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This is an unedited chapter.
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(Whoosh!)
Naruto kicked at the space in front of him generating tiny air vacuums.
"Its really difficult to get the hang of those weights once you take them off for a while," Naruto sighed as stared at the leg weights bound over his ninja sandals which he wore once again after a long time.
The last he had worn weights was before going off on the rescue mission.
It had been about more than two weeks since then, and a whole lot of stuff had changed around him.
"Maybe I should go and have a look at what the other guys are doing now,"
"Thick brows, Neji and probably Sasuke as well…" Naruto thought.
*Grr….!!!*
Naruto's face lowered.
"I guess I gotta fill up this one first," Naruto stared at his stomach seemingly empty.
He then turned towards his bag which was placed against the base of a tree that contained the bento box from his dad.
"Itadakimasu!"
Naruto announced as he started to dig in.
"It sure does taste good," Naruto stared at his box within which the food was neatly laid out in sections.
"I wonder how mom's food tastes like…" Naruto thought aloud as he stared at the sun from underneath the cool shade of the tree.
(Whoosh!) A man in ANBU robes appeared.
"Naruto," The man called out.
"Old man," Naruto immediately stood up.
"Has anything happened?" Naruto asked.
"The thing is…"
Neji stared at Sasuke.
"Let's have a real match," Sasuke said.
"Wh…" Neji was shocked.
"Sasuke-kun,"
"You want to have a battle with us?" Lee asked enthusiastically.
"Mm," Sasuke nodded.
"Especially him," Sasuke pointed at Neji.
—— FlashBack——
"As Naruto's advisor, I need to make things easier for Naruto,"
"Since he is not in the Hokage seat right now, there are only limited things that I can do…" Shikamaru said.
Sasuke stared silently for a moment.
"Is this about the war?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes,"
"We cannot tell anyone about the war, but we must make them train harder," Shikamaru said.
"…" Sasuke stared silently.
"Naruto is already getting more and more involved with the higher-ups now that they are onto his identity,"
"I can only say that we have very less time until things get chaotic," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke stared at Shikamaru. He knew that for the fact that he had to consider Shikamaru's words since Naruto had Shikamaru as his advisor.
"What do you want me to do?" Sasuke asked.
"Train as you usually do, but we also need to spur others into training harder slowly," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke frowned.
"The only way to do this is to get the others to spar," Shikamaru said.
"Why must I waste my time?"
"Clearly the jōnins are already aware of the situation," Sasuke said.
"Sasuke,"
"You may have your points, but every effort counts here,"
"I am not sure about the others, but I know there's definitely one person that you can help out," Shikamaru said.
"…" Sasuke stared at Shikamaru.
"It's Neji," Shikamaru revealed.
Sasuke thought back to Neji's challenge to fight him the previous day.
"Neji died protecting Naruto on the battlefield,"
"Everyone else made it out except for him," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke lowered his gaze.
("Should I help him?") Sasuke thought.
"The two of you have much more in common than you think,"
"The eyes, for starters,"
"Both of you don't have your parents,"
"Both of you are from powerful clans,"
"Both of you are at the top of your class, with the exception of Naruto this time,"
"You both are very similar," Shikamaru concluded.
Sasuke thought for a bit.
"From what I heard from Naruto, you both trained with Lee as well,"
"I think you must return the favor as well," Shikamaru said.
("Shikamaru's right,") Sasuke thought following which he nodded.
"Leave those two to me,"
"As for the others, find someone else," Sasuke said following which he turned around to leave the field.
"Sasuke," Shikamaru called out.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked as he continued to walk.
"I hope you aren't still thinking about that revenge against your brother are you?" Shikamaru asked.
Sasuke stopped walking as though he froze.
"Why?" Sasuke asked.
"Unlike the previous timeline, Neither Naruto nor I have the time to assemble an entire squad to chase after you or spend three years finding every opportunity to make you come back to the village," Shikamaru said.
"…" The two were silent as Shikamaru waited for a response from Sasuke.
"Hmph,"
"Shikamaru,"
"Even though I don't think much about the others, there is definitely something I respect about you," Sasuke said in a cold voice.
Shikamaru was confused.
("I only wanted to tie up loose ends, not to cut my way out…") Shikamaru regretted bringing up this question.
The only reason he did was because, almost two months ago, Sasuke had a cold vibe around him which Shikamaru guessed was related to Sasuke's intention for revenge to the point that the feeling was in his aura itself, Now the same feeling rushed over Shikamaru once again leaving him with a regret, but he was also curious to why Sasuke found him interesting enough to respect him.
"Let me guess. This is not related to me being his advisor when he became the Hokage right?" Shikamaru asked.
"No,"
"It was back in the forest when Naruto explained everything," Sasuke said.
"Huh…?" Shikamaru felt uneasy with this strange foreboding that was taking place.
Sasuke stared at Shikamaru while his eyes slowly manifested into a Sharingan.
"What the…" Shikamaru was shocked to the point he readied his hand seal to initiate a shadow possession if things got worse.
"I am not going to attack you," Sasuke said as he stared at Shikamaru.
"Huh?" Shikamaru stared at Sasuke,
Soon the surroundings changed into an image from Sasuke's memory.
It was the dreaded night of massacre that haunted Sasuke.
Shikamaru stared at little Sasuke who fell on the floor in front of him.
His gaze shifted to what was ahead of young Sasuke, and what he saw was the bloodied corpses of Fugaku and Mikoto.
*Sh!*
Itachi suddenly appeared in front of Shikamaru and Young Sasuke.
However, Sasuke ran out in fright denying everything that had happened.
The events played out slowly till the point where Itachi stared down at Shikamaru as though Shikamaru was Young Sasuke himself.
Shikamaru shuddered,
The scene was too real, but he also knew that Sasuke didn't wish to hurt him. Not intentionally at least.
Itachi continued.
"The reason I acted as the big brother you desired was…because I wanted to measure your vessel."
"You have the potential to become my opponent…in order for me to measure my vessel."
"You hated me…"
"And you continued to have the desire to surpass me, That's exactly why I will allow you to live…"
"for my own benefit."
"You are someone who could be able to use Mangekyou Sharingan just like me."
"However, on one condition."
"That you must kill your closest friend…
"One day, when you have the same eyes as I do..."
"Come and stand before me!" Itachi said, following which Itachi's eyes morphed into a mangekyo Sharingan closing the scene that happened in front of Shikamaru.
(Bang)
Shikamaru fell onto the ground feeling weak in his knees.
"To think that you would fall down from a mere genjutsu…" Sasuke mocked Shikamaru who was gasping for breath.
"I understand what you went through Sasuke, but that is not the right way to end things between you two," Shikamaru said,
"Shikamaru,"
"I said I respected you,"
"Do you know why?" Sasuke asked.
"…" Shikamaru stared silently as sweat dropped from the side of his head.
"It's because you managed to avenge your sensei in just a few days," Sasuke said.
Shikamaru thought back to the time Naruto had explained an event in concern for Shikamaru's future back in the forest.
The way how Asuma died in the previous timeline.
However, what Shikamaru didn't expect was Sasuke paying attention to the part where Shikamaru got his revenge.
"I respect your intelligence Shikamaru,"
"But at the end of everything we are humans,"
"We decide everything based on our emotions of what we feel is right or wrong,"
"You don't want me to take revenge, but aren't you being Hypocritical?" Sasuke asked.
Shikamaru gulped silently as he stared at Sasuke's eye returning back to normal.
"I'll go to help Neji and Lee out,"
"However, my revenge is mine alone,"
"And I will defeat Naruto to learn the truth,"
"If I can't defeat him, I'll just have my revenge,"
"Whichever comes first," Sasuke said as he started to walk away towards the entrance.
Shikamaru thought back to the genjutsu where he saw Itachi for the very first time.
"If I were in Sasuke's shoes, will I do the same as well?" Shikamaru thought deeply as he stared at Sasuke who exited the field.
"And what was that condition about killing your..."
"closest..."
"..." Shikamaru felt a chill down his spine.
"It couldn't be..."