Living together
The next morning, Minerva, not seeing Shikamaru anywhere, even by the time she came down for breakfast asked, ‘Yoshina-chan, where is Shikamaru?’ asked Minerva.
‘He went to freshen himself up a bit. He came a few minutes ago. He said he has to return back to work, as soon as possible’, said Yoshina.
The two women were happily talking with each other, about their childhoods, when Dumbledore also came down for breakfast.
‘Ahh, Yoshina-san, what time did Shikamaru come home, yesterday? I just saw him coming out of the washroom’, asked Dumbledore.
‘He came just a few minutes ago, actually. I believe they are swamped with paperwork these days. He probably will leave as soon as he finishes his breakfast’, said Yoshina.
As they were having breakfast, Shikamaru also came and sat on the table after greeting everybody.
‘Shikamaru, if you do not mind me asking, can I know how your father died?’
‘Dumbledore-san, there was a war in the shinobi world just a couple months ago. During this war, a number of massive bombs managed to destroy several cities. My father, who was out-of-town, was caught up in one of these explosions’, answered Shikamaru.
Dumbledore felt that the answer was well-built, that it did not reveal anything, but also told the truth, ‘I am extremely sorry to hear that’, he said. Dumbledore tried to perform legilimency on them, however, it was blocked by an extremely strong barrier, that he could not even get a glimpse inside.
'Shikamaru-kun, is the extra work due to the meeting with us?' asked Dumbledore. Minerva also looked at him curiously to get a reply for this.
'Dumbledore-san, civilians are never involved in those meetings. Only when they are directly attached to the mission, do they participate', answered Shikamaru. Dumbledore again felt that it was a very cleverly structured answer.
'Does that mean that neither of you will be participating in the meeting?' Minerva asked.
This time it was Yoshina who answered with a smile, 'I am not sure yet… Anyway there is nothing for you to be afraid of. I mean Minister Yeong has been here so many times. He knows how it is done, much better than even me, actually'.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. A young boy of about 14/15 years, with a blue scarf around the neck, was at the door.
'Shikamaru-san, your presence is immediately requested by the…' said the boy immediately and loudly.
'Why did the village leader (soncho) request my presence this early?' asked Shikamaru before the boy finished the sentence.
The boy nodded his head and continued, 'he told me to tell you, the ones whom you were expecting are here, but have to return back within the day. Therefore, you have 12 hours with them'.
Shikamaru nodded in acknowledgement. He turned towards Yoshina, who was putting the final knot to the bento box that she had prepared for Shikamaru. He took the box from her, 'mother don't wait up for me. I might stay the night at Choji's today. I will send a message to you'.
Yoshina nodded her head with a smile, 'okay, Shikamaru. The bento box is filled, so give some to Choji as well. Good luck with everything’. Then said to the kid, giving him a bao bun that she had prepared in the morning,‘Konohamaru-kun, before you go take this bao bun with you'.
'Yoshina-san, after breakfast, would you mind if Minerva and I go for a stroll in the streets?'
'That is fine Dumbledore-san, please be aware, that you are here to meet shinobi, and that they can be anyone that you meet on the streets, like I warned you last night', she answered.
Dumbledore knew that they would be under strict observation during the time, that they are here in the village as it is completely under the control of the shinobi. Therefore, he just smiled and asked Minerva to join him. No matter how Dumbledore looked at everything, he felt that Yoshina’s and Shikamaru’s answers were always very well-structured, and pre-prepared.
The two wizards went to a sweetshop that Yoshina had recommended for some sweets.
‘Ahh, you must be the two wizards that are here for the meeting. Pleased to meet you. I am Kobuki Li, the owner of this shop. Please come and have a seat inside’, the shop owner invited them inside.
‘Thank you. If you do not mind me asking, how did you guess that we were the two wizards?’ asked Dumbledore.
‘Oh, that is simple. I have never seen you before. So, you must be someone new probably coming to visit. Then your clothes look very….. eccentric, for the lack of a better word. The shinobi usually wear clothing that is easier to move in. This ultimately leads to the assumption that you must be the wizards.’.
‘Can you always recognize shinobi from their clothes?’ asked Minerva.
‘Of course not, they are masters at deception. They can be wearing civilian clothes, wizarding clothes, or even change their appearance entirely. Nobody might be able to find a shinobi, other than another shinobi, sometimes, even they cannot’, smiled Kobuki.
‘Are you not afraid to live like that with the shinobi?’
‘Nope. They protect us from rogue shinobi and wizards both. We are completely under their protection. I mean they are cool and awesome. I don't think that there is anything to be afraid of. They are also humans. It is just that they have learned how to fight’, shrugged Kobuki.
Dumbledore noticed that the village was extremely busy, and it seemed like everybody was getting ready for something big. He wondered if their meeting was causing all this. Then he remembered that this village was constructed just for the sake of the shinobi meeting the wizards, which could mean that the village probably did not have anything going on for sometime, as the shinobi always rejected their missions for almost 3 years. This somehow seemed to put even more pressure on this meeting, as if the entire economy of this village depended on the success of this meeting.
'Minerva, do you think that Shikamaru is training to be a shinobi?' asked Dumbledore, as the owner placed the food in front of them.
‘Dumbledore, what makes you think that?’ asked Minerva,
‘Well, several things really. First, no matter how I ask about his working place, the answers are always vague from both Shikamaru and Yoshina. I mean, I do understand, if you are training to become a councillor for the village leader, then a certain level of secrecy is to be expected. However, the level that is observed right about now, is way higher. But then again, on the other hand, the two societies are of two completely different levels. This would entail that they are required to hide certain things. In this case, even if they are civilians, they would have to hide certain things’, explained Dumbledore.
‘To be completely honest, even I have been having similar thoughts. I tried asking what Shikamaru’s previous job was from Yoshina. She would always evade the question, somehow. I have also been trying to ask about her husband, but that also, she somehow evades them’, said Minerva.
‘I believed Shikamaru’s dad to always be a shinobi. The fact that Yoshina was allowed to communicate with you, when the communication between the two worlds were blocked, the fact that the mission was accepted to be discussed, the moment the request was made and finally we were personally invited to come visit and stay in such a place, where wizards probably rarely visited. All these factors actually prove that Yoshina is actually connected to someone powerful’, said Dumbledore.
‘However that being said, I was not sure that he was a shinobi, until the moment Shikamaru explained to me the way he died. No matter what sort of world it is, the funding for an army is always provided by high ranking rich people among the civilians. If that is the case, considering the fact that Shikamaru’s father was a councillor, would have probably been under strict protection. I do not believe that it would have been possible for him to die. It therefore proves that he was a shinobi. I am not exactly sure about Shikamaru though. I definitely believe that he is training to be a shinobi, because Yoshina said that he is following the same path as his father’.
‘I guess that is understandable’, said Minerva, ‘but what about his previous job? I have a feeling this is a major point in this’.
‘That is the reason, I am not sure. Is it possible that he was a shinobi, since that young of an age, and is now training to be an adviser to the leader of a shinobi village on contrary to a civilian leader that we were told?’ asked Dumbledore.
Minerva did not like this conclusion, as that would mean that they are creating child-soldiers, ‘no, no, that cannot be possible. That would mean that they are creating child-soldiers, and at the age of 12. Also, she said that there are some, who start at the age of 5. I refuse to believe the fact that kids as small as 5 are created into soldiers and are taught to kill’.
Over the next few days, Dumbledore mostly rested. He tried to talk to Shikamaru and get whatever he could to relieve his doubts. However, none of them were answered directly. It was sort of like they were going round and round, but never really pin-pointing the exact thing.
The day before the meeting Yoshina announced during breakfast that she will be going out and asked if Dumbledore and Minerva would join her.
While they were walking among the small shops, Yoshina pointed at a barn owl, who was flying directly at us, ‘Dumbledore-san, I believe that owl is for you.’
When he lifted his arm, the owl landed on it and Dumbledore carefully took the letter. The letter said that the other wizards have also arrived for the meeting and will arrive in the dumpling shop, as soon as a time is allocated. He then conjured up some owl treats and gave them to the owl before sending him on his way.
After buying everything they needed, they returned to the house for lunch. Yoshina, who had already kept a pot of Ramen on the stove to be perfect, by the time they arrived from the market, went to check on it, while the wizards went upstairs to refresh themselves.
‘Yoshina-san, at what time, will we be told, as to what time the meeting will be held, and where exactly?’ asked McGonagall.
‘I cannot be 100% sure, but I believe they will send the message tonight’, said Yoshina. Dumbledore, who had been asking her about it almost everyday, sighed thankful that finally the time and place will be revealed.
Just as they were finishing tea, Shikamaru also came home, ‘I am home.’
‘Ahh, Shikamaru, welcome home,’ greeted Yoshina, ‘refresh yourself, I will make you some tea.’
He nodded his head, while going to the washroom. Then he came back, and sat with the wizards at the table, as Yoshina served his tea.
‘Dumbledore-san, Minerva-san, I met Lord Hokage on the way here and I was told to inform you that the meeting will be held at 8 tomorrow morning’.
Dumbledore was surprised, but then it seemed to clear some of his doubts.
‘Where exactly will we be having the meeting Shikamaru-kun?’ asked Dumbledore.
‘The meeting place will be revealed tomorrow morning actually. However, I was told to tell you to ask the other wizards to come to this house by 7.30. The meeting starts at 8.00, the meeting place will be told, afterwards,’ explained Shikamaru, ‘I suggest you send that message, and get a good night’s sleep. Oh yeah, the closest place they can apparate to is the dumpling shop. All other places in the village are blocked. Nobody can apparate into or out of the village.’ The wizards both nodded their heads acknowledging the message.
Dumbledore before sleeping quickly sent an owl message to the Japanese Minister with the information and the location of the house.