Chapter 4
“Shikamaru! I need you!” Shikamaru felt his heart skip a beat as he turned wide eyes onto the knuckleheaded blond.
“Wh-what?”
“I need you to fill in a gap on my team so we can go on a really important mission that may help us find and bring Sasuke home!”
Shikamaru remembered the bottom dropping out of his stomach at those words, before it had twisted into something loathing and self-deprecating. The mark on his wrist, which had been buried under the hospital sheet, burned at the memory of that day. Choji had ended up coming to save him before Sai had attacked them and fully distracted Naruto, but it had helped Shikamaru regain his composure afterwards. Now, looking at the blond who looked back at him with nothing but concern made him almost wish he had told him that day. Almost.
“Ne, Naruto,” Shikamaru laughed nervously, turning to glance at the Godaime before shifting to look out the window as he scratched the back of his hair. “You know it’s rude to eavesdrop, right?”
Tsunade looked unimpressed and Kakashi looked, well as bored as he ever looked and yet that singular blue eye shifted between the two soulmates with a focus.
“Forget that, answer the question. Why pretend to be my soulmate?”
Looking at the Hokage didn’t help as it seemed she wanted to be enlightened too.
"I didn’t pretend I..” Shikamaru trailed off with a frown. He didn’t want to lie. Especially not to Naruto but words were more difficult than they had ever been. “I saw an opportunity and exploited it to save my team.” Brown eyes flickered to the Hokage. “Asuma-Sensei is a decorated Jounin, and it was him or me, I made a choice.”
“I see,” Naruto frowned. “And it worked. Asuma-sensei is going to live! I heard the nurse tell Ino and Choji earlier!” The blond was smiling again, completely oblivious to the inner turmoil of his unacknowledged soulmate. Shikamaru offered a small, hesitant smile before nodding.
“Then no harm done. How’s the training?”
“Before that, Naruto,” Tsunade interrupted Shikamaru and crossed her arms, pushing her bosom out. “You’re not supposed to be eavesdropping and we have a debrief to conduct. Go train.”
The genius didn’t breathe again until his soulmate had left and he was able to turn his attention back to the Hokage. “I know what you’re going to say,” he says, watching her eye twitch when he spoke up. “And I know you might not see how it could play out, but it was the best option. I used a henge to hide it and it allowed Izumo and Kotetsu to drag Asuma out of there.”
“Shinobi know the risks of dying Shikamaru. Asuma knows this. This was why he jumped in front of you three to take on Hidan. Even if your mark was hidden, you’ve put that bud in their ear. They’re going to hunt you just to try.”
“Then we have to stop them before they regroup.”
“You have a plan.” Kakashi chimed in and Shikamaru was grateful.
“Yes, and I’m going to need you for it, Kakashi-San, as well as Ino and Choji.” Shikamaru paused for a moment before smirking. “And a Shogi board.”
—xOx—
It had taken two days to get his chakra back to normal levels and another day to track down Hidan and Kakuzu. By the time Sakura, Sai and Pakkun had caught up with him, Hidan had been blown to pieces and buried in a hole in the Nara Forest, and when they had made it back to the rest of the group, Naruto had apparently taken care of Kakuzu. Pride for his soulmate welled up in the genius as he was told of Naruto’s new jutsu though the damage it had created was concerning.
Shikamaru’s happiness was short-lived after that. Naruto had begun to track down Itachi in the hopes of finding Sasuke and the genius was village-bound not only because of his increase in responsibility but because the Hokage wanted to keep an eye on him.
—xOx—
“You’ve been distracted lately, Shikamaru,” Asuma murmured from across the shoji board. The man had mostly healed, though there were still some burn scars on his hand and face. As always, even if his sensei was a terrible shogi player, he could see right through him, causing his pupil to sigh and tuck his knee under his chin. Sarutobi had quickly gotten his head out of his ass when it came to Kurenai after his near-death experience and the two had wedded a little over a month ago now before the pretty jonin had begun showing she was pregnant.
“You should worry more about your future child than me, Sensei,” Shikamaru chuckled though it fell flat.
“When I called you a Knight, I wasn’t lying.” The Nara huffed but the older man continued on. “You’re one of the strongest pieces on the board, Shikamaru. You are the protector, the guardian, and the attacking force, but do you know yet who you serve?”
The younger man frowned and lifted up his knight on the board, staring at it curiously. He knew it wasn’t the Hokage, even if the Knight protected and fought for the king in shogi. So what was the King if not the Hokage?
“I could say the village, but I don’t think that’s the answer you are looking for, is it sensei?”
“”Not really, no.” Asuma picked up his king and placed it in Shikamaru’s hand, their game completely forgotten.
“I know sensei’s are supposed to be wise, but aren’t you normally more clear on your lessons?” The Nara grinned as Asuma stood. Palming the piece in his hand, the genius inhaled deeply as the older man lit a cigarette before stepping off a porch. He was grateful, and didn’t regret his choice. The man was here to see his child and if he had died, Shikamaru knew the world would be darker. It had been, and still was, worth his own life.
“You’re a genius, figure it out.”
What was he wanting to protect? He wondered as he turned the piece over. The Hokage, the Leaf, Naruto, and…everything the village could and would be in the future. Glancing up in realization, he watched the Sarutobi sensei smile before patting his shoulder and stepping off into the night.
—xOx—
Ino and Choji had been supportive in their own way. Choji had taken to spending more time with him, especially when days seemed to be bad for the Nara. Ino was supportive in her own way, but at first it had been bad.
“I don’t know why you don’t just tell him, Shikamaru! It would save you a lot of grief.” Her hand on his collar kept him from moving away and the way the kunoichi’s fist waved around had him believing if he tried, he’d end up with a lump on his head. He’d probably end up with a knot anyway.
It was a relief that the both of them knew and they had been sworn to secrecy by the Hokage as well. Apparently his henge had dropped when he’d been unconscious, so he couldn’t be angry that they’d intruded on his privacy. At first, keeping the secret had made him angry. He wanted to tell people, wanted to tell Naruto, but as time went on, he began to see how lucky he was.
“I want him to want me for me, not because he has my mark, Ino,” he finally says. Even if it was the Hokage’s wishes, Ino was a romantic at heart and was enamored by a secret love affair. “His head is all around Sasuke and I have to wonder if it’s loyalty to Sasuke that he wants to bring him home, or the influence of the mark. If he wants me for me, then I know.”
“Did you want him before the mark, Shikamaru?” Damn Ino for reading between the lines.
“Since my first mission,” he said after a long moment. He could feel her green eyes on him, waiting expectantly. “It was a failure, but his determination, his passion, it motivated me like nothing had before. I wanted to succeed, and I wanted him to want me around like he did Sasuke.” After that, she just sat with him because there really were no words to say. It was the first time he had admitted it out loud that he’d been falling for the guy since he was thirteen.