A/N: FYI, I am the unfortunate victim of two weeks of intensive Japanese language study. If I am butchering certain words/phrases please let me know!

This is the start of the action, so I hope y'all don't mind the change of pace. I will get back to the relationship fest soon.

Disclaimer: Alas, Naruto will never be mine

Chapter Six - Snakes and Salamanders

The trip through Fire Country to Nagayama was an uneventful one for Shikamaru's team and he was thankful for that. According to their orders from the Hokage, they were to try and reach the Kii ruins before anything was taken. It mean that every minute potentially counted in the race to the site. They could have come upon the largest bandit camp in the history of Konoha and would have been forced to pass it by without a second thought. Rotating with Sakura for the point position he and his team threaded their way among the tree branches in the dense sea-like forest which most of Fire Country was made of.

On the Fire Country's western border, Nagayama was a sparsely populated area that had a low mountain range running through it north to south. They were more like large hills really. The zone sat between Fire and Wind from the southern coastline up to the north border with the smaller Grass and Rain villages. It was a rocky terrain that had hundreds of small passes, ravines, winding rivers and dry valleys. With no claim to it, Nagayama was a lawless place. The land was so poor in fact that neither Leaf nor Sand bothered with it. It acted as a natural buffer between their two nations and being a no man's land, many criminals and rogue shinobi would attempt to hide there. This meant hunter-nins also regularly passed through it to flush out their bounties.

As the trees thinned the leaf ninja were forced out of the canopy and onto the ground to continue their journey. Their wariness rose as the destination neared.

Shikamaru stopped running and raised his left hand in the air to signal a break. They had reached a group of boulders in a clearing. The largest of the stones had the swirling leaf symbol carved upon it, marking the end of the Fire Lands. His teammates came slowly to join him. Each choosing a different rock they sat facing outward in loose circle ready for any interruption. The nins soundlessly broke out their packs of food and took long, slow sips from their canteens.

A ninja could travel through Konoha no Kuni (Country of the Leaf) in only three days, but it was at a grueling pace. The area they were now entering had no steady source of clean water and no easy ways to gather food. Knowing this they all made sure to leave some provisions left for the return trip.

Tenten was the first to break the party's silence. She spoke softly to Sakura who was closest to her among the group.

"Lee is so funny," she began lightheartedly."Do you know he asked me if you were feeling alright?" She paused to look away. "He said. . .he said you looked tired and said to remind you not to overtrain yourself. " Catching Sakura's gaze she smiled briefly before breaking eye contact again. "That's sure the pot calling the kettle, isn't it?"

Sakura became embarrassed. Lee had been so infatuated with her when they were kids and while never showing interest in that way, she considered him a good friend. Still his attention, no matter how innocent after all this time, had to bother his fiancé. Sakura felt bad all of the sudden.

"Tenten, I, uh..."

"Don't worry about it, " the older woman said cutting Sakura off. "I don't know why I mentioned it like that. I must be getting worn out by the pace you and Shikamaru are setting, ne?"

The conversation forcibly ended as they went back to packing up and checking their gear.

Sakura hated that.

She despised the awkwardness she felt with most of the other women. Both guys on Tenten's team had liked her. Lee had been very persistent and she had even dated Neji for a while. The boys on her own team were her property too in their own way. Naruto had stopped asking her out eventually, but she never really felt he had ever stopped loving her. He just got good at burying it. Sasuke never said he cared for anyone let alone her,. but there were moments. Brief, fleeting, almost imagined moments when he did seem to care, where the actions did not match the words. Sakura had held fiercely onto those.

She glanced up to see Hinata carefully packing away her things with that delicate and precise hand of hers. Sakura cherished her newfound closeness with the quiet, lavender-eyed girl. On the trip back from the Sand Village chuunin exam which they both passed Sakura had vowed to not mess up another female friendship. She had avoided Naruto persistently for the past couple months. While it wasn't easy, she just couldn't handle that pained look from another woman. The jealousy of someone who pursued a man whose attention she held.

Shikamaru called an end to the break and they continued at a slower pace toward one of the taller hills in view to scan the lay of the land. They crossed a ravine and climbed the loose grave path that wound up the slope. A Konoha ninja never felt one hundred percent once they were out of the trees. The forest far behind them seemed to almost be calling for them to return home.

At the summit Shikamaru shielded his eyes in the light of the late day sun.

"Hinata," he asked, "can you look out a little to the north for me and they back directly west? Our goal should be one or two miles in that direction."

She formed the multiple seals for the Byakugan in a heartbeat and with her jutsu she gazed where he had directed. She carefully looked around until she discovered something she thought maybe of use.

"I can see some old looking piles of stone and some broken walls three hills over about a mile away. A lot of it looks uncovered already, " she informed them.

Shikamaru grimaced, "I guess we aren't getting there first." He then asked her, "Is there anyone there to greet us when we arrive?"

"No. . .wait, yes. There is one person crouching down looking into a large pit at something. He looks frustrated, like he's been denied something. He's wearing glasses and he's got pale blond hair."

Hinata ended her jutsu and turned to look at them with normal eyes.

"I recognized him," she said with slight surprise. "He's the man who joined us in the first chuunin exam we took together, but if I remember correctly he dropped out before even the preliminaries started."

Sakura gasped. "You mean Yakushi Kabuto? Naruto said he was spying on the Leaf for Orochimaru at that time. He also said that Kabuto was a jounin level ninja, but he kept that hidden during the exam."

The girls faces took on a tense, ready expression as they looked at Shikamaru for the attack plan given the news.

Shikamaru's mouth curled into a hard smile. He never forgot that these women would give their lives without hesitation at his order. This trust is what made the safety of his team always his first priority.

"Well, I'm sorry he's frustrated," he said sarcastically. "Let's hope it's because he hasn't found what he's looking for yet, not because Orochimaru kicked him out of bed last night."

He turned to look toward where they would need travel.

"Sakura and I will approach him in the open. If he's as good as you say then sneaking up on him will be useless. He'll recognize Sakura so maybe we can keep him talking for a bit to gather more information. Tenten, you and Hinata are backup. Keep on the look out for other Sound. I'm sure he's not alone."

The team fell into formation and set out. Shikamaru felt the other two drop back and as they approached the final hill and his hands beginning to itch with need to hold a kunai. Suppressing the urge, he and Sakura walk at a casual pace down into the flat space the ruins occupied.

Kabuto appeared to be alone as they approached. He walked casually around from where he was standing to place himself squarely between them and the large grave-like hole Hinata has spied him staring into before. He is stood in a relaxed pose and his words were filled with a mocking warmth.

"Ahh, my fellow leafs," he said with a friendly wave. "What brings you out here to this poor and uninteresting countryside?"

Shikamura hesitated speaking as Kabuto had focused his attention on him. As they halted a good twenty paces from their quarry, Sakura immediately picked up on it.

"Hello Kabuto-san," she said, her eyes taking a fierce gleam, "We were about to ask you the same question."

Kabuto's eyes shifted back and forth a little before responding.

"Good," thought Shikamaru. "He's not sure who's in charge and he must also be unsure as to who is the stronger opponent between Sakura and I. Which means he must assume either I'm very weak or Sakura has gotten a lot stronger since last they met." He looked for a moment at Sakura. She radiated confidence, a coolness that showed no intimidation. She had to appear stronger to Kabuto compared to the timid little genin he'd met back then.

Kabuto continued to play the game.

"Sakura-san!" he exclaimed. "komen, I didn't recognize you!" His left hand drifted slowly up to push his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "Are you doing something different with your hair again? You must tell me how Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are doing."

"They are doing just fine." she said woodenly, seeing Kabuto again must be calling up memories she did think too much about. Shikamaru gritted his teeth, Sakura was thrown off by a simple question. It wasn't like her.

"Oh good," he said quickly. "I know how Naruto used to look at you, but you know you only had eyes for Sasuke-kun." The traitor-nin was enjoying himself now. "You know it was really a shame how it all turned out, " he said in regretful way. "I mean at first Sasuke seemed simply torn between you and the power Orochimaru-sama offered him. Of course, we all know how that turned out ... maybe he just prefers brunettes?"

Sakura's hand was shakily creeping down her leg to her weapon's pouch.

This wasn't going well.

Shikamaru spoke hurriedly. "We've come to do some sightseeing and wondered if you seen anything around here worthwhile to pick up."

"So, the team leader final speaks," he sneered. "It's wonderfully Tsunade-sama lets the baby leafs out to play this far from her apron strings."

"Oh crap," Shikamaru thought he saw right through me.

Kabuto's hands flew in a complex jutsu as he bent down to drive his fingers into the ground.

"Kinjutsu! Zanshitai Kaisei!" (Forbidden Skill - Unclean Soul Resurrection)

The earth erupted all around the chuunins and scores of skeletal arms rose from the ground grasping at them. The ninja dodged the attacks as the corpses began to pull themselves up animated by Kabuto's jutsu.

Shikamaru knew from the bingo book that this criminal specialized in medical jutsu, yet the number of animated skeletons that rose up still startled him.

"This guy is definitely jounin level," he thought.

All he and Sakura could do was dodge the attacks as taijutsu and standard weapons had little effect.

Kabuto watched the two nins struggle with satifaction as he saw two other kunoichi appear from the brush that covered the surrounding hillside. The smaller woman with short dark had her hands moving already while one dressed in pink had an unfurling scroll in hand as she raced down to join her comrades.

"Ah, there's the rest of your team," he said. "I wonder what they can. . ."

Hinata's hands stopped moving as she invoked her most powerful ninjutsu.

"Mokudon Kousatsu Shinjukon!" (Wood Type Skill - Divine Tree-root Strangulation)

Long vine-like roots burst from the ground to twist around the newly risen corpses. The bodies of warriors long since fallen on the battlefield were being pulled down into the ground once more.

Kabuto was impressed. Very few ninja could use wood-type skills. "I wonder if she's related to the first hokage, " he thought.

It was still not powerful enough stop most of the undead and many soon started to break free from the roots. The jutsu was performed too far away from the forests where it gained its strength. Sakura and Shikamaru still couldn't get near him.

The other woman had launched herself in the air with a scroll unfurling in a spiral around her.

Tenten performed her Rising Dragon weapons skill and senbon and kunai rained, whistling through the air, to lodge themselves in the corpses.

"Ordinary attacks are useless, "Kabuto thought. "What could the girl. . ." He then he saw the trick to her jutsu. He was pleasantly surprised by the ingenuity.

Each weapon had a explosion note tied to its end. The skeletal army erupted all at once in a smoky ruin. Kabuto shielded he eyes for a moment and prepared for his next jutsu when he saw Sakura streaking through the smoke towards him. He realized the fool was about to engage him in taijutsu.

He adjusted to a ready stance and his hands took a slightly purplish glow. With his touch he could shatter veins and arteries, while a longer hold would cause massive hemorrhaging. Sakura ran right at him berserker-like with a raised fist.

"She fights like Naruto-kun," he laughed to himself. He readied the counterstrike as she closed the few feet left.

His hand passed through her like air.

"Genjutsu! Where?..."

Kabuto was barely able to duck Sakura's kick as it whistled past his ear. She let motion carry through as she dropped down and sent her other leg to whip out in a sweeping attack. The kick took Kabuto hard at the ankle and he fell backwards rolling up and away back onto his feet. He quickly sent chakra down to the foot she had hit to stem the swelling and fracturing he felt start.

He was back up and ready as Sakura's hands were ending another jutsu. He watched as two clones appeared on either side of her and then moved to melt into her true body overlapping her form.

"Bushin won't work twice Sakura-chan," he said to her.

She lauched herself at him again. He didn't even bother to block the first attack as the bushin' s leg passed away like smoke. Sakura was barely able spring back from the glowing fist he delivered.

She approached and Kabuto was sure where she was this time thrusting his arm in a knife-like attack at her throat. The kunoichi blocked up and the nin felt her connect. He immediately went to grasp the fending arm he had felt deflect his blow when the his hand simply melted through that as well.

Kabuto was in disbelief. "It was solid! Kage bushin? How?"

Sakura emerged through the fading illusion and struck with a vicous punch squarely to his unguarded midsection. The payload of chakra she had put in the strike was punishing and the sound-nin was thrown back through air. The force had knocked his feet out behind him and he landed flat on his stomach.

Kabuto fought the pain and spit out the blood that began to fill his mouth. He got up slowly but was already healing the internal injury she caused when suddenly.

"I can't move," he said aloud.

He found himself walking slowing toward that guy he had figured was the leader all along. A thick dark shadow seemed to connect the two of them.

"Got you," said Shikamaru smugly.

Kabuto looked far from beaten. "Kagemane.then you must be from the Nara clan," he sneered. "Now I see why you're forced to hide behind women."

Shikamaru ignored his taunt. "I'm sure you weren't going to the trouble of digging your grave for us, Kabuto-san. Sakura, what's in the hole?"

She walked over to look in the ground. "It's a large scroll and it has a reddish glow surrounding it." Her brows knitted as she stared down into the pit. "I think it's a protection ward. I bet he couldn't even put his hand's on it. "

"Hmm...," The chuunin captain responded with a devilish grin, "Maybe we should force him to pick it up then to see what happens, ne?"

Tenten and Hinata were walking over to join them when the ground around Shikamaru's feet exploded throwing him back through the air. Two sound ninja leapt from the ground hidden by some earth jutsu to land at Kabuto's side

Kabuto freed from the shadow bind jutsu backed away slowly from the Leafs with a salute."I leave the problem of opening that scroll to you my friends," he told them.As his escape skill drew him and the other nins away in puff of smoke his voice remained to echo a final comment. "Sakura you've grown up so lovely and also tell Sasuke-kun that the resemblance is just remarkable."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: That took forever to write! Writer's block is a terrible thing.