Disclaimer: I dun own the characters of Naruto.

Chapter One: Disappearance

Gaara yawned and pulled himself out of bed. I really wish I could go back to sleep. Just then, a loud banging came from the door. "Get up Gaara, breakfast will be ready in 10 minutes!" announced Temari from the other side. He walked over to his dresser and pulled open the middle drawer and pulled out a pair of pants and reclosed the drawer. Pulling them on, he proceeded over to his closet and removed a shirt from its hanger and put it on.

He exited his bedroom and started walking down the hallway towards the kitchen as the aroma of bacon, eggs, sausage, and buttery toast filled the air. Temari has always been a good cook. Ever since dad passed she's done nearly all three meals a day. Gaara entered the kitchen and walked over to the counter to get a cup of coffee. Adding a splash of creamer and a couple of tablespoons of sugar, he took a seat at the table where his brother, Kankuro, was already sitting. Kankuro looked up from the newspaper that was in his hands and took a sip of coffee, "Good morning bro."

"Morning you two," responded Gaara, "the food smells great Temari." Kankuro nodded in agreement.

"Why thanks guys, I always have relied on your support you know." Removing the final pieces of bacon from the stove, she prepared her and her brother's plates and set them at the table. "Dig in boys," she said with satisfaction.

After breakfast was finished, Gaara stood up and started collecting the dishes.

"Why thanks Gaara you didn't have to, I was going to get them in a minute."

"Not a problem Temari, you deserve a break anyways. Unlike Kankuro…"

Temari laughed as Kankuro looked up from his paper, "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing…" they said smiling.

Upon placing the dishes in the sink Gaara headed for the front door, "See you all later."

It's hard to think that it's been only two months since it happened.

-In Konoha-

Why must they be so troublesome? Ino and Chouji were bickering and Shikamaru didn't even know why. When he arrived, there they were, screaming at each other. Neither even said 'Hi', and still five minutes later, the bickering had yet to cease.

"Would you two stop it!" he screamed at them. They abruptly stopped and looked at him. "Why are you even fighting about?"

"Chouji doesn't think that he needs to go on a diet!" exclaimed Ino, "Can you please help me out here?"

Chouji mumbled, "Diet my butt, I'm perfectly fine."

"You do need to go on a diet Chouji!"

Shikamaru rubbed his temples slowly, "Would you two shut up? Look Ino, if Chouji doesn't want to go on a diet, then so be it. It's his body; let him do with it what he wants."

"You're siding with him!"

"I'm siding with no one. Yea, I think a diet wouldn't hurt him, but I'm not going to argue with him about it."

"Thank you Shikamaru. See Ino, why can't you be more like him? He understands me, I don't want to go on a diet, so he doesn't press the subject."

"Yes, well-"

"Ino, be quiet. You're not going to win the argument, and I really don't need a bigger headache."

Ino hmphed, "So why are we even here Shikamaru?"

He shrugged, "I got a note that told us to meet here. I have absolutely no idea who sent it though."

"That's kind of strange, don't you think," inquired Chouji.

Shikamaru nodded. Suddenly, everything went black for him.

"What the hell do you mean?" screamed Tsunade at Ino and Chouji who were standing in her office.

"Shikamaru received a note saying to meet at the 4th Training Grounds Area, he told us to tag along just in case he needed us, and then out of nowhere, we were ambushed. After the dust cleared, Shikamaru was nowhere to be found," explained Ino.

Tsunade sighed, "Form a rescue team to search for him, report back to me the second you find him or have knowledge pertaining to his whereabouts."

Ino and Chouji nodded and left the office. "We'll recruit tonight, and start searching tomorrow," Ino sighed softly.

"Alright, so who do you want to go ask?" asked Chouji.

"I'll deal with Neji, Hinata, Naruto, & Sakura, and you?"

"I'll go ask Kiba, Lee, Shino, & Sai…"

Ino nodded, "Good luck, and see you tomorrow at the 4th Training Grounds…"

A/N: Well, another chapter in this magnificent series that I started.

Gaara: Really? You think it's magnificent? –chuckles-

Me: . Shut up Gaara, this isn't about you.

Gaara: Actually, since you're going to-

Me: SHUSH! Just because the information is obvious doesn't mean it needs to be announced.

Gaara: , Fine then.

Me: -waves- I'll hope to have the next chapter up soon.