Chapter 98: Come to My Concert
While Renji and Naruto were on the sea, Tsunade was entrusting Shikamaru with an important mission back in Konoha.
"This time is different, Shikamaru. This is war. You'll go to the front line as a field commander."
"No problem," Shikamaru said. He didn't refuse—he couldn't.
He knew it was time to step up. This was what every Konoha ninja had to do.
After leaving the Hokage's office, Shikamaru was absent-minded.
Returning to the temporary Nara clan grounds, he and his father began a game of shogi. The person who used to sit across from him was Asuma. After his death, it became his busy father.
Now, no matter how busy, his father would make time to play. It wasn't just a game; they would discuss many things, and this was how Shikamaru grew.
Shikamaru thought about the command, his hand hovering over a shogi piece.
"A hesitant move," Shikaku observed with a small smile. "That's not like you. Tsunade gave you the new command, huh?"
"I'm not scared," Shikamaru said, placing the piece. "I'm worried one bad call from me gets my comrades killed."
"I don't know what the next step is. I'm… a little lost."
Shikaku knew how to comfort him, but also knew words only went so far. He knew what Shikamaru needed.
He stood, ending the game.
"You're staring at which pieces you might lose instead of how to win," Shikaku said. "Don't lose sight of your goal. Go see who you need to see."
"There's a supply run. Clear your head on the way."
Shikaku lifted a hand and scattered the board. Like all parents, he trusted his son without reservation. He believed Shikamaru would surpass him.
Shikamaru only lacked experience. On the battlefield, he would grow quickly.
...
The mission Shikaku arranged was simple: collect medicinal herbs on an island. For Shikamaru, it was too easy.
It wasn't until he saw a small boat moored at the "deserted" island that Shikamaru understood his father's true intention.
When they met, the sunset had already sunk halfway into the sea, enveloping the island in a red glow.
Renji and Naruto had moored their boat and jumped onto the island to rest. Shikamaru, standing on a hillside, found them lighting a bonfire.
"Naruto!"
"Shikamaru? What are you doing here?" Naruto blinked in surprise.
Shikamaru explained his mission.
Naruto exhaled. 'Good. I was worried Granny Tsunade changed her mind about my S-rank mission.'
Renji looked up from the fire. "What's on the menu tonight?"
"I usually just eat Military Rations Pills," Shikamaru said, sitting down.
"That stuff is vile. I'm not eating it," Renji replied.
Shikamaru and Naruto traded a look, a hint of a smile.
"Then let's catch seafood!" Naruto said, already forming a seal.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A pile of Narutos appeared. The original barked, "Go grab seafood—lots of it!"
All the clones dove into the sea.
Moments later, Renji, Shikamaru, and Naruto were buried under a heap of flopping fish, crabs, and shrimp.
"Hey! Cut it out! Enough! Enough!"
Naruto yanked a crab off Renji's hair, slammed it to the sand, and yelled at the clones before hastily dispelling them.
That was the only reason the three didn't become seafood themselves.
Renji peeled an octopus off his arm and pried a fish off his shoe. "Hard to tell who was eating who just now."
They feasted, stuffed themselves, and Renji stashed the leftovers in the boat cabin as emergency rations.
After resting on the island, the next day, Shikamaru discovered his boat had disappeared.
"It's fine," Renji said. "Take ours. We'll rent another at the next port."
Shikamaru nodded—then felt eyes on him. He turned to find Naruto staring holes through him.
Shikamaru: "…Why are you looking at me like that?"
"What? I'm not looking at you," Naruto said, all innocence.
Shikamaru: '…'
'Something's off.' The thought flashed by. 'That idiot probably thinks I lost the boat on purpose just to stick around.'
He boarded without a word. 'If I talk to Naruto right now, my IQ will drop.'
A faint scent of salt hung in the cabin. Naruto and Renji were wrestling with the seafood. An octopus was plastered across Naruto's face.
"Ahhh! It's going to suck out my eyes!" Naruto shrieked as Renji pried it off.
Shikamaru watched their backs in silence. 'I'm on a completely different wavelength from these two.'
He slipped out to the deck. A thick white mist muffled the sea, as if the world had reset to blank.
His mood felt like the ocean—adrift, without bearings.
A familiar voice cut in. "What's on your mind, Shikamaru?"
He turned to see Renji approaching. Renji had pawned the seafood duty off on Naruto to grab some air.
"Nothing," Shikamaru answered automatically.
'This is my mess to sort. No need to whine about it. Too touchy-feely.'
"Worried about the war?" Renji asked anyway.
Shikamaru glanced over, then looked away.
Ever since the Kurenai incident, he felt a strange guilt around Renji—and a quiet distance. Renji had been cleared, but what happened left a seam. It was stitched, yet still a seam.
"War sounds terrifying," Renji said, leaning on the rail, eyes on the fog.
"It's worse than it sounds," Shikamaru replied after a beat.
Renji chuckled under his breath.
"What?" Shikamaru asked. "What's funny?"
"You hear me say 'war is scary' and you immediately double down. You've been stuck on this for days, haven't you?"
Shikamaru pressed his lips together. His mind had been grinding on it nonstop. War meant death, pain, and ruin. As a commander, lives would rest on him.
"For what's coming and can't be dodged, anxiety won't fix anything," Renji said. "I figured someone like you already knew that."
Shikamaru laughed helplessly. "Not everyone can be as… unbothered as you."
He finally met Renji's eyes. "Why? Why are you never afraid?"
"Afraid of what?"
"Dying?"
"No," Renji said with a small shake of the head. "Not of that."
"What about your comrades dying?" Shikamaru asked—the real fear.
Renji still shook his head. His gaze was as even as the sea.
"I used to get stuck there. I don't anymore."
"Why?"
"Because that's me doing it to myself," Renji said. "If I died and Naruto drowned himself in guilt, even from the other side, I'd be annoyed."
"While I'm here, I do everything I can to protect everyone. If someone goes before me, I let go and take care of who's left."
"Dying isn't always suffering, and living isn't always joy. Everyone walks their own road. If you die on the road you chose, that's not a regret. That's a full life."
Shikamaru gave a short laugh and looked back to the sea. "Didn't expect that from you…"
"Why not?"
"I figured you'd go full sunshine and pep-talk me like Naruto…" He exhaled. "Still… this helps."
Renji's long blue hair streamed behind him.
"Sakura seems to like you…" Shikamaru said before he could stop himself.
He regretted it immediately. 'If Sakura hears that, she'll kill me.'
"You said 'seems,'" Renji replied, propping his chin.
He heard Naruto yelling from the cabin and patted Shikamaru's shoulder.
"You're treating war like it's different from a mission. It isn't. You're loading yourself with extra weight you don't need."
"Ninjas die on missions. That isn't on you alone. Even if someone else commands, no one can promise zero mistakes. Who never slips?"
"I trust your judgment more than anyone's. Pretty sure Konoha does too. Less worrying, more prep."
Renji turned and headed back, leaving Shikamaru standing in the mist.
...
At noon the next day, the ship slid into the next port.
Shikamaru stood at the bow. When they docked, he stepped off, waved back at Renji and Naruto, and wore that relaxed, lazy smile, like a weight had finally lifted.
He turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Renji and Naruto sailed on. Two more days passed; they were getting close.
On the morning of the third day, Renji stepped from the cabin. The sun had just climbed, scattering gold across the water.
He took a breath and glanced at a bleary-eyed Naruto. "Naruto, we're about to make land."
Naruto squinted and nodded.
Together they looked out over the fog-bound sea.
A huge dark silhouette floated in the white—like a sleeping giant.
As they drew near, it took shape. Needle-like spires pierced the mist.
The island was covered in dense, razor cones—some hundreds of meters high. From afar, it looked like a hedgehog.
Suddenly the boat lurched hard.
Renji snatched Naruto and steadied them.
A colossal, fleshy tentacle slapped onto the deck.
More tentacles whipped down like a rain of cables, trying to tear the boat apart.
Renji moved first, scooping Naruto up; they stepped lightly and touched down on the rolling sea.
Boom—! A wave dozens of meters high exploded upward as their feet hit.
The small boat flipped like a leaf.
A gargantuan squid surfaced, its reeking limbs flailing toward them.
Blue lightning crackled between Renji's palms.
Before he could strike, an even larger surge rolled in.
The squid was hammered down into the depths by a thicket of thick, muscular octopus legs.
A familiar figure perched atop a massive ox-headed octopus, looking down with cool disdain.
The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki—Killer Bee.
"He's here!" Naruto's eyes went wide. "Octopus legs!"
Thinking of the prophecy, his excitement spiked.
"You're late, fool—ya fool!" Killer Bee barked in his rap cadence.
Before Naruto could answer, the ox-headed octopus snapped back into Bee. The overturned boat somehow righted, and Bee hopped cleanly onto the deck.
A massive Samehada hung across his back—a trophy from a certain rogue Akatsuki.
He strode toward them, tossing out insults as he passed: "Idiot. Fool."
Renji: '…'
'Do all rappers talk like this?'
Naruto froze, then scowled. "Hey! Watch your mouth! You're the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails! Don't be rude! And what's with that weird way of—"
Renji clamped a hand over Naruto's mouth. Bee was leaking killing intent.
"Weird way of talking?" Bee echoed.
"No," Renji said, smiling, smoothing it over. "He means your music is… unique. Very charming."
"Good taste, fool! Come to my concert, ya fool!" Bee said, pointing at Renji.
Renji: '…'
'I do not want to go to his concert.'
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