This is my first Naruto story, and I happen to like Shikamaru a lot. No, Obviously I don't own Naruto, or I wouldn't be writing this story. I would appreciate reviews to let me know how I'm doing, but I know it's a hassle so, ya. Here goes! Hope you enjoy!

Traitor

She ran blindly through the dark and unfamiliar forest, the sweet rain mixing with the salt tears falling silently down her cheeks, and the setting sun casting strange and distorted shadows everywhere. The wind blew her straight mud brown hair out of her face, fanning it wildly out behind her. It felt wrong; she had not felt wind on her forehead for five years, ever since she had earned her hidden waterfall ninja headband. It had been the most precious thing she owned. It proved that she was someone, someone with purpose and skill, not just some faceless nobody. It had proved she was a proud ninja, and would serve her village in any way. That was a lie. There were very few things that she wouldn't do for her village, and that day, she had found one of them. Attack and ally. The Hidden Waterfall Village was waging war on their ally the Leaf village without any reason, provocation, or warning. Correction- they would have a warning. That was why she had left everything, her family, her home, her friends, and her beloved ninja headband, to give fair warning to the leaf of her village's treason. No, it wasn't her village any more. It was the enemy.

"The enemy. They are the enemy. They betrayed me. They betrayed the leaf. They are traitors!" She chanted silently in time to her footfalls, trying to convince herself that it was so. But as the wind whistled past, her guilt crazed mind transformed its sound into another chant "Not them, but you. It is you who betrayed them. YOU are the traitor!" And deep within, she knew it was true.

"Audrey, Audrey are you here? Look, I know you're there, so just come out! Jeez, you're being so annoying!" Summon of the Waterfall village sighed. Audrey was usually on time when they had a mission as important as today's.

"Look, I don't like this mission any more that you do, but it's our job right?" No answer. "Come ON you're going to make me late!" He started banging on the bedroom door of his best friend/teammate with a closed fist. No response.

"Audriana!" Summon took a step back and flattened himself against the wall adjacent to the door which he expected to burst open at any minute. She hated her full name, and any one who dared to use it usually never called her by it again. A broken nose or arm is a good reminder. He waited for the door to slam open and a punch come flying at his face, but nothing happened. The suspense built. Still nothing.

"Oh I get it you're waiting for me to let my guard down first aren't you, AUDRIANA!" It would be just like her to do something tricky like that, but her silence was starting to be unnerving. He should have heard something by now.

"Audrey?" he called cautiously, "OK, I'm coming in alright?" He paused with his hand on the door knob. Still nothing. Tentatively, still expecting a beating, he opened the door a crack. It creaked the way it always did, but there was still no sound from the room obscured by the door. With a deep breath and a grating squeal, Summon pushed the door open all the way.

He couldn't see his friend any where. Confident now, he opened her door all the way and stepped into her bedroom. It was meticulously clean. The bed was neatly made and all the books were lined up like soldiers on their shelves. Even the pencils on her des were organized carefully from longest to shortest beside the sharpener. That was beyond weird, usually the room was a total mess, or organized mess as Audrey liked to call it. But now, all the clothes and random objects that normally littered her floor were in tidy rows on the shelves or folded neatly in her closet.

"Aw man, don't tell me that she left with out me! Darn it I'm so late now. Audrey you're really going to get it. Jonno-sensei's really going to kill me!" He headed to the window grumbling in case he could see her on her way to the meeting spot, but the streets were deserted so early in the morning. "Maybe she got up early to train and has been there for hours!" he suddenly thought. Sighing again, he headed back towards the door before his sensei got really mad. Lateness was not acceptable in a ninja. He was nearly at the door when he saw something that proved all of his assumptions wrong and chilled him to the bone.

Her ninja forehead protector lying in the middle of her neatly made bed. Making his way shakily over to it, he picked it up. It was definitely hers, down to its spotless condition to the grey blue cloth of the band to that little dent he had put in it just the day before in a sparring match. Rushing to the window again, he looked out as if expecting her to pop out and tell him it was all a joke. No such luck. "Audrey…" He whispered, "What have you done?" And far away in the forests close to Konoha, Audrey was beginning to ask herself the same thing.

The guards of Konoha's gates had seen many people pass through the huge wooden gates of the Leaf Village. Some were heroes, others villains, some were famous others complete nobodys, but for some reason, this traveler seemed to stand out from all of the others. Maybe it was because neither of them had ever seen her before. Maybe it was because she was without a doubt very attractive. Maybe it was because her blue grey eyes were so full of sadness and unshed tears that it made you want to cry just looking at her. Maybe it was because her cheeks and arms were covered in shallow scratches, some still bleeding or her hair wind blown and tangled. Most likely though, it was because she walked up to them with only the slightest hesitation and said with out emotion "Take me to your Hokage. There is something she needs to know."

Tsunade stood, bent over her desk, one hand clenched into a fist and the other gripping the side so tight her knuckles were turning white and the edge was digging rather painfully into her palm.

"So you came all the way from the waterfall village in one night?" The hokage asked the petite ninja to make sure she had heard correctly.

"Yes" Tsudane's mind was reeling: that was quite a feat. It was a long way from one village to another, and there were several hazardous stretched of road to pass through. It would take an experienced able bodied ninja 2 days at least to make the round trip. This girl… she must not have rested at all! Yet here she was standing, (having refused the offer of a chair) as strong as the trunk of one of Konoha's mighty trees.

"Your village will attack in five days?" The Hokage asked, not really for confirmation but because the idea was so potentially horrible.

"Unless they change their plans, yes, the waterfall village will attack in five days." The petite ninja answered like a sleep walker.

"Her body may be alright from her journey, but her soul obviously wasn't" Tsunade thought.

"My lady," her assistant Chizune broke in "we should send all of our troops out immediately to counter them before they arrive here and put all the civilians at risk!"

"No" Tsunade argued, louder than she had meant to if we go to meet them the element of surprise will be gone. "Girl," she snapped her attention back to the younger ninja "Do they know you've come here?"

"They'll find I'm gone easily enough, but I doubt they'd believe I'd turn traitor." Her mouth twisted around the word and her voice shook slightly. It was obvious she was going to great measures to keep herself from crying. Tsunade felt a surge of pity for the small, broken girl. The choice must have been excruciating to make.

"You did the right thing" The older woman comforted keenly aware of how hollow her words were. The girl only nodded. "Call all the jonin and chunin who aren't on missions to me at once." Tsunade ordered: she had no time for pity now; she would talk to the girl later, "We need to up the security, but discreetly!" Chizune ran off to call for the leaf ninja "And get me a map while you're at it!" she screamed at her apprentices retreating back

"Damn it!" The fifth Hokage cursed and slammed her fist down on her desk, breaking it and sending wood chips flying everywhere. The brunette standing in front of her didn't even flinch. "Sorry about that." Tsunade said more calmly as some of the flying wood pieces hit her informer's face. "And thank you. You've saved many lives…" Tsunade left off her sentence hoping the girl would fill in her name. The girl shuffled about a bit, not meeting the Hokage's eyes. They both knew that by saving the people of the leaf, she had condemned her own people, her family and friends to death instead.

Finally, in a quiet and utterly hopeless voice, so different from the dead and unfeeling tone she had used before she whispered "Audrey, or Audriana, if you like." At that moment, jonin and chunin started rushing into the small office, waiting to hear what their hokage had to say. "Thank you Audrey" Tsunade said, finishing up quickly anxious to tell her people of the warning she'd received. "Chizune, show our young friend to a guest room, and see that she gets a good meal" the hokage dismissed her. Audrey silently followed the medic to the door. As she was about to reach for the delicately carved handle, it opened suddenly and nearly threw her off balance. In the door frame stood a tall bored looking teen, still holding the other side of the door knob and yawning. He was wearing black pants and a fishnet shirt covered by a chunin vest. His longish black brown hair was pulled up into a high pineapple-like ponytail. As she stepped around him, their eyes met.

There, that wasn't so bad! If you have time, review please!