Before Shikamaru went back to the Hokage tower, he stopped by at Asuma's. His former teacher was in good health, and hadn't changed much since Shikamaru had left. He commented on that fact, just before leaving.

"I haven't changed as much as you have anyway, right Shikamaru?" Asuma asked. Shikamaru just gave him a puzzled glance.

"The Hokage may only be concerned with the well being of the Fire Country, but I, for one, collect Bingo Books from other countries as well."

Shikamaru's face darkened. He knew what was coming next.

"Yeah. Imagine my surprise when I look in the Bingo Book from the Water Country and your picture is one of the first I see. Naturally, I thought there had been some mistake. Maybe the guy just looked like you. But no, his name is listed as Nara Shikamaru, and there is a special warning to beware of his shadow jutsu. I checked the other books and sure enough, there you were. Every single book, except ours."

"I wasn't going to attack my friends and comrades." Shikamaru replied lamely.

Asuma shook his head. "I know that every shinobi has to become a killer at some point, but I always harbor a hope that my students don't embrace it so completely. What have you become, Shikamaru?"

There was a long pause. After taking a deep breath, Shikamaru finally replied. "I've become a monster, Asuma. I don't like it any more than you do, but I won't pretend that I'm not. I'm probably even losing my sanity, but I have one thing to do before that happens."

"Sasuke only had one thing to do before he died. Then Naruto only had to do one thing to keep his promise. They're both monsters too. You're following the same path, Shikamaru. Is that really what you want?"

"No, I don't. But neither did they. They were forced to become what they are now."

"So what forced you to become what you are now?" Asuma asked, smoking slowly on a cigarette. Shikamaru closed his eyes as he remembered the bodies, the blood, and the pain. It had been a hard life on the road, but had he really needed to resort to becoming a monster? He hadn't been satisfied with surviving, he had demanded vengeance. That's what had pushed him so hard, maybe too hard. He opened his eyes and walked towards the door.

"Shikamaru!" Asuma yelled as Shikamaru opened the door.

"To follow the same path as Naruto and Sasuke…. Would that really be such a bad thing?"

Uchiha Complex

Hinata was still sleeping when a figure dropped from the roof into the courtyard. The person stood directly in front of Naruto, who didn't give any sign that he recognized the newcomer was there.

"Hello, Naruto," said a deep voice. "I am sorry I have not visited you lately, but I have been on a mission. You know how it is. Or rather, you did." Naruto was still doing vertical pushups, although not counting out loud.

"I'm actually not here to see you though, Naruto. Is Hinata around?"

Without waiting for an answer he wasn't expecting, the man walked over the room where Hinata was sleeping. He stood just inside the doorway, watching the young lady sleeping. Her chest slowly rose and fell, and after a while he noticed that his own breathing had fallen into synch with hers. He might have been in love with her. If he had been anyone else, he almost certainly would have fallen in love with her a long time ago.

But there was no place for romantic love in the harsh world of Aburame Shino. He loved her as a close friend, and nothing more than that. In fact, Hinata was Shino's very closest friend. While he had never had trouble keeping his feeling and thoughts to himself, he found that he opened up to Hinata naturally, if only a little.

Kiba had loved her, Shino knew. Kiba had been a man of passion, a man of elements. Kiba could probably have won over Hinata's heart, and they could have had a good life together. But Kiba never planned on having a good life. He had once asked how Shino planned to die. 'I don't.' Shino had replied. Kiba smiled wide and said, 'Yeah, you wouldn't. But me? I'm going to go out in a blaze of glory. I'm going to die killing my enemies and saving my friends!' Kiba didn't want Hinata to fall in love with a man who had a future of death, so he left Hinata to her daydreams of Naruto, sometimes prodding one closer to the other.

And Kiba had died just as he had promised. Kurenai had died like that too, so had many of Shino's friends and comrades, whether they had planned to or, as was usually the case, hadn't. Hinata was his oldest and closest friend. She was like a stable rock that he could put his back against when he needed support. He would protect her with his life or death, and whatever else was needed.

Movement outside drew Shino's attentions away from Hinata. He was on guard until he saw that it was only Akamaru. Shino relaxed as Akamaru pushed past him to wander over to Hinata and lick at her face. Slowly she came back to consciousness.

"Shino-kun?"

"Hinata-san."

"Oh good it's you." Hinata got and walked over to Shino, embracing him in a warm hug. Shino returned it with one arm. "I'm glad you made it back from your mission okay. Did it succeed?"

Shino nodded. "Yes. We have obtained information on where Orochimaru will be soon."

"I thought it was kind of strange, this sudden re-interest in Orochimaru after so long, but now I know why Hokage-sama is doing it. She's thought of a way to help Naruto, Shino-kun! They need to get Orochimaru to do it, and they've even recruited Shikamaru-kun to lead the mission!"

Shino's sunglasses flashed. Of course he had known most of this already, but he hadn't told Hinata because he didn't want her getting her hopes up. Looked like it was too late now.

"In that case, I had better go report my mission results to Hokage-sama right away. Do not worry Hinata, I will help bring Naruto back."

She smiled as she backed away from him, giving him room to jump into the night and disappear.

Hero's Stone

Tenten stood in front of the stone, looking down at the names carved onto it. Actually, two names in particular. Matio Gai and Rock Lee. She took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears that threatened to run down her face. In her mind she could hear the terrible echoes of that day. She struggled to push them aside.

"It's not fair." She said out loud. "I know that life gives shit to everyone once in a while, and that we're supposed to accept it. But I'm tired of just accepting things. I thought that I could handle anything life threw at me. I thought that, as a konoichi, even if my friends died, if I buried myself in my work and became a great ninja, I could handle it. But I couldn't. You died Lee, then Gai saved us and he died too. I put my all into my training, trying to forget everything else, but it didn't work. I was still sad that I had lost you. But I managed to accept it. After all, every ninja has to deal with loss. The other teams had lost people too, and they weren't wallowing in self-pity. But now they're all coming back. Shikamaru's back from the Sand, after all these years. Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and now he's trying to bring Naruto back. Even Shino is hanging around with his friends more than usual. But you're not coming back Lee. And neither is Gai. I wish you were. I always wished that you would come back, but now more than ever. I'm jealous of the others. I'm angry that they get their friends back, and I don't."

For a long time, she was silent. She stood there, staring at the stone. Rain cascaded down onto her face, hiding any tears that may have been there.

The Hokage's Office

When Shikamaru walked in, he saw that several old friends were waiting for him. Shino, Neji, Sakura, Ino, and Chouji were already here. Sasuke was too. Shino and Neji were discussing something quietly while looking out the window, and Chouji was chatting lively with Sakura and Tsunade. Ino seemed to have been waiting for him to come in.

"Shikamaru, you've finally arrived! Why didn't you tell us that you were going to try to help Naruto? I can't believe you accepted the mission!"

Shikamaru smiled. "I haven't made up my mind yet."

Ino frowned. "What? Hokage-sama said that you agreed to do it already."

"She said that, did she?"

"Shikamaru, you are going to do it, right?"

"Please, Shikamaru-kun, please do everything you can to bring Naruto back."

"Sasuke only had one thing to do before he died. Then Naruto only had to do one thing to keep his promise. They're both monsters too. You're following the same path, Shikamaru. Is that really what you want?"

"Fuck this. I'm going just as crazy as Naruto, taking to a voice inside my head. All I know is I need to save him. I have to keep my sanity together long enough to save Naruto."

Shikamaru gave her a soft smile that was rather unlike his usual one. "Of course I am. This in Naruto we're talking about."

Chouji excused himself from conversation and came up to Shikamaru also. Shikamaru hadn't realized until he had seen him earlier today just how skinny Chouji had become. He looked like he had the after he had fought that sound ninja and almost died. Having lost the ability to be a ninja, Chouji had had no real to continue eating so massively. Sure, he liked food, but his appetite had dulled since his shinobi life had ended. Ino was always telling him how good he looked now, and that did cheer him up. Right now he looked to be in especially high spirits.

"Hey, Shikamaru, you're going to lead a team again! I'm proud of you! I wish I could lead a team, or even be on one." Chouji said.

"I've gotten used to going on missions alone, recently. Now that I'm back on a team, the person I want most of all by my side is you."

Chouji laughed as he put his hand behind his head. "Look, don't worry about that. I'm incredibly strong and tough for a civilian, and I can still throw weapons. I just can't move around very fast. I wouldn't be able to keep up with you. Or use my jutsus."

Shikamaru smiled. "Well, if I'm lucky, these other guys have improved enough to reach your level." The three of them laughed and then Ino and Chouji went back to talk to Tsunade. Shikamaru went to stand next to Shino and Neji. They turned to greet him.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Aburame Shino."

They clasped hands tightly, Shikamaru smiling slightly, Shino showing no visible emotion. Then Shikamaru turned to Neji. "What the hell have you done to your hair?" Instead of the long pony tail Shikamaru remembered, Neji's hair was cropped close to his head, no more than an inch long.

Neji smirked. "ANBU aren't allowed to have long hair. It's a distinguishing mark, can get in your face, and provide the enemy with something to grab in a close quarters fight."

"If you say so, but damn, that's ugly!"

Neji held up his hand, middle finger extended.

"Okay, cut the bull crap you guys, it's time to get down to buisiness." Tsunade's voice broke through the room, bringing everyone to attention. "Shikamaru, this is your team right here, unless you want to change it at all?"

Shikamaru glared at Sasuke, but said nothing. "Good. Now this is your mission. Somehow you have to try to get Naruto to fight and kill Orochimaru. I don't really care how you do it, as long as it doesn't put the citizens of Konoha at risk."

"Well, I might as well tell you all what our plan is to accomplish this." The others looked stunned. "You already have a plan?" Ino asked.

"Of course. It won't take long to outline the basics to you all, and the details will have to be worked out in the field. The plan is simple in its nature, but extremely difficult in its execution. We have to kill Orochimaru."

Another stunned silence fell onto the occupants of the room. This time it took longer for someone to speak. "You want to try to kill Orochimaru?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course not, that would be stupid." Shikamaru replied. "I want to succeed at killing Orochimaru."

Shino stepped forward. "Grammatical technicalities aside, how exactly do you plan to do this? We have been trying for years to hunt him down and kill him. He is a smart, devious, and powerful man. It is not like hunting down the average bingo book entry."

"Ah, but we have three things that you didn't before. First off, myself. Second, that bastard," Shikamaru motioned to Sasuke, "and third, and most importantly, we have the motivation." He paused to let the third point sink in. Then he continued. "The basics of the plan are this. We find Orochimaru, kill him, bring his body back to Konoha, and use medical jutsu to revive his body for a short period of time, long enough for Naruto to kill him again."

Neji shook his head. "That won't work. You can't revive someone once they're dead."

"Yes you can, though only for a short period of time. It's a forbidden medical technique."

The others looked to Tsunade for verification. "Yes," Tsunade answered, "But there's no way you should know about that. A, it's a forbidden technique, and B, very few medical ninjas can even use it."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah, well I've seen shit."

They all gazed at him, as if seeing him in a new light. A small, deliberate cough interrupted the silence.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke, who had coughed.

"First off, I think you're plan can work, and I will do everything I can to help bring Naruto back-"

"Cut the crap. What is it?"

"I would like to nominate one last member for the team."