DISCLAIMER REMINDERS: See Chapter 1

Shikamaru fiddled with the envelope in his hand as he walked. Why he should have to be up so freaking early just to deliver it for his mother when his dad was going to be headed past the Hokage's Tower this afternoon was beyond him. His mother's irritating voice rang in his head, determined to remind him.

'Because this paperwork needs to be there by nine o'clock this morning!' she had said. 'This afternoon will be too late, and you should have been up and out of bed an hour ago. Laziness is what will do you in someday, I just know it.'

He rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to launch a mental protest against the demands of bossy women, a flash of white caught his eye in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Yo."

Shikamaru glanced to his left to see Kakashi now walking beside him. "Hey."

Kakashi gestured to the envelope. "Courier duty?"

Shikamaru nodded dejectedly. "My mom."

"Ah."

A couple of strides passed in silence before Shikamaru spoke again. "I saw Genma yesterday. Said you were looking for me?"

"Yeah. Busy tonight?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good. I figure it'd be a good time to start on the next stage."

"Next stage?"

"Hn."

"What might that be?"

"Defense."

Shikamaru took a deep breath and switched the envelope to his other hand. "Another simulation?"

"…you could call it that."

"…right. Dare I ask what else you could call it?"

Kakashi tilted his head to the side a tiny bit. "Genjustu."

"…you want to put me under an illusion?"

Kakashi shrugged a nod. "Close enough."

I'm almost afraid to ask any more, but somehow it doesn't seem wise to jump in blind. Damn.

"How close?"

"It's not just any illusion. I'll be using the Sharingan."

Shikamaru blinked. Had Kakashi really just suggested…?

"Is that…necessary?"

Kakashi nodded. "There are other ways, but none of them will give you a feel for what it's really going to be like. If you want to know your breaking point, then the Sharingan is the best way."

Shikamaru shoved his free hand into his pocket. What in the HELL have I gotten myself into?

Images of Kakashi interrogating the Rain ninja came flooding into his mind, along with the sounds of the unfortunate man's unrestrained screams while under the influence of the Sharingan. And now Kakashi was suggesting that Shikamaru willingly submit to it? An unpleasant shiver worked its way down his spine.

"It's not an order, and I won't force you. But I do think you should consider it."

The younger genius nodded. He was having a little trouble wrapping his brilliant mind around Kakashi-sensei's idea, but he probably should have expected something a little on the extreme side when he accepted the offer for help with interrogation training. After all, it was no secret that Sakura and Naruto had undergone a few…'unorthodox' training exercises during the time they'd spent under the man's instruction. Why would this be any different?

"And you want to do this tonight?"

He nodded. "You don't have to decide right now. I just wanted to give you some time to think about it, since it can be a little intense."

Something tells me that's a bit of an understatement.

"So I'll let you know tonight?"

"Yeah."

There was a momentary pause as Shikamaru's mind raced with questions. He decided to delay asking the ones about tonight, since he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answers anyway.

"Did you ever train under that type of…simulation?"

Kakashi's eye closed upward, revealing that he was grinning as he rubbed the back of his neck idly. "Ah, no. I got launched into the real thing before I had a chance. When I got back from it, I did try some training with Ibiki."

"What kind?"

"…just some traditional style 'simulations'."

"Did they help?"

"Not really. I knew they weren't real."

Shikamaru let out a slow breath. "Ah." They walked in silence for a moment. "What all did they involve?"

Kakashi looked carefully at Shikamaru for a moment before answering.

Probably wondering why I'm asking so many questions. Actually, why am I? …Nerves?

"He went over some resistance techniques with me, and then put them to use. I'll go over that with you tonight, too."

"So…where should I meet you?"

"Same place as before. Around six good?"

Shikamaru nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else I should know about this plan?"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side in thought. "Nothing comes to mind. Whatever you decide, eat a light supper before you come. And you should tell your folks not to worry if you don't come home tonight."

Shikamaru nodded again thoughtfully as he turned the idea over in his mind. The idea still scared him shitless, but then again so did the idea of finding out his breaking point at the hands of the enemy, when lives were at stake and not just his own comfort level.

I've committed to this training already, and I can't quit halfway through. No matter how much I'd like to. It's a pain, but…I don't really have much of a choice. I'm going to have to trust him.

"I'll do it."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "Hm?"

Shikamaru's shoe scuffed the ground and he looked down at it. "The genjutsu you want to use. I don't need all day to think about it. I'll do it."

There was a tense pause for a second, but Kakashi's eye revealed nothing about what he might be thinking.

"I see." After another few seconds of scrutinizing the younger shinobi, Kakashi's expression broke into a friendly grin.

Almost like we weren't just discussing the best way to screw with my head. Go figure.

"Well, I've gotta run. Naruto will be getting impatient…" he looked up at the sky, checking the position of the sun, "oops. He was probably getting impatient half an hour ago." He chuckled sheepishly.

Shikamaru couldn't decide between laughing or rolling his eyes, so he settled on a raised eyebrow as Kakashi gave his signature two-fingered wave and disappeared.

And now…now I have all day to look forward to being tortured. Beautiful.

. . .

Shikamaru looked around the room as he followed Kakashi into it. It was the same room he'd interrogated Genma in several nights ago, and he was surprised to find that it was furnished slightly differently now.

There were still two wooden chairs, but they were pushed against the wall. There was a large water jug in the corner with four cups beside it. A bedroll was spread out against the opposite wall, and Sakura and Genma were seated near the wall opposite the door playing some card game. They looked up when Kakashi and Shikamaru entered.

"Hey."

Shikamaru nodded to them, but he suspected that his face betrayed his confusion at their presence because Kakashi explained.

"Sakura's here because it's a good chance to study the effects of the Sharingan, and just in case things get a little too real."

What the...I guess he means incase I go into shock or something.

"Ah."

"I can't believe you agreed to this, Shikamaru."

He looked at his pink-haired friend for a moment before shrugging noncommittally. She just shook her head.

"I've seen the effects of the Sharingan. They can be pretty harsh."

"That's the point, Sakura. You already checked with Tsunade-sama, remember?"

Her eyes narrowed at her former sensei. "That still doesn't mean I have to like it."

Kakashi grinned with his visible eye and shrugged, and Sakura didn't say anything more. She knew she wasn't going to change their minds.

Shikamaru looked at Genma, who lifted the senbon between his teeth in a friendly acknowledgement and explained.

"I'm extra. Nothing better to do, and Sakura needed some company." He winked at the medic, who rolled her eyes and selected a card from her hand to lay on the ground.

"He's not just extra. You're not going to remember this, so he's here as a witness and in case we need any errands run." Kakashi pulled one of the chairs away from the wall and straddled it backwards, and Shikamaru followed suit.

"I think I told you I'd go over some resistance techniques with you before we start?"

He nodded with an indifferent expression that he wasn't sure he felt.

"Right. So…first…hmm. I think you've figured out by now that mocking is an option. If the interrogator is easily flustered, being a smart-ass can be a good way to turn things around on him."

Shikamaru thought of Genma's cocky expression the other day, and his comments about forgetting birthday cards and the like. He also remembered the unwavering defiance on Kakashi's face when all this had started in that ambush, and he nodded thoughtfully.

"It shows you haven't given up yet."

"Right. And sometimes, you're going to need to remind yourself of that as much as them."

I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense. He nodded again.

"Other than that…when he's attacking you directly, you have to distance yourself from the pain when it starts to be too much. Try to pass out if you can, or start thinking clinically of the injuries. When you start to think that way, it can take your mind off the pain and help you assess what damage you're taking."

"In images?"

"If that's the way your mind works, then yes. Anything for a distraction, and broken bones are pretty easy to picture. Think about exactly what's moving and how, and whether or not it should be moving. If it makes you sick to think about, then find something else to contemplate."

"Seems simple enough."

"Hn. If he's attacking someone you care about…it depends on the person."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"This is going to sound pretty harsh, but you have to decide first if they're going to carry through with a threat, and if they are, then you have to decide if more lives can be saved by giving up the information or by letting them carry through."

"You mean…"

Kakashi's voice was cold and empty for a moment. "Yes. I mean that sometimes, you have to let them go. Particularly if the information you're guarding could cost a catastrophic amount of lives, and the person being threatened recognizes it and is willing to die to protect those lives."

"And how do you cope with that?"

"You tell yourself that it's an illusion. The person isn't really there. And if you find out later that they really did die for the information, you know that person is a hero and you live to make them proud."

"Is that illusion a common tactic?"

"I've seen it a couple of times. Ibiki uses it a good deal."

"And if they're not willing, or are too important?"

"I can't answer that for you. Just know that sometimes, you have to put the lives of the many before the lives of a few."

Shikamaru's throat was dry so he just nodded again, then looked to Kakashi for whatever he was going to say next. "Anything else I should know?"

The copy ninja regained his normal cheery demeanor. "Anything else, you're going to have to learn on your own."

"So now what?"

"Now we get started."

He gestured toward the bedroll, and the younger genius raised his eyebrow. He could feel the two card-playing ninjas' eyes on him as Kakashi answered the unspoken question.

"You're going to collapse…might as well avoid a concussion. Take a seat against the wall."

Unable to argue with that logic, Shikamaru moved toward the place Kakashi had gestured at. Sakura put her cards face down on the ground and gave Genma a threatening glare before joining him.

Once he was seated semi-cross-legged in the center of the bedroll, Sakura crouched beside him. "Before you get started, I just want to check your vitals for a baseline comparison."

She gestured for his hand and he complied. Her fingers slipped under the wristband of his netted undershirt sleeves to rest on his pulse point, and for several seconds the room was silent as she stared intently at her watch. Finally she nodded and released his wrist.

Next she formed a seal and her hand glowed a very faint shade of green, and she laid it over his heart in what he recognized as the standard procedure for checking blood pressure. After a couple of seconds, she broke the silence in the room with a soft voice. "Nervous?"

Am I that obvious? Then again, she probably knows the signs…

"Some."

She dropped her hand from its position on his chest. "You'll be fine. Look down."

She moved her hand to the back of his neck under the collar of his vest when he obeyed, probably checking his temperature and seeing how tense he was. After a couple of seconds she sat back and he looked up again.

"Alright. That's all I need."

Shikamaru nodded and she knelt beside him, waiting for Kakashi.

The copy ninja crouched in front of Shikamaru as he pulled his forehead protector up to reveal the eye he usually kept hidden. The younger genius tried not to look nervous.

Part of him wanted to ask what to expect, but the other part suspected that he didn't want to know. This was a weapon about to be used on him, and he had to remember that he did trust its user.

"You ready?"

"Not really."

"Last chance to change your mind."

"I wish."

Kakashi nodded. "Let's make sure we're clear. You're here because you want to know your breaking point, right?"

He nodded.

"I'll try not to screw you up too badly, and once we're done, if you want I can go back and erase some of the more…intense parts. I'll leave that up to you."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, unsure how to respond. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Genma shake his head in either pity or disbelief as Kakashi continued.

"Whatever it takes, though, I will break you. Is that what you're here for?"

He swallowed as the images of Kakashi in ANBU Interrogation mode flashed through his head. This time he knew exactly what he was getting himself into, and it was already scaring him shitless. Once again, he wished he could quit but knew he was already in way too deep to back out. He took a deep breath.

"…yeah."

"Sakura, Genma. Look away for a minute."

Shikamaru saw them both turn their heads and instinctively close their eyes, and he felt his stomach tighten and his heart rate speed up. Kakashi had both eyes open now, but hadn't yet activated the Sharingan.

"Shikamaru, look at me."

He did, expecting to be plunged into some terrible genjutsu instantly. Instead, Kakashi was just looking back at him for the time being.

"Trust me."

"…I do."

In the next instant, Shikamaru saw the Sharingan begin to swirl and felt his body jerk and then slump against the wall.

. . .

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Shikamaru rolled over, finding that every muscle in his body seemed sore like he'd given two hundred percent in training against…maybe…Naruto. Yeah, that would feel about like this. He groaned. Why the hell is this bed so hard?

Thunk thunk.

Thunk.

He sat up wearily, determined to put an end to whatever was thunking and interrupting his much needed sleep. When he opened his eyes, though, he was startled to find himself not in his own bedroom. Instead, he was in the small extra room in the basement of the Jonin Headquarters, alone and lying on the bedroll from…

Last night!

He couldn't remember anything after he'd passed out, but…Kakashi had said that he wouldn't remember, right? But then why would he have offered in advance to erase the more intense parts? Maybe he already had? And where was he, anyway? Sakura's and Genma's card game lay scattered on the floor where they'd apparently left it, so where were they?

Thunk.

Shikamaru brought his hand up to rub his forehead. As much as he wanted to roll back over and go back to sleep, he just couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone wrong. There's no way all three of them would just disappear without leaving a note or something, at least, and they definitely would have picked up the cards on their way out if they weren't in a hurry.

Damn. I'm going to have to check it out.

He painfully pushed himself off the ground, pulling some jerky out of his emergency rations pocket as he made his way across the room, out the door, down the corridor and back up the stairs. What he saw when he got to the top of the stairway shocked him, and he paused in chewing the dried meat.

There was blood, and a lot of it. Two bodies he didn't recognize were draped over the front desk, and kunai, shiruken, and other weapons were embedded in walls, doorways, and various pieces of furniture. Suddenly he had a terrifying idea of what might have been thunking. There was a battle going on somewhere close, and the sound of weapons being embedded into the outside wall sounded suspiciously like a 'thunk.'

Shaking off the last of his tiredness and wishing he could do the same to the soreness in his muscles, he instantly went into stealth mode. As he moved swiftly and silently toward the front desk, he took inventory of the situation.

Unknown number of attackers, probably took us completely by surprise. Objective unknown…identity…He looked around for any hint or clue, but found nothing but blood and a single Konoha forehead protector. Identity unclear. My chakra's at about 20% -damn I wish I could remember last night!- I need to find out what's going on.

He'd reached the desk by now, and he crept behind it for cover. He could now see the faces of the two shinobi slumped over the top of it, and he recognized them as the two that had come on duty the night before as he and Kakashi were just heading downstairs. He checked each of them for a pulse, and finding none, he swept his hand over their unseeing eyes to close them.

Still warm. That means the attack probably came in the past few hours, and enemy ninja could very well still be around.

He snuck back over to the door, looking out carefully and taking stock. There were bodies scattered over the stairs and the street, both Konoha shinobi and enemies. The one enemy he could see clearly looked like a chuunin from the Land of Snow.

He could see fights still going on down the street. Several of the Jonin and chuunin –some he recognized and some he didn't –were fighting hard against the few remaining enemies, along with about twenty Narutos. The academy looked like it had been cut off from escape as part of the enemy's initial attack in order to force some of Konoha's ninja to defend it, thereby reducing the active general defenses. Terrified children were crowded in the yard, most of them crying but a few of the braver ones brandishing kunai from behind Sakura's legs.

Shikamaru spotted Genma covering Sakura and the kids from above, and Ino and Kiba had taken up positions between the main fight down the street and the academy. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, but he could hear another fight going on somewhere behind the Jonin building and guessed that Kakashi was probably over there, along with Gai, Tsunade, and whoever else was missing from this fight but not dead.

He stealthily made his way around the building, observing that the fight here seemed to be almost won and under control and the one over there sounded a lot more volatile.

He'd just rounded the corner enough to see a giant dust cloud rise into the air when he spotted Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino making a run for the trees. They were making decent speed, but Kurenai's pregnant condition was slowing them down. He was with them in an instant, running beside them.

"What's happening?"

Kurenai ducked behind a tree, and her two escorts did the same. She held her swollen belly for a second as she caught her breath.

"Snow shinobi attacked at dawn. Tsunade sent a messenger bird to Suna for backup, but they're not going to make it in time."

"What's their objective?"

"We don't know, but it seems like they want something from inside the library."

"The library?"

Hinata spoke up for the first time.

"I heard one of them mention the Scroll of the Second Hokage, where he wrote the secrets of an ice jutsu. But it's not in the library!"

"Where is it then?"

This time Shino spoke up. "Hokage-sama asked me to hide it with my bugs, because they can get to places humans are not able to access."

"Is it accessible at all?" Shikamaru asked.

"Only by breaking the Hokage's desk, because I instructed my bugs to hide it in the wood there."

Shikamaru almost commented on Shino's curious hiding place, but decided against it. The kid was weird. "Where are you going?"

Hinata answered. "We're escorting Kurenai-sensei to a cave out here. She can't fight like this."

Shikamaru nodded approvingly. "Good. What's the situation back there?"

Kurenai answered. "Kakashi and Anko are fighting there, along with Tsunade-sama. ANBU is helping, but most of them have left to pursue fleeing Snow nin so it's just the ranked Shinobi. Gai is dead, and so are Raido and Shizune."

"What?"

"They fell in battle, in the first wave of the attack. Lee's been going crazy, fighting like there's no tomorrow, and Neji has taken a team to search the village for more enemies. You should go help the Hokage's fight. That's where the ring-leaders are, and they'll be causing the most trouble."

I really want to make sure Kurenai gets out of harm's way, but…my duty is here and these two are more than capable. Not to mention, Kurenai's a jonin herself. As much as I want to go with them, I'm going to have to trust these two.

"Right. Hinata, Shino, make sure Kurenai is safe. Hinata, stay with her. Shino, come back and join this fight."

"Hai!" Hinata accepted the order, and Kurenai looked like she thought about objecting but didn't say anything. Shino just nodded, and Shikamaru left to join the fight.

He was just about to round the corner of the Jonin building again when he was stopped by a kunai at his throat.

"What the-"

The kunai pulled dangerously tighter, and Shikamaru shut up instantly and his hand started drifting toward his kunai pouch.

"We're going to have a little chat. I saw you talking to those three."

Shikamaru tensed, looking for his chance to break free and kill this enemy.

"Don't worry, I'm not ignoring them. They'll be back in good time, when things die down enough for my men to track them. Unless, of course, you cooperate."

Shikamaru forced his body to relax a little, but his mind was still racing. What did this person want, and who was he? Were Kurenai and her baby in danger? His heart was in his throat.

Shino, please go against my orders and stay with them! Hinata, Kurenai, watch out!

"We're going to go back into this building right here, and we're going to have a little chat." Shikamaru felt the tight arm holding his left arm let go, and he saw his chance. In a heartbeat he had his kunai drawn to fight this enemy, but he was shocked when he found himself abruptly disarmed and with a rather large gash up his arm. He also found himself pinned to the ground and unable to move.

"I thought you might try something like that. You just experienced my Bloodline Limit."

Shit. What the hell…?

The man sitting on his back chuckled darkly.

"I can use metal jutsu to attract your weapons. Isn't that fun? That means any metal weapons you try to use against me are going to do you more harm than good." As he spoke, Shikamaru felt his hands being tied with some type of twine.

"And you may recognize this. It's chakra-eating rope. If you try to use any jutsu, this rope will intercept it and you've wasted energy." He finally stood up from off of Shikamaru, who found himself having trouble moving at his normal speed due to the soreness still embedded in every muscle of his body and the chakra-eating restraints. His attacker brusquely hauled him to his feet, causing the genius to wince at the roughness. Soon enough he felt a kunai back at his throat and he was being led back into the Jonin Headquarters he'd just woken up in.

He couldn't help a rueful sigh.

I guess it's a good thing I went through that training with Kakashi-sensei last night…here's hoping I can remember some of it.

. . .

The man deposited Shikamaru in a wooden chair. They were in a seemingly random office that had been ransacked and mostly cleared out, save for the furniture and a few papers strewn about. A wooden chair similar to the ones downstairs had been brought in, and this is what Shikamaru found himself sitting in.

For the first time, he got to take a look at his captor. The man was large, but not fat, and his long hair was light brown. His eyes were black and gritty, his mouth a little too large and menacing, and his nose looked like it had been broken a time or two. There was a tattoo across his cheek and forehead, and a scar ran lengthwise through it. There was another scar on the side of his neck, leading down to end somewhere under his trenchcoat.

As soon as the man had secured him to the chair with more of the energy-draining twine, he set about disarming him fully. The kunai pouch was removed from his thigh by the man's kunai slashing across the white wrappings holding it in place, and the man was none too gentle about it. Blood began to seep from Shikamaru's thigh in a vertical line as the white wrappings fell to the ground, along with the weapons holster. He winced.

Next was his hip pouch, which the man cut away by slicing his belt and pulling it out from behind him. Shikamaru watched where he put it on the desk, knowing that Asuma's chakra-blades were in there and he'd very much like to use them later.

Next went his vest and anything useful that might be in it, as the man shoved his kunai under the shoulder of it and yanked upward. He did the same thing on the other side, cutting all the way from the top of the armhole to the collar in one swift motion. Shikamaru noted that the weapon didn't actually touch his neck, though it did bite into each of his shoulders.

Once it was loose, the man cut down each side of the vest, and the front of it fell forward uselessly. Shikamaru was correct when he guessed his shirt would be next, as it wasn't uncommon for shinobi to carry hidden weapons under their clothes. The man's kunai started at his collar and pulled straight down, cutting both his shirt and his netted undershirt with a single motion and barely scraping the tip against his chest. That stung a little, but he'd had worse papercuts.

Finally, after he'd finished cutting Shikamaru's shirts away, the man seemed satisfied that the genius had been sufficiently disarmed.

"Now, let's see. Where to begin."

Shikamaru said nothing, and the man pulled up the cushy desk chair and took a seat facing him. The man toyed with a kunai as he smiled a little too pleasantly.

"Tell me a little about yourself. Name, rank, hobbies, interests, weaknesses, you know. The usual."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. Seriously?

The man leaned forward in his chair to rest his elbows on his knees. "Come on now, don't be shy. What's your name?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Fuck you."

"Nice to meet you. Rank?"

He said nothing, and the man flicked his wrist. Shikamaru started at the sudden thud that resounded through the room, and he looked down at the place the sound had come from. He did his best to keep the nauseous expression off his face, but his balls tightened –and not in the good way- when he saw the kunai embedded in the wooden chair just a couple of inches below his crotch.

"I asked you a question, son. What's your rank?"

Shikamaru's mind was racing. This guy seemed serious enough…but to show any weakness now would definitely hurt him when the man got around to asking the questions he was really interested in.

This is it. This is where I find out if I've got what it takes…DAMN why can't I remember the training last night!?

"Fuck. You."

The man grinned.

"You've got balls, kid. And since I'm a nice guy, I'll let you keep them for a while." He stood up. "But you are gonna tell me what I wanna know. We'll just have to find out what your weakness is, won't we?" The man towered over him for a moment, then reached down and grabbed the weapon from between Shikamaru's legs. He pulled it out with a flourish, causing the tip to graze high on the inside of the genius's thigh. Fortunately, it missed the femoral artery.

Only early morning, and already it was shaping up to be a hell of a day. Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed, resigned to face his fears.