lore
There is little explanation for the Nara fixation, no one knows how it came to be and there is minimal pattern in what a Nara fixates on. Some people will define it by obsession or love, a few think of theirs as a tether, something to keep them sane and present (to help them care). His father used to tell him that it’s the shadows that make the Nara so possessive, that there was a darkness that had seeped into their souls after so many generations of walking without light and it led to us finding infatuation over the pure. (Shikaku doesn’t put much weight on this theory though, after all, there are many with less than pure obsessions, even if his fathers was focused on religion)
Not all Nara fixate on a sole person like his son seems to have, in fact very few do. Most Nara find their solace in hobbies, animals, groups of people, or even concepts that have come into fruition in their lives, some don't find an obsession at all. (some simply don't need one)
When a Nara's light comes as an object or hobby or even an animal, it's not unusual for them to dedicate their lives to it; one of their best healers came from a young woman who discovered medical plants and dedicated her life to uncovering their secrets, His grandfather, while still a ninja, fixated on shogi, he’d sit for hours, days even, playing a good game. His cousin’s is the deer that live in their forest, Daichi spends his every waking moment tending to those deer and will do anything and everything to make sure they are as happy and healthy as possible.
Fixation over people isn't always romantic as one might think it would be (actually, Shikaku would say that there are more platonic and familial connections in the clan than romantic) his uncle's fixation came to fruition when he gained his genin team, he has never married and doesn’t plan to, he simply wishes to live out his days in the presence of his friends and teammates (and Shikaku knows he would kill everyone and himself before any of them are harmed). There is a teenage girl, an apprentice blacksmith if he remembers correctly who has a mutual connection with a girl 2 years younger who just graduated the academy, neither of them are romantically or sexually attracted to women as far as he is aware, they will most likely go on to be best friends for the rest of their lives. Down the street there’s an older gentleman who’s tethered his last years to his granddaughter, he spends days woodcarving toys and writing books so she never suffers boredom as Nara children tend to.
Romantic fixations on one single person are rare, he has only borne witness to a few, he himself is not fixated on Yoshino, oh he loves her, she is without a doubt one of his favorite people and he is attracted to her in every way, but Shikaku's fixation is centered around family and he knew this the moment he married the woman and became her legal spouse and doubly so when Shikamaru was born and he loved the boy just as much if not more than his wife. (as loyal to his village as he is he’d raze Konoha to the ground if it meant keeping his family safe and happy)
Which is why, he is surprised and remarkably amused when on some random Wednesday his son comes home with a starstruck dazed expression saying he’s just met a fairy.
Every day after that his son comes home with some evidence of having hung out with “Sakura”. some days with stories and his hair down and braided, others a new book, one day it's with the famous pink bracelet, and on two separate but no less memorable Tuesdays he trips into the living room with his hair grown, once to his butt and second to the ground, and dozens of flowers weaved into it. (his mother quickly put a stop to that though, as much as she found it adorable the flowers were very sticky and it would be annoying to have to give their son weekly haircuts)
She is undoubtedly his son's light. His tether.
And it’s… slightly worrying.
Beautiful, but worrying.
He’s only ever met someone who found their light in a person so young once before and the two of them had an incredibly unhealthy codependent relationship. One that stemmed from the two meeting at the ripe age of 4. It's hard to become your own person when you're so infatuated with another and while his son is a good deal smarter than that Nara, all are fallible to addiction.
So yes, he's worried, worried for both his son and Sakura (she is after all, most likely a future family member). Worried that when his son's obsession inevitably grows as all fixations do with time he’ll be lost in worship for the girl and forget himself, that he will, as seen before in other couples, become possessive to the point of controlling, to the point of ownership.
Shikaku thinks he and his wife are going to have to make sure to steer his son and probable love in the right direction to becoming their own people and living for both themselves and each other. That he’ll at some point have to teach his son to love and respect Sakura’s independence like the Nara he met so many years ago forgot to. He thinks there's a good possibility of needing to set early boundaries in their relationship so that they can grow independent but together.
He Had thought that.
But that was before just last night when Shikamaru came to him with a slight fever and a shine in his eyes that told of oncoming tears to confess that he thinks something might be wrong with him.
He should have known his son was smart enough to hold caution to his feelings.
Shikaku’s sitting in his office going through mission requests and applications trying to decide who to assign to what when his office door creeks open and he lifts his head to find his son standing awkwardly in the doorway looking suspiciously close to tears (which is rather alarming considering the last time Shikamaru cried was when he was 4 and feeling guilty for being disappointed in his future teammates)
Shikaku quickly motions him forward and scoops the boy up to sit on his lap (Shikamaru will likely be too big for this soon so Shikaku needs to savor every opportunity) Maru scowls a little but doesn’t fight the action and lays his head down on Shikaku’s shoulder. His son's forehead hits his neck and he resolves to grab the kid some meds and a cold rag after their snuggle session is done. He’s got the beginnings of a fever.
After a minute of just leaning his son speaks up in an uncharacteristically hesitant tone, “Dad… I think-” he pauses and shifts to hug Shikaku, “-I think there might be something wrong with me, I think I might like Sakura to much, I don’t think it's normal.”
Shikaku rests his arms around Shikamaru in a loose but hopefully comforting hug and sighs, nearly getting a mouthful of hair. He’d been hoping to wait to tell his son until he was 10, the age that most are told of the affliction but he could see it would do him no good, Shikamaru’s already firmly attached to Sakura and apparently scared of that attachment (Shikaku would never admit it but he is quietly grateful for his sons fear, makes him all the less likely hurt her) and while he appreciates his sons caution he doesn't want him to think there's any wrong with him, “Shikamaru, do you know the story of how the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akamichi allied?”
His son looks up confused and nods, “The heads of families met by chance when they were young and became best friends or something right?”
Shikaku inclines his head in agreement, “Sort of yes. The clan heir at the time, a 9-year-old girl named Nara Akashika, was incredibly temperamental for a Nara, she had a tendency of blowing up in rage over people's stupidity, it’s actually how she got her name, its said that her face was so red from screaming when she was born that her mother took one look at her and declared her name “Red Deer”. This anger followed her throughout childhood until she came across two little boys playing in the woods, the heirs to the Yamanaka and Akamichi. She wrote a journal before dying and in it, she states, ‘We spent the day laughing and smiling and I could conjure no hatred or boredom towards them, not that day, not the following, not even years later when we had spent every day together and I should have been sick of them, and finally when I married and became clan head they were no less important. My husband is my first and only love but my two friends, my comrades, and soon after taking leadership, allies. They were everything. And they always will be.’ “
Shikamaru is staring at him in confusion and recognition and Shikaku moves him to sit on his desk, facing Shikaku, instead of his lap so he can look his son in the eyes, “does that sound familiar Shikamaru?”
His son averts his eyes and nods still looking frustrated but not nearly as scared, “Shikamaru, very rarely does a Nara not find something or someone to tether them. Sometimes it’s an animal, like your grandmother with her summons, or you know the old lady three streets down that plays that annoying flute at 3 in the morning? ya, that's her tether, her fixation.”
“It's not exactly common to find your fixation in a person but it's not unheard of or anything, plenty of Nara fixate on their family and friends and while you have certainly found Sakura younger than most, it is okay.”
His son isn't doesn't seem frustrated anymore but still scowls in thought, “So everyone has one? Are me and Sakura like Akashika-san and her friends?”
“Maybe-” Shikaku leaned back in his chair examining his son who’s now gazing down at his bracelet, “Akashika’s tether, her light, was in her friendship with the Yamanaka and Akamichi boys and she was rather clear in her journals that it was nothing more than friendship. Do you think you like Sakura as a friend?” he rather thinks he doesn't but Shikamaru needs to decide these things himself.
Shikamaru stays quiet face scrunched up in thought until Shikaku has the rare pleasure of seeing his son blush and shake his head, “No, no I think I like her a little more than that.”
He snorts and tries to disguise it as a cough but Shikamaru’s ‘ really?’ look shows him he’s clearly failed, “Alright, that's okay, it’s not as common but there's nothing wrong with a romantic fixation.” he won't ask how he knows, his son is obviously emotionally mature enough to at least recognize the difference between friendship like and like like (though he wouldn’t trust him for much most, he’s still 7, some things just come with age) “just remember that you both are 7 and there is absolutely no need for the two of you to be anything more than friends for like, the next 5 years.”
Shikamaru nods and looks thoughtful, “Actually, make it 10, give it some time.” now he's side-eyeing Shikaku suspiciously.
“Actually you know what? No dating till you're 20, surely Sakura can wait.” And now Maru’s just flat-out frowning but Shikaku can't help himself, “-actually maybe 25 would be bet-”
“-oh my god shut up Dad, I'm not trying to-” he blushes and hops off the desk, “-to date Sakura.”
Shikaku smiles and as Shikamaru turns to leave he thinks that's that but as his son rounds the desk he hears a mumbled, “-don’t even have the money to take her on a date, sakura deserves someone who’s at least chunin-”
Shikaku very carefully does not laugh as he reminds his son to get some meds from his mother, he keeps it well contained until Shikamaru shuts the door and he can’t hear his footsteps anymore and then he bursts out laughing as quietly as he can, and thinks “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about forcing him into a promotion when he’s older.”
And, as he turns back to his paperwork, he’s less worried, he doubts that man he’d met all those years ago who practically destroyed himself and the woman he loved in his obsession ever cared about things like who the woman deserved or took caution over his feelings.
(That night when he’s drifting to sleep, thinking over his conversation with Shikamaru, he thinks of how great it will be to have another member of the family and wonders when Shikamaru will introduce the girl to them.)
(little did he know they would get a knock on the door just 4 days later from a little pink-haired girl worrying over Shikamaru’s health.)
Yoshino was not born into the Nara clan, in fact, she wasn’t born into any clan at all.
Her parents were both civilians with her father being a playwright and her mother an editor turned minor actress. They’d had grand plans for their daughter, Yoshino was going to be the most well-known actress in the land of fire, that was until they learned she wanted to be a ninja, that was rather disheartening to hear for them and Yoshino, not wanting to see them sad said, “well you can still teach me can’t you? It’ll just be for fun instead!”
And it was fun, so fun in fact that it became her whole job, but not through movies and plays, no, instead Yoshino became the lead operative in infiltration and intelligence, or at least she was until she had Shikamaru and retired.
The point is, Yoshino was not born into the Nara, so she had to learn them in the same way she learned her targets, just… with more love and less killing intent. And so, while she’ll never claim to know what's going on in her boys' heads, she does know their habits.
She knows Shikaku swallows after he lies, that unless Shikamru has had a full night's sleep he can only handle an extra 2 hours of Ino and Chojis company after school, knows Shikaku likes it when she wears his colors but never says anything because he “doesn’t want to interfere with her independence” and knows that for some odd reason on the third of every month, both of her boy’s wear their ponytails 2 centimeters lower than usual. (she thinks that one might just be to mess with her)
Yoshino has studied her boys and she knows that since its the first Wednesday of the month within 5 minutes of her starting cooking, Shikaku will come through the front door and beeline for Yoshino just to wrap her up in a hug for at least 2 minutes, claiming he needs to “recharge”. She knows this because Shikaku’s always home early every other Wednesday because he schedules a fake meeting outside the tower so his secretary doesn't get mad at him for leaving work early.
And since it is Wednesday that also means that Shikamaru will find some reason to be home at least 10 minutes late, as he always does.
Yoshino has just corralled Shikaku into setting the table when she looks at the clock to find something odd, “Shikaku did Maru tell you if he’s hanging out with Ino and Chouji tonight? He’s 5 minutes late.” her husband looks over from where he’s somehow folded a napkin into a fish and shrugs looking unimpressed, “No, you mean he’s 5 minutes late from his usual 10 minutes or 5 minutes late from the 10-minute allowance we give him on top of being 10 minutes late. Because one makes him 15 minutes late, and the other a much more worrying 25.”
Yoshino rolls her eyes and sighs, “The 25 dear, do you think we should send someone to look? I don’t think he’d wander but he may have fallen asleep at the park. Maybe that girl that sits with him at the park didn’t come today and he got bored and just decided to nap.”
Ah yes, a new factor in their routine. Yoshino has been alerted that every day for the past 3 months a little girl has joined her son in the park for at least 2 hours, they never play and the guard is too far to hear if they talk but she’s been a consistency in her son's life recently, even if he doesn’t talk about her.
Shikaku hmms before noting, “he hasn’t activated his panic button yet, more likely he just fell asleep.” he stretches up like a cat and sits down to put his shoes on, “I'll go get him.”
She lays a hand on his shoulder to stop him, “No it's fine I'll go, if he's in the park then I can stop by the store and pick up something sweet on the way home just turn off the stove will you?”
Yoshino’s quick to put her shoes on and when she opens the door its to see her wayward son, just standing there, looking lost “Where have you been?! It's 20 minutes after dark!!!” and If Yoshino hadn’t been worried before she definitely was now, the poor boy looked shocked.
She quickly checks him over for injuries and once satisfied he was unharmed, realizes that Shikamaru hadn’t fussed or cried out in annoyance like he usually would and she finds herself worried again, “Shika sweetie, are you alright?”
He takes a moment to answer, wearing a rather dazed expression and a slight blush, “Mom, Dad, I think I've met a member of the Fey, she had pink hair.”
There was silence for a moment, then 3 things happened at once, Shikaku burst out laughing, Shikamaru groans and buries his face in his hands in embarrassment, and Yoshino, in her confusion blurted out, “Are you high?” Which only made Shikaku laugh harder.
It took a good 10 minutes for all of us to calm down enough to sit down for dinner and let Shikamaru explain himself and Yoshino apologized for accusing her 7-year-old son of being high. (Shikaku, for some reason he refused to explain thought this was the funniest thing to happen since Inoichi got drunk and tried to flirt with his wife’s mother)
Turns out that while Shikamaru had known someone was sitting with him they never spoke or introduced themselves so he had made the executive decision to just Keep his eyes closed and pretend to sleep until they initiated contact.
For three months.
He pretended to sleep for 3 months.
(We’re going to have to train some common sense into him, or at least instill a healthy amount of paranoia because who lets someone watch them sleep for 3 months?? They could have been a pervert?)
It seems the little girl finally introduced herself so she could show him the sunset (adorable) and when he opened his eyes to meet her she had pink hair. Pink Hair.
Her son met a pink-haired little girl named Sakura who “woke” him up to show him the sunset.
You know what, his reaction was fair, Yoshino thinks she’d probably think Sakura was a fairy as well. (Why the chunin guarding her son and the park never thought to mention this is unknown)
This night marked the beginning of many changes in her son.
In the days after meeting Sakura, her son starts reading more. Rarely the academic books she thought he might take to and instead these oddly patterned and titled books (he is currently reading a book labeled “How to Raise a Slug” it has purple iridescent triangles on it and a bright orange background.) She can't fathom why he would read these books until he explains that he’s reading them with Sakura, she picks them out from the academy library (that makes a lot more sense, Yoshino herself has a popup book labeled “10 Easy Steps to Being an Iwa Nin!” it has sheep on the cover) and they read a few chapters together at the park and in the next day or so they expect each other to have finished their book on their own time and then talk about it. (she’s beginning to suspect Sakura is a middle-aged woman because that sounds an awful lot like a book club)
Exactly 6 days after her son meets Sakura he comes home from the park with hair down to his butt and a bracelet made of someone elses hair.
It's an odd sight to behold. Shikamaru is standing in the living room cradling a pretty pink bracelet and his hair is once again out of his usual ponytail but this time there’s no crown to keep it out of his face so it's covering a good portion of his eyes as well.
He catches her staring at him in bewilderment and offers no further explanation than, “Sakura discovered a chakra trick that grows hair.”
He’s mostly silent for the rest of the night, just gazing at the odd but pretty hair bracelet (Yoshino was admittedly worried for a second that the poor girl would have a bald spot or something but then remembered the whole hair growth thing) in what looks like either longing or wonder.
Two weeks pass and she catches him staring at the bracelet for at least a few minutes every day and Yoshino’s brief thought that it’s a rather odd gift is overtaken by the sheer relief that this little girl apparently cares for her son enough to gift him such a well made present, purely as a token of appreciation.
In those two weeks, her son comes home one more time with long hair and she (unfortunately) has to put a stop to it, he’s got flowers and braids intertwined in nearly every inch of his black locks and it is quite beautiful but also incredibly messy and Yoshino does NOT want weekly haircuts to become a thing. (she had enjoyed how much Shikamaru looked like her with his hair down though.)
In the end, It takes nearly 4 weeks of her son knowing Sakura, an unexpected dip in a pond, and an unfortunate fever and cold that lasts a good 3 days for her to finally meet the girl.
(Shikaku)
Shikaku’s lounging in the living room playing a game of shogi with his son while his wife rests her head in his lap and reads a book. It's Sunday, which means no school for Shikamaru (though he's been out with a cold (though he suspects he is also just taking a few days to think over his emotionsl) for the past 3 days anyway) no work for Shikaku, and no cooking or cleaning for his wife (it’s take-out day so neither of them has to cook) so they're all just relaxing, and enjoying a calm morning.
They’re about 2 hours into the game when Shikamaru gets hungry and declares the match paused while he goes to grab a snack.
Shikaku is thinking over his next play (Shikamaru's getting quite good) when he hears a very quiet knock on the door. “That's odd, doesn't think they're expecting anyone, maybe Shikamaru’s teacher with his missed work? It better not be a summons from the Hokage.”
Yoshino sits up at the noise and Shikaku waves her off getting up, he needs to stretch his legs anyway.
He had many thoughts on who could be knocking on their door but none of them centered around a small pink girl in a blue dress with her hair braided back into two tails carrying what looked to be a pot of broth(?), “Hello Mr. Nara-san” she bows as much as she can while carrying what looks to be a 2-gallon soup pot, “Shikamaru has not attended our usual after-school rendezvous for the past 3 days and I was getting worried so I made him a pot of chicken soup to help him get better.”
“Well that's adorable”