Hi everyone! So, if anyone's read any of my most recently posted stuff, then you'd know that I didn't have my laptop for three weeks. It wasn't the best idea to put it in for the new battery and disk drive just before Christmas, but what's done is done, right?

Anyway, someone who reviewed the last chapter mentioned that Sakura was spilling too much. I thought about it, then decided it didn't matter. I've rationalised that it's not like she time travelled, and can't spill secrets for fear of changing the past. (My KakaSaku is covering that aspect) Besides, it's not like I'm gonna have her come out and yell for everyone to hear that she's from an alternate world. Only people who already know about it will be discussing it with her.

In any case, if I was naming the chapters, this one would have been something to do with shadows. Partly due to Shikamaru, but also in part for the last bit of the chapter. This isn't as long as the last chapter, but there was nothing else I felt I needed to put in here. I'm gonna have enough issues with the next chapter as it is, as there will be fight scenes and I really, really suckat writing them. It's necessary for the plot, so I'm gonna tough it out.

Alright, so enjoy this chapter, and remember that I'm not the one who owns Naruto. ;)

Chapter Four

Sakura kicked out hard, following through with a spin and another kick. Her opponent grunted as her foot connected, obviously glad that she hadn't put any chakra behind it. She grinned as he dodged out of her reach, moving quickly behind her, coming at her with a kunai. She dodged him, then her eyes widened slightly when she realised that was a diversion for the foot that came at her, connecting with her thigh.

Shikamaru smirked at her as they continued sparring ferociously. Chouji and Ino were sparring as well, on the other side of the training ground. This was the fourth time that Sakura had been invited out here to train with them, and just like in her own world, Shikamaru was her preferred partner of the three. It was the middle of the week now, and Sakura had been given the 'day off'. It hadn't taken her long to realise that was an excuse concocted by Ino so they could spar, because after that first day, Team Ten had decided that they liked sparring with Sakura.

At that first sparring session, Sakura had been thrown off guard a little when Sarutobi Asuma had shown up. Of course, with no active Akatsuki organisation here, he hadn't been killed by Hidan. She had no idea if Kakuzu had still attacked the Fire Temple for the bounty on that monk, but either way, Asuma-sensei was here, alive. Sakura hadn't even really been all that shocked when Inoichi had turned up for her interrogation, but something about Team Ten's sensei had thrown her for a loop.

Of course, acting nonchalant like she hadn't been staring at him like she'd seen a ghost hadn't been all that convincing…

Asuma-sensei wasn't here today, he was apparently off on a mission of his own. A personal one, according to Ino, and Sakura wondered if it had anything to do with Kurenai. Did they still have Mirai? And if so, did she have any siblings yet? Sakura hadn't been able to find out, because Chouji had changed the subject after that.

Sakura had already come across some other alternates of her friends. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino had been with Chouji on Sunday before leaving him to his training with his team. Shino had been silent, and Kiba more than a little flirty, but that was basically the same as the two Sakura knew. Also, she'd run into Tenten, quite literally, in the street the other day, as the Weapons Mistress had been in a bit of a hurry and hadn't been watching where she was going. After apologising profusely, she'd taken off once more.

There were some people she'd yet to see, like Naruto, Hinata, and Lee. Sakura was kind of dreading seeing Neji, worried she might have another 'stare-at-him-like-she'd-seen-a-ghost' moment, like with Asuma-sensei. There were people she knew that she'd seen in passing, like Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, as well as people she'd never met. Shikamaru had told her about Inuzuka Kiyoko, the kunoichi who'd apparently been Naruto and Sasuke's gennin team mate. Sakura'd never heard of her, though admittedly, it wasn't like she knew every single Inuzuka who existed.

Sakura was distracted by her thoughts, and this gave Shikamaru the opportunity to launch an all out attack, tripping her up, causing her to fall flat on her back. He was over her in an instant, kunai at her throat, smirk on his face.

"I win."

Sakura raised her hands in surrender. "You got me," she conceded, getting up once he moved away, stretching her arms and legs, cracking bones as she allowed a miniscule amount of chakra heal her. "You injured?"

"Che, it's nothing," he told her, but Sakura moved forward anyway, placing a hand on his arm and healing his bruises, as well as the wrist she'd sprained earlier.

Ino and Chouji had finished as well, and were headed over. Sakura gave them a once over, then Ino asked, "Swap partners now? Or should we take a break?"

"I vote for a break," Chouji said, pulling out a bag of chips. "You really gave me a workout, Ino, you're improving every day."

"Well, of course I'm improving!" Ino snapped at him. "That's the entire point of training, you baka!"

Shikamaru was about to speak, but then there was a poof of smoke next to them, putting them on the defensive. When it cleared, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji relaxed, but Sakura still stayed slightly on guard. It was an Uchiha, that other one who'd been there that day she'd arrived, in fact.

"Uchiha-san," Shikamaru greeted him.

"What's up, Shisui-san?" Ino greeted.

Shisui (Sakura could swear she'd heard that name before) grinned at Ino, draping an arm over her shoulder. "Ino-chan," he greeted. "Still trying to get my little cousin's attention, I hear. You know it hurts me right in my chest that you still won't even consider me as a possibility, you know."

"Sasuke-kun and I are meant to be," Ino said haughtily, stepping out of his grasp. "You're just a pervert."

"Aw, you break my heart, Ino-chan," Shisui pouted, holing his hand over the spot, then a serious look crossed his face. "You three are wanted in the Hokage's office, with Asuma. I think you've got a mission."

"You should have said that straight away," Shikamaru dead-panned. "Guess our training's over. Catch you later, Sakura."

He and his team mates left then, leaving Sakura alone with Shisui. "I don't believe we've officially met," he said. "Uchiha Shisui."

"Haruno Sakura," she told him.

"You're pretty impressive," he told her. "I was watching your spar for a bit. Wouldn't mind taking you on myself."

"Oh really?" Sakura asked, eyebrow raised. "And just why should I indulge you in that?"

Shisui shrugged. "I've never gone against someone trained by a Sannin before," he told her, letting her know he'd been briefed on her. "Short of tracking down Tsunade-hime herself and demanding a match, you're the next best thing."

"You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?" Sakura asked sarcastically, then regretted it when he suddenly smirked at her in a way that reflected Jiraiya-sama whenever he spotted a pretty girl.

Shisui draped that same arm over her shoulder that he'd had over Ino's. "It's an accepted truth," he told her with a wink. "What do you say, Sakura-chan? Wanna spar with Shunshin no Shisui?"

That 'nickname' sounded familiar, and suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off in Sakura's head. "Wait a second!" she gasped, pulling away. "I've heard your name before in my world!"

Shisui grinned. "Glad to hear my reputation's still so good there," he said, sidling over to her to place his arm over her shoulder again. "Come on, Sakura-chan. If you know me, then surely you want to spar? Haven't I given you this opportunity before? Shame on me."

With that last comment, Sakura knew that, despite the fact he'd most likely been briefed on her, that report was probably 'censored' to exclude some things, like the Uchiha massacre. Otherwise he'd know that she'd never met him before. Sakura sighed.

"Fine," she said. "If you want to spar, we'll spar. But not now. I'm already exhausted from sparring with Shikamaru and the others."

That wasn't entirely true, but experience from training with Sasuke told her that if she was going to spar with an Uchiha, she'd wanted to be fully rested first. Especially since she'd never sparred with him before.

Shisui pouted. "Fine," he huffed. "When would be best for you then?"

OoOoO

In the other world…

The team that had been assembled to go after Sakura had taken some time to track down her last known location. It had then taken a day and a half to find the site of a battle that carried all the hallmarks of Sakura letting loose on someone, as it was quite remote. There were also signs of the fight the nukenin put up, and even a corpse. It seemed that Sakura had won her fight then. So where was she?

The Hyuuga Shikamaru had brought with him had already searched the immediate area, but had come up empty handed. Sai had already sent out some birds to scout past the Hyuuga's range, and even they weren't finding anything. The analyst in Shikamaru had already come up with a few different scenarios, but he hadn't been able to settle on one. Every scrap of evidence was being collected, and would be analysed by a specialist team once they got everything back to the village.

"Was there any sign of the scroll?" Sai asked as he came up, one of his ink birds perched on his shoulder.

"Not a sight of it," Shikamaru said. "All we've found here is a rotting corpse, stray weapons, and a few paper bombs."

Sai picked up one of the now deactivated paper bombs and examined it carefully. "These do not look like the usual exploding tags to me," he said. "The seals around the kanji are wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Here look," Sai said, holding it up. "This one here should represent the timer for the explosion. Instead, it represents a point in space. The timer is on completely the other side, which should throw it off."

Shikamaru snatched the tag from Sai's hand. How had he missed that? And it wasn't the only deviation, either. This was not an ordinary exploding tag. He sighed, glancing over to where the chuunin he'd brought along to do the menial work was still searching the site.

"It can be analysed properly back in Konoha," he said, putting it back with everything. "In the meantime, have your birds found anything?"

"There's no sign that Sakura left here after her fight," Sai said, using Sakura's actual name in her absence. "I would suggest she used the ANBU destruction jutsu, but I am unaware as to if she even knows it."

"So troublesome," Shikamaru scoffed. "Sakura's jounin, not ANBU, so I doubt it."

"Then perhaps her disappearance has something to do with Jukodo Osamu?" Hyuuga Tokuma said, coming up to them. "Shikamaru-taichou, I've completed my search, and there's no sign of Haruno-san anywhere past this site. Only her tracks leading into her fight."

"Shall I send word to Hokage-sama that we have not found her?" Sai asked, and started writing out the missive when Shikamaru nodded.

"Man, when Naruto and Sasuke find out, they're gonna hit the roof," Shikamaru said as they went back to clearing everything up. "Che, troublesome idiots."

OoOoO

Back in the alternate world…

A ninja knelt, head bowed before an old man who was bound in bandages. The report he'd given had been completed a few minutes ago, but he'd yet to be dismissed. The elder before him, who was no longer officially involved in Konoha's business, was thinking, plotting scenarios and figuring out how to twist them to his benefit. Shimura Danzou was a dangerous, calculating man, which was one of the many reasons the Hokage had forced his hand into retirement years ago.

Not that Danzou had completely complied. Without the Hokage's knowledge, he still influenced ROOT, working even further in the shadows than before. This meant that he didn't have access to the Hokage's movements in as much detail as he had before, but he was working on remedying that.

News of some pink haired kunoichi hadn't really come onto his radar, at least, not until one of his operatives was able to get their hands on a report about her. It was incomplete, missing a lot of details, but it told Danzou all he needed to know. This kunoichi, Haruno Sakura, was a danger to him, and needed to be fully 'assessed'. And he had the perfect person in mind for that job.

The only thing was, she was constantly under the watch of ANBU. It wouldn't have mattered before, he could have easily slipped one of his own in. But since ROOT had been officially disbanded years before, his resources were scattered, with only a few actually remaining in ANBU. Still, there was one piece he could play, an agent that was still in ANBU, one he'd had put under a mind control jutsu a long time ago.

Deciding to utilise him, Danzou turned from the shinobi before him, retreating to his sanctuary to plan out his first move.

So, some nitty-gritty is going on. Danzou's appearance is gonna be covered in part one and three of this fic. Part two won't deal with it much, though it will still be influenced by him.

Wish me luck with Shisui and Sakura's spar!

Anyway, review please! :)