A/N: I can't begin to tell you what propelled me to update this fic. I was going through my old docs and I found this chapter. I decided to finish the ending of it and post it. I don't know what that will mean for this fic, I kind of miss it, so I might continue it after all. I guess. Reviews are much appreciated.

3. Bare Bones

The sun was just beginning to dip behind the Hokage mountain when Naruto and Shikamaru arrived at the blond's apartment.

They shared a silent glance before Naruto bent to retrieve a key from beneath the wilted potted plant by the door frame and pushed open the door, stepping over the threshold with the cautiousness of someone who might as well have been navigating a minefield.

"No traps?" Shikamaru wondered incredulously as he followed inside, peering curiously at the chipped wall paint and disorganised study table.

Naruto shrugged, "I'm surprised I survived my teenage years," He admitted sheepishly, eyes much reminiscent of his older self. "If someone tried to seriously hurt me, it would've been ridiculously easy."

Shikamaru was aware of Naruto's neglect, but to witness the result of it sent sharp pangs of anger and guilt spreading through his chest. He wished he could've been a better friend; if only they'd been closer at this age in their past life.

"Anyway, make yourself at home," Naruto threw over his shoulder, which curved with a sigh, and proceeded to empty his fridge's contents and throw away everything. "...actually, can you help? This place isn't particularly clean or safe at the moment."

Troublesome. Shikamaru sighed. "Sure. What should I do?"

"Can you secure the room while I throw away the trash?" Naruto requested as he pulled a large plastic bag from one of the drawers and began to sweep all the trash off the kitchen counter.

'Secure the room' meant set traps, seal the door and windows, lay down soundproof tags and coat everything with a protective layer of lightning release. Shikamaru took it a step further and set up a few layers of chakra-sensitive covers across the apartment's surroundings.

Those required him to be constantly conscious and aware of the protective shell he set up for it required a measured, continuous stream of spiritual energy to stay up. But that was fine, this way, any creature with enough chakra that neared it would register on his radar. And if a threat approached… well, they would get up close and personal with his shadows and he'd be happy to show them exactly why he had earned the moniker 'night terror' during the war.

When he was done, the place was noticeably cleaner.

He plopped down on the only comfortable piece of furniture in the room; Naruto's disorganised bed. "This place looks exactly how I remember it," Shikamaru remarked idly, his eyes roving over the bare walls and the small collection of valuables Naruto had by his nightstand.

Shikamaru grabbed Team Seven's photo off the desk and examined it, eyes scanning the picture thoughtfully. He nearly forgot what they looked like at this age, untainted and unaware of the dangers that surrounded them— unaware of the Akatsuki, of Orochimaru, of Madara, and the invasion that'll soon take place, of the war that'll leave all but one of them dead.

"I didn't exactly have money to decorate," Naruto told him and then swore softly. "This place is bare. We need to go shopping."

"No, you need to go shopping," Shikamaru quipped, setting the photo frame down and meandering across the room and into the kitchen. The cupboards were filled with… cobwebs. "Wow."

Naruto had the grace to look sheepish. "Err, yeah."

"Man, had I known staying here meant starving I would've dragged your sorry ass back to the Nara estate," Shikamaru complained, rubbing his head like one might do to alleviate a brewing headache.

Naruto sighed. "Well, you can't expect me to remember that on this day, fourteen years ago, my house was bare!"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru groaned and started heading for the door. "Let's go."

"Wait, I have no money!" Naruto cried in sudden realisation, tone frustrated. Shikamaru turned to face him to find the blond's features to be ashen.

The Nara rolled his eyes and pulled a wad of money from his pocket, displaying it with a careless swish of his wrist. "I do. Can we hurry, please? I'd like to at least lay the bare bones to our plans tonight."

Naruto gave him a sheepish smile and trudged after him. "Right, oops... I'll pay you back when I get the chance."

"It better not be with ramen like that one time," Shikamaru threatened, remembering a few years ago, just before the war, when Naruto had owed him a sum of money and decided that taking him out to Ichiraku would be fair payback.

"Hai, hai," The blond huffed, shutting the door behind him.

The skies were a pretty mix of indigo and deep red, dotted by countless stars when they stepped outside Naruto's apartment. Their walk to the supermarket was silent and short, filled with the chatter of the people who were out for the evening and the comforting, reassuring warmth of the ending winter.

The light breeze ruffled his hair and caressed his cheeks with tender fingers, pulling long lost memories that had long since been buried deep beneath heaps of grief.

"Baka, Naruto!" Sakura shrilled, fist bobbing the newly appointed blond genin on the head. "We can't waste our mission pay on ramen!"

"B-but—!" Naruto flinched away from the fist that rose in a warning.

"No." the rosette denied with finality.

"Alright ducklings, sensei will choose where to eat today." Two hands landed on both of their heads, large and familiar, messing up their hair.

Naruto had scowled while Sakura blushed scarlet at being grouped with Naruto in the 'misbehaving students' category.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi-sensei turned to face the only silent member of team 7, "where shall we dine today?"

The raven-head glared at Kakashi for dragging him into the conversation before huffing. "Yakiniku I guess."

"Yakiniku it is." Kakashi-sensei's eye creased in a familiar smile.

The memory managed to both fill him with warmth while simultaneously make his heart ache so profoundly his shoulders hunched over. For a few minutes, it was like they were gone again like this wasn't the past. For just a moment, it was like Naruto's reality up until recently once again; nothing but distant laughter echoing in his ears like the sound of hollow winds and the desperate, suffocating claws of loneliness in his gut, twisting mercilessly, begging for things he could never have again.

Goosebumps broke across Naruto's skin and he forced down a deep whiff of air, his eyes prickling uncomfortably and his chest heaving under the weight of his emotions. One… two… three… breathe… just breathe… four…

Miki's Convenience Store came to view around the corner, the neon sign overhead glowing a bright red against the rapidly darkening skies. People were clearing out of the shop by the time they entered, families ready to return home for dinner.

Shikamaru wordlessly grabbed a basket and trudged towards the farthest section to the right. Naruto followed, content with letting the Nara take the lead and watching curiously as their basket was piled full with canned food, meat, vegetables and ramen.

The last one made Naruto smile fondly; up until before the war, Shikamaru had been valiantly trying to get him to cut out on ramen. But since the war and the destruction of Ichiraku, the happy days of eating ramen noodles became a distant memory he remembered wistfully.

Shikamaru's gaze swept the place, assisting, before grabbing a bottle of milk. "Anything else you might need?"

Naruto shook his head. Having been at war for years now made the food in their basket seem like the dinner of kings and his mouth watered at the idea of having something cooked instead of more canned soup.

Confident that his blond companion was satisfied, Shikamaru proceeded to lead the way to the check-out section.

Miki's was familiar because it had been one of the few places that used to kick him out when he came to shop for food— not that he had been able to afford anything more than the bare minimum. He cringed at the memory but silently followed Shikamaru to the cashier and hoped for the best.

The unfamiliar red-haired old woman behind it smiled pleasantly at Shikamaru, and much to Naruto's surprise, at him too. Either she was unaware of who he was or she didn't care. It was probably the former that caused her to treat him like a human being but Naruto would happily take what he got.

After paying, Shikamaru grabbed half the bags and Naruto the others and together they exited Miki's with considerably higher spirits.

The skies were dark by the time they were done, the lanterns lining the streets lit and glowing shop signs obscuring the stars decorating the night's sky. The chill in the air was considerably more pronounced against Naruto's skin and he briefly wished he hadn't ditched his orange jumper but it had made him feel uncomfortably out of place. He wasn't used to wearing something so bright anymore for it made him stick out like a sore thumb.

He drifted closer to his friend, blending in with the shadows of their surroundings. The heavily populated district spaced out, leading to a paved road surrounded by scattered trees and houses and fewer lights. Finally, they arrived at Naruto's poorly maintained building yet again and Naruto had the feeling that Shikamaru wanted to say something but the Nara kept his mouth shut as they entered the house.

Naruto switched the lights on and trudged to the kitchen with their grocery bags. "What do you want for dinner?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I suppose we can have ramen today. But don't you go thinking that'll become a daily occurrence, Naruto."

The blond huffed, although he was smiling as he complained. "You'd swear you were my mother."

"She'll thank me in the afterlife for keeping your ass in check," Shikamaru smirked as he flopped back on the bed.

"I guess she will," Naruto murmured, reflecting on how a while back, his parents were the only vivid, glaring absence in his world and how that drastically changed since then. He'd always been the optimistic one, he'd never really considered what it'd be like to lose his friends until he had already lost them.

When he thought about fate being out to destroy him, it birthed vicious anger deep in his soul and damned it once and for all. He was back here, wasn't he? Here, where those people were still alive and well. Here, where he had the opportunity to do good, the chance to do things right.

Although he hesitated and hated to attribute this occurrence to fate because fuck that. This was Kurama's work and he had only the tailed-beast to thank for not being dead and gone to some miserable, colourless afterworld to rot for the rest of eternity.

You're welcome, kit. Came the rasping reply from within his conscious and Naruto found himself smiling fondly.

There was something so profoundly comforting in knowing that no matter what, he had Kurama. The Akatsuki had tried to strip him of his partner and had failed. It seemed that despite all his damning failures and missteps, at least he had gotten one thing right.

He ignored the exasperated huff of laughter in his mindscape as he carried two ramen cups to where Shikamaru lay slumped on his lumpy mattress and dragged the round table he had in the corner to the centre of the room. "Shall we?"

Shikamaru yawned and forced himself up and off the bed. He joined Naruto by the table, accepting his ramen cup with a thankful nod and quickly unsealing a notebook. "Please, I can't wait to have a semblance of a plan already."

He opened the notebook onto a fresh page and stuffed his mouth with a mouthful of noodles.

He quickly scribbled a heading: Major Events.

Swallowing, Shikamaru said, "I think we should start by laying down all the major events that occur up till the war."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "I'd say things started going downhill in the chunnin exams…" he trailed off unsurely, "although my first mission to Wave had been a large building block in my ninja career."

"Hmm…." Shikamaru acknowledged. "Zabuza of the mist, right?"

At Naruto's nod, Shikamaru began scribbling down.

Wave Mission (Zabuza Momochi)

Chunnin Exams (Orochimaru + Sasuke)

Sound Invasion (Suna + Sound)

"Then comes the Akatsuki hunt down and the… casualties." He grit out, his fist tightened around the pen, causing a hair-width crack up the wood. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his hold around the innocent object and slowly began jotting down names.

Sasori; Sakura and Chiyo

Hidan; me

Kakuzu; Team Seven

Deidara ; -

Kisame; Gai

Orochimaru; -

Tobi/Madara; -

Nagato/Pein; Naruto

Shikamaru exhaled. "This is what we know. What worked out the last time around. With careful planning, we could reshape these encounters to avoid losing Asuma sensei, Jiraiya-sama and others."

Naruto sighed too, his heart suddenly heavier again with the memory of those he lost. "Yes, we could use existing information to turn these fights in our favour."

The Nara gave a hum of agreement. "If we could get to Nagato before the Pein Invasion, we could stop the invasion altogether and save us a lot of resources and manpower to later fight Madara."

"And if we play our cards right we could eliminate the Akatsuki before things escalate out of hand like the last time around…" a shudder rattled Naruto's spine and he grimaced as he remembered the resultant carnage of the last battle.

It had been especially ugly; a bloodshed.

"But for now," Shikamaru continued, before Naruto's mind could linger on the memories, "we focus on the 'soon'. When is your Wave mission? Will you receive any warning prior to it…?"

Thankful for the conversation change, Naruto shifted his attention to other matters and strained to remember how that fateful mission had gone. If he recalled correctly, it had been a few weeks after he'd made Genin, a few months before the Chunnin exams.

Winter was coming to an end, spring just around the corner. Their mission had been on a sunny day, where it hadn't rained for a while. He told Shikamaru that much, deducing it was at least a few weeks away.

The Nara's shoulders relaxed exponentially. "Tomorrow, I'll talk to my father and find out exactly when the Chunnin exams are bound to take place."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "That'd be great… we need to do everything we can to prevent Orochimaru from luring Sasuke away."

Frowning, his companion slowly shook his head. "I don't think that'd work— I know you want to protect Sasuke but do you think Orochimaru would stop trying if he failed the first time around? No. Let's not risk it, we'd be blind in another attempt—much like the first time. We need to convince Sasuke to stay. We can't do anything about Orochimaru for now."

For a split second, Naruto looked like he might disagree. But then he gnawed angrily at his lower lip and looked away.

"We'll figure something out," Shikamaru insisted, trying to comfort the blond with conviction he didn't quite feel but getting discouraged right now was the last thing they needed.

Nodding slowly while the corner of his mouth twitched down, Naruto deflated. "I know… I know, hell, I have the smartest strategist in this nation right here it's just… frustrating."

Shikamaru knew a thing or two about feeling helpless. But he didn't have the means with which he could ease the blonds worries yet.

For the next hour, they tried to recall as many details from the Chunnin exams as the blond could pull out and Shikamaru could only hope Naruto hadn't missed anything vital to their survival.

There was the first exam; a written theory test that was a ruse to begin with, orchestrated and lead by Ibiki Morino, head of the T&I department.

The second exam; the survival stage, was where shit hit the proverbial fan. Naruto said that the one thing he vividly remembered was that Orochimaru had gone undercover as a Grass genin. Shikamaru reasoned it was unlikely to forget something as repulsive as a human peeling their skin right off—and not just any human, but Orochimaru of the Sannin.

Even now, all these years later, he still seemed so out of their league. Perhaps it was the crazy scientist in the villain—the sheer intimidating knowledge he seemed to possess and the fact that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, going as far as to experiment on humans and modifying his own body.

There was just something so discomforting, so horrifying, in his battlefield of science and gore.

Shikamaru would go as far as to say he rather faced Madara.

The third stage of the exam had been the combat stage. This was where everything absolutely went to hell—the matches weren't the problem per se. Naruto had won his and Shikamaru managed to unwittingly get promoted to Chunnin despite forfeiting his match to none other than his future wife.

Whoever said his life was boring clearly didn't know shit of the almost comical clusterfuck that was his existence.

The problem with the third stage of the exam was the invasion that took place halfway through. Suna and Sound shedding their friendly cover and sinking their claws into unsuspecting Konoha ninja.

Konoha may have been acknowledged as the strongest village out of the five great shinobi nations; known for producing terrifying shinobi like the Yellow Flash, the Copy Ninja, Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru— but despite all that, facing against two other villages, one which was lead by one of those very terrifying shinobi was nothing to sneeze at. Konoha had been outnumbered, and almost outmatched, and had sustained numerous losses, the biggest being the loss of their kage.

"How do you propose we go about this?" Naruto asked when the conversation came to a momentary lull. Ramen cups lay forgotten on the table, the sound of howling dogs outside echoing loudly in the night. "We can't allow the invasion to go the same way as before."

No, they absolutely couldn't. The invasion had left them so painfully understaffed—so much that the Godaime could only spare four Genin and a recently promoted Chunnin to chase the last Sharingan user in Konoha.

"We have to minimise the casualties," Shikamaru affirmed. "Perhaps even injuries. If I remember correctly; some of our stronger shinobi were unable to fight due to injuries sustained in the exams."

"Lee," Naruto said grimly. There was no way he could forget how Gaara had crushed Lee's leg and nearly ended his ninja career. It had been his first eye-opener to the might-be-results of an outclassed fight gone too long. Knowing when to forfeit and recognising your weaknesses was also part of being a ninja. He had learned that.

"Yes, Lee," Shikamaru agreed. "And Neji—you did quite the number on him. Even Sasuke was too depleted after his fight with Gaara. This may not seem much in the grand scheme of things; they're still genin after all. But we can't ignore that having them fight with us would tip the scale in our favour, even if just by a little bit."

Naruto sighed aloud. He was thankful for this opportunity, truly, but he couldn't ignore the unmistakable burden it placed on his shoulders. They had the power to save lives and end others, to change past events—he wondered if maybe this would cause ripples, if their changes would mess something up but he couldn't ignore the need for action no matter the consequences. "I think more importantly than ever, we need to be prepared. I need to ensure Sakura doesn't get killed and get Sasuke on the right track; have Kakashi-sensei be more involved in our training. You need to push your team in the right direction, too. I would rather fight the invasion without having to glance over my shoulder every three seconds to ensure my teammates aren't dead. I know they survived the last time but what if our involvement changes something? We can't trust things to go exactly the same."

With those points made, and with a skeleton of a plan formed, Naruto and Shikamaru felt slightly more at ease, enough so to attempt to catch a few hours of sleep.

The blond yawned again, climbing onto his feet to throw away the remnants of their dinner while Shikamaru prepared for bed by stealing one of Naruto's pillows and situating it at the bottom of the mattress.

Naruto raised an unimpressed eyebrow as he joined the Nara, getting a gentle kick to his side. "What? Did you think I was going to take the floor?"

"No," Scoffed the blond as he got under the covers. "Just don't stick your foot in my mouth or you might find yourself missing a toe or two."

Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru moved his legs as far as he could away from Naruto's face and got comfortable. "Same goes for you."

Ignoring him, Naruto turned the lights off, "Goodnight Shikamaru."

"G'night." The Nara mumbled, closing his eyes and drifting off minutes later.

Both boys were rudely awakened not even a few hours later.

One glance at the clock informed them it was four-thirty in the morning and that the explosive rattling sound that seemed to ricochet off Naruto's walls and into the night came from just outside the door.

They shared a silent look; it couldn't possibly be an enemy otherwise he was a seriously outclassed idiot for announcing his presence so obviously. But that didn't mean they could ignore the short commotion and go back to sleep either…

When both boys reached the same conclusion, they made a quick and silent advance towards the door. Their eyes met for a split second before Naruto ripped open his apartment's door and barked at the shadowy figure outside, "Freeze!" while simultaneously pinning him with three kunai.

The porch light flickered on courtesy of Shikamaru, chasing away shadows and revealing none other than…

..."Lee?" Naruto uttered, dumbfounded.

The spandex-clad genin was fighting tears. "I'm so sorry about your potted plant shinobi-san! I promise to replace it as soon as the market opens! Until then, I shall run a hundred laps around Konoha on my hands and if I can't do that I shall—"

"Hey, hey, hey, easy." Shikamaru intervened, eyebrows scrunched up in an unfamiliar expression. "No blood, no foul."

But Naruto could almost sense the underlying anxiety in theNara's gaze. It wasn't every day they stumbled across Lee— they hadn't in a long, long time.

"It's okay Lee, that plant was dying anyway," Naruto hastened to say, if only to assure the boy for he looked like he was about to start producing tears, soon. "I'm sorry for attacking you."

"How… how do you know my name?" Lee whispered, glistening eyes widening almost comically, only just now catching onto the fact that Naruto recognised him.

Immediately, the blond realised his slip. Shikamaru, as always, came to his aid, easily stepping in, "It's a good shinobi's job to recognise his fellow comrades. You're Rock Lee, right? Gai-sensei's student."

The expression on Lee's face was downright amusing and there might as well have been stars dancing around in his eyes. "Shinobi-san! You're so cool!"

Shikamaru only sighed, moving to help the boy onto his feet. Lee was bleeding from a shallow gash in his arm but didn't seem to even notice. "Come on, I'll bandage that up for you and then you'll be nice enough to let me catch some decent sleep."

Lee had the grace to look sheepish, muttering a string of apologies as Shikamaru led him inside, all while he interrogated him on how he could possibly break a potted plant at this obscene hour.

"I was on my morning run and while landing on this roof, I slipped on a puddle and fell!" Lee started to look embarrassed, "I tripped off the edge and fell on the plant."

Naruto snorted, wondering if the gods simply enjoyed laughing at his expense or if it was just his life that lacked any semblance of normality. He concluded it was a little bit of both as he followed Shikamaru into the kitchen.

The blond retrieved a first aid kit for Shikamaru to use and contented himself with watching from the sidelines as the Nara began cleaning Lee's wound and bandaging it. "Naruto, fetch me a pair of scissors."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, wondering how he'd unwittingly become a nurse but followed through with the command, all while muttering indignantly about the pain of 'respecting his elders' under his breath.

It earned him a non-too-discreet elbow to the rib. "I heard that."

"Sorry, kaa-san." Sneered Naruto.

"Do you guys live together?" Lee asked curiously, peering over Shikamaru's pineapple-styled hair to watch Naruto.

"Eh, no," The blond waved off the assumption. "Shikamaru's only staying the night. We're friends."

"Oh." Lee wilted slightly with the declaration and a part of Naruto's heart clenched when Lee tried to cover it up with his familiar cheer, "That's so awesome! I wish my teammates would stay over sometimes… have you guys been friends for long?"

Shikamaru and Naruto shared another brief glance. They weren't even sure 'friends' constituted what they were for the word seemed to pale in comparison to what they've been through together. But Shikamaru chose to answer with a vague 'long enough, I guess'. And with that, he finished bandaging Lee's wound and gave a tired yawn. "There, all good. Can I get you something? Water?"

Naruto marvelled at how civil his friend was being but he figured the earlier they appealed to the green-clad shinobi, the sooner they started being friends and the sooner they moved things along. Lee seemed to be struck speechless for a few short moments before he brightened, "Water would be nice, thank you!"

His boisterousness, although irritating most times, warmed Naruto's heart right then. But unfortunately, it also knocked him wide awake and he knew he wouldn't be able to return to his disrupted sleep.

While he despaired over a rare, good sleep lost, he listened to Shikamaru gently admonish Lee about being more careful and that keeping vigilant and taking notice of his surroundings were important markers to being a good shinobi, too.

Lee took Shikamaru's words graciously enough, swearing to make up for the destroyed plant despite their insistence that it was okay and it was dying anyway, seriously, don't worry about it, kid.

A momentary confusion clouded the genin's face at being called a 'kid' by another kid but he let it slide as he was soon being assured outside with the promise of seeing each other around.

The door closed after the retreating figure of the young shinobi and both time travellers turned to share a slightly bewildered look.

Naruto was the first to sigh and then snort with slight amusement dancing across his features. "Tell me again, just how is this my life?"

"Write a book," Shikamaru advised, with no lesser degree of amusement, following words dripping sarcasm. "Maybe you'll become rich enough to renovate this shit-hole."

"Oh, fuck you," the blond said indignantly, but with good grace, as they relocated into the living room/bedroom once again.

"Sorry, I don't swing that way," The Nara's smirk barely got a chance to live for the next thing Shikamaru knew was a mouthful of a pillow and the hard ground as Naruto's hit toppled him off his feet.

Oh, the fight was on.

/

Shikamaru never got back to his promised sleep like he had anticipated and desperately wished for. Not at all. His impromptu battle (not pillow fight, shut up) with Naruto left him wide awake and strangely energised. He reckoned it was his twelve-year-old body taking charge of his biological functions. After all, he may feel like a jaded old man in spirit but his body was clearly that of a teenager.

Either way, two things were for sure. One: as previously mentioned, there would be no going back to sleep any time soon. Two: Naruto, as of now, needed urgent pillow replacements lest he ended up sleeping on a flat surface tonight.

Their spirits were higher, that couldn't be ignored. It felt so good to let go and devolve into something as silly as play-fighting. Neither could recall the last time they had attacked someone without the sheer intensity to disarm and kill as swiftly as possible. Shikamaru found he could almost breathe easier as they made their way across the village towards the Nara estate.

They had multiple things to do today; most importantly information gathering on the upcoming Chunnin exams.

It was only by luck—or perhaps fate, it was hard to tell anymore—that they ran by Lee on their way.

The Genin had abruptly stopped mid-run upon seeing them, his jounin-sensei shooting right past him and having to circle back to see what had frozen his student in tracks.

Lee was beaming as he jogged towards them. "Naruto-san, Shikamaru-san, hello!"

Both boys missed the way Gai's eyes widened and then sharpened into focus. His student had told him of his early-morning misshape and the civility with which he was treated; of the sound advice he'd been given. Gai wasn't ignorant, he saw the way people immediately dismissed his student, lashing out at him whenever his exuberance got out of hand, seeing nothing more than a loud, bright boy who couldn't use chakra. So it stood that seeing people his own age treat him the right way after being unmistakably in the wrong was definitely intriguing and inspiring.

He had initially planned to investigate just who those two ninja were out of sheer curiosity but now that they were here, he took the chance to do some close inspection. He noted the obviously Nara boy and the container of the nine-tailed demon to be his student's newly-acquired friends. They were conversing amiably, both boys seeming unconcerned with Lee's eccentricities.

Determined to help along with this blooming, youthful friendship, Gai declared with a beaming grin. "Yosh! Nara-san, Naruto-san, please join us for a youthful training session!"

/

That was how the time-travellers found themselves under the patronising scrutiny of lilac eyes and the curious chocolate-brown gaze of Tenten.

Naruto hadn't meant to be robbed into a training session this early in the morning, far from it. He had an upcoming one that very afternoon, after all. But it would have been hard—impossible, painful—to refuse Gai's offer when Lee turned such hopeful, enthusiastic, untainted eyes onto him.

He wasn't so sure he should've accepted from his position right now. Neji had always had what others called very intense eyes and although Naruto never particularly shared that sentimentality, right then, he found it hard not to flinch under the familiar gaze of a long lost friend. They held the same razor-sharp edge, the same angry flame his older-self used to possess right up until before he had died on Orochimaru's hand.

Naruto recognised how truly fucked up he was when his mind started imagining the light flickering out of them, recalling the dead stillness of their creamy depth and how life had bled out of the Hyuuga seconds after Orochimaru had sliced open his jugular. The arterial spray had been violent enough to drench the snake-sannin's face and Naruto would never, for as long as he lived, forget the merciless cold glee on Orochimaru's face as his reptilian-tongue slithered out to sample the taste of his friend's blood. He still got nightmares thinking about it.

"Hello," The pale-eyed boy uttered. He sounded as cold as always, with just the barest hint of curiosity in those very pale eyes Naruto couldn't seem to look away from now that he saw them again, free of the caged bird's seal effect that took place upon the death of a Hyuuga.

Lee promptly stepped forward, launching into introductions with an enthusiasm that put even Gai to shame. "Naruto-san! Shikamaru-san! These are my teammates Neji Hyuuga and Tenten!"

Both time-travellers nodded in acknowledgement and watched as Lee's teammates continued to survey them with blatant interest, Neji excluded, he had always been good at guarding his true thoughts and emotions.

Tenten, being much more socially competent than her teammates, stepped forward to shake their hands, recognising how rude it was to just stare someone down until they made a move. Dammit, you'd swear her team was raised by wolves... actually, thinking about it, perhaps they were. The Hyuuga were certainly mean enough.

"Nice to meet you guys," she smiled kindly, shaking earlier thoughts from her head. "you must be younger—I don't recall seeing you in the academy."

Her tone was only politely inquiring—conversation starter, they recognised and helped her along—Shikamaru deciding to speak lest Naruto managed to stick his foot in his mouth. "I believe we're a year or so younger. We're twelve."

"Ah, recently made genin, I see," Gai said, and although his tone suggested he had just received some answers, there was an edge to his tone that also suggested he was confused and Shikamaru was immediately on alert. They couldn't have possibly slipped up already, sure, they had been rather forthcoming with Lee, not very mindful of their actions around him but that was because he was Lee. He might be a great friend and a brilliant shinobi but he was also rather slow on the uptake in most situations.

Thinking back to it, Shikamaru wanted to kick himself. Of course Lee would relay everything that was said to him to his beloved mentor—of course Shikamaru and Naruto caught his attention enough for him to share with the Jounin.

Resisting the urge to really kick himself, Shikamaru smiled and hoped it didn't look strained. He needn't worry yet. If suspicions arose, he would deal with them. But for now, he would carefully watch. Surveying Gai's face again, Shikamaru noted that he only looked mildly intrigued and far too curious about them.

When it became apparent Neji wasn't going to put forth the same effort as Tenten, Gai moved onto more pressing matters. "Alright, how about a friendly spar? Have you two warmed up?"

When Naruto and Shikamaru shook their heads negative, Gai sent them to the edges of the field to start on some stretches and katas. Shikamaru was terribly glad for the space given to him for it allowed him to speak to Naruto. "Now what?"

"Now what?" Naruto echoed with a displeased frown. "This is a mistake. We don't know where we stand at the moment—if we're overpowered or complete idiots now that we're small and weak again."

Shikamaru let out a frustrated sigh before he took a deep breath and collected himself. "Okay, one way to find out I guess. Let's make the best of this—we can now see how we match up with people our own age—er, our body's age."

Naruto let out a disdainful snort. If he were to be honest about their situation, he was terribly concerned. For once he didn't feel brave enough about a fight—not because his opponent was stronger but for fear of how much of his strength his time travel mission may have cost him. There was no point in being back here if he wasn't strong enough to cause ripples. The wave mission was going to be a real problem if he found himself at his twelve-year-old counterpart's level.

Zabuza might just murder them all. Because twelve-year-old Naruto had something twenty-six-year-old Naruto had long ago lost; naivety. The blond tried desperately to summon up details from how that fight went but it was almost impossible to recall what kind of speech he had given the missing-nin.

How could anyone expect him to reach so far back into his memory, beneath all the recent mountains of grief and battle plans to grasp for something rendered so inconsequential in the grander scheme of things?

Sighing, Naruto got to his usual stretching routine. It was a little awkward to fall back into the old sequence—it had been so long since he had the proper time to stretch and spar with friends, the war leaving him both on high alert and exhausted. Constantly.

Shikamaru promptly joined him and fifteen minutes later, Naruto movements were as fluid and as precise as always. He had no time to relish in the small victory for Gai called upon them to initiate a spar, electing Naruto and Lee to go first, strictly taijutsu.

The two time-traveller's eyes met and Naruto got a prickling sensation at the back of his neck... oh, it would just be completely mortifying if he lost to Lee. He'd never hear the end of it!

Not to mention, it would make this time travel trip ten times more difficult than it already was!

Taking a shallow breath, and pinning Shikamaru with a killer stare, silently daring him to laugh, Naruto took a fighting stance in front of Lee.

Admittedly, he had a glaring advantage. He knew Lee's fighting style inside and out. And this Lee's style was nowhere near as refined as his older self. Losing here really would be complete and utter humiliation.

Cracking his neck, Naruto felt something he hadn't felt in quite a bit of time; determination.

The two squared off and when Gai gave the signal, Lee was already flashing his way, using his famed speed to get behind Naruto. It was clear the boy aimed to end the fight in one decisive blow if he could, and as admirable as his effort was, Naruto didn't survive a four-year-long war just using remarkable skills.

He'd long since honed his senses to their maximum capacity. So although Lee blurred a little before him, he clearly registered the genin's presence by his back and was able to react in record time.

Dark circular eyes widened in surprise when Naruto whirled around and caught the bandaged hand heading for his neck, clearly haven't expected Naruto to be able to match the speed with which he attacked.

Lee recovered admirably, hurriedly bringing his other hand in a fist towards Naruto's stomach. Naruto evaded the attack easily enough, twisting Lee to the side and throwing him over his shoulder.

The green-clad-genin went skidding a couple of metres, letting out a winded 'oof'. Naruto grimaced— okay, maybe he shouldn't have tossed the boy that harshly but then again, the blond greatly underestimated his body's strength.

Lee rose cautiously to his feet, appearing more guarded this time around. "Nice throw, Naruto-san."

Naruto gave him a faint smile. He avoided breaking eye contact to survey everyone's reactions; he'd leave that to Shikamaru for the time being.

Lee came for him again, fully expecting Naruto to go on the defensive but instead, the blond surprised him again by ducking the blow and landing one of his own on Lee's unguarded side. The green-clad shinobi grunted and hurriedly put some distance between the two of them.

He now regarded Naruto with a new light and something seemed to have shifted within his resolve as he cracked his fingers and inhaled deeply. This time, Naruto met him in the middle, instead of waiting idly where he stood for Lee to charge.

They met in an intense flurry of kicks and punches, all of them with lethal grace and accuracy and Naruto realised with silent satisfaction that both of Lee's earlier charges were just to test the waters. And now that he had deemed Naruto to be a strong enough opponent, he was beginning to take him seriously.

Naruto had to hand it to Lee, he was incredibly strong for a genin, but Naruto found himself easily matching his skill-level and holding it. And although his muscles began tiring towards the end of the fight, he pushed through with sheer determination, landing a blow after the other, sidestepping others and blocking most.

He was known for having incredible stamina but this body needed some serious work before it was at a level with which Naruto was comfortable with. He was nowhere near as powerful as his older self—not even close—but he wasn't as hopelessly outmatched as he thought. There was hope yet.

Lee finally fell back, panting, Naruto in a similar state, his face flushed red from exertion. It was no secret that Naruto relayed more on ninjutsu than taijutsu so while his chakra at this age seemed to be endless, his physical endurance was not. He made a mental note to train himself raw starting tomorrow.

Gai came to view, clapping excitedly, eyes sparkling with mischief. "What a brilliant show! Naruto-san is certainly brimming with youth, ain't that right Lee?"

Lee, being Lee, agreed wholeheartedly, jumping to congratulate Naruto. "We must do this again Naruto-san!"

Naruto could only let out a strained laugh and agreed to a rematch some other time. While he was desperate to both improve and keep his situation under everyone's radar he couldn't forget what was important: helping everyone else. And Lee, although magnificently advanced for his rank, had a few minor holes in his style that Naruto decided must be promptly corrected.

And so the blond forced a little more enthusiasm into his tone and bowed respectfully to his opponent, wondering at the back of his mind the likelihood of him fucking up something relatively simple. He hoped not.

His back straightened immediately when Gai suggested Neji and Shikamaru spar too. And then went rigid because that seemed like a really Bad Idea. He had no delusions to how that fight would end. Not only were Neji and Shikamaru frequent sparring partners up until the Hyuuga's death but there was also the fact that Shikamaru's battle tact was unrivalled even by Naruto himself and he doubted Neji was prepared for an otherwise lazy and detached kid to wipe the floor with him.

This Neji wasn't the same one they knew. He was a pompous Hyuuga with a stick up his ass and was more than likely to greatly underestimate Shikamaru's combat abilities.

Naruto sighed. Oh well, they were going to have to beat the everloving crap out of him again at some point, they might as well start now. He just hoped Shikamaru would be okay—they were fairly close friends after all, their secretive personas and detached attitudes fitting seamlessly to form a deep kind of camaraderie.

For a split second—the time Shikamaru allowed himself a fleeting glance in Naruto's direction—the blond thought he was going to refuse Gai. That the Nara was going to come up with a brilliant escape route none can see through and their training session would be over.

But then Shikamaru squared his shoulders and easily crossed the space from the edge of the field to where Neji was, standing rigidly in front of him.

Neji arched an elegant eyebrow, lilac eyes narrowing speculatively as he sized up his opponent. But then he smirked and Naruto sighed again. Well, there was nothing to be done now.

Hyuuga Neji was about to taste defeat served cold. Haven't everyone learned their lesson when it came to underestimating a Nara?

Shikamaru's gaze was carefully blank when it rose to meet the painfully familiar sight of lilac eyes.

He supposed the only difference in those pair of eyes was that they still burned with resentment and anger. Neji was unfairly and brutally mistreated and as a result became a cold and cruel person to protect himself from being hurt.

The Neji of his time had a different look about him. He was at peace. His eyes held no poisonous fire; their depths no longer haunted by all the bent up grief.

Shikamaru felt for Neji, really. But this was not his Neji. Not yet, anyway. And he'd seen the look in his eyes enough times to recognise it. Neji didn't view him as a worthy opponent; merely a mild obstacle to overcome. An easy win.

Shikamaru frowned, displeased. That was no sound way to view an opponent.

Underestimating your opponent got you killed. He vaguely remembered Kakashi imparting that gem on him however many years ago.

Hmm… time to pass a few lessons.

"Nara." Neji nodded, taking his Hyuuga fighting stance.

"Neji," Shikamaru replied, his frown smoothing. Neji's eyebrows tugged briefly in confusion before his too, smoothened.

Naruto wasn't sure if it was just him or if Gai, too, felt the tension between the soon to be opponents. But if Gai did, the Jounin acted completely oblivious to it as he started the match on an overly cheery note.

Neji moved at the same second, armed with his bloodline limit, knowing full well a brief glance of his fingers in a strategic point would end the fight.

Shikamaru being well aware of that jumped back, manoeuvring every punch aimed his way so that he was touching Neji without allowing Neji to touch him. Neji's irritation immediately spiked, turning his strikes more deadly, his accuracy never faltering.

They fell into a relatively familiar dance Shikamaru knocking his palm away at the wrist every time, pushing points that redirected Neji's attacks a bare inch away from his skin so that none of the hits landed. He could see the alarm in Neji's eyes; the surprise that Shikamaru could match his speed and evade his hits.

Shikamaru didn't really feel like tempting fate though, he was well aware that the slightest of touches from Neji would hurt like a bitch, and wasn't about to endure a crash course in how he sucked and that Neji's Hyuuga blood made him superior, from none other than Neji himself. Coming to a split-second decision, Shikamaru launched himself away so abruptly, it startled even his opponent.

A slight smirk tugged on Neji's lip, and Shikamaru suspected the Hyuuga believed he landed a glancing hit on him.

Too bad. It was surprising how easy it was to meet this Neji's stare and not flinch back at the memories. The Neji he knew was so different, so good, he couldn't even begin to match him to his younger counterpart. Surely, the Neji of his time would thank him were he to beat the stick out of this Neji's ass as soon as possible? And if not… he'd just have to deal with it.

Perhaps Neji was too busy keeping taps on Shikamaru's gaze and the movement of his hands, trying to predict what was coming next, but for some unknown reason, he missed the slithering shadow that snagged him from behind.

To be frank, that shadow was being used merely for distraction so that the other hair-width shadow slithering towards Neji's blind spot would remain unnoticed. But it caught Neji, paralysing him.

Perhaps Neji had expected a hand sign, something of a forewarning but Shikamaru had long since seized the need to use one to perform his kage mane. The result was Neji seizing all movement, eyes going wide in surprise. "What the—?"

"Kage mane complete," Shikamaru announced softly, carefully studying Neji's expression. Surprise, shock, anger, shame. Finally, it settled back to a familiar blank. "I believe this match goes to me, Neji-san."

If glares could kill, Shikamaru would undoubtedly be dead. He didn't fancy being on the receiving end of Neji's wrath but some things just couldn't be avoided. Perhaps it wasn't his place to teach Neji these lessons, perhaps it was truly Naruto's job; that the blond was meant to be the one to beat the arrogance out of him.

Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh, both shadows retreating and granting Neji his mobility back. For a brief second Shikamaru thought Neji was going to attack him, and by the way Naruto shifted at the edge of his vision, he was sure the blond felt it too, but then the Hyuuga turned his back and stalked away to the tree line.

He sought out Naruto's gaze to be met by a pair of sympathetic cerulean eyes, their message clear: there's nothing we can do right now. Just let it go. One step at a time, brother.

Shikamaru couldn't keep from letting his shoulders slump. Gai's clapping, however, dragged him out of his sombre thoughts. "Brilliant! Handled like a true Nara, Shikamaru-san."

The Nara heir winced at the glare he could feel emanating from Neji's direction. Gai really needed to tone it down a notch, lest this friendship lost all chances of becoming salvageable.

"Thanks…" he trailed off, unsurely. His eyes met Tenten's behind Gai and she offered him a sheepish smile. Very briefly, he contemplated if perhaps the girl felt left out but decided against mentioning it in fear he got robbed into another fight. He could always seek her out another time for a training session. They weren't particularly close, but she was a friend. A very dependable and loyal one.

"I think we should get going," Naruto said from the sidelines, getting Shikamaru's attention. "We have a few errands to run before our teams' meet-up."

Parting with team Gai was a quick affair that consisted of hasty goodbyes and avoiding the poisonous gaze of one Neji Hyuuga. Gai-sensei for his part was thrilled with having them and demanded they train together again.

Knowing they needed to build up some serious stamina, and quickly, Naruto enthusiastically agreed while mentally dreading all the future body sores he'd be earning. Shikamaru may not have outwardly reacted to his reply, but he could have sworn the Nara shuddered.

They exited the training ground at a tentative pace, feeling four pairs of eyes on their back. Naruto wasn't sure what training with team Gai would mean for them or for team Gai's genin, but he hoped it would be the kind of change that would bring forth positive ripples.

It had to.

Soon, it was time to part with Shikamaru again to meet up with their teams.

Naruto wasn't quite certain which emotion he felt more pronouncedly at the prospect of team 7's training sessions like the old days, elation or dread but he figured he should get it under wraps sooner than later. Because just like how dealing with Shikaku had resembled dancing over a minefield, dealing with Kakashi was like waiting for the inevitable call of doom for when he managed to corner you when you least expected it.

And Naruto really couldn't have that.