Her Mask (Shikamaru x Oc)

Chapter Twenty

“Shingami! We missed you so much!” Ino screeched and held her in a bone-crushing hug. She looked so uncomfortable with the physical contact but she didn’t try to move away from the blonde.

“I... missed you guys too.” She said softly as she awkwardly patted Ino's back unsurely. 

Asuma had a grin on his face while Choji ate from a bag of chips and Shikamaru felt more alert than he had about twenty minutes ago.

“I take it your mission went well,” Asuma stated.

“Yeah. How’s the training been?” Shingami said as she straightened out her clothes from Ino’s attack when the blonde finally let her go.

“They’ve improved.” Was all he said.

Shingami’s eyes flashed with something of a challenge. “Oh?” 

Asuma nodded.

“I’d like to see.” She said in an amused tone.

Shikamaru stood up from his spot on the ground. And lazily walked over to the other two members on their team.

“A or B?” He asked with a yawn.

Ino and Choji glanced at each other before turning their attention back to Shikamaru. “A,” The pair said simultaneously. 

Shingami got into a proper fighting stance. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” 

_______________

All three genin were wheezing trying to regain their breath. Shingami leaned against a tree, in the shade talking to Asuma waiting for them to attack again.

“They have gotten better. But there is still much for them to learn.” Shingami said after looking at the rest of the team for a while.

“Glad you support my training regimine,” Asuma said with a shake of his head.

“I’m not saying you’re not doing your best but if anyone can shape them into remarkable shinobi, I know you can,” Shingami said and leaped out of the way of Shikamaru’s shadow binding Jitsu just before it could get to her.

“Nice try. But you need to be more agile if you want to use the element of surprise.” She said as she leaned against the tree again just a few feet above where she originally stood.

“Especially against Shingami, she practically wrote the book,” Asuma said with a sigh. 

After a few more times of team ten trying to catch her off guard, they gave up, knowing it was hopeless.

“Nice work you guys,” Shingami said then in a light tone she pointed towards the village. “Do you guys want to go to dinner? It’s on me.”

The Genin agreed but Asuma said that he had something planned. That could only mean he had a rendezvous with Kurenai. 

He walked in the opposite direction of the Genin and Shingami once they had reached their destination

“Get whatever you guys want.” She said as soon as they sat

Team Ten nevertheless just settled for the usual three huge pork plates, a pot of green tea, and a plate of dango.

“Did I miss anything important while I was gone?” Shingami asked after they had ordered.

“Not much,” Shikamaru paused to yawn before continuing. “It was mostly training for the chunin exams, they are coming up soon.”

“I see. I know you will all do your best. I’ll be rooting for you.”

All three genin smiled at her but Shikamaru also had a small blush dusting his face because she took her mask off after she had finished speaking.

After a few minutes of just talking about how things were and after their food got to the table, Shikamaru noted something.

“Did you lose your headband on your mission?” He asked while he took a bite of his food.

The girl looked confused for a few seconds before she realized what he meant. “Oh. I actually don’t have one...”

Choji and Ino looked just as confused as Shikamaru.

“You’re a hidden leaf shinobi though…” Choji said as he filled his plate again.

“Not technically.”

Ino looked baffled. “But you live here-”

“You weren’t born here were you?” Shikamaru cut in.

Shingami grabbed a stick of dango that sat in front of her before she answered. “No, I wasn’t.”

“Where then?” Choji asked. 

“I originate from Yugakure I was… brought here when I was nine."

Shikamaru wasn't sure if he was walking on thin ice but he had to ask.

"Why?"

She finished eating her dango and played with the stick in her hands as she made complete eye contact with Shikamaru.

"Let's put it this way, I was alone wandering around water country-"

'Only because I was blinded by grief and rage' 

"-I had nowhere to go,-"

'Because the one person I could ever depend on wasn't there to help me.'

“-I slowly became a noteworthy shinobi-”

‘I killed hundreds of people so he’d know I wasn’t dead.’

“-I was injured-” 

‘I’ve lost limbs and organs too many times to count just to make a statement.’

“-When I met a team of Konoha anbu-”

‘They found me covered in the blood of my latest victims.’ 

“-And they brought me back here to help me.”

‘Only because I was tired of running.’

“-Once I was back on my feet, I decided to stay.”

‘I met Naruto, Ibiki, Genma, and Anko.’

 She looked down at the stick in her hands, her thoughts for her and her alone to know running through her head.

“I’m glad I stayed.” That was the one truth she’d never be afraid to admit.