By some miracle we're still on schedule, so here's that chapter you've been eagerly awaiting.

I'll try to keep things short and sweet because I ramble on enough on the blog.

I'm a bit behind on chapters- I wanted at least five in reserve but at the moment just have next week's- but we'll keep working towards it. Received some feedback about my Skyrim gameplay – if you're confused, head on over to the blog – where someone said I should write a story for Skyrim rather than just recount my adventures to you as I post updates. I mentioned it in another update and received positive feedback on the idea from another reader.

Well, unless they just have two usernames. Maybe it's just one person.

Either way, it looks like my next project will probably be a Skyrim fanfiction, which is totally not just a convenient excuse to spend more time with my first mistress.

You know, with how much I talk about her she really needs a name. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them with me.

I'll stop myself here before I drag this on for too long. If you like my ramblings check out Eyazahrid-dot-net and follow me on Twitter at Eyazahrid for progress updates.

Let's get into the chapter.

He had spoken too soon again, Shikamaru realized, things were most certainly not going his way at all today. Ducking to avoid another shard of pink crystal he had to wonder what the hell Kage kept in those pipes of theirs and why Asuma had started using it because sending a cobbled-together team of Gennin to retrieve a more powerful comrade that had been subdued was just not a good plan.

If it hadn't been for the Wolves they would be dead.

All of them.

Well, Naruko might have managed to get out using her chains, limitless stamina, and the Chakra of the Kyuubi- which his dad hadn't exactly told him about but had definitely hinted towards often enough for Shikamaru to understand.- especially because their opponents weren't actually there for the purpose of fighting.

Hell, they could probably back off now and there was a reasonable chance their opponents would simply regroup with the one carrying the barrel to complete their own objective.

Unfortunately that objective was directly opposed to Shikamaru's own, so that would mean failure. It would save his team, which was something he had to remember, but it would also mean abandoning a comrade to the enemy.

He wasn't about to make use of it immediately, but he made sure to keep it in the back of his mind as a last resort. He just couldn't justify throwing away seven lives- four Gennin under his command and the three Wolves sent to help by Naruto earlier- in exchange for one.

Fortunately his team was managing to hold their own, somehow. Not that it helped, as they weren't making any progress towards their goal and were instead being delayed as their comrade was taken further and further towards Hi no Kuni's border.

Shikamaru doubted anyone would dare say anything if they went across the border, but as they were already facing Jōnin-level enemies here in Hi no Kuni's territory it would be foolish to charge into land they didn't control.

Carefully moving over the corpse of a dead Oto Jōnin, Shikamaru tried not to lose sight of the woman throwing about pink crystals as if it were free candy at a festival. There were a couple bodies on the field already, all Oto, and the Nara heir wasn't keen on joining them.

It was all good at first, the Wolves were a good match for the opposing Jōnin and his team had been able to land a few potshots to help out, but apparently they had been there to delay them long enough for the real delay to arrive.

A delay team for a delay team? There was a reason people tried to have as little to do with Orochimaru as possible, the Snake Sannin used strange tactics to ridiculous effect.

It probably helped that he had done this when a lot of Konoha's forces were occupying Kaze no Kuni, so he knew there would be very few Shinobi who could be spared for a retrieval.

Sending Jōnin to delay Gennin while even stronger opponents arrived? That was the kind of overkill to be expected from the legendary traitor.

Problems arose when Naruko found herself facing that swordsman who was able to turn into water, he found himself trying to help the Wolves subdue the woman who had highhandedly turned a grassy green field into a garden of crystal, and the rest of the team was trying to deal with a young man who grew super dense bone from his body in seconds.

The three groups had separated- more like his team had been pushed away from the battlefield due to the unending wave of pink shards that kept flying around and their opponents had followed to keep them off their own comrade- so now Shikamaru wasn't even sure how well they were doing.

Even better, every moment wasted trying to defeat their opponents was another moment Sasuke was getting farther away. Orders or not, he was not risking the team further by crossing Hi no Kuni's borders.

He didn't care what the hell Asuma was smoking in that pipe the Sandaime gifted him.

Fortunately for the Nara heir the Oto Jōnin didn't seem to care about him and he was ignored as she fought off the Wolves. They would probably do better if they made use of Jutsu but they had only made use of a few. Doton had been especially helpful in avoiding otherwise lethal attacks and Fūton had proven surprisingly effective at shattering the field of crystal.

Unfortunately, the crystal was very good at reflecting light and the constant change to its structure was making it difficult to use his family techniques. As he watched one of the Wolves toss the other into the air before sinking into the earth to avoid a giant pink dragon Shikamaru again had to wonder why the hell he had ever attended the academy.

"Any ideas?" A panting Chouji asked as he withdrew another spike of bone from his enlarged fist. Tenten shook her head in the negative before almost lazily throwing another Kunai against their opponent.

What was the point in actually trying if it couldn't get past the skin anyway?

"No, I'm all out of ideas." She frowned. "And explosive notes, too." Those things were expensive and the likelihood of her actually getting paid for this mission was slim. Not that she was putting a price on a comrade's life or anything, but it was going to be a bitch to stock up again.

Kiba and his partner stopped by them, gasping for breath and bleeding from a dozen minor cuts.

"No luck?" Asked Tenten despite knowing the answer.

"Fuck!" He managed to get out. "None at all, I can't get through this guy."

Tenten swore -specifically something she had heard the proctor of the second Chūnin examination say- and examined their opponent again.

He looked completely unbothered and the only real damage they had done was shred his top with a surprise Gatsuga at the beginning of the fight.

"You know, I hate to say it but we're not going to be able to beat him unless he just falls over dead."

Chouji and Kiba both frowned but they couldn't deny her words or Akamaru's bark of agreement.

"Hey, you!" Tenten called across the grassy field. Their opponent was silent for a moment, one brow raising, before responding.

"Yes?"

"You're just here to keep us from going after Sasuke, right?" He gave a tentative nod.

"Those are my orders from Orochimaru-sama, yes."

Tenten gave her own satisfied nod, as if his response pleased her. What she said next earned two disbelieving stares from her teammates.

"So if we don't try to go after him you won't attack us, yeah?"

There was a long silence.

"While it was intended for me to occupy you with combat, I don't see any reason I would have to fight you so long as you are unable to go after Jirobo or rejoin your companions."

"Alright then." As soon as her suspicions were confirmed she plopped onto the grass, legs crossed before her, and started going through her inventory to see how much she had actually wasted so far.

"Uh, Tenten-san, what are you doing?" Chouji asked.

"I'm checking my equipment and hoping for some heavy-hitting backup."

"What?! We can't just stop fighting!" Kiba was quick to voice his disagreement but she just shot him the same glare she used to control Lee.

It was super effective.

"Do you have a better idea? We obviously don't poses the raw strength to defeat him and you two- no offense Chouji- don't have any skills or cleverness to defeat him some other way."

Chouji didn't seem to mind her comment and agreeing with her- or just happy for a break- sat down in the grass next to her, one hand already digging through his pouch for a snack.

Kiba, while not about to argue with the young woman after that look, wasn't going to stop fighting regardless of how hopeless it seemed. Eventually he'd get through the bone user's defenses or his opponent would tire and give him the opening he needed to pounce on his prey.

"Che, sit there then, I'll do it myself!" Without waiting for a response the son of the Inuzuka head charged back towards the last Kaguya. Tenten, with great effort, managed to refrain from making a comment about dogs going after bones.

Kaguya Kimimaro was actually rather relieved to hear that the Konoha team had come to the conclusion that they didn't possess the skill or ability to get around his defense and had taken the sensible action of avoiding unnecessary conflict.

It was especially fortunate for him not just because he wasn't a fan of fighting but also because Orochimaru still hadn't managed to find a cure for his illness. The less stress he placed on himself during this mission the better and the reduction of opponents more or less guaranteed he wouldn't need to activate his Ten no Juin.

He was, of course, initially suspicious that the Inuzuka's attack might have been a distraction for the other two to sneak away for backup but considering the big one was happily munching on a bag of chips- occasionally sharing with his teammate- and the other was busy cleaning some of the weapons she retrieved from the field already, well, he was pretty confident they had no intention of leaving their comrade to face him alone.

Or maybe it was meant as some show of good will in hopes he would avoid killing their comrade so long as the three of them were kept occupied and he didn't feel threatened.

Because, really, he was probably more threatened by the dog who was quite content to lay in the sun next to the snacking one than he was the dog's partner. Sure, he was stronger than the average Gennin and could deliver a rapid series of attacks with his partner but in the end he was still just an average- albeit combat-oriented- Gennin.

He possessed neither the raw power nor skillful experience necessary to overcome a superior opponent.

When against a defense he simply couldn't overcome, all he was accomplishing was wasting time and collecting minor wounds.

Had he the inclination, Kimimaro knew he could end the lives of all three of them without too much trouble, especially now that only one of them was actively trying to fight him. All it would take was a finger bullet to the head of the two sitting in the grass and he could dispatch the other in any manner he so chose.

There were only two reasons he didn't.

First, well, he really didn't want to.

While he wouldn't hesitate to fight for Orochimaru-sama, if given a choice he would rather avoid bloodshed. He had spilled plenty of that already, in his opinion, and had no desire to add to it.

The other reason was because he had seen the Wolves with this group and if Orochimaru's beloved prince cared enough to support this group than he wasn't going to anger him by slaughtering a group of Gennin.

He owed Orochimaru-sama far too much to ever go against her and there was no way she'd ever approve of going against her godson.

So even though he had no respect for this "Naruto", he would consider his desires and well-being to be above those of Orochimaru-sama because that's what she would want.

It was also, in this case, a very convenient excuse not to kill himself because he overtaxed himself trying to kill Gennin.

While they weren't a threat, they covered eachother well enough that he would have to activate the Ten no Juin to at least stage one in order to get rid of them- back when they were paying attention, at least – which would have put far more stress on his body than he cared to when his orders were simply to help Jirobu escape.

He did have to wonder though; if he threw a bone would this rowdy Gennin chase after it?

Her blade slipped through his defenses easily enough, her training with the Uzumaki head more than a match for the wild swings of her battle-crazed opponent, and pierced through his chest.

Normally Naruko would consider that a victory, but that was the third time during this fight already. Pulling back- and removing her sword through his side for good measure- she barely avoided his own swing.

It explained why he was so reckless, at least. Why bother with defense if you couldn't fucking die?

Fucking bullshit in her opinion, but here was nothing she could really do about it.

That stupid, smug grin of his didn't help either and it seemed to piss her off more by the second.

Like he should be smiling when she had more than proved she was the superior Kenjustsu user, the only reason he wasn't dead was because she hadn't found a way to kill sentient water.

Or, she assumed he was sentient water. She didn't want to give him the credit of being a person who could turn into water.

Unfortunately Naruko didn't know any Katon Jutsu- as a general rule, it was inadvisable for Uzumaki to know fire techniques. The results were rarely pretty- and she didn't have any lighting in her repertoire either.

Wind she used much like a blade- and she was already well aware how effective that was against him- and she wasn't even going to try using a Suiton Jutsu against him. That just seemed like a bad idea. With a wave of her hand three chains shot into her opponent before wrapping around him and ripping him apart.

With a real person she would have been more hesitant to do something like this, but she already had a good idea what was going to happen.

With a splash he turned into a puddle and seconds later he was rising up from it like some sort of monster from a cheesy movie. The grin fit well enough.

"Che, can't you just fucking die already?" She asked with a frown. "I've got shit to do."

His grin just got wider so she made sure to rip him apart again before he could actually respond. She was already in a bad mood, she didn't need anything making it worse.

The next time he rose from the water his frown was gone. Evidently he hadn't appreciated the way she kept him quiet. This, of course, earned a small smile of her own. At least that was going well for her today.

Now if only she could find a way to defeat him without hurting herself using Mito's Chakra and informing everyone around them of their presence.

Something like that this close to Hi no Kuni's border when they were already having trouble getting Sasuke back? No, she could do without that thank you.

She hoped the others were having better luck.

"Shit." His shadow darted out, twisting through crystal paths, only to fall short of the troublesome woman who seemed to dance out of its way. While she hadn't been actively attacking him- and why would she? He wasn't a threat obviously- there was little doubt that she was well aware of him.

She even had the time to smile at him before turning her attention back to the Wolves.

Fantastic, she was managing to hold off the Wolves and play around with him. Unless the Wolf they left back with Lee were to suddenly appear Shikamaru didn't think there was much chance of them getting through her.

Briefly he considered trying to sneak off but with her being so keenly aware of his presence, the maze of crystal that surrounded him, and the fact that he wasn't even sure where anyone else was convinced him that it was probably a bad idea.

Taking a deep sigh through the banana he'd been forced to tie around the lower half of his face to avoid the crystal dust, he wondered if there was a way to beat her without combat. It was obvious the Wolves didn't posses the raw power to overcome her crystal defense or, if they did, they couldn't use it.

If it was the latter, he'd suspect it was because he was present or because they too had no idea where the rest of his team was. Friendly fire isn't friendly, after all.

"Ah, fuck it." He'd might as well try. Standing up from his crouched position he cracked his back and waved at his opponent. "Hey!" He called. "Any chance we could, you know, not fight?"

She paused, caught off guard by the request in a manner that was perfectly understandable. Gingerly dodging a Kunai thrown by a Wolf- it may have been his imagination, but the Wolves didn't seem like they were all that intent on actually defeating her. It was like puppies playfully trying to wrestle with their mother, which became a very strange image in his head now that he was thinking about it- she smiled at him again.

"Oh, but I thought we were having fun." She taunted. "Aren't you having fun, Konoha-kun?"

"There isn't a right answer to that question." was his bland reply, earning him a giggle that had his Nara Survival Instincts kicking into overdrive.

Attractive? Check.

Stronger than him? Check.

Enjoying a good bit of violence? Check.

Playful? Ah, shit. That last one was usually uninterested or angry and that was bad enough. Playful was way too unpredictable for even Nara to try strategizing against.

If this didn't end soon he was going to find himself hitched before he could get away.

"Don't say that," her lips moved into a playful pout. "You make it seem like you don't want to play with me." Even the Wolves seemed to be looking at him strangely after that, as if the idea of not playing with the deadly, attractive enemy Kunoichi was absurd.

Well, he supposed, they did hang out around Naruto and he wasn't exactly a shining example of normalcy.

"There's definitely no right response to that." Actually, he could feel the gaze of the Wolves telling him that there was, in fact, a proper response and he tried very hard to ignore it. Shouldn't look gift horses in the mouth and all that, even if his backup was crazy.

He pout became a frown but before she could say anything else his shadow shot out at her. Mood instantly improving she gave a light laugh and leaped just out of range.

And then she froze.

The surprise on her face was surely reflected on his own. A quick look down to his shadow confirmed that she had managed to avoid it. She hadn't, however, avoided a similar shadow that snaked through the crystal maze in a manner that couldn't be natural.

Turning quickly to the Wolves, his suspicion was confirmed when he noticed the rat seal required for the Kagemane no Jutsu.

With the Jutsu active the handseal was dropped and one finger was moved to the mouth of the mask, as if Shikamaru was going to be able to keep something like this a secret from his clan. The other Wolf didn't waste any time, removing a coil of Shinobi Wire from his pouch and binding their opponent.

It didn't look like she actually minded. In fact, Shikamaru was pretty sure she was enjoying it.

He tried not to think about it too much. His clan already received enough comments about 'Shadow Binding' as it was, thank you. They didn't need to bring any more trouble to the clan and she just screamed it.

And speaking of clan troubles, they were probably going to have a hell of a time determining if the Wolves had figured out their technique or if this Wolf was actually a clan member.

Honestly, he didn't like the sound of either.

The clearing was silent for a few moments, the only movement from their captive as she squirmed lightly in her Shinobi Wire. Wisely, Shikamaru decided not to question their use of the Kagemane no Jutsu during the mission. He could open that can of worms when they got back to Konoha.

Or, better, he could pass it off to someone else in the clan.

Now that he liked the sound of.

Moving his thoughts from avoiding extra work and back to the task at hand, Shikamaru realized a rather large issue.

"Do either of you know where everybody went?" He asked the Wolves who looked at eachother before shrugging at him.

Brilliant.

All they had to do was get back Sasuke- which should be trivial with himself and two Wolves- and return to help his team mop up the remaining opponents. He didn't much like the thought of leaving his team to finish the mission, though, so maybe the opposite order? So long as there weren't more enemy reinforcements either way should work out fine.

You know, if Sasuke wasn't already well past the border by now. It was an unfortunately likely possibility.

He really couldn't wait until retirement.

She was done. No, she was beyond fucking done. His bullshit ability to withstand all her attacks is the only reason that insufferable grin hadn't been beaten from his face.

It had been gone when she first started interrupting him, but as things continued and she proceeded to grow more and more frustrated the damn grin had returned.

For the good of her team- and because it hurt like hell- she had avoided using Mito's Chakra and alerting the entire area of their presence but at this point she couldn't care less.

She didn't even bother asking Mito for the Chakra- the fox wasn't helping her control it anyway, there was no point in interacting with her until she had good news about growing closer to her brother again- and instead simply searched within her Chakra system and threw herself into the fiery pools of energy head first.

Enveloped in a cloak of demonic Chakra, eyes burning with pure rage, and the few cuts he had managed to score during their exchange steaming shut in seconds had her opponent's mood changing immediately.

"Oh, shit." was quickly followed by "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuuuck!" as an arm of bubbling Chakra sent him flying across the field, steam rising from parts of his body that had started instantly evaporating from her touch alone.

He never had considered himself the smartest of people but using what intelligence he did posses he quickly came to the conclusion that he probably didn't want to be here.

Never in his life had he ever ran as fast as he did then and he still only narrowly avoided angry crimson chains that probably would have permanently bisected him vertically. With his body evaporating at her touch, he felt it was reasonable to assume that was not an injury he'd be recovering from.

Maybe taunting her wasn't the best of ideas.

As her opponent fled into the trees Naruko let out a roar of rage- one that should keep him staying far, far away for the foreseeable future- before releasing Mito's Chakra from her system, slowly draining it back into the seal where it belonged.

Even from the short amount of time the cloak had been active her skin was covered in angry red burns that her natural healing was rushing to correct and every muscle in her body ached from the influx of demonic Chakra that had temporarily surged through them.

If she was fortunate she wouldn't have to use it again this mission.

Now, let's hope her teammates had felt that and found her, because she had no idea where the fuck they were.

"Oh," Shikamaru turned towards the sudden burst of demonic Chakra. "I guess we've found them."

Huh, things were starting to go smoothly again.

It was seconds later that he realized he had made the mistake of actually thinking things were going well. He didn't hold back his defeated grown.

From her position on the ground, their captive just laughed at him.

The Wolves thought they'd make a cute couple.

Tenten popped another chip into her mouth as she watched Kiba throw himself against their opponent once again. The result was the same but she still found it kind of entertaining now that they had determined he had no interest in actually harming them. His orders were to delay them and so delay them he did.

Fortunately for her, it didn't stop him from throwing around the younger Gennin who simply could not comprehend the fact that he had no chance against such a superior opponent.

It meant she wasn't bored, at least.

Beside her Chouji happily munched on the chips he had brought- occasionally offering the bag to his more senior Gennin teammate- and winced every time Kiba took damage. Laying in front of them was Akamaru who whined piteously at his companion's stupidity.

One day he'd learn.

Hopefully.

The only real worry Tenten had was how long it was going to take for one of the other groups to finish up and help them. If Shikamaru and the Wolves or Naruko failed to defeat their own opponents- which was an uncomfortably likely possibility with how everything had gone so far- then there was no way they were rescuing Sasuke.

She didn't have any personal feelings towards the younger Gennin, but he was still a comrade and the mission depended on his retrieval. It was also Shikamaru's first mission as a Chūnin team leader and it would be a shame for that to end in failure.

It didn't mean she was going to risk her life and the lives of her teammates to retrieve him, though. She didn't care how valuable the council thought the Sharingan was, it wasn't worth three clan heirs, the son of a clan head, the apprentice of the world's most prominent Taijutsu user, and herself.

And besides some shame, there weren't any consequences for failing.

She was personally of the opinion that her life was worth a failed mission against opponents she knew outclassed her. Just knowing she survived would provide enough pride to counteract it, as far as she was concerned.

A sudden burst of Chakra was felt in the distance, drawing the attention of everyone except a panting Kiba, but no one there had any idea what it meant. Just as one of Kiba's lunges earned him a foot to the face and a free trip to the other side of the clearing another-lesser- spike of Chakra was felt. It quickly repeated itself for a second time and then a third.

Tenten didn't know what that meant, but their opponent evidently did.

"It would seem there is no longer a need for me to distract you, Konoha-san." He addressed Tenten before giving a shallow bow. " I would suggest locating the rest of your team, my own teammates are not as understanding as I."

With his piece said he darted away from the clearing and into the trees, probably towards the border and, more importantly, the comrade they had failed to get back.

They could try still, of course, but crossing the border was just a bad idea with the way things were these days, especially when they knew for a fact there were individuals there who were stronger than them who had just crossed themselves.

Going further into enemy territory when the sentries were kicking your ass was more or less a suicide attempt. This wasn't exactly the same thing, but it was close enough.

"Chouji," Tenten ordered, pulling herself from the grass and onto her feet. "Go pick up the mutt." Turning to Akamaru she continued. "See if you can find Shikamaru or Naruko, would you?" Akamaru gave a happy bark and started sniffing around as Chouji went to retrieve the Inuzuka.

Not the best mission she had been on- wasn't the worst by far though- but at least this meant it was over.

She hoped.

Three sharp bursts of vile Chakra caught his attention only moments before a young man with white hair darted into the crystallized clearing from the treeline.

"Ah, fuck fuck fuck." He cried out, jumping atop the crystals that turned the entire area into a maze of pink. "Goddamnit, Guren! I swear to the gods if I die to her because your bullshit pink crystals keep me from getting away I'm going to haunt your ass!"

He began leaping from crystal spire to crystal spire, occasional cuts from the sharp pinks shards causing water to run down his body and the pink crystal dust from the Wolves' fight causing him to cough.

From her position on the floor- and Shikamaru refused to think about how well being surrounded by a layer of the pink dust complimented her appearance- their opponent- apparently named Guren- laughed at his plight.

"If you wanted it gone, shark-boy, all you had to do was ask." Shikamaru didn't see what she did, but he saw the results as the crystals all shattered. Oddly enough, none of the shards came anywhere near him or the Wolves. He wasn't sure if it was because Guren was in the same area and wasn't going to risk harming herself or if it was for some other reason.

The fact that she could apparently still manipulate her crystals and yet hadn't tried to escape was also sending up red flags in the Nara's mind.

What the hell was going on here?

"Gaaaaah!" The sudden shout distracted him, bringing his attention back to this 'shark-boy' who had, apparently, not been spared from the crystal shards. He looked very much like a pink porcupine, honestly.

He was also not very appreciative.

"You fucking bitch, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"That's no way to talk to a lady, shark-boy." She admonished him. "Now, weren't you running from something?" The reminder had him completely disregarding his current situation and he immediately resumed his sprint across the clearing. A look to the Wolves only presented the Nara with two shrugs.

"Goddamnit, Guren, you're going to get me trucking killed!" Shikamaru wasn't sure if the porcupine could hear her softer laugh but he could. For someone who had just tried to murder her teammate it was surprisingly pleasant.

"Oh, wouldn't that be just a dream come true." Again, she was rather quiet. The Nara heir supposed there was no reason for her to yell that at her teammate if he hadn't managed to figure it out himself.

Much faster than the porcupine, another head of white darted into the clearing, swiftly making his way through pink dust and sharp crystal shards without issue despite an evident lack of shoes.

Unlike the first one, this one came right at him.

Shikamaru backed up, ready to support, as the Wolves readied their weapons but otherwise made no aggressive movements. It seemed pretty odd, he thought, but maybe they were just tired after the first fight.

Or perhaps one of them really was a Nara and shared their mindset- or at least part of it- so was hoping to avoid direct conflict but preparing just in case.

Either way, the young man didn't hesitate in the slightest and slid between the two Wolves as their swords lashed out. Steel struck bone instead of flesh and the young man continued without pause to scoop up their former captive and run in the same direction as shark-boy.

From her position in his arms Guren thanked him before turning back to her 'captors'- Shikamaru suspected that hadn't actually been the case- and blowing the Nara heir a taunting kiss.

While glad to see all their opponents retreating, he was also pretty sure it meant they had failed. Rubbing the bridge of his nose he gave a sigh and turned to the Wolves.

He ignored the sight one testing the balance of two dropped bone blades and the other who had stooped down to scoop small piles of pink dust and crystal shards into a pouch and proceeded to give his orders as if they were standing properly at attention before him.

"Alright, let's find the others and follow 'till we hit the border. After that we can head home." The one with the blades put them away quickly, ready to move on, and the one collecting the crystals pumped their fist in silent cheer.

It looked like he wasn't the only one who wanted the mission to be over.

"Tell me, Wolf-san" Asked the green lump over his back. "Is your leader Youthful?" The Wolf paused for a moment, turning back to look at the Gennin he was bringing back to Konoha, before shrugging. Naruto-sama was pretty young, he supposed.

The Gennin punched the sky.

"Yosh! What a wonderful thing to hear! Has he been teaching you all the ways of Youth?" Lee eagerly looked at the expressionless face of porcelain, overjoyed to find other Youthful comrades, but was disappointed when a confused wolf shook his head. "No! What travesty is this?! Surely you want to experience Youth the same way as your most Youthful leader, wouldn't you?"

The Wolf wasn't sure they were actually on the same page here, but he couldn't think of any reason he wouldn't want to be like his father. Hesitantly, he nodded.

"Glorious, let me teach you the ways of Youth on this journey back to Konoha, Wolf-san!"

This was probably a bad idea, but he was also kind of curious.

How bad could it be?

And so the two continued on to Konohagakure no Sato while an animated Lee chatted on about the wonders of a Youthful life.

Until I next have your attention,

-Eyazahrid