The truth is rarely pure and never simple. ~Oscar Wilde

The Cloudless Sky

A Simple Explanations

.1

She was estranged from the place she one called home. From the villagers who lived within the walls. Even her own flesh and blood. So much of her own life she had devoted and given to this place. So much time and effort she could never get back. Blood. Sweat. Tears. Shimari supposed that this was indeed the unfortunate side of the shinobi lifestyle.

The unspoken parts. Feelings left unsaid. Forgotten. Loved ones lost. She'd lived through two wars, the deaths of so many of her friends, of her parents, of her own lover and unborn child. Yet here she still stood. Well bodied. Of sound mind. Alive.

But all she felt was such sorrow at the thought of everything and everyone lost. It was why she left to begin with. So much sorrow.

The simple explanation was she ran. And now here she stood, just outside her home. Stalling. Waiting. And logically she knew that the longer she waited and the more she stalled the harder it was going to be. The longer it would take to reacquaint and adjust. It could only be now.

It had been far too long. Is what she decides first, looking at towering gates shadowed by even taller trees. Followed briefly by the thought that if her brother wasn't at the gate to meet her she was going to be majorly offended. Five years, no.. almost six years now was a rather long time to be away from one's home. The information she had gleamed and gathered, the new knowledge gained had been a worthy pursuit but she still missed her home.

Missed her friends, her family.

Nara Shimari was home now, and that's what she chose to focus on. Instead of all the sadness that would follow if she lingered too long on everything she had missed. On the people she missed. She took a step forward. No point to linger just beyond the wall. Besides she had to determine whether or not to be angry with her elder brother.

Luckily it seemed her brother knew not to elicit her wrath today. His scarred face was surely a sight for sore eyes, and he seemed to know as he smirked at her as she approached him waiting at the entrance station.

"Hmmm. I thought surely you would have gotten taller." His smirk grows and she glares.

"Well you've obviously gotten uglier. I'm glad I got all of mom's good genes even her unfortunate lack of stature. At least I know I'll be tiny and cute forever, unlike some people." Shimari shot back easily while handling her reentry papers. She ignored the snickers from behind the table. Shikaku did not, he cleared his throat offering the two chunin a pointed look.

She handed her papers back over. The gate guard offered her a kind smile. "Welcome home Nara-san." Shimari returned the gesture with her own smile.

"It's good to be back." And it was good to be home after a long time away. Although her opinion on what had become of her home in her absence may change her mind on that particular sentiment in the coming days.

"We can head over to the tower first if you want to get the rest of business out of the way. Yoshino was adamant I would invite you for dinner if you were up for it." Shimari side glanced at her brother, sucking in a deep breath. No… she didn't think that dinner with her brother's wife was something she'd really be up too.

"I was thinking about ramen honestly… besides you know where I stand." Shikaku sighed but nodded his head. He did know.

"I figured, Shikamaru will probably be disappointed but I get it." Shimari shook her head. She wouldn't be guilt tripped by the mention of her nephew.

"Maybe another time." She tries without much effort. They both knew there wouldn't be another time.

"Yeah." The rest of the trip to the tower was continued in silence. Time between them, distance had blossomed in their once inseparable bond. Shimari kept the thought to herself.

…

That evening after spending the majority of the morning with her brother and getting her affairs all in order, Shimari threw herself down in the stool at Ichiraku's. She hadn't had decent ramen in so long. She'd actually missed the salty dish. You'd think that after being forced to consume the dish at least twice a week by one's best friend would put one off to it.

"I was wondering when you'd be back. Your usual, I presume?"Tuechi doesn't even wait for her response; he turns to get started. Shimari smiles into the counter. She goes to pull out a book from her weapons pouch but the notion stalls as a blonde little boy scrambles inside the booth.

Shimari can't help but to raise her brow at him when he holds up his finger in a shushing motion. Her attention lingers on him for a second before the sound of running and angry shouts pass outside the ramen stand. The child is ducking even further behind the counter and Tuechi bless his soul says nothing about it.

The estranged Nara woman found the entire scenario baffling. Mainly because those appeared to be grown ass men chasing this small child. She assumed he was somewhere around her nephew's age just based on his bone structure.

"Hey lady what are you staring at?!" Shimari found herself startled once again, by the sheer audaciousness of this child. It was somehow familiar and refreshing all at the same time. Her brow quirk up again.

She had a feeling. Besides she only knew one person who had eyes that shade of piercing blue and hair like a highlighter. Shimari knew exactly who this child was and why he was most likely running and she felt instant anger in her very being.

"I'm sorry, you just look very familiar to me. What's your name little one?" Because if he ended up being who she thought him to be, and based on his unfortunate ragged and bruised appearance, if her assumption proves to be correct then she was about to be very enraged.

Uzumaki Kushina and her husband had been two of her closest friends, their death had ruined her in ways she could never recover from. She knew that Kushina had been pregnant at the end of her life but no one would ever tell her what had become of the baby. Because she had been away when it all happened.

The boy huffed as he hopped up on the stool next to her. He pointed his thumb towards his chest with a beaming smile and very proudly proclaimed. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to become the greatest Hokage ever. Dattebayo!"

Shimari's heart sank, and she forced a cheerful smile for the sake of the child in front of her. "Well I'm pleased to make your acquaintance future lord Hokage. I am Nara Shimari, special Jonin at your service." She even gave him a mock bow. The reaction was what she wanted, he beamed excitedly.

"You're a real ninja?! That's so cool! Can you tell me any cool stories?!" He was almost jumping in his seat, Shimari laughed.

"I don't know if I have any cool stories to tell. Ask me again at another time, I'll have to think of something worthy of the future hokage." He nodded enthusiastically and went to say more but a bowl of ramen was placed in front of him and it was distracting enough.

Shimari gave a small nod of thanks before accepting her bowl quietly. She needed to think. Needed to figure out just what the hell had happened here. Making a mental mark of the bruises that were now fading on his cheek and hands, filing every piece of information away to be prodded at later.

For now she would enjoy her ramen, settle into her apartment, and then in the morning she would decide just how she was going to pursue this obvious negligence. Shimari would not stand by and watch her late best friend's son be treated like this. The fear in his eyes as he'd run in here had been enough to the perseptive woman that this was not a single account of hostility.

Her chopsticks snapped in her grasp.

This would not do.

….

Shimari crouched down in front of the memorial stone, a small bag of cleaning supplies, flowers and candles set down next to her. Unlike when she'd cleaned the graves of their parents which she only did a few times a year in the past, the memorial stone held so many names, losses. It never truly got the chance to need to be deep cleaned. She went about her ritual anyway.

Cleaning, changing out the flowers, setting up candles and lighting. Prays that those loved and lost fond solace and peace. Shimari opened her eyes, she ran her fingers over each carved name of someone she'd know, someone who had held a place in her heart.

It started with her father and ended with both Minato and Kushina. On their names her fingers stalled. Her breath caught in her throat. She needed to remind herself to breathe, to be calm.

But her thoughts raced, the image of the poor scared little boy stuck with her. Shimari knew she wasn't just going to be able to let it go. Not when Kushina had stood by her through everything. Not when Minato had allowed her to go on the extended research mission to run from her darkness. The Nara woman felt like she was going to be sick just thinking about it.

Who had allowed this to happen? And why hadn't anyone done anything to stop it? Shimari would most definitely be having words with her brother, because he of all people would have known just who that little boy had belonged to.

It wasn't a hard jump to conclusion for anyone who had known Yondaime and his wife. If they were trying to conceal his origins then perhaps they shouldn't have given him the surname of Uzumaki.

And just like that Shimari's blood was boiling. She stood as she dared not disrespect the peace of this sacred place.

"I heard you were back in the village…" Shimari glanced over her shoulder. A sigh falls from her lips. His face was not the one she wanted to see, but still she turned and reached for the teen.

"And you knew I'd be here." The carefree nature of his face gently falls and he sobs into her hoodie. Shimari knew that what she was to him was a harsh reality of life taken too early. Another sobering reminder that shinobi life was not kind or easy.

She held him until his breathing leveled out and he pulled away from her. Shimari waited patiently as the teen pulled himself together, wiped his eyes and his smile reformed on his lips. "Why do you make me such a crybaby?" The Nara woman just chuckles.

"Don't worry your brother was the same. How have you been Shisui?" He laughs and it almost sounds genuine. But there is a hint of hesitation in his laugh, and Shimari knows something is isn't so easily fooled.

Just another lingering feeling that she won't ignore. Since the moment she stepped foot inside the Hokage tower she could just feel something was wrong. The air is too thick to breathe. Lies, harboring over the halls. This was not the village she remembered.

Andshe didn't like the picture that was starting to form.

"I'm glad your back Shimi." Is what he says, Shimari doesn't allow him the chance to flicker away. Instead she pins him with a very serious look, as her shadow on the ground darkens.

"Why don't you come back to my apartment so we can catch up?" She suggests but they both know it's not really one.

Shisui nods his head, he knew better than to argue with her. "Okay."

…

Shimari was a Nara who may have not been lazy enough, but she was still a Nara and the unbridled desire to understand drove her like it did the rest of her family. She was a Nara who needed to know why, needed that understanding to go one living. Information and knowledge parraled. Her desire to cultivate these things made her far more perspective than most, more intuitive. She could see the underneath, and the underlying before most.

Intellegance snacthed her up before you could say shogi once she graduated the academy, she spent the entirety of the third war intercepting and decoding enemy plans. Shimari didn't make jumps to conclusions, no they were more like running leaps of faith of sheer belief that she was smarter than they gave her credit for.

A faith that common sense was onces best source of information. Because common sense tells you children running from adults is something to be concerned about. That her almost brother in law breaking down at mere sight of her was something to worry about. And the two happening on the same day tells her that there is a much bigger picture here.

That something had happened to the village she called home. From where she stood nothing seemed the same. It all seemed very suspicious.

The simple explanation, she saw it now, as Shisui poured out his heart on her couch. As he broke in front of her very eyes. Simple the explanation was. Someone let their desire for power overshadow their loyalty to the village she called home.

Easy to fix it would not be.

But now that she knew… She couldn't just let it be. Wouldn't let it go. How could she?

This was her home.

It is her home.

Her home was obviously broken, and all she could do now was fix the problem. Nothing more, nothing less.

Simple.

XOXOX

Starting a new Naruto fanfic as I deal with the stress of my baby teething. Don't know how frequently i'll post updates but I will keep working on this idea. My first Naruto fic that's not an SI.. so we will see how it goes.

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

LaRae