A heavy fog lay over his consciousness; it was the only way he could think to explain his current state of mind.

Every bone in his body felt heavier. With his muddled thoughts, he couldn't remember where he was or how long he had been asleep; he could definitely feel a pain in his stomach.

There were many odd sounds here, people talking, beeping, and a clock ticking somewhere. The amount of effort it took just to open his eyes surprised him.

Though his vision was distorted, he could make out a figure leaning over him.

His first thought was that it was an enemy ninja.

Had he been able to, he would have jumped back but his body was lead.

"You're awake," the figure's relieved voice exclaimed.

A cool hand brushed his hair, which had been let down, off his forehead. He recognized her voice before his vision cleared and he saw his mother.

The first thing he noticed was that she was that she was wearing her night clothes.

And exhaustion was plain on her face.

"Mom?" he croaked.

It sounded like he hadn't spoken in days. It didn't take long for his genius mind to decipher that he was in the hospital. There were two tubes suspended from a stand by his bed side, feeding him some kind of saline solution.

"You were fighting during your mission," his mom explained, "and a civilian child got in the way, when you tried to rescue them you got caught in the crossfire. You took a kunai to the stomach and then your appendix got inflamed and the doctor had to remove it."

Well, now he knew why his stomach felt so sore. The memories had started to return to him. Somehow, he felt embarrassed. He was about to take the chuunin exams and he really shouldn't have allowed something like this happen.

As the lead strategist for his team he should have prepared for this outcome. Not only that but he had visibly frightened his mother.

"What time is it?"

He knew there was a clock on the wall but his eyes didn't have the strength to focus in on the small numbers.

"Three in the morning," she replied. No wonder he felt so tired.

His dad must still be working. Even if he had been asleep at home, despite his busy schedule, his mom would have dragged her with him.

"I called your father just as you were waking up. He's on his way."

Shikadai was slightly unnerved by his mom's uncanny ability to follow his train of thought.

"You should have heard him. I think he may have fallen out of his chair." He felt pity for his father.

His mom was never one to let a moment to tease slip away, especially when it concerned him. The two of them perked up when they heard the thumping of footsteps down the hall.

"Temari!"

Shikamaru's shoes actually squeaked against the clean hospital floors as he made a sharp turn into the doorway of his son's room. Obviously, he ran the entire way here.

"Is he okay? You should have called me when you first found out! Oh...you're awake."

The man in the doorway was out of breath and, frankly, looking a bit frazzled; completely different from how his father usually appeared. Neither of his parents was overly protective, he wouldn't be a ninja if they were.

But it didn't escape Shikadai that he was their only child and, as such, was the recipient of everything; their pride, disappointment, love and frustration.

"What happened?" his father went right back to adorning his usual impassive expression.

"It's nothing."

"He had his appendix removed."

He and his mother voiced at the same time. His father lifted an eyebrow and looked like he wanted to find Shikadai's medical record to figure out who was telling the truth.

"Really, Temari," his dad sighed, taking his mother's side as usual, "you could have been a little less vague over the phone. I thought our son was on his death bed."

"I would have," she huffed, upset at being accused, "if you hadn't hung up so fast."

"It looks like you were in just as much of a rush yourself," his father muttered. Mom's attire hadn't escaped him either.

Choosing to ignore the comment, his mother turned towards him.

"How do you feel Shikadai? Are you in pain or hungry? I can find a nurse if you want." Both of their eyes were on him, reflecting concern and a desire to jump to action should he need anything.

"Just tired," it was late after all and the surgery had taken all of his energy. The prospect of being stuck in the hospital tomorrow didn't give him any more reason to feel particularly lively either. It was going to be a real drag, being stuck in here without any games to entertain him.

"Okay, go to sleep then."

If there was one thing Shikadai never had to wait to be told to do, it was sleep. He closed his eyes intent on drifting off, though he was still listening. There was the sound of a chair being pulled over next to where his mother sat.

"You should go home," his mother whispered, "I'll stay."

After that, there was a long pause. He imagined that they were speaking through their eyes. They did that sometimes, like some sort of secret parent code. He was working on it, but sometimes he still had a difficult time deciphering what they were conveying to each other through their looks and glances.

"I'm already here," his father reasoned quietly.

And, just like that, Shikadai knew that that was the end of the discussion. For, while he couldn't read minds, he was more than capable of distinguishing his parent's tone of voice. The words his father had said were not up for argument.

Mom might not be happy about dad spending his few hours of rest here but she could understand why he wanted to stay. And, even if his father wasn't worried about him, he wouldn't let his mother watch over him by herself.

As Shikadai was truly drifting off, he thought he heard his mother say something that sounded like 'stubborn'. He would roll his eyes if they were open. If anybody was stubborn in their family it was mom. Just for a second, he couldn't resist, even if sleep was calling to him, he cracked an eye open.

The two of them had their chairs pulled up next to his bedside. Despite disagreeing moments ago, his mother's head rested on his father's shoulder and his head atop of hers.

Their eyes were closed and Shikadai imagined that it wouldn't be long before his dad was completely passed out.

Even if he was slightly embarrassed by being rendered useless from something so small and that he was beginning to feel too old to have his parents here, their presence comforted him.