Prologue

5 years earlier…

Not again. Please let this be a dream. This is not reality. It can't be reality… It did not happen again! I swore to myself I would not let it happen again! I wouldn't break a promise to myself…would I?

Her eyes were shut so tight from praying and wishing, she was giving herself a headache. She tried to relax, but her body felt like it was in battle mode; tense and ready to bolt at a second's notice. Breathing deeply, she inhaled the scents around her.

It brought a smile to her lips, knowing just from smell that this was her room. She immediately had a mental image of where all her belongings were inside the room, and was comforted that she didn't live like a pig. There was the faint smell of jasmine; her perfume. Jasmine and…sweat. A pungent odor of sweat…and the unquestionable aroma of sex.

Her smile faded as quickly as it came. There was no more denying it. There was someone in the bed next to her.

She tried to reason out the breathing that was not hers as air stealing into her room from the windows; certainly not because there was another human in the room. She had convinced herself that the reason that the bed was slightly slanting left was because she needed to replace her uneven bedrails; not because someone heavier was on that side, and the bed was warmer on the other side was because she was hot-blooded and when it had gotten too hot in the middle of the night, she rolled over to the cooler side.

But deep down, she knew everything she told herself was a lie. She knew she had broken her promise to herself. She knew that there was someone in the bed with her, and no doubt as bare-ass naked as she was at this very moment. Mentally kicking her own ass, she turned over and opened her eyes.

It was a man. He was lying on his back with his arms crossed behind his head and a small smirk on his common face. Common. Not ruggedly handsome, but definitely not ass-ugly either. He had dark hair, a normal forehead, a low brow, a straight nose, a wide mouth, and a strong jawline to balance it all out. Carefully, she slid the sheets down she could check out his physique.

He was tan, which is natural in the Suna village. Athletic build, with a decent sized appendage, although small for her tastes. But then again, she was certain that when she picked him last night, she was too drunk and horny to care.

Just as she was beginning to pull the cover back around his midriff, he opened his eyes. "See something you like?"

He had a deep voice, and plain blue eyes. Men like him are nothing extraordinary; A dime a dozen. Merely another shadow in the always-growing crowd of the population. Nothing that she could see or hear that would catch her attention in her sober state. Just like she had indicated before he had awaken: common.

She smiled vaguely and slid out of bed when he reached for her, exposing her naked body to the cool air of her semi-dark room. He looked a little surprised, but got over it quickly when he saw her making her way toward the bathroom.

"I have a meeting to be to shortly. Do me the favor of not being here when I finish freshening up, okay?"

With that, she closed the door and locked it. She turned on the shower to full blast, got in, sat down under the hot spray, and cried.

Θ
Θ Θ Θ
Θ

He faced the killer of his mentor, alone on the open field with him as the wind blew gently. That killer would meet his maker today. There was no doubt in his mind as he listened to the laughter of the evil bastard. There was no way that he would let him escape.

"Nara, Shikamaru… We meet again. Tell me, how long has it been since that fool died, hmm? About a year or two, I suppose."

Shikamaru's fingers balled up so tight his knuckles cracked under the pressure. He would murder this sonofabitch…no matter what! He was the reason he couldn't sleep at night. He was the reason why Kurenai cried herself to sleep almost every night. He was the reason Asuma wasn't here!

"Hidan!" he yelled as he charged him, no longer able to control his rage. So full of anger, Shikamaru no longer thought about which move was best, or what he could do to end this battle as soon as possible with little chakra used. All he wanted was blood. Hidan's blood. Nothing would stop him from getting that.

Hidan met him halfway and slammed a kick into Shikamaru's ribs, surely cracking some. At the same moment, Shikamaru's fist collided with Hidan's face. If Shikamaru had been actually strategizing, then he could have countered that kick and done much more destruction than a simple punch, but in the heat of the moment, it gave him great pleasure to see blood spill from Hidan's mouth.

He stumbled backward from being off balance, but recovered quickly and came across Shikamaru's face with a kunai in his left hand. Pure instinct and speedy reflexes had Shikamaru knocking the kunai away just in time. The kunai scratched him underneath his eye, but he hardly felt it and didn't care. To reciprocate, he grabbed Hidan's wrist and pulled him forward, adding more power to the knee driving home in his gut.

He heard him suck in a whoosh of air, and nearly smiled with glee as he shoved him back, setting up for the jutsu that was coming next. Just as he pushed Hidan back, he detected something strange on his shirt. Glancing down, he knew what it was at the same time Hidan jumped back, laughing. It was an explosive.

Shikamaru ripped his vest off and threw it just in time to watch it detonate in his face. He got it off in time to stop the true damage, but it still hurt like hell.

"Surely you saw that coming?" Hidan mocked, his face aglow with pleasure. "That was just too easy! Last time I fought you, you were a lot smarter than that…"

"Shut up!" Shikamaru charged him again, sending his shadows out while running. He dodged them easily, pissing Shikamaru off even more by snickering.

"You'll never defeat me, boy… what makes you think that you have what it takes to safeguard Asuma's family?" He caught Shikamaru's hand and twisted it behind his back in one motion, snapping his wrist. Shikamaru heard his shoulder pop out of place, too, and there was nothing he could do. He was captured.

"You can't even beat me by myself, so what are you going to do when my group and I burn Konoha, huh? Tell you what I'll do for you, since I'm just so generous!" A kick to the back of the leg sent Shikamaru to his knees. "I'll do you a favor. To make sure the wife and child don't suffer in a fire, I'll slit their throats. Personally."

"No… No!" Shikamaru tried to stand, but all the fight left him. He no longer had the strength to keep his head up, so he let it fall as he sank further to the ground. Maybe he was right… He obviously lost this battle. In a bad way. So maybe he was just setting himself up for failure.

Hidan strolled to the front of him kicked him in the chest, knocking him flat on his back and wind out of him. He went into a coughing fit when his foot came crashing down on Shikamaru's already aching chest.

Hidan had won. He was right. Shikamaru couldn't keep his promise to his mentor or himself. This was pathetic... Pathetic and unacceptable… Pathetic, unacceptable, and disgraceful… Pathetic, unacceptable, disgraceful and…true. Defeated, Shikamaru closed his eyes and decided to let whatever happens, happen.

A resilient gust of wind blew. Even disheartened, Shikamaru was a stickler for details. The blast of wind wouldn't have rendered him suspicious if it hadn't blown so hard it nearly stood him back up, or, if it hadn't stopped Hidan from laughing. Come to think of it, he no longer felt Hidan's chakra anymore.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a triangular shadow pass over high above him, and a red sash fall slowly out of the sky, and onto his chest.

So caught up in his own madness, he forgot that Hidan was only a shadow, created from his imagination. The real Hidan is dead. Blown to pieces and buried under a shitload of rocks in this very forest. Where no one would ever find him…

Shikamaru sat up and held up the sash. Damn. He had fought a physical reproduction of his fears… and lost. His imagination and uncertainties had gotten the best of him. He fought like an inexperienced lunatic, nowhere near the level of the trained jonin that he trained so hard to be. If that had indeed been anything like the actual Hidan, he would be lifeless by now.

He stood and tried to dust himself off, but winced at the pain in his left shoulder and wrist. Sighing, he decided to search the skies for his liberator. The person had to be fast, swooping in and out like that in only a few seconds time. He stood there, looking up at the sky for a few moments more before he gave up. Obviously, they weren't planning to come back and fling it in his face that he needed to be saved.

He folded the sash as best he could and began an unhurried pace back home from the family owned forest. "This is such a damn drag…" he whispered to himself despondently. "I have got to get my shit together. And soon…"