Hello to my small fan base. That's assuming I have a fan base, which is probably a false assumption. Regardless of that, I'd like to apologize for the change in chapter 2. If anyone noticed, I left the basic idea of the chapter intact but changed some of the details, most importantly one regarding Naruto and Sakura. I'll probably have something similar go on later though so don't get disheartened. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
The near pitch-black darkness enveloped the team of young ninjas. In the lack of light, vision was limited to around 15 feet, without a flashlight or lamp of course. Add to the darkness the uncomfortable coldness, and the unmakoutable sounds that plagued the area, and you had one eerie place. Sasuke, being the only one of the three to be in tune to the situation, glanced at the clock on the radio. It was very near 6:00, and Sasuke turned the radio function on, waiting for his teacher's checkup message.
Sasuke sighed slightly as he glanced in the direction of Sakura and Naruto again. Naruto still had a wide grin on his face, and Sakura still had a slight look of bewilderment and a slight blush on hers. "Naruto is an idiot, and he'd smile right down to the moment a kunai was at his throat. But Sakura…she usually only gets that way around me," he thought to himself. "Not like I care or anything," he mumbled under his voice.
In all actuality, however, it had irked him to see Sakura act that way when he wasn't even in sight to begin with. He knew that she cared, but he would never be able to express that he cared for her as well. He had more important things to do in his mind. Like revenge. However, if he kept ignoring her the whole time, he feared she would stop worrying about him and go after someone else. It wasn't a secret that Naruto and Lee cared for her as well, and they made it a point for her to notice.
All three of them, sat there, heads facing the ground, thinking of each other...and ramen, in the case of one of them.
Meanwhile, in team 10's camp…..
"Shikamaru, go get some water, I'm thirsty here!" exclaimed Ino in typical haughty fashion. "And Chouji, what are you doing eating again? You just ate some food a half an hour ago!" Chouji just looked at her peculiarly, and continued to chomp on some chips.
Shikamaru just sighed and set off in search of some drinking water. Asuma had just radioed them, so at least he didn't have to worry about that. However, even after becoming a Chuunin, he was still the same as always. He thought the whole training exercise was a waste of time, and would rather be playing Go or sleeping. "Geez, I'm the one who became a Chuunin but she still bosses me around. Women are so annoying," he complained to himself.
Regardless of how annoying he thought this was, Shikamaru didn't fail to notice that this area would play right into his strength, and would probably give his team a large advantage. His main, and basically his only skill is the Shadow Copy no Jutsu. With it, he is able to stretch his own shadow and move it within other shadows to try and catch someone in his own shadow. When caught, they would only be able to move as he did. Seeing as how the whole area was dark and shadowy, he would be able to catch people from very far distances away, as long as he could pinpoint their location.
Unfortunately, his trek for water was halted by a loud shriek coming from the direction he had left a few minutes before.
"Ino….damn!" he sputtered as he darted as fast as he could towards his own base.
At team 8's camp…..
Hinata looked up in question. Had she just heard what she thought she had? A minute ago, she could have sworn she had heard someone scream, although she couldn't be sure. She also couldn't be sure as to exactly how far away the noise was, because of slight echo in the caverns.
"K-Kiba, did you just hear that noise," she questioned him. She knew Kiba and Akamaru had a much greater sense of hearing than she did, so she would be able to tell if it was made or not.
After checking with Akamaru, Kiba stood up and announced, "Come on guys, we're going to grab some flags!" He was always enthusiastic about everything, but Hinata still wanted to have her question answered.
"But w-what about…" she started to ask before Kiba stopped her. " There was a scream, but it was just that Ino girl. She was probably just freaked out by a huge bug or something. But, if she is paying attention to that, then we have a chance to strike! Lets go!" he exclaimed in an excited voice.
"B-but we don't even know where they are," countered Hinata. "How are we supposed to find the flags in the pitch black when we don't even know where their base is?"
Kiba was about to pipe up that Akamaru would just use his nose to find them, but Shino had already started to talk. "I had my bugs scout out the area already. Their camp is roughly about 8 miles to the east it seems," he explained. Meanwhile, Kiba was getting annoyed. Kiba was sure that he was the leader of the group, but sometimes he felt Shino tried to take over, although Shino could care less. "Fine, lets go," Kiba mumbled as Akamaru followed closely behind.
After a while of dashing and avoiding traps, they could see a faint light in the distance and one silhouette along with it.
"Hah it looks like they only left one person behind to watch the flags! This'll be easy!" Kiba boasted with a laugh. "We might as well just rush in there and let him see us! He won't be able to do anything about it!" he continued.
"Confucious once said, 'to go beyond is as wrong as to fall short,'" uttered Shino. "Maybe we should just get what we need and return."
"Don't worry, it will be fine. We'll just tie him up and take whatever we want! Come on Akamaru," was all Kiba said before rushing towards the silhouette. Shino just shook his head and followed, while Hinata had a worried look on her face, still thinking about the scream.
In a matter of seconds the three had reached Shikamaru, but they immediately stopped as they saw the look upon his face was one of worry, but not worry for himself.
"Sorry guys, but I'm not going to put up a fight. Go ahead and take all the flags, I have more important things to worry about," Shikamaru stated bluntly. When he had arrived back at his base, he had found no one there, and even after calling out for his teammates, he received no response.
"W-what's the matter Shikamaru," asked Hinata in a very muted voice, but one that was of pure concern. Now that she had gotten here and found Shikamaru alone, she was even more worried. She hadn't really known Ino or Chouji very well, but she was a very kind person and worried about everyone.
"Well, I went to go grab some water, but while I was gone I heard a shriek coming from over here. I hurried and came back, but no one was here…" Shikamaru answered as his gaze shifted towards something lying on the ground. It was kind of shiny, and it had caught his attention, even in the dark. When he bent down to pick it up, he noticed it was a bag of potato chips, yet still half full. A frightened glaze popped onto his face.
"This bag is still half full," he remarked, as team 8 looked at his face. "Yeah, so what?" Kiba didn't really know Chouji, so he didn't see the significance.
"Chouji never lets food go uneaten. Even if it gets muddy, he'll still pick it up and eat it," Shikamaru explained. "Damn, this isn't good," he thought. "They must have had the radio with them, so I can't get in touch with Asuma."
"Hey, can I borrow your radio guys?" he announced after a minute of silence. The other three looked at each other questionably, confirming to themselves that they had to let him use it.
"S-sure you can," Hinata said with a slight smile. She wanted to make him feel better, she knew he must be feeling horrible. "We are going to have to go get it from our camp though. You stay here though, just in case they come back," added Shino. "We'll be back in about an hour, be careful."
Four hours later, Shikamaru was still waiting at his base…
Uh oh, what's gonna happen? To be honest, I don't know yet, so obviously neither do you readers. =) Well, I'll try my best to get the next chapter up soon.