Chapter 7
Shikamaru leant on the wooden table, groaning at the pain shooting from her shoulder. Their training session went well, she thought. Her body was bruised to the high heavens, as was her ego. Even Iruka-sensei, who was off of the mission roster due to his role in the academy, throw her around a bit. Though she got a few good punches in and got down a new jutsu. Not bad for a 4-hour training session. Still she had a long way to go. From tomorrow she would be wearing weights on her arms, legs and around her waist. Raido and Iruka had given her a training plan for the next few weeks, including, to her utter most disgust, early morning runs. What…a…drag! Sighing, Shikamaru turned her thoughts to her new shiny jutsu. It was a bit of a chakra drainer, but it was an area effect that could be quite devastating. She smirked, replaying the flashy effect of Lightning Style: False Lightning. She could already see its use, and how to combine the jutsu with her shadows. Frankly, Shikamaru couldn't wait for her next foray into combat with enemy ninjas. She hated the fighting to hurt, but she really wanted to see the after effect of her new tactic.
Unbeknownst to her, her smirk had taken a feral turn as she gazed into the distance. The four guys with her, glanced at her before smirking at each other. A knowing glint in their eyes. They had all been in Shikamarus place, young and eager, with a new jutsu. Fired up to try out the jutsu on Konoha's enemies. Grinning, Kotetsu pushed a mug of coffee towards their younger comrade; fully aware she didn't drink, and he didn't want to encourage her to drink this young. Ninja law was a bit different to civilian law. As soon as a ninja graduated to genin, they were considered legal adults, able to drink, smoke, marry, have sex etc. Still the older shinobi did their best to keep their kids, kids for as long as possible. The older generation sacrificed a lot in the Third Shinobi War, for their young to grow up slower, in a more peaceful time. Though Kotetsu, Izumo, and Iruka grew up in the tail end of the war, they carried on the job of keeping the kids safe to be kids for as long as they could. Raido however fought in the last war, and it still haunted him. It was what provided him with the want to mentor Shikamaru, to provide the girl the opportunity to reach the simmering potential within her. He would hate to see her squander it in the way her old man did. Shikaku Nara was a man who was respected worldwide as being part of the best Ino-Shika-Cho team to have existed. Internally, his intellect, pharmaceutical knowledge, and command over the use of his shadows, made him a highly respected man. Add to that his position as Jounin Commander, and his position on the Hokage Adviser team, he was one of the most powerful, politically anyway, men in the village. However, he was an alcoholic, along with his old team, and just as lazy as his clan was reputed to be. Those in the elite circles were aware he had been a candidate for the Hokage position as the 4th, or 5th when the 4th died. Yet he had turned it down with a muttered comment of it being a drag. It was that comment that Raido couldn't forgive. To be Hokage was a high honour. It was about doing your duty to the village, not about it if cut into your stargazing or napping time. If Raido could be get Shikakus daughter to become a motivated ninja, and excel, he would count that as petty revenge. Also, that fool Asuma had done nothing with her. He had had her for 6 months, and he hadn't done anything. He fed into the Nara's natural lethargy, allowing one of the brightest flames in the new generations stutter and die out. Well, not anymore. Not on his watch. Asuma could flair his chakra and flood the entire village in killing intent next time, for all Raido cared. He had his chance at being a mentor, and he sat around smoking and playing shoji with the kid, instead of training her to survive. Now it was Raidos turn to be a mentor, and mentor he would.
Raido turned his head slightly to look at Shikamaru. He had noticed this afternoon she had changed her clothes. They were…different… but they definitely suited the girl. The overall appearance was very feminine, not a word often used to describe the Nara heirs style choices. Her grooming was nearly always immaculate, even this evening she had vanished after the training session to have a shower and change before she met up with them. The clothes she had on now were different again. Both sets, today, allowed for her to move and fight but still flattered her growing figure. Raidos thoughts turned a bit sour, it was likely the boys and him would have to beat back her admirers as she got older; especially if she kept wearing these new clothes. The typical Nara armour-mesh undershirt and shorts were visible. Over the top was a fitted dark grey vest top. Green, purple and red were threaded through the shirt to create an oil slick affect. It had a high collar, but dipped low at the front, reaching just above her belly button. Across the split was 3 clasps in a forest green, designed to draw the eye, allowing a kunoichi to distract an opponent in a vital moment. Next came the ninja skirt; asymmetrically cut, reinforced leather dyed the same dark oil slick colour, it looked like to separate pieces, again held together on both sides by the same clasps as the vest. One side only had one clasp at the top, it was that short, but on the thigh, she had wrapped bandages, the same colour as the clasps, before adding a kunai pouch. Around her waist hung a utility belt, with a lot of compartments and pouches on it. Her ninja sandals were gone. In their place, a pair of what looked like combat boots. Up close, Raido had noticed they were the same design and soft leather, as the stealth ANBU specialists wore. A good choice for someone with the same predilection for shadows as her. The only other thing was a pair of gloves, made of the same material as her boots. It was a good look for her, he acknowledged. It played onto her strengths in stealth and traps, as well as played off her looks. She'll be a killer with the guys when puberty hit properly, Raido thought in morbid amusement.
"Ryo for your thought, Raido-san?" Shikamarus bored voice pulled him from his thought train. Her eyes were staring at him, amusement lighting her amber eyes, a smirk pulling at her mouth. Yep, she's going to have one hell of a fan club when she started filling out.
"Just wondering about the wardrobe change, Little Nara. Anything you wanna share with the group?" Raido gave a suggestive smile and eyebrow wiggle. His grin widening as she flushed red at his implied comment.
"Boys are troublesome. I stayed at Shirai's last night, so I had to use the clothes Inio got me." Shikamaru shifted awkwardly, tugging on her clothes self-consciously. "I didn't think I looked too bad, but people keep staring at me."
Kotetsu lent over and gave her an obvious look up and down, before whistling and winking. "Looking good, little deer. Almost good enough to eat." His flirting caused Shikamaru to inhale her mouthful of coffee and start spluttering. Before she could recover, Kotetsu jumped and started cursing at Iruka; who was glaring at Ko' with a dark look.
"Inappropriate Ko'. The kid is 12!" Iruka snarled, before turning and patting Shika on the back, pulling her close to him protectively.
Raido sighed as he watched the three teammates bicker with each other and amended his thoughts; it'll be him and Iruka beating off her admirers and keeping Ko (possibly 'Zumo too) out of her bed.
Shikamaru headed back to her cousins flat after splitting from her training group. It had been a nice evening, even if it was a drag to be social for that long, but the guys made her feel at ease. It was effortless on her part to talk with them, something she appreciated! She'd have loved to have stayed, but Iruka's teacher voice still worked on her, and he sent her home. Even though it irritated her to be treated like a child, she loved that Iruka was still looking out for her. How he was a ninja, she didn't know, he was just so ...nice… He was practically an angel. He cared for everyone, no matter who they were. It was refreshing from the normal guarded personality of ninja. Tilting her head up to watch the stars, Shikamaru slunk along the darken streets, her affinity to the dark drawing her into the shadows. She walked unknown to any civilians she passed, and any genin or chunnin to be honest. Unless the shinobi was of the Nara or Jounin and above, they wouldn't spot anyone from the Nara clan in the shadows. It was as much a part of her clan as their blood, their deer, and their chakra. Most Nara specialized in intelligence or assassination. It was nearly a given, with their shadows and their brains.
It was a beautiful night, Shikamaru noticed. The sky was a clear ocean blue, dotted with twinkling stars. On nights like this, she used to go to the hill on her clan properties with her father. They would light a fire, talk a little, before he trained her in the art of shadows. It was there that her father and her bonded; there that she learnt to rule over the domain of darkness with her father guiding her gently, his chakra wrapping protectively around her as she learnt to assert her will over the shadows. Shikamaru smiled sadly at the stars, those times were long gone. It had been years since they had done their little ritual. She guessed that her dad didn't want to waste time on the disappointment of the clan, when he could be training a cousin of hers to be heir. She sighed and leant against the wall, staring up at the stars.
Asuma watched the young girl opposite him. His cigarette in its customary place, held to his lip with a spark of chakra. He had been at the Poison Bottle, trying to work his way through the conversations he had had with a bunch of people today. None of them good. It looked like they had broken the Ino-Shika-Cho triad this year. The brains of their team had walked away after an intense, but brief, yelling match last night, according to Ino. According to Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza, they had lost their daughter last night. They recapped her lose of control over her chakra, her cold words, her tears and worse of all, her need to look elsewhere for safety. Asuma was aware she had spent the night out of her father's house, and off of compound grounds. He had spent all afternoon looking around for her, after he saw her at the market, and couldn't find her. That wasn't an unusual occurrence, if Shikamaru didn't want to be found, it would take a sensor type nin to find her. When he had finally given in, she appeared in the bar. Asuma hadn't recognised her, until he saw her hair in its normal topknot ponytail. She had changed. He didn't like it. Asuma blamed the clothing choice on the 4 guys currently sat with her. He was convinced they were manipulating her, to wear less clothing; sexier clothing. Asuma snarled silently, she was his kid, his student! He would put a stop to this, before that group got their claws into her deeper. Asuma was certain all of this was a misunderstanding, and could be easily fixed, all he needed was an hour or two with Shika. After that, she'd be back to her normal apathetic self. She'd come back to the team, in her normal clothes, and they would shelter her from these people. Asuma nodded to himself and approached the unaware girl, taking in the reflection of the stars on unshed tears in her almond eyes. He wasn't sure why she was holding back tears, but whoever caused them would be in pain when he found out.
"Ohayo Shika-chan. What are you going out this late on your own?" Asuma called gently. Making sure to stand close enough she knew it was him. Inhaling, he watched as his student jumped and turned to look at him. He noticed she was shivering, so he exhaled his smoke away from her, and pulled her into a hug. "You're frozen, kid. Let's get you home. Can't have you getting ill, when we have a mission tomorrow. Come on now." Asuma steered her back the way she had come, towards a small hole in the wall bar that he knew Shikaku would be at. As they walked, he could feel her stop shaking, before she replied to his greeting.
"I was staying with cousin Shirai, sensei. This is the wrong way." Her voice had already started to lower from a girl's pitch to a woman's' lower smoother tone. She was going to be beautiful when she grew up, Asuma thought. Though he had seen Chouji sneaking admiring glances at their shadow user, so maybe he wouldn't have to worry about her getting caught up with a bad guy.
"Hush just walk with me. You'll need to go home anyway, we have a mission in the morning. You need to pack."
"A mission? With Ino and Chouji?" Shikamaru was confused, she was certain Ino refused to do missions with her.
"Nope. You, Kakashi, and Anko. Kakashi asked for you. He figured it would be useful for you to work with the elites, and see how the higher missions are different, whilst being relatively safe. Kakashi is your team lead. Stick with him, keep your head clear and focused. You'll do fine. Remember to pack for 5 days, that's the mission length. He'll brief you at the Main Gate tomorrow at 11am. Do not be late." Asuma had kept her distracted with the mission news, as he guided her into the darkened pub, and towards the corner with her father and uncles in. He noticed they had clocked him, as soon as the two of them entered the room. Shikaku had pushed himself up and slunk across the room towards them, his eyes firmly on his daughter. He was flanked by Inoichi and Chouza, all three of them look relieved to see her, though you had to look close to see it. Asuma kept a tight hold around her shoulders as her father approached. He felt her tense and tuck herself further into his side. Asuma pretended it hadn't happened and greeted the three.
"Good evening Commander, Yamanaka-sama, Akimichi-sama. I found a little doe wandering in the dark, I thought she may belong to you." Asuma smirked around his fag and nodded his head in respect.
"She does indeed. Thank you Asuma. I'll take her home now." Shikaku was a man of few words, so three short sentences were all the gratitude he would give, and that was still a lot for him.
"Right, well I'm off. Don't forget Shikamaru, tomorrow, 11am, Main Gate. May the Gods protect you." Asuma headed to the bar, after giving Shikamaru a gentle push towards her old man.
Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably under her father's' heavy gaze. His gaze used to make her feel safe, loved, and protected; now it made her uncomfortable. Shikamaru cursed Asuma mentally, she had nearly made a clean escape to her cousins until he found her. Steeling her nerves, she forced herself to look up at her father's face. The sorrow lining his face, surprised her. Never before had she seen her dad wear his emotions in public. Guilt hit her hard, she had caused her dad to break face. Shikamaru barely got time to inhale shakily, before her dad was there, pulling her close. As he tucked her into his chest, Shikamaru felt the creeping cold that she associated with her dads' shadow walk. Shikamaru whimpered into his chest as the cold was gone as quick as it came. That meant they were home, which meant she would have to let go of him, and face reality. A reality where she was tolerated at home, but not really wanted. What a troublesome life.
Shikaku hugged his girl tighter when he heard her whimper. Whatever was going on her genius little mind, it had to end soon. It was tearing her, and the family, apart. Shikaku leant his head sideways to glance at his brothers-in-arms. Easily meeting Inoichi's eyes for a telepathic connection to form.
"Thank you for coming with me. I was expecting more of a fight from her." Unlike vocal communication, the mind to mind communication didn't allow for one to hide emotions. This gave Inoichi and Chouza a chance to hear the depth of worry Shikaku had for his daughter; it was a worry they shared. It was that worry that had them hanging around the Nara compound all day today.
"Take this steady, brother. If you do or say the wrong thing, this could tear our daughter away. For tonight, just keep her close. Let touch be the language tonight. Hug her, pet her hair, let her know the loving father you are." Chouza advised "There will be time after her mission to talk."
Shikaku nodded in agreement, his eyes showing gratitude towards his friends. He leant into Chouza's large warm hand. The warmth crept into his shoulder and flowed through him, giving him a surge of energy. He would forever be indebted to his teammates. Their consistent support was unwavering and firm. It was something he had hoped his daughter would develop with her own team, yet from recent events, it would seem like that hadn't happened. Looking around, Shikaku saw his wife open their backdoor. The light poured around her, framing her petite figure nicely. She was a beauty, his wife. Long smooth dark hair, dark eyes and milk coloured skin. Though, it was her spitfire personality and innate kindness that had attracted him at first. The gentleness she would tend a wound with, was a contrast to the deadly force she showed on the battlefield. The moment their daughter was born Shikaku swore his wife had never looked as beautiful as she had then. Their little girl held in firm but soft arms, a joyous light shone with in her eyes. At some point she changed, Shikaku frowned. She had started nagging and yelling. She even started hitting him and their daughter over the head, when she got mad. He normally wasn't allowed a word in edgeways. That too had to end. He wanted his wife back. He wanted his family back together. He would have to investigate, whilst Shikamaru is on her mission, until then he had better get his child inside.
With a nod to Inoichi and Chouza as both shunshin'd away, Shikaku lifted his surprisingly light daughter into his arms, and held her close as he set out for his house…
