His first mission as a team leader and what happened? Neji, Kiba, Chouji and Naruto all landed in the hospital and Sasuke still managed to get away! Shikamaru had escaped with nothing more than a broken finger, some would say this was because of his brilliant analytical mind; they were wrong, if Shikamaru was really that smart then his team would not all have ended up hospitalised, and they wouldn't have had to rely on the Sand Siblings for help. That was what Shikamaru had felt.
It had been three long weeks of surgery and unconsiousness. Shikamaru had been wallowing in self pity; he felt such quilt for what his mission had caused. So much so that he had found it hard to look people in the eye; in his eyes he had no choice but to wait in the hospital until all four were conscious and healthy, until they had forgiven him. Lee, althought not being assigned the mission, had arrived and according to his account of the events was very useful. Apart from the lengthy training sessions that he had three times a day, spent the time at the hospital also, feeling that if he had been stronger then he could have helped Naruto and brought back Sasuke to make him happy.
Kiba was the first to exit the hospital, as Kankurou came to his rescue, most damage to him and Akamaru was purely psychological... Well, apart from the stab wound that he had inflicted on himself in an attempt to kill his enemy. He walked past Shikamaru not paying much attention to his surroundings. He did stop though, about ten seconds after he passed him and turned. "You know it isn't your fault. Someone had to take the mission, and if it weren't you then we wouldn't be in hospital. We'd be dead." Kiba stated, he could tell from the look in Shikamaru's eyes that he felt guilty about what had happened. Akamaru, who had been hopping along patiently beside Kiba gave a small yelp as if in agreement with Kiba which caused a smile to find itself on Shikmaru's face.
Shikamaru has spent hours over the weeks in conversations with both Tsunade and Shizune who seemed to be the ones in charge of all major healing. Shizune performed a seccessful operation on Neji, a surgery that, if performed by anyone else, would have had a disastrous conclusion. Tsunade had to perform very complex justu on Chouji and Choza, his father, told Shikamaru that if the Fifth Hokage hadn't been here then Chouji would have died soon before. It was a large weight off of his heart when he found that all members of his squad were healthy and the only one left in hospital was Naruto who was recovering from a gargantuan case of chakra depletion.
Shikamaru checked up on Chouji twice a day for the four that he had been on his feet again, not wanting to smother him and knowing that he would be happy with his family; it would not be long before be got his monstrous apetite back. He had made sure to check in on both Neji and Kiba as well, making sure it was subtle and not wanting to cause some sort of scene.
Lazily flopping his feet onto Naruto's bed, the yawn that Shikamaru made may have been part of what woke Naruto up. After a deep conversation with Naruto about what had happened, Naruto stating clearly that he would not give up on getting Sasuke back into Konoha, they settled things, with Shikamaru explaining that Sakura knew they did the best that they could and it wasn't their fault.
"Ero Sennin!" Naruto roared as a gigantic toad appeared outside holding his perverted mentor. Shikamaru was so stunned at what happened and the sudden movements that had Naruto moving quickly towards the window that he swayed slightly before falling down, face first onto the floor. Being the lazy ninja that he was, Shikamaru didn't rush to get back up, feeling that it wasn't the most uncomfortable position he had ever been in; with his very useful view of the floor, his ears did most of the work as he listened to the old man and Naruto converse about being wise or a fool for wanting to chase after Sasuke. When met by Naruto's stubborness, the Sannin seemed to give in and gave up his arguement, choosing instead to start talking about Orochimaru needing three years until he could transfer into Sasuke's body. This was followed on by ad invitation to take Naruto away on a three year training trip so he would be stronger and so that he could defend himself.
Shikamaru was never surprised very easily, he had broadened his mind to think outside the box and always expect the unexpected but it did slightly shock him when Naruto, who still had his head wrapped in bandages, jumped out of the window and onto theunnaturally big animal, the old man spoke,"I have already cleared it with Tsunade, you are coming with me, next stop to pick up any belongings you want to take. Then we are out of here." Jiraiya gave a toothy smile to the boy who i returned it before his eyes fell on Shikamaru.
Naruto's excitement was shown in the form of his shouts even though it was definately unneeded, "Shikamaru! Say Bye to everyone for me! Good Luck! Dattebayo!" With that he was gone. The great character just evaporated into thin air and out of the village and he wouldn't be back for three years.
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Chapter notes: Hey people, this is Adam and this is the first time I have put a story up online. If you don't like it then feel free to flame it; I don't particularly care. I am kinda making this up on the spot so the first few chapters might be slightly off but when I get into a routine it will probably be better. This chapter is based on Chapters 237 and 238 in the manga, however editing parts to make it a quicker exit; so this does not include any mention of any filler episodes that may have been shown in the anime.
Too Weak
Chapter end notes: This chapted was very short, it is only meant to be there to set the scene so you know what was happening. More like a prologue if you know what I mean...