I think I've responded to all the reviews by PM, so there shouldn't be any problems there...

Anyways, sorry for the long wait. School closing out takes a large chunk of my time, and my birthday is tomorrow, so I had to get my affairs in order.

And yes, I am aware that these chapters, for all their length, aren't progressing the story all that much... It's just my style of writing, I write marathon fics made to kill time, and as such, they'll actually be better to read once it's all over (and seeing as this chapter marks maybe the 5% mark, it'll be a while).

Also, apologies in advance to KaleidoPhoenix. I POV switch like mad, especially in the last scenes. Sorry :/

Lee withdrew his fist.

His foe was strong; agility and accuracy honed to an astounding level, enabling him to seamlessly keep running and taking shots at him at the same time... however, no matter how many arrows the spider could send his way, the green beast of the leaf was simply more determined to win.

He bore no ill will towards the sound ninja; Lee hardly ever got angry at anyone, even when they were directly endangering him and his teammates. This little fact held true for his confrontation with Kidomaru as well...

Once he did manage to catch up, Lee needed only take his foe's balance from him, and it was all over. The spider had trained himself to be the apex predator; being in the position of the pursued left him with few options, every one of which he had already revealed to the green-clad genin during their first clash.

The curse mark was strong, and it kept him alive, but Lee was stronger.

Unlike the sound ninja, Lee had no easy outs. Every bit of his power, his speed, his agility... everything that made Rock Lee who he was had been gained through training that far overshot even the realm of devotion, easily slipping into mania, albeit a mania he was in control of...

Where his teammates would collapse from the exhaustion, Lee pressed on. Maybe his wrists would be searing in pain, and his muscles threatening to give out with every new repetition, but no matter the risk, he kept going; if he was ever going to become the splendid ninja he intended to be, the ninja Guy-sensei saw in him... he had no other choice but to keep going.

And with each added step, with each new weight, something grew in the awkward but determined genin, a genius that rivaled those of his peers. Neji and Sasuke might've been born with the bloodlines of heroes and had the potential of a generation, but it was Rock Lee who could do it without being born into it.

This was the fearsome power of the two beasts of the leaf. No matter who their opponent was, they could come out on top, and more often than not, they would... and why is that?

They trained.

Upon reaching the position of Orochimaru's personal bodyguard, Kidomaru had reached his plateau; he was happy with the skills and abilities he had, and they served him well in dealing with even the strongest of those foolish enough to try and challenge the snake sannin...

But in the end, his skills had begun stagnating. Without an adequate challenge, something to keep him trying, Kidomaru gave into his nature as a slacker and did only the minimum amount of work needed to stay at the top of his game, not bothering to see whether the top he had achieved was true, or merely a glass ceiling he was unaware of.

And that was the reason why, despite all his abilities, despite the fact that he had his perfect setup with the web, the spiderlings, even the taunts, Kidomaru was being held up above what looked like an endless drop, suspended in the air by the strength of a mere genin.

That was the catch, the genin had no plateau.

So he withdrew his fist, he let go. Unlike him, the spider wasn't strong enough to shrug off the fall.

All Lee could hear as he watched his teammate make his way into the thick brush in which he dropped their foe was a quiet, almost inaudible 'crack'.

"Is it over?" he questioned, quickly sliding down the tree trunk and returning to ground level.

Neji said nothing, only nodding and motioning to the sprawled-out body a few feet away from them.

"He was a truly amazing opponent..." the boy drawled, a slightly somber expression gracing his features, "...I regret that our battle had to end this way."

Once more, the Hyuga nodded, taking a few breaths to compose himself before making a hand seal and triggering his Byakugan, only realizing that he, for some reason, couldn't see past some kind of barrier to the west.

"That's strange..." he muttered, pulling a scroll from his kimono and unfurling it on the ground.

While turning in bounties required bringing a body that lacked any sort of tampering, being stored in a scroll included, the same limitations didn't apply to hostile engagement missions with a requirement for a kill confirm. With Tenten's absence, it fell to Neji to be the one to seal away the corpse, a process that took scarcely more than a couple of minutes.

"Are you well enough to travel?"

"I...I'm not sure. Perhaps fighting this soon after the operation was risky... Still, I can't abandon the mission. "

True enough, while he wasn't in any particular pain, he did feel fragile, and that wasn't a sensation he ever remembered feeling... besides, he'd need to drink his medicine soon enough, and he doubted that Lady Tsunade would advise intense movement right after taking said medicine.

"You can't, but you could go and retrieve the body a kilometer in..." he pointer loosely to the northeast, "...that direction."

"Huh?"

"It appears that our comrades managed to take out one of the sound ninja out on their own. I clearly recognize the etching on the headband."

Lee smiled. Knowing just how strong Neji's Byakugan was one thing, seeing the many ways it benefited their missions was another altogether.

"You ready?" Neji asked, stashing the now burdened storage scroll inside one of his many pockets.

"I'll wait for the rest of the team here when I recover the body," his teammate replied in a confident tone, though he seemed a bit reluctant to split up again.

Neji considered pointing out that Lee had no right to look worried, given the fact that he was the one who dashed away on his own in the first place, but then decided to let it slide, if only because it was so damn effective.

One more nod, and the Hyuga was off.

He was tired. The fact that the sweat-soaked shirt was constantly chafing his back hardly did anything to lessen the sensation that he had had his fill... yet, despite all that, he still stood up and walked over and around everyone else, intent on seeing his promise through.

Reflexively licking his lips before crouching down, Sasuke got a good grip on the already cooling skin of the cadaver, steadying himself. He didn't hasten, but instead took his time twisting the inert limb of his... or rather their fallen foe, cracking a grin when the inevitable 'snap' came.

The sound echoed across the clearing, the sickly cracking noise getting a reaction from every one of the present genin.

Sasuke's own teammate stared at him with a look of slight shock, but it appeared as if it wasn't nearly appalling enough to provoke a vocal response. Perhaps, burdened by thoughts of his own, dealing with not only the fact that he had once again had to take the life of an enemy, something he didn't take to so well, Naruto simply couldn't muster the will to say something - the best Sasuke got was a blank stare and an elevated eyebrow.

Next to him, the Inuzuka grinned. The general impression people had of their clan was that they were near-feral when agitated enough, and while the fact was correct, it was only true in actual life or death situations. In this oddly lax atmosphere, Sasuke could only watch as the boy gave him an approving nod, the kind one gives to their rival as a sign of respect... though why Kiba considered himself someone who could hope to rival him was anyone's guess.

The two members of Team 10 seemed to cringe; being members of the Ino-Shika-Cho, a trio from families that have always preferred the Leaf's image as a village for the shinobi who were too soft for actual black-ops work, the two found that talking about breaking arms and witnessing it were two different things... Taking a life in the heat of the moment was something they could stomach... pointless violence wasn't.

The darkness that seemed reluctant to leave the sky was finally fading. Thin rays of sickly light, the kind that belonged to the moon as much as they did to the sun, barely rolled over the top of the Rashomon, landing somewhere in the forestry on the opposite side of the clearing, drunk up by the ever-thirsty shadows of the Senjuwood treeline.

They were exhausted, that much was clear...

Choji seemed to be the absolute worst off, looking worryingly pale and somewhat airier than usual. Whatever the Akimichi packed into those colored pills of theirs, it must've been powerful stuff if it drained him so much, both figuratively and literally.

Right after him came Sasuke himself, who's damaged hand seemed to start swelling; not a career-stopper, but noticeably harder to use until it gets properly taken care for.

Shikamaru was the middle, having expended his energy on the quick thinking and positioning required to pull off the maneuver he and Choji executed with perfection. While his entire back was soaked with sweat, and his pulse was still steadying, the Nara really wasn't that bothered.

Naruto and Kiba were almost unscathed, both having used up only one technique's worth of chakra, an amount that was laughable to the blonde... Akamaru seemed to be in the best shape of the lot of them.

"Alright..." Shikamaru drawled as he slowly pushed himself up into a semi-standing position, "high time we got back to the others."

"That's an order?" Naruto asked, grinning, as he too stood up, stretching for some reason.

"Actually, yes," the chunin replied, smirking.

The blonde opened his mouth in order to make a reply of his own, yet found himself cut off as his eyes spotted the figure that had only just emerged from the forest on the other side of the clearing...

Whoever the character was, he certainly didn't look friendly. Only slightly taller than Shikamaru, the person on approach didn't look all that physically threatening either... yet, the moment Naruto had laid eyes on the soon-to-be foe, something instinctual kicked in and he felt his muscles tense and his heart quicken just a bit.

"Guys..."

It wasn't the manner in which the young man moved, for it was most certainly a young man, a fact easy to notice now that he was close enough to actually see properly, that had intimidated the boy. It wasn't the lifeless expression on his features, nor was it the deathly pallor that supplemented the moderately macabre air around him...

Naruto couldn't really tell what was wrong with the young man approaching the team, but he knew enough - this was a fight he wouldn't want to miss.

Much of the same could be said about Sasuke, though the first thing he noticed was the small insignia of the sound village on the band the guy was using to tie his moderately long hair. He too noticed that this foe would be the hardest one of the set; the twins were tough to take one on one, sure, but this guy was approaching the five (six, counting the pup, but Sasuke was above that) of them - and he wasn't giving any tell as to what exactly he was doing there...

The mark.

There was no easy way of describing the personality of the young Sasuke Uchiha. At times, when he was doing well, his only downfalls were pride and a hesitance to work with others, considering it below his abilities as an Uchiha, who he considered to be people who could handle everything themselves - a statement that held true for but one Uchiha in history.

However, when his eyes, the eyes that started this whole mess, the eyes that started every damn mess ever to come to the Uchiha clan, spotted the mark on the young man's neck, a sigil similar to his save for the thinner lines used, he realized he couldn't take this one alone - not while he was injured...

Well, if he wasn't going to be the charge, he could lead it. Nudging the still oblivious Shikamaru, Sasuke pointed to the small mark on the approaching man's neck, frowning.

Shikamaru mimicked the expression, but for a vastly different reason - he recognized those two red dots.

It was a lazy summer afternoon in Konoha. Nothing of note was happening, and Shikamaru was experiencing something he would come to realize was a terrible bother - boredom.

Choji was ill, having gotten some mild food poisoning. He did go and visit him, but there was only so much the two could do with one of them being bedridden. He wanted to stay, but good old Choji would have none of it, and threatened to have him kicked out if he didn't go and enjoy the lovely day outside.

The young Akimichi would end up feeling better by day's end, and would go see his best friend first thing tomorrow.

Having no better option, Shikamaru just obliged, pedaling across half the village to the Yamanaka flower shop - he was pretty sure that's what Choji meant when he told him to enjoy the day. Ino was busy, but she was always up for conversation; they spent the better part of two hours chatting about this and that, mostly her being a bother and trying to get him to come up with an idea about what he's going to do with his life after they graduate the academy.

Eventually, she was called in by some of her clansmen to go help with something far too chemical-sounding for him to remember.

That short yet unusually active afternoon led to his return home and subsequent retirement to his favorite cloud gazing spot in the yard.

Of course, when Shikamaru was concerned, the next troublesome event was never too far; this time it came in the form of his father:

"The sky isn't going anywhere, you know."

"I know... but if it does, I'll have a front-row seat."

This got a chuckle from the man, who promptly sat down next to his sole heir, casting a passing glance at the sky he liked watching so much.

"You could be helping out with clan chores... maybe even talking to your old man."

"I really don't want to do chores, dad."

Another smirk... The kid delivers the lines in his bored monotone, but that's irrelevant. Shikamaru has energy, he knew, he's only directing the majority of it inwards, unlike his peers. That's why everything he was asked to do struck him as a bother, as troublesome, as he puts it.

"Hey dad."

"Hm?"

"How'd you get that scar?"

"..."

His hand moved to it again; It was a strange nervous tic, one that only ever bothered him when the scar was specifically brought up. How long has it been since he's gotten it? Fifteen years? Twenty? It seems like a lifetime ago, no matter how you look at it.

"It's a long story... you might exert yourself listening to it," he began, giving a taunting smirk.

"I'll risk it," came the quick reply, his son having long since learned to ignore the half-hearted attempts at provoking him. He never heard the story of dad's scar, and the few times it was mentioned in passing, it sounded less like a traumatic experience than an embarrassing one.

"Well..." Shikaku sighed, knowing that there's no way to skip out on this particular duty, "I got it by underestimating my enemy."

"How so?" Shikamaru asked, forgetting about the clouds for a moment.

"Mission to the Land of Sea, twenty something years ago. Simple information retrieval, but we ran into trouble... trouble I failed to assess properly."

He's bombed missions worse before that... maybe not him specifically, but the teams he was running the missions with at the time. It was all part of being shinobi, mistakes happened, and the better shinobi survived them. He was better that time as well, but only barely.

"Three mist ninja show up from the locked side room. Must've been hiding their signatures, since no one picked up on their presence... the Ino-Shika-Cho wasn't together on that one, obviously."

Shikamaru would snicker at that, but kept his silence. The way his father saw their teams as an unstoppable force was charming in its' own way, even though, realistically, odds are that there's some team out there that could beat even their legendary trio.

"It's a fight. Looked like a mid range team with one fighter, but I misjudged. This fighter, you see, wasn't like your run-of-the-mill close combat ninja. He was a Kaguya."

"A Kaguya?" Shikamaru was confused. Wasn't Kaguya the witch of legend, the first human to ever use chakra?

"You can tell them apart from the others by their clan sign - two red dots on the forehead, one next to the other."

"Ok... what's so special about them, then? I know you, dad, you don't get caught off guard, except by mom."

The air was almost completely silent for a brief while, the only sound being the repeated scratching of the back of Shikaku's head.

"Ahem... the special thing about them was their bloodline. Shikotsumyaku, or alternatively the 'dead bone pulse', is the reason I'm this ruggedly handsome."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but he was teetering on the edge of sitting up, which Shikaku took as a good sign.

"They had the drop on us, but I got one with my shadow. My teammates took care of him, but the Kaguya used the time to close the distance to me. I thought he was just trying a Taijutsu strike... never saw the blade-shaped bone popping out of his wrists coming."

"What?" Shikamaru was sitting up by now, looking strangely invested in the story. He hardly, if ever, got this interested for anything... fortunately, family and friends seemed exempt from his personal rule of not getting involved.

Shikaku sighed. His eyes turned to the sky, so bright and clear, nothing like the sky under which he was outmaneuvered by the Kaguya. There was a morbid humor in the fact that he was one of the last Konoha ninja ever to face a Kaguya, just a year or two before the clan's pathological need for vicious battle drove them to try their hands at the Fourth Mizukage and his bloody regime.

Feeling the bone blade tear his skin, he acted on impulse, rather than with a plan... both would've worked.

Shadowy hands wrapped the ninja's body, clasping hard against his throat. In seconds, the violent amount of chakra funneled into the technique crushed the Kaguya's windpipe, his bloodline not trained up to the point where he could've protected himself.

Once more, Shikaku sighed.

"I got my scar fighting a Kaguya of the Mist, Shikamaru. If by some wicked twist of fate you end up facing someone with those two red dots on his forehead, make sure you judge the situation with a cool head... you don't want to end up looking exactly like your old man, huh?"

"Right..." Shikamaru drawled, the reality of a ninja's life looking that much more vivid... not that he minded, "Thanks, dad."

"No problem."

"That's a Kaguya..." he began, eyes wide.

"And he's got a curse mark," Sasuke concluded, wishing that he hadn't busted his hand.

In seconds, the genin had assembled a line formation, each and every one of them tensing up. Their foe didn't seem interested in their actions in the least, however, steadily stepping towards them.

Could they take him? He looked young, maybe three years older than them, but he did have the advantage of a curse mark and a bloodline. While Sasuke had both as well, having him rely on his own mark was an absolute last resort, one Shikamaru really didn't want to have to turn to.

"Aright, listen up. I explicitly don't want you to ignore this..." he began, then turned to the two members of Team 7, "that goes double for you two hotheads."

Naruto curved an eyebrow at that, while Sasuke just looked away, focusing once again on the ever-so-slowly approaching Kimimaro.

Choji frowned, the knowledge that he won't be at his best for what looked to be almost certainly a fight only reinforcing his desire to step up in the future... if he can't be the solid base of the Ino-Shika-Cho, who could? He could push himself this one time...

"No plan now, eh Naruto?" Kiba began, completely ignoring the fact that his superior was going to continue talking.

"Looks like it..." the blonde began in a soft voice, only to brighten up and throw on his usual 'defiant and cheerful' look, " but I don't care."

There was a brief pause, only enough for the foe to take another step, "If we fight together, there's no way we can lose."

"Tell him that." Kiba replied with a smirk.

"Keep your distance from him. Kaguya can manipulate their bones at will, usually using them as advanced close combat weapons... though I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a ranged attack."

"So, what? We run?" it was Kiba again, his tone near-exasperated. Inuzuka by default almost never retreated, and he wasn't going to be one of those who did.

There was a sudden silence as all the genin fixed their attention to the Kaguya. Close enough to border the edge of the Rashomon's shadow, Kimimaro had come to a halt. He stared at the broken form of one of the twins (he couldn't tell them apart), not at all surprised that he'd gone and gotten himself killed...

That meant that at least one of the ninja here wasn't complete trash... hopefully it was the Uchiha who did it, else lord Orochimaru's enthusiasm would've been wasted on someone not worthy of even speaking his name...

"Running wouldn't do you any good," Kimimaro began in his hollow voice, finally turning his eyes to the group, Kiba in particular, "you will hand over the Uchiha, and in turn, I will make your deaths quick."

"Go screw yourself!" Kiba roared in reply and made to attack, only to be held back by both Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom knew better than to engage blindly - the lessons from the Land of Tea stuck better than either thought.

"Which one of you is the Uchiha?" the young man demanded. The only thing he knew about the boy was that he'd have dark hair, red eyes, and the Uchiha clan crest on his back, neither of which were apparent from where he was standing.

"You have a plan," Sasuke turned to Shikamaru, his voice betraying the words to be a command rather than a question. Shikamaru was too busy formulating one to answer.

"You guys leave Sasuke alone!" Naruto shouted, taking a step forward.

Damn Orochimaru and his sound guys... ever since the chunin exam it was just one thing after another. How the heck were they supposed to become strong as a team if the sannin wouldn't stop interfering? Sasuke was strong enough without the mark... not as strong as Naruto himself, of course, but strong enough...

He didn't understand how it worked - what he got was that the mark made you stronger, but wasn't really good for your health. He felt insulted that they thought Sasuke needed power outside of his own.

"Shut up, dobe," came said boy's reply.

If this was backup to the four idiots they took out, it would be a cakewalk, just like the first freak was... but this one looked tougher... this was Orochimaru's main enforcer. Taking this one out would send the message he wanted sent.

Besides, it was kind of funny; He was going to break the arms of a guy whose main techniques revolved around manipulating his own skeleton... never say that Sasuke Uchiha didn't appreciate the minor coincidences that graced the shinobi life.

All of a sudden, the group was forced to make room for Shikamaru, who had decided to crouch down. When he spoke, his voice was low and serious:

"This is going to be drag... but here goes nothing."

Everyone smirked.

Don't know when the next one is going to be. My excuses are based around school activities. :D

Though, since Kimimaro is classified as a 'boss', expect a longer chapter, like the one with Yagura was. ;)

A big thanks to everyone who keeps reading, dropping favs, follows and reviews. My day gets brighter every time an e-mail alert pops up, telling me that there's one more person out there who considers my work worth following. :)

Question of the chapter: If you wrote a fic in the Naruto fandom- why? What was that which you set out to do?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!