Chapter Two: Team Anju
Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country, Ten years ago
Shikashi looked up at his father. "Why do we have to do this?" he asked. "It's not actual school, so it shouldn't be required."
"It's orientation. Troublesome as it is, every generation has to go through it, and you're no exception." Shikamaru put a hand on his five-year-old son's head, smiling fondly.
"I want to go to school in Suna with Yuki-niisan."
Shikamaru sighed, "This is the arrangement your mother and I had. All the wanting in the world won't change that."
"Okay, but can you promise one thing to me?"
"Depends what it is."
Shikashi scowled, "I just want to play shogi with you."
Shikamaru had to feel a little guilty at this. Because if his students and his other duties to the village, he hadn't been spending as much time with his family as he should have. Even Temari had nonchalantly pointed it out on occasion, but Shikamaru knew she was only pretending not to really care. For her to say something, it was bothering her, and apparently it was bothering Shikashi, too. "Sure. In fact, I'll play as many times as you want today," Shikamaru agreed. "If you behave at orientation," he added.
Shikashi beamed at his father and nodded as they reached the academy. A lot of kids and their parents were already there, some that he even sort of recognized from his father's circle of friends and acquaintances. Not that he was terribly familiar with any of them or their children, seeing as he had only been living in Konoha for a few months.
It wasn't long before Naruto showed up to give a speech to all of the new students, and those students were all herded into lines in front of the loud-mouthed hokage. Of course, Naruto couldn't just give the speech that every other hokage had given every other year. This was his first orientation as hokage, and he was going to have some fun with it.
"Hey, guys!" he shouted, getting muttered variants of greeting in return. "Now, I know that school sucks. I mean, I wasted seven years of my life on it, too."
"Naruto!" Iruka scolded the blond, forgetting for a moment that Naruto was no longer his mischievous student, and now his mischievous hokage.
Naruto laughed at his red-faced ex-sensei. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, you all need to work hard, because someday, one of you might be the next hokage!"
The children broke out in mumbles at the prospect, every boy and girl turning to the person next to them to declare that he or she would be the next hokage. This caused a few arguments, but none that a call for silence from Naruto couldn't cure.
"Come on, guys. You can't fight with each other," he told them seriously. "You're comrades, and at some point, you'll be put into groups of three, and then you'll be teammates. There's nothing more important than protecting your fellow shinobi and the villagers of Konoha."
A fair number of the original Konoha Twelve were on the sidelines, listening to what Naruto had to say to their children. It was obvious enough to them that Naruto still felt that he had failed Sasuke all those years ago, even if none of the Konoha elders had batted an eyelash at the death of the last Uchiha.
"You have to look out for each other," Naruto told the assembled five-year-olds. "You're a family now." All was quiet for a few long minutes, and then Naruto was smiling again. "That's it, then! Listen to Iruka-sensei babble for a sec, and then you can go play."
Iruka flushed, but stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I'm just going to go over the academy guidelines and a few other issues…"
Nobody really listened to this part. It was a miracle the group of children had managed to stand still for so long already. Shikamaru surveyed the bored expressions worn by parents and students alike, and he paused when he came to his own son. Shikashi stood straight, listened intently, and obediently filed the information away for later use. Temari had done a good job raising him to be an efficient shinobi. Shikamaru almost felt guilty again, having only seen Shikashi a few days every month when the boy had lived with his mother in Suna.
At long last, Iruka finished, and kids ran in all directions, squealing happily as they played games with one another. Shikashi slunk to his father's side, choosing not to meet his new classmates.
"Hello, Shikamaru-san," said Sai as he approached the Naras.
"Hey, Sai," Shikamaru answered. "I didn't know you had one this age."
Sai smiled, "It is safe to guess that I have one of every age."
Shikamaru blinked at the artist. Was that a joke he had made? Shikamaru was saved from the conversation when Neji and Tenten approached with Lee and Kiba in tow.
"Long time, no see," Tenten greeted them with a little wave.
"Tenten-san, Neji-san, Lee-san," Sai ducked his head at them politely.
Lee nudged Neji with an elbow, "We were just discussing how great it would be if our sons were on the same team."
"Hn."
Kiba patted Akamaru's head absently. "Just keep your sons away from my daughter," he joked. "Especially you, Hyuuga."
Tenten giggled, "Tamaki is quite the lady-killer."
Neji only turned away from the other adults, looking across the field at his son.
Climbing trees, Rock Tai paused at seeing "Uncle" Neji staring at them. "Tamaki-kun," he asked his friend, "Is your dad mad at you or something?"
Tamaki glanced over at his father and shrugged. "He's just mad because Hitomi-hime activated her byakugan before me. Now the elders want her to be privately taught, instead of sending her to school. Otherwise, she'd be in our class."
Tai pulled himself up to sit beside his best friend on a low branch. "I don't really get this clan stuff," he admitted.
"Neither do I. Hotaka-sama told my dad that he should find me a bride within the compound to keep the blood from being more watered-down," Tamaki said. "What does that mean?"
Tai shrugged. "Sounds bad," he figured.
Back with the adults, Sai turned to see his daughter on top of a bigger boy, punching him. He sighed and excused himself, hurrying off to save the boy from her.
"Ai, please refrain from harming your classmates unless you have orders to do so."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "He could still use some practice at being normal," he pointed out.
Tenten nodded, "But he has come a long way."
Shikamaru grabbed Shikashi's hand and began to leave the schoolyard. "I think it's about time we left. Nice talking to you four," he said, waving over his shoulder.
"Tell Temari-san I said 'hi'," Tenten called after him.
Kiba stretched, "It's getting close to dinner. We should probably get going, too." He turned to face the area where a group of children were playing tag. "Come on, Pup!"
The honey-brown-haired girl with trademark Inuzuka fangs painted on her cheeks instantly abandoned the game and came running to her father. "Okay, Papa!" Shippo called. When she reached him, he lifted her onto Akamaru's back, and the three left.
"Settle down, everyone!" called Saburou-sensei to his bustling, newly-promoted students. "I know you're all excited to be genin, but you have to be quiet so I can announce your cells." He went down the list, naming teams until he reached team four. "Cell four will be led by Aburame Anju, and will consist of Nara Shikashi, Haruno Ai, and Hyuuga Tamaki," he said, not pausing before moving on. "Cell five will be led by…"
Shikashi and Ai glared at each other. They weren't necessarily enemies, but they certainly weren't friends, either. Tamaki, as could be said about everything, took the news with pleasant indifference. He looked over at Tai, who had been put on a cell with Inuzuka Shippo. It was a little disappointing that they were being split up, but not particularly surprising. After all, the teams were meant to be kept even, and Tamaki and Tai's test scores didn't add up well together.
"Shikashi is the best-rounded of you," Anju murmured, eyeing her new students behind her dark glasses. The three were dirty and bruised from the spar Anju had put them through upon her first meeting with them, but she wanted to assess their strengths and weaknesses. It was off-putting to see a genin like Shikashi with virtually no weaknesses.
"But he has one major flaw," she added, more to herself than to her students. "He doesn't trust his teammates, and doing things on your own is not how we do things in Konoha. Ai tested nearly as well as Shikashi, but she's too quick-tempered in battle, and it clouds her judgment. Tamaki is the balance between the two of them."
The three exchanged looks, and Ai and Shikashi both scoffed. Tamaki sighed between them.
"I'll do my best, Sensei."
Training Ground Nineteen, Konohagakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Leaves), Fire Country, Present day
Tamaki looked around, baffled. Where could his teammates have disappeared to? He looked around for forty-nine seconds before he clicked his tongue in realization. She knows I can't see through genjutsu, he realized. That must be what this is. But at least it'll be easy enough to get out of. Tamaki might not have had the eyes if a Hyuuga, but he did have the chakra control of one. It only took him a second to rearrange the flow of his chakra, and then everything melted back into reality.
Ai was closing in fast on Shikashi, so much chakra concentrated into her fist that it appeared to glow blue, and even normal eyes could see the excess chakra streaming off of her like smoke from a fire. Shikashi held his staff at the ready, waiting to block her angry fist.
Tamaki frowned as he watched them. They truly were completely opposite, and would never stop fighting unless he was there to balance them out. Difficult as it was, it meant he couldn't fight with them; he had to be more peaceful and reasonable than that.
"It's true!" Tamaki shouted. "I ran away!"
Shikashi glanced at the Hyuuga and sighed, letting his guard fall. Unable to stop herself before she hit him, Ai quickly cut off the chakra flow to her arm so her punch wouldn't shatter Shikashi's skull. She got him across the face, and he lurched back a few feet before falling on his back.
"Why did you let me hit you?" Ai seethed at his sprawled form. "Take me seriously, damn it!"
Shikashi blinked lethargically at her. "I've always thought I was better than everyone else," he admitted. "The truth is, I probably have gotten things in my life that I didn't earn, simply because of my family."
"I ran away because I felt too much pressure from my father and my clan. I should have explained myself before I left, though. I'm sorry I just abandoned the two of you like that," Tamaki said.
The clearing was quiet save for the wind that shook the leaves. Shikashi and Tamaki shared a look before the two turned their attention to Ai. "It's your turn," they deadpanned together.
She huffed, "I don't have anything to apologize for. I didn't do anything wrong."
Shikashi rolled his eyes while Tamaki laughed. Some things just didn't change.
"I'm glad to see you've worked out your problems," said Anju, hopping from a tree branch and landing gracefully before them. "And I must admit that you three have gotten very impressive."
"You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" Ai accused.
Anju nodded and pulled a scroll from her pocket, moving on. "I have our mission details here."
"If we ran the risk of being demoted, why would Naruto-sama give us a mission?" asked Tamaki.
Shikashi sighed, climbing to his feet and collecting his fallen tessen. "He never intended to demote us, did he?"
"He had faith in you, and so did I." Anju opened the scroll for them, "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning."
Mt. Ougonyama, near Ishigakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Stone), Stone Country
Night had just fallen over the mountain path the figure took to his destination. He appeared short and lumpy but solid, like a moving boulder. The tan cloak draped over what might have been the figure's shoulders dragged across the rocky ground behind him, adding dirt to the mixture of blood and who-knew-what-else that was splattered over the fabric. Settled between said could-be shoulders was the insignia of a black sun.
The figure came to a stone Buddha, its miniature features rounded and childlike as it sat in eternal meditation. The lumpy figure performed six seals and pressed his palms to the cliff face behind the Buddha, where the stone groaned and slid open like an elevator door.
The passage was black as pitch, but the figure had walked the corridor so many times that he didn't need to see where he was going. Finally, the passageway opened up to a poorly lit cavern, where a lone man sat hunched in a chair, his face obscured by shadow.
"Oru," the old man greeted the rock-like thing that had just entered his hideout. "Did you deliver my message?"
Oru nodded and reached into his cloak pulling a bloody and mangled Konoha hitai-ate from within. "Yes, Nobu-sama," Oru answered his master. "And you might even say it was well-received, too."
A/N: Short but important chapter. A few more characters were mentioned in this chapter, but I'll properly introduce them later.
Also, I once had someone ask who Shippo's mother is, so as a general rule, if I don't mention a parent, it's not important to the story. The unmentioned parent will either be revealed later when s/he becomes relevant to the plot, or never mentioned at all.