Forty-Five: A Desperate Plea

A thousand thoughts were racing through Shikamaru's head as he flew back toward Silver City, but the only one he allowed himself to focus on was the one that seemed most and least plausible.

"Sakura is alive," he breathed.

He'd spent the past twenty minutes coming up with every possible way the enemy could have pulled the deception off, but so far he was unable to think up a believable trick. There was nothing in the known ninja world that could trick the Hokage into thinking a person was dead when she wasn't. Besides, after Tsunade would have mistakenly pronounced Sakura dead—after the body had traveled all the way back to Konoha—the enemy would have had to then dig up her supposed corpse and take her back to the Land of Silver.

"I'm getting nowhere. What a drag."

The fact that Tsunade—the greatest medical ninja in the world—and Shizune—who was arguably just as talented—had both seen Sakura's body meant that whatever trick had been used to fool them was something that the shinobi from the Leaf had never encountered before. And there was everything that Kakashi had put in his mission report to account for as well.

Shikamaru gasped, a sudden realization coming to him. "The body!"

Maybe the body they had seen wasn't Sakura's at all. Perhaps it was a sacrifice, sort of like Edo Tensei.

"But Orochimaru's jutsu brings people back to life," he muttered.

Still, it was the best theory he'd come up with so far. If it was an unknown jutsu that acted similarly to the Edo Tensei, then maybe there was a way to create a fake dead body that could fool even the greatest medical ninja, if she didn't know what she was looking for.

"Maybe something with shadow clones…?"

Shikamaru frowned. It was certainly worth looking into. And he had all the rest of the way back to Silver City to think through his theory.

Of course, there was always the possibility that he was just making all of this up out of an innate desire for Sakura to be alive when she was actually dead, but on the slight chance that she actually was alive…Shikamaru was willing to risk a little bit of false hope for that.

"Come on Sakura," he grunted out as he doubled his pace. "Pull this one off for me."

Temari sat at the table, ignoring the food and drink in front of her. She was vaguely aware of a tapping sound that seemed to be annoying her two dinner partners, but not aware enough to realize that she was the source of it.

"Um, Temari?" Ino asked. "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" the pigtailed blonde said, snapping out of her trance-like state. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Ino nodded toward her left hand, which had been subconsciously tapping the table for the past fifteen minutes. Temari also realized that her tea had gone cold.

"Sorry," she mumbled, taking her chopsticks and picking at her food in an effort to seem like her mind wasn't a million miles away.

"You're worried about Shikamaru, aren't you?" Ino asked.

Temari hesitated, but nodded. "He should have checked in this afternoon."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much. Being on time is too troublesome for that lazy guy," Ino said.

"Yeah, I guess," Temari said, but her face said she wasn't convinced.

"He'll be fine," Choji said through a mouthful of food. "I've been his best friend for years, and he's never once let me down. If he said he would meet you this afternoon then he'll be back today. He's stronger and smarter than anyone he'll run across out here, so you don't have to worry about him getting hurt. He probably just fell asleep watching the clouds or something."

"Sure. I bet you're right, Choji."

"So, um, are you gonna eat that?"

Temari sighed, stifling a grin as she pushed her plate across the table. "Knock yourself out. I'm going to go check the outskirts, just in case."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Ino asked, shooting a glare at Choji when he opened his mouth to whine.

"No, no. That's alright. I won't be long. You two enjoy the rest of your dinner."

Where are you, Shikamaru? Temari thought as she wandered around the outskirts of the city. Did you find something interesting?

The kunoichi sighed. She would give him until the sun set. Then, if he hadn't returned, she would go looking for him.

Suddenly, a fast-moving speck appeared on the horizon. Temari squinted, but she couldn't make out what it was. After a few minutes, a familiar spiky-haired silhouette came into focus, and this time, she didn't try to suppress her smile.

"You're late," she teased, as the brunette came to a halt beside her and tried to catch his breath.

"Geez, you sure are winded. I know it's past our designated meeting point, but you didn't need to kill yourself to get back here so fast. It's not like I was worried or anything."

Shikamaru didn't say anything—he was still attempting to catch his breath—but Temari frowned, instantly realizing that something was wrong.

"Shikamaru? What's wrong? What did you find out? Should I get Ino and Choji?"

She turned to go find the pair, but a hand on her upper arm quickly caused her to stop and turn around.

"No!" Shikamaru gasped. "You can't tell them. What I'm about to tell you is between us, understand? Under no circumstances can Ino hear what I'm about to say until I am one hundred percent sure, okay?"

"Yeah, of course. What is it? What's wrong?"

Dark eyes fixed her with an unreadable stare.

"I need you to keep an open mind, alright? Just listen to everything I have to say and tell me, honestly, what you think. Don't let your emotions play into this. I need someone who's able to keep an emotional distance from the situation to listen to my theory, because I don't think I'm able to."

"Okay? Shika, you're starting to worry me. What's this about?"

He gave her that stare again.

"I think Sakura Haruno might still be alive."

Temari's face was pale when Shikamaru finished recounting what he'd learned in the forest and his resulting conclusions.

"So what do you think? Is it just my emotions talking? Or do you think there's a valid chance?"

Temari paused, not wanting to come to a hasty decision. She was one of the best strategists in the Five Great Nations, but she was also Shikamaru's boyfriend. And she'd known Sakura, too. They weren't great friends, but Temari had always liked the pink-haired medic. But she had to stay detached. For Shikamaru's sake, because he'd admitted that he wasn't capable of it right now.

His theory had a lot of holes—especially considering they didn't even know if this 'reverse Edo Tensei' jutsu really existed. She was inclined to think that, given their lack of information, Shikamaru's hypothesis was probably incorrect.

But on the other hand…

She sighed, shaking her had and rubbing her temples.

"I know it's crazy," Shikamaru muttered. "You can tell me—"

Temari cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Let me think."

His theory was crazy, sure, and they didn't know if the jutsu the enemy was hypothetically using was real or not, but they also didn't know what jutsu it was that had given Kakashi and Sakura trouble in the first place was. They didn't even know if it was a jutsu, so maybe Shikamaru's theory wasn't that farfetched after all.

But that was probably her emotions talking. She'd tried to detach herself completely, but even for an experienced shinobi like her—who wasn't particularly emotional to begin with—it wasn't possible to remain completely separate from the incident if she'd even slightly considered Sakura a friend.

"This is quite a dilemma," she said quietly.

"I know."

"And this theory is one of the craziest ones I've ever heard, and my brother is Kankuro."

"I know."

"It's got less than a three percent chance of succeeding, I'd say, and it's only that high because we don't know what their jutsu is."

"I know."

"But…it's not zero."

"Yeah."

"And I think if there's even the slightest chance that she might still be alive—"

"We should take it?" Shikamaru finished.

Temari nodded. "Yeah."

"That's what I think too."

"But we should avoid telling anyone else," Temari suggested. "You know, you don't want to give them false hope."

"Yeah. Ino and the rest of Team Seven are out of the question. I've got Kakashi's report, so we shouldn't need to ask them about anything. I know this is a long shot, but we've always made a habit of beating the odds."

"So what are you going to do? The Hokage will have to be informed if you're going to launch any sort of mission into enemy territory."

"I know. I'll head back to Konoha tonight."

"You need to rest!"

"There may not be time."

"Then maybe I should go. I might not be able to explain it as well as you, but in your current state I'd get there faster."

"It's alright. I've got one of those super soldier pills that Sakura used to make. They taste awful, but they work."

"Okay, but be careful. I'll handle Ino and Choji. I'll say you got a message from the Hokage and went to report without coming back. If I pretend I never saw you, it will make more sense if I claim to not know anything."

"Good plan."

"Thanks."

"Well, I guess I'd better be going. It'll take me a few days to reach Konoha, so make sure you keep an eye on things around here."

"Of course. Be careful, Shikamaru, and hurry."

"Right."

One last nod, and he was off. Temari waited outside for a few minutes to quiet her head before turning back to the city. She'd need all her wits about her if the Hokage ended up approving their little mission.

Sakura's soldier pills were not something Shikamaru ever enjoyed eating, but they sure did their job well. He felt better than he had in ages, and his speed enjoyed a nice increase because of it. At first he had been hoping just to make it back to Konoha in the same amount of time as if he were fully rested, but at the pace he was currently going, he would make it back there about half a day quicker.

He would spend the rest of his time trying to figure out what he would say when he got back. Telling any of the Konoha 12 was out of the question—as was telling Kakashi. He could probably talk to Yamato if he needed more information, but he didn't really want to put the wood-style user through the pain of false hope if he didn't have to. And there was still the matter of the Hokage to think about.

Shikamaru hadn't told Temari about Tsunade, mainly because he and Jiraiya had decided it was best if their allies—even Suna—weren't informed. They trusted Temari and Gaara implicitly, but they didn't want to put either in an awkward position if the subject of Tsunade came up with any council members.

Shikamaru decided that the first thing he would do when he got back to the village was to find Jiraiya as soon as no one was around. He wanted to avoid being seen as best as possible, because he didn't really have a valid explanation for why he was back in the village. And the less people knew he was there the better. If his hunch turned out to be false, then everyone could just keep on going without ever realizing that there had been a time when he had hypothesized that Sakura might still be alive. That would be something he would bear alone.

It was close to dusk when Shikamaru arrived on the outskirts of the village. He briefly considered attempting to sneak in without alerting the guards, but if he got caught it was sure to cause a scene, so he landed in front of Kotetsu and Izumo once he was sure no one else was around.

"Shikamaru?" Kotetsu exclaimed. "You're back already?"

Izumo frowned. "I didn't know you were heading back. It wasn't scheduled in our logs."

"Um, yeah, about that. This isn't exactly supposed to go on record. Hokage's orders. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm still in the Land of Silver."

"Oh, right. We understand."

"Thanks, guys."

Shikamaru felt bad for taking advantage of the pair like that, but it was a small lie, and it wasn't like he was going to pull a Sasuke and turn traitor on the village. He was just going to sneak into Hokage tower without anyone knowing.

Which, in hindsight, sounded just as bad.

Thankfully, no one seemed to be working as Shikamaru made his way through the building and up to the highest floor where the Hokage's office was located. He sincerely hoped Jiraiya would still be there, even if all the staff were gone.

Luck, it seemed, was finally on his side, because when he tapped on the door it was Jiraiya's voice that answered.

"Who is it?"

"It's Shikamaru Nara."

The door opened.

"Shikamaru?" Jiraiya asked, surprised to see the young man.

"There's something I have to discuss with you, and it's urgent."

"Come in."

Jiraiya swung the door fully open, but it wasn't until Shikamaru had already entered the room that he realized his mistake. He should have checked the room before coming in, or insisted on talking to Jiraiya alone, because leaning up against the desk, dressed in her usual attire, was Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade?" Shikamaru breathed.

"Hello Shikamaru."

He glanced over to Jiraiya, who shrugged.

"Tsunade and I were just discussing her taking over Hokage duties again."

"Yes," the blonde nodded. "It seems that a few weeks of relaxing has proved helpful to my condition."

"So you've recovered?"

"As much as I can given the amount of time that's passed, yes. But in case you're worried, I'll no longer freeze up at the site of blood. That was Jiraiya's first concern. Now, what was it you needed to discuss? You said it was urgent."

"Um, yeah, but I…"

"Go on, Shikamaru," Tsunade insisted.

"Well, now I'm not sure I should say…"

Shikamaru trailed off, trying desperately to think up a way to get out of this situation. He had to either make Jiraiya realize somehow that he needed to talk to him alone or make up an excuse for coming here that would convince Tsunade.

"If this is about the Land of Silver or Sakura, I'm stronger now than I was back then…with Dan. I'm hurting, but I'll overcome it," Tsunade said, picking up on the brunette's hesitation.

"I don't know," Shikamaru said hesitantly. He let his eyes slide back to Jiraiya, trying to someone show the white-haired sannin that this was something Tsunade really shouldn't hear.

"Shikamaru! I am your Hokage, not him! And you will obey my orders and tell me what's so important that you'd run all the way back here!"

"Lady Hokage, I—"

"Now, Shikamaru!"

The brunette sighed. "Troublesome," he said under his breath before clearing his throat.

"As you wish. I overheard a discussion between two Land of Silver rebels, and…" He took a deep breath and steeled himself. "I believe…that Sakura Haruno might still be alive."

The room was silent, and Shikamaru was sure that someone had released some sort of suffocating toxin into the air because he was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe.

"Wha—" Jiraiya started, but he was interrupted by one very angry-looking Hokage.

"Are you trying to test me?" Tsunade roared, smashing the desk to pieces as she slammed her fist down.

"No, Lady Tsunade, I—"

"I never thought I would have to go through something like this from you, Shikamaru. This is the sort of thing that Danzo and those stupid elders would have done, but I never expected it from one of my most trusted jonin."

"Lady Hokage, I'm not trying to test you, I rea—"

"I don't want to hear it! Don't you think I've been through enough? I understand that I am the leader of this village, but Sakura was like a daughter to me and I needed some time to grieve."

"I'm not—"

"Not a word!"

"Tsunade," Jiraiya soothed, trying his best to calm his teammate down. "Please calm down."

"What did you say?" she roared, turning on the toad sage. "You had better not be telling me to calm down, Jiraiya!"

The white-haired shinobi held up both hands. "Hey, hey. I'm not trying to start something. Just, please listen to me. I don't think you're being rational here."

"What was that?" Tsunade asked, with a glare that made Shikamaru shiver. Women were truly terrifying. He was glad—not for the first time—that even though Temari was bossy, at least she wasn't overly emotional with a temper.

"Tsunade, please, let's at least hear Shikamaru out. He was a close friend of Sakura's too, remember? And he's our best mind. I don't think he would come here suggesting such a thing if he didn't really believe there was a chance he was right, right Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, of course. It's probably less than a three percent chance," he said, "but I don't know what else to make of what I overheard."

"Then tell us your story," Jiraiya said.

Shikamaru glanced toward Tsunade, but she made no move to scream at him, so he took that as a sign that he should continue his tale.

Halfway through his story, Shikamaru was beginning to realize that maybe this had been a bad idea. He had nothing more to go on other than two random soldiers discussing Kaoru's frustration about being unable to get information. They never mentioned another person, and for all Shikamaru knew, Kaoru could have been annoyed over a mole in the Sasaki's force not doing his job properly. The shadow user was beginning to regret not just keeping his theory to himself. He should have just sent word to Temari that he was staying a few extra days and gone to check their hideout alone. He didn't need to put other people through this, especially not the Hokage.

"And, um, that was the only conclusion I was able to come up with. At least, the only one that made any sense…at the time."

Jiraiya was staring at him like he'd grown another head, but at least he appeared to be processing the information. Tsunade, on the other hand, looked less than pleased.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" she roared. "You come here, saying things like that with nothing more than two men's conversation and your own flimsy conclusions based on a jutsu you don't even know is real?"

"Yes," Shikamaru said, completely prepared to take the blame.

"False hope is a dangerous thing, Nara."

"I understand, Lady Hokage."

"No, I don't think you do!"

"Tsunade," Jiraiya protested quietly.

"Not you too, Jiraiya!"

"I just—I, I thought...It was the only conclusion I was able to come up with that made any sense in my mind," Shikamaru fumbled. Then he stopped.

It was true. Sakura being alive was the only conclusion he'd been able to come to. He'd thought about it using the same techniques and strategies that he always did, and his mind had come to the conclusion that Sakura Haruno was not dead.

"So you're telling me that you came all the way here to tell me that you think my own apprentice, whom I checked myself, is alive?" Tsunade asked, eerily calm.

"Yes."

"Then who, might I ask, did we bury?"

"That's the jutsu I was theorizing about earlier. I think it might employ the use of shadow clones somehow, but I'm not sure. Jutsu analysis isn't my specialty."

"Well then who's specialty is it?" Tsunade snapped. "Find them and ask them if something like this is possible. Because unless you get back to me with some proof, I'm not going to listen to another word you say!"

"Um, I'm pretty sure it's Kakashi Hatake's, ma'am," Shikamaru mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'd really rather not…"

"Oh, right," Tsunade said, softening slightly.

"Look," Shikamaru said boldly. "I don't know if my theory is right or not. Like I said, it's probably got less than a three percent chance of success, or at least that's what Temari told me. I actually think the number is down closer to half a percent, but as long as it's not zero, don't you think we should take a chance?"

"He's got a point, Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "Shikamaru's a smart kid, and if this is the conclusion he came too then it's probably worth a shot."

"If there's even the slightest chance that she's still alive, don't you think we should take it?" Shikamaru said, his voice somewhere between a plea and a shout.

Tsunade's eyes widened at the unusual burst of emotion from the lazy strategist.

"Come on, Tsunade," Jiraiya prodded. "You always bet on the worst odds. Do it again, just this once."

"We don't have to tell anyone else," Shikamaru said. "Only Temari, you, and Master Jiraiya know about my theory. Just give me and Temari permission to sneak into their camp and look around. We won't engage unless we find that I was right, and if we're wrong, we'll never breathe a word of this again. No one else has to know. I'd never spread that kind of false hope around carelessly."

"You really think Sakura might be alive?" Tsunade asked, tears leaking silently out of her eyes.

"Yes," Shikamaru said firmly. "I do."

"And you're willing to take this mission at your own personal risk?"

"Yes."

Tsunade was silent for a long moment before finally sighing and sinking down into an empty chair. "Fine. Then you have my permission to carry out this mission."

"Thank you."

"Under no circumstances are you to mention this to anyone outside of myself, Jiraiya, or Temari."

"Of course," he nodded.

"And Shikamaru? Good luck."

"Right," he said, giving the pair one last nod before he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

And ran straight into one very wide-eyed Kakashi Hatake.