Shikamaru Shinden Chapter 16

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CHAPTER 16





“I’m going to the Land of Iron today. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow,” Shikamaru said, pulling on his white coat.

Temari stood behind him. For once, Shikadai was sitting at the kitchen table, eating with his family.

He went to speak to Shikadai before he left.

“Are you off work today?” he asked.

“Yeah…” the lazy answer came back, Shikadai did not look up.

Because of the building war in the Land of Earth, there was a large amount of ninja congregated in Konoha at the moment. They’d obviously been noticed by the young genin ninja.

But it would be over soon. Soon everyone would return to normal, or they would face the battlefield. It all fell upon tomorrows meeting.

“Well then, I’ll be back,” Shikamaru told his son, leaving the house.

“Dad…” Shikadai called with a strained voice.

Shikamaru came back into the corridor to see his son. His bowl of food still in his right hand, Shikadai had his mouth open.

“About Konoha, what’s happening?” Shikadai asked.

The honest anxiety of a child, his words were overflowing with it.

“Shikadai…” Shikamaru began.

He had the sharp eyes of his wife. Shikadai stood up straight.

“You’re worried about nothing, I’ll be back soon and things will go back to normal. Don’t get sloppy just because you have a break, go hang out with Chocho and Inojin,” Shikamaru laughed.

His face twisted, but he then laughed, Shikadai nodded along. Whatever was happening in their land, most shinobi already knew. Shikadai and Temari didn’t know why the village was preparing to fight, and he didn’t want them to know.

Shikamaru never talked about work at home, so both Shikadai and Temari had no idea what was going on.

He squatted next to his son and patted his head. While gently stroking his hair, he felt Temari watch on silently.

“Your old man is the Seventh Hokage’s right-hand man, because of that, you don’t need to worry. My husband will be okay,” Temari said.

“Yup!” Shikadai cried, rubbing his nose.

Shikamaru wondered if he was crying. He rubbed his son’s hair one more time before standing up.

“I’ll be back,” he said to his son.

“Dad?” Shikadai said.

“Hm?” Shikamaru hummed.

“It’s troublesome, but do your best,”

“It’s too troublesome to go and die anyway,” Shikamaru said, walking to the door.

He sat at the genkan and started putting on his shoes. Temari was silent behind him.

“All done,” Shikamaru cheered himself and stood up.

He looked back at Temari and smiled. With the same look as always, she stared down at him.

“I’ll be back the day after tomorrow,” Shikamaru said.

Temari nodded.

“You know that there are two people who’d never betray you, no matter what happens. Never forget that” Temari said.

Her and Shikadai.

His family.

Irreplaceable.

He smiled and nodded,

“You don’t need to say that,” Shikamaru said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,”

Neither smiled.

“Hey, Shikamaru,” Temari said suddenly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Even if you didn’t remember our anniversary, it doesn’t really matter. Well, I did get a little angry at the time,” she said.

They were too alike for her to be upset. Temari was desperately trying to convey her feelings to him. That alone was enough for Shikamaru, Temari laying things down as they were. Even if Shikamaru disliked himself for it, he understood what she was saying.

No…

He’d be in trouble if they weren’t similar. Shikamaru stood at the entrance and waited for her to talk, feeling no worry for her words.

“You never talk about work at home, never. I know it’s because you don’t want us to worry, but it’s frustrating,” Temari said.

That was true. However, there was another reason this was the case.

Drinking at home, gushing about work was not the kind of life he wanted after all. Not in front of his family, it was the same for a lot of people. It was far easier to keep everything inside than to just tell everyone about it.

He wanted to be comfortable, but he knew he had to keep his mind in reality. Even if he told people about his worries, it would be a load of bullshit. He’d tell himself that it would be different from complaining.

“Please just tell me next time,” Temari said.

Temari’s eyes were red, and it made him remember something. That was, like Darui, Kurotsuchi and Chojuro, Temari was a ninja from a different village. At the Shinobi Union, all kind of shinobi met in the Land of Iron. Shikamaru and Temari were those ninja.

He’d snuck into the Land of Silence to assassinate the leader of that country, Gengo. At the conference, Shikamaru had not revealed this to his allies. He was preoccupied. Shikamaru had been different from his usual, and Temari had noticed before anyone else. She’d wanted to help him and he’d turned her down.

“Do you remember?” he asked his old friend, now his wife.

Temari, of course, did not understand the question.

“Before I went to the Land of Silence, you punched me in the face,” he said.

He’d said nothing to her, wanting to avoid her. Her face had twisted in rage and sorrow. At that time, she was crying.

“I’m hopeless. I’m still doing the same thing,” he said.

Before Temari had helped fix his heart, he hid all his pain. It had still spilled out.

Temari’s red eyes swung to the side.

“You’re doing enough, I don’t need anymore. You’re a good man,” she said.

He was so glad that he could trust her with this, more than anything.

‘It might be troublesome, but do your best!’

'You’re a good man’

His family’s words warmed Shikamaru’s heart to its core, where there had been nothing before.

They were his biggest support, they’d always be there to cheer for him.

“Get going Shikamaru. And as you go, I want you to win and never lose ever again. Until you do, I’ll wait here,” Temari said.

Shikamaru’s eyes became wet, but he retained his expression. He hated showing weakness, but for his son, it was harder than anything.

She was a wonderful wife. A 100% perfect mother as well.

“It’s troublesome, but I’m going now,” he said.

“Come back safe,” she said.

His heart full of warmth, Shikamaru walked through the door to his battlefield.

Okay, the next chapter is pretty long so it might take a while (the last chapter is the longest by far btw) There’s a bunch of shorter chapters between them, so it shouldn’t be much longer for the whole story to be out.

Thanks for your support everyone.