(45) can't think of a chapter title {SHIKAMARU}

⚠️Warning⚠️

-short chapter

        I was returning from the Hokage tower, I wasn't all too surprised when I walked in on a passed-out Lady Tsunade with a couple of bottles of sakè beside the desk. So Suzune offered to take it from me.

It was dark when I returned to the streets of Konoha and it didn't take long before something interesting happen.

Tamaki and a hyuga female around the blue-haired girl's age probably a few months to a year younger were rushing through crowds of slightly annoyed civilians, mowing people down left and right before they crashed into me

"What a drag" I muttered under my breath, rubbing my head and groaning a bit as I got back to my feet 

"Move it, will y- Shika? I-I didn't see you there!" she said with a bit of apologetic surprise in her voice at the end

I gave a slightly concerned look "Is everything all right?" I asked, my eyes shifting towards the Hyuga female who seemed to be in a bit of distress. My guess was that she was from the branch family and she was just keeping that information from the blue-haired girl, I couldn't confirm nor deny the theory at the moment, but it was really pointing to the former noting how much pain she's in, and not just cause Tam was dragging her around like a rag doll.

She warily followed my gaze and replied an unconvincing "Yeah, nothing to worry about." I gave an 'are you sure' look "I-it's nothing..." she muttered, the Hyuga managed a small 'Eee' with a weak smile, holding back a small hiss of pain. "We need to go, like really need to go." she insisted and then ran off without another word. Tam pushed through a few more people dragging the Hyuga behind her. It took a couple of minutes before the two were fully out of sight.

It wasn't long until the rain started to spontaneously pour down, but it wasn't a total surprise as seeing the time of year it was. What was a slight surprise tho was when I thought I felt a familiar chakra signature? At first, I thought I was kiddin myself, we all knew she was off the grid and vanished, but it wasn't something out of the norm all that much, taking it into consideration. 

        I deiced to follow my lead and test that theory, following the oddly familiar chakra signature and it lead me to the outskirt, where the Uchiha compound was. While walking down the rows and rows of the haunting number of graves I noticed that someone was defiantly here from the fresh-looking flora placed on almost each one of them. I even spotted a white ring of flowers on one. I halted my step when I came across the edge of the crematory where two bigger headstones were. A closer look both of the graves had an identical ring of flowers, one placed around the left one, and the other leaning against the right grave; red ones instead of the white one I saw previously. I also spotted a shadowy figure propped up against the right tombstone. I had my guesses, there's only one person that would be around these parts.

She had her knees pulled to her chest and her head off to the side, resting on her small shoulders. Her deep purple hood slumped slightly off, partially revealing her face with a few strands of dampened hair sticking to it.  

I took a seat beside her and heard her steady breath concluding she fell asleep. She used her shawl, wrapped around her like a blanket keeping her warm.

The rain was starting to clear up a bit as the clouds passed by, revealing a stary sky behind them.

"You may like those puffy clouds but nothing burns brighter than the twinkling stars," Kireina said 

"Is that so?" I crooned lazily

"Yeah, they burn like, like- I mean they are big fireballs that are shining in the darkest of nights" she replied with the most innocent tone imaginable "That's the funny thing with the nighttime, everyone says it's scary, but even within the darkness there will always be light to guide the way." gingerly grinning

I smirked at the thought, perhaps that's the few times she had genuine fun in her short life, and just some time to act her age.

I carefully got up from my possession not to wake the sleeping girl, hearing a small thud, and glanced down noticing her backpack knocked over a bit. Nothing really came out except for a flashlight, canteen, and a couple of crumpled-up pieces of paper. 

I picked it up and examined it, noticing a to-do list with a few things crossed off

THINGS I NEED TO GET DONE

-Send Taiyo to 'gather' some Intel- (Why am I doing this again?)

-Meet up with Tamaki in the grotto-

-Go to the cemetery while there  (You can do this)

Running low on herbal alternatives, restock on actual medicine when in a town 

Get stronger To stop this madness...hopefully (Oh good gods kill me😵‍💫)

An inserting assortment of things, to say the least, Nothing too concerning except the fact that she's gonna overexert herself and putting herself at needles risk, but knowing her she'd do anything to save the ones she loves; survivor's guilt or not. Because that's the person she is if she wants to admit it or not.