Sakura awoke suddenly and rose from where she lay. Darkness was all about her, save a small fire that stood out directly to her right. She sat still for a minute, letting her eyes become used to the darkness. She thought to herself, trying anxiously to remember what had happened the other day, but she remembered nothing. The last thing she remembered was fighting for her life against the ninja trio.

"Finally awake?" came a voice from behind her.

Sakura jumped up to see the approaching form. A sigh overwhelmed her. "Shikamaru! Where did you come from?"

Shikamaru smiled and walked over by the fire. From out of the shadows came another figure, dressed similar to the ninjas Sakura was attacked by.

"Shika, watch out!" she jumped at the figure and struck at him with lightning-fast blows, but the figure blocked them easily.

"Calm down, girl!" he said as the threw her back on the ground. "You're going to hurt yourself."

Shikamaru offered his hand to Sakura, who accepted and allowed herself to be picked back up to her feet."

"He's with us." He told her.

"Name's Toya." The man replied.

"Hi…Toya…" Sakura said to him. Then she looked back at Shikamaru. "Now, what is going on here? Where are we?"

"The middle of nowhere." Toya said.

"How long has it been since…"

"That was today. We found you being beaten by those ninjas so we decided to help." Shikamaru said. He smiled. "I can't believe you put me through that much trouble."

Sakura smiled. "Well thanks anyways."

"Master." Toya said. "Where are we going now?"

Sakura was puzzled. Master? She thought.

"We will be traveling south. It's the only way we can go right now. All the roads north are blocked."

"Are we the only ones?" Sakura said.

Shikamaru nodded. "There was an explosion of smoke from the Hokage's office. We decided it would be best to retreat and ask for help. On the way out we found you and saved you. From there, we got out of the village as fast as possible. We found nobody else."

Sakura nodded. "I hope lady Tsunade is alright."

"What did you find out by going up there?"

"Nothing much. I was sent on ahead to escape and get help by Tsunade. Kakashi Sensei and Lee were there. Those guys were marching up to her office when she asked me to leave, so I did."

"Then we have no idea about anybody else." Shikamaru sighed. "What a drag."

"Quiet!" Toya hissed.

All three stopped moving and stood motionless. Sakura closed her eyes and began to concentrate charka to her ears. It was a technique she had developed on her own in the past few weeks, and now was the perfect time to put it to use.

Then she heard it. Voices. Steps. They were distant, but approaching fast.

"I hear them." She whispered.

"Dammit." Shikamaru replied. "I knew I shouldn't have built the fire."

Toya ran over to the fire and kicked it out, then moved over to pick up his bag. "We have to get out of here, master."

Shikamaru nodded. "Sakura, can you go?"

She nodded. "I'll be alright. Lead the way."

"Alright then. I will lead. Toya, bring up the end. Sakura, stay in the middle so you will be more protected."

The other two gave their confirmation and Shikamaru jumped into the trees.

"I want you to find anybody who escaped and kill them." Giman said.

"But boss! You were informed…"

"I know what I was informed, Mani, but were under my orders now." He turned back to the other figure in the room. "Find them and kill them."

The mysterious man look at Giman. "As you wish."

He was tall and medium build. He wore only a black robe that covered his face all the way down to his feet. On his chest was a symbol of Eisei Fushi, the black lightning bolt with a halo around the strike. Nothing could be determined about the guy, even by Giman. All he knew was this man was an emissary from Eisei Fushi, one of their most talented ninjas.

"Good. Leave as soon as possible. The more you wait, the farther they get."

The mysterious man nodded. "I will leave right away then."

"Very good. What may we call you?"

From underneath his hood a dark smile came upon his face. "Call me Deimos."

Without another word he jumped out the window. After a few seconds, Giman breathed a sigh of relief.

The three ninjas jumped through the tress, moving as fast as possible away from their pursuers. Shikamaru still led, Sakura right behind him. Toya followed a short distance away. Shikamaru kept the pace fast, hoping to escape them before more trouble could start, but he was worried about Sakura's health and he didn't want to push her too far.

Toya appeared out of nowhere right beside Shikamaru. "They've caught up! We can't escape them!"

Shikamaru cursed to himself. "Keep going. We have to get as far as possible."

The group continued traveling. Shikamaru began to speed up, hoping they could at least get a large enough lead to hide and hope that their followers would not find them.

But even that was not enough. Shikamaru heard Sakura moan and collapse behind him. Instantly he turned back around and jumped to her aid, Toya following.

He found her in a small clearing lying down. Her breathing was hard and inconsistent and she was in obvious pain.

"Leave me. Just keep going." She told him.

Shikamaru smiled. "Never leave a Shinobi behind."

He picked her up in his arms and stood, then looked at Toya. "Let's go."

"There they are!" came a voice from behind them. "Don't let them get away!"

Shikamaru turned around to find a group of the enemy ninjas standing ready to strike, each with weapons in their hand. He quickly counted their numbers: four… six… nine… thirteen. Thirteen of them. He remembered the three he and Toya had fought in the town earlier that day. Three of them were difficult enough.

But he was the leader. He was a Chuunin. He had to do something. He looked at Toya beside him. "Take her and get out of here."

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea." He shrugged.

Toya took Sakura as requested, but then walked to the edge of the clearing and put her down at the base of a large tree. "We can beat them."

"Beat them? I just want to get her out of here. We can't beat that many."

"Just trust me." Toya said.

Why should I trust you? I've only known you for one day. He thought. Then he looked back at the enemies, who were beginning to approach. He didn't exactly want to run away either.

"You know," he said. "We only have once shot at this."

Toya nodded.

Shikamaru nodded back, then the two pulled out daggers and approached.