Chronicles of Shivaroku: Part 3

Old and New—Shikamaru and Shivaroku

A quick recap: Shivaroku had chosen to go to the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. After arriving, Hokage Tsunade introduced him to the main Jonin leaders of the Leaf: Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Guy. Before Shivaroku was allowed to become a Shinobi, he first had to pass a tough graduation exam, and so he was given one month to prepare for it. Just before he began his training, Shivaroku met a beautiful blond girl, by the name of Ino. Ino gave Shivaroku a tour of the village, and even provided some history about the Uchiha clan. Eventually, Shivaroku began his training. He mastered taijutsu and shurikenjutsu within a couple weeks, but he struggled with genjutsu. Fortunately, with the help of Kurenai, he was able to learn how to defend himself against genjutsus, despite not being able to perform genjutsus. After mastering the technique, he moved onto ninjutsu. Fire and Earth style ninjutsus were easy for him, but he seemed to struggle to produce shadow clones, but with Kakashi's help, Shivaroku mastered the technique and was able to make several clones. The graduation exam finally came and it was difficult. However, Shivaroku was very well prepared and did extremely well on it, setting a few records along the way. Tsunade granted Shivaroku the rank of Genin and set him on Asuma's team as Shikamaru's replacement. While Ino was ecstatic, Choji was not, for he felt Shivaroku was a disgrace to be replacing Shikamaru. On the team's first mission, they were tasked to save the daughter of a village head. Shivaroku impressed everyone with his survival skills, but Ino and Choji were curious about his past, which is when they learnt that his history was classified to everyone below the rank of Chunin. During the mission, Shivaroku dispensed with the bandits very easily, and he saved the girl, but he did so without the help of his team, resulting in his team berating him for not being a team player. Shivaroku realized that now that he was on a team, he didn't have to do anything alone anymore. After a few more missions, Shivaroku was called for a multi-team A-rank mission, where everyone was tasked to save a village from a volcanic eruption. Before the mission began, Kurenai's and Guy's teams learned more about Shivaroku, especially his dreams and aspirations, as well as his principles and nindos. He reminded everyone a lot about Naruto, and many of them seemed to get closer to him…some of them a little too close (Tenten and Lee). During the mission, the evacuations were going smoothly until the volcano began to erupt. Trying to save the stragglers and the village itself, Shivaroku summoned Nimbus, much to everyone's shock. While Nimbus saved the remaining villagers, Shivaroku used the shadow clone technique along with mudwall jutsu and Kamehameha to hold the lava and ash back. During the fray, the Jonin leaders helped out, effectively saving everyone and the village. After returning to the Leaf, everyone took part in a success feast, and Shivaroku and Choji had an eating contest. After the contest, Shivaroku and Choji formed an unlikely friendship over food, and it was where everyone learned about the wealth that he possessed. Of course, they didn't see him any differently, and Shivaroku finally began to settle in with his new family.

There was a knock on the door. Shivaroku opened his eyes and looked towards the entrance to his apartment. Reluctantly, he got up, walked towards the door, and opened it, where he saw a young chunin with hair in the shape of a pineapple. It was Shikamaru, but what was he doing there at 6 in the morning?

"Shikamaru, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," replied Shikamaru

"Is everything okay? It's so early…" Shivaroku struggled to speak due to the tired state he was in.

"Yeah, I know. It's such a drag, but Lady Hokage asked me to summon you there."

With a sigh, Shivaroku said, "Ugh yeah okay, lemme just get dressed." With that, Shivaroku closed the door and went back into his room. He had to resist the urge to flop back onto his bed, so he decided not to look at it at all. He lethargically put on his t-shirt and gi. Then he looked in the mirror to see that his hair was in a complete mess. Of course, he didn't have the energy to care about its status. He put on his headband and then made a large yawn, one so loud that even Shikamaru could hear it outside. Shivaroku looked once more in the mirror, realizing he had to wake up a bit more, so he slapped himself hard on the cheeks with both hands, causing him to yelp slightly. It definitely did the trick, since he was now awake, but hurting. He was finally ready, so he walked out the door.

"Why is your face all red?" asked Shikamaru.

"Oh uh…don't worry about it," Shivaroku responded sheepishly.

"Um, alright, let's head to the Hokage's office."

On the way Shivaroku tried to make conversation but struggled to do so. He found it a bit awkward talking to the person he replaced. Even then, Shikamaru didn't really seem like a talkative guy, so Shivaroku didn't want to make things more uncomfortable.

"So, how are your missions going?" asked Shikamaru.

Shivaroku was surprised to hear Shikamaru ask a question and then looked at him all weirdly.

"Someone had to say something first, right? Otherwise, this awkward silence would've continued all the way to the Hokage's office," said Shikamaru. "So, are you gonna answer the question?"

"Oh uh, yeah! They're going pretty well!"

"Good to hear. You went on an A-rank mission with a couple other teams about a month ago right?"

"Yeah I did. It was wild."

"How was it? I've had my fair share of high-rank missions myself."

"It was surprisingly good. We had to save a village from Mount Vesu's eruption."

"Mount Vesu? Wasn't that supposed to be a dormant volcano?"

"Well it was, but apparently it became active again because of the last chunin exam. What the heck happened during that exam?"

Shikamaru looked away, remembering the events of the exam. "Orochimaru tricked the Hidden Sand village into attacking us. There was a battle between Naruto and another Jinchuriki, one from the Hidden Sand. I guess that battle caused some issues within the Earth, making Mount Vesu erupt."

Shivaroku was a bit lost, not expecting Shikamaru to give him all kinds of information in such a short sentence. "Wait hold on first off…who is Orochimaru. Secondly the Hidden Sand attacked the Leaf? Thirdly, what's a Jinchuriki. And finally, why the hell was Naruto involved in such a big battle?"

"Woah dude, so many questions. This is getting to be such a drag."

Shivaroku pouted at Shikamaru's annoying catchphrase. "Well I'm sorry I came late to the party okay."

Shikamaru laughed and said, "I'll answer all your questions later, we're here." Shivaroku looked up to see the Hokage building glimmering in the sunlight.

They walked into the Hokage's office, where Tsunade and Shizune were waiting.

"Welcome you two, sorry for summoning you so early, but I promise it's important," said Tsunade.

Shivaroku rubbed his eyes again as the sleepiness started to set in, but he had to stay awake, since he knew he was about to be assigned a mission.

"I have a B-rank mission for the both of you today. I know it's weird sending only one Chunin and one Genin for a pretty high-ranked mission, but you two are more than capable to handle it on your own."

"A B-rank? What a drag…Alright what do we have to do?" asked Shikamaru.

"Do you think everything is a drag? Haha," said Shivaroku, making Shikamaru turn his head in embarrassment.

"Hidden Sound Shinobi have been seen mobilizing recently. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but considering who has come from that village, it's a bit troubling. According to our spies, they seem to be transporting something big. Your mission is to track and find their location. If you can also find out what they are transporting, that would be even better," said Tsunade.

"Who's from the Hidden Sound village? Are they a threat?" asked Shivaroku.

"I forget, you came here just recently. It's a bit of a long story, so we don't have time right now. Maybe Shikamaru can get you up to speed on the way."

Shivaroku shrugged and accepted the mission. He and Shikamaru then headed out the door. Just as they exited, Shizune turned to Tsunade, expressing some concerns about having only two shinobi deal with something regarding the Hidden Sound. Tsunade assured Shizune that the two would be fine, considering Shikamaru's intellect and Shivaroku's resolve and skill. Shizune was still a bit wary, but who was she to question one of the three Legendary Sanin's choices.

Shikamaru and Shivaroku leaped from tree to tree, dashing towards the Hidden Sound Village.

"Hey, Shikamaru," said Shivaroku.

"Yeah what is it?" replied Shikamaru.

"I've been told that you're one of the smartest shinobi in the village."

"I mean I don't really know about that. There are plenty of people who are smarter than me."

"No I mean, I was told that one of the reasons you were the first to become Chunin out of your entire class was because of your intellect."

"I guess you could say that yeah…God this is such a drag."

"Ugh could you stop calling things a drag for once second, I had a point you know!"

With a sigh, Shikamaru said, "Okay, then what was your point."

"I was gonna say, that I wanted to learn from you, and that I'm happy we finally got to go on a mission together."

"That's a kind thing for you to say, but there's not much to learn. I just handle things in a logical way."

"Logic or not, something made you stand out during the Chunin Exams, and it's most definitely not your power or passion," said Shivaroku with a slight teasing tone.

Shikamaru pursed his lips, understanding Shivaroku's friendly attack. "Well what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying! If the rank of chunin was given out for power or passion, then I'm pretty sure Naruto would've become one too. I heard he saved the village a couple times already, and that he's always talking about how he wants to become Hokage."

"Naruto is…a different breed. He's an idiot but he's strong. But yes, you're right."

"So, what made Lady Hokage and the elders so sure that you should be Chunin, even before some of your older peers?"

"I honestly don't know okay. It was a drag when they promoted me, and it's still a drag. It's just more work."

"Ugh for god sake, Shikamaru. Okay fine be that way…can't even take a compliment."

"Let's just focus on the mission for now."

"Speaking of which, Lady Hokage said you would explain why the Hidden Sound is a big deal."

"Oh right, remember when I talked about Orochimaru?"

"Yeah."

"Well he's apparently hiding out in the Hidden Sound village. He attacked the Leaf during the Chunin Exams and he also is the guy that took Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke Uchiha? Asuma Sensei told me about him. He deserted the village because he wanted more power right?"

"More or less. Sasuke wanted to avenge his clan, but he felt held back by the Leaf. He wanted a quick way to power, no matter how difficult it would be, and he chose to go with the evil that is Orochimaru."

"Who exactly is Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru is one of the three Legendary Sanin. He, Lady Tsunade, and Lord Jiraiya were named that during the 3rd Great War, and they were all the 3rd Hokage's best students."

"Orochimaru was a Leaf Ninja?!"

"Yeah he was. But he was the type of person who wanted power and wanted all knowledge, so he did all sorts of unethical experiments on people. When Lord 3rd found out, he had to escape and go into hiding. He continued to conduct his experiments and plotted to seek revenge on the Leaf."

"I see…so I'm assuming Orochimaru is hiding out somewhere in the Land of Sound?"

"Yep."

"Okay…no wonder this is such a big deal. But if Orochimaru is so powerful, why were we the only two asked to do this mission?"

"It hasn't been confirmed that this is related to Orochimaru. Besides this is strictly a tracking and reconnaissance mission. If we were expected to attack, we would probably not survive."

"Okay, then why choose us specifically?"

"Best guess is because of my strategy and ability to stay patient along with your skills in chakra sensing."

"Oh you know about my sensory skills?"

"I've been told you can sense chakra without the use of the byakugan, which means that you won't use up any chakra doing so, and you won't have any blind spots like the byakugan."

"I get it now. Man, Lady Hokage sure is smart."

"She is the Hokage after all."

"It seems we're coming up on the Hidden Sound. Best to tread quietly from now on. Look for any suspicious activity," said Shikamaru. Shivaroku nodded.