Warnings: Same as before
Notes: Sorry for the loooooooong ass wait.
Drastic Measures
Surprises
The Hokage retired to her personal rooms after her speech, leaving the mass of jounin in the main chamber to talk amongst themselves. While many had decided to leave immediately, no longer having reason to remain in the tower now that the announcement had been made, many more continued to loiter there, discussing the consequences of an alliance with the Sand and what it meant.
Shikamaru Nara, however, did neither. Instead, the lethargic teen merely opted to continue leaning against the wall and allow this new information to drift through his mind.
Besides, he didn't really feel like moving anyway.
Neji shifted beside him a moment later, drawing the indolent ninja's attention away from his thoughts and onto his stoic teammate. Neji was staring at the crowd, or rather through it, if the bulging veins around his eyes were any indication. Shikamaru smirked slightly as his teammate searched out Naruto in the forest of jounin.
Despite the unexpected reappearance of Orochimaru, the pony tailed jounin couldn't help but laugh to himself. It was amusing to think that Hinata wasn't the only Hyuuga smitten with Kohona's most infamous troublemaker and too shy to tell him. Though if he hadn't known Neji as well as he did,he might have found it a little creepy that the Hyuuga prodigy used his ninjitsu skills to stalk their teammate. As it was, he just found it amusing.
Still, if Neji ever so much as suspected that Shikamaru knew about his little secret, the genius jounin wouldn't live to see the next sunrise (not that the lazy ninja was ever awake early enough to watch the sunrise, mind you, but that wasn't the point).
This line of thought was again interrupted as Neji suddenly pushed off the wall, heading for the door. Shikamaru frowned slightly at his teammate as he deftly navigated through the crowd and disappeared into the throng. The pony tailed ninja sighed after a moment and followed after him. Neji rarely did anything for no reason.
Halfway to the door it became obvious to Shikamaru why his stoic teammate had decided to head toward the hall as he caught a blond blur emerging from the crowd. His mouth tightened in exasperation as the perpetrator dashed out of the room and into the corridor, completely unaware of the dirty looks he received. The genius sighed, knowing what the look etched onto the blond's face meant.
Naruto was about to do something stupid.
Tsunade closed her eyes as she let herself fall heavily into the worn leather chair behind her desk. It was old and comfortable, but not quite so soft that it would slow her down if the need to move quickly suddenly arose. Some days that chair was the only thing that kept her from giving up her title entirely.
"Tsunade-baba!" a muffled shout filtered in through the other side of her office door before bursting open in the wake of a rather pissed off looking blond.
The Hokage sighed, trying to sink down farther into her chair. She'd found it was usually best to be sitting in it whenever she had to deal with Naruto... as a reminder of sorts.
"Tsunade-baba!!!" the blond raged again, only without the thick door to serve as a buffer the sound was considerably more painful. Already Tsunade could feel a throbbing behind her temples.
"Not so loud, brat," she winced, slightly surprised by just how quickly the young jounin had managed to get past her guards. She made a mental note to talk to someone about that later.
"Dammit! Why didn't you tell me that bastard was back?! And why the HELL isn't Sasuke being better protected?!" The vein on his forehead looked like it was ready to burst, and Tsunade mentally cringed. She had anticipated this when she first decided to make the announcement, these angry questions, but she still didn't know how to answer them. The Hokage bit back a sigh and met the gaze of the man across from her before answering.
"You didn't need to know." It was as close to the truth as she was willing to get.
Blue eyes flashed with barely contained rage, but there was something more than just anger and frustration there. A hint of betrayal maybe? The Hokage flexed her hand slightly. She and Naruto had formed a... friendship of sorts over the years and it must have stung to know she would keep something so important from him, especially when he had such a personal interest in it.
But the Elders had expressly forbidden her to tell the kitsune anything on the subject, as apparently her affectionate, almost sisterly regard for him hadn't gone unnoticed by Kohona at large. And as burning blue eyes stared at her, demanding answers, Tsunade couldn't bring herself to tell the boy that despite all his efforts he was still only barely tolerated by those in the upper echelons of the village government.
In fact more than a few of the council members had voiced their concerns about Naruto's loyalty to the Leaf. They were terrified of what could happen if Orochimaru managed to recruit the boy to his side like he had almost done with Sasuke. Never mind that the blond was the one who talked the last of the valued Shigan line back, or that he had risked his life a hundred times over for the safety of the only place he had ever called "home".
Tsunade hated it, but there was little she could do. Being Hokage also meant listening to the voice of the community even if she herself didn't agree at all with what it said. But Naruto didn't have to know that even the 'wisest' citizens of Kohona were still wary of him. He didn't have to know that so many still refused to see him for who he was rather than what he carried inside him.
And Tsunade refused to be the one to tell him.
"Bull shit," Naruto ground out slowly. Deliberately. Most men would have cowered from the glare Tsunade shot the impulsive teenfrom across the room, but then, most men had a sense of self preservation. Regardless, the blond seem unfazed.
"You are not the Hokage, Naruto, I am." the Fifth reminded him, her voice so dangerously low that it was impossible notto hear the warning behind it. Naruto didn't miss her tone, and in a rare act of intelligence chose to keep his mouth shut. Still, the twitching of his jaw muscles and the hands fisted tightly at his sides spoke volumes. For a moment the Hokage was actually afraid that if she waited any longer to answer him the blond might have an aneurysm, his face was so red from his barely contained anger.
"As for Uchiha, we've been giving him missions as far away from Orochimaru's location as possible." she continued, trying to soothe the boy in front of her, "And while he's not out on assignment Kakashi's been keeping an eye on him." The blond huffed, angry but no longer livid. Hokage's face softened at the worry she recognized hidden behind Naruto's stubborn blue eyes, and whether it was out of guilt or affection Tsunade felt the need to comfort the young jounin.
"Don't worry so much, brat, "she smiled, offering a half smile, "Orochimaru isn't strong enough to try anything; Sasuke can take care of himself"
'For now' she added silently.
"I didn't say he couldn't," Naruto mumbled. His response was automatic, natural. The Fifth's words had eased his mind, if only a little. After all, Hokage would never tell him something that wasn't true …
… Unless there was money involved.
Then the old hag would lie through her teeth if she thought she couldmake an extra buck.
"But we still don't need any help from the Sand dammit!" Naruto yelled indignantly, as he thought back to the meeting and the Hokage's unexpected announcement. The jounin glared at nothing in particular, thoroughly pissed off by the mere suggestion that Leaf needed outside help... especially from those traitorous bastards.
Tsunade mentally winced. She'd almost forgotten about the agreement with Hidden Sand. Negotiations were still somewhat in the works, but most of it had already been decided. For some reason, she highly doubted Naruto would be happy with what she had to tell him.
"About that..."
Shikamaru leaned against the wall opposite the door to the Hokage's private office and closed his eyes. The yelling had died down a while ago, and he suspected Tsunade-sama had managed to beat some sense into his disrespectful teammate.
Either that or she had finally snapped and killed him.
The lazy jounin sighed. It was so troublesome being friends with an impulsive, rowdy dimwit like Naruto but at least it was rarely ever boring. Actually, it was pretty fun; Uzamaki had an uncanny ability of just bringing the best outin people, especially his friends. So it wasn't surprising that when Naruto cared about a person, they couldn't help but care back.
Knowing this, Shikamaru couldn't help but curse himself for not realizing that he and Neji wouldn't be the only ones to follow the blond. The Nara's lips tightened as his eyes flicked to the left, falling on the lithe form of Uchiha Sasuke leaning against a pillar no more than ten yards down.
No, being Naruto's friend was never dull but it did have its drawbacks.
The lazy teen didn't have the chance to sulk about it long though, as his bitter thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a very loud and definitely angry:
"NANI?!?!?!"
Shikamaru winced in sympathy for the Hokage. He had a door between him and the idiot and even his ears rang from the noise. Kami only knew how she felt.
"What happened?" he sighed, turning slowly to look at his other teammate. Neji stood at attention, the veins around his eyes bulging as he stared through the lacquered wood that separated them from the Fifth's private quarters, a little smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Shikamaru's own lips quirked in anticipation. Hyuga almost never smiled (well his mouth would twitch in a certain way when he found something amusing sometimes, but that didn't count)so when his lips curved up into something a normal person could identify as a grin, it had to be good.
"He's on her desk," Neji replied, voice as calm as always, but his eyes soft with affection. "Jumping."
Well, that explained the pounding.
Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow and turned back to the door, staring at it as though he too might be able to look through it if he tried hard enough. "How's Hokage-sama taking it?" he asked flatly after a moment, wondering if he should go in and do damage control.
After all, even Tsunade had her limits and she was usually quite physical when someone crossed them. Particularly when that someone was Naruto. The pony tailed jounin sighed again. Their team had a mission the next day and he really didn't want to listen to the blond bitching about how sore his head was the entire time.
Which was never even true since the guy healed so quickly anyway.
"Pretty well," Neji replied after a moment, his smirk now fully formed. There was a loud "thunk" from the other side of the door, followed by a rather pitiful "Oww!" and Shikamaru frowned.
"She only used her fist this time."
What a bother.
There was another long minute of silence, broken only by the occasional murmuring that managed to seep through the walls and spill out into the hall. Finally the door opened and a very sullen looking Naruto stepped out into the hallway, muttering to himself and completely oblivious of his surroundings.
"Can't believe … traitors… stupid old hag," he growled, "... am I supposed to do… owes me so much ramen…panda eyed freak…"
Shikamaru looked at him oddly, biting back his laugher. Somewhere some ninja was rolling in his grave, mortified that a idiot like this had defeated him. There would be quite a few of them by now actually, since Naruto had become an undeniably skilled, insanely strong ninja. And he took on more missions than practically anyone else in the village.
Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something when his words were cut off before they even had a chance to be uttered.
"What are you mumbling about, dobe?"
Naruto looked up, surprised, and stared at Sasuke. "Eh?"
The Uchiha smirked. "You're a ninja and you don't notice when someone's standing right in front of you in broad daylight?" he mocked.
"Shut up, Teme," Naruto replied half heartedly, frowning. Cerulean blue eyes swept over the red eyed jounin, unable to hid the concern behind them.
"What'd she say?" Neji asked, making Naruto turn on his heal to face his other two teammates. The blond's face darkened a moment, his pout returning full force.
"She said I'm 'on a temporary sabbatical' so I can 'entertain' the visitors from the Sand," he growled. "They asked for me specifically…" he folded his arms crossly, "Stupid old hag. Who knows what that freaky eyed psycho's gonna do to me!?! At least I can hit him though… well, only if he hits me first…" another frown. "I hope he doesn't expect me to give him my bed."
"What?"
Six sets of eyes swiveled over to the momentarily forgotten Uchiha, whose eyes suddenly flared in the tell-tale red of the Sharingan. Shikamaru swallowed thickly. He hated the selfish bastard, but even he had to admit that Sasuke could be intimidating as hell.
"I know!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, throwing his hands up into the air and oblivious to the menace in his teammate's voice . "And she didn't even ask me, stupid Tsunade-baba! It's this or I'm fired!" The blond continued to fume as he stomped down the hall, presumably towards the exit, muttering to himself the whole way.
Sasuke shot a murderous glare toward the Hokage's door before turning on his heel and following after his teammate. Shikamaru frowned, wanting to talk to Naruto more but unwilling to stay with the Uchiha. Beside him, Neji's scowl mirrored his own, though Shikamaru suspected they had different reasons. Either way the pony tailed jounin was more disturbed by what Naruto had told them than by Sasuke's presence.
Because it wasn't just any Sand coming to Kohona, it was Gaara. And for some reason he had specifically asked to stay with Naruto.
Shikamaru's frown deepened.
No good could possibly come of this.
A/N:
No, no. I'm not dead. Just lazy, forgetful, and uninspired. My computer broke down, my friend got cancer, and I misplaced my muse somewhere along the way. Sorry for the LONG ASS wait though.
Note: This story is officially AU, breaking off from the real story line somewhere around chapter 200. So don't flame me about it not coinciding with the manga. Feel free to bitch at me about anything else though (except Shonen-ai related complaints).
I have every intention of finishin all of my fics. But I lose stuff like story outlines that have the plot written out and then the whole thing goes to hell so I don't update for a while (I found this one again though, and now it's saved on my computer, so all is well).
I doubt anyone cares or remembersabout this fic anymore, but I'm sorry anyway!
Ja ne & Haappy New Year!
-Jiro
