Life is Troublesome
Disclaimer: I don't own WITCH or Naruto
Thanks to: Heart of the Demons for beta reading this for me I really appreciate it.
Shikamaru, known genius of Konoha, was for once having a question he did not have an answer to -- namely, where in the world was he?
He had been on a mission together with his team to investigate a strange item that had appeared out of the air just outside Konoha, and as he had approached it, it had sucked him in, leaving him in a complete different place with buildings bigger then anything he had ever seen, moving boxes on wheels that went way fast, at least compared to what was normal; but for a ninja, it wasn't really all that fast.
Clothes of people was also just strange. He had no other word for it really, and no one seemed to be carrying weapons likewise. No one was jumping from roof to roof.
All in all, he had no clue where he was other then a place far, really far away from Konoha, and he had only one thing to say to his current situation -- "This is really troublesome."
He ignored people staring at him because of his clothes. He couldn't do much about it, and it wasn't like he found them just as strange as they found him, the problem of course being that there was only one of him which made him the minority and the one standing out, again "troublesome." That was really the only word he could find to disciple the situation, but then most situations were just that to him, troublesome.
He walked down the many streets trying to find his way out of the village he was in -- that was if he really could call it a village. This place was so big that it seemed to be the wrong word, and with the giant buildings it made it almost impossible for him to navigate. Still, it would be too troublesome to ask for help since it was far from sure that people around here even knew about Konoha, so asking about it would be a bad idea. It was called a hidden village for a reason after all.
After about an hour walking around, he had to admit that he was lost. He knew he had seen this place before. It seemed like an academy of some sort, but certainly not an academy for ninjas from what he had seen. They were learning things like math and language there and not how to create clones or transform in to a copy of something else.
A bell rang, and teens around his age ran out the building. They seemed eager to get away from the place, and many of them met up with friends before taking away in groups. One such group caught his attention. It was made out of five girls but that was not what had gotten his interest. That price would go to the power he felt from them. They were without a doubt the first people in this place he had meet that had some kind of power, and it was definitely not a power to be taken lightly.
His mind working as fast as it could, he decided that these girls were his best bet on finding a way home or at least find out where he was without coming out as weird or crazy.
He followed the five girls from a distant wanting to see if he could gather just a little information before confronting them; there, however, wasn't much to find out as they seemed to be talking about normal girl things, like boys and clothes even though the red-haired member of the group seemed oddly uninterested and seemed to be on her guard, almost like she knew he was there, but surely that couldn't be the case as he was masking his presence and kept out of their sight by keeping to the roofs, a place that it was obvious that no one in this village would look for pressure.
The group soon split up going in different directions, and out of a hunch, Shikamaru decided to follow the red-haired member of the group. As he did it, however, it soon become very clear that she knew that someone was following her as she kept looking around, and oddly enough had taken a firm hold around the pink glass orb she had as a necklace around her neck.
Soon, it however became evident that it wasn't him she had noticed as Shikamaru noticed a group of boys walking out in front of the girl blocking her way.
How he had missed them he didn't know, but he knew that he felt bad for those boys. That girl had power that made many of Konoha's Jonin seem weak, so it was clear who was going to come out on top of this fight.
Or so he had thought. The girl did not use any of the power he felt from her; she just dodged at a speed that obviously only was normal for a girl her age, and it was clear that she wasn't going to do anything out of the ordinary to beat the men. Could it be that she didn't know she had those powers?
Well, since she might be his only way home he had better help her no matter how troublesome it was, and he jumped from the roof landing in front of the girl and in between her and the boys.
"What the hell?!" one of the boys exclaimed obvious they were not used to seeing people jump from the roof of a ten story building.
"What a pain. Can't you see you're annoying her? Really, how troublesome," Shikamaru said while yawning. These guys were obviously even weaker then the usual scrums of Konoha, which was kind of good since he'd hate to work himself to hard.
The little gang eyed Shikamaru before they charged, only to suddenly stop as Shikamaru used his Shadow Imitation jutsu.
"Tsk" was all Shikamaru said as he took a kunai from his holster, and since his targets didn't have any they had simply grabbed for air. "Now as you might see, I have weapons and you don't, so why don't you just beat it?"
The boys didn't need to be told twice, and as soon as Shikamaru released the jutsu, the boys ran and ran as fast as they could which, in Shikamaru's eyes, was really slow.
As he was sure they weren't coming back, he turned to the girl. "Are you okay, shoujo-san?"
The red-haired girl nodded her head. "Thank you," she said silently, "but you know you shouldn't use powers like that. If someone sees them, there would be way more questions then what you'd like to answer."
"Is that why you didn't use your powers?" Shikamaru asked, noticing the shock that went through the girl's eyes; obviously she hadn't expected that he knew about her powers.
"Partly," she answered after a few seconds, "but mostly because I have those powers to protect. I don't have them to hurt normal people."
"Troublesome girl," Shikamaru said with a sigh. "How are you going to protect anyone if you're dead? And are you saying it doesn't count if it's yourself you're protecting?"
The girl looked at the ground, a blush on her face. "I didn't think about it in that way," she admitted. She took a moment to gather herself together and then asked, "You're not exactly from around here are you?"
"No. I'm from a place called Konoha, located in Fire Country, but that doesn't seem to be anywhere near here."
The girl nodded and looked at Shikamaru for a few seconds before sighing. "Hate to say this to you, but there's no fire country in this world. It seems like you've travelled through dimensions."
"Troublesome" was Shikamaru's only comment to that; he could see that the girl wasn't lying, which meant that he really had gone a long way, and it also left him with a big problem since he had no clue how he was going to get home.
"It could be worse," the girl said with a smile. "You see, I'm probably your best bet on finding your way home." She held a small brake "Well, more like me and my friends are your best bet." She hold her hand out to Shikamaru who took it and shook it as the girl introduced herself.
"I'm Will Vandom, a Guardian of the Veil, and probably the only person in this world with the power to move through dimensions."
"I'm Shikamaru Nara," Shikanaru said in return, "Chunin Ninja of Konoha."
Will nodded her head. "Well, I think we need to go to the Silver Dragon and talk with Yan Lin. She'll be our best bet on finding info on getting to the right dimension."
"Well then, lead the way. I really want this troublesome adventure over with." The last was added in a low voice but Will head it anyway.
"You really like the word 'troublesome'," she observed, amused. All Shikamaru did was confirm Will's statement with a sigh and the words, "troublesome girl."
The two walked for a good while, talking about Will's duties as a Guardian and a bit about Shikamaru's life as a ninja before they reached their destination, a restaurant it seemed, and as they entered, Shikamaru got his suspicion confirmed. Will didn't give him time to look the restaurant over though as she led him through the restaurant and into a house that seem to be built into the place.
She stopped outside a door and knocked and a few seconds after was granted entrance. The person inside was an old lady that smiled at Will and sent a questioning look at Shikamaru.
"Yan Lin, this is Shikamaru. He's from a different dimension, but I don't know how to get him home," Will said before Yan Lin could ask any question.
Yan Lin looked at Shikamaru for a few seconds in deep thought. "And where are you from, my young friend?"
"Fire Country, the village of Konoha," Shikamaru answered the old lady, nodded, and looked thoughtful.
"I have never heard of this place, but I will look in to it." She looked from Will to Shikamaru and nodded. "Will, do you think you can persuade your mother to let your friend stay with you? He needs a place to stay while being here."
Will looked at Shikamaru. It was clear what she was thinking -- how in the world was she going to get her mother agree to house a boy? Especially with the age both she and Shikamaru had; not an age where mothers would be delighted to have a friend of the opposite gender stay over.
"I suppose I can try," Will finally said, "but I don't really think she'll be easy to persuade."
"No challenge is to big for the Keeper of the Heart" was all Yan Lin had to say to that.
"Easy for you to say," Will muttered. "You're not the Keeper." Yan Lin just laughed at that as Will took Shikamaru's arm and dragged him out the room, not wanting to stay there any longer and also needing to come up with some kind of plan to allow Shikamaru to stay at her place.
As they were outside, Will let go of Shikamaru's arm and looked sheepishly at him. "Sorry about that, I just had a feeling that I didn't want to hear anymore of what she had to say."
"Don't worry about it. Staying longer would definitely have beenù"
"Troublesome," Will ended for him "Yes, I know. You really are predictable, you know that?"
Shikamaru was shocked, though he didn't show it. He who was known for always being ten or more steps in front of his opponent had just been called predictable by a girl that really hadn't known him long enough to figure out any patent of his; apparently he was wrong through.
"Anyway, let's go talk with my mom; we'll figure out what to tell her on the way there." Will snapped Shikamaru out of his thoughts and he gave a nod of affirmative before he fall in step beside Will as they walked side by side towards Will's home.
"So you have any ideas as to how to persuade your mother?" Shikamaru asked after a few minutes of silence. He wasn't really worried if worst came to be; he could just camp outside. It really would be no problem for him to do that.
"Not really. Maybe, say, you had a fight with your parents and needed a few days to cool off before going back?"
"And being that good friend you are, you offered a place to stay?" Shikamaru asked. It might work, the problem being if it took more then a few days, but at least then he'd have a place to stay for just the first few days.
"I know," Will said with a sigh, much to Shikamaru's puzzlement. She knew what exactly?
"That it isn't the best option," she explained, and Shikamaru looked at her in wonder. "What?" she asked. "Wasn't that what you were thinking? That it wasn't the best solution?"
"It was," Shikamaru confirmed, "but how did you know that?"
Will shrugged. "I suppose something in your face expression told me," she answered honestly, much to Shikamaru's surprise. He was a ninja who learned to mask his emotions, so how had Will seen through his mask?
"Then what to do if a few days isn't enough?" Shikamaru asked.
"I don't know; this is just the only solution I can think of that would seem believable," she answered. "You know teenagers fighting with their parents is a rather normal thing."
Shikamaru nodded at that, he knew that very well, he often had some 'fight' with his mother not really much of a fight through since he thought it to troublesome and simply agreed with his mother without even listing to what the problem had been.
Will giggled a little and smiled "let me guess, you're fights with your parents are over in seconds because it's to troublesome?"
Shikamaru was starting give up on being surprised. Will seemed to know him better then some of the people he had known for years; either she was very observing or elseàhe thought the possibility over and then did a hand seal.
Nothing happened through, which made that option unusable. This was not a Genjutsu as he had thought. For a moment, if it was then it was a really strong on at least, and that did not seem possible.
"What was that?" Will questioned, and Shikamaru had to realise how stupid it was to look to Will as he did a weird gesture with his hands and then said a word that made no sense in connection to their conversation.
"I thought that this might had been an illustration, so I tried to dispel it," he explained. Will smiled a little at that.
"That eager to get rid of me?" she asked in a teasing tone.
"What a pain. No. You're actually a somewhat tolerate able member of the female gender."
"Glad you think that way," Will said with a smile. "Now come on, we're at my place." She pointed at the building in front of them and then led Shikamaru up the stairs until they reached the right floor, where Will unlocked the door and called out, "I'm home!"
"In the kitchen!" a voice called back, and Will motioned to Shikamaru to follow her. He did so and soon was in the kitchen, where her mother was making dinner.
"Mom?" Will asked and the woman turned around, her eyes resting on Shikamaru for a few seconds before they settled themselves on her daughter.
"Um, this is Shikamaru, one of my friends. I was wondering if he could stay here for a few days?"
"Will, you know your friends are always welcome here," Will's mother said she turned to Shikamaru and smiled. "I'm Susan Vandom, Will's mother."
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Vandom" Shikamaru said, giving a small bow. "And thank you for your hospitality."
"You're quite welcome." she looked a bit sharp at Shikamaru. "But no funny business."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Mrs. Vandom," Shikamaru could say, looking straight into Susan's eyes. He had absolutely no plans on doing anything with Will no matter how cute she might be.
He thought over what he had just thought, since when had he started using the word cute? And since when had that become a fitting word for the girl he hadn't even known for a day?
"Shikamaru, you're in there?" Will's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Really, that girl had proven herself to be much troublesome, and that was without doing anything.
"Sorry. I was just thinking," he answered. "What did you say?"
"I was asking if we should go to my room so we wouldn't be in the way for my mother."
"Oh, sure." Shikamaru followed Will through the small apartment and into a room that was really messy. Will blushed a little but then seemed to gather herself and just smiled sheepishly at her guest.
"I'm not much of a clean freak."
"I can see that," he observed. It was actually nice to know for the sole reason that he wanted to know more about Will no matter how trivial the things might be.
"Well, make yourself at home," she told as she dropped herself down on her bed, leaving Shikamaru to take the chair in the room. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Shikamaru broke it.
"Any place near here where you can watch the clouds?" It was his favourite pastime, so it would be nice to know if there were any places near here where he could do it.
Will shrugged. Clearly it wasn't anything she had thought too much about. "I suppose you could go to the roof of this building; that's really the best place I can think off."
"And how do I get up there if I have to do it like a normal person?" Shikamaru wanted to know. Will gave him a smile at that and rolled her eyes.
"Through the door, of course." Will got up from the bed and motioned Shikamaru to follow her. They went out her room and over to the door where Will took her shoes and then called to her mother that they would be on the roof.
Shikamaru followed Will up the stairs and seconds after they were at their destination, the roof of the apartment building, where Shikamaru instantly lay on the ground looking at the clouds above him, only to be distracted by a certain redhead as she laid down beside him.
He knew he should be looking at the clouds but for some reason he found his eyes pinned on Will, whom he found was looking back.
They slowly moved closer to each other, and then, before either of them knew what they were doing, they were kissing each other gently.
For Shikamaru, this was heaven; Will's lips felt so soft against his and tasted of honey. He liked honey, he had just discovered.
Will, on the other hand, was panicking yet couldn't stop herself; she knew that in just a few short days, weeks max, Shikamaru would be gone, meaning that this was doomed to fail. Yet she just couldn't get herself to care as she continued kissing Shikamaru.
As they pulled away Shikamaru was surprised to see tears in Will's eyes and he reached out to wipe them away. She didn't resist, but it was clear that there was still something bothering her.
"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked, worried.
"In just a short time you'll be gone," Will answered, "and then we'll never see each other again."
"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru said "Isn't it better to have loved and lost then never having loved at all?"
"Are you saying get the best out of the time we have?" Will asked, her voice a bit weak, and Shikamaru nodded as an answer, stroking Will's cheek gently with his thumb.
Will rolled herself closer to Shikamaru and wrapped her arms around him, letting her head rest on his stomach where she listened to his heart beat, a sound that slowly lured her to sleep.
Shikamaru continued looking at Will for a few more seconds before his eyes went to the sky. This was troublesome, a nice kind of troublesome if there was such a thing, but still troublesome. Will was going to be hurt when he left, and he would be hurt as well. Really, why did there have to be such a thing as love at first sight?
Love? Did he really love the red-haired girl? He didn't know, but he knew he was going to find out over the next few days. One thing was sure -- even when he was gone, he would still remember Will, the first girl he could say he had cared this much about.
…
The week went fast. Will and Shikamaru used all their free time together, and also all the time Will used on her homework was used in each other's company. But then finally Yan Lin announced that she could send Shikamaru home.
Will and Shikamaru stood in the back ally of the Silver Dragon, Will holding the Heart in her hand. She looked sad at Shikamaru. "I suppose this is goodbye," she whispered.
"Yeah," Shikamaru said, not really knowing what else to say.
"I love you, Shika," Will said seriously, "and I think I always will, but at the same time I hope I'll move on."
"Troublesome girl," Shikamaru said. "You'll move on," he assured. "I love you too, Will," he said just as seriously as Will had done "and I know I'll love you forever but it seems like I'll have to settle for second best."
Will laughed a little and then moved forward, kissing Shikamaru with as much passion as she could manage getting just as much in return. As they pulled away there were tears in Will's eyes.
She hesitated for a second and then closed her eyes, holding the Heart out; then in a flash of light, a portal opened. "I'd like to say see you later," Will said, "but that'd probably just be me kidding myself."
"I'll see you in my dreams," Shikamaru said, kissing Will again; then he moved through the portal. Before more goodbyes could be said, the last thing Will heard was "I love you, troublesome girl."