Normally the sight of her clan compound gave Shikamaru a feeling of comfort and security, tonight however, it was dread. She clearly hadn't accounted for something, if all three of the clan's sent an Ino-Shika-Cho team after her, with permission to forcefully drag her home if needed. She really hoped Choji had calmed everyone down whilst they waited, or she would need to do some quick thinking. Well, there goes the hope and motivation from the guys training sessions. New mission: Survive the parental interrogation…. Times bloody three! If it wasn't enough for her to just have her mother, and old man; she also had Inos dad, and Chojis dad to deal with. Shikamaru sighed and leaned into her cousin lightly, before straightening up.
"Are you meant to escort me home to them? Or can I walk in my own compound alone?" Shikamaru flinched at her tone. It was way more sarcastic than needed for the three of them who had always been kind and gentle with her. "Gomen..." She muttered, glancing at the three of them in shame. Shika felt a soft hand ruffle her hair, and her cousins shadow tugged on hers in a forgiving manner. Leaning into the hand on her head, her vision was blocked slightly by a waterfall of blonde hair before a kiss landed on her forehead.
"It's fine little hime, we take no offense. This whole thing is quite troublesome, as you Naras say." The rumbling baritone was tinged with a teasing lilt, as the Yamanaka winked at her. "To answer your question, we were told specifically to bring you to them…. Well, actually, we were told to keep a hold of you and bring you to them, buuuuuuutttttt, we are ignoring that part." Inio withdrew his hand and nudged her gently further into the streets of the compound. Shikamaru sighed again and kept walking, a bunch of Nara children ran past laughing, as they chased after a stray foal. Shikamaru couldn't help but grin at the sight. She remembered doing that a few years ago, the fawns were fairly shy to anyone who wasn't a Nara but loved playing with the children of the clan. It was probably because the kids would sneak the fawns all sorts of snacks and tidbits. Aided and abetted by the Akimichi and Yamanaka children too. It was a surprise that you never saw a chubby foal to be honest. They made out like bandits most of the time. The bright light pouring from an open door, broke her from her thoughts abruptly. As did the figure stood in the doorway. As Shikamaru took in the person, the figure turned and stalked into the house. The door was left open, a silent demand for the four to enter the house. After a few seconds, in which Shikamaru took a deep breath and silently straightened her spine, her cousin nudged her forward towards the door…

The normally warm feeling room had taken a turn for the worse. Around the family table sat her father, her "uncles" and her mother. Behind them stood Ino, a concerned look on her face, and Choji looking confused. Personally, Shika thought that Ino was faking the concerned look, but that was not the point of debate currently. With that she turned her eyes to her fathers' face, taking in the lines and set of his jaw. Whilst his face was a neutral as normal, his eyes held a worry and determination to them. Shikakus teammates, her uncles, were also sat with blank faces. Chouza Akimichis eyes were scanning her, probably looking for bruises, which she knew she had after training. Inoichi Yamanakas pupil-less teal eyes were firmly fixed on her face. Shikamaru made a point to avoid eye contact with him. The Yamanaka clan jutsu was mastered by its current head, if he made eye contact, you wouldn't even feel him inside your mind. Her eyes flew to her fathers on hearing his voice echo through the room.
"Thank you Shirai, Inio, Chouro. You're all dismissed now."
"Shirai stays!" Shikamaru rushed to get out. She didn't want to stand here on her own, being interrogated and accused, without someone on her side. "He isn't accusing me of anything, I want him here." Her cousin hesitated in the doorway, all eyes were on her father as they waited for his approval.
"Daughter, no-one is accusing you of anything here. Something is concerning us, that is all. There is no need for Shirai-kun to stay. He is dismissed." Whilst gentle, his voice held a touch of steel to it. His mind was made, Shikamaru knew she wouldn't be able to change it about this. It would be better for her to back down on this and hold her ground later. A brief tug on her shadow filled her with warmth, at least Shirai had her back, as did his team. Shikamaru stood straight, and held her head high, making eye contact with her old man. Silence reigned as the rest of the room watched the clash of wills between father and daughter. Their facial expressions never changed, but emotions ran amok in their eyes. As the stalemate dragged on, Shikamarus mother started tapping the table, clearly holding herself back from breaking the tension. The rest of the room waited on the Nara clan head and his heir apparent to start the meeting. A chirrup sounded distantly as the does called their fawns back to the forest, a nightly occurrence that didn't register on anyones radar.
"Aren't they, Nara-sama? Are you sure about that?" Shikamarus voice had softened, but in the silence her words filled the room. Her formal use of language, as well as, calling Shikaku by his title rather that as her father, raised the tension in the room; with Shikakus teammates glancing at him. Inoichi and Chouza could see the defeat, and heartbreak, on their friends' face. The slight age lines deepening with sorrow. They knew he was thinking about how he had obviously failed at being a father. He had been at work too much, and too long. He hadn't done anything except play shoji with her. He had left her mother to raise their daughter, whilst he dealt with the clan and the village. It seemed to them, that the man in front of them was broken, tired with the world and life itself. Apparently, they weren't the only ones that saw it. Yoshino seemed to snap.
"Watch your tone, young lady! Your father isn't the one who needs to explain his actions. Frankly your attitude for the last few months sucks, and your recent actions don't exactly fill me with confidence of you being a chunnin! Maybe your father should recall you from active duty for a while, maybe us treating you like a normal clan heiress will help jog your memory about how easy you have it. I'm sure someone will accept you as a wife, if only for the clan headship they will gain!" Yoshino was stood leaning over the table, her chest heaving as she panted for the breath her rant seemed to have stolen. Despite her words carrying a weighty threat, no-one reacted. Her daughter ignored her, except a slight blush across her nose, and her husband didn't even move. No-one was sure if Shikamarus blush was from anger, trying not to cry, or humiliation. Though most of the spectators were leaning towards the latter reason.
"Shikamaru." Shikaku started, ignoring his wifes outburst. Everyone knew he wouldn't force his child to leave being a ninja, or to marry. "Shika-chan, it's been brought to our attention that something…. unpure… might have happened to you tonight. I understand it's embarrassing, and humiliating, not to mention uncomfortable to talk about. What I don't understand is why you didn't come to me when it happened? Shika, little fawn, why didn't you come to me?" Halfway through his words, Shikakus voice broke in sorrow. He was honestly heartbroken that his little girl didn't trust him enough to come to him. That she felt the need to hide from him. How long had she been being taken advantage off, and she didn't feel safe enough to come to him? Not once did it cross his mind that maybe, just maybe, Ino had misinterpreted what she had seen.
"There was nothing to come to you about, but you are right. This is humiliating." Shikamarus voice was calm and steady, a stark difference to what she felt inside. As soon as she heard her father's voice crack, guilt and desperation to fix something…. anything... filled her. Her emotions, something she normally had under tight control, were churning in her stomach, spreading a tight feeling across her chest. Shika swore she felt her lungs being squeezed and her heart ache from the intensity of the storm inside.
"Daughter, we are aware that something happened this evening. Ino-chan told us the state in which she found you. You were missing clothes. You were flushed. Your hair was down. You had bruises, that we can see, forming. That you looked thoroughly…" Shikakus' voice got louder and more demanding as he spoke. "…ravished" he spat out. "You've been avoiding all of us for the last few months." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Unless you tell us, we can't protect you little fawn."
Fury. Strange really, she had never been fury before, Shikamaru mused. Frustrated, sure. Irritated, hell yes. Anger, of course, but never fury. The depth of the emotion floored her briefly, her brain struggling to comprehend the emotion that rose, and grasped at her throat. Choking her with its tangibility. Yet, instead of lashing out, an unnatural calm settled on her. Her mind was foggy, yet a reply came to her clearly.
"Did it ever occur to you, that your darling Ino-chan," Shikamarus voice was steel dripping in venom, the cold tone stealing the breath of everyone in the room. "did exactly what the Yamanaka clan is known for? Jump to a conclusion and then run to spread the gossip? Did it once occur to you that she may have misread the situation? That if it wasn't because of Ino deciding she didn't want to train or go on missions with me, I would still be training with them. Or how about these supposed diets I'm always on? Shall we ask Ino who is normally on diets? Or better yet, what about asking Asuma-sensei? I'm sick and tired of being yelled at, being looked down on because I like to take life slowly, of being the scapegoat for someone else's insecurities!" By the end of her rant, Shikamarus voice was raised to a yell. A thing rarely heard by anyone in the room. The storm of emotions inside her broke loose, tears rolled down her cheeks. Her chakra flared and filled the room. The older Ino-Shika-Cho trio gasped at the swirling chakra, their own raising in response, aiming to sooth and calm Shikamarus. Tears ran down Yoshinos and Inos faces, as they fell to the floor. A little-known thing about the Nara clan's chakra, it was highly susceptible to emotions. That was one of the reasons the Nara clan reigned themselves in to always seemed bored, they grounded the Yin chakra from their emotions and their shadows. It was rare a clan child under the age of 5 was ever allowed out of the safety of their compound. It was impossible for a Nara child to leave before the age of 6, they were busy being taught to control themselves under the watchful eyes of their elder clansmen.
A crash from the front of the house was heard, before Shirai flew into the room, Inio and Chouro close behind. The trio had waited outside just incase they were needed. At the raising chakra, they had thrown themselves into action, their duty to protect their clan heads, and heirs. Shirai took in the room before leaping towards his cousin, his own chakra coming out to circle her protectively, as he wrapped his arms around her. He brought her tight to his chest murmuring comforting words into her ear, as he stroked her hair, one arm wrapped around her, keeping her close.
"Whatever conversation you were having is over." Inio announced. "Anything else you need from her, I will find out. You want to know what she did this evening, right? Fine." He turned to the sobbing girl, his eyes softening in sorrow and adoration. "Little deer, will you make eye contact with me please? Let me help you hime-chan. Please." His gently spoken words aimed to coax the girl to look at him. "Come on little one, let me help." Shikamaru stilled and slowly locked eyes with Inio, her agreement for him to mindwalk her, given in a barely seen nod. Time seemed to still as the two maintained eye contact for several long seconds. The Clan heads watching in grief, as a girl they all considered their child looked away from them for security. Their hearts shattered, as their own kin formed a barrier between them (and Yoshino) and their daughter.
"She was out training with a group of shinobi, including Iruka-kun." Inio stated as he broke eye contact, and watched his favourite family member, burrow back into her cousins' arms. His team had been watching over Shikamaru for years, they had noticed the distance forming between Shikamaru and her team. They had watched closely since she was promoted, they had seen her lock away emotion after emotion. They knew it would explode soon, she was still a child, not even a teenager yet, with the weight of a job adults a decade older than her struggled with. She was bound to lose control, it was both lucky it was in the clan compound, and unluckily that it was due to her kin.
"She'll be staying with me tonight Shikaku-sama." Shirai spoke up. His tone told everyone that he wasn't asking, he was telling. Without waiting for a response, he vanished in a whirlwind of leaves, his teammates to follow in their own rush of leaves. Leaving behind six people looking like their world had ended…