Blurred, Kiba's vision grew devoid of colours. The black and white tones of his surroundings sharpened, almost blinding him by cutting his retinas in half. He found himself relying on his other senses instead. Picking up the high-paced rhythms of breathing and the miniscule ripples against the lake's surface, his hearing mapped out the entirety of the arena and its fighter's positions like a bat in the middle of a hunt. His body screamed at him, his muscles tensing with each of his movements, no matter how slight they were. Unaware, his tongue flapped in the wind, powerless against the same rushing gales that battered his heated cheeks. The rosy muscle grazed against his fangs, threatening to tear on the honed canines.

His tastebuds were flooded with stray drops of the lake's water, their flavour as clear as the translucent surface. A metallic taste accompanied the mixing of other droplets, denser in weight. In his perplexed state, Kiba failed to register his hunger for more, an urge for more of the precious liquid that tugged at the back of his throat, playing it like an instrument and plucking his vocal cords into a starving growl that echoed throughout his body.

Yet, in comparison, his sense of smell was acuter than any of his other senses. More so than usual, Kiba found himself able to discern between the scents of every shinobi. He was even able to perceive the statuses of their bodies by their smells alone. The wounds that covered their bodies. The sweat that poured down their brows. The fatigue that plagued their muscles and the aching of their bones. None of these factors could escape his nose in this state. Faint signatures that he picked up gave away every person that each shinobi had interacted with for the last week or so. His subconscious worked overtime to stop all the extra data from overflowing inside his brain, like a dam filled to capacity and ready to burst.

At this moment, Kiba only had the priceless time and energy for one thought and one thought alone. He wasn't sure what it was, but all his senses, whether deprived or intensified, focused on one figure in the blur of his surroundings. It was him. The shinobi who had taken everything from him. All the glory of the Fourth Great Ninja that Kiba was desperate to feel, was instead tarnished by the actions of this monster and his decision to go against the shinobi world.

The sharp pain in the side of his throat was dulled at the recollection of his old team.

Standing tall, Shino had never seemed bothered by any challenge they faced, always confident in his strength as a shinobi of the Aburame clan. Kurenai had never allowed her concerns for her students' safety to discourage her from protecting them, she took every opportunity to smother them with her affection, a trait that managed to multiply when she announced her pregnancy to the team. And… her…

Eternally anxious, she couldn't utter a single word to others. But, the rest of the team was lucky, they got to hear her voice in its entirety, quiet yet angelic. Her pearly white teeth reflected all the joy in the world. Before they were put on the same team, Kiba had never really noticed her. Yet, when she began to open up to their sensei and, in turn, her squad mates, Kiba found himself staring at her, unaware of his infatuation with her sparkling eyes. He had also felt himself growing more accustomed to stuttering whenever he was around, her sweet shampoo filling his nostrils and her growing body never failed to drag his attention away from whatever he was doing.

Countless times, when he had caught her feeling down about herself, he wanted to tell her how amazing she was, how beautiful she looked and how kind she acted. But, a grasping sensation held him in place. Not around his ankles or by his shoulders. Inside his chest, it squeezed his heart. And, down his throat, all the words he had crafted with his delicate thoughts clogged up. What was his problem? Why didn't he do something? Anything.

He already knew the answer to his frustrated questions. It was that shinobi. The one who changed everything. The most important thing that he ever changed, was her. Her sombre mood vanished the instant he appeared. It was his obnoxious, booming voice that came first, soon followed by his mischievous grin and determined eyes. For years, Kiba couldn't understand what it was that drew her to him. It took another few years, but when he returned to the Hidden Leaf Village, stronger than ever before after being under the tutelage of a legendary Sannin, Kiba knew the reason.

And seeing him after these last two years, that fact became concrete.

When he wasn't training, Kiba was plagued by the disturbing scenes that played throughout his mind on repeat. The perfect image of his team, fresh from the academy as genin serving under the command of their jonin leader. He always reminisced about the day they went to get their photograph taken, one that he had treasured from that day onwards. But now, that picture was cracking.

Blood spurted from Shino's wounds like a hose, flooding over the dirt in a fashion befitting his swarms of insects.

Around Kurenai's figure, shadows began to curl around her luscious dark hair. Inch by inch, the darkness enveloped her, until all that he could make out was her face. The dull glow from her eyes was as crimson in colour as the blood that spilled from Shino's corpse. He thought that there was another similarity, but upon closer inspection, the contrast became all too apparent. The shape of her lips, once curled into a gentle smile that was more comforting than a pillow, terrified Kiba. Her grin, paired with the rosiness of her cheeks, terrified Kiba. The satisfaction she seemed to take in being swallowed by this ashy shadow jabbed at his desire for her steadying touch and appreciated wisdom.

But the most nightmarish image that haunted Kiba's thoughts was her.

A smile, once filled with genuine kindness, now held what could only be described as pure pleasure derived from his own suffering. Her uniform, perfect and well-maintained, now was covered by a sea of darkness. With pools of blood drifting across the waves, her cute figure was swallowed by a robe, infamous for festering in people's worst memories, that marked her as something else. A monster. Her features morphed before his teary eyes. The manicured nails that she used to keep uniform in their natural colour, now were painted with vicious tones that reflected her sadistic desires. Modest clothing, appropriate for the work of a shinobi, was swapped with revealing attire to tease Kiba with fruits he'll never have, starving him for the rest of his life.

That bright smile, so rare but so breath-taking. He stole it from him. Why? Why is everything being taken from him.

Even with all his heightened senses, it took what seemed like an eternity for Kiba to pick up on a new sensation. The change in air was sudden, but its increasing difference was gradual. Every breeze crashed against his shivering form like a tidal wave. He struggled to stand under the currents' strength, threatening to drag him under and drown him in the depths of this strange power. His body trembled beneath the weight of this energy, anchoring him to the floor.

Its feel against his own chakra was harsh, but at the same time it was invigorating. His heart beat faster than ever before, harder than whenever he trained to his limits. It was suffocating, the pounding against his ribs, his lungs feeling as if they were about to burst. Itching at the back of his mind, his baser instincts took control over his movements as he fell into this lucid puppet state. His mind was trapped being a foggy mess, shrouded in an everchanging mist that morphed into nightmarish creations sparked by his worst fears, designed to torture him. Despite this, Kiba's intent was clear to him.

Kill.

That goal radiated off of him in a mystical chakra shared the same colour as a perfect sapphire, stunning Kurenai as she watched her student attempt to claw Naruto in a brutal manner after missing his face by mere millimetres. Unable to move, Kurenai was forced to witness every barrage of violent attacks that blurred into the ensuing battle between the ninja hound user and the rogue jinchuriki. The look on Naruto's face as he watched for each individual attack made it seem as if he was exerting some modicum of effort, for once.

As much as Kurenai struggled to keep her heart from bursting from her throat at the sight of her student fighting this monster, she found herself entranced at this display of animalistic duelling. Graceful movements were accompanied by brutal attempts to end the life of his opponent.

Without thinking, she stepped behind Shikamaru, hiding herself from the vicious battle. Her damsel-in-distress act earned her a bone-chilling growl from the kunoichi stood on the other side of Shikamaru. Temari moved towards her, looking to club her with her giant fan. The frightened squeak that she let out must have caught Shikamaru's attention, as he took a precarious step between her and the approaching Temari. The Sand kunoichi looked stunned at his intervention, her pupils flicking between the both of them, attempting to discern their intentions.

Kiba's ferocious onslaught drove Naruto away from the others, unaware of anything in his surroundings besides the jinchuriki.

When she had lost sight of them, Kurenai's attention was brought back to her current predicament. It was apparent that Shikamaru and Temari had also moved on to Temari's previous issue.

"Get out of the way, Shikamaru!" she ordered, raising her fan above her head.

He held his guarded stance. "Calm down, Temari! You don't understand, Kurenai wouldn't try to kill me" he tried to explain. Behind his shoulder, Kurenai took nervous peeks at the Sand kunoichi. Her mature face was caught between expressions. Her scrunched nose gave away her concern for Shikamaru, yet her fierce stare revealed her resentment at being accused of attempting to hurt him.

Temari's caught a glimpse of Kurenai's neck, littered with reminders of their previous meeting in the Eight Tails' jinchuriki's temple. The answers she had managed to squeeze out of her during their interrogation resurfaced at the forefront of her mind. Her cute noises and her mixed reactions to Temari's ministrations stretched her mouth into a grin.

Comparing that pathetic image of her to the previous scene of her with a kunai to Shikamaru's back, Temari concluded that the Nara was speaking the truth.

"You're right, I guess" she lowered her weapon. The water's surface rippled with each of her steps. "Right now, we should be wary of other threats" she warned.

In their combined peripheral vision, they kept tabs on the fight, careful to keep their distance from this monstrous version of the Inuzuka, wild with this strange power. From what Kurenai could tell from their faces, it seemed that Shikamaru and Temari had their own conclusions about what was happening with Kiba. But they didn't care to share them, leaving Kurenai in her depressing darkness.

The way they seemed to communicate, through slight movements and facial expressions, annoyed Kurenai. It was almost as they were reading each other's mind. Witnessing their silent conversation, her heart panged. Their relationship reminded her of a dark pit inside her chest, one that might never be filled.

That pain sparked an endless chain of worries. The current dangers to herself and her teammates flooded her motherly senses. "Kakashi!" her loud outburst drew both of the rogue shinobi's attention. "Is he okay?"

They turned towards each other. Kurenai watched with an irritated glare as they conversed in silence. After Shikamaru shrugged, she had had enough. "Will you two stop doing that?" she pouted.

Observant, Temari caught Shikamaru in the midst of drumming his fingertips against his thigh. She turned back to the mature kunoichi, holding back her need to laugh at the childish expression on her face.

"Considering that he was fighting against Sasuke, I wouldn't hold high hopes that Kakashi managed to survive let alone beat his opponent, if I was you"

Kurenai's face dropped. "No! He can't lose!" she protested.

Looking down at her with his eyes shining with pity, Shikamaru made up his mind. "Kurenai, you need to get out of here, now"

"What?"

"Take Akamaru and get as far away from here as possible" he ordered her with a stern gaze.

She shook her head. "Not without Kakashi and Kiba!" she stomped her feet, splashing the lake's water on Shikamaru's cloak. When he raised his palm in a gesture of surrender, Kurenai took a moment to compose herself. Reflecting on her behaviour, she came to hate how she was acting. Out of the three of them, she was the oldest. So, why was she acting like a two-year-old child? And she would know since she had to take care of one every day.

She bowed her head, ashamed of herself for being immature, even more so for doing it in front of Shikamaru. Peeking up at him, Kurenai found herself memorising his features as if he could disappear at any moment. His shrewd façade hid his true emotions whilst his almond eyes flashed with a dangerous intelligence that revelled in layers upon layers of schemes. A pale complexion gave away his unhealthy habits. She smirked at the memories of her finding Shikamaru still up late into the night playing shogi by himself after babysitting Mirai for her. His obsessive tapping woke her up, but she couldn't blame him as she knew that he was just trying to occupy his mind in order to stop himself from indulging in a cigarette. Each time Mirai mentioned her big brother, Kurenai's day grew even brighter from witnessing the glowing expression on her daughter's cute face.

Now, watching him converse with this kunoichi from the Sand, Kurenai wished for those memories to reoccur more than ever. But, catching glimpses of the joy he concealed, Kurenai felt her cheeks heat at an alarming rate. The origin of this happiness was obvious to her, and her heart pounded at the thought. And, for the first time in a very long time, Kurenai was inundated with an emotion she assumed she would never have again.

Glancing at the younger kunoichi, she held her breath for a second. Even if she was only a couple inches taller than Kurenai, she seemed to loom over her with her tyrannical presence. Bronze skin provided an imperfect contrast to the Nara's. Her sandy blonde hair caught the stray rays of moonlight that peeked through the darkness of the night. Her regal features couldn't have been further from the majority of the Hidden Leaf's women. Her prominent cheekbones and sharp jawline put the softer facial structures of herself and the Land of Fire's other kunoichi to shame.

In her ears, a noticeable glinting attracted her focus. Piercings, not unlike Shikamaru's, adorned her. The jewellery sparked another pain in Kurenai's chest.

Seeing her again, Kurenai was assaulted by the memories of the interrogative acts she was subjected to by the young kunoichi. The way she inspected her body with those sharp diamonds of hers made Kurenai's hair on the back of her neck stand on end. The chill that ran down her spine, following the kunoichi's rough palms as they slithered down her body, tracing over her curves with a triumphant smirk plastered on her face. Kurenai couldn't fathom why this kunoichi would be so joyous whilst touching her body. Only a few suspicions appeared in her rushing thoughts, but she dismissed them with a shake of her head for being so farfetched. The way her teeth sunk into the sumptuous flesh of Kurenai's throat forced a whimper from the veteran shinobi. And the rough grip around her neck that deprived her of precious air brought a burning sensation to Kurenai's cheeks. She assumed that it was just the need to breathe, but what if it was something else?

All those questions that the Sand kunoichi asked, about Kurenai's feelings towards Shikamaru. No matter how hard she tried, Kurenai failed to stop some of the more intimate images from invading her distressed mind, dilating her pupils in response.

"Kurenai!" she was jolted out of her memories by Shikamaru's stern voice.

Shaking off the overbearing fogginess of her thoughts, Kurenai stared back at him with wide eyes. All the weight of the current situation flooded back to her. Before she could stop herself, the cracks began to give way.

A soft touch took hold of her shoulder, taking her by surprise. Just once before had Shikamaru bore witness to the tears that rolled down from the corners of Kurenai's ruby eyes, leaving a trail down her cheeks. Never again, he decided. He was never going to see this haunting sight again.

"I'll find them but, right now, you need to get out of here" he made his promise.

She choked, mumbling something under her breath.

Her own breathing hitched when she felt the warmth of his against her ear. "Kurenai?"

"Okay" her sweet voice came out in a soft whisper.

She repressed a giggle at the hints of a satisfied grin that threatened to stretch Shikamaru's lips.

Turning to his companion, Shikamaru motioned to the ninja hound laying still a few metres away. "Can you take her and Akamaru away from here?"

Temari quirked an eyebrow. "And where am I supposed to take them?"

"Just… away from here! Maybe towards the Hidden Cloud so they can find them" he suggested.

"And how do you suppose I should deal with the giant lump of fur over there?" she gestured to Akamaru, who she estimated wasn't too far off from being the same size as Hinata.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I've seen you swing around that massive fan of yours for years so, trust me, I know you won't have much trouble carrying Akamaru"

She shot him a scathing glare, her diamonds flashing with a ponderous glow. "Fine! Let's go!" she marched towards the ninja hound, beckoning Kurenai to follow after her.

Shikamaru's last view of the kunoichi was with the most famous ninja hound in the Five Great Nations slung over Temari's shoulder, all whilst the rogue shinobi prodded and pinched Kurenai's reddened cheeks. He couldn't make out the exact words that left Temari's moving lips, but he was interested in them due to the reactions that they drew from Kurenai.

That interest nagged at him until they left his vision. Then, his objective returned to the forefront of his thoughts, steering him towards the sounds of battle from before.

Chewing his lip, Shikamaru gave in to habit itching at the back of his mind. Grimacing, he slipped his hands into one of his pouches attached to his waist and in one swift motion he pulled out his lighter and a packet. Flipping open the lid, he slid one of the many cigarettes out and plopped it in between his teeth. With a sharp flick, sparks flew from his lighter, igniting into a radiant flame. It took an instant before the end of his cigarette began to blacken with a faint wisp of smoke rising into the night air. He allowed the smoke to fill his lungs until he couldn't inhale anymore, then let out a cloud of smoke in one lengthy exhale joined by a satiated sigh.

For a while he wandered, wondering about the circumstances of the battle that raged on even now. Sai was nowhere to be seen, the last time being in the middle of fighting Temari one-on-one. At that point he was armed with just his brush and his Super Beast Scroll, his tanto had been lost a while before. In all likelihood, Kakashi had fallen to Sasuke's power. The question remaining was if he had managed to survive.

And, Kiba… well, in all honesty, Shikamaru didn't know. He couldn't imagine Naruto ever losing, but that expression on Kiba's face gave no indication of letting that outcome happening. Murderous intent was the description most apt for such an expression. Narrowed brows attempted to draw attention away from the pulsing veins along his forehead that peeked out from underneath his protector as well as the frenzied eyes that were patterned with miniscule veins, vibrant with rage. His body hunched over with his arms in front of him. His legs spread into a squat. The pose was reminiscent of a predator, prepared to pounce on its prey, ending its life in one swift manoeuvre.

But, Naruto was something else. Anytime that Shikamaru saw him fight, he couldn't believe it. No matter his opponent, it always seemed like Naruto could take his power up another level, even if he had left his opposition in the dust awhile before. And from what he had seen at the start of Kiba's attack, Naruto hadn't even broken a sweat. He shivered at the realisation.

It didn't take long before Shikamaru discovered Kakashi. Or what was left of the Copy Ninja.

Lying almost still on the water's surface, the body of the Leaf Village's greatest shinobi was charred and bruised. Wisps of smoke, similar to those coming off the end of Shikamaru's cigarette, rose from his figure. His clothes gave the look of someone who had been attacked by wolves, ripped to shreds and mauled beyond repair. But, what managed to surprise the Nara, was the fact that the jonin was conscious throughout what Shikamaru could imagine to be a pain that was indescribable.

"You don't look so good, Kakashi-sensei" he whistled. He stopped to stand over him, peering down with a plain expression.

The first response that he was able to receive was a worrying series of choked coughs and strangled splutters. It took almost a minute for Kakashi to reply at last. "Shikamaru? That is you, right?" his cloudy pupils were glassy, glazed over with tears. Although, the smile on his face gave the serious shinobi a delusional appearance.

Shikamaru tossed the disintegrated cigarette's leftover stub away, watching as it sunk into the lake with not so much as a splash. "Sasuke must have done a real number on you to make you act like that, Kakashi-sensei" his remark earned a pained laugh from the legendary shinobi.

"Even someone as smart as you would have no idea" They both smirked at Kakashi's retort, though Kakashi himself groaned from the strain the effort put on his battered body.

Shikamaru squatted down, wrapping his arm under Kakashi's back. After a few endeavours, the rogue shinobi had Kakashi on his feet, his legs trembling and aching in tandem with his heartbeat. In Shikamaru's ear, shaky breaths passed through Kakashi's lips in a troubled rhythm.

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked as Shikamaru carried the shinobi, counteracting his sporadic limping with shoulder's support, away from the sounds of battle and towards the exit through the cliffs that surrounded the lake in a natural bowl.

"The Hidden Cloud Village so you can get some sort of medical attention" he answered as blood streamed over Kakashi's lips, spilling into his blackened clothes and dropping into the water, dissipating into a pool of light rose.

He slumped into his helper, forcing the rogue shinobi to stumble whilst he struggled to keep the two of them upright. During his fight to stand up straight, Shikamaru must have shaken Kakashi too much. Out of one of his hip pouches, a cylindrical container slipped out past the zip. Flinging one of his arms at it, Shikamaru caught it mid-fall, straining under the extra weight on his back. When it met his palms, his grasp softened, mindful of the fragility of glass.

"Kakashi?" Shikamaru called attention to the tube in his palm, looking to Kakashi to explain the crimson eye that stared back at him. "What's this?"

Kakashi moaned, his eyes flitting open to take in the object of Shikamaru's question. He gulped.

A/N- Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is a little late. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. And tune in next time to find out what happens with Kiba vs Naruto.

Yours truly,

Signing off