ESCAPE
The henchmen untied Shikamaru's hands letting him fall to the ground. He recovered his footing with his lips curved in a triumphant smile.
"You fell for it!" Shikamaru's hands were a blur as they flew through his trademark signs"Ninja Art, Shadow Possession jutsu"
A shadow glided through the dirty floor, enveloping its target and causing the man's eyes to glisten with fear.
"Ninja. Art. Shadow. Strangle. Jutsu!" Shikamaru followed up.
The shadow, slithering like a snake, transformed into a hand and made its way to the man's neck. Gliding upwards with a sickening slow motion, it caused the man to panic. He flared his arms wildly and clawed at his own back; the shadowed hand grabbed the man's neck, squeezing with precision and disdain.
The man dropped to the ground, asphyxiated. His eyes, a glassy chestnut brown.
Shikamaru flicked his eyes to Sakura. She was struggling to fight off the two henchmen. She can really do that? He thought.
Sakura clashed her kunai with the man's. One of them had already been knocked unconscious.
So the unconsciousness was just an act. Hmm… he observed
As Shikamaru continued his silent examination of her, she punched her opponent in the gut and he doubled over with a gasp of surprise, caught off gaurd. A final roundhouse kick to the chins sent him out cold.
Shikamaru smirked. "Never thought you had it in you really"
"Well, now you know" replied Sakura, nonchalantly, wiping blood off her face.
"Yeah, and I wouldn't want to be on the other side of it" he laughed
An awkward silence settled in the air.
"We've never really had a conversation this long, have we?" Sakura asked
"Aha... Anyways we need to get going now. Lady Tsunade must await our intel"
"You mean your intel that I wasn't even allowed to hear?"
"Look Sakura, I know it's a drag but deal with it deal with it"
"Aha…"
"And if you forgot I led this mission here. So get a move on already"
"Don't you get grumpy with me mister!" Sakura turned to face Shikamaru
Fear turned his face white. Don't hit me! He pleaded in his head. Outside he remained calm. "Lets get a move on already"
They left the cell, outside was a dark night with twinkling stars and a clear blue sky. It was magnificent. Shikamaru and Sakura both looked up, awed. They made their way down to some fields, where they stayed for the night.