Chapter Text
Kings and Pawns
Part 1
Tumbling Down (1)
The light pierced through the blinds. One ray in particular had the audacity to land on Shikamaru’s face but he was set on ignoring it. It was his first day off since the end of the chuunin exam and there was no way he would get out of bed before noon despite being awake. His internal clock had woken him up at five like every morning but he had managed to fall back asleep after that, until people had started moving around the house. Shikamaru’s training couldn’t really let him sleep in that kind of situation, which was great during a mission because he was aware of his surroundings at all times, but a pain in the ass when he was home.
Things had calmed down around eight when his parents had left. Shikamaru had enjoyed an hour of calm before his mother had come back home with groceries. Fortunately, she didn’t stay long as her duties included a lot of social stuff in the neighborhood as the wife of the head of the clan. Shikamaru was finally alone in an empty house on his day off. He turned to lay on his back and scratched his stomach. He didn’t feel sleepy anymore but that was fine. He was content just laying there in the relative darkness of his room, thinking about nothing after a month of intensive labor. The Hokage had found it fun to make him, alone, in charge of the first part of the chuunin exam held in Konoha.
It hadn’t been fun. Shikamaru remembered the exam he had been through four years earlier, the pressure, and honestly the fear he had felt all along. The first part had been collecting information under the scrutiny of the whole fucking Torture and Investigation division. Shikamaru had wanted something similar for his exam but he had been only one guy, a scrawny teenager nonetheless, facing about a hundred genin. Konoha’s exams were notoriously the most difficult of the four hidden villages organizing so they always had more candidates than the others.
Shikamaru had had to find a way to put pressure on the candidates so a time limit had been a given. Collecting information and assessing the situation were important skills a chuunin had to have a good grip on, too. With that in mind, it had taken him a week to plan his part of the exam. The Hokage had agreed to his project with a cunning smile. “I really like your idea,” he had said. The Fourth wasn’t the type to give compliments freely – encouragements, yes, but not compliments – so Shikamaru had known he had hit the jackpot. Still, it took him two more weeks to prepare and make sure his plan was solid.
At the end of his part, a third of the teams had passed to the next stage, held this year by Hatake Kakashi. It was a lower rate than any previous session in Konoha. The Tsuchikage had complained via strongly worded letters but the Fourth had brushed it off – the Third Tsuchikage was always complaining anyway. And yesterday, at the end of the exam, once everybody had left the last meeting, the Fourth had asked Shikamaru to stay a minute to tell him how good a job he had done. Shikamaru’s dad couldn’t shut up about it last night at dinner.
Shikamaru didn’t want to think about it but he was. He didn’t like the attention and he had gotten a ton over the last few years. He had been the first chuunin of his class at age twelve, six months only after his graduation from the Academy. Since then, he had become the leader of his team, he had completed mostly C and B missions, and about half a dozen rank A missions. No failure, which meant more pressure to not fuck up the next time for him. He was the heir to the Nara clan, with all the secret techniques that implied. He was able to use fire and earth techniques too. His intelligence was on par with his father’s, the Jounin Commander and one of the most trusted adviser of the Hokage.
So it didn’t surprise him when his mother came back home to knock on his door around eleven to tell him Asuma had come to pick him up. Shikamaru sighed, got out of bed and slid the door open before his mother could knock a third time.
“Oh, you’re up!” she said, visibly surprised.
“I’ve been up for hours,” Shikamaru replied, already annoyed. “You people make too much noise in the goddamn morning.”
“Watch your language, young man,” Yoshino warned. “Asuma is here for you. Get dressed, hurr–.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Shikamaru clicked as he closed the door in his mother’s face.
She said something along the line of “that boy, I swear” but Shikamaru ignored it. He was too used to it to really care. He had been kind of bratty and arguing with his parents over everything for the past year or so. It “wasn’t like him”, his mother always yelled at some point or the other while his father tried to calm things down. Shikamaru didn’t need her help to know that. He just needed to vent. “About what?” Shikaku asked every time. And every time, Shikamaru just left the room because he couldn’t tell them he hated himself.
Shikamaru sighed and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror left to the door, next to the dresser. He had lost weight but he put that on the stress of the exam. His techniques didn’t rely on cheer physical force like Chouji’s but Asuma insisted he gained some muscles nonetheless. Shikamaru didn’t care. He was okay looking like this, all scrawny and lanky, unattractive. That was fine.
Shikamaru took his time to dress, in full uniform and weapons at the ready. He put his hair in a pony tail as he went downstairs and found Asuma in the entrance, talking with Yoshino.
“Hey there!” Asuma greeted him. “You’ve been summoned, kiddo.”
“Yeah, I know,” Shikamaru grumbled, already putting his shoes on.
“Don’t talk like that in front of the Hokage!” Yoshino scolded him. “Think about your reputation and your father’s!”
Shikamaru only rolled his eyes as an answer and was out before he could hear more about his attitude. Asuma caught up to him, taking a cigarette out of a wrinkled pack and lighting it up.
“So, big day, huh?” he said with a smile.
“I guess,” Shikamaru grunted, hands deep in his pockets.
“Not happy about it, I see.”
“I’m contemplating the idea of telling the Hokage to fuck off.”
Asuma laughed and coughed a little.
“Minato-sensei has a good sense of humor,” Asuma said, “but I don’t think that’ll pass.”
“I know,” Shikamaru grumbled.
“You can try to leave the village though,” Asuma joked.
“Aren’t you there to make sure I answer the summon?”
“I am, but you can still try. It’d be fun to watch.”
“Give me a break,” Shikamaru grunted and Asuma laughed some more.
Asuma did something Shikamaru had not expected. He passed an arm around Shikamaru’s shoulder in a sort of hug. Shikamaru tensed. He was not used to hugs. His mother wasn’t the type to dispense loving gestures freely, and his dad, although more mellow and vocally affectionate than his wife, was also uncomfortable with any physical display of love and support.
“I’m proud of you, kiddo,” Asuma said, with that deep and serious voice he used when he wanted to drill something inside his students’ skulls.
That made Shikamaru uncomfortable because he wasn’t used to praises, and also because it made him feel good about himself, for once. Still, the hug was a little too tight and Shikamaru wanted nothing more than to get out of his teacher’s grip.
“Sensei,” he replied with his whinny student voice, “boundaries.”
“Alright,” Asuma chuckled. He removed his arm and playfully messed Shikamaru’s hair. “I think it’s important to hug your kids.”
“I’m not your kid.”
“You’re a little bit my kid,” Asuma insisted. “Besides, you and I were raised by fathers born on the battlefield who can’t deal with their feelings because they were taught to kill them all. Don’t you want to break the cycle?”
“Didn’t you grow up during wartime too?” Shikamaru asked back to avoid the question.
“Yeah, and I’m a perfectly balanced adult with no emotional scar at all,” Asuma mocked. He dragged on his cigarette before exhaling the smoke. “My dad never hugged me, you know?”
“That’s too much information, sensei.”
Asuma chuckled.
“All I’m saying is, we gotta be better than the previous generation,” he added more seriously.
“A shinobi has to bury his feelings,” Shikamaru retorted.
“It’s true,” Asuma admitted, “but no shinobi is really capable of doing that all the time. People love other people, that’s bound to happen, otherwise you and me wouldn’t be there.” He winked at Shikamaru who felt his guts freeze, hating the topic. “The trick is to know when to get your feelings out of the grave,” Asuma continued. “I’m not ashamed of telling you, Ino and Chouji that I love you guys. I’m hella proud of y’all too and you’ll always have a special place in my heart.”
“Sensei,” Shikamaru interrupted with his whinny voice again, “are you dying or something?”
Asuma laughed.
“Damn it, I’m trying to be serious. Let me be for a minute, would you?”
“Sounds annoying.”
“Too bad, kid. Listen, Shikamaru,” Asuma said, “it’s true I grew up during the war. My father was the Hokage. If I saw him, it was for a mission report or to get orders. And that sucked, but it also made me realize something: I didn’t want to become like him.”
Shikamaru had trouble picturing the Third Hokage as a heartless monster, honestly. The Third was still around Konoha as the Head of the Academy. Shikamaru had seen him every time he had been sent to his office because he didn’t pay attention in class. The Third was an old man, a hard man too but he was benevolent with the students. He wouldn’t excuse everything – Shikamaru had had his fair share of extra class cleaning and essays about his attitude over the years – but the kind smile he had when watching the kids told a lot about him too.
“Well, you’re not Hokage so...” Shikamaru mocked.
“Smartass,” Asuma chuckled. “I wouldn’t want the job even if Minato-sensei begged me to be the Fifth but, no, I was talking on a personal level. I didn’t want to be the sort of man who’d never tell his kids he loved them. I think it makes me stronger, and I think it’s making you stronger too,” he added, pocking Shikamaru in the chest. “Because you wanna protect and go back to those people.”
“But I know I love my parents and my friends,” Shikamaru replied, “and I know I wanna protect them and go back to them.”
“Do they know though?” Asuma asked.
“Yeah.”
“Did you tell them?”
“No,” Shikamaru admitted after a second of hesitation.
“So you assume they know.”
“It’s obvious.”
“Is it?” Asuma insisted. “Because you’ve been pretty grumpy and insufferable lately.”
“I’m a teenager. I’m moody.”
“That’s no excuse,” Asuma laughed. He tried to put his arm around Shikamaru’s shoulders again but he stopped at the last second and messed his hair again instead. “You should be more open about your feelings. It shows strength and confidence.”
Shikamaru looked at the ground as he walked silently. Be more open? How could he when it would cause a crisis in the clan? He was his father’s only child, son and heir. Being more open would cost him his place and his parents’ marriage, maybe even his father’s status as head of the Nara. How could he be that selfish?
Asuma didn’t say anything else as they walked to the administration buildings, mistaking Shikamaru’s bitter silence for reflection. They climbed the stairs up to the top level and unsurprisingly went for the Hokage’s office. There were people waiting in front of the door: Shiranui Genma, one of the Hokage’s personal guards and coolest guy in Konoha, as always, and four shinobi Shikamaru didn’t know, all in uniform.
The tallest one had dark short hair and a familiar face Shikamaru couldn’t quite place. He wore a happori kind of forehead protector instead of the classic bandanna but Shikamaru had seen weirder things. He looked like he was more or less the same age as Asuma. The three others were younger but they didn’t look like his students. One of them was older than the two others, maybe in his mid-twenties. He had long black hair attached in a loose pony tail and he wore rectangular glasses with thick frames. He looked tired and somewhat annoyed, but also very calm and aware of his surroundings. Shikamaru knew that kind of demeanor. Hatake Kakashi had the same, collected, in control. That guy was probably the most dangerous one of the bunch, especially considering the short sword over his right shoulder. Shikamaru had seen Anbu members with that kind of weapon before.
Next to him was another dark-haired shinobi. Shikamaru didn’t know if they were a man or a woman, but they were young, maybe late teens to early twenties. Two long bangs framed their face and the rest of their hair was attached in a bun. They gave a friendly vibe without effort, but with an edge, something sad, somehow. Shikamaru didn’t see any Konoha leaf on them but they wore the standard flack jacket nonetheless, above a dark green with cream border haori.
The last one was blond with short hair, blue eyes and a big smile, and he was talking casually with Genma, which wasn’t surprising because Genma was a chill guy who knew everybody due to his job. It was the first time Shikamaru saw them though. The blond guy was clearly a teenager but Shikamaru didn’t remember anyone looking like that in his class or kids in the upper and lower years. It happened sometimes. Some kids were more gifted than others. They entered the Academy before the age of five and graduated fast. Some kids never went to the Academy at all. Those were secluded by their clans or were raised in the countryside, although it was pretty uncommon nowadays.
The tall guy was the first to register Asuma and Shikamaru, waving at them from half a corridor away. The guy with the pony tail looked at Asuma and nodded slightly. The shinobi with the bun bowed politely. The teenager turned and gave them a big, bright smile.
“Asuma!” he waved enthusiastically.
No honorific, Shikamaru noted. They knew each other.
“Yo, Naruto!” Asuma saluted. He held his hand out and “Naruto” gave him a high five. “Do my eyes deceive me or did you finally grow up?”
“Seven centimeters!” the teenager replied, pointing an equal number of fingers.
“You’re still on the smaller end though,” Asuma mocked, patting his head. That was true. He was smaller than Shikamaru who wasn’t a giant either. “You’ll get there, eventually.”
“Very funny,” Naruto pouted, messing his hair to give them some volume back. “Dad’s tall, so it’s just a matter of time, I know it.”
“And who is this?” Tall Guy asked politely, pointing at Shikamaru.
The fact that nobody gave their name was telling. Jounin, for sure, who had probably taken a detour by one of the special branches. Heavy hitters then.
“Nara Shikamaru,” Asuma said with pride, patting Shikamaru in the back. “My pupil.”
“Yo,” Shikamaru said because he had no intention to be friendly to people he’d never work with. He even doubted he’d see them again in his lifetime, to be honest.
Come to think of it, the whole situation was weird. Shikamaru had supposed the Hokage had summoned him to make a jounin out of him, but why would those guys be here? Did one of them was a chuunin? Maybe the teenager but a guy his age he had never seen in his life was most likely out of his league, so already a jounin. A test, then? But Shikamaru knew there was no test to become jounin. The Hokage appointed the position at his discretion based on recommendations. A joined mission? Maybe Shikamaru was to replace one of those guys. If that was the case, he had made a great first impression – not that he cared.
Genma interrupted Shikamaru’s thoughts by opening the double doors. Naruto, Tall Guy and Pony Tail entered, leaving Bun in the corridor. Shikamaru followed with Asuma.
The office hadn’t changed since the previous day, with its large windows giving on the city behind the wooden desk where the Hokage was sitting, two sofas around a rectangular coffee table, a clock above the door behind Shikamaru and that was it. No papers, no scrolls, no library full of books or any decoration whatsoever. The Fourth was known for keeping a tidy office and dealing with the paperwork as soon as it arrived on his desk. “The Yellow Administrator” had been his unofficial nickname through the guys stuck in office jobs, derived from “The Yellow Flash”. He had gotten that nickname from his incredible speed, faster than lightening. Even the Fourth Raikage had publicly admitted his peer the Fourth Hokage was the fastest man alive. For now, he was sitting at his desk with two brown envelops in front of him.
Unsurprisingly, Shikamaru’s father was here too, on the right side, close to the desk. Shikaku was pretty cozy with the Hokage due to his job, numerous years as comrades in the various wars they had fought and so on. They weren’t exactly best friends, and due to ranks Shikaku would probably refuse to call the Hokage anything but his superior, but they knew and liked each other well, Shikamaru would say.
Sitting on the sofa on the right was the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, in his comfy red and white kimono and robes he hadn’t abandoned after the torch was passed, and that was a surprise. He certainly wasn’t there for Shikamaru. On the left sofa was a giant of a man, with long, bushy white hair. His forehead protector sported the kanji for oil. He wore a green short shirt kimono with a red haori and wooden sandals. A big red and green scroll rested against the arm of the sofa. Clearly a shinobi, a colorful one at that, but Shikamaru had no idea who this guy was, and Naruto calling him “Jiraiya-shisho” didn’t ring any bell.
“Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru,” the Hokage called forth and the two boys came to stand at attention in front of the desk. Asuma stood next to Shikaku while Tall Guy and Pony Tail stayed behind the guy with white hair. “Congratulations,” the Hokage continued. “From today on, you are jounin.”
Now’s your chance to tell him to fuck off, Shikamaru told himself as he saw Naruto smile in the corner of his eyes. He wondered if he would get arrested for that. Punished, probably. Demoted, hopefully. He didn’t want to be a jounin. He didn’t have to be a jounin to take over from his father. He didn’t want to go on missions on his own. He didn’t want the added responsibilities, danger and inherent stress. Shikamaru had forgotten his dreams of a quiet life when he had become a chuunin, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to complicate his life that much either. He still had no ambition and he knew he couldn’t have any because he was his father’s son anyway. He was part of a trio of hyper-specialized ninja who had been working together for generations. He wasn’t going to be anything but what people expected him to be, so why bother making him a jounin? He wasn’t even that good with fire and earth techniques, he was mediocre at best in taijutsu and his genjutsu was laughable. He should really tell the Hokage to fuck off.
But Shikaku put a hand on Shikamaru’s shoulder and squeezed a little, with a big, confident smile. He said he was so proud and Shikamaru didn’t have the guts to destroy this moment. He thanked his father and looked elsewhere to distract himself. Naruto was high-fiving his teammates who obliged him with more or less enthusiasm, and then the old man and the Third Hokage. So that answered that. Was he related to the Sarutobi clan? But his name was Uzumaki. If Shikamaru remembered his history correctly, the First Hokage’s wife had been an Uzumaki. Their marriage had brought the clan into Konoha’s peace, but the Uzumaki had stayed outside the village, contrary to the Nara, for example, who had built their neighborhood in the outskirt of the growing city. The red spiral on Shikamaru’s back had been their symbol, originally. Years later, the Uzumaki clan had been almost wiped out by ninja from the Mist during the Second Shinobi War.
Naruto high-fived Asuma again, skipped Shikaku, and presented his hand to the Hokage. To Shikamaru’s surprise, the Fourth high-fived him back with his left hand. Shikamaru frowned. What the fuck?
“All right, calm down a little, Naruto,” the Fourth said, clearly amused, and Naruto stood at attention again. The Hokage handed them one thick envelop each. “This is the paperwork you have to do and give me back before tomorrow noon. Standard stuff: renewal of your registration, summary of your record, salary, will, and so on. Read it carefully. You have today off to do that, and tomorrow a jounin will give you a tour and show you the ropes. Asuma-kun volunteered.” Asuma waved at them from the corner. “You can report for your first assignment as jounin the day after tomorrow. From now on, you can also receive special orders directly from me, or so called S-rank missions. Those are not optional. If I select you specifically for a mission, it means you can do the job, don’t ever doubt that.”
Shikamaru and Naruto nodded.
“I have a question,” Naruto said, rising his hand.
“Let me finish first,” the Fourth replied. “As jounin, you are now both adults regarding the law of Konoha, which means you have the right, and the duty, to vote when required. You can also be sanctioned as adults. However, you can not apply to be a teacher before your twenty-third birthday. You may be adults on paper, but you are still minors under the law of the Land of Fire. Which means no drinking, no gambling and that sort of things.”
No marriage until his eighteenth birthday then, Shikamaru thought, relieved. Exception could be made if his father were to die before, but Shikaku rarely left the village nowadays and he was in good health. That gave Shikamaru a year and four months of relative freedom until everybody started to nag him about his lack of interest for girls.
“I’ll take your questions now. Naruto?”
“Me being a jounin, that means I can go on missions alone, right?”
The Hokage gave him a sorry smile. Shikamaru frowned. That was highly unusual. He had seen the Hokage with that sort of expression only once and it had been reserved to Hatake Kakashi, his disciple.
“Your case is a bit particular,” the Hokage said. “Besides, the type of missions you are sent on requires a team anyway, so Yamato and Itachi-kun will still accompany you.”
Naruto lost his smile.
“But you said–”
“It’s a no, Naruto,” the Hokage interrupted, “and there’s no arguing.”
“You’re not done with your training anyway,” Jiraiya added.
Shikamaru guessed he was Naruto’s teacher – the biggest clue was being called “master” by Naruto, really. But what about Tall Guy and Pony Tail? Shikamaru’s teammates weren’t invited, so he doubted Naruto’s teammates would be too.
“Oh come on,” Naruto clicked. “I can kick your ass whenever.”
“I’ll allow you to go on mission alone when you can kick mine,” Pony Tail said.
Another teacher? In any case, Naruto made a face, like it was an impossible task. That made the giant with white hair laugh out loud.
Shikamaru frowned a little. He was missing some crucial information to understand the conversation perfectly. The situation, even. Naruto was way too comfortable in front of the Hokage.
He behaved around the Third and Asuma like he had known them all his life.
He had several teachers.
He had been raised in the countryside.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto, then the Hokage, then Naruto again.
Ah, so that was it.
“I can beat him,” the Hokage interjected and Pony Tail nodded.
“Of course you can!” Naruto yelled. “You’re the freaking Hokage!!”
“So I’ve heard,” he replied and Naruto grumbled. “Enough of that. Any other question? Shikamaru-kun?”
Did “fuck off?” count?
“No, Sir,” he said instead.
“All right then. Tomorrow at noon. You’re dismissed.”
Shikamaru was the first out of the office. Bun was still there, waiting for his teammates. Shikamaru ignored him and didn’t wait for Asuma or his dad either, aiming for the exit with purpose, the thick envelop under his arm. Asuma caught up to him as he was in the entrance of the main building.
“Let’s go celebrate, Shikamaru,” Asuma offered. “My treat.”
“Now?” Shikamaru frowned. “Why not tonight?” He was pretty sure his dad had already planned a party or something.
“I can’t tonight,” Asuma apologized. “Besides, Ino and Chouji are waiting for us already.”
“Oh so they knew before me,” Shikamaru snorted. “Great.”
“No they didn’t,” Asuma corrected. “I just told them to join us for lunch.”
Shikamaru stopped dead in his track.
“I don’t want to,” he said.
Asuma looked at him and Shikamaru didn’t avoid eye contact this time. He stared back at his teacher, with all the anger and resentment he could muster at that moment. That made Asuma smile a little, a soft, sad smile. He took a cigarette from his pack and lit it.
“Too bad, Shikamaru.”
He didn’t add anything and started walking in the direction of the exit.
“That’s it?” Shikamaru shouted.
“That’s it,” Asuma replied. He turned to face Shikamaru. “There’s nothing I could say right now that you want to hear, and I don’t want to argue with you.”
Asuma was right. Shikamaru was pissed because of the whole situation and he just wanted to vent his frustration on someone. Asuma didn’t want to be that someone, unsurprisingly. He had never been the kind of guy to like fighting without a good reason.
“You coming?” Asuma asked, not at all troubled by Shikamaru’s attitude.
“No,” Shikamaru replied.
“Alright, suit yourself. See you tomorrow.”
If there was disappointment in his voice, it was well hidden, and Shikamaru felt like an ass. He pushed the feeling aside and went straight home. Yoshino was preparing lunch but Shikamaru ignored her and went to his room, slamming the door.
He was able to skip lunch and ignore his parents most of the afternoon, but at some point guests started to arrive and Shikamaru had to get out of his bedroom. His maternal grand-parents were there, a bunch of his dad’s cousins and their children too. Shikaku had no siblings alive, so Shikamaru had no cousin of the first degree. Other important members of the clan were there too, without their kids. They were distantly related, enough for Shikamaru to not really care anyway. His father’s mother knew everyone and their lineage. That was her role, and that would be the role of Yoshino when Shikamaru would become the head of the family. That role was called the Genealogist. They were in charge of keeping track of the bloodline and abilities of everyone in the clan. Eventually, his grandmother would find him a suitable wife and Shikamaru would have no choice but to accept. He was well aware of his grandmother looking at the young unwed women in the room. He hadn’t wanted this party to begin with, but his grandma ruined his mood for good.
It was close to midnight now. Shikamaru had planned his escape already but his dad kept getting in his way one way or the other. So Shikamaru was really grateful when his mother came back to the reception hall to tell him someone was at the door for him. Some drunk great-great-uncle joked it was his girlfriend but Shikamaru ignored him and left the room a bit stiff after so much sitting around. He was expecting Ino or Chouji at the door even if his mom hadn’t told him so, so he was really unprepared when he saw the other new jounin waiting for him in the outdoor genkan, looking at the goldfish in the mossy fountain on the right. He had changed into civvies, his orange T-shirt a bright spot contrasting with the purple and pink hydrangeas. Naruto stood up as Shikamaru arrived and took a wooden box maybe thirty or forty centimeters long with him.
“Congratulations for your nomination!” Naruto said, presenting the box.
Shikamaru didn’t take it. He stared at Naruto instead and it took twenty-three seconds for the other guy to shift his position.
“Huh, Asuma gave me the wrong address, maybe?” he asked, clearly goofing.
“Why did you come here?” Shikamaru asked in return.
“Because we graduated together?” Naruto tried. “Congrats, us!” And he wooed like a crowd in the background would. Shikamaru frowned. Naruto took the situation a little more seriously. “We’re the only new jounin for this session, y’know? It’s a pretty big deal.”
“It’s not like we’re gonna work together,” Shikamaru replied.
“So?” Naruto made a face. “Like I said, we graduated together. I’m not gonna ignore you if I see you around just because we’re not going to be on the same team. And what do you know about that anyway?”
“I know you’re going to be stuck with your bodyguards for a while, Naruto-sama.”
“Don’t call me that,” Naruto clicked.
“But you’re the son of the Hokage.”
Naruto took a step back. Shikamaru snorted and he sat crossed legged on the wooden floor.
“You’re way too casual with him and the Third,” he explained.
“It’s not like it’s a secret,” Naruto replied, uneasy. “But, still, don’t tell anyone.”
“I’m not gonna ‘cause I don’t care,” Shikamaru shrugged.
“Oh,” Naruto said, genuinely surprised. “Cool. Not gonna call you Shikamaru-sama either then.”
“Well, I’ll be the head of the Nara clan at some point,” Shikamaru teased, “and you’re only the ‘son of’, so...”
Naruto looked at him for a second before grinning, the mischievous kind of grin. Shikamaru liked that grin more than he could admit, even to himself.
“You’re kind of an asshole, aren’t you?”
Shikamaru shrugged, amused despite himself.
“Can you go now? I’m the only one sober,” he added, pointing at the back of the house. “It’s annoying but I’m sort of the adult in the room at the moment.”
“Open that and I’m out of your way,” Naruto said, handing him the box again.
“What is it?” Shikamaru asked, not moving to take the present.
“Open it.”
“If it’s your dick, I’m not interested.”
“How could it...” Naruto started, annoyed, but he clicked his tongue instead of finishing his sentence and shoved the box into Shikamaru’s lap. “There,” he added, crossing his arms. “Open it.”
“I’m not gonna get you anything,” Shikamaru warned.
“I don’t care,” Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes. “Open it so I can go back home before anyone notices I’m not there. I’d rather not have all the Anbu looking for me the day I become a jounin. It was fun when I was six, but I’m too old for that now.”
“Hmm,” Shikamaru waited, rubbing his chin exaggeratedly.
“Seriously, dude!” Naruto yelled. “Open it! Open the box!”
“That reminds me,” Shikamaru pointed out just to annoy Naruto a little more, “did you do the paperwork yet?”
“I’ll tell you if you open the box,” Naruto coaxed him.
“Tell me and I might open the box.”
Naruto stared at Shikamaru for a moment but eventually gave in.
“Yes, I did,” he sighed. “The Captain made me do it right away.”
Shikamaru had no idea who “the captain” was – not that he really cared. He just wanted to waste some time. For some reason, he liked Naruto’s expressiveness. He yelled and showed his emotions without a care in the world. Shikamaru envied him a little, maybe. He hadn’t had much room to express himself over the years. Asuma had encouraged it somewhat, but Shikamaru had never used the opportunity. He was too accustomed to shut his emotions down for that.
“And you?” Naruto asked.
“Me what?” Shikamaru asked, lifting his eyes.
“The paperwork! Did you do it? I can take it back with me if you want.”
“Ah, no,” Shikamaru replied, bothered by the sudden proposal. “I didn’t even open the envelop.”
“What? Why?”
“I have a reputation,” Shikamaru said.
“As the world slowest opener of things?” Naruto snorted. “I noticed.”
“I never turned a paper in time at the Academy.”
“Why that?”
Shikamaru shrugged. Back at the Academy, it was pure laziness. He’d read the books and scrolls he was given, but writing reports and stuff like that bored him to death. He had only turned papers he’d known would count for his passage to the next class and ignored the others, telling the teachers a deer had eaten them or something. He had been more serious about his paperwork since he had become a chuunin because there were more consequences. The Administration didn’t joke about reports, they had to be given back in time. They were more flexible with D-rank mission reports, but C and B mission reports had to be turned in within twenty-four hours. A-rank were immediate.
But this wasn’t a mission report. Now Shikamaru was just avoiding a problem he didn’t want to deal with. He looked at a couple of moths headbutting the humming neon lamp above him in the entrance. It was fitting.
“Did you want to become a jounin?” Shikamaru asked Naruto instead of answering his question.
“Well, yeah, kinda,” Naruto replied.
“Kinda?”
“It means I’m good, right?” Naruto tried to explain. “It means I’m worth something and capable of con–“ He stopped talking, catching himself before he could say something he wasn’t supposed to, apparently.
“Do you tie your self-worth to your rank?” Shikamaru asked just to fuck with the guy.
“Huh…,” Naruto hesitated.
“Kinda pathetic,” Shikamaru snorted.
“Then I’m pathetic,” Naruto declared, frowning. “And you, Mr. Definitively-An-Asshole, did you want to become a jounin?”
“No,” Shikamaru answered honestly. “I didn’t need the promotion and would’ve been fine without it. I considered telling the Hokage to fuck off this morning, actually.”
“Can’t blame you,” Naruto smirked, “I have that urge from time to time too.”
He didn’t give time to Shikamaru to analyze that and bent over, putting his hands on his knees for support. He was suddenly very close and that made Shikamaru uncomfortable. He didn’t have to move much to bang his forehead against Naruto’s. That was a silly idea but somehow very tempting. He wanted to try and keep looking at those blue eyes at the same time to see the kind of reaction Naruto would have.
“Now,” Naruto said, and maybe his voice was gentler than before. “Open. The. Box.”
He tapped on the wood with his finger, accentuating each word, before standing back up, all serious and somewhat looking older due to the shadows hardening his traits. Shikamaru found him handsome and that was enough to throw him back on the hard concrete of reality. Stomach hurting, he pushed away all his feelings and sighed as he, finally, opened the box. There was a kodachi without a hand-guard laying on a bed of blood red satin. The blade was the dark shade of chakra-absorbing steel, like Asuma’s knives, with small swirls of mixed metals. Shikamaru wanted to take the kodachi in hand badly to try its balance, even if he already knew it was perfect, but he closed the box instead.
“I can’t accept that,” he said, embarrassed.
“I don’t have time for that,” Naruto whined, throwing his head back.
“It’s way too expensive,” Shikamaru ranted.
“I don’t care,” Naruto replied. “Please accept this gift so I can go home and not get yelled at!”
“I told you I wouldn’t get you anything back!”
“Then don’t, it’s fine!”
“Still! It’s too much!”
“So you owe me,” Naruto decided, pointing a dramatic finger at Shikamaru. “A favor! A big favor! And that’s it! I’m going home! See you tomorrow!”
“It’s already tomorrow,” Shikamaru pointed out.
“Raaaaaah!”
Naruto turned back and walked out of the genkan without another word, leaving Shikamaru with a box containing a blade costing three months of his salary on his lap, overgrown hydrangea, goldfish in a mossy fountain and moths blinded by a humming neon lamp. In the back of the house, drunk men and women he barely cared about still celebrated his promotion, unaware of the overwhelming discomfort Shikamaru was experiencing.
He didn’t sleep that night. He just laid on his bed, ignoring the box under it, and the people around him in the house until it was time to go to the Administration. Shikamaru didn’t think. He took a quick shower, got dressed, ignored the box when time came to pick his weapons, grabbed the envelop and filled in the forms on his way, not caring at all if his handwriting was the level of a five year old. He mostly had to put his signature here and there anyway. The new pay was good, good enough to have his own apartment. He could if he got the permission from his father, but that was never going to happen so Shikamaru pushed that thought back.
The will was trickier. He had to choose a next of kin. Ino and Chouji were out because they’d die all three together, probably. His parents were supposed to die before him so they were out too. Asuma? Meh. He wasn’t close enough to any other member of his class, and they were all ninja too anyway. Everyone he knew was a ninja, now that he thought about it, but some had jobs that wouldn’t kill them at random. Shikamaru put the names of Yoshino’s first kids. They were from the Nara clan, so his few possessions would stay in the clan.
His few possessions.
Shit.
Shikamaru scratched the page as he entered the Administration’s buildings and wrote that he left nothing to no one and that his possessions should be burned without inventory if he were to die. That’d take care of that, he thought as he climbed to the top of the tower. Genma saw him from a distance and opened the door of the office. The Hokage was as his desk with a bunch of paperwork, a chuunin Shikamaru didn’t care to recognize next to him with even more paperwork in his arms. Naruto and Asuma were sitting on the sofas, both in uniform, drinking tea. Shikamaru could hear the clock ticking in the silence that accompanied him inside the office but he didn’t look back to see if he was late or not. He walked to the desk with a confidence he didn’t feel, and handed the envelop back to the Hokage. The Fourth took it without a word, browsed the papers, didn’t say anything about the terrible handwriting, and eventually put it down on the right side of the desk.
“All right, everything seems to be in order,” the Hokage said. “Asuma-kun will show you around now and after that you’re free for the afternoon. I expect you to report tomorrow morning for your first mission as a jounin.”
“Yes, Sir,” Shikamaru answered.
He didn’t look at the clock when he walked outside the office and started to breath again once the door closed. Naruto pocked him in the shoulder with his fist.
“Hey! You managed to open an envelop! Congrats!” he teased him.
“You’re hilarious,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
Asuma gave them a confused look, which Shikamaru ignored and Naruto just answered with a bigger smile. Asuma shrugged.
“Alright, newbies, follow me.”
Some parts of the administration weren’t accessible to chuunin and genin. Even jounin couldn’t go all over the place, but now Shikamaru and Naruto had access to a new library with scrolls of higher level techniques, the register of all the ninja in Konoha with their statistics, the register of the students at the Academy, the register of wanted shinobi also known as the Bingo Book, and a bunch of other tools a jounin could find useful. Asuma didn’t put much emphasis on anything until he arrived before the double doors of the jounin lounge. Shikamaru knew the room only by name. He had heard Haruno Sakura complain she had had to come here to find her teacher, Hatake Kakashi, a bunch of times.
It looked like a teachers lounge, Shikamaru thought, although with more plants and corners. He had had his fair share of the one at the Academy because he was always called at a teacher’s desk for his missing homework. There were desks with a few jounin he didn’t know at it, studying stuff he didn’t care about. There were sofas next to the windows with coffee tables and one or two ashtrays behind plants. In the back, a fridge, two microwaves and a water boiler next to a sink full of dirty cups and other kitchenware. Signs like “don’t microwave fish” or “wash your stuff” were all around the area but nobody seemed to pay much attention to them. Asuma told them it was their duty as newbies to clean the fridge once in a while, then pushed them in front of a huge cork board full of papers of all sorts. He spoke before Shikamaru could really take an interest in it.
“This, newbies, is the most important board of the city,” he said dramatically. “Without it, the Administration collapses. This is the jounin bulletin board!”
“It’s full of classifieds,” Naruto noted.
“Exactly!”
Shikamaru frowned and turned his attention to the board. He saw fliers for music bands, apartments, restaurants, old furniture, puppies and kittens, even a few romantic ones in the middle. One said: “For a good time with a good guy, ask Genma (guys only) (random days off) (no condom = no good time).” Shikamaru quickly looked at other papers and his eyes were caught by the name of his teacher. It was number six on a list. “Officious list of Konoha’s strongest shinobi!! (do not share)” was written at the top in a super energetic handwriting that could also be found on the third spot in the list: Maito Gai. The list went as follow: Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai, Shiranui Genma, Yamato, Sarutobi Asuma, Namiashi Raidou, Mitarashi Anko, Hyuuga Hiashi and Ebisu.
Yamato was a guy in Naruto’s team, but it probably was a codename if there was no family name attached to it. And “Itachi” was also a name the Hokage had used yesterday when speaking about Naruto’s team. Which meant two of the top ten shinobi in Konoha were working with him. Damn. Shikamaru had mocked Naruto yesterday with the bodyguard thing, but that seemed to be a plausible explanation. The idea was reinforced by the fact that two of the three personal guards of the Hokage were also on that list.
Naruto eventually noticed the list too and frowned.
“Why isn’t Dad on the list?” he asked to Asuma.
“Because the Hokage is not included,” he replied, insisting on the title. “My old man isn’t here either, see?”
“And you’re number six,” Naruto noted, crossing his arms. “This list is all wrong. Itachi, I agree, but Kakashi? I can beat him on stamina alone.”
“Look who’s bragging,” Asuma mocked.
“Yamato should be higher up,” Naruto continued, “Gai-san only knows taijutsu, and I know I can beat Genma, I did it when I was, like, six.”
“At janken,” Asuma corrected.
“Details. You? Heh, on a good day, you can probably scratch me.”
“I don’t fight midgets,” Asuma replied to avoid the confrontation and Naruto visibly pouted.
“Raidou is pretty terrifying,” he kept on going, “I’d have to think about something. Anko-san is too distracting, with her big b–“
“Language,” Asuma interrupted.
“Hyuuga Hiashi, I don’t know him, but the Hyuuga are the strongest clan in Konoha, right?”
“Yep,” Asuma confirmed. “Hiashi-sama is the head of his clan though so show some respect when you speak about him.”
“Noted. And Ebisu, I beat him when I was twelve so it’s not like he’s exceptional or anything. So the list should go: Itachi, Yamato, Raidou, me, Kakashi, you, Genma.” He counted on his fingers.
“You’re missing three,” Shikamaru helped.
“Yeah but I don’t know about the others,” Naruto said. “I’d have to fight them to know for sure.”
“You’re not gonna fight anyone,” Asuma interjected as he pushed Naruto away from the board. “Besides, it’s just Gai’s stupid list and your point of view is very skewed.”
“You’re saying that ‘cause you’re just afraid to fight me,” Naruto mocked.
“I’m not,” Asuma snorted.
“Prove it.”
“I don’t have to. Now, to the next exhibit, if you will.”
But Asuma’s presentation was interrupted by the door of the lounge sliding open and a shinobi Shikamaru knew well entered, visibly pissed. He was a little taller than Shikamaru, dark spiky hair expertly dressed, wearing a black T-shirt with a wide, high collar and regular pants, weapon pouch at his belt: Hatake Kakashi’s best student, Uchiha Sasuke, last of his clan. He was a skilled shinobi, probably jounin level if it wasn’t for his personality and rebellious attitude. Shikamaru didn’t like him much, too haughty, too cocky. Besides, he knew Sasuke didn’t like him either since their first chuunin exam. Shikamaru had passed, Sasuke hadn’t. Since then, Sasuke had a grudge with Shikamaru, to which Shikamaru refused to answer.
And now Shikamaru was in the jounin lounge with Asuma and another guy in the middle of the day. Sasuke was smart, he could put two and two together, and by the look he gave Shikamaru, it didn’t take him long. Shit. Shikamaru wouldn’t hear the end of it now that Sasuke-sama was once more a rank lower than him.
“Oh, Sasuke,” Asuma called after Sasuke had stared angrily at Shikamaru for a few seconds. “Are you looking for Kakashi?”
“Yeah,” Sasuke replied, barely polite. “Have you seen him?”
“Nope. Good luck finding him though.”
“Thanks,” Sasuke snorted and left, sliding the door behind him with a tad too much force.
“That’s one of Kakashi’s students?” Naruto asked, suddenly excited.
“Yep,” Asuma and Shikamaru replied at the same time.
“He’s good?”
“You are not fighting him either,” Asuma grunted. “Damn, what’s up with you?”
“I haven’t trained this morning,” Naruto ranted. “I have a bunch of energy piled up inside of me! I need to get it out!”
“Seems like you need a girlfriend more than a fight,” Asuma joked.
“I’m not allowed to,” Naruto whined. “The captain said it was a distraction and I should focus more on my training.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all, coming from him,” Asuma chuckled.
“But!” Naruto recovered, a mischievous smile on his lips. “He never said anything about a boyfriend.”
Some circuits in Shikamaru’s brain broke. He heard Asuma and Naruto joke about heteronormativity but he couldn’t register any new information at the moment. Naruto liked boys too (and girls but Shikamaru didn’t care at all), and he spoke freely about it despite who he was. It should have reassured Shikamaru, give him confidence and inspiration, but all he could think about was how unfair that was. Naruto didn’t have to become the head of a clan. He didn’t have to marry a woman and have children to perpetuate said clan. He was the son of the Hokage, but he wouldn’t have to succeed him or be a link in the long chain of a bloodline. He had to be strong and that was it. He was free to do what he wanted, to love who he wanted. It was unfair. It hurt.
And like every time Shikamaru hurt, he pushed the pain aside and replaced it with anger, anger at traditions, his clan, his parents, but mostly at himself. He hid his fists into his pockets and composed himself enough to be able to speak.
“Are we done?” he asked, his voice shaking a little.
Asuma looked at him and Shikamaru knew he knew something was wrong, but Asuma didn’t comment on it.
“I wanted to buy you guys lunch.”
“I have stuff to do with the clan,” Shikamaru lied and he didn’t care if he was caught red handed. “They’re waiting for me.”
Asuma didn’t say anything for a moment and eventually capitulated, like always.
“Alright. You can go.”
“Thanks,” Shikamaru replied, already walking to the door.
“Don’t be a stranger!” Naruto added in his back.
Shikamaru ignored him. He went through the door and it was like Naruto had never existed. That was perfectly fine with him.