Beta'd by Evercold, written by Ellisama, fueled by ramen… Oh wait. No.

Chapter 6: Chasing Another Past

He had crossed these sands many times, but the desert was so huge, the horizon so distant, it made him feel as small as he felt the first time he set foot on the landscape. The way dawn colored the desert's dunes red and blended the sand with the trees that became more and more frequent as they kept running towards a dot in the air, almost made him forget why he was here in the first place.

Keyword: Almost.

Shikamaru jumped from branch to branch to move through the landscape that was changing before his eyes, bringing him closer to home but most of all closer to the white dot in the sky that they were chasing. Temari was next to him, behind him Kakashi and somewhat in front of them ran Kankurou and Naruto, who seemed to get more and more desperate with every passing second, judging from the way they sped up every now and then. Sasuke and Sakura were just behind them, trying to keep both of them in line.

Shikamaru wasn't complaining about the speed, well not more than usual at least, since it was slower than his usual tempo. However, he knew that while Temari and Kankurou would be able to keep up easily, team 7 was trained in heavy combat that didn't require speed at all. If they kept this up, they might not be fit enough to battle Akatsuki when the time came.

That and Shikamaru figured it was only a matter of seconds before Naruto lost his temper.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled when he sped up for what seemed the tenth time that minute. "What did we just say? Stick together-" But she was cut off when Naruto lost his temper.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS!"He yelled, and suddenly all other sounds in the forest seemed to fade away. Shikamaru stared curiously at Naruto's back, very much like the rest of their little squad. "I just can't! I know why they're after Gaara and me!"

Next to him he saw Temari's eyes widen, and he realized his own probably had widened as well. 'How does Naruto know Akatsuki's agenda?' He thought, while jumping a little faster to the next branch in order to keep up with the pace Naruto's anger was dedicating. In the process, he caught a glimpse of Kakashi's face, set in a sorrowful understanding he couldn't quite grasp.

"Usuratonkashi," Sasuke called after Naruto, obviously starting to get angry because Naruto still wouldn't listen. "If we want to help him, than we actually need to stick to the plan!"

However, Naruto didn't' listen, and just kept running, leaving Kankurou slightly behind him. "Gaara and I are the same, or rather, Gaara is like me." He said, more calm this time, though the rage was still evident in his voice. "He is a Jinchuuriki, too. We both have monsters locked inside us. That's what those guys are after!"

His calculating mind drank those words like water. 'So that's what they meant with Jinchuuriki, during the meeting.' He thought, pushing the shock of hearing one of his friends wasn't exactly human into the back of his mind in order to continue the mission. Rule #21: A Ninja must not let his emotions hinder him doing his job. But still, the missing puzzle piece was treasured. 'And that time during the Chuunin exam, in the hospital. That's what they were referring to. The hostility of my parents, or rather the entire village. It all makes sense now.'

" I... HATE IT!"He was brought out of his pondering as Naruto cried out loud. "They just see us as monsters!"

Next to him, Temari also seemed to have a newfound respect for Naruto as she was sulking in sympathy for either Naruto or Gaara, and he swore he could hear her whisper a small 'thank you'.

Sakura and Sasuke on the other hand remained silent, seemingly not shocked at all. Shikamaru was not surprised by this either. Team 7 was by far the closest team of entire Konoha, and Shikamaru was now more certain than ever that one of the things that bound them together was their secrets.

"I…. didn't know there were others." Said Sakura, out of the blue. This seemed to wake Sasuke up as her words cut through the heavy silence. He looked behind him, searching eye contact with his sensei and receiving permission for whatever he was planning. He then shared a knowing look with Sakura before he sped up in order to run next to Naruto, who was putting more and more distance between them with every passing second.

"Dobe," He said, using an insult in a rather affectionate way and forcing his friend to look him in the eye. Naruto seemed to avoid his gaze, judging from the positions Sasuke had to take in order to succeed.

When he did, they didn't speak, but judging from their turned faces, he could swear they were having a conversation without words, something Shikamaru didn't expect a loudmouth like Naruto to be capable of. Apparently, Naruto was losing their argument, as he shouted his defense out loud.

"He's being dragged away by Akatsuki!" He yelled, speeding up once more. "And do you know what will happen when they succeed?"

"Naruto!" Kakashi suddenly interjected, as if to warn him not to continue. Apparently, they weren't supposed to know just what would happen if Akatsuki would succeed, and not even Sakura and Sasuke were aware of it. However, stubborn as always, he continued nevertheless.

"They will suck us dry of all our chakra, effectively sucking the demon out of us and killing us in the most gruesome way! Do you think I will let that happen?" He snapped angry at Sasuke, who in turn missed a branch in shock.

Uchihas had amazing eyes, and Shikamaru wondered if the ability to visualize anything on the spot was also one of their many abilities. Even if it wasn't, his ANBU training in reading facial expressions told him one thing, that Sasuke was dead afraid of losing a loved one again.

"Then," Kankurou spoke, having kept quiet during the entire conversation. "We can't waste time. This time, I want to save him from all this! He's been through enough in his life!"

And Shikamaru couldn't agree more. They sped up once again, and this time he let Naruto take the lead, keeping up with him as they came closer and closer to what had once been a little white dot in the sky. Because of all the revelations, none of them had really been paying attention to what they were actually chasing, not noticing it had become much closer to the white dot in the sky, that turned out to be a bird.

"We didn't speed up that much." Temari wondered out loud. Shikamaru nodded, noticing the now obvious outlines of a bird with two men- no three men on top of it. They shared a glance, and then their eyes widened simultaneously. "That form… They are not moving."

"They are expecting us!" he yelled, getting everybody's attention. "They stopped moving! Be careful: it may be a trap. No matter how angry you are, stick to the plan!" Even Naruto and Kankurou seemed to obey his commands, but in order to make sure that they would contain themselves as well if they would come face to face with Akatsuki he took up his pace and took the lead.

"Remain in this position, especially when we face Akatsuki." He yelled to the ones behind him, getting sulky confirmations back.

As they kept moving through the woods, he stopped as he came across an opening in the forest where Shikamaru immediately recognized the signs of battle. Several trees had been left with giant holes in them, others had been cut down completely. Though it seemed like it had happened a while back, seeing as the scars on the landscape seemed slightly weathered. However, when he heard a gasp from behind him, he focused his eyes to the centre of the area, and saw something that could be possibly mind shattering. Especially for a sibling.

In the middle of the opening, next to a enormous white bird who seemed to be made out of clay, lied a motionless person on his belly. It didn't take a genius to recognize the red hair and gourd strapped on said person's back.

"You!" He heard Naruto yell at the two other guys, dressed in the typical Akatsuki cloak that marked them as a member or the organization. "You are the Akatsuki!" He continued, stating the obvious.

The blonde one grinned. "That's right!" One blonde lock covered one of his eyes, though it something mechanic was still visible behind it. Something else that was rather striking was the fact he seemed to lack an arm. That and the he didn´t seem to miss or care about it. "My name is Deidara!"

"We don't care." Sasuke deadpanned, mocking the man with stoicism. "You are outnumbered. Just give us Gaara back, and we'll let you go."

"You are Itachi's little brother right? The resemblance is striking." He said, still grinning from ear to ear with that cocky grin, though it grew less sincere with every passing second. "Well, just because I'm not as smart as you Uchihas, doesn't mean I don't know you won't just let us go."

Sasuke stiffened slightly at the mention of his older brother, and didn't answer with anything else than a glare that would even send shivers to Shikamaru's spine.

Deidara was impressed as well, it seemed. "Oh, such malice! I like these eyes of his, Sasori! Makes me want to blow him up!"

The other man, who seemed to be called Sasori, just sighed, even if his expression didn't change that much. "Why did we let you join again?" He said, obviously not amused by his partners comments.

"I merely take on contracts to blow things up... with my art, that is, un!" He proclaimed happily, though with an insane shimmer in his eyes that made Shikamaru want to kill the man: there was no empathy for humanity in those eyes, whatsoever. 'Disgusting'

"Your art?" Sakura asked, looking for something that resembled art. Deidara held a clay spider up for her to see.

"BEHOLD!" He yelled, throwing it up in the sky, while the little legs moved on its own and walked towards them as soon as it hit the ground. "Aren't you impressed? The product pursuing refined line work matched with two-dimensional deformation! Now this is art! But my art doesn't end here!"

The clay model turned spider kept walking towards them, and Shikamaru didn't think it was a good thing. The thing didn't seem like it had some actual attack power, and it was too small to actually fire something that could do damage at them. So all that was left was either the function of a sensor, which made no sense because it was too big and they were standing right in front of them, or the function … of …

'Makes you want to blow him up!'

"EVERYBODY, GET AWAY FROM THAT THING! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE" He yelled, and less than a second later the thing exploded, leaving a small crater behind and their formation broken. Which probably had been their plan all along. The blonde might wanted to give off the impression that he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but Shikamaru realized that this one shouldn't be underestimated.

The owner of the exploded spider didn't seem to mind his work of art was gone. Rather, he seemed to be ecstatic by its ending. "None of my works are static! When they have physical form, they're little more than models. And with that exploding effect, its essence is propelled to greatness, at that moment of becoming the true work of art I intended! And in that fleeting moment of grandeur that I see true art! Art is an explosion!" And he kept talking about the importance of the explosions and how his art was the only true art in this world, while the rest of the Gaara retrieval squad were still looking at him, as they returned to their formation.

'He's insane!'

His partner didn't seem phased at all though. Shikamaru almost pitied him for this unfortunate partner up. "Damn, he's annoying..."

"Is he done now...?" Naruto interjected, looking hopefully at Kankurou for some reason. It was Kakashi however that answered. "Who knows.."

Shikamaru took another look at Kankurou though, who hadn't spoken since, though his body language screamed recognition. Maybe he knew the blond guy…? 'No, then he wouldn't have been surprised by the explosion. So he probably knows the other guy… Sasori.'

His suspicions were confirmed as Kankurou finally spoke. "Akasuna no Sasori, so that is where you went…" He all but growled at the man. "We all thought you had died."

"For Suna, I have died." Sasori answered, not changing his facial expressions even once. "I have cut my ties with that pathetic village."

As Shikamaru had learned earlier that day, pride was a dangerous thing. That, and people from Suna tended to have a lot of pride. Kankurou and Temari sneered at him angry, and the younger one yelled: "Fight me!"

"So he's one of your 'toys', Danna?" The other Akatsuki member only received a nod as an answer, but he didn't seem to expect anything more, and turned his attention to the Sand ninja that had challenged his partner. "Well, too bad, we've got other things to do. We'll be on our way as soon as we are sure your little team stops following us."

Shikamaru kicked himself mentally because he had let himself get distracted by the eccentric blonde nuke-nin, and forgot all about why they were standing still in the first place. Another reason why Tenzou sensei was going to have his ass when he came back. 'Mendokuse…'

"Talking about them, they have arrived." Sasori lazily added, and made an arm that looked like it belonged to a puppet pick up Gaara from the ground while he himself got back on the giant bird that Shikamaru assumed to be made out of clay as well. His partner was still laughing. "See ya in hell, losers!" And with those last words he climbed back on the bird as well.

"And why do you think we would just let you go?" Kakashi asked, getting into a battle stance. The other's followed his example.

"Because we are going to keep you busy."

Shikamaru turned around only to see two new arrivals. A woman with long red hair covered by a hat that left a single lock of hair hanging down between her eyes and a man with brown hair and six arms.

Sasuke's eyes visibly widened when he saw them, and his body showed obvious signs of shock. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked, moving her eyes from her opponent to her teammate for a split second. It was obvious she had trouble holding back, but he had ordered them specifically that they shouldn't rush in to action like usual but wait for his signal. Akatsuki, or their allies for that matter, were not to be taken lightly.

Shikamaru didn't need to look at the clearing to know that the two Akatsuki members had fled the scene. It was only a matter of time before they would reach their hideout, wherever that may be, and if they did all hope would be lost for the Kazekage.

He took a moment to tear his eyes from his opponent and answer his teammate, while Shikamaru barely registered their conversation in the corner of his eye, while he was staring at the man who had six arms! "Do you remember that night of my life I wanted to forget?"

He saw her facial expression turning grim. "Yes. What about it?" She replied, though it almost seemed like she didn't want him to answer.

And he didn't have to, as one of the new arrivals did for him. "Long time no see Sasuke-kun"

Kakashi tore his eyes from his opponent and send a demanding glare to his student. "Sasuke. Explain. NOW."

Again, the woman didn't let him speak. "We originally were part of the Sound five, but our other three members were killed by those other fuckers from the Leaf, who wore masks just like you do." She said, looking Shikamaru directly in the eye. He knew she was referring to his commander, his sensei and the chuunin examiners who had 'rescued' Sasuke from the Sound five three years ago. After all, he had been in the Hokage's office when the order came in, just after he had been promoted to ANBU. However, having that knowledge didn't change the fact that she was still dead set on killing him, as was evident by the venom in her voice when she spoke."And for that, you will pay."

Not only pride could be manipulated, Shikamaru knew. Almost every emotion could be used against someone in some way. He quickly formulated a plan. Time was essential, they had to keep moving and needed enough power to fight not only one but two Akatsuki members. However, they were obviously hell-bent on killing him. He could use that to his advantage, and together with her…

"Team 7, Kankurou!" Shikamaru ordered. "Follow Akatsuki! Don't let them reach their base at any cost!" He received five nods and in a split second they ran after the clay bird in the sky that had again become nothing more than a tiny little dot.

The man tried to keep them there, but his attempt was in vain when Sasuke charged a lighting based attack and came running towards him, and the man had to move aside in favor of dodging the attack. He was taken back for a second, which was just enough to ensure an opening for them to escape. He tried to chase them but Shikamaru wouldn't let him.

He jumped in front of him in a split second, having the obvious advantage of speed, and prevented him from doing so. "Your opponent is me."

The man nodded, and started smiling in a way that Shikamaru didn't find exactly healthy. Immediately made a back flip in order to avoid a blow that was aimed for his head, and landed next to Temari. At the mean time, their opponents regrouped as well.

Both women had slit in a battle stance while he had been busy. Their female opponent was holding a pipe like it was a weapon. No, it wasn't a pipe but a flute, he realizes when her fingers moved over the instrument. As she began to play, he suddenly saw spirals twisting into patterns. She didn't speak, but she doesn't need to say the name of the technique for Shikamaru to understand that she is summoning something. A childish tune he remembered from a far past, though it sounds a lot more threatening than he remembered...

/A sharp, C sharp, a trailed off B... Blood/

He moved out of the way, but the summoning was already complete. Temari uncharacteristically hid behind a tree, and he wasn't sure whether she was hiding for her or for him. He wondered absentmindedly if the woman knew she was facing two opponents instead of one, seeing as her rage is directed at him entirely, but let the thought pass in favor of observing the three summons.

"Nice job Tayuya." The male commented offhandedly, watching the three golems as well. "They are even uglier than before."

"Shut your trap, Kidoumaru." She replied, taking her lips from the instrument not longer than necessary.

And they were sure ugly. With their mouths screwed shut and their unhealthy, inhuman complexion they weren't exactly a pretty sight, but still a sight to behold. He was pulled out of his thoughts as one of the beings charged at him.

He knew he had to end this as quickly as possible, and cast a genjutsu while moving out of the golem's reach. The attack, that seemed to be controlled by the music hit a tree and broke it in the process.

However, the music kept coming and the woman, now identified as Tayuya seemed unaffected at all by his genjutsu. While flipping backwards in order to avoid another attack aimed at his chest this time, he whistled a tune of his own.

On the cue, Temari came out of her hiding spot and hit the golem with a nasty kick in the chest, sending him close towards the place where he had just landed. He gave the golem a kick of his own on its head, while Temari sped forward to the woman with the flute to let her meet one of her fists.

However, the man, Kidoumaru was quick to cast a Jutsu. In a split second a barrier arose from thin air and protected the two of them from harm. Temari jumped back in order to avoid another attack, this time from the smallest golem who used the time she took attacking to charge at her. The man laughed.

In the meantime Shikamaru fought off the remaining golem, who wasn't as easy to beat as the first one, it seemed, especially when he had to keep an eye on all the other people who were involved in this fight as well.

Unlike team 7, who never seemed to go anywhere without all their weapons, both Shikamaru and Temari had lost their equipment somewhere during the explosions in Suna. Looking back on the decision of leaving his sword on the roof in favor of wasting time to get it, he wished he had at least picked up his bag with supplies before he followed Temari. Because really, the only time he was unprepared he faced an opponent who could cancel his Genjutsu in a bare second and another one who fended of Tai- and Ninjutsu like it was nothing.

Stealing a look at his partner, he figured she also felt very naked without her giant tessen. It was what she had based all her techniques on after all.

Talking about techniques, his options where very limited. Genjutsu was canceled immediately, the girl had proved herself to be an expert. And the man kept blocking their Taijutsu and Ninjutsu with the barriers and body armor. A single bomb in combination with a good technique would be able to blow them up in a few seconds. His family's trade mark techniques would probably be able to do the job, but with Temari standing right next to him, it would be kind of impossible to keep himself to his vows.

"This is so…" 'Troublesome' he ended in his mind as he motioned Temari to come closer to him. "I have a plan."

She tried to jump towards him, keyword 'tried'. Because mid-air she was swiped by a very sticky substance.

In a few seconds, his partner was caught in a web. With spiders. Apparently, she wasn't afraid of spiders, because she was kicking and punching them away with all her mind, tangling herself even more up in the progress. The man seemed to watch, like it was only some kind of game.

"Kidoumaru!" The woman said, "Stop playing around!" And in a split second he was behind her. Shikamaru turned around to kick her now they were distracted, but she was suddenly gone. Instead he felt himself unable to move or even speak, only hearing a soft, cruel melody.

When he wanted to analyze the situation, he found out to his horror that his arm was being morphed into something unnatural, as if it were melting. The burning feeling made his head hazy and the cruel tones of music kept him from focusing.

He didn't need to in order to see that what he was subjected to though: A genjutsu, probably A-level and layered. 'This girl isn't just a pro', he mused while his fingers felt like they were being perished, the pain making becoming more distant and distant as he felt it claiming his conscience together with the E sharp that resonated in his head more than his mother's yells had ever done. 'This is a master of the art.' He somehow found this cruel ability that took away his life force strangely fascinating.

A genjutsu as such was hard to counter, and he had been taught that commonly the only way to survive was to be pulled out of it by a teammate who had an experience with multi layered genjutsu. He doubted Temari even used genjutsu at all.

It was difficult to think, when blood was being mentally drained from you, your body and mind contradicting each other, so why not stop thinking at all?

He closed his eyes only mentally because moving was not possible in the genjutsu, and shut his mind off part by part. Just before he embraced a blank state of mind, he reminded himself to tell Ino that his laziness did pay off: it granted him the natural gift of meditation.

When he heard a disbelieving gasp, he knew it had worked. It was an uncontroversial method of escaping genjutsu that wasn't exactly foolproof, but every jutsu has some kind of risk, or restriction on its use.

Neither Tayuya nor Kidoumaru seemed very amused as he used their short moment of shock to free Temari from the web by pulling her out of it. It took a lot of strength, but by using a back flip, gravity and their momentum, he managed to set her free.

However, while he freed her, Kidoumaru had taken the time to start summoning a monster of his own. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" His yell echoed through the forest as his female partner brought her flute back to her mouth, controlling her own summons as well.

As the cloud of smoke cleared, they stood eye to eye with a giant spider, who wasted no time to release something that Shikamaru identified as an egg sack. "Game over, guys. This is Kyodaigumo" Kidoumaru added, proudly showing off his giant summon. "And here are her kids!" He added in a darker tone, while cutting the sac open.

All kinds of 'baby' spiders came out of it in a few seconds. They crawled up into the trees as Shikamaru and Temari tried to stay away from them, the memory of an exploding spider still fresh in their minds.

However, that was a mistake, Shikamaru realized as soon as the spiders spun a strand of webbing as they fell downwards from the trees, circling them in webbing and sticking them to the ground. These spiders cut of their exits and restricted their movements in less than three seconds time and once again Shikamaru cursed himself for not at least bringing a kunai, a shuriken or anything that cut.

One glance at Temari told him that his partner had a plan. While her arms moved as much as the webbings allowed her to do, she send a gust of air towards the giant spider, cutting through the webbing in the process. Though she wasn't fully released and the spiders keep spinning their webbing around them, she gained enough room to move both her arms, and repeated the raw use of wind element to cut even more strings. He then geot her plan: as the faster of the two and the one who was (sadly) incapable of getting out of their trap, she tried to get out first.

When one final gust blew off the 'ceiling', he saw a giant spider hanging above him and he knew just what she intended him to hit. He vaguely registered the laughter of their enemies as he jumped up and cast a quick assassination technique before either of them has the time to put up barrier.

With the silent whisper of "Dokugiri no Jutsu" a dark substance made out of chakra leaked out of his hands and was pushed skillfully into one of the pressure points of the giant spider before it could react. He flipped back, landing with his back towards his partner, accompanied by a rain of falling spiders. The venom was quick, effective and most of all: lethal.

Kidoumaru whispered a silent "Shit" as his precious summon hit the ground, not yet dead but already to far gone to be saved. His amused expression was gone as the anger took over.

And apparently not anger alone. In the following few seconds, a strange pattern took over his tan complexion and decorated it with various little markings that blend into his skin. Shikamaru could only watch in awe as he saw the humanity fade away before his eyes and replace something akin to demonic.

When he felt another chakra surge, he swore much like the girl who was now transforming as well, smiling cocky at their stupefied faces. "Behold" She said, discarding her headgear so nothing short of horns could replace it. "The power of the sound village!"

Shikamaru was not happy.

Notes:

Title explanation: Shikamaru and Temari face Tayuya, who they would have fought in the canon past. In otherwords: in 'another past'. Deep, ne? Not really actually, but just something to get you on the right track. Look underneath the underneath guys.

Okay, I'm sorry I ever complained about reviewers. I got amazing critics and it made my day. You rock, and so I made fun of my own story, just for you:

Omake!

In the middle of the opening, next to a enormous white bird who seemed to be made out of clay, lied a motionless person on its belly. It didn't take a genius to recognize the red hair and gourd strapped on said person's back.

"You!" He heard Naruto yell at the two other guys, dressed in the typical Akatsuki cloak that marked them as a member or the organization. "You are the Akatsuki!" He continued, stating the obvious and earning a few sweat drops.

"That's right!" The blonde one grinned. One blond lock covered one of his eyes, though it something mechanic was still visible behind it. Something else that was rather striking, was the fact he seemed to miss an arm. That, and the he didn´t seem to miss or care about it. "My name is Deidara!"

"Why did you stop?" Shikamaru wondered out loud, afraid of all the traps they might have prepared for them in the time being. This was Akatsuki after all…

The blonde member rubbed the back of his head. "I had to pee!"

Silence reigned over both our protagonists and antagonists while they watched in disbelief how the blond disappeared behind a bush to… relief himself.

"He's not serious… Right?" Kankurou asked his former mentor, disillusioned.

The redhead merely nodded and said, "I am afraid so. Now, if you take the Jinchuuriki back and leave without saying anything about this, the Akatsuki's reputation might still be saved."

"Deal" Kankurou said, while watching his sister make out with a masked man (how? This is fanfiction, everything is possible) and Kakashi trying to prevent his team from gauging their own eyes out while screaming something about being scarred for live.

He had a feeling everything was going to be just fine…

Yes, I had to make fun of my own story. It's part of who I am! Anyway, thanks for the amazing support. Those who did the effort of PMing me when they couldn't review: I'm touched. I hadn't expected it, at all.

Sound 4/5: Well, as Tayuya explained, most of them are dead. However, I figured that as Orochimaru's former bodyguards, they had to be pretty strong, and I was disappointed how easily they were killed in the manga. That's why I made them a little bit stronger, and gave Temari and Shikamaru a handicap. After all, who goes to a meeting in battle gear? *Cough* Team 7 *Cough*. Also note that the same thing applies for Kankurou. (You'll see next chapter.) Anyway, the reason why Tayuya and Kidoumaru survived is because they are both long range fighters, and would therefore have less trouble getting away in time then the others. Also, Kimimaru was sick. So yeah, he's done for. Shikamaru/Temari Fighting style: So yeah, I gave them a handicap because I thought the battle would be won too easily otherwise. I mean, Shikamaru's sword would make the webbings ineffective and we have all seen how easily Temari blew Tayuya away. And they were still weak back then! Also, some might notice their teamwork isn't optimal, but I'm not going to say anything more about that because it's an important plot point. Well… semi important… I think. Just wait.

Naruto/Gaara talk: I used some original dialogue to keep the story somewhere close to canon. Try to kill me if you want to, YOU'LL NEVER GET ME! XD

For original readers: guess what changed from the original? Exactly; very little. (I originally intended to put the entire fight in this chapter, but the battle was too long and I wanted to kill you with cliffhangers. Yes, there is a sadist somewhere in me)

Anyway, on to the next chapter! Which should be up sometime….