Hey guys. So this story is a what if story, and I have to admit that I both like and dislike this story. It was originally going to be the opening chapter for another story, but I'm still trying to figure out where I want that story to go, but I thought this chapter would also make a good one shot. I like it because I think it turned out well... But I dislike it because my all time favorite character in Naruto dies... So yeah... I'm curious to hear your opinions on it.
What if Scenario: What if Shikamaru died instead of Asuma? What if Hidan managed to get Shikamaru's blood for his ritual instead of Asuma's?
Disclaimer: I own none of Naruto
The Loss
"Dang it!" Shikamaru cried out as his shadow once again missed the immortal Akatsuki member.
Asuma jumped back, his chakra blades raised in front of him, and stood slightly in front of Shikamaru. "You almost had him. Can you try again?"
Shikamaru panted as he stayed knelt on one knee. He glared at Hidan, who was laughing maniacally. "That's the third time he's dodged my shadow stitching. I can't keep this up much longer."
Hidan stared at the four shinobi in front of him with wide eyes. "You almost got me that time, boy. Maybe I should just cut your head off instead of that other guy."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the threat. They had been fighting this Akatsuki for twenty minutes now. Asuma had taken the lead and Hidan was determined to kill Asuma, but he wasn't going to let this jerk have his way. "Asuma, can you distract him a little long…" he began, but Hidan suddenly dashed forward and swung his three pronged scythe at them.
Asuma barely managed to jump back from the swinging blades, and noticed that Shikamaru was now sitting on the ground on his butt, the scythe buried in the ground a little bit behind the boy. "Shikamaru!"
"Crap!" Shikamaru yelled as he raised his hands to capture Hidan in his shadow stitching.
Hidan saw the shadows move and quickly jumped away, but pulled on the long chain that connected to his scythe so that it sliced Shikamaru's cheek.
"Agh," Shikamaru cried out as one of the blades sliced his skin, causing him to reach up with one hand and dispel the jutsu.
"Hahaha," Hidan laughed loudly. "I got you now, boy!"
Shikamaru wiped the blood on his pants and stared at the insane man in front of him as he pulled a small, collapsible rod out of his Akatsuki robe, which was black with red clouds on it. He raised the rod in the air and stabbed himself in the hand, which surprised the four shinobi.
"Did he just stab himself?" Izumo asked.
"Yeah," Kotetsu replied.
Asuma quickly moved back over to the three. "You ok?"
"Yeah," Shikamaru replied and stood up, not moving his eyes from the man. "Just a scratch. I'll be fine."
They watched as Hidan bled out on the ground and stepped in the puddle, scraping his foot along the ground to make some kind of pattern. When he was finished, he stood inside a triangle that was inside of a circle. Hidan laughed again and looked straight into Shikamaru's eyes as he raised the scythe and licked the blood off of it.
"Well that's disturbing," Izumo said as his face scrunched up in disgust.
"Don't let your guard down," Asuma said as he raised his chakra blades again.
Shikamaru tried to figure out what Hidan was planning by doing all of that when his eyes went wide again. The man was changing colors. Instead of the normal peach color a human usually has, his skin was turning black and white lines were forming all across his body. He now looked like a poor copy of a walking skeleton.
Hidan smiled at Shikamaru with a sick look in his eye. "You're done for now, boy."
"Enough talk," Kotetsu yelled as he ran past Asuma, kunai raised. He ran forward and slashed his weapon at the man's chest, ripping the robe to expose the long gash he placed there.
"Agh!" Shikamaru cried out, closing his eyes and clutching at his chest.
Kotetsu jumped back, but turned when he heard Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru, what's wrong?" Asuma asked worriedly.
Shikamaru panted and unzipped his vest and raised his shirt to see a deep gash in the same place as the man in front of him, blood oozing out of it and running down his stomach.
"What the…?" Asuma asked wide eyed.
"Feels good, doesn't it, boy?" Hidan said with a laugh. "The feeling of shared pain."
Shikamaru dropped his shirt back down and stared wide-eyed at the man. "That's why you didn't bother to dodge his attack this time."
"What do you mean? What happened?" Izumo asked.
"That symbol on the ground, him licking my blood off the scythe, his skin color, it's all a part of his jutsu that somehow managed to connect my body with his," Shikamaru explained.
Asuma looked back at the man. "So any attack we make against him, we make against you?" he asked.
"Yeah. I don't know if it works the other way around, but if you guys kill him, you kill me," Shikamaru replied. "We have to take this guy down without hurting him."
Hidan raised the rod in his hand up, then quickly shoved it through his right upper leg, crying out with what sounded more like a pleasurable moan than a cry of pain.
Shikamaru, however, cried out and dropped to his knee as he clutched at his leg.
"We have to stop him," Asuma said as he knelt down next to Shikamaru. "Can you restrain him with Shadow Possession?"
Shikamaru panted in pain. "I-I can try."
"Hurry! He's swinging down again!" Izumo yelled.
Shikamaru raised his hands and shot his shadow out, connecting with the man's just before the rod buried into his side. He switched hand signs and the shadows on Hidan's body started trailing over the man's body like snakes. The shadow's each had hands on the ends. "Shadow Strangle Jutsu, complete," he panted out. "But I can't hold this for very long."
"What the heck are we supposed to do?" Kotetsu asked. "If we can't hurt him, how are we going to stop him?"
Shikamaru took another couple breaths and stood up, grunting at the pain that shot through his leg.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing?" Asuma asked as he reached up to steady the boy.
"I have to get him off of that symbol," the shadow user said as he slowly shifted his feet back.
"You think that will work?" Asuma asked.
"I don't know, but why would he make the symbol if he didn't need it for this jutsu," Shikamaru said. He closed his eyes and focused on his chakra to keep the shadows around Hidan.
"Hey! What are you doing? Let me go!" Hidan yelled as his feet slid across the ground.
The three shinobi watched the painfully slow process of Shikamaru moving Hidan off the symbol. It felt like an eternity, but once Hidan was completely off the symbol, Shikamaru stopped.
"Asuma," Shikamaru said.
Asuma pulled a shuriken out of his weapon's pouch and threw it at the Akatsuki, slicing the man's cheek. He looked over and saw that Shikamaru's cheek did not have any other cuts besides the one the scythe made before. "It worked."
Shikamaru grunted and changed hand signs again making the shadows around Hidan shoot out of the ground and impale themselves in several parts of the man's body. "Got him! Take him out!"
Asuma poured chakra into one of his blades and raced forward, swinging the blade at the man's neck and cleanly cutting through it.
The man's eyes went wide with surprise and Asuma smiled when the man's head landed with a thud next to his body.
Shikamaru let out a breath of relief as he released his jutsu and fell back into Izumo and Kotetsu's arms and they lowered him to the ground. He watched the man's body fall over and closed his eyes, glad the whole thing was over.
"You're an idiot."
The four shinobi looked over and saw Hidan's partner, Kakazu, standing next to the collection building they originally found them at.
"Crap. I forgot about him," Kotetsu said.
Asuma quickly jumped back to the three, his blades still in front of him, and placed himself in between Shikamaru and the other enemy.
"You just had to go and get your head cut off, didn't you," Kakazu said in an annoyed tone.
"What did you say?" Hidan yelled.
The four shinobi all turned, surprised, to look at Hidan's head. He had blood running down both sides of his mouth, but he was speaking. "What?" Shikamaru asked.
"Nevermind about that. Just get over here and help me," Hidan yelled angrily. "And how could you let them do that to me anyway?"
Kakazu stepped forward, making the four men return their focus to him, but ignored the shinobi and stopped in front of Hidan. "You told me not to interfere, remember?"
Hidan opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, then smiled. "Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I."
Kakazu sighed and reached down, picked Hidan's head up by his silver hair, and moved over to the dismembered body.
"Ow! Kakazu! That hurts!"
"What is going on?" Izumo asked.
"Is that guy immortal?" Kotetsu added.
They watched Kakazu raise Hidan's body so it was sitting, place the head back on the neck, and what looked like thick string stitch the head and neck together. When he was finished, he stood back up and stepped away to show Hidan now sitting there, hand on the back of his neck, moving his head side to side as if to stretch out a stiff neck.
"No way," Asuma said, unable to believe that everything they just did was for nothing.
Shikamaru placed his hand on Asuma's shoulder and used the man to help him stand, which made Asuma look back at the boy and help. "We have to…" he began, but his leg gave out on him and he found himself clinging to Asuma.
"Shikamaru!" Asuma said, worried about his friend.
"We have to get out of here," Shikamaru finally finished. "We have no idea what that guy is capable of," he said referring to Kakazu. "However, that guy's skin didn't go back to normal, which means I'm…" His eyes went wide when he saw that Hidan was already back on the symbol and swinging the rod towards his chest.
Hidan buried the rod deep in the middle of his chest one, two, three times before he plunged it in a fourth time right where his heart was, letting out a loud moan at the pure ecstasy that he felt coursing through his body.
Shikamaru cried out at every hit, his eyes squeezed shut in pain and his fists clenched tight on Asuma's vest and shirt, before his eyes went wide at the feeling of his heart being pierced.
"Shikamaru!" Asuma yelled as Shikamaru coughed blood out of his mouth. He tried to hold on to his friend, but the boy's body was becoming dead weight and slid to the ground.
"Dang it!" Izumo yelled as he looked from Shikamaru's unmoving form on the ground to the two Akatsuki members.
Hidan finally came down from his pleasurable high and looked back at the boy he had just killed, his skin returning to its normal color. "That is the best feeling in the world."
Izumo and Kotetsu raced forward, Kotetsu summoning a large club like weapon, and attacked the enemy in a fit of rage.
"Izumo, Kotetsu, stop!" Asuma yelled as he reached out with one hand, the other still cradling Shikamaru's body.
Kakazu lifted both hands and the two hands shot off of his arms, only being connected by what looked like wires, and grabbed the two shinobi by the throat, lifting them into the air.
Izumo and Kotetsu dropped their weapons and reached up to try and release the hand around their throats, struggling and kicking their legs as they felt themselves lift off the ground.
"Don't worry. You'll be joining the boy soon," Kotetsu said in his monotone, almost bored, voice. "What?"
A flock of black crows suddenly surrounded them, and Kakazu had to release the two shinobi and move back as a black sword sliced dangerously close to his face.
"Hey! What's with all these freaking crows?" Hidan yelled as he swung his arms all around him trying to keep the birds off him.
"Asuma."
Asuma stared wide-eyed at the flock of crows before he turned and saw Ino standing next to him. "Ino?"
She smiled down at him. "We're here to help."
Asuma stared at her for a few more seconds before he nodded, pulled Shikamaru fully into his arms, and the two jumped away and onto the building's roof. When he landed, he saw Choji and another Leaf shinobi dropping Izumo and Kotetsu, who were both coughing and trying to catch their breaths, next to Aoba, who was controlling the crows.
They all looked down at the Akatsuki members as the crows dispersed.
"You really think… What? Right now?" Hidan said.
'Is he talking to someone?' Asuma wondered.
"Oh, come on. It was just getting to the good part!" Hidan said aggravated.
"Forget it, Hidan. Let's just go," Kakazu drawled out.
"What?" Hidan asked, turning to his partner. "You're ok with this? I thought you wanted that cash cow?"
"Let's go," Kakazu said again.
Hidan growled but turned back to the shinobi on the roof. "Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back."
Before anyone could reply or even understand what was happening, the two Akatsuki members disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Asuma let out a sigh and closed his eyes, but quickly looked to Shikamaru when he heard a gurgled cough. "Ino. I need you to use your medical ninjutsu."
Ino and Choji looked over and finally saw that Shikamaru was in bad shape. Ino dropped to her knees as Asuma carefully laid Shikamaru on the roof and quickly started her medical jutsu. She moved her hands from one spot on his body to the next, her face getting grimmer as she did.
"Ino?" Choji asked as he watched Ino's eyes fill with tears.
"T-there's too much damage. I-I…" Ino started, but the tears fell from her eyes. "I can't…"
Asuma looked down dejectedly at his favorite student, the boy who was like a son to him, and closed his eyes.
"Asuma," Shikamaru's weak voice called out barely above a whisper.
He opened his eyes and saw the boy staring up at him. "Shikamaru, I'm…"
Shikamaru slowly shook his head, a cough escaping his lips splattering blood across his chest. "Not your fault," he said after he caught his breath.
"It is my fault. If I had…" Asuma began, but Shikamaru stopped him when the boy touched his hand.
"I didn't… come up with a… good enough… strategy," the Nara choked out.
"No. I was the team captain, I should've…" Asuma tried again.
"Can you tell me," Shikamaru interrupted, but another cough racked his body.
Tears welled up in Asuma's eyes. "Tell you what?"
"The king," Shikamaru said.
Asuma's eyes went wide, his mind going back to their discussion about shogi pieces and who they represent. He had told Shikamaru he needed to figure out who the king represented since it wasn't the Hokage; told him that he would figure it out when the time came. Tears fell down his face. "Children. The ones that hold the future of the Leaf on their shoulders, that's the king," he finally said.
Shikamaru smiled and closed his eyes, a small chuckle escaping him. "Then I have a… favor to ask." He looked over at Choji and Ino, who stopped her medical jutsu, and saw that they had tears running down their cheeks as well. "Of all of you."
Choji sniffed. "Name it."
"Take care of my king," Shikamaru said.
Ino gasped and all three of their eyes went wide. "Who…?"
"Temari," Shikamaru answered. "I found out… last time she was… in the village."
"Don't talk like that, Shika," Choji said. "You'll take care of them. We'll get you…"
Shikamaru shook his head. "I won't make it, Cho." A tear fell from his eye. "I can feel it. I…" he choked on some blood that decided to pool in his mouth and coughed again. He looked back at Asuma. "Tell her… I love her."
"I will," Asuma choked out. The tears were falling down his face in streams now. "And I'll take care of them both."
"It was… an honor," he closed his eyes as a wave of pain shot through him and he swallowed the blood that tried to choke him again, "... to serve with… you three."
Ino and Choji let out a loud sob. "You too… Shika," Choji managed to get out.
Shikamaru smiled and closed his eyes before he looked up at the clouds. He watched as big, fluffy, white clouds made their way across the sky as more tears fell from his eyes.
Asuma watched as the boy took his final breath, the boy's eyes glazing over as they stared at the sky.
"Shikamaru!" Ino cried out as the life left her friend's body. She threw her arms over his body and sobbed into his shirt.
Choji just sat there, wide-eyed, as the tears fell freely from his eyes.
Asuma reached up and closed Shikamaru's eyes before he sat back and closed his eyes shut tight, clenching his fists so tight his knuckles turned white, listening as his other two students cried.
So, were you as torn with this story as I was? I'd really like to hear your opinion. If you give me a scenario, I will try my best to write a what if story for it. Leave a comment below for both your opinion of this story, and your suggestion on what I could do for another what if story.