Chapter 20: Graduation

(Alternatively, The Night When Life Said "Screw the Plot")

Author's Notes: So you got to see some of AVALANCHE last time and got a glimpse into Hyo's past. And by this time you all should have a good idea of what's going on. We'll soon be reaching the point where it all comes together, just not for Shikamaru. He's in the dark because of his lack of memories.

(Shikamaru's POV)

Shikamaru sighs as he stares up at the newly revealed Hokage's Monument. He can't believe that he got roped into painting the damn thing. Not that he isn't proud that the three of them didn't get caught doing it. It means that their stealth abilities are far superior to a great many of the veteran Shinobi in the village. But that is also a bad thing. If they can out maneuver the ANBU Black Ops then who else can do the same? He sighs again as he decides to talk to the Hokage about increasing the standards for the ANBU.

Beside him, Naruto, Sasuke and rest of his group of friends are snickering as they watch a good portion of the Shinobi forces scramble around looking for the culprit. The rest of the classroom is no better as they crowd the windows. Shikamaru wishes that he hadn't chosen a seat so close to the blasted things at the beginning of the school year. Iruka-sensei's futile attempts to get the class settled down only seems to make everything worse as the kids get louder and Mizuki isn't even helping the poor man. Shikamaru drops his head down and proceeds to beat his head against the desk. 'So noisy... I hate school.'

Finally, Iruka-sensei has enough of their disobedience and uses his signature jutsu to make his head grow. The man yells for silence and the rest of the class settles down. Shikamaru relaxes as the noise level drops and he feels someone pat his back. He's pretty certain that it is Sasuke since the hand came from his left. If there's one thing that he knows, it is that Sasuke is always at his left and Naruto is always at his right. He doesn't know why they place themselves to each side, but he appreciates the way it implies that they always have his back.

He listens to their teacher as he scolds the class for laughing over the vandalism of the Hokage Monument. The man tells them that they should tell him if they know who the culprits are. No one says anything. Naruto doesn't even twitch in his seat and Sasuke looks as if this is all just a waste of his time. Iruka-sensei doesn't even look Naruto's way as he looks around. Shikamaru knows that normally Naruto would be laughing his ass off at his better pranks - which is how he usually gets caught - so Iruka doesn't suspect the boy. Especially since his (known) pranks only include people.

Eventually, Iruka-sensei gives up and tells them that they will be having a pop quiz on the Henge. The whole class crowns and Shikamaru buried himself further into his arms. He's already so done with this day and it isn't even noon yet. He wonders if his dad's lazy behavior is actually contagious because he usually has more energy and patience then he does right now. Or maybe it's because he was up at three AM rather than his usual four-thirty AM. He yawns and he hears Iruka-sensei sigh roughly.

"I now that you find all your classes boring, Shikamaru-kun, but could you at least pretend to be paying attention?"

"We're having a quiz on the Henge," Shikamaru says as he slowly lifts his aching head. "Pretty sure I'd proven that I had this jutsu perfected a few months ago. Pretty sure that the rest of my friends and Naruto have it down pat too. Unless you'd like Naruto to prove it to you and Mizuki-sensei again?"

The two teachers look at each other with haunted expressions and Shikamaru knows that they are remembering the blond's jutsu. Naruto starts to snicker as Ino, Sakura, and Hinata look simultaneously amused and exasperated. Sasuke smirks while Shino drops his head into his hands in embarrassment. Kiba just laughs outright and Chōji shakes his head as they remember Naruto using the perverted jutsu for the first time. Shikamaru just stares off to one side. He still isn't able to look his brother in the eyes whenever the subject is brought up(even if he is the one to bring it up).

Their teachers sigh and Shikamaru knows he's won. He never wants to see Naruto that way ever again and the blond will take any chance he gets to prank people with it. Henge practice would be the perfect time for the younger boy to use that horrible jutsu. Sure, it might have a practical use on missions, but that doesn't mean that it isn't as uncomfortable as hell to see his brother that way. He hears Kiba coughed "Prude" and then the Inuzuka yelps as Ino slaps him over the head.

Iruka-sensei sighs, "Just go outside. I swear you guys are going to give me gray hair..."

Shikamaru scoffs internally. If anyone is going to be getting gray hair, it will be him with all of the antics that he has to put up with. He wonders how he managed to keep his sanity with his niece and nephews before remembering that he had traveled a lot. He didn't often stay long enough to ever be annoyed by the kids back then. He sighs as he stretches and stands. He hears the rest of the class complaining as he walks out with his friends and family. Iruka-sensei's voice sounds out asking the complainers if they have perfected the Henge to the degree they have.

'That's a bit harsh,' he thinks as he considers the fact that his group is composed of mostly Clan children or had Shinobi as parents. The majority of their classmates are from civilian families. It doesn't matter much, he supposes. They will either make it or they won't based on their own merits. Those who worked hard to get where they are will become part of the Shinobi Forces. It's not like the Hokage will accept anything less.

As for his own group, well, they had the benefit of years of extra training. They'd worked hard to be within the top fifteen. Shikamaru may be a genius, but he's content with his middle of the class ranking. He doesn't need to validate himself by taking the title of rookie of the year. Sasuke can have that. Sakura, he knows, will be the top Kunoichi of their year. Her intelligence and work ethic will take her far. Ino and Hinata are right behind her.

In fact, the only reason Hinata isn't going to be the Kunoichi of the year is because Sakura has better grades. Not by much, but enough to make a difference. Naruto, Kiba, and Chōji all fall in between Shikamaru and Ino while Shino is competing with Sasuke for rookie of the year. He proud of them to be honest. They've done well for themselves and if they continue to work hard, they will be great.

Shikamaru yawns as he and his brothers walk into the house. Almost immediately they are approached by their parents/parental figures. Shikamaru sighs as he guesses why they look annoyed(mom) and amused(dad). His guess is proved right when his dad starts to laugh and says, "The Monument? Really?"

His mom sighs, "Why did I ever expect you to be a stern parent?"

The older man just shrugs. "You have to admit that it is a brilliant prank. And they never got caught. I think that's a good indication that they are ready to take their next steps into the world of Shinobi. The Hokage suspects that you three did it, but since there's no proof he can't really do anything. Especially since your still civilians until you graduate. Sarutobi-sama says congratulations, by the way, for putting a bee into the Civilian Councils collective bonnets."

Naruto grins, "Well, if we had done it, then we would have taken the credit. But to be honest, we don't know who did it."

Their mom rubs her forehead and groans. "How is it that I managed to raise a trio of pranksters who won't even own up to their antics?"

Sasuke shrugs and Shikamaru deadpans, "We have plausible deniability. After all, we were still in bed when the vandalizing of the Hokage Monument had to have happened. You should know this since you were the one to get us up for school."

She throws her hands up and start out a frustrated noise. "And yet you're the only one who could plan such a strategy for Naruto and he has the Kage Bushin to pull off such a plan. And Sasuke, I thought you didn't get involved with these sorts of things?"

"I don't. If the Hokage is fine with it then I suppose we should be as well. I did find the scrambling ANBU to be amusing, though. Then again, I think the whole class was humored by the event."

"Let it go, Yoshino. The Hokage isn't mad and said that so long as they don't do it again - before or after graduation - then they won't have any problems."

"Fine, but if you boys do this sort of thing again you'll be doing double the amount of training you normally do with me. Am I understood?"

"Hai!" All three of them respond promptly with wide eyes.

Sasuke and Naruto both give Shikamaru apologetic looks. They know that his training regimen is hellishly hard already. Shikamaru can't help the hysterical burble of amusement that passes through his mind as he shrugs at them with a blank face. If his training gets doubled it will look something like what his past routine looked like. He'd had a harsh training regimen that he had adhered to back then. Then again, all the people who were enhanced had hard training schedules. It was better than being killed by something stronger than them.

He doesn't say anything to his mom, though. He doesn't want her to think that she's working him too hard, not when they will soon be entering the Shinobi Forces. Every moment of training will one day be the difference between life and death. He doesn't want his parents to ever have to bury him, Naruto, or Sasuke.

(He's already seen what losing Aerith did to his sister's mother(her death still hurts, but now he can think about his sister without the overwhelming pain he used to feel) He doesn't want his parents to feel that same sort of devastating grief that Elmyra had felt after Aerith had passed away. But he also knows that death is inevitable. It's something he has accepted(had accepted a long time ago) and he's already decided that he won't ever look away from death.

After all, looking away from it won't stop it from happening.)

When Naruto comes out of room designated for the Ninjutsu portion of the test with a devastated face, Shikamaru is ready to do something appropriately horrible. "What happened in there?"

"They wouldn't accept the Kage Bushin for the Bushin portion of the test. And I somehow managed to miss enough questions on my test that I failed because I can't do normal Bushin," Naruto whispers. "I told Iruka-sensei that he should of gotten a note from the Hokage that would allow me to use the Kage Bushin, but he said he never got such a note. I don't understand how I could have missed that many questions either! It was easy for me since you helped me study."

"Naru-"

"Can you just... leave me alone for a little while? I really don't want to talk about this right now."

Sasuke gently grabs Shikamaru before the more mature brother can lose his rarely lost temper. Shikamaru sighs and nods, "Yeah, okay, but we're going to the Hokage once you're feeling better."

Naruto gives him a weak smile before turning and walking away. Shikamaru has to stomp on the instinctual need to tear apart the people responsible for that sad look on his younger brother's face. This can't be Iruka-sensei's fault(the man sees Naruto as a little brother and is often over at the Nara residence to speak to their parents about how all three of them are progressing in class) which means that it was either the Hokage's secretary or Mizuki who deliberately lost the note. Furthermore, it means that Naruto's written test was also sabotaged. Talking to the Hokage is their best bet, but right now all they can do is wait until Naruto feels up for it. Shikamaru doesn't like it and he can tell that none of their friends like it either.

Eventually, their friends go out to greet their parents and to show off their Hitai-ate. Sasuke gently nudges him outside and drags him to his parents. He distantly hears the Uchiha say, "Someone sabotaged Naruto and Shikamaru is pretty pissed. I don't think it's a good idea to talk to him right now."

"And Naruto? Where is he?" His dad's voice.

"I'm not sure. He took off after he explained how he had been failed. He wanted to be alone for a while. I don't think he'd appreciate being followed anyway. He looked pretty upset," Sasuke says.

Shikamaru hears a feminine sigh, his mom's, then, "Then lets get you boys home. Shikaku and I will come look for him afterwards. He may be calmed down by then."

(Sasuke's POV)

Sasuke sits in the window of his room with a scowl on his face. Naruto still hasn't been found yet and it worries him. The blond is his best friend. He's Shikamaru's other brother too. The Nara is seriously protective of both of them, but he is especially protective of the youngest male. Not that he blames the Nara for being that way. He's seen the way the villagers treat Naruto and there's no reason that he's seen or heard that gives them the right to call him such horrible names. Nor does he deserve the nasty looks he's been given time and time again.

Sasuke jumps down from the windowsill and starts to pace before making a decision. He packs up some of his Shinobi gear and jumps out of his window. He'll find his friend and beat the bad mood out of him if he has to. He knows that Naruto is disappointed with his failure, but that doesn't give him the right to make them worry like this. Especially not their shared brother who'd do anything for them.

When he finds the blond it is at one of the outlying training grounds with a scroll in his lap. He ignores that in favor of his anger. He jumps down from the tree he had landed in and walks over to the other boy with clenched fists. He lifts his right fist and brings it down on top of Naruto's head. "Idiot! Do you have any idea how long we've been worrying about you?! Are you trying to get people killed?! You know how protective Aniki is of us, of you! He'll definitely snap and kill someone if he thinks either one of us has been hurt or messed with!

"Just because you failed once doesn't mean that it's the end of the world! The Hokage will probably allow you take the test again if you just talk to the old man!"

The blond yelps and clutches his head in pain, but Sasuke can't find any sympathy in himself for the other boy. He's brought this down upon himself with his selfish actions. "Aniki is at home pacing his bedroom because he's really worried and your parents are out there looking for you! Hell, I bet Iruka-sensei is out looking for you too! Hiding like this, it's not fair to any of them! It's not fair to me either. You swore that we'd be best friends and that you'd help me in whatever way necessary. Well, it goes both ways, you damn moron! You should already know that you can come to me for anything too!"

The blond stares at him with tears in his eyes before he smiles at him. "I already knew that, bastard. But it's good to hear you say it! Besides, Mizuki-sensei gave me a make up test! I learned a new jutsu! I can now make my clones explode, Sasuke!"

Sasuke chokes on air and his voice sounds out a bit shrilly, "That's... How gullible can you get?! Isn't that the Forbidden Scroll?! Oh gods, we are in so much trouble! Forget Aniki killing other people, he's gonna kill us because of your stupid ass!"

Just as he's about to continue, a dizzy spell comes over him. The last thing he sees is Naruto slumping to one side. He only has a moment to think 'Shit, we've been ambushed' before he blacks out.

The next time he awakens, it's not quite as the same person who'd blacked out. Sasuke lifts his head slowly due to the headache he has and sees Naruto doing the same. "Dobe? You okay?"

The the blond grunts, "I'm gonna kill Kurama for this headache when he wakes up. I don't think I have ever had a migraine this bad before."

The Uchiha sighs in relief, "Good to know you made it back in tact. So...do you have a bunch of memories that you didn't have before or is that just me? 'Cause I'd swear that Shikamaru is our brother?"

"It's not just you. I have them too. Kurama did say that time travel can be weird. Maybe this is one of those things that changed when we came back?"

"Maybe. By the way, you're still a fucking idiot!"

"Eh?! Why are you saying that to me now?!"

"Even I wasn't ever stupid enough to steal the damn Forbidden Scroll, Dobe! What the hell?!"

"Oh! Mizuki is a traitor and he works for Orochimaru. So yeah... hehehe..."

"That isn't something to laugh about, Dobe," Sasuke deadpans. "If my memories are right, then we are so dead. Aniki is going to kill us."

Naruto blinks and Sasuke can't help but say, "Well, this is going to take some getting used to. Looks like our younger selves will still influence our behavior."

Naruto nods, "It makes sense. But can we really say that it's a bad thing? I mean, it seems like we've led some great lives so far. Who's to say we can't keep living them? We might be from the future, but we're still the same people who lived this life. We wouldn't have these memories if we weren't meant to have them.

"Besides, I really like having a brother. It's nice," Naruto says with a sad smile. "Anyway, we should get moving before Mizuki gets here. I don't know how much longer we have and it seems like my younger self had already figured out that Mizuki was a bigger bastard then Kiba thought he was.

"And you're right. Shika-nii is going to murder us for this crap," Naruto lets out a nervous laugh. He says, "but at least we know he cares?"

Sasuke hangs his head and begins to mutter to himself as he follows Naruto. His friend is such an idiot. He really doesn't want to die by a pissed off and freaked out Nara. Especially not by one who happens to be a lot more motivated than Sasuke can remember. But then again, hadn't the Nara been MIA by the time he'd gotten his head out of his ass and returned to Konoha and all the people he'd left behind?

"Naruto, wasn't he missing in action before the war?" Sasuke catches up to his friend to walk beside him.

Naruto nods, "He was swept overboard during a freak storm while out on a mission. He was trying to save a child when it happened. We never saw him again, as you already know. It didn't stop us from looking for him until things started to go to hell. I intend to keep him from going missing while we're figuring out exactly where everything went wrong.

"I'm not losing my friend and brother this time around. I'm going to save him." The Uzumaki's face is the picture of determination.

"We'll save him," Sasuke says as he whacks his friend over the head. He continues, "together. He's my brother now too. I'm not about to take him for granted the way I took Itachi back then. Besides, Itachi... he might be my blood brother, but he left me. If I can find a way to get him to come home, I will. But he's got a lot to make up for.

"Aniki... He's always been honest with us. He's always been up front about what he'd do for us. We'd be pretty bad brothers if we left him behind now after everything he's done for us."

Naruto laughs and says as Sasuke turns to glare at him, "I think I like how your younger self is affecting you! You're less of an angsty, brooding bastard now!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he says seriously, "Might be all those years of therapy Aniki made me take. If I'd known how much I really needed it, I might have started going a long time ago. I'd have probably been less of a miserable asshole if I had. Anyway, how are we going to do this?"

"Well, we'll have to improvise a little since you're here, but I think we can make things go almost the same as before. It'll give you a plausible explanation for having an active Sharingan too! So this is what we'll do..."

(Shikamaru's POV)

When his parents bring Naruto and Sasuke home with blood on their clothes and skin, Shikamaru nearly has a heart attack. As it is, he lunges at them and begins to berated them while punching them in the shoulders.

"You idiots!" He snarls as he grabs the collars of their shirts. He grits his teeth against the ache in his throat as he continues to yell. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?! When I heard that the two of you were involved in some kind of incident, I was afraid one or both of you were going to get yourselves killed! How could the two of you be so stupid?! Didn't I teach you better than this?!

"How many times have I told you that I'll always be here for you?! How many times have I told you that I would always help the two of you in any way possible?!" He shakes them harder as he roars, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOUR DEATHS WOULD HAVE DONE TO OUR FAMILY?! HOW COULD YOU TWO BE SO SELFISH?!"

Shikamaru throws himself away from them as tears begin to burn his eyes. He turns away before they can see them. He doesn't want them to see him at his weakest. He's already lost his whole world once before and he doesn't want to lose his family in this life. Especially not this early when these boys have their whole lives ahead of them. He chokes back a sob and suddenly there are two sets of arms around him. It's Sasuke who speaks first, "We're sorry, Aniki. We hurt you pretty badly, didn't we?"

Naruto says tentatively, "We didn't mean to, though. It wasn't meant to be this way...but... I have something I need to tell you. You're my brother and you deserve to know."

Their father responds before Shikamaru can. "Are you sure, Naruto? The Hokage did say that you didn't have to tell anyone if you don't want to."

Naruto nods against his shoulder. "Sasuke knows and he's my best friend. Shika-nii is my brother. How can my best friend know, but not my brother?"

The older Nara sighs and says, "How about some tea first? I think we could all use a minute to calm down and then you can tell him the whole story. It's not like your brother won't dig until he gets all the gory details anyway."

Alarmed, Shikamaru whimpers, "Gory? Gods, what the hell did you idiots get yourselves into?!"

His blond brother laughs nervously, "Um, well, it turns out that Mizuki-sensei is a traitor and he wanted to kill me?"

Shikamaru drops his head into his hands and groans in exasperated horror. No matter what he does, the blond will always be a trouble magnet.

"Oh, and Sasuke activated his Sharingan!"

The man in a pre-teen's body wonders if it's too late to find a hole to crawl into and never come out of it.

Later that night, he contemplates what he's been told as he cradles his sleeping brothers on each of his shoulders. It makes sense, the fact that Naruto holds the Kyūbi. It answers all the questions he's been asking for as long as he's known the blond. He wonders how anyone can be so blind as to not see how wonderful his brother is. He wonders why they couldn't, at the very least, leave an innocent baby alone instead of abusing him.

Then he decides that it doesn't matter. Naruto is his brother now. He will always protect him to the best of his abilities. The blond will never be alone ever again. Not so long as he still lives. And he plans to be around for a very long time.

Author's Notes #2: So how many people saw that coming?

So now both sides of board are set with poor, clueless Shikamaru(Hyo) being stuck in the middle. And he has no idea what's going on. But his cluelessness is going to keep changing things despite everyone else's plans. It's going to cause a certain organization a lot of problems. Even more than the ones who have come back to actively change all the things that they wish they could have changed before.

They've got people they want to save and an end of the world to stop. Even if the Shinobi side doesn't know exactly why things went to hell in a hand basket.