Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters (I wish). All OCs belong to me and some of the plot that I came up with also belong to me.

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*Kabocha POV*

"I'm your tamer?" The brown haired boy, or Shikamaru, questioned looking adorably confused. I felt my face heat up tremendously under his confused gaze and my revelation.

"Are you feeling okay? Your face is red." He spoke again, but it sounded a lot louder with my heightened hearing and blinding headache.

"I-I'm o-o-okay." I stuttered out and frowned immediately at how shy and inarticulate I'd become in front of this boy I just met. I was annoyed with myself as I felt my blush dissipate.

"Okay then, troublesome girl..." He sighed. "I'm going to go get my dad. Don't move." He stood up to his meager height and left out the room. Since I had sat up I finally got to look around this place. It was quite a large...bedroom...I assumed. The bed that I was on smelled like that little boy that just left. My thoughts drifted back to him and what this would mean for me. I was now beyond afraid of what my father would do once he found out that my adventure had ended with me finding my tamer.

I had snuck out before, but never to another village. He was going to be so upset with me. I felt tears prick my eyes thinking about my father's wrath. I heard the door slide open and my head almost flew off my shoulders to see who was at the door. A tall man with two scars on his face entered the room without Shikamaru. They looked so much alike that I had to assume that this man was his father.

"You had a nasty fall out there." He told me gently but with that same lazy tone as his son.

"I know. I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble." I spoke honestly picking at one of the many bandages on my wrist.

"The only other place I've seen that hair color is from the leader of the village hidden in the lava. Are you related to Lord Jun?" He questioned making me gasp and grasp my curly, orange ponytail. "I see." He said with a low chuckle before taking the seat that his son had been occupying.

"I'm guessing you snuck away if the horrified expression is anything to go by." He said with his gaze never leaving me and I almost cracked and burst into tears. Almost.

"Yes, sir I did." I said politely lifting my eyes and meeting his gaze. "Are...are you going to tell my father?" I said quieter than before. I was truly afraid that he was going to tell on me, and then I'd never be allowed out of the castle or worse.

"Well, I have to since there is no way I'm going to let you go back home alone." He said with a sigh and I had to sniffle as I felt little tears about to fall.

"I-i-is my Uncle Gorudo in the village? He is my father's younger brother and he c-can take c-care of m-me." I said through tears at thought of my angry father. I wiped my gold eyes and looked at him again.

"I'm pretty sure he is with the Hokage right now. You stay here and don't move while I go retrieve him. I'll send Shikamaru back in to keep you company." His father said and looked back at my wet face with a sigh. "It'll be alright. Stop crying." He said gently placing his hand on top of my head. I looked up at him surprised by affection from someone who didn't even know my name.

"Thank you…" I trailed off not knowing his name. "I am Shikamaru's father, Shikaku Nara." He filled in for me and also confirmed my suspicions. "Thank you Shikaku-sama for taking care of me." I said with a bright smile to which he smiled back at me slightly.

"No problem." He left the room and once again my thoughts went back to my father. My smile completely left my face. 'This…..is an awful feeling.' I thought to myself.

Once again the door opened and Shikamaru came in, lazily strolling to the seat beside my bed which he had previously occupied.

"I didn't get your name." He said resting his chin in the palm of his hand with a bored expression.

"That's because I didn't give it to you." I said reading his posture and aura. He had such a calming disposition and welcoming warmth. He wasn't as warm as I was so I was confused why heat from him made me want to hug him.

"Tch. Well I'm asking you now you troublesome girl. If you don't want to say then I can keep calling you that." He grumbled looking away from me.

"I am Kabocha Kasai of the village hidden in the lava. My father is Jun Kasai and my mother is Kireina Kasai. I don't know if you've heard of them yet." I said with a blush as I went back to playing with my bandages.

"Pumpkin fire, huh?" He said the meaning of my name with a contemplative look and then looked at my orange hair. The same orange hair that made me feel self conscious. "Your name is pretty like your hair." He said looking away from me still, but his face was now pink. It was almost like he read my mind about my hair, and he wanted to make me feel better.

"Do...do you have any more questions for me Maru-kun?" I asked shyly and extremely hesitant since he was the first person I had ever spoken to outside of our village.

"M-maru-kun!" He stuttered out looking at me. His pink face was now red. "Well yeah." I said shrugging with a shy smile. "Since we're friends now I figured I'd give you a nickname. You can give me one too if you want! I-I mean if you don't like the name I gave you I could always call you Shikamaru." I said becoming more and more hesitant.

"N-no, it's okay I-I don't mind." He said stuttering and his blush never left.

"So we're friends?" I asked hopefully and he actually met my golden eyes with his soft brown ones.

"Yeah we're friends." He said with a soft smile and I grinned brightly back at him.

"So! Any questions Maru-kun!?" I said happily almost bouncing up and down.

"Uhmm...Do you have any siblings?" He asked starting off with the basics.

"Yes! I have two older brothers! My oldest brother's name is Tsuyoi and he's nine. My second oldest brother's name is Shosha and he's seven. We give each other nicknames all the time, so I thought I'd give you one too! Do you have any siblings?" I asked back and he shook his head no.

"That's okay. Having sibling is not that great." I grumbled thinking about how Shosha always picked on and teased me, Tsuyoi was the kind, loving older brother. He only got annoying when he was teaching Shosha and I new things. He laughed a little making butterflies fill my stomach.

"Do you have any friends?" I asked suddenly and he looked at me confused.

"Yeah I do. Only three so far though. You can meet them some other time." He said and couldn't keep the smile off of his face at my grin.

"Do you have any friends?" He asked and now it was my turn to say no but I immediately stopped.

"Wait! I do have you as my friend Maru-kun! Otherwise I don't." I said almost wanting to tackle him in a hug like I did others in the village. It was customary in my clan to rough house and play fight a lot.

"You mean you don't have any other friends back home?" He sounded surprised and my grin toned down to a slight smile.

"No, I don't get out enough to make friends." I said shrugging and went back to playing with my bandages. I shook my wrist and met his gaze trying my best not to keep bothering my bandages, he actually looked sad for me and I frowned. Right when I opened my mouth the bedroom door slid open revealing my uncle and Shikaku-sama.

"Kabocha." He sighed out after he assessed all of my bandages. "Hello, uncle!" I said with fake cheer to make some of his worry go away and he only glared.

"What has your father told you time and time again?" I shrank back from his angry voice.

"He'll take me when it's time to come to Konoha." I said with a whisper and I felt my tears start up again.

"That's right. I had to send Sokudo to contact Hikari so he wouldn't contact your parents." Uncle Gorudo said sighing once more. Sokudo was the fastest summoning dragon hence why he summoned him to take the message to Uncle Hikari.

"You're lucky your healing factor just started or you would have broken bones or much worse." He scolded me and I felt my tears actually fall. I missed the confused look my uncle and I received from Shikaku-sama and Shikamaru when he said I had a healing factor.

"I-I'm s-s-s-sorry." I cried reaching for my Uncle who came and scooped me up into his loving embrace.

"I'm not going to say anything to your father or mother and neither is Hikari." Uncle Gorudo cooed in my ear making me nod into his shoulder. "You can stay at my apartment and Hikari will come and retrieve you in three days. I will show you around after I'm done with work or let you explore around in an area I'm familiar with, alright?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I cheered beaming a smile at my perfect uncle and he smiled back at me.

"Thank you for taking care of her Shikaku-san." Uncle Gorudo said bowing as much as he could with me in his arms.

"No trouble at all." He said lazily waving a hand around in the air as he walked us to their front door.

"Give my regards to Yoshino-san as well." My uncle said turning to leave and I began to freak out. "What is it Kabocha?" He questioned letting me down and as soon as my feet touched the ground I took off back to the Nara's open front door and slammed into Shikamaru.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?!" I told him more than asked him as I pulled away and held his hands.

"I-I guess. Troublesome girl..." He stuttered at first and regained his composure as he looked off to the side with a blush. I grinned at him and I could see that he was fighting a smile.

"Bye Maru-chan! Thanks again Shikaku-sama!" I waved at them as I took Uncle's hand and he began to lead me to his apartment. Uncle didn't say anything and only smiled at me gently shaking his brunette head. I was beyond giddy to see more of Konoha and Shikamaru tomorrow, but definitely not in that order.

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Hello my lovely readers! Thank you so much for taking the time to follow and favorite. It really means a lot to me. Just for the five followers I received here is the next chapter. I really appreciate you guys. I will post early anytime I get five extra follows, favorites, OR, reviews. I don't need all three at once (it would be awesome) just one or the other. Until next time! Thanks again!