Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Bleach all of them belong to their respective owners and I am in no way attempting to make a profit from this work of fiction.
With Shikamaru and Kakashi…
"Alright, we've reached the convoy." Kakashi spoke up, the two crouched in one of the trees nearby the route." Do you have any ideas on how to take it down?"
"I've got a few dozen already." Shikamaru answered as he drew out a scroll." Just give me a few minutes and neither of us will have to lift a finger to bring this thing down."
"Go ahead." Kakashi spoke up after a moment of thought." If you need help just ask."
"Don't worry, this is going to be easy to set up." Shikamaru answered.
A few minutes later…
"So, any idea what we're even carrying?" a Jonin ranked Missing-nin walking in front of the convoy asked.
"Some armor or something like that, all I care about is getting paid and with those twenty Chunin we've got covering us from the trees on top of the ten Jonin on this route, this is one easy job that pays a fortune." a second Jonin nearby spoke up." I can already feel all that cash, just for guarding this stupid thing."
"You're all too loud." a voice spoke as a figure landed in front of the convoy." Don't you ever know when to shut up and walk?"
"Oh shit, that's…" a Jonin began.
"Kakashi Hatake, at your service." Kakashi finished as he began forming hand signs.
'Now.' Shikamaru thought as he saw the Chunin panic but still leap out of cover and he formed a single hand sign.' First the scrolls.'
Scrolls he strung out deeper in the forests activated and kunai with explosive tags tied to them shot forward, collapsing the trees around them and forming a crude cage around the convoy.
'Next the tags.' and another hand sign activated the next part of the trap.
Tags planted on the trees suddenly activated and clouds of gunpowder were shot forward and soon filled the forests.
'And finally the explosives.' Shikamaru finished with his last hand sign.
The shadow clone Kakashi had created as completely destroyed in the resulting explosion, along with most of the forests but the felled trees stopped it from spreading anymore and causing a forest fire.
"Nice job Shikamaru but what about the Chakra Armor?" Kakashi asked and Shikamaru simply pointed to a seal array glowing underneath the convoy.
"Bando has a few Fuinjutsu masters with him and his convoys are said to have an unreal durability so I just scaled down the explosion to a level that it's been reported to endure." Shikamaru answered." Most of that stuff was actually just smoke, I just laced it with gunpowder."
"Nice plan, now let's see what's in the thing." Kakashi spoke up as he landed next to the convoy and a look at the seal had him stop Shikamaru from moving forward.
"I'm going to need some time to crack this one so go sit down, it's going to take a while." Kakashi spoke up as he drew out a scroll and a surge of Chakra gave him a rod that he channeled Chakra to, the tip of it forming into a sharp point.
"Alright, I can always go take a nap." Shikamaru answered before sitting down at the base of a tree and his hands formed a circle.
'At least now I have time to think about Naruto now. He's definitely changed but I still don't know how much. I guess the others would see if to but their all most likely blaming it on his five years of training but that's not right. I've looked through all the reports we've had from Jiraiya in the last five years and they were monthly so I have a good grasp of everything up to two years into it. After that everything changes, well at least to me.'
A curse from Kakashi drew Shikamaru's attention before the masked Jonin turned to him.
"We may be here a few hours actually." Kakashi shouted to him and Shikamaru sighed before going back to his thoughts.
'Naruto is nowhere near who he was before and training doesn't do that to someone. How he fought Kakashi-sensei is proof of the matter. He may have looked impulsive and showboating to everyone else but he planned that. Whatever that Zanpakuto thing is, it basically turned him into a god and the old Naruto would have been challenging everyone to a fight and going over the top with it. But this Naruto isn't, he's using his shadow clones to fight for him and he's almost never actually on the battlefield. What we have with us is definitely not Naruto, just a puppet he's using since we would all know if it was a shadow clone. The technique's pretty good since it fooled both Kiba and Shino, he's got his scent and Chakra signature on it so I can't underestimate him.'
Another curse from Kakashi as he drew out another scroll and in a puff of smoke he held two of the rods in his hands and began moving around the seal with both of them a blur.
'Why does he keep interrupting me? But back to the matter at hand, Naruto is planning something big from the looks of it. He's working on something that he doesn't want anybody to know about, hence why he has Taka.'
Shikamaru let out a sigh at that.
'Taka, I think I know who he is but there's no way of knowing for sure until I can get that mask off. That mask is layered in seals that changed the guy's Chakra signature and that's something I know for sure. Shinobi training or not, someone would have found I guy that powerful long before Naruto did, the question is just who could get that power. He seems to be around Naruto's age, maybe a few years older or younger, and he fights pretty good and knows what Naruto's going to do next without a word so they most have some history. It's almost annoying to see that but I can get back to that later. Right now I need a plan for when that Bando guy really does show up and tries to kill us for messing with his shipments.'
'The guy is probably near Kage level or above it, he's able to keep hundreds of Jonin and thousands of Chunin under his control simultaneously so he's going to be a pain to fight, even if I know the battlefield and manage to layer it with traps. But he'll probably just tank through them all, the guy has durability close to the Third Raikage so it's not going to be fun to fight him. He's smart too so he's going to weaken us first with his troops before coming in himself and finishing us all off.'
'Man, that's just going to be troublesome.' Shikamaru thought with a sigh.' Why do I have to be assigned to this mission, why not someone like Choji or Lee?'
Shikamaru decided to just sleep then, planning to deal with the rest of his problems later on.
AN: Alright, this story is getting harder and harder to write right now, I have no idea why but all of my ideas I have for it are just gone.
This isn't cool but if I can't think of anything in a few days I may put it on hiatus or put it up for adoption.
Sorry if either of those happens but I am literally out of ideas for the next chapter and I'll have to think of some before the day ends.
Anyway read and review on the story.
Peace.