AN: Holy shit I am SO sorry for how long this took to get out! Like I said on my profile, I had culminatings and summatives, and next week I have exams. I've only been able to upload this chapter because I finally finished some of them and I had a bit of time to actually write this (also, tomorrow (June 17th) is my birthday! I'm finally an adult! Woohoo!). So here we are!
Just one thing that I'd like to complain about in my own writing. I agree that I"m not really writing the war the way I'd want to, and I think the way I'm writing this is making people have too much sympathy for Shikamaru. Ultimately, I want to write it so people can look at each character and see a shade of grey (yes, even Gaara). Besides, wars aren't usually just so black and white. You'll see.
Anyways, looks like I'm going to fail to end this in 300k words, so I'm going to try and make a new goal for under 400k works, but we'll see with how it goes. Also, I now have no idea when I'll be able to finish this off. I'm hoping that I can do it before May of next year, but I'm also going to have a busy winter season. I'll try to update as much as I can during July and August, but I have so many responsibilities. However, I'd like to thank every one of my readers for their support over the years, and I hope that you're still enjoying this fanfiction. You guys are the real MVPs!
Once again, I do not own Naruto.
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Choji had been standing over Shikamaru's body for at least half an hour. He quietly wondered if he was anything more than a corpse now.
The first thing they had done after rescuing him on that day was bring him back to the small camp that they had set up. He was transported into the medical tent, and then placed onto a warm and comfortable blanket, and then Ino had stuck an iv into him to give him more blood. She then spent the rest of the day creating a series of cocktails with Sakura, and then mixed it with the blood that they had given him. Ino checked his pulse again, and when she found nothing there, she declared that the man might have needed more time for the medication to kick in. Sakura and Ino cleaned his wounds the best they could, and then they all left him to rest, knowing that there was nothing that they could do in the meantime.
That had been eight days ago.
Choji placed his head into one of his large hands, and then took a deep breath in. Each day after that they had went to check on him, and each day Ino had checked for any signs of consciousness, any signs of life. Each time they found nothing. Each time, they had altered his drugs, and had tried to add new things. Each time, they saw no change. Each time, they had tried to make Naruto aware of his friend's true condition. Each time, the man had simply ignored them, retreating into his own sorrows.
Choji couldn't blame him. They had just traded away their biggest trump card against the Sand Village, and in return they had received the "privilege" of watching their friend die.
The large man slowly sat himself down into a chair, but continued to persist in the tent, not really knowing what else he could do. Looking over his old friend, he found himself critiquing the job that they had done to try and patch up his body. The right side of Shikamaru's was essentially irreparable, and the only thing they could do was hastily wrap a bandage around it, with an extra tissue over his missing eye. His missing ear was dealt with in the same manner, and his entire head was resting on a soft white pillow. His hair had been washed and the portions of his skin that weren't wounds had been scrubbed, but it didn't take away the look of death that hung in his aura, and despite his forced nourishment, some of his bones still showed. They had also replaced the clothes he wore, now he laid in a dark green robe, a pale imitation of the ones that he wore when he was at home. Choji cringed. The way he was now, quiet and silent, was the most peaceful he had seen him since Temari died.
Choji's eyes narrowed. Maybe that's because he's with her again...
The flap to the tent opened, and Choji turned his head to see Sasuke walk in. The first thing he noticed about the man was his eyes; there were dark circles around them, revealing his lack of sleep. He looked towards him, and upon seeing Choji they softened, before the man's eyes turned to look at Shikamaru's fallen form. The man still failed to respond. Sasuke moved further into the tent, and then folded his arms.
"Choji."
"Sasuke."
The Uchiha head held his frown.
"He's still like this?" He asked, his voice further revealing his lack of sleep. The other man nodded.
"Hasn't moved an inch. Ino's changed the cocktail every day, and still no pulse..." He knew how to conclude his sentence, but he felt like not saying anything. He doubted that he could handle the fallout if he did. Thankfully, it seemed that Sasuke knew exactly what he was going to say, and he simply nodded.
"We need to head back soon. Naruto left Kakashi-sensei in charge, but it's still not good practice for him to leave his people alone for so long. Besides, I think you know how the council's been talking. They want Kakashi to be back in charge. We shouldn't let the people get used to him ruling again, for Naruto's sake. Besides, it's time to leave." Sasuke paused.
"He deserves a proper burial."
Choji flinched, and then turned his head to his old friend again. His closed eye and peaceful face.
…Buddy... Do you even want to wake up?
Choji shook his head.
"Let's give him a few more days. It can't hurt, can it? A few people could return home to try and keep the heat off of Naruto and-."
"That wont work. And that isn't the only reason why we need to go back." Sasuke let the silence enter his ears before he continued.
"We need to keep fighting. Can't just, stay here waiting for him to wake up. It's ruining morale, it's... Making us waste away, I have to say. He's..."
The image of Shikamaru crawling to his freedom welled up in his eyes, and his voice nearly died.
"He's not going to wake up-."
"Shut up."
Sasuke raised his head to look at Choji. He saw that the other man had folded his arms, and that he was looking at Sasuke as if he had just finished killing his own child. For a moment, the leader of the Uchiha clan held his gaze, but, upon feeling the emotion that Choji was pushing through his narrowed eyes, he eventually backed down, and looked back towards the body in front of them.
"You can believe what you want to, but we've been through this before. I can remember... Temari was in a similar state on her last day-."
"Shikamaru told me that he was still able to speak to her-."
"And he was alone with her, no one else was there. How do we know he was telling the truth? How do you know that he even knew what was going on?"
The longer the conversation went on for, the angrier and angrier Choji became. "What the hell are you implying?" He spat. Sasuke cleared his throat, and then continued.
"What else? Shikamaru's been... "off"… ever since Weeping Sands. You haven't noticed his actions? You haven't realized it? Some 'friend' you are." Choji stayed silent, taking in the information, and Sasuke took another quick breath before he continued.
"...Even if he does wake up, the state he was in before is only going to be worse. Sakura reported multiple skull fractures and spinal cord damage, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. If he survives, how is he going to walk again? Will he even be able to talk again? Move his arms? Think? This is pointless, and we've been dragging the man along for years when we should have discharged him years ago. And if he dies, he'll finally have gained the rest he so dearly needs-."
"And why do you think you should have the authority over if he dies? Why do you think we should? Even if he can't do many things anymore, he has a son and a clan to take care of! We should keep trying, at the very least give him a chance to choose if he wants to continue on living! For fuck's sake, he crawled to freedom! What does that show?"
"That he doesn't give up on the duties that he's been given. But I ask you this, do you think he wants all of them? Do you think he wants to keep on doing this? To keep living like this? The only duty he signed up for was his son and his wife, and you can see what happened to one of them-."
"...Heh. It's a wonder that Shikamaru hasn't woken up yet, with you two screaming in front of him."
Both shinobi turned their heads to the tent flap, and watched as Naruto Uzumaki walked through it. He looked around seventy times more tired and worse for wear than Sasuke, with the wrinkles that had begun to grow on his face deep and dark, his hair in a mess, and his eyes barely able to keep focus. And yet through it all, he wore a small, clearly facetious smile on his face, trying to keep the mood as light as possible. He made sure that the flap was closed behind him, and then walked in between the two arguing parties, before turning to look down at Shikamaru's body. His smile remained on his face, yet the mood saddened.
"If you two want to fight over him... Just do it outside. I don't think he'd appreciate the loudness around him. Something something... 'troublesome', right?"
Slowly, Naruto approached his old friend, and knelt by his side. Despite the machines around him, he still manually placed two fingers at his pulses, and, despite feeling nothing, moved his hand to smooth out the stray hair that had fallen onto his face. Choji and Sasuke looked on in morbid fascination, and Choji looked away first. It was hard to look at the corpse of a friend.
"Shh... it's al-right buddy. Just take your time. You've been through a lot of shit this past year, mm? Just take it easy... Wake up when you're ready... When you can-."
"He's not going to wake up."
Naruto turned his head from Shikamaru, and then looked back at the interruption. Sasuke was standing up tall and stern, yet his eyes revealed his pity.
"Naruto, enough-."
"Enough of what-."
"He's dead. We've stayed here for long enough." Sasuke took a deep breath, his voice harsh. It was the only way his friend would get it.
"Shikamaru's dead, Gaara's a monster, and we're going to have to kill him for what he's done-."
"I know that."
Sasuke raised a brow, and Choji's face turned to his Hokage with sadness. Naruto slowly moved his hand to hold Shikamaru's, before he turned away from them all.
"Then why-."
"Give him one more day. One more medical cocktail. One more night. If he's not up by tomorrow morning..."
Naruto's voice wavered and faded out. Gaara's harsh face returned to his memories, and then he gripped Shikamaru's hand.
"Then we bring him home and bury him. We give Shikadai the closure he deserves, and re announce his fate to the rest of Konohagakure. If we play this right... We could use it to boost morale. Yeah..."
The voice was gone again, and both Sasuke and Choji looked to one another, surprised at Naruto's decision. They had previously both expected him to fight for the life of his friend again, but...
The life he fought for wasn't even there.
Sasuke nodded in agreement, but Choji's eyes simply went back to the body on the floor. When both Naruto and Sasuke left, leaving as quiet as they had entered, Choji took his turn by the man's body, touched his pulses, and held onto his right hand. Shikamaru didn't move an inch.
Choji closed his eyes.
"You have to get up.… Don't end things like this. Please."
He spent many more minutes alone with his old friend, reminiscing on the times when he did the same. Then, he returned Shikamaru's cold hand to his side, and left the tent.
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Shikamaru moved one of his pieces forwards, and on the other side of the shogi table, Shikadai let out a loud moan.
"Aww man! Troublesome!"
Shikamaru's face lit up into a bright smile, his teeth shining proudly in front of his child. Shikadai frowned and crossed his arms, momentarily looking away from his father, before his eyes went back to Shikamaru's. In response, Shikamaru reached a hand forward to nuzzle his hair, and Shikadai's hard crusade was instantly ended. The boy giggled embarrassingly, all the while his father continued to play with his hair.
"Come on, don't get too down. You were close this time after all, just off by a few moves."
Shikamaru's hand left his boy's hair, and then went to a piece on the shogi board in front of him. It was one of his son's pieces, and he lifted it up to make Shikadai pay attention.
"Now..."
Shikamaru moved Shikadai's piece in a few directions, demonstrating to him a few possible manuvers that he could have taken to win. Shikadai placed a hand on his chin, and then nodded when his father stopped his movements.
"Got it?"
"A-yep!" Shikadai then began to put all of the pieces back into place. "Let's do a rematch!"
"Rematch? Now, I love shogi as much as you do, but there are a lot of other things that I need to do today."
"Dad..."
Almost as if on cue, Shikamaru began to hear a collection of footsteps come towards him from inside his home. He and his son were sitting on the back porch of their home, hidden underneath the shade of their roof above them, hiding from the harsh summer's sun. The area was quiet, or rather, it had been quiet before the third inhabitant of the home had shown up. Shikamaru and Shikadai both turned their heads in the direction of the new noise to see a small toddler come waddling towards them from the slightly opened back door. She was exceptionally tiny compared to the two of them, even compared to Shikadai, yet the determination in her eyes was as clear as day. She made her steps small and deliberate, but it became clear that she was new to the situation when she fell over on her front, causing a loud thud on the deck. Shikamaru immediately moved to collect the girl in his arms.
The moment she was secure, the girl twisted her small head up to look at Shikamaru. Her hair was a bright, yellow blonde, but her eyes were small and a deep brown. Like his. Her hair had been put up into a single small ponytail, and soon her face slowly pushed itself into a large, bright smile. Just like her mother's.…
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"
Shikamaru's smile increased, and whatever downs he had been having before were instantly erased. He gave her a large hug, one worthy of a bear, and she giggled in response. He then moved his daughter back to the shogi board, where his son had tilted his head.
"Is it just going to take her forever to learn how to walk?"
Shikamaru almost ignored him, instead watching his girl's eyes as he walked closer to the board. He brought her in front of him, and she reached out her hands in front of her, trying to grasp one of the pieces. He smiled.
"Oh, so that's why you came out, eh? You wanted to play shogi with the boys? Got tired of napping?"
She was still a little too young to understand him, yet she turned her head and nodded ecstatically. Shikamaru slowly lowered her to the cushion where he had been seated, and then moved to sit behind her. Shikadai frowned.
"Oh no way! Daaaddd! I don't want to have to play against some little girl!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"What's wrong? She's your sister after all, and by the time she gets older she'll eventually want to match you. Besides, I'll be helping her-."
"Exactly! So she's going to win! She's like two I don't want her beating me!"
Shikadai's little sister tilted her head at him, almost as if she was trying to understand what he was saying. Shikamaru, on the other hand, slowly began to place all the pieces back in place, and, once they were all set, he lifted one and handed it to his daughter. She took it into her hands, blinked a few times, and then raised it high above the table, like she had seen her father do countless times before. Shikamaru looked up at Shikadai and gave him a mischievous smirk.
"Then you better step your game up."
Shikadai growled.
"You're on! Bring it, Karura!"
Karura Nara dropped the piece onto the board in front of her and then let out a loud sound of triumph, before turning to look to her father for guidance. Shikamaru nodded his head quickly and then directed her to the board again in time for her to see her brother move one of his pieces. She squealed in delight, and then moved one of her pieces by herself. Her brother moved another in response. The process went on and on, and Shikamaru watched silently, overjoyed at his state of affairs. Here, there was no war, or any kind of strife. There was instead a sun in the sky, a board for Shogi, and his two children. The clacking of the pieces being lifted and plopped back down on the shogi board, and occasionally the sound of sweat dropping from one's brow.
Eventually, his two little ones finally reached what was likely to be the last play of the game. Shikamaru leaned forwards in amusement, and watched both Karura and Shikadai stare each other down. They were both down to two pieces, their knight and their king, but the action was concentrated on Karura's side of the board. Shikadai let out a sneering little laugh, and the slapped another piece down. Karura shook, and then turned around to look up at her father again. Shikamaru gave a knowing look.
"Come on honey. You can do this. Just one more move..." When she made a whining sound, he patted her back a little.
"Use that brilliant little head your Mom and Dad gave you."
The girl turned herself around, and then looked back up at her brother. After studying him for a while, she closed her eyes and placed her hands together in the way that she had observed her father ding many, many times before. Shikamaru watched, and Shikadai watched impatiently. One more move, and then her king would be gone.
She wouldn't let that happen.
Quickly, she reached her small hand forwards and moved her king behind Shikadai's king. Shikadai's eyes nearly dropped to the floor, and Karura threw her hands up in the air.
"I did it I did it! I'm just like Daddy!"
"Hey no fair! Dad she cheated! I didn't see that coming at all-."
"Seems pretty fair to me, son," Shikamaru snapped. He then reached a hand forwards to tussle his son's hair. "And don't feel bad, you did a great job. You just need more-."
"Karura! Shikadai! Where are you?"
At the sound of that voice, Shikamaru felt his heart drop. The footsteps that accompanied it made him weaker, and his eyes slowly turned to the screen door that led into his home. Could it have been? The woman who was coming...?
The door to the deck opened, and it was exactly who he had been expecting. His angel and his wife, Temari Nara.
Time began to slow for him, and a single tear came to his right eye spontaneously. Her head looked at the commotion in front of her, from child to child, before it settled on Shikamaru. The man was beginning to shake, before his mouth curled into a smile. If only she knew the things.…
"Oh, I should've known that you'd be responsible for this."
Temari gave off her own smirk, and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"...Responsible for what?"
She moved to sit beside him, in the middle of the Shogi table. When she sat down, Karura immediately jumped and went to climb into her mother's lap, and tried to trap her in an embrace. Or, she was trying to eat her. Her mother did smell like cookies and cake from what she had been cooking earlier.
"Responsible for these two little ones forgetting their chores," Temari said, continuing. She slowly wrapped her arms around her toddler, and then continued to speak to her husband in a hushed, yet playful, tone.
"Shikadai was supposed to be taking out the garbage, and Karura was practising her walk-."
"Mm? Well, you know how much Shogi's a staple in our family. It was a friendly little game-."
"And matter of fact, you were going to help me in the garden today, weren't you?"
Shikamaru's smile didn't leave his face, but he did place a hand behind his back, tilting his head slightly.
"Well...hm. Hm hm hm. Now that I think about it, Naruto might need me again at the office-."
"Not so fast, you lazy crybaby. There's no war now. Only a war between a woman's fingernails and a man's fingers."
"Noo... No no no. I'm almost 100 percent sure that there's a war going on."
Temari gave him a flat, playful look. Shikadai lunged forwards.
"Mom... Daaaaadddd."
Shikamaru looked towards Shikadai ad got an even better idea.
"Hey, how about we use these two for our gardening instead? I mean, in rural areas, they have as many children as they can possibly have so that they can help out around the farms and et cetera. Maybe it's time that these kiddos earned their keep..."
"Dad! I didn't mean it like that-."
"I love your method of thinking, Shikamaru. I agree. So, Shikadai, do you think you're strong enough to handle carrying manure-."
"I'm not old enough or big enough for anything!"
Both Shikamaru and Temari chuckled at Shikadai's expense, and their young son began to turn red from the suggestion. Karura began to get a bit restless in Temari's arms, so she picked her up and placed her on her shoulder. Shikamaru moved to stand with her.
"That's right, come along mister. You're going to be helping me in the fields today."
"Ugh, you make it sound so troublesome. I'm paying more attention to the weather myself, woman," Shikamaru then gestured to the open sky.
"It's a much better day for a walk in the park, don't you think? And we can string these little ones along with us."
"I don't like how all of this plans involve me-."
"Shikadai, you barely like anything."
Shikadai let out a groan, and Temari raised a single brow at her husband, before looking at the sky herself. She also noted the way that her daughter was beginning to squirm in her hands...
"Sounds like a plan. But, then again, I've still got you later."
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Later on that night, Shikamaru and Temari were together in their room, wrapped in an intense embrace.
By now, it was dark outside, and both of their children were in bed. Their afternoon walk had ended with Karura getting lost temporarily in the Nara forest before being found by a deer, and Shikadai finding walking "troublesome" and trying to climb on top of his Dad. But now, all of that was over now. All of that was gone. The only thing that the two knew or had was the room that housed the both of them, the candles that Shikamaru had lit, and the bed that laid behind Temari's frame.
Shikamaru still held onto her tightly, breathing in her scent and losing himself in her hair. It had been too long, far too long since he had been with her, and he was simply overjoyed with the prospect of being able to lay with her once again. Too long... Too much pain. But it had been worth it. Worth it now that he was with her.
Soon, he let go of her, expecting her to climb onto the bed behind them. But instead, she simply took a deep breath, shook her head, and then looked up at her husband, her eyes suddenly reflecting the sadness in her heart.
"...Shikamaru... I'm not real."
The grip that Shikamaru had on her hips increased tremendously, and he pulled his body away from her, looking at her face to face. There was little surprise in his voice, and in his heart.
"I know. None of this... None of this is here."
He let out a defeated sigh, and when he looked up at her again, he noticed that things around him began to deteriorate back to the way things actually were. His room slowly morphed into how it looked like the day he left it; messed sheets on one side of the bed, a small picture of Temari in memoriam on her side table, all of Temari's things packed into the closet as opposed to being on their dresser...
"Then wake up." His wife's voice had begun to deepen. "Stop living in a fantasy."
Slowly, Shikamaru began to feel the ailments from the moral world return to him, and he lost his sight in his right eye. His numerous scars began to return to his body, and soon he found that he could barely stand. He leaned on his side table, and now struggled to even look at his wife.
Just like that, she had taken him out of his fantasy. His eyes narrowed in a mixture of anger and pain.
"Pfft, besides, you're not going to want me to wake up."
"Why would that be? You living in reality is much more comforting than existing in a fantasy-."
"I'm going to have to kill your brothers."
Temari's eyes widened immediately.
"No." Her voice was firm.
"Yes." His voice was just so.
"You can't-."
"What do you mean I can't? You're not around to stop me any more."
"God Shikamaru, there has to be another way!" She placed ah and to her head, and was beginning to visibly look ill.
"I didn't fucking marry you so you could go off and do this-."
"And I married you to prevent this from happening!"
"Then why!? What's changed so much that-."
"FUCK TEMARI, WOULD YOU LOOK AT WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO ME?!"
Shikamaru felt himself become suddenly weak, and fell heavier onto his side table. Temari blinked, and then looked over his body again, his wounds and scars becoming more visible to her in this new position. He tried to stand up tall again, but visibly recoiled, a wound in his chest causing his muscles to spasm, and he fell further to the ground once again. When he tried to stand up tall again, Temari had come over to assist him, and she helped him reach his feet again.
When she had finished, he embraced her again.
He felt like crying, but he wouldn't. He couldn't spare any more of his tears for the situation, not now and not ever. She wasn't even really here. He was alone. His son would be raised without a mother, and at any moment he was sure that he would succumb to his wounds.
And it was all their fault.
Moments passed, but the moments could have been hours. Temari broke away first, and it was revealed that she hadn't shed a single tear either. It was clear what they had both arrived on. Shikamaru caught his voice.
"It's been eleven years. They had time. They had their chances. They had their mercy. But they... He... He didn't give me any, Tem. You... You saw me. I begged him for mercy, I apologised a million times! And he kept going! He kept attacking me he kept fucking hurting me and then he almost left me in a dungeon to die! Those aren't the actions of a man who can be saved! I didn't do shit to him to deserve it-."
"You can shove that self-pity up your ass, Shika, because everybody knows what you did to make him act like that-!"
"What?! I'm the villain because I dared to love?!"
"You know damn well that's not what I'm talking about."
It was Shikamaru's turn to stand in awe. Temari sucked in a shallow breath.
"It took me a while to get curious at the little looks they used to give me sometimes. You know, looks from your friends? From some of the council members? Hushed tones? I had to find out what you did all by myself. And you'll never understand the feeling I had, when you know that the man you threw your life away for just stabs you in the back! And worst still, to find out that he lied to your face and would've never told you about it! It breaks your trust of that person! I... I couldn't stop thinking about it! I'm living with you, laying with you, fucking you loving you kissing you and I don't even know what else you've been doing all this time! Who else you've been killing! You else you've been fucking-."
Shikamaru harshly reached forwards to grab her arm at that, and lifted it into the air. She pulled her hand back, and Shikamaru tried his best to defend himself.
"You fucking know that I've been with no other woman but you! The only woman I love is you! This... All of this is nonsense what the fuck are you even talking about?! Am I not allowed to want to hide some things from you!? Do I constantly have to be looking for your approval!? I can't... Do you think I wanted that to happen-."
"It doesn't matter! God... You could've told me! If you told me then we could've went through it together! But you didn't! You kept it to yourself, you had everyone else lie to me and avoid-."
"I didn't want to hurt you-."
"You hurt me more by lying!"
Temari's voice fell, the anger she held for her husband made her face a flush red. Shikamaru paused for a few moments, before he took a deep breath.
"...I'm sorry. I'm sorry every day that I lied to you, and I'm sorry that the attack ended up the way it did. But I did what I had to do-."
"Then Gaara did what he had to do to you then."
"That's it! Temari, tell me, do you love me or do you love your brothers!?"
"Don't ask me that question."
"Oh, so now shits off limits! Well that's too bad. Do you love me more than you love them!?"
"I told you don't ask me that!"
"Because you don't me to hear the truth, do you!? I'm beginning to figure it out! All those fucking years of pleading! 'Shikamaru, please don't!' 'They had to do that, it was in self-defence!' You kept asking me to do the impossible, you kept asking us to do the impossible! If we stopped giving a fuck about morals and about your precious siblings then the war might have been over by now! I think I know who you loved more! I think I know well-."
"Shikamaru-."
"No, tell me Temari! Tell me now! Has everything we've been through for the past eleven years been a lie?! Everything?! Was this all an act!? Did you just come with me on that day to save their hides!? Was... Was everything.…fake?! A dream!? How long have I been dreaming, Temari-."
"For the past seven days, no more no less-."
"Then you tell me what I am to you! You tell me what I was to you and you tell me this instant!"
"I told you I don't want to-."
"Say it!"
"No!"
"SAY IT!"
"No!"
"JUST FUCKING TELL ME! TELL ME THAT YOU NEVER LOVED ME! TELL ME THEY"VE ALWAYS BEEN FIRST IN YOUR HEART!"
"SHIKAMARU I'VE LOVED YOU MORE THAN THEM NOW STOP THIS!"
Once she said it, Shikamaru stopped, and the rest of the room brought another silent feeling. Temari stood, her eyes now red from exhaustion and pain. The two stared at each other for a few moments longer...
Before Temari ran into Shikamaru's arms, and he accepted her again.
She ran her fingers over his scars, and he ran his hands through her hair. Their hug soon turned into a kiss, and soon that kiss was on their bed...
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When the two "awoke", Shikamaru was already halfway out from under the sheets.
Temari grabbed his arm, and this caused him to pause and turn his head towards her. Seeing her de shelved within his bed brought back memories of before, and he reached out his other hand to take some of the hair out of her face, before leaning over and giving her a long kiss on her lips. She shivered from his touch, but she wasn't truly there anyway.
Shikamaru eventually turned his body away from her, and then pushed himself up from the bed. He stood up, completely naked, and then walked towards the window, where the moonlight shone through. He sighed.
"...I'm sorry. For what I've done, and for what I'm about to do."
"Just do it. Our dreams are different, I understand-."
"We dream the same dream. But Kankuro and Gaara have lost their chance to be in it now."
There was a long silence, and Shikamaru could feel the stress of reality return to him. He closed his eyes.
"... I love you. Always have."
The darkness of his mind overtook his senses, and soon his dream was over.
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Ino Yamanaka was knelt next to Shikamaru when she heard him draw breath again.
It was a sudden and harsh gasp, through lips that were just beginning to open. She looked up to the heart monitoring machine to see that his heartbeat was beginning to register on it, and she felt her own heartbeat increase. When he began to shake his right hand, she knew what he was trying to do.
She dropped the syringe that she had injected into him onto the ground and then began to shake him back, lightly at first. His mouth opened wider, and she heard a loud sigh. Her excitement continued to grow.
"Shikamaru? Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru's eye still didn't open, but by now it was obvious that the man was trying his best to wake up. Her shaking increased and his breathing increased. The heart rate monitor intensified.
"Shikamaru! Come on! J-j-just relax! You're almost there!"
He began to cough, and Ino began to hit on his chest. Instinctively, she reached out to hold his hand, and gripped it with all her might. She heard the flaps of his tent open, and loud footsteps quickly increased until she saw Choji come to the other side of Shikamaru. He reached for his friend's throat, trying to clear his airway, and as a reward for his efforts they both heard Shikamaru's breathes deepen, and his spasms increase.
Soon, he was able to open his eye.
Upon seeing this, both Ino and Choji let out relieved chuckles, while Shikamaru's eyes struggled to focus on either one of them. Soon, after they had both removed their hands from his body, with the exception of the hand that Ino used to hold Shikamaru's, he weakly raised a hand up, and his eye focused on the "roof" of his tent above.
They saw his lips move. No sounds came out.
"It's al right buddy," Choji said. "Take your time, take your time!"
Shikamaru's lips parted again but all that came out was a sigh.
"God... You're alive. You're still alive!" There had barely been more times that Ino had been this happy. Shikamaru's face tensed, and he took in one long draw, before his voice returned to the moral world again, still weak from his injuries, but it was the voice of Temari's husband nonetheless.
"...Troublesome."
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And that's the end of part 50, Dawn. Look forwards to my profile for updates, but so far I should be able to get another chapter out during the first week of July. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this story so far! Remember to Read and Review, I love to read your reviews!
P.S Next chapter will focus on a certain Sand Shinobi.
