Kiitsu: Strange little thing here. First part of this chapter was written a LONG time ago. Second part... like a few minutes ago. Hope you like it though its mostly fluff! Make sure you guys review! I need some feedback on if its horrible (who's kidding i'm a perfectionist i think its terrible but i still love it somehow lol) or good! SO R&R
Chapter 11
Nikiya woke up early the next morning. She stretched and looked around when she realized that Kakashi still had his arms wrapped around her. She turned over to face him and hugged him gently. She laid her ear on his chest to listen to his slow, rhythmic heartbeat and his even breathing. She felt him take in a deep breath and sigh. Nikiya ran her finger over Kakashi's chest and down the middle of his abs. He shook lightly then began to laugh quietly. She started to tickle him and he began to tickle her as well. They ended up on the floor, laughing, Nikiya lying on top of Kakashi.
"Good morning, Kashi!" Nikiya said playfully as she laughed.
"What an awakening!" Kakashi said with a laugh. He wrapped his arms around Nikiya tightly and kissed her neck, which made her laugh harder since she was so ticklish.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" she squealed. Kakashi got up and walked out of the room after pulling on his Anbu shirt.
"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.
"I don't care! Make some toast or something! I'm antsy! I want to do something today!" Nikiya called back.
"We could see how mad we could make Tsunade. Or, better yet, we could go and see how Jiraiya reacts to you now that you're cleaned up." Kakashi laughed. He came in with a plate that had a four pieces of toast and some scrambled eggs on it. "Here you go." He handed her the plate and snatched two of the pieces of toast off of the plate.
"I'd rather not go see Jiraiya today. I kind of want to go and see Shikamaru and Tenten. I didn't get to speak with them very much and I want to catch up with them." Nikiya said as she ate.
"Would it be okay if I left you alone with them?" Kakashi asked. Nikiya hesitated before nodding. "You sure? You hesitated." He said as worry crossed his face.
"I'll be fine." Nikiya said. "Shikamaru had that certain presence. He's really strong now isn't he?"
"Yeah. He's the only one that passed the Chunin exams. It was when the 3rd Hokage died." Kakashi said, not realizing that Nikiya hadn't known about 3rd Hokage's death.
"Sarutobi-sensei DIED?!" Nikiya yelled in surprise. The third Hokage had taught her and her alone while the 4th Hokage taught her with Obito, Rin, and Kakashi. She had already reached a Jonin level at the age of 15. Two years after she had graduated from the academy with Kakashi.
"Yes. The Chunin exams were interrupted by Orochimaru and his set of ninjas. He got the 3rd alone and ended up killing him. Fortunately, he didn't leave the battle without his own wounds. The 3rd took Orochimaru's arms. Orochimaru can no longer perform any Jutsu without the help of another ninja. The 3rd had left some notes. A few of them were about Shikamaru. He had decided that Shikamaru was to become a Chunin. Tsunade is the Hokage now so she finished the paperwork and made him a Chunin." Kakashi explained.
"Leave for six years and everyone dies." Nikiya sighed. "Maybe... if I had been here... Sarutobi-sensei would still be alive." she said sadly.
"It's not your fault that you were taken. And Sarutobi-sama died with honor, taking Orochimaru down with him. We also have Tsunade now. She may get drunk often, and take many naps, and not do the paperwork as she needs to..." Kakashi began to ramble.
"But?" Nikiya motioned for him to get to his point.
"But she's a good Hokage." he said." And if she hadn't been here when you got back then you might have died that night. She's the best healer that I know of."
"I guess. I still miss him."
"Do you want to see his grave before going to see Tenten?" Kakashi asked. Nikiya nodded. Kakashi put his arm around her gently. "You ready to go?" Nikiya nodded once again in response. She walked with him silently to Sarutobi's grave.
A tear ran down her cheek when she saw it. "I wish I could have been there to help him." she murmured.
"It's okay." Kakashi said softly, his hand resting on her back. "I'm going to talk to Tsunade about a ceremony. Sooner the better right? Maybe you can look at dresses with Tenten today."
"Yeah. I think that would be fun." she said softly.
Kakashi led her away from the grave to Tenten's house. When he knocked the door flew open and Tenten hugged Nikiya fiercly. Nikiya laughed while holding Tenten up.
"Nikiya! What are you doing here?" she asked with a smile.
"Well I was hoping we could hang out today. Kakashi has some stuff to do so I wanted to catch up." Nikiya replied, pushing Tenten off.
"And on that note I'm going to head off to said business." Kakashi said. He hugged Nikiya gently before walking away.
Tenten giggled when Kakashi was out of earshot. "He is so infatuated with you! I've never seen him quite like that." She said with a smile. Nikiya was still looking in Kakashi's direction. "And it seems you're equally infatuated. I remember that look!" Tenten giggled again and hugged Nikiya tightly. "What do you want to do today?"
"Kakashi suggested looking at dresses." Nikiya said softly, nervous now that Kakashi was gone.
"What sort of dresses?" Tenten asked, confused. "Being a kunoichi I wouldn't expect you to need a dress."
"Wedding dresses." Nikiya smiled at her.
Tenten's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Wedding?! Really?!" she squealed happily.
"We got engaged just before I was taken. We want to be married as soon as Tsunade can do the ceremony." Nikiya smiled dreamily.
"You need to pick out bridesmaids and decided on a location and find a dress and decide on colors and… and…" Tenten continued to ramble.
Nikiya laughed. "Tenten, calm down. It's going to be small enough that it'll be easy. I hope anyways…" she murmured.
"Well we'll just have to plan it starting today!" Tenten grabbed Nikiya's arm and started pulling her down the street. "Let's start by deciding on your bridesmaids while we look for a dress!"
Nikiya laughed with Tenten. "Yes. That sounds like a good place to start."
Nikiya and Tenten had walked through multiple different stores looking through dresses. Finally they had found one that was promising.
"Nikiya… That is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen." Tenten's eyes were close to overflowing with tears.
"It's… incredible." Nikiya stared, stunned at the woman that she saw in the mirror. White fabric flowed around her body in a very Grecian style. It was made of very light fabric and moved with her like water. The straps that held the dress up were rather thin but there was another set that hung down off her shoulders that were much thicker. Everything about it made her feel wonderful. Her black, blue streaked, hair flowed down her back making the white stand out even more.
"Nikki? Wow… you look… wow…" Nikiya turned to see Shikamaru standing behind her. He stared, awe-struck.
Nikiya giggled. "Thank you, Shikamaru."
"Why are you looking at dresses?" he asked curiously.
"For being a genius you're pretty dumb aren't you?" Tenten asked. "She's getting married of course!"
"Congratulations!" Shikamaru said, smiling softly. He walked up to Nikiya and carefully hugged her. "Now go change out of that so I can give you a real hug. White dresses are troublesome."
"Alright." Nikiya replied, walking to the changing room.
"Hey, Tenten." Shikamaru whispered. "Go talk to the owner. I'm going to give that dress to Nikki as a wedding gift." He smiled at her.
"I was about to say the same thing. Split the cost?" Tenten grinned
"Troublesome. Sure." Shikamaru leaned back against a nearby wall.
Nikiya came back out of the dressing room in her black cargo pants and dark red one-sleeve, the dress on a hanger in her hand. "It doesn't look nearly as good on the hanger." Shikamaru commented. Nikiya smiled at him before hanging the dress on a hook and sitting down next to where Shikamaru was leaning. "You alright?" he asked softly, noticing a strange look in her eyes.
Nikiya pointed to the door and shifted closer to Shikamaru. He looked towards the door and saw a few strange men in black cloaks walk in. "That's a bit odd." He murmured, shifting to hide Nikiya from their view. "Why are you afraid? You can fight people like that easily." He asked.
"I think that Pein sent them. If so, I'm not sure I can. Especially while still recuperating my chakra. People like Naruto and Sakura, they're easy. If Pein sends people for something though, he sends the best, and ONLY the best." Nikiya leaned up against Shikamaru's leg. "Help me up." She mumbled.
Shikamaru held his hand out for her and pulled her up next to him. "Maybe it's not Pein." He said hopefully. Tenten walked back while Shikamaru examined the shinobi in cloaks.
"It's all set. Nikiya, that dress is yours. Shikamaru, you can pay me your half later." She said with a smile.
"Yeah. Tenten, look at those people over there. Discreetly." He murmured. Tenten pulled a shuriken out of her pouch and held it up to look at the reflection. "Nikki thinks they may be after her."
"They're dressed the same as the ones that came after me yesterday." Nikiya added.
"Let's leave. Grab that dress, Nikki. We're headed for my house. Go." Tenten walked towards the door calmly after Nikiya grabbed the dress. Shikamaru followed closely behind watching the cloaks carefully. The instant they were outside, a kunai shot past Nikiya's face leaving a small scratch on her cheek.
Curses were heard on a roof across the street. "Shika, grab Nikki and go to my house! We'll meet up there. These asshole are picking a fight in our territory and they're about to regret it!"
"I'm fighting this time!" Nikiya said quickly.
"Oh no, you don't. You're still building your chakra back up." Shikamaru grabbed her around the waist and ran.
They made it safely back to Tenten's house. Shikamaru let himself in through a window and took the dress from Nikiya, storing it in a nearby closet. He'd tell Tenten where it was later so she could put it where she could find it. Immediately he began searching for something in the drawers of a nearby dresser. "There it is! Nikiya, do you think you can use this?" Shikamaru held a scroll out to her. She recognized it as one that she had given to Gai before the Uchiha slaughter. She had made it only a few days prior.
"I can. We will need to lead them away from the village though. Otherwise some buildings might be harmed." She said, pulling the seal on the scroll loose and taking a kunai from Shikamaru's weapon pouch. She was thankful that he and Tenten had decided to go armed today.
Nikiya jumped out the window with Shikamaru and ran towards where they had left Tenten. "Where to?" she asked. He pointed to their left before jumping onto a roof to get a better view.
"There she is!" he called. She jumped up next to him and pulled the weights off her arms and legs.
"Shikamaru, take these and find Tsunade. Kakashi should be with her. Tell him what is going on. If these guys are from Pein, Tenten may be in some serious trouble. Go quickly!" she said, fearing what may happen as she disappeared from his sight due to the sheer speed with which she jumped.
Seconds later she was catching Tenten as she fell from a chakra infused punch from one of the cloaked men. "Tenten, are you alright?" Nikiya asked, setting her down carefully.
"Little banged up but I'm fine." She muttered. "What are you doing here?"
"Helping you. We need to get them outside the village. Now." Nikiya crouched next to Tenten. Her hands were shaking as they clutched the kunai and scroll.
"Let's go then. Nikiya, are you sure you're alright?" Tenten asked, noticing Nikiya's shaking hands.
"I'm fine." She muttered. "Go!" she called, jumping up and running for the village's north wall.
Tenten led them carefully, dodging the strange cloaked figures' every advance.
Kiitsu: I always feel so evil when i leave off on a cliffhanger! mahahaha. ya know i really have trouble truly establishing a character. I want Nikiya to be an absolute BADASS but i want her to be protected. Thats why i came up with the whole 'restoring her chakra' excuse. After a couple more days of rest (unless this mystery jutsu goes wrong :O) and she'll just be total badass! either way i love tenten and love shika. so i love this little mostly fluff chapter. :) Read and REVIEW!