A/N: Here is the next chapter for the 8 people that seem to be following this story. Thanks for sticking with it, enjoy.

Shadow Demon 4

It was not difficult for Naruto and Shikamaru to follow Gaara's trail. Even if they had been unable to sense the demonised boy's chakra, they could have just followed the decimated landscape that he was leaving in his wake. Suddenly, Shikamaru let out a curse.

"You sense them too?" Naruto asked, though it was not really a question.

"Yeah. I count about 10, a full squad." Shikamaru replied in an irritated grumble.

"And judging by their speed and chakra, they're all at least mid-chuunin level. Any ideas?" the blonde asked hopefully, not at all happy with the options that he had been able to come up with.

"It's troublesome, but we've only got three options. We set a trap, but it will probably only get a few of them, and it would slow us down so we might not be able to catch up to Gaara and the jackass in time. Or we stop and ambush them before they can catch us. We would probably be able to win, but we would defiantly not be in time to stop Gaara. Or…"

"Or one of us goes back, while the other keeps going. The one who stays back will probably be able to take out a few and at least slow down the rest, while the other one has a better chance of catching up the teme and the Tanuki." Naruto finished with a sigh, getting a nod from his lazy friend. "We don't really have a choice, do we?"

"Not really. Which only leaves who is going to do what. Had this happened two months ago I would have been the obvious choice to stay back, but…"

"But since the transfer, you have a much better chance of defeating Gaara. Which means I have to be the one who stays back." Naruto finished, getting a saddened nod from the shadow wielder.

"I'm sorr-"

"Don't sweat it Shika. I'm a shinobi of Konoha. This is what I have been training my whole life for. I just want you to promise me one thing." Naruto said seriously, his grave tone highlighting the seriousness of the situation more than any words ever could. "If something should happen to me, I need you to be the one to look out for everyone."

If the blonde had made that request of anyone else, they would probably have had no idea what he meant, but Shikamaru knew better. Naruto, more than anyone the young man had ever met or even heard of, cared for the people around him. Ever since they were just small children, Naruto had always been there for his peers. Whether it was saving Sakura or Chouji from bullies, or returning Akamaru after he had run off before he was properly trained, or even just cheering everyone up with his antics. Unlike those who said that Naruto's pranks were just stupid mischief or even those that said they were a cry for help, Shikamaru knew the truth, his biggest pranks always came at the time when his peers could use the distraction, or the laughter the most. If ever the atmosphere in their class got too apprehensive or tense, Naruto would always pull something and everyone would forget their troubles. The best example was his infamous defacing of the Hokage monument. For the weeks leading up to the graduation exam, everyone, even Shikamaru himself, had been getting more and more nervous and worried. But then, on the morning of the exam, everyone woke up to find that Naruto had pulled his biggest prank ever, and like magic, the pressure lifted. The concerns and doubts that had been eating away at their confidence had been swallowed by the distraction and the result spoke for itself, almost their entire class had passed that exam, except for the blonde himself. It was for reasons like this that Shikamaru was never among those that criticized the boy for his ambitious dream, because he knew that Naruto had the most important characteristic that made Konoha's Hokages great, heart. More than anyone else, Naruto had the heart to do whatever it took to make sure the people he cared about were happy, not even hesitating to sacrifice his own wellbeing in the process. Even now, he was preparing to sacrifice himself for Sasuke Uchiha, someone who had, pretty much every day since he met the blonde, either berated or teased the boy and the only thing that he asked in return was for Shikamaru to take up his position as caretaker. Not even the laziest gennin in Konoha's history could reject that request.

"Of course, Naruto. But you know as well as I do, that nobody can do that job like you can, so you'd better make sure you don't die." Shikamaru ordered sternly, getting a foxy grin and a nod from the blonde before he abruptly stopped and turned back to face their pursuers and his destiny.

It was only a few minutes later that Shikamaru had caught up to Gaara's siblings, who were chasing after the irate redhead, both looking far from pleased with what was happening.

"So you guys don't like this form of him either?" the shadow user asked as he appeared between them, startling the older gennin, who had been too caught up in thoughts of their out of control brother, to notice his approach. Now that they did see him though, they both leapt away and got into fighting stances.

"That's not necessary, I didn't come here to fight. I just wanted to see if I could help get Gaara under control before he fully releases Shukaku and we're all screwed." The Nara proclaimed, raising his hands in a placating manner.

"Yeah right! Gaara's transformation is a part of the plan. We're only following him to make sure he's aimed in the right direction when Shukaku fully emerges!" Kankuro yelled, though Temari obviously wasn't happy with that plan.

"What if it didn't have to be that way?" Shikamaru asked, getting a hopeful expression from the girl and a suspicious glare from her brother.

"What are you talking about?" Temari asked, lowering her fan slightly.

"Gaara told us of the invasion weeks ago." He explained, getting gasps from both and a furious expression from the puppet user. "He struck a deal with the Hokage so that he would be able to defect and our seal master would repair his seal, giving him control and letting him sleep." He continued, making Temari's eyes start to become tear laden and Kankuro's stance to tense even further. "The catch was, that he didn't participate in the invasion, and had to help wherever possible. This means that if he attacks the Uchiha, the deal will probably be voided, and he'll have to return to Suna, that is, assuming he survives." He finished darkly, making Temari's expression shift back to concern and Kankuro's warp into a confident smirk.

"Well too bad for you, leaf pussy! Cause nothing can stop that demon after he is this far gone! And as soon as he's free he'll crush that stupid Uchiha and then do the same to your whole vill-" the puppet master's arrogant tirade was cut short when he suddenly became unconscious and fell to the ground below.

"Will the deal still apply if we can save the Uchiha?" Temari asked anxiously, lowering her fan after having used it on her brother.

"Assuming the red eyed bastard is still intact and we can stop him from going anywhere near the village, it should be." Shikamaru replied, getting a determined nod from the blonde as she turned and began following her brother's trail again.

The usually lazy shinobi smiled as he rushed to keep pace with the determined woman. 'Maybe she's not so troublesome after all.' He thought, unable to resist glancing at her shapely curves as she bounded through the trees ahead of him. Forcing himself to keep his gaze locked on the trail of the buxom woman's brother, Shikamaru spared a thought for his the other blonde he had set out with. 'You had better be okay Naruto.'

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze was currently in quite a bit of trouble. His ambush had started well. The dozen explosive tags he had set up had taken out half of the pursuit squad. Unfortunately, this left the lone gennin facing off against four chuunin and a jounin, all of whom seemed to be rather unhappy at the demise of their comrades.

He had managed to take out the first pair that had charged him with a pair of well timed kunai strikes, from there though, things had quickly gone downhill. Rather than sit back and let his subordinates do the work as Naruto had hoped, the jounin had ordered all three of them to attack together. The outclassed blonde was only able to block the first few attacks before he was nailed with a nasty punch to his stomach, which drove the air out of his lungs and left him open for the five varied attacks that followed quickly afterwards, ending with a brutal spin kick from the jounin which sent him careening into and through a tree.

Forcing himself to sit up, Naruto was unable to choke back the gasp of pain that sounded as his ribs and back screamed in agony. 'Man I never thought I would miss that stupid fox, but I could really use some healing right about now.' He thought before pushing chakra into his limbs and leaping away, moments before the spot he was just laying in was pelted with a barrage of kunai.

'They didn't even stop to taunt me before going for the kill, they just don't make villains like they used to.' He thought sarcastically as he ignored his aching body's objections and continued his vigorous evasive maneuvers.

Remembering a trick he used against Jiraiya in a spar once, Naruto grabbed onto a branch and swung through a half rotation before launching a few kunai at his stalkers. In their surprise, they failed to avoid the attack and one of the chuunin was killed instantly as one of the knives embedded itself in his throat, the other two were comparatively better off, receiving only one in the shoulder and thigh respectively.

"You'll pay for that punk!" the last chuunin roared as he pulled the projectile from his wounded leg and charged the wincing teen.

His jounin commander was barely able to voice his warning before the enraged Oto shinobi was caught fireball caused by the explosive tag the crafty gennin had placed on the tree whilst doing his acrobatics.

When the smoke cleared, the charred remains of the chuunin were indistinguishable from those of the tree he had been standing on and, if the situation weren't still so dangerous, Naruto might have retched from the realisation of what he had just done to another human being. As it was however, he just looked past the smoking grave to his remaining opponent, who seemed disturbingly undisturbed by having his entire quad wiped out in a matter of minutes.

"You're pretty good kid, but don't trick yourself into thinking you're good enough to take me on. I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to go kill that little friend of yours too." The man taunted with a wicked laugh.

Naruto offered no reply, but it was obvious from the tensing of his stance and the gritting of his teeth that he was pissed. He couldn't help but think that if he still had the fox he would be able to call on its power and then he could finish the jounin quickly and catch up to Shikamaru. He quickly stomped that thought out of his head though, remembering the promise he had made to his apathetic friend.

FLASHBACK

"...I don't want getting all soft on me." Shikamaru stated with a mischievous smirk.

Naruto grinned widely at his friend's challenge. "You wish shadow boy, we'll see who's getting soft when I whoop your butt in the finals."

FLASHBACK END

He had promised Shikamaru that he would not become a liability now that he didn't have the fox to save him when things got serious and now here his was, literally the first serious situation he'd been in since he made his promise and he was already slipping. 'Like hell I am! I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze! Son of the Yondaime Hokage! Former container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune! And apprentice to the legendary toad sage Jiraiya! I will not let myself be defeated so easily!' he roared internally, his opponent actually flinching slightly at the extreme determination that seemed to radiate from the young ninja.

'What the hell happened?' he thought as the blonde charged him, any hesitation or handicap that had been caused by his injuries seemingly vanished, as he moved even faster than he had before, catching even the veteran jounin off guard. The stunned Oto nin didn't even get to flinch, before the bundle of energy connected with a savage jump kick, forcing the jounin's head to snap backwards violently as he was launched into the air. Before he could even lower his head, he felt a sharp elbow connecting with the back of his neck, followed quickly by a knee being rammed into his chest, breaking several ribs with an audible 'snap'. Using the pain, he managed to snap out of his stupor in time to see two blonde gennin kick him in the chest, sending him flying even higher into the path of another blonde, who had what appeared to be a ball of pure chakra held in his outstretched hand. With the speed that he was travelling and the alarming numbness that was spreading after the attack to his neck, the jounin was unable to do anything as the boy nearly half his age drove the incredible attack into his chest, shredding his vest and shirt instantly, before it bored into his flesh like a drill, grinding past his already damaged ribs and pulverising the precious organs that they were supposed to protect, killing him instantly.

Naruto forced himself to look away as the new corpse fell limply to the earth, he had more important things to worry about. And so, resigning himself to thinking about the lives he had just ended later, he dispelled his clones and took off after his friend, praying to anyone that would listen that he wouldn't be too late to help if he needed it.

Shikamaru and Temari had been frantically trying to catch up to the source of the trench of destruction they had been running through for the past fifteen minutes when they finally caught sight of their target, but it was not under the circumstances that they had been hoping for. Less than twenty meters ahead of them was Gaara, only arms, body and head were completely composed of sand and seemed to be taking the form of a tanunki, even down to the thick tail that extended from his lower back. This, whilst not particularly reassuring, was not what had upset them, that honour went to the form that the demonised teen was crushing against the trunk of a tree, the broken and bloodied form of Sasuke Uchiha.

The unlikely duo almost squealed in joy when they heard the raven haired avenger let out a yelp of pain, not because they were enjoying his suffering (though neither of them could say they disliked it), no it was because that yelp told them a number of things, all of which were sources of relief. Firstly, it told them he was alive, which was their main concern. It also told them some things about his condition, he was still conscious, he could still feel pain, so he wasn't paralysed, and the yelp itself was quite loud and clear, so he his internal injuries weren't serious enough to hinder his breathing...yet.

They were pulled out of their momentary celebration for two reasons; 1, they had somehowended up hugging each other, which was both incredibly inappropriate and bizarrely comfortable. And secondly, Sasuke let out another scream, reminding that while he may be relatively unharmed at the moment, it certainly wouldn't stay that way.

Forming the seals for his family's Kage Nui Jutsu, Shikamaru moulded his shadow into a physical spike before flattening it into a blade and slicing through the sand arm that had been slowly crushing the Uchiha. With its source literally cut off, the sand hand fell loosely to the ground, with Sasuke falling after it, only for his decent to be cut short as he was caught by Temari, who then hurried back to Shikamaru's side, eager to get back to the odd feeling of security that she felt when he was near.

Howling savagely at both the pain of losing an 'arm' and having his fun interrupted, the possessed Gaara frantically searched for the source of his 'wound', eventually coming across the tensed forms of Shikamaru and Temari, who was supporting Sasuke, the battered teen having finally passed out.

"You! You are the one who stopped our fun in the hospital! Return the Uchiha!" the demonic voice demanded as his sand arm reformed, leaving it perfectly intact like nothing had happened.

"Sorry, no can do. See, even if he is an arrogant jackass, Sasuke is still one of my comrades, and as such is under my protection. That means that if you want to get to him, you're gonna have to go through me first." Shikamaru declared, his usual lazy drawl replaced by a harsh, serious commander's voice. Temari stared at the enigmatic man. One moment he is the poster boy for laziness and apathy, and then suddenly, he is a powerful, confident warrior that is refusing to back down, even against her demonised brother.

"Fine, I will!" with speed unexpected from something of its size, the demonic tanuki leapt at the trio of gennin, swinging its huge sand appendages wildly.

"Temari, take Sasuke and get out of here!" Shikamaru yelled as they all dodged the frantic attacks of the enraged demon.

"Are you nuts? I can't leave you alone with Gaara like this! And even if I could, if I go back to your village like this, they'll kill me!"she replied before leaping off a branch moments before it was shattered by a swing of the sand demon's tail.

Shikamaru fought off the urge to sigh and created a Kage Bunshin. "Take my clone and get out of here, if anyone confronts you, he'll explain everything."

"But-"

"Please Temari. I can't focus if I'm worrying about you two. Just do this for me. I promise that everything will be okay." The Shikamaru clone pleaded as the original lured their out of control opponent away from them with a barrage of shuriken that the sand beast merely shrugged off.

Temari didn't reply but gave the clone a nod before stealing one last glance at her demonised brother and the man that was trying to save them all, before she turned and leapt away, back towards the village that she was supposed to be at war with.

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the beautiful wind mistress leave with her cargo and escort. 'Okay, time to get serious.' He thought before focusing his chakra in that oh so familiar way and taking control of his shadow. He had not wanted to show that he no longer needed the seals to utilise his family's techniques as it would generate too many questions, not even his father, hailed as the greatest master in the clan's history could do that, and he had thirty years experience on the young gennin. He had decided before the finals began that he wouldn't reveal the limits, or rather the lack there of, of his abilities, especially in such a public forum. Instead he would only bring out the truly remarkable capabilities when absolutely necessary, like when a fellow jinchuruki lost control and began releasing his demon for example.

Raising the black pool out of the ground and giving it corporeal substance, he formed a shield, not unlike Gaara's own one, and stopped the sand limbs that had been reaching out for him. Only delayed for a moment, Shukaku, who was now in complete control and had formed a miniature, ten foot tall version of his true form, extended his arms around the shield and directly at the strangely calm teen.

Shikamaru, having anticipated this move, had already formed the edges of his barrier into razor sharp blades, and now extended them outwards, effortlessly severing the approaching appendages, leaving only a mildly irritating cloud of sand to drift past on the breeze. Before the wailing demon could reform its amputated limbs, it was enveloped in the barrier, which had covered it like a sheet before sealing off and becoming a solid, airtight sphere.

"Do you like it? I call it the Kagero Jutsu. I got the idea from a technique Naruto's sensei got captured in once, though that technique used water, the concept and effect are the same. You've got, maybe a minute worth of air in their before you start to suffocate." Shikamaru explained, speaking through his connection to the shadow.

"Foolish human! I am a greater demon! Do you think such a thing concerns me? I am immortal-"

"Maybe you are, but is your container?" Shikamaru interrupted, silencing the beast instantly. "You may not need to breathe, but the body you're inhabiting does, and I'm willing to bet that when he dies, you're going with him."

The shadow user suppressed the urge to smirk when he felt the demon begin to struggle against its second containment, proving his theory correct.

"Tell you what demon. You give Gaara back control, and I'll end the technique so you two don't have to die. What do you say?" Shikamaru offered, really not wanting to have to kill the boy to stop the demon.

"Do you really think that this pathetic restraint can hold me? I am the Ichibi no Shukaku, lord of the deserts and master of the winds! You're mortal techniques are nothing against one such as me!" the demon roared. Shikamaru would have ignored the rant as mere boasting and bolstering, but when the sand on the outside of the ball of shadows began to stir and gather towards the prison, he decided it might not be and prepared himself for what he would do if the demon managed to escape.

Any plans he had been developing were cut short however, when the sphere exploded outwards and Shukaku emerged even larger than before, and growing quickly as he absorbed more and more of the sand and soil off the forest floor.

Even his genius intellect was stalled, when the demon continued to expand and swell until it finally stopped, standing higher and wider than the Hokage tower, the largest building in Konoha. His thoughts were succinctly summarised by Naruto as he arrived on the scene.

"That is a big fucking raccoon." The blonde muttered, getting a nod from Shikamaru before they snapped out of their dumbfounded stares.

"You got anything that can help?" the shadow user asked, saving his relief at his friend's survival for later when they weren't about to die.

"Maybe the chief toad, but I haven't got anywhere near chakra enough left to summon him. How bout you?" the blonde asked, once again momentarily regretting not having the fox anymore.

"I've got something I've been tinkering with, but it'll probably do little more than slow him down. We really need to get Gaara back in control." Shikamaru answered, searching his mind for any ideas.

"Well, when I lost control at the prelims, it was like I was in a dream or something, I only snapped out of it after Ero-sannin smacked me into the wall. So maybe if we can give Gaara a good whack, he'll wake up?"

"It's worth a shot. When I was fighting Shukaku it admitted that Gaara needs air, and I doubt he'd be able to get any if he was inside that thing, so he has to be on the surface somewhere."

"Well if I was a giant raccoon with a weakness like that, I'd wanna keep it somewhere I could keep an eye on it. I'll bet he's on the head, otherwise it'd be too easy to sneak up on him and wake Gaara up."

Shikamaru nodded, agreeing with his friend's logic. "Okay. I'll see if I can distract him, you get up there and wake Gaara up." Naruto nodded and leapt away, dodging the giant sand monster's feet and beginning the long trek up one of its hind legs.

Shikamaru let out a calming sigh and began channelling all the chakra he could muster into the attack he had been experimenting with for weeks. The inspiration had actually come from an anime that he had been watching, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. The main character had created a sphere of energy and then launched it at his opponent, where it essentially exploded in a big flashy show of lights. It had proven more difficult than he had anticipated, but after liberal usage of the Kage Bunshin training method, he had finally gotten it to work.

So, like the character in the cartoon, he extended his arms out to the side, pushing almost all of his chakra into his hands, dimly noting that his hands were covered in a translucent black aura, reflecting the change that had undergone his chakra since the Kyuubi transfer.

FLASHBACK

It was during his first training session after being released from the anbu cell that Shikamaru noticed the change in his chakra. To test how his system had changed, he had been going through each of the jutsu that he knew and came across a somewhat troubling discovery, his chakra had changed. Where before, it would glow the standard, light blue colour, it now was a strangely luminescent black. He also found that, while his new chakra made doing his family's techniques so simple he didn't need the hand seals, it made doing any other techniques impossible, even simple things like the academy jutsu. The only non-Nara jutsu he could still use was the Kage Bunshin, which he assumed must have originated from his clan, or at least be similar enough to their techniques for his black chakra to still work.

FLASHBACK END

Ridding his mind of the distracting memories, he continued to pour his energy into his hands until all that was left, was the bare minimum he needed to stay conscious. Bringing his chakra laden hands together in front of him, with the bottom of the wrists together and the fingers spread out flat and wide, he began to mould the tremendous amount of energy into a ball.

Unlike the attempts he had made during his training with the technique, which generated a tennis ball sized attack, the young shadow wielder had concentrated so much chakra into the technique that he was now holding a glowing sphere of shadows more than a meter in diameter.

Knowing that he would only get one chance with such a costly jutsu, Shikamaru took careful aim, then, finally finished with the preparations, took a deep breath and, using every ounce of control he had, expelled the chakra from his hands, launching the devastating projectile violently from his body and towards its intended target, the underbelly of the gigantic sand demon that towered before him. The recoil created from the launch, propelled the teen backwards, sending him crashing harshly into the trunk of the tree he had been standing on, but the impact on Shukaku was far more destructive.

The orb had sped towards the free demon almost faster than the human eye could follow, and connected directly with the beast's bulging stomach. At first, it seemed as though the comparatively tiny projectile, had done anything to the enormous creature. That had quickly changed however, when the attack detonated.

The already large ball had quickly expanded, till it was roughly the same size as Shukaku's monstrous head, before it exploded violently, emitting a brilliant flash of that peculiar black light before sending a torrent of wind and debris flying in all directions. The only sound that could be heard over the tremendous explosion was the horrific wailing of the gigantic beast, and as the dust cleared, it became apparent why. The attack had not only wiped out a sizable section of forest, but it had all but vapourised three of the Ichibi's legs and much of its body.

"Kage Taihō success. Your turn Naruto." Shikamaru muttered before he passed out from exhaustion.

Chapter End

Kage Nui Jutsu = Shadow Sewing Technique

Kagero Jutsu = Shadow Prison Technique

Kage Taihō = Shadow Cannon (if the description wasn't clear enough, think Vegeta's Final Flash attack from DBZ, only it forms a ball, rather than a beam, and is black)

A/N: Well, that was a bitch to write, so I hope you enjoyed it. You may have noticed that, as per the reviewer requests, I am developing the Shika/Naruto friendship, and I will be continuing to do so as the story continues. Rest assured however, it will remain a Shika/Temari pairing (I'm not sure if Ino will be involved or not at this point, since she was such a bitch in chapter 2). Anyway, please let me know what you think, otherwise I will assume no one cares about this fic and stop posting.

Mr Chunk