Hihi!!
I'm sosososososososo sorry I made you readers wait soooo long!
But, there's good news!
The new chapter is finally posted!
I'm sorry, I didn't feel very into this chapter until the end.
And don't mind my other OC, Nozomi. (SHE LOVES NEJI)
Aha..
Well, enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Period. In this story, I own the plot, Sorano, and Nozomi. That's it.

I dangled there on the ledge of the floor that had been freshly torn away. I looked into the dark abyss below me. I began to get woozy, seeing as I wasn't too fond of hanging on a ledge and looking down into a deep hole, especially in a towel. I began to lift myself back up into the hallway. Troublesome enough, I had to actually use energy to lift myself.

"Ugh..what a drag.." I let out, quietly.

"What's a drag?" I heard a soft, womanly voice call out.

I looked to where the voice came from. There was a petite, young woman standing in front of the gaping hole in the wall.

"Nozomi. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here with Neji. We were on a mission and we're getting ready to leave. He's still in the room getting ready. I was just about to go pay the check," she said.

"Oh. Do I really want to tell her about my affairs? Eh, might as well. Well, I can't leave yet. My partner just got kidnapped, and I have to go after her, cause that's what a guy does. I mean, she's probably weak compared to Akatsuki."

"I don't know. I wouldn't underestimate her. I mean, I don't know her, but, she could turn out to be greater than you know."

"Hah. I guess."

"Hey, Nozomi," a familiar voice called out. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Neji," I said.

"Shikamaru..!" he seemed surprised and he quickly pulled his hands from her sides.

I chuckled, "I guess I must have startled you."

"Heh..I guess you did," he said, nervously.

"He must not be a real 'public display of affection' kind of person. Well, honestly, I must be going. I have things to take care of, places to go, people to see," I began to walk away.

"Wait..Shikamaru," Nozomi said.

"Yeah..?"

"Can we help with getting your partner back?" she asked, not consulting Neji.

"Huh?" Neji retorted. "We have to get back and give the reports for our mission."

"It can wait a bit, can't it?" Nozomi began to use her girlish charm on him.

"Well, I have to know now, if you guys are gonna go or not. I need to stay on the kidnapper's trail," I said, trying to hurry them along.

"Kidnapper?" Neji knew nothing of what happened.

"I'll tell you once we're on our way," Nozomi said.

"Okay. I need to go change first and tell my other partners where I'm going. You guys stay here," I said, beginning to start back to my room.

"Okay," they both said.

"But, Shikamaru.." Neji continued.

"I have to hurry."

"But.."

I turned the corner before he could finish. I walked back to our room. Naruto, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon were all there, safe and sound, and, surprisingly, Naruto had them all under control.

"Hey, guys," I said.

They all looked at me, surprised and wide-eyed.

"Shikamaru..!" Naruto whispered to me. "Come here."

Naruto walked me back out into the hallway.

"What?" I asked.

"Look down," he said.

I looked down. To my surprise, my towel had fallen off of my waist. "Why does this always have to happen to me?" I didn't care at that point so I just calmly pulled my robe over me. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter now. Sorano's been kidnapped. I'm going after her."

I brushed past Naruto into the room towards my clothes. Naruto walked back into the room.

"Wait. What?" he questioned surprisingly.

"I said that Sorano has been kidnapped, most likely, by the Akatsuki," I said, while pulling my undergarments and pants on under my robe.

Everyone looked at me, even more surprised and wide-eyed than the last time.

"Sorano's been kidnapped?..Oh no!..That's not good.." Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon all said, overlapping each other.

"Yes. She's been kidnapped. I'm goingwith Neji and Nozomi to save her."

"Neji and Nozomi are here?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. They said something about being on a mission and whatnot."

"Oh. Well, I'm coming too." Naruto put his hands on his hips and stood firmly.

"You can't. You have to carry on the mission to Suna. Sorano hid her water bubble a few yards east of the front door of the bath house. The only who will be able to carry it is, you, Naruto."

"Me? Why?"

"You have the same type of chakra as Sorano. Yours and hers are both wind-aligned, so only you can carry it. We'll hopefully meet up with you in Suna. Good luck, Naruto. You're the new leader. Make the Hokage proud." I zipped up my jonin vest and jumped out of the open window. I jumped back into the hole in the wall to Nozomi and Neji. "You guys," I started.

"Yeah," Neji and Nozomi said in unison, both suggesting I go on.

"We are going to need to think of an attack plan."

Neither of them said a word.

"Seeing as you have no ideas, I'll have to think of one as we're following the way the kidnappers went."

"Fine with me," Nozomi said.

"Fine," Neji said.

"Okay. We're off."

We jumped out of the hole in the wall and into the hole below us. My foot touched the first layer of dirt on the hole and, suddenly, the earth there exploded.

The smoke cleared away a few minutes later. I found I actually bounced back onto the ledge from the blow. I looked down to find Nozomi clinging to Neji for dear life while he was bearing hers and his weight on a twig sticking out of the caved in wall. I walked over to the edge they were on and held my hands out to them.

"Here. Grab a hold of my hand," I said.

Nozomi climbed up Neji and grabbed both of my hands. I pulled her up to ground level. As I made sure she was safe, the small branch began to uproot and it made Neji lose his balance. He slipped a bit at first, but, then, he wouldn't, no, couldn't, stop. I slid to the ground to try to save him, but it was too late. He fell to his death below. Because of the first bomb, I was expecting that they had most likely planted even more. Neji confirmed my suspicions by hitting every single bomb planted in the walls.

"Neji!" Nozomi cried out.

I looked at the tears streaming down her face. I thought for a minute and dived into the hole. The smoke from the bombs was thick, so thick, in fact, that one couldn't see even their own arms and legs. I kept travelling down though.

"When does this tunnel end? I need to hurry and rescue Neji so I can get Sorano back before she's killed," my thoughts circled around my head.

I clung to a side of the tunnel. I needed to rest for a minute. The smoke was obviously getting to me. It reminded me of when Asuma died, and when I went through that smoking stage. I knew smoking would have bad effects on my body, but I had to get over his death somehow. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned and saw Nozomi.

"You go after your partner, Shikamaru. I'll help Neji," she said.

"No, that's oka-" she cut me off.

"No. You go after your partner. I'll help Neji and depending on if he's hurt or not, I'll leave him here at the bath house and come find you. If he's okay, I'll bring him with me. Okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Now, so I can know where to find you, I'll have to give you something."

Nozomi made a hand signal and called out, "Chakra nagaoi no jutsu."

Nozomi's chakra flowed from her body onto me.

"What is this?" I asked.

"I'm using my chakra to track you," she explained. "There is now a chakra string attached to you that only I can see and sense."

I nodded my head as a goodbye and good luck. I zoomed out of the hole and left her to perform her duties as Neji's partner. My feet touched the ground above the giant gash in the earth. I looked into it and thought, "I hope she'll be okay."

I followed the tunnel underneath me, feeling the empty ground through my feet. I wondered how I was going to be able to find Sorano. Then, I remembered the tracking devices I had placed on all of my partners. I pulled the tracker out of my pocket and looked at the five red dots. Four of them were heading towards the west, deepening into the Wind Country. The lonely red dot was going east, back into the Fire Country. I began to follow the red dot and I realized it was straying from the tunnel. Was the tunnel a trap? Or did the kidnappers find my hidden tracking device and place it somewhere else? Seeing as I was dealing with the Akatsuki, I decided to trust my technology first. I ran as fast as I could across the vast desert. I felt weakness creeping onto my body from deprivation of water. I wouldn't stop for water. Well, it was more like I wasn't able to stop. My legs decided on their own to carry me to Sorano's location.

I entered the deep foliage in the Fire Country. I began to get nearer and nearer. I got butterflies just thinking of her. I thought it was funny the way she made me feel and act, in ways I would have never acted around anyone else. She was different. I ran faster upon thinking about holding her close in my arms and knowing that she was safe. "What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking this way?" I didn't know how, but she made feel me energetic and lively. I felt..happy.

Suddenly, my tracker began to beep slowly, which meant I was getting close to her. I was so excited, I couldn't watch my mouth.

"Sorano! Where are you?" I called out, totally not thinking.

No response came, as I ran into a gully-like riverbed. I didn't know what happened here, but it looked very familiar. I ignored it and continued looking for Sorano.

"Sora! Sora! Where are you?" I called. The tracker started beeping faster.

"Shikamaru..?!" a voice called back.

I became overjoyed. I ran towards the voice.

"Sorano? Where are you?" I asked.

I quietly looked around and saw a figure disappear. I ran to the rock wall to try to stop it, but I was too late. I looked around and went up a hill, most likely the shoreline of the river, to a giant clearing. I saw flowers everywhere. It was so beautiful. The vivid colors exposed to my dull eyes. I mean, green is such a conventional color when you have to see it every single day. There were reds, yellows, purples, blues, and, even, oranges mixing together to make a concoction too gorgeous for one to look at.

I noticed in the distance a black, red, and green figure moving along the flowers. It looked like the figure I had seen earlier. I noted colors of purple and orange in its arms. I saw a dark blue mixed among all of the colors and then realized it was Sorano. I ran through the array of colors towards the Akatsuki member. He apparently was, now that the clouds on his cloak were coming into view.

I must have been making a racket in the flowers because he suddenly turned around. I quickly ducked beneath the flowers, unaware if he had seen me or not. I peered above the flowers and didn't see him there anymore. I shot up and tried to see if he had hid also. I began to turn to see if he went back and there he was, standing there, right behind me. I don't know what he did with Sorano, but she wasn't in his arms anymore.

Suddenly, he pulled out a kunai and held it to my throat. He said to me, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"How am I supposed to speak to you with a kunai to my throat?!" I yelled. I was not about to tell an S-rank criminal who I was or what business I had with Sorano.

I put my hand behind my back. I began to pull a kunai out of my pouch. I could have tried to hit him first so it would distract him long enough to go get Sorano, but I didn't know how fast or how powerful he really was. I pulled my arm back into the air and started to let my kunai go until giant tree roots came up and grabbed my arm and held my entire body to a larger root so I couldn't get out.

The Akatsuki member pulled the kunai away from my throat and said, "Now. Tell me who you are."

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you who I am?"

The branches around my body started getting tighter and tighter. "Tell me now or I'll make them crush you."

"And then can we eat him for dinner?" another voice said.

"Yes. Yes, we can," the Akatsuki member replied.

I began to panic. "My name is Shikamaru. I'm a jonin from Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. Sorano is my partner on a mission I was assigned by the Kazekage of Sunagakure. Now, who are you?"

"Hm. Why were you assigned a mission from the Kazekage when you are from Konohagakure, not Sunagakure?"

"Is that information really necessary for you to know?"

"Hm. I guess not."

"Now, answer my question."

"You don't have to be so pushy. I'm Zetsu. A member of the Akatsuki."

The branches tying me to the tree began to loosen up. They let me completely go and I jumped down at the bottom of the tree. "Hmph. I've got you were I want you. Kagemane no jutsu!"

My jutsu trapped him. I jumped at him and slashed his arm open. I then turned him around and pinned him up against the tree. Just then, from a distance, Sorano's voice rang out, "Zetsu! Shikamaru!"

She ran faster and faster. She saw that I had Zetsu pinned against the tree and yelled, "Shikamaru! Zetsu! Stop!"

She gnawed at my hand to pull the kunai away from his throat. "Sorano! Stop trying to interfere. You're going to end up hurt," I said, coaxing her away.

"Shikamaru! He was trying to help me get away from the other Akatsuki! So, I wouldn't be killed!" tears were beginning to fill her eyes.

"Yeah..! What she said!" Zetsu chimed in.

"Shikamaru! He means entirely no harm to any one of us!" Sorano said, still trying to convince me.

"No, he isn't, Sorano! He's just fooling you like all of the other Akatsuki," I said, sticking to my wit.

"You're wrong, Shikamaru! He isn't. His eyes tell the truth and he means good. He's just in a bad situation."

I comprehended everything she said and looked at Zetsu's eyes. They were big, round orbs. They almost seemed a bit creepy. But, surprisingly, they did speak truth. I pulled the kunai from his throat. "Okay. I'll stop for now. But, I'm keeping an eye on you."

I stepped away from him and looked at Sorano. She was apparently looking us over and looking at the damage we did to each other. She especially noticed the gash in Zetsu's arm.

"Zetsu..that doesn't look very good. Can I heal that?" she asked.

"You're a medical ninja?" he seemed surprised.

"Yeah.."

"I'm glad I rescued you before they killed you. You're really something special."

Okay, he surely crossed the line. I sent him an evil glare.

"Yeah."

Sorano didn't seem to flattered, surprisingly. She's a very flirty girl. She did a hand signal to gather chakra and her orange chakra flowed out over Zetsu's wound. It began to get out of control. She stepped away from Zetsu. The chakra spread everywhere on her body. It spread until it covered her completely. I began to back away and poor Zetsu didn't know what was happening. All five tails formed, along with dog-like ears, and whiskers sprouted onto her face.

"Run!" a distorted, freaky voice came out of her.

She charged straight for us.

Haha..
Da dun!
I'm so sorry, once again, for making you guys wait this long.
I hope I can get the next one up earlier than I did with this one.
Well, I hope you had an awesome time reading this.
Thanks so much!
Reviews are appreciated..!

See yaa..