Okay, for the record, I don't claim any of Kishimoto San's Characters, nor do I claim to have written a very exciting chapter. ;)

But really, you'll be introduced to some characters of my own creation, (Made on a whim because I didn't know many Anbu members) ,But that's about it.

'Man, this is such a drag.' Shikamaru thought to himself. He was waiting at the village gates for the rest of the team to show up, silently fuming. 'So what if I'm only fifteen? I know what I'm doing! He doesn't know who I am or what I can do. So what if I'm not as experienced as he would like? He didn't need to bring that up in front of the entire team! That jerk! And to make matters worse, he's the team leader!'

But to anybody who looked at him, he was the poster child for calm and collected…. Or bored….

Shikamaru sighed, he didn't like the team leader so far, but trying to hate him was too much work. He figured he could let it slide and get over it. The guy was Anbu; after all, having an ego was probably in the job description.

The other four members showed up soon after, following the team leader through the village's gates immediately. No one spoke for the rest of the day; they just kept leaping through the trees non-stop, trying to make good time.

They took the most direct route through Fire country to the Hidden Grass. Shikamaru suspected that if they kept this pace and didn't stop too much, they could make it to the Hidden Grass in four days, tops, a day and a half to get through there, and three days to Iwagakure, if they didn't run into any trouble, that is. But he suspected the Captain to allot one half day for rest, at least, before entering Earth Country. It would be stupid not to.

Nobody spoke, but that doesn't mean nobody looked…. Shikamaru could feel the gaze of one of the Anbu throughout their travels. It really started to get to him after a couple of hours through the day. They rested in a clearing at about high noon. Still, nobody spoke. They ate a small meal and then continued their conversation-less trip for the rest of the day, finally stopping in a small clearing well after dark.

Still being in fire country, they were able to have a small fire, just one large enough for warmth and small enough to not be noticed easily. It wasn't for cooking. They had eaten dry rations again earlier. Shikamaru was looking over their maps and plans they had acquired for their mission. Their route was already planned, it was the quickest and safest one, but he figured he had better go over and memorize all of the information they had for the mission early so that he can formulate a strategy as soon as possible.

The Anbu with the tiger mask, Nobu, and the Anbu with the wolf mask, Hideo, were silently arguing over something. He noticed through the corner of his eye that Hideo kept motioning toward him.

He ignored them and looked at the other two Anbu. One was smaller than him by several inches, by the looks of it, and wore a mask that resembled a mouse. Dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail that reached the waist, he could just barely see senbon needles threaded into the hair, that one was obviously a woman.

The Anbu she was speaking to was about the same height, but of a different build. Shikamaru cold tell that it was male, but he had extremely long dark brown hair that reached his waist, tied low. He sighed quietly, the other four too engrossed in their conversations to notice it. He wondered silently what they were talking about.

But truth be told, he didn't really care. He just felt so out of place among them, being ignored was only a slight inconvenience. 'Like a leopard in a lion's den.' He thought idly to himself. He looked back down at the papers being illuminated by the firelight, tuning the Anbu out.

"Hey."

Shikamaru looked up and saw Nobu standing over him, his mask gone. 'He's younger than I thought.' Shikamaru thought to himself. He couldn't be more than thirty five, tops. He stood and nodded to him, wondering what this was about.

"Shikamaru, I would like to…."

He noticed that the other three Anbu were looking on curiously, or as far as he could tell they were. They still wore their masks, but their heads were turned slightly, like animals. It was actually rather disconcerting, but somehow his mind twisted it into something almost comical.

"I would like to apologize to you."

Shikamaru frowned, "For what?" He asked, the perfect mask of confusion on his face. But the Anbu wasn't paying attention to Shikamaru's face; in fact, he was doing his best to avoid it. If he had looked at him for long enough, he would have noticed the expression was a fake one. But he didn't.

"Well, for calling you out like I did in front of the team and Hokage. I apologize." He bowed to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru smirked and laughed just a bit. Nobu swung and looked at him, "What?" He asked angrily.

Shikamaru shook his head, "Don't bow to me."

Nobu looked confused, "You aren't…. Upset?"

"Well, I was, but I got over it awhile ago. It's not like I can blame you or deny that what you said was the truth."

"Oh…. Okay then…."

"Shikamaru can't hold a grudge; it's too troublesome for him."

Shikamaru looked to his left and saw the other two Anbu walking his way. 'I recognize that voice….' He thought to himself as the two Anbu took off their masks.

"N-Neji?" He asked, surprised.

"I believe so," He said, smirking slightly.

"I didn't know you became Anbu…."

"Then I must be doing my job right, hmm?" He and the woman stood in front of him now.

"Uh, yeah…. I guess so."

The woman stuck out her hand, "Hey, kid, the name's Reiko." He shook her hand. She had bangs like Hinata's, and her eyes were a deep blue color. She couldn't be any older than twenty five.

"My name's Hideo, nice to meet you." He turned back to his right and saw the last Anbu there, his mask removed. He looked to be about thirty, with side burns and a beard, like Asuma….

He shook his hand.

Hideo smiled, "Well, now that we all know each other, let's get some rest. So, who's taking first watch?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Neji, you'll take first, then Shikamaru, then me, then Reiko, then last will be Hideo."

Everybody agreed on the order that they would go by for the rest of the trip without question, then bedded down, using their cloaks that they brought with them for a blanket.

Shikamaru lay there for a while, finding it difficult to fall asleep. He kept running different mission plans through his head, formulating and strategizing to the best of his abilities and with the limited resources and information that they had. He couldn't determine their success rate, and it worried him. It would help if he knew the abilities of the other members, but as of yet, he's only familiar with Neji, having sparred with him on several occasions in the past and fought beside him on missions.

It doesn't help that they had no idea how many enemy shinobi there would be, either. To assassinate the Iida guy, he would need to formulate another strategy. That was where they would go first. If they were lucky, all of the scrolls would still be there. He had figured by reading the reports that the enemy shinobi were all working under Iida, they had all worn the same clothes. So it made sense that they would bring the scrolls to him.

Shikamaru sighed and let out a small yawn. His eyes slid closed, and finally he fell asleep.

Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter. :) There were only a couple, but I can dig it. ;)

So, there you have it. I guess you don't really get to see much of their personality, but take their masks into some consideration. Like Reiko's is a mouse. :) (I love mice. :)) (Actually, hairless rats are better, and much cuter. XD)

Still short, but hey, it was longer than the last chap, though. Right? Even if only by a little bit. :) Anyway, review again, K? Please? :)

Lunar, ^.^