Naruto: The Retelling


In which Kakashi isn't the worst teacher in the world, and the characters we all love live differently. Follow the retelling of Naruto through Yukimura Nara, Shikamura Nara's twin.


Chapter 1: The Bonds That Tie

Shikamura paced up and down the hallway.

Making sure to avoid the double doors on his right because he couldn't stand the room on the other side. He wasn't the only one; Shibata was leaning against wall and so were a few dozen other people milling around. Shibata, his uncle, had agreed to watch over him while his mother waited inside the room for any news on his twin. On any other day Shikamura would have said "How troublesome."

He didn't tonight.

The walls of the hospital conference room were built to withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters, not the wails or screams that erupted when the occasional shinobi updated the list of survivors and deceased. Shikamura could feel his heart constrict every time the list updated, when his uncle would disappear only to come back shaking his head.

This was the reason why he left the room; the survivor list was hardly touched in the four hours since the list had been updated seven times. The wails were unbearable and just the deceased side was getting longer and longer.

Shikamura was quite proud to say that at 7-years old, he was doing a good job at not getting easily upset and so what if he needed to hide his face in his uncle's leg after each update was the same as the last, that not a single word had come through on if Yukimura Nara was found. He just wanted to know if his sister was okay.

Reports were scattered, rumors were abundant and changing with gossip as more and more people interacted and talked to each other. Shikamura wasn't really sure what was going on. But one common factor everyone agreed on was this:

An attack had occurred at the Uchiha compound.

Six hours ago Yukimura had been dropped off at Nemuri Uchiha's house.

It was going to the best sleepover ever.

Nemuri had invited her cousins and some of her academy friends. At first Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno and Yuki had hung closely together, not sure how to interact act with Nemuri's large group of cousins who had the advantage of familiarity and size.

Nail polish had soon ended that and the girls found themselves making new friends and enjoying the other planned activities.

It was going to the best sleepover ever.

Until the explosions started.

The eldest girls had been quick to react; they herded Yukimura, Ino, Sakura, Nemuri and two other cousins outside the house and towards a secret entrance for a bunker. The girls huddled together in the center of the room, surrounding them in a protective formation while two girls planned to venture outside the shelter to investigate.

The girls had only made it two steps before the door was slammed open and their bodies were ripped apart.

Yukimura would never be certain what happened. It was too traumatizing, too raw and so many things happened.

Heat from a bomb explosion touched her face.

Screams erupted.

Someone had grabbed her around the stomach and she was flying.

Flying over rooftops.

Metal clashed with metal.

Another explosion and she was falling through the sky.

Shikaku Nara leaned over the table that held all the blueprints of the Uchiha compound. Anbu had reported some kind of barrier that was preventing them from entering, but it wouldn't last forever. It was getting weaker through constant attacks; many elite jonin and Anbu weren't pulling any punches and when it fell dozens of squads were ready to go.

But is this going to make a difference?

Three hours after the attacks were initially reported, silence had befallen the area trapped within the barrier. Shinobi who had been trapped within were communicating with hand signs to give reports on the inside but their number had dwindled as more and more left to fight the intruder deep in the compound.

An Anbu squad was sent to retrieve the Hokage from his trade deal with a newly established village. The Konoha council had the village on lock down and were expecting a report from him and other the branches soon.

"The barrier has been taken down, squads 1 thru 4 are being sent in now. Medical teams are waiting for the first area to be cleared before entering."

"Acknowledge."

The radio message was meet with a chorus of cheers in the mission room. It was the best news of the night and Shikaku was glad to finally let his mind drift away from mission related tactics.

His daughter was somewhere in the northern section of the compound. Far from the center but close enough to the furthest wall at the edge of compound that it would be a few hours before any of the squads could advance to the area. Knowing the Uchiha, those old enough would have been drilled to take anyone chunin status and below, along with civilians towards evacuation shelters. Shikaku had been quick to spot one close to the house Yukimura would have been spending the night at.

Anbu captain Wolf had requested the immediate assistance of all teams after they had entered and Shikaku had given his approval as jonin commander. Several hours passed before restlessness developed. What was taking the first response team so long to report? Ultimately, it was a pale-faced Iruka Umino who delivered the news that the inhabitants within Uchiha compound had been utterly slaughtered.

Survivors were far and few in between, many under some kind of genjutsu that left its victims chakra exhausted, unable to walk and disoriented. Support teams had been quick to secure the complex, and under the council's order, only jonin status and above were to help with anything to do with tonight's mission. The leaders of the Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga had been contacted and those clansmen able would be arriving shortly to quickly expedite the process along. Konoha's humidity at night will only spread disease and endanger those trapped in the genjutsu.

Holy fucking shit.

This—This was not what Shikaku had been expecting to hear.

This is… this is a nightmare.

Shikaku only allowed himself one uneasy frustrated sigh. Until otherwise told, he was going to believe his daughter was alive. He had people counting on him for team deployments and his mind was already going through the list of people he needed to wake at this late hour in addition to figuring out where he needed to place the clan members.

He needed to think about anything other then the image of his daughter's back when he dropped her off for a sleepover.

When Yukimura woke up in a hospital bed weak, exhausted and her arm in a cast, she had no idea what was going on.

People of all shapes and sizes kept bombarding her with questions about if she remembered what happened at the Uchiha compound. Did she remember breaking her arm? What was she doing so close to the center of the Uchiha compound? On and on the questions went and Yuki just wanted them all to go away.

No, she didn't remember what happened.

But she did want her mom and dad.

She didn't know how she broke her arm.

She wanted to go home.

No, She didn't have any effects from the genjutsu.

And she didn't understand why she couldn't leave.

And that was the way things progressed all day. She wasn't allowed to leave her hospital room. A guard stood outside and no matter how much she tried to stir any kind of conversation, he would not reply.

It was during her dinner did things start to look up.

"Yukimura-chan?"

It wasn't the man she wanted to see, her disappointed sigh had surprised her but Yuki did her best to give Ino's dad her best smile. I just want to go home, thought the seven-year-old as she stabbed her food and watched Inoichi Yamanaka take a seat next to her bed.

"I'm sorry it's taken this long, it's been a nightmare trying to get all of your friends and anyone your age's paperwork processed so you can go home. If it helps, Ino hasn't been home since this all started either."

Which was four days ago.

To say that Yukimura was unhappy was an understatement. Inoichi had been the primary person that asked her questions about that night, he guided her through her official statement, always encouraging and patient when she stumbled on her oral report while another shinobi had written her statement down.

Ino's Dad had also been the one to tell her what happened the night of the sleepover.

Only those who had no relation to the clan had been left alive and fellow classmate Sasuke Uchiha was now the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan. It was the morning of the second day and Yuki had spent it sobbing, mourning the loss of Nemuri, crying herself to sleep and talking with a trauma specialist.

"I'm here to say that you are now cleared and I'm going to escort you to the conference room to meet your family."

Yuki had scrabbled off the bed, food tray long forgotten and nearly slammed into the door when the words she had been waiting days to hear were finally spoken. Inoichi looked amused, but Yukimura honestly didn't care because she was finally going home!

"Let's go!"

Shikamura knocks her to the ground before she sees him.

There are tears, laughter and even her mother's usual scolding is half hearted as their father scoops the both of them off the ground and hugs tightly.

Things had changed since the hospital.

Yukimura had been foolish to think everything would still be the same. Nothing could have prepared her of the realization that the massacre really happened then when she noticed the number of students and teachers missing.

No, not missing. Dead.

The Hokage himself had spent a day at the school while Yukimura was in the hospital, personally addressing the killings. All of her classmates had taken a crash course on traumatic events; it was rough, having been quickly put together at the last minute. However, veteran shinobi volunteers helped smooth out any edges when the teachers ran into problems.

Students knew not to ask about that night.

Even with all this, it didn't stop the stares or whispers from her classmate.

What happened was horrible but Yukimura didn't remember anything. Ino, Sakura and herself had even met up to try and figure out what happened. Nights had been wasted trying to figure out anything that occurred after Nemuri had brought out the nail polish, but she couldn't and neither could any of the girls. After a month of trying, Yuki stopped all efforts when Sasuke was finally allowed to come back to school.

Everyone stopped asking about that night when he came back.

The pessimistic and gloomy attitude was a complete turn around from the cheerful and charismatic person everyone knew.

"Mom, can I have an extra bento?"

Yukimura dips her head a little and thinks of the time Shikamura had broken her favorite doll. She knows it's a long shot, but Yukimura isn't ashamed of bringing out the water works. She takes a small sip of her orange juice to hide her smile at the performance.

"Oh, is it for someone you like?"

Yuki chokes on her drink and pounds on her chest to clear the air. Her mother's grin lifts higher, eyes glowing with amusement. Shikamura merely gives Yuki a glance before continuing on with his breakfast.

"Troublesome," he murmurs.

Wow. Thanks for the help Shika.

Immediately, Yuki splutters out something like denial in the voice that's higher in pitch and vainly tries to deal the deathblow to whatever theory her mother is currently fabricating in her head.

A single raised eyebrow and a smirk is her mother's response.

When the bell rang to signal lunch at the academy, Yukimura stops Kiba Inuzuka and Choji Akimichi from sitting down.

"There's a new spot I want to try!"

The boys grumble but they follow her and Shikamura away from their usual spot near the playground to a tree next to the stonewall surrounding the academy. They pick up Naruto Uzumaki midway to their destination and listen to his retelling of a funny incident that occurred last night at the orphanage.

When they reach the giant cherry bloom tree, Yuki places her extra bento near the lone figure already there.

"My mom had some extra food leftovers and said I should give it to anyone who might've forgotten one. Our group's gonna be right over there if you want to join us."

Sasuke doesn't acknowledge anything she said. He keeps his knees tucked in and stares off at the distance, only the barest movements of his face and tightening of his fingers let's Yukimura know he heard her.

She walks back to her group and aside from the new location; it's business as usual for the seven-year olds as the group discusses whether to play ninjas vs. samurais or tag; Shikamura votes for cloud watching but everyone ignores him.

For the all of the stigma that surrounds her family, Yuki isn't sure how the Nara clan ended up getting labeled laid back and easygoing. She has an inkling it's due to her father's actions as head of the entire Nara clan. Although she and her fraternal twin don't break the mold, they don't exactly slack off at home. As potential heirs to become leaders for the Nara clan, Shikaku hadn't let their time before the academy gone just to play time.

Of all the lessons she had to endure, the one area that had peaked Yuki's interest was social interactions. While her brother was an untapped intellectual prodigy, and Shikamura preferred to keep it that way—because anything that inferred with cloud watching wasn't worth it—, her parents secretly push him through various mental training exercises disguised as games. It never bothered Yuki to know that Shikamura was smarter then her. Not when Yukimura can read people like an open book.

She had always thought it was normal, being able to tell what a person could be thinking and how they felt by just their stance, facial expressions and what ever clues their current outfit held.

"That man is lying."

A beggar had caught Yukimura's attention and his actions had caused her to pause in an evening walk with her father. Her father hadn't understood at first but he was patient in getting her attention back and asking the right questions to figure out what caused his five-year old to stop in the middle of the street.

She explained how the beggar's outfit looked prefect at a glance. Expect the man's hair lacked the greasy appearance as the other homeless people in the area, how his hands and feet seemed well cared for in contrast to the aging appearance of his sandals and finger gloves, and the way his face would change when people would give him change.

She saw how his face would appear kind and hopeful and shift towards malicious and deceit. Her father had been impressed enough to confront the man and confirm what Yukimura had said. Which lead to her own specialized training whenever they went out in public for their evening walks around the Nara compound.

On the first day Sasuke came back to school, her mind had been hit with sensory overload by just looking at him. He was a walking contradiction, everything he said was the opposite of what he really wanted. His sharp words pushed people away but she noticed the way his mouth tugged further downwards when no one challenged him.

How he isolated himself during lunch and break but kept shifting his head to state at the playground when he thought no one was watching. After a week of paying close attention to Sasuke, it was Shikamura who prompted her into action.

"So are we going to watch clouds today or are we going to do something about what you're reading from Sasuke?"

Yukimura knew brother like the back of her hand and for Shikamura to push her to do something meant she was letting this affect her more then usual.

"Yeah," She said tentatively. " I need your help if this will work but here's my idea…"

And that was how they spend the rest of their afternoon. Pouring over Shikamura's pamphlets that detailed how to deal with survivors of traumatic events; coming up with ideas and plans. Yuki was glad that Shika had attempted some kind of note taking. He rarely did but she's certain it was only because she was in the hospital and no one knew how much she had seen the night of the murders.

As much as Yuki wanted to go with the highly imaginative plan that involved sealing scrolls, ramen and the Nara family forest; Shikamura had convinced her to go with a much simpler plan. Sasuke pushed people away but he didn't mind people who kept attempting to talk to him, which were only teachers at this point.

So the twins both agreed that if they tried to get him involved with whatever their group of schoolmates did, maybe Sasuke would start to loosen up. It hadn't escaped anyone's notice that the Uchiha hardly brought his lunch anymore and it was the prefect starting point.

It takes two months, dozens of wasted bentos, and a full explanation to both their parents before Sasuke sits down with the group to eat his bento. Naruto and Kiba slightly pause in their argument about the latest Unlucky Princess movie, giving Sasuke a shocked face before going back to their squabble when Choji suggests the princess should just give up her title.

Shikuka had made it a point to get across that their classmate wasn't a puzzle to be solved. Sasuke was a human and what they were really doing at heart was kind but they had to be slow about it.

He doesn't always sit with them but by the time the spring semester is nearing its end Sasuke has integrated himself in the group.


Author's Note:

Thanks for reading y'all!

We're gonna spend a little bit more time more at the academy before we hit the start of the manga. Some heavy hitters make an appearance and everyone's favorite teacher get's the ball rolling.