Cry 11 ( It really is worth it)

This was not worth the effort. That was the thought running through his head as he let out a loud groan as he flopped onto his bed. This stupid quest was driving him crazy, which sucked since all of this was on him. He knew that technically he did not even have to think about this as the quest was not a mandatory one but he wanted to do it for the rewards.

Again the super special awesome magical pink eye was just worth the hassle of planning this out. The issue he was facing was even in the safest long shot he could think off the pass rate was only at a 15% and that was being really generous. It was more like 90% chance of death and he only gave himself the other 5% in the scenarios that held failure but not death.

The Uchiha issue was just that touchy here. It was to be expected the Clan of melodramatic maniacs were troublesome. Sure, they had power that could pull the Village out of the most dire of situations but the personality of the Uchiha in general were awful. Too prideful in their innate strength and not willing to bend the knee to anyone they perceived as weaker than them. Which was a shame since they considered anyone not named Hashirama freaking Senju weaker than them.

It was a high bar but their pride held a spec of truth. A Jonin with a Sharigan could quite literally dance circles around other Jonin and the outliers of their clan were true monsters. From Madara to Itachi, the clan was known for pumping out outliers who could flip a whole village if they wanted. The problem with that is those outliers were quite literally maniacs of the highest orders.

Fools willing to kill everyone in their family for the sake of peace, or idiots willing to bind the whole world because of how unfair reality could be. Those outliers did outrageous things over and over again but that should be expected. The whole driving force behind that outrageous strength was built on the fluttering emotions of their hearts. Madara knew well enough that the more love an Uchiha held the stronger they could become when that love was torn from them.

The Uchiha were born like a fire, burning so brightly but those flickering flames were fuelled by the despair and bullet ridden hearts. 

So even though everyone acknowledged their strength no one was really willing to have them as subordinates. They were filled with maniacs and men who were far too stubborn for their own good.

That would not be much of an issue if the leadership of this village was a strong one. Someone who held the respect of those stubborn fools and the heart to bond with the outliers but that is not Sarutobi. Minato might have worked with his genius nature and his warm heart but Sarutobi being in charge meant that the Uchiha were doomed to be a thorn in the side.

Shikamaru could not really blame the leadership of the village for seeing it that way. From their perspective the Uchiha was a major issue that could take away the authority they had gained from countless years in power. The issue was he could understand their perspective but the leader of their village should not be weighing decisions based on their own personal interest. 

The village should always come first and while the Uchiha were a problem for Sarutobi and his gang they were really not much of an issue for the village itself. Sure, they might stage a coup and take the power they sought through violent methods but that was just because they were idiots. People willing to fight for pride and sore egos even knowing that they would lose. 

Honestly, killing those idiots was just such a waste. Sarutobi should be trying to lead them by the nose and have them dance to his tune if they man held any real cunning. Sadly for the village and the Uchiha, Sarutobi and his ilk were not as smart as they assumed they were.

He let out another groan as he could not think of a way to save the clan of maniacs. The path of their death had been painted for decades by this point. The volatile nature of the Uchiha and their pride had reached a boiling point. They could no longer hold back the dissatisfaction they felt over their treatment and no amount of talking from some random kid would change that.

Even if he told them what the village was planning it would only lead to them charging at the Hokage with everything they had. It would just accelerate their deaths as Itachi and Shisui were firmly in the Hokage’s pocket by this point. The two super kage level ninja the Clan had were not even going to fight for them in the worst case scenario.

Seriously how the heck did Fukagu manage to sell both geniuses of his clan to his greatest enemy. Shikamaru knew the guy was a fence sitter and an idiot in his own right but how do you lose two monsters that easily? Any other clan would not even dream of such a nightmarish scenario.

Loyalty and family bonds were really important to Clan life after all and Shikamaru knew those values were things the Uchiha pushed for as well. So how in god’s name did two monsters manage to get themselves into situations like this?

Whatever, the issue with the Uchiha clan meant any route trying to inform them was off the list. Which sucked since the other options were not really better.

Trying to change Sarutobi’s mind would only lead to gathering attention that he was better off avoiding. The last thing he wanted was Danzo asking him some rather pointed questions and visiting him in the middle of the night. The creep was off enough during day time he did not want to wake up with the one-eyed-wonder hovering over his slumbering frame. He was also sure that Sarutobi would not listen to anything he said even if he would sit through a meeting with him to reassure the Nara clan. Stubborn old men stuck in their ways was a stereotype for a reason after all.

Then again taking advice from a literal child was not the best choice even if said child was a monstrous prodigy.

Changing anyone’s mind was next to impossible so how was he supposed to save the Uchiha clan!? It was not like he could personally stop the massacre with overwhelming might. He was stronger than his peers but a squad of Chunin could take care of him with little to no effort. Not because of their individual strength but his own lack of staying power.

His strongest moves were Shadow Manipulation but he could only use it for seconds at a time before his Mana bottomed out. Sure, the Mana would recover instantly but the bottoming out of his Mana would lead to the skill being canceled. Upping the tier of the skill was important but it was also clear that he needed to keep his Mana pool up if he wanted any chance at being truly powerful. Min maxing was great as it gave him a truly absurd Mana regen but any big moves were out of his reach currently.

Any increase of his Mana pool would allow him to increase his strength at an exponential rate.

He let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling of his room as he tried to think of anything. He could try to warn the Uchiha clan subtly through proxies and rumors but that was tricky. He did not think he had the capabilities to pass along information subtly in the face of a literal village filled with Ninja. It also ran the risk of the Uchiha not listening to those rumors as they were too stubborn for their own good.

Even if he did manage to spread those rumors it would not lead to the Uchiha cutting their losses and escaping this village. No, if he did warn them the outcome was certainly going to be the Uchiha shooting their shot at getting the Hokage position through their coup.

Which would pass his quest but that was not something he wanted to see. After all of these years bonding and staying with these people he truly cared about his family and friends. The last thing he would want was to bring blood and death to their doorsteps by warning some fools who could not read a room if it quite literally saved their lives.

The Nara, Akamichi, and the Yamanaka clan were supporters of the current regime and if a Coup was played out their people would be one of the targets to take care of. The three clans were not willing to sacrifice themselves for the clans of the current top level but the Uchiha would not see it that way.

Another groan left his mouth as he thought this over. He never expected to relate to Itachi of all people but this really was frustrating. Actually screw that guy, he was one of the reasons all of this was so complicated. If the dude just killed Sarutobi and Danzo everything would be so much simpler.

With the death of those two the village would need to hold an election for a new Hokage and they would need to do it quickly. Jiraiya was out of the village and him going for the position of Hokage was never going to happen. The guy was too obsessed with the prophecy the Toads gave him. Tsunade was also out of the village and she would not be willing to come back out of her own will, sure if Danzo was alive she might come back because the man would ruin the village but since he was dead she would have no reason to come back.

The Sarutobi clan was large and had an overwhelming amount of ninja but they had no heavy hitters other than Hiruzen. Any other clan ninja could take care of a Sarutobi ninja even if they were facing three of them at the same time. The same could be said for the clans of the current leaders as well. His own clan and their relationship were off the table as they did not have the strength to compete either even if their support was important. The same could be said for the Inuzuka and the Aburame clans.

That just left two choices. The Hyuga and the Uchiha. Just the fact that their clan would be in running for the next Hokage would ease the massive egos those guys had. Hell, they would actually be in the dominant position if it came to that.

The way the Hyuga clan was structured meant that truly powerful ninja had a very difficult time of being born. The main family trained for sure but they also stayed in the village all the time and never put themselves in danger. They deemed themselves too important to risk themselves like that. So all the practical experience was funneled towards the branch house but since their bloodline was crippeled purposefully with the birdcage seal they never stood a chance at being truly powerful.

Honestly the way the Hyuga ran their clan was monstrous and utterly crippling to their future potential. 

The Uchiha on the other hand had Fugaku. While he was a fence sitter and an idiot of the highest order he did have the ability to protect the village. He was a Kage level ninja without revealing his trump card and he was a war hero from the last Ninja war. So he had a good shot at being the next Hokage if things came to that.

Sure, he would have fingers pointed at him because his son would have assassinated the last Hokage but that could be sidestepped. It was a well known fact that Itachi was in the Hokage’s camp and he had drawn a line between himself and his clan for a long time. So all Fugaku had to do was banish his son from the Clan and label him as a missing label and half of that issue would be dealt with.

The other half could be dealt with by the fact that there was no other candidate who could keep the position. There was only a certain amount of time the current regime could delay since the Village needed a Hokage to project strength and while they would try to draw it out to convince Tsundade to come back it was unlikely.

Even if they did manage the miracle and bring Tsunade back it was unlikely she would be as harsh on the Uchiha as her predecessor was. So that would placate the Uchiha for the most part even if they would be dissatisfied with not having Fugaku being Hokage. It would give the fence sitter some leeway to bring the clan to a peaceful resolution.

That would be freaking perfect but it all stemmed from convincing an idiot to do the right thing. He rubbed his temple and contemplated letting out another sigh. This really was a problem like no other.

Itachi had all but brainwashed himself to support Sarutobi so how was he supposed to convince the idiot? Maybe he should play off his need for peace. Sure, Itachi might not care too much for his clan but he did not want to stain his hands with more blood if he had a shot.

All he had to do was show the fool that the Village was not as united as he thought. The clans would simply shrug off the death of Hiruzen and Danzo and the civilian ninja populace could be led around by the nose if the proper strategy was used.

He gritted his teeth because it was a freaking long shot. Sure, his words would have a semblance of truth but that fool was stubborn. So stubborn he would be willing to kill his entire family on the words and promises of a manipulative old man. It was not like Itachi was completely unaware of how screwed up the top level of the village was.

In the canon story Itachi was aware of how messed up Danzo was. That guy was responsible for the death of Shisui after all. He was a witness to Shisui stumbling along with a hollowed out socket where one of his eyes used to be. Then he had to sit and watch as Shisui plucked out his remaining eye and committed suicide.

The sharingan really was nonsense, how did Shisui pluck out his eye with little to no effort. That guy was not even a medical ninja and he likely never plotted to take out the eyes of his fellow Uchiha like Danzo did.

Whatever the point is that Itachi knows how screwed up Danzo was so would sicking him on the wondrous duo really be that hard?……. It absolutely would, even knowing that Danzo was the cause of his best friend's death he was willing to forgive it and kill his own family for the sake of the village.

He did not know if he should applaud his conviction or to laugh at the nonsense coming from the idiot. 

Maybe talking to Shisui would be a better option. The timeline was early enough that the mad lad was not dead yet. The guy was certainly idealistic but he was not a fanatical as Itachi would be. That guy’s plan was at least stopping at just mind controlling his clan members.

Shisui certainly had the power to kill Danzo and Sarutobi with very little effort. In fact, with his Sharingan technique Shisui could order the both of them to kill themselves. It was not like there was a way to fight that technique off. It was the strongest genjutsu in the world and even knowing what it was capable of could not stop the technique from doing its job.

It would still be difficult as Shisui was firmly in the Hokage camp but it at least had a possibility of working. The question now was if it was worth the risk to pull this off?

This was an all or nothing gambit after all. If he managed to do it he would complete the quest and get everything he wanted but if he failed death was the most likely option. Plotting to assassinate the Hokage even if it was through the hands of another was a rather heavy crime after all. The type of crime in which him being beheaded would be a kindness.

He did not want to experience what a militaristic ninja society considered appropriate torture. Magical powers and a willingness to inflict the worst sort of pain on others built a rather frightening image in his mind. Was the allure of the Sharingan really worth that sort of pain?

He hesitated for a moment as he contemplated that. It was not like he needed the thing desperately. With The Gamer a mundane skill could be elevated to god like prowess and he already had a skill that held amazing potential. On the other hand, while it was not as needed it was certainly a power boost he could use to amazing potential. It was also not like this life of his was worth too much.

If he died here he would be booted out of Naruto. It was not exactly a big deal as he could just save up cash and buy a Character Creation Token from the shop to offset the sacrifice here. The torture would be a bit much but he should be able to kill himself before that happened. So the risk was not really all that threatening when he thought about it.

It was pretty callous to dismiss his own death so easily but this was just a theoretical exercise. He was dreading the notion of following through on that suicidal charge but he could see himself trying.

This really is a frustrating thing to think about, why could this not be a simple yes or no question. He let out a sigh and finally rose from his bed, it was nearing dinner and he was planning on searching for a Young Nara Clan member and challenging them to Shogi to try to get that tiered achievement.

As he left his room he was greeted with a sight he was not expecting. His new found father was leaning against the walls of the hallway. A lit pipe held in his hand and smoke billowed slowly out of his mouth as he relaxed in his position. The man gave him a small smile before taking another drag from the pipe hanging from his lips.

“You trying to find a new place to smoke or something? Mom is going to catch you pretty quick here, I’m surprised she is not already out here dragging that pipe out of your hand.” He spoke out with a dry smile on his face as he faced his father. The man in question just snorted at his words but did stop smoking his pipe for a moment.

The man then faced him for a moment with a look flashing across his face but it passed too quickly to be recognized.

“What she does not know won’t kill her. But no, smoking is not the reason I am here. You have been huffing and puffing up a storm since you got back from the academy. I know the teaching methods can be boring especially for someone like you but you need to go. At least you can use the good old Nara trick and sleep in the boring classes.” His father spoke out slowly as he flicked his pipe to scatter the embers putting it out.

He raised an eyebrow as he thought he was being a bit more subtle about his irritation but he should have known better than to try to hide something from a Ninja. Although, his father did not find the correct topic that was irritating him. He was right that the academy’s content was mildly irritating him but the true reason for his ire was not something he could explain to the older man.

Before any more words could be said his father raised an eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look.

“So the academy was not the thing that was bothering you, what got you in a mood then?” His father asked after a moment of silence. He froze as he did not expect more questions even if they were light hearted in their nature. 

He looked over at his father who remained silent and waited for him to say his piece. He bit his lip and decided to say something if only to drive this point away.

“Just dredging, having to convince an idiot to stop being an idiot.” He admitted with a sigh. It was the truth but not the whole truth. His father again let out a snort but he also looked deeper at him trying to find out what was truly going on. That look had shivers run down his spine as he did not want to have his father look too deep into this.

“Learning to deal with idiots is just another part of being a Nara kid but this seems important to you which is surprising. I figured the only thing you really cared about was honing your edges.” His father spoke out dryly as he finally put his pipe away.

He blinked for a moment not expecting his father to point out his habits but this was a literal ninja so he was bound to notice something. He swallowed as he hoped he did not notice the personality shift he was going through all these years.

“I care about other things.” He spoke out sullenly trying to change the subject but his words only earned him another snort.

“You really don’t kid, you got a drive to you that is well beyond anything I’ve seen from our Clan. If you were not the spitting image of me I would have thought you weren’t my kid. Even when we play those games you don’t play them for pleasure or for the thrill of winning but because you want to chip away at your edges. You have earned yourself a reputation as the only hard working Nara.” His father spoke out calmly as if he was talking about the weather instead of a dissection of his actions from his insertion to this world.

He paused again as if trying to figure out a way to disprove his thoughts but he really had nothing. His entire life since he came here was just training followed behind by even more training. So he could see where this ideal had started from even if he didn't like the outcome.

“So what’s so important about this idiot that you took an interest in him?” His father asked dryly as he leaned off the wall and gave him a pointed look. Again he felt conflicted about telling him the truth or a shard of it at least but he decided to charge forward.

“If I can convince the idiot to stop being an idiot my training speed will be elevated, I’m just hesitating over it because changing his mind is going to be an endeavor “ He explained his sour mood with a small shrug as he looked back at his father. The man simply nodded without much comment.

“That sounds more like your speed, it also sounds like there is more going on here that you are not telling me.” The man said with a pointed look but he shifted he gaze away quickly. “But, I'm not that interested as long as you follow your heart on this Shika I’ve got you back. Even if it means I have to club some idiot over the head so you can give them a three page speech about how much of an idiot they are.” His father spoke out with a light smile that told him the man was joking 

He just smiled in return taking the words for what they were a reassurance. It was unlikely his father would follow through on that idea if he did approach Shisui but he really was worth the price.

With that thought he let out a sigh. There is no denying it now, he was going to try his best for this quest so all he had to do was brace himself for the waves he was going to cause. Now, how does one convince an idealistic fool that his whole grand plan was just as stupid as a monkey trying to write out Shakespeare without a hundred thousand more monkeys. That and a type writer.