Belong

Part 4: Missing

Days went by and as they did, though with deaths of a few the Medical team were able to create an antidote for the disease that plagued the village. The supply of the antidote was left in the care of Toshiro, the village leader. The Shinobi sent to the village both went their separate ways.

"There's no place like home." He thought. He went straight to his bedroom and threw himself on the bed. It felt good to be home. He took a shower and went to see  his mom and dad, it had been a while since he's seen them. He took his time on his way to his old home, taking in the smiles of the little children playing in the streets, after all there was no rush. But what made him smile, made him proud to be a Shinobi even though it can be a drag, as he would say, was when he'd hear the children acknowledge him, saying that he's cool and that when they grow up they also want to be exceptional Shinobi. He considered this one of the perks of being a Shinobi, not that there were a lot of them in the first place.

In fact it's one of the main reasons he didn't go through with quitting  being a Shinobi because he thought it was all work. He just wanted to live a simple life, meet a nice girl who doesn't talk too much, have at least one kid and hopefully die before his wife. He had it all planned out, it was when he was in his younger days. Since you don't just pull out, it's either you die or have some accident that forces you to pull out. So that was his option, an accident that would force him to pull out but what was different was that he was going to fake it. It was when he was given an S-Rank mission. Fortunately he never went through with it because of one the children that acknowledged him.

He'd decided he wanted to be a good example for the future generation, an inspiration to all those children. Even though it's a 'drag' for him, it's more fulfilling seeing their smiles. They looked at him with admiration. Maybe he'd be Hokage but nah, that spot is for Naruto. What he concluded he'd be is be his advisor instead.

What a dumb idea that was.

He had great friends,  his home, and a great sensei, life was going well yet he wasn't really content with his life, he felt as if something was missing. Why? And what?

"Why do I feel this way?"

No answer, not even at least a guess. His old home came insight but even that didn't seem to take away the unpleasant, sudden feeling. It's probably nothing, he thought but it didn't feel that way no matter how much he tried to convinced himself. It was quite the opposite.

He stopped at the door wondering if he  should knock or just let himself in, after all this is his house too but... He should probably knock, he thought, so he did... No answer. Tried again, still no answer. No one home?

"Shikamaru!!" And he knew exactly who it was. He turned his back

"Mom?!"

He could tell she went to buy a few groceries. she immediately dropped everything to the ground when he saw him and embracing him with a hug.

"Hey, mom"

"It's been a while since we've seen you" His mother, Yoshino points out "Here, help me with these" She handed him the filled plastic.

Both went inside. Nostalgia overcame him as he looked around. Few changes here and there; a few furniture moved but it was still somewhat the same as he remembered it. It kind of made him wish he didn't move but it was already done..  But, maybe he could move back, he thought.

"So how's everything? You doing okay alone out there?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I haven't been able to come see you and dad. Where is he anyway?" He asks

"The Hokage summoned him this morning" Yoshino states

"I see."

"I hope you haven't been bringing all kinds of girls  at your place!" She says, suddenly

"What?! Of course not!" He defends

"What a drag! Where did that come from?"

"I wouldn't do that. Besides, you know how I feel about girls."

"Really? Because your father said something about hearing that some girl from the Sand lived with you. When were you going to bring her over so we can meet her?!" She asks,

"What a drag! Maybe I shouldn't have come. I can tell where she's going with this. But if I came to visit any later she still would scolded me about not visiting them sooner. Women are such a drag!"

He sighed, preparing to explain himself.

"You got it all wrong. The girl was just here on a mission and she didn't really have anywhere to stay so I offered for her to stay at my place" He confesses, placing his hand on the nape of his neck hiding the embarrassment while saying the last part.

"Really?" She says, sarcastically

"Yeah. Besides, it was my mission to stay with her as long as she was in the village. It was a drag, really."

But it was also kind of nice to have somebody around for a change even if it was someone like her. But it wasn't so bad, she had a nasty mouth, sure. But at least he was able to engage in conversations of his level and liking even though they didn't last long. But they didn't really talk much while in the Hidden Tree Village, they only talked after Temari woke up, though it was brief.

"Wonder what she's doing now?"

"What're you smiling about?"

He was so deep in thought he almost completely forgot about everything around him and didn't even notice that he was subconsciously and undoubtedly smiling. He mentally laughed at the thought, thinking 'bout her made him smile. He didn't even fight it off. To his surprise his mood was lifted. The feeling he had earlier on completely gone, faded.

"Nothing." He says simply

"If you have someone special, I'd very much like to meet her." His mother says

But he just ignored her.

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Unravel-ken: Hello, sorry for the delay, I couldn't publish due to internet issues. Also, I wanted to say I wasn't sure how to portray Yoshino. I did a little research though & it's said that she's strict & overbearing but she also has a gentle & warm side so I focused more on that. Thank you for reading!!! don't forget to VOTE, FOLLOW & COMMENT. Next chapter coming soon...