Smoke and Mirrors||Shikamaru N.

"ɢᴇᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴀᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴏɴꜱᴛᴇʀ
ʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛᴇ
ʜɪꜱ ᴍɪɴᴅ ɪꜱ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ
ᴡɪʟʟ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏʙᴏᴅʏ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ɢɪᴠᴇ ʜɪᴍ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙɪᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴘᴀᴄᴇ?"

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Shikamaru Nara is seventeen years old and fighting in a war that seemed to have no end.

He is seventeen years old when he watches everyone he's ever held close slowly get picked off one by one, and all he could think of was whydidithavetobethemthatgotkilledbutnotme-

He is seventeen when he sits in a dingy corner of a makeshift medical tent inside of one of Iwa's many caves, watching the medics operate on his best friend, their empty eyes and their sluggish hands elbow-deep inside organs as green light glows from their chakra. All he's seen in days is the red of blood on blades and the brown of soiled armor caked in dirt.

He is seventeen, and he's tired, a bone deep exhaustion that weighed him down worse than Lee's weighted vest when he had tried to lift it (but Lee's dead now so that doesn't matter anymore).

Shikamaru Nara is seventeen years old and he watches his Genin Team die in front of him inside this dingy little medical tent at 1400 hours on the exact date they became a team that fateful day after their graduation.

He is seventeen when in that dingy little tent, he notices something off with an innocent looking lamp in the corner.

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Naruto Canon Divergence.

Started:April 17, 2025
Ended:Pending...
Status:Ongoing