Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Together ❯ Clouds and Kunai ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Together
Type: Yaoi
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Shika/Chou, NC OC/Chou
Summary: Yaoi. Shika/Chou, NC OC/Chou. After tragedy strikes, both Chouji's physical and mental health are sent spiraling downward. His best friend is the only person able to save him, but will Shikamaru accept the challenge?
Beginning Date: March 11th, 2006
Finish Date: Unknown

Warning: Cursing, violence, future NC/rape, future lemon

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I just love to do evil things to the characters.

The sky slowly melted into rays of orange and pink as the sun set over the village of Konoha. The grass rustled in the cool breeze brought in with the coming of dark, and the only interruption to the peaceful silence was the crunching of potato chips, and the small grunts of contentment emitting from the boy.

Shikamaru rolled over onto his side to face his friend, reaching up and swiping the chip out of the pudgy fingers before plopping it into his mouth. "Oi, Chouji," he yawned, grabbing at a second chip only to have it held out of reach. "It's getting late."

Chouji grunted in response, grabbing the half empty bag of potato chips and stuffing it into his pocket. He stretched out his muscles as he stood, then reached his hand out to help his friend to his feet from his spot on the grass. "I guess. See you tomorrow then. I promised Asuma-sensei that I would at least train for a little while tomorrow, so you'll have to help me."

Shikamaru smiled slightly and nodded, casually slipping his hands into his pockets and turning in the direction of his home. "So troublesome..." He sighed, before heading off into the shadows.

Chouji chuckled at the comment, reaching into his pocket to retrieve the bag of chips again, now that his chips were a safe distance away from Shikamaru. He knew that his friend rarely meant anything by his comments, and he had long since stopped taking notice of them. He watched the retreating form for a moment, before shoving a handful of chips into his mouth and slowly strolling in the direction of his own house.

Chouji quickly crumpled the empty bag and stuffed it back into his pocket, crossing his arms over his chest and contemplating where to go from here. It was getting darker, but he wanted to eat before he headed home. He quickly scanned the area. From where he stood, he could hear the noises of the late night shoppers around all the Konoha shops and stalls. His eyes slid shut as he rose his nose into the air, sniffing around a bit before focusing on a nearby alley which would lead into the center of the village. Ramen! It wasn't the best thing he had ever eaten, but it was cheap, not too far out of the way, and he was really too hungry to care.

He threw a fist into the air triumphantly, and began towards the alley in hopes of some late night ramen. He stopped in his tracks, hunching down, hand instantly reaching to his kunai pouch. Three shinobi? No, four. Heading this way, very quickly. The boys eyes narrowed as he sensed an influx of chakra from one of the shinobi, and began to look around franticly when it, and a second presence, disappeared.

Two shinobi landed in front of Chouji in the alley, each with a kunai in hand. Both had Chuunin vests on, and marked Konoha hitai-ate. Missing nin. The ninja closest to him disappeared in a blur, only to reappear behind him. He turned his head quickly to follow the shinobi, then turned back at the sound of the second nin speaking.

"He's all yours, sensei." Chouji's eyes widened as he felt the chakra of a third shinobi return directly behind him, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head before slipping into unconsciousness.

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A soft whistling could be heard from Shikamaru as he slowly made his way down the dark street on the outskirts of the village. The tuneless song stopped as the shadow nin yawned, pulling one hand from his pocket and running it through a strand hair which had gotten loose from his hair band. His eyes scanned the tree line as his pace slowed. Whoever these shinobi were, they were making no effort to conceal their presence.

He quickly grabbed a shuriken from his pouch and took a defensive stance when one of the sensed shinobi headed for him. He pondered for a moment as the stronger of the four vanished, but quickly shoved it aside, throwing his own shuriken as he dodged a barrage of kunai. He quickly lept into the trees, grabbing a kunai, and eyeing his opponent who was casually leaning against the tree he stood on. The blond ninja wore a Chuunin vest identical to his own, the marked hitai-ate labeling him as a Konoha missing nin.

Deep violet eyes bore into him as the man spoke. "Just so you know," he breathed, "it's too late for your chubby friend. Ryo-sensei will surely dispose of him once he's had his fun." The blond chuckled, poofing into a cloud of chakra smoke as the kunai Shikamaru once held was embedded into a log which had once been the blond nin.

Shikamaru cursed himself inwardly before turning in the direction he had come from not too long ago. Not only was the blond nin heading that way, the stronger shinobi had reappeared. 'Dammit Chouji, hold on.' He lept off into the foliage, fingers rapped tightly around a new kunai.

He quickly dodged low laying branches as he headed in the direction of his friend. He stopped and crouched against the tree trunk when he sensed the shinobi up ahead. He peeked around the side of the tree. A tall, red headed man in what appeared to be a Konoha Jounin vest was mumbling something inaudible to the other three ninja in front of him. Shikamaru tensed as he recognized the blond ninja. He growled silently as the larger man lifted something - or someone - onto his shoulder.

"Daichi, if the Nara kid follows, catch him. I could have twice as much fun with both of them." The blond nin, apparently known as Daichi, nodded in response. Shikamaru's stomach lurched at the mention of his family name. How did that guy know who he was?

"Masuyo, Natsuko," The sensei looked at his two remaining students, "Scan ahead. Take out anyone who gets in the way. And do it quietly." Both nin lept away in a blur of black and brown. Their sensei smirked to himself as he glanced up into the tree Shikamaru was hiding in before shifting the large boy on his shoulder and following his students. Daichi yawned and ran a hand through his shoulder length hair before following behind.

"Dammit all!" Shikamaru hissed, digging his kunai into the side of the tree before turning and heading for the Hokage tower as fast as he could manage. 'There's no way I can take all four myself. And if they know my family, then they wont fall for my Kagemane or Kage Kanashibari. Shit!'

Shikamaru lept out of the trees onto the rooftop of a nearby building, hopping rooftop to rooftop through the center of the village. He ignored the various looks and stares he got from the villagers. He landed on the ground in front of the tower, catching his breath for a mere moment before running up the stairs and barging into Tsunade's office.

"-Found the two shinobi on guard at the village gates dead. Gutted is more like it." Both Tsunade and Asuma turned when Shikamaru threw the office doors opening, panting and leaning with his hands on his knees. He wiped the sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand. 'Take out anyone who gets in the way.' The voice rang in his mind, and he again wiped the sweat from his face. He flinched inwardly. This wasn't from the running, ninja could go much longer than that without breaking a sweat. This was something else. He was scared, and the whole room knew it.

Asuma blew a puff of smoke into the air before stubbing his cigarette out on the corner of the door, much to Tsunade's irritation, and put a hand on his students shoulder. "Shikamaru, calm down. The nin who killed the guards are probably long g-"

"Shut up!" Shikamaru snapped, making his sensei withdraw his hand and take a step back. "The nins who killed the guards. The four missing nin, they have Chouji! I don't know who they were, but their sensei had really long red hair, and he knew my family somehow. I think he probably knows Chouji's too."

Tsunade shot up from her desk and gestured for Shizune to enter the room. She must have been in the hall, or a corner that Shikamaru hadn't noticed, but that wasn't important right now. "Shizune, I want two ANBU squads searching the village for any nin who may have been hired to stay behind, and two squads and all available Jounin searching outside the village for any traces of them."

Shizune eyed Tsunade carefully before replying. "Ah, Tsunade-sama, doesn't that seem a little overboard for one hostage?" She ignored the glare Shikamaru threw at her, who was now breathing normally and leaned against the door frame across from Asuma.

"Don't question my orders," Tsunade hissed. "These aren't normal ninja. The Akimichi boy isn't the only one in danger. Send a messenger to each of the Jounin in the village if necessary." Shikamaru's stomach clenched tight. Asuma, after pulling another cigarette out of some place Shikamaru hadn't noticed, held the boy up by one arm. Dammit. Even for him, this kind of reaction was way below Chuunin level. Most Genin didn't need to be held up from collapsing because one shinobi had been kidnapped. Shinobi were kidnapped, held hostage, and killed all the time. It was part of being a shinobi. But...

"And Asuma-san." Asuma looked away from his student and to Tsunade at the mention of his name. "Before heading out with them, take him home. He needs to rest." She gestured to Shikamaru and sat back down in her chair.

Asuma began to lead Shikamaru out of the office before the teen pulled his arm away roughly and glared back at his sensei. "No, I'm going with you." His glare shifted to Tsunade, who by now was back out of her chair, leaning over the desk and sending an equally chilling glare back at the boy. "You can punish me however you wish when I return, but I'm getting him back."

The Hokage's eyes softened and she nodded to both shinobi in turn. "Fine, but don't expect the ANBU to help you if you slow them down." Shikamaru grinned slightly, shifting in his Chuunin vest and stretching the muscles in his back to prepare for yet another long and stressful run. Both shinobi disappeared down the hall and out of the Hokage tower in a blur.

AN: I posted the first chapter of this fic a few months ago, but I wasn't very happy with it, so I went back and changed a few things. Please note that this fic is on a bit of a mini-hiatus, meaning updates will be a slow for a while. I'll try not to be too slow with the updates.

As a note, I have changed it so that this fic takes place about four years after Naruto I, placing the boys at about 16 years old. Also note that I do not read the manga, so there are bound to be things that contradict something that's happened in the manga. I'm not sure if it will come up, but if it does, just assume Sasuke was brought back something after the time-skip, but before where this fic takes place. I might get more into it, or I might not. We'll see.

Also, please note that I do not necessarily know the proper spelling of most of the Jutsu, as I've seen about ten different spellings for Shika's Kage Kanashibari no Jutsu.

Until next time, read and review!