A/N:  Here you go!  Sorry for not including the Genda/Naruto fight, but I'm glad that so many of you understood why I decided not to.  Please enjoy, and thanks to all of you who leave reviews!  Your support is much appreciated!

"Do you think Naruto will come back soon?" Ino asked, supporting Sakura as she hobbled over to Neji and TenTen. Ino wasn't walking well herself, what with the stab wounds in her feet and leg, but it beat Sakura's multi-fractured leg. Sakura's skin was covered with cuts and burns, and she looked as if she had put up quite a fight. Shikamaru understood why there were rumors that she would be the next legendary kunoichi. Still, he didn't think her movements had the finesse of Ino's, but there was a good chance he biased.

"Probably," Sakura mumbled, crouching and checking on Shikamaru. "You've got internal bleeding. If he hadn't kept you cold, you'd be dead. Don't rub off that seal, Chouji, or he's done for."

Chouji nodded, still cradling his friend. Shikamaru wasn't keen on being held like an infant, but he couldn't move or even speak, his only sign of consciousness being the mobility of his one good eye. "I won't make a mistake," the large man murmured. "Hang in there."

"He had better hang in there!" Ino declared, eyes snapping. Shikamaru wondered how she managed to get beaten half to death and still find the energy to boss everyone around. Suddenly, however, she was at his side, hands hovering over him as if she wanted nothing more than to touch him and yet was too afraid to do so. "You'll be fine," she told him softly. His eyelids were heavy, but he didn't want to stop looking at her. She was so beautiful, even covered in dirt, sweat, and blood. Ino was the only kunoichi he knew that could be covered in gore and still look like a lady.

"Of course he'll be fine," Neji said, leaning against a tree with TenTen's head in his lap. He gently stroked her hair with his good hand. "We'll all be fine. Naruto will come back, and then we'll go home."

"He sure has been gone a long time," Chouji sighed.

As if on cue, there was a rumbling of the ground, and a furrow appeared in the earth, stopping just a few meters short of them. Yelling came from the sky, and a body plunged into the soil, thoroughly pounding the end of the furrow. Clods of dirt flew through the air, Chouji quickly multi-sizing and shielding everyone with his huge body. "You've got good friends, Shikamaru," Neji said with a smile, and Chouji grinned back.

"And you guys called me fat! You're lucky I don't hold a grudge, especially since I'll be carrying you all home," he chuckled.

"We love you," TenTen said, trying to smile but barely even conscious.

"Good to hear," Chouji replied, and slowly turned around.

Naruto appeared from the ruined earth, holding Genda by the collar and shaking him. Naruto's eyes were blazing, his knuckles white where he gripped the enemy. Genda looked terrible, not a single clean patch of skin on his entire body. Parts of Naruto's clothes were torn, and he was filthy, but he looked none the worse for wear. "You're lucky I have orders to keep you alive, otherwise I'd rip out your intestines and stuff them down your throat," he snarled, shaking Genda viciously. The S-class criminal whimpered, the whites of his eyes showing. "I'm going to make you feel pain so bad you'll wish you could die. I will never let you rest, not after what you did to my people." He threw Genda on the ground, who flopped around like a rag doll. Shikamaru could see bone fragments poking out of the skin, even from the distance he was at. Naruto kicked Genda's body, sending it rolling haphazardly across the dirt. Genda's torso was completely exposed, showing that Naruto had applied at least one low-level Rasengan to it. The way Genda rolled it seemed like he was already dead, so boneless was the movement. Naruto pounced on the body, again seizing the tattered remains of Genda's jacket. Curling the fabric in his fists, he raised Genda up a few inches, then pounded him into the dirt, repeating the process as he chanted, "You…will…never…hurt…my…precious…people…again," each word accented by a blow.

Sakura hobbled over to him, eyes wary. "Naruto," she said softly, holding out a hand. The eyes that Naruto turned to her were savage and pained. Tentatively, Sakura laid her fingers on his shoulder. "It's okay. You got him. Don't kill him. If you do, we won't find out what the Akatsuki had planned."

"He hurt Hinata. He hurt you, and Neji, and all of Shikamaru's team. I should just end his miserable life, but that would let him off the hook."

Sakura gently peeled his fingers off of Genda. "He can't do anything else. It's okay. You need to go get Hinata so we can get her to a hospital."

Shikamaru watched as Naruto's face transformed from a mask of hatred to an expression of intense worry. "Hinata," he murmured, blue eyes brimming with tenderness. "Oh, Hinata."

"Go," Sakura ordered, and Naruto bounded away.

"Terrible," Ino murmured, and Shikamaru didn't know what in particular she meant. It all seemed pretty terrible to him. Then again, he was about as beaten-up as a person could get. Turning, Ino dashed back to his side. "We'll get you home soon," she whispered, gazing into his eyes. He tried to smile, but his face hurt too much.

"Naruto will catch up," Chouji decided, and, with enormous effort and the help of a soldier pill, transformed into an even bigger version of himself. He gathered up every single one of the Konoha ninja and arranged them for safe transport as if they were dolls. "So which one of you is going to treat me to dinner when we get back?" he asked, strolling off into the trees. With his incredible stride, they'd reach Konoha in no time.

"I will," everyone said at once, and laughed.

"That might be more than even I could eat," Chouji replied, and Shikamaru was glad that everyone was smiling at his friend. Chouji had such a warm, tender personality, one that so many people had ignored because of the way he looked. Now, however, Chouji was getting the attention he deserved. "All right, time to go."

Chouji had only been walking for half an hour when Naruto caught up to them. "Dammit, you go too fast!" Naruto whined, jumping up into the large man's arms.

"Sorry."

Naruto had lashed Genda's body to his back, carrying Hinata in his arms. Shikamaru could see the paths tears had made down Naruto's cheeks, and his expression was tortured as he handled Hinata. Sakura held out her arms and accepted Hinata's body, Naruto wiping his cheeks as new tears welled up. He crouched next to Hinata and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you," he murmured, and kissed her again. "I'm going to take Genda back ahead of you," he told the group. "I think I might have overdone it."

"No one blames you," Neji said.

"Not even Tsunade," Sakura added, voice hard. "If she wants him alive, she can heal him herself."

Naruto nodded once and took off through the trees. Shikamaru grunted with pain, the stabbing sensations in his abdomen growing worse, and suddenly Ino was holding him, looking down into his face. "Are you okay? Shikamaru?" Shikamaru couldn't answer. "Sakura!" Ino cried, but her voice was faint, and her face was becoming blurry and dark.

"Troublesome," he murmured, and was swallowed up by blackness.