It All Started…

So the mission was clear: bring Sasuke back to the Leaf Village. The surviving members of Team 10; Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji along with Team 7's Haruno, Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai were assigned the difficult task by Lady Tsunade.

She grimly eyed the report and looked up, "Be very careful. According to this report, Sasuke was last seen in the desert close to the Sand Village and he has managed to learn a new technique that'll make this even more difficult. I'm assigning all of you since you were his classmates…and his close friends." As she turned over to both Sakura and Naruto who looked very uneasy. "I know this is hard for you both but you know him better than anyone and I think it would be better if you help out Team 10 in bringing him back alive. If it proves too much, then you will have no choice. I'm sorry."

Naruto and Sakura both nodded understanding that if it did prove too much, they would have to kill their former teammate and friend. Ino and Chouji both walked over and comforted them. "Don't get too down."-began Shikamaru, "You have my word that we'll bring him back alive." Although Shikamaru himself was too unsure about his own words but didn't let it show on his face. Despite how "troublesome" this seemed, he can see the pain on both their faces as well as Ino's face and knew how important Sasuke was to them.

"Oh and by the way" began Lady Tsunade "Shikamaru, as of right now, you are no longer a Chunin but you are being promoted to Jounin. You are now the Jounin in charge of this mission." Shikamaru turned in shock and looked at Lady Tsunade, "Are you serious?" Both Kakashi and Lady Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"Consider this as a gift after your terrific leadership and strategy against the Akatsuki." Kakashi replied with a smile. Shikamaru lowered his head and scratched the back of his head and muttered, "Mendokusai…"

Before they could be sent out, Lady Tsunade pointed to the door, "We made an alliance with the Sand Village. The Kazekage was kind enough to send us his ambassador in the hopes that this can be resolved peacefully. She will also be your guide around the desert so be sure to keep her alive."

As she finished this, the door opened and Temari walked in. She glanced over and noticed Shikamaru with a shocked look on his face. She grinned and joked, "So basically I have to babysit this lazy crybaby as well?" as she pointed to him.

Now Shikamaru would usually stay quiet and mumble to himself, "This troublesome woman…" but instead, he fired back with, "Funny how I have to babysit you. It doesn't really fit your style but I wonder how many turned down this job just because it's you."

Temari simply smirked and replied, "Are you sure you're man enough to take me on or do I have to hold your hand the whole time?"

Within the Sand Village, in the desert laid the bodies of two Sand ninja with a shadowy figure atop of the pile. An injured sand ninja laid in his blood looking up to the figure. "You can't hide forever. Eventually the Kazekage and the rest of the sand will find you and you will die. Not even the Leaf can protect-"before he could even finish, the slash of the sword to his neck ended his life.

Cleaning his sword and putting it away, Sasuke looked up to the moon and thought, "Just wait for me Gaara so I can take your head. Once I'm done with you, I'll aim next for Tsunade and finally Naruto…"

"Achoo!" "Naruto, cover your nose when you sneeze!" Sakura cried out while whacking him a few times in the head.

"This is no time to be goofing around! We have to reach the Sand as soon as possible!" yelled out Temari as she looked back at Naruto and Sakura. Shikamaru simply sighed, "What a drag…"

Once they continued, Shikamaru glanced over to Temari and ran faster to catch up to her. "I know we're allies and Sasuke was spotted in the desert but out of curiosity, why did Leaf and Sand make an alliance to capture Sasuke? This is the Leaf's problem. Has Sasuke done something wrong to the Sand?"

Temari leaped a little closer to him and whispered, "About two weeks ago, three of our scouts went missing while surveying the area for rogue ninja. Four days ago, the bodies of two of our scouts were found. The next morning, the survivor was found wounded and on the verge of death. We treated him so he survived however he did tell us that they were attacked by Sasuke a group of rogue ninja. Sasuke let him live as a message to Gaara that this is only the beginning. Ever since, Gaara fears for the safety of the villagers so he contacted Lady Tsunade and informed her of what's going on. However, Gaara and Lady Tsunade have asked me to keep this much a secret from all of you but you being a genius, I was allowed permission to let you know."

Shikamaru's blood ran cold and a fear ran through his entire body but didn't show it. "So what is Gaara's intention once Sasuke is captured and brought back to the Leaf? Will he request Lady 5th to send him to Sand to face trial or does he have other intentions for him?"

Temari glanced back at Naruto and in a series tone replied, "He's doing this for Naruto. He only wants to help bring Sasuke back. Whatever Naruto, you and the rest of the village decide is up to all of you together."

As she finished, Temari noticed the anger and fear on Shikamaru face as he tried hard to hide it. "You seem to have issues with Sasuke. What're your thoughts on all this?"

Shikamaru gave a serious face and replied, "I never really paid attention to care. Sure we were classmates but it's not like we were close friends. Still, he's part of my village and in a sense, I feel betrayed just as much as the rest of the villagers. I really wanna lay one at him but I think about Naruto and Sakura's feelings about all this so I just brush it off for them."

Temari just looked him with a somber look and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Even if you don't show it, you're a good friend and I'm pretty sure they appreciate everything you do for them. You may be 18 but you act a lot older."

With the utterance of these words, his anger and fear just vanished and replaced with hope and determination he never felt before. Shikamaru was shocked that someone could move him…Temari in particular! She was just a friend he could have a normal conversation with…no…more than just a normal conversation. She was just like his walking diary. Someone he could easily talk to and let out emotions he never thought he could with anyone. Sure, he could talk easily to Choji, his best friend since childhood but it wasn't the same with Temari. After clearing his thoughts, Shikamaru composed himself, looked at Temari and grinned, "Now was that a compliment?" Temari smirked, "Hmmm, maybe. Anger and sadness doesn't really suit you." As she winked at him.

"This damn girl…"