Chapter 96
"Die!" shrieks Hidan then he plunges the sharp tip of his weapon into his own heart.
Shikamaru clutches his chest, and in that moment before he topples down head first to the ground, he remembers Asuma and the fact that there are important people counting on him…What was it that Asuma called them? King…Asuma called them king. And here he lies on the ground, playing the pawn. Shikamaru then closes his eyes and stops breathing. He has chosen his role and he'll stick to it.
Hidan, his weapon embedded in his chest and jutting out from his back, is sure nobody but him can survive such damage. "How worthless," he sneers, not bothering with his victim as he extracts his weapon from his body and sheaths it back beneath his robe.
As he turns around, taking the first step outside his symbol on the ground, Hidan transforms back to his usual skin pallor. He strides in the direction where three of the jerk's companions are. He will kill them one by one next.
Lying face down, with his hand beneath him, clutching his shirt, Shikamaru feels the thing Temari gave him digs into his palm. Surreptitiously, he watches and when he sees his enemy's back turns towards him, he then seizes his chance. With a kunai, he approaches silently. Next, with a quick motion he slashes Hidan's neck.
But it isn't deep enough to decapitate the bastard.
Gaining some distance but not losing his advantage, Shikamaru then creates hand seals for his shadow to elongate, wrapping itself around Hidan's body tightly.
Surprise and disbelief marring his voice, Hidan scowls, "You jerk, why are you still alive?!"
"I just pretended, I was dead." Shikamaru, with the back of his hand, erases the blood streak on his face, revealing his uncut skin beneath. "The blood on your weapon isn't mine. It's probably from a chicken my wife killed for dinner."
"It's in this capsule, you see." Shikamaru then shows the empty capsule which had contained blood plus anticoagulant that Temari had given him that night before he left for this mission. Under the guise of his hands flailing as he accidently—but actually intentionally—fell from an unseen twig, he had squirted blood from the capsule to Hidan's spear. Then with his hand over his face, he put a streak of blood on his cheek.
"That was our strategy." Shikamaru smirks.
Hidan snorts, remaining still against Kamaru's shadow hold. "Any idiot could figure out your jutsu after seeing it so many times. By now, it isn't as strong as it was before. I don't even need five minutes before I can move."
To demonstrate, Hidan once again strains against the shadow that coiled around his arms, torso and legs. "By now you're just about out of chakra," he mocks, as he starts to move, staggering towards Kamaru.
"Shadow Pull Jutsu," Shikamaru utters then the strings hanging all over the area with the explosive tags all come flying towards Hidan, tying him up from different directions, revealing that the strings are part of a deeper plan and are controlled by the shadows. "I still have this much chakra left."
Hidan, mouth hanging open in surprise, feels constricted by the numerous lines that wind tightly around him, making him immobile and his arms, in an awkward angle at his sides. Then there are the explosive tags—lots of them—now plastered on his body.
Shikamaru momentarily takes off his eyes from the man who killed Asuma as he throws a knife towards the Jashin's symbol on the ground—the circle with the triangle on its center that was drawn with Hidan's blood.
"What are you doing?" Hidan asks, panic in his voice, as he aggressively tries to get free from the strings that twisted around him but to no avail.
"Just watch."
As soon as the knife hits the target, it causes a ripple on the ground. It starts as a small puncture on the earth's surface then it elongates to a crack that branches into more cracks until it reaches the ground in which Hidan's stands, immobilized.
That ground turns into about to be broken egg shell—the surface of a pit.
"What is this?!" gasps Hidan, recognizing he's standing on shaky ground. "When did you do this?"
Shikamaru replies, "I had this trap prepared beforehand."
"You purposely lured me here?" It finally dawns to Hidan, everything that just happened has been part of the jerk's plan.
Shikamaru nods his head. Taking out a silver object from his pocket, he makes an obvious show of Asuma's lighter, flicking it open, lighting it. "You cursed and killed my teacher. Don't think I'll let you get away free and easy." Then flicking the lighter close, he snuffs the light. "That hole is your grave."
"I'm not gonna die!" shrieks Hidan. "Even if my body is dismembered into pieces and only my head remains, I am going to drag myself out and eat your throat!"
Shikamaru looks sideways, towards the trees and thick foliage. Out comes a majestically large adult deer, whose eyes are fiery brown—easily identified as the leader. It's then followed by the rest of the herd.
"This forest, just outside of Konoha, is a special place. The Nara family in which I belong to now is the only one allowed in. No one else can come here without permission—" utters Shikamaru, his thumb rubbing the lighter's surface, "—only us. This way, our family will always be able to keep an eye on you." With those words, he then once again flicks open Asuma's lighter.
"Why are you turning the on?!" growls Hidan, squirming against the strings that tie him up, conscious of the explosives.
Shikamaru throws away the lighter towards the Hidan. "Sayonara, Asuma-sensei. With this I have avenged you," he whispers as he watches his work.
Hidan, enveloped in explosive tags, when the lighter hits him, it creates a large, resounding boom of fire. When the smoke clears, his body—broken to pieces—is then buried beneath the ground. There to stay until the end.
—o0o—
They see the explosion as it rises into the air.
Tensing, Kakashi sweeps his gaze over the edge of the woods, expecting for someone to come out… Either Kamaru succeeded or not, remains to be seen.
"There." Kakashi points to the figure, whose untied dark hair looks untidy and whose face is smudged with soot, slowly trudging his way towards them.
Ino is the first one that runs towards Kamaru followed by Choji.
Shikamaru, his strength at its limit as his chakra is near depleted, suddenly drops.
Ino runs faster and catches Kamaru in her arms before he hits the solid earth with a loud thud. Panting, she whispers, "I got you," as she lay him properly down on the ground with Choji's help.
Kneeling on Kamaru's side, Ino raises her two hands, palms out towards his chest as she checks for any injury and is glad when she discovers that he only needs rest to recuperate and she shares that information to Choji, who sighs in relief and to Kakashi, who knowing that Kamaru is okay, decides that he needs to go back to where the bodies are.
Even dead, his three comrades deserve to be taken back to their families, Kakashi then bids farewell to the group, knowing Ino and Choji will take their alive comrade back home to his family.
—o0o—
Still too tired, the nearer they get to the Konoha gates, the more Kamaru can't help but sag forward even when his body is supported by Choji on one side and Ino on the other with his arms around their necks and their arms around his waist.
Huffing in exasperation, Ino cups Kamaru's jaw with her free hand, anchoring his head on the crook of her neck. Kamaru raises a bit of resistance but Ino only lifts her free hand again, pushing his head to lay it on her shoulder.
It's an awkward position, with Shikamaru leaning down more on Ino than Choji. After all, he's just too tired and the fact that Choji has also used alot of chakra, transforming again and again to assist him in his Invisible Shadow Thread Jutsu, Shikamaru can only just go along with how things are, concentrating his energy on his legs, moving one then another, trying not to fall.
After what seems like a long while of walking, Shikamaru lifts his head. This time his eyes catch a glimpse of the now familiar wooden gates of Konoha. They are finally near…
As they get closer, he sees someone waiting for him by the gate.
"Temari," he whispers, raising his head from lying on top of Ino's. Then removing his arm from around her neck then Choji's neck, his legs gaining strength as he starts to walk on his own.
Ino's hand at Kamaru's back grasps his shirt, preventing him from forcing himself and moving on his own but then she sees his smile upon seeing Temari—it isn't the type of smile that stretches his lips wide. On the contrary, the uptilt on his lips is almost indiscernible. It's in his eyes—she can see it only because she's so close. With a defeated sighs, Ino let's go of her patient. Choji does too.
"That bitch's really lucky, isn't she?" mumbles Ino to Choji, watching as Kamaru tries to stride faster in his weakened state and almost stumbling twice before reaching Temari.
—o0o—
Temari waits by the gate—it beats waiting at home and watching her father play shogi on his own as she's not in the mood to play or hearing her mother nags about everything and nothing.
With another sweep of the horizon, unexpectedly, with what little sunlight that remains, she sees them. Choji, Ino and…that isn't Kakashi sandwiched between the two. That's Shikamaru, looking too injured to walk on his own…
…But still…Thank God, he's alive!
Suddenly, her sight gets blurry. It takes her a moment to realize why. She can only tilt her head backwards with her eyes open wide as she inhales forcefully through her nose to stop the tears from flowing.
She has fought valiantly that nagging fear ever since she realized Shikamaru needs to fight that bastard who killed Asuma. But right now, that strength that has carried her through the hours of waiting seems to disappear.
She can't seem to move as relief overwhelms her in ways she never expected…
For the first time in her life, she feels so weak…so spent like she just fought with someone that existin her head…and the really stupid, crazy part…now, that she feels like she won, her elation is making her feel like an absolute mess—like somehow she lost too…
Because the truth is her happiness is making her realize something about herself. Her happiness it seems is tied with the wellbeing of someone else.
She can't deny it anymore. She really loves Shikamaru.
She's gonna tell him and the ass better believe her.
TBC
—o0o—
~11 14,27 14AF P~
A/N: Review, comment, and criticize ok.