It All Started With A Smell

Healing Moves On

He had honestly expected everything to go back to normal, like the war had never happened, once his father woke up. He hadn't realised how truly he had convinced himself of that delusion until it didn't happen. His father, though awake and stable now, was withdrawn. Any conversation about the clan was met with silence or mumbled responses. Sometimes they would be a few minutes into a conversation before Shikamaru noticed that his father had stopped paying attention and was staring at his unmoving legs or gazing out the window.

Healers had, on Ino's insistence, thoroughly examined both Shikaku and Uncle Inoichi. The bruising on the Yamanaka's brain had healed, showing that he had permanent injury to the visual section, rendering him blind. The man had openly broken down at the news. Naruto had asked if his clan's jutsu would be able to return his sight, if only temporarily to him when he had lamented never getting to see his daughter or wife's faces. He had had to inform her that, no, he couldn't use his clan's jutsu at all without being able to visualise his target. Nothing could give him his vision back, and his time as a ninja was over.

Shikaku's remaining leg had suffered nerve damage from being pinned. There hadn't been the risk of dead blood like his other leg but unfortunately the result wasn't much different. Unlike his teammate, the Nara barely blinked at the news, turning his eyes to the window as the healer tried to explain issues and limitations Shikaku was going to face. Instead of trying to draw him back into the conversation, the healer had assured Yoshino and Shikamaru that the healers would look for sores, infections, and other possible injuries to his remaining leg, apparently a common problem for those who can't feel an appendage, but once he left the hospital it would be Shikaku's or someone else's task.

Both mother and son took it upon themselves to gather information and observed the healer's care of Shikaku. Momoji and Ino had tried to do something similar for Uncle Inoichi, but even with Ino's training, had floundered. Shikamaru couldn't blame them, on the contrary, he envied them. They struggled to work out how best to help because Uncle Inoichi was trying. They would go to hand him something only for him to ask them where it was so he could try. Sometimes they would tell him and wait, only to realise he didn't have the energy to find it. But it was clear he was glad they gave him the choice to reach it himself.

On the other hand, Shikaku barely seemed conscious of what was going on around him. He was fine having little to no independence and spent his waking hours staring off into nothing or half-heartedly joining in on conversations with his family. Shikamaru, more than once, had to stop himself from turning to the healers and telling them something was wrong, they had missed something that was affecting his father.

Unfortunately, he knew that wasn't true, he just didn't know how to actually help his father. He had turned to Naruto for suggestions, only to receive a disheartened shrug.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru." She reached across the small space on the lounge to grasp his hand. "I'm not even sure if it is something we can help with."

He looked at her blue eyes, dulled with sadness. He wondered if his next sentence was going to be a bad idea before he tentatively started. "You've lost something, like he has. Huruma took your... fertility away. I thought you might be able to relate to my dad having his ability to walk taken. I know it's not the same, but I guess I'm just kinda desperate."

Naruto gave him a sad smile, gently kissing his cheek. "To some extent, I can. But, it's not the same, and even if it was, the feelings I have can't help your dad. They might make it worse." When she received a frown in confusion, she went on, blinking tears away. "I thought I didn't care, that there was no point in letting it affect me when it had happened years before I even truly understood what was taken from me. What does the loss of the ability to have a baby matter to a five-year-old? And when I entered my teens, and realised what it meant, I was still hated by the village and all I could think was that if I could have kids one day, they'd be treated like I was. If I had had a choice, I would have chosen to not have them, not make them suffer like that. But..." She looked away before standing, starting to pace the lounge room.