Second Chance

Summary: Shikamaru, Gaara and Naruto go back in time. Only Shikamaru and Gaara make it to the past.

Chapter 32

"They were supposed to bring us back?" The symbols inked onto Shikamaru's skin felt like lead.

"They were supposed to give us the option," Naruto corrected.

"Why would we have wanted to?" Shikamaru's skin crawled. He felt the phantom pull of the seals – the threat of being thrown forward in time, back into the reality they'd come from.

Shikamaru felt sick. Everything they'd gone through and everything they'd done, and all along their progress could have been set back to zero. They could have found themselves back in the nightmare of a future they'd left.

"It was meant as a failsafe." Naruto hesitated. "Just... in case I didn't manage to bring us back. In case the technique failed and left us... stuck. I just wanted to make sure."

So that was where the link to the other reality had come from. A window kept open just a crack, just enough to give them the opportunity to slip through and try again. A gap just wide enough for the other reality to leak through. For it to poison their timeline with events they were supposed to have prevented.

"I didn't know it was going to do... that," Naruto said.

"Didn't yours cause any ripples?" Gaara asked.

"I no longer have them." Naruto shrugged. "Not my body, remember? They must have gotten lost along the way."

The more Shikamaru learned about Naruto's journey to the past, the more baffled he was that Naruto had made the trip at all.

Naruto was the most skilled sealmaster Shikamaru had ever known. Shikamaru had no clue about fuinjutsu beyond the basics; it was easy to see his friend as unfailable. It was easy to forget that for most of his life, Naruto hadn't had anybody to teach him. That most of what he knew he'd taught himself, pieced together through observing others and experimenting until something worked.

Other than Jiraiya for a brief time, he hadn't had anybody to correct the flaws in his sealwork. No teacher who could have pointed out all the tiny, unexpected side effects.

"You can remove them," Shikamaru said. "Right?"

"Sure. Can't exactly send you back to your villages with them, can I?"

Naruto's phrasing forced Shikamaru to acknowledge what he'd tried desperately not to think about. A lump swelled in his throat. "You're not coming with us."

Naruto paused. He looked up, Gaara's arm held gently in his hands. "I can't."

"They need you," Gaara stated without clarifying.

"They do." Naruto looked away. "Besides, I couldn't... How could I ever go home while I'm... like this?"

Shikamaru was sure he could figure something out if he thought about it for longer than five minutes. He didn't. Naruto had already made up his mind.

"We can figure something out later," he forced himself to say. "Something that'll let us communicate."

Communicate, because every future meeting between them bore the danger of drawing unwanted attention to Naruto and his charges. Because Shikamaru would have eyes on him constantly by the time he returned to Konoha. Because Naruto couldn't risk lives just to make Shikamaru feel a little less isolated.

Later, once everything had died down, once Shikamaru was able to sneak away without another search party being launched... maybe. But until then, they'd be on their own.

Shikamaru found solace in the fact that this time he'd know that somewhere, Gaara and Naruto were waiting for their next meeting.

"I wish we had more time," Naruto muttered, letting go of Gaara's arm. The seals sketched onto it were gone.

"... Yeah." Shikamaru twitched when Naruto took hold of his arm. His skin tingled at the touch.

It was rather anticlimactic. One moment the seals were there, the next they were gone. So inconspicuous for the amount of damage they had done.

For all that Shikamaru had longed to see his friends again, he couldn't decide what to say to them. He'd always known – assumed, hoped – that he would see Gaara soon. But Naruto? Shikamaru had mourned. He'd said his goodbyes. He'd come to terms with knowing and befriending a younger version of him while the original was lost.

This Naruto was a ghost. A part of Shikamaru expected him to flicker out of existence as soon as he took his eyes off of him.

"It'll be better from now on," Naruto said. The smile he gave them was almost as beaming as Shikamaru remembered – like the past weeks and months hadn't happened and they'd never stopped travelling together.

It allowed him to believe that things really would be fine.

"Yes." Gaara's voice and steps were soft as he stepped up to them. His lips curved upwards. It made his features look gentle and relaxed. "It will be."

"Hopeless optimists," Shikamaru muttered even as his mouth tugged into a smile.

They'd be fine. Somehow, someway, they'd put this all this behind them. They'd make it be fine.

By the time the adults found their clearing, Naruto was long gone. Gaara and Shikamaru had settled down after saying their goodbyes, deciding to stretch out the time they had to themselves instead of heading back to the village.

Gaara felt tired. Shukaku whispered reassurances into his mind, telling him to rest and allow him to take the reins. He didn't mean it maliciously. Gaara had no doubt that Shukaku thought it best for them to follow Naruto, join up with Shukaku's siblings and stay far away from Suna.

Shukaku had never gotten to enjoy Yashamaru's kindness, nor Gaara's siblings' change in attitude. The tailed beast's years in Suna had been marred by insanity and turmoil, not to mention the attempts that had been made on his and Gaara's life.

Things would be better now. Shukaku didn't believe him, but Gaara was determined to make it so.

What makes you think he's not another jailer? Shukaku growled. He watched Yashamaru suspiciously from Gaara's eyes.

He's different. He cares about me.

So he says.

Gaara's brows twitched. He paused.

He took a step towards his uncle and stumbled over nothing.

Yashamaru's hand was there to steady him at once. "Gaara?" Concern colored his voice, uncaring of the foreign ANBU around them. Uncaring of anything other than Gaara walking at his side.

Warmth flooded his chest, and Gaara took care not let himself drown in it. "I'm tired," he muttered, slowing down his steps.

Shukaku's confusion drifted over like a gentle breeze.

Hands reached under Gaara's arms and lifted him off the ground. Yashamaru readjusted his grip until Gaara was safely tucked against his side. Gaara sank against his uncle's warmth and wrapped his arms around Yashamaru's neck.

Shukaku huffed. Are you just making a point?

Not only. The warmth in Gaara's chest swelled. He looked over Yashamaru's shoulder and caught Shikamaru's glance.

Shikamaru's lips twitched. He bit his lip before looking away and kept walking with one of his parents' hands on either shoulder.

Gaara closed his eyes. He spent the rest of the way to Konoha listening to Yashamaru's heartbeat.

Gaara learned of Danzō's demise. Nobody else had died at the hands of Shukaku, and Gaara couldn't bring himself to be angry about the single breach of his trust.

If Shikamaru thought their adventure in the forest had been tiring, it was nothing compared to the interrogation session that followed. They allowed Shikamaru and Gaara to rest until the next day – at his mom's and Gaara's uncle's insistence if nothing else. Then they were off to answer question upon question upon question.

At least with the danger of the ripple injuries taken care of, Shikamaru was no longer sitting on hot coals. He kept his answers vague, but aimed to pull the rope around Danzō's neck tighter. Danzō was dead, and to his father's frustration, none of the Root operatives were talking. There was no one left to contradict their tale spun from nebulous comments and veiled accusations.

"I don't really remember much," Shikamaru said, eyes fixed on the table in front of him. "Aiko-sensei kept asking me to stay after class. Everything afterwards is just... a haze."

He fidgeted, eyes twitching up to meet his father's gaze. Just as quickly, it flickered back down. "I'm sorry. I know I'm not much help."

His father closed his eyes. He breathed through his nose, slowly, steadily, as though it was the only thing grounding him in the present. He made a curt hand gesture and the shinobi at the other end of the table left the room, signalling the end of the official interrogation.

Shikamaru kept his eyes averted. He saw his father kneeling down next to him from the corner of his eye. He paused, trying to catch Shikamaru's gaze. Shikamaru didn't let him.

"You're doing your best," his father said, sighing. "That's all I ask."

Shikamaru shoved away the guilt and accepted his father's hug. Far stronger was the satisfaction of being believed.

"We'll take a break," his father said, pulling away. Shikamaru accepted the loss of warmth reluctantly. "Do you think you can tell us why you ran away, afterwards?"

Shikamaru hesitated, then nodded.

It would be weeks until all this blew over. He didn't want to think about how many more hours he would spend being questioned.

With Danzō out of the picture, Gaara and he could fabricate their story without much resistance. A story that, he was proud to admit, placed them quite securely in the role of blameless victims.

He talked about sessions with Aiko he couldn't remember the content of. He mentioned things he knew about Danzō that he couldn't explain learning. He described a visceral, deeply-rooted conviction that he couldn't let another child fall victim to the man he knew only in terms of vague flashes of suspicion and fear.

By the end of it, the ANBU leading the interrogation with his father was hanging onto his every word.

"Danzō expressed interest in Gaara?"

Shikamaru hesitated. "I... Yes. No. I don't... I don't know."

"You said you wanted to protect him."

"It was just a feeling I had." Shikamaru furrowed his brows. "He wasn't safe in Konoha."

Danzō's attempt to brainwash Shukaku supported his claim rather nicely.

Shikamaru hadn't seen much of Gaara since their return from the forest. He was likely answering his own set of questions in another part of the building.

"How is he?" Shikamaru asked. "What he– what Danzō did to him... Is he alright?"

His father hesitated. He often did. Shikamaru felt like he was constantly contemplating how much to tell his son, and how much he ought to keep to himself. "There haven't been any side effects. Last that I've heard, he's recovering well."

The distance bothered Shikamaru less, now that Gaara's uncle was with them in Konoha. He didn't like the thought of Gaara surrounded by nameless Konoha shinobi. Shikamaru trusted his people, but Gaara didn't know them. With his uncle there to keep an eye on him, there was no need to worry.

"Danzō's organisation," his father continued after a brief pause, "the same that Aiko-sensei was part of. Can you tell me anything about it?"

On their second day back in the village, Shikamaru was torn from his sleep by someone knocking up a storm at their front door. He contemplated sticking his head underneath his pillow and ignoring the noise.

One of his parents opened the door, and Shikamaru's half-awake plans went flying out the window.

"Shikamaru! Where are you?!"

His bedroom door was yanked open before Shikamaru could make the decision to bid sleep goodbye.

"I'm very sorry, Yoshino-san," came Chōji's apologetic voice from the hallway. He stepped into Shikamaru's room after Ino, and the three friends saw each other for the first time in weeks.

Shikamaru's mom peered into the bedroom, her brow raised. She closed the door after Shikamaru waved her off.

"Hey," he said, sitting up and shrugging off his blanket.

He didn't get to say more before Ino pulled him into a harsh, angry hug. Her frustration was palpable. She sat back and wiped at her eyes furiously. "Idiot."

Chōji sat down on the bed gingerly. The way he avoided eye-contact felt like a physical blow.

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru said, scooting closer. There was pressure building up behind his eyes. "I messed up."

"No kidding," Ino said.

"I didn't mean to push you away."

"Did it occur to you to just not do it then? Ow!" Ino glared at Chōji and rubbed her side where he'd jabbed her.

"Let him finish," Chōji muttered.

Shikamaru was so busy thinking about how much he loved his best friend, he almost missed his cue to keep talking. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I just... So much was happening. I didn't know how to reach out and whether I should. I was… afraid. I… I never meant to make you suffer because of it."

He kept his eyes fixed on his bedroom floor. His last argument with Chōji had felt so insignificant in the grand scheme of things just last week. Now, it played in a loop in Shikamaru's mind.

"Everything was too much. I didn't know how to deal with it. I thought… I thought it would be easier this way." He looked up, his eyes feeling misty. "I was wrong. I was… Chōji, I'm so–"

A weight crushed into him from the side, and Shikamaru grunted, swaying so he wouldn't fall off the bed.

Chōji's hug was different from Ino's. It was softer, but didn't feel any less desperate. Shikamaru leaned against his friend and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. The words were beginning to lose their meaning.

Chōji pulled away. He didn't look angry, but uncharacteristically solemn. "No more secrets," he said, giving Shikamaru a firm look. "Promise me."

Shikamaru's lip twitched, thinking of everything that had happened while at Konoha and during their travels. "You'll think I'm crazy."

Chōji hesitated. "I'd rather have a crazy friend than one who doesn't trust me."

"You're already mental for ditching the village, anyway," Ino muttered.

Shikamaru huffed a laugh. "Right." He paused. The danger was averted. His parents believed the story he'd fed them. In the first timeline, Ino and Chōji had kept the secret of who kept making Iruka's test papers disappear before big history examinations until their dying breath.

"Alright," Shikamaru said. "Here goes."

Chōji and Ino did think he was crazy.

They eventually asked whether they could meet Gaara before he left for Suna, so Shikamaru supposed that it could have gone worse.

Life had been weird for Naruto for the last few weeks. Good weird, for the most part. He still sometimes woke up, remembered that he had people to call his friends and grinned giddily in the privacy of his apartment because of how good it felt.

He still remembered the last time he'd gone to Ichiraku's with Iruka-sensei, not long after he'd befriended Shikamaru. He'd chatted about Shikamaru and Chōji and how cool it was to hang out with them. It had taken him a while to spot the tears in his teacher's eyes.

"Iruka-sensei?" he'd asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." His voice had sounded gravelly, like he'd just finished screaming his lungs out in class. His mouth had pulled into a smile. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm happy for you, Naruto. And so, so proud."

He'd made an effort to act normally after that, but Naruto couldn't stop thinking about it.

Then Shikamaru had run away, and things had gotten even weirder. The adults were all tense and serious. More ninja patrolled the streets than Naruto had ever seen. More and more people with symbols like Sasuke's on their clothes showed up alongside the masked ANBU, making Naruto wonder why he'd never noticed them before.

At least Chōji and Ino still wanted to hang out, even though Shikamaru was no longer there.

When Shikamaru finally came back, Naruto was kind of jealous. "What was it like? Did you see other villages? Were there still ninja?"

Shikamaru grinned like he knew something that Naruto didn't. "I guess it was kind of cool." He lowered his voice like he was telling Naruto a secret. Naruto moved closer instinctively.

"I made a new friend. He lives all the way over in Suna." Shikamaru leaned back with a slight grin. "Do you want to get to know him?"

Excitement welled up in Naruto's chest. "Sure! When are we meeting him?"

Gaara was the red-head Naruto had briefly met on that day with Bushy Brow. He was as weird as his friendship with Shikamaru suggested. Naruto decided that he didn't mind the weirdness, as long as he got to keep making lots of friends.

Naruto's friends were awesome.

Gaara spent half of his time in an interrogation chamber and the other half with his uncle.

Konoha eventually accepted that Gaara had no useful information to give them. He didn't know Danzō beyond the stories Shikamaru had told him and the few, terrifying moments when his eyes had met Danzō's stolen one and the control over his body had been wrenched away.

He'd never felt less in control than when his own consciousness wavered and made room for Shukaku. It was better now than it had been in his childhood: Shukaku had proven that he could be trusted. He'd proven that he cared about Gaara's wants and was able to put his bloodlust aside if it meant sparing Gaara the pain.

Gaara doubted the experience of handing over control of his body would ever be pleasant, but it was at least better than before.

Being around his uncle helped. All Konoha nin who'd been there to witness his transformation were understandably wary. He could have levelled their village during a rampage, and the simple fact that he hadn't wasn't enough to erase the possibility from their minds.

"Please don't take it to heart," Yashamaru told him. He tolerated the ANBU stationed to monitor them with strained but understanding eyes. "They don't know you. They look at you, and they see... someone else entirely."

Gaara found 'something' more fitting of a word. He smiled at his uncle. For someone who'd had no one growing up, knowing he had two people on his side was plenty. "I understand."

They wouldn't stay in Konoha for long. Gaara could bear the wariness, knowing he would be able to return to his home village – and his family – soon.

In the end, Gaara didn't have to wait to return to his family. His family came for him.

It felt surreal, standing before Konoha's gate with Yashamaru and solemn looking Konoha shinobi, welcoming the party of Suna nin. Gaara couldn't believe that Rasa was one of them. He couldn't believe he'd come himself.

"Kazekage-sama." Shikamaru's father nodded a greeting. "I trust your journey was uneventful."

Rasa pulled his eyes away from Gaara. "Thank you. Your hospitality is greatly–"

"Gaara!"

Rasa stumbled as someone – a very young, very excited someone – bumped into him from behind. Kankurō didn't seem to notice he'd almost knocked over his father. Temari wasn't far behind, and the two skipped towards Gaara as though all the stoic adult shinobi weren't there.

They paused just short of reaching him. Excitement warped into uncertainty.

The rigidness bled from Rasa's frame as though he couldn't hold onto it now that his children had broken the spell. He let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Gaara bit his lip to stifle a smile. "I missed you," he said softly, crossing the distance between himself and his siblings to tug both of them into a loose hug. They stiffened only briefly.

"Don't do something like that!" Temari pulled away so she could scowl at him. "We were so worried!"

"I wasn't." Kankurō stepped away quickly.

Temari directed her scowl at Kankurō. "You so were."

"No way! I knew he'd be fine."

Temari looked at Gaara. "He almost cried."

Kankurō let out an indignant gasp. "I did not!"

"He was super close."

"Liar!"

"Please allow us some time among family," Rasa interrupted. "As you can see, we have much to catch up on."

"Naturally." Shikaku's lip twitched. Behind him, one of his subordinates was hiding a grin.

Gaara looked up when Yashamaru put a hand on his shoulder. His uncle smiled at him, the action lighting up his entire face.

Gaara and his family spent a week in Konoha. During this time, Gaara cemented Shikamaru's testimony, reveled in the attention his siblings and Yashamaru gave him and – under strict ANBU supervision – was allowed to meet Shikamaru's friends.

Meeting a younger Naruto – this time properly – wasn't as bittersweet as it had been the first time, back when they'd still believed that older Naruto had died.

"You should have taken me along," Naruto said after he'd convinced Gaara and Shikamaru to narrate small tidbits of their adventures while on the run. "Are you gonna do it again soon?"

Shikamaru let out a strangled sort of laugh. "Not if we can help it."

While Naruto looked rather disappointed, Gaara agreed. With both their families – and villages – on their sides and the ripple seals gone, they'd hopefully run out of reasons to turn their backs on their homes.

Most surprising by far was Rasa. Gaara didn't see much of him at first. There were many diplomatic necessities to take care of after that first reunion – ones that Gaara was thankfully exempt from.

On their third day in the village however, Rasa requested his presence in the guest quarters they'd been given for the span of their visit.

"How has Konoha treated you?" he asked, gesturing for Gaara to join him.

Gaara did so. He ignored a rather unflattering comment Shukaku aimed in Rasa's direction. "They've been nothing but courteous. They offered to contact you and keep me safe after I came here."

"I am... thankful." Something flickered over Rasa's expression, too quick for Gaara to place. His jaw worked tirelessly. He met Gaara's eyes and made it look like a lot of effort. "For your safety, and... for reuniting us."

There was more emotion in Rasa's eyes than Gaara knew how to deal with. There was awkwardness, too. Gaara couldn't remember the last time they'd had a conversation that hadn't revolved around the village, Shukaku or Gaara's training.

"I've made mistakes," Rasa continued, tearing away his eyes. "This time away, it has... put things into perspective."

Gaara wondered whether at any point Rasa had believed him dead. He wondered what those weeks had been like, back in Suna, unknowing what had happened.

"I understand," Gaara said softly.

"I would like – if you allow me – to try and do better."

He didn't sound like the Kazekage then. He didn't sound like Rasa. He sounded – for once, for the first time in Gaara's life – like a father who'd failed to watch one of his children grow up and hadn't realized until it was almost too late.

Gaara waited until Rasa's – until his father's – eyes flickered back and gave him a smile. "I would like that."

His father didn't smile back. He gave a nod that sparked hope in Gaara and prompted doubt from Shukaku. It felt like a promise – one that Gaara was carefully considering to believe.

Saying goodbye to Gaara wasn't as hard as Shikamaru had thought it might be.

They'd salvaged what they could in the short amount of time they'd been given: By the end of the week, Gaara was unanimously seen as yet another victim of Danzō's nebulous schemes, and the friendship between Gaara and Shikamaru forged through their mutual suffering at Danzō's hand.

Were it anyone other than Danzō, Shikamaru might have felt guilty for all the villainous credit they were giving him. Nobody ever doubted that he'd been capable of doing all the unmentionable things they implicitly accused him off, which probably said it all.

"Take care," Shikamaru told Gaara at the village gates after the Kazekage and his entourage had been officially seen off on their journey.

They couldn't make their goodbyes more personal with so many people watching, but then again, they didn't need to. Gaara gave him a smile that lit up his entire face. It filled Shikamaru's chest with warmth and confidence.

He kept standing at the village gates until the trees swallowed Gaara and his family.

"Come on." His mother put a firm hand on his back. She still barely let him out of her sight. "Let's go."

Shikamaru hummed. He threw one last glance at the edge of the forest before falling into step with his mother and allowing her to usher him home.

The journey through the desert was long, but bearable. Gaara was surrounded by his family with every step. It wasn't a journey he'd known he wanted, but he found himself enjoying every minute of it.

A pair of shinobi welcomed them at Suna's gates. One of them looked directly at Gaara and beamed. He looked familiar. "It's good to have you home, Gaara-sama."

At first, Gaara was too startled to reply. A warmth bloomed in his chest that rivaled the desert sun above them. "It's good to be back."

It took Naruto longer than expected to sniff out the newest hideout. They'd managed to cover up their chakra signatures almost entirely. They were getting better. Naruto couldn't be prouder.

"Halt, intruder!"

A weight dropped onto his shoulders. Something slung around his ankles and pulled. Naruto obligingly crashed to the ground after wobbling precariously, and the weight on his shoulders wiggled in victory.

"How dare you breach our territory. We'll capture you and make you our servant!"

"No!" Naruto cried, drawing out the word in a desperate wail. "Anything but that!" He wiggled helplessly on the ground and made Fū giggle. He tried warping his grin into a look of defeat. "What are you going to make me do?"

"You can start with dinner." Yugito's voice came from somewhere around his legs.

"We're behind on the laundry, too," Rōshi added cheerfully. "You don't want to know how long I've been wearing the same shirt."

"Remind me why I asked you to babysit?"

"Who better to wrangle a brood of baby demons than a pair of grown-up ones?"

"I'm not a kid," Yugito grumbled.

Naruto craned his neck and spotted Utakata pulling camping supplies out of a scroll. They evidently hadn't finished setting up camp.

Naruto hadn't been gone long, but he'd missed them. He missed them every time he set out to take care of business he didn't want his charges to be dragged into. He felt better knowing that in his absence, there was somebody there to protect them.

"Come on, baby demon." Naruto pushed himself to his feet and scooped Fū up from his back. He turned her upside down.

She squealed in delight. "No! Unhand me!"

Naruto masterfully ignored her attempts to free herself and swung her back and forth like a sack of potatoes.

"Had any trouble?" he asked.

"No trouble." Han stepped out of the trees with an armful of firewood and dropped it into a neat pile. "They've been good."

"We've got a lead on one of your friends." Rōshi gave him a meaningful look. "The scaly one."

"Oh?" Naruto's mouth pulled into a grin. He'd crossed off all the other Akatsuki members from his list. Orochimaru was the last.

He could probably convince Han and Rōshi to stay for another week – long enough for him to follow the lead, hunt down the Sannin and deal with him for good. Maybe he would find a way to deliver him to Konoha on a silver platter. Shikamaru would definitely appreciate it.

"Yugito!" Fū tossed her legs wildly, which made her swing back and forth but did little to dislodge Naruto's grip. "Help me!"

Yugito heaved a sigh, pulled out a kunai and very solemnly charged at Naruto to free her sister-in-all-but-blood.

Few of the changes he'd made to the timeline made Naruto as proud as the bonds he'd helped form between the other jinchūriki. Of all the things he'd done, this was the one he wouldn't change in the slightest.

Naruto's thoughts travelled back to Konoha. Back to two other people he considered brothers-in-all-but-blood.

The reunion between the three hadn't gone the way Naruto had hoped it would. It hadn't gone the way he'd feared it might, either – he'd had a long time to picture one worst-case scenario after the other.

Now that the moment had gone and passed, Naruto thought he'd done the best he could with the circumstances he'd been given. He'd sleep better, knowing that Gaara and Shikamaru had understood his decisions. He was especially glad knowing that they had gained people on their side, just like he had.

They wouldn't always be together, but that didn't mean they were on their own.

A/N: One left! :)

My betas are Igornerd, To Mockingbird and PyrothTenka! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!

~Gwen