Introduction: Part Two

XxX

Shikamaru eyed the purple haired girl who had spoken; clearly unpleased with the current situation, even now that he was dressed.

'Where can I even start… the amount of gibberish these people are spouting is unreal. This place just shouldn't exist… '

Shikamaru took a deep breath to clear his head, before directing his first question at Yuki.

"What is this place? In a literal sense, I know this is Namkaga but what is Namkaga?" asked the ninja, trying to get the big questions out of the way first.

"Namkaga is the name of this universe. The place you are currently situated is the Western District of Namkaga City. Namkaga is the centre of the entire multiverse, so elements of all possible universes are present." Replied the small girl

"What do you do? What do we do?" replied Shikamaru, shaking his head in irritation.

Yuki looked over at Kazuki and gave a small nod. Kazuki then turned towards Shikamaru and tried to explain.

"Well dude, the city is huge. Like, really big. It's so big that it's into five districts, North, East, South, West and Central. We're in the West right now; it's pretty much a big ol' typical city. Shops, houses, schools." Explained the teen, making vague pointing directions with his hands. "Now, the North has all the really high tech shops. It's like living a couple of decades in the future from where I'm from. You can buy pretty much anything there, it's just gonna be expensive. East is really green, parks everywhere man, lots of people hanging out to do all sorts of sports or picnicking or whatnot. I guess there are even a couple of groups full of old-timers who do stuff like chess, it's a lively district. And Central is where all the businesses are, it's really damn boring there. Every building is a bank or library or some hotshot lawyer office."

Shikamaru nodded, for all it's lack of detail, Kazuki had given a fairly good idea of the basic layout. One thing stuck in his mind though.

'Chess? What's that? He talks about this 'chess' like the others back home talked about shogi… maybe it's a similar game.' He spoke up another thought though.

"And what about the South District? You didn't mention it"

"Can't tell you what I don't know." Kazuki shrugged, "Never had a reason to go there. Doesn't look like a great place though. Anything else about the city you want to know?"

Shikamaru nodded again. His mind already working, he voiced the first obvious thought.

"Why don't we just lure the enemy outside the city and then kill them there? Civilian casualties would be minimal."

Kazuki looked baffled for a moment before looking back at Yuki. She gave a small nod before turning to Shikamaru.

'She likes to nod a lot' noted the Nara unceremoniously, 'at least she doesn't shout every possible thought'

"We are unable to leave the city; the extent of my ability for temporal manipulation of data limits our range of action. For Byakuran's plan to proceed, he must remain within the city limits."

'Byakuran…' from the way Yuki said his name, Shikamaru instantly categorized the name as dangerous.

"So who is this Byakuran? And why does he have to remain in the city limits?"

Yuki again answered the question; at this point Smoker and Hiko had stopped really listening, the commodore offering the samurai one of his cigars. The older man refused the cigar with a raised hand and closed his eyes. Smoker shrugged his shoulders and put the second cigar in his mouth to add to the one already in there. He then pulled out a match and lit both, taking a puff and blowing smoke from the corners of his mouth. Shikamaru noticed it from the corner of his eye, using it to add to the data he had off his new teammates. Any habit and fact was important after all.

The military man let out a content sigh, enjoying the flavour in his mouth as Yuki explained.

"Byakuran is the man who opposes me. He is evil of the highest magnitude. He must stay within the city limits because this city is the closest point to the IDSE in this universe. If he leaves it, the IDSE will repair immediately from any damage caused. It is currently estimated for him to take 2 years to decay the IDSE into an inoperable state."

Shikamaru took a moment to let that sink in.

'So he can't leave or the IDSE recovers immediately…'

"Surely it would be best to make him leave the city, and then keep him from entering again right?"

Soifon responded this time, "If we knew where he was, I would have killed him already. The bastard sends in proxies to fight for him… damn coward."

"Proxies?" asked Shikamaru.

"You know… proxies, people to fight for him. He's already got a couple of teams on his side and is getting more quickly." Butted in Kazuki "Last time we got into a fight, I ended up getting chased by a woman in her underwear…"

Any reminiscing he was having stopped when he saw the glowering look Soifon was giving him.

"She seemed used to fighting that way though, either she's a foxy boxer or that's her uniform." Seeing the disbelieving look Soifon was giving him, he continued, "I'm not kidding, you should have seen the things she was doing with that gun."

"Gun?" Shikamaru frowned as he asked, it seemed to be a common term but he had no idea what it meant.

Kazuki looked at him oddly, "Yeah, gun, you know, long metal thing with a trigger you pull, fires smaller metal things at what you point it at." He answered with a note of 'Duh' in his voice.

Shikamaru just kept a blank face.

"Huh?"

Kazuki palmed his face with both hands.

"So you've never heard of guns? Pistols, rifles, 'nade launchers, snipers, submachine, light machine?"

Shikamaru remained confused at the terms Kazuki was listing, he had never heard of anything quite like it. He shook his head and the other teen groaned in frustration.

"Oh boy… Listen, boss-lady, it's like 3am. Can we go to sleep for now; I'll take Shukamare to a park tomorrow and go through the tedious shit by showing him?" asked Kazuki, yawning for emphasis.

"It's Shikamaru…" interrupted the teen in question.

"Ok, I'll take Shikamaru to the park tomorrow and go through the tedious shit?" acknowledged Kazuki. "Come on boss-lady, if the universe he's from doesn't have guns, showing him the world has to be better than telling him"

All eyes were on Yuki, some tired, others uncaring and all curious. After a few minutes deliberation, she gave her answer.

"Accepted, Kazuki will teach Shikamaru about this universe tomorrow. He must be battle ready by tomorrow evening and culturally up to date within a week. This is an objective."

With that, she slunk back into her chair and closed her eyes. Kazuki nudged Shikamaru and muttered to him "That's her way of saying we can go," as he got up and headed towards the corridor. As he reached the door he beckoned Shikamaru forward with an excited hand, but the older teen waved him on. Kazuki tried to think of something to say but ended up shrugging and walking down the corridor. The other three were soon following him, leaving Shikamaru and Yuki in the living room. Shikamaru focussed himself on the girl, putting his elbows on his knees and his hands under his chin.

"So why me? Why not Naruto, or Kakashi, Tsunade, Gai, any of those are better ninja than me." Asked Shikamaru

"I already stated the reason Shikamaru Nara: you ranked #1 in the multiverse for battle tactics. I need the best, and you will be my tactician." Replied the girl without opening her eyes.

"But all of those have seen more battles than me, more experienced… Naruto took down a freaking army by himself two years ago… what do you think he can do now?"

"I am not incorrect Shikamaru Nara, your contribution to the team is tactics. This is a team gathered from the multiverse. Do you think that the people you know are the strongest to exist or to have existed?"

Shikamaru paused at that. He was still thinking like there was only one universe… and this girl had told, and proven to, him that there were an infinite amount of universes. She was right, any number of those universes could contain people stronger than he could ever imagine. He sighed and bowed his head.

"I'm see Yuki… you're right."

Yuki nodded again, "You will be my tactician, Shikamaru Nara, you're already proving I made the right choice."

Shikamaru looked at her, before shaking his head and getting up. He headed towards the corridor door before turning and addressing Yuki once more.

"Goodnight Yuki,"

With that, he turned back around and headed down the corridor to his room. He saw lights under the three doors to the left of his and the one closest to the living room on the right.

'Everyone is probably getting ready to sleep…' Shikamaru thought as he yawned to himself 'And I should be too… damn I'm tired.'

He carried on walking down the corridor and entering his room before locking the small deadbolt behind him.

'Not that that'll keep anyone out… just a minor privacy thing'

Within moments Shikamaru was standing in nothing but his boxers again. Lifting the duvet and getting into the bed, he found that the bed was rather nice. The mattress was a little soft for his tastes but not uncomfortably so. He did miss the familiar sensation of weapons scattered around his bed, but that was a problem he'd fix another day. Closing his eyes, he felt himself re-entering sleep. Enjoying that simple feeling, he let himself fall into slumber.

XxX

Gendo Ikari's office was quiet, per usual. He had had it soundproofed, bullet-proofed, bombproofed and had even had it coated so that angels wouldn't be able to see it. He had also seen fit to add several high security locks to the door. No one could see him, hear him or disturb him. Not even Fuyutsuki-sensei was able to get in, despite his high clearance and penchant for appearing where he wasn't wanted.

In this quiet peace, with no one around, he could hear the thuds of the heavy sandbag echo nicely. The sound of his glove-covered hands hitting the hard surface felt good; the dull pain as he did a few combos was making itself known. With the lack of angel attacks, or similar high-stress situations that required Gendo's immediate attention, he had recently adopted a new form of stress relief.

Finishing his combos, he returned the heavy bag to it's hidden spot behind a wall panel. He hadn't exerted himself enough to sweat, but was breathing heavily for a few minutes. Sitting down at his desk, he looked over notes from his field agents while he waited for his breathing to normalise.

"So… he frequents 'Sweet Dreams'?" he murmured, looking at the accompanying pictures of his target entering the shop. The target was very well disguised, but his agents were good.

Changing reports, he saw the latest sync test results for the pilots.

'Hmm… Shinji's ratio hasn't improved at all in the last month. Misato will hear about this. Rei and Ms Sohryu are sufficient so far, I'll have Akagi push them next time.'

He flipped the page over casually, reading the diagnostic report on the Evangelions.

'Unit 00 at 100%, Unit 01 at 89% but operational within 3 hours, Unit 02 at 100%; In an emergency, we can sortie Units 00 and 02 while we wait for Unit 01 to be complete… It's too slow… I'll have a word with the mechanics... All Evangelions should be at 100% within an hour of re-entry.' Gendo thought, considering what he could do to make the repairs quicker.

He nearly closed the report when a final page caught his eye. On a scrap of paper with no official header was a few figures and a note. Gendo read it contemplatively.

Evangelions vs Gurren Lagann, estimates of survival chances fluctuate from 100% to 0%. Dependant on mental state of pilots, both sides.

'Damn it… those children with their toys don't make any sense.'

Gendo got up from his desk and headed wastepaper bin, making sure to lock the official documents in their appropriate place beforehand. He took that hand scribbled note, pulled out a lighter, and lit it on fire, dropping it into the metal bin to finish burning. He then headed to the door, stopping only briefly to make sure the fire burnt out. As it did, he opened the door and left, locking it securely behind him.

XxX

*Bang*Bang*Bang*

The sound of hammers on metal resonated throughout the large hanger; the hanger could fit military aircrafts but was currently used for an entirely different reason. Lined up against its walls were various different mecha. Huge goliaths of metal, cockpits open and waiting for their pilots to activate them.

Simon walked across the hanger, his presence unheeded by the man he was approaching. Short green hair, a blue jumpsuit and purple sleeveless jacket clothed the man, who was currently working on what looked like a large angular boomerang, easily twenty foot wide and ten foot long. The man was on his knees, crawling over the boomerang to reach every part of it.

"Oh, did that nasty nasty man let you get beaten up baby? Well I'll have to have words with that bonehead, he can't be doing this to you. Letting your sunglasses get broken?" babbled the man, seemingly to the boomerang itself.

"Hey, Leeron, I was just gonna wake you up" called Simon while he was still a fair distance away. "We've got a miss-"

"I know" came an accusing tone from the man still kneeling over the boomerang, "One of your boss's little minions sent me a message to expect you…"

Leeron threw Simon his phone, an official looking message talking about 'Duty' and 'Sacrifices needed'. Simon put his hand behind his head, looking sheepish before trying his best to calm the situation.

"Heh heh, sorry Ron, I didn't think they'd call you so soon. I was gonna let you stay asleep till the morning but apparently they really do want this plan done now"

Leeron huffed as he listened before replying in an angry voice. His hammering becoming slightly more loud as he did so.

"This isn't good enough Simon, I'm a mechanic, not some strategic genius… that's what Sir Chesthair is for."

Simon put his hand to his face, he hated it when Leeron got like this.

"Look Ron, I am really sorry. I don't know why Byakuran insists you take part in the planning process… maybe it's 'cause you're the best damn mechanic we have, you can tell us what plans are doable with which Gunmen. You're also the one who had to modify them for any odd plans. Face it Leeron, without you fixing us up, we'd be hopeless" pleaded Simon, his face serious but earnest.

Leeron turned to face Simon for the first time since he had entered, saw his face and crawled off the boomerang, sighing as he went.

"My my, it's been a long time since Simon the Digger showed us that face, hasn't it? Well… I'll forgive you this time, but don't expect it often." Offered Leeron, picking up a rag he had available to wipe his hands. "So what's the mission this time?"

"Taking on that team of the Silent Princess again…" Simon braced for an expression of pure anger to rush over him.

"Again? Doesn't he have another organisation with much bigger and crazier Gunmen than us? I mean, I've literally just finished repairing Gurren's sunglasses." The rage he expected was more like confusion. Leeron threw the rag down and the two started to walk towards the entrance to the office section of their base.

"Ah, this isn't a destruction mission. This is more like recon. We find what this team's new member is like, hopefully some abilities too. No civilian casualties, no unnecessary deaths. That is how my Dai Gurren Dan rolls."

Simon seemed to be posing as he walked. Leeron chuckled to himself as he watched the display.

"Any ideas then? If we're not after destruction, we probably shouldn't send Attenborough."

"No… he can stay on long range radar for now, I'm considering Jorgun and Balinbow, the two are good at following orders and won't use much spiral energy. If it's just for recon, it might be worth sending Bro and Yoko… they work well together, Bro can lure this person out and handle short range, while Yoko can handle long range and trying to get them to show their abilities."

At this, Leeron got an annoyed look on his face.

"So if you already had a plan, why are we having this meeting again? You know whenever you make a plan, you pull it off"

Simon smiled a little sadly before explaining, putting his hand on the wall they'd just reached.

"My plans revolve on me using spiral energy to go kick logic to the curb… but that's not the right way to fight. The Anti-spirals are no longer around, so we don't need that power anymore… Why d'ya think I'm working with Byakuran? I don't want that power used anymore; I can't control it when I do. So I trust everyone in the Dai Gurren Dan to help create a plan that doesn't involve it. And that includes you Leeron"

Leeron nodded briefly, touching the button to open the door.

"Understood, Leader." He said as he walked through, followed quickly by Simon.

XxX

"HEY, SHIKAMAZU! WAKE UP!"

Shikamaru was roused into consciousness by a loud yelling from outside his door. He heard the misspelling of his name and sighed.

'I know my name is a little long, but how hard is it to remember?'

"Ok Kazuki, I'll be dressed in a seeeeeeec" drawled Shikamaru, yawning on the last word. "What is the style here like? In my village, my ninja uniform was sufficient, but here is probably different."

"You're a ninja? Damn, that is a badass! You gotta show me how to turn invisible later!" yelled Kazuki back through the door excitedly.

"Hey, hey, hey, Kazuki… clothes, is my uniform ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine, everyone here dresses relatively oddly, so I don't think anyone will care."

Shikamaru nodded to himself, dragging himself out of bed into the cool air. Looking out of the window, making a mental note to shut the curtains in future, he saw it was almost afternoon. Shivering slightly as he yawned again, he pulled on his usual uniform before walking out of his door to join Kazuki. The younger teen was wearing the same style uniform he wore yesterday, but this one looked fresh and ironed. Shikamaru took a curious look down at himself, his own uniform being the same level of perfection.

"Umm… why are our clothes perfectly clean?" asked Shikamaru, gesturing down to his uniform.

Kazuki grinned, "Perk of the job, that wardrobe cleans any clothes you put into it and makes 'em look great. Yuki says something about how 'representatives must appear as such', but all I know is that I don't have to wash or iron my clothes. Which is awesome."

Shikamaru nodded his agreement and started walking towards the living room.

'That's quite good, I hate washing clothes.'

"So are you ready to see this world?" buzzed Kazuki, ready to get out, making Shikamaru wonder if maybe he'd been locked in the living room for a while now. "Trust me, you're gonna love it here… but before we leave, do you mind telling me a little about where you're from? So I know what to explain and what's the same? We don't have much time for teaching ya know?"

Shikamaru nodded, tossing a thumb in the direction of the sofas. Kazuki nodded and the two sat down on sofas next to each other.

"So… tell me about your universe. If you're a ninja, it must be pretty awesome" asked Kazuki, leaning back in the seat and looking at the ceiling.

Shikamaru nodded and leaned back himself, admiring the swirls in the white plaster of the ceiling.

"My universe is one where the major military force is ninja. Many, many ninja. There are five main villages and a couple of lesser ones in different countries on the continent and each country is run by a Daimyo, but those big five are the main employers in nearly every way. Nearly everything a ninja does focuses on using their Chakra, our… energy, to do techniques. It's used to enhance physical strength, stick to walls, even breathe fire or control sand… it pretty much does everything. We pretty much only use these techniques or a few bladed weapons. Kunai and shuriken, that kind of thing. A few ninja decide to use special weapons, but those are all specialists and relatively rare. Other than that, that's pretty much my universe. We have stuff like hospitals, restaurants, shops of all kinds. But these 'guns' are unheard of… I've never seen something that can fire weapons faster than a ninja can dodge, so we normally don't use them."

Kazuki nodded to himself, slowly understanding what kind of level Shikamaru's universe was on.

"I get ya now, if you have a Daimyo as a leader then in my universe you'd be about two hundred years behind everyone, but this chakra of yours is different. In my universe, we have alchemy. Alchemic weapons manifest from these big medallions called Kakugane. The weapon's themselves are called Busou Renkin, which is just another way of saying alchemic weapon." Explained Kazuki, "But I have an idea what kind of knowledge you have now, so taking you into the city shouldn't be too bad. You just have to follow my lead and ask questions quietly. People are generally kinda meh here, but don't like out of towners much."

Kazuki half jumped off the seat before calling to Shikamaru.

"C'mon Shika, let's show you the park first. You might like it there, might remind you of home."

That small comment stuck with Shikamaru as Kazuki dragged him out of the door and down several flights of stairs.

'It's been one night and I already miss everyone…'

As they walked through a small courtyard to a gate, Kazuki started murmuring to remember the directions.

"Ok… its turn right and keep going till you reach the station" muttered Kazuki to himself, keeping an eye on the ninja behind him. "Keep up dude; don't want you to get lost. Yuki hasn't given you a tracker yet, so no straying till she gives you one."

Being addressed snapped Shikamaru out of his trance.

"Tracker?"

"Little electronic thing, lets her know where we all are." Answered Kazuki, showing Shikamaru a set of keys with a small coin attached to them. "Here's mine, but everyone has something a bit a different. I don't know how it runs though… maybe a little battery or something."

The pair carried on walking down the main street, Shikamaru quietly looking around himself, absorbing all of details of the buildings. Several more apartment buildings were next to the main street where they were currently walking; about a hundred metres ahead of them, he could see storefronts offering things he didn't know of for prices that didn't think seemed quite right.

"Computers… Video Games… fitness equipment… what are these things?"

"Well… computers are like the biggest thing in this world at the moment. They all run off electricity, you had that right?" a nod lets him continue. "And using the internet, we connect to people all across the city. In the case of my universe, we could cross the entire world. Any information you could possibly want it out there and needs to be found. Video games are a bit different, they're just a fun thing to do. Imagine a book, but you have to control the main character through all the events that happen, that's pretty much a video game. Fun, a timesink, but pointless eventually. I personally like Reversi Online, a game based on a manga. And fitness equipment is for people who want to get fitter while not leaving their own home. I guess in a military village, fitness equipment is pretty standard, but a lot of jobs here are pretty much 'sit down, shut up, type on computer' stuff. People want to get some exercise but might not want to pay gym membership or leave their house."

Kazuki about finished his explanation as they reached a plaza. Opposite them, a large building with a lot of large windows faced them at an odd angle. A large sign above the doorway read 'Western Namkaga – Byakko' in a plain font. Kazuki started to nudge Shikamaru towards the door, listening to the genius in the process.

"And what about these prices? They seem way too low… 200… dollars… for what seems to be fairly high technology."

"High? 200 dollars for a game console is about right… OH… what money system did you use?" Kazuki asked, stopping just before the large door, stepping to the side so he didn't get in anyone's way.

"Ryo, I used to earn around fifty thousand ryo for a basic mission. The highest I ever got was nearly two hundred million… for permanently disabling someone thought to be immortal."

"Woah… even with the conversion rate that's big money… Ya see; Old man Hiko used Ryo too. We worked it out to 100 ryo being worth 1 dollar. So you got paid 500 dollars for a basic mission… not bad stuff. And by standards like that here, you'd be a millionaire with that… was it a mission?"

"Bounty reward"

"You had bounties? Ah damn man; your world sounds too awesome."

Shikamaru breathed out sharply, his annoyance reaching a limit he didn't even know he had.

'What does this guy know about my world?'

Kazuki stopped, noticing that Shikamaru was acting different to before.

"Hey man are you ok?" asked Kazuki, putting his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Now listen Kazuki, my world was not awesome. Stop saying it was." Shikamaru turned to look at Kazuki dead in the eyes. "People who we cared about died in the stupidest ways. Five of my closest friends nearly died to save a traitor to our country, my sensei did die trying while fighting for our team's lives. The man I killed for that bounty was already a highly ranked criminal, and I was a lazy ass, but murdering my sensei made me take it seriously. Are you hearing me Kazuki? In my world, I had to fight and defeat immortals just so my friends would live to see another day. Do you understand that fighting is not awesome when you have to do it just to live?" said Shikamaru calmly, his eyes glancing into the distance as he spoke, remembering the fights he'd had by the time he was fifteen.

Kazuki looked a little scared as he released Shikamaru from his grip. He then put his eyes to the floor before apologising.

"Sorry Shikamaru, it's just that my world was always so tedious by comparison. I got up, went to school and fought with monsters in my spare time. There's been a huge boom in the popularity of ninjas and pirates because of the internet, and I guess I just got carried away… I really hope you'll forgive me!" Kazuki half yelled the final bit before bowing deeply to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru blushed before quickly trying to get him to rise.

"Ok fine, you're forgiven for this, just get up and understand that it isn't an awesome world."

Kazuki rose from his bow and grinned at Shikamaru.

"Thanks Shika, now come on in, I'm gonna show you how this is an awesome world."

Kazuki led Shikamaru inside, letting Shikamaru look around. The lobby was enormous, boards hanging from the ceiling displayed times of trains arriving and their destinations, changing at a second's notice to display more times. Lines of strange machines were embedded in the walls, which Kazuki was walking towards.

Once they reached the machines, Kazuki motioned for Shikamaru to come close. The machine had a series of numbers on it, labelled 0-9 but that was all, a few slots were obvious on the face of the machine but only one was directly open

"Since I have this" said Kazuki, pulling out a small blue piece of plastic, no writing or designs on it, just a bright cyber blue, and exactly the right size for the open slot. "There's only one thing we need to get"

Kazuki quickly pressed the screen where it said 'Infinite Pass', selected quantity of one and then inserted the blue card into the machine. The machine's screen changed to be an image of an hourglass ticking over.

"This'll only take a sec; I'm getting you a lifetime train pass. You'll be able to use the trains for free forever."

With a whirr, the machine gave Kazuki the blue card back as well as a black ticket of similar size. Kazuki then gave this ticket to Shikamaru.

"Now keep this safe, it won't be traced back to you but it's a pain to convince Yuki to give you another one." warned Kazuki as he pulled his own out of his pocket while placing the blue card inside.

"How did you just afford this? I saw at least four zeros on that machine!" whispered Shikamaru loudly.

Kazuki just grinned again, "Perks, it's a Data Manipulation Card: Version Currency, but it's only valid for me and for today though. We shouldn't be drawing attention to ourselves, so Yuki is really tight about giving them out, but getting you infinite train travel is a necessity in this city. Now do what I do."

Kazuki approached the barriers in front of the actual trains, put his black ticket in a small slot in the front of the siderail, it was then ejected from a slot on the top and the gates blocking his path opened.

He grabbed the ticket and rushed through before the barrier closed behind him. He then waved to Shikamaru before yelling "Now you!" drawing the attention of several people near him.

Shikamaru copied him exactly, rushing through the same way Kazuki did and making it through without having to try again.

"Nice rush, now let's get that train…" Kazuki said, looking up at the boards above them. Shikamaru looked up and noticed a few words he recognised, mainly from legends. Susanoo, Izanami, Izanagi, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi.

"Ok! Platform twelve in six minutes; let's get over there now!" said Kazuki as he pulled Shikamaru up a flight of stairs.

That single flight of stairs turned into several as Kazuki kept running, letting go of Shikamaru on the second flight when he remembered that Shikamaru was a ninja.

Once the pair reached the top, the corridor opened up onto a large bridge. Shikamaru peeked over the edge, observing what was below. People, lots of people getting onto and off of large machines on rails. He had heard about small systems of something similar being set up in some countries from his universe, but never anything quite like this. Nearly two dozen different tracks were underneath him, a large platform was between every two tracks so every track was usable, most with a train already waiting but some empty. He was brought of his concentration when Kazuki started stepping down a set of stairs onto one of these platforms.

"Down here Shikamaru, this is platform 12" called Kazuki from near the bottom. "Better hurry up or you're gonna miss it, I'm cutting it a bit fine as it is."

Shikamaru was a dozen stairs from the bottom before he jumped, clearing the rest of the stairs and landing next to Kazuki, before standing up and giving the alchemic warrior a look that just said 'Are you kidding me?'.

"Well, it should be here in a few seconds. We just need to get on the train to the Eastern District now then I can show you the park and a few of the shops when we get there."

As if on cue, a loud howl echoed through the station, followed by a hiss, as the train slowed next to the platform. Kazuki strode forward and pressed a button on the train's wall, causing it to hiss slightly again as it opened up, letting them access it.

"Attention all passengers, this is a Cardinal Line train going directly to Eastern District – Seiryuu; this is an express train. I repeat this is a Cardinal Line train going directly to Eastern District – Seiryuu; this is an express train." Came a loud voice. Shikamaru looked around startled for a moment until he identified as coming from a grille on the wall of the train. Seeing his discomfort, Kazuki spoke to him quietly.

"Don't worry man, it's just another gadget. That's how a lot of things work here, a person speaks into a special thing he holds and then his voice comes out of every grille on the train. It's like, we have TV. It's like being able to watch a play in your own living room, or watch people act out the contents of a book. Too bad there's not been many of those… come on, let's get a seat."

Kazuki turned left from the small entryway they were in onto a thin corridor with seats on either side. No one else was on this carriage, so they two sat down together on the left. They felt the train start to pull away, watching the cityscape pass by the windows in the late morning sun.

"So dude, what did you do for fun in your universe? I did then what I generally do now, hang around, practise and keep myself fit. I watch some TV sometimes, but Smoker always kicks me out so he can watch his films."

"So Smoker's a dirty old man? Rather surprising, I thought a military guy would be rather gentlemanly about that kind of thi-" Shikamaru paused in mid-sentence, memories of a powerful but perverted Toad Sage came to mind. "Never mind, I didn't honestly do much… I used to hang around with Temari a lot, but my job takes up a lot of time, so my hobbies were kind of pushed aside when I turned 12. I used to play shogi though, still do when I can."

"Ah cool, if you like shogi, I'll introduce you to those old farts I was talking about. Chess is pretty similar to shogi, a fair bit different but it all comes from the same type of thing." Answered Kazuki, pulling a roll of mints out of his pocket. "Want one? I kinda didn't eat this morning but need to take the edge off. We'll get something to eat near the park; I know there's a hotdog place there that'll blow your mind."

"Sure"

Shikamaru took the mint that was offered to him, sucking the sweet in silence for a few minutes.

"So is Smoker that perverted? I mean, he just didn't seem the type" asked Shikamaru, copying Kazuki's relaxed pose on the headrest.

Kazuki gave an odd nod, not being able to flex his neck fully in his position.

"Well, he always makes me leave the room and I've seen the covers of his DVDs… they're all pretty kinky shit. I haven't pushed it though; the man is fucking scary when he's angry. If you watch, he actually starts to steam when he's getting mad."

"Steam?"

"Yeah, well, smoke. He's apparently got smoke based powers. Just what that means I don't know; he fought away from me in the last fight. What I do know is that he's strong, really damn strong. I tried to open the door to the living room the other night while he was watching his films and that motherfucker dropkicked me. If the walls of the base weren't indestructible, I'd have probably broken through your wall and maybe even the opposite wall."

"He kicked you? And the walls are indestructible?"

"Yeah… he doesn't have diplomacy as a skill… I don't mind, after fighting Victor a kick to the chest isn't going to kill me," Replied Kazuki "And not quite, they won't be broken by normal force like earthquakes or fire, but if one of those bastards finds us, it won't hold, so we keep our location secret."

"Ok…" replied Shikamaru, going back to thinking.

"Hey, I just remembered!" half-yelled Kazuki, correcting himself and interrupting Shikamaru again. "Who's Temari?"

'Fuck.'

"She's… ah… dammit!" cussed Shikamaru, any answer he gave now apart from the real one would be an obvious lie. He let out a sigh before continuing. "Fine… she's a woman that I kind of… you know… hook up with… a bit."

"A bit?" probed Kazuki, looking for more detail

"Yes, a bit, any more and her brother might literally kill me where I stand."

"Oh, come on, I know what it's like to be a brother, I have a younger sis myself, but I wouldn't murder someone for doing her… when she's old enough." Kazuki added, making sure the last part was clear.

"Her brother is the leader of an allied country who used to be possessed by a sand demon and nearly killed all of us before a friend of mine beat him and changed him for the better." Deadpanned Shikamaru.

"Fair 'nough" said Kazuki, popping another mint into his mouth.

"So how about you? Do you have a girlfriend back in your universe?" asked Shikamaru, accepting another mint.

'See how he likes being made uncomfortable.'

"Are you kidding me man? Said Kazuki laughing to himself, "I don't have a girlfriend."

Shikamaru listened to him laugh and didn't believe him for a second.

"Really?"

"Yeah! She's my wife."

Shikamaru coughed out his half-finished mint onto the floor in front of him. He looked over at Kazuki who was showing Shikamaru his left hand, ring on his fourth finger.

"You're married? You're even younger than I am! And I'm not even twenty yet!" exclaimed Shikamaru. "Why are you married so young?"

Kazuki shrugged, smile still on his face.

"I loved her; I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life, so I married her."

Shikamaru just stared at him.

"How can you go about it so simply?"

"Why are you making it so complicated?" replied Kazuki, grin still on his face.

"How can you be sure she loves you? How can you still say you'll love her in ten years?" asked Shikamaru, his breathing getting shallower.

'This kid is married… I've been with Temari for like four years now and we're just barely lovers…'

"Dude, if it ends up with her not loving me, then I don't want anyone else's love. Let me tell you Shika, I was gone for two months, two months without seeing me, believing I was dead. But she found there was a small chance I could still come back. So what did she do? She came to get me. She convinced her organisation that I could be rescued, and she came to the moon to get me."

"The moon…"

"Yes, the moon. I'm not lying to you Shika. She, a pure human, came to the moon on a giant suit of armor to rescue me. That's the kind of love I want, and when she agreed to marry me I got it." Explained Kazuki, "But don't let my standards be yours, does Temari make you happy? Does she show that love she has for you whenever she can? I won't say for you to do anything stupid, but marriage isn't as serious a thing as you think. It's meant to be an expression of love, to show how much you care about each other… if you lose that love, then you're no longer married, even if you still are in name."

Shikamaru was silent for a moment.

"You're like an old man about love aren't you?" said the ninja, grimacing as he remembered every old man he knew who'd talked about love.

Kazuki just nodded to himself.

"So what's her name?" asked Shikamaru

Kazuki gave Shikamaru a sad grin.

"Tokiko, Tokiko Tsumura"

XxX

"You seriously weren't kidding about this thing were you? Am I supposed to eat it or use it as a bludgeoning weapon?" said Shikamaru as he watched Kazuki approach his table with their hotdogs.

They were sat outside the restaurant, 'Long John's', at a white plastic table in the warm air. The area itself smelt of flowers, drifting over from the flower garden in the park across the road. Tall apartment buildings and smaller shops could be seen in the distance, but this row was stores opposite the park seemed to be the most popular. Not hard to see why, ice cream, light meals, sports shops, everything you'd need for a day out.

Kazuki put the two hotdogs down on the table, still wrapped in foil. Each of them was easily a foot and a half in length. Shikamaru grabbed his and unwrapped the foil, using it as a pseudo-plate, examining the hotdog itself.

"So it's basically a big sausage in a bun?" said Shikamaru "With… fried onions on top." He didn't sound excited at the prospect.

Kazuki was already covering his in mustard and ketchup, his hand reaching out for mayonnaise before deciding against it. He looked up at Shikamaru once he was done with his 'adjusting'.

"Pretty much, but there's a ton of different kinds of sausage, and onions is just a personal choice. Think of it like a sandwich, meat, sauce and tasty stuff." Said Kazuki, taking a bite from the end. "Well, eat up, once you're done, I'll take you to where those chess players are."

Shikamaru took that as enough reason to suck it up and try the food. He took a bite off the end and chewed, sampling the taste.

'Not bad…'

XxX

"There they are!" spoke Kazuki, getting Shikamaru's attention. The ninja was looking around for a group of people who looked old, but there seemed to be a lot of old couples and families in the park. He saw Kazuki walking over to a small group of old people surrounding a few boards of chequered black and white on small tables.

"Hey folks! Kazuki is here!" called the younger teen

The group of five perked their heads up, looking at the teen before each giving a small greeting. Shikamaru jogged to catch up with Kazuki, before continuing to walk at his pace. He looked at the group before him, four men and one woman; one man had white hair with a large bald spot on the top and a large smile on his face, another man had more hair and a darker colour, and was giving Shikamaru an odd glare, the third man seemed to be a lot older than the others with a thick pair of glasses and the final man seemed to be younger but had a cane beside his seat. The woman had permed white hair and a bright smile as she saw Kazuki approaching.

"Awww… Kazuki came to see us again!" she said, walking over to hug the teen. "How've you been Kazu, who's your friend?"

"Just fine Eda, in fact I brought a friend of mine with me. I heard he liked shogi so I thought chess might be his kinda game. D'ya mind teaching him chess while I go get your lunches? Just had to check who was here first."

The woman just smiled and grabbed Shikamaru's hand.

"Not a problem Kazu, thanks for bringing us a young man to teach… oh I'm going to have some fun with you." She said, addressing Shikamaru on the last part.

Shikamaru gave Kazuki a glare but he let himself be dragged over to sit at one of the tables with Eda. The four men were already divided onto two tables, each with a few pieces placed on the chequerboard and most in a box beside them, but they each turned briefly to see the newcomer in their midst. While he was being sat down, he saw Kazuki walking off back towards the row of shops

"So what's your name then dearie?" she asked, bringing a medium sized felt bag out of the bag she was carrying.

Shikamaru watched her gently place an assortment of ornamental pieces, each with differing designs in black and white, onto the board. She arranged them all into ranks, small pieces making a rank defending a row of more ornate pieces on each side of the board.

"I'm Shikamaru," said the teen in question.

"That's a nice name, bit long for me though, can I call you Shika?" asked Eda, putting on a pair of large framed glasses.

"That's fine, so long as Eda is fine for you too?" asked Shikamaru, looking at the black pieces in front of him. A castle, a horse, something that looked vaguely like a pointy hat, a pair of pieces that were similar size, but one seemed more feminine in design, and the same on the opposite side.

"Oh that's fine, I'm too old to stand of pleasantries much now." Hushed Eda as she looked over her pieces, checking they were in the right order. "Still got it! Now Shika, you've never played this before?"

A shake of the head from Shikamaru was her answer.

"Ok then, why don't I just explain it as we play, it's easier to remember that way."

XxX

Several chess games later, Shikamaru had the older players wide-eyed. In his first match, Eda had taken him through several plays and generally been easy on him. He came back in that match fairly well until he got cornered through excellent use of her pawns.

The second match was even closer, he had been one move away from checkmate when she had confounded him by switching the position of her previously unmoved king and rook.

"That's called castling Shika," said Eda, as he looked at her with a confused look. "By moving the rook to the other side of the king and moving the king where I did, I defended myself and got myself the high ground. You just can't do it if you've moved the king or the rook you use before."

The third match was when the four men had finished their games and had moved their chairs to come watch the new kid. By using his bishop and rook, along with several advanced pawns, he had cornered Eda's king while his queen went around the board cleaning up all the pieces she couldn't defend without putting herself in check. When he was done, he moved his queen in for the final move.

"Hoooo boy, Eda just got her butt whupped!" exclaimed the man with the cane from his seat, laughing as he did so.

"Shut your trap Jeff, the boy is good." joked the man with the smile. "Hey kid, want to play me next?"

"Ummm… sure." Said Shikamaru

'Where the heck is Kazuki… he's only getting their lunches'

Eda and the man switched places, Eda taking his chair as he sat across from Shikamaru. The man reached his hand out to shake Shikamaru's hand.

"My name's Tim, good to meet you. It's been a long time since a youngster like you has beaten Eda, but if you're new to chess..." Said the man, now called Tim "So what did you say your name was?"

"Shikamaru, sir"

"Oh, Sir, I like that, hey, all you guys better call me sir now!" said Tim to the men beside him. "I haven't been called Sir by a young man in years, let's hope your chess is as good as your manners."

"I want to play him after" said the man in the glasses.

"You can play after me John; I want to see what he's made of first." Said the man who had glared at Shikamaru earlier.

John just sighed as he shook his head.

"Fine, whatever you want Isaac, just don't crush his spirit. I actually like to play chess as a game, not a battle you know."

"No promises" was all the reply he got.

"Ok kid, you ready to play?"

"Of course"

So Tim made his first move.

XxX

"You're a lucky lucky man Isaac" muttered John as he shook his head, "I bet you didn't even see those knights of his converging in your game until you accidentally countered him"

Shikamaru had played a game against each of the men, beating them all except for Isaac who had won rather decisively after his knight's assault had been countered.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, my warrior spirit guided me" said Isaac, arms crossed in a defiant manner.

"Oh not this again, Isaac, you are not the warrior sent from beyond the stars to be the salvation of Namkaga." Despaired John, running his hand down his face. Eda, Tim, Jeff and Shikamaru watched this exchange happen with increasing worry, neither wanted a fight to break out now.

"Prove it" declared Isaac, John let out a low growl before a voice interrupted him.

"Excuse me, I know it's been a while but might I play a game with you?" spoke a large, well-built man in a blue suit and red long-sleeved undershirt.

"Gendo! You old coot, where have you been!" called Jeff, shaking his stick at the man in jest.

Gendo kept his face steady as he answered.

"Work's been keeping me busy, and a few family issues popped up. I'm afraid I couldn't turn up with that still happening. Now I just want to relax a little."

"Ah, well that's alright then Gendo; come sit down, we've got a new member today. Hey… maybe you'd like to play a game with him. Shikamaru? Feel like playing a game against a man who can defeat Isaac every time?" said Tim, hoping to distract Isaac from John.

"Hey! It isn't every time!" objected Isaac, turning his attention on Tim. "I beat him that time last winter."

"You refer to the time I was called out here to play chess, in the freezing cold, with the flu?" asked Gendo, clearly unimpressed.

Isaac heard him state that fact and shut his mouth, having been squarely shut up.

"So Shikamaru, feel like one more game?" asked Tim "Kazuki won't be back for while; he usually heads over to North Namkaga to get us a treat from our favourite restaurant there. We can't exactly get there now, so he volunteered to get it for us when he could."

'He could have told me he was going to be a few hours.'

Shikamaru looked up at the large man from his seat, and then shrugged his shoulders.

'Not like I can leave anytime soon.'

"Gendo Ikari," said Gendo, extending his hand. "Would you indulge me with a game?"

"Sure," said Shikamaru, meeting his hand "let's play."

XxX

A/N: So, the second chapter is done, I hoping the story is starting to gain a little momentum and that you readers are enjoying it so far. Reviews are always nice, but I'd rather you point out flaws you found than anything else, because then the story gets that much better later on.

Beta Note: Hey everyone, this story's been officially approved by me, Lucifer-Allheart. Hope you enjoy it.