Chapter 13: Troublesome

My name is Shikamaru Nara and I'm a member of the Nara clan. I'm just your average hidden leaf ninja. Sure, I've been called a genius and I even have the credentials to prove it, but I never saw myself as one. The only thing that is even remotely remarkable about me is my skills as a shogi player.

I want nothing more than to live an unremarkable life. I may be a ninja, but I'd much prefer to spend my days reading, watching the clouds, and playing shogi instead of doing missions. As far as I'm concerned, they're just too troublesome.

Of course, my family had other plans. As a member of the Nara clan, it is my duty to bring honor to the Nara name, which is such a drag. Still, that doesn't mean I need to have some great accomplishment. I can bring honor to my clan by being an ordinary ninja who did just enough for the village before settling down to have a family. Obviously, that was my plan, but as usual, life had something else in mind.

"SHIKAMARU! ARE YOU LISTENING?!"

"Sorry, did you say something?"

BAM

"Ugg, what the heck you dumb fox?"

"That's what you get for not listening you-"

So, this is Bushi, he's a warrior class summon and yes, he's a talking fox. I'm sure you already know this, but I'm in this mess because I was paired up with the most troublesome ninja in my class. That being Naruto Uzumaki. Long story short, he apparently formed a contract with the fox summons and they've agreed to train us. But honestly, it's been a real drag.

We've spent about a month here in the summoning realm, which translates to a week in our world. In that time, we've gotten a lot stronger and as much as I hate to admit it, I've learned a lot from this troublesome training, including new ways to use my shadow manipulation jutsu. And of course, that brings us to this guy.

"Why can't you understand that you have a huge responsibility now that you are on master Naruto's squad? He always tells us about how intelligent you are and yet you refuse to do anything! You could easily be the greatest tactician if you wanted, yet you choose to waste your talents! With your intellect, you could very well come up with schemes that would put your village leader to shame! So tell me, why can't you apply yourself?!"

"Because it's just too troublesome."

BAM

"Ugg, damn it! Why do you keep headbutting me?"

"Because apparently it's the only way to make you listen!" Bushi said with a tick mark on his head. "Our leader has graciously offered to make you and your team the greatest tricksters of all time, yet you won't take advantage of it!

"You realize that argument falls short when I never agreed to become a trickster, right? We're only doing this because your leader tricked Naruto into going along with this nonsense."

"Of course he tricked master Naruto, that was the point! He did it to show you all that as tricksters, everything you do and say will be tricks in of themselves. Every word and action you take will be a small trick that leads to a larger one and that one will lead to something even larger. You will be able to stay at least fifty steps ahead of your opponents while also learning how to think outside the box."

"Believe it or not, I can already do that. I didn't tell you this, but my dream is to become the kind of clan leader that can lead his clan as effectively as possible."

"All the more reason you should take this seriously."

"No, it's not."

I looked down at Bushi who just tilted his head in confusion. I wanted to let my comment stir in his head for a bit, but decided it would be too troublesome to leave him like that. Knowing this fox, who would probably come up with the wrong answer and I would get another headbutt.

"In the Nara clan, intelligence is valued above all else. As such, we don't really put a lot of stock in our physical training. Even our clan jutsu, the shadow possession jutsu, is one that gains strength from the mind instead of the body or spirit like other jutsu."

After my explanation, I noticed Bushi giving me an all too familiar expression. It was the same one Naruto had back at the academy. The one that said 'I don't really understand, but I get the gist of it' and my kami, it was a huge drag. I was basically talking to a second Naruto and I started to understand how the teachers felt.

Sigh "Look, what I'm saying is that the Nara clan is one that supports the front lines from afar. We act as the strategists and coordinators for the other ninja. Take my dad for example. He was the tactician for the third great shinobi war, but almost never saw any action."

"That's because he worked behind the scenes, moving everyone like they were pieces on a chessboard. He honorably served the village without having to take the battlefield by coordinating our attacks while minimizing our casualties and creating strategies that baffled even the Kages of other villages."

"Don't get me wrong, I know he was part of the Ino-Shika-Cho team and fought side-by-side with other ninjas, but that was when he was a lot younger. I'm not saying he isn't strong, far from it in fact, I just don't see the reason to train my body more than I need to when it makes more sense to train my mind."

Bushi let out a sigh which he wasn't even trying to hide.

"I see, so your clan is like the hawks."

"That hawks?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

That was a mistake on my part because as soon as I asked, Bushi let out a mischievous grin that could rival Naruto's.

"I'm glad you asked, kit. You see, the hawks are much like your clan in that they are summons that act more as support than anything else. They are also very intelligent and because of their extraordinary eyesight, they can see anything and everything on a battlefield like it was child's play. However, unlike you, they are not useless in a fight."

I narrowed my eyes at the comment. It's true that I'm not exactly the first person someone would think of when you wanted help in a fight, but that doesn't mean I was useless. Usually I didn't let things like that get to me, but for some reason this rubbed me the wrong way.

"What do you mean useless?"

"It's just I said, useless. It's true that you are good with the basics and your taijutsu has gotten a lot better, but it's clear that master Naruto and even that Hinata girl have you out paced. You need to be able to pull your weight and be able to help them when in a crisis. What if one day you go on a mission and both of them are either too tired to fight or knocked out or worse, what would you do then?"

I just looked to the side. It was a question I always asked myself since I knew there was always a chance of that happening, but truth be told, I didn't want to think about it. Sure, I could come up with a bunch of plans and strategies I could use in case that happened, but I'd rather think about what I could do to make sure that never happened in the first place.

Sigh "Look Bushi, I know better than anyone that you need to have something to fall back on in case your plans fall apart, but that doesn't mean I'm completely helpless. It's true I'm better at strategy then I am at fighting, but I can still hold my own if things hit the fan. Worst case, I can grab both of them and retreat before the enemy even realizes we've left."

"And what if they have a sensor or a way to track/trap you? Then you'd be back to square one and you'd be useless. In fact, forget about what I said about the hawks. You are nothing like them because unlike you, they aren't useless."

I narrowed my eyes. I didn't know why, but I hated how this damn fox was calling me useless. It wasn't anything new for me. I'd been called a lazy ass and a bore since before I joined the academy just because I prefer to take things slow. That doesn't make someone useless.

Both my dad and grandfather could barely get off their asses and they still did great things. They became great shinobi, once who became members of the council. I can do it too. There's no reason I can't. So why, why am I getting so worked up by this oversized plushy?

"Look, just because I'm not as invested in upping my taijutsu, doesn't make me useless. There are plenty of ninja who aren't good at hand to hand combat, but are still celebrated as elites."

"Sounds like an excuse to me," Bushi said with a deadpan voice. "I won't deny that what you say is true, however, those shinobi have an edge that make up for that. You however, do not. You aren't good at genjutsu, your ninjutsu is average at best, and you aren't able to perform any medical jutsu. So again, you're useless."

At this point, I wanted nothing more than to send this damn fox flying. This was probably the first time in my life I ever felt this way and I hated it. I hated that I was getting angry, I hated that he kept calling me useless, and I hated how I couldn't deny any of what he said.

"Let's say for a second that what you said is true and my strategies aren't enough, what do you suggest? Oh, and for the record, I won't accept 'train harder' as an answer."

"Well, if that's the case, then what you need is an edge of your own. Something you can fall back on in case your plans fail and your traps don't work. Perhaps you should become a summoner yourself."

"A summoner, me, are you serious?"

"I don't see why not. Well, except for you being lazy and useless."

I was seriously going to kill this thing.

"Well if I was going to summon something, what would it be? Would it be those hawks you keep bringing up?"

Bushi's eyes widened at me before he put his paw over his muzzle. That's when I heard him start to chuckle and the next thing I knew, he was on his back laughing up a storm. Needless to say, I wanted to kill him even more.

"YOU, hahah a hawk summoner? HAHAHAHAHA! Oh, oh, don't make me laugh so hard kit, you're gonna make me bust a gut!"

"I can do it for you!" I said through gritted teeth

"Sorry, sorry, but the idea of you becoming the hawk summoner is just so laughable. I mean, you are so lazy and the hawks hate laziness. They value intellect above all else for sure, but you don't even come close to having the kind of will they search for in a summoner."

"The kind of will?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, the 'Will to Fly', as they call it. I can't exactly say I know much about it since they've been without a summoner for almost as long as we have, but I've heard them talk about it during our summits."

"From what I know, the 'Will to Fly' means that you are able to take on any burden in this world, but not be caged or hindered by it. They said it's often seen in those who have led hard lives but are still able to keep going or war veterans who have experienced the worst kind of horrors but are still able to hold their heads high."

"It's the kind of will one must have in order to continue to grow and lead a good life despite the hardships. Basically, think of it as you being willing to take to the skies no matter how many times you are shot down. You don't care if you get hurt or how much this world chains you down, you WILL take to the skies again and find true freedom."

After his explanation was done, I couldn't help but bring my hand to my chin. What he said really struck a chord with me, mainly because it felt like I heard something similar before. That's when it hit me and before I knew it, I closed my eyes while facing the sky.

"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."

I opened my eyes and looked at Bushi. When I did though, he had a surprised look on his face and I could swear his tail was wagging faster than Akamaru's was that day Kiba decided to put a whole pack of sugar into his dog food.

"What is it now?"

"What was that just now? That poem?"

"It's just something we learned back when we were kids. It's supposed to describe the will of fire, but I never understood it until your explanation. I don't know if it's the same thing, but that poem always felt like it was talking about the future."

"We are the current leaves that dance, burn, and stoke the flames, while the new buds are the generations that come after us and how they will keep the flame burning. That's what it means to inherit the will of fire. At least, that's what I thought it meant. But now, I'm not so sure. It feels like there's more to it than that, but I don't know why."

"Maybe there is, but you'll never know if you don't even try to figure it out." Bushi said before he brought his right paw up to his chin. "Still, that makes me wonder, why didn't the hawks didn't have master Naruto become their summoner."

"What do you mean?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, well, it just seems like master would be an idealistic choice for them given everything he's been through. To carry such a burden and to suffer as much as he has and yet still be willing to help others is truly commendable. The chances of getting someone like him are one in a hundred million, so we pretty much hit the ultimate jackpot."

At this point, I could tell that Bushi was rambling, but that thing about Naruto suffering was something I couldn't let go. What's this burden that Naruto's carrying and what happened in his life that made this fox think the hawks would want him? It's questions like these that made my teammate so troublesome. Everytime I think I've figured him out, I find ten more layers of secrets he's hiding.

"Anyway, that's just my two scents on it. For now though, we should get back to training."

"Hey Bushi."

"Um… yes Shikamaru?"

I thought about what I should say. I could try to question him about Nartuo, but he might just shut down. No, this was something I either needed to find out on my own or ask Naruto directly. So I decided to ask a more pressing question.

"You said that I need the 'will to fly' in order to be considered a summoner for the crows, right?"

Bushi nodded his head.

"What about the 'want' to fly?"

"'Want' to fly?"

I nodded before looking up at the sky.

"I'm sure you already know this, but one of my favorite things to do is cloud gaze. I could spend endless hours just watching them move across the sky and make all sorts of shapes. Well, the thing is, I never told anyone this, but I used to wonder what existed above them."

"When I was younger, I would daydream about leaving all the things in life that I thought was a drag behind by flying past the clouds. For me, the clouds seemed like this barrier that separated us from the rest of the sky. I know better now, but there are times when I think just flying away from everything. I'd go where I'd want, where I want, and I'd just do things my own way."

I looked back down at Bushi who was completely fixated on me.

"I don't know about the will to fly or that stuff about living a hard life, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take to the skies if I could. I know I can't argue what you said about me being lazy and never having a hard life, but maybe there's more to it than what you said."

"Maybe," Bushi said with a smile. "However, that's something you'll have to ask the hawks themselves since what I know is only things I've heard or learned from the summits. I doubt you'll be able to though since they haven't had an actual summoner in a long time. Anki could probably help you with that, but considering how much those featherheads keep to themselves, I can't really say."

"Well that's better than nothing. Anyway, you said something about getting back to training?"

"Yes, now let us begin."

I nodded to him and went to the other end of the forest clearing. I took my stance and we are about to start when we heard someone shouting at us. We turned our heads and saw Naruto, Hinata, Goki, and Yuki walking towards us.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"Well, we thought we'd check up on you two to see how things are going. I hope you're not giving Bushi a hard time, Shikamaru." He said with that annoying foxy grin.

"I'm not. In fact, we were just having a very enlightening conversation."

"Oh, t-that's good to hear."

"Hinata, you really must learn to stop stuttering so much," Yuki said as she used one of her tails to pat Hinata's back. "You've come such a long way and you should hold your head up high for that."

"O-Ok."

I just shook my head at that before turning to Naruto. That's when everything that Bushi said came rushing back to me. What he said about Naruto and about me not taking things seriously. It made me do something I knew I was going to regret.

"Hey Naruto."

"What's up Shikamaru?"

Deep breath "Would you spar with me for a bit?"

Immediately after I said that, the air around me got cold. I thought it was Yuki, but then I noticed everyone staring at me like I'd grown a second head or something.

"W-Wha?"

"I'm asking you if you'll spar with me, Naruto."

Everyone: "KAI!"

After they yelled that, they looked at me again, which I raised a brow at.

"So, this isn't a genjutsu? Shikamaru really wants to spar with me?"

"It would appear so Master Naruto."

I just grew a tick mark.

"Look, if you don't want to, then-"

"No! I want to!" Naruto yelled before running to the other end of the training ground before taking his stance. "Just make sure you give it all you got!"

I nodded at him and took my stance one more time.

"The will to fly, huh?"

"Heh, how troublesome."