A Promise not Kept

Five friends sat beneath the huge oak tree. Kiba, Neji, Lee, Chouji and Shikamaru. At the time, Konoha was under war and everyone was stuggling to survive, especially the shinobi.

Chouji wanted them to have a way to keep of their friendship. Finally, he had an idea. All five will cut their finger and let the blood drip onto the ground. Then they will tell the others of their dream. It was also a promise. A promise that each one of them will return in five years on that very day. A promise that they would someday meet again.

"How troublesome, but I'll do it." muttered Shikamaru.

"Yahoo! Great idea!" shouted Kiba.

"What a wonderful way to live our YOUTHFUL life!" Guess who?

"Hn…"

Lee pulled out a kunai and cut his finger. "MY dream is to PRESERVE MY YOUTH!"

"Oww…." Complained Kiba, rubbing his ear.

"My, aren't we enthusiastic,"grumbled Shikamaru, quietly so that no one else heard… except Chouji. He just gave a good-hearted chuckle.

Shikamaru reached for the kunai. He made a small cut and said, "I wish to live an average life. My wife should be neither good-looking nor ugly. I will have two children, first a girl then a boy. I will retire when my son can take care of himself and spend the rest of my life playing shoji. I will die before my wife."

Kiba said, "Well that certainly was a long speech for one so lazy."

Shikamaru glared at him and passed the knife. Kiba made the cut and said cheerfully, "I want to, no, will beat Naruto. And I'm gonna marry Hinata."

The boys whistled at that. "Go for it while your YOUTH is still strong" shouted Lee.

Neji grabbed the kunai and cut a small sliver on his wrist. A few drops of blood fell to the ground. "I want to live."

"Erm…okay? That was weird," said Kiba. Neji snorted and didn't say anything.

Last was Chouji's turn. He did the same as the others and cut his finger. "Well, I agree that I want to live but my dream is probably to always have a lot of things to eat."

Kiba snorted and fell over in laughter. "That's such a silly dream." He was silenced by the other boys' glares.

"This is a promise that we will always be friends."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

"Alright, it's settled. We will meet here in five years. After the war is finished."

With that, all the boys parted and headed in different directions.

5 years later

Shikamaru yawned and got up. He looked around. The forest was in a much worse condition than Suna, which still bore traces of the hardship they had overcome.Beside him, Ino stretched and rubbed her eyes. Seeing Shikamaru's expression at being in the once familiar place, she smiled gently.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yea."

"We've all changed. The war changed our lives. But we still survived, despite all the difficulties."

"Yea."

"You miss them, don't you?"

"I miss what could have been."

Today was the day they will arrive in Konoha. After years of being held as a prisoner in the Sound, Shikamaru escaped with the help of the Sand Shinobi. Suna finally defeated the few villages that had allied against Konoha. Even then, he had to stay in Suna as Konoha was completely destroyed.

Shikamaru joined the other shinobi as they entered Konoha. The gates had long been destroyed and all the buildings were left in ruins. The air bore a scent of age and death, a tribute to all those who died. The Hokage Mountains had long ago been destroyed, as had the land around it. All traces of Konoha were nearly gone.

Shikamaru walked in the direction of his house. With luck, some of his once treasured possessions will have been spared.

Yet, no matter how eager Shikamaru was to look for his remaining belongings, for something left of his former life, there was something he had to do.

Shikamaru followed a worn path up to a small hill where an oak tree had survived. Shikamaru fingered the rough bark.

And he remembered.

Four tears shimmered and hit the ground. Four for four deaths. Four for the four dreams ripped apart and thrown to the wind. Four for the lost childhoods; for a lost time.

"Forever?"

"Forever."

But how long was forever?

They were five friends. Five dreams. Bound together by one promise.

Only one ever returned.