I do not own Naruto
Looking worried was an understatement. With trembling hands clenched in a given pattern to form his shadow jutsu, Shikamaru looked like a deer caught in a snare, ready to be shot down in a second.
Recap:
Shikamaru was about to run through the door before he felt two strong pairs of hands pulling him back. With determination, he tussled vigorously.
"Let… me… go!"
The hands holding him wouldn't loosen. Soon, the Nara stopped struggling, not because he couldn't fight anymore but because he realized that he would be thrown out of the room even if he did get through. Hunching in defeat, he violently shoved the hands grasping his arms away and furiously turned around to find Shino and Kiba standing before him, while Akamaru, leaning against his owner, gave a soft bark.
As he looked past them, he found a third person - Chouji was standing some paces away, looking at him nervously, not used to seeing his normally composed friend so agitated and lost.
Choosing to ignore the audience, Shikamaru started pacing up and down the hallway while his eyes darted through the corridors. He halted mid-pace when he spotted Shizune running towards the door to the operating room.
"Shizune… I want to…" he tried to relate, as he ran up to her.
"Not now, Shikamaru." Shizune cried as she rushed into the room.
"Shizune…"
The door to the room closed before Shikamaru could utter another word. For a moment, he bowed his head in defeat.
Taking this as an opportunity, Kiba walked up to the shadow wielder, trying to offer some words of comfort but before he could say anything, Shikamaru started pacing again, leaving him in mid-action.
Ignored, the Inuzuka turned around only to find Shino, standing with both hands in his pockets, giving him the slightest shake of his head. He understood that as a gesture for him to not to attempt anything further. With a resigned sigh, Kiba took a seat on a bench facing the operating room and started stroking Akamaru mindlessly. He was undeniably worried and knew that even though his silent teammate didn't show any signs of anxiety, Shino was equally concerned.
Not long after, Chouji joined him in his seat, his body slumped with the exhaustion of chakra and his head lowered in apprehension.
When the door opened and a medical helper hurried out, all heads immediately perked up while Shikamaru rushed forward. "How is…" he cried before the said person, clearly ignoring his presence, ran down the hallway.
Turning around, the Nara gave a quick anxious look toward Chouji and the rest, before he started pacing again. Less than a minute later, Sakura sped out of the room but before anyone had the time to react, she had darted towards the same direction the previous helper had gone.
Shikamaru stopped pacing as his eyes lingered toward the path Sakura had disappeared to. He was anxiously lost and seriously worried.
"What is happening?" he thought.
Standing in the middle of the corridor, the Nara felt that he needed to convey his message to the aides. Unconsciously, he put his hands together, fingertips to fingertips. He contemplated the situation just as Ino and Tsunade came running into sight. Acknowledging the fact that he would be ignored again, he reacted without hesitation, his hands clasped in a pose to produce the shadows that preceded his clan's recognition.
Rushing towards the door and about to go straight in, Tsunade found herself suddenly immobilized.
"What the…?" previous Hokage murderously shouted before looking sideways to see who the perpetrator was. "Shikamaru, what do you… think…" her voice faltered as her fury subsided immediately when she glimpsed the state the shadow wielder is in.
Looking worried was an understatement. With trembling hands clenched in a given pattern to form his shadow jutsu, Shikamaru looked like a deer caught in a snare, ready to be shot down in a second.
"I-I need to tell you that-that Hinata's mother died giving birth to Hanabi," he uttered rapidly, his voice quivering in agony. "She had seizures, then fell unconscious before bleeding to death. I think Hinata might be experiencing the same things and I… I don't want to lose her… Please… please save her…" his voice faded as he consciously released his jutsu stance.
"She will not die, Shikamaru. Not on my watch..." Tsunade uttered confidently before disappearing into the room.
Finally overcome by his sudden outburst and acknowledgement of fears, the shadow wielder fell to his knees helplessly, his shoulders slumped and head bowed. He only looked up when he felt Chouji's comforting hands on his shoulders.
"You should take a seat," his best friend offered before pulling him up and tugging on his arms, leading him to the bench.
Understandably, Shikamaru's statement had brought a new height of shock to the listeners as a chill of awareness finally dawned on them. Ino stood motionless as she tried to comprehend the seriousness of the situation while Kiba exchanged a terror-stricken look with the silent Aburame.
Shortly after, Sakura and the other medical helper came running towards the operating room, both holding onto each side of a cooler. This time however, nobody tried to stop them as they rushed into the room.
As the anticipations mounted, Shikamaru bent over, his head bowed and his eyes closed as he breathed deeply. There was nothing more he could do at the moment except to wait. Willing his fears away, he tried to bring his thoughts back to a week ago; to a time he shared with his wife.
...
...
It was a cool, clear evening and the shadow wielder was lying on the soft grass with both hands behind his head, gazing at the clouds rolling by while Hinata sat beside him, quietly reading a book. They were in their own backyard where Hinata had fruitfully planted an apple tree in a corner and a few patches of leafy vegetables, tomatoes and even pumpkins in a separate spot, leaving ample space in the middle to accommodate Shikamaru's cloud-gazing interest.
Sighing aloud, the shadow wielder finally broke the comfortable silence.
"You know Hinata…," he started, without taking his eyes off the clouds. "I had only wanted to be an average ninja, earning an average salary, marrying an average wife, have two kids…"
"Well, what happened?" Hinata interrupted without taking her eyes off her book.
"Well, I don't know… Ironically, I ended up being the assistant to the Hokage, earning more than average wage and… marrying the most beautiful woman in the whole of Konoha… a baby on the way… I must have overdone something in between."
Beaming, Hinata looked up and asked, "Are you complaining?"
"Well… not really…"
"Good…" Hinata remarked before turning back to reading her book.
"What are you reading?" Shikamaru asked when it finally dawned on him that his wife was more interested in a certain manuscript than in him.
"This one," she said, holding up the book to her husband. "You brought it home yesterday. I never thought you'd read this kind of book."
"Sai insisted I take it. Said it provided a lot of pointers to him when Sakura was pregnant… as if I'd need that… I don't even want to touch it," Shikamaru grunted.
Smiling contentedly, Hinata continued reading while the Nara quietly gazed at the clouds above.
After some peaceful moments, Hinata finally looked up, "Shika, have you chosen a name for our baby?"
"Well…" Shikamaru started, without taking his eyes off the clouds.
"You still haven't given it a thought, huh?" Hinata chided. "Are you going to give it some consideration soon? We don't have much time you know…"
"You're wrong, Hinata. We have ample time," the Nara countered. "There's more than a month to go."
"Actually…, I've come across a name I liked and thought that maybe you might like it too."
"And what is it?" he asked with a hint of interest.
"Keitaro," Hinata offered with a smile. "Keitaro would be a nice name for a boy."
"Kei-ta-ro?" he pondered. "It means blessed."
"U-huh"
"Nara Keitaro… Not a bad name," Shikamaru said. "What about a girl's? Have…"
"It's a boy!" Hinata blurted out.
Immediately turning his head to glance his now guilty-looking wife, Shikamaru asked, "How did you know?" Then, with a devious grin, he added, "You… saw it?"
"No, I already told you I can't see the baby inside of me even with my Byakugan. Only another Byakugan user could…" she stopped.
Sitting up now, Shikamaru prodded with renewed interest, "Who was it? Neji? …Hanabi? …Hiashi-sama?
"Well, no. It… it was only a hunch. I just had a feeling it would be a boy."
"You know… you are a terrible liar… And you think you could lie to someone like me?" the Nara grinned. "Well, let's see… You visited your father this morning… he's probably not the only person you saw… and you stayed for breakfast and also lunch… and… then you suddenly have a hunch it's a boy…" He grinned widely before exclaiming, "Someone must have scanned the little thing with the Byakugan. Only question is, who?"
Decoded, Hinata giggled before answering, "It was my father."
"Hiashi-sama?" Shikamaru quipped. "Well, so nice of my father-in-law to ruin our surprise…"
"Shika, my father was only concerned about my well-being. He only took a look to make sure that the baby was fine. He didn't intentionally tell me the gender of our baby… It just didn't occur to him that we didn't want to find out."
"Yea, now he knows we're going to have a son before I do," the Nara drawled.
There was another silence before Hinata related, "My mother died giving birth to Hanabi… That was a long, long time ago. I was only five then. I didn't really know what actually happened until today. My father said that she had seizures during labor. Soon after, she fell unconscious. It seemed that she started bleeding heavily after she gave birth to Hanabi and… and then she died... She must have bled to death."
"You've never told me this before…"
"Like I said earlier, I didn't really know what happened… Not until today."
Lifting her head up to look at the clouds, Hinata took a deep breath before continuing, "That was why my father wanted me to go over for breakfast today. He wanted to make sure that I was going to be okay… He wanted me to know what my mom went through and hoped that I would be better equipped when the time comes." Turning around to look at her husband, Hinata added, "He looked inside because he wanted to make sure I will be okay…"
Another stretch of silence passed before Hinata muttered, "I… I'm also worried about the whole thing. What… What if I don't make it…?"
"Well, it seems Hiashi-sama had actually managed to inflict some fear into you…" Shikamaru scoffed. "Hinata, what happened to your mother took place nearly twenty years ago. Things were different then. We have better surgical care now."
"No, it's not that, Shika. It's… it's just these dreams I… nothing."
"What is it, Hinata? Something has been bothering you for the past few days. You seemed a little pensive lately…"
Shaking her head, Hinata looked down and started pulling some grass off the ground.
"Shika," she uttered, finally looking into her husband's dark brown eyes. "If anything ever happens to me, you have to promise you will take good care of our baby, okay?"
"Hinata…"
"Please…"
"Okay…, I promise I'll take care of the child as I would my very own," Shikamaru joked.
"Nara Shikamaru! Stop joking!" Hinata pouted and folded her hands.
Chuckling at his wife's behavior, Shikamaru shifted to sit behind Hinata, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Nothing will happen, Hinata. You're only worried because you're nearing the time of childbirth. You're getting cold feet here… I guess it's only natural to feel that way. Now don't be too stressed out. Everything is going to be fine. Just relax a little, okay? …I'll be there with you when the baby comes. I promise."
"You've got to keep to your promise, you know?" Hinata emitted while smiling broadly.
"Sure..."
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