Acquiring Sentence (discontinued)

Ecstatic

I'm bombing this story with updates. -Turtle
Written: 4 dec
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Shikaku and co. had taken the liberty of carrying a muttering Shiru back and subtly through the underground lair and dashed through and up and out of the hidden place. The three panted and Shikaku looked over his shoulder where a sleeping Shiru was rather comfortable sleeping on. She was awake, obviously, but they didn't need to know that, did they? She now knew where the headquarters were located and she'd use this as a future opportunity. Maybe a little bloodshed for her would satisfy her needs- just a bit. To repay that bastard man who dared torture those poor, poor little children. Her body silently shook in rage towards the vile man and Inoichi wondered what was happening. He was a half psychiatrist and saw this symptoms a lot when people were angry. But he didn't know what exactly she was angry at, which made it difficult for him to try and comfort her half asleep self. Or so he thought she was sleeping.

Shiru felt herself slowly swaying between conscious and unconscious, she wasn't worried. In fact, she was happy. She didn't think she bat an eye in that place, and usually she'd have to force herself to sleep so she wouldn't suffer from sever sleep deprivation and die. No no, she'd have none of that depressing stuff.

"We're here," Shikaku murmured as his two partners waved back and hesitantly left him to go to their homes. He'd taken too much of their time on this, it was supposed to be a private clan matter, but he supposed it was inevitable. He couldn't do big stuff like this without his partners in crime, after all, they were a team.

He walked in. Looked left and right. Almost died when he saw Shikamaru standing in front of him- frigid like an iceberg. He had almost run into his son, and that was enough to almost give him a heart attack. It was 3 pm and his son was usually awake, fed, and dressed up by then.

The little 8 year old looked - or at least tried to look at what his father was carrying, but to no avail. He was too tall. Shikamaru cursed his tiny little body and sulked silently.

Meanwhile, Shiru was fawning over how cute the sulking 8 year old was. It was like a little deer, lost in the forest and about to cry win those big, round black eyes of his. A total mood swing from before, yes, but she couldn't help it. He was adorable! Despite being quite thin, Shikamaru had the most tempting baby fat, like, ever.

So she did the right thing and abruptly got off of a baffled Shikaku and she picked the kid who was staring at her like she grew another head. Whenever she cooed at him, he'd think she'd smile, but she didn't. Not once. He swore he could see her naturally red lips twitching up to try and form a smile, but it never came.

While Shikamaru was still a child, he still noticed those little things he was usually used to when someone babied him. She had all traits but two. She barely made any sound, and she didn't smile. Or laugh, or grin, or smirk at the least! So he laughed when she tickled him and pouted when she stretched his cheeks. He thought it would make her smile but it didn't.

Shikaku was aware of what was happening, and opted to just stand and wait, and observe, too. It was fascinating how she could do all those normal things but not even crack a small smile. He wondered how she cooed without her lips twitching up. He wondered how he could know her emotion or how her face would look like if she never even cracked a smile, a grin, a smirk, even a wink wasn't there. He just wanted to grab her and scream at her for what she was. She was insane and broken and he didn't want her around his son. He'd turn into a depressing mess and something unlike a Nara.

He didn't want his son around her. No. But he'd keep quiet for now and keep with it. She won't be staying long anyway. He took the liberty to stand up and go to a standing guard outside and tell them to call her parents to pick her up. She wouldn't be his business anymore, and he wouldn't have to see her ever again. She was a bad influence, and he could clearly see Shikamaru having trouble trying to make her smile, he even tried to reach up to make her smile with his fingers to stretch her mouth, but she tutted and moved his hands away.

- - - - -

While it was hard, Shikamaru found himself to be confortable around this girl. He didn't know why, she hadn't even said any phrases to him, just playing with him as she stood with him in his arms. He didn't have to stand up all the time, so that was a plus. He didn't know if the girl in question was enjoying this, and he had realized he didn't even know her name. So he opted to ask, yet it seemed like she had read his mind.

"Shiru Nara." And just like that Shikamaru was more comfortable than before knowing she was one of his own. She took his chubby arm and put it on her pale cheek. He wondered how it was so charred. When he slid a finger across her cheek, and brighter color appeared as if she was covered in some sort of other skin. He thought she just needed a shower and where she'd come from she couldn't take one. Which is why she as dirty. He could understand that. When he played in the dirt and came back home, it happened to him, too.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Shikamaru Nara!" She thought he was rather an ecstatic boy, compared to when she was a child. She pursed her lips and wondered what she'd be like if she were like that. She as almost ready to barf. If she was, she would have killed herself already.

The 8 year old beamed for some odd reason when she had pursed her lips, but she was glad he was enjoying himself, even though she thought it was quite boring.

A ring of the door bell and Shikaku was up and jumping to answer. Still covered in soot just like the girl, he opened the door and Shama came through immediately with a rather rapid nod of acknowledgement. Shikaku grimaces and closed the door. What odd manners. But it was fine, it was all fine. She'd be leaving and he'd have to take Shikamaru to take a quick shower because he had become dirty from being carried by her.

Shiru didn't want to let go of Shikamaru, and he didn't want to get off of her. It was quite a tricky situation. Shama and Shikaku didn't know what to say or do. They were both glaring at each other's fathers. Shiru glaring at Shikaku and Shikamaru glaring at Shama. So many 'Sh's'.

In the end, the pouring 8 year old was forcefully taken, and Shiru was wrapped in a hug by her father, who was rather reluctant to because of her state. She didn't really want to hug him. She didn't care. While they probably did in the stead. She wondered why. They had never really cared that much about what she did before, why was this an exception? She was gone for a few months, at least she hoped she did, otherwise she had to catch up on a lot of her planning. Not that she'd done any. Her mind was useless. Up until now, she was winging it, just coming up with plans in the spite of the moment.

She went home, greeted her mom with an awkward hug - not that it was awkward to her mother - and went to take a shower. She wasn't one to like those, but this- this was needed. She just needed to calm down, but the shower wouldn't let her do that. It only gave her more thought to her problems and gave her more stress. She sometimes wondered if she'd have been  happier seeing Shikamaru if she had been another person.

A small chuckled left her as she closed the water tap and wrapped a towel around her pale body. Of course anyone else would've been happier on the outside. Yet she had been the happiest person alive on the inside. It was like she was on a fluffy dark cloud at night and just staring at the stars. It was that sort of happy comfort. She'd always loved kids, they were so pure and innocent, not counting herself and countless prodigies, and always had such nice dreams and hopes- it's just...

She wondered if she could live life again. Be a child. Explore. Adventure. Those happy little things imagination gave you. Seeing- just being in the same room as a child made her beam on the inside, like one of her cracks were put back together to form a clear surface. She had been ecstatic. Relieved. But also mad, angry, it left her angry in the inside.

While Shikaku had saved her, once he realized what she was or who she was, he just wanted to toss her away. He wanted her away from the child. He wanted nothing to do with her. It infuriated her how someone's opinion could change so quickly, and also after she thought he cared. She'll show him. Today won't ever be the last time she went there. Of course not. She'd go there every single day just to prove that she was a normal person- just destroyed on the inside.

She would never hurt her precious if her life depended on it.

The world took her promise for granted.