Happy Birthday
Shikamaru sighed as he sat back in the chair. Naruto had been in meetings all day, so he was stuck doing the paperwork, and he had finally gotten through it all, well, the ones he could do. He had a stack of papers that required Naruto to look over them and sign them, though he did read through them so that he could just summarize and get through it quicker.
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been a long day, and all he wanted to do was go home and spend some time with his family. He opened his eyes again when he heard the door open and saw Naruto, who looked as exhausted as he felt. “Finally get them done?”
“Yeah. Why do we have to have so many meetings?” the blonde asked as he made his way around his desk.
Shikamaru got up so Naruto could sit down, and moved the stack of papers in front of the blonde, making said blonde groan. “Because that’s just the way the village is ran. Sign these and we should be good for the day.”
Naruto looked up at him, eyes wide. “You mean we can actually go home at a decent time tonight?”
Shikamaru smiled. “Yeah. It’s why I stayed here instead of joining you for the meetings.”
“Great!” Naruto exclaimed, his energy coming back to him as he picked up a pen and started signing, not even bothering to read them over.
Shikamaru sighed. “You’re supposed to read them.”
“Why? You already read them, right?” Naruto said, not looking away from the stack he was signing.
“Yeah, but you’re still supposed to read them. Whatever. They’re pretty much wanting your permission for a few festivals, building permits, and projects. They seemed ok to me.”
“Then they’re fine with me. I trust you completely when it comes to that.”
Shikamaru smiled. “Sometimes I wonder who the Hokage really is.”
Naruto finally looked up at him with his trademark smile. “Yeah, me too.” He quickly got through the stack and sat the pen down. “Is that it? Can we leave?”
Shikamaru straightened the stack of papers and set them to the side to be filed later. “Yeah. We’re…”
A knock on the door interrupted him. “Excuse me, sirs, but I have something here that I need you to take a look at,” a young man in a chunin vest said. He walked over and handed a scroll to Naruto, who looked at it then handed it to Shikamaru.
“Well, this ruins things,” Shikamaru said with a frown as he looked over the information. He sighed. “I’ll be at the library all night with this.”
Naruto frowned too. “Shika, take the night off. You can deal with it in the morning, right?”
Shikamaru closed the scroll and sighed. “No. I need to do it tonight.” He headed around the desk and gave the shinobi, who was still standing there, a small glare.
“Oh. Happy Birthday, Shikamaru,” Naruto called out as Shikamaru opened the door.
The shadow user turned around and gave his hokage a small smile. “Thanks, though it’s turning into a major drag. I was really hoping to spend time with Temari and Shikadai tonight.”
“You want me to come with you so we can get whatever it is done faster?”
“No. I’ll be fine. Good night, Naruto. Enjoy your time with Hinata and the kids,” he said, then walked out the door before the man could protest.
He slowly made his way to the library, and happened to look up at the clock that was on the wall. 6:27. If he hurried, he might just be able to make it home to spend a little time with his family. He sighed again and walked toward the many bookshelves in the room, searching the rows for a certain book, before heading to a table, opening the scroll again, and began working.
After a few minutes, the scroll seemed to glow a bit, and a soft tingle ran through his body, but only for a second before the scroll went dark again and the tingling stopped. He furrowed his brow as he read over the text in the book, but there was no indication on why it just did that. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really wanted to go home. He went back to his work, chalking up the light as his eyes messing with him.
Another hour and he was almost done. He wrote down another line, and looked up when he heard someone on the other side of the table. “Shikadai?”
“Mom said to come home,” Shikadai said.
Shikamaru looked down at his work, wrote one more thing, then packed it all up. “I just got done with it. She’s not planning something extravagant is she?”
“Well, you know mom and grandma,” the boy said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “With my birthday tomorrow, we’re both gonna get it.”
Shikamaru smiled. “At least I won’t have to go through it alone.” He placed all his work under his arm and headed out of the library, his son following close behind. They made pleasant talk until they reached the house.
“Oh, mom said to wait out here for a minute before coming inside,” Shikadai said as he stepped in front of his dad before he opened the door.
“Troublesome woman,” he said, but took a step back.
Shikadai walked in, and after another minute, walked into his house. He was instantly on alert when he felt two chakras that were familiar, but there was no way that they could be there. When he walked in the living room, he froze, eyes wide.
“Happy birthday,” everyone in the room cried out.
Temari smiled as she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t act so surprised. We do this every year, remember.”
Shikamaru just stared at the two men that were not supposed to be there. “What’s going on?”
Temari looked at him confused, then looked over to see who he was staring at. “What do you mean? Are you really that surprised to see Asuma and your dad? You know they always try to make it to your party.”
“They’re not supposed to be here,” he blurted out, his free hand clenching next to his leg.
“Come on, Shika. You know Naruto makes sure we don’t have missions we can’t at least get back for,” Asuma said with a smile as he walked over to the two.
Shikamaru took a step back and glared at the man. “You’re dead!” He looked over at his father who was looking at him with concern. “You’re both dead!”
“Shika,” Temari said as she placed a hand on his chest. “Calm down. They’re both fine.”
“Yeah, dad. Why in the world would you think Grandpa Nara and Uncle Asuma are dead?” Shikadai asked.
Mirai, who was standing next to Shikadai and Kurenai, walked up to him. “Are you ok, Sensei?”
Shikaku finally walked up to them. “I think you should start from the beginning, son.”
Shikamaru shook his head. “No. This isn’t real.” He took several steps back. “This can’t be happening.”
“Shikamaru,” Temari tried again, but he just shook his head and walked out of the room.
He quickly made his way to his home office, sat the work he had done on the desk, and placed both hands on top of the desk and leaned forward so all his weight was on his hands. He looked at the closed scroll and quickly picked it up to look at it again. Nothing in his research mentioned anything about bringing the dead back to life.
“Son?”
Shikamaru turned around and saw Shikaku standing in the doorway. “You can’t be real,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes. It had been so long since he’d seen his father, or even heard his voice.
Shikaku walked over and placed his hand on Shikamaru’s shoulder. “What happened?”
Shikamaru stared at his father for a second. “You died in the war. You shouldn’t be here.”
“And me?”
Shikamaru looked over Shikaku’s shoulder and saw Asuma leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “Hidan killed you during the mission to find the Akatsuki that took Chiriku’s body.”
Asuma frowned. “I know I almost died, but Ino, Choji, and their team made it in time to keep that from happening.”
Shikamaru frowned, turned back to the desk, and picked up the scroll. “Then I wasn’t seeing things. This scroll did do something,” he said as he looked over the scroll again, then picked up his notes and looked at them.
“Like what?” Shikaku asked as he read over Shikamaru’s shoulder.
“I have no idea. There is nothing about this in the scroll or the book I was doing research on,” Shikamaru said and handed his dad the scroll to look at.
Shikaku took the scroll and laid it out on top of the desk to look at. Asuma decided to walk over too and look at the scroll as well.
“I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Asuma said after a minute. “What is it?”
“From what I gathered on it, it’s a simple sealing, although, what it was sealing is what I was trying to find out. I think I have an idea, but it had nothing to do with…” He looked between his father and sensei. “Bringing the dead back to life, or alternate realities.”
“My guess would be the alternate reality,” Shikaku said as he looked at the few notes Shikamaru took. “And you’re right. Nothing in your notes even mentions that.”
“The scroll did glow for a second not long after I started researching, but I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me,” the younger Nara said. He placed his hand on his chin. “No one else seemed to find it strange that you two were here, and Shikadai seemed to think it was weird that I thought you guys weren’t supposed to be here.” He looked back at the scroll. “Did I have it wrong? Was it a transportation instead of a sealing?”
“That’s a possibility, but I don’t know of any jutsus that could do that,” Shikaku said.
Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his temple. “Man, this is such a drag.”
“Why don’t we leave this for tomorrow?” Asuma said. “You look like you’re exhausted.”
“It’s been a long day,” Shikamaru confirmed. He looked up at Asuma then over at his dad and smiled. “I guess it would be nice to spend time with you two again.”
Shikaku laughed. “Well, we spend almost every day together helping that blonde idiot, but I guess to you I haven’t seen you for almost 15 years.”
“So you did survive the war?” Shikamaru asked.
“Yeah. We managed to escape the headquarters before the tailed beast bomb hit,” Shikaku said.
“It was close though,” Asuma said.
They walked back to the living room and Temari and Yoshino walked up to them. “Everything ok?” Temari asked, worry lacing her voice.
“Yeah,” Shikamaru said, the exhaustion heavy in his voice. “Sorry about that.”
“He’s got something he’ll worry about tomorrow,” Shikaku said.
“Don’t scare us like that, Shikamaru,” Yoshino said.
“Sorry, mom. I’m fine now.”
“Sensei? Why did you say my dad was dead?” Mirai asked.
He really was tired because he didn’t even sense her or Shikadai walk up to them. “Uh, I guess I just had a nightmare that felt way too real. Sorry.”
Mirai smiled at him. “It’s alright, Sensei.”
“Come on, Mirai, let’s go get the food set out,” Yoshino said.
The two women left the room and the guys walked over to join Kurenai, Ino, and Choji, as well as their families. They talked for a while, ate the food, unwrapped a couple gifts, and then just spent time with each other.
He watched Shikadai smiling and laughing with his dad, saw how happy Mirai and Kurenai were with Asuma, got to play a game of shogi with both Asuma and his dad, and just talked and shared stories. He was curious about this Hyuga girl that Shikadai kept complaining about, and Asuma explained that it was Neji and Tenten’s kid.
‘So, Neji survived too.’ He smiled and wondered who else that died from his reality survived. He ever so subtlety inquired about the Uchiha clan, but found out Itachi still massacred them, however, Itachi was still alive and actually came back to the village, Minato and Kushina, which he learned actually survived Kurama’s attack, and that Naruto wasn’t actually the same guy here, and was even surprised when Temari mentioned that her parents were coming over with Gaara and Kankuro tomorrow for Shikadai’s birthday.
This reality was too good to be true. Everybody important to him or his friends actually lived through the horrible events his reality went through. He was starting to wonder just what was wrong with this reality to make it so that everyone could live.
By the time the night was over, and everyone left, Shikamaru laid on his bed actually contemplating whether he wanted to find a way to get back to his reality. He really enjoyed tonight, spending time with his dad and Asuma again, but he knew he had to get back to his own reality. If he was here, did that mean this reality’s Shikamaru was in his reality?
“So, what exactly happened earlier?” Temari asked as she climbed on the bed and wrapped herself around him.
Shikamaru looked down at her, since her head was on his bare chest. He was afraid this was going to come up. She wouldn’t just let what happened earlier go, he knew that. “I don’t think I’m your Shikamaru.”
Temari looked up at him very confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Where I’m from, dad and Asuma are dead, along with Neji, Itachi, and your parents.”
Temari frowned and sat up. “What?”
“I was messing with a scroll that one of our shinobi brought to the office, and it glowed. At first I didn’t think anything happened, but now I’m thinking it was some kind of transportation. Things seem similar here, except for the people that aren’t supposed to be here.”
“So, then where’s my Shikamaru?”
“My guess would be my reality.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I have to get back to my reality. Even though I loved being able to hang out and talk with dad and Asuma again, I don’t belong here.”
Temari laid back down, her head on his chest once more. “If that’s true, then I’m happy for you. I’m glad you got to spend your birthday with those you’ve lost.” She closed her eyes and they laid there in silence.
After another moment, he could hear Temari’s even breathing and knew that she was asleep. He felt a soft tingle run through his body.
Little did he know, the scroll that was still open on his desk was glowing.
NNNNNNNNNNN
The next morning, Shikamaru opened his eyes and sat up as a yawn escaped his mouth. He saw that Temari wasn’t in the bed any more and figured she was downstairs making breakfast already.
He got out of bed, got dressed, and headed to the kitchen where he saw Temari making breakfast like he thought and Shikadai sitting at the table playing his video game. “Morning,” he said as he walked over and sat down, ruffling Shikadai’s hair as he passed the boy.
Shikadai frowned and swatted at his dad’s hand.
“Morning,” Temari said happily. She walked over, gave him a quick kiss, then returned to the food.
“Happy birthday, son,” Shikamaru said.
“Thanks, dad,” Shikadai said with a smile as he sat his game down.
Something felt off to Shikamaru, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. “When is your family coming over?” he asked his wife.
“I think they said they’d come by sometime this afternoon. Gaara had some things to finish up before he could get away.”
He stared at her for a minute before he turned his attention to the paper that was sitting next to him. He picked it up and skimmed through it, but didn’t really read it. She answered his question, but it wasn’t the confirmation he wanted. How did he go about asking if he was still in that other reality?
He felt Shikadai’s stare and looked up. “Yes?”
“What was that scroll you brought home with you last night?” the boy asked.
Temari turned to them and frowned. “You don’t think that’s why…”
Shikamaru looked between his wife and son. “What?”
Shikadai looked down, both sadly and confused. “I had a dream last night, or at least, I think it was a dream.”
“About?” Shikamaru asked, putting the paper down on the table.
Shikadai looked up at him. “I dreamt I got to meet and spend time with Grandpa Nara.”
Shikamaru’s eyes went wide and he turned to Temari, who nodded. “I had a similar dream, but I also dreamt that my parents were still alive, and I got to see my mom again.”
He looked back and forth between the two. Did the scroll affect them too? Did he have it wrong again? Just what in the world was that scroll? “I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that scroll is, but I had a similar experience last night.” He looked down in thought.
“Asuma was there, wasn’t he,” Temari stated more than asked.
Shikamaru looked up at her and gave her a small smile. “Yeah. It was really nice to talk with both of them again.”
“Do you think that scroll gives you realistic dreams about meeting the people you wish you could see?” Shikadai asked.
“That’s a good theory,” Shikamaru said. “Looks like I’m going to have to do some more research on that scroll. I wonder if the shinobi who gave it to me could tell me something else about it?”
Temari grabbed his hand. “I’m glad you had a good birthday last night, even if it was just a dream.”
“Yeah,” Shikamaru smiled back at her. “I have to say, it was the best birthday gift anyone could have gotten me.”
Temari smiled, then went back to preparing the meal, while Shikamaru and Shikadai talked more about Shikaku.