Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shikamaru dodged a handful of senbon and two kunai but was not quick enough to completely avoid the third, which left a shallow gash on his upper arm. It wasn’t the first one. They were all covered in cuts by now, though so far none of his team got seriously injured, except for Tenten, who suffered some nasty gashes when Neji and her shielded the team from the first wave of weapons raining down on them as they entered the cave. They were not life threatening, but she was mostly out of commission, crouched on the ground, fending off anything that got close to her with a kunai in her left hand, gritting her teeth. There weren’t many though, since Kiba and Akamaru intercepted most of them with their Gatsūga. That’s what Neji did first as well, protecting Chōji, Sakura and Shikamaru, while they took care of the strays.

He was proud of how fast they fell into an effective defensive position, but it quickly became clear that it wouldn’t be enough. The three enemy shinobi worked in perfect sync. They used some kind of wind jutsu to bring down the tempest of a seemingly endless stock of sharp weaponry on them. Well, not endless, more like re-used, as he learned the hard way when the wind, that whirled close to the ground as well, picked up a kunai he had fended off not long before, in the perfect angle to cut into his thighs on its way to join the rest of them in another round of deadly tornado. They knew they couldn’t stay on the defensive forever, otherwise they’ll be slowly cut to pieces and bleed out once Neji and Kiba run out of chakra.

They gave up their formation and tried to get through to the three shinobi, using the numerical advantage, but they stood no chance. Their opponents were a well-oiled trio, who must have honed their technique with long hours of practice. The team had to give it a shot regardless, but a few minutes were enough to prove that none of them could get close, and it cost them. So Shikamaru instructed Neji to try to intercept the wind itself, instead of focusing on the weapons. It helped a bit, as did Sakura and Chōji trying to damage the structural integrity of the cave in order to knock the three enemy shinobi off their feet. It was a risky move, but after Neji had confirmed which area they can safely hit with their respective jutsu without bringing the whole cave down on their heads, Shikamaru decided it was worth a try, even if it meant that now they had to avoid not only the weapons but sprinkling pieces of rocks as well. Their only chance was to break the concentration of the trio.

All three of them worked relentlessly, and they were better off now than before, but it was still not enough. Their opponents weren’t even sweating, they must have used the natural wind tunnels of the cave to amplify their jutsu and save chakra, and they clearly weren’t lacking on the stamina front. Waiting for them to tire out might just wasn't gonna cut it. Time and again, Shikamaru left the shelter of the Gatsūga, trying to sneak closer to them, but it was mostly in vain. The cave was dimly lit, so any form of his Kagemane was practically useless in this situation. Something was constantly nagging on the back of his head, but he couldn’t spare neither the time nor the concentration to decipher it, or to forge a better plan. What a drag…

Shikamaru was about to throw another set of explosive tags toward the enemy trio, for all the good his earlier attempts did, when one of them finally slipped up, landing on a pile of rock loose from one of Sakura’s punches, and fell to the ground, his hands instinctively reaching out to block his landing. For a brief moment Shikamaru hoped that the guy releasing the seal they used to keep the jutsu in motion would break the cycle and stop the rain of weapons, but it quickly became apparent that while their combined efforts formulated the perfect movement of the wind, they all had individual parts of it under their control, as the other two were able to keep up the attack, even if they lost their pattern. The wind burst out in all directions, sweeping away Sakura and Chōji with a tornado of shuriken, but the two still standing enemy ninja were quickly gaining their control back. The third one though, was out of commission for now, and making it permanent was their best chance to get the upper hand.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the shift in Neji’s movement, who readied himself to leap at the man on the ground. Shikamaru quickly produced two clones and sent them at the other two shinobi. They had no chance to harm them of course, they were just a distraction. Forming the hand sign to send them out cost him a kunai to the shoulder, but it was worth it, and since they were still fighting for control, they didn’t see through his tactic quickly enough. By the time they did, Neji’s already reached his target. One down. Good.

The other two must have realized that they won’t get their third teammate back anytime soon, so they formed new signs, probably switching to a two-man dance but Kiba, now separated from Akamaru, threw a set of explosive tags toward them, and Sakura emerged in his wake, kunai ready in her hand.

“Formation three” Shikamaru shouted, ignoring the flaring pain in his freshly injured arm, and leaped.

This was their chance. Now they might even finish the fight. Kiba threw a lightning stick and Sakura aimed her frightening fist at the rock under the two shinobi’s feet. They jumped away from the sprinkling shards of stone – only for Shikamaru’s shadow to connect with theirs as soon as they touched down.

“Kagemane no jutsu completed” smirked Shikamaru, satisfied.

As the two enemies were standing very close to the wall of the cave, he didn’t have to think hard on what to do. He executed a one-handed backflip, landing in a crouch, while the other two, forced by the shadow to do the same, banged their heads in the hard rock and crumpled to the ground.

Chōji let out a chuckle, clearly remembering the last time Shikamaru used this tactic against that Sound kunoichi during the preliminary matches of the chūnin exam. He landed next to one of the unconscious bodies to tie them up with a bunch of chakra wires. Sakura did the same to the other.

Kiba turned toward Shikamaru, offering a thumbs up, just for his eyes to widen, shouting ‘Behind you’ as Neji, also working on securing his defeated opponent, hissed:

“Incoming. Two on your six.”

A moment later, Shikamaru saw the glint of metal from the corner of his eye but knew he didn’t have time to deflect or move out of the way of whatever was thrown in his direction. And it was bigger than a kunai. He braced himself for impact, but a nunchaku thrown by Tenten intercepted the Fūma shuriken. It didn’t stop completely but slowed down enough to allow Shikamaru to roll away, saving everything except his pride as he landed in a considerably less graceful heap this time. As he was about to get up, another wave of weapons flew toward them from the dark tunnel at the other end of the cave. These were thrown simply by hand, not using the same wind jutsu. Neji fought off the bunch aiming for him effortlessly and the rest of their team was too far behind to fall into the range of the attack.

The lightning stick Kiba threw earlier to allow Shikamaru to use his shadows had already gone out. From so far away, the new arrivals shouldn’t have been able to see much of them, still, the wind shuriken was right on target, and the second wave went precisely for Neji and him, the only two of their group their enemy could reach using simply their physical strength. This, and the fact that the shuriken heading toward Shikamaru ranged from thigh-high to a bit over an average man’s head, led him to the conclusion that whoever threw them had to be a sensor and orient themselves using chakra signatures. Having the Byakugan activated gave off a noticeable amount, even if Neji didn’t use any jutsu, and he released the Kagemane not long before the wind shuriken closed in on him. Now though, there was no chakra to help the enemy estimate his exact position. This had to be the reason, he theorized, why they had no idea he was now even closer to the rocky surface of the cave than after the backflip. All he had to do was flatten himself to the ground completely, and the shuriken flew over him harmlessly, chattering to the ground once they lost their altitude.

The two new enemies were in the cave in a heartbeat. The first one, equipped with a bunch of kunai went straight for Neji, but the other crouched down and flattened her palms on the ground. She must have formed the seals before stepping out of the tunnel. Waves started to spread out from her hands as if she was touching the surface of a lake and not hard stone. The attack against Neji had to be a distraction, and the others, though quickly advancing, were most likely still too far away to see what she was doing.

“Get off the ground” Shikamaru shouted, even if he wasn’t able follow his own advice.

He tried to leap, but his injured shoulder couldn’t take his weight. His legs and his left arm were trapped inside the waves of stone, he lost his balance and landed on his ass for the second time.

Kunai rained through the air again, but this time they were not thrown by their enemy. The opponent attacking Neji had already hit the ground, hard, before the Hyūga leaped up. No, these weapons were summoned by Tenten, embedded high up into the walls around them, providing handholds and footholds for the others. She herself got up in the air thanks to Akamaru, who grabbed her, and once she completed her summon, threw her at Sakura, who snatched her by the waist. Akamaru, losing his momentum, plummeted toward the ground, only to land on Chōji’s enlarged palm.

Shikamaru let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The team was safe, for now. Well, except for him. The ground was not actually like water, but it wasn’t solid anymore. He tried to lift his arm but couldn’t. He was glued to the surface. As he looked more closely, he saw that he was very slowly sinking into it. Great. He took a calming breath. He was sinking very, very slowly. He was pretty sure the rock-mud trap was eating his chakra as well, but nowhere near with the same intensity Jirobo’s little earth tomb had had all those years ago. Maybe because the kunoichi aimed to cover the whole cave. The waves spread steadily, now climbing up the walls too. He hoped the kunai will hold.

He tested it again, but no, his limbs didn’t bulge. He was not getting out on his own, that much he was sure of. On the bright side, now he had some time to think. He looked up at Neji and their eyes locked for a moment. Shikamaru gave a nod and his Byakugan scanned the area around him. The crease of his brows wasn’t exactly reassuring. Oh well.

Neji was now looking at the kunai he used as handhold. The tiny upcurve of the Hyūga’s mouth confirmed his suspicions: the blade didn’t seem to sink. So, she could only manipulate earth and swallow humans. As long as they didn’t touch the wall, his team was safe.

He turned to Chōji next, who was looking at him, not at the enemy. He held his gaze for a moment, then closed his eyes and went very still. He couldn’t assume his usual thinking pose as he was only able to move his right hand, but he hoped his friend would get the hint, and of course he did, he was Chōji.

“Hey, what do you want from us?” he shouted at the kunoichi, who still had her hands flat on the ground. “Why did you attack us?”

Kiba, catching up on what he was doing, joined in. She didn’t dignify them with an answer, but they bought some time for Neji and Shikamaru.

He looked up at the Hyūga, who was now scanning the room at large. His eyes suddenly widened and fixed on something. Shikamaru followed his gaze, and saw he was looking at the shinobi who had arrived in the second wave with the kunoichi – and was now laying on the ground. He didn’t seem to sink. What’s more, the ground around him seemed to still be solid, an island in the middle of the mud. Shikamaru searched around him as much as he could move his head, trying to find the other three they bound by chakra wires earlier. He was sure Neji’s doing the same. He could only see one of them, and that guy was laying on a rock island as well. So, that’s why the kunoichi still held her palms on the ground. It wasn’t a trap she could set and let it do the dirty work. No, she was in constant control of it, keeping it from swallowing up her allies.

Upon arriving, her partner had attacked Neji without much finesse, getting knocked out quickly, while he clearly knew what she was planning to do. He trusted her not to kill him in the process. Thinking back to the fight earlier with the wind jutsu wielding trio, when one of them fell, they tried to help him. The way they used their jutsu, in perfect sync, also spoke about camaraderie. These were not just a bunch of missing-nin, hired for a job, working together for the first time. No, they were her teammates. They were not expendable. Shikamaru might be able to use this.

Before he could start planning, sorting out all the new information, he heard Neji’s sharp intake of breath and saw him swivel his head in the direction of the tunnel at the end of the cave, behind the kneeling kunoichi.

“Incoming,” he said. “Six of them.”

The woman’s lips curved into a smile, and she withdraw the swarm enough to only contain Shikamaru. Interesting. So, she was able to avoid her immobile team members, but couldn’t do the same if they were in motion, and so to allow them to attack freely she had to give up some of their advantage. This way his team had more room to maneuver as well. Though there was still a risk that she would expand her jutsu again if the battle didn’t go in her favor.

Which, well… He had no idea what the new arrivals had up their sleeves, but his team was outnumbered. Tenten was in no condition to seriously contribute to the fight – though she still did what she could, like saving Shikamaru from that wind shuriken at the last moment, and he was pretty sure Sakura’s hands were glowing with green healing chakra as she was holding her. He himself was a liability now, which left Neji, Chōji, Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru, all bleeding from many, if not too dangerous cuts and running low on chakra, against the six newcomers who were probably well rested and uninjured, plus the kunoichi, who apparently couldn’t move if she wanted to keep him captured, but her rock-mud trap was still a threat. The odds were clearly not in their favor. He needed a plan and quick.

As soon as the swamp retreated, the Konoha team landed on their feet, ready to fight. Now that it was focused on him, Shikamaru started to sink much quicker and he clearly felt his chakra being sucked out of him. Chōji took a step toward him, but Neji’s outstretched hand blocked his way.

“Hit the ground in front of you” he instructed Sakura.

She did, and the crack ran toward Shikamaru, but stopped at the edge of the pool of rock he was trapped in.

The kunoichi let out a laugh.

“Nice try” she said, her voice sounding rough, like a chain-smoker’s. “But useless.”

Sakura shrugged. “Had to give it a shot.”

And this was the only one they had, Shikamaru was pretty sure of that. If it were just a regular swamp, Chōji, Sakura or Akamaru could maybe pull him out of it, but it wasn’t, and besides, if they came near him, she would just expand it to capture them as well. They had nothing to counteract the jutsu with, which meant the only way to free him was to defeat the one who cast it. But for that, they had to get through the six new arrivals who had just burst into the room and positioned themselves between Shikamaru and his team. Neji locked eyes with him again and nodded. ‘We fight, you plan.’ He sighed. ‘Troublesome.’

Shikamaru regretted that he couldn’t assume his usual thinking position. Not that he really needed it to come up with a strategy, but it was a habit that helped him slip into the right mindset, even in the middle of a battle. Also, he enjoyed the badly concealed panic on Asuma’s face every time he assumed it during their shogi matches. He sighed and tried to take in as much of the battlefield as he could from his position. Their new opponents were using different kinds of wind and earth jutsu. They all fought individually this time, not in sync like the first trio. Neji studied them quickly with his Byakugan, then ordered the team into position with a few hand signs. Tenten crouched by the wall, summoning a bunch of kunai and long-range weapons to help them out if needed, but she was barely holding herself upright. The others were all aware of this, not letting anyone slip through their ranks to reach her. But they couldn’t keep the tight formation for long, their opponents kept pushing them away from each other.

The more Shikamaru looked at the dynamics of the battle the more he felt like something was not quite right. He had a hard time assessing the strength of the six new arrivals. They seemed unable to deal serious damage to his team. He would write it off as his friends just being that much better, even injured and tired, but… every time one of them tried to break through to get to the kunoichi keeping Shikamaru trapped, they were expertly turned back by their opponents. These guys obviously knew the layout of the cave perfectly. They were in almost total control of the movements of his team, still, they weren’t dealing any real damage. This just didn’t add up. They also didn’t push the advantage of Tenten’s injuries. They should aim for the easy target first because if they did, protecting her would cost his team. But they only seemed to attack her when that was the only way to prevent someone from breaking through toward Shikamaru, which was more and more difficult for them to do as they were steadily pushed further back toward the other end of the cave. Keeping them away from the kunoichi who was now vulnerable made sense, but that wasn’t all there was to it.

Mentally recreating their movements during the battle, Shikamaru realized that they were trying to force his team out of the cave. It was probably more difficult than they had expected, but they were slowly getting there. And speaking about slowly, he was pretty sure he wasn’t sinking as fast as he had been when the swamp first shrunk down to only contain him. Maybe the kunoichi had started to tire out? Shikamaru looked toward her, but she was still concealed by the darkness gathering around the entrance of the tunnel she came from, so he couldn’t make out her face. But her posture suggested she wasn’t struggling to hold the jutsu. And why would she? She not only lost chakra, but gained it as well, from Shikamaru. Of course, there was a chance her kekkei genkai, because Shikamaru was fairly sure that’s what it was, didn’t work the same way Jirobo’s jutsu had, but it seemed unlikely. After all, draining your enemy’s chakra was useful in and on itself, but not being able to gather it for yourself was a wasted opportunity.

So why would she slow down, if not for fatigue? And why did the others only use their advantage to push his team out of the cave, without trying harder to kill or at least seriously injure as many of them as they could?

Unless… they wanted a hostage.

Shikamaru’s eyes widened. That was exactly how they’d planned it. They waited for them to think they won, to lower their guards. The first attack’s usually just a diversion, after all. Well, things definitely made more sense now. Of the reasons why they would take a hostage, he was willing to rule out information gathering. If that was their goal, they would’ve tried harder to kill the others. They didn’t aim to catch anyone else, so one person was enough for them. Which meant that the others were dispensable at this point. Maybe they weren’t strong enough to kill all of them, but they sure could do better than this. Also, they seemingly didn’t care who they got. If they wanted valuable Konoha secrets or someone they can sell to another shinobi village for a nice price, targeting the one with the kekkei genkai would have been the logical move. So, he felt safe to rule out this option.

Which left the other two popular reasons: ransom or prisoner exchange. Of course, a Hyūga would be a more valuable bargaining chip than a random nobody since the Byakugan was widely sought after, while Shikamaru’s appearance only screamed Shikaku 2.0 to someone from Konoha, but Leaf village was well known for trying not to leave anyone behind. It also explained why they would want to force his team to retreat without seriously injuring them. ‘We have one of your men. The other five? Oh, we killed them all.’ wasn’t a good basis for negotiating with Tsunade of the Sannin. It was the safer option for them as well; the less they engaged with the team, the less likely they were going to end up dead. They already had what they wanted, no need to take unnecessary risks.

How long it would stay that way though… if his team won’t retreat soon, if they keep trying to push through, the situation might change. They were holding their own for now, but they were outnumbered, and the enemy was playing it safe. Once they got serious, Shikamaru wasn’t all that sure his team could get the upper hand, at least not without casualties. And even then… knocking the kunoichi out would most likely free Shikamaru from the trap, but they won’t get that far. He was a serious liability right now. All the woman had to do, if the battle wasn’t going in her favor was to tell his team that she will kill him with her jutsu if they get any closer. They couldn’t knock her out before she made good on that threat, and he was sure Neji knew it as well. She doesn’t actually want to kill him, so she won’t use this tactic unless absolutely necessary, but it doesn't change the fact that she has the strongest piece on the board, if it comes down to it. There was really only one thing they could do.

His team had to retreat and leave him behind, for now. There was no helping it. The only question was, how he should give the order. He could just tell them of course, but… he doubted any of their opponents knew about them personally. Although they all made it to chūnin by now, nothing they did so far would warrant a bingo book entry. But these guys wanted something from Konoha, so they at least had to have some knowledge about the village. Which meant they most likely recognized the famous Byakugan. Neji himself also had a commanding presence, there was something almost regal about him. Some of their clients automatically addressed him as unit captain on a few of their missions, when in reality he was Shikamaru’s second in command. These guys had most likely reached the same conclusion, considering he was the only one they had seen giving orders. During their first fight with the wind wielding trio, Shikamaru called the shots, but he was fairly sure noone could really see or hear that in the roaring wind and the chaos of the battle.

If he told them openly to leave now, he would reveal his status as the leader, which felt like unnecessarily giving up a potential advantage. After all, Shikamaru knew very well that being underestimated could be a huge one, if used wisely. There was the theory of securing a hostage, then there was the reality of injured and depleted people trying to take it easy, working on too little sleep, chakra exhaustion and prejudices. That would be his best chance to escape later. He could pull a Naruto, dramatically and loudly declare that they should go, he will be fine, he can handle himself, he’ll beat up everyone once his team is out of the way and catch up with them in no time. It would do wonders for him to be underestimated. He knew Naruto benefited from his behavior often, encouraging his opponents not to take him seriously. But he liked to do things a bit more subtly, if possible, though the thought of the blonde put a small smile on his face.

Shikamaru sought Neji out. It didn’t take long, Neji was waiting for him to give orders after all, so he kept glancing in his direction every time he could risk taking his eyes away from the battle. Shikamaru turned to cover his one hand that was not glued to the ground so that his captor couldn’t see as he signed the Hyūga the code for immediate retreat and saw his eyes widen. He signed hostage and ransom as explanation. Neji sent a blast of chakra toward the two he fought, creating a bit of a breathing room for himself to assess the situation. He looked at Shikamaru, the swamp around him and the kunoichi. He most likely reached the same conclusions. Then he got that distant gaze he always had when he used his Byakugan to take in the whole battlefield, to analyze the dynamics of the fight. He had to realize what was going on, if the frown on his face was any indication. He looked at Shikamaru once more, like he wanted to make sure he meant it. Shikamaru nodded and even tried for a reassuring smile, but he most likely missed by a mile, as Neji’s frown only deepened. But he knew to follow Shikamaru’s orders and not to waste time arguing in vain.

The team didn’t like the idea of leaving him behind, not as if Shikamaru had expected them to. But it had to happen, and Neji bore no argument.

“Chōji, Kiba, Akamaru, clear the path to the entrance of the cave. Sakura, grab Tenten” he said, taking up position to cover their retreat. “Move it, now!” He barked when they didn’t obey immediately.

That sprung Kiba and Sakura into motion, but Chōji was still looking at Shikamaru, who tried to silently convey that he should go. He knew his friend got the message, he simply didn’t want to obey.

“Chōji!” Neji shouted, and finally, reluctantly, he teared his eyes away from his best friend and followed the others.

As soon as he was out of range, the Hyūga created an impressive kaiten to keep the four opponents still standing from following them. They put up a token fight but didn’t do much once Neji released the chakra tornado and ran after the rest of his team. Once everyone was out of the cave, only one enemy followed them while the rest focused on helping their injured and bound comrades.

Being right was cold comfort, as Shikamaru started to sink faster again.

“Tough luck brat” he heard the kunoichi’s raspy voice from a distance. “Your captain must have realized his best option was to cut his losses and turn tail. But don’t worry, we don’t bite – much.”

Her tone belied her words, and Shikamaru gritted his teeth. So far, everything went as planned but it unfortunately meant his chakra was sapped in alarming waves. He took a deep breath to beat back the panic he felt rising in his chest. They don’t actually want to hurt you, he reminded himself, as his vision started to blur. You just have to find a way to escape, and if there won’t be any, wait for the team to come back for you. They will be here soon. He held onto that thought as darkness claimed him.

Chapter Text

The team left the cave and disappeared into the forest surrounding it. Kiba led the way, then came Sakura, Akamaru carried Tenten, Chōji behind them, and Neji brought up the rear. They were followed but not too closely. Whoever came after them probably just wanted to make sure they left the area. Neji observed the forest around them. It looked ancient, full of huge trees. Hardly a surprise as they were relatively close to Konoha. He discovered one, not far ahead of them, that was hollow, and could accommodate the whole team. The shrubbery was thick around it. Perfect .

When they got close to it, he leaped to the front and steered them there with a few hand signs. As soon as they all got inside, he instructed them to suppress their chakra signatures. Their pursuer was most likely a sensor, and he will know that they used some kind of trick to disappear, but as he kept his distance when following them, he couldn’t be sure where they went. Hopefully, he wasn’t familiar enough with the area to know about this tree, and Neji doubted their follower would search for them for too long out here alone and risk running into an ambush. Fortunately, he was right.

“If you want to get your teammate back alive, go back to Konoha. We will send our demands to the Hokage.” the shinobi announced to the forest at large after he realized the chakra signatures he was following disappeared, then turned back. Once he was safely out of range, Neji lead the team to a rocky area nearby, that was sufficient for a hidden camp.

As soon as they sat up the tents and placed the barrier seals, Chōji rounded on him, anger contorting his face.

“Why did we leave Shikamaru behind?” This counts as a form of professionalism, Neji supposed, only start yelling at your captain after you were safely out of range of the enemy. It’s certainly more than what he could have hoped for from Naruto.

“Because he ordered us to” he said evenly.

“We shouldn’t have listened!” retorted Kiba. “We were winning, they couldn’t land one serious hit on any of us. We would’ve got him back in no time.”

Neji took a deep breath. Kiba always jumped at the first opportunity to argue. It was nothing new. He questioned authority like breathing. Just like the dogs his family bonded so closely with, he constantly tried to fight it out, to establish dominance. He didn’t obey anyone unless they made him. Shikamaru handled it with enviable ease. He made Kiba fall in line without playing his game. He knew better, simple as that. For the Nara, it wasn’t a matter of pride, or status. He didn’t care for those things, so his buttons were not so easy to push. He had nothing to prove. Neji on the other hand…

There was a reason Neji was usually assigned as Shikamaru’s second in command on missions they run together, even though he was stronger, about to become jōnin soon. Shikamaru was the better strategist of the two of them, true, but on the level they usually operated, Neji’s skills were sufficient as well. But while Shikamaru could keep his cool even in the middle of a fight, for Neji it was always a challenge. He knew he was perceived as cool and composed, cold even, by those who didn’t know him. And few knew him well enough to see beneath the surface.

Things have changed a lot since his fight with Naruto during the first chūnin exam. He learned the truth about his father’s death, improved his relationship with his uncle and reconciled with Hinata. It helped, and he got better at bridging the gap between his projected calm and his inner turmoil, but he knew he had a long way to go to reach the level of professionalism where he could best utilize his skills.

At moments like this, he realized how far from his goal he really was. Naruto was right to call him out on his bullshit, as he used to try convincing everyone of an unchangeable fate, while in reality, he was the one who felt trapped and struggled constantly against his bonds. He had things to prove. He’d always been so angry. He desperately wanted people to understand how unfair it all was. He deserved better. His father deserved better. Yet, no one did anything. Why couldn’t they just see it? Why’d they turn a blind eye to what’s going on? His anger burned him from inside, but he learned early on, by his father’s example, that he must hide it. So, he invented this unapproachable persona, pretended that nothing could faze him, while his rage vibrated under his skin, so close to the surface, ready to break free at any moment. It still did. His frustration ebbed some in the last years, but the need to unleash it was still ever-present.

He took a deep breath. It was neither the time nor the place.

“No, we were not” he replied to Kiba. “We were not winning, and they didn’t land any serious hits on us because that’s not what they were aiming at. They tried to force us out of the cave. Shikamaru figured out that they wanted a hostage because they wanted ransom from Konoha. Or maybe prisoner exchange or something similar. So, they didn’t try to hurt us, and it wouldn’t make sense for them to hurt him either. But there was no way we’d have been able to free him from that trap. Our best chance was to retreat and try to get him back later.”

“You’re way too calm about it” Kiba said, because he just didn’t know when to shut up. But he will learn how not calm Neji really was, any minute now…

“Neji” one word, murmured, not to carry further than him and Sakura, who knelt next to Tenten, healing her wounds.

He realized, in retrospect, that Tenten probably understood him better from the beginning than he’d given her credit for. After he started opening up more, forming a real, meaningful bond with his team, she became his anchor. She always knew when his anger was boiling so hot it was about to spill over. And she was there, to talk him down, to help him control his temper. She would put her hand on his arm, look at him with that knowing gaze. Now, even her voice, barely above a whisper, was enough to pull him back from the edge. To help him focus on what needed to be done. He sent her a grateful smile then turned back to Kiba.

“I am calm, because I have to be” he said in a stern, even voice that didn’t bear disagreement. “Stop arguing, we don’t have time for this. You, Chōji and I are moving out in half an hour, so bandage your wounds, check your gear and take some soldier pills.”

Not waiting for a reply, trusting the boys to do as they were told, he turned to the two kunoichi.

“Sakura, how long until you finish treating Tenten?” he asked, but before she could reply Tenten herself spoke up.

“I’m fine now. You should reserve your chakra, Sakura.”

“Don’t worry about it. I still have plenty left” she smiled at her friend. “I’ll finish soon. Though I cannot do as much as I’d like to, out here, but you should be ok until we get back to Konoha.”

“Thank you, Sakura,” Neji said. “Rest for at least 15 minutes, before you follow us.”

“I don’t…”

“It wasn’t a request. We’ll need your strength.”

“Yeah, you might need to punch a few walls to pull their sorry arses out of trouble” added Tenten, to lighten the mood.

“Kiba?” Neji turned to the boys, who were dutifully checking their gear, as he knew they would. The Inuzuka may have loved arguing, but he also knew who to follow orders when it counted. “Would you agree to leave Akamaru here, to stay with Tenten?” he was the leader, true, but Akamaru wasn’t really his subordinate, he was Kiba’s companion. So, he always made a point of asking him first, unless they were in the middle of a battle, with no time to spare on being polite. He picked it up from Shikamaru. He heard Tenten taking a breath, gearing up for an argument, and what was it with everyone today? He really envied the ease with which the Nara kept them all in line. He turned back to his teammate and shook his head to stop the complaining before it started.

“What do you think, Akamaru?” Kiba asked his friend. “Will you stay here to keep Tenten company?”

The mutt yipped happily, and trotted over to sit at Tenten’s side. It was settled then. Good.

“After Sakura left, you and Akamaru lay low until we come back. If someone comes snooping around, hide. If you can’t, you should take off toward Konoha. Don’t engage with them, understood?” 

Tenten nodded, and he had no doubt she'd do as she was told, even if she wasn’t happy about it. She didn’t like to run away from a fight. But Sakura could do only so much out in the field, and there was no need for her to take unnecessary risks. Shikamaru would have Neji’s head if he didn’t take good care of the team in his absence.

He quickly wrapped his injuries and checked his gear. Tenten gave them a few extra kunai and shuriken, then Neji, Chōji and Kiba carefully slipped out of the hideout. Even if their opponents expected them to try for a rescue, they would most likely only expect them showing up after sunset, or maybe only when reinforcements arrived, so Neji hoped going back immediately would give them the element of surprise. 

They didn’t run into anyone until they had the hill within sight. Two of the shinobi who pushed them out of the cave stood guard at the entrance. Neji activated his Byakugan but didn’t put his hopes up. This is how they got ambushed in the first place upon arriving: something prevented him from looking through the outer layer of the rocks. He’d had no idea what it was. They’d established that it wasn’t some kind of jutsu or barrier, more like a natural occurrence, although not many things resisted his Byakugan . They’d decided to enter anyway, hoping to have more luck once inside. Otherwise, their little treasure hunt would become much more complicated. And it did, just not the way they’d anticipated. Kiba and Akamaru didn’t detect anyone for quite a long time, so they had to hide far away from the main entrance, not to tip them off. Well, had his Byakugan worked properly, even that wouldn’t have been enough, and now Neji wondered if they were too quick to dismiss the idea of a jutsu or a barrier. Lamenting on it now wouldn’t help them though.

He deactivated his Byakugan and closed his eyes. Remembering the inner structure of the cave, or at least as much as they saw of it, he tried to figure out which way the tunnels their enemy entered the big hall from might led. He supposed that was where they kept Shikamaru. Once he decided on the most likely route, he turned to Kiba.

“Stay here. When Sakura arrives, point her our direction” he said. “If we need back up, we will send for you” he handed him a messenger seal. “Keep an eye on the entrance, but don’t engage, unless they bring Shikamaru out here. If he’s in no immediate danger, message us and follow them undetected.'' He showed Kiba which route up the side of the hill he planned to take and the Inuzuka nodded. He glued his eyes to the entrance, while Neji and Chōji started their silent climb.

Once they reached the place Neji estimated their base must be, he searched for an opening. His Byakugan couldn’t really see inside the hill but it could still map its surface. He soon found the mount of a small tunnel. Most likely an air tunnel. It was very tight, but Chōji’s enlarged hands did a quick – and surprisingly silent – work on it. Soon, it was big enough to fit Neji. He handed out one more messenger seal.

“Wait here for Sakura” he instructed his – obviously displeased – teammate. “I might need the two of you to break us out, though I’ll try to snatch him undetected. If Kiba calls for backup, go help him. If someone comes up here, hide. Get away if you need to. Don’t engage if it can be avoided.” The Akimichi nodded, and Neji descended into the tunnel.

Yuhi entered the chamber Kazuka claimed as a research room. The chest was in front of him, unopened.

“Still nothing?” he asked, not trying to mask the impatience in his voice.

“You act like it would be so simple. You all do! This is high level fūinjutsu here”

“You had five days!”

“Don’t give me that!” God, he really wanted to teach Yuhi a lesson or two. Just because Ama loved her like a little brother, and he played the key role in their plan he shouldn’t act like he was better than all of them combined. The arrogance of youth, he supposed. He took a calming breath. It wasn’t worth it.

“And what about these?” Yuhi asked, lifting the two plain metal cuffs they found next to the chest.

“I didn’t find anything unusual about them. Chakra cuffs. The mindfuck kind, I guess”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if you want to make sure your prisoners are safely restrained and can’t use their chakra against you, you put them into chakra repressing cuffs. Simple and neat. These though,” – Kazuka picked up one of them and swirled it around. “These are interrogatory tools. You put them on someone, but they will not repress their chakra. Not unless they try to mold it. So, you warn them that they shouldn’t try anything, because if they do, the cuff will suck them dry. Then you lean back and see them struggle. Hence, mindfuck” he concluded.

“Oh, so it’s for boring people who don’t have better ways to break or control others” Yuhi commented, sounding purposefully bored now.

Kazuka gritted his teeth. Why did he always have to show off? But the youngster wasn’t finished yet.

“What’s the point anyway? He asked. They will obviously use their chakra, sooner or later. Few have enough restraint not to. Then bam, you have them dead.”

“There is a failsafe, of course” Kazuka said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Wasn’t it obvious? “The draining stops before it actually kills them. But they don’t know that so it’s a pretty effective psychological tool.”

“That’s a lot of effort” Yuhi frowned.

“Well, we plain, ordinary shinobi who don’t have mind controlling kekkei genkai have to get creative and work with what we have” he said, so done with this conversation. “Though,” he added as an afterthought “we actually have better than these now. They are old-fashioned stuff. ANBU tools, if I have to guess, but of which nation? Who knows? They don’t have any identification marks. Then again, ANBU is not big on those.”

“So it’s all just a guess? These might just be some useless jewelry.”

“Well, unless you volunteer to try them on and see what happens…?”

“I have a better idea” Yuhi smirked.

Chōji took a deep breath. He searched for a place to hide from where he could still clearly see the hole the Hyūga disappeared in. He knew why he went alone. He had the best chance to find Shikamaru quickly and stay undetected while on it, even with his Byakugan on reserve. Moving around silently in tunnels wasn’t Chōji’s strength anyway. If Neji wanted company, he would have brought Kiba. Still, he wished he wasn’t left here, waiting, with nothing to do and way too much time to think. Thinking now wasn’t good for him. There was nothing to figure out. All he had to do was lay low, and if the messenger tags went off, punch through the rocks or go help Kiba. Nothing he had to prepare for. No, his thoughts weren’t going in any useful direction. Quite the contrary. He couldn’t even distract himself with opening a bag of chips, as he wouldn’t want to risk being heard, no matter how low the chances for that were. He won’t be the one who butchered up Shikamaru’s rescue, that’s for sure!

He just wished he could do more than that. He felt utterly useless. He wasn’t angry anymore. He kind of felt bad now, for jumping Neji, especially as it gave an opening for Kiba to pick a fight – not as if the Inuzuka needed much encouragement. Chōji knew Neji hadn’t been any happier about leaving their team leader behind than the rest of them were. He was second in command because Shikamaru trusted him to make the hard choices and to know what to do, and that was good enough for him.

It was just… his best friend’s situational awareness was testament of his intelligence and intuition, belaying his limited field experience, But Chōji knew even Shikamaru wasn’t infallible, and he couldn’t help his mind coming up with more and more horrible ideas about what might be happening to him right now if he miscalculated, while Chōji was just sitting here, doing nothing. It was maddening.

And he couldn’t help thinking, not for the first time, that it’s his fault. He heard once that those good in shogi or go shouldn’t be trusted.

‘They might deliver, but at what price?” they said, indicating the piling pieces on both sides of the board. Frankly, Chōji thought it was bullshit. Those who couldn’t tell a game from a mission where their comrades’ life depended on their decisions didn’t belong to the field. Of course, he knew people had different priorities. Shikamaru rarely played aggressively, Chōji could tell that much, though he knew so little about the game that he’d barely save himself from an embarrassing defeat. But his best friend mercilessly beat who was bold enough to challenge him to a game. There were only a few people he would challenge himself, but when he was in the mood for it, he would play with everyone approaching him – tear through them, that is. He never showed mercy to anyone, not even his best friend.

“You don’t need my pity” he would say. “You knew what you were getting into, and you won’t learn from me going easy on you.” Chōji appreciated this approach.

When it came to leading a team though, that was a completely different story. Shikamaru tried to ‘deliver’, just like every good shinobi, but he struggled with the ‘at what price’ part, just like every good shinobi would, in Chōji’s opinion. He always found it interesting how most people fell for his best friend’s lazy attitude. It might have been a Nara-thing, and he was sure they liked it that way. Still, even if the third war was a distant memory or something belonging to the history books to most, and the majority of Konoha knew Shikaku about his drunken shenanigans, most of them had to be aware that he was the jōnin commander for a reason. Based on his father’s stories, those working under him would never make the mistake of underestimating him.

Just as there wasn’t a time when Chōji wouldn’t know how reliable Shikamaru was, when it mattered. He knew that while his plans were based on his massive intellect and tactical genius, he’d put himself in danger before anyone else on his team, if possible. Chōji still shuddered thinking about how Shikamaru almost died during Orochimaru’s attack while he and Ino were trapped in a genjutsu in the arena. And he couldn’t help thinking how the catastrophic Sasuke retrieval mission made it worse. 

He was by no means the tactical genius his friend was, but even he knew from the beginning how absolutely shitty their chances were. Learning more about the circumstances after their return, he was sure that things could only have gone worse, if not for every single one of them giving it all they had, the unexpected help from Suna, and without Shikamaru’s genius that turned the impossible into an almost. He also knew how little this did to ease his best friend’s guilt. He was just so used to things going his way on the rare occasions when he really put in an effort that when they didn’t, he blamed it on him not trying hard enough. Which was, in Chōji’s opinion, bullshit, but you try to convince Shikamaru of that. For all his smarts he was more stubborn than ten Naruto when he really wanted to be. Chōji tried to make him understand that it hadn’t been his fault but… Maybe he wasn’t the right person for that, considering how he played a major part in him developing this… complex or what. He’d told Shikamaru that he will defeat Jirobo then catch up with him and he couldn’t keep that promise.

And wasn’t it interesting, how this was the detail that turned the otherwise sweet taste of the memory of that battle sour in his mouth? It wasn’t easy, being beaten and humiliated and almost dying, but… after what happened around the mess with the chūnin exam, he started to doubt that he was cut out to be a shinobi. It wasn’t the first time, but he’d always thought he could overcome his dislike of aggression and develop his skills. Sure, he was nowhere near the level of his father or Asuma-sensei, but they were jōnin, while he was just a genin, fresh out of the Academy. He may never get where they are, but he will be better, right? As the future clan head, he’s gotta be. Shikamaru and Ino kept saying that they were the weakest team of their generation, but what was to it, really? He had no doubt in his friends’ abilities, and anyway, his father told him that they might have the advantage of learning their family jutsu since they were little kids, but those were much more difficult than what they taught at the Academy. Of course they were weaker than some for now, so what?

But then, during the preliminaries of the chūnin exam, he saw how confidently Shino used his clan’s difficult technique, he saw what it meant to be a prodigy, saw the last remaining Uchiha fight, saw how good Kiba was, even though he lost in the end, and to Naruto , who surprised everyone again and again, not to mention Lee, and how Ino wasn’t afraid to bare herself and reconcile with Sakura. He also saw what kind of enemies they had to face. How eager they were to hurt their opponents way beyond what was necessary. He never really understood what drove the likes of Naruto, Hinata or Lee, but it was the first time he considered that he might actually be missing something important, that had nothing to do with skills. Shikamaru could afford to simply bang his opponent’s head on the wall and give up his fight against Temari after basically winning it, because he also had it in him to take up on the task to distract nine highly skilled enemy shinobi out for blood, knowing how little chance he had to survive.

But what about him? Forfeiting during the preliminaries if he was chosen to fight Gaara would have been reasonable, but what if he was sent after him during the siege? He wouldn’t have stood a chance but giving up wasn’t always an option. He understood that to some extent, that’s why he waited out the tenth question, but the possibility of never making chūnin, if humiliating, was nothing compared to the horror he felt every time he looked at Gaara.

He knew that his lack of skills could get him and his teammates killed. But not having the guts to stand up and do what he had to, to protect them, no matter the cost? The realization that he might just be a coward shook him to the core. He tried to shove the thought away, hide it even from himself, but once it made its home in his heart, it started to put down roots and slowly poisoned him.

So, what was being beaten into a pulp and made fun of in exchange for proving to himself that he could do what needed to be done, more so, that he could beat an enemy much stronger than him? What even dying was?

Not as if he were planning to make a habit of it. He was aware that he’s living on borrowed time now. But knowing that he could do it if he had to was priceless. Or almost priceless, as he wasn’t the only one to pay for his epiphany. Getting a taste of his own medicine, having to leave Shikamaru behind and hope for the best really hammered the truth of that home. He couldn’t do anything but wait and pray and despite how he had faith in his two squad leaders, it was a truly shitty feeling.

Shikamaru slowly became aware of his surroundings, but before he’d have the opportunity to try and feel out around him, the various pains in his body let themselves known. His many cuts throbbed under bandages. So they patched him up. Good. They were not serious injuries, but blood loss would have caught up to him eventually. He hoped they cared enough to do at least some basic cleaning and disinfecting before they wrapped them. The last thing he needed was an infection. His whole body ached anyway, from his chakra being drained so quickly without adding fever to the mix, though he noted with some relief that he wasn’t seriously chakra depleted. Evidently, the kunoichi didn’t aim to render him truly useless and miserable. His headache might just take care of that though. He couldn’t recall hitting his head, and it didn’t feel like they’d knocked him around while he was unconscious, but the pain wasn’t really that kind anyway. It was more like a migraine or one of those pressures within his skull he got sometimes in Suna, when the desert sky was thick with dark clouds and the air pressure was low, before a thunderstorm. Most likely the after effect of losing chakra so fast. The blood loss, however minimal, didn’t help either. Troublesome . 

But he couldn’t do anything about it as he supposed asking for a painkiller would be in vain. He might be a hostage, not to damage too much, but considering he was chained with his hands bound above his head, he won’t get the treatment meant for nobles while waiting for their captors to be paid off. Good thing he had no intention of just sitting around until then.

He couldn’t feel any other presence around him, so he slowly opened his eyes. He was surrounded by near darkness, but even the few slivers of light filtering in made his headache worse. He resisted the urge to close his eyes again and waited until he got used to the poor visibility. Looking around confirmed that he was alone. He couldn’t see the walls of the chamber, but he had a feeling that it was a relatively small space. And it seemed completely empty. No table in sight with strategically placed equipment on it. Hinting at what’s about to come and letting the victim’s fear and imagination weaken their defenses was step no. 1 of torture, and no matter how many counter interrogation trainings you had, it worked to some extent, so there was no reason to forfeit it, cliché or not. So, he considered it as a sign that his judgment of their intentions was correct, even though being chained to the ceiling sent a bit of a mixed message.

They took his weapons pouch and his flack jacket and his hidden equipment from the obvious hiding places, but not from everywhere. In his experience, barely anyone considered that a man might wear hairpins as well. Another small aspect of everyday sexism for him to exploit. Silently as he could, to avoid his guards hearing the rattle, he pulled himself up and collected chakra to his sole to stuck to the chain and tried to feel out the cuffs on his wrists with his fingers as there wasn’t enough light to see them clearly. He was in luck as they were secured with a simple lock, no seals involved. He maneuvered himself until he could pull out one of the hairpins, though it wasn’t an easy feat with how his arms barely cooperated, aching from being pinned over his head for a long time. Fortunately, he managed to open both locks before he passed out from the increasing pressure in his skull. He tried to lower himself to the ground very carefully but as he was standing up again, he was immediately overcome with a powerful wave of dizziness, so he had to sit down and take several deep breaths to feel he could safely open his eyes again. He had to get knocked around more than he thought, after all.

When he could stand securely again, he inspected the tiny air tunnels on the ceiling the limited amount of light came from. They were too small for even his hand to fit through and most likely full of traps despite that. He didn’t have anything to widen them with silently anyway, so he opted to ignore them. The light filtering through them wasn’t natural light, so they didn’t lead to the surface and couldn’t give him a hint as to how much time might have passed since he was captured, but he was sure his team were on their way already. Not waiting until it gets dark would be an unexpected enough move to grant them an advantage. Besides, they wouldn’t be able to sit still and not pick each other apart if they were forced to be on standby for hours, so he was certain Neji wouldn't risk it. So, he either wasn’t unconscious for long, or the cave was more of a maze than they expected, and they were searching for him in vain for a while. He hoped it was the former but with how these rocks hindered the ability of the Byakugan , he couldn’t rule out the former either.

As he couldn’t see the opposite end of his cell, he started toward it carefully, silently sliding his feet on the floor and keeping his hands in front of him. In his current state he wasn’t about to rely only on his senses and risk an injury or making too much noise, even if crossing the room like this was embarrassing. He safely reached the other side but couldn’t feel anything breaking the surface of the rocks. It was either an unusually designed holding cell, where the prisoner was not kept opposite from the door, or it was hidden and sealed. He went through a short sequence of hand signs and pushed a small amount of chakra into the wall in front of him and was rewarded with a seal lighting up. He wasn’t a fuinjutsu expert, but apparently his captors weren’t either. It was a standard lock seal you could buy in any shinobi supply store. Not a simple design, but one Shikamaru was familiar with enough to pick it apart, given enough time. You only needed precise chakra control for it, and to know in which order you had to disable the different symbols on it. Fortunately, the process required a blessedly small amount of chakra too, as Shikamaru hadn’t much to spare right now.

Before disabling the last symbol, he crouched down low and got his shadows ready in case there was someone on the other side. As he gently fried the last symbol, channeling chakra into it, a section of the rock wall disappeared. The chamber it opened to was well lit and unoccupied. There was a large, round, rock table in the middle and rows of seats carved into the walls. They might have led interrogations, maybe even trials here, Shikamaru guessed. There were most likely similar holding cells all around. On the other side of the chamber stood a wooden door, and he started for it. He just rounded the table when the door opened. There was nowhere to hide, so Shikamaru jumped on top of it and released his Kagemane before he even saw who came in. As it turned out, it was the kunoichi who trapped him, and she immediately crouched down flattening her palms to the ground, and the swamp started to spread, but his shadows reached her before she could capture Shikamaru again. He lifted his hands immediately, forcing her to do the same and to sever her connection to the ground, but she managed to push a big amount of chakra out of her palms at the last minute. The swamp started to ripple at that, and it knocked over the table, throwing off his jutsu.

Once she was free, she stood up and slammed her hand to the wall of the chamber, quickly connecting the new swamp with the one on the floor, kickstarting its spread again. Shikamaru switched to Kage Nui , trying to stab her with his shadows, but she was able to duck and avoid them, as she could move around as long as she managed to keep at least one of her hands connected to the rocks. Keeping an eye on the swamp, Shikamaru maneuvered his shadows, dividing the tendrils and trying to catch her off guard. 

He thought he found an opening once she lost her balance, but before he could stick one of her legs, part of the floor elevated to intercept his tendril, defending her a bit like Gaara’s sand did. So, she could manipulate and shape the surface to some extent. But doing it while still working on covering the ground and the walls of the chamber had to be difficult. She furrowed her brow in concentration and was breathing hard. Shikamaru didn’t fare much better either. The surface he could safely step on shrunk rapidly, so he had to pay more attention to where he was while still trying to trap her. She managed to bypass or block every attack while directing the spread of her swamp to catch Shikamaru off guard, coming from behind him and trying to corner him. She was good. He almost fell for one of her tricks but managed to jump up to a safe fraction of the wall, then up to the ceiling, using only his chakra enhanced feet while he kept his jutsu going, but as he landed on an unaffected fraction of the floor he was overcome by another wave of dizziness and by the time his vision cleared, the swamp closed in on him dangerously. 

Time to phase B.

Shikamaru sent a handful of fast tendrils in the kunoichi's direction. She moved away easily, keeping her hands on the wall, confident in her hold on him. As she was looking out for his shadow more than for him, she didn’t see him quickly dropping the rat sign and form the set of tiger, boar, ox, dog, and snake for the kawarimi and was just outside the door, the scroll she dropped taking his place on the other side of the room. It was a long shot, but the only one he had, so he straightened and ran, ignoring his swimming vision and the light-headedness still present. He had to keep close to the wall as he didn’t seem to be able to run in a straight line, wasn’t making all that good progress and had no idea where he was going. Not ideal…

Shikamaru heard the kunoichi's footsteps closer and closer behind him, and the fact that she didn’t even try to use her technique to capture him instead of giving chase suggested that she expected others to join in. Sure enough, soon he saw someone turn the corner not far from him. He felt empty space to his left and ducked to the side corridor blindly. It was much shorter, and for a moment, Shikamaru thought he ran into a dead end, but he was able to turn right at the very end. 

He heard sandals skidding on rock and a cacophony of curses too close by for his comfort, so he picked up his pace. This place really was a labyrinth. He turned another corner, contemplating that he is just as likely to run deeper into the cave instead of getting closer to the exit, but he hardly had a choice. Another turn, and he saw something resembling a door on one side. He quickly plastered himself to the wall, though if the room was occupied, it might have already been too late to avoid them hearing him, and he couldn’t really afford to slow down. Still, he tried to sneak close to it as silently as possible.

A head appeared in the doorway. The man was wearing some kind of complicated google that must have seriously altered his vision, as he rubbed his eyes after pushing it up his head. Shikamaru took advantage of his distraction and punched him hard. The guy went down in a heap, and he quickly glanced into the room, to make sure there were no others – and stopped short. 

It was there, on a low, stone table, in some examination machine. Even though Shikamaru has only seen rough sketches of the chest, he had no doubt this was what they came here for. Million thoughts racing through his mind, he stepped into the room to take it – only to be grabbed by the back of his shirt and slammed into the opposite wall, hard. This really wasn’t helping his headache. He felt the edge of a kunai at his throat and when he could focus on the shinobi in front of him, he came face to face with bright blue eyes that made his blood run cold. The blade bit painfully into his skin.

One of the wind users they fought earlier turned the corner and his captor started to berate him immediately, not looking away from Shikamaru and keeping his hold on him securely.

“Where the hell were you? You were supposed to guard him!”

“Sorry, I just…”

“I don’t care! He almost ran away. Pathetic .”

“That’s enough, Yuhi” said a female voice as the kunoichi caught up to them as well. “I had the situation under control. Ren, take care of Kazuka. We will talk later” she addressed the other guy, who bowed to her, picked up the man Shikamaru punched unconscious, and carried him into the room.

“Bring him back to the cave. And easy with that kunai. We don’t want to damage the goods” she said to Shikamaru’s captor, then left.

The guy, Yuhi, she called him, grabbed Shikamaru’s arm and dragged him after her. He held the kunai against his side this time, pressing it just so, so he knew that he wouldn't hesitate to use it if he tried to run for it again, order or not.

Resisting now would have been futile. Instead, Shikamaru tried to take in as much of his surroundings as he could, trying to commit to memory the route from the room they kept the chest in to his cell as he was dragged back there. He was pushed up against the wall again, and the kunai returned to his throat.

Shikamaru fought to clear his vision, trying to see his captor more clearly, but he avoided his eyes. It wasn’t like him to avert his gaze from someone, unless there was a chance at genjutsu, but there was something in that ice-cold gaze he’d rather not experience again, up close. So, he focused on the rest of the guy – boy, really, he could barely be older than Shikamaru himself. He had dark hair, an average height and built. He most likely wouldn’t have been able to overpower Shikamaru that easily if he wasn’t distracted by the chest – rookie mistake.

Unexpectedly, the boy stepped back, releasing him. “Put your hands forward” he instructed Shikamaru, and when he complied, he clamped two thin, plain metal cuffs on him. To his surprise, they were not connected by a chain. “These are chakra cuffs,” he explained. “They won’t prevent you from using chakra, but once you mold it, they will suck you dry” he said, and even without looking at him, Shikamaru could hear the grin in his voice.

“This is really unnecessary, Yuhi. You are making a bad impression on our guest” the kunoichi said sweetly, returning to the room. “Please forgive him, his manners leave a lot to desire” the kunoichi said, turning to Shikamaru. She was a bit disheveled and still panting, but not as hard as him.

“I’ll have a quick word with my little brother. I will be right back” she said, then they left toward the round room, closing the door behind them, leaving his cell in almost total darkness again.

Back to square one. Now what?