endgames | 022 -- [Action || Voice]

[Filtered to Konoha Shinobi and Temari || 100% Unhackable]

Meeting tonight, at sundown. [What about goes without saying - most of them should know already.] Fourth floor's kitchen. Try not to pull a Kakashi.

[And thus starts off the long to-do-list of Shikamaru's day. The filter goes up in the morning, giving - hopefully - everyone time to see it.

He's decided he needs to talk to Naruto before then. On his way out the building he'll stop by his apartment, or send another filter off to him if he's not around. With everything going on he would be surprised. After he's tracked him down, it's off to the other side of the village to find Tony Stark at his casa, to hand over a project he's been working on for the last several nights. Playing delivery boy again, ugh. No notice this time, though. He's acting like a functional human being again, but he's not up for the sarcastic banter. Once he's done there, it's over to the school to find Katara in the thirty minute window he has after classes let out. Apologies are an order.

Specific things attended to... wow, without Masaomi around this week, he has a lot of time on his hands, huh. Well okay. He goes off to the forest with a bag of coconuts of all things and lines them up at head level when he finds a good spot to sit them for tanto practice - or more precisely: strength training. He's never used his short sword much. The one time he did, he wasn't strong enough with it to do as he intended, so he should work on that now.

And okay, surely by then the sun will be going down... or okay, nope. With a few hours to kill, somehow he winds up at the Seventh Heaven restaurant. In part because he figures it could be a good place to drop off some of the coconuts, and also because he realizes on the way over he hasn't actually eaten yet. Or done much of anything this past week, besides getting Asuma up to speed about Luceti, or working on various projects.

Sooo. Might be nodding off there at the restaurant. Might be napping after he eats, if he doesn't get kicked out for it. SITTING DOWN WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA. Fine, he'll pose a random pointless question to the masses, maybe that'll keep him occupied.]

[Voice]

Wonder why they call this place Luceti. Seems like a dumb name. Does it even mean anything?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Here comes Captain Obvious, spelling out a pretty bad idea that would spill suspicion all over the place. It's just the obvious solution to Naruto, even if messy and bad overall.]

Can't you just shoot him a message over the journal?

[No, let's explain why that'd be a bad idea.]

Right after Madara shows up? That's not suspicious at all.

Sasuke and I have argued the matter. Though I've expressed my displeasure, he's insisted that he needs Madara's aid.

As he's avoided me, I could not tell you what his current feelings are. But, if Madara is aware of my brother's presence at all, he'll be monitoring him closely.

Oh... [Shot down by logic, and not to mention how bad it really is to have Madara and Sasuke running amok in the village without monitoring. Bad stuff.]

What should we be doin' then? Tryin' to keep an eye on one or both of them?

Both. But since Sasuke is the one who can tell him what we really know, him more so.

[Okay, he may actually be biased, but it is still a legit concern. At least he thinks it is. Itachi would have a better idea.]

But you have more insight here.

Naruto will need to keep from following Sasuke personally. There's too much of a connection between them for Sasuke not to know, and things are far too personal.

Not to mention that, sadly, such actions may serve to just push my brother closer to Madara.

There is a team of tracking nin here, correct?

[As much as Naruto would rather be the one to keep an eye on Sasuke, Itachi was right. There's no way he should be the one doing it because it would be way too much at risk. Damn.]

Yeah, Kiba's pretty good at it.

Him and Akamaru. There's also Ino, who's a sensor-type.

[Discounting Naruto, she's the next capable person they have, with Shino and Hinata gone.]

The Inuzuka boy?

Is he as good at remaining unseen as he is at tracking? The task of following a Sharingan user without them realizing is very difficult. Though this world itself may have limited some of Sasuke's natural abilities, we can't rely on that.

Ino is of the Yamanaka clan, yes?

He's got a pretty good nose for sniffin' people out, so I'm pretty sure he could keep a pretty good distance. Shouldn't be too hard for him, right?

[Naruto relents after that to let Shikamaru handle any other details. And Ino, since she was his teammate.]

[He nods - Ino's a Yamanaka all right.]

They're both about as quiet as Naruto here. [Needs to be said.] But they know how to do their jobs. I have every confidence in them.

[...oh right.] Hell, if memory serves, Kiba's done this twice already.

Done it without Madara being aware?

[That's something, if true. The good news is that here the other lacks Zetsu.]

Then I expect you to get in contact with them, if you haven't already.

I think the last time he did it, Madara might've not been in the loop about it. [Naruto isn't the most aware of the details behind all that stuff.]

Should be easy enough, right Shikamaru?

We'll plan for both scenarios.

[Because at this point, he's not about to underestimate either one of them. If it's easy, something has gone wrong.]

I'll tell them tonight.

[He nods.]

Thank you.

...And thank both of you, for being willing to meet with me in the first place.

You don't have to thank us for it. It's important we get this outta the way, right?

[Actually, considering what he'd like to do to Sasuke as of today, the gratitude goes a long way for Shikamaru, so. 8|]

Goes both ways. Your insight is gonna be helpful... you weren't obligated to give it.

[He wasn't even sure until Itachi contacted him if he would give it. He's content to let everyone continue thinking of him as a traitor; he didn't have to help them.]

Obligated? Perhaps not.

But the story has changed, and I apparently still have a part to play here.

[Naruto does nods. He's relieved that his discussion went so well, because so many bad things could have happened here. Even though Naruto believed in Itachi helping out.]

If it means anythin', I'm really glad to you're on our side for this, part to play or not.

[After a moment, Shikamaru nods solemnly. As unsure as he is, he can't help but agree with that.]

There is very little I can offer, but my apartment is always open to either of you.

[Quite literally. He rarely locks the door.]

There is very little we can do to keep Madara from learning of my existence here, but hopefully I can keep our eventual meeting on my own terms.

I'll keep that in mind. [The whole apartment being open thing. It's probably gonna serve useful for Naruto, knowing how dramatic things might turn.

Not much else to say on Naruto's behalf.]

Worst comes to worst, he won't be expecting that we're working together. We'll be able to use that to our advantage.

[He steps away from the wall he was leaning against - probably time to go, if he doesn't have anything to add?] I'll keep you informed.

That is something, yes.

And it's yet to be seen how Sasuke's motives will change given the setting. [There's no Leaf Village here to destroy, after all. Only a handful of its members.]

...I don't suppose either of you would like some tea before you go.

Hopefully it's not somethin' worse. [A legitimate fear.

If Shikamaru was stepping away from the wall, that meant that it was getting close to time to leave. So Naruto gets up from his seat and stretches for a moment.]

Nah, I'll pass. [This guy's hungry, not gearing up for tea.]

[action]

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