A/N: Sorry everyone. I meant to take a small break and work on some other projects and then WHAM! 0o Two months passed!

Short chapter, Enjoy!

Japanese fun: 'Teme!' is basically just a rude version of "You!" the formal being 'Anata'. It's often translated to something like "You bastard!" This is a gender-neutral word in Japanese, so for women maybe "You bastard-ess?" or "girl-bastard?" :)

Additional word fun: the word "Bastard" is from 13th Century Old French, 'fils de bast', meaning roughly "a child conceived on an improvised bed" with pejorative '-ard' tacked on the end.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Alas, Naruto will never be mine

Chapter 27 – Divide

The shrill echo of sirens invaded their solitude while dawn's light stirred through the windows gray and moted. Shikamaru and Ino remained still as their eyes, wide and alert opened from the shallow sleep they had fought throughout the night. Fully clothed and above the covers they lay wrapped in each others arms lingering in the small time before the alarm repeat. By the third blast they rose with calm efficiency and smoothly prepared for battle. The sound of locking straps and fastened metal filling the void.

A minute had slunk by and the sirens once again renewed their staccato. Shikamaru tightened the knot of his forehead protector on his left sleeve and in doing so allow himself his first glimpse of Ino. "She's ready before me, as always," he thought.

Ino's face held a rare seriousness as she looked up at him. He cinched the knotted cloth again and then not stopping reached for her. His hands holding her gently as his mouth met hers. It felt desperate and longing. He ended it only to kiss her more briefly, almost chaste. A third time, hummingbird quick and velvet soft ending as the weight of the coming battle crushed on them. He drew her close and he felt her arms tighten around him.

Ino held on fiercely laying her head on his chest. "Don't do anything stupid…," she said, "you always over do it you know."

Shikamaru smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Yes, dear," he droned in mock sarcasm.

The gruff of his voice rumbled through his chest to tickle Ino's ear. She let out a small giggle that came dangerously close to a sniffle. "Well, as long as you know I'm right," she said with a hint more cheer.

"Aah," he replied. Shikamaru rubbed her back a little as her felt her shiver. "I'll see you when I get home," he told her as he loosed her hold.

Shikamaru backed away from her giving her his best roguish smile and in a instant teleported away.

The smoke thinned and the returning stillness made the tiny apartment's emptiness exquisite. Ino steeled herself forcing away her fears for Shikamaru to the shadows of her mind. "Alright, I have to get to the academy building," she said energetically forming her own seals to exit a place that could not be called home with him.

Shikamaru ran with sharp speed towards the administration building where those left in defense of the village would be. He put his worries for Ino aside knowing that her job to secure the academy building and then head directly to the shelters was probably the safest mission anyone in Konoha would have today.

He landed lightly on the roof of his destination and took deep breath for a reluctant sigh when another ninja landed on the other side of the expanse of roof tiles.

"Hinata?" Shikamaru said in curiously. The woman standing across from him looked tired and hurried, even her normally neatly parted hair was mussed.

"Ohayo, Shikamaru-kun," said Hinata breathlessly. He guessed the redness in her face was from running at top speed, but it was doubtful given what he knew about the intensity of her training routine. Even stranger, he watched her take out a kunai and using the flat of the blade as a mirror began hastily combing her hair with her fingers.

"That Naruto," Hinata muttered in her soft, velvety tone, "If he would have just waited a minute..."

Shikamaru realized he was staring and so did Hinata.

"Don't you have some where to be Shikamaru-kun?" Hinata asked tersely fixed on her task of grooming.

"Wow, three times this month Hinata's been pissy with me," Shikamaru thought, "It's definitely a record."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and replied nonchalantly. "Hey now! You don't live on that side of the village," he said being a bit smarmy. "Hmm... the only person I know over that way I think is Naruto."

Hinata looked up stonily from her kunai. Shikamaru was sure he heard her grip tighten as she held it like a weapon again.

"She wouldn't..." he thought nervously, "We're at war." He gave her a big grin. "See you inside!" he called pleasantly dissolving in a puff of smoke.

He entered the building out thin air passing into the edges of a small crowd. The spacious room normally dotted with chairs, tables and couches had all it's furniture shuttled away to the walls. The tense palpable mood filled the space around the ninja and made the air stifling and expectant. It ended his good mood.

"I can't believe I said I do this," Shikamaru thought, indulging his lazy and disagreeable nature. It was the last chance he would have for such idle, selfish things. Moving into the thick of the crowd faces turning towards him, some nodded grimly while others smiled eager and excited.

There were a lot of young faces, younger than him some of them and a few gray haired nins he was sure were in retirement. "Mostly children and grandparents... great," he thought sarcastically. Each of them moved aside as he passed.

"They recognize me," he realized in shock. The pressure of scrutiny made Shikamaru's skin itch. Shikamaru caught a flash of wild blond hair as a brash yell cut over the din of conversation happening around him.

"Oi! Shikamaru! You're late!"

The unassuming nin could feel the grimace plaster on his face as he waded to the center of the gathering. "Damn that Naruto," he thought. Sakura, Choji, Kiba, Hinata and many other familiar faces greeted him enter the space around Naruto.

"I live a lot farther away from here than you do idiot," he shot back.

"Whatever. Anyway I was just telling everyone here that the Hokage has put you in charge," Naruto said as he turned to give someone behind him a dirt look, "but some of these guys here think I'm a liar!"

Shikamaru watched two nins drift from the crowd. Kotetsu and Izumo were the chuunin assigned to Tsunade as secretaries and had also been examiners in the Chuunin exam that Shikamaru alone had passed. They were always together as well, which was kind of suspicious. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," Shikamaru thought with wry amusement.

"No one is saying that Naruto-kun" said Izumo loud enough so everyone could hear, "We just want to wait for an Anbu to arrive and confirm what that you've said is true."

"It is unusual that the Tsunade-sama would leave you alone with orders concerning an enemy attack," added Kotetsu with a smile, "and you're no where near ready to be Hokage."

Naruto glowered at Kotetsu for the comment. Shikamaru heard Naruto mumble "Teme"as he looked ready to explode.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to try and cut Naruto off from starting a brawl when he felt the air change a little.

"Is this all chuunin can do when they're alone?"

Everyone turned to swirl of leaves that appeared just behind them. The swirling air dispelled as a tall powerful looking Anbu captain appeared in their midst. Tipping up a tanuki styled mask, Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oi, Raido, "yelled Naruto as he jerked his thumb at Izumo and Kotetsu, "Tell'm I'm right and that Shikamaru is in charge here."

Sweat broke out on his head in sudden panic. Shikamaru had been so intent on stopping Naruto from arguing he forgot what he was here to do.

Raido made an amused smirk. "Hmph, Well, I wouldn't go that far." The jounin took a step to stand beside Shikamaru as he addressed the room.

"The Hokage knew of today's attack and has made preparations. We are to follow the normal plan for defense of the village. As for the counter offensive, Nara Shikamaru has been put in charge. All Konoha ninja regardless of rank are to follow his orders to the letter." Raido paused staring hard at everyone.

"Is that understood?"

Sharp responses of "Hai" along with many nins shaking their heads in affirmation went around the room.

Raido turned to Shikamaru and said with no hint of sarcasm, "We're yours."

Shikamaru sighed in mock annoyance to cover the wave of tension that hit him. "This will be the largest mission I've ever commanded," he thought, "and if I fail, it means the village is destroyed."

He glancing down at his hands and found a familiar sight, his fingertips pressing together to make an inverted triangle. It was his silly habit for calming himself so he could think everything out. It was something he always did unconsciously. Looking at his hands he thought, "Simple answer. Don't fail."

Shikamaru raised his head as self pity time was over. He asked ,"Raido, what's the situation outside?"

"We only have six Anbu teams out there right now. They have orders to delay the enemy as long as possible then fall back to the village."

"and the enemy?"

The jounin shrugged. "That's the strange part," he said, "A lot of them seem to be mercenaries not Sound ninja. Their losses are already sizable, but they still out number us in man power about six to one."

"What about Orochimaru?" Naruto asked heatedly.

"No," said Raido, "but the Anbu team near the main gate ran into a man we identified as Yakushi Kabuto and a unknown kunoichi... the squad captain said she almost killed his team with one technique.

"Setsuko," said Naruto knowingly.

Shikamaru nodded. Naruto had told him all about the powerful escaped-nin from Hidden Cloud Village.

"Orochimaru will avoid battle and head straight for his objective," thought Shikamaru, "and no sign of Uchiha Itachi means that they bought Sasuke disguised as Naruto with that scroll."

Shikamaru still didn't know the ninja pretending to be Sasuke, who had been placed under house arrest for trying to escape the village. Naruto would only tell him that it was a "good guy," whatever that meant. "Six to one," he thought, "That's a little less than two hundred ninja against a thousand?"

"Raido, " Shikamaru ordered, "Tell the Anbu teams to pull back inside the village and then to concentrate on keeping the shelters protected.

The Jounin with the livid scar on his face slipped his mask back on and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Ok," Shikamaru said talking to the assembly, "Jounin and chuunin here will head up teams of four made up from the genin and retirees. I want the genin to line up and well break off three man cells. For the rookies stay in your three man teams and one of the squad captains will take the place of your jounin sensei."

The room split quickly and Shikamaru spoke to the captains group as the lower ranking nins organized themselves. Seeing all his friends and comrades waiting there gave Shikamaru a swell of confidence. They had all come very far since their academy days. Seeing all his pieces on the board he smiled to himself, "This is going to be easy."

"Listen up, " he said walking over to a map of the Village on the wall. "I want all of you to run a tight loop with your teams sprinting to the edge of the village and then laying traps behind you as come back here to village center. We have about four dozen teams so you'll each take a couple streets."

He placed his hand over a sector and continued, "This area here is the exception, I don't want anyone near it."

"Isn't that were the Uchiha compound is?" Iwashi asked. He was a young jounin and one of the few that had not left the village in the escort up to Suzurimura.

"Exactly," Shikamaru answered. "We have people covering there already. We would just get in the way... Now, once you've laid your traps scout the enemy and engage after they've been softened up by the gauntlet you've laid down. If Raido's report is accurate most of the mercenaries will be out of action and the few true Sound ninja that are left can be taken on directly." He waited to see if there were anymore questions.

"Alright you know the plan, let's go."

Patrol routes were laid out and the chuunin gathered up their make shift teams without a misstep.

Shikamaru took Naruto and Neji aside and saw the questioning looks on their faces. "No genin patrols for you two. Instead we are forming a three man team for a special mission."

"What's that?" asked Naruto in confusion. Neji stony face was the same as always, completely unreadable

Shikamaru's grin became so evil that Naruto looked at Neji questioningly.

"Oh," he said, "we're going snake hunting."

TO BE CONTINUED