Takes place at the beginning of Naruto Shippuden, right after Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya.
Naruto & Hinata managed to form a close friendship prior to Naruto's absence. Now that he's returned, there is more than one reason to take...
Half dragging himself through the rubble, Shikamaru crawled his way to Shiho's lifeless body. Before the nuclear explosion, one of the six Pains ambushed them as they made their way from the academy. It was the Pain with the long hair, who had the ability to pull all of the chakra out of a living body. He also appeared to have the ability to sort through and manipulate subconscious thoughts as well. In the chaos of a thrown smoke bomb, he got ahold of Shiho and was able to pull Naruto's current location out of her. Since she was a part of the main intel gathering team, she was one of the few privy to Naruto's visit to Mount Myoboku. It only took seconds. And before Shikamaru's shadow manipulation could reach the Pain, the enemy shinobi disappeared into a cloud of smoke, summoned outside of the village again.
The explosions stopped as Shikamaru ran to Shiho's side. The enormous summonings that had been destroying the village disappeared in clouds of smoke too.
"What is going on?" Shikamaru asked himself. He had a very bad feeling that something devastating was about to happen. He was just relieved he was able to evacuate Kurenai earlier. At least he had that peace of mind.
Then nuclear devastation occurred, knocking Shikamaru back and unconscious. Moments later, he awoke again, as the dust cleared, with Lady Katsuyu surrounding and protecting him. Despite the slug's help, one of his legs was broken. He sat up and looked around at the desolation in the village. By the time his father found him, he was seated hopelessly staring at Shiho as her lifeless and half crushed body lay in his lap.
"I couldn't save her." He said absentmindedly to Shikaku. Shiho's crushed coke bottle glasses lay just feet away. He just wished she would open her eyes and look at him in her annoyingly lovey dove way once more.
Shikaku placed his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder and squeezed. He took Shiho's body from his son and gravely examined Shikamaru's bloodied clothes. "Your leg appears broken. Are you hurt anywhere else?"
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"I don't think so." Shikamaru shook his head. He shaded his eyes and looked out of the rubble towards the crater at the center of the village as some forms appeared there. It was too far to make out who they were, but they appeared to be large enough for him to see them from his position. "Who is that?"
Lady Katsuyu slid to Shikamaru's side. "Naruto has mastered sage mode and has made it back from Mount Myoboku."
"What?" Shikamaru looked up. "He's not going to..."
"He is facing Pain now." Katsuyu informed them.
"That fool! He can't face Pain by himself." Shikamaru struggled to get up with his broken leg.
"Well you will definitely not be any help." Shikaku indicated his son's injuries. "Besides, if Naruto has mastered Sage jutsu, he has the ability to take on Pain. He is the only one of us who does. So the best thing we can do is give him the information that he needs and stay out of the way."
