The state of ones mind can sometimes be the defining point of how others might view them and interact. A girl who has been left alone, suffering from damage caused by an accident has made an unlikely friend in one lazy ninja, but that friendship takes a turn. How far can Shikamaru's devotion go in the midst of life and death? The world throws the ball, and he can either catch it or drop it.

Saya has always been cynical and rude and blunt and sometimes just mean, everything you would see in a bully. Due to her past with her betraying clan, she no longer trusts as much and she doesn't like making friends. But when she decided to try Konoha after leaving her last tragedy behind, her heart becomes entangled with loyalty and friendship and.....maybe a certain sensei making her heart pound to a rhythm she was unfamiliar with. Even through all this, she can't escape her past because sooner or later, it begins to haunt her future. When she realizes what it means to be a prodigy of her clan, will she be willing to pay the price?

Two and a half years after she left the Leaf Village, we find Ashley hot on the trail of the Akatsuki. Ordered to gather as much information as she can, Ashley abandoned her training in her homeland, the Land of Ambience, to pursue the members of the criminal organization. When she finally returns home, her friends are over joyed to see her again, Kiba especially. Back together again, Ashley and Kiba are happy to continue where they left off. But what will happen when one terrible decision tears them apart again? Will they be able to make it through? Will Ashley's friends ever understand her reason for leaving them again? More importantly, is the darkness in her heart, courtesy of Hakuba the Ten Tailed Wolf, real? Does Ashley truly wish to join the other side and leave everyone she ever cared about behind? And how will she react, when the Ninja World is on the verge of the biggest War in history?