INTRODUCTION
Welcome back the Chronicles of the Seventh. As always I like to begin by stating i don't own Naruto.
THANK YOU
Thank you to all the people who reviewed my previous chapter: stryker4narusaku; The FlyingLion; xDARKNESS; Gravenimage; Diamond Man; Kushina's Truth of Hell; NaruSaku29; goldone5; Nemrut; charles cdv.
RESPONCES
stryker - No, Shikamaru still has more to do. So you will continue to see him in this story.
The FlyingLion - Ok...ummmm...thanks?
xDARKNESS - Thanx.
Gravenimage - Hmmm, well if you wait until the end to tell me your guess how will I know you didn't cheat if you end up right? Lol!
Diamond Man - Ugh terrible pun! Lol! But thanx. And if you like my action scenes you'll love this chapter.
Kushina's - Thanx.
Narusaku29 - Glad you like what i've been doing with Shikamaru and the action scenes. Shikamaru is special not because of power but his mind and I wanted to highlight that in my fic.
As for advice I can only tell you to stick to your vision. If you start changing your story based on what "your readers want" your story will fail. Stay true to the tale you want to tell and you have a better chance of success. And always re-read your dialogue to make sure it makes sence. if you need any further advice send me a private message.
goldone5 - Thanx for the review. Glad your a Shikamaru fan. That's an interesting theory you have there and we'll just have to wait and see if it's right. And you're writing is just fine.
Nemrut - Thanks for the review man. But i already responded to your review at OMF so there's no need to here.
charles cdv - Thanx dude.
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR
Thanks again for reading guys. Because next week will be Thanksgiving here in the states there will be no new chapter next weekend. A new chapter will be released on Sunday December 5th. So please remember to send me another review after reading. Thanx!
Naruto: Chronicles of the Seventh
Book III: End of Innocence
Chapter XVIII: The Fall of the Tsuchikage
******Kirigakure – Capital Building******
"Damn, how long has he been asleep," Suigetsu said impatiently as he leaned against the wall in the hallway with his arms folded.
Sitting on the ground next to him was Jugo who was watching a little robin eat bits of grain out of his palm. "You should have more patience Suigetsu," Jugo said. "You saw Sasuke's condition afterwards. He looked worse than he did after our battle with the Eight Tail Jinchuriki. He needs his rest."
"Damn, don't go reminding me of that Jugo," Suigetsu said as he grimaced and clenched his fists. "It's bad enough that we failed to bring down that Bee ourselves. But instead of giving us another chance, Madara sent that bastard Kisame to do the job alone and he gets it done! I've been forced to listen to him gloat and look at his smug smile ever since!"
Suigetsu placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. "Man I can't wait for this to be all over," he said. "Because once it is, the first thing I'm gonna do is carve that smile right off his face…slowly. And then Samehada will finally be mine."
"Is that all you ever think about," Jugo asked.
"I also think of sex," Suigetsu said with a smile. "Maybe I should go and visit that brothel again."
Jugo looked at Suigetsu blankly and then looked back to the bird and sighed heavily.
"You're being judgmental again Jugo," Suigetsu said.
"I didn't say a word," Jugo replied.
"You don't have to," Suigetsu said. "I've been around you long enough to tell when you're judging me. Don't act so high and mighty Jugo. I'm not the only one who thinks about that stuff ya know. Even Sasuke gets his from time o time."
Jugo looked at Suigetsu with a puzzled look. Suigetsu then bent down and had a wicked grin on his face. He whispered, "Oh you didn't know? Yeah, my room is right next to Sasuke's remember? Well, a few nights ago, it seems Karin finally got her hooks into him once and for all. Let's just say, she's a screamer. Hehehe!"
Jugo then looked back to his bird without so much as a surprised look on his face. "You really shouldn't talk about such things," he said.
Annoyed, Suigetsu stood up and again leaned on the wall with his hands behind his head. "Hmph," he said. "Not everyone is neutered like you Jugo."
"It's not that," Jugo said prompting Suigetsu to look down at him. "It's not that I have no interest. It's just that….it's best that I don't get excited."
"Hmmm," Suigetsu said, "I guess you might be right. No telling what you'd do to a lady if you lost control. And it's bad enough seeing what Kisame does to the prostitutes he brings here. You can't even recognize their bodies when he's done with them."
Just then the door directly across the hall opened and they could see the pitch black darkness within. After a few seconds Karin emerged with an emotionless look on her face.
"Well how is he," Suigetsu asked as Jugo got to his feet. Before Karin could speak Suigetsu got his answer as Sasuke appeared in the doorway. He appeared strong, healthy and his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated. Seeing him caused a smile to creep on Suigetsu's face. "Alright," he said. "It's almost time to have some fun."
******Meanwhile – Mt. Myoboku******
Lady Shima leapt up onto a large rock and looked around for Naruto. Shielding her eyes from the sun she saw his figure in the distance and made her way over. A few minutes later she cam to the edge of the cliff and looked out to see Naruto sitting perfectly still on a slab of flat slab of stone with his legs crossed. The stone slab was perfectly balanced on the needle-like peek of a mountain.
It was then to her amazement that behind Naruto where dozens upon dozens of clones, each sitting on their own slab of rock, balanced on an individual mountain peek. Each one, was in Sage mode and Shima could see the chakra emanating from each of them rise into the sky and combining into a large mass of chakra that spanned the entire area.
Unbelievable, Shima thought. What is this? Naruto, what are planning to do?
******Meanwhile – Land of Lightning******
Onoki watched as he remained ready for the Raikage's first attack. The Raikage slowly continued to walk towards Onoki and his entire body began to glow and surge with power. Hmmm, Onoki thought. You really aren't playing around are you A. You've decided to use your Lightning Release Armor from the very start. Ok then. I guess I'll have to take things seriously as well.
Onoki then created several hand signs and said, "Dust Release: Silent Armor!" The Raikage suddenly felt a gust of wind coming from Onoki and stopped in his tracks.
Silent Armor, the Raikage thought. Onoki covers himself in ultra sharp grains of dust so small they can't even be seen. If you get close enough he spins the dust like a mini tornado and you get sliced up. It's a nasty little technique.
Suddenly the Raikage took off running at Onoki. "If you think I care about that you're sadly mistaken," he yelled as he threw a punch.
Realizing the Raikage had no fear of the technique Onoki dodged the punch and swung his blade at the Raikage's neck. Using his increased speed the Raikage leapt back, just dodging Onoki's attack. Onoki stared at the Raikage as a small bit of blood trickled down his neck.
"That Armor of yours is really something A," Onoki said. "That last attack of mine should have cut off your head. Perhaps I'll have to rectify that the next time!" Onoki suddenly flew at the Raikage swinging his blades at him again and again forcing him back as he was cut over and over on his arms.
Finally the Raikage ducked under one of Onoki's swings and threw a punch directly at his chest. Before his attack could hit he felt an invisible force prevent his hit from landing and he screamed as his hand and arm began to get sliced up. The Raikage leapt away and grabbed his bloody hand. Shit, the Raikage thought. The old man's Silent Armor is stronger than ever. That last one nearly cut through my hand even with my Armor. I need a new tactic.
The Raikage suddenly slammed his fists into the ground and pulled several boulders from the earth and threw them at Onoki at blinding speed. "Shit," Onoki yelled as he swiftly flew about dodging boulder after boulder. The Raikage was running about at such a pace that Onoki could barely track him as the Raikage continued to hurl large rocks at him.
Suddenly the Raikage appeared in the air above him with his hands clamped together ready to strike him with a massive double fisted hammer blow. Damn, Onkoi thought as he swung his swords up hoping to intercept the Raikage before the attack hit. The Raikage, seeing both of Onoki's blades aimed at his chest tried to dodge but was not quick enough and was sliced in half by Onoki's blades.
Suddenly the form of the Raikage transformed into electricity and ignited the blades in Onoki's hand with a blast of lightning, shocking Onoki and forcing him to disperse his blades. Onoki fell to his knees as the smoke rose from his slightly charred body.
Several yards away the Raikage's fist punched through the ground and he pulled himself free from the hole he had hidden himself in.
"Damn you," Onoki said as he grimaced in pain. "You running around and throwing those boulders was just a distraction while you created that lightning clone. I didn't think you were willing to use such deception."
"Like I said," the Raikage said as he began to walk towards the Tsuchikage. "Whatever it takes."
Onoki smiled and said, "You're still as cocky as ever. You really think a little shock is enough to take me down?" Onoki inhaled deeply just as the Raikage sprinted towards him. "Dust Release: Clouded World Technique!" Onoki then blew out tons of microscopic dust into the Raikage's face momentarily blurring his vision. However, the Raikage at that point didn't need to see and charged through the blast and grabbed Onoki by his neck.
The Raikage squeezed Onoki's neck tightly waiting to here that familiar snap of bone. But without warning Onoki's body suddenly began to harden and turned to granite. Before A could let go, the stone slab began to expend and wrap itself over his hand. As the slab quickly expanded A was unable to hold it up and it fell to the ground with a thud.
It was then A heard the laughter of Onoki. Turning he saw the old man floating a few feet behind him. "I told you that you were being to cocky," he said with a smile.
The Raikage turned and tried to pull himself free from the slowly expanding granite slab as it continued to cover him. Damn, the Raikage thought. It's too heavy to lift and I can't pull myself free.
"Don't bother," Onoki said. "That technique is called Earth Release: Living Statue. I mold a slab of granite with my chakra and once touched it begins to expand, covering the person who grabbed hold of it. Its density also continues to multiply making it incredibly heavy and impossible to shatter. Soon it will cover your entire body until you become a living statue. At least until you run out of air of course."
The Raikage quickly turned to the ever expanding rock. It was now just passed his left elbow and slowly climbing. The Raikage raised his right hand and flooded a massive amount of electricity into it and punched it as hard as he could. To his amazement only a small piece had broken off and the slab continued to grow. Again the Raikage hit it and again and again and Onoki's eyes grew wide with shock as the Raikage slowly chipped away at his would be prison.
Onoki glared at the Raikage and said, "Well you're stronger than even I anticipated. Luckily I have a backup plan." Onoki quickly made several hand signals and clasped his hands together. The Raikage looked up and was surprised to see particles of dust swirl all around him. The dust began to combine and formed several dozen razor sharps spikes floating in the air all around the Raikage. Again the Raikage looked at the large stone that was now creeping over his biceps. He knew there would be no time to shatter the rock now. "Farewell A," Onoki said as he pointed at him causing all the stone spikes to launch at the Raikage.
Onoki smiled as all the spikes crashed into the area where the Raikage stood and was so focused on that he didn't see the large figure closing in on him at blinding speed until it was too late.
Onoki tried to spin out of the way but he wasn't fast enough and he felt the sickening crack of his nose breaking as his assailant's fist crashed into his face. Onoki's body was launched by the momentum of the hit several yards and crashed into a pile of debris.
Onoki coughed and spat up blood as he climbed out of the pile of scattered rocks and dirt. He was bleeding profusely from a deep wound on his head. His nose was smashed in and broken in several places and as he breathed he could feel a stabbing pain in his side that was no doubt the signs of at least one broken rib.
Onoki was dazed and his vision blurry as he tried to focus on the person standing a short distance away. As his vision cleared a look of pure shock was plastered on his face as he saw the Raikage glaring at him. The Raikage stood with one of Onoki's spikes embedded in his side but what was more amazing was the Raikage's left arm. It was gone.
Just before the spikes were able to cut through the Raikage, he had come to a decision. He didn't have time to shatter the rock that was now pinning him down. But his left arm was another thing entirely. So the Raikage charged a massive amount of lightning into his right fist and struck his left arm, just above his bicep and sliced clean through. And without time to spare he leapt out of the way of the spikes but wasn't able to clear them all, taking one in his right side.
But, unwilling to pause due to the pain, the Raikage saw Onoki standing nearby, gloating over his perceived victory and used that moment to attack.
Now Onoki was hurt badly, struggling to get to his feet. Damn this old body, Onoki thought as he found it difficult to stand and his head was so dazed he was having trouble concentrating enough to float. There was once a time such an attack would never have hurt me this much. Damn it!
The Raikage screamed as he slowly pulled the stone spike out of his side and threw it to the side. He looked at the remnants of his left arm and saw the blood dripping down. He needed to get it tended to soon if he had any hope of surviving. And he knew the blood he was losing gave him a limited time to fight. He suddenly charged his body with electricity and focused it on his wound which helped to close it up a bit. But he knew that was only a temporary fix.
Turning his attention back to Onoki, the Raikage placed his right index and middle finger together and placed them on his forehead. He began to concentrate and his body began to glow and surge with electrical power. "This is it for you old man," the Raikage screamed as all of the lightning began to surge into his right arm.
Onoki's eyes grew wide with terror as he desperately fought to move. Slowly he was beginning to float again but he knew he wasn't fast enough. Damn, Onoki thought. He's actually going to use that jutsu!
Seeing Onoki trying to move caused the Raikage to laugh a little. "Don't try to run Onoki," he said. "There is no place to hide now! This is for my brother! Lighting Release: Lightning Arrow!" The Raikage moved his fingers from his forehead and pointed at Onoki and released a powerful blast on lightning towards Onoki who could only close his eyes and brace himself.
The resulting blast as the bolt of lightning struck caused the hundreds of ninja fighting around to stop and shield their eyes. Floating above the sand dome Gaara heard the incredible boom emanate from within and decided to open the dome. As the sand broke apart and the sun once again flooded into the area Gaara was surprised at the carnage within. The exhausted and bloodied soldiers of the three nations stood about in dazed confusion as the bodies of fallen comrades lay about their feet.
Near the center was a large crater, the results of the Raikage's attack. The Raikage stood swaying back and forth as if a strong breeze would cause him to fall. He was dizzy and close to passing out but still waited to ensure the Tsuchikage was dead. As the smoke cleared he was a amazed to see the remnants of a large stone golem positioned between himself and where Onoki was. The golem was the size of a building and the center of it was blasted clean through.
Onoki was on his knees with his eyes shut tight, prepared for what should have been his death. Opening his eyes he looked up to see the back of Akatsuchi who was now facing the Raikage. Beyond Akatsuchi was the near totally destroyed golem Akatsuchi had summoned.
"A…Akatsuchi," Onoki said in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
Akatsuchi looked back with a smile and said, "Doing what I was sworn to do. I came to lay down my life in the service of my Lord." Akatsuchi turned slightly to face Onoki and that's when Onoki saw it. A large hole had been blasted clear into Akatsuchi's chest and stomach. Akatsuchi spat up blood and collapsed at Onoki's feet.
Akatuschi's breathing was shallow and blood poured from his massive wound. Still with a smile Akatsuchi looked to Onoki who did his best to hide the grief he now felt. "We believe…..in you….my Lord," Akatsuchi said. "This victory can still…..be ours. You can do it…for Iwa." Before Ooki could respond Akatsuchi's entire body shivered and his eyes closed.
"Akatsuchi," Kurotsuchi screamed as she ran up and dropped to her knees. She quickly looked him over and knew she was too late. "No," she whispered as she glared at her grandfather. Onoki then looked away from his grand daughter and looked at the Raikage who had fallen to his knees out of exhaustion.
"Kurotsuchi," Onoki said as he touched he shoulder. "I need you to fly as high as you can." Before she could answer Onoki took off into the sky flying high over the battlefield. Seeing this, Gaara qickly tried to launch blasts of sand at Onoki only for them to be blocked by Kurotsuchi.
"My Lord what are you planning," Kurotsuchi asked as she fought to hold back Gaara's attacks.
"What I should have done from the very beginning," Onoki said as he placed his hands together and using his Dust Release created a small glowing cone. Slowly, Onoki widened is hands which caused the cone to grow in size.
Kurotsuchi turned to see what Onoki was doing and was instantly alarmed. "Grandfather no," she creamed. "That attack will destroy everything in the area including our own men who are fighting down there!"
"A necessary sacrifice," Onoki yelled. "I must put an end to this war now! And those men down there know the risks of war!"
Seeing the attack Gaara began to speed towards the Tsuchikage, desperate to somehow stop it. Onoki looked at Gaara and grinned widely and said, "You're too late little Kazekage!" Onoki fired the blast down towards the Raikage and all the ninja locked in battle.
"Grandfather no," Kurotsuchi yelled as she attempted to grab him in vain. The blast rocketed towards its target as all the ninja, Suna, Kumo and Iwa alike screamed in panic as the moment of their deaths closed in.
Down in the center of the battle field was the Raikage as he remained on his knees. He had lost too much blood and used too much chakra. "Heh," he said as he watched the large cone shaped beam of energy descend upon him. "Looks like I failed little brother. But if there's one good thing about this, it's that I'll see you soon. But I really am sorry."
Onoki looked on with a deep smile on his face while Kurotsuchi watched in horror as the attack struck and exploded in a brilliant flash of light. "No," Kurotsuchi whispered. "You just killed hundreds of our own men."
"And saved thousands more," Onoki said coldly. "This is the job of the Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi. Sometimes you have to make the hard decisions for the safety of Iwagakure. I did this for the people."
Kurotushi stared at the smoke covered ground below in pure grief. "Pull yourself together Kurotsuchi," Onoki said. "We still need to deal with the Kazekage." It was then Onoki looked up to see Gaara in deep concentration and completely focused on the ground below. "What is he doing," Onoki whispered and then he heard Kurotsuchi gasp.
Onoki looked down and was amazed to see a large wall of sand hovering over the entire battlefield. To his amazement he could here the voices of all the people underneath the shield. Impossible, Onoki thought. That attack is powerful enough to level mountains! He was able to create a sand shield strong enough to block it?
Slowly Gaara began to guide the large mass of sand away from the people beneath it. His head was pounding and his heart racing. Never before had he needed to create a sand shield of that density. He recalled his battle with the Akatsuki member Deidera and the massive bomb he attempted to detonate over Sunagakure. That explosion was nothing compared to this. Gaara was forced to put all the power he had into the shield and even then it nearly failed.
As the sand finally moved away from over all the people below Gaara allowed the sand to fall to the ground and he immediately fell to his knees and forced the sand platform he was standing on to float down to the ground. He needed to rest.
"Damn," Onoki yelled. "It seems I'll have to do this up close and personal. Kurotsuchi let's go." Onoki looked to Kurotsuchi who stared blankly at the mass of people below who seemed unsure of how to proceed. "Kurotsuchi," Onoki yelled again but she did not answer. "Tch," Onoki said as looked to the Raikage. "Fine, I'll do it myself."
Onoki flew down and stopped a few feet from the Raikage. He was breathing heavily and covered in dirt and sweat. Onoki could see him struggling to get to his feet to no avail, it was clear he was out of power. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance A," Onoki said. "But this is it for you. No more tricks, no more allies. Now you die."
"Heh," Raikage said. "I never feared death. I'm just pissed I'm gonna die at the hands of an old, dishonorable bastard like you."
"Really," Onoki said. "Weren't you the one to tell me years ago that there is no such thing as honor for a Kage? That in the end all that matters is becoming as strong as you can for the betterment of your village? In the end strength and power are the only reality for us."
"Yes," A said, "But I'm starting to think that perhaps I was wrong about that. Perhaps….old man….we both were."
Onoki stared at the Raikage and for a moment the Raikage swore he saw a deep sadness in Onoki's eyes. But as quickly as it appeared it was gone. "Perhaps," Onoki said. "But what's done is done." Suddenly large amounts of dust began gathering around Onoki's right hand and it formed into a blade.
"Do it old man," the Raikage said. "Because if you give me any more time, I won't hesitate to kill you."
Onoki took off, flying as fast as he could with his blade at the ready, aimed for the Raikage's heart. He was inches away when he came to a complete stop. He was now frozen in midair unable to move. "What," Onoki yelled. "What is this? What's going on?" Onoki looked down and saw his shadow was abnormally stretching off behind him. Following the path of the shadow Onoki found a young man standing off to the side. He was using a shadow imitation technique to bind him.
"Looks like I got back just in time," Shikamaru said with a smile as he stood a few feet away. He was covered in sweat and was taking heavy, labored breaths. It was obvious he was pushing himself. Temari and Kankuro stood next to him, prepared to defend him if need be.
Using the opening Shikamaru gave him, the Raikage clenched his right fist and swung out at Onoki and yelled, "Lariat!" The Raikage struck the helpless Onoki in the chest, with such force Onoki's chest caved in and massive amounts of blood burst forth. Onoki was launched several yards back, his damaged body crumpling to the ground.
Seeing this caused all of Onoki's men to stare in a state of shock. Slowly they began to walk towards their fallen leader while at the same time Kurotsuchi floated down and landed at his feet. It was clear tears were in her eyes. Onoki opened his eyes slowly, he found it nearly impossible to breath and despite the level of damage he knew he sustained he felt no pain. Just an overwhelming numbness and an urge to sleep.
Reaching out like a blind man in the dark, Onoki never looked so feeble, so helpless. "Kurotsuchi," he said. His voice was low and ragged and he wheezed violently. "Come to me," he said.
"Yes grandfather," Kurotsuchi answered sadly.
"It seems I have fallen victim to my own lust for power," he said. "Tell your father that as the next Tsuchikage, he must be strong. Strong like you. You were stronger than I could ever be and your strength must guide Iwagakure.. I allowed my own fear to blind me to what was right. Forgive me."
"Grandfather," Kurotsuchi said. "I love you. And I forgive you." Onoki took several more shallow breaths and his eyes went vacant. Kurotsuchi gently closed her fathers eyes and placed him down gently.
"Lady Kurotsuchi," one of her comrades said. "What should we do? What are our orders?'
"I say we finish the job our Lord gave us," one Iwa ninja yelled.
"Yeah," said another, "Let's avenge the death of our lord!"
More and more the Iwa ninja began to yell their agreement.
"No," Kurotsuchi whispered under the growing screams of her comrades. "No! Enough!" Suddenly all the remaining ninja from Iwa fell silent as Kurotsuchi stood up. "There has already been too much blood spilled today. Too much suffering in a war we never should have started." Kurotsuchi then looked at one of the generals and said, "Instruct the men to lay down their arms."
"But Lady Kurotsuchi…," he responded.
"I said do it," she yelled.
The general took a deep breath and stared at Kurotsuchi for a moment before turning to the men and said, "You heard her. Lay down your weapons."
Kurotsuchi walked through the large group of her men towards the Raikage who was leaning on Omoi. Karui was standing at the ready next to him. And just behind was Shikamaru who was leaning on Temari and Gaara who was being helped by Kankuro.
Kurotsuchi walked up to the Raikage and dropped to one knee. "Lord Raikage," she said. "There is nothing that can be said that undo all that we have done. But I give you my humblest apologies. We were…..misled…..into this war. Our acts were reprehensible and we have lost our honor."
"Well isn't this a fine way to end a war," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
"As I've said there is nothing that can be said that can fix this," Kurotsuchi continued. "But if you would allow us some way to regain our honor. If you allow, I would like to offer our services in the fight against the Akatsuki."
The Raikage looked to Gaara and the others. "The decision is yours," Gaara said.
The Raikage then looked to Kurotsuchi and said, "Today I learned something about the value of having trusted allies. For as long as I can remember I have believed that a nation must only rely on itself to provide strength. Perhaps a new era is coming where that is not so true."
"However," the Raikage continued, "I have no interest in fighting alongside your people. I have no such reason to trust you. You think by aiding us now that it will absolve you from your crimes? Get real. You're lost honor is no concern of mine. You want forgiveness girl, go find a priest."
Kurotsuchi took a deep breath and looked away from the Raikage. She got to her feet and said, "I understand."
"But, because of your actions I will give you this much," the Raikage said. "Take the body of your fallen Kage and those of your comrades and leave the Land of Lightning. I will give you two days to get all of your men out of my land. Anyone who is still here beyond that deadline will be killed on sight…without mercy."
******Several hours later******
Shikamaru sat outside a small tent. After the battle all the surviving ninja made their way to a makeshift camp two miles away were they all received medical attention. Both he and Gaara were fine outside of extreme exhaustion. And Temari, Kankuro, Omoi and Karui had only suffered a few bumps and bruises. Considering all the craziness they had just been through Shikamaru considered it a miracle they had gotten out with so little damage.
The Raikage on the other hand, was not so lucky. He was diagnosed with a major concussion, internal bleeding, massive blood loss, two broken ribs and not to mention a lost left arm. Shikamaru took a deep breath and looked up at the blue sky.
"Everything alright," Gaara asked as he walked up to Shikamaru.
"It just never ceases to amaze me how such terrible things can happen on such a beautiful day," Shikamaru replied.
"It could have ended a lot worse if not for your plan Shikamaru," Gaara said as he sat down next to him. "That technique of yours is truly amazing. When did you know you could do something like that?"
"Oh about five seconds after I tried it," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
Gaara was clearly shocked and said, "So you didn't know you could absorb all of those men into a shadow?"
"Are you kidding me," Shikamaru asked. "Before today I'd never tried to do it with more than one person."
Gaara stared at Shikamaru for a moment before saying, "If I were you I wouldn't tell Temari that."
Shikamaru laughed for a while but then noticed Gaara had a serious, almost saddened look on his face. "Ok," Shikamaru said. "What is it? You don't look like a guy who just won a war."
"Shikamaru," Gaara said. "We just got word from Konoha that they were attacked a few days ago."
"By who," Shikamaru asked excitedly. "Was it Akatsuki?"
"Yes," Gaara said. "But they were able to stop the threat. However they did sustain one notable casualty. Rock Lee was able to single handedly stop the threat. But it cost him his life. I'm sorry."
Shikamaru went silent for a moment as he stared vacantly at Gaara. He didn't speak; it felt as though he wasn't even breathing. Finally after a few moments he tried to say something, "I….Lee is….he's…"
Gaara placed his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder and said, "From our reports Lee fought and died bravely and was able to save Konoha from being dealt what very well could have been a fatal blow. You should be proud of him."
"I am," Shikamaru said as his voice was cracking under the strain to keep his composure. "But I….I need to go home Gaara. I need to go to Konoha."
It was then they heard the distinct, booming voice of the Raikage behind them. "I agree," he said causing Gaara and Shikamaru to look back. "Let's get some rest and then, first thing tomorrow we will all head to Konoha. And there we will put an end to Akatsuki once and for all."
End of Chapter Eighteen
Next Time: The Unexpected Ally of Konoha