Age:
Shikamaru:24
As, they were travelling 3 hours have passed. The old man turns towards Shikamaru and says "I would like to eat my lunch and have a little nap if it doesn't bother you". Shikamaru was in no hurry and he was hungry too so he agreed.
The old man took them towards a well shaded area and stopped the carriage. Shikamaru too unloaded his bag and went towards and sat under it. Then he took his lunch given by hinata and started eating it. The old man sat a little further away under a different tree and started eating his own lunch.
The old man then began talking as he was bored. He asked Shikamaru his purpose to visit village " Sura". Shikamaru then said that he just wants to visit there since in the village he had a house where he wants to live for sometime. The old laughed at this and said "you sound like and old man who is trying to fulfill his last wish or something". Shikamaru sighed and said he is just going there for some time as he wants to experience new things in his life. Old man then asked whether he even knows how "Sura" even looks like ?. Because it is not somewhere people go to " experience life". Shikamaru said he knows how Sura is like he heard it place where it is Cold and it is kind of abandoned. The old man agrees but adds some information that, it's cold and abandoned but with that it is also a place few decide to live. The people who even live there are either researchers or people who want to be left alone. There isn't much in Sura anyway. Shikamaru then asks why are reasearches intrested in such place then ?. Old man then says that Sura was an old place where ancient chakra wielding warriors fought. So, it was like a gold mine for archeologists and reasearches who want to research chakra. Although, nowadays no one goes there as it is not worth the effort in this peaceful era. After this , old man completed his lunch and went to take a nap.
Shikamaru started thinking about this and thought " That information is useless to me and it's not like I'm going there to learn about chakra or anything so, I can just live in peace as there is no one to bother".
Sura might sound inhospitable due to the winters. But, it is not the winters what made it inhospitable it was the forest which bordered Sura which made it hard to live in the village. You see, beasts from the forest used to come and attack the villagers there and as the defense of village was weak it was a problem. But during the current time there big walls around the village which fortified the village from any attacks from the forest.
Secondly, the village has less population as the village mainly focuses on agriculture so, no one botheres to move there as there nothing to gain by attacking the village or staying there. Only natives of the village live there.
It's peaceful for Shikamaru to live there farming and enjoying his life then to live Konoha and be a high ranking Jonin and due all the work.
Shikamaru's lunch was over by this point and he decided to just walk a little and explore the surroundings. He started walking and seeing the plants and thinking what he could prove useful to him.
Then he takes the device of Kushina and starts fiddling with it again. Trying to understand what he can do with it. He takes his dairy and starts writing what he understands about the device.
In the diary:
1) It is made of a metal probably iron but has a very different "smell" than what iron gives.
2) It has the Uzumaki symbol behind.
3) It is in the shape of a cube.
This are the only things he understood by seeing the device. He then keeps the device in the bag and returns to the old man and wakes him up.
They start the journey again.
3 days has gone by and nothing much happened. Shikamaru was tired of this continuous travelling and wanted to reach the village fast. This was the 4th day and they still had 2 weeks to reach the entrance of the forest. Shikamaru could reach the entrance of the forest in 2 days if he went himself on foot by his speed. But, he would be tired by the time he reaches the entrance and he has to even cross the forest filled with beasts.
As, they were travelling they come across a different carriage. The rider of that carriage was resting under a nearby tree. The rider was a young man and he was severely injured and he seemed like he would pass out in a few moments. Shikamaru and the old guy gets down from the carriage and they go towards the young man. They try to shake him, which wakes him up. He sees Shikamaru and recognises him. He then asks calmly " Are you Shikamaru Nara of Konoha ?". Shikamaru nods in agreement. Then he old man and Shikamaru take him to their carriage and try to help him. The man tries to talk them while they were helping to mend him up. He says " I'm kabuto and I'm a carriage driver. I was trying to go to Konoha but some people in masks attacked me, after they thought I died they went away". Shikamaru seeing the condition of the kabuto taps on his forehead, which makes him unconscious.
Soon, Shikamaru asks the old man to get ready and to drive fast when Shikamaru commands him. Shikamaru then search for kabuto's belongings and he sees that he is big box which was opened and the articles inside it were thrown here and there.
Shikamaru collects all of them and then loads them in their carriage and the. Commands the old man to drive fast. Old man does what he was told and drives the carriage fast. Shikamaru meanwhile looks at kabuto and thinks " I will ask him questions once we are in a safe spot". There were many questions going on in his mind but he was quiet.
A/N: I know this chapter was not that interesting but, I promise that within next few chapters things will start to speed up.
Note: kabuto here is not the kabuto of Naruto. He is my own character.