Don't own Naruto or Adventure Time.

XIV: The Butterfly Effect

Shikamaru often found himself in troublesome situations. It was routine. A running gag of sorts, how the world never favoured him. Except, the gag wasn't running anymore. It had stopped, turned, looked him in the eye and told him he'd never leave the land of Ooo.

Yeesh, just 'cause he had no spare coins the man turned a joke into bad fortune. Guessed that was all a poor person got. Yet the teller spoke with a kind of certainty that unnerved him. As if Ooo itself spoke through the man and expressed displeasure about his existence.

They were on the same page, at first, until they weren't. He was the problem, that was unanimous. The fix was where they differed.

He thought the most reasonable option was to magic him back to his dimension but the beggar went from a heap of clothes to just... Yellow. A yellow wizard.

Magic man, he called himself. Oh, rather, MAGIC MAN, with all the emphasis. Despite that, Shikamaru refused to brush the man off as some kind of mad person or clown because, underneath the underneath, that'd be a mistake.

But what was magic man's fix for the problem of his existence, send him home? Erase him?

No, it was worse.

"My, my, my, you're having some trouble fitting right in," he said, bold yet cryptic with words. "How 'bout I speed up the proc—"

No.

Shikamaru erased the distance in a blink and slammed a palm over his mouth to cease any chant or incantation. The man's eye twitched as he raised a hand and replicas poofed into existence one by one.

With his free hand, Shikamaru grasped the man's hand and weaved rat with it. The replicas stopped at five and before their feet could reach the ground, shadows bound all five.

The magic man waved his free hand but Shikamaru adjusted the handseal and seamlessly went from binding to strangulation. The replicas disappeared just as quickly as they appeared. He leapt back and the shadow-bound magic man mirrored him.

All within a second.

It all happened on instinct as he needed to be quick with his thoughts.

To slow it down; first, he knew nothing about how wizards used magic, so he muted him just in case. Second, the incident with the Ice King reminded him wizards could also cast via hand gestures.

Harder to stop that but Shikamaru knew he had at least eighty percent of the same magical energy and could channel it with hand seals. So, before Magic Man completed his cast, Shikamaru channelled his energy through the wizard and it forcefully swapped the spell for his own 'shadow spell' twice; cancelling his cast each time.

Naruto once explained how Sasuke used his fingers to cast a fireball technique and Shikamaru always wondered if Naruto could've just... added another seal to cancel it.

Say the fireball technique was; boar, horse, tiger. He could easily force a snake seal in there and not only cancel out the fireball technique but theoretically cast a water dragon technique himself—if he could. The opponent had done half the work already.

It was the same theory he applied with Magic Man, a theory that—thank goodness—transitioned perfectly into practice.

Magic man mirrored him as he uprighted himself. The wizard completely lost the playful, impish demeanour and watched Shikamaru with the same caution he did.

"No one likes a know-it-all," said the wizard.

"I'm not one of those."

"No one likes an unctuous person either."

Shikamaru ignored him. "What did you mean by fitting in?"

"I'd show you if you'd let me."

Magic Man tried to bring his fingers together but Shikamaru spread them apart. Seemed hand gestures were the primary method wizards used to cast spells so he made sure to keep his hands stiff—

"Kidding."

The wizard blinked and erased his own shadow, the shadow-binding technique went right past him. It stunned Shikamaru for half a second and before he could swap to Shadow Stitching, the wizard had, once again, appeared right in front of him.

He raised a hand to block a tap that held the force of thirty stomps behind it. Forced his hand into his gut and body into a nearby tree. Felt like a tap but the force lagged a one point five and hit him right after.

What a problem.

He fell to his feet, wobbled but kept still, a Shikamaru-shaped dent on the tree behind him. Damn it. He came to a complete stop and felt for a slick on his back but was relieved to feel nothing of such.

However. He tasted the back of his head welling up in his mouth but no hint of blood yet. Heard something crack but had no idea what and had no time to find out as the wizard stood above him, levitating and absent of a shadow.

"How?" He let his body fall into a squat and the wizard laughed.

"It's magic," said the wizard. "The greatest foil to the most brilliant minds."

Shikamaru watched him, neutral in his expression and demeanour. Aside from implying smart people hated magic, that reply had another unsettling implication.

"You're just a rat, a loophole exploiter," said the wizard. "Too bad for you, magic does not abide by laws. It is complete and utter freedom!"

He sighed, fingers tracing the dirt. "Freedom is subjected to the most laws."

"Oh?"

"Complete and utter freedom is nonexistent," he said. "There's only the illusion of freedom."

"You fool," he said. "Magic gives complete freedom!"

"If you think it grants you complete freedom, then you're hooked up to strings." Shikamaru smirked, narrow-eyed, he locked gazes with the wizard. "Strings that can be controlled. Strings that can be exploited."

The smile on the man's face cleared up completely, his finger and right eye twitching.

Shikamaru then told him. "Just pray to whatever god you serve that your strings don't end up with me."

Magic man raised a hand to snap his finger but Shikamaru hurled a mold of dirt right into his palm, muffling the click. Did the same with the other hand for good measure.

The five senses or particular gestures, he was still unaware of how wizards truly cast spells but from everything gathered, he had a hunch it was close to one of those.

Trial and error.

"You annoying—"

Rat.

Shadow tendrils snatched both wrists and shut his mouth and his eyes for good measure. Wrapped him up like a funeral mummy with no room for shifting. Despite how dangerous magic man was, Shikamaru opted not to kill him there and then because the wizard knew who he was and where he came from and could have the solution he sought. He could have the—

The world tilted and when he coughed, it splattered blood. Shikamaru immediately cancelled the technique to steady himself. Ignoring Princess had come back around to bite him. He fell to a knee. She was right.

Damn it.

"You cannot exist here. The game does not favour you." Magic Man stared him down. "Look how much you need to pay. Just. To. Play."

Shikamaru managed to stand but balance was hard to keep. The wizard was right about that one. They could both 'cast spells' but only one of them got hit with drawbacks.

Kinda rigged, he'd admit. But a shinobi played with the hand he's dealt.

"I can see it in your eyes, how you hate Ooo. Worry not, it hates you too." Magic man dusted his hands and raised one. "To remain here for as long as you live and until you die. I cannot... imagine a better punishment for you, Nara Shikamaru."

Click.

Shikamaru shook his head, hand on the knob to his room. That singular action had instilled a level of paranoia within him because the unsettling part was he didn't feel any different. He had no idea what Magic Man had done. No visual clues either, the moment he cast the spell, the wizard turned, inflated and popped into chuckling confetti.

He could only infer from cryptic words what the spell or curse entailed. Needless to say, he was moving blindly in the dark.

Damn. Princess must have been so confused. One thing he failed to mention about the ordeal was that the moment it was over, he weaved rat and nothing happened.

Once. Twice. Thrice. Nothing. So there was that. If what he assumed was correct, though, that was the least of his problems.

He had also tested the pocket dimension, smeared his blood and it worked. Immediately went straight to the hospital because he knew, eventually—he bit his thumb and swiped it across the scroll half-tucked inside his pouch. Nothing happened—that would stop working as well.

He could burn it to unseal everything but that was a very, very risky fifty-fifty. On one hand, it might unseal everything as intended, on the other hand, it might just burn up completely, leaving his stuff in oblivion forever.

On a brighter note, he could still surface walk as that didn't require hand seals.

At first, he thought his Chakra was gone but he still felt it, at least twenty percent, still there. The dimension was still in the process of converting the remainder to magical energy.

Even with the party just a day after tomorrow, he was a little restless. If he had an opportunity to leave there and then, he'd take it because he thought, if he stalled any longer, he'd never return.

Princess, Bubblegum, the guards, the butler, Manfried, the candy kingdom, the kid and the dog, yeah, they all seemed nice. But just the thought of being trapped there was... Ugh, just no, man. No.

He didn't need to return immediately, just confirmation that he 'could' return was fine. Just enough to ease the mental discomfort.

He took a deep breath and sighed. What a hassle. Just another Friday, huh? It was whatever, he'd figure something out.

If it was annoying enough to complain about then just fix it.

He'd test some things later on but he'd done what he could for now—

"Hey, man, you good?"

Shikamaru glanced up and could see directly into the room. He'd absentmindedly pushed open the door.

Finn was at the centre of the bed and Jake by the foot. They were both awake and had their eyes on him. Concerned.

"Yeah, uh, it's all good."

"Not when you say it like that," said Jake.

Shikamaru hummed and tried again. "Yeah, it's all good."

"Naaaah, man." Finn laughed.

"How else am I supposed to say it?" He sighed, shutting the door and lights.

"It's not the words, man." Jake gave an all-knowing chuckle, stretching on the bed. "It's the vibe."

"Facts, facts."

"Can't argue with that." Shikamaru gave a small, defeated shrug. "Toss me a pillow."

They both did, which he caught without a glance.

"Thanks."

"There's space on the bed, though," Finn said. "Don't wanna jack up your space or no'n like that."

"It's fine, it's not even my space." Shikamaru ruffled through the cupboards and pulled out some weighted blankets. Tossed them one and spread his next to the large double window, just by the side of the bed. "Plus I got a better spot."

"You a window guy too, Shikamaru?" Jake asked.

"Yeah."

"Stars?" Finn asked.

"Clouds."

"Dang it."

"Heck yeah, dude."

"I don't get y'all for real."

"Stars are cool and all but they're always the same, you get?" Jake said.

"But clouds never look the same." He fell on his pillow and blanket, watching the window.

"Ugh, thank you!"

"So you don't like anything about stars?"

"Of course, I do!"

"They shut up, at least."

They all snickered at the nighttime joke.

"Man, everything's so pink. Just like PB." Finn sighed.

"Not again, dude."

"Wh-What? She's pretty cool," he said. "She's pretty..."

"Oh, brother..."

"Oi, Shikamaru."

An absentminded hum.

"What'chu think?" Finn asked. "About Bubblegum. Pretty, right?"

"Dunno, never really thought about it."

He couldn't even look himself in the mirror for ten seconds much less another person.

"I-I think she's amazing."

"That's just obvious."

"Yeah, no one's doubting that." Jake rolled his eyes.

"Oh, um... Sorry. I just..." Shikamaru could hear the blush in his tone. "Really, like... like her, you know?"

The hum of the air conditioner made the silence a lot louder than it needed to be and Finn's face slowly lit up the dark.

It was silent for an additional minute, the three of them, no words.

And then Shikamaru spoke up. "Damn, really?"

Jake laughed. "Who would have guessed? What a bombshell."

"Crazy, man." Shikamaru shook his head.

"H-Hey, was it that obvious?"

"You attacked me for just... walking in her general direction."

Even gumball guardians warned you first.

"Ah... My fault. My fault. Sorry."

"It's no crime."

"You like her too?"

He quoted Princess as she said it best. "We get along."

Finn sighed in relief and jammed a fist into his palm. "Great."

Shikamaru saw no harm in it, he was just a kid after all.

"Y-You guys don't tell her, though."

Jake blinked and looked over the bed, down at Shikamaru who just sighed.

"There's no need—"

Jake pinched him. What, they were gonna pretend Bubblegum was oblivious? That she did not know? He saw no point in that but he guessed even Bubblegum played oblivious as well so... Sure?

"What?" said Finn.

"We won't say a thing."

"Zipped."

"Awesome." He stared up at the ceiling. "What happened with you, by the way."

The place was without response.

"Oh, me?" Shikamaru asked

"Yeah, you, you nut."

"You kinda seemed out of it when you stepped into the castle, and here too." Jake added.

"Don't stress about the details, just some guy I met."

"Who that?"

"Dunno... Asked me for a coin and freaked out when I didn't have any."

"Hold on," said Jake. "Yellow hat, yellow shirt?"

"Magic man?" Finn asked.

Woah, these two knew their way around. That was actually great.

"Yeah, magic man." Shikamaru yawned. "Y'know the guy?"

"Know?" said Finn. "That bum turned me into a foot for three days!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it's true and Finn even gave him a coin."

"Yikes."

"What did he do to you?" Finn asked.

He honestly did not know. "Ah, I managed to duck out on time."

"He's trouble, man. Real trouble," said Jake.

"If I catch him, it's fist cookies for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for a midnight snack; 'hey, wake up'"—Finn whispered the last part and punched the air—"then POW! Fist cookie."

Shikamaru chuckled. It was good distractive banter.

"What about you guys?"

"Uh..." Jake started, clearly uncomfortable. "We just came to visit."

"Where's your stuff?"

"Um, we left it at home."

"Ah, I see." Shikamaru yawned. "What's in your house then?"

"H-How did you know about—"

Jake nudged him.

"But Jake—"

Nudged him again.

"There's nothing there."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, man, don't worry about it."

"Hm, if you say so—"

"Hold up..."

"Finn..." The dog tried to hush the boy but he refused.

"You're right... There's something in there."

"Ah..."

It was quiet between them but the silence was enough conversation for Finn and Shikamaru to reach an ultimatum.

"You... You really know how to move," Finn started. "You're pretty quick and all. Back then, you were going easy on us as well."

He already knew where Finn was going so Shikamaru just met him at the end.

"What do I get?"

"What'chu want?"

He hummed. "You know your way around the map?"

"For sure." He leaned over the bed to look at him. "That it?"

He thought about it for a bit. Great opportunity, those guys, Finn and Jake, seemed the adventure type. So they probably knew a lot of places and most importantly a lot of people.

Drowsiness left him and Shikamaru sat up.

"That's it."

"Where to?"

"I'll say after we're finished." Shikamaru rose to his feet.

"Heck yeah!" Finn flipped to a stand and Shikamaru hushed him.

"Wh-Whatever you two are thinking, I... I don't like it." Jake looked at them.

"You can stay," Shikamaru whispered.

"Wh-What if the princess finds out."

"She won't."

"Yeah, we'll be quick. Two-minute adventure. In and out." Finn reached for his sword. "Plus if we fix this, we get our treehouse back from her."

"Her?"

"Marceline."

Shikamaru squinted in confusion. "Your house got jacked by someone called Marceline?"

"Sh-Sh-She's no joke, dude." Jake shivered

"She's like... the vampire queen."

"Alright, sure. Let's just get it over with." He unlocked the window and unscrewed the protectors. "We'll be back before she wakes up so you don't have to explain anything."

"I...I'm still not sure about this, man."

"Relax," Finn and Shikamaru said at the same time.

"It'll be fine."

"Yeah, Jake, stop worrying."

"If we don't make it before morning. Dodge every question or run."

"W-What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means we'll be back before morning," Finn told him and Shikamaru nodded.

He noiselessly pushed the large windows open, surveying the area and marking every security camera as he mentally mapped the best, most invisible route out of the kingdom. A route blind of all cameras and even the gumball guardians.

They packed their needed gear and stood by the windowsill as Shikamaru mapped out the path for Finn. Hopefully, the Marceline person was someone he could reason with as he could not access his shadow technique, so an altercation or fight was a last resort.

But if it came down to it, shadow technique or not, he would not back away. Opportunities like that came rarely. He'd already made a base plan and several contingencies, the only thing left was to watch how it played out.

But if the vampire queen was cooperative, which he hoped, then those were unneeded but just in case...

He gave a thumbs-up to confirm if Finn had processed everything. Finn took a deep breath and affirmed with a thumbs-up.

They were good to go.

"Keep the lights shut, lock the door."

Jake nodded and woosh, they were gone.

Shikamaru and Finn hopped roof to roof and Finn did a good job keeping up even though he had to slow down a bit. And because Finn followed behind, they had to stop sometimes and sneak their way around cameras. Under normal circumstances, that'd be unneeded. He'd zoom right through the cameras and it'd pick up nothing but wind.

Since Finn was there, they had to play it slow.

They managed that way until they were outside the kingdom and at that point, Shikamaru thought to go over any useful information on the way.

"Alright, anything I need to know about the vampire lady beforehand?"

"Yeah, one or two."

"Alright." He sighed. "Let's hear it."