Laps! That was one of the ways Asuma-Sensei planned to enhance his stamina. With laps! He hated this training. Truthfully he didn't really care if he made Chunin. It wasn't like the rest of his team would be joining him at the new rank. And even if he participated in the last section of the exams, it didn't mean he would be made Chunin. He could fight the extra fight, defeat all the opponents put in front of him, and still not make Chunin. What a drag!
To make matters worse Asuma-Sensei had gained Choji's help by offering to buy them barbeque after training, every day. If there was one way to get that guy to do what you want it was food. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, this resulted in his best friend pelting towards him in human bolder form, as Shikamaru kept doing his laps. He had to dodge or leap over Choji before continuing. Admittedly he couldn't be mad at his friend though. Choji apologised whenever he actually managed to hit him and he actually looked happy to be helping Shikamaru. Even though he had needed incentive to help train he did want his friend to succeed.
That was one of the few things that made Shikamaru continue with the training that his teacher was putting him through. His friends had wanted to make Chunin, something he had the opportunity to do whilst they had been knocked out of the running. He could grumble about it for days, but it would be unfair if he didn't at least try to become better for the final exam.
At least he got barbeque each day to replenish his chakra levels. The bruising wasn't so easy to deal with. On top of that his sensei had started an unusual habit. Whenever Shikamaru started to look disheartened or started to complain he would start talking about the other combatants. He would talk about the different skills they had already witnessed, making sure to mention Naruto's unpredictability, his stamina, and the fact that everyone seemed to underestimate him. He honestly didn't know why Asuma-Sensei liked bringing up the blond but he certainly did it a lot, and for some reason Choji liked to join in with the conversation. The only good thing was that Shikamaru was learning quickly to control his blush. It had been two days since training started!
Two days and he was already regretting making it into the finals. Hell, he was even starting to regret becoming a ninja. He rubbed the back of his neck, loosening the muscles, releasing a groan of pleasure at the relaxation it caused. With that simple action he felt tension leave him, making it easier for him to drown out the babbling of the two males beside him. He respected both of them but they had already gotten on his nerves. If he hadn't been focused so heavily on kneading out his muscles he may have heard his friend's warning earlier, or have noticed the yellow and orange blur that barrelled into him.
The blur smashed against him hard, knocking the wind out of him and possibly bruising a rib or two. There was no doubt in his mind that his surprised expression was the furthest from cool. He flailed slightly as he fell backwards, one hand grabbing the small shoulder of the person tumbling with him as the other went to brace his fall. The sickening rush of air was stopped and replaced with the stomach lunging feel of the ground against his back. Something pressed heavily against his chest, making his breath come short and difficult. It was warm though. And smelt nice, really nice. It was soft too, and damp. That last one was a little weird. He hadn't noticed until his hand had gone around the form, releasing their shoulder.
"Sorry," it said in a voice that did not sound apologetic at all.
I know that voice, he thought as he groaned, the pain catching up to him. It was Naruto... and he was beginning to move! If Shikamaru had to guess, he would say that Naruto was trying to find his feet, to get up. He was doing a very poor job of it and it was beginning to cause some problems. His dark eyes sprang open as he fully comprehended the tension in his abdomen. Within seconds he threw Naruto off of him with a ferrel snarl he didn't know he was capable of. He sat up, glaring at Naruto.
The blond half laid, half sat before him on the ground, propped up by his hands. He looked confused but far from scared. If anything he looked a little annoyed. "I said sorry," he muttered. He rose to his feet, banging his hands on his pants to dust them off.
Shikamaru quickly rose to his feet too, noticing that Choji was looking at him in concern. He dusted himself much less violently than Naruto before addressing the blond. His sensei looked far to amused to speak, which only annoyed the young genius even more. "Naruto, what are you doing and why weren't you watching where you were going?"
"I'm looking for the man who knocked out the closet pervert. I want him to train me. Have you seen him?" Naruto rambled, seeming to vibrate out of his skin.
Shikamaru grabbed his shoulders to try and stop him from bouncing as he slowly processed the words that had been hurled at him. He heard Asuma-Sensei mutter 'closet pervert' to himself in confusion. He clearly wasn't used to Naruto coming up with unusual names for those around him. "Naruto, how would we know if we've seen him? We don't know what he looks like."
"Oh, right!" Naruto scratched his head. "Well he has really long, white hair, a toad, and oil on his head. Have you seen him?"
Shikamaru looked at Choji, raising an eyebrow. He honestly wondered at times if Naruto was unhinged. When the three members of Team Ten shook their heads Naruto looked disappointed. The look was quickly replaced with a large grin.
"Then I'll just flood the village!"
"Flood the village with what?" Shikamaru asked, slowly dropping his hands from Naruto's shoulders and putting them into his pockets.
"With me." Naruto brought his hands together before multiple shadow clones appeared.
There were more than Shikamaru could count, though he suspected that they reached close to a hundred. They quickly started fanning out down the streets and over the roof tops, looking for the mysterious man. Naruto looked unaffected, still grinning.
"If the pervert thinks he can knock out my new sensei and not have to train me in his place than he clearly doesn't know Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto ran off to join the search, leaving the stunned group behind.
"He really does have a ridiculous amount of chakra," Choji uttered in awe, looking at the clouds of Narutos off in the distance. "He could beat me with sheer numbers alone!"
He was too shocked to say anything. He had seen how much Naruto had improved in his fight against Kiba but there were no words for that. It was bad enough having one Naruto terrorizing the village, how were they meant to handle that many?
Asuma-Sensei recovered first, breaking Choji and Shikamaru out of their paralyzed states. He led them to the barbeque house, still looking highly amused, much to Shikamaru's confusion and annoyance. He just focused on blocking out parts of that moment from his memory; otherwise his success with not blushing would be lost forever.
"A man with a toad," Asuma-Sensei muttered to himself. "It couldn't be the man I'm thinking of."
"Have you seen the man Naruto is looking for?" Choji asked, looking up at his teacher.
The older man shook his head. "No, not seen, but I have heard of a man who fits that description."
"Even the oil on his head?" Shikamaru chuckled.
"Sort of. He has a head protector with the word 'oil'. If it is who I think it is, then you might have a problem, Shikamaru. He's a powerful man. Let's hope I'm wrong." Asuma-Sensei slid into their usual booth, smiling in a way that made Shikamaru feel uncomfortable. "Naruto really needs to watch where his going though. I hope you didn't get hurt when Naruto landed on top of you."
So much for being able to control his blush!
/ / / / / / /
Choji was training with his father, leaving Shikamaru and Asuma-Sensei to train just the two of them. Instead of exhausting the Genin with exercises, Asuma-Sensei had decided to drill Shikamaru on strategy. As the two walked around the river Shikamaru was to indicate each opponents fighting style, any weaknesses and strengths he had observed, and how best to defeat them. This was something he didn't mind, especially because he knew for certain that this would be helpful for him during the match. After the first two matches he had no clue who he would be fighting, so he was to think of strategies for everyone. After just over a week of laps and other stamina increasing activities this was enjoyable.
"Your first opponent is the man from the Sound village. You saw him go up against Choji. He has that devise on his arm that creates sound waves that affect the human body." Asuma-Sensei put a cigarette in his lips, not lighting it, knowing Shikamaru would complain.
"Yeah, I've actually seen him fight a couple of times. He made this guy puke without touching him. I actually went up against him in the second exam too." Shikamaru thought over what happen to Kabuto, and what he witnessed fighting him in the forest. "I'm guessing the devise has the ability to affect the inner ear, it might also be able to affect blood vessels and stuff if it hits the right frequency. However, the guy is violent, almost twisted, and doesn't like losing. He's lost to me so it won't be hard to make him loose his focus thanks to anger. His attack style also seems close to mid range, which works to my advantage since that is also my range. Obviously everyone knows my jutsu now but as the day does on the arena will be more and more in my favour, so keeping a distance from me isn't going to help them much at all."
Asuma-Sensei nodded his head. "Very good. What about you're other main opponent, the girl from the Sand?"
Shikamaru thought for a moment. He didn't have as much information on her but her fight with Tenten had been rather telling. "She's smart, calculating. Her jutsu could cause a problem for me. But she's cocky. I can use that to my advantage. She's more likely to leave an opening, because she thinks she's the smartest person in the room. I just have to find the opening, and use it."
"Should I worry about you having the same problem as her?" Asuma-Sensei seemed to half joke.
"No, the moment I think I'm the smartest person is the moment I die, or someone I care about dies."
"Alright, next, what about Neji Hyguya?"
"He's an entirely close range attacker. His style works well for me. Bad for Naruto though, who seems like he's also a close range attacker. As long as he's not using shadow clones he will also fall into my jutsu. But I can't capture as many clones as he can make. Sasuke may cause me a problem, since I know from the academy days how skilled he is. He has a range of attacks and is skilled with weapons. I won't be able to fully make a strategy until fighting him. No matter who wins out of Sasuke and that Gaara guy they should have less chakra, so hopefully that'll help me. Seeing Gaara go up against Lee I have no doubt that the fight will be intense so that should affect their chakra."
"You're right," Asuma-Sensei commented. "But… Naruto?"
"I already did Naruto." Shikamaru frowned up at his sensei, only to notice that the man was staring ahead. Turning his gaze forward he found himself choking on his own saliva, his eyes bulging out of his head. "What the hell?!"
"Oh, hey Shikamaru, Asuma-Sensei, how's it going?" Naruto grinned at them, seeming to not care that he was standing before them in nothing but a black shirt and green boxer shorts. "Have you seen my pants?"
Shikamaru splattered at that, his eyes roaming over Naruto's body, pausing on his shirt, which stuck to his… oddly shaped chest before quickly being averted to look for the piece of clothing. He spotted them on a tree branch. "Over there… how did they get up so high?"
Naruto shrugged as though it wasn't so unusual to have one's pants hanging from a tree branch. He walked up to the tree, reaching up as far as he could, but with little success. His fingertips just skimmed the fabric. With a huff, Naruto lowered himself back onto the flat of his feet before turning to Shikamaru. "Could you help? I'm out of chakra and… I'm too short." He finished in an annoyed mutter, crossing his arms over his chest.
Sighing, and uttering the words 'troublesome', he walked over to Naruto, pulling at the fabric and having it tumble from the tree, onto his head. This would be fine if something hard in Naruto's pocket hadn't hit him on the head.
"Ow, what the hell hit me?"
Naruto took his pants off of Shikamaru's head as the dark haired boy pressed his hand to a growing bruise, checking for blood.
"This!" From his pocket he removed Gama-chan, the wallet that Shikamaru had bought him years ago. "Sorry, should have warned you that Gama-chan was there."
Shikamaru grunted as Naruto pulled the pants on. He found himself studying Naruto's form again, avoiding his legs until they were covered. He must be as flat-chested as Sakura. There was something there, some… cushion, but it wasn't exactly feminine. It was oddly lumpy, but not masculine either. Realizing he was staring he quickly looked to the ground, moving back over to his teacher.
"What brings you here, Naruto, with your pants off?" Asuma-Sensei asked with a chuckle, smiling around his unlit smoke.
"Training on the river. That's why I didn't have my pants on. I didn't have a shirt too, but when I put it on it ended up wet anyway." Naruto sighed, pulling the fabric off his chest where it was clinging.
"Did you find the man you were looking for?" Shikamaru had to remind himself to look at Naruto's face.
"Yeah, I had to use my sexy jutsu to con him into training me. He's currently over there, through the bushes doing 'research'."
"Sexy jutsu?"
"Don't ask, Asuma-Sensei. What is he researching?" Shikamaru was curious. If it was the man Asuma-Sensei thought than he might have been making a powerful technique that he would teach Naruto. That would cause him problems.
"He's researching for his book, which means staring at women in bikinis." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Stupid Pervy-Sage."
"Oi, don't start bad mouthing my research, kid!"
Shikamaru jumped when he noticed the large, white haired man crouching in the bushes not too far from them. He had a notebook open, a pen poised to write. The grin on his face made Shikamaru's skin crawl. He was looking between the dark haired boy and Naruto eagerly. Shikamaru looked over at the blond for answers but only saw Naruto frowning at his new sensei.
"Pervy-Sage, what are you doing?"
"Research." He wrote something down, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Shikamaru again, seeming to study him."I'm the author of the Icha-Icha books."
"But the girls are over there." Naruto pointed in the direction that 'Pervy-Sage's' back was facing.
"Oh I don't just watch bikini women for research. Though it is more entertaining than watching two prepubescent ninjas, but you are proving to be useful material."
Naruto looked confused but Shikamaru understood what he was getting at. He didn't know much about the books but he had seen billboards about them. They were some kind of romance. Was he really that obvious, or was it more the awkwardness of the situation that was inspiring the man before him.
He was a very big man. Even crouching he was close to Shikamaru's height. He was also intimidating. There wasn't anything in particular that made Shikamaru want to back away, just something about the man. He seemed friendly enough, even a bit flaky, but there was a look in his eyes, something about how he held himself, and something about the way he was toying with Shikamaru that made him know that the man could more than handle himself.
Asuma-Sensei cleared his throat; that damn amused expression back. This time it was also mixed with awe. "You're Jiraiya the Sannin, aren't you? I'm Asuma Sarutobi."
Jiraiya looked confused for a moment before grinning and standing up. Yep, he was tall, really tall. He was close to half a meter taller than Shikamaru.
"Yes, yes I am. It is nice to have someone actually call me by my name." He shot Naruto a dirty look.
"Whatever you say, you big pervert!"
"I am a highly skilled ninja." He jabbed a thumb at his chest, grinning proudly before he got a creepy look on his face, wiggling his fingers as though he was groping something in the air. "Being a pervert is just a bonus."
Naruto looked at Shikamaru who hadn't noticed that Naruto had walked closer to him. "See what I have to put up with?" He turned to his sensei, his eyes near closed as he pointed at him accusingly. "STOP PERVING ON THE GIRLS AND HELP ME! IT TAKES ME HOURS TO RELEASE ALL MY CHAKRA. YOU'RE MEANT TO BE SO WISE, HOW ABOUT THINKING OF A BETTER WAY FOR ME TO BUILD UP THE CHAKRA I NEED OTHER THAN SUMMONING CLONES TO FIGHT AND TAKE UP MY CHAKRA!"
Shikamaru cringed at the volume Naruto reached. None of it really made any sense to him. Why would you want to empty your chakra to train? He looked over at the white haired man, expecting him to hit Naruto for such disrespect. Jiraiya did look annoyed. Jiraiya took a deep breath, making Shikamaru think he was trying to calm himself.
He must have more patient than anyone in the world.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU HAVE RIDICULOUS LEVELS OF CHAKRA AND STAMINA! IF YOU COULD CONTROL IT BETTER THAN WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND YOU WOULD HAVE MASTERED THE JUTSU!"
Both Asuma-Sensei and Shikamaru stepped back in shock, not expecting the response they saw. The two shared a look before backing away from the two loud mouths who continued to argue, firing insults at each other at a high volume. Once their voices had became distant echoes Shikamaru let out a breath.
"They're the same!" he stated in surprise. "They are exactly the same, just about forty year's difference."
"That's a scary thought." Asuma-Sensei let a breath rush out of his lips, his cigarette having fallen out of his mouth by the river. "Who were we up to in the strategies?"
"I don't remember."
Ahh, awkward situations, aren't they the best?! I'm enjoying tormenting Shikamaru. The next chapter should cover up to the start of the final Chunin exam. I have it planned out so it shouldn't take too long for me to write. I don't make any promises though. Please R and R.