!*!*! PAY ATTENTION... MAGBAYAD PANSIN... KIINNITA HUOMIOTA !*!*!
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, damn it. This fact is rendered obvious by the fact that I'm not obscenely rich, and the fact that Ino, who is clearly better than Sakura in all ways possible, didn't get a bigger part.
Despite the blood on the ground, she was still standing, which was a good sign, but then he got to the front of her.
Her orange shirt was sliced straight down her chest, and a scarlet line stood out shockingly, and horrifyingly, against her tanned skin, blood dripping downwards.
"Naruto," he choked out. The wound wasn't just a scratch.
The Uchiha was paler than usual and his eyes were wide.
Naruto, on the other hand, was… frowning? "That… hurts!" she yelled, dancing from foot to foot. "Shit! Ow, ow, ow!"
Sasuke and Shikamaru exchanged glances. Shikamaru was pretty sure that if you're mortally, or even badly injured, you didn't dance around yelling. He had read something that said that when children were injured, you needed to worry when they were quiet and still. If they were yelling, then they were fine. Using that information as a basis, he decided that, somehow, Naruto was probably okay.
Finally, Naruto calmed down and looked down at her wound. "Dammit! I really liked this shirt!"
Shikamaru stared at her. That was all that she had to say? There was a six inch bloody gash on her upper body.
She looked up from her ruined shirt and bloody body to Sasuke. "Another second and I might have been really hurt. You're getting lazy, Teme," she said, punching his shoulder, albeit harder than usual. Sasuke managed an "Hn" but Shikamaru could see that he was a little rattled and worried, and, was that… shame? Naruto really did seem to be the only person the Uchiha cared about.
Next, Naruto turned to Shikamaru. "Give me your vest," she said, gesturing with her hand.
That was one of the last things that he expected her to say. "What?"
"Your vest. I need it. Look at my shirt. I can't wear this," she said, acting as though she hadn't just been attacked.
Shikamaru looked at her shirt; it was being held together by only a thin strip of fabric. A faint gust of wind fluttered the pieces of cloth covering her from being completely nude on the top, and he was tempted to wait for a bigger gust of wind. He shook his head. There was nothing sexy about the situation, well, except for the fact that Naruto was very close to being shirtless.
"Why his clothing?" Sasuke asked.
"Because, he's closer to my size, well, at least a little, and you aren't wearing a vest. If I took your shirt, you'd be walking around shirtless, and then we'd be mobbed by fan girls or something. Shikamaru still has a shirt under his vest," Naruto explained.
Shikamaru nodded and took off the small vest he had been wearing. Since he was supposed to be a civilian, he didn't have his normal flak jacket, but instead a dark green, thin, vest with a single wooden button. "We should bandage your wound first, Naruto," he said, holding the vest back at the last moment.
She didn't even spare a glance at it, "Huh? Oh, right. I suppose."
Was it natural to be this unconcerned about wounds?
"One of you will have to bandage me," Naruto said innocently, having no idea the effect that her words created. The cut started at the dip between her breasts, and if it needed to be bandaged…
Sasuke had bandages out before Shikamaru could blink.
Emo-bastard.
Naruto frowned, "Now, how am I going to manage this."
Shikamaru could see her problem. She had to take off the shirt to let Sasuke bandage her, and she was completely naked under the shirt, so they would see it all. Finally, she slipped her hands under her shirt, hands cupping her breasts, and said, "Okay. Shika, you bandage me, and, Sasuke, you cut my shirt off the rest of the way, okay?"
Shikamaru didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the bandages from the Uchiha and waited as Sasuke took his kunai and slit the strip of fabric keeping the mangled shirt around Naruto's neck. It slid off of her and fluttered down to the ground.
Now, Naruto was standing before him, dressed only in a pair of low hanging pants, cupped hands covering part of her full breasts, dipping in to a tiny waist, and showing a large amount of unblemished tan skin, besides the giant bloody slice, of course.
He made a mental note to thank the Hokage for forcing him on the mission. He could feel the Uchiha glaring daggers at him, and started bandaging Naruto. The cut had already stopped bleeding, which was odd, considering how deep it was. He supposed that it had something to do with the Kyuubi. After all, he knew that Naruto healed far faster than the normal rate. His fingers skimmed over her skin, which was even softer than it looked, and he knew that they lingered slightly longer than was necessary. Only too soon, she was bandaged, and he could only hope that she didn't see the flush staining his cheeks. He could still feel the Uchiha burning holes into his head.
"Okay, now, both of you turn around so I can but on the vest," Naruto ordered.
The two teenaged boys obeyed.
Naruto's hand snaked around Shikamaru and grabbed the vest from his slack hand. Something warm and soft pressed into his back momentarily, and he tried not to think about what they had been.
Now was one of the times when he wished he were a Hyuuga. If he was, he would have Byakugan, three hundred and sixty degree vision. That would come in extremely handy right about now, although he was pretty sure that the Hyuuga wouldn't condone their bloodline being used for that sort of thing.
Naruto's voice interrupted his less than pure thoughts. "Okay, you can turn around now."
And they did. Naruto was wearing Shikamaru's vest, and he had to admit that it looked better on her, with a deep V-neck and very little fabric. The only think keeping the vest closed was a single button. Shikamaru never realized how much he disliked buttons until that moment.
Then, Naruto brought up something that he should have noticed. "Hey, weren't there four ninjas that attacked us?" Naruto asked, pointing at the three bodies on the ground.
Sasuke nodded, but, oddly, didn't add anything further.
"You let the other guy go so that you could save me, didn't you?" Naruto exclaimed, grinning broadly at Sasuke. She got no reply. "Aww, I knew you had a heart, Teme."
Shikamaru almost laughed at the cold and annoyed expression on the raven's face, and knelt down next to one of the bodies of the dead shinobi's. He ripped off on of their masks and looked into the face of a man who looked a little older than them, with short brown hair and rough features. Then, he patted down the body. There was nothing distinctive about the ninja at all, except for the shoes, which he examined closely. They were lightweight rubber of some sort, closely fitting, with almost duck shaped soles, and definitely waterproof. They looked like rain boots.
Shikamaru straightened up and shoved his hands in his pockets. Rain boots. The Yugakure was in the land of hot water. Hot water. Water. The specialized shoes would fit, but that would mean that the Yugakure had ordered their deaths. Why? Or did this actually make sense. The Kage said that he couldn't trust the people in his own government. Either the Kage, or someone from his village, had ordered the attack on them, and it could be for various reasons. If by the enemy, and not the Kage, supposing that the enemy wasn't the Kage, it could simply be to see if they were what they claimed, two civilians and a ninja. Or, it could be to kill them to keep them from reaching the Yugakure. Either way, they needed to be alert for more danger.
After Sasuke sealed the bodies into a scroll, the three continued on their trek to the Yugakure.
Shikamaru continued to think about the situation, while keeping half an eye on Naruto. He was worried about the knucklehead, even if her wounds weren't bleeding through the bandages. Something felt wrong. It didn't make sense how little she cared about the wounds.
The day went by without any other attacks on them, and night fell just as easily.
They stopped for the night, and the first thing that the Uchiha did was plant himself in front of Shikamaru.
"Yes, Uchiha?" he asked lazily, eyelids drooping. Something was shoved into his arms. It was a sleeping bag.
"You can use this one," Sasuke said coldly.
For some reason, Shikamaru got the feeling that he wasn't offering just to be nice.
He tried to hand it back. "Why so nice, Uchiha? Thanks, but no thanks. I'm sure than Naruto wouldn't mind sharing with me again," he said. It was fun to irk him.
Sasuke clenched his teeth, and Shikamaru could hear them grinding together. "Well, now you won't need to share," he spat, and swirled around and making a beeline to Naruto, who was kneeling by the fire.
He sighed. Well, he had a sleeping bag now, and he didn't particularly want it. He could only hope that Sasuke wasn't planning on sharing a sleeping bag with Naruto. Groaning, he plopped down next to Naruto, who was cooking, and closed his eyes. Several minutes later, he was poked awake.
"Hey, Shika, if you don't get up, I'm eating your food." He cracked open his eyes to see Naruto holding out a bowl to him, and his stomach gave an unpleasant flop. The food over the past two meals had been lacking to say the least. It looked like beef stew, normal beef stew, but he was weary. He tried a spoonful. "It's good," he said.
Naruto poked him with a spoon, again, grumbling, "Jeez, do you really need to sound so surprised?"
He was about to ask where she had learned to cook, but stopped. Of course she knew how to cook. Although he knew that she loved ramen like nothing else in the universe, and probably ate it more than anyone, but a person couldn't live on ramen alone. She had no parents or caretakers growing up; she had been on her own and had had to take care of herself. That included cooking. His mind wandered off to how nice it would be to have Naruto cooking for him. He usually ate out, since it was too troublesome to cook himself. He was snapped back into reality by the offer of second helpings.
After the meal was cleaned up, Naruto settled down into her sleeping bag; Sasuke was brooding, hands together, head bowed, but Shikamaru knew that he was paying close attention to the surroundings in case someone was out there.
"Good night, Sasuke. 'Night, Shika," Naruto said, voice blurred with sleep.
"Good night, Naruto," both males responded, and then glared at each other for good measure.
Shikamaru lay in his sleeping bag, and stared at the stars, which, although they weren't as calming and informative to look at as clouds, still helped him think. He stayed that way for hours, thinking about the possibilities, until his eyes finally drifted shut.
The next morning came quickly. Shikamaru grunted and woke up abruptly as something hard came in contact with his leg.
"Wake up. We need to get moving," Sasuke said, and then turned away.
"Troublesome ass," Shikamaru muttered, and by the stiffening of Sasuke's back, he was pretty sure the other guy heard him. Slouching, Shikamaru rose up out of his sleeping bag, leaving it for Sasuke to pack away, and stood over the other lump of a sleeping bag on the ground. Apparently, Sasuke hadn't bothered to kick Naruto awake.
He squatted down and looked at the mass of fabric. "Hey, Naruto, get up."
The lump gave no sign of getting up and only wriggled. He tugged the fabric back and a bleary eyed Naruto glared at him sleepily. Her hair was spread out behind her, and she was pouting.
He tried to focus. It was too early in the morning to think about how she looked.
"Do I have to?" she asked.
He nodded shortly.
"Fiiiine," she yawned, and scrambled to her feel. "Okay, we should probably change your bandages and then get going," he said, refusing to acknowledge the thought of Naruto taking over her vest as the main reason for changing her bandages.
"Don't bother," Naruto said, lifting up the edge of the vest, and grabbing the end of the bandage and yanking on it. The bandage fell away, and revealed smooth skin. The only trace that anything had been wrong was a faint pink line on her tanned skin that seemed to be vanishing before his eyes. "Yep, all good. I'm ready to go!" she said, pumping her fist in the air.
Shikamaru shook his head. Thinking about it was just odd. No one should be able to heal that fast. And, even if Shikamaru knew about the demon within her, it still took a little to wrap his mind around it. How did her cells regenerate so quickly?
Sasuke packed away the sleeping bag, and, after a quick meal of protein bars, they set off.
"We should get there shortly," Sasuke grunted, after they had been walking for a little.
The scenery had changed. In and around Konoha, the ground was solid and covered with green grass, the trees tall and leafy. Now, the trees were more gnarled and bent with graceful drooping branches. Moss covered the ground and the bark of some of the trees. Pools of steaming water dotted the landscape.
No one spoke. They were all tense.
Then, they turned the corner, and came face to face with their final destination. The tall, dark stonewalls, with patches of bright green moss, of the Yugakure stood high in front of them. A mote of steaming hot water surrounded it completely.
Shikamaru stared at the huge wooden gate in front of them. They had no idea what was on the other side. Shikamaru sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. There was no doubt about it… This was going to be troublesome.
This is great! I have forty reviews, (thank you everyone); I'm on the favorites lists of forty people and the alerts of seventy seven, and three C2s. I must say, I didn't expect this story to be this popular, but I'm happy about it. So, I hope all of you reading enjoyed this chapter.
Ja ne,
Rumer
Chibi Tsuki Hikari: ^_^ Sorry about the cliffhanger, but the chapter got too long, so I had to split it in half. I know what you mean, there should be a whole lot more ShikaNaru fanfictions. Well, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one.
Naarano: You're welcome for the italics. And, yes, Sasuke will find out that Naruto is a girl, but that won't happen for a while, and I'm not sure if Sasuke is falling in love with Naruto in a romantic fashion. He could just be a possessive bastard. Here's the next update for you.
schnookums: It's kind of a relief that you like the fight scene. I watch a lot of action movies and stuff like that, but I haven't written many fight scenes, even if this was more like a one sided skirmish. Now, you don't have to worry about how bad her wound was. It was nasty, but she's fine. I'll keep writing so you can keep reading.
narachan: I know, cliffhangers are evil, and I hate it when people put them on their stories, but, as it turns out, they're really fun to write. Sorry about that. Tell me what you think of this chapter, yeah?
Ice Cold Steel: Yes, I did mean bad instead of had. Yes, that thing should have been italicized. And, yes, Sasuke is a little off in this chapter, but I really don't want him to be a complete asshole. He's still an emo bastard, but he might have a heart. Maybe. It's questionable. I think that Shikamaru would probably be too lazy to cook or learn how. Choji probably fed him or something. Yes, the attackers were ninjas. As for the thing about Shikamaru running to Naruto... yeah. I think I fixed it after I read your review. Finally, yes, all of my titles are going to be like that. I believe it's called alliteration. I rather like it. Sorry about the mistakes in the chapter. Anyway, as always, I really appreciate and enjoy your reviews. Thanks.
fanficreader71: It's nice that you liked the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one as well.
SweetHunniiBunnii: Ah! Did I make you worry about Naruto? Hope not. I couldn't mortally injure one of my main characters this early in the story! That would be just cruel. I'll seriously maim them later. Just joking... maybe. So, Hunnii, here was your update? Was it okay?
Lenbug: Dude... I never thought about it like that, but I have never written yaoi, not that I have anything against it. So, just to be clear. This is definitely not yaoi. Understood? Naruto is a girl... now.