Forcefully cutting the rope that had previously kept Sasuke tied to the pole Kiba forcefully gripped the Uchiha's upper arm and dragged him back down the trail they had previously followed. Shikamaru watched as Sasuke was dragged down the trail, a mask of indifference settled onto his features. It was two miles into the hike when Sasuke opened his mouth.

"So Nara the mail was supposed to come today, Naru should have already found out that I had been drafted. I can't wait to see the letter that she had written to me. She probably didn't even bother to write you one did she?" He laughed.

Shikamaru for his part stayed stoic. But underneath his nonchalant manner pure rage boiled in his veins. A warmth permeated from the thick fabric of his Army Green fatigues, it's glow centered around his chest directly centered above his heart. The fury that had bubbled under his skin vanished. The memory of its potent feeling buried deep in the depth in the recesses of his mind.

"Shows what you know Uchiha, the corporal called everyone that had gotten a letter. Your name was never uttered." Chouji remarked sardonically. Coal black eyes narrowed and the uncooperative male bared his teeth in anger.

Something lingered in his eyes, something dead and uncontrollable. Shikamaru felt a pit in his stomach form and fester. Shikamaru didn't know what was going through the mans head, but he knew that if not carefully monitored it couldn't be something good. After all it was the same look he had when he had slapped Naru, and nothing ever came out of that look.

The rest of the hike had been unremarkable, the only sounds heard were of those from animals and and occasional crunch of shoes against the floor of the forest trail. Sasuke never said another word, never made another sound but no matter what Shikamaru did he couldn't forget the look of his cold black eyes or the feeling of dread that had accompanied that stare.

Depositing the young man in front of his cabin the five officers trudged along the sides of the camp. Reaching their cabin they stomped tiredly up the wooden steps, unbuttoning his thick coat Shikamaru gently set it down upon his bed before resuming the process with his this shirt.

"I think we need to watch Sasuke more carefully." He stated blandly reaching for the hanger resting on the wall.

"For what?" Shino asked already sitting upon his bed looking up from reading Sakura's letter once more.

"I saw something in his eyes today, and it reaches farther back than his obsession with Naruko." He stated hanging his entire uniform on the hook hammered into the wall. He fell into his small bed and closed his eyes.

"That doesn't explain anything you lazy ass." Kiba growled.

"I mean that for a moment one small moment he looked psychologically insane. He looked like he could blow at any minute, and I have a feeling that when he does; it could be huge."

"Are you absolutely sure Shikamaru?" Kakashi interrogated. He nodded minutely.

"Well then I guess we're just going to have to keep a sharper eye on him than before right." Chouji stated.

The cabin went silent, content that his message had been heard Shikamaru sat up and grabbed the paper and pen that he had brought with him. Specifically so he could write to Naru before he was deployed as he wouldn't be able to travel back to Konoha. He thought of all he wanted to say, each word making its way into the page in his messy scrawl.

October 16 1940: One Month Gone

Naru grimaced the truck bounced as they drove over a large pot whole in the middle of the road. Her blonde braid hit her face lightly as the red truck continued to bounce on the poorly constructed dirt road. A loud thump echoed behind her, looking back Naru laughed inwardly as she saw Ino holding the top of her head groaning lowly in pain.

"It's official," she said rubbing her head, "I hate this this road. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

"Well we're almost there Ino so stop complaining, after we reach the post office it will be smooth sailing until we get to the hospital." Sakura intoned.

"I wouldn't say smooth Sakura since the road to work is almost as bad as this one, in fact all of the roads around this place are just as bad as this one." Ino complained again.

Naru laughed then looked back forward, eyes on the road as Hinata drove. She glanced at her friend, Hinata's twin pigtails bounced around her face. She looked considerably better as compared to the day before. It seems like keeping busy had helped the quiet woman deal with Kiba leaving for the long period of time. 'It's probably helped all of us deal with it' she thought.

It had been a week since they had sent their first letters and now they are back to send more. Hinata turned into the Post Office and Naru clasped the five letters in her hands before depositing them in the mailboxes to be sent. Sooner than she would have liked Hinata pulled out from the building and drove off toward their work place. A hospital where all of the severely injured aging veterans from World War 1 were residing. The men that lived there were all relatively nice if you got past their rough injured exterior.

Roughly shutting the car door, Naru, Ino, and Sakura waited for Hinata as she locked the beat up truck. Walking into the large building antiseptic and bleach attacked Naru's nose, but she didn't mind it, she had gotten used to the horrid smell of the hospital after working there for a little more than three years. Punching in their key cards Naru grabbed her clipboard and some supplies before heading off to her first patient of the day. When she walked into the room- or what the hospital considered a room as it was nothing more than several sheets hanging from a pole in the wall- she was surprised to see the head nurse Tsunade already inside sitting in a chair beside the patients bed.

The aging man lying on the bed glanced at her before a large smile appeared on his face. "Well, well, well if it isn't my favorite nurse."

"Hello Abe, how are you feeling today?" She asked kindly.

"Oh I was feeling under the weather this morning but I feel better now that helped me." The tall blonde stood from her chair and approached her.

"I gave him some Medicine for the small cold that he was beginning to get, but I would hold off on giving him his regular Medicine until it wears off at the end of the day. As for now I would do what you usually do."

Naru nodded. "Yes ma'am." Tsunade's brown eyes softened and she smiled at her surrogate granddaughter.

"It will all be okay." Then she left without another word.

Turning to her patient she grabbed a roll of fresh bandages and approached the bed at which he was lying. Placing the fresh roll beside her she began unrolling the bandages around one of Abe's amputated legs. He had been hit by a grenade shell that had been thrown into the trench he had been resting. Many of the particles had been embedded into his legs, unfortunately before he could be placed taken into a hospital infection had already settled in and they had to amputate both of his legs.

"So is it true?" Abe asked. Naru raised her gaze to look into Abe's green eyes. His finger combed through his graying blonde hair.

"Is what true Abe?" She queried.

"That we have another World War brewing on our hands." He stated simply. Pain flashed through her eyes before she nodded reluctantly. His emerald gaze saddened and misted over, Naru has seen this look on his face many times before, he was thinking of his times in the trenches.

"It's a sad fact, two large scale wars happening within three decades of each other. Is your young boyfriend, the one who visits with his friends so often gone? I mean he is already far up in the stepping ladder in the Marines. Is he already gone?"

She nodded then fingered the small rock in her finger, a habit she had picked up in the last three weeks. He gazed at her hand and patted it comfortingly. "I wouldn't worry too long Miss. Uzumaki, from what I can tell that young man is resourceful I'm sure he'll do everything to come back to a sweet girl like you." Naru smiled gratefully at the older male before standing and looking at the new bandages covering the stubs of his former legs.

"That should do it Abe, I will be back later to give you your Medicine." Picking up he clipboard she not down some quick notes about Abe's current condition before heading out to her next patient.

"Thank you Miss."

She turned to glance back at her patient of three years. "It should actually be me that should be thanking you Abe." She was gone before he could say another word.

"Ugh, I am so glad that we have the weekend off." Ino groaned as she plopped into the weathered leather seats o father truck.

"That's what you always say Ino, and a weekend later we're heading to work and your groaning that you're so happy that the weekend is finally over. That it had been to boring and you needed something to do, then at the end of the week your back to complaining you're glad the week is over. It's a continuous cycle." Hinata stated. Ino blushed under her childhood friends scrutiny. The trucks inhabitants laughed at Ino's thoroughly embarrassed face.

"Well let's go home, it's been a long day and I want to relax a bit before I make dinner." Sakura said impatiently. Hinata started up the truck and they were all silent during the bouncy ride home.

When they entered their house all four girls were bombarded with an emotional Midori. When questioned about it Midori simply ran into the kitchen and ran back with three slightly dusty letters in her hand, each with their names scrawled in distinctly male handwriting on. The envelope.

Taking the letter with her name on it Naru plopped onto the frayed clothe of the couch carelessly and ripped open the letter. When she Shikamaru's familiar slightly messy handwriting she almost cried.

My Dear Naru

I am sorry that my leaving you had created such problems. But I hope you understand why I had to leave, it hasn't been a picnic for us either. You have no idea how much I want to visit our little valley and rest with you on the grass as we used to. Speaking of which of course I remember that day; it was out six moth anniversary was it not? It was also the day where I pictured a life with you.

I am beyond happy that you and the others are leaning on each other. I couldn't even begin to imagine what Midori is going through, but with you all helping I'm sure she'll make it through. It doesn't surprise me that the boys are like Kakashi, actually it's better that way less people with an Uzumaki personality the less troublesome the world will be. I'm probably going to get an earful from you when I get back for that last comment aren't I?

As too the factory job you had written about before, I'm not entirely sure about what to make of it as of yet. Though I certainly don't want you do something as labor intensive a factory work, but I will understand if you have too. War is a time of change, and a lot of change is on out horizon. I love you too-so much. If I could be there right now I would but I can't. I hope that you are faring better than I at the moment.

I never knew how much I loved your cook until I was drafted here. I miss the fried mackerel you would make, with the pumpkin pie. I also miss the turkeys you make, the home-made bread. Especially your brownies and cookies- I miss those the most.

Shikamaru Nara

P.S. You should start signing your name as Naruko Nara now, after all I do plan on marrying you as soon as this War is over, not a minute later. So you might as well get used to it.

A blush appeared on her face and her world finally started to move again. These past few weeks it seemed as though the rest of the world was moving going on with their lives while hers stayed still, but reading that letter her world finally started moving and felt happier than she had in a long time. Well almost a month is a long time to her anyway.

She looked up to her friends Hinata was crying two or three tears running down her face and hand on her hear. Sakura was blushing scarlet the dark color surpassing the brightness of her hair. Ino was laughing, it was such a foreign sound these days and Naru could remember when Ino broke down just at the mere though of Chouji's name. Well Chouji always was good at making Ino do a complete turnaround. Hinata well she had started crying but passed out within minutes. She wondered what Kiba had said in the letter knowing him probably something perverted.

A growl escaped Midori's mouth, her eyes narrowed in barely contained anger. No she wasn't angry, she wasn't pissed, she was livid. Midori's small hands clutched the letter tightly, threatening to tear it in two. Leaning backward from the couch Naru asked her what was wrong. Midori went on a rampage.

"That no good lying…. He's nothing but a pervert! I thought I had burned all of his copies of that infernal book that your good for nothing godfather wrote Naru, but no. Here he is with another stash of that stupid book and he is writing bout it in a letter! Oh when I get my hands on him I'm going to tear him apart!"

A sly smile appeared on Naru's face. "Are you really big sister, I personally think that you want to do all of that stuff that's wrote in that letter regardless if it is a taboo for women." Midori screeched on outrage and proceeded to chase Naru around the house.

"You are so dead you brat!" Midori growled as she glared at Naru at the other side of the couch. They were in one of those infamous other side splits. When the one being chased and the chaser were on other sides of a couch. If one person made a move on a direction the other could swiftly follow. Both of them were cornered, they would never admit this though Uzumaki pride and all.

"You'll have a to catch me first!" Naru taunted. Just as Midori was about to pounce a loud wail erupted from upstairs. The loud sound sent shockwaves of cries through the floorboards. It was incessant, never ending, possibly the loudest thing she had ever heard.

"Oh dear," Midori sighed, "don't worry babies mommy's coming." Midori shouted more to herself than to her sons. She quickly took off up the stairs, cooing soft words as she ascended.

"It's going to be like that for a while isn't it?" Ino asked.

Hinata nodded. "That are only three months old Ino, you can't expect them to immediately sleep through the whole night. If you ever have children their probably going the cry a lot."

"I'm not talking about that- well I am, but not exactly. I mean the boys as they cried I couldn't help but feel as if they weren't crying about being hungry, of needing a diaper change, or anything like that." She fumbled over her next words. "I mean that it might have just my imagination, but I felt as if they were crying out for daddy."

"Who knows maybe they were." Naru stated roughly. The three girls gave her quizzical looks. Naru sighed and sat up from her perch on the couch. "What I mean is- is that at the age Minato and Sakumo are that can already differentiate the differences between mommy and daddy's hold between a strangers, and the differences in the the hold between mommy and daddy. I'm just saying that it's plausible that they can tell who hasn't been holding them lately, because my brother no matter how much of an emotionless bastard and social retard he is. Whenever he can hold them he will. Its all a matter of routine."

"How did you become so knowledgable about babies?" Sakura joked.

Naru blushed largely, she rubbed her fingers against her whisker scars. "When Shika and I had first come out to his parents that we were dating, Yoshino had this weird look in her eye. Next thing I know she grabbed me. The arm and dragged me to another room, that was the last time I saw Shikamaru that evening except for when he had to take me home."

"That doesn't explain anything." Ino deadpanned.

"'m getting there!" She snapped, then groaned and hid her face in her hands. "She dragged me in that room to talk all about babies, about the difference between Nara children and others, the theory behind parental separation. Goodness I was so mortified, I wouldn't speak to Shika the whole way home."

Ino and Sakura laughed, Hinata following. They laughed so hard that tears escaped their red rimmed eyes. Arms hugging their sides so as to stifle the contractions. Large thumps bounded on the wooden floor as the three of them fell unceremoniously on to the floor. Naru huffed, it wasn't her fault that Shikamaru's mother decided to humiliate her. Though I might not have been the best idea to tell her friends. It definitely wasn't the best idea to tell Shikamaru either, she knew she should have lied to him about what his mother said to her. But it was so hard to lie to him.

"Yeah, yeah yeah go ahead laugh it up might as well get it out of your system now." She grumbled.

He couldn't believe it. He absolutely couldn't believe it. Shikamaru stood before his company his stunned silence. But nobody knew that of course. Silence permeated the air, several rows and columns of two hundred men in moss green uniforms stood before him, backs erect, eyes held high faces masked in stoney expressions of indifference.

"I can't believe you did it." He muttered in Kiba's ear. "I don't know whether to call you a slave driver- which you are or a genius, don't get too big of a head after that last comment."

"Well it obvious about the which one is am- a genius." He stated proudly.

"I said not to get a big head over that comment. Troublesome."

"Too bad already did."

"What a drag."

"If Naru heard you say that she would have clipped you in the ear." Kiba stated smugly. Shikamaru inwardly winced, the image of his normally loud- but sweet tempered fiancée angry. Her golden hair, which he usually loved to run his hands through would seemingly floating in the air. Her beautiful gemstone eyes that carried light and happiness wherever she went would have gone red. He shuddered to think of what she would do.

Kiba laughed lowly as he saw his friends inward fighting an uphill battle with his mind. "I can't believe she has you this whipped already man." Kiba whispered humor laced in his words.

"Oh like Hinata doesn't have you wrapped around her finger like a lost puppy?" Shikamaru smirked as Kiba went silent.

"Lieutenants, Lieutenants!" The two young men turned and waited for the officer to rich them.

"Yes corporal." Shikamaru answered looking back to the mass of fully trained soldiers. He still revels at how these men came here three months ago gangly and barely ready for the next harvest. But now they were obedient and could take anything that the front lines through at them- in theory that is, the horrors of trench fighting are much worse in reality than when spoken.

"Urgent letter from the White House, Colonel Hatake wishes for you all to be in his tent immediately."

"Any messages he wanted you to pass on to us?" Kiba asked.

"None sir! Just that he needs to see you right away." The officer replied immediately.

"Thank you corporal. You take over for the rest of the days training." Shikamaru said chuckling at the minute groans that the infantry muttered.

"Yes sir!"

That's where Shikamaru and Kiba found themselves next standing at the inside their Colonels personal tent. Kakashi stood around a table with Shino and Chouji closely scrutinizing a map of Europe, primarily Germany. Kakashi was gesturing to an area, Shino relying to his commanding officer in hushed whispers. Chouji stood staring dispassionately at the yellowing parchment of the map, but from the large mans stance anyone could tell that he was riveted to the conversation before him.

"You wanted to see us sir." Shikamaru announced their arrival with a delightful drag of his cigarette, his uniform jacket sliding down his fore arm from where he held the nicotine stick in his mouth. Showing off the bright pearls he wore religiously around his wrist. The petals clacked and clinked noisily as Shikamaru spun the cigarette around in his mouth.

Kakashi glanced up at the two new additions to his tent. He glanced at the two men standing before him. He took in their rigid stances, the calm mask that Kiba wore and Shikamaru's own alert one. This is what the threat of war did to people, it changed them made people do what they normally wouldn't have. If the War hadn't started Kakashi knew that Shikamaru would be enjoying the day with is little sister, the woman Shikamaru would marry. He knew Kiba would be away on his families plantation tending to his dogs and doting on Hinata. He knew Chouji would be working around his farm, watching as Ino tended to her garden on the property.

He knew that Shino would be spending the day walking in thin ice as Sakura raged over some small little matter, trying and succeeding in calming her down every time. Those were the lives his subordinates had chosen for themselves and he knew that they would rather be there than anywhere else especially here. He knew he would rather be with his wife Midori and holding is sons in his arms. But this war- this stupid stupid war was challenging the life they all had built and they knew there was a possibility that none of them would come back alive.

Kakashi sighed and walked over to another desk cluttered with papers and other assorted document. Grabbing one pristine white paper out if hundred of other other white papers Kakashi handed the letter to Shikamaru. Shikamaru quickly snatched the white paper out of Kakashi's gloved hand and read the words printed knot the paper. He could vaguely feel Kiba reading over his shoulder. As Shikamaru finished the letter he breathed in sharply and placed widened brown eyes in his superior.

"Seriously? The White House is deploying us already. But they have only been trained for two months they can't possibly…" Shikamaru stopped knowing he couldn't make a proper argument regarding wherever his infantry was deployed to or when they were deployed either for that matter.

"Shikamaru we have done all we possibly could to get them ready for battle, but no amount of training or discipline can truly prepare them for the horrors of war. President Roosevelt signed that document personally, we have to follow orders."

"We understand Colonel Hatake." Kiba said for the first time since entering the tent. Shikamaru reluctantly nodded at is friends claim.

"Good, now Shikamaru get your genius brain over here we need your expertise on battle plans cause we're having a block. You come over as well Kiba four brains are better than one any day." Shikamaru and Kiba trudged over to the map and leaned over the table, the rest of the night was spent looking at that very map.

Shikamaru flopped onto the thin mattress of his bed with a groan, the itchy material of the forest green comforter rubbed i comfortingly on his bare back. Shikamaru stared at the ceiling of his cabin blandly, they had spent hours scouring the map of longitude and latitude lines, littered with stamps of German, French, England, and their own camps along with battles that had happened anywhere on the immediate grounds of Germany.

They had practically exhausted every resource of information that they currently held, looking sideways, upside down and around for a way to nock the Germans off of their winning streak. Unfortunately for them none had currently jumped out at them, even with Shikamaru's genius and ability to come up with various battle strategies in seconds none that he had proposed were full proof enough that they could execute with sure victory, that's what they needed a sure victory.

Sitting up Shikamaru rested the bare skin of his back against the freezing cold of the metal bars made of his bed. Opening a wooden door on his nightstand he pulled out his stationary. He proceeded to write his last letter that would send from the camp, the rest hat he would send would be from the front lines. He signed his name at the bottom of the lined paper in his messy scrawl. As he put away his finished letter a feeling of cold dread wound its fingers around his heart and weaved them selves to his veins. Reaching out to his uniform coat he pulled out the picture that Naru had sent to him and gripped her pearls in a death grip between his large fingers. Shikamaru ran his thumb across Naru's figure the feeling slowly ebbed away leaving only a numb spot inside his chest.

He knew he would do anything for Naru, she was the light of his life his entire life. Had been since the day he had net her. He knew he would marry her without a second thought as soon as he was able. He just wished he would survive the duration of their rapidly growing war so that he could. He exhaled sharply and leaned back down onto his bed, the itchy comforter irritating his back once more. He closed his eyes still gripping the picture and pearls tightly. Wars are troublesome.