If anyone is wondering about the chapter title... my English class has just finished reading Tale of Two Cities, and it seemed to fit. I was going to name it 'Pheonix' as in, reborn from ashes, but it seemed stupid.
Nara Shikamaru graduated from the Academy by the skin of his teeth- and that was because his mother threatened him to graduate
Nara Shikamaru graduated from the Academy by the skin of his teeth- and that was because his mother threatened him to graduate. But that doesn't mean he's not a good ninja- far from it, in fact!
Shikamaru happens to be a very smart individual. If he were to actually try on any of those IQ tests Asuma-sensei gave him (Yes, he noticed they were tests. He was a genius after all.) they would discover he is actually far above the already staggering 200 IQ estimate.
But if people knew he was that smart, they'd expect him to try harder, become a better ninja.
Uh… no. Too troublesome.
So to the majority of the population, Shikamaru was a bare step above dead last. He was lazy, and would never amount to much. If he ever became a legend, or was put in the Bingo Book, his title would be something like 'The Legendary Laze'.
And Shikamaru was just fine with that.
Back in the Academy, Naruto had always interested him. He was innocent and friendly, so why did the adults all hate him? His young mind chewed away at the problem for hours, days, weeks, months, years. And he still had no answers, despite his formidable intelligence.
Pranks don't turn an entire village against you. Immaturity doesn't make a grown man's eyes widen in fear. What was it about Naruto that disturbed them?
Well, now he had his answer, and he wasn't too sure he liked it.
Some might wonder how a dead-last loser like Naruto could be the almighty Kyuubi. But Shikamaru was quite aware of masks and deception. He was a shinobi, after all. Still, though, there were other things to consider. The Sandaime and Godaime were both extremely close to the boy. Both knew what he was. So why did they care about him? He hadn't been killed as a newborn. He didn't have a kitsune's Hoshi no Tama, its star-ball. He had never killed.
It was the last that stumped him for a bit. He knew for a fact Naruto had yet to bloody his hands as a ninja. If he had killed as a child (Or was it kit now?) everyone in the village would know. Gossip is God, he thought. The only thing faster than the speed of light is hot air.
Anyway. As a child Naruto would not have been able to control bloodlust instincts. So if he didn't kill (or come close to killing) citizens when he was at his most susceptible to Kyuubi's influence, why would he suddenly become a fox demon now?
Shikamaru was smart enough to realize what 'everyone' thought was not necessarily right. He was cynical enough to believe it possible that they just wanted a scapegoat. And he was enough of a child, enough o a Konoha citizen, to hero-worship the Yondaime Hokage.
Yondaime-sama wanted Naruto to be treated as a hero, Tsunade-sama had said. If the Yondaime believed the seal would hold, then it would.
So while he might not trust Naruto like a comrade anymore, he didn't see him as an enemy. Misunderstood, yes. Blood thirsty, no.
Well, unless he decided to come for revenge, in which case Shikamaru would be perfectly happy to point out the Council room and hightail it to a bomb shelter. This is Naruto we're talking about, after all. Anything's possible when he's involved. If the blond wanted Konoha to fall down around their ears, it'd probably happen.
Besides… it'd be too troublesome to hate the kid. Damn bastard was too happy to hate.
Naruto wandered aimlessly through the streets of Sunagakure, looking for nothing in particular. Earlier that morning Gaara had shown up, tossing a small pouch of money onto his lap and placing a visitor's badge in the bed stand, before disappearing once more; all without a word. What was it, Naruto wondered, about him that attracted monotonous, stoic bastards with major issues? Shouldn't they go see a psychologist, instead of flocking to him? Sasuke, Gaara, and Neji are just the obvious ones. There seemed to be something about him that drew mutes with childhood trauma to him like flies.
The doctor from before strode in as Naruto counted the money given to him. It wasn't much, but he'd manage. He always did.
"You're free to go," the doctor frowned, "But don't go wandering in the desert again."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Right…"
So here he was, wandering around, looking or a store that might hold what he needed. He stopped outside a modest sized establishment with a sign worn to illegibility by the desert winds.
"Eh, why not?"
Naruto grinned madly as he exited the little shop. He had hit jackpot. Not many stores carried such a large selection of orange, after all.
His new outfit consisted of (first and foremost) the shinobi basics. That would be the standard ninja sandals (though in black, and higher up his leg to provide better support, and less bulky), kunai and shuriken pouches (both empty of aforementioned weapons), bandages (have you noticed every ninja wears bandages?), and forehead protector. He had convinced the seamstress to attach it to a length of scrap fabric that had proven itself to be highly resilient. It was now a deep orange (though still not the neon shad of his jumpsuit), and a good deal longer than before. The store, unfortunately, hadn't sold any orange shirts, and had no jackets to speak of. Instead, he found a tight black muscle shirt(1). He was slightly alarmed by the fact that several female's eyes seemed to gravitate toward his chest. This wasn't supposed to happen to him! It was Sasuke the girls liked, not stupid Naruto! He wondered, if Sakura-chan was here, would she-
Oh… That's right. He was never allowed in Konoha again. Abruptly his good mood ended, but he still kept walking. He needed weapons.
The girls still intimidated him, so he kept his eyes on his newly bought pants. He was overjoyed to see a large selection of orange on the racks. The ones he finally settled on were a deep orange, like the hiate-ate band, but more of a burnt color. They were very similar to his previous pants in that they were capris, reaching to his upper shin now. The tops had a drawstring opening, which bunched around his hips a bit before falling in loose waves. The material was thick and resilient, but also 'breathed' easily, as was signature for Kaze no Kuni manufactured clothing.
Extra, as in non-essential, items took the form of two black gloves that went slightly past his wrist and an arm kunai pouch on his left bicep. Finally, he purchased a sturdy deep blue backpack to carry his supplies in.
Naruto sighed mournfully as he looked at his much-depleted cache of money, and then at the temptress before him, "…Fine."
The little girl let out a wild yell before grabbing the older boy's hand and dragging him into the shop behind them.
Umi had been crying, and Naruto had stopped to help. Big mistake, it turns out. He was drawn in by the irresistible power of her puppy dog eyes technique, and soon found himself conned into buying her ice cream.
"So, Umi-chan, why were you all alone?"
The little girl paused, glaring at her Raspberry Swirl with a cute pout. "They don't like me."
"What makes you say that?"
"They're always calling me names, making fun of me because me name's Umi(2), and we live here…"
"Well, do you like the ocean?"
Umi shook her head, "I've never seen it. But it sound scary… all that water! I like the desert…"
Naruto smiled, "Then why does it matter what they think?"
The little girl stared up at him with wide eyes, "Umi!" before turning to face who called her name.
The other girls and a young boy came running up, "Where'd you go?"
"Why'd you run off?"
"Are you okay?"
"We're so sorry!"
It was hard to make out what they were saying, but the meaning of the babble was clear. A wide grin spread over Umi's face, and she turned to face the blonde ninja, "Arigato, nii-chan!"
Naruto smiled, "No problem. Now go play, okay?"
"Hai!"
Naruto's expression grew wistful as he watched the group run off, "So young…"
"We were never like that." A familiar voice observed dryly. Naruto jumped, and spun to face the intruder. There stood Gaara, staring impassively after the retreating children.
"We never got the chance to be," Naruto agreed, turning back to watch the quartet.
"Hn. Come. You can ca weapons from me."
The blond blinked, but followed his fellow Jinchuuriki, "Are you sure it's okay?"
"Who's going to use them?" Gaara retorted. "I have my sand, Temari her fan. Kankuro only uses then to stock his puppets, and he doesn't replace them very often.
Naruto grinned widely, a bit more life appearing in his eyes, "Alright, let's get to it!"
Gaara almost rolled his eyes… Almost
Gaara's home was pretty big by Suna standards, but then again, his father had been the Kazekage.
"S- Sugoi!"
But that wasn't what had Naruto so shocked.
"What does this do?!"
No, what had Naruto acting like a six-year-old in a candy shop was the Sabaku family's impressive collection.
"Ooooh…. Sharp!"
…Of weapons.
"Yeesh, that's heavy!"
The former Yondaime Kazekage had amassed one of the largest collections of rare and unusual weapons Naruto had ever seen. No wonder all tree Sand Siblings carried odd weapons.
Having stocked up on the essentials (kunai, shurukin, explosive notes, flash bombs, and a few senbon, just in case), Naruto was ready to leave. But Gaara had stopped him, saying it was time to pick a specialty weapon. Apparently it was a Sunagakure tradition.
"I can't choose!" Naruto's eyes flashed over to his companion, "Help?"
Gaara rolled his eyes, but obliged. "You sound just like Matsuri."
"Who?" Naruto's smile grew sinister, "Your girlfriend?"
"No." The redhead's tone was disappointingly (though unsurprisingly) monotonous. "My student."
"Ehhhh?!" Naruto dropped the katana he was examining with a loud clang, "YOU HAVE A STUDENT?!"
"Yes."
"SINCE WHEN?!"
"Yesterday."
The blond turned back to the rack of blades with a huff, grumbling indistinguishable words under his breath. The cold boy by the entrance didn't move, but if one looked closely, they may be able to pot a glimpse of amusement, before he turned back to gaze critically at the weaponry assembled before him, searching for a match for the blond enigma.
"Ah!" Matsuri let out a strangled gasp as her new weapon boomeranged back to dig into the ground before her. "Arg!" her frustrated shout rang out over the practice ground, "Stop getting scared!" Frustrated tears built up in the corner of her eyes.
Why do you wield a weapon? Gaara-sensei had asked just a short while earlier.
'I wonder… who was that shinobi that changed Gaara-sensei so much?' Matsuri wasn't a little kid, she was old enough to remember the bloodthirsty demon her teacher used to be. It had only been a few months since his… transition, after all.
"Why do I wield a weapon?" She murmured, "Is there an answer to that?"
"Maybe we can help… student of Gaara" a voice purred as several shadows stretched over her shoulder, elongated by the noon sun. Matsuri shifted, spinning around to face the source even as beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
A woman with teal hair and yellow bangs stood in a confidant pose up on Sunagakure's wall. "You'll be… the first sacrifice!"
"Eh?" Naruto took the offered weapon from Gaara's outstretched hand, hefting it up to test the weight. "What's it called?"
"It's known as Kwan Dao Wushu, a traditional Chinese weapon."
"Hmmm? …It's odd."
Gaara just gave Naruto deadpan look. "Of course." He fought with a gourd, his sister with an oversized fan, and his brother with marionettes.
Naruto supposed he should count himself lucky there were no more truly odd weapons lying about the armory. Like… a spool of thread(3).Proven deadly, but creepily odd and totally unintimidating.
The blond gave an experimental swing, taking note of the weight. "Damn…"the oriental halbard's viscous tip dug into the ground, "The balance'll take some getting used to!"
Gaara nodded, "Try these." He held out a pair of katars for the other's perusal.
Naruto set the Kwan Dao Wushu on its blunt end, steadying it with one hand as the other reached for the daggers.
Just before the switch was made, the Chuunin that had stopped Naruto from entering Suna came bursting in, supported by Gaara's grim-looking siblings.
"M-message!" he gasped out.
Gaara frowned, "From who?"
"A group that calls themselves the Shitenshounin." Kankuro answered.
"'We, who are the ultimate weapons, announce our challenge to you. If you do not accept, everyday we will kidnap someone close to you until you respond.'" Temari recited.
A faint look of confusion crossed Gaara's features, "Everyone accept Baki is here in this room…"
"And Baki-sensei wouldn't go down without a fight!" Temari exclaimed, looking relieved, "So they haven't gotten anyone yet."
"Wait…" Naruto interrupted, causing the three newcomers to look at him in surprise, they hadn't noticed him in their panic. "Weren't you just talking about your student?"
Gaara's face tensed, eyes regaining a metallic glint. The sand around his feet, ever present in a desert environment, surged outward in a great wave, "Let us go."
IMPORTANT! As some of you may have noticed, the title is spelt wrong. The next time I update, I will change this. I'm not sure if this will make it harder to find, if you've saved it or whatever, so I'm giving you guys prior notice.
Well... It's 7 or 8 pages long, so at least I didnt put up a pitiful chapter! (fidgits nervously) I'm a bad person, arent I? You know when you get a 'reading mood'? Where all you want to do is read new things? Well... I was in a reading mood. Or am I the only person who gets those? Anyway. I have a few short stories planned, and one medium length one, so I'll be planning those. The next chapter should be out in two weeks or so. If I go loca and dont update in a month (still cant believe I did that... I had like 90 percent written already, too!) Feel free to yell at me. In fact, I ask you to! Sometimes I need reminders in order to get off my lazy ass and work.
tight black muscle shirt(1)- (looks around guiltily) I knew my obsession with Ginta (M.A.R.) wasn't healthy… Anyway, look him up on Google; I'm fascinated with his shirt. That's pretty much what I based Naruto's new look off of, more orange of course. Naruto's shirt is tighter though, showing off a hint of muscle. Not skin tight. And the pants are lower, longer, and more orange.
Umi(2)- Can mean either Sea or Ocean
Spool of thread(3)- GetBacker's. Need I say more? Fine. Kazuki Fuuchouin. Get it now? No? Go watch it then! It's a pretty good anime, at least in the beginning.
Omg, when I wrote Gaara-sensei I accidentally wrote Gai-sensei! O.O totally freaked now. Gaara… Gai… (shudders) I just imagined Gaara in spandex. Not green, maroon, with a black forehead protector around his waist. …creepy. At least he looks better in it than the Fuzzy Eyebrows Duo!