"I don't know.." Yua said exasperated. Lady Tsunade and Kakashi were gathered around her, while she was sat up in bed. They kept asking her multiple questions, causing her to relive the nightmare that she endured for months.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore! I don't want to have to relive this! It's always replaying inside my mind, every time I try to sleep, I don't want to have to think about it while I'm awake!" She cried out.

Lady Tsunade watched Yua, her heart broke for the poor girl. "Alright, well, then we can stop for now, but when your brothers and sister arrive they're going to want whatever information you have." She warned.

Yua nodded and sniffed before using her arm to wipe away her tears. "The only thing that I can recall right now, or well want to recall, is that the guy who actually took me away, was a rather tall man. His eyes were a piercing and intimidating bright blue, hair brown and always messy but the most noticeable thing, was a horrid scar that was on his right eye." She uttered. "That's all I'm willing to talk about right now." She said, sniffing once more.

"That actually might help us out here." Tsunade said before turning to Kakashi. "Okay, we're done here. There's no need to torment this poor girl any further, we now have to address her living situation. Would you be willing to let her stay with you?" Tsunade asked and Kakashi shook his head. "As lovely as that would sound, you assigned me and two others to another rescue mission, remember?" Kakashi said and Tsunade smacked her own forehead before letting out a slight groan. "No, I had completely forgotten about that." She replied. "Your service here is no longer needed then. Quickly gather your team and head out." Tsunade said and Kakashi gave a her quick nod before dashing off.

She looked back to Yua. "I actually have one more question for you." Tsunade said, earning a whimper from the young girl. "It's not about what happened to you, I promise. I just want you to feel as comfortable and as safe as possible while you're here. With that being said, the group that brought you here, which one of them did you feel most comfortable with? Whoever that is, will be where you stay." Tsunade asked.

Yua thought for a moment, she really wracked her brain to find an answer for this question. She felt safe with all of them, so that was a pretty hard decision. After a few minutes of pondering over the question, she looked up at Tsunade and lightly sighed. "Shikamaru.." She said quietly.  Tsunade sweat dropped and gave Yua a nervous smile. "Shikamaru? Are you sure, kid?" She asked and Yua nodded, slightly confused by her reaction. Tsunade sighed but smiled at her. "Okay, well then follow me and we'll get you set up." She said. She knew what Shikamaru's reaction was gonna be but she just shook it off and hoped his parents would be willing to help.

Yua crawled out of the bed and stood next to Tsunade, offering out her hand. She glanced down at her with a small smile and took the child's hand and walked out of the house. "Before we go find Shikamaru, let's find you some clothes first, kid. As cute as the night gown is, I don't think that's all you'll want to wear for the next five days." Tsunade said. Yua smiled and nodded, staying silent throughout the whole walk. They walked to nearby shop that sold handmade clothing and as luck would have it, Shikamaru and his mother were already there. Yua's eyes lit up upon seeing him, a bright smile appeared on her face, however, Shikamaru didn't notice her right away.

He stood behind his mother, Yoshimura. His hands were shoved into his pockets and looking ahead of him with a bored expression and in his natural lazy stance.

"Are we almost done here?" He asked his mother. "Soon Shikamaru. Soon, I just need a couple of new shirts. Be patient." She replied and Shikamaru sighed deeply. "This is such a drag." He mumbled.

He suddenly felt like someone was staring at him and looked around for a moment, his bored expression never changing.

Yua was just kind of staring at him, not wanting to call out to him, just wanted him to notice her. Tsunade was talking to the older lady that was working in the shop. She looked from the lady and glanced down at Yua then looked towards the direction she was looking at.

In that moment, Shikamaru spotted who was staring at him and once Yua and him made eye contact her smile widened and she waved at him in a child-like manner. Shikamaru cracked a smile at Yua's reaction and gave her a slight wave back.

"Aha! Shikamaru, I was just going to be looking for you." Tsunade suddenly shouted out as she made her way towards the young man and his mother.

Yoshino watched on as Shikamaru shut his eyes and inwardly groaned before opening his eyes and looking back to Tsunade. "What do you need?" He said, his tone of voice still sounding bored. "Yua's living arrangements. She felt more comfortable with you, so, I want you to be in charge of her until Gaara arrives to retrieve her." Tsunade said, her tone went instantly from carefree to absolute seriousness.

Shikamaru glanced down at Yua, his hands still in his pockets but his expression changed when he saw the hope that twinkled in Yua's eyes, he also felt his mother glaring at him, practically signaling for him to accept what he now considered to be a mission. Between the glares from his mother and the twinkling hope in Yua's eyes, he couldn't refuse.

"Oh alright. Fine, I'll do it." Shikamaru said, the reaction he received from Yua nearly melted his heart. The big smile, the happy twinkle in her eyes and the way she jumped up and down like a typical child. He chuckled at her slightly and a smile spread across the young man's face.

"I would be delighted to accept this mission. She's a nice kid, I'll make sure she's taken care of and safe at all times. With that being said, what does she need?" He asked as he glanced up to look at Tsunade. She had a slightly shocked expression but smiled. "Don't worry about that. I'll take care of getting everything that she'll need for the next five days." She replied, releasing a sigh of relief.

Shikamaru gave a slight nod before looking back down at Yua with a small smile. "C-can I go with him now?" Yua asked, looking away from Shikamaru to look up at Tsunade, who gave her a smile and nodded. "Is that okay with you Shikamaru?" She asked. "If it gets me out of this shop, I'll gladly take her off your hands now." He replied as he looked at to his mother for her approval.

"Go ahead then, bring her to our home and show her around." His mother said, a proud smile appearing on her face.

He quickly took Yua's hand and they walked out of the shop and began the walk back to the Nara's home.

"So, what did you use to do for fun back in your village?" Shikamaru asked, trying make small talk. "Combat training. Gaara would teach me mainly defense rather than offense. He told me to never start a fight unless I'm on a mission." Yua explained.

She let go of his hand and started to skip a little bit ahead of him. Shikamaru was walking behind her, a little shocked at her reply. "So, you want to become a Kunoichi?" He asked and Yua nodded. "Yes! I want to be just like my big sister Temari! Back before all of this happened, Gaara gave me my own fan, though, Temari never got a chance to train me on how to use it.." Yua said as a small frown appeared on her face.

In that moment she stopped skipping, her demeanor going from happy to sad, instantly.

"I miss my family.." Yua said quietly. Shikamaru frowned and caught up to her. "I didn't mean to upset you" He said as they both continued the walk.

Shikamaru practically kicked himself for asking her that question. "No, it's okay. I just miss home is all. I can't wait for them to get here." She said, giving him a sad smile before looking down at her feet as they walked.

Shikamaru didn't really know what to say. He sighed lightly and shoved his hands into his pockets and looked up at the bright blue sky as they continued to walk.

"Hey, are you hungry?" He asked as he glanced back down at her. "No.." She said quietly.

The memories from before started to flood her mind, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she pictured her three siblings in her mind, smiling and laughing. She didn't notice that the tears that formed, began to slide down her cheeks. She especially didn't notice, that Shikamaru saw them. She was brought back to reality after a hand was placed on her shoulder, causing her to slightly jump and look up. Shikamaru had crouched down, to where he was eye leveled with her his hand gently gripping her shoulder.

"Kid, I'm not very good at this but listen. In five days, you will have your family back. I know you've been through a lot especially for being only seven, but just keep in mind that they're coming back for you. Alright?" He said as carefully as he could, while wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

"Let's go get something for lunch, at least try to eat something, then we can continue the walk to my house. Sound like a plan?" Shikamaru asked.

Yua sniffed and nodded before wrapping her arms around Shikamaru's neck and hugging him tightly. He awkwardly wrapped his own around her, returning her hug then releasing her and standing back up.

"Alright then, let's go." He stated simply, shoving his hands right back into his pockets.

Yua remained silent for the rest of the day. She was silent during lunch, she ate Ramen that Shikamaru recommended, which she definitely liked. She was silent when they arrived at Shikamaru's home. She was just, silent. All she wanted in that moment, was her family back but, like Shikamaru told her, she kept in mind that she would soon have her family back, which restored the hope that she originally lost.

After Shikamaru and Yua arrived at the Nara's home, Shikamaru showed Yua around and got her all settled in, Lady Tsunade came by with a bag of clothes that was neatly folded inside. New outfits and a couple pair of pajamas and some sandals. She also had a few other things, A toothbrush, toothpaste, and some bathing materials. He explained to her what happened on the walk back but to his surprise she didn't scold him.

She assured him that it was fine and to try his best to keep her comfortable. After Tsunade had left, Shikamaru did his best to comfort Yua but unfortunately, she was still a little distant. Remembering what Yua mentioned to him during their walk, he offered to teach her a few of his skills that he learned and allowed her to show him some things that she learned. Yua seemed to open up after that, feeling excited to learn more combat skills again, even though it was someone else training her.

During the combat session, Shikamaru was quite impressed with the defensive skills Yua had. Pretty soon the sky began to turn to a purplish orange color as the sun began to set. He got Yua inside and greeted his mother and father and introduced his father, Shikaku to Yua. He left Yua with Shikaku while he went to help out his mother, by setting the table for dinner. Yua seemed to open up to his family during the meal, she would share memories she shared of her and her siblings, told the story of how Shikamaru and his friends found her and even described her likes and dislikes.

Pretty soon it was time for bed. Yoshino took Yua to bathe her and get her dressed in the new pajamas Lady Tsunade had provided. Yoshino then left Yua with Shikamaru, allowing him to tuck the young girl into bed. Shikamaru told his own stories to Yua, in hopes it'll help her fall asleep. Told her of his missions, his own team from when he was just a genin. Yua seemed intrigued in his stories, she eventually had fallen asleep. Shikamaru watched the young girl as she slept, a small smile on his face. He left the room and allowed Yua to sleep in peace. Everyone was completely unaware of the nightmares that would soon unfold.
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