A/N: Yes, I know it's short. But I wanted to update before people thought I'd died or something. Currently debating how long I want to make it, 'cause I have a prequel in mind... I need your encouragement, people!! ENCOURAGE ME!!!!!!


Sasuke watched as Sakura slept, her twitching and muttering the only signs of abnormality. He turned his coal-colored eyes to Kagami and gave him a look that clearly said, If anything goes wrong I'll kill you. Kagami simply rolled his ruby eyes and returned his attention to the unconscious Temari.

Chouji stood guard over Kagemaru forlornly, occasionally sharing a potato chip with the surprisingly eager Akatsuki member. He wondered why the other Akatsuki hadn't attacked yet, why Kagemaru seemed so calm in the grass with his cloak pulled over his eyes. It was unnerving, the way he lay there so still with his face lifted up, a shadow of a smile on his lips. He looked just like Shikamaru, dreaming beneath the clouds in his Paradisical little field. Of course, Shikamaru would be grinning at him and complaining about his mother. Not shielding his eyes from the sky and muttering about Uchiha Itachi.

"No!" Sakura shot up and began hyperventilating, choking and gasping for air. Sasuke pulled her into a crushing embrace just as Ino came to, rolling over and violently vomiting.

"Ino!" Kiba yelped in alarm. Temari bolted up and nearly attacked Shino, who was nearest, until she realized she had been pulled back to reality. Relieved, the Sand-nin collapsed onto the soft grass where she groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"Oh god," she whispered softly. Sakura shuddered and pulled Sasuke closer, as if scared he would slip away. Ino quietly flopped back onto the ground, trembling with horror and weakness.

"Are you all right?" Shino asked quietly.

"It was horrible," Sakura murmured. Her green eyes shimmered with pain. "Horrible."

"I would have killed myself in three days," Ino gasped out. Her sapphire eyes squuezed shut. "He was there for two years."

"What happened?" Kiba urged, unable to contain his curiosity. He could taste raw anger mixed with horror seeping from the girls' bodies. Hinata blinked and touched his arm gently, motioning for him to be quiet.

"He killed all of those -- ugh!" Ino shuddered. "I can't believe Shikamaru could -- could just --" There was silence as the three girls glanced over at Kagemaru, who had sat up to inspect a yellow flower.

"All those men and women," Sakura croaked. "He killed them all."

"And he counted them," Temari growled quietly. "Only an idiot like him would do that."

"He killed? Shikamaru?" Kiba said incredulously. "Look, I know he changed, but--"

"Five hundred thirty-eight." Ino said. She lowered her eyes as Kiba gaped at her. "He killed five hundred thirty-eight people."

--

"Why are they looking at me like that?" Kagemaru asked. The chubby guy -- Chouji -- shrugged.

"They're probably discussing how to beat your memories into your brain," he suggested. The other boy snickered and returned his gaze to the dandelion in his hand. Chouji wondered if his reaction to flowers was because of the times they'd gone to pick up Ino from her parents' store. Shikamaru had known the symbolism of every flower, much to the surprise of Ino. Chouji wondered if he still did.

"What's her name?" Kagemaru said abruptly.

"Huh?"

"Her name." Kagemaru nodded pointedly towards the girls. Chouji looked over at the group with bewilderment.

"Which one?"

"The blonde," Kagemaru decided.

"Which blonde?"

"The hot one." Chouji would have burst out laughing if it were any other scenario. Any other situation, and this would be hilarious. Too bad it wasn't any other situation.

"You need to be specific."

"The Sand kunoichi." Kagemaru blinked when he realized he'd known something he didn't know. Does that even make sense?

"Oh." Chouji smirked sadly. "That would be Temari."

"Is she older?"

"Yeah, by two years. How did you--"

"The way she looks at everyone, she feels she's responsible. The way she looks specifically at the blonde boy shows that she knows someone similar to him, maybe another jinchuuriki. The way she moves shows she's cautious and anticipate's the enemy's movement, likely a tactician. Her commanding personality says she's likely the older sibling of at least two, most likely males."

Chouji's eyes widened at the accurate analysis, nodding.

"Yeah, her youngest brother was a jinchuuriki, and she has another brother. And she's a really good strategist, she fought against y--" he corrected himself quickly, "against Shikamaru in the Chuunin exams."

"This Shikamaru guy...he was like me?" Chouji almost laughed at the question. He WAS you!!! he screamed in his mind. You ARE Shikamaru!!!

"Yeah." A lot like you.

"Hm." Kagemaru twisted the flower through his fingers before cleanly -- almost surgically -- peeling the petals off one by one.

"Troublesome."

--

"Ok, ok, ok," Naruto muttered to himself. "It's only been about two days, right? So that gives us a chance to make him Shikamaru again, right?" He looked at Sakura hopefully. The pinkette forced herself to nod.

"The only problem is, it's going to take a complex jutsu to replicate his memories and implant them into his brain. I don't have enough experience to do that. I could kill him."

"He wants to die," Shino said tonelessly. "Perhaps it would put him at ease." Ino swerved angrily at his comment.

"Are you saying we should just kill him and forget about him!" the blonde snarled venomously.

"No," Shino said calmly. "I'm just saying that the last time we checked, Shikamaru did not seem to care for his life." There was a moment of silent thought.

"He's right, you know," Kiba finally said. "Shikamaru wanted us to kill him."

"We'd be doing what he wants us to..."

"NO!" Temari yelled, loud enough to jolt everyone out of their thoughts. "I don't care what he wanted! He's coming back whether he likes it or not! And if he's unhappy with that, fine! Let him go on a suicide mission or something! But we are not abandoning Shikamaru! Not this time!"

Her angry speech brought a vague smile to Kagemaru's face.

"She's a troublesome woman, eh?" He looked up at Chouji, waiting for an answer. Chouji smiled at the distant memory.

"Meh. Troublesome woman."

"Yeah."