AN: Ok, so just to warn you all, this chapter might be a bit... weird. And might be a bit emotional. Eh, you'll see.
The ending's really good though. And the next chapter is going to be VERY emotionally packed. Just warning you all.
Once again, I do not own Naruto.
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As the sun slowly rose from the sky in front of them, Shikamaru slowly wrapped his arms tighter around his wife, and Temari let herself lean into him more closely. After a moment, she added words to the interaction.
"...Getting all emotional with the sunrise, huh?"
Shikamaru nodded, and then let out a small smile.
"It's not just the sun that's making me this way..."
Temari returned the smile that he gave her, but then something momentarily interrupted them. A small, tiny, and yet still noticeably lazy, cry came from Temari's arms, and the two of them both looked down to see that Shikadai was still there, snuggled tightly in his blanket. The boy had finally woken up it seemed, his small green eyes swirling around, and his arms trying to free themselves from their position behind the blanket. Not wanting to watch her son struggle for much longer, Temari slowly loosened the fabric until Shikamaru could properly place his hands elsewhere. In response, she was given a long, and loud yawn.
Shikamaru smirked a bit bigger from the scene, and then slowly reached out a finger for the infant. The boy eyed his index finger for a few moments, before making a quizzical sound, and gripping it with both of his hands, making more sounds as he slowly moved it around and looked at it. Shikamaru slowly closed his eyes, taking in the boy's experimental touches, abd just allowing himself to be in awe of the little life that the two of them ahd created, not too long ago. Temari gave out a small chuckle.
"Aww, how cute."
Shikamaru looked up at her again, and blushed...
Only for the world around him to begin to fall apart.
...No.
The hill that the three were seated on began to crumble away, and Shikamaru barely had enough time to reach forwards to grab onto Temari's body. The sun rising in the sky began to gain intensity, and soon Shikamaru's vision became a pure white. He gribbed onto Temari's shoulder until he couldn't feel her anymore.
Until he could feel nothing. He could see nothing. He could hear nothing...
But...
"... You don't deserve her... Shikamaru. That's why she's gone. And soon, the rest of you will be as well."
Shikamaru woke up immediately, and felt himself surge forwards until he was sitting upright. His eyes were wide and his body was frantic for a few moments, as he reached out in front of him, and let out a soft, helpless scream. But then, his surroundings slowly began to return to him, and as his green environment became real to him again, he slowly placed his hand back towards his side, and took a deep breath.
Another bad dream.
He slouched forwards, and then took a quick look at his surroundings, just to make sure that it was all over. Sure enough, the world around him hadn't changed since he had fallen asleep. He was still in the makeshift camp that he, Ino and Choji had made, in the middle of the forest, about one day away from Konohagakure and half a day away from the fort where their mission would take place. He could see Ino sleeping peacefully and unbothered on the other side of a fire that he had set up earlier, and around said fire, placed against the trees that bordered their campsite, lay the two bags that the group had brought with them. Above him, through the leaves and thicket, he could see that a barely viewable new moon was present above them, accompanied by a torrent of stars. Finally, he felt his immediate surroundings, and found that no one had taken his own sleeping bag during his sleep.
He let himself yawn, but the moment he finished he heard a voice come from behind him.
"Shikamaru?"
He turned himself around, so that he was now facing the source of the voice as well as the fire, to see Choji Akimichi towering over him. Before he could process more facts, his old friend continued.
"Are you alright man? What happened down here?"
Shikamaru slowly held up one of his hands to silence his friend, and then took a few moments to finish composing himself. Soon he answered.
"Yeah...yeah I'm alright."
He moved one of his hands to wipe whatever saliva he had placed onto his own face, and then narrowed his eyes.
"Just... a bad dream."
"Oh, okay."
Choji shrugged, as Shikamaru sat himself up straight again, and took a deep breath.
"...What was it...?"
He then rolled his eyes.
"Oh... just a you know. Stress before the mission. I get it alot."
He didn't really want to think about that, and instead distracted himself with something else. Anything else.
"...How many more hours until I'm on watch?"
Choji glanced at the watch on his arm, and then shrugged.
"One. It's alright though, I got enough sleep the last time I was back home. I'll take over your turn."
There was a pause, but before Shikamaru could protest Choji held up one of his own hands.
"Trust me man, you need the sleep more than me." The bigger man then let himself lean up against a tree next to him.
"Especially with that plan of yours, right? You'll be doing a lot of thinking on the go. You need shut-eye for that."
Shikamaru nodded, and then slowly came fully into the reality he was in. He began to stretch his arms, before returning them within his bed.
Earlier in the day, while he had been running with his squad, he had given out their roles and moves to use during their rescue mission. Intel that Shikamaru had looked over the night before revealed that the fort had a large enemy presence, but also gave clues to where the captive leaf-nin was being held. The gist of it was that the group would scout the outside of the castle fort at first. Afterwards, Ino would use her jutsu to preform an interior survey using one of the guards, and afterwards, the same possessed guard would be used to free the captive. There was much that could go wrong with Shikamaru's plan, but even his own flaws he had covered within his mind. If Ino ran out of chakra, he himself could easily posses someone to do the job for him. If that failed, either he or Choji could do the dirty work from inside, providing that they avoided guards. If they were detected, then one of them would have to create a distraction a way off, to distract and disorient their enemies. All in all, it would be a simple mission.
Nevertheless, it still required some level of brain-power from Shikamaru on the site, as he would have to be thinking of alternatives and other strategical differences. He nodded.
"Pfft, you'll need to sleep too, you know," he muttered. His eyes drifted over to Ino's sleeping form, and then he sighed.
"You should see if she can spare some of her hours."
Choji shook his head almost immediately.
"Naa... she's been having a rough week. Lots of things to smooth over and decide at the Intel Core. I'll just stay up."
Shikamaru raised a brow at the news. He personally hadn't noticed anything different from her since the two had last spoken. Nothing about the banter they had shared suggested that she was stressed, and no part of how she moved or walked suggested that either. He thought that he was becoming a bit dense, before reaching a hand up to scratch his head.
"You don't say..." He muttered. He looked over to her sleeping form on the other side of the fire once again, and this time narrowed his eyes.
"What's up with her?"
"Oh, she's just focused on interrogating a prison-."
Oh dear.
Choji covered his mouth for a moment, and then took a quiet, yet deep breath. Ino had told him to not do this particular thing and the very last thing that he and her needed Shikamaru doing the next day was thinking about Kankuro. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to think straight, and if something went wrong, it could easily end with the death of all three of them.
Before he could finish his thought process, Shikamaru had turned his head back towards him, and looked up again.
"Interrogating a prisoner? Who is it that she's so stressed...?"
Choji shrugged his shoulders by impulse, and then kept his face neutral.
"All she said was that it was a higher up. Someone we've been wanting to get for years."
Shikamaru brought his hands together in their signature stance, and then paused for a few moments.
"...Koto?"
"Umm, no."
"Akemi?"
"I don't think so."
"Ka-."
Choji could only keep up his lying for so long.
"She didn't get into specifics," he said flatly. "Either way... yeah. I'm good just going the whole night. There are only three hours left anyways, and Karui packed me some extra muffins. They should keep me up."
Shikamaru could see his friend swoon for a moment over the memory of his wife, before he changed the topic of the conversation.
"You sure you're okay though? I mean... mind-wise..."
Not this question again.
"...Like-."
"Choji, I'll be fine in that department, trust me."
"Alright."
Choji leaned himself off the tree, and then began to stand freely. Shikamaru could see that his eyes were full of worry, yet his voice made no implication of it. He sighed, then looked away from him.
"Well, I'll leave you to get some sleep then. I'll talk to you in the morning. See you in around three hours."
Shikamaru nodded, and Choji leaped away. Soon Shikamaru lost sight of him in the trees above him and Ino. Once he was the only conscious person in his surrounding, he let himself think back to the nightmare he had had.
It wasn't his first nightmare, and definitely wasn't the first one he had suffered where Gaara had showed up. In truth, ever since the day Temari had died, his sleep had been regularly interrupted by the man, him always appearing right when Shikamaru was about to achieve peace or bliss. Almost as if he was the only thing in between him and her.
In truth, there was much more between the two of them now. A tombstone, grass, and 6 feet of dirt.
He cringed, and then instinctively reached for the spot on his right arm where he held both of their headbands. Neither Choji nor Ino had noticed him wearing it yet, which was good, for it would've been a bit embarrassing and frustrating for Shikamaru to explain why he wore it now. After a moment, he looked down, and then examined the rest of his body. The pendant he wore around his neck was still there and still shone through, and his hands left her forehead protector to his necklace. The object being made out of the same material as her forehead protector...
And the rings that Shikamaru had bought for the two of them, all those years ago.
He took a breath, and then closed his eyes. Whatever he was thinking about wasn't working, and he wouldn't find the cure to his nightmares now, not in the middle of the night. What would make him feel better at the moment, however, was the ability to shut his eyes, and simply preform his best in the morning. More importantly, Choji and Ino's lives were in his hands now, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he became responsible for the deaths of his childhood friends.
So he finally let himself lay down again, and he closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he finally drifted back to sleep.
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"Wakey wakey..."
"...Three more minutes."
"Come on Sleeping Beauty... it's daylight."
"...Three more minutes Sai..."
"Oh Innnooo-"
"I SAID THREE MORE MINUTES SAI!"
By sheer reflex, Ino reached out a hand towards the direction of the voice, and then lifted herself up so that she was sitting up in her sleeping bag. When she finally calmed herself down, she saw that her reflex had ended up with Choji being thrown towards the ground, landing on his ass, and with a small red bruise beginning to form on his cheek. Her hand was near his face, and outstretched in a slapping position.
"...Oops."
Shikamaru appeared from the other side of her, and went to help Choji get up. Ino looked around her to see that it was morning, and that the sun was beginning to rise into the sky from behind the trees that surrounded them. She looked over to see that her group had already put away their campfire, and a quick look at her two partners revealed that they were all ready to go. Just waiting on her.
"Ino!" She could hear Choji mutter. He was rubbing the red spot on his head frantically as Shikamaru helped him to stand up.
"What was that for? Is this how you usually wake up in the morning?"
Ino slowly began to blush, as she swung her legs out of her sleeping bag. She had been wearing her uniform to sleep, so there was nothing to put on. Meanwhile, Shikamaru turned to her with a teasing look.
"You thought I was Sai? Come on, I look nothing like him."
Ino then watched him as he slowly moved his hands to remove his ponytail, letting his hair fall down his back. He then narrowed his eyes, and then slowly raised one of his hands up, before breaking into one of the small, light smiles that Sai was known for.
"'Well actually I think you might have a point'," he said, imitating her husband almost perfectly. "'Now come on Ino. Let's go with Inojin to check up on our flower shop-.' "
And with that, Shikamaru found himself flying towards a tree near the both of them.
Choji tried to stifle his laugh, but eventually found himself doing the action out loud. Meanwhile, Ino rolled herself out of her sleeping bag and began to put it away. Choji slowly moved himself over to the tree that Shikamaru had landed against.
The Nara Clan Leader was now rubbing his head as well. The punch wasn't hard at all, Ino would never intentionally hurt him of course, but it would serve as a good reminder not to tease her ever again. Well, at least not about that.
"Troublesome."
Choji helped him stand as he had done earlier. As the two men made their way back towards their common aggressor, Ino let out a small, satisfied smirk. In response, Shikamaru gave a defeated smile.
It had been a while since he had been able to play around like this.
Her pack had been filled, and by the looks of it, she was ready to go.
"Alright then," Shikamaru said, still rubbing his head. "Just to make sure, everyone's ready, right?"
"Roger."
"Yup."
Shikamaru stretched his hands out, and then nodded in agreement.
"Good. And everyone's alright with the plan, right?"
"Roger."
"Yup."
"Alrighty then. Well... from my estimates... we should get to the fort by sundown. We should probably do the operation then, that is, if we're not tired."
Shikamaru stretched his neck, and then took a quick glance at both of his comrades-. No, friends. They didn't seem to be in any real duress, and they seemed like they would be fine for another half day of running. But then again, he was seeing if they were fine now, and not after the long journey they still had in front of them. He would just look over them again once they finally arrived at the fort.
He turned himself around, and then looked up into the trees, before quickly finding the first branch he'd have to step on in his journey. He took a breath.
"Right. Let's get there, get the hostage, finish this quickly, and then get you guys home to your families."
Before he could jump off, however, Ino spoke up.
"All of our families, Shikamaru. You still have Shikadai waiting for you at home."
"... I know. It's just that we're no-."
"Just because it's small doesn't mean you two aren't a family."
...True...
Shikamaru mentally slapped himself for his train of thought. He hadn't before considered the fact that he and his son still made up a family, no matter how makeshift and incomplete it might have seemed t some others. And, now more than ever, him getting home was important to him. Shikadai deserved to have a father.
He didn't want Shikadai to lose his old man ten years before he had lost his own.
He nodded, and then took a gulp.
"Right. Thanks for the reminder."
He returned his eyes to the branch in front of him.
"Now let's go."
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It was a full twelve hours before the Ino-Shika-Cho trio arrived at the fort.
Just as Shikamaru had seen on the map back in the war room, it was situated on a small peninsula, surrounded by where two rivers met. The woods that they were in led up to the very front gates that surrounded it, and at the front of the gates the both of them could see two large shinobi standing, with unlit lanterns hanging next to them. Every other side of the fort, aside from the side that held the gate, was surrounded by the rushing waters of either side of the river. A quick glance would reveal that anyone foolish or crazy enough to try to enter via this path would likely end up drowning. The fort itself was only three stories high, but it was large and wide enough for Shikamaru to get confused just from looking at it. Finally, along with the main and only gate to the wall that surrounded the fort, there was a wall that held it, and on certain positions on the wall the group could see Sand nin, standing to guard.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, and then stopped running. Behind him, both Ino and Choji stopped on their branches, before slowly making their way closer to him, as silently as possible. The three of them were now standing within a tree that was situated at a higher position in front of the main gate. They were hidden behind the leaves as it stood, and as the sun began to set from the sky, they knew that they would get even better cover as time went by.
Once they were all stopped, Ino quickly took out her binoculars, and put them on, looking through the leaves to all around the fort. She looked at the front gates, a few positions on the wall, and on the balconies of each of the fort's three floors. She then blinked her eyes.
"Two by the front gate," she reported. "Eight in total on the actual wall, from what I can see.. There's only one guard on the actual fort balconies, and he's on the second floor." She then turned her attention to the front gates of the actual castle, and then looked around the courtyard for a few moments.
"Looks like there's three people by the actual gate and six milling around the courtyard." She then lowered her binoculars and sighed.
"Full house."
Shikamaru placed his hands together in his signature pose, and then spent moments watching the movement of the fort. The people by the gate were walking to and fro, while the people in the courtyard were sitting around a single campfire, presumably resting. From where he was standing, the people on the wall looked like they were just watching out for intruders. The three by the actual castle doors were standing in place, one at either side of the door, and the third in the middle of the doors.
Shikamaru let his mind begin to run.
"... Would you two be interested in a... night attack?" He whispered, careful to not gain any attention from the guards that were in front of him. Choji and Ino gave each other a quick glance, before answering for themselves.
"...Depends. What are you thinking about?"
Shikamaru answered quickly.
"If you two are tired, we can always call it a night and just try this in the morning. But... because it's getting dark... I'm thinking they might not expect us..."
He looked closer at the courtyard, and then nodded.
"There aren't enough of them, from what we can see, to fill a fortification of this size and magnitude. But at the same time, there aren't enough of us that can take all of them on. And there's only one way into the fort, which is through the front. It might be risky... but I know a way of doing all of this right now. All I'd need to do is edit the one I told you guys earlier by a small bit..."
There was a silence, then Shikamaru returned with his voice.
"Well? What do you think?"
He didn't need to wait very long for their answers.
"Sure, why not?"
"Not very tired... so yeah."
Shikamaru nodded, and then he turned himself towards Ino.
"Alright. First... I'm going to need more information. Could you use your Mind-Transfer Jutsu on a guard to check things out from the inside?"
Ino nodded, and then immediately went to work. She slowly placed her hands together into her family's seal, and aimed at one of the two guards ...
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Shikamaru braced himself to catch Ino's body as she slumped back onto him. Choji kept an eye on the guard she had chosen, and in moments, he could see the particular guard pause and blink, almost rejuvenated.
She was in.
The two of them waited for a long while for Ino to return. As the time passed, both Shikamaru and Choji let themselves take their minds off hte mission, and their speech was more related to simply catching up. In the weeks since the incident had happened, the two hadn't seen much of each other, and as old friends were, any chance to speak to one another wasn't wasted. However, after around half an hour, Shikamaru felt Ino come back to life, and he slowly set her up against one of the branches that she was next to.
The first thing that he noted was the fact that she was sweating.
"I have... more intel for you," she muttered. Shikamaru leaned in to listen to her better, and Choji joined him.
"There are around twenty two guards on the inside. I was able to find where they were holding the hostage as well, and it's on the top floor. He's... a young boy, but then again I guess you already knew that. Only issue is that that floor has seven people on it, and the room that he's in is guarded by a tough looking woman."
Ino wiped some sweat off of her brow, and then took a breath.
"Or rather, she was there. I was able to persuade her to go on a break, and only three of the seven guys on the top floor are still there. But I have no idea when they'll get back."
"Is anyone there notable?" Shikamaru asked. "Like... any higher ups?"
"Nobody special from what I could see. Everyone was a jonin, though."
Shikamaru placed a hand at his chin. It was weird that a bunch of Jonin would simply be sitting around a fort without any real leadership, but he didn't have time to think that through. If Ino had already acted, he only had so much time to follow through on it before her work went to waste.
And he knew exactly how to finish it off.
"Alright then... since you've already done things- wait. Did they detect that you were different? At all?"
"No, of course not. The original guard's waking up in a washroom. He'll probably think he had a hangover."
"Ok. You said three people in total are left on the top floor with the hostage then, right?"
"Right."
Shikamaru took a look back out to the fort, and measured the distance between the tree that they were in and the 3rd floor of the fort. From where he stood, he could see that it wouldn't take him more than ten seconds to run across the wall, run up the walls of the fort and onto the top floor. But then, there was still a large presence of enemies in the fort, and if he alone was caught then it would be trouble. His face being recognizable, it might even result in his death.
He couldn't have it.
At the very same time, a distraction could take some of the heat off of him. Whoever left on the 3rd floor after that would be easy for him to deal with.
He turned his head to Choji, and then raised a brow.
"Choji, how good are you at distractions?"
Choji shrugged.
"Pretty good."
"Alright then. I'll need you to make a distraction then, using the forest around you. Run around, smash a bunch of this forest down, and maybe set some trees on fire. When you're done, meet Ino back up here, and by then I should be in the fort getting the hostage."
"You?" Ino asked. She raised a brow.
"You want to go in the fort-"
"I'm the best person here with mid-ranged attacks. Choji could kick my ass in close-range any day, but I'm much faster than he is. I could get in and grab the hostage in the time that his distraction takes some guards off. Then, this mission would be over."
Shikamaru quickly stretched his hands, and then looked towards Ino.
"For now, just stay here and wait for us to finish up. Warn us if any of the guards get too keen on what we're doing."
"Do we have a rendezvous point other than here? In case things go wrong?"
"Of course."
Shikamaru pointed to the river that flowed on the fort's east side. Both Ino and Choji followed, and he continued.
"That river is the Danzo."
He then pointed Northwards, away from the fort and up the river.
"In that direction there's a neutral aligned inn and hot springs. If anything goes wrong, I want you all to meet me there. If one of us doesn't show up by mid-day tomorrow, then we're coming back to take a look for whoever's missing."
He gripped one of his fists.
"I'm not going to let one of us get left behind."
Both Ino and Choji smiled at this, and Choji flexed his muscles briefly, before looking at the forest below him. Shikamaru nodded, and then gave his old friend a thumbs up.
"Alright... start it up now. Good luck buddy."
Choji jumped down from the tree, and Ino and Shikamaru watched as he ran through the forest and towards an area away from them. Moments passed, as after a few words of banter towards each other, they began to see trees toppling over in a distance, loudly and suddenly. Ino used her binoculars to see that the guards by the front gate, as well as the guards by the door to the castle, began to look over in the same direction that the trees were falling in disbelief, and eventually all of them began to run towards the commotion.
That's my cue.
Shikamaru turned to leave.
"Remember, if anything goes wrong, meet me by that inn."
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It had been a really simple thing, rescuing the captured chuunin.
Like he had predicted, Choji's distraction had nearly completely cleared the top floor of the fort, and the one man who was left didn't notice Shikamaru until the man had knocked him out. The captive had been tied up on his knees in a corner, and with a quick swipe of the kunai, the boy was freed. The chuunin, a young man with short, orange hair, arrow-like features and purple eyes, wanted to tell Shikamaru something, but the man had advised that the boy wait until they were both in safety and away from prying eyes. And with that, the two of them made their way out of the fort and back into the temporary leafy hideout where Choji and Ino were waiting for them.
They were both excited to see Shikamaru, and with Shikamaru bringing back the hostage, they all knew that their mission was nearly over. The only thing left to do was to bring the chuunin back to his team, and the only thing in between them and Konohagakure was thousands of aches of quiet, unoccupied forest.
When Shikamaru arrived with the previously captured Chuunin, Ino looked out behind him once again. The guards that had left the front gate were heading back to return, and it would only be a matter of time before they realized that their captive was gone. So, after letting themselves rest for a few moments, the group of four then began to run back the way that they came.
By now, it was dark. After a few jumps, the group had had to slow down to light themselves a few lanterns, one for each of them. By then, they were all tired, save for the newly rescued chuunin, but Shikamaru still suggested that they needed to get further away from the fort to be safe enough to rest.
And so time passed. Minutes turned to half hours, and half hours became complete ones. Eventually, the group stopped running and began to walk amongst the underbrush of the forest. By then, the moon was the only thing other than their lanterns that was giving off any real source of light. It was rapidly getting cold as well, not as cold as it would have been during the nighttime of a desert, but freezing none-the-less.
"How much further Shikamaru?" Choji asked. "I mean, it's been hours. I don't think they even know where we are at this point."
Shikamaru nearly tripped himself over a log. As they had travelled, he noticed that they were slowly and slowly getting into an older part of the forest, a part of the forest he knew was close to home.
"Almost there guys," he said. "Just a bit further and we'll be out of the woods, so to speak."
Ino looked up at Shikamaru from her position behind him. Throughout the entire mission, she noticed his calm tone and controlled voice. Contrary to her previous belief, it seemed like he wasn't completely unstable. There hadn't been much of a lapse of his sanity during the mission, ad he had even joked around with her during it.
It seemed like the old Shikamaru wasn't dead after all.
"I can't believe I got rescued by the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho." Ino turned her eyes and saw that the chuunin they had rescued was now trying to make friendly conversation with the three of them.
"I mean... to be honest I don't know if I should be... honoured or... embarrassed?"
"Pfft," Ino said. "More like normal. Everyone gets captured now and then. The thing is, we all just work on trying to make it happen less."
The chuunin nodded.
"It's just that... you guys are fucking legendary-. Shi- I mean, crap. Excuse my language."
"It's all good," Choji said.
"Yeah... so... thanks."
"Your welcome, but don't thank us yet," Shikamaru warned. "We're not home yet-."
Suddenly, Shikamaru a shuffling in the trees above him. And shortly after, he saw a long, white object fall out of it...
And shortly after...
Ino let out a light grunt.
Immediately, all three of them turned over to her. She grimaced for a moment, before moving herself so that she was standing up tall once again. She saw everyone looking at her, and she narrowed her eyes.
"...What?"
Shikamaru took a gulp.
"You mean you don't see-"
"See what-"
"You don't feel it?"
"Feel what-."
"Ino... reach for the right side of your belly."
She blushed, and then slowly moved her hands to the location they had told her to...
And once her eyes followed her hands, she noticed that she had a long, straight arrow in it. Inserted through the back, and coming out of her front. Wooden, strong and true.
Her eyes widened...
"NOW! BARRAGE!"
And suddenly, the four of them heard the loud, stifling sound of a torrent of arrows losing. Shikamaru looked up to the source of the sound, the treetops above them, and widened his eyes in fear and shock as he watched as arrows came raining down on him and his group.
"...Holy fuck-."
The arrows continued to race down below, towards the group of Leaf Ninja...
"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"
Before they could, however, Choji had swelled his arm up and lifted it above the four of them. The size of the arm meant that he was able to block all of the arrows, and the few that stuck into his arm fell off when he returned his arm to it's regular size. Shikamaru's mind began to think fast, and his eyes quickly left the sight above them, and returned to the direction the four had previously been travelling.
"Get to the rendezvous point! Now!"
And with that, the members of the current Ino-Shika-Cho, along with the rescued chuunin, began to run as fast as their feet could carry them.
Despite the circumstances they were in, Shikamaru noticed that they were all running nearly completely in sync. Ino had ripped the arrow out of her gut before they had began to run, and now the wound that had been caused by it was open, and some of her blood was dripping onto the forest floor below. After a few moments, she was able to finally cover it with a piece of her sleeve, but it still wouldn't be good enough. They needed to stop and check the wound, and all four of them knew it.
But for now, they had to run. Run, and run as fast as they could. They were a powerful team, but even they knew that they had no luck against possibly an entire fort of enemy ninja. Not in their condition. Not until Shikamaru could stop and figure out a proper attack plan.
And so they ran, and ran, and ran. For at least a half hour...
Until Choji, Ino and the Chuunin all instantly evaporated into thin air.
In shock, Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. He looked around himself, and found that he was completely alone now. Nothing was in the area he stood in, other than the trees that simultaneously hid him and blocked his vision.
That was, until he heard some trees rustle a bit too suddenly, and he instantly placed his hands together into a seal.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!"
He sent a shadow up a tree, and then used his other shadow to cut down another. As he had predicted, the tree that he had cut down held two sand nin, and when they jumped from the tree towards him, he redirected his other shadow towards them, catching them in mid-air, and then he threw them towards the bark of another great tree. He heard some rustling behind him, and then reflexively jumped to his right, his previous position being riddled with arrows shortly after. He used one of his shadows to retrieve these arrows, and then threw them back in the direction they had came. Shortly afterwards, he heard a series of grunts and moans, and he watched as three shinobi fell from the tree, each of them with an arrow wound within them.
I'm surrounded. Fuck.
He turned his head back to his previous position, and looked towards the tree where he had expended two of his attackers. They were still out, and he took this opportunity to climb up a tree vertically, and then begin to run on it's branches, leaping from tree to tree in the direction of the river.
Even if him and the rest of his group had truly been separated, they knew where to find him, and he knew where to find them-.
"Going somewhere, Shikamaru?"
He turned his head in the direction of the voice to see a series of shuriken come towards him. He instantly ducked below them, then let himself drop back to the forest ground where he had been before, still running in the same direction as before. He didn't' have time to think of the ramifications of-.
Until he felt a sudden, large amount of pain towards his right shoulder. He turned his head to see that an arrow had been shot into it.
He grunted in pain, but he couldn't let it stop him from getting to his destination. He couldn't let the enemy get him, now now and not ever. He couldn't' get himself become another dead shinobi. Not now, not ever.
Shikadai was waiting at home for him. He said that he'd get back in a week, and he always kept his promises.
As he ran, he pulled the arrow out, and then threw it to the ground beside him. As he had seen Ino doing earlier, he ripped off a piece of his sleeve and began to wrap it around his new wound...
Until he felt another arrow imbed itself through his hand and onto the same shoulder that he had been trying to cover.
This time he yelped, and the shock was enough to cause him to trip over the root of a tree and fall over. Once he had done so, he felt another arrow enter him through the lower left side of his chest, almost next to his heart. This time, he let himself cry out.
He wouldn't do so ever again.
He heard some feet fall to the ground next to him, and slowly used his one free hand to roll himself off of his face and onto his back. At the very least, he'd let himself see the ones who killed him...
And he was surprised to see four men he had never seen before.
All four of them wore jonin flak jackets, and because of this Shikamaru was able to at least know that they were higher ranking sand ninja. The one who stood in front and closest to him, however, looked a bit more special compared to the other two. For one, he looked a little bit older, mid twenties to early thirties, was a bit taller, and he wore a series of bandages on his visible neck and chin. There was a small bruise on his lower right lip, and his eyes were small, but a bright and noticeable yellow. His hair was long and a near purple colour, and it was tied into a loose bun, with some of his hair still frayed and free.
He looked different, but was still not familiar enough for Shikamaru to make any conclusions. Instead, he simply stared up at the man who now held his life, and kept a neutral and uncaring look. All while he tried his best to think of a way to escape where he was.
"I knew it." The man's voice was deep and dark, completely unlike his appearance. "You are Shikamaru. Shikamaru Nara. Konohagakure's main strategist. The Hokage's second hand man... The man who Gaara said was dead."
He grit his teeth.
"The man who killed Kankuro of the Black Sands."
Shikamaru widened his eyes, before narrowing them again, and accepting what he had said. It was true. Kankuro had been reported to be dead on the day that Temari had passed away, but he had been under the idea that Gaara still thought that he himself had been alive. It seemed like he had been wrong.
The Nara Clan Head then turned himself back to the man in front of him, and then continued to watch his movements. The standing man walked closer to the downed one, and then widened his eyes.
"You know... as you ran, me and my crew here, we thought about killing you. Of course, the only thing a man like you deserves is to die out here all alone. For the things you've done, because of the orders you gave. And it's common knowledge in the desert that a man should seek to kill the one who murdered his master..."
Shikamaru was unaffected. He had heard this type of speech a million times before, and if he survived this day, he'd hear it at least another billion times before his own death. What he was more interested in was the jutsu that had caused him to believe that he had been following Choji, Ino and the rescued Chuunin all this time.
It had to be Genjutsu of some sort. If the man in front of him had been the one to cast it, then at least Shikamaru would be able to die by the hands of a prodigy.
But he still didn't want to die yet. There was still a million and one things that he had not done yet. Shikadai was too young to lose his father. His village was still in the middle of a war.
He still hadn't fulfilled his promise to Temari.
He felt as if her headband had just pulsed through his body, as he suddenly had a bout of new energy. He quickly moved his free hand to his stuck hand, and made himself preform a hackneyed, yet effective makeshift seal-.
Before he found his free hand being thrown to the other side of his body.
Shikamaru cursed, but then tried to move his hand again. It was of no use, and soon he looked towards his newly captured hand to see that it had been wrapped in a series of blue chakra strings.
He slowly moved his eyes towards the man who stood in front of him to see that he was holding the strings from his fingers.
...A puppet master.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..."
To show off his strength, he manoeuvred his fingers, and therefore used Shikamaru's own hand to slap him. The three men behind him chuckled, and he continued.
"I have every right and mind at the moment to end your life where you lay. What I should do is kill you here, and leave you to die the same way you left thousands to die. All alone in the middle of a frigid forest..."
He took a step closer to Shikamaru, and then focused his eyes to the pendant-ring that he was wearing around his neck.
"...But something tells me that I'd be doing more good for the war if I just brought you back to Sunagakure with us. Something tells me that Gaara would appreciate that very much."
No...
Shikamaru suddenly wished that the men in front of him would kill him.
But it was too late for that. Harshly and quickly, the man reached forwards and pulled the ring-pendant that Shikamaru had been wearing right off of his neck. Shikamaru tried to move forwards to stop him, but before he could do anything more, the man had hit him in the face, and caused him to throw his head back once again. Once he had done so, the man in front of him spat onto his face.
Frantically, Shikamaru shook his head, and then used his eyes to look around at his surroundings. There was no way out of this, as it seemed, and he was completely helpless. Like he had already been, so many times in his life before...
But this time, Temari wasn't there to save him. And the fact that she wasn't returned to his mind, and began to torture him as it had done so many years before.
The man in front of him then stood up, and raised one of his feet.
"... I should mention, just to be polite. My name's Nakazo. 3rd highest ranking person in the Puppet Core, and Kankuro's former student."
He paused, and seemed to be confused for a split moment. But when Shikamaru tried to move his arms for the last time, he seemed to come back to his senses.
"Yes... that is my name... Well. Goodnight, Nara."
...Shikadai...wait for me. Wait for your old man. It just looks like I'm going to have to take a long and troublesome detour home.
When Nakazo lowered his foot to Shikamaru's neck, he lost all consciousness.
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AN: Just to inform you all, there's a pattern with the names of my Puppet-master related OC s. Shiori is relatively unrelated to this theme, but the names Kankuro, Nakazo and Okuni are all related to one another. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out why :D! Use Wikipedia is my only clue.
Anyways, I'm going to try and get this next chapter out by this Saturday or Sunday. Thank you for reading as always, and remember to R&R if you can!
