It started with a tingling numb feeling in his left hand. His water canteen had slipped through his fingers as he had gone to place it back in his bag. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were on their way back from a mission in the mountains near the hidden cloud village. They had crossed the border into the hidden leaf village about 20 mins beforehand and stopped to take a water break now that they were on home soil. Shikamaru stares at his hand for a moment slightly confused at what happen. He flexes his fingers and shakes his hand out trying to rid the feeling before picking the canteen back up and placing it in his bag. He glances to his teammates to check that neither of them are looking at him and luckily only sees them repacking their own canteens. He knows what it means and should have already known it was coming when he woke up exhausted with a stiff body and neck that morning. Unfortunately, he decided to brush it off as being from the long hard mission.
They had had to spend several days high up in the mountains trying to find the location of some hermit leaf shinobi named Hitori, who many years ago went to live up in the mountains to research the lightning and its properties in ninjutsu. He like any other old hermit, never bothered to return village. However, he still submitted his findings and work to the hokage every couple of years. Unfortunately for them he was difficult to find and deal with which is why they were sent to retrieve the reports required. So It was several freezing cold days and nights in the wild for them until he was located. Then having to deal with the crazy old man and prove to him they were true leaf Shinobi there in the hokage's name. Returning to the present he debates whether to say something to his team, even though there's nothing they can do. Just as he opens his mouth to speak Ino's voice is heard directed at him.
"Hey you mind if I take lead for the rest of the way?"
"Uh no, go ahead if you want" He replys. He's caught off guard but relieved at Ino's request. If he's not leading that means he won't be risking his teammates safety if he fails to spot an oncoming attack. Even though there probably a one percent chance of that happening so closer to the village, he wouldn't risk it. Now that he's no longer in charge he doesn't see the point giving his teammates the heads up, theres nothing left to do except for trying to get as close to the village as possible before it finally hits him. He estimates he has about an hour before he'll be unable to even open his eyes, let alone walk and they have over 2 hours till they reach the village.
"Let's go, I got a date with Sai I don't want to be late for!" Ino says as she jumps up to the first tree in the direction of the village.
Shikamaru pushes his thoughts to the back of his mind and follows Ino with Choji trailing behind him.
They're making good progress jumping from branch to branch for about 30 minutes before Shikamaru spots it out of the corner of his left eye. It's just a small dot in the corner of his vision no bigger than a cherry but, he knows it will grow quickly. He could best describe it as a staticky zigzag pattern that seemed to lay on top of his vision and everything behind it turned to a blotchy watercolour painting of colour - all details blurred into one watery mess. Since his eye had now caught on to the blurry mess slowly expanding in his left peripheral it seemed his body thought it should announce that it was uncomfortable too. His neck felt tighter then a rubber band ball, his limbs ached with fatigue and he could feel the stabbing pain creeping into his left eye socket. He instantly pressed his tingling numb palm of his hand to his eye socket hoping the pressure would push the throbbing back down.
"Do you see something Shikamaru?" Choji's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts. He jumped slightly and quickly removed his hand having forgotten where he was and what he was doing.
"No, it's nothing." He said quickly, going to glance behind him to Choji. However his neck angrily protested and refused to turn anymore so, he quickly aborted and turned straight again. He sees Ino looking back at him from where she was leading the group but she turns back quickly when he catches her eye. Even though it was only a moment he could see the concern in her eye but, she doesn't say anything.
They continued for another 20 minutes, Shikamaru watching his watercolour painting expand to the point where almost the whole left side of his vision had turned into a child's watercolour finger-painting. It was at that point he just closed his left eye as the swirling colours were starting to make him nauseous. He knew he had minutes left and was trying to figure out what to do or say to his team but, he was struggling to even open his mouth. The only thing his body didn't seem to have a problem with was the rhythmic feeling of landing on tree limbs and then jumping off again to the next. Unfortunately the pain that had started in his eye socket had now encompassed the entire left side of his face and head, down into his tight neck. He felt his knee give in slightly more then it should have the next time he landed and he knew he needed to stop before he fell out of a tree. Shikamaru tried to open his mouth again or stop his feet but his body seemed to be stuck in this endless cycle of jump, land, jump, land. He looked up at the back of Ino's head and mustered his strength and finally felt his tight jaw loosen.
"Guys I-" Shikamaru started as he landed but, cut himself off as his feet hit the ground and his brain seemed to continue on the journey. His own words reverberating in his skull as his world turned to a mush of colour and sound. He lost track of his location on earth as he squeezed his eyes shut and nausea rolled in his stomach. He felt his knees give out but, before he felt the impact of the ground he felt two sets of arms grabbing a hold of him and slowing his decent.
"We got you." He heard Choji murmur lightly.
He was gently lower to his knees and his head descended forward to Choji's shoulder on his left. He felt that Choji had a hold of his elbow and his other hand on his back shoulder to keep him steady. In turn, Shikamaru had handful of Choji's sleeve held tightly in his hand seemingly trying to force the pain of out of his body through it, his face buried almost in the crook of his neck.
Ino's right hand laid on his right bicep as he had been lowered to his knees but now it was traveling down his arm to his hand that he had moved across his stomach, she forced her fingers into his clenched fist which he promptly took a tight hold of. Her left hand softly rubbed across his upper back as she gently pushed him more into Choji's arms. Once Choji was supporting more of Shikamaru's weight her hand moved to his ridge neck.
She prodded her fingers gently along his neck but, even with the gentlest touch he felt the muscles contracting painful. She stopped her movement when he inhaled sharply and clenched his jaw as all his muscles tightened.
"Just breathe Shika." Ino whispered.
Shikamaru forced his body to release and breathe, which came out in a breathy sob as his body trembled under the pressure. Eyes still clenched shut and buried in Choji's shoulder, he felt Ino's warm chakra filled hand gently rub across the base of his neck. He finally felt the muscles loosening after her fourth run over with her hand and he let a small moan of relief. After that she began prodding and rubbing a bit deeper in and around his neck trying to loosen up the rubber band ball he had created there.
The rhythmic feeling of her hand going back and forth across his neck distracted him momentarily from the rest of his body. His neck muscles were loosening but, after a couple minutes his head and stomach demanded attention again. The stabbing pain radiating out of his eye socket seemed to reverberate through out the rest of head and he knew his eyes were filled with tears as he gasped for air and control. The nausea was rolling in his stomach more intensely making his whole body feel like it was rolling away with it.
"Try and breathe slowly Shika" Choji's voice floated through the spinning black world he was in. At Choji's words he realized he was taking quick gasping breathe as his body rebelled against him. He tried to match his breath with the rise and fall of Choji's chest pressed against his shoulder and side. The dizziness eased as his breath slowed but his stomach churned more intensely. He felt the bile rising in his throat and sluggishly he released Choji's sleeve and moved it to his shoulder to push his head away from the body supporting him.
"Sick" Shikamaru managed to gasp out and quickly the hands gripping him changed positions. He lost track of his body's position as he gagged. He felt vomit leave his mouth and felt a sledgehammer smash into his eye socket each time he heaved. As the gagging eased he realized he felt Ino's cool hand across his forehead supporting his head. He also realized his whole body was be supported like one of Kankuro's puppets, his limbs completely lifeless in the arms of his teammates. He sat there trembling and panting trying and failing to gain control of his body. He felt Ino's other hand come to the base of his skull which felt good until he felt his body being leaned back from his hunched forwards position. The world did a backflip and he quickly grabbed a hold of Choji's arm that was across his chest. He also grabbed a hand full of Ino's pant leg and let out a groan of pain as he tried to stay rooted to the earth. They stopped the descend backwards when he groaned and Ino's hand was removed from his forehead. With his head cradled in Ino's other hand, he breathed deeply as the spinning sensation dissipated once he was stilled. He suddenly felt something cool and metal touch his chin and he instinctively jerk away and peek his right open to see what it was. The sunlight cut through his eye and head like a sword and he's sure he whimpered slightly as he clenched his eyes closed again.
"Don't look, just rinse your mouth and drink." Ino said softly, easing his head straight so he could sip the canteen she was holding. The cool water felt amazing but he could definitely taste the residual bile in his mouth. He gently swished the water around in his mouth and leaned forward to spit it out in front of him. The canteen was returned to his lips as a pill was slipped into his mouth. He took a few tentative sips to swallow the pill before turning his head slight away to indicate he couldn't take anymore. He lowered his chin to his chest, breathing deeply trying to quell the nausea and waves on pain crashing over him.
"We're going to lay you down Shikamaru" he heard choji whisper.
"Just a minute" he mumbled back squeezing Choji's arm in response, he needed his stomach to settle more before he moved again. He felt Ino disappear from his side and he leaned heavily to Choji's side for support. His forehead found its way to Choji's neck as he took deep careful breathes through his nose, Choji's arms surrounding him and holding him up. Ino's hand landed on his shoulder a minute later.
"You good to move now Shika?" She whispered somewhere to his right.
He gave a small affirmative hum after a moment but made no indication of actually moving.
Ino's hand found its way back to the base of his skull and the other to his chest. She then gently pulled his head and body away from Choji's so he could loop Shikamaru's left arm across his shoulders and held his hand to keep it in place. Shikamaru huffed out a deep breath as the dizziness rolled around his head again at being moved. Ino's hand on his chest moved to his inner bicep, the other still cradling his head.
"You ready?" Choji's voice was heard and Shikamaru grunted an affirmative before taking a deep breath to prepare for the onslaught of pain about to come. Before he knew it he was on his feet but his knees refused to bear his weight. It didn't matter though because he felt the ground disappear under his feet a second later. Since he didn't have to worry about where his body was going, he just concentrated on the spinning stabbing pain resonating through his skull. He squeezed Choji's hand and breathed deeply trying to stay attached to planet earth. As soon as the movement started it stopped again and he was being lowered to a seated position. His flak jacket and weapons were removed and then he was suddenly being lowered back. His body instinctually jerked forward at the falling sensation.
"It's okay, we got you." Choji whispered
"Just relax." Ino murmured as she gave the base of his skull a light squeeze.
He attempted to relax his body as he was lowered and was pleasantly surprised when Ino gently deposited his head onto his pillow and bed roll. The muscles through out his body seemed to cry in relief now that he was finally laying down and a shiver ran through his whole body as the tension in his muscles loosen. A blanket was placed over him and he grabbed a fist full of it to hold on to as his head continued to throb away.
"Relax your eyes." Ino whispered lightly, placing her thumb in the space between his eyebrows trying to smooth it down.
"Can't." He grumbled. If he relaxed his eyes then the light could get in which, in his opinion hurt more then clenching his eyes closed forever. He heard Ino sigh before a piece of fabric was placed over his eyes. It took him a moment to figure out what it was but, he felt the heavy weight of a piece of metal as well as the fabric and quickly realized it was his headband. The darkness it provided blocked out even more light then his eyelids had and he felt himself relaxing even more. Ino's hands returned to his forehead and her fingers began trying to massage his furrowed brow away. His forehead instantly softened as he sighed in relief. She concentrated on his forehead and eye area for a few minutes before traveling into his hairline. She gently pulled his hair tie out, ran her fingers through his hair and began massaging his whole head. He would have cried in relief if it wouldn't have caused him more pain but, he knows a relief filled moan left his throat of its own accord. Ino's massage continued into his neck and back to his forehead. He slowly lost track of everything around him as the fingers gently massaged the pain away to a dull throb.
He must have drifted off because the next moment someone's hand was on his shoulder and Ino fingers were no longer in his hair. The pain in his head had been reduced to a radiating ache which didn't sound better but, it was better then the stabbing sword to his brain he had earlier. His body felt like it was floating but, it also felt too heavy to even twitch a finger at the same time.
"-maru" Choji's voice drifted through his skull bouncing around before dissipating to an echo. His shoulder was given a small shake and Shikamaru managed a small grunt in discomfort.
"Shikamaru, can you hear me?" Choji's whispered somewhere above him. He gave a half hearted hum in response, realizing he could easily just drift off again. His shoulder was lightly shaken again.
"Shikamaru, are you with me?" He jumped slightly, waking himself up more and stretching his stiff tried fingers. Choji's hand moved to the side of his head, his ear laying between his fingers.
"That's it come on, try and open your eyes."
It was then that he came to the conclusion that Choji must have already tried to wake him several times before with little response. Now realizing his headband was no longer draped over his eyes, he cracked one eye open. His eyes were relieved not see the bright shining sun, it was nearing the end of dusk from the looks of it - barely a glow on the horizon. He slowly opened both eyes half mast and Choji's face came into focus above him.
"You think you're ready to make it home?" Choji asked quietly, Shikamaru slowly contemplated the question. He wanted to say yes immediately, being in his comfy bed with his wife's gentle touches sounded amazing. However, that involved having to sit up and move and he wasn't sure how that'd go for him. Choji could obviously see the question swirling around in his head and said.
"Lets start with sitting you up, alright?" Shikamaru gives a small grunt of approval. Choji grabs a hold of his elbow and shoulder and Ino suddenly appeared on his other side grabbing a hold of his other elbow, her other hand tucking under head to help lift it up.
"You ready Shika?" Ino spoke softly to his right and a small whispered "yeah" barely passed his lips. He was lifted smoothly into a seated position with his teammates holding on to him. Even though he only moved up and forward for a few seconds, his stomach and brain were still rolling across the forest. As the world spun around him, his neck protested at having to hold his head up again. To try and ease the pressure, he leaned his head forward where Choji's shoulder magically appeared to cushion it. He felt Ino give his neck a comforting squeeze as he breathe deeply trying to calm his rolling stomach and the tilting gravity.
"Do you think you'll be able to stand?" Ino whispered. He really didn't think he'd be able to but, he had to try if he want to sleep in his own bed tonight.
"Let's go." He ground out wanting to be home now.
"Alright." Ino said sounding unconvinced.
Her and Choji grabbed one of his arms each to loop across their shoulders and lifted him to his feet. He instantly felt like his head was smashed through a roof as the pain increased tenfold. He closed his eyes against the spinning world and tried to lock his knees and breathe. He had a tight hold of each of his teammates shoulders and was breathing aggressively through a clenched jaw. The initial spinning was easing the longer he was up but, his legs refused to bear his weight. The nausea was rolling intensely in his stomach and the sword stabbing pain in his head had returned with a vengeance. He thought he heard the voices of his teammates but he couldn't understand what they were saying over the pounding resonating through out his skull. His hand left Ino shoulder to cradle his head without even thinking, he felt Ino adjust her grip trying to keep him standing even though he couldn't even support his own weight. All he could hear was his own heartbeat pounding though his head, while the ground tilted and shifted beneath his feet.
"Down." He groaned through clenched teeth, finally admitting defeat against his body and gravity. He was instantly lowered to knees as he leaned forward and gagged. The sledgehammer returned to his eye socket as he heaved but, he had nothing more to throw up except bile. Unfortunately, his body still continued to heave as tears dripped from his eyes. At this point he was just wishing he'd throw up his whole brain just to be done with it all. His gagging finally started to slow and he sat gasping for air, closer to sobbing then he'd ever care to admit. It was then he noticed Choji's large hand encompassing the back of his neck tugging him slightly back from his hunched forward position. Shikamaru's hand came up to cover his left eye as he straightened up slightly and Ino pressed a water canteen into his other hand. After taking a slow breathe, he raised the trembling canteen to his mouth and swished the water around before spitting it out again. He took a couple of small sips before peeking his right eye open to hand the canteen off to Ino.
"I can't, it's bad." He struggled out as his hand moved to cover both eyes his elbow resting on his thigh.
"It's okay, I'll carry you if you can handle it." Choji whispered giving his neck a gentle squeeze. He felt Ino leave his side momentarily as he took careful controlled breaths. She returned at his back, looping her hand across his chest and the other hand replacing Choji's on the back of his head.
"Lean back a bit Shika." She murmured guiding him back until his back was resting against her chest. His head fell into the crook of her neck as her left hand held it in place.
"Think you can hold on to Choji?" She whispered near his ear.
"Yeah." He replied knowing that if he said no that meant he would needed to be carried bridal style, which he refused. He would have to be at death door before anyone saw him being carried into the village like some damsel in distress, he could keep his hands around Choji's neck if it was the last thing he did.
"Alright, are you ready to try again?" He heard choji say softly to his left.
"In a minute." He replied, the sloshing in stomach slowly settling and the pain in his head receding to a dull throb that was in sync with his heartbeat. Ino's fingers gently carded through his hair as they waited. He almost felt himself drifting off as his body relaxed fully into Ino.
"Shika, you ready?" Ino whispered, he grunted an affirmative in response and opened his eyes slightly. Choji moves from his side and turns so his back is facing him, while Ino sits him up more. Then in one swift movement his chest met Choji's back and Choji was grabbing a hold of the back of knees. He quickly grabbed a hold of the front of Choji's shirt to steady himself as the world spun slightly around him. He buried his face into the crook of Choji's neck and felt Ino hands on his back.
"You doing alright?" Ino asked softly, he gave a positive hum.
"Alright, let's get you home." Choji said as he stood up with Ino's help. The world spun and his head ached as Choji stood. Luckily, with his face in the back of Choji's neck and his body relaxed in his grip it was manageable and easing quickly. He felt Choji jump off and his hands clenched trying to hold on but, after a couple of jumps it turned to a rhythmic sort of rocking sensation and found himself drifting off.
He awoke very slowly, feeling like he was trying to swim to the surface of his conscience. He felt so heavy and exhausted and wondered why he'd even woken in the first place.
"I was wondering what was holding you guys up." His wife's voice floated through the dark inky waters of his mind and he felt her hand gently run through his hair. Her hand seemed to reattach his body to his brain and he realized he was still on Choji's back with his face buried in his neck. His body felt like he had run a marathon and his head felt like he'd kicked it the whole way there.
"Let's get him upstairs." Her voice drifted past his ear again and he felt his shoes being tugged off. A groan left his closed mouth as the tugging irritated his sore calves. His shoes fell away and he felt his wife's fingers pass through his hair again. Choji's strides started gently lulling him back to sleep as they travelled upstairs to the bedroom. He jerked slightly awake as hands were suddenly pulling him away from Choji but before he could even try to grab on to anything he was lowered to his pillow. He let out a sigh of content as his body sunk into the soft mattress.
"I've got it from here guys, you can head home. Thanks for taking care of him." His wife spoke softly above his head.
"Of course, it's our job as his teammates!" Ino joked quietly from the other side of the room.
"Just let him know we're going to go hand in the report to the hokage so he doesn't have to worry when he wakes up - the mission is complete." Choji said somewhere closer to the bed.
"I will, thanks guys." She replied as he heard footsteps and the bedroom close. His wife gently starts massaging his face, head and neck, gently digging into all the sore spots with warm chakra filled hands.
"You got some pretty awesome teammates, you know that right?" She whispered, he smirked automatically. Of course she knew he was awake but, he was too exhausted to even open his eyes.
A "Yeah, they are." Barely passed his lips as her touches soothed him back to deep sleep and he knew no more.
The End.
Holy shit-balls! I can't believe I actually wrote a story let a alone this one! I've been on fanfiction for almost 15 years and have never written anything except for one shitty story when I was like 12. I've never been a writer but I just woke up one morning with this story almost fully formed in my head and I had to write it down. Imagine my surprise when it was actually turned out to be a readable story and not a piece of garbage.
Anyways please review and let me know what you think!
I also kind of thought of possibly writing a small second part that shows Ino and Choji's pov, thoughts?