Return Of The Madness

Chapter 10

The next time Yuma stirred, it was to the sensation of a hand delicately brushing along her face, and a single droplet of moisture hitting her cheek.

"Yuma..." A new voice ground out, obviously in quite a bit of pain. "Please, wake up, talk to me."

Who was this that wanted her to open her eyes so desperately?

Curious, she let her eyes flutter open, drawing a gasp from the boy, about her age, standing over her. His brown hair was pulled into a spikey ponytail, reminding her of a pineapple, and his dark eyes were wide and teary.

"Yuma," he choked, his hand trembling as he caressed her cheek.

She recalled him, or, more likely, his hair. It reminded her of a pineapple, a fruit she often thought about, though it was by no means her favorite.

She remembered his face, his hair, his name, but still, she asked, "What's your name?"

The boy winced, as though pained by her question, but he still put on a small smile.

"Shikamaru," he answered, and Yuma felt something stir in the deepest depths of her chest. She frowned in thought, trying to remember, and contradicting memories of fuzzy sorrow and clearer joy flit through her mind at lightning-speed.

"Shika-kun," she spat without real reason. The calling just seemed to come on its own, on instinct, and there was an odd feeling of home and warmth as the sound floated in the air.

The boy looked elated at the term, nodding as his eyes grew watery again.

"Y-Yeah," he choked, voice thick with emotion. He paused to rub at his eyes a moment, then let his eyes wander over her bound form, lips pulling into a grimace before he could cover it up with a watery smile. "It's been a while, how are you feeling?"

"Confused," she replied easily, taking a moment of shock at her honesty with this boy she hardly recalled. There were few bad memories of this boy, he didn't appear much in her mind, yet she obviously knew him, she had a nickname to call him by, they must have been close. However, it was like her mind refused to give her access to any potentially happy memories.

"Wanna talk about it?" The boy asked, knocking her out of her reverie, and Yuma was shocked once again to find that she did, in fact, want to talk about it. With him, at least. His presence comforted her, and his large hand over her smaller one calmed her.

"I-I don't know what's real," she found herself stammering quickly, as though the only way she could talk about it was with a single breath. "A few days ago, I could have thought back to my time in this village and recalled only pain, abuse, torture- but now there are memories surfacing that completely derail what I thought I knew. And whenever I try to think about it- try and make sense of it- my brain rejects me and I wind up with a migraine. I've got two different versions of each memory, and I don't know which to believe! It's infuriating! I can't stand it! I-I just-"

"Hey," his gentle tone made her pause, her gaze flying back to him, almost stunned. In the midst of her ranting and rambling, she'd almost forgot he was there. The hand he didn't have on hers rose, cupping her cheek as he swiped his thumb under her eye. It was then she realised, with a jolt, she had started crying. "Deep breaths."

She did so, and began to feel the tightness in her chest give way a bit. Her throat burned with a sob, but she held it back with a quivering lip.

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru said softly, wiping the crimson tears from her other eye as he squeezed her hand. "I know you're confused, but I promise, you're in no danger here," he continued. He put up a calm, sincere front, but she could see strong, swirling emotions in his dark gaze. Nonetheless, he was being very successful at calming her down and making her feel less affronted. "You won't have to figure this out alone. I'm here, Kakashi's here," the mention of the silver haired shinobi made Yuma wince, but the boy didn't stop. "Naruto, Sakura, Ibiki," more confusing stars of her nightmares, "You will never be alone, ever again."

"You sound so certain," choked Yuma, trying to fight off the sob that broke through regardless before she could continue. "Why? Why would you all care, give me a reason to believe in you!" She cried, almost pleading with him.

"It's because we love you, Yuma," Shikamaru replied gingerly. "You've been missing for a long time, and we're all so glad you're home."

Home.

"You love me," she echoed, sniffling.

The spikey haired boy withdrew a handkerchief from his vest, dabbling the white cloth under her eyes, staining the fabric red.

"We do, all of us. And we'll do anything to help you through this," he assured, smiling softly at her.

"Would you..." she paused gnawing her lip. He waited patiently, holding onto his comforting smile. "Will you tell me?"

"About what?"

She thought a moment. "About us?" She asked quietly. "How we met, our connection to one another?"

His smile grew a little, and he sat down, giving her hand another little squeeze.

"Of course."

~~~

Kakashi and Tsunade walked down the hall, treking toward Yuma's room in silence.

"Are you alright?" The blonde woman asked her companion, who gave a heavy sigh.

"Worried, stressed, tired," he listed off wearily. "But I imagine I'll make it."

"Hopefully we can make a breakthrough soon," Tsunade said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder, and he nodded sullenly. "We've just got to assure her we aren't a threat."

"But how-" Kakashi stopped suddenly, visible eye growing wide as a sound drifted down the hall.

Laughter. Light, feminine laughter from an unmistakable voice.

Immediately, he took off, Tsunade on his heels as they followed the sound. Sliding the door open, the two stared openly at the sight.

Yuma, laughing as she lay on the bed, and Shikamaru, sitting at her side, facing the door.

"A-And then what happened?" Yuma giggled, looking intently to the boy who smiled at her.

"Well, we were banned from that particular book shop," Shikamaru chuckled softly. "It seems that they did not appreciate our book fort- it's a shame too, we were just about to figure out the drawbridge."

"I-I think I remember some of that!" The charcoal haired girl almost cheered, excitement clear in her voice. She finally had a memory she was almost positive of.

"I never heard this story," Kakashi chuckled, elated at the sound of his cousin's joyous laughter.

Yuma jumped, her eyes flickering to him and his companion as the smile fell from her lips. Shikamaru quickly gave her hand a squeeze, and nodded assuringly when she looked to him.

"You and I used to be really close, Yuma," Kakashi said softly, leaning against the wall. She looked back at him, but with more curiosity than wariness. He took this as a sign to continue. "I've got a few stories I think you'd like to hear as well, would you mind if I stuck around for the rest of Shikamaru's turn?"

After a moment, Yuma nodded slowly, and Kakashi sent her the warmest smile he could manage, hoping she could tell through his mask.