Thanks to Nigtalea,Boycrazydemon, and alexiel90 for my first reviews! I own nothing except the characters I have came up with. So, enjoy this new chapter!!

CHAPTER 2

Shikamaru had spent hours walking around the small, yet very populated town asking questions about this stranger that had moved in. All that he had found out so far was that he didn't talk to people, and if he did he would say very little. Shikamaru had gained nothing about where he came from or who exactly he was, but he did figure out that did slip up and tell someone, who luckily told Shikamaru, that he had a secret hide-out somewhere hidden in the trees. At one point one man told him where the boy had lived, and so many of the others he asked had asked him why he was asking in the first place. Shikamaru traveled over to the home the boy had lived in, which he apparently was stupid enough to leave the basement of the building locked, which meant that he was hiding something in there.

Shikamaru pulled out a kunai and started picking the lock as slowly and carefully as possible. It took him less than a minute to hear the click and opened the door, bit by bit. He looked in and saw that the room was big and very deep. The room let out a cold draft, along with a moldy smell. Shikamaru looked at the stone carved stairs and found a loose rock. He picked it up and tossed it down the stairs, letting it make as much noise as it could. No response. Nobody was down there, and if the girl was there she would have made some noise to let him know she was there.

He made his way down the stairs cautiously and fumbled for a light. He almost fell down the stairs when one step was steeper than the others. He found a switch, flipped it on and looked around quickly, looking for any sign of life. None whatsoever. But his chocolate colored eyes grew as wide as possible when he saw the many photos, drawings and eerie red writings decorating the walls, all of or about the same girl. Haruhina Suzuka.

MUST HAVE HER was written everywhere. Shikamaru shuddered. He has dealt with many disturbing things, but nothing as disturbing as walking into a stalker's hideaway.

There was a desk at the farthest wall. Shikamaru walked over carefully, looking for any booby traps this creepy guy may have made. He fumbled with his fingers as he flipped through the sheets of paper all over the desk, looking for anything that would give him a clue as to where this guy may be. He found a key, a large, rusted gold colored key, which he fingered uneasily for a moment. He quickly looked anything with a lock, and found several locks on different drawers. He tried the key in each one, but none let the key fit. He searched quicker, looking as hard as he could. He finally had a lead on where Suzuka was, he couldn't let it end like this.

He grinned, relief sweeping over him as he found a chest hidden under the desk, where the lock matched the key. He shoved the key in and opened it quickly, revealing a hidden map, along with more pictures, but not all of them were of Suzuka.

"Lets see…" Shikamaru thought out loud, in a voice that was just barely audible. He unfolded the map quickly and saw it marked in several spots. There was a mark in the town he was in now, and several all over the forests, nowhere near any towns. Hideouts…! Shikamaru thought hopefully. He still had an uneasy feeling about being in the building. He looked at other spots, and found one in Sunagakure, and oddly enough…one in Konoha…

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end when he heard a 'thumping' sound upstairs, like footsteps walking around the upper levels. Shikamaru snatched the chest, ran to the light switch and turned off the light. He waited, straining his ears for the footsteps. Thump…thump, thump, thump…The footsteps seemed to be moving away from the staircase. But…the boy should be gone. Who was upstairs?

Shikamaru pulled out several blades and made his way upstairs. He heard the footsteps, which were coming back to the stairs, but in long strides. "MEEEEEOOOOOW!" A large cat hissed when it saw Shikamaru in the stairway. He sighed with relief and watched as the cat went back to chasing the mouse, trying to pounce on it. Shikamaru quickly got out of the house and back to Nishiko's home, which she gladly let him use it as a temporary base of operations.

Nishiko was in the backyard gardening when Shikamaru let himself into the home, hurried upstairs to the guest room and threw the small chest onto the bed, letting the pictures spew out of the thing. He grabbed the pictures and looked at each one. One was of Suzuka, a big red X over her face, same with all the other photos. There was a picture of a girl with a Suna headband, several normal, non ninja looking girls, and even a guy or two, which gave Shikamaru the creeps, big time.

But what surprised him the most was that…

There was a picture of Naruto in the bunch.

Shikamaru dropped his picture quickly, and flipped through even more. He found more shinobi from his village, a lot of young students he didn't know. He couldn't believe how many pictures there were. He found more shinobi from Suna and his eyes widened when he saw Temari in the group as well.

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