Lotus Of The Leaf ~Book One~

Chapter 41! Targeted! Heir To The Yukimura!

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The village lay in ruin, and it made a frown appear over my lips. I grunted lightly as I struggled to keep the bags of groceries firm in my arms. 'Stupid, Kakashi. Didn't even bother to come help me with shopping....' I grunted again, nearly toppling with the many bags in my arms. Before one could hit the ground, someone reached over and grasped it. "Ah, Shikamaru!" I cooed, smiling brightly at the lazy ninja.

"Need some help?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow with a cocky smirk.

"Jeez, did I make it that obvious?" I giggled, and continued walking. "I'm going to drop these off and go help rebuild some of the buildings around my neighborhood."

"Didn't the medical examiner tell you to take it easy?" Shikamaru scolded, taking another bag from me without asking.

I flinched a little, chuckling with a small smile. "I feel fine though. Actually, I've never felt better!" I grin, going to take a big step when my knee tightened up and sent a wave of pain up my back. I grit my teeth and turned back to Shikamaru. "S-See? Perfectly fine!" I say through my grinding teeth.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on. You need to elevate your legs for a bit. I heard everything from Sakura already." Shikamaru smirked.

"Okay, mom!" I teased.

We got to my house with Kakashi and we put the groceries up before Shikamaru made me lay down. He elevated my legs and took a seat by my bed, and relaxed. I gazed out my open window and sighed outwardly at the lovely breeze rolling in.

"Did you hear; there's talk about rebuilding the alliance with Suna?" I ask, looking over at Shikamaru.

"Hm? No, I hadn't heard that. I've been helping with the rebuilding." He admitted, pushing his finger in his ear. He hunched forward and laid his head on my bed with a smirk.

"Hey! Ren! You seen Shikamaru?!" I hear Ino shout from outside. I peer out the window and smile. "He disappeared over by the shopping district!" Shikamaru popped his head up and leaned against the window sill with me. Ino's mouth popped open while Choji kept munching on his snacks. "WHAAATT?!" She screeched, pointing up at my window. Shikamaru and I looked at each other and started laughing.

"You should probably go down there before she tears the door down." I giggle, pointing over at her.

"Man, she's such a drag sometimes." Shikamaru groaned. I giggled and watched him leave. As he disappeared from view, I quickly got up and into my ninja gear. I wanted to train really bad, and people like Shikamaru, Sakura, and Ino were always breathing over my shoulder about over doing it. I leapt out my window, wincing as my knees strained from the jump, and started running the opposite direction.

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Sounds of fighting echoed out by the river as I ran through the forest. I peered out from the tree line, gazing at four figures fighting. Two I recognized. Asuma and Kurenai Sensei against two men in black cloaks with red clouds. I covered my lips with my hand as I fought back a yelp of surprise when Kakashi appeared. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," Asuma started as I inched closer. "But what are you doing here?"

"Well, you know. I asked you to take care of those two earlier, but I guess I got a little worried." Kakashi explained.

"Kakashi, it's you." The black haired man said. I couldn't see his face from here, but from what I gathered, he used to be a leaf ninja.

"Okay, talk." Kakashi ordered. "What's a rogue ninja like you doing in this village?" 'Rogue Ninja?' I inched forward a bit, and flinched back when the black haired one's eyes sliced towards my location. I couldn't give myself away. These guys were serious business. He turned back to Kakashi and I breathed out a collective sigh of relief.