It had been a peaceful night for Shikamaru, reading through reports on the small desk situated on the corner of their master bedroom. Chirps of crickets created a hymn beside the window. Shikamaru leaned back throwing up his hands and arching his Bach until he heard the satisfying crack of his spine. He stood lethargically, the lids of his eyes lidded at half mast, his hair swaying in messy tangles around his ears. He flopped on the bed and reached out to the other end of the bed, the cold comforter hit his palm. 'That's right' he thought 'she went out on a frowned in discontent that his petite wife was no longer here he drifted off into a fitful sleep.
Rough taps of a beak on a window awoke him, the moon which had originally been just barely up in the sky now shone like a lantern. The full moon creating a world of shadows and deception, a place where the people of his clan thrived. Shikamaru glared at the hawk sitting upon his window sill, the dark downy feather ruffled in agitation. Reluctantly he trudged to the window and forcefully opened it.
The hawk squawked angrily, it powerful wings flapping swiftly in the cold night air. Without thinking about it Shikamaru grabbed ahold of it leg and slipped off the parchment neatly tied to its leg. Unraveling the thin small paper he read the words written, his brown eyes widened in fear. Dread sweetling in his stomach and his heart leaping to his throat. Without another thought he was gone. The last person that had inhabited the clan heads compound had disappeared in a flurry of shadows.
The hospitals nurses ran through hallways and corridors in mass hysteria, people gathered in the main room shouts of orders were being spoked but no one was listening. Blood flowed on the cream tile floor like a puddle, it's dark liquid mass taunted Shikamaru as he made sure steps in the large building. Many of the hospitals occupants gave him a wide birth, seeing the usually stoic Nara patriarch seething in anger, and sadness. Walking up to the main counter circling a large corner Shikamaru spoke to a young brunette with dark mud green eyes sitting at on the Cush chair.
The young woman looked up at the shadow before her and blushed. She fluttered her eyelashes and bit her thin lips. "How can I help you?" Her nasal voice attacked his ears and he grimaced at the horrid tone.
"Nara, a woman came in here very wounded her surname is Nara where is she?" His fought baritone held no malice, but a dangerous undertone was veiled. The receptionist balked at him before grudgingly going behind a dark door and fetching a file with his wife's name engraved on it.
She gazed over the file with dispassionate eyes and Shikamaru couldn't help but look at her in astonishment. Why the hospital hired people who couldn't give a rats ass about any one other than themselves he would never know. "Yes," her nasal voice startled him out of his thoughts, "Nara, Sakura came in very wounded from a mission, left that huge puddle of blood on that floor. She was admitted into the critical wing just a half an hour ago."
"Is she okay? When can I see her?" In his urgency to see his wife he had lost all pretenses on his mask. Pure unadulterated terror had flittered on his face unabated. Of course the receptionist had no thought of this at all. Instead she gave him an annoyed look her green eyes flashing.
"No sir she is not ready for visits and I doubt she will be any time soon. The doctors really are very busy and have more to do than drop everything to try and save a second rate ninja." Her words caused fury to bubble over inside him. He clenched his fists knuckles turning white from the stress, he could scarcely feel the warm liquid of blood run down his hands like molasses. The young 'nurse' looked at him again, a heated look blurring the ugly green of her eyes, nothing like the pure beautiful emerald of his wife. His wife who was in a hospital room in critical condition.
"But." She started again, in a tone he assumed she thought was sexy, but sounded more like a whistle scratching a chalk board. "I know of something we could do to pass the time…" She licked her lips.
Shikamaru barely felt his aura release from its confines inside his body before a hand touched his shoulder. "Relax Shikamaru, Tsunade-obaa is in the room right now dealing with Sakura-chan. She'll be okay."
Shikamaru turned around and met Naruto's stark blue eyes. The Hokage robes swirled around his feet, and Shikamaru knew that he had come here for the tower. Shikamaru glanced up at the slightly taller man and sighed.
"I'm sorry Hokage-sama. I'm terrified for her and let my emotions get the better of me."
"It's not your fault, your wife is injured it is a normal reaction you of all people should know that. Lord knows I would have been worse in Hinata-chan were injured. In fact I would be insulted if you didn't react the way you did. You are my honorary brother-in-law after all." Naruto turned to the lady at the desk, whose eyes looked as if they were undressing the enormously tall males.
Naruto growled at the young woman, she stepped back in fear. "And you, I don't know what the hell the hospital was thinking in hiring a bitch like you! But I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again. If you can't respect what the ninjas do for this village then you shouldn't be working in a place where ninjas are a common occurrence. The next time you insult one of the Konoha Eleven I can assure you, you will have eight very pissed off clans making your life a living hell. Do you understand?" She nodded tears flowing freely down her late cheeks. "Then get out." Without another word she fled the building.
Shikamaru smiled gratefully at is brother-in-law and sat down shakily in a chair. Minutes passed and Naruto and Shikamaru could hear feel the presence of several strong chakra surges barge through the hospital doors. Everyone looked toward the door and gaped in awe of the splendor the nine ninjas emitted. Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, and Lee surrounded Shikamaru and Naruto.
Ino put her arms around Shikamaru in comfort sadness emanating from her very core. Hinata and the rest of Team Eight had their heads bowed for their fallen comrade. While Tenten, Neji and Lee stood somewhat stoically around the group.
"She's gonna be fine, Foreheads gonna be fine." Ino whispered into Shikamaru's neck. Chouji put a strong arm around her waist and pulled her to him. With his other hand not preoccupied with Ino clasped around his shoulder.
Seconds went by, then Minutes, and finally hours as the infamous Konoha Eleven stood diligently in the hall. Ignoring the looks the civilians cast their way. They were used to civilians looking at them like that, as they were the most powerful ninjas of their generation, as well as the proceeding generations. They never said a word, didn't even utter a sound. Merely stood there and waited silently for a word about their comrade- no their family member.
Late into the morning of the next day Tsunade finally emerged, her eyes had bags underneath them and her hair sagged across her scalp. She gave a weary smile and nodded to the awaiting ninjas.
"She'll be just fine, it was touch and go for a while there but she will recover splendidly. She is awake right now and told me to send in Team Eight. Shikamaru she told me she wanted to see you last, as she wanted the most time with you."
The tension that had been building up in the room for the last several hours dissipated. Shikamaru sent Tsunade a grateful smile, though he was saddened he had to wait longer to see his beloved wife. One by one each team of the Konoha Eleven entered Sakura's room. They could hear sobs of relief from both Ino and Hinata. After all the only three women of the group of friends needed to stick together. After two more excruciating hours of waiting Naruto was finally able to enter Sakura's had told Shikamaru that Sakura wanted to see him alone.
After another long hour of waiting Naruto had finally exited Sakura's room. The young blonde Hokage strode out, a small smile that emanated sadness was directed toward Shikamaru. Shikamaru felt his muscles tighten in reaction, waiting for a strike.
"Go on in Shika. She's waiting for you." Shikamaru was out his seat and through the doorway before another word could be said. Closing the door shut with a resounding click he looked at his wife.
She was sitting on her bed pale slender hand folded neatly across her lap the starch white comforter rose up to her hips. Her short petal pink locks was tangled and teased, her face even paler than it was when she left, her cheeks were sallow and dark blackish purple bags hinged above her gloriously high cheek bones. Sakura looked absolutely beautiful in his eyes.
Hearing a shuffling behind her Sakura turned to see Shikamaru slouching and missing his hair tie, with nothing on other than some wrinkled Jonin pants and a thin mesh shirt. Her tired emerald green eyes brightened at the sight of her husband. Shikamaru watched as she patted the bed and waited for him to sit down.
Before she could blink he was at her side pulling her into his broad chest. Placing small kisses down the side of her neck. "Troublesome woman, do you know what it felt like to get a note at eleven o'clock saying that your wife was in critical condition.
"Yes." She replied bluntly. He held her at at,s length scrutinizing her thoroughly.
"Is there something you want to tell me? Cause if your saying your secretly lesbian…" She laughed outright, slapping his chest lightly.
"No you lazy ass, you. I have been called at one o'clock in the morning saying you were bleeding internally and externally with several deep puncture wounds and I had to work on you. I had to see you unconscious looking like a mauled bear."
"Sorry." He kissed her hands, "I'm just glad your home safe and sound, and mostly in one piece." As he said those words her whole body tensed. Looking at her quizzically his brown eyes rose to hers and immediately regretted it. Tears flowed down her face unbidden, great heave wracking sobs shook her body. Grabbing onto his fish net shirt she pulled his chest closer to her and sobbed into his somewhat bare chest.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He could barely make out the words through her staggering sobs. He let her disheveled hair affectionately.
"Baby why are you sorry? There's no reason to be sorry." He tried to look at her but she kept her grip on his shoulders strong.
"I lost him, I lost him, I'm so sorry I lost him."
"Who sweetheart who, who did you lose?"He wrenched her face from his chest and held her face to that he could look at her eyes. Her tears hadn't stopped if anything they had multiplied in number. She grabbed his large hand into her own smaller one and placed it over her stomach.
"I was pregnant when I went on that mission I didn't know. I was struck in the stomach. It was too late to save him. I was far enough along for them to know that it was a boy. An heir Shika, I was pregnant with the next heir to the Nara clan, and I lost him, I lost our baby." Every other word was interrupted by a wheeze of her lungs.
Shikamaru felt as if he was crushed. Like all the weight of the world had crashed onto his shoulders and he finally saw the cruelness of the world. His son, his son was taken away from them, was never able to see the light of day. His son had been killed. He didn't even have the joy to know that his wife was the mother of his child, didn't even get to feel and see the swell of her stomach as his child grew in her womb. His son was gone.
But as he glanced at his sobbing wife he couldn't help but feel as if everything was okay. Even though he never got to see his son and what he looked like. Never got to know the person he could have been, he couldn't help but feel relieved that his wife, whom he had only been married to for two years was still with him. Was still able to make a family with him. He pulled his lovely with close and whispered soothing words into her ear until her sobs became mere hiccups.
"I'm not saying that everything will be okay. But our son is in a better place." He murmured quietly.
"How is he in a better place!" She shouted. "A better place would have been seven months from now, in his mothers arms. Be able to live a life. Not to have died in my stomach, our son didn't deserve it! Our baby didn't deserve it! My poor baby boy, I'm such a horrible mother, such a horrible medic I should realized it earlier. I should have realized it earlier."
"It's not your fault!" He shook her, "your not the one to blame. These thing happen, yes I'm sad, yes I wished I could have held my son at least once, no our baby didn't deserve it. But it would have been worse if Tsunade had come out of this room saying that not only that my wife died, but my unborn child as well. I would have been devastated. We can get through this, we can still have a family, no we can't get back the sin we have lost but we can protect the ones that we will have in the future. Do you understand me? It's not going to be easy. But we'll get through this I promise."
Sakura looked at him sorrow swimming in their depths. "Okay. But I don't want to have any children any time soon I need some time."
He kissed her forehead lovingly. "Take all the time you need darling. There is no need to rush, just don't take so long that you come up to me when we're eighty saying you want a baby."
Sakura giggled at his quipping remark. "I promise."
"Good, now it has been a long night and we need some rest." Laying her down on the bed Shikamaru locked her into a tight embrace. He glanced down at his heartbroken wife, it will take time for them both to recover from such a loss. But they will, and they will have a family they had time no one could say anything that would sway them from their decision.