Kit or Fawn?
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D/C: I own nothing.
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"Yin-Kurama Speaking."
"Yang-Kurama Speaking."
'Naruto and Shikamaru's mental link to each other and to their respective Kurama's. Or to emphasize something.'
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Shikaku stood in front of a grave, his entire expression showed just how worn down he is. It has been a very long month since the attack. A very tiresome month… white flowers decorated the grave, to the point the name of the grave is completely covered up the name. There were several children drawings sprawled around the grave, it only seemed to remind everyone who visits just how loved this person once was…
"Mom… dad… please watch over everyone…" Shikaku murmured aloud, he turned around and walked off towards the direction of the hospital. Yoshino has yet to wake up from her injuries and is not showing any signs of recovery. She was dealt massive amount of damage and it makes him wonder how she even managed to survive this long.
Several broken ribs.
Severe brain damage.
Internal and external bleeding.
Dislocated joints.
And the cherry on top of this troublesome cake… two cherries actually…
One, she was found with her tongue ripped out of her mouth and is suffering from the aftereffects of a powerful genjutsu. Someone made sure Yoshino would never even mutter a single word on what she saw that night. The entire thing has him up in a frenzy, there were more questions than answers and nothing was adding up. People started to whisper that the Uchiha was behind the attack, but that is complete bullshit. Fugaku and several of his head clansmen were in the middle of the fray, escorting civilians to safety and doing whatever they could to go up against the beast. Then… there was that one whisper on how people saw Shikaku hand his infant son over to the Fourth Hokage and shortly after the beast disappeared with two infants to be found in the middle of the fray.
Not exactly the truth or a lie, but it was enough to warrant for the Third to enact a law when people made mention just exactly what the Fourth did to stop the attack. The law isn't going to do much. People still whisper, people still act, and people fear what they do not know.
Typical.
Even with the Third's Law in place and only a month since it was enacted, the villagers are already treating everyone connected to the infants with the utmost… Shikaku couldn't even think of it without having his anger consume him completely. Ten doctors stopped doing their job in taking care of Yoshino and now there needs to have a background check on anyone that is overseeing Yoshino, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kushina.
Speaking of Kushina… she's still recovering, but not completely out of the woods. Her body is still dealing with the fact she is no longer a Jinchuriki and the chakra she once contained is no longer there, that resulted in massive chakra exhaustion. That is just one problem Kushina is facing, another problem is that she had used her body to protect Naruto and Shikamaru which resulted in a broken spine. The new doctor stated that she no longer has function below her waist and if the hit was any higher, it could have been almost the entire body.
Let's not forget, Kushina is now dealing with the loss of her husband and now her son is going to be treated differently for something he could not control. Even so, Shikaku made a promise to her when she woke up during her time of recovery that he's going to make sure she is taken care of.
That was quickly met to a fist to the face, but that was understandable. Kushina cried for the loss of Minato on his shoulder and how Naruto is going to be met with so many hardships. She quickly apologized when the realization hit her that Shikamaru is going to be facing those same hardships.
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Shikaku held Yoshino's hand, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb. He hardly had the time to spend a considerable amount of time with her since the Attack. Having to help the village, dealing with the elders, clan, and ensuring Shikamaru and Naruto are not turned into possible future weapons… Yeah… he still has a lot on his plate.
Nudge.
Shikaku blinked slowly blinked, he looked down at his and Yoshino's connected hands. Did… did she move? He quickly stood up and hovered over Yoshino, his grip on her hand tightened pleadingly and his free hand he cupped her check while caressing it with his thumb. The heart monitor started to beep erratically, and Yoshino expression started to twitch.
Shikaku held his breath when he saw Yoshino agonizingly open her eyes. He could see the mass confusion written in her eyes and the thing he could do is whisper sweet nothings to her to calm her down. Slowly but surely, Yoshino began to calm down and her heart rate started to even itself once more.
Yoshino mouth opened and closed as she attempted to say anything but the only thing that escaped her chapped lips are gurgles. Tears of frustration started to flow but were wiped away as Shikaku held her head and used his thumbs to wipe the tears away. "Shikamaru is safe. He and Naruto survived, they are doing okay… They're okay."
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He's getting to old for this…
Far too old for this shit… There goes his retirement. Hiruzen Sarutobi took back his position as Hokage and started to lead his people back to some sort of stability.
Keyword. Stability.
Nothing was stable on everything he was dealing with right now. People are demanding for Naruto and Shikamaru's head on a silver platter, all with the belief killing them and you kill the beast. That is not how exactly it works, but that is a massive no.
For one thing, there is no way he would allow any sort of harm come done to the babies. That comes along with protecting them from Danzo, who already has his eye's set on them. Fortunately, Shikaku had firmly put his foot down and warned the old War Hawk if he did anything then he would have the wrath of the Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka's clans against him. Well, he didn't outright say that, but it was heavily implied.
"We can't separate them for a long extensive amount of time…" Hiruzen mused as he read over Shikaku's latest update on Naruto and Shikamaru's condition. He started to pull up reports that were pilled around his desk and started to reread them. His anger only seemed to rise as he continued to read what was written on the reports. Kushina's home partially got destroyed during the attack, but the mobs made sure there was nothing left for her return. Disgusting. Then there's the Nara Clan… whispers on how callous the Nara Head is for turning his son into a monster then there a few that wonder if it was done to create some sort of weapon. But what was agreed through the majority of the villagers… everyone is putting their anger and sorrow directly to two innocent babies' that have nothing to do with the actions of the beasts they hold within them. 'The Nara Compound partially came out unscathed… Perhaps Shikaku could take in Kushina under the Clan's protection. Two birds, one stone.'
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A ten-foot nine-tailed fox stared at his jailer, wondering how his life could have possibly led up to this. As much he wants to corrupt or even deal some sort of damage to his jailer, the kit makes it so damn hard to do anything towards him. Or maybe it's the fact the other half of himself took away his anger and desire for vengeance is the reason for it.
Looking around his jail cell, one thing for sure is that Yin-Kurama preferred to how things are right now compared to his previous place. His jail cell compromised of being stuck inside a massive hollow tree with its roots molded to mimic the door of a jail cell. It was in the middle of a thick forest that barely had light and the only source of light is the never-setting sun that seemed to be mocking him.
To be continued…
R/R.