Disclaimer: Some where in some other dimension, I own Naruto…here the sad truth is that I don't. Thanks for reminding me…(glances evil look at her Ferret)

Mine Alone

A Yang Production

Lets' see…Snake, Weasel, Blossom, Boar. Nice little combo I got going there, don't you think? I didn't think I'd have to kill two others…but it's a nice thought. For two weeks I keep my hands to myself. And around the bend the Konoha Village festival was waiting. A chance to see Naruto in a Yukata! What more could I ask for? Possible to hold Naruto but that would be later. Today I will get ready. Must look my best for him.

" Yo, Naruto, ready?" Sasuke knocked on the door, dressed and ready in his dark blue Yukata. Naruto, annoyed that Sasuke had to tag along with him, swung open the door and glared at him.

" Hang on! Iruka-sensei is still trying to get his on." Naruto was dressed in his trademark bright I-can-blind-you-if-you-stare-too-long-at-me orange. " Iruka-sensei! Are you ready?"

" The festival is not going to leave you know Naruto!" Iruka said as he came out in a pine green Yukata and hand Naruto a pouch of money . " Let's go. Today's just a day of fun and games, try to get your mind off things."

Things…Sakura and Ino's inhumane murders. The fact that someone out there was targeting Konoha girls.

" Thank you Iruka." The three set off and found themselves surrounded by vendors and game booths. So many…and so little money! Naruto drooled as he watched a young girl eat a bowl of Ramen.

" This way Dobe…" Sasuke yanked the back of Naruto's clothes dragging him away from the sweet aroma. " Don't think a flood is what we need now…Dobe?" His hand clawed at empty air. " DOBE!"

" Sasuke?" Naruto wheeled around trying to figure out how the hell he got lost. One second Sasuke was dragging him away, the next he was standing in some unknown section of the festival. Seeing that this was his chance, he took off running to the nearest Ramen stand.

" Ramen, life's perfect food…gotta gets some in my tummy!" He sang while he took his seat. " The largest bowl of Miso Ramen you got!"

" Ramen? Is that what you have at a festival? The same thing you eat every single day?" A voice at his right asked.

" Shikamaru!" Shikamaru stared into his fifth cup of tea. Normally, Shikamaru was not a tea drinker unless something really was troubling him.

" Hey."

" What's up with the tea?" Naruto picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

"Eh…felt like tea." He motioned to the vendor to fill his cup yet again.

" You know kid, I like tea as much as the next guy but I think you hit your limit."

" I'll tell you when I had enough!" He slammed his cup down. " I said another!"

" Hey, no need to be so angry. Here." Steam rose from the kettle as tea raced to fill the emptiness. " Kids…"

" Grown-ups…" Shikamaru sighed into his tea.

" chikamaro!" Naruto spoke through a mouthful of ramen. "Wot's rung?"

" Nothing." Typical Shikamaru answer.

Gulping down the hot Ramen, Naruto turned to his comrade. " I know something's wrong. It's Ino ain't it?"

" Don't drag her into this!" he slammed his hand on the table. " I just can't believe that she's dead. The only girl I ever paid attention to!"

" Shikamaru…We never really knew each other well, I mean you're a lazy bum that likes to watch clouds go by and I was really busy trying to kick Sasuke's butt, but I'm sure that you moping like this isn't what she wanted you to do."

Shikamaru slowly turned to stare at Naruto. Who was this guy that looked like Naruto, ate like Naruto, and talked like Naruto but really wasn't?

" If anything, she'll try to get you to train and fail horribly at it. Maybe she meant well so she didn't have to see you get hurt." Something warm was placed on his forehead.

" You're not running a fever so your not delusional. How the hell can you sound so damn wise when your just some stupid blonde? Never mind I don't want to know. Thanks for trying to cheer me up Naruto." He planted a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder. " You may not look it, but your bright beyond years. See ya."

Naruto smiled triumphantly and returned to his bowl, never seeing the NO TEA sign.

Shikamaru looked so lost, much like a stray puppy. Two masked ANBU at my side, I approached him.

" How are you feeling Shikamaru?"

He turned around and let out a sigh of relief. " It's only you. What are you doing by yourself?"

" Not alone." I pointed to the Bunny and Wolf masked ANBU. " Say you don't look so good. Are you drunk?"

"No…maybe…" He's the only guy I know who's lazy enough to get drunk off of tea. Typical Shikamaru.

" Let me guess Vendors cut off your supply of tea? They're out to get you. I got an idea, why don't we play a game of Go and have some tea?" He seemed to perk up at the idea. " These two ANBU guards will be with us the whole time."

" Where to then?"

" There are too many people here, and I don't like distractions while I play. There's an old Game room just up ahead where I sometimes go to play. Let's go there." He nodded and we began the last journey together. Taking out the keys, the two guards opened the door.

" I'll get the tea ready, you pull out the game board." I walked into a small kitchen and set a kettle to boil. Let this one go a bit easier than the others.

" We'll choose for color." He placed two stones down and I grabbed a handful of black stones. 12, he was black and I was white. No matter.

" How many stones are you putting down?"

" None, we play even." He placed his first stone down and I replied.

" Ino loved you." He dropped his stone and looked at me in disbelief.

" What the…? How do you know this?" 6 points for me, 25 for him.

" I saw her last breath. I knew that she loved you, everyone knew, you were the only one who didn't realize it."

" Then…MURDERER!"

" Nope! Wrong! Say, let's make this game more interesting." He shook his head and walked towards the two ANBU guards. The kettle let out a small whistle and I retrieved it. Pouring out the tea I took my place at the board and blew to cool my tea.

" They don't like to be touched." The mask clattered to the ground as lumps of clay fell. " Let's make a bet Shikamaru. If you win this game I'll turn myself in." I paused while I took a drink.

" And if you win?"

" If I win…you die." Giving him time to think was not as boring as I thought. He gave me a quick reply.

" I could walk out this door right now and contact the Hokage."

I reached into my Yukata and pulled out a letter.

" My Dear Shikamaru," I began, " I know that you'll never get this letter till I die, but I just wanted you to know that I love you." He stopped he retreat. " What a lovely letter, don't you think? But if you walk out now, you'll never get this letter that she spent so much of her soul to write." Anything Ino related got his attention. He walked back and sat down.

" Let's continue."

" You should know that you made the mistake when you challenged me to a no handicap game." Shikamaru smirked as he placed another stone down, challenging me to reply.

" Maybe you're right…I should have given you at least 3 stones!" With one move I had captured many prisoners and gained territory. " That's 17 points." Klank! " 5 more for me."

" 10 points for me." He didn't sound to confidant.

" Really?" Setting another stone down, I captured more. " 20."

He began to sweat. He was losing. HE WAS LOSING. The comeback master, he could not see any way to beat this game. Another stone was set down and he realized that he could have cut off that line.

" Want to continue?"

"…"

" What was that?" 24 more points. " Right now you can't beat me. 20 to 89. Give up. I'll give you the letter." I took a stone in between my fingers and launched it at his head protector. A small dent was made. Damn! I need a slash! SLASH!

" I resign…"

" Sometimes there is honor in defeat…" Oh boy…I need to stop reading all those soul books. I held up the letter and with a flick, it burst into flames.

" You said you'll give me the letter!"

" I never said in what state." The ashes fluttered down around him. I could see anger in his eyes. " Now, it's time for you to keep your end of the bet. I need your life."

" Why the hell are you doing this!"

" Why? Love."

" Love?"

" I love Naruto. I need him. But if you filthy beasts are around him, I can't get to him. I must get rid of you. Oh. Did you know that this place has the best lighting? No shadows!" Lights blinded him. I launched two more Go stones, and it made the dent even deeper. Eh, one more for good luck. With that stone, he became a betrayer. I swooped down silently and his screams muffled, I won the game.

" Sasuke! Where the hell were you bastard?" Naruto finally found him, standing outside a game building.

" Looking for you." He turned around, holding something that resembled a Carmel Apple. " Where did you run off to?"

" I ran into Shikamaru at a Ramen shop. He seemed to be drunk. Poor guy. Who the hell gets drunk off tea?" He didn't see Sasuke's eyes shift. " Anyway, come on. We need to go. Is that for me?" He pointed to the sticky mess of an apple.

" Take it." Sasuke handed it over to Naruto and walked off. " You know, I never would have thought that you were smart. It's a nice change."

Choking on a piece of the apple, Naruto looked for signs of the Apocalypse. Naruto said nice in a sentence directed at him! Ok, someone was slipping things into peoples tea's.

A murmur rippled across the festival. The Hokage was summoned to a Game building.

" Open the door." She ordered. The door splintered. Inside on a table, was a cup of tea, still warm with a not attached.

Problems of Life and Death,

Always keep liberties,

In his case, he had none,

Thus he lost the game and more

" HOKAGE!" Someone pointed to a boy that was kneeling over a game board. Shikamaru stared at the board that held the game he lost.

" Shikamaru! Oh god, you're alright." The crowd that had gathered gave a small sigh of relief. Tsunade placed a hand on his shoulder and asked him what happened. He gave no reply.

" Shika-" His body fell limp to the ground and small black and white Go pieces poured from his mouth. A tea cup held some red liquid and a note was attached to this one too.

He played a good game,

He loved a good girl,

But betrayers who touch Naruto,

Lose the game of Life and Death.

His face held scratches that spelled out Betrayer…and there was a needle poking out almost invisible from his neck. No wonder the Go pieces poured out. Tsunade looked over the game and realized that there was one move that could beat it. She picked up a piece and played the one move that Shikamaru, in his fear and anger, did not see.

" We'll catch you." She slammed the piece down and the noise silenced the town. " Bring his body to the office, there might be more to it than what we see." The container for the Go pieces was missing and only Kami-sama knew where they put it.

Not bad Hokage. The building had cleared out, and I looked down at the board.

" Sometimes, you must kill off in order to win." I scooped up the prisoners and left. Tucked under my left arm, I had a small brown container, and it's contents were of course a Romantic secret. I'm a sap for romance. It's great when there's a happy ending for the lovers, reunited at last. Just one last stop. I climbed into Naruto's window and left a letter on his pillow. Have pleasant dreams, me love. Something whizzed by my head, a shuriken, that left a small thin welt on my face. Iruka must have left some traps after the last time I visited. I see that he did not want me visiting Naruto late at night. He's getting to close to Naruto…I must give him a talk. But for now, Leaving is such sweet sorrow.

Naruto-

Love makes people do crazy things.

That is true for me.

I love you.

Naruto re-read the letter again. Love makes people do crazy things? Where had he heard that before? He hid the letter from Iruka and pondered the things that were going on. Could he be the tie between everything?

Yang-chan: Poor Naru-chan! He's a little slow…just a little! Anyway, let's answer some reviews!

Kativa-Chan: It's all in the past! Besides, I wasn't that upset!

Ferret: Cried her eyes out!

Yang-chan: FERRET!

hogo-chan: Thanks! I feel special!

Ferret: Great her ego is inflating.

Yang-chan: How about I skin ya?

Someone-san: Who is your guess?

Ferret:…

Yang-chan: Ferret…

Dreams Raven-sama: Yes, we all want to know who Stalker-san is. It's not any of the dead people!

Ferret: Then again, with you…

Yang-chan: What about me?

akuma-river-sama: I like your thinking! Good thinking!

Ferret: At least they think unlike some people we know…

Yang-chan: What was that!

kawaii kitsune-kun: Gaara? That's a first, here have a cookie!

Ferret: I think Gaara too!

Yang-chan: One word, DIET.

Jenniyah-sama: Think Sasuke huh? I'm not gonna say anything! Naruto is going to become aware now.

Ferret: I think Sasuke

Yang-chan: Anything just not to go to the machine eh?

kionat-sama: I love your thinking. Yes, I think we're all DYING to know who stalker-san's is.

Ferret: Enough with the death jokes.

Yang-chan: Wanna be one?

Lady Samurai-sama: Yes, another death…

Ferret: Death…

Yang-chan: What about it?

Anyway, keep reading, keep guessing! Send me a private e-mail with a more detailed search and you might win a role in my story…if I could think of one. (sweatdrop) One last note! Since I am still in school, there won't be rapid chapter updates like before. GOMEN! I'll try to update every other day. So bear with me.

Ferret: Never fear, I'll be here at your side, helping you write/type faster.

Yang-chan: Gee…thanks, deadweight.