Hmm. Another chapter? Yes. Thanks Fairady, Yianne-21, and of course Porti-chan for reviewing. I appreciate it.
III
His hand was shaking, even as he clenched it over and over again.
He let it hit a few branches as they passed; the dull pain a small distraction from the other one that filled his head. The taste of bile was still in his mouth.
Kakashi was sending him worried glances as they ran through the trees towards home.
Kakashi, who had just...
He had trapped them with his kagemane no jujitsu. Bound by their shadows. He remembered the odd sound of his voice as he whispered "Go", and how silent Kakashi was when he went. No need for chirruping birds - just a kunai. Kakashi had arranged them to look like they had killed each other, not asking Shikamaru to help.
His hands were still shaking.
"That was what it would have been like," Kakashi said, eyes focused on getting home. "Never knowing why, just who and where and how. You get used to it. That's the scary part. And then you get over it."
Shikamaru made an absent gesture to smooth his hair back, laughing shakily.
"Welcome to the real world, eh?"
Kakashi didn't have any soothing words to say and Shikamaru wasn't sure he could hear them yet. He was dropped off at his house and Kakashi said a few murmured words to his father. He only heard an apology: "He probably should have gone out with you first."
His mother was in bed. He went straight into the shower and stood under the bitingly hard stream of water, closing his eyes and trying to forget.
His father caught him in a rough hug before he managed to lock himself into his room.
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