What A Drag... || Shikamaru x reader

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Edited: 02/06/24

Reuploaded: 06/06/24

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Quite a few days later_

I was walking into a restaurant for dinner because I had no food in my house after I hosted Choji's, Shikamaru's, and Ino's family for dinner a day after they returned from defeating Kakuzu and Hidan. It was a sort of, I'm glad you're alive but also you're fucking idiots and I'm glad that no more can those two act as a plague across this damn world, party.

"Jiraiya? Tsunade?" I looked at the two Sannin who were drinking and eating together.

"Y/n?" they both looked to me almost confused before they looked at each other, nodded, becoming serious.

"Perfect timing, come sit with us," Jiraiya told me. I nodded and sat beside him before remembering something I was going to report to them anyway.

"Oh my clone that I sent to the place I thought was where the Akatsuki confirmed my thoughts," I informed the two Sannin.

"I also have an idea of where they are. On the count of three say where they are," Jiraiya told me, I nod.

"3... 2... 1..." Tsunade counted down.

"The Hidden Rain village," we both said at the same time.

"So are you absolutely certain the Akatsuki leader is in the Hidden Rain village?" Tsunade asked us both as she finished her glass of alcohol. I nodded.

"My clone came face to face with his guard dog. She was not a friendly sight to see," I told her as the memories of my clone before it was destroyed replayed in my head. A girl with blue hair and a paper maché flower in it was the last thing that my clone had seen. She was fairly emotionless as well. Enough to send icy shivers down your spine, made me wonder what happened in her life to make her be void of anything.

"That place conducts very thorough checks of anyone entering and exiting their territory and even keeps track of how long they stay. Just preparing for the joint chuunin exams each year is difficult because that village is so strict and insular. Why would he pick that place? It just doesn't seem like somewhere he can move around very freely," Tsunade told us, I nodded knowing completely what she meant after my mission years ago when I got caught and had to hide away in the caves, not being able to shadow hop because of the goddamn mist shrouding any form of a shadow. I'd almost forgotten because I was so focused on surviving.

My suspicions about the Hidden Rain being the main base of operations started during those days, it was what I wanted to tell Tsunade but somehow I ended up not in fact telling her. My clone had overheard some of my hunters muttering about strange people wandering around the Hidden Rain—in the end, it seems I'm glad to have no told her, it gave me the opportunity to investigate properly myself.

"That's true but that very insular nature makes it ideal, they're able to keep other nations from finding out about their internal affairs and cover up the shame of what's going on," Jiraiya told her.

"The civil war is also a reason," I added. Tsunade was listening to both of us intently.

"Apparently there's a civil war happening, and the area has basically been split into two. From the rumours my clone picked up on, apparently one sides leader is the very leader we've been searching for, the Akatsuki," I told them, Jiraiya nodded.

"That tormented land... Its surrounded by the three great nations of earth, wind and fire. It has often been used as the staging route for all their battles, there's never been domestic stability there, and the number of fleeing refugees from there are still rising," Tsunade replied sadly looking down at the empty glass. I nodded. There's a village in the North that has started refusing to help them now because they're overflowing with refugees who're fearing for their life so much they have to escape their home village.