I was on the roof of my apartment, gazing up at the stars. I couldn't sleep. Not anymore anyway. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Haku and Zabuza's corpses. Whenever I tried going to sleep, I saw blood. "Nue-sama. I don't think you should be doing this." Maria said, out of worry.

I looked behind me and saw her staring at me as the cool breeze blew through her hair. I looked back at the stars. "Come on, kid. At leassst try going back to ssssleep." Kiyoshi said. "No. If I do, I'll see blood." I blinked then rubbed my eyes.

"Leave me be, Maria." I said to her. "Hai." She bowed, then teleported herself back inside the apartment. "You should get ssssome ssssleep. It'ssss not healthy for you to sssstay awake. Your body needssss the resssst." Kiyoshi hissed.

"I don't think I like what you're saying. Leave now." I said, emotionlessly. He sighed. "Fine." He started to slither back into the apartment window, but stopped. "I'm not going anywhere, you know. I'll alwayssss be here. You can talk to me whenever you want." Kiyoshi said.

He went back inside the apartment. I sighed. I know Kiyoshi and Maria are trying to help me, but I just can't go back to sleep. I looked towards the sky again as I saw morning slowly approaching.

I got up and did my usual morning routine: take a shower, brush teeth, wash face, and get dressed. "Maria, I'm leaving." I informed. "Would you like some breakfast before you go, Nue-sama?" She asked.

"Not today. But thank you, though." I said as I pulled on my cloak. "Let's go, Kiyoshi." I said. He nodded and wrapped himself around my waist. I jumped off rooftops until I got to the bridge and waited for my team. I stared at the ground for a bit until I looked to my side my side as I saw Sasuke walking towards me.

"Morning." He greeted. I only gave a simple wave before looking back at the ground, staying quiet. A while later, Naruto and Sakura came by. "Hey, there, guys. Sorry, I'm late. I got lost on the path of life. " Kakashi-sensei said. "You liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at the same time.

"Can we just get this over with please?" I asked.

(After missions)

"You're so helpless, Naruto." Sakura said. I sighed out of boredom. I looked towards the sky and spotted a hawk. I guess Lord Hokage wants to see Kakashi-sensei. "I'm going home." I informed himi. He nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke.

I began jumping from tree to tree. When I was about to jump to another tree, I was taken by surprise and got pinned to the tree while standing on a branch. "Ow..." I looked at Sasuke, seeing that he was the one who pinned me.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" I asked, bluntly. "Why are you avoiding us?" He demanded. "Come again?" I asked, confused by his question. "You're avoiding the team. Why?" Sasuke demanded.

"That's none of your business, and no, I'm not avoiding you guys." I objected. "You've been like this ever since we returned from the Land of Waves." He said.

"Like what?"

"Anti-social. You were always smiling and laughing. Now, you've gone quiet. You don't even talk to Naruto or Kakashi anymore."

Okay, okay. So what if I have been distant from my team? There's no crime against that.

"So?" I asked, nonchalantly.

"So, talk to someone. Or at least talk to me. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I don't know. I guess. I just need some time to myself."

I struggled to get out of his grip, but he held my wrists tightly. "You need to talk to someone, Nue. We're all worried about you. Even me. You're even starting to scare some of us." Sasuke said. "Just leave me alone!" I snapped.

I smashed my forehead against his, making him stumble back. Once he was off me, I ran off. I ran through the Leaf Village streets, trying to get to the gates until I bumped into someone. "Whoa, slow down, Nue, or you'll knock your brains out." The person I bumped into said.

Wait a minute... That voice! I know that voice! I looked up. "Iri?" I said in disbelief. "Surprise, Imouto!" She said. I could feel tears forming at the brim of my eyes. I threw myself at my sister and hugged her tightly.

"Don't cry. I've missed you, too, Nue." She said as she hugged me back. I broke from our hug and looked at her. She wore a white t-shirt and black jeans. "Where's Okaa-san?" I asked. She smiled at me instead of answering my question.

A pair of hands covered my eyes from behind. "Right where you least expect me." I heard my Okaa-san say from behind me. I turned around when she uncovered my eyes. "Okaa-san!" I cheered as I hugged her.

"It's nice to see you again, Nue." She said as she hugged me. Tears of joy finally rolled down my face. It felt nice to be with my family again. "Wow. A lot has changed the last time we were here." Iri said, looking around. I grinned.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "We came to visit you." Iri answered. "Why don't you two get caught up on things? I need to speak with the Hokage." Okaa-san said. "Hai." My sister and I chorused.

"Come on. I wanna see your team." Iri said. "Okay." I grabbed her hand, leading her to where, I assuming, my team might be. "Nice to ssssee you again, kid." Kiyoshi hissed at Iri. "What did your snake say?" Iri asked.

I giggled slightly. "Kiyoshi says hello and he's happy to see you again." I told her. Iri doesn't have the ability to talk to animals like I do. "Where's Sharon and Julia?" I asked. "They had to stay at the castle incase another break-in occurred. It's sad, though. They really wanted to see you." She said.

"I wish I could see them, too." I said. We continued to walk to where I left my team. "Hey! You cut your hair!" Iri noticed. "Yeah. I thought I could use a haircut. My hair was getting pretty long." I said. "That's actually a good look for you. You look beautiful." She commented.

I felt my face heat up a little. I knew I was blushing. "So, what's been going on?" Iri asked as we continued to walk. "Well, we've going on some useless missions lately. Although, we did travel to the Land of Waves. That was kind of interesting and a lot of things happened there." I said.

"Like what?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Come on. Tell me."

"No, thanks."

"Tell me or I'll take away your stuffed rabbit." Iri threatened.

I gasped. Not the rabbit I sleep with that's at the castle!

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." She challenged.

I sighed in defeat. "Okay, you win. I ran away into the woods after Sakura said some hurtful things about me. I ran into a couple of friends and it turns out, one of them happened to be my uncle." I explained. "Ooh, who was your uncle?" Iri asked, interested.

"Zabuza Momochi." I answered. She gasped in shock. "The Demon of the Hidden Mist is your uncle?!" She exclaimed. I quickly covered her mouth and nodded my head. "Shh! You're too loud." I said. "Sorry, I'm just stunned. I never would've guessed." She said.

 "You almost say that like it's a bad thing." I stated. "No, it's not a bad thing. I'm just surprised, that's all." Iri said. "Nue-chan!" I heard Naruto call. I turned around and was, as usual, engulfed in a bear hug. "Where'd you go, Nue-chan?" He said, once he released me.

"I was on my way home until I was stopped by Sasuke." I explained. "Who's this cute kitty cat?" Iri asked, looking at his whiskers. "Iri, this is Naruto Uzumaki. He's my teammate. Naruto, this is Iri Satori. My older sister." I introduced.

"He's cute. Why don't you ask him out?" Iri whispered in my ear. "Because I don't like him in that kind of way. I think of Naruto like a brother." I said to her. She faced Naruto. "Iri Satori. It's pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki." She said, politely bowing.

"Nice to meet you, too! I didn't know Nue-chan had any siblings." He said. "Nue doesn't talk about us because she's shy." Iri said as she playfully poked by arm. I felt my wings twitch when she said that. Their conversation was cut short when a rectangular rock came in front of us.

We all shared confused glances as we stared at the rock. Iri just smiled. "There's no such thing as rectangular rocks. Especially around here." She said. Well, that's kind of obvious. She raised out her hand and it turned into an Ice Blade. 'Oh, boy' I thought.

She slashed down on the rock and three kids came jumping out before they could get killed. Wait, who are these kids? Naruto sweat dropped. "What are you doing, Konohamaru?" He asked. Konohamaru and his friends introduced themselves.

I only heard they're names. I didn't feel like listening to the rest of their introductions. "A ninja playing ninja? That is so childish." Sakura said as she walked over to us, looking a little gloomy. "Who's Miss Gloomy?" Iri asked.

"That's Sakura Haruno. Another one of my teammates." I said out of boredom. Iri hugged me from behind and whispered, "Where's Orochimaru?" I tensed up as my eyes widened. "What do you mean?" I asked, nervously.

"I know you were with him. Where is he?" She demanded in a serious tone. "I-Iri, you're s-scaring me." I stuttered. She stared at me for a moment before giving me a closed eye smile and ruffling my hair.

"I'm just messing with you, Nue. Learn to lighten up." She said as she put her hands behind her back. I slowly relaxed and sighed in relief. That's Iri for ya. Always trying to scare me. I sighed, then heard a crash. Iri and I looked ahead and saw Naruto on the ground with Sakura holding up her fist.

"Just what kind of girlfriend are you?!" Konohamaru screamed. "There's no way she's human! Did you see the size of her forehead?!"

Oh, boy. He shouldn't have said that. The next thing I knew, we were all running from Sakura. I ran in a different direction. Where did Iri go? Did we get separated? I continued to run and I felt myself bumped into someone. What is it with me and bumping into people?!

Except the person I bumped into wrapped me in an embrace. Oh, Jashin. Who the hell is this? I tried to push the person away, but they held me tightly. "Where ya goin', kitten?" The person said. The person who was hugging me was definitely a guy, hearing from his voice.

"You sure are cute. Got a name, kitten?" He asked. I felt my face heat up when he called me kitten. I kept my face hidden in his chest so he wouldn't see how red my face was. I heard him smirk. "Let go of her, Kankuro. She's not interested in you." I heard a girl say.

You got that right. "Oh, come on. I'm sure she's just shy. Right, kitten?" The boy asked, his hold becoming more firm. I frowned slightly and tried pushing him away again. But he wouldn't budge. "Let go." I grunted as I tried pushing him away.

Just who the hell are these people? Are they even from this village?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chapter 21 complete. Nue's family is back and happy to see her! What happens next? Chapter 22 coming soon. Vote and Comment. Until next time, my insane children. Sayonara!!

Kureiji out~