Shadow and Wind: New legends
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Disclaimer: Everything that isn't Kishimoto's is mine. There's not a lot left, now is there? -_-'
Oh! And Beta readers are awesome! Many thanks to KeiGinya
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29. Peacemakers: Conspiracy
Shikamaru has won the fight… sort of – but will it help prevent the war?
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Goichi returned to his room tired from the events of the day. According to his boss, he had to find occasions to hinder the negotiations, but he'd never imagine it would the Suna diplomat that would give him the opportunity to do so. He was worried though; that Sand kunoichi looked like she wanted to kill the boy – there had been no talk of killing as far as he was concerned. He just hoped it was only an impression.
He jumped when he saw that his room was already occupied. Opening the lights, he saw two of his protectors comfortably settled in his room. He let out a breath of relief when he realized he was safe – and them too of course. And that was all it took to turn his relief into anger.
"What are doing here?" he demanded.
"Just a question," said the black-haired Chunin.
"And a warning," added the Genin.
"Were you sent here by Genta?" asked the former.
The question badly startled the man. Seeing this, the Chunin sighed and massaged his temples. "I'll take that as a yes," he mumbled.
The Genin right next to him rubbed his hands together. "Right, warning then: if, in any case, there is a war between the hidden villages of the Sand and the Leaf, you will become the first unfortunate casualty."
As they left him there, terrorized, he heard the Nara say, "You're getting better on the fox eye thing."
And here I was worried about their well being, the man though, maybe I should go with 'plan B' after all.
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The next day would be the official beginning of the negotiations – or as Shikamaru liked to call it, the start of their break. Naruto was not looking forward to this part of the mission. "Seriously, who in their right mind would want to spend countless days simply… talking?" he had whined. And they expected him to stay still and shut up, too.
The blond behaved like it was going to be the Apocalypse.
As Shikamaru and the rest of the team were escorting the Konoha diplomat, they met their homologues in front of the familiar hotel. The people from Suna wore neutral expressions, except Temari – though her leg was bandaged, she flashed a feral grin at her new rival. The Chunin, who was apparently spacing out until now, blinked twice before his face returned to his natural indifference.
"Before the meeting I have something to say," Yugao said, gathering the attention of every one present. "We haven't decided on what my subordinate would get for his win."
Temari frowned. "And why should we?" she challenged.
"Because shinobi don't fight for nothing," the ANBU replied coolly. "Besides, this match was the Sand's idea. Needlessly putting the life of one of our shinobi in danger – naturally, Sunagakure must have thought of the proper kind of compensation."
Temari sneered at her, but the young Nara ignored them both and turned to the woman's captain instead. "Baki; how good are you at wind-type ninjutsu?"
The expression of the Jonin remained neutral. "That is a question I am not liberty to answer to you."
Shikamaru smirked. "Good, that means you're good enough." Baki twitched almost imperceptibly, if Shikamaru noticed, it did not matter; he already knew Temari was a wind user. Everything would work out the same in the end. "I will let you know what I expect from you, captain," he said nonchalantly.
The Sand team left. Yugao eyed her subordinate. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.
Shikamaru shrugged in reply. "Don't worry; Naruto hasn't learned any wind jutsu from Konoha except the Breakthrough technique," he assured her. The Chunin walked towards the entrance of the hotel first, but stopped, letting his shoulders drop.
"Will you stop giving me that stupid look! It's damn troublesome," whined the young genius. "What did I ever do to you anyway?" he asked Shino.
"Nothing you've done for Naruto," chided the bug user.
The Chunin gave his friend a strange look. He quickly snapped out of it. "Uh… you're a wind-type user too?" Shino shook his head. "Thought as much," he concluded. "Nothing else they do would be compatible with our own training – Naruto might actually benefit from this, so why shouldn't I take advantage of the situation?"
The Genin said nothing but kept staring.
On second thought, maybe I should get shades instead, thought the shadow user, I have no idea about the look he's giving me – and they aren't too obvious either. He shrugged and opened the door.
"Man, you're really troublesome, you know that?"
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As Naruto had dreaded, diplomatic discussions were the worst kind of soporific. The negotiators were arguing for the most ridiculous details – Who cared about the trade of sake? What about joint missions? Furthermore, they were talking about other villages besides the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand.
The more time passed, the less Naruto understood – and there was nothing more boring than nonsensical boredom. He wondered how the others took it. Interestingly enough, Shikamaru wasn't sleeping, instead he looked in deep concentration, and so did their ANBU leader.
"Did you pay attention?" The Chunin asked.
Naruto shrugged. "A bit," he replied before asking, "Shikamaru, why haven't they talked about anything important?" The Nara heir looked at him inquisitively so he went on. "You know, like how to protect the villages within the territory, or how to set a joint mission system, or maybe a quick communication channel. They were only talking about the details."
Shikamaru snorted, though there was in twinge of amusement in his eyes. "Actually Naruto, from a politician's view point you have your priorities reversed."
Naruto was flabbergasted. "—The Hell?"
His partner grinned. "Don't forget, Naruto. This isn't only about the Hidden Leaf and Sand."
"It… isn't?" Naruto asked. He was getting more and more confused. Why else would they be meeting if it wasn't only about the Leaf and the Sand? If other villages were concerned shouldn't they have their own delegates coming here and discussing the matter as well? He really couldn't see what other subject could beat the attention of both shinobi villages.
"This is a truce between The Fire and Wind countries," Shikamaru explained to him.
The blond nodded, but the confusion he felt about the whole thing hadn't left at all so he asked, "What's the difference?"
"Well, the difference is the Hokage isn't the leader of the Fire Country." Naruto was starting to get it, but it seemed the Chunin wanted to leave no doubt in his mind. "In other words, there's someone more powerful than the Hokage and, to him, these things matter."
Naruto would never have thought a being existed that could be more powerful than the Hokage. His mind already started to run into wild conjectures, how much strength do you need to be the boss of the whole country? Why wasn't he there when the village was under attack? Could it mean that he was so powerful that his simple appearance could cause incredible destruction? What about the leader of the Wind country? His eyes started to sparkle. "Really?" he asked.
"Yeah; the Daimyo," Shikamaru further detailed.
"I see…" The Daimyo, thought the Genin, sounds powerful. "And how strong is he?" Naruto avidly asked.
The pineapple-haired shinobi looked at him for three seconds and then suddenly laughed. Naruto frowned, waiting for an answer. Eventually Shikamaru calmed down and dried a tear before replying. "He's a weakling."
"What?"
"Ironic isn't it?" the Chunin let out, amused still.
Naruto didn't get it at all. That didn't make sense! "But how does he…?"
"Um…" Shikamaru said, already aware of the question Naruto had, "I'd say half of it is being born in the right family, and the other half knowing the right people."
In other words, if even he were to become a Hokage he'd still have someone breathing down his neck? And someone weaker than even his would-be-Genin at that! This was… "But, but…" he let out pitifully.
His friend put an understanding hand on his shoulder. "Unfair, I know. Let's go get some ramen," he suggested.
That news was so disheartening to Naruto that the announcement of ramen almost didn't cheer him up – almost.
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The blond was ecstatic. He had finally gotten the Chunin to come and see the fruits of his labor – well, actually, Shikamaru had agreed to come and train with him after the ramen, but that meant he'd had to see, right? So they left for that empty area where Shikamaru fought earlier. So eager was he to show what he came up with that he didn't even let his friend have the time to prepare.
"Hey Shikamaru," yelled the exuberant blonde, "Watch this! [Shadow Clone Jutsu]!"
At once, two Naruto made the seals and started to gather wind elemental chakra into their right hand. Next, the two of them set out to find a suitable target. He settled for a nearly collapsed wall not too far from his current position. By that time his preparations were ready. The Genin and his shadow clone had stabilized their techniques, though the results were vastly different. One Naruto looked like he had cancelled the jutsu once he a clasped his hands together, however a good observer would have noticed his right hand now appeared a bit blurry. The other Naruto's right arm was now engulfed in a tornado, compared to only his hand.
The Naruto with blurry fists smiled. "First one is [Wind Element: Air Cannon]!" he threw a punch aimed at the debris and moment later the leaves at the top were blown away. This Naruto made a fist pump; it couldn't do any kind of damage, but at least his aiming was nearly perfect now.
"And this is the second one! [Wind Element: Tornado upper]!"
The second Genin rushed towards the rest of the wall. Now at striking distance, the blond made an exaggerated uppercut motion, his hand grazing the ground as he rose. A small tornado surged forth, ripping what it could from the wall and sending all that rubble a couple of meters upwards.
"So what do you think?" he asked proudly as he turned to his teammate… only to promptly face fault. He wasn't even watching! Instead, Shikamaru was busy observing a kind of darkish blob on his hand. Curiosity quickly replaced his ire and he trudged towards his partner.
"So what's that?" he asked the Chunin.
Shikamaru let out a sigh. "I dunno yet," he answered.
"You don't know?"
"Well," the Chunin let out hesitantly, "I can at least tell you this: shadow is definitely an element – and a weird one at that."
Naruto looked from the blob to his teammate. "Really? But wait," his eyebrow lowered, "you told me there were only five elements, and this doesn't look like it's a combination like Haku's Ice element either. How come you're so sure?"
That question earned Naruto a genuine smile from the genius. The blond understood the meaning behind it and was glad he was progressing, but he was starting to find the whole catching up thing a little unpleasant. The more he learned, the more questions popped up – like this for example. If it kept on like that, he'd never finish.
"Glad you're taking your homework seriously, Naruto," the young Nara said to gain his attention back. "In any case, it's simple, really," he explained, "I just used what I knew of my shadow techniques and tried to pull off a shadow version of the chidori."
The Genin tried to think it through. If chidori was an element-based technique… well he could see how this was a proof of a new chakra element.
"And it worked?" he went on.
Shikamaru snorted. "You're looking at the result, aren't you?" He then frowned. "Though that's all it's good for really," he said, apparently unsatisfied with his achievement. "Unlike the other elements, shadow by itself has no offensive attributes – it's useless, especially this," he mumbled.
"Oh? What's so special about that version?" Suddenly giddy at the thought of something being special – even if it was useless.
Apparently he wasn't supposed to hear that last mumble because Shikamaru looked surprised for a moment. He reign himself quickly and smirked. "Secret," he said.
Naruto wasn't surprised by the answer – it didn't prevent him from groaning audibly. Shikamaru always kept the good stuff under wraps. What was the genius afraid of? That Naruto somewhat stole his ideas? Well he probably would if the moves he had come up with were really awesome. But that was beside the point – Shikamaru should at least tell him what he was up to or what he was aiming for. Oh well, he'd just have to experience for himself.
"Wait Naruto don't—" he warned, but the Genin already had is hand in the black substance. The blob seemingly attacked Naruto and latched to his hand, prompting the blond immediately to yelp and step away. The blob had other ideas. Naruto was horrified to see Shikamaru's new jutsu creep into his hand. As the darkness faded, Naruto let out another cry – of pain this time.
Shikamaru swore. "Naruto, are you okay?" he asked, but before the blond could give an answer the Chunin was inspecting the hand. "Do you still feel pain?"
Naruto shook his head. He tried to get a feel for his attacked hand again and finally realized what happened: chakra depletion. "Whoa! That thing took all the chakra out of my hand!"
"Come again?" his partner eyed him strangely before saying, "Let's try again – carefully this time. Put as much chakra as you can into your fist."
Naruto grinned, always up for some excitement. He said OK and gathered enough chakra this time for the Chunin to see it. Meanwhile, Shikamaru made some seals and made the dark substance again. The only notable thing the blond remarked was that unlike the other versions of this chakra gathering technique, this one didn't make a sound.
Once it was ready, Shikamaru gave him instructions. "Ok, try to put your hand in again – slowly."
Naruto did as told. As his hand neared the jutsu, the blob leaned towards his hand, drawn by the chakra no doubt. This time, Shikamaru's new jutsu visibly shrank as Naruto fed chakra into his palm.
"I was right," exclaimed the Genin as the jutsu vanished, "that stuff drains chakra!"
Shikamaru nodded. He was smiling. "I guess that thing is not so useless after all. I could definitely use this." He yawned. "Well that's as far as I'm going to go today." He then looked at Naruto. "Now, I'm watching, Naruto – let's see your new moves. Oh, and do show me your progress on the other two as well."
If demons ever smiled, they smiled like Naruto did right now.
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Hyuga Hiashi observed his eldest daughter across the table. She was busy with breakfast, totally oblivious to the world around her. Hinata looked fine today, which was the reason her father was so preoccupied. The Hyuuga heir was often the object of his meditation – with her being the black sheep of the family and all that. Her progress and future always preoccupied the clan head, but never as much as the three last days.
How could I do this to her? Hiashi wondered.
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That day Hiashi had just finished sparring with Hanabi and was heading off the training grounds to a meeting when his eyes fell on Hinata. It was late – she was probably returning from a mission. He had hoped no one had seen his girl roaming the hallways but, unfortunately, one of the elders saw both him and his daughter. The head of the Hyuga sighed inwardly; there was now no way out of another 'training session' with Hinata.
"Hinata."
From the tone alone, the young heiress knew the direction this conversation was heading because her voice came out subdued. "Yes father."
The distraught father closed his eyes – how he hated that voice! He quickly regained his senses and hardened his gaze. This was only a painful moment, he reasoned; he'd make sure to spend some time with his daughter later. "Come," he said. "Let us see the fruits of your training."
Hiashi took his stance and activated his Byakugan. Hinata did the same and took the traditional stance. The head of the Hyuga noted her expression held more confidence than before. Had she mastered a new form? There was only one way to find out.
"Come."
His shy girl made a step forward and stopped. Hiashi wondered about the hesitation, when he saw something he never thought he'd see from her during a spar.
Is she— is she actually smiling!
This strange Hinata resumed her advance which, although slower, was also more confident. He didn't know why she was so sure of herself, but he was to find out in the next split second; she was within striking range.
The next moment was probably the one he'd remember as the scariest of his existence.
He made a quick strike for her arm – the closest thing within his reach, expecting a block, a dodge or maybe, if she had by some miracle reached Neji's level, a parry followed by a counter attack. What he did not expect however, was for Hinata to twirl around his outstretched hand in a simple fluid motion, immediately going through his guard. Right then, the old veteran of two shinobi wars awakened and reacted on instinct, and the next thing he knew, his daughter was on the ground.
The worried father used all of his self control not to jump after his daughter. His stomach was twisting into complex knots as his offspring took what seemed eons for him to slowly get back on her feet. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what had just happened, and more urgently, what he had hit her with. What he did know was his own self and his past well – enough to know that during the war, every strike was meant to be lethal, and as such, there wasn't a more horrifying situation than to strike an ally by pure instinct alone. What he saw next was beyond his wildest nightmares: Hinata, coughing blood, due to his own hand.
"Hinata!" he cried out, but he did not move to her side. The level-headed stare from his earlier audience had pinned him down. Anguish was steadily gaining him from the inside as he tried to steel his outward appearance. Instead he made his tone as icy as he could,"this was not a traditional form, Hinata," he admonished.
"No father," Hinata stuttered, unable to control the shaking of her whole body.
"You are dismissed; we will resume this when you actually learn how to fight." He said.
The pale girl excused herself and limped painfully towards her room.
Hiashi was way past the point of being worried sick. To hell with stupid tradition and those insufferable elders! The panicked father marched towards the only spectator of his thirty seconds of horror.
"Tell the others the meeting is adjourned," he nearly ordered the older family member, who went from smug, to shocked, to outraged faster than it took for Hiashi's already low patience to evaporate.
"You cannot postpone a meeting planned by—"
"The meeting is adjourned," he repeated to the elder, and this time the other man understood – this was not a request, a demand, nor an order; it was a threat. The older Hyuga gulped, nodded, and promptly left, leaving Hiashi to rush to his daughter.
He found her sitting on her bed, clutching her chest and breathing restlessly, but with a faint smile – she wasn't coughing blood anymore. She probably thought the worst had past.
"Hinata, let me look at you," he let out urgently.
"I'm fine father," she replied a bit tired.
"No, you are not!" Hinata's father snapped. Her eyes grew wide; this was the first time her father had ever taken this kind of tone in her room. This surprised quickly turned to embarrassment when she saw him unceremoniously pull under her shirt to expose her side and stomach. He ignored her blushing and looked for the telltale bruise. Luckily, he found it a bit under the right ribcage. He let a deep breath of relief; like he had thought, the strike was deadly, but it was one of those untraceable, slow acting ones, meaning he'd be able to stop it before any permanent damage could be done. Three carefully placed finger strikes later, Hiashi eased his daughter into her bed. "Rest," he told her soothingly,"that is an order."
She smiled childishly at him. "Yes father."
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That had been three days ago. Now the current Hyuga heiress had fully recovered. As he looked over his daughter and reviewed the events of that horrible day, he had the impression that he was missing a detail. When he had started his sparring sessions with his nephew, he couldn't remember being so pressed that he had to rely on instinct, as surprising and fast Neji's growth had been. It couldn't be that she was stronger than her cousin – that kind of change would at least leave some distinct clues. The move she had used… he couldn't quite place it but it wasn't so foreign… The more he thought through it, the more that nagging feeling of a vital clue slipping out of his reach increased. Giving another long look at Hinata, he wistfully remembered her mother and then—
"Hinata." The girl snapped her head up to meet Hiashi's gaze. "During our earlier spar I noticed your opening step looked… familiar."
She hesitated before replying, a bit startled since things were rarely discussed during meal times. "Yes, father," she replied. The Hyuuga heiress lowered her head a moment before mumbling almost inaudibly. "that was the 'Gale of Blossom'."
His eyebrows lowered. "What are you talking about, Hinata? That's—" Hinata blushed for her sole answer and his brows shot up. Hanabi was avidly watching, going from him to her sister, trying to not miss a beat of this new, but completely welcomed morning drama.
"You went into your mother's room," he stated.
Something clattered on the table. He watched the chopsticks Hanabi had dropped. He couldn't blame her reaction; not even he had stepped into that room since… And yet from the crimson shade of his eldest daughter and her guilty nod it appeared Hinata had been the bravest of the three of them. Naturally, the conclusion produced itself.
"You studied the traditional dances?"
Hinata nodded again, becoming even redder.
For a while Hiashi said nothing. He lost himself in a time not so distant, yet forever out of his reach. He remembered how she loved to dance for him. For their daughter to pick that up and transform it into a fighting style… was this fate? His gaze returned to his two daughters who were now sharing worried glances and looking at him with concern.
"How are your forms?" he asked all of sudden.
Hinata stared incredulously, her kid sister following suit. Remembering the question she looked away sheepishly. "They are… well…" she managed.
"I will have arrangements made for you to have a dance tutor," he told her and this last statement must have been too much for his daughters because their jaws dropped. Hinata finally closed her mouth and tried to say something… anything actually, but sound wouldn't come out; Hanabi on the other hand dropped the chopsticks she had just picked up. Hiashi did not laugh at the scene, he simply raised an eyebrow. "If a Hyuga possesses a past time, as futile as it is, he or she shall perform their utmost best at it," he said
His daughters visibly relaxed, happy to see he hadn't gone senile yet – he was still the apparently stern, loving man he always was – and following this little incident the rest of the meal did not stray from the usual routine.
The Hyuga girls grabbed their weapons and excused themselves, but Hiashi had other plans for this morning.
"Hinata? A moment of your time."
The puzzled girl followed as her father led her through outdoor training grounds, into the clan dojo, and finally pushed the sliding door leading to his private training space open. She entered and he closed the door behind them.
"We shall have a spar," he announced without preamble, "a real one."
Hinata had already figured that much according to the stance she had taken. "Yes father," she answered with assurance.
And they were off – albeit more carefully as Hiashi now realized he was tackling a new taijutsu style. Prodding his daughter with quick textbook strikes sounded like a good plan – it wasn't. The first strike was deflected in such a way that if Hiashi wasn't Hiashi, he would be on the floor right now. It took him less than a split second to regain his footing and try again, only for a similar experience to reoccur. Each of her parries were aimed to knock off balance her opponent, each dodge moved her right in the range of the adversary, ready to strike as her foe tries to regain footing – if he isn't already on the floor. Yet the most striking aspect of Hinata's new style was all these counters, parries and evasion flowed gracefully from one another – like a dance.
Hinata's father stopped the spar, having seen enough. His daughter's face was red and filled with sweat, bruises visible where Hiashi's few blows had landed. They bowed and Hinata waited, playing with her fingers – the first sign of her usual nervousness.
"Hinata."
"Yes."
Hiashi paced, his look beyond his daughter. "When I first saw Neji coming up with techniques taught only to the main branch on his own, I wondered if maybe it would have been better if I had been born second."
He looked at her, but she wasn't looking back. Perhaps she thought he had been ashamed of her. Perhaps he had been then.
"Today I got my answer." She looked up, ready to face his verdict.
"Do you know what you did Hinata? You found yourself unable to progress on the path of tradition. You could have resigned to your fate and abandoned the title of heir to a more talented person. You could have valiantly struggled to overcome your weakness and become the heir doomed to always be compared and frowned. You chose the hardest road of them all; you chose a different path – your own – and what you found, you used it to honor tradition."
Hinata's stare intensified. So much hope in those eyes, Hiashi thought sadly. For so long she was looked down upon and he knew it would take a lot of refinement and time to find acknowledgment from the elders. He had been the first to think the form he had always known was perfect for the Gentle Style, but these moves could shape up to be as equally effective. And it was his daughter of all people that had found it.
"That's something to be proud of, lady Hyuuga, because I certainly am."
Her smile filled with happiness was more praise and thanks that he had ever needed. She bowed again.
A branch member with a genius found only once in a generation and an heir aiming to reinvent the Gentle Style. It seems I've definitely found an answer to my question. He watched her retreating back and smiled. I'll be leaving the future of the Hyuuga clan in their hands.
Meanwhile…
"Come on, Sakura; you can do better than this!"
The pink-haired kunoichi focused and tried again. A few seconds later, she was finally able to get out of Kurenai's famous tree entrapment jutsu.
Yes!
"Excellent Sakura. You're getting to be a quick learner. A few more months of this and you'll be able to call yourself a proper genjutsu specialist," acknowledged her temporary tutor.
Sakura nodded respectfully. "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei."
The Jonin looked at the position of the sun and let out a breath. "Time's up, Sakura; I'll see you in two days," she said and with that, she disappeared.
Left alone, Sakura was still smiling, a fierce determination burning in her eyes. I'm getting stronger… good. Her eyes turned in the direction of the gates. Wait for me Sasuke – you'll see I'm a worthy partner… and maybe something more. She thought blushing, before her eyes began to burn again. Naruto… I'm looking forward to your return as well. You and I are going to have a talk.
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The last days of discussion were ending and Shikamaru was finally starting to breathe easier. The mission was practically over, after all. No major incidents, no life-risking situation – not more than usual anyway – all in all, this would probably remain the easiest S-Class mission for years to come. Surprisingly, the Sand Siblings had behaved themselves. Not a bad bunch when you got to know them – at least when it came to Kankuro – he'd never risk being in a room alone with either of the other two.
However, these diplomatic discussions were taking their toll on Naruto. The blonde had made incredible effort to remain a silent vigil, yet Shikamaru remembered the times where he had used his shadows to either wake up the Genin, or restrict his movements. Judging by the way his friend blinked every three seconds, Shikamaru guessed today would be the former. Naruto, probably to prove him right, yawned loudly only moments later.
Shikamaru frowned. Even Naruto's yawns were unbelievably loud. So loud in fact, that it got the attention of the Konoha diplomat who looked amused.
"Bored?" he asked innocently. He turned to his homologue apologetically, "I'm sorry. This must be his first time on a guard duty. I suppose it differs somewhat from his usual life threatening situation."
The Chunin's brow lowered even more.
"If that's the case," continued Goichi, "I have a suggestion." At that even Naruto frowned. It seemed neither forgot that same line led to fight between Leaf and Sand that could have ended very badly. "How about a joint mission?" he suggested.
Everyone was paying attention – it seemed that Konoha diplomat had actually come up with a good idea.
"Go on," encouraged the Sand negotiator.
"Nothing too complicated, really," explained Goichi. "You see on my daily way here my eyes fell on some kind of notice board. I saw all kinds of things there, from announcements to wanted posters. I'm sure both villages would benefit from some bonding time after that dreadful fight." There was nothing Shikamaru could find against the suggestion. In fact, that was a good idea. Shame the one to come up with this proposition was a confirmed Genta agent.
"And who would remain to assure our well being?" asked his homologue.
"Why, My ANBU, of course! And I think Baki is more than enough to keep you safe."
It was Baki's turn to reply. "Surely you're not thinking of sending only Genin on—"
"Ah, but you see," countered the diplomat, "Shikamaru here is a Chunin."
Well that certainly came back to bite me in the ass, thought said Chunin. I wonder if that's the real reason for my presence here.
"Hmm I don't really see a reason why not," mused the Sand diplomat. "Very well; one mission," he argued, "Nothing long, nothing too dangerous."
"We have come to an agreement then." Shikamaru was about to protest when Goichi simply waved them off. "Run along now children – let the adults take care of the important stuff."
Shikamaru snorted disdainfully, before exiting the room, quickly followed by the rest of his peers.
"So mister Chunin," asked Temari, staring at his Chunin vest, "what do we do now, huh?"
The young Nara didn't even dignify that with a response. Seriously, how did Naruto do it with Sasuke? A rival to compare and bicker with at the slightest occasion, jealous of your every progress – how could he not find that tiresome, if not extremely troublesome?
The new joint team found the somewhat large notice board, not far from the bazaar. And true enough, a large quantity of job requests and announcements were pinned on the grey – wall really; it was hard to see when the board ended and where the equally dull-grey back of the city hall started. Shikamaru scanned the wall, looking for the one with the highest success rate. Many looked easy enough, but required trips outside of town going anywhere from three days to a week. Those on the bottom needed guards against thieves… bad idea considering the ambush from earlier— Ah! There, the perfect task.
"How about this one?" he asked hopeful.
Naruto snatched the noticed excitedly "Oh! what's that?" he asked only to return a blank expression to the Chunin. "You want for the six of us to go hunting for a cat?"
"Naruto, may I remind you—"
But he was promptly ignored by the rest of them. "Hey, there's a man requiring guards against assassins," Kankuro said.
"Requires too much time," Shino argued.
And they went on and off about the different notices in front of them. While they were arguing and Shikamaru was thinking how the earlier bad feeling had suddenly raised a tone higher, a jaded-looking man came and pinned his own poster. Immediately the group surrounded the simple looking poster. Not much was written on it really: "Urgent Help needed, good pay, seek Suichi for details." The contrast between the ad's stress and the man's almost indifferent gaze was striking. Well I don't think we need to waste even more time to find this 'Suichi' person right? Moving on.
How he only wished that could be true!
"Hey, mind telling us where we might find Mr. Suichi?" the blonde Jinchuriki asked.
"You're talking to him," replied the man.
"No offense, but you don't look the type to be in dire need," Temari said, sizing the man up.
He gave her a narrow look before answering, "Believe me kid, I am. I'm also what you call a realist: I'm not even expecting people to respond."
This intrigued Naruto to the highest point, to the Chunin's displeasure. Yet it was Kankuro who argued back.
"How about you give us details, and we'll be the judge of that."
"Sorry, this ain't a task for kids to do." Suichi answered, shaking his head. "I knew I should have put 'high risk' somewhere," he mumbled.
This behavior irked or angered everyone except Shikamaru. And how could he get offended really? Unlike the last mission, this man didn't even know they were Shinobi – and for a good reason – he had them walk around town as civilians, after all. It worked; they were now treated like teens, meaning they would definitely end up with something safe. Of course Naruto had different ideas.
"Oi, geezer don't you—"
"Naruto. Don't push it," interjected Shikamaru, "Let's just pick another one and get out of here."
The prospect client nodded approvingly. "You should listen to your friend there kid, he's…" he stopped, giving the pineapple-haired boy a second look. His eyes brightened in recognition. "You're a shinobi, right?" he finally, exclaimed, "I'd recognize that vest anywhere. Are you the leader?"
That vest will be the death of me, though the Nara, yet that wasn't why he was frowning and sighing right now.
"For the moment," he answered after a while.
"Well that changes everything," Shuichi said with a smile, "I might get back my deed after all."
Suichi promptly led the teens to his house, situated in the middle-class part of town. There he explained his problem. The man had a deed to a land out of the country. It wasn't worth much, but since that land belonged to his ancestors, it had sentimental value. In fact, so precious it was he never told a soul about it. Unfortunately, Suichi has that bad habit of drinking and one night, insulted about being called poor, claimed to whom ever wanted to listen about that piece of paper. Surely enough, the deed was gone about a week later. His suspect: The Scorpio Gang, the local mob. Problem is they work for one Osamu Sanada – the most powerful man in town; once the deed falls into his hands, there will be nothing to be done.
"That's where I need the help," explained Suichi, "The Scorpio doesn't deliver the goods directly to Osamu. He usually slips in their lair incognito to take what important valuables he fancies. It's happening in three days. How don't care how you do it, I just want my deed back."
Shino, ever the practical, asked, "Where's the Scorpio gang lair?"
"About a day's walk from the village, there's a forest to the north-east. Crossing the forest you'll come up to some sort of small mountain. Their hideout's in the cave; can't miss it really."
"The payment?" Kankuro this time.
Suichi pondered on that before he said, "Tell you what I don't usually deal with ninjas, but we can always negotiate – after you bring me back the deed. I can always give you 500 ryo up front, What do you say?"
"We'll take it! Right Shikamaru?"
This isn't going to end well, thought the Chunin tiredly.
"Right."
Troublesome.
/-/ /-/ /-/
Meanwhile...
"Have the shinobi accepted the mission?" asked Goichi.
"Yes sir."
"Good, inform Lord Genta at once."
Elsewhere miles away from the Wheat village
"Are Hideyoshi and his crew ready?" inquired the staff wielding boss.
"Yes," answered a metal-armored shinobi.
The older man simply grinned.
And Back in Konoha
"Is everything working so far?"
"Yes." Answered a shady Leaf shinobi.
"Very well then," answered Genta's mysterious partner.
Watch out for the Triple Threat, Team Oblivion! At least you're not alone.
/-/ /-/ /-/
A/N: I think I'm not good at writing during the summer, but hey, at least it's not like last time, right? Anyways, as usual I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Everybody gets some next time. And now without further ado The Review and Reply…
Or part of it anyway, since they are starting to get quite long. I'll leave the start here, but you can read the rest in the review section of last chapter – chapter 28.
SShun: Hey guys how are you—
Naru: *Missile drop kicks Shun*
Shika: *Elbow drops Shun*
SShun: *groans* what the hell was that for?
Naru: Do you have ANY idea what I've been through while you were gone?
Shika: Some of these fics are beyond troublesome.
Naru: You know how many of those paired us together, huh?
Shika: You know how many of those were just love stories?
Naru: You know how many of those were just plain bad?
Shika: You know how many of those were… highschool fics
SShun & Naru & Shika: *sudders*
SShun: Fine, I'm sorry. But it wasn't that bad. How about all the other good fics? I know there were – I read them
Naru: Well that's true.
Shika: It's still troublesome… wait… you were reading?
Naru: *glares*
SShun: So? Wasn't it the reason I came here in the first place?
Naru & Shika: …
SShun: So are we doing this review, or should I start writing a lemon involving the two of you?
Naru: Y-you wouldn't, right, Shun? You don't write lemons or Yaoi, remember?
SShun: Well… I don't know… you just kicked me in the face and all. I could always commission it.
Naru: *whimpers*
Shika: *shudders* …right let's just get on with the reviews.
