Naruto's head was still reeling. According to Shikamaru's best guess, this was really happening. He, Hinata, Naruto, and probably Gaara and Temari had somehow been transplanted into their fifteen-years-younger bodies.
Although, the way Shikamaru explained it, that was just how it seemed to them because they had got the memories. Their spirits or souls or what-have-you hadn't really jumped back in time fifteen years, that was impossible. They were still them, but they now had future knowledge, which was a very dangerous thing.
Of course, he didn't mention that his explanation was just as impossible, but it was more favorable than the alternative. They would have had to be dead for their spirits to depart from their bodies.
"How? And more to the point, if that is the case, why don't we remember remembering?" Shikamaru nodded.
"Are any of you familiar with Divergent Principle?" All three shook their heads. "It's a theory of temporal mechanics which states that for every choice we make, every event that occurs, another, opposite choice is made. For example, somewhere there's a world where Iwa beat Konoha in the Third Great War..." He paused at seeing their shock at the very idea that the Yellow Flash could have failed. "Never mind. The point is that the moment this happened, it created an alternate timeline. The future we remember wasn't affected because in that world, we never received these memories. Which means that anything we do here won't affect said timeline or memories, or cause a self-fulfilling paradox or whatever, so you can stop worrying about that, Naruto."
"I-I wasn't..." Blank stares from Hinata and Shikamaru. "...Fine." Chouji was still white as a sheet. His best friend had memories that were really, really, not supposed to be there, and Naruto was acting serious, and Hinata wasn't shy... Chouji plopped down and started snacking, convinced that the world was about to end.
"We're discussing this in full view and hearing of an ANBU squad. Shouldn't we be more careful?"
"Oh, come on. It's a low-level genjutsu. It's so weak they haven't even noticed. It'll blur our speech and hide our lips. They won't hear anything or be able to lip-read." Chouji was sweating now. Shikamaru, the Shikamaru he knew, definitely did not know any genjutsu, nor was he crafty enough to fool ANBU.
But that was kinda the point, wasn't it? This wasn't the Shikamaru he knew, not anymore.
"So, what are going to do with this future knowledge?"
"Do nothing!" Chouji had found a voice. "I'm serious. If you try to manipulate events according to what you know will happen, it'll backfire, horribly. No one should ever take that risk. Just... act like you normally would..."
"But that's acting the way you told us not to, Chouji. Hell, just by calling this meeting we've changed the way things happen. We should try and make sure that some of the bad stuff that happens, doesn't, and..."
"What happens to you shapes who you are! If you change events so that they're more favorable towards you, it will change other peoples' experiences, and they won't turn out they way you remember them!" Naruto remembered Sasuke. Kneeling, chained in ANBU max. security, the eyes he was so proud of sealed away.
"What if that's a good thing?" Hinata's fingers brushed against his. She knew who he was talking about. As if to drive home the point, Naruto looked over to where Sasuke was brooding, alone, his gaggle of fangirls watching him from the next corner. "What if... you don't like what some people have become?"
"Unfortunately, Naruto, I agree with Chouji, but in moderation." Naruto shot him a dirty look.
"So, it's okay to let Sasuke...!"
"That's not what I meant. You can't make people's choices for them. If Sasuke wants to run off to Orochimaru and be a complete and utter git, then that's his choice. You can try to stop him if you want, but it was his choice, and his path to take. If you really tried, you could stop him, like you tried to before... but it's still his choice.
"Yes, we have future knowledge. Yes, that gives us a huge advantage over our enemies in terms of protecting the people and places close to us. But if those same people make choices that put them in harm's way, we don't have any right to take that choice from them." Naruto faltered. He knew who Shikamaru was thinking of.
"Like Asuma."
"...Yes."
"Naruto-kun. I agree with Shikamaru. We have been given this knowledge for some reason. It is inevitable that we would take advantage of that knowledge to become stronger, but we cannot use that same knowledge to manipulate our loved ones without their knowing. If we do, we become as bad as those we try to protect them from..." Naruto was silent.
They were right. He hated it, but they were right. He couldn't make Sasuke's choice regarding Orochimaru for him... but he could make damn sure Sasuke had his priorities straight. He ran off for power, for revenge? Then Naruto was going to show him that they weren't worth having unless you had something to protect. Sasuke thought Naruto was powerless because he stayed in the village? He'd kick his ass, and show him how powerful you became with something to fight for beyond yourself.
"...You're right. We can't stop them from making choices, be they right or wrong." His eyes glinted with determination. "But that doesn't mean we can't help make them see when they're wrong. That doesn't mean we can't become strong enough to protect them from their own failures!" Naruto's determination was back in full force.
"We become strong to protect those we love. We become stronger from each failure we make to protect them. We can't shield them from every failure they make, but we can make the failure hurt less by being there for them." Hinata spoke confidently, without a trace of stutter.
"Failure and success are unavoidable in life. What choices we make, what strength we have, it's inevitable that one day we'll screw up, or meet someone we can't possibly defeat. It's human nature. We are not perfect. But we do the best we can, from day to day. We're not perfect, and all we can do is but try." Shikamaru's voice, speaking of futile effort that was worth it, seemed foreign in the mouth of the lazy genius. All present felt the underlying spirit that filled every word. And Chouji... Chouji no longer felt quite so afraid.
"We can but try."
Naruto smirked. He had a few years to put together, run through, and fulfil an intensive training regimen that would get him powerful enough to take on Sasuke and prove to him what the worth of power was.
He already knew what his chakra nature was, so basic chakra nature manipulation exercises would be easy. He'd have to wait until Jiraiya before he could get the Rasengan or his toad contract, the former if only to avoid suspicion. He'd also have to wait until Mizuki's eventual betrayal to get Kage Bunshin.
Which meant he'd have to play "dead last" again. It was infuriating.
So, what else could he do? Well, chakra control. He'd definitely benefit from that, and more, he knew the necessary exercises to perform for it. A thought then occurred to him.
Do I have to play "dead last"? I already know Kage Bunshin, the seals and the necessary chakra for it... Do I really have to play "dead last", just to get Mizuki to reveal himself?
Yes. Too many bonds were forged that night. Too many revelations and secrets thrown into the open. And he was NOT willing to let Mizuki simmer away in the background, like an exploding tag that could go off at any time. So, play the idiot. It'll hurt Iruka to find out, but it will hopefully hurt a lot less in the long run.
Taijutsu, as well, would have to be in there. It physically hurt to think of how uncoordinated he was now. If wasn't for his ability to pull impossible strategies out of his ass, he'd doubted he'd have survived to chuunin. He was uncomfortable relying on nothing but luck. So, taijutsu. But he'd need to find someone who would see some real improvement in his forms... no offense to Iruka-sensei, but taijutsu was not his strong point. Mizuki, their Academy taijutsu instructor was also not a good idea, the treacherous bastard. He needed someone either jounin-level or special jounin in taijutsu. Unfortunately, only one person came to mind, and it meant he would have to befriend someone in the year above, as well as wait for a year. Why, why didn't he know any taijutsu specialists other than Maito Gai?
He'd started looking into fuuinjutsu after Akatsuki's defeat, to try and understand more about his seal. He'd been enchanted. Fuuinjutsu was, at first sight, so unpredictable, so arcane. But once you understood how contradictory it could be, and just how chakra interacted within each part of a seal, it began to feel more like a cross between art and a puzzle. You were trying to create a masterpiece, but you only had so many colors, and if you mixed them to get what you needed, sometimes it would create a color you weren't expecting at all.
If nothing else, Naruto wanted a headstart on that.
He calmed down and thought things through, like Tsunade had told him to do when being Hokage became too stressful. Taijutsu was a glaring necessity, since it had an impact on how well his favorite technique, Kage Bunshin, performed. Chakra control was less so, since, thanks to the Kyuubi, he had chakra to spare, but it was still necessary for his combat techniques, along with training in nature manipulation and sage techniques. If possible, he could also work on developing his chakra coils to handle even more chakra. He wanted to have as much leeway as possible before having to call upon unfiltered Kyuubi chakra.
But he would still have to be careful about how much he progressed. He needed to remain 'dead last' so that Mizuki would reveal his true colors, so he could end up on Team Seven, so that he could stay beneath the radar of so many who feared what the young jinchuuriki might do should he actually become competent.
So: Taijutsu, which he would have to wait at least a year for. Chakra control. Fuuinjutsu. Chakra nature manipulation. Sage chakra, which he didn't dare attempt in this body without having Fukasaku on hand to smack it out of him if he screwed up.
He sighed. Chakra control would be easiest to work on in secret, he could practice on his apartment walls and in a bathtub. Nature manipulation, afterwards, would be just as easy, at first. Nobody would even notice him trying to cut a leaf with his chakra. They might notice him trying to cut a waterfall, though. Fuuinjutsu... Well, that was a largely mental challenge, but it meant he'd need to work on his calligraphy. The library, besides, would have several useful texts on both subjects. While it would be out of character for him, it might just send a message that he was serious about his shinobi training, he just wasn't shining.
Which was EXACTLY the message he wanted to send for now. But first, he'd need to befriend a fellow outcast...
Hinata strode through the Hyuuga compound to her room, unheeding of the strange looks she attracted. True, seeing the normally shy and timid Hyuuga heir behaving quite so... authoritatively... was unusual enough that someone might think she had been replaced.
In a way, she had. This Hinata had eleven years of her father's respect, seven in a romantic relationship with the man she loved, and three as head of the Hyuuga Clan. She was going to make sure she had a lot more of the second, but she wasn't looking forward to becoming Clan Head anytime soon, especially considering it was a life-long position. She didn't want the current Clan Head to be 'retiring' anytime soon. It would also be impossible for her to gain her father's respect sooner. She had to fall, so that she and another could truly rise.
So, now began the task of augmenting her training regimen in a way that wouldn't raise suspicions when she lost to Neji in her first chuunin exams. Yes, she still had to lose. The wounds that Neji had, and still nursed, wouldn't heal properly, nor would he realise his true potential as a shinobi, unless he lost to someone unconnected to the Hyuuga, and whom he deemed unworthy: someone he believed would never be able to defeat him because they were fated to be weak.
Someone like Naruto.
For any Hyuuga, precise chakra control was a must, since it allowed more precise use of the Byakugan and it's accompanying taijutsu style, the Jyuuken. It was even more important for Hinata, as her (so far) ultimate technique relied on chakra control so precise that she could strike a wasp in mid-flight. Following that, taijutsu, specifically, the Jyuuken style. It was the trademark of the Hyuuga clan, and was how many Hyuuga chose to measure their skill, never mind that some of them might have excelled in other pursuits.
Medical ninjutsu... would have to wait. Her Byakugan had ensured her actual medical ninjutsu were efficient at an unprecedented level, but the areas not based on practical chakra... the theory and various different poisons and diseases and corresponding symptoms... she had trouble taking it in all at once, even with a teacher as understanding as Sakura.
Exercises to exploit her chakra nature, water, would help her chakra control as well, and they could be performed innocently enough. A few extra minutes in the bath, a few extra hours on her own at the pond... Her father had not begrudged her that while she was still at the Academy, no matter how disappointed he seemed to be in her.
So: Chakra control. Jyuuken. Chakra nature manipulation. Medical techniques. She bit her lip. It would be difficult, very difficult, to excel as she wanted in the Jyuuken style without anyone noticing. Her father periodically checked in with her taijutsu tutor, sparing at least a thought for his less able daughter. Chakra control, on the other hand, was very difficult to quantify, so she may excel there without fear. She smiled. Good. She had a plan.
Shikamaru was thinking. He was doing a lot more of that than usual, recently, thinking. Now, he was thinking about how to improve his abilities ahead of schedule. In the timeline he could remember, most of his training had been focussed on improving his already considerable situational analysis skills. As a result, he didn't need to now. So, what areas was he lacking in, and what areas would he definitely benefit from improving?
Physically? Everything.
His taijutsu was sub-par. Since he had relied on his mind and his specialised ninjutsu to get out of most uncomfortably close encounters, he had also left most of the physical work to Chouji, or to anyone he was grouped with who happened to fill the role of "heavy combat specialist".
His chakra control, while good enough to make use of his clan's hijutsu, would also benefit from intensive training, since when dealing with Kage Mane no jutsu and it's branch techniques, chakra control was less important than having the necessary reservoir of chakra to keep it going, and so had been slightly neglected. He had nowhere near as much chakra as, say, Naruto, but his chakra potential was... had been, one of the highest of his age group. That said, chakra control exercises would allow him to make more efficient use of chakra for Kage Mane, which, in turn, would let him use it for longer.
Genjutsu. It was an area that Shikamaru had only touched upon before the incident that had resulted in the memory jump, but Kurenai had told him he had something of a knack for it. However, he'd need greater chakra control before he tried that again.
Stamina was the most important quality any Nara shinobi could make use of, since it dictated how much chakra you could make use of for the Kage Mane before collapsing or having to resort to soldier pills. And his stamina would be best increased by taijutsu training.
Shikamaru organised what he would be training himself in, in order of necessity.
Stamina (via taijutsu), chakra control, genjutsu. He almost smirked. Taijutsu, ninjutsu(and the necessary chakra control), genjutsu, in that same order, was the core of the Academy curriculum. Students were taught taijutsu first, along with chakra manipulation theory, then moved on to divergent taijutsu(where the students would choose the styles that would carry through for life), coupled with basic seals and chakra molding, then advanced(for genin) taijutsu, plus the three Academy techniques, and touched upon genjutsu theory.
How fortunate, then, that that was exactly what he needed to do. It wouldn't look quite so strange for him to be studying advanced forms of what they were covering at the Academy, now would it?
Assuming he got caught doing so.
Chouji was worried. He wasn't afraid, not anymore.
Well, maybe he was still afraid. Just a bit, though.
He was worried for Shikamaru. Heck, he was worried for Naruto and Hinata, too. He'd barely known them before today, but now it seemed they trusted him with their lives! And it did seem like it was their lives they were trusting him with, too. Intentionally interfering in an ANBU operation? He'd never even considered he could be that close to an ANBU-nin, but apparently they'd been following Naruto since he could walk.
That was another thing. People were trying to KILL Naruto! The ANBU had been assigned to protect him on the orders of the Hokage himself! This... this was WAY over Chouji's head!
But now, somehow, Shikamaru was involved in it.
Which meant that so was Chouji. While Chouji was young, and some would say naïve, he had a fierce sense of loyalty burning within his rotund frame, all Akimichi did. Friends who could see beyond the Akimichi's husky exterior to the kind-hearted soul within were few and far between, even for shinobi, and every Akimichi knew to treasure every last one of them.
Shikamaru was his friend. His best friend. His first real friend. Chouji would charge into Hell and back to keep him safe, if need be. But, after today, after what he had heard, Chouji was worried.
Shikamaru had matured, literally overnight, into someone who might not need protecting anymore. Or worse, become someone who was going to face dangers that Chouji was, right now, too weak to protect him from.
He was worried that Shikamaru was going somewhere he wouldn't be able to follow, somewhere where Chouji's immense strength for his age meant nothing.
No.
Shikamaru was still Shikamaru.
Regardless of whether or not he had future knowledge, he was still the same lazy genius who saw what Chouji was really worth, on that lonely summer's day. He was just a bit older, and wiser now, and in Chouji's opinion, that could only be a good thing. But damned if Chouji was going to let his friend leave him behind! Chouji quickly finished off the chips in his hand, and leapt up from the bench where he had been pointlessly brooding.
If his friend was going down a more dangerous path, then Chouji owed it to him to become more dangerous as well. He was going to get tougher, and stronger, and smarter, and big enough to cover Shikamaru's back no matter what! If Shikamaru was ever going to walk willingly into Hell, then he, Akimichi Chouji, was going to be there every step of the way, and woe to the fool of a demon who dared to try and get past him! He sped off towards the rooftop where Shikamaru typically watched the clouds.
Hey, things couldn't have changed that much, right?
"Shikamaru!" The lazy genius looked up, to see Chouji standing at the top of the steps. He was breathing heavily, and sweating profusely, as though he had sprinted across Konoha to get here. "Shikamaru! I know that you've changed now, and that you're going to get stronger a lot faster now..." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. This was sounding suspiciously like a 'farewell, you're going somewhere I can't follow' speech. "And I know that because of that, you're going to be facing dangers way beyond me, dangers that I probably haven't even dreamed of before now.
"BUT I DON'T CARE!
"You're my friend, Shikamaru! I don't know if the future me told you this or not, or if you already knew some other way, but I'll tell you right now: To an Akimichi, a friend is a friend for life! I'm not going to run away, or complain that I'm too weak to follow where you're going, or, or try and pull you back! Nothing like that! I'll follow you into Hell and back again, and I'll watch your back the whole way!" He seemed to collapse slightly then, as though he thought his promise was ridiculous.
"I know. I know I'm not strong enough right now. But... But you can help me change that! You know my strengths, my weaknesses, how I can improve, what I have to do to improve at the pace you're going to set! You're my friend, Shikamaru! And I'm not going to abandon that, no matter what! I'm just not built that way! If the stakes get tougher, so will I! If the road gets more dangerous, so will I! If your enemies get even stronger, then SO WILL I!"
Shikamaru eyed him for a long while. Future Chouji had, indeed, told he and Ino about the Akimichi's philosophy regarding friends, and how it came about. Back then, Shikamaru had been touched. He had interpreted it as a sign of Chouji's faith in both of them, as well as in his own ability to protect the both of them. But this...
Chouji, barely ten years old, was essentially telling him he would be watching out for him for the rest of his life, and he had just declared the Akimichi philosophy much louder and far more passionately than he had over that yakitori, so many years from now. He smiled. Chouji had matured, mentally speaking, and a lot faster than he had anticipated. He wondered if the other Chouji had been this mature as well.
"Well, when you put it like that... I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Chouji almost faltered, then saw his friend's teasing grin. His face lit up instead.
"No, you don't!"
"Right. Come over here, and I'll tell what you should be working on, and when you should work on it. And then, we need to go to Ichiraku's."
"Ichiraku's?" Shikamaru smirked knowingly.
"Yeah. We're pooling battleplans." Chouji didn't know what to make of that, but he continued to grin fiercely.
I told Naruto that I'd trust Chouji with this, and he just validated that trust.
Chouji, my friend, I will never doubt you again.
"OI! TEUCHI-JII-SAN!" Teuchi looked up, and there, as he expected, was Naruto. His best customer, hands down, for four years running. Ayame looked up from the noodles simmering in broth, a smile on her face. She thought of Naruto as the endearing little kid from down the street. He was the kind of kid you can't help but like, because not liking him would be like kicking a puppy.
"Ah, Naruto! The usual six bowls, then?"
"Ehh...! That would be great, Teuchi-jii-san, but..." he pulled out his toad wallet. "Gama-chan's been putting himself on a pretty harsh diet..." It was true. The thing barely had fifty ryou inside it. Teuchi smiled sympathetically.
"Hmm, I see... Tell you what, Naruto. You're a good customer, and a regular, so first bowl's on the house tonight, ne?" His face lit up immediately.
"REALLY? Thanks, Teuchi-jii-san!"
"Hah! Don't mention it! You eat here so often, I'm amazed you even have any money left! So, it's only fair that you get something at my expense, once in a while." Naruto grinned sheepishly.
"Well, it's better than anything else in Konoha, you know?" After Teuchi turned away, Naruto spoke quietly, wistfully to himself. "Sometimes I wonder if this is what home-cooking tastes like..."
"Sorry, Naruto, did you say something?"
"Nope!"
"All right, then, what's it to be tonight?"
"Miso!" He took his wallet and counted. "Then pork and then beef, and then that's it for tonight!" Teuchi grinned.
"One Miso ramen, on the house, coming up!"
"Thank you again!" Naruto sat there, fiddling with his chopsticks, waiting for his (free!) ramen, and his friends. As he waited, he contemplated the routine he had set up for himself. It likely wouldn't be as extensive as the others' since he had an image to maintain until a certain point in time, but he would still benefit.
"Good evening, Naruto-kun." Hinata had crept up behind him, and was bowing politely, as she was expected to do in public. Naruto grinned, and got off his stool.
"Good evening, Hinata-san." He bowed formally in return. "Why don't you join me? Ichiraku's ramen is the best!" Of course it was. She knew it was and he knew she knew it was. He had taken her here on their first not-really-a-date-but-kinda-sorta-actually-a-date-because-I'm-paying-for-you. She had loved it. Especially the vegetable ramen...
"Of course. I would be honored." She seated herself demurely on the stool, and politely ordered vegetable ramen from the old man she knew had been so kind to Naruto for nearly his entire life.
"Coming right up, Hyuuga-sama." Oh. So he recognised her eyes.
"Hinata is fine." He responded with a smile. A Hyuuga who wasn't an arrogant, stuck-up prat was a welcome change of pace. Not that any of the other Hyuuga deigned to lower themselves to eat from a ramen stand.
"Then, one vegetable ramen coming right up, Hinata-san." Ayame looked up, and saw Hinata sitting next to Naruto. She also noticed the way the two of them were fidgety around the other. She winked conspiratorially at Hinata when next her attention was directed that way. Hinata knew what was being implied, and, despite herself, flushed a light pink.
"Oi, Naruto, Hinata!"
"YO, Naruto! Hinata!" Shikamaru and Chouji wandered into view.
"Oi, Shikamaru, Chouji!"
"Good evening to you both." Teuchi was overjoyed. Any Akimichi was a good customer, on the rare occasion they opted for something other than home cooking. They were polite, always paid, and they loved to eat.
"So, what'll you kids be having?"
"Miso ramen. No egg, please." Naruto couldn't believe his ears.
"Oi, oi, if you don't want the egg, then give it to me!" Shikamaru shrugged in response as Chouji placed his order.
"Miso and Pork, then Beef! Then we'll see from there!"
"Um... Chouji, we'll only have enough time for one bowl..." Both Naruto and Chouji turned to Shikamaru with a dangerous glint in their eyes, as if to say, 'Not the way WE eat ramen!' "...fine. Mendokuze na."
Shikamaru turned out to be wrong. By the time he and Hinata were halfway through their ramen, Naruto and Chouji were already starting on their third bowl each. Naruto gazed longingly at the bowl of hot broth and noodles in front of him. This was to be his last for the night, so it had to last. He breathed in the aroma emanating from the bowl. The mix of spices and food that defined Ichiraku's ramen tantalisingly wafting through his nostrils. His chin felt wet, and he realised he was drooling. Wiping his mouth off, he took his chopsticks to town, after a hurried, 'Itadakimasu!'
In that time, Chouji had finished his third bowl, and was asking for a fourth serving. He knew this was all he'd have time for, so he made sure to savor it as well. He didn't take quite as long as Naruto did to appreciate the smell that heralded the flavor, but he certainly took his time with this bowl.
They still finished around the same time as Shikamaru and Hinata, however.
"Ah...! Ichiraku's is the best!"
"There can be no evil amongst the lovers of Ichiraku's!"
"It's just ramen, no matter how good. But it was good."
"It was wonderful, Naruto-kun." Leaving their money for the ramen on the counter, they left for the night.
Now, while three of them had future knowledge, and the other was very strong for his age, they weren't arrogant. When I say night, I mean evening. The sun was just setting, and they were kind of in a hurry to get home before dark.
"Shikamaru, that genjutsu...?"
"Was done back at Ichiraku's. We can talk." Naruto nodded.
"Right. Well, who wants to go first?" Hinata cleared her throat.
"I think it should be you, Naruto-kun."
"Me?"
"Regardless of time period or age, you are, at least to Shikamaru and myself, the Sixth Hokage. We will defer to you in cases like this." Naruto looked between his two friends who had 'jumped' back with him. "Chouji?"
"I've never seen you in the robes, but after that stare you gave me earlier today, I don't doubt you'll achieve that ambition. I'll follow Shikamaru's lead in this kinda situation anyway."
"Chouji..." Chouji grinned.
"I'm going to see you in those robes. Don't let me down, Rokudaime-sama." Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. Shikamaru coughed.
"We don't have much time."
"Right. I can't really improve that much at the moment." Frowns from his friends. They knew he was better than that. "It's not because I think I'm perfect at this stage. I'm not that stupid. It's... I have to continue to play the part of 'dead last'. There's a lot at stake here, and I can't let my pride get in the way of that." He inhaled. "But there are some areas I'm going to be focusing on. Chakra control, for one. I'll be able to do that in secret, along with chakra nature manipulation." Chouji gawked.
"You're going to...?"
"Oi, if Sasuke can do it, why not me?" It wasn't a malicious comeback, and Chouji looked suitably sheepish at that. "I'm also going to try and get a headstart on my fuuinjutsu, so don't be surprised if my handwriting improves considerably."
"I didn't know you were practicing fuuinjutsu?"
"I did." Hinata said quietly.
"I was just getting into it. It's actually kinda interesting. It's like a puzzle that's missing pieces, and you have to invent the pieces yourself as you go along." Shikamaru was thoughtful.
"That does sound interesting..." Naruto grinned. Shikamaru loved puzzles, but he loved strategy games more.
"All right, Hinata, how about you?" Hinata nodded, cleared her throat as elegantly as she could, and told them of her plans.
"Unfortunately, like Naruto-kun, I need to slightly retard my progress in some areas, such as my Jyuuken. I need to become stronger, but not too much stronger, or it will raise questions when..." She paused. Should she tell them? They might understand... "...When Neji-nii-san defeats me in the chuunin exams." As expected, a loud noise of protest from Naruto.
"You can't let that happen, Hinata! I remember what he did to you, even if you don't! You were in hospital for a month after he... after..." Chouji had gone slightly pale, while Shikamaru was carefully looking everywhere except Naruto. He'd already guessed Hinata's reasons for this, but still...
"Naruto-kun." Hinata was using a tone she had only acquired after they had started seeing each other. It was a firm, even tone, that did not vary one octave when she spoke. When she next spoke, it was in her normal, softer voice. "I know you do not want that to happen again. I don't relish the idea either. But for Neji-nii-san's sake, I must.
"If I were to defeat him, he would simply attribute it to the Main Family being stronger after all, and he would simply lock himself into his ridiculous rut of self-destruction with all that destiny nonsense. The only one who can defeat him satisfactorily, that is, to the point that he can finally realise his true potential, must be someone with no connection to him, personally, or the Hyuuga clan.
"It must be someone whom he despises as weak, as someone who will never be strong enough to defeat him if they stay true to their destiny.
"It must be you, Naruto-kun." Naruto stared at her, long and hard. He wanted nothing more than to hug her, right there. To let her know with his body warmth, that she was strong, stronger than Neji would ever be, to be able to do something like this just so someone else could make himself whole again. To let her know that he was there, to reassure her that he would never, could never, see her as weak.
But he couldn't.
Shikamaru's genjutsu was blurring words and lip movement, but it wouldn't obscure physical contact. If he hugged her, now, as he so wanted, they would be found out. None of what they hoped to achieve would come to pass.
Finally, in a cracked voice,
"Hinata..." She smiled.
"I will be all right." With that, she went back to listing what she would be working on. "I will be unable to improve my Jyuuken to any great degree without arousing suspicion when... when certain events come to pass. I will, however, be able to work on my chakra control in secret quite easily, as well as chakra nature manipulation. That, unfortunately, will have to comprise the bulk of my secret training until the chuunin exams are over. But do not think for one second that I will be as helpless before my cousin as I was before. I will fight, and I will lose. But I will not fall so easily as last time." She seemed to take some perverse inner strength from that.
"I guess it's me next..." Shikamaru scratched his head. "Well, I don't really have any special event I have to keep myself weak for, but I do need to keep my performance in class in the same region, or I risk making top of the class. And that'd be bad, ne?" Naruto nodded. While he was not averse to the idea of having Shikamaru in his team, it wouldn't work. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio had, and always would have, a bond of teamwork that would likely surpass these genin team selections well into future generations. "Anyway, my secret training is going to follow the Academy curriculum, more or less: Taijutsu, chakra control, genjutsu. After all, no one's going to see anything wrong with an Academy student reading beyond class material, ne?" He smirked casually, and Naruto had to smirk along with him. Using Academy material as a cover was nothing short of brilliant. "Well, I pretty much covered what I'm going over. My taijutsu is bad. Not unworkable, but it's never been as good as it could have been. My techniques rely on chakra control and chakra reserves more than most, and, well, as for the last one, Kurenai said I had something of a gift with genjutsu."
"When did she tell you that?"
"When I was killing time waiting for Saruko to get ready for training. Kurenai got me to try a basic genjutsu for a laugh, and afterwards, she told me I was better than she expected of a first-timer. After that, we started discussing genjutsu theory when I came to collect Saruko, and she had me try a few more basic genjutsu. I actually learned the one we're using to fool the ANBU from her." Naruto made an 'oh', and dropped the subject.
"Well, shall we leave for now? We'll see each other at the Academy tomor-" Chouji coughed.
"I haven't mentioned what I'll be doing." Naruto's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he still acted like he expected it.
"Looks like your trust was well-placed, Shikamaru." Chouji blushed at the compliment, but quickly shook it off.
"From what Shikamaru explained to me, my weakness is, and always will be, chakra control, purely because of the nature of some of my techniques. So, I'll be focussing on that, really heavily. I want to be as efficient as I can be with my chakra. But since my strength is taijutsu, coupled with my physical strength, I plan on maximising that advantage to the fullest. I'll be pestering my dad to practise with me as much as possible, and I'm going to start wearing weighted armor. Taijutsu and chakra control. My strength and my weakness. I plan to make my strength unbeatable, and to eliminate my weakness." Chouji had a fire in his eyes that reminded him uncomfortably of the boy he was about to befriend purely for his own selfish purposes, and he had almost shot his gaze to Shikamaru when Chouji had mentioned weight training.
Naruto took in the people gathered around him. Hinata, ready to make a very real sacrifice for the sake of her cousin; Shikamaru, thanks to his transplanted memories, wasn't nearly as lazy as he used to be; Chouji, who, despite his lack of future knowledge, had matured visibly, in the way he walked, and the way he carried himself. He had an unshakable faith now, in his friend, and in himself. Naruto examined his own hands. Had he changed, too? Was it visible to others?
"Naruto-kun." He looked up at Hinata. "We're proud of you, Naruto-kun. We all are." He smiled. Then, in the last semblance of the Hokage he would be, he told them to separate. Shikamaru's genjutsu fell, and they all walked back to their respective homes.
As Shikamaru and Chouji walked the short distance they had to together, Shikamaru noticed Chouji was grinning strangely.
"What?"
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but... you had a girlfriend in the future, right?" Shikamaru racked his brains, desperate to recall when he might have mentioned Temari. If Chouji knew too much about the chuunin exams as well...
"...Yeah. I did."
"Thought so. So, what was Kurenai like?" Shikamaru froze in his tracks. When Chouji looked back at him, he saw a look of absolute horror plastered across his face. "Shikamaru?"
"...No... No, no, no...!" Chouji was confused. "No, Kurenai wasn't... dear kami, no! She was with Asuma-sensei, for kami's sake!"
"Who?" It couldn't hurt to tell him this, at least. He had to understand just why that was... NO.
"Kurenai is one of the jounin-sensei assigned to our class following graduation. Asuma is the jounin-sensei assigned to us." Shikamaru shuddered. "Just... No! She's old enough to be my mother! I was alone with her because I had taken on her daughter as my apprentice!" Chouji blanched.
"Oh... sorry. Heh." Shikamaru shuddered again. "So... who was your girlfriend?" Shikamaru immediately broke off towards his family's home.
"Good night, Chouji."
"At least tell me if I know her!"
"No."
"Was that a no, I don't, or..."
"Good night, Chouji."