Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Summary: Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Chapter 5: Wrath
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Wrath: ira; Inappropriate (unrighteous) feelings of hatred, revenge or even denial, as well as punitive desires outside of justice.
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"Shikamaru…"
Shikamaru stomped away from Ino, pretending not to hear her soft, worried call, and he threw open his room door. He slammed the door shut with chakra filled arms and the plaster wall beside it cracked and bits of paint crumbled.
'NO!'
He picked up his lamp and threw it across the room where it shattered and fell to the ground. His throat burned and his heart thumped hard against his ribcage, threatening to break through.
Chouji wasn't supposed to go without them! They were a team!
'I promised that no one on my team would ever be hurt again!'
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
His chair burst into flames and he kicked it over, sending burning pieces of wood and cushion flying throughout the room. Shikamaru screamed in frustration and punched his mirror angrily, wiping his bloody knuckles on his pants and splashing droplets of blood over his room.
He grabbed his bookshelf and shook it hard, taking books out and throwing them around the room. He clawed at his hair and face, hoping that the pain would get his mind off of Chouji's corpse, those black splotches on his skin and the blueness of his lips. "I can't stay here…can't stay here need to get OUT!"
He brought his arm down and slammed a hole in his cabinet before ripping the door open, knocking a hole in the plaster where the doorknob hit the wall, and stalked out of the house. Ino knew her way around and she had a key to the house.
Once he was outside, he kicked at the leaves that spun around his ankles. He needed to…he needed to train.
'It wasn't my FAULT! CHOUJI YOU STUPID IDIOT! WHY'D YOU GO!'
A young girl bumped into him on accident and he snarled, his hair sticking up in all directions and his eyes wild. The girl ran away crying.
When Shikamaru reached the training grounds, he saw a group of young genin, probably just graduated from the academy, laughing and 'training.' He scowled and walked over to the wooden post used for punches and kicks. Ignoring the children, he bent his knees and readied his fists then attacked the pole.
'I swear I'll kill EVERY MISSING NIN OUT THERE!'
The pole splintered and went flying. The genin that had previously ignored him stared in awe and one bounced up to him, "Hey mist—"
"DON'T BOTHER ME!"
Shikamaru snarled again and used a quick genjutsu to grow fangs and the genin quickly backed up to the safety of his friends, who stared in terror at him. Shikamaru leapt away, deciding that maybe food would calm him down.
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THUMP
He slammed down a handful of coins and gestured to the waitress, "Shrimp ramen."
When his order came, Shikamaru grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks and yanked them apart, jamming them into the mass of hot noodles and slurping them up at a speed that would've made Naruto proud. Speaking of Naruto…
"Hey Shikamaru!"
'Is that idiot always around here!'
He was accompanied by Kiba, who gave him a short wave before turning back to the menue.
"Wow, Shikamaru. You look like hel—"
"Will you GO AWAY!" Shikamaru cut Naruto off, twisting his face into a sneer and nearly lunging at the hyperactive blonde.
'He's so annoying!'
Shikamaru picked up the cup of tea that was free for all customers and finished it in three quick gulps before he glared at Naruto and Kiba, who had turned to stare at him, and stalked off.
'Chouji, you're so fat you probably deserved to die. It was all YOUR FAULT! You're causing all this guilt on me and Ino, and probably on Tenten too. You were supposed to be there with US! But noooo. You just have to be there for the stupid opening night of that DUMB barbeque!'
"WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING!" Shikamaru screamed when he was jostled in the crowd.
'I'll get you stupid missing-nin if it's the last thing I do. Hehe, I still remember your faces. I still remember that you come from Hidden Grass. I still remember your chakra patterns. And I will remember the torture sequences I put you through when I FIND YOU!'
A manic grin split Shikamaru's face and he felt laughter welling within him. He was going hysterical.
"First I'll slice your lips off…heh heh, boil them in front of you…cut out your eye, layer by layer…peel off pieces of skin...pierce you under your nails…" his mutterings, accompanied by his crazed look, kept several away from him and he walked down the street without anymore shoving or jostling.
"I'll get revenge for you Chouji, don't worry…even if you did get what you DESERVED!"
Without warning, Shikamaru spun and punched a wall, a series of spiderweb cracks working their way away from his fist. He was now running low on chakra due to all the chakra filled hits he had been throwing.
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Sakura dragged Lee with her, several shopping bags slung on both their arms, and she grinned cheerily at Shikamaru. "Hey Shikamaru! What's up! I just saw Ino-chan here!"
Shikamaru ignored her but felt a wave of violence come over him and he wanted to do nothing more than beat Lee's ass into the ground. 'Stupid chakra-less FREAK!'
It wasn't until he reached the park that he felt slightly back to normal. He sat on his favorite hill and brought his hands to his face, covering the tears that had yet to fall.
'Calm down Shikamaru. Alright. This anger is only, only a result of…' Shikamaru took a deep breath, 'only a result of his death. I need to calm down Shikamaru you need to calm down.'
Shikamaru tried to take deep, relaxing breaths but those lifeless, charcoal eyes continued to flash before his eyes. That pale, black-splotched skin. The stiffness of the limbs—
"ARGH!"
He grabbed his head and brought it forward to his bent knees, rolling over to his side. He wouldn't cry damnit he wouldn't cry! Too late. 'It's just like last time just like last time. When I failed you and me and both of us and you…you nearly died that time.'
His thoughts rambled on and his breaths came in ragged gasps.
"Wh't th'…I need t' be calm I need to analyze this I need to—HOW THE HELL CAN I DEAL WITH THIS!"
He jumped up and sprinted to the forest where he could maybe relax. Chouji always liked going on walks in the forest after a particularly large meal. He had dragged Shikamaru along once, and he had to admit, it was relaxing.
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'Damn that stupid nondescript ninja who's so horrible at manipulating her chakra that—'
Shikamaru had come across Tenten during his 'peaceful' walk through the forest and nearly exploded in anger. For an instant, just a split second, he had hated her. He had felt something so overwhelmingly powerful that had urged him to go and attack her.
'It's her fault! She should've been able to stop all the missing-nin from leaving! Then I could've had my revenge!'
Shikamaru closed his eyes and counted to ten. He got to eight when he felt Tenten's chakra nearing him and he quickly bounded away, to his house.
Ino had locked the door but left her stuff there. She had probably gone shopping.
'Maybe I'll sleep…'
He didn't even bother changing his clothes or taking off his sandals, taking sadistic pleasure in stomping mud all over the clean floors of the house, and he flopped onto his bed and promptly fell asleep.
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"You said you'd never let your friends get hur—"
"You promised to protect m—"
"You failed your missio—"
"You were tricked so eas—"
"You dare call yourself a shinob—"
"It's ALL. YOUR. FAULT!"
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Shikamaru jerked awake, breathless and sweating, and nearly gave himself whiplash when he twisted to scan the walls of his room. "It was…just…a dream," he panted out, and then he fell back onto his bed, putting the back of his hand on his forehead. "Just a dream."
His mother, a very agitated look on her face, poked her head into his room and nodded at his sandals, "Care to explain, Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru glared at his mother through the corner of his eyes, "No mother."
His tone was mocking and he gave a sharp bark of laughter at the look in her eyes.
"SHIKAMARU! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TODAY!" She stormed into the room, a menacing look on her face, and put her hands on her hips, leaning over her son.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm leaving. I'll come back sometime later."
"Shikamaru…" his mother hissed in a dangerously low voice as she raised her hand to hit him over the back of his head, when Shikamaru suddenly snapped.
"YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REAL MOTHER!" he got up from his bed and stuck an accusatory finger at the speechless woman in front of him and narrowed his eyes.
"No shinobi parents are real parents. When was the last time we took a vacation? Huh? When was the last time you cleaned the dishes? Or the house? I'm a chuunin too and I still find the time to clean and cook and wash! You neglected me for SIXTEEN YEARS! You and dad NEVER came home before I went to sleep. NEVER walked me to school. NEVER treated me like I was a KID! Well guess what mom? I'M TIRED OF IT!"
He stalked away to his window, and threw a dirty look at the still shocked kunoichi behind him.
"You were horrible parents and I hate you."
With those parting words, Shikamaru leapt from roof to roof to the park again and settled in a bench in front of a small pond filled with koi fish.
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He returned the next day for dinner, having fallen asleep on the bench as he watched the twinkling stars and then again as he watched the clouds, and sat down at the dinner table. Shikamaru stared at his mother's hurt eyes and glanced at his father's, and looked away in shame.
He received a harsh spanking (he hadn't gotten spanked since his academy days when he came back with straight fails one semester. That had forced him to work hard enough to get passing grades. So troublesome!) and yelling before he hugged both of his parents and walked to his room. His mother had had tears in her eyes and his father had an oddly cracked voice.
He felt the anger seep out of him once he slid into his now clean bed and hugged his blankets to him. He was allowed temper tantrums, as he was still legally a kid until he could drink, but the ruthless hate and anger he had felt was unacceptable. Shikamaru welcomed the bliss of sleep and fell away to dreaming of clouds floating across the sky.
'Until next time, then.'
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A/N: Jeez. This fic is turning out to be a lot harder to write than I originally planned. I hope no one was offended with this chapter. It was supposed to be about hate and anger though, so I had to make him mean. This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story. Please review!
