The Ultimate Weapon (Naruto Fanfic)

45-Wrapping Things Up

Over the next two days spent in the hospital, Aoi's condition improved exponentially. He was able to move his arms freely now, though he would sometimes stumble while walking. Currently, he was sitting in the room with Shikamaru playing a game of shogi. After the initial day of Aoi being in the hospital, the others had decided that he would be alright and went about their business, only stopping by occasionally.

Shikamaru set a tile down with a clack, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up. Aoi studied the board a moment, before looking up at his companion with the sense that he would say something. Sure enough, Shikamaru spoke up.

"Was Sasuke really so strong as to have put you into this position?" The intense stare in Shikamaru's eye was something that rarely showed.

Aoi considered, moving a piece before answering back. "While true that he has grown into a shinobi of great skill, and possibly at jonin level, I don't believe so. Not yet at least." Shikamaru frowned at the board slightly, the move Aoi had just played putting him into a position to take out a key piece in his own strategy.

There was a quick click as Shikamaru fixed the predicament Aoi had put him in. "Then what was it that caused this situation?"

"I am unsure, but," Aoi took his turn, and once again Shikamaru sighed, "it felt like my mind was clouded. I was bothered that Sasuke had attacked me at that moment."

"Bothered he had attacked you at that moment?" Shikamaru finally took attention away from the game, leaning forward with interest to the conversation. "Do you know why?"

There was only a moment's pause before Aoi replied. "Kou was there."

"Kou was there, and that bothered you when Sasuke attacked you." It was a statement, but Aoi nodded.

"Yes, Sasuke was attacking me, so Kou shouldn't have been involved."

A small twitch of Shikamaru's mouth drew Aoi's eye, but that was the only movement of his expression. "Tell me Aoi, what was the first thing you did when Sasuke attacked?"

"I pulled Kou behind me and used a table as a shield." Aoi didn't hesitate with the answer.

"Why did you pull Kou behind you?" There was the faintest traces of a smirk from Shikamaru.

"I-" Aoi hesitated a moment in thought. Now that he thought on his actions, there was no need to pull Kou behind him, as he could have simply deflected the kunai. His thoughts went even farther, as he realized none of the kunai had been aimed at Kou in the first place. "I wanted to protect Kou."

Instead of asking why, Shikamaru nodded slightly. "So when you said your mind was clouded, is it possible that you were angry at Sasuke for putting Kou in danger?"

"Though I don't know if it was because of that, I would say that I felt some anger towards Sasuke." A faint hum escaped Shikamaru's throat and they lulled into silence. "It's your turn Shikamaru."

Looking over, he realized he did indeed need to take his turn on the shogi board. Seeing the placement of all the pieces a sigh escaped him. "How troublesome, I wonder why I ever taught you to play this."

_+_

It was one week before the start of the final round of the chunin exams. The streets were even more lively, with banners stretching across the streets and lanterns that seemed to float in the air instead of hang from the wire that kept them suspended. The amount of people on the streets increased, as well as the number of shinobi from various villages. There were many different villages represented in the exams this time around, so the variety was almost overwhelming.