Reika is currently helping Tsunade out in her office. Apparently Reika has unknowingly fallen into a trap, where she is turned into a secretary whenever she's available. Having almost depleted her chakra from training, she has nothing better to do.

A knock comes from outside the door and Tsunade tells the person behind it to come in. To her surprise, Sakura walks in with a determined look in her face.

"I have a request," the pink haired kunoichi says.

"What is it?" Tsunade asks without looking up from a document she's signing.

"…please make me your apprentice!" Sakura pleads.

Tsunade stops signing her document, and Reika looks up from a document she's filing. The two of them look straight at Sakura. Reika eyes Sakura, and wonders why she hasn't asked earlier.

"Why not, Tsunade-sama? It's better than paperwork, isn't it?" Reika asks with a smirk.

Tsunade eyes Reika, and she looks back at Sakura, "Haruno Sakura. I heard from Kakashi that you have a brilliant mind as well as will power," she smiles, "Alright," Sakura lights up, "But in exchange, I won't go easy on you!"

Sakura straightens up, "Yes, ma'am!"

"You two play nice, okay? A little rivalry isn't bad, just keep it professional," Tsunade says, looking at Reika, "Don't get cocky just because you started first and is ahead of her," she warns Reika. She turns to look at Sakura, "And you don't have to push yourself to catch up to her."

"Yes, ma'am," they both say.

Sakura looks at Reika, and she smiles, "Please take care of me."

Reika smirks at her, "Same here."

xXx

Reika is no idiot. She has seen the look in the villagers' eyes. She's seen the look in the other shinobis' eyes. Hell, she can even feel some of her friends' eyes on her. All those eyes are saying the same thing.

"She's Uchiha Sasuke's sister. Who's to say she's not going to follow her brother?"

The most painful stares come from Naruto and Sakura. She has seen Naruto bending over backwards trying to get stronger so he could bring Sasuke back. She has seen Sakura crying more than once over her brother. But then they'd stare at her with questioning and judging looks, asking her, "Why aren't you as distraught as we are? You're his sister." The look with the same question also shows in most of her friends' eyes.

She can't lie and say that those looks don't bother her. One of the reasons why she's bothered is because she is actually more distraught than she let on. She'd wake up and prepare her breakfast, and she'd unconsciously make enough for two. She'd pack the extra for lunch, but then she'd think, "Has Sasuke-nii-san eaten? What is he having this morning?" She'd make herself sick with worry, and eventually her thoughts would go to, "What would happen if I had stopped him? Or if I had gone with him?"

Ever since the mission to retrieve Sasuke, Reika has been ridden with guilt. Because of what her twin brother did, Chouji, Neji, and Naruto almost lost their lives, Kiba and Shikamaru were injured, and even Shikamaru had almost lost his will to continue as a shinobi. He also left not just Reika, but also Sakura heartbroken. She can't bear facing her friends, so she opts to avoid them altogether. The most interaction she has with her friends is with Sakura, with whom she's learning medical ninjutsu under Tsunade. Even if she wants to, she can't really avoid her.

Both these thoughts and the looks from people around her, instead of making her want to stay, actually make her even less at home in Konoha. Which is why she finds herself in Hokage's office, Tsunade and Shizune looking at her with wide eyes.

"You want to leave the village?!"

"Not permanently, just… until I can collect my thoughts."

"And how long do you think that will take?"

"…I'm not sure. Two, three years tops? I just need to make sure that I won't be marked as a nuke-nin when I leave."

"Are you kidding me?! And where do you think you're going, then? Don't tell me you're going after your brother!"

Reika's glare actually rivals Tsunade's, "Of course not. I'm doing this exactly because of that kind of accusation!" Reika takes a deep breath as she runs a hand through her hair, trying to collect her composure, "If I weren't around, you'd be able to focus more on Sakura's training, right? So I was thinking of learning about poisons under Chiyo-sama of Sunagakure."

"Oh, that's a good idea…" Shizune says.

"Shizune! Don't encourage her!" Shizune cowers under Tsunade's glare. Tsunade sighs, "I'll think about it. I'll let you know when I made my decision."

Reika sighs. I guess that's better than a flat out 'no'… Reika bows, "Please excuse me, then."

She leaves the office with a heavy heart.

xXx

Reika walks towards the top of the Hokage Mountain, looking over the whole village. The village she was born in. The village she lives in. The village whose symbol adorns her hitai-ate. The village she's sworn to protect. The village that doesn't make her feel at home anymore.

Reika sits down on the grassy field with a sigh. She thought that she was strong, but apparently she's not strong enough. The stares from the villagers, she can handle. But not the ones from her friends. The change in their behavior is so obvious, Reika wants to hide. And that's exactly what she does. She avoids meeting her friends.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Reika's head snaps to look at her left, and she finds Kakashi standing beside her sitting form, looking at the village. Reika turns back to look at the span of the village and nods, "…yeah."

"Your friends are worried about you, you know," Kakashi says. Reika sighs. Of course that's why he's here… Reika thinks. Sometimes she wished that Kakashi cares less about his students.

Reika scoffs, "…what a way to tell that they're worried…"

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asks as he sits beside Reika.

Reika looks down. Somehow, she feels safe telling how she really feels to Kakashi. She knows he won't tell anyone.

"…I've seen them, you know."

"What?"

"The looks on the villagers faces. They think of me as a traitor already; like they expected me to leave the village, because Sasuke-nii-san defected," Reika sighs, "I don't mind those looks. I can just ignore them… but not the ones from my friends," Reika pulls her legs up and hugs them, "They never say it, but they're all asking me, 'why aren't you crying?', 'why aren't you distraught?'" Reika says as she closes her eyes, "…they're wrong."

"Why?"

"Because I did cry. Just never in front of them. I am distraught, but I don't have to show it, do I?" Reika asks as she draws a shaky breath, "Of course I'm distraught. How can I not? My twin just left me without a second thought. Before he left, he actually tried to kill me because he was jealous of me."

Kakashi's eyes widen at that information.

"I thought… that he would be proud of me. I managed to get promoted into Chuunin. I've… matured my Sharingan… but instead of praising me, he choked me against a tree," Reika sighs as a tear rolls down her cheek, "It hurts… that's why I refused the mission. I didn't know what I would do if I had seen him. I could've killed him for all I know," Reika sighs tearfully, "But now… I miss him. Yes, he's a jerk, but he's my twin brother. I hate staying mad at him, and I hate that I forgive him so easily, no matter what he does."

Kakashi keeps listening to her.

"The villagers, and even some of my friends, are looking at me like I'm going to go up and leave the village behind to join Sasuke-nii-san… and to be honest with you; I've been tempted to prove them right, once or twice."

"Why haven't you, then?" Kakashi asks.

Reika stops and ponders the answer to that question. Why hasn't she left already? She's been enduring the looks from those people for weeks. If she can't handle it, like she claims to be, then why is she still in Konoha?

"You know… when I said that 'your friends' are worried about you, I was actually talking about Shikamaru," Reika's eyes widen at the information, "He never tells me straight out that he's worried about you, but whenever he sees me or your teammates, the first thing he'd ask is where you are. Why don't you talk to him?"

Reika puts her forehead against her knees.

xXx

After a short heart-to-heart with her sensei, Reika finds herself walking towards the Nara compound. It's nearing dinner time, and Reika knows that Shikamaru is always home around this time; because he fears his mother's wrath should he miss dinner. When she arrives near the Nara compound, Shikamaru is approaching from the opposite way. They notice each other, but don't say anything until they're right in front of each other.

"…hey."

"…hi."

"Haven't seen you around much."

"…I just needed to be alone."

"Tch. You're a pain, woman. You do that all the time, you know."

Reika raises an eyebrow, "Do what?"

"Isolate yourself whenever you have a problem. Haven't you heard that talking about your problems actually helps your sanity or something like that?"

Reika scoffs, "Have you been reading self-help books or something?"

"Tch, what a pain… seriously, though. You can't do this all the time."

"…no one would understand."

Shikamaru looks at Reika straight in her eyes. He has always thought so, but Reika has beautiful eyes, even with the evidence of fatigue under them. But he somehow always sees a kind of darkness in them. Not from their natural onyx color, but from something else that seems to always haunt her. He never dared asking because he figured she'll tell him whenever she wants to. Making her mad would be troublesome for him.

"…I do," Reika scoffs, "No. You don't get it. I do understand. I've seen the looks people sent you. Even Ino and Chouji seem worried that mentioning Sasuke in front of you would push you to chase after him."

Reika's eyes widen, "…how did…?"

"Geez, I'm not blind, woman. I know those looks are bothering you, especially because they come from your friends. That's why you've been avoiding everyone. Sometimes you can be kinda predictable, you know?" Shikamaru sighs, "Look, I don't know what's running through your head. But I know that you can make your own decisions. And I trust your decisions, because so far, you've never made a wrong one."

Reika inhales sharply at Shikamaru's words. Those words sounds eerily similar to the words Shisui always said to her.

"It's up to you, Reika-hime. I know you will always make the right decision."

Reika's eyes never left Shikamaru. She feels like she has just had an epiphany.

Reika has always had trust issues, because somehow, the people she trusts always leaves her. She trusted Shisui. She trusted Itachi. She trusted Sasuke. The reason why she trusted Team 7 the first time was because even if everyone betrays her, she'll at least have Sasuke. It's ironic that the first person to betray her was the very person she trusts the most.

But ever since meeting Shikamaru, who always keeps his promises to her, she slowly learns to trust other people again.

Because Reika has always assumed the worse in people, she tends to avoid them. She hates being judged about things that people don't know or understand about her, but she makes no effort to make them understand her. She's content that way.

But Shikamaru never judges her, and he always makes the effort to understand her.

"Reika? You okay?"

Reika jumps out of her daydream, and shakes her head with a small smile, "…yeah."

"Wanna join us for dinner? Even though it's less troublesome to cook for less people, I'm sure eating alone must suck."

Reika nods, "…yeah, that would be great."

I… may have found the reason why I haven't left already, Kakashi-sensei, Reika thinks.

Because I want to stay with Shikamaru.

xXx

Two weeks after her talk with Kakashi and Shikamaru, Reika knocks the door to Hokage's office. She has been summoned by Tsunade while she was doing medical ninjutsu training in the hospital with Kirika overseeing it. She opens the door when she hears Tsunade's familiar voice telling her to come in.

"You called, Tsunade-sama?" Reika asks as she walks into the room, closing the door behind her. She raises her eyebrows when she sees the Sand Siblings and another girl she doesn't recognize standing in front of Hokage's desk. Reika walks towards them, "…not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but… Tsunade-sama," Reika turns to look at Tsunade, "What is this about?"

"Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou have just rescued Matsuri here, with the help of some of our shinobis, that's why they're here," Tsunade explains. Reika nods in understanding. She did refuse to receive missions when she's training, not to mention she feels like she's still not in the right mind to take on missions. She heard that Shikamaru requested her to come with him in a mission, but Sakura had come in her place, "Reika, do you remember what you said earlier this month?" Tsunade asks. Reika frowns.

"About… my request to leave?"

"Yes… I was thinking of granting it. You can go with them to Sunagakure and stay there for three years. No more, no less. I expect you to be better than you are right now when you return," Tsunade says with a confident smile, "I have faith in you."

Reika's eyes widen. Ultimately, Reika smiles at her Hokage and bows deeply.

"I will not disappoint you, Hokage-sama. Thank you; you won't regret this."

xXx

"You're seriously leaving."

Shikamaru walks the Sand Siblings, Matsuri, and Reika to the village gates. The Sand Siblings and Matsuri have given Reika some time to say goodbye to her best friend, which Reika is very grateful of. Reika smiles wryly at Shikamaru's words.

"…yeah."

"Three years is a long time."

"It is."

"You won't say goodbye to the others?"

Reika is silent as she looks at the Hokage Mountain for the last time in a while. She shakes her head, "No."

"You avoid them for months and leave without saying goodbye. That's a bit cruel."

Reika reaches into one of the pockets in her backpack and hands Shikamaru a stack of letters addressed to each and every one of her friends, bound by a rope, "You'll be my messenger. I'll leave it to you."

"Tch. You're troublesome," Shikamaru complains, but takes the letters nonetheless.

Reika smirks, "So you always say, yet you stay by my side."

"…you're different from any other girls. You're troublesome, but I don't mind you."

Reika's expression softens into a smile, "I don't mind you, either, Shikamaru."

They go silent after that. Truth be told, Reika doesn't want to say goodbye to Shikamaru. She knows that even though she is going to be gone from Konoha for three years doesn't mean that they won't ever see each other again. She feels the need to show him just how much he means to her before she leaves, but she's afraid that she would – again – lose the person she has grown to trust.

Even so, Reika gathers her courage and takes a leap of faith.

Reika leans forward and catches Shikamaru off guard by pecking his cheek. She's not used to seeing Shikamaru blush, but there he is, blushing up to his ears.

"…I'll see you around, Shikamaru," Reika says with a small smile as she pulls away. She turns and walks towards the Sand Siblings and gasps when her hand is yanked back. Her body is forced to turn around, and closes her widened eyes as she gives herself up to the feeling of Shikamaru's lips against hers.

"…I'll see you around, you troublesome woman," Shikamaru says with a smirk. Reika hates that smirk, because that smirk can turn her into a blushing mess like Hinata does whenever Naruto does anything. She flicks his forehead and smiles.

And then Reika falls into step with the Sunagakure shinobis.

A/N: That is it for Secrets! But fear not, as I will post a new story about Shikamaru x Reika tomorrow. Do be on a lookout for it.

I would like to thank all of the people who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! I never really thought that there would be a lot of people who like my story enough to wait every week for an update. I never expected much, but I definitely got more love than I thought I would get. By the time I post this chapter, I have 49 reviews, 99 favorites, and 130 follows. That is incredible. I'm so happy!

I'm currently writing the Naruto Shippuuden part of Reika's story, but I'm currently in my last year of college and my final exam is coming up. So I think I will continue writing it after I'm sure that I'm graduating.

Once again, thank you so much!