Dear readers,
There has been some kind people who have pointed out that Shikamaru's father, and Gaara's tailed beast do not have the same name. Thank you for pointing this out. I am dyslexic, which means that letters, and words, change on me. I have spent years learning how to read and write to the point that I am able to attend uni and am in the top percent of my classes. Because of this I actually can't tell that there is a difference in the spelling, so I am sorry and thankful for the correction. (I did think it was weird that they had the same name). If you want to know more about dyslexia please look it up. It is actually fairly common. 1 in 5 have it and there are different severities. Mine is medium and spell check is my best friend.
However, there was one reviewer, who I will not name, that I am telling to stop reading my stories! Now! I thought your review was a little harsh, but thought I was reading too much into it, so replied explaining my DISABILITY! The reply you gave, calling me illiterate, too attached to my story, and lacking an English education was uncalled for. Yes, I'm attached to my writing. I think anyone who writes without being attached to their work doesn't appreciate literature enough! Dyslexia does not mean I am uneducated; on the contrary, I am one of the top students in my University classes. My dyslexia explains my misunderstanding because my brain is wired differently from your ignorant one. My brain switches letters around on me meaning the one letter difference between Shikamaru's dad's name and Gaara's sand demon doesn't registered to me.
I am happy for people to correct me on my spelling because I acknowledge the fact that my dyslexia prevents me from noticing them. However, I am not happy for people to belittle me because of my disability. I will repeat. Do. Not. Read. ANY. Of. My. Stories. Again!
Sorry, to my other readers if that seemed rude or harsh on my part but that reviewer was… ignorant and rude themselves. I would have replied to them privately but they blocked me after giving their reply and I had to get it off my chest and get a reply out there. I refused to have someone shame me for my disability. Again I am sorry and please enjoy the chapter. I worked extra hard on it for all of you and altered a scene a little for some juiciness.
Naruto was a jerk for pushing him into the arena, yet, he wasn't complaining about the result. He had finished his fights so now he could just watch everyone else's. And on top of that… well…
"HEY, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU, YOU IDIOT!"
Naruto hadn't stopped paying attention to him since she pushed him into the arena. It took a lot of effort to keep the grin from his face as he stretched after his match.
"Who are you calling an idiot, Idiot?"
"WHY DID YOU GIVE UP? ARE YOU REALLY THAT LAZY OR ARE YOU JUST A BIG CHICKEN?"
"Hey, it's over. Let's just forget it, okay?"
"ARE YOU KIDDING? NO, IT'S NOT OKAY! YOU HAD THAT MATCH…"
"Will you skip it? Are you forgetting? There's another match." Why was it that when Naruto was being hot headed and unreasonable Shikamaru thought of the strangest ways to shut her up? His hands that sat on his hips tightened their grip. He couldn't trust himself at this moment.
"I MEAN TO QUIT RIGHT WHEN YOU…" Naruto stopped. "Huh, another match?"
Shikamaru smiled, watching at it dawned on the blonde that her team mate was up next.
Once Sasuke showed up she was happy for Shikamaru to grab her by the arm and drag her from the field. It was disappointing that Naruto's attention was pulled away from Shikamaru to the show off Sasuke. She was, however, still scolding him for having forfeited. Admittedly, now that he was actually listening to her words he was enjoying it.
"You had her! You had her and you THREW IT AWAY! You could have won. Honestly, that trick with your jacket was brilliant. How did you think of it? You could have done something like that and kicked her butt." Naruto kept pointing at him accusingly, at one point stopping to stand in front of him as she yelled at him. She was so close that he could see the flecks of light blue within her eyes.
"Sounds like you just complemented me," Shikamaru teased as they walked up the stairs. He put his hand on Naruto's lower back to push her forward. Unfortunately at his push Naruto started running up the stairs, realizing she had to get to the top to watch Sasuke and Gaara's fight.
"WILL YOU HURRY UP? COME ON!"
"Relax, Naruto, you're going to give yourself an ulcer."
He was enjoying his time with Naruto until they saw Gaara slaughter two members of the Grass Village. Their screams rang through the hallway, chilling Shikamaru to his core. Naruto seemed as frozen as him as Gaara calmly walked down the stairs between them. When Gaara's footsteps disappeared into the distance they both collapsed. He shouldn't have reminded Naruto of the fact that Sasuke was going to fight Gaara.
Naruto seemed to get it though. They weren't good enough for Gaara, they wouldn't fulfil his blood lust. The blonde started shaking, making Shikamaru worry about what was running through her mind. She finally settled only to gain a dark look. Moments after commenting about talking to Kakashi-Sensei she took off towards the stadium, wanting to stop the match.
Shikamaru had no choice but to follow after her, wondering how she was hoping to stop the fight. It was a fight to the death, or to a forfeit after all. She was on edge again, like at the hospital, as though she was seeing something he couldn't.
"Sasuke!" Naruto muttered. "He's about to fight that psycho! But Gaara wants to kill all of us too. He plans too."
Unfortunately Kakashi-Sensei and Guy-Sensei didn't seem to fully understand the gravity of the situation. They seemed to believe that Sasuke could hold his own against that guy. Unlikely! He didn't have the killing intent that Gaara did. Gaara enjoyed killing. Needed to kill. Sasuke just wanted to win the fight and become Chunin. He probably also wanted to show how skilled he was, he was always a show off after all. But to kill? That didn't seem like something he was capable of doing. Especially not in a match that he doesn't expect to have to kill to win.
Admittedly Sasuke had improved in the month he was missing. Shikamaru could tell that Naruto was jealous of Sasuke's skills. But Shikamaru didn't think it would be enough, not against a monster like Gaara. Everything went to hell after Sasuke popped Gaara's sand ball with a chidori. Apparently Gaara had never bled before, if his scream was anything to go off of. Naruto went rigged when an arm came out of the ball. Naruto started to shake. Next moment her hand shot out, grabbing onto Shikamaru's. The dark haired boy held her hand as tightly as she held his. Her hand was clammy, but warm and moving. When a roar emanated through the arena Naruto's hold tightened and her hand jerked as though to pull him behind her. He almost fell backwards from his crouching position.
"What's going on? Why is everything getting all fuzzy?" Naruto muttered as her hand went limp in his hold.
He was feeling drowsy too. He let go of Naruto's hand, quickly releasing the genjutsu. Moving his hands out of the release sign he quickly caught Naruto as she fell, gently putting her on the ground before pretending to collapse as well. If the others knew he was awake one of two things would happen. The enemy would see him and attack, risking Naruto's life in the process. The second option was that the Jonin who released the genjutsus would ask him to do something, meaning he would have to leave Naruto… unconscious… on the floor… in the middle of an invasion. He couldn't do that! What if she got hurt because he was what? There was nothing he could think of at that moment that he would be useful for.
Unfortunately he was needed for something. But so was Naruto. He was bitten by a stupid puppy but he refused to admit the real reason he was pretending to be asleep. That dog was confusing and weird. He offered to let Shikamaru touch his paws if he behaved. It would have been more tempting if Naruto offered something. However Sakura had grabbed Naruto the moment Kakashi had finished explaining the mission. He probably needed a rabies shot too, thanks to that dog.
The moment Pakkun mentioned being followed Shikamaru started devising plans. All the scenarios had one thing in common. Naruto safety was always a priority, whether clearly or not. A great strategist would understand that she was a ninja and willing to fight and die. She would be furious if she found out he was trying to protect her but no matter how much he tried he couldn't keep his heart out of his planning. Naruto's idea of an ambush was actually quite smart if the enemy didn't outrank them so much. When he finally spoke the only viable plan he had trouble meeting Naruto's eye. Someone had to sacrifice themselves. The moment those words left his mouth Naruto stopped, making the other three follow suit. None of them spoke.
"So, whose going to do it?" he asked. One look at Sakura let him know that she wasn't steeling herself to volunteer. "We need the dog to follow Sasuke. So that means…"
"Alright, I guess that I'm gonna have ta…"
"I'm the only one who can do it." He had to stop her. It was too painful hearing her offering to sacrifice herself. Naruto could very easily do it. She would only have to make three shadow clones, transforming them into the team members and leading them away from the group. If he was as skilled at shadow clones as she was he would do that. Naruto wasn't dumb, at least not in combat. It was clear that the moment she stopped she had started to formulate a plan.
"Shikamaru?" Sakura yelped.
"Why does it have to be you?" Naruto snapped.
Because I can't let you die! "It's better than all of us being wiped out, right? Besides, I'm the only one with a chance of pulling off this decoy act." He jumped over their heads, back towards the way they came. "And of surviving this attack. I mean after all, Shadow Possession Jutsu was invented as a delay tactic. Anyway," he turned away, with a small smile, not wanting to see the fear creeping into Naruto's eyes, "I'll catch up with you later. Go on, get going."
"We're counting on you, Shikamaru!"
He swallowed thickly, raising his hand to show Naruto that he had heard her. He refused to move, refused to look at Naruto. He only had a limited amount of chakra left. Taking down nine Jonins was impossible. Everything in him told him to say something. No one knew about him knowing Naruto's gender. No one knew about his feelings either. It was odd to think that he might die at this very moment without Naruto being aware of just how important she was in his life. Without knowing that the reason he was not moving was because he couldn't let her play the decoy and risk dying.
He set a plan in motion, having to move fast to put enough distance between him and the others. He couldn't risk them seeing two sets of tracks. A snapped branch here, a scrape in the bark there, then the foot prints. Turns out it was a good thing Pakkun had shown Shikamaru his paws. It made it easier to find the right size of sticks. Unfortunately he had acted too quickly. He only caught eight. Though he was never going to be able to hold them for long anyway but missing the ninth one meant he had no chance of escape.
All I really wanted was to be just an average shinobi, making an average living. I'd marry a regular girl who's not super pretty or super ugly. Have two kids, a girl then a boy. Retire when my daughter got married and my son became a successful ninja. And spend the rest of my day's just playing shogi. A nice, care free and leisurely retirement. Then I would die of old age before my wife. Yep, that's the life I wanted. And yet I ended up exerting myself. It's so unlike me. Even though I wanted to finish this as just an average guy I had to go and get myself into this sticky situation. What encouraged me to do this and give up on my future family?
The image of Naruto just before they parted popped into his mind. Her fear for him clear in her crystal blue eyes. Next second he envisioned those same eyes looking up at him from a girl with blonde pig-tails and an orange dress with the Nara clan symbol on her shoulder. He sighed. With a small shake of his head he returned his attention to his shadow jutsu. It wavered as though mocking him.
"Well, as you say, it appears I'm at my limit." The shadow left his feet and he waited for the inevitable. He was spent. There was no chance he could even put up a fight. His legs felt like jelly under him. Naruto's stamina must really be ridiculous because she didn't look exhausted at all.
He nearly had a heart attack when someone came crashing down behind him. He expected his head to be severed from his body instantly; instead his senses were filled with the smell of smoke. That particular scent of smoke was familiar to him.
"Asuma-Sensei?" Shikamaru was shaking so hard it affected his voice. "How did you…"
Asuma-Sensei was impressive. He took down all the enemy ninja without issue, allowing Shikamaru to collapse to the ground. Taking a moment to calm his nerves, Shikamaru evaluated his situation. He was out of chakra, out of stamina. If he pushed himself any further he would pass out for sure. Thinking over how he had came to be on the ground in the middle of the forest made him think of the other team members. He shot up only to have the world spin and for him to fall back down.
"Hey, take it easy," Asuma-Sensei instructed, moving to his student's side.
"No, Naruto and the others… I have to help them."
"I spoke with Kakashi, they have orders to pursue Sasuke. You've taken out their only real threat. Gaara is injured and Sasuke and Naruto can handle the other two… Kankuro and Temari, right? They will be fine whilst you rest. You can't do anything if you pass out just trying to follow them."
There was truth in his teacher's words. Looking at the sky again he evaluated that within half an hour the forest would be crawling with shadows. It was, after all, getting close to late afternoon. He had that long to regain as much energy as possible, then he was going after them, no matter what. As Asuma-Sensei went to scout out the area and take out as many enemies as possible Shikamaru sat, resting the best he could in the middle of an invasion.
"Looks like I still have a chance at the life I want" he muttered to himself. "I can't believe you were going to volunteer to give up your life, Naruto! I would kick your ass for that if I didn't know you would kick mine right back for doing the same thing. Just give me time. Once I have some energy I'll be there to help you, you troublesome woman."
He found it difficult to sit still. Asuma-Sensei would come back, dragging unconscious enemies to be tied up with the rest. At one point he had blood on his hands, making Shikamaru feel nauseas. He was hardly stupid. It was clear that this was a life or death situation but at the same time he had not once thought about killing the enemy. They, however, clearly thought about killing the Leaf ninja. It was that thought that propelled him to his feet earlier than he intended.
"I'm going after him!"
He took off in the direction he knew they had been heading, looking for signs of them. Asuma-Sensei was hot on his heels. Not once did the older man ask who 'he' was. Luckily there were subtle signs of the three. As they drew closer and closer he started to notice that the ground was rumbling. The closer they got to Naruto and the others the stronger the ground shook. He heard the muffled sound of an explosion.
Paper bomb! But whose?
He pushed himself to go faster, ignoring pain in his muscles. Adjusting his course he aimed towards where the explosion came from, Asuma-Sensei following suit. Next moment there was a large dust cloud, similar to what appeared when one performed certain jutsus but it was huge.
"What was that?" Shikamaru panted.
"One large release of chakra," replied Asuma-Sensei, coming to a halt and forcing Shikamaru to do so as well. Closing his eyes, he took a large breath. "Wild, untameable, spontaneous. It feels like Naruto's. Holy crap that kid has as much chakra as a Jonin! Shikamaru, change of plans! Naruto is fighting Gaara."
"WHAT!?"
"Calm down! We are not walking into that. We are going to guard this area. No enemy ninja is going to join that battle. Do you understand me?" Asuma-Sensei gave him a serious expression, leaving no room for argument, and yet, Shikamaru still opened his mouth.
"But, what if Naruto… dies?" The word came out strained, barely making it passed his lips.
"SHIKAMARU!" Asuma-Sensei yelled, making the young boy jump. "If you really care about Naruto then trust him to fight this battle. Trust him to win and protect him from a distance. Naruto promised to have your back, to protect you at the sacrifice of his own life. I'm asking you if you are willing to do the same for him. Kakashi told me to never count Naruto out and I can see why."
The lazy genius nodded. "You're right. I'll check on him once the fight is over. The idiot will be injured, but alive."
There didn't seem to be too many enemies in the area and he was fully prepared to guard Naruto from a distance… until that thing appeared. It was huge and monstrous. Its flesh was the colour of sand and it stood as tall as a mountain. Involuntarily Shikamaru yelped Naruto's name before looking at Asuma-Sensei in desperation.
"What is that thing?" Asuma-Sensei gasped, craning his neck upwards.
"The sand demon… with my dad's name. Shikaku!"
"Shikaku… no, you mean Shukaku… different spellings. The one-tailed beast!" Asuma-Sensei took a deep breath. "This is not good."
At that Shikamaru rounded on his teacher. "You said that Naruto would be fine. That he would win!"
He went to charge forward but stopped when something shook the ground. Before his eyes appeared another, large animal. A giant toad wearing a jacket, smoking a pipe. On its head was a figure with bright blonde hair.
"Naruto!" His face ached from the large smile that spread across it.
"How did he summon the Fourth Hokage's toad?"
Shikamaru was rendered speechless. How did Naruto get so strong?
He didn't have much time to gawk since the presence of the two creatures seemed to draw more enemy ninja. The forces were small, especially compared to what he could only imagine was going on in the village. Once Naruto and Gaara started fighting though, the enemy retreated. He didn't blame them. Trees were being uprooted thanks to those two. Shikamaru was glad the fighting was over for him since the edges of his vision was starting to blacken. He collapsed at the base of a tree and watched the fight. Asuma-Sensei, understanding that his student couldn't fight anymore, remained on guard for him.
Naruto was keeping the battle away from their direction, which meant that she was probably guarding Sasuke and Sakura. With every attack his heart leapt into his throat, especially when that thing started talking, sounding nothing like Gaara. The toad started spitting water, making it rain where he sat. He refused to move or look away though. He felt hopeless, not being able to help. It was becoming clear that Naruto was having trouble. The toad couldn't get a grip on the beast. The blonde seemed to realize the same thing for she and the toad transformed into… something deadly looking. It was covered in orange fur, the hair seeming to stand on end like Naruto's did in Lee's hospital room. It had nine tails that flicked around as though they had a mind of their own. One even broke the top off a tree. And it's teeth! Its teeth looked bigger then Shikamaru and sharper than a kunai.
"What is that?"
Asuma-Sensei looked pale and shaken. "The Nine-Tails!"
"That's the thing that devastated the village almost 13 years ago and killed the Fourth?" Shikamaru couldn't take his eyes off the vicious creature, hardly believing that it was actually Naruto and the giant toad.
"There's no doubt. I didn't see it this close last time but I will never forget it."
"How does he even know what it looks like in such detail?"
Asuma-Sensei remained silent, staring up at the thing with wide eyes. Shikamaru had never seen a battle so intense before. His entire body begged him to rush in and help somehow but his brain reminded him that he could never keep up with a fight of that calibre. It was hard to believe that it was actually Naruto, the academy screw up. Part of him was terrified but another part of him, the part that he realized Naruto owned, was impressed more than he could verbalize. In true Naruto style she won the fight with a head butt. Gaara's monster form started to crack, the sound resonating through the forest. The moment the sand started to crumble Shikamaru pulled himself to his feet, jogging to Naruto's location. He didn't know how they had the energy to throw another punch.
When he finally found her she was on the ground, unconscious. Sasuke was gently turning her over, shaking his head. There was a line dug in the ground and dirt on Naruto's scratched up chin. By the looks of it she had dragged herself to the spot she was laying. One look around the clearing allowed Shikamaru to tell that whilst Gaara was gone, he had been lying in the clearing, near where Naruto dragged herself too. Even after everything she had gone through she had a smile on her bloody face. He walked up to her, crouching down and studying her for serious injuries.
"He'll be fine," Sasuke panted. "Sakura is unconscious as well, up in the trees with Pakkun. I can't carry either of them. I'm spent."
"I'll carry Sakura. Shikamaru, are you able to carry Naruto?" Asuma-Sensei walked forward, half lifting the blonde off the ground and looking at Shikamaru for permission.
With a nod the boy turned, allowing his teacher to put Naruto on his back, drawing her arms around his neck. Instantly he hooked his arms around Naruto's legs, holding her up. Asuma-Sensei disappeared quickly, coming back with Sakura on his back and Pakkun at his heels. Sakura didn't look too bad. There didn't seem to be any blood on her but Shikamaru couldn't be sure.
"I have to go. If you need me for anything else just get Kakashi to summon me again." Pakkun looked up at Shikamaru, making the boy wonder if he was going to bite him again. "Sorry, kid, you'll have to touch my paws next time."
"Why do you keep offering that?" Shikamaru snapped as the dog disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Naruto moaned, making the three males pause, waiting to see if she was waking up. Instead she turned her head, burying it into Shikamaru's neck. He gulped, her breath sending a shiver down his spine as it hit his skin.
"Will you be alright walking back to the village?" Asuma-Sensei asked Sasuke, noticing how the Uchiha was barely standing.
"I'll be fine."
"Well, if you collapse I'll just pick you up." Asuma-Sensei shrugged, not seeming to be effected by Sakura's weight at all. He started leading them towards the village.
Naruto's arms hung over Shikamaru's shoulders reminding him of the stick people sometimes tie carrots to in order to make a donkey walk. Her arms bobbed as he walked, drawing his eye. He was following it, though he didn't know where her hand was leading him. Eventually her arms closed around his shoulders, one hand pressing over his heart and Naruto groaned.
"Stop," she muttered, making the boy halt. "Shikamaru… stop, we have to find him!"
"Find who?"
"Shikamaru." She turned her head, her lips moving against his neck as she talked. "He could be hurt. We have to find him. We can't let him die!"
With a small smile he turned his head, trying to see Naruto's face, but could only see her blonde hair. "Idiot," he spoke softly, starting to move forward again, "I am Shikamaru! And I'm safe."
Naruto tightened her hold on him, her sigh seeming to go straight through his body. He could feel her relaxing, her heart beat slowing into a calm beat. She didn't let go of him though, her breath warm against his flesh. He could feel the heat rolling off her, seeping into him. Other than the netting making up his shirt he didn't have anything covering his torso. He could feel the folds in bandages Naruto wore on her torso, could feel the hard muscles of her stomach and how her chest was softer. One hand grasped his shoulder, her thumb resting on his neck. Her lips rested on his skin.
"Good, I was scared I had lost him!"
The words tumbled off her lips, searing into his flesh. Naruto seemed to drift into unconsciousness again, making Shikamaru wonder if she had truly been awake. It didn't matter though. Her words echoed through him, making him notice one particular thing over everything else. 'I!' She had said that she was scared that she had lost him. As though he was hers! Part of his brain told him he was thinking too much, that she was tired and bruised and probably hadn't meant it like that but another part of him didn't care. It held on to that sentence greedily, refusing to let go. He turned his head, pressing his cheek against her hair for just a moment as he tightened his grip on her thighs.
It crossed his mind then that he was covered in sweat and probably stunk. He didn't know if people could register smells when they were unconscious. He really hoped not. Next moment his foot caught on the ground and he choked on his saliva. Asuma-Sensei and Sasuke both looked at him in worry.
"Are you alright?" Asuma-Sensei asked as Sasuke frowned.
"Yeah, just… my foot caught on a rock and surprised me is all." It crossed his mind that the bright red to his face probably showed that he didn't trip. However, the two other males turned back around and continued walking, accepting his words. Shikamaru felt another shiver radiate through his body. Naruto tightened her grip for a moment, as though in reaction to his body's involuntary movement. It's your damn fault, you troublesome woman!
She had licked her lips, accidently licking his neck in the process. It had surprised him and somewhat tickled. But the worst thing was that if Naruto hadn't noticed his smell surely she would notice his taste. He was surprised she wasn't gagging already but she kept sleeping. Maybe he could convince her it was all in her head when she wakes up or that it was actually her sweat she smelled… and tasted. That was going to be a fun one to explain.
They exited the forest, walking through the village. Shikamaru flinched. The place reeked of dust, sweat and blood. There was a scar torn through the village, houses and buildings unrecognizable. Giant snake carcasses lay upon heaped stones, dead ninjas littering the floor around them. Shikamaru was glad to see that not all the dead bodies were Leaf ninja. Guilt crawled into his body. Although the Sand Village had been the enemy that didn't mean they didn't have family. Many were probably just following orders. But he saw familiar faces. People he had walked past or talked to, some were ninjas that spoke with his father on multiple occasions. Part of him screamed to stop looking, stop before he saw something that would haunt him forever.
"Shikamaru?"
He turned so sharply that Naruto was nearly dislodged off his back. Standing only two meters away was a man almost identical to him only older and covered in scars. Some of the tension in his shoulders released at the inquisitive look his father gave, looking perfectly fine as though no enemy had came close to injuring him. It was probably what happened.
"Are you alright, son?" his father asked in his usual deep, gravelly voice.
The sound of it instantly calmed him. It always had. It was a voice of a commander, of a genius, of a father. Even if his father was scared Shikamaru had no doubt that the deep tone would hide it, exuding confidence. Admittedly he wished he would one day have the same voice, one that seemed to rumble through the air like an earthquake through the ground.
"I'm fine, only exhausted."
"And the Nine-Tails?"
"It was Naruto." Shikamaru gestured over his shoulder at the blonde only to realize to late that that was not the right answer.
His father's eyes widened, his face draining of all colour, making his scars stand out sharply. His hand instantly went to his weapon pouch as he stepped towards his son, staring at the girl resting on Shikamaru's back.
"He summoned a toad," Asuma-Sensei started quickly, stepping towards Shikaku, standing in front of a baffled Shikamaru. "And when the toad couldn't hold onto the sand demon he transformed them into the Nine-Tails. It was a well performed Transformation jutsu, wouldn't you say?"
Shikamaru's father relaxed, though Shikamaru still didn't understand his issue.
"Get him and the girl to the hospital; make sure the nurses know that Naruto stopped the Sand's weapon. It might get them to actually behave for once."
So his father knew how people treated Naruto? Shikamaru gave his father a nod before continuing towards the hospital, trying to not think about the devastation and his father's behaviour. Why did he worry so much when Shikamaru told him Naruto had changed into the Nine-Tails? Obviously she didn't turn into the real thing. The question stayed in his mind until they reached the busy hospital. They were directed to some vacant beds, Sasuke also being told to lay on one since he looked near death. Naruto slipped off of Shikamaru's back easily but her hand hovered over his heart for a moment longer after she curled up on the hospital bed. Her hand slid down his chest, making goose bumps rise to the surface. That smile was still in place making her look peaceful and beautiful. Shikamaru was reminded of the last time he was standing next to Naruto's hospital bed. He almost found himself leaning down, but was able to stop himself. Instead he retrieved some bandages and disinfectant off a passing nurse and started cleaning the wounds on Naruto's face and hands. The nurses were busy attending to more critical patients. The whole time he ignored the odd looks Sasuke was shooting him, instead focusing on the blonde who he sat next to. Luckily Sakura was still unconscious because she would no doubt comment on Shikamaru's willingness to help Naruto. Asuma-Sensei just smiled before leaving to see how others faired in the invasion. He spoke something about talking to his father. Shikamaru only nodded in reply, lightly pushing back Naruto's hair to get to the injury on her forehead.
"Why are you smiling?"
He jumped, barely managing to not hurt Naruto. Looking over at Sasuke he found the other boy giving him a suspicious look.
"I'm just glad my… friend is okay and that I can help them." Truthfully he hadn't even noticed that he was smiling at Naruto though he had been enjoying her relaxed expression, and that he was the one looking after her.
"If you say so." Sasuke frowned at him before slowly getting off the bed and stumbling to the bathroom.
As the door clicked closed Shikamaru took Naruto's hand in his, starting to clean the blood off her knuckles. They were red and swollen yet they were still so small compared to his. Lifting her hand he kissed her fingers, making sure to miss the wounds. He then turned it over, kissing the palm as her fingers skimmed his cheek. Moving into the touch he continued to plant small kisses on her palm and wrist, feeling her pulse under his lips. He felt Naruto move closer to his sitting form, burying her face in his outer thigh. Hearing the toilet flush he opened his eyes and lowered Naruto's hand from his face as he smiled down at the blonde again. Exhaustion over took his body, making him sway. When Sasuke came back into the room Shikamaru stood up, looking at Naruto one last time as she gave a soft whine at him moving before saying goodbye to Sasuke and leaving to get some rest.
He knew that there would be hard times to face when he woke up. There were casualties and he didn't know how many, there was rebuilding to be done and healing to start. That would all have to wait until he had had enough rest to be able to deal with it. At the moment he was going to hold onto the good. Such as the fact that Asuma-Sensei, his father and Naruto were all safe, that Choji and Ino were bound to be safe since Kakashi-Sensei and Guy-Sensei were guarding them, and that Naruto had been worried that she had lost him. Those thoughts were going to have to sustain him through his sleep, keeping the thoughts of what were to come away from his mind.
Hope you like, I got my fiancée to check the spelling of Shikamaru's dad and Gaara's tailed beast so there shouldn't be a mistake. R and R.