Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: This story keeps all previous Manga chapters, 1 through 227, in mind, there might be some spoilers. Planned pairing are as followed, and keep in mind the word: "Planned."

NaruHina, ShikaTema, NejiTen, SasuSaku and for the one nobody saw coming . . . Chouji and Ino!!!

Well there you have it. R&R

Chapter 1

Shikamaru looked back at the unconscious body of Chouji. He was happy to see his friend alive, it seemed his faith in him did not falter, and he was able to defeat that wretched sound-ninja. Yet, he still felt a sting of guilt for the condition of his beloved friend and that of his fellow teammate, Neji. The Hyuuga was near death, and the companions were amazed that he didn't indeed fall into the eternal sleep.

Staring back at his fallen comrades, Shikamaru was jolted out of his thoughts by a voice he once thought troublesome.

"You think your friends will be all right?" Temari's voice sounded with genuine concern.

"Well" he begun "Chouji doesn't have many physical wounds, it was those damn pills he used that sucked him dry, as for Neji . . ."

"He will be just fine!" Came a loud shout from behind. "if I know Neji, he won't give up, just so he can get his revenge on me!!" Naruto's fox like grin spread over his face.

Just a short time ago, Naruto defeated yet another powerful foe: Uchiha Sasuke. After his victory, Naruto has been on cloud nine. The companions couldn't fathom the fact that Naruto was able to defeat a member of the strongest clan in Konoha.

Only one of the group members knew of the power Naruto had. He too was defeated by the loud mouth boy, however Gaara grew from his defeat. Like him, Naruto has lived a life of solitude, Gaara because of the demon inside him, and... Gaara did not know of Naruto's past, but he was sure that Naruto had something similar sealed up inside him. What? He didn't know.

The companions continued their trek towards Konoha, they were lined up: Kiba at the front, Shikamaru behind him, followed by Temari. Behind her was Gaara, with him 3 floating platforms of sand carrying their fallen ninjas. Behind Gaara were Naruto, Lee and finally Kankuro.

Looking at the body of Sasuke, Shikamaru could tell that Naruto almost let his anger get the best of him, he could tell that Sasuke was on the verge of death. The reason for Sasuke leaving was still a mystery to him and the others. They knew of Sasuke's search for power, so he could finally avenge his family. But it didn't occur to them that he would betray his village to seek power from the likes of Orochimaru . . . the monster that took there Third Hokage away.

Walking through this dense forest was very troublesome for the lone chuunin. On several occasions he had asked Gaara to give him is own floating sand cloud. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, Gaara refused every time, each time mumbling to himself about the laziness of the leader.

If it wasn't for the caution taken to keep the fallen ninjas safe from unneeded movement, they would have been able to just jump from the trees, cutting their time to less then half. Unfortunately, that would be impossible, if Gaara would try and speed up and jump, the clouds were mock his every movement and the ride would be far too strenuous for the fatally wounded three. Even so, they were moving as fast as possible, still making somewhat good time.

Thoughts of Chouji, Neji and even Sasuke rushed through Shikamaru's mind, as well as other events, including the arrival of the new allies of the leaves, the sand siblings. Yet Shikamaru's mind kept circling around to two people. Chouji of course, his friend from childhood who now lay mortally wounded. The other . . . a mystery as to why his mind kept focusing on her. A certain golden haired beauty, who just recently saved his life and is now walking silently behind him. Feeling a uncertain feeling in his chest, he couldn't think of one way to remedy it . . . but he did have a idea.

"So Temari?" Shikamaru started, no real direction to take the conversation, he quickly thought of something. "You have become much stronger then when I faced you in the exams, especially that summoning technique, very impressive."

Temari looked up with a feint blush that disappeared before anyone could notice, she responded. "Yes, all three of us have trained very hard since that day. Our entire ninja force trained many times harder, so we may one day get revenge on Orochimaru for killing our father and then using us like puppets. Also, we knew were were responsible for a lot of the leaf causalities that day. We wanted to become stronger so..." She paused and glanced back at Gaara, his face emotionless. She turned back, her eyes filled with regret. "We felt responsible, and think that its our duty to protect Konoha until its forces are rebuilt to its former glory." She took a long breath of air and slowly exhaled. Shikamaru turned and realized she indeed spoke the truth about the Sand feeling responsible. Shikamaru found himself unable to break away from Temari's beautiful, yet saddened face.

Temari glanced up, seeing Shikamaru staring at her deeply. She couldn't help but feel reddening in her cheeks. She had found him handsome since the first day she seen him, but nothing more. Now after their fight in the arena and with that woman sound-ninja. She somehow found herself growing accustom to his lazy demeanor.

Seeing Temari staring at him, Shikamaru quickly turn back, shrugging it off and announcing to the party casually.

"We should be able to get to Konoha just after nightfall!"

"All right!!" Naruto yelled, "Cant wait for some RAMAN!!!!"