Well, after only six hours of sleep because my sister was crying about her boyfriend all night, I felt like writing something more.

I don't own Naruto!

It had been a simple mission. But things had arisen that refused to quiet themselves, and so team 10 had to fight a group of more experienced shinobi. Without Asuma, even Shikamaru lost, and was captured. Choji was left for dead and Ino had escaped.

Now, Shikamaru was chained to strange bed thing. He could easily infer that this meant he was going to be tortured for information. As he looked about the room, he could tell he was underground by the darkness, the moss on the walls, and the general chill of the air in the room. It was a very musty, yet damp sort of chill.

Suddenly, a man with a mask on came into the room. Shikamaru watched as he smiled cruelly, showing off very white teeth.

It was all Shikamaru could do to stay calm.

A few hours into the future

Shikamaru had finally been left alone by that man. How long had he been torturing him? Hours? Days? He wasn't sure, but he knew that despite his lack of restraints, there was no way he could crawl to that door and get out of this hellhole.

Maybe someone would rescue him, but that was foolish. It was unlikely they would know where to look. Shikamaru managed to curl up, trying to keep the logic coming. Asuma would know where he was...

Shikamaru shook his head. He didn't want to lose his sanity now, and Asuma probably didn't even know he was captured yet.

Maybe Naruto would know, the guy never ceased to surprise him.... No, Naruto couldn't know. Choji couldn't know, neither could Ino. They might not even know he was alive. He was startled when a slight whimper emitted from his scratchy throat. The thought of being left here was overpowering. Maybe, for now, he could just pretend Asuma knew where he was....

"They'll come," he whispered to himself, knowing the foolishness of the words.

He eventually passed out from exhaustion, and woke up in a chair, strapped down. He started feeling claustrophobic, pulling at his bonds. He heard a chuckle, and froze. It was that man again.

His eyes filled with terror as he looked at him, and the masked man looked back. Then he smirked an evil smirk, and Shikamaru knew it was going to be bad.

A few hours later, because I do not want to do graphic stuff

Now Shikamaru lay in a painful heap, just staring at the wall and shaking, his tears long gone. He wanted out of here! He never wanted to see that man again! Why wasn't Asuma coming?!

He cried, but without tears, since they had long ago been spent. This was a strange, hoarse croaking instead.

No one was coming, he'd known it from the very beginning. He always knew, they wouldn't find him. The base was probably too well hidden, or they were under the impression he was dead.

No one was coming.

He managed to drag himself into an almost sitting position, wincing as he did so. Maybe he would find a way out of here... He'd seen where his captor put his keys, and also he knew he could probably steal it right off the keychain that his tormentor used. It wouldn't be so hard, would it?

Suddenly, Shikamaru fell forward, unable to support himself in that position any longer. Who was he kidding? There was no way he could move himself out there, he could barely sit.

He lay there, feeling all willpower dissolve into the moist air.

Just then, however, the door burst open. Shikamaru looked up in terror. How could that man be back so soon?!

But it wasn't that man, it was Naruto and his team. Naruto came running forward. "Man, Shikamaru, you look terrible! What did they do to you?!" Naruto put out his arms to help Shikamaru up.

Shikamaru flinched away from his touch, and blurted, "Stop! You're getting your stuff on me!" He still recoiled backwards, breathing hoarsely. Sakura and Naruto looked startled. Sasuke looked like he didn't care. Kakashi looked somewhat thoughtful.

"What stuff?" Naruto wanted to know, looking confused. Shikamaru just shook his head back and forth, covering his ears with his hands. "You're getting your stuff on me," he still insisted, stayed curled against the wall where he was.

"Kakashi, what's wrong with Shikamaru?" Sakura asked, hanging back. Kakashi sighed. "Looks like they did quite a number on him."

Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure why he felt such panic about Naruto, or anyone else, getting their 'stuff' on him, but it really did petrify him at that moment. He glanced up at Kakashi, who was looking him a little studiously, like he was trying to decide what to do with him.

Suddenly he came forward, lifting Shikamaru easily. Shikamaru panicked, flailing and probably tearing open wounds. "No! Stop! You're getting your stuff all over me! Stop!"

Kakashi quickly used a pellet full of knockout gas to put Shikamaru to sleep for now. He looked at the rest of his team, who were looking at Shikamaru with varying degrees of alarm. "We have to leave now, come on!" Kakashi said, leading them out of the hideout.

He detonated several bombs as they made it out, and then they made it to the trees. He propped Shikamaru against a tree, and looked over his wounds. It appeared whoever did this knew what they were doing, that's for sure.

He could only hope Shikamaru would recover someday....

Yay! I plan on doing a second chapter probably..