Pairings: main ShikaNaru, KakaIru, LeeSaku, KibaShino, ChouHina, InoNejiTen (triangle). The main focus of this story is on ShikaNaru and the other pairings may be mentioned but not shown that much, I haven't decided yet.

Warnings: This is yaoi, so there will be homosexual pairings in this story. If this bothers you then please don't read this story. Mature content, crude language, cursing and sexual references are in this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. This story is a work of fiction based on the Naruto manga and anime series.

Thoughts and dreams are represented by italics.

Chapter Seven - Danger

When the boys got to the hotsprings, they found out that there were private rooms available. Of course, Shikamaru paid the extra cost to get one of those rooms for themselves. After they had got undressed and then washed down, they both entered the water together, foregoing the wearing of a towel.

Shikamaru moved to where he could lean his back against a wall, then beckoned to Naruto to join him. When Naruto got close, he pulled the blond to his chest, with Naruto's back resting against it. Shikamaru's legs were on the outside of his lover's. He wrapped his arms around the blond and put his head on the boy's shoulder and sighed contently. I should thank Lee when I get back. If it wasn't for his visit, I wouldn't be enjoying this wonderful moment with my Naru.

Naruto happily sighed out too and snuggled back against his brunette lover. "Shika?"

"Yes?"

"This is great isn't it? Being here and being able to do this together?"

Shikamaru smiled and tightened his hold on the blond. "Yes it is."

"I wish we could stay here forever!" Naruto nearly shouted this.

Shikamaru chuckled. "We would become shriveled up corpses if we did that, Naru-chan." He teased his blond.

Naruto slapped one of the arms the brunette had around his waist. "You know what I meant! I mean in this village, just the two of us." He looked back at Shikamaru with a loving expression.

Shikamaru bent his head down and kissed the blond gently on the lips. "I feel the same way, Naru."

Naruto smiled and then moved his head up towards his lover to get another kiss.

The genius obliged.

They exchanged small, loving kisses at first but both soon wanted more. Naruto turned around in the brunette's arms to face him and wrapped his arms and legs around Shikamaru, then deepened the kiss. Their kisses soon became more frantic and passionate and they were rubbing their erections vigorously against each other, moaning into each other's mouths.

Shikamaru knew if he didn't stop now, he would take his blond right then and there. He pulled back from Naruto and with his hands on the blond's hips, forced Naruto to stop moving. "We need to leave now and go back to our room. We can finish this there." He was heavily breathing and trying to calm himself down.

Naruto pouted up at his love. "Aww, but it was getting so good."

Shikamaru laughed. "I know my little Naru-chan, but it will be even better if we go back to our room."

Naruto grinned. He called me his 'little Naru-chan'! Shika can be very romantic for a lazy guy. Naruto let go of the brunette and moved back. "Okay, but you have to make this up to me."

Oh, I will, my Naru, I will. Shikamaru and Naruto got out of the water and then went back into the changing room and got themselves dressed. They walked back to their hotel and then up to their room, holding hands and giving love and lust filled glances at each other all along the way.

Back in Konoha, there were two very angry females. When Sakura had gone to Tsunade to find out where the boys were, since she hunted all over the village and couldn't find them, the Fifth Hokage had been a little drunk. Tsunade had previously had a fight with Jiraiya over his spying on the young women in the village. When he left with a lot of new bruises, she pulled out her hidden stash of sake, hidden from her assistant Shizune, and had been on her fourth bottle when Sakura paid her a visit. Needless to say, she forgot about her promise to Shikamaru and told the pink-haired girl the truth.

Now Ino and Sakura were sitting at a booth at Ichiraku's, arguing over whether or not the boys had found out about the party somehow and then left town to avoid it.

"If they did know, it had to be that baka Lee that told them!" Ino growled.

"Don't call my boyfriend a baka, Ino-pig! Lee would never do that!" Sakura glared at the blonde girl.

"And why not? Lee has as big a mouth as you have a forehead!" Ino glared back.

"Why, you..." Sakura got up and was about to clobber the other girl, but Lee arrived and saved the blonde in time, by gently grabbing the pink-haired girl's fist and holding on to it.

"Sakura-san, my love! Why are you and Ino-san fighting?" Lee looked in puzzlement at his pink-haired girlfriend.

Sakura pulled her fist out of Lee's grasp, glaring at him for stopping her, then sat back down. "Shikamaru and Naruto left the village. Ino was saying you had something to do with it. But I told her you wouldn't do that."

Lee blushed in embarrassment. "Um, Sakura-san, my love, I'm sorry, but I did tell Shikamaru about the party." His eyes dropped from hers when he saw her disappointment and anger.

"See I told you it was his fault!" Ino glared at Lee.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." Lee looked back up at his love and his eyes were pleading for her forgiveness.

Sakura was unable to hold onto her anger, so she smiled at him and patted him on the arm. "It's okay, Lee. I'm sure you didn't do it to ruin our plans."

Ino looked at the other girl in surprise. I don't understand why she would forgive him so easily!

Lee smiled happily at the pink girl and then bent down to hug her. "I would never do anything to hurt you, my love!"

Sakura hugged him back, then pushed him away. "I know that. Now sit here and help us decide when we should throw the party."

"And don't tell them anything else!" Ino looked sternly at the boy.

Lee gulped, then nodded at the scary blonde. He sat down next to Sakura.

"So, Hokage-sama said they would be back sometime tomorrow?"

"Yes, Ino. So should we wait to have the party Friday or Saturday instead?" Sakura wrapped her arm around her boyfriend's shoulders.

Lee smiled at her and wrapped one of his arms around her waist. He remained quiet and let the girls do all the talking.

"Well, we need to check at the Mission's office and find out when most of us are going to be available, before we set a definite day. And we need to make sure no one breathes a word to Shika and Naruto about when that day will be." Ino looked pointedly at Lee.

He smiled at her nervously. "I will not say a word! I give you my word as a ninja!" He then stood up and did the nice guy pose.

Ino rolled her eyes. I really don't get what Sakura sees in him.

Sakura smiled at Lee. "Great! I'll go over to the Mission's office now. Lee will you accompany me?"

"Of course, my perfect flower, the one who fills my youthful spirit with joy!"

Sakura blushed.

Ino just shook her head. Maybe she likes him because he worships her so much. Now if only I could get Neji to be a little more like that.

The next day, in the late afternoon, two figures stood off to the side of the road that lead out of the village of Sounkyo. One was dark-haired and slender, the other, blue-skinned and very tall.

"How long are we going to have to wait?" The tall man was bored and growing impatient.

"Not much longer, I sense the fox approaching. About five more minutes and he should be here."

"It was fortunate that we happened to be doing a mission close by and you sensed him. I've been waiting for the chance to get revenge on that boy." The shark man grinned in anticipation.

"No, this isn't about revenge, Kisame. We will capture him and take him back to headquarters. No playing around." Itachi looked up at his companion to show him that he wouldn't put up with any of his foolishness.

I'm so tired of being with someone that has no sense of humor at all. He hardly ever lets me play with our victims. Kisame nodded his head at the shorter man and then turned to look back at the direction the blond fox boy would be coming from.

"Shika, let's come back here again someday soon. It was really great to be alone with you." Naruto blushed as he remembered the best parts of their mini-vacation. All night and most of this morning, we made love. Every time it just keeps getting better and better. He makes me so happy. I never knew I could ever be this happy. The blond looked at his lover and smiled with love at him.

"We will come back here again. I enjoyed our time here too. But when we get home, we still have the rest of the day and evening together." Shikamaru smiled back at his blue-eyed lover. Every time I look at him, he seems to be even more beautiful. I always want to see him this happy.

All of a sudden, Naruto yelled stop and both boys came to a halt on the road. His fox enhanced senses had him feeling two strong chakra signatures up ahead of them. He felt uneasy.

Shikamaru looked at the blond with a questioning look. "What is it?"

"I feel that we're in danger, Shika. I think there are two powerful ninjas not too far from us."

"Is it the fox telling you that?" Shikamaru now knew that Naruto was the container for the nine-tailed demon fox. The evening before, during one of the times they were resting after a bout of lovemaking, Naruto had told him the truth about himself.

"No, it's just the extra senses I have because of him." Naruto had felt last night, that it was time to tell his love the truth. He knew Shika loved him and he just didn't want to keep the secret from him anymore. Shika was so loving after I told him. He said he had suspected there was something different about me, ever since he saw me fight Neji in the first Chuunin Exams. I can trust Shika completely with anything. Naruto noticed the worried look on the genius' face.

"Naruto, I think we should try to go around them." I don't want to fight them if they are very powerful. I can't lose Naruto!

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I think so too."

"I just hope they haven't noticed us yet. Let's go." Shikamaru then took off towards the right and jumped into the trees.

Naruto jumped up after them. They had only traveled for a couple of minutes before Naruto called out to the brunette. "Shika! They are following us! I think they are gaining on us too."

Shikamaru looked back worriedly at the blond's words. "Let's try to go faster and just keep up with me. I'm going to try and shake them off."

"Okay."

Both boys picked up their speed. They changed directions many times to try and throw off their pursuers.

All of a sudden Naruto yelled out and fell off the tree, that he had just landed on. In his fall, he managed to grab onto another branch and stopped himself from falling. He swung up to stand on it, then looked around for his lover. "Shika!"

Shikamaru had heard Naruto's first yell and turned to look behind him, but something or someone rammed into him from behind, and like Naruto, he too fell off the tree. Also, like the blond, he managed to keep from falling to the ground by grabbing hold of another branch and pulling himself up. He heard Naruto call out his name and looked around for the blond. He saw him on the ground, and he wasn't alone.

Naruto had jumped to the ground to avoid the swing of the blade that had been coming at him, after he had called out to the brunette. When he had landed on the ground, he found a man in a black and red cloak standing before him. A taller man leaped down to stand beside the other man. Itachi! And the other one is the ugly shark man. He glared at the two of them and tried to think of what to do. I can't let them hurt Shika! Naruto jumped back away from them and quickly performed seals and called out his Kage Bunshin jutsu.

He had created a hundred clones and then sent over half of them up into the trees to try to distract and fool his opponents, leaving the others to race off in different directions on the ground. He leaped with the clones, that had gone into the trees, and found Shikamaru, grabbing hold of one of his arms, then both rushed off towards Konoha, surrounded by some of the clones. Naruto made some of the clones, use a henge to look like the brunette.

"Shika, we have to get away as fast as we can! I don't know if I could beat Itachi!" Naruto didn't want to risk a fight while his love was there. I will not let anything happen to Shika! I just hope we can get back to Konoha before they catch us again.

"I'm glad you're getting smarter, Naru." Shikamaru smiled at the blond, even though inside he was afraid. He pushed all the energy he had into getting away from the Akatsuki members. In the past he would have just charged right in to fight. I hope we can get away. I can't let my perfect vacation with Naruto end with us dying. That would be too troublesome.

TBC