Naruto ~ Silent Guardians
The end of the 4th war had Naruto and Shikamaru as the only survivors, Kurama feeling the two fading acted fast, sent them back to their Genin days to make sure the war never came to pass. AU! Pairings aren't a main focus.
FallenQueen2: I'm not sure if they met the Sand Sib's before or after Kakashi told Team 7 he nominated them for the exams, so in my universe they are nominated first.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything related to it.
Chapter Four
"What do you think Kakashi-Sensei is going to have us do today Sasuke-Kun?" Sakura fawned over the Uchiha as per usual.
Naruto was currently sitting on the railing of the bridge, letting his legs sway back and forth and he had his eyes closed, meditating. He knew from training with Shikamaru that he could not reach Sage Mode; his 12-year-old body couldn't hold it. So all he could do now was meditate and try to control his urge to kill his 'teammates'.
The blonde knew that today was the day that Kakashi-Sensei would tell them he nominated them for the Chunin exams and they would get the rest of the day off. Naruto was counting on the same thing happening for Team 10 as he and Shikamaru had something's they needed to finalize before the Sand Sib's came to town.
"He's two hours late so far." Sakura commented annoyed.
"I'm sure he has a good reason." Naruto said breezily, not opening his eyes.
"He never has a good reason." Sakura scoffed annoyed. "What are you even doing? You will fall in if you sit up there any longer."
"Is that a threat Sakura-Chan?" Naruto asked flatly, not moving from his spot.
"A ninja must never let their guard down." Sasuke said smugly as he lashed out with the heel of his right hand.
Naruto moved out of reflex, he bent backwards so he was lying vertically. This allowed Sasuke's strike to hit nothing but air, Naruto snapped open his blue eyes and swung his legs up and doing a complex leg movement, trapped the Uchiha on the ground, immobile and defenseless. Naruto tuned out the shrieks coming from Sakura to let 'her Sasuke-Kun' go.
"A ninja should also never attack their comrade, those who do so are worse than scum." Naruto stated impassively, tightening his grip on the Genin with hard eyes. "Do you understand me Uchiha? Keep that in mind before you attack a comrade."
Naruto released his hold on the Uchiha and stood up dusting his bright orange pants off.
"Naru-Chan is correct, I hope I haven't made a mistake by nominating you all for the Chunin Exam." Kakashi's voice called out, Naruto simply turned slightly to eye the Jounin while Sakura startled and Sasuke picked himself off the ground with a look of fury aimed at Naruto.
"The Chunin exam?" Sakura asked confused as Kakashi handed each of them a slip of paper.
"The exams are taking place in Konoha this year. These exams are for all those who want to ascend from Genin to Chunin, it is a showcase of your skills to the five nations. However take this into consideration, these exams… People can die; in the second part rules do not apply. You need to work together to survive; it is starting in three days so you have that long to decided if you wish to join." Kakashi explained and Naruto barely paid attention, as he knew all of this already. So this time around they had three days to prepare before the exams started.
"That's all for today." Kakashi said before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"I'm going to become a Chunin, you better not back out Dobe." Sasuke growled before he stalked off, Sakura following behind him.
"That would be the day… This time I'll become a Chunin, I'm not going from Genin to Hokage in a day." Naruto muttered to himself before he glanced around before he Shushin'ed to training ground 11 where he saw Shikamaru waiting for him with the same slip of paper in his hand.
"We have three days before everything get's set into motion." Shikamaru said as the two sat across from each other as Naruto pulled out a scroll and unsealed it, many seals appeared on the ground around the two.
"I finished the seal's last night when you were cooking dinner with your mom." Naruto said and Shikamaru nodded.
"So shall we?" Shikamaru stood up.
"Let me set up the privacy barrier first." Naruto pulled out a seal and slammed it on the ground. "Activate!"
The seal glowed red and Shikamaru watched as the seal let out a pulse that surrounded the training ground and it raised a red barrier around them.
"Okay, that will hold until I take it down." Naruto said as he picked up a new seal. "Ready?"
"Let's do it." Shikamaru pulled off his grey jacket and mesh undershirt. He stood like a statue as Naruto applied seal's to the Nara's back and in return the Nara applied the seal's to Naruto's back. They stood still until Naruto nodded to signal that they were dried and were tattooed on their skin.
"Ready to give it a go?" Shikamaru asked pulling his shirts back on.
"It'll work." Naruto said firmly and the two made hand seals and each of them created a single shadow clone. The two shadow clones looked at each other and started to spar, after five minutes of fighting and taking hard blows the two clones didn't disappear.
"Perfect, even with kekkei genkai's they won't be able to tell the difference." Naruto said exceedingly pleased with the success of the seal's.
"Now let's see how well the second seal works." Naruto said excitedly and the two made another hand sign. A puff of smoke enveloped the two and with the seal's on their back it made the henge's permanent looking so anyone with a kekkei genkai's will not be able to tell that it was a henge.
The two grew to 6'1", their facial features narrowed out and their cheekbones became more predominant. Their eyes were narrow and their iris's were indigo while their pupils slitted like a fox or a cat. Their hair was now crimson with jaw length bangs framing their faces and it reached past their shoulders. One had his hair pulled up in a high ponytail and the other one had his hair braided and resting over his right shoulder.
The one with the ponytail wore black shinobi pants and matching sandals, he wore a armored mesh short sleeved shirt, overtop of it was a long sleeved hooded crimson red cloak and a Katana was slung across his back and two trench knives were attached at his waist.
The one with the braid also wore black shinobi pants and matching sandals. He had on a plain black long sleeved shirt with a short-sleeved hooded crimson red cloak; his Katana was attached to his waist. His hands were covered in black fingerless gloves with silver armor embedded over the knuckles
"We look damn good Shika." The one with the braid commented.
"Damn good Nar." Shikamaru smirked. "Or should I say Akira."
"Right you are Akito. These basic Katana's will have to do until we have a chance to get back our real swords." Akira stated as he pulled his Katana out as did Akito and the two started to practice their Kenjutsu Kata's.
The two spent the rest of the afternoon practicing their Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu combinations, they worked in sync and just as well as they did during the war. Their perfected their charka control and their strength until they could do even their highest rank of jutsu are in total control. Meanwhile their Genin clones practiced as well and by the time the sun started to set the areas around them were destroyed but the people within the barrier were extremely pleased.
"This could actually work." Akito said after as the two cooled down.
"Don't sound so surprised." Akira grumbled.
"You're still a knucklehead." Akito reminded his twin.
"And you're still a genius, let's not dwell on things we both know already." Akira snorted. "When we meet Gaara and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, should we be in these forms or in our normal forms?" He flipped his braid back over his right shoulder.
"We can't show these forms too soon… They will know that we aren't Genin, so we will have to risk showing some of our true skills." Akito reasoned and Akira nodded and snapped his fingers. The two became covered in smoke and the henge's dropped down and they became their normal selves again, they both snapped their fingers and their permanent clones disappeared in puffs of smoke.
"Ready to head home Nar?" Shikamaru stretched his arms above his head.
"Yeah, I'm helping your mom cook this time. I think your dad is going to try to wrangle you into a game of Shogi." Naruto commented as he dropped the barrier and stuck the seal back into the stack he had before he sealed them into his scroll once more.
"I know I can beat him, but if I don't give it my best Tou-San will know. I can't believe that my own father has become so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as the two headed towards the Nara compound. "You know they wouldn't mind if you called them Kaa-San and Tou-San…"
"…I've never really got to say those words to anyone before… I mean I said it to the charka memory of my parents, but that was it…" Naruto explained slowly.
"You would feel like you are betraying them if you called my parents Kaa-San and Tou-San… I don't think that the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot Blood Habanero would mind if you did… They would just want you, to be happy." Shikamaru tilted his chin upwards and Naruto's gaze sat upon the head of the Yondaime on the hill.
"You're right." He blew out a puff of air.
"Of course I am, now come on." Shikamaru opened the front door and the two entered, toeing off their sandals.
"Welcome home Shika-Chan, Naru-Chan." Yoshino sang as the two entered the dining hall.
"Hi Kaa-San." The two said in sync and Yoshino beamed at how Naruto called her Kaa-San.
"Are you ready to learn a new dish tonight Naru-Chan?" Yoshino asked and the blonde nodded looking excited.
"You got that nickname from Kakashi-Sensei didn't you?" Naruto asked dismayed, planning to prank his Sensei.
"A mother never reveals her sources." Yoshino placed her index finger on her lips, winking at him. "Oh Shika-Chan, your father is waiting for you to play Shogi."
"Maa, troublesome." Shikamaru sighed and slouched out of the room to find his father.
"Good luck Shika!" Naruto called before giving Yoshino his full attention to learn a new dish. It was really nice spending time with her and being able to eat home cooked meals day after day was a bonus. On the frontlines you had to live off of instant meals and solider pills when there was a brief lull in the fighting. So this right now was heaven for his stomach, he was forgoing ramen until after the 1st round of the Chunin exams at least.
Shikamaru padded into the same room that he and his father played Shogi after Asuma's death. He took a deep breath to steel his emotions before he slid open the door to see his father already sitting by the set up Shogi board.
"You have been avoiding me." Shikaku stated as Shikamaru lowered himself across from his father.
"I've been busy Tou-San… My team has been learning elemental jutsu's and we are entered in the Chunin exams." Shikamaru gave his father two new pieces of information.
"Oh, what are your elements?" Shikaku asked curiously as he made his move.
"Raiton, Katon and Doton." Shikamaru reported as he made his counter move.
"How are you coming along with those?" Shikaku kept his surprise out of his voice, but Shikamaru caught it.
"Asuma-Sensei says I'm ready to start practicing B-Rank soon." Shikamaru said, it was true his sensei had given him a scroll full of B-Rank jutsu's after seeing that Shikamaru had mastered all the ones from the C-Rank scrolls.
"Good for you Shikamaru." Shikaku said, pride colouring his words.
"Thanks Tou-San." Shikamaru ducked his heads; his cheeks pink as he made another move and scanned the board. If he kept playing the way he was then he would beat his father in three moves.
"So Ino-Chan hasn't been trying to get a later meeting time out of your sensei yet?" Shikaku asked as he made another move.
"…She's tried, but when Asuma-Sensei said he was thinking of nominating us for the Chunin exams she stopped." Shikamaru thought fast.
"Hmm." Shikaku hummed and frowned as he took in the move his son just made. It was amateur at best and he quickly made his move, beating his son.
"Good game Tou-San." Shikamaru studied the board like he was trying to see how his father beat him.
"Is something troubling you Shika-Chan? This wasn't up to your usual standards." Shikaku commented, leaning his elbows on the corners of the Shogi board.
"…The Chunin exams." Shikamaru said slowly, it wasn't a lie. He was worried about Orochimaru and the invasion. He was worried about meeting their Kazekage and seeing Temari again, his feelings for her were still messed up even with going back to the past.
"Your team's teamwork is one of the best I've seen. That is what these exams are about, just combine your skills and you will be fine." Shikaku said in his own encouraging way.
"Thanks for the advice Tou-San. We better go make sure Kaa-San and Nar haven't burned down the kitchen yet." Shikamaru stood up and brushed off his pants.
"You go ahead, I'll put the board away." Shikaku waved his hand and Shikamaru bowed his head before he walked out of the room.
Shikaku turned back to the board and examined the game. His eyes narrowed and he clicked his tongue as he spotted the strategy his son had in place before he made that amateur move. If Shikamaru had kept going on his strategy then he would have won the game in three moves. He ran his conversation over in his head as he crossed his arms, hands in his large sleeves. He frowned; he didn't recall Inoichi saying anything about Ino complaining about getting up for training at 7 AM. He also had seen Asuma in the village at 8 AM some mornings when Shikamaru and Naruto had left for training.
Things were not adding up and it was only adding to the puzzle that had began forming the moment Shikamaru had brought home the Kyuubi's Jinchūriki. Shikaku balanced his chin on the front of his hand and stared thoughtfully at the board. Shikamaru's style had changed; it was more aggressive while defending almost perfectly mirroring a war plan.
"Maybe the Chunin exams will shed some light on it." Shikaku sighed as he started to clear the board. He stopped his movement when he noticed that the king was guarded to the maximum, like the whole strategy was based around protecting it.
He shook his head and finished clearing the board and headed towards the dining hall to eat with his family, Naruto was included in his family now. He may not be a full-blooded Nara or even one by marriage but he was Shikamaru's brother and therefore his son, so if anyone tried to harm either of his son's the Jounin commander would not hesitate. He stepped into the kitchen to see Shikamaru's eye twitching as Naruto, Chiyo who was placed on the blonde's shoulders and Yoshino laughing uproariously at the Genin and he smiled, yes he would do anything to protect his family.