Written: July 15, 2023

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-3rd Person-

In the hidden village of Konoha, a new day dawns, painting the sky with vibrant hues. The first rays of sunlight pierce through the leaves, casting a gentle glow upon the village, awakening it from its slumber.

Soft beams of sunlight play through the thin fabric of the curtains in the home of the Uzumaki, dancing on the resting face of the young redhead. Her eyes scrunch in slight annoyance as she turns to the other side to avoid the uninvited light, wondering if she can just flip a switch to turn off the sun.

"Uggh.." Mizuki groans in annoyance as she tosses and turns in the hopes of getting into a comfortable position and falling back to sleep. But after a few attempts, she gave up and let out a sigh before pushing herself up into a sitting position. Her hair was tangled and messy along with a faint crease on her cheek from her pillow.

The redhead lets out a loud yawn as she tries to rub the drowsiness out of her eyes before stretching her arms above her head and letting out a loud groan. (・∧‐)ゞ

As she began to become more aware and awake, a heavy feeling rushed over her almost immediately. Why? She didn't know. Confused, Mizuki put a hand on her chest and looked down, noticing that she wasn't in her pajamas but was in the same outfit that she had worn yesterday when she went out with Kakashi Hatake.

Memories from the day prior then flood her mind, remembering how they ate so much sushi, went book shopping, and snacked on street foods before eating dinner. They also happened to run into some people such as Iruka, who was so glad to see Mizuki safe and sound, but also noticed the newfound strength in her aura.

The pair also ran into Asuma and Shikamaru, who were in the middle of arguing over a better plan of attack for a strategy game they had seen in a shop. They also ran into Neji and Rock Lee as they ate at a small takoyaki stand.

The people that saw Mizuki that day were shocked but also delighted to see that she was back, but they also had noticed that she didn't seem like she was feeling well. However, they didn't say anything about it.

"I...I guess I'll go prepare, I still smell like sweat from yesterday" Mizuki told herself in a disgusted manner while taking a whiff of her hair and armpit, cringing at the salty smell.

After a little while, Mizuki steps out of her shared home, her hair combed and styled nicely and a fresh pair of clothes on with all of her supplies for her mission ready in her bag.

As she walks through the streets, she passes by a small food stand and buys a small basket of berries which she eats throughout the rest of her walk. Her smile grew wider and wider the more berries she ate. (≧∇≦*)

Even after a short while, Mizuki still couldn't shake off the heavy feeling that she had felt earlier that morning and she couldn't pinpoint where or why the feeling was there..!

Ignoring the feeling, Mizuki continues her walk through the village before heading towards the village's gate. Walking towards the gate, she happens to bump into Shikamaru once again.

You might be wondering, where is she going?

Just minutes after having dinner with the Hatake, she was called upon by Tsunade for a sudden mission that she'll be handling.

-Flashback to last night-

The red-haired Uzumaki quietly makes her way to the stairs of the building, the smell of old wood and metal lingers as if screaming to be renewed. Hearing a faint voice from the hallway just above her, letting her know that it was the Hokage and her assistant arguing with someone... not sure who it was but it was someone familiar.

Taking the last step, she makes her way through the empty hallway. Acknowledging all the memories that occurred over the years that she's been here in Konoha. She can imagine the time when her Grandfather, Hiruzen yell out in annoyance while she and Naruto would run away, laughing due to the fact that his office walls were painted with a collection of doodles and inappropriate drawings on the wall made by the two.

Feeling a small tug in her heart, Mizuki lets out a tired sigh as she slowly nears the Hokage's office, not far, she can see the light seeping through the bottom gap of the doors, seeing chaotic shadows just behind it.

Reaching out her hand and slowly twisting the door open, she is greeted by three familiar figures.

"But what if she gets abducted again?! I'm telling you know Tsunade-sama, we can't risk another incident!" Shikamaru argues with a groan while rubbing his forehead in annoyance as he looks at the annoyed Tsunade with Tonton on her lap.

"She won't be taken away from us anymore, she's grown into a strong young girl, and you're gonna be with her throughout the mission " Tsunade calmly responds with a tired sigh while petting her pet as she slowly looks at the new figure that entered the office with a tired smile.

"Speaking of which, Good evening Mizuki. Sorry for the sudden call, I know it's quite late" Tsunade says with a smile and a small laugh as she watches the tired red-haired girl slowly and quietly make her way beside a pissed-off Shikamaru.

"I-it's totally fine, Tsunade-sama" She quickly answers as she greets Shikamaru with a tired smile and a nod, placing her hand on his back to calm him down.

"Alright, now that we're all complete, let's begin" The Hokage announces before placing Tonton on the ground as she stands up and makes her way in front of the table, leaning on it for support.

Both Shikamaru and Mizuki stood in silence as they wait for the woman to speak. The Nara takes a glance at his little sister in slight worry as he notices that she's not the usual cheery girl that he knows, it was as if something was bothering her to make her this...gloomy? Shaking his thoughts away, he watches as Tsunade opens her mouth to finally brief them.

"I know it's sudden and it might bring back some memories about an incident, but I need you, Mizuki, and Shikamaru to go on an escort mission to bring a certain someone here in Konoha" She starts, watching Mizuki raise her brows in confusion and she continues to stay silent, wondering who they're going to be escorting.

"This client specifically wants you to escort them Mizuki, as you have already worked with them years ago. They want to build an alliance with us, so we're gonna have to be extra careful when you guys escort him" The Hokage continues while tapping her foot on the ground, watching the two in silence as Mizuki tries to process the words that just came out of her mouth.

"W-who's this clien--"

"It's that stupid Kogaine!" Shikamaru impatiently exclaims in annoyance as he immediately answers Mizuki's question before she could even complete her question, earning a small yelp from the girl, not expecting that he would suddenly yell in the middle of the night.

"O-oh..." Mizuki trails in response as her vision moves to the ground, flashbacks of the event re-entering her mind...the poison, the mountain, the betrayal, the abuse... everything seems to be coming back to her as if it was a locked-out memory that was buried deep within her thoughts.

"See? I told you that it's not going be a good idea-"

"I-it's fine, I can take the mission..." Mizuki quietly trails in dread as she looks up at Tsunade with a forced smile, just wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"Alright, you're gonna have to leave tomorrow morning. Make sure that you pack every that you're going to need, you guys will need to travel through the boat again, pick him up then travel back" Tsunade says before signing off a paper from her board, letting the commission group that the mission has been accepted.

-End of flashback-

"G-good morning Shikamaru!" Mizuki beams with a smile at her brother figure as she makes her way to the entrance of Konoha.

"Morning Mizuki, how're you feeling today?" The Naar asks, a smile growing on his face as he faces his little sister.

"M-meh... My morning was g-good..! I-i bought some b-berries on t-the way here＼(^▽^)/ !" Mizuki responds while holding up the almost empty basket of berries for Shikamaru to see. Shikamaru chuckles at the beaming girl and her berries but right as he was going to say something the pair arrived at the gate.

Turning to Mizuki, Shikamaru asks, "Are you ready? Did you pack everything you need?" To which she responds with a hum as she pats her waist, making sure everything she needed was there then checking her backpack.

"L-let's get going Shikamaru !!" Mizuki exclaims, "See y-you guys in a couple of d-days.!" Waving goodbye to Izumo and Kotetsu before turning around and catching up with Shikamaru.

A comfortable silence fell between the two shinobis. Mizuki was busy admiring all the different kinds of flowers and small bugs that were littered around the trail while Shikamaru was surveying the area, trying to identify any threats. Fortunately, there wasn't.

"Mizuki..?" Shikamaru said, "Is everything ok?"

Humming in confusion, Mizuki looked in his direction. Does something seem off about me? The redhead pondered for a minute, trying to figure out if something was wrong but nothing came to mind.

"Mhm !! W-why do you a-ask, Shikamaru ?"

"No reason. Kakashi-sensei mentioned how you reacted oddly when he mentioned reuniting with Naruto." Shikamaru shrugged as he studied Mizuki's face for any reaction.

Mizuki opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Her pace began to slow down a bit and she shifted her gaze to the ground.

"I-i'm just a-afraid that Onii-chan i-is upset w-with me..." The redhead mumbles, still staring at the ground because she was afraid of meeting Shikamaru's gaze.

How on Earth could Naruto Uzumaki ever be upset with his adorable little sister? There is no possible way that he could be.

"Why would you think that he is upset with you, Mizuki? You're his whole world, he could never be upset with you." Shikamaru reassures the younger girl just as he reaches over and patted the top of her head.

"B-because Onii-chan hasn't w-written back to m-me since we both w-went off t-to train.." Mizuki confesses while still looking at the ground. Shikamaru let out a sigh and stopped walking, shaking his head. He caught up to Mizuki and put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"What a drag... Naruto is an idiot but he would never be upset with you, Mizuki. You're the reason he wakes up every day and trains as hard as he does. He doesn't write back because he doesn't want you to worry about him and he's training to be strong enough to protect you."

Silence fell between the two once again. The rustling of the leaves and branches taking over the silence before the quiet sniffling could be heard coming from the redhead.

Hanging her head low, Mizuki's shoulders begin to shake as she begins to cry. Though she did everything in her power to stop the tears from cascading down her face, they continued to fall. Shikamaru felt the slight shake in her shoulders, he walked in front of her and wrapped his arms around her.

He gently began to rub her hair. "Don't worry about reuniting with Naruto, I'll be right by your side."

"A-arigato Shikamaru"

Shikamaru pulls away from the hug and looks down at Mizuki. He smiles at the small smile that was on her face before patting her head and moving back to her side.

"Come on, we still have a mission to finish." Shikamaru exhales as he shoves his hands into his pocket and begins to walk along the path once again, Mizuki following after him.

The pair fell into silence once again but this time the heavy feeling was no longer there. They continued to walk for a couple more hours before crossing the bridge that Tazuna named after the Uzumaki siblings. Once over the bridge, Mizuki turned over to Shikamaru and grabbed his arm, and shook it.

"D-did you see i-it, Shikamaru! Mizuki gleamed at the bridge that was named after her and her brother. Shikamaru stared down at her with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, it's pretty great." He chuckled as she jumped up and down in excitement.

The two continued to converse as they walked down the path, the sun slowly began to set and the sky turned from a light blue to a blazing orange then a dark blue, and the warm air slowly cooled down.

"S-so..."

"Hmm?"

"D-did you know the opposite of waterfall is firefly?"

"What the-"

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Hey guys! It's been sosososoo long since we last seen each other! Hope you're all doing well and thriving!

I've just been grinding into my career the entire time and I've been doing great!

Update me on your life! How are you all doing?

Anyways! I would love to introduce everyone to Sofi! She will be helping me continue this trilogy.

A few words from her:

Hi everyone !! from now on— with the help of the amazing author, Shayne, I will be continuing Mizuki's story ^.^

I will try to update as much as I possibly can and keep this beautiful story going. thank the outstanding author for creating the story and giving me the opportunity to continue and further build and tell Mizuki's story.

thank you all as well for reading < (^^,) >

see you all soon !! -sofi

Make sure to vote and comment your thoughts about our returning chapter!

Bye, Potatoes!

Stay fab!