"Sometimes you lose a battle. But mischief always wins the war."

—John Green (Looking For Alaska)

Chapter 1: Reunion

I really didn't want to have to do this, Temari thought to herself as she rushed to the Messenger Corp, frantically checking over her shoulder to make sure she'd made a clean getaway. The ambush had been sudden, and the Hidden Sand was understaffed, as far as shinobi went. Those damn Akatsuki had reduced the village to a shadow of its former self, taking the lives of countless ninja in their rampage to acquire the Kazekage.

No, she reminded herself, not the Kazekage—the Shukaku inside the Kazekage. She silently admonished herself for the mistake. It was not the first time someone had failed to see the distinction between the boy and the monster, but Temari should have known better. Gaara was her brother, after all.

Upon reaching the base of the Messenger Corp's tower, she increased her pace. There was no time to waste. She zoomed up the stairs two at a time, finally reaching the top.

"I need a messenger bird, now!" she demanded, causing the two ninja in the room to spring from their chairs, suddenly alert.

"Of course, Lady Temari," said the one closest to her. "But what for?"

"There's been an attack on the outer wall by a group of rogues. We're handling things the best we can, but we need help. We're too shorthanded," she explained as the Messenger Ninja unfurled a scroll on the table in front of him.

"What should I write?"

"Attack on Hidden Sand. Assistance needed immediately."

"To whom?"

"The Hidden Leaf."

The Messenger Ninja looked up in surprise. "Lady Temari, don't you think we should consult Lord Kazekage before enlisting the help of another village?"

"He approves," came a raspy voice from behind them.

Temari and the two Messenger Ninja jerked their heads around so fast it was surprising they didn't injure themselves. And there in the doorway was her brother—the red hair, the calm expression, the sunken eyes, the flowing robes. The only bit of serenity in the chaos that had struck the Hidden Sand.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed. "You agree then?"

"Of course. We are allies; it's expected that we turn to each other in times of crisis. Send the message. In the meantime, I will assist in the battle."

"But Gaara, you're the Kazekage—we have to keep you safe!"

"What good is a Kazekage who doesn't defend his own village?"

Temari looked at her brother and thought about how much he'd changed in the past few years—no, how the Leaf had changed him. That Naruto boy had struck something in Gaara, something life-altering and terrifying, but something good. It was that boy who had allowed Gaara, at the age of 16, to become the best Kazekage the Hidden Sand had ever seen.

She smiled sadly at her brother. Would he ever stop trying to prove himself worthy of his title?

"I'm sorry, Gaara, but what's best for the village is keeping you safe. Your Ultimate Defense has been beaten before and that's not something I'm prepared to risk."

"But—"

"No, Gaara!" she interjected. "I'm saying this as your big sister, not just as a comrade: You're going to wait this out right here, where it's safe. You've already died for your village once, and I am not gonna let that happen again," she concluded, turning slowly to face the Messenger Ninja once again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gaara bow his head in defeat, somehow, despite his undying loyalty to the people of his village, knowing that Temari was right.

With that, she left for the battleground. She exited the building, once again feeling the intense morning sunshine on her skin. As she ran, she heard the sharp squawk of a hawk and she knew her message was on its way. She felt an ironic grin stretch across her face because, somewhere in the back of her mind, she had a feeling she knew who the Hokage was going to send.

And she knew he was not going to like it.

"Why the hell do I have to go the Hidden Sand? That's such a pain."

Tsunade sighed. This was not going the way she'd wanted, although it was exactly what she'd expected. "Because, Shikamaru, you are the only available Chunin Captain that has any sort of relationship with the village."

Shikamaru shoved his fists deeper into his pockets, staring at the ground with an intensity that could burn holes. "Yeah, but can't you send another squad? I know Konohamaru's been begging you for an A-Rank for months."

"He and the rest of Team Ebisu are on an escort mission right now. Shikamaru, you're going. No questions asked."

"Ah…" he sighed. He knew he'd promised himself not to complain as much as he used to, but he couldn't resist—this mission just sounded like such a drag. Going to the Hidden Sand meant seeing that kunoichi. Temari. The cruelest of them all. Apparently Tsunade had mistaken their grudging acquaintance during that year's Chunin Exams as actual friendship, based on her comment about a 'relationship,' but that couldn't be further from the truth. To be honest, they hated each other. She'd never quite gotten past how he'd humiliated her in their own Chunin Exams, and he'd never quite forgiven her for saving him from the Sound Ninja. Or for the ceaseless insults. Or for just generally reminding him of his mother. She wasn't horrible all the time, but if he had to put a number on it, he'd say she was a pain about 70% of the time.

But that wasn't the worst of it. He didn't want to get out of this mission just because of some troublesome woman. He just wasn't sure he was up to another mission so soon. It'd only been about a month since he'd gone up against those Akasuki, Hidan and Kakuzu, and although the bruises had faded and the cuts had scarred over, there were some wounds that were much slower healing. Shikamaru felt his expression darken as a wave of regret crashed over him.

Asuma. No matter how many times Shikamaru thought about it, he could never get past it. His sensei was dead. He was out of a shogi partner and a friend. And as much as he didn't want to believe it, it was partially his fault. If he'd just been a little more careful in his calculations, if he'd foreseen all the possible outcomes, a senseless death could have been avoided. If he'd just figured out Hidan's jutsu quicker…

He shook his head. It was too late to do anything about it, and he needed to think about his other responsibilities. Asuma had entrusted him with the Will of Fire, and he intended to uphold that trust. He would watch over Kurenai and her baby, once she had it, and he would protect his comrades. Which, he supposed, included their allies in the Sand Village.

Tsunade, seeing Shikamaru drift into his own thoughts, had a feeling she knew what was bothering him. "Are you thinking about Asuma again?"

Shikamaru didn't reply. He simply curled his hands into ever tighter fists and shoved them even deeper into his pockets, looking anywhere but at the Hokage.

"Ah…Shikamaru, how many times to I have to tell you that it wasn't your fault?"

"But—"

"No, Shikamaru, no buts," she shouted, suddenly rising out of her seat. She slammed her hands down onto her desk, her brown eyes alighting in a burst of rage. "I'm sick of this! You can't doubt yourself—you're a shinobi! It's your job to protect your comrades and how do you intend to do that if you don't think you're good enough?"

Shikamaru felt anger spread red-hot through his body as he unconsciously moved forward to stand face-to-face with Tsunade. "Asuma is dead because of me! I'm a failure! I've lost Sasuke! I've hurt Choji! And Naruto! And Neji and Kiba and Ino, and it's all because I'm not good enough!"

"BULLSHIT!"

Shikamaru suddenly snapped out of the rage that had grabbed him and stepped back to a respectable distance.

"I'm sorry, Lady Hokage. That was out of line."

"Hm." Tsunade took her seat once more, sizing up Shikamaru's newly calmed face. "Lemme tell you something. Shikamaru, you are the best strategist the Hidden Leaf has ever seen, except for maybe your father and you'd probably even give him a run for his money. If it weren't for you, I don't even want to think of what the state of the village would be in. So yes, Asuma is dead. But so are two Akatsuki and 5 of Orochimaru's followers. And your friends aren't. If you would just stop lingering on your mistakes, you'd be able to see how much good you've done."

Shikamaru took all this without the slightest change in expression, but he felt a newfound resolve. He would take this mission, and it would go perfectly.

"I accept the mission, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade smiled. "Excellent. Who do you need for your team?"

"What information do we have on the enemy?"

Tsunade glanced at the scroll on her desk. "Nothing. It just says, Attack on Hidden Sand. Assistance needed immediately. But they wouldn't send for help unless they were either seriously out-classed or seriously out-numbered."

Shikamaru took a moment to think. With such limited information, he'd just have to form a squad with members who could counter a lot of different combat styles. He took care of mid-range, so he'd need a close-range (maybe two for good measure), a long-range, a sensory type, and a way to get there quickly. He wouldn't need a medical ninja, since the Sand had their own…but who to bring?

"Is Neji on a mission?"

"Yes. He and the rest of Team Guy are in the Land of Rice Paddies."

"Hm…" That was a minor setback, but nothing he couldn't handle. "In that case, I need Choji, Naruto, Sai, and Hinata."

Tsunade made a few notes in her mission files and nodded in affirmation. "All right. Gather your team—you leave immediately."

Temari felt a sharp gust of wind as a shuriken flew past her left ear.

"Watch it, Temari!" shouted Kankuro, expertly maneuvering Black Ant to capture the enemy nin who'd attacked his sister. "Get your head out of the clouds!"

Even as she regained her focus, angling her fan for her next attack, she felt a stupid smile stretch across her face. Clouds. Shikamaru loved the clouds. She was glad Shikamaru hadn't been there to see that little blunder—he'd never let her hear the end of it if she screwed up—but at the same time, she hoped he was close. The situation was becoming ever direr. The Sand nin had suffered several casualties already, and although she was sure the rogues had lost more men than her troops had, there seemed to be a never-ending supply of them ready to take the places of their fallen comrades. They needed all the help they could get.

She tilted her fan, sizing up the angle of her next shot. She tensed her muscles, relishing the ache in her shoulders.

"Wind Style, Wind Scythe Jutsu!" she screamed, swinging her fan.

The volley of wind sliced through the frontlines of the enemy forces, sending eight men crumbling to the sandy ground in a collective spurt of red.

She allowed herself a brief feeling of smugness before ten men stepped forward to take their places. She reached for her shuriken.

"You better get here soon, Nara," she muttered before unleashing another attack.

"How come I have to be here? I should be training. What if Pervy Sage gets back while I'm on a mission?" Naruto whined.

He, Choji, Sai, Hinata, and Shikamaru were all currently flying into the sunset over a particularly barren stretch of desert, courtesy of Sai's ink birds. Shikamaru wagered they were about three quarters of the way to the Hidden Sand, which was rather impressive considering they'd only left that morning and it took three days to get there on foot. Bringing Sai had certainly been a good move on his part, even if he couldn't be completely trusted. The Foundation was simply too suspicious to give Sai a free pass, but try as Shikamaru might, he couldn't bring himself to hate Sai. Something about his demeanor, his never-ceasing desire to understand the most basic aspects of human relationships, made him seem almost like a small child, someone the village had to take care of.

Shikamaru bared his face to the biting wind, snapping himself out of his thoughts. There were more important things to worry about, just then. He opened his mouth to respond to Naruto's asinine comment, but Choji beat him to it.

"Because, idiot, Shikamaru needs close-range fighters and you fit the bill. Besides, even if Master Jiraiya gets back while you're gone, you know the only training you'll get done is peeping at hot springs."

"Hey! That is very useful stealth training!" Naruto backfired.

Shikamaru felt a small grin creeping across his face. He and Choji had been best friends for as long as he could remember, but the fact that they understood each other without even looking at each other still amazed him. They were, along with Ino, the perfect team. Asuma had seen to that.

And just like that, the grin was gone.

"Naruto, do you need me to explain the plan to you again?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto gaped. "We have a plan?"

Shikamaru, for lack of a better word, facepalmed. "Yes!" He yelled. Naruto was great to have in fights and all, and Shikamaru liked the guy, but he really was a pain sometimes.

"Naruto, listen up. Sai is at point so that he can use his ink creatures to scout ahead for potential enemies, and so that he can tell his birds where to go. Plus, he's a long-range fighter, so in the event that he spots an enemy, he's the best situated to dispose of the threat. You and Choji are next because you're the close-range fighters, and in case we get dragged into a conflict, you two are placed so that you can get close to the enemy quickly. Then there's me, since I'm a mid-range fighter, and then Hinata's in the back to scan behind us with her Byakugan and take care of anyone tailing us," Shikamaru explained, all the while thinking that it would have been much better to have Neji with the team, because at least he wouldn't spend the whole mission worrying about impressing Naruto. But hey, sometimes you just have to count your losses and move on. "But we want to avoid a fight at all costs," he continued. "Our one and only goal at this point is to reach the Hidden Sand safely and rendezvous with the Kazekage to figure out what we're up against. You got that?"

"You mean we're not even fighting? Man, this mission totally stinks!"

"Gah…" Shikamaru groaned. He gave up. He simply could not tolerate having to explain this most simplistic of strategies any more. The ninjas flew on in silence.

Sai, peering ahead, suddenly perked up. "I can see the outer wall! We're nearly there!" he called back to the rest of the group.

"Excellent." Shikamaru grinned. Finally, a mission without complications.

Or so he thought. As soon as the word left his mouth, he started to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach, and soon after his instincts registered something amiss, he heard Hinata gasp.

"Shikamaru!" she shrieked.

"What'd you see, Hinata?"

"Enemies!"

"Tailing us?"

"No—above!"

"Above?" he asked, turning his gaze skyward. "But we're flying. How could they—"

And then he saw them. Two ninja boasting headbands from the Hidden Stone, seemingly floating along unsupported.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. He thought he'd dealt with everything—elaborate genjutsus, immortal freaks—but he'd never even imagined that he'd encounter a ninja with the ability to fly. There were stories dating back to the First Great Shinobi War about the existence of such powers, but those were children's stories, told to scare the newbies at the academy. Surely they couldn't be real.

Shikamaru shook his head to clear it, silently admonishing himself for his moment of discomposure. He couldn't bother with the how yet; his first priority was thinking about the what. There were flying ninja watching them like hawks. What now? They weren't attacking, but then if they weren't aiming to intercept, what was their purpose? Clearly they were a diversion, and if they were drawing attention skyward…

"Watch out!" Shikamaru shouted as four ninja appeared suddenly beneath them, sending a volley of kunai toting paper bombs flying toward the Leaf Ninja. They dodged frantically, miraculously managing to avoid the weapons.

Shikamaru glanced around, trying to assess the situation. They were now within half a mile of the Hidden Sand; they, a group of five, were being pursued by six enemy ninja of unknown ability; there was no tree cover. That meant they were too far away to seek refuge in the village, they were outnumbered and, as the enemy had somehow managed to avoid detection by the Byakugan, the all-but-infallible ocular jutsu, likely out-skilled. And there was no chance of hiding. No matter how he looked at it, he knew they would have to fight. They were trapped.

"Sai!" He called out.

"Captain!" Sai shouted, scribbling furiously on a scroll even as he flew.

"Control my bird for a minute! Naruto! Choji! Cover me, ok? Hinata, you keep gathering any intel you can."

His comrades nodded gravely.

Shikamaru crouched into a familiar stance, one knee touching the ground, eyes closed, fingertips pressed together. He needed to think.

He ignored the sounds of tinkling metal and his comrades' grunts as they battled; all that mattered was the plan.

The Plan…the plan…

Shikamaru straightened slightly from his crouch. "Hinata," he called softly, so as the rest of the dueling ninja wouldn't hear.

"Yes?"

"Can you see the battlefield at the Sand Village?"

"Yes."

"What's happening?"

"There are about a hundred rogues and about thirty Sand ninja. The rogues are closer to us and the Sand ninja seem to be pressed against the outer wall of the village, but I can't make out specifics—they're moving too fast. Why? What's the plan, Shikamaru?"

"I'll tell you when I know myself," he deadpanned, turning his view downward to examine their assailants below.

No tree cover…no intel…vastly outnumbered…I have to think about this a different way. There's no way to avoid a fight, but how can I turn this in our—and the Hidden Sand's—favor?

He assumed his crouch once more, focusing all his energy on formulating the best possible plan.

That's it!

"Sai!" he called, reaching into his ninja-tool pouch and removing a few kunai. "Release your jutsu on my count. We're going the rest of the way on foot."

"Understood," Sai responded stoically. His face remained blank, but Naruto spun around, suddenly excited. A lopsided, toothy grin spread across his face.

"All right!" he shouted. "Finally, some real action!"

Hinata was decidedly less excited. She raised her hands up to chest level and began twiddling her fingers in her trademark gesture of apprehension. "Shikamaru, aren't we safer in the air?"

"Yes," he responded, carefully securing paper tags to his supply of kunai knives. "But they're safer if we're in the air, too."

He finished preparing his kunai and finally turned his full attention to his team. "Listen up, guys. Once Sai releases the jutsu, we'll take out these rogues and run for the Hidden Sand as fast as we can. Clearly, they were alerted at the battlefront that there might be reinforcements coming and these guys were sent out for reconnaissance, but I'd bet the rogues don't anticipate us winning this fight. They'll likely know that the situation in the Leaf is just as dire as in the Sand, and that we wouldn't be able to send many additional soldiers, so they'll think that we're easy targets. They won't be expecting us at the main battlefield and we'll be approaching them from behind, so we have the advantage. You'll need to use the element of surprise and take out as many as you can while we have that advantage. That's our only chance, given the circumstances. Got it?"

His team nodded gravely. "Choji," said Shikamaru. "You know what to do."

Choji smirked and cracked his knuckles, eager for the fight. "You got it, Shikamaru."

"Now, Sai!" he yelled, jumping into the air and releasing a volley of paper bombs at their flying followers. All of a sudden, the birds on which they had been traveling dissolved to ink and the group was sent tumbling back to earth.

Shikamaru was above the others, facing upward so as to see the startled looks on the rogues' faces when they realized the paper bombs were fakes. He couldn't create an explosion, after all. If he had alerted the enemy to their position, the plan would have been pointless. Nonetheless, the threat of attack had made them panic, and they'd been unable to stage a counterattack. Even as Shikamaru watched this part of his plan come to fruition, he heard his best friend shout, "EXPANSION JUTSU! SPIKY HUMAN BOULDER!"

The four distinct cries of pain assured him that Choji's attack had done just what it was supposed to do. He allowed himself a short-lived moment of smugness as Choji reached out one giant hand to catch his friend and return him safely to the ground. He joined his team in Choji's shadow and they made to leave, but he heard a soft pat as the rogues touched down, preparing for battle.

Suddenly, however, they found that they could no longer move their bodies. They both raised their startled eyes to appraise the sixteen-year-old boy in front of them—the ponytail jutting into the sky; the narrowed eyes sparkling with mischief; the thin lips curled nastily in cruel determination; and finally, the slender fingers, weaved into a hand sign.

"Shadow possession jutsu complete," Shikamaru practically taunted. He glanced up at Choji who, had his face not been backlit, would probably have looked rather pleased with himself. "Good job, buddy. It's not easy to find a good shadow in the desert."

"No problem," he returned.

Shikamaru brought his gaze back to the two rogues in his grip. "You guys go on ahead," he called to his team. "I'll finish up here."

As he heard his comrades' footfalls fade gradually into the background and he heaved a huge sigh of relief. His team had conquered the first hurdle unharmed.

He shifted his fingers slightly to deliver the final blow. "Shadow Strangle Jutsu!" he grunted, struggling with the effort necessary to maintain such a jutsu on two men simultaneously.

The Stone Ninja were stunned. This man—no, this child—was going to kill them with a mere shadow. As they saw the black tendrils snaking up their arms and slowly stretching to circle their necks, their hearts raced and their lungs ached. They couldn't move. They couldn't breathe. They were dead.

Shikamaru felt their muscles suddenly go slack and he knew it was over. He released his jutsu, sending the enemy ninja tumbling broken to the ground, and turned to face a rapidly shrinking Choji, who had loyally stayed behind to assist Shikamaru.

"Ready for the real fight?" Shikamaru asked.

"You bet, Shikamaru." He and Shikamaru charged into the setting sun, basking in the high of victory, the adrenaline rush. They were so close to the village's outer wall now that they could clearly see the battlefield and hear the tinkling of clashing weapons. Shikamaru felt a surge of familiarity as he picked out the distinct clacking of Kankuro's puppets and the unmistakable whoosh of Temari's fan, followed by an indomitable dust cloud billowing into the air, turning the orange sunset a murky gray. He remembered the first time he'd heard that noise, during the Chunin Exams. She'd been fighting Tenten, whom Shikamaru had barely known at the time and didn't have the right to cheer for, and yet at that time the biting wind had seemed so sinister. And then the last time he'd seen her use that attack, his first mission as a Chunin captain. When she'd saved him. It was funny how the wind which had terrified him so deeply for so long had suddenly felt comforting, almost friendly.

The sounds of battle were growing louder as they got closer, and he was now beginning to be able to pick out voices. He'd only ever been to the Hidden Sand once, and very briefly at that, but he never forgot a voice, and he recognized many of the ones he was hearing now. He felt his lips twitch up at the corners ever so slightly as he picked out one in particular. Her voice was slightly deeper and coarser than those of the girls he knew in the Hidden Leaf. It was harder, more unforgiving. Strong. It was a voice filled with cockiness and superiority, not showing a shred of weakness. But what Shikamaru heard in her voice now concerned him, for he'd never even imagined she could feel such an emotion: Temari sounded desperate.

He felt his feet moving faster, almost of their own accord. They were nearly there.

"Naruto, Choji, Sai, Hinata!" he whisper-shouted, so as not to alert the enemy.

"Yes, Captain?" responded Sai. The others simply turned to look at him.

"Our entire plan hinges on surprising them, so we have to take out as many of them as we can in one go. As soon as our initial attack is staged, they'll start defending themselves, and we have to minimize their defense. I need you to use your most devastating attacks, but be covert about it. Naruto, that means you," he scolded.

Naruto's eyebrows wrinkled as his lower lip jutted out. Just as quickly, his hurt expression vanished. "No worries, Shikamaru. I've got this," he boasted, weaving a hand sign as he spoke. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Instantly, their army of five became an army of several hundred. They were now no more than thirty feet away from the first of the rogues—

"Super Beast Scroll!"

—fifteen feet—

"Twin Lion Fists!"

—five feet—

"Expansion Jutsu!"

—and the fight had begun.

"Spiky Human Boulder!"

"Shadow Stitching!"

"Gentle Fist!"

"Giant Rasengan!"

And just like that, the rogue army was reduced by thirty. The odds had certainly been turned in their favor, but their advantage had run out. They may have taken out thirty rogues, but now it was seventy against six and Shikamaru had no idea what they were up against or how many Sand ninja were still alive. And worse yet, the enemy was moving to surround the band of Leaf Shinobi, making any chance of a getaway vanish into thin air.

The Leaf nin formed a circle with their backs to the middle, an innate defense maneuver.

"So what's the plan now, Captain?" Sai asked.

"Lemme think," came Shikamaru's nervous reply as he watched the oncoming enemy nin pull put kunai with menacing grins on their faces. He'd assumed that the rogue army would be entirely ex-Stone ninja, but he now saw that there were ex-Mist, ex-Cloud, and even a few headbands he couldn't recognize in the mix. With such a diverse army, their odds of success were greatly reduced.

Shikamaru glanced to his left, at Naruto. His eyebrows were knitted together in concern. He glanced to his right, at Hinata. Her eyes were wide, wider than usual, with the shock of seeing the size of the enemy up close. He was sure Choji, if not Sai, boasted a similarly disturbed expression. As for himself, Shikamaru was starting to lose his cool. He struggled to keep his face neutral, should his friends decide to look at him—he needed to be the level-headed leader, but he just couldn't see a way out of this. Their best bet was using Sai's ink birds to make an escape, but at such a close range, they'd be attacked for sure before they even got off the ground. Their only option was to fight their way out, but Shikamaru understood his and his friends' limits perhaps better than anyone. This was not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination.

"Shikamaru?" Hinata whispered apprehensively.

"Sorry, guys, I've got nothing," Shikamaru admitted. "We'll have to somehow fight our way over to the Sand nin, but at least for now, it's every man for himself."

Temari had been about ready to surrender when she saw it. At the back of the enemy army, there was a large, spiky ball, systematically throwing skewered rogues into the air. She allowed herself a moment of relief: Nara was finally here, and he'd brought his chubby friend.

In that second of distraction, an ex-Cloud ninja had managed to close the gap between himself and Temari, and he sent a shuriken sizzling with Lightning-Style chakra her way. Temari noticed it just in time, and dodged just enough for it to graze her upper arm, rather than her chest. Nonetheless, when it made contact with her skin, the electric shock was enough to make her hair, which was already spiky enough as it was, stand on end. The amount of blood seeping from the wound was minimal, but it sure hurt like hell.

"You son of a bitch!" Temari yelled, simultaneously imbuing her fan with acutely focused Wind-Style chakra and swinging it horizontally at the man, so fast it was little more than a blur.

Before the rogue even had time to think about moving, his severed head had hit the floor. There was an almost comical spurt of blood from the wound, and then after a few seconds, his body followed suit.

"Asshole," Temari panted. "You got blood on my fan."

Shikamaru's ears perked up as he heard a certain woman's blood-curdling shouts. He felt a shiver travel down his spine without fully understanding why, and he knew innately that Temari needed help.

"Choji, I need you to throw me as hard as you can to three-o'clock," Shikamaru stated as calmly as he could, given the circumstances. His comrades had dispersed and were all fighting their own battles, but Choji had stayed by his side, loyal to the end. They were alternately sweeping enemies out of the way with Choji's enlarged hands and attacking them with Shikamaru's shadows, but they weren't getting very far. Shikamaru knew that if it weren't for him, Choji probably would have taken out a ton of them, but the fact of the matter was that Choji was unwilling to abandon his friend, since he knew Shikamaru wasn't exactly the most talented ninja when it came to Taijutsu. If Choji could just throw him somewhere a little more strategically viable, then they'd both be better off.

"Your three-o'clock or my three-o'clock?"

"Yours."

"But that's straight at the wall!"

"I know. Just do this for me, ok?"

"All right," Choji hedged. "Partial Expansion Jutsu! Just the hand!"

He held out his hand expectantly and Shikamaru leaped into his palm, pulling a few paper bombs out of his pack as he moved.

"Ready?"

"Go ahead, buddy."

Choji hurled Shikamaru at the Sand Village's outer wall with all his strength.

This fight is getting hairy, Temari thought. The enemy shinobi were closing in, and she could no longer use her Wind Scythe Jutsu for fear of catching one of the Leaf Nin in the crosshairs. Naturally, she had milder attacks that she could use, but what was the point of wasting chakra on an attack that wouldn't even kill the target? I mean, honestly.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp breeze as something flew over her head. She whipped around just in time to see a ninja's feet come falling into view, and she felt her vision blur with bloodlust as she reached for a kunai. She would go for the throat, she would destroy him, she would—

"Temari, it's me!" came a panicked voice. Temari knew that voice. Her vision cleared, and before her stood the boy she'd been anticipating for nearly eight hours now. She'd been waiting for him desperately all day, and she'd nearly killed him. Fuck.

"Shit, Nara," she gasped. She didn't remember her grip on the kunai becoming so tight, but her knuckles were white and she had to really focus to relax her joints. "A little warning next time, maybe?"

"Yeah, 'cause that'll really be the first thing on my mind in the middle coming to rescue y—LOOK OUT!" he shouted, sending a shuriken flying straight at her face.

Temari barely ducked in time, but thankfully the shuriken embedded itself in a Mist Nin's skull rather than her own. Temari couldn't believe it—she hadn't even noticed him. He'd been less than three feet from her, and she hadn't even known he was there.

Temari decided it was probably a good idea to turn her gaze back to the enemy, but before she had a chance, Shikamaru had grabbed her hand and was pulling her toward the wall. "This way!" he panted.

She couldn't believe this boy—this boy who was supposed to be some sort of tactical genius—was turning his back to the battlefield, but she really had no choice but to go along with him. That grip of his was vice-like. Miraculously, it seemed like they weren't being pursued. She didn't hear any footsteps behind them, anyway, but she did hear a faint clicking as Kankuro maneuvered his Salamander puppet to cover their retreat. Thanks, little bro, she thought. I owe you one.

She fully expected to stop at the base of the wall, but Shikamaru just kept going. He didn't even slow as he began his ascent up the wall, and she followed him, struggling to keep up. There weren't many surfaces to scale in the desert, and Temari hadn't left the village in quite a long time. That being said, she was a little out of practice with the whole defying-the-laws-of-physics thing, but, hey, at least she didn't fall. They climbed to an impossible height of forty meters or so, and finally Shikamaru halted and turned to face the ground.

"You ready?" he asked, a hint of excitement sneaking into his voice.

Temari tentatively pivoted so that she could see the battle raging beneath them. She could see entire rogue army from up here, as well as all the Leaf Nin. They stood out, bursts of color in a mundane sea of gray. They were all still at the outer edge of the battle, but she could see Nara's cubby friend knocking people aside right and left. She could see a slight, somewhat unhealthily pale boy fighting alongside a magnificent black-and-white lion. She could see a black-haired girl with glowing blue fists sending men twice her size flying to the other side of the battlefield. And she could see about fifty orange-and-yellow blurs that could only be Naruto. The rest of the rogues were concentrating their forces closer to the wall. She couldn't for the life of her imagine what Nara had planned, but clearly he had something up his sleeve. "Ready for what?"

"You'll see," he responded. God, she could practically hear him smirking.

She heard a faint brushing sound that must have been Shikamaru forming a hand sign, and then something amazing happened.

The explosions themselves were beautiful, even if the aftereffects made him a bit sick to his stomach. As Shikamaru had hurtled toward the Hidden Sand's wall, he'd been planning. He knew that the army would have divided to fend against the new dual threat, but finding the line marking the schism had been harder than he'd suspected. Finally, though, he'd spotted it—the enemy's one blind spot, the small spit of land between the half of the army focused on the Sand Nin and the half focused on the Leaf Nin. Shikamaru threw three paper bombs into that space, making sure that they were far enough away from all his allies for when he would ultimately set them off. They had gone unnoticed.

And now, the battlefield was ablaze. He saw the shinobi nearest the paper bombs engulfed in flames, and still others blasted off their feet by the wall of sand sent flying by the shock wave. He saw chunks of singed flesh rain down on his still-battling comrades, but by the looks of things, they'd been unharmed by the blast.

Thank goodness, he thought as a layer of smoke moved to block his view. If any of his friends had been injured by the blast, he'd never have been able to live with himself. He may have been projecting confidence for Temari's benefit, but when it came right down to it, he was scared out of his mind.

So many things could have gone wrong with that plan. So many things. But now the enemy troops had been almost divided in half and the armies had been all but evened out.

The odds are finally turning in our favor, he thought as he turned to face Temari. He knew there was a stupid, relieved grin slapped across his face, but he couldn't help it.

"It worked," he whispered when he saw a similar grin on her face. They locked eyes and laughed in amazement as the adrenaline coursed through their systems.

Shikamaru was so happy, in fact, that he didn't even notice the volley of Lightning Chakra-imbued shuriken that came flying out of the smoke. Most of them were poorly aimed and fell short, but one hit Shikamaru in the small of his back, just missing the base of his spine, and one hit his right shoulder, sinking through his flesh and stopping only after it nicked the bone.

A jolt of powerful electricity coursed through his body, knocking him out with the pain. Unconscious, he began the long fall toward Earth.

Temari had been facing the right direction when the shuriken had come flying out of the smoke, so thankfully, she had managed to evade the few that had come her way. She was also facing the right direction to see Shikamaru plummet past her at an impossible speed, tumbling head-over-heels to certain death.

"Shikamaru!" she screeched, launching herself of the wall before she had a chance to think through what she was doing. She fell about ten meters before she was engulfed in smoke, and despite the horrible burning sensation, she forced her eyes to stay open and began searching for Shikamaru.

Damn, this smoke is thick, she thought. She couldn't see a thing. Why the hell am I so stupid? she asked herself. I just jumped off a fucking cliff. I jumped off a cliff to save some idiot I don't even like, and now we're both gonna die. Good going, Temari. Moron.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as something hot and wet splattered onto her cheek. She lifted a hand to feel it, and it was definitely blood, most likely Nara's blood.

Yes! Temari celebrated inwardly. He's right below me!

She streamlined her body, hoping that the minimal air resistance would bring her closer to him, and much to her surprise, it worked. Shikamaru quickly came into view, and she was soon level with him. She wrapped her left arm around him (Damn, Nara's skinny) and frantically unfurled her fan beneath them with her right. She had no idea how long it had been since she'd jumped—time seemed to work differently when you were falling—but she knew the ground couldn't be far off. She willed all her remaining chakra into her fan, praying to whatever worldly forces happened to be listening that they'd just float gracefully to the ground and not wind up as bloody skid-marks on the sand.

For a couple seconds, she thought it would work, she really did. But then the ground came rushing up at them and they were sent flying when the fan's handle buried itself in the sand. Temari kept a tight hold on Shikamaru as they rolled to a stop, not willing to lose him in the smoke again. Back on the ground, Temari could hear anew the sounds of battle, and much to her surprise, they'd intensified, if anything. The enemy's numbers had been so drastically reduced that she'd assumed the battle would be won easily, but evidently she was wrong. The tinkling noise of metal-on-metal came much more frequently than it had before, as were the cries of pain.

After taking a moment to orient herself, she took Shikamaru's limp body and rolled him onto his front to examine the wounds. She cringed as she saw how deeply the shuriken had penetrated, and felt sick to her stomach at the horrible slurping noise they made as she removed them. She eyed the wounds and decided that they weren't life-threatening. They'd missed any major arteries and organs, and he wasn't going to bleed to death, but she needed to get him somewhere safe until he woke up. She looked around for her fan and saw its outline about ten feet away. She dragged Shikamaru over to it, hoping desperately that the sand wouldn't infect the wounds too badly before she could get him to the hospital. Coughing pathetically, she finally reached her fan and wrenched it from the ground. It was torn slightly, and dented in more than a few places, but overall, it was in fairly good condition, considering the force of the landing. She trudged about five more yards before reaching the wall and gratefully leant Shikamaru against it. She hefted her fan in her hands, grimacing at the burn she felt in her muscles, and sent a single powerful gust of wind across the battlefield. She was completely out of chakra, so the wind wasn't enough to hurt anybody, but it was enough to clear the smoke.

When the smoke was gone, she instantly wished it wasn't. What she was seeing was enough to make any sane person crazy, but she was a ninja, so she was anything but sane.

Her allies were down.

All of them.

She saw Kankuro pressing one hand to a gash in his thigh and using the last of his chakra to inexpertly maneuver Salamander in front of his wounded comrades.

She saw an exhausted and bruised Naruto leaning over the black-haired girl, whose right leg was bent at a sickening ankle.

She saw the pale boy lying face-down in the sand.

She saw the chubby boy crying freely, clutching his wrist close to his chest.

She saw all of her comrades, each more pitiful than the last, and she knew it was over. They'd lost. The rogues were moving slowly now, reveling in their victory. The twenty or so that remained were advancing on the fallen shinobi, eagerly anticipating the final blow.

But then the sun fell below the horizon and the rogues, as if they'd choreographed it ahead of time, all looked up at something above Temari's head. Their eyes widened in fear. They forgot completely about their bloodlust. They turned on their heels and ran as fast as they could into the desert.

What the hell? Temari wondered. She looked up, but couldn't see anything in the weak moonlight. And then she saw it.

A huge mass of sand was seething over the wall, and atop it, silhouetted dramatically, stood Gaara.

She couldn't remember ever being happier to see he'd disobeyed her orders.

He floated past the wall, past the Sand Nin, past the Leaf Nin, out into the desert. The rogue army was little more than a speck in the distance, but Gaara was never one to let an adversary walk away unscathed. Temari saw him raise his hands in front of him, imagining more than hearing the words, "Giant Sand Burial!" escaping his lips.

Suddenly, the desert came alive, opening its gaping maw, swallowing the rogues whole.

Temari let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as she felt the relief spread like a drug throughout her body. If she'd had any energy left, she would have cheered, but as it was, she was content simply to pump her fist in the air.

We won, she thought to herself, and as improbable as it seemed, they had. But looking down at Shikamaru's shallowly breathing frame, she found herself wondering what exactly they'd won, and if it was worth everything they'd lost.

Now's not the time, she thought as she hauled herself to her feet, not remembering when exactly she'd fallen. Right now, there's work to be done.

End Notes:

Wow, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Writing battles is not easy. Kudos to everyone who can pull it off. Anyway, I tried really hard with this chapter to capture how Shikamaru thinks, and I think I got pretty close. I'm the first to admit that I'm nowhere near as smart as he is, but as far as my attempt goes, I'm pretty proud of it. I hope you all feel the same way.

If you managed to make it to the end of that ridiculously long chapter, THANK YOU! If you liked it, please review! If you didn't like it, please review anyway!

Coming soon: the aftermath of the battle. The plot thickens. And maybe even some lemon-y content! Stay tuned.