to snap him out of it, and he turned to me, his face softening a little as I smiled at him, "Who are you and what did you do with Shikamaru?"

Back to his old self, Shikamaru shook his head, smirking, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Cho-chan snickered, "That really was scary, Shikamaru. You were like an entirely different person. It was like you were about to chew her head off."

The Nara groaned, going back to his lazy self again, "Both of you are so troublesome."

Said both began to laugh as the bored boy scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

He blinked at me and crouched, poking my cheek, causing me to yelp in pain before smacking his hand away. "She has a pretty hard slap.", he noted and I wiggled my nose, "Well done, Captain Obvious. What do you want? A medal?"

Shikamaru sighed as he watched me with annoyance, "Troublesome woman." I puffed my cheeks at him angrily, "Pineapple head." Smirking slightly, he countered, "You know, that doesn't work on me anymore." Argh. Danggit. Sudden, an idea popped in my head.

Grinning, I shot back, "Shika." That did the trick.

X~~X

Thus from that day onwards, I would always call him 'Shika' to get on his nerves but he never went so far as getting mad, just annoyed.

But it's something.

I pulled myself back from the memory as the bell rang, ending recess. On the second bell, we were supposed to be in class. Except me.

Turning to Shikamaru, who was close to dozing off, I nudged him, "Pick me up later." He gave me a face that loosely translates to 'Can I not?'. I rolled my eyes, "You know where to find me. We have to get the groceries today, remember?" Shikamaru groaned, "You're a such a drag."

XXXXX

"Must you always have two boxes of peaches?" Shikamaru complained as I glared at him. After school, Shikamaru had went to Yondaime's head to look for me. "They don't even reach your chest, Shika." He scowled at the name but kept quiet as he look down at the two boxes. They were just in light plastic containers and each box have six peaches. Like, come on, how heavy can they be? It's not like I'm making him take two crates of peaches.

"Don't be such a wimp. Look at me, I'm holding two bags of stuff and I'm not whining like a baby." I teased and he snorted, "You wanted to hold it."

"You gave them to me."

"Because you asked."

"But as a male, I thought you would be manly enough to say you could handle it. But I do suppose you're more of a cutie girly." I shot my last cannon and he took one of the heavier bags from me and handed me a box of peaches, giving in to my argument. I could hear him grumbling about women as he picked up his pace.

"Aw, Shika, are you mad?" I jabbed playfully and he groaned in exasperation, "Kami help me, are you going to keep calling me that?"

"Hmm... Maybe. Got a problem, Shika?" I said, deliberately using the gawd awful nickname. He sighed heavily, "You're such a drag." But the Nara didn't bother to push me further. It's not like he could win me anyway.

When we got home, Asuma-sensei was already at the Nara household, drinking with Shikaku-san. Yoshino-san had just gone to her sister's today so she wouldn't be back until three days later. Which gave Shikaku a little more freedom. Since we all know that if she caught him drinking, she's going to rip him to shreds.

The moment he saw us, Asuma-sensei grinned at Shikamaru, "How about a game of Shogi?" Shikamaru shrugged, which usually means yes and went to his room to get the set.

As Shikamaru left, I emptied the grocery bags into their respective places in the kitchen. I could hear the adults talking from here, even though they might think I was out of earshot. I have sharp ears after all, thanks to the games I played with Kiba.

"Mononoke is really growing well here." I heard Asuma-sensei said. A chuckle from Shikaku-san, "Yeah, I guess you can say that. But Mononoke has always been a good girl. A great kid actually. Besides-" , he was about to say more but I heard Shikamaru return and Asuma-sensei took his leave to play. I always wanted to play Shogi but all Asuma-sensei does is give me more puzzles to play with. I didn't know how or why but he always have these fun toys that were easy enough to solve.

The infuriating thing is Shikamaru was always two steps ahead of me.

Then Asuma-sensei taught Shika to play Shogi then he stopped bringing the puzzles anymore, lest for the few times he got new ones. But after that, the both of them would always be so immersed in the game I never got the chance to learn.

Sighing, I shrugged. Guess I'm not special enough.

I poured four cups of tea and placed them on a tray before taking it outside to the living room. Shikaku-san was there, an ocarina in his hands. I placed the tray on the table and he looked up at me, "Ah, thanks for the tea." I got up after placing two cups on the table, "I'll give these to those two." The man nodded as I left.

The student and teacher murmured their thanks when I offered them the drinks. They were so focused on their game, I couldn't help but shake my head at them. Jerks. I giggled and returned to the living room.

Shikaku was staring at the ocarina, his eyes glassy as he turned the ocarina this way and that.

I sat beside him and tilted my head, looking at it. It had a beautiful sky blue colour, with soft silver speckling some parts of the pain.

"I didn't know you played that." I asked and Shikaku blinked in surprised, his eyes focusing on me before smiling softly, "Ah, well, it belonged to a dear friend. He taught me how to play it before..." He turned his attention back at the clay instrument, licking his lips, "Before he died."

Placing a hand on his arm, I rested my forehead on his shoulder, "Sorry." I heard a deep chuckle as he patted my head, "It's alright. He was a great man, and an even greater friend."

Lifting my head, I looked up at him as he continued, "He was like a brother to me and he was dear to my heart. We always come up with all sorts of trouble when we were young men." He laughed at the memory, "But that's a long time ago." Shikaku-san turned to me, an unreadable look in his eyes. I felt anxious so I laughed nervously, "What's wrong, Shikaku-san?" The pineapple head man shook his pineapple head, "Nothing. It's just that..." But he faltered before httention turned to me and he smiled, "That earring fits you very nicely." I grinned as I touched the emerald earring hanging on my left ear.

Yoshino-san said it was a gift. She never really said why she gave it to me but I knew it was precious to her. The jewellery was given to her by her grandmother and she said it was for good luck and protection. I didn't want to take it but well, Yoshino is a very persuasive woman. She said it was because she would prefer to give one of them to Shikamaru's future wife or some sort and that she feels better for me to wear the other.

So I took it. And it's beautiful.

It was a custom for the Nara clan members to wear earrings and I felt honoured to be consider a part of them. Well, a small part.

Before I could reply, a knock on the front door caused the both of us jumped a little at its sudden sound. "I'll get it." I said as I quickly move towards the entrance.

"Kakashi!" I exclaimed happily the moment I opened the door and saw his silly hair.

"Hey.", he waved and before he could say anything else, I jumped into his arms, hugging him. He chuckled as he stroke my head, "You always grow a little more every time I see you, you scamp."

I looked up at him and pouted, "I can't stay a kid forever, you know." He let out a deep breath as he poked my cheek, "Fair enough." His eyes moved up and looked behind me, "Shikaku."

"Kakashi." I turned to see the Nara leader smirked in greeting, "Nice of you to come drop by." He beckoned his head inside, "Asuma is inside."

Kakashi just shook his head, "I'll only be intruding for a moment." He looked down at me, who still has her arms around his waist even though she's probably going to be hitting puberty stage and her face was at his chest and it probably isn't appropriate for her to hug him like this but screw ethics. I only hug Kakashi and nobody else.

"I came over to check up on this little mutt." Kakashi said fondly as he placed his hand on my face, covering my sight. "I'm not little anymore!" I complained as I shook his hand off and the adults laughed. Kakashi turned back to Shikaku-san, "Did she gave you any trouble lately?" The Nara shook his head in reply, "Nah, not much of a problem. Mononoke's a good kid."

I grinned at Kakashi in response, giving him the best "Goodie Two Shoes" look, "See?"

"Really now?" Kakashi said as he looked down at me. I just shrugged and decided to change the subject, "Where are you going later?" He hummed as his fingers drummed on my head, "Home."

"Can I come with you?" I asked and he blinked in surprise before looking up at Shikaku-san, "Well, if you don't mind..." Shikaku laughed, "Don't worry about it." Then turning to me, he nodded, "You can sleepover at Kakashi's if you like. It's been some time since you've done that." His eyes lowered knowingly, "You might be able to get a good night's rest tonight."

Getting his hint, I smiled gratefully at Shikaku-san before releasing Kakashi's waist and tugged at his sleeve, "Come on! I haven't go to visit Obito for awhile now! Let's go, let's go!"

My ex-guardian sighed wearily and nodded at Shikaku-san, "I'll take her to school tomorrow." Then I began dragging him to the memorial stone.

XXXXX

After my shower, I sat beside Kakashi as he read his dumb book. He moved his body a little so I could fit in easily beside him. I snuggled into his chest, like I had done when I was younger and his hand naturally went to my head, stroking my hair as he read.

Every time I managed to come back home, I say 'Home' because this is the first real place that I stayed for as long as I could remember, we would sit with each other like this in silence.

It's a nice silence. Comfortable.

We didn't need words to communicate, just by being with each other, it's good enough. I breathed in Kakashi's scent and closed my eyes, relishing in this peaceful moment. I missed Kakashi a lot since I didn't get to stay with him anymore.

"I heard you've been skipping class.", I heard Kakashi said and I cracked open my eyes slightly. Of course he would know.

"Yeah." I admitted. There was no point in lying to him. I couldn't bring myself to lie to Kakashi anyway.

"But your grades are still pretty good.", Kakashi continued and I sighed in relief, "Mm. I didn't want to trouble Shikaku-san." I heard him sighed, "It happened after the change, didn't it?"

Instead of answering him, I wrapped my arm around him and shoved my face into his chest.

Another sigh.

"What did Shikaku mean when he said you'd have a good night's sleep?" Kakashi decided to change the subject. "The nightmares... They've gotten worse." I replied, my voice muffled slightly.

I lifted my head up and looked Kakashi in the eyes. Well, eye, since he only has one eye that functions normally. He waited for me to continue.

Few heartbeats later, I bawled out everything about the nightmare, sobbing like a five year old kid.

"It.. It said it f-found me.." I hiccupped and hugged Kakashi's neck, "Please... Please don't let it come, Kakashi.." I buried my face into him, feeling myself breaking down into nothing. "Please..."

Kakashi didn't say a word as he rubbed my back and hushed me.

Years of pent up frustration and fears inside began pouring out. After I left Kakashi, I never dared to shed a tear in front of others, usually just collapsing inside when I was by myself. But its hard to hold it in for so long without telling anybody.

The Nara have always kind to me and they are a part of my heart and my family. But...

"Just let it all out, Mononoke. Just let it all out. It's okay." Kakashi murmured, "And I will protect you. I promise. Here, look at me."

I lifted my head, obeying. Kakashi's eye looked into mine soothingly, "No one is ever going to take you away from me, understand? I practically raised you and I won't let my hard work fade to nothing."

Wordlessly, I nodded and returned my face into the crook of his neck, his warmth taking away the coldness of the fear.

After all that crying, I was too exhausted to move so Kakashi had to carry me back to bed. As he settled beside me, I managed to lift my head long enough for Kakashi to put his arm under my head. I plopped my head back and pressed my back against him, letting his presence lull me into a dreamless sleep.

XX

It's all or nothing, people. This is a really long chapter. OMG. But are they all adorable or what? Am I right? /flailing arms

SO AS I WAS ABOUT TO SAY. This chapter is when they debut, but I never said that it was the beginning of the series, did I? Mwahahaha. The REAL fun begins next chap, when Naruto painted the Hokage's faces and all that shit. Although I'll try to focus on the other parts instead of the Naruto series (I mean, it wasn't really my idea, ALL CREDIT TO KISHIMOTO-SENSEI), but the plot would be roughly along the Naruto series plot.

AND I LIKE TO SAY THAT I'M GIVING YOU GUYS ANOTHER CHANCE TO CHOOSE MONO-CHAN'S FATE.

Now: Shikamaru's team or Kakashi's team?

DING DING. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

Fact#5: Although she's a good shinobi, Mononoke is a total klutz. She can even trip on solid, parallel ground. (Some ninja.. sigh)