Tales of the Shinobi War 1

By: creyzi4zb12

Fanfic from: Naruto

Setting: During the Shinobi World War 4

Fanfiction Spotlight: Shikamaru, Kurenai

Dictionary: Genin = A lower ranking Shinobi, serves mostly as reserve troops during the war

Gestation = the process of carrying an offspring in the womb during pregnancy

Fourth Division = A battalion formed by the Allied Shinobi forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War in which Shikamaru is a member of.

Supporting Characters: Akumu = A big fat jounin in the Fourth Division

Matsuo San = A red haired female jounin in the Fourth Division

Gin San = A sadistic looking jounin in the Fourth Division

What are you doing Kurenai?

Almost all ninjas from the major villages of the Shinobi world were recruited when the Fourth Great War of the Ninjas erupted. Drastic times such as these proved to be disastrous not only to the prosperity of the non-militant populace, but also to their health and wellbeing. Majority of the food supplies in the village was sent to the battle-lines, leaving the civilians hungry and weak. Health-care and safety services were no longer diverted to the civilians, since they would be needed more for the survival of the injured ninjas during the war. It left the villages in a state of standstill, a point where production had stopped. Famine, high morbidity and mortality rate is expected a few weeks after the transitions occurring.

It wasn't as if the people of Konoha were new to a crisis such as this. Even the populace that was considered as too young, old or weak to join the war was strong. These are people, who in the midst of battles like the Siege of Orochimaro and the Attack of the Paths of Pain were able to come out scathed, but alive and strong. They crawl, believe, and persevere with the great determination to continue on living. But these people, who were no longer protected by powers of the shinobi left themselves prone to interventions from third parties during the war. Third parties: which would imply to scavengers, and ninjas from smaller villages whose sole purpose was to destroy, terrorize or raid weak groups for whatever benefits they may get.

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Shikamaru couldn't run the road which led to Konoha's sanatorium. He had to walk, or rather, walk fast. People were everywhere, every twist and turn he could see them; children being carried by their mothers, adults who seem to be the ones in charge of carrying supplies of the house, some were strong enough to lift four sacks of rice, while the others a bit skinny and weak, and had to carry smaller stuff in a backpack, the elderly who in the midst of the crowd seemed to fall down to their knees and get trampled, and then there was the family who walks rather slow to give way for their children and elders. He(Shikamaru) occasionally bumps a person here and there as he searches for Kurenai in the crowd.

There were many in distress, and Shikamaru could feel a pang of guilt every time he notices an old-woman here and there fall on their knees from the skimpiness of the crowd. A few genin's begin to help her up, and Shikamaru feels a bit at ease that he no longer has to intervene. Not that he would do that right now, he had no time to meddle in the affairs of others. There were more pressing issues at hand. Kurenai is still weak from giving birth to her baby. She may have not adjusted fully to go back in being a capable survivalist because of the past 40 weeks of her gestation. Shikamaru fears that Kurenai would be lost and vulnerable in the crowd. Health was poor nowadays, and the air/ventilation from such a crowd would prove unhealthy for both her and the baby. Not to mention the long walk to other havens.

He needed to find her, had to find out that she was okay, and had to ensure her safety. He made a promise to his mentor and friend that he would protect Kurenai. A burly fellow carrying two sacks of potatoes crashes on his back, almost tripping him to the ground. Guts show up in his sweaty face, not from the annoying behavior of the man, but from the fact that it had already wasted three hours of search in the huge crowd and still there was no success.

Shikamaru once asked the proper authorities if they saw a woman carrying a baby around. Seeing that this was the first good approach, Shikamaru tried it. But the authorities on the march only led him to different women who recently gave birth. He tried giving them Kurenai's name, but the genin's job in the civilian march was more of a watcher. And even though proper documentation was done, the lack of uniformity in the march led to problems in finding somebody particular. The genin's simply did not have the time and resources to help Shikamaru in his problem.

"You think we have enough time for you to look for your mommy? You're already big enough to punch a guy. Do it yourself sir, we are in a big hurry right now and cannot be bothered by these stuff" The lead genin would speak, a brat probably 3 years younger than him which led him to remember an arrogant but talented ninja named Naruto from the way he spoke. Only this one had more of the arrogance and less of the talent.

Shikamaru was so angry at this notion that he almost slapped the genin in the face. He resisted the urge by reminding himself that finding Kurenai was most important here. And being in the bad side of the authorities in such a chaotic setting was not good, especially if you needed access to documents regarding the one you are looking for.

He could imagine Kurenai with her baby skimping through the crowd, trying to make enough space to breath and move, shouting "make way please, make way", falling down to the pavement in the midst of the crowd, stampeded by the unforgiving walks of this desperate mob. The horror of these thoughts rattled Shikamaru.

In a fit of blind determination he puts his hands close to his mouth, raises his head amidst the skimpy crowd, and calls out for Kurenai's name. Perhaps through this desperate act she is able to hear him and respond. He repeats the calling out her name for several minutes until a man comes in and taps him in the back.

"Excuse me sir, are you looking for Miss Kurenai?" The man seems to be 5 years Shikamaru's senior, but due to the sickly frame he carried, he looked more like a grandpa than a proper man.

"Yes, do you know her? A woman, probably in her late twenties, has red particular eyes, long shaggy black hair, she recently delivered a baby." Shikamaru spoke fast, he couldn't believe the relief that he had felt after that man's intervention.

"Yes that's her alright, miss Kurenai, our Mistress of the Needy." The frail man replied.

"Mistress of the Needy?" Shikamaru's questioned expression came out.

"She looks after us from the hardships we've received in this hell of a place." The frail man nods his head. "They say she was once a jounin, and one of the best in Konoha, she looks out for the sick, and scouts ahead of us for bandits and rogue ninjas."

"What?" That couldn't have been Kurenai, she had recently given birth, and will have had a hard time looking out for herself because of this. How could she give time for the needs of the evacuation when she couldn't even help herself? "Are you saying that, Kurenai helps you guys out?"

"Not just the needy, but all of us." Replied the frail man, he tries to spread his arms, but the crowd was too skimpy that he and Shikamaru had to walk while talking to each other.

"What about the genins in this march? Aren't they the ones looking after you all?"

"Oh forget them, they aren't able to do much, a few days ago we were attacked by some rogue ninjas, and they were badly loosing, a good thing Miss Kurenai came out to help them. With her great shinobi moves, she was able to make them retreat."

"But she's recently given birth? That job would be too stressful for her!" Shikamaru had to scowl for the frail man to hear him. He was angry, and worried at the same time for Kurenai. She needed to rest in a time like this, not go on using ninjutsu to help people.

"I don't know about you sir, but the way I see it, she's pretty much strong." A woman couldn't help but overhear their conversation and was now butting in. She was on her middle adulthood, wearing an apron and a white cap on top of her head.

Shikamaru deduced that reasoning with these fellows would be useless. He had to get to her on his own. He had to try and convince her that her health was not well enough for her to do ninja-stuff, like using jutsus and such. He scratches his head and tries to be ignorant and dumb from the events occurring.

"Does any of you know where she is right now?" Shikamaru's face was more of a person out of clue when he asked the question. It was all just an act to try and not be hostile to these would be followers of her. "I need to find her, er.." Shikamaru couldn't say that he was friends with Kurenai, maybe these guys wouldn't believe him for that statement. "I need to ask her help in finding my sister who is lost in this crowd."

The frail man and the woman with a white cap and apron looked at each other for a few seconds. They then turned their heads to Shikamaru. "Nobody knows where she is, all we know is that she is always there whenever a problem comes out."

Shikamaru's mind was already thinking up of alternatives to achieve his goal fast, there are countless situations he could create to draw Kurenai out. But then again, the thought of having to put any civilians (even though they weren't from Konoha) in danger was a bit too much for his morals. Then it suddenly occurred to him, if Kurenai is out when a problem is seen in the evacuation march, then the best way to find out if there are problems in the march is through asking the genins in charge of the watching over the evacuation march.

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Somewhere along the not so far outskirts of Konoha several ninjas from the Fourth Division are seen standing in the rocks. These ninjas were jounins, probably one of the best in their respected villages. One of them was Shikamaru's long childhood friend Choji.

"What's taking the head tactician so long? He said he would be here before 2:30 PM, well guess what! It's already two thirty!" The jounin known as Akumu was screaming out to the group. He wore the similar flak-jacket the usual shinobi soldiers wore. He was big, almost the same size as Choji, with a pig-like ugly face filled with scars and a short orange hair that stood 7 inches forward to his front (very short). He had a big round nose and a belly even bigger than Choji. He carries a huge thin red scroll on his hand, making use of it like a staff for walking.

"It's not yet 2:30 PM, you need to do something about that clock of yours fatso!" Choji (I don't think I need to give a description for him ) mumbled out.

"What? Who are you calling fatso? Fatso!" Akumu glowered at him, sticking his face close to Choji's.

"Just take a look at your belly, it's so big that….that I wonder why you're a ninja!" Choji almost choked his apple-pie from Akumu's retort. A few stales could be seen spewing out of his mouth into Akumu's face.

"Oh yeah, well I bet I'm more of a ninja than you!" Screamed Akumu

A female ninja stepped in between the two, she was very lithe, and wore the same flak-jacket of the ninjas, but hers was different from the fact that she had a sleeveless shirt underneath it, showing off her shapely shoulders to the two. But those shoulders were nothing compared to the legs she showed off from the short pants she wore below the flak-jacket. She wore a straight red long hair, had a long nose, red distinctive eyes, a red lips which are made redder by her lipstick, and red globe earrings hanging from both her ears. "That's enough you two, Shikamaru said that if there is a possibility that he would be late, then we would go ahead besides him." Matsuo spoke.

Another jounin came into the conversation. This time it was a man, wearing the typical ordinary uniform a ninja wore (flak-jacket, black clothes beneath), his face is obscured by the long pointy farmers hat he wore, he seems to be carrying a score of kunais and small katanas strapped on his body. When he looked up to reveal his face it showed the look of a smiling person, with a sharp well defined head, reptilian eyes which eyeballs seem to empty out into a cruel coldness. "Matsuo san is right, if the head-tactician will not arrive by now, we'll just have to take his word for it."

Choji bit his lip from the annoyance of these three jounins, he couldn't make the events into his favor. These ninjas were not from the hidden leaf and didn't care a damn about what would happen to Shikamaru. He needed to buy Shikamaru enough time to get to them to the main body of the Fourth Division. What was taking Shikamaru so long anyway? He said he would just go try to find out if Miss Kurenai was okay.