Author's Note: Wow, I totally did NOT expect so many good reviews! I feel so… flattered! Thanks, guys! I was kinda feeling the dreaded spell of laziness to finish this chapter, but after many requests of updating, I felt motivated again. I really appreciate it, guys! You all rock!

Zarrah-chan

p.s Oh, another thing about the team. I think there may have been some confusion on the members of the team who went on the mission. Just to clarify, it is NARUTO, SHIKAMARU, NEJI, CHOUJI, ROCK LEE, and KIBA/AKAMARU. Those are the members. Ok. Enjoy. This is a good one.

Caught off guard

The team of six had been traveling through the trees for what seemed to be hours, each of them contemplating on the events of the last time they traveled that path together.

And each of them shaking off the unpleasant memories.

Surprisingly, they all had remained quiet, even the brash and talkative Naruto who maintained his position as the middle shinobi in their indestructible formation.

Two years ago, they were young, inexperienced, and nearly all killed off for the same mission they were to complete now. Some of the members had hesitated on going to risk their lives for an arrogant Konoha shinobi who was most likely to refuse the offer of returning peacefully with them. But the commander had so greatly pleaded for their participation, and they were somehow all suckered into joining the team again. It was so hard to turn away Shikamaru's offer.

Naruto had, for the longest time anyone knew, fallen silent. The other men knew what he had been thinking, but kept hushed, knowing that there was no other way to help him feel better. Naruto felt guilty for leaving the dejected Sakura behind.

"I'm sorry it took so long, Naruto. Next time, we'll do it together." The pink-haired kunoichi winked with a forced, (yet at the same time) genuine smile. "I promise."

The blond shinobi flashed back to the day his female comrade found him in the hospital. He had apologized for not keeping his promise and in turn, she promised that she would join him when they set out to retrieve Sasuke again.

He, himself even thought that she was ready enough to join them, especially since she was a medical ninja, and extremely intelligent. But for the second time, Shikamaru dismissed her for the same reason. She would be in the way.

Naruto had stood helplessly as she disappeared in rage at being insulted the second time around.

The blond-haired ninja clenched his fist as he bounced off the limb of another tree. It wasn't as if he was angry and Shikamaru for his decision. Naruto just felt underestimated on Sakura's behalf, the fact that she wasn't even given a chance to prove herself. Deep down, Naruto knew Sakura was stronger than everyone thought, but he had said nothing. If he were the immature, irrational boy at 12, then he would have rampaged on. Actually, even now at 16, if Shikamaru had dismissed him like he did Sakura, Naruto still would have rampaged on. He was surprised to see that all Sakura did was angrily disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto sighed, knowing that she would be extremely angry when they returned and would even hesitate on treating their wounds. He could not help but feel the overwhelming guilt that grew inside him. He loved his teammates to death as brothers, but he was a little disappointed that they too did not speak up to let Sakura prove herself. Did they still think she was the same girly "Sasuke-kun" lovesick, weak ninja she was when they were younger? Because, if given the chance, Sakura would prove them all wrong.

Naruto was too drowned in his thoughts to realize that the group had now changed directions, taking a longer route towards their goal of the Village of Sound. When he glanced around and was unfamiliar with the trail, he decided to speak up.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Why are we going this way? We'll never get to the village by sunrise! Where are you taking us?"

It was unusual for the older, wiser Naruto to question the motives of Shikamaru. Nevertheless, the leader still responded.

"You're still a dobe. Haven't you figured out that someone is following us?" Shikamaru informed in a hushed voice.

Naruto widened his eyes, feeling like an idiot for not sensing that. The chakra was very faint, but could still be detected. Whoever it was must've not been a very good assassin. His chakra level was still detectable, and all shinobi knew that chakra levels must be kept hidden when pursuing someone in an ambush. Was this guy an idiot? Did he WANT to be found?

Shikamaru exchanged eyes signals with Kiba and Rock Lee who immediately jumped off into opposite directions. Naruto quickly read the silent plan and jumped behind so that the six could form a circle, still moving. Then, abruptly, they all stopped at their positions (now ground-based) and remained silent.

"You must be a fool to travel alone. Why don't you just come out and surrender." Shikamaru coaxed. When nothing moved, Shikamaru signaled to Neji, who nodded in comprehension.

"Byaakugan!"

Instantly, veins popped up on the temples of the Hyuuga's face as he unleashed his powerful bloodline limit. Peering around, his vision changed to a clearer picture, his visibility ranging to almost 360º. A pulse of blue flashed to his left, an indication of a chakra system flowing in a ninja's body. Instinctively, he drew out three shuriken and threw them in the direction of the chakra.

A cloaked figure dropped down from a tree branch and landed with a thump on the dirt ground. Strange. It was expected that Neji would hit the target on the first shot, but it was odd that their pursuer would be this weak and fall with only three shuriken. He was an idiot after all.

Naruto, Neji, and Rock Lee walked closer to the fallen figure. Neji stared hard at the figure. Was he really dead? The chakra had stopped flowing, and the byaakugan could see that the heart stopped pumping. Whoever it was was a real baka.

Neji decided to be the one to unveil the hooded assassin and to reveal his embarrassment. He stepped up and reached out to yank off the cloak.

"CRAP!" Neji exclaimed as a woodstump was exposed. They all spun around too late as twelve kunai spun their direction, barely missing Neji's 'blind spot'. Managing to dodge all of the weapons, the Shinobis inwardly smacked themselves for falling for such a primitive technique, the scapegoat. How the heck could a team of one genin, three chuunin, and two jounins fall for a stupid elementary trick like the scapegoat!

But despite their miscalculation, they all still overestimated themselves. After all, it was six high-ranked ninjas versus one obviously inexperienced one. The odds favoured them, correct?

Again, they miscalculated.

Kiba and Akamaru were the first to attack. Together, they hoped to take out the assassin with one move, and a powerful one at that. Kiba quickly formed hand signals as he and Akamaru jumped in the air. Two great tornados formed and spun with amazing force in the direction of the flying kunai. A small patch of great oaks were disintegrated and reduced to nothing. It was a move well executed and capable of wiping out anyone. The low-ranked ninja probably was one of them.

Kiba landed with grace on the ground and grunted with a proud smile. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and walked away in underestimation. The rest of the team still held their positions.

Suddenly, Kiba froze as if he had seen a ghost. In moments too quick for even the Byaakugan to catch, he felt a pulse of chakra and slap of two fingers on his forehead. As soon as he felt it, it vanished. Akamaru began barking with concern.

The other men ran towards the shocked Kiba. As they caught glimpse of his face, they gasped. Kiba's expression was frozen, his pupils were dilated, and on his forehead was a character symbol saying 'sealed'.

Naruto waved a hand in front of his teammates face, but it did nothing. Kiba was out cold and they did not know where his mind had gone.

Naruto growled. This guy was playing around with them. Who the heck did he think he was?

Naruto was determined to deflate the arrogant ninja's ego. He peered at his surroundings and detected quick movements in the trees around him. The blond opened his hand as a swirl of purely woven chakra began to form into a sphere in his palm. It had taken Naruto quite some time to develop the Rasengan without the duplication of himself to aid him. But after many frustrated attempts, he finally mastered it.

With great agility, Naruto aimed towards the quick hooded figure. Caught off guard, the figure paused as the Rasengan met with his flesh.

As quickly as Naruto's satisfaction surfaced, it evaporated as the figure 'poofed' into nothing.

Rasengan vanished as Naruto summoned chakra to his feet, clinging onto the bark of a tree.

"Dammit!" he cursed. He felt like he was twelve again and just being toyed around with. "Come out, you coward!" he provoked. That was an unlikely call to come out from Naruto's mouth because he knew he was far more mature than that. Unfortunately for him, old habits had a tendency to resurface.

The irritated Naruto jerked around at the rustle of leaves.

Suddenly, a slap of two fingers flicked onto both of his ankles. Instantly, the same symbol appeared and his magnet chakra faded. Naruto's head came crashing down.

Shikamaru became impatient.

"Naruto is so troublesome." He sighed. "Oi! Did you do nothing with Jiraiya-sannin for the past two years!"

Now, Naruto was pissed. What the heck did that ninja do to him!

He attempted to sit up, but for some odd reason, nothing moved. Confused, the blond tried again, and to no avail, his legs remained motionless. Naruto glared at his toes and then began to comically flail his arms around.

"Help! I'm paralyzed!" he shrieked in a high-pitched, girlish note. Neji impatiently kissed his teeth as he walked closer to the fox boy.

"What the hell?"

Neji poked at Naruto's frozen legs and stared expectantly, waiting for a response.

"Feel that?" he asked. Naruto shook his head as Neji growled. Chouji and Rock Lee joined the Hyuuga in examining the hopeless paraplegic before them.

"What kind of technique is this guy using, Neji-san?" Rock Lee asked. Neji shrugged.

"I have no idea. He's too quick for my Byaakugan to catch. And he seems to know about my blind spot as well as my fifty-meter limit. On top of that, he purposefully blends in with my flow of chakra, so even my chakra barrier can't detect him." Neji explained. His ego shot down a couple of points. "I hate to admit it, but he's pretty quick-thinking."

Rock Lee immediately reached to unhook his weights around his ankles.

"I'll bet he's not as fast as me."

Before he could remove them, three sparks of chakra flashed before the three ninja, proceeded by a tap. As quick as the sensation appeared, it vanished.

They froze.

Lee's position remained bent down, Neji's neck stiffened, and Chouji's arms maintained it's casual position, stuffed in his pocket. Each of them was stamped with the jutsu character on the place of their body in which they could not move.

"Kuso," Neji muttered while silently wondering what hit them so quickly. Despite his tough exterior, panic had slowly begun to weave its way into his mind. If he could not pivot his neck, his blind spot would be completely vulnerable.

Neji tightened his fists, inwardly cursing all the training he had done over the years. All that hard work, had it suddenly gone to nothing?

The shinobi burned with impatient frustration. The technique the unidentified ninja was using was no doubt a simple one. Yet, in ten minutes, he had been able to target their weak points to render them useless and completely vulnerable.

Chouji huffed.

"Shikamaru! Help us!"

Immediately, the commander jumped from his location in the trees.

"Crap, what happened to you guys?"

Inspecting the seals, Shikamaru answered his own question. "This ninja's no ordinary ninja. He must be a shinobi trained in knowledge of biological anatomy to know all the paralysis pressure points. Not only that, he's also skilled in genjutsu, using seals that can only be removed by the one who made it. You guys are stuck until bucky boy over there decides to free you."

Neji scowled at this. His self-worth was shattered at how quickly he had been defeated. He attempted to rotate his head simply by using brute force, despite what Shikamaru had informed. In moments, an electrical pulse was triggered and caused Neji to curse in unexplained agony.

"Dammit!"

Shikamaru peered closer at the tattooed symbol on Neji's neck and discovered two small teardrop squiggles on the polar opposites of the seal.

"Geez, this is troublesome." He muttered. All ears were on him now, at the negativity of Shikamaru's tone.

"What!" they demanded in unison. Shikamaru breathed in aggravation.

"These are leech symbols. Squirm a lot, and these babies'll trigger an electrical pulse to suck the chakra out of you. And in big doses, too."

Shikamaru felt ashamed at the swift defeat of his supposed top-notched teammates. He pondered for a moment before stepping out into the opening of trees.

"Ok. You've clearly won. Why don't you come out and fight me, one-on-one. It's fair now." He called out to the hidden assassin.

Confused, yet hopeful, the team members kept quiet. If there was one person who could get out of the tightest fixes, it was the brilliant Shikamaru.

In a poof, the hooded figure reappeared, quite a distance away, and stood directly in front of Shikamaru. Glancing around at his surroundings and seemingly-hopeless predicament, Shikamaru's back up plans were quickly diminishing. No nearby tree shadows to aid him, no strong moonlight, and no holes in the ground to cover his shadow. Shoot… he inwardly swore. He's too far for my shadow jutsu to reach… This ninja was far too clever.

The Konoha jounin analyzed his opponent carefully. Strangely enough, he was much shorter than expected. Was this genius a mere child!

After purposefully allowing time for analysis, the unknown assassin decided to be the one to attack first. Swiftly and soundlessly, he charged toward the unprepared Shikamaru.

When he was within Shadow-jutsu's range, Shikamaru decided that his bloodline technique was his only hope for the moment, although he knew that the assassin was already expecting that particular assault.

Monkey, Horse, Snake, Rabbit…

Not quick enough…

Before Shikamaru could finish, the attacker shot three hidden kunai from under his long cloak. Shikamaru leaped into the air, hoping to extend his shadow to complete the jutsu. But before he could even lift a finger, another kunai came flying his direction and pinned his vest to a tree. The jounin squirmed like a fly caught in a spider web.

Then, he heard a hissing noise.

Turning to the kunai, he sited a white and red tag with Japanese inscriptions painted on it.

Hydrogen, oil, fire…

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed. Without thinking twice, he slipped out of his vest and scrambled to dash away as quick as his feet could carry him.

A deafening blast was heard for miles.

Shikamaru cringed as he felt his body thrust against the bark of an oak tree. The pressure from the explosion had seared away some of the skin on his arm and it burned like acid. Slumping down the trunk, he instinctively grabbed his wounded arm. He was amazed. The speedy reactions of the assassin were incredible, as if he had anticipated every move from the beginning. But was astounded him even more was that the assassin used simple objects and techniques to defeat the team of high-ranked ninjas. It was completely genius. Whoever it was, was only cleverly using the minimum limits of his strength.

Shikamaru gaped at the patch of burning trees and blackening smoke just behind him. A shiver of terror ran through his spine. His teammates were there!

It wasn't as if he doubted them or anything. They had every ability to miss the explosion. The problem was, the assassin had paralyzed them, so the possibility of them using their abilities to escape was quite slim. Shikamaru, with every nerve of his body, wished that they had evacuated safely.

And to his surprise, his wish was granted.

Behind the jounin, an electric shock was heard, followed by a groan of pain. When some of the smoke cleared, a chestnut-brown-haired, white-eyed figure appeared, crouched in an agonizing manner as electrical strings flashed around his neck.

"NEJI!" Shikamaru beckoned. Neji panted in exhaustion.

"I put a chakra barrier around the guys. They're safe." He managed to spit out. Static charges squeaked around his neck, and again, he flinched. The Hyuuga straightened his neck. There was a certain awkward stiffness in his upper body, as if he wore a neck brace.

"Call back your Byaakugan." Shikamaru instructed. "You're wasting chakra you may not have for much longer."

The look in the Hyuuga's eyes reflected defensiveness, but he eventually did as he was told. The veins on his temples sank down as his vision returned to normal. Neji examined his hand, in which he used to summon the chakra barrier. Dammit… That took more out of me than I thought.

Neji instantly thought of the temporary paralysis on his neck and how much chakra it drained when he moved to put up the barrier. He inwardly spat at the cursed seal. If he could reach it, he would gnaw the tattoo off himself.

Neji's morbid thoughts were interrupted by Shikamaru's pained sigh. The Hyuuga looked over at his commander who was busily poking at his injured arm, only to be bitten by the sting of the acidic burn.

"What was that blast?" Neji asked through rigid jaws, attempting to keep his neck perfectly still.

Shikamaru grimaced.

"Explosive kunai." He responded. Neji automatically crunched his eyebrows together in confusion.

"An explosive kunai did that?"

Shikamaru shook his head.

"It was different, though. The characters on the tag were far more complicated than the basic explosive tags. It's almost as if someone as great as a Hokage made them. Question is, where did that guy get it? Or worse, did he make it?"

The Konoha commander rummaged through his pouch and pulled out a kunai, a white tag, and a brush pen. He immediately began stroking. When he was finished, the character "light" was painted in the center of the tag.

Shikamaru began shoving the brush into his pouch, and tied the tag to the kunai.

"It may not be as powerful as his, but I have an idea that worked well last time." He said, infusing some of his chakra into the talisman. Neji was struck. For Shikamaru to repeat past executions, they must have been in a pretty tight dilemma and quickly running out of back-ups.

Neji watched as he took out a cherry bomb and tossed it into the air. It crackled and then flared.

He closed his eyes to sense his surroundings.

"He's coming this way." Neji notified. "Below."

Shikamaru nodded and braced himself. He stuck the kunai in his mouth while carefully taking three steps back.

"Five Shadow Replicas…." He mumbled.

To his exact prediction, five hooded figures popped out of the ground and closed in around him in a circle. Neji was surprised at his commander's correctness. But then again, the assassin was using simple tactics to defeat them. Shadow Replicating was one of them.

"I figured you were cocky," Shikamaru smirked at the multiple assassins surrounding him. "Thinking you could defeat us with low-rank techniques, just to make yourself look good."

The hooded ninjas didn't hesitate to attack. In unison, they jumped in the air, attempting to pounce on the outnumbered jounin commander. Shikamaru took the kunai from him mouth and pierced it in the ground. Quickly… he thought. Snake, rabbit, snake…

Suddenly, a bright light exploded from the talisman just as Shikamaru finished the final hand seal. The hooded figures were stunned.

Shikamaru's hands were quicker this time.

Monkey, Horse, Snake, Rabbit, Dog, Rabbit, Rat.

In moments too agile for Neji to catch, the five hooded shinobi were frozen in air. He glanced down at Shikamaru's feet to see his shadow branching off in five directions, each directly underneath the assassins. He used the light to extend his shadow?

It was a brilliant plan and Shikamaru knew that it could not fail him, even on the second time using it.

Shikamaru put his hands together in the dragon seal.

"Shadow Strangle Technique." He recited.

Suddenly, all the ninjas in Shikamaru's control poofed into nothing.

"NANI!" Neji exclaimed out loud. He shuffled behind Shikamaru. " They were all fakes?"

The next moments were a blur to the both of them.

A flash of chakra shifted into Shikamaru's line of vision and it struck him in the gut. The power was monstrously immense. Immediately, it sent him flying into Neji, who soared with him. Bashing through many trees, the two jounins finally stopped at a clearing, back to where they had started.

Chouji, Naruto, and Lee looked up at the commotion, and were surprised to see them again.

"Watch out!" Naruto suddenly shrieked, a moment too late.

The hooded assassin reappeared 10 meters away from them. With a colossal amount of pressured chakra built up in his hand, he struck the ground with all his might.

Instantly, the earth crumbled beneath the Konoha team of six, into a hole with a diamteter big enough to swallow only them. With the help of gravity, the shinobis helplessly plummeted to the utmost pit of the fissure.

When the dust had settled, six men were entangled between rocks, dirt, and each other, at the bottom of the hole.

At the edge of the opening of the hole, the assassin stood there, silently declaring victory. A sneer grin grew beneath the shadow of his hood.

Every inch of the Konoha ninjas' bodies screamed pain.

"Bastard…" was all Neji managed to curse.

"You aren't in the position to name-call me anything." The figure suddenly spoke for the first time.

Naruto's eyebrows crunched together in confusion and familiarity. A girl!

Fidgeting to look up, they all glowered at the assassin who willingly pulled down the hood, to reveal the much-anticipated identity.

Six pairs of shocked eyes met a pair of emerald ones, staring back with ice.

"SAKURA!"

-

Author's note: Whew! That was an exhausting chapter. I'm terribly sorry to cut you off right there, but hey. I wanted you guys to crave…wait…DESIRE more! Moohahha!

I hope you all liked. And as usual, reviews are GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Next chapter should be up soon. Please Keep reading!

zarrah-chan