Shattered Ice

Chapter Twenty

A/N: omfg omfg omfg ITS STARTING AHHHHHHHHH!! This arc has always been one of my favorite to write about, especially since like a lot of my favorite characters are introduced, or they get more depth in this arc. SO LETS BEGINNNN!! And yes, Sand Siblings pic cuz Sand Siblings are bomb.

When Amara returned to Konoha, to say she was relieved was an understatement. She was back on familiar territory, and she didn't have to worry about enemy ninja jumping out from behind her and attacking.

Currently, Amara sat in the kitchen of her apartment, making herself a cup of coffee. Shimo laid curled up on the counter, his round nose buried into the fluffy fur of his tail, which was coiled around his body.

Amara smiled at him, gently reaching over and drawing her fingers through his thick and fluffy coat, causing him to lazily open one black orb, observing her for a moment before he closed it.

"Foxes are closely related to dogs, right? I wonder if I could get Kakashi to teach you how to talk, like he did with his ninken." She mused, and Shimo snorted in response, going back to his sleep like state.

'Amara, I sugest you check the clock.' Amara blinked at the Tenshi's suggestion, shrugging her shoulders and tunring to look at the clock on her wall. For a moment, all was still, until Amara's orange eye grew to the size of a saucer.

"SHIT!" She shouted, quickly grabbing the coffee and pouring it into a portable coffee mug, sprinting out of the kitchen and darting out of her apartment, the door slamming shut behind her.

Shimo blinked, lifting his head, letting out a cute yawn. The white fox cub hopped down from the counter, casually padding over to the door where he sat down, waiting patiently.

The door slammed open once more, and Amara quickly grabbed the fox cub, who wiggled out of her arms and clambered up onto her head like how Akamaru did with Kiba, before shutting the door and quickly heading out to meet with her team.

[Timeskip]

Amara was silently thanked Guy over and over again for his insistence on Amara working on her speed back when she used to train under him. She had made it to the meeting point in no time flat, but it didn't help that she was already five hours late by the time she left her apartment.

"Amara-chan!! You're late!!" Naruto pouted, once Amara had arrived. Amara nodded her head, hands on her knees as she bent over slightly, trying to catch her breath.

"S-Sorry Naruto... I lost track of time." She smiled at him apologetically, and eventually he nodded, giving her a bright smile.

"I knew it!! You're terrible at time management Amara-chan, believe it!!" Amara chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. Shortly afterwards, Kakashi showed up, and Team 7 started on their missions for the day.

First up was weeding. A most tedious task, one that Amara found quite boring. Eventually Amara stopped in the task all together, instead opting to supervise, as their Sensei was a bit caught up at the moment, reading that blasted book as per usual.

Shimo eventually got tired of sleeping, crawling down from her head to perch on her shoulder like a parrot. Shimo nuzzled the side of her face cutely, and she angled her head towards him, a small smile forming on her face.

While she observed her companion, she happily noted that he had gained a healthy amount of weight since she had taken him in. She hadn't really noticed until they had started their mission, but Shimo was actually very light for a cub his age, which now was roughly around six months.

His white fur now had a sleek and healthy shine, and his black orbs glimmered with mischief that wasn't uncommon in foxes. As the two began to get closer with each other, Amara began to notice some similarities between the cub and her Nara friend. They were both extremely lazy and laid back, and didn't like putting in effort in things. But unlike Shikamaru, Shimo was an attention hog.