Shikamaru stared up at the ceiling of his room.

It had been days since the last assassination attempt on Kotone's life at the training ground, and now it was her birthday. He knew there was going to be another attempt on her life today. It was the perfect opportunity. There would be large crowd, people milling around everywhere, loud noises, and tons of places to hide and blend in with the crowd.

Takeshi had tried to cancel the celebration, not caring about the fact that it would alert the civilians that something was wrong, but Shikamaru had managed to convince him to let everything go as scheduled. Shikamaru had everything planned. They were having a sort of parade through the village, and Kotone would be in it. Naruto would be right by her side the whole time. Shikamaru would be following them from either the rooftops or moving through the crowd. Naruto would alert him in she saw anything and protect Kotone in the event that someone tried to attack.

He in turn would take down the assassins if, make that when, Naruto saw them. It was simple, but he knew it would work.

At the moment, he was waiting for Naruto and Kotone to finish dressing so that they could start. He turned his head, glancing out the window at the clouds moving by and let his mind wander. If everything went according to plan, then the mission would be finished, and they'd be going home the next day, back to Konoha.

He frowned. He should be happy about that, or at least relieved. But that meant that he wouldn't get to spend as much time with Naruto. How would things change? Would they even hang out at all? There was another thing that was bothering him. Well, not exactly bothering him; in fact, he liked it, but it was confusing. And he was a genius for Kami's sake!

Naruto had been sleeping in his bed every night since she had come in with the shogi board. They stayed up talking for a while, and then she just slept there, cuddled up against him. What the heck did it mean? He felt like pulling his hair out, except that would be too bothersome. It had to mean that she liked him, right? But she'd said she liked him as a friend. A friend. Not as a potential romantic interest. And he was too cautious to ask her. He liked how things were at the moment, and he didn't want to ruin it.

He banged his head on the headboard. Who was he kidding? He wasn't being cautious; he was scared of what would happen. Emotions were so troublesome…

A knock sounded at the door, and then a moment later it slid open, revealing Naruto.

Shikamaru's eyes widened. She looked… beautiful.

She wore a pale orange kimono with blue dragonflies on it with a dark orange obi. Her hair was loose, and it looked like Kotone had managed to make her wear a little make-up, emphasizing her large blue eyes and cupid's bow lips.

She shifted uneasily under his gaze. "I didn't want to wear one, but Kotone found this one in orange. She was pouting, too. Do you like it? I'm not really used to wearing this sort of thing."

Shikamaru nodded hurriedly, "You look great. I mean… wow." He looked at her closer. Was she blushing? That had to mean that she liked him, right?

She moved farther into the room, somehow managing to look like she was gliding as she moved, and said, "Are you ready for this? Kotone's waiting for us."

He nodded, rolling off of the bed, and tried to stop staring at her. She just looked so beautiful. Apparently, he was moving too slow for her liking, because she grabbed his hand and dragged him from the room. "Come on! Everything's scheduled, and we don't want to keep anyone waiting!" He ignored her scolding and tried to ignore how soft her hands were with much more limited success. Man, he had it bad. He had to get it together.

Kotone was waiting for them by the door, looking very pretty in a soft green kimono with golden sparrows on it. She shot Shikamaru a look after glancing at Naruto and his joined hands but didn't say anything about it.

Naruto elbowed Shikamaru when he didn't greet Kotone immediately. "Don't you have something to say?"

"Happy birthday, Kotone," he muttered half-heartedly.

Kotone beamed at him but fiddled with her sleeve nervously. "Thank you, Shikamaru. Now, are you all r-ready?" She was holding up well, considering everything. It was her birthday, and she was knowingly walking into an assassination attempt with her life in the hands of two people who she had met only a couple of says before. It was just a little nerve-wracking.

"Yes, are you ready, Shikamaru? Everything will be fine?"

They all turned around to see Takeshi standing there. The man quickly moved to his daughter's side and wrapped an arm around her protectively.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes. Everything will be fine." He knew he shouldn't be saying that. There was a chance that everything was going to go horribly wrong, but the man looked like he needed someone to tell him everything would be fine. Ugh… when had he started caring so much? Naruto must be rubbing off on him.

Takeshi nodded and opened the door, stepping out with his daughter. Naruto and Shikamaru followed behind them closely down the stairs and to the front of the building.

Right before they left the lobby, Naruto tugged on Shikamaru's hand, making him stop.

"What?"

She looked up at him for a moment, and then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly before pulling back.

"What was that for?" he asked, feeling a mixture of confusion, happiness, and then some more confusion.

"Good luck, of course," she said, grinning broadly and hurrying after Kotone, leaving a very confused, and slightly aroused, genius in her wake.

By the time he got himself together and got outside, he found a group of people waiting. All of them dressed up in various colorful outfits. He recognized some of the shinobi from the training ground as well. A worried looking Hisoka was hovering near Kotone, and Naruto was on her other side.

Then, they started off. The streets had been decorated with banners and flowers, and booths had been set up in the wider streets. It was a true celebration, and Kotone was clearly a favorite of the village.

Shikamaru watched from the sidelines as the shinobi used jutsus and their athletic abilities to actually entertain the civilians. He knew a lot of ninjas who wouldn't even consider using their jutsus as entertainment devices for civilians. Clearly, that wasn't the general consensus here.

He wove his way through the crowd, keeping an eye on Kotone and Naruto. As a ninja finished a jutsu and the birds he had created out of water burst in a spray of mist that created a rainbow, the procession reached the center of town.

Kotone, Naruto, Nagisa, and several other girls dressed in kimonos took up the middle of the square, and started to dance. It was the perfect opportunity to kill Kotone. There were literally hundreds of places to hide, and, since the crowd was at the edges of the square, it was a clear shot to Kotone.

He just stood there, eyes taking in every detail from under half-closed lids. Shikamaru watched the girls dance, precise and graceful in their movements.

If it was his birthday, he'd just want to lie around and watch clouds all day, but apparently, it was a tradition for the daughter of the head of the council to dance for the village on her birthday, and Kotone actually liked to dance. So troublesome… but, as long at he didn't have to do it, it was alright.

Shikamaru watched as Naruto opened a fan with a flick of her wrist.

"Are you ready, Shikamaru?" Her voice came through the link of their earrings clearly.

"Yes. Do you see anyone?"

While she danced, Naruto's hand flew out, and her fan pointed towards the top story of a building at an open window. "Someone's in there," she said. "I can see their chakra. It's the perfect place to attack from, too, if a little obvious."

Shikamaru quickly moved through the crowd and scaled the side of a building in two jumps. Then, he entered the room next to the one occupied, made his way to the hallway, and almost burst out laughing.

The door to the room with the assassin wasn't even shut all the way. If someone walked by, they would be able to see. He could see the silhouette of the person as they stared out the window, most likely focused on Kotone's dancing form.

Silently, Shikamaru moved closer, bringing his hands together, and whispered, "Kageshibari no Jutsu." He watched as the shadows, his shadows, spread across the floor until they reached the person. Now he had them.

"What the heck?" he heard the person exclaim in a high-pitched voice. Definitely a girl.

He straightened up, and watched as she did the exact same thing. Then, he turned sideways, and then bent backwards as quickly as he could. It didn't hurt him, since he was standing in the empty hallway, but the girl was standing with her back to a wall. With a loud thump, the back of her head connected with the wall. She slid to the ground, unconscious.

He almost smiled. That wasn't so troublesome after all. He moved into the room, keeping an eye out for traps. There were none. He made his way over to the girl and crouched down, peering at her.

She looked young, maybe his age, maybe a little younger, with curling dark brown hair that ended just above her bust and delicate tanned features. She was dressed in civilian clothing, but on the window sill, right where she had been waiting before, were two throwing weapons just like the one that he'd found embedded in the tree trunk.

Well, now he knew who had been trying to kill Kotone.

Then, he felt the presence of someone behind him, and jerked his head to the side as a kunai flew by right were his head had been before, leaving a scratch on his cheek. He turned around and was met with the sight of two men standing in the doorway, weapons gleaming in their hands.

"What the hell did you do to Hikari, you bastard!" the shorter one snarled, stepping forward.

Bastard? Now that wasn't nice. Such a comment should be reserved for Sasuke, who actually deserved them.

Shikamaru whipped out his tanto knife, which had been strapped to his back under his jacket, and pressed it against the girl's, Hikari's, unconscious throat. "I wouldn't move any farther if I were you," Shikamaru said, "At least, not it you want to get her back again… with her head still intact."

Yes, it wasn't the nicest or the most charming thing to say, but it got the message across.

Both of the men stopped, and it gave Shikamaru a moment to take in their appearances. They weren't men at all. One of them might be called that, but the other was just a kid.

The older boy looked around eighteen with his messy brown hair and bright green eyes. He was tall and muscular as well. The younger one couldn't have been older than fourteen and looked like a copy of the older one, except that his hair had a reddish tint, and it was more unruly than Naruto's when she was in her guy form.

There was one more obvious fact. They both looked like the girl whose throat he was currently threatening to split. They were related. A family, perhaps? Well, that gave him even more leverage over them.

There was one more thing he was pretty sure of. They might be skilled, but they were not really professionals. The open door. The way they had accosted him when they found him next to Hikari's body. The fear in their eyes at the moment.

Quickly, and before they could do anything else, Shikamaru repeated his jutsu from earlier, and less than a second later, they had been caught by his shadows. The shorter one started yelling immediately, and Shikamaru decided to take care of him first. He turned to his side and punched the air with his tanto knife. The two boys mimicked his moments exactly, the kid punching air, and the older one punching the kid in the head.

The kid crumpled to the ground. Then, Shikamaru used his other hand, which was empty, and hit himself in the head. He might have a slight headache later, but the other guy had a kunai in that hand, and the blunt end smashed into his head. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he joined his teammates in unconsciousness.

Shikamaru released his jutsu and surveyed the three people in front of him. Not so troublesome after all. Kami, he loved that jutsu.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto's voice came through the chakra earring. "What happened? Are you okay?"

That emotion in her voice… was that worry? It was, and a lot of it.

"Shikamaru! Answer me. I felt your chakra spike. What happened?"

Brushing off the pleased feeling that Naruto was so worried about him, Shikamaru said, "I'm fine. Everything's taken care of. I got all three of them. There might be more, but I don't think so. Until we know otherwise, tell Hisoka to stick to Kotone. You stay with her, too. Can you tell Kazuo or someone to come here and help me transfer them to a interrogation room?"

He felt a wave of relief wash over him and realized that it wasn't his; it was Naruto's. "So you're okay? And you got them? That's great! I'll get someone to help you, and I'll see you later."

Moments later, Kazuo entered the room, via the window and whistled when he saw the bodies on the floor. "They're still alive, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, finding it too troublesome to speak.

"Great. Hey did you see how hot Naru-chan looked in her Kimono? I can't believe someone like you got her as a girlfriend. No offense meant, man." By the way Kazuo was smirking, offense was definitely meant.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth and said, "Kazuo… I didn't get to maim anyone, and I still have some blood lust. Are you volunteering?"

He must have looked homicidal, because Kazuo backed off. "No! I like myself unbloodied, thank you very much. Now, who's going to carry who? Tell you what, I'll carry the girl, and you can carry the other two."

Shikamaru looked from Kazuo to the girl and back to Kazuo. He wouldn't try anything on her, right? I mean, she was unconscious. Kazuo wouldn't grope her… right?

Shikamaru stooped down and scooped up the girl, throwing her over his shoulder, and then did the same with the young kid. They hung there, limp and unyielding like sacks of rice. "I'll take these two," he said, leaving Kazuo to carry the older boy, guessing that he probably didn't want to grope him.

He was right. Kazuo followed him, grumbling about his burden.

It didn't take too long to get to where they were going, which was a the building where they had met Takeshi when they had first arrived, but instead of going into the nice office, they went into another section, one will windowless concrete rooms that were unfriendly to say the least.

With Kazuo's help, the three were quickly bound and set in chairs. Shikamaru and Kazuo left the room and watched their prisoners stir from the other side of a pane of one way glass.

It was weird. The whole situation was weird, and he couldn't shake the feeling that the whole fiasco was far from over. Then Hikari, and the two boys who Shikamaru took to be her brothers or at least close relatives, began to wake up.

Shikamaru watched as they came back to consciousness.

Wide eyed, they stared around the room but surprisingly didn't start to panic. They just sat there, faces stony.

Great, they were probably going to be troublesome to interrogate.

The door behind him opened, and Shikamaru turned to see Naruto, Kotone, and Takeshi enter the room.

Naruto rushed up to him. "Shika! You're okay? What happened to your cheek," she asked, running her finger over the shallow cut. He jerked his head in the direction of the three captives.

Her eyes widened. "That's them? They're younger than I expected. Oh, can I interrogate them? I didn't get to fight or anything! Please?"

Shikamaru blinked at her. That was unexpected, but then again, it was also Naruto, who might have been the definition of unexpected. "Sure," he shrugged.

Kotone and Takeshi were standing close together staring at the three ninja currently tied to their chairs. "Is that them?" Takeshi asked.

"Yes."

Kotone let out a breath of air. "But why would they want to kill me?"

"Most likely they were hired to kill you by someone who found it too troublesome to kill you themselves," Shikamaru said, opening the door of the interrogation room. "But that's what we're going to find out."

Naruto entered the room, and Shikamaru closed the door after them.

The three stared at Shikamaru and Naruto.

Naruto smiled at them and gave a little wave while Shikamaru leaned against the wall. "Hi, I'm Naruto. It's nice to meet you all," she grinned.

Shikamaru had the feeling that this was going to be a very unorthodox interrogation. The two boys and the girl exchange confused glances. He could tell what they were thinking, approximately at least. What the hell? Probably summed it up rather well.

Naruto was still dressed in her Kimono, and she was smiling. "I just have a few questions for you guys, and if you don't answer, I'll be forced to skin you all alive with a blunt kunai. If that doesn't work, then I will make you to swallow an explosive tag, causing excruciating pain and internal hemorrhaging. I don't really want to do that, though, since I might get blood on my kimono. I guess I could use a fire jutsu to slowly char your skin and burn it to the bone, but then I might burn my kimono… At least I'd be able to wash the blood out if I skinned you alive."

The three had turned pale.

Shikamaru stared at Naruto. That was some of the creepiest stuff he'd ever heard coming out of her mouth. She was talking about it like it was the weather or she was deciding what to eat.

Naruto's voice came over the chakra earring. "How am I doing? I'm trying to channel my inner Anko," she said gleefully.

"You're doing a good job," he said. A very good job. In fact, it was almost too good. Creepy.

"So, do you any of you want to tell me something?" Naruto asked, still smiling.

All of them stayed silent.

"Maybe Hikari would tell you something," Shikamaru said.

Naruto stepped closer to the girl. "So, your name's Hikari? What a cute name. Now, can you tell me why you were trying to kill my friend?"

Hikari kept stubbornly silent.

Naruto drifted away from her and over to the older boy, running her hand over his shoulders. "You still don't want to tell me? You know, you aren't being very helpful. I wonder… would you be more helpful if I cut off his ear?" Hikari still stayed silent, and Naruto moved until she was standing directly behind the youngest boy. She gently grabbed his chin from behind. "I could snap his neck so easily."

All of the blood drained from his face, leaving him deathly pale.

Naruto drifted back over to Hikari and leaned over her, faces just inches away. "Now, will you tell me what I want to know? I don't want to have to hurt anyone, but I will if you don't give me what I want." Naruto leaned in even closer, and Hikari swallowed loudly. "Hikari…" Naruto practically purred, "I don't want to have to do this the hard way, but I will if I have to."

Shikamaru stared and then stared some more. Was it wrong to be slightly turned on by this? Most likely. But, seriously, it was like he was watching some sort of BDSM story or video that Kakashi would have. Naruto was still in her Kimono, standing over Hikari, with their faces very close together, and Naruto… Okay, she probably wasn't meaning to, but she sounded seductive. There was also the fact that Hikari's face was redder than a tomato.

Naruto's hand touched Hikari's cheek and trailed down her neck. "Tell you what, Hi-ka-ri… If you tell me everything… I'll make sure that none of you are harmed."

Shikamaru frowned. Naruto didn't really have the authority to promise that.

For the first time, Hikari spoke, her voice high pitched and nervous, "Do you promise?"

"I swear on my honor as a shinobi and on my precious people that neither you nor your friends will be hurt," Naruto said solemnly.

Hikari let out a deep breath. "Okay… I'll tell you what I know."

Naruto straightened up and her usual grin spread across her face. "Really? Great! I didn't really want to have to hurt you guys," she admitted. She grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and plopped down in it. "So, why were you guys trying to kill Kotone?"

Hikari still seemed to be reeling from the sudden personality change in Naruto and apparently was still trying to will down her blush. She glanced at the other two boys and then cleared her throat. "I… I guess I should start at the beginning. My name is Hikari, and these are my brothers. My older brother, Keita, and my younger brother, Shota. We were chased out of our last village because of our kekkei genkai. N-not that we can control it all the time. I think it's called… Hyoton."

Shikamaru's head jerked upright. What? Had he heard that right? Hyoton? That was what Haku's kekkei genkai had been. But wasn't Haku supposedly the last one with it? Hadn't the rest of his clan been killed? If Hikari was telling the truth… Shikamaru glanced at Naruto's face, at the faint darkening of her eyes as she remembered Haku.

Hikari continued talking, "I mean, our grandfather taught us some of the hand seals and told us about it, but we had to do it in secret in case someone found out."

Her words were flowing quickly now, stumbling over one another like she'd been wanting to say this for years.

"He told us that we couldn't tell anyone. That we might be the last ones who could do it, but we'd get in trouble if anyone found out. He made us promise that we'd never let anyone find out. I was only ten. We were so much younger. I didn't realize what he meant. I didn't know! Keita and I were practicing one day with Shota watching, and someone must have seen us. When we went home, they were all waiting, and grandfather was dead on the floor. There was blood everywhere."

Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she started to rock back and forth.

"They tried to kill us. Called us monsters. Demons. Said we deserved to die. They threw rocks and bottles and knives… and then they came at us with the swords and spears. Whatever they could find. They hit Keita with a tree branch, but he still managed to save us. He made ice come up between us and them, and then we ran and ran and ran. Shota was only six. I was ten, and Keita was twelve, but everything was gone. We never stopped running. We had some training as a ninja, though, what grandfather had shown us, and we started doing jobs for people. Painting houses, stealing, protection… killing. That's how we wound up here. We were hired to kill your friend, Kotone. He sought us out in another town and hired us. We've been trying to kill her. I mean…"

She glanced downwards and then at Naruto.

"I didn't want to! She was different than everyone else we'd killed before. She wasn't bad! But it was a job, so we had to try. Keita tried first, but he's not that good at throwing weapons; and he could never get close enough for hand to hand combat. I tried to kill her in her sleep, but that failed, too. Then Shota tried to kill her at the training grounds using my weapon, and finally I was going to kill her today. I think I would have done it, too."

Tears were spilling from her eyes and leaving shining tracks down her cheeks.

Shikamaru swallowed, feeling a hard lump in his throat. This just wasn't right. None of it was.

Keita finally spoke up as his sister fell silent. "Everything she said is the truth. I swear." He hesitated for a moment and then bowed his head, throwing his pride away. "Please have mercy on us. I cannot say that I deserve it, but please have mercy on my siblings."

"What the hell, Keita? Stop acting like a girl! If we're going to die, at least do it with your manliness intact!"

Shikamaru blinked. The person to yell had been Shota, the youngest, who was currently glaring at his big brother for trying to plead for his life?

"Shut up, you little brat and be grateful for once! I'm trying to save your life," Keita growled back at him, eye twitching.

Well, wasn't this an interesting family dynamic? Totally dysfunctional.

"Did I ask you to? No! If I'm going to die, then I'm going to die with my head held high and my pride intact!"

"It won't do you much good because you'll be dead, you little twerp!"

"Guys, can you stop fighting for once?" Hikari pleaded.

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, who met his gaze. He could tell what she was asking. What the heck is wrong with them? He shrugged and said over the chakra earring, "They're more dysfunctional than team seven."

In response she stuck her tongue out at him and then turned back to the bickering siblings. "Hey, guys? I told you all that I'd make sure you weren't hurt, so you don't really need to worry about dying."

That stopped them in their tracks.

"Oh… I kinda forgot about that," Keita admitted.

Shikamaru sweat-dropped. Of all the things to forget about… Didn't that seem a little important? At least, it would be to him. Maybe these guys were nuts? Or missing a lot of brain cells.

Shikamaru stepped forward and asked the one question that really needed to be answered. "Who hired you all?"

Hikari answered. "He didn't say his name, but he was tall, with blonde hair and brown eyes." She clearly wasn't saying everything.

"And?" he prompted.

"And I'm pretty sure he was using a henge."

That was only to be expected. What sort of idiot would go hire assassins as themselves? "Could you recognize his voice or his chakra signature?"

"Yeah, I think I could. He had this weird habit, too. He kept touching the bridge of his nose or something, like he expected something to be there," Shota piped up.

Like glasses…

Naruto looked at Shikamaru. "You know who it is, don't you?"

He nodded, "Yeah. I think so." He turned to Hikari, Shota, and Keita. "If we untie you guys, you aren't going to try and kill us, are you? Because that would be really troublesome, and you'd probably die." The tone of his voice said that he probably couldn't care less if they died or not.

They hurriedly nodded and promised, "We won't try to escape or anything like that."

Naruto unbound them from the chairs, and they stood up stiffly.

Keita asked, "So, what now?"

Shikamaru let a small grin form on his face. "Now, we're going to go get the bastard who hired you, and you are going to identify him. After that, we'll probably maim him a little."

They still looked unnerved at his uncaring tone, but Naruto was nodding along and cracking her knuckles.

Shikamaru opened the door of the interrogation room. He just knew this was going to be troublesome, but it had to be done.

Dun Dun DUN! A little dramatic, no? To any of you who are disappointed that there wasn't a huge fight and violence scene... Sorry about that, but I didn't feel like it. There will be some blood and gore in the next chapter, though. I think by this point most of you know who the bastard who wants Kotone dead is, right? Right? Maybe? For some reason, the chapters seem to be getting longer as well... Huh, I wonder why. Maybe it's because I want to finish up this arc and get back to Konoha... Anyway, I hope you all like the chapter.

Ja ne,

Rumer Hasit

MetallicSilver: Arigatou! I am very glad you reviewed, and I am glad you like my story. That's great to hear, or read. I don't really mind that you didn't sign in, but I've been told that I shouldn't respond to reviews at the end of chapters, so would it be too much work to sign in if you review again? On to matters of the plot... You think it's Ozuru's aid, Katsutoshi? Has anyone ever told you you're quite intelligent?

hana-chan: I know. Naruto is so sweet and cute, although I'm not sure that she's really quite as clueless of Shikamaru's feelings as she acts. It's good to hear that you loved the last chapter, though. I hope you enjoy this one as well.

Rianne: Refreshing and well written? What wonderful things to say. And it's addictive as well? Well, that makes it sound even better. I apologize that it took so long to get this chapter up, but I've been preoccupied with chemistry. Anyway, I appreciate your review, and I'm just glad that you enjoy my story.

ElleLazarus: You read my story on your way to school on your iphone? On that tiny screen? Wow. You must like it. Thank you for telling me that you love it, that it makes you go "SQUEE!", and that you'll continue to read it. It always feels great to get reviews like yours. And, about the grammar, I know there are a few mistakes, but I will try to keep down the errors.