Author's Note: Why must my brain torture me with the stupidest plot bunnies and bother me till my fingers are already typing out the beginning of another story that's bound to remain unfinished? Just why?
Now that the melodrama is out of the way, welcome to another ShikaNaru fic with an unnecessarily complicated plot (which mind you, will make zero sense) because I have an unholy obsession with this pairing.
Hope you enjoy, though. Read on!
Shikamaru is in a particularly lazy mood today. Lazier than he usually is. Maybe that's the reason he doesn't go to the Kage Tower despite the hawk sent to summon him. Sitting on the elevated platform in his courtyard, tracing the movement of the clouds above is a better use of time for him anyway.
"Shikamaru!" his mother's voice makes him groan. He's sure she's got some work for him to do. It's really quite tragic how his peace time is always disrupted so easily.
"What?" he asks, looking behind him just as Yoshino enters the living space.
"Sakura's here," she tells him. "She said something about you ignoring your duties."
Shikamaru snorts, "It's just a mission briefing. Sakura and Sasuke can fill me in on it later, as they usually do."
Yoshino narrows her eyes at her son, "This won't do, young man. You're a jounin now. You need to take your job more seriously."
The Nara rubs his hand over his face in an attempt to invigorate himself.
"Fine, fine," he stands up, stretching to release the pent-up lethargy. "I'll go. Happy?"
Yoshino side-steps to let him exit with a tight smile on her face.
"That's my boy."
Shikamaru chooses to ignore that comment and walks towards the entrance. Right outside stands Sakura, her pink hair tied in a neat bun, one sandal clad foot clacking impatiently on the stone.
"Morning," Shikamaru says as a way of greeting. "You look ready to murder someone. Or me? Am I going to die today?"
Sakura exhales a short breath, looking at him furiously. Her hand finds his collar and before Shikamaru can register it, he's being pulled by her towards the compound exit.
"You idiot," she says, as she continues to drag the Nara with her - curse her strength. "We're gonna be late because of you. I thought I'd told you to stop slacking."
Shikamaru's lip twitch upwards despite his situation, "Old habits die hard, Sakura. Now unhand me, I'm quite capable to walk myself, I assure you."
Sakura gives him a rough shove before pulling her hand away.
"You're such a jerk," she says, some of the anger fading into exasperation.
"That, I am." Shikamaru nods as he falls in step beside her, strides relaxed yet long.
"I hope Tsunade-sama doesn't throw a desk at us," Sakura shakes her head. "Kami, our first mission assignment as jounins and we're gonna be late."
"Relax," Shikamaru says mildly, aware of how his friend is capable of fretting to great degrees over trivialities. "If we aren't let in, Sasuke will still inform us about everything. In great detail. You know exactly how thorough he can be."
"Alright," Sakura says, even though she quickens her pace anyway. "I'll try to remain calm and unbothered and utterly indifferent, just like you."
Shikamaru rolls his eyes at her subtle jab, "Emotions are exhausting, don't blame me."
"Will you shut up?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Absolutely."
"Then, nope. I'm going to tell you about a peculiar cloud I saw this morning. It looked like a peni--"
"Murder," Sakura interrupts with a wide, terrifying little smile, "Yes, I'm going to murder you."
Shikamaru huffs a short laugh, "And we've reached. Keep the death threats for later."
Sakura turns to look in front of her, blinking.
"Uh, maybe we aren't late after all."
The two swiftly climb up the stairs, walking towards the Kage's office.
"Itachi!" Sakura spots him first, and the Uchiha looks up from the papers he was reading.
"Good afternoon," he greets with a tiny smile. "Sasuke's inside already. Go on in."
Shikamaru gives the Hokage's personal advisor a nod before knocking on the door. Once permitted, the two rookie jounins move inside and Sakura shuts the door behind her with her foot.
The first thing Shikamaru notices is that it's not just his team that's inside but also another guy...who seems to be rummaging through a drawer with intense concentration. His eyes meet Sasuke's and he raises his brow in question. The Uchiha shrugs, conveying his own cluelessness about the situation.
"Take a seat you two," Tsunade says. "Brat, did you find it?"
The other man turns around then, his sunshine-kissed hair falling loosely down the sides of his face. He scratches his cheek in a sheepish gesture.
"Nah," he turns back again, and mumbles, "but he said he'd put it here."
Tsunade rolls her eyes, "You know how irresponsible that idiot can be. He probably misremembered. We'll find it later, come on now."
The guy makes a sighing sort of sound and stands up from his crouch, shutting close the opened drawers behind him. Shikamaru is sure that he's somewhat their age, but he doesn't recollect ever seeing him around. The blond is definitely a shinobi too, the forehead protector is enough indication and unless he was made genin long before Shikamaru was, there's no reason for the Nara to not have seen him at the academy.
And even though Shikamaru doesn't remember him, the guy does them, for he walks towards the three of them with a warm, eager smile.
"You must be Shikamaru," he says, hands on his hips and eyes squinted at the Nara's slumped form. "You've not changed much."
Something itches near Shikamaru's spine, making him uncomfortable. It doesn't sit well with him that someone he's never met before regards him familiarly. But the blond is unfazed by his unresponsiveness. He turns towards Sakura then, hand outstretched in greeting.
"You're...Sakura?" he asks with a weird smile, "I remember your distinct shade of hair."
Sakura, thankfully, is much more capable at dealing with bizarre social situations. She shakes his hand and takes his comments in stride.
"Quite right, Sakura Haruno at your service...but who might you be?"
The guy huffs an embarassed laugh, "Right, right. You all won't remember me. I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. Recently made jounin of Konoha - just like you three."
Naruto's grinning now and it's the cheer and brightness of it that catches Shikamaru off-guard. Then the blond turns towards the third member of their team and stiffens, muscles clenched, grin morphing into a tight, sad smile.
"Sasuke...," he says, the same, disconcerting recognition in his eyes.
"Hi," Sasuke replies, unsure of what to make of Naruto's sudden tenseness.
Naruto swallows, nodding to himself and the grin's back again, wide and welcoming.
"What's our mission then, Hokage-sama?" he cheerfully inquires, pulling out a chair and sitting comfortably on it.
Tsunade raises a brow but there's something softened on her face, something that's made her usual gruffness recede after witnessing the introductions.
"That's the first time you've addressed me so respectfully. Are you alright, brat?"
"Ofcourse," Naruto replies, stealing her cup of water. "I just need to maintain formalities, as a jounin and all. Thought you'd be proud of me."
Tsunade chuckles, shaking her head in fondness and Sakura is momentarily struck by this rare side of her mentor.
"I am," she whispers just enough for Naruto to hear him. Then, louder, "Alright team seven, please take a seat before my patience becomes non-existent. Thank you."
Shikamaru wastes no time in obeying that order, Sakura and Sasuke following suit.
Tsunade moves her neck from side to side, starting the process of detailing their mission.
"Suna's requested our help, and quite uncharacteristically -- Iwa, too. Remember the organized group of mercenaries I was telling you about, Sakura?"
"Yes," the pinkhead replies, leaning onto the desk with her elbows. "But weren't they mostly run-of-the-mill?"
"Not anymore, it seems," Tsunade sighs, "The Wind Country Daimyo's heir was recently assassinated by this group. Thing is, the Daimyo's residence is heavily guarded by top-level shinobi from Suna. This includes Temari and Kankuro, the Kazekage's siblings. Yet, absolutely no one witnessed the murder or even spotted the one who did it."
"That explains why Suna asked for our help," Shikamaru comments. "But why is Iwa butting in as well?"
"Because the Tsuchikage is a bastard," she gives the four a plain, sarcastic smile. "He's stupid, too. Apparently, he hired these men for their services a few months ago. To resolve a very sensitive threat -- the detainment of their rogue nin, Deidera. As luck would have it, this S-ranked shinobi abandoned Iwa to go join the Akatsuki. So, in essence, he received a request to eliminate his own self. Quite the joke, I think. But the Tsuchikage doesn't see the humor, and has requested our help to find out the Akatsuki's base. He says he can't send his own shinobi, since they're all too enraged with Deidera to act rationally on such a mission, and that less combat-oriented skills like information-gathering have never been his shinobi's strong suit. So...Konoha. That's the long and short of it."
"Alright," Sasuke mutters, "but why the fuck are we here then? Team seven's an assault team, or did you just forget that?"
"Manners," Sakura hisses, shoving an elbow in his stomach. Tsunade waves a dismissive hand, too used to the causal disrespect with which Sasuke treats everyone with.
"You three are here because Naruto requested your assistance."
Naturally, all three heads turn towards the blond who chuckles softly at their confused faces.
"And why is his request being adhered too?" Shikamaru asks, suspicions growing every second. "Also, how does he know us when we've not met him before? Or are we just gonna pretend that it's totally not weird and creepy?"
"Calm down," Naruto says, frowning a bit. "I was definitely not stalking y'all, if that's what you think."
The Nara gives him an unimpressed stare, waiting for a more revealing answer.
"He's trained to be Konoha's next spy-master," Tsunade's voice is sharp, cutting through the tension. "That's the reason his suggestions have been taken into account. He's going to the Team Captain on this upcoming mission, whether you like it or not. He wanted you three as his assistance and I, for one, trust his judgement to allow him this request."
"By whom?" Sakura asks, she doesn't like how this guy is shrouded in secrets. She doesn't like being blind-sided with such abrupt reveals, either. "By whom was he trained? And where was he before now?"
"Jiraiya of the Sannin," Naruto answers this question, something akin to pride in his eyes. "He's our current spy-master and our beloved Hokage's ex-teammate, just so you know. A total pervert - that guy but if you wanna dig up dirt on someone or get confidential information, he's the guy you go to."
"We know who he is," Shikamaru says, unusually snappy. He knows this Naruto, whoever he is, is going to be troublesome. An unknown variable always is. "Why were you not in the academy?"
"What is this?" Naruto's frown deepens, "An interrogation?"
"Yes," Sasuke replies and Naruto hates how the other three chairs are directly opposite him now, as if this is a battle - something hostile, something to be fought and he didn't think he'd have to go through such bullshit again.
"Okay then," he blinks, there's no use feeling too deeply about this. He can't blame them anyway, "I did attend the academy. For two years."
This makes Sakura frown. She's got the best memory out of all the rookies, and she remembers the names and faces of each of her class mates right from grade one. Forgetting a person as bright and lively as Naruto seems impossible.
"Then why don't we remember you?" she asks, looking at other two friend's faces just to find her own confusion reflected on them.
Tsunade coughs, drawing the jounins' attention. She looks at Naruto first, sympathetic but firm.
"Remember what we spoke about?" Naruto nods, and she continues. "Good. Then ease them into this. Stop throwing around bombshells."
She turns towards team seven then, face severe and eyes assessing their features.
"If you three don't know the truth, it's better to wait rather than draw conclusions that are, one, insanely off the mark. And two, unfair towards the other person."
"That's it?" Shikamaru drawls. "You expect us to not be nosy about this and let the guy into our team while simultaneously working on a very important mission with him? You've gotta be kidding me."
"I'm not," Tsunade's eyes are stones, like they usually are when she deals with direct insubordination. "You three better behave and under no circumstances, are you allowed to disclose the presence of Naruto Uzumaki to anyone in the village. Not to team eight or ten, not to your families, not to your secret diaries hidden under the mattress. No one. The official scroll will have the team leader's name stated as confidential and if you have to answer, say it's an ANBU member. Got it?"
Sakura nods, familiar with how her teacher works by now. Discretion comes with being a shinobi, anyway. If her mission requires her to deal with some weird blond who seems to know her and has some sort of familial relation with the hokage - she'll do it.
Sasuke agrees too, because bothering about this any longer will only give him a headache. Besides, his social energy is a shallow, very shallow pool now and he'd rather go home and help his mom cook dinner than sit and interrogate a guy he's just met.
"Fine," Shikamaru acquiesces too, more for his teammates than for himself. He's aware though, that he'll have plenty of opportunities to coax answers out of the blond very soon. And he'll need those answers if he's ever going to trust Naruto as his captain -- he's not going to be easy to command before that.
"Thanks," Naruto gives them all a nice smile again, most of his face smoothing out. "I've got more details for the mission already. We head out for Suna day after. See y'all then, I suppose -- by the gates, at six in the morning?"
Shikamaru shrugs, "Maybe," and he enjoys the manner in which Naruto's face contorts - as if deciding whether the blond should yell at Shikamaru or laugh at his blatant disregard for decorum.
"Definitely," Sakura corrects, because she's responsible like that. She pulls Sasuke off his chair too.
"Goodbye," the girl departs with a cheerful smile on her face, walking between her two teammates.
"They'll warm upto you soon enough, don't worry," Tsuande assures, flipping through a magazine she hides under her desk.
"I hope so," Naruto replies, "I feel like I've missed so much, you know? They're not the same people I remember them being. I would've liked to see that progress, see those changes, and worked with them before."
Tsunade's lips tug downwards but she doesn't put down her current read.
"Leave the past where it is, Naruto. You told me once not to linger there, didn't you? Take your own advice. You're here now, in Konoha and maybe after this mission, you'll get to meet the rest, too. Just focus on the present and this all will turn out fine."
"You've become quite good at pep talks," Naruto remarks with a cheeky grin and Tsunade is grateful to see that spark in him again.
"What can I say?" Tsunade lets him see her equally cheeky smile, "I learnt from the best."
Author's Note:
Okay, that's a wrap for chapter 1 and I'm hoping you're left with questions and I've hinted at some answers already but if you hated this, feel free to send me a strongly worded roast, I'll always welcome that.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
Have a good day y'all. :))