After chapter 613, I HAD to write something. This is the product of fifteen minutes' worth of mad typing while screaming "NOOOOOOOO! SHIKAKUUUUUU!" in my head while my beta sobbed out her feels beside me. I'm done now, so I'm going back to sob. Hope you enjoy this.
It had been simple, after all.
A few words, a whisper in his ear, carrying years of command, but somehow softer, searching. A moment of glorious clarity, frozen in the space of time, as if reality catches its breath in sorrow. Shikaku's words had been short and wry, with no hint of regret or fear. No urgency, either, only soft acknowledgement of a job well done. It could have been a commander's retirement speech, only far more poignant.
Shikamaru's eyes widen, his vision wavering as Shikaku's last message dances through blued chakra to him, beautiful and fragile and strong all at once, iridescent in its emotion and cold in its echo as it reverberates about his skull.
A fist of cold air in his gut.
Shikamaru's eyes close, some unknown, unseen part of him wrestling uncontrollably with his mind. For a moment, these two worlds, black and white, battle within him in a war far greater than that he is participating in now. He struggles, nearly overwhelmed in a tide of raw crimson eddying around him, threatening to tear out the ground beneath him.
A hand on his shoulder, shocking him out of his reverie. But the pressure on his flak jacket disappears as quickly as it had appeared. As he hears Ino's first sobs sound from beside him, Shikamaru returns to the world of light. His lips form a thin line of determination, and his eyes are utterly dry.
By unseen agreement, the shinobi surrounding him turn, faces expectant. Shikamaru gazes back steadily, understanding. "Ino, Chouji," Shikamaru calls. "I need you to help me lead." A short, barking laugh escapes from his lips, even as a tear runs down his cheek, quickly brushed away. "Our fathers have added fuel to the Will of Fire."
As he turns to face the Juubi, a new, fiery light in his eyes, Shikamaru realises what has saved him.
Or rather, who.
Father…
Sob..Sob...did you like that, like evil fanfictioners usually do when it comes to angst, or did you explode in melancholy feels like I did? Review please?