-Shikamaru-
It was winter in Konoha; everyone was walking around in big coats, enjoying the cool air, and the snow. It was a particularly clear day, a Friday, that is, and everyone could see the nice sunset, the mix of hot and cold colors filling up the cloudless sky, making the mood just a little lighter. Naruto was out with his two friends, Shikamaru and Kiba, to relax and eat ramen after a long and harsh day of training. The team members hadn't had missions in 5 months, and their daily routine had become "train, and go home". Not that they disliked it, especially Shikamaru, but they were getting quite bored.
"God, I am so hungry!" Naruto yelled, while slumping down on one of the high chairs at the counter, his two friends sitting next to him.
"Three special menus please." Shikamaru ordered, while Kiba yawned in unison with his dog.
"Coming right up!" the shop owner answered, a huge smile on his face.
"I'm seriously getting bored of sitting around and training. Can't they give us a mission? Even a "D" ranked mission would suit me now." Kiba complained, yawning again. Naruto cast a glance at his bored friend. Kiba suddenly perked up, startling Naruto, noticing the cook was preparing special menus.
"Did you just order three special menus?" he asked Shikamaru. Said boy nodded, a questionable look on his face. Kiba shoved his hands in his pockets, pulling out his wallet. He shuffled through his wallet for twenty seconds or so, before smashing it on the counter with a groan.
"You know, if you have money problems, Kiba-" Shikamaru started, but quickly got interrupted by a quick nervous laugh from the dog-nin.
"Of course I don't have money problems Shikamaru, what are you talking about?" The boy continued laughing, but Shikamaru knew the laugh was faked.
"I'm not stupid Kiba, far from that. Here." Shikamaru handed the gaping boy 10'000 ryo. Kiba eyed the money suspiciously before taking it, and stuffing it in his wallet. i"This is how much he respects money."/i Shikamaru thought, sweatdropping.
"Are you sure, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.
"It isn't that much money." Shikamaru explained. Both his friends snorted.
"Not that much money, ey? We can see you don't have much trouble when it comes to money." Naruto mumbled.
"Three special menus for our dear customers!" The shop owner's daughter exclaimed, putting the steaming bowls in front of the boys. Naruto hummed, and dug in his plate just as the young lady put the bowl down. Kiba dug in right after, and Shikamaru started lazily poking his food with his chopsticks. The three boys silently ate. When Naruto finished his bowl, about 5 minutes after he received it, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and sighed.
"It would be nice to have a mission now…" Shikamaru silently nodded, and Kiba gave a "un" of agreement, his mouth being full.
"Shikamaru! Kiba! Naruto!" The three boys turned to the source of the voice. Shikamaru blushed; he had recognized the sharp, raspy and loud voice. It was none other than-
"Temari!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping off his seat to give her a hug, which she turned down by punching him on top of the head. His smile didn't go away though, and he followed her. Shikamaru felt a pang of jealousy when he saw Kiba do this to the girl. Kiba didn't like her for god's sake, he, himself did! Seeing the young man's expression, Kiba laughed.
"Oh, don't worry Shikamaru, this is a thing between me and her. Since two days ago, I am her stalker." He winked at the girl, who punched his shoulder, huffing.
"I didn't come here to joke, you douche bag." Temari growled. Kiba smiled goofily. At least, he did, until Shikamaru shadow punched him. Kiba growled and returned the punch. Shikamaru did the same. Temari just slapped her face with her hand, sweatdropping, waiting for the two boys to stop. When they did, she started talking again.
"So, I am here to tell you, you have to go to the Hokage's office, we have a mission. And the best, it's an A ranked mission." Naruto and Kiba's faces were glowing with joy, but Shikamaru just sighed.
"What a drag…" He complained. Temari shot him a glare, and he shut up.
"Well, I think it's pretty important, for me and my brothers to be called up here from Suna." Shikamaru's eyes widened. Gaara had been called to Konoha for this mission as well?
"So yeah, I gotta go back to the hotel, so I will be a little late, but you three have to go there now." There was a slurping sound as Kiba finished his ramen as quick as possible. He then grabbed the coat he had removed when entering the shop, put it on, and darted outside, closely followed by Naruto, leaving Shikamaru to pay the bill. He sighed, leaving the money on the counter. He put his jacket on and lazily walked outside. Right after he walked out, his hands started tingling from the cold. He shoved them down his pockets, and started heading to the north of Konoha, to meet the Hokage. The night's sky was already dark purple, almost ink blue, and the streetlights were turned on, giving a nice and warm glow to the cold night atmosphere. People were walking around, mostly in couples, laughing and enjoying their Friday nights, the beginning of the weekend. He sighed, and watched as his breath created a little puff of steam that rose in the air, and dissolved. He continued walking, ignoring the happy laughs of couples he walked by, or the people holding hands. When he finally reached the Hokage's office, he noticed by Tsunade's expression and Temari already being there that he was late. Tsunade was drumming her fingers on her desk, staring him down sternly. He couldn't hold back a blush when he noticed that Temari was staring him down too.
"Ah, um, sorry, I think I'm late." He said, nervously chuckling, rubbing his neck.
"Didn't I tell you to hurry up?" Temari exploded at him. He raised his hands in a sign of defeat, and took his place amongst the other ninja he had counted in the room. He had noticed team Kurenai, composed of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata, Team Kakashi, composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto, His own team, Team Asuma, composed of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and himself, he saw the sand siblings as well, Gaara of the Sand, Kankuro, and Temari. He noticed Kakashi seemed to be accompanying them on this mission as well. He counted 13 of them, counting himself in. He frowned, this much ninja for a single mission? Everyone else seemed to ask themselves the same question, for their faces were all marked with a deep frown. They all seemed too scared to ask the question, since they knew that it would only get Tsunade angrier than she already was. Tsunade took a deep breath, and shuffled through some papers.
"You all have been called here for a mission," she started, "a very dangerous one that is." She took a sip from the sake resting in front of her. "An "A" rank mission that will probably take more than a year." People in the room shifted uncomfortably. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. Spending more than a year away from home on a mission? It was such a drag, not many of the ninja would accept this mission. "I know what all of you are thinking. There are too many ninja here for one mission, and this mission is too long. But you have no choice, you have to accept it." Tsunade finished with a sigh. A small moan escaped from his lips, and Tsunade shot him a stern glare for the second time this evening. "Why do you think that you did not have any missions, and why you were on intensive training for 6 months? This mission." There was a movement in a corner of the room that was unlit by the dim candles put around the Hokage's desk. Every single ninja got ready for an ambush, but relaxed when Tsunade raised a hand.
"This man will be explaining to you the details of the mission. He will also lead you to the location." A tall man walked out of the corner, no longer hiding in the shadow. He had long black hair, and a slim figure. He bowed slightly, and spoke in a loud but soothing voice.
"Good evening. I apologize for disturbing your schedules like this, but the mission you were selected for is very important. You will be bodyguards for two people. Alice Ashford, and Aton Hedgeworth. At the beginning of the mission, you will only have to guard Alice though. You will be moving to England, on Earth. You do not need to take a lot of clothes, but take your weapons: they will be needed. We will meet at the Konoha gates tomorrow morning, at 10 A.M. I ask you not to be late. Thank you." The man bowed again, and walked back into the shadow. Tsunade flicked her wrists at the young ninja.
"You heard him. Dismissed." She drank more of her sake while the ninja exited the room. Shikamaru sighed, and walked out into the hallway, in the crowd of people. Temari and Kiba bumped into him.
"Hey," Temari addressed to Kiba, "don't you think that the guy with long black hair was hot?" Kiba snorted and help his puppy up to the level of his face.
"A bulldog would be hotter than him." He answered, nuzzling his dog's nose. Temari slapped his shoulder.
"You have no taste in guys!"
"I'm not gay!" Shikamaru envied the dog-nin. Kiba had a very good relationship with almost anyone in the city, especially girls. He was a very popular guy, and could bump into practically any conversation on the street without receiving a glare. They walked down and out of the building, Temari giving Kiba a lesson on what she called "hot" guys. Shikamaru just sighed, put his hands behind his head, and walked away from the crowd of excited ninja. Tomorrow was going to be the start of a long year. He didn't see Temari pull Kiba into the forest.
Sabrina: Huzzah, I absolutely love this chapter! It made me feel fuzzy inside just to read it again! Cause I got my documents back! Even though my computer is still kinda fucked.. I didn't tell you didn't I? Oh wells~ My computer just kinda fucked, so I lost all my docs, but now they are back and ROCKING! Hope you like it :D
And PLEASE PLEASE R&R, I would love feedback on this story, since so far this one and one of my original stories are the main projects for now. HEHEHE, me being an anime fan. Ahem, anyways, SIGNING OUT :D
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