I don't own Naruto

Chapter Eight: Songbird

Just a quick warning, there is some torture in here. And not like the whipping in previous chapters. Some more intense stuff.

Hands grabbed Hinata roughly by the shoulders, jerking her out of her shallow sleep. They dragged her out of the cell she shared with Neji and down the hall, bringing her into a room that had become all too familiar to her during her captivity. She struggled. The bottoms of her feet, tender and bleeding, gave a particularly painful twinge at the sight of the cane used on them yesterday. But the men did not bring her near the cane; instead they sat her down in a chair with shackles built into the arms that were large enough to go over the chakra-containing cuffs on her wrists. Then, without a glance back at her, the guards left.

Hinata sat there, trembling slightly, waiting for something to happen.

After about five minutes, her nerves began to relax. 'What are they planning?' she thought. 'Are they just going to have me sit here? That wouldn't be too bad.'

Then she heard noises in the hall. She leaned forward as far as possible, but she could not quite see past the doorframe. The creak of another door being opened reached her ears, as did the low rumble of male voices. Then a dull 'thud thud thud' told her that someone was coming towards her. A few seconds later, the same guard who had whipped her feet entered the room, causing her feet to twinge again. Walking past her into the closet where they kept the smaller torture devices, the man rummaged in there for a moment before coming back out to face her, holding his arms behind his back.

Grinning evilly at her, he said, 'Which hand?'

Hinata blinked at him. Was this some sort of game? Was he going to have her randomly pick what instrument of torture he was going to use on her?

She moved her gaze from one side to the other, thinking. Getting impatient, the guard said loudly, 'Pick one!'

'L-left!'

The man revealed what was in his left hand: an apple.

What? Hinata looked shocked. Why did he have an apple? She thought it was going to be a club or something else painful…but an apple?

Despite her confusion, her mouth began to water at the sight of the fruit, not having had anything but stale bread to eat for weeks.

The man laughed. 'Looks good, right? I bet you're glad you didn't pick this hand.' He put forward his right hand, which held a large and sickly looking hammer. Then he grinned again, eyes glinting. 'Or are you? Bring him in!'

Two more guards entered the room, dragging Neji with them. Neji had only time to take a quick glance at Hinata and the guard before the other two pushed him to his knees, hands spread out on the floor before him. Hinata cast a worried look up at her own guard, who was now guffawing loudly.

'Wh-.' Hinata's question was cut off as the guard shoved the apple in her mouth, catching it on her teeth. She relished for a moment in the sweet juice trickling into her mouth before a terrifying thought struck her.

What if the apple was poisoned?

The guard read the look in her eyes and said, 'There's nothin' wrong with it, girlie.'

Then he turned his back to the girl in the chair and walked purposefully toward Neji, raising the hammer as he went. Before either captive had time to react, the hammer was slammed down onto two of Neji's fingers, completely crushing them into the stone floor.

Neji let out a yell, caught completely by surprise.

Hinata's eyes went huge and her jaw went limp in shock, the apple tumbling out and rolling onto the floor with a dull thud.

The guards laughed uproariously, slapping their knees and stomping their feet. Neji bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, determined not to cry out again. Hinata stared, horrified, at her cousin's hand, at the fingers that were bleeding and turning a brilliant shade of purple. Still laughing, Hinata's guard walked back into the other room and returned, his hands held once again behind his back.

'Ready to pick another one?'

Behind him, one of the other guards pushed Neji's head down to the floor so that he could not see what was being hidden.

Hinata couldn't speak. This was a game of complete luck; there was no way she could know what kind of thing she was picking. The guard had given her no warning on the attack on Neji, so what was to say that he wouldn't attack her this time? Or what if there was no apple this time and both of them were going to get hurt? Or maybe one of them would get it twice? There were so many possibilities.

'R-right…'

The guard smirked and brought forward…a blindfold.

'Now you don't even get to see what we're gonna do to your friend, but you're sure gonna hear it.'

One of the guards by Neji stepped forward and quickly covered Hinata's eyes, knotting the cloth securely at the back of her head. When he finished, the main guard spoke again.

'Now, let's see how long it'll take her to figure out what we're doing. Hold him up.'

The sounds of Neji being pulled to his feet met Hinata's ears, as did a light crackling. Footsteps leading away, then returning.

'Stop squirmin', brat.'

The sound of a fist meeting soft flesh.

'Ready?'

The rustle of fabric.

'Hold him against the wall, it'll work better.'

A slight scuffle, then a thud.

A hiss.

A quickly stifled cry.

A tumult of cackling and guffawing, which echoed off the walls and doubled back, filling the room with harsh laughter.

'Stop it!' Hinata cried, the guard's laughing drowning out any noise Neji may be making.

'Stop it? Girlie, we've just only begun.' Then, to the other guards, 'It hasn't even left a very good mark yet, damn it. Make it hotter!'

'No, stop it!' Hinata cried desperately. 'Please, stop! Stop!'

"No!"

Hinata's eyes snapped open. She sat up, panting slightly, eyes wild, her ears ringing with the guards' terrible laughter. After a moment, her heart slowed and her breathing returned to normal. It was just a dream.

More like a nightmare.

In the darkness, the girl turned to her right, gazing at the sleeping figure of her cousin. She could only see his outline due to the fact that the cell was in almost complete darkness, but she did not need light to know what he looked like. He would be curled on his side, back facing her, long, tangled hair lying slightly on the floor. One hand would be between his face and the floor, the other, with the smashed fingers, would be held carefully against his stomach. Over time, the guards had smashed all five of the fingers on his right hand, and a number of his toes. Underneath the dirty cloth of his shirt would be the burn left there by the hot poker the guards had used on him. Continued to use, for every day they darkened their picture with a new poker.

Hinata put a hand to her own stomach, which twinged slightly at the thought of Neji's daily torture. She watched her cousin for another moment, then lay back down. As her mind wandered towards sleep, she wondered why she only dreamt of that one particular torture session over and over again. She had only the physical memory of her other visits to that room, so why did she keep visually remembering this one?

Questions she could not answer worked like a sleeping pill for the girl and soon Hinata had fallen into a fitful sleep.


Kiba sat crouched on the roof of a building, watching the Chaita guard that stood several yards away in the shade of a nearby tree. On the other side of the building stood another guard, and the third and fourth were down the street on either side of the building. Akamaru was crouched next to him, wagging his large tail rapidly; he too was feeling the excitement that the pair always got when they were about to cause some serious Chaita-related mischief, and most likely pee themselves laughing afterwards.

The radio Kiba wore around his neck crackled slightly and Shikamaru's voice filled his head.

"Is everyone in place?"

"I'm ready," Kiba answered, staring at the guard with his canine-like eyes. The voices of the other people, stationed all over the village, crackled back their responses too.

"All set here," said Sakura, and Kiba heard a dog bark somewhere around her.

"Here too!" Was Tenten's cheerful reply, the shouts of children training at the academy the background music.

"And me," replied the steady voice of Tyron, vendors at the market behind him almost blocking him out.

A slight grunt told the world that Sasuke was ready and in position by the main gate.

"I AM IN PLACE AS WELL!" Reassured them all that Lee was pumped, youthful, and also in place on the very top of a very tall building.

"My god, let's go a little slower, shall we?"

That would be Hanabi, though Kiba, and he couldn't help but smirk.

"I'm here, Shikamaru!"

"Chouji, you're ten feet from me. I'm looking at you right now."

"I know, but I wanted to use the radio!"

"Okay…Shino? Are you ready?"

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

"Shino? Sh-. Why's there a bug flying around and around my head? Oh. Never mind. Shino's ready."

"Is that everyone, Shika?"

"Ino, why are you using the radio? You're even closer than Chou-. Never mind. I think that's everyone…wait. Naruto? Naruto, are you ready?"

Everyone listened closely.

Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.

There was a loud gasp from Sakura.

Slurp. Slurp. Munch, munch. Slurp.

Realization dawned on them all.

"Na-ru-to…"

"Man," came the blond's voice over the radio. He evidently did not know that it was on. "This ramen sure is good, Ramen man! I think it's even better than yesterday's!"

Yesterday!?

"NARUTO!!"

Kiba thought his radio had exploded. The voices of Ino, Sakura, and Hanabi when they are yelling, frightening enough when in person, were ten times more earth-shattering when their voice is magnified and directed right at your eardrum. A horrible shrieking noise came from the little device and Kiba ripped it out of his ear, gritting his teeth and cursing as Akamaru rubbed his head against the ground and tried to cover his ears with his paws.

"Damn, that's scary," he said to Akamaru, and the dog nodded his agreement.

After about a minute, when he thought it might be safe, Kiba carefully put the earpiece back up to his ear. He just caught Sakura concluding what must have been a very long rant with a very firm, "Disappointment to society."

There was a moment of silence. Then Shikamaru dared to speak.

"Well, now that we're all ready, let's get going."

Kiba backed away from the edge of the building to the point that was about equal distance from all four of the guards in his sector.

"Everyone knows what they're doing, right? Good, then on my mark release the first one."

Kiba folded his hands and concentrated on four of the eight small discs positioned by the four guards, two a person.

"On three. One, two, three!"

"Release!"

All around Konoha, about a hundred of the small discs erupted, releasing clouds of blue smoke all over about a hundred Chaita guards. They coughed and sputtered, trying to fan the smoke away but finding that the more they fanned, the more the odd-smelling clouds billowed around them.

Shikamaru's voice crackled over the radio. "Now the second one!"

"Release!"

A hundred more discs erupted, these ones releasing white smoke, plus a little something extra. Sealed inside each disc was a dog, and every one of the dogs, suddenly released near a Chaita guard, was immediately ensnared by an alluring sent that seemed to be wafting towards them from the silver-clad men. As though pulled by some spell (or jutsu) the dogs immediately leapt at the ninja who, in turn, promptly ran for their lives.

"Nice doggie," the man Kiba had been watching whimpered as a huge, shaggy sheep dog advanced on him, tongue lolling and all senses failing except his nose. "Nice doggie, please don't attack me, pl-."

Too late.

Kiba collapsed onto the roof, cackling with laughter. Sounds of the dog slobbering all over the man reached his sensitive ears, making him laugh even harder. Weak with mirth, he crawled over to the other side and peered into the street just in time to see his second guard sprinting down the street, a vicious looking pug bulleting after him.


Shikamaru watched as a Chaita tried to fend of a Great Dane with a kunai, which simply resulted in the dog wrenching the metal from the man's grip and then launching himself on the guard, licking every inch of him he could get his great tongue on. The teen's lips twitched upward in a half-smile, finding even himself entertained by this mission. The blue smoke had been a mixture concocted by Kiba and Sakura made especially to be as alluring to dogs as possible, to the point where they simply could not resist it. It had been an effort to get all of those dogs into the discs, but Shikamaru guessed that it was worth it.

"Oggie! Oggie!" Small hands gripped Shikamaru's arms and pulled on his sleeve, drawing his attention away from the ninja and Great Dane.

"What?" Shika cast his dark gaze down to Maki as she pointed at a golden retriever about a block away, chasing after another Chaita.

"Oggie!"

"Yes, Maki, that is a dog. Come on, let's go get Ino and Chouji."

Shikamaru scooped up the little girl and made his way off the roof on which he was standing and back down to the street below. Ino was already waiting there, wearing the satisfied glow that always followed a successful mission.

"It worked!" she cried when she saw boy and toddler. Jumping over to join them, she tickled Maki's tummy and said, "Did you see the doggies, Maki?"

Maki giggled uproariously and stretched her arms out to the blond teen, who gleefully took the child in her arms and danced around the alley. As they did so, Chouji appeared from a nearby rooftop.

Shikamaru clicked on his radio. "Any problems?"

When the only responses he got were positive, he let out a small sigh. "Alright, we're done for now. We'll meet at the academy tomorrow morning at five, got it?"

"What!? Five? In the morning!? Shikamaru-."

"SHUT UP, NARUTO!"

"I'm sorry!" Even over the radio, Hanabi managed to silence Naruto in one fell sentence.

"That's amazing, Hanabi, can you teach me how to do that?"

Shikamaru couldn't blame Sakura for asking to learn this amazing skill. But he did not stick around to listen and, with a tired sigh, switched off his radio and removed his earpiece. Ino and Chouji did the same. Shikamaru closed his eyes and leaned back against a wall, letting out another sigh. His two best friends exchanged a look.

"Come on, Shika, let's go get ramen or something."

"You deserve a break."

When Shikamaru didn't move, they walked over and, each one seizing an arm, heaved him to his feet. Shikamaru, who had just been about to protest, realized that he didn't really have a say in the matter. So he just gave in.

"Fine, but I'm not paying."

Chouji and Ino shared a satisfied smirk and, not releasing their grip on Shikamaru's arms, the three (Maki in tow) trudged out into the bustling streets of Konoha.


Lee and Tenten, without having even spoken of it, met up back at their team's training ground. Lee arrived second and found his lone female teammate seated on top of a training dummy, staring off into space. The tall, dark-haired boy approached and seated himself at the base. They sat in silence for a moment.

"How long do you think it will take Shikamaru to finish the rescue plan?"

Lee looked up at Tenten, looking surprised, but that soon changed to a knowing, reassuring gaze. "Knowing Shikamaru, I would not worry. He will come up with a plan that will blow us all away and then, using his splendid plan, we shall finally rescue Neji and Gai-sensei."

Tenten's face softened slightly at the sound of those familiar names. "Yeah," she said after a moment. "I guess you're right."

For a while, neither said anything. Tenten was staring at different parts of their training ground as she turned her head, and each part conjured up a memory of a certain Hyuuga. And that's where I first hit him. We were both so stunned afterwards, we just stood there for about a minute. Then he smirked at me and said, 'Let's go again'. No praise, no 'Wow, Tenten, after being teammates for almost two years, you finally managed to land a blow on me!', no nothing. But now Tenten realized why there had been none of that. That just wasn't the type of person Neji was.

Lee watched Tenten's gaze linger at one particular spot in the yard and he knew that she was remembering the first time she hit Neji. Gai and Lee, who had seen the event, had run over and given Tenten a massive hug, exclaiming at how wonderful she was for having come so far in only two years. Then Lee saw Tenten's eyes begin to grow moist.

"Tenten," he said slowly, wondering if he should finally voice the suspicion that had been growing in him.

"Yes?" Tenten said thickly when he didn't continue.

"Do you…are you…" he paused, thinking frantically about how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Um…is Neji…is Neji your songbird of youth?"

Tenten blinked, eyes clear once again. "What?"

Lee's face went wildly red and, chickening out, quickly tried to change the topic. "Look!" he cried, pointing up. "Birds!"

Tenten looked up to see a small flock of about eight or nine birds flying over the training grounds. "Oh," she said, and when she didn't pursue his question, Lee let out a sigh of relief. The pair watched the birds pass in silence, both lost in their own thoughts again. Tenten turned her head to watch their progress and found herself staring at the silver flag bedecked wall of what had once been the Hokage's tower. It still was, but not in the same sense.

"What do you think they're doing to him in there?"

Tenten's question snapped Lee out of his reverie and he turned a questioning eye to her. "What?"

"In the tower, what do you think they're doing?"

Lee turned to look at the building in question, eyes widening. "I like to hope that both Neji and Gai-sensei are in a nice, big cell with three meals a day and a window they can look out from and that they are left to themselves and are in the same shape that they were in when they were first taken."

A sad smile crossed Tenten's face. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

Silence again, then Lee got to his feet and turned to Tenten. "There is no use in us simply sitting around and being sad. Let us train for a bit, so that we can be in top form when we rescue Neji and Gai-sensei!"

Tenten gave a true smile. "I suppose you're right. Being sad a mopey helps no one." She stood up on top of the dummy and pulled out five kunai, wearing her battle face as she towered over Lee.

"And let us hope," Lee said as he sunk into his battle stance. "That as we train, Shikamaru will finish the rescue plan we have been longing for!"

Little did the two remaining members of Team Gai know that, at that very moment, in the lowest room of Hokage tower, their caged-bird was having his most favorite image in the whole world burned into the flesh of his stomach.


The guards released their hold on Neji and the boy sank down onto the floor, arms clutching his stomach, eyes shut tight. The guards in the room guffawed loudly.

"Now the kid's got a matching set!" One of them roared, pointing to the green mark on Neji's forehead. "One on his head and one on his belly!"

Even in his pain, Neji was able to wonder at the stupidity of some people.

Just then, the door to the torture room opened up and a guard walked in. Neji glanced up and away, then did a double take. Why were there Gai-sensei eyebrows drawn in on the man's face, along with a curly mustache, a wart, and polka dots?

As soon as the other guards saw the man, they froze, then erupted in renewed bouts of hysterical laughter.

"Man," one of them wheezed, tears streaming down his face. "I can't help laughing when I see you guys!"

The guard by the door flushed angrily.

"I am so glad I was on duty that night!" The guard who had used the poker bellowed, spittle flying from his mouth.

"Very funny," the guard with the face-art snapped. "But we already know who did it and a unit has been sent out to catch him. Now, stop laughing."

The guards slowly gained control over themselves, but then one of them said, "Gee, do you think after we get him, he'll do some doodles on my face, too?"

The men erupted again, pounding their knees and choking for breath.

Five minutes later, they had stopped laughing and the new guard finally said what he had come down there to say.

"Lord Kokuzoku wishes to see this boy. Bring him to my lord immediately."


Chouji let his chopsticks drop into the empty bowl with a clatter and sat back with a contented sigh. "Man," he said sleepily. "I am stuffed."

Ino and Shikamaru, both equally full, leaned back as well, feeling more relaxed than they had in a long time. They watched Maki through half-lidded eyes as she played with their chopsticks and tried to eat her own noodles using them.

"So, Shika," Ino said casually. "Have you thought about how to get back out of the tower after we get in?"

Instantly, the relaxed air around Shikamaru disappeared. He closed his weary eyes and, to Ino's eyes, he suddenly looked much older. Ino realized her mistake and quickly tried to fix it.

"Never mind, we don't need to talk about it now. Let's…uh…let's go for ice cream! Or we could-."

"No, we do need to talk about it. But not here."

The three quickly paid and walked back into the streets, Shika walking in the middle, Chouji on the left, Ino holding Maki on the right.

"I've been thinking," Shikamaru said slowly as they walked. "I'm gonna tell you two what I have so far on that plan, for two reasons. One, so that maybe you'll see something I'm missing and can maybe complete it."

That makes sense, Ino thought, head turned to look at her shadowy companion.

"And two," Shikamaru paused. "I realized that it's stupid to have only one person knowing everything I do, because if something happens to that one person, then everything he knew won't be of use to anyone else." He waited for a reaction from his companions, but got none. Looking up, he realized that they were no longer walking with him. He turned around and found them fussing over Maki, who had started to cry.

Shikamaru gave his usual twisted half-smile as he watched his two friends arguing about what could be ailing the child. I guess they didn't hear that last bit. Oh well. Just as he was going to turn around, someone bumped into him.

"Excuse me," Shikamaru said hastily, turning to see who it was.

Then his jaw dropped.

It was Asuma.

If I was mean, I'd leave a cliffhanger. But I won't.

"Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru was dumbfounded. What on earth was his sensei, who had been captured by the ruthless Chaita several weeks before, doing standing in the middle of a busy street looking just as he did back then?

"Sensei, what are you doing here?" A trillion questions jumped into Shikamaru's mind. "How did you get away? Where are the others? What-."

Asuma shrugged, a grin on his face. "They just decided to release me, I suppose."

"Well, what about the everyone else? Gai and Kakashi and Kurenai? And any of the Hyuugas? Neji and Hinata. Did they let anyone else out?"

"No," the big man said slowly. "No, just me."

He took a step closer to Shikamaru. "I need to talk to you, Shikamaru."

"Wait," Shikamaru said. He gazed up at Asuma with calculating eyes. Something was telling him that something wasn't right. Asuma wasn't right. "Why are you so calm? They still have your wife in there, and you're acting like you couldn't care less."

"Of course I care, Shikamaru. That's why I need to talk to you." Asuma reached a hand forward and tried to place it on his student's shoulder, but Shikamaru stepped back. Every nerve in his body was telling the teen that this was wrong, everything about this situation was wrong. But before he could question his teacher further, the three people behind him saw who he was talking to.

"Sensei!"

"Asuma-sensei, what are you doing here!?"

"Dada!"

Ino and Chouji came running forward to stand on either side of Shikamaru, their faces bewildered. Maki struggled to get out of Ino's arms, straining to get to her daddy.

"Dada! Dada!"

Asuma nodded to Ino and Chouji, then looked again at Shikamaru, completely ignoring Maki. "Shikamaru, I need to talk to you now."

The little girl in Ino's arms, confused by the lack of a reaction from her father, began to cry, fat tears rolling down her toddler cheeks.

Asuma turned a sharp eye to Ino. "Would you shut her up? I can't hear myself think!"

All three teenagers backed up, their nerves jangling.

"Sensei!" Ino cried angrily. "You haven't seen Maki in weeks and all you can say is 'shut up'?"

"What's wrong with you?" Chouji yelled angrily.

Asuma held up his hands in a surrendering sort of way and stepped forward. "I didn't mean anything, but I really have to talk-."

The three took another step back, hands inching towards their holsters. A cloud passed by overhead, casting them all in a moment of shadow, and in that second, Shikamaru saw a silver flash gleam in Asuma's eyes.

"They're controlling him," he yelled over Maki's cries. Ino and Chouji gasped. "Run!"

As one, they turned and sprinted as fast as they could through the somewhat busy street. Asuma took off behind them, calling, "Wait! I just want to talk!"

Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji did not look back but ran as fast as they could, dodging people, animals, and carts as they went, trying to confuse their follower, but no use. They could hear him calling after them, his voice never getting farther away but, if anything, getting closer.

"We've gotta lose him!" Ino panted. "Should we split up?"

They rounded a corner, but before either Shikamaru or Chouji could answer, they found themselves face to face with four Chaita guards, armed and ready.

Shit!

Team 10 turned and ran in the other direction, back out into the main street, but collided with Asuma. Shikamaru hit Asuma head on and was sent reeling backwards. Asuma made to grab him but Chouji spun his friend out of the way and pulled him around their teacher. They met Ino and sped in the opposite direction, leaving both Chaita and Asuma behind them.

"I'm so…confused!" Ino panted, ducking beneath someone's outstretched arms, cradling Maki to her chest. "Why…are…they chasing…us?"

Chouji let out a gasp. "Do you think….they found out….it was us…behind the pranks?"

"Maybe." Shikamaru jumped over a wandering Chihuahua and cast a glance over his shoulder. Asuma and the four guards were very close behind them. "Faster," he hissed.

Two silver blurs flashed down in front of them and the three skidded to a halt, then leapt back to avoid colliding with the guards head on. A kunai flew from above them and landed between Ino and Shikamaru. Ino saw the explosive tag not a second too early. She leapt backwards and landed on a balcony several yards away as the small explosion shook the buildings around them. Shikamaru and Chouji landed on the other side, but no sooner had their sandals touched the dusty earth than another bomb landed between them, causing them to leap in opposite directions. Tiny bits of the houses around them clattered to the street.

"They're trying to separate us!" Ino yelled over the din, then cursed, forced to jump further back by a small wave of kunai. "Shika!"

All around the fight, people in the street were running away, desperate to not get involved. Soon their part of the street was clear of everyone except Team 10 and Chaita.

Chouji, hearing Ino's warning, tried to get closer to his best friend, but found his way blocked by two more Chaita. With a roar, he lifted a fist and knocked the first one clear into the sky. Without losing his momentum, the Akimichi twirled and hit the other with a kick. But the man avoided the blow and appeared in a flash behind Chouji.

Damn it!

Shikamaru, having realized before Ino cried what the enemy planned on doing, barely had time to breath after the second explosion before three Chaita guards were on him. Whipping out a kunai, he made as though he was going to run through the left. The Chaita moved with him, but then Shikamaru spun on his heel and bolted for the right. But instead of running into Chouji, the Nara ran smack into another Chaita.

Without losing a beat, Shikamaru used the collision for his advantage and rammed his shoulder into the guard again, then used the falling man as leverage to jump over to Chouji. But before he could reach the Akimichi, something hooked onto the back of his vest and jerked him backwards. Then a hand fastened on his ankle and, with a mighty heave, pulled him in the other direction, breaking whatever hold was on his back. Shikamaru landed in the dirt at Chouji's feet as Chouji knocked Chaita after Chaita out of the way, giving Shikamaru a chance to regain his footing.

"Chouji," Shikamaru panted, realizing this may be his last chance. "For the plan, you need Ino and Kiba. They n-."

But before the leader of the ACFT could finish telling his plan, a small black ball fell from above them and landed at Shikamaru's feet. It sat there for a moment, both boys staring. Then it exploded.

"Shika! Chouji!" Ino, who had been left alone during most of the fight, cried out in horror. A huge cloud of black smoke erupted from the tiny ball and completely consumed her best friends and most of the Chaita. A second later, Asuma and a few more Chaita darted into the smoke cloud. Shouts and clangs of metal made their way out of the mass. Ino jumped from the roof and landed in the street, hurrying towards the cloud, but then she stopped, remembering she held a toddler.

Damn it!! I can't risk bringing her in there! But I want to help!

Before she could think of a way to help, there was another great explosion from inside the black mass. A burst of air rocketed out of the column in all directions, knocking Ino and many of the distant watchers over backwards and immediately dispersing the dense smoke as a resounding boom echoed off the tall buildings.

And then everything was silent.

Ino struggled to sit up, spitting dust out of her mouth and throat. Blinking her eyes, she stared desperately at the place where Chouji and Shikamaru had disappeared, but what she saw did not ease her pounding heart.

Chouji lay face down in the dust, just now stirring and trying to sit up. But that was it. There were no Chaita. There was no Asuma. There was no Shikamaru.


Dun, dun, duuuunnnn.

Oh my gosh, what happened to Shika!? And we got some more torture scenes in there for those pining to know what really went on in the basement of Hokage's Tower. And a whole bunch of other stuff. Now tell me…what did you think?

Our merry band of reviewers increased a lot this chapter, so here is everyone who reviewed last chapter. Free membership buttons and T-shirts for: Dragon D., siny, NotJustAnotherHuman, Katako-chan, Kouri Hakumei, LittleKittyShaoMao, Tensano Hyguuhi, LixxyChan, and kirei hana35.

Thank you all so much!!

Until next time, Reading Maid over and out!