I came up with a new story! I have a big crush on this Nara guy and always wanted to write a story with Shikamaru. Since i CANNOT bear to see Shikamaru with anyone, i decided to create my own OC for him! Such possessive fangirl I am... *facepalming on my own immaturity*
Disclaimer: Naruto was never mine nor it will be. It's Kishimoto's. Except for the characters that you don't recognize from Naruto-verse are mine creation.
Life after the fourth Shinobi war….is not as peaceful as everybody think it would be. Of course the real threat 'Madara' and hell of new emerging characters from legends were eliminated by none other than Naruto and Sasuke. That was what written in the final report collected from various Shinobis spread out at the entire war zone.
The Shinobi alliance still continued to work after the war. In a way, one can say that peace and harmony has descended upon the five elemental countries. There was no effete tension or strenuous relationships between the hidden villages or the countries. Civilians were looking forward to the peace treaties and new forming organization under the same name, whose motto was continue this peaceful time and to prevent any remote possibility of another war.
The end of the fourth war marked an important point in all of the lives. It was hard, but not impossible to reconstruct the daily lives of civilians and Shinobis. Everybody helped. For the first time, there was no boundaries called Konohagakure, Kumogakure, or Amegakure, etc. the life toll resultant of the war had spread all over. It look a while but eventually everybody did stood up on their feet. But the evil never stops just because somebody is struggling to set up their lives back on the wheels. Many petty thieves, robbers, and in some cases assassins, struck upon the given chance of haywire lives. It was these ever growing number of cases and not the 'Madara' big case, will I count under tedious and ever irksome part of my job.
Hence, and I'll again say, Life after fourth Shinobi war is not as peaceful as everybody think it would be.
The same office. Hokage's. The shinobi in the typical green vest stood in front of the desk full of papers, files and what nots. Somewhere behind it, was the Fifth Hokage, going through the recent delivered report by the present young man. The tired creases due to all the extra working hours was evident on her forehead.
"…"
"You know what, I'll finish it later." Tsunade said as she quickly flipped the pages till the end and cast it away. The dark bags under her eyes clearly showed how much she was tired. With an exasperated sigh and rubbing her hands over her face to wipe off any creeping sleep and tiredness, she said, "Why don't you go ahead and take a day off. After that mission, a break is much needed. You did a good work, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru sighed at the sound of a 'break'. A sigh of relief. It had been long since he had a 'me' time, a relaxing midday with nothing to do but watch the clouds go by. He definitely needed this break.
"A day off, not bad."
With a poof of smoke, a shadow appeared beside Shikamaru, drawing both of their attention from their conversation straight away. As the smoke thinned, it revealed a human silhouette, kneeled at one knee as one hand placed lightly on the floor beside and the other clutching a scroll. Instead of a face, it was adorned with an animated mask. Anbu, was Shikamaru's first thought.
"Hokage sama."
The voice ringed like a clear, piercing sound. It had the confidence with respect directed toward the current Hokage. The voice made an impact on the genius young man. He couldn't help but notice the appearance of the Anbu in front. Though it hardly gave away any subtleties. It was the standard Anbu mask, the standard Anbu armor, with a finish of Tanto at the back. He also couldn't help but notice a deep long gash along the length of her arm, old enough to be seen the redness of it with the naked eye.
"Ah… yes. The situation…" Tsunade murmured.
Reading the situation, Shikamaru said nothing but bowed slightly and receded. He knew very well when a situation demands secrecy. As he opened the door to walk out he left a comment proceeding their half-finished conversation.
"You should take that advice of your's too. It seems you are in much need of a break than me."
Tsunade gave away a tired smirk at him as he walked out of the visible frame. "Sure. Wanna take my place and work while I rest?"
Many days passed. The incident soon became an interesting memory for him even though still, sometimes, he finds himself remembering that moment when he heard her voice.
'What is the probability that I might have seen her face in this village at least one time without me noticing it?'
'Taking into consideration the number of Shinobi and their mission colliding with each other, I'd say next to none.'
'Plus, I'm not that social to be meeting with new people every now and then. No, that would be a drag. It would be one hell of a coincidence if I had ever came face to face with her.'
The current mission had kept him busy for a long stretch of time. Visiting the fire country palace and interacting with pretentious noble men was too much of energy consuming task even for regular people let alone Shikamaru. Even though he had done this 'business trip' a few times before, he still hadn't got used to all the opulent style of living. It was a whole of three day journey for his team to finally reach their village, Konohagakure, from the palace. A sigh escaped through Shikamaru's mouth as he continued leaping toward his destination through the thick forest. Ah, what wouldn't he give to have a lazy afternoon alongside a cup of hot tea?
Just the image of small home comfort made his steps to go faster. The sudden increase in speed at the last day of their return journey, made the other members of his team exchange looks of confusion.
"Its strange to see Nara sempai this enthuse even after almost three days of journey." Inoue Hisagi murmured to his fellow teammate, Nagisa, with a look of admiration and respect toward their team leader.
"…I'm pretty sure he just want this mission to be over as soon as possible." She said, quite confidently. "If he was a part of this conversation, he would be saying, 'What a drag.' right about now." And mimicked an uncanny expression of him.
"but believe me, even after expressing his bothersome demeanor, he brings finesse to his every mission."
"If you have finished mimicking me, could you step up your speed. We are almost there." Shikamaru's voice made them jolt up with surprise. 'When did he receded the gap between us?!'
Nagisa rolled her eyes, "You are only saying this because somehow you are motivated to reach the village as soon as possi–"
"Oh! Look, we are already here!" Hisagi motioned toward the large entry gates of Konoha, peeking from the slight gaps between the foliage.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, the team relaxed and slowed their pace.
"Home sweet home…" Hisagi sighed as he slowly stretched his muscly arms above his head with a loud yawn.
"Every time…" Nagisa shook her head. "Is this environment that sleep inducing to you? Just a moment ago you were so up and about. Either way, we still have report to deliver to Hokage sama."
Hisagi pouted, showing his disappointment but Shikamaru cut him off before he had a chance to show his antics. "There is no point in going together." He took a deep sigh. "It's team leader's duty to deliver the report to Hokage. You two go and have rest. It's been a long mission."
Ambling down the familiar roads of Konoha, Shikamaru took his own time to reach the Hokage's office. 'We are almost on time with the mission, there is no need to rush in for the report.'
Not long after, he recognized his former team 10, coming towards him. Gesturing a small wave of his hand for acknowledgement, he greeted them.
"Shikamaru!"
"When did you return back from the mission?"
"Just now. Making my way towards Hokage for the report. What about you two?" He answered.
"We were heading towards a common direction. Dad wants my assistance and Ino…she was called in the interrogation office for some…" Chouji looked towards Ino to complete the information. "I have some data to go flip through." She waved non-importantly. Shikamaru nodded in understanding.
"Why don't we meet at evening for dinner! It will be like old days. It's been quite some time since we got together and had a laugh." Chouji suggested, while he laughed sheepishly.
Chouji was right. These days, with all the workload, they rarely get any time to spend together. "Yeah. Sounds good." Shikamaru agreed.
"Great! We'll meet at our regular place." Promising to meet later, they went their own directions. Shikamaru reached the main office building and headed up for the meeting with the Hokage. He was about to reach the office, he heard 'the voice' again.
Hearing the same voice once again, even though distant, made him somehow excited. He keenly reached out and knocked on the Hokage's door two times and pushed it open. Much to his disappointment, he was only able to catch a glimpse of black hair with the same silhouette fading into a poof of smoke.
'Damn. Missed it by seconds.'
Tell me, how did you like it so far?!