One week. It had been one week since Shikadai was taken, and three days since Shikamaru went out to help search for him. Naruto did what he said he would do and stayed in the guest room at Yoshino's, and was very slowly getting back to normal. Talking with his mother, and the reassurance that Shikamaru was out looking for their son, helped, but he knew he would never feel completely back to normal until Shikadai was home.
"Naruto, would you mind running to the store and getting me more of this fabric?" Yoshino asked as she held up a small piece of forest green fabric. She had been making something for Shikadai for when he got back, but she wouldn't tell him what it was.
"Sure," Naruto replied as he sat the book he was reading on the couch and got up. Yoshino handed him some money and told him how much to get before he headed out the door.
'We should be out looking too.'
'You know why we can't.' Kurama had been trying to convince him to leave and go look for Shikadai ever since Shikamaru left.
'You're pregnant, not crippled.'
'Yeah, but a lot more vulnerable. Without your chakra or my sage mode, I wouldn't stand a chance against an enemy.'
'You still have your own chakra. The kit doesn't take your chakra, just mine.'
Naruto smiled as he placed his hand on his stomach. 'Yeah, but I've still been feeling weaker than usual. Plus, getting into a fight would put her in danger, and that's not something I'm willing to risk.'
Kurama humphed and went silent.
Naruto was happy that Kurama was so worried about Shikadai. 'Shikamaru will find him,' he said more to himself than to the fox.
He found his way to the fabric store and bought what Yoshino needed, then started back. Along the way, he stopped by the dango shop to get a small snack. He was happy that his appetite was returning, and that his stomach wasn't twisting as much. He was still dealing with morning sickness, but even that was starting to subside.
As he paid for his dango and was about to head out, he froze when he overheard two men talking.
"Yeah, this brat wouldn't stop screaming. Kept crying for his parents. The woman kept telling him that they were gone or something. Honestly, she didn't look like she knew what she was doing. If she didn't have the kid, I probably would've made a move on her. Blonde hair, tanned skin, total babe. She kind of looked like one of those chicks from the Land of Wind."
The man with him chuckled. "They are hot."
Naruto's breath quickened a bit as he heard the man describe her. Could he really have seen Temari and Shikadai? He turned and walked over to the two men. "Uh, excuse me. I overheard you talking and was wondering…" He pulled out a small picture of him, Shikamaru, and Shikadai and held it out to the man. "... did the boy you mentioned look like this boy?"
The man took the picture and studied it for a second. "Yeah… Well, sort of. The boy I saw had his hair down, but if it was up like that, then I'm sure it'd look like a spitting image," he replied as he handed the picture back.
Naruto's heart beat faster. "Where? Where did you see them?"
The man narrowed his eyes. "Why? You friends with the woman or something?"
Anger slowly rose up inside of Naruto, not at the man's words per se, but more because of the answer. "No. She kidnapped him from us. We've been trying to find her for the past week. Please, tell me where you saw her."
The man relaxed his face and almost seemed sympathetic. "Sorry. I was in the Land of Lightning two days ago, Mokuta Village. I was staying at an inn there, and she was fighting with the boy in the lobby. My guess is that she just checked them in and was trying to get him to the room."
"Was there more than one inn?"
The man shook his head. "No. The village is small, so there was only one inn."
'We need to go.'
"Thanks," Naruto said to the man before he ran out of the shop, dango still in his hand, but forgotten. 'I have to let Granny know so she can send someone there.'
'No. You go. I want to take care of this woman myself.'
'Kurama, we just talked about this. I can't go. I don't want to…'
'You can still use some of my chakra, just not a lot. If we get into a pinch, use it to get out of it. If we tell the Hokage about this, it'll take time to round people up, then explain the situation, and by the time they got there, she could be long gone.'
'He saw her two days ago. She could already be long gone. By the time we get there especially.'
'Exactly. Which is why there is no time to waste. You need to head there now.'
Naruto stopped at an intersection and looked over in the direction he assumed Mokuta Village was. 'I don't even know where the village is, and I don't have anything prepared to go. It'll take just as long to get things together.'
'Get things on the way. It's not like we can go non-stop to the village. We'll have to stop to rest, so you can get supplies there.'
Naruto chewed on his lip as he thought about it. It did make a lot of sense. He really did want to follow this lead himself. He was starting to feel so useless just sitting around while everyone else searched, and that was the worst feeling in the world to him. He placed his hand on his stomach again and closed his eyes. 'Shikamaru's going to kill me,' he said, then started running towards the east gate.
'He can blame me.'
He ran down the streets, dodging the passerbyers as he finally munched on his dango. He was going to be skipping lunch, and hoped Yoshino wouldn't be too mad. He stopped suddenly as he remembered the bag he had in his other hand. "Crap."
'What? We need to keep moving.'
'The stuff Yoshino asked me to get. I can't just leave it.'
'Summon me and I'll take it back and explain things to her. She can then go to the Hokage and explain things to her.'
Naruto nodded, summoned the small version of Kurama, handed the bag to the fox, and watched him run off before turning and continuing down the street. As he ran around the corner, someone suddenly appeared in his vision. His eyes went wide and, out of instinct, he reached out and grabbed the person by the arms and spun them both around.
Blue eyes met wide lavender ones and a small, high pitched yelp came from the person. Hinata. When he had them spun around, he continued running, glancing over his shoulder as he did. "Sorry, Hinata." He briefly saw Ino standing next to the stunned girl, looking stunned herself, but then returned his focus in front of him. 'Ok, seeing Ino always hanging out with Hinata is still a little weird.'
'That doesn't matter. Keep running,' Kurama said in his mind.
'I know, I know. I'm going.'
He made it through the east gate and into the trees before he heard someone yelling after him.
"Naruto!" Hinata cried out.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw Hinata and Ino slowly catching up to him, but didn't stop. Once the two girls caught up, one on each side of him, he looked over at Hinata. "I'm not stopping."
"What's going on? Why are you risking leaving the village?" Hinata asked, a worried look on her face.
"I got a lead on Shikadai," Naruto said. "A guy said he saw him in the Land of Lightning. Shika's looking in the opposite direction, and I can't wait for Granny to send someone after her."
"Are you nuts," Ino said. "Naruto, you're in no condition to be going after Temari. You go back and explain the situation to Lady Tsunade. Hinata and I will go after her. Where are we heading?"
Naruto shook his head. "I need to do this."
"Naruto, it's too dangerous," Hinata said. "Please, just go back and let us handle this."
Naruto looked down, but not enough that he couldn't see where he was going. "I need to do something. Sitting around like I was, it was killing me. I hate that I can't be out with Shika to look for him, and the worry just keeps building the longer no one finds him."
"We understand, Naruto, but Hinata's right. It's too dangerous. Temari's not going to let him go easily. We may need to fight. You can't put your unborn child at risk," Ino said. "I've gotten a lot better at my mind transmission jutsu, even talked to Shikamaru for a bit last night, so I'll keep you in the loop."
Naruto shook his head again and looked toward Ino with a determined look. "I'm going. Kurama said that if we're in a pinch I can use his chakra to get away. If you two will go with me, then that'll be even better. I promise I won't fight and leave that to you if it comes to it, but please, I need to do this."
He watched Ino and Hinata stare at each other, Ino probably using her mind transmission to talk to her, then heard Ino sigh. "Alright, but if we encounter any enemy, you get out of there immediately, you hear me?" Ino said sternly.
Naruto smiled. "I promise. Thank you."
After a few minutes, he felt Kurama dispel the summoning. 'How'd she take it?'
'Not well. She wanted to come after you, but after I told her that Ino and Hinata were with you, she calmed down. She said she would let the Hokage know.'
'Good. I really hope she'll reach out to Shikamaru and let him know.'
'I'm sure he'll be the first one she lets know.'
The three traveled for another two hours before they finally stopped at a small village to get something to eat and get some supplies. Naruto was grateful for the small rest. He never realized how draining being pregnant could be. After their short rest and refuel, they headed back out, hoping to travel until dark.
NNNNNNNNNN
Two days had passed and they were almost to their destination. They were glad that they didn't run into a situation where they had to fight, although they did come across a couple of sand teams that were looking for Temari, but they were able to get around them thanks to Hinata's byakugan.
A little past noon, they stopped for a quick lunch, and Naruto took a deep breath as he rubbed at his stomach. He felt the small flutter of his daughter just like he had when he was in the space his mother appeared in.
"You ok?" Hinata asked, a bit of worry in her voice.
Naruto gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah. I'm just a little tired. This trip is wearing me out more than I thought it would."
"Maybe we should take more breaks in between," Ino suggested.
Naruto shook his head. "No. We've probably already missed Temari in Mokuta Village. If we stall too much longer, we'll lose track of her track completely."
"We'll find her, Naruto. You need to take care of you and your child," Hinata said.
"I'll be fine. Kurama is keeping an eye on that part. He'll let me know if I need to be more careful."
They made small talk while they ate, but a shifting in the bushes near them made them all jump to their feet, Naruto and Ino pulling a kunai from their weapon's pouch and Hinata activating her byakugan with her hands in a ready position in front of her. When all that came out of the bushes was a shadow, Naruto relaxed and put his kunai away. "It's Shikamaru," he told the girls.
Shikamaru emerged from the shadow and immediately looked towards Naruto, a none too happy look on his face. "Naruto, what the heck were you thinking?" he asked as he approached the blonde. "You shouldn't have left the village."
Naruto took a step back out of instinct, a bit of fear and regret in his eyes. "I-I'm sorry."
Shikamaru stopped right in front of the blonde and sighed, his composure relaxing. "Do you know how worried I was when I got a mind transmission from Inoichi saying that you found a lead on Shikadai and went after it." He pulled the blonde into his arms.
"I'm really sorry, but I couldn't just sit around anymore," Naruto said as he wrapped his own arms around the man and laid his head on Shikamaru's chest. He could feel the man slump forward just a bit. "It doesn't matter what any of you say, it's my fault Shikadai was taken. I needed to do something. I just feel so useless like this."
"You're not useless," Shikamaru said after placing a kiss on the top of Naruto's head.
Naruto felt Shikamaru shake a bit and looked up at him, concerned. "What's wrong?"
Shikamaru closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, leaning just a bit more into the blonde. "I went from where dad and I were, near the Land of Earth, to here with only a few stops. I'm a little exhausted."
Naruto pulled away and helped Shikamaru sit down, then sat down next to him.
"Well, looks like we're going to rest longer than we thought," Ino said.
"Hinata, how far away from the village are we?" Shikamaru asked.
"I'd say about another half day's journey, maybe?" Hinata said as she looked in the direction they were headed.
Shikamaru nodded. "Ino, can you use your mind transfer and scout ahead? I'm sure she's already moved on by now, but maybe you can find something."
Ino nodded, then turned and looked in the trees. A small bird was sitting, chirping, in one of the branches, and she raised her hands to form a circle with her fingers before she collapsed. Hinata quickly caught her and laid her unconscious body on the ground.
"This way we can still keep going while we rest," Shikamaru said as he slumped against Naruto, eyes half closed.
Naruto pulled Shikamaru the rest of the way down and laid the man's head on his leg. He frowned as he watched Shikamaru's chest rise and fall slowly. "Did you get any sleep while you were searching?"
Shikamaru smiled, but kept his eyes closed. "Not really. Dad threatened to knock me out if I didn't sleep, but when I did, I didn't sleep very long. Don't be surprised if I sleep for like a week after this."
Naruto chuckled and ran his fingers through the ends of Shikamaru's ponytail. "I think we're all going to need a break after this."
Shikamaru shifted and turned so that his face was pressed up against Naruto's stomach, one arm wrapping around Naruto's waist. The man seemed to relax even more.
Naruto heard Hinata shift and looked up to see her cleaning up the area from their lunch. "Did you eat anything yet?"
Shikamaru nodded the best he could. "I stopped by a village last night for a few hours to rest, and grabbed something easy to eat on the go too."
Naruto looked back down at him, frowning still. "I'm sorry I worried you. I just wanted to find Shikadai."
Shikamaru sighed, but looked up. "I get that, but you're not responsible for just yourself anymore."
'He never was, you brat.'
Naruto chuckled. "Well, Kurama disagrees with you on that, but I get what you mean."
Shikamaru wrapped his arm a little tighter, his face scrunching a bit. "I can't lose you two too."
Naruto felt really guilty now. This whole time Shikamaru had been strong for him while he lost himself in his depression. He should've realized how this was actually affecting Shikamaru. The man always tried to hide how he was really feeling, even when there was no reason to. It was just how Shikamaru was. Shikadai missing was probably killing Shikamaru just as much, if not more, than it was killing him.
He shouldn't have left. If he hadn't run into Hinata and Ino on the way out, he would've been alone, and it was only thanks to Hinata's byakugan that they were able to avoid the sand teams. He could've gotten his daughter killed, all because he wanted to feel useful again.
A tear fell from his eye and landed on Shikamaru's temple, which made the man look up again. Shikamaru frowned and slowly pushed himself up and pulled Naruto's face close to his so he could place his forehead on the blonde's. "Hey. It's ok. You're both safe."
"I'm sorry. I… I should've been more… I didn't think about how you were feeling in all this. I just wanted to find our son and get him back, but because of that, I…" He wrapped his arms around his stomach. "... I could've killed our daughter."
Shikamaru sat back a bit and his eyes went wide. "Daughter? How in the world do you know it's a girl?"
Naruto let a small smile cross his face and placed his hand on the small bump. "Mom told me."
"You met your mother?" Hinata asked.
Naruto looked up at her and nodded. "She said she appeared because I needed her. I wasn't really in the best state of mind the past week." He looked back at Shikamaru, the smile falling again. "But I've put her in danger by trying to feel useful again."
Shikamaru put his hands on both sides of Naruto's face and leaned in, close enough that Naruto had no choice but to look at him, but not close enough that they touched. "You are not useless. You have become one of the strongest shinobi in the village, Naruto. You've controlled Kurama's chakra, can use sage mode, and you said you were close to perfecting your new rasengan. You're probably even stronger than all the hokage's combined."
"I don't know about that," Naruto said skeptically.
"The point is, you are not useless. Just because you can't do much right now, doesn't mean you're weak or useless. It just means that your priorities have changed."
"Look at Kurenai Sensei," Hinata said. "She's a strong jonin and the best genjutsu user in the village, but since she got pregnant, she stopped doing shinobi work. That doesn't mean she's not the strongest genjutsu user in the village anymore."
Shikamaru smiled at the dark haired girl and nodded. "Exactly. Once this child is born, I'll be the stay at home dad and you can go back to being the strong and powerful man you were before if that's what you really want."
Naruto chuckled. "I don't think you could handle it. They're more troublesome than you care for."
Shikamaru's smile got wider. "Yeah, well, anything for my troublesome blonde." He pulled Naruto into a hug. "Don't ever doubt yourself, Naruto. As I've told you before, you are the strongest person I've ever met."
Naruto tightened his arms just a bit more around the man and nodded.
"We will get Shikadai back. Together."
Naruto sat back and nodded, that wide smile he knew Shikamaru loved to see crossing his face.
Shikamaru laid his head back in Naruto's lap and closed his eyes. "Ino will probably be a while longer, so I'm going to try and get a nap in."
"We'll wake you when she gets back," Hinata said.
Shikamaru nodded, and after a few minutes was asleep. Naruto played with the ends of Shikamaru's ponytail, but not enough to wake him, and struck up a quiet conversation with Hinata.
It was about an hour and a half later when Ino's body stirred. Hinata got up from where she was sitting and went over to the blonde girl, while Naruto gently shook Shikamaru awake. Once Shikamaru and Ino were fully awake and sitting up, Ino began her report.
"Well, you were right about Temari already moving on from the inn. She wasn't there, and I couldn't exactly ask anyone when she left. I tried to search around the area, but I couldn't find any traces of them."
"Alright," Shikamaru said as he stood up and helped Naruto up, "let's get everything packed and head to the village. We'll stop by the inn and ask if they heard where she was heading. If they didn't, we'll do a more thorough search and see if we can find anything Ino might have missed."
They all nodded, then Hinata turned to Ino, who was a little shaky on her feet. "I can carry you on my back until your chakra returns."
Ino blushed a little. "Thanks. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Hinata shook her head. "It's not inconvenient. I haven't really done much, so it's the least I can do."
"Hinata, you kept the sand shinobi off our back," Naruto said. "That's definitely not nothing."
Hinata smiled at him. "I guess that's true."
"Let's get going. The longer we wait, the more distance she gains," Shikamaru said.
They quickly packed up their stuff, Ino got on Hinata's back, and they all jumped into the trees, heading for the village. Naruto noticed that Shikamaru was staying close to him, but also noticed that the man was still not at a hundred percent. Going as much as they were was going to be a disadvantage when they confronted Temari, but he knew that the four of them should be able to take her down, tired or not.
When they got to the village, they found the inn quickly thanks to Ino's directions, and Shikamaru walked up to the front desk. "Excuse me."
"Yes," the older woman asked as she looked up from the paper she was writing on. "Would you like a room?"
Shikamaru shook his head. "No. I'm actually looking for information. There was a woman with a young boy that stayed here recently, blond hair, tan skin."
"Ah, the sand woman. Yes, she and her son stayed here for a couple nights, and said they were moving to the Land of Lightning for a fresh start, although she really needed to get a handle on her son. He was constantly making a fuss," the woman said.
Shikamaru frowned at her. "That's because he was trying to get away. That woman kidnapped him from his home."
The woman gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. "I-I didn't know."
"I need you to tell me if she said where she was going. Even if it's just a direction."
The woman looked down in thought for a moment. "I don't remember her saying anything." She turned and looked at a young girl. "Saia, that woman with the loud child, did you hear where she was taking him?"
The girl turned to the woman and shook her head. "No, ma'am. All I ever heard her say is that they needed to keep going. She seemed to be constantly on edge."
"I might have heard something," a man said as he walked up to them.
Shikamaru turned around. "Anything will help."
"The boy actually got away from her and ran down the hall, bashing into my leg. It made it so the woman could get a hold on him again. He said something about wanting his mother, so I assumed he was with an aunt or something. She did look a bit nervous as she dragged him to their room. Right before she entered the room, she said something about finally getting to Tozuko. It's a small, secluded village about two day's journey from here."
Shikamaru gave him a sad smile. "Thank you. I appreciate the information."
"Are you the boy's father? 'Cause he looks just like you," the man asked.
"Yeah, I am," Shikamaru replied.
The man nodded. "I hope you get him back," he said before he walked off.
Shikamaru turned back to the others. "Let's figure out where Tozuko Village is and get going. It sounds like she's still on alert, but if Shikadai is really causing her that much trouble, she won't be moving too fast."
"When did they leave?" Hinata asked the older woman. She was still supporting Ino even though the blonde was no longer on her back.
"She checked out yesterday," the woman replied sadly.
Shikamaru turned back to them. "Let's go."
Ino grabbed Shikamaru's arm to stop him when he started to pass. "Shikamaru, I know you don't want to hear this, but we can't keep going like this. Naruto, Hinata, and I have been going for two days with little rest. I feel like I'm dead weight right now and I know Naruto's exhausted, and you look like you haven't slept in weeks. It's dark now, and I'm sure Temari will be stopping for the night soon too. We need to rest here, and not just for a few hours. We all need a good 7 or 8 hours of sleep."
"Ino…" Shikamaru tried, but Hinata cut him off.
"If you got a full night's sleep, then tomorrow you can use your fast travel to catch up to her, right? You made it to us in two days when it should've taken you four if not five. You'll be able to catch her before she even gets close to Tozuko Village," Hinata said. "And if you don't want to do it for that reason, then do it for Naruto."
Shikamaru looked over at Naruto, but the blonde just looked away.
"He's pushed himself too much this trip. I can see his and Kurama's chakra levels with my byakugan, and they are lower now than I've ever seen them," Hinata continued.
Shikamaru turned Naruto's face back toward him. "Is that true?" Naruto refused to look the man in the eyes. "Naruto, look at me," he said a little louder.
Naruto looked up at him, tears shimmering in his eyes. "Yeah," he replied almost too quietly. "Kurama warned me that we were going too far. I've dipped too much into Kurama's chakra to keep up with you guys. He said that if I tried to go with you, then I could lose her."
Shikamaru sighed, closed his eyes, and pulled Naruto to him. "Alright, we'll stay the night here, then move out first thing tomorrow morning."
Naruto turned his head and saw Hinata giving them a small, sad smile. "We'll definitely get him back tomorrow," she said.
Shikamaru turned back to the older woman. "We'll take one room with two beds," he said, then turned back to the two girls behind him. "You're ok with sharing a bed, right?"
"Of course," Ino said, her voice trying to be chipper, but the exhaustion clearly seeped through.
"We'll make do," Hinata said.
Shikamaru nodded, and when he turned back around, the woman was already holding a key out. "First floor, room 142, and let me know what you four would like to eat. It's on me."
"You don't have to do that," Shikamaru said.
"No, I don't, but I want to. Now get to your room and relax," the woman said as she handed him a piece of paper. "I'll stop by your room in ten minutes, so have your minds made up."
"Thank you," Naruto said as he took the paper.
They walked to the room, decided on what they wanted to eat, then took turns taking a shower, Naruto and Shikamaru going at the same time. Once the woman brought them their food, they ate, then settled down for the night, intending to get up first thing in the morning to continue their search.
NNNNNNNNNN
The next morning, they got the location of Tozuko Village from the older woman, and Shikamaru surprised them all by telling them that he wouldn't be using his fast travel. Naruto questioned Shikamaru's decision, and Shikamaru admitted that a full night's sleep wasn't enough to recover his chakra to continue using his fast travel.
They had a quick breakfast, at the insistence of the older woman, then headed out in the direction of Tokuzo Village.
They had traveled almost the whole day and were about to stop for the night when Hinata suddenly gasped. She had been using her byakugan off and on as they ran, just in case she could find them. "I see them," she said. "They're about five miles ahead of us."
Shikamaru stopped, which made the others stop too, and Naruto slid off Shikamaru's back. He had admitted that he was running out of chakra after traveling for half the day, and to keep going, Shikamaru offered to carry him.
"Ok, Hinata and I will cut her off. Ino, Naruto, you two will come up behind them so that she doesn't run. Hinata, is Shikadai still fighting her?"
Hinata was staring in the direction she said she saw them, and shook her head. "No. She's just pulling him along with his head down."
"She must've been walking normally if she's only gotten this far," Ino said.
"It's probably to keep a low profile. As I was traveling here, Inoichi told me that Lady Tsunade was going to be contacting the Raikage to get permission for us to enter the Land of Lightning. I'm sure he doesn't want her in his land anymore than we do," Shikamaru said.
Hinata gasped again. "I see a giant bruise on his face."
"What?" Naruto cried out, then clenched his fists tight by his sides and he could feel Kurama's chakra bubbling to the surface. "She hit him?"
"That's what it looks like," Hinata replied, tears forming in her eyes.
"No wonder he's being so complacent now," Ino said. "She's probably scared him into being quiet."
"Let's end this. Now," Shikamaru said, a dark look on his face. Naruto could see the shadows shifting below the man.
When no one else had anything else to say, they jumped back into the trees and ran to catch up to Temari.
'Naruto, let me out of here. I've recovered enough chakra to confront this woman.'
'Are you sure? Your chakra still seems pretty low.'
'I won't need very long to kill her,' the fox said with a growl.
'Let's wait until we're sure you'll get your chance.'
'Fine, but you better summon me.'
"Kurama wants to make the killing blow," Naruto said.
Shikamaru looked over at him, a bit worried. "Naruto, you were just…"
"Kurama said he's recovered enough chakra for it to be ok. I'll summon him once you have her restrained, that way we're not wasting chakra," Naruto said.
Shikamaru didn't look too happy about the idea, but nodded anyway. "I should have enough chakra to restrain her, but it won't be for very long."
"Trust me, he doesn't need that long," Naruto said.
After another few minutes, they were in position.
"If I had known that a slap to the face was what it took to keep you quiet, I would've done so way before now," Temari said, a bit of relief in her voice.
"Want mommy," Shikadai said in a small and quiet voice.
"I told you, they don't want you anymore, don't love you anymore. That's why they haven't come for you. Get that through your head. You're stuck with me now, so you'll start calling me mommy," Temari said.
Shikadai's frown deepened. "You no mommy."
Temari let out a frustrated groan and knelt down in front of him. "I am your mommy. I gave birth to you. You came from my body. You are my son. Shikamaru and Naruto don't want you anymore, so stop asking for them."
Naruto's anger just kept building and building with each word she said, his nails biting into the palms of his hands as he squeezed them tighter and tighter. She was filling his head with lies, trying to get him to think they didn't love him anymore.
He heard Kurama growl. 'Naruto, let me out right now!'
'No. We have to wait for the right moment,' he replied, even though he wanted nothing more than to let Kurama out. He looked over and barely saw that Shikamaru was just as angry as they were.
Shikamaru nodded and they all jumped down. "So that was your plan, to make him submit by lying to him? Once he believed we didn't care anymore, you'd be free to raise him alone?" Shikamaru asked.
Temari stood up and looked back and forth between the four shinobi, eyes wide. "What the heck are you doing here?"
"Getting our son back," Shikamaru said, anger coming through even more in his voice.
Naruto stayed slightly behind Ino, but made sure Temari could see his glare. He felt Kurama's chakra bubbling to the surface again, and this time he let a little seep out.
It had the desired effect as Temari grabbed Shikadai's wrist and took a few steps back.
"Mommy?" Shikadai asked, tears shimmering in his eyes.
"We're here, baby. We've come to take you home," Naruto said. He had to push down the anger so that he could give Shikadai a genuine smile.
"You are not taking him from me again!" Temari yelled, her own glare now crossing her face. "You already took two years of his life away from me. I won't let you take any more."
"So you'll just take them away from Shikamaru and Naruto?" Ino asked.
"I am his mother. I shouldn't have been separated from him in the first place. That whore has no right to call himself his mother," Temari spat out as she used her free hand to point at Naruto.
Naruto's eyes went wide. Whore? He didn't sleep around. She didn't know anything about him, so why was she calling him a whore? He saw Shikamaru's face twist even more in anger, the man's fists tightened even more. "Don't you dare call him that!" the man yelled.
"Yeah, if anyone should be called a whore, it's you," Ino snapped. "You're the one going around and raping men with your whore brothers."
"How dare you! We were under orders to do that!" Temari yelled back. "You think I actually enjoyed being with him?"
Naruto took a step to attack the woman, but Ino put her arm out in front of him, shaking her head.
Shikamaru raised his hands and sent his shadow out.
'Naruto, summon me!'
Naruto ignored the fox. He knew that they only had one chance for Kurama to make his move, and he wasn't about to give that up just because they were angry.
Temari picked Shikadai up and was now dodging the shadow, jumping side to side, with Shikadai struggling in her arms, hitting her with both fists. "Down! Put down!" he cried.
Naruto could see that Shikamaru was starting to breathe heavily, and knew Shikamaru's chakra was depleting fast. All the traveling they had done was definitely costing them. He had to think of some way to distract Temari long enough for Shikamaru to grab her.
He didn't have to though as Shikadai reached up and pulled hard on Temari's hair, making her stumble, and giving Shikamaru the perfect opportunity. Shikamaru changed hand signs and his shadow lifted off the ground and split into several tendrils, burying themselves in Temari's legs, chest and the arm not holding Shikadai. He panted and fell to his knee. "Naruto, now!" he cried out.
Hinata rushed forward and grabbed Shikadai from Temari as Naruto slammed his hand on the ground, smoke surrounding him and Ino and revealing a reddish-orange fox the size of a large dog. Kurama wasted no time and charged forward, sinking his teeth into the woman's shoulder and smashing her to the ground with his weight.
Temari let out a loud shriek. "Get off of me!" she yelled as she hit the fox with her free hand.
Hinata moved over to Naruto, pushing Shikadai's face into her shoulder and holding the boy's head there even though the boy pushed at her. "No! Want mama!"
Kurama dug his claws into Temari's chest and stomach and pulled hard with his teeth, ripping the chunk of flesh and bone in his mouth from her body, causing another shriek to escape the woman's mouth. He spit the flesh and bone out and clamped onto her arm, pulling until the arm ripped off her body. He lifted his head long enough to glare at her, slashed his claws at the woman's chest, tearing the clothing and skin from her body, then bit down on her neck.
Naruto's stomach twisted as blood and flesh flung and splattered around Kurama, and he almost lost his stomach when he heard Temari's gurgled scream fill the air, but he did nothing to try and stop the fox.
Shikamaru fell back on his butt, his hands bracing his fall, and Naruto saw the shadow quickly recede. Temari tried to struggle now that she was free, but the damage was already done. By the time Kurama disappeared, she was no longer moving.
"Mama!" Shikadai cried.
Naruto looked over and saw Shikadai still trying to push away from Hinata, and he moved over to take the boy. He wrapped his arms tightly around the boy as Shikadai did the same to his neck and Naruto fell to his knees, tears falling from his eyes. "You're ok now. She won't hurt you anymore."
The boy continued to cry, burying his face in Naruto's neck.
Shikamaru got up, walked over and dropped down next to them, wrapped his arms around them, and closed his eyes, burying his face in Shikadai's loose hair.
Their family was back together again and Temari was dead. Naruto knew that they would still have to deal with the sand village, and he was sure that Shikadai was going to be going through trauma worse than the first time, but at least they had him back. They could deal with whatever came next.
