[Open] What a Troublesome Day...

[mendouksei]

It was over. He knew that much. The Juubi was charging up it's attack, and then... there were the clouds. Beautiful clouds, so peaceful and boring. No war, just the relaxation of his friends in the sky. But his mind knew better. He hadn't died, he was sure of that. The grass under him was too comfortable for it to be purgatory plus he didn't hear the combined demonic symphony of his mother, Ino, and Temari screeching in triplicate for him to work. But was it heaven? If it was, where was Asuma-sensei? Too many questions, that technically required answers, but he was so comfortable here, in the middle of a training area where no one would ever come across him... right?

Comments

[sarutobiskid]

"Oh, I suppose that I should mention right now that there's a Temari of the Sand running around here and Ino-chan."

[mendouksei]

He sighed dramatically when Asuma said that. "And here I thought this place was Heaven. Figured there'd be no troublesome blondes to deal with. Knowing my luck both of them will try and make me do work..."

[sarutobiskid]

"We're not dead, Shikamaru. I'm not really sure where here is. It's not Konoha, but we're very much alive. And I'm sure you're right. Ino-chan keeps giving me these looks that I'm not too sure about."

[mendouksei]

"I'm pretty sure I know why but it's too troublesome to deal with." He said simply. Yeah, he wasn't going to tell Asuma how he died against a near immortal enemy and that he himself had to think further ahead than he ever had before in order to one up the enemy and kill them while nearly dying himself on a quest of family vengeance. Asuma didn't need to know that.

[sarutobiskid]

"Okay, yeah, I don't want to know about that, so you can just stop right there. How was Kurenai the last time you saw her?"

[mendouksei]

Oh yeah Asuma was going from loaded question to loaded question. "She was happy." He said simply.

[sarutobiskid]

He could tell there was something else that went along with Shikamaru's statement, but accepted it as well as he could. "What about Choji? Is he still entirely too...round or did he thin down a bit like his dad did for a while?"

[mendouksei]

"No Chouji's still as rotund as ever, and wearing the Akamichi Clan armor proudly. He pushed himself to the limits during the Retrieve Sasuke mission that caused his father to up his training, his calorie intake, and earned him his armor. He hasn't picked out a weapon to specialize with the way his father did with the pike."

[sarutobiskid]

"Ino-chan told me about what happened with both you and Choji after that little stupid retreival. All that fuss over that Uchiha brat," he muttered under his breath. "I heard he even tried to seriously harm Uzumaki."

He frowned. "Talk about something else..."

[mendouksei]

"Yeah I had to have that girl from Suna save me from a crazy redheaded girl. Troublsome..." He muttered as he shook his head. "You know how obsessed our village is with that stupid Sharingan. That damn overbearing case of pink eye is far too troublesome. At least we can all be proud of Naruto for protecting us from the Kyuubi." He said simply. He knew that Asuma knew, thus he wasn't breaking the Sandaime's law.

[sarutobiskid]

"Oh, I'm sure you loved having Temari-chan saving your skin," Asuma teased his student. There was obviously some tension between the blonde and Shikamaru, more than with Ino. He wouldn't be surprised if they ended up together, Suna or no Suna.

"As far as the Uchiha go, there's a lot that you don't know and I'm not 100% sure about to tell you about, so let's just say that between the Uchiha and the Senju clans is the reason that Konoha exists in the first place. And the Uzumaki clan has always been a friend to Konoha, whether part of the village or not."

[mendouksei]

Shikamaru got a serious look on his face as he looked to Asuma. "And let me tell you that I know the Village History Asuma-sensei, but I also know what is coming, and there is nothing good that will come from the Sharingan ye. The only thing that can hope is Naruto knocks some sense into Sasuke." Granted he didn't know about this place, but he couldn't tell Asuma the future. "This is troublesome... I'm sure here there may be some exceptions to the Uchiha rule, but back home it all went down hill because of them."

[sarutobiskid]

"There's always been drama over the Uchiha clan, Shikamaru. Don't you forget it. It's like they've always been more trouble than they were worth, to be honest. I haven't met one that didn't bring grief to those around them, whether they wanted to or not. Their eyes are dangerous too."

He snorted disdainfully. "A clan that can only power up their kekkai genkai by killing their best friend? That's stupid."

[mendouksei]

"Preaching to the choir, Asuma-sensei." He muttered as he didn't want to risk explaining more than was necessary. "So other than the pair of troublesome blondes, who should I get introduced to around here?"

[sarutobiskid]

"Probably would be best to have Kakashi introduce you to the Kage, Uchiha Itachi-sama, and Uchiha Mikoto-san. Oh, yeah, I heard that both Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato-sama are running around here. Her, I've seen and she's a redhead. Him, not so much, but I knew him as a kid too." He stroked his chin in thought. "Other than that, I'll leave it to Kakashi. Though, you might want to know that there are like five versions of Naruto running around here and they're all pretty much the idiot we know, except for the youngest."

[mendouksei]

Shikamaru blinked at the mentions of the Uchihas, even more at the mention of another Uzumaki, and the late Yondaime Hokage... at the mention of the various Narutos he rubbed his face slightly. "And how many prank-enduced deaths have been caused by them?"

[sarutobiskid]

"Truthfully? None. It seems that Kushina-nee-san is the one we have to watch out for. Well, and the youngest Naruto. I heard he even managed to convince Hyuuga Hinata-chan to prank the Naruto she's dating."

[mendouksei]

"Well everyone knows Hinata-san can deny nothing to Naruto no matter what version of it is that might be asking." He did note the hint of affection Asuma used at calling Kushina "nee-chan" but decided to ask nothing about it for now. "So what's the relation between this Uzumaki Kushina and the Yondaime?"

[sarutobiskid]

Asuma led them in the direction of the house that Uchiha Itachi-sama shared with his two lovers, if Kakashi was to be believed before he answered his student. He felt it was beyond time for him to offer his services to the Kage in this strange place. "Uzumaki Kushina is his wife. And a redheaded terror."

[mendouksei]

"So his looks aren't coincidence... Naruto is the Yondaime's son." He stated it as simple fact as they walked to the Kage's place, hands deep in his pockets out of boredom. "She must have a long list of people she wants to murder for Naruto's childhood, as I am sure at least one of them has told her." He made a point of sending her a big bowl of ramen, hoping to get on her good side. After all he and Naruto had been slacker friends in the Academy, not to mention he'd known several things about Naruto and always respected the jinchuriki.

[sarutobiskid]

Asuma neither confirmed nor denied Shikamaru's conclusion. The boy was right and he knew more than Asuma wanted to acknowledge.

"Yes, Kushina-nee-san's pretty unhappy with my dad, but she hasn't taken it out on me, yet, because I can keep my mouth shut about what I think. Although, I kinda agree with her now that I know what happened to a lot of the different versions of her kid. But, for the most part, she's pretty laid back. Her son's a lot like her, to be honest."

[mendouksei]

At this Shikamaru ended up with one huge sweatdrop. "It's the coming of the apocalypse. Perhaps I should just marry Temari and save myself for the coming of the end of the world."

[sarutobiskid]

Asuma laughed at his student. "So, you haven't given up and realized you can't get away from that Suna girl? It's not the end of the world. Trust me. There's not enough booze for that."

[mendouksei]

"...Multiple Narutos, a redheaded version of him that is female and his mother, Ino, and Temari. Asuma-sensei, with all due respect... kill me now." And he fell back onto the ground to stare at the sky. "Or take me to see Itachi-sama, whichever is less troublesome."

[sarutobiskid]

"Kid, it could be so much worse," he said casually as hefted his student up by his jacket. "Come on. Let's go see this Uchiha Itachi that's Hokage. Then, you can watch the clouds or we can play some shogi, but you're getting up, Shika."