The sharp blade of the kunai cut through the forest air, embedding itself deeply into the ground in front of the three Konoha shinobi. Before them stood their target: Cloaked in a heavy traveler's shawl, his face remained obscured and his expression unreadable. His navy blue hair fell messily over his face, covering one of his piercing emerald eyes. There was a small shuffling noise as he placed the freshly acquired scroll into a pocket on his Amegakure garb. The leader of the Konoha squad held a second kunai in his hand, flanked by his teammates in an offensive formation.
"Surrender now, and return the stolen property. You can't win this." The order was given in a stern, lazy drawl. Shikamaru watched his opponent with a calculating glare; his mind was already buzzing with dozens of different tactics and outcomes for the confrontation. When the jade-eyed criminal simply shook his head, he sighed. Why even bother offering them to surrender? Thieves never seemed smart enough to accept the easier, painless way out. The shadow-user spared a quick glance at the sky, watching the sun loom lazily overhead.
'This won't take long'. The environments' conditions were completely optimal for his plan, and with one final sigh, he began forming hand seals. Chouji sprang into action immediately, enlarging the size of his fist and driving it at their opponent. There was a blur of motion as the thief intercepted Chouji's blow with his palm; water instantly began to surge in a sphere around the Akimichi, trapping him helplessly. His attentions turned to Shikamaru, and for the first time since their pursuit began, he spoke.
"It is I who will be giving you the option to surrender. Leave now, or forever bear witness to the horror that is me: The Sandman of the Rain, Mizugawa Enishi." He was answered by a kunai sailing toward him, sizzling with the familiar sound of an explosive tag. Enishi frowned slightly, releasing his victim from the Water Prison and evading the projectile. He didn't have a second to recover, as Ino's leg came flying toward his face in a powerful roundhouse kick, sending him sprawling to the side. He recovered quickly, picking up his fallen hat and replacing it onto his head before sending a glare to the blonde. "You were given your chance." He raised his arms to form a hand seal, only to find that he had no control over his limbs. The same lazy voice that had given him the chance to surrender spoke up once more.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu: Success." Sure enough, Shikamaru and Enishi were linked by a jet black shadow, stretched across the forest floor. The former smirked, allowing his hands to slide into his pockets. "You had your chance, you know. I can't tell you how many times I've just wished for the bad guy to surrender. It's just so troublesome having to drag out the inevitable. Chouji, if you could hurry and incapacitate him, that'd be great. I want to get back before it becomes too dark to watch the clouds." As the size-shifter prepared to knock their captive unconscious, the trio was frozen by a dark chuckle. The tension grew as the chuckling became louder, evolving into full-blown, blood-freezing laughter.
"You fool! You were given your chance!" Before anyone could react, Enishi yelled out in sick glee, "Forbidden Art: Twelve Days of Night!" The emerald hue of his eyes darkened to a vibrant, blazing gold color. Both Ino and Chouji gasped as the shadow connecting them dissolved into nothing, and their teammate cried out in immense pain.
"Shikamaru!" Chouji rushed to his friend's side, checking his condition. He grew worried when he realized that he was out cold. Ino cursed from behind him.
"Shit, he got away." Her glare of frustration gave way to a look of concern when her cerulean eyes fell on her fallen teammate. "We've got to get him back to the village, now." The blonde's tone left no room for argument, and Chouji hefted the unconscious Nara onto his shoulders, ignoring Ino's complaints about 'Tossing him around like a sack of potatoes.' They wasted no time in heading back to the village, moving as fast as their legs could carry them.
While Chouji had taken the liberty of reporting their mission failure to Tsunade, Ino had opted to wait at the hospital. The Yamanaka sat impatiently in her chair, mind racked with worry.
'Stupid, stupid, STUPID. For a so-called genius, you sure know how to make such stupid fucking decisions!' She knew that her frustrations were probably unfair, given that it was extremely rare for someone to be able to use a jutsu while being bound by the Nara's signature technique. So entranced was Ino in her mental ramblings, that she failed to notice the two pairs of feet that stopped in front of her.
"Yo, Piggy-chan. He's all yours." Startled, Ino looked up to see the smiling face of Haruno Sakura, whose arm was linked affectionately with Shikamaru's. "He had a small bump from when he collapsed, but Konoha's number-one-ass-kicking-medic patched that right up! Aside from his grumbling about the mission, he's good to go." She turned to her patient, glaring half-heartedly. "Take it easy for the rest of the day, you lazy idiot. I can't patch you up all day, you know." With a wink and a wave, she disappeared into the crowd of active doctors and nurses, resuming her duties with eagerness. Shikamaru didn't wait for Ino to get up, instead heading straight for the exit.
"Wait up, you asshole!" The shrill yell caused him to stop, wincing at the tone. God, how he hated hearing her yell. She caught up to him, barely resisting the urge to punch him. "I waited in this utterly boring waiting room for over an hour, and you can't even wait for me? Way to show your gratitude for carrying your ass back here after you went and passed out on us!" Descending the hospital stairs, Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"First off, Chouji's the one who carried me back. And don't you try to tell me otherwise, because we both know he did. Secondly, Sakura's the one who treated me. Thirdly, I hate hospitals, and you know this; I'm not going to stand around waiting for you." They'd reached the exit by now, and the pair walked out into the afternoon sunlight of the village streets. Ino shot her teammate another glare, huffing indignantly.
"That's another thing! I can't stand watching you two act like best freakin' friends all the time! It's like God, how is she not too troublesome for you, huh!? She takes care of a little bump, and you let her latch onto your arm like some lovesick puppy. And yet the countless times I've risked my tail to fight with you apparently means nothing, is that it?" The lazy Jounin wanted to smack his head into a wall, repeatedly. He really had no idea how he was able to put up with Ino sometimes. Closing his eyes, he sighed deeply, sinking his hands into his pockets.
"Oi, Ino. You know it isn't like that. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just tired. I appreciate you waiting for me, I do." The blonde visibly cooled, huffing once more as she blew her errant bang out of her face. The rest of their walk was filled with companionable silence, all the way to the training field. Shikamaru plopped down unceremoniously on the ground. He didn't even give Ino warning before he took his favorite position, gazing longingly at the sky. The blonde rolled her eyes, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder. She turned to leave, more than willing to give her teammate his personal time. Before she was out of earshot, she called back to him,
"Lunch at Yakitori's tomorrow, your treat!" Enraptured by the tranquility of the clouds, Shikamaru muttered something about "troublesome blondes" before closing his eyes for a well-deserved nap.
A few minutes passed.
A few minutes turned into ten.
Ten turned into thirty.
With a groan, the brunette opened his sienna eyes, glaring at the sky. Normally, he'd have been pleasantly asleep by now. Apparently, that wasn't an option this time. 'Just my luck. Whatever, I'll just get started on my mission report.' As loathe as he was to waste precious nap time on work, Shikamaru realized that sleep wasn't coming to him anytime soon, and figured he could at least do something productive.
Stars littered the Konohagakure night sky, twinkling in a sea of midnight glitter. A certain pineapple-haired Jounin lied in bed, exhausted. After finishing his mission report, Tsunade had sent him on several deliveries across the village, deciding to make use of him. By the end, he had a sneaking suspicion the adamantine Hokage was punishing him for failing his mission. Though he hadn't said anything to either of his teammates, their mission failure had been eating at him since he'd left the hospital. 'We were lucky that he decided to flee.' He thought grimly. Though the Nara had found it strange that the thief had taken mercy, he was grateful nonetheless. If anything had happen to his teammates...no. He wouldn't think about that. Ever since the failed Sasuke Retrieval Mission, he had sworn not to let any of his comrades die.
The hours ticked by in agonizing silence. Try as he might, Shikarmaru couldn't fall asleep. His mind was plagued with thoughts of his team, the mission, and his life. He realized that the reason he didn't immediately object to Ino weaseling a free lunch out of him was because he felt too guilty to say no. There was a very real possibility that he could've lost both her and Chouji, and refused to take them for granted, especially considering the failure was his fault.
The strategist groaned miserably as the first rays of light poked through his window. It wasn't the first sleepless night he'd had, but he sure as hell hoped it'd be the last. At least he was living on his own, so he wouldn't have to worry about his mother banging on the door, harping at him to get up. The corner of his mouth twitched into the faintest of grins.
Small mercies.
AN: Ta-da! Chapter one. Bear with me guys, cause this one is going to be a pretty interesting ride. As always, reviews are appreciated, and make me happy:) Till next time!