"It's a lovely night, isn't it?" I said to Shikamaru as we walked down the road. Walking around on nights where we didn't want to be at home were common.

"Yeah, not quite as lovely as you though." He said back with a shrug.

I looked at the ground and smiled. Cute things like that aren't common from Shikamaru, but they aren't necessarily rare. Either way, he always knows when and how to make me smile.

We walked in silence again, enjoying being in each other's company. It was when we approached the playground that we noticed Sakura and Naruto.

"Shikamaru, something's not right." I announced. We jumped forward, hiding behind a tree. Observing from afar, we could see the two facing a man with a mask. It had to be Madara, the Akatsuki man we were fighting against. They both tried to attack him, but they seemed to slip right through him.

"How did he get into the village?" Shikamaru asked, shocked.

"More importantly, we can't let him get to Naruto." I replied, watching closely.

Madara threw up a red orb. As it began to glow, I grabbed Shikamaru's arm. "Let's go!" I shouted as I transported us right in front of Naruto and Sakura.

My vision went white for a few seconds. As I regained my sight, I saw that Madara was gone.

"That was weird." Naruto said as we all looked around. "Where did he go?"

"He disappeared. This isn't good. We should let everyone know." Sakura announced.

"Next time, give me some warning Leda." Shikamaru told me as he shook his head.

"Sorry, didn't really have time." I replied with a shrug.

"Come on, let's go talk to lady Tsunade." Sakura told us. She and Naruto took off towards the stairs leading back to the road. Shikamaru and I looked at each other, knowing we had gotten ourselves into something troublesome. We followed them, but they had stopped and run into Hinata's team.

"What do you mean by Madara?" We heard Kiba asked as we walked up.

Before Naruto could reply, Akamaru bit Kiba's butt. That started a sprawl between the two, which was strange because they normally got along. A few seconds later, Akamaru took off down the road.

"What's up with you and Akamaru?" Naruto asked.

"It's always like this." Kiba sighed. "I wish I had been born a cat user instead."

"WHAT?" All four of us asked in unison.

"Why are you confused? Kiba has always been a cat lover." Shino explained to us.

"Something's not right." I whispered to Shikamaru.

"What were you two doing here? It better not have been a date!" Hinata asked Sakura suddenly. She advanced towards Sakura, glaring at her. "If it was, then I'll kill you."

"No Hinata, we were just talking about a mission." Sakura tried to defend herself.

"Just admit it!" Hinata aggressively shot back.

"Wow girls, calm down!" Naruto said as he stepped in-between them.

"Why are you covering for her?" Hinata shouted at him.

"Guys, we should get out of here." I announced. I felt Shikamaru grab my hand, and I allowed him to drag me after him as we ran down the road.

"What was up with those three?" Shikamaru asked as we ran.

"Who knows? Whatever Madara did to us, it's going to be tough to make things right." I replied. Sakura and Naruto were quick to follow us, Hinata yelling after them.

We didn't stop running until we were well into the village. It wasn't too late, so there were still a lot of people out and about at the shops and restaurants.

"Those guys sure didn't seem like themselves." Naruto announced as we were catching our breath.

"There you are Shikamaru!" Choji called out. Him and Ino began to walk up to us, but something about them was off. Choji was thinner and had a more serious look on his face, and Ino seemed way too shy and nice.

"What are you doing with her?" Choji asked as he reached us, pointing to me.

"Why wouldn't I be with her?" Shikamaru asked, confused.

"Why? Have you gone mad?" Choji shot back. "We hate her team, and they hate us! It's been like that ever since our days at the academy."

"What?" I replied, looking at Shikamaru. "But we've been dating for two years."

"Dating? What the hell are you talking about?" Choji demanded as he got into Shikamaru's face.

"Choji calm down, no need to be so aggressive." Ino replied softly as she grabbed his arm.

"Leda, come on. You don't want to be seen with those freaks." Brandon announced as he and Zaine walked up to us.

"What's going on with everyone?" Sakura cried out eventually.

"Sakura, you're the child of heroes. Calm yourself." Choji told her as he pointed up to the carvings of the Hokage's. Sure enough, the face of the Forth Hokage was different than what was normally seen.

"I'm so confused." I whispered as I shook my head. Nothing made sense, it was like everything and everyone was backwards.

"What's all the fuss about?" A new voice entered.

"Saskue?" Sakura asked as he walked up to us.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto cried out.

"You two okay? You look like you've seen a ghost. Sakura, Menma." Saskue said.

The four of us looked at each other, silently agreeing that we'd have to just calm down and go with whatever came our way. Obviously something was wrong, and the backwards people we knew here weren't going to be much help to us.

"Let's go to the bath house and all calm down a little!" Ino suggested with a wide smile.

"You guys go ahead." I replied with a fake smile.

As everyone else started walking away, I grabbed Shikamaru and pulled him back. "I'll see what I can figure out from the guys, you see what you can figure out from everyone else and let's meet up later."

"Sounds good, be safe." He told me before walking away.

I sighed as I turned to face my teammates. It was obvious how different they were just by how they looked at me. Normally I was in charge, but here I could tell that I was not the one with the power.

"Do as you're told, stay away from that boy." Brandon told me before turning and walking down the road.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Zaine said before following.

I sighed as I trailed after them. This wasn't going to be easy.