Chapter 2

Remembrance

As they had reached the counsel room, the two jonin that had followed Lady Tsunade stayed outside the room, in formation, on either side of the door. Once Lady Tsunade and Shikamaru had entered the room, one of the jonin shut the door behind them. Lady Tsunade stopped several feet in front of two figures that were already in the room, and Shikamaru stood a little behind and to the right of Lady Tsunade.

The two council members, both male, appeared to be in their seventies. One had a long beard that stretched down to the middle of his chest; he was also taller than the other council member. He didn't seem so intimidating - in fact he seemed to have a rather lighthearted demeanor. It was the other one that worried him. This particular man had the look of the devil about him. He was slightly hunched over and had a crooked nose; he also leaned heavily on a cane. But he wouldn't put it past him to be able to effectively defend himself.

Suddenly the shorter old man shot his cane up into the air and pointed it directly at his head; Shikamaru couldn't help but jerk his head back in an attempt to avoid the potential blow to his face. The look on the man's face was that of a crazy, demented old man who scrutinized and doubted everyone he met.

"Crazy old man! He could poke someone's eye out with that thing. Maybe someone should take that cane away from him before he does hurt someone!" Shikamaru thought nervously to himself.

The old man began speaking in a voice that sounded rough and aged. "Is this the young man you have chosen to take the message to the Sand?" The old man eyed Shikamaru intensely. It seemed as if the old coot was trying to see strait through him. It was almost as if he were attempting to discover all of the mistakes he had made in the past – like he was trying to determine if he was fit for this mission.

Shikamaru held the man's gaze until he finally lowered his cane and looked at Tsunade. "Seems you have picked well Tsunade, this one has sense and he's not easily intimidated. I can see it in his eyes; he's a smart one. But Lady Tsunade, is he ready to bear the burden of this mission on his young shoulders? Perhaps you should have chosen an older more experienced ninja, but I trust your decision and you do know the capabilities of your shinobi the best."

Lady Tsunade smiled at the old man and bowed her head slightly in appreciation. "Thank you elder. It is pleasing to know that you approve of my choice. I have brought Shikamaru before you so that he can be told the message and you can give him the seal. Then I can send him to the Sand village."

"I see. Please, let's be seated and we can begin with you telling the young man the Leaf's next move against the Sound." The old man gestured at the table with his cane. Lady Tsunade followed the gesture and seated herself on the opposite side of the large oval shaped table. Shikamaru followed and seated himself to Lady Tsunade's right; the old men sat directly across the table from them.

Lady Tsunade began speaking directly to Shikamaru. She told him of how they planned to move against Orochimaru. He listened silently and asked an occasional question. Once Lady Tsunade had finished speaking there was a short silence before the tall old man stood and addressed Shikamaru.

"Come stand before me so that I might give you the seal." He waved Shikamaru over with a thin, wrinkled hand.

Shikamaru stood quickly and walked over to stand in front of the old man. "Now, you will need to remove your vest and shirt. Your chest must be bare in order for me to apply to seal." Shikamaru removed the necessary clothing and placed them on the floor.

Now that he was ready, the old man began making hand signs. Shikamaru had never seen such a complicated series of hand signs before, and just when he thought it would never end, the old man suddenly shot out his right hand and placed it on Shikamaru's chest above his heart. Intense pain spread out from the point of contact and enveloped his whole body. He fell to his knees and clutched at his chest. A breathless cry escaped his thought. The pain was so intense he could hardly breathe. It seemed as if his heart was about to burst when finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pain began to slowly ebb away. He fell to his side and began shaking uncontrollably.

Lady Tsunade knelt beside him and pulled him over onto his back. His eyes were foggy with pain and a cold sweet covered his body. She sighed. Soon the pain would stop and he would be back to his old self. There was no easy way to apply this particular seal. It required that the one placing it needed to channel their chakra into the chakra pathways that surround the recipient's heart. The result was intense, almost unbearable pain. That was what Shikamaru was just experiencing.

Shikamaru began to breathe normally as the pain subsided. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear them. When he could finally see he saw Lady Tsunade leaning over him. He tried to sit up but as soon as he did he fell back to the floor. The second time, Lady Tsunade assisted him, propping him up against one of the chairs.

Shikamaru found his breath and forgetting politeness asked, "Would you mind telling me what the hell just happened?" He said this to no one in particular but he demanded an explanation.

The taller old man cleared his throat. "Well to put it as simply as possible, when I placed my hand above your heart I sent my chakra into the chakra pathways that surround it. Not only did I do that, I also manipulated my chakra in a way that will allow it to continually circulate your heart.

Shikamaru looked up at the old man. The movement caused pain to shoot through his chest and he fell forward, clutching it with his hand. Lady Tsunade pulled him up and leaned him against the chair. He tilted his head back slowly to rest it on the chair. His breath came in short gasps for a moment, then with his eyes closed he asked through clenched teeth, "And what will that accomplish?"

The old man replied with a regretful voice, "Well if the enemy tries to extract the information from your mind or you try to tell them, the chakra flowing around your heart will collapse in on it and crush it. It will kill you."

Shikamaru gave a week laugh, then darkness suddenly enveloped him and he went unconscious.

Shikamaru's eyes fluttered open. He looked around quickly and didn't recognize anything. "Were the hell am I? How long have I been here?" He looked around again, this time more slowly. He realized he was lying in a bed. There was little furniture in the room except for a few chairs. Then he understood where he was. "I am in the hospital? Why? What happened?" Then he remembered the terrible pain and Lady Tsunade helping him. "I must have blacked out. Then Lady Tsunade must have brought me here."

Suddenly Shikamaru could hear voices. He looked over in the direction of the sound. They were coming from the other side of the door. The voices sounded urgent and worried.

"What happened back there old man? That has never happened before! What did you do?" Shikamaru could hear Lady Tsunade say. Then there was another voice.

"Well I guess I used too much chakra when I made the seal." The voice belonged to the taller old man. The old man gave a nervous laugh and coughed a little before continuing, "Yup I almost killed him…sorry."

Lady Tsunade burst out yelling "You almost killed him? Old man, I swear if you weren't such an influential member of the counsel, I would replace you!" The old man grunted indignantly at the comment.

Shikamaru sat strait up. "He almost killed me! I need to get out of here! The sooner I am away from those old coons the better!" Shikamaru threwthe blankets off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He jumped down and went to the closet at the other side of the room. He opened the door and found his shirt, vest, and shoes. Putting on his sandals, he drew on the shirt and vest. He went over to the door and walked out of the room.

Lady Tsunade was the first to see him, "Aw Shikamaru you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

Shikamaru snorted and gave Lady Tsunade a cocky grin. Then sarcastically he said, "Better than ever Lady Tsunade. If you don't mind I would like to prepare for my departure, I am leave in the morning." Without waiting for a reply he turned and walked down the hall to the lobby. Thankfully his room had been on the main floor and he didn't have far to go until he got outside of the building.

The sun had moved considerably since the last time he saw it. When he had gone to see Lady Tsunade it had been around noon, now he estimated the time to be about five o'clock. Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking toward his apartment. It was only about half a mile from the hospital so it wouldn't take long to get there.

Shikamaru walked nonchalantly down the street. His mind began to fill with thoughts, some more pressing then others, but one seemed to stand out more than the others. The thought was really only one word, just a name, but for some reason it shouted at him as if it demanded to be noticed. His mind wandered over to that thought and as his mental touch reached it, it jumped out at him and filled his mind, "Temari."

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. "Temari?" He frowned."Why would I be thinking of her?" Sure, she had saved him from certain destruction and they had worked together in the past to organize the Chunin exams, but at the time she had not shown any interest in him that went past friendship. Although there was that day about five and a half years ago, when Naruto had come across them walking together. Naruto had accused them of liking each other. When Naruto had said that, a strange sensation, almost like embarrassment, had shot strait through him, but he had grabbed a hold of thoughts emotions and pushed them to the back of his mind.

Shikamaru became aware of his surroundings again after a child's hushed laughter had broken his train of thought. He looked in the direction of the sound and realized he had stopped in front of an open-walled restaurant. Most of the diners had stopped eating and were now staring at him.

He faintly remembered gasping and looking down as the thought had entered his mind- That must be why they are all staring at me! Ah, you're such a fool Shikamaru! These people must think I have issues or something! Look at how they are looking at me!" He could feel his checks beginning to burn. "Aw man! I must be bright red, I need to get the heck out of here!" He quickly turned his head and began walking briskly down the street again.

He was almost to his apartment; there were only a couple of blocks to go. "Man when I get home the first thing I am doing is packing. Then I am taking a shower and going to bed!" Ten minutes later he was jogging up a flight of stairs two steps at a time. Then, when he got to the top, he walked a few more feet to his front door - one of five running along either side of a long corridor.

He pulled out a key from one of the inner pockets in his vest and unlocked the door. He replaced the key in his vest then opened the door and walked into his apartment. Closing the door behind him, he walked through the short hallway that lead from the front door to his living room and kitchen. The apartment had an open floor plan so the only things separating the living room from the kitchen were counters.

Shikamaru walked across the room to where his backpack leaned against the far wall. He picked it up and then walked back to the hallway where he went through a door and into his room. Dropping the pack onto his bed, he began collecting clothes from his dresser and placing them in the bag. Next, he collected various weaponry and other combat related items from around the room. These also went into their respective pockets.

Shikamaru paused when he caught the sight of his reflection in the mirror leaning against the wall on his dresser. "Man I look like crap," He thought mercilessly to himself. "I look like I've been to hell and back, but then again, after what happened today, I guess I have"

Turning away from the mirror, he stripped off his clothes and dropped them on the floor he walked across the hall and into the bathroom. Shikamaru stepped into the glass shower and turned on the water. He gasped as the cold water hit his chest; it sent a shiver up his spine. He adjusted the water until it was the right temperature.

Suddenly he remembered that day with Tamari. "Why do I keep thinking about her? Come to think of it, when she saved my life before one of Orochimaru's female subordinates could kill me she had scared the crap out of me. She fought so fiercely that she intimated the hell out of me. Now that's a women I wouldn't what to mess with. But that doesn't tell me why I can't stop thinking about her." Shikamaru sighed and pushed the thought aside he would think about the "whys" later.

Shikamaru reached up and pulled the tie out of his hair, and his hair fell to just above his shoulders. Then he stepped all of the way under the flow of water and completely soaked himself.

As the water hit his chest over his heart, he felt a slight stinging sensation. He looked down at the spot. A seal marking had appeared were the old man had placed his hand, and the skin was slightly raised and swollen. The seal had a swirl in the center and the five elemental symbols ran along the outside - they were each about half an inch apart.

Shikamaru wasn't surprised to see the symbol. "Well at least it's in a place where I can conceal it easily." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Man I am so tired, the events of today just wiped me out. The sooner I get out of this shower and into bed the better."

Once Shikamaru had finished his shower and had donned his favorite pair of pajama pants he crawled sleepily into bed. He reached over to his night stand and set his alarm clock for six a.m. "I have a long journey ahead of me tomorrow and I need to get all of the sleep I can." Just as his head hit the pillow, the name Temari echoed in his mind, and as sleep took him into its peaceful embrace he went willingly with a slight smile on his face.