It All Started With A Smell

The Bow And The Arrow

The breath was pulled out of him so severely that he felt light headed. He knew that Naruto was strong, that she was a great fighter, and could take on even some of the smartest enemies. But there was something about Naruto now that surprised him. Frowning at the figure, he realised what it was. He had never thought that Naruto could have such a demanding presence. The Pains, who had appeared in the crater shortly after Naruto, stopped short of attacking the blonde. Even though Pain's entire reason to be in the village was to capture Naruto, being confronted by her intimidating presences obviously caused them hesitation. He could see Pain trying to evaluate Naruto and the extent of the threat that she posed.

Surprisingly, Naruto didn't charge into the fight as was expected from her track record. Instead, she stood still. It was unnerving for Shikamaru to witness a woman he knew to be impulsive and constantly moving to be so still she could have been mistaken for a statue.

Finally, Shikamaru saw Naruto turn her gaze in his direction. Slowly, she turned to talk to the three large toads. The toads then began shifting. Their movements were small but appearing to be précised. They grounded their feet, they moved apart enough to have room to move if attacked. Most of all, they caused dust to be kicked into the air, clouding the scene. Shikamaru frowned, his view of Naruto being completely obscured as dust tickled his throat. He coughed and hacked. When a hand started to rub his back he jumped, causing pain to rack through his leg.

"Sorry. I had to create a cover. I couldn't risk Pain charging over here."

Looking over his shoulder he was stunned to see Naruto smiling gently at him. She was wearing her usual clothing, with a red and black cloak bellowing around her.

"Miss me?"

Unable to stand, Shikamaru pulled Naruto down to sit beside him. Wrapping his arms around the blonde, he pulled her close as he kissed her. Reluctantly, he released her enough to study her face. He could see the sadness in her eyes that he knew was from the state of the village. Other than that, Naruto looked healthy, strong, and... feminine?

"You're not wearing your chest binds!" Shikamaru stated in surprise.

Naruto gave a wet chuckle as she sniffled. "Had no time to put them on. Plus from the distance I don't think anyone will notice." She nodded down at the crates.

Shikamaru hadn't realised he was talking to a clone until he looked back at the toads, spotting Naruto and Lady Tsunade. It looked like the leader of the village planned to fight all six Pains on her own.

"Old Granny's chakra is too low for this fight." Naruto stated before looking at Hinata. "Good to see you're alright, Hinata. Your little sister is alright."

"Thank you, Naruto. Please be careful against Pain, and I'll help you any way I can."

"You need to focus on restoring your chakra." Naruto turned her gaze to Shikaku and Shikamaru, clearly evaluating their states. "I need you two to tell me everything you know on the Pains so it can be passed onto the real me. I doubt I'll be able to sneak a clone over here again so I need all you know now."

"I'm assuming that you now have Sage mode," Shikaku commented, sitting down on some of the rubble.

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, her hand sliding into Shikamaru's. "The real me is in it now. I could go into it as well, but I have to stay still to gather nature chakra and at the moment I need to release some of this energy."

Shikamaru looked down, only just noticing that Naruto's leg was jiggling rapidly. He tightened his hold on her hand, getting a tight smile in return.

"Well the first thing you should know, is that there is a healer among them. There is one that will bring the others back to life. You need to target him first."