Chapter Text
Shikamaru was received by two guards at the massive entrance of the Daimyo’s residence. They were no ninjas, though that was to be expected. Merely muscled men with some combat techniques under their belts, dressed in fancy gilded armour imported from Iron Country.
The feudal lord of Fire Nation lived in no stone fortress. His home was moreso a beautified monument–a gaudy and impractical one at that. Chinks in security were aplenty, but there was no lack of tastefully manicured plants and marble statues and faces of family forefathers etched into heavy stone.
“You don’t look like much,” one the guards who had introduced himself as Tetsu, commented as they escorted him through the gardens and into the interior corridors of the mansion.
“Thank you,” Shikamaru replied with ample dryness. Being underestimated always felt gratifying, no matter how much Ino insisted otherwise.
“Shut ya trap, Tetsu,” the other guard, Tsuki, said. He was the shorter of the two and seemed like a more sensible personality in general. This, Shikamaru knew, after merely exchanging introductions with the two. Already the atmosphere at the Daimyo’s stronghold was far different than Konoha’s Kage Tower.
“What? I gotta play nice just because some upstart ninja kid shows up?” Tetsu said, scoffing. He looked at Shikamaru sharply, “At least stop slouching as you walk. This isn’t your home.”
“It is more comfortable this way,” Shikamaru responded, opting to remain ignorant of the snide tone in the guard’s voice. It had been only a few minutes since he had entered the mansion and he was in no mood to make his first enemy so soon. He would antagonise Tetsu later if they crossed paths again but for now, he was happy to dodge all attempts at confrontation.
“Leave him alone,” Tsuki chided, elbowing his fellow guard. “He’s no upstart. He’ll be one of the twelve guardians. So, don’t run off your mouth just like that. You know better.”
For the rest of the way, Shikamaru tactfully averted his gaze and ears away from the bickering pair. He had no intention to defend his integrity as a shinobi against a man like Tetsu–who was at least a decade older than him and would likely never be convinced of his competence unless he saw him in action.
The inner halls of the mansion were all varying degrees of crowded. Servants rushed to and fro to prepare the dining rooms for a lavish lunch. Men dressed in light, cream-colored tunics hefted up baskets full of bread, fruits, jars of jams and other foods, while walking in haphazard lines. Women in skirts and tight-made buns set the tables with silks and carried platters of dried fruits and dried spices and all sorts of sweet treats. People walked around each other in a seamless chaotic mess and the only one struggling not to bump into a rushing body was Shikamaru.
Once they were out of the throes of busy helping staff, they entered a quieter part of the residence. Here, the two guards led him up a series of stairs and left him at the landing of the third floor with a few perfunctory parting words.
“Are you the new recruit?” a petite woman greeted him near the stairs, her figure leaning idly against the wall. She was dressed in a typical Konohan battle-dress, her hair a shade of deep purple that she kept secured in a knot. Upon seeing him look at her, she gave him a close-lipped smile, her honey coloured eyes sharpening with interest. “Shikamaru-kun, isn’t it? You are much younger than I thought. Freshly made jounin, aren’t you?”
Shikamaru let the condescending tone wash past him like a mildly inconvenient gust of air, pocketing his hands as he returned her scrutinising look.
“And you must be Katsura-san,” he said, quirking his brow when she regarded him with mild surprise. “You aren’t the only one to do her homework. I’ve read the profiles of all eleven. Nice to meet you.”
Katsura’s smile gained a friendlier edge, “Likewise.”
Shikamaru nodded at the set of the rooms situated down the corridor, “Which one is mine?”
“The last four are empty. Pick any,” Katsura said, straightening up and uncrossing her arms. “Once you’re settled, you can ask any of the guards to bring up your belongings. Remember: all of us guardians convene in the training grounds two hours before dinner, even on days we do not have active duty.”
“Alright,” Shikamaru said, filing the information away. “Where are the rest?”
“They’ve already left for lunch,” Katsura replied. “I had to stay behind to welcome the rookie.”
“Much appreciated,” Shikamaru responded tonelessly, idly throwing open a door and choosing his personal quarters at random. It didn’t matter. All rooms were similarly sized and would look the same.
“Mhm,” Katsura briefly peeked into his selected room before moving away, towards the stairs once more.
“See you later, Shikamaru-kun. Be observant, yes? The Daimyo’s mansion isn’t any less than a pit of vipers once you realise what’s going on.”
That was some sinister advice if he had ever received any. “... Noted,” he said and added the question he’d had on his mind since he entered the mansion. “Katsura-san, do you know where I could meet a guy named Naruto Uzumaki?”
Katsura smirked knowingly, “Oh? Eager to meet the resident celebrity? Don’t worry. You’ll meet him soon enough.”
With that said, she finger-saluted him once before disappearing down the stairs, leaving Shikamaru all alone on the third floor accommodations aisle. After a moment mulling over the cryptic response, he shrugged and went into his new room.
It would be his personal space for at least the next year. Asuma-sensei had been a guardian for half a decade before returning, his contract renewing annually. He was the sole reason Shikamaru had even considered accepting the Daimyo’s invite to join his merry little band of bodyguards. Well, him and the prospect of getting some relaxation after years of continuous C and B rank missions.
Having twelve watch dogs at your beck and call meant that there were at least some who got to sit out on the action. The duties were rotationally assigned and the ninja guardians enjoyed plenty of leisure in between their assignments. It was a very appealing workplace environment for Shikamaru, one he was determined to take full advantage of.
A year of downtime and minimal effort. That was what he wanted.
Someone chose this moment of his blissful–and perhaps a bit deluded–internalisation to knock on the door.
Shikamaru sighed and swung it open, blinking at the full-blown grin of warm welcome he was met with. The guy standing before him was clad in a deep crimson shirt accompanied with Konohan shinobi pants.
His hair was... blond. Like the descriptions of their village’s mysterious jinchiruuki. Blue eyes, odd whisker-like marks, a wild intensity. No verbal accounts he had received on Naruto Uzumaki spoke of his exuberant smile, though–one he was subjected to at the moment.
“You must be Shikamaru Nara!” his sudden company said, eyeing him like he was someone of great interest. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Naruto Uzumaki but you probably already knew that, didn’t you?”
Shikamaru nodded, a bit awkward when faced with someone so socially forward, and accepted the handshake extended his way.
“Yes,” he admitted. “Did Katsura-san send you?”
“Katsura?” Naruto asked with a laugh. “She would never. No. It was Uto. He told me you were in the premises and I came looking.”
Shikamaru took a step back as Naruto invited himself inside and took a seat on his bed’s edge, seeming like he belonged there, like this was his property and it was the Nara that was intruding.
“Uto as in Uto Kazuhara?” Shikamaru asked, just so they had something to talk about. “He’s the lanky, tall one, isn’t he?”
“Got it in one!” Naruto said and grinned again, poking at his pillows and mattress, as if trying to discern something profound. “Uto’s the best spy we have. Keeps up with all the latest gossip to share with me. Love the guy. Say, are you particularly stealthy?”
Shikamaru walked over to the desk chair and took a seat. So far, Naruto’s presence had not reached intolerable levels of irritation. There was no need to throw him out just yet.
“Not much,” Shikamaru replied, assessing Naruto and the way he held himself. There was something about him... the way he lounged comfortably on someone else’s bed, the way he spoke informally with nary a seed of shame, the way he grinned unabashedly as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He was at ease. Too much at ease. It rang false for Shikamaru.
“I prefer more straightforward battles but every shinobi worth his salt knows to be sneaky. I have the basics down.”
Naruto hummed in consideration before abruptly adopting a serious mien, looking in his direction with thoughtful eyes, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
Shikamaru gestured for him to go on. The faster he allowed everyone here to rid their nosiness about him, the better.
“What do you think of the Hokage? Of Konoha? Are you a typical goody-two-shoes ninja?”
“Those are three questions,” Shikamaru replied, crossing his ankles. He wasn’t sure why Naruto would care for these answers but he wasn’t inclined to understand his reasoning for the moment. He just knew that Katsura-san’s warning about the Daimyo’s residence held some truth if this odd interaction was anything to go by.
“But I don’t mind the query. I don’t hold any strong opinions about the Hokage. She’s a strong woman with a shrewd head and has quite the competent people counseling her. Konoha is my home. I am... fond of it. As for my nature as a shinobi, why don’t you find that out for yourself?”
Naruto’s smile this time was strangely sardonic, “Fair enough. You seem like a sensible person, Shikamaru.”
“Thanks?” Shikamaru said, thrown off by the sudden compliment. He was certain he had said nothing or done nothing to give Naruto a favourable impression of himself. Not yet, anyway. Was this just a way for the jinchiruuki to ingratiate himself with others? Which was another matter of enquiry...
“Do you always greet a new recruit of the guardians this way?” he asked. “Are you friendly with them?”
Naruto leaned against the headboard and fiddled with the string of dark coloured beads tied to his waistline, “I like knowing whoever enters the residence. You guardians are always such... fascinating people. It’s fun to see new faces around. And well, I’m not exactly friendly with the other eleven. Not all of them. You will understand why soon enough,” he paused and gave Shikamaru yet another inscrutable look. “Or so I hope.”
Shikamaru titled his head, “What do I need to understand? Why is everyone here so fond of throwing around vague warnings?”
“It’s not warning,” Naruto said, smiling. “Just a, hm... prediction? Inkling? Naras are supposed to be smart, aren’t they?”
“At least you know that much,” Shikamaru said, frowning internally at his own response. Backtracking, he said, “I didn’t mean it like... Shit. Have you actually met a Nara before? Did you... When did you leave Konoha exactly?”
Naruto waved his jittery remorse away. This wouldn’t be the first time he tripped on a land mine and triggered a string of unknowingly hurtful words–he was sure of it. To deal with someone with such sensitive history required a sense of tact that he often times lacked. It couldn’t be helped.
“I left–I was sent away when I was almost seven years old. Right before I would be admitted to the Academy,” Naruto shared with no air of reservation. He appeared to be settled with his past, or atleast this detail of it. “I have met other Naras before. Most of them were chunin messengers. You might be the first jounin from the Clan that I’ve spoken to. You Naras aren’t very fond of climbing the ladder, are you?”
“Not unless you dangle a carrot in front of us,” Shikamaru said. “And it better be a damn good carrot.”
“What was the carrot you were tempted with?” Naruto asked.
Shikamaru smiled a slant line, “A carrot called better salary. Besides, I may not look it but I do have some ambition. Becoming jounin is actually quite beneficial if one can keep up.”
“I see,” Naruto said and stood up. “Well, that’s enough shinobi talk for a civilian like me. I should head out.”
Shikamaru did not let his skepticism for the expressed sentiment show. Naruto may not be a ninja officially but he had the whole mindset of one. This was apart from the fact that the guy was their village’s jinchiruuki–an inherently militaristic asset in the first place. There was nothing purely civilian about him.
“Sure,” he said and stretched out his limbs as he left his seat as well. “It was nice talking with you, Uzumaki-san. I suppose I will see you around?”
“Of course you will,” Naruto replied with another grin. At the threshold, he turned casually and said, “And oh, I do apologise in advance.”
“What for?”
Naruto didn’t give a response. He left as soundlessly as he had come, shutting the door close behind him. Shikamaru decided not to dwell on the mysterious parting words of this mansion’s residents and called for a guard to sent his luggage upstairs. Once everything was neatly tucked into a corner and he had unpacked a few of his clothes to assemble into his new wardrobe, he finally found out what Naruto had meant.
The moment he sat on his bed, after half an hour of mundane hardwork, a faint ache in his back after the tedious crouching–a truly impressive cloud of flour exploded into his face, triggered by his weight on the mattress.
He had been pranked.
That was what the sneak was fidgeting with as he sat on Shikamaru’s bed like it belonged to him.
The worst part, perhaps, was that the setup wasn’t aided by a jutsu. It was an honest, old-school, entirely mechanical trap and Shikamaru hadn’t even suspected the existence of it.
Coughing and hacking, Shikamaru brushed away the powder from his face, going straight to the sink for a thorough wash.
Naruto had given him a warm welcome alright. And no Nara would let a gesture so courteous as this go unreturned.
As it turned out, Shikamaru’s dedication for vengeance didn’t last long. Most of his time from the week that followed was swallowed by initiation meetings and getting guided tours of the mansion along with the gardens and lawns that accompanied it.
Vantage points were shown, training grounds were visited, the dining hall became his most frequented location. There were several private offices and meeting rooms throughout the place with no lack of incoming and outgoing administrative officials. Suffice to say, the Daimyo was kept busy, but whether the men gathered for a time of productive discussion or a time of indulgent recreation, only time would tell.
Shikamaru had yet to be assigned direct guardian duty. Katsura had made it clear that he wouldn’t be placed into rotation before he was familiar with every nook and cranny of the massive mansion. He didn’t mind it. Knowing the place he would be surrounded with for the next year was pretty important for him, too.
He ended up meeting all the other eleven shinobi during the nightly assemblies in the training ground. Uto was the oldest amongst them–about that guard, Tetsu’s age–but also the shyest. He was extremely reserved and didn’t contribute to the conversations much besides sharing a word or two with his companion Saiki.
Oddly enough, the only times Shikamaru spotted the man freely speaking and being more animated, he was with Naruto, who had made it a point to invite himself over to their meetings every other day. Nobody seemed surprised by his presence, though, so he figured this was a common occurence.
There were only two other women in the squad besides Katsura. One was Tsuna, who let him know that she was already a mother of a toddler back home and the other was Chika, who was a head taller than him and did not seem all that impressed by his addition.
The other six... Well, even in his head, Shikamaru had them lumped together. They were all in their fourth year of serving the Daimyo and had an easygoing camaraderie that Shikamaru doubted he could ever wiggle his way into. Even the other members let them be, preferring to divide their formations into two batches whenever possible.
Amongst those six were the Hurrican Twins–an Inuzuka duo of some reknown. Kenchi and Senshi. They had made a name for themselves in the chunin exam, fighting for the final win against each other and coming away with a clean draw that made them both victorious.
They were joined by Kazuma, Haru, Ryoto and Daisuke–a quartet of heavy hitters and frontliners. Though they all differed in how they presented themselves to Shikamaru, there was a common cagey disposition to them, as if they’d rather not have anything to do with him if they could help it.
“There is no leader here,” Chika, the axe-wielder, told him during their third get-together. “Though, you will find that there are those who lead regardless.”
“I think that is evident,” Shikamaru said with his eyes set on Kazuma, the brown-haired special jounin who had a way of commanding the attention of the other five in his little clique.
“Come now, don’t go singling out dear Kazuma like that,” Naruto chimed in from behind as he was wont to do, looking at Shikamaru from his upside-down position on a tall tree, his fingers flexing against black wristbands as he idly cracked his knuckles. His hair was put up in a fussed-up bun today, streaks of blond hair covering his face. He blew on it every now and then, an effort in absolute futility if one asked Shikamaru.
Shikamaru only subjected him to a questioning look.
“I can see where your eyes go, you know?” Naruto said, cocking his head to the side. Somehow, despite his precarious position, he didn’t look silly. As Shikamaru had come to observe, Naruto never let go of the air of ease and confidence that followed him. Even if some of it was a hoax, there was no denying that the Daimyo’s mansion was Naruto’s sandbox before it was any of theirs.
“I am not singling him out,” Shikamaru said dryly. “Rather, he’s the one singling himself out.”
Naruto smiled at him, a peculiar tinge to it, as if Shikamaru had just disappointed him. Besides him, Chika let out a short scoff. That wasn’t unusual. The woman was fond of letting him know how much she disapproved of him every chance she got.
”Care for a fight, newbie?” Haru called out from across the ground, approaching their party of three with a lackadaisical gait that wouldn’t be out of place in the Nara Compound. “It’s been a week and we haven’t seen any of your moves yet. Are you not that strong or something?”
Tsuna and Katsura disengaged from their practice spar to watch the scene unfolding. For some reason, everyone was on edge, their gaze on Haru, and Shikamaru took his cue from them.
Holding firm, he waved at Haru dismissively, “Just not in the mood, Haru-san. We can spar some other time, once I have adjusted–”
“Come now. None of those trite excuses,” Haru cut him off, his tone infuriatingly patronizing. On purpose, if Shikamaru was reading him right. “How can we trust you to have our backs if we don’t even know your strength?”
There was a soft sound of feet landing on the dirt and the next moment, Naruto was beside Shikamaru, a pleasant smile directed Haru’s way.
“Infighting amongst the twelve guardian ninjas is strictly prohibited,” Naruto said, as if reciting from a rulebook to a troublemaking child. “Have some sense, Haru-san. I know it is difficult for you but try.”
Haru’s jaw tightened, though he tried to hide the effect Naruto’s words had on him. “It’s a mock-battle, Naruto,” he said with a thin smile. “Just standard practice. What’s the issue? Or are you, perhaps, implying that our new recruit cannot handle himself? Is he so incompetent?”
Shikamaru tried his best to not roll his eyes. Haru was a textbook asshole. There was no creativity to his antagonism. It was almost funny.
“I’ll fight,” Shikamaru said, stopping Naruto before he could refute Haru again. Naruto’s lips pursed together and instead of Haru, his eyes sought out Kazuma before, surprisingly, settling in Uto’s direction with a displeased mien.
Just what was going on here?
“That’s the spirit,” Haru said with a small smirk, turning around and walking to his position.
“This is stupid!” Katsura shouted, the tone of her voice thick with judgement.
Tsuna, too, crossed her arms and gave her advice, “If you boys are that desperate for some adrenaline, just do a normal hand-to-hand spar. There is no need for chakra. The repairs always take way too long.”
“Oh, shut up,” Daisuke spoke up, walking to Haru’s side. It seemed as if everyone was slowly congregating towards their side of the ground. Full of complaints, yet intrigued to see how the match would go. “Why you girls always gotta be such bores?”
“Prick,” Katsura said. “Go fuck yourself.”
“Now, now, Katsura-san,” Kazuma said and Shikamaru instantly disliked him. He was a nice guy and always tried to peacekeep but something about the way he did it struck Shikamaru as... oily. “There is no need for such foul language amongst us. We are comrades, are we not?”
“Then tell your dearest Daisuke that–”
“Shikamaru.”
Shikamaru turned away from the ensuing fight, called to attention by Naruto.
“He uses little pellets in fights,” Naruto said as if he was commenting on the weather. “They are, in actuality, tiny chakric bombs. His profile sheet doesn’t mention it. It’s his secret technique.”
Shikamaru stared at Naruto, slightly taken aback. Though they had shared a few conversations here and there, he didn’t think they were close enough to warrant such underhanded help. He didn’t think even Katsura would tell him such information in advance–despite the fact that he had started to think of her as a tentative friend.
Maybe Naruto just found Haru that repulsive and wished for Shikamaru to defeat him. That did make sense. Who wouldn’t want the asshole to be humbled?
“Thanks,” he said and readied himself.
“Mhm,” Naruto hummed and patted his back. With a voice more sincere than he’d expected, he added, “Be careful.”
Shikamaru sent him a lazy smile and got into a basic fighting stance. Opposite him, Haru stood with his feet apart, looking as if he was awaiting the attack of a toddler that he could bat away with his eyes closed.
“This will be fun,” Chika commented with a scoff. Shikamaru got the feeling that she disliked Haru even more than she did him.
Even Uto, who seemed like someone who wouldn’t enjoy unnecessary violence, came to spectate, alongside his partner Saiki. Those two were always attached to the hip. But where Uto had a presence despite being reserved, Saiki seemed to blend in to the point of insignificance. Shikamaru couldn’t recall reliably even one thing Saiki had told him since they met.
“You ready, newbie?”
Shikamaru nodded.
“Good,” Haru intoned and immediately sent blades made of cutting wind hurtling towards him with striking speed.
Shikamaru smiled to himself. At least he wasn’t being underestimated entirely.
With a signless substitution, Shikamaru swapped with a thick broken branch right behind Haru, wasting no time in commencing his counterattack. With a surge of chakra, he assaulted Haru’s back with a plume of orange-red fire.
There were always benefits to befriending the last Uchiha in Konoha. After all, Sasuke had no qualms sharing his Clan’s jutsu with those he deemed worthy. A legacy for a shinobi didn’t just continue with a lineage–even jutsu had to be passed down and around.
Haru sensed his fire ninjutsu, spinning on his feet and raising an earth wall in just the nick of time. Even so, the edges of his shirt singed to a crisp, giving Shikamaru some momentary satisfaction.
“Not bad,” Haru hissed under his breath, lunging at Shikamaru with the urgency of a tempted bull. His style of taijutsu was unruly, meant to land big blows and painful injuries. It was as much a style of brute force as it was of intimidation. When someone comes at you with a hammer, your first instinct is to duck away, instead of take your chances with the blow–a tendency that Haru knew of and could capitalise on.
Trying to stay firm, Shikamaru parried his punches with his arms, immediately regretting his choice. The damage was simply overpowering. He couldn’t last long in close combat. Maintaining his distance was his only option.
With a deep breath, he swung low under an oncoming high kick and ran.
Haru watched him with affronted bafflement, for a moment giving up on the match to register what he perceived to be Shikamaru’s unspeakable cowardice.
“Get back here, you slithering asshole!” Haru shouted and Shikamaru stopped his sprint to face him once more.
They were at a good distance again.
Now, it was the moment of truth. Here on out, everything depended on Haru and his secret weapon.
“Haven’t you heard of tactical retreats?” Shikamaru asked, purposefully goading. “You can’t just strongarm your opponent if they have the sense to maintain their distance. Shouldn’t you be commending me?”
“Strongarm?” Haru snorted. “You really are a coward.”
“And you have yet to land a clean hit on me,” Shikamaru said.
Haru’s expression morphed into an ugly thing. With a sneer, he dove his hand into his kunai pouch and came away with a fist full of little shiny pellets. With a yell, he threw them right at Shikamaru, the small metallic-seeming balls swirling in the air before course-correcting towards him.
Shikamaru wasn’t going to wait for them to come obliterate him. He hopped away without a thought, observing as they landed onto the ground, shining brilliantly in a flash of explosive destruction.
He smiled. He had been right. He wasn’t sure before but now he knew exactly why Naruto had told him of this before the match.
It wasn’t a warning. No. It was a hint for an opportunity.
From the moment Haru had approached him for a fight, everyone in the ground knew that Shikamaru was at a big disadvantage. His Clan jutsu relied on harnessing the mobility of shadows but what good was that during nighttime when there were very few shadows but only a general lack of light?
Haru was relentless in his assault. He alternated between triggering a few chakra bombs and throwing at him some small scale wind jutsu. Shikamaru’s fire could easily overcome Haru’s wind attacks, so all they served to be were minor distractions in the fight.
Shikamaru focussed, for the first few minutes, on dodging. He swerved behind trees and swapped places with fallen branches. Kunai tagged with explosion seals were handy and he aimed them near Haru’s dominant hand, hoping they would get some heat-based damage in. But Haru was as much a brawny fighter as he was an observant one. His awareness of their fighting bubble was, frankly, impressive.
It became clear to Shikamaru that deflecting wouldn’t last. Haru had caught upto his methods of fleeing incoming blasts and had already predicted his next location to deploy a surprise pellet. It was only his instinct and reflexive-jutsu use that saved him from the impact.
Catching his breath, his lungs burning with exertion, Shikamaru eyed Haru. He had maintained the distance between them, not allowing an up-close assault to defeat him. Haru seemed a bit tired as well, but not nearly as much as him. There was both a gap in strength and stamina between them.
But when had such things ever stopped him from winning?
Shikamaru heaved in another breath, sweat dripping from his brow. Haru’s smirk stretched and he dipped his hands into his pocket once more. This time, there were pellets in both his fists.
It was time. Haru was going all-out.
Which meant that Shikamaru would simply have to follow.
In one swift motion, Shikamaru digged his heels in and let chakra burst from beneath the soles of his feet. Propelled by the force, his natural speed was enhanced thrice its usual capacity. Haru’s eyes widened as he realised that Shikamaru was not running away from him but was running at him.
After spending the whole match’s duration running away and staying clear of him, Shikamaru’s approach left him feeling off-kilter.
There was simply no time to think. No time to even understand the logic behind such an action.
Haru had two hands full. With a heavy swing, he let his chakra bombs go, trying to exit the impact radius as he did so. The blasts went off before escape was possible for either of them.
It was a cacophony of light, sound and earth-ripping damage. Haru at the edge, and Shikamaru at the epicenter. Even as Haru was hit by the torn apart bits of dirt and flying debris, he knew the injuries Shikamaru would sustain would be far more adverse.
But just as the thought had passed in Haru’s head, something odd poked him at the side. Next moment, heavy, laboured breathing filled his ears and Shikamaru was right beside him, threatening him with a...
A sword.
Haru had never seen such a thing before. The sword was made of undulating, ever-changing mass of black smoke. Or rather, black shadows.
Shadows that were brought upon by his flashy explosions.
“Surrender,” Shikamaru said, using his free hand to show Haru the pouch of remaining pellets that he had taken under his custody. This meant that he wouldn’t be able to use them anymore and that once the light from the explosion subsided, Shikamaru could simply make more–maintaining his upperhand.
“... How?” Haru whispered and Shikamaru finally let some self-satisfaction fill him.
“Figure that out yourself,” Shikamaru said. A simple substitution with the debris surrounding Haru had snuck him into the asshole’s guard. Often, people like Haru were too busy figuring out how their opponents would endure instead of how they would escape. It left them vulnerable to many last minute defeating maneuvers.
“I yield,” Haru spoke through gritted teeth and the moment Shikamaru relented, letting his swirling, jutting sword dissolve into the darkness, he snatched his pouch of pellets and stalked away.
“Always displaying incredible sportsmanship, isn’t he?” Chika called from the sidelines, receiving a rude shoulder-check from Haru on his way out.
“That was smoothe,” Naruto said with a whistle, walking towards Shikamaru with a grin.
“That was pathetic,” Chika said, shaking her head. “Your stamina needs work, Shikamaru-san.”
Naruto elbowed her–and it was a wonder why Chika did not incinerate him on the spot–and said, “But did you see that sword? I didn’t know that Naras could solidify their shadows to such an extent, let alone detach them from the ground.”
“Naras cannot,” Shikamaru said matter-of-factly. “But I can.”
Katsura huddled close to him, giving him a solid pat on the back that sent him forward by a few steps, “I like that. Keep that attitude up, Shikamaru-kun. It is quite entertaining to behold.”
“I’m not your circus monkey,” Shikamaru said dryly.
“But you gave us quite the show,” Kazuma spoke up. Haru hadn’t waited for the other five of their alliance to join him and they hadn’t followed him out. But now, as Kazuma walked towards the exit, he was followed by Daisuke, Ryoto and the twins. “Good work, Shikamaru. Keep it up.”
Shikamaru waved them goodbye and received Uto’s soft-spoken praise with a grateful smile.
“You fight nothing like your teacher,” Saiki commented as they were leaving.
Shikamaru looked at him, “You know him?”
“I know of him,” Saiki smiled with a lopsided quirk of his lips. “He was one of us many years ago. I believe it was him and one other whose efforts stopped a revolt back then. To have him as your sensei must be an honour, is it not?”
“It is,” Shikamaru said and kept silent as Uto and Saiki parted ways with him and the rest.
Asuma-sensei never spoke much of his time here. Not the particulars anyway. But he held his time as a guardian as a period of great learning and self-actualisation. Still, the history was significant and every genin from his batch knew some morsels of it. Asuma-sensei and his comrade from the then twelve guardian ninjas had squashed the efforts of the other nine to assassinate the Daimyo and establish a unified rule under the Hokage for all of Fire Nation.
An ill-begotten dream that was destroyed before it could take hold.
“So,” Shikamaru said as him, Naruto, Katsura, Tsuna and Chika retreated into the building, walking towards the dining hall with their own thoughts about what had transpired. “Is everyone satisfied with my abilities or do I need to undergo any other rookie drills?”
“That was nothing,” Chika said, walking at a careful distance from them, lest she be mistaken for a friend of theirs. Shikamaru could see that she had the “lone wolf” mindset going on even though she seemed to have no difficulties cooperating with the other guardians.
“Winning in a mock battle against someone like Haru is tricky but it is by no means impressive. Stop touting your own horn.”
“Ignore her,” Tsuna said, tutting. “That girl and her attitude–I swear. Always looking down on others. Chika, you really shouldn’t be so needlessly critical of others. Especially your allies.”
“Save the lecturing for your son,” Chika retorted, her head turned away. “If you don’t criticise people, they get complacent.”
“And who’s criticising you?” Naruto said, a teasing lilt to his voice. “Should I take up the job?”
“Zip it,” Chika snapped with lay less heat that Shikamaru would have expected. “What’s with you, anyway? I heard you tipping him off earlier.”
Naruto feigned innocence, “Did you? How odd. I have no memory of it.”
Shikamaru followed his lead and pretended to not have heard their conversation. Chika looked between the two of them and with a derisive–but not exactly malicious–snort, turned and hurried her pace, breaking off from their group.
Their short journey towards the hall was uneventful. Shikamaru basked in the aftermath of his victory, content to have proven himself for now.
There were times when effort was necessary. He had realised this early on, when after his second mission as a green genin, he had returned to Konoha on the brink of death. Thereafter, working to improve himself became a habit. He would always prefer a laidback life over an action-packed one but there was a reason he qualified for the position of the Daimyo’s guardian in the first place. He had earned this job, fair and square.
“Naruto,” he said later, mid-bite, a thought striking him. “Do you fight? Can you do jutsu?”
Naruto smiled at him through his mouthful, as if he found Shikamaru’s question rather charming, “I can fight and yes, I can do some jutsu as well. Self-taught entirely. Though, of course, I am nowhere near the level of you elite shinobi.”
“Bullshit,” Shikamaru snorted.
Naruto’s answering grin spoke volumes.
One month after his arrival at the Daimyo’s mansion, it happened.
After his very first on-field guard duty, Shikamaru was only slightly tired. Standing outside two gigantic doors and keeping vigil as the Daimyo indulged his guests was boring but not exactly taxing. His partner on duty was Tsuna who kept up interesting enough conversation that Shikamaru was well-engaged most of the time.
Ever since that stint with Haru, there had been no mock-battles sprung up on him. Kazuma and his group kept their distance, though Haru and Daisuke were prone to throwing him dirty looks and the ocassional juvenile verbal jab.
The only thing of note, perhaps, was the absence of Uto and Saiki who were sent on a mission by the Daimyo. As it was, the twelve guardians’ sole duty extended far beyond just protecting the feudal lord. They were also obligated to carry out any personal missions at his discretion. Which made sense–why would the Daimyo have to recruit another ninja party from Konoha when he had twelve of them right there?
Naruto hadn’t shown up for some time, either, but his presence was always dependent on his whim, anyway, so Shikamaru didn’t think much of it.
While none of this personally affected Shikamaru, the absence of Uto, Saiki as well as Naruto had caused some kind of disbalance within their meetings. Chika was in a hotter temper than usual, Kazuma was running drills in the intense manner of a war general and even Katsura seemed easily distracted.
Shikamaru had tried wheedling some information out of Tsuna during their duty but she didn’t seem to understand it, either. Or if she did, she was spectacular at pretending otherwise.
Which was why, once he was dismissed, he picked up some food and went straight to his room. Sleep would sort everything out.
Just as planned, he ate in his lonesome and after washing up, went right to bed. Slumber took a hold of him easily and down he went the hole of blissful dreams.
At least he had, until a jarringly loud series of knocks awoke him. Groggy and dizzy, he stumbled to the door and opened it gingerly, only half-way there.
He saw blond hair first before the door was pushed inwards entirely and Naruto dragged himself inside, switching on the lights with his elbow before collapsing onto the floor, back first.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Naruto cursed, hand pressed on the side of his stomach, face contorted with pain. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he had been injured.
“Shikamaru, move- move aside the fifth floorboard from the right. Hurry. There’s a box full of remedies inside.”
Despite the sleepiness that clung to him like a second set of clothing, Shikamaru was alert enough to follow straightforward instructions. He did as he was told and found a wooden box hidden under the flooring. Pulling it out, he turned towards Naruto again, whose condition was worsening every second.
“Which one?”
“It- it’s a navy blue bottle. Smell it. If it stings your nose, then it’s usable.”
Shikamaru brought the mouth of the vial to his nose after uncorking it. One inhale and he knew this one would work. He handed the bottle to Naruto and finally, the jinchiruuki took his hand off of the injury.
It was a burn wound of a kind Shikamaru had never seen before. Garish red and bruise-blue spots covered his skin, whatever had caused the injury having shredded through his crimson jacket. Naruto’s hand shook as he tried to tilt the vial, overcome with pain.
“Give it here,” Shikamaru said, gently taking the bottle from his hand. Naruto was too out of it to protest. Kneeling beside him, he carefully held down Naruto’s side and dropped the liquid from the vial onto the inflamed skin, anticipating the hiss, the knee-jerk reaction and using his shadows to keep Naruto’s body still accordingly.
“Fuck,” Naruto breathed out as the liquid spread across the wound, tilting his head, his eyes screwed shut. “God fucking damnit.”
Shikamaru didn’t let up until he saw Naruto’s torso relax slightly, till his hands were no longer fisted. Once he was certain the pain wasn’t unbearable–so much so that Naruto would accidentally move and aggravate his wound–he sat cross-legged on the floor and returned the remedy to the box.
Ignoring Naruto’s string of curses, he took a moment to take stock of everything stored in the wooden kit. Vibrantly coloured pills and powders, glass bottles full of peculiar liquids, jellies stored in containers with medicinal properties imbued inside, all of this and more was somehow, unknowingly, kept under his floorboards.
Shikamaru turned his gaze towards Naruto, sleep now out of his system entirely and came to a decision.
“What happened?” Shikamaru asked, not waiting until Naruto was fully recovered. He needed answers and he needed them immediately.
“Jigoku happened,” Naruto said through gritted teeth, stretching over to pluck out a roll of clean bandage from the box.
“Jigoku? Who’s that?”
“The right question is what is that,” Naruto said, tying the bandage around his torso with a deft hand, wincing when the pressure applied to the burnt spot. “Haven’t ever heard of Jigoku? The Hell Sword?”
Shikamaru shook his head. What a dramatic name for a weapon but as he had come to observe, shinobi were nothing if not theatrical. “And who was wielding this sword?”
Naruto mirrored his position, leaning against the side of the bed. Now that Shikamaru wasn’t as alarmed–or drowsy–anymore, he could recognise the state of disarray the jinchiruuki was in. The wound was perhaps the biggest cause of concern. But it was clear he had been in some big fight and very recently, at that. His hair was a mess, the usual red strip he wore on his forehead coming loose.
“That’s the thing,” Naruto said. “I don’t know who attacked me–his face was hidden–and his chakra was unfamiliar besides. But I know he doesn’t own Jigoku yet he was the one wielding it.”
“Wait,” Shikamaru said, holding up a hand. “Back up. How did you even meet this person and why were they attacking you? Naruto, what have you been upto?”
Naruto sighed and shook out his head, running his fingers through his hair, before honing in on Shikamaru with a clear-eyed gaze. He huffed a small laugh, “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. I shouldn’t even be here. But for some reason... I think it’s okay to trust you.”
Shikamaru felt something twinge in his chest at those words. Trust had always been a begrudged concept for him.
As a chunin, he had often grappled with his position as his unit’s leader and always found himself lacking while living upto his team’s trust in him.
It was trust in him that had led to Ino’s arm being bitten off by a chakra beast, trust in him that had made them almost lose Sasuke to Orochimaru.
“Oh,” he said, running his tongue over his teeth and staring at the light bulb.
“Yeah,” Naruto said, frowning as he watched Shikamaru. With a blink, his expression morphed into one of solemnity and he continued, “You know Uto and Saiki were sent on a mission by the Daimyo, right? They went to Matsu Village–it’s basically the lord’s extended storehouse. You’ll probably be sent there to fetch something for him sooner or later. Gold or money or grains or his official tokens produced en masse. Anyway, I was tailing those two because... ”
Shikamaru waited patiently. He knew something was brewing beneath the surface of the twelve guardians. He also knew Naruto was aware of it. The extent of his meddling was a bit of a surprise but if through him, he had a chance to gain insight about the conflict, Shikamaru didn’t mind one bit.
Naruto didn’t pick up where he left off. Instead, he pivoted and said, “They were on their way back here and I was watching them. I’m pretty sure they couldn’t feel my presence. At least, that’s what I thought. Honestly, I wasn’t at my best because–shit, I always feel guilty about it, okay? He’s a friend I used to trust and now I have to fucking spy on him... So, whatever, I was there, in a tree, my chakra masked and out of nowhere, this...this other person showed up and attacked me and I had to engage. I think it was a guy. And he was weilding the Jigoku. One slice from that thing and you burn and freeze your flesh simultaneously.”
Shikamaru grimaced at the description, his eyes subconsciously tracing the bandage-wrap on Naruto. He didn’t even want to imagine what that must have felt like.
“So,” he said, swallowing and focussing on the matter at hand. “You said the sword did not belong to this person. Did it belong to...Uto?”
Naruto smiled wryly, “It used to.”
“Hm?” Shikamaru raised a questioning brow. That should have been an incriminating statement yet something about the way Naruto looked made him believe otherwise. He frowned in thought, some of the moving pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. For once, it wasn’t a series of facts that led him to a conclusion but pure instinct. He’d spent a month with these people; there were things that could only be sensed before they could be seen and confirmed.
“Naruto,” Shikamaru said. “This Hell Sword. It belongs to Saiki, doesn’t it?”
Naruto sighed and nodded, rubbing his temples.
“So how come he gained ownership of it? Did Uto give it up?”
“No. They fought each other two years ago. Uto lost to Saiki and as per the terms of their battle, decided beforehand, he had to relinquish Jigoku to Saiki.”
“I always thought they were close friends,” Shikamaru said softly, going over his observations of them to fit in the context of this new discovery. “Did they befriend each other later? Or is it that... Uto isn’t with Saiki all the time as much he is with Jigoku. He’s watching over his weapon.”
Naruto gave him a smile at that, this one much more unburdened than before, “You really are smart. Yes. Uto’s looking over Jigoku. He doesn’t trust Saiki with it. The Hell Sword was his family heirloom. Uto didn’t used to be so... meek. But that loss against Saiki also lost him his confidence. He needs that sword back. It is way too important for him.”
Shikamaru nodded. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he stood up and opened his cupboard. Pulling out a loose cotton shirt, he passed it onto Naruto who caught it with a hand, confused.
“Are you planning to rot in that ruined jacket of yours?” Shikamaru said. “Change.”
Naruto stared at him before laughing, a merry sound that seemed at odds with his disheveled appearance. “Thanks,” he said as he carefully peeled apart his shirt and put his on. “And sorry. For, you know, barging in and dropping this all on you.”
“That’s fine,” Shikamaru said and found that it really was fine. Naruto had answered some of his most burning questions–questions that he would have otherwise brushed aside and feigned ignorance towards till things got even worse. In a way, they both got something out of this.
“But where do you live, exactly? Why is your medicinal box in my room?”
Naruto shrugged, “I live wherever I want. Always have. As long as it’s in the mansion, the Daimyo doesn’t care. I used to hop into whichever room was free here. That’s why my emergency supplies are in your room. Sorry about that, too.”
“But what about your clothes?” Shikamaru asked, wondering why this was such a pressing query over the million other avenues they could discuss. “Or toothbrush? Where do you even shower?”
Naruto’s smile tugged sideways into a small smirk, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I’m just asking,” Shikamaru said flatly. “I’m curious.”
“Really?” Naruto said. “You didn’t strike me as the inquisitive kind.”
And that struck a chord with Shikamaru. Maybe it showed on his face, because Naruto instantly backpedalled, wincing as he said, “Fuck. Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Sorry.”
Shikamaru shook his head and got comfortable on the floor once more. With a small laugh, he replied, “No. It’s not that. I was just remembering, I guess. When I was a child, I was always told how curious I was. I wanted to know everything. I’d go around the Nara Compound, accosting random members and asking them things I wanted to know. Just wondering when that changed.”
Naruto’s gaze softened, the look on his face reflecting something like understanding.
“I get it,” Naruto said, his voice oddly hoarse. “I was just thinking to myself the other day... If you had come here a few years ago, I would have asked you all about Konoha. How it had changed, what were people my age upto. But now? Now, I don’t have it in myself to care.”
Shikamaru brought up his knees, leaning his head far back so he was seeing the ceiling and every crack on it. There was something heavy in the air between them. Not oppressing, exactly, but weighty.
As if Shikamaru was confronting a part of himself that he had never acknowledged before. He never thought transparency could come in this shape and form–sitting beside someone he’d known for a month, talking about a childhood that he’d never given a thought to before.
“Why do you wear that red strip on your head?” Shikamaru asked.
He had noticed it the first day they met but recognising his own curiosity, he had purposefully not allowed himself to register its implications. The cloth, two fingers wide, had an array of black tomoes on it. He had wondered, briefly, if it was Naruto’s way of filling up a space that a forehead protector never would.
Naruto pulled up his knees as well, before wincing with pain and instead opting to stretch his legs straight before him. “It was to tease a friend of mine. He said it reminded him of the Uchiha and he hates the Uchiha. I never stopped wearing it since.”
Shikamaru’s lips quirked up, “Not very friendly of you, that.”
“We were fighting at the time,” Naruto said, as if remembering something fondly.
“Who is the friend?” Shikamaru asked.
Naruto nudged him playfully, “You are curious.”
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, slightly embarassed, but Naruto’s general demeanor was too open not to indulge in his curiosities. He made it easy.
“Don’t freak out,” Naruto said. “But it’s the kyuubi. He’s my friend. A very dear one.”
Shikamaru merely blinked in his direction, “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Naruto laughed brightly once more and Shikamaru was really beginning to like the sound of it, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It is,” Shikamaru said, far more sincerely than he was aiming for. “So... Where do you shower?”
Naruto rolled his eyes, “Enough. It’s my turn to ask you something. Hmm... What’s your favourite food?”
Shikamaru snorted, “Really? Is that the foremost question you have for me?”
“Just shut up and answer.”
“I hope you realise that is a contradictory sentence.”
“Ugh,” Naruto huffed. “I’m done with you and your smart-ass.”
Shikamaru smiled, “I like kushiyaki. Of any kind.”
“Got it,” Naruto said. “With the amount you spend in the dining hall, I figured you were a big foodie.”
“Not really,” Shikamaru said. “I just like eating better than the other options at recreation available here.”
“You have to find ways to entertain yourself,” Naruto replied. “It’s fun once you learn to navigate the premises. I’ll show you something tomorrow. Remind me, alright?”
Shikamaru nodded, intrigued.
But as much as he was enjoying their conversation, he knew it came at the cost of ignoring the elephants in the room. Taking a tactful approach had never been his style, so deciding to bludgeon the peace with a pointed question–or several–he asked, “You said you trusted Saiki. That he was your friend. How did that change? What is he upto? Why were you spying on him?”
Eyes widened, Naruto said, laughing disbelievingly, “Man. You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
“Well?”
“Remember what Saiki told you the other day?” Naruto asked. “About your sensei? About Asuma-san?”
Shikamaru nodded, already his thoughts swirling in certain directions to unravel the mystery.
“When nine of the eleven guardians staged a revolt, Asuma and one other were able to stop them,” Naruto said, repeating what he already knew. “Do you know who this other ninja was?”
Shikamaru was about to shake his head when the dots connected and he looked at Naruto with some incredulity, “It was Saiki, wasn’t it?”
Naruto gave him a look as if to say, crazy, right?
“You thought Uto was the oldest, correct? In reality, Saiki has been lying about his age. He is a couple years older than Uto. And he was seventeen years old when he was first recruited to be the Daimyo’s guardian. After the group was temporarily disbanded, unlike Asuma-san, Saiki did not return to Konoha. The Daimyo took him under his wing and gave him shelter, money and missions. I have known him since I was brought here. For a while, Saiki was even assigned as my guard,” Naruto looked away at that, pained by the memory.
“I liked him from the get-go,” Naruto continued, taking in a shuddering, grounding breath. “He was helpful and kind and he even made me laugh at times. But over the years, something has changed within him. He was always jaded but now–now, he’s resentful and bitter and angry. You can’t tell because he is good at hiding it. But Uto knows. And I know. Saiki... He’s very loyal to the Daimyo. So much so, that he is repeating the very same extremist ideas that he had once fought against. He thinks the Daimyo should expand his authority, that he should be the one in charge of the shinobi. The reason he was sent here in the first place was because he refused to join the Root organisation. Danzo Shimura–you must know him, right? Yes, that bastard orchestrated events so that Saiki would end up as a guardian and die on a mission. Back then, the stakes were much higher and the guardians were expected to give up their lives for the feudal lord. And Saiki has never been able to let go of it. Shikamaru, I think... I think he’s going to do something drastic. And he’s going to do it soon.”
Shikamaru listened to everything Naruto said with rapt attention. By the end, he felt very conflicted about what was revealed. On one hand, this wasn’t his business. On the other hand, he was one of the guardians and this concerned him, if only peripherally.
But perhaps, most of all, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for Naruto. Just how long had the jinchiruuki kept this to himself and tried to tackle the issue all on his own? He’d almost had his internal organs burnt tonight–and frankly, Shikamaru still wasn’t sure why Naruto had made it out alive after suffering such a wound. He had an inkling that it was the work of the chakra beast inside him but it didn’t change the stakes of the situation.
He thought of Sakura Haruno back home. She’d had her teammate, her best friend, betray her trust, even if all of them had already forgiven Sasuke. There was a reason she hadn’t joined them on the rescue mission. Fighting a friend would always be more difficult than fighting a foe and Naruto had been doing just that. It couldn’t have been easy.
Shikamaru turned towards Naruto, his brows lowering, his lips thinning.
“Naruto,” he said. “You did great.”
Naruto stilled, as if Shikamaru had something preposterous. He recovered soon enough, a short laugh breathing past his lips, “Thanks. That was... nice to hear.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” Shikamaru said. “It’s a good thing we have someone like you keeping an eye on things. I did sense something was wrong but had it not been for you–I don’t think I would have known of this sooner.”
Naruto shrugged, “I have been living here most of my life. I had more time to piece things together.”
Shikamaru nodded slowly. The messy fog that had set in his mind over the last few weeks had cleared entirely. Everything made sense. But he had one more matter to discuss.
“Tell me this. Saiki is not working alone, is he?” Shikamaru asked, pondering over the little things he had noticed. He had always thought that Kazuma was the clear leader amongst the guardians–at least for the six but some things didn’t add up. For six people to band together in a way that went beyond normal friendship, there needed to be a goal. Some common objective. He hadn’t known what that could be before tonight.
“Saiki is the one leading Kazuma, isn’t he? In actuality, he’s the one those six are following, aren’t they?”
At Naruto’s mildly impressed look, Shikamaru went on. “Kazuma and the rest–they were recruited the moment the guardians were reinstated. They stayed for four years while the others left and new members came in. Saiki got to them, didn’t he? They must share his philosophy. But... But then what about Katsura and Tsuna and Chika? What do they know?”
“Katsura knows everything,” Naruto said. Which made sense. Shikanaru had the feeling the woman had been nudging him towards making certain conclusions this entire time.
“And Chika... I was going to ease her into it. She’s got a nasty temper. Her animosity towards Kazuma and Haru in particular is very strong. If she learns of the full extent of what’s going on–I can’t trust her to not blow her fuse and do something that will give up our upperhand.”
Shikamaru hummed. It made sense. “And Tsuna?”
This is where Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his neck, “I- I haven’t told her, either. Katsura wants to but for now, I’ve asked her to hold off on it.”
Curious once more, Shikamaru asked, “Why?”
“Well... ” Naruto looked away and murmured. “She’s a mother. She’s got a three year old son waiting for her in Konoha. As far as I know, she will go home when the year is up. I don’t want to risk getting her all tangled up and something bad happening to her.”
Shikamaru bit his lip, not knowing how to respond. He hadn’t really considered Tsuna’s position in that way before. He hadn’t considered what the consequences could be for her son.
But Naruto had. And why wouldn’t he? His parents were said to have died on the day he was born, on the day Naruto was made jinchiruuki. They sacrificed themselves in their line of work. They were great ninjas but as parents, they never got a chance to be anything but a source of grief for Naruto.
“I see,” Shikamaru said as he looked up, “Is there a way... ”
He trailed off when he noticed the state Naruto was in. The blond was barely holding on, his eyes half-lidded with sleep and exhaustion. They hadn’t been aware, as wrapped up in their conversation as they were, that night was slowly turning to dawn. Naruto needed to rest even more than he did.
“You should sleep up there,” Shikamaru said, jerking his chin towards his bed. “Come on. Let me get you settled in.”
Naruto blinked his eyes sharply, trying to stay awake but even he knew that rest was necessary. With a weak protest, he allowed himself to be supported by Shikamaru as he stood up and plopped onto the bed, the mattress dipping beneath his weight.
“Thanks,” Naruto mumbled again, yawning as he laid down, absent-mindedly tugging on the blanket to cover himself. “Where’re you gonna sleep?”
Shikamaru didn’t bother responding. Naruto had already left the land of the awake. With a sigh, he turned towards the upended floorboard and quickly cleaned the mess up. Once that was over with, he silently left.
There were three other rooms just waiting to be occupied. He picked one at random and dove headfirst into the bed, closing his eyes as all the fatigue hit him full force.
So much had been revealed to him. From broken friendships, to extremist factions, his job as a guardian was embroiled in conflict. But looking back, he had always known what the future would behold even if he had tried to ignore it.
And now, surprisingly, he didn’t want to.
If Naruto could face this head-on, if Uto could face this head-on, if Katsura could face this head-on, what excuse did he have?
Shikamaru slept, his resolve hardening into something concrete.
Notes:
that’s chapter one all done!! keep in mind that shikamaru is slightly misunderstanding certain characters and you will have already realised that even in this chapter but yeah. still, he IS a very sharp person so he picks up on certain things regardless.
for the art, this is the reference for shikamaru. i’m using a laptop-run app for digital art for the *first* time and i am NOT good at drawing from memory or coming up with human poses very well. what i can do is sketch from reference and then add my touches to it. it was very fun trying to get my image of shika’s sword onto the paper even though there still is much left to be desired.
anyway, i’ll ramble more as the other updates come out!! expect at least the second chapter before new year’s. (i would do it sooner but editing this is a BITCH and very time consuming and anyone who saw what happened with the schedule for ‘being know’ will know this :')).
my tumblr, come talk/shout/lurk/judge.
thank you sooooo much for reading!! i welcome any and all feedback!! and wishing every one of you a wonderful day ahead! 🖤
Chapter 2: Perigee
Notes:
and here we have the second chapter!! will talk in the endnotes so read on!! :))
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next day, Shikamaru forced Naruto to stay in bed and recuperate.
“Does Saiki know you were following him?”
Naruto shook his head, allowing Shikamaru to redo his bandages, “I was under a transformation jutsu. And I didn’t use my kyuubi chakra.”
“I really want to see you fight.”
Naruto laughed, “You will. At some point.”
With Naruto taking over his room, Shikamaru spent the day idling about. There was nothing he could do until night fell and he got the chance to meet with the rest. He did see Chika during lunch but everyone else remained elusive.
When the time came, Shikamaru focussed intensely on observing Saiki as well as Kazuma. Neither behaved in a way that was unusual. Saiki made as much of a splash as the inanimate log lying in the background and Kazuma was as obnoxiously bossy and unyielding as he was every other day. If Saiki was indeed influencing Kazuma’s clique, they showed absolutely no indication of it. They existed in separate worlds, even the idea of them associating ringing absurd.
“You seem different today, Shikamaru-kun,” Katsura said, trying to sneak up on him from behind but he had felt her approach seconds ago.
“Do I?” Shikamaru shifted his focus to her. “How so?”
Katsura smiled knowingly, “You look interested. The zombie-eyed countenance? It’s gone.”
Shikamaru snorted, “Didn’t think you were watching me so closely.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Katsura said, unimpressed. Then, she added, trying to sound casual, “Tell me. Have you seen Naruto around lately?”
“And if I have?” Shikamaru asked, half his attention straying back to his observations of Kazuma, who was lecturing the rest about the importance of weight-training.
“Stop talking in circles,” Katsura said. “Where is he?”
“In my bed,” Shikamaru said, purposefully vague.
“Don’t be crude,” Katsura replied, lips pursing. Normally, she would be up for a good joke but it seemed that today, she was too lost in concern to entertain any distractions. “Just tell me, Shikamaru.”
“I already told you. He’s in my bed,” Shikamaru paused, his tone changing into something more reassuring. “He’s recovering.”
“Recovering?” Katsura asked with a hint of worry in her voice. “Was he... Was he hurt again?”
This time, Shikamaru faced her properly, momentarily forgetting about Kazuma’s pointless tirade.
“Does this happen often? Him getting injured and patching himself up?”
He looked around, knowing they couldn’t talk too much without someone or the other eavesdropping.
“Sometimes,” Katsura whispered, casually walking to a nearby tree and beckoning him to come join her. Shikamaru followed her lead, still on-edge about someone listening in.
“Relax,” Katsura said once he sat beside her, pointing to a marked piece of paper stuck to the bark. “There is a privacy seal working around this little corner. Naruto put it up and only he and I can activate it. It’s pretty handy. So, he told you everything yesterday then?”
Shikamaru stared at the seal for an instance, awed, before rejoining the conversation, “Yeah. Everything’s fucked up, isn’t it?”
Katsura rolled her eyes, “Didn’t I tell you? Pit of vipers.”
“I get it,” Shikamaru said. “But can’t we help somehow?”
“Speak for yourself,” Katsura said, affronted. “I’m already helping Naruto. Uto isn’t the only one providing him with intel, you know?”
“You’re spying, too?”
Katsura shook her head, “Gods no. I could never. I have summons for that. They do the job. Shikamaru, everything we do depends on the information we have. The Daimyo is as oblivious as they come. He would never even notice the plots brewing under his nose and he wouldn’t care. Because these guys? They don’t–” she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes on Saiki who was looking right at them.
She turned around and pretended to sneeze. Rubbing her nose, she asked him, “Got a handkerchief?”
Shikamaru did. He handed it to her, wildly confused, “What the hell is this?”
“An act,” she said as if she was engaging him in a very interesting discussion. Randomly, she pointed at a flower growing in the grass, and continued, “Saiki is very very sharp. And he is watching us, too. Now that he knows he was tailed yesterday, he will suspect all of us. I can’t come to your room to see Naruto. Not for a while. It isn’t unusual for Naruto to shamelessly walk into our quarters but it is unusual for me to go to someone else’s room. Now quick, act like I just told you some interesting fact about the flower.”
Nonsensically, Shikamaru said, “That’s flame azalea. I never noticed them before.”
Katsura’s eye twitched, “That’s not the point, Shikamaru-kun.”
“Sorry,” Shikamaru said, trying not be too conscious about Saiki as he played his part. “You were saying?”
“Hm,” Katsura said, smiling out of the blue. Her erratic manner of adapting was an oddly admirable skill. Saiki would be so thrown off. “As I said–the Daimyo won’t care. Because Saiki’s nefarious plans are in his favour. He is a threat to the Hokage but not to the Daimyo. Everything he has done so far, as far as we understand it, has been to sneakily increase the amount of men loyal solely to the feudal lord. You know of Matsu Village, right?”
Shikamaru nodded exaggeratedly, as if enraptured by Katsura’s description of the local flora. “The Daimyo’s storehouse, in a nutshell.”
“Exactly,” Katsura said. “Saiki has been messing with the resources there. Gold, weapons, food grains, you name it. He redistributes it strategically to those settlements that might be dissatisfied with the Hokage’s administration so they can be swayed towards Saiki’s ideology. He recruits men willing to fight and gives them katanas and kunai and senbon. He has amassed his own small army, Shikamaru-kun. And he needs to be stopped. We are lucky that Naruto caught onto him so quick. Saiki has truly only just begun. If we can put an end to it before it escalates... ”
Shikamaru let out a sigh. Why did Saiki have to be so troublesome? He had some sympathy for the guy, given his history, but going to such lengths over it?
“What is the game plan?” he asked, letting Katsura know he was serious about being a part of it.
Katsura smiled and this time, it was genuine.
“There is none,” she said. “Not yet. But we will decide on one after Naruto has recuperated. For the next week, go on about your day as usual. We can talk via my summons.”
Shikamaru raised a brow, “And who are your summons?”
Her smile became sharp-edged, “Why, they’re rats of course.”
Shikamaru’s response was a thousand-yard stare, aimed at the sky.
Three days later, Shikamaru returned after lunch, a box of sushi in hand for Naruto to munch on. The moment he opened his door, Naruto–now dressed in another crimson shirt that he had sent Shikamaru to fetch–ran straight past him, so speedy that it produced a wind, a restless energy in his movements.
“I can’t stay cooped up here any longer!” he hissed as he dashed away, Shikamaru still standing stunned in the doorway.
It took a moment for things to register and then he sprinted after Naruto, yelling at him to stop, paranoid about Saiki. But Naruto didn’t seem to care, weaving in and out of corridors, going up and down the staircases, not making it easy for Shikamaru to keep up with him. Once or twice, he considered giving up but Naruto would slow down in those moments, his intentions clear.
Follow me.
Ten minutes later, after having traversed parts of the mansion Shikamaru didn’t even know existed, Naruto came to a halt before a ragged-looking door. He turned around and grinned, not quarter as winded as Shikamaru felt.
“Remember how I told you I wanted to show you something?” Naruto said and inclined his head towards the door. “Well. This is it.”
Twisting the doorknob, he let the door creak open and side-stepped to let Shikamaru inside.
Behind the door was a small room, no bigger than Shikamaru’s own. The difference was in everything the room held. There was no bed inside. On three sides, the walls held, painted a soothing pastel blue. And in place of the fourth wall was a huge, spanning glass window. Sunlight filtered through in warm, white-yellow streaks, illuminating the dust motes and providing nourishment for the homegrown garden inside.
“How’d you like it?” Naruto asked with a smile, proudly displaying the results of his secret toil.
The garden was breathtaking. Flowers of various, eye-catching colours dotted the wide patch of soil. Creepers grew out of their confines and coiled around the window panes and shelf surfaces. There was something harmonious about the greenery here, as if every living thing simply wanted to thrive. The smells of herbs and the perfume of flowers and the petrichor of the wet soil–it all blended into an alluring scent and Shikamaru couldn’t get enough of it.
“It’s great,” he said, breathing in, feeling touched. This place was important to Naruto. He could tell. And he was invited to have a glimpse of it. It was impossible not to feel a little pleased about it.
“I know,” Naruto smiled and Shikamaru couldn’t help but return the smile, his lopsided and a bit awkward.
“I have something for you,” Naruto said, shifting on his feet, almost shy as he looked at Shikamaru.
“Oh, um,” he replied, adding idiotically. “Like a gift?”
”Yes,” Naruto chuckled and retrieved a worn, hard-backed book from the shelf. He rifled through the sheets inside, a self-satisfied grin on his face when he found the correct page. Then, he turned the book towards Shikamaru and showed him the entry.
Right there, on the dried, yellowed paper was attached a dried up flower. He recognised it immediately. This time, his smile was tinged with a foreign kind of sweetness, “Flame azalea.”
Naruto nodded, “I heard from Katsura’s, er, messenger rat. She was so pissed that you knew the flower. It’s my favourite, you know? It was the first plant that I grew here.”
Shikamaru accepted the book, holding it with a reverent sort of fascination. The page beside the flower was filled with a detailed description of it, along with its medicinal and practical uses. He leafed through the tome with spider-light touches, taking in all the different kinds of flowers, captured in various stages of blooming, dulled with time and death.
“This is... ” he said, finding himself at a loss for words. Warmth had found its place inside of him, put there by Naruto and his kindnesses.
He had never felt so moved by a person before.
It was a little frightening and completely thrilling all at once.
“Thanks,” he managed, closing the book and holding it close. “This is very helpful. I’ve always had an interest in herbs and plants and the like. My Clan–we make our own medicines and poultices sometimes. I always enjoy knowing about the flora I see around.”
Naruto nodded, as if he already had some idea about it, and walked towards the wide windows, looking out onto the horizon.
“Shikamaru,” he said. “Have you ever wondered where your home is?”
Shikamaru joined his side, feeling at ease in their environment, in Naruto’s company. This heady feeling was like no other. “Not really?”
“Of course not,” Naruto replied, looking down and shaking his head. “Your home is back in Konoha. With your family.”
Shikamaru didn’t feel like adding to the obvious. So he countered, “What about you?”
“I have,” Naruto said and they both knew why. “And sometimes, when I’m in here, watching the sun set or rise, watering the plants and hearing them breathe around me, take life around me–I think this is it. This is my home.”
Shikamaru smiled, “You’ve got one hell of an amazing home.”
Naruto didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes widening slightly, some emotion in them that couldn’t be explained through words.
“Thanks,” Naruto said after, turning towards him. “For the other night.”
Before Shikamaru could respond, Naruto’s expression melted into something soft and different, and he closed the distance between them, wrapping Shikamaru into a tight embrace.
“You’re a good guy, Shika,” he whispered into his ear, squeezing him. Shikamaru stood frozen, overcome with emotions he didn’t properly understand. Still, he knew the hug felt nice and he returned it before Naruto could pull away.
It was a comforting sensation, like being wrapped in a hot blanket in the peak of winter.
For a moment, they held each other, and the next, Naruto pulled away and smiled unabashedly at him. If Shikamaru thought he would be a bit embarrassed, Naruto was anything but.
“Okay,” Naruto said with a clap, sounding faintly amused when Shikamaru turned away, his ears reddening. “Now, onto important matters! How has Saiki been acting–”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Shikamaru said. “Katsura’s rats must have already told you about his meeting with some guy two nights ago, yes? It was probably the person who attacked you.”
Naruto groaned, “I’m so sick of him and his bullshit.”
Shikamaru patted his back, half-mocking, half-sympathetic, “Hang in there.”
“Hm,” Naruto lowered himself onto the floor, tugging Shikamaru along with him. “I’m going to tell Chika tomorrow. It’s decided.”
“About that,” Shikamaru said, his tone turning serious. “You won’t like this, but I think you should tell Tsuna.”
Naruto frowned at him, lips pinching together, “I don’t want to.”
“I know.”
“Is it necessary?”
“No,” Shikamaru said, trying to frame his thoughts into a coherent statement but failing. “But- she deserves to know. Doesn’t she?”
Naruto didn’t look too happy about it but he acquiesced, “She does. It should be her decision to make, I know that. But it’s not easy. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
“I know,” Shikamaru repeated. He wasn’t going to wheedle Naruto any further. The blond clearly knew what was the right thing do but pushing him towards it–trying to talk past his reasons for withholding information from Tsuna wasn’t something he wanted to do. He’d never stood in either of their shoes. He could only provide the detached, objective side, and the rest Naruto could decide on his own.
“Hey, Naruto,” Shikamaru said, seguing into another topic. “How much chakra do you really have?”
Naruto came out of thinking stupor and smirked cheekily, “You really want to know?”
Shikamaru urged him on and Naruto, after telling him to wait a second, twisted himself into a meditative pose, closing his eyes, his hands pressed together into a handseal.
In between two breaths, Naruto’s chakra was released–no, it exploded, a mix of fiery red with an undercurrent of electrifying blue. The hair on his arms stood on end, the foreign, swirling chakra filling up the room and tingling over his skin. If Shikamaru tried hard enough, he could almost see the form it took, like nine appendages snaking out of Naruto’s form, shielding him, protecting him.
“Wow,” he let out, reeling from the experience. It wasn’t suffocating, but it was overwhelming. Like instead of being choked down by the usual killing intent of a shinobi, there was suddenly too much air to breathe, leaving no room for him to take up space any longer.
Naruto opened one eye, seeing his reaction with a grin, “Shocked?”
“Very,” Shikamaru said, and slowly, his lips tugged into a smile. “This is perfect.”
Naruto got out of the lotus-pose and looked at him expectantly, “What is?”
“Your chakra capacity,” Shikamaru said, various ideas and plans materialising inside his head. “Do you know of the shadow clone jutsu?”
Naruto cocked his head to the side, “No. What is that? Like the clone jutsu but made of shadows? Is it a Nara technique?”
“I wish,” Shikamaru said, shaking his head. “No. The jutsu allows the user to form a clone that isn’t an illusion but the real thing. The clone can share its memories and sensations with the caster upon destruction. It usually takes one solid hit to get rid of the clone. But here’s the thing: most ninja can only manage to conjure one or two of them and only for a short period of time. They simply eat too much chakra. But it should be no problem for you. Hell, I reckon you can summon at least a hundred clones easily and not run out of energy. Would you mind learning this jutsu?”
As he spoke, Naruto listened with more and more interest and at the end, he replied, his voice incredulous, “Would I mind? Shikamaru, this jutsu sounds amazing! I need to learn it! Come on, show me! How’s it done?”
Shikamaru couldn’t help but grin at the enthusiasm, standing up and stretching his limbs.
“Okay,” he said. “Listen closely. First, you need to... ”
Shikamaru awoke later that night to Naruto looming above him, poking him up.
“Shika! Quick! Hit me!” he said, smiling widely as if he wasn’t acting like an absolute maniac.
Shikamaru yawned his lungs out and leaned up on his elbows. He hooked a finger towards Naruto, “Come closer.”
Naruto politely obliged.
Mustering all his sleep-drowned energy, he swung a mighty kick at Naruto.
It landed. Naruto puffed away.
Smiling, Shikamaru went back to sleep.
Upon Naruto’s return to their nightly meetings, he first bounded towards Uto with a yell of, “Uto! My guy! Look at your face. Why do you look so miserable?”
Shikamaru watched him, a little impressed. He had almost forgotten how forward and outgoing Naruto could be. Not just with him, but with everyone.
For the next thirty minutes, Naruto chattered with Uto and the man was far more amicable and willing to respond than he was with anyone else. Saiki was summarily ignored, which was how things always were. Shikamaru was a little tense about Naruto’s absence these last few days giving him away but no one seemed to bat an eye about it. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for Naruto to go missing every now and then. He wasn’t obligated to spend his time here, after all.
A while later, Shikamaru, Naruto and Katsura sat under the privacy-sealed tree but not to discuss anything important.
“–see, but, I didn’t mean to prank Katsura a second time. I really didn’t. It just happened.”
Katsura wasn’t having any of it, “How does one go about pranking someone on accident, huh? Shikamaru-kun, don’t be swayed. He will prank you again.”
“I still haven’t taken my revenge for the first one,” Shikamaru said.
“Revenge?” Naruto said, acting scandalised. “What an impure thought, Shika. You must never pursue it. It is a dark, dank tunnel and you will get lost–”
“Stop your bullshit,” Shikamaru said dryly even as Katsura hid her laugh behind a hand.
“Now, why would you talk about bovine excretion at a time like this?” Naruto said, tutting disapprovingly.
Shikamaru snorted. He couldn’t help himself. Naruto was funny. “There’s just no stopping you, is there?”
“You already understand him quite well,” Katsura remarked, amused. “Frankly, when I first met him, I thought Naruto was a pranking, no-good layabout.”
Naruto nudged her with a shoulder, “What do you mean? I am a pranking, no-good layabout.”
“Hardly,” Shikamaru said. “If you are a laybout, I don’t know what that would make us Naras.”
“Standabouts,” Naruto joked and immediately cringed. “Fuck, that was a bad one, wasn’t it?”
“Never open your mouth ever again,” Katsura instructed and Naruto mimed zipping his mouth and handing Shikamaru the key.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “If he holds out for more than a minute, I will be surprised–”
Naruto motioned urgently towards his hands and snatched air from his hold before unlocking his make-believe lock. He exhaled deeply, “Fuck. That was hard. Containing all those words within myself, unable to talk–it really was so harrowing.”
Katsura shook her head, “It was fifteen seconds, Naruto. You are such a character.”
“Thanks, Katsura-chan!” Naruto said sweetly.
In that moment, Shikamaru was struck with a realisation.
The epiphany was simple: had Naruto never been forced to live under the Daimyo’s care, for his own safety, then he would have fit right in amongst his peers in Konoha. Shikamaru could clearly picture it, Naruto surrounded by his team–surrounded by the rookie nine and Lee and Neji and Tenten. He would sit amongst them, loud and laughing, endearing himself to everyone he met. Maybe Hinata would feel comfortable around him too. She was so much like Uto, after all. Maybe Naruto could bring her out of her shell.
It was heartwrenching how possible it all was.
How familiar this other world could feel, one where Shikamaru could have known Naruto as children, where Naruto could have called Konoha his home.
“Shikamaru?” Naruto asked, waving a hand in front of his face. “You here, buddy? Have we lost you to the realm of daydreams?”
Shikamaru blinked back to reality, feeling an inexplicable connection to Naruto that he could not fathom. Why did this guy affect him so much? Did it even matter? His overthinking mind insisted it did but the easy atmosphere that always shrouded him when Naruto was around encouraged him to roll with things as they came.
“I was just thinking,” Shikamaru said.
“When are you not?” Naruto muttered and retreated his hand.
Shikamaru hummed. The blue sky stretched before them, visible through the canopy, and he let himself enjoy the view. For once, his head was clear, devoid of thoughts about his new job or Saiki’s plots or even his confusing feelings about Naruto.
“The clouds,” he said, following the lazy trajectory of one. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
“They are,” Naruto said and he sounded earnest.
Katsura looked between them both and laid down onto the prickly grass, utterly exasperated.
After dinner, Naruto ended up accosting both Chika and Tsuna, sneaking them into Shikamaru’s room. Katsura stood outside begrudgingly, guarding the room, while Shikamaru sat in the corner, pretending he wasn’t blatantly listening to the ensuing conversation.
The explanation Naruto gave was more streamlined this time around–no meandering to tangential topics or idle chatter. It helped that both Tsuna and Chika had been in the guardian crew longer than Shikamaru and were already familiar with certain team dynamics that weren’t all they seemed to be.
“You don’t have to get involved,” Naruto said at the end, eyeing Tsuna with evident concern. “Your term gets over this year. This might not be worth it for you.”
“Don’t be silly,” Tsuna said. She hadn’t spoken a word this entire time, her thoughts hidden behind an unmoving exterior. “I am already involved. All of us are. There is no sitting out for this one.”
Naruto thought it over for a moment, but then he sighed, seemingly at peace with Tsuna’s choice. He then turned towards Chika, his lips twisting into a teasing smile, “And what’s bothering you, Chika-sama?”
Chika pursed her lips and looked right at Shikamaru who was still huddling at the side, “Him. He’s bothering me. Why did he know about this before we did? He’s a rookie.”
“He is also a full-fledged jounin,” Naruto said reasonably. “He’s very helpful, Chika-sama.”
“Stop with that honorific,” Chika said, shuddering. “It’s creepy.”
Naruto laughed, “Okay, Chika-chan. Your wish is my command.”
“Don’t distract me,” Chika replied, her slittled gaze still pressing down on Shikamaru. “I don’t trust him.”
“Too bad,” Naruto said. “I do.”
“Hey,” Shikamaru said, raising a hand. “Shouldn’t I get a say in this?”
Chika gave him an ugly look, “Stay where you are. Your wishy-washy actions have no place here.”
“Come now, Chika,” Tsuna said, as if trying to placate a tantrum-throwing child. “Shikamaru-san isn’t so bad. He’s competent. Did you not see his match against Haru?”
Chika scoffed. “There you go again. One win and all of you are fawning over him. How can you team up with him, Naruto? He doesn’t take any of this seriously.”
Naruto frowned in Chika’s direction, irked, but before he could respond, Shikamaru chimed in once more.
“What do you mean?” he asked, bothered by her comment.
“Don’t be dense,” Chika said and crossed her arms as if trying to ward off the air between them. “We all know how you see this job. It’s just a means to an end for you. Good food, good money and a good place to stay. You are here to take it easy, aren’t you?”
Everything she said was... true. Or it had been when Shikamaru had first arrived here. This year was supposed to be a period of rest. He was supposed to coast through this job, making minimal waves and keeping out of the radius of any incoming trouble.
And yet... He couldn’t help but feel pricked by her words. Irritated at how well she had seen through him.
“Chika,” Naruto said, all humor gone from his voice as he stared her warningly.
Shikamaru lightly shook his head, knowing that if stopped, Chika would only bring up her grievances back up later. She’d never been friendly to him and he had wondered about her reasons. At least now, with things airing between them, he knew why he was disliked.
“I may have been that way,” Shikamaru said, unfolding from his cramped position and looking Chika in the eye. Even while sitting, he had to look up at her. “And frankly, I still am. This job means little to me beyond my obligations to it. But,” he said pointedly, forcing Chika to listen and not continue with her presumptions about his character.
“But that didn’t mean and that never meant that I didn’t care about what happened to the rest of you. Or what happened to the Daimyo. If you want to continue thinking the worst of me, that’s fine. Be my guest. Though, don’t try to remove me from this fight. Because I’m not budging.”
For a moment, no one spoke a word, everyone, including Shikamaru, a little surprised by the vehemence in his tone. He was still a Nara at heart. Preferring to keep out of the spotlight and the attention, and yet he had just done the opposite of that.
Then, the spell broke, and Naruto grinned as if he had just won the lottery, scooting over to pat Shikamaru’s back roughly, “That’s the spirit! You hear that, Chika-chan? There’s no stopping Shika. Don’t even try, alright? Answer me. Alright?”
Chika slowly moved her assessing gaze away from Shikamaru, conflict painted across her tight expression. It culminated in a single, dismissive word, “Whatever.”
Tsuna breathed a small, light laugh, “You almost rendered Chika speechless. Well done, Shikamaru-san.”
Embarassed, now that the high while giving his little monologue had run out, Shikamaru scratched his cheek and muttered, “And also probably made a lifelong enemy.”
Chika scoffed, “I’m a skeptic, not a child. I won’t antagonise you unnecessarily.”
Shikamaru appreciated that, “Why are you so intense about the guardians, anyway?”
Naruto flinched slightly beside him and it was another moment where Shikamaru realised his foot had been nicely placed into his mouth and he had been none-the-wiser about it.
Chika didn’t seem too bothered, though, casually glancing his way and saying, “Do you know who my father was?”
Was. That was the first thing Shikamaru noted. Already, he had inadvertently reminded her of dead family. He shook his head, “I don’t think so.”
“Subaru Yamamoto. The name ring a bell?”
Shikamaru wracked his brain and it didn’t take long for him to place the name. Screwing his eyes shut, he said quietly, “He was one of the nine shinobi that staged the revolt against the Daimyo. He was killed by... ”
“Not your sensei,” Chika said, accurately predicting where his mind would have wandered. “Saiki killed him.”
“But you never held that against him,” Naruto said softly, looking at Chika like he keenly understood her.
Chika huffed a bitter laugh, “No. I didn’t. What a bad judge of character I was.”
“We all were,” Tsuna said, placing a hand on Chika’s shoulder. “It’s not our fault we were deceived.”
“But were we deceived?” Chika questioned. “He never promised us loyalty.”
“But he should know better than to repeat the mistakes of the past,” Naruto said, serious, and Shikamaru was reminded of how highly the blond had once regarded Saiki.
Silence engulfed them for a few moments. Each of them had alot of thinking to do. But their contemplative peace was soon interrupted when the door was neatly kicked open, Katsura standing in the doorway with one tiny dark-grey rat in her hand, proclaiming, “It’s the Daimyo. He’s gonna call for all of us.”
Her eyes darted everywhere before settling on Shikamaru. “Rookie. How do you feel?”
“... Normal?” Shikamaru said, quizzically looking at Naruto who looked preemptively amused. “Why? Should I be worried?”
“Oh no,” Tsuna said. “There’s nothing to worry about, Shikamaru-san.”
Tsuna Ishiwaka, mother of a three year old, a water-ninjutsu expert jounin and a generally righteous person had lied to Shikamaru.
There was indeed loads to worry about when it came to the Daimyo.
“Ah, that was quite the trick, young man!” the Daimyo, dressed in finely made red robes, accented with gold across the borders, commented after Shikamaru had performed his Clan’s signature justu. “You ninjas never fail to surprise me.”
Shikamaru smiled as hollowly as he could, finding Naruto’s eyes from across the room, narrowing them to convey his betrayal. He could tell, even from a distance, how much the other boy was enjoying this farce.
“Yes, that trick is one my Clan has honed for a century and more,” Shikamaru said, saccharine sweet, more polite that he’d ever been in his life. His mother would be proud.
“Show me more,” the Daimyo ordered, waving a hand at one of his attendants who had slowed his fanning of the lord.
Shikamaru smiled, “My shadows can wrangle people to death. Do you want to see it, my lord?”
As he had hoped, Saiki shifted in his position, clearly bothered by what he had said but trying to hide it. The thing was, had Shikamaru not already known of his stance, he would have never guessed why Saiki had been affected.
“Don’t be insolent, boy,” the Daimyo’s other attendant said with a sneer. “How dare you say such a thing?”
The Daimyo laughed, as if highly entertained, “Come now, don’t be so short with him. He’s just stating a fact. Why, I have heard the Naras can be quite the killers, can’t they? A shame they don’t apply themselves more.”
Shikamaru took in a deep breath and responded, “My father, Shikaku Nara, is the jounin commander, my lord. He commands the highest ranked soldiers of this land.”
“Hm,” the Daimyo said, a patronizing smile on his face. The man was more shrewd that he had first realised. If his Clan pride had not been hurt, Shikamaru would have immediately backed out, making himself as unremarkable as possible. “What an anomaly, your father. Tell me, Shikamaru, are you one?”
Shikamaru stayed silent. He was soon spared the agony of playing dancing monkey after his corporeal shadow sword created a small crater in the floor that sent the Daimyo howling with laughter.
“Are you done yet, old man?” Naruto grumbled, stepping out from behind the Daimyo’s sprawling, ornate seat. He didn’t stand with the guardians for this assembly. No, he was amongst the feudal lord’s entourage. Shikamaru found himself surprised at how familiarly Naruto addressed the man.
“I am just having a bit of fun, Naruto-kun,” the Daimyo said good naturedly, as if trying to publicly embarrass Shikamaru was instead just a friendly game of catch-the-cook.
“I’m not buying that,” Naruto replied, looking at the Daimyo with obvious displeasure.
“He’s Asuma’s student, is he not?” the Daimyo asked. “I must know if his teaching was any good.”
“Let him go, old man,” Naruto insisted, low enough that no one but Shikamaru and the attendants could hear him. “If you want fun, go call the courtesans waiting on stand-by outside.”
The Daimyo laughed again and waved Shikamaru away who sent Naruto a grateful look before being teasingly welcomed back into the ranks by Katsura. She would never let him live this down.
Afterwards, the Daimyo gave them some generic instructions and one of his men handed them a sheet with next month’s rotation schedule. Soon, they were dismissed but it didn’t go unnoticed by any of them how Saiki stayed behind, the Daimyo starting a conversation with him as if they were old friends. It was the only time Uto did not accompany Saiki. This was a common occurence but only now, knowing how the Daimyo’s favour was making Saiki act, did they see this interaction in a troubling light.
Once they were outside, they walked towards the training grounds. Naruto had somehow fallen in step beside him, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
Shikamaru pocketed his hands, “I am. The Daimyo–he did this on purpose, didn’t he? Ragging on me like that?”
“Yes,” Naruto said, sighing. “He always does that to new recruits. He believes that if he is at his worst with them, the disloyal guardians will soon do something to betray him and he can catch them early on. It’s for vetting.”
Shikamaru could realise the logic in that, which made him even more irritated than he’d previously been. “What is your relationship with the feudal lord anyway? If you two are close, can’t you talk to him about Saiki?”
“He’s a very distant... uncle,” Naruto said with a dry laugh. “And I can talk to him but like I told you before. He won’t care. The Daimyo is not a bad person, per se, but he is willing to avert his gaze if it benefits him and harms someone else. He has always been that way. He won’t do anything about Saiki, especially because he is truly fond of him.”
Shikamaru chewed on this information, finding a troublesome train of thought. “I wonder how the Daimyo will react if we do take out Saiki and the other six somehow.”
“He won’t be happy,” Naruto said meaningfully. “Which is why... I think each of you guardians on our side should start coordinating with the Hokage over this. I haven’t spoken to her before but–”
“Is that why you asked me if I was loyal to her, that first day?” Shikamaru cut in, a burdened sort of amusement filtering within. One wrong move in those earlier, simpler days and he would have alienated Naruto and the others for good. “You were vetting me?”
“Maybe?” Naruto laughed nervously. “But that’s in the past! As I was saying, you will write to her, won’t you? We will need her support in aftermath. If we win.”
“When we win,” Shikamaru corrected firmly.
Naruto grinned, “Aren’t you a confident one?”
“You have me on your side,” Shikamaru said, so monotonously that no one could accuse him of being cocky. “Of course you won’t be anything but victorious.”
“I like that attitude, rookie,” Katsura spoke in his ear, startling him, laughing when she saw his reaction. Then, she looked past him, at Naruto, and said, “Naruto. Uto is looking for you. Said something about the market?”
Naruto clicked his tongue, cursing under his breath, “Shit. I totally forgot. Shika!” he grabbed Shikamaru’s arm and dragged him along. “I’m taking him with me, Katsura! Cover for us if anything happens!”
He turned towards Shikamaru, grinning sunnily, not the tiniest apology in his expression, “You have been abducted, Shikamaru Nara! Any thoughts?”
“Stop dragging me, you lunatic,” Shikamaru said dryly, his arm still held in an iron grip by Naruto.
Naruto let go with a laugh and they continued their walk towards the main gate like civilized people, “This is a rare time when Uto leaves Saiki’s side. When that happens, we always go to the market together.”
“But what has that got anything to do with me?”
“Have you seen the market yet?”
Shikamaru shook his head and Naruto took the chance to grab him once more, this time around the neck and pull him faster towards Uto, one hand pointing in his direction as if he was the captain of a ship having found a much needed lighthouse.
“Exactly! I’m just being a good friend and showing you around! Now, quit being mopey about it. Where’s your adventurous spirit gone?”
“It is currently being choked to death by your arm,” Shikamaru said stuffily, giving Naruto a dirty look.
“Hello Naruto,” Uto said with a smile upon seeing them. His eyes dragged over to Shikamaru’s form, being handled like an unruly kitten and he huffed a small laugh. “I see you have brought the new guy along.”
Naruto finally let up, still grinning, and nodded exaggeratedly, “The new guy needs his hand held a bit. Otherwise, he will remain in this mansion forever, not seeing a peep of the outside world.”
“That is a very incorrect reading of me,” Shikamaru said, slightly affronted, because he knew it was a little true.
“Lying is a sin,” Naruto said sagely.
Uto laughed again, shaking his head fondly. “Let’s get going, shall we? We haven’t much time.”
And so they traversed past the small hill over which the Daimyo’s residence was built, across the flat plains dotted with evergreen trees and into the open area hosting the town’s marketplace, built almost entirely for the Daimyo’s use at first. Now, the settlement had grown, the families of officials building their own houses around the feudal lord and the market had flourished with them.
It was a lively, bustling place, filled to the brim with the susurrus of people and the yells of hawkers selling their fare.
“Cantaloupe?” Uto said, looking at Naruto, puzzled. “I don’t think it is sold here.”
Naruto glanced around regretfully, “I saw it in one of the catalogues a visitor brought along. I don’t think we get them here.”
“How about watermelon?” Uto asked. “It could be refreshing in this weather.”
The weather wasn’t especially hot but just a little warm. Still, to Shikamaru, watermelon sounded great.
“Alright,” Naruto said, taking them deeper into the market.
As Shikamaru had found, the two weren’t here to shop extensively but just to find a reason to talk about their shared interests, which were many. Fruits, vegetables, earthen pottery, utensils, sandals–almost everything sold in the markets. They debated the prices of items, fought over which piece of craftsmanship was better between two samples, halted at certain stores to talk to the owners. Shikamaru, for the most part, hung around them, content to observe rather than participate. He had the chance to explore the market at a good enough pace himself, which was appreciated.
Around a bend, Naruto came to an abrupt pause. He beckoned Uto and Shikamaru closer, an excited smile on his face. It was a small stall of handmade jewellery, the old grandma squinting at them from behind the counter.
“We should buy something,” Naruto said and to his surprise, he was looking at Shikamaru, not Uto.
Shikamaru stared at the assortment of accessories, “We should?”
“Of course!” Naruto bounded to him, two fingers pinching the bottom of his ear. His fingers were cold and instantly affecting. Shikamaru batted his hand away, just as Naruto spoke, “You have piercings but you don’t wear any earrings. So. I figured I could get you something. My gift.”
Shikamaru gazed at Naruto for a moment, his heart jittery inside his chest. Everything Naruto did, he did wholeheartedly. This gesture, this gift was also something he was sincere about. Shikamaru could see it on his face. Something swelled within him, slowly wrapping him up in itself.
Thereon, he was hypersensitive to everything Naruto did.
Be it their brushing arms or Naruto’s ringing laughter or the way he shuffled on his feet whenever they had to stay in one place–it all registered with Shikamaru instantly, making him aware. More than aware.
He knew what this was. Shikamaru had seen it take a hold of many friends, had seen it entwine itself around two people like a golden net. It was difficult not to know when every response of his mind and body was different–so different–around this one person.
He liked Naruto. More than a friend should.
That realisation was a gentle one. It didn’t hit like a truck. Instead, it lulled him into his feelings with a prying nudge.
“Why are you thinking so much?” Naruto asked, elbowing him. “Just say yes!”
Shikamaru didn’t trust himself to speak but he wanted to. By gods, he never wanted to stop speaking with Naruto.
“Sure,” he said, gulping a little. “What will you get me?”
Naruto smiled mysteriously at him and then pointed at a pair of clean black studs. “Those. Do you like them?”
They were exactly what Shikamaru himself would have bought. He smiled, “Yeah. They’re perfect.”
Naruto hooted with joy, speaking in low tones with the grandma to wrap the earrings up, bothering Uto until he chose a pair of matching beaded bracelets for them to share.
And there Shikamaru stood, watching, basking in the glow of an epiphany that didn’t cause him distress but just a different kind of contentment–one that he would have to attain for himself. It did cross his mind that Naruto might not reciprocate, that he might just want a friendship with him. But it didn’t matter. Some feelings, even when unrealised, were liberating to behold. Just knowing of them was enough. Just being aware of them was enough.
“He’s such a riot, isn’t he?” Uto asked him, having retreated as Naruto did the payments. His eyes were warm and fond, looking over protectively at Naruto. It made Shikamaru happy that someone like Uto was so firmly on Naruto’s side.
Shikamaru smiled, “The best riot there ever was.”
Shikamaru sat restlessly at his desk, only an hour past dinner. The reason for his current uneasiness was twofold: one, Naruto was out spying again. Not Saiki but Kazuma and his crew, who had ducked out of their nightly meetings citing some flimsy excuse. It was a comfort that Saiki, at the very least, wouldn’t send his shadow-fighter bearing Jigoku after Naruto this time around but only the heavens knew what would happen if Kazuma discovered Naruto.
Which was unlikely, given that Naruto had had extensive experience with stealth work and had been doing it for years before Shikamaru ever came here.
But still, the concern was hard to soothe with rationality. Especially because, as he had learned, Naruto’s tailing of Saiki, to an extent, had been unnecessary. Uto was always around to pass on the information, even admitting to using his sword as an excuse to remain close to Saiki, partially for intel, so the only reason Naruto would follow them was because of his worry over Uto.
They were both a very ridiculous pair.
The second reason was the anticipation of a missive from the Hokage. A week ago, after returning from the market, Shikamaru had penned a letter for Tsunade-sama along with Katsura and Tsuna–Chika mostly sulked in the background and griped about his awful handwriting–and every night since, he would wait in his room for a reply, awaiting a hawk to come knocking at his window. Every night that no response arrived, he felt more and more keyed up.
Something pulled at his pant leg and he glanced down. It was Katsura’s messenger rat. Once acknowledged, the tiny rodent scaled his desk, almost haughtily, looking into his eyes and squeaked a string of words that he understood perfectly. Somehow. Chakra was a weird tool sometimes.
Go to sleep, Shikamaru-kun.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and fed the little guy some leftover food before sending him on his way with a wave of his hand. Those small buggers were infinitely intelligent, trained to sharpness by Katsura. He never imagined that one day, he would come to rely on the spy network built on a bunch of rats but life was nothing if not full of surprises.
Speaking of surprises... another animal popped into his room, this one much larger and much more colourful than a rat.
For a moment, Shikamaru simply stared at the bento-sized toad sitting on his desk, right in front of him, as if he belonged there.
“What the fuck.”
“Language,” the speaking-toad croaked. “Youngsters these days. No regard for polite speech.”
Shikamaru rubbed his temples, knowing exactly who had sent him this toad. Jiraiya of the Sannin. The man who had taught him how to manifest his shadows into a solid form. Well, taught was a hefty word. He’d moreso nudged Shikamaru in the right direction, while chewing on grassroots as he observed from the sidelines. The Sannin’s method of teaching was basically: throw the student off the deep end and let them suffer into better versions of themselves.
Shikamaru couldn’t say it was ineffective, though.
“Um, sorry,” he managed once he was over his momentary shock. “You are... ?”
“Gisaki,” the toad said and he got the acute feeling of being looked down upon. Gisaki-san didn’t even bother asking for his name in return.
“Nice to meet you, Gisaki-san,” Shikamaru said, remembering what a pain these toads were to deal with. Had he possessed the chakra capacity of say, Naruto, he would have ended up signing their contract. Thankfully, he was saved from that fate. Having an average pool of chakra had its benefits after all. “Do you have any correspondence for me?”
“Of course I do,” Gisaki said. “You think I came here to see your face, boy? What an arrogant little fellow.”
“I literally never said that,” Shikamaru replied with a sigh, knowing his protest would fall on deaf ears.
“I don’t know what Jiraiya saw in you,” Gisaki said, twisting the verbal knife in deeper. Toads could be like teenagers sometimes–needlessly cruel.
“Look at those eyebags. Can’t even take care of yourself. How old are you, child? Fourteen? That’s old enough. Sleep more, do you hear?”
“... I am twenty one,” Shikamaru informed him exasperatedly. “And I sleep well. The eyebags are... genetic. I think.”
“You don’t think,” Gisaki said, fabulously prejudiced. “Humans never think. You just think that you think. But in reality, you just stumble through life.”
Shikamaru groaned and put his head on his desk. He was far too tired to sit through a toad lecturing him about the more delicate matters of life and living. Philosophy could go fuck itself. He was not in the mood for it.
Head still lowered, he extended a hand demandingly, “Letter. Please.”
Gisaki made a squelching sound, no doubt vomitting out the scroll and plopped it into Shikamaru’s awaiting grasp.
“You know how to read?”
“I’m twenty-one,” Shikamaru repeated, straightening up. “Are you done here, Gisaki-san?”
Gisaki squinted suspiciously at him, “You are trying to get rid of me, boy?”
“I would never dare to.”
The toad tsked, “Fine. I will leave you be. Send a reply back via hawk.”
“Got it,” Shikamaru said, throwing Gisaki a dorky thumbs up. “Thanks.”
The moment Gisaki disappeared, a knock sounded at his door. When had he become so popular? Granted, his last two visitors were a rat and a toad, but still.
He unlocked and swung the door open, confused when met with Naruto’s smiley face peeking into his room. As was usual, the jinchiruuki sauntered inside like he owned the room, taking a seat comfortably on his bed before Shikamaru could even process his presence.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were keeping an eye on Kazuma.”
Naruto picked up one of the books on his nightstand–his eyes lingering on the flower-tome he had gifted to Shikamaru, now with a red bookmark tied inside hanging loosely below–and began reading it at random.
“I am.”
“What do you mean?” Shikamaru questioned and when Naruto didn’t respond, he came to the conclusion himself.
Half a grin stretching across his lips, he returned to his desk, “You sent a shadow clone, didn’t you?”
“I love it when you do that,” Naruto said, smiling. “Reading a situation almost immediately. It’s very sexy.”
Shikamaru choked on his saliva, coughing, “Oh,” he said. Then, “Oh?”
Naruto grinned, “Yes. Trust me. Not everyone can do that.”
As much as Shikamaru appreciated the compliment, his brain was still buffering after the manner in which was presented.
Naruto found him sexy? That definitely wasn’t something a friend would casually say. Or was it? Maybe Naruto told Uto on the regular how sexy he was and there was definitely not any untoward attraction between them.
Shikamaru sighed internally. He was overthinking this too much.
“What if it popped?”
“What if what popped?” Naruto asked, setting the book aside to run his hands through his sheets. “Did you get new bedding? It’s so much softer than before.”
“Your clone,” Shikamaru said and tried not to think about Naruto who was sitting on his bed and caressing his sheets and lying right there, in front of him, utterly relaxed.
“And y-yes. The sheets are new. Got them delivered two days ago.”
Naruto took that as an invitation to burrow even deeper into his mattress, head resting on his pillow. Shikamaru didn’t mind it one bit. Which was curious. Even if he liked Naruto, he never imagined he would be so comfortable sharing his space with someone else. And this had already happened before he realised the true nature of his feelings.
“If my clone pops, he pops,” Naruto waved his worries away. “You know, maybe I should get beat up again. Then I can come sleep here and have you nurse me back to health.”
“I didn’t nurse you back to health the first time, either,” Shikamaru said, clearing his throat. “And- well, you can always come sleep here, if you want. I can take the bed in the other room.”
Naruto turned towards him, elbow propping up his neck, lying sideways. His eyes were potently amused as he regarded Shikamaru, “Where’s the fun in that? You won’t sleep with me, Shika?”
Shikamaru could not take his eyes off of Naruto. He could be slow on the uptake in these matters sometimes but this was too on-the-nose. Surely, Naruto was flirting with him. Surely, this was it–this was confirmation that his feelings weren’t one-sided.
“You want to have sex with me?” Shikamaru blurted and immediately swiveled his seat around, covering his mouth with a hand.
What the fuck was wrong with him?
A bright sound filled the room just then, Naruto chuckling softly before it turned into hearty laughter, “Oh my god, Shika. You are amazing.”
Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck and gingerly turned around, afraid to look at Naruto after he had said something so straightforward.
“For the record,” Naruto said when he had calmed down a little. “I don’t want to, you know,” he tilted his head suggestively, his lips settling into a soft smile. “I just want to sleep next to you. Just that. Is that okay with you?”
Shikamaru was flooded with the same warmth he always felt when he was with Naruto. It was like sitting on the grassy hills of Konoha, watching the clouds sway in the distance, the rays of the sun keeping him warm and awake.
“That’s okay,” he said, having found his voice. “Hey, Naruto.”
Naruto hummed, paying attention.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
Naruto’s smile changed. It was sweeter, surer, lovelier. “Because you are here”
Suddenly, Shikamaru was floating. Suddenly, the gravity of life had disappeared, leaving him unmoored and weightless.
It was funny, how clarity could hit you hard and fast but still leave you feeling more stable and secure than ever before.
Naruto had always chosen to be around him. Since the moment they met, he had seeked Shikamaru out. The first time might have been curiosity mixed with wariness but all the times since then? They were decisions. They were deliberate.
He had seen the place Naruto considered a home, he had been let into the kind of relationships Naruto shared with the people around him. From the moment they met until now, Naruto had been honest with his intentions and he had telegraphed how he felt every time he came knocking on Shikamaru’s door or held his hand and showed him a piece of his world.
Was it normal to be so blind to someone’s love and care? Was it normal not to realise?
Shikamaru shook off these thoughts because ultimately, they didn’t matter.
What mattered was Naruto and this moment and this nebulous connection they had created between themselves.
Shikamaru stood up, Jiraiya’s scroll still tucked into his vest pocket, and carefully took a seat beside Naruto.
Naruto’s smile didn’t budge as he made space for him, one arm gently coaxing him into lying beside him. Shikamaru didn’t hesitate. There, sharing Naruto’s warmth, their bodies so close together, he felt incredibly at peace. He felt as if nothing or no one could take this away from him. That if he was faced with a monster ten times his size, he could easily defeat it.
“You know, I’ve always wondered...” Naruto whispered.
“Hm?”
“Does your head not hurt keeping up that ponytail all the time?”
Shikamaru smiled wryly, “Do you want to see me with my hair down? Is that it?”
Naruto took his hand in his own, tracing the lines of his palm, the edges of his bones with his thumb, “I do.”
There was something mystical about this moment. As if there existed no boundaries, no walls between them. As if they could leap off the cliff together and instead of falling, they would fly. Shikamaru wished nothing disturbed this bubble, for as long as it lasted.
Leaning up, he used his free hand to pull out his hair tie, his hair instantly coming down in spiky waves, framing his face.
Naruto’s gaze was on him, an intensity in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said, knowing perhaps, how vulnerable this made Shikamaru feel.
“You look beautiful,” Naruto added once Shikamaru’s head was pillowed again.
“With my hair down?”
Naruto shook his head, thumb still running along the skin on his callused hand. “Always.”
Shikamaru chuckled, “You are such a sappy romantic.”
“I know you like it,” Naruto said, briefly glancing at him. “Your ears always give you away.”
Shikamaru brought his shoulder up, touching his ear, before puffing out a breath. “You don’t have to be so perceptive.”
“Pot calling the kettle black,” Naruto said.
“Point taken.”
“What does the scroll say?”
Shikamaru removed it from his pocket without hesitation, not surprised that Naruto had noticed its presence. Naruto snaked his arm behind his neck, pulling him closer into a more comfortable position. He unfurled the missive and together, they read the contents within.
Hello again, my brattiest bratty brat!
‘Tis here is your former teacher, Jiraiya-sama!
You just rolled your eyes at me, didn’t you? I bet you’re pissed because I sent Gisaki to you. That toad can make grown men cry. Are you crying, Shikamaru-kun?
Anyway, I hope this finds you in decent enough health. The Daimyo mansion can be an eccentric abode. I lived there for a couple weeks once and let me tell you, that shrivelled old privileged lord almost made me strangle him to death.
Tsunade wrote to me about your findings. I must say, I am very impressed with your work there. But I know you had help. Katsura, that girl with the rats, she must have assisted you, didn’t she? I always wanted to recruit her for my network. Give my regards to your fellow guardians (the ones who aren’t planning all things insidious!)
So, the thing is, I have known for a while that things aren’t quite right with the Daimyo’s administration. There have been smaller scaled uprisings across the Fire Nation, usually from no-name villages who felt slighted by the Hokage for perceived negligence. The shift from Hiruzen to Tsunade was not smoothe and those people did suffer because of it. There is nothing to be done for it except try and make up for it. And I know Tsunade’s trying her best but if there is some kind fuel to add to the fire, we don’t know how out of hand this situation can get.
But I trust you and the other guardians to do what is right. Tsunade will cover for you, do not worry. For now, our primary goal is to thwart those guardians who have abandoned their loyalty to Konoha and the Hokage. Send me a message to confirm that you understand and I will send you all the documentation I have regarding this case.
Anyhoo, that’s enough of that talk! Hope you’re keeping up with training and not being a lazy bum sunbathing on the Daimyo’s rooftop (though I would appreciate a picture if that ever happened).
Also, you must have met Naruto Uzumaki. Tell him that I, Jiraiya of the Sannin, said hi, won’t you?
Keep fit and keep being freaky, brat!
See you some day in the next two or fifty years!
Smotheringly,
The Toad Sage.
Naruto laughed aloud when all was read, “This guy sure is unique.”
“He seems to know you,” Shikamaru said. “Do you know him?”
“... I think?” Naruto said, looking far off as if trying to recall something from the hazy past. “He’s got that magnificently long white hair, right? Compulsively sings an obnoxious jingle whenever he meets someone who doesn’t know him?”
“That’s Jiraiya-san alright,” Shikamaru replied, his tone dry.
“If I remember correctly, this Jiraiya. He was the one who brought me here, to the Daimyo,” Naruto said.
“Stayed in the premises for a while. And after some time, he left and never returned.”
“Sounds exactly like him,” Shikamaru said, wondering how Naruto must have felt back then. To be put here at such a young age, not a familiar face in sight, trying to navigate an environment so different than the one back in Konoha. How had he overcome it all? It never ceased to amaze him.
“Jiraiya-san doesn’t like be held back, doesn’t like sticking to one place for long. He isn’t even in Konoha that often. He... wanders.”
“Maybe he likes it that way?” Naruto suggested, his voice melancholic. ”I wouldn’t. I like someplace to belong, you know?”
Shikamaru brought Naruto’s arm from behind his neck, staring at their fingers till they were fully entwined, intermingled so thoroughly that he couldn’t tell where his hand ended and where Naruto’s began.
“Me too,” he said quietly.
There was a sweep of silence over them for a while. The sound of their breaths suspended in the air, the faint rustle of the sheets every time either of them shifted their legs.
Then, Naruto’s face contorted and he mumbled something under his breath.
“What happened?”
Naruto looked to the ceiling but his eyes were unseeing, “Some discourteous little asshole in my head said something outrageously disgusting. That’s what happened.”
“Um, do you mean the kyuubi?”
Naruto’s expression twisted some more and he hissed threateningly, “Shut up, Kurama.”
“Who’s–”
Naruto turned to him, a sheepish smile on his face, “No one. Nothing. Can’t we just pretend this didn’t happen?”
“No,” Shikamaru said with a pleasant smile. “I want to know. Who’s Kurama and what outrageously disgusting thing did he say?”
Naruto tried to plead with his eyes, widening them, a twinkle to go with it but Shikamaru was unmoved.
He sighed and looked away, muttering, “Kurama is, of course, the kyuubi and he said something... disrespectful about you. And if you tell me to repeat what he said, I will open the window and jump out.”
“He insulted me?”
“He... um, violated you.”
Shikamaru blinked, his ears reddening once more as he finally realised what must have transpired. “Oh.”
“Sorry about him. He says the most unhinged stuff. He is not very civilized.”
“I should be the one feeling sorry for you,” Shikamaru said. “Having someone in your head twenty four seven, sharing the same experiences and memories and being able to commentate on it? That must be nightmarish.”
“It is,” Naruto said with a laugh. “But Kurama’s not all bad. He helps me a lot.”
“Then I like the kyuubi,” Shikamaru said matter-of-factly.
“Aw. That was quite sweet of you,” Naruto said, smiling wide.
That night, they slept next to each other, waking up more-well rested than either of them had in the last month and more. There was a constancy to their bond now, like a rushing river that had just found the flatlands, meandering over the dirt, but slow in its travel, the turbulence left behind.
When Shikamaru showed up for breakfast, it was with Naruto’s gift on his ears, the black studs now a permanent part of his outfits. And if Naruto noticed, he only showed it through slightly wider grins and slightly wider smiles and a rosy tint to his cheeks that had never found its place on his face before.
Notes:
^this is how naruto’s ‘room’ turned out when i tried to draw it and i didn’t put it in because it looks so funny lmao. but yall get the vibe through the descriptions in-text (i hope).
____that last bedroom scene was probably one of the favourite things i have ever written. shikanaru lying next to each other and being very lowkey intimate is always how i have imagined them at their most vulnerable.
–so, one of the aspects of characterisation of naruto, for me personally, has always been his endurance. naruto as a character is all about being kind and good despite everything life threw at him from literally the day he was born. he’s always shown great agency when trying to face some of sort “evil” that threatens the people he cares about and i think i really appreciate it when characters around him can acknowledge his effort. and since shikamaru as a character can believably do that for naruto, this ship also fulfils that desire of mine to see naruto be SEEN.
–shikamaru’s arc was very fun to write even though the story is so short. i think it’s so important to his character that despite being lazy and avoidant of big, messy, situations he unquestionably CARES and he steps tf up when people need him. that’s one of my favourite parts of the sasuke retrieval arc. you can tell shikamaru doesn’t want to be the leader right then, that he would rather be at home and cloud watch but because there is an urgent, pressing issue, he undertakes that responsibility anyway.
–naruto making friends with everyone is me just reflecting canon. i love his ability to befriend tsunderes specifically. *cough* chika *cough*
– here is the image for naruto’s art reference.
–anyway, thank you so much for reading!! as always, feedback is welcome and wishing everyone a wonderful day ahead!
happy new years in advance! see y'all on the other side. :P
Ivy08 on Chapter 1 Sun 29 Dec 2024 01:00AM UTC
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