5

"Wake up!"

Why? Shikamaru thought sarcastically, still pretending to be unconscious. He was doing his best to keep his breathing even, eyes closed, limbs spread apart without any tension. Hayate was obviously loosing his patience, pacing the area around them. At first, the older sibling had seemed contend to wait while Hibiko efficiently immobilized Shikamaru's hands by wrapping them in fisher line, even the broken fingers. It had hurt like hell, but the Konoha nin hadn't moved a muscle.

His reward had been overhearing a very interesting conversation. The siblings had at length discussed whether it was worth it to keep him alive. They wanted to extract information, yet were unsure how to go about it. Best to bring him back to base and let the boss handle it, Hibiko had argued. Hayate still wanted to murder him out of spite.

Perhaps kicking him hadn't been the best course of action, Shikamaru thought, then gasped reflexively when he received a resounding slap to the face. Upon opening his eyes, he found both siblings staring at him, Hayate with resentment and Hibiko with something akin to humor sparkling in his round face. His thick lips formed a perfect O before he chuckled deeply and asked how long Shikamaru had actually been awake.

Shikamaru would have shrugged, but he was lying on the ground and the effect would have been less than impressive. Furthermore, he didn't want to acerbate the damage to his ribs and the newly reset shoulder. Thus, he stayed silent, waiting. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hayate clench his fists. "Talk!"

"Why?"

The question seemed to put them on the back foot. "Because... he told you so?", Hibiko ventured, now smiling openly, which only served to further enrage his brother. Shikamaru could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears and the fire that was lingering in his eyes. The guy was steaming. But why? Surely he wasn't still upset over that one hit?

"Tell us what you discovered on your mission or well break every bone in your body. And believe me, I wouldn't mind." Hayate had stopped pacing in order to glower at his prisoner from above. He put his foot onto Shikamaru's tender chest for emphasis, pushing down ever so slightly.

Although it made breathing and thinking a lot harder, Shikamaru allowed himself a small smile as he realized a centerpiece he'd been missing. You're acting, just like me. You have no clue how to interrogate someone properly. You're probably as nervous about the situation as I am. Which is a greatly exaggerated hypothesis, because the stakes for Hayate aren't nearly as high as mine. He might lose his position if he doesn't get any results, whereas I won't survive if I don't play this right. Putting it that way made Shikamaru's body tense. Hayate noticed immediately and straightened his pose, only to have the satisfaction wiped off his face by his captive's answer.

"Threatening me isn't going to do you any good. And that's not because I don't believe you'd go through with it - you already made your willingness to injure me very clear. Your strategy is useless, because I don't have anything to gain by telling you my secrets. You'll kill me as soon as you're done with me, which means I only stay alive if I will not tell you anything", he explained patiently. Hayate huffed, stalking away into the wilderness abruptly.

Left with nothing else to do, Shikamaru tried to sit up and found that his ribs had been bandaged. His surprise must have been palpable, because Hibiko laughed yet again. "Confused, are you? We decided that killing you by accident was not an option, thus we made sure that you'd be... stable."

Shikamaru didn't reply, though he processed the information and stored it away for further use. His head was spinning, both with a thousand half-formed plans and exhaustion. Thankfully, Hibiko didn't ask any questions, nor did he move from his position on the ground across the encampment. They were both engrossed in studying their opposite.

Shikamaru noticed that on second look, the siblings didn't resemble one another at all: they might have the same hair and eye color, but Hibiko was round where Hayate was all angles. Round lips versus nearly no lips at all. Round cheeks versus pronounced cheekbones. Curious eyes instead of constantly narrowed ones.

What does he deduce about me? Normally, Shikamaru didn't mind being studied, with him being a very young jounin, he'd had enough experience with it. But now, in his battered state, weaponless, hands tightly bound in front of him, he felt uneasy. Which weaknesses could the ninja detect? How did he plan to take advantage of them?

"You shouldn't play games with my brother. He tends to react poorly to challenges like that," Hibiko stated into the silence. Again, Shikamaru wasn't inclined to answer. Their one-sided conversation was interrupted anyways by Hayate's return. Something was different about the older sibling, his stride, his expression.

"I considered your theory. That's all it is, you know? Theory. You think torture won't make you talk? Let's put it to the test, shall we?" Shit. As Hayate pulled out a kunai, Shikamaru's breathing quickened. His eyes turned towards Hibiko, who put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. I told you so, he seemed to say.

6

Although it was well past sundown, the self-appointed rescue team continued their chase through the wilderness. Hinata was leading the way with her Byakugan, carefully avoiding anything that would be noisy enough to alert the enemy, just in case. Her dark hair was damp from exertion, yet she refused to ask for a break before Sakura ordered it. Naruto wouldn't have stopped either.

Finally, she caught sight of a small clearing in the distance. Too far away for the others to see, thus she quickly explained her findings. "There's an encampment. Two enemies, both of them asleep, at least I think so. They might not be, um..."

"Go on, Hinata", Naruto urged, stepping closer. Hinata's cheeks reddened and she was glad he couldn't see her trembling in the dark.

"They lit a small fire. There are traps set around the perimeter, tripwire and light bombs and... I'm not sure what else they might have set up. We need to be careful."

"What about Shikamaru? Can you see him?"

"Yes. He's tied to a tree. His hands are bound separately in front of him. He's... asleep, too." Sakura glanced at her when she hesitated, her piercing eyes recognizing Hinata's fears. "They wouldn't bother if he were dead."

"I know, that's not it." Hinata shook her head. Because she didn't feel like elaborating, she finished her report and anxiously waited for Sakura to decide how to approach. The young woman was a natural leader, Hinata thought and remembered how happy she'd been to let her take charge. And I'm not going to be jealous about the way she can talk to boys. It's not in my nature and, more importantly, it doesn't matter right now. Naruto doesn't matter now, Shikamaru does.

However, her focus kept wandering back to the blond boy while they discussed strategies.

"We need to alert him to our presence, break him free and vanish without waking the enemy", Sakura summarized. The task was virtually impossible, Hinata knew. They wouldn't be able to get close without springing one of the traps. And as if she'd read her mind, Sakura smiled.

"Maybe we won't need to enter the encampment, at least not to inform Shikamaru that we're here. See, I've got one of Sai's little messenger birds left. They were meant to signal reinforcements, but... it'll have to do."

"Let's go!" Naruto was practically jumping up and down with excitement. With the visual from her Byakugan in mind, Hinata watched him with mixed feelings, knowing he'd soon loose his chipper disposition.

"Um... Shikamaru's not... he's... not unhurt", Hinata stammered, then hastily rose from her crouch on the ground and led them towards the edge of the perimeter. From the audible gasp she heard from Sakura, perhaps she should have elaborated. Even Naruto paled when he saw his friend.

His hair had partially escaped from the ponytail he usually wore and obscured his face, but his clothing was visible. It was shredded, revealing multiple deep gashes across Shikamaru's stomach and there was blood still seeping through the uniform at the shoulder. Hinata could also discern purple bruises on his forearms that looked like Shikamaru had unsuccessfully tried to fight off whoever had done this to him. For the second time in her life, Hinata felt deep hatred bloom in her heart as she was reminded of Naruto's injuries during his battle with Pain.

To her right, Sakura was pulling the white pigeon out of her pack. She didn't seem quite as confident about her plan now, but her hands were steady, which Hinata admired. Together, they watched the bird rise into the air.

Within the camp, Shikamaru's head snapped up.

A/N: Another little cliffy, sorry. Any ideas how Shikamaru will react? Do you think he has a plan ready? And do you have any other prompts, ideas or wishes? Criticism?

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