Shadows

Chapter 11

Shikamaru was not an emotional man. He was 20 years old. Top strategist, newly found out daddy. He could careless about the clouds in the sky or the way of politics. All Shikamaru Nara needed was his girls.

He remembered the first few weeks of Yaes stay in Konohagakure. She captivated him, she was quiet, but she was calculative. But most of all she was beautiful. Her green hair and red eyes haunted him. For three years she had plagued his dreams and his cloud watching.

Even now as he sat looking at her. Tear's in her eyes and blood on her shirt, to him she was beautiful. He crawled over to her and took her hands in his, with the washcloth from around his neck he began to wipe at her hands. She hunched even further as her body shook with more tears.

"Yae.." He began. He could feel his own voice shake as he wiped up her arms and then at her face, the bloodied cloth just made red streaks across her face.

"She's gone...Shika she's gone... She was so...so much like you..." Yae cried out as she fell forward her face buried in his chest. She clawed at his shirt then as the anger took her she banged and pleaded.

"My baby girl...our baby girl is..." He held her tighter as she sobbed harder. Looking out to the room, the teams were pulled together, stronger anchors in the relationships comforting the sobbing. At the front of the room, closer to the grieving parents, sat Kurenai and Kimiri. They kneeled before the cloth covered figure. Kimiri was wiping at the tears as she muttered blame on herself.

"Kimiri stop," Kurenai whispered as her sister laid pale hands over the sheet.

"I should of been with her, I could've stopped this. I can stop this!" Kimiri's yell startled most, Hinata looked up red nosed eyes bloodshot. Choji pushed some of her hair out of her face. He looked to his best friend as he pulled his wife closer.

He watched the two goddesses and felt the chakra in the room lift. Yae moaned into his chest and he looked to her. She was glowing a pale brown, all of it streaming to Kimiri.

"If you do this!" Kurenai's voice was shrill like. Shikamaru laid Yae down and moved to the goddesses. He pushed Kimiri and the two stopped glowing.

" What are you trying to do! You've taken one you want the other now!?" He yelled as he gripped Kimiris collar. His face was red with anger as he shook the goddess.

"Shikamaru calm down!" yelled Choji as he tried to pull his friend off. Hinata moved to Yaes side and laid her head in her lap. Usagi came on the other side taking the crying mothers hand. Hinanta's hand came to rest at her temples.

"Shes fine Shikamaru," Spoke Hinata bending down to her friend wiping her tears.

" I need my power Shikamaru. I can sav-"

"You risk your life for a whim!" yelled Kurenai as she moved Shikamaru aside and pulled her sister to her feet.

"We vowed to not interfere!" Kimir tried to look at the body of the girl. In all the struggle part of her face and arm were uncovered. The blood had been cleaned up but the cut looked very fresh.

"We promised her father,yes. But this is different sister. This is a child!" Kimiri gripped her sisters hands, rock coming to form around Kurenai's hand.

" You won't have the chakra to do it. Shizu had most of it, it died with her. If you tried you'd kill yourself and Yae," Kurenai's voice was like a dagger. The brown haired woman dropped down and sobbed.

" That's why I will be doing it," Kurenai turned to Yae. Usagi was running her hands in the green locks while Hinata looked at the goddess.

" A rule can be overlooked. She's suffered enough. Just protect the little one sister," Kurenai spoke as she began to glow. Yae glowed as well and lifted. Red smoke connected them but it swirled to Kurenai.

"You can leave Yae?" Asked Usagi. She'd been informed of the goddesses connection. From what she'd been told they could not leave Yae. Only death could separate them.

"She can only leave for a short time before we have to return to Yae. It will strain her mind if we are away from too long. The only way to leave her is by death." Kimiri stood up and pulled her sister into her arms.

"If our person is to die, we go to the next in line. But in Yae's case now..." Kimiri looked to Shikamaru. He was pulling the cover off the little girl with tears in his eyes.

"She will live, free of all of us. There is only one to be passed on, and I have been with Shizu since she was born. She had complications in birth, I volunteered to be her familiar. Yae only kept a small amount of my power because she is still too young to take it all" Kimiri moved away from her sister. She laid a hand on Shikamaru's head as the father took his daughters hand in his.

"Since I don't have much power. She'll be able to take me on now, I will be this girls protector." The last of Kurenai's power exited Yae and the mother was layed back down. She opened her eyes slowly, sitting up shakely. The girls around her crowded in more and Yae looked to the goddesses.

"I will do this for you. You suffered for us far too much, and for that we are sorry. Your daughter will be a quarter of what you were. You shall teacher her, she will be a force but she will live her life out with no hate from those around." The room began to feel hotter, sweat breaking out on the brow of everyone in the room. Kurenai's body turned to smoke, rose high into the air, flying in a circle it beelined for Shizu's body.

Kimiri held her hands out just before the smoke could reach Shizu. Rock formed catching the smoke.

"Shikamaru get away now, everyone to the wall," Shikamaru kissed Shizu's head and moved to help Yae up. As they lined the wall, Kimiri held the ball up and with force crushed it. The smoke came down like water.

"By the chakra we were created, by man we were contained. In the name of the Goddesses, present and gone, we lay the life of one to save that of another." She flung the water at Shizu's body and the little girl glowed.

"Fates be kind, humanity understand, parents cherish. In the name of the sages, I pass the seal on," Kimiri's hands glowed as she crouched over Shizu. She placed her hands on Shizu's neck and took a deep breath as a seal mark appeared underneath.

"Spiritual sages!" The room filled with blinding light, Kimiri's yell rang out joined by that of a child crying.