I wanted to do something with the older shinobi of the Konoha village, since I feel they have a tendency to get left out. So here it is! I've tested a new style of writing. Lemme know what you think, k? Arigato! Enjoy!
"Beyond the boundaries of the city lights, the warriors lie in wait... just in case they're needed..." Yoshino finished her sleeping son's bedtime story.
He never stayed awake long enough to hear the ending, but Yoshino just enjoyed finishing it. Her mother used to tell her the same story every night. Over the years it had become her favorite, and now she was the one telling it to her own child. She kissed his forehead tenderly, and exited the room; closing the door shut behind her.
Yoshino exhaled a heavy sigh, and began trudging to the empty bed waiting for her down the hallway. She had never foreseen herself as living the life of a common citizen. In fact, Yoshino hadn't foreseen herself as becoming much of anything outside of a kunoichi. Her life was simple... and aggravating at times, but it was rather peaceful. Rarely did her husband argue with her, and on a much rarer occasion did her son argue with her. Yoshino's word was law in the Nara household.
She'd reached Chunnin rank when she met Shikato, but Yoshino had never considered their relationship to be anything beyond "just friends". Apparently, a few swigs of saki begged to differ. The Tavern she and Shikato had stopped by on their way back from a successful mission proved to be a bit too welcoming. After that mission her life began changing rapidly.
When she found out about her and Shikato's little "mistake", she immediately told him that they were going to get married whether he liked it or not. Yoshino never pictured herself as a wife, much less a mother. Although the Fourth Hokage held nothing against the binding of two of his top ninja, he did inform them that performing marriage between shinobi was a difficult task.
It was after that discussion that Yoshino made up her mind. She decided to drop out of the ranks as a shinobi. But even so, eight years later, Yoshino couldn't help but wonder whether or not she made the right choice.
A pleasant surprise was waiting for her as she entered the bedroom.
His voice was something she'd longed to hear for months, "Yoshino..."
Standing in the center of the dark room was her beloved Shikato. She couldn't see his face in the darkness, but she knew it was him. No one would say her name in the same loving fashion that Shikato hummed.
"Shika!" Yoshino cried out, enveloping herself in his strong arms, "I thought you were on a mission... I thought..."
He didn't move... he allowed her to press her warm body against him, taking in the scent of vanilla that was wafting from Yoshino's dark-toned hair. He cherished every moment that they stood there in silence, just waiting for the other to make a move. Shikato held her tightly, not wanting to let go.
"The mission proved to be a failure..." Shikato breathed, "I wouldn't have been away for so long... but..."
But? Yoshino asked herself, What does he mean by that? Did something--?
Her thoughts were cut short when he began to unfold his arms from around her body. Shikato lit one of the dim lights, and as the room lit up he could hear a gasp escape from Yoshino's lips. Two deep wounds streamed down the right side of his face.
She reached one of her shaking hands to touch the gashes upon Shikato's face. Her fingers met the warmth of fresh, sticky blood oozing from his wounds.
"You sit. I'll go fetch the first aid kit." Yoshino told him, motioning for him to sit on the bed's edge.
Shikato sighed, "Yoshino, it's late, and you look tired..." He put a hand on her shoulder, "these are nothing but scratches..."
Yoshino shot him a nasty glare, "NONSENSE! Sit down now! I'll be right back..."
She pushed his hand off of her shoulder and hurried out the bedroom door. Why was she so worried about him anyway? It was his own stupid fault for not being more careful. She married Shikato for her child's sake, the marriage had absolutely nothing to do with love. Yoshino just didn't want any of her kids growing up without both parents.
However, Yoshino noticed that over the years she'd developed a certain protectiveness over Shikato. She knew it wasn't just that, though. Yoshino knew it was because somewhere between all the laughs and stupid little fights she'd gained a deep attraction to him. Maybe... maybe she did find love.
Yoshino smiled upon seeing the first aid kit laying atop the kitchen counter. She bustled up the stairs again, and into the room. Shikato, as ordered, was sitting upright on the edge of the bed. She seated herself beside him, searching through the kit for some medicine or bandages.
"Yoshino, it's not like you can just wrap up my entire head..." Shikato told her with an exaggerated sigh, "This is becoming all too troublesome..."
Yoshino slapped his arm, "It's not like you're going back out on the battlefield anytime soon! This is a serious head injury!"
He sighed again, not wanting to argue with her. She pressed a cloth firmly against the great gashes, hoping the bleeding would soon cease. She didn't quite understand what Shikato meant when he said the mission was a failure.. in fact... she never really understood the requirements of the mission to begin with.
"Tell me what happened..." She told him gently.
Shikato shut his eyes, trying to remember the whole event, "Our mission was to locate some missing nin that were reported three months ago. The idea was for us to track them down and dispose of them. Unfortunately for us, they proved to be too powerful an enemy, and we underestimated their abilities. I was the lucky one..." His voice sounded hopeless and grave.
Successfully stopping the flow of blood, Yoshino began spreading pain killer over Shikato's injury.
"Inuzuka Kouga was killed, Yamanaka Inoichi has been placed in the hospital for paralysis in his right limbs, and a young chunnin in our group by name of Mitarashi Anko is temporarily in an intensive care unit for unknown reasons." Shikato explained.
Yoshino taped some gauze over top of the now clean wounds. She closed the kit and set it on the night stand conveniently located beside the bed. "It's a shame about the others... but I'm glad that you are safe," Yoshino told him, giving him a peck on his unblemished cheek.
Yoshino changed the subject, feeling the discussion seemed too depressing and was going nowhere,"You came home at the perfect time! Shikamaru starts his first day at the Academy tomorrow! Now we can both attend the orientation!"
"Oh yeah... wouldn't want to miss that..." he replied sarcastically.
This earned him another smack on his arm, "It is customary in Konoha for available parents to attend the orientation... you know that... and since you won't be busy doing anything tomorrow with that head injury, you can come with me!"
"Troublesome..." Shikato mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?!"
"Erm--nothing, Dearest!"
"That's what I thought you said."
---
"Shikamaru! Get your lazy butt out of bed this instant! I will NOT tolerate tardiness on your first day at the Academy!" Yoshino howled, tearing her son from his peaceful slumber.
Shikamaru squinted at the figure in the dark room standing in his doorway. The lights flared on above his head, blinding his eyes, and sending him tunneling beneath his covers once more.
"Oh no you don't! You heard me! I said 'Get up!'" Yoshino ripped the covers off of Shikamaru's little curled up form.
He glanced over at his digital alarm clock (which he never set... ever...), "But, Mom... it's only..."
Yoshino threw the blankets aside and pinched her son's ear firmly, "Don't back talk your mother! I very well know what time it is!"
"OW!!!!!! Owowowowowowowowowowow!!!" Shikamaru leaped to his feet, eyes wide open and forcing back tears of pain.
What did he do to deserve such a mean mother? It was a question Shikamaru often found himself wondering. I mean, he loved her and everything, but she was so harsh, and cruel, and loud, and just... down right troublesome, as his father would say. It was dark outside with a sliver of the bright moon hanging in the sky. It was five o'clock in the morning, and if you asked Shikamaru, too early for such a rude awakening... or any awakening for the matter.
The Academy wasn't due to open until eight o'clock. Yoshino knew it was quite early in the morning for her to be trying to wrestle her men out of bed... In fact, she wouldn't mind a few more hours of sleep herself... but being as lazy as they were, Yoshino knew that this was the only way to get them to go anywhere before noon.
Yoshino marched him over to the bathroom and slapped his butt before nudging him in. "Now brush your teeth... when you're finished get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast."
She disappeared down the hallway. Shikamaru looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was so pale... especially in comparison to his parents. Combined with his raven colored, pine cone shaped, ponytail (which was a complete mess after his night's sleep), and his uncaring personality, Shikamaru figured he'd probably gain a reputation as an emo.
Great... not even two minutes out of bed yet and I'm already labeled for life... how troublesome...
His eyes weren't really even halfway open yet, but he decided it was best to just brush his teeth like his mom told him to or there'll be hell to pay. Shikamaru began reaching for his toothbrush when he heard some of the weirdest noises coming from his parents' room.
Suddenly, a door burst open and he heard his father screaming, "Owowowow!!! Okay! Okay! I'm up!"
"Hmph!" Aiming for his forehead, she poked his injury on accident.
Seething through his teeth Shikato yelped, "Owch! Damn it! I wish these troublesome wounds would heal faster!"
Hm? Dad? When did he get back? Why did he say 'wounds'? He's not seriously hurt is he? Shikamaru figured if his dad was well enough to be woken up, abused, and cursing before nine then he would be okay.
Yoshino slapped his arm, "Watch your tongue, Shikato! 'Else I might chop it off!"
Shikamaru sighed. A typical morning for his family. Father swearing, mother threatening, and him taking it all in like a sponge. Shikamaru wondered if all familes were this weird... or if maybe it was just his. Either way, he finished rinsing his mouth out with some listerine mouthwash and took his hair out of its messy ponytail. He wasn't in any rush to get moving. Shikamaru took as slow a time as possible just brushing all the tangles out of his hair. That probably took him a good long hour... apparently his mother had expected as much from him.
He retied his hairband around the now brushed hair, and admired the ponytail taking up half of his head. It looked unusually nice today, which was good since he didn't want to look too slovenly on his first day... maybe the second... but not the first. He trudged back to his bedroom. Shikamaru rummaged through his top drawer for something casual, of course, it had to look 'neat and tidy' or he'd have to waste energy coming all the way back upstairs to change again because his mother was so picky.
Finally, Shikamaru pulled out a light blue shirt. It was one of his favorites because it reminded him of the sky. There was a cutesy design on the front that he didn't care for, but his mother adored it, so Shikamaru figured he might be able to swing this shirt for today. He reached into his second drawer and pulled out any random pair of shorts.
He stripped of his pajamas and tried to slip his shirt over his head without messing up his hair. Shikamaru jumped into his shorts, and feeling satisfied with his day's wardrobe, exited his room. The boy slid his hands into his pockets and casually sountered down the stairs.
Yoshino turned to look at Shikamaru as he stepped into the kitchen. She nodded her head, approving of Shikamaru's selected attire. She then returned to her cooking. Yoshino didn't mind cooking for her family, even though it annoyed the crap out of her when Shikato reffered to it as "women's work", but it had been one of her favorite hobbies since she was a little girl. Her mother had never considered "cooking" among the talents a kunoichi should possess, and, therefore, beat the crap out of Yoshino every time the word was even mentioned. However, Yoshino had found that her cooking skill was a rareity found in very few women at all, and she knew her men realized how lucky they were to have her as a personal chef, seeing as neither of them could cook at all.
Shikamaru sat down at the dinning table across from his father, who was half asleep and looked as if he'd been beaten out of bed. His gaze shifted to the gauze taped to his father's face. Shikamaru's eyes got wide. He'd never known his father to have suffered any kinds of serious injuries like the one plastered on his face now. It looked like he'd recieved it from his last mission... that or he recieved it from Shikamaru's mother this morning... either way, Shikamaru was quite intriqued and fascinated by them. His curiousity urged him to pester his father into revealing the details, but Shikamaru's common sense told him it would be better to wait until his father had gotten a chance to wake up.
Yoshino announced to the boys, "Fourty-five minutes until the food is done!"
The two groaned. Shikato collapsed from exhaustion on the maple wood, and Shikamaru began banging his head against the table's surface. Yoshino giggled. That was her family alright... too lazy to do anything for themselves, but too impatient to wait on others to do the work for them.
She was still in her gold night gown. She sighed, much-like the sighs the men usually make. She almost brought herself to saying the words "How troublesome", but she refrained from doing so.
"Well! I'm going to go upstairs and get changed real quick..." she laid a glass of orange juice in front of Shikamaru and a tiny glass of saki in front of Shikato, "I'll be back down in a minute."
Although she hated to admit it, Yoshino was about as slow as Shikato and Shikamaru when it came to getting dressed in the morning, especially today.
"Hm? Should I wear this one? No! This one? NO, no! This one with those shoes! Yes! NO!! Maybe... WAIT!" Yoshino finally made her decision.
She pulled a crimson, peasant-styled, long sleeve, flowing dress out of her closet. She found the matching obi attached to the hanger. Once in her day's outfit, Yoshino stared at herself in the floor-length mirror of the walk-in closet. The obi was black to match her ninja sandals. She seemed pleased with her choice.
Yoshino hurried down the stairs, remembering that she'd left the food on the stove. She peered over at the clock by the antler decor on the far wall. It's only 7:15...
"7:15?!!!" Yoshino shouted out of disbelief, thinking the clock to be a liar.
Thankfully, her noodles weren't destroyed during the time that she'd been upstairs. Yoshino turned off the stove and moved the pot to a cool burner. She reached for the bowls in the cupboards on her tippy-toes and was able to snag a few. However, one did fall, shattering at her feet.
"Damn it..." she cursed under her breath.
Apparently the word did not go unheard by her husband, "Heh... and you tell me to watch my language..."
"Shutup..." She told him, setting a bowl of noodles by the, now empty, glass of saki.
Yoshino placed a bowl beside Shikamaru's orange juice and sat another at the head of the table, where she sat. Handing each man a pair of chopsticks, and sitting at her place, Yoshino shouted, "Itadekimasu!! Hurry up and eat!"
"What about the gla-" Shikato asked, only to get cut off by Yoshino, "We can deal with that later! Eat your breakfast!"
"But, Mom, noodles aren't-" Shikamaru aslo got interrupted by Yoshino, "You'd do well to hold your tongue, Shikamaru! Otherwise, you won't be getting any breakfast this morning!"
He sighed and ate the ramen noodles prepared especially for him and his father by his mother. Shikamaru hadn't even finished eating before Yoshino cried out, "Okay! Time to go! 7:49! I won't have us be late!"
She ushered the two men out of the house, hurrying to get to the Academy before 8:00 so they would be on time for the orientation ceremony.
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