Till The Wind Changes ✔

IX. Panacea

"The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it."

- Nicholas Sparks

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They were all going to be alright. They were all going to be safe. They were all going to recover. At that moment, he didn't give a damn about Sasuke, Orochimaru or about the fact his first mission had been a failure. Choji, Kiba, Neji, Naruto, and Lee; his friends were all leaving and breathing. The tears came as all the stress and fear, the fidgeting and uneasiness of the last 48 hours it all came crashing down on him. Too much of a burden to be carried by the shoulders of a child.

"Next time I will carry out the mission perfectly." he choked out the words, this wasn't just a promise to his village but a solemn promise to himself. He wouldn't let a friend die at his command.

As more tears came he felt two gentle hands on his shoulders. He looked up to see a pair of teal eyes. As looked into her eyes, all he could see was caring and warmth. Those eyes that a minute ago were demanding him to man up with a stern look, were now full of understanding.

To see him like this was an unexpected fragility, to say the least. Men were strange. But this guy was maybe more similar to her than she had ever wanted to think of.

Without a word he found himself pulled into a soft embrace and found himself crying onto her shoulder.

"I tried..." he sobbed, but no more words would come.

He felt one hand tenderly caressing the back of his neck and a gentle voice whispering in his ear that it was all right, that everything was all right.

He didn't know how long they stayed that way. It seemed like hours to him. No one interrupted them. She didn't tell him to stop or push him away. For however long it was, she stayed there comforting him. When the tears finally stopped, and he felt himself to be in control again, he carefully pulled away from her warmth. He stood there looking at that woman expecting a harsh line to punch him. But it didn't come. She didn't mock him or tell him he needed to be stronger. She just smiled at him and carefully wiped his cheeks.

That was her duality. The same troublesome woman was the one that was comforting him, understanding him without any moral judgement. He couldn't believe that it was the same woman talking about emotional training and the inevitability of losses during missions just a minute ago.

He jumped as he heard a cough coming from behind him. He turned around to see his father still standing some feet away from them leaning on the hospital's wall. Tsunade and Shizune were long gone and there was no one else. His father's expression was absolutely blank as he approached them.

"Son, Neji and Choji are still in intensive care but Kiba and Naruto are both on the fourth floor and taking visitors," he said with the same expression. "As the team leader, you should go see them."

Shikamaru nodded, whipping the remaining traces of tears left on his face. He did need to see them, and they should see him well. The mission was over but his responsibility to his teammates and friends was not. He turned back to the girl, who was still standing in the hospital's corridor.

"I have to go," he said, trying to explain himself. Her nod assured him he needed no explanations, she understood.

"Yes..." she said as she looked back to the bench and grabbed her fan. "I should go find my brothers. Given the weather, we would probably have to stay in here for a while..."

"The weather?" The younger Nara inquired.

"Oh, haven't you noticed it?" she said. "The wind is coming from the South East, probably causing sandstorms all the way back to Suna. I really doubt I will be able to go back home till the wind changes. But yeah... I should be heading back with my brothers."