The glade is quiet, the atmosphere still, the only sounds the soft rush of the creek winding through the grass and the rustle of the breeze tangling the branches of the willow. Even the crickets seem to have quieted their song to a pleasant background hum, and Shikamaru hasn't heard the shrill caw of a crow since he got here.

He likes it here. It's peaceful, calming, easy. The green branches of the willow paint a gorgeous picture against the backdrop of the slim waterfall, the grass is long and soft under his fingers, and the clearing gives him an unrestricted view of the sky.

This is Naruto's place, and Shikamaru can't even be envious– the Uzumaki had opened it to him and Kiba with a careless offering, like the magic of this glade wasn't something to be coveted and hoarded close.

Shikamaru would have hoarded it.

He would have kept this peace and isolation all to himself given the chance, soaked it in night after night if he'd been the one to find it first. Naruto is too generous for his own good, and this isn't the first time Shikamaru has had cause to think so.

So he and Kiba have an unspoken code when it comes to him. If Naruto won't be selfish, they'll be selfish for him.

It's why Kiba hasn't told his sister and Hinata about the Glade, it's why Shikamaru hasn't told Ino that he knows where Sakura disappears to so early in the morning, and why Choji only knows where to find him in an emergency. They're selfish with Naruto's secret.

Sakura likes the secluded freedom the Glade offers, and she has no desire to share it more than she does already.

Sasuke is possessive of this place for a different reason, so far as Shikamaru can tell. A reason that has little to do with the place itself and everything to do with the person it belongs to.

Shikamaru had come here early to soak in some alone time, unbothered by teammates and senseis and expectations. There are several places in the Nara forest where he could theoretically do the same thing, but his father knows how to find him there and none of those groves have quite the same view of the clouds.

He folds his arms behind his head, scanning the wispy stratus clouds and the patterns the waning light weaves between them, tucking colour into grooves like dye seeping through pulled cotton. First day of training had gone better than he thought it would, though Shikamaru had purposefully kept his expectations low. Asuma seems like a decent human being, even though sometimes Shikamaru gets the impression he's trying a little too hard.

He lets his eyes slide closed, enjoying the feel of cool, clear air in his lungs and the soft petrichor tang to it that flavors the atmosphere when night approaches. He feels the shadows stretch across the glade, can see their contrast against the low sunbeams in his mind's eye.

His peace is interrupted by a high bark that signals the end of his alone time, and his eyes flutter open to Akamaru bursting through the trees, sans ninja partner. The ninken lopes right at Shikamaru, unfortunately, sliding to a stop to give his cheek a long thorough lick. Shikamaru grunts in disgust, pressing a palm to the excited dog's chest to prevent further slobbering kisses.

"Well I see you're feeling better." he mutters, giving Akamaru's ear a grudging scratch.

The ninken yips happily, tail lashing back and forth, and then jumps over the bar of Shikamaru's arm to land jarringly square on his chest, giving the shadow-nin's other cheek a lick as though to even it out.

Shikamaru scrubs his forearm over his face to clear away the dog slobber. "Kiba! Come get your ninken off me, he doesn't listen." he growls when Akamaru tries to maul his face again despite his protests.

"Hold your horses Nara, I'm coming." Kiba shouts as he makes his way up the river and through the final layer of brambles. "Akamaru! Here boy!"

The dog's ears perk up and he yips in answer before bolting off Shikamaru's chest to leap into Kiba's jacket. Kiba zips it after him to keep the ninken secure, and Akamaru's head pops out of his collar with a shake and another bark.

Kiba laughs at the disgruntled look on Shikamaru's face. "It just means he likes you, Shika, don't look so scandalized." he plops down across from the Nara, and Shikamaru folds his arms back behind his head.

They don't talk for a while, and Shikamaru is grateful for the quiet as Kiba feeds Akamaru biscuits produced from somewhere under his hoodie. The dog-nin breaks it though, after the ninken is stuffed and dozing curled on Kiba's legs.

"You been thinking about what's in that scroll?" he asks, rubbing a hand absently over Akamaru's back.

"Mhm." Shikamaru affirms, but doesn't open his eyes.

"Kept me up last night, thinking about it." Kiba muses.

It had kept Shikamaru up too, but he keeps that little fact to himself. Kiba can be annoyingly overprotective when he wants to be, and he knows that Shikamaru requires more sleep than most people.

Kiba freezes suddenly and lifts his head, giving the air a few cursory sniffs. "Sasuke's here." he announces.

True to word, a few seconds later the dark-haired dark-eyed Genin ducks through the growth, brushing leaf matter from his shoulder.

"Hey Uchiha." Kiba quips.

"Hey dog-breath." He says amicably. "Hey Akamaru."

Akamaru yips at the acknowledgment and rolls over in Kiba's lap for a belly rub. Kiba complies, and shots Sasuke the necessary scowl. "Where's the rest of the pack?" He asks, sniffing the air again as though he expects to find Naruto and Sakura's scents on the wind just behind him.

Sasuke drops down onto the grass on Shikamaru's other side, propping himself up with one arm and slinging the other around a raised knee. He's wearing a low-necked quarter sleeved top, mission grade, and a pair of sparring sweats in Uchiha navy. Shikamaru hasn't seen that crested overshirt of his for at least a month.

"Sakura is still at the hospital." he explains with a sigh. "A bunch of Chunin got injured in a border skirmish with Kumo and she stayed back to help. Naruto just ran home to get the scrolls. He'll be here soon."

"He tell you what's in that thing?" Kiba asks.

Sasuke shrugs. "Yeah..." he says lowly, and Shikamaru would have interpreted the word as careless if he hadn't seen the way Sasuke's fingers curled tight in the grass. "I know the way he was talking last night made it sound like he'd only picked some things up out of the rubble of the city but…" Sasuke shakes his head. "Truth is, it's more like he's got an entire culture stuffed away in those scrolls."

"That's the second time you've made that plural." Shikamaru states, leaning up on his elbows. "There's more than one scroll?"

"There are two." Sasuke agrees, flashing a peace sign to emphasize his point. "The one he showed you guys has most of what he found in it– the second one is specifically for Kinjutsu."

"Spooky." Kiba mumbles. "He's bringing both?"

Sasuke nods.

A crash and a rustle sounds from behind them. "Gez, who died? You three look like you just came from a funeral or something." Naruto shoulders through the brambles, the two shining scrolls strapped to his hip. "We're gonna have to start without Sakura. By the looks of the hospital, she'll be there a while." he announces.

He plops down on the grass and unhooks the gold trimmed scroll, unrolling it with practiced efficiency. He's wearing a high necked long-sleeve despite the muggy weather and worn black mission pants, the hems of both wrapped flush up to his elbows and knees.

Naruto tucks himself next to Sasuke, close enough that their knees brush, but the Uchiha doesn't seem to mind it as Naruto spreads the obsidian scroll across the grass. There are thirteen seals in all, each one marked at the top by a different symbol. Clan symbols.

"Which one is yours?" Shikamaru asks, eyes scanning the intricate lines and quietly marveling at the beauty of the chakrawork.

Naruto hesitates as if surprised by the question, like he hadn't expected anyone to care enough to ask. The response, however small, makes a familiar dark anger stir in Shikamaru's chest. It's that same burning he feels when he sees Choji eating by himself on the academy training grounds, or when he catches Ino frowning at her own reflection. It's a frustrated emotion born from being unable to change something all at once, from the fact that there is no easy or simple fix for certain kinds of hurts.

He has to remind himself that change is rarely easy and never instant, that the best thing he can do is be present and be patient, and only speak when he knows he can make his words count.

At least in this battle, he's far from alone. Sasuke's seemingly easy lean into Naruto's side is a testament to that, even though the blond's mental hiccup only lasts about a second. Naruto traces his finger along the scroll to tap the centermost seal, one marked with a spiral stylized into a sun.

Shikamaru allows himself a small smile. "Let's start with that one."

When Sakura walks into the Glade and hour later than she'd hoped to, stressed out and exhausted of chakra, she has to blink a couple times to fully take in the scene before her.

The boys are pouring over scrolls and notes and talking over each other with energy and drive that would allude more to some kind of war meeting than it would to a show-and-tell.

"Kiba, pass me those genjutsu notes."

"Fine but I want that Tsubasa clan Jutsu if you can find it. The one with the perception stuff."

"Here. Who has the Ido-Senshi katas?"

"Give me a second, I'm still looking them over. I'm pretty sure I've seen these concepts somewhere before…"

Sakura snorts to announce her presence. "Gez, you four sure got into it without me."

Naruto looks up, completely ignores her statement, and throws a scroll at her face. "Sakura, take a look at that. The Komorebi clan archive is filled with stuff like it. Maybe you can make some sense of it all."

She catches the scroll easily and rolls it open, wedging her way between Naruto and Kiba to make room for herself in the circle of chaos. She scans the contents of the scroll, eyes catching on certain words and phrases as she deciphers its use. "Is this a medical scroll? For enhancing chakra precision for some kind of acute emergency treatment?"

"Dude, you tell me." Naruto mutters, trading a long grey scroll with Sasuke for an earth brown one. "I'm not sure what half the words on that are supposed to mean."

"Uzumaki," Kiba says loudly. "The hell is a Chaos Wheel?"

"A sealing symbol meant to concentrate and redirect chakra in rainfall patterns." Naruto answers automatically, and Kiba scribbles something down in a blank book by his thigh, muttering about asking his sensei about inherent chakra properties and about needing another notebook for this shit.

Shikamaru is quiet, eyes eating up the pages of a thick tome that looks older than Sakura's father. Sasuke is mumbling under his breath as he organizes weapon sets, varying from strange looking senbon and shuriken to long hooked scythes that he has to lay sideways so that nobody accidentally nicks themselves on the wicked sharp blades.

"I need all the katas for the weighted chains." He announces suddenly without warning, and the boys stop what they're doing to hand him a dozen or so scrolls that he rolls up and lies next to the aforementioned weapons. It's all alarmingly efficient.

"What do you need me to do?" She asks Naruto, folding up the scroll she's holding.

The Uzumaki leans back behind him, grabbing hold of a huge golden scroll and scooting back in the circle so he can set it over his knees without poking anyone in the eye. "We're reorganizing and cataloguing everything by type so that it's easier to find and use." he explains. "Each big gold scroll has the contents of a particular clan's legacy. Silver scrolls have artifacts, Grey scrolls have equipment, and Brown scrolls have books and non-storage scrolls. I was kind of in a rush so it was all really terribly put together when I sealed everything."

"That's putting it mildly." Sasuke quips from his other side. "Who stuffs history and weapon katas into the same scrolls?"

"I didn't actually have time to open them, jerk!" Naruto defends, and then turns back to Sakura. "We're going through the paper stuff mostly right now. Scrolls and books and things. Anything sealing related goes to me, give Shika the theory and history stuff, Kiba gets the jutsu scrolls, Sasuke's in charge of katas, any kind of non-jutsu training and, more recently, assorted pointy shit."

Sasuke smacks him in the arm with the flat of a tanto blade. "Idiot."

Naruto laughs. "Anyway," he scoops up an assortment of scrolls and books that had been resting on the grass next to him and deposits them in front of her. "We saved you everything with medical jargon in it."

Sakura squeaks in excitement. "Aww, you shouldn't have!" she chirps eagerly, pressing a careless and obnoxious kiss to her friend's cheek before digging into the font of information he's placed in front of her.

"Weirdo." Naruto mutters, rubbing his cheek, but the word is fond.

Late that night, as they pick up after themselves in the Glade, Naruto puts one of his gold scrolls down and gestures to Shikamaru.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" He asks softly, and Shikamaru raises a single eyebrow. They're a good distance away from everyone else, picking up some papers that had blown loose from a folio.

"Something wrong?" He asks, clocking the subtle worry and tension drawing itself across tan features.

"Maybe." Naruto mutters, glancing back to where Kiba and Sasuke are putting equipment together for Naruto to reseal. Shikamaru very carefully continues picking up papers, albeit more slowly than before, as not to make it obvious that they're talking about something serious.

"What is it?"

"Something that's maybe very classified." Naruto says without preamble, and Shikamaru does freeze at that.

"How classified are we talking, here?" Shikamaru asks carefully, already sifting through possibilities and plans without really thinking about it.

"Like file-from-the-black-ops-section-of-the-archives classified." He murmurs.

Shikamaru shoots him the most unimpressed look he can muster. "Really, Naruto?"

Naruto makes a pained face. "Will you help me out or what? Yes or no question."

The answer is yes, obviously. The reason why Shikamaru only has a couple of friends is because he's willing to do just about anything for the ones he has. That Shikamaru will keep what he hears to himself is a natural given.

Shikamaru just nods, casual as can be. "It's about Sasuke?" He asks conversationally. Naruto relaxes visibly.

"Yeah." he says softly, bending down to pick up another paper scrap. "It's about his brother. The massacre."

Shikamaru nods again. "What exactly do you need?"

"To make sure it's valid." Naruto says, even quieter than before. "I'm not… I can't tell him unless I know for a fact that it's not…" he seems to be struggling with words so Shikamaru finishes for him.

"You want me to make sure the information is genuine. That all the facts add up."

Naruto nods.

"Where's the file exactly?" Shikamaru asks.

Naruto reaches under his shirt and pulls a thin folder from one of the hidden pockets. He hands it over, and Shikamaru tucks it quickly into his own shirt. It's obvious the Uzumaki has thought this through.

"I'll see what I can do." Shikamaru promises.

Naruto nods, eyes warm with gratitude. "I owe you one. Anything you need, anytime, just name it."

Shikamaru nods back, pressing a hand to the file in his shirt. He's pretty sure he knows where to start.

Chasing down their sensei for everyday training has become something of a team 7 morning chore. They give him fifteen minutes, because Sasuke had said something about Kakashi visiting the memorial stone most mornings and they're not heartless, but after that he's fair game.

But even though finding Kakashi-sensei isn't all that hard, catching him is something else. Kakashi-sensei is the fastest shinobi Naruto's ever met– it's scary almost how close the three of them can be to catching up to him, and then the Jounin will just straight-up vanish, appearing a few meters away to lecture them on their form.

"Efficiency of movement, Naruto." Kakashi singsongs at him when he lands too hard on a tree and cracks the branch he's standing on. "That jump required half as much energy as you gave it."

Naruto grumbles, but does his best to adjust. Kakashi pushes them hard though, which Naruto appreciates, and doesn't patronize them outside of occasional teasing. They're still stuck doing D-ranks, which sucks, but they're doing more a day than all the other teams, according to Sakura, which is enough to placate him.

Mostly. That's not to say he doesn't still complain about the myriad of 'missions' they've been doing that could be qualified, at best, as chores.

~It's below your skill levels. All three of you.~ Kurama grouses, but it's an old argument and Kakashi-sensei knows Naruto's opinion on the matter. And Sasuke's. And Sakura's. He seems to enjoy annoying them, but he gives them harder workloads in training to compensate, so Naruto can't complain that much.

At lunch a two weeks into training, Kakashi-sensei throws it into casual conversation over ramen while Naruto's mouth is full.

"You three have the rest of the day off training." he says, easy as can be. "I'm signing you up for a C-rank tomorrow, so no all-nighters."

Naruto chokes on his soft-boiled egg and ends up coughing so bad that Sakura spends the next few minutes slapping his back.

"About time." Sasuke mutters. "What kind of mission will it be?"

"That depends on what's available, brat." Kakashi says happily in response to Sasuke's attitude. "But I'm hoping for something long and arduous like a border crawl or something."

"Senseeeei, don't be an ass." Sakura gripes. "We can do a real mission, you know we can."

"I do, but learning skills and applying them in practice are two different things. I want you to be prepared."

Naruto swallows down the last of his coughs, but anything he might have shouted before gets caught in his throat. In Kakashi-speak, asking them to be prepared is pretty much the same as asking them to be careful, and as low key as it is, Naruto can sense the salt and citrus tang of worry radiating from him.

"Whatever mission we get, we'll be prepared." Naruto says earnestly. "We'll take it seriously, sensei. Promise."

Kakashi looks down at him, and Naruto feels the worry ease a bit. "Good." He says, pushing his untouched ramen across the counter towards Naruto. "Go ahead, you'll need it more than I will."

~Don't forget to go over your equipment tonight. You have everything you need, right? You took what you could use out of the scrolls earlier? You bought enough rations? Made enough exploding tags?~

"Yes, Kurama, we bought everything we need. We went over it twice before we checked out."

~What about the little Genesis? Does she have everything? Did she buy her rations?~

"Kuraaaama."

~What? I've put a lot of work into you three brats. I'm not about to let you twerps get stabbed by some missing-nin or stranded in enemy territory.~

"It's a C-rank. It's not like we're going off to war."

~A lot of things can happen on a C-rank.~ Kurama insists.

"You're a worse worrier than Iruka-sensei."

~Lies.~

A knock brings both Naruto and Sasuke's heads up from their weapon check. "I got it." Naruto says, shifting to his feet. By the time he makes it to the kitchen he can feel the chakra on the other side of the door, so he doesn't hesitate swinging it open.

Sakura shoulders in with a stormy expression and nothing resembling a greeting. "I'm staying here tonight." she states crossly, stalking over to rummage through the pantry. She's got nothing on her, no pack, no waist pouches. She's in a pair of soft ratty civilian sweats and a tea-green t-shirt, like she'd been about to go to bed.

Naruto watches for few seconds as she storms around the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards and doors with no obvious purpose, before scooting stealthily over to the shitty coffee maker and starting it up.

Eventually she seems to run out of steam, plopping down into Naruto's chair at the kitchen table and dropping her head into her hands. Naruto opens the fridge to pull out the carton of milk and pulls the sugar across the counter to fix Sakura a cup of sweet, creamy coffee. He doesn't try to comfort her, she's too stubborn for that, so he just leaves the coffee cup in front of her and exits the kitchen.

Sasuke is leaning on the other side of the wall next to the doorframe, obviously eavesdropping. "She okay?" he asks in a whisper.

"Give her a minute." Naruto whispers back.

Sasuke nods, and they go back to the main room where they've been cataloguing the equipment they might need tomorrow.

A few minutes later Sakura comes in and settles herself between them, her back leaning against the front of Naruto's shoulder and her legs sprawled over Sasuke's lap. Her eyes are red, but neither of them mentions it.

"Parents can be so stupid sometimes." She mutters, sipping at her coffee. "Civilian parents especially." She corrects.

"We wouldn't really know." Sasuke says blithely, tucking an arm over her knees but otherwise not looking up.

Naruto snorts, wrapping his own arm around her side, and starts to divide everything into thirds instead of halves. Who needs parents anyway? They're team 7. They have each other.

They'll be fine either way.