Ohayo!
I do NOT own Naruto, blah blah blah... Shikamaru's still the best!
For your regular Japanese translations, please refer to your more trustworthy sources. :D I only use those expressions that I find cute to insert in the story, so I hope you don't get bothered by these things. Let me just assume that being the Naruto fan that you are (or perhaps the anime fan in general), you know a bit about these stuff.
Now, I now turn you back to your regular programming. I hope you enjoy guys! Reviews would surely be appreciated!
Memories
Troubles of a Lazy Shinobi
Chapter Two : Duty Calls
Inside the Hokage's briefing room…
Almost everyone was already waiting inside the Hokage's office. The chuunins were gathered at this very important meeting, but everyone was feeling restless about the mission that they were all about to be assigned to. While it was obvious that all of them were worried, they tried to keep their minds preoccupied with other matters.
Sakura and Ino were busy arguing about who could soonest win Sasuke-kun's affection. Sakura would taunt Ino, Ino would retort and taunt Sakura back, and so on and so forth. Naruto was busy sharing with Lee his plans of getting the favor of the Hokage while keeping the other girls' attention away from that Sasuke at the same time. Hinata was leaning on the wall just across the room, still quiet and shy but continuing to admire that boisterous blonde-haired boy. Shino, Sasuke and Neji were left to their own solitary and seemingly aloof lives, sharing and enjoying the solitude of one corner of the room. Tenten, eager to get Neji's attention but unsure as how to do it, simply sat on the chair next to him. Chouji, the only guy in the group gobbling down on snacks, was just left to enjoy his munchies without any interruption.
An increasingly irritated Tsunade-sama, the village's respected Godaime, was still sitting as composedly as she could on her comfy chair. Though she was trying to hide it in the best way she could, each and every one of the shinobi in the room could feel her temper rise, everyone growing silent with each passing second. 'Man, why couldn't he be on time for once?' was what everyone could have been thinking at that moment.
"Gomenasai, minna," Shikamaru had said, apologetically coming inside. "Sheesh… this day is getting a bit too troub-"
"I think," Tsunade-sama began, "that you are in NO POSITION to complain right now." Everyone could see that she was about to explode any minute.
"Alright alright… I already said I'm sorry…" Hmph. That woman surely knows how to get on my nerves… The Hokage sure is troublesome…
Everyone still felt tense at the silence that followed after. You could say that it was quite surprising that Shikamaru would act this way with Tsunade-sama. However, you could rather say that they were not surprised at all – Shikamaru wouldn't be Shikamaru if he didn't think that everything in the world was troublesome.
"Let us begin, shall we?" Tsunade-sama checked her bearings and breathed deeply before she continued. "I guess no one would be oblivious to the recent widespread news of our borders being breached by the shinobis and even meager bandits from the foreign lands."
Indeed, this had been the plight of their land for three years in the running now. For the very short while that they still are recovering from the shock of the invasion back then, different hostile elements have been taking advantage of the weakened military control over the lands. With each passing day, the number of merchants sacked by bandits is steadily growing; recently, the various daimyos of the realm have been unable to cope with the military and stability issues in their respective localities; and, for a long time now – much to the agitation of the populace, more and more foreign shinobi spies have been found all over the nation. If no appropriate action is taken, the Fire country could crumble into desolation.
Tsunade-sama continued, "Year by year, the number of genin teams that join our ranks is unable to catch up with the demand for various services, especially from our most loyal clients. Infrastructure is slowly recovering, though I should say that much effort is still needed to restore Konoha back into the dazzling spectacle that it was. Our security patrols are much more strained now than ever before, owing to the fact that nearly all of our jounins and even some of our chuunins are being sent away on missions. Naruto-"
The blonde boy stood at attention the moment he heard his name.
"-you very well know that even your Iruka-sensei is currently on an espionage mission near the northern border. Lee-"
The black-haired, thick-browed boy grew alert now.
"-I believe you also noticed that your Gai-sensei has been dispatched to the western locale of Honkuryuu to protect the daimyo during his town rounds. Hinata-san, Kiba, Shino-"
At that the three simultaneously listened more carefully.
"-I hope you all understand if all your parents have been away for some time now; they are currently off to train many of our jounin further on some advanced techniques. Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, the same goes for your fathers as well. They have been most reliable in the past, and Konoha needs them yet again in this ever dire situation."
"Ie, you don't have to worry about it, Tsunade-sama," Ino tried to reassure the Godaime, "My dad does nothing else but bug me when he's home anyway…" Oh… why do things have to be like this? I feel so… lonely right now… Otoosan, I hope you're safe… Even okaasan is already getting worried…
On the outside, Ino looks okay, but the story is way different on the inside – not having his father around for so long a time now has left her spirits plummeting to an all-time low. If only she could have him around… or at least someone she could lean on at this very moment. With all that heaviness in her heart, she was unable to notice the worry that the drooping boy on the other side of the room tried to express, albeit a bit more inconspicuously. Chouji also felt sympathetic for Ino, so he decided to put away all the junk food he was munching on earlier. Even Sakura gave her a pat on the back; she knew.
"I'm glad to hear that," the Hokage replied. That won't hide your feeling of sadness from me, Ino. I'm sorry about all this. However, please try to understand the situation everyone is in.
"Though it may be of little consolation to the rest of you," Tsunade said, turning to the entire group again, "I just want to let you all know that Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai-sensei are still in Konoha, though they have been instructed to work double-time as jounin leaders to the new genin teams and as constant village security jounins for the time being. This is only a temporary arrangement, and we hopefully could put things back to normal soon… REALLY soon. If this stays any longer, we could run out of jounins in case of emergencies…"
The atmosphere in the room was then turning bleak… it seems that the little 'history' lesson that the Godaime had dished out for the bunch just crushed whatever morale they had left right from the beginning.
"Well, that little lively lecture only sapped the life out of this party, ne? Tsk tsk tsk. Is this any way to begin a mission?"
Everyone looked up. It was Shikamaru. Tsunade-sama was surprised. Under normal circumstances, she would get annoyed and shut him up. However, perceiving that this genius had something working up there in that head of his, she grinned.
"Well," the jounin spoke up again, "dwelling on anything other than issues relevant to the mission at hand will only keep these clueless bums ever baffled… especially that gaki over there," pointing to the unusually silent and serious blonde boy, then turning his head the other way.
At this remark, Naruto began yelling. "Who you calling a gaki, huh? Just because you're a jounin does NOT mean you're way better than any one of us!" With that, Naruto decided to let Shikamaru have a piece of his own mind. With a simple wink, however, Shikamaru signaled Chouji to extend his foot just in time to trip Naruto, who in turn fell on his face. Poor Naruto was totally embarrassed. Everyone laughed at his utter stupidity. Even the previously cheerless Ino gave out a slight chuckle. The jounin who started it all simply smiled at the sight of her smile. Once more, Tsunade was impressed by Shikamaru's turnaround scheme.
"Okay," the Hokage intervened after a few moments of laughter (and humiliation on Naruto's part), "now that everyone is in a better mood, I would like to assign your team assignments."
"Neh!" Hinata blurted quite aloud. Realizing what she did, she proceeded to speak a lot less rowdily this time, "uhm… ano… what I meant was… why are we going into separate teams? I thought this was a big mission?"
While everyone was a bit surprised with Hinata, they too were curious behind the team division.
"Well, I am going to make this a three-way mission… think of it as hitting three birds with one stone. Addressing the different needs of our nation, I am going to assign the twelve of you to four different tasks. Now, for the teams…"
Everyone paid attention now… they were more committed and all felt as if they could die for their village and the people. Shikamaru, thinking that this action would be no walk in the park, already began thinking of some preparations for the mission.
"Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino… you are to serve as the medical team that shall make rounds all throughout the country. You shall still stay in Konoha when there are no outstanding medical requests, but you will be dispatched when word arrives of such emergency in any of our towns."
"Hai! We shall do our best!" Sakura felt enthusiastic.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, you are going to be on tactical duty just like Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, and Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke's team shall take charge of the western border while Kiba's team is in charge of the northern border."
'Finally, I get to be away from that show-off Uchiha…' was what ran inside Naruto's mind. …but why do I have to be stuck with this stinkin' man-beast and thick-brows? Ugh… Naruto doesn't seem to like the arrangement, but he saw that this was better than facing the scorn of the Godaime. Kiba seems to share the same sentiment anyhow.
"Well, last but not least… Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, being the team best fit for espionage, you are going to find more about the recent little troubles near the southern border. Little is known about that area due to the unpredictable weather, but I believe there's more to that than merely weather… Shikamaru, being jounin and all, I expect nothing but success from your end, understood?" The Hokage gave her a stern look.
"Sure… whatever…" Boy, why does she want to emphasize that? Hmph… it's not like I wanted to become a jounin in the first place… Why do things have to be "…troublesome," Shikamaru unconsciously whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Tsunade gave him a more serious look in a give-me-any-more-smart-aleck-answers-and-you'll-regret-having-ever-lived kind of way.
"Nothing… nothing…" the young jounin replied, trying to fend off her irritation. "So, when do we depart?"
"Well, I do not want to rush you, but much of the country could not stand much abuse any longer… I wish to dispatch you as soon as possible – tonight at the most."
"Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru cut in with a very serious look on his face, "could we commence this mission tomorrow instead? I think each one of us here has some business we would like to finish before we leave, ne, minna?" Everyone nodded in agreement, though Ino had raised her eyebrow upon Shikamaru's request – he was not the man to look so serious.
"Well, I take it that it is not out of your laziness, I hope. Since everyone here agrees, then you could leave first thing in the morning… This briefing is officially over." With that, everyone went their own separate ways.
Later on that night, on the rooftop of the Nara residence…
Sigh… this sucks big time… of all the times, why does everything have to turn sour during my tender adolescent years? To think that I've dedicated my life to escaping all sorts of responsibility, and now I'm here, jounin and all, continuously slaving myself away with all sorts of things… how troublesome…
Nara Shikamaru was plain restless tonight. He couldn't even get some decent forty winks… tomorrow's the big mission for crying out loud!
What am I doing? I can't even get myself sleep sleep. Tch, there aren't even any clouds tonight to watch… Man, I didn't think things would turn this bitter. First was the Orochimaru incident, next was the Konoha invasion, and now, it's the instability of the Fire country… My years are slowly being lost to such troublesome things…
He knew that the mission was not the thing that bothered him tonight… it was the fact that during this mission, he could endanger…
Ino… of all the girls in the world, why did it have to be you? Heaven must be way angry at me to make me, a laid back and lazy bum, so crazy about you, a bossy, bratty, and troublesome girl… If only you could see how much it pains me at times to see you sad… and how much it makes me feel better by you just being there… If you're not going to notice me, can't you at least spare me some trouble by getting out of my head?
Suddenly, a different voice spoke.
'You know this is more than just a matter of the head, little man… what you cannot comprehend with the brain, you must learn to give way for the heart…'
Now Shikamaru was all the more confused.
Well, how would you know? Ack… must be the hormones kicking in. I'm SO afraid of what my life would look like married to her… I'd be like my dad, while Ino would be like my mom, always going at my behind like some hag on a rampage… Woah! Rewind… Why am I even THINKING that? Hmph… that would REALLY be one scary scenario.
At any rate, why do men even bother? They try to go out of their way to dress up and smell good and act all-too-cool just to win the heart of some girl he who would end up playing around with his heart. Girls are such cruel creatures too – I mean, they all chase some guy, and when the day comes that he rejects her, she thinks that it is all too okay to come crying to her best friend without even realizing how he would feel… Dammit, this is hard. I don't know what to think anymore!
With that, the young jounin decided to take a short walk… but what a walk it was. The moment he realized where his feet had taken him, he was already outside the Yamanaka residence.
Great. Just how exactly did I get here?
"Oy Shikamaru!" It was an all-too familiar voice. "Couldn't get some sleep as well?" Shikamaru looked up. True enough, it was Ino – the girl she would not want to be with right now… or maybe… just the girl she was looking for…
"Hmph… I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk by myself."
"Silly you," Ino softly exclaimed. The young jounin was now nervous about what he was expecting to hear next. Please don't… I'm going to die inside if ever you decide… "to take a walk with a very close friend could put your mind at ease. I'll be down in just a minute," Ino cheerfully continued.
Man, this is going to be the end of me! Think Shikamaru, think! Just pop her some excuse so that you could get back home! This time however, his intellect failed him. He simply froze at that spot, unable to respond. It took only a short while before Ino had jumped down from her window… I didn't know she looked cute in her evening robe… (A/N: think pajamas with a warm cotton overcoat)Shikamaru slapped himself back to reality when he felt a blush creep up his cheeks.
"Ne Ino, are you sure you should be doing this? Your parents might get worried…" What am I saying? She might suspect something.
"Oh, so you get worried about other people now, eh Shika?" That was certainly unexpected of him…
Darn. I thought so. "Hmph, being a jounin means you need to look out for your comrades… especially during REALLY dangerous missions. Besides, I'm your friend. Is there anything wrong about that?" Shikamaru simply retorted. I hope I'm more than just a friend for you though, Ino.
Again, there was silence. The only sounds you could hear that night was the soothing music of the crickets humming away to the full moon in the clear night sky. There was nothing but awkwardness for our young lad.
"Ano… Shika-kun…"
Did I hear right? Did she call me… Shika-kun?
"What is it," Shikamaru asked, feigning disinterest.
"Do you think I should give up on Sasuke-kun?"
What kind of question is that? Why is she asking ME?
"Shika-kun? Oy!"
"Do you REALLY want me to answer that question," Shikamaru asked in reply with slight hints of jealousy and anger in his tone. Sheesh. Everyone knows I suck at these things… I didn't think I disliked Sasuke that much, though… Man, women are so troublesome…
"…"
Now Ino was getting more distressed with each passing moment. I guess any girl should not really bother asking Shika-kun… he is not reliable at all when it comes to matters of the heart…
Shikamaru noticed that she was getting all depressed again. Man I can't stand it when she gets all too sad… but I also can't stand it when she's screaming at the top of her lungs when she's all too happy either. Sheesh.
"Ne, Ino… I'm sorry about what I just said… I think I better escort you back home now. It's really getting late."
"Alright," Ino replied in resignation. "But promise me one thing, Shika-kun…"
"What?"
"…"
"What?"
"Whatever you do, make sure you take good care of yourself… I can't stand my friends getting hurt and all… it makes me feel helpless. I hope you would always be safe. You're the only close friend I could confidently come to when I have problems. So please… do take care of yourself, please?"
Friend, huh… that surely stung… Shikamaru was silent.
"Ne,Shika-kun! Promise me!"
"Okay, okay… you don't have to be so worked up… I promise I will, no matter what."
With that, a smile crept up Ino's face. I feel so glad to hear that.
The rest of the walk was rather quiet. Finally, they reached the Yamanaka residence.
"Well, I better get back to bed and get some shut-eye. Have a good night's sleep, Shi-"
"-Wait," Shikamaru hastily blurted out. "Eto… Before you go back in… I'd like to give you this…" The boy took something from his pocket and handed something to her.
"What's this?" Ino saw it was a white envelope. "A letter? What's this all about Shika?"
"Ino… I, uhm, am not used to… openly saying what I feel, so… ano… I thought you should read that instead." Ino gave him a quizzical look. She saw that Shikamaru was slightly blushing, but suddenly grew a bit sad.
Before she could say anything back, the young jounin uttered, "Well, I better get back now; my mom becomes such a hag whenever she finds out that I have sneaked outside this late again. See ya around Ino…" And with that, Shikamaru gave her a weak smile and disappeared out of sight the way a ninja would.
"What in the world could this mean? What couldn't he say to me?" Ino decided to read what's on the letter before she turned in for the night.
A/N: Now it gets longer, doesn't it? Curious about the letter? Hehe… you'll find out soon enough. Anyway, it took this long because I originally planned to separate the briefing and the conversation into two separate chapters, but decided that it would be troublesome to make the story any longer (chapter-wise). Please review! Arigato gozaimasu!
