A/N: whew! It's been so long since I picked up this story, I have to read it all over again T_T. If you're still here reading this story after I abandoned it for so long I want to say a very big thank you, you're the best! Well enough of me, let's get into the action.

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•Brief recap of the new arc•

Tenten and Neji are back from their trip to Kirigakure but this doesn't mean they have the time to rest. Tenten is saddled with a new mission to get information on Shabadaba, the Chief of the Land of the Moon, who is suspected to be in cahoots with Orochimaru and involved in the recent case of young children going missing. Meanwhile Neji and Temari are worried as Shikamaru seemingly disappears from the surface of the earth after the grand heist at Kirigakure. When he's found, the dark secrets about his past are revealed. How could this be connected to Tenten's ongoing mission? Would she, once again, be roped into working with Neji and the Birds (albeit without her knowledge)? Would this mission change the dynamics of Neji and Tenten's relationship for better or for worse? Sit back and watch as the story unfolds.

!!! Warning !!!
Readers might find some content disturbing. Viewer's discretion advised.

•••

"She had a child."

The whisper was so inaudible that Temari would have missed it if she hadn't undergone a special training to sharpen her senses. "What?" She questioned him softly but that just made Shikamaru break out into a full sob.

"She had a fucking child Temari!" The man cried. Temari didn't understand why it bothered Shikamaru so much that his mother figure had a child he didn't know about until he uttered his next words. "It's mine."

Well shit.

***

• Amegakure •

It was drizzling, the aftermath of a heavy downpour. Shikamaru knew that he was supposed to be at work with Kurenai but he couldn't bring himself to care. His feet sank into the muddy ground as he weaved through the alley of ratty wooden houses, his hair stuck to his face, greasy and slimy, and his clothes- rags were a better description for them- were soaked through and through. He was already used to it. Who would've thought that the young boy born in wealth and abundance would end up rushing to a dump site to fish for scraps?

Objects from the mainland often got washed down to their forsaken city after a heavy rainfall so it became a routine for the locals to wander around in search of durable items they can either sell, wear or eat. Most times it led to competition and fights over the ownership of scavenged scraps were imperative. Shikamaru was not supposed to be here at the dump site. His face was far too valuable to be bruised, or worse scarred, in a fight over some dumb invaluables. He was supposed to leave the scavenging to Asuma, useless as he may be, and learn how to work from Kurenai.

Shikamaru got to the dump site breathing a little bit heavily. It was crowded as usual. People ignored him as he searched around for anything he could find interesting. They had taken all of the valuable stuff anyway. He soon found something and he quickly grabbed it and went to hide for the fear of any adult finding and snatching it away. When he felt that he was safe he sat down on the floor to examine it.

"What are you going to do with that?"

The sudden voice caused Shikamaru to startle and scramble around in an effort to hide his find. The owner of the voice belonged to an older girl...no, a boy. His long brown hair was wet and stuck like glue to his pretty face, a face that was too delicate to be found among the dump grounds of Amegakure. What drew Shikamaru's attention other than the boy's delicate and pretty features were his eyes, white like the moon. Shikamaru knew this guy. Everybody in the Weeping City knew him. The Akatsuki's child.

Upon unanswering his question, the boy raised a brow. "I won't take it from you." Could Shikamaru trust that? The boy crouched in front of him and poked the thing he found. Shikamaru decided that he was harmless and relaxed a little bit.

"Ah." He looked down at the condemned thing in his hands. It was a desktop monitor, practically useless. "I wanna see how it works." He answered the boy's earlier question.

"It obviously doesn't." Even if it did there was no way to test it. Amegakure had no electricity.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'll make it."

"Oh?" There was amusement in the boy's voice. "You look pretty young and I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Sort of." Shikamaru answered vaguely.

"I'm Neji." The boy, Neji, expected the same gesture from him so he gave it.

"Shikamaru."

Neji watched Shikamaru tinker with the desktop monitor, occasionally throwing curious questions here and there, like how he was sure about what he was doing and how he knew which piece went to which place. The sky was darkening but neither of them paid attention to the time. They were both focused on Shikamaru's magic hands.

"I'm done." He announced once he pieced the hard plastic cover of the monitor back together. "It should work now. Too bad we don't have electri-ah!" He trailed off into a yelp when Neji's face suddenly became too close to his.

Neji was up in his face, bewildered. "Wow. How are we going to test it?" Shikamaru grunted. He would have to find a solution to that. How exactly though? Neji blew a breath through his nose and sat back on his hunches, a look of admiration on his face. "You know, for a kid you're really smart. We should hang out sometime. I've got some pretty cool stuff you can play with."

Shikamaru considered the boy's offer. He had heard it once or twice how dangerous it was to associate with the Akatsuki's child, was he really willing to go through all that trouble? Another look at Neji's sly grin and Shikamaru knew that it would be pointless to refuse. Even if he refused, Neji had the Akatsuki wrapped around his dainty finger. He could get what he wanted when he wanted it.

"What a drag." He sighed.

"I take that as a yes! See ya tomorrow, kid." Neji giggled and just as suddenly as he appeared, he disappeared. It was like somebody stole the sun after he left. Suddenly everywhere was dark and Shikamaru realized just how late he really was. Asuma would be less than pleased with him.

"What a drag." He sighed again as he hid the monitor in a safe place.

He could hear Kurenai's pained screams before even reaching the vicinity of their tiny pest ridden house. If it could be called one. Asuma's angry shout followed soon after.

"Where is the boy?!"

"I swear I don't know Asuma! He's a kid, he must be playing somewhere."

The thwack that followed thereafter made Shikamaru shiver fearfully. He might've gotten accustomed to the way of life here but he could never get used to Asuma's demonic anger. No one could get in the way of beating her and Kurenai both within an inch of their lives, not even their neighbors' angry 'tell the bitch to shut the fuck up' shouts could stop him. Shikamaru almost did not want to enter the house. But he had to, or Kurenai would continue to suffer.

"He was supposed to be learning from you! The fuck are you useless for?! I'll teach you to-" the words and the beatings came to a halt when Shikamaru sheepishly crept in through the makeshift door of the house. Asuma dropped Kurenai as if she was none other than a toy he got bored with. The woman collapsed to the ground, face swollen and skin bruised. "The fuck have you been?" Asuma's voice was eerily calm as he moved soundlessly towards Shikamaru. The boy found himself trembling.

"I-I was out l-looking for scraps...sir."

Asuma looked at his empty hands. "And where is your find?" He questions.

"I -" Shikamaru gulped. "I didn't find any-" he didn't get to complete his sentence before a sudden pain on his left cheek sent him spiralling backwards and crashing into the door. He scrambled to get up but Asuma was upon him in seconds, paying no regard for his own rule to keep Shikamaru's face untouched. Blows upon blows landed on his body wherever Asuma's hands could reach. Kurenai's protesting voice was lost in the midst of it all.

"Useless little cunt! I told you to stay with Kurenai didn't I?! You been here for three fucking months eating and sleeping under my fucking roof for free! I don't got all that patience anymore brat! Today's the day you learn how to earn your keep!"

Both Kurenai and Shikamaru grew paler than they already were when Asuma ripped the boy's clothes. Then Kurenai increased her efforts to grab Asuma off him but he was just too strong.

"Asuma you drunken bastard! He's just a child, stop!"

"No! No stop! Stop I'm sorry Asuma, I'm sorry!" Shikamaru thrashed in the older man's hold but he just pinned his chest to the ground and held his arms behind his back. With his free hand he parted Shikamaru's legs. Shikamaru had never been more scared in his life. He knew what was happening. He'd seen it countless of times when Kurenai took him to work. He remembered the screams of agony so vividly. He knew that he was about to be hurt. "Please don't! Please don't! I'm sorry please don't! DON'T!"

Asuma suddenly grew limp and collapsed beside him, giving way to the vision of Kurenai heaving heavily with an empty bottle of alcohol in her hand. Shikamaru scrambled to hold Kurenai. She was trembling, they were both trembling.

"Shikamaru..." Kurenai's voice was filled with clogged tears. "I am only able to save you this once. Goodness knows what he would do when he wakes up." They both looked at Asuma's limp form. Kurenai held Shikamaru tightly. "From now on please, for your safety and mine, please do whatever he says. Please!" Shikamaru nodded into her bosom.

It all went downward from there, Shikamaru's mental health. He did everything Asuma asked and there was peace in the household for a while. He got into drugs, stole from the bastard's stash, and became a sex worker like he wanted. Sometimes Kurenai would get needy too. He'd satisfy her. The first time Shikamaru vomited after it all. The second time was easier. Subsequently he grew numb to the feeling, moving just going as the wind blows.

His friendship-if it could be called that- with Neji was still a thing, surprisingly enough. The older boy seemed to grow even more handsome with each passing year. Must be nice riding the Akatsuki's coattails, Shikamaru would think cynically every time he looked at his intricate features. He didn't hold it against Neji though. The responsibility of being adopted by a gang of serial killers was not one he wanted to bear. He knew Neji's hands were not totally clean. The boy was black and white, a saint and a cunning devil in the same body. He was somebody Shikamaru didn't want to get on the wrong side of.

Over the years their duo became a trio, a pale and sickly looking boy who went by the name Sai becoming their third member. He was not new to Amegakure by any means. On the contrary, he was one of the boy servants of Danzo, one of the core members of the wretched society they lived in. It was no news that the Akatsuki killed each and every single one of the leaders of Amegakure following the tragedy of the gang's former leader, Yahiko, and took over the government themselves. Not that it was any different. Amegakure was still the same shit hole it was before they took over, or at least Asuma says so.

Sai was a social recluse. Given his background, it was not all that farfetched. His only job when Danzo was alive was to feed into the sick fantasies of the wretched old geezer. Now that he was gone, Sai was left helpless. Shikamaru still remembers how they met him. It was after a heavy storm when everybody was out to look for scraps. Neji stumbled upon the pale, sickly looking boy crouched over an equally pale body. The only difference between them both was that one was alive, and the other was beginning to rot from the rapid decaying process of maggots in his skin.

It took a lot of effort to get Sai off the body- his brother's, he said- but eventually the pale boy began to settle into the environment and slowly loosened up to Shikamaru and Neji. They were inseparable ever since. Sometimes Shikamaru would ditch work to hang out with Neji and Sai at the Akatsuki base. Hanging out meant gruesome training with the Akatsuki. It was inhumane but if Neji had been enduring that kind of training since he was five and he was still alive, why couldn't he?

One of the technology savvy members of the gang took interest in Shikamaru's intelligence and taught him how to use computer systems- the Akatsuki hideout was the only place in Amegakure with electricity, powered by a small generator. Shikamaru didn't like Hidan too much. He was a brute whose only interest was to come up with murder schemes but he was surprisingly knowledgeable about computers and everything that had to do with it. He taught Shikamaru programming language and the many wonders he could do with it.

-

Asuma died one uneventful afternoon. That was a lie. A lot of things actually happened that day and it all began with Asuma being in a foul mood. Not that the man had ever been happy. Well he was yesterday when he made money by doing some dirty work for some of the higher ranking people in their shit community. The money didn't see the end of that very day, it got stolen. Asuma took the aggression out on Kurenai. The fucker was no respecter of persons. Right in front of Shikamaru he stripped the woman naked and forced himself on her. It wasn't the first time, neither would it be the last. Or so Shikamaru thought.

Asuma's anger persisted till the next morning where he grumbled and complained about not having drugs in his system before angrily leaving the house to find some. Shikamaru had been quiet all this while. He rarely ever got involved in the couples matters now that he was grown. One could even say that he had grown apathetic towards the situation. It worked that way. Asuma would stay out of his lane and he would stay out of Asuma's. The only reason he was still in this shit hole was because of Kurenai. She needed someone to tend to her injuries after Asuma's ministrations like he was doing now.

The woman squirmed as Shikamaru emptied one of Asuma's cheap gin bottles over a particularly bad injury. It was a nasty gash on her upper arm, gotten by being thrown against the ratty couch in their one room house. The couch had nails protruding from different angles. Shikamaru hated that couch. "Just a little bit more." He coaxed the woman into staying still, the firm grip on her hand never relenting.

"When did you become so strong?" Kurenai scoffed rhetorically. Shikamaru shrugged. He had been training with the Akatsuki since he was ten, this year would make it six years with them. People recognized Shikamaru when he walked down the muddy streets of Amegakure. He basically ruled the town along with Neji and Sai with the Akatsuki being his mentors. Asuma knew this too, which was why he never crossed his boundaries with the boy.

Shikamaru finished wrapping a torn piece of cloth around her injury and released Kurenai. "We're done here. Try not to strain your hand." That advice was useless, Shikamaru knew. He said it still. He was about to stand up when Kurenai held him back with her recently treated arm. "Hey-!" The scolding on his lips was cut short with Kurenai's lips. He pushed her away. "Fuck woman, after what he did to you yesterday?!"

Desperation swam in Kurenai's red eyes. She held the boy tighter. "Please." She pleaded. "Please help me forget." Shikamaru didn't like it but he still gave in anyway, and that was how Asuma caught both of them.

"What the fuck. What the actual fuck!?" The stoned man exclaimed angrily at their very compromising position.

"Asuma... it's not what it looks like I..."

Asuma didn't hear her words. He yanked Kurenai off Shikamaru and tossed her aside like a rag. "I'll come back to you later, whore." He faced Shikamaru. "You! You bastard! I let you under my roof and you take my wife right under my nose!" He grabbed the boy by his shirt aggressively. Instead of being intimidated by the display like Asuma hoped, Shikamaru laughed remorselessly instead.

"So fuckung what, cunt? It's not my fault you're not man enough to satisfy your bitch, she has to get some from someone more than ten years younger."

His words ignited a flame of aggression in Asuma and the man struck a blow. Shikamaru returned it and from there a bloody fist fight ensued. The drugs in Asuma's system gave Shikamaru a very big advantage over the bigger man. His steps were uncoordinated as his blows were very heavy but Shikamaru was able to throw him against the very chair that he threw Kurenai the night before. The woman in question had been forgotten in their fight until she suddenly rushed towards the fallen Asuma with a war cry, broken gin bottle in hand.

As Asuma struggled to get up from the chair he was thrown against he heard Kurenai's voice and rushing footsteps. He wasn't given the chance to look up properly before he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and vomited blood thereafter. Kurenai was breathing heavily above him and when he glanced down he saw the broken end of a bottle impaled in his skin, blood pouring out of the mouth like a stream. He couldn't believe it. His wife stabbed him. "Kurenai, you son of a bi-" he didn't get to complete his sentence before another spurt of blood came out of his mouth.

Kurenai was trembling above Asuma. What had she done?! She barely felt anything as Shikamaru pushed her aside and removed the broken bottle from Asuma's abdomen only to drive it in deeper. The man screamed and squirmed in pain but the boy didn't relent until he fell limp. Kurenai fell to her knees as the boy wiped some blood off his face and stood up like he just did nothing. It was her good for nothing husband but he was still a person and Shikamaru ended him without even a bat of his eyelashes.

Her breaths became shorter as the room suddenly became smaller and smaller, as if the walls were enclosing in on her.

"Kurenai-"

Shikamaru's voice brought her out of her reverie and she screamed, scrambling backwards in fear. "No! No don't kill me too! I'm sorry please don't kill me too!" She cried as she cowered tearfully on her knees.

"What?" Shikamaru was flabbergasted. "I'm not going to-" A loud bang in the distance cut them both short. It was soon followed by a series of loud bangs and panicked screams. Shikamaru knew a gunshot when he heard one. "Stay inside and take cover." He didn't look back to see whether Kurenai listened to his instructions or not, he ran straight to the Akatsuki base where he knew was the source of the gunshots. He never made it anywhere near the hideout before he was shot in the shoulder.

Shikamaru groaned in agony as he immediately hid behind a barrier. He caught a glimpse of the perpetrators before he hid. He had never seen them before in real-life but he knew more than enough about the Fire Nation's special armed forces, the ANBU, to recognize them. What were they looking for in the Weeping City? Shikamaru's heart dropped when he realized that they found the Akatsuki hideout. He gripped his limp arm tightly and grit his teeth. All the more reason he had to find Neji and Sai. If only he was armed right now.

Shikamaru's heart thumped as the ANBU agent's footsteps drew closer and closer to him. He pondered over his situation carefully. He had a plan. A stupid and impulsive one but a plan nevertheless. There were two ANBUs cornering him and commanding him to show himself. The injury on his shoulder was mind numbing but he could still make it if he was quick enough. Raising his bloodied uninjured arm, Shikamaru stepped out from behind the barrier he hid behind. His eyes never left the two soldiers as they inched closer to him, waiting for his chance to strike.

The moment one soldier got close enough to inspect him he barreled into the man and used him as a shield against the other soldier who shot immediately regardless of whether the soldier in Shikamaru's arms was his partner or not. Shikamaru made a quick work of using the dead man's rifle to kill the other soldier. Using his injured arm hurt like hell and his heart was raging wildly against his ribcage from the adrenaline pumping in his veins. Were he any slower, he would be lying on the floor dead instead of the soldiers.

Shikamaru knew he couldn't stay where he was. The gunshots definitely attracted some attention and he didn't want to know whose attention it drew. He slung one rifle over his shoulder by its strap and held the other in his hand. Using his injured shoulder hurt so much, the pain was dizzying and cloying his mind but he needed to find Neji and Sai fast. Knowing the former, he would want to fight off the ANBU but Sai, being more reasonable than he was vengeful, would definitely drag him somewhere safe from the soldiers. Where could that place be?!

Amegakure was in utter chaos. The people ran up and down, screaming as soldiers chased and shot anybody that looked remotely suspicious. Still he couldn't stop running, mindlessly shooting any soldier that approached him. He knew that he was attracting attention to himself that way but he just couldn't stop. He needed to find Neji. The pain in his arm was mind numbing and the smoke in the air was harsh on his lungs. His breath came in short bursts. He was losing his mind and he was running out of bullets.

"K-2 reporting, zeroing in on the suspicious target."

Shikamaru barely had any time to react to the ANBU soldier creeping in behind him before a shot rang. For some reason this one was the loudest out of all the incessant gunshots he heard today, almost deafening him. Maybe it was because the bullet whizzed past his ear, the mere wind of it nicking his cheek. Maybe it was because the soldier fell limp from his spot behind him, blood spreading underneath his body like a halo. Maybe it was because of the huge figure of Kisame looming over the dead body, frowning down at him with disdain.

"Fuck I thought you were smart. What are you doing, running around with a rifle and an injury, dumbass?!" The tall man flicked the blood off his huge sword.

"N-Neji..." Shikamaru couldn't form words. It made Kisame even more annoyed.

"Fucking hell. Snap out of it, kid! The brat and the pale one should be safe in the underground bunker but there's no way you can get there without attracting attention towards them. You've made yourself a target for the government dogs, you're smart so I hope you understand what I'm saying."

Shikamaru did. He had basically painted a red spot on his back by killing several ANBUs so running to where Sai and Neji were would only endanger them. What he needed to do right now was to lay low until the storm blew over.

"Good. Now get the fuck out of here and stay safe." Kisame urged him as he readied his sword. A group of soldiers were already trooping in. Shikamaru didn't look back as he ran, fully trusting Kisame to cover him as he did. He hid. The noise seemed like it would never stop. The gunshots and screams in the distance seemed like it would continue for eternity but they eventually ceased and Shikamaru crawled out of his hiding place tentatively.

Amegakure was a wreck. Buildings were raided and dead bodies littered the streets. Children were crying and the adults were no better. It was an absolute disaster. Amidst the gathering crowd, Shikamaru looked for Neji and Sai. In his muddled mind, he didn't even think to check back on Kurenai whom he left a trembling mess at their house. The area was restless. The Akatsuki were gone, each and every one of the last of them bound in chains and dragged into paddy wagons. How the ANBU managed that feat, to capture all of the remaining Akatsuki members at once, Shikamaru didn't know but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. He needed to find Neji quickly.

He halted when he noticed people gathering at the town square. There was something sombre about the air that didn't just arise from the recent ANBU raid. The cloudy skies stormed over and rain began to drop heavily upon the morose citizens of the Weeping City. They didn't disperse, not when a figure stood in the center of them all. His lithe frame trembled as agitated tears fell from his silvery eyes yet not one person moved to console him. They couldn't dare to.

Shikamaru tore through the gathered crowd and paused when he finally reached the center where Neji stood, blood thirst in his eyes. The boy felt a chill run down his spine. The air around Neji was different. This was not his friend, this was the boy who was raised by a heartless group of serial killers and one who had the capacity of becoming one himself. Shikamaru spotted Sai at the other side of the circle the crowd had formed. One look at his ashy face told Shikamaru they both felt the aura shift, for Sai's wide eyes never left Neji's quaking frame.

It was eerily silent as Neji raised his head up, silver eyes glinting despite the stormy weather. He stretched his arms wide, raised his head to the heavens and with a loud gut-wrenching voice, he cried;

"AMEGAKURE! BEHOLD YOUR LEADER!"

There was cold silence for a few seconds before everybody broke into a cheer that sounded more like a war cry than a happy sound. Neji broke into a fit of dark laughter as he danced to the melody of the harsh rain and the wet squelching of people's feet on the muddy floor, to the sound of their cries and to the sound of his own depraved laughter. Neither Shikamaru nor Sai could approach him.

• • •

Neji didn't necessarily change. No. He always had a bit of darkness hiding in his warm and inviting light. Shikamaru always knew what sort of person Neji really was but his prior knowledge did not make it any easier to bear. He came to know later that the person that tipped the ANBU off about the Akatsuki's hideout was none other than Sai's former owner, Danzo. They all thought he was dead. To their surprise he was fucking not.

"I'll kill that bastard if it's the last thing I do." Neji swore solemnly.

The opportunity to kill Danzo came sooner than they expected and all the while Shikamaru was skeptical. He was mostly indifferent about a lot of things but when Neji recruited a kid barely over the age of thirteen into their group along with his older brother and sister, he knew that his friend definitely wasn't thinking straight. The lifeless green eyes of the red haired boy sent chills down Shikamaru's spine. Something was wrong with the boy and it seemed like his older siblings knew it too because they treated him like an extremely volatile bomb.

"Neji tell me you are not going through with this plan." Shikamaru tried to talk Neji out of it.

"I am." It was useless.

"T-That's a kid for fuck's sake!" A kid who looks like he has seen a lot more bloodshed than Neji has, he didn't say.

"So what? You're sixteen." That reply ticked Shikamaru off so he grabbed Neji by his arm.

"You're not going to drag him into this mess, are y-!" Shikamaru swallowed his words when the coldness of Neji's gun pressed against his forehead.

"Say one more fucking word and I swear to fuck I'll blow your brains out."

Shikamaru released Neji with a gulp. He wasn't kidding.

The rest of the preparations went by silently and no words were exchanged between the group as they all traveled to the faraway and unknown island where Danzo was reported to be in hiding- the island that later came to be known as Luse.

***
Whoo! The plot is moving on, the plot is moving on! We all know that they never found Danzo on that island, which means that Danzo is still alive...? Probably.

Thanks for reading! Please vote and leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter. We'll see again in the next!

-Star.