Dearest Readers,

"Watch out for those tempo changes, Man. Once we hit the second bridge, this shit takes off."

Read on, Cherubs.

Over and out.

Breakdown

He was worried to the point where he couldn't focus on anything else other than the source of his worry:

Shikamaru.

Neji sat on his window sill, staring up at the stars as they twinkled back at him. Shikamaru hasn't been coming to train with them for the past week. Whenever one of the senseis went to his apartment to check up on him, he never answered the door no matter how hard they pounded. Shikamaru ignored every single person who went to his apartment to try to get him to go to the training grounds and no one knew why.

It shouldn't take too much effort to figure out why Shikamaru is isolating himself: it's about Alecto and everything that people have been throwing at him. There's only so much criticism that a person can take before they have enough. Since Alecto's purpose is to not only embody Shikamaru's anger, but to also protect him, he's most likely contributing to Shikamaru's isolation.

He sighed, thinking of the Nara's flawless face. The past few weeks have been unpredictable and intense to say the least. Everyone was slightly on edge whenever Shikamaru was around because they feared that Alecto would come out and do more than talk to them. They didn't want to have a physical confrontation with someone as intense and obviously powerful as Alecto, and they sure as hell didn't want a physical confrontation with someone who is the embodiment of rage.

Neji stifled a yawn and brushed his hand across his eyes to rid them of weariness. Although there were still many questions that needed to be answered, the incident with Naruto and Ino caused a relatively basic question:

What the hell happened?

Alecto admitted that he was choking Naruto and Ino, but he never mentioned how he did it. All he had to do was hold out his hand, start forming a fist, and then suddenly Naruto and Ino were being strangled within an inch of their lives.

Alecto could've killed Naruto and Ino if he wanted to…I'm sure he did, but Shikamaru most likely told him not to do that.

Neji stifled another yawn as he blinked his cloud-like eyes slowly. The more he thought about that incident, the more it intrigued him about Shikamaru in general. How does the concept of Alecto work? They knew that Alecto is the embodiment of Shikamaru's rage, but what caused that rage and how did it become so intense that someone like Alecto had to be born to deal with it?

Shikamaru was a much more complex person than what everyone previously thought; with everything that's happened in the past few weeks, it was obvious that there was much more to Shikamaru than being a genius. And there has been an obvious fact that's been discovered about Shikamaru:

He was lonely.

From what Neji has been able to gather so far, it's always been him and Alecto. No one else. Alecto said earlier that Shikamaru had a realization earlier and he remembered how his face turned red when Alecto said that the realization was about him. While he was very curious about what the realization was specifically about, he knew that he would have to figure it out on his own.

He blinked.

He directed his eyes away from the sky and stared mindlessly at the street. He knew that Shikamaru needed some kind of help, but he didn't seem to know how to connect and trust anyone besides Alecto. Neji sighed and brushed hair away from his eyes, wondering what Shikamaru was doing and if he was okay.

A smile graced his lips as an idea began to form in his mind. Swinging his legs out of the window, he leapt onto the tree branch not far from his window. He glanced back, debating if he should bother closing the window. Deciding against it, he jumped down to the ground and quietly made his way towards Shikamaru's apartment.

Shikamaru may have been ignoring everyone for the past week, but he was going to make sure that he wasn't going to be ignored and pushed away.

xXxXx

Shikamaru allowed a sob to escape his lips as he looked up at the bathroom's white ceiling, his bare back against the wall opposite the sink. His brown hair brushed his shoulders as he ran a hand through his locks. He tightened his hand around his pocketknife, feeling the cool handle against his hot skin.

He blinked and gently brushed a hand against his face, clearing the tears but left a small trace of blood on his cheek. He dropped his head down and looked at the new self-inflicted cut on his left side, which was becoming tight with drying blood. He rolled his head over to his right, his dull brown eyes staring at the 6 prescription capsules lying on the white tiles. He let go of his knife and wrapped his slim fingers around one of the capsules and opened it, dumping 4 pink pills on his palm. Against his better judgment, he dry swallowed them and grimaced as he felt them slide down his throat.

Shikamaru coughed lightly and began swallowing heavily, trying to shove the pills down his throat until he couldn't feel them anymore. Running a hand through his hair again, he pushed his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes, sighing. He tucked a leg up near his chest and he felt himself zoning out, so much in fact that he didn't hear someone knock on his door.

xXxXx

He knocked again and eventually reached into his pocket and pulled out one of Hinata's bobby pins, stretching it out and wriggling it around in the doorknob. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the lock click and he opened the door quietly, not wanting to scare Shikamaru. He smiled briefly, glad that he actually stole a few of Hinata's bobby pins a long time ago just in case.

You never know when you'll use something like them.

"Shikamaru?" He called, still not wanting to scare him. Closing the door quietly behind him, he looked around the dark apartment, taking in his surroundings. He knew that it was in the early hours of the morning and Shikamaru's most likely asleep, but he figured that it's better to be safe than sorry.

He strained his ears for any sounds and was barely able to hear a small sniff. His heart beginning to pound, he walked down the hallway to where a light was shining on the floor, from where he assumed to be the bathroom. When he made it to the door frame, he didn't know how to process the scene in front of him.

Shikamaru was sitting against the wall, tears slowly running down his cheeks, and facing up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. Neji was sure that Shikamaru didn't sense that he was there yet so he took the opportunity to look around the bathroom from the door frame. His sharp eyes saw the 6 prescription medication capsules to Shikamaru's right, as well as a blood-stained pocketknife. His heart pounded harder when he saw the wound in Shikamaru's left side, which was now crusted with blood.

He must have done that a little while ago. Depending on the depth of the wound, it takes a while for the blood to dry up that much. But since that's obviously self-inflicted, it's most likely very deep.

As carefully and quietly as he could, he took a few slow steps towards Shikamaru and gently sat next to him, remaining quiet. Neji was very patient and he was very glad he had that quality as he sat next to Shikamaru. Sitting cross-legged, he stared straight ahead of him, waiting for Shikamaru to say something first while hoping he didn't scare him too badly.

Silence.

Child,

I know.

"How did you get in here?" Shikamaru asked his voice thick with tears.

"I used one of Hinata's bobby pins to pick the lock." Neji said softly, glancing over at him.

See what I mean, Child?

What?

This boy went beyond what the others have done to get to you.

Silence.

The Boy is fighting for you.

Alecto's words struck a chord in him and he realized that he was right. No one else had broken into his apartment to see if he was okay. Everyone else just knocked on his door, waited for a little while, and then left. Even Asuma and Choji didn't seem to try to get to him.

No one else had tried to get to him except Neji.

No one else seemed to be fighting for him except Neji.

He then felt it: something inside his mind swelled and then broke.

He felt all his emotions flood him like a tsunami and his memories followed them. It felt like his mind and body were being torn in different directions and he reached up and gripped his hair, now facing the floor. Neji's worry increased as Shikamaru released a loud wail, making his ears ring.

Before he knew what was happening, Shikamaru was on his feet and heading towards the living room. He hurriedly got up and ran after him, knowing that he was in an unstable emotional state. Shikamaru screamed as he threw a kitchen chair across the room, causing it to break and leave a large dent in the wall. Shikamaru picked up everything that he could find and threw in the opposite direction of him, screaming at the top of his voice with tears flooding his eyes.

Neji knew that he needed to interfere, but he didn't want to get hit by a thrown object. He stared, baffled, as Shikamaru rushed to the kitchen.

Holy shit. Oh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Shikamaru's back was to him as he rummaged through a drawer. Neji's brow furrowed in confusion at the markings on his back; six red horizontal lines were on each side of his back on his shoulder blades and above his hips. But it was the marking on the center of his back that glared mockingly at him: "whore."

Someone carved that word there…same with the red lines…who the fuck would do that?

Neji was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Shikamaru slam a drawer shut. He carefully walked forward, not wanting to scare him. But Shikamaru felt him coming and quickly turned around, pointing a sharp knife at his throat.

"Don't come near me." He growled his voice dark and thick, his dead eyes seeming to glare straight through him.

This isn't Alecto at all…this is all Shikamaru.

He held up his hands, indicating that he wasn't going to grab for anything.

"Shikamaru, listen to me. You don't need to get violent, okay? Just put the knife down." Shikamaru's grip on the knife tightened, causing his arm to shake. Neji kept eye contact with Shikamaru as he tried to hide his rising panic at Shikamaru's emotional state.

Child,

Shikamaru growled deeply and then screamed, whirling to his left, he threw the knife with all his strength through the window over the sink, causing it to fall to the street below. The air was knocked out of Neji's lungs as Shikamaru shoved him roughly aside, making his way towards the living room again. He heard Shikamaru growling and crying, but it was when he heard the clinking of metal that he sprang towards Shikamaru's location and stopped dead:

Shikamaru was on his knees, head bent over his lap with a kunai in his hands, which were shaking. He began to sob as Neji carefully approached him.

"Don't come near me." He repeated and Neji did as he was told.

Shikamaru began to shake harder; the overwhelming emotions coursing through him even faster now. He felt like his brain was about to explode and he wanted to crawl out of his skin to make the pain go away. A hard pulse began to pound against his temples.

Child,

Make it stop!

I cannot do that, Child! I do not have control over any of this!

Make it stop! Make it go away! NOW!

Shikamaru dropped the kunai and grabbed his hair again, screaming. Alecto couldn't make any of the overwhelming emotions, memories, and sensations go away. So what was he supposed to do now? He wanted it all to stop. Now.

He wanted to die.

He began rocking back and forth as Neji tentatively moved towards him and knelt down, debating if he should put a comforting hand on Shikamaru. Sensing that he was there, Shikamaru lashed out at him, shoving him hard in the chest. Neji was caught off guard and he fell backwards, hitting his head against the couch.

Child, let him help you!

No! I want to die! Let me GO!

Child! I will not allow that to happen! Let the boy help you!

He can't help me!

You do not know that until you let him!

Shut up! Just make it all STOP!

Shikamaru released another wail, pulling chunks of his hair away from his scalp, not knowing what else to do. He didn't know what to do or think; all he knew was that he wanted this to stop. He just wanted to die…right now…at this very moment.

Shikamaru's grip on his hair tightened and tears streamed down his face again. The feeling of being overwhelmed was indescribable and his breath began to come in sharp gasps. He continued tugging at his hair, chucks of brown locks being caught in his fingers.

He let out another screaming sob and when he sensed Neji at his side again, he lashed out at him again. He grabbed the front of his shirt and then shoved him as hard as he could, using all of his body weight. He shoved Neji roughly to the floor and landed on top of him, causing Neji's head to bang against the wooden floor.

Shikamaru rolled off of Neji and lunged back towards the kunai which lay forgotten on the floor. Gripping it in his shaking hands, he bent over and began rocking again, sobbing. Neji blinked rapidly, trying to clear the stars from his vision. When he realized that Shikamaru was no longer on top of him, he quickly sat up and hurried towards Shikamaru's shaking frame.

But before Neji could do anything, Shikamaru grabbed all his shoulder-length brown hair, tugged at it, and using the kunai…

Shikamaru chopped off his hair.

He slumped forward, arms stretched in front of him with his forehead pressed against the floor. The large chunk of hair and the kunai were held loosely in his hands as Shikamaru cried uncontrollably, finally breaking down. Sobs and wails wracked his body and he didn't try to control anything going on around him.

Neji was shocked stiff at what he just witnessed.

Shikamaru had a mental breakdown.

He stared at the large amount of brown hair in his hand and his shaking body. Carefully, he walked forward and knelt beside him, gently placing a hand on his shaking back. He rubbed Shikamaru's back, waiting for him to get every single pent up emotion released.

Trust him, Child. He is fighting for you. Let him find you, Child.

Shikamaru sniffed and opened his eyes, staring at the floor as he felt Neji's hand rub his back soothingly. He weakly pushed himself up into a semi-sitting position and then he threw himself at Neji, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck, crying uncontrollably into his shirt.

Neji pulled Shikamaru onto his lap as he scooted backwards to lean against the couch. He didn't say anything; he just rubbed his hand soothingly up and down Shikamaru's back, but he grimaced slightly when his fingers brushed against the self-inflicted wound in his side. Neji began to gently stroke Shikamaru's short choppy hair, making sure that it was away from his tear-stained face.

Neji placed a light kiss on top of Shikamaru's head and kept his nose and lips buried in Shikamaru's hair. He felt Shikamaru take a gentle hold of his collar, silently telling him to not leave. Neji tightened his arms around him, pulling him closer. Silence fell between them, only being broken by Shikamaru's ebbing sobs and the sound of the ticking clock down the hallway.

"Neji?" Shikamaru asked weakly, breaking the long silence.

"Yes Shikamaru?"

"Does…does anyone…know you're here?" Neji placed another kiss on top of his head.

"No Shikamaru," Neji whispered into his hair. "No, it's just us. Just you and me. No one is around to hurt you. You're safe…I promise."

xXxXx

Alright Gang,

I know my updates aren't wonderful, but I'm going through review-withdrawal! Like I said earlier, just a simple "good job!" would be greatly appreciated!

When-Rabbit-Howls