Title: Message in a Scroll
Pairing: ShikaIno
Summary: Shikamaru is hurt badly, but refuses to let Ino into the room to see him. At least, not under the current circumstances…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"She's asleep, Shikamaru." Choji said as he entered the shadow nin's room, closing the door behind him.
Shikamaru moved to sit up, grimacing in pain all the while. Choji moved to help him, but he shook his head and continued painstakingly until he reached a comfortable position. Choji looked at him with worry clearly etched on his features for several seconds until Shikamaru's heavy breathing returned to normal.
"Did she sense you?" He asked finally, his voice slightly strained. He'd just gotten out of surgery, and it had required a breathing tube to be placed down his throat. It had been uncomfortable, but he had no complaints otherwise.
Choji walked over to the chair near the bed and sat down, grabbing the half-full bag of chips he had left there.
"Nope." He said as he took a handful of chips and piled them into his mouth. "I was surprised; I wasn't making much of an effort to hide myself, and even if I had been Ino still would have noticed any other time."
Shikamaru nodded his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. Hearing everything Choji said just reiterated how right Shikamaru had been to do what he had done, no matter how guilty he still felt for doing it. Besides, he had a strong feeling that Ino would understand once she got there, if not sooner. She would still be upset, but it was a small price to pay for taking care of her, which had been his one and only objective since he'd gotten back to the village.
He wasn't stupid; even though everyone refused to say it out loud, he knew he was hurt badly, and lucky to be alive. He'd gone unconscious as soon as the enemy ebbed those kunai into his body, and that was enough to let him know how close to death he was. When he'd awoken, he was on a stretcher being rushed to one of the surgery rooms. Through his hazy vision and hearing, he vaguely made out some of what the medics were saying, but the words "fatal" and "organs" were all he needed to understand what happened to him. He stopped listening after that, and instead concentrated on keeping himself conscious through the debilitating pain he was in. That only lasted a few seconds, however, and the next time he'd woken up, he was in the room he currently occupied.
That's when the reality of what he'd been through hit him like a ton of bricks…
"Shikamaru."
He looked up to see Choji standing in front of him, chip bag long forgotten on the chair the Akimichi once occupied. Realizing that he must have spaced out, he gave his best friend an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry. What were you saying, Choji?"
"I was just telling you not to worry." Choji turned to his left and glanced out the large window next to him. It was late afternoon, and the leaves danced across his vision as the wind swept them across the rooftops underneath them.
"Yeah, I know." Shikamaru too looked out, his eyes instead concentrating on the different hues the clouds took on as they contrasted against the setting sun. Under different circumstances, he would have enjoyed the view.
"Anyway," Choji walked back to the chair and picked up the bag of chips. "I've got to head out. We're having company over tonight, and mom wants the whole family home for it."
Shikamaru nodded. "Thanks again for everything, Choji. I really owe you."
Choji nodded his head and gave Shikamaru a wave before exiting the room. After hearing his footsteps disappear, Shikamaru sighed and leaned his head against the pillow, resisting the urge to hiss as his hospital gown accidently brushed against one of his slow healing wounds. Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, he saw that it was almost 6 in the afternoon. Knowing that Ino would make her way over soon, he decided to try to get some sleep until the nurse came in to check on him for the last time that night.
...
...
...
When Ino finally opened her eyes, the sun had already set and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. She spent a few more seconds laying in bed, reveling in how comfortable she was and how refreshed she felt before sitting up. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she was surprised to see that it was 8 at night. She hadn't meant to sleep as long as she had, but she couldn't bring herself to regret it as she stretched her arms over her head.
Standing and flicking on the light, she walked to the closet she and Shikamaru shared. After first pulling out a pink duffel bag, she began filling it with various items. Now that she wasn't dead on her feet and anxious, she finally understood why Shikamaru did what he had done. Everything from sending her away to having her fulfill "meaningless" tasks served a purpose that she was too tired and frustrated to pick up on before. Now that she was at full strength, she knew she would be of some help to him now.
When she filled the bag with everything she needed, she zipped it and hoisted it over her shoulder. Looking around once more, she turned the light out and headed through the living room into the dining room where the scroll still lay open atop the table. She grabbed it and, smirking haughtily, stuffed it roughly into a side pocket of the overnight bag. Regardless of everything good that came out of what he'd done, she still hadn't forgotten about his little "shower" comment. Smirking again and turning off the lights, she left for the hospital, thoughts of revenge fresh in her mind the whole way.
...
...
...
Shikamaru's eyes opened slowly when he felt a familiar chakra moving in his direction. He grimaced as he sat up, but the pain medicine his nurse had given him was enough that it wasn't nearly as painful as it had been earlier that afternoon. He silently thanked the medic as he maneuvered to close the window curtains in the room, feeling none of the usual pain the movement would have caused.
The person was right outside the room now, and he had just enough time to sit back before he saw Ino walk through and close the door.
"Hmph…" He smirked. "Couldn't knock, could you?"
She looked at him then, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.
"What's the point of knocking? It's just you, after all." She replied in the same teasing tone and set the bag on the floor next to his bed.
He glanced at it before refocusing his attention on her.
"And here I thought that hospital visitors were supposed to be nice to patients." He didn't smile then, but his tone and the twitch of his mouth were clear signs that he was not serious.
Playing along, Ino wordlessly reached down and grabbed the scroll from the bag and precariously spread it across his lap.
"And here I thought that all men were smart enough not to insult their girlfriends by turning them away and then ordering them to take a shower…" She spoke slowly and with the tone of someone explaining a complicated concept to a small child.
"Oh, here we go…" He said dramatically under his breath.
She giggled before taking the scroll back and returning it to the pocket of the bag. Leaning back up, she sat on the edge of the bed and gently placed her hand on his knee. She opened her mouth to speak, but she became sidetracked when she glanced at the side table near his bed.
"You didn't eat." She said, bringing her attention back to his face. He shrugged.
"Wasn't hungry."
She moved from the bed to the tray of food on the table and brought it over to him. It wasn't the most appetizing meal she'd ever seen, but her involvement in the hospital gave her the sense to know that it didn't taste as bad as it looked.
"After basically ordering me to eat earlier, there's no way I'm going to just take that excuse."
"I didn't order you." He sighed. "Besides, that was different."
Ino picked up the chopsticks on the tray and moved some of the food around before putting it back on the table. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't force feed him. Besides, there were more important things on her mind at the moment. She would tackle the food later.
Shikamaru watched as she put the tray back and sat up a little straighter. She had gone silent, which was a clear sign to him that there was something important on her mind.
"Ino."
She looked up at his face before her eyes began wandering, surveying every inch of him. It was what she had been both anticipating and dreading since she heard about his accident, which was yet another reason why she pushed herself beyond her limits to get to him as quickly as she had earlier that day. Seeing him at that moment, with only a few bandages on his arms and torso and a few bruises littering his body, she felt a chill go down her spine.
Shikamaru watched as her body tensed and her eyes opened slightly wider. He knew what was going on, and he could almost see her thoughts flash across her eyes. Moving his left leg, he nudged her gently. Feeling the pressure on her hip, her eyes focused and she let out a shaky breath.
"Tell me." He said gently.
"It was so much worse than this earlier, wasn't it?" She asked, thinking back to the images she'd conjured up when she'd first heard Tsunade's recollection of his injuries. She raised one of her hands to his chest, gently tracing the bandages that were visible underneath the thin hospital gown. Her eyes met his as her hand moved to what she sensed were the more serious injuries on his stomach, making sure her fingers merely ghosted over his skin so as not to cause any discomfort.
"Yes." He answered simply and stared back at her, allowing himself to enjoy her touch.
Feeling his muscles relax under her fingertips, she trailed her hand down the length of his arm to his hand and held it in hers. For the first time that day, and possibly the first time since he'd left, she felt a calmness wash over her. It was the feeling she always got any time he was near her, especially after one of them came home from a mission. It was the knowledge that he was with her, and that she could touch him, and hold him, and talk to him, and just know that he was there.
"I was…afraid." She confessed, her focus remaining on their entwined hands. Saying she was afraid was an understatement. There were no words that could possibly come close to how she felt. It was a dread worse than anything she'd ever experienced, and more painful than any physical blow she'd ever been dealt.
"I didn't want you to be." He replied, using his unoccupied hand to lift her chin up so he could look into her eyes. He averted his attention briefly from her to the scroll, remembering everything that went through his mind over the last 2 days. He remembered how disoriented he felt when he'd finally woken up from surgery, and how that feeling was quickly replaced with barely contained worry after he realized that that day's date was when she was supposed to return to the village. From that moment on, he concentrated on writing and coding the scroll quickly, knowing he wouldn't have the heart to give it to her if she got there before he finished it. He knew it was cruel to turn her away, but it was the only way he knew to take care of her.
And even though it hurt to tell her all of that in a barely personalized message, he knew she would understand. In the end, she would understand that everything he did, he did so that she would be alright. There was no possible way for him to get better if she wasn't.
Moving closer to him, Ino wrapped her arms tenderly around his waist and lay her head against his shoulder gently, being careful not to hurt him. Her hair caressed the side of his face as she tightened her grip around him, and she smiled when she felt him lay his head on top of hers and return the embrace.
"I understand." She said in a voice a little louder than a whisper. She looked at him then, and the look in his eyes- the relief she saw- made her smile. "I love you, Shika." She said just as softly as before, ghosting the words over his lips before giving him a gentle kiss.
"Yeah, yeah. I love you too, woman." He said, content with having her with him.
"You'd better." Smirking, she reached back over and picked up the food tray, making sure to pass it slowly across his nose before sitting it in his lap. "Now, on to business…"
"Ino, I'm not eating that."
"I figured you'd say that." Her voice held a knowing tone as she turned to pick up the bag she'd brought with her and put it on the bed. Standing, she grabbed the tray from his lap. "Being the amazing girlfriend that I am, I packed a few things for you from home, including your precious shogi board."
He looked surprised for a second and glanced at the bag, realization dawning on him as he smirked. Of course she would bring the shogi game. If anything else, she would use it as her trump card.
"I'm going to go heat this up for you, and you are going to eat every bite of it. Then when you're done, you can play all the shogi you want. I might even let you teach me."
"I've already taught you. Ten times." His tone was smug and teasing. "You are beyond help."
"Keep it up and I'll take it back home, Shikamaru!" Her face flushed as she sputtered out the response, effectively wiping the grin off his face.
'Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go heat the food already." He grumbled. Knowing Ino, she would make good on her threat, and that would just make his remaining time at the hospital that much longer. Having had nothing to do for the past 2 days was driving him crazy. He wanted that shogi board.
"Glad you see things my way. At this rate, you'll be better in no time!" Moving closer to him, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek before walking toward the door. "See? Aren't you glad I'm here to take care of you?" Her voice echoed down the hall, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes and laid his head back, staring at the ceiling. After he was sure she was out of earshot, he turned to look at the scroll and smiled.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
Yay! I finally finished it! Thanks to everyone who took the time to read/favorite/review this story. You are all awesome!