Author Notes: Thanks for the reviews, and yeah after rereading the romantic scene between Chouji and Ino, I did notice some corn. Well, it was my first ever attempt at romantic writing, so give me some room for error. Anyway, this should be about the half way point for the story, unless i make the following chapters much longer. Well enjoy and please review.


Chapter 5: Missing

Shikamaru found himself once again facing a girl. Even when training, they always stuck him with a female; well, he thought, at least this female wasn't as . . . troublesome as the others. Sighing, Shikamaru knew he had to do something. Hiding in the shadows of the trees wont work for long. She was much too smart to fall for the same trick twice. Last time, he was able to use the environment to his advantage, but this time there was no hole for him to slip his shadow through. This was a completely different game. A gust of extreme wind blew Shikamaru back towards a tree, after sliding to a halt inches away from the hard wood, he slowly got up, and dusted himself off. Sweat was pouring from his face like a waterfall. And he was completely out of ideas.

"Shika, you don't expect me to just stand here until you figure some clever as hell way to catch me in your shadow again? I'd expect you to think I'm smarter then that." Temari barked.

Bah, he knew she was. In fact, thats why he hesitated, knowing a full frontal attack was useless against that over sized fan of hers. He would have been blown away like a insignificant fly. Only one thing to do he finally thought, I have use my newest technique. At that, he went behind a nearby tree, and got down on one knee. He placed his fingers together, and formed a zero with his index and thumb. Flipping his hand upside down, he calmed himself and let the silence of the forest lure him into a meditation.

"I know what your doing, and this time I wont let you finish." Temari said quietly to herself, she knew going into the shade was a dangerous choice, but she didn't want to allow him the time to form a strategy. Hoping she could catch him off guard; she quickly, but stealthily went into the forest. Slowly she crept, over the many roots and downed leaves, trying not to make the slightest noise, so she would not awaken Shikamaru from his deep thoughts. Sensing his chakra behind a thick tree trunk, she cautiously neared. Slowly coming around the corner, she could see his pony tell, and finally his entire body. He was still in that position. She couldn't help but smile.

"Haha, I've got you." Temari raised her fan ready to strike, pushing as much force and she could into the blow, she swung the fan, waiting for it to hit its mark. . . It never did.

"What the!? My body, I cant move!" Temari gasped in fear.

"Ha, knew you would take the initiative and come for me in the forest." Shikamaru mocked, as he stepped out from behind another tree. Looking at the surprised Temari, he smirked. The Shikamaru on the ground, in his famous position exploded in a cloud of smoke.

"A replication!?"

"Yep, can't believe you were fooled so easily. I set that shadow replication there, knew you would follow it because of the chakra. While I on the other hand, hid and used all my will power to calm myself and reduce the amount of chakra that could be sensed. It worked perfectly, as you can see."

"How did you learn the shadow replication!?"

"Simple, one of my good friends uses it as his primary technique, it wasn't hard to get him to teach it to me."

"Naruto. . . that bastard."

"Hey, no need for name calling. Well it looks like we are back to where we were in the exams, except this time, I'm not going to give up."

"Oh really, what are you planning on doing?"

"You'll see" Shikamaru smiled, and began walking towards Temari, and because of the shadow imitation technique, she did the same. They slowly approached each other, Temari didn't know what he had planned. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. He knew he wouldn't hurt her. The entire time, Shikamaru wore a bright smile, he knew that Temari was fuming because she was easily captured.

Finally face-to-face, Shikamaru smiled. "Now, its my turn" With that he . . . let loose the shadow imitation and grabbed Temari by the waist, pulling her close. "See, told you I wouldn't give up" With that he went to kiss her, but was interrupted by a blast of Sand, which sent the two flying back from each other, landing hard in the dirt.

"Hey, don't you forget about us, I told you not to do that crap when were here." a red head said, with a face of pure disgust plastered on his face.

"Way to go Gaara, if i had to see them kiss again, I'm afraid I might just puke, in fact . . . lets just end it now, Give them a sand funeral. . . come on; Sand Funeral!!"

"Shut up Kankurou" Temari yelled, she was furious that she was robbed of such a romantic moment with Shikamaru because of her brothers' inability to cope.

"Don't tell me to shut up, your nasty display of affections for that shadow guy is turning my guts inside out. Gaara what are you waiting for? SAND FUNERAL THEIR ASSES!!"

Gaara just looked at the puppet master. He shrugged and walked away..

"What the? . . . come on Gaara, Sand Funeral!!!"

"Shut up you dobe, you really want me to kill our sister?"

". . .No, of course not." Kankurou dropped his head in shame, damn he thought, guess their indecent display of affection would continue to torture him. Man, if it wasn't for Naruto, Gaara really would have killed her already.

"ANYBODY HERE!!!" A voice screamed out. The sand siblings and Shikamaru looked towards the clearing in the forest to see a bright orange figure standing there.

"Yeah, were in the forest" Shikamaru yelled. Together they walked out into the clearing, there they met a somewhat exhausted Naruto.

"Hey guys, I'm here to tell you that you all have to go to the cave for safety."

"The cave? Why" Temari Questioned.

What was the reason again, Naruto thought, um . . . . oh yeah. "Well there is some type of typhoon heading this way, its pretty strong and very dangerous. The Hokage wanted me to go to every training field to warn everyone."

Thy all looked confused, but they didn't push the matter. "Fine." they said in unison. Giving a slight nod, the four dashed towards the cave, jumping from tree to tree.

"Alright, that leaves only two more training grounds left" Naruto thought to himself. He better hurry too, nightfall was only 2 hours away.

Naruto found the general direction of his next location, and began traveling. Hopefully he can do this quick and get to the caves himself.


"Well one done, one to go." Naruto thought has he leaped from branch to branch. Luckily the previous training ground was empty, he sat for a while yelling to make sure no one was there.

Finally at his last target he landed in the middle of yet another training ground clearing. He took a look around and noticed that a battle recently took place here. There was a pretty large crater, with a trench leading from it. Looks like someone with great speed and power needed to move fast. Wonder who it could have been he pandered. Looking around more, he noticed some shurikens embedded in the the trees. Hmm, wonder if the people training were still here?

"Anybody here!!" He screamed.

Nothing. . . Just the rustle of the leaves as a slight breeze filled the air.

"Hello, is anyone still training here!!"

Nothing. . .except for small booms that were heard far away, the distant thunder that threatened to invade.

Oh well, guess they already left. Which meant his mission was over, time to get to the safety of the caves himself. Naruto took one more look around the field, but saw nothing that looked suspicious. Deciding that there was indeed no one there, he leaped up and starting heading towards the mountain.

During his trip, Naruto looked to the east of the village, there he saw something that chilled him to the bones. Black clouds that spread all the way to the horizon, They were foreboding and filled the young boy with fear. He could never dream that something of nature could be so evil looking. He knew that the precaution that the Hokage was taking wasn't for nothing, he dreaded what was coming.


"You think that was the last one, Yunibi said that once all the training grounds were clear, and the civilians were taken to the cave, the town would be clear" A woman said. She was hiding in the bushes, talking to her partner. They were spying on a boy, a leaf genin from the looks of it. They could tell he was trying to collect all the ninjas training so they would be safe from the storm. The woman was of average height, long brown hair that went just below her back. She had black, lifeless eyes, ones that have seen death many times. She wore a hidden village of mist headband, but the symbol wore a long, deep slash down the middle. She was covered with leaves, to better blend into the forest. Rubbing the long jagged scar down her left eye, she once again spoke.

"So, what do you think we should do? We don't have much time until the storm hits."

"Damn it Serora, how should I know, I am not the leader of this rag tag band of outlaws. I just follow Yunibi's orders. For now, I say we just go back to the campsite, and wait. I'm sure he has something more for us to do." He growled at her. He was also a missing-nin. Accept he was from the hidden village of sand. He was bald, with dark green eyes and a perfectly clean face. A rarity for someone with so much battle experience. He too was covered with leaves.

"Whatever." The woman responded.

At that, the two missing-nins leaped up and started for their group's campsite. They knew that what was ahead was worth teaming up and forming such a group. Even though none of them trusted each other, they had to unite. Other wise, breaking into the village during the storm and taking everything was going to be extremely difficult. Hopefully, they thought, everything will go as planned.


Naruto landed on a small plateau that held one of the many entrances to the cave. He knew that the storm's outer edge was already upon them. Minutes before finally arriving, the wind picked up dramatically, and the sounds of thunder were like a ever increasing army. Taking one last glance at the incoming storm, he walked into the cave.

Walking down a long corridor, ceiling lights barely illuminating his path. The tunnel slowly turned and he could see a glow, which signified the end of the corridor. Walking into a wide open space, the ceiling reaching about 20 feet up, with hundreds of villages leaning up against walls, laying down or inside make shift tents. He was able to see Tsunade talking to some villagers in the center..

Noticing the young chunin, she finished her conversation and walked over to a bag. Reaching inside she grabbed a jacket and tuned; heading towards Naruto.

"Her you go Naruto, forgot to give this to you in my office. So I take that your mission is complete?"

Naruto looked up and took the flak jacket. He took off his over sized orange coat and replaced it with the green chunin jacket. The entire time a smile spread over his face.

"Yeah yeah, its all done."

"Good."

"So where is Hinata and Sakura?"

"Hinita is on the level below this with her clan, and Sakura is in the make-shift hospital. Its just through that tunnel." Tsunade pointed at a tunnel, opposite of the one Naruto came in. "It has its own generator, so even if the generator that powers the main floors goes out, they still have that one as a backup. Shes probably with Sasuke, it was too dangerous to just keep him in the jail during the storm, but also to dangerous to let him out. So we just drugged him and now hes unconscious, ANBU members nearby of course."

"Okay, thanks" Naruto was already half-way to the stairs when he yelled back.

Smiling softly, Tsunade turned back to some villagers to help with set up their sleeping areas.


"Hinata-chan!!" Naruto yelled, seeing the white eyed girl sitting on one of the many benches that covered the floor. The girl looked up startled, but soon relaxed at realizing who it was. She stood up too greet him.

"Oh, hello Naru. . ." She was cut off as the blond haired boy grabbed her in an enormous hug and swung her around. Before finally placing the small girl down, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"I see you got all you family here in one piece"

Hinata couldn't speak, she felt her family staring daggers at her and Naruto. They didn't know about her and Naruto, and was sure they wouldn't be pleased. Hinata looked up to see a big grin on the blond's face. He was clueless.

"Hinata?"

Hinata and Naruto turned to the sound of the voice. Looking up to see the face of a man. He had long black hair, and the familiar Hyuuga white eyes. Naruto knew he seen this guy before, but where?

"Father, hello."

"Why did Naruto do that to you, is there something you haven't told me?"

"Well, um . . . w . . .e."

For the second time today, Naruto was about to finish the line, why did she have such a hard time telling people about them. He was about to open his mouth, then he realized the glare Hinata was casting at him, it was definitely a sign too shut up.

Hinata breathed in, she had to do this. "Father, me and Naruto are going out."

Hinata's father stood there silent, no expression on his face. Finally he looked at Hinata and then at Naruto. Grabbing Naruto by the shoulders, he led the boy away. Once a good distance from Hinata, he stopped and looked down.

"Listen Naruto, I'm going to go along with this, I know that my daughter has had a crush on you for a while, and I'm not going to take this away from her. Just because I'm disappointed in the fact she isn't turning out to be a strong heir, it doesn't mean I still don't love and care for her."

Naruto stood quit, and just listened

"Also," the white eyed man continued. "If you break her heart in anyway, and I mean any way, I will personally hunt you down and beat you so bad that that damn fox inside of you will be crying for mercy. You understand?"

Naruto was terrified of the threats he was receiving from his girlfriend's father, but he knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt the girl. He simply nodded.

The two went back over to Hinata, she was more nervous then ever, playing with her fingers like she normally did.

"Well, I'm glad you finally got him Hinata, well I have things to do. You enjoy your self." The man turned and walked away

"Naruto-kun, what did he tell you?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. Don't worry, hes happy." Naruto could see the girl brighten up. She was really scared about how her family would react, he though; I'm glad they took it well. "So Hinata, you want to come with me to see Sakura, I want to show her that I'm a chunin now."

Before Hinata could respond, she was interrupted by a shout. Looking in the direction it came from, she was able to see Shikamaru and Temari rushing towards them.

"Naruto, have seen Chouji?" Shikamaru question as he got close to the two.

"No, I haven't seen him since I visited him two days ago. Why?"

"Well he was supposed to still be in the Hospital, but I already checked where they were keeping the patiences. Then later on, I ran into his father, who was also looking for him. It seems that the hospital let him out early, and him and Ino went to train. You had to see them at one of the fields."

"No I didn't, I'm not stupid, I checked all the fields completely, there was nobody left."

"Ugh!! this is so troublesome."

"Come on, I'm sure hes somewhere in the caves."

"No, Chouji's father, Temari and I have been looking for him and Ino the entire time. We can't find them"

"That means, that they must still be outside. But where?"

"I don't know, we have to go look for them. The storm will be here in full soon"

"Okay, lets go. Hinata you want to come?"

"Yes"

On the way up the stairs, Shikamaru noticed Naruto wearing the same jacket that he wore.

"Naruto, when did you become a chunin?

"Around noon, cool isn't it"

"Well, I'm a chunin too, its nothing special, only difference is that things become more troublesome."

"Whatever, you don't appreciate anything."

They found themselves back in the main room. Tsunade was still helping out some villagers. The four went up to her quickly.

"Hokage-sama, we need to go look for Chouji and Ino, we can't find them here, they might still might be outside. We need to go before the full force of the storm is here." Shikamaru was hoping she would agree, so they can get on their way.

"I'm sorry guys, but its too late. The storm is already here in full force . . ."