It All Started With A Smell

Real Or Not Real?

He stretched back on the grass, feeling the sun warm his torso. Cracking an eye open, he saw Naruto dunk Sasuke under the water, making Kiba bark with laughter. Shikamaru smiled softly, closing his eyes again. He sniggered at the sounds of the Uchiha splattering, then Naruto's shriek followed by a large splash.

"Aren't you going to join us?"

Shading his eyes, he looked at Hinata, who was timidly hugging her bundled towel to her chest. "Nah, I'm good. Might swim later."

"He probably wants to nap," Ino shouted with a laugh.

Shikamaru lifted his head to try to glare at his teammate only to get a face full of water. From all the laughing he wasn't sure who did it, though he had a feeling it was either Ino or Naruto. He reached for his towel that he had dumped next to him with Naruto's. As he rubbed his face, he felt his energy leach from his body rapidly.

Moving the towel away, panic exploded into his system. Everything was dark. He couldn't hear his friends or Naruto anymore, couldn't smell the river, or feel the grass. He hands and fingers ached and stung, his legs burnt, and his ankle throbbed. Trying to take a calming breath, he attempted to move his arms. They were restrained. That's when he realised he was encased tightly. His heart pounded as he focused on controlling his breathes, and thinking through his situation.

Last thing I remember is the river. How did I get here? Were we attacked? Where's Naruto? Is she okay?

He heard something, as though far off. It took him a second to make out the muffled noise but eventually he did. He gasped in relieve and mild fear.

"Shikamaru! Shikamaru!" Naruto's voice became clearer as light pierced into the dark. "I'm here. Shikamaru, it's okay."

Again, he tried to remember how he ended up trapped. Then all at once the memories of what had felt like a year were ripped away from him. He still had them, but they had the haze of a dream. The last thing he truly remembered was trying to reach Naruto in her last moments. But he could hear her now. Was this more of the illusion?

The light spread, stinging his eyes before it was blocked. Blinking, his eyes focused on a tan face, rounded cheeks with whisker marks, and blue eyes. Ignoring his body's protest, Shikamaru lunged into a sitting position. He stared at her, taking in every detail to try and see through the genjutsu. Reaching up, he cupped her face with both hands. The blood on his palms stuck to her hair.

"Are you real?"

Naruto gave a relieved laugh in reply before tackling him to the ground. She buried her face in his neck, her back shaking and her tears dampening his chest. He just held her to him, feeling her heart beat with his.

"I was terrified I was going to lose and leave you trapped in there," Naruto admitted softly.

"I wasn't. I knew you'd save us." He decided to not voice how he hadn't known he was trapped, or his last real memory being her dying.

A clearing of a throat made Naruto sit up and help Shikamaru do the same. Looking over he saw Sasuke, the Fourth Hokage, and the Third Hokage. The first two looked uncomfortable, with Sasuke looking up at the sky and the Fourth glaring at Shikamaru. The Third Hokage however, had a smile of amused contentment so much like the one his son had often worn that Shikamaru had felt a pang of grief at the sight of it.

Naruto ignored the three, her eyes still on the Nara before her. "Can you stand?"

"I think so."

With Naruto's held he rose to his feet and hobbled over to his girlfriend's dad and chosen brother. Both men were still acting in wildly different, yet equally awkward ways to do with him, but luckily the Third was the same as Shikamaru remembered.