What A Drag... || Shikamaru x reader

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Edited: 03/06/24

Reuploaded: 06/06/24

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I was released from the hospital after two weeks of lazing around, Shikamaru and Zethran were always there, always at each other throats.

Naruto visited the day before he left to go to Mount Myoboku to train with Ma and Pa to become a sage. We had a long talk and hugged for a while as we both let out what we probably both hoped would be the last of our tears over the death of such an important person in both of our lives. It was silly, but it was comforting for the first time to be mourning a person with someone who understood how hard it was to lose that person. I think Naruto felt the same.

Zethran now lives in the house about two houses down the street from mine and it's already looking pretty homey.

When I was released from the hospital, everyone was fussing over me, Shikamaru basically clung to me. Choji informed me that every day I was gone he was worrying, scared he was going to lose me. So his clinginess was obviously going to be there, despite Zethran's many efforts to get him away from me.

Tsunade and I both discussed the whole Pain situation more, especially because we knew that Pain would be coming personally to collect Naruto and I'm sure that will be sooner rather than later—especially after mine and Jiraiya's attack on them. They have people investigating more, especially with the chakra rods.

Then there was the Rain guy who Jiraiya turned into a frog early into our infiltration, Ibiki turned him back and has been doing his... questionable methods of questioning to him but based off the frustration I've seen from the man, it's clear he's probably getting close to nothing new from him. I say close because he had gotten a little information and that was when people die, they're taken to the tallest tower in the Hidden Rain. But it's not much to go off really.

I have been staying at the Nara household, Yoshino and Shikaku have both been watching me closely.

Ma and Pa have taken me to Mount Myoboku to have dinner with them twice and said there'd be more to come in the future, I didn't complain because I like being around them, but I wished I did complain because man was the food nasty as hell... I didn't see Naruto during those trips despite us being in the same place, but I wasn't going to interrupt his training, so I just told the old frog sages to tell him I said hi before thanking them for the food and leaving.

Zethran is an official medical ninja of the leaf village and already is leading a group of shinobi and is teaching new ninja who wants to learn medical ninjutsu, he says it's all a pain, but I know he's secretly happy to teach from scratch. Back on the guardian's mountain, everyone seemed to already know how to heal so it's not often he gets to teach and pass down his knowledge. I'm happy for him.

Finally the second bounty on my head seemed to have disappeared and the really high one has decreased to like 200 gold coins which is really good because the bounty hunters won't care for me much anymore but it's also quite humiliating? Mainly because I was in the top 10 or 5 last time I checked and now I'm just amongst the low-class criminals that only have bounties because someone wants revenge.

Really just... reality checks a girl hard.

It's only been three weeks but... a lot has changed.

"Morning, Yoshino," I greeted the lady as she entered the dining room to see that I've already cooked breakfast and was eating. She stopped for a moment and rubbed her eyes like she was dreaming.

"This is real?" she asked, I nodded, she suddenly brightened up and sat down, not long after Shikaku joined us while eating then Shikamaru emerged from his room and sat next to me after kissing my forehead in greeting and ate as well.