All this time to make amends.

[underachieves]

Who: Shikamaru and Sasuke.
When: After this.
Where: The streets around Sector 1, for starts.
Summary: Shikamaru and Sasuke encounter each other for the first time in, well, a long time. It's uncomfortable.
Warnings: Awkward.

Comments

[underachieves]

With his eyes turned to the sky the way they so often did when he was outdoors, Shikamaru only narrowly avoided a collision by swerving out of the way at the last second. "Whoa, sorry," he slipped out instinctively, not realizing at first who he'd almost run straight into. He'd gotten in the habit of walking away from people before they could bother him with anything else, and was turning to continue on his way.

But as his eyes settled on Sasuke, that sheepish apology fell flat. Something icy crept up his spine and he took a step backwards without thinking. This city wasn't damn near big enough, he decided. For a moment he wondered if the best thing to do would be to run the hell away. Sure, he'd look like an idiot and a coward, but their last encounter had almost resulted in electrocution and being impaled by Sasuke's arm.

Not a threat, that's what Kakashi had said. Shikamaru took a drag from his cigarette to steel himself, then exhaled in a sigh.

"Need a hand with all that?" he asked, passing up the opportunity to retort with a dark joke. Hell if he was going to give Sasuke any ideas about killing him.

[switch_it_off]

Sasuke's memory is older, dustier, but he digs back to try and recall what he knows of the guy. Shikamaru's a strategist, another top of the class 'prodigy' of their generation who was saddled with an equally useless team. He hadn't seen the Nara since catching a brief glimpse of him the morning after he'd abandoned Konoha. Back then they'd been children who thought themselves immortal warriors (whether they wanted to be or not), and that was where their similarities ended.

As far as he could recall, Shikamaru was a notorious lazy-ass... which meant the offer was met with a quirked brow and a healthy dose of blatant skepticism.

"You don't know how far I'm carrying this," he began slowly, "or how heavy it is. And you smoke like a chimney. I'm not dealing with Kakashi's whining if you collapse."

[underachieves]

It was a suspicious offer, indeed. Shikamaru didn't normally go out of his way for people unless watching them struggle was more painful than helping them. Sasuke didn't exactly appear exhausted and burdened. And considering this was someone he despised, this should be about the point where Shikamaru would shrug and shuffle off to buy himself a hamburger.

Instead he said, "Hey, the further it is, the longer I get to avoid going back to work. I'd rather take a long walk than deal with everyone whining at me because we don't have enough beds in the shelter for their twenty kids." The crack about his physical condition simply went ignored. He held out his hand, not leaving room for much further argument.

[switch_it_off]

Even though he couldn't see the defining line between work and manual labor, he couldn't help the nagging intrigue over how bizarre this was. Curiosity was a killer but while Sasuke wasn't completely immune to it, he knew if the situation called for it he could take Shikamaru out without too much trouble. That ended up being the deciding factor in the end.

He shrugged and heaved the heavy tarp off his shoulders, and thumped one end to the ground. "If you insist, you can carry this. There's no screaming kids where we're going."

Just Itachi, and won't this be interesting to explain when he shows up with a tag-along? It's not like Kakashi wouldn't tell Shikamaru where Sasuke lived eventually, he reasoned, so might as well.

[underachieves]

If someone had asked him to do this, he would already be complaining. As it was, he hoisted up the tarp with a grunt of effort and didn't utter a word about its weight. Nor did he ask how far they had to go. He didn't want to give Sasuke any excuse to dismiss him, or worse.

Watching the network had told him that where Sasuke was, Itachi was sure to be nearby. The situation was different from what Shikamaru had known of the brothers... in both of his previous worlds. At the same time, he couldn't be too surprised that the two Uchiha would unite. Sasuke might have tried to kill him, but Itachi was the kind to look after his brother regardless.

Thinking about it gave Shikamaru the strange kind of heartache that was only ever associated with Itachi, only something he'd felt after his death. Itachi was his master in more ways than one. His sensei, yes, but also his owner. The man who had purchased him from the death auction and watched over him. There was something fundamentally wrong with the fact that Shikamaru wasn't by his side now. It felt like a betrayal. Or a failure. At the same time, he was certain this Itachi wouldn't remember him or their bond. And what exactly was he supposed to do with this newly-returned memory of Itachi The Enemy, Itachi who had betrayed Konoha?

Following Sasuke, Shikamaru gathered up a thousand questions he would have liked to ask. But it was incredibly difficult to think of even one that stood a chance of being answered without leading to a tense and uncomfortable discussion. At the same time, both he and Sasuke would only be annoyed by small talk.

Still, he couldn't just start asking about Itachi out of nowhere. Instead: "So you guys get a lot of damage from the quake?" Hoping to at least get some idea of Itachi's condition from the answer.

[switch_it_off]

"Mmh," Sasuke answered with a non-committal grunt. He was naturally reluctant to start openly answering Shikamaru's questions. Public transport would be the easiest way to get to sector 7 from here, next to hopping from roof to roof. Instead he measured his steps and walked the winding roads that led away from the underground mall and the industrialized areas of Sirens Port, the tension between his shoulders only easing when the pavement underfoot and the scenery faded to a more rural and spacious wooded area around.

The road was long, winding, and seemed to have no end. It kissed the horizon ahead of them both and faded into smoke and underbrush, but Sasuke's steps continued on, steady and unconcerned.

He and Itachi had picked a place as far apart from the rest of the city as possible, then cloaked it with such a writhing quagmire of traps and genjutsu that even Kakashi had some difficulty just waltzing his way in. The brothers were too paranoid to do anything halfway - it took forever to reach, and even longer if you didn't know exactly where it was you were going once you got close enough to step off the road. Finally he spoke up, the wind snatching at his words and threatening to drown him out. It looked like rain, soon.

"We lost the kitchen, and Itachi's room. It's nothing I can't rebuild."

[underachieves]

He might have guessed that they would choose a place this far out. The walk didn't bother him, even if his back was very soon aching under the tarp's weight. He hadn't explored this area yet but he was finding it nostalgic. Trees had gotten to be a rare sight these past two years. The times he did see them were very clear and specific in his mind. God, Itachi's birthday had just passed, hadn't it? Wasn't it just yesterday he'd watched that Elysian mansion burn to the ground? Trees and all.

"If you guys need any help," he said without thought. That compulsion again. He regretted saying it a second later and didn't finish the sentence. Of course they didn't want his help. Itachi didn't even know him. Damn the stupid auction. Damn whatever it had done to his brain. He knew he wasn't obligated to serve anymore. Why was he even here?

[switch_it_off]

Suspicion snake-bit him again and lashed through his stomach, twisting venomous doubts in tight complicated knots. What reason did he have to be nice, friendly, or even polite to these Konoha enemies of his? Even the friendly threats to honor their truce that Kakashi constantly directed his way weren't enough to keep him from balking, and swiveling on his heel to face the Nara with a narrow-eyed frown.

Needing help was something neither Uchiha was prone to admitting. Pride ran through their blood like a neuro-toxin tied into the arrogant belief they could handle anything on their own, until reality offered up a forceful antidote. A temporary one. They could handle any situation without drawing attention to weaknesses or needs, and that's the way it's always been.

The Nara's not-quite-offer felt insulting at first, then served to confuse him even more. "What do you want," he finally asked bluntly, sweeping aside tact and diplomacy in favor of cutting right to the point. "What reason do we have to bother with you?"

[underachieves]

Yep. He'd gone and done it now.

Shikamaru sighed, stopping to face Sasuke. Was this coming down to a fight? He really didn't want to. Almost certainly wouldn't survive one. But he shrugged the tarp off his shoulders, letting it hit the ground to free up his arms.

"You don't have a reason," he answered. "I mean if you want me to get the hell out of here, I'll go. But from here it looks like I'm the one who's bothering with you, not the other way around."

Rolling his shoulders to work out the muscles, he directed a glance to the sky. Hell, what else could he say to this kid? "I know you guys can take care of yourselves," he continued slowly, "and as far as I remember we're not even close to being allies... but this place is falling apart. Kind of literally. And there's only so many people we know around here. So, yeah, I'm offering a hand. It doesn't come with any obligations. I don't expect you or your brother to give a damn about me.

"But for my own sake, it's important for you to know that I'll do what I can for you guys."

[switch_it_off]

"Truce or not, if you're seen with us your allegiance and loyalty to Konoha might fall under scrutiny. It's why Kakashi won't be seen with us," Sasuke pointed out as blunt and tactless as possible. There was no sugar coating this in a way that'd make it seem less than what it was. Shikamaru was testing the bonds of loyalty with his home village just being near Sasuke, because Sasuke and his brother had no plans of ever defecting back to the village. Not even the handful of Akatsuki and Konoha shinobi cared about those ties as much as the current acting Hokage, and Shikamaru -- and possibly Naruto as well -- had been taken in by the man right at arrival.

Sasuke knows because he's seen the distance in his old sensei's eyes, and he's watched their arguments start to spiral away from salvageable to chaotically impossible. And he didn't know how to even begin fixing that, but what he does know is that's a position he doesn't want to force anyone else into. Even though he barely knows Shikamaru at all and it's hard to place just why that kind of kinship chafes him the wrong way. He's spent too long here with Itachi, watching his brother try to mask the disappointment of old politics interfering with new tentative bonds to see someone else end up blindsided by that same pain.

He doesn't know if that means he gives a damn, or if it means Sirens Port has turned him soft. His chin jerks at some invisible point just down the road, some speck in the distance. "And if you're here for espionage, save it. We're not involved in anything other than trying to rebuild our place after the 'quake. This island and its government are meaningless to us."

[underachieves]

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow. He could have laughed if Sasuke didn't look so deadly serious about it. For real? Sasuke was making this about his allegiance? "Until I get direct orders to stay away from you, then what I do is my business," he answered. "I've been away from Konoha for a really freaking long time and in a place like this, I don't give a shit about what people think. Anybody who's going to question my loyalty because I value cooperation over holding onto old grudges isn't worth my time, so I hope Kakashi-sensei knows better. I think he does."

And another shrug, inclining his head. "I think he'd know better than to send someone like me to spy on you, too. Just my being here is suspicious, isn't it? Kind of defeats the purpose. I don't think you're up to anything anyway. It just wouldn't make sense at this point." If Sasuke hadn't already killed Itachi then he probably wasn't going to, and what else would he have on his mind? From Shikamaru's view, it looked like peace was in their best interest. They clearly wanted to be left alone.

[switch_it_off]

Sasuke stared at him in silent disbelief, then reached slowly for the tarp. He slung the heavy weight easily to brace over his own shoulder and started walking again, his sandals leaving no traces or imprint in the mixed dirt-road and grass.

"I don't know much about you," he began slowly, "but I do know unless you went rogue without my hearing about it, you're shackled to Konoha as tight as all the other obedient little drones from our class."

He slanted an unreadable look through his lashes, but kept his face forward. "You never left the village, and as far as Kakashi's understanding goes, it really depends on what allies or enemies are present and how far he feels like testing us. It varies daily."

[underachieves]

He hasn't quite wanted to tell Sasuke about his interdimensional travels yet, and he'd very much doubted that Sasuke wanted to hear his life story, but it seemed like he'd have to tell at least part of it now.

"I didn't leave on purpose," he said, walking at Sasuke's side. "Same as you got pulled here out of nowhere, I ended up in another world. Close to two years ago. Then I got out of there and found myself here. Siren's Port is just the latest stop for me. Konoha seems like a lifetime ago..." Literally. He could only vaguely measure the actual time he'd spent in NeoGenesis by considering how he'd aged, but in between the two worlds there was an entire life separating him from his real home.

"Kakashi is my Hokage, and getting back to Konoha is my priority," he uttered soberly, "but all of these feuds are ancient history to me."

[switch_it_off]

His initial reaction is to mentally strike Shikamaru off as insane, but the loophole in that logic was the very real fact they were both here, in a similar situation and Shikamaru really had no reason at all to lie. Especially a lie like that, from a supposed genius who'd know better than to fabricate such a complicated story. It would be far too easy to trip up over his own tongue and confuse fake details when questioned later on over minor things; any shinobi worth their chakra knew better.

Which left Sasuke speechless.

What the fuck was he supposed to say in response to that? It worked out in his own favor in the end, but the thought of this being possible from more than one location twisted knots through his stomach. "As long as it stays ancient history," he muttered finally, grudgingly accepting it for what it was. The disbelief etched his forehead and tightened up the seam of his mouth, but he didn't voice any of those doubts.

If Shikamaru betrayed this tentative trust, he'd just kill him. It was just that simple. Or else Itachi would. "Konoha and its politics are useless here."

[underachieves]

Shikamaru can see that doubt, and he of course expects it. He never thinks anyone will actually believe him when he tells them about his world-hopping adventures, even given their current situation. He can't blame them for their denial, either. When he considers how many universes he might have to pass through before he finally makes his way back home, everything begins to look very bleak. Who wants to spend unnecessary thought on the idea?

"Yeah," he agreed. "For the most part, yeah. The situation here isn't even close to what it is back home. There's no reason we should operate under the same expectations and rules. We'll only be making this more of a pain in the ass if we hold ourselves to irrelevant policies."

Shrugging, he continued, "Wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Konoha itself. You can't ignore the fact that Konoha's shinobi are here. Can't imagine it'll be long before Naruto comes chasing after you, and you know ignoring him's not an option. He still sees you as his comrade."