Title: Cry Baby
Author: Lovesrainscent
Pairing: Shikaku/Yoshino
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and do not stand to make any profit from posting this story.
Summary: Missing scene from the end of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Yoshino always seems to micromanage her son's life. Why wasn't she there when he returned from the first mission he ever led as a chuunin What could have kept her from being there?
Cry Baby
Yoshino sits in the uncomfortable chair she's been in for what seems like hours waiting for any news. A useless, soggy handkerchief lays crumpled in her hands. She can hardly bear to look around the room, it's full of familiar faces distorted by tension and anguish. The worst face of all belongs to her husband's closest friend, Chouza.
There's a bustle of activity in the hall, more people are arriving. The background hum of hushed voices is punctuated by a sharp call. Chouza raises his head, hardly daring to acknowledge that they're calling his name. But realization dawns that they are calling him and she can see the relief wash across his face as he hugs her husband then leaves down the hall to see his son.
More people, more voices, another excited call and she sees Hyuuga Hiashi and other members of his clan file out to see Neji.
The room is empty now, save for the two of them. Yoshino gets up and rearranges the magazines neatly on the end tables then straightens the cushions on the couches. Shikaku is leaning up against the wall, bored expression on his face as always. The only movement he's made since they got here was when he hugged Chouza earlier.
He looks at her and rolls his eyes and calls her 'troublesome.' It's maddening to her how he can be this still, how he can do nothing. Doesn't he know by now that she needs to be doing something? Anything? Restlessly she resumes her seat and picks up a magazine as if to leaf through it. But she simply leaves it listlessly opened on her lap as she continues to look out at the hall.
She sees him then, her son. Yoshino recognizes him as he walks past the doorway down the hall. She's halfway up out of her chair on her way to him when a firm hand pushes down on her shoulder. She jerks her head up to meet her husband's eyes but he's already turning toward the door, his back already to her. Shikaku's voice is gruff but soft as he calls back "Wait here."
Her husband saunters toward the door. How can he be that relaxed, she wonders, like he's got all the time in the world? Her hands grip the edges of the seat so hard she's sure that if she looked underneath the chair she'd see her nail marks.
She can hear him. She can hear him call her son a coward. She wants nothing more than to get up off the damned chair and get between Shikaku and her son. But she can't. She has to sit and listen even though it cuts her heart to ribbons to hear him say it.
She has to sit.
Not because he told her to stay.
Not because he ordered her to wait.
But because she knows he's right.
And because she knows he has to be the one to do this.
And she has to let him do it.
She can't do everything.
It's over now. Shikaku's had his say. Now it's Shikamaru who has his back to her, walking down the hall to be with his teammates again. And he will never be her little boy again, not ever in the same way.
Her husband ambles back into the room, head down, hands shoved in pockets. She gets up off the chair then because she knows it's the right time. She walks over to him and he reaches for her blindly, hands around her waist.
She circles her hands behind his head, as he buries his face in the crook of her neck. She can feel his hot tears against her skin as he holds her tighter than he has in a long time.
She knows it's okay. There's nobody else in the room. No one else will ever know what it took for him to say that to their son.
As her own tears slide down her cheeks she whispers in his ear, "I hate that I love you so much, cry baby."
A/N: This was originally written in 2nd person POV which I have since realized is not allowed on ffn. The original is on my blog.