Hey all! First off, thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. I know that these two chapters aren't so different then the old ones, but I just wanted to change them a bit to make them more in character and everything. Hope it worked! Anyway, sorry it took so long to update. Chapter 3 should come sooner! Until then, enjoy!

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Chapter 2

Run Away

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Shikamaru couldn't sleep.

Up until about an hour ago, he was fast asleep. However, after he had woken up due to some sounds outside, he couldn't bring himself to go back into a peaceful slumber. He told himself it was because he wanted to stay alert, but he knew why he was up. It was because of the damned situation he was in.

Three days ago, when he was back at home, the plan seemed easy. Get past all of the jounin, get out of Konoha and get to some other village to stay hidden for a while. That way he wouldn't be so sought after. He doubted that Suna would know about the infamous Nara Shikamaru. Perhaps they had heard some tales, but nothing like Konoha.

But now, the plan didn't seem that easy. It had only been three days and already he was tired and injured. His arms had many cuts around them, a few already turning into scars. They were mostly from falling to the ground or a few encounters with some jounins. His legs were tired from the running and had a few bruises around them. With little food and water, his stomach felt extremely empty. Like the old saying went, easier said than done.

The ninja let out a sigh. Currently, he was lying on his back with his hands behind his head. He had taken off his jacket and tossed it aside before he fell asleep. His hair was still down, but as soon as they set out again, he was prepared to put it up again.

He blinked his eyes as he continued to stare at the ceiling. If the ceiling wasn't there, then there would surely be a few clouds, though probably not many due to the storm from last night. Ever since he was a child back at the academy, he had a habit of watching the clouds. It was one of his favorite hobbies. Whenever school let out and it was a nice day, he would pick a spot near a shady tree to watch the clouds. He always thought of how nice it would be if he were a cloud. No troublesome tests, no troublesome teachers, and no troublesome students. Well, most of the students anyway.

There were a selectable few from the academy that Shikamaru considered 'friends'. Akimichi Chouji was definitely one of them. His best friend by far. Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba weren't that bad. Sure, they were loud mouths who usually awoke him during his slumber, but they were still good kids. And when they weren't shouting their asses off or messing up on some test, they were sleeping too. They had that in common. He even remembered a few times when Naruto had escaped from class. Chouji, Kiba and he followed suit. Of course, the next day was a lecture from their sensei.

There was one student, however, that he never liked. Uchiha Sasuke. The quiet, talented, heartthrob of the class. Just about all of the girls, except for maybe one or two, had a crush on him. They always complimented him at school. They always gave him presents on his birthday. They always gave him chocolates on Valentines Day. They always asked him out for some ramen at Ichiraku or to walk home with him. But every single time, no matter what it was, he turned them down. Maybe it was that quality that made the Nara bear such a disliking towards him. Or maybe it was how he acted. He was always so calm and full of himself. Talent wise, he was probably the best of the class. However, Shikamaru could tell he didn't practice hard each and everyday to obtain that skill. He probably was just born with it. After all, the Uchiha clan was supposed to be an amazingly strong clan. However, most were wiped out by the massacre. To his knowledge, Sasuke might be the only survivor.

Shikamaru's thoughts were cut short when he heard a noise come from the other side of the small apartment. His eyes landed upon Ino, who was still sound asleep. Since she was asleep, he took the time to look her over. Last night, it had been dark and he was tired. Her white blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but a lone strand was hanging in front of her face. Her outfit was purely purple. A small shirt with three small silver hoop rings attached to a loose piece of cloth. Below that was skirt cut at the sides that went up to about her knees. On her waist were bandages wrapped around, along with her thighs. He also noticed her white arm warmers and her hitai-ati around her waist.

While he was looking at her, he noticed that she looked very familiar. Though he never asked her what her age was, he assumed she was around his age. That meant that she was probably in his academy class. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them once again. Yes, she was on his class. If he remembered correctly, she was one of the loudest girls who chased after Uchiha. The other one who rivaled her loudness was a pink haired girl. He couldn't place his finger on the name.

"Uh…" A light groan came form the other side of the room.

The ninja again turned his attention to the kunoichi. It seemed like she was waking up. Grabbing his hair from his left wrist, he quickly put his hair up in a ponytail. He reached for his jacket, which was still sitting near the corner of the apartment, and slipped it on.

"Shikamaru?"

At the sound of his name, he turned his gaze back towards her. She had just woken up. Her arms were high above her head as she let out a yawn. As she sat up straight, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning." Finding her stretching routine boring, he looked back up at the ceiling. Now that she was up, they could finally leave Konoha. After all, the earlier the better.

"Good morning." Once she was done stretching and on her feet, she took a moment to look around. After a minute, she seemed to finally remember where she was.

"Ready to go?" Shikamaru also stood up.

"Already? What about breakfast?" Her stomach growled right on cue.

He let out a sigh as he walked towards the door. It was nearly five a.m. from what he could tell; too early for the villagers to be up. If they kept hidden and away from ANBU sight, it would be easy.

"We'll get food on the way. It's best if we leave early. The desert won't be as hot that way."

"Desert?!"

He winced at her sudden scream. Quickly, he turned towards her and brought his finger to his mouth. "Shh! You don't want them to hear us, do you?"

She didn't pay much attention to his warning. "There is absolutely no way I'm going to the desert all alone with you. I don't care if you saved me or not!" Crossing her arms, she stared back at him.

Giving a sigh, Shikamaru rubbed his temple. It seemed to him that he couldn't have gotten any worse luck when it came to travel partner. Hell, even a turtle would provide better company then her. At least the turtle wouldn't be able to complain about every little thing. Looking back outside, he made sure no heard her and turned back towards the kunoichi. "How else do you propose we get to Suna?"

"Suna? No way, I'm staying in Konoha. You know what? I should just leave right now! There's nothing keeping me here and leaving would be my safest bet." Without waiting for an answer, she headed towards the door, pushing past him to get out. When she walked out, she was met with a rush of cool air blowing back her hair. Quickly, she brought up her arms in hopes to keep her warm as she continued to walk farther away from the wanted shinobi. However, she didn't get that far, for she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her back.

"Are you crazy?" Pulling her back into the small storage closet, he pinned her against the wall, his face dangerously close to hers. He made sure not to use too much force in holding her down; he didn't want to hurt her and cause even more trouble. "Look, I spent nearly two years running away and hiding from all the ANBU around here, and it hasn't been easy. I sometimes had to go without food and water for a few days, but I managed to stay hidden, and that's the only reason I'm alive right now. If you just walked out of here with them knowing you know where I am, they could easily track me down, and I'm in no mood to run." His eyes were narrowed and he could feel sweat dripping down the back of his neck. It wasn't like him to be this forceful on anyone, but he did not want to get caught, especially when he was so close to getting out of here for good.

Ino could feel heat rise to her face when he suddenly was so close to her. Her body was tense with his hands now on her shoulders. Staring into her eyes, she couldn't help but feel a little scared. He hadn't acted close to like this since they met last night. As he stepped back, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Taking a few steps back, he took in a few calming breathes. He shook his head, silently wondering what made him lose control like that. Turning back to her, he noticed that she didn't seem too frightened of him. Or she at least didn't show it. "So are you ready to go?"

She opened her mouth to argue about going, but quickly closed it. If she tried to leave like she just did, there was no telling what he would do. For now, her safest bet was to stay with him. Keeping a strong face on, she nodded. "Yes."

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It was no surprise to Ino that Shikamaru was a genius. She had heard of all the tales of his brilliant ideas and strategies. That was half of the reason as to why he wasn't captured yet. Many ninja, one after another, were outwitted by his tactics. Now, she could see why.

The two were currently sitting atop of a tree, using the few leaves left on the tree as a cover. They had left the apartment almost an hour ago, making painfully slow progress. They had reached about a mile away before a few jounins caught sight of them. Because it was still dark and they hadn't seen their full bodies before they disappeared into the shadows of the trees, Shikamaru suspected they weren't completely sure. So, he told her to make a clone of herself, just like he had done. They sent their clones off in the opposite directions, making sure they tried to stay hidden. The plan had been a success, since the jounins followed the clones without a clue.

After surveying the area once more, he decided it was safe to come down. He thought it would be safe to stay up in the trees a bit more, just in case they had backup. They had managed to jump through a few trees, but nothing much. Glancing in her direction, he signaled that she follow his lead. Carefully and silently, he jumped to the ground, back against the trunk of the tree. She did the same, staying next to him to await further directions.

There was a sound coming from a few feet behind them. Shikamaru cursed softly and turned around. He didn't see anyone, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Traveling with someone else was certainly troublesome. It left him with double the change of getting caught and the two couldn't split up.

"Let's go." His voice was low, barely a whisper. He turned back around and began to walk again. Ino followed close behind, wondering how long their clones would last. They had put enough charka in for about an hour. Even if the ANBU hadn't realized their cover, their time would soon be up, and they would continue searching for them once more.

"This way!" He had jumped onto a tree, waiting for her to follow. Once she was up with him, they took off again, jumping from branch to branch.

The only sound audible as they jumped were the chirps of a few lonesome birds and the sound of the branches moving under their weight. The day was dark and dreary with no sign of sunlight, even though it was nearing six in the morning. The wisps of cold wind blew through the trees, causing a few red and orange leaves to fly by.

Ino idly wondered if life would always be like this. She brought up her hands to rub her cold arms. Would the villages always be fighting? Would they always keep running away? Would it ever come to an end? What if it didn't? She gulped at that thought. Back at the academy, she always dreamed of her future. She would graduate the academy and become an excellent kunoichi. Eventually, she would make Sasuke-kun be hers and marry him, maybe raise a few children. However, her future plans never included a war.

She quickly stopped in her tracks as she came in contact with Shikamaru's outstretched arm. He was standing on the same branch as her, crouched down and listening intently. Once she stopped, he lowered his arm but did not say anything. After a moment passed, he stood up again and jumped to the ground once more. She followed.

"We've lost them." He said as he leaned against a tree and began to catch his breath. "But not for long," he continued, "so we should head out once we're ready."

She nodded as she too caught her breath. She slowly sat down on the moist grass, not really caring that her purple skirt was becoming wet. She took this moment to look around, trying to figure out where they were. Considering that she didn't know the outskirts of Konoha that much, it was all new to her. After all, her house and store were both located in the center of the town. While she was in the academy, her mother didn't let her to go out this far. "Hey," she turned to look at him, "do you want to answer something for me?"

He raised his head to look at her instead of the ground. "Depends. What?"

Shifting uncomfortably in her sit, she looked down at the dirt. Even though she wasn't sure how to ask it, she knew she had to. After all, if she was traveling with him, she deserved some answers, right? She lifted her graze back to him and locked her eyes with his. "How did you…" she trailed off, still not sure how to phrase the question. "What did you do to become…a fugitive?"

Hair caught up in his throat as he processed her question. It had been almost two years since it happened. Closing his eyes, everything seemed to rush back to him. The screams, the bloodshed, the deaths. Suddenly the whole day felt like yesterday. He opened his eyes in hopes to make the memories to leave, at least for now. Looking at her, he noted that she was expecting some kind of answer.

"Do you really want to know?" His eyes were still on her, his mind wondering if he should tell or not.

She didn't answer right away, instead taking a moment to reconsider. When first asking him, she didn't mean to stumble onto a traumatic situation or any of that sort. All she wanted were some answers. But judging from his hesitance to sharing, it didn't seem like he was eager to tell her. But still, curiosity got the better of her. "Yeah."

Taking in a breath, he looked away from her. Slowly, he began forming words in his head, selecting them carefully. However, he was interrupted by the sound of leaves cracking not too far away. Swiftly, he rose from his seat, wiping dirt off of his pants. Silently thankful for the interruption, he once again turned towards here. "There's no time to talk. We have to go."

She reluctantly nodded before she too got up. It looked like her question would just have to wait. After both of them looked around and made sure the coast was clear, they began to head off, both having their journey in mind.