Chapter 4

Monkey see, monkey do! Hey, look what I can do! The truth behind the Snow village mystery! Part I

Neji and Sasuke snuck back into the Inn quietly, and effectively. Mebae woke up and started to growl, but Sasuke calmed him down. "It's just us," he said. The dog wagged his tail expecting his owner to be with them, but there was still no sign of Kiba. What could be taking him so long? Rock Lee was already fast asleep. The two crept out of the room, sliding the door behind them quietly. Neji checked the hallway for anyone who might notice their arrival. Luckily, it was deserted.

Once they were back in their shared room, Neji took off his shoes and sat down, rubbing his feet. He had been looking for the girl all day, even when he was supposed to be concentrating on his mission. It was important to help his friend. It was what friend's do for each other. He had learned that through much of Naruto's actions.

what he started. What if everyone gets in trouble because of me? Naruto warned me to back off when we first got here. I don't understand what is going on. Why is an entire village leaving that girl alone?

The hot water ran down the back of his neck, his forehead pressed onto the tile. It wasn't making any sense. Sasuke couldn't help but think about her. She had approached him. Him. Out of everyone in the village. Sasuke closed his eyes. He could see that little girl's yellow eyes in his mind. She was there in the snow, body shaking from the cold, head tilted, saying his name. Slowly, his eyes opened. Where are you, kid?

"Something must have happened to Shikamaru. There's no doubting it. From what I saw and smelled at the scene, there was a fight," Kiba said. His arms were crossed, head lowered as he thought.

"Who would have attacked him," Lee asked, concern all over his face.

"It had to be Anamaraki's men. They were scouting all over the place not long after we had parted. I had to hide a few times from them," Neji said, his legs folded and hands placed on them.

"I'm sorry I got everyone in this. It wasn't my intention," Sasuke said, his nose against his folded hands, eyes closed.

"It's apparent that girl is special. If she wasn't afraid to come up to you, then it shows she is trying to reach out to someone," Lee said.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Sasuke, I have a present for you. Hold out your hand," Kiba said as he fished in his clothing.

"What is it?" Sasuke held his hand out. Kiba placed a long black hair in it. His eyes focused on it. "Whose..?"

"You should recognize it. It belongs to the sprout," Kiba said. "I found it at the scene were the fight had occurred. I'm assuming Shikamaru protected her and that's where she is. Wherever he is, she will be there, so she's fine for now."

Sasuke's gaze softened. You're alright.

"One thing is clear. Whoever Shikamaru attacked knows his face and possibly knows who he is with. It is dangerous for him to return here. We must be cautious, as well. I don't believe they will attack during the day with the villagers everywhere. It is not their purpose. They'll possibly single us out, or wait until we are alone," Lee said. "For now, we finish what we came to do. Kiba, I want you to take Mabae and scout outside the village for Shikamaru. He has to be laying low and you two are the only ones who can find him. The rest of us will continue the mission."

(Scene Change)

Shikamaru woke up rubbing his eyes. He had forgotten what had happened and where he was. It took a moment to regain his memory. The furs from the crates had kept him and the girl warm all night. It had been a smart idea of his to place the furs over the windows, too. They weren't going to be able to start a fire due to the increased awareness of their presence in the village below. He turned his head to check on her. She was sleeping hard. Poor thing. She clung to me hard last night. He got up.

While she was sleeping, Shikamaru checked the area around the old building. Snow covered the trees and everything in its wake. He noticed there were no birds, or any signs of any animal presences. This is unreal. It's so desolate. I have to be able to hunt for food if I'm stuck out here. "There we go. It's not much, but I might be able to trap something." A rabbit darted past his view.

Shikamaru tied the thin wire carefully. "There. That should do it. If it can trick Naruto, then a rabbit ought to be an easy meal." All he had to do was wait. The rabbit came within inches of the trap a few times. Shikamaru was sitting on pins and needles. Come on. Just a little more...I got you! He pulled the wire. The rabbit's leg was instantly snared. "Sorry, little guy, but we've got a starving little girl on our hands. I'm sure you would have done the same thing in my place."

She awoke to a deserted environment. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, the girl got up, her head tilting, ears listening. "Seekahmahlu?" Had he abandoned her so quickly? The girl walked slowly around the room, listening for any sign of his presence.

"Ow, geez!" Shikamaru held his hand. "I've got to be more careful," he said annoyed. His hand was bleeding. "It's bad enough there isn't a lot of meat on this guy." Carefully, he wrapped his hand. The fire he started was already starting to flame pretty well. However, the smoke concerned him. If anyone caught sign of it, they would be spotted. "Hmm?" He looked up to see the girl poking her head out the side entrance. "Hey, I guess you were wondering where I went, huh."

She nodded her head a bit. Her head tilted at his bandaged hand. She pointed at it.

"Oh, I wasn't being careful, is all. My mind has been concentrating on what to do about being stuck out here. Are you hungry?"

The girl nodded. What was he skinning? She sniffed the air. It smelled terrible.

Shikamaru smiled at her. "I know it smells awful right now, but once I cook it, it won't be so bad. It's all I could find way out here. So we'll have to make do with what we have, alright?" The girl nodded again. "Why don't you go back in where it's warm, okay? I'll bring it to you when it's good and ready." She left.

Shikamaru finished skinning the rabbit, then cut its head off with his ninja blade. He stuck a stick through it then placed it near the fire. It was a cruel method, but he didn't have the proper tools to make it a nice rabbit shish kabob.

He sat outside waiting patiently for the rabbit to cook. It would have been better to scout longer for some food, but he didn't want to leave the girl alone. For now, she was safe with him. He would protect her until he managed to get back to the others.

Shikamaru's mind flashed to the fight the night before. The jutsu the girl had used, enticed him. He wondered what else she was capable of. It was a simple technique used by younger ninjas in training. All a person had to do was stick a weapon to their chakra then use a little force, and wham! The weapon would be sent flying back at the opponent.

That girl has to have a specific amount of training. If she is able to use chakra, then she should know how to fight, right? I don't know precisely. She did manage to fight off our attacker last night. It was a slick move. The rabbit was done. He stomped out the fire then went inside with the rabbit. The girl was watching him all the while. Shikamaru sat beside the fur pallet they had slept in. "It's not much, but it's all we have for now." He started to cut some of the meat off. The girl's face retorted. He handed her some of the meat. "You've got to eat something. Rabbit isn't exactly my favorite, either, but it's better than nothing." He watched her examining the meat in her hand. "Come on," he coaxed.

She didn't want to eat it. Meat wasn't particularly an interesting substance for her. It reminded her of the cats and dogs she saw in the snow village. However, Shikamaru was right. It was all they had. She shut her eyes tight and put it in her mouth, chewing.

"Good, girl." He tore some off for himself. In no time, the rabbit was finished. "A nice bowl of hot ramen would be great right about now."

She tilted her head, watching him. "Rah-men?"

Shikamaru looked at her. "Ramen are Japanese noodles that are served hot, or cold. It usually has vegetables in it. It's a cheap meal, and it's Naruto's main course," he smirked.

"Who...is...Nah-ruh-toe," she asked.

""Hmm? You're trying to form sentences, huh. Well, Naruto is a friend of mine. He's the Hokage of the Leaf Village." He watched her confused expression. "A Hokage is much like the leader, or protector over a lot of people. He makes decisions and ensures the safety of everyone in the village. It's much like a big, happy family. It also means he is the strongest out of everyone that lives in the village."

The child didn't really understand. There was no one like that here in this remote village. The only leader here was Anamaraki. She didn't like to be near that guy. His voice was deep and threatening. Her eyes looked away from Shikamaru, thinking. That man would prevent Shikamaru from protecting her.

Shikamaru caught sight of her sadness. He had to take her mind off of it. "Hey, you remember what you did last night with the blade?" The girl turned her head to look at him. "Can you do it again?" She nodded slowly. "Show me."

Kiba came to a halt, his nose sniffing the air. "Hey, Mabae, do you smell that? Someone's cooking farther up the mountain. Why don't we take a look?" The large dog barked his reply. Kiba took off with the dog behind him. It has to be Shikamaru. The smell isn't very pleasant. It smells like over cooked bar-b-que.

Shikamaru crouched in the snow with the girl standing in front of him, watching. "Alright. Let's get started, kid. First, we'll try a ball of snow. If you can deflect a ninja blade, then the snow should be no problem right? Chakra attaches to anything that comes within range. This will be a harmless method." He patted the snow firmly in his hand, then threw it at her. The first one hit her in the thigh. "Hey, you've got to concentrate to control your chakra. Watch."

Shikamaru stood up. "Chakra is energy that flows within your body. It can be sent at an opponent in order to protect yourself, or someone else. When you focus correctly and harness the chakra the right way, patterns can form. The patterns that form, are called 'techniques'. Each technique is relevant to a special attack." He watched her taking it all in. "I think I'm overdoing it a bit with the explanation. I'll show you my special attack, alright?"

Shikamaru began to form signs with his hands, his mind focusing on the girl as a target. "Shadow possession jutsu!" The girl watched as his shadow crept along the snow attaching itself to her. "Now you can't move." He moved his body in a type of dance. The look on the girl's face was of utter bewilderment as she did the same actions he did. "Shadow possession allows you to control your opponent. With this attack, I can hurt the other person and there's nothing they can do about it."

"Seekahmahlu," the girl forced the words out. Her voice cracked. It was scaring her. She wasn't familiar with what he was telling her, or showing her.

"Oh, sorry," he said as his shadow went back to normal. He watched her face, then crouched down to the ground, in order, to seem less threatening to her. "Attacks are only used to protect if one is threatened. I would never use an attack on you. Understand?"

She looked at him with a newfound awareness. The girl nodded. "Seekahmahlu won't... hurt...me..?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru got up, walking over to the girl. He placed his cold hand on her cheek, rubbing it softly. "No, I would never hurt you." He crouched again to look up into her yellow eyes. "You're the same age as my daughter, Saori."

She tilted her head, watching him.

"Do you want to learn how to protect yourself?" The girl nodded. "I'll teach you what I can for a beginner. We'll try again with the snow. This time, I want you to focus," he said tapping his head. "It takes concentration to use chakra. Try to stop the snow from hitting wherever I aim."

Shikamaru stood a good distance from her. He patted down the snow, forming a nice smooth ball. "Alright, kid, stop it from hitting," he said as he threw it at her. He watched as the girl tensed up, putting her hands out in front of herself. The snow hit her hands, hard. "You're not concentrating hard enough. You merely blocked it. Try again."

He threw another snowball at her, but it, too hit her. "Again." Shikamaru threw snowball after snowball, trying to get the girl to defend herself. He breathed hard. They had been practicing for over an hour. His arms were beginning to get tired. He formed a larger snowball, but this time, he didn't tell her when it was coming, he just threw it.

The girl gasped. The snowball was coming straight at her. It was bigger than the last ones they had been practicing with. If it was going to hit her, it was going to seriously hurt. She put her hands up, the chakra flowing at her palms. I have to stop it! The snowball burst into small particles of snow before it came in contact with her skin. She had managed to stop it this time, without thinking.

Shikamaru nodded his head in approval. "Good job. You deflected it without thinking. Shall we try a new tactic?" He opened the pouch attached to his leg. Carefully he pulled out a ninja blade. His hand held it up so she could see what it looked like in the light. "This is one of the basic weapons a ninja uses to fight with. It can be thrown, have things attached to it, and even fight back an opponent. This is a kunai. It is shaped this way so that it can fly through the air with speed and accuracy. The tip of it is very sharp, so if you get hit with it, it will lodge itself in your skin. Depending on where your opponent is aiming, the blade can injure you a little, or a lot. When ninja fight, they are fighting for a purpose. There are good ninja and bad ninja. Good ninja fight to protect people important to them. Bad ninja fight with no cause, reason, or concern with another's welfare. Do you understand what I'm saying so far?" The girl nodded.

Shikamaru approached her, his feet crunching the snow. He handed her the weapon. "I want you to practice throwing this. First, aim it at that tree." He pointed to a nearby tree. "If you can hit the target, then you are dong well."

The girl looked at the kunai in her hand. She looked back up to Shikamaru for reassurance. "It's alright. Pretend the tree is someone you really don't like," he told her. The girl narrowed her eyes. She threw the kunai with huge force. It hit the tree right in the center.

"Wow. You hit it right off. Let's see how many times you can hit the same tree. We'll go for ten tries." He handed her another kunai. The girl took it from his hand, and launched it. It hit the same tree again. He kept handing her kunai. She was hitting the same target with a ninety-two percent accuracy. Shikamaru reached up, petting her head. "Good girl. I'm proud of you. It's not easy to take direction. How about we rest for a while? My arms are getting tired," he said standing up, rubbing his shoulder.

Did she do a good job? Shikamaru looked pleased with her. She had never had anyone mentor her before. It was kind of fun hitting things with the kunai. The feeling of confidence was starting to show in her face. Maybe she could defend herself better now. What was that noise? It sounded like a lot of snow crunching loudly. She turned her head to see a large dog running towards them. Her eyes got wide with fright. She instantly yelped, hiding behind Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked up to see Mabae running towards them. "I've really let my guard down," he said disappointed in himself. The dog tackled him within a matter of moments, barking persistently at him, tail wagging, slobbering all over him. "Ah! Get off Mabae! You're crushing me!"

Kiba got there in time to see Shikamaru on his back with the dog towering over him. The girl with black hair was crawling to pull herself out from under Shikamaru. "So I was right!"

Shikamaru looked up as he placed his arms up to ward off Mabae's long tongue. "Oh, so there was someone looking for us," he said.

"Of course, Lee suggested I go find you guys. I see the sprout is with you, too. That's lucky in itself. Sasuke will be happy about that. We've all been worried. I saw where you had gotten into a fight with someone." Kiba watched the girl eying him. She was staring at him hard, baffled to who he was. He lifted up his hand as a hello salute. "Hi. I'm Kiba. Who are you?" The girl didn't answer. "I'm not gonna hurt you, kid."

"She doesn't have a name," Shikamaru informed him. "Exactly how did you find us, anyway?"

Kiba grinned. "We smelled the bar-b-que." He lifted up his hand in a peace sign, still smiling at them.

"Oh, right. The rabbit," Shikamaru said as he dusted himself off. "Where did-" He looked behind him to see the girl running from Mabae. "Hey, you're scaring her!"

Why is that dog so big?! She slid on the front of her feet, sideways, trying to avoid the beast from coming in contact with her. She high tailed it back into the abandoned building, slamming the door. She scrambled around to throw things against the door.

Kiba and Shikamaru watched the dog barking at the door, his tail wagging. Next came scuffling sounds and slamming as the crates were thrown against the door, blocking it. "Well, that's just great. How are we supposed to get in now?"

Kiba walked up to Mabae grabbing a hold of him and pulling him away from the door. "Knock it off," he yelled. He fell onto his back with the large beast squirming.

The girl looked at the door cautiously. The dog stopped barking. She pulled back a few of the crates, peeking her head out the entrance. Shikamaru stood in front of it. Behind him, Kiba wrestled with the dog. "Mabae's a bit excited to see us. He won't hurt you," Shikamaru said. Her eyes went back to the dog. "I'll make sure of it. Can we come in? It's freezing out here." The girl opened the door.

"Mabae, calm down! I don't understand how you can have this much energy after running up a mountain for the past few hours," Kiba yelled at him, rolling in the snow. He bonked the dog on the head a few times.

"Would you two knock it off already? You two are causing so much commotion that it's giving me a headache," Shikamaru said from the entrance.