Chapter 5.

The morning filtered through a crack in the drawn curtains, breaking through the darkness inside the room. Its occupants stirred unwillingly, desperate to cling to their dreams and not surface into the real world. A grumpy sounding groan echoed in the silence, as its owner opened his blue eyes. Inio stretched out on the sofa, kicking Chouro by accident. He froze, but it seemed like he hadn't woken anyone, so he extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and slipped into the kitchen. Inio yawned and scratched at his stomach as he staggered around the kitchen, pulling out the needed items for coffee and tea. He leant against the kitchen window as he waited for the water to boil, his breath fogging the window, his eyes people watching, but not really seeing. The memory of last nights antics breaking through the last of his sleep haze. After they had got back to their shared apartment, it took them hours to calm Shikamaru down. Frankly, it was a little disturbing to see the range of emotion she had been hiding, presumably for years. His blue eyes darkened to a stormy grey, the normal teal colour just a hint in the depths. Several times over the course of the night all three of them had to hold each other back, as they listened to Shikamaru rambling thoughts, feelings, and the actions of her team and clan heads. No wonder she lost control, she had been put down for years and, unlike the little Hyuga, she had locked it away; pretending it didn't matter, that she didn't care. There was only so much of that a 12-year-old can take. The three of them had been surprised that her chakra hadn't lashed out with intent to hurt, and even more surprised that she had reigned in her shadows, they could be deadly!

A shrill whistle pierced his thoughts as the water came to a boil. Inio crossed the kitchen and turned the gas off, poured himself and Chouro a cup of green tea; adding some mint leaves in his and a stick of cinnamon in the other. He checked the coffee machine, happy with the amount in the pot, he set the table with bowls, their tea and coffee, and cut up fruit with a tub of yoghurt. Smiling at the table, he turned and entered the living room.

"All right you miserable lot, up and at it! Wakey wakey! Shikamaru you've got to get to work soon!"

Kids screamed in laughter in the background, a young girl clung to the brunch of a tree looking tearfully over the top of a tall wall. Her clan compound had stopped being her playground as all her peers had started being allowed out of the compound, under the watchfully eyes of their elders. She wanted to go. She wanted to be free to run, swing, and play with them. She wanted to be friends, she was 4 years old and had no one she could call friend. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, a soft sob escaped her. The little girl hugged the tree and watched the playing kids until the sun started to set on the horizon. By that time, she was cold and hungry, so she slowly started down the tree. Her arms were stiff from hugging a tree all day, so they trembled holding her barely there weight until her hands slipped and she fell. The little girl bounced from branch to branch, twigs catching her hair and scratching her skin, until she left the tree, and flew down to the ground. Her eyes screwed tight, and her body tensed, preparing to hit the solid ground hard. She did hit something, and she hit it hard, but that something wasn't hard, it yielded a little under her slight weight. She was brought to lay securely against something warm, a rumbling sounded under her ear.

"Well, I'm fairly certain little fawns can't fly. Are you okay Shikamaru-chan?"

Shikamaru looked up and squinted at the shadow surrounded by the dying light.

"Daddy! I'm sorry I landed on you!"

Shikaku laughed, a soothing sound to the child in his arms. He tightened his arms around his girl, and ran a hand over her head, neck and back.

"It's fine Shika. So wanna tell your old man, why you decided to try flying?"

Shikamaru pouted. "I didn't try to fly, daddy, I fell. I was watching them playing outside the compound." Shikamaru fell silent, before asking quietly, "Daddy, why can't I go outside to? I promised I'll be good! I'll listen to you and mum! I'll be good!"

Shikaku watched as tears streamed down his daughters' face, before sighing and hugging her close. He turned and walked slowly down to their home, his mind pondering ways to explain to his child, about their chakra in a way she would understand. His daughter was already showing a high level of intelligence, and with it comes the lethargic nature of a Nara. Yet, she was just a baby (to him anyway), and somethings were still past her comprehension.

"Soon little fawn, you'll be outside too. First, we must learn to control ourselves. We wouldn't want to hurt anyone, would we?" Shikaku waited for her to shake her head. Her eyes were unusually light for a Nara, almost amber and honey coloured, but they sparkled with light. Shadows swirling in with their natural light. "So, we must be calm. Nothing should phase us. Emotions are locked away outside of our compound, the Yamanaka compound, or the Akimichi compound. Outside of these walls, we become the shadows, calm and patient. Like the deer we guard. Do you understand Shika-chan?"

Little Shikamaru nodded her head. Her tears drying as she looked up at her father.

"What do I have to do?" her high-pitched voice was firm, holding an echo of something. Something that caught her dads attention. His eyes focused on her, the scars adding to the gravity of his search eyes.

"We keep going with the exercises we already do. We ground ourselves with something every day, until its second nature."

At this point their conversation was broken by her mothers screeching to go and clean up, dinner was on the table. Sighing the two Nara headed in, one going to his wife, the other heading upstairs to wash up. Pausing on the stairs, Shikamaru crouched down and peered into the kitchen to see her parents. Whispered parts of their conversation floated up to her.

"…Crying again…"

"Needs to learn..."

"She's way older than most…. You learnt…. Already..."

"Disappointing...The elders…. New heir..."

Flinching from the conversation, Shikamaru muffled her sobs in her hands, and slowly sneaked up the stairs. In her room, she leant on the door, sliding to the floor sobbing into her knees. She wasn't good enough, or quick enough. Her parents wanted a new heir, does this mean she was going to be left alone more? No, all she had to do was learn some calming techniques, so learn them she would! As she stood up, determined to prove herself to the clan and anyone else who doubted her, a loud voice cut across…

"… Shikamaru you've got to get to work soon!" The loud voice cut through the dream, dragging her out of her dream. Shikamaru opened her eyes and recalled the dream. It wasn't a dream, it was a memory really, only this time she was watching it. Like watching a film. She remembered that day, and plenty others like it, were her parents whispered about replacing her behind her back. Sighing, and shaking her head to clear the tears before they could form…again… Shikamaru took a few deep breaths, before sinking into a meditative mindset, trying to clear her mind before work. Today she was actually teaching a lesson. On chakra history, which was dry enough, without her being out of it too. In her mindscape, a mixture of a forest and a library, Shika began taking the books that were laying around, providing memories and emotions, and put them on their shelves. She was certain she had locked those particular books away; frowning, Shikamaru looked around. Her trees were dying, and any of her defenses were long gone. None of her padlocks, her chests or her safes were still there. The natural light was partially blocked, and items were missing. Making a mental note to talk to a Yamanaka (probably Inio) soon, Shika surfaced from her mind to find herself being watched by a curious Inio. Her cousin and Chouro were in their rooms from the sounds of it.

"Come, sit and eat with me." Inio walked to the kitchen, his tone polite, but still a command. Shikamaru followed him, hearing her cousin exit his room. She loved their flat. It was clean and orderly, but still gave an air of being a home. She used to sneak here after school, they had a flat roof with a bench and shade on it. Perfect for cloud watching after a tiring day at the academy. She rested a hand on one of the four chairs, smirking when she found her name. She had carved it in one day, after spending nearly a week there and no one had noticed. It meant she had a permanent place somewhere, without expectations. She remembered when the three of them moved in. It had sent the elders of all three clans into a panic. Three of their most talented shinobi were living outside of the compound. It was unheard of, even among the laidback Nara who were not sticklers for the rules. The three of them had pooled their money together to afford the upfront rent and deposit, for a 4-bed apartment, and new furniture. It was a lovely place, in a mostly civilian area, on the outskirts of the village. Roomy, with a wall of windows, it was most shinobis nightmare. A large space, open for people to see into, made it hard to secure for paranoid ninja. Shikamaru, however, loved it. It had the same feeling as when she was on the roof. Open to the elements, nothing containing her to reality. Here she could let her mind wander with the clouds. She could allow herself to follow her pet projects more intently in those moments. Lately, she had been reading a bit of material on seals. It was gripping, but she knew no-one who could guide her in the village. Maybe at tonights' training she would ask Raido. The jounin would probably know someone who at least dabbled enough to get her started, otherwise it was the risky way of experimenting until something went right. It would be awesome if she could start using gravity seals, and storage seals! Oohhh what about chakra holding seals? Could she seal away stores of chakra on her body, as reserves? Shikamaru mentally stored that thought away for now, she didn't want to ignore the trio in front of her, (when did Chouro arrive?) especially when they risked discipline action for ignoring the clan head dismissal to rescue her. She sat down and reached for her coffee, sighing happily as the warmth seeped through the mug into her hands. She smiled at the three guys, happy to chill out with her coffee.

"Thank you for last night, guys. I appreciate you getting yourself in trouble for me."

Shirai snorted "It wasn't a problem. You should know by now, you are our sole focus, in the clan." Shirai smirked at his cousin, remembering when his team were assigned to look after her. Each heir of the three clans had their own Ino-Shika-Cho team, young enough to play with them, but old enough to be good protectors for the little tots. Most of the teams stopped their roles as soon as their charges graduated, theirs however, didn't. They ended up close to their charge, she became their little sister more than their future clan head.

With a smirk, and a nod, Shikamaru put her dishes in the sink, and slipped off to get ready for the day. She could feel three sets of eyes on her back as she went, the gaze warm and comforting. She had a room here with some clothes in. Not her normal uniform, it was more casual then she would normally wear. Mostly it was too troublesome to pick out clothes, so she wore the same cargo pants and jacket in grey and green. The clothes she had here were… interesting. Inio had picked out a bunch of stuff for a birthday and Christmas present one year. He updated somethings as she got older, but most of it was colourful and quite fashionable. She never really wore it, except to lounge around the flat, now however she didn't have a choice. With a shrug and a muttered "Troublesome." Shikamaru dragged herself through getting ready, and headed out to work, waving to the guys as she went. A bag with a notebook, pens, and some activities in. It was a drag, but at least it paid ok. Her lesson was last, so hopefully the kids would be too tired to play around. At least she hoped they would be...