Interlude: Shikamaru
Nara Shikamaru knew he was the most intelligent genin in his age-group, possibly his entire generation; he was also the laziest. Why put in extra effort when you can plan out the path of least resistance? As an Academy student he had done just enough to pass and graduate and would have been dead-last had Uzumaki Naruto not remained a consistent five marks above the fail boundary.
After graduation his life hadn't really changed: Azuma-sensei played shogi with him, Ino yelled at him for being a lazy bum and Chouji talked to him and ate crisps. Azuma also supervised them on D-rank missions and the regular daily teamwork exercises, but beyond that he just let them do whatever.
Shikamaru had spent a disproportionate amount of time thinking about Naruto. This was a habit he'd picked up in his final year at the Academy and been unable to quit; the blond was troublesome. Not as offensively so as Ino, perhaps, but in more subtle and pervasive ways.
Naruto's written work was always exactly five marks above the fail boundary, regardless of the nature of the assignment.
Naruto was far, far better at taijutsu than his grades suggested.
Naruto's pranks had only gotten flamboyantly outlandish after that one time with the bucket of confetti that Iruka-sensei had almost laughed at.
Naruto watched everyone and noticed more than anyone would credit him for.
Cheerful, clutzy, thick-as-two-short-planks Naruto was a mask for watchful, smart, slyly humorous Naruto.
Naruto wore the eye-wateringly orange jumpsuit just to irritate the Academy chunnin. Shikamaru had only realised that after graduating, as the blond had not worn the offending clothing since.
Naruto was an enigma, obscured by a mirage and screened by camouflage material. The lazy Nara could tell that the blond had depths and layers, but had decided early on that investigating them would be too troublesome for words.
It still bothered him though; all his other year-mates were so straightforward they were boring.
"Shikamaru."
The black-haired boy turned away from the clouds he had been watching, his stubby ponytail making his head look like a pineapple. "Tou-san?"
Nara Shikaku, an older, more scarred version of his only son, walked closer and sat down on the grass with a sigh. "How well do you know team seven, sochi?"
Shikamaru turned his attention back to the clouds. "Sasuke and Sakura are both obsessed and Naruto is troublesome."
"Troublesome how exactly?"
Shikamaru glanced at his father. "The Naruto at the academy was a front: he's smarter than that and he fixed his grades. The instructors never graded his taijutsu fairly either but he was second in the class after the Uchiha. Same with throwing weapons."
"Do you think he's dangerous?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Only to Konoha's enemies; Naruto's so loyal it's ridiculous. He was always picking at Sasuke, trying to get him to stop wallowing in misery."
"Anything specific worth noting?"
"He understands girls," Shikamaru offered, "and has unbelievably beautiful calligraphy. Sharp mimic, wicked sense of humour, more subtle than you'd think. Goes out of his way to play the fool and make people underestimate him."
"Really?"
"Nobody could possibly be as dumb as he acts yet pull off such elaborate and successful pranks. Remember the 'Kabuki Hokages'?"
Shikaku chuckled at the memory of the attractively decorated hokage monument, then looked thoughtful. "True; there was a lot of well-though-out symbolism there. I think most people were too outraged by the fact that the Yondaime was some kind of demon and the Shodaime was in drag to read the more subtle nuances though. Personally I did think the Nidaime made an excellent water dragon."
"It was a reference to a real kabuki play," Shikamaru said quietly, "I looked it up. It's about a demon who tried to force the daughter of Ryuujin into marrying him. A human samurai heard the princess weeping as she was being led to the priest, killed the demon and returned the girl to her father. Ryuujin in return blessed the samurai with long life and the princess' hand in marriage." He paused, "The demon was the lord of Discord, called Namikaze, the samurai was Sanzaru no Hiruzen, or Hiruzen of the Three Monkeys. One of Ryuujin's titles is 'Senju', for his great length and many subordinates."
Shikaku stared into space, eyes glazed over for a minute. "Huh. How poetic." He looked thoughtful. "And fairly obscure; I doubt a play where the villain is called 'Namikaze' would be popular in Konoha. Then again, most civilians never knew his name in the first place. He was the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou and became the Yondaime hokage. Very few people remember he was once just another jounin."
Shikamaru didn't bother to comment.
"So, smart, secretive, well-educated, stealthy and with a proper grounding in the ninja arts," Shikaku said. "anything else?"
"Poor chakra control and a lot of chakra."
"How do you know that?"
"He overloads the bunshin jutsu every single time," Shikamaru said. "I told him to use less chakra but he literally can't. It made me wonder why it was in the exam, since I told Mizuki-sensei what his problem was."
"Mizuki was arrested for treason the night after the genin exams," Shikaku admitted.
"So that's why Naruto got his hitai-ite despite apparently failing; I'd wondered."
There was a long, companionable silence as the two Nara men lay on their backs and watched the clouds drift by.
"Tou-san?"
"Hai?"
"Why do the civilians and a good third of the village's ninja dislike Naruto?"
"Good question."
That is not an answer; it is an evasion. Do you not agree with that dislike then, tou-san? "I ask because the only reason for Naruto to hide is skills is out of distrust. He didn't trust the Academy sensei to grade his abilities fairly and still doesn't trust the village enough to reveal his true self to them."
"Konoha has rather let him down," the Nara jounin mused, "all things considered."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes but said nothing. Understatement!
After dinner that evening Shikamaru overheard his father talking to his own former team-mates, Akiminchi Chouza and Yamanaka Inoichi. The pineapple-headed genin paused by the edge of the shouji door to listen:
"... is dangerous, Shikaku. You know that; you saw the damn thing! It killed my sister!"
"The boy is not the beast, Chouza, any more than a storage scroll is the kunai it contains." That was Inoichi, calm and rational as ever. "Do you truly have such little faith in the Yondaime's skill?"
"Jiraiya visited two months ago and pronounced the seal sound and solid enough to last for another fifteen years. Since it only needs to last ten to render the beast harmless, I'd say he overdid it," Shikaku drawled.
"It mocks me, Shikaku! That smirk as it walks down the street, acting as if it has done nothing wrong-"
"He has done nothing wrong, Chouza," Inoichi interrupted, voice like tempered steel. "He no more deserves your enmity than Anko does for the actions of Orochimaru. Less than that, even. The boy has not the faintest idea of why you hate him so and deserves none of it. Had he not been sacrificed to protect us all many more would have died. Would you have offered your then-week-old niece to take his place, Chouza?"
Shikamaru quietly escaped to his bedroom, the small sounds of his passage masked by the Akiminchi's furious spluttering. So what was that all about? Chouza's orphaned niece is, hm, a little under a year older than I am: born October second. A week after she was born would be...
October tenth. Kyuubi. They spoke of sealing, the container being different to the contained, so it follows that the Yondaime sealed it within someone. A baby boy, by the sound of it. One Chouza hates because the bijuu was responsible for his sister's death.
If Chouza hates the jinchuuriki, I sincerely doubt he is the only one to be blinded by his emotions in this matter. He would be nearly thirteen years old by now, so...
… Uzumaki Naruto. Of course; this explains everything. I see. No wonder you hide yourself away. I will keep this to myself until such a time as we can speak together in private. For this to have been kept hidden from my generation would require a law, one with severe repercussions, and I do not want to get either of us into trouble.
Shikamaru lay back on his futon and stared blindly at the ceiling. This is so very troublesome indeed.
sochi = son
A/N: A very minor interlude. Shikamaru is certainly smart enough to work out that Naruto is the Kyuubi jinchuuriki should he actually be bothered. The chunnin exam arc will start somewhere around chapter 52, possibly slightly later if thinks continue according to schedule. I'm having far too much fun writing this.
A/N2: On a side note, the one-shot involving Shisui is written. I've titled it 'Shisui's Sacrifice' and published it on my profile. Let me know what you think; it is technically backstory.