A/N: I just like starting out my chapters with authors notes. You know you all love it, too. Okay, new chapter! Sorry I haven't updated in so long... .. I've been having major idea block with this story, but I've got it all planed out now. It's will be coming to an end soon, sadly enough! Oh, and thanks for the reviews! having 100 reviews for a story is just amazing. 3 Please read and review!

I have disclaimed that I own Naruto or any of the characters that are apart of that manga/anime before, but I feel I need to do it again.

ENJOY!

His eyes darted from place to place, searching for any sign of the mysterious couple.

"Sakura, have you found anything yet?" He whispered into the mike attached to his neck.

On the other side of the village, the pink haired kunoichi shook her head. "Nope. Lee?"

Lee was stationed at the front gate. "I do not. Ino-chan?"

Ino was stationed on the opposite side of the village from Lee. "Nope. No one here. I take it you haven't either, Shikamaru?"

"No one suspicious. But these are ninja; I didn't expect them to be in plain sight." He wished Tsunade had assigned him a Byakugan user, as they would make things so much faster. He looked up, barely able to see Ino's shining hair to his right. "Okay, I have an idea."

"FINALLY! Sakura's idea has so far sucked!" Ino loudly complained.

"Actually, Ino, her idea of scouting the area was what led up to this," the lazy shadow user stated.

"Yeah, Ino-pig!" Sakura's voice rang in his ears.

'How troublesome...'

"Okay, here's the plan." Shikamaru spoke quietly into the microphone, making sure no one around him would hear. Sakura had the ear-piece pushed into hear ear, trying to hear what he was saying. Ino listened intently. Lee nodded the whole time, not missing a word.

A few minutes later, they met in the middle of the village. Lee was running at top speed, and bowled Ino over.

It took all Sakura and Shikamaru had to keep themselves from laughing at the sight of Ino, staring up at the sky.

"Mommy, I want a cookie! Please?" she called out. Sakura couldn't stifle her laughter any longer.

"I think she has a concussion," Shikamaru said as Ino stood up and started dancing.

"Either that, or the crazy is finally getting out," Sakura said inbetween fits of laughter. Shikamaru gave her a quick smile. "But I should probably check her out before she tries to eat that pole over there." Ino was now furiously biting the pole.

"I WANT MY COOKIE, DAMNIT!" Shikamaru shook his head yet again. Sakura made her way over to Ino, and with Lee's help, tackled her to the ground.

Sakura examined her bleeding head. "You hit her hard, Lee. I'm surprised that she's not unconscious." A few hand seals made her hands become a green color, and she ran it over the wound on Ino's head. After ten or fifteen minutes, the bleeding had stopped.

"Ino?" Shikamaru cautiously stated, looking down at the blond who had finally shut up.

Sakura flipped her back over, and her light blue eyes slowly opened. "Huh? My head feels funny..." She rubbed the back of head tenderly, and looked around from Sakura to Lee to Shikamaru.

"Nyah, how troublesome. It looks like Ino isn't prepared for a fight. Sakura, you and I will have to go..." Sakura nodded her head at Shikamaru's words. Ino looked between them.

"Oh no, billboard brow. Your not going with my Shikamaru-kun." Ino glared daggers at Sakura, who looked at her with a smile.

"I'm still not your Shikamaru, Ino," Shikamaru said with a quick roll of his eyes. "Right, so our plan has to be changed. Meet back here in two hours."

"But then it will be dark," Lee said, looking over at the sun, which was low in the sky. Shikamaru nodded.

"Exactly. Try to leave at night, when there are less people and more cover. Something Asuma-sensei said to us." He looked around at his four teammates. "That means Lee and Ino will be backup, instead of Sakura and I." If there really were ninja watching the entrance, waiting for someone to leave, then that's what Shikamaru would give them.

And there would probably be extra eyes at night if they were intent on making sure no ninja got out.

The four man cell went out for dinner, as they had nothing better to do.

"How was the mission with Jiraiya, anyway?" Sakura asked, looking at Ino and Lee.

"He was surprised to see us, that's for sure. When Lee asked him about the money, he tried to run for it. Little did he know that Lee cold out run him any day," Ino said as she picked at her salad. She had ordered fat free dressing and everything.

"Ino-chan, why do you starve yourself with such fat free foods?" Lee asked, eating his own meal. It consisted of a plate of curry, and a water.

Ino rolled her eyes. "I don't want to end up like Choji. Guys like their girls thin."

Shikamaru gave her a look. "To start off, not all guys like their girls thin. And Choji's not bad; he's lost weight because of you."

"I know, it's good that he's taking my advice."

"I like girls with a little youthfulness on their bones," Lee added thoughtfully.

"Right..." said the blond, as she looked over at Lee with an odd expression on her face.

Shikamaru glanced up at the clock. They had been in the restaurant for a while, it was time for them to leave. "Come on, everyone. Plan Nightdrop awaits."

"Plan Nightdrop? That's what we're calling it? It makes no sense," Sakura said with a joking looking at Shikamaru.

"Eh, stop being so troublesome. We need to get out, and we need to get out soon," Shikamaru stated rather loudly.

A waitress hid out of sight, hearing every word. She grinned evily, and walked back to the kitchen. She opened a drawer, and took out a small mike that ninja used to transmit messages to each other. "You were right, Toji-kun. They're going to try to leave tonight, very soon."

"They won't get past us. We'll stop them from further alerting Konoha about our plans." On the other end of the conversation was a man with blond hair and silver eyes.

Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, and Lee left the restaurant, and headed out the door. "Alright. You two are to stay back here, and wait for the signal. Either Sakura or I will set if off in case of trouble. If everything goes as planned, we'll get them tonight." His team nodded, and Lee and Ino stayed behind as Sakura and Shikamaru walked toward the gate.

The sun was down, letting the couple make their way out without being seen. The guard let them through, against his better judgment. The two hurried out of the gate, and took off in the direction of Konoha.

A shruiken flew at Sakura, causing her to stop. Shikamaru stopped, and stayed by her side.

"Don't think you're leaving us so soon, Konoha scum." A male voice broke the peaceful silence.

"We've only just started playing with this pitiful village; we can't have the Leaf Village ruining it." A female voice soon followed.

"Oh darn, we've been found out." Sakura said, grinning.

The grin disappeared as a fog covered the land around them. They could only see each other; everything else was blocked out.

Then a million shuriken came out of now where. "Dispel!" They both yelled.

"Aw, they figured out it was a genjutsu." The female voice spoke again, this time in an amused tone.

"And a poor one at that!" Sakura yelled. She was trying to figure out the position of the other ninja.

"You little bitch!" The female came flying out of nowhere, heading straight toward Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi slammed a fist into her face, making the clone poof away. Sakura looked around for any sign of movement.

There was none. Sakura let a sigh escape. "This is no--"

"Watch out!" Her attention was soon turned to the large kunai with the exploding tag coming straight toward her. There was no time to react!

Sakura prepared for the hit that did not come. She turned her head to see a green vest attached to spiky black hair in front of her, kunai tip pointing peeking out of his back.

Her eyes grew wide. He fell back onto her as two more kunai pierced his arms. "Send the signal!" He said. Two kuani came from behind, whizzing through the air their heads would have been if Shikamaru hadn't fallen backwards to push her down. "I'll take care of them. Send the signal!"

"You're injured..."

"Sakura, trust me." He stood up, and pulled out the kuani in his arms. He left the one in his stomach in to keep bleeding to a minimum. There was blood covering them. She opened her mouth to say something, but he frowned. "Look, we need them! Send the signal, now!"

She nodded, tears in her eyes.

"Come one out, cowards!" Shikamaru yelled.

"Aw, he's trying to play the hero! How cute!" The female seemed to be the only one talking now. Shikamaru threw a kunai to where he the voice came from. A scream soon followed.

His arms hurt badly, but he need to protect Sakura.

He saw the blue sparks fly upward; the signal was sent.

Sakura rushed back over to the fight. Shikamaru was holding off both of the enemy ninja. A kunai was in the girls shoulder, and the male had bruises all over his face.

The pink haired ninja rushed over to his side.

"The baby is back," the male said through gritted teeth. He hadn't been expecting the pineapple-headed one to be so strong. Sakura's anger flared, and she aimed a super kick at the girls leg.

She heard a shattering of the knee bone as the woman crumpled. She aimed another at the girls face, which was again not dodged.

The woman was sent flying into a tree. The blond male turned, and ran to the tree. "Get up! She didn't injure you that bad!" He snarled angrily at the girl.

"She's... strong..." was the reply. The violet haired woman fell from the tree onto the ground, not able to move.

Shikamaru ran up to the male, and spun him around. "You're my opponent!" At that moment, the male made a handsign.

The kunai Shikamaru had left exploded. The male grinned, picked his partner, and ran for it.

Sakura quickly fell to her knees. A few hand signs later, the green chakra flowed over Shikamaru's stomach. The explosion had been small, but it still did it's damage.

Shikamaru winced. "Shikamaru, Sakura! What happened!" Ino's voice broke the scilence.

"He's badly injured," came the sad reply. Sakura didn't have enough chakra to heal it all completely; they'd have to get to Konoha fast.

Ino bent over, contributing her chakra to his wound. It still wasn't enough.

After healing the wound so it wasn't a immediate death threat, Sakura stopped the flow of chakra.

"Lee, carry Shikamaru. Ino, we need to get to Konoha fast." They both nodded, and Lee bent over to pick up Shikamaru.

Sakura looked over at him, tears forming yet again in her eyes. "Shikamaru, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Said ninja opened an eye, and smiled slightly. He winced in pain again.

"It's not your fault, Sakura. I wanted... to save you from... getting... hurt..."

A/N: Review, please! Not much else to say... D: Seriously, I need to get to sleep earlier...

Rai