Finding a Bit of Trust

Title: Finding a Bit of Trust

Fandom: Naruto

Chapter: 22

Characters: Shikamaru (deer) and Neji (parrot)

Word count: 1,220

AN: And another one! We’re moving in the plot. :3 And what do they find? Some interesting things, that’s what!

 

*~*~*~*

 

Slipping into the hallway, Deer paused and scowled under his mask, finding that there was a very fine layer of dust, meaning that somewhere there was a window open, letting in the wind. Looking around, he kneeled down and looked at the floor, working his way up to make sure that the dust hadn’t hidden anything within his sight range as his partner slipped in behind him.

 

“I don’t think anyones been here since just before that big storm that blew up the dust from the outer fields,” Deer stated, getting a nod.

 

“Sounds about right,” Parrot stated, slits as his eyes gazing over the hall himself. A muttered word and a shift of chakra alerted Deer that his friend was using his Byakugan before deactivating it. “We’re alone. This base was abandoned no doubt and they’re left no one here,” Neji said as he lifted his mask, pulling up a face mask to filter out the dust around them.

 

“Great,” Shikamaru muttered, standing straight and following the other mans example. “Let’s get started,” he said, Neji nodding and the two moving silently down the hall. Stopping at one door, they opened it to find an empty office, the drawers upturned and empty as they picked around the room. The desk was nearly a pile of splinters, making them wary about what or who could have done that.

 

Finishing with that room, the two headed for the next door that was down the hall, finding nothing in there. The next three rooms gave up nothing and they headed down another hall way. A single door stood on each side, the two sharing a long look. Deciding to check out the room on the left, they opened it and discovered a bedroom with a large bed that was ruffled, shards of a mirror that scattered on the floor and glimmered in the light from the window that was wide open, letting in light and dust.

 

“Well, looks like we found where some of the dust has come from,” Shikamaru snorted, shaking his head with frown of distaste as they moved further into the room. They started to methodically go over the room, Neji knocking on the walls as Shikamaru worked on going through the various drawers, checking under the mattress and in the actual mattress itself, finding nothing. Opening the closet, he frowning at the sight of torn up dresses that had been tossed about the area, shaking his head with a sigh. “We found where Sakura was being kept at least,” he said, Neji looking from near the ceiling.

 

“So I see. Looks as if she had a hissy fit before they left,” the older male said, shaking his head before knocking on a piece of wall that sounded hollow. “Found out where our link put the letter, at least I hope so,” he told Shikamaru as he worked the compartment open, finding a thick sheath of papers. “Damn, looks like there’s a lot of information he hadn’t been able to get to us.”

 

“Looks like it,” Shikamaru said, frowning lightly at the sight. Sighing, he kicked at a drawer just inside the closet, hearing a thunk followed by a hard thud. “Damn, what was that?” he asked, opened the drawer to find that a piece of the top of the drawer had fallen down, exposing what looked to be a journal.

 

“And it seems as if you found the missing journal that was Sakuras,” Neji snorted, dropping to the floor as he placed the pile of papers into a sealing scroll, Shikamaru doing the same with the journal after flipping through it.

 

“Of course, like all the others it’s in code that we only have half figured out,” the younger male muttered, sneering under his mask as he tucked away the scroll.

 

“Come on, my friend, one other room in this hall way and then I think one last hallway,” Neji teased, eyes sparkling as he lead the way out of the room. Going across the room, they opened the door, finding it cleaned of nearly everything that could be considered helpful. The large bed was bare of sheets, blankets and pillows, the dressers were cleared out with the drawers tossed about the room and the closet was empty except for hangers that swung back and forth in the breeze that came from the window that sat at the very back. 

 

“Looks like even if they cleared out fast, they cleaned out completely,” Shikamaru sighed, looking around before frowning. “You get everything else, check the dresser and the such and I’ll check out the walls this time, see if there’s anything,” he said, moving to one wall, Neji nodding and moving towards the dresser. Both males smoothed and knocked against their respective items, trying to find out if there was anything there that was out of the ordinary.

 

Shikamaru found several compartments that were empty, telling him that they had been put there by whoever had slept there. He found the occasional scrap paper with dates and times of various meetings and the such but nothing to interesting. Sticking them into a sealing scroll, he continued hunting as Neji muttered and complained under his breath. The long haired male wasn’t finding anything except furniture that was just that. Furniture, albeit cheap furniture, but furniture none the less.

 

“It looks like this person knew all the hiding places and cleaned them out,” Neji stated, standing up after going over the bed. Brushing off his knees, he frowned and pulled out a small map that their touch stone had given them, noting that the next room was a computer room and that it to would probably be cleaned out. “Any luck with the walls?” he asked.

 

Shikamaru shook his head as he landed next to his companion, saying, “Nope. They cleared them out, probably knew about and did a full sweep before they left.” Fixing his hair under his hia-te head cap, he eyed the map next to Neji and frowned unhappily.

 

“I hate computers,” Neji grunted, Shikamaru nodding in agreement as they left the bedroom, heading for the last room on the list, which was just a door instead of a hall way. The two shared looks and used a small burst of chakra to dispel any gen-jutsus just in case. Opening the door and walking in, they both stared at the fact that there was just a single computer that looked old even to their untrained eyes.

 

“Wasn’t that an original model back in the 4ths time?” Shikamaru asked, voice strained with his annoyance.

 

“Knowing our luck…they left it because it’s deader then a damn door nail,” Neji growled, the two sharing a look before Shikamaru pulled out a large scroll, unrolling it and laying it on the floor. Between the two of them, they placed the computer onto the scroll and activated the seal. Once it was sealed up, the younger of the two men picked up the scroll and tucked it away, the two leaving.

 

Soon they were standing in Ibikis office, handing over the scrolls and promising to have a full report in a bit of time, Naruto out in the report office, once more taking them.  Being dismissed, the two left to their own homes, wanting a shower and to write their reports in peace.