It was another normal day in the leaf village and Shikamaru Nara was bored out of his mind. He walked around his empty apartment early one morning, a sigh escaping his lips.
"What a drag. there is absolutely nothing to do around here," he said to himself with a sigh as he collapsed onto his couch. After the Great War had ended things had calmed down in the ninja world. Now at eighteen and living in his own space, Shikamaru had nothing to do besides go on the occasional assigned mission from Tsunade or volunteer at the ninja academy.
Maybe it's time I took a team of my own. Shikamaru pondered in his head as he looked out the window at the awaking village. He knew his mother's answer would be different. He could picture her screaming at him, telling him it was time to settle down with a girl. Without his father for her to boss around she had begun to bug him more lately.
"Not like there are any girls I know that I'm interested in, like that." Shikamaru sighed again as he thought about it. Sure, there was Temari, whom he admitted was attractive, but she wasn't what he was looking for. Ino was too troublesome for him, so she was out. At this rate, Shikamaru wasn't sure he was ever going to find the one, but it didn't bother him that much.
An urgent tapping on his door broke him from his train of thoughts. He jumped up, running to the door. He opened it, seeing Kakashi standing outside his apartment.
"Get to the main gate as soon as possible; someone will explain there," Kakashi told him before disappearing.
"What a drag," Shikamaru replied, but was actually filled with slight excitement. This meant a mission; something was happening. He quickly gathered the necessary equipment for a mission and then left for the gate.
There were already a few others waiting at the gate, but with each passing minute more arrived. No one spoke as they awaited direction from someone. Shikamaru observed the growing crowd, figuring whatever was happening was serious judging on how many people they had called here.
Kakashi and Yamato appeared a few minutes later, calling everyone's attention. "We're going to try and keep this quick. As some of you may know, there is a small village on the border of the fire nation that produces many unique fire style shinobi. We received word from multiple sources that the village hidden in the mist is attacking that village tonight with intent to destroy it, the villagers, and its unique fire style Justus. We aren't sure what their motives are. Our job is to get there and stop the attack," Yamato announced, followed by Kakashi dividing the group into teams.
As soon as the teams and duties were established, Yamato led them off. But, Shikamaru and the team he was leading stayed behind a moment due to Kakashi wanting to give them additional instructions.
"One of the warnings of the attack came from a young lady named Luna, whom fought with us in the Great War. She is a shinobi of the hidden mist but was born and raised in the village that is being attacked. Due to the high possibility that the mist will find out about her betrayal and attempt to kill her, your team is to find her and assure her safe return to the leaf," Kakashi told them before leading his team out of the village.
Easy enough. Shikamaru thought as he led his team through the forest. Kakashi had assigned him the perfect team for finding and recovering the girl, if they knew what she looked or smelled like. Hinata with her eyes, Shino with his bugs and Kiba with Akamaru were great in recovery missions, but they didn't know who this girl was and that was the main challenge.
The village they were heading towards was a day's trip away, but the teams were able to reach it as the sun was setting. But it was already too late and the village was surrounded by a thick cloud of mist. Fire type Justus would be at a disadvantage in this justu.
Shikamaru could hear the screams of the villagers, his stomach turning. This is why he hated war, but he had a mission to complete. The others would stop the attack. Kakashi gave the signal, and the leaf began their counter attack.
His team followed Hinata as she led them through the smoke. Shikamaru had begun to lose hope that they would ever find the girl when they heard a loud cry. They ran towards where it had come from, and spotted a small group of children hiding behind a girl. There were three younger mist ninja in front of her, ready to attack.
"How dare you betray the hidden mist Luna?" the first boy cried out, a hurt look his face. Shikamaru held his team back, wanting to wait until the right moment to strike now that they had found their target. This was easier than I thought it was going to be.
"The mist has no reason to slaughter this village! I would never lead an attack on my own family!" Luna cried back. Shikamaru could tell she had already been in a few battles. Hinata could tell her chakra was running low, and there were visible cuts that were still dripping blood on her.
"You're one of us, we're your family! Isn't that what you taught us sensei?" the girl of the mist argued.
"I also taught you that this is wrong! Slaughtering innocent people, innocent children, is wrong! This isn't what the hidden mist should stand for!" Luna raised the knife in her hand and stepped forward. "If you don't turn back now, I will be forced to disable you for the time being," she paused, looking at the team with anger and sadness in her eyes. "Please guys, I don't want to hurt you."
"It's too late now," the second boy told her as they all raised their hands to prepare for a justu. But, they froze, suddenly caught in Shikamaru's Justu. His team appeared from the shadows in front of Luna, shocking the three from the mist.
"Luna, we are from the leaf," Shikamaru said as he turned back to look at her. There were tears streaming down her dirty face, but there was a determination her purple eyes he hadn't ever seen in anyone else. "We're here to help you."
"Please, get these children to safety. I will deal with my team," she replied.
"Shino, Kiba," Shikamaru turned to them. They nodded and grabbed the four children that were hiding behind Luna.
Once they were gone, Luna stepped past Shikamaru and Hinata, looking at her paralyzed team. "I'm sorry about this; maybe one day you will learn and realize your mistake. If you do, you know where you can find me." She turned back, nodding to Shikamaru. He was unsure, but he released the ninja from his hold.
It only took her five seconds to knock them all out. Shikamaru guessed this was due to her having trained them and knowing their abilities by heart. But, she was also insanely fast, even with little chakra. She turned back to Shikamaru and Hinata, her eyes beginning to gloss over.
Shikamaru caught her just before she collapsed. "Thank you," she whispered to him before closing her eyes and going unconscious. The attack had changed tides and the mist was beginning to retreat. Hinata and Shikamaru made their way back to the meeting place, Shikamaru carrying Luna.
He began to observe her more closely once they got there and he set her on the ground. Her long dark purple hair was stained with blood and there was a deep gash in her side that was still slightly bleeding. But, she had a pretty face, one that Shikamaru believed would glow when it smiled.
Hinata had run off to find a medical ninja and a minute later came back with Ino. As Ino began to heal the gash, Luna's eyes fluttered open.
"You're safe now, the children are too," Shikamaru told her as he sat by her side. She looked up at him, and as if recognizing him from earlier, she smiled at him. Shikamaru couldn't help but smile back; he had been right about her smile, it was beautiful. She grimaced in pain a few times, but by the time Ino was done treating her, she seemed okay, just exhausted.
The leaf worked throughout the night and secured the area around the small village. Unfortunately, most of the village was lost and most of the villages were hurt if not dead. The leaf headed back to the village with the most wounded, but left behind a few to protect the village in case of a counter attack.
Luna was almost too exhausted to make the journey back to the leaf, but Shikamaru stayed by her side the entire time. It was slower going this time and they arrived at the village the next night. The hospital was crowded with patients. After Luna was checked, the two sat in the hallway waiting to get a chance to talk to lady Tsunade.
Shikamaru yawned as he looked at Luna, who was asleep with her head on his shoulder. He hadn't left her side since they had found her. After not getting a chance to sleep for the past two days, he was exhausted. Guess this is what I get for wishing for something to do.