Time: 2 weeks later
Driiinng! Driinng! Driiiing!
The alarm clock rang out around the room. Nonstop, the most dread sounded ever conceived by humanity echoed off the walls, leaving no way of escape as the tired boy attempted to hide under his pillow.
"Ughh!" Shikamaru grunted as he pulled himself from out under his pillow. He sat himself up, crossing his legs under his warm covers.
His alarm kept on ringing as he sat there like a statue, trying to wake himself out of his half-sleeping state. His soft pillows behind him beckoned for him to rest his head and fall back into his dreamy slumber, tempting him to go back to his strange dream.
He was lying on a picnic blanket, the grass field he was in a shade of pure lime, the length of each blade was well-maintained. His nose was filled with the scent of freshly cut grass as Shikamaru reclined on the patchwork quilt, staring up at the sky, watching the clouds drift by lazily. He wished for nothing more than to be just like them, going wherever the current took him.
The best part of his dream, however, was his heavenly pillow. Two thick thighs supported his neck as he looked up at his angel. The blonde-haired beauty would look down at him, laughing at his cute face that was lost in thought. Her regal face would be wrinkled with laughter, her nose would be scrunched up and her dimples would show but despite that Shikamaru couldn't help but stare at her dumbfoundedly as he lost himself in her stunning beauty.
She would absentmindedly feed him strawberries, grapes and other various kinds of handpicked fruits, all the while she would be reading a book in the other, giggling at his mumbling words. The serene vision of the still peace that surrounded Shikamaru, the world where he could enjoy his sloth-like tendencies to their absolute fullest potential, protected by the halo of divine beauty his girl gave off whilst she treated him to free access to her soft thighs.
He would snuggle deeper, shutting his eyes as he listened to her serenade him with a caring lullaby, sending him off to his beautiful slumber.
"Shikamaru! Turn that damn alarm off now!" The Nara boy's eyes opened slowly as he turned towards his door, from where his mom's voice came through from downstairs. His alarm continued to ring as he stupidly smiled at the thought of his dream girl.
"SHIKAMARU!" his mother's voice screeched from the kitchen downstairs, terrifying him as he shot up to race towards the nuisance of an alarm clock.
After shutting it off, Shikamaru's eyes wandered around the messy bedroom, the signature mark of a genius. His cluttered shogi board held the remnants of last night's tournament, the only opponent being of the imaginary ilk. He saw the aftermath of his outburst the night before, when he dented the wood and flung all of his labelled pieces flying around the room.
He had played a match to simulate the current situation of the Hidden Leaf Village against the group now currently using the alias of the Akatsuki. He had run his mind ragged as he tried to find a way for the pieces of the Hidden Leaf to win but every strategy he drew up, he scrapped after he measured it against just the raw power of Hinata herself, not even enough to take on Naruto and Sasuke.
He thought about every tactic that might hold a chance against the three rogue shinobi, scrambling to try and find just one that might have a chance of defeating them whilst simultaneously defending the innocents of the Leaf Village.
One stratagem sat in the back of his mind as he stared at the dent in the wooden board.
Climbing Silver.
Shikamaru huffed as he let that thought sink in, shaking his head trying to bury that line of thinking because he knew that it would probably be him as the sacrificial piece.
He looked out his window, watching as the dawn's first few rays of sunlight peeked into his dark room, the shadows around the walls shifting to escape from their worst enemy.
Lazily, he picked himself up and got ready for the long day ahead, like every day.
After showering, he lathered his face with shaving cream and began half-heartedly using his razor blade. He felt the cool metal against his skin as he flicked his hand down his cheeks, freeing them of any small hairs and erasing the stubble he'd built up over the last few days. As he raised the blade up his jawline, to the same level as his earlobe, he started his long, smooth cut.
Halfway down his eyes met his reflection's almond pupils, his mind flashed through the events of the past few years. He saw the horrors of the Fourth Great Ninja War, all the dead shinobi under his command. He heard his dad's voice in his head before headquarters was destroyed by the Ten Tails, he remembered the signals that shot into the sky two weeks ago.
His team raced towards Sai and Kiba, desperately trying to help the battered Kiba, the trembling Sai and the whimpering Akamaru as Ino began to cry when she saw no trace of her best friend.
Shikamaru remembered how helpless he felt when he had to make the decision to not attempt to search for Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto. Ino begged him to go after Sakura but after he heard Sai's report on the previous situation, he couldn't risk the same happening to the rest of the subordinates, or something worse.
He glanced at Temari hoping she'd have an answer, but he was met with the same confused look that he had on his face. As they conversed entirely in body language, shrugging at each other, Temari rolled her eyes at him as he made his decision to return to the Hidden Leaf Village to help Kiba and Sai recover from their battle with the Akatsuki.
Dragging the sobbing Ino in the opposite direction, the Hidden Leaf Shinobi returned back to lick their wounds, barely even able to stand up to Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke's half-hearted power.
As he stared at his reflection, he cursed himself at his weakness, flicking his hand forward in rage. Shikamaru felt the cool sensation of blood run down his cheek as his blade dripped with the same crimson liquid. Seeing his frustrated face in the mirror now bearing a sharp cut across his jaw, Shikamaru uncharacteristically acted proactively, wiping his face off with tissues before drying it.
Once he had made sure his cut stopped bleeding, he got himself dressed in his chunin gear and tied his hair up before heading down for breakfast.
Shikamaru couldn't help but drool a little once he saw the meal his mother had prepared, but he had to regain his composure quickly when he saw her face.
"What the hell happened to you, Shikamaru?" his mother, Yoshino, pointed her chopsticks at his face.
"My hand slipped" he shrugged in response as he took his seat across from her at the table.
He dug into the meal, picking up his chopsticks to start on his rice. The two sat in comfortable silence for almost half the meal, until his mother spoke to him.
"So, I'm going to be out later tonight, are you gonna be okay on your own?" she asked, a little worried.
"Yeah mom, I'll be fine" he continued to stare at his bowl.
"Have they assigned you any missions today?"
"Just the usual one, but I'll probably get more later when I go to Lady Hokage's office"
"They work you way too hard, even if you are a lazy kid!" she complained.
Shikamaru just smiled back at her with the same thoughts running through his head. They continued to chat about the day ahead and other topics that Shikamaru found pretty superficial. However, he carried on indulging his mom because he knew that it hadn't been easy for her these last two years, ever since he came back from the war without his father and the fact he had changed from battle didn't help either.
"So what are you going to do now Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked out of the blue.
"About what?" he asked confused.
"Don't play dumb!" she jabbed her chopsticks at him, "I know you've been trying to figure out a way of defeating the Akatsuki"
His face dropped at her aggression. Shrugging his shoulders and scratching his head as he said, "I… have no idea"
He leant away to get away from his mom's snarling face.
"What do you mean you have no idea? You lazy bastard!"
"There's no way to beat such powerful opponents!" he explained "I'm just not strong enough"
She sat back down as she saw his depressed demeanour and decided not to press her son any further. She did her best to think of a new topic for conversation, one that was nicer and more light-hearted to talk about. His earlier response to her question about his missions, sparked into her head.
"So…" she leant forwards, propping her elbows on the table, "how's Temari doing?"
"I don't know, why are you asking me?" Shikamaru's eyes darted off sideways.
"Oh come on! You know exactly what I mean Shikamaru?" Yoshino raised her eyebrows at him.
He grunted as he finally accepted that he had no way of escaping this conversation.
"I guess… she's doing fine, it's useful to have someone like her around" he began to chat about her role as an ambassador from the Hidden Sand Village. She had been sent to coordinate the two villages' operations in regards to the Akatsuki, along with her secondary purpose of continuing the improvement of relations between them.
As he kept on speaking, he felt his mouth beginning to dry and his skin itch. He looked at his hand that was resting on the table, watching his fingers tap uncontrollably. 'Must be that time again' he thought as he reached down into his pocket, drawing out his pack of cigarettes.
"Ah! You know the rule kid!" His mom pointed to the door, "no smoking in the house!"
Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Shikamaru decided to leave and get on with the long day of gruelling work ahead.
He stood at the door, turning back for one last look at his mother, one of the strongest people he'd ever known, and huffed as he remembered all the nagging she did, before turning back around and walking out the door into the early morning.
Strolling through the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village, puffing his cigarette, letting the smoke trail behind him, the stench not bothering him anymore, Shikamaru watched as the streets slowly changed from being covered in the Nara clan's insignia, to the general mixture of the smaller clans' imagery.
He thought about the village in general, how all the major clans were outlined with their borders. From what his father and the other higher ups in the village had told him previously, these borders that the village decided for the clans, was one of the causes for the Uchiha's revolt and subsequent massacre.
'So why do we even separate the clans?' his thoughts lurked behind his dead eyes as he passed through the streets, watching the shops begin to open for the morning.
He came to a stop outside a particularly large apartment perched at the top of a white building. He looked at the window for any sign of life but was denied by a closed curtain. Deciding he'd prefer to sit down while he waited, Shikamaru placed himself on top of the roof across the street from the window.
He reclined there, lighting another cigarette as he left one eye open on the window, falling into a half-sleeping, resting state.
His peaceful relaxation was interrupted when he saw the curtain across from him almost pulled off completely as it revealed a girl standing behind it. When she saw him, they both just stayed still, acknowledging the other.
This fragile moment of tranquillity was shattered when Shikamaru looked closer at her appearance. Her dirty blonde hair was messed up and shooting out at different angles, a normal case of bedhead. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that Shikamaru guessed she must have slept in, it hid most of her curves with the exception of the outline of her bust which looked larger than any other time Shikamaru had seen the girl.
Stretching the t-shirt even further were the two small points sticking out from each of her boobs, when Shikamaru remembered his anatomy knowledge he realised what they were, making his face turn slightly red as he darted his eyes downwards to escape any awkwardness.
Unfortunately, this only made it worse for Shikamaru as he saw what lay below her shirt. A small piece of black fabric peeked out from underneath the hem of her oversized top, making Shikamaru's face even redder as he looked back up to be met with another blushing face.
Temari stared back at Shikamaru's dumfounded expression, her face blushing a violent shade of rose as she did her best to cover up, pulling down her shirt. This only led to her pulling her shirt down her breasts, further accentuating their size along with revealing a wider peek at her cleavage. Seeing his eyes creep down her chest, Temari snarled as she opened the window and threw a small fan like a kunai, hitting him right in the centre of his forehead, knocking him backwards as she stormed off to get ready.
Rubbing his head still twenty minutes later, Shikamaru leant on the wall as Temari walked out the door, scowling when she saw him.
"You didn't see anything!" She growled through her gritted teeth, "You got that?" her eyes sent him the most obvious threat in existence.
"What a drag!" he muttered under his breath.
"Do you have to come follow me every single morning?"
"Unfortunately, my mission is to escort you, princess" Shikamaru backed away when Temari raised her fist at his annoying nickname. "So where to first?"
"Let's start with the florist"
"You know we don't have to go there Temari" he looked at her frustratingly.
"It's fine! It'd be nice to kill some time" she said, "plus, your friend needs you right now" her face dropped as she thought about her last few weeks in the Hidden Leaf Village, seeing the aftermath of Sai and Shino's encounter with the Akatsuki.
She knew that Shikamaru was probably the only one left in the village who could put up any sort of significant resistance against Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata's power.
As they headed for the Yamanaka family's shop, the two garnered the attention of all the passers-by. Shikamaru felt every single jealous stare from both men and women alike as he walked next to Temari. He admitted that Temari's regal features were quite amazing, her sharp angles were the epitome of beauty. However, he was also sure that they wouldn't find her as attractive as they did once they got a taste of her unique personality.
Eventually the menacing looks came to an end as Shikamaru and Temari stood outside a familiar florist, they slid the door open to see Ino slumped over the counter.
"Ino?" she raised her head to meet Shikamaru's worried gaze. The golden blonde did her best to compose herself for her friends.
"Temari!" she rushed over, embracing the Sand kunoichi. The mix of dirty and platinum blonde hair gave off the different scents of their shampoos, filling Shikamaru's nose with a pleasant smell to add to all the flowers around them.
Shikamaru looked around awkwardly, being the guy who called Ino yet somehow being the one not getting hugged. He peeked at the two girls, seeing Ino's massive boobs press against Temari's slightly more modest bust, squeezing the poor girl in her tight grip.
Feeling the urge to breathe overwhelm her, Temari pried Ino off of her unsuccessfully as she still clung to her, just with barely a foot of space between them.
"How have you been Ino?" Temari asked as she tried to pry her hands off her shoulder, Ino responded by wrapping them around her arm, pulling herself shoulder to shoulder with the foreign beauty as they turned to face Shikamaru.
"Oh you know how it is Temari! The shop just opened for the day so not many customers but it is what it is!" she tried her best to put on a big smile but Shikamaru could see the sadness behind her blue orbs.
They chatted to her for a while as they looked around the store, empty of customers, and they did their best to cheer her up, obviously failing as being friendly was not any of either's strengths. Eventually, Ino had gotten fed up with both of them lingering around for her sake and she got annoyed at the awkwardness that sat between them.
The last straw for Ino was when the two of them both reached for the same sunflower, the backs of their hands brushed against each other and anyone passing by would have thought they had committed a crime or something worse. Immediately Shikamaru brought his to the back of his head, pretending to think of something, whilst Temari's shot straight down the side of her leg, fiddling with her shuriken holster's straps.
Ino kicked them out under the pretence that they would scare away customers with their suspicious behaviour and the two shinobi turned to see the door slammed in their face.
"So…what now?" Temari asked as she looked over at Shikamaru, hoping her face wasn't as red as he thought it was.
"I…uh…think we should head to the Hokage's office" he looked up at the sky with a steely look in his eyes as he watched a hawk swoop around in the rising sun's light, the shadows of its wings streaking across his face.
He popped a cigarette in his mouth before he followed the sand kunoichi to the centre of the village, the traffic beginning to pick up as the mid-morning arrived. They strutted in silence as they got closer to their destination, others knowing to stay out the way of the pair.
They walked into the Hokage's office without hesitation after they saw the door wide open and the two guards beckoning them to hurry inside.
The mood of the office was suffocating, Lady Tsunade's face was etched into a permanent scowl as she barked orders to every shinobi unfortunate enough to be called in to see her.
Kakashi was stood off to the side, doing his best to be the voice of reason in the chaotic room.
"Shikamaru!" the Fifth Hokage shouted when she saw him. The young squad leader subtly positioned himself behind Temari, hoping that on the off chance that Tsunade attacked him, the Sand kunoichi was fearsome enough to deter her. It certainly would have been a fight to watch, but Shikamaru thought about something even better.
The image of both blondes wrapping their tits around his cock, fully enveloping. The thought of them trying their hardest to get him off, Temari's face as she concentrated on getting him, a stupid man, as much pleasure as possible.
Shikamaru was snapped out of his erotic thoughts by a jab in his ribs from Temari in front of him.
"Ow!" the Nara boy rubbed his side as he looked back at the Hokage. Her expression had changed to stoic one as she delivered the recent news.
Shikamaru had to listen as she went on explaining about a nearby village and how it's supposedly in flames right now, according to various reports. As he heard all the details that Hidden Leaf could accrue, something kept bothering Shikamaru. He looked towards Kakashi and saw in his eyes a similar look to his own.
It was like when the prey feels a shiver down their spine just in time to get away from the predator that stalked them. He didn't know what exactly was so suspicious about this case of the village burning down, but he was sure he'd need a strong group of shinobi to deal with it.
"Therefore Shikamaru…" Tsunade came to the closing statement of her explanation for him being in her office, "I'm assigning you to investigate the status of this village, your mission will be to go there and discover more about the situation, if you find anything then deal with it accordingly. Is that understood?"
"Yes Ma'am! Who will I be assigned for this mission, Lady Fifth?" he asked in response.
"Well…currently we don't really have the manpower to spare for a mission like this, but I believe I can give you Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi, will that be okay?"
"The Ino-Shika-Cho formation will do fine, but I am still worried about the wider facts that surround this mission, I mean…" he paused for a second, scratching his head, "we have no idea why the village would just be on fire like that! It's not like there's been reports of any arsonists around there! Something isn't adding up!"
"I know what you mean, Shikamaru, I really do! But for now I just need you to deal with this as it is, will you do that for me?"
"Can I least take her?" he jabbed his thumb towards the kunoichi on his left, "her jutsu will be useful if there are any fires, considering the Ino-Shika-Cho formation utilises jutsu with very specific purposes" he explained.
"Yeah that'll be fine, I've already sent word to the other two so take Temari and go meet them at the front gate immediately"
As they were leaving, they were barged past by a member of the ANBU Black Ops and as they eavesdropped, they heard Tsunade's reaction to her friend Shizune's condition after she had passed out at work whilst she tried to pick up more of the workload at the hospital after Sakura disappeared.
They decided to get away as fast as possible, thankful that they weren't Tsunade's desk after witnessing her break it in half.
The two shinobi met Ino and Choji at the front gate of the village, ready and prepared for the day's journey ahead. They left without saying a word as they travelled in almost silence. Choji was weirdly not eating anything, his stomach growled as he moved along. Shikamaru wanted to tell him to eat but he looked into eyes and saw just how nervous he was, the guy was practically trembling at the memories of these last two weeks.
Ino, on the other hand, was pissed off that the mission they'd been assigned to had no chance of encountering Sasuke who Ino wanted to beat the shit out of after he'd coerced Sakura into leaving with him.
Shikamaru looked over his oldest friends in worry, terrified something would happen to them. He'd never admit this, but he was honestly relieved that Temari was beside him on this mission. He needed to have another cool head to help him, just to keep him sane and his teammates alive.
Once they'd made it to their target, their mouths were left open once they saw the ashes of the village that was supposed to be there. The small crop of buildings deep in the forest was now in ruin, most buildings were either destroyed or in the middle of burning to the ground. Speaking of the ground, Shikamaru looked on in horror as he saw the bloodied and burnt corpse littering the layer of soot that covered the soil underneath.
Out of one of the bodies, a straight-bladed, double-edged sword stuck out, sparks shooting out as it stood there in the middle of all this chaos.
Shikamaru did his best to look around for any survivors or any signs of life for that matter, only failing as he listened to the embers crackle and the blood drip.
Out of nowhere a familiar voice shouted from behind the four stunned shinobi.
"Hey Shikamaru! Long time no see!"
A/N- So how was it? As always let me know what you thought, what you'd change and any other ideas for the future chapters. I know this was a shorter one (only 4k words this time) but there'll be one more short one without any smut then I think I'm gonna have a couple chapters of pure smut. But that's all for later, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next Friday hopefully.
Yours truly,
Signing off.