Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the plot of Speed

Author's Notes: Thanks to all who reviewed. Also note that this chapter has quite a bit of language. This is mostly due to the pressence of Hidan. Another side note is that for those of you wondering Temari will be introduced in the next chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter Three- Shoot the Hostage

For a brief moment he dangled rather precariously at the top of the elevator shaft and a very long fall. The heat of the explosion had whipped past him, disorienting him as he hung there. The steel cable he had attached to the elevator seemed to race past him, whizzing through the air with a strange sounding hum. Before he could orient himself Asuma had grabbed onto the rope that held him and pulled him roughly towards the grate they were perched atop. The sudden change in direction brought Shikamaru's mind back into action as his hands reached out and latched onto Asuma's vest in case he lost his hold on the rope.

Asuma pulled him in and the moment Shikamaru felt the solid surface beneath his back he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He hadn't exactly woken up this morning with the intention of falling to his death. His relieve was short-lived though because the steal cable snapped itself taunt followed by the groan of steal from outside on the room. Knowing that was anything but good, Shikamaru snapped to his feet in an action that was quite contradictory to the languid expression he often wore on his features.

"Move," Asuma yelled.

Shikamaru didn't need to be told. He was already heading back out of the elevator shaft as Asuma's warning came. The two of them hit the lobby and sprinted towards the stairs, no longer concerned with clearing the floor. Taking the stairs two at a time, both nearly stumbled as the whole building's structure seemed to shake under a sudden impact.

"He's early. We still had time," Asuma mattered as he regained his footing and flung open the door.

Shikamaru was right behind him, and as soon as the pair came to the hallway, he sprinted over to the doors to the elevator. He reached into his vest and pulled out a pair of pliers, using them to wedge the door open. The bottom of the elevator came into view, jerking to a stop with about three feet of the elevator in the opening.

"Kakashi we need help up here," Asuma barked into his communication piece.

When the noise exploded around her, the floor exploded out from underneath her. It was literal in this sense as the elevator floor beneath her feet vanished from the explosion. At first she didn't realize it. As the elevator began to fall with her body, it didn't occur to her that she was standing on nothing but air. Then the elevator came to a jerking stop and her body fell through the place where the floor had once been. She cried out in surprise, reaching her arms out in front of her as her body fell through the hole.

Legs kicking in mid air she managed to stop herself from falling through. Shino and Sai immediately rushed to her and grabbed her arms tugging her back upwards. As they did she felt the twisted metal of the damaged elevator bite into her calf and ankle. Her foot came to a complete stop then, snagged by the twisted metal. Her blue eyes widened and attempted to pull her own foot out of the metal, but it didn't budge. She tried again, her facial expression more frantic now as the metal bit further into her flesh. She could feel the warm, sticky liquid of her own blood running down the side of her calf and over her heel. None of it mattered though. The most important thing was to free herself. She pulled again, crying out slightly because of the pain but ignoring it regardless.

Shino and Sai attempted to maneuver her around and help her pull but nothing seemed to work. Another cry escaped her lips because this time the elevator dropped again. The whole elevator shaft seemed to shake shortly after the elevator had begun free falling again. It came to a stop once again, the jerking motion uncomfortable. It may have caused her to slip back down into the whole if it weren't for the grip Sai and Shino had on her.

Through blurred vision, which she realized was due to the frantic tears that rolled down her cheeks, she saw the elevator doors pried apart, creating a three foot gap to pass through. A police officer was standing there, reaching up into the elevator and clasping his hands with the frantic grip of Moegi. She tried pulling her foot out again.

Shikamaru reached up took a young woman's hands in his own. She was a redhead with a smattering of freckles across her nose and a set of pigtails.

"Please help," she pleaded. The elevator groaned in protest and dropped another three feet, suddenly brining him face to face with the passengers.

"Everyone out," Asuma ordered and one by one he and Asuma began pulling the passengers out of the elevator and into the hallway.

Seven of the passengers filed out without a problem. They had them all out quickly. That left behind a young woman and two young men. The young men were holding on to the young woman who was desperately trying to pull herself up out of a whole in the floor of the elevator.

Shikamaru glanced over at Asuma, who looked back at him. For a moment he recalled a game of Shogi in which they had discussed the various meanings of the pieces on the board. Each one of them saw themselves as expendable, a piece to be sacrificed in order to uphold the law and protect the people they were sworn to serve. The ability to protect for the future was their main purpose. So no words needed to be shared between them and nn that moment an entire conversation was held through the space of a second. Each knew what the other was thinking and Shikamaru jumped into the elevator.

"I've got her. I need you two to exit the elevator," Shikamaru stated.

While both men relinquished their holds on the blonde woman, they were both reluctant to leave. Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder and saw them still standing there.

"Now," he said coolly, and watched as they two stepped through the opening and into the hall. He had gotten two more out by coming into this elevator. It had been a good decision based on that alone. Now all he needed to do was get one more out.

His attention turned back to the young woman whose shoulders were shaking with silent sobs. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and her face was ashen from fear. Ignoring the fact that it was hardly appropriate Shikamaru placed his hand on the back of the young woman's upper thigh in order to keep her from slipping back down. Leaning over his reached his other hand down, following her leg down to where it met the twisted steel.

He said nothing as he felt around and found her heel wedged into the jagged metal quite well. He frowned and resisted the urge to utter a curse as he gave a sharp tug. Nothing budged. Something occurred to him then and he reached around her ankle and unsnapped the strap of the heel she was wearing. Her foot slipped free with surprising ease and he quickly leaned back and pulled her up the rest of the way.

The elevator groaned again and dropped around three feet, leaving them well below the floor of the hallway. Again not caring he shoved her upwards, and her hands were taken by Asuma and one of the men who had been with her earlier. They pulled her up and out of the elevator with a single heave.

All of the hostages were out and his job was complete. The elevator groaned again and he grabbed Asuma's hand and jumped upwards as they pulled. With one final groan the elevator gave way and Shikamaru passed through the opening just as vanished completely. He landed rather ungracefully, flat on the floor to be exact. He glanced up to see Asuma, who had fallen backwards on his rear, grinning at him.

Just then the whole building shook as the elevator hit the bottom of the shaft. Several of the hostages shrieked and the men Kakashi had sent to help began ushering them quickly down the hall. Shikamaru pushed himself up off the ground only to come face to face with the blonde he had just gotten out of the elevator. She gave him a tearful thank you before allowing herself to be half-carried down the hall towards the stairs. Exhausted Shikamaru walked over to the nearest wall and sunk down against it. He glanced up as Asuma followed suit and took a seat beside him.

"He was early," Shikamaru said leaning his head back against the wall. "We still had time."

"I find that a lot of these big time criminals have a problem with that," Asuma said with a dry laugh.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and folded his hands in front of him, his mind going through what had happened now that he had an actual moment to think. A frown worked its way into his expression as he sat there. Beside him Asuma was oblivious to his partner's train of thought. Instead a different thought popped into his mind. He decided to voice it.

"That blonde was a looker," Asuma said, his voice trailing off slightly.

"Engaged," Shikamaru said after a moment's pause.

"What?"

"She was engaged. I saw the ring," Shikamaru stated before climbing to his feet. "Asuma I think he knew we were up to something. How else would he have known to blow the elevator right then?"

"Shikamaru we've got this place surrounded. There is no way this guy is sitting here. He's probably halfway to Suna by now," Asuma said climbing to his feet. "And did you seriously notice a ring with everything else going on?"

"It pays to be observant," Shikamaru muttered but it was clear his thoughts were elsewhere. "If here were here he'd want to be able to stay on the move," Shikamaru continued, talking to himself.

"We shut down the elevators," Asuma pointed out despite the fact that his partner hadn't been talking to him.

"What about the freight elevators?"

The look on Asuma's face was the only answer that Shikamaru needed. Seized by a gut feeling he moved down the hallway over to where the layout he had seen earlier had showed the freight elevators. Again he pulled out his pliers to wedge open the door. This time he left them jammed into the bottom of the door so the thing would stay open. He glanced down and his dark eyes widened when he saw the freight elevator hanging there, some equipment sticking out the top.

"Holy shit," Asuma whispered under his breath.

"I think we found our friend," Shikamaru replied, reaching out to grab onto the elevator cable. Without another word he slid down the cable, moving slowly. Behind him Asuma followed, though he opted to use the access ladder on the side of the shaft rather than the cable. Careful to make no noise, Shikamaru eased onto the metal beam that ran across the top of the elevator and unholstered his gun. Given then equipment on the top of the elevator and the fact that he had heard them up to something, Shikamaru knew they had to remain quiet.

Asuma eased off of the elevator and pulled out his gun as well, looking up at Shikamaru. He was in the process of making a hand signal when the blast of a shotgun tore through the roof of the elevator Asuma was standing on. Asuma fell back against the side of the elevator shaft and Shikamaru teetered dangerously on the beam he was on. Several more shotgun blasts followed causing both Shikamaru and Asuma to dance out of the way of the scatter. The roof from under Asuma's feet gave way and Shikamaru watched helplessly as his partner fall into the elevator with the unknown man.

"Shit," Shikamaru cursed out loud. He was relieved however to hear no more shots being fired.

"One bitch down," shouted the man before laughing in a manner that could only be described as maniacal. "Come on you little fuck give it up."

Shikamaru cursed again as he felt the elevator shift into motion. The elevator began to travel upwards at a steady speed and Shikamaru tilted his head up to glance at what awaited him. The solid surface of the room loomed dangerously overhead, coming closer with each passing second. He frowned, his mind kicking into gear as he tried to figure out what to do. There was no way around this. He couldn't come up with a single way around the inevitable. He would either be crushed or he would have to jump into the elevator.

He looked back up at the ceiling. It was growing closer now. It seemed to rush towards him, ready to crush the life out of him. In the end he supposed that if he had to be either crushed or shot, it would be the latter. So he waited until the last possible moment and jumped into the elevator.

He landed on his feet only to fall backwards onto his back. He jerked himself up and froze. He found himself staring down the barrel of a sawed off shot gun. His eyes widened ever so slightly before they managed to move past the gun to the man holding it. Whoever he was, he was tall. His hair was long and a light gray that made it appear almost white. He had a sadistic grin on his face and an ear piece in his left ear. Asuma was slumped on the ground beside him, his face bloodied from what had probably been a blow from the butt of the gun.

"You ruined our plans! I don't suppose anyone would give me the money just for you," he asked before letting loose with that laugh again. He squeezed the trigger and Shikamaru visibly flinched only to realize that nothing happened. The gun clicked indicating it was empty. Either that or it jammed, it really didn't matter. Realizing this Shikamaru smacked the barrel of the gun out of his face and drew his own in front of him.

"Not so fast bitch," the man said as he ripped off his shirt, revealing the intricate vest of explosives he was wearing. Reaching his hand around he exposed a triggered stick that he waved in front of Shikamaru's face. "I drop this and we all go to Jashin," he screamed wildly.

Shikamaru cursed to himself but kept his gun steady on the madman. This guy looked like a fanatic right down to his toes. It was undeniably creepy, but he wasn't about to back down.

"Give it up. You're never going to get out of this building," Shikamaru ordered.

For a moment it looked like the madman wasn't paying him any mind. He looked focus on something else. Shikamaru tried to figure out what was going on but the moment passed and the madman looked back at him, grinning a smile that went ear to ear.

"That's where you are wrong you arrogant little fuck," he said as he leaned over and punched something into a number pad that had been hooked into the elevator. "Now everyone sees us getting off at the third floor," he said before laughing again. "Get up bitch," he ordered dragging Asuma up by his hair.

He started laughing again only to stop and glare and Shikamaru. "You know you really went and messed up my whole damn day."

"Because you didn't get to kill everyone," Shikamaru questioned, his eyes narrowing as the elevator opened on the basement floor.

"Those were to be sacrifices for Lord Jashin," he screamed as he stepped out of the elevator, Asuma in tow.

"I don't care about your stupid Lord Jashin. Those were innocent people you tried to kill," Shikamaru said coolly, moving along slowly, his gun still trained the madman, who was now using Asuma as a shield.

"Shut your fucking mouth. You will learn to regret ever meeting me," he screamed, his eyes bulging.

"I'm already there," Shikamaru bit back.

"Shut the fuck up. If I drop this they are going to have to pick up this bitch with a sponge. Do you want him to die? Do you want him to be a sacrifice? Say one more damn thing, take one more fucking step and I'll do it," he ordered causing Shikamaru to momentarily pause. "Do you want to die bitch," he cooed into Asuma's ear.

"Go fuck yourself," Asuma growled.

The madman started to laugh again, the hysterical sound of it practically ringing it Shikamaru's ears. If he never heard that laugh again for the rest of his life it would be far too soon. It was unnerving to run into someone so off-his-rocker. There was no way to predict someone like this. He realized then that they were nearing the exit. He was running out of time to make a move and he was going to have to make one if he wanted to save Asuma. His brow furrowed in concentration when he heard Asuma's voice.

"Shoot the hostage."

Shikamaru frowned and glanced up at the pair. He tilted his head sideways as if asking a question before he shrugged his shoulders, lowered his gun slightly and pulled the trigger. The shot hit Asuma in the leg causing him to sink to the ground, his hands gripping his leg.

"You shot me," Asuma said out loud his voice coated in what was disbelieve and probably a little bit of shock from the fact that he had just been shot. For a moment Shikamaru looked at him before he lifted his gun back up and pointed it directly at the madman.

"Freeze," he ordered.

The madman, without his hostage to drag with him again waved the stick at him. He could still drop it and the blast would still kill them all. He still had that much leverage and as a result Shikamaru couldn't put another round into him. At least he had gotten Asuma away from him through. The older man remained slumped against the wall holding his leg.

The madman let another round of laughter escape his lips as he continued to wave the stick back and forth in front of their faces. With a wave he slipped out the exit. Shikamaru stepped forward, pausing a brief moment to look down and see if Asuma was alright before he heading for the door. He had nearly reached it when the explosion blew the door open. The force of it knocked him backward down the hall. His back slammed into the wall and he felt the heat rush by him before he was surrounded by darkness.