Hey everybody! Sorry for the long wait but I hope you all will think it was
worth it. Also, this chapter follows the manga closely in the beginning but
eventually breaks off, (that is if I'm not psychic and can foretell the
outcome with the manga.) Anyhow, big thanks to all my reviewers: Mike, Bass
Clef, Ninja Girl 3OO, HK, Katsuhito Sage, Chibi Dragon, Dameus, Naruke, Red
Rose, and Fruit-Tea 1. You guys keep the story going!
Disclaimer: *Reads form Card* "I do not own Naruto, he his property of people who are a lot more talented than I am." That good enough?
Departure: Yojimbo1
Naruto grumbled.
It was early in the morning judging by the tiny bit of sun that was coming through his window. Raising his head from his pillow Naruto listened closely. Once again a knocking sound came from his door. Grumbling again, Naruto climbed out of his bed and suppressed a shudder at the sudden temperature change from not having covers around his body anymore. The knocking came again however it was much louder now. Naruto cursed slightly under his breath and decided that if it was someone trying to sell him the 'Konoha Times' he would give them a free subscription to the Thousand Year Pain Newsletter.
Yawning loudly, Naruto made his way to the front door. Through the curtains he could make out the figure of someone with spiky hair. He repressed a shudder as he thought that it might be the Medusa that he had run into last night after breaking that window. Whoever it was knocked again hard, shaking the doorframe.
"Jeez! Hold on for a second!" Naruto yelled.
The shadow complied and waited patiently as Naruto came down the stairs to the front door. Turning the lock, Naruto opened the front door. The blonde genin was slightly surprised when he saw Shikamaru standing in front of him.
"Uh, what's up Shikamaru?" Naruto asked curiously.
A small smirk came across Shikamaru's usually stoic face, "Nice hat Naruto."
Naruto felt his head and realized that he was still wearing his nightcap. Feeling embarrassed that someone else had seen his hat he said, "Is that the reason you woke me up or is there something else?"
Losing any sign of amusement Shikamaru shook his head, "Actually there is. This morning the Fifth called me to her office." Pausing for a moment he said, "Sasuke is gone and were going to go after him"
Naruto's eyes widened, "What?"
Naruto looked down at the ground. He couldn't believe this. How could Sasuke be so dumb? He was supposed to be a genius but here he went and did something so stupid. 'That Bastard! How could he.' A slight growl came from deep within Naruto's chest. "Wait here!" Naruto yelled running back inside of his house. He quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his ninja suit. Picking up his backpack he quickly threw in scrolls and supplies before running back out to the door where Shikamaru was waiting patiently.
"That was pretty quick." Shikamaru said, impressed that Naruto had managed to get ready in less than three minutes.
Shouldering his backpack Naruto said, "Tell me what were supposed to do." Shikamaru nodded, "We'll have to talk as we move. We still have to gather together more people and we only have," Looking towards the sun he said, "Fifteen more minutes before our departure time."
As the two began to jog Shikamaru began to tell Naruto the story, "Anyways like I said, this morning the Fifth called me to her office. Apparently, two people found out that Sasuke had left the village in the night. The Hokage told me that I had to gather together a team and go find him. I had wanted at least five Chuunins and two Jounins but unfortunately all the one's not protecting the village are out on missions. So now we have to gather together as many powerful Genins as possible."
Grinning slightly, Naruto asked, "So I'm one of the powerful Genins you went out to find?"
"Yeah. The fifth told me I should find you first. She said you would be a big help in this mission."
Hearing that made Naruto feel a lot better about having to go retrieve Sasuke knowing that Old Lady Tsunade personally wanted him to go. The two continued at a steady pace until they came to a house. Shikamaru walked to the door and knocked loudly. Naruto was anxious to see what other powerful Genin that would be coming with them. The door opened to reveal Chouji eating a bag of chips.
"Sup, Shikamaru?" He said through a mouthful of food.
Naruto's jaw almost dropped to the ground. "I thought you told me we were going to get the most powerful Genins around?" Naruto complained, waving his hands around wildly.
Shikamaru sighed, "I am Naruto. Chouji is very strong and plus he is someone who I've worked with before."
Chouji grinned, "I take it we've got a mission?"
Shikamaru nodded, "Sasuke left the village last night. The fifth thinks that he may be trying to join the Sound Ninja so she wants us to go and bring him back."
"Sounds simple enough." Chouji said, stuffing more chips into his mouth.
"Hey," Naruto interjected, "Who else are we going to take? We could try Shino." He volunteered.
"That would be great if Shino wasn't already on a mission with his father." A voice cut in before Shikamaru could speak.
The group turned around to the source of the voice to see Kiba with Akamaru at his feet. "Couldn't help but over hear the situation. From what you say you might need a couple extra sets of fangs." Grinning so that his fangs were exposed he said, "Guess interesting stuff happens when you go out to take an early morning walk."
"Are you sure you want to go, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
Shrugging lazily, he replied, "It's not like I had anything planned. Besides. it could be worthwhile to get a little more practice." Shooting a glance at Naruto he added, "I've been falling behind if Naruto could beat me in a fight."
Naruto started to yell but another voice interrupted, "You weren't the only one he beat." Neji walked up to the group. "Think you got room for one more?" Neji asked.
Shikamaru nodded, "In fact, I was going to go get you after I got Kiba." Turning towards all those gathered around him Shikamaru said, "We don't have much time. We'll meet at the city's front gate in ten minutes. If aren't there on time we will assume you're not coming. Let's go Naruto."
Naruto nodded and started to follow Shikamaru but stopped to shout back at the others, "If you all don't show up I'll kick your butts when I get back."
Kiba grinned, while Neji merely sighed. Naruto jogged to catch up back to Shikamaru who seemed to be deep in thought. He was about to talk to him but thought better of it thinking that he might be making a plan. The two reached the front gate in two minutes. Shikamaru sat down on the ground cross-legged and continued pondering whatever it was he was thinking. Naruto leaned against the frame of the great gate and thought about everything that was happening. He still couldn't believe that Sasuke had abandoned the village. A thought of Sakura passed through his mind and he remembered how he had told her Sasuke wouldn't join Orochimaru. 'Bastard. Made me into liar.'
"Naruto-Kun?" A voice asked, snapping him from his thoughts.
Lifting his head up Naruto saw Lee walking towards him with a crutch. "Lee? What are you doing up, shouldn't you be sleeping so you can get better?"
Smiling lightly Lee shook his head, causing his bowl cut hairdo to sway to the sides slightly, "Sleep can't help what's wrong with me right now, anyways I like to take a walk in the morning. You can see the world wake up as the sun rises."
Naruto was confused by this but nodded never the less, not wanting to sound stupid.
"So what are you two doing waiting at the front gate so early for?" Lee asked curiously.
"Its that jerk Sasuke! He left last night to join the sound Ninjas. Now we have to go and retrieve his sorry ass before its too late."
Lee's eye's widened, "I don't believe it. Why would he do something like that?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Naruto grumbled.
The sounds of steps made the two look to the side. Kiba, Akamaru, Neji and Chouji were approaching them. Lee waved to Neji who smiled slightly from seeing his teammate up and about. Shikamaru stood as the group reached him.
"Good you're here earlier than I thought." Shikamaru said looking over each member of his team.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered, "Let's move out!"
Shikamaru sweat dropped, "Uh, I am this teams leader if you forgot Naruto."
"Oh, I guess your right but I figured you wouldn't be up to it." Looking at him skeptically he said, "Your not always the most trustworthy person around."
"Naruto is right. Don't get me wrong Shikamaru, I don't want him," He said hitching his finger at Naruto, "To be the leader but your not always the most serious person around."
"Your right, I'm not very serious most of the time but as of now I'm your leader and it's my responsibility to keep you alive." Shikamaru's normal passive look took on a hard edge, "I take that very serious." Kneeling down he pulled out a scroll, "Since we're to be pursuers I'm going to map out our formation right now so we don't get caught off guard and ambushed. Kiba, you'll be in front with Akamaru since you two have the best sense of sight and smell and will be able to spot anything out of the ordinary the quickest. Next, is me so everyone will be able to see my hand signals. Naruto, since you're the quickest you'll be in the middle so you can assist the front or back of the line. Chouji, your after him. Us front three will be able to make openings so you can finish them off. Finally Neji, you'll be responsible for the back since your Byakugan allows you to have a greater degree of sight than the rest of us."
Naruto was amazed. To be able to come up with such a great formation in such a short amount of time. Shikamaru was defiantly qualified to be a Chuunin with that type of skill. Naruto watched as Shikamaru began drawing on the paper.
"Now I'll tell you about the area you are responsible for. Kiba is strait ahead, mine is to his left or right, Naruto to the left, Chouji right, Neji the back. Any questions?" When no one said anything he stood up he said, "Let me check all of your supplies so I know what we're working with."
Naruto opened his pack and held it towards Shikamaru who shifted through it silently taking count of what was there. When Shikamaru nodded his approval, Naruto closed the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He watched silently as the process was repeated with each member. Just as Shikamaru was finishing, footsteps signaled someone else approaching.
Turning to the sound Naruto saw Sakura approaching. She looked very ragged when compared to his normal vision of her. Her hair was disheveled; her clothes were wrinkled like she had slept in them but what truly caught the blonde's attention was her eyes. The normally bright green eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying a lot.
"Sakura-Chan?" He whispered softly.
"Naruto." Her voice was raspy and thick with emotion. "Please, I beg you. Bring Sasuke-Kun back."
Naruto's heart felt like someone had taken a hold of it and twisted slightly. She was this sad because of Sasuke. If it had been him would she be this upset. Naruto's normal bright smile faltered for a moment before being quickly replaced by a shadow of his former expression, "You must really like him Sakura-Chan." He whispered slightly, watching as Sakura's head raised up to look at him in the eyes, "What your feeling right now. I know what its like."
Tears began to spill out the corner of her eyes, "Naruto." She whispered brokenly.
Giving her a quick thumbs up and a large grin he said, "Don't worry, Sakura-Chan. I'll bring him back, that's a promise." Turning away from her, his eyes were covered by shadow as he added, "Let's go guys." With that Naruto walked off ignoring the sobs behind him. It was only a few seconds later that the others caught up to him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he turned to see Chouji looking at him.
"You okay, Naruto?"
Nodding slightly he said, "Yeah, of course I am." He shot Chouji a appreciative glance, "Thanks, Chouji."
"No problem." He said smiling.
"Alright guys get into the formation." Shikamaru said. Everyone fell into there spot quickly. "Now our goal today is to cover at least a fourth the distance that Sasuke has on us. That should allow us to be cautious enough so that we don't step into a trap because we're trying to cover too much ground." Looking back at those behind him he said, "Remember keep your eye out for any activity in your area and tell me at once. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" Naruto said with a mock salute making Chouji and Kiba grin.
"Save the comedy until we get back home, Naruto." Shikamaru said with a tiny smirk.
The group of leaf Shinobi started on the trail of their delinquent comrade moving at a slight trot. As Shikamaru had instructed them, they moved carefully enough but not overly protective. Naruto had not taken his eyes from his designated area until Shikamaru had ordered a food break at noon. The five ate quietly each lost in their own thoughts about the mission before them. While Shikamaru ate he drew their progress on a map and scribbled a few numbers in the margin.
"If we manage to keep up this pace we'll make up more distance than I had thought." He remarked rolling the map back up before stuffing it back into his pack. "Let's go, we've rested long enough."
Naruto and Chouji grunted as they stood up from their comfortable spot on the ground. They moved out again and Naruto took in their surroundings. They had passed the familiar woods surrounding Konoha at Ten 'o clock and had began moving across the plains that led to the Sound Village. Naruto knew little about the world away from the village except for his mission to the Wave Country and the terrain was much different. All around them was nothing but wide-open grassy fields, interrupted every now and again by a raised area of land or a deep valley.
"Hey Shikamaru?" Naruto called.
"Yeah."
"Why are their no villages built around here?" The blonde genin asked curiously.
Sighing slightly as if he was tired he responded, "Didn't you learn anything at the academy, idiot?"
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed at the insult. "Of course I learned stuff, I just don't remember some things."
Sighing again Shikamaru said, "I figured you would remember something as big as this." Waving around him he began, "This whole area between the Sound and Leaf Village used to be heavily populated. However, because of the rich terrain around here many Lords fought over for control of it. The fighting escalated to the point that people from both sides were firing the lands around here to stop the other from obtaining it. The Second Leaf and Lightning Hokage stepped in and managed to stop the fighting before the two sides totally destroyed the land. One of the agreements that were reached was that that each side was to be offered a share of the land but they had to divide it into five parts. Each was allowed to populate one section, then they would to have an area where they could not populate and the area in the middle became a shared land between them both as a neutral area where they could exchange goods. Right now we're in the Leaf's neutral territory so we will not be seeing a town or farm until we reach the next boundary."
"Whoa!" Naruto said impressed. "You really have a good memory Shikamaru to be able to remember all that."
"Its not that big a deal." The pony tailed Chuunin said directing his attention back towards his task.
Naruto looked around at the land once more and wondered why people had to be so greedy. To him it looked as if there was enough land for everyone to share. 'Grownups.' He thought to himself simply.
The group continued on for a moment more, pausing every once and a while as Kiba leaned down to the ground and sniffed. Naruto thought it was odd that Kiba was able to pick up Sasuke's scent among all the others around. When he stood back up Naruto decided to ask him.
"Hey Kiba. How do you find Sasuke's scent even with all the other smells around?"
Speaking for the first time since leaving Neji said, "I wondered that myself. How do you tell that we're on the right track if we don't have something that smells like Sasuke?"
Kiba's nose twitched as he turned around to look at them, "I don't really know how to explain it." Turning back to the front he thought for a moment as he walked, "Well, you know how I can channel my Chakra to my nose and heighten my sense of smell, right?" All those around nodded, "Well, each person has a scent to them.kinda like food. You know how you can tell what type of food it is by its smell? It works the same with humans; every person has their own distinct smell to them. Everyone I've ever met I can remember their scent like its smelling the difference between apples and oranges."
"So you can tell how many people are with Sasuke too." Neji deduced.
Kiba nodded with a grim expression on his face, "There's four others with him and from what Akamaru has been telling me their Chakra level is very high."
"Well, isn't that great." Shikamaru stated dryly. "This mission just keeps getting more and more irritating." He said absently scratching the back of his neck.
The group continued on in silence once again, now much more wary after the news of the high level ninjas they would run into with Sasuke. They continued until the sun had almost entirely disappeared over the horizon before Shikamaru called for a halt. He had once again taken out the map and marked their progress and found that they were indeed a few miles farther than he had anticipated. After they had all eaten he called them all around him.
"Okay, tonight we'll have to rotate who's on watch. Do I have any volunteers for the first shift?" He asked.
"I'll do it." Naruto exclaimed raising his hand exuberantly.
A small grin came over Shikamaru's features, "Thanks for the volunteer Naruto cause now you wouldn't be upset to know that the person who does first watch also has to do the last also."
Naruto sighed heavily, "I should learn to keep my mouth shut."
The others laughed loudly at that. "Just figuring that out now?" Kiba joked punching him playfully in the arm.
Waving them away Naruto said, "Just hurry up and go to sleep."
Shikamaru nodded, "He's right. I'll do the next one, Chouji will be after me, Neji after him and then Neji." The boys nodded their agreement and all except Naruto went to their sleeping bags. Kiba and Chouji were asleep almost the second they hit their bags with Neji and Shikamaru after them shortly.
Naruto sat on the ground and watched the moon begin to crest the horizon. He mused on the fact that only last night he had looked upon the same moon but things so many things had changed in that short time. His thoughts wandered back to the leaf village and wondered how everyone was doing. Especially Sakura. He hoped that she wasn't crying like she had been when he had left. Maybe Lee had managed to cheer her up after they had left. When he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw that Shikamaru was there he realized that his first shift was over. Giving a nod of conformation to the Chuunin, he went to his sleeping bag and laid down. He suddenly couldn't remember being so tired in his life and promptly fell asleep. His sleep was restless, flooded by the sound of Sakura's crying and the image of Sasuke looking at him with the ice-cold eyes he had shown him in the hospitle. It seemed only like a few minutes before he felt Neji shake him awake, informing him that it was his turn at watch again. Naruto made his way past his sleeping teammates back to where he had sat earlier.
"I'll bring him back Sakura-Chan." Naruto whispered to himself. However, the image of Sasuke's cold eyes upon him flooded his mind. They reminded him so much of Orochimaru's that he wondered if it was even possible to keep his promise. Once again he repeated quietly, "I'll bring him back." A feeling deep inside his heart made him add, "That is if it's still Sasuke when I find him." Once again those cold eyes made him doubt if he could.
(A.N) Read and Review. Otherwise I'll be all sad and stuff.
Disclaimer: *Reads form Card* "I do not own Naruto, he his property of people who are a lot more talented than I am." That good enough?
Departure: Yojimbo1
Naruto grumbled.
It was early in the morning judging by the tiny bit of sun that was coming through his window. Raising his head from his pillow Naruto listened closely. Once again a knocking sound came from his door. Grumbling again, Naruto climbed out of his bed and suppressed a shudder at the sudden temperature change from not having covers around his body anymore. The knocking came again however it was much louder now. Naruto cursed slightly under his breath and decided that if it was someone trying to sell him the 'Konoha Times' he would give them a free subscription to the Thousand Year Pain Newsletter.
Yawning loudly, Naruto made his way to the front door. Through the curtains he could make out the figure of someone with spiky hair. He repressed a shudder as he thought that it might be the Medusa that he had run into last night after breaking that window. Whoever it was knocked again hard, shaking the doorframe.
"Jeez! Hold on for a second!" Naruto yelled.
The shadow complied and waited patiently as Naruto came down the stairs to the front door. Turning the lock, Naruto opened the front door. The blonde genin was slightly surprised when he saw Shikamaru standing in front of him.
"Uh, what's up Shikamaru?" Naruto asked curiously.
A small smirk came across Shikamaru's usually stoic face, "Nice hat Naruto."
Naruto felt his head and realized that he was still wearing his nightcap. Feeling embarrassed that someone else had seen his hat he said, "Is that the reason you woke me up or is there something else?"
Losing any sign of amusement Shikamaru shook his head, "Actually there is. This morning the Fifth called me to her office." Pausing for a moment he said, "Sasuke is gone and were going to go after him"
Naruto's eyes widened, "What?"
Naruto looked down at the ground. He couldn't believe this. How could Sasuke be so dumb? He was supposed to be a genius but here he went and did something so stupid. 'That Bastard! How could he.' A slight growl came from deep within Naruto's chest. "Wait here!" Naruto yelled running back inside of his house. He quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his ninja suit. Picking up his backpack he quickly threw in scrolls and supplies before running back out to the door where Shikamaru was waiting patiently.
"That was pretty quick." Shikamaru said, impressed that Naruto had managed to get ready in less than three minutes.
Shouldering his backpack Naruto said, "Tell me what were supposed to do." Shikamaru nodded, "We'll have to talk as we move. We still have to gather together more people and we only have," Looking towards the sun he said, "Fifteen more minutes before our departure time."
As the two began to jog Shikamaru began to tell Naruto the story, "Anyways like I said, this morning the Fifth called me to her office. Apparently, two people found out that Sasuke had left the village in the night. The Hokage told me that I had to gather together a team and go find him. I had wanted at least five Chuunins and two Jounins but unfortunately all the one's not protecting the village are out on missions. So now we have to gather together as many powerful Genins as possible."
Grinning slightly, Naruto asked, "So I'm one of the powerful Genins you went out to find?"
"Yeah. The fifth told me I should find you first. She said you would be a big help in this mission."
Hearing that made Naruto feel a lot better about having to go retrieve Sasuke knowing that Old Lady Tsunade personally wanted him to go. The two continued at a steady pace until they came to a house. Shikamaru walked to the door and knocked loudly. Naruto was anxious to see what other powerful Genin that would be coming with them. The door opened to reveal Chouji eating a bag of chips.
"Sup, Shikamaru?" He said through a mouthful of food.
Naruto's jaw almost dropped to the ground. "I thought you told me we were going to get the most powerful Genins around?" Naruto complained, waving his hands around wildly.
Shikamaru sighed, "I am Naruto. Chouji is very strong and plus he is someone who I've worked with before."
Chouji grinned, "I take it we've got a mission?"
Shikamaru nodded, "Sasuke left the village last night. The fifth thinks that he may be trying to join the Sound Ninja so she wants us to go and bring him back."
"Sounds simple enough." Chouji said, stuffing more chips into his mouth.
"Hey," Naruto interjected, "Who else are we going to take? We could try Shino." He volunteered.
"That would be great if Shino wasn't already on a mission with his father." A voice cut in before Shikamaru could speak.
The group turned around to the source of the voice to see Kiba with Akamaru at his feet. "Couldn't help but over hear the situation. From what you say you might need a couple extra sets of fangs." Grinning so that his fangs were exposed he said, "Guess interesting stuff happens when you go out to take an early morning walk."
"Are you sure you want to go, Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
Shrugging lazily, he replied, "It's not like I had anything planned. Besides. it could be worthwhile to get a little more practice." Shooting a glance at Naruto he added, "I've been falling behind if Naruto could beat me in a fight."
Naruto started to yell but another voice interrupted, "You weren't the only one he beat." Neji walked up to the group. "Think you got room for one more?" Neji asked.
Shikamaru nodded, "In fact, I was going to go get you after I got Kiba." Turning towards all those gathered around him Shikamaru said, "We don't have much time. We'll meet at the city's front gate in ten minutes. If aren't there on time we will assume you're not coming. Let's go Naruto."
Naruto nodded and started to follow Shikamaru but stopped to shout back at the others, "If you all don't show up I'll kick your butts when I get back."
Kiba grinned, while Neji merely sighed. Naruto jogged to catch up back to Shikamaru who seemed to be deep in thought. He was about to talk to him but thought better of it thinking that he might be making a plan. The two reached the front gate in two minutes. Shikamaru sat down on the ground cross-legged and continued pondering whatever it was he was thinking. Naruto leaned against the frame of the great gate and thought about everything that was happening. He still couldn't believe that Sasuke had abandoned the village. A thought of Sakura passed through his mind and he remembered how he had told her Sasuke wouldn't join Orochimaru. 'Bastard. Made me into liar.'
"Naruto-Kun?" A voice asked, snapping him from his thoughts.
Lifting his head up Naruto saw Lee walking towards him with a crutch. "Lee? What are you doing up, shouldn't you be sleeping so you can get better?"
Smiling lightly Lee shook his head, causing his bowl cut hairdo to sway to the sides slightly, "Sleep can't help what's wrong with me right now, anyways I like to take a walk in the morning. You can see the world wake up as the sun rises."
Naruto was confused by this but nodded never the less, not wanting to sound stupid.
"So what are you two doing waiting at the front gate so early for?" Lee asked curiously.
"Its that jerk Sasuke! He left last night to join the sound Ninjas. Now we have to go and retrieve his sorry ass before its too late."
Lee's eye's widened, "I don't believe it. Why would he do something like that?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Naruto grumbled.
The sounds of steps made the two look to the side. Kiba, Akamaru, Neji and Chouji were approaching them. Lee waved to Neji who smiled slightly from seeing his teammate up and about. Shikamaru stood as the group reached him.
"Good you're here earlier than I thought." Shikamaru said looking over each member of his team.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered, "Let's move out!"
Shikamaru sweat dropped, "Uh, I am this teams leader if you forgot Naruto."
"Oh, I guess your right but I figured you wouldn't be up to it." Looking at him skeptically he said, "Your not always the most trustworthy person around."
"Naruto is right. Don't get me wrong Shikamaru, I don't want him," He said hitching his finger at Naruto, "To be the leader but your not always the most serious person around."
"Your right, I'm not very serious most of the time but as of now I'm your leader and it's my responsibility to keep you alive." Shikamaru's normal passive look took on a hard edge, "I take that very serious." Kneeling down he pulled out a scroll, "Since we're to be pursuers I'm going to map out our formation right now so we don't get caught off guard and ambushed. Kiba, you'll be in front with Akamaru since you two have the best sense of sight and smell and will be able to spot anything out of the ordinary the quickest. Next, is me so everyone will be able to see my hand signals. Naruto, since you're the quickest you'll be in the middle so you can assist the front or back of the line. Chouji, your after him. Us front three will be able to make openings so you can finish them off. Finally Neji, you'll be responsible for the back since your Byakugan allows you to have a greater degree of sight than the rest of us."
Naruto was amazed. To be able to come up with such a great formation in such a short amount of time. Shikamaru was defiantly qualified to be a Chuunin with that type of skill. Naruto watched as Shikamaru began drawing on the paper.
"Now I'll tell you about the area you are responsible for. Kiba is strait ahead, mine is to his left or right, Naruto to the left, Chouji right, Neji the back. Any questions?" When no one said anything he stood up he said, "Let me check all of your supplies so I know what we're working with."
Naruto opened his pack and held it towards Shikamaru who shifted through it silently taking count of what was there. When Shikamaru nodded his approval, Naruto closed the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He watched silently as the process was repeated with each member. Just as Shikamaru was finishing, footsteps signaled someone else approaching.
Turning to the sound Naruto saw Sakura approaching. She looked very ragged when compared to his normal vision of her. Her hair was disheveled; her clothes were wrinkled like she had slept in them but what truly caught the blonde's attention was her eyes. The normally bright green eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying a lot.
"Sakura-Chan?" He whispered softly.
"Naruto." Her voice was raspy and thick with emotion. "Please, I beg you. Bring Sasuke-Kun back."
Naruto's heart felt like someone had taken a hold of it and twisted slightly. She was this sad because of Sasuke. If it had been him would she be this upset. Naruto's normal bright smile faltered for a moment before being quickly replaced by a shadow of his former expression, "You must really like him Sakura-Chan." He whispered slightly, watching as Sakura's head raised up to look at him in the eyes, "What your feeling right now. I know what its like."
Tears began to spill out the corner of her eyes, "Naruto." She whispered brokenly.
Giving her a quick thumbs up and a large grin he said, "Don't worry, Sakura-Chan. I'll bring him back, that's a promise." Turning away from her, his eyes were covered by shadow as he added, "Let's go guys." With that Naruto walked off ignoring the sobs behind him. It was only a few seconds later that the others caught up to him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he turned to see Chouji looking at him.
"You okay, Naruto?"
Nodding slightly he said, "Yeah, of course I am." He shot Chouji a appreciative glance, "Thanks, Chouji."
"No problem." He said smiling.
"Alright guys get into the formation." Shikamaru said. Everyone fell into there spot quickly. "Now our goal today is to cover at least a fourth the distance that Sasuke has on us. That should allow us to be cautious enough so that we don't step into a trap because we're trying to cover too much ground." Looking back at those behind him he said, "Remember keep your eye out for any activity in your area and tell me at once. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" Naruto said with a mock salute making Chouji and Kiba grin.
"Save the comedy until we get back home, Naruto." Shikamaru said with a tiny smirk.
The group of leaf Shinobi started on the trail of their delinquent comrade moving at a slight trot. As Shikamaru had instructed them, they moved carefully enough but not overly protective. Naruto had not taken his eyes from his designated area until Shikamaru had ordered a food break at noon. The five ate quietly each lost in their own thoughts about the mission before them. While Shikamaru ate he drew their progress on a map and scribbled a few numbers in the margin.
"If we manage to keep up this pace we'll make up more distance than I had thought." He remarked rolling the map back up before stuffing it back into his pack. "Let's go, we've rested long enough."
Naruto and Chouji grunted as they stood up from their comfortable spot on the ground. They moved out again and Naruto took in their surroundings. They had passed the familiar woods surrounding Konoha at Ten 'o clock and had began moving across the plains that led to the Sound Village. Naruto knew little about the world away from the village except for his mission to the Wave Country and the terrain was much different. All around them was nothing but wide-open grassy fields, interrupted every now and again by a raised area of land or a deep valley.
"Hey Shikamaru?" Naruto called.
"Yeah."
"Why are their no villages built around here?" The blonde genin asked curiously.
Sighing slightly as if he was tired he responded, "Didn't you learn anything at the academy, idiot?"
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed at the insult. "Of course I learned stuff, I just don't remember some things."
Sighing again Shikamaru said, "I figured you would remember something as big as this." Waving around him he began, "This whole area between the Sound and Leaf Village used to be heavily populated. However, because of the rich terrain around here many Lords fought over for control of it. The fighting escalated to the point that people from both sides were firing the lands around here to stop the other from obtaining it. The Second Leaf and Lightning Hokage stepped in and managed to stop the fighting before the two sides totally destroyed the land. One of the agreements that were reached was that that each side was to be offered a share of the land but they had to divide it into five parts. Each was allowed to populate one section, then they would to have an area where they could not populate and the area in the middle became a shared land between them both as a neutral area where they could exchange goods. Right now we're in the Leaf's neutral territory so we will not be seeing a town or farm until we reach the next boundary."
"Whoa!" Naruto said impressed. "You really have a good memory Shikamaru to be able to remember all that."
"Its not that big a deal." The pony tailed Chuunin said directing his attention back towards his task.
Naruto looked around at the land once more and wondered why people had to be so greedy. To him it looked as if there was enough land for everyone to share. 'Grownups.' He thought to himself simply.
The group continued on for a moment more, pausing every once and a while as Kiba leaned down to the ground and sniffed. Naruto thought it was odd that Kiba was able to pick up Sasuke's scent among all the others around. When he stood back up Naruto decided to ask him.
"Hey Kiba. How do you find Sasuke's scent even with all the other smells around?"
Speaking for the first time since leaving Neji said, "I wondered that myself. How do you tell that we're on the right track if we don't have something that smells like Sasuke?"
Kiba's nose twitched as he turned around to look at them, "I don't really know how to explain it." Turning back to the front he thought for a moment as he walked, "Well, you know how I can channel my Chakra to my nose and heighten my sense of smell, right?" All those around nodded, "Well, each person has a scent to them.kinda like food. You know how you can tell what type of food it is by its smell? It works the same with humans; every person has their own distinct smell to them. Everyone I've ever met I can remember their scent like its smelling the difference between apples and oranges."
"So you can tell how many people are with Sasuke too." Neji deduced.
Kiba nodded with a grim expression on his face, "There's four others with him and from what Akamaru has been telling me their Chakra level is very high."
"Well, isn't that great." Shikamaru stated dryly. "This mission just keeps getting more and more irritating." He said absently scratching the back of his neck.
The group continued on in silence once again, now much more wary after the news of the high level ninjas they would run into with Sasuke. They continued until the sun had almost entirely disappeared over the horizon before Shikamaru called for a halt. He had once again taken out the map and marked their progress and found that they were indeed a few miles farther than he had anticipated. After they had all eaten he called them all around him.
"Okay, tonight we'll have to rotate who's on watch. Do I have any volunteers for the first shift?" He asked.
"I'll do it." Naruto exclaimed raising his hand exuberantly.
A small grin came over Shikamaru's features, "Thanks for the volunteer Naruto cause now you wouldn't be upset to know that the person who does first watch also has to do the last also."
Naruto sighed heavily, "I should learn to keep my mouth shut."
The others laughed loudly at that. "Just figuring that out now?" Kiba joked punching him playfully in the arm.
Waving them away Naruto said, "Just hurry up and go to sleep."
Shikamaru nodded, "He's right. I'll do the next one, Chouji will be after me, Neji after him and then Neji." The boys nodded their agreement and all except Naruto went to their sleeping bags. Kiba and Chouji were asleep almost the second they hit their bags with Neji and Shikamaru after them shortly.
Naruto sat on the ground and watched the moon begin to crest the horizon. He mused on the fact that only last night he had looked upon the same moon but things so many things had changed in that short time. His thoughts wandered back to the leaf village and wondered how everyone was doing. Especially Sakura. He hoped that she wasn't crying like she had been when he had left. Maybe Lee had managed to cheer her up after they had left. When he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw that Shikamaru was there he realized that his first shift was over. Giving a nod of conformation to the Chuunin, he went to his sleeping bag and laid down. He suddenly couldn't remember being so tired in his life and promptly fell asleep. His sleep was restless, flooded by the sound of Sakura's crying and the image of Sasuke looking at him with the ice-cold eyes he had shown him in the hospitle. It seemed only like a few minutes before he felt Neji shake him awake, informing him that it was his turn at watch again. Naruto made his way past his sleeping teammates back to where he had sat earlier.
"I'll bring him back Sakura-Chan." Naruto whispered to himself. However, the image of Sasuke's cold eyes upon him flooded his mind. They reminded him so much of Orochimaru's that he wondered if it was even possible to keep his promise. Once again he repeated quietly, "I'll bring him back." A feeling deep inside his heart made him add, "That is if it's still Sasuke when I find him." Once again those cold eyes made him doubt if he could.
(A.N) Read and Review. Otherwise I'll be all sad and stuff.