Ever notice how for once the hero and the creep don't exchange names? Seriously. While writing this and the next chapter, I've been waiting for Neji and Kidomaru to exchange names like they usually do. But they never did. So enjoy to stupid nicknames I came up for the big freak. xD

Chapter 36:

~Nagi's POV

The three of us skidded across the ground, digging up dirt until we finally stopped. Neji and I got to our knees and glared up at the enemy. Shikamaru coughed beside me before doing the same.

"Well, well," said the white-haired ninja. "I thought I was flushing out a snake from the bushes, but all I got were a few mice."

The big guy with orange hair got into position to attack.

Shikamaru stood up and held up his hands. "Hey wait a minute! Calm down! We're here to negotiate, not to fight. Can't we talk this over like reasonable people?"

The freak with six arms smirked. "Let's not forget your friends, shall we?"

He pulled his arms forward, and the boys came flying out of the trees.

Kiba flipped and thrashed a smoke bomb onto the ground, causing a giant cloud of purple smoke to appear. The boys were surrounded by it and were impossible to see. Neji and I stood up.

Six-Arms laughed. "What good's that gonna do? Throw all the smoke bombs you want. I still got you. These threads are so fine, they're almost invisible. But they're stronger than they look. You've already encountered them in the forest."

The boys were on the ground in front of us.

"Damn it!" Naruto grunted.

"So that double trap you set was actually a triple trap," Shikamaru realized. "Heh. That was clever. So I guess that makes you the smart one in the group."

"You're about to be the dead one." Six-Arms froze. "My body. What's happening?"

"Man, that was perfect!" Naruto cheered. "Kiba distracted them, and you nailed them with your Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Sure enough, our plan worked. Shikamaru had all four of the freaks in his shadow.

"Yeah, that's right," Shikamaru smirked. "You're not the only ones who can spring a trap. Thanks for making me look good in front of the squad. Appreciate it."

"Very impressive," White-Hair said. "I'd be even more impressed if I hadn't mastered that technique as well."

"Look out!" I shouted.

Shikamaru turned just in time to avoid three hidden shuriken, one bouncing off his headband tied around his arm. "Huh? What was that?"

The distraction was enough for his jutsu to wear off, and the Sound ninja were free.

"Earth Style Barrier." Orange-Hair slammed his hands on the ground. "Earth Dome Prison!"

The ground started forming around us in the shape of a dome. Darkness consumed us.

"Terrific," Shikamaru groaned.

"What is it?" Neji asked.

"It's a barrier of some kind, and we're stuck in it."

Naruto banged on the rock. "Hey you out there! Let us out right now!"

"Yeah, like that's gonna help," Kiba scoffed.

Neji walked over to stand next to Kiba, and they both examined the barrier.

"It seems to be nothing more than a dirt wall," my cousin concluded.

"It's some kind of jutsu," Shikamaru disagreed. "We should watch our step. It could be another trap within a trap."

"Hn! A wall's a wall, and there's no wall I can't punch a hole through," Kiba gloated.

"Yeah, it's worth a try, I guess. After all, we have to do something despite the risk."

Kiba clapped his hands, his nails and teeth getting longer and sharper. He jumped and began spinning rapidly. "Tunneling Fang!"

After all the smoke and rumbling faded, Kiba touched down off the wall. A large was there, but it suddenly started going back to the way it was before.

"Hey." Kiba turned and pointed at the reconstructing wall. "Did you just-"

"Yes, we saw it," Neji answered.

"Let us out!" Naruto screamed.

We stood in silence for a moment.

"It appears to be more than just a dirt wall," Neji said.

"I got it," I said. "Byakugan!" I gazed at the walls with my enhanced vision." I gasped. "The walls…"

"It's what?" Shikamaru asked. "The wall is what?"

I turned and looked at my cousin and the others. Then I looked at my hands. "Our chakra. It's absorbing it, as if it were a sponge."

"Great," Kiba huffed. "It's not enough that the bury us alive in this oversized dump heap, but not they're stealing our chakra. You gotta give these guys credit for thoroughness."

"No way!" Naruto shouted again. "No way they can do this to us! Whoever you are, let us out right now!"

We sat there for a while. None of us could stand up anymore. Naruto and Kiba were in pretty bad shape.

Neji attempted to use his Byakugan again, but I could he struggled with it. He looked at Naruto, and then spoke to Shikamaru.

"Something must be done, Shikamaru. And quickly."

Kiba felt the ground in front of him. "That does it. Stand back, guys. I'm gonna bust out of here before my chakra's all gone. Akamaru, have a food pill."

Akamaru stood and took the pill from Kiba's hand. The small dog started growling, his fur turning red. He even got a bit bigger.

"Alright, Ninja Art, Human Mimicry," Kiba told his partner, who barked in response. "And as for me…" He performed a hand sign. Akamaru turned into Kiba's beast look-alike. They both jumped and started spinning like Kiba had before. "Fang Over Fang!"

"Attaboy, Kiba, go for it!" Naruto cheered.

The two canines thrashed against the walls and ground, somehow missing us. But in the end, nothing changed, and Akamaru was already out of power. He changed back and slumped. The wall started repairing.

"Look at that," Kiba muttered. "As soon as a crack appears, it starts to repair itself. Same with the ground beneath it."

I was getting weaker. I could feel my strength and chakra leaving me.

"Hey, I'd give us about ten more minutes of this," Kiba stated, "before our chakra's completely drained."

Neji took this as a surprise. I saw him reach up and take hold of something around his neck.

"Hey out there," Shikamaru called. "I wanna talk to your leader. I have a deal to propose. What I'm thinking is that you let us out of here, and you get to keep Sasuke."

"Shikamaru, what are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"No deal," the ninja outside said. "I've never let a captive go before. I'm not about to start now."

"Aw, come on. Listen. How about you just let me go, and keep the others?"
Naruto and Kiba were buying it. They thought Shikamaru was turning on us. Neji and I were suspicious, but could hear the lie in Shikamaru's voice. Chouji was silent, watching his best friend, trying to figure him out.

"All this fighting," Shikamaru continued. "It's really not my thing."

"You little…If you're selling us out, I'm gonna wring your neck!" Kiba threatened.

"Shut up, Kiba, for once in your life."

"What did you say?"

The guy outside laughed. "So much for teamwork. So you're really the leader, huh? What a fine example you're setting for the rest of your team. You see a man's true character when he's pushed to the edge of death. But you're not a man at all, certainly not one who's worthy of leading a team of ninja into battle. Sacrificing Sasuke, the rest of your squad. Huh! So that's how a Lead Chuunin acts. Did you really believe I might let you out? You deserve to die."

"That does it, Shikamaru, you dirty little traitor," Naruto seethed. "Let's take this outside! Just you and me!"

"What do you mean, 'take this outside?' How ya gonna do that, you idiot?" Kiba asked. "We're trapped in here."

Naruto and Kiba started arguing and wrestling.

"That's enough," Chouji ordered. "Everybody just shut up!"

Naruto and Kiba broke apart from each other's headlock.

"Chouji?" Naruto said.

Neji and I looked at Shikamaru, who had knelt down and formed a sign with his hands. Neji recognized it and settled.

"What's Shikamaru doing now, meditating or something?" Naruto asked. "Why's he just squatting there?"

Chouji took out a bag of chips(from where I have no idea) and began eating.
"Aw, you gotta be kidding me! Is that all you ever think about?"

"That's Chouji for ya," Kiba said. "He responds to a crisis by stuffing his face. He's a real big help."

"Forget this! I'm gonna give Shadow Clones a try!"

"Don't bother," Neji warned. "That ninja has infused this wall with chakra so that it repairs itself. Your Shadow Clones won't work. You'll only deplete your own chakra. The fact is, multiple attacks on it won't work. Our only hope is taijutsu strong enough to destroy it in one blow."

"Well Chouji has taijutsu with a stronger knockout punch than mine, but just look at him," Kiba said. "He's got other things on his mind."

"Come on," Naruto groaned impatiently. "What are we gonna do, just stand here?"

"What are you thinking, Shikamaru?" I asked.

Said boy opened his eyes and smirked. "Neji, I need you to focus those eyes of yours on the wall directly behind you and directly behind Chouji. Do you think you have enough chakra left for that?"

"I think so."

"Hold on! You're not gonna listen to him!"

"Naruto, you still don't get it, do you?" Chouji yelled. "Don't you remember what Shikamaru said when we came together as a team?"

Shikamaru stood up. "Okay, Chouji, try and keep your voice down, will ya? Kiba, are you up for trying to put another dent in the wall behind Chouji?"

"Well sure, I guess." Kiba clapped his hands together. "Heh. I don't know what's going on, but I'm always up for getting wild." He jumped and spun. "Tunneling Fang!" He hit the wall a few times behind Chouji and called off his jutsu, panting.

Neji looked at each area where Kiba hit the wall. When he found what he was looking for, he turned to Shikamaru.

"Alright. Neji, mark the spot with your kunai knife, would you? Chouji, ready buddy?"

"Shikamaru, I was born ready."

"Good, then let's get started."

"Wait, let's get what started?" Naruto asked.

"As I said a moment ago, this wall has been infused with chakra," Neji explained, pulling out a kunai. "However, the strength of the chakra won't be uniform. Some points in the wall must be weaker than others. Shikamaru was able to figure that out."

"Really? He did? You could've fooled me. When the hell was that?"

"He's been watching," I said. "And taking it in." I stood and walked up to join the group. "For example, when Kiba and Akamaru attacked the wall. While you were watching them, he was studying the wall and observed that some areas repair themselves slowed the others."

Neji threw his kunai at a dent that was still repairing. "That led him to suspect that it was at those points that the chakra was the weakest."

Shikamaru nodded his confirmation.

"Still, he needed to be sure," I continued. "That's why he spoke to the Big Freak the way he did. It was a ruse, a trick into giving away his position. And it worked, confirming that Shikamaru's suspicions were right."

"The band of chakra in the wall is thinnest and weakest at the point opposite his position." Neji turned to look at our squad leader. "That's about right, isn't it?"

Shikamaru just kept a smirk on his face. "It's up to you, Chouji."

Chouji brought his hands together in a sign. "Okay! Expansion Jutsu!" His body expanded into a giant ball. "Alright, here we go!" He brought his arms, legs, and head inside his clothes and starting spinning his oversized body. "Human Boulder!" He hit the wall, kicking up dirt and smoke. We stood there, willing for his jutsu to work.

Then Chouji was outside, a giant hole in the wall. Chouji called off his jutsu, and the rest of us ran outside before the enemy could try anything. We faced the dome triumphantly. Shikamaru stood in the middle, Naruto and Chouji kneeling on either side of him. Kiba and Akamaru were on Chouji's other side. Neji stood next to Naruto, and I couldn't help but hand my arm over my cousin's shoulder and lean on him in a relaxed position.

The dome collapsed, and the Sound ninja stood there in astonishment.

"Well, Chouji, there's no other way of saying it." Shikamaru glanced at his best friend. "That was awesome."

Chouji chuckled happily, glad to have done something so amazing as saving all of our asses.

"Time to get this show on the road," I said.

~Tsuki's POV

I rubbed my forehead a bit, willing my headache to disappear.

"Are you okay, Tsuki?" Lee asked me.

"I'm fine," I promised. "I just felt a bit dizzy before is all. Nothing but a small headache now. It'll pass."

Lee nodded and continued watching Konjou and Tejina spar.

I looked down guiltily. Hiding the truth is never easy. But if Lee found out, he'd just be more worried than he already is.

'Neji, please be alright,' I mentally pleaded.

So I bet you were wondering what the hell Tsuki and Konjou were talking about in the last chapter. That last part in Tsuki's POV is a hint! The next chapter will explain all, thanks to the wonderful Nagi!