I'm SOOO sorry that i took FOREVER to finish this chapter. I was going to write some more but then that means MORE waiting. So I'm just like whatever. I had SUCH a difficult time labeling this chapter. I changed titles like 213483 times god. Well I hope you enjoy it (:

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the naruto characters. or my song choice . demi lovato's album is SOOO AMAZING (: but i think she looks the best in get back video. if you check out her CD, here we go again, i recomend here we go again, solo, u got nothin' on me, falling over me, quiet, catch me, every time you lie, got dynamite, gift of a friend and everything in it. (: awesomnesssss.

Chapter One/ Disappear
Lyrics: It's much too quiet in here/ I want to disappear/ I'm hearing myself thinking too clear/ It's too quiet in here/ Make it all go away/ Why can't we break this silence/ Finally
Song: "Quiet" written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Demi Lovato

"Dear, Gaara-sama," Gaara whispered softly to himself in the empty office. It was a quiet afternoon; the village was getting ready for their training as usual. Gaara was supposed to be giving an oral presentation to the kids at the Academy… but that had to wait. Earlier on, Kankuro had rushed into his office to give him this "important" document. It was a little strange, Gaara thought, to accept something from Konoha. They haven't heard from them in almost three years. "I would like to inform you," he continued, "that Konohagakure is participating in the Coffee Village's Keen Analyst and Strategist Contest. To my ninjas, this is an A-ranked mission, because you know as well as I do that the Coffee Village is a very flamboyant and dangerous community that holds many unexplained things. It would be wonderful if you too, Sunagakure, would be glad to join us to this contest. If you please, I would like if it you welcomed Temari, to join this mission with us. Please think this through, after all the price for the first- place winner is unbelievable: Two years worth of supplies or if you choose to, to have your village's name honored throughout the world. Of course, I believe that the only reason why Kohiigakure is holding this contest is to show off and boast their ninjas' great powers. If at once, please send me a message and Nara Shikamaru will be there waiting for you."

Gaara put the scroll back down on his desk and began pacing around until he stumbled upon the window. Looking down on his village, he closed his eyes and remembered all the great times they had with Konoha. Should he risk Temari into joining this little contest? It was like what Tsunade said though, the prize was too high to say no to and plus with Temari and Shikamaru together, they would be an unbeatable team. Sighing, he returned to his desk, took out his ink and began writing the message back.

"We would be delighted and splitting the prize money in the end would be perfect. Thank you." Gaara printed in small letters and was ready to call Temari up to him.

"I love this restaurant," Ino laughed softly as she stuffed a barbecued chicken in her mouth. She licked her lips after she was done and smiled gleefully.

Shikamaru laughed, "That's interesting because whenever Choji and Asuma-sensei were here, you would be reluctant to come."

"That's because right now, I'm here with you," Ino smiled while made Shikamaru happy deep down inside. Shikamaru guessed his father was right, and even though she was a bossy woman, she had the best soft and great side he'd never seen. They'd been going out for a while, but whenever Shikamaru took her out, she'd always play it like they just met a couple of days ago. It was hilarious, he finally decided.

"So, what are you doing later?" Ino asked as she took a sip of her coffee, her eyes looked hopeful. Shikamaru wrinkled his eyebrows and folded his arms on the table. How would he be able to tell her? It was hard enough for him to find out yesterday and he had been meaning to tell Ino… but it would just be too troublesome, really for a lack of a better word. Troublesome that Ino would take it the wrong way.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked. She tried to race through her mind and wondered what could be affecting him so much that he stopped talking. Was he cheating and was going to spend the rest of the day with another woman? Ino then slapped herself in the face mentally. That was totally impossible. This was Nara Shikamaru, the laziest man on Earth; he would never do anything weird. He'd complain that it was "too troublesome." Plus, Ino was practically with him every waking moment. She sighed, "You know you can tell me anything. I thought we established that, after all we've been together for almost three years."

"I know," Shikamaru sighed and poured some tea into his cup. He watched the dry leaves stir inside and sink down to the bottom. Sometimes he wished his life was like a tea leaf, he would just wait for someone to drink him and then his life's mission would be accomplished. The human would be happy that the tea tasted so delicious and the tea leaf would be proud of its taste. Simple enough. "Okay," Shikamaru sighed once more, "well Tsunade-sama is sending me on a mission soon. I'm supposed to meet her later to discuss it with my other partner. It's supposed to be dangerous."

"Oh, you're going on a mission?" Ino asked and chewed slowly. The news wasn't horrible…but how long would he be away? She couldn't think of anything else to do if Shikamaru wasn't there with her, but she could never admit that to him. Plus, he had to be safe or else she'll never let go of that."Well that's great!" Ino smiled, "Maybe this will finally boost you and you will become a Jounin."

Shikamaru smirked, "Maybe. After all it is an A-ranked mission. I don't really know the exact details though, but you'll be the first to know."

"Oh, okay, and who's your partner?" Ino asked.

There was a silence and Ino wondered how bad it could be. Maybe Ino heard wrong and he didn't have a partner? Or maybe it was Uchiha Sasuke, someone that Ino used to be infatuated with. Yup, Ino decided, that would be mad awkward for him to tell her if it was Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sabaku no Temari." Shikamaru stated and looked at Ino—she was frozen solid.

It's awkward, Ino decided once more. After all, Ino hadn't talked to her blond friend for a while. They both just got busy with their lives. Also, Suna and Konoha hadn't really had any close encounters for almost three years. This is problematic, Ino concluded, no… troublesome would be the better word. They were really close—Shikamaru and Temari—and it wasn't like Shikamaru was going to cheat on her, that was obvious, but… Temari might be upset that Shikamaru was now taken.

Or was she just lying to herself? Ino screamed in her head. No, no, no. Temari doesn't like Shikamaru, they were just best friends before! Plus, Temari's my friend too…they both wouldn't do that to me!

"Ino? Ino, are you alright?" Shikamaru shook her hand and Ino blinked hard—twice.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was just thinking." Ino said and tried to avoid his eye contact by picking up the burnt meat in front of them.

"Ino," Shikamaru looked at her. "If you don't want me to go on this mission, just tell me. I'll go back to Tsunade-sama and tell her I can't. You're more important to me than some mission with Temari."

Ino felt her heart stop beating. That was the cutest thing someone said to her. Ino smiled once more, "Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine… you go on your mission. I know how much going on missions means to you…just be safe."

Shikamaru smiled and leaned over the table to kiss her on the cheek.

"I will, don't worry." Shikamaru said and continued stuffing food into his mouth; he had to hurry to escort Temari from the front gate to the office.

"In a hurry?" Ino asked.

"Yeah I'm supposed to help Temari come in. You want to come with me?" Shikamaru asked optimistically.

"Of course," Ino replied sharply, who wouldn't want to spend more minutes with their boyfriend? After paying for their food, they hurried out into the crisp summer afternoon. It was surprisingly cold; probably one of the coldest summers there was in Konoha. It was perfect though, coming from a barbeque restaurant. There was barley anyone out in the street, considering that everyone stayed home in their fancy warm room. Even Ino was complaining, "Let's hurry up so we can go to the Hokage's soon."

Waiting by the gate, Shikamaru had a quick flashback in his mind. He remembered the last time Temari left. It was the celebration that everyone still remembered. The crowd, the cheering…he wondered if Temari thought differently of him. Tsunade-sama had said that Temari would be arriving sometime soon…but it seemed like a while as Ino and Shikamaru waited in the cold weather.

Shikamaru first looked up when he heard sounds. Ino followed his eyes and saw a small figure growing larger by the second.

The woman walking up was smiling happily, like she was ready to return home. Her clothes were baggy but they still shouted out her name and her attitude. Strangely, the woman was carrying a scroll hanging from her back—Ino thought it was similar to her comrade, Tenten's, weapon scrolls.

It was defiantly her, just different.

Temari was back.

"Hey!" she shouted and smiled, running up to them and giving them each a small hug. "It's so nice to see you guys again! I haven't heard of you guys for a while now. How's everything going?"

Ino smiled, "Cold."

"Yea," Temari said and looked up at the sky, remembering the place. It was familiar…2 ½ years had passed…it had been a while but it was still the same. "Suna is much hotter than this," Temari looked at her friends in the eye, "I'm assuming you guys didn't write anything great because you guys never made it to becoming a Jonin?"

"You know us too well, Temari." Ino laughed and her stomach lurched. Ino missed her, it was defiantly not a lie. It was just going to be a little strange trying to explain the whole situation with her and Shikamaru…

"So, should we get going?" Temari asked, looking around at the deserted town.

"Of course," Shikamaru spoke out, his first words since Temari had returned. He realized that he'd grown taller than her by several inches… which was funny because Shikamaru thought he'd never grow. Shikamaru missed her too, but he couldn't say anything. Especially in front of Ino, of course.

(insert space line that does not work on my computer. haha sorry :P)

Tsunade-sama started pacing around her office and then turned towards to face her window. She was really glad that she was in the pleasant room instead of the hot weather outside. What was it with today? Shaking her head, she turned around to the three kids in front of her. They weren't really kids anymore, Tsunade decided. Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino were probably being close to 18 while the Kazekage's sister just turned 21…they defiantly weren't kids anymore.

They were the future shinobi that the new generation would need.

"Ino," Tsuande started all of a sudden, "Please stand outside, you'll be able to come in when this meeting is adjourned."

The blonde looked at the Hokage, shocked, but after a second or so, she knew that it wasn't her place to be there anyways. "Of course, Tsunade-sama," she bowed before shutting the door slowly behind her.

"Okay," Tsunade breathed once she knew Ino was at a far distance. "Let me tell you about this A-class mission."

Of course Shikamaru was listening to her, it was sort of hard not to. As Tsunade-sama had said it, the tasks were going to be difficult so he would have to prepare for anything that would be coming up.

Ugh, troublesome…Shikamaru thought as he planned it in his head.

"Expect the unexpected," Tsunade-sama said, "I chose only you two because I know both of your abilities will help us."

"What about Kakashi-sensei?" Shikamaru asked right away.

Tsunade shook his head, "Age limit which is a shame because he'll probably help out a lot…and because of the age limit, you two will probably be the only two-man cell," Tsunade sighed, "There's also another important thing you would need to know. Once you step foot into that village, you would find yourself in a strange world. The shinobi there are one of the most feared yet admired that exists," Tsunade pursed her lips, "They pray on weakness and I have a feeling that this contest is only to boost their superiority."

"What do you mean?" Temari asked, her brows knitted.

Tsunade exhaled and started pacing around her room again, looking for something. Moments had passed and Tsunade was cursing under her breath still looking for the mysterious object. Finally, after what it felt like years, she pulled out a map of the world.

"Kohiigakure no Sato is one of the smallest islands in the Land of Water," Tsunade pointed out, "which of course you know, is one of the Great Five Shinobi Nations. The Land of Water is known for its many islands and each of the islands has its own unique traditions. Rather you know it or not, this contest is a special tradition in Kohiigakure. The shinobi in Kohii are proud and they will most likely do anything to maintain that power. To show it off, Kohii holds this contest," Tsunade looked at the two ninjas in front of them, "I have a strong feeling they think that they will be the winner. And they will win their own prize money to show the world who they really are."

"But they won't really win anything because it's their prize money, right?" Temari asked.

Tsunade nodded, "Yeah…I don't understand that village either, but that's how it goes. Also, this contest won't start for another month or so but it takes at least a week to get there. Three weeks you have to train. I will talk to Kakashi-sensei and he will be there with you two all the way."

Shikamaru nodded, "Hn."

"Alright then, Shikamaru, you may leave. Temari, please stay I have to talk to you," Tsunade-sama said and turned her chair around to face out the window again. Temari shot a glance at Shikamaru but all he did was shrug.

As Shikamaru opened the door, Temari could see Ino's worried face but a smile flashed right away when he came straight out.

Temari laughed softly, were they together or something?

"Temari," Tsunade-sama said her name clearly when the door was shut.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Her attention quickly went back towards Tsunade-sama.

"Are you glad to be back?" she asked, talking to the window.

Temari smiled, "I guess, I haven't been here in such a long time." Tsunade-sama chuckled, "I assume so. You will be staying here for quite a while. How's Suna?"

"Great, we're having a peaceful time. Gaara really seems to be getting everything under control," Temari laughed. She remembered how busy he was with everything, it was so like Gaara though, to keep calm and not show stress even though he was stressed.

Tsunade-sama then turned around her chair and began walking towards her, "Well that's great," Tsunade smiled, "Hey, Temari, do you have any close friends in the Hidden Leaf?"

Temari's mind wandered, why would she say that? But she did have close friends…right? "Yeah, absolutely."

"Alright, because I'm sorry to say that the teahouse you stayed at last time is not available anymore," Tsunade-sama bit her lip, "I've contacted all the other ones but they're not close to where we are. So, Temari-san, would you mind staying with a close friend of yours?"

Temari-san? Temari thought. "Oh, it's perfectly fine, I'll ask Ino," she started getting up from her chair.

"Hmm…" Tsunade-sama nodded slowly, turning away from Temari again.

"Is there something wrong with Ino?" Temari asked. She was getting ready to leave but the tone in which the Hokage made seemed so suspicious.

Tsunade-sama sighed, "It's probably not my place to tell you but Ino and Shikamaru are together, so I'm not sure if you would like late night intrusions…"

There was silence. It wasn't really awkward but…Temari smiled. It was great that they were together. She was defiantly not lying to herself. Shikamaru was her best guy friend and Ino was her best girl friend. It worked out perfectly…but why didn't they tell her? It wasn't like her and Shikamaru were together, close and had a thing for each other. Temari shook her head in disgust then sighed inaudibly. Finally, she smiled back at the Hokage.

"Thanks for telling me, Tsuande-sama, I appreciate it."

And with that, she left the office.

--
Hoshigaki Kisame started laughing wildly in the bright daylight. Leader-sama had just given the mission and Uchiha Itachi's face was expressionless, as usual, when he explained it. They were sitting down around an abandon house near the Fire Country. Everything was in ruins, it was just a place awful sight, Kisame thought. All the trees were stumps and moss grew around every corner.

"It's not that funny," Itachi said and stood up, annoyed.

"What do you mean it's not funny, it's fucking hilarious," Kisame followed the prodigy and stood up as well. "I just don't understand how Leader-sama actually found out about this contest or whatever."

Itachi just shrugged.

Kisame laughed in hysterics again, "Okay, I'm trying to get it straight. So Leader-sama asked you, Uchiha Itachi, to go on a mission, to join a contest. The prize of this contest is two years worth of supplies. And we're going to use this money to gain all the jinchuriki."

"Hn," Itachi nodded curtly, didn't he just say that just a few minutes ago? Kisame then started into another round of laughter, "Everyone in the world knows who you are. How are you going to distinguish yourself?" Kisame asked but then stopped himself. Of course, Itachi would just a simple henge no jutsu. "Okay then… so now we just got to kill a dude and arrive at the Coffee Village to sign up?"

"We need to train," Itachi's low voice echoed Kisame's ears.

"Training? I thought that this was just an easy strategy contest. The most there can be is a game of Go or Shogi and some other easy shit. Seriously, we do not need to train." Kisame said, swinging his blade around his shoulders.

"Kisame," Itachi started walking ahead of his blue friend, "Just obey because the ending will be simple: we will win and conquer."


yay first chapter donneeeeeeee . (: second chapter will be in... oh idk :/ i hope you will like it and i hope it's not confusing. i HATED/DETESTED/LOATHED writing this one part. it was disgusting. maybe you can leave it in the reviews what you thought i thought was disgusting. and comment if you hate it/ like it/ whatever. please (: i love gettign comments. it helps me improve. serious guys. thanks (: