Did Someone Say Dragons
If Shikamaru was being completely honest, if she had known the first task was being kept in the forest she would have stayed out. Actually, that was a lie. She would have still gone into the forest but would have avoided the area (maybe). What could she say, she was a shinobi and they took every advantage they could.
To be fair still to the chuunin, the only reason she even looked was because a roar broke her peace. She had been invited along to visit the village with everyone, but that sounded so troublesome that she denied it and went into the forest to nap.
She had purposely gone deeper so that none of the students would have been willing to go in to bother her. They seemed to assume that with the task coming up, that she would suddenly open up and talk to the populace, and without anyone else to distract them, she wasn’t going to risk it. Plus this would be one of the last days she could truly go outside, because it was becoming way too cold.
None of the younger shinobi had ever seen snow, but it was absolutely frigid, even in the castle. Shikamaru just wanted one last outing to say goodbye to Elder and the thestrals. She couldn’t even take a nap if she wanted to, it was so cold.
Back to the matter at hand, she had been saying goodbye to the thestrals and waiting for Elder because she didn’t want to anger the other centaurs by visiting their home (though she apparently might be well received).
“You have become officially favored by the thestral young one.” Was the first thing she heard after such a deafening roar.
The female Nara quickly put her hand into her jacket pocket, now done giving the thestral some last strokes of affection. “Oh?” She responded as she turned fully to the centaur.
Elder gave her a smile and gestured for her to follow him. She rose her eyebrow in question but quickly took steps to be walking beside the centaur.
They both quietly walked further into the forest before coming upon a clearing and they could hear voices. Shikamaru looked at the centaur with a raised eyebrow and he sent her a mischievous smile before backing up a little. She internally snorted at the display before quietly and quickly moving forward.
It did not take her long to find the dragons. She used her clan jutsu to wrap herself up in the shadows as she just stood on the outskirts and observed everything. After a couple of minutes of gathering information, she finally melted away back to where Elder had been left.
She approached the centaur and they both quietly left the forest. “Thank you.” Shikamaru finally voiced as they were approaching the edges.
“I remember you informing me of you wrongfully being entered into this competition due to lack of foresight by the wizards. As you are marked by the Alpha pair and have officially achieved favor among the thestrals, it was only right that I show you.”
“You know they’ll consider this cheating right?” Shikamaru couldn’t help but point out.
“Ah, but you are a warrior and thus do not care for some silly rules.” Elder pointed out as they stopped at a clearing.
“True, but I was going to use this competition as a way to test myself and how far I’ve grown.” The female Nara couldn’t help but point out.
“You are still testing yourself, young one. I am but a simple elder centaur who was showing someone favored by the forest, a part of the forest that was being disturbed.”
Shikamaru couldn’t help but snort loudly at his explanation. “Still, thank you.”
“Even if I hadn’t had shown you, you would have easily found out after hearing such a roar. I merely made the process faster.” Elder pointed out knowingly.
He wasn’t wrong. If he hadn’t shown her, after saying goodbye she would have investigated the noise herself. They stood in companionable silence for awhile before Shikamaru spoke, “I wanted to at least say goodbye before the cold becomes too much. I will be coming back when it isn’t simply freezing, though I might discover a way to visit even when cold, though it won’t be often.”
“Well I thank you for taking the time to do so, many wouldn’t have considered doing so.” Elder spoke.
“Before I go, I have to know how you always know when I’m in the forest.” Shikamaru finally asked.
Elder gave a light laugh, “Now that would be telling.”
She groaned out loud before giving him a pointed look.
“I wish you luck young one.” Elder finally stated before turning around and going back into the forest.
Shikamaru stood in the forest clearing for awhile longer. She hadn’t been here long but she would miss the forest. There was a meow which forced her to look down at Shikakage and she amusedly watched as her cat shrunk in size and meowed again more forcefully.
Shikamaru gave a small smile and picked up the now small cat, “You are so demanding,” she muttered while making her way back to the castle.
It was luckily now becoming dark so it should be safe for her to come back. She was already thinking, making, and discarding multiple plans for the first task.
If she could use all of her abilities freely, it wouldn’t be as hard of a task, but part of the mission was to only use wizard magic and make them underestimate her. And unfortunately, the magic she was coming up with were from her master level magic books.
Dragons basically nullified most magic that could be cast against them so you had to use outside objects to harm them, well unless you aimed for the eyes. But a blinded dragon was far more deadlier than a normal dragon, so it wasn’t really a good option except maybe for short term.
But even as a shinobi, she would barely be able to make a mark against a dragon. Only the extremely high leveled jutsus would even leave a mark. She did have her speed though, and her clan jutsus controlled shadows so in theory she could probably hold a dragon still for a split second seeing as it was large and powerful.
She did remember hearing them talk about nesting mothers, but she didn’t know completely what the first task was. She figured she might keep at least that part a secret to challenge herself; so as far as she knew, she had to get around a dragon.
She almost made it back to their rooms when she had a thought. It was so sudden and complex though viable enough that it made her stop. She didn’t stop the smirk from forming as she walked past the rooms and went straight to the library, she should have a few hours left.
Harry was anxiously waiting in the common room for Sirius’ call. Hagrid had just shown him the first task, which were dragons. And Harry knew that the other headmasters were there to also see the dragons so the only ones that didn’t technically know were Shikamaru and Cedric.
Hagrid had shown him the dragons mainly for Shikamaru’s sake because in Hagrid’s words, she was his little sister.
Harry was pretty sure Shikamaru would rather stab him than be acknowledged as the little sister, so he was trying to keep that thought away from her.
Harry was only slightly startled when Sirius showed up and called his name. He wasted no time in getting near the fire to finally talk to his godfather. They talked for a little bit before Harry finally brought up the main reason for the call.
“What can you tell me about the youngest Evans?”
“Rhosyn? I haven’t given thought about her in a long time.”
Harry couldn’t help but look incredulously at Sirius; that was her name? “Why was I never told about her?”
“Well kiddo, only your parents and I even knew of her existence. And there was no doubt in any of our minds that we would only barely be part of her life. Maybe when you were both older we would introduce you to each other but that was it.” Sirius explained without hesitation.
“I wasn’t even going to be given a choice if I wanted to get to know her or not?” Harry couldn’t help but accuse.
“Well at the time, you were both babies so we hadn’t given it much thought. If your parents had lived I don’t doubt that they would have worked something out, but we’ll never know.” The eldest Black explained but started to have a bitter undertone at the end.
Harry remained quiet for a second. “Did you guys love her?”
Sirius responded without hesitation, “Yes we did, but we also understood the circumstances. But that’s why she was named Rhosyn Evans here and renamed in her own world. I’m also technically her godfather in this world.”
“This world? What do you mean thi-“ Harry started but was interrupted as a noise came from the staircase.
Sirius immediately disappeared and Harry turned around sharply to see who was coming down. Harry couldn’t help the burst of anger he felt when he saw it was Ron coming down. He was going to get answers and Ron just had to ruin it.
Harry answered Ron’s question tersely, though he didn’t even really register the question as he was trying to hold onto his anger. Ron probably hadn’t meant to interrupt, but Harry was so frustrated that he could barely think.
Ron went back upstairs and Harry sat in the chairs in the common room awhile to calm himself before bed. He could ask Shikamaru directly tomorrow (though he had a sinking feeling she’ll never give him a true answer).
It didn’t take long for Harry to find an opportunity to tell Cedric. He was about to tell Shikamaru and he knew the other champions probably knew, so it was only fair that Cedric knew as well.
When he saw Shikamaru alone though, the first words out of his mouth were, “Your first name is Rhosyn?”
Shikamaru’s head snapped up at the call of the name. She narrowed her eyes at him a little, “Yes, it’s Rose in Welsh. How did you find that out?”
Harry had to stop for a second and had the horrifying thought of if he could tell her the truth or not. “Uhh – Well – I found out..” Harry stammered out.
“It was your godfather wasn’t it?” Shikamaru asked almost rhetorically.
Harry couldn’t help but give her a dumbfounded look. How the hell had she figured it out that fast?
“I’m not surprised he told you. I am surprised that you don’t currently live with him as we share him as a godfather.” Shikamaru further explained as she started to head towards the magic room.
She wasn’t about to have this conversation out in the open like this.
Before ascending the staircase though, she abruptly stopped and quickly turned to look down the hall they had just left. Harry was about to ask what was wrong but the look on her face was slightly terrifying.
Shikamaru swore she felt someone else in the hall. But there was no one there, and the spell for invisibility didn’t hide a person’s essence. Shikamaru’s sharp gaze flickered over the hall for a few more seconds before turning again and heading up, but now slightly more tense.
Harry was burning with questions but the fierce look in her eyes stopped him from voicing them.
They quietly made their way to wherever Shikamaru was taking them.
“Stay here.” Shikamaru finally drawled, now back to slightly slouching though her eyes were still a little fierce.
She turned the corner and went into a hall and Harry was almost tempted to follow her regardless. For some reason though, the memory of her show of strength when they had first talked sprung up in his mind and made him hesitate.
Harry only had to wait a second before Shikamaru called back out to him and he went around the corner to see her standing in a doorway. He was slightly in awe though when he went into the room though as it was a very cozy living room with a roaring fire.
Shikamaru wasted no time in closing the door and slouched down in one of the arm chairs. “So how’d you find out that name?”
Harry hesitated. She didn’t seem hostile when talking about Sirius but he had no idea if she thought he was guilty or not. “Sirius told me.”
She simply nodded her head before asking, “Why aren’t you living with him?”
“You don’t know?” Harry couldn’t help but automatically ask.
Everyone in the wizarding world seemed to know about Sirius Black and him being locked in Azkaban. “Know what?”
“He was sent to Azkaban.” Harry quickly answered.
Shikamaru furrowed her brow in thought, “Why would he go there?”
“Because he betrayed the Potters-“
Before Harry couldn’t even start to defend his godfather though, Shikamaru snorted loudly and asked, “Who the hell thought that was a possibility?”
Harry couldn’t help but gap at her. He was so used to the wizarding world condemning Sirius, even if they knew Sirius on a personal level. “What makes you say that?” Was the question that came out.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, “Really? You’re trying to tell me, that Sirius Black, blood brother to James Potter, godfather to Lily Potter nee Evans children, would betray them?”
Harry opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. He hadn’t known about the blood brother part but that is what the rest of the wizarding world thought, he told her as such.
“I knew the wizarding world was stupid but this goes beyond simple stupidity.” Shikamaru scoffed before continuing, “How would he even betray them to begin with?”
“Apparently Sirius was supposed to be the secret keeper but they changed it to Peter-“
“Ah, Pettigrew. Now that makes more sense. My dad always said that Peter was the worst sort of coward whenever he saw the man.” Shikamaru gave a decisive nod.
“But how the hell did they still believe Sirius to be at fault if all they had to do was ask with a truth serum?”
Harry answered bitterly now, “Apparently they never gave him a trial.”
This caused Shikamaru to stop. “Are you trying to tell me, that our godfather was sent to Azkaban without a trial?”
Harry nodded.
Shikamaru gave such an incredulous look at this. “How long was he in prison?”
“12 to 13 years, give or take.” Harry answered.
“Sirius Black, our godfather, was wrongfully imprisoned for more than a decade?”
“And there is still a hunt out for him to take him back.” Harry helpfully added.
Shikamaru sat in silence. She knew this world and especially the wizarding world was stupid but this was beyond ridiculous. If this was how the world usually worked, she was beyond glad she never had to truly live here before.
The shinobi world didn’t really have trials per say, but they at least completely fact checked something before condemning someone. Well usually in Konoha specifically, the Yamanaka were called in and would do a mind walk but Shikamaru didn’t know how the other villages did their justice.
“I think it’s about time that you actually told me everything about your years in Hogwarts.” Shikamaru finally demanded.
“What makes you think that something has happened?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.
“The way you hold yourself and interact with others is very telling. Keeping in mind too that you gave vague mentions of things happening here when we first sat and talked.”
Harry was slightly surprised that she had noticed those slip ups when they had first sat and talked. But as he had been told very early when they had first appeared, the Naras were highly competent. Harry hesitated a bit but was then hit with the thought of, if he told her everything, maybe that would give them a better reason to try and take custody of him or just help in general.
And so, the two siblings spent the next couple of hours with Harry retelling his Hogwarts adventures.
It was when Harry was explaining how he and Hermione had freed Sirius that there was a knock at the door. Harry abruptly stopped and looked at the door while Shikamaru tilted her head and fluidly stood up.
She had a good idea who it was but better safe than sorry, so she pulled out a kunai as she approached the door.
She yelled through the door for the person to identify themselves in her native language. She heard Chouji answer through the door and cautiously opened it, still keeping a kunai in her hand.
Luckily, it was only her family that greeted her when she opened the door. “What have you been up to fawn?” Shikaku asked as he glanced interestedly at the room before his eyes landed on Harry.
Shikaku made an “aha” noise before nodding and stepping into the room. Harry looked as the shinobi entered the room but didn’t notice a new door form behind him.
“You know it’s lunch time and you’ve missed classes.” Shikaku couldn’t help but point out in English.
Harry jolted slightly, he hadn’t realized just how long they had been up here. “Bloody hell, I’m going to be in so much trouble.” Harry couldn’t help but groan.
Shikamaru waved it away, “We’ll just tell them it was a family matter.”
The lone female shinobi made eye contact with Inoichi and pushed forward all the memories that she had just gotten before flicking her eyes to her father. The blonde gave a slight nod as they all sedately made their way to the door that should lead to a kitchen.
“Are you staying with us for lunch Harry?” Chouji couldn’t help but ask.
Harry stalled for a second, “As long as it’s fine.”
Chouji gave a smile and nod before quickly catching up with his father.
To Harry’s slight surprise, nobody asked what they had both been doing in this room and just all easily went through the door behind him. “They aren’t going to ask?” He couldn’t help but ask his sibling.
“If they need to know, they know I’ll tell them.” Shikamaru lazily countered before slouching back in her chair again.
A thought struck him though, “I meant to tell you, the first task is dragons. All the other champions know.”
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the news before commenting, “I knew.”
Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say to that comment. “So you have a plan?” He couldn’t help but ask curiously.
Shikamaru nodded her head. It was a complex and slightly convoluted plan but a plan nonetheless. She also hadn’t told any of her family that she knew what the first task was.
This actually took a burden off of Harry’s mind. He knew she was competent, but she was also basically his only family left and the youngest to participate; to know she had a plan actually eased his worries. “What’s your plan?” He couldn’t help but inquire.
She gave him a smirk and he took that to mean that he would just have to see. Both talked a little longer about classes before they were called for lunch in the other room. Harry couldn’t help but look around slightly impressed at the room they had entered that was behind his chair.
Whatever it is that they fed him was good, though he could have done without the teasing for needing a fork to eat.
“Wizards are stupid.” Shikamaru stated loudly as soon as Harry had left.
The remaining shinobi snorted loudly in agreement. “What did they do this time?” Chouza couldn’t help but ask.
And so, they spent a remainder of an hour with Shikamaru retelling her family everything she had learned from Harry. None of the adults were impressed by the adventures that Harry had gone on or how Sirius Black was treated.
“I know we don’t interact with the wizarding world, for good reason, but this is beyond ridiculous.” Shikamaru couldn’t help but complain.
They stayed silent for awhile, just gathering their thoughts. Shikamaru entertained the idea for a second of inviting Harry to Konoha for the summer or something but that would be an extreme measure.
If Harry went to Konoha, he would have to completely give up the wizarding world or something similar. The shinobi would did not like having wizards enter their domain and it was only because Shikamaru was a clan heir and rarely went outside their borders that no one had said anything. They could welcome wizards into the villages, but it would cause too many variables to change and shinobi hated the thought of someone going in between worlds frequently as it could lead to outside interference.
Shikamaru made eye contact with her dad and they seemed to have a silent conversation. Harry might be introduced to Shikamaru’s mom but that would be out here and not in Konoha. They would though be doing something about Harry’s living situation and the authority figures in his life.
To Shikamaru, some of the adventures were just too convenient in allowing a child to complete them. What were the odds of 11-year-olds getting past multiple trials that were supposed to protect a priceless artifact?
Though she had to admit that not everything seemed like a manipulation. Dumbledore was old, even by wizarding standards and she knew that he held multiple positions. Some of the things that had gone wrong was just negligence and incompetency.
Shikaku knew that Dumbledore had been purposely staying away from the shinobi, which was probably smart because if the man tried to manipulate them like he was the school, there would be bloodshed. And even though Harry barely shared any familial connection to the Nara, he did have a connection and that was good enough for them to interfere in whatever plans had been made.
The Nara ended their silent conversation with a nod to each other. They would be talking to the goblins during the winter break and get some things straightened out. Especially starting with what ever it was that was clinging to Harry’s soul.
The day of the first task dawned relatively early. Shikamaru purposely stretched as she dressed for the day. She would keep her general outfit but she had spelled the Nara clan symbol to be large and visible on her back.
She couldn’t put the Konoha symbol just in case someone actually knew what the symbol meant, but she could put her clan symbol. Just because she wanted to proudly represent her village didn’t mean she was going to take an unnecessary risk in giving an opportunity for someone to make connections to Konoha’s symbol, shinobi, and her family.
The female Nara also took the time to sit down and braid in all the Nara beads that had been sent to her. It was slightly difficult to put so many beads in, but as she was working on putting in a third, she became aware of her dad coming behind her and taking over.
They sat in silence as the Nara head deftly wove in the remaining beads. “I’m assuming you have a plan.” Shikaku couldn’t help but state as they sat for a moment longer.
Shikamaru nodded. Shikaku didn’t need to remind his daughter what their primary mission was, he had confidence in her ability. Didn’t stop him from worrying though.
Both Nara stood up and Shikaku took a moment to pull Shikamaru into a tight hug.
She was a competent shinobi and he was so proud of her, but this was still a wizard tournament and they were technically in hostile territory; he would always be worried for his fawn.
Shikamaru hugged just as tightly back and Shikaku kissed the crown of her head. They soon separated though and after nuzzling under her dad’s chin, Shikamaru started to finish getting ready.
The day passed in relative silence as the shinobi continued to act as if it was just a normal day. Though the students were certainly buzzing with excitement.
In no time though Shikamaru was entering the champions tent after giving a nod to her family.
Shikamaru couldn’t help her amusement as she watched how the task was told to them and them choosing who they were facing. As she drew out her dragon, the Hungarian Horntail, she couldn’t help but admire the magic work done to it.
As far as she could tell, it would stay in the dragon shape unless spelled otherwise. And well, who wouldn’t want a miniature dragon? She internally thought it was funny how out of all the champions, she was the only one that was relatively calm.
Then again, they had never gone on shinobi missions, and this was the most danger they had ever faced in their life. For Shikamaru, this was just another mission to complete, just with a magical element.
She did take the time though to give a nod of encouragement as they left one by one.
When it was her turn, she entered the arena and took a moment to appreciate the dragon in front of her. She also very quickly spotted where her family was sitting and shot a glance in their direction.
Finally, taking a deep breath, she stood up completely from her normal slouched position and ran to the nearest rock (at a slightly higher than normal civilian speed).
She wasted no time in grabbing a kunai and using her wand to cast a disillusionment spell. And at a normal shinobi speed, she summoned 7 clones, each of them all holding a kunai.
With a nod, she watched as they quickly ran to the outside perimeter and set up the boundary. Once they were set up, she felt both the ward and the genjutsu go into effect.
When coming up with this plan, she was slightly stumped in how exactly she was going to go about doing this. If she had her full abilities, shinobi and wizard, it would be a quick in and out. But she didn’t want to let the world know what she could actually do, so most of her shinobi skills were roughly out and all the wizard skills she would use would be seen as master level.
But she had been hit with an idea.
Dragons were magic resistant, but the area certainly wasn’t. It took her many books and scrolls, and even more hours before she was happy with what she created.
The ward she set up technically only affected her, the same with the genjutsu. It would use the viewers bias and let them see whatever it was that they were expecting to see. So if someone thought she could only get by with low level spells, it would show their brain that everything she was accomplishing was through low level spells.
To be honest though, the hardest part was having it visible to everyone in a stadium, and then how she would actually complete the task. Each of her clones held part of her magical core, to allow them to hold up the ward, along with some of her chakra to keep the genjutsu running. And because of how everything worked, she had to build the two in a way that it was slightly universal in what it showed so if someone tried to talk about what she did, it wasn’t different for everyone completely.
But with both her chakra and magic working overtime to conceal her actual movements, she could only face the dragon on a physical level. Hence why she immediately dispelled the disillusionment spell as soon as she had made the clones and was just holding a kunai in her hands.
The young Nara took a deep breath and sprinted towards the dragon at normal shinobi speed. With what she set up working overtime, she didn’t have to worry about holding back when it came to the actual task. The only ones that could probably see what she was really doing was her family as they knew how to dispel a genjutsu.
She was and wasn’t surprised though when the dragon immediately spotted her and started to attack. Luckily, with her speed she could dodge the attacks but that was really all she could do.
She continued to dodge and continuously inch her way to the nest until she heard a great snap. In horror, she looked down to see that the chain holding the dragon in play had snapped. She had to take a split second to take a deep breath before cursing colorfully.
Shikamaru easily felt a greater strain on her magic and chakra as the ward and genjutsu tried to compensate for the movement of the dragon. She could feel both straining and almost breaking.
In a split second, she had to make a reckless decision before the ward and genjutsu both broke and all her preparation was for naught. She sprinted full speed towards the nest, but before she completely grabbed the egg, her back exploded in agony.
Ignoring the injury as best she could and rolling with the hit, she grabbed the egg and made it to the edge of the arena where she dispelled all her clones in an instant.
She panted slightly as she stood on the edge with the egg and watched as the dragon tamers came out to quickly secure the now loose dragon. She didn’t even truly pay attention as she was directed to the medical tent.
She was in pain from the injury on her back (which she thinks she got from the dragon’s tail), but she was bordering on chakra and magic exhaustion.
The strain wasn’t supposed to be that heavy, but as soon as the dragon was able to more freely move without a chain holding it in place, everything strained to stay over what she was doing around the magically resistant dragon.
She barely paid attention as she sat down, taking off her vest, trying to ignore the pain. She felt someone tried to cast magic and she had to whisper yell “Don’t!”
Magical healing tried to coax the patients magical core to help heal along the ailments, and with her bordering on magical exhaustion, she didn’t want to find out what happened when there was no magic to coax.
Shikamaru stood up but made sure to keep an eye on the med witch and her wand. She was a shinobi, they were supposed to work through pain like this, so she currently could do this.
It was only when she noticed Inoichi entering the tent did she relax. She took off her jacket, leaving only a mesh top on underneath, before turning fully so the Yamanaka could at least heal her back. She couldn’t help but sigh in relief when she felt the gentle chakra go over her back and at least sealing it from bleeding.
She sat down again but made sure to keep the med witch in her eyesight as she felt one of her parental figures, help take off her mesh top to start bandaging her wound. Internally she snorted at the scandalized facial reaction from every in the tent at how easily she was shirtless with others around. When it came to shinobi, there was no such thing as modesty; really, could you imagine getting killed because you froze in embarrassment only because you were undressed?
“Really now, I can do a quick spe-“ The med witch tried again making Shikamaru stiffen in preparation to move out of the way of a healing spell.
“She obviously can’t take anything magical right now as she has exhausted her cores, plus our way of healing might not be as advance, but it works perfectly as it needs no extra interference.”
Shikamaru dully recognized the sharp tone in Inoichi’s voice as stress and worry. They didn’t have a medic nin with them sadly, but everyone jounin and over knew field medical jutsu in a way to prolong their comrades life before getting them to a true medic nin. Inoichi just happened to be the best at medical jutsu out of their group.
At least with that statement, the med witch fully backed off on casting any magic, taking the warning of an exhausted magical core to heart.
Shikamaru gave a sigh as she felt Inoichi finish wrapping her wound and someone entered to tell her she needed to come out for her score. Rolling her eyes lightly, she at least put her jacket back on and kept it relatively closed, though she didn’t zip it. These wizards wouldn’t last a day in her world if this is how they reacted to any form of nudity, especially in a purely medical environment.
Picking up the egg, in the corner of her mind she almost considered just sealing the egg away and storing it for later as it was pretty heavy. Luckily, someone else took the egg from her and she managed to easily go outside to get her score.
To be honest, Shikamaru didn’t care about the score, she had been doing it to really test herself shinobi and magic wise. She had no need for fame and fortune, and she didn’t even want to be here in the first place; and she had been doing so well until the dragon’s chain broke.
Someone was going to get chewed out for that and Shikamaru hoped the Yamanaka would share the memory later. Shikamaru gladly took a drink of water from what Inoichi handed her and only dully realized that she had scored 40 points, whatever that meant in the grand scheme of things.
“You’re tied for first, congratulations.” She heard and turned her head slightly to see Harry there with a smile.
Though the smile fell when he noticed that she was physically still wounded, and though standing on her own, she seemed to be in pain. “Why hasn’t Madame Pomphrey healed you yet?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.
“Magical core exhaustion,” came the rough sounding answer from Shikamaru herself.
Harry looked like he didn’t know what that meant, (and what a joke that a wizard didn’t know anything about magical core exhaustion even after years of going to a purely magical school) but decided to leave it be for now.
She felt a rough hand land on her head which caused her to look up into the head Nara’s eyes. She saw the rage and worry he had for her and knew that he might be a bit more protective of her; her getting injured because the task got out of hand was not part of the agreement.
Shikamaru didn’t kid herself for a moment, with her desperate dash, it was probably only the beads protection that stopped the tail from shredding her back or just going through her. Even if she had broken the ward and genjutsu when it started to strain, there wouldn’t have been anything left over for her to use to help her get the egg. So really, her dash forward at shinobi speed, even though she got injured, was her best chance.
“Let’s go inside so you can rest fawn.”
And yup, already her boys were crowding around her protectively with Chouji and Ino offering to help her walk. She shook her head though, she might be injured, the only real danger the wound had posed was blood loss and now that it was completely sealed, she could easily move around.
The female Nara couldn’t help but be thankful that her boys were keeping the crowd from her, because she didn’t like socializing with the student body on a good day, let alone when she was injured and in pain. She jolted though slightly when she felt something land on her shoulders and turned to see that Ino had retrieved her chuunin vest.
The article of clothing were slightly ruined but when she could, magic would easily fix it. She gave a thankful smile (even though she spotted something in Ino’s eye that she decided to ignore for now) and the group of shinobi started to make their way to their rooms, at a higher pace than usual.