My Lover's Keeper

61. Nagato's Muse

In only two days, Izumi stepped up to fill the void left by Naruto.

The blond had the habit of calling a number of times to check if anything was needed; But after a couple more days the calls decreased drastically.

It was a cold February morning, the cherry blossom trees would bloom in matter of days.
Naruto sat down on his bed waiting for a text.

"And where do you think you're going, young man?" Iruka crossed his arms the moment he saw his son ready to leave.

"Ha, Shikamaru is coming to pick me up. Nagato-san had been waiting for a reply for ages so he invited me for a jamming session." The boy got his guitar case.

"And Nagato-san is...?" Iruka asked.

The teen simply pointed at the Akatsuki poster.

"Oh... that Nagato? Okay, as long as Shikamaru is also going." He kissed his son's forehead. "Take it easy, okay?"

"Mhm," his ears perked up at the sound of the horn. "Love you, Kaasan!" He scrambled out of the house in a hurry.

He got into his friend's car after he placed his guitar in the back.
"You're looking better," Shikamaru smiled.

"Mhm. Izumi is helping out a lot."

"It's about time." The teen drove off. "So, how are things going?" He asked and then specified "between you and Sasuke."

"Pretty good. We're getting married next week. We're just going to go to court and register basically. And then we'll have a small celebration at home."

"No wedding? I doubt your mom is fine with that."

"We haven't told them yet... about the getting married next week-..." He gulped not wanting to think about it.

"Because you're worried they think you're rushing...which you know they are right about." Shikamaru pointed out and averted his attention to look at his friend.

The blond teen looked down at his hands.

"Naruto you're still here-... chances are you're still going to be here a year from now." He reached in to hold Naruto's hand but the blond curled them into fists.

"I won't be." He mumbled.

"Naruto-..."

"I'm in more advanced stages of cachexia." He blurted out.

The blond knew he should've kept it to himself. Even though he needed to tell someone; he wanted to shoulder this burden by himself.

However, telling someone whilst they were driving was not a smart decision as it was enough to cloud Shikamaru's focus.

Their black car ended up crashing against a red cab right in front of them.

Hadn't they both been wearing their seatbelts; they'd have flown out of their seats.

They were lucky that the cars were the only damaged goods.

Shikamaru was gripping the wheel with both hands tight. His eyes fixated on the black leathery steering wheel as his heart pounded harshly.

The driver, of the car they crashed into, got out screaming his heart out.

But Shikamaru didn't hear any of it as he sat there in shock. Only the last words of his best friend echoed.

Naruto was the one to get out of the car. His heart was still racing and his body shaking.

"I am sorry-..."