I DO NOT OWN DREAMING OF SUNSHINE OR NARUTO
I am merely making use of their characters, settings, and themes to tell a different story.
If anyone would like to use my own work as a base/inspiration for a fic, you are more than welcome to do so, just credit me in the beginning and maybe send me the link so that I can read it too, I'm always looking for more DOS recursive.
Well, I think that covers all of my bases, so with that out of the way, on to the fic!
Chapter 21: Reunions pt.2
Getting into baby-Shikako's room was almost worryingly easy. It made sense, despite how well the village is recovering they are still recovering so they can hardly spare the shinobi to guard an infant most people doubt will even survive, especially one that's not an heir. So, besides a curious glance from the nurse manning the desk of the long-term care units, Shikako enters the ward entirely unnoticed.
Upon passing the doors, Shikako comes to the abrupt realization that she…doesn't actually know the room number of her baby-self, something that would pose issues in trying to get in and out mostly undetected. While the nurse probably won't make a fuss about some unknown Nara (because she is very clearly a Nara, for all that she isn't currently wearing the Mon) entering the room of an infant, if she checks all of the rooms…well, looking like you don't know where you're going is the mark of a rookie infiltrator, and Shikako had just left T&I - she has no desire to return to the building anytime soon.
Her dilemma doesn't last long however, as she soon notices that one of the rooms feels like a dead zone to her senses. To most people, depriving a room of natural and ambient chakra would be detrimental to their recovery, but to an infant who was sent into a coma from bijuu chakra exposure while having hypersensitivity? It's the ideal environment. Add on the fact that she had specifically recommended such seals to her father and Shikako is fairly certain she's found her target.
Now confident in her destination Shikako makes her way to the room, careful that the door closes softly behind her. The moment it does, a few things immediately become clear.
One: opening the door disrupts the array. This makes sense, as an environment entirely devoid of chakra would be incredibly uncomfortable for the medical staff to work in, so they probably just leave the door open while doing their rounds and close it behind them to re-engage the array.
Two: She's not sure if its the lighting, perspective, or what, but baby-Shikako looks a lot worse than she expected.
Shikako looks at the tiny form connected to a number of wires and machines. The baby looks sickly. She's thin and small, missing that distinctive flush all infants have.
She looks like she's dying .
It is then that Shikako realizes that this might just be more serious than she'd first thought. A wave of guilt washes over her.
' I should've checked up on her weeks ago. This is - this never happened to me, so why is it happening here?'
A startling thought crosses her mind.
' Is this…was this supposed to be cannon-verse? Is she just…not meant to survive? '
Shikako banishes the thought from her head as new determination fills her.
' Whatever. Whether this was supposed to be a canon-timeline or not is irrelevant and has been for weeks. From the moment we arrived here the future of this world entered a state of flux, and I'll be damned if I choose now of all times to bow to fate's whims. '
Shikako thought about the grief her parents would suffer if baby-Shikako died. Shikako thought about the agony on Kakashi's face when he realized that the masked-man was Obito. That pain, she wished she could have spared him of it, but she saw no alternative. It was frustrating, the feeling of inevitability and powerlessness she'd felt in that moment was something she hadn't felt in years .
' Maybe I can't spare them from everything, but that won't stop me from doing what I can .'
She never wanted to experience such helplessness again.
—
As Shikaku finished up the requisition form that had been bumped up to him he let out a tired sigh and looked at the clock.
' Time for lunch. '
Grabbing the bento his wife made him, he left his office and began making his way towards the exit. Two months ago such an action would have earned him a dirty look from his secretary and a scolding from his wife once he got home (the man was a certified snitch who'd learned early on that while he may not be able to tell Shikaku what to do, Yoshino certainly could. Unfortunately for Shikaku the man was also damn competent at his job, and Shikaku was far too lazy to try and find a replacement.) but not now. No, ever since the Kyuubi attack the only look he got from his secretary when he escaped his office was one of understanding - afterall, it was no secret where Shikaku was headed.
His walk to the hospital was brisk, and just as usual he entered the long-term care ward and waved hello to the nurse on duty, expecting her to simply wave back and return to her book, only today was different.
"Ah, Nara-sama! It seems you'll have a bit of company today, one of you clansmen came to visit little Shikako-chan about an hour ago and hasn't left yet." She - Kyomi, if he remembers correctly - says.
"Thank you, Kyomi-san." He says, before walking to his daughter's room a little more quickly.
Shikaku didn't know of any of his clansmen who would want to visit Shikako, much less one that would stick around for anywhere close to an hour. He didn't think Shikako would be targeted for assassination or held for ransom (doing so would require medical equipment and experienced doctors the likes of which are only found in Konoha) ...
His heart rate had begun to pick up at the thought of a threat to his little girl, and so too did his pace. He opened the door, ready for a fight should it come to that, but what he found was quite different.
Sat on the floor in the middle of the room, radiating green healing chakra from her entire body was Shikako - adult Shikako - and cradled in her arms was the small form of her younger self. Part of Shikaku wanted to yell at her and take his baby back, but the rational part of him made him pause and assess the situation first. Shikako - the adult - was emitting healing chakra, and Shikako - the baby- was already looking noticeably better. The fat she had been lacking and rapidly losing no matter how much they fed her was once again present on her face. Her chest rose and fell steadily and without the whistling he had become familiar with over the last month.
He has a fairly good idea as to the why - though the how still eludes him - but Shikako was somehow healing her younger self.
Not wanting to risk disrupting her, Shikaku sits down on the floor across from her, content to wait.
—
Shikako emerges from her healing trance feeling more at peace than she had since the moment she first arrived here. Using her Gelel stone had been a gamble - after all, it hadn't worked for Shikamaru - but it was one that paid off in the end. It also helped explain why Kako had deteriorated so quickly.
Shikako's soul wasn't mortal, which means there could never be more than one of her. Every Shikako through-out the multiverse was just a part of their much larger whole - even her. All gods were like this, it was why Jashin remembered her despite her not yet having confronted him in this worldline. Shikako's presence here had interfered with Kako's connection to the greater whole, making it think Shikako was its aspect in this world rather than Kako. Being so young compared to Shikako, Kako's soul lacked the strength to push back and assert its presence, while Shikako had been unaware it was even a problem in the first place. Through meditation she was able to identify the problem and address it, but this was only a temporary fix. So far from the seat of her power Shikako's soul was closer to the state it had been before her joining with Gelel, and so long as that remained the case, she would have to consciously ensure that she didn't weaken Kako's bond again. While she'd already been set on doing so beforehand, this knowledge made her communion with Gelel all the more urgent.
Hearing Kako gurgle contentedly brings a soft smile to her face. Adjusting Kako so that she is supported by one arm Shikako moves her now free hand to gently stroke Kako's now chubby and rosy cheek, relishing in the warm feeling that blossoms within her chest when Kako leans into it.
"I don't think I've ever seen her so… content ." Says a deep voice from directly in front of her.
Shikako jumps, startled by this presence she hadn't noticed, only to relax when she sees Shikaku.
' I was so deep in my trance that I didn't notice him enter, and with the seals in here my chakra sensing isn't really working either. '
Ignoring the instinctual discomfort upon realizing just how vulnerable she had unknowingly left herself, Shikako takes in her father. He seems relaxed - relieved, really.
"Before the Kyuubi she would cry constantly from the chakra exposure. When I got home that night, there was only one baby crying, so I thought maybe Shikamaru had slept through it, or maybe he had woken up and cried earlier before falling back to sleep. But, when I went into the nursery, it was Shikamaru crying - not her. She was completely silent, I thought she was dead, really. I picked her up, and I finally noticed her chest rising - barely, but it was there. I rushed her to the hospital as fast as I could, and she's been here ever since. You never think you'd miss those cries until they're gone. She was in pain, and I hate that, but at least she was alive. I was- before you - she was dying."
Shikako pretends not to see the wetness gathering in her father's eyes.
Rising to her feet, Shikako places Kako back in her crib, running her finger along her cheek one last time before turning to leave.
Before she can go, a hand is on her wrist. Instinctually she stiffens, preparing herself for an attack, before realizing it was her father. Shikaku is quick to release her wrist, clearly having seen the instinctive response she had tempered.
"Sorry. I -" His mouth opens, but no words come out. Shikako stays and watched intently - it is so rare to see her father at a loss for words.
Closing his eyes, Shikaku breaths out steadily before opening them once more.
"Are you happy?"
It's a loaded question. Immediately, moments she'd rather forget flash through her mind, but for every horrible memory a bright one follows. There's so much left unsaid between the two of them, and it will stay that way, but Shikako can give him this.
"There are certainly aspects of my life I dislike - how much paperwork I have to fill out each month or the speeches I'm expected to deliver, but honestly… I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Having said her piece Shikako leaves, content and settled for the first time in a long while.
.
.
.
And then she remembers that she still has dinner with Sasuke's family.
Leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!
