That Nara... | Naruto Fanficiton

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Movement in the strange glowing boundaries caught my attention.

"Lord Third!" I gasped.

"We can't get to him," Ren told me, his hand glowing as he healed a wound I hadn't even noticed receiving on my arm, "be careful, Shikarei, you're carrying more than your own life."

I sighed and nodded before watching the fight between Lord Third and Orochimaru unfold. Eventually, Kakashi and Guy joined us as we stood and watched, helplessly watching until eventually Lord Hiruzen was impaled by his blade and although the life off our Lord was taken away, Orochimaru didn't leave unscathed. The use of his arms was stolen from him by Lord Hiruzen as well.

The barrier fell as soon as Lord Hiruzen did and Orochimaru fled with the people holding the barrier up. The rest of us sprinted over to Lord Hiruzen.

Ren and I skidded to our knees beside him. One look over him and I knew there was definitely not saving this old man, but Ren checked just in case.

A few moments and he sighed, shaking his head.

"He's gone," he announced. The mood around us became gloomy and my mind suddenly reflected back to when Lord Minato and Lady Kushina died.

Damn it... Not again...

°🥢°

"Happened again, huh?" Ren asked as he, Choro, Inoiché and me as sat down in his bedroom.

"Yeah," Inoiché nodded, "how're you feeling, Shikarei?"

I hummed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's the second Hokage we've been present for who's died in front of you when you couldn't help," Choro reminded me. Suddenly my wave of sadness hit me again.

"Choro," Inoiché jabbed him in the side, "idiot. Don't say that to her! We've already been to the funeral; we don't need to dampen the mood even more!"

"R-right, sorry, Shikarei," Choro apologised awkwardly as a small knocked echoed through the room. We all turned to look to the door.

"Big brother, may I enter?" a feminine voice called, Ren grinned.

"Come on in," he welcomed his little sister as the door opened and the pink haired girl walked into the room.

"Oh, I didn't know you had guests," she looked at us apologetically, "but I wanted to ask you something."

Ren's head tilted slightly to the side in curiosity.

"What's the matter?" Ren asked.

"Can you teach me advanced chakra control?" Sakura asked.

"Whoa, advanced?" Inoiché voiced all of our surprise.

"That's not too easy, girly," Choro chimed.

"I'd be happy too!" Ren jumped up to his feet excited, "You never ask me for anything, Saku!"

"Please don't call me that, Ren," she shook her head but smiled a little, "and thank you. I recently noticed that... I'm relatively useless on team 7. I... I want to get stronger and become helpful, so I don't have to watch Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi sensei fight for me."

Whoa. I'm actually kind of inspired by her determination.

"Fun fact, Ren only learned how to use advanced chakra control so he could keep up with Inoiché's spontaneous injuries," I announced, Sakura looked at me wide eyed as Inoiché and Ren snapped their heads over to me, "otherwise, he wouldn't have done it."

"R-really?" she asked, I nodded.

"People say us Nara are lazy but in reality, Ren is the lazy one," I poked a little bit of fun at the pink haired boy. Sakura looked at Ren in shock before stifling a laugh.

"H-hey!" Ren exclaimed, "shut up before you drag my reputation through the dirt!"

"What reputation?" Choro joined in the teasing and caught the pink haired boy in a head lock and ruffled his hair, "You're about as uncool as a snail."

I laughed and nodded.

"Perfect comparison!" I agreed with a nod. Inoiché frowned and separated the boys before pinching Ren's ear and scolding him for not defending himself from our teasing.

"Anyway, Sakura, in all seriousness," I cut off the joking and mocking and caught everyone's attention, "Ren can only teach you so much because some things can't be taught through words alone. At some point you'll need to become a student to someone who's been using the advanced method for their whole life, if that."

"Wait-- are you suggesting..." Choro trailed off.

"You mean..." Inoiché blinked.

"Her?" Ren asked, I nodded.

"Yes," I confirmed, "if you ever meet the third Legendary Sanin, Lady Tsunade, don't hesitate to ask for her tutelage. I've heard she's only taken one student in the whole of her time and that was her dead ex's niece who still travels with her now. So, Sakura, if you're serious about becoming a medical ninja, then you need to make sure you put all the hard work in and convince Lady Tsunade to take you in."

She looked at me for a while before nodding, a determined look on her face.

"Alright," she nodded, "thank you for the advice, Shikarei. Shikamaru is lucky to have a sister like you. Excuse me now."

We watch as she leaves the room and then relax a little.

"Lady Tsunade, huh?" Inoiché asked, "it's been a while since we last saw her."

"Would she ever want to see us again?" Choro asked.

I laughed.

"Probably not," I replied, the other three just nodded.

"Definitely not," Ren added on.