Watching the Clouds
It was another beautiful Friday morning in the Hidden Leaf village of Konoha. You could tell it was summer by the sound of chirping Cicadas which filled the muggy morning air. Every man, woman, and ninja in the village enjoy the peace that had recently befallen the village…well, except for one.
"Damn Cicadas…"
An annoyed Shikamaru Nara lay in his bed with both hands clasped behind his head. Boy, did he hate summer. Maybe it was the screeching insects, the uncomfortable heat, or Lady Tsunade's new Kunoichi summer uniforms, but something about this season frustrated Shikamaru.
'How annoying' he thought to himself.
Shikamaru rose from his futon and stretched his arms out wide. After a grueling four-day stretch of missions and reports, the 16-year old ninja was finally awarded a day off by Lady Tsunade. A day free of work and responsibilities was well-overdue as Shikamaru did more in a day than most Chunin do in a week.
Shikamaru had it all planned out too.
Yesterday night, he spent nearly five hours calculating the perfect way to spend his free day. Shikamaru remained in deep thought as he meditated –legs crossed and finger-tips connected in his typical fashion. Every possible option, scenario, and variable was calculated and taken into account. The young ninja computed time, cost, and the all-important energy output into his thought process. He mathematically computed the entertainment value of each ninja in the village and performed a regression analysis based on his location versus their assigned value. He thought up a geometric plane of the entire village and calculated the exact route he'd take to get the most out of his day.
After all analyzing all the formulas, computing the equations and calculations, Shikamaru arrived at a decision. He determined that watching the clouds pass through the blue sky would be his activity of choice for the day. Coming in a close second was 'watching paint dry' followed by 'watching the grass grow.' He figured he didn't need that much excitement on a Friday afternoon, so the clouds would have to suffice.
Shikamaru took his time in folding the bed sheets while he thought of the days events. He dressed in his same old clothes, used the same old hair tie, and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
The Nara household was as simple in its design as the ninja which inhabited it. Yoshino Nara stood at the stove working at frying pan while Shikaku Nana sat cross-legged on a cushion – smoking a pipe while reading the Konoha Post-Gazette. Not a word was exchanged between his two parents as they were completely absorbed with their respective tasks. Shikamaru entered the room and greeted his father.
"'Morning, pops" he said casually.
"Oh, Shikamaru." His father said between puffs of smoke.
"You have the day off, yet you're already up at this hour?"
Shikamaru sat on a cushion across from his father while he waited for his breakfast. He inhaled some smoke from Shikaku's pipe as he sat down.
"Sleeping late disturbs my body's rhythm, so I had no choice," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Plus, I already made plans for the day."
With the pipe hanging out of his mouth, Shikaku said something Shikamaru couldn't quite make out, the younger ninja sighed and dropped the conversation.
Not a moment passed before Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino, entered the room carrying a tray filled with many breakfast foods. She greeted Shikamaru and then proceeded to distribute the dishes around the table.
From the tray, Yoshino placed the following in front of Shikamaru: a bowl of plain white rice, two pieces of un-buttered toast, an unsalted grilled fish, and a glass of water.
"Shikamaru dear, I made all of your favorite foods for breakfast," she said with a smile.
The young ninja looked over his meal. True to what Yoshino said, the dishes before him were in fact among his favorites. Everything looked good, that is, until he noticed something peculiar about the toast.
"Mother, you didn't cut the crust off before toasting this bread," Shikamaru said, a little annoyed. He let out a sigh of exasperation and murmured the next part quietly, but loud enough to catch Yoshino's ear:
"Crust is so troublesome"
Shikamaru's words lingered in the air as the room went silent for nearly fifteen seconds. Shikaku stopped smoking on his pipe and looked at his son in astonishment. Yoshino had just placed her own food on the table, and sat down to eat. Her pink apron was clearly soiled; indicating the amount of energy and work that went into preparing breakfast for the family.
Shikamaru had no idea of what he started, so he cracked his chopsticks and got started on the bowl of rice.
"Itadakimasu."
Shikaku looked over at his wife. Her left eye began twitching ever so slightly – a clear sign of Shikamaru's impending doom. Not good. Shikaku nervously gulped and desperately tried to think of something, anything, to save his son from his mother's wrath.
"So…erm…son…" Shikaku began. "I-i-isn't your mother's cooking great?"
Shikamaru brought the bowl of rice from his face and gazed at his father. He swallowed the food and put both the bowl and chopsticks on the table.
"The rice is too hard," he casually stated.
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and then added the next part, "but at least it's edible."
Realizing all hope had been lost, Shikaku picked up his newspaper and continued to read as if nothing happened.
Yoshino's ears twitched as she picked up on what Shikamaru said. She slowly rose to her feet from her place across the table, and began walking toward her son.
"Oh, Shikamaru, the crust is troublesome?" she stated in a soft, low voice. She walked to where Shikamaru was sitting and knelt down close to him.
"And the rice is too hard?" her voice grew increasingly shaky with each word.
Before the young ninja realized what was happening, Yoshino grabbed the plate of toast and threw it as hard as she could against the wall. The plate exploded upon contact which sent the two pieces of toast flying in different directions. Shikamaru's eyes widened as his mother reached for the bowl of rice in front of him. She picked the bowl up and hurled it clear across the room – connecting with a family portrait before shattering into dozens of pieces.
"TROUBLESOME? YOU WANT TROUBLESOME?!?"
Yoshino screamed all sorts of obscenities at Shikamaru. Sensing the dangerous situation, Shikaku quickly formed seven hand symbols while focusing on his wife. At once his shadow combined with the shadows created by the table, cushions, and the surrounding furniture. The group of shadows formed a line from Shikaku to Yoshino's shadow – restraining her arms, legs, and body in place.
Shikamaru was terrified.
'What had gotten into that woman?' he thought. He didn't say anything negative about her and he had paid special attention not to mention her weight (he learned that lesson last week). He did remember reading a book a few years ago which described the emotional change in women that occurred every month. Surely, that had to be the reason why his mother was freaking out before him. If only he could remember the word for it…
"Shi…ka…ma..ruuu!!!"
Yoshino struggled to break free from the shadows which held her in place. Her husband felt his control over her slipping as he strained to stretch what little shadows were afforded to him by the morning sun.
"Now you've done it, Shikamaru," his father said – pipe still in mouth.
Shikamaru rose from the floor and backpedaled away from Yoshino. He stood above his father in such a way that his body blocked the sunlight coming in through the window. Shikamaru added his shadow to that of his father's. The combined shadows thickened the line and increased Shikaku's control over his raging wife.
"What a pain…" he said as he placed his hands in his pockets. They were shaking.
Yoshino's rage ignited upon hearing her son's lethargic comments. Shikaku once again felt his control waiver, so he turned to his son and issued the following,
"Shikamaru, there is an envelope filled with Yen in the third drawer to the right of the stove," his father began.
"Take that envelop, and go to the Yamanaka Florist shop. Pick up two plates, one bowl, and some flowers for your mother."
Shikamaru frowned at the thought of doing an errand on his day off. He planned on watching the clouds all day in the mountains, and this task only got in the way. The young ninja took one look at his mother, and determined a trip to the flower shop didn't seem so bad.
He walked over to the kitchen and sure enough, there was an envelop of money exactly where Shikaku had said.
'Hmph, that old man sure is something,' he thought with a smirk.
Shikamaru walked toward the door to put his sandals on. It wasn't long until he began thinking about the task at hand. His started his mental calculations once more – figuring the shortest route to the shop, how to avoid any troublesome requests from villagers, and most importantly the quickest way from the flower shop to his favorite cloud-gazing spot in the mountains. As grabbed hold of the door, one more thought crossed his mind.
'Why did Pops want me to buy two plates instead of…'
Shikamaru didn't have time to finish his thought as his instinctively ducked. He looked down at his feet only to find the remains of an oval-shaped plate and an unsalted grilled fish on the floor. Yoshino had broken the shadow jutsu.
"SHIKA-MARU!" she yelled in between pants.
He frantically turned on his heel and ran as ran out of the house like a bat out of hell.
After running for what seemed like miles, Shikamaru stopped to catch his breath.
"Crazy woman."
For as smart as he was, Shikamaru simply did not understand women. He was a very rational thinker who calculated his every move. Naturally he expected the same from people in return; however he was quickly learning that not everyone saw the world as he did.
Shikamaru caught his breathe before realizing just how far he ran. He found himself in on the outskirts of the village square.
Open-air shops lined both sides of the dirt path he traveled along. Shopkeepers rang bells to promote their goods while young children and adults walked in each and every direction. Shikamaru disliked crowed places, so he picked up his pace and walked a little faster. The quicker he finished this errand, the sooner he could start his day of relaxation and cloud-gazing.
Before long, the young ninja reached his destination – the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Shikamaru noticed two large flower pots on either side of the entrance which had not been there before. He had become quite familiar with the flower shop over the years, mostly because he had stopped there so often to pick up Ino Yamanaka, the third member of the former Team Asuma.
Shikamaru parted the two cloths in front of the open door and entered the shop.
"Oh, Shikamaru," a familiar voice called out to him.
"What brings you here today?"
Shikamaru looked up and noticed his old friend standing behind the counter. Ino wore a rather revealing green top, one which bore an eerie resemblance to the one Lady Tsunade made famous around the village. All Kunoichi in the village wore the same low-cut green summer blouse – one of Tsunade's first mandates as Hokage.
"Yo…Ino," he said, careful not to make eye contact with her.
"Where do you keep the ceramic plates?"
She pointed Shikamaru to a wall filled with all sorts of pottery, ceramics, and dishes. As her arm rose to point, her bazooms jiggled freely under the loose constraints of her summer 'uniform.' Ino seemed used to it though, and didn't think anything of it.
"What a pain," Shikamaru muttered under his breast, I mean, breath.
(A/N: Couldn't help myself there )
He selected the plates and bowl and then carefully placed them on the counter. He turned to Ino, who was behind the counter taking inventory and signaled he was ready to pay. She wobbled over to the counter to complete the transaction.
"So I hear you have the day off," she politely began.
"Any plans?"
"Well, nothing out of the ordinary," he replied.
After inspecting one of the plates on the counter, Ino referred to a price list on a clip board and wrote a number down on the receipt. She did the same for the other plate and the bowl and then added the three numbers together.
"Anything else?" she asked him.
Feeling his stomach rumble, Shikamaru realized that he hadn't had anything to eat since his mother made short work of breakfast. He noticed a jar of crystallized rock candy sitting on the counter, so he pulled two of the sticks out and set them down next to the plates.
"These two," he added.
"OK, with the two pieces of rock candy, your total comes to Ұ3100."
Shikamaru pulled out the envelope his father gave him and began to count the money inside.
'Exactly Ұ3100…as expected of my father.'
He popped one piece of candy into his mouth and paid Ino for the dishware. She wrapped his purchase, thanked her former partner and waved goodbye as the young ninja left the shop.
With the plates in hand and the errand completed, Shikamaru finally had the day to himself. As he stood outside the shop, he noticed the shadows of the rocks which lined the entrance to the florist. Shikamaru noticed the shadows were cast at about a 30 degree angle which meant it was 1:26pm in the afternoon. He hadn't even had breakfast and his day was more than halfway done. A little frustrated, Shikamaru started walking to the mountains for some much needed rest and relaxation.
Shikamaru continued walking through the village on his way to his favorite cloud-gazing spot. He regretted the time he lost, but what was done is done. He still had time to watch the clouds, as the warm sun was still hidden behind the puffy clouds of white.
As Shikamaru walked down the street, he noticed a large crowd gathered in a circle in front of the street shops. He counted and saw 30 people standing in front of Ichiraku's ramen shop – blocking the narrow road which leads to the mountains. Irritated, he pressed through the circle – fully intending to walk by whatever 'problem' created so much commotion inside the circle.
After pushing and shoving his way through, part of him wanted to glance over to see what caused so much fuss in the first place. Nothing could prepare Shikamaru for what he saw in the middle of the circle. He noticed a shredded orange jumpsuit. He saw the peeling combination of flesh and skin. He saw the red, bubbling chakra surrounding the boy's body. He saw tails. More than anything else, he saw Naruto, and he was about five minutes away from transforming and destroying the entire village.
"Naruto!"
Shikamaru dropped his bags to the ground and raced toward his companion. He looked around to see what on earth could have caused this reaction in his friend. There were no apparent signs of danger anywhere and no suspicious levels of chakra in the area.
"Naruto, what's wrong?!?"
Shikamaru knelt down in front of Naruto. He tried to place his hand on his friend's back, but the intense red chakra had already covered the young boy's body. He pulled his hand away while he attempted to reason with the Jinchuuriki.
"Shi-ka…maru…" Naruto said through a deep, unstable voice.
"Help…me."
Out of fear for the situation, Shikamaru pulled out kunai from his back pocket and stood alert in case whatever got to Naruto decided to come back again. The surrounding villagers saw the concern in Shikamaru's face and ran away almost hysterically.
"Where is it, Naruto?" Shikamaru frantically pleaded in desperation to find the catalyst for the transformation.
'What on earth could have Naruto so fired up?' he thought to himself.
Still holding onto his sanity, Naruto found the will to growl the following words to Shikamaru. He raised a finger and pointed to something standing behind Shikamaru.
"Behind…you."
Kunai in hand, Shikamaru spun around to see what was the cause of all this commotion. In front of him, there was a sign for Ichiraku's ramen. The price was for the house special was crossed off in black ink and marked up an additional Ұ200.
At once, Shikamaru completely understood the situation.
"Naruto, did old man Ichiraku raise his ramen prices?"
"GUAAAAHHH!!"
A loud shriek from the tailed-beast confirmed Shikamaru's suspicions. The blond ninja's skin and hair had completely peeled off and the third tail had manifested itself entirely. Naruto's uncontrolled fury caused his chakra to fluctuate wildly. One of the tails lashed out – completely destroying a small fruit shop adjacent to the ramen store. Naruto continued to grow in size. More of the Kyuubi's chakra took over the small boy's body as he appeared to be halfway between human and demon fox.
"Damnit," Shikamaru spat out bitterly.
If Naruto continued transforming at this rate, there may not be any clouds to watch.
Shikamaru had to act, and do so very quickly. He remembered the scroll Kakashi gave to him a long time ago during one of their missions. Should the Nine-tails emerge and Kakashi or ___ be unavailable to restrain Naruto, the scroll contained a suppressant spell for the Kyuubi's chakra. The spell would temporarily stop the transformation until someone of higher rank could properly handle the situation.
Shikamaru reached for the scroll located on his vest pocket and unraveled it to the ground. Without wasting any time, he rapidly fired off fifteen hand signals and pressed his palm to the middle of the scroll. The symbol in the middle of the scroll glowed before the whole thing disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
The spell's effect took place almost instantly. Naruto stopped growing in size and all four of his legs became fastened to the ground. His tails, however, were another story. All three tails violently thrashed around in the air – destroying several buildings in the enclosed space - including the roof of Ichiraku's ramen shop. Shikamaru observed as the small shop's front was reduced to a jumbled pile of wood and straw.
'What a pain' he remarked to himself.
Shikamaru needed to contain Naruto until a special ANBU squad could be assembled to deal with the tailed beast. He ran in front of the stationary beast, formed seven familiar hand signals himself and uttered the words, "Shadow Binding Technique." At once, the shadows created by various objects joined together and wrapped around all three of Naruto's tails.
It took a tremendous amount of chakra to hold Naruto in place. Even with only three tails, the Kyuubi proved to be more than a challenge for Shikamaru. The powerful demon fox struggled to break free, yet Shikamaru's shadow technique was too much for it to overcome.
Shikamaru held the technique for two hours. Evidently, Kakashi and Yamato were sent somewhere far away on a mission and it took some time for word to reach them – let alone making the return trip back to the Hidden Leaf Village. Just when Shikamaru felt himself running out of Chakra, the sound of an all-too-familiar voice greeted him.
"Sealing technique!"
Yamato, Hatake Kakashi, along with his trusty companion Pak-kun, arrived on the scene and not a moment too soon. Shikamaru's shadows disappeared as the young ninja dropped to his knees in exhaustion. Yamato wasted little time setting up the ritual together with Kakashi, they sealed away the demon fox. Naruto shrunk back to regular size, his 15-year-old body completely burned, passed out…and naked.
Yamato took the naked Naruto on his shoulder and carried him off for medical treatment. Kakashi stayed back to check on Shikamaru, who was slipping in and out of consciousness.
"You really pushed yourself hard today," Kakashi said through his mask.
"If it wasn't for you, the entire village may have been destroyed."
"Sheesh," Shikamaru said while he clenched his chest in pain.
"Today was supposed to be my free day," he coughed out, "…but so much for that."
Shikamaru made a mental note to himself: kill Naruto.
"Well it's a good thing you were around," Pak-kun added, "otherwise we wouldn't have a village to come back to."
Shikamaru smiled and made an unsuccessful attempt to stand to his feet. He stumbled to his feet before crashing down to the ground with a thud. Completely out of chakra, Shikamaru fell to his back, arms outstretched and drained of energy.
"How troublesome," he managed to say in between breaths.
From his back, the last images he saw were the puffy white clouds as they passed through the clear summer sky.