A/N: Sorry it's been a while, guys! But this is a sort of funny chapter, so I hope it's okay!

Shikamaru did indeed get out of the hospital on the next Wednesday, much to his pleasure. The time had passed with daily visits from friends and family (and students), mostly without any major developments. He was still tired, but that wasn't new for him. He was usually tired. His hair was back tied up in his usual pineapple-leaf style. He had his underarmor, pants and shoes on, and he had his flak jacket draped over his arm, ready to head out the door, as Naruto had already reclaimed the shogi board. He yawned, shoved his hands in his pockets, and without another glance left the room. As he exited the hospital, he was struck by the serenity and warmth of the normal world. Hospital air was so sterile and tense and…Harsh. Not Shikamaru's favorite atmosphere. He inhaled deeply, relishing the natural feel.

He strolled down the street, watching the sky. The roads were rather clear and wide, so he never bumped into someone. He made his way home, to his small apartment where he'd moved out. Removing his shoes, he stepped inside. It was quiet, and lonely. He hadn't really noticed just how lonely and barren it really was. Sheesh. Makes me wonder if I really should get a girlfriend. He paused for a moment, looking around his house, at the clean floors of the living room and kitchen, clean counters, and tidy desk.

Then he proceeded to his room, where a number of things resided, from clothing to small trinkets gathered by Asumite for him, back when she was a very small child. From little colorful pebbles to dried flowers to shells, he had a small collection of objects placed around his room, catching sun, illuminating spots on his walls, and glowing iridescent. He smiled fondly, remembering when the child had first run up to him, a camellia clenched in her hand, one winter years ago, when it had snowed, dusting the village a powdery white. The children had been fascinated by the cold orbs of frozen water, playing in them with glee. Asumite had run up to him with the little white camellia, her teeth chattering. He had kept it, just for her. It had held up quite nicely, hardly changing color, on his window sill, looking eternally white as the snow from that winter.

Over on his dresser, where he used to place the chakra blades and lighter from Asuma, was a little freshwater pearl. She had been just as ecstatic about the pearl, having found it under a rose bush. She was delighted after he told her that oysters took years to make pearls and if you placed them just so, they would reflect light. He told her that they were used for jewelry, and that real wild ones were very rare. She had been amazed that there were layers and they could be dyed.

He gazed around, lingering on each small trinket, remembering the little child who had given each and every one, as she grew up. His eyes settled on the last one, most recent, given to him for his birthday. It hadn't been some shiny thing that she had discovered out on a mission. It had actually been a present she bought for him while on an errand out of town for the Hokage. It was a small jade doe. She had picked well, this doe was beautifully carved. It seemed poised to run.

Eventually, the man remembered what he was doing. He tossed the flak jacket onto his bed, and flopped down onto it after it. He sat up long enough to remove his shirt, and then promptly lay down once more. He rolled over to lie on his side, and watched the clouds float by out his window. He was laying there, drowsily letting his thoughts wander, staring blankly at the darkening sky, still, when he realized that he was hungry, and someone was knocking, no, banging, on his front door. He jerked in surprise. How long have they been there? He sat up, blinking, and grabbed a t-shirt out of his drawer. Pulling it on, he stood up and went to the front door. Rubbing his eyes, he opened the door, to find a rather aggravated looking ANBU about to bang the door again, only stopping his fist an inch from Shikamaru's nose. "Hello, Uma-san." The Nara appeared unperturbed by the fist an inch from his nose. "Would you like to come in?"

The ANBU with the horse mask nodded, stepping in. Shikamaru closed the door. "Nara-san, we have received information on Yakushi Kabuto. It is presumed that he is the one creating the Found Ones. The Hokage has decided that Yamanaka Ino's and your teams will be the teams to investigate this information. You and Yamanaka Ino must meet with the Hokage tonight at seven."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes sir. And, Yamato-taichou, you needn't call me Nara-san, even if you're in your uniform- we know each other, and you are my superior." He smirked. "Thank you for the message, sir."

"No problem, Shikamaru. Just make sure you're there on time." With that, Yamato turned to go.

"Yamato-taichou? Why are you back? I thought you were supposed to be with Sai with the Found Ones."

"I am." Yamato left.

Understanding Yamato's words didn't take long. That was a Wood Clone, eh? Pretty good. He took his time to go, knowing he needn't worry unless his shower would take over an hour. He peacefully showered and redressed, then slipped his wallet into his pocket, tied his hair up for the second time that day, and sighed. Such a troublesome job, being a Jonin. He shrugged on his flak jacket and slipped on his shoes. Taking one last look around, he narrowed his eyes. Yakushi Kabuto, huh? This is going to be a hellish mission. He shook his head, and then walked out the door.

He was early. He ended up waiting outside Naruto's office for ten minutes before Ino showed up. "Shika-kun! Are you okay? How's your neck?" she wasn't hesitant to start talking-rather loudly- about how she'd been so worried about him when she'd heard that he had been shot with an old deadly poison. He tried to tune her out with growing irritation.

"Ino. Shut. Up. Right now." She broke off in shock. He usually wasn't the kind of person to say something so abruptly. "I don't need you rambling about that, okay? I'm already annoyed that I got hit. More so that I was under a genjutsu." He looked away. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just have a lot on my mind."

She nodded, and then sat down against the wall. She bowed her head and crossed her arms. "It's okay, Shika, but I really am glad you're alright." The next ten minutes passed rather quietly, both of them wallowing in their thoughts, until a loud rumbling started to shake the building. The two were instantly on their feet, tense and poised for action, and a split second later, the door to Naruto's office exploded in a cloud of dust and smoke and a figure slammed into the wall opposite. The wall cracked, leaving a large dent in it, and the figure slumped to the floor. Shikamaru and Ino blinked, clearing the dust from their eyes, and struggled not to laugh as they saw it was Naruto himself, and Hinata was storming out of the cloud, Byakugan eyes flaring. Ino was choking on laughs, and one escaped her lips. Hinata spun around.

"Oh, Ino-san, Shikamaru-kun, I didn't notice you two!" She was instantly the quiet woman most people knew, blushing and timidly poised. "Naruto was just being crude, sorry about that. I think your meeting may be cancelled, or at least postponed." Her Byakugan hadn't lost its fire, however. She spun around, back to her husband. "NARUTO!" she roared. "I'LL KILL YOU!" The man had attempted to crawl away, bruised and battered. She had noticed this, and was now stomping after him. At this point, Ino was outright laughing her head off, and Shikamaru was laughing quietly.

Naruto had proceeded to absolutely panic. "Don't kill me, Hinata-chan! I didn't mean it like that!" he screamed. This didn't help her temper.

"LIKE HELL, NARUTO!" Deafening laughter could be heard from all over the building.

"No, no, no! NOT GENTLE FIST!"

"GENTLE FIST!" Naruto could be heard screaming. The laughter only grew louder.

The meeting ended up being postponed until the following morning, which gave the pair time to talk and eat dinner before parting ways. He stayed up for a while checking his ninja tools, making a mental note of what he needed more of, and then he changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. He lay awake for hours trying to figure out what he would do with his life. I should probably get a girlfriend, at least, but that's so troublesome. His thoughts pestered him until the small hours of the morning, when he finally fell asleep.

He slept fitfully, having nightmares and strange dreams that he couldn't remember upon waking. Something about camellias and suns. He sat up, eyes still closed. The early morning beams of sun warmed his face, and a small draft from a crack in the floor chilled his bare back. He sat there, mind blank, taking pleasure in the warming calmness. After a few minutes, he sighed and opened his eyes. His olive green room was illuminated by the weak sunlight, and he watched the dust motes float in the rays. The morning was quiet outside. At long last, he stood up, and walked over to the window and thrust it open. In the street below, shinobi were going about getting their breakfasts and some materials, meeting other shinobi in preparation to leave on missions. He leaned on the sill, smelling the breakfast odors in the small breeze. He reached his hand out the window and caught a passing feather, downy fluff, presumably from a thrush or sparrow's nest on his roof. He looked at the feather, brownish gray, and then released it back in the gentle wind. Civilians were talking and chatting, storekeepers opening and setting up, calling to each other in the street. He basked in the normality and peacefulness, then stood up straight again, and went to take a shower and start his day.

After he'd cleaned up and gotten dressed, he charged out his door, rather energetically for a Nara, and speedily locked it, shoving the key in his pocket. Crap, I'm going to be late! He ran down the street, quickly stopping to buy some snacks and dango. He ran over to Sakura and Sai's house and knocked on the door. Sakura opened it, wiping her hands on a white apron over her red tank top, and smiled. "Shikamaru?"

"Hey, Sakura, you like dango, right? Here, have some, enjoy, gotta go, late for a meeting, bye!" He shoved the box of dango into her hands and turned and ran to the Hokage building, leaving a surprised Sakura with a box of dango in her hands.

"Huh? Shikamaru! What?" she called after him, confused. He only waved at her behind his back, still running to Naruto's office. Cripes, damned water took so long! He made it to the Hokage's office in record time, skipping the stairs altogether and jumping straight to the door inside. He speedily walked to the office, where Ino was only just being let inside. Thank Senju, I made it. He sighed. Slept in too long, and didn't make it to the ninja supply store.

Ino looked at the panting Jonin, so rarely late, and laughed. "Shikamaru, what have we told you? Get an alarm clock, crazy!" She patted him on the back, and dragged him into Naruto's office, still panting. Naruto laughed and pulled out a chair for the gasping Shikamaru.

"Oh shut it, Ino, you don't have room to complain, you were always last," he wheezed. "And you didn't just run from Sakura and Sai's house."

She laughed again. "Why were you at their house?" She put her hands on her hips, smirking. "She's married, Shika," she jokingly added.

"Ino, you're disgusting." He jokingly slugged her arm. "And besides, I was just giving her dango as thanks for healing me. Honestly, Ino, you're such a romantic." He snickered. "And if you're so good and married, why do you keep flirting with me?"

She gasped. "Shikamaru! You're so mean!" The pair would have continued if Naruto hadn't cleared his throat threateningly.

"Can we begin yet?" His arms were crossed, eyes narrowed, and he was leaning back in his chair behind his desk. "Because I'm fairly certain that you came for a meeting on Yakushi Kabuto, whom we have learned may be behind the Found Ones, and you two may possibly be rather interested in it, or so we thought." The pair had silenced instantaneously upon his first words, piping down like intimidated first graders, watching Naruto.

"Sorry, Naruto." Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets once more and slouched over in his chair.

The Hokage nodded. "So here's the deal, guys, Kabuto, that slimy bastard, used some of Orochimaru's DNA and inserted into his arm or something, you know, that white snake crap, and now he's pretty much an Orochimaru Junior, with healing powers. Yakushi has a lab thing like the snake's, and he's creating all sorts of monsters. He's gotten hold of poisons and that stuff from decades ago.

"This is an A- or B- rank mission, you two. It will not be your usual teams on this mission. You two are both captains, and you will be working with another jonin and two chuunins each. You will work as an 8-man platoon. Ino, the other jonin on your team is Shino, and Shikamaru, you have Kiba. Ino's chuunins are Agata Kaito and Sarutobi Konohamaru. This, by the way, is Konohamaru's last mission as a chuunin- keep a watch about how he acts. Shikamaru, you have Moegi and Udon, Konohamaru's co-horts back when they were in the Academy and genins. The three work together well, as a result, but often question judgment, and have been known to disobey occasionally. Agata Kaito is a civilian ninja, and he doesn't talk much. He's good at anything but genjutsu, and he summons. He summons a…"He looked at a paper on his desk. "He summons an eagle. It's not a boss summon, but it still fights." He looked up, at the two jonins thinking about strategy. He pulled out a map of the Land of Rice Paddies and unfurled it, holding down the corners with small clay fox paperweights.

Ino and Shikamaru came closer to the desk and inspected the map closely. Naruto placed a finger on the map, on a small music note. "That's Otogakure. But Yakushi isn't there." He moved his finger to a spot in the mountains, near a plateau. "He was seen going underground around this area. Your mission is to capture him. Kill him, if you must, but bring him back here." His voice had taken on a malicious tone. "Destroy his laboratory." The jonins nodded.

"When do we leave?" Shikamaru asked.

"When do you think?"

"Tomorrow morning's kind of early, isn't it?" Ino pointed out. Shikamaru shot her a grateful look.

Naruto slammed a fist down on the table, shaking the windows. "No! Yakushi Kabuto is the only person anyone can think of who could possibly create the found ones, and he's causing trouble for everyone, and on top of that, he's an S-rank missing-nin! We have to get rid of him as soon as possible! Which means leaving as soon as possible!" he snarled.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru growled. "If we leave as soon as tomorrow morning, then we won't have as much chakra, which lowers our chance of survival. True, we have some pretty damned strong jonins on our team, but we also have chuunins, and disobedient ones at that! Damn it, give us at least three to prepare, or this mission's going to fail!" He must have argued his point rather well, because Naruto unclenched his fist and sat back down.

The Nanadaime sighed. "Sorry, guys, it's just been bugging me, I thought we wouldn't have to deal with another slimy snake bastard. I figured he'd already died, years ago."

Ino walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "It's alright, Naruto, we all know you're stressed. We can't blame you, but Shikamaru does have a point. We'll have a higher success rate if we wait a couple days."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, okay. You guys are leaving three days from now, but that means you have to succeed." The jonins nodded. "I'll meet you at the east gate that morning. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." They left.

A/N: Wasn't that funny for a bit there? ^-^ And bwahaha~ Yeah, Shikamaru and Hinata are a bit different from the series, and I did this on purpose. Hinata, being married to Naruto, has got to become a little short-tempered sometimes, and Shikamaru's lazy still, too lazy to have a girlfriend yet, so I decided to give him a little more personality still. 3 I hope you like it!

-Tsubaki