The Moment of Truth
[FUTURE]
Iruka sighed as he looked at his two former students in front of him. These days, it is not a peculiar sight to see the infamous new Ino-Shika-Cho to be missing a team member but it still sends a pang of sadness in his heart. Ever since the war has ended, Shikamaru had continuously gone on back-to-back solo missions. But now that he has finally stayed in the village for more than a week, he then decided to lock himself up.
He had always known that Zen liked Shikamaru just like Hinata liked Naruto. She just didn't bother with it until practically the whole village found out. What he didn't know was that Shikamaru might have felt the same way. It's depressing that the young Nara hadn't realized it sooner.
They did say, you don't know how important someone really is until you lose them.
With another sigh, Umino Iruka handed a scroll over to Ino and only distantly listened as the Rokudaime Hokage debriefed the two on their escort mission. As the grueling hours went on, noon has finally come and his desk duty was over.
He didn't know why but as his mind begins to wander, his feet brought him in front of the Nara Clan compound. He could only sigh as he realized where he was. In his worry for his former students, his feet led him to the (currently) most problematic one.
"Iruka-sensei?" a curious voice called. "What are you doing here?"
Looking back at the caller, Iruka met the one he is worrying most for.
"Shikamaru-kun" He greeted back. "I was just going to check up on you"
It only took a second on Shikamaru's part to understand why.
"I'm fine, sensei" He grinned at his former instructor. "Would you like to come in? Mom would be happy to finally have a guest over"
And how could Iruka possibly decline after hearing that last bit? So as he followed him towards the main house, he took this time to study his former student. Although Shikamaru hasn't been leaving for missions, he still wore the standard shinobi attire with his flak jacket. There were also dark circles under his eyes and he looked more tired as if he had not slept for days.
"I heard that you've been locking yourself up in your room," Iruka said after a moment.
"Ah," Shikamaru scratched his cheek with a finger. "I was just busy studying something"
That made Iruka chuckle weakly. "I never thought I'd see the day"
When they reached the main house, Nara Yoshino, the clan matriarch, ushered them to the porch and then busied herself making snacks.
"Everyone's worried that you'd overwork yourself," Iruka said quietly. "You haven't left for a mission lately but you look like you had just come back from one"
Shikamaru sighed and then looked out to the sky. "I'm dealing with something troublesome right now"
"Can I help?" The older shinobi asked and gave a small encouraging smile as the younger male looked back at him.
"There's nothing wrong in letting him try," the voice of Nara Shikaku said as he leaned by the hallway.
"Shikaku-sama" Iruka stood up and bowed in greeting.
"Well?" the Nara Clan Head looked at his son with a raised brow which he earned a groan from.
"Fine..." Shikamaru replied as he stood up and beckoned his former instructor to follow him.
The breath left Iruka's lungs as soon as he stepped foot inside Shikamaru's room and saw the familiar chaos inside.
"A-aren't these..." He stuttered, "Zen's...?"
"How did you know?" Shikamaru whirled on the older man in shock.
"She's been working on this since back in the academy" Iruka replied absently as he approached the web of pinned parchments with threads connecting them. "It's a story"
"A story?" Shikamaru asked with a frown.
Iruka looked back at his former student as he asked, "Are you familiar with 'The Tale of a Lost Soul' ?"
At the other's negative response, Iruka immediately went on to explain...
"It's a short story of a woman who had nothing left to live for anymore and unhesitantly took her own life. But her desperate plea for death led her to be reborn in a new world." The scarred man then pointed at the web of parchments on the wall. "What you have here are story notes for all three parts: 'Life After Death', 'Unrequited', and 'Goodbye'."
"They're... story notes...?" Shikamaru looked back at the said wall as he slowly shook his head. "It doesn't make sense though..."
"It wasn't initially a story when she started to collect these." Iruka explained, "At first, she only wanted to read some random books in the library because she still wasn't sure of what she wanted to specialize in..." He pointed at one of the parchments with nonsensical writings. "but when you guys graduated and she started learning Fuinjutsu, she began writing these bits of ideas"
"It takes too much concentration to study Fuinjutsu... One wrong move and the seal would blow up" He looks over the rest of the web of threads and papers in nostalgia. "So when something else crosses her mind while studying, she'd set aside what she's currently doing to accommodate the new idea."
"How did you know about this?" Shikaku asked from the door with his wife beside him.
"I was the one who taught Zen-chan how to read and write kanji" The younger scarred man answered. "And I helped translate some book passages for her, so I know the references she used."
After a moment of silence, Iruka addressed the youngest Nara in the room, "I suggest you read the book first" Then, he pointed at one of the papers with unfamiliar writings. "I'll help you translate these after"
~
"Do you have a copy of 'The Tale of a Lost Soul'?" Shikamaru asked the clerk behind the counter and was promptly pointed to a certain shelf.
The book in question was a simple one. A black paperback book with minimal design. Aside from the title printed in bold white letters, at the center of the front cover, below the title was a large kanji for 'Soul'. At the bottom of the cover are two hiragana characters that read "REI".
When he came back to the counter with a copy of the book in hand, the clerk immediately wrung it up.
"It's a beautiful book," The clerk commented offhandedly as he accepted the book back. He could only nod at that and leave quietly.
~
[PAST]
Rae grinned as she thanked her lucky stars. Only halfway through the Land of Fire and she already saw her target in the distance. As she approached her target, she took out a soldier pill from her pouch and immediately consumed it. Once feeling the pill taking effect, she gathered her chakra and leaped off from the tree with her right arm cocked back.
"SNAKE FACE!" She shouted as she descended on him.
.
.
.
There was a deafening explosion as the ground shook with jarring tremors. In a split second, a large crater was formed on the ground. And in the middle of it, unbothered by the rain of debris and dust, stood a lone woman glaring at the unharmed man outside the crater she created.
"That was dangerous," The missing-nin commented, yellow eyes alight with interest.
"You shouldn't have taken my sisters from me then" The woman replied.
"Taken?" The man questioned, "If I remember correctly, you were the one who took my daughter from me. So essentially, I just took back what is mine. Little Zen even volunteered to come with us."
"Where are they?" Rae demanded.
"Saa..." The man smirked. "Who knows?"
~
For the first time in his life, Itachi was at a loss for words. One moment, he was just getting ready for Orochimaru's sneak attack on him, and then by the next second, they were being attacked by another... or at least only attacking Orochimaru.
Itachi could tell that the woman was well-aware of his presence but chose not to drag him into the fight. She also was careful not to show her back to him, always having both him and Orochimaru in her line of sight.
He wouldn't have thought that she was a shinobi if she hadn't just uppened the ground he was just previously standing on. She looks plain, and her clothes are of lower quality. With his Sharingan active, her features are magnified and he could see the tone in her muscles, a sign that she's physically fit and built like any other trained shinobi. She also wields her weapons with ease and uses her chakra like a glove.
She is a trained shinobi... but not enough to match Orochimaru of the Sannin.
Even as the woman unsealed a tanto from the seal on her wrist, she could still not match Orochimaru's skills and experiences.
His speculation was proven true when not a moment later, the woman was thrown back and harshly crashed into a tree.
.
.
.
A kunai flew through the air but came in short and landed scant millimeters from Orochimaru's sandalled feet. There was a quiet stillness before the Snake Sannin cracked up laughing in mockery.
"That was all you got?" He asked in a taunt, but instantly shut up.
Itachi could see his body tensing but wouldn't move... or couldn't...?
He immediately looked over the kunai the woman had thrown. There was nothing on it that was note-worthy aside from the small traces of chakra desperately clinging on it.
"Now, why don't you tell me where my sisters are?" The woman asked as she stood up and calmly approached the immobile Sannin.
"What have you done to me?" Orochimaru demanded, understandably angry at being bested by a no-name woman. "What technique is this?!"
"It's 'Shut-the-fuck-up-and-tell-me-what-I-want-to-know' technique" The woman sassed back.
"Cheap tricks" The Sannin sneered and released his summons from his sleeves. The small snakes didn't even reach their intended target before they were sucked inside the seal the woman held up.
"Thank you for the pets, I'll be sure to treat them well." She said in a patronizing tone. "Now, tell me where my sisters are."
Orochimaru remained silent, only looking down at the woman with an air of superiority despite his situation.
Itachi watched the minuscule movements the Sannin was making. Little by little, the woman's technique is weakening and in no time, Orochimaru would be free from it.
.
.
.
And then, Orochimaru was howling like a bitch. By his feet lay his left hand in the pool of his own blood.
"YOU BITCH!" The Sannin howled as he attacked the woman in rage but it was quickly intercepted by a chakra-infused punch.
Orochimaru soared back through the forest and crashed through multiple trees. When Itachi came to check on the Sannin, he was nowhere to be found.