So... heheh... I actually wrote this chapter a while back but I've been re-editing it over and over and over again.

I think I'm finally satisfied with it and ready to go on. I'll try not to be as slow for the next chapters!

Thank you all for your patience! Work's been pretty busy too!

"Hey Shikamaru…"

"Yeah?"

"Keep a close eye on Sora."

He stared at Reena, studying her expression carefully. Something was bothering her.

"What's making you say that?"

"Well… um… how can I say this…" she started, twisting her fingers together uncomfortably.

"If it's related to the five-tails, just go ahead."

Reena looked at the boy in confusion.

"Sora told me," he answered her silent question.

"Geez, that girl tells you way too much!" she said while rubbing the back of her neck.

Shikamaru laughed. He realized that the girl did tell him a lot. He just never really realized it.

Reena sighed. "Look. It doesn't happen often but my instincts are buzzing. I can sense that something nasty is going to happen. I just can't tell what. The best that I can get out of it is that it might be related to Sora… But it's only a maybe."

A loud crack of thunder was heard outside and with it, Shikamaru woke up. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his face with the palm of his hands.

"Geez, what's with all these nightmares?" he mumbled, annoyed.

This was the fifth time tonight that he would wake up from a nightmare. He was starting to wonder if it was because of the storm tonight. Reflecting back on his last dream, he stared thoughtfully outside. During the next flash of lightning, he remembered that Sora was actually afraid of thunder. In the darkness, he looked up at the clock waiting for the next flash of light. When he was able to see the time, he realized that it was just two o'clock in the morning. He started wondering if the girl was okay as she really did seem upset yesterday.

When he realized that there was no chance for him to fall asleep again, he started thinking about what he could do. Seeing as he was still worried for the girl, he decided to get up and get dress. He fully knew that this was crazy but maybe if Sora was somehow awake at this ungodly hour, she would appreciate his company. Just before he left his house, he had the good idea of bringing an umbrella. It was pouring outside after all!

On his way to the girl's house, he realized how alone in the streets he was. It really made him feel crazy but although it was troublesome, something kept pushing him toward the girl. Once he would know that she was okay with this storm, his conscious would probably calm down. When he left the center of the village and walked in the open space that led to Sora's house, he looked up at the sky, hoping that he wouldn't be hit by lightning.

His distracted mind soon became alert when he approached the house. Something felt wrong but with this darkness, it was hard to see anything. As he reached the front door, at his surprise, the front door was open and the ground seemed sunk down. Another flash of lightning revealed burnt marks on the front of the house, as if there had been an explosion. Quickly, he closed his umbrella and walked in a hurry.

"Sora?" he shouted in the dark.

When he didn't get an answer, he slowly walked forth until he saw some light coming from the end of the hallway further on the right. He slowed his step as he walked closer, bringing his guard up. At this point, it was obvious that something was wrong. He finally turned the corner that led to Sora's room when he noticed that someone was in the room and it wasn't the girl.

"Asuma-sensei?"

The man turned around and faced his student with an expression of distress on his face. Shikamaru looked at him, not understanding what was happening. The boy's brain was just not registering properly what was happening this early in the morning.

"Where's Sora?" he asked.

Asuma sighed. As he did so, Shikamaru felt another movement coming from behind him. Turning around to see who it was, he saw Kakashi walking forth with his dog, Pakkun.

"I can smell three men and the girl. That's it," the little dog said.

"We've been doing this for hours. There aren't any more clues. We need to go report, Asuma," added Kakashi.

"I know, I know," said Asuma, on edge, while lighting up a cigarette.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked the silver hair man since it was becoming obvious that his own sensei wouldn't answer.

"Sora Tonbo went missing last night," the man quickly answered. Then looking up at Asuma, he urged, "Kurenai went to wake the Hokage hours ago. She won't be happy that we made her wait this long."

"Yeah, let's go."

"I'm coming too," said the boy, worried.

While he got no answer, neither of the men tried to stop him from doing so. They quickly went to the Hokage's office in silence. Something happened and none of them could figure out what it was. Although some of them thought that Tsunade would have fallen asleep while waiting for them, they found her doing quite the opposite. On high alert, she was shuffling through several papers and discussing with her assistant and Kurenai while several ANBU members were waiting patiently in her office.

When the three men walked in, she looked up and huffed: "Finally! What information can you provide us beside for the scroll that Kurenai has brought me?

"There were three men. Nothing more..." answered Kakashi.

"And I can't follow them in this crazy weather," finished Pakkun that had followed them.

Tsunade sighed in frustration. She then looked severely at Shikamaru.

"Do you know anything? Any kind of details could help at this point."

Shikamaru shook his head with a serious face. "No."

Honestly, the boy didn't know what to think anymore. All he knew was that Sora was looking miserable yesterday and ran home. Now, she had disappeared and even his sensei, whom hadn't taken a break once from smoking, didn't look like he was doing so great. Even in this office, everything seemed chaotic. When the sun started coming up hours later and a knock was heard on the door, everyone stopped and held their breath. The door opened and a very soaking wet Sai walked in, looking around and trying to understand what was happening.

"Yes?" simply said Tsunade.

"I'm here to bring a report from our teams," he said walking up to her desk.

From his back pouch, he took out a scroll and a little black bingo book that the ANBU black ops travel around with. He first unrolled the scroll on her desk and said:

"These are the missing-nins that my team have identified with the aid of the other teams from both Konoha and Suna. For a reason which we haven't quite understood yet, they simply stay between our two villages and attack sporadically with absolutely no logic."

"Well that's useful," frowned the Hokage.

"However, we wanted to bring you these three to your attention," continued Sai while opening his bingo book and pointing three names on the scroll.

Tsunade looked at the scroll then at the opened booklet. "Ichiro Chishio, Jiro Chishio, and Saburo Chishio…" she mumbled. She then looked up at the boy standing in front of her desk. "The merciless brothers? From the Hidden Mist?"

Sai nodded. During their conversation, everyone with the exception of the ANBU agents had crept closer to see what discovery Sai had brought.

"That's not all," he continued. He flipped the page to the third brother in his booklet. "Reena wanted to me to bring your attention on him. Apparently, she is convinced to have seen him in Konoha."

The picture caught Shikamaru's attention.

"That man," he mumbled. Everyone turned their head to look at him. With a serious expression, he continued: "He's been selling fake scrolls in the center of the village for quite a while now."

"Selling fake scrolls? Why haven't anyone warned me about this!"

With a little voice, Shizune, who was standing behind Tsunade and holding Tonton in her arms, spoke up.

"Actually, we did get a couple of reports about this a while ago, Lady Tsunade…"

The blonde woman turned around and stared at her. After a few minutes of thinking, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. She did get a few reports here and there but hadn't given it much thought as she had been busy with a more urging matter: the missing-nins wreaking havoc between Konoha and Suna. Turning around to face everyone else, she sat up straight.

"You," she said, motioning toward the ANBU black ops, "will track down the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand ninjas that we have out there and tell them that it is time for us to take down these missing-nins. Work out a plan with them and help them in achieving it. Do also tell them to keep an eye out for Sora Tonbo. At this point, I have a reason to believe that the merciless brothers have something to do with this."

Once the ANBUs nodded and left, she turned toward Sai. "Go back to your team, Sai. Tell Reena that your team's mission has changed. You are to specifically track down Sora and the merciless brothers."

The boy nodded and left. At this point there was only Shizune, Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and of course Tsunade left. After a small silence, Kakashi spoke up.

"My nin-dogs might not be able to track anything because of this rain but I think that I should build a team and go too. If the infamous merciless brothers really have something to do with it, Reena's team won't be enough."

Tsunade crossed her hands together and rested her head on them. She thought for a few minutes and after not finding a better solution, she said:

"Fine. Who do you want to bring?"

"Kurenai and Gai."

"I'm going too," spoke up Asuma.

"No, you are not. You're not yourself right now," calmly replied Kakashi.

"I agree with Kakashi," said Tsunade with a nod.

Asuma took a deep breath and turned toward Shikamaru. "Can you wait outside for a few minutes?"

The boy looked at his sensei in surprise but then nodded and left. Walking out in the hallway, he found a corner and leaned against it. Standing there, he tried not to fall asleep. Not sleeping last night was really catching up to him.

Once he left, Asuma turned toward Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade, you need to understand. I need to go out there and find Sora."

Kurenai decided to step in. "I personally think that Asuma should come too. He's a great asset to us."

"He normally is but not in this state of mind."

This was too much for Asuma who usually remained calm all the time.

"Sora is like a daughter to me! Are you telling me to simply wait here until someone brings her dead body back?! I won't forgive myself if she dies while I could have done something!"

For a few awkward seconds, everyone stood there dumbfounded. At the end, it was up to Tsunade to decide, which she did.

"You may go with Kakashi's team."

Thankful, Asuma nodded in silence. After making some quick preparation plans, the newly formed team left the office to get ready. When Asuma walked out, he found not only Shikamaru but also the rest of his team waiting in the hallway. From the face they were making, it was clear that they heard his sudden outburst.

"We… heard what happened," said Ino uncomfortably.

"Yeah, so we came as fast as we could to see what we could do," continued Choji.

Asuma smiled.

"Well, I guess I can't doubt your team spirit then. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can do right now."

Without saying a word, Shikamaru walked past him and into the Hokage's office.

"Lady Tsunade, I want to go out there too," the boy said firmly.

At this point, the Hokage was just really annoyed.

"No. I already had to deal with your sensei; I'm not dealing with you too. You are going to wait here with your teammates until further notice!" she said with authority.

Shikamaru opened his mouth to argue but closed it back up. He perfectly knew that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. Angry, he turned around and left the room to meet his remaining two teammates. While he had gone in the Hokage's office, Asuma had left with the excuse that he had some things to look after before he left.

Ino and Choji looked at the boy in worry. Shikamaru was doing a good job at controlling his temper but his extreme seriousness made it obvious that he wasn't doing well. Not too sure what to do, the three decided to walk outside. When it became clear that no one had anything in mind, the black hair boy decided to leave without any notice, leaving his two teammates even more worried about him.

Shikamaru's only idea was to go to Sora's house. He had no clue why, but he wanted to go there. So when he walked in the house, the only thing he could think of was to go in the living room as he hadn't had the chance to check it out the first time he came by. It was a sad sight that welcomed him. The table that used to stand in the middle of the place had been pushed against the wall by something and was split in two. All the beautiful drawings that used to be on it were all over the place.

Without thinking, he bent down and picked them up one by one, looking at them carefully as he did. The last one he picked up was a very simple yet detailed drawing of a dragonfly. It was one of the few ones to have color, although there was only a light shade of blue on the insect's body. The boy smiled at the picture. Of course there would be at least one drawing of a dragonfly. Sora truly loved them. At the bottom, Shikamaru could read: 'When you are lost, follow the dragonflies. They are great guides'. Once again, the saying had no author mentioned. They were all deep and full of hidden meanings, but the quotes rarely had any author mentioned. It left the boy at bay when he tried to figure it out.

A heavy walking at the front of the house caught the boy's attention. When he turned around, he saw his sensei walking in while lighting yet another cigarette.

"Ah, you're here. I should have figured that you would," noticed the man.

"Yeah. I thought you were gone," replied Shikamaru.

"I will be leaving soon but I asked a little extra time so I could swing by here just one last time," Asuma explained. He looked around for a few minutes and then said: "it's a real mess, eh?"

Shikamaru nodded in silence. He still was afraid of his temper and everything seemed to frustrate him even more at the moment. His sensei let out a sigh and simply continued talking while staring at the boy.

"I really hope we'll find her in the next few days..."

"Why?" asked Shikamaru with a hint of curiosity.

"It would be a very horrible way to spend her birthday."

"Her birthday?"

Shikamaru thought back through the few years that team 10 had been together. The girl had never mentioned her birthday once. Never. With a new wave of anger washing through him, he asked:

"When is it?"

"October 28th."

This was in three days. How come he was only starting know her more now? That simple thought made the boy let out a frustrated sigh. At his reaction, Asuma had a compassionate smile.

"It's not your fault. She's not the kind to yell it everywhere, anymore. She keeps a lot of things to herself now."

The boy simply looked down at the drawings in his hands. Thinking about what his sensei said, a question formed in his mind.

"Asuma-sensei. Why did you say 'anymore' and 'now'?"

"Oh, that."

The man took the time to take a puff out of his cigarette.

"She wasn't always like this. She used to be more... cheerful and attached to life before the big accident."

"Accident?"

"She woke up one stormy morning to find the ANBUs at her door, bearer of bad news: her parents died during their mission. The news threw her in a terrible furry. During the next few weeks, the only time any of us saw her was at her parents' funeral. Beside for that time, she stayed in her house, doors and windows shut."

"Just like before my birthday," realized Shikamaru.

That explained why Asuma had seemed so worried about her way of acting. With a nod, the man continued.

"Except that time, she didn't trash her house."

"Huh?"

"When her parents' last will had been found, no one would volunteer to bring the document to her. Who wants to face a child who just lost the two most precious persons in her life?"

The man made a pause. He could see that the boy never heard this story which surprised him since the story was well known for a while, especially by Shikaku himself who had been a very good friend to Sora's mother. Telling this story was difficult but with a deep breath, he continued regardless.

"At the end, the Third Hokage's himself decided to visit the girl and bring the documents. Before doing so, however, he looked at it in order to know what he was bringing to Sora. There was three letters: one for her, one for me, and one for the Hokage's. Respecting the parents' final wish, he opened only the one addressed to him. In the letter, it asked for a few things and one of them was for me to be present when Sora would open her's."

"Okay, I admit that I'm not following you. Why was one of them addressed to you and why would you need to be there?" interrupted Shikamaru.

"Because Sora's parents chose me as her godfather."

"You're her godfather?!"

This was more a realization then a question. It explained many many things that had seemed strange, one of them being why Asuma had lost his temper back in the Hokage's office and another being why Sora had called upon him after the incident with Daichi.

"Can I continue?" asked Asuma.

"Yes, sorry," answered the boy while looking down apologetically.

The man chuckled lightly. Then, with his eyes fixed on the dragonfly drawing that Shikamaru was holding, he continued:

"When the Hokage and I went to her house, I admit that I was a bit worried about the state that Sora would be in. The Hokage, who didn't seemed worried, simply knocked on the door. Seeing as we didn't get any answer, he asked nicely if we could come in as we had something to give her from her parents. We had to wait a few minutes but at the end, she opened the door. The girl that stood in front of us was in a horrible state. Her eyes were red from crying so much and her skin was covered with cuts. Inside the house was in an even more horrible state. It was clear that Sora had let her feelings out and I realized that her cuts were from things that had shattered from being thrown around. The Hokage, however, remained calmed and even had given her a look of compassion. The only thing he said was if we could go in the living room. She didn't answer, didn't even bother to look at us, but she still walked us in the living room. When we sat down, he explained the will and then gave us out letters. My letter was filled with things to know about Sora; her habits, her likes, her dislikes, her personality, her ability to learn and grow quickly, everything was included. At the end, it begged me to take good care of her as I was her only family left. There was also another part about giving Sora a certain scroll when she would be ready, but I'm afraid that doing so might have caused her more harm than good."

"And Sora's?"

"She never showed her letter to anyone but whatever was written in it, it helped her move on. She did later talk to me a bit about it but just part of it. Apparently, they pushed her to always go for what she believed and that one day, she would be strong. They always compared her to a dragonfly, saying that she was shy and invisible but beautiful and admirable when seen. I guess that's why she's so attached to dragonflies; they remind her not only of who she is but also of her parents. She wears proudly her family's symbol for a reason."

"She changed after that day?" asked Shikamaru to bring him back in tracks.

"Yes. I helped her fix what she had broken in her house and even stayed with her at first. But then she grew much more independent and she asked to live alone, believing that she could pull around her own weight, which is also why she doesn't tell anyone about being my goddaughter. I've very rarely seen her cry after that. I guess she just decided to become stronger and crying was simply not in her plans."

Shikamaru looked down thoughtfully at the drawings. If he wanted to be with her them he would need to learn more about her. With a sigh, he promised himself that he would definitely work on it once she was back...if she came back alive. That last part made his stomach clenched. She needed to come back alive.

When they left the house, Shikamaru turned toward his sensei and said:

"Good luck and... please bring her back alive."

With a smile, Asuma answered: "Trust me. I wouldn't want it any other way. I'll also see what we can do to get you, Ino, and Choji to come and help us. I know that you three probably hate staying idle here."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. With a last wave, Asuma left. Still holding the drawings, Shikamaru decided to go home. Maybe sleep would help him beat with this situation a bit better.

That would be it! What could Shikamaru do? Stay tuned!

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