(A/N) Hi again! More ShikaTema in this chappy, plus dear Kankuro finally gets what he wanted.

Only one more chapter and the epilogue after this! Holy cake we're getting close!

Thank you so much to Dolpher and MidniteCurse4Eternity for reviewing! And, in answer to your question, I did create all of Kankuro's new jutsus that appear in this fic. ^^ Thanks for the compliment!

I do not own Naruto or the sand sibs.

Shikamaru tightened his grip around Temari's waist. The blonde girl didn't know if she felt more flustered, exhausted or frightened. In the end, all she appeared was a bit dazed as a blush stole across her cheeks.

"Kya haha!" the Tailed laughed gleefully, swinging its head back and forth. Temari and Shikamaru swayed, only the leaf ninja's shadows keeping the pair from tumbling to their deaths.

"Do you trust me?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

Temari nodded shakily, though without hesitation. "Yes…"

Shikamaru smiled. "You're as troublesome as any woman," he said, "but somehow… I don't mind so much."

Temari didn't know how to reply. Before she could, though, her body moved without her consent. Shikamaru bounded away, her body mimicking his motions perfectly. Shadow possession… she realized. He's… negating my weakness by using shadow possession…

Shikamaru clambered up the demon's head, never faltering. He slid to a halt atop it, hanging onto its ear with Temari beside him, her position identical to his own.

"Torakage!" he yelled over the sound of the battle. "Come!"

The tiger let out an earsplitting roar, sailing though the air and striking the Tailed in a way reminiscent of a slap. Shikamaru abandoned the shadow possession for a moment, throwing himself on top of Temari to keep them both atop the monster.

"Come on!" he hissed, resuming the shadow possession and rising. "It's time to end this!" Scurrying over the demon's head, he took a huge leap, Temari following unwillingly. They both landed, rolling, on Torakage's head. Sakura didn't look up, her face buried in the side of the tiger's ear.

"Torakage!" called Shikamaru, struggling to be heard over the roar of beasts. "That jutsu! Now!"

"You can't do that!" Torakage roared. "You and I both know you don't have the chakra!"

"I do!" Shikamaru said furiously. "And lend me yours! Trust me!"

Torakage roared louder than ever, half furious and half determined. Shikamaru knelt next to Temari, releasing her shadow. With three deft movements, he wove a web of darkness around her, holding her firmly in place.

"Torakage won't let anything hurt you," he promised. Temari started at the finality in his voice.

"What are you…?"

"Listen closely!" Shikamaru snapped, startling her into silence. "Whatever happens, I… I…" He closed his eyes, tightening his fist. "Damnit, why can't I say it?" Shaking his head furiously, he stood up. "Torakage! Now!" he called, and then glanced back over his shoulder.

His look told her everything that he couldn't say. His eyes, so misty now, resonated with all the love in the four great nations, and even beyond.

Shikamaru turned to shadows, and melted into Torakage.

Temari stared in shock for a moment, her throat frozen in terror. Then, a single sound was ripped from her, a long, tortured wail.

"Shikamaru!"

"He's gone," Torakage growled. "He's inside me. And he might not be coming back."

Temari blinked tears from her eyes. "No… no…!"

A blinding flash from the other side of Suna interrupted her, and she looked over to where her two brothers were fighting. The stormy cloud of sand crackled like lightning, Kankuro's distinctive blue chakra lighting up the sky like so many fireworks.

Kankuro's chakra… he didn't… didn't use that…

"Kankuro!" she screamed desperately, her voice trailing off into a high pitched keen. Torakage scraped at his ear with one paw, almost dislodging Sakura.

"Shut up, girl!" he snarled. "You're giving me a headache! You really are a pain! What part of 'he's inside me' don't you understand? If I fail, he's good as gone, and so are you, and your village!"

"But… my brother!" cried Temari, straining against the shadows that held her in place.

"He's fine."

Temari blinked and stopped struggling, her face upturned.

"Shikamaru…?"

"You can't see me," he whispered, "but I'm here. I'm everywhere, now… in every shadow. Kankuro is fine, at least for now."

Temari gave a shuttering sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. "And you…?" she asked breathily.

"That's beside the point."

… … …

A long wail was dragged unwillingly from me as my heart convulsed, the chakra demand becoming too much. The Tailed thrashed beneath me, now partially under my control, unable to move forward or backward. Chakra traveled like electricity though Karasu, who, in his current, human state, was acting as a medium for such a discharge. My vision flashed white for a moment, and then…

I hit it.

The demon's soul.

Yet, this particular jutsu had a side effect that Chiyo-baasama had somehow neglected to mention, that I had the misfortune of discovering in that moment.

The demon's hollow, blackened soul rushed up the chakra strings I had managed to connect to it, polluting my very life-force and sending my body into violent spasms. Karasu lost his footing, and the jutsu on him came undone. My wooden puppet went plummeting downward toward the sands. Without him bolstering my chakra with the energy I had poured into the surrounding sandstorm, my own chakra levels dipped dangerously low. The biju's vile, corrupt mind pressed in around me, swallowing up and strangling everything and anything else.

You like it, insolent creature? a defending voice in my own head shrieked. Invading my mind is impossible; my strength is a thousand times greater than your feeble attempts at control!

A fiery wave of mental agony ripped through me, and another scream broke free. I felt real tears streak my face as genjutsu claws raked at me, wave after wave of evil, putrid thoughts hitting me like the unrelenting tide. Nightmarish, gruesome images flashed though my mind, engraining themselves in my brain, and bloodthirsty demons howled in my ears.

I have to break the connection…! I cried, and nearly followed through with it.

No! another part of me screamed. You've got it! It's immobile! You're giving Gaara al the advantage he needs!

Gaara…

Gaara, did you live for all these years with this inside your head…?

Stealing myself, I clung to the demon's back even tighter. "I won't give in! Not to you!" I roared.

I did it.

My eyes widened at the thought, but it was true.

I'm center stage.

I can defend those I love now.

I grinned, despite it all.

Even if I don't survive this… which I won't.

… … …

Temari could only watch, frozen and held fast by Shikamaru's shadows, as Torakage threw himself at the Tailed. The tiger's massive paws landed with an earthshaking thud on the demon's shadow.

"You missed!" laughed the demon manically.

Torakage grinned. "You think so?"

Temari and the Tailed both looked down to see that Torakage's own paws had dissolved, blending with the demon's shadow.

"You're life ends here," growled Torakage, radiating merciless ferocity.

The Tailed began to simply… fade away, its shape growing dimmer and dimmer, becoming more and more blurred. The demon thrashed violently, but its movements grew weaker and weaker still. Temari felt Torakage shutter under her, the massive cat's flanks heaving as it drained the very life from the demon.

"No, no, no!" shrieked the tailed, its voice growing thin and reedy.

Torakage stiffened, holding his breath as the Tailed gave one last heave… and melted into nothingness, vanishing into the tiger himself.

Torakage gave a huge sigh of relief, his legs folding neatly under him as he slumped to the ground. The shadows rolled off of Temari, and she scrabbled down to Torakage's nose, bringing herself to his eyelevel.

"Where's Shikamaru?" she asked, her voice high with tension. "Isn't he supposed to come back?"

Torakage nodded slowly, making Temari sway. "That's the basic idea," he growled. "During the jutsu, he becomes one with all shadows, including me myself. That allows Shikamaru and I to drain the life-force of anything, absorbing it and killing the enemy. Shikamaru should reappear when the jutsu is ended."

Temari blinked. "Then… then where is he…? Can't you bring him back…?"

Torakage blinked, his huge eyes sad. "Theoretically… but… I can't find him."

(A/N) So whatever will become of everyone? Where is Shikamaru? Will Kankuro survive what Gaara has endured his whole life? You'll have to keep reading to find out. ^^ (I do so love cliffhanger endings. Not when I'm reading them; then they annoy the heck out of me. When I create them, however… they're really, really fun. ^^)