A/N: Solid turnout for last chapter! Very much appreciate it. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the juxtaposition I tried to create. This chapter will be a good deal less heavy than the last one.

Another Review Goal: Let's aim for 950. I think that's very doable, and it's a nice number :)

It will *also* be the final chapter before the Chunin Exams begin.

Time for Chapter 21

Enjoy!


Shikamaru absently chewed on a piece of barbequed meat as the clock ticked repetitively. The past month had been a brutal one. Constant, unending exercise, logic puzzles of every variety, and countless hours spent in the woods. Kakashi had shown them no mercy in their preparation for the Chunin Exams. As lackadaisical as the man could seem, the Copy Ninja was a brutal instructor when the mood struck him. Despite how unpleasant much of the training had been, it was undeniable that every member of Team Seven was in the absolute best shape of their lives.

'I have abs for the first time…ever?' Shikamaru pondered, taking another bite from the small plate of meat he was working his way through. At present, he was playing host to Naruto and Satsuki in the Nara household. It had become tradition each week for the cell to gather for a group studying session, as whether they liked it or not, a written test happened to be their first hurdle in the Exams.

"Why do I need to know about triangles to be a Ninja?" Naruto, who was staring resentfully at the pages of a textbook, grumbled. Satsuki, who was seated to the blonde's left, elbowed him in the ribs.

"Quit whining. If you fail this test, we all fail it. So stop asking why and learn it." she ordered him bluntly. Though Shikamaru had a far stronger grasp on math and geometry than Naruto did, he couldn't help but sympathize with his frustrations. Much of the information Kakashi had assigned them to learn inside and out felt rather pointless.

"He does have a point, if you think about it." the Nara cut in, interrupting a characteristic argument between his teammates. Satsuki raised an eyebrow and cast a skeptical look his way.

"How so?" she inquired. Shikamaru flipped through his notebook, which was painstakingly filled out nearly all the way through.

"Let's be real, we're never going to use most of this out in the field. If you have the time to calculate wind speed and the exact angle a kunai is going to take when you throw it, you have enough time to do something more useful." he reasoned. The Uchiha girl leaned back in her chair and sighed.

"Probably true, but don't you think it's important to test whether or not your military force can do basic math?" she countered. Shikamaru snorted and rested his cheek on the heel of his palm.

"I'd hardly call applied physics and advanced geometry 'basic math'. I think a test based around deductive reasoning and situational awareness would be way more useful for our field of work." he said. His face then slid down his inner forearm, eventually laying to rest on its side on the bare wood of the table.

"Besides, intelligence shouldn't be measured by academics. Some people, no matter how smart they are, just suck at it." he added. Naruto grinned and rapped his chest twice with a closed fist.

"Maybe I'm a genius after all, then." he proclaimed proudly. Satsuki rolled her eyes and took a sip of water from the glass she had hardly touched.

"Keep telling yourself that." she murmured tiredly. Once she was done drinking, her hand shot out and closed into a fist. When she opened it, a crushed fly was in her palm.

"Show off." Naruto said dismissively, though his eyes showed a thinly veiled awe at the girl's reflexive speed. Satsuki responded by reaching across to the table and knocking the blonde's glass of water off the edge. Before it could drop lower than his knee, the Jinchuuriki caught the glass without even spilling a drop.

"Hypocrite." she jeered at him. Shikamaru couldn't help but crack a smile at the exchange. They had become something resembling friends since the conclusion of their stay in the Land of Waves, though in an antagonistic way. Surprising, given just how much dislike had existed between them in the beginning.

"Knock over my food or water and I'll kick you out." the shadow user warned as Naruto eyed his side of the table. The blonde quickly turned his gaze elsewhere, seeming to take the threat seriously. A brief time of quiet then overtook the group as they all returned to their studies, with occasional interludes of joint problem-solving.

"I heard a rumor about you once." Naruto said vaguely, drawing the shadow user's eyes up from his notes after several minutes of silence.

"That being?" he asked in a monotone voice. Shikamaru Nara was hardly an eventful person. Especially during his academy days. Throughout his years of education, he napped, played shogi, and occasionally went out for lunch with Choji Akimichi. Nothing more or less, the vast majority of the time.

"I heard that you got an insane score on an IQ test some Jonin gave you." Naruto said. Satsuki then perked up, taking her attention away from her studies and focusing it on the Nara.

"Yeah, I heard something like that too a few years back. Wasn't the number something wild like…180?" she pondered, looking to Shikamaru for clarification. The lazy genin pursed his lips and suppressed the urge to change the topic. He had long known that it was bound to get out sooner or later, but he still disliked having to talk about it.

"204." he said bluntly. Both Naruto and Satsuki's eyes practically popped out of their skulls. Shikamaru sighed heavily. Though not unexpected, the reaction was unnerving. He simply wasn't as smart as the score suggested. Not in his own view, anyway.

"That's got to be bullshit." Naruto said in disbelief. The Nara pensively drummed his fingers on the table.

"I wish it was. The test was supposed to be off the record. It only happened because a friend of our family got sick of losing shogi games to me. Unfortunately, the academy found out, and tried to put me in advanced classes." he recalled. He had been thirteen at the time, and even more so than at present, the last thing he had wanted was more work to do.

"But I just started skipping class, so they put me back into the regular curriculum inside the same month." he concluded. Naruto laughed a bit.

"Sounds like something I would do." he commented. Satsuki closed her notebook and set her pencils aside. She then stood up and glanced at the clock.

"I'm gonna head home. Have fun, dropouts." she said. After finding and thanking Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, for her continued hospitality, the Uchiha girl left the Nara property, leaving the two boys alone.

"I dunno about you, but I'm done studying for tonight." Naruto said, closing the textbook sitting in front of him. The Nara nodded in agreement, setting his own materials aside. He then took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He had been awaiting an opportunity to speak with Naruto alone for some time without having to request it. He now had such a chance, and he planned on taking it.

"Hey, Naruto." he began awkwardly. The blonde, who had occupied himself amid the silence by fiddling with a random Shogi piece he had found on the floor, turned to face his teammate.

"What's up?" he asked. Shikamaru took a moment to consider his words. He rarely found himself in situations that required him to lead, mostly because he socialized very little on his own.

"I'm…sorry. For what I did in the Land of Waves. For saving her. For arguing with you. For putting an enemy before my team. All of it. I owe you a serious apology." he said earnestly. It took every bit of will he had to maintain eye contact. He was still ashamed. Even nearly two months removed from the ordeal. Naruto stared at him silently. His expression was difficult to read.

"Apology accepted, but Satsuki is the one you need to be saying this to, not me." he pointed out. The Nara shook his head and shifted in his chair.

"I've already tried twice. She blew me off both times. She's tough to even start a conversation with if she doesn't start it herself." he said. Naruto winced and flipped the shogi piece he had found like a coin, catching it in his palm a moment later.

"Yeah, it's not going to be an easy thing to corner her into talking about. She talks to me more than she talks to you, and even then, it's mostly just arguments." he admitted. Shikamaru gave him a knowing look.

"This last month has me pretty convinced that you two are closer than you let show." he said. Naruto, much to the Nara's surprise, did not react defensively.

"We're not any closer in general than any normal pair of teammates, but…I understand her. At least a little bit. She's not as cold as she can come off. She's just guarded. She has good reason to be, too." he said. Despite hardly buying the first part of the blonde's explanation, Shikamaru let go of any further questions he had. The pair then resumed mindlessly entertaining themselves.

"What I don't understand is just…why? Why did you do it?" Naruto asked after a time. Though his words were vague, it took little thought to discern what he was referring to. Shikamaru kept his gaze fixed on the floor. He had dreaded being asked a question of this sort.

"During and since, I never thought of a reason why. It just felt right at the time." he said candidly. The blonde glanced at him and finally put down the shogi piece he had continued to play with.

"Can you come up with a reason? It'd make it easier for me to accept your answer." he requested. Shikamaru chewed his inner lip. He had to allow his emotions to speak for him, for any other method would not be genuine. They had been what had controlled him.

"I've spent most of my life being a wallflower. Before I got assigned to this team, my only friend was Choji, and even he was mostly just the result of our fathers knowing each other." he said, taking a long sip of water in between thoughts.

"I've always been a ghost. A fixture. Never saying anything, never being approached, and never approaching others. I really was satisfied with that. It's all I've ever known." he continued as Naruto nodded along. Neither boy was interested in eye contact. They were too deep in thought.

"Haku didn't give me a chance to be that way. She wouldn't let me be detached. She made me talk to her. She made me do things with her. She asked questions about me. She even coaxed me into telling jokes, if you can believe that." he said, shaking his head as he went. With one last deep breath, he let out his final surge of honesty.

"I got addicted to it. The feeling of being wanted. Of having a person wanting to know stuff about me. Through all of that, I'd even come to care about her, too. I knew who she was, deep down. I just…didn't want it to be true. I let her lie to me. All because I didn't want to come down from that high." he finished. He did not enjoy bearing his soul, especially not to another person, but it had to be done.

Naruto's face transitioned through a number of emotions rapidly. Each moved too quickly for Shikamaru to pin them down and define them, but it was clear as day that the Jinchuuriki was experiencing a great deal of conflict.

"We aren't all that different, huh?" he finally said after appearing to sort out his own feelings. Shikamaru rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Your life's been a lot harder than mine. You deserve some serious credit for still being a decent guy after all you've been through. I was just being selfish." he said. Naruto stood up from his seat in response.

"Don't feel guilty for having a family and a good home. Be grateful for them. Just try not to think with your dick next time." he said jokingly. Shikamaru groaned and rose to his feet to join him.

"It wasn't like that, and you know it." he grumbled. Naruto walked around the table and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I hate her guts, but you've got good taste. She was hot." he said with a patronizing smirk on his face. Shikamaru let out a resigned sight, but let himself relax. Opting to play along, he gestured toward the door Satsuki had left through.

"From one guy to another, good luck. She's way too much for you." he said with a wry smile. Naruto's left eye twitched at the comment.

"I won't need it. I'm not even looking." he shot back unconvincingly. He then dropped his hand from the Nara's shoulder and retrieved his jacket from the back of the chair he had been sitting on.

"I need to sleep. Thanks for having us again." he said. Shikamaru nodded and showed him to the door. As he walked out into the night, Naruto paused one final time, looking back over his shoulder.

"Don't feel like you have something to prove to us during the exam. Don't do anything dumb." he said. The blonde then walked away beyond earshot. Once he was truly gone, Shikamaru closed his front door and chuckled to himself.

'An IQ of over 200, and I'm the one making all the mistakes.'


A fair distance from Konoha, a quartet of unfamiliar figures trekked on. Three teenagers, and an adult. Their garbs were foreign, their weaponry unusual, and their appearances every so slightly different ethnically speaking. They were briskly traveling toward the Village Hidden in the Leaves, as it was their final destination. They had been traveling for days on foot, and they were understandably tired.

"We should pick up the pace." said the tallest of the teens, a blonde girl wielding a large metal fan. Her words drew a tired groan from a boy whose face was done up with purple lines and pale makeup.

"We're already making decent time." he said between labored breaths as they ran across the sand, which was slowly giving way to tufts of grass and other such plants. The blonde girl shook her head and began to overtake him.

"The wording was vague on the invitation about when this whole thing starts. We should show up as early as we can." she said. Though he spoke no words, the lone adult in the group, a man with half of his face covered by a cloth, nodded curtly. The entire group then took off at a quicker pace, despite any protest. As they ran, the tops of trees became visible on the horizon.

It was a sight to behold for the adolescent members of the cell. They had never been outside of the desert in all their years, and had hardly even seen greenery beyond a garden or two. The image of trees tall enough to be spotted from miles away almost seemed impossible.

"I thought 'Hidden in the Leaves' was just a title. They really meant it." the fan wielder breathed as the group came to a halt to admire the distant scenery.

"So much for picking up the pace." the marked boy said jokingly. The girl shot him a hard look from over her shoulder.

"Can it. We're still gonna get there early. I just want to take it all in a little before we get to work." she shot back. The older man then cleared his throat.

"Temari, Kankuro. Enough bickering. Save your energy for the home stretch." he ordered. The blonde girl, named Temari, rolled her eyes. She then turned to the fourth member of the cell, a redheaded boy who stood just a tad shorter than Kankuro, who himself was a good deal shorter than Baki, the oldest member of the cell.

"What do you think of it, Gaara?" she asked. The boy, who had a gourd strapped to his back and a small tattoo on the left side of his forehead, took a few steps toward the distant forest.

"I can feel something. Somebody." he said vaguely, his expression as apathetic as it always was. Opting not to press for details, Temari stretched her legs and cracked her neck.

"Let's get moving again. We can probably get there before sunrise if we hurry." she said. The rest of the cell nodded. A moment later, they took off running again.

No matter how hard each of them tried to suppress it, the feeling of awe at just how lofty the trees truly were was impossible to deny the closer they drew. Some of them seemed to reach hundreds of feet into the air. That, combined with the very new feeling of soft grass under their feet created a sense of wonder. It was a wholly alien environment, though they had certainly heard about, and seen pictures of, such things before.

Of the group, however, one mind strayed elsewhere. The mind of Gaara. The scenery, the new sights and smells, it all meant nothing. It hardly even registered. His mind's eye was purely focused on the barest pinprick of a sensation. The slightest inkling of a presence, far, far away. With each step, he drew nearer to what was now becoming a fixation. Eventually, after nearly an hour of running, the cell reached the edge of the trees, and while Temari and Kankuro, his siblings, gawked at their immense height, Gaara's eyes punched a hole right through the forest.

Beyond the trees, through the weeds, branches, and flowers, laid the epicenter of Gaara's instincts. The deeper he dug into his senses, the stronger the grin on his face became. With no prior planning or foresight, he had found something remarkable.

"Let's go. No more wasting time." Gaara said with finality, snapping his brother and sister from their wonderstruck trances. Immediately nodding, Temaru and Kankuro readied themselves alongside Baki. A beat later, the cell took off into the branches above.

Unbeknownst to those sleeping within its walls, a menace was approaching Konoha.


A/N: I apologize for the shorter chapter length on this one. The first scene was just so long that I felt like tacking on a third would make it a little long-winded.

That ending scene also felt a little clumsy to me, but feel free to tell me YOUR thoughts in a review :)

Also, be warned. Gaara is going to be a fucking psycho in this fic.

Read and Review! Let's get it to 950 reviews with this chapter!