Chapter One of Thunderclouds

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

Shikamaru never liked being out on the battlefield. Why put so much effort into killing a few when you could strategize and kill many? War was troublesome. He liked the duty bestowed upon him at the moment. Watch over his comrades while they slept and then get his own opportunity to sleep on the next shift.

Which was in three hours. He yawned widely, his eyes scrunching closed and his arms stretching out behind his head. The 19-year-old chuunin's eyes flew open when he heard a particularly horrifying scream closer than usual.

Shikamaru looked over his two charges and sighed. Calm sleep was so hard to come by these days. Frowns were embedded in the two shinobi's faces, and it seemed to be permanent. He gazed idly at the roof of the tent, oh how he missed the clouds.

It took a bloodcurdling scream to bring him back to earth. It was the same scream as before! Shikamaru swore violently, genjutsu!

"Kai!"

Shikamaru rose quickly from his chair. He frantically examined his surroundings and saw no signs of anyone entering or leaving the rest tent. No signs of a struggle. Not a single thing was different. But the uneasiness gathering in the pit of his stomach told Shikamaru otherwise.

Confusion took over his senses as he watched the soft rise and fall of his comrades' chests. They looked peaceful. When just moments ago they looked as though they had the weight of the world pressing down on their eyebrows and lips. Shikamaru hated himself for not realizing it sooner, genjutsu again.

"Kai!"

After another quick visual scan of his comrades Shikamaru confirmed their deaths. He sighed painfully, I was careless…But at least, now, they're peaceful. He raised his hands to do seals. But they were glued to his sides. What's going on?

"Nara. You don't recognize your own jutsu?" said a voice from the shadows.

Sweat formed on Shikamaru's brow. How could anyone else know his family's jutsu? Unless… this was someone from his clan. A traitor. But he hadn't heard of any Nara traitors, ever. That was more of an Uchiha trait. Shikamaru tried to keep his breathing even. This was a fight against the Sound. Uchiha was with the Sound. Uchiha had the Sharingan which could easily recognize and break down his technique. Uchiha learnt Kage Mane No Jutsu.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" He muttered.

Uchiha Sasuke stepped out of the shadows, Nara Shikamaru stepped towards him. Uchiha looked the same as ever, stoic, cold, and uncaring. The only thing about him that truly changed was his clothes. He sported a beige robe that covered only half his chest and had tied a large purple rope around the waist. The article that truly stood out, though, was the Sound forehead protector that was proudly tied around his forehead.

Shikamaru carefully thought out his options for survival. He could stall for time and wait for someone to rescue him but he knew the chances of that happening were one in a billion, especially during a full-tilt battle. He could stall for time and wait for Uchiha's chakra to run out, but he knew that Sasuke wasn't stupid enough for that to happen and would kill him before that option was possible. He could yell but that would only remind the Uchiha to kill him faster and possibly attract more people to their deaths.

Or he could just accept his death. Shikamaru frowned; I'll stall until I find a way to break this.

"When did you steal my technique?" He asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "When you fought Yakushi."

"Did he dress like a slut, too?"

Sasuke's sharingan eyes glared into Shikamaru's ebony. Shikamru fell against the kage mane; his body wanting to fall down in agony. His brain was about to rupture his skull and he couldn't think about anything except the pain. Shikamaru screamed again, it felt like someone had dug a rusty kunai into his neck and twisted.

A smirk graced Uchiha's face, "You're lucky."

The sound of a shuriken whipping by his shoulder caused Shikamaru to jump back. He fell to his knees and grabbed his neck which was still throbbing painfully. The aftermath of the experience still gripping his body, he begrudgingly pushed himself off the ground. He blinked when he saw where the Uchiha had just been standing. He was gone. The Nara attempted to dispel a genjutsu once again, but nothing happened. How good has he gotten?

"Shikamaru-san, are you alright?" asked a feminine voice. No doubt the voice of the person who saved him.

Shikamaru turned around and looked at her. It was Tenten. She looked shaken up and drained. One of the buns in her hair was completely chopped off and the short hair fell clumsily over her ears. She had cuts and bruises all over her body but nothing too serious.

"I'm fine. Thank you for saving me." He said with slight resignation.

It was always a woman who saved him…

"It's okay; I came to take your shift. Then I saw him standing in front of you," Tenten said, "Did he say anything?"

"Nothing important. He must have had orders to spare my life and he probably saw no reason to take yours."

"Maybe he still cares about Konoha," She said, sounding hopeful.

"No."

"How are you so sure?"

Shikamaru groaned inwardly. He didn't want to explain it. There was no way around it, though.

"Because he left it. I'm sure he has some sympathies towards Konoha, but not enough. He's a part of the Sound now and after only tasting a small bit of his strength I know he must be ready for Orochimaru. I don't know why he hasn't taken Uchiha's body yet, though. It takes three years for him to be able to leave one vessel and take another. But it's been seven. The fact of the matter is that he has killed some of our best shinobi and he will continue to do so until his brother is dead." Shikamaru let out a long trailing breath to signify he was finished.

Tenten looked insulted, "His brother isn't even a ninja of ours."

They stood in silence, thinking about the last Uchiha. When they realized there was silence. Where was the battle?

--:--Author's Note--:--

An edited first chapter.