A/N: Okay so I'm tired of putting the disclaimer. I think we all know I do not own Naruto. (Girl I wish!) I will only address new followers and reviews in my author's notes now! I will also continue to update once a week. Twice if there's a lot of reviews, followers, and/or favorites. Last order of business...can someone please let me know of some really good Shikamaru stories because I'm dying over here! Thanks!

Star's Dream: Always good to hear from you, my most frequent reviewer! Politics is something I had to learn the hard way in high school unfortunately. Also, I couldn't wait to throw Naruto in the mix since he couldn't be at the clan meeting/party.

Mangafreak1997: Thank you so much for your lovely review! Love hearing feedback, good or bad, so please keep reviewing!

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*Tsuyoi POV*

I looked at my raven haired friend and sighed. "Itachi-kun…" He turned his red eyes towards me and held my ice blue gaze. There weren't many who could hold my gaze...not even my own father.

"Yes Tsuyoi?" He didn't let emotion touch his face as I fired my question. "Do you think you're doing the right thing tonight...you love Sasuke enough to save him, but in doing so you're condemning yourself to a life where he will never grow in this village."

A year had passed since that fateful night that Itachi called on Tsuyoi for the mission at hand. "I know your mind is made up but-"

"That is why you are going to look after him in my stead." Tsuyoi internally flinched at the thought of Itachi leaving. He knew he was being selfish passive aggressively asking Itachi to stay, but he is my tamer...a fact no one knew. I had acquired both my mother and father's abilities. I just let the bloodline trait be my trump card should I face an adversary that knew of my mother's kekkei genkai.

"I...of course Itachi-kun." I sighed and looked away from him to the damaged training area. The sun was just now rising giving everything an orange glow. "Tsuyoi." I turned to look at him once again and he had a gentle smile. I couldn't be more thankful for the sunrise hiding the tint on my face.

"Thank you." He said simply. He stood to his feet and helped me to my own. "I'm not only trying to save Sasuke. Remember, this is for Kabocha as well and for my village. With the death of my father Kabocha's freedom will follow. The leaf village will no longer be on the brink of civil war and Sasuke will have the chance to live. Do not feel sad for the decision I've chosen."

"I suppose you are right." I turned to the sunset not wanting to look at him any longer. I had turned eleven right after Itachi had turned twelve. We both decided on having a small gathering together. Something that our father's were too happy about. More so because Sasuke and Kabocha got to spend more time together. She saw Sasuke about the same amount as her other leaf village friends. Except Shikamaru whom she spent most of her time with.

Kabocha and Sasuke would be turning seven soon. Our fathers' plans was to make the two of them have their birthday celebrations together and then announce their betrothal...without telling them.

"I will call for you again tonight. You know what to do." Itachi said putting his hand on my shoulder. "Alright. I'm not going to go home. I'm going to my uncle's apartment. I don't have chakra to waste trying to come from the lava village to the Uchiha compound." He nodded at me and I walked off from the training grounds and straight to uncle's apartment. The sun was finally in the sky when I laid my head to rest for tonight.

*Kabocha POV*

*Age 8*

I jolted awake from my nightmare and frowned at the morning sun that the open ceiling made visible. I stayed still for another hour...maybe two thinking about the funeral that had happened a little over a year ago. The very massacre that had changed everything including Tsuyoi. He rarely spoke unless spoken to and he continued to ignore father on a more permanent basis.

"Kabocha, dear." Momma knocked on my door with a gentle smile. "I'm awake, mom." I sat up and tried to run my fingers through my mane of orange curls.

"You need to hurry or you'll be traveling to the leaf village alone." Momma clicked her tongue at me making me huff. "You don't want to be late for Shikamaru's first day at the academy do you?"

"I'm not going to see him off, momma, I'm not his mother." I laughed and she laughed with me. "I'm just going to meet him afterwards at our spot to see how it went. I did the same thing with Neji on his first day."

"You'll still want a head start since you know how long it takes to get there." She wagged her finger at me and I rolled my eyes and flopped back into bed.

"It won't take me as long since uncle Gorudo taught me his infamous transportation jutsu-"

"Well from what I've heard you still can't go nearly as far as he can." She laughed at my put out expression. "Just get up and leave with him. On time." She snatched my covers off of the bed and left with them to make sure I didn't go back to bed.

I shriveled up on my bed and frowned at the loss of warmth. My quilt was made by my mother's mother and from the finest fur the land of snow had to offer since their animals had thick fur for the winter. It was the only thing she left me since she died right before I was born.

I let my thoughts take me to the Uchiha massacre since death seemed to be the topic of today. The mass funeral and clean up haunted me everyday. Tsuyoi seemed depressed since his best friend was gone and Sasuke...he had become unbearably clingy...almost scarily so. There was something I was missing, and politics weren't my thing so I'd find out later rather than sooner.

I stood up and began to get dressed in my usual ninja attire. A basic long sleeved fishnet under a sleeveless, red crop top. I tied the drawstring of my capris that cinched just below my knee. I slipped on my ninja shoes and threw my curls into a messy bun since I had training later. I tied my black ninja headband around my thigh and strapped on my ninja pouch on the other thigh.

The ninja academy in konoha might put teams together at the end of the academy. The lava village puts teams together before you even enter the academy. We are evaluated and then put into teams to train together for the next four to five years to take the chunin exams. We are given four different senseis for one week each and then it is decided what type of team we are going to be. We then train with those senseis as well for the next four to five years.

"Kabocha, come here and get this bag!" My mother shouted from the family room which was a ways away. I laughed thinking about how loud she could be. Momma and Yoshino-sama were great friends in that way. Momma was also great friends with Kiba's mom: Tsume-sama. She was only good friends with all of the other mothers and that had happened because of all the various events and parties.

I jumped on my window sill and swung down into the family room. I did a tumble and rolled, so I wouldn't break anything. Falling from the fifth floor to ground level definitely would have hurt if I hadn't learned from my past mistakes.

"Why can't you walk?" Momma sighed and I grinned at her. "It's way too much fun to fall than to walk!" She shook her head at my explanation.

"Here." She said handing me the heavy bag and I groaned. I stood and waited for her instructions as usual.

"There is a recipe for fireball for Yoshino. I would also like for you to return with her recipe for rice balls and Chiharu's recipe for her famous barbeque marinade. There's also a few snacks for you to try with Choji. Don't forget to share with Naruto this time." She listed several other things, but what stood out to me was her last time that she tried to play off.

"Last, try and stay away from Sasuke. It seems he has developed an unhealthy attachment to you. Now, get going. Gorudo is waiting for you in the courtyard and I have a council meeting." She shooed my away and she left down the long corridor. I furrowed my brows and turned away to go and meet up with uncle.

"Good morning Bocha-chan." Uncle greeted me with a warm smile that made me forget my troubling thoughts and I grinned at him. "Good morning uncle!" I waved frantically at him and jogged over to where he was resting on the fountain.

"Are you ready?" He questioned with a smirk looking at my bag. "Yes." I grumbled and looked at the cool fountain.

"Very well. Let us go. I have matters to discuss with the hokage." He said and dusted off his official robes which I hadn't noticed. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and did his signature move. The heat from the flames didn't affect me too much and I watched as the courtyard disappeared and uncle's apartment living room formed.

"Drop your bag off. You're spending the day with me." Uncle said exchanging his slides for ninja shoes. I was more than a little perturbed by that thought.

"No, no, no," I flailed my arms around a dropped my bag next to me. "I'm supposed to meet up with Maru-kun at three!" He held up his hands in surrender and laughed loudly.

"Calm down, killer." I glared at him and he winked at me. "Your mother already told me you were coming to the leaf to go see Shikamaru. I'll let you go see him as soon as three o'clock hits." He opened the front door and made motioned for me to follow him out. I blushed at my outburst and followed him out and to the hokage's office.

"Wait here." He told me making me sit in the chair outside of the hokage office. "I thought I was coming in too." I grumbled and he shook his head with a smile. "No, of course not. Your not even a genin yet." He lightly teased me and I rolled my eyes as he went into the hokage's office.

It was only ten o'clock and I had only been sitting here for five minutes. I tapped my foot and twiddled my thumbs. I played with my claws, making them come out and retracting them. I looked at the clock again...and it had only been a half an hour.

"Hey." I heard a deep gravelly voice say and take my gaze away from the ground. I looked up to see Shikaku-sama who wore a knowing expression.

"Good morning Shikaku-sama." I give him a lazy wave and smile which he returns.

"I see Gorudo is making you stick to his side this morning...or well side to door." I grunted at his examination and he gave a raspy chuckle.

"Why don't you drop in on Shikamaru at the academy around noon. They should be having lunch then." My pointed ears perked up at that fact. "I'll cover for you with Gorudo." He added and that alone sealed my decision.

"Alright, thanks Shikaku-sama! You really are the best!" I cheered as he walked down the hall with a wave over his shoulder. I looked at the clock and saw it was only eleven.

"There is no way I'm going to sit here for another hour." I grumbled to myself and then snapped my fingers. "He said around noon...I'm totally leaving." I stood to my feet and grabbed my bag. I booked it for the end of the hall and right out the open window onto the next building. I did a black flip onto the top of the Hokage building to look for the academy and easily found it.

"Hmm..not too far." I held up two finger in front of my chest and took a deep breath. "Fire style: Transportation Jutsu!" I called out and the flames engulfed my body and disappeared just as quickly as they appeared. I barely landed on my feet because of the abundance of chakra I used and having to make my bag come with me.

I blinked open my eyes only to see a slew of kids. I looked around to find myself on the academy windowsill. "Not bad!" I cheered and almost all of them looked at me in awe. The ones that didn't looked at me in recognition.

"Kabocha!" Naruto said loudly pointing at me and I grinned showing off my long canines. "Yo!" I said back just as loud.

"What are you doing here!?" He was now up from his seat and I jumped down to meet him halfway. I embraced him and we did our handshake afterwards.

"Good to see you too." I laugh loudly and he shakes his head with a blush. "I-I m-mean! You know I'm happy to see you!" He says shoving my shoulder and I shove him back.

"Kabocha why didn't you tell us you were coming!" Ino says pushing me in the back with a shy Hinata by her side.

"Hiya girls!" I hugged them both and Ino rolled her eyes with a smile. Hinata just hugged me back gently.

"We haven't seen you in two weeks! Where have you been?!" Kiba says coming up behind Naruto. "We had skill evaluations in the lava village. It only takes a week, but I need a week to recuperate after." I explain and all of them are surprised.

"I remember you talking about it while we were playing shogi. How did it go?" Shikamaru asked coming to stand in front of me, but slightly to the left and opposite of Kiba.

"Maru-kun, I missed you!" My mouth spouted out before my brain could catch up and I blushed bright red as everyone laughed. "I-I m-me-mean.." I became a stuttering mess and Shikamaru rolled his eyes with a smile and sigh.

"Yeah, yeah I missed you too. Now, judging by the headband around your thigh I'm guessing it went well." I avoided everyone's eyes as all of their eyes focused right on my thigh at Shikamaru's brief study of my form.

"Y-Yeah. I earned high marks in all the skill tests except genjutsu and stealth. I get to meet my team around four today." I told them and they congratulated me making me smile.

"We should celebrate. I know my mom is going to want to do something for you." Shikamaru said with a smile and then grumbled after he mentioned his mother making me laugh loudly.

"Actually my mother has a recipe for her and wants one in return! We can go by there later!" I grin at him and he looks away from me with a blush of his own.

"Oh my, you two are so cute!" Ino teased us loudly and we both glared at her. "Don't even start that, Ino! Kabocha is way too pretty for him!" Naruto said thinking he was helping me, but really...he was embarrassing Shikamaru by indirectly calling him ugly.

"Kabocha doesn't want him anyway she already agreed to marry me." Kiba said with a confident grin and Akamaru barked in agreement. "Like she'd ever marry you dog boy." I looked up to the seat that Sasuke had scoffed from. He was sitting next to a girl with nauseating pink hair. I knew she couldn't help it, but there was something about her I didn't like.

"Oh yeah! I guess you think Kabocha wants you then, huh!?" Kiba and Naruto were now yelling at Sasuke. Ino now jumped into the fray as soon as Sasuke said, "Of course she does. Her father wants us to marry." Everyone was arguing now except myself and Shikamaru. My whole body froze and I prayed to the dragons in volcano Shi that he was lying. My mother's words came back and hit me ten fold.

"Last, try and stay away from Sasuke. It seems he has developed an unhealthy attachment to you."

The slight shudder in my body turned into a full blown shiver that was more than a little visible. "Hey." Shikamaru said to me quietly making me jump since I didn't notice him getting that close. "You okay?" He asked with nothing, but concern and I swallowed.

"Yeah...thank you Shikamaru." I sighed and gathered my bearings. I missed the look he shot me at the use of his full name.

"HEY!" I bellowed and they all stopped bickering. "Kabocha can speak for herself thank you!" I put my hands on my slowly developing hips and they all had the decency to look sheepish.

"Now, Kabocha never agreed to marry you Kiba, but thank you for the offer. As for you Sasuke," I turned my golden eyes to his prone figure and glared. "Kabocha does not want to marry you either, and for your information it is up to the mother of the children in the lava village to choose a husband for their children." Once again I missed Shikamaru's tense body let out a breath of relief.

"Why are you talking in third person!?" Naruto laughed out and I turned my slitted glare to him making him shut up. "Everyone was talking for me, that's why." I rolled my eyes and cuffed him in the back of the head.

"I do appreciate you defending me though, Naruto-nii." I grinned at him and he looked at with a blush and a grumble.

"Hey, I defended you too!" Kiba shouted and I shook my head. "No, you claimed my hand in marriage without permission. There is a difference."

"Who are you and what are you doing in my classroom?" Everyone froze at the new voice. I looked over Naruto's shoulder to see a brown haired man with a clipboard.

"This is Kabocha, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto gestured to me wildly. Their sensei's eyes widened in recognition and I bowed formally.

"Good afternoon, Iruka-sensei. I am Princess Kabocha Kasai of the village hidden in the lava. I'm sorry to intrude. I thought it was lunchtime for the students." I spoke formally and gently nudged Naruto to the side, so I could look at their sensei head on.

"No, no I was called away by Shikaku-sama for a brief meeting. I came back to release them for lunch." He shook his head with a smile. I held back a knowing smile of my own. Shikaku-sama had called him away for my benefit, huh?

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto cheered and went out the window I came in.

"Wait! Get back here Naruto!" Iruka-sensei yelled about to go after him, but our little gang followed after Naruto with haste.

"Come on!" Shikamaru took hold of my hand and easily pulled me through the widow. We booked it away from the school making me giggle. I blushed when I realized he was still holding my hand. We didn't go very far. We went to a rooftop a few buildings away from the academy. Everyone was lounging about and I opened my bag and dumped out snacks and food.

"Wow, Kabocha! Your mom is the best! She packed all of this just for me and you!" Choji was practically drooling over the lava village's delicacies.

"Yeah, pretty much. Everything in here is for me, you, and Naruto to try." I opened a container and handed it to them both.

"Ew...what is it?" Naruto poked at it with his finger. "I don't know, but its meat and it smells delicious!" Choji cheered and took a big bite.

"Its fried gizzard. They're reptiles only found in the desert." I explained opening a bag of lava flakes.

"Woah! Forget this!" Naruto handed his to Choji and looked at my bag excitedly. "I want to try that!" I shook my head with a smile.

"Those are lava flakes..right?" Kiba asked looking at the bag of rounded chips.

"The one and only." I grinned maliciously and their eyes widened.

"This isn't going to end well." Shikamaru said from his place on the ground right next to me.

"How about a game?" A proposed and they all groaned. "The last game you tried to teach us, it took us forever to learn!" Ino threw her hands in the air.

"The floor is lava isn't a hard game." I groaned and made all of them hold out one hand. "This isn't that hard. Whoever can hold their flake in their mouth the longest without anything to drink wins. Simple."

"Only one flake! Pfft! Give me a hand full!" Naruto pointed into his palm and I grinned at him. "Yeah, me too!" Kiba declared and I gave them what they wanted.

"Do I hav-"

"Yes, Maru-kun." I cut him off with a wink and he rolled his eyes with slight smile. "I-I d-dont know a-about this Kabocha-chan." Hinata stuttered out looking at the blood red flake with peppered black dots.

"You don't have to play Hinata-chan." I cooed at her. She blushed and shook her head vigorously. She gave me a reassuring smile which I returned and finally put the bag down after taking one for myself.

"Ready?" I said. "Set." Choji said drooling over his flake. "GO!" Naruto screamed. All of us threw it into our mouths and chewed...except for Hinata. She immediately spit it out and took a sip of my water.

"T-That w-w-was u-unpleasant." She drank some more water and I laughed loudly. I purposely did so, so that my tongue could feel some air. It wasn't as bad as it used to be since I could actually taste the spicy barbecue instead of raw pain.

"W-What the heck is this!" Naruto literally screamed this time and rubbed the remains of the flakes off of his tongue while Kiba was on the ground crying. His senses were heightened like mine, so I know he was dying over there. Choji actually swallowed his...with tears. Ino only licked hers and was not happy with the results. I looked at Shikamaru and frowned. He was still looking at his flake.

"You didn't eat it." I told him and he looked at me with a smirk. "There's actually heat coming off of this if you hold it long enough." I tilted my head at his observation.

"Always one step ahead, huh, Maru-kun?" I giggled. He blushed and put the flake into my hand. I threw it into my mouth with a grin.

"Looks like you win." He said putting his hands into his pockets. "Y-Yeah because she's a cheater! She has to be used to them or something!" Naruto said pointing at me. I held my hands up in surrender. "Not quite. They're just as spicy to me." I laughed loudly as he dove at me and I sidestepped.

We hung out for quite some time up there together. We almost forgot they had to go back to the academy.

"U-U-Uhm...guys…" Everyone was currently lounging around looking at the clouds and eating the rest of the snacks to lighten my bag. "Yes, Hinata-chan?" I asked from my place sitting beside Shikamaru's napping form.

"I-I t-think i-its time t-to head b-back to c-cl-class." Everyone let out resounding groans except her and Shikamaru.

"I guess so." I stood up and sighed. "Maru-kun." I said poking his cheek. "You all have to go back to school and I have to go meet my new team." He sighed and rolled over onto his stomach. He lazily pushed himself up onto his arms and stood to his feet.

"What a drag...can't we just stare here." He said stretching and looking directly at me. I didn't want to assume the we meant him and I, but it was hard when he was staring at me. I blushed and looked away from him only to see Naruto and Ino making kissy faces.

"Knock it off!" I wave my fist at them. They laugh loudly and disappear with Kiba and Hinata following close behind. Choji waited by the edge for Shikamaru with a knowing smile.

"I'll see you later to celebrate you getting on a team and making genin." Shikamaru said rubbing the back of his neck. He was looking off to the side, so what I did next surprised him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Maru-kun…" I said quietly. He was hugging me back...he was hugging me back...my brain almost short circuited at the simple action. He usually didn't hug me back...let alone with this much force. I let it draw out for a minute and pulled away.

"See you later." He smirked at me before going over to Choji. "B-Bye!" I stuttered loudly. I heard Choji laugh at my embarrassment making my blush disappear and turn into a scowl.

I looked in the direction of my uncle's apartment and made my way there. I was excited to meet the people I'd be training with for the next four or five years. I just hoped they'd like me.

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I'm so happy I got this slight "filler" chapter out of the way. It's about to get serious these next few chapters. Especially with the chunin exams coming up in two or three chapters. I'm leaning towards two. Anyway, thank you for reading. Please review as always. See you next week...or in a few days depending on you guys. (;