Mistake - A Naruto Fan-Fiction

He watched as the young boy, a two year old, nearly three, give a contemplating stare at the target. He watched as the young boy fight with his own self in his own mind. He watched as he debated with himself whether to throw the kunai with much precision, or to purposely miss.

He watched – actually, he wasn"t able to even see the kunai. It all happened so fast. It looked as though the child had experience throwing something, shooting at least. The young child"s stance resembled someone who"d do archery, but without the bow.

He guessed that he got that from his mother, the only known Kunoichi who uses a bow in the battlefield. But, does Orion even know of this? Shikaku doubts that the archer actually told her son about that fact, especially since Kaiya wanted to let go of her past.

Now that he"s been training his son and the young boy for almost half a year now, he"s able to memorise the young boy"s actions and way of doing things, which are pretty unusual for a two year old.

Orion is mature for his age, using complicated words when he"s comfortably talking to someone, and acts like he"s someone older than he actually is. At least Shikamaru plays with others, unlike that young boy. He"d rather stay under a shade of a tree instead of playing with others. His nose is always stuck in a book that would normally wouldn"t interest a young boy.

Boring books about Chakra Natures? He got that in the bag. Books about the First and Second Shin.o.bi War? Pfft—

To be honest, Orion is also a beloved son of a Hatake, a born fighter and a reader so, it wasn"t a surprise he could do things most children can"t. Shikaku wouldn"t be surprised if this young lad turns out like his uncle, Kakashi, a born genius. But, seeing that the young child has been deliberately trying to do worse than best, he really can"t do anything about it.

After all, Orion is a Nara. Shikaku haven"t seen a single Nara that actually bothers in training or in the academics category. Nara"s are quite laidback despite their serious faces, and are really – really perceptive and intelligent. They just don"t look like they could do anything, but then again, appearances can be deceiving.

One time, Shikaku started their tree walking exercises to expand their chakra reserves – to, hopefully, start practicing Nara techniques after making them memorise a lot of hand signs, and Orion was the first to get the hang of it, being all excited and giddy after the fact that he was able to stand on a tree for a few seconds without falling off.

Shikaku noted that Orion is still a child – of course he"d be amazed. Shikamaru on the other hand, he was irritated about the fact that he fell a couple of times, but in the end, he was just as happy as Orion when he was finally able to walk around on the tree a couple of seconds more than Orion.

The silver-haired child was cool with it, and was pretty mature to deal with his son"s bickering.

Hah, didn"t expect that Shikamaru could bicker? Well, to be fair, that lazy son of his is pretty loud and talkative when he"s with Orion, who he now considers as his best friend. Both of them are silent when there are people around, but when they"re just with each other, or when they think they are, they"re as loud as they can be.

Shikaku"s actually glad that Shikamaru had befriended someone. He really didn"t expect that he"d actually be the one to approach Orion when he brought him for their playdate.

Shikamaru just went over and sat beside Orion under the shade of the tree in the courtyard of Shikakuro"s house… and that"s pretty much how they spent their playdate, both watching the clouds above the blue skies. They just exchanged names and just stayed silent, they"d exchange a few words but that"s it.

It was a pretty calm playdate. And it was super silent like, really silent. That"s why he was darn surprised when they revealed that they"ve been really good friends since. It was truly a great surprise even for his wife and for Orion"s parents – especially for Kaiya since, again, her child is super talkative.

Note the remarkable sarcasm from that phrase.

Fast forward in training, the two children were doing well, up to this point. They"ve reach really far, and can do both tree walking and water walking well, not as flawless as Shikaku though. They"d sometimes fall off of the tree or wall, and really needed saving from him… and when they fall through the surface of the water, their b.a.s.t.a.r.d sensei would just laugh before he helps them – if they really need to.

Like his own son, Shikamaru.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d laughed when his son fell in the deep lake in the heart of the forest surrounding the Nara compound. When his son was fully submerged, he then remembered that his son doesn"t actually know how to swim yet. Orion was the one to go in action when he was just laughing at the drowning Shikamaru so, he was – still is, thankful for the silver-haired young lad.

Oh, you can just imagine how Shikaku suffered after that news reached Yoshino"s ears. It was, literally, one h.e.l.l of a night – a night full of scolding and flying objects from his wife.

Aside from training, of course, they have free time, which they spend with learning how to play j.a.panese board games such as Shōgi and Go. Shikamaru is talented with Shōgi, and have great potential with it and, Orion was pretty okay with it, saying that it was familiar with something called "Chess", but doesn"t want to be questioned when asked about it – he"d just shrug and change the topic.

Shikamaru wasn"t really interested with Go, but would play for the sake of Orion"s boredom. The Nara successor was actually quite surprised when he noticed that the silver-haired boy is actually excelling every play so, he wanted to help him do better than best – like the way the latter is helping him with Shōgi.

Shikaku would just silently watch them play, and it might not look like much, but both the two years old are taking every game seriously, wanting to master their preferred games to hopefully match with him – which is considered a pretty high dream for two years old since he"s basically the master of j.a.panese board games.

There were times that the silver-haired lad seemed out of place. He was… someone to be called outlandish. When speaking, there were times that a weird… accent slip pa.s.sed through his lips, which didn"t escape Shikaku"s observations.

It was weird – it sounded j.a.panese, but isn"t j.a.panese at the same time. He"d hear him mutter something along the lines of, "British accent doesn"t help me at all in this world…" which he doesn"t know the meaning of.

What is British?

Over time, Orion managed to fix those slip ups, making Shikaku a.s.sume that it was just an imperfect way of his speech. That lad is still a child, after all. He"d still stammer and stumble with his words, but those are to be considered as slip-ups.

But… is that child really is who he seems to be?

Those brown orbs that belong to that young lad is showing, aside from intelligence, they"re showing something that shouldn"t have seen by a mere toddler. It"s as though that young boy has been through so many battles in life, but again, it"s not possible.

Now, Shikaku wanted to ask himself, "Who is this boy?"

He only have seen him as "a Nara", or simply, "my son"s best friend", but there"s something more to him. That "something" didn"t come from the young boy"s near death when he came to this world.

Sure, he maybe overthinking, but as the days pa.s.sed by so quickly, that young lad has something more than being "a Nara".

Right now, Shikaku is standing by the doorway, watching his son and the said young boy sit by each other like the best friends they are. The silver-haired young boy is giving his present to Shikamaru for his third birthday, as well as giving his almost inaudible greetings.

The two are laughing together, and are pretty much enjoying their time like the kids they are. If someone as clueless comes in, they"d think that the two are just completely normal children – best friends. They"re just having their time of their life.

Yeah, he might"ve overthought things.

Maybe, they"re just normal kids, if you look at this angle. Maybe, there"s nothing wrong with the silver-haired young lad. Maybe, he was just as someone to be considered as normal as Shikamaru. Maybe… maybe what he thought was wrong. Maybe… he was just digging too deep and will eventually come across nothing.

Maybe he was wrong to a.s.sume.

"They"re precious, aren"t they?" A voice snapped Shikaku from his trance, making him stare away from the two children and look at the speaker, "They"re just having the best of their life…"

"They sure are, Kuro-kun." He nodded.

"Drop the address, Shikaku-sama." Shikakuro smiled at him.

"Only if you drop yours."

"I guess I will, Shikaku." The Nara chuckled before looking at his silver-haired son and his best friend. "They sure did grow fast, huh?"

"They will grow up eventually, Kuro." Shikaku looked back at his son, "Especially your little genius."

"Orion?" Kuro seemed to question him, "Well, he did get everything from his mother. He only got my name. I won"t be too surprised is he becomes someone with a name."

"That is true…" The Nara clan head nodded. "Have you caught up with their training? Your child is showing potential. Mine is just pure lazy." He inwardly chuckled, inviting Kuro to play Shōgi with him just on the other room.

"You seem to think highly of my flesh and blood. What happened in their training, anyways – to make you think of this?" Kuro seemed interested, sitting down opposite from the clan head and making a swift move by lifting a piece.

"I don"t really know… I"m just getting a vibe from him… something outlandishly foreign." Shikaku took a swift glance at the board, thinking of many ways to deal with the man in front before finally making a move, sacrificing a piece.

"Ori did came back from the dead so, that"s that." Kuro"s smile was bitter, but he managed to pull off a sensible move after his words.

"You"re still making a joke from that? You almost lost your child..." Shikaku"s tone became heavier, so did his piece when he placed it down, "… again."

"The thing is, I didn"t." Kuro"s eyes flashed with confidence, taking a piece and placing it lightly on the board. "Orion"s tougher than you think. Death won"t faze him."

"Really, now?" Shikaku had managed to soften his expression, placing a piece only to realise it was an absolute mistake, for his Gold General was taken away. "That was fast…!"

"Really." Kuro nodded, taking a swift glance at Shikaku, seeing him narrow his eyes.

It became silent for a good moment, as Shikaku called it. Only the sound of wooden tiles being placed are the ones that echoed inside the room. It was music for their ears as it was pleasing and relaxing. Not even when their children entered to watch were able to disturb them. They"re really focused and really drawn into their game of shōgi.

Well, until Kuro looked out of the window and saw that the sun was already setting. He gave the board one last stare before standing up and stretching his arms. "I… surrender." He said as satisfying cracks came from his arms.

"Admitting defeat, eh?" Shikaku raised a brow, following the younger Nara with his sharp gaze.

"Kaiya"s gonna kill me if I don"t get myself and my youngin" home before dinner." Kuro chuckled, making his son get up from his seat and hold his hands, which was, of course, much bigger than the child"s. "Let"s go, Ori-kun." He smiled at the young child.

The silver-haired young boy nodded before taking a swift glance at the board with a disappointed look. He then looked up and waved goodbye to his best friend and the clan head, bidding his goodbyes as well.

"Why didn"t you finish the game, tou-san?" The child"s voice echoed from the halls as they made their way out of the house.

"It doesn"t really matter now, huh?" His father wholeheartedly chuckled.

"I guess…" The boy sounded a bit disappointed.

Shikaku laughed at the two, standing up from his seat and stretching his aching muscles. He was about to leave the room to take a breather outside just before dinner, but halted as soon as he heard his own son"s voice calling him to come back.

"Hm?" He wondered, stepping back in the room and making his way towards his son.

"Why didn"t the two of you finish the game?" Shikamaru asked him.

"I would"ve won either way… three more moves and he"s out." Shikaku answered his son.

"That"s not what I meant." His son shook his head. "Shikakuro-san could"ve finish the game with one more move… see?" He moved the remaining Gold General of the said man"s piece and sure enough, it ended the game. "I didn"t really notice until Ori pointed it out… but yeah… why didn"t Shikakuro-san finish the game?"

"That little shi—" Of course, Shikaku"s words ended quickly as he ran out of the house in the attempt of running after the b.a.s.t.a.r.d so, Shikamaru didn"t hear the rest of it.

He knew it was futile as the two have already dashed out to save themselves from a bigger threat – Kaiya. No one wants to see an angry Kaiya. No. One. Not even Shikaku so, he let Kuro away this time. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d runs away every time before he takes the win – he always does that.

But, Shikaku was more astounded when his son pointed out that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s son was the first to notice the possible win. Children do have different ways to look at things so, he guessed that"s why.

Then again, that child is quite mysterious – just like his father. You"ll never know what they"re thinking until a very subtle hint comes out. For a Nara, they have a different way of thinking, which makes them unique and is probably why people are drawn to them.

Now, he just wants to focus with the silver-haired boy, not his father. He wanted to know more about him but, at the same time, he doesn"t want to meddle with something that shouldn"t be touched just yet.

Who is this boy, you ask? Well, funny. Shikaku now knows the answer – he doesn"t deserve to be seen as a n.o.body. He"s not just someone.

He is a Nara.

He is a genius.

His name is Orion Nara.