HEY GUYS AND GIRLS. SORRY FOR THE LONGISH WAIT ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST CHAPTER. I HOPE THAT THIS IS WORTH THE WAIT. I'M NOT GONNA SPEND ANY MORE TIME ON THIS SO YOU GUYS CAN JUST READ THE CHAPTER YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR.

HAPPY READING

Pain, searing through his aching body. The unrelenting wave of hurt crushing his bones and eating away at his muscles leaving him unable to move; was this death? Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes despite the pain coursing through them. There was a light shining in the corner of the room providing just enough light to assess the situation he was in right now.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sakura immediately appeared in his line of sight. She checked his body and placed her warm soft hands on his stomach which immediately spread the joy across his face before he remembered everything that happened.

"You just couldn't let me die in peace." His reply was blunt and emotionless as he looked at her forgiving eyes.

"You can hate me as much as you want to right now but I am not going to let you die. It's my duty as a medical-nin." He scoffed at that.

"So you're using that line again. Where was your duty when you abandoned Kurenai?" His question left her speechless but she didn't walk away. She stayed by his side and continue checking his body.

"I'm not leaving you."

"Until Sasuke is in trouble again right?"

"Say whatever you want to, I'm not leaving you. I don't care what I have to endure if it means that you're safe and healthy." She had a blank expression on her face as she refused to show emotion but he could tell that she wanted to do explode with anger and rage or break down and cry or maybe she wanted to do both but she kept her cool and calm expression. It was admirable but that wasn't what he needed right now. He needed her to be angry at him and hate him or show some sort of emotion because he couldn't be the only piece of shit right now.
"How are you feeling?" She suddenly asked him before the silence between them became too overbearing.

"I'm paralyzed and in a hell of a lot of pain." He truthfully answered her. Shino had warned him about this but he didn't know it would hurt this badly. Shikamaru had been paralyzed before so he knew how it felt but the pain was a little too unbearable.

"You're paralyzed? Are you sure?" Sakura quickly asked him then grabbed his legs. "Do you feel this?"

"No."

"Can you move anything?" He tried moving his arms or legs but he couldn't. It was like his body wasn't responding to him anymore.

"Besides my head, no." He informed her. She immediately became alarmed but quickly began her thought process. She was probably trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He was actually interested in hearing what her brain could up with.

"Poison. Did someone poison you?" Not a bad guess.

"I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised actually."

"There are so many paralytic substances. Is there anyway you'd know what it was that made you paralyzed?" She sounded frustrated, did she not want to be right?

"Hey, relax. I'm still alive for some reason so maybe the poison would wear off." Shikamaru suggested but she didn't look like she calmed down or relaxed. She went over to a desk that was placed close to the door of the room then sat down and began furiously writing something.
"Where are we by the way?" He asked her.

"Otogakure." She casually answered him. There's only one place in Otogakure that he could think of that they would be hiding out in.

"Orochimaru's hideout?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"How long was I unconscious for?"

"About 3 days." Damn, that was longer than he thought but that didn't hinder his plans.

"Did you guys carry me here?"

"Naruto and Sasuke took turns."

"I'm pretty sure you threatened them into doing so."

"I wasn't going to leave you in the middle of nowhere to die." He appreciated that but that didn't change how he felt about her or her male teammates.

"That was the wrong choice." He said then sighed. It was more a sigh of relief than anything. "Where is Robin Hood and the rest of the merry men?"

"Funny. Naruto and Sasuke are out getting supplies and Hinata is on lookout." Sakura informed him. He was actually surprised that she didn't have any problem telling him what he wanted to know. She hadn't lied to him or kept anything from him since he woke up actually.

"Why aren't you lying to me?" He decided to asked her. She turned around in her chair to look at him so this was probably serious.

"Look at where you are now and what keeping information from you caused." She had a point there. "I know you might now want to hear my apology right now and that you won't accept it but I am truly sorry for everything that happened between us."

"What's in the past can stay there."

"This doesn't have to change anything between us you know." He wished that was true. He wished that this was all just a bad dream and that he would wake up lying next to her.

"You betrayed me, Kurenai and Mirai so things will never be able to go back to how they were between us." This time she allowed herself to show some emotion. He could see the hurt and disappointment on her face.

"I'm sorry." She apologized again.

"Since you're in the spirit of telling the truth right now, I actually want to know something." Sakura readied herself for anything that Shikamaru was going to ask her. She did tell him the truth so far so it wasn't like she was going to change that right now.
"The night we had dinner with mine, yours, Ino and Choji's family by my house, I walked you home that night and you tensed up. Which one of the tailed beasts were being targeted?" The confusion on her face was priceless. She probably didn't expect him to know about her little secret.
"I know about your connection to the tailed beasts if that's what is confusing you." That should clear things up for her.

"How do you know?"

"I figured it out. Kakashi and Lady Tsunade just filled in the blanks for me." He casually answered her. "You didn't answer my question."

"Isobu, the Three Tailed Beast." Sakura informed him. Why was it always the three tails being targeted? Was it because he didn't have a jinchuriki? He's life must've been such a drag.

"Sasuke went to go save him?" Shikamaru continued probing.

"Yeah. That's why he wanted to talk to us when we stopped the bandits in the Land of Earth." That explained that at least.

"Sakura." Hinata's voice called her outside the room. It wasn't so much a cry for help than a beckoning call.

"I'll be back." Sakura said as she stood up from her chair then exited the room. Shikamaru released a sigh then thought about everything that was happening around him. He pieced together the information that Sakura just gave him with the information he already had to see if he could fill in the rest of the blank spaces he had. Every piece of the mystery was just about solved so the only thing that was still unknown was the group that caused this whole mess in the first place. He couldn't do anything about it right now so he trusted that everyone did their part now because he could only lie down and endure this. He was in so much pain right now that he was finding it hard to stay awake and not just give into it. At least it was a bearable pain now. It couldn't get any worse from here.

"Shikamaru, can you hear me?" That monotonous voice was unmistakable; Shino. Shikamaru opened his tired eyes then saw the Aburame leaning over him. He tried to respond but he couldn't find the energy to move any muscle in his body right now.
"He's awake." Shino looked up at other people probably so he clearly wasn't the only one around right now.

"Can you tell the extent of the damage to his body?" An older female's voice, definitely seasoned and authoritative; Lady Tsunade perhaps.

"Looks like they damaged some of his nerves. Probably some muscle damage as well." Damn, that's worse than he expected but at least now he was going to have to take off from being a ninja for a while so he was going to have a long rest.

"You guys are the dumbest geniuses I've ever known." Yep, definitely Lady Tsunade.

"It was his plan. It was successful." Yes, that was all he needed to know. All this pain and suffering he was going through right now wasn't for nothing. His plan had worked.

"At what cost?" Lady Tsunade's anger was definitely coming through there but she needed a level head if she wanted to help him.
"And don't reply to that or else I will punch you off your own creature." Yep, her anger was definitely evident. At least he could finally rest properly now. Everything worked out properly in the end.

"He's passing out again." Shino informed her.

"Shikamaru… Shikamaru, stay awake… don't close your eyes…" Her voice sounded so far away and drowned out. He could hardly make it out so he just let himself sleep. There was nothing more he needed to do anyway.

Shikamaru drifted in and out of consciousness for what seemed like an eternity. Every time he regained consciousness then he found himself in a different place, well different from the last place he remembered being. He still couldn't find the energy to talk or move any part of his body. Sometimes he woke up and didn't even see anyone. The one thing that kept him sane was the fact that he had completed his mission and everything worked out. He had nothing more to stress about.
He thought he heard a baby's cry once when he woke up. It immediately reminded him of Mirai and it probably was her since he didn't know any other baby right now. He wondered how she and Kurenai were doing. Kurenai was probably out of hospital right now and back at his house so that his mother could take care of them. His mother, he forgot about her. She was probably going to murder him as well. Ino was definitely going to murder him for keeping this whole thing from her but he had good reason to. She was the queen of gossip in the village so she definitely couldn't keep a secret. Choji wouldn't really care if he really thought about it. His chubby best friend would probably be worried sick about him and definitely be wanting to make sure that he was alright but Choji wouldn't be as aggressive as Ino or Yoshino was bound to be. Why were females so… troublesome?

"You're going to have all the guys after you." He thought he heard Ino's voice as he woke up again. He slowly fluttered his eyes open but the light around instantly made him shut his eyes again.
"Your mom is going to have to use her genjutsu and scare them all away or use it to interrogate them. I can also use my techniques to make sure that they're the right guy for you." Yep, that was definitely the Yamanaka Clan head. He tried opening his eyes again but this time he endured the light. His body was in pain but it wasn't as bad as it was anymore. He painfully turned his stiff neck to see where Ino's voice was coming from and saw that she was standing by the window with a baby in her arms, probably Mirai. He unsurprisingly found himself lying in the hospital and if Ino was holding Mirai in her arms then he definitely was back in Konoha again.

"I'm pretty sure that you're years too early to be saying that." Shikamaru's coarse voice immediately grabbed the blonde's attention. She turned to look at the patient lying on the hospital bed but she didn't have an angered expression ruling her face like he expected. She had a reluctant smile playing on her lips while her eyes looked like they were ready to release a flood of tears.

"She's already won the hearts of all the males that have seen her." Ino's reply put a weak smile on his face as she began making her way towards him.

"You and Kurenai better start preparing then." He saw tears begin their journey down her cheeks as she came to the side of his bed then bent down and hugged him. Her tears hit the cushion his head was resting on but he didn't care. She had to get through this without any judgement or snarky remarks from him right now and he was honestly glad that she was safe and so was Mirai.

"You're her big brother so you're going to have to deal with protecting her against guys as well." Ino replied as she stood back up and wiped away her tears with her free hand before securing Mirai again.

"She's going to be another troublesome girl." That got a short chuckle out of Ino as they turned their attention to the girl in her arms.

"Then we raised her properly." He couldn't help but feel glad about Ino's confidence in their ability to help Kurenai raise Mirai.
"How are you feeling?" She finally decided to ask him as she sat down on the chair placed next to his bed. He was pretty sure that Kurenai or his mother used it most of the time while they were here which is why it was placed there.

"I'll survive. How are you doing?"

"I'm not the one stuck in a hospital." She snarkily replied but he found it amusing. This was the Ino he liked. She wasn't being tough or trying to get the upper hand and assert her dominance. She was just allowing herself to relax and let the conversation flow smoothly.

"You don't know what you're missing then." They released a short laugh creating a comfortable atmosphere around them.
"Is she sleeping?"

"No. She just woke up a couple of minutes before you did. Her beautiful ruby eyes are staring at the world around her."

"She definitely has her mother's eyes."

"She looks a lot like her mother but definitely has her father's innocently cheerful nature."

"Sounds like terrible combination. She's going to have some terrifying abilities."

"You promised to be her teacher so that's your problem."

"A female would be a better teacher for her so you should do it."

"There's no way you're getting out of this lazy ass." Looks like the nickname Temari had given him was going to stay but he didn't mind it actually.

"Where's Kurenai and my mother?" He decided to change the topic. She clearly wasn't going to give in and he wasn't planning on letting someone else be her mentor as well so it was a pointless fight.

"They went to go get lunch or something." Ino informed him.

"Cho?" He noticed that she was a bit hesitant to answer him there. What was Choji doing?

"He and the other clan heads, village elders and leaders are discussing what they should do about Sakura and Naruto." He could hear the sadness in her tone of voice but he understood why she wasn't really happy about the situation. Sakura is her best friend but she betrayed her so she was probably having mixed feelings about what to do about their relationship now.

"Shouldn't you be there as well?" She was the current leader of her clan and a vital shinobi in the village as well so she should have a say in this as well.

"I chose not to. You and I are the only ones not in the meeting I guess." Yep, she probably didn't want to defend or attack Sakura right now.

"Choji will make the right decision for us then." Shikamaru stated as he sighed then looked up at the bland ceiling.

"Hey, can you move your arms and legs? Shino said that you might be paralyzed." That was a rather nonchalant way of asking an important life-changing question. He tried moving his arms and managed to lift them a little off the bed before dropping them down again. He moved his legs a little to the sides and wiggled his toes under the blankets so he clearly wasn't paralyzed but he definitely had one long freaking time to recover. Maybe even some possible physical therapy sessions was required as well.

"Not paralyzed yet it seems." Shikamaru told her.

"Yet?" She questioned him.

"I'm bound to do something even stupider next time." His reply got a laugh out of her again.

"Not if your mother has anything to say about it."

"She's probably going to forbid me from being a shinobi."

"She's definitely not going to allow you out of the house as well." Ino agreed causing both of them to laugh now.

"Everything seems cozy in here." That voice he definitely wasn't ready to hear yet; Kurenai. Where Kurenai went then his mother and possibly Ino's mother was bound to follow. This was definitely going to be a drag right now.

"Took you long enough to wake up." Yep, Yoshino entered the room after Kurenai. Lady Tsunade and Choji followed them so the meeting was probably over by now. He actually wondered what they decided to do with Naruto and Sakura.

"I thought I deserved a longer rest after the mission I had." Shikamaru explained but his mother's stern expression didn't change. She sighed as she neared him. Ino immediately stood up then made her way over to Kurenai and handed Mirai over to her.

"You're your father's son alright." Yoshino told her son then gave him a kiss on his forehead before hitting his head. "That's for worrying me."

"It's good to see you too mom." Shikamaru told her. He saw a smile flash across her face before he turned his attention to the other people in the room.

"How are you feeling Shikamaru?" Lady Tsunade asked him. She was more than likely the lead doctor on his case so she probably wasn't referring to his mental or emotional state.

"Lots of pain but no paralyses." He informed her.

"Good. Should teach you not to do stupid things like that again." Looks like the legendary Sanin didn't change since the last time they spoke.

"Any chance I am getting out of here today?" That got a scoff out of her but he wasn't really expecting anyone to allow him to leave any time this week.

"You have muscle and nerve damage, you probably can't even get out of bed right now." She was probably right and he definitely didn't even want to move right now.

"What about my chakra?"

"That's still perfectly intact. The insects needed your chakra to survive so they couldn't afford to damage your chakra network." That was good news. He could still activate his abilities but the muscle and nerve damage did bother him.

"The muscle and nerve damage, is it severe?" He asked the older kunoichi.

"Shizune and myself will come in everyday and try to repair it as much as possible but there's no guarantee that your body will go back to it's former state. Obviously there is no way I can clear you to be a shinobi right now and if we cannot successfully repair the damage done to your body then you might never be able to be an active shinobi ever again." He knew that this was a risk that he accepted when he began his plan so he couldn't blame anyone else for this except himself. In all honesty, he felt relieved. Lady Tsunade didn't say anything about him not being able to live a normal life which is always what he wanted so now it was being given to him on a silver platter. He was probably going to have to step down from most of his positions as a shinobi so this was kind of good news.

"But he could also be a shinobi again right?" Ino quickly asked Lady Tsunade.

"If we repair the damage then he will have to go for physical therapy first to get his body working normally then he'll have to be able to pass the physical exam for shinobi before I can clear him but that could also happen." Lady Tsunade confirmed.

"I'm alive. I'm here in the village right now with all of you so all in all, everything was a success." He hated that he had to be the optimistic one right now but someone had to be. Everyone looked like they were in mourning so he needed them to see the good news. Even Choji's usual smile had vanished off his face.

"Shikamaru's right. All of us are alive so we should keep moving forward. It can only get better from here." Kurenai agreed. She was probably the only one who could see his point of view right now since her condition also meant that she couldn't be an active shinobi anymore.

"I'll have one of the nurses bring you some medication for the pain Shikamaru and I will be back tomorrow to start healing you." Lady Tsunade informed him.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade." Shikamaru sincerely told her. She nodded in response then walked out of the room.

"Are you okay?" Yoshino asked her son.

"I actually am mom." Shikamaru was honest so he hoped his mother could see that and no continue probing.
"The tablets I am going to take are probably going to knock me out again so I need you guys to update me on everything that happened since I left the village."

OKAY, SO THAT WASN'T ALL THE ANSWERS YOU WERE LOOKING FOR BUT THAT WAS A START. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL EXPLAIN THE REST I HOPE. EVEN IF I HAVE TO PUT IT IN THESE STUPID AUTHOR'S NOTES. WHAT IS THE POINT OF AN AUTHOR'S NOTE ANYWAY? I JUST HAVE FUN AND WRITE MY OWN STUPID SH!T. IT'S FUN THOUGH. I'LL BE BACK WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER SOONER THAN YOU THINK SO UNTIL THEN, SEE YA…