Alright, this is my first fic. It was awkward to write (this will probably pass eventually, though).

This is set about a month after Part 1, during the time skip.

Chapter 1
Basic Introduction

The sun was making an effort to rise above the horizon over Konohagakure, but wasn't casting very much light over the surroundings yet. It was sometime on July, which made the nights short and the days humid. Not very many people were actually awake, but the distant sound of hammers against wood rung throughout the dawn air.

The Fifth Hokage sat at her desk, obviously drowsy and disoriented. She appeared to have slept at her desk all night, evidenced by the two pencils firmly embedded in her hair and the red imprint of a little raised desk plaque in her left cheek. She was trying to look alert, but it was apparent that the weeks of constant managing had left a toll on her state of mind.

At the other side of the desk was seated Shikamaru, who was also drowsy and overworked. He was under no obligation to try to look awake, and was slumped over in his chair, head lolling. The reason for this would be explained soon, he was told, but right now it seemed like nothing was actually getting done.

"I want to go back to bed…" he muttered.

"Well, you can't! You've been summoned here for an A-rank mission, and it's your duty to…"

Tsunade yawned loudly before finishing her sentence. This was the most information he had gotten out of her, and he was dreading the prospect of fighting off dangerous enemies before he had even had breakfast. Luckily, there was a crash from outside the doorway before he could be lectured again on his lack of preparation, and he turned around to look.

Shizune had tottered into the room, but it was apparent that she, too, was also reeling from lack of sleep. She had tripped over a pen, dropping the papers she was carrying. They were now laying in no particular order on the floor, hopelessly out of order.

"I'm sorry… ugh…"

She picked up the papers and slunk out of the room.

"Well, there goes the mission intel. I guess I'll just have to explain it to you the normal way…" said Tsunade. She had been hoping to hand him the papers and go back to sleep.

"What's this even about?"

"I need you to deliver a very important package."

"That's IT? You woke me up at 5 in the morning to do something that any stupid postal worker could do? What a drag. Is there a good reason for this?"

"Well, first of all, 14 of Konoha's postmen were assassinated during the Sand invasion. That left a tiny staff of 5 doing the work of almost 20 people, and we can't afford to further cripple the postal force by sending one for an inter-village package run."

"Don't we have hawks for that sort of thing?"

"No. The package is too heavy to be lifted by a hawk, and the village is almost completely inaccessible."

With a sinking feeling, Shikamaru realized that all the alternatives had already been thought of. Even if it was 5 in the morning, he was going to man up and deliver their stupid package. Although none of this explained the rank of the mission…

"Wouldn't a package run count as a C-rank mission? Why is it so highly ranked? Is the village in a siege?"

"Actually, it has more to do with the location than anything else…"

"Where's the village?"

"…It's in space. It's called Hoshigakure, the village hidden in the stars."

"Um…"

The plot thickens, even if it had no previous reference points! The intro may be a bit off, since the idea for this story kind of started midway through… I just have to write an intro. Please bear with me! Any feedback is appreciated, this is my first time!