What A Drag... || Shikamaru x reader

||prologue||

"Wait out here for me," a man with long black hair and a scar running through his right eye, tells a small girl with h/l, h/c hair and e/c eyes. She nodded and stood in the shadow of a tree. Watching as the older man turned and walked towards a large set of gates a little way down the path.

The man approaches the gate keepers with a smile and a wave.

"F/n! It's been years since we saw you last! You're still alive!" one of the keepers jumped to their feet with pure surprise written across his face before running out of the booth and hugging the man.

"I must see the Hokage before we catch up. The office still in the same place?" the man named f/n asked, the two men smiled and nodded. F/n walked further into the village and towards the Hokage's building. People who recognised him froze upon the sight of him. He just ignored them and continued on his path to the office.

Climbing the stairs, he finally reached the great brown doors.

Knocking twice on the door lightly a voice echoes towards him gruffly.

"Come in," they call. He opens the door and the man on the other side froze upon seeing him.

"Lord Hokage. It has been a while, you don't mind if I come and have a chat, do you?" f/n asked the old man in front of him. The Hokage snapped out of his freeze and nodded, gesturing towards a chair off to the side. F/n smiled and grabbed the chair, pulling it to the centre of the room and plopping down.

"I, f/n, request grant to return to Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves along with my daughter," f/n places his hands on his knees and bows his head in sincerity.

"Daughter?" the Hokage questioned, watching the man who used to be so praised, bow with complete respect to him.

"Yes. I have a daughter who is 9 years old. She would be a great asset to the village and I want her to know what having a home and friends is like," f/n replied, not sitting back up. The Hokage could see that this man, the man who used to challenge him so often, was really fighting for his daughter to have a home to turn to.

"I accept your request. Please fill out the paper work for both you and your daughter. I'm almost certain your old home is still unoccupied so you may return there," the Hokage says. F/n thanks him and sits up again. Taking the work and signing it all. Enrolling his daughter into the academy at the same time.

Once he'd finished he walked to the front gates again and whistled a high pitched whistle.

The sound hit his daughters ears and she appeared in the shadow behind him.

"Father," she nodded.

"Y/n, we will be living here from now on," f/n told her, she nodded and followed her father through the village and towards a large wooden house. It wasnt like any of the other houses. But it seemed like there should've been a large group of people living here.

"Father. This place. That crest," y/n speaks up, looking at a wooden board that was barely in tact with a familiar crest rotting away on the wood.

"Yes, y/n, that is our family crest. This was my home before I left. Right now it looks... A mess, but I promise that I'll make it look as great as it used to," f/n told the girl who was peering at the building.

"I can't wait to see it," she smiled for the first time in a while before using the shadows to move around the house and explore easily.

"I should tell her to stop doing that so naturally. It may become an issue if she uses it all the time," f/n mumbles to himself before rolling up his sleeves and starting to move the wooden boards out the way.