Hey, this is just a prologue; the chapters will never be this short.
I am thinking NejiShika but will probably just let the writing flow and not pre-plan. This is a warning for possible Slash.
I don't own Naruto.
I don't watch the anime so am going by the Manga: meaning I am not taking into account any of the Filler episodes after Sasuke left.
This story is about Shikamaru and takes part after his failed mission to bring back Sasuke; it will not be Shippuden-compliant as Shikamaru will change in this time and this change begets more change until eventually Canon Naruto will be completely different.
"Next time definitely… I'll show that I can do it flawlessly."
The words he said in the face of the tragedy he had caused echoed in his mind. Shikamaru had just finished talking to Tsunade; questioning why there were so few medical ninja. She had a point, they might have been hard to train but that was no reason not to try.
He had seen Sakura, walking with a one track mind, walking like a man on a mission. He could tell from the mutterings under her breath that she had a plan. That she was going to train; she was going to get stronger: one more medical ninja for the village. Tsunade was considered world-class when it came to medics but she was the Hokage and she was not the only medic in the village. Maybe others would take shinobi under their wings.
The Rookie Nine was no longer. Sasuke was officially a Missing-nin: Shikamaru should know; it had been his fault that they couldn't bring him back. Naruto had left with the Perverted Sannin Jiraiya and wouldn't be returning for a good couple of years.
As Shikamaru thought it over he felt a level of ironic humour that the three members of the Team Ten had separated and each looked to a different member of the Sannin as a teacher. This caused a loose, disheartened laugh.
The point was, each of the three were training. Each of the three were getting stronger. Each of the three would meet again, in the future, as different people capable of different things. They shouldn't be the only ones. Shikamaru wrestled with himself. On one side, his lazy nature argued that he was happy where he was: that he was happy to move like the clouds and go wherever the breeze took him. On the other, all he had to do was look at Chouji covered in seals and wires and he had his answer. If he was going to avoid repeating this situation; if he was going to show that he could do a mission flawlessly; he had to get better.
Of the remainder of the Rookie Nine: Chouji and Kiba were still in hospital; Ino was struggling to keep calm with her best friend hospitalised and her crush defecting; Shino still hadn't returned to the village with his father; Hinata was worried about her cousin whom she had just recently begun to get to know. Neji: the boy was probably in the worst shape of them all, Shikamaru barely knew him but still managed to find himself sat with the genin on most days. At first it had been whilst Neji was unconscious but as he woke, Shikamaru continued to see him. They didn't do much in the way of talking but found the comfortable silences appealing as they played games like Shougi and Go. It was a little odd but there seemed to be the beginnings of a tentative friendship between them.
As he sat atop the Hokage Monument and looked to the sky: to the calming wisps of cloud as they floated across the sky; Shikamaru began to think about himself; to assess himself. He had no clear talent. His speed, strength and stamina were poor. Beyond the basics he only know two jutsu and they were only because of his family line. He wasn't trained with any weapons. He had not trained in an elemental disposition. His sink or swim leadership moment resulted in him sinking: a failed mission and the four members of his team hospitalised. He was weak.
He was intelligent. He had a quick and accurate mind for tactics. He had brilliant chakra control. He had shown an affinity to Genjutsu even if he had yet to learn any techniques.
Sadly one list was clearly much more extensive than the other. Shikamaru began to take note on what he could do and who to turn to. Genin rarely got tutored by anyone other than their families and their Jounin instructor but it had happened before. Asuma was a great instructor: it was because of him that their team had such amazing team work and that they were one of few teams to get through the Second Stage of the Chuunin Exams. Yet there were things that Shikamaru needed to learn that he couldn't help with.
Shikamaru felt that he should play to his strength and learn some basic Genjutsu at least; an area which Asuma-sensei was very weak in. It was pointless to ask a Genjutsu user that used family justu: the Yamanaka Clan were close to the Nara's but it was unheard of to share family secrets with another clan. Who else used Genjutsu in the village? Yuhi Kurenai was head of Team Eight: she used a variety of different types of Genjutsu; yet she had her own team to teach and he had heard that she was practically Hinata's guardian. It was very unlikely but he supposed it didn't hurt to ask. Were there any other Genjutsu users in the village? The scarred man: Morino Ibiki who was the proctor in the first stage of the Chuunin Exams; apparently he was Head of the Torture and Interrogation Force. Not a man you wanted to anger. Shikamaru didn't know if he would risk asking the man, or if he could withstand any training done by the man as he assumed a lot of the 'training' could pass for torture.
Shikamaru cleared his throat. He also needed to get better in Taijutsu. His current fighting was laughable: a lot of jumping and dodging with a few weakly thrown punches and kicks.
As he was about to break it down further and start to think about what sort of taijutsu would be best for him to train in; Shikamaru was interrupted. A sudden movement caught his eye and a polite "Nara Shikamaru" was called from about fourty feet away. Shizune stood graceful and respectable, "Tsunade-sama would like to see you."
'Yay.' Shikamaru thought sarcastically, 'Another mission.' But for once, it wasn't because he wanted to lie back down on the grass and look up at the clouds, it was instead because he had a lot to do if he wanted to start training and that was something he couldn't do whilst, probably, delivering a spoilt child to a land far away.
"A whole year?"
"A whole year."
"In the Fire Temple?"
"In the Fire Temple."
"With Monks?"
"Shikamaru, you should know that the Fire Temple is a Shinobi Monastery. They are not solely Monks. It is the Year of the Inu; where Monks from each Temple are welcomed into other Country's Temples as a sign of sincerity and peace. You will be on a one year-length mission that will require you to escort Fire Temple Representatives to different temples. It makes little sense for you not to stay at the temple as you are to be on hand whenever the Monks need you." Tsunade spoke as if she had been told what to say; however, the harshness in her natural tone made it so much harder to argue with.
"Surely the Monks of a Shinobi Monastery would be trained to be able to care for themselves?" Shikamaru spoke evenly so as to seem like he wasn't opposing her, it was a reasonable observation to make.
The woman took a sip of the Sake bottle that had been hidden behind a large pile of paperwork, probably from Shizune. "Some of the Monks travelling are young and still in training." She took another sip. Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest once more. "-No Shikamaru." He fell silent immediately. "I understand that you may be averse to spending a year away from your friends and family but the mission needs to be completed." The finality in her voice meant their conversation was over; Shikamaru knew a lost cause when he saw one so he nodded softly. He felt a small wave of guilt; he hadn't been thinking about his friends and family: was it wrong that spending a year away from them didn't bother him? "You will be leaving the day after next. Wednesday, 5am at the Front Gates. You will be accompanying a young monk, Sentoki, back to the Fire Temple which is where you will be staying for the majority of your mission."
'There goes my plan for training…' Shikamaru internally groaned. It seemed that when he finally came round to the idea of the most: the idea that you needed to improve, that fate had a different plan.
As he walked slowly from the office, he started to think about who he had to tell. Ignoring his first instinct of not telling anyone and just leaving; Shikamaru's mind shot through everyone he had to tell. His mother; she would fuss about everything and get all maternal. His father; possibly wouldn't know the difference apart from his wife's excess nagging, due to her having one less person to badger. Asuma; he would have to leave a message. The man was no longer Shikamaru's active sensei but Shikamaru would always look to the man for guidance. Chouji; his best friend would get sentimental and quite possibly try to hug him; Shikamaru wasn't as touchy-feely as his friend. Ino; the blonde would harpy on until he left. Neji: Shikamaru has no idea why the name came to his mind. Other than a few Shogi games, they had barely any contact. Even with the games, they rarely talked apart from greetings and farewells. Shikamaru supposed it was more about mental stimulation than friendship but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't going to miss meeting with the Hyuuga.
Shikamaru decided that, as he was closest to the Hyuuga Grounds, he would tell Neji first. The Older boy hadn't been back from the Hospital for long and wasn't up to properly training but he sat out in the Training Ground. Back straight, legs crossed and hands joining loosely to make a slight circle: Neji was meditating as Shikamaru was shown onto the Grounds by a Branch-family member.
The Hyuuga could probably sense his presence but didn't break from his position of say anything so the Nara walked forward until he was next to the older and imitated his meditating. Shikamaru didn't often meditate, he didn't need to: the balance and calm wasn't something that the Nara had to work for. Perhaps there were one or two positive things about him that he hadn't taken into account.
"Yes?" Neji asked, unmoving, as they both sat, eyes closed.
"I just came to say Goodbye. I am leaving on Wednesday for year-long mission." Shikamaru spoke gently; he was expressionless as he watched the Older. Neji froze momentarily before quickly reverting to his usual peaceful position; a lesser ninja wouldn't have noticed the change. Letting Neji keep his pride, Shikamaru did not comment.
The silence that followed was awkward, a clear sign that they didn't know each other enough. "Thankyou for telling me."
The rest of Shikamaru's goodbyes were not enjoyable experiences. His ribs were still aching from the fierce hugs that his mother and teammates had felt obliged to give him; he guessed they were trying to make sure they stayed in his thoughts.
Before Shikamaru knew it, Wednesday morning had arrived and as he walked through the bare streets of Konoha he looked to the sky. It was still dark but a gentle red coloured the sky as the sun started to rise. As he found himself at the Grand Front Gates, he turned back for a short moment to see Konoha, to see the home that he would miss over the next year. "Bye..." He whispered under his breath.
I reposted because I have rethought the story and decided to miss out the next year. I am going to include flashbacks of Shikamaru's time at the Fire Temple but felt there would be too many OCs if I were to write the year and that it would get boringly repetitive.