26

As a Leader

Sakon cursed under his breath. The mission that Orochimaru had assigned to them with the outmost importance had completely gone off rails. Kidomaru had pretty much asked for this outcome, and now that he was taken out, Sakon had to deal with this mess himself. Seeing the blond separate from the group, the pale teen decided that it was now time to act.

Out of all the Konoha shinobi that had interfered, the spiky aired one was the one that Sakon had been the most worried about, and now this was his chance to take the younger boy out as he was distracted.

The remaining Sound nin jumped off his branch to the ground and dashed after his target, a kunai already in hand. However, Sakon only managed a couple of steps before his body came to a complete halt. "What the hell is going on?" He asked as he looked around.

"I'm not letting you attack him from behind…" A serious voice caused Sakon to turn and look behind. There stood the only Leaf nin from the group wearing a chunin jacket, the Sound shinobi could see that their shadows were connected.

"You're a Nara…" The Oto nin commented offhandedly. Suddenly, the blue haired teen realized that one of his hands was shaking. "What the hell is this…?" He pondered. "I'm not afraid of this guy…" He thought as he glanced at the Konoha shinobi.

Shikamaru's fist was shaking out of sheer anger and the same action was being forced on Sakon through the chunin's Kagemane technique. "I will be your opponent." The Nara stated as his eyes narrowed menacingly.

Sakon gritted his teeth in frustration. "Back off kid! I've had just about enough of you and your little friends…" He warned as he glared at the Leaf nin.

"Really?" Shikamaru responded. "Because I've been sick and tired of your little group for a long while now." The brunette stated in a firm voice.

A scoff escaped the Oto nin. "I have studied your stupid village and I know that Nara do not specialize in direct combat." The blue haired teen pointed out. "You are more suitable for stalling… Just one big clan full of hindrances." He taunted, trying to get a rise out the chunin so that he would break his concentration, allowing Sakon to free himself from the Kagemane jutsu.

Shikamaru for his part simply shrugged off the comment with a smirk. "You let me worry about that… But first…" The young man said as he raised one of his fists, forcing the Sound nin to do the same. Suddenly, the Konoha shinobi drove his fist right towards his face with tremendous force. "There…" Shikamaru said with the smirk still in place as he watched Sakon recoil back from his own self-inflicted attack. "If I didn't punch you in the face soon I wouldn't be able to think clearly."

"Damn you…!" The humiliated Sakon growled at his opponent as a trickled of blood ran down the side of his mouth.

Smirking a little wider, the Leaf nin charged.

The Kagemane technique forced Sakon to do the same. The young man tried to fight off the control of the jutsu but to not avail.

As the two shinobi got closer, Shikamaru made a thrusting motion with his left hand, causing the blue haired teen to send the kunai he had been carrying flying forward, but with very little strength.

The Nara kept his arm extended as he compelled his opponent to move towards him, grabbing onto the traveling kunai as it flew close to him.

At the very last moment when the two ninjas were about to collide with each other, Shikamaru ended his shadow jutsu and swiftly spun his body around the Oto nin, getting a clear shot to drive the kunai right into Sakon's spine. "Gotcha…" The chunin said as he directed the blade to its target.

Suddenly, a pair or arms shot out of Sakon's back and stopped the kunai just before its tip could puncture the blue haired teen's back.

"What…?" It was all that Shikamaru could let out before the hands holding his arm threw him across the field with surprising force. The brunette's flight continued until his back hit a tree and his body fell to the dirt. Trying to recompose himself, the young man glanced at his opponent. The sight that greeted him caused his eyes to widen in a mixture of shock and horror.

A second, identical body was sprouting out of Sakon's back.

"Well, well, my dear Sakon… It seems that you have some problems dealing with the trash." The second body said as it twisted around and to look at the Leaf nin.

A low grow escaped the main body. "I had everything under control, Ukon…" He said as he glanced at the perfect replica of his face that peered over his shoulder.

"Not from where I was standing, little brother, which is right where you are." Ukon said in a mocking tone as he patted the main body on the head. "If you had listened to me from the beginning, we would have been done with this mission… But no, instead you end up getting capture by a Nara's technique." The older brother complained.

"He got lucky… That's all…" Sakon muttered in a strained voice. "He won't do it again."

A smirk appeared in Ukon's face. "Yeah… And I will make sure of that." He said before his expression suddenly turned serious. "We cannot fail this mission… Orochimaru-sama does not tolerate failure." He added.

The younger brother nodded. "You're right… Let's finish this…" He declared as a black, spotty pattern spread throughout his and his brother body.

As Shikamaru got back on his feet, his eyes were glued on the figure in front of him as it split into two separate, but completely identical forms. The Konoha nin had not finished processing what he was seeing when the two Sound shinobi charged forward.

The young chunin was unable to fend off the attacks from two fronts. The moment he block Sakon, his brother would attack him from his blindside, and vice versa. It seemed that the Oto siblings had in fact studied up on the Nara clan, since the pair spent most of their time jumping around the brunette, which made it impossible for the Leaf nin to capture even one of them in his Kagemane jutsu again.

The assaults continued for a while as the Nara was punched around by the brothers, until finally Sakon delivered a powerful kick to young man's stomach, sending the chunin flying into a tree which so much force that the tree snapped in two as Shikamaru's body flew through it. Lying on the ground, the brunette weakly glanced up at the smirking pair approaching him.

"Argh…!" Ino groaned as she let her tired body fall down onto the grass. "Tell me, Hinata, is everyone in your cousin's team this damn hyperactive?" The blond asked as she glanced at the blue haired girl sitting next to her.

A small giggle escaped the Hyuuga before answering. "No, Neji-niisan is pretty calm… He can be quite intense at time, but he is mostly calm." The kunoichi answered. "Though he also complains from time to time about the same thing you did." She added with another short, little laugh.

For her part, the Yamanaka merely sighed and turned to look at the source of her frustration. After what seemed to be hours of arguing, Ino had caved and gone along with Tenten's ridiculous plan for a girls' only intensive training session. The older kunoichi was now making short work of Sakura after having beaten both her and Hinata. The Yamanaka hated to admit it, but the weapon mistress was far more skilled than her and her two former classmates combined. "I prefer teammates that are a bit more relaxed…" The blond languidly commented.

"Like Shikamaru-kun?" The Byakugan users asked in curiosity.

Suddenly, a rather strong blush appeared on Ino's face. "Wha… Wha… What?! Shikamaru…?! No! Nothing like Shikamaru!" The young woman stalwartly insisted. "That guy is too extreme when it comes to being laid back!" She hurriedly commented. "It's troublesome to have someone so lazy as a teammate."

Hinata gave her friend a concern look. "Really? Is it truly that bad?" She asked.

Having taken a moment to calm down, the Yamanaka composed herself. "Well… It's not all bad." She admitted. "Despite everything, Shikamaru does have a few good points… No… Nothing like Sasuke-kun of course! But still…" She added.

The worried look in the blue haired girl's eyes vanished and was replaced by one of interest again. "Like what?" She urged her former classmate to continue.

"Well… He's super smart for starters…" Ino pointed out. "I mean, sometimes Asuma-sensei would have us do a mock-fights and I think Shikamaru is out and that it's just between me and Chouji, but then Shika comes back with some strange strategy and I realize that he had been planning it from this start… With Chouji and I walking right into it."

Another giggle escaped Hinata. "Shino-kun likes to do things similar to that as well… And it usually ends with Kiba-kun getting angry and leaving training early."

The two kunoichi had a small laugh at the expense of their hooded friend.

"But there is another thing about Shikamaru…" Ino suddenly started again. "For someone who likes to laze around as much as him… When he gets serious about something, he really gets serious about it." She said, receiving a confused look from the other girl before continuing. "He takes the responsibilities laid on him to heart and he's more than willing to let himself get burned if it means carrying them out.

A soft breeze passed through training field just as Tenten was apologizing to Sakura for having used too much force in her last attack.

The blond smiled at the scene before looking down at her feet. "So I think that maybe… The reason why Shikamaru tries to evade responsibility so much is because he cannot allow himself to let down those who might depend on him." Ino's smile widened as she looked at Hinata. "I don't really hate that about him."

Shikamaru forced his body off the ground as the Sound twins continued to approach.

"Well, I have to say… You suck as a team leader." Ukon commented as he wiped some of the Leaf nin's blood from his knuckles. "Most of your team is down and your little mission is about to go up in flames." He added with a self-satisfied smirk.

The Nara had to use a nearby tree for support to stay upright. "What about your teammates….?" The brunette questioned. "They are out as well."

Laughter erupted on the scene. "Those idiots that got themselves killed? Who cares about them?!" Sakon boasted gleefully.

"All that matter is that the two of us fulfill this mission for Orochimaru-sama." The older brother informed.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at the twins words. "Aren't you supposed to be the leader of your team…?" The chunin asked with his eyes directed at Sakon.

For his part, the younger Oto nin simply shrugged his shoulders. "That's why I only have to think about the success of this mission." He responded. "If Kidomaru and the others are stupid or weak enough to get themselves killed, then it's all on them. I'm not here to babysit anyone." The blue haired young man said with complete disregard for his fallen teammates.

It started out slow, but Shikamaru's laughter grew stronger and stronger until it was echoing among the trees. "It looks like this guy finally snapped…" Ukon commented as he eyed the Konoha shinobi curiously.

Still in a fit of laughter, the Nara shook his head at his opponent's remark. "No… Nothing like that…" He responded. "It's just that… Here I was thinking how much I had messed up on this mission… But now I know that, no matter how bad things had turned out, I'm nowhere near as pathetic as this guy over here." The chunin said while signaling at Sakon.

The twins growled at the brunette's comment, which earned another chuckle out of the Leaf nin.

"Yeah, it's true that the team leader is ultimately responsible for making sure the mission successfully is carried out… But that's only part of the deal." Any mirth disappeared from Shikamaru's voice. "The leader is also responsible for the lives of the teammates he is in charge of… And if those lives are lost, the he is not suppose to simply shrug that off." His fist closed tightly. "He has to remember them… Let those loses weigh on his soul… Because those are his true failures."

A snort escaped Sakon. "That's a quick way to get yourself overwhelmed and your judgment clouded."

Shikamaru gave the blue haired teen a hardened look. "It's not about mindsets, but about growth." He declared. "Neji's Byakugan has a blind-spot on the back and his techniques require a lot of energy, this creates a problem in drawn out battle… Kiba on the other hand fights with completely disregard of his own body, which mean he should not fight by himself against a long-range opponent." The Leaf nin said as if he was reciting it out a report. "I will never forget that… Even if it's too late to do anything for them, I would never forget that if I had taken this information under consideration, I could have prevented this."

The Sound twins narrowed their eyes.

"I am Nara Shikamaru, chunin of the Village Hidden in the Leaf and leader of this team." The young man announced as he brought his hands together. "My own failures cost two of my teammates dearly… So now the least I can do for them is make sure I beat the living hell out of you!" He declared before his shadow suddenly shot towards the two Sound ninjas.

Sakon and Ukon reacted immediately, jumping away from the incoming shadow, making sure it stayed away from theirs. "You talk really big for someone who is about to be finished off!" The older brother exclaimed as the two charged forward.

A smirk formed in Shikamaru's lips. "Did it ever occur to you that I might have been guiding the course of this fight up until now?" He asked in a amuse tone.

By the time, the Leaf nin's words registered in the brothers' ears it was too late. Branches from the trees all around them suddenly sprung to life and wrapped themselves around the Oto ninjas' body, completely restricting them. "What…?! What the hell is this?!" Sakon asked alarmed.

The Nara's smirk widened. "Well… You studied Konoha… You tell me." The brunette mocked.

"No… It can't be! You cannot possibly be a Mokuton user!" Ukon shouted as he struggled against the branches' hold on his body.

For a responds, the Konoha shinobi simply close his fist, which caused branches to wrap tightly around the twins' necks.

Sakon gasped for air. "Im… Impossible…! Only the First Hokage could do this!" He struggled to let out.

Shikamaru simply shrugged his shoulder. "He had to learn it from somewhere… I simply figure out his secret."

The twins continued to fight a losing battle against the branches. "Damn… You…" Ukon growled.

"I don't care about the Wood Release…" Sakon glared at the chunin. "I'm going to kill you!" He declared as the spatter marks on his body started to burn and spread throughout the rest of his body.

Seeing this, Ukon followed his younger brother's lead and activated the second level of his curse seal.

As the transformation finished, the branches that held the twins seemingly exploded into tiny little splinters. Now, two goblins, half of their body covered in some sort of armor, stood in front of the young Leaf nin in perfect symmetry glaring at him with murderous intent.

Despite everything, Shikamaru held their ground. "Do you think that little show is enough to take on what's considered to be one of the most powerful abilities in the shinobi world?" The chunin asked.

Instead of answering, the monstrous brothers charged forward with tremendous speed.

For his part, the Nara brought his hand together and immediately a new set of thicker branches sprung towards the Sound nins.

Sakon and Ukon clawed at the waves of branches that came at them. However, no matter how much they destroyed, more branches moved in to attack them. Eventually, the two had to jump back. "This isn't working…" The older twin pointed out.

"Then let's focus on one point and force our way through." The other teen suggest, receiving a nod of approval from his brother.

Shikamaru was a little taken back when he witnessed how the lower side of Ukon's body merged again with Sakon. From the brunette's perspective, it looked like the grossest piggyback ride in the entire world. "Tarenken!" The chunin had no time to process when the image when the grotesque monster shot forward with renew ferocity.

The branches move in to meet the Oto nins, but this time, the two pairs of hands were able to start gaining ground.

Pretty soon, the brothers had punched their way through the foliage and were standing right in front of Leaf shinobi, forcing the Nara to jump back to a safe distance.

The fight continued like that for a while, Shikamaru would get a few hits in with the tree branches, but for the most part the two headed shinobi kept gaining ground and making the brunette retreat more and more. "Wait!" Ukon suddenly called out from over Sakon's head. "Heheh…. You shrew, shrew bastard…" He commented eyeing maliciously at his opponent who narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists.

"What are you on about?" The younger twin questioned.

"I've been observing this piece of trash for some time now." The transformed teen revealed. "Did you notice that his little Mokuton completely stops every time he jumps away from us?" He asked as a smile formed in his face. "It's not Wood Release at all… He someone connected his shadow with the trees' and used those Nara clan jutsu to control them!" Ukon revealed in glee.

The Konoha nin swore under his breath. "I called it Konoshitayami no Jutsu." The chunin said, trying to maintain a confident look. "It combines the Nara clan's techniques with Earth and Water chakra to create a very believable faux-Wood Release." He revealed.

A short laugh escaped Sakon. "That was pretty ingenious of you…" The young man admitted. "Just for that, I'll kill you a bit quicker." He announced before charging with full strength.

Shikamaru did not bothered with branches anymore and instead opted to simply jump away from his opponents.

"Not so fast!" Ukon called out as he preformed hand seals. "Doryuheki!" The transformed teen shouted.

Suddenly, a large stone walk rose right behind the Nara, blocking the brunettes retreat as he hit it with his back in midair.

The Leaf ninja only had time to give a quick glance at the obstacle that had stopped him and then back to his opponent before he was met by a flurry of fists and kicks.

By the time the chunin's body hit the ground, he was already reduced to a bruised and bloodied mess.

"Now die!" The monstrous twins called out in unison as their fists travel down towards their wounded opponent with the intension of crushing his skull.

The sound of chirping birds suddenly filled the forest and the next thing Sakon knew was a sharp, searing pain running from his shoulder to his spine before his part of his arm was sent flying away from the rest of his body.

Shikamaru looked wide-eye as Sasuke had suddenly jumped in and swung a Chidori-covered hand between him and the Oto nin's fist, cutting the latter clean off.

"Gyaarg!" Sakon screamed as he held what was left of his arm with his remaining hand. "You bastard!" He cursed.

The Uchiha stood between the Nara and the Oto ninjas with his Raiton technique died out in his hand. "Despite everything… I'm still a Leaf nin… And I'm not going to let you hurt my friends…" The raven haired boy said between breath, still panting from his own bout against the Sound Four.

Growling, the brothers glared at the Sharingan user. "It's only because Orochimaru-sama wants your damn body that we don't kill you on the spot…!" Ukon declared.

Instead of replaying, the genin simply smirked at his opponent's remarks.

Sensing danger, Ukon glanced upward. "Look out!" He shouted, separating from his twin as the two brothers jumped to opposite directions. The next second, the place where they ahd been standing was blown up by arrival of a Rasengan-wielding Naruto.

The dust eventually settled revealing an angry looking blond. "We'll take care of things from here, Shikamaru." The Uzumaki announced as Sasuke walked towards him. The two members of Team Seven turned to look at a twin each.

Shikamaru watched his former classmates trade blows with the transformed brothers. The Nara had no problem admitting that their taijutsu was vastly superior to his as little by little Naruto and Sasuke were gaining the upper-hand. Still however, there was no telling when the fight would end. The battle could go for a long while, but the Nara knew that it needed to end soon.

The Sound nins realized how they were losing ground and tried to put some space between themselves and the two genins.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

Not relenting on their assault, Naruto and Sasuke charged as they readied their attacks in their hands.

The twins immediately bite down on their thumb and slammed their hands on the ground. "Kuchiyose: Rashomon!" They both called out before large, demonic-looking wall rose between them and their opponents.

A large dent appeared in the giant gate as the two techniques hit it.

"Hah! How do you like Orochimaru-sama's ultimate defense?!" Sakon questioned.

"Try as much as you want, nothing you can dish out can destroy it!" Ukon challenged in glee.

"Really…? Nothing can destroy it…?" Shikamaru repeated as he sat up, causing the Sound brothers to turn their head to look at him. "Thanks…" He added before making a hand seal.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them turned pitch black. The brother immediately panicked, but they soon realized that their movements had not been bound.

A short laugh escaped Shikamaru. "Kagetouei no Jutsu…" The brunette weakly informed. "It makes sure that you see only what I want you to see." He added as the shadow over the ground started to retreat back to the chunin. "I have to say… For a while there I thought all of this would be for nothing… Until you put up that wall… Now I can use it without worrying about hurting my friends."

Sakon narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking abo…?" The transformed teen started to say, but stop as his eyes registered the state of the ground there standing on. "What the hell is this?!"

The forest floor was completely littered with explosive tags that had been hidden by the brunette's techinque.

"When…? When did you…?" Ukon stuttered his words as he looked around in panic.

The Nara simply smirked. "From the start… I've been stringing you along since the battle began." Shikamaru said as his shadow finished retracting. "Didn't I tell you already…?" He asked before throwing one more to the ground which triggering all of the other explosive tags. A powerful and colossal explosion detonated, consuming the three of them.

On the other side of the wall, Naruto felt the explosion go off as demonic structure protected him and Sasuke from the blast and flames. "What the hell happened?!" The blond questioned. Moments later, the Rashomon Gate sunk back into the ground and allowed the two members of Team Seven to see the blast zone. "Shikamaru!" The spiky haired teen shouted before dashing towards his friends burned form.

"Na... Naruto…" The brunette managed to say through cough as his teammate approached.

The blond knelt beside the chunin. "What the hell were you thinking?" The Sharingan user asked with concern.

Shikamaru gave the genin a cheeky smile before starting on another fit of cough. "Get… Get back to the village right away…" He managed to get out. "Kiba and Neji need help…" The brunette added weakly before losing consciousness.

The Uzumaki tightened his fists. "You idiot… You need help just as much as they do…" He said. Suddenly, another set of coughs got the blonde's attention. Turning around, Naruto saw one of the Oto twins moving, back in his human form.

"You… You bastard… You killed him…" Ukon muttered as he lamented his clutched his brother's body.

A furious growled came from the blond as he glared at the last remaining Sound nin. Shaking in anger, Naruto stood up with every intention to put a definite end to this battle.

However, the moment the young man took a step forward, an incredibly potent and suffocation killer intent spread throughout the forest.

"What is this…?!" Sasuke ask as he looked around for the origin of the incredibly dark aura.

Naruto search for source as well. "This killer intent… It's stronger than Zabuza's… And even Gaara's…" He thought. "The only one that could compare was that Kisame guy…"

For his part, the grieving Ukon started to shake in fear.

As he continued his search, Sasuke's eyes suddenly widened. "Naruto! Watch out!" He screamed, but all the Uchiha could do was stand and watch as his friend turned around right before he was ambushed by a purple blur. The next thing the raven haired teen knew, his teammate stood several feet away impaled to a tree by what appeared to be two white stakes, one in the chest and another in his leg. Looking at where Naruto had been standing moments ago, Sasuke could now see a pale young man dressed in loose purple clothing with a skinny body that donned the unmistakable marks of a curse seal.

"Are you Uchiha Sasuke…?" Kimimaro inquired with a cold voice as he let the large barrel he was carrying drop to the ground and took a step towards the raven haired boy.

Before the Sharingan user could react, the newcomer appeared in front of him, graving him by the neck and picking him up with ease. "Well… Are you…?" He asked.

Kagemane – Shadow Imitation

Tarenken – Multi-Connected Fists

Doryuheki – Earth Style Wall

Konoshitayami no Jutsu – Dark of the Forest Technique (Made up)

Kagetouei no Jutsu – Shadow Projection Technique (Made up)

Kuchiyose: Rashomon – Summoning: Rashomon

Kisame – Ok… It was funny at first, but now so many people are biting the big one, this is starting to look like the last Harry Potter book!

Itachi – You read the Harry Potter series?

Kisame – No! No! I… I meant the last few episodes of your average Gundam series…

Itachi – Sure you did…

Lee – My favorites are the fourth and fifth books!

Itachi – Anyways, the reason why this chapter was so delayed was not only because of lack of motivation.

Kisame – Yeah, he's been very preoccupied… I can't make even make a joke about it.

Lee –Hopefully, next time in won't take as much when we comeback for PHD's chapter 27: Savage Beasts Collide!