I advice you guys to play Sakura's Theme when you reach the flashback part. It's fine if you don't wanna but I just thought the music fits the scene. I'm a visual person and I do hear BGMs playing off in my head when I type stories xD

Chapter 4: Recollect

Shikamaru looked around the area, crouching in position with his fingertips from both hands touching each other. He opened his eyes and stared at his teammates. Shikamaru deduced that they could grab some advantage in their hands if only two Oto-nin will go against the four of them.

Kiba and Akamaru snuffled as they ran, his eyes scanning around the place cautiously. "They're very close…"

"If things go well, we might, hopefully, finish the mission with one last encounter since it'll be four on two. But even if it's like that, don't let your guard down. "Looking back at the last two enemies that we've faced, I can tell these two are just as strong." Shikamaru said sharply. "Or maybe stronger…"

"Hey, I think you're mistaken." Kiba pointed at Akamaru who barked at him

"Ah, my mistake. Including Akamaru so that's five of us. So now, it's a fairly good five against two."

"Alright, we got this!" Naruto bent his arm upward, his fist in a clench. "I think that's enough talk, we should speed up."

"It's better if we finish this before the sun sets."

"Understood." The three of them riposted in unison, finally getting back their serious attitude they had before. "Let's speed this up."

"The sun is setting. Neither Jiroubo nor Kidoumaru is catching up." Tayuya frowned at this and glanced at Sakon. "I hate to say it but… those pieces of trash are tougher than we thought." Sakon's eyes squinted as the sun's glinting rays penetrated his orbs.

"They must've had a hard time. Hmph, weaklings." Comrade or not, Tayuya always has something insulting to say to someone in a situation like this.

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is Orochimaru-sama. We better accelerate our pace." Tayuya said as she looked down at the barrel, their footwork barely visible as they landed on each tree branch.

"We've only finished one third of our plan in half a day. We've run into too much interference."

"Yeah, this is bad."

"Hey guys… it's nightfall already." Moriko said wearily while staring at the sun slowly descend into the horizon.

"Shit… Time's too fast! And I'm hungry already… " Naruto complained with the duet of his stomach grumbling. "Damn it, we still haven't caught up to them. I know they're close but how long are we going to run after them?" Kiba protested and kvetched about it.

"No, this is fine. Attacking at this kind of time will be an advantage for us." Shikamaru then thought about what he just said, his hand below his chin." But it'll also give advantage to our opponents…" He sighed wearily. "This no use, we need a better plan."

"What do you mean, Shikamaru?"

"Actually… forget that. We'll attack when the sun rises."

"Screw that! There's no time!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, and what about Neji and Chouji?" Moriko thought, putting on a worried expression. She didn't bother asking since it'll just add pressure to them.

"That's right! Besides, attacking in the dark is just fine." Kiba said, looking back at Shikamaru and Naruto.

"Not really, Kiba. The only advantage we have is the one chance that we get to strike at them. Chances of getting Sasuke back, escaping, and getting far away are close to zero. But things would've been a little easier if Neji's byakugan was here."

"Hey, hey! Don't forget my and Akamaru's nose."

"I've already added and analyzed that to my calculations. It's still no use." Kiba frowned. "Plus… my kage mane would be useless with the clouds constantly covering the moon. It's troublesome and it's far too risky to attack at a time like this, there are far too many dangerous uncertainties."

"Ah… if things are like this then we really do need to think of another plan. It's just that we're wasting so much time when we're so close to them already." Moriko said scrunching up her nose. "Being so close to them, their fetor is bothering my nose.

"I'm glad you noticed." Kiba said, looking over his shoulder. "Akamaru's been complaining about it. That Scent Marking Technique you've got is handy but maybe you should try using something that doesn't smell like a corpse or rotten varieties of food." Kiba sniffed a little and scratched his nose.

"Sorry, but the smell comes from the ground." Moriko said with a guilty smile. "You know what I mean right? Dead bodies decaying, fertilizers, feces and stuff." Moriko heard Shikamaru muble an "Ew…"

"That's gross, Moriko-chan!" Naruto yelled while pointing.

"Can't help it, can we?" Moriko sighed.

"Anyway, we will keep this distance and continue the pursuit. Which means, we'll have to postpone our attack and wait until the sun rises." Shikamaru stated firmly.

"Alright." Everyone turned their attention to Naruto. "You're the leader so I'll follow your orders, Shikamaru." Kiba and Moriko looked at each other then nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. While we're continuing with the pursuit, we'll take the time to come up with a plan."

Several hours had passed and the first ray of the sun crept slowly on the horizon. "Sunrise…"

Moriko covered her eyes with the back of her hand from the bright sunlight.

"Looks like we've caught up." Kiba said with a cocky tone. "Hm?" Moriko turned to where Kiba's eyes were glued. A smile crawled across her lips.

"Yes… we have." Moriko placed a hand on her hips as she watched the two Oto nin turn their heads to see them.

"What the hell are those two doing?" Tayuya scoffed, referring to her other two teammates, Jiroubo and Kidoumaru. Tayuya and Sakon stood up and turned their full attention to their pursuers.

"How about we finish this quickly?!" Sakon leapt towards them then dodged the kunai Naruto threw at him. Kiba and Shikamaru charged at Sakon while Moriko stepped in front of Naruto who created a kage bunshin to be able to produce his Rasengan.

Sakon's Taren Ken easily threw off Kiba and Shikamaru. Moriko crossed her arms to shield herself from Sakon's kick but was thrown aside by the impact. Sakon saw the chakra gathering onto Naruto's palm and assumed it to be a dangerous one. He easily avoided the Rasengan by simply grabbing Naruto's hand away from himself.

"There's no point if I grab your hand with technique before you let it out." Sakon said with mockery.

"Now, Kiba!" Naruto thought.

"Tsuuga!" Kiba spun like a vortex behind Naruto. He thrust through Naruto's body and revealed it to be a kage bunshin. Sakon ducked and Tayuya saw a clear view of Kiba's Tsuuga coming right at her.

"They placed Sakon and me in a straight line." Tayuya frowned. "This is what they're aiming for!" Unbeknownst to Tayuya was Shikamaru standing just a few feet away from her. She twitched as she felt her body stiffen. Tayuya looked at her side. "Shit."

"Kage Mane no Jutsu, success." Tayuya saw Shikamaru, his elongated shadow connected with hers.

"A diversion!" Tayuya tried hard to shift her eyes to the side. "He's coming!" She said as she saw Kiba from the corner of her eyes. What she thought was an attack aimed at her, was actually a move to get the barrel that she placed beside her. She watched Kiba's upside-down body land his hands on the edges of the barrel and then bend his body downwards, taking the barrel with him.

"Tayuya! Why the hell are you just staring off into space?!" Sakon screamed, charging in her direction.

"No!" Tayuya stood up forcibly and took a few steps forward.

"What are you doing?!" Sakon yelled again. No! I can't dodge her.

Shikamaru slipped his other foot intentionally and Tayuya's foot mimicked his action. She slipped sideward and Sakon crashed into her. Moriko stood at the opposite end of the branch where Shikamaru stood and lengthened her hair, blue streaks streaming down her dark tresses. Her hair split into two halves before binding Sakon and Tayuya. Kiba tossed the barrel to Naruto and jumped off the branch he was hanging onto.

"Shikamaru, let's get out of here!" Kiba shouted. Moriko quickly released the two from the grasp of her hair and followed Kiba.

"Nice one, Shikamaru!" Moriko cheered, jumping off beside him from tree to tree.

"Just as I thought. They were full of openings." Shikamaru said calmly.

"It all went well." Naruto held the barrel tight in his arms.

"Yeah, all according plan."

"It's because Shikamaru's a genius!" Moriko grinned with a thumbs up.

"Now, we're one to two steps ahead of them." Shikamaru continued, catching up with Naruto.

"In the mean time, we're gonna have to continue creating huge distance between us and those Oto nin, right?" Kiba asked and Shikamaru nodded.

"Bastards!" Tayuya swore loudly, standing on her feet.

"Pieces of shit… how dare they." Sakon stood up calmly but with an irate facial expression. He tapped his foot lightly on the wood as he activated his curse seal. "They're not gonna get away with this!" Sakon leapt swiftly on the aligned tree branches while Tayuya followed.

Moriko looked back and saw Sakon just several meters away from them. "Kiba!" She called his attention and he looked back at what she was staring behind them.

"They're fast!" Kiba looked down as he heard Akamaru's bark. "Akamaru!" While the four people left of Konoha six set their plans into action, Akamaru had went deeper into the woods in advance to set up several explosive seals on a certain number of trees. He had just finish when Shikamaru's party passed above him. "Hurry! Come as soon as you're done." Akamaru barked back and quickly ran after his master.

Sakon landed and paused on a tree branch not realizing the explosive seal on the branch's trunk he was standing on until sparks flew out from it. "Crap!" The seal exploded and detonated the other seals simulatenously. Naruto and the others stopped on a branch and looked back at the explosion.

"Nice work, Akamaru!" Kiba praised him and Akamaru barked back happily, jumping onto his master.

A tree collapsed from the explosion and created a cloud of smoke. But even before the tree could touch the ground, Sakon sprang high from it. "Don't fuck with me!" He jumped against from tree to tree coming down at Akamaru.

Akamaru tried to stay out of the way but slipped in the moss filled bough. "Akamaru!" Sakon charged at Akamaru with the wire that came out of his sleeve. The wire bound Akamaru flat on the tree's limb, right in front of a yet to explode seal.

"Shut your 'woof' damn bitch!"

"Kiba, explosive seal!" Moriko pointed at it as he and Kiba tried to save Akamaru. The moment the both of them alighted on the tree's arm, the explosive seal went off and she, Kiba and Sakon reflexly shielded themselves with their arms.

The seal made a huge impact that pushed the four of them, including Akamaru, right into a cliff. Moriko hung at the edge of the cliff with one hand, ready to slip but Naruto came just in time to pull her hand back up.

"Moriko! Ah… thank God I came right on time." Naruto sighed out of relief as Shikamaru walked beside him.

"Naruto, don't pull me up!" Moriko twisted her body, struggling out of Naruto's grasp. "Shikamaru, let me follow Kiba."

"Moriko-chan, don't do that. You'll fall!" Naruto exclaimed, bringing his other hand to hold Moriko's.

"No." He answered flatly. Moriko had expected that. "Can you even see the bottom of the cliff you're hanging onto?" Shikamaru asked. Moriko turned her head carefully and looked over her shoulder.

"No…"

"It's that deep. There's only about five percent chance that you'll survive a fall like that. We don't even know what's waiting for you down there. It could be sharp and rugged rocks or whatever. If you survive, then you're more than lucky."

"I won't die, Shikamaru. Just trust me. It's the only thing we can all do. "

"I know, but I can't risk anyone's life anymore. I can't let anyone die. "

"But no one died! I would know if anyone's dead."

" Yes, I know that but jumping off the cliff is too dangerous. That's why I said 'risk'."

"But there's only one more Oto nin left… you guys should be able to handle her alone. I want to help Kiba." Moriko looked up at Shikamaru who didn't say anything else. She sighed and slowly moved her hanging arm to her strapped on pouch on her leg. "Here, smell this." Moriko handed them a small bottle as carefully as she could. Shikamaru reached for it took out the small cork from the bottle's mouth. A sweet smell filled the air for a few seconds before fading away.

"You probably can't smell it anymore but at least you're familiar with it now."

"What is this for?" Naruto asked, staring at the small bottle.

"If I die, a sudden foul smell will waft through your noses. If nothing happens then that means I'm alive. If you smell a faint fragrance of the same smell, that means I'm somewhere close to you guys." Moriko explained.

"Hey wait, I just said—" Shikamaru finally realized where Moriko was getting at and tried to protest but was cut off.

"Sorry, Shikamary, Naruto. I've been useless throughout the whole mission. It's about time I do my job properly and have a little action myself." Moriko forced her other hand against Naruto's and slipped away. She shouted as she fell off in the dark depths of the cliff. "There are two of you against a girl! Piece of cake, right? GOOD LUCK!" Moriko saluted at Naruto and Shikamaru with a grin before disappearing into the darkness.

"We should be the one saying good luck to her." Shikamaru mumbled, slapping his hand against his forehead.

"Ne… you think she's gonna make it?" Naruto asked with a worried tone.

"Hey! You shitty rats, think you can escape from me?" The two looked behind them and saw Tayuya with her hot pink hair flowing with the wind.

"Shikamaru, any plans?"

"…Yeah." Shikamaru looked up at Naruto then to the opponent as a smirk crept across his face.

Moriko's eyes shot up open with a gasp. "I'm alive!" She breathed bringing up both of her arms in front of her and kicking both of her legs a couple of times. "No broken bones or anything… Good." Moriko had controlled the direction of the wind and gathered them at the bottom of the cliff to act as a cushion when she falls down. It lessened the impact of the fall by a lot but she still felt her body thump on the ground a little.

Moriko looked around and saw Kiba on the water. She looked at direction he was staring at saw the blue haired oto nin. Moriko watched as Kiba turned to Akamaru before standing up. Akamaru then transformed himself as Kiba's clone. They ran and separated on Sakon's both side and performed Gatsuuga at the same time.

The attack created a huge cloud of dust. When the smoke cleared out, Moriko blinked at the sight. The other head hanging behind Sakon suddenly had arms and was holding both of Kiba's hands, Sakon doing the same with the other Kiba. "So that bunch of hair at his back was actually alive." Moriko whispered.

Moriko continued to observe the battle. The other Kiba tried to struggle out of Sakon's grasp and attempted to kick him in the stomach only to be stopped by a sudden foot emerging out of Sakon's abdomen. "The hell is that?"

Sakon delivered a punch to the other Kiba and sent him flying against a boulder. There was a small puff of smoke and the Kiba clone transformed back into Akamaru. "Akamaru!" Moriko heard Kiba shout.

"Ah… so you're the real one, huh?" Sakon turned around swiftly and used Taren Ken on Kiba and sent him flying against a boulder as well. Sakon ran up to him sending another set of rapid punches, which Kiba barely avoided. He brought his hands onto Kiba's neck and demonstrated his abilities. Showing the other person emerge out from any part of his body. Akamaru ran up to them and Sakon threw Kiba with three kicks, one each from three feet.

"Kiba! Akamaru!" Moriko ran towards their battling area and delivered a flying kick to Sakon. He was thrown aback and hit against the wall. Moriko brought her hands together and formed an earth seal. Thick vines protruded out of the walls and wrapped around Sakon's body, binding him.

"Kiba!" Moriko ran quickly to Kiba's aid while their enemies were still tied up. "Are you alright?"

"Moriko? What're you doing here?"

"I followed you. By falling off the cliff as well. I thought you'd need a little assistance."

"Bitch!" Sakon screeched. Moriko turned her head to the struggling Oto nin.

"I wouldn't move as much if I were you. Keep moving and those vines will tighten around you until you're crushed." Moriko waved a finger and smiled broadly. "Now behave while I talk to my teammate."

"Moriko, that head behind him is his brother. I think he called him Ukon. When he started moving around his body, his chakra increased tenfold." Moriko frowned.

"Looks like he's a difficult one."

"Yeah—Moriko!" Kiba pointed behind her. Before she could even turn around, she felt a strong hand grab her shoulder and turn her around. "He got out that fast?!"

"Ack!" Ukon held Kiba's neck tightly.

"Kiba!" Moriko exclaimed as she tried to look behind Sakon.

"Oy, oy… never turn your back and withdraw your attention from your enemy." Sakon smirk, tightening his hands around her neck.

"Urk…" Moriko grimaced. Ukon slid across his brother's body, bringing Kiba beside Moriko. The brothers looked at each other before throwing the two Konoha nins against a giant boulder. "This guy sure likes throwing people around." Just as Moriko's hair grew down until her shoulders, Sakon flashed in front of them, pinning both Kiba and Moriko.

"Your hair just grew. What did you do?" Sakon asked, his voice washed in malice.

"My ability… idiot…" Moriko once again found herself in mid-air, her neck held tightly by Sakon. He brought her closer to him, having them face-to-face with each other. Moriko made a face. "Woah, too close buddy." She scoffed. "Are you wearing lipstick?" Sakon scowled, squeezing her neck.

"How do you like it, Aniki?" Sakon turned and asked.

"In bits and pieces." The brothers chuckled evilly in excitement. Moriko continued lengthening her hair and then stopped abruptly.

"Ah." Moriko stared at Sakon's side view face then blinked. "He looks… familiar. I wonder why… Wait—this not the time to be thinking about that!" Sakon looked at Moriko then smirked as he saw her staring intently at him. The closeness between their faces distracted Moriko. Sakon drew out a kunai and licked it like the sadist he was before running the sharp edge against her flesh. Moriko's eyes fluttered when she thought she saw Sakon blink for a moment and flash a familiarity to her by giving her a look as if he recognized her.

Then it hit her. Like a lightning striking her from God above himself. Pictures and scenes she had never thought she'd seen before flickered before her eyes one after the other like a movie.

"This guy… He looks like—"

- Flashback -
Konaha - 7 years ago

"Hey, wait for me!"

"Moriko, you're too slow."

"Hmph! I'm not slow, you're just too fast."

"Right, I'm sorry." The boy said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. "You need to keep up with pace, you know." He said but nonetheless offered his hand to the girl behind him. She took it and the boy pulled her up with a smile.

"Look, Moriko." Young Moriko gasped for air before raising her head, looking at the direction the boy was pointing at.

"Wow…" She gasped, looking down at the sight of the whole Konoha. The people looked like ants and the houses looked like toys from her place. "Everything I see from up here is beautiful!" She exclaimed breathlessly looking around at the magnificently arranged nature around their village. They were atop a very high precipice and it took more than half of the day to reach the place they were standing at.

"Amazing sight, huh? But that's not the best part." He nodded off in a straight but farther direction. Moriko looked into his eyes and followed his gaze. Her eyes glittered from the last rays of the sun fading into the water. The golden orb drowned slowly, its light dancing enchantingly on the sea making it glister more than a million times than a room filled with diamonds. Moriko was rendered speechless.

"Its beauty is beyond words…" The young boy smiled endearingly. "I was lost for words when I saw this place. I then decided that moment that this is the place where I'm going to marry the woman I swear to protect with my life." Moriko looked at him.

"The sun right over there is the most beautiful and tastiest egg I have ever seen in my life." Moriko said with a grin. "I wish to eat something like that one day."

"Eh? Egg?" The boy made a face that clearly said, "That totally destroyed the mood."

"Aww… look at that face. You're so cute you should wear that expression everyday." Moriko cooed.

"I'm not making any face and stop saying weird things like that out of the blue!" The boy blushed furiously and Moriko laughed at him.

"I like you. Did you know that?" She smiled with a slight tint of red on her cheeks.

"I said I like you, Sa--"

- End of Flashback -

"Sa… kon…?" Moriko whispered, blinking awake from her stupor. Sakon blinked in confusion and lowered his kunai.

"…Huh?"

Rewritten: April 27, 2008

I apologize for the lame "action" stuffs and the corny flashback. Hope you enjoyed even though it didn't come out that good xD