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Severed Fates: Hyuga SI Ch.15
🕑 Added 2025-09-15 18:10:30 +0000 UTCChapter 15
SHIKAMARU NARA
He had known that Ino had not taken the modifications to their team rather well, and it had not been more evident than right now as the blonde girl continued to struggle in the arms of their new teammate, as they rushed through the woods.
“Let me go,” and he could see his frustrations as Ino continued to kick and scream, as Hikari Hyuga slowed down, and Hinata’s cousin was a saint with how much restraint he was showing as he put down Ino, as Shikamaru quickly used her shadow to hold her in her place.
It was wasteful, but in the end, he had no choice.
“Shikamaru!” she gritted out, as he narrowed his eyes, the seal on his mouth making it impossible for him to speak anything.
“We don’t have much time. I doubt it will take him more than a few minutes to deal with the clones,” and that was an overstatement, as he saw him turn towards the blonde.
“I can understand your frustrations with me, but I don’t think I have done anything to make you react the way you are, Yamanaka Ino,” and Ino glared at him.
“It was supposed to be Choji,” and the words cut deep, as Hikari Hyuga’s lips thinned.
“I am not the one who made that choice,” he answered after some seconds of silence.
“We were supposed to be the next and better iteration of our fathers and forefathers, but then suddenly out of the blue, you come along, taking Choki’s place,” and he missed the plump boy as well, yet he also knew of the reason why Hikari Hyuga had been put in this team.
Ino was blaming the wrong person, for if there was anyone who held blame for Choki’s absence, it was him, not the pale boy in front of her.
“He was your friend too, you know,” she spoke to him, and his gaze lowered.
“Hinata told me about you,” and Ino did not react to those words.
“She said you were smart, and I doubt that you really think that you could defeat him on your own,” and with those words, Shikamaru understood her plot at once as he shook his head in vain.
“You wanted to fail that exam,” and how could she be so dumb, but what else should he have expected out of a kunoichi who did diet?
She at least had the decency to look embarrassed as her plan was caught, and even Shikamaru had not realised her intentions, but he had seen through them.
He saw the pale-eyed boy raise his hand, yet instead of a slap, he simply lightly hit Ino’s head.
“That was idiotic of you,” he whispered, still smiling. A testament to his patience, which surprised even Ino.
“I would admire it, but the thing is that I cannot afford to fail this test. Neither can both of you be honest,” he said, looking at them, as Shikamaru let him continue.
“So, I will tell you a secret,” and by now he had removed his shadow possession from Ino, who was frowning.
“There are going to be chunin exams in the village in six months' time,” and that took them both by surprise.
“Give me six months, and I will make sure that this team both qualifies and makes chunin in six months, and then, as a Chunin, you will have the agency of making a team of your own with your friend,” and that was better than going back to the academy.
“You think we can make chunin in six months?” Ino gasped in surprise as he nodded.
“I know we can,” he answered, as he turned around and glanced back towards the clearing.
“And then you will be free to get rid of me, Ino. But until then, I am afraid you are just gonna have to be stuck with me,” and then he moved again, blurred through the space, as his sword clashed against a kunai aimed straight at Ino’s back as Asuma Sarutobi appeared from behind them.
“You are not going to make it easy, are you?” the jounin taunted, as both Ino and Shikamaru jumped back, as he began to think of a plan to counter him.
His shadow reached for the jounin, but he was a close combat specialist and jumped back at once, and vanished into the woods as Hikari Hyuga jumped back as they formed a three-man cell.
He had a rough estimate of all of their powers. Ino and he had been friends for years, and Hikari Hyuga had clearly shown himself to be a capable enough shinobi, so he had some semblance of a plan, but how the hell was he to communicate it with his teammates?
He nudged Hikari and began to communicate using handseals, but suddenly a barrage of shuriken interrupted them, forcing him to parry them all.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Again and again, they tried, but the jounin refused to let them communicate, using hand signs as he thought of another solution.
He nudged Ino and pointed towards his head as she understood his intentions.
“Mind Body transfer,” she understood as he sighed in relief, but using the technique would put them at a great disadvantage, for Hikari would have to defend them both single-handedly.
“Do it,” the pale-eyed boy said, and yet as if waiting for this very opportunity, the jounin appeared from the woods again, as a barrage of shuriken and kunai rained down on them from all sides.
“Doton: Mud Wall!” and four walls of mud rose around them, to parry the barrage as Ino shifted through seals, yet just as she was about to use her technique.
“Not so fast,” and the wall was torn apart as the jounin emerged from the rubble, brass knuckles on his hand fitted with blades as he swung them at Ino once again.
CLANK!
Hikari was fast enough to react, as his blade blocked them from hitting Ino, and the man smirked.
“You are good, but not good enough,” and suddenly, Shikamaru’s eyes widened as he saw Hikari’s blade break into pieces, and the blade tore into his skin as they were showered with blood.
“Hikari”
“AUHHH!” he wanted to scream, but it was too late, as Hikari fell to the ground as he bled out of his chest, and the jounin sensei tried to go and attack Ino, but by then he had already made his move.
“Shadow Possession...” and the man’s blade stopped inches away from her throat, as Shikamaru brought together his hands and used his favourite technique.
“..Complete!”
“Shadow possession. You, Nara, are quite troublesome,” but then, as he saw the man smirk, he felt a chill run down his spine.
“But I have long gotten used to it,” and so he vanished in a puff of smoke.
“A shadow clone!” Ino gasped, yet what he saw in the smoke alarmed him even more.
“Paper Bombs!”
BOOOM! BOOOM!
And the explosion sent him tumbling back, as he was thrown across the forest, before his back hit the bark of a tree as he fell to the ground.
His body screamed in pain as he heard Ino grunt from the side. He looked up and saw that she was in no better condition, and as he scanned the area for their third teammate, he did not find a trace of him.
“Shikamaru,” Ino coughed out as she pushed herself back up, as he gave her a nod, and yet Hikari was nowhere to be found.
“Hikari! Hikari,” she whispered, yet she found no trace of him, as he looked to the tree and found a message pinned there.
“He was causing me quite some trouble. So, I have chosen to take him with me! You have an hour left in your time, but I think he can keep me entertained for an hour!”
And he had no need to think who the message was from.
“He got captured,” and Shikamaru nodded, as Ino grit her teeth, before she placed a finger on her forehead, and then touched his forehead.
And he heard her voice inside his head.
“I am not very good at it yet, so we have a few minutes at most,” she answered, and he sighed in relief.
“It’s a choice,” he began quickly.
“He is saying that if we let him have Hikari, he won’t chase after us,” and that was a rather usual tactic of war, as Ino voiced out after a few seconds.
“We are not doing that, are we?” and he scoffed.
“Of course not,” though they had known him for little time, he had saved their hides half a dozen times already.
“Tell me, you have a plan...”
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HIKARI HYUGA
Hikari Hyuga woke up in pain, and as he raked his mind for his last memory, he remembered jumping in front of Ino to shield her from the blast before his vision went black.
He tried to move, yet found himself stuck as he looked down and saw himself tied to a log, as a thick, powerful voice tore through the area.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” and he looked up and saw Asuma Sarutobi sitting there on the log, as Izuna’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t try molding chakra. That sealing tag over there is designed to make that rather painful,” and indeed, a sealing tag had been put on his forehead, hindering him from molding chakra.
“Still, I never thought that I would have an ANBU as a student, especially one as prolific as you,” and he was being rather talkative as he raised a brow.
“Prolific,” Hikari scoffed, for he had let the man push him around since the start of their bout, though not through any fault of his own. He was not prideful enough to think that he could defeat Asuma Sarutobi on his own, but still, he had hoped to make a better showing than he had currently.
But working with the current team setup had been a bigger hindrance than he had thought, and now he found himself tied to a tree with a jounin gloating over him.
“Yeah, I can see your frustration, but you were able to sway Ino’s mind, and make an ally out of Shikamaru in but a few hours,” and of course he had, for it was his mission to reach the chunin exams and help his team qualify.
“I had thought it would take me months to thaw this dynamic, but you were able to do that all in but a few hours,” and this was also the reason why the former Guardian Shinobi had been constantly targeting Ino, for he knew that the blonde was no match for him in close combat and Shikamaru for all his genius was not much better than her in that regard as well.
The only person on the team who could react to him was him, and so by doing so, he gave him an opportunity to sway Ino’s heart, and Hikari took it.
“So, have we passed your test?” Hikari asked, and since the jounin had taken off his mask, he chose to do the same.
“I don’t usually fail students, and the Hokage has asked us to be a bit more forgiving in our evaluations, given that there was a traitor at the academy,” and he had also been rather inspired by his team choices.
“Still, there is one last thing that I need to see,” and the smile vanished from his face as the Sarutobi jounin jumped down from his tree, as Ino and Shikamaru stepped out of the forest, ready for combat.
“You two sure took your sweet time,” he taunted, as they both remained quiet.
“Still, since I know both your parents, let me make you an offer,” and that surprised them both as he continued.
“Put down your kunai, and I will pass the two of you. But the Hyuga boy fails,” and that was a great ploy.
“Hell, with your heritage, you might even be able to petition the Hokage-sama to reorganise your team with that Akimichi friend of yours,” and that was rather dirty of him, and he saw Ino’s eyes widen at those words, the temptation obvious for her.
And with Shikamaru’s lips sealed, the decision was hers to make, yet the blonde refused to back down, as she answered with zeal.
“To hell with your offer!” she shouted.
“I don’t like him, but he is still our teammate and Konoha shinobi do not abandon their teammates,” and with that she ran forward as Shikamaru followed after him, as she threw a kunai at him, which the jounin easily parried as it fell back, and he saw a sliver of shadow reach for the kunai as it plucked it from the ground and threw it into his hands.
“Especially when they are the ones who are going to help me become chunin,” and with that, Hikari tore the ropes and rushed forward, as the three of them cornered the jounin, who suddenly relaxed.
“You three...” and just as his kunai was about to strike his neck, the man announced.
“PASS!”
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Comments
IceAir
Felt like he got knocked out way too easily. He essentially got knocked out by one hit, and by a slash of all things. Breaking his sword with the blade and then smashing his head with the knuckle duster side of the weapon would be better
Radiant Tiefling
Thank you for the chapter.
