10

I walked towards the Nara, stopping at his feet.

Then, slowly, carefully, I reached out and poked his leg. I was trying to give the impression of looking for something.

The Nara crouched down, moving into a cross-legged position to be more on my level, his hands held underneath his chin.

I stared at the Nara. He had two scars on the right side of is face, black hair styled like a pineapple (Like every Nara in existence, it seemed), dark eyes as well as a black goatee. He wore a typical Jonin flak jack, though his seemed a deeper color of green compared to those of other Ninja. Underneath, he wore a mesh shirt.

Shikaku Nara, the Jonin Commander. A bit younger than what I knew him as, but recognizable all the same.

Shikaku stared back. His eyes scanning my form with an almost unnerving intensity, a deep intelligence hidden behind those eyes.

I tilted my head to the side and blinked.

Another ninja, one that I did not recognize, landed on the ground nearby.

There is an odd note in his voice as he asks "Captain?".

Shikaku hummed, before reaching out and picking me up. He didn't take his eyes of me as he responded. "Send a message that the situation has been dealt with, then head back to your post."

The ninja vanished as quickly as he appeared.

Shikaku stood up, still not taking his eyes off me.

He started walking, seemingly not paying much attention to his surroundings.

"So..." A voice called, right as another pair joined Shikaku. The first, a large, seemingly fat, man with a wave of spiked red hair. The second, and the one who spoke, a tall, blond haired man.

Chōza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka.

Ino-Shika-Chō. I should have known that they would been there.

"Any idea what it is?" Inoichi questioned.

Shikaku finally looks away, shooting a sideways glance his partner and longtime friend.

He shook his head "No, I don't."

Chōza snorted. "We don't know where it comes from, what it was doing, or how it does what it does. The only reason we knew it was there was because the ANBU saw a shadow and decided to follow it."

Shikaku frowned. "Actually, I have an idea on its purpose." He said.

He didn't elaborate. I looked at him.

He stared back.

Inoichi glanced at us, then spoke. "You know, usually, people explain after saying things like that."

Shikaku sighed, tilting his head backwards and looking at the sky. "What a drag... fine, were you paying attention to where it was going?"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow. Shikaku sighed again. "It was heading towards the Nara clan compound. Directly towards the Nara clan compound."

Was I actually doing that? I had just been going towards the largest collection of spots of Darkness. I supposed that made sense, actually. Where else would most of the normally pretty damn lazy Nara be than in their own compound.

Shikaku continued, his voice a lazy drawl. "I believe that it was seeking out the Nara, though I cannot say for certain why."

For a split second, Shikaku went still.

Both of his companions noticed.

Then, he sighed once more. It must have been his favorite pastime, seeing how he did it at the drop of a hat.

He looked to his two team mates, before speaking. "Sorry, Inoichi, Chōza. Hokage-sama is calling."

They nodded, saying goodbye before vanishing.

Shikaku focused on me again. "Well, time to see the Hokage, little guy."

I blinked at him.

I'm not entirely sure I wanted to, but I didn't exactly have a choice now, did I?

I tried to relax, after all, what could possibly go wrong?