"Maan, why do we have to go this far into the clan grounds, just to teach me a new technique, dad?" Shikamaru Nara grumbled to his father as the two of them slowly made their way deeper into the Nara forest.
"You're seventeen years old now son, it's about time I told you about the scroll of forbidden Jutsu, so that you know why the scroll was considered forbidden in the first place" his father replied, not once breaking stride. "Oh, as for why so deep into the forest, I'm sure you can guess why, now" he added.
"Seems a little paranoid to me" Shikamaru shrugged "who would know - let alone, want - to eavesdrop on us?" he reasoned.
Sighing, the tired father answered "When matters of the clan are involved, caution and discretion will always be necessary, you know this" he admonished.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it" Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head in irritation. "I just wish we didn't have to go quite so far in, it's too troublesome" he grumbled.
"That's fine, we're here anyway" Shikaku announced as they came into a clearing nestled deep within the thick trees of their forest.
"A privacy ward" Shikamaru glanced at his father, skepticism evident in his eyes "is this really that important?" he asked, watching the man perform a few seals, triggering a hazy green wave that suddenly surrounded the clearing before disappearing just as quickly.
Giving a satisfied nod at the success of his Jutsu, Shikaku sat down, cross legged, in the middle of the grassy clearing. "If you're done asking obvious questions now, come sit down" he ordered.
Never one to find a reason for not relaxing, Shikamaru quickly obliged, plopping down onto his back but still crossing his legs, staring up at the clouds, since the dense canopy of trees along the way prevented him from doing so earlier on 'is it possible to go through cloud withdrawal?' he mused, smiling at the absurdity of such a thing.
"As I was saying" Shikaku began, interrupting his son's reverie. "As my heir, and thus an automatic candidate for head of Clan, you have to be told about the ways our Jutsu in particular have been applied by non-clan members" he stated.
"Head of clan, candidate? The responsibility isn't passed down from father to son?"
"Well, it always has been, but your cousin is vying for the position now, claiming that you won't be suitable for the job" the man responded, laying down as well, using his arms as a cushion for his head while he too gazed at the clouds.
"Man" Shikamaru articulated. "That sucks. How will the head be decided now?" he queried.
"Physical prowess, Jutsu mastery and then a poll" the older Nara answered.
"Well, don't you have all three of those?" the teen hazarded.
"Of course I do" Shikaku scoffed. "The one being questioned is you" the father sighed.
"Oh, yeah."
"My sentiments exactly" the patriarch agreed.
"So that's why we're really here then, to brush up on my Jutsu?" Shikamaru guessed.
"Pretty much."
"What's this about forbidden scrolls, you were going on about then?"
"Ah yes, the first Jutsu I'll be teaching you, even though you aren't a jounin…. Yet" Shikaku stated, rising to his feet.
Reluctantly getting up as well Shikamaru glanced at his dad, perplexed "That doesn't answ-" but was interrupted by the appearance of two clones poofing into existence beside his father. "Are those, shadow clones?" he asked.
Nodding in confirmation, Shikaku responded "Yep, does the name make sense now?"
"It does, actually" Shikamaru agreed. "So why is the move forbidden, if so many people use it anyway?" he asked.
"There're two reasons, really" Shikaku stated. "First, is the fact that it's an offshoot of our clan's own shadow clone Jutsu. Second, is the fact that overuse of the Jutsu, such as making too many clones, has proven to be fatal in the case of even the most experienced shinobi" he explained. "As such, that particular forbidden Jutsu scroll contains the altered clan Jutsu that were too dangerous in the hands of the majority of our ninja" he concluded, shaking his head.
"That does make sense though, no point teaching suicide Jutsus" Shikamaru understood. "How is our shadow clone Jutsu different, compared to the one Naruto can pretty much use at will?" he asked.
"Concept and formation"
"That's it?"
"Pretty much, a Nara should be able to perform the technique much easier than any other shinobi, in theory" Shikaku added, shrugging, as his two clones decided to lie down in the grass, one chewing on a stalk of grass while the other turned on its side, possibly dozing off.
Not too impressed with the clones, Shikamaru looked at his father, once again skeptical about the Jutsu itself. "What's wrong with just using the Jutsu I know now?" he pleaded.
The clone with the grass stalk in its mouth replied "because you're weak, boy."
The one on its side also answered "the more versatile your arsenal, the likelier you are to survive" as his father merely nodded in agreement, before adding his own comment.
"Besides, this fixation on explosive tags can't be healthy" he grinned. "The updated bingo book actually has a caution stating "be wary of explosive weaponry" in it" then started laughing.
"Hey, they're versatile ninja tools" he defended, irked at having his preferred weapons ridiculed.
"Yes, I know, I know" his assured "you've used them to complete quite a few missions" he added. "How've Asuma's knives been treating you?"
"Better than expected, actually" he supplied, then grumbled "but I'm going to need more taiJutsu training if I ever plan on using them effectively…. How troublesome" he moaned.
"What a coincidence!" Shikaku mock exclaimed. "After you learn this Jutsu, the next one will require improving your chakra reserves and stamina. Guess how we'll be doing that" he hinted, smirking deviously.
"Sometimes, I hate you."
"I love you too, son" he retorted. "Now, let's begin!"
"I think he's trying to kill me!" Shikamaru groaned to his best friend - hours after training with his father - atop their preferred hill as he sat down to lean against the solitary oak tree, sighing in relief at easing the pressure off of his overworked body.
"I feel your pain, sort of" Chouji consoled, sitting beside Shikamaru after munching away at another apple from the basket he brought with him. "But, I guess he really wants you to be clan head or something" he offered, finishing his apple and producing another one from the basket.
"He does" Shikamaru conceded. "But I also think it's because he doesn't approve of whoever it is that's trying to be clan head now."
"He said it was one of your cousins. Are there any of them that he doesn't get along with?" Chouji suggested.
"I wish it were that simple" the Nara sighed "there aren't that many clansmen just openly opposing my dad" paused "there are barely any clansmen that don't agree with my dad period." An argument suddenly came to mind. "Other than…. Shit" he trailed off, worrying his friend.
"Figured something out?" Chouji asked, concerned.
"It's…. I forgot his name. Too troublesome" he sighed, shuddering "But he's strong, really strong" he emphasized.
"Please, how tough could he be?" his large friend asked.
"He can shape the 'Shadow sewing' into a katana and hold it" he stressed.
"So?"
"He made it sharp enough to cut actual swords in hal-" realization struck him "Shikabatsu!" he declared.
"Who?"
"My older cousin, I think he may have graduated a year or two before team Gai's."
"Why have we never seen him?" Chouji asked, eating a fourth apple - as evidenced by the three apple cores beside him - and now intrigued.
"We don't get along too well…. I guess" he shrugged.
"…."
"What?"
"You don't get along well." Chouji echoed. "What sort of excuse is that?"
Another shrug from Shikamaru "He just doesn't seem to like me all that much" he sighed.
"And why not?" Chouji demanded, wondering how his friend could make one of his own family members an enemy. "What did you do?"
"That's just it!" Shikamaru exclaimed "he's mad that I made it to chunin by accident, on my first attempt" then muttered "he acts just like Neji and Temari with their stupid superiority complexes."
"Well, that explains why he wants to be the clan head" Chouji concluded, nodding to himself.
"Hmm, how so, Cho?"
"Well" he started, finishing his sixth apple, and adopting a wise expression "the ultimate way to prove that he's better than you, and everyone else is by becoming their leader, right?" he prompted.
"That seems rather…. Petty."
"And that's why Mr. Nara doesn't like him" Chouji surmised.
"Well then" Shikamaru took an apple from Chouji's basket "that little mystery has been solved" he took a bite "now for some relaxing" he sighed, pleased, as the two of them looked up towards the sky full of clouds "Thanks Cho."
"No prob, friends help each other out, right?" Couji grinned.
"Come on son, you've got to be faster than this!" Shikaku's second clone teased as it peppered the poor boy with a barrage of fists.
Shikamaru could only defend and dodge against the relentless clone's assault 'and this is only a fifth of the old man's strength' he inwardly groaned. Finally managing to get some distance from the clone, he performed the necessary hand seals, bringing three Shikamaru shadow clones into existence, each with an annoyed expression on their face and a simultaneous "Troublesome" before the original slumped to the ground, his chakra exhausted.
"Your taiJutsu is terrible and you still have to increase your chakra reserves" the real Shikaku offered from his perch in a tree at the edge of their clearing. "I don't even think you'll manage to take having your clones dispel" he guessed.
"Just gimme a minute" he gasped, struggling back to his feet.
"Your opponents won't give you a minute when every second is life or death" the Shikaku clone that had been mercilessly beating him around stated, disappearing in a swirl of leaves and body flickered into the midst of the Shikamaru clones, dispatching all three before they could react in time. "You are weak, as such, your clones are even weaker" it remarked.
Still panting, the young Nara sat down in defeat. "You win again, now let's call it a day" he groaned.
"Good idea, wouldn't want your mother on our backs for being late to lunch, again" the real Shikaku agreed, appearing in front of his son, an arm outstretched to help him up as his own clone disappeared.
Grunting at the effort needed to move, Shikamaru grasped his father's arm, allowing himself to be pulled up effortlessly, to his slight chagrin, 'He didn't even have to do the fighting, just let his weak clones beat up on me, and it was pretty fast too' he reflected. "Hey, dad?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you get me to be that fast?" he asked.
"That's what we're doing right now, haven't you noticed?" the older Nara retorted.
"No, not really"
"We've only been going at this for a week…." Shikaku began.
"Yeah, and?"
"You can already create two clones in nearly an instant, when you could barely make one when we started last week, let alone touch one of my clones with taiJutsu, but you managed to take one of them out on your own today" he listed off.
"Yeah" he agreed "but that's all I've manag-"
"It's been a week, son" Shikaku cut him off. "You've not only learned a new Jutsu, you've also almost doubled your basic speed and taiJutsu skills" then added "although your taiJutsu was pretty miserable in the first place."
"Oh. Thanks, I think" Shikamaru said, unsure if he should focus on the insult or the compliment.
The two of them continued their walk home in silence. A father, proud of his son's progress. A son, trying not to beam -too much- at his father's praise.
"My god Chouji, I really needed this" Shikamaru sighed, as he and his friend lay down at their usual spot underneath the lonely oak atop a hill.
"Everyone needs time to relax" Chouji quoted the Nara, once again enjoying a basket of apples with his friend. "The two day break was a nice touch though."
"Yeah, dad being the village's head strategist is a lot more important than I thought." Shikamaru considered. "But now I just have to hope I don't get any missions, or at least not one that's too troublesome" he groaned, a potential threat to his peace always on the horizon.
Chouji simply nodded his head in understanding, his training with his own father having been a tiring experience as well. He spotted something in the distance, a green and orange smudge heading towards them at an alarming speed. No, wait, they were two separate blurs, people perhaps? Green and orange, who could they be? He recognized them with a snort, knowing what was in store. "Shikamaru" is all he said to warn his friend.
"I sensed them and they've already spotted us" he acknowledged, sitting up. "This is gonna be troublesome."
"Yeah, it is" Chouji confirmed, finishing an apple as Lee and Naruto completed their race in front of the two.
"Victory is mine, my friend!" an ecstatic Less declared, striking a thumbs up pose with a flash of teeth, the trademark green bodysuit and chuunin jacket managing to reflect the light -painfully- into the eyes of the two previously relaxed ninja.
"Damnit, I was so close this time too…. Were you wearing your weights?" a heavily breathing Naruto asked as he tried to calm himself down.
"Why of course!" Lee asked, perplexed at the thought of not wearing them "Every day is simply more time to be spent training and spreading the power of our YOUTH to others!" he chirped, fire burning in his eyes.
"…. A simple 'yes' would've been more than enough" Chouji answered for the three of them that had to endure that eardrum bursting declaration. Shikamaru and Naruto nodded in agreement, rubbing their ears.
Seeing a chance to escape, the Nara stood and began walking away "Well, I'll see you two later, come on Cho, we've gotta go do that…. Thing…. That guy told us to do" he said, prompting to his friend to play along "Remember?" he winked.
"Oh yeah!" Chouji exclaimed, rising to his feet "that…. Thing…. At the place…. With the stuff, I forgot" he tried, poorly covering their escape.
Neither of the two got very far, before the two exuberant ninja remembered why they came to the hill in the first place.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Get back here, you lazy bums!" and raced in front of the two attempting their leisurely escape. Lee was not far behind.
"Wait up, my crafty comrades!" he yelled exuberantly. "How can we have a two on two training session without you?" he called.
'How troublesome. They remembered….' Shikamaru thought to himself. "What training session?" he hazarded, a last ditch attempt to skip out on the oncoming trouble.
"The team spar, remember at the barbeque two weeks ago? You said that speed wasn't all that great when you need to defend something, me and Lee disagreed, then you and Chouji said that the two of you would beat us if there was a situation where we need to protect something or the other, so we challenged you to a capture the flag scenario" Shikamaru and Chouji began sweating, hoping Naruto wouldn't remember the rest of that day. "Oh, and then we made a bet, saying that the winning team would have to pay for next month's group barbeque" he finished with a smile.
"Yes! And now is the time for that fateful battle!... But first, some rules must be set" Lee finished.
"Such as….?" Shikamaru trailed off, fearing the spar would not allow any of his -various types of- tags and scrolls.
"Well, a straight up taiJutsu fight is what we were thinking" Naruto shrugged. "Is that alright?"
"It most certainly is not!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "There has to be at least some form of ninja tool allowed" he reasoned. Maybe one type of Jutsu or one type of tool allowed."
"That's alright with me" Chouji agreed. "We probably shouldn't be allowed to use our clan Jutsu or signature moves though" he added.
"But, what about me?" Lee cried.
"You're fine, Lee. Use some numchucks or something and call it a day" the hyperactive blonde offered.
"A splendid idea!" Lee's spirits had returned.
"So, no shadows, clones, expansions, boulders or rasengans, to name a few?" Shikamaru counted off on his fingers.
They all agreed on these restrictions.
"Well then, what'll we each be using?" Chouji began, producing a pen and piece of paper.
"Practice tags: wind model" Shikamaru called.
"Summoning" Naruto stated smugly.
"The glorious nunchaku!" Lee claimed.
"And I think I'll be going with a bo staff" Chouji shrugged, writing all of this down.
"Hey, what's the paper for?" Naruto asked, interested.
"Contract. Never know what you three might try to pull" Chouji answered bluntly.
"Hey! Why am I included too?" Shikamaru grumbled.
"You and Naruto have to be watched over the most, crafty bastards" he grinned.
"This is but a test of my trustworthiness!" Lee declared. "I will gladly sign, to prove my good intentions!"
"If bushy brows over here has no problem with it, then I'll sign too!" Naruto said, pointing to himself with his thumb, a grin plastered to his face.
"You two act as if you had a choice" Shikamaru replied, signing the contract along with Chouji. "Why don't the two of you just hurry up and put your signatures down?" he suggested, boredom coating his words.
Chuckling sheepishly, the other two signed as well.
"More importantly, we have to decide what the terms for winning or losing the match are."
"We could do the usual, hide the flag for a set amount of time as one team defends it & the other tries to get it, then reverse, with the previously defending team being on the offense & vice versa" Shikamaru recommended.
The four of them agreed.
"What's the time limit?" Chouji asked. "How does half an hour sound?"
"Fine by me" Naruto agreed.
"I see no problem with it!" Lee offered.
"Oh man, why so long?" Shikamaru groaned. "But I guess it'll do" he conceded, seeing the rather frustrated faces of the others.
"Now for the rules!" Lee declared, doing a few quick kicks to emphasize his excitement.
"Well obviously, we can only use the tools or skills we chose earlier."
"TaiJutsu is perfectly fine for everyone!"
"We can use as much or as many of the weapon-
"Or Jutsu."
"Yes, or Jutsu, we chose, as we want."
"The round of the match is over when either the time limit is up, or the "flag" is found."
"Alright!" Naruto whooped, imitating a shadow boxer. "Let's get this show on the road!"
"Have you forgotten already, Naruto?" Lee scolded. "We shall need a witness, in order to make the contract official and also to serve as judge for us" he continued "I suggest my most splendid rival, Neji!" he said, raising his hand.
"That's a good idea" Shikamaru agreed. "He's a jounin-"
"It's not like he goes out of his way to remind everyone, constantly" Naruto added.
"True" Shikamaru sighed. "Anyway, since he's a jounin, with him overseeing our little bet, the whole thing will be official and we can get this over with."
"Provided, Neji agrees" Chouji included.
"Of course Neji would be fine with supervising our skirmish!" Lee argued.
"Why wouldn't he agree?" Naruto shrugged. "He'd love to watch the four of us hand our asses to each other, especially me and Shikamaru" he grouched.
"This is true" Chouji conceded. "Should we try and get others to watch too, then?" he asked.
"No!" Shikamaru shrieked, startling his three companions. "I mean" he calmed himself down "the less people that know about this, the better" he explained, not managing to convince anyone.
"I don't believe that, the more the merrier!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'd love for there to be a whole crowd to watch me wipe the floor -well, forest I suppose- with the two of you."
"Hey!" Chouji took offense. "I could send you flying in one blow" he threatened. Then added "with my pinky!" for good measure.
"Yes! Our youthful fires will burn brightly during battle!"
"This is way too troublesome."
In the end, Neji had agreed to referee their mock encounter. Provided, he was allowed to make a few specifications to the rules "a proctor is allowed to do such things, no?" was his only explanation.
Lee agreed wholeheartedly, stating that the best challenge of one's skill were always unexpected, while the other three had to grudgingly agree. Shikamaru, complained about having to do so much work on what was supposed to be a vacation for him, when a bird masked anbu messenger arrived on the grounds - interrupting Shikamaru mid rant - as - it looked like a she - they asked for the Nara prodigy.
*Sigh* "How troublesome" Shikamaru remarked to the anbu. "What does the Hokage need me for?" he asked. "Can I get a rain check, I'm a little busy here, you see" he indicated - with a nod of his head - at the four of his friends lounging outside in the expansive backyard of the Hyuuga compound, around the training field doing nothing, in all honesty.
Unfazed, the anbu replied "You have been requested by a fellow shinobi, in regards to accompanying her on a mission" waited a moment for the message to sink in, then finished with "you have the option to decline."
A pause
"Troublesome."
"A girl 'requested' Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"What's her name?" Neji inquired, doubtful.
"Shikamaru has a choice?" Chouji coughed.
"The springtime of youth is upon us once more, go get her Shikamaru!" Lee cried.
"This won't end well" Shikamaru sighed, getting up to follow the anbu "but, I'll see you bums later" he waved to the guys. Nodding to the anbu, he commanded "lead the way."
"To the Hokage Tower" the anbu supplied, "let us make haste" before the two of them nimbly leapt to the rooftops and swiftly towards their destination.
"Tell dad I said 'wassup'" Naruto called, as the four of waved their friend off.
In ten short minutes, the two arrived outside of the Hokage's office. The anbu knocked, waited for a moment, then announced "Hokage Sama, I have brought Shikamaru Nara."
"Thank you sparrow, send him in and you are dismissed" Minato's voice responded through the doors.
The anbu -sparrow- gave Shikamaru what he assumed was a pointed look, to which he nodded. Sparrow bowed and then left as suddenly as she arrived. He opened the doors and walked in, closing them behind him. Glancing around, he was shocked to find Hinata standing in front of the desk, resolutely staring her pleased Hokage in the face.
Figuring he may as well get things out of the way, Shikamaru cleared his throat in an attempt to pull the other two out of their battle of wills, to no avail as Hinata continued to try and stare the man down. He tried a different approach, "you wanted to see me, Hokage Sama? Also, Naruto says 'wassup'." At the mention of Naruto, Minato's smirk turned into a goofy grin 'Shouldn't be surprised, that's who Naruto gets it from' Shikamaru mused as Hinata whirled around, searching for Naruto.
Feeling silly for falling prey to such a simple trick, Hinata stared at the ground, trying to fight down the blush coloring her face.
"Ah, Shikamaru" Minato greeted him, "we were just talking about you, and wondered if you could give us your opinion on something" he asked jovially. Hinata - her blush having disappeared - suddenly stood to attention, not looking at the Hokage or Shikamaru.
"Sure, I'll help however I can" Shikamaru offered, slightly concerned with Hinata's behavior.
"Perfect!" Minato chirped, clapping his hands together. "In your exp-" he paused, contemplating something before giving a nod to himself. "Ah yes, before I get ahead of myself, Congrats. You have now joined the happy ranks of our Special Jounin."
Dumbfounded, Shikamaru managed to get out a strained "Th-thanks sir, I don't-"
"Yeah, yeah, happy feelings and whatnot" the Hokage waved him off. "As I was saying, we needed someone of Jounin rank to embark on a mission with Hinata, she nominated you" he laughed.
"You…. thought I was a jounin, Hinata?" Shikamaru asked.
Blushing - from embarrassment this time - she answered "well, you've been on more A-ranked missions than the rest of our class and even Neji. So, well, I just assumed you were a jounin too" she reasoned, poking her fingers together.
"Well, that makes sense" Shikamaru conceded, shooting a half hearted glare at Minato "I have been getting harder missions than a Chuunin normally would" he grumbled to the girl.
"You sure have!" Minato cheerfully agreed. "Going on and on about your plans to go through life as an average shinobi, then complete the workload of your everyday jounin without much of a problem. So, the other jounin nominated you for promotion and professionally - as well as personally - I agree with them. Any problems with that?" he finished.
Sighing, Shikamaru resigned himself to his fate. "No, lord Hokage. What are the mission parameters?" he asked. "I assume it'll be a mission involving only myself and Hinata, and why is my input needed on this mission? There are plenty of other, more skilled, veteran shinobi better suited for the task" he rationalized.
"True" Minato nodded. "However, this is as much a test for you, as it is for Hinata. Your performance on this mission will be a deciding factor for some important things in the future" he stated, cryptically.
"Wonderful" Shikamaru grumbled. "Anyway, what are the mission parameters?" he asked again.
"The two of you will be conducting an assassination, but since he is just an ambassador, it'll only be A ranked" the Hokage stated, all business.
"Only A ranked? Joy" Shikamaru muttered sardonically, making Hinata giggle, before facing forward again.
Ignoring this, Minato addressed Shikamaru "you will be under Hinata's command, observing her mission performance, understood?"
"Yes, sir" Shikamaru straightened up and saluted for a second, before slouching once more.
"Here are the specifics" Minato handed a scroll to Hinata. "You have two weeks to complete this mission" he informed them. "Good luck, you are dismissed." They bowed to their Hokage and left.
After leaving the Hokage's office with Shikamaru in tow, the heiress narrowly avoided bumping into Itachi Uchiha, with his brother right behind him.
"Oh!" they both exclaimed.
"Sorry about that, Ms. Hyuuga" Itachi apologized wearily, covered in small scratches and partly singed.
"N-no problem Itachi, I should've been paying more attention" she apologized back.
"Ah, but if I had-"
Shikamaru and an equally disheveled Sasuke sighed. "Can we please stop with the guilt fest before it drags on any longer?" Sasuke groaned. The two ignored him, in favor of finishing up their apologies.
"Rough mission?" Shikamaru grinned, knowing they'd stand no chance interrupting those two when they began to really get apologetic.
"I've been to hell and back, returning with a newfound appreciation for your lazy bastard lifestyle" he nodded grimly.
"It couldn't have been that ba-"
"There were samurai, Shikamaru. Twelve of them." Sasuke interrupted.
"Oh" Shikamaru replied, having nothing to say to that.
"Yeah" Sasuke hung his head, weary "they broke my sword, too" he added.
'Well, damn' Shikamaru thought 'he got this month's mission from hell, I guess.' "Gonna finally take my advice then?" he smirked.
Sasuke crossed his arms, ashamed of what he was going to say. "Yeah, after I get Kusanagi fixed" he looked away "I'm taking a nice long nap" then added "or three."
"Yes, yes you will" Shikamaru smugly nodded.
"Oh, congratulations Shikamaru" Itachi offered, having finished speaking -and apologizing- with Hinata. "Ms. Hyuuga tells me that you made special jounin about three minutes ago. I must say, it is about time the Hokage gave you that promotion me and a bunch of the other jounin recommended" he stated.
"This slacker? A special jounin? What's the world coming to?" Sasuke mock groaned, his standard smirk back in place.
"I. I th. I Think Shikamaru is very qualified for the position" Hinata meekly defended.
"No one can question that" Sasuke scoffed. "I was just expecting him to put it off for as long as he could. At least until he hit twenty or Temari beats his ass or something" he shrugged, ignoring Shikamaru's scowl.
"Thanks, I think" the Nara heir deadpanned.
"Anytime."
"Well, it was a pleasure running into the two of you" Itachi nodded. "But we should turn in this mission and then get some rest" he sighed, walking to the Hokage's office.
"Later" Sasuke waved over his back, following his brother.
"Alright" Hinata announced as the Uchiha brothers made their exit. "Let's go to the compound and plan for this mission" she suggested.
"Sounds fine to me" Shikamaru shrugged. 'The guys - and, more importantly, Naruto - might still be there, though' he mused, glancing at the Hyuuga heiress.
She merely nodded, continuing to lead the way.
"Alright, so cloud and mist are making some preliminary negotiations to set up some sort of treaty. And apparently, we don't want that?" Shikamaru concluded. 'I hate politician speak'
"Pretty much" Hinata agreed. "We just have to take him out, while avoiding his…. Security" she ground out.
"Frikkin samurai, how Troublesome" he groaned.
"Don't forget one of the Seven swordsman or the fact that most of lightning's ninja are pseudo swordsmen as well" Hinata added.
"Yeah, grand" the Nara heir sighed. "Say, how do you deal with swords and such?" Shikamaru asked, perking up. "I've never really seen you use anything other than kunai and the gentle fist" he clarified.
"Well, I've been sparring with TenTen, who's been trying to teach me about some weapon triangle or other" she shrugged "but I don't like spears or anything other than the standard kunai and shuriken, really" another shrug.
"Primarily gentle fist, then" Shikamaru summed it up.
"Yeah, but what about you?" Hinata asked.
"Well, thankfully Asuma's trench knives are high quality chakra blades, so they don't get chopped in half by other chakra enhanced weapons, and I'd say I'm pretty decent with 'em now" he scratched the back of his head. "I wish I could say the same for my tanto, though" he sighed.
"Well, we've got work to do."
"It also takes around a week to get there…."
"We leave tomorrow, then" Hinata decided.
"As you command, captain" Shikamaru groaned.
"Prepare for any circumstance, we set off at dawn."
"Be careful!" his mother scolded.
"Try not to die, you still have to train" his father told him.
"Take good care of Hinata!" the girls warned him.
"Lucky!" the guys complained.
"Presents!" Tsukiko - the two year old daughter of the deceased Asuma and retired Kurenai - demanded.
With his goodbyes finished, Shikamaru and Hinata put the gates of Konoha behind them, devising strategies and contingencies along the way.