The rain pattered down against the earth. Massive puddles, tinged an off-green, surrounded the field.
Kōju approached through the rain, her outline muddled and dark. "Sakura-chan?"
"He's gone. Naruto's gone." Sakura's hand slammed into the ground. "Again. Again, my fighting was useless. Everything I went for, everything I wanted to achieve!"
Kōju's eyes narrowed. "Stand upright."
"But—it's my failure!" Sakura's voice shook.
"You haven't failed until you declare defeat. The Sakura I know is stronger than that—strong enough to fight to the death for what she believes in. A winner is someone who gets up afterward."
"I don't have that right." Sakura drew in a deep sob. "I don't have that right to speak and talk about what I want, not anymore."
Kōju's brow furrowed.
"I failed him greatly at a moment when he needed me most. I can't describe my actions as anything more than my own personal failure." Sakura gritted her teeth. Her hands clasped together. "Damn it, I'm afraid. I'm afraid what's going to happen to me after this. I'm afraid of losing him."
"Everyone's afraid. I'm scared too. More so, because I've seen what they do to jinchūriki when they catch them." Kōju paused. "I know how horrifying that process is. I know it through my own knowledge and understanding. But because of that, I'm willing to get up again. Do you understand? Do you get it? I really want to help, but I can't guarantee anything!"
"I'm sorry. I just—I just—" The air darkened. Sakura rubbed her tears away, the rain running down her face.
"You're afraid. I understand. I get it." Kōju paused. "I've been afraid plenty of times. I was afraid of what I was doing with my heart, my soul, my desires—I was afraid of losing them. But you can't let yourself get sucked into that feeling. Do you understand? It's not a situation where I can say that I am fully on board with your feelings, but you can't give up, either."
"Right. Yeah." Sakura looked downward. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her hands. What am I doing here? I don't get it. I did everything right, yet somehow this came up.
No colors appeared in the sky, darkening.
"Come on." Kōju caught Sakura's shoulder, drawing her along the side. "Come on. We're going to try to talk to Tsunade."
The colors faded to an even dark blue-grey, lacking the colors.
Kōju sighed heavily. She looked toward Sakura again. "I'm sorry."
Sakura nodded. "I know."
A silence fell between the two.
The pair eventually arrived by the front gate.
"I can take him! Give me the authority to handle this!" Shikamaru ordered.
"You're losing your temper, and it's not doing you any good. Calm down!" Tsunade replied.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"Tsunade-san." Sakura, teary, rubbed her eyes.
Tsunade frowned.
"Naruto's been taken."
Shikamaru's face turned white.
"You're sure?"
"I saw him dragged out a window," Sakura replied briefly.
Tsunade nodded.
"Are you going to be all right?"
Tsunade shrugged her shoulders. "The fallout will be a problem, but I'll work something out. Above all else I have to make sure that we don't get a repeat of what happened with Gaara."
Sakura gritted her teeth.
Kōju patted Sakura's shoulder.
Sakura looked downward.
"What's the plan?" Shikamaru demanded shortly.
"Reluctantly, I must turn it over to you. You have to recover him." Tsunade paused. "Shikamaru, I'm giving you authorization to do as you like with your team."
"You're sure?" Kōju asked nervously.
"Kakashi's still moping and Nōtō won't get involved in this situation." Tsunade paused. "Just promise me that you'll keep it together for long enough to get through this?"
"No promises. My friend is also kidnapped. Running on a surplus of adrenaline without the brains to go with it. Particularly right now." Shikamaru leaned backward. "We're best friends, you know. But I'll do my best. If I lose my head here, I'm going to lose him too, so a little emotion is guaranteed."
"Hey, Naruto!" a loud voice called up the side of the mountain.
Naruto groaned. "What is it?" he demanded, rubbing the rag along the red lipstick on the Third Hokage's face.
The black-haired boy rubbed his hair, his ponytail bobbing slightly. "Class was a drag, so I decided to come out here and see how you're doing. How's it going?" he asked, sitting down on a nearby rock.
"Terrible," Naruto replied, wincing as he scooted to the other side of the statue. "I've got one of those headaches from not sleeping; someone feeds the migrating geese well." He pointed meaningfully at green stains in his hair.
"Oh." The boy glanced upward, grimacing. "Want some help getting that out?" he asked.
"It's fine." Naruto sighed quietly. "I'll fix it up tomorrow."
"Tomorrow may be a bit troublesome," the boy conceded, studying the stone faces. "You remember, right?"
"Sure. Wednesday."
"Exam day," the boy corrected, rubbing the back of his head.
Naruto's eyes widened. "What?!" he demanded in shock. His foot slipped. "Uwah!" he screamed, tumbling downward.
Sighing, the boy held out his arms, catching Naruto in them. "You don't mind if I take over, right? I'm pretty good at not being noticed, and it's too much of a drag to study anyway."
Naruto sighed. "Fine, Shikamaru. Though I probably won't study either."
"Sleep's good enough." Shikamaru reached upward, taking the rag and balancing on the stone. "Just get some sleep."
Red paint descended into the lake.
Naruto turned away. "Thanks, Shikamaru," he declared, knowing that his friend would do a thorough job despite his complaining.
Shikamaru grinned. "Hey, no problem."
"I don't have the option of playing around. I gotta pull it off here. I have to make sure. I have to make sure of this much—it's necessary for me to defeat this opponent. If I don't do it, no one will." Shikamaru's hands briefly fell into the pattern of a shōgi player.
"But you understand the importance of what we're talking about?" Tsunade paused. "This isn't just Naruto we're talking about. It's me too. If we don't get him back, I'm probably getting voted out of office. It's not the kind of situation where I can say 'sorry, I lost our jinchūriki'."
Shikamaru gritted his teeth. "I understand. I assure you I'll figure out some way to deal with this situation myself."
Tsunade nodded. She exhaled heavily. "Then I'll see you once again someday, beyond the pale of this darkness." She cleared her throat.
"Where are you going to be?"
"I'm going to be negotiating with Hidden Cloud to make sure that we're not sent into the worst kind of situation." Tsunade glanced toward Sakura. "Take care of yourself," she said finally.
The sky darkened. The moon covered the ground in bright blue light of shadows and cold nightmare.
Treachery
The door glimmered, a faint moon light pouring through the window. The chess board trembled.
Trench knives behind him, Shikamaru tilted his arm to the side. A knight piece shook in his trembling fingers.
A single candle lit the board.
A lithe form approached from behind. "Hey." Two lean, tough arms wrapped around Shikamaru's neck.
Shikamaru groaned. "Temari-chan, I'm not really in the mood." His voice darkened as he recalled his problem.
Becoming more serious, Temari sat down across from Shikamaru, releasing his neck. "I heard about Asuma and Naruto. I came as quick as I could."
Shikamaru nodded. He touched the knight piece once more. He stared at the board again, regarding the pair of pieces. Hi and Kaku.
"I see your dilemma. You want to avenge your sensei but you don't want to die, either." Temari scrutinized the board. "I'm not as smart as you, but a strategy depending on only one piece can never succeed, right?"
Shikamaru said nothing.
"You have to rely on multiple pieces. Like." Temari moved the pawn piece between the bishop and the rook one space forward. "If this one is promoted, it can take out Hi or Kaku."
Shikamaru's eyes snapped open. "Then, you're saying I need more people to help me?"
"Probably. The qualities of a character like you can be useful, but you can't win a shōgi game with just one type of piece, right?" Temari paused. "The key to winning isn't power. It's versatility."
Shikamaru nodded. "That's right." He studied the pieces. "If it's her we might have a chance. She thinks the same way as I do, so if she picks up on something to win."
Temari grinned. "Speaking of which. Hope you don't mind, but I talked to the current Kazekage about permission for a marriage between clans."
Shikamaru blinked. "Eh?"
"You're going to have to take responsibility for those letters you keep sending me!" Temari went on.
Shikamaru's ears flushed.
Treachery
The group of figures gathered around the table. Soyokaze lightly jostled Tayuya's shoulder while crowding toward the map. Sai glanced toward the other figures around the table. Both Chōji and Ino stood wordlessly behind Shikamaru, looking over his shoulder.
"What's the plan, Shikamaru?" Tayuya asked briefly.
"At a guess, Naruto's been collected with the intention of turning him in for bounty. The most probable people involved with this are Kakushiro and Hidan, according to the info Genma gave us." Shikamaru paused. "That information was invaluable, because it gives us the skill to kill those two."
Tayuya blinked. "Why's that?"
"We know their weaknesses. We also know what they're after now. That's good enough." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. He reached forward, his hand tapping the pieces together. "Here." He placed his finger against the pieces. "Different pieces have different strengths. Kakushiro can be beaten by an assembly of weaker pieces."
Tayuya's brow furrowed.
"Tayuya, I'll be placing Hidan's neutralization in your hands alone. Genjutsu is the gift that you seek. You need to stop him in his tracks." Shikamaru glanced around the table. "Myself, Ino, and Chōji will deal with Kakushiro. Sasuke, Kōju, Soyokaze, and Sai, you'll be recovering Naruto directly. That should handle the situation."
Tayuya nodded briefly. "No worries. That fucking Jashin worshiper is going to wish he never met me."
Sasuke frowned. Her eyes narrowed briefly. "You're sure you can handle her?"
"If I can't I'll stop her long enough for you to bring back Naruto." Shikamaru paused. "She didn't attack the whole of Leaf head-on, though, so she almost certainly has some weakness I can find and exploit."
"I'll use any force necessary to recover Naruto." Sai spoke in a voice so whisper-thin it sounded like a wind through the space.
The group fell silent.
Shikamaru frowned.
"Including killing him," Sai went on. "If that's acceptable to you, then I'll accept these terms of your arrangement."
"Done," Shikamaru stated after a long moment.
"You—" Kōju started.
Ino's hand rose. "Shikamaru, I think that's somewhat against the plan."
"Hold the fucking phone here. No way in hell I'm letting him die!" Tayuya shouted. Her fist clenched. "I got things to tell that dumbass anyhow!"
"If it's a situation where I have to make a decision between having him killed and leaving him with Akatsuki to be sacrificed, I'd immediately kill him, without a doubt. It's a mercy compared to what happened to Gaara, from everything I've heard." Shikamaru swallowed tightly. "But, if you do your jobs properly, that won't be a problem. Am I wrong?"
Sasuke shook her head from side to side. "I'll ensure it."
Shikamaru's lips curved upward. "Good. Please, make sure of it."
Tayuya subsided into silence.
Kōju raised her hand. "There's a problem with that line-up, isn't there?" she asked softly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"What if Hakubo gets involved?" Kōju went on.
Shikamaru's brow furrowed. "Well." He hesitated. "I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that they'd show up, but if they did, it'd be pandemonium. I suppose it'd be two on one each. The circumstances would be decided by necessity, but my preference would be Soyokaze and Kōju against Hakka and Sai and Sasuke against that Akaihi fellow."
Sai's expression remained motionless.
Sasuke's hand raised in the air.
Shikamaru blinked.
"If his power operates like I think it does, I can handle Akaihi alone." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Plus, I owe that guy a debt for leaving his name carved into Genma's neck."
Shikamaru blinked.
"Are you sure?" Ino asked nervously, the first words she'd spoken since entering the enclosure. "I mean, this guy took down portions of an Anbu squad."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Don't take me for being the same as them."
Kōju sighed. She rubbed the back of her neck. There's that famous Uchiha pride again. Well, I suppose it could be worse. It really could. Akaihi probably won't show up. And if he does, we'll just have to finish off Hakka quickly and get back to Sasuke.
"Putting that aside. Regarding the details, are there any other decisions you made?" Sasuke questioned.
"No decisions. An analysis of what I would choose to do, however." Shikamaru briefly filled in the observers on his plan. "Then, bearing that in mind, we leave tomorrow morning."
"Why not tonight?" Sai asked sternly.
"Have you fought at night before?" Shikamaru questioned rhetorically.
Sai's eyes widened. "Yes," she responded instantly.
"Then there you have it. Your odds aren't exactly good." Shikamaru paused. "We'd run a risk of ambush, to say nothing of destruction. It's a decision that doesn't make any sense, regardless of the situation." He paused. "Plus, there's a strong chance they don't have the same sleep requirements as we humans do. Even that isn't outside the realm of possibility." He paused. "If any of you have any goodbyes to say, now's the time to do it as well."
Sasuke snorted.
Tayuya's lips curled upward. "Heh. You know, there's an old tradition among Orochimaru's soldiers. We write a letter home. To send to relatives." She raised a finger. "I fucking burned mine the first week I went on a mission."
Ino sighed. "Well, some of us have to say goodbye," she stated with some asperity.
Soyokaze inclined her head. "Yes. I have my own letter to write."
Tayuya scowled. "Tch. It would have been more effective if we ripped them up. Fucking hell."
Shikamaru covered his mouth. He looked away.
Treachery
The gate glimmered with the rising sun, pink streaks crossing through the clouds and striking the edges of the buildings.
The group gathered at the edge of the village.
Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Everyone ready?"
Tayuya inclined her head briefly.
Kōju nodded.
Soyokaze bowed their head deeply.
Sasuke saluted.
Sai smiled faintly.
Ino rested her hands against her packages.
Chōji shouted loudly.
"All right. Let's get going." Shikamaru turned away, his hands in his pockets.
"Wait!" Sakura waved her arm, running up the hill. "Please let me go, too!"
Shikamaru shook his head rapidly.
"I'm responsible, aren't I? I feel so helpless." Sakura gritted her teeth. "So let me fix some of the problems I've caused for him! Let me come—"
"No." Shikamaru's voice grew serious. "You're acting entirely from an illogical perspective. But think it over for a moment." He tilted his head to one side. "You've never been in combat, and you want to rush ahead, don't you?" He shook his head from side to side. "What you're talking about is a situation that would put an untrained rookie into combat. It would be a mistake. A mistake that I can't afford. A blunder." He exhaled. "Sorry. I can't take the risk of making that kind of mistake."
Sakura gritted her teeth. "It's really no good. Damn!" She punched against the wall. "Shannaro."
Kōju looked after Sakura, her expression serious. Sakura-san.
"I'll come back." Sakura sighed. "Someday, I'm gonna prove that it was worth it! Worth doing the right thing! I'll prove that I was the correct decision for Tsunade's apprentice."
Kōju smiled. "That's the spirit!"
Sakura punched her fist in the air.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. It's meaningless. I understand that now. She thinks about things as though there's some motive force that will support the poor. But, in truth, the world is different—a place that exceeds everything I understand. She sighed. It won't reward hard work. The successes are lucky.
"SAKURA!" Ino shouted suddenly at the top of her lungs.
The group jumped in the air, startled by the bursting sound.
"Next time we meet here, Naruto will be back with us! And I promise you will have your chance to prove yourself against me! See you!" Ino grinned broadly.
"Kah. Her voice..." Shikamaru rubbed his ears.
"It's a promise, then!" Sakura grinned broadly. "And another thing. I'm not going to keep looking at your and Hinata's backs, Kōju!" She glared at Kōju steadily. "One of these days, I will catch up to you!"
Kōju's cheeks flushed.
Shikamaru frowned heavily. "She meant you, right, Ino?" he asked in a quiet whisper.
Ino shrugged. "Who knows? The heart of a young maiden is mysterious indeed." A smile broke across her face.
The group departed. The sun rose behind their backs as they walked into the forest.