Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its character. I only own the plot.
Warning: Yaoi, no like; no read.
'Five years. It's been so long since I left this village,' Nara Shikamaru thought as he walked past the gates and into Konoha.
It was late at night and only the two people sitting at the table were in sight. Raidou and Genma were the two people.
"Hey, who are you?" Raidou called out as he spotted sight of Shikamaru.
Shikamaru took off the hood that was covering his head and waved to them. "Hey."
They looked shocked for a moment before making their way to him.
"Shikamaru, is that really you?" Genma asked, clearly still in shock. "Pinch me."
Raidou smirked and pinched Genma painfully in the arms.
He stopped staring at Shikamaru and rubbed his arm while glaring at his lover.
"Idiot, I didn't mean it literally," he complained.
Raidou laughed and draped an arm over his shoulder. "Sorry."
Shikamaru chuckled lightly, "You two are the same as before."
Genma smiled, "Yea."
"So what happened? Hokage-sama said that you were dead," Raidou said, turning serious.
"Yea," Genma added. "And it was you first ANBU mission!"
"Nothing much," Shikamaru told them. "I was on a mission to spy on Akatsuki for five years. Well, it was not really spying. It was more of infiltration. Anyway, they found me out and I'm lucky I'm still alive. Also, it was really lucky that they only found out after five years because I would have completed my mission by then."
"I see," Raidou said. "Everyone was really sad when they heard you were dead you know..." he paused for a while uncertainly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"Especially... him..." Raidou said in the end.
Shikamaru's heart clenched painfully in his chest. If there was one thing he regretted about taking up the mission, it was that he had to leave without telling his lover anything.
"How was he?" he asked softly.
"He was heartbroken," Genma replied just as quietly. "He stayed in the Hyuuga Compound for many months without coming out."
"He was completely hysterical when Tsunade told him that there would not be a funeral since your body was not found," Raidou continued. "They even had to inject him to calm him down.
"When he did come out, forced by Hinata-san and Hanabi-san, he looked a mess. He was totally different. I never saw him like that before," Genma carried on.
"How many months did he spend not going out exactly?" Shikamaru asked.
"A little over two years..." he replied.
"Oh..."
Shikamaru did not know what else to say. Two years?! He had not expected Neji to stay in his house without going out at all for two entire years.
"Shikamaru-san!" a voice called.
The three men turned around at the interruption and saw Shizune running towards them.
"Hey Shizune," Genma greeted.
"Look who's back!" Raidou told her, grinning.
She smiled. "I know. I saw you guys talking."
"Right, I guess you want me to go to the tower to report to Hokage-same?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yes," Shizune said. "Please come with me."
"See you guys later," he said as he turned to leave.
"Hey Shikamaru," Genma called and he turned back to look at the couple.
"Yea?"
"Whatever happened; don't feel too bad okay?"
"Yea, sure."
With that, he walked with Shizune to the Hokage tower.
"He'll be alright, won't he?" Genma asked Raidou worriedly.
"I'm not sure..." his lover replied, sighing.
"I wonder how he'll react when he finds out..."
"Why didn't you tell him anyway?" Raidou questioned.
"I think it's better if he finds out himself or if Neji tells him," Genma explained as Raidou nodded. "I'm sure Shizune feels the same."
"Whatever happened to Neji," Shizune started wearily, noticing Shikamaru slumped lightly when she mentioned his name. "It's not your fault. As a shinobi, missions always come first."
"Yea, I know," he muttered as they entered Tsunade's office.
"You're back," Tsunade said. She was standing with her back faced towards him, looking out of the window.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," he replied as Shizune closed the door.
"Are you tired?" she asked.
"Rather tired..." he answered.
"Okay, I just wanted to check if you were okay," she told him in concerned, turning around. "Since you are, you can go home now. Take your time to do the report. I'm sure everyone will have a lot of questions for you, especially your parents and friends."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," he said.
"Alright, get out," she said as she took her seat.
"Goodbye, Hokage-same," he said as he took his leave.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Shizune asked worriedly.
Tsunade did not reply immediately. Sighing, she looked at Shizune.
"I'm not sure," she confessed. "Quite a few things have changed over these five years."
Shizune sighed.
Shikamaru walked the entire way home instead of just jumping on the roofs. He needed time to think of what to say to his parents.
"Tou-san, Kaa-san, I was spying Akatsuki for five years and I'm back now. Oh yea, and the thing about me being dead, that's a lie," he said sarcastically as he reached the front door.
"WHAT?!" came a loud shriek from behind him.
He quickly spun around and saw Yoshino standing there in her yukata.
"Kaa-san!" he said, obviously surprised.
"Shikamaru, is it really you?" she asked as she walked over to him, equally shocked.
"What's wrong?" Shikaku asked, running out of the house, having heard his wife's shout.
"Oh my God... Shikamaru?" he asked.
Yoshino walked over to him and placed her hand on his cheek.
"My God..." she breathed out. "It's really you!"
She buried her face in his chest and started crying. Shikamaru was shocked. His mother, Nara Yoshino, the woman who was always so tough, was actually crying.
After he got over the shock, he hugged his mother. Only then did he realise how much he had missed her. During the times in Akatsuki when he was alone, he also thought it was too quiet without her nagging and scolding.
Pulling away, she wiped her tears hurriedly and led her son into the house. She made him sit down on a couch before going to the kitchen and getting him a cup of tea.
After they settled down, Yoshino immediately turned back into her usual self, as if everything that happened outside did not happen at all.
"Now, explain," she commanded as Shikaku nodded.
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head uncertainly.
"Well, that wasn't exactly how I planned on telling you," he confessed, referring to the previous incident.
"What happened?" Shikaku asked.
"This boy here said that he was actually on a mission to be a spy in Akatsuki and that him being dead was a lie," Yoshino told her husband, folding her arms.
"Yea..." Shikamaru said nervously.
"Oh," Shikaku said. "You should have told us, you know! But I guessed it can't be help since you were on a mission."
"What do you mean it can't be helped?!" Yoshino demanded. "He could have at least told us! We're his parents!"
"Yes, but Kaa-san, I did not want you and Tou-san to be worried," he explained.
"So you thought faking your death would not make us sad?" Yoshino asked sarcastically.
"Err... not exactly but still..." Shikamaru muttered. "I never thought I was going to come back alive and well."
His parents sighed.
"I guess so," Yoshino said, giving in. "I admit that that was probably the better option of the two."
Shikamaru then explained everything to his parents, all the way from when he had received the mission up till the point he got home.
"Right, son, go to sleep now," Shikaku said after a moment of silence. "I suppose you're very tired."
Shikamaru shot his father a grateful look and nodded.
"I'll go upstairs now," he told them as he stood up.
"My, Shikamaru! You have grown!" Shikaku exclaimed as he realised his son's new height for the first time.
"Yes, you have," his mother agreed.
Shikamaru smiled. He could see the happiness in their eyes now that he was back.
He went into his room and collapsed onto his bed, smiling. Even though he had been gone for five years and dead to the whole of Konoha, his mother had still kept his room in its best condition.
Smelling the familiar scent of his bed, he soon fell into a deep slumber.
TBC
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-Winterblazewolf