A/N: Alright, so I have come to a decision regarding the next chunk of the fic:
It's gonna be a while before the finals start. There's a lot I want to accomplish character-wise before the invasion, and I have the in-universe timeframe to do it.
Are you guys gonna be okay with that? I promise it'll be interesting. There'll be some romance (for both pairings), some mental illness, plenty of Gaara being disturbing, and a bit of training.
I just feel like, without fleshing out the month of preparation, a lot of what I want to do with the final round won't land the right way.
Time for Chapter 34
Enjoy!
Shikamaru kicked a pebble across the road as he trudged along. It was nine o'clock in the evening, and he had been cut loose for the night. Having been tired and sore from a harsh taijutsu session with Kakashi, the Nara boy's patience had been short. He had snapped back at his mother after being nagged to clean his room, and the insolence had gotten him kicked out of the house until sunrise. It was a frustrating predicament, but it was a bed he'd made for himself. Now, he was sleeping in it.
It was far from the first time he had been kicked out of the house. Yoshino Nara was a harsh disciplinarian when the mood struck her, which was quite often. Shikaku was less harsh, but he also didn't dare oppose his wife. Both he and Shikamaru usually knew better. Usually being the operative word. Thankfully, if nothing else, it was a warm night. Even if he could not find shelter, Shikamaru likely wouldn't freeze to death.
'Satsuki's not an option. She always locks her gate after she goes home, and she's been back in the Uchiha sector since seven. Naruto…might be. He lives all the way across town, though.' the shadow user thought to himself. His options were very limited, but he was in no position to be choosy. Sliding his hands into his pockets, Shikamaru set out for Naruto's apartment complex. It was a four mile walk, but shelter would be worth the exercise.
As he passed by a multitude of closing shops and stands, the Nara boy's mind drifted to other topics. A week and a half into his month of preparation, and he felt largely no different. His taijutsu was stagnant as always, and while Shikaku was making an effort to expand his repertoire with his shadow, it was a slow process. If his current pace was any indication, he was bound to be largely who he currently was by the time the final round arrived. It bothered him very little, as the promotion was unimportant in his eyes, but the lack of progress was aggravating.
'I'm not a genetic freak, unlike the other two.' he grumbled mentally. Satsuki and Naruto were both tremendous talents. That much had become perfectly clear to him during his time on Team Seven. Satsuki fought with a natural fluidity and grace that could only be god-given, and Naruto was brutally strong in a far cruder way. Even then, the blonde picked up skills with ease when shown.
'They're both dumb in their own ways, though.' Shikamaru qualified. Naruto was reckless and hot-headed. He cared very little for his own safety no matter the situation, and it had come back to bite him more than once. Satsuki was less traditionally boneheaded, but she was prone to lapses of judgment, and she had a fiery temper when pushed. They were surprisingly similar when broken down to their specific traits.
'That's probably why they can't get enough of each other, whether they know that or not. They feel at home together.' he mused. It was almost wholesome. An unlikely pair they certainly were, and a long way from where they seemed poised to end up eventually, but Naruto Uzumaki and Satsuki Uchiha were siamese twins.
Turning a corner to get onto the main road that would eventually lead him to Naruto's side of the village, Shikamaru was met with an empty street. It was a strange sight for a number of reasons. First and foremost, while Konoha tended to be rather quiet by the time night was in full swing, the streets were almost always still teeming with life before ten-thirty.
'Shops closing down early was weird, but this is…creepy.' Shikamaru thought to himself. Glancing to both sides, the Nara boy spotted a street bulletin. Making his way across the asphalt to reach it, Shikamaru began scanning the flyers pinned to it. What he found was unsettling, to say the least.
"Two local women found dead. Both unidentified. Culprit still at large."
That very headline was plastered all across the bulletin. A further search through the contents of the flyers revealed no details of the crimes. Only a declaration of their occurrence, and of the danger still present in the area. It certainly explained why the streets had emptied out so quickly, and why the shops had closed. Murder was far less common than it should have been, but cases were still relatively rare in Konoha. A pair of dead bodies found so close together was a shock.
'Doesn't say anything about a curfew. People are just being cautious.' Shikamaru thought to himself. His mother had not left the Nara property in several days, as she had been present to attend to both Shikaku and Shikamaru during their constant drilling. Shikaku rarely read the weekly news, and much of his focus had been on his own family recently.
'They really picked the worst possible time to kick me out. Not their fault, but still.' Shikamaru lamented. Murders tended to happen at night, and while being a Shinobi likely helped his chances of not being a target, it did not guarantee them. The odds were that he would not be harmed, but there was now a distinct possibility for the contrary to be true.
'I need to get moving.' he thought, nodding to himself firmly. As he turned around to continue his journey to Naruto, he was met by a sight that made him flinch.
"You just found out, huh?" asked Kankuro of the Sand, who was standing in the middle of the street. His approach had been silent. Such a detail would not have bothered the Nara boy under normal circumstances, but his current situation was far from commonplace. Instinctively, Shikamaru's hand drifted toward a kunai concealed in his vest pocket. Noticing his defensive posture and move to arm himself, Kankuro put up a hand and shook his head.
"If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already." he assured the leaf genin. Kankuro's words did little to quell Shikamaru's apprehension, but the shadow user let his hand drop to his side regardless.
"What are you doing out here, anyway?" Shikamaru asked. Kankuro shrugged his shoulders and adjusted the straps holding his oversized puppet to his back.
"I could ask you the same thing. Everybody else took the hint." he shot back. The Nara boy's eyes narrowed momentarily. He was aware, and his wording suggested greater knowledge of what was afoot. There were questions to be asked, but the timing was not ideal. Nor was the setting.
"My mom kicked me out of the house. I got mouthy." Shikamaru replied, opting to be honest. Kankuro cracked a sympathetic smile through his face paint.
"I've been there. It's usually Temari kicking me out, though." he said with a chuckle. His expression then shifted to seriousness once more.
"Do you have a place to go?" he asked. Shikamaru furrowed his brow. What reason a foreign Shinobi would have to care about his struggles was a mystery. A puzzling one, at that. Gesturing down the long road on which they stood, the Nara nodded.
"One of my teammates lives a few miles down this road. I should be fine." he said. In another odd twist, Kankuro shook his head rapidly at the revelation.
"That's too far of a walk." he said immediately. A full-fledged frown took root in Shikamaru's features.
"What's that supposed to mean? I could probably run it if I felt like it." he questioned. The puppeteer began to respond, but soon closed his mouth to consider another answer.
"Just…trust me. You don't wanna roll the dice tonight. You need to get inside." he said carefully. Taking a deep breath to calm his growing irritation with Kankuro's vagueness, the Nara boy slid his hands back into his pockets.
"Well, I'm kinda short on choices right now, so I think I'll take my chances." he said, beginning to walk away as he spoke. He hadn't taken ten steps before he was stopped by Kankuro's hand gripping his shoulder.
"Come back to the motel my team and I are crashing in. We'll take you in for the night." he offered. Turning to face him, Shikamaru gave him a skeptical look.
"What are you so afraid of?" he pressed. Kankuro dropped his hand from his shoulder and pursed his lips.
"Just listen to me. You don't want to be caught out in the open right now. Not after dark." he said. His eyes held no contempt or deceptiveness. If anything, he looked genuinely concerned. Not in a personal way, but as though he was extending basic decency. Finally cracking to the pressure, the shadow user sighed.
"Fine, but if I think for even a second that you're playing me, I'll break your nose." he relented. Without another word, Kankuro motioned for the leaf genin to follow him. Doing as he was instructed, Shikamaru joined Kankuro at a brisk pace. Soon enough, they found themselves at the entrance of one of Konoha's many inns.
A brief journey through the lobby quickly led them into the halls of the Inn, with doors lining each side.
"Home sweet home." Kankuro muttered as he inserted a key into the handle of a door labeled with the number '146'. A moment later, the puppeteer pushed the door open and beckoned Shikamaru inside. As awkward as he felt stepping into the dwelling of a group of people he knew absolutely nothing about on a personal level, the Nara boy stepped through the door frame. He was immediately followed by Kankuro, who shut the door behind them. The lights were still on, so the contents of the room were visible right away.
"How the hell did this happen?"
Turning to face the voice that had addressed both he and Kankuro, Shikamaru was greeted by a view that made him immediately feel out of place. Temari was laying across one of the two beds in the room, hair down, wearing a nightshirt that extended past her knees.
"I'm as lost as you are." Shikamaru said tiredly. The Sand kunoichi raised an eyebrow and looked to Kankuro, who sighed heavily.
"He got kicked out of his house, and he was headed across town to crash with his friend. He said it was a few miles." he explained. Interestingly, the brief summary seemed to quell Temari's skepticism instantly, as her expression shifted to one of understanding.
"Makes sense, I guess." she said with a shrug. The puppeteer then stretched his arms and yawned.
"I'm gonna take a shower. Try not to kill him." he said, grabbing what appeared to be his travel bag and disappearing into a door on the left side of the room that Shikamaru could only assume led to the bathroom. The moment Kankura was gone, Temari threw her legs over the side of the bed she was laying on and crossed the gap between herself and the shadow user. When she stopped, she was well within three feet of him.
"Hi." she greeted him, a smirk on her face. Shikamaru's face twitched. As with every other brief encounter he had shared with her, Temari's behavior was an uncomfortable marriage of overly friendly and intimidating.
"Hey." he muttered back. His usual wit was being suffocated by the raw discomfort he felt at his current situation. Alone, unarmed, and uninformed in the territory of what essentially amounted to an enemy. Worse yet, the girl standing so uncomfortably close to him was set to be his opponent come next month.
"Looks like you got lost, little boy." she jeered at him. Shikamaru prickled instantly. He was far from thin-skinned, but both her tone and her specific choice in words had pierced right through his tolerance.
"Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm not here because I want to be." he said defensively. Temari reached out and planted her hand on the wall next to his head, effectively boxing him in.
"What if I do?" she proposed. The Nara bow scowled and forced himself to meet her patronizing eyes. He was in no mood for her antics, no matter how far from home he was.
"We can take this outside, then." he challenged. Temari's expression remained totally unchanged by his weak threat.
"Not what I meant, bright eyes." she said, her tone suggestive. She then backed away from him and sat down on the bed again, folding her legs over each other once she was settled. Shikamaru flushed red in an instant.
"You don't even know me." he choked out through his embarrassment. Temari tugged on the front of her bangs, revealing what appeared to be an unconscious tick.
"I'm surprised you care." she said simply. Shikamaru inhaled through his nose, held the breath in for a moment, and then released it.
"Making a lot of assumptions, there." he said. Seeming to sense that her tactics were not working, Temari rolled her eyes and climbed fully onto her bed, laying on her side and facing him with her head propped up on her palm.
"Fine, be a wimp. Doesn't matter anyway. How're you gonna explain this to your team? Spending the night with your opponent's team is a little suspicious." she asked. Shikamaru glanced at the door he and Kankuro had entered through.
"They don't have to know." he replied. Temari raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
"Sounds like you've had this problem before. Messing around with the enemy, I mean." she said. The Nara boy held his scowl. Temari of the Sand was a menace. She was brash, forward, provocative, and apparently quite perceptive.
"At least this isn't my fault." he finally said after a time. He had no intention of revealing his past to a near-complete stranger, but he was a poor liar under pressure, and Temari was pressuring him immensely without doing much of anything.
"Whatever keeps you grounded. Either way, I see you sneaking over toward that door." the fan wielder said with a nod toward the door handle Shikamaru had been semi-subconsciously inching toward. The shadow user mentally kicked himself for having been so obvious.
"Don't go back outside. I'm serious. You're safer here. Way safer." Temari said, having easily detected Shikamaru's silent frustration. The Nara boy stepped away from the wall and door.
"Kankuro kept telling me the same thing. What do you two know that I don't?" he asked. The sand kunoichi's casual calm slipped for the first time since Shikamaru's arrival.
"Who's missing from this room?" she said, posing her own question in response. While the framing of the question was odd, Shikamaru quickly found the obvious answer.
"Your Jonin, and Gaara." he said. Temari nodded and moved into a cross-legged sitting position.
"Baki-sensei is a few rooms over. Gaara, on the other hand, is out on the town." she revealed. Shikamaru's blood ran cold. The implications were painfully clear, and they fit far too well with what he already knew of the redhead.
"Please tell me you're kidding." he said rigidly. Temari's eyes fell to the floor, no trace of her prior confidence remaining on her face or in her body language.
"I wish I was. Believe me." she muttered. Shikamaru swallowed a nervous lump that had formed in his throat. He had indeed been in grave danger, if what he was being told was true. What still didn't click in his mind, however, was why he had been saved at all.
"Why did you guys bother taking me in? It would only help you if I disappeared." he asked. Temari fiddled with the sheets she was sitting on.
"Kankuro is just a real softy. As for me, I have a cute boy in my room. I'm not complaining." she said, her prior demeanor returning to her at the final comment. Shikamaru groaned and sank down to his rear end against the wall.
"Quit saying crap like that." he grumbled uncomfortably. Before Temari could respond, the door of the bathroom opened, revealing Kankuro in a set of plain pajamas. Most strikingly, he had washed off his face paint. Underneath it, he was quite normal looking. He resembled Gaara a tad, with a slightly different complexion and brown hair rather than red.
"I heard, like, half of that, and I'm already as uncomfortable as he is. Knock it off." Kankuro said to his sister, who grinned deviously.
"Just being hospitable." she said wryly. Muttering something unintelligible under his breath, Kankuro turned to Shikamaru.
"We're gonna turn in for the night. You should too. You can leave whenever you wake up." he said. The shadow user nodded wearily. Over the following few minutes, he was tossed a blanket, a pillow, and directed over to the space between the left side of Temari's bed and the wall. Once sleeping arrangements had been made, Kankuro switched off the lights and retired to his bed. Temari did the same.
As he laid on his back staring up at the ceiling, Shikamaru couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful. Braving the dark streets was a fool's errand given what he now knew, and seemingly out of the goodness of his heart, Kankuro had thrown him a lifeline. He was indebted, whether he had asked for the help or not. Temari's antics and overt disregard for his boundaries was a downside in most ways, but the fan wielder had at least been friendly in her own way despite being his opponent.
'I owe them. I hate owing people things.' Shikamaru thought to himself. Deciding that he would repay them in the future rather than with immediacy, the Nara boy closed his eyes and attempted to sink into sleep. He soon found that he couldn't. Be it the stress still gripping him, or the fact that he was laying directly next to the air conditioning, Shikamaru was still wide awake after nearly ten minutes of motionlessness. Choosing to be stubborn, the shadow user kept his eyes glued shut in hopes of passing out by accident. He was soon interrupted.
"You're shivering."
Opening his eyes, Shikamaru found that Temari was peeking down at him from over the edge of her bed. Glancing down at one of his hands, he saw that it was indeed shaking. Turning his attention back to the sand kunoichi's teal gaze, Shikamaru pulled the thin blanket he had been given up over his shoulders.
"Stop watching me try to sleep." he shot back in a hushed tone. Temari audibly scooted over to the edge of the bed completely, making her entire face visible to him.
"I've only been watching for a minute or two. I'm just saying, you're gonna freeze." she said quietly. Shikamaru shrugged and adjusted his position.
"Oh well, I guess. Nothing I can do about it." he said dismissively. Temari then reached down toward him and took hold of one of his wrists.
"Yeah, there is. You could quit being a wuss and get up here." she said, tugging on him as she spoke. The Nara boy pulled his arm back into himself.
"Hell no. You're a stranger, and I'm pretty sure you'd rape me." he said bluntly. The sand kunoichi scoffed at his defensive retort.
"Look, I'm sorry for making a pass at you, okay? I won't do anything. I promise." she whispered. Shikamaru shook his head firmly.
"Still no." he said flatly. The pair then engaged in a silent staring contest, with Temari's eyes still alight with a playful smugness, while Shikamaru's were stoic and irritated. Eventually, the girl retracted her hand.
"Fine. I'll come down then." she said. Before Shikamaru could react or brace himself, Temari rolled off the edge of the bed and landed squarely in the tiny space remaining between the leaf genin and the bed. Thankfully, since the room was on the base floor of the inn, little sound was made by the short fall.
"What did I just say?" Shikamaru hissed as Temari settled shoulder to shoulder with him on the floor. The fan wielder paid his complaint no heed. Instead, she adjusted the pillow Shikamaru was using and laid her head down on one half of it.
"You said you didn't wanna share the bed. We're sharing the floor instead." she said simply. The Nara boy readied himself to argue, but was silenced when Temari grabbed him by the side of the head and forced it down onto the free half of their now-shared pillow.
"Get some sleep. Don't think too hard about it." she said, her face far too close to his for Shikamaru's liking.
"Just tell me why, at least?" he requested. He was stressed, uncomfortable, and now rather embarrassed. Some sort of clarity would frankly do little to make him feel better, but it was better than nothing.
"Where I come from, the temperature drops below freezing every single night. Our heating isn't the best either. If blankets aren't enough, we huddle up. I'm doing you a favor. Accept it." Temari explained after a moment. The answer made a frustrating amount of sense, but Shikamaru knew better than to assume it was all-encompassing in this case. Saying nothing, but also taking no action to move her, Shikamaru turned his back to the fan wielder and shut his eyes again.
One last time, Temari disturbed him. Slowly, but surely, her left arm snaked around his abdomen and pulled him back a few inches, leaving her chest pressed against his back. Leaning her chin on his shoulder, she spoke.
"Be ready for me next month. I'm holding you now, but I'll hurt you in the ring. Count on it." she whispered, her lips grazing his ear. Shuddering slightly, Shikamaru didn't bother to free himself from her grasp. He lacked the drive or energy.
Eventually, in the arms of his future foe, Shikamaru drifted off to sleep.
Naruto's chest heaved in and out as he was finally given space to breathe. Kakashi had worked him ruthlessly since they had begun their drilling today, and they were currently four hours in. it was only noon, and the blonde was already close to being spent. Taijustu was his strong suit by some distance, and yet he was being worn down by it nonetheless.
"Take a five minute break." Kakashi said with a nod, dropping his stance and studying his student. The Jinchuuriki dropped to his knees and then flat to his back. He loved every second of it, despite the exhaustion. He was improving, and that was what mattered. He was still largely unable to make Kakashi fight even somewhat defensively without the Jonin choosing to of his own accord, but progress had been made. Satsuki had spoken very little of her own training and progression, but he could only assume that she was on a similar track to him, as her confidence did not seem dented in the slightest.
'We still have a lot of time till the final round. I'm gonna be a monster by then.' Naruto thought to himself proudly. One week and four days. Eleven days total. Just barely into the double digits, and he could feel the fruits of his labor. Perhaps that was why he had always enjoyed the daily grind of exercise and drilling. He always saw results if he put his mind to it. The blonde did not recognize this consistent improvement as a sign of talent, but that lack of self-awareness was what kept his ego under control, and kept him hungry.
Sitting up again, Naruto rubbed his sore shoulders. His joints were in near-constant pain, as finding different methods and angles from which to strike Kakashi was a demanding task. He rarely landed cleanly, but he had succeeded in grazing his teacher a time or two. Usually below the neck, but it was heartening regardless. He would need every scrap of improvement he could muster if he hoped to bring down Neji. For all that he was more confident than ever before, Naruto was not blind to the gap in skill.
'Sensei said the Hyuga clan use something called the gentle fist. It's supposed to be a real pain in the ass for normal people.' he recalled. His understanding of what little he had seen of Neji's abilities was limited, but his style of taijutsu had absolutely been different from what he had been taught personally, and from anything he had seen during his short career. It was an added motivation to work tirelessly.
For largely personal reasons, Naruto had a strong distaste for him. His words to Hinata had been cruel and uncalled for, but truth be told, the Jinchuuriki's dislike of the boy had more to do with his general attitude than anything he had said to the Hyuga heiress. He was arrogant, self-assured, and utterly dauntless about needlessly displaying his dominance. He was everything Naruto hated. When running through these traits in his mind, a brief image of Satsuki's face flashed through his mind alongside Neji's. At the thought, Naruto frowned and shook his head slightly.
'No, she's actually…kinda sweet sometimes. Prickly, but she's alright. Neji's just a dick.' he corrected himself. Satsuki Uchiha was indeed egotistical, and she was more than capable of being antagonizing fairly regularly, but over time, Naruto had come to recognize much of her behavior as an artificial mask hiding a far more complex human being. One he had yet to entirely figure out. As a result, he had little issue tolerating her worst days. As he sifted through his thoughts regarding the nature of his teammate as opposed to Neji's, he was snapped back to attention.
"On your feet." came the voice of Kakashi. Immediately breaking from his train of thought, the blonde labored to his feet. Deep thought always passed time far faster than he would have liked. Once he was standing again, Naruto assumed his taijutsu stance and prepared himself for another grueling round of sparring, footwork drills, and harsh cardio. Much to his surprise, and quiet relief, Kakashi did not mirror him.
"Actually, I've decided that we're going to start you off on Ninjutsu today." he revealed. The Jinchuuriki's heart soared. He had been awaiting the chance to learn a technique or two since the formation of Team Seven, and his chance had finally arrived. It was likely to be something basic, but it was exciting all the same.
"What am I gonna be learning?" he pressed excitedly. Kakashi held up three fingers and put away the orange book he had been reading during the brief break.
"Three things. One of them should be a walk in the park for you, one should be pretty middling, and the last one is definitely gonna be a headache. We'll be starting with the headache." he explained. Naruto nodded eagerly. Kakashi then held out his right palm and turned it up toward the sky. Then, slowly at first, chakra began to spiral in the older ninja's hand.
Within moments, a glowing blue sphere of rapidly rotating chakra formed in his palm. The small orb emanated a low humming sound, and appeared to be self-sustaining. With wide eyes, Naruto pointed to it.
"That looks really hard to do." he said, pointing out the painfully obvious. Kakashi gave him a thumbs up. He then turned around and faced the forest behind him. A split second later, he vanished and reappeared in front of the trees and slammed the sphere into the trunk of one of them. The tree was decimated on impact, with splinters of bark flying in all directions. Naruto's jaw dropped. Kakashi quickly rejoined his stunned student in the middle of clearing.
"The speed was all mine, but the destructive force comes with the territory. That jutsu is called Rasengan, and it was a favorite of the Fourth Hokage." he explained. The Jinchuuriki gave him a look of unbridled glee.
"That's so cool. How did you get your hands on the Fourth's jutsu?" he asked. Kakashi smiled under his mask.
"He just so happened to be my jonin instructor before he took over as Hokage." he replied. Naruto whistled and shook his head.
"Explains why you're so good at this stuff. So, when do we start?" he pressed. Kakashi reached into his pocket and fished around for a moment. He eventually produced what appeared to be a deflated balloon.
"Right now, actually."
A/N: Alright, so I know this chapter is gonna raise some serious eyebrows for a fair few of you, and I understand why:
Temari came off as insanely forward. That is intentional. She's *mostly* messing with him, and I thought it was pretty funny, but their dynamic will consist of a decent amount of that
Shikamaru messing around with the enemy again. Like he said, not his fault this time
I promise you this: It will not end the way you're thinking it will.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. No Satsuki for once, but I tried to add in a bit of Naruto's inner thoughts regarding her to fill that voice. I apologize for the longer wait on this one. I've been at a hotel the past few days. Death in the family :(
Please leave a review if you're able. It really helps me know how I'm doing :)
I love you all
Read and Review!
