Shikamaru ran. He ran as fast as he could, faster than he ever ran before. There were voices yelling at him, taunting him. Those were the voices that he was trying to get away from. The voices that have haunted him for the past six years. The voices that he couldn't put with a face because he never got to see one. For six years, he was never able to see his captors. He didn't want to anyway. All he wanted was to be as far away from the wretched place.

He had no idea how long he had ran for but he didn't care. Dawn began to surface and Shikamaru began to realize that it was now the next day. He decided to walk over to a tree and sit down in the shade. It only took minutes before he passed out from exhaustion.

Pain is what he could feel. The pain of whips, burns, broken bones and poison. The slice of a kunai knife was very common. Almost an everyday occurance. The smell of blood and strange serums were everywhere. All Shikamaru could see was blood and darkness. All he knew was violence, pain and survival. All he could hear were screams and yelling…

The next noise that Shikamaru heard was beeping. An obnoxious monotonous beeping. The only plus side was that it happened at a regular tempo so he could block it out from his mind. He tried desperately to open his eyes, but he just wasn't able to. He then tried to speak, but all that came out was a groan.

"...Maru. Are you okay? Son, can you hear me?" he heard a voice say. Whose voice was that? It sounded very familiar, but who was it? Shikamaru was finally able to open his eyes but everything was very white and blurry. It took a long time but he was finally able to see things clearly. He looked over to see a man that looked very similar to him.

"Dad? That you?" Shikamaru asked in a very rough voice. Shikaku walked up to him and put a hand on his leg.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was before. Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital in Konoha," Shikaku answered

"How? Last I remembered I passed out," Shikamaru said

"Well, we were lucky. Konoha ANBU found you passed out in the middle of the forest. They recognized that you were a Nara and brought you back. I'm really happy that you're here son," Shikaku said. Shikamaru smiled a bit.

"Where's mom?" Shikamaru asked,

"She left a while ago to get something to eat. She'll be back soon," Shikamaru nodded and leaned back into the pillow sighing.

"I thought that I'd never be back in Konoha ever again," Shikamaru said

"But you're here now, and you can continue living the life that you deserve," Shikaku said. Shikamaru nodded his head and closed his eyes, now comforted by the fact that he was alive and in a safe place. He was home. Nothing else mattered but that fact at that moment. He fell into a dreamless sleep, one of the few he would get from now on.

It was a few more weeks before Shikamaru was cleared to go. It was an odd feeling being back into his home. Never had he thought he would be back. This all felt so strange and foreign to him. Home should never feel foreign to someone, he thought. However, part of him believed that he didn't deserve to be here. His friend from the camp, Takata, had sacrificed himself to help Shikamaru get this far. His friend deserved to be safe and sound in his home too. Wherever that was. They never talked about their home lives. They didn't need to.

"Welcome home Shikamaru," his mom said, pulling Shikamaru closer to her, as though she was afraid he'd be taken again. The act of a hug was strange to him as well. He wasn't used to a comfortable lifestyle. It was a nice feeling, though he knew it would take a while before he got used to the idea of his mom hugging him. Shikamaru stifled a yawn. Even though he had slept a lot in the hospital, he was still very tired.

"Mom, can I go to sleep?" he asked. Yoshino was surprised that he would ask such a question. Most people just announce that they are going to sleep.

"Yes, of course, Shikamaru, you can sleep," she said. Shikamaru nodded his head and left, not looking up at his mom at all. Once he got to his room he just stood there, staring at what was once and now is, his. His bed was still unmade and the Shogi board still had pieces in their spots, as though it was in the middle of a game. It was a weird feeling, like time had stopped in this room, yet the rest of the house had moved on. He didn't know how to feel about it, knowing that the last time he was in here, he was his six year old self, unaware of the horrors he would face in the future. He walked up to his bed and laid down, slowly falling asleep.

They were in a cell. Takata and him. Their mission was simple. Survey the land and bring back information. What wasn't simple was the fact that the land they were in was filled with Iwa nin who were notoriously known for their merciless tactics. If you were caught, you were most likely dead. He and Takata were hanging by the ceiling, covered in cuts, burns and puncture wounds. Luckily, they didn't decide to break any of their bones yet, though they knew it was going to happen soon. Takata was worse than Shikamaru. He had a burn mark on almost every inch of his stomach.

Shikamaru's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and an Iwa nin appeared. He started asking for the basic information. Information that Takata and him were trained not to tell. That's when the pain began again. The cuts, the smell of burning flesh, the screams of him and his teammate. It was all too much to handle, but he was forced to. He needed to survive. The man took his kunai, and stabbed him straight through his heart.

Shikamaru bolted out of bed, gasping for breath. Those weeks at the Iwa prison was a time that he did not want to remember. He pushed his covers away from him and he sat down by the Shogi board. He tried to imagine the last game that he had with his dad that would lead these pieces to the places that they were at. However, he wasn't able to. He could barely remember a clear detail before his capture. Just vague memories of who was who and what was what. He looked over at the clock to see that it was 5:00am. To early in the morning to go back to sleep. Not that he would be able to anyways.

He heard some noises outside his room, noises that he hadn't heard in a long time. The sounds of pots and pans clinging together. He went to take a shower before he walked out of his room. His mom looked surprised to see him up this early.

"You're up early, Shikamaru," she commented

"Nightmare. Couldn't go back to sleep," he said simply. His mom nodded her head in understanding.

"Breakfast will be ready in a bit," she said.

Ten minutes later, he was eating breakfast along with his father and mother. It was mostly a silent affair until around the end.

"What's going to happen to me?" Shikamaru asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked.

"I mean, will I still be able to be a ninja. I can still fight. While I was held captive they trained us," Shikamaru said in a way that he was trying to convine someone he was still capable of fighting. Almost pleadingly like. Shikaku didn't like the way that Shikamaru sounded when he said that.

"Of course you'll still be a ninja, Shikamaru. You remember Choji and Ino? You'll be on a team with them. I don't know who your sensei is yet though," Shikaku answered. Choji and Ino, yes, he did remember them. Choji was his best friend before he got captured.

"Yeah, I do remember them," he said. He could sense his parents sigh in relief. He couldn't blame them. They were probably worried about how much he actually remembered.

"You will go to the academy today and get into your groups. Of course, Ino and Choji don't know that they're on the same team yet. They'll figure out today, so don't let them know in advanced, okay?" Shikaku said. Shikamaru nodded his head. He finished breakfast and got up to go to the academy. Before he left his father stopped him.

"Here's this. You'll need it," he said, handing him the Leaf headband. Shikamaru took it and tied it around his arm. He looked at the leaf symbol on the headband, and remembered when it used to be replaced with the hidden fang symbol. For some reason this symbol looked a lot more friendly than the other.

"Thank you," he said, and bowed slightly, refusing to look at his father in the eyes. He set off for the academy, leaving his parents in slight confusion as to why Shikamaru had acted so formally to them like that.