Team Aeternum: From Heaven to Hell

by TheRedGhillie

Brought together by a promise from before their time, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame are thrown into the world to show what they are made of! Trained by Jiraiya and Yugao Uzuki, these three were brought together to keep Konoha safe, but not everything is what it appears to be. When two higher powers take an interest in the trio, the world will never be the same!

6. Notoriety

Team Aeternum: From Heaven to Hell

Chapter 6: Notoriety

I do not own Naruto.

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"The bigger you are the more people are willing to bring you down. That, is notoriety."

- Unknown

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Chapter Start

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The building itself was imposing to the eye. Three floors composed the building and on each metal catwalk that glazed the outer walls of the floors were heavily armed guards patrolling back and forth. Around the building were wire fences about six feet tall and were lined with barbed wire at the top. The amount of security made this place seem more like a fortress than anything else - and for good reason too.

In the case of an uprising - chances were slim, but who knows? - these extra parameters would certainly be able to hold back any number of fed up villagers before the armed guards did their job.

This was the western wall they were looking at.

"Damn, this place is locked up tight!" Naruto half whispered from the brush they were hiding in. They've been observing the building for the better part of an hour, trying to discover the possible ways to breach the building without getting caught.

"Figures." Shikamaru eyed the roof. "Well, we have about a week to learn the ins ands outs of this place." Shikamaru grabbed a stick and drew a rough sketch of the building.

"We'll each make four clones and place them here, here, here and here..." He drew four x's around the sketch - three smaller ones around each wall.

"...to keep an eye on the guard shifts - both roof and catwalk."

He pointed to Shino. "We're going to need to know how the interior looks like; we need eyes inside."

"How does five million sound?" He raised his arm and lowered his sleeve, letting a swarm of his kikaichū roam free.

Shikamaru nodded. "Make it happen." He turned to Naruto. "The clones are going to be here awhile, so they'll need a chakra supply. What do you have, Naruto?"

The blonde put a hand over his right side, above his ribs, and pulled out more than several dozens of blue bottles. "Chakra regeneration potions; these will keep anybody supplied with chakra for at least six hours."

Shikamaru nodded. "Great. We'll give each group several potions and alternate who dispels and when." The Nara turned his attention back to the building and found what he was looking for. "Over there, second floor above the catwalk. The ventilation grate? That's where they'll enter from, Shino."

Shino nodded as he ordered his bugs to wait in front of the seal Naruto placed on the ground.

"How accurate are you with that thing?" Shikamaru asked as he saw the blonde fold another seal into a paper airplane.

"I haven't missed yet." Was all the blonde said as he closed his right eye. He brought the paper airplane up and aimed for a second before letting it go.

"Now comes the hard part." Naruto mumbled as he channeled chakra into his fingers and lungs.

As the paper airplane flew, it began to lose altitude. Naruto saw this and in returned moved his hand upward slightly as he breathed out, causing a small air current to escape his mouth before it came into contact with the plane. As Naruto raised his hand, the air current rose as well; picking up the airplane before it hit the ground. The blonde tilted his wrist upwards as he let a stronger breath out, causing a larger current of air to form. The airplane rose tremendously, passing the fence before hitting the destined wall two inches away from the ventilation grate.

"Nice!" Shikamaru praised his friend before the two seals activated. The paper airplane had flattened itself against the wall to its original shape and stayed there.

"Seals are active, Shikamaru." Naruto informed the Nara.

"You heard him, Shino. Move them in."

Shino nodded before his kikaichū began to warp through the transportation seal, sending them to the one on the wall ahead.

The bugs then traveled through the ventilation grate to begin their reconnaissance of the building's interior.

"They are in." Shino confirmed as he began to receive the information.

Shikamaru nodded. "Let's make the clones, set them in place and leave it up to them."

The clones were made, given the proper instructions and set in place.

The stakeout was made, but for what?

The Next Morning...?

Naruto, Shikamaru and Shino silently entered Tazuna's home and snuck in to the empty guest room for some shut eye. The whole process concerning the building took over a couple hours, but the information they got from it more than made up for their efforts.

The moon was still out.

"GOOD MORNING, FELLOW COMRADES!" Lee burst through the door, making the trio jump up in fright. "THIS IS NO TIME TO REST, COMRADES! TIME TO TRAIN!" He yelled with enthusiasm before running past the hall. Tenten and Neji walked calmly behind the Gai-look-alike. Tenten peered into the room.

"Up and at 'em, you three. You're wasting moonlight." She laughed before walking pasting them.

It was five in the morning.

xxOxx

"This is insane..." Shikamaru rubbed his eyes. "Who trains at five in the morning?!" He yawned.

"Apparently they do." Shino remarked, his voice heavier than usual.

Naruto's head bobbed downwards, but caught himself from falling asleep.

The trio had, reluctantly, followed Team Gai's students into a small clearing in the woods. The team had begun to train their techniques by sparring.

The trio was leaning against a tree, several yards away as they watched the sparring match between Neji and Lee taking place. Tenten was practicing several katas with a large bo-staff.

The match between Neji and Lee was somewhat one-sided in the Hyūga's favor. Naruto had to hand it to Lee, however. The spandex clad guy was extremely fast in his attacks, but struggled against the Hyūga's defenses. The blonde wondered how he would fare against either of the guys in front of him.

Who knows?

Shikamaru viewed the match differently. He viewed Lee's efforts as commendable in terms of tenacity, but foolish in efficiency. Lee fought with fast and precise strikes; against another opponent, that strategy would work, but not on someone who worked with you daily.

Lee twirled before delivering two kicks on to Neji's torso, only for the Hyūga to intercept his first kick with a defensive arm held out in front of him. Lee then rolled to the right to avoid a counterattack.

'There.' Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. 'Lee needs to attack him from the sides or the back in order to get a hit in, but the Hyūga is constantly facing him no matter what he does. Lee needs to hold back and use strafing attacks to even have a chance at getting a hit.'

Just then, after a failed knee kick, Neji struck Lee five times across the chest, sending him barreling backwards.

Through their groggy state, the trio winced at the attack. Lee was grasping his chest while he heaved for air.

"Try harder next time, Lee." Was all Neji said before crossing his arms.

'What a dick.' Was the collective thought of the trio at that moment.

Neji glanced over at the trio and scoffed.

Shino jerked his head back suddenly as a kunai whizzed by before planting itself into the base of the tree.

The trio turned to look at Tenten. She had the bo-staff planted upright against the ground with one hand on her hips.

"Since we're going to be grouped up, why don't we spar, Shino-san?" She cocked a grin.

Lee had recovered at that point. "Excellent idea, Tenten! Come, let us spar, Naruto-kun!" He motioned over with a hand.

Neji nodded. "Care to back up your claim from the other night, Nara?" The Hyūga smirked.

Shikamaru and Shino looked at Naruto. He mumbled. "Yeah, yeah... I got it..." He yawned as he placed a hand over his abdomen, removing three green bottles from a seal. He handed a bottle to each one of his friends before they removed the cork and chugged the potion.

The trio's spines straightened up as their energy and stamina came roaring back in waves. They felt well rested and rejuvenated.

The trio got up; Shino removed the kunai from the tree before approaching Tenten.

"Just a spar?"

She grinned. "Sure."

He had a feeling this wasn't going to be "just a spar", but he ignored it. Shikamaru had already approached Neji and Naruto's personal space had already been invaded by Lee.

He wished them luck.

xxOxx

Tenten smiled, but inwardly smirked. "Let's establish the rules." He shrugged an okay. "No explosives - we cannot afford to catch this place up in flames, got it?"

Shino raised an eyebrow. "I assume weapons are going to be allowed?" He asked casually.

As a reply, Tenten grabbed her bo-staff and slammed it against the floor.

"I see."

She nodded. "You ready?" Tenten asked as she charged the Aburame.

Shino barely managed to nod before he stepped back, narrowly avoiding a crushing blow from the bo-staff as Tenten swung it horizontally. He was in an obvious disadvantage since his main method of attacking was ruled out, but he was far from defenseless.

"So you're good at dodging, that's for sure." Tenten grunted in effort as every strike of her bo-staff was avoided.

Shino narrowed his eyes as he jumped to avoid a sweep aimed at his legs. She was good at establishing a range, he noted, as every attempt to approach her was met with a strike from her bo-staff. Shino was being forced to stay at least six feet away at all times.

She grinned. "Getting tired?"

He simply shook his head; a negative.

She smirked viciously. "Then get ready to be!" She warned as she threw the bo-staff up in the air before unleashing a volley of shuriken from a small scroll. The shuriken traveled in a straight horizontal wave, giving Shino the options to either, jump or slide to avoid getting skewered.

Shino saw the bait to a trap, but chose the easier one to deal with. He ran at the volley of weapons before sliding underneath the wave of shuriken, only to see Tenten catch her bo-staff before bringing it down on him.

Shino, mid-slide, raised his hands to catch the staff, sending large waves of pain to travel down his arms and into his shoulders as he intercepted the attack. He had caught the bo-staff at the center of its length, leaving him only a couple of feet from the bun haired girl.

"Not bad, not bad." Tenten admitted through gritted teeth as she pulled on the weapon; attempting to get the bo-staff under her control once again. "Bet it hurt like hell though, huh?" She smirked.

Shino did not answer as he wrapped his right arm around the weapon - pinning it under his forearm - before reaching his left arm outwards. A swarm of kikaichū poured out from underneath his sleeve, traveling the length of the bo-staff towards the girl.

Tenten gasped before releasing her weapon, giving Shino full control. She rolled backwards before landing on her feet.

"So you have my staff, big deal. Do you even know how to use it?"

Shino shook his head as he fixed his grasp on the weapon. He held it surprisingly similar to how she did. "But I can adapt quickly." Was all Shino said before he slammed it on the ground as she had done so earlier.

Tenten's eyes widened for a moment before a grin formed on her face. "Let's see what you got, then!" The girl encouraged before running towards him.

Shino recalled the way Tenten had held the weapon as he tried to mimic the action. Once the girl was within the staff's range, Shino swung the weapon horizontally as she had, but only for her to easily sidestep the attack entirely. Shino felt as if the weapon was cumbersome, but knew that it was his lack of experience that made the weapon seem that way.

"Doesn't seem so easy now, does it?" Tenten mocked as she closed the distance between them.

Shino jumped back as he lifted the bo-staff to do an overhead attack, but failed as he brought it down too quickly, giving Tenten enough time to slam a foot on the Aburame's chest. Shino recoiled, letting go of the weapon as he rolled backwards to avoid any following attacks.

"So close, but still so far!" Tenten laughed as she held the staff above her in triumph.

Shino stayed crouched with one knee on the ground.

"You seem to have forgotten about something, Tenten-san." He said as he stood on both feet. He held out his left hand.

Startled, Tenten threw the weapon to the side before it dissolved into millions of bugs.

"When did you-"

"Back when I first released my swarm, after I caught your staff. You rolled backwards, giving me time to begin forming a duplicate." Shino explained casually.

Tenten frowned. "Then where's the original?"

"Right behind you." Shino replied from in front and behind Tenten, startling her.

She immediately rolled forward, barely avoiding another clumsy strike from the bo-staff.

"A clone?" There was an excited tone that came from her voice.

"Indeed." They both replied evenly.

Tenten was in between both of them, her eyes darted back and forth as her hands moved towards the scroll on her back.

"It's been a while since I've entertained two guests simultaneously..." She remarked before pulling out two steel batons, one in each hand. "...but I wouldn't mind trying again!" She challenged with an intricate display of mastery as she got into a pose.

Shino nodded at his clone behind her before they both charged the girl in the center. The bo-staff was brought down from above to serve as the initial strike, but got parried as Tenten crossed both batons together to stop the impact before she dragged the weapons to the side. Shino lost control of the staff and let it go.

Seems he would have to fight barehanded once again.

As the clone approached from behind, Tenten moved her right hand behind her back to counter a punch with the baton. The clone recoiled from the hit but charged again along with the original.

"That's more like it!" Tenten applauded verbally as she countered every hit that came her way with batons. Shino, his clone and Tenten moved as one in an intricate dance-like movement as every hit, no matter where it came from, was parried with ease by Tenten and her steel batons.

Tenten twisted and turned her body to the beat of the attacks as her arms bent, turned and relaxed to match the flurry of strikes. With every counter came a *ting!* from the steel absorbing the hits.

The "dance" lasted for about five minutes before the clone dispelled from the constant counters.

"That...was so cool!" Tenten fell on her backside as she heaved for air. She laughed in between breaths.

Shino was breathing slightly heavier than usual, but was momentary as he regained his stamina.

The two sparring partners looked at one another.

"I haven't had that kind of rush in a very long time!" Tenten exclaimed as she finally caught her breath.

Shino walked up to her and offered his hand. She looked at it for a moment before accepting it.

His larger, soft, pale hand met with her smaller, calloused one as he helped her up.

He was not at all surprised when she pulled a kunai on his throat with her free hand.

She was only slightly surprised when he pulled her kunai from before towards her stomach with his free hand.

The hand they shared tightened.

"It seems we're at a draw, bug boy." She huffed with amusement.

"Look again, Tenten-san." He advised.

Tenten looked at the hand they shared for a second before a single beetle nestled out of there. It crawled to her arm and it stayed there.

"Y-You...ass!" She laughed as she dropped the kunai from his personal space. "Was it in your palm?"

Shino dropped the kunai from her stomach. He nodded, causing her to laugh harder. Shino looked at the hands they were still sharing and let it go suddenly. Tenten noticed as well, causing her to look away.

Shino recovered quickly as he put his hands in his pockets.

He was expecting something.

Tenten scoff-laughed before shaking her head. "Oh, hell no! I don't care what you say - we had a draw, understand?!"

"I understand." He said simply.

"Do you, now?" Tenten asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Are you just comforting me?"

"Perhaps."

"...bastard..." Tenten laughed.

xxOxx

Naruto had been hugged by an overexcited Lee the moment they got close, making the blonde laugh awkwardly. He glanced over to his friends and wished them luck.

Lee let go of Naruto before jogging in place. "How would you like to go about this spar, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto popped his joints as he stretched. "Well, you're mostly a taijutsu, so let's make things even. No jutsu and no weapons, how does that sound?"

Lee stopped in place as he put a hand on his chin. "I don't know, Naruto-kun. You may want to rely on some jutsu when fighting with me - no offense. I tend to give it my all during spars!" Lee warned good naturedly.

"So do I. Don't hold back, I think I can keep up." Naruto replied as he placed his hoodie over his head.

"Yosh! I admire your confidence! Let's begin!" Lee exclaimed before rushing Naruto. The blonde got ready to strike as his hands closed into a fist.

Lee was fast; freakishly fast, Naruto figured out soon enough as Lee closed the distance between them almost instantly. The blonde stayed calm as his body got ready for anything that came his way.

As soon as Lee got within range, Naruto threw a hard punch, aiming to strike Lee's head. Lee avoided the attack by using his initial momentum to slide beneath Naruto's fist. Lee prepared to perform a leg sweep mid-slide but was caught off guard by Naruto's almost instantaneous body roll backwards.

Naruto had been conditioned by his father in the ways of his clan's fighting style, which excelled in flexibility and reflexes as much as it did with physical strength. If Naruto even had a shadow of a doubt that his attack will miss, he was trained to avoid any counter hit the opponent had.

Naruto recovered quickly from the roll, landing on his feet as he had already turned to face Lee.

The blonde relaxed his body as he charged ahead. Lee followed his example.

Lee expected another punch to come his way as they approached one another, and prepared to counter with a kick, but the punch never came as Naruto strafed to the left a moment before they met. Lee had to quickly fix his position in order to face the blonde, but was too late to do so.

'That's your problem Lee; you're too fast; if an opponent suddenly veers directions you'll be left wide open!' Naruto thought as he delivered two body shots, a left punch to Lee's ribs followed by a right hook on the exact spot. Naruto attempted to squeeze in a kick, but Lee recovered too quickly, forcing the blonde to perform another roll to the right.

Lee winced from the two hits, but recovered quickly to try and counter Naruto, but the blonde had rolled out of the way.

"That is a rather strange fighting style, Naruto-kun." He admitted as he rubbed his side for a second.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Naruto joked before raising his hands up in front of him, challenging Lee to another rush.

Lee accepted the challenge with a running start. Lee's attacks were fast and spontaneous; made to hit hard on an opponent who failed to match his speed, while Naruto's attacks were more precise; sacrificing some speed for better accuracy.

The spar was getting nowhere as Naruto successfully used his flexibility to twist and turn from Lee's strikes. The blonde needed to connect one strong attack to begin a chain, but he had no opening to do so thanks to Lee's speed. In order to connect an attack, Naruto would have to take one of Lee's to get an opening.

Naruto stayed his ground, only sidestepping instead of rolling in order to stay within a certain distance to Lee. It was only after sidestepping several kicks did Lee try one of his flashier attacks, a spinning leg kick.

'Now's my chance!' Naruto thought as he raised his left arm to expose his side to the kick. Naruto braced himself as Lee's kick smashed into his side, sending massive amounts of pain throughout his body. The blonde didn't stammer, however, as he quickly lowered his left arm to pin Lee's leg into place.

Lee struggled in an attempt to free his leg but had no success as the blonde held a monstrous grip.

'Now!' Naruto pulled back his right, prepping a punch as his hand curled into a fist. Naruto groaned before delivering an uppercut-like punch to the underside of Lee's leg, causing the spandex-clad boy to cry out in pain.

Naruto released Lee's leg, causing it to buckle under the weight as it touched the ground. Lee's leg was not responding at the moment as Lee went down in one knee.

This was the Kizaki clan's technique that made their fighting style so effective: hit-stun.

Hit-stun refers to the slight knock back one goes through when they get hit with an attack, but is drastically altered in the hands of a Kizaki.

Many ninja use chakra to augment their strength through their muscles to broaden their abilities. Not the Kizaki, no, they conditioned their bodies to be physically strong and use their chakra for a different purpose.

Channeling their chakra to certain spots of their body (fists, legs, knees, anything used to strike an opponent), the Kizaki developed a method to stop an enemy completely for a short while. To explain, when a Kizaki punches an opponent, the chakra pooled in their fist gets shot outward towards the point of impact; the chakra travels through the muscle, effectively numbing the limb/area that got hit. As an added effect, a hit that uses this technique will more often than not cause an enemy to either flinch or stagger - which is where the name hit-stun comes from.

There are drawbacks to this technique, however. Channeling chakra to a certain body part takes time and concentration - the amount needed depends on the type of strike - a kick will take longer to channel chakra than it will take for a punch. Another unique drawback is that the opponent will almost always recover from hit-stun before another hit-stun attack can take place. Naruto knew this drawback, and was not going to try to go for another attack like that.

Lee clutched his numb leg, slowly feeling a sensation come back to it. Before Lee could fully recover, however, Naruto tackled him onto the ground before delivering swift body shots to his chest in rapid succession. Lee soon caught his bearings before he shoved the blonde back where he then bent back his fully operational legs to kick the blonde further away.

Lee placed a hand on his aching chest, a burning sensation lingered. The pain reminded Lee of Neji's attacks, except this pain was wide, not narrow.

"You still good to go, Lee?" Naruto asked as he stood up from the ground.

"Yosh! In fact, I feel motivated enough to give it 100% now!" Lee exclaimed, a fire burning in both of his eyes.

Naruto went wide-eyed as Lee almost blurred out of sight. The blonde sensed something behind him, barely giving him enough time to brace himself from a series of kicks that floored him.

Naruto got on all fours in an attempt to get up but immediately rolled out of the way before a greenish missile smashed into the spot he was in.

'This is unreal!' Naruto mentally panicked as he narrowly avoided Lee's barrage of attacks.

Naruto had less than a second to dodge another strike from above. This continued for what seemed like a couple of minutes before Naruto adjusted to the scenario.

Roll, roll again.

Check for any disturbances in the area - leaves falling, grass moving suddenly, etc.

Roll once, wait, and then repeat.

After he rolled once again, Naruto predicted the next direction Lee was going to come from based on the direction he had used last time.

Naruto immediately turned to his left and saw a tree branch shake.

'Now!' Naruto prepped his body before extending a leg outwards to the direction of the tree branch. The moment Naruto's leg fully extended outwards, it was met with Lee's chin as the spandex-clad boy collided with Naruto's leg. At that exact moment, however, Lee's stretched out leg struck Naruto's head.

Lee was launched backwards before hitting a tree.

Naruto was smashed into the ground before he skid a couple of feet thanks to the force of Lee's kick.

Lee groaned as he rubbed the underside of his chin.

Naruto moaned as he placed a hand over his face.

"Draw?" Naruto offered groggily.

"...It was an intense spar...Naruto-kun!" Lee agreed, sounding slightly out of it.

Both boys went limp as their minds shut down.

xxOxx

Shikamaru slowly walked up to the Hyūga, his arms crossed the entire time he walked.

The Hyūga faced the Nara. "I have no interest in sparring you."

Shikamaru shrugged. "The feeling is mutual."

Neji turned to face Tenten's spar against the Aburame.

'The bo-staff, Tenten?' Neji smirked before turning to face Shikamaru. "You mentioned your level of skill the other day. Was that all talk, or is there a hint of truth?" The Hyūga inquired, slightly impressed when the Aburame caught hold of the bo-staff.

Slightly.

"You won't see it here, Hyūga." Shikamaru replied as he kept an eye on Naruto's spar with Lee. 'Damn, he's fast.'

"Explain."

"I hardly think you're as effective on your own than when you're with your team." Shikamaru complied vaguely.

"I can hold my own quite nicely, Nara." Neji was in no mood for wordplay, it seemed. Neji turned just in time to see Shino take control of the bo-staff.

Shikamaru nodded. "As you say." He thought of his next words for a second or two. "Let me ask you something. What role do you play in your team?" Shikamaru had to praise Naruto's rolling talent as he watched him spar.

"What do you mean?" Neji quirked an eyebrow.

"What role are you? Tenten could be considered long range support, right?" Shikamaru leaned against a tree.

"Where are you getting at?" He was annoyed. When had the Aburame have a chance to make a clone?

"Just humor me, Hyūga." Shikamaru shrugged.

Neji sighed. "Fine. Yes, Tenten could be considered long range support."

"Why?"

Neji glared at Shikamaru. "Are you trying to tick me off?" Shikamaru shook his head, a negative. "She excels with her weapon scrolls at virtually any distance."

Shikamaru nodded. He heard a *crunch* when Naruto got hit by a spinning leg kick. "And Lee? What does he do?"

"Besides getting in the way?" Neji retorted. "He charges ahead like an idiot."

"So close quarters?" Shikamaru inquired.

Neji chose not to reply. Tenten had taken out two very familiar steel batons as she got ready to deal with her two opponents. Shikamaru winced when Naruto delivered a brutal hit-stun to Lee's leg.

"Where does that leave you, Hyūga?"

Neji turned to face Shikamaru.

"What role are you fulfilling for your team?" Shikamaru asked once more.

"Where are you heading with this?" Neji narrowed his eyes in exasperation. "Why haven't you answered my question, Nara?"

How do you fight, Hyūga?" Shikamaru asked without missing a beat.

"I fight at close range." Neji groaned.

"Next to Lee?" Shikamaru finally made eye contact with the Hyuga.

He didn't respond.

"Where does that leave Tenten, then?" Shikamaru asked without looking away.

Neji's patience was about to run dry. "She covers us from long range, Nara." He said through gritted teeth.

Tenten was having the time of her life, or so it seemed to the Hyūga from the way she was smiling as she fought the Aburame and his clone.

Shikamaru turned in time to see Naruto and Lee simultaneously deliver a mind-blowing kick to one another. That spar was over.

Shikamaru then turned to face Neji once more.

"And who covers Tenten?"

Neji's irritation went away at the Nara's last words. "What?"

"You asked what the skills of my team were earlier. What was my response to your first question?"

Neji stayed quiet.

"That's right. I said you wouldn't see it here because we're not fighting together."

Neji cocked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge, Nara?"

Shikamaru shrugged as he turned to face Naruto's unconscious form. "Call it a challenge, invitation or a wakeup call, Hyūga. You told me what I wanted to know and I told you what you needed to hear. Now, if you excuse me, my blonde teammate needs reviving." The Nara placed his hands in his coat pockets before walking away.

Neji's confusion was soon overcome with irritation.

Tenten was walking up towards him. "Hey Neji. How'd it go?" She asked as she dusted herself off.

"I don't know." He answered simply, but Tenten could tell he was bothered by something.

Shikamaru slapped Naruto twice, awakening him in the process. The blonde groaned as he rubbed his aching head. The Nara did the same for Lee.

The early sparring session was over.

xxOxx

Several hours after the sparring sessions were spent on simple exercises until the sun finally rose. It was around that time that both teams headed back to Tazuna's home, were they found the family eating breakfast.

"Good morning to you all." Tsunami greeted the ninjas with a small bow. The two teams simultaneously greeted the family before sitting down at the table to eat.

"Gai-san is in his room resting while Hana-chan is taking a bath." Tsunami explained as she served the two teams a bowl of steamed rice. "She should be out soon."

Team Gai nodded. One of the conditions of staying in this mission was for Gai to rest until he got better, which is why their sensei was not present with them earlier.

The two teams ate silently while Tazuna talked to his family. Neji was still bothered by what Shikamaru had said.

"Call it a challenge, invitation or a wake up call, Hyuga. You told me what I wanted to know and I returned the favor." Shikamaru's words echoed inside Neji's head. What did he mean when he had said that? The Hyūga must have looked troubled, for Tenten nudged his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Neji?" She asked with a frown. Neji never looked like this, apparently.

Neji looked across the table to meet Shikamaru's interested eyes. What's wrong, Hyūga?

Neji scoffed. "It is nothing." Yet. He locked eyes with Shikamaru.

"If you say so." Tenten backed off the topic.

Several minutes passed.

"So what are we doing today?" Naruto asked. "With the group thing, I mean."

Nobody present knew how to answer.

Shikamaru felt something fall on his lap. When he looked down he was greeted by one of Hana's dogs - the youngest one, to be precise - who decided the Nara's crossed legs would be the optimal place to rest. Shikamaru took it in stride as he petted its head twice before he resumed eating his breakfast.

"Don't get so close to him, Nara. You might give him fleas." Hana - now fully refreshed from a bath - entered the dining area followed by her remained canines.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Say what you want, Inuzuka. He came to me." He then emphasized by scratching her dog behind the ear, eliciting a tail shake from the dog. Shikamaru smirked when he heard her remaining dogs to whine to their master at the affection.

Hana let an amused sigh escape her lips before smiling.

"Traitor." She let her youngest canine know how she felt. Hana knelt down and took three high-nutrition dog treats, forcing the youngest to reluctantly move from his position in order to eat.

"And to answer your question, Naruto-kun, the group will be split up around the village to keep an eye on anything suspicious. The largest group - myself, Neji and Nara - will stay with Tazuna-san as he works. Any questions?" Hana explained - not noticing her youngest of her dogs went back to Shikamaru once again.

"What the-? Hey!"

xxOxx

After everyone was well fed and ready, the two groups paired up accordingly before departing Tazuna's home.

Naruto and Lee were tasked with two objectives:

1.) Investigate the southeastern border of Wave for anything suspicious.

2.) Help any villagers who are in need of it.

The situation in Wave was dreary as it stood, Tazuna explained, some help might lighten up the place. Naruto and Lee both agreed to the objectives before departing from Tazuna's home.

The duo walked together through the cluttered streets from the village center, keeping an eye out for any and all things suspicious nearby. Their presence must have had an effect on the nearby people as everyone they walked passed by had tensed up automatically. The ninja were given a wide berth as they passed by all the while numerous murmuring and muttering followed them.

"Are those the ones that are protecting that fool Tazuna?"

"Nothing gets by Gato... They're as good as dead."

Lee turned to the blonde next to him. "We seem to not inspire much hope, Naruto-kun."

He nodded. "That's to be expected. Who knows how long they've lived in fear?" Naruto looked around. Everywhere his eyes went, those of the villagers would avoid. He stopped.

There was a woman, mid-thirties, who did not avert her eyes. Her long amber hair flowed freely but showed signs of the kind of stress that only panicked hands could bring. Her eyes were a deep hazel but showed signs of extreme loss in the form of bloodshot red surrounding the true color she possessed.

Lee noticed Naruto stop and saw the woman as well. She was across the street from them, almost completely covered by a fruit stand that was more or less than ready to be thrown out. She had been following them for a while, it seemed.

"P-Please..." She whispered through pained vocal cords. She began at a nervous walk into a frantic run towards them. She fell to her knees in front of them.

Naruto and Lee got into one knee to make sure the woman was not injured.

Before either of them could ask, the woman began to sob. "T-They took him a-away! My little S-Satoshi!" Tears formed around her tired eyes. "You're ninja, right?! C-Can you please help me?! P-Please..." She cried out in pained attempts to catch her breath.

The woman had attracted the attention of every single person around. The crowd formed a circle around the woman and the ninjas. The crowd talked amongst themselves, each with a downcast tone.

"P-Please..." The woman begged her hands against her chest over her heart.

The two ninjas looked at one another before nodding. "Of course we'll help you!" Naruto ensured the woman as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "But we need more information. Who took Satoshi and how long ago did it happen?"

"L-Last night-t..."

Several women from the crowd came to gather her before reassuring her that everything will be fine.

A man came to the boys and sighed. "The... bastards who did this are hiding out in a shack four miles that way..." He pointed at the direction. "...if you hurry you should be able to catch them."

The boys nodded, but before they were able to leave, they were stopped by that same man.

"Do your jobs damn it. Don't fail." The man's voice ached with pain. They nodded once again before running off.

Naruto and Lee stayed silent all the way until they reached the outskirts of the village, in the woods, where they found the shack that the man mentioned.

"What's the plan, Lee?" Naruto asked from his position behind a tree directly in front of the shack's door.

"I say we go in fast and hit hard, Naruto-kun." Lee replied from his own position.

"We don't know how many people are inside, Lee." The blonde clarified.

"Not yet." Lee smiled courageously. Naruto sighed but agreed.

"Hit fast, hit hard. Got it." Naruto nodded as they emerged from their hiding places and ran towards the shack.

"Take the door, Naruto-kun! I will take the window!" Lee mentioned as he ran towards the boarded up window next to the wooden door.

"You got it Lee!" Naruto exclaimed as he readied his shoulder. Naruto collided with the door, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. As he breached, he saw six people sitting down at a table where they played poker, two leaning against the window Lee was currently breaking through and one to his immediate right - the man was smoking a cigarette next to the door.

The people inside went still with shock as the front door got destroyed shortly before the window got the same treatment.

Time slowed down as the wooden splinters of the door and the broken glass of the window flew outwards towards the center of the room.

Naruto twirled on his feet to deliver a debilitating cross chop to the man to the right of him. The strike landed across the man's neck, knocking him out cold.

As Naruto dealt with the man next to the door, Lee had already burst in. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he spun and used his momentum to successfully connect a spin kick at each man's head.

Before the bodies could slump to the ground, both Lee and Naruto jumped to the center of the room - where the poker players had just barely rose from their seatsto react.

Naruto pounced the man in front of him, slamming his head against the table before placing pressure on his hands on the man's chest to vault across the table to tackle another man on to the floor.

As Naruto pounced the first man, Lee had grabbed the heads of two men before twirling his weight downwards, effectively bringing them down to break the table with the force used. Lee instantaneously got up and jumped with a leg extended.

Naruto punched the man underneath him across the head to knock him out before he rolled backwards to decrease the distance between himself and the second man last standing. As Naruto rolled, he could see Lee finishing off two men by smashing their heads on to the table. Lee and Naruto's eyes locked for a split second before Naruto used his roll's momentum to deliver a crushing uppercut on the man's lower jaw, sending him flying upwards only to get struck by Lee's kick. The man flew back and smashed several shelves with his body.

Then, time seemed to go back to normal as the bodies fell to the floor, the table collapsed - sending cards and poker chips flying - and the broken shards of glass and wood finally fell to the ground.

Both Lee and Naruto turned to the last man and were surprised to see him still seated. His hands still had his poker cards.

He was a portly man with yellow-green hair with a ridiculous moustache growing underneath his nose. He seemed jolly rather than anything else.

"I guess I fold." Was his only reply before he placed his cards on to the ground. "Care to take a seat, gentlemen?" He asked as he motioned to the left over chairs next to him.

Naruto grabbed on to the man's shirt before raising him upwards. "Where is he? Where's the kid?" He growled, mostly for show at an attempt to seem threatening.

The old man closed his eyes as he smiled. "Satoshi-kun? Why, he's in the room down the hallway, first door to the left." He was not disturbed by this outcome, apparently.

Lee, upon hearing where Satoshi was, raced to the room deeper in the shack.

Naruto placed the old man down on the chair. "Why did you take him? Who are you?" He demanded an answer.

The older man pressed his dress shirt down with his hands, making the cloth straight and not wrinkled. When he was sure it looked appropriate, he answered. "Why did I take him? Oh, heavens no, my boy. I am simply the means of transportation. The gentlemen you and your friend throttled were the ones who took him." He took a decent cigar out of a golden case and offered it to Naruto.

"No thanks." He waved it away. "Take him where?"

"The fields." The cigar he lit was now being used. "Ever heard of slave trade, my boy?" He puffed it once.

Naruto bared his teeth. "What the hell is wrong with you?! He's a child, not a slave!"

The man moved a fat hand in front of him. "Calm down, now. I ain't disagreeing with you." He took a long drag, held it, and released a white cloud. "I was never fond of the idea of children slaves, but I got orders to follow, unfortunately."

"Orders from who?" The blonde asked, Lee came back with Satoshi in his hands. Satoshi was fine, if anything just tired.

The old man took the cigar out of his mouth with two fat fingers. "Gatō, of course. I'm in charge of one of his offshore operations in the south."

Naruto paused when he heard the name. He turned to Lee. "Lee, get the kid back to his mother."

"What will you do, Naruto-kun?" Lee asked curiously. Naruto didn't respond, but Lee understood the situation. After a curt nod, only Naruto and the old man were left behind in the shack.

Naruto locked eyes with the man. "Tell me everything you know about Gatō."

The older man laughed, his belly jiggling with every chuckle that left his mouth. "I like the look in your eyes, boy. Pull up a chair and let this old man tell you the story of the man named Gatō."

Naruto nodded.

xxOxx

After everyone was well fed and ready, the two groups paired up accordingly before departing from Tazuna's home.

Tenten and Shino were tasked with two objects:

1.) Investigate the northwestern border of Wave for anything suspicious.

2.) Help any villagers who are in need of it.

Tazuna had explained to them that hope on his village was low, so help of any kind won't hurt. Tenten and Shino nodded at the objectives before departing.

The duo walked in silence as they passed what can be considered the "urban" district of Wave; trees began to replace buildings and grass replaced the roads and the pavement. This was nature's land, now.

The bun haired girl's mind was elsewhere as they walked. Inside her head was the spar session from the morning repeating back and forth; every hit of her steel batons, every dodge, every grunt of effort and every bead of sweat raced throughout her mind. Tenten had fun in that spar due to the relentless barrage of hits she had to counter from both sides - her abilities were strained to not only keep up, but to adapt to a new kind of opponent!

Tenten had to contain her giddy attitude at the moment - she was in a mission, after all - but she let out a smile whenever she would playback the spar in her head.

She nearly squealed when she thought about using different weapons next time!

Next time...?

Her smile toned down when she remembered she had to fight to stay in this mission; a mission that belonged to her team in the first place.

A determined scowl formed on her face.

'He's an opponent, Tenten! Treat him like one!' She thought as a chibi version of herself raised an arm in the air in determination.

Her mind soon went back to the spar; the chibi-Tenten was in awe.

She wanted more, damn it!

Meanwhile, Shino kept an eye out for anything that would seem suspicious - aside from the euphoric smile Tenten has had for the past hour. 'I wonder how Naruto and Shikamaru are doing.'

They were now deep in the woods of Wave, and luckily for them, this was steady ground and not swamp. The thicket grew, as did the peaceful noise of nature as they walker deeper and deeper.

"I... I told you not to go after it, damn it!" A voice broke the tranquility and made the duo pause. Several of yards into the brush was a small wooden shack. A man was holding someone close to his chest.

"And... who was g-going to a-avenge them...? Our fam...fam...family...?" Said another voice much weaker than the first one. Upon further inspection, Tenten and Shino saw that the older man - first voice - was holding a battered boy their age - the second voice. The boy had a massive claw mark that ran the entirety of his upper body, clothes shredded beyond repair.

The man didn't say anything as tears fell from his face.

"I-I'm...s-so-sorry..." The boy gasped out his final breath before succumbing to his wounds.

"Damn it... Damn it...! DAMN IT ALL!" The older man roared as he held what appeared to be his son's lifeless corpse.

Tenten and Shibi slowly walked towards the man. He heard them walk and got startled. He turner to face them, a knife with a black hilt on hand.

The duo stopped. "Hey now!" Tenten tried to defuse the situation. "We're not here to hurt you."

The older man, maybe mid-sixties - wrinkled enough to show his age - slumped back down. "As...you say." He half-sighed.

"What happened here...?" She attempted to ask cautiously.

The man let go of the knife, letting it roll out of his hand before hitting the ground next to his knee.

"I lost my youngest son." He sounded distant, empty even.

Shino let Tenten handle this.

"I'm... We're... sorry for your loss."

He looked at her but he might as well be looking at nothing, his gaze was shallow and emotionless.

"Don't be." He muttered. "He was a damn fool." There was no more emotion left in his words. The final cry from before took all of it away.

"How... How did this happen?" Tenten asked carefully. The man kept his eyes on her but saw more than just a girl. He saw it all happen again.

"He tried to avenge his older brothers." He did not blink. "He failed like the three before him."

Tenten looked at Shino for some help.

"What did this?" His voice got some reaction i the old man's eyes.

Pure hatred.

"The same monster that took my left arm, wife, and now..." He trailed off as he gazed at his last son's lifeless body. "...I have nothing left. It took everything from me." He cried.

"Claw... the Immortal." He growled through clenched teeth.

Tenten and Shino figured the old man was talking about a bear, judging from the claw marks on his son's body.

There was silence for a moment and a half.

"We can avenge your family." Shino offered, surprising both Tenten and the old man.

"Hey now..." Tenten began.

"There's no point..." The old man looked back at the ground. "It can't be killed. There's no weapon strong enough."

"We will kill the beast." Shino reassured as he walked over towards the man. "You have my word."

The old man looked up at the boy in front of him. He picked up the knife with his hand. "...T-Then please... do not fail to use this to finish it off." He handed the knife over to the Aburame. "...please avenge my family..." He pleaded with a whisper.

Shino stood up after taking the knife out of the old man's hand. "Let us go, Tenten-san." The Aburame began to follow the trail of blood the deceased son left on the ground.

"H-Hold up!" Tenten called out as she ran to catch up to him. "I know it's a noble cause and everything, but why did you agree to help?"

Shino said nothing for a while. "The bear could endanger the lives of other villagers." That was his reasoning.

"Okay, if you say so." She nodded as they tracked down the beast.

After an uneventful half hour of searching of following tracks, Shino and Tenten found what appeared to be a cave of some sort. The outside was tattered with claw marks and what looked to be dried blood. The cave itself seemed to go down towards the ground, where the entrance was nothing but pitch black.

Shino stopped short of the entrance.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked, but she sounded off. "Are you scared, bug boy?"

Shino shook his head. "It is not a giant octopus..." He trailed off knowingly.

"What-?" Tenten asked but received nothing as Shino entered the cave. Tenten followed soon after.

"I can't see a thing!" Tenten groaned as she felt the walls to guide her. "How are you doing, Shino-san?" She asked tepidly.

There was no answer.

"S-Shino-san? You there...?" Tenten asked as she moved her left hand outward as if to reach out to him. Her right hand stayed on the wall.

Still no answer.

"You better not be playing a trick on me!" She warned, her nerves began to wind up as did her anxiety.

No answer.

Tenten took a deep breath. 'It's all good, Tenten. You're fine...' She tried to reassure herself.

It wasn't working.

'This isn't anything to be worried about, Tenten. This isn't like that day in the orphanage w-when you were five and you got locked in the closet...'

Her heart began to race as her phobia of the dark returned in full force.

'It's been years damn it! This shouldn't bother you, Tenten!' She mentally scolded herself. Her left hand subconsciously returned to her body as her movement speed got halved. 'Damn it...!'

She felt paralyzed, as if the darkness was pinning her down.

"S-ShinO-SAN!" She tried calling out normally but lost control of her voice. 'What kind of ninja are you, Tenten?!'

Still no answer.

The silence began to become deafening for the girl. "Shino-san!" She tried calling out, but failed to hear herself.

"Help...!" No echo, just silence.

Tenten fell to her knees as the darkness crushed her to the ground. She stayed there for what felt like hours - only a couple of minutes in reality - before something nudged her foot.

She got startled. "S-Shino-san...?" She asked, slightly composing herself.

The deep snarl that replied broke the silence into something worse.

The beast roared straight at Tenten's face, breaking her paralyzed state into an aimless roll, so long as it was away from the beast. There was the distinct sound of stone getting raked by a slash right where Tenten had been a second earlier.

The beast gave a grunt of displeasure since it missed its target. Tenten could hear the beast readjust itself to face her direction before it charged.

With another roll, Tenten managed to somehow dodge another swipe, but in doing so, her scroll was forced to detach itself from her back.

"This is fucking bad!" She cursed as she found her anxiety rise tremendously from the surrounding abyss. Her words backfired as she lost the beast's location right afterwards.

She heard a growl come from her left, causing her to roll to her right, only to hear a growl from behind her a moment later.

It was toying with her.

Her anxiety reached its limit as her legs gave out. She fell to her knees before hearing the heavy thuds of the beast's feet as it charged.

Before certain death struck her, the beast sounded as if it collided with something before a small *ping!* was heard. A bright light suddenly emerged several feet in front of her, revealing Shino holding a flare in his hand. He had pulled the pin to ignite the flare but had no time to let it go. The flare was inside his right fist while his left hand was holding back the bear's massive paw. Shino was getting pushed back as he began to lose control of the situation.

"My…apologies for keeping you waiting Tenten-san…" He groaned slightly as he tried to keep his pose straight. The flare was scorching hot and it was burning his hand.

Tenten was not able to say anything as she was still in shock.

'Now…Tenten-san…!" He tried to break her out of her stupor. Claw was wide open for an attack. 'Why is she not moving?'

Claw pushed forward, knocking Shino on to his back. On the ground, Shino let go of the flare, causing it to roll downwards towards Tenten. Claw had pinned the Aburame down and aimed to kill with a crushing slash of its claws, but was intercepted by Shino's kikaichū forming a shield-like swarm around him.

Shino groaned in pain as his lower half was being crushed by Claw's massive body. His kikaichū informed him that the bear's hide was too thick to penetrate.

Perfect.

Shino turned to face Tenten, her scared form illuminated by the white flare. She wasn't moving any time soon and the flare was close to giving out soon.

Claw attacked several more times at Shino's kikaichū shield while the Aburame waited for his time to strike. He began to focus elemental chakra into his right arm, making it glow blue as electricity began to course around it.

After several more strikes, Shino saw an opening and reached outwards to deliver an electrical punch, stunning the bear. As the bear was stunned, Shino used this opportunity to escape from its clutches by sliding out from underneath it. Shino got up and ran towards Tenten, barely reaching her as the flare died out. Tenten screamed for a moment as the only source of light disappeared before Shino picked her up from behind. He placed his arms underneath hers and held them out straight in front of them.

"Shino w-what are you-?" Tenten began in shock as she turned her head to face him.

"Everything will be alright, Tenten-san." He reassured her as his stomach pressed against her back.

"B-But…"

"I will be your light." He calmly stated as his arms began to glow bright once more as energy formed around them, slightly illuminating the area around them. "When the opportunity presents itself, strike hard." His right hand held the knife as he motioned it to her.

Tenten calmed down enough to move her arms to take the knife out of his hand.

Claw recovered from the stun, now twice as angry as it roared before standing on its hind legs.

"Get ready…" Shino muttered into Tenten's ear, causing the bun haired girl's heart to skip a beat.

"R-Right!" She twiddled the knife around her hand with precision.

She was ready.

Claw charged at the close duo. His heavy movement echoed with every step.

Shino's hands began to charge even more as sparks began to fly. "Hold…" He whispered to the girl in his personal space as the beast got closer and closer.

In mid-charge, Claw raised its left paw to swipe a killing blow but got intercepted by an electrical counter from Shino's left fist. Claw was still in momentum from its charge when Shino used his right fist to punch Claw directly in the head.

"Now!" Shino said quickly as he removed himself from Tenten's personal space by taking his arms away from her sides. Tenten reacted to the command by jumping forward to stab the bear in the right eye with the knife, digging the blade deep into the socket.

Claw roared in anguish as it prepared to strike Tenten – who had difficulty removing the knife from the bleeding eye socket – but was yet again intercepted by Shino's electrified fist. The punch made Claw recoil backwards, causing Tenten to finally dig the knife out with ease.

Shino's punches caused his arms to lose their charge for several seconds, making the area go dark once again. That caused Tenten to reach out towards him, where she managed to grab onto his scarf to feel relieved.

"Let us finish this." He remarked as his hands began to glow once again.

"Y-Yeah!"

This time it was them charging their foe as Shino continuously shocked Claw while Tenten sliced and stabbed anything that was vulnerable. This continued for a while before Tenten began to grow discouraged as she sliced the bear's neck over and over again.

"Why isn't this thing dying?!" She screamed as she sliced once more at Claw's neck.

"Do not give up." Shino said, but he too felt that this animal's hold on life was too much. He charged more power into a punch, causing Claw to double over, giving Tenten an idea.

"Cover me!" She yelled before she jumped on Claw's back, straddling it before raising the knife high up to deliver what would be a fatal blow regardless of the hold of life one had.

Before she could lodge the knife deep into the bear's skull, Claw recovered too quickly and buckled suddenly, making Tenten lose her grip on the knife. As the knife fell on the ground, Tenten latched on for dear life by grabbing on to the fur on Claw's head.

Shino cursed as he threw himself towards the knife – right beneath the rampaging bear trying to get Tenten off of its' back by thrashing wildly. Shino narrowly avoided getting crushed twice by the bear's massive paws before he obtained the knife and rolled back. He had a plan.

Shino's arms and hands began to radiate a bright blue as dangerous amounts of elemental chakra began to manifest around them. He raised the knife and forced all the chakra in his right hand to it; cracking it in the process as the blade was forced to absorb the chakra. His left hand had large sparks spewing out of it as he made a fist.

Tenten winced from the bright light as she held on to the bear's back. She saw Shino charge towards them.

When Shino was within range, he sent a pure electrical shockwave directly into Claw's abdomen in the form of a fist, causing it to double over once more.

"Catch!" Shino called out as he tossed the knife towards Tenten. The bun haired girl could easily see the blue blade coming her way. She reached out a hand and caught it.

"…!" She yelped at the shock the knife gave out, but nonetheless brought it up once more right above Claw's head.

"Die!" She yelled as she drove the electrified blade into Claw's skull.

Claw roared in pain as it moved towards Shino. It raised a paw to strike but fell down a second later, finally dead.

The only thing that could be heard was Shino and Tenten's tired panting. Shino raised his arm above his head before it illuminated the area around them once more.

Tenten jumped from Claw's dead body, before making her way over to Shino.

"A fitting title." Shino remarked.

"I… couldn't agree more…" Tenten panted as they took a closer look at Claw.

The bear was massive, but the real surprise was the amount of battle marks it had. All across Claw's body were deep scars and bloody wounds that were never given enough time to heal. Around the cave, towards the end of it, were hundreds of bones laying around pools of dried blood. On Claw's back, below where Tenten was at, were four familiar looking knives that resembled the old man's.

Shino and Tented did not have to think much to figure out that those were the knives of the old man's deceased sons. The duo stayed silent as they removed the knives from the hulking bear. Tenten found her scroll and attached it to her back once more.

"Let's go back, Shino." Tenten said quietly as she grabbed on to the end of his scarf.

Shino nodded as he pumped more energy into his arm to illuminate the area even further.

They walked together out of the cave, both happy to see sunlight once again. It was a silent trip back towards the old man's shack.

"Y-You're back…!" The old man said with shock. "Is… Is it finally over…?"

Shino and Tenten both nodded. "Claw the Immortal, is no longer immortal." Shino said with a pause. He revealed the four knives from behind his back.

"We found these, they were stuck in Claw's back and we figured you might like to have them back…" Tenten trailed off with a small apologetic smile.

Tears formed around the eyes of the old man as he took the knives with his hand. "…Thank you… Thank you so much…" He cried happily.

The duo stayed with the old man as he made five burial sites, each with a corresponding knife to show who was who. The ceremony was short, but the thankful appreciation the old man gave would stay with the duo for a lifetime.

Tenten smiled as they waved goodbye at the old man. She then looked at her hand and saw that it was still holding on to Shino's scarf. Since they exited the cave, walked to the old man's shack, stayed for the burial service and up until this moment, now, her hand stayed on the fabric of his scarf.

And Shino never once mentioned it.

xxOxx

After everyone was well fed and ready, the two groups paired up accordingly before departing from Tazuna's home.

Shikamaru, Hana, Hana's dogs, Neji and Tazuna walked side by side as they made their way to the bridge's construction site.

The three ninja had only one objective:

Guard Tazuna as he works.

Easy enough.

"That fool Tazuna is going to get us all killed."

"He must think he's a hero. We all know how that ended up the last time we had a hero…"

"Idiots…all of them…"

Various individuals muttered as Tazuna and his escort passed by throughout the center of the village. Hana looked around with displeasure evident in her face.

"They could at least be grateful." The Inuzuka muttered.

Shikamaru walked with his hands behind the back of his head and Neji had his hands crossed across his chest. Neji shrugged his shoulders.

"They do not understand the situation." Neji put his thoughts into Hana's remark. "They keep their eyes shut and live off of what they know."

"What makes you say that, Hyūga?" Shikamaru half-sighed. Today was a nice, cloudy day.

"Is this not the case?" Neji glanced at him curiously.

"What he said made sense, Nara." Hana agreed.

"I don't see it that way." Shikamaru stretched his arms before placing them down to his sides. "They're just afraid, is all."

"Well, isn't that obvious, Nara?" Hana retorted.

"Let me finish, Inuzuka." Shikamaru snapped at her. "You were somewhat right about what you said, Hyūga. Problem is, they aren't keeping their eyes shut." The Nara explained as he looked around. "They saw something happen here that made them this way. Something that broke their will and whatever it was must have been so traumatic that it made the villagers see any sign of hope or safety turn into a death sentence." His words reached Tazuna.

"What Tazuna is doing here, is a sign of hope for them, yet something must have happened to a past source of hope to make them feel this way." He closed his eyes and clicked his tongue. "They're afraid of the same kind of event to happen all over again. Not really afraid of their lives, just afraid of another blow to their sense of hope that they cannot endure."

Hana slowly nodded as she actually saw the desperation in the people's faces as they walked past them. Neji stayed quiet.

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk way too much kid?" Tazuna asked coldly as he looked on ahead.

"More times than I count, really."

Tazuna sighed. "Right…"

Once the group reached the construction site, Tazuna went out and about as he ordered the few workers he had around. The ninjas present stayed back to supervise the procedure.

Neji leaned back against one of the massive cranes nearby, Neji was sitting on the floor with his back to a stack of wooden boards and Hana had taken to sitting right above the Nara – her legs dangled next to Shikamaru's head. Hana's dogs were below her, one close to Neji and the other two had taken to lying down against Shikamaru's crossed legs. Seems the youngest had convinced the second eldest into giving the Nara a chance.

Hana noticed this from her position above them and frowned. She turned to the oldest and twitched when she was him looking at his brothers with an interested face.

'The Haimaru brothers never get along with anybody else! What the hell is going on here?' The Inuzuka thought to herself.

"Oi, you two down there, having fun?" She asked suddenly, causing Neji to turn and for Shikamaru to look up to face her.

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

They both asked simultaneously.

"No, not you two." She corrected herself, but still waited for an answer.

The youngest looked up at her and whined once and barked twice – as Shikamaru and Neji heard – but came out as a sentence for Hana.

"He's not that bad, Hana-oneechan; besides, I like him."

"What the hell? Why?" Hana asked with confusion.

The second eldest responded. "This kid has talent with his fingers, Hana-chan. The way he scratches my head is amazing!" He then turned to Shikamaru and whined.

Shikamaru looked at him for a moment. "What's wrong, boy? The Inuzuka bullying you? I know how that feels." Shikamaru asked before he scratched the back of his head, right behind the ear.

Hana tried to tune out the dog's euphoric noises.

"We HAVE to tell obaa-chan about this guy!" The youngest remarked, bringing up Hana's mother.

"You better not!" Hana warned harshly.

As Hana argued with her dogs, Neji continued to brew the negative emotions that appeared earlier in the morning. The Hyūga saw Shikamaru get up and walk towards his position. Shikamaru then leaned on the same crane that Neji was occupying.

"What do you want-"

"I just thought of something. About the villagers." Shikamaru cut in with a neutral expression.

"You're still going on about that?" Neji asked.

"They must be pretty pissed, right?" Shikamaru crossed his arms like Neji had them. "Not knowing if they can beat Gatō and his goons and what not."

"What are you talking about?" Neji was now interested.

"I saw you here, brooding I guess, and you reminded me of some of the villagers we saw earlier. The uncertainty, the anxiousness and the like."

"Where are you getting at, Nara?" Neji glared.

"I got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, if the villagers themselves were to cast away their insecurities and uncertainty and just went for it – a revolt, they could win." Shikamaru sounded animated, elated even.

"Are you an idiot? Gatō has armed guards. There is no way mere peasants could win against them." Neji scoffed the notion away.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I thought of that too, but I have so much hope for people, y'know?" He said sarcastically.

Neji said nothing as he watched Shikamaru carefully.

"Remember, it was your brooding figure that made me think of that." Shikamaru let his arms relax back to his sides where he tapped the metal crane twice with a knuckle.

"Live a little, Hyūga. There's no point in uncertainty when you could figure out the answer right then and there." The Nara stressed Neji one last time before he walked away.

"I got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, if the villagers themselves were to cast away their insecurities and uncertainty and just went for it – a revolt, they could win."

Neji closed a fist. "So be it."

xxOxx

By the time nightfall had arrived, Tazuna and his escort were already on the way home. As they walked, they felt the atmosphere to be slightly different; not as dreadful as before. Something had happened to change that.

Lee, Naruto, Tenten and Shino were currently sitting down in the living room, waiting for the remaining members to return. Tsunami had already begun cooking dinner as she waited for her father's return. The door opened, signaling the return of those out.

When they all gathered to eat, Tenten and Lee were giddy to tell their day's events, but stopped short when they took one look at Neji's gaze. He was serious about something and he was going to need their help later tonight. As for what exactly he was going to need them for? They guessed.

They guessed correctly.

xxOxx

Once dinner was done with, Gai tucked into bed with his favorite spandex-clad teddy bear – affectionately named Ted Li (after a famous martial artist) – and all but the two teams were sound asleep did they meet outside in the moon light.

Team Gai stared at one another.

"Are you sure about this Neji?" Tenten asked quietly.

"Are you afraid, Tenten?" He asked as he brought a leg up to further lean on the house.

"Well, no, but that doesn't matter anymore! We're not leaving the mission anymore, remember?"

"I do."

There was a pause as the wind picked up slightly before it died down.

"Why do you have the sudden urge to fight them, Neji?" Lee asked with less uncertainty than his female teammate. "What is there to prove?"

"I want to see if they can back up their words from yesterday." He stated simply, but was not entirely being truthful. "Their arrogance is more than annoying."

Tenten sweat-dropped. 'Look who's calling the kunai black…'

A Hyūga's stubbornness was as hard to get through as it was to get past their defenses; pretty damn difficult. With that being said, Lee and Tenten both had their curiosities when it came to the other team. After all, a spar can only reveal so much.

"Count me in, Neji!" Lee agreed as he flashed a thumbs up.

"I guess I'm in too…" Tenten sighed.

"Let's go." Neji stated before he planted both feet on the ground as he walked away from the house.

They found the trio sitting down at the docks and approached them. They managed to catch the last bits of their conversation.

"Really? I did not think that was possible."

"Believe it, Shino. I heard that from a reliable source."

"To think skirts had so much power… What a time to be alive."

The trio looked up to the moon with a wistful stare.

Team Gai stammered when approaching as they registered the last part of the conversation. Tenten coughed.

"Uh…hey, there…"

The trio turned to face them. Shikamaru and Naruto had a slight blush of embarrassment on their faces while Shino…was Shino.

"Oh, uh, hey there you guys." Naruto scratched his head. "How, uh, how long have you guys been there?" He asked timidly.

"We just got here." Neji replied, getting tired of the current mood."

"Good, good… so what's up?" Naruto asked as he and his friends rose to their feet to face them. He saw Shikamaru smile.

Not good.

"How can we help you, Hyūga?"

"You know why we're here, Nara." Neji pointed a finger.

"What's going on here, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, but already knew the answer. Shikamaru shrugged but kept his eyes on Neji.

"On the water." The Nara stated as he jumped back, off of the dock and into the water's surface, soon followed by his friends.

Team Gai followed suit.

Both teams faced one another.

"There is no need for you to do this…" Shino warned. He tightened the grip on his kunai as he finished the warning, however.

His opponent smirked. "Oh? What are you, scared, bug boy?"

Shino raised an eyebrow as he got into a fighting stance. "Hardly."

Engaged in a similar situation next to the Aburame was Shikamaru, who was staring down his own opponent.

"I've heard a lot about those eyes, Hyūga. If what I've heard is true, then can't you see that this is a bad idea?" Shikamaru mocked the older boy as he made several clones; each with the same confident grins.

The Hyūga focused his eyes as veins began to protrude near them. He took his own kunai in his hand and got into a fighting stance.

"Talk is cheap, dropout. It is you who shall fail here."

Next to the Hyūga was his teammate, getting ready to face off against his own foe.

"Turn back now, Naruto-kun…" He warned the blonde. "…because I will not be responsible for what happens otherwise!" He tightened his wrist wraps.

"Turn back from this?" The blonde scoffed. "And miss out on all the fun? I…don't…think…so!" Naruto smiled as he popped his joints. He got into his own stance, eager for battle.

The two teams stood on the water's surface, the moon illuminated the fight soon to come.

The trio felt the mark on their left arm began to glow and grow warm, and with that sensation they knew they were ready to fight.

Naruto clicked his teeth together; the faint noise caused both teams to run towards one another.

Right before both teams collided, Naruto threw a swing with his left arm as Shikamaru and Shino jumped back – Shikamaru more than twenty feet behind Shino, and the Aburame a good fifteen feet behind Naruto.

Naruto's attack was easily avoided by Lee, but was feint as Naruto had been aiming for Neji instead. The Hyūga was going after Shikamaru and nearly failed to anticipate a sudden attack on his person.

With a raised arm, Neji blocked Naruto's attack as the blonde's left arm wrapped with the Hyūga's. They were face to face for a short second before Naruto kept going with his initial momentum, relaxing his arm to break the contact between him and the Hyūga, and rolled backwards to avoid a counterattack.

Neji scowled, the blonde had allowed Shikamaru – Neji's target – to set up at a safe distance away. Still, the blonde was at a severe disadvantage since three very proficient close quarter combatants were now targeting him.

Lee jumped in the air to try and land a powerful kick with the bottom of his heel while Neji attacked with an open-palm thrust. Tenten had used the opportunity from before to summon her bo-staff one more time to sweep the blonde with a horizontal swipe.

Three different things happened at that moment.

Lee's kick was caught by Naruto's hand before it connected with the blonde's head, causing Lee to lose his balance as his leg was caught by the heel. Neji's palm-thrust was met with one of Naruto's chakra coated fist, hit-stunning Neji's arm – Naruto was surprised as his arm got hit-stunned as well, perhaps a side effect of deflecting a Hyūga's attack? Naruto had to hop to avoid the leg sweep by Tenten's bo-staff – while simultaneously doing the aforementioned.

When Naruto's feet touched the water once again from the hop, he immediately tossed Lee at Neji to avoid getting hit. Neji dodged, letting Lee hit the water's surface, but was open to two quick punches to the chest by Naruto's left hand. The two punches made Neji stagger backwards, nearly causing him to trip on Lee's downed form. Tenten had to jump back slightly to not get hit by her teammate's body.

Shino saw this as his chance and made his move. Placing a hand over one of the seals, he removed two golf ball-sized bombs. He clicked on one of them and tossed it towards the cluttered group.

"Watch out!" Tenten yelled as she jumped back when she noticed Shino toss something. The bomb detonated as soon as it touched the water's surface, launching Tenten even farther away. 'Concussive grenades?!' She skipped on the water's surface much like a stone would when tossed a certain way. Her teammates were caught in the nonlethal explosion, scattering them apart by from one another by at least ten feet before Shino threw the second one towards Lee.

Lee had not been given enough time to recover from the first explosion before the second blast tossed him further to the right.

Neji had been tossed towards the left from the first explosion, making him the closest one to the trio while Tenten was the farthest one away, leaving Lee somewhat in the middle – in terms of distance.

Shino wasn't done just yet as he raised his arm towards Naruto and let a medium sized swarm float towards him. His kikaichū hovered over Naruto when they reached him. Naruto didn't look back but gave a thumbs up to Shino in appreciation for the cover.

The trio had planned for this kind of thing several hours before they left for the day. If they were going to get into a fight with Team Gai, the one thing they needed to do was:

Immobilize Lee.

Lee was the fastest ninja the trio had ever seen, and for their strategy to work effectively, Lee had to be taken out first.

Naruto inhaled deeply before launching three delayed air bullets – medium sized, not to harm, but to push away – at the spandex wearing ninja. The first air bullet hit Lee's recovering form, launching him several feet away to the right before the second bullet did the same and once more when the third struck.

"Lee!" Tenten called out in worry for her teammate as she tried to make her way to him. Tried being the chosen word, as Shino threw several explosive tags at her, causing Tenten to jump back to avoid getting caught in the explosions.

Neji was just recovering from the concussive blast when he noticed that Naruto's attention was not fixated on him, but rather, on Lee. He sprinted towards the blonde in an attempt to get a sneak attack but was stopped dead in his tracks.

"What the hell?" Neji struggled.

A long, thin shadow was extending from Neji's own as it traced back to Shikamaru.

"Capture success." He smirked as he raised his arms above his head, forcing Neji to do the same.

"…Why…can't I move?!" Neji struggled some more as his body mimicked Shikamaru's.

"That's Shikamaru's clan's technique. Once it haves you trapped, your body will be forced to do what Shikamaru does." Naruto explained as he slowly made a fist, popping every finger as he did so. "Pretty cool, huh?" He asked as he raised the fist and planted it on Neji's stomach with force.

Neji gasped out, but was not able to double-over as Naruto punched him several times on his chest. Tenten growled as she grasped a kunai before tossing it at the blonde. The kunai was sure to hit his side, but was intercepted by Shino's kikaichū as they formed a shield-like barrier around the blonde.

"What the hell?!" Tenten cursed as she tossed more and more weaponry at the blonde, only for them to get stopped by the bugs floating around Naruto.

By that time, Lee had already recovered and was already sprinting towards Shikamaru to put a stop to the shadow possession he had Neji under. Shino saw this and threw an explosive tag to stop him, but Lee was way too quick as he sprinted past the tag before it detonated.

"Behind you, Shikamaru!" Shino called out as Lee closed the distance between them in no time at all.

Shikamaru heard his friend but could not react in time as Lee smashed a kick on to his back, successfully breaking the shadow possession. Shikamaru groaned as he was forced down by Lee's kick, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that the coat he was wearing absorbed most of the hit.

'He's a problem!' The Nara thought as he tried to avoid Lee's attacks, but barely failed to do so.

"Shino: crowd control!" Shikamaru yelled as he recovered from a punch that struck his cheek. He pulled the pins on the small flashbangs on the front of his belt loop. The flashbangs went off, blinding Lee for a moment.

Shino nodded as he ran towards the blinded Lee.

Naruto turned to his friends for a moment in worry, before rolling back when he felt Neji move towards him.

"You got lucky, dropout. Don't expect for me to fall for that again!" Neji scowled before activating his Byakugan. He stammered. "What…the hell?" He went wide-eyed at what he saw before him.

A giant sphere of chakra was right in front of him, surrounding Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino and Lee at the moment. 'What is the meaning of this?! Chakra is never that feasible, that tangent or supposed to be that way unless it is from a jutsu!' Neji focused his eyes and saw something even stranger than the sphere. On the trio's stomachs there were seals of some kind that were constantly expelling chakra towards the center of the sphere, keeping it full almost. A thread of chakra traveled from each of their seals where they connected with one another at the center of the chakra sphere.

'They're…sharing a chakra network?!' Neji thought with astonishment as he charged the blonde and slammed a chakra point on Naruto's shoulder, but narrowed his eyes as that didn't diminish the flow of chakra.

"That freaking stings!" Naruto hissed as he rolled backwards, only to roll once more as Tenten reached Neji to help. She was now carrying two short blades – one in each hand. The girl took the opportunity when Shino was busy with Lee to close the distance.

"Heads up, Naruto!" Shikamaru called out as Shino pointed his arm forward, commanding a massive swarm of his kikaichū shaped like a hand to toss Lee back to his starting position.

Naruto jumped up in the air to catch Lee by the waist before arching his back to slam him head first into the water. Lee sank underwater with Naruto closely behind him. Going back up would put him in risk from both Neji and Tenten's attacks. He formed a very familiar hand sign before a dozen clones appeared underneath the water's surface.

The water beneath Tenten and Neji began to turn violent for a second before giant air bullets broke the surface of the water and traveled upwards. Tenten successfully avoided one by jumping back, but in doing so, got caught in a different one coming from behind her. She was launched up in the air, far from the water's surface.

Naruto continuously shot the air bullets upwards when he got the message that Lee was attacking his clones. He looked around and saw nothing but his clones getting dispelled one after the other. He blinked and was face to fist with Lee's uppercut, launching him upwards above the water's surface where he was caught by Neji's attacks.

Neji struck more than several chakra points before he grabbed Naruto's head and brought it down to collide with his rising knee. Naruto flew back and recovered in mid-air.

"That…fucking…hurts!" He hissed as his nose bled from the Hyūga's knee. The kikaichū formed in front of him as a defensive wall for the moment as he saw Tenten falling from the sky from his underwater air bullet. She was going to land in the water safely, he knew that, but she was going to fall too close to her team.

That needed to change.

Naruto inhaled and shot out more air bullets to push her away from her team. The bullets hit her and managed to launch her slightly farther away. Both Neji and Lee took this as an opportunity to rush Naruto. Neji could not get past the kikaichū shield, but Lee was able to bypass it with his speed.

Lee managed to connect several kicks onto Naruto's abdomen, before he finished it with a strong kick to his chest, sending him barreling backwards.

Naruto groaned as he got up and made about two dozen clones, who all rushed Neji and Lee. He turned to face his teammates. "Oi, finish this up already! I'm done getting my ass kicked!"

Shikamaru nodded. "Okay then, let's begin! Naruto: stall them!"

Naruto made more clones. "Already on it!" He sent the new clones to join the old ones in keeping Neji and Lee in place. Neji and Lee were about twenty feet apart fighting off the clones. That was way too far apart for Shikamaru's tastes.

"Shino: herd them!" Shikamaru ordered as he formed three clones himself.

Shino jumped in the air where he prepared himself for what was to come. He placed one hand over a seal and the other hand over a different seal, getting several explosives ready before he twisted and turned in the air as he tossed the explosives downwards. Neji and Lee paused to see Shino up in the air before the area around them lit up with explosives.

Neji had to roll to the right to avoid getting hit while Lee had to roll to the left. Shino made a ring of explosions around Naruto, Neji and Lee, keeping them together. As Shino turned in the air, he would place a hand over hand on the seals to get more explosives to toss, making sure the onslaught does not cease.

'This…This is my chance!' Tenten had just barely recovered from being launched in the air. She looked at Shino and smiled when she realized that he was a sitting duck up in the air – he would be if it weren't for his kikaichū keeping guard around him.

She turned and smirked.

Shikamaru was vulnerable at this point. She readied a kunai and tossed it with expertise, aiming for his leg. The kunai traveled through the air, past Shino and the ring of explosions and neared Shikamaru. The kunai struck.

"Got you!" Tenten smiled victoriously but was shocked to see him dispel in a cloud of smoke.

"Shadow clones… aren't they great?" Shikamaru replied with a grin of his own.

"Shino: ceasefire!" The two clones grabbed the ninja wire holsters on his legs and ran towards the ring of explosions before they got to work. They opened the holsters and readied the wire.

"Shino cover them!"

Shino was falling down from the air before he tossed what appeared to be a large cylinder canister down the center where Naruto, Neji and Lee where. Multiple flashbangs detonated in quick succession. The clones dashed through the ring of smoke – the smoke appeared from the explosions – and went to work quickly.

When the smoke cleared, a huge dome of wire was surrounding Neji, Lee and Naruto. The wire allowed them no room for escape other than by going underwater – where Naruto's clones were waiting with a smirk.

Neji began to remember his conversation with Shikamaru.

"You won't see it here, Hyūga."

The place around them was cramped, yet Naruto and the few clones he had with him looked comfortable. Neji got into his fighting stance while Lee looked uneasy. Lee's attacks needed plenty of room to work effectively. The wire looked sharp.

"Explain."

"I hardly think you're as effective on your own than when you're with your team." Shikamaru complied vaguely.

One of Naruto's clones stepped forward and touched the ninja wire, causing him to dispel to show that the wire was, indeed, sharp.

"Let me ask you something. What role do you play in your team?"

"What do you mean?"

Lee gulped, not feeling too fond of their location. The advantage was on Naruto's side.

"How do you fight, Hyūga?"

"I fight at close range." Neji sighed in exasperation.

Neji looked at Lee and noticed that he looked nervous.

"Next to Lee?"

Neji's eyes widened in realization. 'He wasn't asking mundane questions…' He turned around and saw Tenten dodging Shino's attacks. Neji turned to where Shikamaru was and saw him walk by, near the trap he set.

"Where does that leave Tenten, then?"

'…he was getting information!'

Shikamaru smiled as he made eye contact with Neji through the wires. Neji snarled.

"She covers us from long range, Nara." He said through gritted teeth.

"And…"

Shikamaru made the hand sign for his shadow possession jutsu.

"…who…"

The shadow, ever so slowly, made its way to Tenten as she fought Shino.

"…covers…"

Neji couldn't believe it.

"…Tenten?"

The shadow was only a hair away from her.

"We surrender…you…win." Neji bitterly called for an end to the fight.

"You asked what the skills of my team were earlier."

Shino stopped, as did a shocked Tenten.

What was my response to your first question?"

Naruto sighed in relief. Lee sighed with disappointment.

"That's right. I said you wouldn't see it here because we're not fighting together."

Neji looked at the water below. His knuckles turned white from the fist he made.

"Is that a challenge, Nara?"

Tenten turned and saw the position her teammates were in before she saw Shikamaru's shadow behind her.

"Call it a challenge, invitation or a wakeup call, Hyūga. You told me what I wanted to know and I told you what you needed to hear."

Shikamaru's shadow slowly receded back to him before he looked at his teammates.

He sighed. "…and that's that."

xxOxx

The two teams met together at the dock several minutes later.

Neji was staring at the wood that composed the dock while Tenten and Lee looked embarrassed.

Naruto jabbed his elbow into Shikamaru's ribs.

The Nara winced but nonetheless crossed his arms. "It happened, you lost. Get over it."

This time, both Shino and Naruto jabbed their elbows into the Nara's ribs.

"…but that doesn't mean anything. That you lost, I mean. Sure, you can brood about this and never improve or, or you can learn from it. We used your weakness against you, big whoop, now you know what you can fix to improve. You're strong now, use this defeat, learn from it and thrive from it in the future to become even better." Shikamaru spoke, slowly bringing up the moods of Tenten and Lee. Neji looked bitter but looked up nonetheless.

Shikamaru offered his hand. "And it's not like you three made it easy on us, y'know. To improvement from here on out?" He asked sincerely.

The Hyūga looked away as he took Shikamaru's hand. "Fine." He shook twice. "Next time we will not lose."

Shikamaru grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

When the two parted hands, Neji walked ahead, Lee in tow.

"Goodnight."

"Have a goodnight, everyone!"

The two left.

Naruto looked at the moon and remembered he promised would talk to Haku tonight.

"Hey Shikamaru, Shino, remember when I said I made a friend? I'm going to go meet her right now! Want to come along?"

Shikamaru sighed as he shook his head. He raised a hand and pointed it behind his head towards the water. "I have to disassemble the trap over there. That'll take me awhile." He shrugged an apology.

Shino turned to Naruto and pointed at himself with his thumb. "I will go with you-" Shino began but got his scarf tightened around his neck.

"Upupup!" Tenten cut in as she tightened the scarf around his neck even more. "Your little concussive grenades made me let go of my bo-staff! Its somewhere in the bottom of the water, damn it!"

"That…sounds like a personal…problem…" Shino groaned as Tenten tightened the scarf even more.

"You'll…help, me right? Shino…?" She asked with force.

He turned to Naruto. "I'll…be happy…to, Tenten-san." He struggled to speak. Naruto could tell he was being apologetic though.

"It's okay, Shino, I understand. I hope there's no giant octopus living down there!" Naruto walked away.

"You and I both, Naruto…you and I both…" Shino muttered as he and Tenten dove into the water together.

Shikamaru was disassembling his trap when a hand touched his shoulder. "Need a hand, Nara?"

He turned to face the owner of the hand. "Inuzuka? What are you doing awake?"

She grinned. "All those explosions could wake the dead, y'know."

"Oh, yeah, I guess so."

She sighed. "I like what you said earlier. Real nice of you."

Shikamaru put a face of mock-pain. "I'm always nice, Inuzuka. Always."

She laughed.

xxOxx

Several Minutes Later…

Woods where Naruto first met Haku

Haku fidgeted as she looked around.

Why had she come, anyway? She was not obligated to come, nor would it benefit Zabuza-sama. She tried to reason out an excuse to leave; this is a trap, there's no need for this, he's a future enemy, etc.

But she still came.

An owl hooted several times before it flew away for whatever reason owls fly away for. Haku likened it to food or shelter, or maybe even to look for a mate – oh Kami, she wasn't feeling like herself.

Haku was nervous. And not nervous in the "Ihopethispersondoesn'trealiseI'mgoingtohavetokillhimandhisfriendsinacoupledays" type of nervous, but rather, nervous in a way she was not certain about. That confused her too.

Haku liked to think she was pretty in touch with her inner-self. She felt pain, she felt happy at times, she did not like to kill – she finds that to be normal, despite what Zabuza-sama says, and she knows how to hold her emotions together.

So why was she confused now?

For some reason, her confusion took her back to the day when she first met Zabuza and found that emotion to subtly resemble the new foreign one.

But what was it?

Should she leave?

Where is he?

He's late – I think?

I can leave now and not be blamed for it.

…

Maybe a couple more minutes.

She sighed. 'What is wrong with me?'

Just when she was about to ponder leaving for another hour, she heard a twig break in front of her.

The same blonde hair was there. "Oh, hey, Haku-san. Sorry I'm late!" Naruto apologized as he made his way over to her. "Did you wait long?"

Two hours, twenty-six minutes, forty-two seconds

"Not at all. I just got here, actually." Haku replied with a smile. She had come early "just in case".

"That's good to know." Naruto sighed in relief as he sat down in front of her. "How's your friend doing?"

She furrowed a brow in worry, but smiled nonetheless. "He is doing a bit better, but will still be unable to move for several days, unfortunately."

The blonde put on a thinking face as he tapped his chin with a finger. "That's too bad… How about we pick some more herbs like yesterday for him?"

She tilted her head. "I'm afraid I have plenty of herbs as it is, Naruto-kun."

He smiled. "Perhaps, but there are other herbs and plant life around here that could do a better job if mixed correctly."

"I was not aware of that." Haku replied softly.

"Uh-huh, matter of fact; I saw some over there on my way here. And there should be plenty of roots in that direction…"

"Why are you helping me with so much motivation?" Haku asked suddenly, cutting the blonde off.

He stammered before he adopted the confused face she had on several minutes ago. "I…I'm not sure, actually." He replied honestly. "You're working so hard for your friend, right?" She nodded. "I like that, I guess."

He paused. The air was still, tonight.

"Friends help friends, right?" Naruto smiled.

"…!"

"I guess that's why I'm helping you out so much." He flushed, embarrassed as to what he was saying. "I guess I think of you as a…uh, a friend." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

He laughed awkwardly as he got up and turned around.

"Hahaha, what am I saying? Let's go and get the stuff for your friend, Haku-san!" He walked away, his face begging to be put out of his misery.

In his haste, Naruto missed the massive blush that adorned Haku's face when he first mentioned the word "friend."

She felt a true smile form around her lips as she followed the blonde.

"I got you now!" Naruto cackled manically as he removed a root from the ground.

In a high pitch falsetto voice, Naruto mimicked the root screaming. "Kyaa! No, don't touch me! Kyaaa!" Naruto swung the terrified root in the air before placing it Haku's basket.

Haku giggled at Naruto's antics, causing him to laugh as well.

"Oh come on! Was it that embarrassing?" He flushed.

Haku smiled. "You are very humorous, Naruto-kun."

"But I am the bane of the existence of roots, herbs and plants everywhere!" He said playfully in a diabolical voice as he placed more screaming foliage in Haku's basket.

She laughed this time.

"It sounds nice, you know." He said offhandedly.

"What sounds nice, Naruto-kun?" She asked after calming down.

"Your laugh." He replied. "It sounds nice; you should do it more often." He grinned at her.

Haku stammered as she was not used to receiving compliments very often.

"I…shall keep that in mind, Naruto-kun. Thank you."

This continued for an hour or two; Naruto picking up a mixture of herbs and plants while making Haku laugh. The atmosphere was relaxing.

"And this is the last, Haku-san. It's very important." He grinned as he presented her a flower. It was a white lily, a gorgeous little one with an intoxicating smell.

Haku looked at the flower with confusion. "I was not aware that this flower had medicinal attributes, Naruto-kun." She thought that the flower was very pretty, though.

Naruto smiled. "It doesn't. I just thought it would look good on you." He slowly cupped the flower in his hand as he moved it towards her. He moved her long black hair with his fingers as he placed the flower behind her right ear; it stayed perfectly still. "I was right!" He looked amazed.

*BA-DUM!* *BA-DUM!* *BA-DUM!*

Haku's heart pounded in her chest from the close proximity with the blonde, and it only throbbed harder when he finished placing the flower on her. Steam almost literally escaped from her ears as her face turned completely crimson.

Naruto smiled.

'Did he hear it? How could he not?' Haku panicked as her heart pounded heavily in her chest. 'What is this I am feeling…?'

Her instincts told her to back away, but this feeling told her to stay put.

Naruto slowly backed off as he looked up at the moon. "This…is nice." He said simply as he rested by crossing his legs.

She agreed but took this as a chance to leave. "I agree, but I am afraid I need to leave soon, lest my friend gets worried." She reasoned.

"It looks to be that time, yeah." Naruto nodded. He got up and offered his hand to help her up. She took it with caution.

His larger hand connected with her smaller one as his thumb rested on the back of her hand to get a grip as he pulled her up gently.

"I know this might sound brash or selfish of me to ask, but… would you like to meet tomorrow as well?" Naruto asked kindly as he let go of her hand.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I…"

He saw the conflicted look on her face and cut in. "Feel free to say no if you don't have tomorrow. I understand and I wouldn't want to keep you from your friend any longer than I already have." He let her know that she wasn't obligated to say yes.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "I would very much like that, Naruto-kun." She brightened up even more when she saw the happy look on his face.

"That's great!" He exclaimed happily. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

She nodded. "You will. Thank you for tonight, Naruto-kun."

"Anytime, Haku-san." He waved her off.

Both of them thought the same thing as they departed.

'I…made a friend…'

Naruto stayed put for several minutes before he teleported to his friends as they did another stakeout at the building.

xxOxx

Haku quietly opened the door to her temporary home in the middle of nowhere before she walked in. There was a slight bounce in her step and a warm smile spread on her face as she made her way to her room. For reasons unknown to herself, she became extra quiet-like as she passed Zabuza's room.

Just when she thought she was home free, his voice called out.

"You're… late again, Haku." The voice called out from her left. In the corner of the large living room was Zabuza sitting in a chair. He flicked the switch to the lamp next to him, illuminating the room. He was covered in bandages – even more so than usual thanks to the fight he had with that weird ninja with thicker eyebrows than his sword. He groaned, still heavily injured.

"Zabuza-sama! You should not be out of bed!" Haku moved to pick him up from the chair.

He let himself get carried by the shoulder. He noticed the flower behind her ear.

"Where…were you…?" He asked as she placed him on the bed in his room.

She paused. "I…was collecting more herbs for you, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza stayed quiet. 'Haku can't lie worth shit when it comes to me.' Zabuza sweat-dropped. "What aren't you telling me, Haku?" He asked grimly.

She stammered.

"Well…?" He asked again, slowly losing patience.

She tucked him in and touched his forehead. "You are burning up, Zabuza-sama. Let me go cook something for you." She walked towards the door.

Zabuza sat straight up instantaneously, hurting him in the process. "N-No, Haku. That won't be necessary, just let me sleep, got it?" His body ached and he was sure that one of Haku's "meals" would certainly finish him off. As talented as a killer she was, she was an even better culinary assassin.

"Oh. Then goodnight, Zabuza-sama." She replied evenly before closing the door on her way out.

The sword master fell back into bed. 'Crisis averted.' He thought with relief. 'She didn't answer my question though…' He thought back on how happy she seemed walking in. The girl was rarely that happy.

So he sighed. 'Eh fuck it. Whatever it is she's hiding won't be the death of me.' He reasoned with himself.

I-It's not like he thought she looked better when she was happy, or anything, b-baka reader!

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Chapter End

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H-Holy shit…

That, was a lot. I kept on writing and writing and writing and writing….
Never again.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

I got a lot of reviews on the last chapter and it motivated me to make this Super!Chapter of sorts. Keep the reviews coming and I'll churn better content out either quicker or larger in size.

For anybody wondering, Kami and Maou/Heaven and Hell will start showing up again soon.

There was a lot going on this chapter. Huh.

Was there something you didn't like? Something you didn't understand? Review! I like to say that I am good at responding to most reviews I get. I've gotten quite a few follows and favorites and I'd like to get a response from all of you! *Delusional Ghillie is Delusional* it benefits you – the reader – and me as an author!

Thank you for reading, and as always, have a good day.

-TheRedGhillie

P.S. No omake this time due to supersized chapter. I'm sorry! I'll add TWO omakes next time!