Hazuki stood with fingers pressed to her forehead, eyes closed, body propped up against a tree. As Shikamaru watched she slowly opened her eyes and swiftly threw a Kunai through the air and up into the trees. There was a thud. Shikamaru raised his eye brows at the girl, disbelieving. She gave a charming smile. He laughed and raced of to find who it was they knock out of the tree. It was a ninja. Hazuki gave him a quick pat down.
"What luck," she cried and pulled a scroll from his pocket and stowed it in a pocket she had sewn into the inside of her jacket.
Shikamaru stared at her as she continued to search the boy. She took a few kunai and shuriken and a couple of the biscuits he had in his back pocket. With that she signalled for Shikamaru to follow. They sprinted through the undergrowth, the bushed becoming a green blur. She halted when they reached a tree with low branches. She climbed up. Shikamaru was about to walk straight up to where she rested, but halted when she shook her head at him. He man his way up manually.
"Why didn't…" he stared.
Hazuki held up a finger to silence him. "If we had," her voice dropped to a very low whisper. "He would have sensed it." She pointed at sand ninja on the opposite side of the clearing that spread out before the tree they perched in. "Stay here," she ordered.
With a sigh Shikamaru watched at Hazuki crept trough the trees to the opposite side. In a low crouch over the ninja, she dropped a smoke bomb in front of the ninja then dropped into the smoke herself. In the confusion she managed to pull a scroll from his pocket. Before the smoke had cleared she had jumped back into the trees and was already half way around the clearing. She waved the scroll in front of Shikamaru, giving him a devious smile.
"How do you know which ones have the scrolls?" He asked, Hazuki just laughed. From the distance they heard fighting. Hazuki made and O with her mouth and followed the noise.
They reached a second clearing. Several rain nin stood before Shikamaru's usual team. She looked at Shikamaru, he shrugged. After a few minutes of watching, and several failed attacks by Choji, Ino and Sakura, Hazuki and Shikamaru dropped from the trees, deciding to give there friends a hand.
"Need some help?" Shikamaru asked, his voice laden with boredom.
Sakura was about to refuse when Hazuki spoke. "I owe you one, don't I Sak?"
Sakura smiled then gave a determined nod. "Let's do this," she said.
Ino and Choji grunted and nodded in agreement. They knew what I meant, Shikamaru teamed up with Ino and Choji, whilst Sakura and Hazuki distracted the six ninja's before them. Hazuki ran loops through the trees, throwing Kunai and shuriken at random moments. Popping out and attacking from behind. Sakura launched head on attacks, whilst Ino Choji and Shikamaru work in perfect synchronisation. Within minutes they had beaten the Rain in, and stood over them grinning, whilst holding a few more Scrolls.
"Wonna take half?" Ino asked.
Hazuki shrugged, opening her jacket. Over the past two days she and Shikamaru had gathers five scroll three earth, two heaven. The other tree gaped at her. She smiled. "Two heaven, one earth will do," she said. Ino nodded and handed them over. The other three departed with four scrolls, not including the ones they already collected.
"Shall we?" a voice grumbled from the opposite side of the clearing. Hazuki spun. Garra and another boy and girl slowly walked out from under the tree coverage.
"Who are they?" Hazuki asked Shikamaru.
"The girl is Temari, and the boy is Kankurou."
Hazuki nodded. She gave a half wave, half salute. "Hey!" she called over.
"Wonna fight?" Temari asked. She seemed to be addressing Shikamaru. Both he and Hazuki shook their heads.
"Got your scrolls?" Kankurou asked.
Hazuki gave a careful nod. "You?" she countered. He nodded too. "Bye then," she shouted then broke off through the trees.
As they ran through the forest, Shikamaru and Hazuki met many others, handing out a few scrolls to those they knew. The pair stopped at the river for the night. Hazuki elegantly caught some fish, again, whilst Shikamaru lit the fire. They sat for a while talking. After a while, Hazuki drifted off into a light sleep, keeping part of her self aware of her surroundings. Shikamaru settled down, his breathing evened out. After an hour or so of light sleep Hazuki snapped her eye open.
On of the many bushes that surrounded the campsite rustled. Hazuki shut her eyes, concentration. What ever was moving the bush was not an animal. A split second later, something whizzed out of the bush and Hazuki had thrown herself on Shikamaru, knocking him to the floor below the rock he rested on.
"What th…" Hazuki pushed a finger onto his lips, silencing him. She pointed a finger up at the kunai the stuck out of the rock above them.
There was a faint stinging on her right shoulder. She closed her eyes she pushed her fingers into her forehead whilst still lying on Shikamaru, who watched her in wonder. She pulled away her hand and let it drop beside Shikamaru's head. She held her right tight against her side. She sifted so her face hovered just above Shikamaru's.
When she spoke her lip brushed over his, she felt Shikamaru stiffen, his breath caught. "Take the Kunai out of the wall, quickly," she instructed. He did so. She shut her eye for a brief moment. "Is it poisoned?" she asked. Shikamaru raised the weapon to his eyes, and then sniffed at it. He shook his head. Hazuki nodded. "Stab it into my right shoulder."
Shikamaru's eye widened with shook he opened his mouth to speak but Hazuki silenced him, lightly kissing his lips. "Just do it," she told him. With a sharp nod, he obeyed. Hazuki's face momentarily creased with pain. "Take the leather handled Kunai from my pouch."
A beat later Hazuki jabbed it into his left shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she muttered. She yanked it out; she didn't dare watch Shikamaru's face contort with pain. With her left hand she pulled a tissue from her pouch and wiped the kunai clean. She threw the weapon into a nearby bush.
After a few seconds wait a ninja stood over the pain as they lay motionless. He pulled Hazuki off. "Hey you got both of them," he called. A second ninja walked out of the bush he had been hiding in.
"Let's just get there scrolls and go," he said.
The other nodded and stared to search Shikamaru. When he found nothing he stared on Hazuki. Before he even bent over her, Hazuki knocked the feet from under him, twisted her self up, and forced he face down into the dirt, straddling his back. Before his team mate could react Hazuki raised her fingers in front of her face, aligning them with her nose. "Go," she commanded, sharply.
Kunai zipped out of the bush she had thrown her kunai. They stripped the Bush of its leaves and headed for the other team member. Several missed, or gazed his arms and legs. One flew into his shoulders as he fled. Hazuki stopped the onslaught. Leaves settled in place of kunai. Hazuki let out a breath, then pulled the kunai from her shoulder, and forced it into the neck of the ninja beneath her. A small line of blood form, and then she pulled away, rolling off him. He got up quickly.
"You disgust me. Too weak to win in a fair fight," she thrust the kunai into his hand. "Go find your team mate before he bleeds to death."
The man stumbled away. Hazuki groaned she turned over to face Shikamaru. She tapped a finger to his head. "Release," she said.
Shikamaru sat up instantly. "What the hell!" He shouted
Hazuki gave a grin, "I saved u a fight, now shut up, before more people find us. Come on, with any luck, we might find Sakura on the way to the tower."
Hazuki pulled Shikamaru to his feet. They gathered their things and moved off toward the tower.
"You're so lucky, I had to do preliminary matches," Shikamaru whined as he and Hazuki left.
Hazuki just laughed, smiling cheerfully at the boy. "Come on, stop complaining. Let go get some Ramen."
Shikamaru huffed a sigh, and then followed the girl. Over the few weeks she had been there she had reacquainted herself with the village, but there was a slight possibility that she may have to go back to her own village to train. They rounded the corner, he half expected to see Naruto sat at the counter at Ichiraku Ramen, he just couldn't get used to him not being there. Instead, Hazuki was sat next to her father submerged in a deep, and rather heated, conversation. Awkwardly, Shikamaru slid into the seat next to Hazuki and order the usual. A few seconds later, Tomoki had disappeared, and Hazuki was beaming at him again.
"I can stay," she squeaked bouncing joyfully on her seat. She flung her arms around Shikamaru. Ramen was set on the table and the two discussed a training plan, happy smiles lighting their faces, and Shikamaru didn't miss the small glances Hazuki sent him.
Shock horror, i finally got round to finnishing it, Chapter five will be longer, and up sooner... I hope.