It All Started With A Smell

Heartbeat

It had all gone wrong. From the moment they had left Choji behind he knew they were in trouble. There were four enemies and five of them. They were going to have to leave a teammate behind with each opponent. He had hoped that would mean the last enemy, the one left with the coffin holding Sasuke, would have to verse two people but it didn't go as planned. He and Naruto were the ones left facing the last enemy, a woman with red hair. However, Sasuke's casket opened. When he was free he ran off. Shikamaru had no choice but to tell Naruto to chase her teammate. He wished he didn't have to. A dreaded nauseating feeling entered his stomach as the blonde ran off.

When Temari helped him (he refused to believe that she rescued him) he had asked her if she was going to retrieve Naruto. She had replied that Gaara had headed off in that direction, saying that the blonde was engaged in a fight. He had hoped that Sasuke wouldn't fight his friend but then he had felt it. A warm, energetic feeling lashed around the area, unpredictable and powerful but without true malice. Another met it in a violent struggle, this one was dark, chilling but also... blank. There was something missing within the person, true determination or passion. There was only one reason he would be able to sense Naruto and Sasuke's chakras from so far away. They were in locked in an intense battle.

As he concentrated he noticed another presence. Their chakra was suffocating. It reminded him of what Naruto had said about a hot slap. Except that it was more of an inferno, leaving his face with a tender, stripped feeling. The chakra was wild, ferocious and bloodthirsty. It surrounded Naruto's chakra, mingling with it, suppressing it? He couldn't tell. He wasn't the best at sensing chakra. These chakras though, could not be ignored.

He was focused so heavily on Naruto and Sasuke that he barely noticed the medical ninjas that were assessing him. He was forced back into his surroundings by the mention of possible casualties.

"Someone died?" He gasped, grabbing the shoulders of the man before him, ignoring how his broken finger ached. "Who? What happened?"

"No Leaf Ninja has died, yet. There are two boys in critical condition. They have been moved back to the hospital but I don't know how they are now."

That made him let the medical ninjas take him back to the village. The moment he arrived in the hospital he was able to get a report on his teammates that had been found. Choji and Neji were in critical condition. Whether they lived or died was still undetermined. Lady Tsunade was helping to heal one whilst Shizune lead the other team. Kiba was injured but conscious and would recover with time, Akamaru however was badly injured and would need a few days or weeks to rest. Shikamaru felt terrible for that one. He would hate for one of his family deer to become injured. Lee had been returned to the village and for the most part was fine. He would have his bed rest extended and Lady Tsunade ordered him to be tied to the bed if he was defiant. It sounded as though he was not the first patient she had done that too. Shikamaru wasn't even sure what Lee was doing out there. He must have not been able to sit still and let the others do the fighting.

Naruto... well, she was still engaged in battle. Gaara spoke of how he could feel it. He said that it reached his very core: Naruto's determination, conviction, and this violence that was manifesting. It took Shikamaru only a moment to realise how Gaara knew this, and how Naruto had known that Gaara was in Lee's room, intending to hurt Lee. They were the same. They both had Tailed beasts within them. The two of them could probably sense each other like animals. But then Gaara had gone quiet, a dark look on his face. He had walked off though, not answering any questions Shikamaru yelled at him.

He sat down on one of the benches outside Choji's room. His father sat silently next to him. There was nothing Shikamaru wanted to say, nothing he thought possible to say. His brain was running too fast and too slow, causing it to come to a crashing halt. All that he could think about was Naruto's promise to Sakura. She would give her life to bring Sasuke back!