Hey, guys.
Thanks for sticking with me.
Soooo, I hope you like so far, and I hope you enjoy the future chapters.

Disclaimer: © Masashi Kishimoto. I own Sorano and the plot.

"S-sorano. Sabaku no Sorano," the girl said. She had a long purple dress on that was slit on the sides, revealing legs that were wrapped up and down, seemingly, the entire limb. She had dark, blue hair that was bound into a long ponytail that trailed down to her waist.

"Why are you here? Are you a spy for Orochimaru?" Shikamaru said, suspicions rising. Well, I suppose she kinda couldn't be. Sabaku? Suna? Well, either way, I was taught to never trust anyone. I'm not caving in now.

"N-no! I'm here on business!" Sorano spoke out.

"Honestly, what business do you have stalking me?" Shikamaru shot back, sitting up on his elbows.

Sorano quickly stood. "I-I'm sorry! I just thought-"

"I wouldn't notice you? Well, I'm not as stupid as you think. Your ninjutsu is easily depicted. What sort of a ninja are you, anyway?"

Sorano narrowed her eyes on that bastard. How dare he question her ability as a ninja? "What did you say?"

"I said, how can the likes of you be counted as a ninja?"

"Go to hell, Shikamaru. And, to think, I actually thought you were cute."

"Wait, what did you say? And how do you know my name?"

Sorano, realizing what she said, blushed. "Uh- I thought you said you weren't going to get mad. You seem pretty aggravated now."

"Wait a second. I asked you questions. Answer them."

Not knowing what else to do, she called out, "I gotta go", turned around, and ran towards Konoha. She definitely did not want to emphasize on how she'd thought he was cute and how she'd known who he was and where to find him in the first place. Running, she thought about what he said to her.

Tell me that I'm not good enough a ninja. I'm more powerful than those idiots back in Suna. He can't even comprehend the power that I wield. Dumb ass.

He's definitely got a nice one at that.

Do what? No, he does not! And, where'd you come from, anyway?

Don't worry about it. And, he definitely does. Come on, now. Do not deny that ass of his.

You know? You need to shut up and go back to your little-

Sorano's thoughts and actions were suddenly seized when she heard Shikamaru call out, "Kagemane no jutsu!" and a strange bond wrapped around her, putting the control she had over her own body to a halt.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Sorano asked behind her.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm stopping you from leaving and I'm getting the answers to my questions out of you," Shikamaru replied, turning her around to face him.

"What do you care, anyway? I'm just some girl you're never going to see again. Why would it matter if I knew who you were? I know who everyone is."

"You could be a spy for an enemy and I definitely do not want information getting out. So, why don't you tell me what your business is here?" he said, while pulling out a kunai from his weapon pouch.

Sorano's gaze glared in defense, taking the position Shikamaru was in. "I-I was just here for a mission. In fact, it was to help your fellow shinobi. I came here with Sabaku no Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. I'm a medi-nin from Suna, but I didn't mean to cause any trouble. While they helped you, Inuzuka Kiba, and Rock Lee, my knowledge of who you all are coming from my teammates, I had to help deliver the injured bodies, uh, Akimichi Chouji and Hyuuga Neji, to the hospital."

"Well, that answers one question. Continue."

Sorano blushed hard. She tried her hardest to hide it, but, apparently, it didn't work. "Why should I tell you? I don't owe you anything. You don't even know me."

"True, but, if you really didn't want to be here, you would be resisting my shadow. You're just standing there, letting yourself be captured. At least some ninja I've fought have actually shown some resistance. You? You fight like shit."

"Last time I checked, we weren't fighting. But, soon enough, your chakra will wear out anyway. So, why put so much strain into something you can't get out of? Isn't it smarter to just wait it out, even though you may receive some damage?"

Keh.. Shikamaru took his body out of his attacking position. She's actually smarter than I thought. "Hn."

"What? Did I outsmart you or something?"

"No. I just didn't have anything to say."

"Hn. Liar," she mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Hm? No, I didn't say anything."

"Well, give me the answer to my question."

"Ugh.. if it will shut you up. I said that I thought you were cute. Happy?"

"Somewhat." Shikamaru released the jutsu and began walking towards her. "So, what reason do you have for, uh, following me like this?"

Sorano regained her own composure and stood on the path that they happened to run upon. She watched him closely as he got closer and closer to her. When he was about six inches away from her, she looked into his black, beady eyes. "I.." she took a deep breath. "I wanted to get to know you. But, now, I'm not so sure."

Shikamaru looked down at her shielded position. "I'm sorry I came on so strong. I didn't know who you were, so I suspected the worst. That's how I am with everyone."

Sorano looked into his forgiving eyes even more. "I.. it's fine. I'm sorry, too, you know? I should have properly introduced myself, but I decided to be all stalker-like and-"

Suddenly, Sorano was interrupted by a loud voice coming from behind her.

"Shikamaruuuuuu!" a boy's voice called out.

Shikamaru quickly looked up and saw a yellow, orange, and blue blur running towards them. He smirked at the boy, realizing it was Uzumaki Naruto. The blur sped up faster and faster and started to focus, but, Shikamaru knew something was wrong when Naruto kept speeding up, with no intention of stopping.

"Uhm, Sorano?" Shikamaru tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Sorano looked at him confused.

"Run."

"What?"

Naruto was just about hit them, until Shikamaru saved them both by picking Sorano up and quickly running to the grass next to the path. He landed on top of her on the soft patches.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled as he got off of Sorano.

Naruto was splattered across the dirt path. "Dattebayo.." he murmured.

Shikamaru stomped lazily over to the fox boy. "What is your problem?! Why the hell were you going so fast!"

Naruto brushed the dirt from his eyes and looked up at Shikamaru. "Calm down, dattebayo. I wanted to see the girl you were with."

Shikamaru sweat-dropped. "So, you could have damaged three people, including yourself, just to see a girl?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, that was a waste on your part."

"What?"

"I'm saying, she's not really worth much of your time."

Sorano noticed two other people walking down the path, one girl with short, pink hair with a long, red, sleeveless shirt and some green shorts on and an older man with spiky silver hair with a scroll on his back. And, now that she saw the other boy more closely he had blonde, spiky hair with a orange and blue jumpsuit on. Suddenly, she picked up Shikamaru's and the blonde-haired boy's conversation. She swiftly walked to them.

"Excuse me?" Sorano tapped Shikamaru on his shoulder. "What did you just say?"

Shikamaru turned his head over his shoulder and looked at her. Then, he looked back at Naruto. "Do you see what I mean?"

"No," Naruto said, bluntly.

"But, she's troublesome and a pain in the ass. Something you really wouldn't have any interest in."

"I don't know about that. All a girl really needs is a prettier face than Sakura's and I'm hers," Naruto turned to look at Sorano, but then noticed Sakura nearing closer and closer to him.

Sakura growled, "Naruto.." She bunched her fingers into a fist, pulled it back and let it fly.

I hope you enjoyed this chapterrrr!
I had fun writing it. (:
Laterrrr!