Belong

Chapter 2: Reciprocate

Part 1: Hidden Tree Village

The team finally made it to the village. The village  wasn't big but it wasn't too small either. It was a pretty cute village. They went deeper into the village, the villagers welcomed them with open arms as soon as they recognized their headbands, greeting them and some of them gifting them with fruits.

They arrived at a small house made of wood.

"We welcome you, Shinobi of the Leaf. I'm Toshiro, leader of the village. Thank you for coming" The man said

"I'm Asuma, this is my team. We've been sent here under orders of the Hokage"

"Ah, yes. We sent a letter to the Hokage asking for help. Since a few weeks ago, our people have been ill. Suffering from the same... disease. We're not sure where it comes from, but we believe it may come from outside our village"

"What makes you say that?" Asuma asks

"One of our men went somewhere outside the village, when he returned, he became ill and after some days died. We believe he might've infected others before his death. Others, which we believe he infected also met the same fate. We tried looking for a cure but unfortunately we failed. Our herbs did not work. That is why I requested help from the Leaf and the Sand."

"I see. We were also informed the village was being attacked"

"Yes. We recently started getting attacked by a group of Shinobi. They're not as capable as Shinobi like you from the Leaf or the Sand so we were able to defend ourselves but our situation have left us vulnerable. Our best defenders have fallen victim to this disease which is why i also requested more Shinobi for security"

"As we entered the village, we didn't see any precautions made by the people to prevent themselves for getting ill such as putting on masks or gloves" Sakura stated

Tashiro stood from his seat.

"Yes, of course. Follow me" He instructed

They followed Tashiro to the outskirts of the village, a big house made of wood came insight.

"This is where we've put the sick so they don't infect those who are not. There are masks, gloves and sprays inside." Tashiro stated

They all followed Tashiro inside and put on masks and gloves

"So many!" Sakura examined

"Yes, as you can see our best medical experts are examining other patients. We discover new symptoms every few days"

Lord Tashiro, Shinobi from the Hidden Sand Village have arrived. They're just outside. A man announced

"This must be his assistant or something" Shikamaru thought

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The sun began to fall, indicating that it was going to get dark soon. The 'security squad' Shinobi sorrounded the village while medical ninja did their job treating the sick and hopefully coming up with a cure the disease. The more capable Shinobi such as Jonin guarded further from the village whearas others guarded closer.

They were paired and as fate would have it, Shikamaru and Temari were paired together. They both guarded their post in silence, they some reason hadn't said a word to each other, even a simple 'Hi'. To avoid the awkwardness Temari stayed in the trees while Shikamaru stayed on the ground.

"Why would anyone want to attack this village? There are no shinobi here so that means they wouldn't be at war with any village or anybody. Second, I don't think this village has something valuable that's worth stealing. So why would anyone attack this village?" Shikamaru thought.

He couldn't figure it out, why anyone would attack such a peaceful village. Maybe there's more to it, maybe it isn't just getting attacked for no good reason. He wanted to ask Temari's opinion on the matter but he couldn't gather the courage say something to her.

A loud thud from a few feet away ripped him out of his thoughts.

"What was that?" He questioned

He ran to the source and found Temari on the ground.

"Tema-" Instinct kicks in and dodges a thin needle from his right. In response he throws a kunai from the where the needle comes from

"Damn it!"

The shadowy figure moves, ignoring Shikamaru and his assault.

"Damn it! He's going in. I'm too far to alert anyone. I'd go after him but I can't leave Temari here. Damn it! What do I do?!"

"Shikamaru!"

"Choji, Ino"

"What happened?" Ino asks

"The enemy got her. One just went in the village"

"We know. Others are already after them" Choji states
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"Is she going to be alright?" Kankuro asks

"She'll be fine. Fortunately the poison they used was made to knock out someone for approximately a day. We were able to make an antidote. She'll be okay, she'll wake up in a few hours" Sakura says

And with that, relieved, left the room except for Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura questions

"I'll be right out" He simply states

He stayed, glancing at the female lying on the bed. He wondered how a Shinobi like her could've been taken out so easily by low class 'Shinobi' but then again turns out they weren't so low class, even though they put up a fight, they got detained.

She was so beautiful laying there, he never really got to see her, see how beautiful she was because he never got the chance but it only makes sense. Temari would give him a beating if she caught him starring at her even if she woke up now and catch him starring, she'd pound him to the ground but he was too mesmerized by her beauty to even consider that possibility.

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Unravel-ken: Hello, I'm sorry again for the short chapter... Btw, writing this one was kind of a drag(haha). The next chapters will be longer...
Again, thank you for giving my story a chance. don't forget to VOTE, FOLLOW & COMMENT(if there  are any. And if there's anything you want in the story to happen, let me know.... Constructive criticism is welcome)