Figure it was time for some Nara. Feel slightly guilty doing this not my coursework but meh... You guys don't mind the glimpse to the past do you?

Edited 23/3/16: couple of sentences muddled around. No plot changes.

-/-

Shikaku, like most Nara, used his laziness as a weapon. The Ancient Art of Faking Sleep was a long practiced Nara tradition and, despite how little his daughter used it, both his children were well versed in its benefits. For Shikaku, it meant that his frequent naps in the break room allowed him to gain a great deal of gossip. After all, why would a sleeping Nara pay any attention to what his colleagues were giggling over on the other side of the room? Gossip was so troublesome...

Unless it hinted at trouble that was going to happen soon.

Unless it gave you advanced warning of something you could avoid or deal with early.

It was gossip that informed Shikaku that something was up a good few hours before Shikako got home. Genma heard from Aoba who heard from Kotetsu that Shikamaru was hanging around the gate. Anko heard from Kurenai who was dropping off some cakes after talking to Ino that Team 7 was stopping off on their way home to celebrate. Those two facts... Didn't paint the best of pictures. Shikamaru wouldn't be fussing over a little team bonding and Team 7 always came to theirs for their post mission dinner.

So. He'd meandered home from work early, settled himself down with his trusty shogi board and then after dinner lured Shikamaru into a game. The game had lasted a bit longer than usual but then they had been interrupted twice - once by Yoshino shooing them out to tend to the deer, and then again when Kofuku had brought the latest set of reports over. After the game, Shikamaru had gone to bed. Shikako had come home a few minutes later, had stopped long enough for a hug, a few teasing comments on him not getting enough sleep and then gone to bed herself. She had looked fine then.

Shikako's medical report had been on the top of the pile so Shikaku knew that at least Shikamaru's concern wasn't due to injury. There was still something... off... though.

He considered the information he had as he put the board away. Shikamaru had relaxed a little in the last year when it came to his twin. True, it was grudgingly, and had taken some difficult missions together to get them both on similar pages... But overall Shikamaru had stopped trying to get Shikako to retire, and Shikako had stopped getting frustrated when Shikamaru hovered. Shikaku kept an eye out for issues after any particularly nasty missions for either of them, and a closer one once Naruto had returned, but generally the unrest during their first year or two as shinobi had sorted itself out.

(He was 95% sure it had something to do with the ankle bands the two of them had started wearing everywhere. They had a very interesting double layer design and somehow never ended up in the washing when it was his or Yoshino's turn.)

Shikako had been faking, that much was obvious. The look of relief in her eyes that had been there after Gaara's rescue was absent this time and her skin was slightly paler than usual. Her smile had been mostly genuine and she had been pleased to see him. She was not physically injured, and she wasn't worried or talking about seeing to her teammate's like she would if they had been injured.

Shikamaru was uneasy, but not to the point he had insisted on waiting up or actually saying anything. He had loitered around the gate, but had come home on his own. His play was distracted but not to the point he made any actual mistakes.

Ino had thought Team 7 was delaying their return for some team bonding, and Inoichi hadn't turned up with questioning looks.

The obvious conclusions were easy: Ino had no idea anything was wrong. If she did, or if she was complicit, Inoichi would have noticed and come round to see if he could get anything out of Shikamaru. Shikamaru was certain something iffy was up, but didn't know what. He wasn't relaxed enough for it to be something minor, and he wasn't saying or doing anything that would hinder anyone. His hard earned caution was showing. Then Shikako was hiding something. He was her father; he knew the signs.

The more difficult question, was what was Shikako hiding?

Her team knew. The probability of the 'bonding night' being about anything else was exceptionally slim. Her lack of relief had unpleasant connotations too. He refused to speculate more without more information.

The faint sound of someone tossing about made him narrow his eyes, and drift upstairs to linger outside Shikako's door. Her chakra was suppressed, but not severely. She wasn't moving from her bed. As a set of near silent footsteps made their way towards him, he turned to raise an eyebrow at his son.

'Nightmare.' The boy mouthed, and Shikaku grimaced internally. They waited until the sounds faded, Shikako settled and then Shikamaru drifted off to bed. Shikaku joined Yoshino in their room. She was awake and waiting.

"Nightmares again?"

"Yes."

She pursed her lips in worry but didn't say anything, just curled into his arms as he held her tightly. Shikaku drifted off slowly, never managing more than a fitful dose. In the morning, he promised himself, he would ask her how her mission went.

-/-

The next morning Shikako had already left the house by the time he was up. And the morning after that. She was out visiting friends, training and volunteering with the Intelligence division - too busy for her poor old dad. And her nightmares were getting worse.

Shikamaru had taken to stalking Sasuke. As grumpy as the boy currently was, he was definitely involved and was easier to track down than Naruto.

Shikaku had checked the respective reports, found nothing concerning and decided to go after a different source. Usually his source was more cooperative, but right now... Well Kakashi was being more difficult to find than usual, and he definitively knew something. He hadn't needed a textbook guilty response to prove that. He would need persistence to crack that mask though - Kakashi clearly had no intention of giving him the answers he wanted anytime soon.

He'd think of something - as soon as he had sorted out what was going on with their border patrols.