I made up my own character (Ayame Narashi), just to clarify. And, to my chagrin, I do not own Naruto.

Reviews and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone. –Emichaan

Prelude:

It was a sad day in Konoha. The sky was dark at midday. Not a single white cloud had been present since the morning. And the residents of Konoha were usually so happy; always at peace and smiling, knowing they were safe at the hands of the trained ninja that guarded their great city. But no one had any reason to smile today. Despair had been inflicted on the village like a flurry of kunai. There was no way to avoid this though. No one could do anything about it. Naruto couldn't use his clones as a shield, or summon that troublesome chief toad Gamabunta. Neji and Hinata couldn't use their Triagram defences. And Shikamaru's shadows were worthless in that situation. No one could do anything, no matter what they tried! It was useless. He knew that taking five people on one mission would be troublesome, but he it worked when they tried to track down Sasuke. He hadn't even planned on having a team of five because of the high risk. Shikamaru Nara knew this all too well. But why couldn't he get over it? Surely the ninja with such a high IQ as himself would be able to comprehend something as simple as failure to protect his teammate.

As Shikamaru walked through the damp street, kicking a small pebble across the dirt, he wanted to go over what happened in his head again.

Lady Tsunade told Shikamaru to round up a squad for an A-ranked mission in the land of Claws. There was a series of thefts that they had to investigate, and people who have tried to apprehend the thieves were badly injured. Some were killed. The land of Claws' leader begged for The Leaf's assistance, and Tsunade held Shikamaru in high regard as the village strategist. He chose Neji and Naruto. Neji's Byakugan would have definitely come in handy, and his defences were amazing. But Shikamaru only chose Naruto because he was eavesdropping on the conversation and kept following Shikamaru, begging to come along. He followed him all the way home before Shikamaru lost his cool and agreed to let him come along, but only if he kept his mouth shut and stopped being a bother. He knew he wouldn't be quiet, but it got Naruto off his back for a while. He packed his things and the boys left that night.

On the way there, they were ambushed by masked ninja. Six men and three women, three squads, all from different nations; sound, mist and stone. They thought they were outnumbered, even though Naruto insisted that he use his Multi-Shadow clone jutsu to make the numbers even. Before he could do anything, Ino and Hinata appeared out of nowhere, giving them the reinforcements they needed. They all fought as hard as they could, using the Rasengan, Gentle Fists, Mind control and shadow jutsus. Shikamaru was relieved that Ino and Hinata had come just in time, though he wasn't impressed that they had followed them all the way and disobeyed the Hokage. They made it down to the last two ninjas. The woman was from the sound village, but the man was from the leaf village. Where'd he even come from? It stumped him that they'd be working together, but then he saw the long, thick cut through his head band. He was from the Akatsuki. Before Shikamaru could give it another thought, the man threw a kunai bomb at Shikamaru. The man and woman fled, but the woman had hesitated. Shikamaru froze, and Ino jumped in front of him and took the bomb to the chest.

Shikamaru lost Asuma to the Akatsuki, now he'd lost Ino too. A foreign feeling in his stomach made him feel sick. He frowned. I don't deserve to be a chunin, he told himself. If I didn't freeze up then Ino would still be here. If Ino hadn't followed us that night, she'd still be here. Damn her stubbornness! I bet she dragged Hinata along with her without giving her a say.

Ino stood in front of Shikamaru, her arms in front of her face for protection. But it didn't help. As the bomb hit her, she let out a short scream and was thrown backwards, over Shikamaru, and fell to the ground with a loud THUD! Her beautiful blue eyes were wide with shock, and her smooth skin was scarred with burns, dirt and blood. The kunai bomb had blown out her ribcage; it had killed her instantly.

Burdened with his friend's death, he carried her back to the village, abandoning the mission. He reached the Hokage's tower by nightfall, and fell through the doors, soaked in tears and blood. Tsunade called for Shikaku but he was already there, and he pried his son off of his dead friend and took him home instantly. Shikaku and Yoshino didn't let their son out of their embrace that night; even as he cried himself to exhaustion. It was an odd thing for his parents to do, but he took it while it lasted.

Shikamaru pulled his hands out of his pocket and punched the wooden fence next to him. He punched it again and again until his hands were sore and bloody.

What will that solve? He asked himself angrily. Shaking his head and shoving his bloody hands in his pockets, he let his feelings go and kept walking to meet Shikaku, Chouji and his father, and Ino's father. Ino's mother was distraught, and Shikamaru was positive that her father was too, but he didn't show it. He wasn't letting his feelings get the better of him, even if it was his daughter's life that had been taken. That was one of the rules of being a ninja: show no emotion no matter what. But surely a funeral would be an exemption to the rule? Shikamaru didn't know, and didn't care. People would cry, no matter what.

They all made their way to the Hokage's tower and climbed to the top. All the genin were there. Kiba was crying with no expression and Naruto wiped his tears away with his sleeve. Neji, Lee and Shino looked at the ground, their expressions unreadable. All the girls were crying; Gai and Kakashi rested their hands on their fragile students' shoulders. Kurenai was holding Hinata, stroking her hair and trying to shush her.

As if to mark the start of the funeral, it started to rain.

Shikamaru walked next to his father in line, and Chouji to his father. Tsunade stood at the front and spoke, but Shikamaru wasn't listening. He was staring at the clouds. It had rained at the Fourth Hokage's funeral too. It was almost as if the clouds could feel the atmosphere about the village and change to match it. If only Shikamaru was a cloud, then he wouldn't have to be a ninja. He wouldn't have to worry about himself or anyone else. He could just drift with the wind, not caring where it would take him because nothing but it could touch him. He couldn't die; he would only disappear for a while then come back when there was enough water in the air.

To Shikamaru's despair, there was no jutsu that could make him into a cloud. Even if there was, he wouldn't be able to master it. He specialised in shadow techniques, not water jutsus. He came from the Nara clan; he was above elemental jutsus. Although he knew some tricks, he didn't care to use them. They were useless in combat. Shikamaru had done the calculations for success with the simple elemental jutsus he knew a long time ago. None were good.

Tsunade had finished talking by now. She held a white rose in front of her and closed her eyes, frowning. Shaking her head slightly, she placed the rose on the coffin. Ino's mother and father approached the coffin, both of them holding one lily at the same time. Her mother kissed it and placed it next to the rose, then broke into more tears.

As everyone else lined up and placed their white roses on Ino's coffin, Chouji pulled out the red roses he and Shikamaru had bought together earlier that day from the Yamanaka flower shop. He handed it to his friend. Chouji and Shikamaru stood in front of the coffin. A picture of squad ten was set up on a pedestal. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were smiling and standing side by side in front of Asuma, who was ruffling Chouji's hair as he gave a big grin. Shikamaru didn't want to be here. He was cold and wet, and no matter how much time he took up standing in front of Ino's coffin, it wouldn't bring her back. He frowned and placed the blue bell on top of the white flowers. Chouji did the same. They accepted that they would probably get in trouble for not putting a white flower on her coffin, but they knew that she would want more than one coloured flower at her funeral. Everyone should have had a different coloured flower for her, but they were following protocol. Chouji and Shikamaru both left the funeral at that time, parting from Ino's body with their treasured memories and hopes that her soul was at peace and heading to a better place.

Meanwhile...

Ayame was slapped in the face; a powerful backhand that knocked her off her feet and onto the dirt. Dust flew into the air; Ayame coughed as she accidentally inhaled it sharply. The man that had slapped her pulled back his hand and laughed, breaking the spell of silence in the cave they resided in. Ayame got up from the ground and knelt in front of her master again, coughing once more. She let her master down, so the least she could do was show her respect to him. The throbbing in her cheek went away quickly, but it would be there for a while. A mark was always left when her master hit her. Sometimes it scarred. But it only happened if she failed him. She'd gotten physically and mentally stronger and smarter since she first came under her master's wing, and he knew it more than anyone else. Now, instead of cowering at her master's feet, begging him not to hurt her, she took it like a true ninja would. She tried to think that it didn't hurt anymore, that she could take what her master gave her, but she couldn't. It didn't hurt as much from when it started, but it still hurt like a bitch. Ayame asked her master why he didn't kill her for failing, being sure to phrase her question respectfully and not make it sound like she wanted to die. Because he would do it if he thought she'd want it. She'd seen it happen before.

He laughed again, as if she'd told him a joke. 'Why would I want to kill you, my dear? With every failure comes a new opportunity, and I know you have some tricks up your sleeve that the people from the Narashi clan taught you,' her master smiled slyly, something Ayame had learned not to trust from her master, 'it's up to you whether you show me yourself or I make you show me. Now get some rest; I have a big day planned for you, my dear.'

'Thank you, master, and goodnight.'

'Goodnight, my dear.'

Ayame got up and walked out of her master's chamber and headed for her room. The cave they lived in was large; with lots of tunnels leading to God knows where. Ayame only knew the way from the entrance to her master's chamber, and then to her room. It was just one big, bizarre maze that only her master knew the way through. She marvelled at his intelligence, and could only hope to be as skilled as him. Her hand lightly brushed over the cool wall of the cave. It was so damp and musty underground, and cold. Ayame hated being cold. But she had to suck it up if she wanted to be a great ninja like her master.

But she was barely getting any credit these days. She wasn't the only one who had been taken under her master's wing. Three years ago, when she had just turned fifteen, her mother and father were killed. She ran away, scared that the people who killed her parents would come after her next. She can't remember how long she ran for; the only thing she could recall was waking up in her room. The other apprentice, a boy, was already there when she'd arrived, and had always been his favourite. Ayame had to admit, the boy frightened her. She didn't know anything about him, and it was not her place to know. He had been there longer than Ayame and, if anything, she had to think of him as a kind of master too.

She turned left, counted eight dim lights and then made a right. Two more lights and she felt the wood beneath her fingertips. My room, she thought to herself. She opened the door and went inside; glad to be in a place she could kind of call home.

Ayame was grateful for her room. It was big enough for her taste, even if the bed took up half the space. But it was extremely comfortable, something she was also grateful for being given. A desk was next to her bed with a mirror hanging from the wall. Ayame never looked in the mirror. She didn't like seeing her reflection because she always managed to see parts of her parents. Her mother's beautiful violet-coloured eyes and light brown hair; her father's nose – she hated seeing them in her looks. They were dead and she hated constantly reminding herself that. Three years and she was yet to get over her parents' death. She ran from it for the soul reason to get away from her feelings.

Books of many shapes and colours were scattered all over her floor. She spent many of her hours researching new jutsus that she could use in battle. Healing jutsus, defensive jutsus, offensive jutsus, Genjutsus Ayame had never dreamed of before; all of these things crawled beneath the parchment. Paper was scattered around the room too. She'd taken notes from all of the strategy books at her disposal. She craved knowledge. It was one thing she could always get with her master. He always taught her something new. Ayame had always been a fast learner.

Stripping down to her singlet and shorts, she ducked under the covers on her bed before the cold could touch her skin and wondered what her master had in store for her tomorrow until she fell asleep.

'There's been an accident at the Leaf Village. And you'll be the one to fix it. You will leave before sun rise. Work your magic, my dear, and win them over. Dance into their hearts, and we strike there.'

Okay. There's the Prelude. Again, comments and/or reviews would be great. Thanks.

– Emichaan