' Shikamaru '
The moment that he saw the name written on the back of the letter he had just received, Shikamaru knew that he would need to show it to his father even if it was troublesome. They were all sat at the table eating breakfast when it was placed on the table in front of him by his mother.
Luckily for Shikamaru though his father Shikaku was still reading the newspaper while sitting at the end of the table, which meant that if he wanted to give him the message he wouldn't have to go looking for him, that would have been troublesome.
"Hey dad…"
Shikaku didn't look up from his paper, or even bother to acknowledge hearing him.
Letting out a sigh, Shikamaru tried again.
"Troublesome…dad you should probably take a look at this."
"What it is Shikamaru, I'm reading?"
He still didn't look up from his paper.
"I got a letter from Naruto."
That got the older Nara's attention, his eyes shooting up as he quickly studied Shikamaru's face before his gaze dropped to the letter his son held in his hand.
"Are you sure?"
Instead of speaking Shikamaru showed him the back of the letter, where Naruto's name was written clear as day. His paper long forgotten Shikaku reached out and took the offered letter, a deep frown on his scarred face before standing up and motioning for his son to follow him.
Shikamaru was slightly confused that his dad didn't just take the letter and leave him to finish his meal, but that gave way to more confusion when he realised he was being taken to the Shinobi Hospital.
Without any doctors or nurses giving them a second glance the two Nara cut a path straight to one room in particular, and when the door opened Shikamaru was faced with the Hokage and his family all sitting around his wife who was currently laying on a hospital bed in the middle of one of the hospital's private rooms.
The two Nara's entrance got the attention of the two other adults in the room, though it looked like Mito and Erza had both fallen asleep in the nearby chairs they were sitting in. Shikamaru had no idea how long they must have been there, but his eyes did pick out the unmistakable trails of what he knew to be dried tear tracks that were running down their faces.
Based on that he could only assume that they had been told something that made them upset, and had worn themselves out. His eyes quickly moved to the red headed woman in the bed for a moment as he tried to determine why Lady Kushina the Hokage's wife was in it in the first place, but other than looking very tired she didn't seem to be overtly sick.
Then his eyes moved to the letter still in his dad's hands, and it wasn't a stretch to connect the dots that it was probably something to do with Naruto going missing. However the moment his mind moved to the sickly blonde Namikaze, Shikamaru's mind was hit with the image of black sclera, burning crimson irises and the feeling of death that they had inspired in his body, thinking of that he couldn't keep from shivering slightly.
Shikamaru slowly moved to the side of the room, where he leant back against the wall as his dad closed the door to the room behind him and moved over to have a whispered conversation with the Hokage, both men looking from the letter to him several times. At some point Kushina started whispering along with them, and Shikamaru was able to see the pained expressions that kept flashing across both her and her husband's face's at whatever they were talking about.
Eventually his father motioned for him to come forward and handed him the letter, all three adults staring at him.
"You want me to open it?" He asked, his usually bored tone becoming inquisitive at he stared at the sealed letter in his hands.
It was Shikaku that answered him, the seriousness of the situation in both his voice and face as he looked at his son.
"The Laws of the Leaf prevent the Hokage or anyone else from interfering with any of the Clan's unless asked. The letter is addressed to you, the heir of the Nara Clan, which means that only you can open and read it."
Letting out a sigh, Shikamaru gave a shrug of his shoulders and without over thinking it, he opened the letter and looked inside. His eyebrows rose slightly when he saw a second letter addressed to the Namikaze family in side it, along with another small note.
...
'' The Letter ''
Shikamaru, please give my family this letter. Sorry for the trouble this is causing you, but I couldn't risk someone intercepting it because it was addressed directly to my family.
Naruto
...
Without a word Shikamaru handed the note to his father and the letter to the Hokage, before moving to once again lean against the wall. He also noticed that both Mito and Erza were awake now, though they seemed to be very confused about what was going on. With Erza sending him a searching look, most probably wondering what he was doing here.
It seemed like he was soon forgotten altogether though when the Hokage finally got over his surprise at being handed the letter, before reading it out loud for his whole family to hear. Ignoring the fact that both Shikamaru and his father were present, no doubt knowing that he could trust in Shikaku's discretion.
...
" The Second Letter "
I'm sorry
I know it might not make any difference at this point, but I needed to tell you that I am sorry that I left. By now I am sure you realised that I was not kidnapped, and by the time you get this letter I will be too far away and out of your reach. The fact I was able to send this letter also means that I left the Land of Fire and that you did not catch me, which is probably for the best for everyone involved.
I know that you don't understand why I left, but I need you to know that I had my reasons. These reasons were not just to hurt you after the years of lying and misleading, no, it was because this is something that I feel I have to do.
At the moment I am weak, you know that and so does everyone else, and I no longer want that to be true. Something has happened, something that has made me realise that I need to get stronger.
You said yourselves that you couldn't risk training me for fear of my heath, but by refusing to help me you have pushed my hand. I unlocked my chakra by myself but when I did I found out something about myself, something different.
I need to get stronger for what is to come, because when people find out what I can do their opinion on me will change, whether that is for better or worse I do not know. Either way, I have left Konoha to have a new start, I ask that you respect my choice and understand that I do not do this to be cruel.
Hopefully I will see you again; if not then I wish you all the best.
Once again I'm sorry it had to come to this,
Love
Naruto
...
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