"Shikamaru?" Sakura asked in surprise as he entered the room with Hinata.
He waved at her and gave an awkward smile.
"Oh we met on the way and I asked him to accompany me," Hinata explained, turning to wink slightly at Shikamaru.
"Yea, I came since I had nothing to do anyway," Shikamaru said.
Sakura smiled and led Hinata to a bed and closed the curtains around it after instructing the Nara to either wait in the room or outside. Shikamaru stayed in the room for a while but soon got bored and decided to go out to wait instead.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" an all too familiar voice called out and Shikamaru cringed inwardly.
"Kaa-san..." he greeted as his mother approached him.
"Well, why are you here?"
"I'm accompanying Hinata for her check-up since I was free," he replied, shrugging.
"I see," she said, looking thoughtful.
"Ah I'm here to visit a friend..." Yoshino replied. "Would you like to-"
Knowing what his mother wanted, Shikamaru immediately shook his head and backed towards the door.
"Err, I think Hinata is done with her check up," he said hastily and retreated back into the room.
He could hear his mother scolding him from outside before a nurse asked her to be quiet. He sniggered silently. Yoshino would definitely be giving him hell that night though...
"Right, there's nothing wrong with your baby and you can leave now," Sakura said, grinning as she pulled the curtains aside.
"Thanks," Hinata said, smiling gratefully at the medical-nin.
"No problem," Sakura said. "I'll go check on the other patients now. See you two around."
"Bye," Shikamaru replied.
"Well now that that's done, would you like to have some lunch?" Hinata asked.
"Wouldn't Naruto be jealous?" Shikamaru asked though he could not help but let a smile crawl onto his face.
"He's on a mission," Hinata replied.
Just then, three stretchers were carried in hurriedly by a few medic-nins. People who saw them coming cleared a path for them. Shikamaru immediately pulled Hinata gently to the wall in case she got hit and caught a glimpse of the person on one of the stretchers.
He was badly injured and had a deep cut in his side where lots of blood was flowing from. And he had a huge gash across his left cheek. His arm was almost severed as well. There were more injuries but that was all Shikamaru could see.
However, he did notice the mask that the person was carrying in his other good arm. It was an ANBU mask. Shikamaru felt a shiver running down his spine as he realised that the person could be Neji. He was about to go after said person but Hinata placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and saw his worry reflected in her eyes.
"He didn't have long hair," Hinata told him and he nodded numbly.
The door of the hospital opened again and two more ANBU came in, each helped by a medical-nin each. Shikamaru bit his lower lip. He remembered Neji's mask and it was that of a wolf but both ANBU who just entered had the mask of the wolf.
What if one of the other injured people was Neji? He thought anxiously and was about to turn when he heard his name being called.
Shikamaru frowned when it did not seem that anyone looked like they were waiting for him to respond.
"Nara, over here," the same voice called and Shikamaru realised that it was one of the ANBU. "Come over."
Hinata glanced worriedly at Shikamaru. He ignored her and started walking towards the ANBU with Hinata following him close behind. He reached them and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Hinata," the other ANBU spoke and Shikamaru identified it as Neji's voice and let out a silent sigh of relief.
"Nii-san?" she asked, surprised. "I'm so glad you're alright!"
She moved in to hug him but he stood back and shook his head. Remembering that ANBU's identities were supposed to be kept a secret, she mumbled an apology and stepped back.
"Go home," he said. "We have business to do-"
"After you get treated," Sakura said sweetly as she walked up to the two ANBU.
It was then that Shikamaru realised that Neji and the other ANBU were indeed injured. They were not as badly injured as the previous ones though. Neji had wounded his arm and there was blood dripping onto the floor and his leg had been hurt as well. The other had sprained his ankle but Shikamaru could not see the extent of his injury due to the fact that he was wearing shoes.
"We are fine," Neji said stiffly.
"Oh but we never know if there are any internal injuries right?" Sakura said, smirking.
"Let's go," the other told Neji and he complied, following the other ANBU and Sakura.
"Well, I'll go home then," Hinata said.
Shikamaru nodded and watched her leave, unsure of what to do. It was obvious that Neji and the other ANBU had something to tell him but now that they were getting treated, he had half a mind to leave. Honestly, it could not be a good thing if ANBU wanted to talk to you. He had firsthand experience of that with Neji after all.
--
"Well?" Neji asked Sakura as he sat down in a chair, mask long forgotten on a table. Sakura knew every single ANBU there were since she was Tsunade's student so they did not have to bother with their masks when they were alone with her.
"How did you get injured?" she asked worriedly as she started healing Neji.
"Akatsuki," he replied simply, causing Sakura to gasp.
"What-"
Neji held up a hand to silence her. She obliged immediately.
"I'll report it to the Hokage later. Come along," he said.
Sakura nodded and moved on to the other ANBU. As Neji and the other ANBU were not so seriously wounded, Sakura healed them rather quickly and soon, they were at the door of Tsunade. Neji instructed Shikamaru to wait outside and went in with the other two.
--
"Hyuuga!" Tsunade exclaimed as Neji took off his mask. "What happened? I heard that three ANBU were sent to the hospital and they're still in critical condition. Three!"
"Tsunade-sama," Neji greeted and plunged into his report. "We were searching the area for Akatsuki as you instructed and we discovered Hoshigaki Kisame, Zetsu, Hidan and Kakuzu. While we were hiding, Hoshigaki attacked one of us. It then escalated to a full out battle and only ended with the arrival of Uchiha Itachi and Sasori. They told the others to stop and teleported away. I decided not to pursue them as three of us were already seriously injured and although the two of us were not so greatly injured, it would be too risky to leave the others alone or to pursue Akatsuki by ourselves."
Tsunade nodded, taking in all the information and told Neji that he had done the right thing. The room was then filled with silence as the shinobis awaited the Hokage's decision to handle this.
"So Akatsuki's really here," Tsunade said, sighing.
The rogue nins around the Fire Country border were already giving her a headache and Akatsuki just has to choose that time to appear, adding to her still uncompleted list of worries. But there was a chance that Shikamaru was telling the truth. And there was also the chance that he was a traitor. She groaned.
"Sensei?" Sakura asked, worry on her face.
Tsunade grunted in response and shook her head.
"Hyuuga," she said.
"Yes?"
"What do you think should be done?"
All eyes turned to the Hyuuga, wondering what sort of decision he would make. His answer shocked everyone.
"Hand Nara over to the Torture and Interrogation Force," Neji said firmly.
Sakura and Shizune both let out gasps of surprise simultaneously. The other ANBU's eyes widened slightly. Tsunade blinked once and leveled Neji with a stare.
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking for any hints of doubt in those pale lavender eyes.
"Yes."
"Get Nara and Ibiki here now," she commanded.
"Sensei, you can't be serious!" Sakura exclaimed before turning to Neji. "Neji, have you gone crazy?! Shikamaru can't be a traitor!"
"Tsunade-sama, this is insane! Nara-kun won't do such a thing. Neji-kun, are you really sure about this?" Shizune said, eyes pleading.
Neji shrugged and placed his mask back on. The other ANBU remained speechless and did likewise. Tsunade glared at Shizune.
"What are you waiting for?" she snapped.
Shizune sighed and ran out of the room to get Ibiki. In her haste, she completely bypassed Shikamaru who was leaning against the wall.
"Nara," Neji called. "Get in here."
He pushed himself off the wall and walked inside the room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Sakura at a corner of the room with her hands clenched tightly by her sides. Her head was down so he could not be sure whether she was crying.
"Nara," Tsunade addressed him and he noted a look of grieve in her eyes.
"Shikamaru," Sakura choked out and the Nara wondered why she was crying. "Be strong."
He frowned. What was going on? He glanced at the two ANBU but they gave nothing away. They were standing straight in front of the Hokage's desk with their arms by their sides and their masks firmly in place although Shikamaru noted that one of them seemed slightly tense and it was not Neji.
A moment later, Shizune re-entered the room with Ibiki. Shikamaru became more confused but he soon deduced what was about to happen to him. Sasori would be angry if he knew...
"Hokage-sama?" Ibiki asked as the door closed behind them.
"I'm handing Nara Shikamaru to you. You will find out whether he is a traitor. Hyuuga Neji will fill you in on the rest," Tsunade commanded.
She then sighed and turned to Shikamaru.
"I know that this may seem unfair to you but in the interest of Konoha, there is no other choice. I'm sorry Nara," she said, idly noting that Naruto would throw a fit when he found out.
"Now go," she said.
Ibiki walked over to the Nara and placed a hand on his shoulder, mumbling an apology. Neji walked over to them and glanced at Ibiki. He nodded and they disappeared at the same time with Shikamaru.
The other ANBU was dismissed and Sakura and Shizune looked at Tsunade. She sighed and shook her head.
"That was the right choice. He could be a traitor," she said and that was the end of the conversation.
She sent the two females out and started on her work.
TBC
Gosh, I feel mean throwing Shikamaru to Ibiki. Review please!
-Winterblazewolf