Hey guys,

Hope you are all staying safe. For those who have msged me my family and I were safe during the fire and flood (though, yes, you all did remember right about me being in NSW and yes, the fire and flood got very close), and my family is safe now too.

I'm not going to try and write out the war because it is just really convoluted and confusing, so I'm probably going to skip over a fair bit of the war but I am thinking of doing a new POV or two to cover parts of it. We'll see.

Stay safe, and hope you all enjoy.

Choji had truly turned the tide of the battle. Shikamaru instructed him to go after Neji's father and Kakazu, since they were the two biggest threats. Uncle Choza knew Don well from what Shikamaru could tell and was working closely with a Sealing Corp to trap the man. In the meantime, Shikamaru protected Ino as she used her mind transfer to take over as many of the Zetsu bodies as possible, whilst he also instructed the rest of the forces into creating smaller skirmishes to take down the Zetsus on mass.

The battle was won. Or at least, it was, until a giant humanoid statue appeared on the battle field. The combined force of Choza and Choji did nothing to stop it. From the description, Shikamaru realised what it was facing them. With a heavy feeling in his stomach he watched the thing walk towards the forces, trying to work out what Madara's end game was.

"That must be the thing that can rip the Nine-Tails from Naruto," he whispered, barely noticing Ino's gasp of horror.

"The tailed beasts are in that thing?"

"Shit! So is part of the Eight-Tails. Madara is making a move for Kinkaku and Ginkaku!" Shikamaru charged for the location of the gourd, arriving too late to stop the masked man from possessing the sacred objects.

The man seemed surprised when Shikamaru voiced that he knew what Madara was planning and how he had used the two Nine-Tails charged men. The Nara heir wondered how long he could keep the leader of the enemy forces talking. Madara was a legend, a once in a life time power house. There was no denying that Shikamaru was far out classed. He doubted that his shadow was truly holding the man and there was no way he could fight him. In the Ino-Shika-Cho formation Choji was the physical power, and even with his strength Shikamaru couldn't think of a plan to take down Madara.

There was an inhuman screech, drawing Shikamaru's attention upwards. With wide eyes he watched the foot of the humanoid statue come rushing towards him. His mind froze along with his body. The only thought he had was of Naruto. Her smile when he told her he loved her, her eyes when she was hiding her intelligence, the mild blush she would get on her tan cheeks whenever he told her she was beautiful. Waking up beside her, having her reach out for him without realising she was doing so, the way she could go from blank faced to blinding smile in a blink. Would anyone else appreciate all of that? It was hard not to, and yet she had spent years being overlooked. He hoped she would find someone else who did. Closing his eyes, he tried to keep the image of her grin in his mind.

He felt something slam into his side, then heard air rush past his ears. Seconds later he heard a violent crash and felt bits of debris. Blinking away the assault of light, dust, and the vertigo from his sudden movement, Shikamaru looked beside him. Choji stared hard at the dust cloud the statue had caused, waiting to see if they had to move again.

"Thanks," Shikamaru breathed, feeling a bruise forming on his ribs from Choji's fast rescue.

"No problem," Choji assured before gasping.

The dust had finally cleared so they could see where Shikamaru should have died. There was a giant crater left by the statue's foot, yet the statue itself was gone. Turning his eyes to the cliff he could see soldiers up above looking around with no true urgency that would lend to the statue having jumped up there. It had truly just disappeared.

Is it like a summoning creature? The Nara wondered. Pulling himself together, he moved to join the other commanders. The fighting appeared to have ended for now, but Shikamaru would like the advice of a war seasoned comrade before he took a relieving breath.

/ / / / /

The senior fighters agreed that the fighting had ended for now, though all of them warned that now that the enemy knew their strength, they would be better prepared. Shikamaru wasn't sure he could really say the same for them after their encounter with the enemy. The white clone force was rather easy to take out and it was mostly the reincarnated force that was the true challenge. At least Shikamaru and his team had faced the hardest emotional battle they would have to ever face.

When they were finally able to make camp safely, he collapsed next to Choji, gratefully accepting the food that Uncle Choza passed him. The small group were silent as they filled their stomachs, Ino diet persona taking a back seat for the betterment of her chakra and the uncertainty of the next meal. After they had finished, the first to break the quiet was Uncle Choza.

"You three have made me very proud."

"Even with my… hesitation?" Choji uttered, his head down but his eyes lifted to his father.

"Of course. Asuma-Sensei always told me that your strength laid in your kindness and you proved him right today. I understand why you struggled to fight your sensei… I can't say I wouldn't have faltered too. But you overcame that, with the help of your team. The next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho has far surpassed the previous. I am very proud of you for that, not just your physical and team strength, but how strong you are as people. I have hope that the generation after you only grow even more."

"Our children," Choji breathed. "That is still a far-off dream, especially with-" he looked down at his stomach, that was much smaller than usual, and gave a laugh- "well, give me a week."

"Choji, if a woman doesn't want you because you like food, then she's not right for you. You are your best self when you have a little extra to you. If you hadn't had that extra weight you wouldn't have had the energy to lead the win today." Ino patted him on the shoulder. "Any woman you end up with should recognise what a strong, caring person you are."

"Maybe you should take your own advice, Ino," Shikamaru commented with a sly look at the woman. "Why diet for a guy? Shouldn't he not care if you have a few extra pounds if you're still happy, healthy, and strong?"

The blonde picked up the apple that Shikamaru hadn't eaten yet, taking an exaggerated bite from it. She then threw the apple at Shikamaru whilst letting the juice run down her face. He caught the apple with a laugh as he watched his teammate chew in an 'un-lady like' manner.

"I do agree with Choji though," Ino went on, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I find it hard to think about raising the next generation. At the moment I can barely think about after the war, let alone one day getting married and having children. At least I know I'll have you two with me. We can watch our kids surpass us together. It's less scary knowing we can do it as a team."

Shikamaru, who had just raised the apple to his mouth to take a bite stopped. A heavy weight dropped into his stomach as he lowered the fruit. He contemplated if it was his information to tell before deciding Naruto would understand, since he would affect him, and in extension Ino and Choji. He cleared his throat, looking at the floor of the tent.

"About that. The next generation of Shika will be Ryota's heir." Silence followed his words, but he could feel the three heavy stares.

"What? Why?" Choji stammered. "You've always wanted kids. Even when we were little. What changed?"

"To be fair, I realised at thirteen there was a chance I wouldn't have kids when I realised I was in love with someone I didn't know the gender of," Shikamaru joked weakly. "But well, you know the jutsu used on my mother?" At three nods of confirmation, Shikamaru took a deep breath. "That same jutsu was used on Naruto. She can't have children. Not many people know, but Naruto will understand me telling you guys."

"But… your mum had you," Ino muttered, looking pale.

"She was lucky, and was healed quickly to give her the remotest chance, but Naruto had the jutsu used on her multiple times. And before you get any ideas about the Nine-Tails having helped, it looks like he didn't. It's unclear if he chose not to or if he couldn't." He took in the drawn faces of Choji, Ino, and Uncle Choza. "It's… not alright, because Naruto shouldn't have had to suffer, but in regards to our future, it's fine. Like I said, from around the age thirteen I knew this was a possibility. I've spent more of my life not knowing if Naruto was male or female than I have knowing. And it changed nothing."

"Your father already had plans for Ryota's heir to take over years ago," Choza admitted. That made Shikamaru blink in surprise, so his uncle went on. "After your first mission as a Chunin Shikaku realised your feelings. He obviously only saw Naruto as a boy, and didn't know that you only care about Naruto, no one else, regardless of gender. As long as you help train the next Nara leader to be as strong and smart as you, the clans shouldn't have an issue. Our clans had no issues with your mother remaining the Mother of the Nara Clan, and I believe your mother has already declared Naruto her successor much to all three clans' happiness."

Shikamaru groaned, dropping his head into his hand. "Of course."

The chuckles from all three of his companions that grew into laughter was relieving. The sound of amusement drew the attention of Uncle Satoru, Dani, and Dani's son Jun who ducked into the tent. For a moment Shikamaru thought it was his father who walked in and wondered what had gone so wrong as to draw him out of Headquarters. His uncle lacked the scars that Shikamaru's dad had and instead had a burnt away left ear. He was a little taller, though Shikaku argued that his hair was just longer to add the height.

"Good to see you lot in good spirits," Dani grinned. "After what you three did, you should be. Gave the rest of us some much needed morale."

Danie threw himself on the ground. Uncle Satoru sighed at his friend's actions before addressing the blushing Ino-Shika-Cho. "It was good to see how much you three have grown. I can still remember when you were all so little."

"Feel free to tell embarrassing stories of them when they were tiny tots," Jun piped up.

"Let's not. I get that enough off my dad." Ino groaned, burying her red face in her hands.

"Could always tell stories of Jun when he was little," Dani cackled, stretching out lazily.

"Why must you turn on me? My own father!" Jun gasped, grasping his chest like he was wounded.

Dani shrugged. "I do what I want."

"How did you three fair in battle?" Choza asked, smiling pleasantly at Dani and Jun's antics.

"We started with a squad of forty. We are down to twelve." Uncle Satoru sighed again, stepping over his sprawling friend only to drop straight down onto his torso.

"Argh, you fu-" a string of curses erupted from Dani's mouth as he threw the other Nara off him.

The laughter it caused died quickly, not able to dispel the heavy air that Uncle Satoru's admission caused. Choji leant back on his arms, looking up at the canopy of the tent.

"I knew there would be losses but the numbers are a lot more daunting than I ever expected. And we haven't even finished fighting yet."

"Stop!" Uncle Satoru ordered. His words made all free Chunins pause. He had never raised his voice at them, unless for their own safety. He had always been the adult, along with Dani, who encouraged the little mischievous things they did as children. "Stop thinking like that. If you let it take root in your mind, you won't be able to keep fighting. Don't forget the dead, but don't let their fate lead you to joining them. Hold on to the knowledge that you three have grown strong, surpassing your fathers. Use that strength to protect others and yourselves from joining the dead."

It was hard to say if his uncle's words worked. Shikamaru did turn his mind onto their remaining fighting force, but more in the capacity of trying to calculate how best to keep them alive.

Unfortunately, his attempts to balance the odds in their favour started to send him mad when the fighting had a three day lull. Other battle fields had some skirmishes, such as Gaara's battle field with the resurrected kage, who were apparently trying to help the Allied forces take them down. Hinata's battle field had had the heaviest fighting in the three days. They had fared well though, seeing as they had had a large concentration of white Zetsus but minimal resurrections. The quiet was making Shikamaru start to feel uncomfortable. After such a strong first wave, how could their enemy, led by Madara, bring such a weak second wave? He knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't work out what it was at all. There was no way they had depleted the enemy forces already.

Finally, after three days the uncomfortable calm broke.

Shikamaru stopped walking along the border that the Allie forces had drawn for their side, waiting for Jun to catch up after he had called out to him. When he reached the Nara heir he rubbed sand out of his small eyes with a frustrated grunt.

"I never thought I would be bored during the war. I'm not complaining about the quiet but at the same time it feels fake."

"I know the feeling." Shikamaru scanned the silent battle field, returning Dani's wave as he slowly made his way over to them. "It's frustrating that I can't work out what the enemy's angle is. Are they trying to draw out Naruto and the Jinchuriki for the Eight-Tails?"

Jun shrugged his broad shoulders, looking up at Shikamaru. "I'll follow your lead either way."

He felt a heavy feeling drop into his stomach. Jun was older than Ryota by seven years. He was often their baby sitter when they were all younger. He had always been the one to take them into the Nara forest when they had all been young, and scared of getting lost. Now, he not only had to physically look up at Shikamaru, who had never noticed until now how short Jun was, but he was also letting Shikamaru be the one to lead them through the forest, as it were. He tried to think of something brave to say, like Jun used to, like 'if you walk in a straight line long enough, you'll find your way out', but he couldn't think of anything. He was saved from mumbling something that wouldn't have been as fitting by Dani drawing closer.

"Any word?" Shikamaru asked, getting a shake of the head as a reply. His quiet was unusual but not holy unexpected. He surveyed the surrounding area again, not wanting to let his guard down. He started walking along his patrol route, Jun and Dani trailing behind.

"Dad, I thought you were meant to be patrolling the med tents," Jun commented, only getting a grunt in reply.

Jun shot Shikamaru a confused look, something Shikamaru barely caught in his brief pause to look at the two Naras. Out of the corner of his eye, as he turned away, the sun glinted off the sharp edge of a kunai, catching his eye.

Turning back towards the two men felt like moving through mud. He could see Dani raising a kunai, aimed at Jun's unguarded back. Jun must have noticed the look of horror and panic on Shikamaru's face because he turned his head sharply in time to see his father bring down the blade.

There was a shout, though Shikamaru wasn't sure from who, then his vision filled with blood. All sound seemed to come through a filter. When he finally took in the scene in front of him his stomach launched. It felt like he had been frozen for hours, months, or years, but it must have been only moments. Pulling out a kunai, Shikamaru imbedded it to the hilt in Dani's chest, aiming up and under the ribs, to the heart.

He knew. He knew this wasn't Dani, and yet, as the man's once lively eyes died, he felt like throwing up. The jutsu should break, the gentsui, or whatever it was, should break. As the kunai slipped from his fingers and Dani's body sagged to the ground Shikamaru nearly cried with relief as all colour left the body, leaving a white zetsu behind.

"Shikamaru," Jun called urgently.

Turning, he found Jun scrambling to his knees, moving to the prone body of Uncle Satoru. The two men rolled the older Nara onto his back, seeing the blood fountaining out of his side. His mouth gaped open but his chest didn't rise all fall.

The short scuffle must have alerted other forces because next moment Dani was running towards them. Shikamaru pulled another kunai and yelled for Dani to stop. He didn't listen, his eyes focused on his son and the body of his best friend. Stepping in front of Jun, Shikamaru stretched out his shadow, halting Dani mid-run.

"Let me go, Shikamaru!"

"This white Zetsu looked like you. How do I know you're not one too?"

Dani's eyes flicked to Shikamaru before focusing passed his hip at the two behind him. "I… I don't know. I… Satoru hated me when I first married Mina so your dad refused to let me become a Nara. I won Satoru over by always offering him his favourite lolly whenever he saw me. He knew what I was trying to do and just found it funny… and wanted the lollies."

Shikamaru shot a quick look over his shoulder at Jun who looked up from the blood over his hands long enough to give a nod of confirmation. He let Dani through but kept his kunai out. Dani dropped down next to Uncle Satoru, his hands hovering over his chest like he feared hurting him if he touched him. Finally, he put a finger against the other man's wrist. Shikamaru held his breath, praying that this contact would make his uncle jump alive again, laughing about how he had gotten one over on them all like he had done to Dani so many times. So many of Shikamaru's memories of his uncle contained him laughing and joking, a stark contrast to his older brother.

Shikamaru's eyes stung the moment Dani's shoulders started shaking and a strangled, guttural cry ripped from the older man's lips. He felt the world tilt as he truly looked at his uncle. His side was split open, his Chunin vest having been cut at the small strip of elastic between the front panels and the back. The blood that had poured out of him had since congealed on the flat, colourless ground in a scarlet pool. His dark eyes, identical to his brother's, were glassy and dulled, the lines of his face smooth, and his skin ashen. Uncle Satoru looked as though he had lost his years of experience whilst gaining many more years as well. The contradiction looked wrong on the face of a man who had lived his life through logic.

Dani asked what had happened and Jun relayed the events that led to this moment. The events that led to Uncle Satoru growing cold, staring unseeingly up at them.

"He died thinking I was trying to kill you?" Dani asked in a wobbly voice.

"No!" Shikamaru snapped. "He knew it wasn't you, that's why he didn't call out to you or try to talk sense into you. He knew you, he didn't die thinking his best friend turned against us."

Dani nodded weakly, his chin trembling. "We… we should move him. The enemy can't get a hold of his body. And we need to alert all forces that they are infiltrating through transformation."

That statement jogged Shikamaru's mind into gear. He numbly watched Jun reach over and close Uncle Satoru's eyes, something he thought only happened in fiction. They would have to ensure they used trusting channels to tell people. Although, if he found Ino, he could relay the warning to his father safely. He would have to think of a safe question to test his team members.

He informed Dani and Jun about what he was doing before waving over two medics that had come running after the confrontation. He instructed the two Naras to stay with the bodies, encase the medics were untrustworthy. He found Ino in a medical tent with two subordinates.

"Stay there," he ordered the two who looked bewildered as he beaconed Ino closer. "Who designed your house and why?"

"Sai, because he remembered me saying the old house was kinda cold." Ino frowned at him. "Shikamaru, what's going on?"

"Do you know those two? Have they been anywhere near the battlefield?"

Ino looked over her shoulder at the two younger ninjas. Shikamaru was fairly certain that they had been in the last round of Chunin exams. "No, they have been only in the tents. They don't have enough experience in battlefield medicine so they assist in the post-battle healing."

"Good." He signalled them over and instructed them to go see to his uncle's body and relieve the other two. He told them to insure they let the two other Naras know that he had sent them.

"What's going on? Has the fighting started again?"

Shikamaru heaved a sigh and ran a hand down his face, feeling his false confidence slipping now that it was just him and Ino. "Uncle Satoru is dead."

Her shuttered gasp made his eyes prick. He grinded his teeth and gave a dry swallow. After a moment he looked back up at Ino, noticing her wet cheeks. "I need to speak to our fathers." At the woman's nod he put his hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

He waited until the connection was established before calling out to his Uncle Inoichi.

"Shikamaru, is everything alright?" his uncle asked in alarm. It wasn't a scheduled update so of course he would know something was wrong.

"I need to speak directly to my father." He was thankful that is uncle didn't question him further and in a moment he heard his father's gruff voice in his head. With a deep breath, he started. "The enemy had infiltrated through transformation. Satoru Nara has been killed in the line of duty. The enemy took on the appearance of Dani Nara and attempted to kill Jun Nara."

His father was silent longer than Shikamaru expected. He was skilled at compartmentalising but perhaps his little brother's passing was something he couldn't process. Finally, he spoke, in a softer voice. "Did Jun not notice a difference in his father's chakra presence or was there no time?"

The younger Nara nearly swore. He hadn't even thought of that. As father and son, even if he was horrible at sensing chakra, Jun should have noticed something off. "No, he didn't. I could tell that both of us found Dani's behaviour off but his chakra didn't alert either of us."

"Just a moment." Shikaku went silent for some time before a grunt of frustration resounded through the link. "It seems the other teams have encountered similar issues and even those with sensory chakra haven't noticed the enemy until they attacked. It seems only the most sensitive sensory types can pick up any inconsistencies with the chakra of those who have been copied. Even then, it's only a small impression that could be caused from anything from stress to hunger. It appears that the Zetsus fed off these people whilst fighting."

Shikamaru did swear then. "They're using our chakra to hide. That means there is only one way to track them down. By tracking hostile chakra."

"It's hard to track hostile chakra. Many sensory types can't do it because it's easy to mistaken any negative chakra as hostile chakra. Not only that but it's hard to pick up chakra types like that," Uncle Inoichi explained. "There are probably only half a dozen people in the entire five nations that can do that. Even if they are all able to do so, it will take far too long."

"There is one person who can sense on mass scale for hostile chakra. It was the first type of hostile chakra they ever picked up on. Naruto, she can do it."

"Shikamaru," Uncle Inoichi started in a level voice, "When you were seven, you told me you needed to have a serious discussion with me. What was the topic of that conversation?"

"That you can't cook."

He heard the sigh of relieve. "Had to check since you just recommended we bring Naruto, the target of the enemy, out of hiding. You see the flaw in your plans, right?"

"I do. And I hate having to suggest it, but if we can't think of any other way, we'll have to. But once we do, this battle will become much more dangerous. Until a decision is made for a plan we should try to minimise casualties. Separate everyone, try and have people that have to move around be vetted where possible. I asked Ino a question like you did with me, so we both know we're clear. But that plan still has flaws."

"We'll try to think of something and will alert all forces about the need to distance yourselves until we think of a more solid plan." Shikaku sighed. "Hopefully we won't need to call on Naruto. Though, the last we heard, she was doing well with her training so at the very least we may not have to worry about the seal weakening. We will keep in touch. Stay safe, both of you."

Shikamaru removed his hand from Ino's shoulder, wobbling over to one of the medic cots and dropped down. He buried his face in his hands and tried to block out the sounds of Ino walking closer. He felt her sit next to him and put her arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and letting him drop his head on her shoulder.

"We were meant to be done with this before Naruto ever found out and now I'm the one suggesting that she join the war!" He gave a shuttering breath. "What about if they go with my plan and they get her?"

"You're forgetting the reason that you fell in love with her." Ino gave him a jostle, making him look up at her soft smile.

"She's amazing?" He gave her a half smile.

"That, but I meant the fact that you can't predict her. Even her enemies can't guess what she's going to do. It's helped her stay alive. And even so, she's powerful, so with the Allied force backing her, she'll be alright. We just need to trust that."

He needed to take a breath to calm his racing heart. There was always the chance that they found another way to track down the white Zetsus and they would be able to keep Naruto in protection for longer. Giving Ino a thankful hug he got up to return to his duties and await his father's orders.

/ / / /

They ended up putting in the orders for people to stay away from each other and not move around too much if helped. If one had to go up to someone else it was common to check if they were who they appeared if you knew them. If you didn't, you held a kunai at the ready. This had led to some Zetsus being revealed but had also caused some panic at the idea of how many Zetsus had copied members of their forces. It was clear that this plan wouldn't last much longer from panic alone.

To make matters worse, the enemy was taking advantage of the fact that they couldn't safely come to each other's aids by attacking.

He ducked under a white Zetsu's arm as they tried to stab him. They knew chakra was drawn through either by the hands or the mouth so Shikamaru made sure to avoid being in range of both. As he came back up, Shikamaru sliced open the side of the Zetsu. An image of his uncle, bleeding on the ground flashed through his mind, distracting him from the Zetsu that sprang from behind a bolder. He almost had him in his shadow when an ally through a kunai at the Zetsu, cutting straight through the jugular.

Shikamaru gave a nod of thanks before turning to the advancing Zetsus. He stepped out of the way of one's lunge, kneeing them in the chest and, as they were off balanced, drove his bloodied kunai into their chest. He gave one tug at the blade, finding it lodged. Letting it go he tried to get another from his weapon's pouch only to find another Zetsu too close. Slamming his hands together he sent out his shadow to pierce the enemy. There were only three Zetsus left facing him, and two facing his unknown saviour.

Wrapping his shadow around one Zetsus torso, he threw him into the other two, throwing them to the ground and allowing him to shoot a look at his fellow ninja to see how he was fairing. As he did so he saw the man barrel at him, a kunai in his hand. In a split second Shikamaru's shadow exploded out of him in barbs. The three Zetsus that had jumped to their feet after being thrown, as well as the two that had been running behind the ninja all found themselves impaled on longer pikes. The ninja was mere inches from Shikamaru's face, his blood running down the black spike puncturing his chest. For a moment, it looked like he wasn't going to change, that Shikamaru had misunderstood, that he had been trying to get to a Zetsu right behind Shikamaru and instead was killed. Then, almost painfully slowly manner, his tan flesh turned stark white.

As Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, and looked out past his protective barrier to see if he was safe for now, he heard a familiar grunt in his head.

"Shikamaru."

"Dad, has a plan been made?"

His father sighed, and he knew what was coming. "We're calling in Naruto. She's became aware of the war already. A force has gone to try and stop her and Killer B from breaking through the protective barriers but I'm about to call them off. Though, the two of them aren't even being slowed down by the barriers so I feel like this is an order I'm barely making." His father sighed again, sounding world weary.

Shikamaru gave a chuckle. "Sounds like her. But it's for the best. I'm ordering all forces here to not move until told otherwise. Hopefully Naruto won't take long but it's not safe otherwise. If any disobey, they will be assumed to be a Zetsu."

"Understood. Each battlefield is deciding for themselves how to handle the situation based on how large their forces are and the terrain. Yours is one of the most difficult so I will support your measures. However, we have gotten word from elsewhere on the battle field that an old enemy of yours has been resurrected."

Shikamaru felt his stomach drop. Those they had went up against when they tried to retrieve Sasuke were back. It was almost like the enemy knew. Only the one Choji faced and the one he himself faced were on their battlefield. The other two were where Neji and Kiba were. Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru confirmed to his father he understood before setting a plan in motion. He met up with Ino and Choji, explaining to them about the plan to utilise Naruto's natural sensing ability before getting Ino to relay his orders to stay where each person was.

The three then moved to where the distress signal for two of the Sound Four had been sent out to headquarters. Accepting ear plugs off Ino, Shikamaru and Choji split up to deal with their foes from three years prior.

This was going to be simple. He was much stronger and wiser now. He knew all her moves, and because of the lack of fighting lately he still had plenty of chakra. He had grown a lot. This was going to be simple.

. . . .

He should have known it wasn't going to be simple. Taking Tayuya out apparently activated a failsafe of some kind. It apparently was the same for the other three as well if their presence in the odd, red dome was anything to go by. At first it appeared that the fight would still be in their favour. The four of them could easily fight alongside each other, protecting each other where needed. However, it quickly became apparent that they had been transferred to the dome barrier for a reason.

However, as the battle turned against them Shikamaru noticed their flaring chakra. Antagonising the Sound Four almost reminded him of being trapped in the earth dome all those years prior. It crossed his mind that if Naruto hadn't been silently panicking, she would have been able to locate the enemy for him. That thought almost made him laugh. Instead, he focused on his plan, even if only Choji, yet again, understood his actions.

He grinned when he heard the knocking on the barrier. His heart felt lighter with each resounding bang that echoed through, matching the beats in his chest. The jutsu that held them there started weakening with each crack that appeared in the dome. Shikamaru kept his eyes trained on the point of impact. There was only a second between the dome shattering and Naruto descending, and the jutsu breaking, but in that one breath Shikamaru saw her. Her orange and black jumpsuit, her long blonde hair pulled back into the high ponytail typical of the Naras. It was just a glimpse, but it was everything to him in that moment.

As he was whisked away to, he found out later, return to his body, he had to smile. Although he was worried about Naruto's safety, he couldn't deny that he felt better with Naruto fighting at his side.

All their pieces were officially on the board.