It All Started With A Smell

Tests And Trials

He cracked an eye open as Naruto dropped into the bed. The sigh she gave was deep and weary. It made Shikamaru's heart give a painful thump. He had seen the blonde exhausted from battles, from loss, and from chakra depletion. However, this was different. There wasn't that relief that came after a hard won fight, the broken atmosphere of loss, or that frustration and twitching that Naruto always had from lack of chakra. This time, it was as though Naruto's exhaustion ran straight to her bones.

Draping an arm over Naruto's stomach, he pulled her to him, kissing her cheek. Slowly, as though her body was made of lead, the blonde turned to face him. She curled into him.

"Everything alright?" He whispered into the night.

"Your dad and Uncle Inoichi were in charge of taking statements," Naruto stated. "Uncle Inoichi was also in charge of going into the mind of Huruma as well. Since she had defences in her mind Uncle Inoichi used emotional triggers to shake them. He used me to shake them. He told her how I used the Clan Village Alliance Code since she abused my Clan's jutsu. It pissed her off and Uncle Inoichi used her emotional distraction to get into her head. Unfortunately, that means the memories he got into were the ones of me. He has spent the last week seeing what she did to me."

Shikamaru let his breath out in a silent rush. "Shit. How bad?"

Naruto dropped her eyes from his face. "I'm not going to tell you how bad it got at the orphanage."

"That's not what I meant. Did he see it all or what?"

She shrugged. "I didn't ask. Shikaku told me what he did. Uncle Inoichi can't look at me without looking guilty. I don't blame him for putting me in the orphanage, I blame Huruma for being a bitch!"

"Why did he look? He should have asked someone else to do it."

"I think he wanted to know. I should have told him not to but I was more preoccupied with stopping you and Iruka-Sensei from hearing things you don't need to. I feel bad that I forgot about the fact that he would find things out... Am I a bad person for saying that I'm glad it wasn't Iruka-Sensei?"

"No, you're not a bad person, though it is surprising." Shikamaru rubbed Naruto's back, feeling her move closer to his warmth.

"Well, I don't actually remember being raised by Uncle Inoichi. He was always just this guy who popped up, made sure I was okay, stocked my cupboards if he found out I had not money, that sort of thing. I was about five when I asked the Old Man who he actually was to me and why he asked me to call him Uncle. That's when the Old Man explained that he had ordered Uncle Inoichi to raise me but when Aunt Momiji got sick, I was put in the orphanage. Something about knowing that I was originally a mission for him made me not able to connect him as family until I was older. But with Iruka-Sensei I could tell when I first saw him that he held that same fear that the rest of the village had for me, but instead of letting it blind him he looked at me and saw a child and wanted to help me. He was the first person who actual had that hatred of the Nine-Tails but could still see me. When I found out the Nine-Tails had killed his parents I gained more respect for him. He had every reason to hate me and yet he went the opposite way. I guess I could just understand and appreciate that more than the delicate situation Uncle Inoichi was in at the time. When I got older Uncle Inoichi and Aunt Momiji tried to reconnect with me but I think it made them feel bad that I didn't really know them like they had hoped I would. Apparently before Danzo's attack they had planned to adopt me."

"That would have made you Ino's sister," Shikamaru whispered in a horrified voice, shuttering.

Naruto covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. "It could have been worse. There was a woman in the Nara Clan who wanted to adopt me after I was born. She told me the other day. She was friends with my mum. If that had happened I would have been raised a Nara."