Gaara kept his eyes on Kimimaro, seldom blinking. He didn't need to because of his sand automatically responding to any thread, but there was something off about him. Other than surviving his crushing sand, no worry could be seen on his face or in his body language. Very few people could stare unfazed at the possibility of their own death. That he learned from experience. A troublesome match up, superior numbers, and the likelihood of reinforcements didn't so much as make him twitch. Both were hiding something up their sleeves.

Sandals clacking against wood from behind almost drew his eyes. The others looked for him and saw three familiar faces. It wasn't like they were far off to begin with: the chasm they fell into was a little to the right of the fight with Tayuya. One of them was completely useless against their opponent, but the other two had tricks he was inexperienced with.

"Hey," Kankuro, Karasu by his side, said, "what's going on?"

"We're at an impasse. He can't get close to us or do anything at that distance and neither can we." Shikamaru looked to Ino and smiled. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you're alright."

Ino looked from his worn state to Tenten's. "I can't believe we did better than you." Her eyes narrowed at the young man in their way. "So that's Kimimaro, huh?" She blinked. "Wait, where's Sasuke?"

He twitched. "He went after Naruto alone."

Kiba's nose twitched at the smell of alcohol and sweat before he looked to the other unexpected backup. "Lee?"

"Present!" He let go of Tenten to wobbly salute.

"...Uh?"

"He's drunk." Temari furrowed her brow when Tenten shot her another unnerved look. "What?"

"I'm not druuuuunk!" Lee squared up with her only to be pushed back by sand.

Gaara broke his attention from their enemy to glare at him. "Touch my sister, and I'll kill you."

Tenten, holding out her arms to block any path, stepped between them. "We're friends! All of us are trying to stop Naruto! Come on! Let's act like friends!" She laughed nervously.

Lee looked from one Sand sibling to another. "Since when were yoooou friends with Narutoooo?"

"Orders from our village," Temari said, ignoring Tenten's repeated anxious expressions.

"That's politiiiiics!" He pointed an accusing, shaking finger. "You're no frieeeeend!"

"I'm here to save Naruto from himself," Gaara began. "After we fought, I realized through his words how meaningless the existence I chose was and picked a different path. Now his pain, sorrow, and anger are drawing him down one all too similar. He may deny his part in helping me, but I can't let him make the same mistake I did."

"The source of all that is love," Ino said, admiring his Naruto-like yet far more tranquil chakra.

If he could've, he would have looked up at the character on his forehead. "I know."

"...You're a good frieeend." Lee fell flat on his back.

Tenten shook her head and waved at her neck when they looked at her for an explanation. The sheer horror she experienced when Lee accidentally downed an entire bottle of alcohol was burned into her soul. Guy couldn't stop it alone, Neji was utterly outmatched, and the anbu were nearly involved. While he could be an asset in his drunken state, he was far too volatile to depend on.

"It's time." Gaara lifted his hands up, and the sand he was collecting erupted from the earth, blocking their view of the enemy as well as the forest behind him.

Kiba's eyes widened while Akamaru whimpered. "Holy shit!"

"Told that pervert Gaara would make short work of him!" Temari smirked.

"Let's celebrate after we're sure he's dead." Shikamaru glared at the sea of sand. "Ino, do you still have chakra left?"

She scoffed. "N-Not as much as this guy but yeah."

"Whatever you have planned better work: he's not dead yet," Gaara said.

Kankuro laughed. "Nice joke!" He stepped back when Kimimaro emerged in his second Cursed Seal stage. "Oh no."

Gaara held out his hands and closed them into fists, encasing him in sand. "What a strange power."

"Naruto called it a 'Cursed Seal,'" Kiba said. "It made the guy we fought way stronger and tougher." He grit his teeth. "If this doesn't do it, I'm not sure what will."

Just as those words left Kiba's lips, Kimimaro burst through. He was aware of who most of them were, specifically what clans they were from and jutsu they could use. Not a single one posed a threat to him at the height of his power. Gaara's trick forced him to pull it out earlier than he wanted to, but the remaining members of the retrieval team were unlikely to pose a threat against his exhausted regular self all at once.

Ino put her pointer fingers to her thumbs, creating a rectangle. "Now!"

Kimimaro's face scrunched when he ground to a halt. "Yamanaka." His arms moved back to present his chest.

"I've got it!" Kankuro disassembled Karasu's limbs and thrusted their blades into him as best he could, only grazing him thanks to his sub-dermal bones. "All we have to do is wait for the poison to reach his heart."

He would've scoffed, but that would give away his immunity. Orochimaru was not a fan of poisons ever since his encounter with Hanzo. It wouldn't do him any good to leave his preferred vessel walking around with the ability to be so easily killed, so he injected him with a cocktail of every toxin known to shinobi over several years in increasing amounts. If he wanted to, he could drink an entire bottle's worth of poison and only feel a slight ache in his stomach.

"Just in case!" Temari swung a blade of wind into his body, but it failed to penetrate into his vitals.

Gaara surrounded him in sand again before the sober Leaf shinobi could draw ninja tools. "Save your energy. All you would do is scratch him."

"Better than doing nothing." Kiba's hands clenched into fists while Akamaru whimpered.

Shikamaru glanced down. "He's right: we're useless here."

Ino would've laughed if they were in any other situation. She never expected her abilities to be of use against Kage-level ninja. Asuma told her one day she'd be in the exact same position Team 7 was in. The joint attack on the village seemed like it, but she could see now it wasn't anywhere close. Jonin were there to protect and assist them against shinobi who were chunin at best. Even with a Kage-level ninja on their side, they couldn't do anything to Kimimaro. They, to her knowledge, would be dead if Kankuro didn't bring poison. Knowing that instilled a deep fear in her.

Kimimaro, regaining control of his body, fell limp. The sand couldn't crush him or restrain him, but it was best to let them think the poison was working. One opening was all he needed. Gaara had to go first thanks to his Tailed Beast, and the rest would follow suit with little issue. While the Yamanaka could be troublesome, all she could do was hold him back for a time. The Hyuga and Aburame would be able to hurt him if held in place by her though, so she was his next target.

"He's not moving." Gaara murmured. "Something's wrong."

Kankuro and the others turned to him. "Are you su–" He jolted when Kimimaro forced himself through the sand again.

When Ino moved her hands, Kimimaro shot phalanges from his only to hit a self-sacrificing Kiba. He turned to his main target and found two puppets in his way. A scoff left his lips before he drew his sharpened spine to stab through them. They were little better than paper. Flesh and bone were parted by his odd blade with as much resistance.

Tenten unsealed a club and smashed it against the side of his head. "I want that!"

"Here you go." He, unfazed by what would've smashed most people's skulls, sharpened the end of his spine-sword handle into a spike and thrusted it back to impale her.

Temari waved her fan to blast him far back on to solid ground before he could. "Be careful!" She waved it again, deflecting a barrage of shooting bone.

Gaara widened his eyes at the familiar, wavering back standing over him. "...Kankuro." He moved along with his sand to catch him. "Kankuro!" His heart sank at the red soaking the lower back of his body suit. "Why did you do that?! I could've stopped him!"

"You're my little brother." He laughed. "And come on; he got out of your sand twice." The grains pressed and seeped into his wounds with those words, aiming to stop his bleeding.

"It went straight through the middle," Temari said, frowning.

"I know."

"Kiba, I…" Ino stepped back when he turned to her with a fierce look on his face.

"You're the only one of us here who can do anything." Akamaru whining drew his attention. "I'm fine. Nothing fatal… I think"

Shikamaru glared at their enemy away from the lake of sand. "We need Neji and Shino to get past his defenses. If we can just hold out until then, we'll make it."

"What are we going to do about Naruto if we can't even get past this guy?" Tenten resealed her club.

"Let's worry about that after we survive this."

Lee shakily stood up, attracting his fellow Leaf shinobi's attention. "Neji… My friiiiiends." He frowned at the wounded. "Who hurt you friiiiiends?"

Tenten, repressing her urge to twitch, patted his shoulder. "It's okay, buddy. We're fine. Lay down and relax. This will all be over soon."

"...Heeeey." He turned to where Kimimaro was. "Where did that bone freeeeak go?"

Kiba blinked as Akamaru whined. "Oh shit!"

"He can use Earth Style, which means he's trying to surprise us from the ground." Shikamaru looked to Ino.

She nodded, closed her eyes, and focused. "Give me a second."

Tenten looked to Temari, who was keeping her eyes on Kankuro. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if you aren't ready, we're probably going to die." Her hum set her mind at ease.

"He's deep under the earth and headed this way." Ino furrowed her brow. "I don't know if he's aiming for me or for Gaara."

Shikamaru turned to him. "How deep can your sand go?"

"Do you know where he is?" Gaara asked, turning to Ino.

She pursed her lips. "About ten meters coming halfway towards us." The sand audibly plunging into the earth made her jump.

"Then he's dead."

"How?" Shikamaru asked. "Your last attacks didn't work."

"Simple: I'm going to fill him with sand until he bursts."

"Oh, that might do it."

"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Ino winced when nearly all their eyes focused on her.

Kankuro, still supported by Gaara, scoffed. "He's trying to kill us, and he fucking stabbed me!"

"We're running out of options at this point," Shikamaru said.

"Do you know what it feels like to have someone else's bones in you?" Kiba tapped the bits sticking out of him. "It hurts."

"Is it really any worse than stabbing him in his vital organs or bashing his head in?" Tenten asked.

Temari shook her head. "You Leaf ninja are strong, but you are really soft."

"I aaaam Rock Lee," Lee said, raising a wobbly arm in the air. "I am as hard as my namesaaaaake!" He fell flat on his back again.

"...Why is he still here?" She whispered to Tenten.

She whimpered. "When he's drunk, there's nothing anyone can do to stop him from doing what he wants."

In the ground, Kimimaro was swimming through the earth and away from the flood of sand. He could break free from being surrounded by it, but there was no way his opponent would pull the same failed trick twice. Desperation or anger could be driving him to act in futility. It was better to be safe than to be sorry though. They were likely still in their positions or preparing an ambush if they didn't flee, which they really couldn't. He moved towards his memory of their places just to find himself in contact with sand again.

"I've got him." Gaara glared down. "Now die already."

Kimimaro knew what he was planning the moment he tasted sand in his mouth. He sprouted bones over every inch of his body, creating a misshapen armor. It blinded him, but that was better than losing his eyes and being filled with sand. That wouldn't save them. Forcing himself through sand and earth, he shot out of the ground into the air. He transformed his spine-sword into a longer bladed whip as he swung it towards where he was sure Ino was.

A wall of sand erupted in front of Ino, blocking her view. When the spine-whip curved around the shield, Kiba tackled her down from the whip's path. Shikamaru wasn't quick enough to avoid a close disembowelment. Tenten, used to high-speed attacks, joined Lee on the ground. The makeshift weapon wasn't long enough to reach Kankuro or Temari, not that it could pierce the multiple walls of sand in its way.

"Oh, fuck off!" Temari blew him back with her fan before he could do anything else.

Ino's eyes widened at her teammate's reddening stomach after Kiba got off her. "Sh-Shikamaru!"

"Just a gut wound: nothing but blood loss and sepsis to worry about." He groaned as sand entered and blocked the opening. "Troublesome. I'm definitely getting sepsis now."

"It's sterile," Gaara deadpanned.

"Never mind that. Do any of you have a trick up your sleeve that could work against him?"

Temari furrowed her brow at the distant, morphing figure of their enemy. "I have a Summoning Jutsu, but my Wind Style was useless against him, so I don't know if it would be any different."

"Eight Inner Gaaaaaaates!" Lee cried.

Shikamaru looked to the rest and none answered. "Then all we can do is hold him off until the others catch up."

Picking herself up, Ino looked down. "If I can transfer my mind into his body, I can find a weak point and kill him through it." She looked up and steeled her gaze at Kimimaro.

"You'll die!" His eyes widened at her nod. "Just use your Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu!"

"I can only use that to make people attack others or leave themselves open. If I try to make them self-harm, their survival instincts overwrite my influence. This is the only way."

"Do–

"Our orders were to bring Naruto back even if it costs us our lives! If I don't do this, we'll all die for nothing!"

Gaara glanced back at them. "Are you sure about this?" He murmured at her determined face. "You can't do it at this range, I presume."

Shikamaru glared at him. "She is no–" His teammate slapped him quiet.

"You're a chunin now! Act like it! We're not the only ones who are going to die if we fail! Our parents, our sensei, and the people we're supposed to protect all might if we do!"

"I know." He averted his gaze. "But I don't want you to." Thinning his lips into a line, he focused back on their enemy. "Find out what his weakness is, and I'll take care of it; almost out of chakra anyway. You'll be more useful against Naruto than me."

"That's…" Drifting off, Ino realized the hypocrisy in speaking against and the soundness in his logic. "If he breaks out, I'll take it from there."

The rest of the group stayed silent. It wasn't their choice to make, and it wasn't like they had other options. Each would make the same decision in their place. Keeping comrades alive was important, but the consequences of failing the mission would endanger those at home. As shinobi, such things were expected from them. Others may have called it unjust yet many things in the world were just as twisted.

Kimimaro watched them from afar with no bones over his eyes. Since Ino was a Yamanaka, one of them had to be a Nara. The obvious Akimichi was some ways behind and wouldn't pose a threat on his own. His main threats were approaching, so he had to finish them quickly. Approaching head on was out of the question, and Gaara's sand made approaching through the ground unwise. It was no longer possible for him to conserve as much energy as he could.

Tenten and the others watched him sink into the earth again. "Same trick twice, huh?"

"What the…" Gaara's eyes widened before his sand became the ground and elevated them.

Lee stood up. "Not agaaaain!" He bent his knees to jump, but it encased him. "You are the worst friiiiiend!"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Tenten reached for a scroll, making Temari step between them.

"Saving our lives," Gaara said.

She scoffed. "Then why a–"

Bones shot out from the earth. They extended into the sky and branched like twisted white trees, contrasting the actual forest. It was something out of a macabre artist's imagination. Had Gaara not sensed what was coming through his sand or not been there at all, they would've dyed part of it red. Such a feat affirmed what they already knew: their opponent was beyond any of them.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Kankuro gaped along with the others.

"It's… It's all him." Ino shivered at the zealous, all-encompassing chakra. "All of these bones are…"

"What!?" Tenten yelled far more than asked, too shocked to really understand her words.

Kiba and Akamaru's noses twitched at his pervasive scent. "He's the bones!?"

Gaara's sand automatically pushed himself and Kankuro out of a drill-like bone's path before doing the same to Ino. "This is on another level entirely." His eyes narrowed at his appearing and disappearing presence along the branches in the sand.

Shikamaru nearly laughed. "My Shadow Possession Jutsu is useless against something like this." He turned to his rising teammate. "Ino, can you?"

Shrugging, she made the signature hand sign of her clan. "May as well try." She dropped to the sand again, to her and everyone else's surprise.

Kimimaro's perspective shifted from the platform of sand to just the Yamanaka in a dark void. "So this is what being subject to the main Yamanaka Clan jutsu is like."

"How are you talking to me?" She blinked. "Why am I not in control of you?"

"It's simple." He punched her to the ground and picked her up by the throat. "My will is beyond yours." His tone was dull and uninterested. "Begone."

Ino's real eyes widened. "How?" She stood up. "I'm not even low on chakra." Forming the Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu sign, she groaned. "All of these bones are part of your nervous system!? How the hell am I supposed to manipulate these?!"

Lee raised a fist into the air. "Use the power of yooooouth!"

"We're screwed," Temari said.

Some ways from their position, Neji furrowed his brow as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch. "There's a forest of living bone ahead."

"I would laugh, but there is no punchline to that joke," Shino said.

"No, there is a literal forest of bones containing chakra several meters ahead."

"Kimimaro."

"Most definitely." His lips parted when he concentrated on those atop a platform of sand. "Lee?" Dread grew in his heart when he saw the contents of his stomach and unmistakable mannerisms. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

"You'll see." He shook his head. "The Sand team from the Chunin Exams is there with the others that went ahead, save Sasuke. The puppet-user is crippled, Kiba is injured, and Shikamaru's intestines need stitching."

Shino murmured. "How injured is Kiba?"

"There's a finger bone in his large intestines, one close to his liver, another by his left kidney, and one in each side."

"Lucky him."

Neji felt unease when the bones were in normal sight distance. "We should approach with caution." He could see the others were still on edge despite no clear sign of the enemy.

Outstretching his arms, Shino sent a swarm of bugs to cover them, and they buzzed back into him. "My insects can't drain any chakra."

"It's not composed of chakra, so my Gentle Fist can't do anything either."

Kimimaro, now a sentient collection of bones, mulled his situation. The Yamanaka couldn't do anything to him in the Bracken Dance, but Gaara was single-handedly fending him off. He could perceive through his sand in a way, which made sneak attacks difficult. While he'd have better chances of killing them in his normal form, it would leave him open to the Yamanaka jutsu, and he'd have to do it blind. All he had to do was kill Gaara to clean up the others in seconds though. He'd have put that into motion if he didn't feel an odd tickling followed by the unmistakable movements of human beings.

Neji turned his head the second the darkened upper body of their enemy sprouted from a branch behind him. "Shin–" Blood spattered against his shirt and cheek.

Shino looked down at the red, drill-like bone jutting out the center of his chest. "...Oh."

Eyes widening, Neji jumped back and attached himself to a jutting bone with chakra. He saw Kimimaro merge into the white forest, letting Shino flop. It was obvious what his surroundings were. He took a deep breath, relaxed, and waited. The blow came just as he thought it would: from a place most would consider a blind spot.

Kimimaro shot bone with his other hand when Neji hopped away from his Clemantis Flower. Seeing all phalanges shift trajectory, he melted back into his bones. He wasn't a deadly threat, but his Byakugan would make killing Gaara on the sand platform even harder. The defensive ability of it was something he underestimated. While his Bracken Dance would stifle nearly any foe, it wasn't of much use against people with eyes on the back of their heads. It was consuming too much chakra to be cost-effective too.

Gaara and the others watched their hostile surroundings returning to the earth. "Either the jutsu is over or he's baiting us into dropping our guard." Forcing some of the sand holding them into the earth, he found no bones laying in wait.

"Hey." Nose twitching, Kiba walked to the edge of the sand and looked down. "Neji! Where's Shi..no..." He stared at the limp figure of his teammate laying in a puddle of blood.

"Neji?!" Lee ran to his side and looked down. "Ne–" His stupor sobered at the grim sight below. "...Oh."

Gaara, feeling a presence unlike Kimimaro's by the bottom of the platform, lifted Neji up. "Reinforcements." Looking back at him, he murmured. "I'm afraid you won't be of much help against this enemy with your Taijutsu."

Shikamaru almost smiled when he saw him. "What happened to…" The look on his face told him all he needed to know.

"The enemy is moving toward this position underground," Neji said. He turned to the frozen Kiba and parted his lips to say something but no words came out.

Tenten focused on her other, shaking teammate. "Lee, do–"

"I'm fine." He turned to his rival. "Neji, your spinny defense jutsu has the potential to be a powerful offense, correct?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes but…" The memory of Hinata's use of it came to mind. "What are you thinking?"

Lee began unwrapping his arms. "Giving direction and reinforcement to your power."

"...No."

Ino scoffed. "I don't know what it is, but we are all going to die if we don't do something!"

Temari turned to a twitching Tenten. "Is it really that bad?" Her face scrunched as she facepalmed.

"Lee," Tenten said, "you're drunk."

His gaze steeled. "Yes, and I'm angry. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, Neji. Don't choose the hard way."

"He's coming through the sand," Gaara said.

"I know." Neji returned Lee's look with one of his own. "Let's do this." He jumped into the air.

Lee followed after. "Yes!"

Gaara squinted at the bandages waving in the wind. "Oh." He was tempted to shake his head.

"Wait a minute…" Kankuro furrowed his brow.

Shikamaru sighed. "This better work."

"It will!" Lee wrapped Neji in his bandages. "Tell me where he's going!"

"Go in the direction I lean in!"

He grabbed his teammate, angled himself where he directed, activated the Gate of Opening, and began spinning. "Primary Lotus!" Neji emitted chakra from his tenketsu to dye the white swirl of his technique a vibrant blue.

Ino and the others' eyes widened at the display. "That's like Naruto's swirly thing on steroids!"

Kimimaro, ears covered by bone and immersed in sand, couldn't make out what they were yelling. He was blinded too. It made the twisting, familiar feeling of something ramming into him hard enough to carry the force into his insides even more of a surprise. The bone armor on his chest broke away, the skin was flayed, and most of his internal organs were ruptured before he was driven out of the sand into the earth.

Lee and Neji stopped and landed when they no longer felt resistance. "We did iiiiiit!" He held his rival tighter with one hand while raising a fist with the other. "Thank you, Guy-senseeeeeei!"

Temari gaped. "...I take back what I said: you guys are hard."

"I can't believe that actually worked." Tenten joined her.

"Really wish he would've come sooner," Kankuro said, restraining the urge to groan. "Probably never gonna be able to walk again."

Gaara, hiding a relieved smile beneath a layer of sand, looked up to him as he let his sand lower them. "At the very least, you're alive, aren't you?"

"Good point." He used the arm he had draped over his little brother's shoulder to pull him closer.

"We shouldn't celebrate just yet," Shikamaru said.

Ino nodded and frowned. "I can still feel his chakra, and it's…" Her face scrunched. "What the hell?"

Neji stepped out of his grip. "He's still alive." His brow furrowed. "And..he's…" Eyes widening, he jumped once more. "Again, Lee!"

He jumped and wrapped him. "Su–

Another armored Kimimaro erupted from the devastated bone shell towards them, whipping out his spine. The makeshift weapon met some immaterial resistance, but the force wasn't enough. It slashed Neji's side, digging into his large intestine, and ran through his stomach, liver, the right side of his heart, and his right lung. Lee only received a shallow cut across his upper right chest. Seeing the sand platform lowering, he sunk into the earth to avoid the Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu.

"Neji!" Tenten jumped down.

Lee, landing, looked over Neji's side and widened his eyes at the red soaking his usually white shirt. "N-Neji?"

"...Yes?" Forcing himself to smile, he coughed blood. "I always wondered what this would feel like."

"Don't say stuff like that!" Tenten cried, tears welling in her eyes. "You're going to be…" The bulging veins of his Byakugan made her heart sink.

Neji deactivated them. "Even if Lady Tsunade were here, I don't think she can heal this."

"I…" She wrapped her arms around him and Lee. "I love you!" Burying her face in his collar, she let her tears fall. "I love you so much! Please don't leave us! Please!"

"I know." He put a hand on the top of her head and wrapped her with his other arm. "And I'm sorry. Love is..something I'm not sure what to do with." Lee was perfectly still when he glanced back at him. "Don't...stop here because of me." The growing cold and numbness of his body reminded him of Shino's still body. "I had…it better..than most." Looking up at the blue sky, he laughed, even though it was painful. "For some..reason, I feel relieved… Father…" He fell limp.

Kimimaro still had no clue what hit him. It felt like the Rasengan, but it wasn't. A tunneling attack went through the sand and into him. He attributed it to the Hyuga because the others would've done it already if they could. There were eight, potentially ten, more to go. Only two remained an issue.

Gaara, raising the platform again alongside Team Guy, sensed their foe swimming through the grains. "Everyone, get ready."

Akamaru sunk his teeth into Kiba's leg, snapping him out of his shock. He looked down at him, steeled his gaze, balled his hands into fists, and turned back. There was nothing he could do but try. If he died, that was it; Shino would think as much in his position. An emptiness was where he thought rage would be. Either it was too much for him to handle or the subconscious acceptance of death so close.

"It's going to be either you or Ino again," Shikamaru said, forming the rat sign.

"Blowing him back just for him to come at us again and again." Temari pulled her fan back. "If only running away was an option."

Ino shed tears but didn't any other sign of her sadness. "If we chose that, then their deaths really would have been for nothing." Forming the rectangle with her fingers, she shifted her position just in case, prompting the rest of them to do the same.

Kankuro bit his lip in frustration and manifested chakra strings from his fingers unattached to his puppets. "Never tried anything like this before, but I'm sick of doing nothing."

It was a battle in vain. Their opponent was someone with an answer for everything they could throw at him. At best, they were wearing away at his massive reserves of chakra, and he still had more than enough to finish the fight, even if Sakura and Choji arrived in time to reinforce them. What was supposed to be a struggle to reach their actual objective became one for survival.

AN: And here I thought a week was bad. Life, distractions, and plotlines to obsess over, you see. Working on getting back on track. Some would consider 1k words a day good enough, but I don't like it. 2.5k was my rate for most of this story, save the beginning.

What was most difficult to write for this was justification for why Kimimaro wasn't butchering everyone like flies. Really, he was nearly dead and still almost killed Gaara in canon. Like how it's turning out though. The desperation of it all.

That did just happen, if you're in any kind of shock.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.