"Hari, have you seen Sasuke!?" Some pathetic flea asks the boy lounging beneath the tree Sasuke is perched on much to his ire. He scowls from his spot tucked high enough to where no one would spot him, or everyone but Hari it seems, as the other had lazily looked up at him before propping his back onto the tree and pulling out a complex-looking scroll.
"Hmm?" Hari asks, looking up from his scroll. The boy is surprisingly studious for someone who hangs out with the unofficial prankster gang. Though given that Shikamaru also hides his intelligence behind a mask of bored indifference he shouldn't be surprised.
The nameless flea rolls her eyes as if she is the one being bothered, "Sasuke, I asked if you saw him!"
He watches as Hari blinks, "No? Why?"
Here the crazed girl huffs, "Because I came here extra early and only have two minutes before-"
"Sasuke-kun!" A chorus of fangirls screaming meets his ears and the girl wilts.
"Fucking damnit." He hears the flea snarl before turning to the mass of crazy bitches and puts on a fake smile.
"Hey! I didn't find him over here!" She says with a pout and he shivers and mentally thanks Hari for misdirecting them towards the other side of the school.
"You know, I don't think even mine were that bad," he hears Hari mutter to himself.
"Hn?" He lets out dropping lower once he feels safe enough to. Hari tilts his head up and gives him a look.
"Nothing, it's not important." He says with a helpless shrug before changing the topic.
"Heard that you like Tomatoes?"
"...yeah?" He says confused as to why the other is asking.
"I'm making a new recipe that involves a type of tomato sauce and I would like to have some feedback on it if you want?"
"You have Naruto?" He gets out.
The other waves his hands, "Unless it's ramen then anything else is just okay to him, he's got a problem."
He gives Hari a look that says 'just one problem?' To which the other laughs and Sasuke feels a small smile form in satisfaction.
"Oh, Naruto is a lot smarter than people give him credit for, his way of learning is a more hands-on and wing-it type of approach though." The other says in defense of the Dobe.
"Hn." He'd have to see it to believe it.
"You could join our training too if you want?" The other says casually.
"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE!" Naruto screeches. ungodly loud as they enter the field.
Sasuke scowls and rubs his ears as he stands behind Hari after begrudgingly following him to the training area that he uses with Naruto. He doesn't know why he even agreed to this.
He does, a promise of tomatoes is a big temptation.
"Dobe," he greets just to rile the dumbass up, much to Hari's knowing look and grin of amusement.
Naruto squawks pointing at him with a glare of his own, "The fuck you say Teme!"
"Do-be," he says slowly just to be a dick.
Hari steps in before they can go at it, "Guy's save it for sparring, now sit." He gives them both a look of promise if they don't comply.
They both sit, naruto crossing his arms and Sasuke scowling at the tree.
"Now, I'm going to show you a basic technique that is vital to any shinobi, and sadly they don't seem to teach it to the students, most clan kids learn it at home. We are special cases, one being an orphan and the other not having his clan to teach him." The boy gives Sasuke an apologetic look at the blatant way he is speaking.
Sasuke shrugs, it's better than false platitudes.
"Now watch," Hari says and steps up to a tree.
The smaller boy, even shorter than Naruto, gives them a cheeky grin, plants his foot on the bark of the tree, and proceeds to walk up the trunk as one would walk across the sidewalk.
Sasuke is too dignified to let out the gasp of surprise that Naruto does, even if he feels the same sentiment. They watch as he doesn't stop until he is hanging upside down.
"So Cool!" Naruto yells.
"I want to do that!"
Hari chuckles, his hair dangling as he tilts his head to look at them, "Can anyone tell me what the first step would be?"
Sakura jolts in shock as the infamous new student sits beside her as she is burrowed into a scroll they as academic students have access to. She sees a keen look as he takes in the sheer amount of books and scrolls sitting around her.
"A little light reading?" The other says, and just like any time he talks Hari's voice sounds like it's saturated in honey or chimes the right tune to lull you into a sense of comfort.
She flushes at his impressed look, "just a little."
He tilts his head to the chair across from her and she nods feeling dazed as the other boy sits, "I hear you're one of the smartest of the bunch."
Her inner cha's in smug satisfaction that someone acknowledges their smarts, while on the outside she fiddles with her pen, taking notes of things she finds important. "You could say so, but I suck at everything else."
She doesn't even bother trying to ask about Sasuke, the last girl to try and use Hari to get to the Uchiha ended up bald and pink for a week.
"Then train to get better at it," Hari says it's simple.
"How?" She asks meekly.
Hari leans forward and tugs the nearest scroll, "Medical 101," he reads allowed, "How far have you gotten on this? I know bet you have good chakra control with the intelligence you have, I'd look into the medical field."
"If nothing else, I know every shinobi would love to have a ninja on the field who can heal." He says.
She furrows her brows, "But they say medics can't be combative?"
Hari nods, "Technically, that is true, but ever since Lady Tsunade left the village in grief, the rules have been lax, besides you only have to follow the medical code if you swear an oath. You should look into volunteering at the hospital, they should let you shadow a nurse if nothing."
"I mean, why would they deny a ninja the right to learn a life-saving technique?" He ends, and she can't say anything to that.
She watches as he reaches into his pocket, "here," she hesitates and then reaches out for the coin.
"Show that to the front desk and they'll listen to your request," he says standing up.
"What is it?" She asks, looking down at the coin. He gives her a sly grin, suddenly seeming more dangerous.
"Just a favor," is all he says, and walks away.
Walking into the clearing of his clan's forest Shikaku stops and admires the absurdity before him. Contrary to popular belief the Nara woods aren't off-limits, they just have very protective inhabitants.
Sitting with a couple of fawns is the enigma that came from one of Orochimaru's labs and goes by the name Hari, one of the few Root agents who get to reclaim an identity of their own. He doesn't know if he is more surprised by the boy who is holding out his hand with fruits on it, letting the baby fawn closest to him eat out of his hands, or the fact that the great Buck who is simply standing far off their great antlers reaching high and large monitoring the open field for any predators.
Shikaku admires how at ease they are even though a stranger is amongst their younglings.
"So you're the reason my sleep was interrupted," he grouches in lieu of a greeting, the boy looks over at him, his eyes green making the leaves surrounding them pale in shame.
The other starts to get up, "Nara-sama, I didn't mean intrude I just always had a connection with deer and-" Shikaku rests his hand on top of the boy before he can stand and make a fool out of himself, and because it's too early for this shit.
"Relax, I don't mind, especially if they," he nods towards the deer surrounding them, "don't have a problem with you here," He says watching as the boy who had the misfortune of being interesting to the eyes of deplorable people relax and gives him a slight smile of relief.
"Thank you, they remind me of my father, what little of him I can remember." The boy mutters the last part, and Shikaku mentally groans as his knees pop while he crouches to sit down and absently pets the fawn by his feet.
"Shit kid," he mutters to himself, and how can one deny the boy anything with the forlorn look on his too-young face.
Must be his fatherly instincts, and of course it's for a troublesome brat.
Hari speaks up after a moment of silence, "How is Shikamaru?"
He looks over at the boy playing with a leaf, "Sleeping over at Choji's, why?" He asks benignly.
Hari shifts, "Oh, nothing, it's just he was complaining about feeling sick yesterday and he wasn't here today soâ"
"Ah, that's because we were having a clan ceremony," he says.
"Huh," the boy says intrigued;.
Giving the confused boy a grin, while feeling proud as he reveals the fact that his boy is more prepared than most assume, "it's nothing too sacred or anything, just a rite of passage for when one of us learns one of the clan techniques."
"Ooh," the other says with an impressed look.
"Which one?"
"Now that's a secret," he says with only to chuckle at the pout that spreads at his answer.
"Do you play shogi?" slyly pulling out a storage scroll containing his favorite past time, favorite past time after sleeping that is.
a/n:
I genuinely think medic is the best route for Sakura, simply because is the best way she can utilize her small reserves and still be a great player. (People give her too little credit, she is just a regular girl on a team of literal demigods and still kept up.)
Shikaku instantly upon meeting Hari: "if anyone touches this precious bean I'll end them…slowly."