Naruto Various x Reader ━━ One-Shots

Shikamaru Nara ━━ Third Time's the Charm

Word Count: 5,3k

Warning: mentions of death, violence

Summary: They say third time's the charm, and Shikamaru hopes it is enough to save you.

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Shikamaru could still vividly remember the day his sensei Asuma had died in his arms. As though the memory was burned into his brain, it came to haunt him in his sleep time and time again, nourishing his doubts and regrets, harvesting his heartbreak. Each time the dream came to haunt him, it appeared more vivid than the last time, so much so that Shikamaru could feel the blood of his sensei on his hand again and the way the older man's body shivered in his last moments. The sombré tone of Asuma was etched into the memory, accompanied by the gruff undertone the dark-haired man always spoke with. His last words most importantly, Shikamaru felt as though they were in his heart, something he would never forget, and take with him to his grave.

The future head of the Nara clan could also remember how his father had died during the Fourth Shinobi War. The way Ino beside him cried out at the loss of her own father shook his mind to the core and had his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach, bile beginning to crawl up his throat. His mind was in shambles, but he was required to get right back to work and push away all of his sorrow and his grief so they could win the war. Only at the grave of his father, his sobbing mother standing beside him did Shikamaru get a moment to allow his grief to swallow him, almost drowning in it to the point he couldn't breathe.

The sensation of death surrounding his entire being was something Shikamaru never wanted to feel again. It was a feeling he despised with all his being.

Following the death of two of the most important people in his life, two men to whom he had looked up since childhood, and whom he had set as an example for himself, Shikamaru vowed that under no circumstance, he would ever let someone important to him die again. At all cost, even when it meant he would endanger his own health, he would make sure that those dear to him would make it to see the light of another day, live to wake up in Konoha, and get back onto their feet.

To his dismay, death, however, was a treacherous thing, one that did not listen to the prayers and vows of the people. It did not matter to death what Shikamaru promised, neither did it matter what the dark-haired man intended to do. As a mere man, Shikamaru did not stand above danger and near-death situations, a lesson he soon learned during a mission alongside you.

When he strode into the Hokage's office one morning, the smell of cigarettes lingering around his body, and his hands buried deep into the pockets of his pants, Shikamaru had not expected the man to hand him a mission instead of paperwork.

The Hokage had always been a walking enigma, mystery shrouded around him. So, Shikamaru shouldn't have expected anything else but a surprise awaiting him.

His first clue to something being different had been the sight of you in the Hokage's office, sitting on one of the two chairs placed in front of the desk. Despite only being able to see your back as he entered, that little piece of information was enough to identify you. Maybe it was the way you slouched in your chair that gave Shikamaru the necessary clue, or the exact shade of your (h/c) that he could never forget even if he wanted to. Either way, his expression morphed into one of recognition as soon as he saw you sitting there.

Without saying anything, Shikamaru made his way over to the chair beside yours and sat down, ignoring how you scrunched up your nose in response. There was a curious gleam in the Hokage's eyes, but neither Shikamaru nor you could tell what exactly it indicated. His gaze flickered between the two of you, his charcoal eyes settling last on the piece of paper laying on his desk to skim over it quickly before talking to the two of you.