Hey guys! My first fanfic, please let me know what you think. All the goodness belongs to Kishimoto.
AFTER THE WAR
Chapter 1.
Her.
Shikamaru laid on his bed in the dark. It had been a few weeks since the war ended and life was surprisingly closer to before the war than he had ever thought it could be. He had spent most of his time helping rebuild housing – there was still so much damage from the Pain attack – and trying to find a way to deal with his losses. Light flittered in through the closed blinds, he knew it was time to get up. But, why? The world would keep spinning without him. It kept spinning without Asuma, and even now, its kept spinning with his father. Why be alone in the busy world, when you can be alone in bed? He missed his dad, but he wasn't alone in that regard, his mother spent a lot of time tending to his clans deer, and very little speaking to other people. It wasn't like that for everyone though – Ino and her Mum had revelled in sympathy from others – namely Choji and the Akimichi Clan, even TenTen was spending a lot of her time with Hinata and the Hyuuga Clan – but he and his Mum seemed to be alone. Alone. It was a foreign concept to the young shinobi. He'd never been alone before. He'd always had both of his parents, plus Asuma, his friends and by extension, the rest of the village. Being alone made him sad, it made him scared and it made him think of her. Her with her beautiful teal eyes and sandy blonde hair. Her with her cocky smirk and cheeky grin. Her who knows what it was like to feel this way. Her who was strong enough to carry on, even after all of the losses she had to deal with.
He was drawn from his thoughts as he heard gentle footsteps up the stairs stop outside his door. He held his breath, hoping that this time it would be different, that this time his mother would be as terrifying and troublesome as she was before the war, not kind and gentle and all things most definitely not his mum. There was a soft knock on the door and his mum padded quietly over to his bed. "Shikamaru, it's time to get up. I've made you some breakfast, how about we eat it on the patio? Get dressed and come down." She lent over and give him a quick peck on the forehead, confirming Shikamarus thoughts that today was going to be the same as every day since the war. No yelling, no flying saucepans, none of the normal behaviour he and his mum shared. She no longer seemed frustrated by his laziness and lack of drive. His mother walked out leaving his door ajar. He got up and walked slowly over to his dresser, pulling out a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. He put them on and looked in the mirror. He was no longer the lazy little smart ass. He was the new head of his clan, he was about to be thrust into being a jounin and he was about to take over from his father as commander of the jounin of the Leaf. "How troublesome" he thought as he pulled his hair up into a ponytail and made his way down stairs.
His mum was sitting on the patio, legs crossed and staring into a cup of tea as if it was a riveting novel. She smiled at him as he sat down beside her and reached for some toast. They sat in silence for a few minutes until his mum finally spoke. "She should be arriving today. I've offered for her to stay here. Her brothers too. The embassy isn't rebuilt, and our home is big enough. Hosting them will give me something to do." She looked over the top of the tea cup at her son, waiting for a response. He just sat, munching on his third piece of toast and thinking. She was coming here, to him. He couldn't help but smile internally at the thought of her being here, with him, the thought of her not giving him any sympathy, or tiptoeing around him, the thought of her normality. As though sensing this, his mum stood up, picking up the dishes from breakfast. "I'm going to go and make up the guest rooms. Tonight we will have a big dinner. Can you please go down to the market and pick me up some groceries? There is a list on the table." And with that she was gone. Shikamaru finished his toast and his tea, then got up to head down to the market. "What a drag, I'm sure we have enough food here." He thought as he headed to the edge of the Nara compound.
It had been a while since he had ventured outside the realms of his house and into the busy streets of the Leaf. He walked along with his hands behind his head, looking up at the clouds, but it didn't bring him the same peace it used to. He used to be envious of the clouds, wishing he could be up there, floating along, no responsibilities, free to go and do and be whatever he liked. But now he was jealous – bitter and angry – that the clouds new nothing of his pain. He felt somehow betrayed by them, by their lack of concern for him, after all he had thought of them. He was knocked out of his thoughts, almost literally by something, someone barrelling up behind him. "Shikamaru!" yelled a familiar voice as he was picked up and spun around wildly. "Choji put him down" cried Ino as she ran up behind the two best friends, smiling broadly as she attempted to pull Choji off his lately absent friend. "Shikamaru, we're going to get some BBQ do you want to come? We haven't seen you for a while." Shikamaru looked into the eyes of his best friend. They were filled with concern. He glanced over at Ino, her eyes full of pity and understanding. More of the horrible feelings that surrounded him following the loss of his father. More of the emotions he didn't want surrounding him for eternity. But he didn't want to hurt Chojis feelings, so he fell back into old habits. "Sorry guys, my mum sent me in to get some food for dinner, she'd kill me if I didn't head straight back home." He turned away, hoping they would just accept that, but they didn't, just like he knew they wouldn't. Ino looked mischievously at the list in his hand, "Who's coming to dinner? That's a lot of food just for the two of you…" She looked pointedly at the list and then at Choji, who couldn't keep the interest out of his eyes. Shikamaru started walking towards the market. "What a drag... Mum agreed to host the Kazekage and his guards for their stay, seen as we have the room and the embassy hasn't been rebuilt yet." He said this as neutral and bored as he could, but it didn't fool either of his Team 10 teammates. He then stopped walking, realising that his two friends were a few steps behind. He turned back to look at them, to see Chojis face covered in a smug expression, and Ino looking as over excited as she always did. "Oh my god Shikamaru you get to spend all that time with her!" said Ino as she practically bounced up and down with excitement. Ino and Choji knew him better than anyone, and they were both very, very aware of the connection that he had with her. "It's going to be a troublesome week, that's for sure. I'll see you guys around." And with that he left, walking a little bit faster towards the market.
Shikamaru put the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter and made his way to the fridge to get a drink. He pulled out a bottle of water and took a huge mouthful, allowing the cold fluid to cool him down. It was an unusually hot day in the village and he regretted his choice of attire. He pulled off his shirt and walked into the lounge room. "When are they arriving Mum?" he asked as he rounded the corner, only to be met with three sets of staring eyes. He quickly pulled his shirt up to cover his bare torso, realising who was in the room. His mother sat at the far end of the lounge with yet another cup of tea in her hand. Sitting next to her, avoiding eye contact with the young shadow wielder was Gaara, who seemed to have gotten very interested in a painting on the wall. Opposite him was Kankuro, who was glaring at Shikamaru with a mix of judgement and displeasure. Shikamaru slowly lowered his shirt, feeling the blush on his cheeks rising and took bearing of his surroundings. She wasn't here. He felt his shoulders sag, and the expression on his face must have shown how disappointed he was. Gaara seemed to have finally gotten bored of the wall painting and realised what Shikamaru was thinking. "Temari is taking a shower. She wanted to wash up before you got back." Gaara drawled slowly, making eye contact with the leaf shinobi. Shikamaru stood their stupidly, trying to make sense of what the Kazekage had just said. She wanted to look nice, for him? He opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by a soft punch to his back. "Don't go getting a big head there crybaby, I need you to escort me to the Hokage. It's him I need to look nice for." She flashed him her usual cheeky grin as she walked past him, drying her blonde hair with a towel. Still damp she let it fall around her face and took a seat next to Kankuro, who was still glaring at him, though he now had a little bit more menace in his eyes.