Chapter 262: Meeting

Hiruzen had already seen doubts in Homura's face, but curiosity could be traced from Koharu's side. He already expected something like this, because he knew them too well... Both of them had the same information, but it was Homura who was the complete supporter of the late Danzō. Koharu, on the other hand, always acted not so decisively, but in her own style, extra caution. Only as a last resort, for the sake of the interests of the village, will she act decisively. Perhaps that's why these two trust each other... She obviously won't cause problems in this discussion when Shikamaru appears, but about Homura, Hiruzen was not very sure. In any case, the two often listened to each other, and who knows how this meeting will go...

Suddenly, the door to the meeting room suddenly swung open. Two people appeared at the door. Jiraiya smiled expectantly while Hiruzen looked at Sasuke in surprise. Uchiha was standing next to Shikamaru and he looked a little different than in the exam. He seemed different...

Shikamaru walked over to the table and sat on the edge, Sasuke stood on his right hand and looked around at everyone in the hall without any concern. He, as always, showed a cold, indifferent look, as if warning everyone about his readiness to fight.

"Looks like these youngsters weren't even taught how to say hello," Koharu snickered, glancing first at Shikamaru and then at his student. The Uchiha did not react in any way, only with his teacher he behaved complaisantly, in relation to others he was still the same rebel. Perhaps now this trait of his only intensified, since apart from his sensei, he generally took few people seriously.

Shikamaru smiled slightly and nodded slowly, sizing up the two elders.

“Greetings, seniors, how are you?” Nothing hurts? Age after all... — grinning at their displeased faces, he asked: — Why did you call? I'm calmly training with my student, and then I'm distracted ... I hope you have a good reason?

Homura frowned in annoyance, Koharu smiled strangely, and then looked at her friend. Hiruzen just sighed, not intending to intervene. He suspected what was going on... He knew his old comrades better than anyone else, they were very unlikely to act aggressively. But, nevertheless, respect mattered to them, and how Shikamaru acted, they were unlikely to like it. Although, even here, the Third did not know if his student did this on purpose. Most of the time, it's hard to understand what's going on in his head... For example, about the situation with Orochimaru not so long ago, he said nonchalantly:

“Sorry sensei, this snake somehow managed to move and hide its chakra. I couldn't do anything."

He didn't even try to lie... Who knows what he was up to now and why he brought Sasuke...

Finally, Homura spoke.

“I heard you left the Nara clan. Let me ask you, Shikamaru, what are you planning to do now? And what kind of pyramid are you building?

“Oh, I didn’t think I was called for such simple questions. Shikamaru shrugged and replied.

“I'm going to start my own clan. My bloodline has long surpassed any holders of Enhanced and Expanded Genomes. I decided to put down roots in Konoha, so I'm building my own Base. If you want to go on a tour, you should wait until I finish it all. Until then, anyone who tries to get into the forbidden land will suffer very seriously.

His smirk made the air noticeably colder, and Homura and Koharu looked at each other nervously.

- That's what I'm interested in, boy, - the old woman spoke: - You have great power. I had almost no doubts when I was told about this, besides, Homura and I personally saw that battle of your summoning spiders. This is not what interests us, we now have no doubts about your strength, your presence alone presses harder than that of the First Hokage. Looking back at Hiruzen, the woman nodded.

“Now I understand a lot, judging by your commanding aura and confident words. You solve problems by force, which means that for you we are all no more than weak old people.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow questioningly, waiting for more to come. Homura coughed and spoke.

We don't care how you feel about us. We only wish well for Konoha. That is why it is important for us to know the truth. Are you ready to fight on the side of the village in difficult times? Will your goals hurt Konoha?

Koharu added:

“With our strength, we may not be able to resist you, but as a last resort…”

"It's okay," Shikamaru smiled and calmly replied, "You don't have to worry." If I wanted power in the village, I wouldn't interfere in Sensei's fight. Besides, there are a lot of people who are not indifferent to me in this place. Touching Sasuke, the man replied:

- He's one of them.

The boy looked at his teacher in embarrassment and smiled a little. Many things reigned in his heart before, including hatred, but after meeting Shikamaru, his every word seemed to carry pride and warmth to him. On that day, having asked for it as a student, he did not even think that one day everything would turn out this way for him. He had no idea that the feeling of hatred would slowly begin to replace something else...