DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. PLEASE REVIEW!
Thinking
Emphasis
Biju, etc. speaking
Making his way toward the Hyuuga compound with the woman he just knew was Naruto's sister, Shikamaru Nara promised himself then and there: no way in hell he was going to let Kakashi Hatake get his perverted mitts on the female Uzumaki.
Naru wasn't quite sure what to do about the dark-haired man who had taken her away from the safety and security of Kakashi-sama's home. On one hand, she had no idea who this man is and she likes being with Kakashi. On the other, though, he seemed sincere and nice - although she could be being naive about the whole situation. Who would want to kidnap her, though, anyway?
She knew this man was a stranger and that there were clear rules on what not to do with strangers. Yet oddly, Naru felt safe in his arms. He was holding her firmly but gently, and spoke in a low, soothing voice that made her feel reassured. The most interesting thing about him was how he kept muttering the word "troublesome" to himself. He also smelled a little funny: it was a scent that she felt she should recognize but for the life of her, she couldn't at the moment.
He had said something about protecting her at one point - and the other thing that really stood out to her was that he mentioned knowing her brother. Do I have a brother? Why did neither Kakashi-sama nor Sakura-san tell her about him? It would be nice to meet her family! It was also great to be out of the Tower and not be at the hospital, so Naru felt that she should just go with the flow. Considering all those details, she decided to trust him, for now, and see what happened next.
Eventually the man made his way to a large gate, telling her that he needed to "check in with the compound." The gate was open and she could see many beautiful traditional style dwellings inside and people with long, dark hair wandering around within it. Wide-eyed, the blonde looked around as they entered. "Ano, what happened to my hair? Is it the light around here or did my hair get darker?" Naru asked as she pulled a strand up more closely to her eyes to study it.
Shikamaru chuckled. Who would think that Naruto had a sister that's a civilian. "Don't worry about it. It's called a genjutsu and I made it so you look like my girl. That way I don't have to answer a lot of troublesome questions." He was a regular at the Hyuuga compound and knew that the guards rarely used their dojutsu to see if he was the real deal: tonight included, thankfully. Now that he thought about that more closely, after this whole sister situation is over he'll have to discuss that with the Hyuuga for the sake of their security.
There's that troublesome word again! Naru snorted at her thought, which for some reason made the dark-haired man's smile widen. Normally she'd be embarrassed, but for some reason this guy liked her snorts. Weirdo. "So who's your girl?"
Shikamaru looked at her oddly for a moment, then muttered what had to be his catchphrase/word. He sighed dramatically. "Temari-chan. She lives in another country but we've been together for a while now," he answered, looking uncomfortable.
He's blushing! Oh, it's Sakura-san all over again! "Tell me about her!" Naru asked excitedly. Wow - she really needed a hobby.
Why is this troublesome woman asking me about another troublesome woman? Well, if it would make Naruto's sister more comfortable with him, he might as well tell her a little. Maybe then she'd stop acting so shy, and what would it hurt anyway? "Ano," he cleared his throat, "Mari-chan is really strong and willful…" Shikamaru's blush went from pink to red. "She's got blonde hair, but not as bright as yours, and green eyes. What else should I say?" He then whispered after a few moments, "She's beautiful, and can kick my ass. She's got a giant fan that's really scary, too."
HA! Here's this big, tall, muscley-feeling man, talking about how he's scared of his girlfriend. Oh this guy's pretty fun! "So are you like Kakashi-sama?" Naru asked.
"NO!" Shikamaru nearly shouted, which obviously shocked the blonde Uzumaki he was holding. "I mean - what can I tell you? We're both ninjas, that's true, but I'm no pervert." Fuck, I shouldn't have said that! I don't know what she thinks about the Hokage.
Oddly enough, the blonde began laughing. "Yeah, I think he's a pervert, too," she said smiling - and wasnt' that just bizarre, Shikamaru thought. "You're friends with Kakashi-sama, right?" Naru asked, smiling up at him brightly.
The Nara groaned internally. "Usually I'd say yes, but I have a disagreement with him at the moment. Everything will be all right now, now that you're safe."
What does that mean? It's nice to be safe, though... Had Kakashi arranged this? "Were the two of you fighting before? I thought I heard yelling," Naru worriedly asked.
"No, no," he laughed nervously. "Just a disagreement among friends. Sometimes the two of us can get a little worked up…" Boy was that false. Normally neither the Naras nor the Hatake got worked up about anything! "Here we are." He put her down on the porch outside of the front door of a lovely home. "Stay with me, okay?" She nodded her head at him while he knocked. Both of them stood there for quite some time as the dark-haired man repeatedly tried to get someone to answer.
"Troublesome. It looks like they're out, but there's a key…" The clan head reached under a bush in front of the porch and brought out a key, allowing both of them to enter. Looking at her uneasy expression, he told her, "for this situation and you, they'll be glad we let ourselves in. No worries," he smiled.
Naru really didn't feel right about going into someone's home when they weren't there. The people who live there didn't know her, and how would they feel and react should they come in and see her there? Not happy, she was sure. The dark-haired man heard her stomach let out a roar and said he'd make them something. He ushered her into a sitting room and used his hands to make what Kakashi-sama said was a clone, except this time it looked like the dark-haired man, who was putting his hair up in a high ponytail. It looked funny. She saw one of the dark-haired men go back outside and the other went into what she assumed was a kitchen.
As the seconds passed, she became increasingly uncomfortable. I wish I had either Sakura-san or Kakashi-sama here with me. Oh I know! She bent down on the floor and made a series of "hand signs" just like her silver-haired friend did every day and waited for one of his dogs to arrive. Oddly enough, nothing happened. When she did those hand thingies, it felt really familiar - or maybe natural was a better word for it? Meh, whatever... She tried again and still nothing happened. While she was down there, though, she might as well try one more thing!
Naru made a sign that the man in the kitchen had made a minute ago and this time, put all her concentration into it. She was doing it on the floor, just like she had seen before that made the dogs arrive anywhere. That weird buzzing feeling she had in her gut felt like it was crawling all over her, but then was just gone! She fell forwards, feeling dizzy.
"Boss? You okay?" asked another Naru, holding onto the original's shoulder and looking concerned.
Naru looked over at the other her and was surprised to say the least. "Ano? Who are you? Are you me?" the original Naru asked drowsily.
The second Naru snorted loudly. "Yeah, you could say that, idiot. What's going on and what's the order? You look a little sick. But we all know you don't get sick!" The original Naru was surprised. She spent a lot of time in the hospital, so she figured she was sick a lot. Plus there was that mental or brain illness. Or was it an injury? "Oi, boss!"
Pushy much?! "I was feeling a little lonely and weird. There's this guy who carried me away from Kakashi-sama's. He seems nice and everything but we're here at a house that isn't his." The second Naru nodded her head, looking concerned. "He says he's a friend of my brother's, so…"
"The fuck," exclaimed the second Naru in a whisper. "Boss, you gotta get out of here. I'll be you - uh - duh, but you've gotta get the hell out!" She waited for a reaction from her original but only received a stupid look in return. "Your brother sucks ass and wants to kill you!"
"What?!"
"Everything all right in here?" The Nara asked, wiping his hands with a towel as he peeked into the sitting room.
The first Naru had been shoved down onto the floor as the second greeted the dark-haired man. "Sure! Everything is fan-fucking-tastic," she sang. Shikamaru looked at her oddly, then chuckled.
"Well, all-fucking-right," he responded with a little laugh. He returned to the kitchen.
The two Narus looked at each other and both shrugged at the same time.
"I don't know who the hell that guy is, Boss, but you need to get the fuck out of here NOW!" That Naru then slid over to the doorway and looked towards where the brown-haired guy went. She pranced back over soundlessly and opened up a window very slowly. "Out you go, boss!"
"Where do I even go?"
"Anywhere that's not fucking here, dumbass!" the second Naru exclaimed in a loud whisper. "I'm giving you 15 seconds to haul your… Kami, is that your ass?! Never mind! You got 15 seconds to get your ridiculously tiny ass out this window, Boss, or I'm throwing you out!"
Whoa! That second her is scary! And what a potty-mouth!
Naru clumsily began to go through the window when she felt a grip around the arch of her foot and suddenly she was tossed out into the grass. She stood up and did the only thing she could think of that was appropriate. She gave the second Naru the finger. The other her copied her action right back at her. The nerve!
"RUN! NOW," the Naru inside the house ordered quietly. So rude. Naru took off at a run anyway. That second her was just "troublesome." She snorted: she was so hilarious.
ANBU members were hopping on roof tops and running through the streets silently, all wired up for communication. All on duty members were on the lookout for Shikamaru Nara. The Hokage stood in his battle armor, waiting for word, and pulsed his chakra through his ANBU tattoo to alert a second wave of soldiers.
The Hokage had thought about using one of his other masks: either the Hound mask he had worn when he was young, or the Wolf mask he normally sported when he escaped from his village leadership duties to go on secret missions. But then he thought of that freaking Nara and pulled the Cerberus mask from it's decorative stand. Adhering it to his face with chakra, Kakashi was no more. Only Cerberus was present now!
The three-headed dog mask was visually hard for him to deal with because of it's three rather long snouts - and it was originally a gift from ANBU operative Blank - but not for use in the field. Tonight however? Oh, Cerberus was looking to scare the shit out of someone! And that was before he got his hands on him! Cerberus let out a dark laugh that raised the hair on his followers' necks. "Status," Cerberus ordered, staring out the windows in his office, overlooking Konoha.
"No word yet, Rokudaime-sama. The next wave is nearly accounted for and should be on the move in minutes."
"I'll summon the hounds," the Hokage said darkly. "And Lion, you will call me Cerebrus," the silver-haired Hokage snarled.
Oh, fuck! Hatake's gone dark! "Hai, Cerberus-sama!"
