The Shadow's Game

It was two months before Naruto saw the lady who'd saved him again. She was going into a super market, on of the ones he couldn't enter. He crouched in an alley across the street and waited patiently for her to come out again. He would to get her name.

It was an hour before she came out, arms laden with grocery bags. He slipped out of the alley and followed behind her, feeling proud of her inability to sense him. He'd had plenty of practice running from the villagers.

She surprised him when she entered his apartment building and he felt slightly irritated when she stopped before his door. He grumbled and came out of his hiding spot. She held up the grocery bags.

"If you're going to follow me, I might as well make dinner for both of us."

His eyes widened and he grinned, bouncing forward and unlocking her door. Shikara followed him in, taking in the small and rundown apartment. The main room seemed to work as a kitchen, living-room, and bedroom with a separate bathroom off towards the left. The appliances were old and barely seemed to function. When she opened the few cabinets to put away some of the food, she found them empty of anything except a couple of cup ramen.

"Where's all your food?"

Naruto glanced at her from where he was trying to pick up a few scrolls and dirty clothes. His eyes darkened when she mentioned his lack of food but his smile was still bright. Shikara easily recognized the smile of someone who wanted others to think they were okay when they really weren't.

"I ate it all!"

Naruto could tell that she didn't believe his excuse although her eyes remained blank and emotionless. There was the tiniest down turn of her lips and darkening of her gaze. Barely noticeable unless you were him. He'd learned to see every change in expression or emotion to survive the villagers' hate.

She began unpacking the groceries and placing them in his cabinets. Naruto watched as she did so, shocked. He had never seen so much food and never had he dreamed that there would be so much in his apartment. He felt a little discouraged when he realized the villagers would just come in and destroy it again.

"Hey kid?"

"Yeah?"

"My name's Shikara."

The despair vanished in an instant, replaced by a bright and happy grin. "Nice to meet you Shikara-san!"

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Shikara felt Naruto following her not a minute after she'd left the store. He couldn't mask his chakra which was bright and warm. She felt it behind her and let him follow along. She had no doubt that he was in need of a proper meal. When she'd saved him he'd been to light, to thin.

For reasons she couldn't comprehend, this bothered her. He was a child. He needed to eat properly, he needed a family. He was Minato's son for Kami's sake! How could they let him be treated like this?

And why did she care? He was the Kyuubi brat!

She let some of her frustration out in her cooking, forcing her mind away from Naruto's situation. Emotions were useless to her. Emotions caused issues, emotions brought pain, they triggered memories, they were useless. She repeated this mantra until she had herself under tight control.

When they sat down to eat, Naruto was surprisingly docile. He ate slowly, didn't speak, and often glanced at Shikara with a slightly wondering look. She focused on the food, practically forcing it down. She never ate much unless someone forced her and this was no different.

"Shikara-san?"

She sat back in her chair, focusing her attention on the boy before her. "Yeah?"

"Thank you for saving me and for giving me food," he mumbled. His cheeks tinted pink a little from embarassment. This kid...was something else. There was just something about him...

"No need for thanks," she said. "You needed the food more than I did."

He didn't seem to notice how she forgot to mention anything about saving him or how her eyes never quite seemed to meet his own, instead focusing on his nose or his hair. Shikara couldn't bring herself to meet the eyes of the boy who held the Kyuubi; the monster who'd taken her mother.

Ice closed in around her heart. It was getting late. She stood, picking up the dishes and washing them as Naruto chattered away in the back ground. She put them away and turned to the door.

"Kid."

Naruto appeared at her side, grinning. "Yes Shikara-san?"

She put her hand on the door knob. "Don't ever stop smiling."

She vanished, lingering smoke the only sign that she had been there.

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Bam! Crack! Crack! Bam! Bam!

Shikara paid no attention to her surroundings, lashing out at the wooden post.

Bam! Crack! Crack! Crack! Bam!

Naruto. The brat had refused to leave her mind ever since she'd cooked dinner for him. That had been two weeks ago. She'd avoided that part of the village and any reminder of anything she could possibly associate with him. Ichiraku's, Hokage mountain, the memorial stone...all of it.

Crack! Bam! Crack! Crack!

She couldn't remember the last night she'd slept. It had been around four days ago she thought. But the dreams...nightmares again. Blue eyes that changed to red with tomoe that changed to brown that faded into glowing red. Always at the end she heard them; screaming, shouting, begging, pleading, screaming. Always screaming. She'd wake in a cold sweat, desperate to let herself cry or scream but determined to shove her emotions as deep as they could possibly go.

She would not give in to her petty emotions. She would not let herself feel anything except that steely determination that pushed her. As soon as her goals were complete, her life was forfeit. That was what she had decided. That was a decision she would stick too.

Crack! Crack! BAM!

The post snapped off with the final punch, crashing into the trees. Shikara dropped her arms, panting. Her muscles trembled and ached. Once again, she'd gone on for too long. Her body would ache tomorrow.

"Going too far again Shikara?"

Shikara tensed, her trembling muscles protesting. She knew that voice...and hated it. Grinding her teeth, she turned, spotting the familiar silver haired jounin leaning against a tree with his book in his hand.

"What do you want Hatake? And when did I ever give you permission to call me Shikara?"

He seemed to smile through the mask, his one visible eye crinkling. Shikara sneered, whirling away. She couldn't stand him. Hated him in fact. Every time she saw him, she saw her best friend, crushed beneath the rock, dying. She was tired of seeing that, over and over. In her dreams, in her nightmares, in her every waking moment...there was always something to haunt her.

Whether it be a ghost, or a memory.

"You know, that's the tenth one you've destroyed."

"I don't give a rat's ass," she spat, not turning around. "Now what the hell do you want?"

She heard him sigh and a snap indicated that his book had been shut. "Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you."

She was fully prepared to tell him to inform the Hokage that she could care less about what he wanted. She almost told him to fuck off. Almost being the key word. His next words struck hard and they struck fast.

"It's about Minato-sensei's son."

Naruto. Of course it would be about the brat. What else could it possibly be about? The Hokage had no interest in her and she had done nothing to aggravate her clan as of late. There was no evidence linking her to the Yamikage either. So of course—of course—it was about Naruto.

"And how does that concern me?" she asked frigidly. Her tone had turned from hateful to chilly. It sent a shiver of fear down Kakashi's spine.

"He's in the hospital."

Shikara didn't know what the feeling that welled up inside of her was. It chilled her to the core, goosebumps appearing on her skin. Her hands were shaking. She took a slow breath and pushed the feeling away.

"I don't care."

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Naruto had been in the hospital for three days already. He was bored. The old man had been by to visit but no one else had. He wanted to go home. At least there he had things to do. Stuck in the hospital room, there was absolutely nothing for him to do.

He wanted to see Shikara-san again.

He leaned back against the bed, looking out the window. He still didn't understand why she'd left...or why she hadn't come back. He hadn't seen her in two weeks and when the men had cornered him again he'd prayed that she would come. He'd been so scared...

"Naruto?"

He turned quickly, hope lighting up his eyes only to crash just as quickly. Shikara wasn't there. Only the old man, who had noticed the flashes of emotion in the eyes. He frowned sadly. Shikara had disappeared after Kakashi found her and with those parting words...He had expected it. After all, she'd lost her mother to the Kyuubi.

"Just one more day and you can return home," the Hokage said with forced cheerfulness.

"Yep!"

His smile was painfully forced. Naruto was trying hard to do as Shikara had asked. He smiled and he kept smiling but...sometimes it was just really hard. How was he supposed to smile when the entire village hated him? How could he smile when he didn't have any friends?

"You've been coping extremely well with this Naruto," he said, taking a seat in the chair beside the bed. "I would have expected a bundle of suppressed energy already."

Naruto flashed a mischievous grin although it faltered slightly. "I was just being good for Shikara-san!" he said brightly.

The Hokage frowned. Yes, he'd been wondering about that. "You mentioned Shikara before as well," he said slowly. "But I was unaware that you two had met before."

"Shikara-san saved me from the bad men," Naruto said, looking down at the blanket. He twisted it in him hands, frowning. "She didn't tell me who she was that night but she must have taken me home. Then I found her again and she gave me lots of food and even cooked me dinner!" He smiled but it faded. "She hasn't been back for a long time..." He glanced at the old man beside him, immeasurable blue eyes downcast with sadness. "She isn't going to come see me."

A statement, not a question. Naruto knew that she wouldn't be back. He'd known the minute she disappeared but he'd hoped...he'd hoped she would come back. No one else had ever done something like that for him. He wanted her to come back.

"Do you want to hear a story Naruto?"

"Eh, why not?"

If it would take his mind away from the pain in his chest...anything was welcome.

"Many years ago, there was a legendary hero..."

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This was a setback in her recovery. You see, she wished to disavow her emotions and anything associated with them. All of her focus went to her underground organization. She had one goal.

No one, not even a lonely child who desperately needed her, would get in her way.