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Finding 'Home'
Virgo


Shikamaru waited in the hall impatiently as the ninja announced his presence to the Hokage. He had better things to do then wait on the old hag to do bother him. Picking up his kids from class was at the top of the list. But Hokage-sama called and even if you were one of her favorites, you didn't tell her no. Not without getting some major repercussions.

The ninja returned and slid back the door for Shikamaru, bowing as the strategist walked glumly in. Despite the familiarity between the two he always acted like seeing Tsunade was like going to the gallows. Or meeting his mother-in-law (as he actually liked his mother-in-law, he supposed Tsunade made a good substitute for the stereotype).

"Nara, good." She said, not bothering to look up from her paperwork. "Have a seat. I have something important to discuss with you." Her hand drifted to a pause as she listened for the ninja at her door to leave. Certain he was at a safe enough distance, Tsunade fairly threw the brush aside. "Ah! I hate this new assistant!"

Shikamaru could barely contain the quirk of his lips. "Because he actually makes you read everything that comes across your desk?"

"Because he won't let me drink or gamble." She pouted, slouching over her desk. She looked every inch not the Hokage. "He's such a wet blanket."

"Not like you should be doing that during working hours, anyway." Shikamaru commented, taking a seat across the desk from her. "What did you want to talk to me about."

"Hmmm. You've been keeping up with all the missing nin reports, right?"

"Yeah."

"How long back can you remember?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes slightly in both concentration and suspicion. "A few years."

"Do you remember when Sasuke ran off?"

His frown was fairly carved on his face. "Yes." Everyone knew when Sasuke became a missing nin. Everyone couldn't seem to stop talking about when it happened and people were still talking about it five years later.

Shifting her robes about her shoulders Tsunade sat back in her chair. "We just received word that someone had been in contact with him."

The man gave a bit of a snort. "Who?"

"A woman from a village on the outskirts of Fire Country. Claims she was his wife and had a child by him." She raised an answering eyebrow as one of Shikamaru's went up in question. "We've already had the boy checked out. He's the correct age and he shares too many of the Uchiha traits to be a coincidence."

Shikamaru crossed his arms. "And?"

"He sent the boy and his mother here, asking that they be taken care of."

"And where is Sasuke now?"

"That the woman doesn't know."

For a long moment Shikamaru didn't know what to think. Finally he asked: "What does this have to do with me?"

The old woman slid a sheaf of paper across her desk. "This was sent with the two, addressed to you."

Apprehensive, Shikamaru took the paper between his hands, the muscles in his shoulders clenching slightly, unsure what to expect.

'Nara Shikamaru,

I'm not too good with words so I'll get straight to the point. As you know, I've been gone for some time now. The reasons behind my leaving was to finally face my brother as I have apparently reached my highest potential. I will fight him on my own terms with my own strength. If I have defeated him or not, unfortunately, you cannot be certain of.

But I have been given this chance because of you and, though I haven't practiced the art of it, I am grateful to you. You prevented me from making the biggest mistake of my life and destroying any chance I could've had in restoring the honor and glory my clan was once revered for. It has been a long time coming, but I truly want to thank you for what you've done for me.

And I want to apologize for the pain my rash decision has caused you. Through the years I've tried to come to terms with what I've done and though I've killed many in my missions as a ninja of Konoha, none of them had bothered me the way the death of Chouji had. I want to atone for what I've done, I want to undo what I've done, but I cannot. All I can do is beg for your forgiveness and tell you that I pay for his blood every minute I see the strength and vitality- the same strength and vitality I've seen in your friend -in my son. I am constantly reminded of the wrong that I caused you, the Akamichi Clan and the entire village of Konoha.

If I should triumph over my brother, I will return to the Konoha and gladly accept the punishments due to me for desertion and my crimes against a fellow ninja. If I fail, my only wish is that you allow my wife and son to live. Dishonor my name if you wish, dissolve my family name if you must, but please let them live in peace. They know nothing of my destination or of my plans for vengeance, nor do they understand to full extend of the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan.

I know it is insolent to ask for such things, but I beg this of you. Please take care of my son.

Uchiha Sasuke'

Thrice Shikamaru read through the note, jaw clenched as his frown threatened to become a snarl. Tsunade watched carefully and patiently the changes in the man's mannerism. Finally she asked, "What do you think?"

Shoving the emotions away, he relied on dispassionate judgement. "He is a missing nin. He is also possibly dead. He will be treated as such though we will still let our wide patrols know that he may still be out there." Shikamaru paused to think. "I'll also place inquiries within our intelligence web and with the other villages if they've heard anything on the Akatsuki."

Satisfied, Tsunade nodded. "And the boy and his mother."

Silence solidified in the office. Shikamaru glanced down at the parchment and frowned. ".....Where is the boy?"

"I'll have him brought in." Pitching her voice to be heard through the door and down the corridor, the Hokage called out, "Bring the child!"

Within two minutes the door slid back once more. The assistant bowed before the presence and quietly ushered in a tiny boy. He shyly regarded the Shikamaru (years of growth and experience and death hardened the man's face and, somehow feeling betrayed by the letter, emotions made his expression dark) but smiled happily at the Hokage.

"This," she said, sweeping out her hand, "is Sasuke's son."

Kneeling down, Shikamaru held out a coaxing hand. Slowly the boy came within touching distance. "What do you know about your father?" He asked quietly.

"Not too much." He mumbled back. "He used to smile an' laugh a lot, but he was also very sad a lot."

"Do you know where he went."

"He said he had to make things right."

Shikamar's brow furrowed. "'Make things right'?"

"'S what he said."

Expression softening, Shikamaru asked the child, "How old are you?"

"Three an' a half!" The boy said proudly. He stood straight and beamed and no where could Shikamaru see the same gloom and pain and anger that clouded Sasuke's eyes.

"Well?" Tsunade said. "What's your verdict?"

But Shikamaru had one more question to ask. "What's your name?"

"Uchiha Chouji!" And he grinned that same wide grin that Shikamaru had been missing for years and at that moment Shikamaru knew that Sasuke was sincere, that Sasuke had changed. And he knew that Itachi would no longer be able to destroy the person that Sasuke had become.

"Chouji...." Shikamaru put a hand on one tiny shoulder and said with a smile that wavered only slightly, "My name is Nara Shikamaru. Would you like to meet my children?"

Yah, sorry for the ultra long period of nothing coming up. Even though I know what I wanted to do for this one, I couldn't think of anything to write. Then when I finally got half of it done my computer crashed and I lost everything I ever did. At that point I was so depressed and busy with my original series that I was actually thinking about forgetting about this.

But, you know, boredom does things to me. And since I had forgotten what I wrote previously, it was like starting from scratch again so I'm not worried about how it held up to the previous version.

I'm kinda happy about how it turned out. I honestly don't know if Sasuke beat Itachi or not, but I think it's most important that Sasuke is fighting him more as a sense of closure more then just for pure revenge. For him to be able to have a child that he loves so completely is a big accomplishment for him. And to be able to regret what he had done indirectly is just as important. He has a sense of responsibility and has become more human.

And I know someone will probably complain that Sasuke's not with Sakura or some other girl from the series. The reasoning behind that is two-fold. One, because everyone in Konoha and the other villages know about his past and his abilities. So either they feel sorry for him or they want his strength for their own. And the second because I couldn't think of any girl I like to see Sasuke with anyway :P

Someone had asked who Tsunade was talking about (sorry, can't remember your name offhand;;) when she said Sasuke should support 'him'. She was talking about Shikamaru because he, by keeping Sasuke from going to the dark side, he practically saved his life. That and losing his best friend on a mission that he led was a crushing blow to Shikamaru.

Okay, er, last note, I think: Next chapter I'm going to properly introduce Shikamaru and Ino's youngest kid and his team. That chapter, I'm afraid, is going to be the last one and then I'm officially closing the Stumbling Blind series. It was a lot of fun and I'm eternally grateful for all the support everyone has given me and I'm glad you've all stuck with me for so long.