Chapter 5 The One at Training Ground 5
As morning light slowly pierced through the breaking of the dawn, one Amaya Shizuka and Hosaka Tokiwa slowly awoke to a new day. Sadly, neither had a great night's sleep given the preoccupations that pestered their minds from their previous conversation yesterday. Whether it was the image of a dead lover or that of a grief-stricken woman, sleep was hard to come by. While Shizuka went to use the bathroom to get ready first, Tokiwa set out to prepare breakfast for them.
After undressing and entering the shower, Shizuka started cleaning herself absentmindedly as her thoughts drifted between her past with Sagiri and her present situation with Naruto. Trying to reconcile her feelings with her duty just left her frustrated, so she tried to empty her thoughts to focus on the warmth of the water washing down on her and what she should do today. Training seemed like a good way to distract herself. Given how sparse the opportunities were while traveling with Jiraiya and Naruto, it seemed like a great way to spend time to improve her skills while she was stuck staying in Konoha for the foreseeable future. With that thought in mind, she turned off the water and exited to dry herself. As she was rubbing herself dry with the towel, she noticed her reflection in the mirror of the sink and paused to examine herself.
She had been told she was beautiful many times before by other people, and Sagiri had certainly not been shy himself in saying so, but in a village filled with beautiful women that wasn't saying much. Nonetheless, between her flawless skin, feminine curves, and bountiful bosom, she could admit to herself that she looked good. That left her wondering what exactly led Naruto to like someone such as Sakura. Was it her unique hair color? Or did he prefer women with a thinner body type? Naruto had also called her pretty, so perhaps it was something else. It seemed hard to believe it was Sakura's personality given what he had told her about her violent nature, even if he insisted, she was also quite sweet too. Perhaps it was a more outgoing personality? Shizuka was certainly more reserved by nature, notwithstanding her recent tragic loss, being groomed to become the leader of her village left her with a strict upbringing regarding the pitfalls of politics. Speaking thoughtlessly in the wrong moment could cause disaster, and she had a very good recent example to prove the point with her challenge of Naruto. Shaking her head in frustration, she exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and hair to find Tokiwa sitting down at the table with some miso soup, rice, and grilled fish. She joined her at the table as they quickly ate together in silence.
Once done eating, Tokiwa entered the bathroom herself to shower while Shizuka went to put on a clean uniform. After getting dressed, she went to the window of their room and fully opened the curtain to look outside. The sky was almost completely clear of clouds as the sun continued its inexorable rise. The weather looks perfect for training... She continued to peer at the beautiful sight before her until Tokiwa finished getting ready.
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Once Tokiwa was ready, they left together to go to the Hokage tower to speak with a secretary there to find an available training ground they could reserve for their use.
"Good morning! Welcome to the Hokage tower! How can I help you today?" Asked a short woman with brown hair cut to her shoulders with a pink stripe running through it at the desk they sat down in front of. A wooden name tag sat atop her desk shaped like a small pig that said Akari on its side.
"Good morning. We want to reserve a training ground for our use today," Tokiwa answered.
"Ok. Is there a preferred time or field condition that you have?" Akari inquired.
Shizuka and Tokiwa shared a look together with Shizuka minutely shaking her head in confirmation.
"No, whatever is currently available this morning will suffice," Tokiwa clarified.
With that, the secretary started typing on the computer's keyboard to check available options before finally selecting one and confirming the choice.
"I have an availability for training ground 5 this morning between 9 to 10:30," Akari offered.
After another shared look, Tokiwa replied, "That is acceptable to us."
"Very well, I have reserved the training ground for your use," Akari advised. "Do you know how to get there," She queried while pointedly looking at their headbands.
"No, could you please provide us directions," Tokiwa acknowledged.
With that, Akari turned her monitor to face the pair while directing them in how to get to the training ground from the Hokage tower.
"Thank you," Tokiwa and Shizuka offered with a smile as they made to stand up.
"You're welcome!" Akari beamed back.
They exited the tower together and began leaping towards the training ground per Akari's directions.
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After the duo arrived at training ground 5, they found a 4-person cell of Konoha ninja with 2 kunoichi and 2 male shinobi already there training. It was still 15 minutes until 9, so they waited patiently a small distance away observing silently as they warmed themselves up for their own upcoming training session.
One of the kunoichi was older than the rest, probably in her mid to late 20s, with long black untamed hair reaching her upper back while wearing a red mesh blouse with only the right sleeve visible. White bandages with a rose thorned pattern were over the blouse while her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages. She was wearing regular shinobi sandals with her Konoha headband wrapped around her forehead.
The other kunoichi, around Shizuka's age, was wearing a lavender and cream hooded jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armor. She was also wearing navy blue pants, black, low-heeled sandals, and had her forehead protector hanging loosely around her neck.
They were currently watching the two male shinobi as they were battling against each other. Presumably to provide feedback on their spar.
The first was rambunctiously running astride a very large white dog the size of a small horse as he chased the other shinobi that was dodging his two attackers. He was wearing a black leather form fitting black jacket and pants with black shinobi sandals. He had red fanglike markings on his cheeks, and his headband was around his forehead keeping his brown hair out of his face as he ran while yelling commands to the dog.
The other shinobi was wearing dark round sunglasses and a sea-green jacket hanging down to his knees with a hood obstructing his face with a high, upturned collar. He had white bandages around his ankles over his black shinobi sandals and a brown satchel on his back.
The latter shinobi continued dodging the former's attacks for a while longer before finally coming to a stop with a shout from the older kunoichi. They began walking towards the nearby pair of kunoichi and the group seemed to be deep in conversation as they walked, presumably over their spar. After a few more minutes of conversation, the older kunoichi got a tug on her sleeves from the younger kunoichi, before turning to look directly at Shizuka and Tokiwa. After a brief pause to look at the sun, she turned to the group and ushered them over towards the Nadeshiko kunoichi.
"Hello!" Greeted the older kunoichi. "Have you reserved this training ground to use after us?"
"Yes," Tokiwa answered.
With a nod, the older kunoichi turned to the other 3 shinobi, "Great work this morning everyone! Let's head over to the Hokage tower and see about a mission."
With that, the group turned to leave, with the kunoichi offering small smiles in farewell. Whereas the coat covered shinobi offered a nod in passing, the leather wearing shinobi was openly leering at Shizuka and even wolf-whistled in her direction. The older kunoichi gave him a quick swat on the back of the head for his trouble with a harshly whispered admonishment before the group leapt away towards the village.
With a small shake of her head in exasperation, Shizuka turned to Tokiwa to wordlessly request a spar. Knowing her charge so well, Tokiwa immediately entered a defensive stance in response. Shizuka grinned in anticipation before the battle was finally joined in full.
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Shizuka was feeling much better after training with Tokiwa. It was much easier to focus on the simple smaller goal of getting stronger as part of her larger goal of leading the Nadeshiko village. As they were getting ready to leave, they noticed a new group approach, presumably to use the training ground after them. As luck would have it, they recognized a certain pineapple haired shinobi in a Chunin flak jacket as part of the group.
Joining Shikamaru was a kunoichi with platinum blonde hair running down her back to her hips in a ponytail with long bangs covering her right eye. She was wearing a high collared purple blouse with a matching apron skirt that showed off her exposed midriff. She was also wearing mesh armor on her thighs, elbows and knees.
There were also two other shinobi with him. The first was an older, taller, black-haired man wearing the standard Konoha uniform with a white sash around his waist with the kanji for "Fire" on it in black and red. The other was closer to Shikamaru's age with long spiky brown hair down his back while wearing a red suit and with grey plated armor on his arms, torso, and thighs. The torso plate had the kanji for "Food" on it in the front.
Tokiwa reacted to seeing Shikamaru first, calling out to him, "Good morning Shikamaru-san!"
Shikamaru's eyes widened a bit at seeing the pair before he returned the greeting, "Good morning, Tokiwa."
"Good morning, Nara-san," Shizuka offered
"Good morning, Shizuka," He responded.
The blonde haired kunoichi looked surprised at the interaction, immediately turning towards Shikamaru while interjecting, "Shikamaru, how the heck do you know these two beautiful kunoichi?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes in annoyance before answering, "I ran into them while I was seeing the Hokage about the Chunin Exam."
He tried to leave things at that, but was quickly prodded again by the blond haired kunoichi with another question, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
With a tired sigh and a mumbled "troublesome", Shikamaru began the introductions. "Tokiwa, Shizuka, these are my former Genin teammates, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji, as well as our former Jonin sensei, Sarutobi Asuma."
With an upturned palm facing the two foreign kunoichi he continued, "Everybody, this is Amaya Shizuka and her attendant Hosaka Tokiwa. They are kunoichi visiting from Nadeshiko village."
With his introductions finished, Ino leapt into action, "It is so nice to meet you!" she gushed with a smile. "What brings you to Konoha?"
Sensing the coming landmine in Ino's question, Shikamaru tried to redirect the conversation, "Were you both training just now?"
Shizuka and Tokiwa shared a look between them before Tokiwa turned back to the group and answered, "Yes, were doing some training Shikamaru-san . As to your question Ino-san-"
"We can leave and come back later if you want to keep training," Shikamaru tried again.
Using his well-known laziness in his favor was par for the course for the genius shinobi, unfortunately, Tokiwa's polite nature wouldn't be denied.
"No, Shikamaru-san, we can't impose on your team like that," Tokiwa began. "As to your question Ino-san, we are here to bring Shizuka-sama's fiancée back to our village."
Shikamaru could tell Ino was dying to know more and was desperately racking his brains for another way to redirect the conversation without drawing further suspicion before she opened her mouth, but he was too late, "Oh god, who's the lucky guy?" She squealed in girlish anticipation.
"Do you know Uzumaki Naruto?" Shizuka finally deigned to enter the conversation.
Silence echoed across the ground for several seconds as a stunned Ino stared back at Shizuka in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish silently as she was struck silent for the first time in her life. Choji and Asuma were not much better as they also stared at Shizuka in astonishment. As Tokiwa and Shizuka shared a look of concerned confusion, Shikamaru once more perfectly summed up the situation, "Troublesome."
His speaking seemed to finally reboot Ino's brain as she seemingly scrambled to make up for lost time by asking her questions at lightning speed, "IthoughtNarutowasonatrainingtrip?Howdidyoubothmeet?Wasitduringhistrainingtrip?Ishebacknow?Isheleavingthevillagewithyou?Howdidyoubothfallinlove?Whenisthewedding?CanIcome?Whereisyourvillage?-"
Ino was finally prompted to pause and take a breath as Shizuka started frantically waving both hands in front of her in a warding gesture to get her to stop.
"Slow down Yamanaka-san!" Shizuka finally managed to get in before more questions could be added on. She shot Tokiwa a look of desperation, hoping her attendant could help her in answering Ino's questions.
Given their conversation last night, Tokiwa was more than happy to assist her charge. With a small smile, she began, "To answer your questions Ino-san; yes, Naruto has just returned from his training trip, they met at our village during his training trip, and there are currently no wedding plans in place now."
Ino frowned at the last answer from Tokiwa.
Before she could probe further Shikamaru interjected, "It's complicated Ino."
"Complicated?" She asked.
"Yeah, complicated," Shikamaru confirmed.
From there, Tokiwa went on to explain the laws that govern their village and how it led to Naruto's engagement to Shizuka. By the end of her explanation, Team Asuma, minus Shikamaru, were staring at Tokiwa in bewilderment. At that point, the other 2 male members of the team decided to join in on the conversation.
"That Naruto, always seems like he's in the middle of everything, doesn't it?" Asuma chuckled.
Choji was much less delicate about the whole matter.
"Seems like Naruto was forced into this whole thing to me..."
"Yep, Naruto was basically shanghaied into this arrangement," Shikamaru concurred.
Ino was torn. On the one hand, the possibility of a wedding, with all its trappings with flowers, cake, dancing, etc. got her romantic side buzzing with excitement. On the other hand, having her former classmate forced into the whole thing was a major buzzkill.
"So, why is the wedding being postponed? Is it because Naruto is opposed to getting married to Shizuka?" She asked.
"No, Naruto being targeted by the Akatsuki has postponed the wedding until that issue is resolved. We don't want our village to be the target of S-rank criminals," Tokiwa clarified.
Asuma frowned at her statement. While it was known among some of the upper ranks of Konoha shinobi on who the Akatsuki were and why they were targeting Naruto, it wasn't common knowledge amongst Naruto's generation. As he puzzled over how to subtly redirect the conversation, he could already see Shikamaru's gears turning in response to Tokiwa's declaration, he was saved by an unlikely ally in Shizuka.
"Yamanaka-san, while I appreciate your concern regarding Uzumaki-san and interest in our future wedding, I must ask that you respect our privacy regarding our relationship."
At Ino's stunned expression, and Shikamaru's furrowed brow, Asuma knew this was his chance.
"Well team, let's leave things at that. It's none of our business anyways."
"But Asuma-sensei-" Shikamaru tried.
"Leave it alone Shikamaru," Asuma sent back a pointed look to go with the firm tone in his voice.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.
Asuma could already see a headache coming with this topic and wanted to, at minimum, prevent Shikamaru from bringing it up around foreign shinobi. Trying to skirt around the Sandaime's law regarding the Kyuubi while explaining the Akatsuki would certainly be a "troublesome" ordeal. He was considering reaching for a cigarette to light up just at the thought of the coming conversation.
With Asuma silencing further follow up questions, Shizuka motioned to Tokiwa with a nod and a sharp look for them to say their goodbyes so they could leave.
"It was nice meeting everyone here," Tokiwa began.
"Best of luck with your training," Shizuka intoned politely.
"Nice to meet you," Choji added.
"Bye," short and to the point from Shikamaru.
"Don't be a stranger now," Ino answered back in a saccharine sweet tone as she smiled impishly while waving.
"Enjoy your stay in Konoha," Asuma concluded.
With that, Shizuka and Tokiwa leapt away towards the village, leaving training ground 5 to Team Asuma.
After she was sure they were out of hearing range, Ino all but exploded at the rest of her team.
"Well, that was rude! We find out someone we know is forced into an engagement and they refuse to explain what's going on!?"
While Ino was shaking her head in exasperation, Choji had a different reaction.
"What was that whole thing about Akatsuki and Naruto being targeted by S-rank criminals?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Shikamaru quickly added while pointedly looking at Asuma.
Asuma pinched his nose with his left hand in frustration as he reached for a cigarette with his right hand. It looked like he wasn't getting out of this situation now... With a sigh and a shrug, he figured calling off their training for today wouldn't be an issue. It's not like he couldn't play Shogi with Shikamaru some other time.
"Alright team let's skip training and meet with the Hokage. She will help explain the situation and then we can see about a mission for ourselves while Shikamaru continues preparations for the Chunin Exam."
At a nod from the rest of the group, they leapt away from training ground 5 to go meet with Tsunade.
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After arriving at the Hokage tower, Team Asuma was fortunate to quickly get an audience with Tsunade. In her office, Asuma started off the conversation.
"Hokage-sama, we just met with some kunoichi from the Nadeshiko village, and they shared with my team some information regarding a group of S-rank rogue ninja targeting Uzumaki Naruto. They were hoping you could provide greater clarity regarding this situation."
Tsunade cocked an eyebrow at Asuma. He had fought the Akatsuki previously so it's not like he couldn't explain it himself. Seeing his hard look, she figured out why he brought this to her. With a small sigh of annoyance, she began.
"The Akatsuki are a group of S-rank missing ninja mercenaries that have been taking missions over the past few years to earn money. Intelligence on them is scarce, so we're not sure why they formed or what their goals are. What we do know is that they are amassing funds for some purpose while also targeting some shinobi from other villages."
Tsunade's explanation left out an obvious detail, even to Ino and Choji, let alone a genius like Shikamaru.
"What is it about Naruto that makes him a target?" Shikamaru asked. While Naruto was powerful in his own right for his age, he wasn't remotely well-known enough to appear in another country's bingo book, let alone as a target for S-rank missing ninja.
"That's an S-rank secret," Was her curt reply.
Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru recoiled in shock.
Shikamaru's brain was already going a mile a minute as he tried to figure out the puzzle before him.
Asuma palmed his face in exasperation. This wasn't what I had in mind Hokage-sama!
Tsunade continued. "You can be briefed on this information on a need-to-know basis. Otherwise, you can ask Naruto himself about it." She added a pointed look at Asuma towards the end. "Unfortunately, you will have to wait to ask after your mission and the Chunin Exams are complete."
With that final note of explanation, she had their 4th team member Aoba Yamashiro, a Tokubetsu Jonin, enter so she could brief them on their mission, sans Shikamaru as he left to continue his own preparations.
As he was walking down the hallway lost in thought over the puzzle before him, the Chunin Exam was the furthest thing from this mind.
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AN: It always bothered me that Naruto's Jinchuriki status was basically revealed offscreen to the side characters in the manga. It's the driving force for his pariah status growing up! Kakashi calls Naruto a Jinchuriki around team 10 in chapter 355 when they're chasing Sasuke after he defeated Orochimaru, so presumably they were briefed about it at some point given their lack of reaction. The anime also casually drops it to almost no reaction to a bunch of characters in episode 101, but that's a filler episode.
Unless it is relevant to the plot of my story, such as in chapter 2, I'm largely going to avoid fight scenes. I'm not interested in writing an action story, which is why this isn't tagged as such, so it feels like it would just be an excuse to pad the word count to write a bunch of action sequences for training scenes that aren't really plot relevant. I'm sure I could fit in some character details and other tidbits within those scenes, but I can also just as easily do it in other character interactions that have a greater impact on the story I'm writing. There are plenty of great action writers like Kenchi618 if you want more of that in your Naruto fanfiction.
In addition to my hand issues, this chapter was delayed because I had to do some major revisions after I noticed a plot hole I had introduced partway through it. My hands are mostly recovered now so I should be able to write more going forward!
I'm looking for a beta reader for this story. If you are interested please PM me directly about it.