Disclaimer: The Naruto anime/manga and its characters are rightfully owned by Kishimoto Masashi! Genius, that man is.
Warnings: Mmm... there's nothing too shockingly offensive or anything in here... just be aware that this story WILL contain Ino/Shikamaru. Maybe small hints of Lee/Sakura. Yes, I like Lee/Sakura. Wide foreheads and fuzzy eyebrows seem to go together SO well.
Author's note: I'm not sure what drove me to write this story, to be honest. I was never really into Ino/Shikamaru or Shikamaru/Ino... but just simply the idea of it and subtle hints within the series were intriguing, and I wanted to play it out. Might prove to be quite interesting.
Anyway, enough of my babbling. Onward!
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(Nara Shikamaru's POV)
"Shikamaru! You're going to be late!"
Morning already? Jeez. What I wouldn't give to sleep in for a day...
"Shikamaru! Hurry it up!"
Aye. Fine, fine, mom.
I really hate this time of year. I hardly get any time to rest. Then again, I know that I'm not the only ninja with missions. Most of the other Chuunins and Jounins have been getting assignments too. So many that it's been backed up since last month, and it'll probably be backed up until the end of January. Meaning no break for me. It really sucks. Especially when you know that the only thing you're given are missions, day after day after day. It gets really tedious.
Ah well. I had to do what I had to do. I had responsibilities a Chuunin.
I forced myself to sit up, and rubbed my eyes. I pulled my sheets off and slid my legs off the bed. I didn't get up just yet, though. I just sat there for a little bit. I had to let my body register that it was actually awake. Yeah, my eyes were open, but I don't think my body knew that.
Well, after a few moments, I finally managed to stand myself up. My vision was still pretty blurry, though. I threw some clothes on and grabbed my Chuunin vest before I forgot. As soon as I got dressed, I tied my hair up and grabbed some toast on my way out the door. My mom was already on my dad about something, and I didn't want her to catch me leaving ten minutes late. She'd never leave me alone. I had to get out of there as fast as I could.
I took the brief walk to Tsunade's place, jogging a little so that I wouldn't be late. Considering the fact that I was still only half-awake, I think I made pretty good time.
Soon enough, I found myself standing in front of the entrance to Tsunade's office. Another day of hard work stood right in front of me. I took a deep breath, and opened the double doors...
"...Chouji?"
"Hey, Shikamaru!"
Surprise, surprise, Chouji actually arrived earlier than me. He stood there with a big smile on his face as he greeted me. It wasn't usual for him to be so bright this early in the morning. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been persuaded with food or something.
I walked into Tsunade's office and stood next to Chouji. "Reporting for duty, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade nodded solemnly. "Good morning, Shikamaru, Chouji. Well, you may or may not know why I called you here this morning. Word has it that some of Orochimaru's ninjas are once again planning to invade Konoha. I need you to investigate this matter immediately. Since this is a spy mission, it would be in your best interest to keep your group small. I personally recommend that you, Chouji, and Ino assemble as soon as possible."
Me, Chouji, and Ino. Sounded reasonable, but... where was Ino? Tsunade couldn't have just expected us to go on our mission while lacking one of our members, could she? "But, Hokage-sama... we're missing our third person. We can't just leave without her."
"Don't worry about it, Shikamaru. She is currently with her dad, but I've sent messengers to inform her about this mission. She will join you as time allows."
Makes sense. But this was Ino we were talking about. For all we know, she might go Sasuke-hunting afterwards.
I saw Chouji begin to walk out of Tsunade's office. "Come on, Shikamaru. No sense in wasting time. Ino should catch up."
"Yeah." I followed him, turning back only to close the doors behind me.
Chouji and I head our way through the forest until we were just outside of the village. We split up to cover more ground. It was dangerous, I know, but since we didn't have Ino around, we really didn't have much option. I'm just thankful that it was still early. I'm not familiar enough with the other villages, and if it had gotten dark, we'd be at a huge disadvantage. Not only would we be unable to see, but my Kage Mane no Jutsu would be useless without light. It would hinder our mission.
It's times like this I wish we had Kiba around. Ah well.
"This is Shikamaru, point A."
"Chouji, point B."
We were getting farther and farther from the village, so we kept communicators handy in case one of us ran into trouble. We were pretty far from each other, so the reception was beginning to get somewhat choppy, and it only seemed to get worse as we moved.
"Shikamaru, still there?"
"Yeah. Find anything?"
"Not yet."
We spent a couple more minutes searching for clues. It'd gotten real quiet... until I heard a sort of crunching. Crunching and chewing. What in the...?
"Chouji... are you eating?"
"I'm hungry!"
Heh. It would be him to sit down and snack on chips at a time like this. I've gotten used to it, though, so I'm not really bothered by it. That's not to say that it doesn't make me worry. He's vulnerable when he eats. What if he was suddenly ambushed? I'm responsible for him during this mission, and I don't want to see my best friend attacked without any means of defense.
I called him again, just to make sure he was still there. "...Chouji?"
"Yeah, I'm here, Shikamaru!"
"Don't let your guard down, Chouji. We don't know this area."
"Gotcha!"
Our signal was very faint at this point. I could hardly hear his voice, much less what he was actually saying. This wasn't going to be good. It'd be much better if we'd just stayed together. I had no idea that our communicators would fail like this.
I decided to ask Chouji where he was before I lost contact with him completely. "Chouji?"
Nothing.
"Chouji, where are you?"
Again, nothing. Seconds later, I heard static. Lots of it.
"Shikamaru... there isn't... point..."
"Chouji?"
The next thing I heard was a dead silence. We were completely cut off.
"Damn it." I said to myself. "I don't need this."
I took my communicator off and started heading for the branches. I couldn't even begin to describe how worried I became. I didn't know where he was, I didn't know what he was doing... needless to say, my mind was pretty clouded.
I let my conscience get the best of me, and so decided to head back the other way to look for Chouji. I didn't want to leave him behind. Not that I think of him as weak, but ever since the time Chouji was almost killed...
I tried to push the thoughts out of my mind. He can take care of himself. He's protected us on numerous occasions, hasn't he? And it's been long since. Chouji should've gotten stronger by now. And I believe that. I just worry.
I hopped the branches as fast as I could, looking in every which direction for any sign of Chouji. However, it wasn't too long until I saw a suspicious group of shadows out of the corner of my eye. Whoever they were, I'm sure they weren't any of Konoha's ninjas. I stopped, trying my best not to make too much noise, and went back to find out who these people were. As soon as I returned to the spot I passed the shadows, I stayed in the trees, and looked down where they were. I couldn't see any distinguishing details of the four, since the trees were drowning out the sunlight, so I kept myself well hidden and listened in.
"Jiroubou, you piece of shit. Look what you did!"
"Tayuya, the next time you insult me like that--"
"Shut up, fatass!"
Heh. The Sound 4, no mistake. I should've known.
Well, then. I knew this wasn't going to be easy. I was clearly outnumbered, and I knew for a fact that I wasn't nearly as strong as they were. I had to use my brains for this one. It was either that or hinder the mission.
Okay, so there were four of them, and one of me. As far as I could tell, they couldn't have sensed my presence. Looks like they were too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice. All I had to do was catch them off guard and bind them with my Kage Mane no Jutsu, and hopefully hold them until I get backup. Before that, though, I had to distract their attention. They'd definitely figure out my location if I tried to bind them and missed.
I put my hands together and formed a sequence of seals. "...Bunshin no Jutsu!" And there, appeared two identical replicas of me, one standing on the left side of me, the other on the right. Perfect.
I looked at each of them, and they nodded to me as if they knew what I was thinking. I nodded back in agreement.
"Let's go."
The three of us split up. I watched as I waited for a signal from the others. It became eerily quiet... could the Sound 4 have noted my presence?
Suddenly, I saw a shuriken fly in their direction, barely missing the group by inches, and hitting a tree nearby. Good, my plan was taking action.
The Sound 4 directed their attention towards where the shuriken was thrown. Barely a moment passed before my second replica jumped out from behind a patch of bushes, trying to throw a kick. Of course, the kick was blocked, but their attention was completely diverted. Now was my chance.
Quietly, I carefully lowered myself to the ground, and luckily, where there were plenty of shadows to work with. I formed the seals quickly. "Kage Mane no Jutsu!" I looked at the ground, and waited for my shadow to connect. It was a little hard directing it, what with each of the Sound 4 trying to follow my replica around. It was kind of funny, actually. They may be strong, but I doubt any of them have ever completed a good teamwork session.
"God damn it! Get back here! You little-- what the hell, I can't move!"
And with that, my second replication disappeared. Looks like my Kage Mane no Jutsu finally succeeded.
I stood up from the bushes and revealed myself. I laughed out of pure amusement. "You didn't actually think that was me, did you?"
I heard each of them growl and snarl at me, trying to turn around to face me, but... obviously not being able to. "...You..."
I smirked to myself. Their threats meant nothing to me, granted that I kept my bind on them. Now, to call for backup before I forgot...
I pulled out my communicator and spoke into it. "This is Nara Shikamaru. I'm going to need backup about nine kilometers east of Konoha. I'm holding the Sound 4 captive right now, so I'll need some ninjas of Jounin level to bring them in."
"Roger."
Alright. All I had to do now was wait.
Forgive me for sounding cliché, but it'd gotten quiet. Almost too quiet. I couldn't help but feel some sort of suspicious air radiating from the group. If they were planning on a way to get out of my bind, it wasn't going to do them any good. Then again, my Kage Mane no Jutsu tends to drain my chakra pretty fast. It wouldn't be too much longer before I had to release my hold.
Suddenly, I heard some rustling from behind me. I'd hoped it was Chouji, but when I turned around, I saw nothing.
I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down. Could that have been my imagination? I don't know. There was no wind, and I haven't seen any stray animals in the forest, so I know those rustling noises weren't natural. Somebody was spying on me. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to leave and find out who it was spying on me, but I couldn't move too far without accidentally releasing what little hold I had of the Sound 4.
I heard the rustling again. Coming from the southwest. I had his location pinpointed. I didn't bother to look, I didn't need to... I could hear it. I slipped my hand into my pouch, ready to pull out a kunai, when I suddenly heard a loud and high pitched yelling coming from that very direction.
"Show 'em what you got, Shikamaru!"
It startled me so much, I ended up dropping half of my weapons. "What in the...?"
Wait... I know that voice. I only know one person who would get this enthusiastic.
"Come on, Shikamaru! Show no mercy!"
I turned around and saw the figure finally reveal herself from the shadows.
Yep. It was Yamanaka Ino.
This was going to be... a very, VERY long day...
(End chapter 1!)