Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟖𝟗| "Wavering trust"

CHAPTER 89– WAVERING TRUST
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PRESENT DAY

His father engraved into his mind at a young age that society was unequal, divided by two separate categories: the predator and the prey.

While most choose to wither in the flames, others let it consume them; becoming one with the fire until its primal heat and ferocity ignited in the depth of the eyes— a type of wild, the uncontrollable kind that couldn't be tamed, couldn't be conquered or civilised, monsters that relish the song of flames and smiled as the world burned to ash. Shikamaru had wondered what it meant to entirely separate yourself from ties that prevented the thin rope holding what little humanity was left from tethering until a form of destruction was released, destroying everything in its path, including themselves. Until he realised that becoming a monster wasn't voluntary, instead, monsters were a product of their society— what they were made to be.

And so, he played Shoji. Rearranging society in its true complexity, that individuals could be reborn and yet play for the opposing side. That at any time and any place, humans were made to be imperfect and a part of that imperfection included change and corruption. To destroy yourself, also meant that you were holding broken pieces together for too long.

The first sign of inequality he had ever seen firsthand were the unjust deaths of burning victims. Shikamaru had watched it evolve from the ashes into a brighter flame, even one of his friends survived the flame but returned scathed, all as the result of a situational factor that simply refused to change and thus- more lives never cease to perish. The domino effect suggested that after a minor occurrence takes place, it sets of a chain of similar events eventually leading to secondary extinction. And it was true. The burning was only a singular happening that triggered current day situations, the everlasting ripple still in effect and Shikamaru feared to see the end- or, the bigger picture in its true form.

He believed the storm was another event. He also believed the way society was structured in its hierarchy as well as its inflexibility was another inequality. Shoji allowed him to dissolve the facade and understand the steps taken in order to reach a specific point as well as the effects of it. His father would warn him to not linger in places for too long in fear of being found and captured; to become the pawn pieces he renounced on the Shoji board and yet another player in a big game.

As he watched Naruto's shadow clones defeat the rogues one by one, the flare of his rasengan cognisant in his vision; he couldn't help envision mere pawns being sacrificed at the alter, enabling another gateway open, another opportunity to take advantage of. His mind began to derive possibilities from unadorned words, creating theories, ideas, outcomes, eventualities- everything he could possibly imagine that could lead him ten steps ahead but also ten steps behind.

The border was undeniably large from a close proximity, several thick trees stacked together like robotic soldiers, metres into the dark, grey skies with whirlwinds and an aromatic coldness that consistently blasted loud noises into his ears. He was glad that they entered the storm's territory with suited gear, in any other case— they would've been the first to go, especially after Dawn had disbanded her dome to restore vitality.

Shikamaru wiped his numbed hands on his trousers as Naruto used his Rasengan to launch a rogue into two other rogues, taking them down with him. The rogues were like hydras, tear one down and two more appeared and unlike their prior ambushes, they seem to be increasing in strength, the likeliness of escaping unscathed curtailed. They endured the worst part of the storm and evaded its wrath, but so did the rogues that had been pursuing them for over an hour with a vendetta. Did they resent them for simply belonging to a Village or was there an ulterior motive that he overlooked?