"W…What?" Sakura stammered, clutching her chair tightly for fear that she might really fall off.
"Relax. Shikamaru's just outside. He'll fill you in on the details soon enough." Naruto's reassuring but slightly maddening grin reappeared.
Sakura could feel her heart palpitating as Naruto spoke. Hastily, she wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead before flashing Naruto a watery smile.
In the next second, she grabbed Naruto's arm with such force that one had to wonder how such a slim girl could exert such a great force. Together, they zipped out of the lonely, dark room into the warm, welcoming sunlight once again.
Sakura could feel her heart thumping. It was beating madly, pumping more adrenaline for the muscles to work even faster. She could feel Naruto wince under her strong grasp. Yet, she had more pressing matters on her mind…
Sakura skidded to a halt.
Right in front of her stood Shikamaru, his arms crossed as he slowly surveyed the pair through his sharp, beady eyes. A flicker of annoyance passed his face as Naruto tried desperately to free himself from Sakura's incredibly strong grasp.
"Stop making such a commotion!" Sakura slammed Naruto on the ground with a deafening thud.
At this rate, thought Shikamaru, we would probably end up spending our day rushing Naruto to the nearest hospital instead of focusing our energies on finding Uchiha Sasuke.
Shikamaru tried to imagine a bandaged up Naruto, lying motionlessly on the bed, with a black eye while Sakura stormed around, complaining of having to send him to the hospital.
"S…Sakura…" Shikamaru's voice trailed off. Women can be so troublesome at times.
"Sakura, I think it's best if you would stop hitting Naruto. The sooner you stop, the earlier we would be able to set off to find Sasuke."
It was as if though Shikamaru had executed a mind-controlling jutsu. The effects were immediate.
Shikamaru watched silently as Sakura's hand stopped in midair. She had turned and stared at him, a look of wonder passing her face. In that split second, her eyebrows knitted and the irritated expression on her face vanished, replaced by one of sorrow and dejection. She placed Naruto delicately on the ground, before turning to him with a somber but serious expression.
Naruto straightened up too with determination blazing in his eyes.
Shikamaru would have found the scene hilarious had it not been for the sudden change in their moods.
"Alright. Now, I would explain briefly to you our tactics."
Both Naruto and Sakura listened attentively, giving Shikamaru their full and undivided attention; for fear that they might miss even a single word.
Just before Shikamaru finished his long speech, a slim girl with long, silky black hair falling to her waist appeared. One would have been under the misconception that this was some regular, cute girl you would meet in Konoha if one failed to notice the bottomless mauve eyes she possessed.
Hinata smiled shyly at Naruto. "H…Hi, N…Naruto-kun."
Naruto waved back, the silly smile appearing on his face once again.
"Hinata would be accompanying us in our search for Sasuke. I believe that her scouting abilities would come in useful." Shikamaru explained.
"So, all we ready? Let's set off!"
So that's it for Chapter 2 :D I know it's a pretty inconsequential chapter, with nothing really exciting happening. However, subsequently, the chapters should be more exciting (at least I hope). Please read and REVIEW.