Summary: Nara clan holds a secret that only main family know, no one else. Not even their own clan's men or the elders of the village or any of the Hokage.

Where Yoshino knew about the tragic event before the news was told her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the idea.

Dear Deer

They were in the middle of a war; but looking at the Female population of Konoha, no one would think it was actually war time.

They carried on their day as usual, making meals, gathering around to chit-chat a bit, planning to have potluck with the leftovers and avoiding any panic to rise. The reason for this was simple; someday the war will end and their husbands, sons and daughters will return back – the least they could do was to maintain the normalcy as much as they can so that they could welcome their family with open arms and happy faces and make it easier for them to forget the horrors of the war; it's a long process but needed to be incorporated from the first day itself.

Though that did not mean the village was any safer than usual.

There were still some boneheads out there who really thought the war to be the ideal opportunity to brag into the village and try and steal their valuables; completely disregarding the fact that they were trying that on the Hidden leaf village, one-fifth of the Five great nations and a place full of freaking Shinobi!

Sure, the men were out at war and there were only a handful of genin level ninja's guarding the village and that only women, children and elders were present in the entire village. This just seemed an opportunity to be taken and get loaded on riches.

Easy-peasy, right?

Wrong!

For these numskulls did not take into consideration one small detail – The Allied Mom force of The Hidden Leaf Village; which was as deadly as any jonin unit.

And these idiots learned it the hard way, when they all were tied by the women of the village and thrown into the dungeon at the base of 'Great Stone Faces'; but not before Konohamaru hit them with a powerful jutsu.

Yoshino smiled at the Kid's that took down yet another group of bandits trying to invade the village. It was second time in two days that their village was being targeted; she wondered if these bastards even cared what happened with the world. She did not know all the details; but what her husband had mentioned in passing – it was like a war to live.

Unlike the previous three Shinobi war – where the great nations were against each other for their selfish purpose and to acquire greater power – a hollow phenomenon to go on a war over; in Yoshino's opinion at least. This fourth war was actually an effort to make amends and a step towards a peaceful future; but most of all – to have a future in first place. Because this one was not threatening a certain village or Land; but the whole Human race altogether.

So, it added to her agitation more when these hot-shots thought they could actually do as they please, when the whole world was at stake.

Like hell I would let them.

She internally grumbled as she retreated back into the village, they will have to make a proper report to the Hokage later about these two events and make sure these imbeciles learned their lesson once and for all.

They had an early dinner that night, all gathering under one roof and sharing the cuisine they prepared, telling stories of their past and laughing at jokes, they eventually turned it into a small game and all of them participated – elders and children alike.

By the time everyone wrapped up and cleared the place, it was well passed 9 and one-by-one they returned to their homes.

Yoshino had an especially long walk, considering the Nara Clan was situated all the way to the north-west side of the village – for better access to the forest. She had to cross almost all of the village just to get home from their gathering spot.

Her mind wandered off; she was returning to an empty home – although it wasn't a rare occasion to do so since Shikamaru became a full-fledged shinobi, this time she had a bad feeling about it. All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind, the prominent one being that this is how it will be for the rest of her life – returning to an empty house.

The mere thought of it sent chills down her spine.

She remembered the last war she experienced. Back then she was barely 20, in a similar situation, the only difference was back then she was worried about her father and brother; and none of them returned home ever. She remembered after receiving the news all she did was sigh and continued her work like nothing happened.

It wasn't that she felt no remorse for her decreased family members; but when you experience a family of 9 turn into one of 3; all in the span of 6 years followed by a war, you kind of learn not to brawl your eyes out every chance you get. Plus, the circumstances she grew up with; strict household, shitty neighborhood, crappy relatives and creepy old bastards always lurking in shadows – she learned that, show one sign of weakness and you would probably be taken advantage of or end up dead on the village border.

She considered her father and elder brother at least had meaningful ends as they were protecting the village, unlike her other family members – mom passed away during childbirth of the youngest son, who soon followed due to malnutrition. Her younger brother died due to a fall from their rooftop, and her sister – she just disappeared one day to never return back, only her body was found a week later. Yoshino grimaced at the images flashed into her mind, she did not want to remember what exactly her sister went in the last hours of her life; that was a forbidden topic – even in her own mind. Her grandparents were gone not long after, her grandmother always followed her grandfather everywhere he went & even in death she did not stop that.

That only left her father, elder brother and herself. And then war happened.

It was Shikaku who came to tell her the news of fallen and he was surprised when all she did after receiving the news was sighed and thanked him for relying the message. That was the first time they met; a moment where she found out she had lost the remaining piece her world but at the same time found an even better place to be.

Yoshino smiled at the small memory; it was bittersweet encounter. She had completely thrown off Konoha's young strategist; who was expecting a rather wrenching reaction after receiving a news of war martyr but got none of them. Intruded he had come again and again, day after day to check if she was holding up well or she was finally breaking down; and always Yoshino would smile, thank him for checking up on her and proceed with her day normally.

Crazy times of life.

She sighed and then turned the corner to enter the Nara complex. More than eighteen years since then and here she was with her own family, which she might still loose – thanks to another war.

Conflicts & Wars, no matter the age; it's always the same.

She made her way to her home, taking all the time in the world to enter the house and neatly place her flipflops by the door; she then proceeded inside, checking all the rooms for anything that needed her attention but found none. It was pretty early in the night but she was tired. As much as relaxed and normal the whole female population had tried to behave, everyone was on edge the whole time, eyeing every single moment with the eyes of hawk for any sign of danger. It did take its toll on Yoshino who was ready to turn in for the night.

She was securing all the windows and doors when she noticed them through the backyard window, sitting poised like some royalty – well, Nara's did treat them like one.

She carefully opened the back door and joined her unexpected guests; seeing her come out of the house, they made their way towards her. She stopped midway and settled on the porch and looked at her kind-of extended family.

The Deer.

There were three of them, noticeably a family with father, mother and their little fawn – who was more like a young stag at this point.

The doe settled to sit beside Yoshino, her body curling around the woman; while the stag took the liberty to sit by her feet, his head easing its way into her lap. Yoshino smiled and her hand started to run through his mane; unlike most deer, this father-son duo had mane around their necks – signifying the importance this family held to the Nara clan. She then looked at the remaining member of the family, but the fawn did not join her side, instead joining besides his mother nuzzling his head into hers.

It warmed her heart looking at them, it reminded her so much of her own family.

Yoshino was a very strong headed women to begin with, she had to be in order to whip two Nara men into shape and always keep them on their toes – often times people dubbed her a bit too overbearing, mainly her son. But what most had not experienced was that she also had a very soft side to her, only reserved for her family and the deer on the Nara grounds – specially these; who were now looking at her like she was their world.

This time though, she had a feeling she might actually be.

"Is something wrong?" She asked in a soft voice.

The doe looked at her in eyes and then towards the Stag. Yoshino's eyes flickered to the one on her lap and she understood just what the matter was.

It was a well-known fact that Nara clan looked after the Deer and had a whole forest area completely reserved for them, they were like an extension of the Nara's own family.

But no one knew the extend of how deep the bonds between the Nara's and these deer ran – especially with the main family. Not even their own clan's men or the elders of the village or any of the Hokage. It was something passed on from one generation to next, exclusively for the main family.

Yoshino thought of the day she actually bonded with these deer's and the family secret relied to her by her mother-in-law.

To say, newly married Yoshino was intimated by Shikaku's mom would be an understatement. The woman was fierce, with a permanent scrawl on her face and downright scary.

So, when everything settled few days after the wedding and Fumiko Nara casually asked (more like stated) to accompany her for walk, Yoshino just couldn't say no.

Thus, they were both making their way deep into the Nara forest, silence was thick and Yoshino had no idea how to kill it and start a conversation. So, instead she focused on her surrounding and marveled at the thick vegetation around her, she had never been to this part of the forest surrounding the leaf, it was breath-taking.

Suddenly Fumiko came to a stop in middle of nowhere making Yoshino bump into her back. Embarrassed for was not paying attention, she quickly apologized.

"You know what Nara clan is known for?" Fumiko asked still facing the other way. Yoshino thought for a second, the question seemed quite simple but there were chances it had alternate meaning to it.

Fumiko Nara was a very intelligent woman; her IQ seemingly inhuman. Yoshino found out that the extraordinary intellect and amazing tactical skills Shikaku had were actually inherited from her. She was brains during the war, a show runner and a great asset to the Hidden Leaf. Her strong personality and extraordinary perceptive nature made the woman a force to be reckoned with.

When Yoshino did not reply immediately, Fumiko turned around with a raised eyebrow

"It's a plain simple question with no other undertone to it" She said after she took in her daughter-in-law's face. Yoshino on her part only bowed her head not knowing what to do

"Being tacticians and the medicine and deer" she meekly

"That's right" Fumiko then smiled at her "you don't need to be so on edge for I'm not a monster who would attack you" she chuckled and then looked around, she gestured around.

"These grounds are specifically reserved for the clan and its members; you are a part of us now, so I wanted to get you familiarized with them" She continued, this time a few Deer's appeared, poking their heads from behind the tree trunks.

"And to let you in on our Clans secret that only main family knows"

At this Yoshino looked at her mother-in-law. Two deer came their way, one looked like a younger stag while other was a doe, clearly elder and much wiser.

"But before that, I want you to understand that this information stays only in the main family. That means amongst the living only Shikaku and I know about it; and now you will too – so it is a humble request to keep it that way till the time it is to be passed on to the next generation." Fumiko warned and settled down by a tree, the deer's following her; she motioned Yoshino to also take a seat to which the later obliged.

"You see, normal life of any deer is around 15 years and even that is stretching it thin; but the Nara deer are rare, they live far more than their usual lifespan – eldest one to live is 57 years." Fumiko started explaining "Well this is not the secret though. The thing is, Shikaku's grandfather was the one who lived 57 years and no one born in the main family has ever lived more than him"

Yoshino's eyes widened at the new information; she had a hunch where this was going. Fumiko smiled at her expression, pleased that she was a smart one and caught on quickly.

"I really don't know when it exactly started, but as my mother-in-law had explained me; somehow the deer and the main family members have an out worldly connection and their lifelines entangled, they resonate the other's life, resulting in having the same lifespan for both." She continued "For other members of the clan, the connection is not that strongly established resulting in them not having the same effect on deer as main family does."

Both the deer nuzzled Fumiko, who took Yoshino's both hands and slowly placed them on the two deer

"These Deer are like the other half of us" She gestured to the young stag "That's Karu, he was born only a few minutes after Shikaku, they are like reflection of the original image; what happens to the human, their deer counterpart experiences the same. My theory is animals; especially these deer are more attuned with nature than us humans and since Nara's specialize in Shadows, these little things can read them easily – like a wind user can distinguish between a normal wind and a troublesome wind; they can read shadows. The only part unknown is, why does it run this deep – but we don't need to worry about it"

"So, all the life events occurring in Shikaku's life or your life will reflect in their life too?" Yoshino asked, completely intruded and awed by the concept

"That pretty much sums it up" she then looked past Yoshino's head and smiled "Like Shikaku getting married to you, our little fawn also found his doe"

Yoshino turned around where Fumiko was looking, and sure enough a young doe was peeking out from behind a tree trunk, she looked scared and shy to come near humans.

"Go ahead" Fumiko said "You will have to bond with her, those who marry into the house need a lot more efforts to bond with their deer–half. It took me twelve years to finally manage to connect with her" She chuckled and looked at the elder doe by her side, who just lifted her head – looked at the two women and then again went back to pretending they did not exist.

"Can I really?" Yoshino asked

"Yes" Fumiko nodded "Just be careful, they are very cautious beings and sometimes a little to feisty. It's tricky to handle them."

With another few words of encouragement, Yoshino got-up from her place and made her way towards where the younger deer was. As a reaction to the approaching figure, the doe tried to hide herself behind the trunk completely which was a very unsuccessful attempt.

"Hey, hi there. I'm Yoshino." She tried in a soft voice "You don't need to be afraid of me, I'm not going to hurt you"

She then stopped a considerable distance away from the tree and crouched down, forwarding a palm she beckoned the deer to come to her. As Fumiko said, they were tricky beings to handle, so it wasn't an easy task to get the young deer to come anywhere near her, but after lots of cooing and soft nudging the deer finally came towards Yoshino with careful and small steps. She sniffed her hand once and twice, when she found nothing wrong with the human, she nuzzled her face in her palm.

"So, what are you naming her?" Fumiko asked, suddenly behind Yoshino who was startled a moment there but maintained her composure so as not to scare away the deer.

"Name?"

"Yeah name, we need to call her something right?"

"Well, I never thought I did have to think of names this early in the marriage; I was saving that part for later" She joked now completely relaxed.

"Well then you'll just have to think of two" Fumiko laughed.

"Afra"

"Huh?"

"How about Afra?" Yoshino asked, creasing the doe's face; a small smile playing her lips

"Afra - white" Fumiko thought for a minute and then chuckled "It also means deer, how unoriginal"

"It suits her" It did, for she had a white fur

"It does"

They spent some more time with the deer. It wasn't until Shikaku came to remind them of time that they headed home. Fumiko had gone ahead and left the two to return home at their pace

"So, she told you huh?" He asked

"It seems so surreal, like something completely out of a fictional novel"

"When I was younger and first time my old man told me about it, I had laughed at his face and told him such tricks won't work on me. I used to think it was all rubbish and it just another bogeyman story to make us keep caring for the deer. I actually went and told one of the clan elders about that; my dad had one hell of a time trying to make them believe that it was actually just something made-up for me and then later trying to get me believe the face – it was all such a mess" he chuckled

"Heh? Who knew even you were dumb when you were a kid." She laughed "Then what? When did you believe?"

"Not until old man actually passes away" He glanced at her and she immediately regrated asking that question. "It was his dying words – Now you would believe it wasn't just another bogeyman story – He had said. Stupid old man, he did not have to die to make me believe that"

"Shikaku-"

"It's okay, Sometimes I do miss him and Karu's father. They were so close, it was then that I got close to Karu"

"He must be so proud of you now"

"Who knows"

Silence prevailed and the two neared the house.

"Why doesn't the other clan members know about this?" Yoshino asked after a while, to her it did not seem something to be kept hidden from the clan members.

"The reason is simple, to avoid any kind of discrimination. If the clan knows about the special bond between the main family and the deer's, it will result in dividing the clan into two parts, making other's feel inferior to us. Though that was never tested – but why risk it? Things are going fine now, and they will remain the same for generations to come." Shikaku had briefly explained.

Yoshino had kept her word and not told a single soul about it. And even though she knew about the connection and bonds shared, she was still surprised when she found out she was expecting not from the medical test or obvious pregnancy symptoms but because Afra was expecting.

And soon after Shikamaru was born, Afra had given birth to her little fawn - Rikumaru

Yoshino sighed.

It's been more than 18 years that she met Afra and the bond that formed between them was unique. They shared many happy and sad moments, at times Afra just accompanied her when she was working on the medicine form the antlers or wanted to clear her head after a fight with Shikaku or when Shikamaru was being unnecessarily bratty and she was at her wits end.

Karu was old now, nothing compared to the one lived for 57 years; but by normal standards he was way older. Almost 40 years and counting, he looked tired and worn-out.

The little fawn, who was now a young stag got up from beside his mom and started pacing around the yard; clearly uneasy.

Karu lifted his head from her lap and nuzzled in her palms and then moving to nuzzle his mates face, clearly affectionate and a way to express what his human half always tried to convey – love.

"It's okay, we will be fine" Yoshino gave a sad smile "Come here Rikumaru"

He obliged, and huddled on other side of his father. A tear slipped from her eyes as she saw the family, At least he got to spend the last moments with his loved ones.

A bittersweet smile made its way and she creased the Stag who looked at her for one last time.

The next few moments were like ages for Yoshino as she saw Karu rest his head on the ground and close his eyes, seconds later all the movements completely stopped.

For the first time in years she cried, with Afra whose eyes had also turned wet over the loss of her mate. Rikumaru was trying to nudge awake his father but all efforts were fruitless. The scene was plain heartbreaking.

The family stayed like that for the longest hour. Later with heavy heart, Yoshino carried Karu into the forest. It was dark, the moon was red but the deer cemetery was her only goal. Afra and Rikumaru following her with tears running down their faces.

They gave him a proper burial.

She thought what exactly happened to her husband, he was going to be in the Headquarters when they left; so, there were only two possibilities – either the circumstances were so dire that he had to leave his post and rush to the frontlines or the enemy got the Headquarters.

"I'll see you soon, wait for me. Okay?"

That's what he had said, but being married to him for this long Yoshino knew he more often than not had broken his promises; this one being the last of those

Either way, she was very proud of him and would always be. He gave her life a meaning. Would she miss him? Yes. But she will live to make sure the things he worked so hard for will be accounted for, at least till the time Shikamaru was capable enough to handle it all without needing her help.

"Thank You for everything, Shikaku. I'll see you soon."

She looked at Afra and gave a half tearstained smile.

"Seems like they finally got rid of us"

A week later the War platoons returned. The war had ended week ago itself, but something happened to the world – like it was all a dream. And it ended just as quickly as it began.

But the aftermath was horrible, out of eighty thousand shinobi that took part in the war – hardly one tenth of those returned. It was a huge loss of life, many families destroyed and even more handicapped.

Shikamaru was just at beat as any other, he was the one working on the paperwork and the documentation of fallen; so many familiar names, people he saw on daily basis, people he had worked with – all gone, just like that. So was his father.

What happened was surely tragic, but he had more pressing matters at hand; how was he going to deliver the news to his mom, what if she fell into depression and completely lost herself. He already lost his dad; as much as bothersome she was usually to him; he did not want to lose his mother too. She was the only one he had now.

With that thought in mind, he came home the first chance he got, relaying his mother with the news. He was ready to pick-up her pieces and be there for her always.

Yoshino got the flashback of the first time she met Shikaku when he came to tell her about her family and how they passed away in the line of duty. Shikamaru looked so much like his father when he was young, even looking at her with the same concerned look her husband had given her.

You live in him, don't you Shikaku?

This time also, she just nodded and smiled at him.

"I know dear, I know"

Was all she said and continued her chores like usual.

Shikamaru was flabbergasted, would be an understatement.

"That's it?" He asked dumbfounded "I tell you that the headquarters was wiped away and it took dad with him, and how he did his duty till the last moment; and all you give me is 'I know'?" Even if his words sounded frustrated, his face remained stoic with only a raised eyebrow.

Okay, so maybe he did get a bit of her personality too. But only one bit.

"Yes Shikamaru." She wiped her hands to her apron and then turned to her son "Come have a walk with me, I have a secret to share"

And so, that day Yoshino took him to the woods, took care of the deer, visited Karu's grave and relied the only secret of Nara's main family to the next clan head. She will function as a temporary head for a few years till Shikamaru is completely ready to take over and settle down.

She knew the day was not too far away; four – five years at max, she has estimated.

Because, this past week she had observed a new doe lurking the Nara forest and had taken quite a liking towards Rikumaru. It would soon reflect in her fawn's life too, she knew it.

She wondered if it is the one who she thinks it is. If so, then another of Shikaku's prediction would be correct; which was not a surprise at all. That would mean Shikamaru was going to have to deal with a more troublesome woman than her.

Oh dear!

Fin!