"Come on Gaara, I feel fine," Kankuro said as he sat in the hospital room. "Why can't we get out of here?"

"Because the Lady Hokage asked for some special garments be made for you so you can grow without becoming nude," Gaara said, "Unless you want to become nude any time you grow over ten feet." Kankuro looked at his brother.

"Fine. How much longer until they're made?" Kankuro asked.

"They should be ready by tomorrow morning. Temari went to find out for sure," Gaara said. Kankuro nodded. He wondered if that was the only reason for her going out into the village.

Temari smiled as she drank some tea at the tea shop. Across from her was Shikamaru Nara. Temari was returning from the Akimichi's clan residence when she ran into Shikamaru and persuaded him to have some tea with her.

"So, what's it like growing that big?" Temari asked, "Gaara doesn't talk about it much since he returned."

"It's nice in a way," Shikamaru said, "My jutsus are stronger and my chakra reserves are higher. Plus the clouds look the same from any height I can grow to. Down side is I have to do more manual labor around the village." He then gave a sigh.

"You really don't like doing more than you need to," Temari said, "And it doesn't bother you that you're now the second smallest giant in the village?"

"Nah," Shikamaru said, "I actually don't care, as long as no one bothers me. With so many more giants, the odds of me fighting more Akatsuki are slim."

"But from what I heard, you did a great job at it," came a voice from behind Shikamaru. From no where, Jiraiya appears.

"Man, what do you want?" Shikamaru asked, not caring who Jiraiya was. Temari didn't know him either.

"I need you to come with me outside the village," Jiraiya said pleasantly.

"Is it needed? Or may I refuse?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, refusal's always an option. But it would also mean a live show rather than pictures being given out," Jiraiya said, smiling. Shikamaru's face was drained a little of its color as he took a sip of tea. Temari noticed this.

"What does that mean?" Temari asked.

"Never mind," Shikamaru said, standing up, "I need to go with him. Here's the cash for my drinks." As he put the money on the table, Jiraiya waited. Soon Temari was left alone, eeing Shikamaru left enough for both their drinks.

"Where are we going?" Shikamaru asked the Sannin.

"This way," Jiraiya said, "Orders from the Hokage." Shikamaru shook his head and followed. Jiraiya led Shikamaru through side alleyways and up abandoned streets. Shikamaru knew then what was going down wasn't something they wanted company for. Soon they made it to the woods and to a large lake in the woods.

"What's the point of coming here?" Shikamaru asked.

"Do you know how deep this lake is?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, why?" Shikamaru asked.

"Simple enough, your to take that boat over there and head to the center," Jiraiya said.

"I can walk on water just as easily," Shikamaru said.

"But then it'd be like you were on level ground. I want you to go a bit into the water," Jiraiya said, pulling out the last scroll. "The Hokage wants you to use it on yourself." Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"No way," Shikamaru said.

"Yes," Jiraiya said, "You were chosen because you are trustworthy, loyal, smart, and not ambitious or easily influenced. The Hokage wants this scroll used up. Keeping it hidden only allows for someone to find it. Can you imagine what it'd be like if the Akatsuki finds it? Or Sasuke Uchiha?" Shikamaru grunted. With his mind it didn't take long for him to come up with 100 different worst case scenarios, depending on who found the scroll.

"I guess I should take this as a compliment," Shikamaru said taking the scroll and getting in the boat. Jiraiya gave it a good kick and soon Shikamaru was over the deepest part of the lake, roughly speaking 300 feet deep. Shikamaru held the scroll to his chest and released the dust. Then the growth started. Slowly he grew with his clothes to match. Soon his weight became to much for the boat and it sunk beneath him. It was an odd sensation to Shikamaru, growing down rather than up. Jiraiya could only hope he didn't get so large, the lake didn't help conceal him. No one was meant to know about Shikamaru's full height.

Unknown to Jiraiya, Temari followed the pair and saw Shikamaru take the scroll and now grow. Though only his head was above water, Temari saw it increase in size. "I hope he's all right," Temari thought.

Jiraiya saw Shikamaru start to rise from beneath the waves. "Man, he reached the bottom already? And he shows no sign of stopping." And Shikamaru didn't stop as he grew taller and taller. He finally stopped at six hundred seventy five, 27 times larger than his previous max and now the tallest ninja of all, though only 375 could be seen above the water line.