Chapter Thirteen

Mission Failed!

"This is all my fault," Shikamaru hung his head.

He was sitting outside the Critical Care room Chouji was in. Temari was sitting on the other side. Neji's condition was the worst. His wound was deadly close to his heart. Kiba and Akamaru were stable. Zemaria was just as bad as Neji. All Shikamaru escaped with was a broken finger when he got himself out of Tayuya's Genjutsu. He had his own shadow break his finger.

Naruto was also in stable condition. It was a long while before Tsunade came out of the room with Chouji in it. Shizune and several other Medical Ninja were working to fix Neji. Zemaria was in a similar situation. Both of her lungs, one of her kidneys, and part of her spine were all hit with Kimimaro's dense bones.

Temari gave Shikamaru the third degree about his failed mission. She told him to be blaming himself. Things happen where your comrades will fall. The important thing is that no one was killed. Tsunade scolded him about the failure. She too acknowledged that his team was still alive.

"All of my comrades were or still are hanging on the brink of death! My own girlfriend has a small chance of even waking up because of my decisions as team Leader!" He stood up enraged at himself.

Shikaku gave him a lecture, "Zemaria's severe condition with her injuries was not because of your decisions. Anything could have happened out there. You did what you thought was a proper course to take with each of your team members. You failed the mission, yes but there will be other missions that put lives at risk. You need to learn how to handle that and deal with it. You aren't some weak Gennin anymore Shikamaru, you're a Chuunin. You have the responsibility of looking out for those who follow you."

Shikamaru pouted. He knew his Father was right. The good news was Chouji was out of the woods now thanks to Tsunade and her medical Ninjutsu. Neji soon too was out of the woods and in a bed resting. Kiba and Akamaru were told to stay put in the hospital to rest. Naruto was out cold still from his battle with Sasuke. The only one that was still in danger was Zemaria.

Tsunade let him know he could go to her room to see her even though she was still unconscious. Her injuries were taken care of as much as they could be. Shikamaru left to find her room. He entered and leaning against a wall was Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya? How long have you been in here?" He asked.

"For about an hour now," he answered folding his arms.

Shikamaru looked Zemaria over, "This is all my fault. I should have pushed harder for her not to come along. If I had, she wouldn't be her like this."

He took his anger out on the wall near him. Jiraiya calmly told him there was nothing he could have done. She'd have gone off to help them any way. Zemaria wasn't one for following orders most of the time but she wasn't nearly as reckless as Naruto. In fact, compared to Naruto, she was basically a Saint.

Shikamaru waited for hours for her to wake up. As night fell, Jiraiya had left to go home and get some sleep. Kiba and Akamaru visited her room. He tried to convince Shikamaru to go home to sleep but he insisted on staying by Zemaria until she woke up.

He fell asleep with his head resting on her bedside. Days passed by. Zemaria hadn't woken. Why did this have to happen? Shikamaru found happiness only to have it ripped from him. Whenever he was alone with her in the room he'd cry hoping she'd wake up.

After a week of no change, Zemaria's vines gently wrapped around Shikamaru. He watched as they embraced him. Was this it? Was she going to wake up? There hadn't been anything like this happening for a week.

"Shi- Shikkie-," Zemaria let out weakly, her eyes still closed.

Shikamaru's face lit up with hope, "Zemaria!? Zem, I'm here. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Her head moved slightly in his direction, "Shi... kkie..."

"Zem, I need you to have your vines let me leave. I have to tell the Medical Ninja you're able to speak again," he told her.

The vines unwrapped from him. He quickly ran out of the room and headed straight for the first available Medical Ninja he could find. Ironically, that available Ninja happened to be Shizune who was supervising Lee after Tsunade had performed a surgery on him.

"Shizune! Shizune you have to come quick! It's Zemaria!" He shouted frantically.

"Zemaria? What happened? Is something wrong?" She quickly asked.

He shook his head, "No, come quick. She spoke. Her vines wrapped around me as if to hug me and she moved her head a bit! Please come right away!"

She nodded and they both ran back to her room. Shizune examined Zemaria. There was definitely a positive change from the previous days. She told Shikamaru to stay with her so she could get Tsunade to come. She had been worried as much as Shikamaru had been. Zemaria was her daughter after all.

"Just stay with me Zem. Shizune is going to get Lady Tsunade," he told her holding her hand.

Tsunade hurried to Zemaria's room. She went to her bedside. Shikamaru stepped aside. Zemaria cracked her eyes open. Her breathing was still a bit shallow.

"Zemaria, can you open your eyes any more?" Tsunade asked.

"...Mother," she said faintly.

Tsunade checked her vitals. She was stable. It would only be a matter of time before she'd make a full recovery. It wouldn't be too long before she'd be able to breathe on her own too.

Shikamaru was anxious about her condition, "Lady Tsunade, how is she looking? Will she be able to leave the hospital soon?"

She answered, "She's stable now. Her breathing is still a little shallow but she's mostly out of the woods. She's not out yet though. She's still having trouble speaking and keeping her eyes open. I'll personally keep an eye on her and check in periodically."

Shizune made a suggestion to Shikamaru, "You should go home and rest. You've been here by Zemaria's side for an entire week now. It's about time you spent some time at home while she recuperates here."

"I'd rather stay here," he said pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"Shikamaru, go home. That's an order. Shizune and I can handle things here and keep watch over Zemaria," Tsunade ordered him.

"I'd rather not and that's final. I'm staying here," Shikamaru demanded.

Tsunade lost this round. Shikamaru was staying. He fell asleep at her side as he did for an entire week. The next day, Naruto came to visit. He had been ordered to rest which he didn't listen to like always.

"Hey, Shikamaru how's Zemaria doing? I heard from Grandma Tsunade that she was awake again," Naruto said with a smile.

"Hm? Oh Naruto, it's you. Yeah. She opened her eyes yesterday and spoke a little. That was about it," Shikamaru told him rubbing his eyes.

Naruto laughed, "Have you been sleeping here? You look super tired."

He nodded, "I've been here an entire week plus one. Lady Tsunade wanted me to go back home since Zem was starting to make progress but I'd rather stay here with her."

They chatted for a bit. Shikamaru explained how Tsunade wanted to send him on a mission or two the week before but he couldn't. He didn't want to leave Zemaria's side. She had eventually given up on sending him on missions as he clearly couldn't stop worrying about Zemaria.

Naruto told him he was order to rest for a while and take it easy until his body had time to heal. He wasn't listening to his orders either. He had gone back to training in order to get strong enough to get Sasuke back from Orochimaru's clutches. Shikamaru gave him a look. He didn't like Orochimaru but he was still Zemaria's Father. A bit of mixed feelings going on.

"What's that look for? Are you mad at me for some reason?" Naruto asked concerned.

Shikamaru said, "Huh? No, not with you. I'm just... it's nothing to worry about. Just forget it."

Naruto groaned, "Alright, fine. I came to see how Zemaria was doing so..."

Zemaria's voice was a little more audible now, "Naruto..."

"Hey! How are you feeling?" Naruto smiled.

"A little better. Is everyone else okay?" She asked him.

"Mm hm. Everyone's fine. Neji was pretty bad like you were but he pulled through real good. Chouji was mostly exhausted with those pills he took during his battle but he's healed up now too. Kiba and Akamaru are also doing well. And you can see I'm fine too," Naruto said with a big smile.

Shikamaru was a little on edge, "...Naruto."

He looked at him confused, "What is it? Something wrong?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone with Zemaria," he told him.

"Oh... okay then," he said still confused and left the room.

Shikamaru told her everything that happened during the mission. Kiba had told him about his fight, Neji about his, Chouji about his, and even Naruto told him what happened between him and Sasuke. Finally, Shikamaru told her about his fight with Tayuya. After he was finished, Zemaria had enough energy to tell him about her battle with Kimimaro and how amazing Gaara was fighting him and protecting her.

Shikamaru was still feeling bad about everything. She reassured him it wasn't his fault. Zemaria reached her arm out and placed her hand on Shikamaru's. He took her hand and gave it a kiss and held it tight. It was nearly a month before Zemaria was able to walk on her own. According to Tsunade there was a ten percent chance she would be able to walk at all considering the one bone hit her in her spine.

It was a nice morning. Zemaria shuffled around in the bed. Shikamaru began teasing her to wake her up. He was awake because Tsunade had given him a mission the night before and told him he didn't need to leave right away. He could wait until morning to leave. Zemaria was refusing to wake up. Shikamaru decided to go with plan B.

He shrugged his shoulders, went into the bathroom, came back with a cup filled with water, and splashed it on her. That woke her up. She stared him down like a cat that had been thrown in a bathtub filled with cold water. He was starting to regret using plan B.

"Don't smack me?" He coward.

"I'm wet... in more ways than one thanks to you," she said eye twitching.

He snickered. Today was actually a very special day. It was Zemaria's birthday. Shikamaru secretly knew that. She was turning thirteen today. Shikamaru got her a towel and helped her dry off. Somehow or another he managed to strip her.

She stared at him blushing, "You did that on purpose just to make me naked. Meanie."

"Uh- well I- um-," Shikamaru began to blush and looked away from her.

She smiled and tackled him. Shikamaru's face turned ten shades of red. It had been a month since they could be as close as they were at that very moment. Shaking his shyness off, he embraced her and pressed his body against her's. He told her he didn't have too long before he needed to head out for a mission.

She removed his shirt and they began kissing. Shikamaru laid her on her back gingerly and kissed her neck. As lazy as he was, he was incredibly elegant in the bedroom. As he continued kissing her, he slipped off his pants. They began to engage in the very thing his Father firmly told them not do.

Their escapade lasted about twenty-five minutes before Shikamaru had to leave for his mission. Zemaria made herself snug under the blanket while he got himself dressed. Miss Zemaria was being playful and hid his pants with her under the blanket.

"Hm? Where'd my pants-," he cut himself off and looked at Zemaria.

She snickered, "You have to get them from me."

He smiled at her, "Oh? Is that so?"

They giggled a bit and he finally got his pants back. After getting dressed, he kissed her goodbye and off we went. Zemaria went down to the kitchen. The moment she saw Shikaku staring at her she knew he knew what was going on. He walked over to her and handed her something that was wrapped up.

"This is from Shikamaru. He'd have given it to you himself but he didn't have much time before he had to leave for his mission," he told her.

"Thanks. Wonder what it is," she stared at his curiously.

She continued to stare at the fairly small square package. Sitting down on the couch, she decided to unwrap it. She opened the box to find a smaller box, a piece of paper, and a card.

Zemaria removed the piece of paper first, "Zem, I would have preferred being present when you opened your gift. I'm sorry Lady Tsunade ordered me to go on a mission last minute. I'll be home in a couple of days. Love, Shikkie."

"Shikkie huh? I don't think I've ever heard Shikamaru being called by a nickname before," Shikaku smiled.

Zemaria read the card next, "Today is the day you become a woman. The day you say goodbye to the number twelve and hello to Thirteen. Happy Birthday."

She opened the smaller box. It was a ring. A beautiful ruby and diamond ring. Her eyes went wide and she gasped. Was that what she thought it was? There was something written on the inside of the box.

"Zemaria, will you marry me?" She read. "What!? He-."

"What is he thinking?" Shikaku wondered.

"I- I don't know what to say," she said.

Shikaku informed her that Shikamaru asked him to let her know she didn't have to provide an answer until after he returned home. She smacked him one for already knowing about it. Afterwards she high-tailed it into hiding... just in case. Shikamaru's father kinda scared her a bit for some reason even with Orochimaru as her own father.

Shikaku knocked on the door to the bedroom, "Zemaria, you can come out. I'm not that scary."

She opened the door, "Sorry, force of habit. I only have a couple of days to think about things."

She made a crooked face. This was a huge step. They had only been together since the attack on the Village and she was being held for interrogation. That was almost three months ago. All day she couldn't stop thinking about Shikamaru's proposal. That wasn't the only thing she couldn't stop thinking about either.

If she said yes and word got around too much, Orochimaru would be likely to infiltrate the Village in disguise just to see her get married. He might see it as an advantage to try and destroy the Village again. What was she going to do? If she spent too much time thinking about her Father and a potential threat from him she'd never be happy.

She shook all of her concerns off in time for dinner. The moment she sat down she couldn't eat. Now she started worrying about Shikamaru. Would it be possible that Orochimaru would instead try to target him? Oh that was a ridiculous thought. Why would Orochimaru want to target Shikamaru anyway?

"Zemaria dear, are you okay? You seem a bit distracted tonight," Yoshino asked.

"I was just... thinking," she said.

Shikaku asked, "Are you still thinking about Shikamaru and his proposal?"

"Proposal?" Questioned Yoshino.

Shikaku nodded, "That's right. Our young Casanova decided to propose to Zemaria. I wouldn't have recommended it but that's what he chose."

"I'm not sure if I can eat right now. There's something else bothering me," she said and excused herself from the table.

Zemaria went back upstairs to the bedroom. She sat on the windowsill and thought for a while. Maybe she was worrying over nothing. She let out a sigh. She jumped out the window and ran off to find a quieter spot to just think.

She found a nice spot by a river. It wasn't as quiet as the bedroom but at least she wouldn't be disturbed. She sat by the water and tossed small stones into it. Soon she fell asleep. Her vines created a tent like structure to protect her during the night. She had been so tired, she slept by the river until Shikamaru returned to the Village.