Chapter Text
Choji headed down the dirt road towards the Nara complex, picking at his bag of barbecue flavored chips. It was a routine he’d grown to enjoy; He didn’t always enjoy time to himself, but the walk to his best friend’s house was a comforting one, at least it was most of the time.
Usually it ended with a tired Mrs. Nara opening the door to invite him in, complaining that Shikamaru was probably still dilly dallying in his room, and offering his breakfast to Choji instead. It was a well worn tradition.
This morning, she opened the door and looked over him, as if she wasn’t expecting him to show up so soon. He blinked up at her and she blinked down at him before attempting a smile. If Choji didn’t know Shikamaru’s mother, he’d be far more concerned, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had upset her this morning.
“Hey, Mrs. Nara, is Shikamaru ready? We’re supposed to meet Ino and Asuma-sensei for breakfast.”
Her forced smile fell into a frown as she looked back into her home, gears turning in her mind.
“Mrs. Nara?” he prompted, concern now truly beginning to settle in his stomach.
She looked back towards him, smiling once more, but her eyes kept flashing inside, “Oh, mmhmm, he’s ready. Let me...let me go get...him.”
With that, she disappeared back into the house, closing the door behind her and forgetting to invite him in and offer him breakfast. Clearly something was on her mind. He reached for the door, tempted to follow her inside anyways. Could Shikamaru be hurt? Probably not. Maybe he was in some sort of embarrassing situation? He couldn’t be sure, not unless he went in. However, he hesitated to enter the house without Mrs. Nara’s express permission.
Before he could put thoughts into action, the door opened again, and Shikamaru stepped out onto the porch. Choji’s hand dropped to his side as he looked over his friend. Oh something was definitely up, he thought, eyebrows furrowing together. “What are you wearing?”
Shikamaru flustered, cheeks growing pink and nose wrinkling for the briefest of moments before he took a deep breath and regained composure. “I thought I’d try something new.”
Choji had never seen his friend blush like that, and his mind started jumping to conclusions he was hesitant to voice. Instead he asked, “Are you okay, Shikamaru? What’s going on?”
“What? Nothing. Why?” the words came out tersely, offense dripping into his voice, and he started walking away from the house. Choji’s mouth turned into a grimace as he followed after him.
“Just, I’ve never seen you dress so nice, especially not for training,” Choji said looking over Shikamaru again, trying to suss out what it was that his friend was hiding. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his earlier assumption returning, “Do you like Ino?”
“What?!” he asked, suitably offended by the insinuation, “Of course I don’t like Ino.”
Choji chuckled, pleased with his time-tested ability to ruffle Shikamaru’s feathers, “Alright then, what is it then?”
“I’m fine,” he sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest and scratching at a spot on his chin, “The chunin exams have me a little nervous, I guess.”
Choji’s smile dropped into something more contemplative as he looked over his friend again. The chunin exams were a big deal, and their results could decide their future careers as shinobi. Not to mention that there had never been so many strangers and outsiders wandering their village. It would be a completely new environment for both of them. Maybe he was seeing a side of Shikamaru that he hadn’t seen before. He stopped walking and Shikamaru mimicked him as they turned to face each other.
“Shikamaru…” he started. Shikamaru avoided his eyes, uncharacteristically. Whatever it was seemed to really be bothering him. Choji reached forward and gripped his shoulder tightly, shaking gently until Shikamaru finally met his gaze.
“It’s going to be alright, Shikamaru. You, me, and Ino? As long as we have each other, we can make it through anything. I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t be either,” he said, deadly serious. Shikamaru looked over his face, while his own remained unreadable. Choji didn’t like that, but eventually Shikamaru’s face settled into a touched smile.
“Thanks, Choji,” he said finally, tossing an arm around Choji’s shoulders and squeezing him affectionately, “Let’s go get Ino.”
Choji smiled and nodded, reaching into his bag of chips to get a bite to eat as they moved back into walking towards the restaurant to meet with Ino.
-
Temari’s heart seemed to be beating between her ears as she walked alongside Choji. She was sure that she’d blown her cover, but now they walked together in the quiet morning with nothing but Choji’s munching and the crunching of dirt beneath their feet as the backdrop. The morning had gone relatively smoothly with her soulmate’s parents name dropping every friend and acquaintance she could possibly need throughout the day, but she should have realized it was going to be harder than she expected once she saw Yoshino’s face when Choji showed up.
However, it seemed that despite his piercing gaze, if Temari could stay quiet, she could make it a week without being caught. Luckily, Shikamaru and Choji seemed to have an easy friendship, and Choji wasn’t a stranger to comfortable silence. Temari didn’t have anything like this at home. Friends her age were few and far between by necessity, and even her brother was more likely to fill silence than to sit in it. All she had to do was keep quiet.
“So...are you excited for the chunin exams?” Temari asked eventually, still adjusting to the soft rasp of Shikamaru’s voice. Choji looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, and Temari scolded herself. It was a mistake to bring up the chunin exams so soon after claiming that they were the source of her anxiety, but Choji was a very forgiving person when it came to her missteps.
“Yeah, I don’t know. Asuma-sensei says we’re ready for it, but I’m still not sure. We’ve only been genin for a few months. What do you think? Do you think we’re good enough to be chunin?” he asked, hand digging into his bag of chips.
Temari hummed in thought. She’d been officially a genin for a couple of years now, and had completed several C-Ranks thanks to her position as the Kazekage’s daughter, but she had no idea how much experience her current teammates had nor what kind of ninjutsu she’d be able to do in Shikamaru’s body.
All of a sudden, her anxiety about the chunin exams wasn’t an act.
“I think you were right,” she started, trying to sound sure of herself. “I think as long as the three of us work together, we can do anything.”
The words sounded hollow to Temari, but Choji seemed to accept her encouragement. She wasn’t the kind of person to repeat cliches or platitudes, and she was surprised that her soulmate could believably say something so corny. She wondered if he really believed the things he said, or the things Choji said in return.
“Shikamaru! Choji! I got us a table.” A blonde girl called at them from the entrance to the restaurant. Her eyes narrowed at who she assumed was Ino, one of the people that Shikaku mentioned the most in his covert briefing. She was the only girl that Shikamaru was close to, but Temari hadn’t considered her a romantic rival until Choji hinted at it.
They approached the blonde, and Temari scanned her with some distaste. There wasn’t anything wrong with her hair or clothes or even the confident smirk on her face, in fact Temari found herself appreciating the girl’s style. Did Shikamaru have a type? She thought to herself, nose wrinkling at the thought.
“Hey, guys,” Ino greeted brightly, leading them into the restaurant towards a table set for four. Temari took a seat by the window, hoping something as innocuous as where they usually sat would go unnoticed. Choji wordlessly took the seat beside him and Ino pulled into the booth on the other side. “How’s your morning so far?”
Temari and Choji looked at each other expectantly, both unsure as to what was safe to reveal to their companion. Temari took a deep breath to buy a little more time, but Ino was already tired of waiting.
“I’m trying to make conversation, and you two bozos are practically ignoring me,” she said snidely, crossing her arms, “We should be closer than ever. We have a big week coming up, don’t you know?”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Temari murmured, unthinking.
“Well, what does that mean?” Ino snapped, “Don’t you think we’re strong enough to become chunin?” I want to at least show-up Sakura.”
Who the fuck is Sakura? She thought to herself, eyebrows furrowing. She took another deep breath, this time to steady her temper.
“Of course I think we are, right Choji?” she said, tossing a glance in Choji’s direction. She was pleased when he nodded to support her. “But we’re not going to be able to do that if you’re focused on one person. There are going to be a lot of powerful foes taking this test, so of course it’s going to be a tough week.”
“I’m just saying you could afford to be nicer to me, Shikamaru,” Ino said haughtily, crossing her arms. Temari barked a laugh, earning a stare from both of them. Ino’s eyes fell on her and narrowed.
“What’s so funny, Shikamaru?” she asked. Temari’s blood ran cold, but before she could be sure that her cover was blown, a voice came from the end of the table.
“Good morning.” A tall, handsome man with an unlit cigarette slid in next to Ino and put his arm over the back of her seat, making himself comfortable. This must be Asuma, she thought to herself, looking him over. “What are we arguing about this morning”
“Oh, nothing,” Ino said brightly, the tenseness of the moment before hiding in her sweet tone, “Just how interesting this week is going to be.”
-
Shikamaru had never worked in covert operations, in fact, he’d only handled a few missions more difficult than dog walking or weed-pulling. It was just his luck that he’d be tossed unprepared into a situation with such high stakes. He was a genin spy amongst stronger foes with the intention to attack his home. What a drag.
They had left the camp in a hurry, eager to get to the leaf village, and Shikamaru couldn’t complain about that. While he regretted not having more time to plan before they started the chunin exams, at least he would have more resources in Konoha, especially if he could find an excuse to get away from Temari’s team. For now, all he had to do was keep a low profile and gather intel during their journey.
Ahead of him, Baki and Gaara moved swiftly through the forest, pausing only for Gaara to adjust the heavy gourd on his back. Beside him, Kankuro shifted uncomfortably in the silence. The older boy had been on edge all morning. He had hovered near Shikamaru with his eyes trained on Gaara as Baki spoke to him. If Shikamaru had to guess, Kankuro might be this skittish all the time, at least when it came to his little brother.
Usually, Shikamaru liked his space, but he didn’t mind Kankuro’s closeness. It meant Kankuro trusted him, and if Shikamaru could find the right words to ask the right questions, he’d be a good source of information that could protect his village, or at least mitigate the damage.
“So,” Shikamaru started, going over what intel he already had in his head, “Gaara has a soulmate, huh?”
For some reason, that wasn’t just surprising, but distressing. Shikamaru didn’t know how soulmates were treated in the sand, and he wasn’t sure if they were rare, or if there was something specific to Gaara that made this a bigger issue than just poor timing. Kankuro laughed, tone touched by histeria.
“Yeah, apparently. You notice how the kid bounces even when he’s standing still?” he asked.
Shikamaru had noticed it. The current Gaara had boundless energy, for sure, and he struggled to keep his mouth shut. He knew at least one moron his age that matched that description, but the thought made him scowl. If they had that loser on their team, not only would they struggle with the chunin exams, but he’d be no help to Shikamaru. “You think it’s someone from the leaf?”
“I dunno, probably,” he admitted, “I know there are gonna be other villages there, but there’ll be a lot more of those little leaf bastards running around. It’s more likely.”
Little leaf bastards, huh? Shikamaru stamped down the urge to smirk at the thought. Sure, Kankuro could have been posturing to feel big, but if they were expecting the leaf to go down easy, they had another thing coming. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. If he could ask the right questions in the right way… “What does that mean for…”
He tossed a meaningful glance in Baki and Gaara’s direction, “...you know?”
Shikamaru couldn’t help but be grateful for the other imposter. Besides the comfort of another stranger among Team Baki, it meant that he could be purposefully vague without drawing suspicion. Temari wouldn’t want the wrong information to get into fake-Gaara’s hands, right?
“I don’t know,” Kankuro said honestly, “He’s kind of the linchpin, right? We’re going to have to tell father.”
Their father? It seemed unlikely that Kankuro would make a point of telling someone irrelevant to their mission, and there was an undercurrent of fear that told him that there would be consequences to their father’s anger. Shikamaru locked that away with what he hoped was a distressed frown, “What do you think he’ll make of this?”
“Well, surely he didn’t see this coming,” Kankuro sniffed, looking forward towards Gaara and Baki, “What do you think is going on with...you know?”
“Shit, I didn’t think about that,” Shikamaru huffed, mostly because he had no idea what ‘that’ was. He hadn’t counted on Kankuro being vague in response.
“Well, you better start thinking about it,” he grumbled, “Because if Gaara still has his abilities, our cover could be blown.”
Shikamaru furrowed his brows, “What do you mean if Gaara still has his abilities?”
Kankuro waved a hand dismissively, scowling, “I don’t know how this whole soulmate shit works.”
Shikamaru bit back a snort. He grew up with stories about his parents’ swap as young teens, and while he was generally disgusted by their reminiscing, it gave him a decent idea of how it all worked. While the person carried over their knowledge, wisdom, and chakra nature, if they were adaptable and learned quickly, it wouldn’t be difficult to recreate a soulmate’s jutsu, considering the body and its chakra were already used to performing it.
“Gaara should still be able to do everything he could do before, unless, you know, that’s a civilian with no idea how ninjutsu works,” he said, thinking more on his current team’s threat against the village than whatever could be going on with the real Gaara. Though, he wasn’t actually convinced that the other imposter was a civilian, judging by how quickly he was adapting to the physical task of adjusting to a new body, but it could be better for the both of them if that was the assumption.
“Aw hell, I didn’t even think that it could be a civilian,” Kankuro said, voice grim.
“It’s something we should definitely consider, especially since we’re doing the chunin exams with them,” Shikamaru continued, jaw set. He didn’t get as much out of this conversation as he would have liked, but maybe if he could spend some time alone with Kankuro and Baki, he could gather more intel, “We should talk to Baki. See if he has a game plan for how to deal with this.”
Kankuro nodded in agreement, and Shikamaru was pleased that he was in a position to be listened to.
“Right.”
-
Temari came back to the Nara compound run ragged after a particularly exhausting day. Unsure about what kind of jutsu that Shikamaru used, she decided to focus on her taijutsu with Asuma’s permission, and it was clear that his lazy bones weren’t used to the attention. Her teammates were curious(Choji) and annoyed(Ino) that he didn’t want to hone their ‘formation’, but Temari didn’t want to reveal she had no idea what their formation could be.
Asuma graciously agreed that working on areas where they were still weak could be a good strategy for the day, and the others agreed with minimal complaining, but she was sure she’d blown her cover. Throughout the day, Ino tossed meaningful glances in her direction, only feeding Choji’s assumption that Shikamaru had a crush.
The day had left Temari feeling like a failure.
“Shikamaru?” came a call from the dining room table. Temari took a deep and heavy breath, preparing herself to lie again, before she moved into the other room. Shikaku sat there, sipping at a cup of sake with an empty plate in front of him. “Have you eaten?”
Temari nodded. Asuma and Choji had practically insisted on going out for barbeque after training, and Shikamaru seemed to go with what the group wanted, so she agreed without much convincing.
“Good, Your mother set some dinner aside for you, but I’ll have her put it into a lunch for Choji tomorrow,” he said with a small smirk. Choji had bemoaned the fact that Temari actually wanted the lunch Yoshino made her, but she’d never had a bento made for her before. It made the difference. Shikaku cleared his throat, getting her attention, “Well, I hope you didn’t think your day was over.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, blinking at him as he stood from the table.
“I wanted to go over our family’s jutsu,” he said, crossing his arms across his wide chest. She swallowed back her anxiety.
“Oh, I don’t know…” her voice faltered. Did Shikamaru call him dad? Father? Daddy? She grimaced. “I really think I should...hit the sack. I don’t want to fall asleep during the exams or something!”
He gave a low chuckle and nodded towards the empty courtyard. “Come on, now, I just want to go over the basics.”
He’d seen through her, she thought, embarrassment piling onto her misery and deepening her frown.
“Shikamaru,” he said, his stern voice breaking her out of her self deprecating, “You’re a smart kid, and you learn quickly, but if you don’t learn how to accept the help of other people, you’ll never grow to the rank of chunin.”
Temari pursed her lips. Becoming chunin wasn’t in the plans for her, not if her father had his way, she thought, quickly pushing away thoughts of war. In any case, surviving the exams was still a priority. “Yes sir.”
He snorted and Temari’s scowl deepened. She was too formal with superiors, she thought to herself. Shikamaru seemed to have a far more cavalier way of speaking. Dad it was, then, she decided.
He led her out into the courtyard, squeezing her shoulder affectionately before moving to separate ends of the yard.
“The evening is the perfect time to practice our family’s jutsu. The shadows are just beautiful,” Shikaku said. There was tenderness in his voice but it wasn’t towards Shikamaru. He crouched down to touch at the long shadows stretching across the courtyard and breaking ruddy dirt with stretches of blackness. Temari stood awkwardly across from him, rubbing at her arm. Eventually Shikaku looked towards her, resting his arms on his thighs as he stayed close to the ground.
“Alright, Shikamaru, I want to work on your technique. Let’s see your rat sign,” he said, making the sign himself. She stood up straighter and copied his actions, pretending like she had any clue what the jutsu would eventually do. “Good. Now remember, you can only attempt this technique when there are shadows, complete darkness won’t help you.”
She nodded, still confused, but clenching her jaw in her determination. “Got it.”
“Alright, you have good form. Clear hand signs are important. Now, your chakra should be used to the technique by now, unless you haven’t been practicing,” he said, his small smirk returning. Temari swallowed hard, hoping that Shikamaru wasn’t as lazy as he seemed to be. “Go ahead and focus on extending the shadow beneath your feet towards me.”
She nodded, trying not to show her uncertainty. Shikaku was right. Like a well-practiced dance routine, her chakra extended from herself and into the shadows stretching out from her feet. The shadow itself began to spread across the courtyard towards Shikaku, stopping short just before his feet. He huffed.
“Good. It’s not as far as you can usually make it, but you’ve been training hard today. We’ll chalk it up to exhaustion,” he said, giving her a comforting smile, “Let’s try again. Go ahead and release it, and I’ll step a little closer."
Temari frowned, eyebrows knitting together. She still wasn’t sure exactly what she was trying to accomplish, but she was going to accomplish it.
“No, don’t. I can stretch it out to you, I’m sure of it,” she said, eyes flashing. Shikaku gave a sigh and stood up from his spot on the ground.
“Shikamaru, you’ve had a long day. I don’t blame you for not being able to stretch it out as far as you usually can,” he said, but Temari shook her head, indignant.
“Nope. Stay put, old man, I know I can do it.” He looked at her, his eyes measured as he looked over her. Her heart stopped its beating as she realized just how crassly she’d addressed her soulmate’s father. Perhaps she’d crossed a line?
Before she could apologize, Shikaku burst into laughter, “Alright, Shikamaru. Show me what you’ve got, if you’re so sure of yourself.”
She nodded, planting her feet firmly into the ground and trying again. Once more, the shadow stretched across the courtyard towards Shikaku, stopping short a few centimeters from his feet and tapering as she forced it to stretch. Shikaku watched her face, amused, but she paid him no mind, watching her shadow’s tail quiver as it inched its way closer and closer to the blackness pooled around him.
“You can do it,” he said, voice serious.
His words of encouragement seemed to push it further, forcing their shadows to touch. Shikaku’s shadow filled out the stretched out line like a broken levy. Temari couldn’t hide the grin at her success, and Shikaku grinned back, “Hey, what did I say? I told you that you could do it.”
“Yeah, yeah, you didn’t doubt me for a second, did you?” she teased, rolling her eyes. “alright what’s next?”
“For now, you’re not really doing anything besides holding onto my shadow. I’m stuck in one place and can’t move. This used to be called the Shadow Bind Technique, but most people call it something else now,” Shikaku replied stiffly from his spot across from her.
“What do they call it then?” she asked, still maintaining the rat sign.
“Shadow Possession Jutsu,” he replied, “And I think you’re ready to learn how to do it.”
“Okay, but what does it do?” she asked.
“You’ll be able to force the target to mirror your actions. On its own, this jutsu is mostly used to cause distractions to throw your opponents off their game, or in conjunction with Ino’s Mind Transfer or Choji’s Human Boulder; You set them up, and they knock them down. However, adding possession on top of it adds a new tool to your arsenal, one that can be pretty useful if used creatively. Are you willing to put in the work?”
Temari glanced up at the setting sun and then back at her soulmate’s father. She nodded, firmly, confidence written on her face. “Let’s go until sundown. I’ll get this down.”
“I’m sure you will,” he replied, smirking, “Shikamaru.”