032 -- [Voice || Action]

[endgames]

[A ninja walks into the bar.

Okay, that's getting ahead of the story. Let's backtrack then. Not too far. Everything he's been through in the past two weeks doesn't need to be said. At least, this isn't the place for it. What's important to mention is that on March 27, Nara Shikamaru left Luceti, gone back to home and to war. He returned on the same day and got thrown into another, and coming back to day-to-day life in this village after has felt almost unreal.

It's been nearly two weeks, but it wasn't until today that any of it definitively sunk in. All of the deaths. Everything they've lost - that he's lost. That the fighting is over, even if the war isn't.

You wouldn't think moving on with your life would be the scariest thing about that.]

[Voice]

Yo. [The greeting comes after he's gotten a grip on himself, so lackadaisical you wouldn't know the difference.] Some of you might've noticed that old pizza place was being remodeled. It's taking longer than I thought, but I've been working on turning it into a convenience store since November. It can probably open soon.

I'm gonna stock it with the basics. Milk, bread... staples like that for when no one wants to walk all the way to the grocery. So what snacks and drinks do you guys want? I'm not going to the trouble of getting things it turns out no one likes. That way, they'll just sit on the shelf to collect grease and dust. That's gross.

[He waves lazily, like he gave up on the motion halfway through, and reaches over to switch the feed.] Lemme know.

[Filtered to Trafalgar Law || Unhackable]

Hey. Got what you asked of me too.

[/end Voice]

[Several hours later... A ninja walks into a bar, and for the first time orders not Mountain Dew, but Genshu sake. A whole bottle.

Convincing himself to drink is more difficult than ordering it, however. Shikamaru sits at the bar for a while, spending more time staring into his cup than lifting it to his mouth. It's not like he's in a rush. He made a point not to tell anyone what he was up to, just that he would be back late and would get dinner on his own. Eventually though, he does get to drinking. It's a lot easier once he's started, and he loosens up. He won't be at the bar long after that, called away on an errand which leads him down toward House 22.

(ooc: threads with Law and Masaomi will be canonically last for this part)

The next day... he has a hangover. And it sucks. 8|

But he has people to talk to. Sakura and Asuma are both on his list, if they're home. Ino is last, and not without Chouji to go with him. Anyone else in the building is welcome to run into him on this day too, of course.]

Comments

[endgames]

[Everyone.

But that's him, not Sakura. He doesn't stop smiling.]

Yeah.

[medicalpunch]

[She lets out a breath, weighing her words, weighing the things she wants to say.

Then, finally, softly,]

Shikamaru, your father... I'm sorry.

[endgames]

[The line of his mouth tightens. Those words hurt. He'd hoped everything he let out last night, before and after the drinking, would take the edge off of them, but he can still feel them settle like a terrible weight in his chest all the same. Teeth gnashed together, Shikamaru hardly breathes.]

Why? [Still he grins, and it's not even forced anymore.] It sucks, but... I'm proud of him, you know?

[Maybe it won't stop hurting at all, he realizes. Like how after he was shot, his gut would ache sometimes when it rained. But even with all of that, his father poured his sweat and every brain cell into the war. Even in the end.

It sucks. It sucks so much. But it would be an insult to Nara Shikaku - to the legacy of his father - to let that get him down forever. He's going to remember it and carry that pride with him wherever he goes. And so Shikamaru breathes, and closes his eyes to avoid that green gaze.]

Besides, I didn't come here for sympathies. I wanted to thank you.

[medicalpunch]

[They're ninja. He knows it -- they all know it, the likelihood that any of them will live to a ripe old age. Tsunade's considered something of a miracle of longevity, and she's middle-aged. Sakura, Shikamaru, any of the others that are here -- they're all more likely to find their end the way Shikaku has, by violence.

The way Neji has. The way any of them, back home, still could. The battle's not nearly over.]

It sucks. [She can agree with that much at least, wholeheartedly.

But she can also, at least, give him a little help in feeling better now, even in a much milder way.]

Sit down. [And she moves to pour him a very full glass of water.] And drink that. Thank me for what? [It's always easiest to retreat into being a medic.]

[endgames]

[He holds up a hand in the classic sign for "wait", taking a long drink from that water as he goes to sit. Good call on her part, but then again she would know.

He sets the cup down and thinks over his words, few as they are.]

For not telling me.

[medicalpunch]

[Yeah. That. She lets out a long breath and nods.]

You're welcome. [And she considers adding more, but it's not like he's unaware of what her reasons were. No one needs to have that hanging over them. It wasn't her place to disrupt his life here.]

[endgames]

[Even knowing nothing can be changed, he doesn't think he could accepted things turning out like they have if he'd known ahead of time. Actually, he's not sure he can accept it now, but he feels like he's at least making a start.

But that doesn't need to be said either. He does have something else to say to her, but he'll let her concentrate on her job first unless she beats him to the subject. He nods, and sips more on his water.]

[medicalpunch]

[Once he's gotten the water into him, she pulls up a chair to face him.]

Just relax. I'm going to give it a bit of a nudge.

[The core of a hangover is dehydration; he's had the water, now she's just going to encourage his body to distribute it most efficiently. She rests a hand against his forehead, and begins the process. It's not difficult, as healings go -- nudges to the body to operate more efficiently. After a few moments, the hangover should start to fade.]

[endgames]

[He helped it along earlier by eating some umeboshi too, which kickstarts the metabolizing process. All together, that and her healing is making for a winning combination. He nods when she's finished.]

Thanks... That's definitely an improvement.

[medicalpunch]

[It's so nice when patients actually take care of themselves, too.]

You're welcome. I don't imagine I need to give you the usual lecture, do I? [You'd think that more ninja would be reluctant to get themselves compromised with alcohol, but in her experience, it isn't the case. She's gotten very good at the sort of treatment she's just given him.]

[endgames]

[It is one of the three vices of shinobi, after all, his dad and her mentor among the regular abusers there.]

Only if you want. Promise I'll try not to sleep through it.

[medicalpunch]

[Her mentor very much so. She still doesn't really get it. It would take a lot to send Sakura to the bottle.]

I think I'll spare us both. Unless you make a habit of it...

[She fixes him with a brief, half-teasing stern look.]

[endgames]

[He chuckles.]

Habit, no. Not like that.

[medicalpunch]

Good. Fewer lectures to dish out.

[But that's where the teasing ends, and once she's gotten his system hydrating itself efficiently, she draws back, uncertain of what to say next.]

I... I couldn't tell Ino. You understand.

[She couldn't be the bearer of bad news, couldn't come dropping into this place and shatter the serenity her friends had found here with devastating news. But the guilt still hangs over her for keeping secrets; a part of her wants to babble apologies, wants to perform some sort of atonement for essentially having lied to everyone for these past months.]

[endgames]

[He nods, not saying anything for a moment. He thinks through his words over another sip of water.]

That's another reason why I wanted to talk to you today.

[medicalpunch]

[That sounds... ominous. She lets out a slow breath, then nods, leaning back into a chair and focusing on him intently.]

I'm listening.

[endgames]

[He doesn't miss any of that.]

Relax. It's nothing you have to worry about.

[medicalpunch]

[Shikamaru's not the type to play games; if he says it's not like that, then she'll take his word for it.]

All right. What is it?

[endgames]

[...he sets the cup down. Oh just come out with it.]

Chouji and I are going to tell her today.

[There's a 'but' hanging onto this sentence.]

[medicalpunch]

[She closes her eyes, nodding. If both Shikamaru and Chouji know, then it's cruel to keep Ino, as the third of their team, in the dark.]

If you think it's the best thing for her, then I'd support you on it.

[But he isn't just telling her -- there's more to it than that.]

[endgames]

I don't. [He leans back in his seat, sighing.] Too many of us are coming in now from the war, is the thing. With that, it becomes harder to keep a lid on it. Hell, as bad as Lee is with secrets, I suspect Neji might already...

[He trails off, frowning heavily with a look over his shoulder at the door. He hasn't seen either of them in a few days.]

We don't want Ino finding out like that. She deserves better, and friends to support her through it.

[medicalpunch]

[Her expression twists painfully at the mention of Lee and Neji.] No one should have to live with that.

[But the sense of what he's saying is clear, and she nods.]

It was one thing when it was just me, or just me and Chouji. But you're right; the more people know, the worse it is.

I'm glad she'll have both you and Chouji there for this.

1/2

[endgames]

[He's quiet for a long moment.] I'm not good with things like that.

[Comforting? Not a thing that comes so naturally to him. Sakura's seen it herself, with Tsunade, when Jiraiya died. He feels like he's dodged a bullet, having Chouji here to back him up.]

I'm going to do what I can for her, not that I'm confident it'll see her to a good place. But you... [He frowns. Sakura is a lot of things. He doesn't think he can sum it up properly.] You're her best friend.

[endgames]

[He turns his head back to her, focusing again.]

I came here to ask if you could stick with her, once she's had some space to digest it. Whatever way I look at it, I don't think I'll be able to do as much good for her as I'd like myself to.

[medicalpunch]

If she's comforted by having me around, then of course, I'll do everything I can for her. [When you get down past all the rivalry and teasing and snark, Ino is her best friend. That means a lot.]

And... for anyone else who needs it, too. [Ino isn't the only one to have suffered terrible loss in this war.

Maybe she wasn't born with the healer's nurturing urge, but she's picked it up pretty well anyway. She wants to do what she can, not just for Ino, but for all of them.]