Story name; The Fairy's Jinchūriki
Summary; "The boy who eats fire." She murmured. Eventual Lucy/Erza pairing. Lucy is the nine tails Jinchuriki
Disclaimer; I own nothing.
It took a very concentrated effort for Shikamaru not to react. His brow was sweating, eyes burned to turn and observe but he refused. He didn't move, didn't flinch, he sat there in a perfectly still slump.
Head resting firmly in an open palm an eyelid cracked at the mention of his name. "His name is Shikamaru Nara."
He wanted to groan hearing the Erza Scarlet name him. It was an unwritten rule that once you were named your were sullied. Employers tended to shy away from members that couldn't remain anonymous. The fact that Erza freaking Scarlet was personally looking for him was, well... Troublesome.
The red headed devil preceded to tell the rest of her team 'all about him'. It was unsettling, the things this woman had learned about him over the course of a few days. All along Shikamaru had known that Erza would investigate him but at the time the reward had far outweighed the risk.
Now...
He had underestimated Titiania. She was relentless, not a woman to slight. He had mentioned a very important part of their mission to the girl and she was out for blood. Damn. Zabuza was not going to be happy.
Shikamaru had reasoned with his very calculating mind that Erza would need at the least three days. Three days to verify her information, return to her guild, cross reference said information then find the time to recruit a suitable team. She had done it in one. Then used the next two to not only track him but was actually right on top of him.
"Troublesome. . ."
He was impressed, not just by her incredible skill but the manor which she had accomplished her goals. Even now he could hear her barking out instructions and strategies. His lip curled up in amusement when the woman actively started scolding the wizard Gray, for stripping.
He could only imagine the Drag and constant headache too work for someone so demanding.
'Actually...' He seemed to recall a man named Gray.
Brown eyes slid over, carefully. His head tilted only the slightest, just enough to see a dark haired mage seating beside a blonde haired girl. He did not flinch. Only through years worth of discipline did the man control the torrent of emotions threatening to send a fluctuation in his magic.
He knew them. Gray, the girl, even the blue cat chirping along to their conversation. They had been the ones to defeat the demon brothers.
Shikamaru scowled. Things were going to get much more difficult.
The Demon brothers, C-ranked Mages formally affiliated with his own guild. That was, until the duo grew cold feet. Over the duration of Zabuza's plan, the two were steadily getting distant. It had been little inconsequential things at first but slowly, steadily morphed into outright rebellion.
Shikamaru was going to bring them in himself but amazingly someone had beat him too it. The very same group of Mages in front of him.
He wanted to groan, moan about the universe and its need to constantly hinder him but alas, he remained still. Too much effort and all. What was done was done. The Demon brothers were expendable, he didn't need to waste time and effort on things he couldn't control. Forward was the best option. The two didn't know much anyways.
It didn't seem the Fairy Tail Mages knew too much information either, only the basics. They knew of the flute but their reasoning, the true objective still remained a mystery. That was good, it meant the plan would still work.
A low rumbling signaled the trains next stop. A pair of footsteps rang out in the small confined space.
Shikamaru slide into a deep slouch as the sound grew closer, feigning sleep.
He continued the act until long after the group had left and well until the train started to move again. In fact, he had half a mind to sleep. There wasn't much else that could be done, not until he met back up with Zabuza anyways. Just as he felt himself start to relax a loud moan caught his attention.
His eyes snapped open. Head twisting back, his slouch forgone the dark mage rose to his feet. There, laying across a leather cushion was a pink haired teen. On his arm was a guild mark, Fairy Tail.
He was asleep, defenseless. It would be so easy to just reach out and . . .
His hand stilled. Shadow pooling in a puddle around his feet. Releasing a sigh the young mage shoulder's heaved.
"You know, you really shouldn't sleep on trains."
The boy stirred. Either by his voice or the rumble of the massive vehicle Shika didn't know. Pink hair wafted back and forth, the teen's head trying miserable to raise. It looked to take him a great deal of effort.
"Who are you?" He asked.
Shikamaru snorted. Even while nearly unconcious, Fairy Tail mages where still rude. It didn't bother the shadow master much though, he had never been one for pleasantries.
For a moment Shikamaru debated on how much he should say. On the one hand there was the truth, it seemed ludicrious. Even while sick any Fairy Tail Mage was not to be underestimated. He'd already made that mistake once.
Then again, this was an excellent moment to see how much the enemy knew. The boy hadn't been awake during his teams briefing, in all likely he wouldn't have any idea who Shikamaru really was. He was certain the Mage had never seen his face, even his wanted posters were nothing but a blank description, and a hefty reward.
"Shikamaru Nara." He worded lazily. Through a bored expression his shoulders shrugged as if it didn't matter.
The pink haired mage didn't react. At least not in the manor he expected. Features growing very pale, green to be exact, the Fairy lifted up bolting to the window promptly emptying the contents of his stomach.
Shikamaru blinked, his facade lost in genuine surprise. He was a strange one, that was for sure. A moment passed...then another.
"Stupid." He drawled. "This is were you give your name."
He heard a grumbling of muttered words that sounded suspiciously like, "Stupid pineapple head."
"Names Natsu. Natsu Dragnell. Member of the Fairy Tail guild."
'The Salamander . . . Damn.'
"I hate to break it to you kid, but it looks like your friends left you behind."
"They what?" Natsu screamed, the sudden action catching Shika off guard. "Those bastards! I'm going to murder Gray . . .ughmmm" He stopped, hands coming up to his once again green cheeks.
Shikamaru eyed him like a ticking time bomb. "Motion sickness?" He guessed gaining a weak nod. "Interesting."
Natsu as it turned out was an interesting character. he talked freely and openly about his guild, the pride evident in his voice. Shika was careful not to ask anything specific, only the bare minimum allowing Natsu to steer the one sided conversation Not that he would consider it much of a conversation. A few grumbled words the Dragon Slayer croaked out and his own drawled out response was hardly a social chat. It was telling however.
Unluckily for Shikamaru, Natsu didn't hold any important information. He was too calm, too relaxed to know about his guilds mission. The boy's motion sickness must have caused him to miss the group meeting.
A blessing and a curse.
It seemed almost hysterical in a way. It was surely irresponsible for those Fairy's. How do you even manage to leave someone on a train?
There was little to none to be gained but then again, it meant Shikamaru didn't have to fight the renowned Dragon Slayer.
He wasn't without a conscious. Even with all evil he'd done, all he would still do Shikamaru wasn't in the habit of killing the helpless, even less so the ones he actually liked.
For whatever reason the Dragon Slayer was actually pleasant, in an honest gruff sense. He didn't want to kill the kid.
Shkia could feel the groan building. Why did things have to be so complicated? The Dark Mage prided himself on being able to see things. Moving ten, twenty, even a hundred steps ahead of his opposition was what kept him alive for so long. In such a dangerous business it was the unforeseen that got people killed. Things that couldn't be accounted for, feelings and human weakness. He didn't like it.
It was days like today that Shika wished he wasn't a Mage. That he didn't belong to a guild or have the trouble it brought. All he wanted was a simple life, nice, easy. Simple.
He could imagine the life he'd have. No danger, just a normal life. Maybe he'd get a job with steady hours, settle down with a girl. Someone not too pretty or annoying. He might even have some kids, a boy and a girl. Retire at an early age and spend the rest of his days in quiet.
He supposed it wouldn't be the worst thing to allow Natsu to escape. There was no orders to kill anyone, not yet anyways. While the Salamander was strong, impressively so; it wouldn't be too much of a problem. After all, here he was standing (figuratively of course) with the man he was after with the flute of Zeref in his back pocket. His mind could work around a fool like that.
Deciding to leave the teen be another touch of the unseen hit Shikamaru with a literal train, their ride stopping abruptly. This mission was really a drag.
The train come to a stop so quick it nearly threw him across the abandoned cart. The dark haired teen blinked up at the ceiling as something very unexpected happened. Natsu was standing over him. Completely healed from his sickness. Shikamaru could feel his eyes widen in surprise.
No choice then.
"Geez man, are you alright?"
"Troublesome"
Rising into a slow crouch Shikamaru ignored his concern. "You don't know how unbelievable difficult your making things for me."
Natsu opened his mouth to question but he didn't get to finish. "Shadow possession comple-" Neither did Shika, a wave of flames erupting to life, his hold over the shadows vanishing.
The contrasting magic sent a shockwave throughout rocking the train. "What the hell was that!" The teen yelled, already looking for a fight.
"Damn." It had been his intention to end things quickly, preferable before the fight ever began. He hadn't considered Natsu's Dragon Slayer magic. Having never actually fought a Dragon Slayer he was going off old and outdated information. Typical fire magic, at least the more advanced stuff required hand signs, something of a build up but Natsu had been standing perfectly still. Interesting.
It made Shika consider what else Zabuza had been hiding from him.
It was still rather unfortunate. While Shikamaru's shadows could influence the body it couldn't however influence the magic itself. Even while connected to his trap those with tricky abilities could still work around his magic.
Just as the shadow master was gearing up for a fight fate it seemed, did him a favor. Out of all the monstrously bad luck Shika had been having lately, the train suddenly roared back to life. A blessing he was silently thanking.
With his best offensive weapon severally weakened the close space the train provided would have been a nightmare to fight someone like Salamander.
The second the train started to gain speed the pink haired teen grew a peculiar expression. Well, at least his apparent sickness wasn't a ruse, Shika thought watching his flames flicker out off existence.
'Shadow possession complete.' He didn't bother saying it aloud. Somehow the satisfaction just wasn't the same given the circumstances. He settled on a much less gratifying drawled out sigh.
"Little piece of advice, Natsu. I'd consider skipping town for the next few days." Then Shikamaru threw the pink haired mage out the train window.
Zabuza was certainly not going to be happy about this.
Fingers cusping around into a loose circle Shikamaru sat back against the burnt cart seated leather. 'Well,' He thought resigned. 'Better get a plan ready.'
The Fairy's Jinchuriki
As expected, Zabuza didn't take Shikamaru's briefing very well.
Through a bored expression Shikamaru allowed his eyes to lazily leer at the large blade kubikiribocho sticking out of the ground just to his right.
In his rage the man had lashed out, the trains leather seats never standing a chance it was ripped in half. A loud tear sounded across the small vehicle followed quickly by a thud that had several of Shika's guild members shrinking away in terror. He wasn't so worried. Zabuza wouldn't kill him, not yet at least.
"Let me get this straight," He ground out through his thin mask. "You had a Fairy Tail mage right there and you allowed him to escape?"
Eyes sliding close he gave a small shrug. "It would appear that way."
Relax. It's not so bad. I have the flute after all." Brandishing the small object Zabuza's famous temper stilled, if only just.
"Really now Shikamaru? You think you'll get off so easily?"
"Whatever." He yawned. "It won't make much of a difference. They were headed this way anyways. It was only a matter of time before those Fairies came here. It was inevitable."
"I disagree," A light voice spoke. "Zabuza-san expressed his need to be discreet. You willingly ignored his orders."
Shikamaru snorted. 'Haku.' "Hn." He did comment. "I didn't see you there Haku. Hiding in the shadows again?"
The kid didn't answer, he never did. Or she? Even Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure. Haku seemed to play up to different people, depending on the situation. He was Zabuza's puppet and was whatever the man ordered.
A quiet one, Haku. Polite to a painful degree even being a genuinely nice kid. In the beginning, it had worried Shikamaru. The kid had a great adverseon to violence. Always so unwilling to kill. It was conceding but that was before he learned the kids devotion to the sword master. It boarded on obsession.
He was also strong. It was frightening how strong the pre-teen really was. In the end whatever doubts Shika had about the kids character were washed away the first time he witnessed that Ice Dome of his. He did not want to be on the receiving end of it.
"You could have thinned their numbers. Your weakness will only cause us more problems."
Again he snorted. The kid wanted to talk about weakness? "Is that what those needles are for then? Killing?"
"I will do whatever Zabuza-san asks-"
"Enough." Zabuza spoke. "It doesn't matter. I imagine you already have a plan in place?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"And I don't have to remind you not to fail me again do I?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll take care of my end. You'll have free range with the flute."
Zabuza laughed. He knew all too well not to underestimate Shikamaru and his mind. "Then I leave the guild in your charge."
"They won't be expecting you." He explained. "The guild will confront them in mass at the entrance. They have several strong wizards with them so they won't last long. The real distraction is elsewhere. They won't think you'd leave and they certainly won't know about your water prison."
"I see." Zabuza mused. "The true diversion will be the train station itself. They'll believe it was our goal all along and stay to prevent it."
"That about sums it all up." Shikamaru agreed.
Of course there were some things Shika had failed to mention. For instance who exactly was with the Fairy Tail guild. There were four powerful Mages with the guild, one of them being the famous Erza.
Shikamaru decided to keep that bit of Information to himself. He might have also failed to mention Erza knew all about the flute and would be personally coming to retrieve it.
It was of little consequence. There mission could still succeed after all, it was just safe to have all your bases covered. If things went south he wanted to know Zabuza the bloody mist wouldn't be after him.
"Haku," he spoke gaining the boys attention. Having started to walk away Shika placed a hand over the kids shoulder. "I've got someone special I want you to take care of."
A/N: So last chapter got a pretty good response! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorite this story. I believe there's about 77 followers to this story right now which is awesome.
Majority of the response I've gotten has been really positive, minus one random (guest) flame lol. It was more funny to read than anything. So please if you have got the time review. I love them. And all you guys.
-RRR