Shikamaru: Ambu in Peril

Chapter Two: Infiltration

I'm back!!!!! I really hope this chapter works out. I dunno. Enjoy and I hope you like it!

Shikamaru sees the shadow fly across the sky and he lay in his bed, waiting for the attack. The rustling of the leaves, the rise and fall of the sleeping Nara's chest, the quiet hiss of a kunai being unsheathed right over his head, and then the silence. Nobody breathes. Nobody moves. Everything and everyone is dead-still. The calm before the storm...Clang! The silence is shattered by the sound of a weapon hitting its mark.

. . . . . . . . .

Shikamaru lay in his bed, a bead of sweat rolling down his grimacing face. His hands shake with tension as he holds his kunai against his enemy's weapon, having narrowly evaded his demise. Shikamaru quickly takes note of the six ninja in his room with their weapons drawn. The person who just attempted to kill him was still leaning over his bed and grinding down on Shikamaru's kunai with his own weapon. In a split moment, Shikamaru breaks contact with the enemy's weapon and rolls off the bed. He moves swiftly and barely manages to escape the weapon coming down on his chest. Shikamaru glances once again at the assailants in his room. They wear sleek, hooded, night-black uniforms that seem to disappear into the darkness. Their faces are hidden with bare, blood-red masks. Shikamaru's kunai is still held firm in his hand as he stands in a ready fighting position. He can hear muffled fighting outside and realizes the others are currently unable to help him. The assailants nonchalantly move towards him and he takes a step backward, only to feel the cold wall at his back. Dang it! He was alone. And he was fighting for his life.

.........

Meanwhile, outside the Nara house...

"Anko behind you!" Raido warns sternly. Anko, who is fighting two red masked strangers, quickly takes them out and turns to throw a kunai at the oncoming warrior. She hits her mark and her attacker falls the ground with a moan. Raido, who had turned back to fighting five enemies after warning Anko, wields his black sword, Kokuto. He fights methodically, thinking of the quickest way to take out his challengers and his face shows his disciplined focus on the fight. His sword blocks an oncoming blade to his right. He kicks the person to his left to avoid getting stabbed and brings him to the ground with a half-dozen ninja stars. Then Raido speedily crouches down to avoid a sword, stabs the sword's wielder from the ground, then throws a few kunai, killing two of the missing-nin he's fighting. Behind him, the last of his five attackers quietly stalks up to him, intending to attack. Raido stands up easily from his crouched position and spares a knowing glance behind him. Then, without warning, he swiftly thrusts his sword back into his attacker. He removes his sword and the attacker falls onto the damp grass with a thud.

.........

Back in Shikamaru's bedroom...

The six darkly clothed people remain hard to see. However, Shikamaru can still make out the silver katanas they unsheathe as they prepare to attack. Crap. My Ambu sword is on the other side of my bed. And the rest of my kunai are there too. I can only fend these guys off so much with just a kunai. Shikamaru furrows his face further as he tries to think. He spares a glance at his bedside table where his sword lay hidden and then at the six approaching enemies. It's so dark in here that I can't see anything, much less use my shadows. I guess I'll have to fix that. Shikamaru looks at his only kunai, then at the intruders. Well...Here goes nothing. Suddenly, he throws the kunai, seemingly aiming at the head of the enemy in the middle. They silently duck and the kunai knicks the light switch, turning the light on. As soon as the room is illuminated, Shikamaru sends his shadow speeding across the floor and entraps the six in Shadow paralysis.

"Ha Ha Ha...Do you think this will stop us?" A deep, distorted voice comes from the person in the middle. Thanks to the new lights, Shikamaru now notices that the speaker's mask is slightly different from the others. Instead of a red mask, it is white with what appears to be a large blood drop in the middle. Shikamaru grunts and bead of sweat appears on his head. These guys are strong if they're able to resist my shadow Jutsu already. And I'm at full strength! Shikamaru looks at the leader then answers their question, "No, I didn't. I just needed enough time to do this!"