Hey everyone, me again, and I brought a new story. Well, read and enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO

The Bravest of the Brave

All was quiet in the Hokage's office. The Godaime Hokage had her head on her folded hands, preparing to inform the Chuunin in front of her of his new mission.

"Shikamaru, I have a very important mission for you." Said the Hokage. Shikamaru had really wished that the Hokage had picked another shinobi for this assignment, considering that it was currently four in the morning. "As you may or may not know Uchiha Sasuke has left the village and is heading to Orochimaru." stated Tsunade. "What?!! Sasuke left?! Why?" said Shikamaru, practically yelling. He knew that it was out of place to lose his cool like that, but this was very unexpected. "Sasuke left to gain power from Orochimaru. It is my understanding that he has placed his cursed seal on Sasuke and it has potentially corrupted the boy." said Tsunade with a look of intense seriousness. Shikamaru was shocked out of his mind, not only had the lone Uchiha left the village, but he also sided with Konoha's most notorious, evil, and sadistic enemy. "Now then, your mission is to track and retrieve Sasuke before he crosses the border. If he does cross the border the mission will immediately end and there will be nothing we can do to get Sasuke back. As you can see, time is of the essence."

Shikamaru took a moment to digest the information. 'It seems that this should be easy enough. Just find Sasuke and beat him to a pulp and bring him-' Shikamaru's thoughts were interrupted by the Hokage. "I am assuming that Orochimaru has sent guards to escort Sasuke to the Sound Village." 'Damn, this mission just got a lot more troublesome.'

"I request that only jounin and chuunin be assigned to this mission." said Shikamaru. "I'm afraid that I cannot do that Shikamaru. Unfortunately all of the available jounin and chuunin have been assigned to missions outside of the village. However you may select as many available genin as you are able to find." said Tsunade." Yes Hokage-sama" said Shikamaru as he made his way for the door. "Oh, and Shikamaru, there are two genin I would like to recommend." said Tsunade with a smirk. After Tsunade had told Shikamaru about the two specific genin, Shikamaru left, muttering a "troublesome" as he closed the door.

Tsunade enjoyed her ability to use missions as an excuse to play match-maker. Even though the mission at hand was of the up-most importance, Tsunade still had a chance to make a certain lavender-eyed girl's dreams come true.

'Hmm...I suppose that I should start with the Hokage's first recommendations.' thought Shikamaru as he headed for Naruto's apartment. Shikamaru knocked on Naruto's door and waited for a few seconds. When Shikamaru got no response he knocked again. When Shikamaru yet again got no response he got a little impatient. He tried opening the door and to his surprise it opened. Shikamaru let an evil grin creep onto his face as he spotted the sleeping Naruto. Shikamaru snuck over to the small kitchen and filled a glass with ice-cold water. Shikamaru crept over to Naruto's bed. Shikamaru poured the icy liquid onto his blond haired friend earning an extremely loud scream from the blond.

When Naruto looked around to see where the freezing water came from. When he spotted the lazy genius rolling on the ground with laughter he said. "SHIKAMARU!! What the hell were you thinking pouring water on me this early? Wait, why the hell are you even in here!" yelled the enraged Naruto. After Shikamaru got over his laugh attack he said.

"Sorry Naruto, but I couldn't resist. You weren't answering the door so I had to wake you up some how. Anyway, I have a mission that we are supposed to do. Alright, I'm short on time right now so, Sasuke left the village and went to Orochimaru. I have been assigned to lead a team of genin and track Sasuke down and bring him back. So are you coming or what? Said Shikamaru in one breath. Naruto's mouth practically dropped to the floor as he yelled "WHAAAT!!!" Shikamaru stuck a finger in his ear to try to block out the loud noise. "Geez you're loud in the morning." he murmured. "You heard me, now do you accept or not?" asked the annoyed genius. "Of course I accept, just let me get changed." said Naruto as he ran to his closet. Shikamaru decided to wait outside, not wanting to see Naruto get changed. "Man this is gonna be troublesome." said Shikamaru as he let out a long yawn.

Naruto had finally finished changing and was wondering where Shikamaru was leading him. "Hey, Shikamaru where the heck are we going? Shouldn't we be heading for the gate?" asked Naruto. Shikamaru sighed, not wanting to explain where the two were heading, again. "I told you already, we're going to find others for the mission." said the annoyed genius. "Well, how much farther. I thought that we had to rescue Sasuke." said a pouting Naruto. "Listen we still need at least three more genin. I already know where two of them are." said a very annoyed Shikamaru. "Hokage-sama said that the next would be at the training grounds."

Shikamaru and Naruto had arrived at the training field to find that no one appeared to be there. Naruto was about to yell at Shikamaru for leading him on a wild goose chase, when he heard something that sounded like a squeak. He looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of a pair of pearl-colored eyes before they hid behind a tree. 'Was that Hinata?'

"Hey, is that you Hinata?" called Naruto. He heard another squeak and the pale-eyed girl stepped out from behind the tree. "h-hello N-Naruto-kun." stuttered Hinata as a small blush crept onto her cheeks. "Ah, there you are, Hinata." said Shikamaru. Shikamaru then proceeded to explain what happened to Sasuke and their mission. "So, if you accept than you will accompany Naruto and myself in retrieving Sasuke." finished Shikamaru. 'I'll be on a mission with Naruto-kun' thought Hinata. "I-I accept." Said Hinata. Shikamaru nodded and the three took off to find the last two recruits.

Hinata couldn't stop sneaking glances at her secret crush. She couldn't believe her luck; she was going to be on a mission with Naruto. 'This will be my chance to show him how strong I have become.' Thought Hinata as Naruto smiled at her. Hinata blushed hard a let a small smile slip onto her lips.

The trio arrived at the Akimichi home, obviously there to recruit Chouji. "Hey, Chouji, hurry and open the door." Said Shikamaru as he knocked on the door. When he got no response he pulled a bag of potato chips from his chuunin vest. "Hey, what's with the chips Shikamaru." asked Naruto curiously.

"Just help me eat them you two." Said Shikamaru as he opened the bag. As they were about to finish off the chips Shikamaru pulled out the last chip. Just as he was about to eat it the door swung open and Chouji flew out, snatching the chip in the process. "There's no way I'm letting you guys have the last chip!" yelled Chouji as he ate the chip. Naruto and Hinata sweat-dropped.

"Hey, shikamaru, are you sure we should bring Chouji with us?" whispered Naruto. "Of course. You guys don't know how strong Chouji really is." Said Shikamaru with a smirk. Shikamaru then proceeded to explain the mission again. After which Chouji accepted eagerly. "Alright, so who's next Shikamaru." asked Naruto as he folded his arms behind his head. "Uhh...I was thinking Shin-" the genius was cut of by a bark from Akamaru. "Shino is on a special mission with his father right now. Although if you guys still needed another member for your team, than I'm in." said Kiba. Shikamaru nodded and the group sped off towards the main gates.

When the new team of genin reached the gates Shikamaru said."Alright, let me see what equipment you all have brought before we head out." Everyone pulled out all of their kunai, shuriken, and scrolls and presented them to Shikamaru.

"Now then, I have devised a formation that will allow us to pursue the enemy without much trouble from surprise attacks." said Shikamaru. "In front will be Kiba and Akamaru. With your enhanced sense of smell and knowledge of the wilderness in the area, you will be able to spot the enemy from a good distance away." Kiba nodded as Shikamaru continued. "I will be next. If Kiba spots anything than I will alert the rest of the team. Also my Kagemane no Jutsu can stop any attacks that go unseen. Next will be Chouji. Due to your high physical strength you will serve as support to anyone who is in need of it." Chouji nodded, signaling Shikamaru to continue. "After Chouji will be Naruto. You will serve a purpose similar to Chouji only you will be mainly giving support to Hinata if the need arises." said Shikamaru. Naruto only grinned and put his arm around Hinata causing her to blush. "No problem, me and Hinata have it covered." he said. Shikamaru nodded and continued. "And finally Hinata will cover the rear. With your Byakugan you will be able to spot any enemies in any direction and alert the rest of the team." said Shikamaru. The shy girl nodded, trying not to pass out from the close contact she had with Naruto.

"Alright, that's enough." he said with a sigh. "Now as you all know Sasuke has left the village to pursue Orochimaru for power. I have never really had any kind of friendly relationship towards Sasuke nor do I particularly like him very much, but the reason that we are going after him is because he is a comrade. We cannot stand by and watch as one of our own gets corrupted by that mad man. Sasuke is a Konoha shinobi and I intend to keep it that way." said Shikamaru. "I don't like doing troublesome things like this but unfortunately this is our job as shinobi." said Shikamaru."Now if there are no questions we should get start-" Shikamaru was cut off.

"Wait. Take me with you" said Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, but Hokage-sama has already informed me of your failed attempt at getting Sasuke to stay. There would be no point in bringing you along so I can't." said Shikamaru. Tears started to stream down Sakura's face as the group started to make their way down the road. "Wait. Naruto, please bring Sasuke back." she said as the tears started to come faster. Naruto smiled and said." Don't worry Sakura; I'll definitely bring Sasuke back, that's a promise."

As the group started walking down the road Naruto thought about what he had just said. He wondered if he would really be able to bring Sasuke back. He quickly shook the thoughts from his mind and thought.' Don't worry Sakura, I will bring Sasuke back.'

That's all for this chapter, the next will be up shortly.

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