Hello everyone! I'll make my author's note short today. I'm sure you'll all appreciate this chapter so enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto. Highly doubt that this fact will change...

Sitting at the dining table, Shikamaru rubbed vigorously his face with both hands. Last night had been not only long but exhausting. To top it off, he hadn't slept at all not only because Sora had been up crying for most of the night but also because he was so filled with rage. Thankfully now, the girl was sleeping soundly.

After his mother served both him and his father breakfast, she sat down in her own chair and looked at both men.

"Will someone explain to me what happened last night?"

"Sora was hit by her boyfriend," explained Shikamaru.

"That's horrible! What kind of man treats a girl that way?" the woman shouted out in outrage.

"Well, at least Sora defended herself," mumbled Shikaku.

"Right, how's he?" asked the boy, hopeful that the news would be bad.

"I brought him at the hospital. From what I saw, she stabbed him in his side with a kunai knife and smashed a glass in his head. He was bleeding quite a bit but nothing major."

Shikamaru actually looked disappointed which made the man smile a bit. As they fell silent, a knock was heard on the front door. The boy got up to open it.

"Hey Choji," said Shikamaru when seeing his friend on the other side of the door.

"Wow, Shikamaru! What's up with you?" asked his friend worried.

"Just...didn't sleep well last night," the black hair boy answered while rubbing his face again.

"Oh. Well, guess what!"

"Uh, sensei wants to meet up with us?" guess Shikamaru.

"Almost! We're meeting up for lunch but we have to bring our own food since sensei's complaining about how broke he is because of us. So what do you say?"

"Uh, well I think I'll actually pass... I should try to catch up on sleep."

"Okay..." said Choji disappointed."Well, if you ever change your mind, we'll be on the academy's roof at 12 sharp."

"Sure, thanks," said the boy slowly closing the door. Then remembering about Sora, he quickly said: "Oh yeah, Sora won't come. Apparently, she's been sick."

Choji looked even more disappointed. "Okay... It will be kind of boring without you guys..."

The brown hair boy then left. Thankfully, he hadn't asked any questions or even wondered how his friend could possibly know about Sora. Once he closed the door, Shikamaru returned to the dining table very slowly.

"Didn't you want to tell him about Sora?" asked Shikaku.

"No. I think Sora should do it when she wants to," answered the boy while eating again.

"So, do we know the reason that boy hit Sora?" asked Shikamaru's mother.

Shikaku looked at his son, wondering the same thing.

"No, she really didn't talk about it. She really just cried…"

The boy thought back to last night. Remembering the girl crying so much made him feel uncomfortable. He'd never seen her in this kind of state.

"Oh, right. I found this," said Shikaku putting Sora's headband on the table. "I found in in the living room near where the boy was. He must have taken it off."

"What I don't get is why she would only stab him with a kunai in his side. If she really had wanted to defend herself or even kill him, she could have done so…" wondered Shikamaru while stabbing his food in his plate, without really eating it.

"I really didn't have the opportunity given the situation…" a very quiet voice said from behind the boy.

Turning around, the black hair boy saw the girl standing there. Her face wasn't swollen anymore but she had a black eye and her bottom lip was split. To top it all off, bruises clearly marked her skin around her neck and her wrists.

"Sora…" mumbled the boy. Realizing that he was barely whispering, he asked a bit louder: "Are you feeling better? Did you need something?"

The girl rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "Well, I don't want to be a burden for all of you so I'm probably going to take my leave and head for my house."

"None sense!" spoke up Shikamaru's mother. "You are always welcomed here! Beside, you look like you would really need a shower. Why don't you go take one while Shikamaru goes and grabs some of your clothing at your house? We will even prepare you our guest room so you can stay a couple days or at least until we figure things out with this rude boy that has done this to you!"

The girl was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected to be welcomed or even asked to stay at the Shikamaru's house. Seeing her struggle with what to say, Shikamaru got up and stood facing the girl.

"I think that sounds like a plan. What would you need from your house?" he asked.

"Well..." the girl started thoughtful."I didn't really unpack my bag from last mission so everything that's essential is still in there. Beside for that, I need clothing, more specifically my dark blue hoodie."

Shikamaru reviewed in his head Sora's house layout and remembered what her bag looked like. He then nodded when he was fairly sure he knew where to find everything. When he did so, Sora smiled weakly and said: "Thank you."

"Good, now that we have this figured out, I need to go work," said Shikoku while getting up. Before leaving, he added: "Feel free to stay with us as long as you want Sora."

The girl nodded in understanding.

Before jumping in the shower, Sora looked at herself in the mirror. Lightly, she touched the purple mark that circled her right eye which still sting a bit. She still couldn't believe what happened last night. Daichi had been so nice and so sweet and in one night, everything changed. Sora closed her eyes, angry at herself. Without giving the mirror another look, she got in the shower and rubbed her skin vigorously as if she could wash last night's event away.

Under the water, she started feeling better. Letting the water run down the skin, she closed her eyes and let her mind run free. After what seems like hours, a knock brought her back to reality. On the other side of the door, she heard Shikamaru.

"Hey, I left your bags in front of the door. If you need anything, I'll be in the living room."

"Okay!" she took the time to answer.

Deciding that it had been long enough, Sora closed the shower and started getting ready after quickly grabbing her bags. As a final touch, she put on her hoodie, carefully hiding what she could from last night.

When she walked out, Sora put her bags on her back, unsure where she could put them. She then remembered that Shikamaru said that he'd be in the living room so she headed there. Walking in, she didn't see the boy right away. She looked around to finally notice a leg stretching out at the end of the sofa. She walked up to the sofa and leaning on the back of it, she saw the boy lying on his back, fast asleep. The girl leaned in a bit more and looked at the boy for a bit. He looked actually attractive sleeping like that.

Realizing what she was thinking, she straightened up, blushing. Not wanting to wake him up, she started looking around, wondering at the same time how she could have ever compared Daichi to him. Now that she reflected over her feelings, what she felt for Shikamaru had been and would probably always be on a whole different level. When she reached the kitchen, she found Shikamaru's mother.

"Ah, Sora! You looked already much better!"

For some unexplained reason, the girl was very shy around the woman.

"Thank you," she answered very quietly.

Noticing that the girl had her bags on her back, the woman smiled sweetly.

"Would you like to see where you will be staying?"

"Yes, thank you!"

They both walked to the guest room and the girl settled her bags down. As she was looking around, Shikamaru appeared in the door way, stretching.

"Did I miss something?" he asked with a yawn.

His mother gave him a hard look.

"Yes, our guest didn't know where her room was because you were busy sleeping your ass off!"

Sora waved her hands in front of her. "It's okay, Ms. Nara! Shikamaru didn't sleep last night!"

The boy looked at her, wondering how she knew that, but she smiled it off. His mother walked out, going to the kitchen to resume what she was doing. Once she was gone, he looked at Sora and asked:

"So, did you want to do something?"

Sora sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. She knew she had to do something about last night. Thinking carefully, she finally came with an idea.

"Actually, I need to talk to Asuma-sensei. Do you know where he could be?"

"Uh..." Shikamaru looked up at a nearby clock. It was a little past twelve. "Actually, yeah."

"I know I'm asking a lot of you, but could you go get him?"

Scratching his head, Shikamaru said jokingly: "I would usually say that it's a drag but I guess this time I won't say it. What should I tell him?"

"Just tell him that 'it's one of these times'. He'll understand."

The boy gave a questioning look but she only smiled, which made him decide not to ask. Turning around, he told her:

"Stay here then."

"I will," she told him.

Shikamaru hurried out of the house and to the academy. He was sure that the team should still be here. Like he guessed, he found his sensei and his teammates when he reached the roof.

"Shikamaru, you came!" Choji said happily.

"Hey, I'm here to talk to sensei," he quickly explained, too tired to get into any lengthy chat.

"Here and present!" said Asuma.

"Actually, can I talk to you privately?" he asked, grabbing the man's full attention. He then added for the others: "No offense."

Both Choji and Ino nodded without saying anything while the man got up and walked further away with Shikamaru.

"So what's up?" asked Asuma.

"It's Sora. She said to tell you: 'it's one of these times'."

The man grew instantly serious. "She said that, eh?"

"Yes. Word for word," confirmed Shikamaru.

The man lit up a smoke and slowly took a puff of it.

"Where is she?" he asked in more hush tone.

"At my house."

"Perfect."

Asuma turned around and looked at the other two that were still eating.

"Well, looks like I have an important situation on my hands. We'll definitely have to try this lunch thing again another day Ino," he said with a smile."

"And I thought it would be a good idea! First Shikamaru and Sora, and now you!" pouted Ino.

"We'll catch up. Promised," said Shikamaru scratching his head.

And with that, Shikamaru and Asuma left leaving the other two staring at each other, confused. They quickly reached the boy's house. Walking in, Shikamaru made sure to announce his sensei's presence to his mom which made her welcome him. Once they had their shoes off, Shikamaru led Aduma to the guest room where they found Sora sitting on the bed, with her hood on in a way to catch her face, and drawing.

"Sensei's here," announced the boy.

The girl jumped. She hadn't heard either of them come in the house or even go up the stairs that led to the rooms. Slowly, she put her things down and carefully keeping her head down, she sat on the side of the bed.

"So what did you need me for?" the man asked.

"Well..." The girl hesitated. She then slowly raised her hands and pulled her hood back. Seeing the bruises again made Shikamaru look away uncomfortably. The sight of her in this state made Asuma angry. He walked closer and, putting one knee down, he took a close look.

"Who?" he simply asked.

"That guy I've been dating, Daichi."

"What happened?" the man asked, his voice becoming low.

Sora bit her lip gently and looked up worried at Shikamaru. Noticing this, Asuma asked her if she wanted him to leave but she shook her head.

"No, it's just that I haven't told him."

Getting up, Asuma sat on the bed beside her. Not wanting to pressure her, he waited until she was ready while Shikamaru closed the room's door and leaned back against it. The girl twirled her fingers nervously together.

"Daichi, he... I don't know what got into him. He was acting weird and when I brought him a glass of water, he chugged it and... he violently pushed me down on the sofa and got on me..." she blurted out.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and crossed his arms while Asuma straightened up, shaking with anger.

"Did he...?" he tried to ask but the thought of it made him even more enraged.

"No... I stabbed him and knocked him unconscious then ran away."

The man got up and started walking around. He wanted to smoke really badly but couldn't since he was in someone's house. He then stopped suddenly and looked at the girl.

"Where is he now?"

She looked at Shikamaru.

"I think Mr. Nara said that he was in the hospital..." she said unsure.

Shikamaru nodded to confirm.

"Excellent. Let's go," the man said.

Both his students looked at each other in confusion. Finally, the boy shook his shoulders and decided to follow the man as he forced his way out of the room. Sora followed closely behind. They only understood where they were going when, fifteen minutes, they reached the hospital. Walking in the main lobby, Asuma turned around and looked at Shikamaru.

"I need you to wait for us here."

Shikamaru opened his mouth but when he saw how serious his sensei was, he shut his mouth and nodded. After that, it was just Asuma and Sora walking quickly in the hallway.

"Asuma... what are we doing?" asked the girl, fully realizing that she hadn't called the man without his honorable title for years now.

"We're going to have a nice little chat with your ex-boyfriend."

They reached the information desk and Asuma asked nicely the woman where they could find Daichi Riku. She surprisingly gave him the information without asking any questions. Must have been because of the headband, Sora guessed. They then walked down in the right direction and just before entering the room, Asuma asked Sora to stay behind him and not say a word. Still confused, she nodded quickly, feeling quite uncomfortable about the situation.

They then pushed the door opened and inside they found Daichi lying in bed awake with his dad sitting on the other side of the bed. As soon as the duo walked in, Daichi's dad got up. Asuma closed the door behind them and then asked with an overly friendly tone:

"You are Daichi's father I assume?"

"Yes," answered the man quickly.

"Dad, it's her," said Daichi to his dad while motioning Sora who was standing awkwardly behind Asuma like he had asked her.

Daichi's dad's face filled with anger.

"You! You tried to kill my son!" he took a step in the girl's direction but stopped when Asuma stood squarely between them. "You little insolent child. An orphan like you shouldn't be free to walk around like that or else this is what happens!"

Sora swallowed. She had not expected this.

"Now, now, sir. Calm down," said Asuma with this same calm and overly friendly tone. "We're here for some apologies!"

Sora looked at the man in disbelief. Did he really expect her to apologize for what she did?

"We don't want any apologies from dirt like her!" spat out Daichi's dad.

"Good, good!" continued Asuma. He then opened his pouch and took out one of his special knives.

Sora looked at the man, unsure what he was thinking. While he slipped his right hand through his weapon, he continued with a big smile:

"You see, I think you understood me wrong. We didn't come here to apologize but to get some apologies from your son!"

Although Daichi's dad had become white at the sight of the weapon, he still somehow had the guts to still stand up to him.

"My son was assaulted by that monster behind you!"

Asuma walked closer to Daichi's bed.

"Oh? Well I just have a simple message for your son then!" he first said on the same tone he had kept until now. Then, out of the blue, he stabbed down his weapon in the night table beside the bed with brute force and said with a low and very dangerous voice: "The next time you try to rape my goddaughter or even dare to hit her again, I'll make sure you regret even being born!"

Everyone in the room, including Sora, was in complete state of shock. Asuma then put his arm around Sora's shoulder and said with a soft tone:

"Time to go, dear."

When they got out of the room and walked away, Sora finally got over the initial shock to mumble:

"I'm sorry..."

The man looked at her then burst out laughing.

"Are you kidding? This felt great! Beside, when I was named as your legal guardian, I expected way more trouble from you but you turned out to be an angel! I'm glad you finally asked for my help!" he said with a huge smile.

Several minutes later, they reached the lobby where Shikamaru had been waiting for them. When they approached, the boy got up and noticed the girl's still shocked face.

"Wait, what happened?" he asked.

Asuma simply tapped his shoulder while saying: "Long story... Loooong story."

Walking outside, Shikamaru asked :

"So what are we doing about Daichi?"

"Oh, we'll take some precautions but he shouldn't approach Sora anymore. From what I could understand, your family offered to keep Sora for a while? Do you think you parents will let her stay over for about a week?"

"I'll ask my parents, but I'm pretty sure the answer will be yes."

He then looked and smiled at Sora who reflected his smile.

Well this was super fun to write!

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