Chapter 14: Expanding Family
(Alternatively, Most Adults Are Idiots)
Author's Note: Things are changing even more from the original timeline.
(Shikamaru's POV)
Shikamaru has never once thought of the Hokage as being an unintelligent man, but today he is left cursing him. Who the actual fuck lets an eight-year-old boy live in the same compound his whole family died in?! And by himself no less! He tilts his head back to stare at the sunset sky with a scowl. Then, "Naru and I will walk you to your place to get some clothes and anything you want to take with you."
"What?" The Uchiha boy stares at him as if he's crazy.
"No child should be living on his or her own, regardless of any political bullshit. The fact that the Hokage allowed you to live on your own and in that place is a clear failing on his part," Shikamaru states. His voice rises a bit shrilly before he can control his temper, "what kind of person just lets a traumatized child go back to a place of trauma without a shit tonne of therapy?! Has the place even been properly cleaned?!"
Sasuke flinches and Shikamaru goes very still and then he closes his eyes and counts backwards from thirty. Finally, he states, "I'm guessing that's a no."
Naru is pressed to his back and trembling. "That's horrible! Why would they make you go back there?!"
"Politics," Sasuke whispers. The boy sighs, "just like Nara-san said earlier."
"That's stupid!"
"It is," Shikamaru says. "I'm not part of the political scene so no one can tell me that I can't do this for you."
"Do what?".
"Give you a place to stay until you can properly take care of yourself. And I do mean properly. As in, cooking balanced meals, how to get the best deals for whatever you're buying, and differentiating high-quality goods from low-quality," he says. Shikamaru presses on, "and other things you need to know to take care of yourself. Like taxes. Clans pay taxes just like regular people do.
"Do you know how to pay them? Or is someone else collecting them from your inheritance? Who's managing said inheritance and are they supposed to be your guardian until you graduate from the Academy? If so, are they managing it properly or are they pocketing money on the side? More importantly, where the hell is this person and why haven't they approached you?!"
Sasuke blinks, "Oh… No, no one has talked to me about any of that. The Hokage said he'd take care of everything and that I wouldn't have to worry about living expenses until I graduated."
"Orphan stipend," Shikamaru grunts. "Tomorrow we'll go to the Hokage and I'll get answers for you. For now, however, you're coming home with us."
Shikamaru can tell that his father isn't very pleased with him the moment he steps through the door, but...then again, Shikamaru isn't very pleased with adults in general at the moment. He jerks his gaze sharply to his left and sees the moment when the proverbial light clicks on. The older Nara winces as a rather dark and tight smirk crosses Shikamaru's face. He knows that his father knows how pissed he is at this moment in time. He drawls out slowly, "So, I picked up a duckling today… I wonder where his caretaker is."
Shikamaru watches as his mother peeks out of the kitchen and her eyes go wide when she sees the new boy standing behind him. Sasuke is as close to him as he can be without being right up against him and clutching the fabric of his shirt at his shoulder. The slightly older boy has been attached to him ever since they had entered the Uchiha Compound. To be honest, Shikamaru can't blame him. He might not be a Cetra, but he'd had plenty of practice when it came to the feel of a place and the Uchiha Compound is the darkest and most malignant place he'd ever set foot in.
Even though there were no longer any people in the compound it had felt as if the whole place was covered in a miasma of Sakki. The very air had felt like it was choking him and the fine hairs on the back of his necks had risen. Every single instinct had been screaming for him to get out of that place. He'd been audibly rumbling deep in his chest the entire time as if warning away another predator. Naru hadn't been much better and had been on high alert until they had left the haunted place behind.
When Shikamaru asked Sasuke if the Uchiha Compound had always felt like that the boy had shaken his head and said, "No. I only noticed it after I came home from the hospital."
Shikamaru had nearly blown a fuse then and there. As it is, he's managed to contain his temper until now. "Naru, Sasuke, why don't you two go with kaa-san and get something to eat? I have to speak with the old man."
Old man not tou-san. The distinction is very clear to Naru, his mother, and to his father. His mother bites her lip, but waves the two boys into the kitchen. Shikamaru tilts his head to the stairs before heading for them. His father follows close behind. The moment they step into his room and Shikamaru activates the privacy seal, his rarely provoked temper explodes. He rounds on his father with harsh and feral eyes.
"What the fuck was the Council thinking?! Do you have any fucking idea what kind of hellhole that compound is?! Why in the hell was poor Sasuke sent back to that pit?! It's a fucking death trap!" Shikamaru's voice rises until he is roaring in fury. "It would have been a guaranteed death sentence if I hadn't gotten him out of there when I did! Sasuke would have probably committed suicide in six months if I hadn't told him that he was not staying there!"
He is panting through his nose harshly as he glares murderously at nothing. His teeth are tightly clenched and his lips are skinned back to bare them. Muscles are ticking at the hinges of his jaw and he is growling lowly with each exhaled breath. He's so angry he could destroy something right now. That's why he clenches his fist to resist the urge to reach out and throw whatever he can get his hands on. All he can do now is wait for answers.
(Shikaku's POV)
He winces the instant the first expletive leaves his son's mouth. His first instinct is to tell him to watch his language, but the overwhelming anger rolling off his son in waves stops him. So does the strange growling gravel in his voice. He's never seen his boy so angry before. In fact, the boy is thoroughly enraged. An eight-year-old isn't supposed to be able to put out that much Sakki. 'Then again,' he thinks, 'boy isn't exactly normal.'
He forgets sometimes that his boy is more than what he seems. That he is someone who had been born into this life with a complete set of memories from his last. Normally Shikaku can see his boy instead of the man he was. At the moment, all he can see is the echo of a man who isn't a man anymore. It's distressing to witness because it means that Shikamaru has been pushed to his limits and has called on the strength and experience of his past to see him through this situation.
"I voted against it," Shikaku says. Calmly, so as to not further aggravate the boy, he continues, "so did Chōza and Inoichi. Unfortunately, the Civilian Council and the Elders were involved and we were overruled. Hokage-sama cannot overturn a majority vote like that."
"Bullshit," his son snarls.
"It is, but there is nothing I can do about it now," Shikaku says. He cants his head and he begins to smirk slyly as an idea occurs to him, "however, I can't really say no to you having a friend here for an extended sleepover."
His boy eyes him with suspicion for a moment before nodding slowly. Shikamaru's voice is still strangely gravelly as he says, "That's true and I do have a reputation for befriending lonely people so it shouldn't cause any legal issues since we can't adopt the poor kid."
Shikaku sighs, "We can't. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke had a Clan and is now the only available successor to said Clan."
His son runs a hand over his bound hair and rakes it through his ponytail. He sighs roughly and starts to pace, "That doesn't give them the right to send him to that not-so-fun house of horrors. There's something seriously wrong with that place. It's like there's a miasma of malicious intent over the compound. Sasuke told me that he'd never encountered anything like it before the Massacre but now… Now you can't even walk through the front gate without feeling like there's a hand around your throat.
"It's a bad place, tou-san. A place that Sasuke shouldn't step into ever again until a priest can get in there to preform a purification ritual."
"Didn't think you were a superstitious person."
The boy gives him a hard look and says in a low, angry voice, "I saw way too much back then to say that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there aren't such things as ghosts and spirits. And there's also the fact that my instincts were screaming at me to get the fuck out of there just as soon as I walk in. Naru felt the same way. So explain to me how I'm being superstitious."
Shikaku rocks back on his heels as he thinks over the information Shikamaru has given him. "I'll talk to the Hokage about letting Sasuke rent a place on our lands. That way no one can say we're trying to tie him to us by charity or generosity. If Sasuke is over here a lot or you and Naru are at his place then no one can really complain about it since you've taken him under your wing rather than me doing it."
Shikamaru nods and rolls his head back to crack his neck. Shikaku winces at the noise and the boy smirks at him. This time, however, his smirk is a sad and tired thing. "Sorry for yelling like that, but I'd been holding that back for a long as I could without smashing something. I'm still not happy with the decision the Council made, but I guess I'll leave the Hokage to you. Let him know what Naru, Sasuke, and I experienced. Also, I have a list of questions that Sasuke needs answers to and do tell him that I won't take 'The adults are handling it' excuse for an answer.
"Sasuke doesn't need to be coddled, but he does need guidance. If he doesn't learn the things he needs to know then someone could take advantage of him and leave him destitute. I won't allow that to happen. I won't allow him to be alone either. No one deserves to be abandoned," Shikamaru says, his eyes distant now.
Shikaku wonders if his boy is remembering how his adopted family had never abandoned him.
Author's Notes #2: So now you get to see just how things are changing and how just by Shikamaru being Hyo has impacted things.
Let me know what you think!