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writetomyheart2022-06-08 11:37 pm
yrindor) wrote in writetomyheart2022-06-08 11:37 pm
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[Team Three] Pawn in the Game
I've been bitten by the Naruto bug again recently, so it's time for a trip back to my first/forever fandom. Naruto, Iruka & Shikamaru, G, 750 words.
He could breathe just a little bit easier when the first reports began trickling back to the village. No matter how many years he stayed at the Academy, it never got any easier to see his students graduate and take on their first missions with their new teams. Yes, their first missions as genin were never any more dangerous than a lost cat or some loose roof shingles, but it was the principle of the matter. They grew up too fast, and the longer he spent at the front of the classroom, the younger each new group of students seemed.
"Suffering from an empty next again, Sensei?" a familiar voice drawled from the doorway.
Iruka jerked, startled out of his thoughts, and nearly knocked his inkwell across his desk. "Haven't you heard of knocking?" he asked. "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."
Shikamaru shrugged. "A good ninja is always prepared," he said. "What if I'd been an enemy?"
"Then I'd be dead, and if you were good enough to make it all the way to the Academy without raising any alarms, then I'm dead no matter how much attention I was paying."
"Fair," Shikamaru conceded, "and that'd be a bother for everyone."
Iruka finished marking the last test and shifted the whole stack of papers aside. He looked up at Shikamaru, who was now perched on the edge of desk. "So what brings you by here today?" he asked. "You don't usually come by the academy just to chat, or did you decide you wanted to help with grading after all?"
Shikamaru shuddered. "No thank you. They're already running me ragged with the chuunin exams; if it keeps up, I'm going to end up with more ink stains on my fingers than Sai. It's a giant pain, but the Hokage insisted."
"And Temari threatened to blow you off the roof and never let you have a moment's peace until you agreed. Don't look so surprised; I have my sources too."
Shikamaru glanced back over his shoulder, confirming the door was closed. His shadow flickered briefly, spreading across the floor and around the corners of the room before it settled back into to place. "If you heard that, then you've probably heard the rumors of trouble brewing during the exams."
"Bandits. Either threatening the routes to the exam grounds and picking off candidates as they arrive, or taking advantage of the distraction to attack the village while defenses are spread thin." He stood and came to the front of his desk, leaning on the corner in a near-perfect mirror of Shikamaru's pose. "What are my orders?" he asked. Shikamaru was right he'd heard the whispers, but there was no need for this much caution if Shikamaru had only come to gossip. Half the shinobi in the village knew of the bandits by now.
"The Hokage's not taking this seriously enough. Kids could die, and he's continuing on like nothing's happening. Says we're too close to the chuunin exams to change plans now, and we don't have the resources to increase patrols."
Iruka swallowed hard. He knew the risks. Hell, they all knew the risks, and they'd been enough memorial services to prove it.
That didn't make it any easier, and it didn't mean they stopped trying. He looked up at Shikamaru, studying the familiar lines of his face and the stubborn set of his jaw. Shikamaru didn't make small talk, and he didn't make spontaneous decisions like just happening to stop by, even if it was purportedly to talk. "What's your angle?" Iruka asked.
Shikamaru gave another of his infuriating shrugs. "Thought you might want to know. You have more ins with the Hokage than most of us."
There was more under the surface that Shikamaru wasn't saying. That was obvious even to Iruka, who had barely scraped by in negotiations and subterfuge. He hated being a pawn in a game he couldn't see, but he hated losing his students more, and the bandits weren't just rumors and hot air. Whatever Kakashi's unseen plans involved, Iruka wouldn't let him risk any of his students without giving him a piece of his mind. This was the issue with promoting jounin too young. If they survived, and that was a big if, they were never the same after their first few missions.
"Where is he?" Iruka asked as he checked the pockets of his flak vest. "And if there's anything else I should about whatever plan you and maybe he have cooked up, now would be the time to share."
"He's up on the wall, but you didn't hear it from me."
Wolfodder is up next!
He could breathe just a little bit easier when the first reports began trickling back to the village. No matter how many years he stayed at the Academy, it never got any easier to see his students graduate and take on their first missions with their new teams. Yes, their first missions as genin were never any more dangerous than a lost cat or some loose roof shingles, but it was the principle of the matter. They grew up too fast, and the longer he spent at the front of the classroom, the younger each new group of students seemed.
"Suffering from an empty next again, Sensei?" a familiar voice drawled from the doorway.
Iruka jerked, startled out of his thoughts, and nearly knocked his inkwell across his desk. "Haven't you heard of knocking?" he asked. "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."
Shikamaru shrugged. "A good ninja is always prepared," he said. "What if I'd been an enemy?"
"Then I'd be dead, and if you were good enough to make it all the way to the Academy without raising any alarms, then I'm dead no matter how much attention I was paying."
"Fair," Shikamaru conceded, "and that'd be a bother for everyone."
Iruka finished marking the last test and shifted the whole stack of papers aside. He looked up at Shikamaru, who was now perched on the edge of desk. "So what brings you by here today?" he asked. "You don't usually come by the academy just to chat, or did you decide you wanted to help with grading after all?"
Shikamaru shuddered. "No thank you. They're already running me ragged with the chuunin exams; if it keeps up, I'm going to end up with more ink stains on my fingers than Sai. It's a giant pain, but the Hokage insisted."
"And Temari threatened to blow you off the roof and never let you have a moment's peace until you agreed. Don't look so surprised; I have my sources too."
Shikamaru glanced back over his shoulder, confirming the door was closed. His shadow flickered briefly, spreading across the floor and around the corners of the room before it settled back into to place. "If you heard that, then you've probably heard the rumors of trouble brewing during the exams."
"Bandits. Either threatening the routes to the exam grounds and picking off candidates as they arrive, or taking advantage of the distraction to attack the village while defenses are spread thin." He stood and came to the front of his desk, leaning on the corner in a near-perfect mirror of Shikamaru's pose. "What are my orders?" he asked. Shikamaru was right he'd heard the whispers, but there was no need for this much caution if Shikamaru had only come to gossip. Half the shinobi in the village knew of the bandits by now.
"The Hokage's not taking this seriously enough. Kids could die, and he's continuing on like nothing's happening. Says we're too close to the chuunin exams to change plans now, and we don't have the resources to increase patrols."
Iruka swallowed hard. He knew the risks. Hell, they all knew the risks, and they'd been enough memorial services to prove it.
That didn't make it any easier, and it didn't mean they stopped trying. He looked up at Shikamaru, studying the familiar lines of his face and the stubborn set of his jaw. Shikamaru didn't make small talk, and he didn't make spontaneous decisions like just happening to stop by, even if it was purportedly to talk. "What's your angle?" Iruka asked.
Shikamaru gave another of his infuriating shrugs. "Thought you might want to know. You have more ins with the Hokage than most of us."
There was more under the surface that Shikamaru wasn't saying. That was obvious even to Iruka, who had barely scraped by in negotiations and subterfuge. He hated being a pawn in a game he couldn't see, but he hated losing his students more, and the bandits weren't just rumors and hot air. Whatever Kakashi's unseen plans involved, Iruka wouldn't let him risk any of his students without giving him a piece of his mind. This was the issue with promoting jounin too young. If they survived, and that was a big if, they were never the same after their first few missions.
"Where is he?" Iruka asked as he checked the pockets of his flak vest. "And if there's anything else I should about whatever plan you and maybe he have cooked up, now would be the time to share."
"He's up on the wall, but you didn't hear it from me."
Wolfodder is up next!