Her Mask (Shikamaru x Oc)

Chapter Sixty-One

“I warned you.”

All Shikamaru did was groaned and buried his face into Shingami’s shoulder. They were on their way back to the village and that morning Shikamaru woke up with a high fever and it’s gotten worse as the day went on. And shingami was the only one willing to carry him so he got a piggyback ride so he didn’t have to waste his energy on walking, he didn’t even fight the girl about it he just wanted to sleep. But all he could think about was how Shingami smelled like strawberries all the time, on the first night he thought it was the room then he realized it was her out in the snow the night before. 

He sneezed getting boogers on the back of Shingami’s neck making her flinch and sigh before she kept walking. 

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She said while handing him a tissue to blow his nose.

She kind of blamed herself for making him sit out in the snow anyway so she felt like she was to blame for him getting sick even though she didn’t ask him to follow her outside. She just wanted a little space to think, but having Shikamaru there made it better, somehow.

Tsunade looked behind her after a little while and saw Shikamaru sound asleep on the girl’s back so she spoke quietly. “How’s he doing?”

“I think he’ll be okay in a few days.”

“I think so too, we’re almost back, so when we get there you can bring him straight home, I’ll complete any paperwork on your behalf.”

“Thank you. Lady Tsunade.”

“It’s the least I can do for making you carry him.”

Shingami smirked slightly since it wasn’t like the older woman could see it. “He’s not all that heavy you know.”

“You’ve been holding him for the past six hours, I think you deserve a break, after all this.”

“Won’t argue with that.”

It took a little longer than they were expecting but they managed to get back to the hidden leaf village a little after two in the afternoon. As soon as they reached the gate Izumo and Kotetsu greeted lady Tsunade and lady Shizune before turning their attention to Shingami with a gleam in their eyes upon seeing Shikamaru sleeping with his head on her shoulder as she carried him.

“Don’t start your shit. Izumo, Kotetsu.”

Both of them put their hands up in surrender as she walked past their little station with a slight glare. Once officially inside on the village gates, the stares started again so she like usual took the back streets that everyone usually left alone.

It took a few minutes but once she got to the Nara compound she knocked on the door, after a minute still no one answered, so she knocked again a little louder thinking that maybe no one had heard her.

She frowned and looked at Shikamaru’s face, his fever had gone up and his face was redder. She sighed and put her hand into the Nara’s kunai pouch, taking out his house keys and opened the door. She walked straight to his room and laid him down on his bed on top of the blankets. He moved a little bit but his head was pounding so he opted no to move too much. 

Shingami took his shoes off and put them near the door and then his jonin jacket, she put it in his closet to keep it out of the way. She lifted him so he was in the center of his bed the right way and put his blanket over him because he was shivering.

She took her mask off and put it on his side table just as she had done the other day. And left the room to look for Yoshino. She didn’t want to look around the house without anyone knowing because to her that seemed kind of rude so she started in the living room and made her way to the kitchen after not finding her or Shikaku. But as soon as she walked into the kitchen she saw a little note on the counter so she lifted it up gently.

She sighed seeing it was a note from Yoshino saying that she and Choji’s mother were having a girl’s night with Ino’s mom and that she wouldn’t be home for at least another eight hours and Shikaku would be home a little before that.

She put both her hands on the counter and leaned into them. Thinking about how to fix the situation. She sighed again letting her head dip a little before standing up straight and going into the cabinet grabbing a cup and a medium-sized bowl before going over to the sink filling both with water. She went into the freezer and pulled out an ice cube tray putting six of the cubes into the bowl and two in the cup before refilling the tray with water and putting it back where she got it.

She brought the bowl and cup with her back to Shikamaru’s room, setting both down next to her mask pulling the chair at Shikamaru’s desk over to the side of his bed before leaving the room again. This time it took her a little longer because she had no idea where the bathroom was and she needed to find a washcloth eventually she did and then returned to Shikamaru’s side.

She dipped the cloth into the ice-cold water and twisted it to get out the extra water before putting it onto his forehead, his eyes cracked open at the cool sensation and he looked at the silver-haired girl.

“You’re still here...?”

“Yoshino and Shikaku aren’t home, and I couldn’t leave you like this.” She grabbed the glass of water and helped him sit up as he drank eagerly. “Do you want me to get you anything?”

After he finished off the last of the water he put his head back down onto the pillow and looked at her. “I’m fine, you can go home if you want.”

“I want to stay but I need to get a couple of things quickly. Will you be okay without me for twenty minutes?”

“That’s fine, but before you go can you get me more water?”

“Of course.”

_________________

Shingami was true to her word and was gone for exactly twenty minutes, even though Shikamaru hadn’t kept track. The girl came back with two bowls of chicken noodle soup, and a couple of migraine pills she got from Ibiki, who she’d stopped by to see. She told him that she had to take care of Shikamaru for a while and that she wouldn’t be home for a few more hours but he understood and didn’t mind.

Shingami took the time to dip the cloth back into the cool water putting it back onto the boy’s forehead again before she started feeding him the soup she had gotten, she made sure it wasn’t too hot before giving it to him he took his sweet time but shingami didn’t mind and ate her soup. After he’d finished and had gone to sleep shingami laid her head down on the side of his bed next to her finally feeling how tired she was after a long day of carrying the boy around but she didn’t mind it.

Every half hour or so she’d put the washcloth in the water but by the time eight o clock came around she was in a deep sleep along with Shikamaru.

Two hours later Yoshino and Shikaku got home at about the same time and when they saw Shingami’s shoes by the door they both looked at each other with a little knowing look and went to Shikamaru’s room and opened the door.

Shingami and Shikamaru were both fast asleep and the two realized that Shikamaru had gotten sick and Shingami had taken care of their boy. 

“She’ll be a great Nara don’t you think?” Yoshino said with a smile.

“Yeah. She will.” Shikaku said also smiling as they left the two alone so they could sleep in peace.