It All Started With A Smell

Broken

Every cell in his body screamed at him to punch Kakashi-Sensei repeatedly until he had made wine from his corpse. However, every cell also screamed something else, much louder, and that was to ensure Naruto's safety above all else. When he had seen her running he had felt his heart drop. For a moment he wondered if the village had turned on her. The appearance of Kakashi-Sensei and Captain Yamato running after her just made more questions.

Naruto's screaming was heartbreaking. But Shikamaru couldn't help but notice a select few witnesses ushering others away. One tried to do so with him but he gave them a hard look.

"I'm not leaving Naruto!" He snapped, pushing past the man to get to the blonde.

Unfortunately he had no idea on how to help her. Varric did though. It reminded Shikamaru painfully that there were things in Naruto's life that he would never be privileged too whilst Varric was. However, when the man had calmed Naruto's screams he had turned to Shikamaru to be the comforting hand. He brushed his surprise off in favour of seeing to Naruto. He had walked her to the estate in silence. He led her to his room, although she had taken to sleeping in her own bed recently. She instantly dropped onto the bed, lying down. Sitting down, he put her head in his lap, running his fingers through her hair to sooth her.

"What do you need?" He asked softly, looking down at Naruto.

"For everything to stop!" Naruto muttered. "Everyone keeps asking too much off me. I have no more to give and I can't breathe."

"Then stop giving," He replied, continuing to run his fingers through her hair.

"I'm not going to be selfish. People will hate me."

"No they won't. Everyone does things for themselves at times. We need to in order to keep functioning. Ones a month mum, Aunt Momiji, and Aunt Aiko go to the spa. Do you class them as selfish? Coming up to her wedding Airi gave her Clan duties to someone else so she could focus on the planning. Do you see her as selfish?"

"No, they deserved the time off."

"Then why do you think you don't when you need it?"

Naruto looked surprised and confused at his words. He forced himself to not cheer at the realisation that something he had said had gotten through to Naruto. She lay silently in his lap. Shikamaru desperately wished he knew what was going through her mind. This was more than wanting Naruto to get to a point that he could tell her how he felt without fear of her accepting his affections. He wanted Naruto to get better, to feel respected, loved, and safe, even if she didn't want to be with him.

It was hard to ignore the physical effects Naruto's state was causing. She was usually bright and vibrant but slowly her energy had been leaving her. Her hair had become limp and dry, her eyes had lost their usual spark, her skin had paled, and every movement, every breath appeared to take more effort. The clothing that she owned before Pain's attack was sitting looser on her frame, something that was causing concern throughout the estate. He often saw his clansmen encouraging Naruto to have lunch with them, or to eat a snack or two. Shikamaru just hoped that in time Naruto would see that her suffering was hurting others, and that they all just wanted her to get better so she would be her usual happy self. Except Shikamaru was starting to wonder if Naruto had ever truly been happy. He wanted to believe that she had but couldn't stop the doubt that crawled into his mind.

"Shikamaru," Naruto spoke softly, staring at the far wall.

"Yeah?"

"Can we just pretend that the outside world doesn't exist if only for a little bit?"

"Of course. For however long you need."

"Will you keep me safe?"

"Always."