Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.

AN: Chapter title: Discovery!

"Don't bother with a pursuit." The Centurion of the Fifth Cohort returned his blade to his side. The Centurion closest to him questioned him with merely his eyes but he would not waver. He turned away from the cowards that fled from battle and raised two fingers to his ear. "All Centurions, hold your positions."

"We have them on the run!"

"These cowards flee from us."

"They deserve our blades."

"They deserve death."

"Pursuing such cowardly foes as them is worthless. Our mission is to defend the village." The Centurion of the Fifth did not waver. "We will remain at the gates. That is Caesar's order."

He said no more.

He didn't need to. The Orange Legion was not some rabble raised with haste. The Orange Legion was a disciplined force that would not let personal desire rule them on the battlefield.

"Centurion, have your Legionnaires take up the wall from the Shinobi. Pilums or bows, it's your decision." The Centurion of the Fifth rolled his shoulder as the two wordlessly walked back into the village. The fight had briefly spilled out into the now leveled forest but it had not gone far. Those of the Fifth Cohort that had emerged with them drew back slower, kept their hold on their arms strong and their eyes searching for any foe as the ranks slowly swept inward.

It was slow going and would some take time but it was better than to be embarrassed in giving the enemy a chance to attack while they returned to the village in a mad rush. Besides, with the enemy beaten to such an extent that they ran away he was certain they had more than enough time.

"The Sixth will likely be doing the same." His Centurion didn't question his order. "These cowards might strike with those large summons again. We'll need to position Legionnaires further back in case they breach the walls again." Both of their eyes glanced to the gaping hole in the walls of the village. Neither had let such a glaring weakness escape their attention and a Century was placed there on the ground and on the few surviving buildings. "Our Legionnaires are strong but those snakes will be a problem to face again without the Toad Sage's aid."

The frog that had battled the large snake summon had already disappeared in a cloud of smoke. None of the Legion had seen the Toad Sage since his brief clash with what was a clone of Orochimaru and without a way to contact him his unexpected aid was unlikely to come if the snakes attacked again.

"We'll need to kill them then." The Centurion of the Fifth's eyes briefly turned crimson. They returned to blue in the blink of an eye. "But that is in the future. For now we'll solidify our position."

"I'll set myself to spread the word then." The Centurion with him chuckled as he left.

The Centurion of the Fifth turned his focus towards the battlefield.

'This was too easy.' His eyes remained focused on the trees. His foes found refuge within them, concealed themselves from his sight. They could be massing again, preparing for another assault on the village, and he would not be aware until the battle began again. His foes were allowed to regroup and plan their next attack and there was nothing he could do.

He was limited on manpower. The possibility of Orochimaru's snake summons making a return made him devote more Legionnaires to his reserves than absolutely needed. He would rather err on the side of caution than be caught by surprise, unable to hold the gate, and dishonor Caesar's glorious Legion with defeat, with failure.

He would sooner die than allow such a thing.

'Hide all you desire cretins, cower in the shadows for as long as you wish. You will face me on my terms out on the battlefield.'

Far away from where the chaotic battles the invasion had sparked were slowly coming to an end, a sanctuary existed. Those who had found a place within it found they were in the safest spot in the village. Surrounded by thick walls, behind a sealed door, and protected by more than a few dozen ANBU Black Ops. Word had spread that more than a handful of Clan heirs were present and Shinobi had arrived. More Shinobi than was needed but they were still here.

Not out fighting in the streets. Not out fighting to repel the invader. They kept a close eye on the future leaders of their respective clan. An invisible circle had formed between the rookie Genin and the rest of the people, civilians for the most part, in the shelter.

And Naruto's clones added another layer to the already impressive defense. They hadn't all left with the Uchiha and then a fresh wave had arrived with Hinata and Neji and that brought with it another wave of Shinobi to the shelter, all of them pale eyed. The clones remained, a wall of steel both inside and outside the packed shelter.

"You are not hurt, are you Hinata Hyuga?" One Centurion spoke with Hinata, two others behind him and two others outside the walls of the shelter. He had been one of two to arrive with the heiress to the Hyuga Clan and her cousin. The other remained outside.

"I'm fine thanks to you." Shikamaru tuned out their conversation.

He dropped onto the floor.

"This is such a drag." He let out a deep sigh. "The village is under attack and we're all stuck in here. I'm almost jealous of Lee. He got out of here before all these Shinobi showed up. It's like totally impossible to leave this place now." He dropped onto his back. His hands rested behind his head. "What a pain."

"You look so miserable about it too." Ino was helped over by Choji. More than a few Yamanaka were keeping their eyes exclusively on her. She ignored them. "If I didn't know you any better, I would almost say you were sad not to be fighting."

"I am actually." Shikamaru didn't lift his head up, kept his eyes focused on the ceiling above him. "It's a pain to be stuck in here because of my dad. I didn't join the Academy to do this when things got bad." The shadows around him were unnatural. "I get being the Clan Heir has some responsibility but I'm still a Shinobi. I should be out there fighting."

"There's no way past all this security." Choji didn't glance at the trio of Shinobi from the Akimichi Clan that stayed close to the door or the several close by to the three Genin, all of them just out of hearing range. "They'll stop us before we got one foot out the door."

"They would." Shikamaru's eyes stayed focused on the ceiling. "We just need to get both feet out at once."

He was met with silence.

Neither of the two really knew what to say after that.

Shikamaru didn't say anything else. His eyes remained focused on the ceiling.

Their eyes turned up.

A second later the pieces came together and they widened.

"We would need to know how to teleport or something." Shikamaru closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. "It's definitely a major pain to be stuck in here when everybody else is fighting."

"Yeah…" Ino and Choji kept their eyes focused above their heads.

A red swirl, one of many, was above them.

It was the familiar symbol of the once powerful Uzumaki Clan.

And it served as a reminder of Naruto's Orange Legion, the same Legion that could move a hundred to a new spot in the blink of an eye all thanks to a seal.

Ino dropped down next to Shikamaru. A hand fell on his stomach and Choji kept her steady.

'Do you think it would really work?' Bridging three minds together was easier with physical contact.

'It can't hurt to try.' Shikamaru didn't take his eyes off the ceiling, on the one of many red swirls that dotted it.

'What are we even going to do if it does work?' Choji helped Ino take pressure off her leg, stretch it out while she kept her hand on Shikamaru, shifted it up to his shoulder.

'We'll figure something out. Lee's out there alone. He's strong but he still needs help. Especially if he really did rush off to fight that psycho from the Sand village.' Ino was better than either of her teammates gave her credit for. She could maintain the link without physical contact. It must have been because the three had done it so many times.

'One thing at a time.' Shikamaru closed his eyes. 'We still need to get out of here.'

He needed to think.

'Hinata…' Ino didn't look towards the Hyuga. She didn't need to. 'Naruto has his clones guarding her. Those look like his personal bodyguards.'

'They are.' Shikamaru didn't hold back his sigh. 'He wants her to stay here if he has them with her. They won't help us get out of here. We all saw how they acted when he had them watch Sakura. Especially when they ended up jumping in last time she fought.'

'Don't remind me.' Ino actually did turn to the Hyuga then. 'She's still our best bet to get out of here before we get stopped.'

'If we try to move with them, we're heading out into fighting. We have to be ready for anything.' Shikamaru didn't know how nervous he was when the thought finally hit him. He just knew there was a sudden spike in his heartrate, a sudden blind panic he swiftly squashed down. 'We may even have to fight that Gaara guy.'

His 'words' had the expected effect. He felt a sudden spike of sheer terror before nothing. The link itself had actually dropped as Ino lost focus. She couldn't maintain if when she thought about the monster that had crippled Tenten with a smile.

"Enough, you won the match! It's over kid! Put her down!"

"No. She still needs to suffer before she dies."

Naruto may had been insane in all of their opinions but he was nothing compared to what the Sunagakure Shinobi was: A monster. There was no other way to describe him, the thing he had turned into, the thing Naruto had been so excited to fight. Only a monster could do something like that.

'I can't believe Naruto actually wanted to fight that thing…' Ino couldn't help her shiver at the very thought of clashing with the monster she had only gotten a glimpse of.

It was enough to give her nightmares.

A monster made out of sand and covered by black markings. Sasuke had told them all it was nothing but some kind of tanuki but that was insane. She had seen pictures of a tanuki and they were nothing close to that thing she had seen. It was laughable to compare the two, to think they were anything alike. One was a harmless legend and the other was real. One was fake, part of countless stories told to children, and the other was a horrifyingly real monster. One couldn't hurt you and the other was driven by clear bloodlust, driven by a desire to kill them all from the Killing Intent she had felt.

And Naruto had gone off to fight it with what had to be a smile on his face.

"At last!" She remembered his reaction rather well, through the sudden indescribable sense of horror she felt, she could remember his outright joy. He had been happy to see the thing, happy to feel that raw bloodlust wash over the village, that promise of death. He had looked like a kid getting a favorite toy or something like a puppy. He was acting like that monster was the greatest thing in the world.

Sasuke Uchiha had even shouted words of encouragement. He had told them what that monster was, something called the Ichibi. He hadn't been gripped with terror when the sudden surge of Killing Intent hit. He had looked almost as happy as Naruto when he guided them out. He hadn't bothered with tunnels or using the seal they were so focused on now. He had taken them out the front, let them see the monster as one of Naruto's attacks hit it.

He hadn't been shocked at all.

"With that Chakra building in the stadium, we shouldn't head out on the streets. There's no telling what's going to happen when this thing finally blows. This place has underground maintenance tunnels that connect to the tunnels for the shelter. It won't be nice or easy but it beats getting taken by surprise by whatever's up there."

"A Jinchuriki. The Legion, and myself, is quite sure the beast sealed inside Gaara is the Ichibi, a tanuki with control over sand and power over strange cursed markings. The sand the boy controls is likely tied to the beast, using its power to defend its host and, by extension, itself from any harm."

He hadn't been in shock. He had answered Shikamaru like he was reading off some random fact he had memorized, something mildly interesting from a report he had read. He wasn't acting like a monster had been unleashed so close to them, that it was set on the village's destruction.

"So that kid has a demon in him?"

"He is of no concern to you Akimichi. Now let's get moving."

He had written off Choji, taken them all outside before they could press for answers, before they could get pass their shock and question him anymore.

'He was weird during the entire Chunin Exams.' She couldn't help but think about how he was right before his match with Temari. She couldn't ignore what he had said to her, how he had looked at her when he said it. She should have seen it earlier but she didn't, didn't want to see it, didn't even know what she was looking at.

It was why she had been taking off guard, taken by surprise by the attack.

"You should join your sensei and friends in the seats Ino. Stay close to them and don't wander." Sasuke looked at her with something approaching worry before it was gone. Something masked it, arrogance. "If you leave, you may miss my match."

She had let it go at first, she had thought her eyes were playing some kind of trick on her when she first saw it. She would never have guessed she would be so wrong. Sasuke had looked at her with something genuine, had been warning her to stay with Choji and Shikamaru, stay near Kurenai-sensei. He didn't want her to be alone with her leg like it was, didn't want her to be away from the audience watching the finals.

He didn't want her away from the epicenter of the invasion.

Away from where the ANBU Black Ops had been hidden amongst the crowd of civilians just like the enemy, from where the closest Jonin, her sensei, was watching the matches in the stadium, away from the two Shinobi she worked best with in any situation.

He had been warning her.

He acted like he had known about it all along…

"No…No this can't be real…He's not like that…" She was speaking to herself. Shikamaru and Choji were still looking at her, trying to ask her what was wrong.

She didn't focus on them.

Her eyes were trained on the clone with Hinata.

She didn't know when but she stumbled up to her feet, ignored the pain shooting through her leg when she stumbled forward. Sky blue eyes wouldn't leave the figure of the armored clone in front of her. Before she jumped ahead, she had to know without a doubt.

"You!" She was surprised the clone wasn't aware of her, maybe his attention had lapsed from how monotone the shelter was, but the reason to why didn't matter now. She was able to grab hold of him at his armored shoulders, keep herself upright as much as she pulled the clone closer.

"Yamanaka." The clone responded coolly despite how sudden the situation had come together. "Unhand me."

"I want to talk to Sasuke!" She ignored him, tightened her hold on him. She couldn't unbalance him on one leg but she could at least pull herself closer using him, stare into impassive blue eyes. "Now."

"You misunderstand the Legate's tolerance of you for the Legion's own." The clone didn't shake her off but his eyes held little warmth as he stared her down. "It is in your best interest to let go of my armor."

She wasn't getting anywhere like this. Her eyes darted away from his, ignored the way his face took on a look of triumph, and settled on his earpiece. She was lucky his helmet was off, held under his arm for now. He couldn't move it fast enough to stop her when she reached up and wrenched it out of his ear. The clone recoiled at the unexpected shock and she took the entire assembly with her as she fell back into one enlarged hand.

A shadow raced across the ground in that same moment, it connected to the shadow it had been aimed for and made the clone freeze in place. His sudden red eyes focused on Ino regardless and he struggled to move, struggled to do little more than let a strangled roar of rage rip free of his throat. He couldn't move no matter how much he wished, no matter how much this sudden fury screamed for him to take his vengeance on the Yamanaka held by the Akimichi.

"Let's all just calm down." Choji withdrew his hand, Ino in his massive palm, while Shikamaru remained crouched behind him. His eyes were focused pass the currently controlled Praetorian. He didn't let the approaching Centurion leave his sight. It would be bad if he didn't keep an eye on him, didn't know his exact position. He was the biggest threat right now, likely one of the highest ranked clones in Naruto's Legion in the shelter right now. If he could get him to listen, get him to keep the rest of the Legion from attacking, things could actually work out.

It also meant that, if he couldn't, he could suddenly have a hundred or more Praetorians to deal with if he didn't react fast enough.

His shadow was more limited than he thought it would be when he saw Ino rip the earpiece out.

He had just reacted in the end, didn't plan ahead, didn't think.

He was lucky.

He didn't let the strain of keeping the Praetorian immobile show. He couldn't get him to imitate him exactly but he could keep him frozen, keep him from doing anything to Ino while Choji stepped back. Ino wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her, was trying to work the earpiece everyone in Naruto's Legion wore.

'This just got really bad.' He didn't need to be a genius to know things may have just taken a turn for the worst. He kept his eyes on the Centurion but he wasn't blind to the eyes focused on him, the dozens of figures drawing closer and closer to the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio. 'We're outgunned like this. Got to think of something and quick. I can't let this g-'

His shadow thinned for a moment, nearly retreated entirely, when a sudden surge of strength came to the Praetorian. Glowing red eyes were focused on Ino and he took a single shaking step forward. Shikamaru tightened his hold on his shadow, pushed more Chakra to the Hiden technique, and felt his reserves take a hit.

He at least stopped the Praetorian. Barely but he managed it.

"What do you think you're doing!" He never thought he would be so happy to hear Kiba shouting, hear Akamaru's barking.

He had no idea when they got to the shelter but they were here, saw them race in from the side and back up Choji. Shino seemed to just appear next to him, the buzzing of his kikaichu showing just how tense the impassive looking Aburame really was right now.

"Shikamaru." It was the first time he had seen Shino since the invasion had begun. The Aburame had seen better days. His glasses were cracked, his coat was burnt at the sleeves, and one arm had taken a beating judging from the bandages wrapped around it but he was still standing and he was ready to help. It was more than Shikamaru could have hoped for after the chaos that had taken hold of the village.

"G-Good to see you Shino." His voice betrayed the strain he was going through.

A handful of kikaichu landed across his shoulders. It wasn't much but a sudden surge of Chakra drew a thankful nod from the Nara.

'Alright, we might just have a chance here.'

Far away from the shelters, far away in the vast forests that surrounded the village of Konohagakure, four had truly begun a race towards destiny.

One sought to escape.

One sought justice.

One sought glory.

And one followed.

Two of the four clashed without warning.

One continued forward.

"What are you doing?" Rock Lee had narrowly avoided the suddenly slashing blade, the arc of Chakra the swing unleashed, from taking off his head, from leaving him too injured to continue his pursuit. A familiar blonde haired figure shot past him, the Genin catching sight of a grin on his face.

He turned his attention back to the source of the sudden attack before he could break away.

He demanded an answer and received it.

"The battle that lies ahead is Caesar's alone." Sasuke drew away, stood in the path of Lee's pursuit of Gaara. The Sunagakure Jinchuriki had been so close, had been nearly in his grasp, when Sasuke had waylaid him.

"That is not true!" Rock Lee didn't try to blitz past the Uchiha. The Sharingan have him an advantage when it came to blocking him. He clearly wasn't aiming to actually win a fight, he just wanted to stall him while Naruto went on ahead.

As he went on to confront Gaara.

"I will be the one to battle Gaara! I won't let him get away with what he's done to Tenten!" Rock Lee let his passion fill his voice, let his rage burn hotter in his heart than it had ever done before with the source of it so close yet so far. "I will not let you stop me from facing him Sasuke! You may be a Shinobi of Konoha but you stand in my way and I cannot allow that!"

"You won't interfere in Caesar's battle Rock Lee." Sasuke didn't keep his arms out, he sheathed his sword and his shield vanished from sight. "But that doesn't mean we have to fight." The Legate gestured behind Lee with a nod of his head, towards where the village was still a contested battleground by defenders and invaders alike. "I have heard of your prowess in battle even if I was not there to see. You possess a speed that surpasses the attacks sent against you, that surpasses the sound these invaders are so fond of. Your strength is perhaps unrivalled, your tutelage under Maito Gai proving more and more fruitful the more I hear of your battles. Truly, you are one worthy of fighting at the side of the Legion, of myself, of perhaps even Caesar himself."

"I will fight with those I call my comrades Sasuke." Lee's hands were fists at his side, his attempt to restrain himself. "But I cannot allow Gaara to escape."

"And he shall not." Sasuke shook his head, seemed almost mocking of the older Genin. "That dog will not escape from Caesar and neither will he deny Caesar his glory. He will pay for what he's done to Tenten, I can assure you of that."

"I have no doubt Naruto can beat Gaara." Lee hung his head. "But I made a vow to my teammate Sasuke. I have sworn on oath and I shall not let it go unfulfilled!"

He stepped into a familiar Taijutsu stance, one of the Strong Fist style made legendary by Maito Gai.

'Forgive me sensei but I have no choice now. I must be the one to face Gaara and this is the only way.'

"I see." Sasuke's Sharingan seemed to shine with red light as he focused on Rock Lee. He did not draw his blade, he drew a single hand up as he straightened his stance. "I will end this quickly then."

It was inevitable now. One wanted to do nothing more than to pass and the other wanted to do nothing more than to stop him here. There goals contradicted each other and there was only one solution to it all. The two would have to battle the other, test not only their strength but their convictions against their foe. One must fight to uphold his word to his teammate and the other stood as the sole remaining obstacle to that goal. Rock Lee and Sasuke Uchiha had no choice but to fight here and now.

AN: Well all of that happened.

...I kind of wanted to see what Shikamaru's plan was all about if I'm being honest. Would he use Nara Mind Tricks or something else? Do the Nara have Mind Tricks?