A/N: Wow. I always kept putting all of this on the back burner, but never really gave this the time of day that it deserves. And I'm sorry. I would like everyone to be aware that the last year has been rough, between school life and other events along the way. After reading your reviews again, I decided that perhaps I actually write well enough for some people to enjoy a story that I create. Also, I do agree that the wait was ridiculous. But, I'm not writing just to mope, so here you go!

-Abandoned Base, 110km SW of Konohagakure-

It had been a rather easy journey down to the old base, as they had made frequent (in Naruto's opinion) breaks to let Shikamaru catch his breath. After 2 days of constant travel, they had finally made it to the base. To say that they had been shocked by the appearance would have been an understatement.

For an "abandoned war base," the dual complex of buildings looked shockingly modern. The presence of guards also added to the mystique, as Leaf shinobi had not been in the buildings for about 20 years. Unless you missed the Sound insignia on the guard's headbands, you would have been looking at a seemingly active war base.

Upon arrival, the duo had set up camp a good 3km away, just to be safe from immediate patrols. Naruto had spent the better part of an evening setting up seal arrays around their campsite, while his clones fetched water and hunted for food. They had each packed light, only a change of clothes, extra weapons, and a tent. Just enough to camp somewhat comfortably, yet able to flee at a moment's notice should the situation call for it.

Now, the boys were up to their own thing. Naruto was working on his chakra binding seal, with little to no improvements. Ever since he had made the rough outline of the seal's workings, he had hit a wall. He didn't know how he would even get the tenketsu to close, yet alone redirect blood flow. However, the paralyzing seal had been an immediate success with some help from his father. The end result was a mix between genjutsu and a lightning-style ninjutsu. It redirected the nerve signals into the brains down to their muscles, and sent a good dose of converted Raiton chakra through the victim's body, effectively holding the mega-cramp for a longer time period.

Shikamaru was sitting at the back of his tent, staring intently at the blueprints of the old (but now new) base. After a few trips of Naruto's clones, they quickly discovered that they had remodeled the old base, making these blueprints next to useless without proper knowledge if the interior had been remodeled along with the exterior. Which led to plan B, which he was working on now. They needed to "misplace" a guard, henge into him, and scout out the base to get an accurate look inside. Problem was, they needed to find a suitable guard with some form of clearance, meaning a Chunin or Jounin level shinobi. And, especially with Jounin around, this needed proper planning and preparation, or they could fail miserably and draw attention to themselves, which almost guarantees failure of the mission.

'So, the southeast side is the least exposed, meaning that any shinobi worth their salt would try to sneak in undetected there, which means more guards, possibly Jounin level shinobi. But on the southwest, it's fairly open and relatively easy to guard, which would be the perfect outpost for a Chunin, or if we're lucky, a new Chunin graduate. We strike here.'

-8 Days Later, .25km SW of Abandoned Base-

Shikamaru took one last look at Naruto, who was pulling on a black bandana to cover his bright hair. He had his standard outfit on, but his usually white wrappings were now black. He would enter under the cover of night, and start his mission, and be out in exactly 10 minutes. With an updated map, which had been recovered from a Chunin guard, they now knew the ins and outs of the buildings. Shikamaru had been absolutely pissed when Naruto showed him the map, since the handy pamphlet had put all of Shikamaru's musings to be of little use. Handing Naruto the map, Shikamaru gave him a sharp nod, and Naruto made a one-handed boar sign, and walked around a little to get used to the lack of resistance from his seal. When he was finished, he flashed Shikamaru a thumbs up, and took off, leaving Shikamaru to move to his own position.

-With Naruto-

As soon as he left their hiding spot, Naruto dashed silently from tree to tree, and from every backside of a small hill and crouched behind it. He couldn't be seen, no matter what. About 50 yards away, a trio of men walked around the corner, apparently on guard duty together. With a quick burst of speed, Naruto shot forward, and then jumped up into the sky, directing himself down towards the group. The first two went down when he landed on the ground and smashed their heads onto the ground with his momentum. The third was taken down an instant later with a hand over his mouth and a kunai through his throat. Not looking back, Naruto dashed towards the entrance to his left.

-With Shikamaru-

To Shikamaru, it had always seemed that Naruto was a do-it-yourself kind of guy. That, and he was good at whatever he put his mind to. Except for shogi. Naruto absolutely sucked at shogi. Nevertheless, Shikamaru was worried about his friend and comrade. However, he had more pressing things on his mind. With a quick sprint, Shikamaru hopped over to a small clearing surrounded by trees. One by one, he plastered explosive notes onto each tree. Then, he sprinted half a click east. With a one-handed seal, Shikamaru set off a large explosion right outside of the base's patrol lines. Seeing that his job was done here, he took off south, so he could take a roundabout route to the northeast side, where he would distract the guards.

-Back with Naruto-

Naruto was already close to the records room, which had been conveniently placed around a bend of the hallway, and right at a dead end, to make sure anyone couldn't have a clear view or easy access to the room and its contents. He was standing horizontally above the door frame on the wall, counting down to the explosion. Three, two, one... And the building shook.

'It's go time.'

Waiting for the distressed shinobi to fly out of the room, who did not bother to look up, Naruto dropped down and propped open the closing door with his foot. Looking around quickly, and spotting nobody, he slipped inside.

The first thing he noticed was the records themselves. They lined the room, from bottom to top. A rather large pile of documents were on the table, and Naruto looked at the one that was currently on top.

Operation Black Sands [Classified] [For Authorized Personnel Only]

Knowing that what he was dealing with was important, he sealed the entire pile into a scroll. He then grabbed another scroll and proceeded to seal each and every document in the office into seperate scrolls with the help of a few shadow clones, and then sealed the scrolls into the master scroll. Pocketing the scroll, Naruto opened the door to make his escape. Except one rather, er, large problem was preventing him from leaving.

An irate Sound shinobi stood at the door, stack of documents in hand. "I don't have all day, take the-! Hey, who the hell are y-" THWAK!

Naruto stood there, palm out and upwards, as the man fell to the ground, dead, with his nose disfigured, the shards of the bone lodged into the man's brain.

"I guess I'll be taking those." Naruto mutters, sealing them directly into the master scroll. After scanning the hallway again, he makes his way towards the exit.

-With Shikamaru-

"Fuck!" His opponent yells, trapped by Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu. In all honesty, Shikamaru had been expecting better fights out of his opponents. But, then again, it was nighttime, and the shadows were literally everywhere. He was in his element here. With a grab at his oddly-placed pouch on his lower leg, he tossed a kunai at his opponent's throat, who gargled when the kunai hits its mark. Hearing the sound of someone stopping behind him, he spun around, kunai in hand, only to put it away.

"Back already, Naruto? Here's your scroll with all of your stuff packed. Let's go." Shikamaru says, and sprints off back into the trees.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto asks.

"Yeah?"

"Home's this way."

"...Oh."

A/N: Thank you guys, for reading the latest chapter of this story. I hope you enjoyed it. As always, review, my pretties!