Wind. It gently ruffled his hair, but the short spiky hair sprang back into position immediately. The sun was lowering across the horizon, casting a soft, vermillion glow over the village of Konoha. The sky was orange too, reflecting the color of the village. A man stood atop the roof of information center, gazing at the six hokage faces etched into the cliff wall. Soon, his face would be up there too. The man turned his face away from the looming cliff wall, and stared out at the horizon in a trance-like state. The scene was surreal, yet reality was not.
The man sighed deeply. It was such a beautiful day, yet so troublesome. When were the halcyon days coming?
"Hokage-sama," a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"What is it, Yuuta," the man asked calmly. Rather than calmly, the man was more on the verge of irritation. Why was everything so frustrating?
The man called Yuuta bowed his head slightly, obviously sensing the hokage's discontent.
"The Rain village has attacked. Hinata and Neji- sama have gone to face the enemies," Yuuta reported cautiously.
The man sighed, lost in thoughts. It had barely been five years since the last crisis Konoha faced. In their battle against the Akatsuki and their tailed- beasts, Konoha had lost more than half of its ninjas. He had carved the names of heroes like Sharingan Kakashi, Might Guy, Kiba Inuzaka, Shino Aburame and countless more onto the stone which lay in the centre of Konoha. It was the saddest day of his life, and the turning point of it. With little to choose from, the village had made him Hokage. And the responsibilities which came with that? Absolutely horrible.
After the Akatsuki battle, Konoha's forces had been tremendously weakened, and the other villages saw that as a chance to conquer the village. Since his first day on the hokage seat, the man had to deal with the numerous raid made by the other villages. Even with the Sand Village's assistance, he was hard pressed to keep the intruders away. Today was no different. The raid by the Rain Village had destroyed three days rare- found peace.
"Hokage- sama."
"I know, Yuuta," the man half- snapped. "If the Hinata and Neji have gone, we can relax a little. Go rally the chuunins and jonins. I will brief them about the battle."
The man gave a slightest indication of acknowledgement, before sprinting off to gather the other ninjas.
With Yuuta gone, the Hokage diverted his attention to the oncoming battle. On the outskirts of Konoha, he spotted debris flung up into the sky, before falling back down to raise a cloud of dust. Obvious signs of a raging battle. A blot in this peaceful scenery.
A silhouette in the distance sped towards the man.
"What is it, Neji," the Hokage asked as the figure arrived.
"Shi…Shi…Kamaru," Neji panted, trying to catch his breath. "They are summoning."
Shikamaru cursed invectively. Summoning?! Why did he have to deal with a summoning today?
"What is the summoning?"
Neji pale visibly when he said, "From the looks of the contract circle, I would say it's a bear."
Shikamaru buried his head in his hands and groaned. Each summoned creature came in form of an animal the ninjas made a contract with. And it was said that the bear was the stupidest, most uncontrollable summon of all the animals. Once released, it was rumored that the bear would immediately go on a rampage, destroying everything in sight.
"Where's Hinata?" Shikamaru asked in concern.
"Fighting."
Shikamaru lowered his head thoughtfully, going through all the strategies he had formed. After about a minute, Shikamaru said, "Neji. Stay here and wait for the others to gather. I've already sent Yuuta to alert them. Brief them on the battle and join me later. I'll go help Hinata now."
Without waiting for Neji's reply, Shikamaru jumped over the railing of the information center and raced across the roofs of Konoha's houses, and headed for the site of battle. He needed to move fast, lest he be too late.
The ringing of steel clashing against steel grew louder as Shikamaru neared the battlegrounds. Several other ninjas were already engaging in their respective fights, pulling out throwing stars from their vest and hurling it at enemies. Shikamaru looked for Hinata amongst this chaos. It was not hard. He simply headed for the area where the loudest screams and shouts were heard.
Hinata danced. The chakra threads which flowed out from her fingertips whirled in a whip-like motion, creating a web that attacked and defended at the same instant. She was tired. It was not easy maintaining her defense, and at least an hour had past since she started her attack. Yet, Hinata continued her dance. Spinning, she avoided several kunai thrown at her, used some of her chakra threads to block the other attacks, and using the remain threads to lash out at the enemy. All in one fluid motion.
Hinata pulled the threads closer, forming a tight mesh which protected from attacks from all directions. She paused to catch her breath. Her hands and legs are sore, her breathing labored, and her chakra almost depleted. Hinata closed her eyes and prepared herself for one last attack.
I'll retreat for a bit after this, she thought. Then, Hinata opened her eyes and began a pattern both beautiful and deadly. "Eight Trigrams Sixt- "
Before Hinata could complete her chakra sealing move, a wave of shadow loomed over her and the other ninjas. Then, the shadow descending upon them, engulfing everyone but Hinata. Beneath the dark mass, the suffocating screams of the unlucky victims were heard. As quick as it came, the shadow lifted.
"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked as he jumped off the roof overlooking Hinata's battlegrounds. Landing lightly, he surveyed the mess he had created. Eight ninja were lying on the ground, dead, and five more were gasping for air. But it was no use. Shikamaru had forced the shadow into their windpipes before solidifying it, effectively blocking off the ninjas air supply. As the last of the ninjas laid still, Shikamaru sighed. Killing people was such a troublesome and brutal job.
"I'm fine. I had enough left for a good fight," Hinata replied, somewhat sullenly. She could have held her own grounds.
Shikamaru evidently sensed her dissent, and said, "I'm sorry you couldn't finish your move. But if they're really going to summon the bear, we need to hurry."
"Why did you get that information from?"
"Neji."
As though that named settled everything, Hinata followed Shikamaru silently towards the forests surrounding the village. Neji's scouting abilities rivaled her own, perhaps even better. If it was Neji who said he spotted something, all doubts Hinata had would evaporate. Shikamaru knew that well, and sometimes uses it to his advantage. "Neji said that," was usually a sentence he used to end the conversation – mostly when it wasn't going the way he wanted it to.
Their surroundings quickly changed, transitioning from the concrete grey of the Konoha Walls to the lush greenery of its surroundings. Trees blurred past as Shikamaru and Hinata led from branches to branches, demonstrating their agility to its full extent. They had to hurry. If the Rain ninjas had managed the day, my day would just be taking a turn for the worse, Shikamaru thought. Not that it could be getting any worse.
"Hinata," he commanded. "Locate the circle."
With her veins around her eyes bulging, Hinata scanned the area. A moment later, she raised her hand and pointed at a direction just ahead of them.
"I knew it," Shikamaru mumbled. Perhaps it was because of the clearing size, perhaps it was because of the close proximity, or perhaps because they liked it, the invaders have a tendency to choose that forest clearing as their base. Why can't they ever get more creative? Shikamaru thought.
As they near the forest clearing, Shikamaru signaled for Hinata to stop. Perched on a branch, Shikamaru observed the Rain ninjas sitting around the circle chanting the summoning lines. A glow was emanating from the summoning circle, and crackles of blue chakra were shooting out occasionally. When he saw the bear handseal, Shikamaru cursed softly. They were already done summoning. The bear was on its way.
"Shit," Shikamaru swore. Abandoning all forms of stealth, Shikamaru lifted his arms. He gathered the shadows of the forest and shaped it into a sharp lance figure. The lance- shaped shadow shot out from the dusky woods, covering the sunlight which filtered onto the clearing. The ninjas reacted immediately when they saw the shadow, rushing to attack Shikamaru. But Hinata was there. Whirling, she knocked the attackers down with the chakra threads. Oblivious to the commotion, the summoning ninja continued their ritual.
Please let it get there in time, Shikamaru pleaded. The shadow shot past the ninjas, making a beeline for the circle. The tip of the lance brush against the diagram, and Shikamaru solidified it instantly. The solid shadow rubbed against the diagram, erasing just a small portion of it. But it was enough. As the blue glowing chakra died down, Shikamaru allowed himself a triumphant smile.
Yes, one day of trouble prevented.