"And whilst I watch in silence, you're starting Forest Fires. You start them just to feel the heat. And whilst I keep my quiet, you're running with the tigers." - Forest fires, Lauren Aquilina
Time ticked by slowly as the two men waited outside of the operating rooms. Naruto started pacing again while Hinata was in an emergency c section. Sasuke was in the operating room am with Sakura to keep her calm and Shikamaru still smoked in the hall waiting for Temari. She was in the operating room so they could fix her collapsed lung and stitch the hole in her stomach and back. She also had a neurologist that was looking at her mind.
Trying to keep her from going into a coma.
The men fell into silence while Shikamaru stared at the door Temari was behind because Naruto's pacing was making even Notre nervous than he already was. However, the silence was soon broken when the light from Hinata's operating room turned off and the doors swung open.
Shikamaru scowled as he quickly put out his cigarette and threw it away in a nearby trash can before Sakura could see him. Naruto stopped pacing and turned to Sakura with an anxious look as she exited. Sakura stepped outside the operating room with a big smile and a bundle of blankets.
"It's a baby boy." Sakura exclaimed excitedly making Naruto's eyes light up as he rushed to her and his baby boy.
Sasuke smiled slightly behind Sakura as well as Shikamaru who still stood at the door.
"You want to hold him?" Sakura asked smiling at Naruto.
"Can I?" Naruto asked looking at her.
"Of course dummy." Sakura laughed handing Naruto his child.
Naruto watched the blond baby boy in his arms with wide eyes as he took him carefully. Being extra gentle and carefully not to drop him. He's never seen a child so small and fragile. But Naruto loved him with all his heart as soon as his eyes saw him.
"How's Hinata?" Naruto asked worryingly as he looked back at Sakura.
"She's doing just fine." Sakura said relieved.
"Can I see her?" Naruto asked.
"She's still under narcosis. Where moving her to the recovery room now, you can go with the nurses and stay at her room if you want to. However Naruto I need to take the baby again, he's still too small, we're going to keep him in an incubator for another week until he's strong enough. We're also going to keep Hinata in the hospital for a few days, just so she can fully recover from this whole ordeal." Sakura said getting serious again leaving Naruto slightly disappointed that he'd have to be separated from his child.
"What's his name?" Sasuke asked Naruto with a small smile.
Naruto frowned and looked down at the baby, thinking of a suitable name.
"Hinata told me in the prison that she liked the name Boruto, but she wanted to run it past you first..." Sakura shrugged, trying to help.
"Boruto... That's perfect." Naruto said softly smiling down at his new baby boy, Boruto.
Sakura smiled, but her smile slowly fell as she sniffed the air.
"Is that smoke I smell?" Sakura asked anger rising inside her.
Shikamaru froze as his body went cold.
"Were you smoking in my hospital Shikamaru?" Sakura asked turning slowly towards Shikamaru.
"No..." Shikamaru said nervously.
"Sakura calm down, you're going to upset Boruto." Naruto said glaring at Sakura while holding his son tightly.
Sakura twitched slightly as she watched Naruto scold her. Shikamaru composed himself and grew serious again.
"Sakura..." Shikamaru said making Sakura turn back to him again.
"What is it?" Sakura asked sensing Shikamaru's serious mood.
"I'm sorry for burdening you with this so late at night, but they're operating on Temari right now and have asked for you after you were done with Hinata." Shikamaru said looking at Sakura with serious and stressed eyes.
"What's wrong with her?" Sakura asked seriously.
"She has a depleted lung and a stab wound in her stomach." Shikamaru answered.
"And she's probably going to stay in a coma." Sakura added surprising Shikamaru and Naruto.
That was exactly what Ino told Shikamaru on their way to Konoha.
"How did you know?" Shikamaru asked.
"I've seen her go in and out of a cationic state more than once. It'll surprise me if she doesn't go into a coma." Sakura said grimly while looking down.
The hall fell into a tense silence as each of them mulled over their own thoughts. The silence was only broken when the nurses started pushing Hinata out the operating room to a recovery room while Naruto silently followed with their child.
"What room is she?" Sasuke asked.
"The one down the hall." Shikamaru said nodding in the direction.
"Let's go Sakura, Temari needs your medical expertise." Sasuke said pushing Sakura in the direction of the operating room while Shikamaru followed.
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked flustered.
"Helping you find direction." Sasuke said bluntly.
"Besides someone needs to keep you sane while you're operating." Sasuke said smiling down at Sakura.
Sakura blushed and looked away with a small smile plastered on her face. However, Sasuke's statement made Shikamaru really nervous for Temari's part. A mental person is about to operate on Temari...
Sakura opened the door to Temari's operating room and entered the room with Sasuke. Shikamaru caught a glimpse of Temari before the doors closed in his face again. He didn't see much but he did see the tubes that were stuck down her throat.
Shikamaru anxiously ran a hand through his hair and sat down opposite the door. He was now completely alone in the hall. Naruto left when Hinata was moved and Sasuke was inside the operating room.
Shikamaru waited alone for an hour before the operating light went off and Sakura walked out the room followed by Sasuke. Shikamaru stood up and waited for Sakura to start talking.
"We fixed her collapsed lung and stitched the holes in her stomach and back..." Sakura started looking exhausted.
"But?" Shikamaru said sensing there was more news.
"But she's going to be in a coma. We really tried everything we could think of to keep her from going into a coma, but nothing worked." Sakura said looking down.
Shikamaru stayed silent, his heart dropping to his stomach. Temari is in a coma...
"They're moving her to one of the hospital's rooms where she'll stay until she wakes up or Gaara takes her to Suna." Sakura said looking back up Shikamaru.
"I'm sorry Shikamaru." Sakura said placing a hand on his shoulder before she left.
Sasuke walked with Sakura, leaving Shikamaru alone in the hall. Shikamaru watched the floor until the nurses rolled Temari's bed out the operating room and to another room. Shikamaru watched Temari's calm face as he followed her to whatever room they were taking her.
They rolled the bed into a room and placed her on a heart machine, so they can monitor her even when they were gone. After that, they left and the room fell into silence, except the constant beeping sound of her heart. Shikamaru grabbed a chair and placed it next to her bed.
He sat in that chair until the sun rose, signalling a new day. However he hadn't slept that night at all, he just sat in that chair while watching Temari. Deep down hoping she'd wake up any moment even if sakura said she was in a coma.
The sun peeked its head over the horizon, throwing pink light over the white hospital wall. Shikamaru sat in his chair still watching Temari when a hand placed itself on his shoulder.
"Get some sleep Shikamaru." Naruto said behind Shikamaru.
"Naruto, why are you awake so early?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes not moving from Temari.
"I fell asleep in a chair in Hinata's room, but I woke up when she woke up. I wanted to stay, but she ordered me to get some food and sleep before I need to go to the office when she heard my stomach rumble." Naruto said nonchalantly.
"Are you going to go to the office?" Shikamaru asked.
"Of course not. I'm going to get some ramen at Ichiraku then I'm heading back to Hinata's room. However, I'll leave a clone in the office." Naruto said with as grin.
Shikamaru stayed silent as he turned his head and looked back at Naruto, making Naruto sigh.
"Go home Shikamaru. Wash yourself off and go get some sleep. It's been a rough couple of days." Naruto said his grin falling.
"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru said with a sigh as he stood up, he still had something he needed to do.
"Are you going home?" Naruto asked hopefully as Shikamaru walked to the door.
"No." Shikamaru said bluntly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and disappeared out the door.
Naruto watched Shikamaru and sighed. He watched the empty door for a few seconds then he turned his head towards Temari to watch her sleeping form. Naruto sighed again and walked out the door as well.
Shikamaru walked through the village as the sun slowly crept higher in the sky. He made his way until he stopped in front of his mother's house. He was probably going to give her a heart attack with the amount of blood that was on him, but he knocked on the door anyway. He knew his mom wasn't awake yet and he felt bad about waking her up.
However, he couldn't wait. He continued knocking on the door until he heard signs of life inside the house.
"I'm coming just calm down." His mom called irritated, probably about being woken up at the crack of dawn.
Shikamaru stopped knocking as he heard her approach the door. She swung the door open already starting her rant before she even knew who was at the door.
"What the he'll~" she started, but quickly stopped when she saw who was at the door.
"Shikamaru..." She said surprised, mainly because he was awake at this hour.
"Hi, mom." Shikamaru greeted.
She looked him up and down seeing all the blood on him for the first time.
"What happened to you?" Yoshino asked grabbing his cheeks and looking all over for wounds.
"I'm fine mom, it's not my blood." Shikamaru said averting his eyes.
"What happened?" Yoshino asked as she noticed the shift in his mood.
"I'm just here to grab something, I'll bring it back after I'm done." Shikamaru sighed trying to change the subject.
"You can only lend something from me if you tell me what happened." Yoshino said stubbornly as she crossed her arms.
"Can I at least come in then, it's cold outside." Shikamaru sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win.
His mother stepped aside so he could enter and closed the door behind him. Blocking out the cold that bit at Shikamaru's skin.
Shikamaru walked through his childhood home towards the back door.
"Shikamaru! We're are you going?" Yoshino yelled.
"To the shed." Shikamaru said bluntly as he opened the back door.
Shikamaru walked through the snow towards the shed that was in the back of his family's property while his mother leant against the door frame holding her arms for warmth as she watched her son. Shikamaru opened the door of the shed and looked around inside until he saw what he was looking for.
Shikamaru took the shovel and gasoline then closed the shed door and walked back to the house. Making footprints in the snow. Shikamaru passed his mother when he entered the door and walked through the house again. Yoshino closed the back door then went after Shikamaru.
"Wait, Shikamaru." She exclaimed, but it fell upon deaf ears.
"I said wait dammit!" Yoshino yelled angrily as she smacked Shikamaru on the side of his head making him stumble.
"Sorry, mom." Shikamaru grunted as he rubbed the shore side of his face as he turned to his mom.
"Now sit down!" Yoshino exclaimed pointing towards the couch.
"Yes, mom." Shikamaru said quickly then sat down on the couch, placing the shovel and gasoline next to him.
"Now tell me what happened." Yoshino said sitting down on the couch opposite Shikamaru.
"You remember I told you Hinata, Sakura, Temari and Karui was missing?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yes, but tell me who's Karui again?" Yoshino asked with a frown as she racked her brain.
"She's a shinobi from the cloud village that Chouji likes to talk to." Shikamaru said.
"Oh yes, Chouji's girlfriend. Chouza will be so proud." Yoshino said with a grin.
"Sure whatever." Shikamaru sighed but continued.
"We found them~" Shikamaru said.
"That's great news! But?" Yoshino exclaimed happily, but her happiness faded when she saw Shikamaru's sombre face.
"Karui is fine, Sakura is delusional, Hinata went into premature labour and Temari is in a coma." Yoshino gasped and put a hand in front of her mouth from shock.
However, realisation hit her.
"Hinata was pregnant?" Yoshino asked confused lowering her hand.
"Yes, only my friend and I knew. Nobody else knew but us 12 knew, and probably Temari and Karui since they were imprisoned together." Shikamaru answered.
"Is the baby okay?" Yoshino asked.
"Yes." Shikamaru said with a slight smile.
"That's good. And Temari, how's Temari?" Yoshino asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"She's recovering from a stab wound and will be fine, but she's in a coma. She's not okay mom." Shikamaru said his smile falling as he watched the floor.
"But she'll wake up one day honey." Yoshino said reassuringly.
"But that could take months, years even." Shikamaru said.
Yoshino opened her mouth to say something, but Shikamaru cut her off.
"I have to go, mom." Shikamaru said standing up while taking the shovel and gasoline.
Shikamaru turned around and started walking towards the door.
"Shikamaru..." Yoshino said softly making Shikamaru stop.
"Who's blood are you soaked in?" Yoshino asked looking at his back.
"Temari's." Shikamaru answered without looking back.
"Are you okay, Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked with worried eyes.
Silence hung in the air as neither one of them made a sound. Shikamaru looked down pondering the answered then looked back up again.
"I will be." Shikamaru said softly as hee exited his mother's home.
She never got the chance to ask him why he needed gasoline and a shovel...
He lit a cigarette as he walked with the shovel and gasoline in hand. He walked until he was in front of the interrogation headquarters then threw his cigarette away before walking over to the information desk. The guy sitting behind the desk looked Shikamaru up and down with a raised eyebrow.
"How can I help you Shikamaru?" The guy asked.
"Where is Hidan?" Shikamaru asked the man at the desk.
The man looked down at his book where all the records of occupied rooms are, which made Shikamaru sigh.
"The irritating decapitated head that never shuts up, where is he?" Shikamaru asked looking at the man as his face light up from recognition.
"Oh, right the guy Ino brought in. He's in room 25." The man said pointing down the hall.
"Thanks, look after my shovel and gasoline." Shikamaru said making the man raise an eyebrow as he looked at the shovel and gasoline then at Shikamaru who walked to the room.
"What's with the shovel and gasoline anyway?" The receptionist asked confused but Shikamaru ignored him.
Shikamaru opened the door and was immediately hit with the irritating voice of Hidan.
"I'll kill you as soon as I get my head attached back to my body." Hidan yelled not really knowing who entered since his head was on the table and turned to the wall while his body was strewn over the floor.
Shikamaru ignored him. His mind was as empty as his eyes. He took a cigarette out his pocket and lit it with Asuma's lighter as he grabbed Hidan's long hair between his fingers and picked him off from the table.
"That hurts you son of a bitch!" Hidan exclaimed angrily.
Shikamaru continued ignoring him. He didn't want to be in the same room as Hidan. A man who took so much away from him without a slither of remorse. Shikamaru knew Hidan felt no guilt about what he's done what so ever, in fact, he enjoyed every minute of it. Shikamaru tightened his grip at the thought.
"I said it hurts dammit!" Hidan scowled at Shikamaru.
"I don't care." Shikamaru said plainly as he bent down and grabbed Hidan's ankle, dragging his body out the door.
How long will it be before he targeted Shikamaru's mother? Or Kurenai and Mirai? He was tired of losing people.
"Hey, when did you start smoking?" Hidan said curiously, forgetting his pain.
"Since you came into the picture." Shikamaru said in a dismissive tone.
"Where are you taking me?" Hidan asked with an irritated sigh.
"To another hole in my clan's forest. Deeper this time." Shikamaru said his eyes never straying from the path ahead.
"Can you stop dragging my body around." Hidan growled at Shikamaru.
"No." Shikamaru said bluntly.
Did Hidan really expect him to treat him like a human being after all he's done... The thought made Shikamaru scoff as he reached the entrance of the interrogation headquarters. Shikamaru dropped Hidan's ankle and placed the shovel and gasoline under his arms then took Hidan's ankle again and walked out the exit. Eyes lingered on him as he dragged Hidan's headless body after him while Hidan just kept yelling profanities.
However Shikamaru didn't utter a word, his cold steel eyes just kept staring forward. Determined in the task he had set for himself. The icy wind bit at Shikamaru's exposed skin as he entered the cold streets of Konoha. Shikamaru looked up at the cloudless sky.
It's almost spring...
Shikamaru sighed and entered the forest his family owned. This time he will bury Hidan in the middle of the overgrown forest while the deer kept watch of his tomb. Shikamaru walked through the forest, snow crunching beneath his feet. Eyes peered at him through the frozen leaves. Curious as to what he was doing. The deer watched him with eagle eyes as he walked through the forest, wary of human presence.
But they never ran. They stood rooted to their spots watching Shikamaru until he couldn't be seen through all the trees and branches anymore.
"Have you ever wondered what will happen to your body when it is set on fire?" Shikamaru said taking his cigarette out his mouth and blowing the smoke into the sky.
"It won't work, I'm immortal." Hidan said growling at Shikamaru.
"Are you? In the fourth shinobi war, Kakuzu said that he didn't see you on the battlefield meaning you're still alive. However, that meant he thought that there are ways of killing you since he thought you could be dead." Shikamaru said still smoking.
"That fool..." Hidan scowl.
"Tell me Hidan... what will happen when your body is set aflame. Where will your soul go when your body has crumbled to ashes?" Shikamaru said looking Hidan straight into his eyes.
Hidan scowled at Shikamaru. Shikamaru think that not even Hidan knew if he'd survive being set on fire. This was the first time in Hidan's life where he actually feared death. What will happen to his soul when his body was ash?
Shikamaru dropped the gasoline, Hidan's body and head in the snow and took the shovel in one hand while he stuffed the other hand in his pocket.
"Where the fuck are you going?" Hidan asked shivering in the cold snow.
"Nowhere." Shikamaru said watching the tree in front of him as he dropped his cigarette in the snow.
The snow melted around the cigarette but only until it was soaked and produced no more heat.
Shikamaru sighed, a white cloud floating to the cloudless sky. He took the shovel in both hands and started digging. He dug and dug until his head no longer could see past the ground and the sun was high in the sky.
Shikamaru stopped digging and watched the wet soil. Hidan hasn't shut up once this whole time. How could he have let Hidan escape? That question would haunt him until the day he died. He was indirectly the reason why Temari was in a coma. If he hadn't allowed Hidan to escape he wouldn't have captured Temari and if Temari wasn't captured then she wouldn't have been in a coma. The butterfly effect was in full swing. One flap of its wings caused a whole hurricane.
Shikamaru's eyes hardened as he jumped out the hole and dropped the shovel in the snow. Next, he took out his chakra knives. He swung it on his finger as he analysed the branches. He stopped swinging his chakra knife when he decided with branches looked the driest.
Shikamaru jumped from branch to branch as he cut them all down, catching them before they reached the wet snow and throwing them into the pit he dug. However, his attempt was pointless since the soil was wet. Luckily he brought gasoline.
Shikamaru took the gasoline and poured it on the wood in the hole, making a mental note to buy his mom some gasoline later. Shikamaru watched the gasoline-soaked wood for a while until he opened his mouth.
"I forgot matches..." Shikamaru mused as he lit another cigarette.
"Guess you have to get some now." Hidan smirked vicariously, thinking of a possible way that he can escape while Shikamaru was gone.
"Nah, I'll just use my cigarette." Shikamaru shrugged walking slowly towards Hidan, something dangerous and scary in his eyes.
Hidan scowled as he watched Shikamaru walk closer. One threatening step after the other.
"Get away!" Hidan yelled with a scowl, but Shikamaru ignored him.
Blowing out smoke as his answer. Shikamaru bent down and picked Hidan up with his hair while dragging his body to the hole by his ankle. Hidan cursed Shikamaru the whole way to the hole. This is probably going to be the end of him. How can his body be put together again if it was ashes?
"No stop!" Hidan yelled as Shikamaru threw his body and head into the hole.
Hidan hissed from pain when his head hit the wood. Shikamaru picked up the gasoline again and threw the last gasoline over Hidan's head and body, making him cough from the clear liquid that ran down his face.
"Goodbye Hidan." Shikamaru said with hate in his voice as he took the cigarette out his mouth and blew the last smoke out his mouth and lungs.
"Wait!" Hidan yelled, but it was too late.
Shikamaru flicked the cigarette out his hand, making it follow a slow descend towards Hidan. The cigarette fell in slow motion as both the men watched the cigarette intensely until finally, the cigarette made contact with the gasoline.
Shikamaru watched as Hidan roared in pain as his body burst into flames. Shikamaru watched as Hidan screamed in pain while the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Hidan's screams filled the silent forest, chasing all the deer and birds away.
Shikamaru watched Hidan's screams die down and his flesh turn to ash with the wood he was lying on. Hidan was no more, all that remained of him was his ashes.
Shikamaru tore his eyes away from the fire and picked the shovel back up again. He shovelled the ground back in its rightful place, making the fire groan as sparks flew.
The fire died as ground replaced the once warm flames. The sun was now making its slow descent towards the horizon in the late afternoon sky. Shikamaru took the empty gasoline container and the shovel and walked away.
Never looking back once.
Shikamaru's footsteps crunched in the snow as he walked back to civilisation and out the forest his clan owned. Shikamaru walked towards his mother's home for the second time today. He knew she was curious as to why he was lending such strange items from her.
She probably would've thought he murdered someone then buried the evidence if he wasn't too lazy for all that shit, but in some way, he did sort of bury a man. However, this hardly counted as murder.
Shikamaru knocked on his mother's door again. However this time she expecting him.
"Shikamaru, you're back." Yoshino said leaning against the door as she stepped out the way for Shikamaru to enter.
"I came to return your shovel. I'll buy some gasoline after I take a shower." Shikamaru said walking through the house while his mother followed him.
"Shikamaru?" Yoshino said as she stopped at the back door while Shikamaru placed the shovel back in the shed.
"Yes?" He answered.
"What did you need the gasoline and shovel for?" Yoshino asked staring at the back of Shikamaru's head.
"To keep Hidan down for good this time." Shikamaru said looking back at his mom.
The look he had on his face scared her, he didn't have his usual bored facial expression.
"The immortal man that was buried in our forest?" Yoshino asked.
"Yes." Shikamaru answered turning towards his mom and walking back towards the house.
"Why did you go through all this trouble to keep him buried if you could just have left him in a prison and forget about him?" Yoshino asked as Shikamaru stopped next to his mom in the doorway.
"Not only did he kill Asuma, he is the reason Temari is in a coma. He is someone I alone have to deal with and I will make sure he stays buried for as long as I live." Shikamaru answered grimly before he walked away leaving his mother at the doorway.
She turned her head just to see Shikamaru open the front door and leave her house she once shared with his father.
A house that was once full of life. A time where the lazy man she loved kept her company in the late summer days where the sky turned a beautiful red and the cold winter days where she would cuddle with him while drinking hot chocolate as they watched the snow fall silently together.
There was even a time where her son would wander the house just as lazily as his father. It didn't matter to her that there wasn't anyone running around brightly and energetically, the only thing that mattered to her was that there was life in the house. Her husband and son were in the house with her.
Now there was nobody with her inside that empty house. It was only her and deathly silence. She missed Shikaku. She never could've imagined life without him, but here she was. Standing alone in their house with her lonely thoughts while he is dead. The door clicked shut behind Shikamaru making Yoshino sigh and close the back door as well.
She leant her forehead on the cold surface of the door. Her husband is dead and her only son is being consumed by the shadows that he so masterfully wields.
"He's smoking again Shikaku..." Yoshino said softly to the empty house as she spoke to her dead husband.
He only smoked when he was under a lot of stress and pressure or when despair was threatening to consume him.
A/N: I personally like Hidan, he's cool and I like his scythe. I also like this chapter and I hope you like it as well.
I just started watching 13 reasons why on netflix and it's sooo interesting, you should watch it...
Anyway please vote and comment and I hope you liked the chapter!