Troublesome Fate
Warnings: Here's where things start to get a higher rating, due to violence and swearing. I felt like coming up with lots of stuff involving creepy critters, since I'm a biology student and I'm messed in the head.
Part 3: Going Batty
Shikamaru walked down the street, feeling too groggy to jump across the rooftops and deciding to take his time and enjoy the morning sunrise, his bag brimming with provisions for the A Rank mission. He had never been in the Southeastern part of Fire Country before, Asuma had warned him that the climate was hotter and the food more spicy. As he approached Yumi, who was standing in front of the Pink Bookstore where she sometimes filled in between working on missions and at the hospital and lived in the apartment above it with her parents, he saw an older woman speaking to her in the rudest tone and language he'd ever heard since his encounter with that Sound-nin Tayuya. Yumi seemed to be taking the verbal abuse in stride, quietly reading a scroll and not even looking at the woman.
"Why the fuck wasn't it given to me? I'm his mother." The woman was practically screeching.
"The ANBU told me that he left specific instructions that I would be the first to be notified if anything happened to him, if you have a problem, take it up with them. Here, it's not as if you don't already know." Yumi held out the scroll, not even blinking as it was snatched out of her hand.
"You need help?" Shikamaru asked as he approached her.
"Don't worry about it, Shikamaru, let's just go." Yumi whispered as they quickly left for the gates.
Yumi didn't even look back as the woman continued screaming, swearing and cursing at her like a rabid she-devil.
"It should have been you, you worthless little bitch! Not my Kabuto!"
'That name's familiar.' Shikamaru thought.
"Kabuto? Is he an older genin with white hair and glasses?" he asked.
"Oh, you saw him at the chuunin exams?" Yumi replied.
"Yeah, he pulled out before the preliminary matches. Did something happen to him?" he answered.
"You could say that. I guess I'm more disappointed then surprised, but he's formally been declared an S-Rank criminal and missing-nin." Yumi answered with a sad look in her eyes.
Shikamaru was about to ask why a person he only knew as a Konoha genin would be declared an S-Rank criminal, when they reached the village gates. Subatsu gave them work clothes to wear over their regular clothes and showed them all the hidden compartments containing their equipment and provisions on their mule cart before leaving through Konoha's gate.
"If anyone stops to question us, our story is that we're carpenters transporting supplies for a building project in the Southern post town of Tanaka. Don't use your ninja abilities unless we're attacked, we don't want to be seen. I'll keep an eye on the road and steer the cart for now, so I'd suggest you all have a snack and take a long nap, this trip will take most of the day. Roka, you know what to do." Subatsu instructed.
Roka nodded and cut his thumb, summoning a pair of crows.
"My birds will watch out for traps and bandits. I brought some snacks for the trip, what about you guys?" Roka asked.
"Just my old shogi board, anyone want a match?" Shikamaru asked.
"Maybe later." Said Roka.
"Sorry, Shikamaru-kun, I'm no good at shougi. I brought some stuff to polish my weapon with, medicine that some of the shinobi we're meeting with requested and some of my favorite manga." Yumi answered.
Shikamaru picked up a manga out of curiosity and started reading it.
"Oh, that's my yaoi doushinji." Said Yumi.
"What's yaoi doushinji?" Shikamaru asked.
"It's gay porn disguised as cheesy romance. All the girls like reading that stuff, Yumi's practically the town dealer." Roka snorted.
"It's not porn, it's art!" She answered.
"If that's art, then picking the crusts out of my eyes in the early morning is training." Answered Roka.
"Look, see? Shikamaru likes it." Said Yumi.
"I dunno, he looks more like someone wants to pull his teeth out to me." Roka pointed out Shikamaru's twitching eyebrow with a laugh.
Shikamaru wasn't paying attention to Yumi and Roka's conversation. There was only one really clear thought in his mind about his new reading material.
'These two guys look like Naruto and Sasuke.'
After reading some manga, they all had snacks and chatted around lunchtime as Roka and Shikamaru began a game of shogi while Yumi watched.
"Crud, I can't believe I missed that." Roka said as Shikamaru captured his bishop.
"As I was saying, things didn't change much after I finished the chuunin exams. I was called on a lot of missions as a field medic even before I was considered a chuunin." Yumi continued their discussion about how things had changed for them when they became chuunin.
"I like being a chuunin; you're given more freedom then a genin but less danger then a jounin, the missions usually aren't too easy or difficult and the pay is okay. What about you Shikamaru?" Roka asked.
"It's a lot more troublesome then I thought it would be, but I guess someone has to do it." Shikamaru answered as he bit into his apple.
He chewed lazily on his fruit, before his eyes went wide and he spat it out.
"How disgusting." He said, plucking a bug out from the apple.
Suddenly, one of Roka's crows swooped down and took the insect from his hand.
"Taki says thank you." Roka said as the crow perched on his shoulder.
The crow then began cawing to Roka, who nodded.
"He says there's an assassin in the tree up ahead that looks like they're prepared to ambush any passers-by. Doesn't look like he's specifically after us though, there's only one of them."
The ninja waiting on the path quietly drew a kunai and threw it at the driver of the cart as it rolled down the path. The weapon hit its mark, but instead of killing the driver, the cart simply disappeared and the attacker found himself being attacked by a swarm of crows. It was too late to try and counter as Shikamaru pinned the enemy with Kage Mane no Jutsu before their captain struck and broke the Sound-nin's leg with one kick.
"Who sent you!" Subatsu asked the overpowered Sound-nin.
The captain prepared to break the other leg to make him talk, when the sound-nin suddenly fell to the ground, convulsing for a few moments before going still. The group jumped back with their kunai drawn, waiting to see if it was a trap. After a minute passed, Subatsu used his katana to turn the body over and peel off the mask.
"What's that?" Yumi asked, pointing out a device underneath the mask that the younger chuunin had never seen before.
"I haven't seen one of those used in years. It's a cyanide pill dispenser that holds a single fatal pill that a ninja takes to avoid torture and being forced to give up information. Roka, send a crow with a message for the ANBU, I'm sure they'll be able to get some useful information from the body, even if he wasn't that skilled." Subatsu explained.
After checking for any useful equipment and burying the corpse, they continued on their way.
"That bastard Orochimaru, thanks to him these sound-nin are harassing everyone on the road, I'm getting too old for this shit. " The captain grumbled.
"Should I call out some more crows?" Roka asked.
"Just bring out two more for now and try to make sure at least one of you stays alert, just in case." Subatsu ordered.
After a couple more hours without any more ambush attempts, it seemed like they were out of dangerous territory and everyone relaxed. Roka discussed training with Subatsu as Yumi polished her weapon while Shikamaru lay back for a nap.
"Get up, snoozebucket." Shikamaru woke up from his nap to Subatsu kicking him gently in the side.
"Are we there already?" he asked, realizing it was dark and that they had stopped moving.
"No, get up Shikamaru-kun, it's important." Yumi whispered.
Shikamaru was suddenly fully awake and in full fighting mode with a kunai drawn when he realized not only that everyone else had their weapons out, but that it wasn't really night. It was late afternoon and the sun was still out, there were just so many bats flying around their ride that they darkened the sky. Thousands of large black bats were everywhere.
"What's going on? It doesn't feel like a genjutsu." He said, not quite sure what to make of this strange new event.
"You're right, every one of these bats is real. But why they're surrounding us, I have no idea." Subatsu replied.
"Is it just me, or do the bats sound like they're talking?" Yumi asked as the black bats flapped around them, their squeaks sounding like phrases such as "A Nara has come" and "Shikamaru-sama".
"This is getting creepy." Roka commented.
Yumi suddenly squealed as a large shape fluttered past them. It was too fast for Shikamaru, Roka or Yumi to even realize what it was, but Subatsu's hand snapped out and caught a large bat in mid-air.
"We are sorry to alarm you, I am Kouichi, chief courtier of the bats of Fire Country." The bat suddenly spoke to them.
"It's no trouble, how can we help you?" Subatsu asked, not looking the least bit surprised that he was holding a talking bat.
"Our lord, Noren-sama owes a debt to the Nara clan and wants to talk to Shikamaru-sama." Said Kouichi
"We'll need a moment to discuss it, we were on our way to an important mission before you stopped us." Subatsu answered as he released the huge bat.
"Follow us if you accept the invitation." Kouichi answered before flapping back into the sky to join the other bats that had formed a large cluster above them.
"Should we go with them?" Yumi asked.
"The crows are allies with the bats, my birds have told me that bats have been known to help people and if they're out in the daytime, it's probably important, though I don't know why they would want to see Shikamaru." Said Roka.
They followed the bats for a short distance off the path to the opening of what seemed to be a small cave. It was a tight squeeze for them to get through, but after crawling for a few feet, the cave opened up into a large, cool, dry room with high ceilings. Small openings in the ceiling let in just the right amount of light for them to see elegant chambers, archways and openings that were carved into the walls of the cave. Old fire pits, bone shards and broken pottery that lay around on the floor showed that people had once carved out and lived in these caves.
"I sure wouldn't mind living here, I wonder why they left." Yumi said breathlessly as they all looked around, astounded by how beautiful it was.
"Hey, look at this, the Nara clan's crest." Roka pointed out hieroglyphs on the walls, which had symbols that were identical to the one on Shikamaru's jacket.
"I seem to recall an old story I once heard about a group of people who lived in caves, ate bats and worshipped them before founding some of the towns in Southeastern Fire Country." Subatsu commented.
Suddenly, Noren, the emperor of the bats, swooped into the main area from a nearby cave and hung, upside-down on the ceiling. He was a huge black shadow, with a body as big as an adult human and a ten-foot wingspan.
"It's true that people once did live here and that the Nara clan is a descendant of them, but these caves have been abandoned for years." The bat lord stated as Shikamaru and his teammates gave a formal bow of respect.
"So why did all the people leave? This seems like a nice, safe place to stay." Yumi asked.
"A cave isn't a natural place to a human, they only viewed these caves as a temporary home for difficult times and eventually forgot about it altogether." Noren replied before he turned to Shikamaru.
"You are from the Nara clan? Do you know someone named Shikamoto?" he asked.
"That was my grandfather, but he died before I was born, why did you want to see him?"
"Your family never told you why they left for Konoha?"
"I was told that my grandfather was a deer herder who ran away from an arranged marriage and that after his medicine from deer antlers helped save Konoha from a plague, the only thing that he asked for in return was a quiet refuge to live out his life in as he pleased." Shikamaru answered.
"Then it seems he never told you how he also visited these caves when we were in the midst of a famine. Or that he told the bats about the flying insects they could eat in Konoha that spread the plague and that I never got around to repaying his favor of saving my subjects from starvation I regret it's too late to properly thank your grandfather now, but please accept whatever items you can take with you from my personal possessions for the rest of your clan. It's in that chamber to the right."
"He did as much as he could with as little effort as possible, then all he asked for was to live in peace and quiet? Sure sounds like something a Nara would do." Roka muttered before Yumi shushed him.
They entered through a decorated archway into a room piled to the ceiling with treasures. Looking around at all the riches, Shikamaru selected a brand new shogi set with pieces made of polished marble that folded up neatly into a lacquered jewelry box with intricate carvings and a small jade talisman with 5 bats carved into it.
"That's all you're taking? But you could carry so much more treasure." The emperor asked.
"It's easy to carry and it's all I need for now. I was planning to get a new shogi set and a gift for my parent's anniversary anyways. You were testing my character, weren't you?" Shikamaru answered as he added his old shogi set to the abandoned human artifacts that lay on the floor of the cave.
"Very perceptive, seems the Nara clan hasn't changed that much. Since you are a shinobi, I think a jutsu would benefit you better then some trinkets." Said Noren as a pair of bats from deeper inside the cave flew out carrying a large scroll, which they unfurled and dropped at Shikamaru's feet.
"Sign your name to the contract with your blood, then your fingerprints. The hand seals are boar, dragon, monkey, rat and rooster. Whoever can answer the call with the amount of chakra that you use will respond."
"You should feel honored, Shikamaru. The only way to get a summon jutsu is if another with the summon passes the contract to you or if the creatures you are summoning decide you are worthy. The bats don't just choose anyone." Subatsu said to Shikamaru as he cut his thumb and signed the contract.
"I wish we could stay longer, Noren-sama, but it is important that we meet with our fellow shinobi for our mission." The captain addressed Noren.
"Of course. One more thing you should know; our powers are greater when we are summoned at night then in the day." Said the bat king before giving them permission to leave.
"Congratulations on getting a summon, why don't you try it out?" Subatsu suggested as they walked out of the cave.
Shikamaru cut his thumb and performed the seals.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Koumori!"
The smoke cleared to reveal a tiny, hairless baby bat.
"Don't feel embarrassed Shikamaru-kun, that happens to everyone on their first summon. You'll get better with practice." Reassured Subatsu as they arrived at the post town.
The climate had grown warmer and wetter, to the point of being tropical as they finally reached the post town in the late evening of the setting sun. The team kept an eye out for Anko, since they already had a signal worked out to identify her with. Just as they were about to get out of their mule cart, an old woman approached the group.
"Seems a bit late for carpenters to be out looking for work." The old woman said.
"We're just passing through, ma'am." Subatsu answered.
"Then perhaps you would be interested in buying some of my dead husband's tools?" said the woman as she presented a tool set that was missing a chisel.
"I'm sure we can make a deal." Subatsu answered as he discreetly showed the missing chisel from the set.
They made their way to an alley, where Anko transformed back into her true form and led them to an inn she had already arranged for.
"Long time no see, Subatsu-san, I see you're all enjoying the weather." Anko said with a smirk as they wiped the sweat from their faces.
"Better enjoy a hot bath and a good meal for now. Tomorrow, we complete the journey is on foot." She said.
The next day they ate breakfast while leaping through the trees Anko explained the mission as they jumped through the trees.
"The Warlord's camp is in a clearing not far from here. Our intelligence has determined that his troops are about several thousand strong, but many of them are scattered about the countryside in small skirmishes with the military forces of the Feudal Lord of Fire Country. Our concern is with the hostages and equipment he holds at his camp. We're planning to strike tonight, since he only has about fifty men at his main camp right now. Nobaru, the warlord, believes that two of our jounin that have been meeting him are two magistrates negotiating on a ransom for the hostages he is holding at his camp. While it's crucial that we assassinate Nobaru and rescue the hostages, our largest concern is his horses."
"Why is there so much concern over his horses?" Subatsu asked.
"They're not ordinary horses, we're not even sure they are horses. They sort of resemble horses and his men ride them, but they're incredibly vicious they're fed meat with their hay. We have no idea where he got them from, but they're the reason that the Hokage is so concerned, they must be destroyed, they're simply too dangerous."
"Anko-san, do you know if the Sound are involved in any of this?" Yumi asked.
"We have seen some sound-nin, but we don't know if Orochimaru has a personal stake in this or if they're simply for hire. Why do you think there might be a connection?" Anko asked her.
"We were attacked by a sound-nin along the way, but that was about it. Even if the Sound aren't directly involved, hearing about those horses, I just have this bad feeling they know something."
The medic's statement touched a nerve in Shikamaru, although he didn't say anything.
'The Sound are still active because Orochimaru's still around. If only I was able to stop Sasuke from reaching him, he's probably confident about destroying Konoha now that he has Sasuke.'
His thoughts only strengthened Shikamaru's resolve to make sure the mission went perfectly.
They arrived at the teahouse around lunchtime to find about a dozen chuunin and jounin lounging around and talking, maps, plans, equipment and drinks were scattered everywhere. As the others caught sight of them, numerous jounin started talking to Subatsu with deference and several of the chuunin began asking Yumi for different medicines.
"Yumi, I have a stomachache."
"Yumi can you take a look at my shoulder?"
"Does this always happen?" Shikamaru asked Roka as everyone started pestering their team medic for various aches and pains.
"You should when there are people who are really sick." Roka answered.
"Yo, Yumi-chan." Said a laid back voice.
"Kakashi-sempai! I didn't know you were here!" Yumi greeted the jounin excitedly.
"We were late because a giant magical beast stopped us along the way and we pilfered his treasure." Roka's ridiculous sounding story suggested they were both very familiar with Kakashi.
"Ah, I see you're doing well Yumi-chan. Good to see you also, Shikamaru." Kakashi looked up from his adult novel and from as best as Shikamaru could tell, seemed to be smiling under his mask.
"Why don't you two mingle with the other chuunin? I have to ask Yumi about an old personal problem." Kakashi said to Shikamaru and Roka as he pulled out his newest book, Icha Icha Passion.
"What are you doing here? Not that I mind, I thought you were in charge of a genin team." The female medic asked as they moved to a corner of the teahouse to chat.
"I was, but they're no longer my students, they've left for specialized training." He said.
"After only about a year? They must be very gifted." Said Yumi.
"I'm sure they'll make a huge impact on Konoha one day, but that's not what you really wanted to ask me about, is it?" Kakashi replied as the conversation became more serious.
"Please tell me I'm wrong, Kakashi-sempai. He didn't hurt anybody, did he?" Yumi asked.
"It's worse then you think, he's at least as powerful as me. You were right to suspect Kabuto during the chuunin exams and wise to send me that message. I'm afraid I wasn't able to stop him completely, if you hadn't warned me, it might have been far worse." Kakashi answered a horrified Yumi.
"What should I do?" she asked.
"I've warned those that need to know, so try not to tell anyone, but if there's someone who you feel may help. You will have to carefully consider if it's worth the risk of involving them. He's only lying low for now-" The jounin's warning was interrupted by a chuunin asking around for Yumi.
"Did the backup team arrive yet? Hey, Yumi-chan! Gekkou-san was looking for you!"
Shikamaru felt completely out of place although he didn't show it. Even on the warmest days in Konoha, the weather never got this hot and muggy. He had never had a mission this far from Konoha, he didn't know any of these older ninja and he was the least experienced. Roka eased his comfort level as they walked around the camp.
"I got it from the bookstore before I came." Three chuunin were looking at a book that Roka snagged as he went by them.
"Is this your girlfriend Asahi?" Roka joked as he flipped to the centerfold before tossing it back.
"Yumi's usually the one who tries to do too much at once, I didn't know you were babysitting on this mission too." Asahi answered as he pointed at Shikamaru before a pair of shadow hands wrapped around his neck.
"Knock it off, you little jerk!" he coughed out as the hands squeezed before letting go.
"I hope you fight better then you talk." Roka laughed as Shikamaru asserted himself while barely lifting a finger.
They turned and watched Yumi as she spoke with Kakashi before she quickly drew some parcels from her field medic kit and ran over to greet a chuunin with disturbingly pale-gray skin and bags under his eyes. Roka and Shikamaru looked on as the sick guy eagerly began ripping open the packages and adding them to the boiling water that he had been tending to.
"That's Gekkou Hayataru, he was the number one rookie when I graduated from the academy, used to be on my genin team, he's now the captain of his chuunin team, those jokers we met back there." Roka whispered to Shikamaru.
"I remember a Gekkou overseeing the chuunin exams. Do they all look that sickly?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yumi's always filling a prescription for at least one of them for some kind of lung or skin problem whenever she's at the hospital, she told me they're chemists, mixing things like soaps and salts for ration preservatives and inks for writing and smoke bombs. She once did a house call and nearly got sick herself with all the vats of chemicals boiling over fires late into the night, I'm surprised they don't get sick more often considering." His teammate answered as the chuunin gathered together and knelt around a table to eat dinner.
Yumi poured more herbal tea for Hayataru, who broke out into a fit of wheezing coughs before he spoke.
"Thank you for coming. My name is Gekkou Hayataru, as chuunin level captain, I am in charge of directing what all those below jounin level will do on this mission." The sickly captain rolled out a map and began to brief everyone on their specific tasks.
Author's notes: Ack, I'm turning into a writer when I wanted to be a painter! How do I know this? As soon as I wrote this chapter and went over it for spelling mistakes, the first thought I had was 'Am I a hack?'. That infamous question means I'm becoming a writer! No!
Takes in breath
Anyways, I like bats and I thought Shikamaru needed a cool summon, he's getting some other stuff later on. Koumori refers to a generic bat in Japanese and many Asian cultures associate them with good luck and longevity. Noren literally means curtain, it's the name for a specific species of bat living in Japan whose latin name is Myotis nattereri. Next part is the mission, for those of you with a need to satisfy your bloodlust.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning Technique