~*****~

We just sat in the stair well, still trying to make sense of it. "Hey..." Shikamaru started, making both Naruto and I look over at him. "Naruto. Do you remember yesterday? What Gaara said?" Shikamaru looked over at him.

'Yesterday?' Naruto gasped after thinking a bit.

"I do." Shikamaru confirmed. "For sure...."

"What... what happened yesterday?" I question.

Shikamaru shook his head. "He said... He'd kill us all." He recited. "That's what he said. But then he didn't do it. It was the perfect opportunity. But he...." He stopped, glaring slightly. "I don't know. It was like he didn't even see us or something."

"We're not good enough." Naruto said, clenching his fist tightly with his other hand. "Not for that guy.

"Right now. The only that can make him feel anything..."

"The only one is Sasuke." Naruto stated. Naruto started to shake. I reached over to him and grasped his arm, frowning slightly. He was usually the one making me unafraid. He sighed out and gazed down at my hand. We all remained silent after that. Then, Naruto stood. "Shikamaru. Ren. We have to go talk to Kakashi-Sensei right now." Naruto said adamantly.

"What are you planning to do?" He asked, gazing up at the blond boy. Naruto suddenly turned, and dragged me along. "Hey wait!

"N-Naruto!" I yelp, trying to keep up with this ball of energy.

"I've got to stop him!" He shouted. "I've gotta stop the match!"

~*****~

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto shouts as we get to the viewing arena. We stop at the top step, panting lightly.

"Naruto!" Lee says with a smile.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asks.

"Sensei, please! You just have to stop this match, right away!" Naruto pleads.

"What?" Kakashi asks, dumbfounded.

"The guy Sasuke is completely different from the rest of us. He's about as far from normal as you can get."

"Naruto!" Ino scolds. "Slow down! What are you trying to say?"

"He thinks his point in life to kill people! Don't you see?! If this continues, Sasuke will die!" Naruto screams. "You've gotta believe me!" He shouts after they just stare for a moment.

Kakashi turns back to the match, a wave of anxiousness washing over him. I turned to the match, my eyes widening at the sphere surrounding him. He was preparing for something big. Something bad...

~*****~

"Relax." Kakashi says after a moment or two. "No need to panic."

"Huh?" Naruto hums in confusion.

"You know, Sasuke and I weren't just goofing around. There's a reason we were late getting here." Kakashi says gently. I feel agitation burning within. I step forward, grasping onto his sleeve. He gazed down at me, raising an eyebrow at the urgent look on my face. He closes his eye in an attempt to soothe me with a smile.

"Sensei?" Sakura starts, looking up at him. "You said there was a good reason you were late. What were you doing?"

"Hm. Well, it's kind of a long story." Kakashi states.

"Oh, come on! Will you please do something, this is no time for talking!" Naruto throws a fit.

"You're right. So shut up and watch." Kakashi snaps back. "Keep your eye on Sasuke. He's about to surprise you."

We turn back to the match, and Sasuke jumps backwards, and runs up the far end of the wall. He stops near the top, forms a few hand signs, and holds his wrist down. "You didn't-" I murmur, gazing at Sasuke performing 'that' jutsu. He concentrates the chakra in his hand until it becomes visible. The subtle sound of birds chirping wildly echoes out into the arena. Guy looked back at Kakashi.

"Wonder ever why I wanted to train Sasuke myself. Now you know." Kakashi stated. "It's because he's like me." A pang of pain washed up my stomach and twisted my heart.

"I see, that's what you were doing all this time." Guy murmured. I backed up a bit, plopping down on a step as I grasped at the fabric above my heart.

"Woah, I've never seen him do that before." Naruto said, astonished.

"Chidori..." I mutter, gazing at the visible chakra. I was no doubt impressed, and over whelmed with pride that Sasuke could master such an intense and extremely advanced jutsu, but the jealously that he got to learn it before I did started rising up. "One Thousand Birds...." Sasuke pegs Gaara's sand sphere with it. His hand sinks within, and most likely getting right on the mark.

"Also known, as Lightning Blade." Guy commented.

"Why's that?" Sakura asks.

"It got that name, because Kakashi once used it to cut a bolt of lightning in half before it touched the ground." Guy explained.

'That's not why, Guy....' I sighed inwardly.

"It's a technique of unimaginable power. It requires inhuman levels of speed and chakra. But once perfected, it transforms a ninja's arm into an indestructible, invincible sword. A dangerous technique. Not to be taught lightly." Guy comments to Kakashi.

"You're one to talk." I quip, jabbing his side lightly.

"Right, Lee?" Kakashi adds, kneeling down to him.

"Well, whatever, I don't understand a word of it. All I know is, it looks awesome!" Sakura comments happily. I glare at Kakashi. A smile lifts onto my cheeks when he starts to rub the back of his head nervously.

Gaara starts screaming from his sphere, causing a ripple of anxiousness wash up my back. He started screaming about this blood. I flinched and backed up a few steps, toppling back onto the steps with a pained wince as a large arm slithered out of the sphere. An inhuman scream echoed out from the sphere. A sinister feeling washed over me and I stood up, grasping onto Kakashi's sleeve as the sphere cracked, and dissolved. Gaara stood there, grasping his injured shoulder. He panted heavily. "K-Kakashi?" I muttered, trying to get his attention. A weird feeling washed over me, and it felt as if my brain was starting to get heavy. I shook my head for a moment, sighing out in shock. 'Genjutsu...' I clasped my hands together. "Release!" I said quickly, and the feeling disappeared. An explosion rang out, and we all turned to the area where the Hokage had been sitting with the Kazekage. A smoke bomb went off. "Something's coming!"

~*****~

"Lord Hokage!" Guy shouts, both him and Kakashi about to jump into action.

"Leave it to me!" A few Anbu Black ops say.

"That's a barrier ninjutsu!" Guy says.

"They outwitted the Anbu Black Ops!" Kakashi added, turning to the scene. "And the Anbu are supposed to be the best." Guy and Kakashi take a few steps down the steps when ninja in black robes jump down.

"Why are you here?! Lord Hokage's in danger!" Guy snaps. Four ninja jump from the crowd, and join the man at the bottom.

"What a nuisance." Kakashi sighs.

"An enemy masquerading as Anbu Black Ops." Guy says. "So, he was using Genjutsu."

"Yes. There's no mistake."

I watch as Temari and Kankuro try to calm down the rabid Gaara. They exchange a few words as their sensei leapt down. Temari and Kankuro ran off with Gaara, and Sasuke followed shortly after. "Sasuke...." I muttered.

"Quite  a lot of them, huh?" Kakashi commented.

"We've been careless." Guy replied. "And now even Lord Hokage. Kakashi. Look, there! Inside the barrier!" We all turn to look at the barrier. The sight send shivers up my back.

"Orochimaru!" I say softly, grasping my arm in an attempt to stave off the shaking.

"Hey! Sasuke!" Sakura calls, before turning back to the arena.

"He's already gone, Sakura." I snap. The ninja suddenly go in for the attack. I bite down my shaking and jump forward, kicking them both off before landing on the row in front of Sakura.

"Sakura, you and Ren just stay there while I trim these numbers down to size." Kakashi comments, going into battle. I leap down and huddle besides Sakura, pulling out a kunai just in case we need to fight.

Kakashi and Guy beat enemy after enemy, and I'm pretty sure they're making a competition of it.

"Sakura." Kakashi states, making me flinch and look over at him. "It was worth teaching you Genjutsu during survival training for the Genin Exam. You truly do have a talent for it."

"Huh?" Sakura hums.

"Release the Genjutsu. And wake Naruto and Shikamaru." Kakashi commands. "Naruto will be delighted. He'll be getting a mission after such a long time."

"What kind of mission?" Sakura asks.

"You'll have to be careful on this one. It's the first A-Rank mission since the Land Of Waves."

Sakura gasps in shock. "But sensei!" She starts. "What are you doing? With this battle going on, why send us off on some mission?!"

"Sasuke's chasing Gaara and the other Sand ninja." I state, watching Kakashi slice his thumb.

"Sakura." He says. "Release the Genjutsu. Wake Naruto and Shikamaru and follow Sasuke." Kakashi orders.

"But then... Should we wake Ino and Choji and go in a group?" Sakura asks.

"No time. I suspect many sound and sand shinobi may have already infiltrated this village. Besides, you have more than the five ninja essential to a squad, it takes longer to get anything done. It becomes more difficult to hide from the enemy." Kakashi explains to her. "You did learn in academy patrol training, didn't you?"

"Of course." I say sternly. "With five squad members, but you're not coming, are you."

"What?" Sakura gasps.

"You're right. I must not leave this place. Summoning Jutsu!" He places his hand on the back of a stranger and Pakkun appears. "Pakkun here will track down Sasuke by scent."

"Wait, seriously. The fifth member is a puppy?" Sakura asks incredulously.

Pakkun leaps forward to get in Sakura's face. "Alright, listen Little Girl. Don't you dare go around saying I'm just some cute puppy." Pakkun says sternly, and I fight back the urge to lift him up and start petting him.

"Okay, it's time." Kakashi says. "Ren, Sakura! Go release the Genjutsu's." Kakashi commands. Sakura and I nod, and start to crawl towards Naruto and Shikamaru. We crawl up onto the top step, and Sakura immediately gets to work on Naruto as I peer over Shikamaru's shoulder. My eyebrow starts twitching as I stare at him in annoyance.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asks me after she wakes Naruto. I point at his face, and it's clear that he's very much awake. Her eyebrow starts twitching. "Shikamaru... you were... this whole time?" I reach forward, and grasp his ear with my fingers as Pakkun bits onto his leg. He starts screaming in pain, sitting up almost immediately and trying to shake the two of us off. "You're really scared too, ya faker!" Sakura scolds. "Why were you pretending to be asleep this whole time?!"

He holds Pakkun up the scruff and pinches my cheek. "I didn't wanna get involved. Just gimme a break. I couldn't care less about Sasuke." Shikamaru complains. He releases my cheek and Pakkun immediately bites that hand. He screams in pain again.

Naruto gasped out in shock as he gazed around at the battle going on around us. "What- What is all this?"

"Behind you!" Sakura yelped. I shoved Naruto out of the way, braced my hands on the concrete below us, and bicycle kicked the sound ninja that had tried to attack Naruto. He slammed into the wall, and it started to crack as I dug my heel deeper into his gut.

"S-So fast!" The sound ninja gasped.

"Not just fast, but powerful, too!" Guy added, appearing behind me, and cracking his knuckles. He reared his fist back and sent the guy through the wall.

"Guy-Sensei." Sakura sighed as he helped me up. Kakashi appeared besides us, holding out two kunai.

"Now, I'll explain the mission; As soon as I do, go through that opening. First, track down Sasuke, and stop him. Then find a safe location and await further orders. Ren, you're acting as squad leader for this mission." I nod as Naruto begins to talk.

"Did something happen to Sasuke?" He asked as Sakura crawled over to him.

"I'll tell you what happened on the way." Sakura explained. "Now lets go!" She ordered, tugging him out of the hole.

"Why me? What a drag." Shikamaru groaned. I lifted Pakkun up by the scruff and placed him atop my shoulder.

"C'mon!" I grabbed his hand and drug him out with me. "No time to whine! If this mission is a success, I'll give you another good luck kiss!"

"Wha- Woah!"

~*****~

The trees sped by as we ran through the forest. An anxious feeling was building up in my stomach, and I didn't like it. "I get it! So that's what happened!" Naruto said after Sakura explained what had happened. I gazed over my shoulder for a moment, frowning a bit. "I guess Sasuke got all impatient."

"Oh man, why'd you have to pull me into all of this? I mean, it's such a drag." Shikamaru complained.

"It can't be helped, okay?" I snapped back. "It's Kakashi's orders." 

"This way!" Pakkun said, swerving off to the right and into the trees.

"Right!" We all followed after. 

"You okay, Ren?" Sakura asked as I grit my teeth a bit.

"Yes." I said simply, not wanting to go into it.

"You used a lot of chakra today, Ren." She added. "It's alright if-"

"I said I'm fine!" She inhaled sharply as I gave her an angry look. "I'm not going to sit out just because I'm running low on Chakra!"

Naruto changed the subject quickly. "How long till we catch up?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know." Pakkun sighed. "A long time if they keep moving at this pace."

"Argh, come on!" Naruto complained.

I grit my teeth again as my stomach started to burn. I didn't understand why Ameonna was acting up so much. The hairs on my neck stood up as I glanced back for a second. "Hurry it up, everyone!" I urged, moving myself a bit faster.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"D'you see Sasuke?" Naruto questioned.

"No, there are two squads behind us. Elite ninja." Pakkun said. "Wait... No there's one more. That's nine ninja following us."

"Awe man, come on, already!" Shikamaru groaned. "Gimme a break here."

"It looks like they haven't discovered our location yet." I explained. "We need to lose them."

We jumped down the trail below as Pakkun stared down at the ground. "Whats the deal! Why are we stopping!?" Naruto complained.

"Zip it and follow me!" The small dog ordered, literally retracing his steps. "We're going back over our foot prints. If we pull this off, our foot prints will seem to disappear. After a few steps, he flipped back onto a tree branch. We all followed suit.

"Is this really gonna do anything?" Naruto complained. "I mean, they'd have to be pretty lame ninja if this throws them off the trail."

"It'll help buy us some time, so stop yapping and do it." I command. "But if our pursuers are getting impatient, succumb to the thrill of the chase, and they'll lose sight of our tracks."

"I certainly won't complain." Pakkun added as Shikamaru, Sakura, and I joined him on the tree.

"Hurry up!" Sakura snapped. Naruto looked back at us in confusion.

"We don't have all day, you know." Shikamaru said.

"I know, quit buggin' me!" Naruto scolded before jumping back to us. We all left the area then. We got some distance away before Pakkun spoke again.

"This is not good." He said. "Be prepared for an ambush, they're definitely back on our trail."

"Great. They're probably all Chunin or higher." Shikamaru complained. "We'll be wiped out if they catch us."

"Listen, guys. We don't have much choice. We're gonna have to ambush them!" Naruto explained.

"An ambush? That could work." Sakura agreed. "It would give us an advantage. Even if there are twice as many of them then there are of us. If we could just catch them off guard-"

"It's no good, Sakura." I retorted to her, looking over my shoulder for a second. "Those ninja chasing us are most likely with Orochimaru. They're most likely all Jonin level."

Shikamaru growled out a little. "I really thought that would work. But I guess it wont."

"Wait, hold on?" Sakura snapped. "Why not? The level of an opponent doesn't have much to do with an ambush, does it?"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"You guys just don't get it." Shikamaru replied. "Let me explain; Yes, an ambush is a key battle tactic, and can be very beneficial. But for it to work, you have to meet two conditions."

"Well? What are they!? Tell us and we'll meet them!" Naruto shouted.

"Number one: The ninja on the run must be completely quiet. And must find the enemy first. Number two: They have to be able to catch the pursuers off guard, at a location where they can do a lot of damage quickly, and then conceal themselves again just as quickly." Shikamaru explained. "It's only under those two conditions that an ambush can truly be effective. Now, the first condition wont be so hard, since the ninja hound's nose can find our enemy. And the second one also seems to be in our favor, since we know the geography of our village like we know the backs of our hands. However, Orochimaru is a former Leaf Ninja, so on the second condition we're out of luck."

"We are?" Naruto asked. "Wait, tell me why that is again."

"Our pursuers have studied the layout of this village, and I have to assume that they've been put through simulated practices for this mission. And on top of that, they're probably masters of the Pursue Jutsu."

"So they know all the cards we're holding." Sakura asked.

"Well, I don't really know. I suppose that an ambush could give us an advantage. But so many things are uncertain. Besides, our enemy is a special unit that was specifically put together just  for this operation. And what are the five of us?" Shikamaru asked, looking towards us. "A fool," He regards Naruto. "A kunoichi with no particular talent," He regards Sakura, "A mutt," He regards Pakkun, "A kunoichi who's low on chakra," He regards myself. "And me, the shirker who doesn't even wanna be here." He snaps. "Look, Tactics are about clearly grasping a tough situation and formulating the best plan. And right now, only one plan makes sense. Just one."

"And that is?" Sakura hummed.

"A diversion that only looks like it's an ambush." I reply, looking back at Sakura. "So, one of us is gonna stay behind, and slow them down."

"One of us will be a decoy." Sakura confirmed.

"That's right. If one of us can delay them, they shouldn't be able to find the rest of us." Shikamaru said. "We'll be able to escape. Of course, the one who acts as a decoy, will probably die." We all stopped, an anxious feeling arising. I stood on the branch besides Shikamaru, biting the inside of my cheek for a moment. "So, who's going to do it?" Shikamaru asked. No one spoke. "We need the dog to follow Sasuke. So that means-"

"All right, I guess that I'm gonna have to-"

"I'm the only one who can do it." Shikamaru stopped Naruto from finishing his sentence. I inhald sharply, a weird feeling bubbling in my stomach.

"Shikamaru!" Sakura gasped.

"Why does it have to be you?" Naruto screamed.

"It's better than all of us being wiped out, right?" He asked, casting a glance over at me. Besides, aside from Ren, I'm the only one of us who's chance of pulling off this decoy act, and of surviving this attack." Shikamaru explains, jumping to the farthest branch behind Naruto. "I mean, after all, Shadow Possession Jutsu was invented as a delay tactic. Anyway. I'll catch up with you later. Go on. Get going." I jumped over to his branch, and grasped onto his sleeve. "You're squad leader. But this is something only I can do." He said to me as I bit my lip.

"Then don't do anything stupid and get yourself killed, got it?" I snapped, feeling an unfamiliar feeling twist around my gut. Before I could move, Shikamaru grasped my arm and stopped me.

"One more thing. If I do die. I want to be able to do this first." He said lowly, and leaned down to me. I closed my eyes in shock and something soft pressed against my lips for a second before the feeling left. I opened my eyes and felt a flush crawling up my neck.

"Sakura, Naruto. Let's go." I command, jumping away with them. I looked over my shoulder one last time at the lazy ninja, standing alone....

~*****~

"Listen, the enemy's coming up fast." Pakkun says to us after gaining some distance.

"What?!" Sakura gasped.

"I wonder if he's even trying back there." Pakkun snaps.

Anger bubbled up in my stomach. "No, don't tell me-- Shikamaru--"

"Shikamaru will be fine, got it?" I snapped at her.

"Don't tell me that he just ran away!" Sakura snapped back.

"Look, I said he'd be okay, and I meant it!"

"But how do you know?!"

"He's lazy, and always complaining about everything, but I know Shikamaru better than you do. He'd never betray us." I explain angrily. "I know he hardly ever volunteers to do anything himself, but if he says he's gonna do it, then he'll do it. And that's a promise."

"Pick up the pace, slackers!" Pakkun shouted.

~*****~
Shikamaru's POV

I sighed outwardly as I stared up at the clouds above, wondering how the hell I got mixed up in all this. "I can't believe I managed to get away...." I went into hiding just before the sound ninja showed up to the cute little trap I made. 'Shadow Possession Jutsu.' I clenched my hands together and captured the squad by my foot prints.

"Huh?!" One yelped.

"Oops. Sorry. I was supposed to be the guy who didn't want to get involved. But I guess I'm not quite what you had expected, am I? You're right about one thing-- I am tired. On everything else-- you're wrong. Like our footprints," I explain, holding up the bundle of sticks I used to imitate Pakkun's paws. "This is what I used to make the paw prints."

"Why he's just a kid!" One ninja said.

"I can't believe we got caught by this." Another snapped.

"So, this is the Leaf Shadow Paralysis Jutsu we've heard about, huh?"

"Heh, yeah." I scoffed. "If you want to call it by that old name. But I'm afraid you're behind in the times. Now it's called Shadow Possession Jutsu, old man." I started to pant lightly. 'Oh no. My chakra's still depleted.' I thought about my fight with Ren. 'That jutsu she used, she made it harder for me to stretch out my shadow, and in turn, I used up a lot of chakra to do so. I can't hang on much longer.' I pulled out a couple of shuriken. 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight-- wait a minute. Eight? Pakkun said there was nine.'  I started to raise my arm, going to reach into my pouch. 'Of course. The 9th's one role is to protect against an ambush. That person stays at distance behind the others, a reserve in case of an enemy attack.' I pulled out four kunai as well. 'But I know what to do. This will draw out that ninth ninja, and reveal where he's hiding.' I throw my shuriken and kunai. Someone from the trees throws their weapons to deflect mine. I zero'd in on that spot.

The sound ninja start chuckling. 'There is he.' I try to stretch out my shadow, but it stops, my energy too low to even try. 'Oh man, the shadow won't reach. I don't have enough stamina to use my chakra to make it go that far.' "It's futile, kid." One sound ninja says, gazing at me. "I see through your technique." I slice my eyes towards him, glaring a little. 'So, this is it.' "It looks like you're at your limit. The Shadow Possession Jutsu of yours is going to fail soon. So, prepare yourself."

I let out a soft chuckle before letting out a breath of air and staring up at the clouds. 'All I really wanted was to be just an average shinobi, making an average living. I'd marry a regular girl who's not super pretty or super ugly, have two kids, a girl, then a boy, retire when my daughter got married, and my son became a successful ninja. And spend the rest of my days just playing Shougi or Go. A nice, carefree and leisurely retirement. And then I'd die of old age before my wife. Yep. That's the life I wanted. And yet, here I am, exerting myself, kissing a girl I have no business kissing, and probably ruining that friendship we shared to where she'll probably ignore me if I somehow make it out of here alive. It's so unlike me. Even though I wanted to finish as just a regular guy,  I had to go and get myself into this sticky situation.'

~*****~
Ren's POV

"Huh, looks like those ninja aren't chasing us anymore." Pakkun said after running in silence.

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered. "Shikamaru succeeded! The delay tactic worked!"

"Shikamaru!" Sakura praised.

I bit my lip in frustration. Tears stung my eyes as I thought of every possible outcome to that delay tactic. 'You'd better survive, Shikamaru... You don't get to die after what you pulled.' I reached upwards and traced my lower lip with my finger for a moment. The feeling was indescribable. And I really wanted him to explain.

~*****~
Shikamaru's POV

I chuckled a bit, my shadow possession jutsu started to break. "Well, as you say, it appears I'm at my limit." I say gently, the shadow finally breaking an slinging back to me.

"Hey! Come on out!" The sound ninja calls to his friend in the trees. "And when you do, cut off his head." I gasped in shock as a body landed behind me, and from the sounds of it, he was strong. The sound ninja gasped in shock. For a moment, I contemplated death for a moment, but that familiar smell of tobacco filled the air.

"Well, I finally caught up with you guys." Asuma-Sensei's voice rang out behind me.

"Asuma!" I yelped, looking over my shoulder at my sensei. "How did you?!"

He just smirked and threw the ninth ninja to the side. He raced forward and took out the enemy ninja with ease. I just watched in shock. After they all lay on the ground, either unconscious or dead, Asuma spoke. "You did well, Shikamaru."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and fell to my butt. "Yeah, but it was way too much work. It's like you said, we do weird things for the girls we like." I complained. I groaned out and threw my head back.