I don't own Naruto

YESSSSSS!!!!!!I'm SO SORRY that this took so long to update. There was a flippin' error with something that didn't let me download any documents. I've had this chapter ready for days, but I couldn't put it up! I'm so sorry. But, this gave me an opportunity to write more. Sigh. But I have been very distraught because of this error.

Well. This chapter has been hard to write. I hate plot development!!!! Anyway, after this chapter things will pick up again. Just, bear with me. Anyway, without further ado, here is Chapter 7!

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Chapter 7

Ino and Choji were jumping in the trees beside the road at an easy pace, planning their next move.

"Well, I'm almost positive that the fake Shikamaru and Lord were put there to fool anyone following them into thinking that Shikamaru was fine." Ino said to Choji.

"But I bet they didn't think someone would look into their minds and find out their secret." Choji was munching on a bag of chips of which, Ino and Shikamaru had noticed over the years, he had a seemingly unending supply.

They had been following the caravan at this pace for about an hour and the light was now beginning to fail. Soon they would be marching in darkness. But the caravan showed no sign of stopping.

"I'm almost one hundred percent positive that the Lord took Shikamaru to his castle. Our best bet is to follow the caravan there."

"But what if we don't make it to the castle in time?"

Ino stared at Choji. "What?"

"What if it takes us days, or weeks to get to there? The Lord could have done all sorts of things to Shikamaru by then," Choji said, very matter-of-factly. "We may be too late."

Ino thought about this for approximately point five seconds before slamming her fist into her hand. "You're right. We need to get Shika back as soon as possible. So, let's go!" She sped up her pace, Choji following suit. They sped along for thirty seconds before Choji spoke again.

"Just one question. Do we know where the Village of Fog is?"

Ino froze mid-leap. They stopped on a branch and turned to each other, Ino's face frozen with open mouth and bulging eyes, Choji still munching on chips.

"Fine, then. I'll go take over someone's body and figure it out. Then we'll race ahead and rescue Shikamaru. Come on! We've already left him in that Log's (Lord + Fog Log) clutches too long!"

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Shikamaru sat in his dungeon, planning. He couldn't do his signature hand sign, however, due to his arms being chained to the wall. But he thought, none-the-less. Well, there were plenty of shadows he could manipulate, but the stupid cuffs prevented him from using chakra. Well, that gets rid of at least half of my ideas, he thought. After several more minutes of thinking, he decided on one. It wasn't one of his best, but it would have to work.

"Well, here it goes," he muttered. "This is so troublesome." He took a deep breath, then started to yell. The guard (not ninja) stationed outside his door heard and yelled back through the little slot, made especially for this purpose.

"Shut up, you!"

But Shikamaru kept yelling, saying, "Ah! There's something else in here! There's something in here! AH! What is it!? What is it what is it what is it?!!!

"SHUT UP!"

"AHHHH! Oh, no, it's a spider! Ah! Someone come and squash it! I hate spiders! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The guard, fed up with hearing Shikamaru yell, opened the door to the cell angrily. "Where is it?" he demanded, grabbing the front of Shikamaru's shirt.

"Over there." Shikamaru said, pointing with a shaking finger. As the guard turned his head, Shikamaru reached up and pinched a nerve in his neck/shoulder area. The guard collapsed.

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, that was a lot of work." He reached down and searched the guard for the keys. He found them, then unlocked his cuffed hands. As they fell off, Shikamaru felt his chakra rush back into his body. He straightened, rubbing his wrists, which were red and scraped. He put them in the small chamber pot in the corner of the cell, then reached down and began slapping the guard on the face.

"Will you wake up already?" Eventually, the guard stirred. As soon as he did, Shikamaru put his fingers together and performed the shadow possession jutsu. The man stood and looked at Shikamaru.

"Y-you tricked me!"

"Yes, I did. Now, you're gonna help-."

"HELP!!!!!! PRISONER ESCAPING!"

Shikamaru sighed. He couldn't just be quiet. He reached up and put a hand over his mouth. The guard did the same, stifling his own shouts.

"Now. Do you want me to leave you down here, chained to the wall with the cuffs that are currently in there," he pointed to the chamber pot, "and left down here until who knows when, or will you be quiet, do as I tell you, and then claim to have been under my complete control and not have had any power over your actions if we get caught?"

Shikamaru said this through his hand, but he thought the guard got the message. When the guard hesitated in his answer, Shikamaru held out his hand, which suddenly burned blue with chakra. The guard was convinced, his face blanching instantly. Shikamaru and the guard removed their hands.

"Now. Let's get going." They left the cell, Shikamaru closing the door behind him. Then he made a quick clone of the guard and left it standing there. They walked on, Shikamaru keeping the guard several feet in front of him as a look out, which was very helpful, especially for when they rounded corners. They passed no one as they walked, for which Shikamaru was grateful; he could not be sure whether the guard's fear of Shikamaru's power would overcome the sight of a comrade who could help him.

Unfortunately for Shikamaru, the guard's fear was beaten down. As he turned a corner, after walking down a long, straight hall, with Shikamaru a few steps behind, his face lit up and he yelled, "Hey! The prisoner escaped! He's over here! Hurry!"

Shikamaru cursed, broke his connection to the soldier, and ran for it. He heard running feet behind him. As the guards turned into the hall, they saw Shikamaru just turning one of the two corners at the far end.

They smirked, all knowing that that turn was a dead end. They ran easily down, then turned to find the short corridor completely devoid of any escaping prisoners. They stopped in their tracks, baffled.

"Where did he go?" "What the-." "How did he just disappear?"

None of them thought to look up. If they had, then they would have seen a prisoner, crawling along the ceiling, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. He would have made it too, had not one guard felt the urge to turn around and look at the ceiling.

"There he is!" The others turned. The Shikamaru on the ceiling stood and ran, running down the hall that led back towards the cell. The guards all followed at a sprint. Then the real Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows and quickly jogged down the other hall. As he ran, he thought, Well, Otam, you should seriously consider hiring smarter guards. Or, at least ninja guards, because these ones-."

He stopped short. He couldn't move his body. He was frozen in place, and behind him, someone was laughing quietly, insanely, and triumphantly.

"I've beaten you again, Little Nara." Otam stepped out of nowhere. "Yes, I've beaten you at your own game."

He walked slowly towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru could have kicked himself for falling into such a trap. A paralysis jutsu! How could I be so stupid!

"I'm surprised at you, boy." He sighed. "Oh, well. Next time you try and escape, maybe you will entertain me a little better."

Shikamaru would have made a tart reply, but he couldn't move his mouth.

"And I see you managed to get rid of your cuffs. Well. We'll just have to try something different, then." He snapped his fingers and a ninja appeared next to him in a puff of smoke. "Bring this boy to the tower." The ninja nodded and took hold of Shikamaru's arm. He then performed a double transportation jutsu as Otam performed a single.

The three of them reappeared in a completely new corridor, facing a huge door.

"Well, boy. Let's see if you can escape from this." Otam opened the door and the other ninja threw Shikamaru in. The paralysis jutsu was still in place so Shikamaru could not break his fall. The door closed behind him with a powerful thud. Shikamaru lay on the floor, stuck in a running pose, thinking hard about what Otam had said, adding it to everything else he knew about the man, and reevaluating it. What is he trying to do? What is it that he wants?

He didn't know how long he lay there, but in the end, his thinking left him with one answer. I need to get out of here.

To be continued…

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I thought of Ino's nickname for Otam a while ago, and I'm so happy I finally put it in! Anyway, as I said before, the last few chapters have been for plot development (which I hate!), but from here on, I'll try and make it a little more interesting.

I don't know whether Shikamaru actually knows any other jutsu…but oh well. In this story, he does. And I know he doesn't have, like, the explosive shadow clone stuff like Naruto does, but he has a basic knowledge. And I may include a couple other ones. I'm not sure. Anyway.

Thanks again to all those who reviewed! And I hope I didn't intimidate anyone with my reviewing comment on the last chapter. Sorry! So long, my readers!