Shalom Chaverim! :D
The last chapter was a bit cliffy, wasn't it? ;) I'm cruel, I know :P
I have to keep you coming back somehow XD
NotAStalker – a review, no matter how long, is still a review, and is still greatly appreciated :D don't worry, something dramatic is definitely on the cards here ;)
Moonlttiger – thanks for reading and reviewing :D we might just see the Demon of the Mist soon…I'm a major Zabuza fan girl! *o*
MidnightheartXxX – Bingo! :D and thanks, I think they're pretty cute too :3
**Chapter 13**
To say Shannon was panicked was an understatement. She was absolutely hysterical.
The sun was just starting to break over the horizon, and had yet to eliminate any lingering patches of darkness that could be hiding Creatures, but all she wanted to do was go after Kakuzu and her mother. It was all Shikamaru could do to keep her restrained with his Shadow Imitation jutsu, but even then she was extremely close to breaking free.
"Shika! Let me out of this thing!" Shannon shouted, managing to thrash about despite the binding hold his jutsu had on her. "I need to get to my mother!"
Shikamaru sighed ruefully and shook his head. She had been screaming like this for the past two hours. As much as it pained him to see her in such distress, he knew he couldn't release her. She would be Creature food in a matter of seconds. And it was useless trying to reason with her. She wasn't listening to anyone, blinded by panic and desperation.
Hinata, Naruto, Lee and Sakura had left about half an hour ago to scout the area and make sure none of the other Akatsuki members were still in the vicinity, waiting to ambush them or something.
Shannon's civilian friends were sitting close by her, but not too close in case she lashed out at them without realizing it. Shikamaru thought they were just as frightened by her volatile mood as he was, though he would never admit it. Kiba was curled up in Ashley's lap, positively petrified of Shannon at the moment.
Shannon let out a frustrated growl and resumed her mental struggle against the shadow bonds. The more she struggled, the more she found she couldn't move and the more irate she became. An uncomfortable feeling of dread settled in Shikamaru's stomach when he saw shadowy tendrils flicker around Shannon's form, like wisps of inky smoke.
They began to solidify the angrier Shannon became, and Shikamaru knew this would not end well.
What a drag, he thought, swallowing nervously.
Before the shadow tendrils could form into the spikes they had seen during Shannon's battle with Hidan, Sasuke rose to his feet and walked briskly over to the seething girl. Shikamaru could only watch in horror as the black haired Uchiha smacked her over the back of the head, almost like he would do to Naruto.
"Will you calm down?" he hissed, glaring at her.
Almost immediately, much to the other's surprise, the tendrils of shadow retreated back into Shannon's shaking body. She returned Sasuke's glare with the same – if not more – fire, but otherwise stayed silent.
When Shannon said nothing in response, Sasuke went on scoldingly, "You can't expect us to go running after an Akatsuki member with no attack plan! This is a team. Teams think things through – together! I get the fact that you're worried for your mother's well-being, but what good would it do all of us if we walked straight into a trap and they were just using her as bait? Did you ever think of that?"
Shannon's struggles had ceased, but her body was still tense, and her expression beyond miffed. She remained silent.
Sasuke's glare morphed into a stony look, almost akin to one a person would give when disciplining a delinquent child. "The Akatsuki are not to be taken lightly, Shannon. They will use whatever means necessary to get what they want. We need to come up with a plan together. We will do our best to get your mother back, but we can't just rush into this blindly like Genin."
Shannon's shoulders fell, and she slumped to the ground as Sasuke's words sunk in. She hung her head in a mixture of defeat and shame. He was right. Had she not given him a lecture herself on being part of a team and thinking of the others? She was being selfish. She couldn't expect the rest of the squad to rush into what was most certainly a trap in the blind hope of finding and rescuing her mother when that wasn't even their priority in the first place. Hell, she had been training with Lee for so long for the purpose of not having to have the others always protecting her and putting their lives on the line for her sake.
Shikamaru, seeing her weakened state of resolve, tentatively released his jutsu. Shannon slumped further down, but otherwise made no move to rise. Her head was still hung low, her sloppily-chopped hair hiding her face from view. He felt a twitch of guilt in his gut, but he knew Sasuke was right. She needed to be rational, and a harsh talking-to was the only way to bring her out of her panic-induced rage.
"Get a grip, and start acting like a valid member of this team," Sasuke said, turning his back on her and stalking away.
Shikamaru couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard a tiny amount of sympathy lace the Uchiha's tone.
…
Shikamaru, Sai, Sasuke, Ashley, Luke, Justin, Carli, Ashley and Shannon met up with Hinata, Sakura, Naruto and Lee a little while later, when the sun was burning high in the sky and no darkness lingered. Shikamaru squinted at the horizon. He could see storm clouds rolling towards them, and heard the distant boom of thunder.
"Troublesome…" he mumbled under his breath. The last thing they needed now was a thunderstorm, especially when they were so ill-equipped for the more extreme of the elements.
He glanced over at Shannon and sighed. She had remained silent and detached since her spat was Sasuke, much like the last time they had argued. Although this time, Shikamaru thought she was mentally berating herself more than anything else.
Kiba, having noticed that his mistress' mood was less deadly than before, poked his head out of the hole in her backpack, panting as he relished the feel of the warm sunshine on his furry head.
Shikamaru saw Shannon glance over her shoulder at the puppy and a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. He smiled as well. That dog always seemed to turn her mood around. He was actually kind of glad Shannon had brought the little furball with.
Just like he had done a few days ago, Shikamaru took hold of Shannon's hand reassuringly. She glanced up at him questioningly and he just shrugged.
"Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out soon," he said, a small smile breaking out of his façade of indifference.
Shannon looked away, but not before he saw her smile widen just a fraction.
…
A few hours later, the storm broke. The team had hurriedly constructed a make-shift tent out of an old tarp someone had found lying around by lashing the loose ends around a few telephone poles. It wasn't a very large tent, but it was keeping them moderately dry. All twelve of them were squished together like sardines, trying their best to keep out of the driving rain and howling wind.
The gale was battering the tarp, making it shake like it wanted to break free and fly away at any given moment. Shikamaru shivered, stroking Kiba's head as they puppy whined pitifully. A thought suddenly struck him – Kiba would usually be with Shannon when he was this frightened. Shikamaru scanned the occupants of the tent quickly, but only counted eleven heads. He had definitely seen her in the tent when the storm had started…
Something caught Shikamaru's attention out of the corner of his eye – a section of the tent was loose, flapping wildly in the wind. Cursing under his breath, the brunette connected the dots and pushed his way out of the tent and into the driving rain, ignoring the shouts of protests from the others.
He should have known she would try something like this – try heading out on her own with the hope that none of the others would notice and try and stop her. So none of them would even realize she was gone. So they wouldn't put their lives on the line to help her.
Shikamaru cursed again, loudly, shielding his eyes from the pounding rain. It was heading into sunset, and light was dwindling fast. If he didn't find her and get her back to the tent before darkness fell…Shikamaru didn't want to think about what would happen.
He searched wildly through the storm, trying to find any trace of the path Shannon had taken. She couldn't have gotten very far in the amount of time it had taken him to notice she was missing.
He finally spotted her – stumbling blindly through the storm, clambering over large blocks of rubble, battered by rain and wind. She was making her way back from where they had come. To the other side of the city.
Shikamaru broke into an uncharacteristic sprint. He had to reach her before she got too far…
Up ahead, Shannon choked back another sob as she grazed her already raw hands on another slippery concrete boulder. She felt wretched about slipping away from the others, but she had to get her mother back. And she wouldn't let any of them be endangered for something that was solely her responsibility. Her mind kept flashing back to the time Shikamaru had protected her against Deidara. She gritted her teeth and wiped more rain water from her eyes. It had taken Shika weeks to heal from those injuries. Weeks. She wouldn't let something like that happen again. Especially not to him, especially not because of her.
Her whole body was shaking from the cold, and the rain felt like needles driving into her numb skin. Her shoulder-length hair was plastered to her face and neck, and she was past the point of trying to figure out whether the moisture in her eyes was rainwater or tears.
She heard her name being called out from behind her, but she didn't stop, even when she recognized the voice. She couldn't let them help her. She wouldn't let them get hurt again, especially not him. Shannon tried to move faster, but her limbs were sluggish and frozen. She blinked more rainwater out of her eyes, holding in another sob. The pounding footsteps behind her grew steadily louder.
Something warm grabbed onto her from behind. Strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. The sob she had been keeping down for so long broke out, and Shannon sank to her knees, clinging to the hands that held her.
Shikamaru could literally feel the inner pain she was in, and he held her tight to him, his face buried in the crook of her neck. His gut twisted painfully when he felt her sobbing. All of a sudden, the pounding rain and screaming wind didn't matter. The broken girl in his arms needed him, and he'd be there till the very end.
Soppy ending, I know :/
I realized something halfway through this chapter. I almost forgot about Kiba. Almost :/ poor little thing, deserves better than that…
This chapter was sort of inspired by Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park…that songs gets me every time :'(
Anywho…things should be a lot less depressing in the next chapter…but you'll only find out if you review ;D