Chapter o1

An/ Hi everyone :) This is my first fanfiction, in a while, so I hope you enjoy it :)

I am an MMOPRG player, to be honest, and this plot came from one of the games I went on. Many of the characters, like Sun Jian and Sun Ce, are real people from that era of time. Other Naruto characters will be making appearences, but I cannot tell when. Sorry guys :/

Also, a note on Shika's last name. Nara is Japanese, and while the name Shikamaru is Japanese, it makes him a little different from everyone else. So, instead of Nara, my friends and I decided to go with a common Chinese surname; Miao. I hope you find it as funny as we did 3

Please comment and subscribe, it means the world to me 3

Flamers are welcomed because I am a pyromaniac 3

Enjoy! ^^

165 AD.

Jiangdong, Wu

It was his first day in private education. How his parents had managed to get him in was a mystery. He just hoped they didn't pay devious amounts of gold to get him in. Sure, they were both on good income bases, but he wasn't worth the hassle.

He had heard so much about the private tutor he was to be having. Hao Jiaoshi. The illustrious scholar of Jiangdong. He had heard the man was a genius, someone sought for by lords across the land for their children's education. Of course, Jiaoshi only gave his services to those he thought deserved them, which ruled out most of China. His parents weren't famous or fancy in anyway; just 'kind' people with decent jobs. Therefore, he was worthy of the man's teaching prowess.

Of course, he didn't know what to expect. He had already been shown through the spacious manor Jiaoshi lived in and he was impressed. His own family only lived in a small house. But, his own home was a lot cosier to him than this building. It just seemed so... big. He wasn't found of large, open spaces.

The servant who greeted him at the door had greeted him graciously and showed him the manor, before taking him a small room to the right side of the main hallway. The space inside was just about enough for six people. Sitting there already was Jiaoshi - he was meditating. Walking up to him slowly, he didn't want to interrupt his peaceful time, so he simply sat on one of the pillows scattered on the floor.

He had been waiting for minutes already. He had been sitting there, observing his surroundings, for 30 minutes, before the door opened again. Snapping his eyes over there, he saw the same servant earlier leading in another boy. The boy's eyes widened slightly at seeing another in the room, but dismissed it and also sat down upon seeing the teacher meditating.

The boy was pale, and had long black hair that was half brought up. His face was schooled into a neutral expressional, but he could tell the boy was curious as his eyes flickered towards him. They waited in silence for another 30 minutes, when the door was slammed open, making the two waiting boys jump in surprise.

Hao Jiaoshi didn't react at all.

At the door was another boy with the same servant from earlier.

This boy had shorter hair than both him and the pale boy's and had a confident look upon his face. Straight off the bat, he knew the new boy was brash, reckless and energetic.

The new boy didn't seem to take the same action as both him and the pale one. Upon the door closing and noticing the teacher meditating, the new boy made a fuss about how he was here to be taught and how the old man should be awake to teach them.

After five minutes of spouting nonsense, the new boy grumbled and sat down, his eyes flickering between the two other boys, a frown on his handsome face.

It was he who made the first move.

"Are you two also here to be taught?"

Two pairs of eyes swivelled to the boy.

He had a rough, but charismatic voice than suited his looks perfectly. However, the tone he talked in spoke of undeniable arrogance and confidence.

"Yes. But I wasn't expecting anyone else to be here…" The pale boy had a smooth voice that was cold and emotionless. It suited his face perfectly.

"Neither was I. But this does mean we'll be learning together," He said quietly to the two unique boys. They nodded slightly, and the room elapsed into silence once more. It was the boy with short hair who broke the silence again.

"Where are you guys from?" He asked them, his eyes flickering towards the immobile teacher.

"I'm from Wuchang…" The first boy muttered quietly, not really wanting to talk about home. He had left his parents just to learn… Although they wanted it, it didn't feel right.

"I'm from Lujiang," The second boy spoke quietly, the same tone as earlier.

The third boy grinned a bit. "I'm from here! In Jiangdong. My father is important here," The boy grinned, proud of whoever his father was. The second boy was curious.

"And who is your father?" He questioned.

"My father is the Tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Jian!" He exclaimed and the other boys' eyes widened.

"Lord Sun Ce!" They both greeted, bowing their heads. The boy, Sun Ce, looked annoyed at this.

"Don't call me Lord! We're all the same age, why can't we just greet each other normally?"

The two others looked at each other.

"But, Lord Sun Ce… You are the son of one of the most influential men in China. It would be disrespectful…"

Sun Ce waved that off. "I've never been fond of being called Lord; that's my father's name. I'm too young to be referred to as lord,"

The other two nodded.

"Who are you two then?"

The pale boy went first. "I'm Zhou Yu,"

The first boy smiled slightly, before introducing himself.

"My name… is Miao Shikamaru."

190 AD

Lingling, Shu

Shikamaru was thinking about when he met his sworn brothers and best friends.

It seemed so long ago… Yet it was only five years previous. What had started as an awkward relationship blossomed into platonic love and friendship that no one in China could keep up with.

At the moment, however, he and his sworn brothers, as well as Liu Bei and Cao Cao's armies were fighting in Lingling, Shu territory. They were fighting as the coalition against Dong Zhuo, the tyrant who ruled the land with cruelty.

They were to kill Dong Zhuo, and remove him from power. There were rumours, though, that Lu Bu was on the battlefield. Lu Bu was one of the greatest warriors in China, and hardly anyone could keep up in a one on one duel with him.

Deep in his thoughts, the Miao paused in his fighting for a second, a blank look on his handsome face.

However, that second was enough.

One of the captains from Dong Zhuo's army had snuck up behind him. Just as Shikamaru turned around and saw the man, the enemy grinned wickedly and brought the halberd down in a neat arc.

The general prepared for his death, but at the last second, one of his allies jumped in front of him and blocked the weapon off.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Miao? You're not in a tree; you're on the damn battlefield!" Gan Ning, a former pirate who joined the ranks of Wu, sneered at him, his sickle stopping the halberd from going any further. Despite Gan Ning's fierce exterior, the rescued general could tell the man was worried.

More recently, the top of the ranks general had spacing out at the wrong times.

Battles, meetings, duels…

It was worrying all his friends and sworn family, and it got worse when he got injured just two weeks into spacing out. They had been in a similar battle against Dong Zhuo, and the Miao had turned away from Lu Bu at the wrong moment.

That moment caused Lu Bu to see an opening and he took it.

Shikamaru had been hit three times in the chest, and then was treated to a harsh blow to the head which knocked him out. At the time, Sun Jian, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had also been fighting, and upon seeing their comrade being knocked down, their fury was directed at the mercenary. However, Lu Bu was clever, and didn't stick around long enough for the three to fight him until he bled.

The Miao had been treated by the best medics, but even then he didn't wake up until a week later. During that week, many of his friends had been mourning, and even Sun Shang Xiang and her friend, Tenten, had been crying for that week. When the general had finally woken up, everyone was so relieved.

However, afterwards, the Lady Wu, Sun Jian's wife, had kept him on such a short leash, it was unbearable.

He was fussed about by everyone, and wasn't allowed to do anything by himself. There were no battles for him, and everyone treated him like he was royalty.

He had hated it, which is why he tried to not be injured whatsoever. He hated the fuss. All he wanted was to sleep in trees and relax. With the few odd battles here and there. But he wasn't even allowed to go tree climbing!

From the looks of this battle, however, it seemed very few would be escaping without injury.

His thoughts trailed off again and he quickly dodged to the side as a spear wielder came charging towards him. Finishing the man off with one blow of his glaive, the Miao looked towards where he had last seen his sworn brothers.

At the start of the battle, they had been together, but then an ambush separated them and while Zhou Yu and Sun Ce fought one wave, Shikamaru was fighting another. The trio kept shooting looks to each other when they weren't being attacked, making sure they were okay. Last time the Miao had looked, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were taking on the captain of the wave, and from the looks of it, he was now dead and his troops were being slaughtered.

With a small smirk, the Miao turned back towards his own fight. With him were Gan Ning and a few troops. However, they were handling themselves well.

Concentrating on the battle once more, the general began to wipe out the forces that were against them now that the captain had been killed by the other general with him. They had wiped out half of them in five minutes, and Zhou Yu and Sun Ce looked to be clearing theirs up well.

Soon, they were done and heading back to the two other generals, Gan Ning and Shikamaru had to admit they were tired. However, they still had to defeat Dong Zhuo's general Ling Wei who was stationed in Lingling.

"You guys alright?" Sun Ce questioned once they had all caught their breath. Shikamaru nodded but Gan Ning frowned.

"Miao Shi'a spaced out again," He told them and Sun Ce's face suddenly looked worried while Zhou Yu's eyes gave away his own.

Shikamaru sighed. "We'll deal with that later. We have to get to Ling Wei for now,"

They all nodded, frowns still on their faces. They ran on, heading towards the fortress just a little over half a mile away.

Just outside of the fortress gates, however, they met with Ling Wei himself.

The man had a smirk on his face. Surrounding him were four captains who looked battle worn and experienced. They all had a gruff look about them, but they couldn't judge by appearance.

After all, Ding Feng was scary looking but he loved watching butterflies fly by.

All the generals and troops prepared themselves for the worst.

However, what the Dong Zhuo subordinate did wasn't prepared for.

The man smirked even more and raised his hand in the air.

They were confused for a minute, when the ground suddenly felt hot beneath Sun Ce's feet. He gasped at the intenseness when Miao and Zhou looked down. Their eyes widened.

The ground beneath their lord's son was cracking.

Glimpsing quickly at Ling Wei, Shikamaru leapt into action and tackled Sun Ce to the ground, just as the ground cracked completely and fire spouted out from the ground. Sun Ce's eyes widened at the display, before looking at his friend and nodding his thanks to him. Shikamaru nodded briefly before the two stood. The Miao frowned. He had an ache on the bottom of his back from where he had landed after tackling Sun Ce. He took the brunt of the fall, making sure his friend wasn't injured.

Upon seeing Sun Ce still alive and standing, Ling Wei sneered before commanding the captains around him to attack.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu got straight down to the point and made a plan. "We'll take one each. If one is defeated before another is down, help the one who is struggling the most," Zhou Yu then turned to Sun Ce. "If you finish yours off, go straight to Ling Wei." After their nods, they went to battle.

Shikamaru got stuck with one of the bigger ones who had small, puny eyes and wide hands. Grinning up at him, the Miao politely greeted him. "Hey. Have you been keeping up with the poetry?"

The captain roared and charged the Miao. The general dodged to the right before looking a little miffed. "Um. Maybe not then?"

The captain roared again and swung a giant fist towards the Wu general's head. He sighed before taking both his staff and glaive from his back. He swiftly went into a barrage of attacks on the captains, keeping an eye out for the others as well.

Zhou Yu, while an experienced fighter, seemed to be struggling. Sun Ce was already beating Ling Wei to a pulp while Gan Ning was about to defeat his own opponent.

Frowning slightly, the Miao turned just in time to receive a hit to the face. He tumbled back and fell onto his back, groaning in pain as pressure was put onto the forming bruise. Hearing the groan, both Gan Ning and Zhou Yu looked over, but Sun Ce continued to fight as he didn't hear his friend. Zhou Yu's eyes widened slightly, while Gan Ning quickly gave his foe a blow to the head which knocked him out instantly, in order to get to his friend.

However, the Miao didn't see most of this, because as soon as he was down, the captain he was fighting took the spear from his back and plunged it into the ground. Had Shikamaru not rolled over at that moment, he would be dead. Swinging himself up again, he took hold of his third weapon, a katana imported from the east and swung it at his opponent. As soon as he did, the man in front of him roared in pain, blood gushing from a thin slice across his chest. Looking annoyed the Miao swung the butt of the sword into the man's neck, knocking him out for good.

Turning back to Gan Ning and Zhou Yu – his opponent dead from the help of Gan Ning – he saw them gaping at him in surprise. He smirked at them. "I can handle myself, sometimes,"

However, the throbbing pain in his lower back said otherwise.

As they heard a gurgling sound and then a gasp, they turned to Ling Wei and Sun Ce. Dong Zhuo's subordinate was dead at Sun Ce's feet, who looked if anything really annoyed.

Turning back to his generals, his eyes widened and he rushed over to them, looking slightly scared.

"Are you guys alright? You know, okay? You guys are okay, right?" He rambled, making the others frown in worry.

"We're fine Sun Ce. Why wouldn't we be?" Zhou Yu questioned and their lord's son drew in a deep breath.

"Ling Wei… He kept taunting me. And then he pointed out one of you three were down and were about to be murdered. I was about to look, but then he distracted me…" He sighed. "I'm glad you guys are alright though,"

Both Gan Ning and Zhou Yu frowned at this. "Well… One of us did go down at one point," At this, Sun Ce's eyes widened and he looked between the men, checking for injuries. "But he recovered pretty quickly,"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine Sun Ce, no injury whatsoever," Sun Ce ran a critical eye over him before sighing.

"I should've known it'd be you… But at least you're alright," No, I'm not, The Miao wanted to tell them, but he never told anyone about his worries or injuries. No one knew how he felt.

At the moment, though, he felt like he was going to collapse from pain and fatigue.

"We better get back to Jiangdong, then. Tell father the good news," Sun Ce smiled at them all. They all smiled back, but for the injured, it felt like a grimace.

They set off, heading back to their main base where their supplies and horses were, three of them ready to get home and celebrate.

I must hold on, The Miao thought to himself. I must wait until I'm back at home before I collapse,

Shaking the thoughts away, the general followed his friends, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his back.