Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter One

Konoha

Since when did I stopsaying things were troublesome…?

That was the thought passing through Shikamaru’s head as hegazed up at the blue sky. Even though the wind wasn’t that strong, thin cloudswere hurrying along one after another, passing in and out of his line of sight.Their flustered state seemed similar to Shikamaru’s own. He laughed derisivelyat himself for the thought.

At any rate, he was busy.

Two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, the world wasfinally starting to regain its stability. The Kage Alliance that had come intoexistence when the war broke out had continued to this day, and the world of Shinobi was drastically different than it used to be.

The alliance might have started between the five hidden villages, but after the war, small neighbouring countries started to declare their participation in the alliance as well. It had come to the point the organisation that had started out as an alliance was developing into a Shinobi Union, one that involved every shinobi in each participating nation.

Contracts that had been undertaken individually by villages prior to the union’s existence were now being brought towards the Shinobi Union collectively. Each village who participated in the union had shinobi representatives assigned to every other village for discussing negotiations over contracts. In this way equilibrium of labour between villages was guaranteed, the disparity between villages was revised and the Shinobi World could finally greet the era of peace with open arms.

“Haa…”

Shikamaru’s sigh disappeared up into the sky. His back was absolutely freezing thanks to lying down on the cold stone floor beneath him, and if he stayed like this, then he was probably going to end up catching a cold. But he had his reasons for not getting up.

Work was waiting for him.

So much work it wasn’t even funny.

It was only because Shikamaru was intending on a short break that he was allowing himself to laze around in the afternoon like this to begin with. But he also knew that the moment he so much as sat up, his mind would slip back into work mode. And when that happened, Shikamaru was perfectly aware that he wouldn’t get another chance to rest like this again.

And so, he refused to move despite the cold, stubbornly intent on resting as long as he could. Until somebody found him out, Shikamaru didn’t intend to move an inch from this spot.

‘This spot’ was the roof of the Hokage Residence.

You could see generations of Hokage’s faces carved into the mountain parallel to the round roof Shikamaru was sprawled out on. In order from the left, there was the first generation’s Hashirama, then his brother Tobirama. There was the Third who had died during Orochimarui’s Konoha Crush plot, Hiruzen, and then the ‘Yellow Flash’ Namikaze Minato. The Fifth was a legend along with Jiraiya and Orochimaru, one of the three Sannin, Tsunade.

There were all past Hokage.

Now, the face of the man who was the current Hokage could be found carved next to Tsunade’s.

A pair of sleepy looking eyes peeking out from underneath wire-like hair could be seen, as well as the bridge of his nose, while the rest of his well-defined features were hidden under a mask.

The Hokage was a symbol of Konoha. It was a position that couldn’t be obtained unless you were acknowledged by every single shinobi in the village. Even though that symbol’s face was supposed to be carved into the mountain as a commemoration, to still keep the bottom half hidden under a mask…

Hatake Kakashi.

That was the name of the current Hokage.

The teacher of the two who had lead the way to victory during the war, there wasn’t a single person in the Shinobi World who didn’t know his name. Shikamaru on the other hand, knowing both the man and his students personally, was far from star-struck. There were fans who adored and fawned over the three, saying they were ‘heroes of legend’ but in reality none of the three were really types to fit the term “legend”.

Kakashi, while certainly a man who got things done during a crisis, turned back to his usual role when it came to everyday life: a no-good adult who didn’t feel like doing much of anything.

The other two heroes had similar problems as well. One was an abysmal idiot. The other, abysmally stubborn. It was because the rest of the world didn’t know about the hopeless sides of those three that they were being hailed as ‘living legends’.

“What am I even doing…?”

The words left Shikamaru’s mouth without him really thinking about it.

He himself was the type of person who would never become anything close to a hero. He never wanted to be one in the first place.

If you said he wanted to be one of those ninja who practiced vigorously to improve their ninjutsu, you’d be wrong. He certainly never thought about studying medical ninjutsu and

becoming a specialist in the vanguard back-up, either. If you said he wanted to be someone with a high rank in encryption or in medical surgery, you’d be wrong too.

He just…wanted everything to be average.

That was Shikamaru’s dream.

He wanted to be an average ranked ninja who’d have an average job, marry an average wife and have an average child, and then, after an average elderly prime…

Well, everything came to an end one day.

Was there any greater happiness to be found than in a life plan like that?

He didn’t think so.

On days with good weather, lying down like this and watching the sky, seeing the clouds floating past and taking your thoughts with them. On rainy days, having shougi pieces as your company would be more than enough. There would be no pressure from people’s expectations. No stress, either.

Wasn’t that a wonderful sort of life?

“Haaa…”

It was a deep sigh, issued right from the bottom of his stomach.

The bastard called “reality” was a really tough opponent.

If the thing you were fighting was a human being, then at least there’d come a day where you would win against them. Even if they were a god-like person, they had to have a weakness somewhere. The enemies in the war had been abominations, and yet all the shinobi had focused their powers together and won against them, hadn’t they?

You can win against an opponent in front of you.

However…

Reality is an opponent without substance that you can never, ever defeat.

No matter how Shikamaru kept wishing and wanting otherwise, reality callously kept sending him towards the exact sort of fate he did not want. Shikamaru, who had wished so badly to be ‘average’, was now someone the Shinobi Union couldn’t do without.

He had so much work. All the jobs taken on by each nation’s Daimyo and citizens had to be classified from A to D rank, and then each village’s characteristics had to be carefully taken into

account to figure out which one was most suitable for the allotment of labour – and then there were the Chiefs of the Union, the Five Kage’s consultations. They used him for everything, to the point where he even ended up being a shougi partner for the old Tsuchikage.

“The Shinobi Union’s Shikamaru of Konoha.”

There were people who even went around calling him that now.

Even though Shikamaru didn’t want to stand out, even though he didn’t want to succeed at anything, even though he fought and fought against it, his surroundings kept pushing him until he rose above others.

His first mistake had been at the Chuunin Promotion Exams.

The Chuunin Exams, started by the villages of the Five Kage and including even the genin of other small countries. In the midst of the chaos of Orochimaru’s plotting and the Third’s death, for some reason Shikamaru was promoted to the rank of chuunin.

Amongst all the applicants, he was the only one to get that promotion.

It was the kind of situation where Shikamaru felt that yelling ‘what have you done?!’ would have been more than appropriate.

His fatal mistake had been in the part of the exam where genin were paired off to fight against each other. His kagemane jutsu’s success had greatly shocked his opponent, a sassy kunoichi carrying an absurdly large fan that created giant gusts of wind, but at the end of their stalemate, it was Shikamaru himself who threw in the towel.

It was this forfeit of Shikamaru’s that was so highly valued.

Being a Chuunin included leading subordinates. That was why the ability to precisely analyse one’s situation was the one most highly valued. The examiners approved of Shikamaru accepting that he was cleanly defeated, and gave him the highest evaluation.

It was a really unwelcome evaluation.

It was an examination he hadn’t wanted any part in, one that he’d been forced into entering by his teacher’s, Sarutobi Asuma’s, insistence. He hadn’t intended on such on evaluation, hadn’t felt the slightest desire for one either. But reality had still lead Shikamaru to becoming a chuunin, as well as to everyone in the village looking at him differently.

And ever since then, Shikamaru’s life plan had started to slip out of his grasp.

When Sasuke left the village, Shikamaru was assigned as a Team Leader working together with his classmates to try to bring him back, and after that as well, he was given the most missions out

of all his classmates. He resisted and protested, but reality just kept bringing Shikamaru higher and higher up in rank.

Since the Fourth Shinobi World War…it’d been two years.

Shikamaru had become 19 years old. It was an age where he could no longer be called a child.

He wondered just how grateful you should be for people expecting great things from you. Was being someone who others depended on really such a wonderful achievement? The answer went without being said. There was a plain example in Shikamaru’s friend, Naruto, and how his desire to be relied on by everyone had turned him into the whole village’s– no, rather, the whole Shinobi World’s hero.

Shikamaru knew very well that people were living things who would end up depending on one person or another. That’s why despite his misgivings, he didn’t feel any hateful feelings such as ‘if only you didn’t exist’ towards the people who relied on him. And no matter how much he was against the idea of being depended on, he had never once cut corners on missions.

It had been 19 years since he’d been born into this world, and yet he already had so many obligations and entanglements he’d gotten himself involved in.

The group who had intended to take over the world, the “Akatsuki”, had killed his teacher Asuma. Asuma’s girlfriend Kurenai had been pregnant with Asuma’s child. That child was now two years old. Her name was Mirai.

To become Mirai’s teacher…it was a promise that he absolutely had to keep.

Shikamaru’s father, Shikaku, had been tasked with being the Alliance’s main strategist at the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War. When Obito used the destructive power of the resurrected Ten Tailed Beast to aim for the Alliance’s Headquarters, his father had died alongside Ino’s father, Inoichi.

Even now, his father’s and Inoichi’s last words were still ringing clearly in Shikamaru’s ears.

[We are always within you. Never forget that!]

To become as great a man as his father…it was a promise he’d made to the man who had helped to bring him into this world.

And then, there was…

Naruto.

Honest to a fault, the hero of Shinobi who believed wholeheartedly that he’d become Hokage, who never doubted the fact for even a moment…

During the fight with the Ten Tails, Shikamaru had been on the brink of death. While he was being healed by Sakura, Shikamaru had this thought:

Nobody is more suited to being his advisor than me…!

If Naruto became the Hokage, then Shikamaru would be his right hand man. It was his dream.

He had so many obligations already, he didn’t even want to count them. There was no mistake that it was all because of that same force that kept pushing him forwards. It was a good thing to be needed, and he should be grateful for everyone’s opinion of him allowing him to live as he was.

He should be grateful, but…

He got tired sometimes.

Shikamaru’s real self wasn’t the man everyone thought he was. His real self was a man who thought everything was troublesome, who wished for an average life. The kind of man that could be found anywhere. And the greater people’s expectations of him became, the more he wanted to run away. That was the truth behind the man that was Nara Shikamaru.

In the old days, all his comrades had fully understood how full of complaints he was, how much he didn’t feel like accomplishing anything.

Since when had they started to misunderstand him?

Since when had he stopped calling things troublesome?

Logically, both of those things must have started around the same time.

“When did it start…?”

As he gazed up at the clouds, deep furrows came into Shikamaru’s brow. His eyes narrowed as he thought hard on the subject, until he could only see a little bit of the sky.

A single hawk came into his line of sight…

The hawk was flying West, where parts of the sky were already beginning to be dyed a light pink from the setting sun. It spread out its wings and slowly started to circle. Shikamaru happened to be right in the middle of the hawk’s arc. No – the correct thing to say was that the hawk was circling around the Hokage Residence.

Shikamaru didn’t just sit up. He leapt right to his feet.

His mind that had been dwelling in depths as deep as the sea was sharpening again, and his eyes locked onto the hawk, not glancing away for a moment.

Jet black…

The hawk was so pitch black, it could’ve been painted with ink.

No – it really was a hawk painted with ink.

Super Beast Imitating Drawing…

Sai’s jutsu.

Sai was the man who had joined Naruto and Sakura on team 7 as a replacement for the missing Sasuke. His specialty was the Super Beast Imitating Drawing Jutsu, painting ink animals and giving them life and movement.

The hawk flying overhead Shikamaru was definitely from Sai.

“It’s finally come…”

In Shikamaru’s field of vision, he could see the hawk stop going around in circles and start to descend.

Shikamaru ran towards the stairs that went down from the roof. As soon as he reached the bottom of those, he’d be at the Hokage’s office. The hawk would definitely end up going there.

The moment Shikamaru had reached the stairs, the hawk also disappeared behind the side of the Hokage Residence, as a shadow would flit over one’s face. Shikamaru leapt down the stairs, running down the hall to the Hokage Office.

He opened the door without even bothering to knock.

“Oh, Shikamaru.”

It was Kakashi who spoke. He was standing behind a desk cluttered with piles of books and documents, reading an open scroll.

“Did Sai’s hawk just…?”

“That’s right.”

Kakashi turned the scroll over to Shikamaru so he could see. The messily written sentences on the white paper of the scroll flitted in and out of Shikamaru’s sight. It looked like a very hastily written message.

“The situation seems to be even graver than we’d thought.”

Kakashi’s gaze met Shikamaru’s as he spoke, the look in his eyes even more solemn than Shikamaru had dreaded it would be. Even the usual vague way of speaking the Hokage had was now entirely replaced by a sombre tone. Kakashi’s whole attitude was giving him an awful sense of foreboding.

Shikamaru’s eyes followed the handwriting on the scroll. While most of Sai’s message was written with very small, delicate writing from a fine brush, the last sentence alone stood out, thick and violently written:

“I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Two

Addressed to the Sixth Hokage,

There is not muchtime, so I must write briefly.

Our investigation intothe matter of your concern has been completed up to the degree you specified.However none of my 10 comrades have returned, and I have been left on my own.

I do not know if theyare dead or alive. However, I think that there’s no mistake the enemy hassensed us.

I will get straight to the point.

The internal affairs of this country are far, far worse than you had feared them to be. If we leave it be, then the Shinobi Union is going to end up in a predicament. No, in fact, I believe that the very framework of the world could end up changing.

There is a man who is shaping this country.

His name is Gengo.

This country is here because Gengo is, and Gengo is here because of the country.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this entire country only exists for the sake of Gengo.

‘Enchantment.’ That is the word that describes Gengo the most suitably.

Gengo may end up becoming an existence that will change the world.

I’m not sure if I don’t want it to change.

The living things called Shinobi don’t really have a saving grace to them, do they?

Because we endure, we are shinobi.

But is that really a good thing?

Hokage-sama.

No, Kakashi-san.

I don’t know who I am anymore…

Lifting his head from reading Sai’s letter, Shikamaru let out one small exhale

Kakashi was seated at his desk in front of him, his elbows leaning against the surface. He was wearing the hat that all Hokage’s must wear during official business or otherwise. It weighed down on his hair that had grown out in the last few years. Every part of his face that lay below his nose was hidden behind a mask as always.

Cradling his jaw with both hands, he was quietly watching Shikamaru’s reaction.

“What are you thinking?” He asked, with a very clear voice.

There was no one other than them inside the Hokage’s Office.

“I’m thinking…why would Sai send back a Beast Imitation, instead of returning himself?”

“That is indeed a thing to wonder.”

Letting go of his chin, Kakashi leaned back thoughtfully. Tilting his jaw to look up at the ceiling, he let out a louder and bigger sigh than Shikamaru had.

“And I’m thinking that, looking at the letter, it seems that all except Sai have fallen into the enemy’s hands and been killed, doesn’t it?”

“It does look like that.”

“Sai was leading a team made up of ten of Anbu’s most skilled members. I don’t think any of them could have made a foolish move that would expose themselves to the enemy. So it seems that the enemy is very skilled as well.”

“Yes…” Saying so, Kakashi began to slowly spin around in his chair. He spun around once, so Shikamaru was faced with the back of his chair, before slowly turning around again. Kakashi was the kind of man who kept his shoulders slouched in even the most serious of circumstances.

Normally, when a person was faced with this kind of a situation, their body would freeze up along with their thoughts. Kakashi was purposely making such seemingly carefree movement to stop his thoughts from freezing up. He had learned to always keep his body moving from his years as a capable Shinobi who saw so much shocking, bloody carnage.

Shikamaru was looking at Kakashi with an anxious expression on his face. He opened his mouth to speak.

“At the moment Sai realised he had lost all of his comrades, there’s only one course of action he could have picked.”

“Escape, right?” Kakashi said, still watching the ceiling.

“Yes.”

Kakashi gave a nod to Shikamaru’s immediate reply. Although he should have been directing his face to look at Shikamaru, he was still staring up at the ceiling.

“And yet he sent this kind of letter, instead of coming back to the village and reporting directly to you, Hokage-“

“How many times have I told you that just Kakashi-san is fine?” Kakashi said, finally turning to look at Shikamaru. “Since when have you gotten so stiff? It was nice when you used to have your shoulders slouched all the time.”

“I wasn’t going to stay a kid forever.”

“Even now, Naruto still acts ‘like a kid’.”

“Naruto’s Naruto.”

“Oh, I see…”

Somewhat of a sad look entered Kakashi’s eyes. He spread out Sai’s scroll on his desk, eyes going over it again.

Sai could transform his handwriting into an ink beast and send it to far away locations, where the ink beast would turn into handwriting again when it come into contact with a blank scroll. The hawk that Shikamaru had seen on the roof was the ink beast form of Sai’s handwriting he saw now.

“The situation is ‘far worse than I’d thought,’ huh…”

“It sounds like it’d be reasonable to say that the shinobi who went missing in action during the war, as well as those who’ve been disappearing lately, are all in that country.”

“That does seem to be what Sai’s confirmed.”

“The Country of Silence…”

The whole matter had been snowballing since two years ago.

Many lives had been claimed during the Fourth Shinobi World War started by Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. Faced with the power of abominations outside the category of people, the shinobi of the Five Great Countries had gathered all their power and stood together. Finally, the person manipulating Madara, Ootsutsuki Kaguya, had been defeated and the war ended.

As every village entered into a period of peaceful recovery from the war, the details of figuring out who had been killed in battle and who was missing in action had turned into an urgent matter. The war had been a fierce battle that even ripped apart the continent’s terrain. If someone’s corpse could be found, it was considered a stroke of luck.

Compared to the number of shinobi that were concluded to have died in battle, the number of shinobi that were unaccounted for was far larger.

The Five Great Shinobi Countries had lost roughly 10,000 shinobi…

10,000 shinobi were the victims of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Their enemies in the war could have wiped out the whole world. Many said it was a great stroke of fortune for them to have ended the war with ‘only this many lost’.

But that wasn’t how Shikamaru saw the matter.

Even one victim was one victim too many.

In the last war, he had his lost his friend Hyuuga Neji. Shikamaru didn’t think the pain of Neji’s loss was the only case out of ten thousand. A similar pain to losing Hyuuga Neji must have been felt for every other one of those victims.

In the death of only one person, there were emotions you couldn’t separate yourself from by simply by saying they were “just one sacrifice”.

It was for that reason…

It was for that reason that war couldn’t ever be allowed to break out again.

“I wonder just how many of those missing shinobi could’ve gone to the Country of Silence…” Kakashi muttered the same thoughts that were going through Shikamaru’s mind.

It was exactly as Kakashi said. Within all the shinobi who had been lost during the last war, there must have been a small amount who had survived but stayed out of reach.

The Shinobi Union’s Headquarters had been the first one to notice that.

Since it was Headquarters who handled all forms of requests for help and such, they were the first to notice any patterns. One such pattern had started to emerge about a year ago.

The requests for Shinobi dispatches had sharply decreased.

Since the Five Great Shinobi Coutries had decided to from a union, the Daimyo had had remarkably less fighting in the outer lands they ruled as well. Thus, it was a very natural thing for dangerous A-rank or B-rank mission requests to decrease.

However, the matter didn’t end there.

Even the relatively easy C-rank and D-rank mission requests had decreased in exactly the same way.

Shikamaru had heard of this matter relatively quickly, since he had a place at the Shinobi Union’s Headquarters as well. But it wasn’t like there was something they could do to solve the sudden decrease of missions. The Union had said it was a brief change brought along by the times, and closed the matter.

However, there was a man who said he could put an end to the problem of the declining missions, as well as one other problem that had popped up since the end of the war.

That man was Kakashi.

The other problem Kakashi was intent on solving: the cases of missing nin within the Five Great Shinobi Countries that had been going on for a year.

Since about a year ago, every village had been losing one Shinobi per month. That made 12 missing-nin for every village up to now. The Five Hidden Villages had had 60 shinobi disappear in total. Furthermore, they were all young, single, male Shinobi.

Abandoning your village was a grave crime. Of course, each village had sent people in pursuit of the deserters, but somehow, not a single one had been found.

“I probably did the wrong thing asking Sai to continue the investigation when he asked for back-up.” Kakashi said. “I should’ve pulled him out of the situation and gotten him mentally prepared before sending him to the Country of Silence.”

“Regretting it now isn’t going to change anything.”

“That’s true.”

Sai, who had been sent to investigate the cases of the missing-nin, had sent them notice of finding a lead about a month ago. Kakashi, who believed the increased missing-nin and the decrease of mission dispatches were related, had told Sai to continue the investigation with the anbu as back up.

The lead Sai had found was the Country of Silence.

The Country of Silence could be found in the far west of a continent that rivalled the Five Great Shinobi Countries as well as the countries surrounding them.

It was a country that had never made contact with any of the Shinobi Villages – or any other foreign country, for that matter. It was thus called ‘the Country of Silence’ by outsiders. The only details known about it was that it was a country with samurai who kept its citizens in line, and a Daimyou who ruled over the samurai. However, anything further than that was a complete mystery.

According to what Sai had relayed, it seemed that somehow Konoha’s missing-nin had run towards this country.

And those weren’t the least of their concerns. There was also the matter of the Konoha Shinobi who had gone missing in action during the war.

The Country of Silence was collecting shinobi who had gone missing in action as well as shinobi who had deserted the village…

For what reason?

Kakashi could see the reason as clearly as he could see the answer to the decrease of dispatches coming into the Shinobi Union.

“What do you think happened to Sai?” Kakashi asked.

“He’s alive.”

“Well, I agree with that.” The bottom of Kakashi’s mask moved as if he was smiling. “When you look at his obsessive sounding praise of this ‘Gengo’ he mentions in his letter…” Kakashi touched the fine, delicate handwriting on Sai’s message.

Seeing what he was thinking, Shikamaru kept speaking.

“It’s not something I want to believe, but we can’t discount the possibility that Sai’s been taken in by this man called Gengo.”

“Sai’s so pure, after all…”

“If Sai’s alive, we can’t just not save him.”

“That’s true…” Kakashi’s left scarred eye seemed to darken with despair.

Shikamaru could tell precisely what he was going to say without needing to hear it out loud.

This situation had a greater and more important matter than that of saving a comrade.

Shikamaru himself forced out the words.

“If the internal affairs of the Country of Silence are really as Sai’s reported, if the goings-on within are as you’ve guessed, then we have to take action immediately.”

“I know that.”

Shikamaru didn’t stop talking.

“It’s been two years since the war. All the villages have finally regained their stability, but the status of the country as a whole is still less than half as strong as it used to be.”

“We couldn’t possibly withstand another war.”

“Exactly.”

Letting out another huge sigh, Kakashi stood up from his chair. He stepped around his desk covered with scrolls and books and came to stand next to Shikamaru.

“It seems like you’ve come to the same conclusion that I have.” Kakashi said.

“Yes.”

“Then do you understand what I think of it?”

“You want to go and do it yourself, don’t you?”

Kakashi had a lot of experience from his youth spent in the anbu. He stood out amongst the anbu, whose specialty were shady missions, as a very capable soldier.

Shikamaru could see those thoughts on his face, and let out a sigh.

“Hokage-sama. I understand your feelings more than enough, but you must already know that what you want isn’t going to happen.”

“Heh. Your thoughts flash through your mind almost at the same speed as Minato-sensei’s jutsu, do you know that?”

Shikamaru simply gave Kakashi a long stare as an answer. Kakashi continued speaking in the face of Shikamaru’s silence.

“Anyway, going on what Sai said, the leading force behind that country is this man called Gengo.”

“Yes.”

“As long as we do something about him, then there won’t be any further problems.”

“That’s what I’m thinking as well.”

“Well then…”

Putting his hand at the middle of his back and giving a great stretch like an old man, Kakashi said, “Who do you think should be sent?”

“I’ll go.”

“Huh?” Kakashi’s eyes widened. “You’re Konoha’s representative. You have a lot of duties to the Union as well. There’s no need for you to go on an assassination mission at this time.”

Assassination…

Kakashi had finally put it into words. The thought that had been going through both of their heads was now out in the open.

If the Shinobi Union and the Country of Silence went to war, then the Union they’d spent so long maintaining would be disrupted, and possibly even rupture. Each nation was still exhausted despite all their recovery so far – there wasn’t a single person who wished for a war.

If Sai’s letter was to be trusted, then assassinating this ‘Gengo’ would be quickest and most effective way of stopping the Country of Silence from disrupting the world’s hard-attained peace.

“We have to keep the circle of people who know about this matter as small as possible.” Shikamaru said.

“But I’m telling you, for you to go is…”

“One of my comrades has been taken. Please allow me to go.”

Kakashi stopped talking when he saw Shikamaru’s determination.

As Kakashi said, there was no real need for Shikamaru to go. It would’ve been more proper to find another capable person and entrust the matter to them.

And yet, Shikamaru himself volunteered.

He himself didn’t understand why he did it.

But he just couldn’t stay still.

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Three

“And with that, this month’s meeting is over. Does anybody have any questions?”

Shikamaru closed his eyes as he listened to the dispassionate voice addressing the gathering. The bespectacled man speaking was Chojuro, a shinobi from Kirigakure. Shikamaru knew him from the war as one of the Mizukage’s bodyguards.

“If nobody has anything to ask,then, Shikamaru-san…” Chojiuro spoke with an imploring tone from where he was seated next to him.

Shikamaru opened his right eye toglance at Chojuro, then slowly opened both.

Ten shinobi were seated around thecircular table; both men and women could be found, all generally aroundShikamaru’s age.

They were in the Country of Iron;the Shinobi Union’s Headquarters.

The country had a multitude ofstrong samurai, and thus, not one single shinobi was needed. Before the war,the Kages of the Five Great Hidden Villages would comfortably hold meetings inthe Country of Iron, and now it was the Headquarters for the Shinobi Unionfounded by those Five Powers. The roots of the Union’s headquarters had beenset in the same Country of Iron where the alliance had initially begun.

All the leading villages of theFive Great Nations had some of their shinobi gather at the Union’s Headquarters and, whether night or day, continue their hard work for the sake of the expansion of the Shinobi World overall.

This meeting was full of people who would bear the burden of the next era’s world of shinobi. It was a place where the future of Shinobi was discussed. Shinobi sent to this meeting were the most capable ones in their villages, considered as candidates for kage as well as other positions. Of them, Shikamaru and Chojuro were the youngest.

Besides Shikamaru, and Chojuro, who was chairing the meeting, there was Temari of Sunagakure, and Omoi of Kumogakure as well.

Shikamaru had been charged with being the leader of this gathering of shinobi. Obviously, he hadn’t volunteered. This was the result of everyone recommending him for the job.

“Shikamaru-san?” Chojuro sounded like he’d become worried by Shikamaru’s long silence.

Shikamaru cleared his throat, and looking at all the members, opened his mouth to speak.

“I believe we don’t have any new topics of discussion for this meeting. I hope for more meetings at a comfortable pace like this. With that, see you next month.”

As he said that, Shikamaru rose to his feet and gathered all the scrolls and documents that had been spread across the table. Folding them under his arm, he turned to leave.

Confused by their leader’s cold attitude, the other members got ready to leave at haphazard paces. Everyone milled out into the two hallways leading left and right out of the room.

Even though so many shinobi were restlessly walking down the hallways, not a single echo of their footsteps was heard. They were shinobi, after all. Other people’s footfalls could be heard, but not a shinobi’s. That had been one of the basics of the basics, back at the Academy.

“Oi.” A voice called out to him from behind.

Shikamaru anxiously clicked his tongue. Right now, the owner of that voice was the person he didn’t want to talk to the most.

He stepped forward as if he hadn’t heard.

“Hold it, Shikamaru!”

The voice that hit his back felt like a flying kick.

“What is it?” Shikamaru turned his head to look over his shoulder at the woman behind him.

Temari of Suna. Her hair had gotten shorter since two years ago, and was now tied into two bunches on either sides. Her face looked a little bit more like an adult’s, and her eyes were even calmer than they’d been in the old days.

She was older than Shikamaru. Rather than say she looked like an adult, it was more like she had already grown into a splendid adult.

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve been acting strange lately.” Temari’s hands reached out to Shikamaru’s shoulders, turning him to face her.

Troublesome…

The word rose up to his throat, only for him to frantically swallow it down.

“Like your cold attitude at the meeting.” she said, “You’ve been making decisions without saying a word or giving an explanation, and it’s made everyone nervous. The atmosphere was so strained.”

“Oh, did that happen?”

“You didn’t even notice that…?” Temari’s eyes widened slightly. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing…”

“It’s something you’re not going to tell anyone about? Not even me?”

Temari’s gaze was pained.

Since the war had concluded, he’d been working with Temari at the Union for two years now. She was an understanding, good partner. They both shared the sentiment of not wanting all the shinobi who had been gathered together during the war to separate again, as well as the intention to work together and make the Union as good as it could be.  

When you added that to the strong bond between Naruto, who intended to become Konoha’s Hokage, and Gaara, Suna’s present Kazekage, that easily made the bond between Suna and Konoha the strongest amongst all the villages united under the Union. With such external forces at work as well, it was natural that Shikamaru and Temari had reached a stage of existence where both was the other’s biggest support within the Union.

“Since you’re like this, something bad must be happening in Konoha.”

Temari had made a very good discernment. However, she’d missed the mark a little. The situation wasn’t in Konoha, though the situation did affect all of Konoha’s shinobi. Temari’s theory was half-right, half-wrong.

If there was one thing that never changed about the life of shinobi, it was that anything which passed the borders of your own village had to be jointly carried out with other villages. This was a basic principle of the Union. The course of action that Shikamaru and Kakashi were taking was a blatant violation.

And yet, Shikamaru still had no intention of telling Temari the truth. It wouldn’t be a wise move to get the whole of the Union involved with the business of the Country of Silence. 

He’d firmly resolved that Konoha would handle it by themselves…

“You’re saying there’s nothing going on that you can depend on me for?”

“Nothing.”

Shikamaru’s firm tone made Temari close her eyes.

“Is that so…”

The punch came in the next moment.

It had been one split second where the hurt look on Temari’s face had morphed into righteous fury. There had been no time to avoid it. Before Shikamaru even knew what was happening, his body was already flying.

He rolled onto the hallway’s floor before coming up into a sitting position. He silently raised a hand to touch his stinging cheek, already red.

Before him, Temari was glaring at him with an outraged expression on her face.

“I had no idea I’d misjudged you this much!” She shouted, her words turning to wind that slammed against his face.

“I- I’m sorry…”

The apology came without conscious thought.

His father would come home as late as sunrise on some days, and get yelled at in the house’s entryway by his mother. Somehow, Shikamaru had found himself suffering that same scolding from Temari.

She strode past him with swift, large steps, and disappeared over his shoulder.

Those eyes of hers had looked slightly wet…

*

“You’ve stopped eating.”

The voice came from Chouji who sat in front of him, both of his cheeks puffed up with food. Ino was sitting next to him.

They were at Yakiniku Q.

In the two years since the war, his two friends had become quite the adults. Chouji was still as chubby as ever, but there was a masculine look in his eyes now, and he now had a goatee. Ino had been growing out her hair more and more, abandoning her ponytail for leaving it loose, and looked more like an adult compared to before as well.

“Did you eat something before you came here?” Chouji opened his mouth wide to drop in even more meat, chewing and swallowing it down.

“Shikamaru and I’ve stopped growing a long time ago, so we’re not eating ridiculously the way you do, Chouji.”

“Hey!” Chouji’s eyes widened in indignation.

Shikamaru laughed without thinking. A calming breeze was blowing through his heart. It’d been a while.

“I came specifically to eat lunch with you two, so how could I have eaten something beforehand?” So saying, Shikamaru extended his chopsticks towards a piece of beef that looked like it was about to burn.

Another pair of chopsticks intercepted him.

“Hey, that’s the meat that I put on the grill!” Chouji protested.

“Alright, alright.”

They’d gone through this many times before. Shikamaru let go of the beef, and turned his gaze on the piece next to it. He glanced at Ino, who gave a nod of permission.

“It’s been a while since you invited us out, Shikamaru.” She said.

“Yeah,” Chouji chimed in, “Lately, I haven’t been able to see you unless we set a time to meet like this.”

“Shikamaru’s got his job at the Union and well as being the Hokage’s Support. He’s super busy, Chouji, he can’t always hang out with us anymore.”

“I understand that, but…” Chouji laid his arms on the table, his cheeks puffing out as he pouted.

While there was a part of Shikamaru that was happy they’d noticed his absence, another part of him also felt lonely, like a new distance had come with their separation.

If he wanted to be an adult, then he had to stop thinking like a child. They were long out of the Academy. Things weren’t the same as those days when he could while away time playing with his friends till dusk.

The same way Shikamaru was swamped with work from both the Union and his responsibilities in Konoha, Ino and Chouji had struggled through the last war and become fine, reliable chuunin. While they said it was because Shikamaru was so busy, his two friends had just as little free time as he did.

And yet, they’d come to meet up with him without a word of complaint, simply because he said he wanted to see them.

They were his oldest, closest friends.

“What’s up?” Ino asked when she saw how Shikamaru’s chopsticks hovered in the air, not moving.

“It’s nothing. I’ve just wanted to see you guys for a while.” Shikamaru put a tiny pit of meat into his mouth.

“Ah, kay.”

Ino didn’t ask whether there was anything more to it. Chouji continued happily stuffing his mouth with meat.

Then, the three started to talk. It was a light-hearted, silly conversation.

Chouji’s eternal love of food.

Ino’s usual talk about her love life.

And then, the memories about Asuma…

Shikamaru could feel the distance between him and his friends shrinking. It was almost like he’d gone back to that moment when Asuma had first brought them here.

That time, he’d been full of complaints about how things were ‘troublesome’…

Looking at how Chouji and Ino had grown up, Shikamaru could feel his heart grumbling about how they’d never be able to return to those old days.

-

Shikamaru went home alone.

At the end of the day, he hadn’t been able to tell them.

He’d thought that if he’d go to the Country of Silence, then he’d go with the two of them. He’d invited them out to eat with that purpose in mind. But seeing their smiling faces had somehow made him unable to say anything.

The road he was taking was a dark one.

For Konoha’s sake, for the Union’s sake, for the sake of every single shinobi, one man had to be killed.

It wasn’t a victory that could be gained from playing fair. And so, he had to be killed in secret.

Assassinated.

It wasn’t like assassination was anything new to shinobi. Growing up, you realised sooner or later that things like that were necessary in this world.

But, still…

It was still good to have as few people as possible get their hands dirty. He didn’t have the heart to drag Chouji and Ino into the darkness too.

“So, it’s the Anbu after all…”

Shikamaru looked up at the night sky, and couldn’t see a single star.

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Four

Shikamaru was in Kakashi’s office.The Sixth Hokage was surrounded by mountains of documents as always, his handhurriedly signing papers as if it was just waiting for the time it could goslack with exhaustion. 

The window across the room had been thrown open, and youcould see the streets of Konoha outside. The city seemed to glow under thesunshine of the bright morning, all wrapped up in a gentle, peaceful atmosphere.

“I’ve made you wait.” Kakashi said as he straightened out a sheaf of papers on his desk. “What business do you have with me today?”

“The Country of Silence.”

“Ah, that…”

Shikamaru still hadn’t finished his report about the Union’s meeting the other day. There wasn’t anything particularly special to report, so he’d left it alone.

“Everything’s the same as ever at the Union. It’s made up of a collection of capable people, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“You’re one of those capable people too.”

Was he really? Was he really someone who was fit to represent Konoha?

“Do you really intend to go?” Kakashi asked.

“Yes.”

Kakashi let out a great sigh at his answer.

“Is it really necessary for you to go?”

“Sai’s been captured. Our village has lost a large number of shinobi, both those who went missing during the war and those who ended up disappearing after. Whether they really left the village of their own free will, or ended up being captured by Gengo is something that we have to verify.”

“You’re really determined, huh.”

Shikamaru silently nodded.

Kakashi closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked at Shikamaru again.

“I get it. I won’t say anything more. Who are you thinking of taking? You’re not planning on going all by yourself, right?”

“Could you spare me two people from Anbu?”

“Huh…” Kakashi was cradling his chin in one hand, his elbow resting against his desk. There was a serious look in his eyes. “Wouldn’t Ino and Chouji do?”

“The InoShikaChou combination can be used for sneak attacks, however I don’t think it fits the requirements for this mission.”

“Because it’s assassination, right?”

“Furthermore, infiltration is a great part of this mission. I want people who can hide chakra.”

“Hmm…”

Kakashi closed his eyes and thought. He was taking Shikamaru’s proposal and comparing it to all the other options inside his head.

“The one who deals the killing blow won’t be you, right?”

“I intend to use my jutsu to bind the target.”

“Then you’ll need someone for the killing blow.” Kakashi concluded ahead of any explanation. He understood what Shikamaru was thinking.

Two Anbu…

One that could manipulate chakra, and conceal their presence. Another that held a jutsu which could deliver the killing blow.

“I have suitable people.” Kakashi said.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll make the arrangements.”

“You don’t have anything to tell me about my other duties?” Shikamaru asked.

“None of your other duties are more urgent than this matter.” Kakashi said, and you could feel in that moment that he really was the Hokage. 

He calmly assessed the relative importance of various matters, and made quick, firm decisions on which were to be carried out. It was because he was capable like this that shinobi could work under him without worry, and give their all for the village. Shikamaru thought they wouldn’t be able to function without him.

He didn’t have any thoughts like ‘I want to be Hokage’. But, it would’ve been a lie to say he didn’t feel the slightest bit motivated to grow. In front of a man like Kakashi, Shikamaru was still young and inexperienced, unable to compare to him, and it felt frustrating.

“I’ll tell the two I have in mind to return quickly. You can wait a little longer, right?”

“Please do it as quickly as possible.”

“I get it.” Kakashi smiled under his mask and stood up. He turned his back to Shikamaru to gaze out the open window.

“You don’t have to burden yourself so much, you know.” Kakashi murmured.

Shikamaru didn’t answer.

Burdening himself…

Perhaps he was.

In a way even he himself couldn’t understand, Shikamaru had somehow ended up carrying many, many burdens.

Even though he found things bothersome, he’d somehow ended up behaving unlike himself, and carrying so many things. Even though all these burdens were getting far too heavy for him to bear, he couldn’t throw any of them away, either.

Shikamaru was scared to.

He got the feeling that he could end up throwing everything away, and losing himself in the process. He’d started out as someone who found everything bothersome. If he put down all his responsibilities and burdens for just one moment, then wasn’t it highly possible that he wouldn’t ever pick them back up?

And when that happened, then wouldn’t it be the case that nobody would need him anymore?

The thought alone was unbearably frightening.

“I’m going to tell you what I really think now.” Kakashi lifted his left hand into the air, letting tiny bolts of lightning crackle in and out of existence. “Right now, I really want to abandon all my duties as the Hokage and go to the Country of Silence.”

Shikamaru could clearly hear the screaming frustration of Kakashi’s heart: how the man wanted to abandon everything to go and kill Gengo with his own two hands.

But the responsibilities of a Hokage’s position couldn’t be abandoned so easily.

“Honestly,” Kakashi said, “I think it’s inexcusable of me to burden you with this.”

“Naruto and me, and every other one of our peers, we’ve already all attained positions with burdens and responsibilities. There’s no need for you to carry them all by yourself.”

“Is that so…”

The lightning in Kakashi’s left hand melted away into nothing.

“Shikamaru.” Kakashi looked over his shoulder at the Nara. “I wonder what it means to be an adult, sometimes.”

“Please don’t look to me for the answer to that. “ Shikamaru sighed.

-

“I’ll come back again.” Shikamaru said to the gravestone. Turning away, his eyes caught on the name engraved into the stone: Nara Shikaku.

Naturally, he’d wanted to visit his father’s grave after his meeting with Kakashi ended.

What did it mean to be an adult? It felt like he could find the answer to Kakashi’s question here, if anywhere.

In the Fourth Shinobi World War, his father had been with the Five Kage at the alliance’s headquarters. After the Five Kage had gone to the frontline of the battle due to the severity of the fight, Ino’s father and Shikamaru’s father had taken charge of giving directions to the whole army.

Then, Obito had resurrected the Ten Tails and made it send its explosive Tailed Beast Balls in order to cause chaos amidst the Union’s army. As the killing blow had approached, Shikaku’s last moments were spent thinking and conveying further strategies for the army.

He had been a Shinobi to the very end.

No…

The truth was that in his very last moments, Shikaku had been a father. Although the only one who knew that was Shikamaru, as his son.

What was it to be an adult?

Shikamaru thought about that for a while.

Saying goodbye to his father’s grave, Shikamaru’s feet took him to the next person he wanted to visit.

His teacher’s grave.

Sarutobi Asuma…

He was a man who had turned down the path of an elite that he’d been entitled to as the Third Hokage’s flesh and blood, and instead constantly stayed on the frontlines.

After Shikamaru graduated from the Academy, it was under Asuma’s care that he’d been raised into the shinobi he was today. Along with Ino and his best friend Chouji, the three of them had constantly been chasing Asuma’s back, struggling through missions.

Asuma, who’d gone through any crisis with a cigarette in his mouth and his same easy going attitude, had been everything Shikamaru aspired to be.

And yet, that Asuma could no longer be found in this world.

He’d died, in a battle against the ‘Akatsuki’ group who had been making schemes to take over the Earth.

He’d died for the sake of letting Shikamaru live…

Asuma had understood they had no chance of winning against the inhuman abilities of the Akatsuki member they had been faced against, and died while risking his life to protect Shikamaru and his other comrades.

He, too, had spent his last moments thinking of others.

Shikamaru had yet to find anything he would sacrifice himself to protect.

Of course, the people of his village and all his comrades were extremely precious to him. But it felt like those feelings were different from the extent of fierce protection that his father and Asuma had displayed.

Perhaps that meant that Shikamaru still hadn’t become an adult.

He thought that in the first place that ambiguous word ‘adult’ referred to a child who’d at some point simply become trapped in their own body. 

In that case, even Kakashi was a child at heart.

But Kakashi already had something he’d trade his life to protect.

‘For a Hokage, every person in the village is his child.’ Those were the words of Asuma’s father, the Third Hokage Hiruzen.

Maybe when Kakashi chose to become Hokage, he’d become an adult.

He wasn’t sure about anything anymore…

“Shika niichan!”

Shikamaru was roused out of his pensive thoughts by the sound of that carefree voice reaching his ears.

A plump toddler was tottering towards him. Swaying left and right with clumsy little feet, she made her way towards him step by step.

“Mirai.” Shikamaru called her name, his voice naturally turning fond and cheerful.  His tense features softened, and his mouth moved to turn into a smile.

“Gyaa!” Mirai finally came to where he stood, and clung onto his legs with her short little arms. “Shika niichan!”

The toddler looked up at him with dazzling bright eyes, her tiny face splitting into a wide grin. The toddler’s smile felt like the sun, and Shikamaru could feel his frozen over heart thawing with its warmth.

“It’s been a while, Shikamaru.”

“Kurenai-sensei.” Shikamaru greeted the dark haired woman that was Mirai’s mother.

“I’m not a sensei anymore, so you can stop calling me that.” She said, laughing.

Sarutobi Kurenai…

Originally, she was a jounin leader along with Kakashi and Asuma, in charge of a team made of Shikamaru’s other classmates. But now she was a mother who had devoted all her time to parenting.

“You came to visit Asuma’s grave?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“And your father’s grave?”

“I’ve just come from visiting him.”

Listening to their conversation and still clinging onto Shikamaru’s leg, Mirai smiled and lifted her head.

“Shika niichan! Met Papa!”

Although the toddler could only manage halting sentences, she was bursting with the need to convey everything she could. Looking down at Mirai, Shikamaru’s heart warmed up.

To become this child’s teacher…

It was a promise he’d made to both Asuma and Kurenai.

“I see, you came to see your Papa, huh?” Shikamaru crouched down so he could speak to her eye to eye.

Mirai gave a delighted nod at being understood.

“Wow, how great of you, Mirai.” Shikamaru said, gently patting her head. The soft feel of the toddler’s still downy hair seemed to travel along his arm and all the way to his heart, turning into a calming breeze that soothed his insides.

“Grow up soon, okay?”

“Mm.”

“You really love your Shikamaru niichan, huh Mirai?” Kurenai said.

Mirai nodded so hard she almost pitched herself forwards, and Shikamaru reached out to catch her with both hands.

For the sake of this child, he really couldn’t go and die just yet…

“Right!”

Mirai babbled the word with such timing, it almost felt like she’d read right into his heart.

“Well, thanks for liking me.”

Shikamaru picked up Mirai and lifted her into the air. As the two year old shrieked with delighted laughter, Shikamaru thought to himself one more time, much stronger than before:

I absolutely cannot die.

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Five

Standing in front of Shikamaru weretwo new, white faces: a cat and a monkey.

Of course, the animal faces wereonly masks, and from the neck down the two Anbu were completely human. Theywore jet black uniforms that clung to their skin, as well as the recently redesignedflak jackets of Konoha. 

The old flak jackets used to have pockets on both sidesof the chest for shinobi to keep scrolls or ninja tools, but the new design haddone away with those and kept itself relatively simple. It was a side-effect ofthe peaceful era that had come into being after the end of the war.

Where there would have been eyes painted on the two Anbu’s masks, holes had been pierced like deep, dark caves. Both the maskshad thin mouths painted on, curving from cheek to cheek. The cat’s mask hadthin red markings under its eyes. The monkey’s mask had thickly drawn red eyebrows that made it look like it was scowling in temper. Both the Anbu had their hands linked behind their backs, and the eye slits of their masks gave off such a feeling that Shikamaru felt like he was being sized up.

“If it’s these two, I think they can do everything you’ve been hoping for.” Kakashi said from where he was seated behind his desk.

From where Shikamaru was standing, the cat-masked Anbu was on the right, and the monkey-masked was on the left. The two Anbu had a very large height difference. The Monkey was 176 cm, slightly taller than Shikamaru, while the Cat barely came up to Shikamaru’s shoulders.

So, monkey-mask was male, and cat-mask was female…

Even without the height difference, their body structure made that much evident.

“Both of you, take off your masks.” Kakashi instructed.

The Anbu’s hands both lifted to reach for their masks at Kakashi’s command, slowly lowering them to reveal the human faces below.

It was an Anbu custom to wear the masks with animal faces. Since they mainly dealt in shady missions such as assassination or causing disturbances in foreign countries, they loathed to let anyone know of their identities. Even most of Konoha’s own citizens didn’t know who was and wasn’t in Anbu. 

‘People who come and go from the village without eating anything are Anbu.’ There were lots of rumours and speculations like that.

“The man is Rou, and the girl is Soku.”

The two Anbu bowed their greetings to Shikamaru in time with Kakashi’s introduction.

“To have such a young girl in Anbu…“

“It’s unthinkable, right?” Soku cut into Shikamaru’s murmuring. “But in the world of Shinobi, competency is everything, and I entered the Anbu by proving the worth of my abilities, y’know.”

“She’s right.” Kakashi agreed with Soku.

Shikamaru couldn’t deny that he was surprised. Soku was extremely young. She was at least 5 or 6 years younger than Shikamaru, and must’ve only just come out of the Academy. She had slightly red cheeks, plump with baby fat, but also a thin mouth set in a grim frown that radiated determination. Her thin eyebrows were arched, and her eyes shined with self-confidence.

Something about her made Shikamaru feel like this was what Temari had looked like as a child.

“Hinoko was recognised for her abilities and scouted into Anbu the minute she graduated from the Academy. Despite only being 14 years old, she’s accomplished a great number of missions.” Kakashi said. “She’s very relied upon in the Anbu.”

“It’s not good to judge someone’s abilities based solely upon their appearances, y’know.” Soku said, puffing out her cheeks a bit. “And, Hokage-sama, I keep telling you not to call me by my real name, y’know.”

“Hinoko… It’s a very nice nam-”

In a blink, Soku had disappeared from Shikamaru’s line of view and before he knew what was happening, a finger glowing orange with barely restrained chakra was pressed against his forehead.

“I hate being called by my real name, y’know. Be careful not to do it.”

Shikamaru could feel a sort of frizzing static from the edge of Soku’s index finger. It felt like an incredibly small version of Kakashi’s raikiri.

Chakra was bursting from the edge of Soku’s fingertips…

“Stop that at once, Soku.”

The one who spoke was the man who’d carried the monkey mask. Kakashi had introduced him as Rou. He had thick eyebrows, a strong jaw and stubborn, one-lidded eyes that were glaring at Soku in disapproval.

“I have to make this clear from the start, y’know.” Soku retorted. “I won’t allow being looked down on for being a kid, y’know.”

“My bad. I’ll be careful in the future.” Shikamaru gave a simple apology. There was no need to aggravate the situation any further, and he didn’t have the time to deal with the young girl’s temper.

Soku turned her gaze away from Rou and back to Shikamaru.

“As long as you understand, y’know.” She turned her back on him and stomped back to where she had originally stood, taking on the same position with her hands behind her back.

“Rou can freely manipulate the quality and quantity of chakra; both his own, as well as that of anyone he targets and recognises.” Kakashi said, and Rou gave a small nod.

“Does that mean you can increase chakra as well?” Shikamaru asked.

“A smart question.” Kakashi commented.

“The chakra which I can change is only that which is perceived by others.” Rou said. “To explain, if I increased your chakra, Lord Shikamaru, I would not be able to change the actual fighting potential in the least. Your chakra would only seem larger in the perception of other persons. In other words, my jutsu cannot be efficient in the practice of deceit if the subject of my chakra manipulation does not participate in the deception.”

Rou had a very old-fashioned speech pattern, and coupled with his round, boulder-like appearance, he seemed more like a samurai than a ninja.

Shikamaru gave the man a nod to show him he understood his explanation, and then opened his mouth to speak again.

“When you say you can change the quantity of perceived chakra, does that mean that you can completely erase it as well?”

No matter how you looked at it, Rou was definitely in his forties. He was at least twenty years older than Shikamaru.

“That is certainly possible. I can make the chakra of any target disappear in the manner you’ve described, while also allowing you to trace them, Lord Shikamaru.”

With the man’s old fashioned way of speaking, Shikamaru had half-expected the word ‘track’ instead of trace, and felt a little fazed at the random modern word.

“I thought his jutsu would be the best suited for this job, but what do you think?” Kakashi asked.

“It’ll work. And the little one?” Shikamaru asked, turning to look at Soku.

The girl’s eyebrow twitched at being called ‘little one’. The child didn’t seem to be aware that she was a child. Shikamaru wasn’t sure yet if that was a good or bad thing for how useful she’d be on the mission.

“A demonstration would be good, wouldn’t it?” Kakashi said to Soku.

The girl nodded and turned around. She stretched out her left arm so it was facing the open window across Kakashi’s office. In line with the direction she was pointing, Shikamaru could see a single swallow flying outside.

“My jutsu is all about Chakra needles, y’know…” Soku murmured, and an orange flash of chakra burst out of her index finger.

At that moment, the swallow which had been startled by the loud sound had quickly swooped to hide behind a pillar outside the window.

If Soku had fired her chakra with this timing, there was no way she could hit her target. Her chakra would hit the pillar and just leave a scratch on its surface instead.

But…

There wasn’t a single scratch on the pillar, and from outside, the swallow gave a shrill, sharp cry.

Shikamaru hurried to the window. Leaning out and twisting his neck around, his eyes searched the ground around where swallow had been flying, and found the bird on the ground. It did indeed look dead.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand, y’know. I’m against a meaningless waste of life.” Soku spoke from behind him.

As she spoke, Shikamaru stared as the swallow slowly came back to its senses, waddling to its feet and getting up. Soon, it’d taken off again, flying even higher than before.

“I made my chakra revitalising when it pierced through the target this time, so that swallow probably feels much more energetic than it did a while ago, y’know.”

“How did you get it past the pillar?” Shikamaru asked, taking his hand off the window sill and turning to face Soku.

The little girl let out a delighted laugh that sounded her age for once, sticking out her tongue in childish mockery.

“Once I’ve aimed at my target, it doesn’t matter if they go out of my sight or not, my chakra needle will follow it anywhere, y’know. My needle won’t ever stop in its path until it hits its target.”

So. 

Rou’s jutsu would erase their chakra’s presence, and let them infiltrate the enemy’s ranks undetected. When they came within reach of Gengo, Shikamaru would use his kagemane to bind him. And then the killing blow would come with the foolproof aim of Soku’s chakra needle.

It was alright.

They could really do it…

“Can I just ask you one thing?”

“You can, y’know.” Soku gave a smile brimming with confidence.

“Can you stop tacking ‘y’know’ onto the end of your sentences?”

*

They were coming.

The enemy.

Oto-nin.

Orochimaru’s underlings.

No, wait…

Since when was I being chased?

I was the one who was supposed to be chasing someone.

Someone who had to be saved.

Uchiha Sasuke.

A classmate who could do anything perfectly, with a nasty personality.

…But he was a comrade. He absolutely had to be saved.

I was leading a team for the first time. Failure wasn’t an option.

My comrades…

My comrades were being felled down, one after another.

Chouji.

Kiba.

Neji.

And then Naruto…

We were surrounded by sneering oto-nin.

I’m sorry…

I’m sorry, everyone.

Next time, I won’t fail again.

So please- please don’t die-

“PLEASE!”

Shikamaru woke up to the sound of his own desperate shouting, twisting out of his covers in a panic. His whole body was drenched with sweat.

He’d been dreaming…

It had been his first mission after making chuunin: to retrieve the missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke who’d left the village under Orochimaru’s guidance.

His comrades had been several classmates, and Neji. They’d lessened, one by one, as they chased after Sasuke. Shikamaru had made the decision to entrust everything to Naruto and take on a sound-nin in a fight.

And the result of that decision had been Sasuke leaving the village, and all his comrades sustaining serious injuries.

As a chuunin, as a leader, his first mission had ended in despairing failure.

Shikamaru placed a palm to his sweat soaked forehead, and slowly took in a deep breath.

Why did he see a dream like that?

Until now, he’d never seen those events in a dream.

Although, it was a fact that scars from that incident were still left in his heart. Shikamaru saw the Sasuke Retrieval mission as his biggest disgrace, and never failed to think of it whenever he was judging himself.

He’d never again been cornered like he had been on that day…

Dreams were a manifestation of your subconscious.

Then, do I feel like I’m being cornered right now?

“It’s alright…it’s alright, Shikamaru…”

Although it was unlike him to try and soothe himself, the words slipped out of Shikamaru’s mouth before he could stop them. His heart was still hammering, blood roaring against his ear drums like a steady warning bell.

It didn’t look like he’d be able to fall sleep again tonight.

They were going to set out at sunrise.

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Six

A bunch of ten year old boyscrossed the street, laughing with seemingly endless cheer. In the distancebehind them, a grim-faced man in his thirties was hurrying somewhere.

The children were probably headingto the Academy, while the man was likely going to work.

On the side of the street, therewas a store that sold side-dishes in the early mornings, its storefrontsurrounded with housewives gossiping with animated gestures.

It was a usual morning’s usual scenery.

On this peaceful morning, Shikamaru was striding along the main street that started from Konoha’s wide open front gates and continued straight to the Hokage Residence. The street ended behind the residence, at the Hokage Monument where all the past generations of Hokage were carved into the mountain.

Shikamaru’s destination was the latter. He had some business there.

Usually, when shinobi received missions outside the village, they left Konoha through the main gates. There wasn’t any particular regulation that said they had to, but it was somewhat of a tradition.

The Anbu were the only exception. They dealt with many top secret missions, so in order to keep their departures unknown to Konoha’s citizens, it had been arranged for them to leave through the back gates found in the mountain behind the Hokage Residence.

That back gate was Shikamaru’s destination. This time’s mission was being kept a secret from everyone in the village. The only ones who knew were Kakashi, a handful of senior shinobi, and, of course, Shikamaru himself as well as the accompanying Rou and Soku.

He’d left the business of covering up his absence from the village to Kakashi. If anyone asked where he was, they’d be told Shikamaru had Union business outside the village bounds.

The ideal scenario was to sneak out of the village without anyone noticing his departure, and come back before anyone was bothered by his absence.

“Hm?” As Shikamaru quickly made his way to the back gate, he noticed a blonde haired man in his field of vision.

The blonde noticed him as well.

“Yoo, if it isn’t Shikamaru! What’re you hurrying for?”

You wouldn’t have believed the two were the same age, by the childish grin that lit up the man’s features as he hurried to his friend. His cheeks had three whisker-like lines across each side, and his blue eyes were free of any doubt or hesitation.

“That’s what I should be asking you. What’re you doing up this early, Naruto?”

Uzumaki Naruto.

He was the hero who had shown everyone the way to ending the last great war, the son of the Fourth Hokage.  The Nine Tails had been sealed into him as soon as he was born, and he grew up facing prejudice from his surroundings, and yet he’d never once wavered in his goal to become Hokage, and kept on walking down his path. That was the kind of man Naruto was.

Right now, he was a strong candidate to become the next Hokage after Kakashi.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night,” Naruto said, “So when I woke up this morning I went to eat some ramen at Ichiraku’s straight away, and now I’m heading back home.”

“You went to that shop this early?”

“Lately, they’ve been open for business 24/7.” Naruto looked incredibly happy about the fact.

“No, I mean, you’re eating ramen so early in the morning…”

“I’m always good to eat ramen, whether morning or noon or night!”

“Hey, that’s not something to be boasting about.”

“Half of my body’s probably made of ramen.” Naruto seriously said, puffing out his chest with pride.

Shikamaru let out a sigh.

“You’re now known as the hero who ended the war. Try and look after your body more.”

“Heroes are heroes, and ramen is ramen!”

“…That reasoning makes no sense.”

“Hahaha.” Naruto laughed, sheepishly rubbing a finger across the bridge of his nose.

That behaviour of his hadn’t changed a bit since the Academy. Naruto always lived his life with a very pure, straight-forward outlook. It was that outlook of his that had changed his surroundings- even changed Shikamaru.

Naruto, who had been seen as the bane of the village, had kept his pure heart and slowly made more and more comrades that stood by his side.

In the end, Naruto had even managed to save his friend Uchiha Sasuke who had fallen to the depths of darkness, full of resentment towards the whole world.

Saving him wasn’t an easy feat.

No…

Rather, it was something that no one other than Naruto could have done.

The dream Naruto had been holding close to his chest ever since he was a child was only one: to become Hokage.

He had had no relatives to give him a kind word, and the only way he could get attention from others was by his repeated pranks, but still he kept insisting that he would one day become Hokage.

In the beginning, nobody had believed Naruto could ever do it. But now, there wasn’t a single person in the village who thought anyone but Naruto would be the next Hokage.

Naruto was the sun.

He had a brilliant flame within him that never so much as flickered, constantly burning. It was because of how brightly he shined that he was the sun. Everyone who saw that passion of his opened their hearts to him, and became his comrade.

Up until now, and till the end of time, Shikamaru felt like Naruto would continue moving forwards without that flame of his ever wavering. 

And that was the way it should be. Someday, Naruto would be Hokage, gain even more of the village’s trust, and then keep shining, brighter and brighter still.  

For the sake of that brightness, something like the sun couldn’t know about the darkness in the world.

Until now, Naruto had waged war against countless people who’s hearts had swayed towards darkness, but he himself had never gone crooked.

‘No matter how far someone sinks into darkness, a part of their heart will long for the light.’

Naruto fought because he truly believed that. Shikamaru had seen him change the hearts of his enemies with that same ideal many, many times.

No matter how much darkness surrounded him, Naruto never lost his light.

That’s why Naruto didn’t really know the true meaning of ‘darkness’.

There would always be darkness in the hearts of human beings. Thinking you could save everyone was an impossible ideal.

No matter how frantically you reached out to save people and lead them towards light, there would always be those few who slipped through your fingers, continuing down the path of darkness. It was the way of the world.

But Naruto didn’t think like that. No matter how hopeless the situation, he would never give up on saving everyone from that sort of fate.

That was the kind of man Naruto was.

And Shikamaru didn’t want him to change.

Naruto was someone who was supposed to stay pure and straightforward, a shining sun.

The more the light shines, the darker the shadows grow.

But as long as there was someone to take on the burden of those shadows, it would be fine.

Shikamaru thought that it was his duty to be that ‘someone’.

Wasn’t it only natural for a shadow jutsu user to take on the burden of darkness?

Naruto would become Hokage, and Shikamaru would support him as his right hand man. That was Shikamaru’s dream: to stay by Naruto’s side and sort out any shadows that could interfere with his light.

The moment that thought passed through Shikamaru’s head, he suddenly understood himself.

Why had he been so stubborn about volunteering to go to the Country of Silence?

It had been for Naruto’s sake, of course.

If the Country of Silence continued to grow more powerful, then Naruto would eventually end up suffering. The Country of Silence would be a huge obstacle for him.

That’s why Shikamaru was going to go and nip it in the bud.

He had decided to bear all of the shadows that would try to interfere with Naruto’s light, after all. That included dealing with future obstacles as well.

“So, what’re you doing out?” Naruto asked, breaking into Shikamaru’s reverie.

“I’m taking a walk.”

“This early in the morning?”

“Naruto,” Shikamaru deadpanned. “Me taking a walk is nowhere near as weird as you eating ramen at this hour.”

“Well, that’s true.”

They both laughed.

“Do you have the day off?” Shikamaru asked.

“No way. Because a certain someone keeps giving me pain in the neck missions, I haven’t had a day off in half a year, you know. I’m going on another mission at noon.”

That ‘certain someone’ was, of course, Shikamaru.

“They’re missions I’m picking out for your sake, so stop your complaining.”

“But I still want to take a break for just a biiit.”

“You’re being eyed as a candidate to be the next Hokage. It’s too important a time for breaks. Be more self-aware, Naruto.”

“I get that… But just one-”

“No buts.” Shikamaru said, like one would scold a child. “Everyone in the village approves of you. But it’s exactly because they approve that you need to take on even more missions, so people can think ‘ahh, what would we do if Naruto wasn’t here’. It’s already been two years since the war ended, you can’t naively think everyone’s approval will be guaranteed with your actions from that time.”

“Alright, alright…” Naruto pouted just a bit before giving a great stretch. “My stomach’s full, so I’ll think I’ll go home and sneak in a nap.”

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at him. “Don’t oversleep.”

“I won’t.” Naruto laughed at the serious look on his face, and started walking back.

“Oi, Naruto.” Shikamaru called over his shoulder.

“What?” Naruto turned around.

“You’re the man who’ll become Hokage. Don’t forget that.”

“I never go back on my word,” Naruto promised. “That’s my ninja way.”

“Never going back on your word.” Shikamaru paused. “It’s my ninja way too.”

“Yeah.” Naruto raised his right hand in a great wave, and then turned to go on his way.

After watching his back for a while, Shikamaru turned around to go on his own path as well.

“I’m definitely going to make you Hokage.”

Shikamaru had long decided he wasn’t ever going to go back on those words.

-

“I made you wait, huh.”

Shikamaru was directing the words towards Rou and Soku.

This time’s mission involved infiltrating the country as well as assassinating the target. It wasn’t something that could be done completely under the radar. That’s why the two weren’t wearing their masks.

“We have several mission objectives.” Shikmaru said. “Surveying the situation in the country of silence. Searching for Sai and the 10 Anbu who we lost contact with. But the highest priority goes to assassinating the man named Gengo.”

The pair silently nodded.

Kakashi hadn’t come to see them off. The three shinobi were the only people near the closed back gates. It was hidden within a cluster of trees at the base of the mountain. Despite it being a bright morning, the gates looked wet and gloomy.

“Ah well, since we will be carrying out assassination, then we must make sure there’s no observation…” Rou’s nostril’s flared as he emphasised ‘observation’.

Shikamaru stared at him, bewildered at what he could mean.

“Your joke totally fell flat, y’know.” Soku told Rou.

The man looked flustered, an embarrassed sweat drop clinging to his forehead.

“He was trying to make a joke, ‘know.” Soku explained to Shikamaru with an ‘I’m so sorry about this’ look on her face. “You were talking about us surveying the situation, and since surveying has a similar meaning to observing, he made that joke about our assassination not being observed, since it’s secret…Basically, this old man tends to make bad jokes like that every now and then, so it’d be a good idea to watch out, y’know.”

Shikamaru swallowed down the urge to make a witty retort, and cleared his throat, trying to reclaim the serious atmosphere.

“When we go past the gate, we start running, alright?”

“We’re aware, y’know.” Soku cheerfully answered.

Rou, who’d turned somewhat red-faced with embarrassment, also gave a nod.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

And with that, the three of them finally heaved open the back gates.

Shikamaru Hiden, Chapter Seven

Temari stood behind Gaara’s back,watching his crimson hair swaying in the wind. Looking at him, she thought toherself that her little brother had really grown splendidly.

They were standing on top of ahill, gazing down at the brilliant view of Suna from above. The peoplein their village called this hill “the wind’s reading spot” because the windnever stopped blowing up here, all year round. Temari knew very well that Gaara was the only one who came up here despite the strong wind to enjoy the view of the village.

“Do you need anything, nee-san?” Gaara asked. He tilted his head back to look at her, and Temari could see the lone kanji for ‘love’ that was tattooed onto his forehead.

Several years ago, if anyone in the village had heard the name “Gaara” they would shudder in fear. But look at her little brother now. He was the leader of Suna, and a vital authority in the alliance holding all shinobi together. Gaara had become an existence the Shinobi World couldn’t do without.

It was all thanks to Naruto.

Gaara had a bijuu inside him ever since he was born, all throughout his childhood. He used to believe in “loving only oneself” and had accepted the rest of the world to be his enemy, not letting anyone near. The old Gaara hadn’t even let his elder sister Temari or older brother Kankurou anywhere near entering his heart. Even if he didn’t say it out loud, his whole body, his actions of losing himself in the throes of bloodlust, all the things he did transmitted those words loud and clear.

Naruto was the only one who had managed to reach Gaara.

Naruto simply couldn’t abandon Gaara, not when he was a fellow jinchuuriki who’d lived the same life he had. After exchanging blows in a fierce battle that surpassed the limits of normal humans, the two slowly came to understand each other. When Gaara’s bijuu was removed from his body by the Akatsuki and he was on the brink of death, Naruto had pumped as much of his own chakra into him as he could, not holding back in the slightest. Gaara had recognised him as a ‘friend’.

Gaara had been changing ever since he met Naruto. His cold demeanour disappeared. The way he treated and spoke to Temari and Kankurou changed. His attitude towards the village changed. His feelings towards the people in their village changed.

And in the end, Gaara was recognised by everyone.

Temari was eternally grateful to Naruto for that. She thought that the village of Konoha overall was likeable. Their villagers held a strong pride as shinobi, and many of them were logical people.

Suddenly, that guy’s face flashed across her mind. There was a stinging pain inside Temari’s chest all of a sudden, and she irritably clicked her tongue.

“Is something wrong, neesan?”

“Eh? No…”

Gaara was looking at her, worry transparent in his eyes. Temari could feel his concern so keenly that it hurt, and looked away from his gaze.

The village of Suna was always parched for water. Being right in the middle of the desert, it never rained. And sand always got mixed in with the wind as well.

“I got a little sand in my eye, that’s all.”

“That’s rare.” Gaara mildly said. “That doesn’t usually happen to you, neesan.”

“Th- that’s true…”

Those born in Suna were accustomed to the relationship between its sand and wind, used to handling it. Even in a dust storm, no suna-nin’s eyes would ever sting because of sand.

Temari’s line about ‘sand getting in her eyes’ was a blatant lie and excuse.

“Shikamaru…” Gaara suddenly said that guy’s name, and Temari was caught so off guard she couldn’t stop herself from stiffening.

Although his sister had stiffened up as if in response to an enemy attack, Gaara didn’t say anything about her sudden guarded posture, and simply went on speaking indifferently.

“I feel like he’s been behaving strangely lately. The last time I saw him at the Union’s Headquarters, it seemed like his heart wasn’t in his actions. I got the feeling he was working himself too hard.”

“You think so too, huh.” Temari said.

Gaara nodded. “I used to not care about other people, but now I’m extremely careful to take notice of others’ behaviour and appearances. Maybe that’s why I’m sensitive to the movement of other’s hearts.”

Of course, her brother was, at the root, a very serious person. Once he believed he should do something, he put his all into diligently carrying it out. It was because of that he was able to open his heart to everyone so completely.

It wasn’t a surprise that her brother should notice the subtle changes in Shikamaru’s behaviour, when he was so careful about reading others in general.

“He’s hiding something.”

“Mm…” Temari let out a sound of agreement.

“He’s someone who thinks about the future of the Union and shinobi over all more seriously than anyone else.” Gaara said. “I don’t think he would do anything that could threaten the Union.”

Gaara was referencing the fact that each hidden village participating in the Union had the duty to report any problems inside or outside their jurisdiction. He was also referencing the fact that both he and Temari had noticed Shikamaru was holding back reporting some situation happening in Konoha. Any problem that made him act like that was very likely a problem that affected all the shinobi villages.

“Do you have any idea what he could be holding back, neesan?”

“I wonder if I do.”

It was natural that Gaara would ask her. Temari was the one who worked with Shikamaru the most within the entire Union.

“It’s not that I don’t have an idea what it is…” Temari said. “I’m just not sure if I’m right.”

Gaara nodded, silently listening.

“He’d been seriously investigating the shinobi who went missing in action during the war, and the recent cases of missing-nin in the villages.”

At Temari’s reply, Gaara took his eyes off her and gazed down at the village again. A furrow came between his brows.

He was thinking.

The wind suddenly picked up. Bits of sand scraped across their foreheads, a familiar pain.

“Let’s ask Naruto.” Gaara murmured. “Will you go, neesan?”

“Yes.” Temari was startled by how eager her voice sounded.

“Of course, you should ask Kakashi too, but he’ll definitely find a way to avoid answering, so ask Naruto about Shikamaru first.” Gaara said, “If it turns out that Shikamaru’s confronting a grave situation, then we must do nothing less than try to save him with our full strength. If you feel like shinobi from Suna are needed, take as many with you as you need.”

“…Shikamaru’s a shinobi of Konoha, you know?”

“We’re long past the era where we care about things like ‘Suna shinobi’ or ‘Konoha shinobi’. He’s a man who’s necessary to the Union. It’s natural that we would support him.”

“…Thank you.”

“This isn’t something you need to thank me for, neesan.”

One small tear had slipped its way down Temari’s cheek. Impatiently wiping it away, she looked at her little brother with a wide grin.

“Somehow, the sand keeps getting in my eyes today.”

*

“Hey Sakura-chan, are you listening?” Naruto irritably asked, leaning his elbows against a pile of books that came all the way up to his chest. He was speaking to Sakura’s back as she was rushing along the length of the bookshelf that covered the wall.

“Ya know, Sai hasn’t been around for over a month now, and Shikamaru’s suddenly turned incredibly cold and stiff around me. Hey, don’t you think he’s hiding something from me?”

“I don’t!”

Sakura’s exasperated voice made Naruto wince.

“What happened to your mission?”

“It ended today.”

“Then quickly go to Ichiraku’s, eat some ramen, head home and sleep!”

“Whaaaaat, but it’s been so long since you stopped by the Hokage Residence. You’ve finally shown your face…You’re acting so cold as an original member of team 7.”

Sakura furiously turned around to face her pouting friend.

“Right now, I’m already overwhelmed with working with Tsunade-sama on developing a system for medicinal jutsu, as well as working on the structure of the Union’s system. I’ve got to go through documents left over from Tsunade-sama’s time as Hokage! I don’t have any free time! I can’t listen to your gossiping! Understand?”

Huffing, she turned back to face the shelves.

“Besides, haven’t you been hanging out with Hinata lately? Wouldn’t it be a better idea to go and have her listen to you properly instead of bothering me?”

“What? Are you jealous?”

Sakura turned around with a furious expression, her fist slamming against Naruto’s head.

“Obviously not! I decided to wait for Sasuke-kun, you know!”

“Y-yes ma’am…” Naruto answered. Suddenly his eyes changed to look a bit more serious, and Sakura, noticing, paid a little more attention to what he was saying.

“But lately, ya know, I’ve just had this really bad feeling.”

“Is the Nine Tails making a fuss?”

The Nine Tails was still living inside Naruto. There were also remnants of the other 8 bijuu inside him as well. In that way, you could say he was a human pillar for the power of the Ten Tails. In the last war, Obito had become a human pillar for the Ten Tails and gained chakra rivalling that of the Sage of the Six Paths. Naruto, who’d taken the bijuu into him as well, had some of the Sage’s power even now. His ‘bad feelings’ were different from a normal human’s, and Sakura knew it too.

“Don’t you think you’re misunderstanding something?”

“You’re cruel, giving my judgement zero trust…” Naruto muttered, flopping onto the floor in a sulk.

“It’s because if you are rightly worried, there’s nothing you can do. Both Sai and Shikamaru are brilliant shinobi. Even if they end up in a situation where need your help, then they’ll ask for it. And if they can’t, then the Hokage will tell you to go save them.”

“Ehhh, I can’t trust Kakashi-sensei to know when to do that.”

“You’re much worse than he is!” Sakura exploded, giving him a kick in the shin. Naruto shot back to his feet, wearily keeping a distance.

“Stop talking about things you can’t help, and concentrate on your missions. That’s what Sai and Shikamaru would both want you to do. Especially Shikamaru. He’s been working himself to the bone in the Union and the village so you can become Hokage! You can’t let all that be in vain.”

“I know he’s working for me…but that’s exactly why I’m worried, ya know.”

Sakura let out a sigh.

“Get a hold of yourself. They’re comrades who’ve believed in you all this time, they’re not gonna die meaningless deaths.”

“Don’t talk so ominously about death!”

“Oh, for goodness sake! I say one thing you get upset, I say another you still get upset. You’re being a real pain, ya know!” Sakura used Naruto’s own phrase against him. “Go home and sleep!”

Sakura threw Naruto out of the room.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter eight

The Country of Silence

-

Shikamaru’s team ran for three days regardless of whether it was day or night, before they finally reachedthe Country of Silence.

The Country of Silence was a relatively small country, located towards theWest of the continent. Most of it was surrounded by mountains and forests, andthe remaining land was dotted with fields. None of the towns in those fieldswere anywhere near the size of a village in Fire Country. The Country of Silence would have felt like a rustic and rural countryside even to the three original founders of Konoha.

The country’s capital, Curtain Village*, was located almost in the very centre of the country. Since they were sneaking in from the country’s borders, Shikamaru and his team had to constantly run through hills and valleys. By the time they reached Curtain Village, it had been about four days since they’d left Konoha.

Although it was a poor country, the capital still had all the splendour of a metropolis. While rest of the country’s villages had had houses with straw thatched roofs, even the smallest home in the capital had a tiled roof. There were many buildings made with reinforced concrete, and the streets were clean and well landscaped. Roads spread out around the city in the same shape as a spider’s web, expanding in radials from the centre of the city. In the little sections separated by those roads, houses and apartments were lined up side by side.

One very large building out in the middle of the city. If one were to look at the city from a distance, this building would be the only one to stand out from amongst the others. It was around 10 storeys high, with a crimson tiled roof, and on the left and right edge of the roof were two gold-coloured lion statues.

“Ahh, this must be the country’s castle which we seek.”

“There’s no need to sound so smug about stating the obvious, y’know.”

Shikamaru half kept an eye on the castle, and half listened to Rou and Soku’s conversation as they walked down the main street.

Of course, they had all long changed out of their Konoha flak jackets.

Just as the customs of every country are different, so is the clothing. Rou and Soku had advised that they should procure their clothing locally so as not to stand out during their infiltration, and Shikamaru had bowed to their experience as Anbu. Along the way to the capital, they’d stopped at the richest looking mansion they could find and gathered clothes for the three of them.

The clothing worn by the people in the Country of Silence was very simple, without any patterns to speak of. The top was an uwagi** robe, wrapped around the chest and tied with a cloth belt. From the waist down, there were wide hakama**, with their cuffs stuffed into laced up boots which came up to the shin.

The clothes’ colours were as droll as the design. Everyone who walked in the Curtain Village wore either black or brown or grey. Even the stores on the streets didn’t have any bright lights or neon signs, their advertisements dull and sombre.

There wasn’t a single bright thing to be found in the entire city.

“Have you noticed, Lord Shikamaru?” Rou asked from his position in front.

Shikamaru was stuck between the two Anbu on their insistence. Rou was their front guard.

The man’s question was very vague. He wasn’t specifying what it was that Shikamaru was supposed to have noticed, so there was no way of replying to him.

“We have yet to see a single one of the Daimyou’s attendants.” Rou specified.

“That’s true.” Shikamaru agreed.

As the two conversed, they were heading towards the direction of the castle. It wasn’t with any intention to start the operation now, but simply from the habit people had of walking towards the largest building in the vicinity. Shikamaru had absolutely no intention of rushing or rashly leaping into the middle of things and risking the mission going south.

“All the people we have seen on the street so far have been the country’s citizens. It is extremely strange to not have seen a single attendant.”

Rou’s observation was right on the mark.

The rulers of countries within their continent were always, without exception, Daimyou. Unions within the Shinobi World were all very well, but shinobi never, ever took the front stage of politics.  And Daimyou’s always lived in the capital city of their country, with their places of residence brimming over with the attendants who served them.  

Those attendants differentiated themselves from the country’s citizens with great pride, from their colourful clothing to their overbearing and arrogant attitudes. They were always rushing about the capital where their Damyou lived, going around on errands for him.

And yet, they hadn’t seen a single one of those attendants.

“It’s possible there isn’t a Daimyou, y’know.” Soku murmured.

That could be the case. Small countries did sometimes have cases where citizens of the country made it appear like they had a Daimyou in charge while handling matters themselves.

But this country was different. Shikamaru was very sure of that.

He turned around in Soku’s direction, his eyes glancing towards the castle they’d now left behind them.

“Sai’s message clearly said that this country is being controlled by a man named Gengo.”

“But it’s possible he’s not a Daimyou, y’know.”

“You have a point.” As Shikamaru said that, his eye fell on a man who was walking in front of the group.

He was wearing a long, black cloak, and had a sharp, cutting look in his eyes. His clothing stood out amidst the hamakas and uwagis worn by the other citizens.

The design reminded Shikamaru of the Akatsuki’s cloaks, although this man’s clothing didn’t have those red clouds, or the high collar to cover his mouth. There was no seam or fastener down the middle either, only five large, silver buttons.

“See that man in front of us? We saw some others dressed like him too. Don’t you feel like you’re reminded of something when you see them?” Shikamaru asked.

“I say, I noticed that as well, Lord Shikamaru.”

“Wouldn’t a person normally wait a bit instead of immediately agreeing…?” Soku asked.

“Those clothes…the clothes make the target, after all.” Rou made another one of his bad jokes.

“We all want you to shut up, y’know.” Soku groaned.

Ignoring their bantering, Shikamaru continued speaking.

“Rou, what about that man over by the side of the street? He doesn’t look familiar to you at all?”

As Shikamaru spoke, he inclined his head slightly towards a tea house on the busy street.

Rou looked over his shoulder to follow the line of sight Shikamaru was indicating.

“It…It can’t be…”

“Eh? What’s going on? I don’t understand what you two’re so worked up about, y’know…”

“So I was right.” Shikamaru grimly said. “I kept getting the feeling he was a familiar face.”

He and Rou were looking towards a man seated at one of the benches in front of the tea house, and drinking tea. He, too, was wearing a long coat that stood out.

As they watched, the man called out for the owner of the tea house. An old shopkeeper immediately rushed out from the tea house’s interior, bowing his head several times and gushing praise and excuses towards the man.

That style of buttering someone up was exactly how citizens usually behaved to the Daimyou’s attendants.

“He used to be in the Anbu,” Rou said, stunned. “His name is Minoichi.”

“That man…”

“Was supposed to have gone missing in action during the war, right?” Soku guessed, finishing Shikamaru’s sentence for him.

The three of them kept walking past the tea house, careful not to let their observation of Minoichi be noticed.

“It’d be fastest to get the answers to this incident firsthand, wouldn’t it?” Shikamaru said.

Fireworks were going off inside Shikamaru’s heart. His mouth twitched up in a smile.

-

“You won’t be able to move anymore.” Shikamaru drawled to the frantically twitching man in front of him.

They were in an alley between two of the concrete buildings. Shikamaru had specifically chosen this place because it wasn’t a hotspot, practically abandoned even in the middle of the day.

Rou and Soku were keeping watch at where the alley opened up to the main street. They’d blended into the shadows as expected of their experience in Anbu, staying completely motionless and concentrating fully on the task at hand.

A shadow even darker and deeper than the shade of the alley was extended from Shikamaru’s feet. It had crawled along the alleyway like a jet black snake, all the way up and around the body of the man in front of him. The shadow tendrils turned into dark hands around curled snugly around his captive’s neck.

The Kagemane Neck Binding Jutsu…

Shikamaru’s family, the Nara Clan, had been shadow jutsu users for generations. The Kagemane Neck Binding jutsu let you use your own shadow to stop your opponent’s movements. The Nara shadows were physical embodiments. Their jutsu didn’t stop at just binding with their shadows- they could inflict physical harm with them as well.

“Just letting you know.” Shikamaru dryly said. “I can very easily crush your neck with my shadow.”

“H-How…Wh-why’re you…bastard…”

“You don’t know me?” Shikamaru asked of the Anbu. “I know you, Minoichi-san.”

“I- I don’t know that name.”

“Don’t play dumb. You were originally a shinobi from Konoha, weren’t you?”

“I- I said I don’t know it.”

Shikamaru’s shadow moved along the man’s throat, dark hands tightening around Minoichi’s adam’s apple.

“Ugh…” He let out an anguished groan.

“You were born in Konoha.” Shikamaru said. “You must’ve heard about the Nara clan’s jutsu at some point, right? And what it can do…”

If you keep this up, I’m going to strangle you to death.

That was the threat Shikamaru was making.

“So why’re you, a Konoha shinobi, in a place like this, wearing clothes like that?”

“I-I’m not a shinobi, anymore.” Minoichi hoarsely said. “I am…an enlightened one.”

“Enlightened one? What do you mean by that?”

“P-people like you who sluggishly live in the…never changing world of Shinobi…could never understand our noble will.”

“Look at you babbling. I asked you who these ‘enlightened ones’ are.” Shikamaru willed a little more strength into the fingertips of his shadow around the man’s neck.

“Geugh…” Minoichi groaned.

“I’m fine with strangling you if you keep this up.” Even Shikamaru himself felt sick at the words coming out of his mouth.

His heart was getting covered in darkness…

“There’s no way you could understa- neugh!”

Shikamaru had tightened his shadow’s hold firmly around Minoichi’s bobbing Adam’s apple.

“If you keep up that idle talk, I’m really going to kill you.” 

Shikamaru’s pupils had dilated to leave his eyes almost as dark as his shadows.

“I-I…understand…”

“Shouldn’t that be, ‘I understand, sir’?” *

“I…understand…sir…”

Shikamaru weakened his shadow’s hold, and Minoichi immediately began coughing and spluttering, tears in his eyes.

“Now, you’re going to answer me. Who exactly are you ‘enlightened ones’? What’re people who were originally shinobi doing gathered around here?”

Seeing the ruthless expression on Shikamaru’s face, Minoichi took in a deep breath, and started talking.

“We ‘enlightened ones’ rule this country. There aren’t any low born Daimyous around anymore. The title ‘enlightened one’ is earned when you are a shinobi who has opened their eyes to the noble ideals of Gengo-sama. Our goal is to create a true revolution in this world together with Gengo-sama. Anything you scum plot or scheme is powerless before him. Anything you hear from me won’t let you understand the truth of this country…!” Minoichi began to laugh, opening his jaws to bite down on his tongue in a suicide attempt.

“Stop!”

For a moment, Shikamaru was sure Minoichi was dead, slumped to the side from biting his tongue. But then, his eyes caught up with his brain.

In an instant, something had flown and pierced the side of Minoichi’s neck…

“I used a paralysing chakra needle for him, so he won’t be able to move for three days or so, y’know.”

It was Soku who spoke. She had come to stand at his side without Shikamaru even noticing.

“Feh, ‘enlightened ones’…that sounds both arrogant and annoying, y’know.” Soku said, glaring down at the knocked out Minoichi. 

The ex-shinobi’s face looked disturbingly peaceful in his paralysed sleep.

-

Footnotes: 

* Yes, Curtain Village is really the name. I couldn’t believe it either. I spent 20 minutes looking for a kanji that didn’t exist, lol.

** The clothing described is easier explained seen than read.

*** This is a little tricky. Basically, Minoichi said ‘I understand’ with casual language, but Shikamaru demanded he use polite inflections. Adding ‘sir’ was the closest I could get to that sentiment.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter nine

Shikamaru didn’t even try to hide the shivers running up his spine from sitting on the cold, concrete floor.

There was no window to speak of. The walls, the ceiling, everything was concrete. He, Rou and Soku were sitting in acircle in a completely grey room.

All three of them were wearing thelong cloaks of the enlightened ones. All stolen, of course. Even the room theywere currently residing in didn’t belong to them. The real owner was an enlightened one stuffed in a closet in the room next door, knocked out by one of Soku’s paralysing Chakra Needles.

Of course, they hadn’t forgotten to do their interrogations in the midst of their thievery. The result of all their cross-questionings was quite a bounty of information.

“It seems that Lord Shikamaru was correct in his initial conclusion.” Rou started speaking first. “This country does indeed look like it’s being ruled by this Gengo character and his frighteningly strong charisma.”

Shikamaru had to agree with Rou about the charisma. They’d had to lure another male EO [shortened term  for Enlightened One/s] to get a long cloak for Rou, and the one female EO for Soku’s cloak. Counting Minoichi, that made three EO’s that had been interrogated over all.

Three enlightened ones, and yet the one thing that didn’t change in every single scenario was their obsessive, unshakable faith in Gengo.

The faith the EO’s had towards Gengo was clearly different from the trust that Konoha’s shinobi put in the Hokage, or Naruto.

Humans feeling love and respect for another human. That was, in Shikamaru’s opinion, the bond between Konoha’s shinobi and their leaders. People respecting other people.

But the way the EO’s treated Gengo was different. They spoke of him with the same fear and reverence that one would use for a living god. As if they believed that while they were humans, Gengo’s existence was something else entirely. It was an unshakeable, disturbing faith.

What kind of a man could make people adore him to that extent?

Shikamaru noticed with mild alarm that deep down inside, he himself felt curious about the answer.

“Well, it’s been said from the start that this whole thing’ll end if we end Gengo, y’know.” Soku bluntly said. “That’s why the old man and I came along in the first place. If that hadn’t been the case, we wouldn’t be needed. Though I’d have liked it if that haven’t been the case, y’know.”

Although her last comment was a little rude, Soku’s input was pertinent to the conversation.

“It seems that their thoughts towards Gengo have already turned into a religious fervour.” Rou said.

“I think so too, y’know.” Soku nodded. “Something has to be up for them to be so fervently attached to him.”

“What do you mean by something, Hinoko?”

“Shikamaru-san! I told you not to call me by name!” Soku sat up in a fit of temper, her index finger pointing at Shikamaru’s face, the tip of it crackling with orange chakra. “If you call me by name again, I’m seriously gonna pound you!”

She was so worked up, she didn’t even add “y’know” to the end of her sentence.

“Why don’t you like it? It’s an adorable name…” * [Translator’s Note: Hinoko means sparks of fire.]

“That’s why I don’t like it!” Soku’s chakra blared brighter with her temper. “A cool name like Gourai [roaring lightning] or Shippu [swift gale] or Kimidare [summer rain] would have been so much better!”

It turned out that no matter how capable a shinobi she was, Soku was still a fourteen year old child on the inside. Her line up of ‘cool’ names were all so unbelievably cheesy, Shikamaru was desperately trying not to laugh.

She must have mistaken the strained expression on his face for an apologetic look, because the chakra buzzing at the tip of her finger suddenly went out.

“Sorry,” Shikamaru said, regaining control of himself. “I didn’t know you hated your name to that extent. I’ll be careful not to use it.”

“A-as long as you understand…” Soku looked somewhat embarrassed at her outburst now, looking down at the floor.

Spread out on the floor in front of the three was a map of Curtain Village. This had also been procured from the owner of the room.

“I say, the shape of this city is truly like a spider’s web.” Rou said, crossing his arms in thought.

Shikamaru looked down to study the map as well. His eyes fell on the picture of the large castle at the centre of the city. The text next to it declared it as ‘Floating Prisoner Castle’.

“Floating prisoner…” Shikamaru muttered to himself.

“It is a derogatory term.” Rou explained with his old-fashioned knowledge. “Used for prisoners of war, or savages living near the borders of a metropolis.”

“Derogatory, huh…” Shikamaru’s mind was whirring as he murmured out loud. “Did Gengo give it that name? Or was the castle called that long before he became its master?”

“The Country of Silence has always avoided contact with other countries, and as a consequence even we Anbu of Konoha do not have any information on this castle.”

Shikamaru somehow had a feeling Gengo had given the castle that name. It was just a vague sort of intuition though, so he didn’t say anything about it.

“Why give your own castle an insulting name like that…”

“It comes to this sort of meaning, does it not? ‘As the Five Great Nations and other smaller countries claimed their land on the continent, we were savages forced to live on the outskirts.’ They are insulting themselves.” Rou said.

“That’s definitely what it is.” Shikamaru commented, deep in thought.

“That’s stupid, y’know.” Soku scornfully interjected. She’d kept quiet until now, listening to them talk, but looked so worked up she couldn’t stop herself from talking. “Insulting yourself, declaring yourself to be scum, what kind of a crazy cruelty is that? And these twisted, pessimistic guys are trying to overturn the world of shinobi? Ridiculous.”

She forgot to add ‘y’know’ again.

Soku, Shikamaru realised, was genuinely angry at the people of this country for giving themselves such a self-deprecating name.

“It’s probably by insulting themselves that they find the ferocity to bare their fangs and fight the rest of the world.”

Soku’s reply to Shikamaru’s explanation was to look away in disgust. He continued speaking.

“Revenge is born out of hatred for your opponent. And hatred is never something that can exist in someone without them starting a fight or provoking the other side.”

“Then, Lord Shikamaru, are you saying that the people of this country resent the other countries in this continent?”

“That’s a ridiculous idea, y’know.” Soku cut in, still steaming. “All the EO’s who run this country are former shinobi from other countries, aren’t they?”

Soku was right. The fact had come to light during their interrogation of the three EO’s. Every single EO who was involved with governing this country had originally been a shinobi from another country. Part of them were shinobi who’d gone missing in action during the war, while the rest were those who’d become missing-nin during the past year, but they were all governing authorities who answered to Gengo.

They’d learnt that this country had once had a Daimyou as well. The one who had driven the Daimyou out, raised up the Enlightened Ones and changed the country from the root up was, of course, none other than Gengo.

It would be a fitting summary to say that the current Country of Silence was being run completely by shinobi.

“If they hate other countries,” Soku continued, “Then that means they hate their own villages as well. That can’t be right.”

The concept seemed alien to her.

“There are shinobi like that too.” Shikamaru carefully said, explaining in a calm tone. “The group that was the cause of the last great war, the ‘Akatsuki’ were mostly made up of missing-nin. They were a group with exceptional abilities who hated the world of shinobi.”

You’d find yourself trapped in a bad situation, and dark feelings would begin to stew. It wasn’t surprising if all that resentment and anger made you lash out at your own country. You’d blame your village for your misfortunes and suffering, say that it wasn’t your fault, but the structure of your country- no, the very structure of the world that was to blame.

It was through that kind of thinking that members of the Akatsuki or Enlightened Ones were born.

“But, I say, if this is true…” Rou spoke, and Soku and Shikamaru both fell quiet. “If this is true, and the Enlightened Ones feel dissatisfaction towards the current state of shinobi…”

Rou glanced at Shikamaru, who nodded for him to go on.

“And they came to this country with those feelings of dissatisfaction…But, well, what they’re doing here isn’t any different from what’s done in the shinobi world, is it?”

Rou was referring to how the Enlightened earned a livelihood. The Country of Silence had opened a unique messenger route for business, and was taking on mission requests from all around the continent. What’s more, their standard prices were cheaper than the Union’s. While large and powerful countries like the Five Great Nations didn’t care much about lowered prices over credibility, it was a relief for smaller countries around the continent who had less gold to spare.

It was no wonder the mission requests made to the Union had significantly decreased.

It was exactly as Rou had said. Shinobi who felt resentful towards the shinobi world ran away to the country of silence- only for them to keep taking on mission requests as only shinobi would. It was a truly ridiculous scenario.

“A ‘true revolution’…” Soku thoughtfully murmured.

When Rou and Shikamaru both turned to look at her, the girl looked embarrassed.

“It’s what Minoichi said. ‘Our goal is to create a true revolution in this world together with Gengo-sama,’ and all…”

“You think they’re taking on mission requests for the sake of reaching that goal?” Shikamaru asked.

Soku nodded.

“Well, either way…that Gengo fellow is a threat that must be eliminated.” Rou muttered.

“We’ve been blessed with a good chance, y’know.” Soku said, pointing at the plaza in front of Floating Prisoner Castle.

“The town square reserved for speeches…It’s a fitting stage for an assassination, is it not?” Rou laughed, and looked at Shikamaru with mirth.

The man who was always so simple and sincere was now talking about cold-blooded murder with a smile on his face. Shikamaru felt like he was just now realising, deep in his bones, that Rou really was a part of Anbu.

“To summarise what we discussed before: Rou, you’ll use your jutsu to help us blend into the crowd at the plaza. I’ll extend my shadow to reach and restrain Gengo. Soku, you’ll be placed at a nearby rooftop with a bird’s eye view. The moment you see Gengo stiffen, you have to send your Chakra Needle flying immediately.”

They both nodded at his orders with those same disturbing smiles, as if they were looking forward to the thrill.

“We’ll be depending on you, Hinoko.”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?!” Soku got to her feet, steaming with indignation.

“…Forty times.” Rou whispered.

“Huh?” Soku glared at her senior, her mouth twisting down in temper.

“Lord Shikamaru’s name has ‘shi’ for ‘4’ and ‘maru’ for ‘0’, so…forty.” Rou meekly said.

Soku was furious.

“Again with the puns!” She strode forward, “And bad ones, at that! What happened to the ‘ka’, then?!”

Rou hurriedly got to his feet and –despite being 40 years old, significantly larger than his short-tempered junoir, and an Anbu- quickly hid behind Shikamaru for safety, cowering from the fourteen year old’s rage. 

Of course, he could’ve been playing his reaction up for laughs, but that didn’t stop Shikamaru from feeling more than a little embarrassed on the two’s behalf.

“Is everything really going to be alright tomorrow…?” He sighed.

Both Anbu straightened at once, reassurances spilling out of their mouths.

“It’ll be fine, y’know!”

“There is absolutely nothing to concern yourself over, Lord!”

Looking at them, Shikamaru let out another sigh.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter ten

They were so many people gatheredat the plaza in front of the castle that Shikamaru wouldn’t have been surprisedif it was the city’s whole population.

It wasn’t just the EnlightenedOnes with their long, black cloaks. Men and women, boys and girls, people ofall ages and classes had all gathered in one large, muddled crowd, waiting fortheir leader to appear.

All of them wore the sameenthused, feverish expressions on their faces, their eyes fiercely blazing with devotion. Their voices mixed together, murmuring in praise and exaltation as they waited. All in all, Shikamaru found them loud and annoying.

Stuck in the middle of the crazed crowd, and in a cloak on top of that, Shikamaru could feel his skin getting slick with sweat.

Rou was next to him. Soku was lurking around the roof of a concrete building across the castle.

Rou’s jutsu had disguised Shikamaru’s chakra to look like the chakra of the cloak’s original owner. From the quality to the quantity, everything was an exact copy of the EO. Rou had of course, done the same for his own chakra and the EO who had worn his cloak.

Naturally, they’d disguised their faces too. That had been Rou’s skills at work again. No matter how well they hid their chakra, if the enemy ranks held someone with sharp eyes and a good memory for faces, they’d be discovered in an instant. Rou’s skills had ensured they were hidden more than enough, both on a chakra and visible level. Even if their faces were examined, it’d be almost impossible to tell the difference between them and the original EO’s.

And on top of that, Shikamaru and Rou were hidden in the midst of a large crowd.

Everything had been arranged so the enemy would have no possible way of spotting them out.

“For now, let’s head towards that place.” Rou murmured in a low voice. He barely moved his mouth as he spoke, eyes never moving from the platform placed in front of the crowd. It was raised quite a bit off the ground, with its own wooden staircase to the side. There was nothing on the platform, not a single microphone or bodyguard. The crowd was jostling forward close enough for them to touch the wood.

“I say, I wonder if Gengo will really appear?” Rou doubtfully murmured.

He was right to feel unsure. For the leader of a country to stand on such a completely defenceless platform was beyond dangerous. If Gengo did appear, it would be the same as saying that he didn’t have the feel the slightest suspicion that anyone could aim for his life.

“For now, let’s just get closer and wait. If Gengo doesn’t appear, then we’ll just silently draw back for now.”

“Understood.”

They just had to get within a distance that Shikamaru’s kagemane could reach the man on the platform. If Shikamaru could stop Gengo’s movement, then Soku’s Chakra Needle would do the rest.

“If he would just make an appeara-”

Rou’s murmuring was cut off by a sudden roar of joy from the front of the crowd closest to the platform. The elated shouting rose and spread like a tidal wave across the plaza. As Shikamaru tried to push his way to the front, all the people around him were screaming so loud he felt like his eardrums were going to burst.

A single man had appeared on the platform.

He wore a long, black coat similar to the design the Enlightened Ones wore, but his was covered in countless colourful ornaments as well as the large silver buckles. On top of that, his sleeves were embroidered with silver snakes running down his forearms.

His hair was a dark indigo blue. He had a strong jaw, a masculine physique, and his features were clear and well-defined. He calmly looked down at the cheering crowd with clear and intelligent eyes. There were slight traces of stubble around his jaw. He looked about 30 years old.

“That man is most likely Gengo, isn’t he?” Rou murmured, and stopped walking for just a moment.

Shikamaru kept walking without giving an answer. He felt a firm conviction that the man in front of their eyes was definitely Gengo.

Slowly, the man raised his right arm into the air. Instantly, all the wild cheers fell silent. Gengo closed his eyes as if he felt satisfied by that reaction, a small smile pulling at his mouth. He took in one deep breath, then opened his eyes and began to speak.

“First of all, I would like to express my thanks to all of you who have gathered here.”

His voice was deep and heavy, soothing to listen to. It had a mysterious quality to it that made you feel like you weren’t listening to him with just your ears, but your whole body. Shikamaru felt a bothersome, itchy feeling inside his chest, as if the man’s voice was brushing against his heart.

Rou’s eyes met Shikamaru’s as they silently moved closer to the platform. It was clear that he seemed to feel that same, uncomfortable sensation. The two shinobi’s steps became in sync, keeping their movements slow, subtle and silent.

Gengo gave a small bow towards the crowd to convey his gratitude, and then started to speak again.

“It has been ten years since I came to stand at this podium. We have gained many who share our ways of thinking, and our country has begun to prosper. However, not a single one of our desires have been realised.”

Everyone had been listening in utter silence. As the man’s words stopped, a strange atmosphere sifted into the quiet of the crowd, as if every inch of the plaza was under the man’s control.

“I have a question for the citizens of our country of silence!”

Gengo’s voice which had been so calm and composed now rang out with a tempestuous fury. His shouted words seemed to come from his very soul.

“The country that was ruled by a Daimyou, and this country now…Which world do you think is better? Who is that better world ruled by?”

“GENGO-SAMA!”

The citizens shouted their approval as one, their voice roaring across the plaza like a tidal wave.

“There is definitely no mistake, that man is Gengo.” Rou murmured.

Shikamaru silently nodded to him, turning to the platform. They were almost there, several meters left to the distance which would allow his kagemane to reach and bind the target.

The whole mission would be decided in one moment…

Gengo raised his right hand, and the crowd quietened again.

“I have received your answer. The days we were ruled by Daimyou who saw power, wisdom and us, the shinobi, as unimportant- those dark days are long past! Citizens, you may now find peace of mind. We enlightened ones shall forever protect you, with our power and our lives. All you need to worry about is comfortably living your lives. Because that is all that we enlightened wish for.”

Everyone around them seemed to get drunk on those words. They were strangely overwhelmed with emotion. Some were even crying.

Shikamaru honestly didn’t think Gengo had said anything all that important. No matter how he turned over the words in his head, it didn’t even seem like a relatively good speech. However, he did acknowledge the fact that Gengo’s voice had a mysterious power to it. The man possessed a power that made you listen to his voice no matter what he was saying.

“Our country of silence is at the very outskirts of the continent. Our history is that of foreigners, oppressed and downtrodden. Our ancestors did not cut off contact with the outside to sever our exchanges with others. It was to protect our own.  As long as we stayed out of contact with the outside, we stayed weak. But now, that is over.”

Gengo’s voice increased, incensed.

“The ones who rule this world should not be the Daimyou, but we who carry the power of shinobi! That is true justice. It is because of shinobi’s struggles that the citizens are protected. The existence of shinobi who carry powers beyond a normal human’s have always been found throughout the world. And yet, we were ruled by Daimyou, who live selfishly, only for

themselves, while crushing shinobi and citizen alike beneath their feet! Look at this country. It has been 10 years since I exterminated the daimyou. Look at the prosperity this country has gained!” Gengo’s chest expanded with pride.

“Almost there.” Shikamaru murmured.

Only a few steps more, and Gengo would be within range of his kagemane.

“I will exterminate the Daimyou from this world, and create a new world for us. Why aren’t shinobi recognised and distinguished? We hold a greater power than any daimyou. We hold a greater power than any human! Why are we who transcend others constantly downtrodden? Aren’t our merits far greater than other peoples? It is because the daimyou fear the age of shinobi that they discriminate against us, isolate us, and keep us under their influence! Citizens and shinobi alike, we are all victims to the selfishness of the daimyous!”

They were getting closer to Gengo. From this distance, it almost looked like blue sparks were coming out of the man’s fiercely glaring eyes.

“Revolution…”

Just a little more until they were in range. Just a little more.

The man standing in front of their eyes was almost certainly Gengo, and yet they’d been able to easily approach him unnoticed- so easily that Shikamaru felt weary.

He thought about the possibility of this being a trap.

But there was no way the enemy could have noticed them, and they couldn’t just let this chance pass them by.

“The Akatsuki had once stood with the intention of changing this world. But they were destroyed. They were destroyed by the world of shinobi that remains unchanged with time, no better today than it was yesterday, with shinobi still overruled and discriminated against. But the Akatsuki lived up to their name…they were the dawn. They were the sign of a dazzling morning to come. Listen, you people who hold the morning sun that will rise from the Silence’s darkness.”

Gengo slowly raised both his arms, as if he was welcoming a god from heaven.

“The first rays of sunlight to dawn in this new age, they will shine from our Country of Silence!”

The citizens cheered, the noise of their yells covering everything else.

This was their chance.

Shikamaru let his shadow free. A tendril crawled smoothly through the crowd like a black snake, creeping up the platform and stopping at Gengo’s feet.

As soon as that shadowy snake caught hold of hold of Gengo, his movements would be stopped, and Soku’s chakra needle would end the business.

It would’ve been fine if everything had turned out the way he’d planned it.

Only the kagemane…

Couldn’t seize Gengo.

“Wha-!”

He should’ve been in range. He was in range! Why couldn’t his shadow reach-

“The mouse creeping over there.” Gengo’s gaze slowly turned to look Shikamaru right in the eyes.

“He’s sensing us, Lord-!” Rou shrieked.

Several shadows leaped out from behind Gengo and came flying towards Rou, restraining him.

Shikamaru frantically tried to reach Gengo with his shadow one more time.

“It’s useless.” Gengo callously called.

Shikamaru’s shadow, once as familiar to him as his own hands and feet, suddenly turned into a kite with cut strings. Its tendril missed the target completely, turning round and round in circles, writing uselessly on the ground.

Fine then…

Shikamaru leaped onto the platform, slipping out a kunai from his cloak. If the plan had been ripped apart, then he would fight and do the deed himself.

Gengo didn’t move to run from Shikamaru. There was a faint smile on his face.

Shikamaru ran towards him, swinging his kunai towards the man’s throat with expert precision.

Someone came at Shikamaru from the side of the platform, kicking him sharply in the stomach. He rolled to the side of the wooden construct from the impact, and quickly sat up on one knee, his kunai at the ready.

He stared.

“You- what’re you…?”

A single man stood between Gengo and Shikamaru. He had an ashen grey complexion. Vague eyes, with depths of unreadable emotion. A straight, honest mouth.

“What’re you doing…?”

There was no mistake as to who it was.

Shikamaru called the man by his name.

“…Sai.”

Shikamaru Hide, chapter eleven

Sai held a paintbrush in one hand, and a scroll in the other, drawing furiously. Every time he lifted his paintbrush from the scroll, an ink tiger would manifest and attack Shikamaru

Shikamaru efforts to fend them off ended with him rolling off the platform and falling right into the crowd.

He didn’t have the time to beconcerned only about Sai. Shikamaru’s mind was in utter chaos.

Why hadn’t his jutsu worked?

Why had their disguises been seenthrough?

Was Soku alright?

Shikamaru dodged attack afterattack from the crowd. In the corner of his eye, he could see severalEnlightened Ones holding down Rou. The old man was frantically struggling against their hold, but it was impossible for him to shake off that many men at once.

Shikamaru’s cheek was stinging from where Sai’s ink beast had gotten in a swipe.

The resin mask Rou had put on Shikamaru to disguise his face was starting to peel off.

“Soon, that mask will be torn off completely, so I imagine you’ll feel more comfortable.” Sai said with a simple smile.

His paintbrush hadn’t stopped moving. Inky tiger after tiger materialised, surrounding Shikamaru.

“Why are you doing this…” 

“For a while now,” Sai noted, “You’ve been saying things that give the impression you know me.”

Shikamaru didn’t tell Sai who he was underneath the mask. He couldn’t, to begin with.

You never spoke your name out loud if there was a risk of you being captured and your name being traced back to your village. Never. It was an ironclad rule of Shinobi.

Behind the Enlightened Ones swarming towards him, Shikamaru could see Gengo still standing serenely on the platform. He kept his arms crossed as he calmly watched Shikmaru’s struggles.

If he could just manage to get to him one more time…

Shikamaru leapt on top of one of the inky tigers surrounding him, stabbing it with his kunai and leaping off in one seamless movement. He ran as soon as he hit the ground, free of the circle of beasts. In the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the tiger dissipating into a spray of black ink.

There was so many EO’s blocking his way, he could barely even count them.

“Will it work?” Shikamaru grumbled to himself, forming the seal for a jutsu with his hands.

Countless tendrils of darkness slowly started to extend from his shadow in every direction.

His kagenui, the shadow sewing technique, used tendrils of his shadow to attack and bind his opponents like a needle with thread. Since Shikamaru could create a multitude of shadow needles, it was a good jutsu to use against several opponents.

Shikamaru took aim at the tigers and Enlightened ones surrounding him. The needle-like tendrils of his shadow stretched out without any problems. All he’d need was one strong force of will for them to shoot up and off the ground.

“Work!” Shikamaru yelled the word like a battle cry. The tendrils raised their heads slowly from the ground, rearing back and getting ready to strike-

“Stop your pointless actions.” Gengo called from the platform above. The moment his voice rang out, Shikamaru’s shadow tendrils woozily sank back into the ground, and drew back into his normal shadow.

“Wh- WHAT DID YOU DO?” Shikamaru roared at Gengo in outrage.

Why was his voice affecting his shadows?

What in the world was he?

“Hm? I do believe I know that jutsu…”

It was Sai who made that comment. He’d now come to stand in front of Shikamaru, blocking his way.

“Sai, don’t you dare…”

“Your pointless actions are unsightly.” Sai calmly said, his paintbrush furiously dancing along the scroll in his hand. The tiger that materialised from his scroll this time was black and white- and far, far larger than any of the others.

“You will experience it first hand, and understand, soon enough.” Sai said, pointing his paint brush at Shikamaru. The giant black and white tiger took that as a signal, and took one great step towards Shikamaru.

“You shithead…” Shikamaru muttered, taking out a kunai and staring up at the tiger, readying himself for battle.

Suddenly, he felt something slam against his right leg. The second he realised that, something else slammed against his left leg, and right when Shikamaru realised the Enlightened Ones were bodily launching themselves at him, it was too late.

He hit the ground face first, several of the Enlightened piling on top of him and holding him down.

“To think that someone as sharp as you didn’t notice that the tiger was merely a distraction…your mind must really be in chaos.” Sai commented, looking down at Shikamaru desperately trying to breath under all the bodies crushing him.

Shikamaru’s impeded field of vision picked up the shadow of a man approaching from behind Sai.

Gengo.

“Take off the mask.” Gengo commanded of the Enlightened Ones.

A single finger slipped into the crack caused by the tiger’s claw, and peeled off Shikamaru’s mask in one go.

“Now see, it is Shikamaru-san after all.” Sai said.

“So this is Konohagakure’s genius, Nara Shikamaru, huh…” Gengo’s voice sounded like he was a collector who’d found an item he’d been seeking for quite a while.

Shikamaru craned his head to look up into a pair of suspiciously glowing blue eyes. Gengo’s gaze didn’t leave his for a moment.

Shikamaru cracked a smile. “Just so you know,” he said, “If you don’t get rid of me now, terribly frightening things will happen later.”

“I have no fears. You’ll be living right along with me.”

Gengo’s confident words were followed by a sharp pain in Shikamaru’s neck, and he lost consciousness.

*

This was true darkness.

There was no light whatsoever, to the point that Shikamaru couldn’t even see his own hands held an inch from his face. 

It was in this kind of dark that he sat, and sunk deep into his thoughts.

He wasn’t sure how many days had passed. Judging by how frequently they’d fed him, and the state of his stomach, it had been at least five days.

How did things turn out like this?

No matter how many times Shikamaru turned over the events in his head, he couldn’t find a complete answer.

It wasn’t just the problem of Sai.

He’d extended his shadow all the way to the platform Gengo had been standing on. But his shadow hadn’t been able to ensnare his legs, losing sight of the target.

And Gengo had been aware of the presence of Shikamaru and the others. He’d called them ‘mice’. All this despite them perfectly disguising their chakra.

It was as if there’d been a barrier around the man that rendered all their jutsu useless when they got within a certain distance of him.

Could Gengo really disable jutsu?

Shikamaru couldn’t tell. But there was no mistake that something had interfered with both Shikamaru and Rou’s jutsu.

Shikamaru’s shadow couldn’t reach Gengo. When he’d tried to use the kagenui against Sai’s monstrous tiger, as well, his shadow had suddenly faltered and lost power.

The most appropriate conclusion was that either Gengo or an influence in Gengo’s surroundings, had weakened the potency of his kagemane. 

Following that train of thought, there was a high possibility that Rou’s jutsu had experienced the same effect and been watered down. Then, Shikamaru’s own chakra signature had likely leaked outside the disguise, allowing Gengo to notice their presence.

That was the theory he had been going on for now.

Jutsu didn’t work against Gengo…

But why?

Shikamaru hadn’t had the time to gather enough information to figure out the truth behind the phenomenon. He hadn’t had rhe chance to investigate anything, even a little, so of course there was nothing for him to work with. 

Not having anything more to go on, not being able to think about the reason, it irritated him.

He was losing his presence of mind…

“Geugh! Urghh!”

Somewhere in the darkness, Rou’s groans of pain reached Shikamaru’s ears. Soku’s cries came from somewhere in the darkness as well too. They both sounded like they were being held somewhere close to him. It sounded like they were undergoing severe torture. He only ever heard their voices in moans and whimpers.

For some reason, Shikamaru wasn’t tortured at all.

“I’m sorry…” He murmured, looking towards the direction of Rou’s pained voice, although it was doubtful the man had heard.

This was the result of Shikamaru’s own hasty actions.

Wouldn’t it have turned out so much better if he’d just investigated Gengo a little more before acting?

There had been so many other plans he could have followed…

Shikamaru struck out with his fists blindly in the dark, hitting the cold, stone floor beneath him. He struck again, and again…

“Are you alive?”

Gengo’s voice came to Shikamaru in the darkness.

“Or are you dead?” His captor’s voice took on a tone as if he worried about there being no answer.

Shikamaru’s chakra was depleted, but he wasn’t dead, and he knew Gengo was perfectly aware of that fact. Asking questions he already knew the answer to was nothing more than sarcasm.

“I see you’ve been eating all your meals.”

Shikamaru ate everything they gave him. Of course, only after checking if it was poisoned. Being able to taste the presence of a variety of poisons with just one lick was another of the basic foundation for shinobi.

Shikamaru was eating because he hadn’t given up.

As long as he was alive, there was bound to be some chance of escape. If his body couldn’t move as he willed it to when that chance came, then he would die. 

No shinobi gave up the hope to live. To continue to survive no matter what, to keep carrying out your duties no matter what, that was a true shinobi.

We are shinobi because we endure.

That’s why Shikamaru had to believe that Rou and Soku hadn’t given up either.

“Have you calmed down a little, after so many days spent in the dark like this?” Gengo asked. “Do you feel like listening to my words now?”

“Unfortunately for you,” Shikamaru said, “The dark is a very close friend of mine.”

“You’re an interesting one.” Gengo laughed. “I’ll come again.”

The man’s presence disappeared as soon as it had come.

“ARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Rou had started screaming again.

Shikamaru hiden, chapter twelve

The Hokage’s office back home couldn’t even be compared to the enormous size of this hall.

Shikamaru was crouched down in themiddle of a deep crimson carpet rolled out from the extravagant double doors atthe entrance towards the interior of the room. 

Both of his hands were in manacles behind his back. Two of the Enlightened Ones stood by his sidesso he wouldn’t get any ideas about standing up and causing trouble. Well, theywere originally shinobi, so they’d notice the moment Shikamaru did anythingsuspicious.

Rou and Soku were behind him. They, too, had their hands in manacles behind their backs, and guards by their sides. The only difference was that both their faces were covered in dark bruises and gashes, clear evidence of the torture they’d been suffering.

Going by the number of meals and the state of his stomach, it had already been 10 days since they were captured.

In all that time, Shikamaru hadn’t been tortured even once. Gengo had visited him countless times, staying a bit to make some meaningless small talk, and then leaving. He would always say things like ‘should I make a speech today I wonder’ or ‘what should be eaten for lunch?’ useless, stupid stuff like that.

“Lower your head.” the Enlightened on Shikamaru’s right side ordered, and slammed his forehead onto the carpet.

“These are important guests. You mustn’t handle them roughly.” Gengo’s voice came from some distance ahead of Shikamaru.

The moment he said that, the EO let go of Shikamaru’s head in a hurry, straightening up as if deeply embarrassed at being scolded.

“My subordinate has been rude.” Gengo said. “Please, raise your head.”

Shikamaru had already been lifting his face even before he was given permission. A marble staircase started where the crimson carpet ended ahead of him. At the very top of the staircase, there was a wide floor with a long, extravagant statue of a dragon with a throne carved into it.

Gengo sat there, one leg thrown over the other. His left elbow was leaning on the armrest, and he casually cradled his cheek in his left palm. The cool, composed gaze with which he looked down at Shikamaru was exactly that of the ruler of a country.

“Bring them closer.” Gengo commanded.

The EO’s at Shikamaru’s sides put their arms through his, dragging him to his feet. They hurried him across the carpet, until he was at the bottom of the great staircase. Rou and Soku were dragged along in the same manner.

“Have you gotten a little bit curious about my words now?” Gengo asked.

“Sorry but, I have no idea what you’re trying to say.” Shikamaru said.

Gengo let out a small laugh at the immediate and resolute reply.

There were several EO’s lined up along each side of his throne. All of them were  looking down at Shikamaru with the kind of haughty eyes that made him suppose they were Gengo’s advisors or close aides. Shikamaru saw Sai’s figure among their ranks, already adorned with the black

cloak that all Enlightened Ones wore. Although they were supposed to be comrades, Sai’s eyes looked down at Shikamaru without any uneasiness or hesitation. Sai’s eyes had never been very expressive to begin with, but they’d never looked as blank and empty as they did now.

“Someone as intelligent and well-known as yourself…” Gengo said, “I think you’ve long figured out what I want from you.”

Of course Shikamaru had noticed what Gengo wanted. He’d sensed it ages ago, but it was a ridiculous notion. It wasn’t ever going to happen. So he kept his mouth shut, and didn’t even waste his breath on it.

“Become my right hand man, Shikamaru. If it’s you, then you will be able to bring a new world into existence alongside me. I can see that you are a man capable of that.”

“I’ll pass.”

Shikamaru immediately spat out his reply. His eyes seethed with murderous rage as he glared up at Gengo.

But the country’s ruler didn’t seem the least bit affected. He calmly met Shikamaru’s bloodthirsty gaze as if it was nothing more than a passing wind.

“Someone who reacted to my sudden proposition with immediate joy and acceptance would not have been someone I would want. You’re doing very well, Shikamaru.”

“You’ve been pissing me off more and more with that all-knowing tone of yours, acting like you can see through everyone. What could you possibly understand about me?”

Shikamaru wasn’t actually pissed off. He wasn’t the sort of person who let things like this anger him enough to make him lose his cool. He was just acting like he was itching for a fight because he wanted to see his opponent’s reaction. That was all that it was.

“It’s impossible for one person to completely understand another.” Gengo said, “Isn’t that why I’m holding a conversation with you? I’m not seeing through you. I’ve simply lived a little longer than you have, so I can perceive your emotions a little. If that somehow seemed to manifest into an arrogant tone, then I apologise.”

“It’s exactly that kind of tone that pisses me off.”

“I see…” Gengo closed his eyes and laughed in a self-deprecating way.

For a while, there was silence. Gengo’s gaze wondered around the room as if he was thinking.

He had deliberately created a chance for Shikamaru’s ‘anger’ to cool down…

If you looked at the situation from afar, you’d think Gengo was simply pausing to gather his own thoughts and prepare for another conversation.

However, the reality was that if Gengo had continued the conversation with its current atmosphere, then Shikamaru’s ‘anger’ would have continued to brim over until he was so incensed he would obstinately refuse to listen to anything. Gengo had deliberately created a lull in conversation to avoid that outcome.

Creating a pause for both parties to breathe and calm down would effectively change the strained atmosphere between them. Even if Shikamaru had insisted on spitting out vitriol, with the absence of Gengo’s reply it would’ve been nothing more than empty howling that would release more anger than increase it.

Gengo was pushing the conversation down the path that he wanted it to go.

This man had a lot of practice with negotiating…

Finally, after a long pause, Gengo’s eyes returned to look at Shikamaru.

“There’s just one thing question I have for you, but would you be willing to give me an answer?”

“What?”

Shikamaru regretted the word the moment he let it pass his mouth. But it was too late to take it back.

“Why are shinobi so oppressed and downtrodden?”

Oppressed? Shinobi?

Shikamaru didn’t understand what the man was getting at.

His silence encouraged Gengo to continue speaking, reinforcing his question with more talk.

“The villages that shinobi live in are always, without exception, described as ‘hidden villages’. Why must shinobi stay hidden? In all the countries in this continent, how much land do shinobi really get to call their own? You’ll find that it’s a very small portion. And why is that? Because there are others who rule the majority of this continent. The daimyous.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Shinobi villages did have the title of a ‘hidden village’ added to their name. The majority of the continent was indeed governed by Daimyous.

So what?

So the Daimyous governed the countries, so the shinobi stayed in villages that were called ‘hidden villlages’. That didn’t make shinobi oppressed.

Shikamaru held a job in the very backbone of the Shinobi Union, so he knew a little bit more about the state of the world than others. The Daimyous, and the citizens who lived within the countries that they ruled, they all co-existed alongside shinobi in a satisfactory, mutually beneficial relationship.

“Think about it, Shikamaru. Why are shinobi oppressed by the daimyous?”

“When have shinobi ever been oppressed by the Daimyous?”

“It’s not just the daimyous. We’re oppressed by every single person who isn’t a shinobi.” Gengo’s eyes looked like they were spitting flames as he looked at Shikamaru. “I will ask you one more question.”

“You said you were just going to ask one…”

“I’m asking another.” Gengo sharply cut him off. “Shinobi hold a power different from all other humans in this world. Do you agree?”

Chakra and ninjutsu…

Well, you couldn’t deny that they were abilities that clearly separated shinobi from normal people.

Shikamaru silently nodded.

Gengo seemed satisfied by that, and continued speaking.

“And the power that shinobi hold is one that far surpasses the limits of a human’s abilities.”

Again, Shikamaru nodded.

The Great War that took place two years ago had been a battle that would decide the fight of the whole world. If the shinobi alliance back then had been defeated, then neither Shikamaru nor Gengo would be here talking now.

Whether it was Uchiha Madara, who had planned to drag every human on earth into a giant genjutsu’s dreams, or Naruto Uzumaki, who had taken all the tailed beasts into his body so he could end the battle, both were prime examples of living beings that simply couldn’t be called ‘human’ anymore. It was possible that with the developments of the last era, shinobi had broken away from the path of ‘humanity’ all together.

“Why must shinobi who surpass the limits of human beings be forced to live in ‘hidden’ villages? Why must we endure living that kind of life? Why must we be forced to work for our daily income as the daimyous’ errand boys? In the Great War two years ago, who was it that saved this world from destruction? It wasn’t the daimyou. It wasn’t the citizens.”

Gengo’s voice increased in power, pushing down on Shikamaru from every direction.

“Wasn’t it we shinobi who saved this world?”

What was this power…?

It was making his heart thump erratically in his chest.

Shikamaru felt something he hadn’t felt at all until this moment: exaltation.

Why did he feel like that?

…Maybe because Gengo had taken the same dangerous feelings that lurked in some repressed corner of Shikamaru’s heart, and clearly put them into words.

He was right…

Two years ago, shinobi had saved the world.

“Countless shinobi fought and sacrificed their lives to protect this world, but just how many citizens actually know about that fact? The name of Uzumaki Naruto, someone adored all across the shinobi world for being the hero that ended the war– it isn’t even known to a handful of citizens! Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Sasuke, Hatake Kakashi, the Five Kage, the Akatsuki, all of them, isn’t it a fact that nobody outside of the shinobi world ever talks about them?”

It was exactly as Gengo said. No matter how much shinobi put their lives on the line to protect the world, none of the citizens living within society would ever hear about it.

“This era of peace was built upon piles of shinobi corpses, and yet the daimyou come and sit atop it without a moment of hesitation, comfortably continuing to rule the citizens without a single thought for us. It’s for the sakes of those bastards that we shinobi went out into the battlefield at the time of the Great War. We became living barriers for the daimyou and citizens. And yet, in return?”

Nothing had changed.

Well, Shikamaru thought that wasn’t an unreasonable outcome.

The antagonists against the shinobi alliance during the war, Uchiha Madara and Ootsutsuki Kaguya, had intended to pull all the people in the continent into a genjutsu so they could use their chakra as a living battery. 

The result had been that in the height of that fierce battle, all the citizens and daimyou had fallen into a deep sleep.

But still…

The fact remained that it wasn’t as if no one knew what happened during the Great War. They simply didn’t speak of it.

“Why are we shinobi who hold the greater power forced to live in ‘hidden villages’, constantly lurking in the shadows as we go about our daily lives?” Gengo stood up from his throne. “Is it really for the best?”

Gengo took one step down the stairs. Then another. He slowly descended, holding Shikamaru’s gaze as he kept speaking.

“Shikamaru. The next question is what I really want to ask you.”

Gengo reached the bottom of the stairs, walking forwards so he stood right in front of Shikamaru’s eyes.

“Wouldn’t it be for the best if shinobi governed this world instead?”

‘You’re wrong.’ 

Shikamaru couldn’t say those words. No, he couldn’t answer the question at all.

He didn’t know what was right anymore.

‘We are shinobi because we endure.’

No matter how great the powers you held were, you served the people unseen and from the shadows. That was what shinobi were defined by.

However.

Endless possibilities stemmed from the chakra and ninjutsu used by shinobi. If shinobi really took control from the daimyous the way Gengo said, and if they governed all the countries, then wouldn’t the world make even more remarkable progress than it has up to now?

What was really the best choice for the people?

He couldn’t give an answer.

“With the power of shinobi, I am slowly going to elevate this country.” Gengo said. “I am going to put a clean end to this this unrelenting era of war lords. With the power of shinobi, it’s possible!”

Killing the man called Gengo…was it really for the best?

Shikamaru wasn’t so sure anymore.

Shikamaru hiden, chapter thirteen

-

He couldn’t refute what Gengo hadsaid…

Shikamaru was bewildered by theshaken state of his own heart.

He had come all the way here tokill Gengo.

He’d firmly believed that he was ahindrance to the road to peace for shinobi.

It was because he believed that that Shikamaru started out on this pathwithout telling a single one of his comrades the truth.

But now that Gengo was standing in front of his eyes, now that he was listening to what he was saying, Shikamaru wasn’t sure if his way of thinking was really the right one.

“Have you ever thought about why wars keep endlessly repeating in this world?” Gengo asked.

The truth was that Shikamaru had never once thought about it. 

From the moment this continent had come into existence, there had been a great number of countries who went kept repeating the same skirmishes with each other, again and again, going through their own ups and downs as they did. 

And in the space between the relationships of those countries, shinobi existed and offered their skill sets for a price, thus gaining provision. That was just the way things had always been, so the word ‘war’ didn’t even seem to apply.

Shikamaru had always been concerned with the affairs of the world of shinobi alone. Unlike Gengo, he had never considered the rest of the world.

Shikamaru’s thoughts had always been about how to secure the future of shinobi. How to preserve the reconciled bonds between villages. How effective the union would be for that. How to make Naruto hokage. How to build a strong foundation for his generation.

Shikamaru’s concerns seemed impossibly small in the face of what Gengo was considering. His focus wasn’t the world of shinobi, but the whole earth.

“Don’t you think the reason all the fighting hasn’t stopped is because the daimyou are governing everything, instead of shinobi? Because these people who hold neither chakra nor jutsu keep meeting together, every time they pass by each other, these wars never end. Because they have no extraordinary people among them, there is no country which is stronger than all the others,

and thus no one to keep them in check. So the countries keep fighting and reconciling, again and again, and this world of war continues. I am telling you about a method that will put an end to all that. With the power of shinobi, I and my Enlightened Ones will achieve what no one else has before: the unification of the continent.”

“Unification of the continent…” Shikamaru murmured.

Gengo gave a satisfied nod at him echoing the words.

“From the start, this world has always been about ‘survival of the fittest’. This way of life doesn’t only extend to beasts. Even the beasts called humans haven’t been able to rid themselves of it. In that case, isn’t it only fitting that the holders of true strength, shinobi, reign as the strongest, at the top of this hierarchy? The revolution I’m speaking of carrying out is exactly that: to turn this atypical world into the best that it can be.”

Thinking that shinobi are the ones who should be controlling the world…

…might not be wrong.

“Lord Shikamaru.”

Rou’s voice came from behind him. Shikamaru turned his head and looked over his shoulder at the man.

“Is it not exactly as Lord Gengo has said?” Rou asked. “Why must shinobi always be used by the daimyou? I am a member of Anbu. I have seen the foul side of the daimyous many, many times. They think of us shinobi as nothing more than convenient tools. My best friend was a man used as a tool in the wars between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. The moment both countries declared a ceasefire, he was gotten rid of.” A single tear overflowed from Rou’s wet eyes. “A hindrance.”

“…I think so too, y’know.”

This time, the subdued whisper came from Soku’s mouth. As Shikamaru turned to look at her, he could see dark purple bruises colouring her young face. Even though she was a child, Gengo had mercilessly given his subordinates the order to torture her along with Rou.

“I think that what Gengo’s saying is right, too, y’know.”

“Hinoko…”

“It’s not just the daimyou, it’s those people living in the countries they govern, y’know.” Soku didn’t even care that Shikamaru had called her by her real name, continuing to speak with a heated anger. “No matter how nice you are to normal people, the minute that they hear that you’re a shinobi, they start watching you from the corner of their eyes. The look in those eyes…

horrified…suspicious…marking us as ‘different’. Why do we have to spill our blood, sweat and tears for bastards like that? I- I don’t understand why, y’know!”

Even though Gengo was the one to order all those bruises onto her skin, Soku was looking up at the man with admiration, as if she’d forgotten that fact completely.

“You see? Even your comrades are agreeing with me. What I want to do is the most meaningful action for all shinobi. Shikamaru, come with me. Together, couldn’t we stop this age of war?”

Gengo held out his hand.

If Shikamaru took hold of that hand, he wouldn’t be able to go back home.

No, wasn’t it strange to think of going back?

If Gengo really united all the countries, that included the world of shinobi. If that happened, then surely Naruto, Chouji, Ino, everyone, he would be able to meet them all again. 

No, in fact he could extend an invitation to them himself, and they could all come together to build the world of shinobi.

“Shikamaru. Become my right hand man.”

Gengo’s words pressed against Shikamaru’s spine.

“I…”

Shikamaru wanted to take that hand.

But…

There was also a part of Shikamaru that was desperately trying to stop himself from doing so.

“Come now,” Gengo prodded.

“W- wh…”

Something was firmly clogging up Shikamaru’s throat. Shikamaru struggled to push his voice past the foreign, thorny lump, and finally spat out the words:

“Why do I have to become the subordinate of someone like you?”

“Oh? To think you’ve listened to my words up to this point, and still refuse to understand. You seem to be a very stubborn one as well.”

Something wasn’t right.

Somewhere deep in Shikamaru’s heart, there was still something inside him that didn’t believe Gengo. That part of him said that it wasn’t a good idea to submit to this man. There were no well-reasoned words or explanations. Just some part of him that couldn’t stomach this. A bad feeling.

Every other part of him was utterly convinced that Gengo had the right idea.

“Very well then, we’ll do this…” Gengo nodded at the guards beside Shikamaru, and then turned to walk back to where the stairs began.

The Enlightened Ones that had been guarding Shikamaru up until now undid the manacles that had been holding his hands behind his back. The sudden disappearance of the constraints that had been forcing him into a crouch made his body go limp with relief. Shikamaru barely stopped himself from crashing to the floor, somehow holding himself up with his right arm. He looked up at Gengo.

Gengo was standing at the bottom of the stairs, just several metres away. He had thrown out both of his arms, holding out his chest.

“If you truly can’t trust me, then just kill me here.”

“K-kill you?” Shikamaru’s voice was shaking.

“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to strangle me to death with that shadow manipulating jutsu of yours. Go on. Let’s see you kill me.”

Why was he so confident as he told Shikamaru to kill him?

The uneasy feeling in Shikamaru’s gut was slowly growing.

There was something he was missing, somewhere, he wasn’t thinking properly, there was something he overlooked…

Shikamaru placed a shaky hand onto the floor.

Sunshine was shining through a large window at the side of the hall. The brightly glowing light fell easily on Shikamaru’s arm and torso, clearly making a shadow. The pitch black shadow began to quiver slightly. The trembling was slowly increasing, his shadow rippling, and then shaking violently as it tried to shake off its original form.

“Go…” Shikamaru ordered his shadow in a weak voice. The rippling shadow changed into a long, dark tendril that headed in a straight line for Gengo.

“Now, don’t stop, Shikamaru!”

Gengo’s called out, his eyes burning brightly. He sounded like he was enjoying this.

His voice brimming with confidence pressed down on Shikamaru from all sides.

His shadow…

Stopped.

It stopped right at the edge of Gengo’s toes. No matter how much Shikamaru willed it, it wouldn’t go any further.

“What’s wrong?” Gengo asked. “Why aren’t you using your shadow?”

Why wasn’t his shadow moving?

Something was strange, something was off, something was wrong…

Think, think, think, think…

Think, Shikamaru!

What aren’t you noticing?

His head felt like it was going to burst into flames.

Rou and Soku…

The feeling in his gut was because of them.

Rou and Soku. They were both dedicated members of Anbu that specialised in remaining loyal even under duress… so why were they both accepting Gengo’s words so quickly and so easily?

After undergoing such severe torture under his orders, why weren’t there any feelings of hostility?

For their feelings to change to adoration so quickly and easily– it wasn’t possible.

There had to be a trick. A trick.

One word clearly rose to the forefront of Shikamaru’s mind.

Genjutsu…

It was a ninjutsu that manipulated your thoughts and plunged you into delusions. Rou and Soku looked like they were under a genjutsu.

In that case, then was Shikamaru under the genjutsu too?

That was probably the case.

But, genjutsu was a doujutsu, a technique rooted in the eyes. A prime example of that was Konoha’s Uchiha clan, and their special sharingan eyes, a bloodline limit that let them plunge their opponents into a genjutsu.

The incident at the plaza. At that time, something had weakened Rou’s jutsu and exposed their presence to Gengo. That something couldn’t have possibly been doujutsu, because until Gengo spoke out and called them ‘mice’, neither of the men had looked Gengo in the eye. Eye contact with your opponent was an absolute requirement for doujutsu. There had been no way he could make eye contact with them at that time.

Then, what was casting the genjutsu on Shikamaru and the others?

He couldn’t think. His thoughts were sluggish.

When you were caught in a genjutsu, you always needed someone else to help you escape it. But both his comrades were already well under Gengo’s grasp.

Shikamaru felt like he was walking through a thick and murky swamp, slowly sinking in deeper and deeper. In the end, he knew his head was going to go down under as well. 

Soon, he was going to fall completely under Gengo’s control.

“I really can’t stand this…” Shikamaru’s thoughts helplessly fell out of his mouth.

Gengo was looking at him with victorious eyes. Even now, Shikamaru’s shadow quivered mere inches away from the man’s feet.

“Wouldn’t you like to just give in now?”

His voice was gentle and soothing. Shikamaru could feel his whole body melting against the warmth of it. The remaining slivers of his conscious were slipping away…

The true nature of Gengo’s genjutsu…

A vague answer had been materialising in the depths of Shikamaru’s mind, but before it could manifest clearly, he erased it of his own free will.

He didn’t care anymore.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter fourteen

“Come now, Shikamaru.”

Gengo held out his hand.

As long as Shikamaru grabbed hold of that hand, then he’d be comfortable.

He wouldn’t have to think about troublesome things anymore.

Shinobi would govern the world…that was how things were supposedto be, after all.

As long as he took that hand,everything would be easy again.

He wouldn’t have to be confusedanymore…

“Let’s go together.” Gengo’s voice felt like it was pressing down on Shikamaru’s spine.

Shikamaru slowly lifted his right hand, reaching out to the wide palm offered and waiting to engulf him.

Their fingertips were just about to brush-

But there was something noisy happening behind him…

The same moment he thought that, Shikamaru’s body was suddenly being lifted up into mid-air, soaring up and towards the ceiling. His bird’s eye view let him see Gengo where he’d left him, bracing himself against a staggeringly great wind. Even the Enlightened Ones at the top of the stairs were struggling against it.

However, the only one rising into the air was Shikamaru.

He rose so high, he ended up crashing into the ceiling. For a moment, his whole body felt sore from the impact, and then the next thing Shikamaru knew the wind had stopped, and he was falling back down.

“Gah!”

Although he’d attained a relatively safe landing, Shikamaru’s back hit the ground so hard that his breath caught in his throat.

He’d been flung away from Gengo, all the way to the other side of the room.

“SHIKAMARU!”

Someone called his name in an angry bellow that echoed across the hall.

A woman’s voice…

A very familiar voice.

“What are you doing in a place like this…?” Shikamaru leaned up to look towards the voice’s owner.

A woman was standing at the hall’s entrance, her blonde hair tied into two bunches on each side, and a sharp look in her eyes. She held a giant tessen in both her hands, no doubt the source of the wind that had blown Shikamaru up into the air.

Temari…..

“What are you spacing out for?!” She demanded, “Behaving diffferently just because someone told you to, that’s not like you, is it? You’re the man that I marked out from all the rest! Get a hold of yourself, you idiot! That guy’s troublesome lecture should be nothing more than hot air to you! Am I wrong? Say something! Shikamaru!”

Gengo’s heavy voice was nothing compared to the piercing roar that was resounding in Shikamaru’s ears. His eyes were prickling.

“Ah…”

The fog that had been clouding Shikamaru’s mind vanished without a trace. All the foreign ideas that had been crammed into his heart were leaking away, spilling out of his chest.

It was an incredibly relieving feeling.

Shikamaru took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out.

He couldn’t help but break into a smile.

One scolding had let him escape the genjutsu…

“What’s with you, suddenly showing up and saying all those things?” He said to Temari, getting up to his feet and rubbing a hand behind his neck.

“Hey, I came to save you, so you better thank me instead of grumbling.” Temari said, folding up her fan and staking it into the ground. She leaned against it, her chest puffed out in pride.

Several shinobi were lined up in ranks behind her. They all had the mark of Sunagakure carved into their hitai-ate.

“I couldn’t just let you die, after all.” She grinned at him.

Temari’s smile was like the blazing desert sun. It cleared up the darkness in Shikamaru’s heart.

Inside his mind, he recalled one phrase in particular that Temari had just used.

‘that guy’s troublesome lecture’

“Troublesome…huh.” Shikamaru turned to look at the villain in question.

Gengo was turning to give signals to the Enlightened Ones who had stiffened in the face of danger at the top of the stairs. As soon as they saw his signal, the EO’s started spilling down the stairs. 

All the Sunagakure shinobi moved to stand between the enemy and Shikamaru.

Even though the EO’S feet had refused to move from the floor in the face of the sudden enemy attack, one signal from Gengo had them heading out to face the enemy. That was the kind of capable man that ruled this castle and country.

The sounds of metal clashing against metal rang out as the battle began.

Strangely enough, Shikamaru felt incredibly calm.

He took one composed step forwards.

Some way ahead of him, he could see Gengo’s squaring his shoulders and raising his guard.

Calmly, quietly, Shikamaru kept walking.

When he passed Rou and Soku, Shikamaru briefly put his hands on their shoulders.

“It’s alright now.” He said to them, and walked on.

When there was one step between him and Gengo, Shikamaru came to a stop. He levelled his gaze at the man.

At that moment…Shikamaru yawned.

“Ahhhhh…”

It was such a big yawn, he could feel his eyes tearing up, and his vision blurring.

“Oi.” Gengo was pointing at something on Shikamaru’s face.

“Hm?” Shikamaru put up a hand to feel around his mouth, and felt something wet leaking out of his left nostril. Blood.

Without even noticing it, he’d gotten a nosebleed.

“That Temari…” He murmured. He must’ve hit his nose when her wind had blown him all the way up to the ceiling.

“Sorry about that.” Shikamaru said to Gengo, rolling his neck. “Now, do you have anything to say?”

“I see your reinforcements have been called in, but-”

“Huh?” Shikamaru cut off Gengo’s words with a loud, surprised voice. “Reinforcements? Where?”

Gengo stared at him with wide eyes. Shikamaru realised how crazy his words must have sounded.

“Oh, you’re talking about the people behind me.” He said. “Nah, you’ve got it wrong. They’re not reinforcements.”

“…Then what would you call them?”

“I dunno. They just came here of their own accord, so…”

Gengo was staring at Shikamaru with more and more bewilderment. He seemed stunned at the sudden change in Shikamaru’s behaviour. 

“Whatever you call them.” Gengo said. “While we may have received a surprise attack from these opponents, my country will not so much as waver-”

“Pff.” Shikamaru laughed without thinking.

A vein was starting to throb in Gengo’s forehead.

“Won’t waver?” Shikamaru asked, amused. “Are you sure? When your castle is in a state like this?”

“Don’t underestimate my followers.” Gengo said. “They won’t be defeated by shinobi of this level.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll look forward to seeing that.”

“Now, listen, Shikamaru-”

“Nope, I don’t think I will.” Shikamaru bluntly said, holding out a palm. “I know that if I blankly listen to your words, I’ll end up falling under your genjutsu.”

“…” Gengo’s right eyebrow gave a very faint twitch.

“Thanks to that woman, I’ve finally woken up.” Shikamaru said. “I’m not going to go under a second time.”

“Naïve…You’re naïve, Shikamaru.”

“You fill your voice up with chakra while making those long speeches of yours, and plunge your opponent into a genjutsu as they listen to it, right? It’s a really fitting jutsu for a revolution-crazed guy like you.” Shikamaru said. “I thought about it long and hard. The reason my shadow weakened that day at the plaza was because I was already being affected by your speech’s genjutsu, huh?”

“Genjutsu? Foolish talk. My speeches are stimulating, inspiring. Every word I’ve told you up to now was sincere. And every word of it was true. Shinobi are the ones who should be governing this world. That is the grave reality. You are the one who is naïve, for not understanding that fact.”

Gengo’s words were so packed with chakra that they were making Shikamaru’s earlobes tremble, but he didn’t so much as clamp his hands over his ears to try and defend himself.

He was completely unconcerned.

Shikamaru’s heart that had been as disruptive as a stormy sea, was now strangely calm.

No matter what happened, he wasn’t afraid anymore.

No, it was more like…

“Somehow, everything’s just really troublesome, huh?” Shikamaru let out another yawn. “I wonder why people’s eyes tear up when the yawn?”

Gengo didn’t answer. He was so thrown off, he couldn’t say another word.

Shikamaru hadn’t really intended to confuse him into silence.

He wasn’t carrying out a strategy.

He was just being his true self.

Temari’s scolding came to mind…

‘That guy’s troublesome lecture should be nothing more than hot air to you!’

She was right. Shikamaru had never been someone who thought about the fate of the whole world. He was just a guy who found everything troublesome, and wanted an average life.

Thinking about how his actions could change the world, wasn’t that incredibly troublesome? He didn’t have to burden himself with such thoughts….

He didn’t care. Gengo could go ahead and change the world however he liked.

–No, wait a second.

If Gengo did as he liked, then what would happen to Naruto and everyone?

What would happen to Temari?

“At the end of the day,” Shikamaru sighed, “It turns out that I can’t let you do as you please, or it’ll become a problem later on.”

“Wh-where did your ambition go?” Gengo asked. “You were thinking about changing the world, Shikamaru! Open your eyes!”

“What’re you babbling about?” Shikamaru asked. “It’s only now that I’ve finally woken up.”

Shikamaru took one more step towards Gengo, a smile pulling at his mouth.

“This is my original self.”

The time had come for Shikamaru to fight.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter fifteen

A fierce battle was taking placearound Shikamaru. Amidst the sound of clashing blades and roaring battle cries,he levelled his gaze at Gengo.

“Then are you saying you don’t care about the oppression of shinobi?!” Gengo shrieked, a vein throbbing in his temple.

The solemn, all-knowing man from mere moments ago was nowhere to be seen. Was it because Shikamaru had broken out of the genjutsu? No, that couldn’t be the reason. Gengo was so frantic, there wasn’t a single atom of calm left in his body.

“What’s made you lose your presence of mind?” Shikamaru asked.

“Wh-what?”

“Well, you look so desperate it’s pathetic.”

“Who is…” Gengo’s faded into frenzied muttering. His voice came out as a pained groan through grit teeth. “Listen, we shinobi carry inhuman powers, it is fate that we are feared by normal people. Fear turns into discrimination which gives birth to oppression. At this rate, all of shinobi will slowly see more and more suffering.

“You know, I…” Shikamaru tiled his head to the left, cracking his neck. He kept his eyes on Gengo. “I think it’d be good if the concept of ‘shinobi’ just ceased to exist.”

“Wh- what’re you saying?!”

“What’s with that reaction? Hadn’t you already given up being a shinobi?”

“…” Again, Gengo started muttering indecipherably to himself. He looked so ridiculous that the corner of Shikamaru’s mouth twitched into a smile.

“Shinobi have finally gathered together as one alliance.” Shikamaru continued.. “As long as the union carries on like this, then soon, all the fighting will settle down too.”

“D-don’t talk as if it’s so simple…”

“You never know until you try.”

Gengo’s hand had moved behind his back, as if he was grasping something…

A kunai.

Shikamaru had been relaxed till this moment, but now he tensed up. He’d lost all his weapons when confined in Gengo’s jail. He didn’t have anything to defend himself with-

“Shikamaru!” Temari called out.

He turned in the direction of her voice. He saw something flying through the air and heading his way. As soon as it came within his arm’s reach, Shikamaru reached out and caught it with his right hand.

Kunai…

He heard the sound of Temari laughing, happy he’d caught it.

This all happened in the time it took him to blink.

When Shikamaru had turned around from catching the kunai to face his opponent, Gengo was already leaping towards him.

Shikamaru lunged as well.

Their two kunai clashed in mid-air, sparks flying from the impact. Both was straining their wrist and trying to overcome the other.

“Isn’t it because there’s fighting in the world that people like us become shinobi?” Shikamaru commented.

“You impudent youngster…” Gengo’s voice had turned violent.

In the same instant, both opponents jumped back to put some space between them.

They landed at a distance similar to how they’d started, keeping a firm hold on their kunai and a ready stance in their bodies, wearily glaring at each other.

Shikamaru’s feet kicked against the ground as he moved to lunge at his opponent again.

He swung his kunai with bloodthirsty intent towards Gengo’s head.

But, their intent was the same. Gengo’s kunai was flying towards his face as well.

Shikamaru jerked his head out of the way, but he still felt the kunai cut a clear straight line across his cheek, saw his blood spraying out in a burst of crimson. 

His eyes registered a bloody cut across Gengo’s cheek as well.

Shikamaru’s left arm shot out, and grabbed Gengo’s right wrist –the one tht carried his kunai- with an iron grip. It would’ve been a better situation if Gengo hadn’t done the same. The two were locked, both using their weapon-less hand to hold onto the other’s weapon-ready wrist.

“The first step to ending that fighting…is the Shinobi Union.” Shikamaru grit out. “Shinobi have to unite first. Then our ring of bonds will expand to wrap around the Daimyou and the citizens as well. As long as our worlds’ unite, then people won’t need to become shinobi anymore. Even if it’s not in my lifetime, then in my child’s lifetime, or in my grandchild’s lifetime…one day, shinobi will cease to exist.”

“This world isn’t easy enough for ideals to be put into practice.” Gengo said.

“Aren’t your plans an ideal too?”

The corners of Gengo’s mouth lifted in a strange, mechanical curve upwards. The look on his face was too wicked to be called a smile.

“I’m telling you ahead of time,” Shikmaru said. “You won’t be able to put me in a genjutsu.”

“Well, listen either way, Shikamaru.” Gengo said, “Things called ‘ideals’ are only of value if the possibility of carrying them out in reality is high. The ideal you are speaking of is as impossible as catching clouds. The difference between your ideal and mine is like the distance between heaven and earth.”

“Stupid, aren’t you?” Shikamaru noted.

“The true fools are those who don’t recognise their own stupidity.”

“Yeah, and that’s why I’m calling you stupid.”

A barely repressed smile quivered at the corners of Gengo’s mouth.

Suddenly, Gengo moved his left arm, viciously twisting Shikamaru’s right wrist around the joint. His wrist ached with a grinding pain.

Shikamaru was caught in the wrist lock, and his grip on Gengo’s armed hand weakened. Gengo angled his kunai towards Shikamaru’s neck, dragging it closer and closer.

He didn’t have enough time to avoid it.

Shikamaru twisted his body in the same direction Gengo was twisting his wrist, and kicked off the ground with his feet. Gengo’s armed right arm twisted counterclockwise with his jump, and he managed to avoid the kunai. In midair, Shikamaru brought down his leg to give a vicious kick to the crown of Gengo’s head.

Gengo’s hand let go of Shikamaru’s wrist so he could cover his head with his arms. Shikamaru brought down another fierce kick onto his arm this time, and heard a cracking sound from the bone inside.

It didn’t end there.

Shikamaru landed on the ground and pressed his advantage, swinging his other leg around and kicking Gengo squarely in the side.

Gengo staggered back one step.

Shikamaru still didn’t stop. He brought out his left leg and in one smooth kick, swept Gengo’s feet from under him.

Uchiha Sasuke’s Shishirendan, and the Naruto’s Uzumaki Naruto Rendan. Shikmru’s attack had been imitating those moves.

He thought he did a pretty good job, if he did say so himself

Gengo had fallen down onto the ground.

Shikamaru was on him in seconds, pinning him down as he held a kunai against his throat. If Gengo moved even the slightest bit, then Shikamaru intended to kill him without hesitation.

“Wh-why aren’t my words affecting your mind?” Gengo choked out.

“Hey now, you know that Genjutsu only works if there’s a weak spot in someone’s heart.”

“Ever since that woman appeared,” Gengo spluttered, “Your sudden change of behaviour has shown your heart to be full of weak spots, hasn’t it?!”

“You’re really an idiot, huh…” Shikamaru sighed, before smiling. “My heart is full of weak spots. No…there’s nothing but weak spots. It’s precisely because I have all those weak spots, that there isn’t one for you to sneak in through. A close-minded person like you probably won’t understand what I mean, though.”

“S-such a thing…can’t be…”

“You’ll have to accept it, with the current situation like this. Your words just don’t affect me anymore.”

Cold sweat was breaking out across Gengo’s forehead.

“Honestly, I don’t want to do this sort of stuff.” Shikamaru said, talking to himself more than Gengo. “I would’ve liked to just live a normal life. But…”

There had always been feelings of regret about his life smouldering in some corner of Shikamaru’s heart…

But in this moment, they cleanly disappeared.

He’d made his decision.

“It turns out that I’m not someone who can live that sort of life.”

‘People need me, so I have no choice but to do these things.’

Shikamaru had fallen into his current state because throughout the years, that feeling of having no choice had kept growing larger and larger. Things had started to go wrong inside his heart. He’d held onto the attitude of blaming others for how he was living his life, and become half-hearted and unsatisfied with everything.

He’d made a serious mistake.

Because the one to start packing away his dream…was no one other than Shikamaru himself.

That dream of his, to live a normal life, it wasn’t going to be realised.

But he was alright with that.

After all, he had found a new dream…

“I’m going to spend my life building a world so that people can live their lives. So the people who say they only want to live comfortably can do so to the fullest possible extent.” Shikamaru said. “I’ll stop the wars, and I’ll unite the countries. And I’ll make a place in the world for those ordinary people who have no dreams other than living a simple, normal life.”

An normal guy was going to protect the happiness that people found in living a normal life.

It was a dream that suited him, and Shikamaru was satisfied with it.

For the sake of realising his dream, he would make Naruto Hokage, and he would become Mirai’s teacher, and if the result of working for his dream was that he became a good shinobi that wouldn’t embarrass his dad or Asuma, then he’d be happy with that.

Up until now, Shikamaru had had his priorities back to front. He’d felt pressured from the outside world, and set limits for himself, living his life with the constant thought to not become an embarrassment. That was why he’d worked himself so hard, worn himself out thin.

But the world wasn’t supposed to tell you what your dream should be. Your own dream was supposed to reach out and connect to the world.

“I’ve finally gotten rid of my doubts.” Said Shikamaru.

“And so what if you did?” A soft voice coming from behind him asked.

Killing intent.

Shikamaru leapt off Gengo, and barely missed the tiger’s claw that had swung for his head.

An ink tiger…

“I won’t let you kill Gengo-sama for such a lazy dream.” Sai said, standing in front of Shikamaru with paintbrush and scroll in hand.

“Sai…”

“Gengo-sama! Quickly, impose your will onto those foolish Sunagakure shinobi!”

“Very well.” Gengo nodded, quickly running up the stairs and to the throne on top. He threw up both his hands. “Listen, everyone!”

He was readying another one of his chakra-laden speeches.

“As if I’d let you!” Shikamaru made to run for the stairs, but Sai leapt in his way.

“I will not allow you to interfere with Gengo-sama’s cause!” Sai’s paintbrush moved across his scroll with lightning speed, and another ink tiger materialised. “Go!”

The new tiger as well as the one that had swiped for Shikamaru’s head a while ago, they both lunged at him in attack.

Gengo was speaking in a loud voice on the platform. If Shikamaru didn’t stop him, then he would plunge all Sunagakure’s shinobi into a genjutsu and freeze them in place.

Suddenly, Shikamaru had an idea.

“Listen, Temari!” Although he wasn’t sure of her exact location in the battlefield, he called out for her anyway. “That guy plunges people into genjutsu with his words! Drown out his voice with your wind!”

“Understood!” Temari’s fierce reply sounded from surprisingly nearby.

The next moment, gale after vicious gale bloomed into existence, violent wind currents flying freely around the hall. Gengo’s words were swallowed up completely by Temari’s violent wind.

In the midst of dodging the attacks from Sai’s ink tigers, Shikamaru glanced at the throne on the top of the stairs. Gengo had obviously realised his words would have no effect if they went unheard, and was now trying to escape.

“Shit…” Shikamaru tried to head up the stairs, but Sai’s ink tiger leapt in his way.

“I absolutely cannot let you go pass.”

“Sai, enough already! Wake up!”

“The ones who should ‘wake up’ are you and the others.”

It was no use. Sai was completely stuck in the clutches of Gengo’s genjutsu.

Suddenly, one of the many strong gales that had been causing chaos around the room swept in from behind Shikamaru, and Sai’s ink tigers dematerialised into mists of black ink.

Temari had leapt in between Shikamaru and Sai.

“Leave this to me, and follow that bastard!” She ordered.

“Temari…..”

“You can thank me later, hurry and go!”

“Got it.” Shikamaru said, and began to run up the stairs.

“Stop right there, Shikamaru!” Sai yelled.

“Oh no you don’t.” Temari said, and opened her war fan. “Your opponent is me.”

Shikamaru only allowed himself to glance back at the two of them once, before pulling his focus back to running up the stairs.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter sixteen

For a split second in time, Temari allowed herself to feel relieved. She’d reached Shikamaru in time.

After that conversation withGaara, Temari had headed to Konoha and questioned Naruto. The blonde ninjadidn’t have any answers for her. 

But, just like Temari, Naruto had been havinga weird feeling that something about Shikamaru just wasn’t right lately. Ino andChouji were consulted as well, and when those vague feelings of wrongness strengthened into certainty, Naruto had brought Temari with him to go and press Kakashi for answers.

Naruto’s bloodcurdlingly blunt speeches bothered Kakashi on one side, while Temari requested she bring in reinforcements from Suna on the other. And, eventually, he caved in.

Under the promise that they weren’t to aggravate the situation, Sunagakure’s shinobi were given the consent to move out.

Temari had made prior arrangements with her village so that her back-up could start heading out immediately if necessary. As soon as she got Kakashi’s consent, Temari sent out a message to her village, and then started running towards the Country of Silence. En route, she met up with the group of Sunagakure shinobi that Gaara was leading.

The moment they entered the country, they started picking out handy people for questioning.

At this point, it had already been 10 days since Shikamaru had set out for the Country of Silence. Temari was losing her presence of mind in her hurry, and her interrogations turned more severe. Soon enough, one man who called himself an ‘Enlightened One’ blurted out that the shinobi from Konohagakure had been taken prisoner inside the country’s castle.

As soon as she knew that, the rest was easy.

They infiltrated the castle with a sand shield made by Gaara. Temari had led her small armada down the corridors, taking out guards before they could call out an alarm, and slowly, stealthily making their way to the great hall. It had been good timing, too, right when Shikamaru was almost about to give his allegiance to Gengo.

The moment that Temari saw Shikamaru looking like he was being affected by Gengo’s talk of shinobi ruling the world, she had lost all self-control.

Shikamaru was not the kind of man who would be swayed by that sort of crap!

When Temari summoned her win to blow off the doors to that hall and lunge inside, her body wasn’t being commanded by her. She was fuelled by pure, unadulterated fury.

Hearing it was a genjutsu had made her feel relieved…

After waking up, Shikamaru had turned back into the man she knew. He’d faced on Gengo with a bloody nose and his usual lazy eyes, and just the sight of him had been enough to make Temari feel like everything up to now had been worth it.

“You shouldn’t be so absentminded right now.”

It was the Konoha shinobi who said that, with a mechanical smile on his face. The paintbrush clutched in his hand had been giving life to countless tigers and wolves for a while now. At this moment, he’d summoned a wickedly snarling white tiger. Out of all the ink animals he’d summoned, this one looked the most vicious.

If she remembered right, the guy’s name was Sai…

Naruto and Sakura’s teammate.

“Absentminded? I’m not the one repeating the same attack over and over again.” Temari muttered under her breath, and swung her tessen, her whole body twisting into the movement.

Her tessen’s wind transformed into a sickle-wielding weasel: Kamatari. He twisted and spung his body along with the wind’s current, lunging towards the tiger and slashing at its throat with his sickle. Sai’s tiger melted back into lifeless ink, collapsing in on itself into the ground.

“It’s admirable how you lack even the slightest bit of hesitation.” Sai commented.

Temari turned to look at where his voice had come from.

Gone!

When had he disappeared, and where to?

She hadn’t even had the time to follow his movements with her eyes…

“A shinobi who can see through the Ink Body Flicker Jutsu…does not exist.”

Sai had teleported right behind her.

He was definitely going to go in for a stab.

She wasn’t going to be able to turn around in time.

Left or right?

“Oh, screw it!”

She’d have to make a gamble.

Silently hoping a blade wouldn’t follow, Temari shifted her body towards the right. A tiger’s claw swung in her direction, grazing her left eyebrow.

“Too naïve.” Sai’s voice was cold enough for chills to go up a person’s spine.

When had he teleported in front of her?

“Dammit!”

Temari swung her tessen alongside her body as a make-due shield. Her fan had been custom made so that its weaving was strong enough to deflect iron blades. She was completely protected against weapons such as kunai.

But…

“Guh!”

Temari collapsed where she had stood, a sharp pain piercing through her abdomen.

“The manipulation of chakra…It’s my specialty.” Sai said, in a blank, innocent voice. The kunai he was holding had pierced straight through Temari’s war fan and into her stomach.

There was something faintly coiling around the weapon, like mist.

Chakra.

He’d wrapped the kunai in chakra so thick you could actually see it. The blade’s strength and sharpness must’ve increased by ten folds….

“No matter how hard you fight, none of you are a match for Gengo-sama.” Sai said. “At the end of the day, we enlightened ones will end up controlling the world.”

“Is that…really what you want?”

“Yes.” Sai let a smile break across his face. He didn’t look like someone under a genjutsu. Unshakable faith in Gengo was written all over Sai’s face.

But…

“Well then…” Temari said with difficulty. “Why’re you crying?”

The tear that had leaked out of Sai’s right eye hadn’t escaped Temari’s notice.

In the depths of his heart, he was at conflict.

“I am not crying.” Sai grit out, and his grip tightened on the kunai, preparing for one final lunge.

Temari held her breath.

“GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF AND WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!”

Suddenly, Sai was knocked off his feet by a barrelling kunoichi. He was thrown out of Temari’s field of vision entirely, the kunai he’d stabbed her with clattering to the floor.

“Are you okay?” The kunoichi asked as she supported Temari’s collapsed form.

“Sa…Sakura?”

“Hold on, don’t talk right now.” Sakura said, “I’ll be sealing up the wound in your stomach.”

Chakra surrounded the kunoichi’s hand as she gentle pressed against the opening of Temari’s wound. Warm waves of chakra gently enwrapped her stomach.

“Wait…Sai?”

“It’s alright, our comrades are handling it.”

“Eh?” Temari shifted to look in the direction Sai had been sent flying.

Someone was pinning Sai down to where he’s been thrown by Sakura.

Giant…

No mistake. That giant man was definitely Shikamaru’s best friend.

“Chouji!” A long-hired kunoichi yelled from behind him. “You keep restraining him like that!”

“Shikamaru was in danger, but the shinobi of Konoha didn’t mobilise to help him.” Sakura imitated a citizen’s comment as she healed Temari’s stomach. “It’d be really irritating if the case turned out like that, so…”

There were two shinobi standing behind Sakura, both covered in wounds. One was a middle aged man with a fearsome face. The other was a girl many years younger than Temari.

Temari gritted her teeth against the pain of her wound, and turned to speak to Sakura again.

“He’s under…a genjutsu…”

“It’s okay,” Sakura assured her, “We already heard from these two.”

The two shinobi standing behind her nodded in affirmation of her words.

“Alright! Everything’s prepared!” The long-haired kunoichi yelled at Chouji, holding out her palms.

Sai was struggling furiously under Chouji’s giant body, his face full of bloodlust. He was snarling through grit teeth, light shining on his canines.

“Ninja art – Shintenshin no Jutsu!” The long-haired kunoichi yelled.

“As long as that jutsu of Ino’s works, it should be fine.” Sakura murmured.

Chouji released Sai, backing away.

Sai got to his feet.

It was one instant.

As if struck by lightning, a shudder went through Sai’s body, and he stopped moving. Across him in perfect symmetry, Ino’s body had stiffened as well.

“Ahh, there we go. It’s all good now.” Sakura slowly removed her hand.

The pain in Temari’s stomach had completely disappeared.

*

Ino was diving inside darkness. Deeper and deeper still.

She still hadn’t found Sai.

No matter how much she dived and dived, all that surrounded Ino was a deep, inky blackness.

This was Sai, after all. He wasn’t fully aware of who his true self was on a daily basis. He wasn’t going to be found easily.

But she was going to save him no matter what…

Because if Ino couldn’t save Sai, then her coming here would be meaningless.

She desperately continued floundering through the layers of Sai’s heart.

The shintenshin no jutsu could make you move someone else’s body according to your own will, and the method to it was exerting your influence from the insides of those peoples’ hearts. During the chuunin exams, Ino had clearly realised this when she and Sakura had fought for control of the latter’s heart.

Back in Konoha, she had read Sai’s letter, seen his handwriting turned messy and chaotic with a grief she couldn’t hope to grasp. In that moment, Ino had felt Sai’s suffering so keenly that it hurt.

At that moment, Ino hadn’t yet known about Gengo or the genjutsu or anything else, but she had clearly thought to herself that she had to go. Of course, she wanted to save Shikamaru as well, but the trigger for Ino to start moving was Sai’s distressed letter.

Sai, who was constantly worried about the blankness of his own heart, was suffering more than anyone else under Gengo’s genjutsu. There was no one who could save Sai from that other than Ino.

And that was why she was determined to keep diving, no matter how deep she had to go.

When you dived too deep into other people’s hearts, the first thing that would happen was your own existence starting to blur at the edges.

The last thing that would happen was your consciousness disappearing completely in those depths. Once that happened, there was no turning back.

There was a reason Ino was taking such a big risk to save Sai.

…She wanted to talk to him more.

Sai who always gave such lonely smiles, she wanted to get to know him more and more.

There was no way she could leave him in a dark place like this.

Soon, Ino started to feel some faint warmth coming from the darkness. A faint light…

She’d come across a large gathering of chakra. A mix of people’s chakra…

Naruto.

Sakura.

Yamato.

Kakashi.

All of Konoha’s shinobi were there.

It was like a lone fire burning in the middle of a blizzard.

Ino dived a little, eyes peering into the giant tangle, searching amidst everyone’s chakra.

There he was…

Cocooned in the middle of everyone’s warmth was Sai.

“Sai!” Ino desperately reached out for him. “Over here!”

Sai looked up at the sound of her voice. Both his eyes were red and swollen from crying.

“Come on.” Ino said. “Let’s get out of here together.”

“You’re…”

Ino reached out, her hand finally landing on Sai’s shoulder, firm and reassuring.

“Let’s go, alright?” She said.

In that moment, Sai smiled.

Ino had never seen him smile so naturally before.

*

Ino was breathing deeply and heavily, as if she’d just broken through the surface of a very deep ocean. She took in great lungfuls of air, her body desperate for oxygen.

The darkness had been left behind, and now the background was brimming with light.

Sakura and Chouji were standing guard over them. Ino was sitting across the sleeping Sai.

“How’d it go, Ino?”

Although she heard Chouji’s question, Ino was too drained to answer.

Sai’s head was close to Ino’s knee. Slowly, his eyes opened.

Before she noticed who had reached out first, they had clasped their hands together.

“Sai.”

“You…” Sai dazedly murmured, tightening his hold. “You were…”

“You can stop worrying already.” Tears had started leaking out of Ino’s eyes.

“Thank you, miss beautiful.”

“Idiot…”

The two gently smiled at each other.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter seventeen

Shikamaru was running up the long, long spiralling stairs. His eyes were fixed on the figure running in front of him: Gengo. All his Enlightened Ones were still fighting down in the hall, and the man they revered like a god was making an escape all on his own.

The spiralling stairs had a strangely oppressive feel to them, with the walls of stone that were covering its sides. You kept running up and up and up, and soon enough you started feeling dizzy.

“How about you just end this and give up now?” Shikamaru asked Gengo’s back. Not that he expected an answer.

Some ways ahead of Gengo, there was an iron door. It was a misshapen and crude looking door, without any adornments or decorations. Gengo, running ahead, reached it first and pulled opened the heavy looking door without any hesitation. Shikamaru only caught a glimpse of darkness from within the room before Gengo disappeared inside. The door closed.

Shikamaru put his hand against the closed door, and it creaked open beneath his touch. There had to be a mechanism of some sort.

Shikamaru swung open the door.

It had nothing to do with any plan or strategy. He simply had no choice but to go forward.

What lay on the other side of that iron door was true darkness. There was only one presence in the silent blackness. One person.

Suddenly, the door swung shut behind Shikamaru.

Since Gengo was here in the room with him, it had to be someone else who closed it- that, or the door closing was a mechanism too, and this was a trick being orchestrated by him.

“So you came in by yourself without any hesitation. Please tell me it wasn’t an act of valour.” Gengo’s voice came through the dark.. “You realise, you won’t be able to see or capture me in this kind of darkness.”

“Hey, the Nara clan have been manipulating our own shadows for generations.” Shikamaru told him. “The dark is what gives birth to shadow, right? In a way, you could say that the dark is its mother. For someone like me who lives side by side with their shadow, the darkness in this room isn’t any different from my mother’s embrace. Since the moment you entered here, you were already caught.”

Shikamaru was half lying.

It was true that he was well-accustomed to the dark. But just because you were comfortable in the dark, that didn’t mean you had night vision. Shikamaru was only slightly more sensitive to the strength of a presence in the darkness than other shinobi were. That was all.

“Amusing…” Gengo returned, his voice brimming with self-confidence. “You’re really an interesting man. It’s a shame I have to kill you here.”

Silence…

Shikamaru and Gengo had both gone quiet, each trying to concentrate their senses on pinpointing the exact location of the other.

“I was originally a shinobi from Kirigakure.”

It was Gengo who had broken the silence. He continued speaking. “Do you know of a man called Momochi Zabuza?”

Shikamaru recognised the name. Back when they were genin, Naruto had frequently mentioned his name. Momochi Zabuza was a skilled ninja Naruto’s team had fought against in a mission.

Gengo continued. “When Zabuza started rousing a coup d’état in Kirigakure, his wish was to bring about my ideal world.”

A world governed by shinobi, huh…

“A betrayer tipped the village off, and the coup was exposed. Zabuza became a missing-nin. At that time, my younger self had been among those who followed him into exile. But then Zabuza, who needed gold to realise his ideals, joined hands with a wealthy merchant, a sham of a mafia, and took on disgraceful mission requests. Zabuza said we were dirtying our hands for our ideals, for a just cause, but many turned their backs on him. I was among those who left his side. Almost ten years have passed since then. I’ve finally obtained this country. And it is only now…”

Gengo’s voice was shaking with emotion.

“It is only now that my ambitions are starting to be realised! And yet to have this happen because of you, you son of a bitch…!”

Shikamaru’s ears registered the sound of something kicking at the ground.

It sounded like Gengo was drawing something out of a metal holder, a blade or a kunai.

He couldn’t see with his eyes. He had to rely on his senses.

But Shikamaru couldn’t pick up much more information other than the fact that Gengo was heading towards him.

“Zabuza left the path! He was in too much of a hurry to realise his ideals, and dirtied his hands! But I am different! After a long road full of hardships, I finally mastered my jutsu! I created a whirlpool that stirs up passion in people, and took control of this country. And that whirlpool will only widen, engulfing the whole continent, every single nation!” Gengo shouted.

There was another noise beyond Gengo’s yelling. A carving sound, cutting through the emptiness…

Definitely a blade. And a very large one, at that. A scythe? No, thinner than that. Something like a halberd or a longsword.

Gengo’s presence had gotten alarmingly close. Shikamaru could feel that blade cutting through the emptiness and heading towards his neck-!

He lunged down to the floor, ducking the blow. Shikamaru felt a sharp gust of wind cut along the path of Gengo’s sword, cutting across the air above him.

“You dodged well. But don’t think I’ll let you go!” Gengo yelled, and the gust of wind changed direction again.

Shikamaru had rolled to a crouch, sitting with one knee up, and he could feel the long sword swinging somewhere above his head.

He tried to picture Gengo in the darkness. He pictured the length of the sword based on the sound it made as it cut across thin air, mentally measuring its length from tip to handle. Behind the axis of that swing, there was Gengo.

Shikamaru couldn’t use his shadow in this deep darkness. It would be impossible to bind Gengo with his ninjutsu.

He had nothing to use but his own body.

Shikamaru was poor at taijutsu, and he didn’t have any weapons left. He grumbled to himself that if things were going to turn out like this, it would’ve been better if he’d taken some taijutsu lessons from Lee.

“Heh…”

Shikamaru let out a single laugh, satisfied to see his usual way of complaining had returned to him.

The swing of Gengo’s long sword brushed the top of Shikamaru’s ponytail.

“!”

Using all his concentration, Shikamaru rolled towards the direction he calculated Gengo to be in.

Long swords lost their advantage when you got in too close. If you wanted to disarm your opponent, than rather than running around, it was far more effective to get in close to their chest.

If you ran away while trying to hold onto your life, then you’d die. But if you faced the possibilities of death, then you’d live…

It was the very basics of war strategy.

Shikamaru heard Gengo’s longsword cut into the floor behind him. He had stopped rolling into a crouch, right in front of where he calculated Gengo to be, and now he pushed his legs to spring up, launching himself in a headbutt.

“Got you!” Shikamaru grunted as he felt his head collide with Gengo’s body.

Gengo let out a surprised yell and stumbled into a crouch. Shikamaru stepped on Gengo’s bent knee with his right foot for momentum, and kneed him in the face.

He’d done well. He’d successfully been able to calculate right where Gengo would be, using only his sound and strength of presence as a guide to his movements.

“Gah-”

But, even though Gengo had received such a severe blow, he hadn’t collapsed. 

Gengo had used all his strength to stop his upper body from falling to the ground, pulling himself forward. He had let go of his sword, and grabbed onto Shikamaru’s sides with hands.

Shikamaru was viciously thrown back, flying through mid-air and then landing with a sharp pain piercing down his spine.

By the time Shikamaru took stock of his pitch black surroundings, he sensed Gengo’s presence already getting back to his feet. There was a clattering sound, like iron being scraped against the stone floor.

The sound was most likely Gengo picking up his sword again.

All of Shikamaru’s limbs felt numb. He blinked several times, but couldn’t move his body as quickly he wanted to.

“In Kirigakure, due to the tradition of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, every single villager strives to master the techniques of the sword from their childhood onwards.” Gengo said, swinging his longsword down.

His target was Shikamaru, still lying dazed on the floor.

Shikamaru only had one way to defend himself.

And it was an absolutely ridiculous idea.

It was a stunt Shikamaru would never have dreamed of trying to pull off.

But he didn’t have any other means of escaping the blow.

“Oh, screw it!” Shikamaru groaned and raised both his arms. 

His palms slid out into thin air, waiting to try and catch the longsword’s blade as it swung down.

Shikamaru felt cold steel slide between his palms.

…he had actually caught the blade.

“L-looks like I somehow pulled that off…” Shikamaru said to himself.

“Impossible,” Gengo stammered, dumbfounded.

Not that impossible, as it turned out. At the end of the day, Shikamaru’s palms had firmly caught Gengo’s sword between them.

“Well,” Shikamaru commented, “I guess you could call this the ninpou of ‘Seriously Trying to Catch a Sword with Your Bare Hands’.”

“Is there no end to your mockery?” Gengo’s voice was bristling with outrage.

Gengo’s sword quivered between Shikamaru’s palms as Gengo’s increased his force, trying to force it down. 

At this rate, it was a question of muscle power. The limits of strength between Shikamaru, who was down on the floor with both his arms up, and Gengo, who was standing with a swordsman’s perfect stance above him, were terribly different. Gengo had the advantage.

The longsword’s blade was slowly being pushed down.

“I am going to kill you here, you son of a bitch.” Gengo grit out, “And then I’m going to make those scum in the hall share my ideals. And I will continue on the path to my ambitions.”

“Oi, oi, since when were you so foul mouthed?” Shikamaru asked, “Someone who doesn’t even notice when their mask of politeness has slipped away, there’s no way they could possibly rule the world, now is there?”

“Look at the situation you’re in and watch what you’re saying, you ignorant bastard. You’re a fool who couldn’t hope to comprehend the potential of others.”

“Now, I wonder,” Shikamaru mused. “Who was it that kept asking this fool to be their right hand man?”

“Senseless quibbling. You have nothing but empty words.” Gengo’s force on the sword increased.

Shikamaru’s arms were shaking from trying to hold back the blade. Warm sweat was gathering on his forehead. He was nearing his limit.

He’d been cornered.

And yet, Shikamaru kept smiling.

“Sometimes,” he said to Gengo, “There are things that’re strong because they’re empty.”

“I have no intention of continuing this idle talk.” Gengo said. “In a very short time, you are going to die.”

The blade was inching closer to Shikamaru’s forehead.

“Well, listen anyway. I really like watching clouds.”

“Be silent.”

“Y’see clouds, are things that can never be caught by anyone, because as long as there’s wind, clouds will be blown away before you can catch them. They’re sneaky things, empty of any substance.”

Shikamaru felt the blade’s cold edge touch his forehead. Still, he continued speaking.

“But even those empty, sneaky things have their uses. They can water the earth with rain. They can strike things down with lightning.”

“So what?” Gengo asked.

“So, I’m telling you that it’s wrong to keep thinking you have to be full of substance to be worth something. Even if your insides feel empty… Even if you don’t have an unshakable core. As long as you hold a resolve not to become twisted as a person, then you’ll be fine. But you don’t even know that. An idiotic bastard like you who honestly thinks everyone else has to become the way you want them to be, you wouldn’t understand what I mean even if you died, would you?”

The blade had cut into the skin of Shikamaru’s forehead by now, and warm blood was leaking out.

It was precisely because he was still talking despite being in such a grave situation that Shikamaru’s words had caught Gengo’s attention.

Gengo was distracted by a human’s natural curiosity, and as he concentrated on Shikamaru’s words, his grip on the sword loosened.

That was the opportunity Shikamaru had been waiting for.

Lying down on the floor as he was, he swept his leg fiercely towards where Gengo’s.

Gengo stumbled, and the sword lurched forward. Shikamaru turned his head along with the direction of the sword’s momentum, and the blade skimmed past his forehead without cutting any deeper than the surface of his skin, hitting the floor. Shikamaru rolled out from under Gengo’s legs, getting to his feet.

He was out of that corner.

Shikamaru allowed himself a small exhale, before he turned and leapt towards Gengo, sticking out his right foot to where he calculated the man’s face to be.

Shikamaru felt his kick land against something thick and soft, most likely Gengo’s nose.

Gengo staggered back.

As soon as Shikamaru landed from his mid-air kick, he jumped back one more time, putting distance between himself and the longsword.

“So, how does it feel?” Shikamaru asked, “Getting a taste of the genjutsu of my words?”

“Don’t look down on me, you brat…”

“Oi, oi, I’ve gone from ‘bastard’ to ‘brat’ now?” As Shikamaru spoke, he could hear a grating sound behind him, like metal being drawn against metal.

The room was suddenly full of glaring light.

“Are you okay, Shikamaru?!”  Chouji’s voice.

Shikamaru looked over his shoulder. In his field of vision, he could see his comrades standing in the doorway of the room.

There was Chouji and Ino and Sakura, and Roku and Sou, who seemed to have broken out of the genjutsu as well.

And, of course, there was Temari.

While wondering what had happened with Sai, Shikamaru turned to look at Gengo one more time.

“Prepare your jutsu, Ino!” He shouted.

Behind his back, Shikamaru made a signal with his hands that he knew Ino would understand. Team 10 had worked together for many years. Their communication was flawless.

“Got it!”  Ino replied.

“Until I give my signal, nobody should make any move to get involved.” Shikamaru said.

The blood dripping from his forehead was obscuring his vision. He brought up his palm to wipe it away, and then reached inside his vest to retrieve his Konoha hitaiate that had been safely stitched on the inside of his clothing. He tied it firmly around his forehead. He wasn’t really worried about how effective it’d be in stopping the bleeding though.

“Aren’t you acting so composed?” Gengo snarled, swinging his longsword overhead with bloodshot eyes. “Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru’s fingers moved in a quick handseal.

His shadow started extending from his feet, heading towards Gengo.

“I’m not such a fool as to be caught in your petty tricks,” Gengo said, leaping away before Shikamaru’s shadow could reach his feet.

Gengo landed and lunged at Shikamaru without pause, his sword flashing out to slash at him.

Shikamaru was sliced in two from his forehead down.

But then his flesh lost its colour, turning black, and then disappearing.

“Just a kage bunshin.” Gengo snarled.

Behind him, Shikamaru was approaching with a kunai in his hand.

The kunai slashed towards the back of Gengo’s neck.

Gengo dodged the blow brilliantly, a fine example of Kirigakure’s brilliant upbringing in sword techniques. As Gengo dodged, he shifted his body, bending his knees and swinging his sword horizontally.

Shikamaru’s abdomen was pierced.

But this Shikamaru also lost his colour. Another kage bunshin.

“You impudent little…” Gengo snarled.

“Preparations complete!” Ino called out.

“Alright.”

Shikamaru’s plan was complete, too. A large part of it hinged on the successful application of Ino’s jutsu.

She stood quite a distance away from Gengo, both her arms up, palms spread out. Her thumb and index fingers were brought together to make a triangle-like formation, and she was looking directly at Gengo.

“Ninpou, shintenshin no jutsu.”

Gengo instantly leapt to the side, escaping Ino’s trajectory. Seeing him evade her, Ino smiled to herself.

And she shifted her palms, just slightly, to head for her real target: Shikamaru.

Shikamaru’s body stiffened.

He knew that Ino had entered his mind.

The jutsu lasted for only an instant. In the time where one could take one breath in, and maybe let another out, the jutsu had already broken.

“Rou, Soku,” Ino called out to the two the instant she broke the jutsu.

It’d all gone according to plan…

The shintenshin jutsu that could enter people’s hearts was also capable of doing one more thing: sharing knowledge.

Shikamaru had taken advantage of that fact.

The plan that he’d carefully laid out in his head had been transmitted to Ino. And she had transmitted it to Rou and Soku.

Shikamaru had decided that he was going to bring down this scumbag with Rou and Soku. The three of them would do it together.

“Let’s go!” Shikamaru called out the two.

Rou and Soku nodded.

Shikamaru ran towards Gengo, while Rou and Soku ran to opposite ends of the room, stopping then they faced each other from their parallel places.

“Whatever you do, it’s useless.” Gengo said.

“Oh come on now.” Shikamaru said. “This is the last fight we’ll have. Might as well enjoy it.”

Kunai and longsword clashed in mid-air. There was a large difference between the mass of both of their weapons.

Shikamaru was pushed back from the force of Gengo’s longsword, tumbling to the floor.

Gengo’s sword came after him, slashing across his chest.

But it was just another kage bunshin.

“How long do you intend to keep playing games?!” Gengo snarled, spittle flying from his mouth.

Shikamaru attacked Gengo from above, aiming at his head. Gengo swung at him with his sword. It was another bunshin.

And another.

And another, another, another, another, another, another…

Gengo’s sword had sliced Shikamaru in half countless times. But no matter how he sliced and swung and raged, every single time Shikamaru was just another kage bunshin, disappearing from sight as soon as he was injured.

“Where are you hiding, Shikamaru?!”

The real Shikamaru had long disappeared from the front of Gengo’s field of vision.

He was, in factm standing right behind him. Not that Gengo noticed.

“Checkmate.” Shikamaru murmured in Gengo’s ear.

Gengo snapped his head to stare over his shoulder, the colour draining from his face.

Either way, he was too late…

Shikamaru’s shadow had already slithered out of his feet and linked itself with Gengo’s body.

The plan had been executed well. Shikamaru had first made countless kage bunshin and then, using Rou’s jutsu, given them all the appearance of having a very thick and dense chakra.

Gengo’s mind had naturally started recognising the bunshins chakra. And then, after fighting bunshin after bunshin, he’d unconsciously started seeking that chakra out, blocking out other senses in favour of that specific chakra signature.

Finally, the real Shikamaru had his chakra’s traces erased by Rou’s jutsu, and quietly snuck up on Gengo in the background.

Gengo had been attacked from a complete and utter blind spot. Until Shikamaru had locked him in his shadow, the man hadn’t had a single clue as to what was going on.

“SHIKAMARU, YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAARD!” Gengo screamed, turning his head to spew out vitriol at him. As he seethed and shrieked, his tongue flashed a deep crimson inside his mouth.

“Hinoko.” Shikamaru calmly called.

“Aghhhh!” As she gathered her chakra on her index finger, the girl let out a shriek that almost burst Shikamaru’s ear drums. “I keep telling not to call me by my name y’knowwwwwwwww!”

Shikamaru’s eyes clearly saw the orange glow of Soku’s lightning chakra fly towards Gengo and pass straight through his tongue.

“Ga- gaaah?” Gengo made a dry, breathy sound.

“She just severed the chakra flow to your tongue.” Shikamaru told him. “From now on, you’re stuck in a body that won’t let you breathe another word.”

Tears were leaking out Gengo’s eyes.

“I’m definitely going to make a world without war, so you’ll have to forgive me for snatching away yours.” Shikamaru said, and signalled for Rou.

Rou, who had stayed strong after suffering both torture and genjutsu, came running immediately.

“Put him in restraints, and accompany him to the Union.”

“Understood, sir.” Rou nodded, eyes shining with admiration.

Shikamaru rubbed his index finger against the bridge of his nose, trying to gloss over his embarrassment.

Rou wrapped Gengo’s arms in countless layers of metal rings and seals – the specialised handcuffs used by the Anbu. Shikamaru pulled his shadow away from Gengo. The man was well restrained.

Shikamaru suddenly noticed that Soku had come to stand behind Rou as well.

“The mission’s complete, huh.” Shikamaru said. “It might not have gone very smoothly, but…”

Shikamaru smiled at the two, and Rou and Soku’s faces crumpled like they were about to cry as they nodded back.

Shikamaru Hiden, chapter eighteen

After restraining Gengo, Shikamaru and his comrades went down the spiralling stairs to find the battle between the Enlightened Ones and other shinobi had already finished. It turned out that the moment Soku severed the chakra flow to Gengo’s tongue, the genjutsu clouding the Enlightened One’s minds had cleared up as well, and that’d been a really big help to ending the battle.

Despite the battle between Enlightened Ones and shinobi being so fierce, there hadn’t been as much harm done as one would think. Other than several heavily wounded people, almost everyone had walked away fight with relatively light injuries. You would think it a miracle that no one had been killed, but it was mostly because the Sunagakure shinobi had faithfully followed Gaara’s orders -”Do not kill unless necessary.”- when they stormed the hall.

When Gengo’s advisors found out that he had been defeated and restrained, all of their shoulders slumped and the will to fight seemed to leave them entirely. They had awakened from their feverish dream, and now turned terribly despondent.

When Shikamaru and the others had arrived at the hall, the other Konohagakure and Sunagakure shinobi were handling the Enlightened Ones well, restraining some and giving medical aid to others.

“Sai!”

Shikamaru called out when he spotted the shinobi sitting amidst the crowd of people, receiving medical aid from another shinobi.

“Shikamaru…” Sai sat upright, looking at him with a blank face.

Ino had told Shikamaru about what happened with Sai on the group’s way down the stairs. Perhaps it was because Sai had been dragged out of the genjutsu with such strong, desperate measures that the shinobi’s eyes still looked a little dazed, like some part of him was drifting at sea.

“I’m so sorry.” Sai murmured.

“Don’t worry about it.” Shikamaru kindly said, squatting down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all behind us.”

Underneath the black material of Sai’s uniform, Shikamaru could feel the shinobi’s shoulders shaking slightly.

There weren’t any tears dripping down his face. But Sai was still crying on the inside.

“I’m pathetic.” Sai muttered.

“You were in a trance brought on by that guy’s words.” Shikamaru said. “Even I’d gotten dragged into it. You have nothing to feel ashamed about.”

“But…”

“Don’t let it bother you too much. Managing to carry on with a light heart no matter what happens has always been one of your best qualities.”

“Thank you, Shikamaru.”  A single tear slipped out of Sai’s right eye, falling down his cheek.

“When we get back to Konoha, take some time off. I’ll talk to Kakashi-san.”

“Thank you…” As Sai said that, Ino appeared to stand by Sai’s side.

“Take care of him.” Shikamaru said to Ino, getting up to his feet.

Ino gave a deep nod, her eyes looking down at Sai. She kneeled down next to him the minute Shikamaru had gotten out of the way.

Just as Shikamaru had let out a small sigh of relief to see everything settled, a man’s voice rang out, bursting with righteous with fury.

“SHI! KA! MA! RUUUUUUUUUUUUU!”

Oh yeah, he’d totally forgotten about that guy…

Rubbing the back of his head, Shikamaru turned his head to look at the voice’s owner.

What he saw, instead, was a fist headed directly for his face.

Shikamaru’s body was thrown backwards, rolling across the ground. His field of vision changed from the floor to the ceiling to the floor to the ceiling.

Six times…

His brain calmly counted every single roll that had been caused by the terribly powerful punch. Shikamaru’s body finally rolled to a stop when he was on his back.

He sat up on the floor, eyes catching sight of the furious blond man who was now rushing towards him.

Shikamaru has gotten onto his hands and knees to get up, but the next thing he knew, the man had jumped on top of his back like a man would a horse, grabbing the back of his collar.

Shikamaru’s neck was jerked up and down and an incoherently furious scolding blasting into his ears.

“YOU – WHY – TELL ME – EVERYTHING BY YOURSELF – ALWAYS LIKE THIS – MADE EVERYONE – WORRIED SICK – EVEN I – GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH – YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”

“I’m really sorry, Naruto.” Shikamaru spoke to the man on his back.

“You’re really a fucking idiot!!” Naruto furiously repeated.

Naruto’s bellowed words had been disjointed and choppy in his worked up state, his feelings spewing out his mouth without structure, but Shikamaru had clearly understood all of Naruto’s concern for him packed into his rant. It was because Naruto had such a fire inside him that he was suited to be the leader of the Country of Fire’s hidden village, Konoha.

“Didn’t you say you were gonna be my advisor, huh?” Naruto muttered.

The blonde seemed to have calmed down somewhat after Shikamaru’s apology had registered, and he’d verified that Shikamaru was indeed alright.

“This country’ll be fine from now on.” Naruto firmly. Sakura had come to stand next to them at some point Shikamaru hadn’t noticed.

“Since the Enlightened Ones ruling this country were all shinobi, there isn’t a single citizen who doesn’t know that Naruto’s the hero from the last shinobi world war.” Sakura said. “Nobody will kick up a fuss over these events once they see that Naruto’s here. And since Gengo’s genjutsu has been broken, things will settle down soon enough.”

Naruto’s influence over the world of shinobi was immeasurably strong. It was just like Sakura had said. Nobody would oppose the hero who had saved the world.

“Hey, from now on,” Naruto sternly said, “If anything happens, tell me first.”

“Aa.” Shikamaru closed his eyes and nodded.

Naruto let go of the back of Shikamaru’s collar and stood up.

“Come on.” Naruto held out his hand.

Shikamaru silently took it.

Naruto pulled him up with one smooth, strong motion, and Shikamaru was immediately back on his feet. Shikamaru envied how Naruto could be so honest and straightforward. And he thought that for Naruto’s sake, he had to try and be more honest too.

“This is the last time…”

“Huh?” Naruto tilted his head at Shikamaru.

“This is the last time I’ll keep secrets and act like a kid.”

“Aa.”

“After all, I’m gonna spend all my time after this babysitting a kid.” Shikamaru said, poking Naruto in the chest.

“Hey, who’re you calling a kid?”

“Who do you think?”

The two looked at each other, and burst into grins.

For the sake of Roku, Sou and Sai receiving immediate medical treatment, it was decided that their first order of business was returning to Konoha. Naruto, Sakura and others were going to stay behind in the Country of Silence and clean up matters there. Shikamaru wasn’t worried about leaving Naruto behind. With Gengo out of the picture, he was sure things would work out fine.

Sunagakure’s shinobi intended on doing the same, leaving part of their troop behind while the rest headed back to Suna. Konohagakure and Sunagakure’s forces would both head their separate ways home.

“This time around, I’m really in your debt.” Shikamaru said to Gaara, as they stood at the gates of Curtain Village.

Sunagakure’s returning shinobi stood lined up behind Gaara. All the shinobi who had been brought up in the desolate desert of Suna had the same strong, formidable countenance. Every single one of them were looking at Shikamaru with a smile. It was small things like that which let you feel the world of shinobi was really beginning to merge into one.

“Don’t worry about it.” Gaara replied. “You’re someone whose existence is essential to the Union, now and in the future. There’s no need for you to use such formal words like ‘debt’ for an operation like this. Isn’t it natural for someone to go and save their comrade?”

Gaara crossed his arms as he spoke. He never used to be this talkative. Years ago, Gaara used to be someone with an unreadable face, blank of any emotion; constantly bloodthirsty, a dangerous guy.

But now, Sunagakure’s shinobi looked at Gaara with affectionate smiles.

Behind Shikamaru, there was Sai, Rou and Soku. Chouji and Ino, too. As well as another group of Konohagakure’s shinobi. All of them were quiet too, attentively listening to Gaara and Shikamaru’s conversation.

“But I really am very relieved…” Gaara murmured seriously to Shikamaru. “If my sister hadn’t been so troubled, we all would’ve ended up losing a very valuable person.”

Temari was standing next to Gaara, her gaze fixed on some spot above their heads. She had taken on the attitude of completely ignoring the exchange. Shikamaru supposed it was because she was trying to hide her embarrassment, but she didn’t have to be so unaffectionate about it.

“Don’t worry about Gengo.” Gaara said. “We’ll drop him off at the Union’s headquarters on our way home.”

“We keep receiving your help on every little thing…”

“I keep telling you not to speak so formally.” Gaara said. The Kazekage that held such love and devotion in his village then stuck out his hand for Shikamaru.

“Well then, we’ll meet again at the Union.” Shikamaru said, and grasped Gaara’s hand. He gave a firm, strong squeeze. Gaara returned the handhold with the same strength.

“See you later.”

“Aa.”

Gaara let go of the handhold, turning his gaze to look at his comrades.

“Let’s go home.” He said, and Sunagakure’s shinobi unanimously answered in a cheer.

Temari turned her back to leave, and Shikamaru’s voice suddenly called out to her.

“Oi.”

Gaara looked almost as surprised as Shikamaru himself felt.

Temari came to a halt mid-step. The rest of Sunagakure’s shinobi looked like they were going to stop too, but Gaara made a gesture for them to go ahead and Sunagakure’s shinobi obeyed, spilling out of the village’s gates and into the main street. Gaara followed, casting one look over his shoulder at Shikamaru before disappearing.

Only Temari was left.

Somewhere behind Shikamaru, he could faintly hear Soku let out a ‘kyaa!’.

Shikamaru ignored her, and drew closer to Temari.

“What is it?” She sourly asked.

Her eyes always had such a staggering power…

Shikamaru felt like he was about to lose his nerve, and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. He tried to get his thoughts past his mouth.

“Today…”

It was no use. The words weren’t coming out.

“What?” Temari asked irritably, urging him to hurry up. Even now, her body was slightly tilted towards the gates to follow the direction her younger brother had gone.

“Thank you, for today.”

“Hmph.” Temari gave a snort, and Shikamaru continued talking.

“Next time, how about eating a meal together?”

“Are you asking me on a date?”  Temari plainly asked. 

The look in her eyes was serious now. There wasn’t even the slightest bit of embarrassment in her attitude, nothing she tried to endear herself with.

Why am I asking this sort of a woman out for a meal?

Shikamaru questioned himself.

“Well, yeah, it is that sort of thing.” His reply came from somewhere in Shikamaru’s subconscious.

He couldn’t help but ask her out. 

No…he’d called out to her and made her stop because he wanted to ask her.

Shikamaru felt bewildered as to how to deal with these emotions that he himself didn’t understand.

“I see.” Temari thoughtfully said. “A date, huh…”

It was almost as if she was seated in a war council, talking about preparations for how to deal with a formidable enemy. 

Temari put a hand to her chin, starting to think seriously about the matter.

“You don’t want to?” Shikamaru involuntarily blurted out.

Temari gazed closely at the look on his face for a while. Then she let go of her chin, and put her hands on her hips.

“How troublesome.”

Temari’s radiant grin after she said that felt incredibly precious to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru hiden, chapter nineteen

The End

-

It had been one week since Shikamaru left the Country of Silence. Kakashi had ordered him to take a break and heal up from the fatigue caused by being held captive as well as the final fight with Gengo. 

The wound on his forehead had been given medical aid by Sakura straight away, so Shikamaru didn’t really have any injuries that he had to rest up for. The state of his heart was also much lighter compared to how it had been before his trip to the Country of Silence. He didn’t really need a vacation, but Kakashi had insisted, and so he complied.

Chouji and Ino had gone out on other separate missions soon after they returned to Konoha. Naruto and Sakura were still working things out in the Country of Silence. Of course, Shikamaru went to visit Mirai at Kurenai sensei’s house, but it sufficed to stay there for just a few hours.

All his time was alone time. He didn’t have to do anything.

All week, nobody had bothered him.

For the first time in a long while, Shikamaru had lived quietly and calmly, day after day.

Some days, he had sat himself down in front of shougi board, and played against himself for hours. Other days, he set out at sunrise and climbed a mountain, lying down at the top and watching clouds until the sky was dyed red from the setting sun. Shikamaru had enjoyed that time immensely.

He reflected on how much he had changed.

If it had been the Shikamaru before the went to the Country of Silence, then he wouldn’t have been able to stand a week of no missions or work for the Union. He would’ve lost his presence of mind completely.

He would’ve kept thinking ‘what if some serious incident happens while I’m gone’ or ‘what if someone’s made a mistake in their work and nobody’s noticed’. All kinds of ridiculous, nonsensical thoughts. He wouldn’t have been able to completely relax for even one full day before he went back to work.

But now, Shikamaru could relax to the fullest possible extent. This whole week, he’d barely given a thought about the work waiting for him at the Union, or the missions piling up, his mind only ever wandering to them right before he went to sleep.

His comrades would be able to handle everything just fine, even if he wasn’t there. He could now think of that and be at ease.

It wasn’t that he’d abandoned his sense of responsibility. He’d just finally allowed himself to have some breathing space and calm down. If ever a situation arose where he really was needed, then Kakashi or Temari would definitely call for him. And if that time came, then he’d switch his mind set into that of a sharp genius, and support them to the fullest extent. There was no need for him to frantically think about when he’d go back to work every single second.

If he had faith in his comrades’ ability, then he could comfortably switch between working and relaxing.

Shikamaru had cornered himself to the extent that he had forgotten completely about that fact.

In his week of relaxing, Shikamaru had also examined himself. He’d taken a long, hard look at why he was so different after his trip to the Country of Silence, to the point that it made himself uncomfortable.

He realised how many comrades he had. And he also realised that he had ignored their existence completely. He saw how he had kept insisting on taking on every single burden and responsibility, all because of a small-minded, haughty, and completely mistaken pride that they couldn’t handle things without him.

A person couldn’t live their life all on their own. Nobody was smart or skilled enough to handle every single thing by themselves. That’s why you had friends, comrades.

The thought ‘I’ll shoulder everything by myself’ was wrong at the very root.

It had been worth Shikamaru going to the Country of Silence if only so he could realise that.

When he had been in Floating Prisoner Castle and entranced by Gengo, Temari had stormed in and given Shikamaru a wake-up call that broke him out of the genjutsu as well as every other doubt that had been holding him down.

In the middle of her gale, he had been able to realise exactly who he was.

Honestly, Shikamaru was originally an irresponsible man. He found pretty much everything troublesome, and if it was up to him, he wouldn’t want to do anything at all. It was fine to live as a fool, and he’d be happy to live his days as a coward without a care in the world.

That was Shikamaru’s nature.

And honestly, wasn’t that fine?

It was because he had accepted the root of his nature, with its devil-may-care and irresponsible attitude, that he could bring himself to accomplish things.

After all, it was none other than people like him who could understand the feelings of normal citizens who had no dreams or ambitions to speak of, and only wished to lead peaceful, ordinary lives.

What was wrong with thinking you wanted to live a normal life? The definition of a ‘dream’ wasn’t limited to just the ambitious ones that aimed high with their goals.

Living in a world that was constantly at war with itself, a normal life was possibly the hardest dream to achieve.

And that was why there was significance to Shikamaru’s existence.

If the world could become peaceful, if it could become a place where anyone could live comfortably, then surely the people who wanted to live normal lives could do so, one average day at a time.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru had been born into a world full of war. That was why he had to live his life in a hurry.

So for the sake of those who would be born after this, Shikamaru absolutely had to end the fighting in the world.

It wasn’t a dream with lofty and sublime feelings like Gengo’s was. He didn’t have any particular noble motivations behind it either.

A world where anyone could live comfortably…

So if the person who wanted to build that sort of world took everything on his own shoulders and worked incessantly, wouldn’t that be missing the point?

He’d word hard in a comfortable way, too.

That kind of attitude was best.

*

“You really worked hard.” Kakashi said as he straightened out a pile of documents on his desk.

Shikamaru had come to his office to give him his full report on what had happened in the Country of Silence, as well as give him greetings for his return to work.

“Sakura’s report on the present condition in the Country of Silence, as well as Ino and the others ending reports for the mission gave me a basic idea of what went on.” Kakashi said. “I’ve also heard the talks of all your hard work from Rou and Soku in the hospital.”

“Hard work…well…” Shikamaru felt the corner of his eyebrow twitch in embarrassment.

He’d been unable to see the truth of Gengo’s genjutsu and then gotten himself caught up in it. Temari had come to his rescue and he’d finally been able to wake up, but even after that he’d received the help of his comrades right until the very end. There hadn’t been a single thing that he’d accomplished by himself.

“It would’ve been fine even if you didn’t write this on your vacation…” Kakashi said, looking at the pile of documents in his hand. There were about 50 pages in all.

It was the report Shikamaru had written.

While he had refused to think about his missions or work at the Union to the very end of his vacation, the Country of Silence was a different matter. Writing reports after missions was one of the basics of being a shinobi. It was a given that he’d do that much, vacation or not. Besides, it was light work that didn’t take up more than an hour of a day.

“Please look over it.” Shikamaru said.

Kakashi let out a sigh and moved the bundle of documents over to the side of the desk, placing it on top of the mountain of paperwork he already had. The pile swayed a little bit, and after wearily eyeing it for a while, Kakashi then turned his gaze on Shikamaru.

“You’re an existence that this village and the Union couldn’t do without,” “Kakashi said, “So try and take care of yourself a little more…”

An existence they couldn’t do without, huh…

“That’s really troublesome.”

The words leaked out of Shikamaru’s mouth naturally, without any conscious effort. Kakashi looked at the expression on Shikamaru’s face for a while, and then he laughed.

“I see that you’re alright now.” Kakashi cheerfully said.

“Yeah.” Shikamaru naturally smiled.

“Now then…” Kakashi put one hand behind his neck, rolling it around. His other hand went to a drawer in his desk, opening it and pulling out a sheaf of documents. He presented them to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked down at the file. It was stamped with a red seal that indicated a B-rank mission, with its details clearly written out. He was to accompany the attendant of the Daimyou of the Land of Fire, delivering a sovereign message to the Daimyou of the Land of Lightning. A bodyguard assignment, basically.

Thanks to the Union and general co-operation between the shinobi of today, the security of the general public was rapidly strengthening. Going between two countries wasn’t really as remarkable as it had been in the past. In reality, the Daimyou’s attendant would’ve been fine with their own bodyguards. Shinobi were only assigned as an extra precaution for unexpected events. The one to work on the mission didn’t necessarily have to be Shikamaru. It was a job that any shinobi above chuunin level could accomplish.

“It’s far too simple of a mission for you, but…”

“Kakashi-san, mind if I stop you there?” Shikamaru cut in, holding up his right hand.

“It’s been such a long time since you called me Kakashi-san,” Kakashi said, staring at Shikamaru with a surprised look on his face. “It’s startling to hear it now.”

“Keeping my shoulders straight, watching the way I talk, and always twisting around my behaviour to be ideal…” Shikamaru shrugged. “I’ve already stopped doing that sort of thing.”

“That’s good to hear.” Kakashi nodded.

“So, about that mission, can you leave it to some other guy?”

“Why?”

“W-well, because the day after tomorrow is…” Shikamaru looked away. His cheeks were turning a deep crimson.

Kakashi curiously tilted his head at him, waiting for the rest.

“…I have a date.”

“Pfff!” Kakashi snorted in sudden laughter.

Shikamaru glared at him.

“To think that you’d turn down a mission to go on a date is surprising,” Kakashi chuckled, “But sure, you have my permission! Go on your date.”

“Thank you.”

Kakashi leaned back, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. “Spring has come for you, Shikamaru.” He said, nodding repeatedly. “Yup, yup.”

Fine, I gave up on my dream to have an average life.

But for goodness sake, at least let me enjoy this comforting part of my life in peace.

“Then, I’ll be going.” Shikamaru swiftly turned his back to Kakashi, stepping forward to head towards the exit.

“Shikamaru.” Kakashi called out to make him stop. He had stood to get on his feet now. “I feel like if I ask the current you, then you’ll understand more than you did last time. Do you mind if I ask you one more time? What do you think it means to be an adult?”

Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling for a while, gathering his thoughts. An answer appeared in his mind, and he opened his mouth to share it with full honesty.

“Giving up on one thing, and finding something else that’s even better, more valuable…” Shikamaru said. “It’s that kind of feeling, isn’t it? Though I might not understand it all that well.”

“Giving something up, and finding something more valuable, huh?” Kakashi echoed.

“Well, while there are people like Naruto who never give up on their life-goals and always work towards them from their childhood onwards, most guys usually give up on a goal because it turns out it can’t be done.” Shikamaru said. “But they keep living on, and, in the end, they find something that’s even more valuable, and live working towards that goal instead. Or at least, that’s what I think.”

“I see…” Kakashi closed his eyes again, crossing his arms.

“Well then, I’ll be off.” Shikamaru said, turning around and heading out. He was too embarrassed to stay there any longer.

He was just shutting the door behind him, when Kakashi’s cheerful voice rang out one more time.

“I hope you enjoy yourself, Shikamaru.”

Although he knew Kakashi wouldn’t hear him, Shikamaru replied anyway.

“Thank you very much.”

Everyone kept living their lives, and time passed slowly and steadily, like a stream…

He looks a lot like me, doesn’t he?

Our son had only just been born, but he was crying like he’d already seen through everything the world had to offer.

“It’s alright.” I told him. ”One day, you’re going to realise you don’t know everything as well as you think. And when that time comes, you’ll have definitely made comrades who will walk side by side with you.”

The baby couldn’t have understood a word, but he still stared up at me with wide eyes. Those eyes of his looked just like his mother’s, all long slit and almond shaped.

“I really can’t say anything’s troublesome from now on, huh…” I said.

“You can say it a little.” Temari told me. “If it ever looks like you’re getting so bad that you’ll stop functioning, then I’ll intervene and send you flying back to your senses again. So, it’s okay.”

“Aa, you’re right. Then…”

What are we going to name him?

“How troublesome.”