The Wanderers
Chapter 21 – Shikamaru - Desert Winds
A/N: Welcome to the second half of the story. Each of these chapters will be centred on a character and their story. This chapter, and a few after it, will focus on Shikamaru. Then it'll be onto the next character.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be more adventures in Suna.
***Previously-On***
After defeating the Sound Four, the Konoha forces retreated back to their rally point outside the village, though not entirely without incident. Having found the remains of the Konoha survivors and destroying them, Neji then found three Sound Genin locked up in a prison. With a promise on their assistance, he freed Dosu, Zaku and Kin, removing their debilitating Cursed Seals with ease. With their help he confronted the de facto Sound Village leader clone, Kabuto. With a single blow he felled the fake Kabuto and exposed his experiments to the shinobi of the village. As they moved to flee the village, Lee's group was on the verge of being overrun, until they were saved by Neji's intervention. With a promise to catch up to them, Neji blocked off the path and faced an overwhelming number of Sound shinobi, resigning himself to death. In the hope that he would catch up with them, Lee's group met up with the rest of the Konoha group. However before they could organise a rescue mission for Neji, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
***End Summary***
Underneath his fingers, all he could feel around him was dust and hot sand. His vision hadn't returned yet so he wasn't willing to try picking himself up from the ground, but judging from the dry taste in his mouth, Shikamaru didn't think he was in the Land of Rice Fields anymore.
He felt around the area with his left hand, feeling the dry sand between his fingers. After a few seconds he felt the pressure beneath his hand disappear, to which Shikamaru instantly retracted his hand.
Where the hell am I?
A dry wind suddenly slammed into his face, causing him to drag along the ground with it. Still unable to open his eyes, Shikamaru felt the ground beneath his legs give way, as if a strange force was pulling him along the ground.
With a burst of chakra, Shikamaru dug his fingers into the ground, crying out in pain as the skin on his hands began to tear as he dragged along the ground.
Shit…I've got to open my eyes…
The empty feeling came up to his waist; it took nearly all of Shikamaru's strength in his hands to stay steady. With an unbelievable amount of effort, he was able to open his eyes, barely. A bright light assaulted him immediately, followed by a huge gust of sand straight into his face.
He swore under his breath and went to shield his eyes with one of his hands, until he realised that if he were to move one of his hands, he would likely fall down to whatever was pulling him down.
I can't sense anyone around me. Come on Shikamaru. You can't let something like this take you down. With an uncharacteristic roar, his opened his eyes despite the onslaught of sand. Further digging his hands into the ground, the point that he could barely feel them, Shikamaru attempted to launch himself straight forward, expending a large amount of chakra. His body crashed into the sand several metres forward from his original position.
Shikamaru cried out in pain as he looked down at his bloody fingers, wincing as the sticky red substance became covered by small chunks of sand. "Of all the places…"
With a glance around his surroundings and a wipe of his eyes to get the sand out, Shikamaru turned around so that his back was against the wind. As he saw what would have been his demise, he just rolled his eyes and fell onto his back.
I'm a genius, I swear. I just have moments like…this.
The cliff that he had landed on, and nearly fallen off of, was an almighty two metres high, with smooth stones covering the sides. All that trouble…
Another gust of wind slammed into him, covering his face with hot dry sand. He sat up and coughed up a heap of sand onto his chest. Glancing over at the ridge he had almost 'died' at, Shikamaru dragged himself to the edge before rolling over it, grimacing as he landed on smooth stone and positioned himself so that he was protected from the wind.
With a groan he looked up at the stifling hot sun that was beating down on him, as the wind continued to storm above him. "Where am I? Is this Suna? Bah, I won't be able to tell until this storm is finished. Stupid troublesome desert."
He reached into the small pack at his side, feeling around for a moment before sighing. He produced a small water bottle and removed the lid, sighing again. "Not even half full. I'd better ration it. Who knows how long I might be here."
The sandstorm lasted long into the night, only receding once it was past midnight. After making sure the storm had finished, Shikamaru moved over the ridge and swung his feet over the edge. The night had gotten surprisingly cold, but he didn't want to risk a fire in case there were enemies around.
With his regular disinterested look, Shikamaru stared up at the night sky, sighing as he realised that he didn't recognise any of the stars in the sky. At a quick glance there didn't appear to be any landmarks in his immediate area, and Shikamaru suspected that he wouldn't find any of his companions in the area either.
Whoever that person was, he wanted to separate us because we were a threat as a group. Which is strange considering we were completely at his mercy and so easily defeated by him. He also admitted compliance in the destruction of Konoha…damn, none of this makes sense.
He laid out his pack in front of him, taking an account of his supplies. I've got about two days' worth of food, and about the same amount of water. It's going to be troublesome without a tent though…
Looking back up at the chilly night sky, he spied the small moon high above him. Taking a few moments he calculated where north was before crossing his legs and stuffing his belongings back into his pack.
This desert seems to go forever in every direction. The only place I know of that size would be the Land of Wind. If I move north-east…I might hit civilization before I die of starvation.
With a final sigh he fell onto his back and continued staring at the night sky. No point in going now. I'm still sore from the battles in the Sound Village. Bah, so troublesome.
oOoOoOo
After a few hours of walking, it occurred to Shikamaru to rip off a part of his shirt to wrap around his face, since the moment he had set off the sandy wind had nearly knocked him off his feet. Having to continuously check his bearing made his progress very slow, and a cautionary check of his chakra levels didn't give him much hope either. It took all of his energy just to put one foot in front of the other as the wind continued to try and buff him back.
He chewed on a nutrient bar and stopped at a dead spiked tree to gather his strength. Shikamaru didn't consider himself a stamina-freak like Naruto, but it was taking more energy than he would have thought to move through the blistering hot desert. As chilly as the night had been, the day was a harsh dry heat that didn't seem to want to relent.
If that warrior wanted me to suffer, this is certainly the best way to do it. There are no ways to relax here at all. I feel like if I were to stop, I'd turn to dust. He breathed out slowly and took a swig from his water bottle, keeping a close eye on its levels.
He pushed off the dead tree and continued moving to the north-east, praying that he would find some form of life before his supplies ran out. He had wrapped his hands with bandages to keep them from being infected, but they had started to get numb, though he wasn't sure whether that was just because of the cold from the night or not.
A frown came over his face as he wiped the sweat off his face. Across the horizon line he could barely make out a few objects that he hadn't seen before during his trek. His eyes widened as he drew closer, seeing a small pair of huts amidst a group of flush green trees. A smile grew on Shikamaru's face, the shadow-user breaking out in a run towards the apparent sanctuary.
Each step drew the area closer towards him, Shikamaru wincing as his eyes started to ache. I feel like I haven't slept in days. What the hell is up with this desert? It'll be fine once I reach those huts…I could use the shelter.
Hot sand continued to collect through his clothing, yet the closer Shikamaru felt he was getting to the housing, the more distorted his vision became. Rubbing his eyes in an attempt to clear the view, Shikamaru sighed and lent on his knees panting.
"A…damn…mirage…" The wind around him had settled down, but even as the sun was slowly making its way towards the horizon it was still blistering hot.
He grabbed at his water bottle and placed the lid to his lips, feeling an uncontrollable urge to both quench his thirst, and throw up what little he had eaten. After a few seconds Shikamaru realised that no water was coming out. He frantically tried to look inside the canister, his eyes widening in panic when he saw that it was completely empty. That's impossible! I haven't been walking for more than five or six hours…haven't I? It's hard to keep track of time here…but surely I haven't drunken all of my water already. I had two days' worth.
He looked around his surroundings quickly, spying a small boulder that was strangely smooth on the top. He placed the bottle on top of the rock before clapping his hands together. If this doesn't work, I'll have wasted a large chunk of my remaining chakra for no reason.
Quickly he ran through the handseals before clapping his hands together again. There was a part of him that wished he had trained harder so that he wouldn't be in such a predicament, but Shikamaru knew that there was no changing his personality, no matter what the rest of the group might think.
"Suiton…um…don't really have a name for the technique…ah bugger it." With a small amount of chakra he attempted to create a small amount of water from pure chakra. Unfortunately due to his inexperience with the water element, instead of a small amount just to fill the bottle, a large pool of water appeared above him, hovering momentarily before crashing down all over him.
He sighed in momentary relief, the water wasn't cold, the desert air had made sure of that, but nevertheless it cooled him off, until he sank to his knees with a wince. Even just that amount, I feel like I've run a marathon. This place…
Shaking his head in a vain attempt to dry himself, an action he instantly realised was pointless in a desert; Shikamaru looked down at his water bottle before smiling slowly. The canister was brimming to the top with water, as the surroundings were already drying in the descending sun's heat. He picked up the canister and eyed it cautiously. Elements made from chakra had strange properties at times, but Shikamaru was gambling that it was still drinkable.
He placed the lid to his lips and took a tiny sip, feeling the warm water trickle down his throat. It had a slightly sweet taste, but as far as Shikamaru could tell it was normal water. He sighed in relief and twisted the cap on; making sure none of the precious resource would leak out.
Shikamaru performed another check of his chakra levels, and as he suspected the amount of chakra required to produce water of drinkable quality was more then he would be able to feasible recover. Another technique like that, and he would struggle to defend himself against any basic level of foe. This is all the water I'll be able to create, even with a proper night's rest. Travelling in this desert is killing my stamina. But now I have four days' worth of water. So I won't run out of water before I run out of food. Still, my situation hasn't gotten much better. I don't think I made too much progress today either.
Sitting down on the ground to catch his breath, Shikamaru watched the sun descend past the horizon as the sky began to darken to a deep orange. Even in his situation, as royally screwed as he calculated himself to be in, Shikamaru could appreciate the natural beauty of a desert sunset.
Caught in the moment, it took Shikamaru a few minutes before he realised that he wasn't in a good position to rest for the coming night. The Nara heir leapt up and continued moving in what he assumed was still north-east, hoping to find a rock face or something that he could huddle behind, in case there was a storm during the night.
oOoOoOo
Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days. In the blistering heat Shikamaru found it extremely difficult to keep track of the time, but after his food ran out he didn't care so much.
He placed his water bottle back into his pack with a sigh. He had calculated that the water should have lasted for four days, but even with only taking sips when absolutely necessary the canister was now empty, after only two and a half days. It's as if the desert is actively trying to kill me.
It took all of his stamina just to put one foot in front of the other, Shikamaru still not seeing any end in sight. After three days in the desert he had learnt two things.
The first thing was that the only forms of life in this hell were insects and crows, neither of which were particularly edible. Shikamaru's stomach was still aching from a vain attempt to eat a scorpion he had caught.
The second thing, which was less important but more worrying, was that as he continuing walking towards the empty horizon line he noticed that the desert air had caused his vision to play tricks on him, such as mirages like the huts or even pools of water and trees that he knew couldn't be real.
To his alarm he had realised that he wasn't recovering chakra during the night either, and that he no longer had the capacity to even use his family's techniques, let alone to create more water to survive on.
His skin had become cracked, and he could taste blood on his lips, yet Shikamaru continued to push forward, though he could feel like every step was heavier than life. The sun above him continued to beat down on him; the heat was particularly unbearable today. Shikamaru panted heavily as he placed another foot forward, the sand between his foot and sandal was stinging his skin.
Spying a convenient comfortable-looking rock, Shikamaru planted himself on top of it, placing his hands on his knees as he attempted to catch his breath. Even breathing was painful, causing Shikamaru to lie down and place his head on top of his pack.
Just…for a few minutes…
"Giving up already? That's very like you, Shikamaru."
The Nara heir opened his eyes slowly, he recognised the voice immediately, but wanted to see for himself whether it was true. To his amazement, he saw the grinning face and smoke covered form that he had been so accustomed to. He shook his head as he sat up slowly, keeping an indifferent look on his face. "Pleasant as always, Asuma-sensei."
His grinning teacher was wearing his Jounin outfit, with his forehead protector and customary cigarette hanging out of his mouth, the retired shinobi sitting opposite Shikamaru with a hand on his face. "Seems like you are in a bit of a situation, Shikamaru."
"I could go without the lecture, Asuma-sensei. It hurts just to talk."
Asuma breathed out slowly before chewing on his cigarette. "You just going to stay there forever? I know you give up easily, but you really will die if you stay here."
Shikamaru frowned as he looked at his former teacher. "I'm not giving up, not like normal. I'm not like you."
"Not like me? What do you mean?" Asuma flicked away his finished cigarette before producing another one, lighting another one with a similar frown to his old student's.
"You left us." Shikamaru leant on his knees as he stared at his former teacher. "You gave up once the situation looked bad, and left all the difficult decisions to us. You abandoned us." He didn't realise it before, but at the sight of the Sarutobi survivor all of his pent up frustrations seemed to come to the surface.
"Eh?" Asuma puffed out a large cloud of smoke. "You know why we left the group. It was to protect Airi from the world. You know, my unborn daughter?"
Shikamaru waved off Asuma's statement. "I know, and I realise that is as good an excuse as any. But you didn't fight for us! You should have made us stay, or at least tried to stop us."
Asuma's eyes widened as he reached up and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. He stood up and threw away the half-finished white stick. "You don't know what you are talking about. You aren't a father; you've never had to make those kinds of decisions."
Using what little strength he had left, Shikamaru pushed himself up from his rock before shouldering past Asuma and positioning himself to continue through the desert. "No, I'm not. But I would have fought a lot harder for the kids I would have considered like my children. Now get out of here. I don't have much time left."
Shikamaru didn't have to look behind him as he continued to push forward, knowing that he had no time for apparitions, particularly of ones that were so distracting.
He kept moving forward, feeling the weight of the pack on his back as heavy as the first time he attempted to pick up his father's alcohol barrel as a kid. I…have…to…get…through…this…
"You appear to be struggling…Shikamaru."
As before, Shikamaru recognised the voice, however he didn't stop moving, preferring to keep pushing forward. "I don't have time for you. There are places I need to be."
The voice beside Shikamaru chuckled in a deep tone. "You've grown, Shikamaru. Shame you are still going to die, but in the least I am proud of that fact."
The Nara heir let out a tired smile, turning his head to face the figure walking beside him. "I suppose that is something. Did you ever go through something like this, Father?"
"Not like this. Though this does remind me of when I was walking down the aisle to marry your mother." Konoha's destruction had agreed with the Nara clan head, Shikaku had an odd swagger about him, though Shikamaru noticed the red blush on his father's face. His father wasn't considered an alcoholic, mainly because most it was an act to amuse himself, but it still caused his son discomfort to see his father is such a state.
Shikamaru balked at the wind, it seemed to be picking up. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a sandstorm developing in the distance, there was no shelter around anywhere that he could see, but the desert around him had been wavy and unreliable to look at since the day before yesterday.
He coughed into his hand, feeling a stinging pain in his chest as he did so. Looking at his palm, Shikamaru breathed out slowly and tried not to think about it as he wiped the blood onto his shirt. "I'm sure Mother would love that story. Perhaps I should tell her the next time I see her."
Shikaku laughed with a smile across his face, clapping his son on the back. "You are a cruel child."
His father pointed in the direction they were walking. "You've got to get through this desert first. And it doesn't look like you'll make it very far."
"Shut up. I'm not dead yet." Shikamaru tried to force the apparition away, but as he moved an arm through his father's figure, it struck against his body like it was actually there.
Shikamaru's eyes widened in alarm. "I…I don't understand. Aren't you a hallucination brought on by heat stroke?"
"Am I?" His father patted himself down, taking a few moments before shrugging in a particularly Shikamaru-ish way. "I feel fairly solid. Perhaps you just don't want me to be real. That hurts my feelings, I feel like a failure as a parent."
His son stopped and turned momentarily, staring at his father with his best are-you-kidding-me look. He reached out and poked his father on his flak jacket, frowning as he felt the familiar pressure under his finger. Shaking his head, he stepped back. "I…don't understand. How is this…possible?"
Shikaku grinned and patted him on the head affectionately. Shikamaru had no clue how to respond, his father had never interacted with him in that manner before.
"Perhaps you should take a moment and collect your thoughts."
The lost shinobi looked down at the ground for a second; the wavering sandy ground looked far more appealing than Shikamaru would have thought. With tired eyes he glanced back up around the two of them, frowning as he saw a veritable forest of pine trees and pools of water around him.
He looked back up at his father, noticing a slight distortion in the Nara clan head's face between his grin and the scar that ran across his face.
"I'm going to die here, aren't I?"
His father stared at him for a moment before turning around slowly. "Probably."
"Fantastic." Rubbing his tired eyes, Shikamaru coughed a few times into his hand before pushing his feet through the sand, towards his intended direction. "Come on, I think it's this way."
His father shrugged and followed Shikamaru. "Do you know where you are going?"
"Yeah. This way." The sand had begun to rage around him, with the desert ground growing up to his knees.
"Any regrets?" He knew his father was trying to get him to stop, but Shikamaru no longer cared. After losing his water it occurred to him that there was nothing he could do about it, but unlike his usual response to such scenarios Shikamaru didn't want to just give up. There was a part of him that refused to let such a place defeat him, particularly in the face of his old teacher and his father.
With a sigh, he kept pushing forward. "A few, I guess. I…guess I wish I'd had the chance to have something like Naruto did, or you and Mother."
Shikaku's grin dropped slightly as a solemn look appeared across his face. "I can understand that. Didn't you get close though? With that Suna girl?"
His son chuckled sadly. "I'm sure she has forgotten about me. Besides, we didn't leave on the best of terms."
"That's a shame. She seemed like a nice girl."
"You clearly didn't know her. She was more troublesome than Mother, and that is saying something."
He chuckled again and turned to say something else to his father. To his dismay, there was only sand and wind around him. He sighed for the last time and struggled as he moved forward. The sand was up to his waist, and was nearly impossible to move through.
This…won't…
He never got to finish his thought.
Shikamaru opened his eyes slowly, feeling a cool breeze over his face. He found himself sitting on his favourite bench in Konoha, staring at the clouds without a care in the world.
"The clouds sure are nice today…"
His blood pressure is dropping! We need to start VTAC, and reconnect that drip.
He was thrown off his bench as the building beneath him collapsed, dozens of small explosions at its base causing Shikamaru to begin to fall with the debris.
He's seizing! Get the straps down…no I need twenty CCs, not fifteen.
His shinobi training kicked in immediately, Shikamaru jumping off the falling rock with a huff. With a pulse of chakra he slung a kunai with wire attached to a nearby building that was conveniently not collapsing. He pulled himself into the wall, bouncing off it with his sandals, landing easily on the ground.
"What the hell is going on?"
He's beginning to stabilize. Take him to Recovery, but keep a close eye on his vitals, I don't want him to...wait he's bleeding internally! Get a transfuse pack, and we need a donor.
Shikamaru winced in pain and fell to one knee, grimacing as he reached down and wrenched out the three kunai that had imbedded themselves in his side. He cried out in pain as blood trickled down his side, Shikamaru using one of them to block another two kunai that were thrown at him.
He looked around for the attackers, or for any allies that he could assist, but instead the building behind him exploded, sending him flying forward into the debris. His ears started ringing as he tried to stop his body from landing badly, but even when his shadows moved up to cushion the blow he still felt an agonised spike of pain in his back.
"Gah!" Shikamaru tried to pick himself up from the ground, but was pushed down as he felt a boot-like pressure on the back of his neck. "What the…"
He didn't get a chance to finish his exclamation; he felt a blade dig into his spine, taking a few seconds before pulling itself out of his back.
What the hell is with this patient? He's bleeding internally, he's dehydrated almost to the bone and even with our care he's slipping away. It's like some force is trying to kill this man. Bring the pads, I'm cracking his chest. If he doesn't wake from this, then he won't wake.
oOoOoOo
Shikamaru opened his eyes again, however this time he found himself staring into darkness. With several blinks he noticed a small flame off in the distance.
Seeing no other option, Shikamaru tested his footing before making his way towards the light source. It didn't take him long to notice that the flame was a large campfire, with dozens of logs surrounding it. On closer inspection, Shikamaru saw that hundreds of figures were sitting around it, drinking and laughing together. He wondered why he hadn't heard it earlier, but after seeing who they were and hearing their voices, it became clear what had happened.
He spied the two people he was looking for, not saying a word as he sat down next to them. The man looked at him sadly for a moment before passing him a mug of beer. The woman sitting next to him frowned at the man with a harsh look that Shikamaru was quite familiar with. The man stayed strong for a new record, but after one point seven seconds he caved, taking the beer back and drinking it sheepishly.
"Even here you are really harsh, Mother."
Shikamaru chuckled and put up his hands, feeling the warmth on his skin. Even when he saw his mother dig a fist into his father's head, Shikamaru felt a strange sense of comfortableness. He had his suspicions on where he was, but for the moment he didn't want to mention it.
He looked around, noticing many of the familiar faces he knew from home around the fire. With a sigh, he noticed Gai laughing with the Third Hokage.
"So I'm dead then?" he asked, recognising many of their deceased parents amongst the revellers.
His father turned to face him. "I suppose so. Do you feel dead?"
Shikamaru looked down and stared at his hands. "I don't want to be dead. I have things I need to do."
His father laughed and clapped him on the back. "And you think we didn't? It is a rare shinobi who gets to choose when he dies."
Shikamaru watched as several dozen of the Konoha deceased began dancing and laughing boisterously, without a care in the world. He was surprised to see how happy most of them were, though some of the parents were clearly discouraged by his appearance.
He stood up slowly before turning to his parents. "I refuse to believe this is it. I know I'm normally lazy, and don't care about how things happen around me…but I have to get back to the others. We need to be supporting each other."
Shikaku pulled away his wife's arm from around his shoulder and stood up from their log, standing only a little bit taller than his fifteen year old son. The old Nara clan head placed a hand on his son's shoulder, smiling as he had before, which still unsettled the younger shadow-user.
"Shikamaru, you really are a fool." His father brought back a fist, but before he could strike him, the punch went straight through Shikamaru's face, as if it wasn't even there.
Shikaku frowned and took a step back. "Hmm…perhaps you aren't as dead as you thought."
His son stared back at his hands, his eyes widening as he saw his skin outline slowly began to fade away. He looked back up to his parents, and upon seeing their smiling faces he couldn't hold it in any longer. He wanted to reach out and hug them one last time, but even with tears streaming down his face uncharacteristically he felt himself being pulled away.
His father chuckled in his deep voice, taking a moment before sitting back down next to his wife. He wiped a single tear from his face before putting an arm around Shikamaru's mother. "Baka…what kind of man cries in front of his parents…"
The Nara clan head wiped his eyes again with his free hand. "Take your time, son. Your mother and I aren't going anywhere."
Shikamaru's mother pulled on her husband ear with a frown before smiling sweetly at her son. "But make sure you have some kids first! We want to hear all about them!"
Her son chuckled with a grin, but before he could say anything else he vanished completely from the campfire. His parents glanced at each other for a few moments before both smiling slowly.
"You don't think we were too hard on him?" asked Shikamaru's mother.
Shikaku picked up another mug of beer and took a sip slowly. "I don't know what you are talking about. I wasn't harsh at all." He got in two gulps before being forced to spit it out violently as his head went crashing down into the ground.
The last two times Shikamaru awoke from sleep, it was a moderately peaceful experience. This time Shikamaru was awake for four seconds before screaming out in pain and collapsing.
oOoOoOo
Despite not being able to see anything, Shikamaru could sense several figures hovering around him. He felt his arms and legs restrained, and the extreme pain he had previously woken up to had been replaced with a dull aching.
"Do you think he'll ever wake up?" He didn't recognise the voice, but there was a strange tenderness to the young female voice.
He heard another female voice giggle for a few seconds. "Oh please, you just want to get into his pants the moment he wakes up."
"I've been in his pants. Why do you think I've been taking such good care of him?"
Shikamaru grimaced and tried to wake himself up. They must be nurses or someth…wait she's been in my pants? Damnit…I need to get up.
"Hey, I think his face just twitched."
"He's in a coma, Mitsuko. That has been happened for the past two months, give it a rest."
WHAT? He tried to strain his muscles, but found almost no strength in his body, though he was barely able to slightly open his eyes. He grimaced in pain at the light, but sighed in relief as he felt the dulling sensation from before.
"Okay, you saw that right?"
"Quick, call the doctor! I think he's going to wake up!"
Shikamaru struggled to open his eyes again, this time able to pull up his head slightly to see a white-clad figure run out of a nearby doorway. Within a few seconds he recognised the room as a hospital room, and that he was in fact strapped to the bed.
Suddenly his vision was covered by a young female nurses smiling face. With usual teenage-boy ability, Shikamaru was stunned by how pretty she was, even as she was poking him to register his responses.
The unnamed nurse placed a comforting hand on his, letting Shikamaru enjoy the warm yet soft skin on her hands as she went about fiddling with the several tubes attached to his arms.
"Well isn't this just a surprise? We thought you would never wake up." She had an almost musical voice, but as Shikamaru struggled to open his mouth to respond she giggled softly and placed her other hand on his forehead, staring at her watch.
"You won't be able to talk for a little bit. We had to repair your vocal cords and most of your lungs from scratch. Your survival is somewhat of a miracle story around here. The doctors didn't give you any chance."
She smiled in a manner that would have caused Shikamaru to blush, if she hadn't pressed a button on a nearby device that caused Shikamaru to suddenly become very sleepy.
"I must say though, I didn't expect such a thing from him. Out of all of us, he's the least spiteful, but this is impressive work." Struggling to keep himself awake, Shikamaru was suddenly very aware that he didn't know where he was, or even who this nurse was. Her voice had lost its musical properties, sounding almost icicle.
He felt his eyes drooping, but though his hazy vision he watched in horror as the nurse's face smile turned into an angry frown as her hair seemed to grow out past her shoulders and change from a light brown to an almost blood red. Her stunning blue eyes changed from a full blue to a chilling ice blue with a thin red ring around her irises. He would have still considered her a pretty-looking girl, but there was something about the change in her demeanour that made Shikamaru want to be anywhere but underneath her hands.
She placed a hand on his exposed chest, Shikamaru able to feel through his skin the sheer amount of strength she seemed to have, just the lightest touch gave him the impression that she could put her hand through his chest with little effort.
"I had other things to do you know. Travelling out to this awful desert was not part of the plan. But no, Shouri just had to have his little tantrum." She patted him on the chest and smiled at him again, but Shikamaru couldn't feel any warmth in her expression. "We aren't quite done with you, little shinobi. You will die when you have fulfilled your purpose."
Shikamaru tried to fight against the drugs pumping through his system, but as he felt his world darken the last image he saw was of the nurse smirking with a look that Shikamaru was quite familiar with. It was one that he had been told he adopted when everything when according to his plan, and he had caught the enemy off-guard. Da…mn…it…
Staring out of the window in his hospital room, Shikamaru had to admit that despite its propensity towards sandstorms, Suna was a nice looking shinobi village. He had seen it before during the Chuunin Exams, but sitting on his soft bed he was able to see the shinobi village from a different viewpoint. During the Chuunin Exams the entire village had been in a heightened state of alertness, they barely saw the villagers at all and were only able to go to certain areas of the village.
Through his window Shikamaru was able to see the robed villagers flitting from one shop to another, as little children laughed and played with large balls in the sand-laden streets.
The fallen shinobi turned at once as he heard the door to his room opening. A young blonde nurse entered with a tray of food, placing it down on the table next to his sheet-covered bed with a blushing smile. "Are we feeling any better?"
Shikamaru smiled back, he had been courteous to the nurses but cautious as well considering his last encounter with one of them. Apparently the nurse who was called Mitsuko had disappeared, but the other nurses said she did that all the time so they weren't worried. Shikamaru felt the need to be cautious all the time, they may not know who he is, but this was still another shinobi village and an enemy had already identified herself to him.
"I've gotten some more feeling back in my arms" he said softly. It had taken him two weeks of bed rest to recover the ability to talk. It would have taken less time, but Shikamaru didn't want to let on to the fact that he was a shinobi by using chakra to heal himself. While he doubted that Suna had anything to do with the destruction of Konoha, those responsible had already identified themselves, but seeing the village from his window he could already see that Suna was prospering. It wasn't something he could describe easily, but the people in the village seemed happier or at the very least more productive than a year ago.
The nurse placed a hand on his forehead and checked his temperature before pushing him back to check his bandages. "Pretty soon you'll be ready to be up and moving around" she said with the cute smile that nurses are known for.
She indicated to the tray she brought in. "You need to eat quickly. The doctor will be in about twenty minutes to ask you a few questions. Now that you've recovered sufficiently, the hospital will need you to fill out a few forms."
"I'm surprised you guys took so long. I've been here for nearly three months, right?" Shikamaru pulled up the lid on the tray and stared at the food presented to him. It wasn't a particularly interesting tray of food, but Shikamaru had only just recovered his appetite, so he gladly dug in.
After finishing his meal and waiting for the nurse to leave, Shikamaru took an account of his injuries. Few more days and I should be able to be on the move. It's strange that I was the only one to appear here, but if his goal was to separate and kill us it is likely that the others are in similar situations. I can't stay here much longer.
The door to his room slammed open, causing Shikamaru to flinch as he watched a bored looking man march into his room with a chart in his hands. "You the idiot that got himself lost in the desert?"
Shikamaru brought up the blanket around his shoulders. "That sounds like me. You're here to ask me some questions, right?"
The doctor shook his head and brought up one of the rolling chairs in the room, sitting on it backwards and leaning on the back with his arms. "Takes a special kind of idiot to get stuck in that part of the desert with no supplies or companions. I suppose we can just go ahead and tick the box for sustained head injuries. Unless you have a good reason for being in the desert in the first place?"
He stared at the Nara heir for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders and scribbling on the chart with a pen. "That's what I thought. Okay let's have a look…"
He flicked through several sheets on the chart before his eyes widened at what he read. "Kid, you should be dead. Several times over. Dehydration, heat stroke, six broken ribs, four cases of blood poisoning...and burnt out lungs and throat. Either you've got some serious healing skills for a civilian, or you have something serious to live for."
"How long until I can leave?" asked Shikamaru, hoping that the doctor's boredom wouldn't lead to too much probing. He had thought of a cover story, but wasn't sure whether it would hold under inspection.
The doctor flicked back through the chart pages to the first form. "Well I'll get your details, and we'll see about getting you moving." He pulled up his pen, "What is your name and occupation?"
"I'm Shikamaru…Natsume. I was a…teacher." Shikamaru initially didn't want to use his real first name, but he figured it was less likely for him to mess up if he gave it. He kept a straight face as he described the fake village and what he taught.
Throughout Shikamaru's story the doctor nodded slowly, writing down key pieces of information. As Shikamaru had suspected, the doctor didn't pay too much attention so the holes in his story weren't explored.
"Alright, alright. I asked for your name and occupation, not your life story. Some people just don't shut up." He covered up the chart and stood up from his chair. "Everything looks fine. Now I know you are probably uncomfortable being in a shinobi village, but the shinobi are surprisingly friendly to us civilians. Just don't mess with their missions, and you'll fit right in."
Shikamaru frowned and sat up in his bed. "Fit right in? I need to get back to my people."
The doctor laughed, almost knocking over the chair in front of him. "You…oh that's right, you are an outsider, so you don't know." He walked across the room and indicated to the village through the window. "Suna is a shinobi village. Since the destruction of the Hidden Village of the Leaf, every shinobi village has been on heightened alert, but Suna has been accepting refugees regularly. The only requirement is that you don't leave the village. It's a safety precaution. Don't worry, life here is alright."
Shikamaru watched him amble out of the room, breathing out slowly as he took account of the situation. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay in the village once he was released, but escaping the village would be difficult at best.
oOoOoOo
Two days later Shikamaru was allowed out of his bed and escorted around to test his legs. It hadn't been difficult to convince the blonde nurse to escort him to the roof. From his previous experiences in Suna, he knew that the skies over the Sand Village were surprisingly beautiful, not what he had expected from a desert town at all.
"We can only stay here for a few minutes" said the nurse, showing him to a bench and assisting him in sitting down. Shikamaru knew he was almost completely recovered, but he still put on the act, there was something about the blonde nurse that endeared her to him.
Shikamaru smiled warmly at her and accepted her help in sitting down on the bench, allowing him to stare up into the clear sky. It was an almost clear blue morning, with only a few shapely clouds in otherwise perfect weather. Shikamaru hadn't expected the desert to feel so cool, yet with only a slight breeze it felt quite relaxing to just sit there and stare at the sky.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see a small commotion at the bottom of the hospital, figuring it to just be another injury emergency. In the month he had been recovering from after awakening he had seen that the hospital had a frightening turnover of patients, their medical expertise wasn't as in depth as Shizune's, but they had the numbers of doctors to compensate.
The blonde nurse looked over the edge of the rooftop in the direction that Shikamaru saw the commotion, an odd smile forming across her face. She moved back from the edge before walking slowly towards him. "It's about time."
There was something about her tone that instantly put Shikamaru on edge, but before he could do anything he felt himself pinning to the bench as she leapt on top of him. Suddenly he was very aware of how close she was as he felt her legs on top of his and the distinct smell of her orange-like perfume. Without ceremony she placed both hands around his neck and planted her lips onto his, driving her tongue into his mouth while the Nara heir could do nothing but kiss her back.
After ten seconds she released her lips from his, sighing in pleasure as she climbed off him and stood opposite him. Shikamaru found that while he could move again, all he could really do was stare at her with a dumb expression on his face, unable to say anything intelligible.
She licked her lips seductively before smiling in a way that Shikamaru swore he would remember for the rest of his life. "Hmm…not quite as good as that red-eyed one, but you have your own charms."
After taking several long breaths to calm himself down, Shikamaru groaned as he stood up from the bench, staring at the nurse's full chest for a few seconds before remembering where he was. He coughed awkwardly before looking into her eyes, which confirmed his suspicions. "You are part of the same group as that other nurse" he said, staring at her ice blue eyes.
The seductive look on the blonde nurse changed slowly to a wicked grin, as her eyes developed a small red ring around her irises. "I would think so, since we are one in the same. Consider that a parting gift, Nara Shikamaru. Where you are going, there won't be much of that."
"Who says I'll be going alone?" asked Shikamaru, a slow grin developing on his face. He indicated down to the ground, showing the nurse his sprung trap. "Kagemane no Jutsu, successful."
She looked down at their connected shadows, taking a moment to smile before looking back up at the shadow-binder, who was unsettled even more by the fact that she was able to move her head like it was nothing. It took him a few moments, he wasn't a particularly strong sensor, but he finally clicked onto the fact that she didn't have any chakra emanating from her, the same way as the white-clad warrior that had put him in the desert.
"Such a shame…you won't catch me so easily, shinobi." A large rip in the air appeared behind the nurse, whose blonde hair has begun to adopt a darker red colour that Shikamaru was familiar with.
He cancelled his binding technique, it was clear that it was pointless and he had the feeling he would need all the chakra he could mould. "Just who are you people? Why did you destroy Konoha?"
The fake nurse paused from her escape and turned back around to face him. Her wicked grin changed again, this time Shikamaru couldn't mistake the sheer amount of hatred in her expression. "We are chaos. The world of shinobi has existed for too long, and we are here to even the playing field."
They both heard a loud thundering near their position, Shikamaru turning to see the entrance to the roof being forced open. He quickly glanced back at her, but to his dismay she had vanished.
"And you are nothing but pawns in our game."
He swore under his breath at her final statement and turned around, placing his hands together in a handseal. The door thundered twice before exploding outwards in a large cloud of smoke.
Shikamaru figured whatever was coming for him wasn't going to be friendly, particularly considering the circumstances that had led him to this point.
She had dozens of chances to kill me, but went out of her way to save and heal me. I'd be willing to bet she was the one who pulled me out of that desert too. This means that whatever this is, is part of her overall plan. Shit, I've got to escape this village.
For a moment he considered scaling down the building back into his room to gather his belongings, but dismissed that quickly when he realised that they would have been stored elsewhere or wouldn't have been brought with him, since he didn't recall seeing them in his hospital room.
Taking several steps back he gathered a small amount of chakra as dozens of figures appeared within the smoke cloud, the blowing wind removing their shell quickly to reveal them to be Suna shinobi, all of whom looking extremely angry.
"That's him!" shouted the largest shinobi of the pack, dozens of his companions shouting their acknowledgements as the group of shinobi began to charge towards Shikamaru.
The Nara heir swore again and activated his technique, wishing that he was wearing something more than hospital fatigues as a large shadow extended from his feet. Within a second he had attached it to all the Suna shinobi's shadows, freezing the attackers in place while he stared at their angry faces.
"Bastard!"
"Let us go!"
"You'll pay for what you've done!"
Shikamaru sighed and stretched out his arms, which caused all the Suna shinobi to mimic his actions. "And what is it you are accusing me of?" he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. He could tell they were furious at him, but there were only a few actions that would inspire such disgust in his mind.
Even restrained by Shikamaru's technique, the Suna shinobi struggled to keep their emotions in check. A shinobi with one eye covered by a piece of cloth glared at him hatefully. "What the hell did you do with the Kazekage, you scum?"
"The Kazekage?" Suddenly everything made a scary amount of sense to him. He sighed again and stared at his opposition. "So I'm the scapegoat eh?"
Placing his hands together into a new handseal, Shikamaru formulated a new plan in his head. He could hear the protests of the enemy shinobi, but paid them no attention. It wasn't as difficult as he thought to activate his techniques, but his body was still stiff and sore from his recovery.
"Kagenui no Jutsu." Long strands of dark shadows emerged from the shadows between him and the Suna shinobi, grabbing at their wrists and legs, binding them tighter than any rope could.
Taking a second to ensure he had ensnared all his opposition, Shikamaru cancelled his first technique and moved to the edge of the roof. "Protesting my innocence won't help my case so…"
He placed his hands together before activated a new technique from his now-lost family scroll. A long stretch of dark shadow extended from under his feet, moving across the gap between buildings, forming a bridge to the lower adjacent building. "Kagehashi no Jutsu (Shadow Bridge Technique)."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the Suna shinobi struggling against his shadow bonds. He wished he'd had time to test the technique, but was forced to take a gamble as he leapt off the building in a single bound, planting his feet on the black bridge firmly.
His grip barely lasted a second, his feet slipping almost immediately, sending him flying into the roof of the building he had connected the bridge to.
Shikamaru swore under his breath again and picked himself up from the ground, clutching at his head while looking back at the shadow bridge he had created. "So it's like walking on water. Trust Father to not mention something like that."
He watched as the shadow bridge disappeared, causing Shikamaru to wonder how he had landed so well considering he had slid nearly fifty metres across the gap between buildings.
"He's on the rooftops!"
"Quickly, cut off his escape!"
"Get the bastard!"
Dozens of shinobi leapt onto the building he was occupying, drawing an assortment of weaponry whilst being backed up by a hail of projectiles sent against Shikamaru. The Nara heir ducked quickly, placing his hands together as a second set of projectiles screamed towards him.
"Kagekabe no Jutsu!" (Shadow Wall Technique) His shadow shot up from his feet, forming a thin shield around him. It hadn't been a technique in his family scroll, but once he had figured out how to manipulate his shadow to form solid objects, Shikamaru had spent much of his time working out new ways to use his techniques.
After fighting against powerful opponents like the Akatsuki or the Sound Four, Shikamaru had realised that he wasn't as strong as he needed to be. Even a lazy type like him felt a compulsion to try his hardest, though he wished he could have tested the techniques under simpler circumstances.
The projectiles bounced off the solid black wall, and when the shell retracted the Suna shinobi's eyes widened when they saw that he had disappeared.
"Spread out! Don't let him escape!"
The Suna shinobi continued to yell out orders to each other, their search was surprisingly organised from Shikamaru's perspective. He sat in a dark alleyway, having quickly covered himself with dirt to disguise his white hospital robe. It was to his regret that he never learnt the final technique of the Nara clan, which was the ability to hide within shadows and become almost undetectable. Such a technique was now lost, and Shikamaru figured that if he ever had the time he would work it out for himself.
He glanced around his surroundings, seeing no obvious exit path in his area, but from his past experiences he knew there were deep tunnels running through the village's underground, which were used when the village came under siege. Shikamaru figured if he could get into those tunnels, the likelihood of him escaping the village without hurting any of the Suna shinobi was high, though he didn't know where any of the entrances were.
"Has someone checked the alleyways? The bastard could be hiding anywhere!"
Pushing off the ground, Shikamaru leapt onto a balcony above his original position, thankful that his pursuers were loud, otherwise he wouldn't have heard them coming. He watched several Jounin entered the alleyway, taking only a few seconds before staring up straight at the young shinobi's hiding spot.
"This is getting really troublesome" he muttered, leaping from his position onto a nearby roof with a pulse of chakra.
As he landed he cried out in pain and clutched at his chest, a huge spike of running through his body. He fell to one knee, noticing the Jounin from below had leapt up and followed him.
"It's never easy…" He rolled away from a sword strike, swearing as he realised that he had rolled straight off the roof. With a motion that took more effort than he had anticipated, Shikamaru reached out to the balcony he had originally come from, grasping at the stone with his fingers, halting his descent.
He bit at his lip painfully; feeling like his arms had come out of their sockets, but could see that wasn't out of danger yet, the Suna shinobi pursing him relentlessly. Shikamaru stole a look to the ground and, upon seeing no enemy forces below him, took another gamble.
He let go of the balcony and fell to the ground, cursing as his feet struck the ground hard, his body following suit. Lying face down in the sand, Shikamaru tried to pick himself up but found none of his limbs were responding.
Well that was a pathetic escape attempt. I guess I hadn't recovered as well as I thought. He could hear the sound of heavy footsteps around him and the sound of weapons being drawn and placed near his body. He tried to think of a way out, but with the miniscule amount of time he had, Shikamaru couldn't think of any ideas that didn't involve large amounts of chakra or smoke bombs, neither of which were at his disposal.
Letting off one final sigh, he used the last bit of stamina to place his hands behind his head. "Alright, I give up."
He barely even felt the blow that knocked him out.
Author's Note:
And so ends the first chapter of Shikamaru's saga. My plan is for the next two chapters to be about Shikamaru, and then I'll go to the next character. Since his story is the longest, Naruto's will be spread out between the others. They all lead to a single point in the timeline.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.