Naruto Fan Fiction

Wind and Shadow

By Kraven Ergeist

Chapter One: Shikamaru's Training

Shikamaru held his sensei in perhaps the longest Kage-Mane he had every cast. Asuma-sensei had decided to take the three year opportunity between his return and the plan to resume Sasuke's recovery to give his students, Shikamaru especially now that he was a Chunnin, some good hard stamina training.

After several gasping breaths, Shikamaru released his hold and dropped to one knee, panting.

"Two hours, thirty-six minutes," Asuma observed, glancing at his stopwatch. "A new personal record. Still doesn't hold a flame to your father's time though."

Shikamaru grunted, and sat back. "This is so tiresome. Do you have to rub that fact in my face, Asuma?"

Asuma gave a thumbs up. "I figure something's gotta get under your skin enough to motivate you to train."

Shikamaru turned away. "Fat chance."

Asuma sighed, bemoaning for perhaps the thousandth time what a waste such potential was in a person so unwilling to exercise it.

"You know, Shikamaru," Asuma said, crouching next to him. "Stamina training like this only gets you so far. If you're gonna be a Chunnin, you need to put a bit more effort into your training."

Shikamaru just huffed.

"You also," Asuma said with a smile, "Should consider beefing up your knowledge of technique's. You rely too much on your Shadow Bind technique. The Nara family has dozens of shadow related techniques. Perhaps you should learn one or two."

Shikamaru grunted. "My Shadow-Bind technique is sufficient enough. I chose it out of all the technique's in my bloodline limit specifically because it had the most uses, and used up very little chakra."

Asuma held up a finger. "Yet, even you must see that there will be some situations where simply detaining your enemy will not be enough, even if there are other ninjas on your team. Furthermore, as efficient as your shadow bind may be, there will be some situations where it will still use up too much chakra for you to do anything more useful."

Shikamaru huffed, turned his back. "Lecture me about this later. I'm tired."

Asuma could tell he was getting under his skin, and wasn't about to let up. Maybe, just maybe, he'd convince Shikamaru to put some effort into something.

"They almost died, you know," Asuma said, bitterly. "Your teammates. Even with your brilliant tactical mind, all you could do was divvy up one teammate per opponent. And got your butts kicked in the process."

"Oh, stuff it," Shikamaru said, just as bitterly.

"And to top it off, you had to be saved. By a girl, nonetheless – no offense, Ino."

"None taken," Ino said, casually, and got back to her training.

Shikamaru ground his teeth together. "Would you just shut up about that? I'm fed up enough as it is. Why do you have to grind my nerves like this?"

Asuma drew in his breath. Shikamaru was one tough cookie to crack. "Would you just learn another technique? It doesn't even have to be a bloodline limit. Hell, even that kid Naruto can use the Shadow Copy technique – and that's one of the Nara clan's own techniques."

Shikamaru grunted. "Alright, alright! But not today! I'm wiped."

Asuma returned to his feet, happy for this small victory. "Thanks, Shikamaru."

xxxxx

Shikamaru picked casually at his dinner as Chouji made a spectacle of himself chowing down on barbecue.

Shikamaru wasn't very hungry. His mind was elsewhere, focused on the mental image of a particular blonde haired girl from the Sand Village.

Shikamaru had never picture himself becoming romantically inclined until he was at least over 16, but the way things looked, he would be nearing that age by the time he got to see her again.

"Hey, Shikamaru?" Chouji muttered, through mouthfuls of food. "You gonna eat that?"

Shikamaru casually slid his plate across the table to his friend, before resuming his wanderlust state of mind.

"Hey, Shikamaru?" Chouji said again, after putting away most of Shikamaru's dinner. "You're being more distant than usual. Something up?"

Shikamaru thought about telling Chouji about Temari. Ok, so trading dating advice with the fattest – excuse me – biggest boned boy in Konoha might not have reflected the genius that Shikamaru truly was, but at present, there was little if nothing in the way of alternative options.

"Chouji…" Shikamaru confided. "Have you ever met a girl who you just…couldn't get your mind off of?"

Chouji's mouth hung open – a sight that ensured the loss of Shikamaru's already negligible appetite for the evening – as he stared. "Shikamaru? Don't tell me you've got the hots for Ino!"

Shikamaru grimaced. "That flirt? I don't see anything particularly attractive about her. Besides, she's into Sasuke. Every girl in the village is."

Chouji swallowed what was in his mouth, to Shikamaru's unspoken relief, and looked puzzled. "Then who?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. "I…don't really want it getting out, at least, not yet. But I'll make you a deal. If the two of us ever happen to meet her at the same time, I'll tell you about it."

Chouji nodded. "Ok."

Shikamaru sighed. "You still haven't answered my question. Have you ever met a girl like that?"

Chouji shook his head. "It must be heritage or something, cause skinny girls, like Ino and Sakura, don't really appeal to me."

Shikamaru nodded. "Ah, of course."

Chouji shrugged. "The only girl – woman, really - who ever caught my interest was the fifth Hokage. And that's only cause she looks pretty."

Shikamaru grimaced. "Um…you do realize that she's fifty years old, right?"

Chouji shrugged. "Like I said, only cause she looks pretty. I may not be the sharpest kunai in the bag, but I'm not stupid enough to go for a girl just based on looks."

Shikamaru blinked. He'd heard the sentiment before, expressed in several different ways, but he'd never really applied it to his situation. True, the first thing about Temari that had caught his eyes were looks – she was undeniably attractive. But Shikamaru had seen his share of pretty girls in his young lifetime – the Hokage included, and despite his previous caution, he could not deny her outward beauty – and had remained unfazed.

So what was it about Temari that made her so desirable? When he applied his logical mind to it, it made no sense. Everyone says that the real sign of a persons inner beauty was their personality, and in the amount of time he'd known her, he'd found that she was snobbish, gauding, and completely out of control, a woman of her own means.

Not to say that Shikamaru had the greatest personality in Konoha – he didn't, and he was first to admit it. So why had Temari approached him? Surely, she thought of him as the lazy, chauvinistic bum he was, but-

Then it occurred to him.

That was it.

She had approached him.

Never, in Shikamaru's experience, had a girl ever liked him. Shikamaru was always grouped along with Naruto and Chouji as the juvenile delinquents, never to be approached by any of the female folk of their classroom environment.

This had not stopped Naruto in his pursuit of Sakura, and it hadn't seemed to affect Chouji, who was into the, ah, "meatier" variety of women.

But Shikamaru had remained indifferent, as he had in response to all things. Sure, he'd planned on marrying later on in life, but he'd never truly had hopes for a romantic endeavor so early on in life.

Until now.

"Thanks, Chouji," Shikamaru said, as wholeheartedly as he could. "That was really helpful."

The fat – I'm sorry – Big Boned boy, his face half submerged in his umpteenth plate of barbecue, just stared at him in confusion.

xxxxx

Gaara of the sand, stood before a large crowd of people, standing perfectly still. At his back were acres upon acres of desert sand, the sand that made up his homeland.

He held up two fingers before his face, concentrating on his newest technique.

"Desert…" he muttered, feeling his chakra sink into the sands around him. He swung his arm in an arc to his side. "…Tempest!"

A line seemed to form running horizontal to Gaara. A line that extended beyond sight. The earth behind this line erupted into the air. Every cubic inch of sand shot into the sky, seeming to form a wall of sand that extended beyond the clouds.

With a simple motion, he turned his outstretched hand towards his opponents. Instantly, every grain of sand hurled itself at them. Billions upon billions of tiny granular missiles traveling at super sonic speeds tore away at the people standing before him.

His hapless prey shattered and splintered into shards of wood and ceramic.

"Impressive, Gaara," Kankuro commented, collecting what could be salvaged from his training dolls. "That's easily your most powerful technique yet. If you were to add more chakra to it…you could conceivable wipe out an entire village."

Gaara just harrumphed, as sand and dust still sprinkled the air, casting about in the winds. "It's one of my few offensive techniques. But unlike the Desert Coffin, that can only target individuals, or the Desert Tsunami that requires a large amount of chakra to use, this one actually requires much less. To make a wall of sand as dense as it needs to be to make it effective requires significantly more chakra than the amount need to hurl individual grains at high speeds, even in the amounts that I just used. Even my Quicksand technique requires more chakra than this.

Kankuro looked around at the sand that still remained in the air. "It's looks as though Sunaha will have another sandstorm to contend with because of it," Kankuro pointed out, belligerent.

(A/N: Sunaha – the hidden village of the sand. Though, it's never given a title other than just "The hidden village of the sand," "suna" is the Japanese word for sand, just as "kono" is the word for leaf, so it could conceivably be called this.)

Temari, who was off on her own, was hardly paying her brothers any attention. Her mind was off in the distance, wondering how a certain someone was faring.

Three years, she muttered. Three years until we have to go back. That's an awful lot of time. Will he still even remember me? Will I even be able to face him again? Has he…could he have found someone else in that time?

Despite herself, Temari found herself being thankful for Shikamaru's chauvinistic attitude; with any luck, it would keep any possible female suitors at bay.

"Hey, Temari," Kankuro called over to her. "You done training already? I haven't seen you cast a single wind technique."

Temari snapped out of her reverie and shrugged. "I'm…I guess I'm…not feeling too well today. I think I'll head back to the village."

Kankuro stared bewildered, as his sister turned and left.

"Hey, Kankuro," Gaara snapped. "Get me some more training puppets."

Kankuro spared one last second to watch his sister walk away, before muttering a diffident "sure," and went to get his training dolls.

As she walked away, Temari chided herself. What is the matter with me? I'm supposed to be Sunaha's most promising Kunoichi, and here I am, daydreaming about some…boy!

(A/N: Kunoichi is the name for "Female Ninja")

Temari wandered home, trying to find something to take her mind off matters at hand.

I mean, no guy I've ever met has ever had this kind of affect on me, Temari mused, as she focused on menial tasks around her family's house. Then again, no guy has ever been so bold as to kiss me outright like he did.

She was busying herself sweeping the floor, when a voice came from behind her.

"If I didn't know better, I'd mistake you for someone's housewife, the way you're acting right now," her sensei remarked, bodingly.

Temari sneered. "I thought you were training with Gaara and Kankuro."

Baki-sensei sighed. "We've got three years to train. I can spare an hour or two. Especially when one of my students is wandering around like a lovesick puppy."

Temari sighed, turning her head. "Is it that obvious?"

Baki sighed, nodding. "It's that Nara kid from Konoha, isn't it?"

Temari nodded. "Your senses are as perceptive as always."

Baki smiled. "You may not believe this, but I was young too. I know what it means to be enshrouded by romantic desires. But you must not forget: you are a ninja of Sunaha. Both your brothers are counting on you, for you are the eldest, and you are the glue that binds your family together. Our debt to Konoha has not yet been fulfilled, and therefore, Sunaha will answer when the Hokage calls for us. You will see him again. That is for later; now is for training."

Temari nodded, tossing down her broom. "Alright. Training. Got it." She turned tail and headed outside, but not before turning to face her master.

"And Baki? Thanks."

Her sensei only smiled as they made their way to outside.

xxxxx

Nara-sama received a startling surprise when his son came before him with his teacher, Asuma-sensei.

(A/N: Does anyone know the name of Shikamaru's father? I can't just keep calling him "Nara-Sama.")

"Shikamaru?" he voiced, looking up from his work. "What is it?"

Shikamaru was silent at first, before Asuma gave him a sharp nudge. Sighing, he dropped to a bow. "Honored father…please, teach me more of the Nara Bloodline Techniques."

Nara-Sama looked baffled. He threw a questioning glance at Asuma, who just smiled. "You heard correctly, Nara-Sama. Your son wishes to learn more of his family's techniques. I certainly can't teach him; I don't know them. Only you, sir, know all of them."

Nara-Sama smiled, understanding. He got to his feet and put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, appreciatively.

The sad part was, he wasn't joking.

xxxxx

"Our family's Bloodline limit specializes in the use of shadows, as you're well aware," Nara-sama said to his son. They were both in the courtyard outside his family's house, which they used as a training field. "I understand that you've all but master the Shadow Bind Technique. However, if I have heard correctly, this is the only shadow based technique you've bothered to learn."

Nara-sama cracked his neck, and stretched his arm. "If you're serious about learning the Bloodline Limit, then we should start with the basics. The Shadow Transformation technique."

Shikamaru nodded, resigning himself. The Kage-Henge no Jutsu was a move that everyone in the Nara family learned, but he'd seen no purpose of it, since he could cast regular Henge no Jutsu just fine.

"The advantage of the Shadow Transformation technique above the regular Transformation technique is that as long as you're standing in a shadow, it requires no chakra to maintain. Sure, as soon as you step into the sun, it taxes you just like a regular Transformation would, but to be able to conserve chakra is the true point of this technique."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Fine. Hurry up and show me the hand sign before this sudden surge of motivation wears off."

Nara-Sama held up two fingers, and wrapped his other hand around them, making a fist.

"Kage-Henge no Jutsu!" he spurted out, and he instantly transformed into a replication of Shikamaru.

"Great," Shikamaru. "That'll impress Temari."

Nara-Sama transformed back. "I'm sorry?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Never mind. Kage-Henge no Jutsu!"

Instantly, he transformed into a replication of his father. Although the transformation was no different than the normal Henge, he had to agree that he felt no chakra being drained besides the initial act of transforming.

"Fine, you want a useful technique?" Nara-sama said, mockingly. "How about the Shadow Copy technique? The one your friend seems to have mastered before you."

Shikamaru sighed. "This is pointless. I don't use transformation or copy techniques at all, even though I'm capable of them normally."

Shikamaru had seen Naruto make the hand seal enough times to make it himself.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu."

Shikamaru made a perfect shadow copy standing next to him.

"You mean…you could do it all along?" Nara-sama gasped.

"Sure, I guess. This is the first time I've tried it, but it's easy enough."

The shadow copy disappeared.

"What I want is a shadow technique that can be used offensively," Shikamaru complained. "I can lock people in my Shadow Bind, but then I can't do anything that I don't end up doing to myself. Even if I perform a basic technique, my opponent will perform the same technique, and we end up attacking each other. If I perform a Bloodline Limit technique, however, my opponent won't be able to cast it even after he's performed the hand symbols."

Nara-sama nodded. "A wise aspiration. Unless your opponent is another Nara clan, you can afford to attack using a Bloodline Limit technique, because even if when you opponent moves the way you do, performing the hand symbols will do nothing because the technique will only work for someone of our clan."

Shikamaru nodded. "That's the idea."

Nara-sama smiled. "In that case, I'll teach you the Shadow Blade technique."

Before Shikamaru could even so much as blink, Nara-sama had performed the hand seal. "Kage-Tsurugi no Jutsu!"

Before he knew it, his father's shadow had risen from the ground, becoming an ebony blade that lanced towards him.

Shikamaru cursed and leapt aside into a role, and quickly mimicked the hand sign: his thumb and first two fingers pressed together at the tips, and his last two fingers pressed together at the knuckles.

"Kage-Tsurugi no Jutsu!"

Nara-sama watched as the blade approached him with a satisfied smile, before blocking it with his own Shadow Blade.

"Very impressive, Shikamaru," he said.

Shikamaru let go of his blade and stood up and bowed. "Thanks for the lessons, pop. See ya 'round."

Nara-sama blinked. "Wh-where are you going? The lesson's only begun!"

"I've learned all I feel like learning for now," Shikamaru said with a huff, already his back turned to go. "Now I'm gonna practice some more. I'll be back tomorrow to continue."

Nara-sama sighed. "Well, at least you're not going off to take a nap. Why the sudden burst of motivation?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "No reason."

"Oh really?" Nara-sama teased. "Cause I thought for sure you said something about impressing someone."

Shikamaru's ears burned. "Th-that's not it!"

Nara-sama crossed his arms, completely ignoring his son. "Temari, was it? Wasn't she one of the sand Nins who helped us in the Uchiha Sasuke debacle? The girl who rescued you? I see…they're supposed to return in three years. So, you plan on getting better by the time she arrives?"

"By the time she arrives," Shikamaru said with a sneer, turning his head to face his father. "I intend to be a Jounin."

xxxxx

In fact, both Asuma-sensei and his father had to recommend Shikamaru for the Jounin exam 6 months earlier than had originally been planned.

By this time, Shikamaru had mastered all the Chunnin level Bloodline techniques, and even possessed a few Jounin level techniques. Even his Kage-Bunshin was on par with Naruto, and his Kage-Mane had surpassed four hours of usage.

Unlike the Chunnin exam, Jounin exams were individually scheduled and administered by the Hokage himself (Or in this case, herself).

"Big day, today," his father said, rousing him from bed. "You ready to take the exam?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "No."

Nara-sama knew he was joking. "Well, that's too bad. You've been preparing for this for the past two and a half years. Now's no time to back down."

Shikamaru groaned and rose to dress himself.

Asuma-sensei met him on the way to the Hokage's temple. Both of the adults made a rather big deal out of the incident, but Shikamaru kept saying that it was no big deal.

Neither of the two were allowed to accompany Shikamaru past the testing room, so they bid farewell to him there.

"Do your best, Shikamaru!" his sensei smiled.

"Make me proud, son," Nara-sama smiled as well.

Shikamaru groaned. "Jeez, guys, there's nothing to get excited about."

He entered into the testing area, where the Hokage and four examiners stood.

"Welcome, Nara Shikamaru," the Hokage misled, sweetly. "I must say, we've all been anticipating this day for a while. You're possibly Konoha's brightest tactician, and it will be an honor to add your skill to the ranks of those who fight for Konoha."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Whatever. What's first?"

The Hokage slid a tablet of paper towards him. "First is a written evaluation."

Shikamaru held up his hand. "Forget it. There's no way I'm doing that."

The Hokage sighed. Both Asuma and Nara-sama had spoken to her about this boy, and she had been prepared for his incorrigible laziness. "…which I will fill out. I'll read off the questions, you just answer them to me."

Shikamaru blinked. They were actually giving him leeway?

"Fine. Whatever."

Less than half an hour later, Godaime Hokage was staring at the completed evaluation packet. She and several of Konoha's top ninja's had put it together; not a single Jounin today had gotten by without missing at least one.

Shikamaru had answered every question perfectly. With ease.

"Are we finished?" Shikamaru demanded. "What's next?"

The Hokage set down the packet and recovered her wits. "Next is the physical evaluation. You will be matched against the four examiners you see behind me."

Shikamaru's eye twitched.

Moments later, the Hokage, as well as Asuma and his father, who were permitted to observe, were watching as Shikamaru was fending off his attacker's with his newly acquired Kage-Tate (Shadow Shield) no Jutsu, before finally locking all four of them with his Kage-Mane, and launching a four way attack with his Kage-Tsurugi no Jutsu, halting it in front of each of their faces.

"Well done, Shikamaru," The Hokage said, sounding pleased. "Your skills are fantastic. You're definitely Jounin material."

Shikamaru smiled. That was all he needed to hear.

"Good. Then I'm finished."

The Hokage blinked. "Ok…so, come back up to the testing room, so I can make the pronouncement official."

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, I said I'm finished. I'm not taking the title of Jounin."

Both Nara-sama and Asuma's eyes bugged out. "What?"

The Hokage blinked, equally baffled. "But…but you've already passed the test!"

Shikamaru smiled. "Exactly. It's good enough to know that I have what it takes to be a Jounin without actually being one. Being a Jounin just means more missions, more responsibilities, more of everything I don't want."

"Shikamaru, we've been training for this day for the past two and a half years!" Nara-sama yelled.

"Again, exactly. When have I ever stuck to anything so forcefully? Never! I knew that if I aimed at being a Jounin, I'd lose the desire at the end. But look where it's gotten me: I'm the most powerful Chunin in the village."

The Hokage nodded. "I see," she said to herself. "He knew that he'd lose will power eventually, so he aimed unreasonably high in order to trick his mind. That way, even undershooting would get him to his desired goal. Shikamaru, you just might surpass me one day."

Nara-sama turned to the Hokage. "My lord Hokage! Please, talk some sense into this lad!"

The Hokage shrugged. "I don't have authority over his decisions. If he doesn't want to be a Jounin, he doesn't have to be. You're his father, you talk to him."

Nara-sama turned to give his son a piece of his mind, but he was already receiving one from Asuma-sensei.

Shikamaru groaned as he took the punishment as he took pretty much everything else. He ignored it.

That was, until he heard the Hokage speak.

"Well, I may not be able to elevate you to the rank of Jounin…but in light of your skills as a Chunnin, I, the Fifth Hokage, appoint you, Nara Shikamaru, as the official examiner of this year's Chunnin Exam."

Shikamaru gapped. "W-what! You can't do that!"

Hokage shook a finger. "Oh, yes I can. Rank is one thing. Position is another. I can appoint whoever I want to whatever position I choose. If you want, I could appoint you to a lower position. How about as the elementary school teacher at the Ninja Academy?"

Shikamaru's head hung. He knew he had lost.

"Examiner it is," he sighed, prodding off.

xxxxx

"Aw, man," Shikamaru groaned, walking home. "I knew I shouldn't have taken the test. I knew that I was powerful enough. I just didn't know if it was enough by the Hokage's standards, so I had to actually let her see what I was capable of. So, now I've gotten stronger, and all I have to show for it is being some stupid examiner! What a bum rap!"

"Well," a voice said. "If it isn't Konoha's laziest ninja."

Shikamaru froze, blinking. No, it couldn't be.

He turned around and saw what his ears had refused to believe.

"Temari…"

xxxxx

A/N: Well, here's my first chapter. I had intended for Shikamaru to shoot for the rank of Jounin as though it were a lofty achievement. But when I read that Neji, Temari, and Kankuro had become Jounin's within this stretch of time, that kind of left me feeling down.

That, and Temari's new outfit (The girl's supposed to be voluptuous, not dressed like a nun!)

So, even though they say they're not going out, who's to say they're not doing it in secret, right? Seems like something they'd both want to keep under wraps. So, onward and upward, I say!

I'm out.