Though he wanted to stay with his students, Asuma was called out to go look for Sora with the rest of his team. It was now their turn to leave for a few days now that Reena's team was back. Yet, Reena's team had not joined Shikamaru and his teammates as they ate lunch in the dining room located downstairs near the front entrance. Perhaps they were just too tired for now.

Ino looked up at Shikamaru to see how he was doing. Though a bit pale, he had started moving a bit more around and, more importantly, he had started eating. She looked at Choji and motioned to him to start up a conversation but the boy was too lost in thought with his food to actually notice her. Upset, she kicked him under the table.

"Ow! What was that for?" he shouted at her.

She rolled her eyes. So much for the discretion.

"If you were not daydreaming again, you would know exactly what's wrong!"

Of course, an intensive argument started up from just this. It was Shikamaru's turn to roll his eyes as he grabbed the last bit of sandwich and shoved it in his mouth. As quickly as that, he was up and leaving the room, leaving his two teammates to argue. He had no patience today either to deal with their silly fights. Walking through the hallway entrance to head to his room, he noticed the elderly woman that owned the hotel staring out of the front doors. Something was clearly worrying her. He looked back at the dining room. Both Ino and Choji were still argue. They didn't seem to have noticed his absence. He approached the woman and looked outside. It had started to rain hard, clearly indicating the coming of a storm. At that thought, his stomach clenched. Wherever she was, Sora would probably be scared right now.

"Are you worried about something?" he asked her softly.

She looked up at him, smiling the best she could.

"Our young guest… she has been walking around in crutches and I'm worried for her. She usually stays close to here when it is raining but this time she didn't come back and now this storm is coming."

Shikamaru stared outside for a while. Was he crazy enough to do this?

"I'll go look for her. You said she was in crutches, right?"

"Yes, it's a small town so there aren't really any injured except for her. She should be easy to spot. She also has a bandage around her head."

The boy nodded and, without another word, slipped in the rain. He headed straight for downtown as it seemed to be a hotspot for tourists. Thankfully, the roads were empty due to the upcoming storm which got him to avoid being stared at by other villagers. However, when he got to the fountain in the middle of the town, he came to realize that empty roads meant that the person he was looking for wouldn't be there. He cursed under his breath. If, at least, he had taken an umbrella. Now, he felt drenched to the bone. But a promise is a promise. Shoving his hands in his pockets the best he could, he started to wander around the streets, wondering if that person had been smart enough to at least take cover. How hard can it be to find someone with crutches?

"What do you mean you can't find him?" asked Ino in panic.

"Exactly what I just said," answered Reena with as much patience as she could muster at the moment.

"But… you found us, didn't you?"

Choji, on the other hand, seemed to grasp the situation.

"Ino, it's pouring outside."

"So what?" she asked while turning to his teammate.

"Well, Asuma-sensei once told us that, although Kakashi's dog are formidable trackers, they can't track in the rain since it erases all traces of smell," he then turned to Reena. "I think the same concept applies to you?"

Reena nodded, glad that at least one of them finally caught on. Ino still added:

"I'm worried about where he could have went."

"To be honest, Ino, I don't think he would have left the village. Maybe some time outside is a good thing for him…"

"It is POURING outside," pointed out Ino, getting angry with the situation.

"He went out there for me," spoke up a voice behind the group.

They turned around and saw the owner of the hotel suddenly standing behind the entrance desk.

"You know where he went?" asked Choji as he rushed up to her.

The elderly woman shook her head slowly.

"Not exactly but he heard me worrying over one of my guests that hadn't come back and went out to get her." She then picked up a piece of paper and stared at it while mumbling: "A sweet girl, really."

Reena's eyes widen.

"Sorry to ask but who drew this?"

Her question caught everyone's attention as they looked down on the drawing of the town. The style was recognizable.

"No way," mumbled Ino.

"Who drew this?" asked Choji, clearly excited.

"Well, our new young guest…"

"Do you know her name?" asked Reena, also excited by the discovery.

But elderly woman shook her head.

"We're calling her Kyuu because of her love for rain but we don't know her real name. She doesn't remember."

"She doesn't… remember?"

The old woman's eye filled with sadness as she remembered the day they had found her.

"One of the villagers found her on the side of the river. She was really not doing so well and she couldn't recall what had happened to her nor who she was. So now she she draws, hoping it will help her."

Everyone in the group stared at each other. Could it be that Sora was alive and so close to them all that time?

How hard can it be to find someone with crutches? He chuckled sarcastically at the question he had asked himself about half an hour ago. He had nearly gone around the whole town without finding anyone with crutches and this damn rain was not going away. He was now taking shelter under a rooftop near the river, deciding where to go next. Looking up, he saw the dark clouds looming over the town. Any time now…

As the thought crossed his mind, he saw a clear outline of a lightning bolt in the sky followed by the gruesome sound of thunder. It was so closed that he felt like everything around him was shaking. He closed his eyes at the flash but reopened them when he heard something faint. Looking around, he wondered if he was crazy.

As soon as he walked out from under the edge of the rooftop, the rain soaked right back in his clothing but he didn't care. What he had heard was familiar but faint. It had been so faint that he was wondering if perhaps he had imagined it. While he looked intensively around while using his hand to shield his eyes in hopes that it would help him, another clash of thunder was heard. There. On his right. Someone had screamed.

He ran around the house he had been under to finally find the source of what he had been hearing. There, sitting on the ground and struggling to get up, was Sora. One of the crutches was lying on the ground beside her, the bottom snapped. Though he desperately wanted to help her, he couldn't move. It was as if what he was seeing was just too unbelievable. It was finally her that snapped him out of it.

"Will you please help me?" asked the girl, half furious and half in panic.

He shook his head and ran up to her. Grabbing her arm, he put it around his neck and lifted her up. As soon as she was standing, she used the unbroken crutch to lean on. She then pulled her arm away from him, balancing on the one support she had.

"Thank you," she mumbled while trying to start walking.

She soon figured out the hard way that walking with one crutch is near impossible with one only valid leg. As soon as she put pressure on the leg that was wrapped heavily in bandages, she screamed in agony and lost balance. She closed her eyes, expecting to hit the ground hard again but two arms wrapped around her.

"Why don't you climb on my back? It will be much easier for you," offered Shikamaru.

Sora stared at him blankly as if he had just offered him the craziest thing. She shook her head.

"No. I'm good."

She tried again to walk with the same result. Shikamaru sighed. He wasn't sure whether he should feel discouraged or frustrated.

"Damn it Sora, stop being troublesome and get on my back."

His reaction caught her by surprise but he was too impatient to wait out here in the rain for her to try to stubbornly make her way back to the hotel. He would take the time to explain to her the misunderstanding that Ino had created back in Konoha but right now she had to suck it up and accept his help. So, not giving her a choice, he knelt down in front of her so she could climb up on his back. Thankfully, she didn't argue again and accepted his help.

They were now heading back to the hotel in silence. The girl was acting different and Shikamaru was really hoping that she still wasn't upset with him by what had happened before this whole craziness had happened. Besides, he was dying to have Sakura take a look at her injuries to make sure his teammate was fine. As he started trying to make up a speech in his head about what he would tell her once they reached the hotel, the girl spoke up.

"Why did you call me Sora earlier?"

Shikamaru stopped.

"What?"

The girl hesitated, not understanding how her question was unclear. She tried to phrase it differently.

"Earlier, you called me Sora before calling me troublesome. Is that my name?"

Shikamaru turned his head and looked at her face the best he could to see if she was kidding. Her serious face sent chills down his spine. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"What do you think your name is?"

"Well… They're calling me Kyuu."

Shikamaru shook his head in disarray.

"Who…?"

But his question was cut off by another roll of thunder which was accompanied by a quick scream from Sora. Realizing that they were still outside, he started dashing toward the hotel. This conversation would need to continue in the hotel and after this storm.