Shikamaru Shinden Chapter 15

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PART THREE: HARD FIGHTS

CHAPTER 15

It was tough…

Even after his midnight shift was over, he didn’t have the will to go home. He was feeling overheated.

Shikamaru was walking a quiet forest path in the mountainous areas of Konoha, the moon high in the sky. It was full tonight, the shadows casting a harsh contrast on the ground that night.

He made a hand sign.

A sign he’d used many times since his childhood, his two hands clenched together, his front two fingers pressed against the other. He felt his chakra swirl in his stomach, similar to the stretches he’d do to warm up.

The shadow at his feet swayed, then turned jet black, shooting towards a tree. It snaked up the tree, lapping up the light on the dark blue ground, winding up as it went, spreading into branches twisting in every direction.

His chakra filled his shadow, making it dense. The shadow tightened around the tree’s trunk, making the tree groan and creak.

It was shadow binding at its extreme.

Still… It was not enough.

He forced all of his chakra into his shadow.

The tree’s trunk screamed, deep cracks forming along it.

Nearly…

The shadow faded and slithered away from the tree. Shikamaru had exhausted himself.

“Phew…”

With a deep sigh, he knelt down.

More than a decade had passed since the war. His skills had slipped so far that he couldn’t even crush a tree anymore. He had thought that he was merciless.

At the Five Kage Meeting, if Naruto hadn’t broken the bind that he had on Kurotsuchi and Chojuro… He shuddered at the thought. The shadow had broken, but the intention was to crush their necks. The thought was now unbearable.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. At least he believed that. He’d have fulfilled his dream of marrying an average woman, have children and then die peacefully.

His ideal life, at least when he was young. Reality had led him elsewhere.

He’d wasted his life at work, he’d wasted his wife’s love, wasted his child…

It all went well…

It was a luxury to worry about himself, Shikamaru knew that. Even then, he wished for an easy life, a no trouble life.

He’d finished his missions, down some liquor and complain to his wife and sleep comfortably after seeing his son’s sleeping face. Living and dying with that satisfaction, with such a life… His heart would be calm.

Troublesome! Troublesome! Troublesome! Troublesome! Troublesome!

“Troublesome!!!” Shikamaru shouted.

He threw the feelings in his heart in the air, digging his nails into the dirt.

“That’s unusual,”

Shikamaru suddenly heard a voice, but his eyes remained on his dirty fingers. From behind a tree came the dark figure of a man.

Black clothes.

“You know nobody in the village even dresses like that,” Shikamaru said.

The man slowly came closer, the moonlight gradually revealing his self. Black clothes, a black cloak, and cold dark eyes. A shiny white face looked down at Shikamaru.

“Back already?"Shikamaru asked.

The man nodded silently.

It was Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto’s rival and best friend. As a child, his brother has slaughtered his entire family and he had left the village to seek his revenge.

Until the end of the Fourth Ninja War that is, he’d come back to Konoha.

He’d started on the side of the Akatsuki, but come back to Naruto’s side. The had only ended because of him and Naruto.

They had fought one on one but had reconciled afterward. Sasuke’s actions had never been praised. He even had a bingo book entry. He had lost himself as a person and was no longer a typical shinobi. He now wandered the continent on Naruto’s behalf.

"I’m on my way to Naruto,” Sasuke said.

He was a strange figure. Shikamaru stood up and sighed.

“Things are tough for the both of us,” he said.

Sasuke stood at an angle, watching Shikamaru. Shikamaru’s mouth bent into a wonky shape.

“Because we’re in a situation where we can’t call you,” Shikamaru added.

The reports of the current climate in the Land of Earth and the matter of the Land of Flowers invasion had made it to him by now.

“I went through Kumogakure on my way here, quite a large amount of shinobi were gathered. Darui seems ready to move at a moments notice,” Sasuke said.

“Is that so?” Shikamaru said.

War was threatening to break out all over the world. Konoha should have been preparing.

Sasuke had power comparable to Naruto’s, so when Konoha went to war, they’d both be on the front lines.

“I pray that time won’t come,” Shikamaru said.

“We’re all working hard to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Sasuke said.

If he thought about it, Shikamaru had never talked to Sasuke one on one. At the academy, he’d always had the top scores, and despite being bored, Shikamaru had avoided him, unlike the cocky Naruto.

Since they had become shinobi, they’d become busy with duties. They’d had even fewer chances to talk when Sasuke had left the village. Naruto had stayed and yearned to fight together again. Shikamaru and Sasuke had drawn a line between them.

If he reasoned, Sasuke would have never have thought about Shikamaru once.

“I’ve been watching you for a while,” Sasuke said.

He stared from the shadows of the trees, Shikamaru remained silent.

“The Five Kage Talks, the Five Daimyo Talks and now the Continental Talks, they all show the true you,” Sasuke said.

“I’m not a god, I can’t be like that,” Shikamaru said.

He turned away at the right moment. On Shikamaru’s mental Shogi board, he could move past him. Every piece had a feeling to it, and it wasn’t easy to move beyond how Shikamaru predicted things to be.

It wasn’t all bad on the other hand. At the Five Daimyo Talks, the conditions offered by Ikkyu had saved the skin on Shikamaru’s neck.

With all the pieces on the board, Shikamaru’s whole self was the cost of the match.

“Because of you, we made it this far,” Sasuke’s words had a hidden meaning.

Shikamaru tilted his head down and snorted.

“Well for that idiot, you have to be you, cause you’re the one by his side. Because of that, he can be Hokage,” Sasuke said.

That idiot… (T/N Sasuke is saying Usuratonkachi here)

Sasuke had always called Naruto that, it seemed to be words of affection. At least to Shikamaru, Sasuke would never admit to it.

“Heh…” Shikamaru laughed.

“What?” Sasuke glared.

Shikamaru rubbed his nose.

“I think you and I are very much alike,” Shikamaru said.

“I’m not like you,” Sasuke said.

“Okay then, you shit,”

“I’m no better than Naruto,” Sasuke said.

“That’s not true,”

Neither of them laughed, Sasuke’s face tightened.

“Will, your plan work?” Sasuke asked.

“I don’t know,” Shikamaru answered.

“We only have to do the Continental Talks. Each country has their own suspicions, the Earth Daimyo might change his mind, if he does, we all go to war and down that slippery slope,” Shikamaru said.

“I see, will you be OK? To me, you are better than Naruto when it comes to wanting peace for this world, you really want it,” Sasuke said.

He didn’t believe that.

But he couldn’t unwind the spiraling sorrows of their world, but they could both believe in a peaceful world from the bottom of their hearts.

Shikamaru took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it on his lips. Lightning suddenly ran up to the tip of it. Sasuke’s doing.

“It’s a luxury lighter,” Shikamaru said.

“Only for tonight,” Sasuke said.

The cigarette let out its purple smoke. Shikamaru inhaled it deeply, speaking as he poured smoke from his mouth.

“Naruto is the villages sun, he’s the one who desires peace more than anyone else,” Shikamaru said.

“His feelings are more than that. You’re the one taking on all this dirty work, so you have done much behind his back. You can always dream of peace,” Sasuke said.

“If he is going to shine, then I’ll dye myself in darkness for him,” Shikamaru said.

Sasuke looked down and smirked, Shikamaru opened his mouth, embarrassed.

“You’re already there for Naruto, but so am I,” Sasuke said.

“He’s the Hokage, he can’t leave Konoha. Because you’re on the outside, he can do his best and shine as Hokage,” Shikamaru said.

“And with you beside him, he can truly shine. He’s the light, you’re the shadows,” Sasuke said.

They were similar people, weren’t they?

The cigarette burnt down to the filter and Shikamaru stuffed it into his portable ashtray. Closing the lid, it sparked.

“When you say things like that, it really helps me. Just thinking that there are friends out there, it makes my fight a little easier,” Shikamaru said.

“Me too,” replied Sasuke.

Shikamaru felt like he understood Sasuke for the first time.