Naruto Oneshots

Fallen ones (Shikamaru)

Your Pov

"Shit" I say as I fell to the ground.

"Maybe next time you'll beat me." smirks Kankurō.

"Oh shut up" I say laughing.

Kankurō approaches me and helps me get up. I dust myself off to recover from the hit I took.

"By the way, where is Temari?" I say curiously.

"She went to the leaf village to help out. She should be coming back any day now. Besides, didn't we make a deal? Loser buys lunch." He says laughing.

"Oh right I forgot about that." I say rubbing my arm.

Me and Kankurō have been friends for about a year or two. Ever since, we have had a close bond. We look out for each other, as well as train with each other. It became a routine to train as much as we could. Even though we were already Chunin, we trained every day to get better.

"Well we don't have all day." He says impatiently.

"How rude. I'm buying lunch remember? Now be quiet before all I get you is a cup of water" I say trying to sound bossy.

"You'd probably only get me half a cup of water anyways." He says laughing.

We both begin to make our way to the shop. The sun was already setting and it was getting a bit windy. All of a sudden we hear a loud thud and see a dark figure in front of us. The figure then lights up a stick on fire and it unveils the figure to be a Jōnin.

"Pardon me. But the Kazekage wishes to see you both in his office." He says.

"Of course. Thank you." I reply.

"Cmon y/n we should hurry." Kankurō says grabbing my arm.

We both hurry as fast as we can and make it there. We run up the stairs and down the hallway until we reach Gaara's office. I knock on the door until I receive permission to enter.

"Come in."

I open the door and spot Gaara in his desk as usual. I then turn to see Temari. She smiles at me and I am relieved to see that nothing horrible has taken place. I also spot a young man with a spiky ponytail with his hands in his pocket. Almost as if he didn't want to be here.

"What's the issue here?" Kankurō asks.

"Well as you can see Temari has done her fair share of helping out our allies of the leaf village. They are requesting for y/n to help them out with a few things. Considering how her skills are unique and of much help." Gaara explains. "That is if you are up to the task y/n?"

"Of course. I don't mind. When should I head out?" I ask.

"Tomorrow morning you will head out with Shikamaru. An experienced Chunin. He will make sure to guide you safely." He reassures.

"Why is there a problem?" I ask worriedly.

"Not really. But it doesn't hurt to be cautious." Shikamaru says finally speaking up.

"Alright then. You are all dismissed." Says Gaara.

We all head out of the office and as soon as we do I embrace Temari in a hug.

"Did you really miss me this much?" She sarcastically responds.

"Of course we did! Don't be silly." I say.

"Well I'm going to get some rest and so should you." She says.

"Yeah. Okay Night Temari." I say hugging her one more time.

She waves and smiles as she makes her way to her room. Kankurō was talking to Shikamaru and I didn't want to bother them so I made my way to my room. It was a long day and I was already beginning to feel tired. I changed into a comfortable long shirt and leggings. I was about to finally get in bed when I hear someone knocking at the door.

"Come in." I say.

"Hey It's just me." Says Kankurō as he enters.

"I can see. So what's up?" I say smiling.

"I just wanted to say good luck on your trip and have fun." He says giving me a hug.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." I promise.
"Anyways I still have to treat you for lunch." I say giggling.

"Well then I hope you come back safely so you can still buy me lunch." He jokingly says.

"Well then I'd love to chat but I'm tired." I say yawning.

"Alright then. Goodnight." He says dismissing himself.

"Goodnight." I say. Shortly after, I doze off.
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*Next Day*

"Alright y/n time to head out." Says Shikamaru.

"Well then let's get going." I say excited.

"Have a safe trip." says one of the guards in the gate.

"Thanks. I'll see you in a couple of days." I say waving goodbye.

Shikamaru begins to lead the way and I follow. We take short breaks in between the journey. We were a few miles away from reaching the forest indicating that we were getting close.
It was already the afternoon and the sun would be setting in a few minutes.

"Here. We can sleep here for the night and continue tomorrow." Shikamaru says.

"Why did we stop? We can still make it if we travel fast enough. By the way it's not even that late." I state.

"I know that. But like I said before, it doesn't hurt to be cautious." He says.

I felt as if he was hiding something from me. But I shrugged it off. After all it was his duty to protect me. He started a fire to keep us warm while I went off to find a pond to gather some water.

I came back and noticed that he had gathered leaves to make us both beds.
I wasn't tired enough to go to sleep so I sat there staring at the fire. It must have triggered my memories because I felt a hot tear falling from my cheek. I wiped it away quickly before Shikamaru could notice. I think he must have seen but turned away quickly. I saw him repeatedly igniting a fire with a lighter only to blow it away.

"You don't seem much of a smoker." I say breaking the silence.

"I'm not." He says still repeating the action.

"Just holding it on for a friend?" I ask.

He glances down before responding, "i guess you can say that."

"Must be from someone you admire." I then pull out a small necklace from my pocket. "See this, It was given to me from someone special. I always keep it close to me." I say smiling at the memory.

"You're that girl that Gaara rescued aren't you?" He asks.

"Yup. It seems like it was just yesterday. Can't believe it's been so long." I say.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what Orochimaru did to your family." He says sympathetically.

"Scars show us where we've been, but they don't define where we will be." I scoff.

"What does that mean?" He asks.

"It just means that our past may have been rough but we can move on and become better."

"I wish I could look at it that way." He says half-smiling.

After the short conversation Shikamaru began to open up more. We were both telling each other funny stories. And told each other about some of our experiences in old missions.

The next day we both get to the leaf village. I stayed there for a few days and helped with small tasks. Shikamaru ended up showing me around and introduced me to his friends. We became great friends and ended up falling for each other.

(A.N)
Bad ending sorry. Writers block. I wanted to post something. But please comment and let me know how I can improve.