[[A/N]] I hope you're all ready for this. It was gruelling to write but I wanted to get it up before the weekend was over. It's not quite as long as I would have liked it to be but I don't think it would have been much better if it was longer.


"I always knew you'd betray us," Nyūsen said as he slowly closed the gap between Shikamaru and himself. "I always knew you were a danger to us, but father never listened to me."

Shikamaru watched Nyūsen carefully as he approached and glanced across to Neji. The Hyūga was breathing heavily and after almost a week of genjutsu torture he was surely not in a position to fight. Shikamaru would have to take Nyūsen down alone.

"Now he'll have to listen to me. Now he will praise me," Nyūsen said as he continued to close the gap between them. "I will be the chosen one and you, you will finally be out of the way."

"Don't you know yet then?" Shikamaru asked as he stepped closer to and in front of Neji. "Hasn't anyone told you he's dead."

"You're lying," spat Nyūsen. "He will choose me as his successor."

"Nope," Shikamaru said as he slipped his hands into his pockets as an attempt at nonchalance. "I watched the life fade from his eyes. It was quite satisfying."

"Shikamaru what the hell are you doing?" Neji asked. "We need to get out of here now."

"Trust me," Shikamaru whispered back.

"You killed him?" Nyūsen asked, his eyes widening.

Shikamaru nodded.

A second was all it took for Nyūsen to run at Shikamaru with a kunai drawn. Now that they were out of Ame proper, Shikamaru knew he could trust Neji to find his way back to the land of fire. "Run," Shikamaru said to Neji.

Neji stayed where he was. Had Shikamaru purposely taunted Nyūsen so that he, Neji, could get away?

Shikamaru blocked Nyūsen's attack with his own kunai and pushed him back. Pulling a shuriken from his pouch on his leg he threw it at Nyūsen.

"Neji, what are you waiting for, get out of here."

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu."

Shikamaru dodged the fireball by rolling to the left, Nyūsen, however had been ready for him.

"Fire style: Burning Ash."

As Shikamaru was surrounded by the ash, Neji ran towards Nyūsen. With his chakra running almost empty, he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around Nyūsen's waist and tackled him to the ground.

Shikamaru stumbled out of the ash cloud and saw Neji and Nyūsen flailing around on the ground he used the precious few seconds Neji had gained him to weave the seals for his shadow imitation jutsu.

After a few seconds of watching the shadow stretch across the ground, he felt a small tug that told him he had snared his target.

He jumped backwards, pulling Nyūsen away from Neji.

"Goddamit Hyūga, get out of here."

"I see you learned some new tricks in Konoha," Nyūsen spat as he tried to move.

Shikamaru felt the tug on his chakra and knew he wouldn't be able to hold Nyūsen for long.

"If you're not gonna leave then do something useful," Shikamaru said through gritted teeth.

Neji inhaled deeply as he gathered what remained of his chakra and slowly fell into his attack stance.

"Realease him," Neji said. As Shikamaru complied, Nyūsen began forming seals. "Too late, you're in range already. Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms."

"Two Palms!" Nyūsen was knocked back half a step.

"Four Palms!" He was losing ground.

"Eight Palms!" The first increase of hits knocked him back another step.

"Sixteen Palms!" Any breath that Nyūsen had had left him, leaving him winded.

"Thirty Two Palms!" Neji's hands were moving so fast, Shikamaru couldn't see them.

"Sixty Four Palms!" Nyūsen flew backwards with the force of the strikes.

"You did I –" Shikamaru looked over to Neji who had collapsed on to the floor. He had fallen unconscious from the over use of chakra. "Shit… Neji."

"Don't look away from your opponent, Shika," Nyūsen said. "Wasn't that what you always told me? I guess Konoha made you weak."

Shikamaru span around in time to see Nyūsen run towards him with a kunai drawn. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain in his stomach and Nyūsen's breath at his ear.

"If it's the last thing I do, I'll kill you Shikamaru."

The sudden weight of Nyūsen's body leaning on him told Shikamaru that he was the only conscious person in the field now. Pushing Nyūsen off him, he picked Neji up and with the Hyūga on his back, he headed back to Konoha.


The dusty road was long and winding. Shikamaru's vision was blurred and he had no idea how long he had been walking. Each step caused him more pain where Nyūsen's kunai had punctured him, but he had to keep going. He had to get Neji back to Konoha.

After what felt like an eternity, Neji began to stir.

"Shikamaru?" he mumbled.

"You're awake," Shikamaru replied as he let Neji down off his back. "Great. That's great." Without warning he fell to the ground, his wound finally becoming too much for him.


[[A/N]] No! Shikamaru's lost a lot of blood and is (probably) dying! What will Neji do?!

Lessthanthree you all

WatchingAsYouFall