~Alai~

"Kashi, come on!"

"Your in a rush this morning."

"Mhm! I saw Shi yesterday, he wants to catch up! He said he'd even bring Kiba and Hinata!"

My Guardian chuckled at my enthusiasm.

"Someone's popular, you found all of your old friends."

"Not all of them."

Kashi said nothing as he went to the door and opened it, waiting for me to exit. I smiled at the thought of Kashi actually leaving on time, without a fight or threat.

'Aw, I miss the wars now.'

I turned around to see Kashi locking the door, but when he turned around, he was surprised to see that a book was thrown at his face...his book to be exact. He looked to the ground at the object before shaking his head and picking it up.

"I really need to hide that somewhere else..."

I laughed before receiving a confused and slightly annoyed look from Kashi.

"I miss our wars."

"We have one every morning, including yesterday.."

"Exactly! It's become a tradition!"

Kashi placed his book back in his usual place before walking down through the streets of Konoha.

"We have to make a stop somewhere..."

"Hm? um, yeah sure..."

I didn't like the tone in his voice when he said we had to make a stop. He sounded as if he was upset about something.

~Shikamaru~

I was taking my time walking to the old meeting spot, even though I hadn't gone there in five years. I still remembered the way perfectly. I'd be early, but I'll just take a nap or something. Kiba already knew where to go and I'm sure he'll be dragging Hinata too, so she wouldn't be lost.

"Hey Shikamaru!"

I turned to face my team-mate Ino, who was wearing her usual attire today.

'Guess she's not working today.'

"Hey Ino."

"Where ya heading?"

"To meet someone."

"Someone? Does little Shikamaru have a date? No wait, that's impossible."

"How troublesome..."

"Huh? Hey, SHIKAMARU!"

I ignored her as I walked away calmly. I didn't want to deal with her today. After a few minutes I turned a corner and saw Sasuke Uchiha talking to Naruto Uzumaki, the Uchiha seemed peeved about something and shortly after he spoke, Naruto looked worried about something. Before I could get closer I saw Naruto wave his hands frantically and then took off. Sasuke looked as the boy ran off before turning to walk in the other direction. I waited until both were out of sight before I walked out.

It was then that I felt a tap on my shoulder. I sighed at the thought of another person bothering me, but when I turned to look I saw Hinata looking down at the ground.

"H-Hi Shikamaru-san."

"Hey Hinata, Kiba told you right?"

"Y-Yes he did."

"And he's not with you?"

"He r-ran off somew-where and I l-lost him."

"That idiot, alright then I'll take you up with me. Loud mouth knows the way."

"I-I don't t-think I've ever be-en up t-to that s-spot be-efore."

"You came around just before she left, we used to meet up with a few other kids every few days or so."

The color of Hinata's face turned to that which resembled a tomato and I knew that she was scared about seeing so many other people.

"Oh wow! I-I-Is e-everyone from b-b-before going to be t-there?"

"Just you, me and Kiba..."

"What's that about me!?"

"K-K-Kiba!"

When I looked up from the ground I saw that Kiba was standing in our path, preventing further advancement.

'Seriously? How troublesome...'

Kiba's eyes flew from glaring at me, to the shy Hyuuga to my right. Who looked up to Kiba slightly.

"Hinata where'd you go?"

"I-I lost t-t-track of where you w-went. I'm s-s-sorry." Hinata let her gaze wander back to the ground, she was always so worried about everyone's reaction. He wasn't making it any better either.

"It's pretty hard to keep up with you sometimes you know Kiba..." I commented, making his head turn sharply in my direction.

'Great' I mentally sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Your spastic and annoying..."

"COME HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!"

I looked to my old classmates face to notice that it was now red, showing off how enraged he was at the moment. I turned around and started walking to the spot where we were supposed to meet up with Alai.

"I already did, can we go now?"

~Alai~

"You still come here?"

"Everyday..."

I walked up behind him with my hands lightly gripping each other behind my back. I turned my head to the side and put the pieces together.

"So this is where you've been sneaking off to?"

"You knew?" Kashi eyebrow cocked up as he realized that I'd known this whole time. I laughed slightly before explaining.

"Talon did... he was worried you were planning something."

Kashi was standing with his hands shoved in his pockets, looking down to the gravestones in front of him. They were the grave sites of his team mates.

Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha.

He'd told Kalen and I before about them and we knew that he blamed himself for everything. I remember at one point I even went as far as looking for the two of them to help us, but it didn't work. Rin's words weren't enough to convince Kashi and I couldn't connect with Obito.

I walked close to him and placed my right hand on his arm, to show him comfort. He reacted slightly to my gesture.

"You know it's not your fault right?"

"It was supposed to be me that died in that cave instead of Obito, and I-" He stopped himself momentarily before continuing. "I was supposed to protect Rin."

I watched him for a moment as the wind started blowing, it was an eerie feeling. Kashi had never told either of us exactly how Rin died.

"Rin said that she was glad and that she doesn't regret her actions. Kashi whatever happened back then Rin is ok with..."

"...It's still the same."

If only I could tell him that Rin told me what had happened.

~Kakashi~

I moved away from Alai's hand when she tried to convince me I was innocent. There was no point, convincing a man who already knows what he's done.

"Well fine then!"

My eye darted to Alai, who had hopped in front of my field of vision. She was smiling like she always does. Her eyes forbidding a hint of sadness to show.

"But your not going to pout here all day. We're leaving now!"

She quickly spun me around and placed her small hands on the center of my back. Alai was pushing me away from the graves.

I laughed at her actions and asked. "Since when did you tell people what to do?"

"Since they're depressed and need to be cheered up!" She replied immediately.

She pushed me through the streets of Konoha while rambling about how much the village had changed. This girl has an amazing ability to distract people when they're down.

~Alai~

I was still trying to cheer Kashi up with random chatter about the village. At first he was quiet and unresponsive, but after a while he finally went back to his usual self.

And to think I only had to take his book and pretend to read it.

YES PRETEND!

That book is beyond gross, I would never read that book...

' Or is it books? ... I really hope there aren't more of those things.'

I cringed at the thought of there being more than one Make Out Paradise book, but something caught my attention. Someone's voice was calling out to me.

"Alai?"

"Hm?"

I turned to face the person the voice belonged to and saw a boy around my age with a grey furry hoodie, baggy black pants and typical ninja shoes to match. He wore a leaf village headband and red fang's on each of his cheeks.

' Where have I seen that before? '

When the person saw my reaction, his face brightened up. "It is you! So Nara was right!" He exclaimed.

'He knows Shi?'

"Um I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I looked at the boy and noticed that a puppy had come up from the front of his jacket. It drew my attention momentarily before I realized that he looked genuinely hurt.

"What!? It's me, Kiba!"

That was when I remembered where I'd seen those red markings. It was something that a lot of 'clans' did apparently. They would create a symbol that makes them noticeable to the rest of the ninja community. Kiba's clan, the Inuzuka's would use the red fang's on their cheeks.

"Kiba!? You look so different! and who's this?" I motioned to the puppy in his jacket. I vaguely remembered learning that Inuzuka's find pets to use as their companions. It was strange to see common domestic animals be used for combat.

"This is Akamaru...That's right, I got him after you left. He's still a pup though."

The newly introduced Akamaru barked lightly, as if to say 'Hi' I patted his head before looking to my old friend Kiba. " He's adorable! and I'm sorry Kiba, it's just that you changed so much from when we were kids!"

He shook his head, "Nah it's alright, I only recognized you by your charms."

When Kiba mentioned my charms, I instantly felt my hand travel up to my hair and touch the objects in my hair.

"Oh yeah... It's one of a kind here." Thinking about them reminded me that these charms, along with myself, were something that only my world had. I quickly pushed back the thought when I saw Kiba looking at me.

"S-So, who's the guy? It can't be Kalen."

I looked over to see Kashi glancing at me with a hint of worry in his eyes. He knew that I was thinking about my home just now. 'Damn him for knowing me.' He also gave me a warning look, telling me to keep it to a minimum on the info sharing. I sent him a knowing glare back, but to be honest I could never take any of Kashi's looks seriously. Every time I'd try my eyes would look up at the gravity defying hair and all of his seriousness would just fade away. I smiled to myself before looking back to Kiba.

"This is my sensei, Kakashi. I'm on Team Seven."

"Isn't that the team with Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Yeah, Naruto's the same as before..."

"Yeah that dweeb never changes, you should have seen how he was in the Academy. So are you heading to the spot now?"

"Well I was attempting to but Kakashi here held me up."

"What for?"

"Just needed to give her some information about our next training session." Kashi answered for me, with his usual closed eye smile, you know that smile that you can't actually see because his mouth is covered by that mask but you just know he's smiling. 'I really do need to convince him to take that thing off.'

"Looks like Kiba found you already."

I looked behind Kiba to see Shi standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Well hello again Shi!" I smiled before noticing that someone was hiding behind him. "Is there someone behind you?"

"Hm?" Shi looked behind him momentarily before sighing and stepping to the side. He revealed a small timid girl with short dark blue hair and white eyes. She had a simple sweater and pants.

"Hinata!"

"Hi A-A-Alai-chan" Hinata looked to the ground nervously while Kiba looked to me offended.

"YOU REMEMBERED THEIR NAMES!"

"Shi hasn't changed at all since we were all little and Hinata is the only person in the village I know with blue hair and white eyes."

"Haha! I forgot she called you Shi!" Kiba insulted Shi, I remembered back to when we were little, I thought I'd made up that nickname for him, but it turns out that in this world 'Shi' is called a honorific just like Chan, as Hinata said, but whereas Chan was meant for a close friend, Shi was meant for someone who you hadn't met yet. At first I didn't understand it but when it was all explained by Shi and Hinata I decided to keep it anyway because it sounded cool. Kiba always found it funny though.

"At least she remember me moron..."

Kiba's face turned red with anger as he lifted his fist up, yup...Kiba still had a temper. "Nara!"

"Your scaring Hinata again with your fighting. Be nice!"

While Shi sighed, Kiba was glaring at him before looking at Hinata, his eyes softening instantly. Kiba walked over to apologize to Hinata while I noticed that Shi had simply shrugged his shoulders, essentially letting the situation go, and leaving. I'd thought I heard him mumble something about this being troublesome though...

Hinata on the other hand, kept telling Kiba that it was ok. When she noticed Shi leaving though, she became unsure on what to do. I decided to help the poor girl out. I'd always adored how Hinata was, but felt bad at the same time. She was always so scared to hurt people.

"Come on Hinata, all three of us can head up there together. Shi can meet us there!"

"Ok A-Alai-chan" Hinata smiled and started to walk with Kiba in the direction that Shi had gone. Before I went to follow, I remembered that Kashi was still here during all of this. When I turned to look at him, I saw the amusement in his eyes.

'At least he looks ok now.'

"I'll talk to you later Kashi! Don't worry though, I'll keep it up."

He nodded in return and watched me walk off with my friends, knowing that my Guardian would be watching me the entire time.

~Kakashi~

I watched Alai walk off with some of the kids she knew before she left. Carefully of course, ever since she told us that she'd decided to help Sasuke train, I didn't have to worry about her leaving, but she couldn't know that and I still had to keep her safe. I knew that eventually Itachi Uchiha would find out she was here, and then he'd be coming. I just had to find a way to prepare my team for it.

I was going to wait for another minute before following, but before I could take off I heard one of my students. "Kakashi..." I turned around to see none other than the prodigy of my team.

"Hm? Oh hello Sasuke, how are you?"

"Where is Alai?"

"Alai? why do you ask?"

"I need to talk to her, where is she?"

"Now what would make you think I know where she is?"

"You keep tabs on her.." He was starting to get annoyed. I simply smiled in return.

"She's a part of our team, of course I do, along with the rest of you."

"That cover up story is stupid Kakashi." As he said my name I could tell that his voice had raised just a little bit, he really wanted to find her. Never the less...

"I don't know what your talking about." I did my closed eye smile that Alai said was weird before I heard Sasuke exhale quickly. Meaning he was angry.

"She's not really a part of our team."

"Sometimes what we want to believe and what is reality are two different things Sasuke."

"She's not even a ninja."

"Yet your sparring and training with her like she is one. She's even on the same team as you."

"That's only because- ...Hn"

He shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at me for a moment. I knew what his reasoning was behind training with Alai, Itachi Uchiha, his older brother was after her. It was another reason why I had to prepare at the very least Sasuke, if his brother showed up I doubt anyone could stop Sasuke from getting involved.

My student gave up glaring after a few more minutes and took off into the streets of Konoha, the opposite direction of where Alai was heading might I add. After Sasuke left I went to follow Alai to make sure nothing would happen, but the whole way there I couldn't help think about something.

Alai was getting Sasuke to see other people, before he acknowledged there existence, but refused to be bothered with them. Now all of a sudden, he's searching the whole village for someone who isn't his older brother. Even though he's angry about it and probably wants to use her for some more training, Sasuke was slowly changing.

'Maybe it was good that I let her go train with him yesterday after all.'

~Alai~~FF a few hours~

After racing, and beating Kiba to our old spot. We all just spent time talking and catching up.

Well catching up on their lives, whenever they asked about mine, I just told them that Kalen and I were traveling a lot, trying to find a way back home. It wasn't a lie, I was just skipping out on A LOT of details. I wouldn't burden them with all of that though, it would only worry them.

I looked out over the view of our spot, It was on the mountain facing opposite the Hokage carvings, it was such a pretty sight, but I couldn't help to recognize one particular face in the stone. Minato's..

"So Alai, you said earlier that you were on a team with Naruto right? How come he's not here?" Kiba asked.

"He, doesn't really remember anything."

"How can he not remember you?"

"He's Naruto, I wasn't exactly surprised when he didn't recognize me."

"So, h-h-how come you have-en't told hi-im y-y-yet?" Hinata asked, she's right though. It would have been easy to be like 'oh hey guess what we used to be friends.'

"Well to be honest he's not the only one. I've seen a couple others that I knew too, but they don't remember either. While I could just tell them, I think its better for them to remember on their own."

"You mean like-"

"Alai!"

I turned around to see a mess of blond hair running toward all of us. He looked frantic and it made me worried for a moment.

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

"I got something to tell yo- Woah! This is so cool!"

Naruto forgot all about what he was going to tell me as he ran up to the edge of the cliff to see the view of the village. I shook my head at my friend when I noticed that Hinata was looking more nervous than ever, in fact she looked like she was going to pass out. She had a crush on Naruto and it was kind of apparent to everyone except him. While I went over to comfort her, Shi talked to Naruto.

"How did you find us up here anyway?"

"Hehe, I bothered Kakashi-Sensei until he told me that you went in this direction!"

By the time I calmed Hinata down and asked Naruto what he needed to tell me, he'd forgotten. 'Silly Naruto' I thought. He ended up staying with us though to hang out. They wanted to play a game called 'Manhunt' though, and I wasn't sure what it was until they explained the rules. Apparently the game is to 'tag' the other people. It starts out with one person being picked, they then have to get the other people and if they're tagged then they join forces with the person to find the others. The last one to go without being tagged wins. After telling Hinata that she couldn't use her byakugan, Shi started a couple rounds. After a couple games I realized that it was actually fun and I'd gotten the hang of it.

It was also good practice for me, you know brushing up on my averting skills.

We had to stop a couple of times because Naruto and Kiba would argue about the game and end up fighting. Those two were so alike that it was just funny to watch. It always ended the same way though, Hinata and I asking them to stop fighting, Shi not caring either way and Naruto realizing that he didn't hear what Hinata said, so he'd talk to her. Which would cause her to faint, me to catch her and Kiba to pick more fights with Naruto. In the end Shi and I always broke it up until Hinata woke up and we just started again. They were determined to beat each other in the game.

After they're last fight I couldn't help but look out to the village and smile. It was just like old times, something I wasn't accustomed to thinking. Kalen, Nema and I were moving around so much that we never usually saw the same people twice. It was a life we'd chosen but it was still sad. Sad to know that I couldn't truly have a life like this. Shi came up then and just watched the village with me, with more yelling in the background. We ignored it for a while and watched as the sun was starting to set.

'Another day gone I guess.'

~Sasuke~

It's been hours since I talked to Kakashi and I still hadn't even gotten a clue as to where she was. I was close to giving up when I'd found Choji...It was worth a shot.

"Choji..."

"Oh Sasuke, Hi?"

"Do you know where Shikamaru is?"

"Um no why?"

"Sasuke-Kun! how are you!?"

That voice...I twitched the second I heard it, it was one of my most annoying fangirls, aside from Sakura that is. Ino Yamanaka. She must have seen me talking to Choji because she ran up and threw her arms around my neck.

I twitched again..

"Get off me."

"Is something wrong Sasuke?"

"He's looking for Shikamaru."

"Oh he said he was going to meet up with an old friend earlier. Why are you looking for him Sasuke-Kun?"

"I need to find the person he's with, it's important..."

"I know where they are..."

We all turned to see the other graduate from our class, he wore glasses to cover his eyes and never really talked much, but we all knew who he was. Shino Aburame.

"How do you know bug boy?"

"Shikamaru showed up yesterday while Kiba and I were walking from training. He said that someone named Alai was back and that they were going to meet at their spot today at the usual time."

"Alai? who's that?" Ino questioned.

"Wait Alai!? She's back?" Choji looked shocked for a moment, I looked to him in question, he knew her too?

"Wait Choji you know this girl? Who is she?" Ino interrogated

"She used to hang out with Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata and a few other kids for a little bit before she left about five or six years ago. I'd seen her a couple times but I was always too nervous to talk to her."

"How come I didn't know her then?"

"She wasn't a ninja student apparently, she was here with her family I heard before they ran away."

Ino turned to me after hearing Choji's explanation. "And you know her too Sasuke-Kun?"

"She's been temporarily put on my team, Shino do you know where they were meeting?"

"I placed a tracking bug on Kiba after I heard, I was curious as to who she was myself."

"Where are they?"

"I can lead you to them..."

I followed Shino in the direction that he was originally going, I wish I'd found this guy earlier...Ino and Choji were following behind us talking, so I honestly preferred to stick with Shino Aburame. At least he was quiet...

After walking for a bit I'd realized that I had been going the wrong way all day today, Shino was leading us to where I had first started looking this morning. Now that I notice this, I can see that the sun was going down. I'd wasted an entire day looking for this girl. Guess Kakashi wasn't kidding when he said that she was hard to find.

By the time we found her she was walking down a road with Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto. How in the hell did that moron find her before me!?

Wherever they were before, they were leaving that place now and when we got closer, Naruto noticed me and a sudden realization struck across his features, he jumped in front of Alai waving his arms like a mad man.

'What in the world is that moron doing now?'

"Alai I just remembered what I had to tell you, Sasuke is looking for you and he looked pretty angry. I think you should stay away from him for a while."

'What is that idiot telling her!? He'll mess it all up!'

"Well if he's angry, I suppose I should talk to him. Right Sasuke?" I stopped walking when she was standing a foot in front of me.

"I've been looking for you..."

"I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have found you earlier, I was just a little busy."

Alai introduced herself to Ino and Shino. She'd recognized Choji, but admitted to never getting the chance to hang out with him too. After that she said goodbye to everyone and they all went their separate ways. Naruto was trying to take Alai with him but she made him go home as well, promising that she would be fine.

After some convincing and bribing, he agreed to go home and it was just down to the two of us.

"So your angry with me?" She looked to me with a smile on her face, waiting for an answer.

"I have questions."

"About what?" She turned to walk down the streets so that we weren't gaining attention and I followed suit.

"Well first off, what happened yesterday? When you left you looked scared and ran off. 'He' isn't here is he?"

She laughed a bit. "You saw my reaction to Zabuza trying to capture me right? I wouldn't be running away if I saw Itachi."

"Then what were you running from?"

"That, is something that I was actually going to try to show you today. Perfect timing!"

"What? Show me?"

"Yes, follow me!"

I didn't think when I followed her. I just did, something told me that I had to. That maybe whatever it was she had to show me, was important.

~*~ I lost everything on that day. ~*~

'Maybe whatever it is that she has to show me, will answer that dream as well.

~*~ The day that I came here. There was, a masked man. He's responsible for everything. ~*~

I wanted to know who the masked man was, who that little girl really was and why she was in my dream.

~*~ One day, we'll find him and then we'll be sent back home. You'll still be my friend then right? ~*~

I knew that it had to be Alai because the little girl had mentioned Kalen, I just didn't know why it would come to me, I didn't know Alai until that mission to the land of the waves. So why is it that a little girl who talks about Kalen is asking me if we're friends?

When we arrived at her destination I was speechless. She'd taken me back to the Uchiha compound, why would she take me back to this place?

"What are we doing here?"

"There's something that I have to try."

"Try? What are you talking about?"

"I promised someone ok? Do you want to know why I ran off yesterday or not?"

I looked at her face to see that this time, there was no hint of a joke in them, she was serious. Whatever business she had here, she was determined to show it to me. So I waited for her to continue.

"Here, hold onto my necklace and close your eyes." She lifted her hand up to her pendant and held it out for me to hold. It was still around her neck but she had no intention of taking it off. I lifted an eyebrow, sceptical of what she was doing.

"I promise it'll be alright, just try ok?" She smiled quickly before motioning for me to take hold of it. I hesitated for a moment but I took her necklace in my hand and closed my eyes.

To my surprise I felt a small electric jolt in my body, that was when I opened my eyes, I was surprised and curious as to what just happened. Alai looked to me shocked as well for a moment before she went back to her usual happy appearance.

"I can't believe it worked, here look around."

I saw spots for a bit but when my vision cleared, I saw that we weren't alone anymore in the Uchiha compound. It was filled with people, Uchiha's to be exact.

'But how could this be?'

"They're the spirits of the Uchiha compound, yesterday I saw a ghost in front of your house. I wanted to see if maybe Talon would let you see them as well.

"Talon? He's doing this?"

"Well right now he's helping you, I don't need his help to see them."

"You can see them all the time?"

"How do you think I saw Haku back then?"

"So then why did you run if your so used to it."

"I'm used to seeing them, but a lot of them having this feeling of, dread about them. It's overwhelming sometimes."

I started to look around the complex, I saw a lot of people that I recognized and some I didn't, I was looking for two people in particular though. My parents. As I spun around, I tried to keep Alai's necklace in my hand, but when I turned to a certain point Alai took the pendant from me.

"Looks like Talon will help you see after all. Thanks for coming with me to see if he would Sasuke, I know it was hard to come back here."

I tried to see the spirits of my clan as hard as I could but it was useless. With the ring gone I wasn't able to use the power her 'friend' Talon lent to me.

I turned to ask her about the dream I had but she had vanished.

'Damn that girl was fast.'

She avoided the other question with so much ease that it was just agitating. I looked back at the compound one more time before renewing my promise.

'I will avenge all of you, don't worry. Itachi will pay for what he did.'

I then turned to go to my home, somewhere where I wouldn't hopefully be haunted with memories. As I walked home, it played over and over in my head to the point where I wanted to bash my skull in.

~*~ We're friends, right? ~*~

~!~OK hi, glad that's done xD it took so long for me to find a way to make this sound right, hope it turned out ok :( please tell me if it was good or bad. EITHER WAY I know this took forever to get out but now that I have all these fillers done, I can go back to what I already have written down. Bye 3 ~!~ DawnxAingeal