Disclaimer: I own Gohan! Wait...no I don't...I don't own anything as a matter of fact.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said to Gohan as she straightened from checking his leg. "The muscle damage was easy enough to repair, but the cut to your arm goes to the nerves and slices all of them." The young warrior felt the blood rush from his face.

"So you're saying you can't fix it?" He asked, dumbfounded. If he couldn't use his arm then he might as well rip it off. A limp appendage would only be a hindrance to him. Following Kakashi relieving him, Gohan had flown straight to the hospital, hoping to get fixed up and back in the game. His leg and minor wounds had been healed easily enough, but the arm was a problem. The nurse had tried to find different ways to fix it, but alas, there was nothing she could do.

"I can't, no," she answered, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from her brow, "but there's one person who might be able to."

"Who's that?"

"Have you heard of Tsunade of the Sannin?" She asked, glancing at the window as a new explosion touched off in town. The fighting had recently worsened and explosions were getting more and more frequent. Gohan was used to them and didn't spare a second glance after he made sure that no debris was flying at them.

The teen frowned. "It sounds familiar, yeah," he answered, though for the life of him he couldn't place where he'd heard the name. "She can fix it?"

"Yes," the nurse answered with a firm nod. "There's nothing that Konoha's Patron Saint of the Hospital cannot fix!"

"Where is she?" Gohan asked. The nurse's face turned downcast.

"Unfortunately, Tsunade-sama is out of the village right now. No one knows where she's at and apparently she's been gone for years. I doubt even Jiraiya-sama knows where she is, and he was one of her teammates."

"So what do I do about my arm?" Gohan asked, feeling frantic. The only hope for his arm was gone!? What the hell kind of a doctor was this Tsunade person? Who abandons their friends when they're needed the most?

"It's okay," the nurse answered in an attempt to be soothing, but she was still using that cautious optimism that doctors often used and it wasn't doing anything to calm the saiyan's rattled nerves. "The attack that sliced your arm was done very carefully. Only the nerve was cut. No tendons, arteries, muscle, or skin was damaged. You should consider yourself lucky. As long as the muscle, skin, and arteries are attached and whole, your arm won't atrophy."

"It won't?"

"Well," the medic said quickly, covering her own tracks, "the muscle will deteriorate, but that's only natural when you don't use your arm. Have you ever broken a bone and had to put it in a cast?" Gohan shook his head. He'd had plenty of broken bones, but after whatever battle had taken place, he usually popped a senzu bean or went to see Dende and get patched up. "But really, we don't have to amputate or anything. Unless you want us to?" The nurse got a sudden eager glint in her eye that made Gohan sweat nervously.

"Uh, that's okay," he replied, backing away from the nurse's ominous aura. He swore he heard her mutter something like 'amputations! Yay!' "I don't want to bother you."

"Oh it'll be no trouble at all," the nurse answered, still encroaching on him, hands held up in front of her, like Roshi did when he was advancing on a woman. "Just a snip or two here and there and you'll be as right as rain!" Gohan decided that he hadn't imagined the earlier remark about amputations. "I can even get the knifes out now if you want?"

"Uh…BYE!"

Gohan vanished.

"HEY!" The nurse shouted as she suddenly realized what had happened. She turned around, the gloom palpable in the air around her. "Poo. No one wants an amputation."

Gohan stood on the edge of the hospital's roof. "Phew," he muttered, wiping the nervous sweat away with his still functioning limb. He looked down at his shoulder, biting his lip in apprehension. He felt strangely lopsided as he watched his poor appendage dangled uselessly. He couldn't feel his fingers and no amount of straining was going to make them move. He'd probably crap his pants before his numb arm would move again. Well, if he was going to get back into the fray (and he was) then he would have to tie his arm down so it didn't get in the way as much. The hospital had linen sheets on lines on the roof. Some were blackened from smoke residue from nearby battles. Gohan avoided those and pulled one off the line that was crisp and white.

He tore it into long strips then sat down and pulled his arm into his lap. The linen strips went around his wrist, looping several times through his hirai-ate on his waist and he pulled a longer one around his stomach and tied it to his elbow. Cinching the makeshift bandages up, he stood and whipped his body around to test the hold. By looping them in figure eights, the bandages held his arm in place without allowing it to slide around and become cumbersome. When he slid his gi top over the arm, the short sleeve flapped uselessly, but it was like his arm was merely folded inside his gi. It was like the character Gohan had seen in a game that he'd seen Oolong playing. Final something.

Gohan stood, closing his eyes. He had to find where the battle he needed to be at was. He could just sense Naruto and Sasuke out way beyond the village. That had been his original mission. Before he'd gotten distracted by Kabuto and that Suna guy Baki, he was supposed to be supporting Naruto in his search for Sasuke.

"Hope I didn't miss anything," he muttered as he took to the sky, rising high above the village before streaking off in a flash of blue with a roar like a jet engine running at full blast.

Orochimaru ducked a snaking tongue from Fukasaku, jumped to clear the Sandaime's darting pole, then spun to slash at the old man's back. The clone vanished in a puff of smoke then Jiraiya was on him, the half-toad man driving hard with his fists, using every kata he knew in an attempt to land a blow on Orochimaru, who twisted and contorted out of the way like the snakes he so idolized. Trying to land a blow on him was like trying to hit lightning. No one had managed that feat, if you discounted the story about how Kakashi had supposedly used that Chidori technique of his to slash a lightning bolt in half. Orochimaru doubted it heavily. There was no way in hell that a Jounin was that fast.

The tongue whipped at him again, and this time Orochimaru, caught up in his thoughts as he was, didn't dodge in time. The slimy body part slashed his cheek open, red blood spraying across his pale skin, soiling it. The Snake Sannin stopped, touching one hand to his cheek, eyes wide with surprise as he looked at the crimson fingers.

"What's wrong, Orochi-bastard?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk. "Surprised? Lose your focus during a battle and you'll get cut."

"Hn. How amateur," Orochimaru responded, keeping his irritation in check, but only barely. His own tongue darted out of his mouth and licked the slice clean. He grinned sadistically when he was done. "Getting all worked up over such a small wound. I hope you enjoyed it, Jiraiya, because it's the last wound you two are going to put on…" Something hard smashed into his spine, bowing his back forwards as his head and feet went back. Spots danced in front of the Sannin's eyes as he flipped over the object and landed in an undignified heap on the roof. He got up, face flushed with embarrassment and rage, but more rage than anything else. Jiraiya was outright laughing as Orochimaru looked around for the source of the attack. It was a short search.

The Sandaime was standing off to one side, the long black and gold pole in his hands retracting back to its usual length. Orochimaru ground his teeth. These two old farts were getting on his nerves. He left out the fact that, technically, he was as old as they were. "You always did talk too much," Sarutobi said with a shake of his head. "Nice to see some things never change."

"You old bastard!" The Sannin howled, his tongue whipping out at the old man, intending to give him a quite literal tongue lashing. A small, narrower, and faster tongue intercepted him, beating his own back. It was that damned old toad that was sitting on Jiraiya's shoulder again. The two proceeded to duel with their tongues, the…appendages whipping out and back, curling around each other and spraying saliva all around. Fukasaku was definitely more skilled than the Snake Sannin, as the technique was his primary method of attack.

A huge gash erupted on Orochimaru's chest, spraying blood like a burst hose all over the place. "GAAAAAAA!"

Jiraiya's disgust was written all over his deformed face, as it was with Sarutobi as well. "HA!" Fukasaku crowed happily. "Take that, you creepy bastard!"

"That's disgusting Pa," Shima retorted. "It's nothing to be proud of you know!"

"That's not what you said last night!" The other answered with a vindictive air.

Shima's orange skin went a shade or three darker. "You old lech!" She shrieked, right in Jiraiya's ear, much to the Sannin's chagrin. "I oughta come over there and kick your old and withered ass for a tasteless comment like that!"

"As if you could, you old bag!" Pa Toad shouted, in Jiraiya's other ear this time. It was like they were using his head for a loudspeaker, Jiraiya thought helplessly as he swayed to the right from the force of the yelling then back to the left as Shima retorted. Contrary to popular belief, and one that Jiraiya wasn't about to correct, he actually did have something between his ears. It helped both his intelligence gathering for Konoha and his peep…research for his book if people thought him old and senile.

"I ain't that old yet, Fukasaku!" Shima shouted. "I'm still young enough to kick you around!"

"Ha! You couldn't kick the broad side of a barn, old and withered bitch!"

"You can take old and withered and shove it! You're older than I am, damn pervert! Jiraiya-chan here's been rubbin' off on you!"

"Please leave me out of this," Jiraiya muttered.

He was ignored.

"Shut up! I'd rather spend time with Jiraiya-chan than with an old hag! You're more old and withered than Tsunade-chan, and trust me, without that genjutsu of hers, that's saying something!"

Jiraiya's patience reached its limit.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed.

"YOU SHUT UP!" Both toads shouted together, mashing fists into his still-open mouth. Jiraiya spluttered, spitting madly as he tried to get the foul taste of old toad skin out of his mouth. He would need a truckload of mouthwash after this.

"In case you haven't noticed," Jiraiya answered, voice trembling with forced calmness, "we're still in the middle of a battle, so if you could wait to have your lover's spat somewhere else, I'd appreciate it!" He kept his eyes on Orochimaru, who was quickly recovering from the gash in his chest, his face serious. "And for the record, you're both more old and withered than Tsunade."

Two lumps blossomed on his head as Fukasaku and Shima walloped him at the same time.

"For once we agree on something, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said as he eyed the Sage Mode Sannin.

"You wanna piece of this!?" The two toads shouted in unison again, both flipping the Snake Sannin the bird. "Come get some!" Orochimaru snickered.

"Gladly."

He rushed Jiraiya, getting too close for the Sandaime to lash out with his staff and keep the snake man at bay. The two Sannin became a blur of flashing fists and feet, fighting with unbelievable speed and power. The tiles under them fractured and split from the crushing chakra waves rolling off them. The battle reached a crescendo, both men going even faster than they'd ever seen the other move.

Jiraiya slipped a fist past Orochimaru's guard, burying the attack in his enemy's gut. Orochimaru gagged as he was lifted off his feet. At the same time, a ball of chakra blossomed in Jiraiya's hand, spinning out of control, a hurricane contained in a ball, shining with barely withheld power.

"Rasengan!"

Pain erupted from behind Orochimaru's eyes, searing his nerves, his stomach burning like it was getting torn out of him. Oh how it hurt! Blood was spraying everywhere, splattering Jiraiya, but he paid no mind as he dug in, forcing his hand deeper into his former friend's abdomen. Winds, savage and biting, ripped out from the Rasengan, tearing the tiles to pieces, shattering the wood timbers under that, and throwing Orochimaru away.

The world became a blur around the megalomaniac as he spun through the air like a top. Some distant part of his mind noted the Sandaime's hands flying together in some kind of seal sequence. The roaring in Orochimaru's ears was too loud for him to hear what was said, but the old man spitting mud from his mouth was a good clue.

Orochimaru smashed into the wall that had formed from the jutsu, his head splitting and ears ringing. He staggered out, dazed by the attack. He looked up just in time for his vision to be filled with the dark staff that Enma the Monkey King had transformed into.

Jiraiya winced as he watched Sarutobi put Orochimaru through the roof of the Kage box. "Ouch," Fukasaku muttered.

"You said it," The Gama Sennin answered. "Nice hit, Old Man," he added to the Hokage as the old man came over to stand beside them.

"Not nice enough," the aging leader answered as the tiles shattered again, Orochimaru striding out from the dark cloud that was billowing up from the area.

"It wouldn't be much fun if the bastard died that easily anyway," the other remarked. Orochimaru brushed one hand across his tattered stomach then began laughing, a creepy psychotic one that distorted his whole face. The man's jaw dropped open wider and wider, like a snake trying to swallow something larger than it.

White hands, slick with slime, reached out, grabbing Orochimaru's cheeks and pulling the whatever it was out. Jiraiya had to fight down the urge to puke as Orochimaru climbed out from within himself and fell to the ground, the slime and viscous fluids that coated his body and clothes rolling off him to make a putrid puddle on the ground.

The first snake man crumpled, pooling on the ground like clothes that had been abandoned by some careless child.

"Disgusting," Shima muttered, clearly put off by the abhorrent display. Orochimaru pulled out two kunai with spell tags dangling from the rings in the hilts.

"Two on one is a little unfair, don't you think?" He asked. "Let's even the odds." Two coffins rose up out of the ground and the Sandaime and Jiraiya got ready for the next phase of the battle.

Shikamaru threw himself out of the way of the rain of kunai that Kankuro's puppet was unleashing on him. Each kunai that hit the ground left a small dark puddle around it. Poison. It wouldn't be good for him to get hit by it. There was more than likely more than one poison in those knives, ranging from snake venom to cyanide and other, more deadly, concoctions, many of them probably unique to Kankuro and only Kankuro. If he got hit, he was done for. There were no medics out here to help Shika if he did get hit and by the time he made it back to the village, it would be too late.

Still, Kankuro was falling for Shika's plan, hook line and sinker. The lazy shinobi was running all through the circle of light, allowing the kunai to land all around him. It was a simple plan really. Once the circle was filled enough, Shika would step back and use a family jutsu to end the battle. He kept taunting Kankuro to keep him mad and away from Shikamaru's plot.

"Hold still, dammit!" Kankuro bellowed as a needle trap, a spring-loaded sphere that belched senbon from tiny holes, failed to hit Shika. The genin got lucky with that particular trap. The only needed that would've found him had bounced off his hirai-ate. At least the thin armor plate was good for something other than simple identification.

"That's no fun." Shika shot back, dodging a swipe from a blade hidden in the puppet's forearm. The troublesome thing had more tricks than Naruto on his best day. Disabling it, or severing Kankuro's connection to the thing, would work wonders for the genin's lifespan. It took another ten minutes, but finally Shika's plan was coming to fruition. The circle was covered with kunai, each one casting a miniscule shadow. Time was on Shika's side. If it had been noon, the sun would've been right overhead, but it was just after, so the sun was on its way down to the other side of the world. The shadows had lengthened, no more than an inch, but it was enough for the shadow-user. "And it's not my fault that you're a lousy shot."

"You….!" The painted man ground out through clenched teeth.

Shikamaru threw himself backwards and the two boys landed outside the circle with Karasu, the puppet, in the middle. The puppet clacked and clattered idly but it seemed to have run out of projectile weapons.

"Guess it's my turn," Shika murmured, his hands coming up. "Ninpou! Kage Mane no Jutsu!"

"You're weak, Uchiha Sasuke," Gaara said to his adversary. The young boy was beaten up, bleeding, his right arm broken, and he probably had a few fractured ribs, if the searing in his lungs was anything to go by. It didn't help that that damn seal had spread over his body, paralyzing him. The angry black flame marks were burning on his skin, covering half his body, and marching inexorably forward, despite Sasuke's best efforts. His brother's voice, that damn bastard Itachi, was whispering in his ear every time Gaara spoke and the creepy raccoon himself was beginning to look like the pale and haughty elder Uchiha. Sasuke had an odd feeling of déjà vu but couldn't tell where he'd been in a similar instance.

"I'm…not…weak!" Sasuke ground out, trying to get a coherent phrase out from the haze of pain he was in. He'd been in pain before. That thing with Haku came readily to mind, but it still didn't hurt nearly as bad as this did.

"Yes you are," Gaara answered, voice dead and icy. "You're nothing. An insect. A fifth rate shinobi trying hard to measure up to those superior to you and failing." He grinned madly. "It's amusing."

'Amusing?' Sasuke asked himself. 'Is that all I am? Amusing? Someone to indulge in their deluded fantasies then laugh at?' Gohan's face flashed through his mind, the onyx eyes hard with determination, then Itachi's face, the Sharingan blazing at him from the shadows of the house where his parents had died. "No."

Sand coursed down Gaara's arm and hardened into some kind of claw with vein-like purple markings all over it's exterior. "Yes. All you are is a bug. I would much rather fight Son Gohan." That made Sasuke jerk, like he'd been slapped. Son Gohan. Son Gohan. Son Gohan. It all came back to SON GOHAN!! Sasuke's life had been so much better before that bastard showed up!

"Don't…compare me to him."

"In a moment, it won't matter what you want me to compare you to. Now." His eyes widened, backlit with a mad light. "LET ME FEEL ALIVE!" The claw shot out, the sharp points shooting right for Sasuke, who felt some kind of agitation steal over him. It couldn't end like this! He still had to kill Itachi! Beat Gohan! Prove to Naruto that he was still inferior to the Uchiha! He still had things to do in this world!

"I can't die yet…"

A black streak flashed from behind Sasuke, lodging in the sand with a small thump, then the tag wrapped around the hilt began hissing like embers from a fire meeting the water. The concussion from the explosion nearly threw Sasuke off the branch, but the explosive tag did its job, dissolving the hand and turning it into a shapeless mass of writhing sand grains.

Gaara and Sasuke both looked for the source of the attack. It wasn't hard to find. Naruto stood on a branch above and behind Sasuke, arms folded proudly over his chest.

"Whazzup Sasuke?" He asked, as if he was the greatest shinobi in the world.

"The…fuck are you doing…here?" The Uchiha ground out as Naruto leaped from his branch to Sasuke's.

"What's it look like?" Naruto shot back. "I'm savin' your ass!" He glared at Gaara. "Are you the one who did this to him?"

The other Jinchuuriki glared back. "And if I am?"

Naruto leveled a defiant finger. "Then I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Gohan streaked low over the trees, parting the canopy in his wake, the tips snapping back and forth with the dry rubbing noise of leaves coming into contact with on another. It sounded like the forest was applauding the teen's decision to go after his friends. He'd hesitated just briefly on his way over, when he'd felt a tremendous spike in ki somewhere back towards the arena. It had taken some thought, but he was almost sure that it was Jiraiya, the Sandaime, and Orochimaru. He was sure it was Orochimaru. Not many people in the world made him feel like taking bath just by feeling out their ki.

Then Sasuke's ki had started fading and he'd gotten back on task. Only a few more miles remained between him and his friends.

"Please let me get there in time," Gohan muttered, his words swept away by the roar of the wind in his ears. He scowled and his aura flashed even brighter as he shot away with renewed speed, the forest becoming a carpet of green velvet beneath him.

Kabuto grunted as Kakashi's kunai slashed into his arm, not deep enough to slash muscle, but enough to send blood flying, soaking the sleeve of the traitor's robes. "Impressive, Kakashi-san," Kabuto said with a smirk, but inwardly he was scowling. The Sharingan was proving to be a real problem. That was the reason that Kabuto had expected Baki to stick around to provide back up, since the Uchiha bloodline wasn't meant to be used against someone in two-on-one combat and would significantly nullify the advantage Kakashi gained from it.

Unfortunately, Baki had proven to be as reliable as the sand in a hurricane.

Kakashi didn't deign to answer him, instead flinging a volley of shuriken at the traitor, which were quickly avoided. Kabuto smiled nastily as he congratulated himself on an excellent evasion, but his smile vanished as Kakashi blurred into being in front of him, kunai already slashing towards his neck. Kabuto wasn't fast enough in his evasion and the kunai opened a small cut on his neck that leaked blood. A quick pass with a healing jutsu solved the problem but it robbed Kabuto of chakra that he didn't have to spare. Apparently, he noted, as his knees quaked a little, he'd spent too much chakra attempting to keep up with Gohan-kun. It was a miracle he had been able to, even with the young warrior deprived of the use of one leg.

The jounin noted his enemy's problem. "Looks like Gohan was a little too much for you, huh?" he remarked easily enough, nothing escaping the gaze of his Kekkei Genkai.

"I thought I disabled him enough," the other admitted with a self-depreciating shrug. "Apparently I, like many before me it seems, underestimated Gohan-kun's tenacity and his…rather large reserves of strength." Kabuto began searching for a way out. Kakashi's Sharingan consumed a massive amount of chakra, limiting its time of use and its effectiveness, but even with that limitation, Kakashi was smart enough to watch that and Kabuto was already low on chakra. Kakashi wasn't at one hundred percent either, but he wasn't as low as Kabuto was either. A war of attrition was something that Kabuto couldn't win, and that was what this battle was degenerating into. There was also his physical condition to consider. Kakashi was infamous for his ability to slaughter enemies with the minimal amount of motion required. He'd brought it to an art form. Kabuto was already getting fatigued and needed to recuperate. Kabuto preferred to dispatch his foes with one shot. Against a more-experienced shinobi like Kakashi, who was not only a highly experienced shinobi, but also a former member of ANBU with the Uchiha's coveted bloodline.

The chances of that one blow were close to nothing.

Kakashi decided to force Kabuto into a more favorable position. He was going to use an old trick that he had used once before. It was tough, since he couldn't use hand seals, else he would tip off Kabuto and would require two different clone jutsu, which was very difficult to sustain. The reason Kakashi had only used the strategy once was that he'd almost passed out in the middle of a tough battle because the strain on his inner coils was tremendous. If he managed to kill Kabuto now, then it wouldn't matter.

The scarecrow set about gathering the required chakra. He was ready. Kakashi tried not to show outward strain as he pushed the two jutsu out in front of him. Thankfully, Kabuto seemed to be more interested in looking for a way out than fighting him at the moment. By the time the silver-haired genin was done plotting his escape, Kakashi's clones were in position. Kabuto opened his mouth to speak and Kakashi made his move, feeling perspiration soak the inside of his mask and the black jounin's uniform.

Kabuto's foot swept upwards, kicking the rushing jounin in the chin.

Kakashi vanished like a cheap hologram as another Kakashi lunged forward, stabbing with a kunai. Kabuto grunted and rotated again, sweeping his other foot up in a follow through. His shin smashed into the jounin's head.

Kakashi popped in a flash of shinobi smoke.

"What!"

The chirping of birds filled the air.

"Chidori!"

Kabuto suddenly realized he'd been had. The first clone had gotten him committed to an attack, the second clone setting him up, and now the real Kakashi, or a third clone, was capitalizing on Kabuto's sudden vulnerability.

Kakashi's hand ripped through Kabuto's chest. The genin sagged, lifeless, as Kakashi wrenched his hand free. That was when he noticed that something was wrong. The blood that was soaking his arm wasn't fresh. It was congealed, as if the genin had been dead for a day or so.

Laughter floated to the jounin on the air as he kicked over the body. The face wasn't Kabuto's. It was someone that Kakashi had never seen before.

"Isn't it interesting what you can do with a simple Kawarimi?" Kabuto's voice asked. "I'm glad I had the foresight to hide a body nearby for just this type of emergency." Kakashi glanced around for any sign of Kabuto but he knew that the voice could be projected with anything from ventriloquism to hidden mikes in the corners of buildings. "It's like Sakura-san said. Don't discount the basics, Kakashi-san." The voice laughed again as it faded.

Kakashi sank to his knees as the strain of the trick hit him. He suddenly realized why he never used the combination. He felt like he could sleep for two weeks as it was now, but he still had things to do, like repelling an invasion. He glanced at the sky. Gohan had passed over some time ago, coming from the direction of the hospital. Kakashi surmised that he'd gotten treatment for that leg and arm that had been made useless. Now he was going after Naruto and the rest.

"Get there, Gohan," the jounin muttered as he pulled his hirai-ate down and popped a soldier pill to get him on his feet. The boost of chakra was appreciated and needed. There were still enemies to kill after all. "They will need the help."

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!"

Shika's shadow shot out like a bullet stretching thinner and thinner as it sped for Kankuro.

"Keh. You're useless," the Suna genin snorted. "That won't work!"

Shikamaru only smiled as the shadow stopped, going as far as it could, quivering like a dog on a leash.

"See?"

The shadow darted to the left, into the shadow of a kunai and shot forward with renewed speed.

"What!?" Kankuro shouted, suddenly realizing his mistake as he watched the kunai dart from shadow to shadow, gaining length and speed with each pass. "Shit!"

"Looks like that dumbass sister of yours didn't figure this out, did she?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk. "And when I'm done here, she's next." His face darkened. "She'll pay. I'll make her sorry she ever set eyes on Ino."

Kankuro's fingers wiggled and wires suddenly glinted in the sun. They yanked on the handle of every kunai and senbon, pulling them from the ground and back behind Kankuro. Shika's shadow suddenly quivered and stopped, taking all of the young genius' concentration not to let it dissipate.

"So why waste time on me?" the painted genin asked.

Shikamaru's smirk widened. "I had to make sure I could take you bastards by myself, without Chouji and Ino to back me up. This is my grudge and no one else's." His fingers flashed through another few seals. "And I'm not done yet!" The shadow became extra thin and darted into one of the holes left by the kunai. It shot into the hole then out again and kept going.

"Damn!"

Kankuro leapt backwards, Karasu forgotten as he tried to keep out of Shika's trap.

"I win!" Kankuro crowed as Shika's shadow whipped past him. "Now it's your turn to die!" He wiggled his fingers.

Nothing happened.

"What?"

Nara Shikamaru smiled grimly. "Kage Mane no Jutsu…successful."

"H…How?" Kankuro demanded, even as he tried to fight off the paralyzing technique. Shikamaru turned his head in answer and Kankuro's head turned as well, mimicking the Leaf-nin's movements. "No way!" A tendril of shadow was extending from the bushes off to the left and Kankuro was willing to bet that it snaked through the shadows of the forest undergrowth to the bastard Leaf guy's feet.

"Who said Kage Mane was my only family jutsu?" Shika asked. "There's three that we use. The first is Kage Mane. The second is the one I used to tag you just now. Kage Nui no Jutsu. And the third is…." His hands flashed again. "Ninpou! Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu!"

The shadows under Kankuro's feet became like water and shot up his body.

Kankuro screamed as ethereal hands clamped down on his neck and began squeezing. Within seconds, he slumped, unconscious, as Shikamaru released the jutsu and walked over to him, looking down at the faintly blue Suna-nin dispassionately.

He sighed and gathered chakra into his hands before bringing them down on Kankuro's chest. The other genin gasped sharply and began breathing again. Shika stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away.

"You're only the test subject," Shika said to the unconscious genin. "I don't have any grudge against you." His gaze steeled. "But your sister won't be so lucky." He vanished into the trees, moving to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke.

A wind blasted over the trees not too long after, Gohan racing to catch up to Naruto as well, but he never noticed Kankuro as leaves rained down on Kankuro's limp form.

Kankuro had found out the hard way one of the Nara Clan's favorite phrases.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Well now, that's most of the battles wrapping up. Now all that's left is Orochimaru vs. Jiraiya and Sarutobi, then Gaara vs Naruto and assorted friends and perhaps a little Shika vs Temari if I get around to it. So yeah...anyway, sorry this was a few weeks later than usual, but blame summer vacation and Falcon 4.0 Alllied Force. Damn I love that simulator! It's about as close to flying a real F-16 as I can get. That's been taking up a lot of my time too, ehheheh. Hey, I'm a pilot, what do you expect?

Glossary

Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu (Shadow Strangle no Jutsu): Another version of Kage Mane, it allows the user to choke out thier opponent by making the shadows become hands and go for the throat. A sufficiently strong person is able to resist it.

Kage Nui no Jutsu (Shadow Sewing): Kage Mane except with many different attacks, but here Shika only used two, the frontal attack and the one that came in from the side.