Shikamaru laid on his back, watching the clouds float by. He couldn't say if he was lost in thoughts or just in a trance. If any type of thoughts had crossed his mind, he wouldn't be able to say what it had been. Somewhere, during these last three days since his sensei had come back, his mind had given up on thinking or analyzing anything. It could have been related to his recent lack of sleep but he didn't even what caused that.

He closed his eyes, wishing he could float away with the clouds, wishing he could sleep on a cloud. He imagined that it would be peaceful up there. He would be able to look down and see things happen from a distance without being part of it. Part of him already felt like he was now just sitting on the sidelines and watching things unravel themselves. Since the incident with Reena and Naruto, Sora had refused to speak to anyone with one exception. She had asked to be alone until yesterday, where her curiosity seemed to have taken the best of her. That was the one time where she approached Asuma and had asked if he would like to talk. The man had not mention what had been said during that conversations which had happened behind closed doors. The group just knew that she hadn't been seen afterwards but Asuma did not seem too discouraged either.

Some talk had arisen about how they were possibly wasting their time here, waiting for Sora to recover her memories. Some had suggested to bring her back to Konoha. Sakura had opposed that motion, worried that a kind of shock could make the temporary memory loss of the girl last longer or even be permanent. Kurenai had also brought up during that discussion that they still needed to be on the lookout for the remaining two merciless brothers. They should have found their dead brother by now and seeing them let that fact fall between cracks was very unlikely. It was finally voted that they would stay in the village but would send Sai off to make a report as they had no other means of contact. Sai was also the most suited to travel alone and avoid the two missing nins. To top it off, the boy had offered it.

Thus, these few days had become a mix of time on the lookout for any signs of the two merciless brothers, relaxing time for some, and training time for others. Though training was never a bad thing, Shikamaru could not find an ounce of energy in himself to train. Relaxing had become the top thing to do on his very short list. Choji would join him once in awhile or convince him to go for a walk around town. So when he heard the sound of someone climbing to the roof, he first thought that his best friend had decided to join him to then realize that the person was making much less noise. He decided to stay there and wait for whoever was coming up as he watched another cloud float by.

"Long time no see," a feminine voice came near him.

Soon enough a flash of white hair came into view as Reena sat down not too far from him.

"You finally woke up," he commented.

The girl stretched out as if to confirm his statement.

"Mmmyeah, just got up. How long was I out?"

"Almost three days now."

"Shoot. Really? What did I miss?"

Without ever making the effort to sit up, he briefly explained the few decisions that had been made, carefully avoiding anything related to Sora. All the while, Reena took out food from what seemed like a little cloth wrap she brought up with her. She first offered him a rice ball that she had, which he accepted while explaining. Quietly, she munched on her food and listened while looking off in the distance. He finally ended with:

"Why did you come here if you just woke up? I'm surprised you didn't go see Kakashi-sensei."

The girl shrugged.

"I found him training in the back with Naruto. I was also surprised to find Sakura and Ino training together. They rarely get along when it comes to training."

Enjoying his peace and quiet up on the roof, the boy had heard some sound coming from down in the back but had never bothered to check who was there. Seeing him silent, Reena decided to venture herself in the subject which she knew was sensitive.

"...how have you been doing?"

Shikamaru didn't answer at first. How was he doing? He didn't know. He didn't think about that. Now that the question was brought up for surprisingly the first time, he reflected on it.

"Tired, I guess."

"Not sleeping well?"

"No."

"Did you ask Sakura for some advice? She's really good with these things."

"No."

They fell silent once more. Without him really noticing, she looked at him really worried. The truth was that she had seen Ino as they were both going out in the back and she had talked about how worried she was for her teammate. It had seemed that he had closed up and even his teammates couldn't speak to him openly. Guilt ridden by the circumstances, she had promised to try herself.

"Any progress since, you know, last time?"

"No."

Those simple answers from his part were really shutting out her efforts at making a conversation. Yet, she still continued trying.

"Did I scare her?"

Shikamaru hesitated and Reena noticed. She had asked a tricky question and his hesitation proved that he partly blamed her for it but did not want to openly do it. A light frown could now be seen on his face.

"I don't know."

Her shoulders slumped down in discouragement. She had hoped he would have answered "yes" and let out his anger. She was ready to take it and thought it would honestly helped him but the boy was shut tight. Thinking of what Sora would think of this, she shook her head. She would have been sad to see him act like that. Not used to having an open conversation with Shikamaru, she didn't quite know what to say. While still munching on her food, she tried to imagine what Sora would have done. With a final effort, she slowly started talking again.

"I… was really upset when I heard what had happened back in Konoha. I was ready to move heaven and earth to find her. When we found that missing nin and he told us about her jumping in that river, I think my heart stopped beating for a while. I was truly afraid. But then we found her," she stopped both eating and talking, looking off in the distance and trying to put words on how she felt. She normally felt anger, not sadness and the best way to take it out was to train and fight. Words were hard to use. "We found her but it was like a poisoned gift. I truly wonder at times if we're being punished for something."

She first looked at Shikamaru to see him still looking up at clouds, his face as emotionless as she had ever seen it. Thinking on what she just had said, she soon realized that she had lost her previous appetite despite being famished only minutes ago from her long slumber. She waited and wondered if Shikamaru had listened to her. Perhaps, she just was wasting her breath. Perhaps, there was no getting through his thick shell of his. Thinking she maybe should leave him alone after all, she started putting things back in the cloth and wrapped them up. She nearly jumped when Shikamaru finally spoke up.

"I feel like we didn't find Sora. That we just found a complete different person who looks like her but that is not her at all."

She looked back at the boy and saw that he actually had sat up. Looking down, he sighed.

"You know what she told me? That she didn't feel anything at all for me. She said it just like that, in the most casual way possible and I don't know what to do. I want to be there and be patient for her yet at the same time, I feel like I'm wasting my efforts and that she sometimes pushes me away. I even think of the possibility that she might not recover her memories. What will happen then? Will she be better off if I let her redo her life without me around? So to answer your earlier question, I don't know how I'm doing because I don't know what to feel."

Reena slowly nodded, glad that to hear him open up.

"You feel lost."

It was Shikamaru's turn to nod. Sitting side by side, they could see Naruto and Kakashi practicing their taijutsu. Though Naruto was getting better, Kakashi always found a way to trick him. Silently, they watched the training continue. Reena knew that now she got him to open up, this silence was a good and even peaceful one. This silence was meant to be.

From up there, they could also clearly see almost the whole village, the river and even the forest. It changed them from their usual view that they had in Konoha. Though relaxing felt a bit wrong, the change of scenery was actually doing everyone some good. However, anyone would have been ready to admit that they missed their usual ramen shop and the BBQ restaurant. The food at the hotel was good but still not their usual food.

Neither Reena nor Shikamaru knew how long they sat there relaxing. It could have been minutes like it could have been hours. Had they paid attention to the sun, perhaps they would have known but it was the last of their worries.

"Shikamaru," a voice called out from under them.

Looking over the edge of the roof, they noticed Asuma-sensei looking up at both of them. He was holding a game in his arms.

"Look what the owner of this hotel had all this time!"

Shikamaru focused on the game and realized that it was a shōgi board. His eyebrows shot up and a smirk started to form on his face.

"Care to join me?"

"Of course," finally replied Shikamaru.

As he started getting ready to jump off the roof, he looked back at Reena briefly.

"Thanks for what you did."

He then left without giving her the opportunity to answer or see her smile at her small unexpected victory. Reaching the wide balcony, he found his sensei lighting up a cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke," he pointed out.

"Geez, not you too," replied his sensei with a frown. "Why don't you just set the board instead of starting to call me out on my habits?"

Yet, as Shikamaru started setting up the game, he heard Asuma chuckled. It brought a smile to his own face. Noticing it, Asuma felt relieved. It seemed that the boy had started coming out of his shell. Once it was ready, they started playing in silence as usual. While one thought about his move, the other would look out back to see the how the training was going on. Sakura and Ino had soon called a break, both exhausted. Shikamaru also came to notice Choji sitting on the stairs at the ground level that lead to outside, eating a bag of chip that he must have found while going around town.

This game lasted quite long as Asuma tried his best to find a way around Shikamaru's strategy. Yet, as always, the boy remained unbeatable. As they reached the last few turns of the game, a smirk could already been seen on his face while his sensei wore a deep frown. Finally, Asuma sighed.

"I was so close," he complained while scratching his head.

A booming voice soon brought both of their attention to the back of the hotel again.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival! Fight me!"

From Kakashi's sudden slump, they knew he was not in the mood for it, if he ever was. As Gai continued his speech, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said something that no one could hear. Finally, he took out his usual orange book and hid his face in it all while walking around and away from the shouting man. Upset by this, Gai looked around and finally stared at Naruto that started panicking. Without a chance to escaped, Gai had already gripped him, prompting him for some 'legendary' training.

"Who won?" came a voice behind both Shikamaru and Asuma.

Wide-eyes, they turned around and saw Sora standing there awkwardly in a dress. Neither of them was able to hide their surprise at her sudden appearance seeing how she had remained unseen for the most time during these last few days. It was finally Asuma that snapped out of their daze and answered the girl.

"Shikamaru, as always. He's always so damn hard to beat."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"What can I say? Your moves are just too obvious for me to not see through them."

Asuma faked to be offended by his comment while taking out his cigarettes. A small smile made it obvious that he was too happy about the turn of event to be offended.

"Would you mind if I play…?" asked Sora hesitantly.

Again, it was Asuma doing all the talking.

"Sure, of course. Who do you want to play against? I'll warn you, Shikamaru is hard to beat."

"I'll still try to play against him," she answered with a shrug.

"You have been warned," said the sensei as he got up from his spot and sat around so he could watch the board from the side and still see the back where Naruto was surprisingly training enthusiastically.

Sora came to take his spot as Shikamaru silently started setting up the game. She looked at Asuma lighting up his cigarette.

"You shouldn't smoke. It could kill you, you know."

He looked at her and let out a dramatic sigh as Shikamaru started chuckling. Confused, she look at both men. Seeing this, Shikamaru decided to clarify.

"You always call him out on it, along with others."

"Others being you who started being nosy about it, Shikamaru," grumbled Asuma.

"What can I say? We're all looking out for your well-being, sensei."

The board was finally set. Seeing how Shikamaru had won the previous game against Asuma, Sora offered to let him start while their sensei shook his head disapprovingly. Yet, they were all surprised to see that the girl was able to maintain her own quite well. As she had guessed, when she was going through her drawings, she remembered how to play this game. Yet, remembering did not help her win against Shikamaru.

"Maybe I could let you win next time," he mentioned as he watched her reanalyse the board once more.

"That wouldn't be fair play. I like winning fair and square."

"You're right. It would be too much of a drag to cheat," he said with a mocking smirk.

The sense of déjà-vu strongly hit him at that moment. Sensing nostalgy filling him, he looked down. Yet, he was surprised to hear the girl laugh lightly. Surprised, he looked back up at her.

"Sorry! I don't know why, but your response is just making me laugh," she quickly apologized with one of her rare smiles.

Asuma looked at both at them and then smiled himself. It was like seeing the both of them talking like normal times. A voice suddenly rang from behind him.

"Food time!" shouted Choji who had come up to see them.

When the boy entered the back and noticed Sora, his eyes first widened but he quickly smiled warmly at her. The two men slowly got up and Shikamaru mustered his courage to ask the girl:

"Will you be joining us? We won't talk about you unless you ask us to," he promised.

The girl hesitated and thought all the while staring at Shikamaru. She finally nodded.

"Sure, I'll try it. I'm hungry."

She quickly followed the group with Shikamaru behind her. As they were about the hit the main stairs to go down to the ground floor, the boy stopped a few seconds and grabbed the railing beside him. For a split second, he felt dizzy and saw his surrounding spin around him. After blinking a few times, things settled back in their places and everything was back to normal. Shikamaru wondered if he had just imagined what had happened to him. As he started heading down the stairs, he noticed Sora standing at the bottom, giving him an odd look. Yet, she didn't say anything and simply walked in the dining room where everyone else was.

There, everyone sat together. At their end of the table, Shikamaru sat between Ino and Choji. In diagonal from him was Sora sitting at the complete end beside Reena. As promised, the food was served quickly by the owner all around the table. Everyone quickly dug in, eating like there was no tomorrow. The food that the elderly woman made was simply heavenly. However, after a few bite, Shikamaru slowed down, feeling nauseated every time he chewed. Hoping it would come to pass, he swallowed some water and waited. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, with the exception of Sora. When he started drinking only, she stared out of the corner of her eye. She then looked at everyone else around the table to find no one else noticing his strange behaviour and finally figured that it must not be anything she needed to worry about.

A few minutes after he had finished his water, Shikamaru closed his eyes for a few seconds. The room had started spinning again and he was thankful that he was sitting down this time as it lasted longer. When it stopped after a good thirty seconds, he slowly got up, afraid of triggering it again.

"Hey, I'm feeling really tired suddenly. I'm going to go lay down," he told everyone.

Some of them nodded and soon he was gone without another word. Seeing that Shikamaru had not finished his plate, Choji gladly scooped the leftover unto his plate and continued eating with a satisfied smile while Ino shook her head in disapproval. All through supper, there was light chatter around the room and Sora was surprised to find herself enjoying the atmosphere. As Shikamaru had promised her, no one pressured her by talking about what she did or did not remember and she was thankful for it. She desperately wanted something to feel normal, even if she didn't know what normal really was.

Surprisingly, she was the first one to finish her plate, making her realize that she had been much more hungry than she thought. She soon got up and thanked everyone for having her which of course made everyone happy. Heading up the main stairs, she started heading toward the right side to get the second set of stairs when she heard something flying around. She stopped in her tracks and looked around her. It didn't take long before she spotted a bright blue dragonfly flying around her.

"Hey little buddy. What are you doing in here?"

Realizing that she might look silly talking to a dragonfly, she quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching her. Even if the coast was clear, she lowered her voice before continuing.

"You know I love seeing you guys around but I don't think others would be happy to see you inside this hotel. Come on, we need to get you out before someone becomes upset."

As she turned towards the stairs leading down, determined to bring it out the main door, she noticed it flying a different direction.

"Hey, come back!" she whispered loudly, feeling even more silly.

Instead, it started flying the left side of the stairs but came back as if realizing that she was not following. It then flew back and forth. She scratched her head, feeling like she needed to follow it. Giving into her curiosity, she finally started slowly walking in its direction.

"Ah man, people will seriously think I'm weird if they see me…"

They soon reached a wide glass door leading to a common room which she realized was the corner where the shinobis were currently staying. She looked at the dragonfly that hovered in front of the door.

"I can't go in there without a reason…"

But it didn't budge at her comment, as if waiting. Not wanting to get in trouble, she first turned around to go back but the blue dragonfly quickly flew around her head, clearly disapproving her choice. The only time it would stop doing this was when she would look back at the door.

"Fine! Fine… You win. What's so important?"

She got back closer to the door and hesitated before reaching for the door knob. What if the others thought she was snooping around? She couldn't tell them she was following a dragonfly. They would surely think she was crazy!

She raised her eyes through the glass door, wondering what to do until her eyes stopped on something on the ground. In panic, she threw the door open and ran to it to find Shikamaru laying unconscious on the ground. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she first shook him lightly then more roughly.

"Shikamaru. Hey, Shikamaru. Wake up!"

She lowered her head to his chest and listened. There was a heart beat. Raising her head though, she noticed how pale his face seemed. It looked almost ghostly. Something was clearly wrong.

"Help!" she started yelling as loud as she could in panic. "Someone, help!"

She didn't want to leave the boy at first but then realize that no one might hear her if she stayed. Getting up shakingly, she started running downstairs towards those she needed to trust as friends.

So I'm curious... Are any of my previous readers still following this? If so, please just enter a quick review to say you are following. It's really just for curiosity's sake. I won't stop writing or anything like that.

Thanks guys :)