Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.

He stood in front of the memorial stone, staring down on the long lines of names carved into the stone. Face grave and dark. He knew today will happen the inevitable. It was this time of the year, the hottest months already on the go, the green of the trees so dark and on the verge of being tried out. Some crickets were still chirping and a soft wind was caressing his face. The Fifth had already informed him about it some months ago. They were short on staff and the job needs to be done and all the other remaining Konoha 11 have already done it. He sighed. Well, all except of him.

In the last 4 years he always had come around it, busy being an ANBU and all over the world and now being head strategist as his father once has been. His father,… another sigh escaped him as he searched with his dark brown eyes the black surface in front of him. There he was: Nara Shikaku, died in action. Protecting the country all of them loved so much. Shikamaru remembered shortly his fathers' face, how he had smiled at him when he promoted to chunin level at the young age of 12. His father had been so proud of him. Right after his promotion he had taught his son the advanced shadow binding techniques of the Nara clan. But that was long ago now, exactly 12 years ago. A faint smile appeared on his mouth when he remembered their arguments about shogi strategies.

That thought brought him to another person he was missing today. Just some lines above his father. Sarutobi Asuma, his former sensei and the one adult he always had looked up to. He really has been cool, for an adult that is. Now, with 24 he also was one of the grown ups. He promoted to jonin status several years ago and started his career as an ANBU captain right afterwards. Shikamaru dedicated his life to this town. But nonetheless he also tried to stay out of everything that would cause troublesome situations. He was a thinker, a strategist, staying behind in the shadows and pulling from there the strings. The peace his dad and him had helped to establish had held just 5 years. Now the treaties were crumpling. Last year they heard news of an arising new power in the land of rivers, also a new Raikage was chosen in the hidden village of the land of lightning and he certainly didn't bother to create some sort of light atmosphere so far.

Tsunade-sama, the Fifth, had Shikamaru forcefully retire from ANBU to be readily available as her consultant at any time. This had the negative side effect that unlike all of his friends he had to stay in Konoha almost all the time. He grew more and more frustrated about this, and Tsunade's attempts to make his situation more comfortable did just infuriate him further. Shikamaru had now to coordinate all the jonins of Konohagakure, a job his father had had before and was also now in full charge of the chunin selection exam. This last year had really been troublesome. But what bothered him the most was that he missed the contact with his friends,… Nobody was around long enough. Everybody risked their lives on a daily basis and he was just sitting at home-coming up with freaking strategies but really… He was bored to death. And on top of this he was imprisoned here in Konoha, far away from this damned sandy country. Unfortunately his moodiness had not escaped a certain well-endowed person and she already had another diversion planned for him. He remembered their talk yesterday afternoon.

"Oh come on, Shikamaru. It is time for you to give your knowledge further on. And it will get you out of your office quite a lot, promise. And hey, I even handpicked the members for you…", her voice had a convincing sound to it. An evil smile had appeared on the Hokages face.

"Well, it is troublesome and I have no idea how to do this, right? What if I suck?", he said and put his hands into his pockets when he said that and looked very unconvinced out of the window.

On the forehead of the Godaime some wrinkles appeared. "Nara, that is not an offer but an order. Just do it and get a hold on yourself. You haven't shown a lot of the will of fire lately,… Maybe this challenge will bring back some sense into your life. Now go. You are dismissed," she scolded at him and slammed her hand on the desk in front of her which gave a cracking noise before breaking into two pieces. A sigh escaped her and something like "Not again, … Shizune will hate me for this one…" But that was shortly before Shikamaru closed the door to the Hokages office behind him.

Now he was here. Confronting those two fathers he lost, with the new task, asking without hope for advice. He really had no clue. The first time since long he was almost afraid of a "mission". But then again… He looked up to the sky. Full of clouds, fast-moving. He always had wanted to help shaping the next generation. To form more of this cool adults, like Asuma-sensei. Maybe Tsunade was right. He needed a new focus. Why not give them a try. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and with a last sigh he vanished towards the ninja academy building, picking up his first team of bloody young genins.

Choji Akamichi knocked on the office door of the Fifth. An irritated "come in" answered and he shortly thought of vanishing right here from the spot but then again he wanted to help his best friend out of his depression. And this time he came up with a master plan even the Hokage wasn't fully aware of.

He entered the office and saw himself confronted with the backside of Tsunades office chair. She was looking out of her window, the glowing Konoha in the sun set in front of her.

"How did it go?", Choji asked. His voice was calm and collected.

Tsunade turned around, one of her eye brows pulled up. "Well, as you said. He is depressed. He didn't even really argue about it. It makes me worry quite a while now," she answered earnest.

Choji pressed his lips together and stared in her caramel coloured eyes. "The kids will help. I'm sure of this. He always related good to kids. And especially the one will help a lot. I trust him, he'll come out of this, if his laziness isn't getting the upper hand," Choji replied with a half-smile.

Tsunade gave the young Akamichi a long look over. He was so determined and full of hope. A good sign. When best friends believe in each other like that. Once again she was proud of what had become of Konohagakure. A place full of young people with the right spirit.

"Alright, Choji, I'm sure you do know him best. Just make sure those kids are progressing as they should. Report in every fortnight and then we will see if we can get some fire into him." And with that she turned around again towards her window and smirked a little. It was so nice to distribute some of the weight of responsibility on someone else.

Choji kept his relieve to himself and left with a short nod of approval the office. He personally would keep an eye on this story. He was in great depths to Shikamaru. And his friend definitely had suffered long enough now. Choji remembered again this one night, almost 2 years ago now. Shikamaru was drunk as hell, absolutely unlike his usual self and was babbling around of killing someones beloved clown-faced brother. That was when Choji finally figured out the secret feelings of his best friends heart. And since then he was trying to come up with an idea how he could help Shikamaru.

He left the Hokage tower and started towards the flat Ino recently has moved into. He wanted to ask her a little for advice and assistance. This will be working. And if not he would use gentle force to make it work.

In the far away country of sand, a quite annoyed Kankoru slammed his fist on the table in front of him. "You can't just turn down every single squad team I'm assigning you to! What is the matter with you, Temari? Have you forgotten everything about discipline and our goals?!", he screamed at the blond Kunoichi in front of him.

Temari bit her lip, repressing the urge to burst out right away. She had to restrain herself and forced a flippy comment out of herself, her green eyes sparkling of contained anger.

"I can't work with those brats. They can't handle anything, and I don't trust them either. Why can't I just work further in the academy? Why do I need to get along with idiots on missions which will last months," she was finally yelling.

Kankoru turned an alarming shade of red. "You,… Are you seriously disobeying the orders of our Kazekage? What the hell is wrong with those guys, they are all jonin and perfectly capable," he demanded to know.

Temari rolled her eyes. She was so tired of playing these games. Really it was so obvious. She was not the most intelligent Suna ninja for nothing. With a sigh she gave up.

"That's the problem brother. You really don't get it! It's always guys you assign to me, certain guys, which I guess you even handpicked for me! I appreciate your worry, fine, but I really don't need your help. I'm happy with being alone. As each of us is," Temari confessed and looked her brother accusingly into the eyes.

Kankoru had now a guilty look on his face. He even scratched his head with one hand and started to smirk. "Guess, I should have known you would smell that one. Well, honestly. We both don't agree with that loneliness you put around you. It remembers us too much of those years,… When Gaara has been hated by everyone. Even us," he admitted.

"But it is my decision, my life. It is difficult enough to be the Kazekages sister and following all those stupid protocols. That is a decision out of your reach. So, be kind and keep your nose out of my business," Temari answered with a threatening tone in her voice.

With that she stood up and left the room, not without slamming the door hard into its lock. Outside she staggered through the dark corridor. Her knees were trembling a little. She suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall, feeling its coolness on her heated up body. "Geez,… how much longer?", she thought, her mind far away in the past. Troublesome… Then she took a deep breath and went outside into the gleaming sun light.

A sword pinned the last scout into the field of his already fallen friends.

"Mind you, that sword doesn't like the sound of dying persons too much. Could you get over it already", an amused voice asked the dying scout.

A shadow fell on the coughing shinobi. His left hand reached out towards his comrades. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and from the fatal wound the sword has cut into him. He wore the uniform of the hidden village of the land of rivers.

"Ah at last, a brave one! Oh dear, I'm so very sorry for this, but you see we need food. A lot of food. And you were so nicely passing by…". And with this the shadow longed for his sword once again and brought it done a second time. No coughing anymore.