At deer's pace

Itachi was going to kill Kisame. From the back of his mind to the very front he was considering it, every part of his brain yearned for this rebellion, quick in thinking of ways to dispose of his body and excuses to give Pein. He could say that the fish-man fought the wrong samurai or that his village finally caught him, even that he killed him by accident; Itachi was seriously considering his options. "Let's just report to Pein," he said, trying for once to stop his partner chuckle.

"Why can't you just take a joke for what it is?" The man clicked his tongue, it looked green against the grayness of his skin. "We're leaving this dead place, finally! We should celebrate!"

"We don't know that." Itachi deadpanned and forced himself to be reminiscent of the specifications laid on ink inside the scroll he read as a kid with his Sharingan. Kisame was at the peak of his stupidity. TOP . SECRET - NOT . TO . BE . REVEALED - ARCHIVED - THE . DISCLOSURE . OF . THIS . SCROLL . TO . ANY . OUTSIDER . OF . THE . UCHIHA . CLAN . WILL . BE . JUDGED . AS . TREASON . AND . PUNISHED . WITH . EXILE - DO . NOT . COPY - Gōkakyū no Jutsu - The performer has to control their chakra almost at perfection to be able to gather as much of it as possible on the user's mouth and draw it to their chest and expulse it through exhalation. SEALS - "Pein will say if we leave or not. Until then, you shouldn't speculate."

Kisame replied by cocking his head to the side and cracking his neck. The man sighed, licked his lips, and looked at the sky. It was at no vail that he tried to establish a conversation, Itachi didn't phantom to succumb to his desires of pretense camaraderie, "aren't you tired of being a mood killer?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow at his accusation, "I'm not a mood killer."

Kisame laughed. "Yeah right, and I'm as pretty as Cinderella."

He looked at him up and down and dropped the subject, the joke lost in the air between them. Itachi closed his eyes and performed the movements that would help him to communicate with the rest of the members of the group. He raised his middle and index finger and gently pressed them into the tip of his nose, conjuring a thought and transforming it onto chakra. Pein, thanks to his Rinnegan, picked up those chakra threads conducting his thoughts and was the responsible one to serve as a Tower to connect each of them for communication purposes.

"You're late." The voice of Pein rumbled in his brain.

"We weren't able to find a safe spot until now," Itachi responded.

"No excuses." Pein's voice was deep, cutting short Itachi's idea of justification. Sometimes the older Uchiha forgot who he was talking to, Pein was no kind man and had no patience for their insubordination. "Focus." Was the sole command he gave to the other members that started raising their voices -thoughts- to complain about Kisame and Itachi's tardiness. As if they had something better to do. "Reports."

"There hasn't been any significant change with the Ichibi," Sasori, next to Deidara -whose wave of thoughts always seem to reach its maximum shriek whenever Itachi's presence was around, physically or mentally- answered first, "its jinchüriki, a boy, continues to be established in Sunagakure no Sato, heavily guarded and watched. The kid appears to be mentally unstable." There was something in Sasori's voice that reflected disgust at his village. Perhaps Itachi imagined it.

"The Nibi appears to be sealed inside one of the shinobi from the Kumo lines," Kakuzu provided their leader with the information gathered, his wording purposefully precise as not to waste. "We have not yet been able to discover inside who."

There was a silence at Pein's end long enough for Itachi to believe the connection had faltered, he opened his mouth to offer their discoveries, but something around or inside the threads of Pein's thoughts seemed to stretch dangerously, speaking now looked as the worst course of action. "And why is that?" Came, finally, the answer. There was a threat in his tone.

"Hidan isn't able to control himself," Kakuzu's answer came fast as if anticipating the question -the response planned in advance.

"Hey! It's not my fault! Maybe if you actually did something, instead of just stand there and give orders like the stupid asshole you are, we would have something worthy to say!"

"I'm not the one who kills the people we capture for religious purposes."

"You-"

Pein raised a hand to silence them and the waves of their thoughts halted, Hidan was allowed only a grunt to show his displeasure, "Kakuzu, we paired you up with him for this reason." The leader spoke, "I hope new information is gathered in the course of the time until our next meeting." It was dangerous to piss off two persons who were immortal and had enough power to leave the organization with a blast, but Itachi knew that none of them were stupid enough to push their luck with the Rinnegan user. "Zetsu," he called.

Itachi recoiled the slightest bit from what was about to come, Zetsu's entities were hard for them to communicate with, its thoughts were sparsed around the air and, while Pein did a good job at smashing them together into the same rendezvous point, their thoughts clashed against various walls on his mind.

"We were able to find the Nanabi – We were able to find her - is inside a woman from Takigakure - she's strong - and she keeps moving from a place to another – Fü is her name - Fü is the one."

"Keep an eye on her from a safe distance; don't engage any form of contact. We need to stay hidden for a little longer." Pein told them, "anything else?"

"Yes, we found the Yonbi's jinchüriki – is in Iwagakure – Hardly guarded - Very well trained - Very well indeed – We recommend using Kisame to capture it."

"Me?" Kisame asked, "isn't Deidara from Iwa? Use him!"

Pein flicked his wrist and Zetsu stopped, "when the time comes, Kisame will be the one who captures the Yonbi. Until then, each of you will be investigating other bijü and their jinchürikis, we need to gather as much information as we can in order to capture them without much of a problem and -ultimately, achieve our goal."

Not Itachi or Kisame replied to Pein's statement and future order, another rock to be carried on their back. There was a sudden need on his chest to peek at Kisame's expression, but Pein created figures of their bodies that were faceless and little did to recreate one's looks -there was no necessity for such trivialities. Back in the reality he stiffened his back but contained the curiosity, it will do no good to open his eyes and risk the loss of concentration. Abandoning the meeting for selfish reasons that were unimportant even by his standards was too much of a trouble. How childish of him to even entertain that thought.

"Itachi," his name was carried with the unequivocal tenor of repellency that Pein attached to him, his eyes narrowed by the always present prospect of betrayal. It did no good to Itachi to obsess over Pein's distrust, the man surrounded himself with shinobi offering themselves to the highest bidder.

"No bijüs in Tetsu no Kuni. We searched for signs that they were learning sealing techniques since perhaps some survivors of the Uzumaki clan might have found refuge within their borders, but all of our inquires came off negative."

Their leader seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded once. "We still need to do intelligence research in Konoha to get more information about the Kyübi's jinchüriki, I presume Itachi will be of value for the task. Regardless, there's more to be found about the remaining bijüs and their vessels. So keep an eye out for any rumor that might be of use. I'll be communicating with you for upcoming missions-" He paused, not ending the gathering yet as if lost in a thought. For a moment, there was nothing, in the other, Pein regained his wits, "encounters with any civilian or shinobi must be avoided at all cost. If confrontations are inescapable, then the usual rule applies, no survivors. Understood? Then, that will be all."

Without waiting for a reply, he formed a seal with his right hand that dispelled the technique that allowed them to communicate. Itachi regained his privacy with a sudden movement. He swallowed and opened his eyes slowly before standing. His tunic wet by the snow he was forced to sit on. He clicked his tongue with displeasure at the cold and dampness and passed a hand through his head to get rid of the snowflakes that fell upon him.

"Nice," Kisame said. "That must feel awesome."

"Shut up."

Kisame stretched his back, Samehada making a clicking sound with its buckle, "finally, we're leaving this dead place."

"Stop saying it's dead." Itachi adjusted his tunic, "and Pein didn't say we could leave."

"He didn't say we should stay either." Kisame retorted, "come on, Itachi, let's get out of here."

Itachi looked at his partner sideways and breathed. "He didn't tell us where to go next, I believe it will be of help to return to our hideout, we need the rest and I'll seek for a doctor."

"That sounds like a plan, there's no fun in carrying a disease-laden body."

Itachi again wondered how good would it feel to pierce through Kisame's scaled skin to rip his rib cage off, but he had learned to control himself from years of experience. Luckily for him, the cold weather and the frozen sensation of his fingers provided him an excuse to avoid looking at him, gazing at his hands instead. "The things I ignore in your favor. Sometimes it amazes me." He exhaled through his mouth. "We're leaving." Itachi finally told him, rubbing his hands under his coat.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Kisame smirked, his lips dry and cracked.

During their return, Itachi allowed a glance around the flora of the Samurais' country that did not carry that much of scrutiny. His eyes were always in the search of a threat, bouncing from a corner of his vision to the other with enviable speed, it made him overlook nature's beauty but focus on its menace -humans were another part of its essence. His eyes roamed the road -barely visible by the blanket of snow, his feet were cautious to step on a slippery rock. There was barely any tree and the few that interrupted the whiteness had their branches naked off its leaves, few crystals in the shape of a drop hang out on them as a mere decoration, existent only at the mercy of the weather.

There was a small river that remained unfrozen, as wide as his stretched arm and with a soft current that they followed. The sound of the water was not a good thing to have as a distraction but they were in such a wide and open space that few things could surprise them. The noise of the water was low enough not to be disturbing and it seemed to distract Kisame from his talking needs, so Itachi allowed themselves to be cocky. He couldn't force himself to believe the Samurais to be strong enough to defeat them.

The reflection of the sun on the snow made it whiter, forcing him to squint his eyes at the strong light. Kisame did not speak again.

It was the first time Shikamaru was filthy enough to feel his skin itching. He had never been diligent with his mother to cut his nails when they were long enough to hurt him, but now the image of dirt under them made him swallow in something dangerously close to disgust. A voice ridiculously similar to Ino's emitting a displeased sound in his head.

Asuma has not been kind enough to cut them some slack, making them fight him on a daily basis for team-training purposes, often making them eat dirt with a powerful kick. His fists, he often said, were reserved for more worthy opponents, and they weren't there just yet. Shikamaru wasn't sure he ever wanted to be worthy.

"Again!" Asuma's words felt like a punishment on itself.

"Again?" Ino complained, standing from the floor, her knees creaking.

"Yes. But this time show some skills." Asuma replied, harshly. His pose was relaxed like he wasn't expecting her to be anywhere near his level.

And of course, she wasn't. With an exasperated scream, Ino ran towards Asuma with a kunai in her hand, throwing two shurikens as a distraction, forcing him to dodge, she jumped to the right to surprise him with a kick to his chin but Asuma moved slightly back and grabbed her foot. Shikamaru watched the two-seconds-fight with a frown. The noise of Ino being thrown and hitting her spine with a trunk made him tremble. Asuma scowled.

"If you don't have enough skills to fight against your opponent, rely on your team." Ino gritted her teeth and bit her lip, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. Asuma deepened his scowl. "Rely. On. Your. Team." She still didn't respond and he left out an exasperated sigh. "And you two…" He looked at his direction even if his speech enveloped them both, "what on earth are you doing not helping your teammate when she needs you?"

"But… I thought-" he started.

"You think too much." Asuma surprisingly said, walking towards them, "when a teammate is in danger, you help them. That's the only thing you should think about." Shikamaru kept silent, nothing he could say to justify himself would ever be good enough to make that statement any less true.

Ino joined the group while Asuma scolded them, grabbing her lower back and biting her lip, a moan of pain passing through her lips. Asuma, despite the fact that he had just thrown her across the training ground, patted her head in such a parental way that Shikamaru couldn't help but to feel embarrassed on his behalf. "Good try." He said to her and she scoffed. "I think this is all for today folks, meet me tomorrow at eight in the morning. We have more D-ranks to do!"

"But you don't do them." Chöji shrugged, and how was he comfortable enough with their teacher to say that to him after the admonish they had just received?

"Don't question my orders Chöji," Asuma smiled despite the ultimate of his statement, his tone gentle. "And even so, I'm there with you am I not?"

Chöji just twisted his mouth in response with a shrug of his shoulders. Asuma's presence was little comfort during their tasks and often the only thing that prevented them from taking a well-deserved pause or a little sip of water from their canteen. Their Jönin instructor had yet to show much kindness or a looser grip as Iruka-sensei had, Shikamaru shivered at the knowledge that such behaviors from superiors were well in his past.

In all fairness, Asuma did reassure their self-esteem, often complementing their efforts but not yet their skills, "so... unless you want another round of traini-"

"No thanks!" Ino interrupted the Jönin. "No. We don't. We definitely don't."

"Eh… fine then," he shrugged, a small smile on his lips, "then I'll see you tomorrow." He saluted them with a simple wave of his hand and walked away, the three of them watched him go in silence, his figure disappearing behind a tree.

"He's torturing me," Ino complained, still grabbing her sore back.

"He's torturing us. What was that?" Chöji cleaned his forehead with a towel. They were yet to come to terms with the arrangement and Shikamaru still hadn't decided whether he liked their sensei or not. The man often tossed them around like empty bags -they weighted nothing on his hands (such a child's weight he had!) and pulped them far beyond the ground. Shikamaru knew he had no skills for combat and, until now, he had never been ashamed for his lack in that department. Asuma Sarutobi destroyed every ounce of whatever self-worth he had and merely tried to rebuild it with a compliment for his efforts. His brain was of no use if he couldn't survive a simple encounter, it was a harsh truth. It was also humiliating.

"Still…" Ino mumbled, looking at the tree Asuma disappeared behind of, "I should have enough skills to at least be somewhat decent in a fight."

Shikamaru couldn't help his mouth from quirking upwards, because what a stupid thing to believe. Was Ino self-centered enough that she couldn't phantom the idea of being so behind a jönin skills? It seemed so, and that didn't surprise Shikamaru in the slightest. What a troublesome girl to be sharing a team. "What?" He spoke despite better judgment. Ino glanced his way, he raised an eyebrow.

"What? It's true." She replied. Looking, to Shikamaru's utterly horror and surprise, sad. Her mouth twisted downwards, her eyelids down, she glanced at her sandals, ashamed. He couldn't believe his eyes, it had to be a trick of some sort, maybe manipulation on her part, Ino Yamanaka was not known for admitting weakness. Not even to herself.

She seemed surprised to find herself being this weak, Shikamaru fought every part of his sharp tongue that wanted to chuckle and welcome her to the club. There was no point in dwell on a broken mirror, whatever image she thought was her reflection had already been shattered to pieces. He could not help her. More importantly, he will not. "He's a jönin." Was the only thing he thought worthy to say as a consolation, if it could be believed as such.

"So?" She raised an eyebrow at him, like his statement was a detail not worthy of acknowledging on her struggle. She had a thick skull.

"So… he's better than us by, like, a lot?" Chöji looked at her perplexed.

"Ugh, I know he's better than us." She said, adjusting her ponytail and really, how was it possible for her to look so put together after being thrown against a tree, he felt self-conscious of his appearance for a split second. "But… I should… I..."

Her stamer reminded him of the Hyüga girl in his class. Shikamaru never paid so much attention to the rest of the group but that girl made him feel uncomfortable. She didn't speak much, a thing that Shikamaru was grateful for, but she lacked capability in every other aspect of social interactions or shinobi artistry. He did not understand her involvement in a space she clearly didn't belong to. Maybe it was being forced upon her but, honestly, little did he care. This life was forced on everybody else.

Ino went red. "I should… be more difficult to beat than… than you two, I mean-"

"Oh-"

"-I mean! I was better than you in the Academy, I'm, I'm just…"

"No, no, I get it." Chöji sighed, his smile disappearing but his tone gentle.

"I'm sor- I don't know!" She complained, truthfully looking lost. She clearly had a softer spot for Chöji than she had for him, although Shikamaru didn't care much for her softness. Still, her words carried some truth -maybe all of it, but he was a proud man (he was still a boy despite his self-perception and there will be a time when he will despise the fact that he hadn't exploited the moments when few were his responsibilities). He refused to believe to be below her -he was not -he will never be -such a troublesome girl. "Kamisama," she said, palms pressed on her eyes to soothe.

It was an awkward moment that Shikamaru refused to be part of for longer, they hadn't reached a point where they could shrug off a conversation and start another, pleasant, one. They haven't reached a point where Shikamaru wanted to lift her spirits. Chöji glanced at him and he rolled his eyes, but Chöji's response was to furrow his eyebrows. He looked disappointed. "It's fine Ino, you'll beat Asuma in no time, I'm sure." He said to her, curse his benevolent nature.

Ino detached her face from her palm and bit her upper lip, Chöji's words seemed to have awoken her from her self-pity slumber and she straightened her back, her hands cleansing the dust from her chest. "Thank you, Chöji." She blushed and refused to make a spectacle of herself for them to judge. Her eyes met his for a moment, brows furrowed, analyzing whether if his respect for her was pushed further down or had remained unaltered. It was a pointless concern, she was already at the very bottom.

There wasn't much for them to say to each other so Ino walked away with a simple nod as a salute.

"Shikamaru…" Chöji whispered his name and his face crumbled, Ino was nowhere to be seen and they were the only ones left. Shikamaru missed spending time with his best friend without the weight of a third person, he missed not being a gënin.

"Is there something wrong, Chöji?" He asked, watching his friend purse his lips.

"No, no... it's just... uhm..." Chöji glanced up at the top of the trees, and it wasn't until a few moments later that he chose to speak again, "is there something wrong in your house?"

Shikamaru was perplexed by the question, it ignited his curiosity and concern in a mere second, he took a step back unconsciously. Chöji looked worried. "What?"

"I'm sorry -it's not-" and Chöji had still to speak, still to explain -Shikamaru loved his friend, he loved him, but he wanted nothing more than to shake him out of this sudden shyness, he wished he had the willpower to slap the words out. "It's just-" and he halted his words again, stumbled.

"Chöji!" He could hold his breath no longer.

"Sorry!" Chöji blushed, his hand closed in fists. "It's just my dad! He's... he's weird, I don't know what is happening but -maybe your dad is the same? Or..."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and clenched his fists, but quickly tried to relax them. He sighed all his worries out and relaxed his forehead, massaging the skin with his fingers. "No that I'm aware of. Is there something wrong with Chöza?"

"Yeah..." Chöji whispered, glancing down as in shame -probably worry. "I don't know what because he doesn't tell me. He says is a clan matter but..." He paused and turned red again, his cheeks looked almost on fire today, "aren't I a part of the clan too?! Aren't I going to be our leader someday?!"

"I..." Shikamaru could do nothing for Chöji's anger, it was so uncommon for the boy to lost his temper for a real reason. When people called him fat and he answered with violence it was a childish response to combat the other's intention to lower him as a ninja. Chöza had the real power to push him down the rabbit hole and make him question his entire existence.

"I... I so want to show him my worth, Shikamaru..." he said, almost pleading. "No... I... I want to be worthy."

Shikamaru didn't know what to say.

When Shikamaru returned home, he was received by the uncommon salute of silence.

The main hall and living-room were subjected to darkness and not even his usual announcement of arrival received a response. He shrugged the first sparkle of concern that tickled his spine because, even if his mother didn't go out that often, it wasn't as if she never left the house to see some relatives or friends. There was no note to warn them about her departure, but that would probably mean that she was about to come back soon, nothing more.

The orange light of the candle on his father's office was noticeable from the crack of the door and there were shadows moving from one side to the other of the room. He knocked, deciding to warn his father about his presence, and when Shikaku opened the door with his eyebrows furrowed and his forehead wrinkled, Shikamaru regretted his action. His father relaxed his features just a little bit, but it was clear by his sharp eyes that he was still wary.

Shikamaru started to worry because that wasn't like his father at all.

"I'm home." Was the first thing he said, even if he wanted to ask if something –no, what was wrong. But that would be an even more stupid question, not only his father would never give him the sort of answer he will be looking for, but he will definitely not tell him in a space where both of them could be potentially heard.

"I noticed it," was the answer, but the tone on Shikaku's voice was completely calm. "Your mother will be back in a couple of hours, why won't you go take a nap until dinner?"

It was a dismissal and Shikamaru knew it. He gave him a look, the Nara look, that was meant to imply that Shikamaru knew that something was going on, but Shikaku just shrugged his worry, patting his head like when he was a kid. He opened his mouth to voice his question, but his father quickly smiled and closed the door of his office.

Shikamaru went to his room, but he didn't sleep at all.